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The 3 Assets That Built Every Fortune (And How You Can Stack Them)
Why blending the tangible with the intangible is key to a lasting fortune.
Hi ,
Three asset types built most of the fortunes I’ve studied, and are the same ones I routinely work in: Businesses, Intellectual Property, and Real Estate.
I started on the business side. I started investing in the stock market, then acquiring small, unsexy but profitable businesses starting in 2006, ultimately acquiring 8 outright and making investments in over 2-dozen more.
I then branched out into IP. I really liked the low barrier to entry to work with world class filmmakers and produce award winning documentaries, like Print the Legend, for the streamers who had an insatiable demand. These projects took me to SXSW, Toronto, and Sundance, and ultimately the Emmys (I was robbed!). From there, I started working with teams that were licensing franchiseable IP and I’m now one of the largest investors in the company that is producing the next (and, likely final) 007 video game.
I also wrote Buy Then Build a book about buying small businesses which led to the creation of an elite accelerator that helps buyers of SMBs.
Finally, I leveraged real estate to accelerate the balance sheet in a very scalable, predictable way.
I love cash flow. It’s the foundation of our freedom. But true wealth is built on the balance sheet.
This issue is actually a working playbook from one of my most viewed YouTube videos.
Wealth Stack Weekly, the newsletter you’re reading right now is actually the fastest-growing private market newsletter in the world (it’s a live example of a very active investment in IP we’re making.)
The goal is to educate accredited investors using our expertise and network to deliver stronger opportunities and build lasting wealth. Ultimately, Wall Street has their edge. Let’s create our own.
In this issue, I’ll show you how each pillar actually builds value on the balance sheet and how to decide which one to push now.
In this issue
The Tangible-Intangible Stack that builds wealth on the balance sheet
How the right mix of assets turned Ryan Reynolds’ personal brand into a money printing empire
A play by play to Stack Assets like a Family Office
Let’s dive in,
P.S. Are you an accredited investor looking to add alternative investments to your balance sheet?. Our BuildLegacy Fund is one of the best real estate portfolios I’ve ever seen and there’s less than 2-weeks left to secure the bonus 12% pref (Projected 5.3x exit multiple). You can always review our current offerings at Build Wealth.
SHIFT YOUR STACK
Build Wealth on the Balance Sheet
Cash flow, appreciation, and downside protection. That’s the whole wealth-building game in one sentence.
I build wealth with three assets: Businesses, IP, and Real Estate. I started with cash-flowing companies, expanded into IP (film production + a WSJ bestselling book), and then pressed the gas with real estate.
These assets don’t have to be built in order. You can enter at any point, but together they create an elegant balance sheet. Each one delivers a mix of cash flow and appreciation—but through a different path.
Think of these 3 as part of a continuum: tangible ↔ intangible.
Real estate is the tangible hard-asset ballast. IP is intangible distribution and demand. Businesses sit in the middle, where tangible machines and products commingle with intangible services, processes, and brands.
Here’s how each pillar builds your balance sheet. And how to choose the right lever now.
Businesses: buy existing demand; improve it; direct the cash.
IP: own attention so everything else you own is worth more.
Real estate: park surplus in lender-friendly equity with a floor.
Your 3-Asset Stack isn’t a Ladder - It's a Flywheel
Businesses : the cash engine
Why it builds value: By acquiring existing businesses (whether your own small business or a stock on the NYSE), you’re leveraging existing demand, team, and process.
Business ownership drives cash flow on Day 1 and your (or the management team’s) ability to grow the top and bottom line can translate to huge upside potential. That’s a platform for compounding value.
Intellectual Property: the lightweight amplifier (and moat)
Why it builds value: IP controls attention and distribution. I first got a taste of this with films, but it was my book Buy Then Build that showed me the power of this asset to endure and amplify influence.
Take my current investment in the 007 video game production co. The producers are leveraging the power of the James Bond franchise (derived from the original novels) to build a video game with instant brand connection. The brand is so powerful, everyone wants a piece – including Amazon, which wrestled creative control for film rights away from the Broccoli family this year after six decades.
I was the first check in to the game’s producers after they were awarded the James Bond license (!!!). BTW, our last round is closing very soon. There’s only about $575,000 left ($50k minimum investment). Just go to our portal here and review BuildInteractive I if you’re looking to beef up your IP investments.
Real Estate: the tangible ballast
Why it builds value: A building is tangible. Banks understand it. The downside protection is high because it’s a real, physical asset. That’s why you see it as the place to put surplus when the business is throwing off cash.
How you use it: You do value-add acquisitions for quick cash flow and appreciation, ground up construction for generational wealth building, or entire community building with revitalization projects. It’s the steady, lender-friendly counterweight to the intangibles. As well as a world class way to keep more of what you own and have real impact at the community level.
Want to go deeper? This week’s full breakdown unpacks the data, trends, and tactical plays behind each asset pillar.
CASE STUDY
How Ryan Reynolds Built His Asset Pillers
Image Courtesy of Alison Brod Marketing + Communications
Ryan Reynolds isn’t just cashing Hollywood checks, he’s long been architecting a personal wealth machine that would make a family office jealous. His 3-step process:
Use owned IP to pull demand,
Point that demand at operating businesses, and
Park the surplus in tangible assets that compound for decades.
Let’s break it down.
1) Cash-Flowing Businesses (the cash engine)
Reynolds took real ownership in companies like Mint Mobile and Aviation Gin—and got in the trenches. With operational oversight plus creative firepower, the brands moved faster, grew cleaner, and exited at headline valuations. The pattern is simple: buy into a good vehicle, then give it your own distribution. The business throws off cash today and creates the optionality for tomorrow (because, of course, he did eventually exit).
2) Intellectual Property (the amplifier and moat)
Amplify what you built. Reynolds’ persona + Maximum Effort (Reynolds’ creative studio and rapid-response ad shop he sold to MNTN) act like owned media: a standing audience, a fast creative cycle, and message control.
IP lowers CAC, raises pricing power, and accelerates decision cycles.
You see the same IP halo on the Welcome to Wrexham docuseries—storytelling that keeps the flywheel spinning and makes everything else he owns more valuable.
3) Real Assets (the tangible ballast)
Beyond boardrooms, Reynolds holds real estate—and, crucially, a place asset in Wrexham, a historic Welsh football club. The stadium freehold turns global attention into ticketing, hospitality, and sponsorship economics.
Hard assets give lenders something to underwrite and give the portfolio a floor: cash flow + appreciation + downside protection in one move.
Adding the Extra Layer of Structured Credit (the yield overlay)
In select media/production deals, Reynolds adds equity-and-debt structures backed by IP or distribution rights.
That’s “earn like a bank” economics with collateral he understands. It’s a smart overlay: cash flows while equity optionality remains.
The Flywheel (how the parts reinforce)
IP (Maximum Effort) captures attention → funnels demand into businesses (Mint, Aviation) → throws off cash → funds place assets/real estate (Wrexham, properties) → creates new stories and distribution moments that grow the IP even further. Round again, stronger each cycle.
Lesson: The right mix of operating businesses, IP, real assets, plus a light credit overlay turns a personality-driven career into a durable wealth engine.
POLL
Which Asset Pillar Will You Focus On Next Year?
Decades of research show that lasting wealth is built by combining assets that generate steady income, appreciate over time, and provide resilience during market volatility. These three asset pillars strengthen your Personal Financial Statement and work together to help you build enduring wealth.
In the next year, which of these assets are you most interested in increasing your allocation to? |
THE PLAYBOOK
How to Stack Assets as a Passive Investor
You don’t need to be the operator to run the 3-Asset Stack. Ultra-wealthy families grow balance sheets by placing capital into vehicles that deliver the same outcomes (cash flow, appreciation, and downside protection) without having to personally manage the assets. This is the hack to go from a $2m net worth to $20m and beyond.
Here’s how to translate the framework as an LP:
Pick the right asset class based on your goal today—cash flow, appreciation, or downside protection—and allocate capital accordingly.
Follow the menu.
Businesses (Private Equity & Energy Ops)
When to choose this: You want growth + income with upside tied to operational performance.
What it delivers: Businesses spin off distributable cash and create equity value at exit.
How to access it: Back funds or operators who acquire and scale companies in stable, cash-heavy industries.
Example: BuildEnergy Fund I—acquiring producing oil & gas wells and compounding yield through infill drilling. LPs collect cash flow while holding upside from proven reserves.
Intellectual Property (Licensing, Media, Digital Rights)
When to choose this: You want yield with calculated asymmetric upside—by taking something that already has value and leveraging it in a new way.
What it delivers: Royalties, licensing income, and brand equity that amplify other holdings. IP reduces the risk of new ventures by starting with a built-in audience, lowering CAC and smoothing adoption.
How to access it: Invest in syndications or funds acquiring IP catalogs, licensing rights, or digital assets.
Example: BuildInteractive I—I was the first check after the team secured the 007 video game license, which gave me the inside view of when the game was done and how to engineer a deal for our audience that secures our downside protection. The franchise equity provides an instant global audience, lowering execution risk and unlocking outsized upside if the game hits. While our terms greatly limit our risk exposure.
Real Estate (Funds, Syndications, Co-Invests)
When to choose this: You want predictable income, tax efficiency, and downside protection.
What it delivers: Rental cash flow, appreciation through value-add improvements, and tangible collateral lenders will finance.
How to access it: Place capital into GP-led funds, direct syndications, or co-invest deals.
Example: BuildLegacy I—assembling 11+ properties across St. Louis’ Central West End, including all four corners of a key intersection. Anchored by real assets, designed for long-term wealth building.
The LP Playbook
If your priority is cash in hand, allocate to credit funds & businesses.
If you want uncorrelated upside, lean into IP.
If you need a floor, legacy building, and tax shield, emphasize real estate.
The ultra-wealthy don’t just diversify for the sake of it. They allocate to the pillar that best serves their goals in the moment. Or opportunistically capitalizes on a supply-demand investment thesis.
THE WEALTH REBELLION
The institutions want you to believe wealth is built in public markets.
It isn’t.
The real game is stacking businesses, IP, and real estate—assets that throw off cash, appreciate, and protect your downside. That’s how the ultra-wealthy build balance sheets that compound forever.
The mindset shift: stop acting like a customer of Wall Street and start allocating like an owner.
This is the rebellion.
We’re not chasing the next hot stock, we’re building balance sheets that last. And we’re doing it together, one asset at a time.
"You make most of your money by being patient and disciplined, not by chasing the next hot deal."
Charlie Munger