Biology of Business

T

77 companies

Toyota

Automotive Manufacturing

Toyota didn't invent the automobile - it built the most imitated operating system in business history. The Toyota Production System emerged from a bru...

11 mentions

Taiwan Semiconductor (TSMC)

Semiconductor Manufacturing

TSMC didn't invent semiconductors - it invented trust at scale. When Morris Chang proposed a pure-play foundry in 1987, every major chip company rejec...

4 mentions nasdaq100

Texas Instruments

Semiconductors

Texas Instruments made a decade-long bet on 300mm wafer manufacturing when competitors hesitated, investing $5-7 billion annually in fab capacity. The...

2 mentions sp500, nasdaq100

Theranos

Healthcare Technology/Biotech

Theranos raised $700 million, reached a $9 billion valuation, and partnered with Walgreens - all without working technology. Elizabeth Holmes didn't b...

2 mentions

Trattoria Bella Vista

Restaurant

Chicago restaurant that exemplifies catastrophic knowledge transfer failure. Founded 1952, survived 63 years across three generations until Marco Ross...

2 mentions

Twitter

Social Media

Twitter accidentally built the most powerful positive feedback engine in media history. What started as 'SMS of the internet' became self-reinforcing:...

2 mentions

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)

Technology Services

Tata Consultancy Services crossed $30 billion in revenue for fiscal year 2025 while employing 607,000 consultants across 55 countries. This scale mirr...

1 mention nifty50, bse sensex

Tesla

Automotive / Electric Vehicles

Tesla went all-in on battery electric vehicles in 2008 when every other automaker was hedging. That single strategic bet—choosing speed over optionali...

1 mention sp500, nasdaq100

The New York Times

Media / Journalism

170+ year-old newspaper that demonstrates active teaching systems for transmitting editorial standards. The Times employs 1,700+ journalists who must...

1 mention

T-Mobile

Telecommunications

T-Mobile raised 2025 guidance to 7.2-7.4 million total postpaid net additions, up from prior guidance of 6.1-6.4 million, including 3.3 million postpa...

sp500

Tailored Brands

Retail - Menswear

Tailored Brands' 2020 bankruptcy ended the parent company of Men's Wearhouse and Jos. A. Bank, demonstrating how workplace clothing retailers were dev...

Defunct

TalkBox

Technology / Mobile Messaging

Hong Kong-based mobile messaging app that launched in late 2010 with voice note functionality. TalkBox was the fastest-growing social app in China by...

Target

Retail

American retail corporation operating discount department stores. Exemplifies the suburban fox territorial strategy in contrast to Walmart's rural app...

sp500

TaskRabbit

Technology / Gig Economy

When IKEA acquired TaskRabbit in September 2017, furniture assembly represented 2% of tasks booked on the platform. By 2024, assembly had climbed to n...

Tata Group

Diversified Conglomerate

Tata Group represents 156 years of evolutionary strategy that defies conventional business logic. Founded by Jamsetji Tata in 1868, the Indian conglom...

Tata Motors

Automotive

Tata Motors' $2.3 billion acquisition of Jaguar Land Rover in 2008—just before the global financial crisis—tests sparse network topology as contagion...

Tech Mahindra

Technology Services

Tech Mahindra occupies a niche: telecom transformation specialist in an industry undergoing trophic cascade. As Communication Service Providers (CSPs)...

nifty50, bse sensex

Technogym

Fitness Equipment

Technogym's €901 million 2024 revenue (11.5% growth) and pivot toward "Healthness"—merging fitness with preventive healthcare—exemplifies strategic re...

Teladoc Health

Healthcare/Telehealth

American telehealth company founded in 2002 addressing fragmented, expensive, and inconvenient U.S. healthcare access. Pioneered on-demand video/phone...

russell2000

Telefónica

Telecommunications

Telefónica operates 181.5 million premises passed with ultra-broadband networks, of which 84.6 million run on fiber-optic cables the company owns outr...

eurostoxx

Telegram

Technology/Messaging

Cloud-based instant messaging service. Example of successful digital satellite strategy - serves as privacy-focused alternative to WhatsApp/WeChat, se...

Telenor ASA

Telecommunications

A telecommunications network serving 172 million subscribers across two continents demonstrates how mycelial architecture enables selective pruning. T...

oslo

Telstra Corporation

Telecommunications

Telstra's infrastructure position—Australia's largest mobile network covering 99.6% of the population across 2.7 million square kilometers with 22 mil...

asx200

Temenos

Banking Software & Fintech

Temenos built a $1 billion+ banking software business by occupying a niche giants ignored: mid-sized banks in emerging markets. Founded 1993 in Geneva...

smi

Tencent

Technology/Gaming/Social Media

RMB609 billion revenue in 2024 (10% growth) and RMB192.9 billion in Q3 2025 (15% surge) understates Tencent's biological role: keystone species whose...

hangseng

Terra (LUNA)

Cryptocurrency

Terra's May 2022 collapse destroyed $40 billion in value within a week, demonstrating how algorithmic stablecoin mechanisms can enter death spirals. T...

Defunct

Tesco

Retail

Tesco posted £3.13 billion adjusted operating profit in 2024/25, up 10.6%, with UK market share hitting 28.5%—a 0.7% gain year-over-year. This is not...

ftse100

Texaco (Bankruptcy)

Oil & Gas

Texaco's 1987 bankruptcy—triggered by a $10.5 billion Pennzoil judgment—represents the largest verdict-driven failure in history. A single handshake d...

Defunct, Former Fortune 500

TGI Fridays

Restaurants - Casual Dining

TGI Fridays' 2024 bankruptcy ended the casual dining chain that had pioneered the 'fern bar' concept in 1965. The company that introduced singles bars...

Defunct

Thai Airways (Bankruptcy)

Aviation

Thai Airways' 2020 bankruptcy demonstrates how state airlines face political constraints that prevent restructuring until crisis forces it. The flag c...

Bankrupt

Thales Group

Aerospace

Thales generated €20.6 billion revenue in 2024 with €51 billion order backlog, operating across defense, aerospace, cybersecurity, and transport. The...

eurostoxx

The Aaron's Company, Inc.

Retail - Lease-to-Own

The Aaron's Company is a leading omnichannel provider of lease-to-own and retail purchase solutions. The company offers furniture, electronics, applia...

russell2000

The Bancorp, Inc.

Banking Technology & Services

The Bancorp is a financial holding company providing banking and technology solutions to non-bank financial services companies and middle market busin...

russell2000

The Limited Stores

Women's Apparel

The Limited's 2017 closure demonstrates how parent company diversification can orphan original brands. Les Wexner built Victoria's Secret and Bath & B...

Defunct

The Sports Authority

Retail

The Sports Authority's 2016 liquidation closed 450 stores after competition from Dick's Sporting Goods, Amazon, and specialty retailers proved insurmo...

Defunct

The Weekly Standard

Magazine

The Weekly Standard's 2018 closure demonstrates how ideological publications face extinction when they diverge from their base. The conservative magaz...

Defunct

The Weinstein Company

Entertainment

TWC's 2018 bankruptcy after Harvey Weinstein's sexual abuse exposure demonstrates how organizations can be destroyed by founder misconduct. Decades of...

Defunct

The Wet Seal

Retail

Wet Seal's 2015 and 2017 bankruptcies collapsed a teen fashion chain that couldn't survive fast fashion competition. The company filed bankruptcy twic...

Defunct

Thermo Fisher

Life Sciences & Laboratory Equipment

Thermo Fisher's 2024 revenue of $42.88 billion makes it the world's largest supplier of scientific instrumentation, yet the organism operates through...

sp500

Thermo Fisher Scientific

Life Sciences & Laboratory Equipment

Thermo Fisher built the world's largest life sciences supplier through acquisitions that mirror mycorrhizal network formation. The company completed o...

sp500

ThermoGenesis Holdings

Medical Devices

ThermoGenesis Holdings is a market leader in automated cell processing tools and services for the cell and gene therapy industry. The company provides...

russell2000

THG (The Hut Group)

Technology

THG is a global digital commerce and technology company. Operating beauty, nutrition, and luxury divisions, it sells branded products online worldwide...

ftse250

Things Remembered

Retail

Things Remembered's 2019 liquidation closed 400+ stores selling personalized gifts and engraved items. The company had operated in malls for 50 years,...

Defunct

Thomas Cook (Collapse)

Travel

Thomas Cook's 2019 collapse ended 178 years of travel history and stranded 600,000 tourists worldwide. The company couldn't adapt to online booking, c...

Defunct

Thomas Cook Group

Travel/Tourism

Thomas Cook's 2019 collapse ended 178 years of history - the company that invented the package holiday couldn't survive the internet that made it obso...

Defunct

Thornburg Mortgage

Financial Services

Thornburg Mortgage's 2009 bankruptcy destroyed a 'prime' mortgage lender that had avoided subprime entirely. The company made large jumbo mortgages to...

Defunct

Three Arrows Capital (3AC)

Cryptocurrency Hedge Fund

Three Arrows Capital's June 2022 collapse helped trigger the crypto industry's worst contagion event. The hedge fund, founded by Su Zhu and Kyle Davie...

Defunct

Thyssenkrupp

Industrial

€32.8 billion in revenue (down from €35 billion), steel production capacity slashed from 11.5 million tons to 8.7-9 million, 11,000 jobs eliminated or...

mdax

Tiger Global Management

Venture Capital

Most venture capitalists are ambush predators—patient, selective, waiting for the right moment. Tiger Global hunts like a locust swarm: speed, volume,...

Private

Titan Company

FMCG

₹57,818 crore revenue in FY25 growing 22%, 2,000+ stores, 38,000 employees—Titan Company dominates organized jewelry through adaptive radiation across...

nifty50, bse sensex

Tomra Systems

Environmental Technology

Decomposer organisms return nutrients to ecosystems; Tomra's 113,700 reverse vending machines across 100 markets return containers to material streams...

oslo

Toshiba (2015 Scandal)

Electronics/Conglomerate

Toshiba's 2015 accounting scandal revealed $1.2 billion in overstated profits across seven years. Management pressure to meet targets created systemat...

TYO:6502

Toshiba Corporation

Technology & Electronics

Toshiba is a diversified technology company with businesses in infrastructure, energy, electronic devices, and digital solutions. The company has face...

nikkei225

Toshiba Laptops

Consumer Electronics

Toshiba's 2020 laptop exit after 35 years and first-ever laptop demonstrates how pioneers can be commoditized into irrelevance. The company that creat...

Division sold

Toshiba Mobile Communications

Technology

Toshiba's 2015 exit from smartphones followed years of declining market share and losses. The company that pioneered many laptop technologies couldn't...

Defunct

TotalEnergies

Energy

TotalEnergies generated $17 billion cash flow from Exploration & Production in 2024 (producing 1.4 Mb/d oil) while simultaneously investing $4 billion...

cac40

Tower Automotive

Auto Parts

Tower Automotive's 2005 bankruptcy collapsed another auto parts supplier dependent on the Big Three. The company made metal body structures and suspen...

Defunct

Tower Records

Retail

Tower Records' 2006 liquidation closed 89 stores after digital downloads destroyed the music retail business. The company that once defined record sto...

Defunct

Toyota Motor Corporation

Automotive

Toyota sold 10.8 million vehicles in 2024 (fifth consecutive year as world's largest automaker) despite 3.7% decline from 11.2 million in 2023. The co...

nikkei225

Toys "R" Us

Retail / Toys

Toy retailer crushed by online retail and debt, filed bankruptcy in 2018. Example of competitive displacement combined with leverage trap.

Trader Joe's

Retail/Grocery

American grocery chain founded in 1967 by Joe Coulombe in Pasadena, California. Originally a convenience store chain called Pronto Markets, Coulombe p...

private

Trainline

Technology

Trainline is Europe's leading independent rail and coach platform. The company sells tickets for over 270 rail and coach operators across 45 countries...

ftse250

Trans World Airlines (TWA)

Airlines

TWA's 2001 absorption by American Airlines ended an airline that had defined transcontinental and transatlantic travel for half a century. Howard Hugh...

Defunct

Transurban Group

Infrastructure

Transurban operates the toll road equivalent of a vascular network - fixed infrastructure that captures rent from flowing traffic. The company manages...

asx200

Tribune Company (Bankruptcy)

Media

Tribune's 2008 bankruptcy demonstrates how leveraged buyouts can kill healthy organisms by loading them with lethal debt. Sam Zell's $8.2 billion 2007...

Defunct, Former Fortune 500

Trip.com Group

Online Travel

Chinese travel services company providing hotel reservations, airline tickets, packaged tours, and corporate travel management. Largest online travel...

True Religion

Retail - Apparel/Denim

True Religion's 2017 bankruptcy ended the premium denim brand's decade as a fashion must-have. The company had pioneered $200+ jeans with distinctive...

Private

Trulia

Real Estate

Trulia raised $33M to compete with Zillow in real estate search, reaching 23 million monthly users before being acquired by Zillow in 2015 for $2.5B—e...

Acquired

Trump Taj Mahal

Gaming/Hospitality

Trump Taj Mahal's multiple bankruptcies (1991, 2014, 2016) demonstrated how Atlantic City's decline killed even its largest casino. Donald Trump's $1...

Defunct

Tucker Corporation

Automotive

Tucker Corporation's 1949 collapse ended Preston Tucker's attempt to revolutionize automotive safety and design. The Tucker 48 introduced rear-engine...

Defunct

Tucson Citizen

Newspaper

The Tucson Citizen's 2009 closure ended Arizona's oldest newspaper at 138 years. The joint operating agreement with Arizona Daily Star couldn't save i...

Defunct

Tuesday Morning

Retail - Home Goods

Tuesday Morning's multiple bankruptcies (2020, 2023) demonstrated how off-price retail struggled when consumer spending shifted during and after COVID...

Defunct

Tupperware Brands

Consumer Goods

Tupperware's 2024 bankruptcy ended a brand that defined mid-century American domesticity. The direct sales model that built the company became its pri...

Defunct

Turing Pharmaceuticals

Pharmaceuticals

Turing's notoriety from 5,000% price hike on Daraprim demonstrates how drug pricing can trigger regulatory backlash. Martin Shkreli's $13.50-to-$750 o...

Defunct

TVR

Automotive

TVR's 2006 closure ended British sports car manufacturing after Russian owner Nikolai Smolensky couldn't revive the brand. The company had made bespok...

Defunct

Tweeter Home Entertainment

Retail

Tweeter's 2007 bankruptcy collapsed a premium electronics retailer caught between Best Buy and online. The company had grown to 150 stores offering hi...

Defunct

Tyco International

Conglomerate

Tyco's 2002 crisis demonstrates how executive extraction can hollow out even diversified conglomerates. CEO Dennis Kozlowski treated the company as pe...

Former S&P 500, NYSE:JCI