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Palantir could be the most overvalued company that ever existed

(247wallst.com)
164 points Anon84 | 6 comments | 08 Dec 25 04:45 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source | bottom
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duttish ◴[08 Dec 25 06:41 UTC] No.46189143[source]▶
I'll throw the British South Sea Trading Company into the ring for that title of most overvalued company ever.

It had the king himself on the board. The company value represented a decent fraction of the national gdp at the time. All without actually never producing anything of actual value. It was just bribes and speculation all the way through. It's wild.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Sea_Company

Extra History did a more easily digestible series, which was how I learned about it in the first place. https://youtu.be/k1kndKWJKB8

replies(2): >>46189620 #>>46190588 #
saagarjha ◴[08 Dec 25 10:14 UTC] No.46190588[source]▶
Unrelated question: did we have a good enough idea of the world map in 1711 for the coat of arms shown on Wikipedia to be accurate?
replies(1): >>46190683 #
1. aetherson ◴[08 Dec 25 10:28 UTC] No.46190683[source]▶
No, and the article shows a not-even-attempting-accuracy period version of the coat of arms a little below: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SouthSeaCompany_TradeLabe...
replies(3): >>46190915 #>>46191142 #>>46191285 #
2. Der_Einzige ◴[08 Dec 25 11:01 UTC] No.46190915[source]▶
Gell Mann amnesia effect!
3. Am4TIfIsER0ppos ◴[08 Dec 25 11:40 UTC] No.46191142[source]▶
WTF is this? Another thing wikipedia invents out of thin air.
4. tacker2000 ◴[08 Dec 25 12:03 UTC] No.46191285[source]▶
The Wikipedia user based his drawing off of this sculpture from 1711, so it seems the american continent was actually already quite well mapped back then.

https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-36062

replies(2): >>46197223 #>>46197558 #
5. sorokod ◴[08 Dec 25 20:29 UTC] No.46197223[source]▶
The Armorials section in Wikipedia:

The armorials of the South Sea Company, according to a grant of arms dated 31 October 1711, were: Azure, a globe whereon are represented the Straits of Magellan and Cape Horn all proper and in sinister chief point two herrings haurient in saltire argent crowned or, in a canton the united arms of Great Britain. Crest: A ship of three masts in full sail. Supporters, dexter: The emblematic figure of Britannia, with the shield, lance etc all proper; sinister: A fisherman completely clothed, with cap boots fishing net etc and in his hand a string of fish, all proper.[61]

6. aetherson ◴[08 Dec 25 20:56 UTC] No.46197558[source]▶
I mean.

The artifact you link shows a map of the Americas in which California is an island and either Tierra Del Fuego is huge or the bottom of Argentina is an island and the northwest of the continent trails off into nothing, and Florida is sort of a stubby nub (other maps from this period show a more accurate Florida, so this might be a small-size-of-the-object problem).

They had a decent view onto the east coast of the Americas, but after that things got quite inaccurate. It's like... I don't know what anyone's expectations are, but it certainly isn't the perfect world map that's shown in the main image of Wikipedia's article.