ECONOMY STUDIOHow Companies Really Make Money
How the world's biggest companies really make money, from their own filings: we follow $100 through one business at a time, with the real numbers, plus the rise, fall and full history of the famous ones.
Car Dealers Make Their Money After You Pick the Car
On a new car, a big dealer group keeps only a few dollars of every $100 you pay. Most of its gross profit comes from the service bays and the finance office at the back. Here is how the dealership model works, from two public dealer groups' filings, and why the loan is now part of the business.
ExplainerApple: The iPhone Is the Door. The Services Are the Toll.
Services are about a quarter of what Apple sells but more than two fifths of what it earns after the cost of its products. Here is how the iPhone works as the door and the services as the toll, from Apple's own filings, and why courts and regulators are now looking at those tolls.
ExplainerMcDonald's Makes Its Billions on Rent, Not Burgers
The biggest line in McDonald's accounts is not burgers or royalties. It is the rent franchisees pay for the land and buildings under their restaurants. Here is how the landlord model works, from the company's own filings, and why this autumn the landlord is cutting rent and arguing with its tenants over prices.
ExplainerThe Entire History of Coca-Cola: From a Nickel Soda to a Company That Sells Syrup
A pharmacy soda fountain in Atlanta in 1886, a bottling deal sold for a dollar, a price that did not move for decades, and a company that mostly does not bottle its own drink. How Coca-Cola's business model was built, and what it looks like in its latest numbers.
ExplainerThe Hotel Chain Doesn't Own the Hotel. It Still Gets Paid.
Marriott owns or leases less than one percent of its hotels and still collected billions in fees last year. Following one night's bill through the brand, the owner and the credit card company shows who gets paid when a room sells, and who pays when it doesn't.
ExplainerTrader Joe's Has No Sales, No Ads, No Delivery. It Still Wins.
A normal supermarket carries tens of thousands of items and runs sales, coupons, apps and delivery. Trader Joe's does none of it. Using industry data, Kroger's accounts and Trader Joe's own words, we follow $100 through both models.
ExplainerThe Rise and Fall of Blockbuster
In 2004 Blockbuster had 9,094 stores and $6.05 billion in revenue. Six years later it was bankrupt. Using its own SEC filings, we follow the money.
ExplainerHow Credit Card Companies Make Money From You
So many people get cash back for free. So who really pays? We follow $100 through the card system, using CFPB, Federal Reserve and Visa data.
ExplainerHow Costco Makes Money (It's Not the Groceries)
Costco barely profits from what it sells. Using its fiscal 2025 annual report, we follow $100 through a warehouse to find the real product: your membership card.