Five interesting things that Hodges Capital research analysts discovered this week...
#1 COLLEGE: Strategas recently studied which college has produced the greatest number of Fortune 500 CEOs. Surprisingly, the answer is no college at all. While the number is relatively small at 20, it is nearly double the representation of the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard, or Cornell. Twenty Fortune 500 CEOs have no college degree, compared with 12 from the University of Pennsylvania, 10 from Cornell University, 8 from Harvard University, and 8 from the University of Michigan. Smaller schools have also produced notable business leaders. Marquette University, Bradley University, Hendrix College, and DePauw University have collectively produced 11 Fortune 500 CEOs.
#2 HISTORY: When the Ford Motor Company became publicly traded in 1956, it was the largest initial public offering in U.S. history. The company went public on January 18, 1956, offering 10.2 million shares of common stock at $64.50 per share. The selling shareholder was the Ford Foundation. To help mitigate estate taxes, Henry Ford and his son, Edsel, had transferred nearly 90% of the company's stock to the foundation in 1936. According to an article by Marc Rubinstein, James Couzens—later Senator Couzens—famously scraped together $2,500 to invest in the newly formed Ford Motor Company in 1903. By 1919, Henry Ford bought out Couzens' stake for $30 million. When the public was finally invited to invest in 1956, the response was unlike anything Wall Street had ever seen. Even Warren Buffett, who has long been skeptical of IPOs, bought shares.
#3 1 BILLION: According to an article published by Chartr, it took Facebook and Instagram about eight years to reach 1 billion users. YouTube reached the milestone in just over six years, while TikTok—despite feeling like an overnight global phenomenon—still took more than five years. By comparison, the mobile version of ChatGPT has left even the biggest platforms in the dust, reaching 1 billion monthly active users in just three years, according to new data from market intelligence firm Sensor Tower, as adoption of OpenAI's chatbot continues to accelerate.
#4 SOCIAL INSECURITY: According to CNBC, the Social Security Administration released a new report on Tuesday with updated projections for when the trust funds used to help pay benefits may be depleted. The Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) trust fund is now projected to be exhausted in 2032. Social Security primarily relies on payroll tax revenue to pay benefits, with the trust funds covering any shortfalls when benefit payments exceed tax collections. If the trust fund is depleted as projected, the program would still be able to pay approximately 78% of scheduled retirement benefits. Experts emphasize that Social Security is not going bankrupt, but benefits could be reduced significantly absent congressional action. Based on the average monthly retirement benefit of $2,071 in 2026, the reduction would amount to roughly $500 per month.
#5 GREED: "We are definitely in a moment where there is more greed than there is fear... My advice, based on 42 years of doing this, is: If capital is available—and you're capital consumptive and know you're going to need it—take the capital." — David Solomon, Chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs, June 2026.
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