The Hustle cuts through the noise, bringing you the best of business and tech news, with a bold and irreverent voice.

The Hustle

He did more than thirty thousand paintings. Where are they?

The TV artist was one of history’s most prolific painters, yet next to no one has the boasting rights of owning a masterpiece from his wildly successful show. Zachary Crockett discovers why you’re not likely to find his work on the open market.

Chris Brinkley

Why it’s nearly impossible to buy an original Bob Ross painting

How to retire in your 30s.

A growing number of young professionals are growing disillusioned with the prospect of a lifetime of work. Zachary Crockett explores how a growing number of young tech workers are speed-running the path to financial independence by living frugally and investing intelligently.

Betsy Foldes Meiman

Meet the young professionals chasing an early retirement

Could you spot a fake vintage?

In the early noughties, Rudy Kurniawan quickly made a name for himself by sourcing and selling millions of dollars worth of extremely rare wines. But behind his extravagance was a dark and fraudulent secret. Zachary Crockett reveals how the unassuming young supertaster nearly pulled off the biggest wine fraud in US history.

Michael Satow

The man who (almost) pulled off the biggest wine fraud in history

She found success in mistakes.

Her invention became one of the most popular office supplies of the 20th century. And yet today, she’s largely been forgotten. Zachary Crockett explores the inspirational life of Bette Nesmith Graham, the inventor of Liquid Paper. At a time when women were discouraged from pursuing business ventures, the single-mom from Texas used her product marketing talent to grow her business organically and retired a multimillionaire with an incredibly progressive workplace legacy.

The secretary who turned Liquid Paper into a multimillion-dollar business

A guide to the “new IPO”.

A special purpose acquisition company (or SPAC) is a "publicly traded shell company set up specifically to merge with, and take public a private company." Zachary Crockett provides a step by step breakdown of Wall Street’s hottest trend and examines whether they are worth the investment. 

Ron Butler

What the hell is a blank check company (SPAC)?

One answer to lifelong fulfilment? A spicier, more varied professional life.

From 'highflier' lawyer to a tech start-up founder and a COO who became a shaman, to an accountant who became a dance teacher, these are some of the most interesting careers changes The Hustle readers reported on a survey, signalling that when it comes to our professional paths, nothing is really set for life. In fact, as Isabel Woodford points out here, pursuing these type of changes could be more beneficial than most would imagine — listen why.

Rachel Perry

What it’s like to go through a dramatic career change

More than a century since its creation, the game still dominates sales around the globe.

It is rather hard to find a household around the world that doesn't have a copy of Monopoly, which now accounts for nearly one-third of all global board game sales, largely thanks to Hasbro’s own expansion strategy. In this fascinating piece for the Hustle, Mark Dent looks into the game's history, the importance of Hasbro's involvement in its production and whether it would be able to overcome the increasing competition with more cooperative games like Catan or Ticket to Ride.

How a real-life monopoly made Monopoly the world’s biggest board game

He pioneered ideas for the gas mask and sewing-machine advancements.

The child of freed slaves, Garrett Morgan invented early iterations of the gas mask and traffic light. Today, his contributions have been largely overlooked. Zachary Crockett explores in The Hustle some of Morgan's remarkable work.

Karl Miller

‘Black Edison’: the 20th century’s prolific, oft-forgotten inventor

How did fish sticks become a core part of the American food scene?

"Since they were introduced in 1953, fish sticks have become an unlikely staple. Today, Americans eat 55m pounds of them per year — and during the pandemic, consumption has been on the rise. But they weren’t always a mainstream hit." In The Hustle, Michael Waters explores how marketers convinced the USA to eat fish sticks.

Sean Crisden

How marketers convinced America to eat fish sticks

What happened when one entrepreneur decided to share all of his crazy, rejected product ideas with the world.

The Fur Roller, Sobbing Spectacles, and Croc Gloves: these are just some of Matty Benedetto's weird inventions. Zachary Crockett, from The Hustle, meets the 'crazy' investor with over 2m followers across social media, who one day at the age of 14 realised the only thing he was meant to be was an entrepreneur.

The man who has created 100+ pointless inventions

It turns out there might a way to 'buy' back what you once thought lost.

And if you ever wanted to do so, Scottsboro, Alabama is the place where you want to go. Zachary Crockett, from The Hustle, shares the fascinating story of Unclaimed Baggage, an American company buying unclaimed luggage from airlines around the world and making incredible profits from them.

Meet the company that sells your lost airplane luggage

It's one of Nepal's most valuable commercial assets - so where is all the money going?

"In the last 20 years, Everest has seen nearly a 10x increase in traffic — with more than half of all 10,055 summits coming in the last decade. In 2019 alone, a record-setting 876 summiteers caused a traffic jam that contributed to 11 fatalities." Zachary Crockett, writing in the Hustle, explains why growing crowds have turned the world’s tallest mountain into an immensely profitable business.

How Mount Everest became a multimillion-dollar business

From Back to the Future to back again: one of history's most beloved and beleaguered cars.

The DeLorean is equally infamous for starring in Back to the Future and its severe mechanical issues. Writing in the Hustle, Tom Bartlett meets the man on a mission to bring the vehicle back to life.

One man’s quest to bring the DeLorean back to life

Two companies control 82% of the market - is it time for a shake-up?

"Despite this abundance of businesses, efforts to re-envision the casket industry have largely fallen flat." Michael Waters writing in the Hustle investigates whether the casket market can be disrupted.

Ken Foster

Can the American casket monopoly be disrupted?

Who really loves gift cards? Well - it's the companies, actually.

Whether it benefitting from additional sales when the cards get spent or enjoying profits from 20% of cards that go unclaimed: gift cards can be lucrative. Writing in the Hustle, Zachary Crockett looks at why the model is surprisingly successful.

Sarah Naughton

The economics of unused gift cards

US National Videogame Day: why the E.T. video game was used to sell the story of a market crash.

Howard Scott Warshaw’s 1983 E.T. video game was so bad it was blamed for single-handedly sinking the multibillion-dollar video game market. Zachary Crockett, writing in The Hustle, finds out the full story.

The man who made the “worst” video game in history

One of America’s only aeroplane repo men.

When banks need to repossess a jet from a bankrupt company or a loan-defaulting mafioso, they call Ken Hill, one of America’s only aeroplane repos. Speaking to Zachary Crockett in the Hustle, he shares his unlikely stories from two decades on the job.

The man who repossesses multimillion-dollar airplanes

How do you go from middle management to multi-millionaire in just over a year? 

Writing in the Hustle, Dan Conway gives his first-hand account of how he bet his life savings on cryptocurrency and walked away a millionaire. 

How I got sucked into the cryptocurrency craze and walked away with $13 million

How one man’s curiosity and relentless experimentalism changed food as we know it.

How did a frog seller come frozen food pioneer change the way we eat forever? Writing in the Hustle, Zachary Crockett tells the tale of Clarence Birdseye, the man behind the fish finger.

Scott Ciscon

The father of the modern frozen food industry

Times have changed, but Pizza Hut really hasn't... Is that the problem?

With inventions like the Stuffed Crust and Bigfoot, Pizza Hut in the 90s was an 'innovation powerhouse'. But Domino's raced to catch up, and now the chain has been left to focus on technology. Writing in the Hustle, Mark Dent explains.

How Pizza Hut stopped innovating its pizza and fell behind Domino’s

He shares his journey and what it can teach us about redemption.

In 1996, Zachary Moore was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder. 23 years later he’s a computer engineer at a Silicon Valley tech firm. Zachary Crockett writing in the Hustle documents the tale.

How one man went from a life prison sentence to a $100k+ engineering job

“I can’t see why a 63-year-old man who has a good living would do something like this.”

In 1980, a church leader and trusted newsman exploited flaws in the Pennsylvania state lottery, netting a cool $1.2m or $3.7m today. That was until it all came crashing down. Writing in the Hustle Zachary Crockett retells the story. 

The local TV star who rigged the lottery

It began with a strange Craigslist ad to running one of the biggest mannequin brokerage firms.

Through a chance encounter and 50-second hand mannequins, Judi Townsend started a business that would soon turn over a million dollars a year. Speaking to Zachary Crockett in the Hustle she shares how she became America’s mannequin queen.

The mannequin queen: how one woman built a business out of retailers’ trash

If your dreams don't immediately come to fruition, maybe there's a different route.

When Mike Vetter’s dream of owning a Lamborghini didn’t come to true, he decided to build one for himself. More than twenty years later, his business making supercars has made him a millionaire. Writing in The Hustle, Zachary Crockett explains.

The man who built his own Lamborghini

Yes, $7 popcorn is a ripoff. But it’s also the lifeblood of most movie theatres' business model.

On average, there is almost an 800% mark up on a single portion of popcorn sold in movie theatres in the United States. While it may seem like a rip-off, Zachary Crockett writing in The Hustle explores whether this is actually the essential lifeblood of the business model of most movie theatres.

Why is movie theater popcorn so outrageously expensive?

When Ford stole an idea,  they picked the wrong inventor to screw with. 

Zachary Crockett writing in the Hustle tells us the story of Robert Kearns and his 30-year long legal conflict with one of America's biggest companies.

Kelsey Navarro

The epic, decades-long battle between Ford and a small-time inventor

2 international flights with any £100 sale, what could go wrong?

How can a simple sales promotion end in a 4 thousand strong public led pressure group, tens of millions of pounds in losses and a hostage situation? Zachary Crockett writing in the Hustle recounts how Hoover's offer of 2 international flights with any £100 sale went down as the worst sales promotion in history.

Nick Camm

The worst sales promotion in history

How do you stay relevant in the wake of an algorithm-led video store apocalypse? Human touch.

The advent of streaming threatened to wipe out retail shops entirely, but a few have managed to ride out the storm. Zachary Crockett writing in the Hustle throws the spotlight on the inventive ways one video store has managed to stay relevant in the digital age.

The tiny video store that survived Netflix

Meet the women making a living entering online sweepstakes.

Winning online sweepstakes is supposedly an act of pure luck — but some contestants claim to have it down to a science. 

Rex Anderson

The women who win hundreds of sweepstakes per year

The tale of an unlikely suspect in the US's most expensive counterfeit investigation.

In 1940s New York, one retiree made a living producing unconvincing counterfeit $1 bills yet managed to evade the police for over a decade. Writing in the Hustle, Zachary Crocket tells the tale of this unlikely suspect 
 and the coincidental series of events that led to his arrest.

The 70-year-old retiree who became America’s worst counterfeiter

Chef Davide Cerretini became an unlikely mascot against the Yelp "Mafia" after he found himself the recipient of vengeful 1-star online reviews. Zachary Crockett, writing in the Hustle, recounts this amusing act of defiance and how the Italian chef became an online sensation.

The restaurant owner who asked for 1-star Yelp reviews

A symbol that transcends language and culture, as important in the age of the internet as it was in its 1960s advent, the smiley is here to stay. But where did it come from and who is it making a millionaire? Zachary Crockett, writing in the Hustle, recounts the unlike story of this ubiquitous icon. 

The $500m smiley face business

Dr. Richard Jarecki, the renowned researcher beat the odds and stumped casino owners around the world, walking away with a cool, million dollar fortune.

The professor who beat roulette

Conor Grant, writing in The Hustle, looks at how hacking evolved from criminal exploit to lucrative teenage extracurricular, as teenagers are incentivised with millions of dollars and even, merit-scholars.

How teenage hackers became tech’s go-to bounty hunters

You might not know the story but you will have no doubt heard the infamous yahoo yodel.  Zachary Crockett, writing in the Hustle tells us the quite funny story of how a tech giant’s national advertising campaign backfired when they forgot to reveal the plan to their star yodeler.

Christopher Carley

The yodeler who sued Yahoo

81% of pet owners say they value their pets as much as their own children. Zachary Crockett, writing in The Hustle, looks at the small but growing number of Americans are leaving inheritances to their pets. Read by Rex Anderson, for Curio.

 The wild world of trust funds for pets

In 2006, a disgruntled Coca-Cola employee tried to sell top-secret Coke documents to Pepsi. Zachary Crockett wrote in The Hustle about that botched Coca-Cola heist, which reads like something out of a bad spy novel.

The botched Coca-Cola heist of 2006

The market is ripe with DNA tests that claim to "scientifically pair" you with wines, diets...and weed strains. Is there any real scientific evidence behind this? For Zackary Crockett writing in The Hustle, the only way to find out, is by ordering one for yourself.

I took a cannabis DNA test and learned more than I bargained for

We all know of Wedgwood, the luxury pottery brand. Zackary Crockett, writing in The Hustle, chronicles the life of Josiah Wedgwood: the man who launched the brand and invented the concept of marketing.

The 18th-Century Potter Who Became The World’s First tycoon

Keahi Seymour is the inventor of Bionic Boots, that were designed with the intention of making humans run at 70 km/h. Zackary Crockett, writing in The Hustle in January 2019, chronicles Keahi’s experience of pursuing that dream for 30 years - and failing.

What It’s Like To Pursue A Dream For 30 Years — And Fail

Zackary Crockett, writing in The Hustle, explains how the never-ending quest to quantify worker productivity with targest and metrics can go terribly, terribly wrong.

When Targets And Metrics Are Bad For Business

More than half of all gym members never actually go to the gym — yet year after year, they continue to pay for a service they don’t use. Zachary Crockett, writing in The Hustle, tries to figure out why.

Are Gym Memberships Worth The Money?

“If it’s too good to be true, it probably is” - what is the economics behind turning even the most rational consumer into a crazed lunatic? Are free deals really as good as they seem to be?

The Shady Economics Of ‘Buy One, Get One Free’ Deals

Zachary Crockett, writing in The Hustle, explains how billboards became the hottest advertising trend of 2018.

Andy Field

The hottest advertising trend of 2018? Billboards

Conor Grant, writing in The Hustle, shares the story of how one Florida retirement home became ground zero for self-driving cars.

How one Florida Retirement Home Became Ground Zero for Self-Driving Cars

A growing number of entrepreneurs are capitalizing on China’s air pollution crisis by selling bottled air. Zachary Crockett writing in The Hustle, considers who it is actually helping.

The Dystopian Business of Bottled Air

Zachary Crockett writes in The Hustle about Richard Thalheimer, the man who built The Sharper Image into the world’s wackiest gadget store.

How One Man Built The Sharper Image into The World’s Wackiest Gadget Store

Conor Grant, writing in The Hustle, introduces the Minnesota family that turned a soda machine company into a surveillance empire.

Meet the Minnesota Family that Turned a Soda Machine Company into a Surveillance Empire

Zachary Crockett, writing in The Hustle, takes us on a journey inside Wayback Machine, the internet’s time capsule.

Inside Wayback Machine, The Internet’s Time Capsule

Increasingly in the spotlight, Silicon Valley’s tech execs are trading in their hoodies and sneakers for “big boy clothes.” What happens when tech nerds get a makeover?

The Shifting Tides of Fashion: When Tech Nerds Get a Makeover

Zachary Crockett writing in The Hustle uncovers the tale of Two Buck Chuck, Trader Joe’s bestselling wine and how the two men who set up the brand sparked the economic revolution of an entire industry.

How Two Buck Chuck Made Wine Less Douchey

Lindsey Quinn writing in The Hustle, reveals the story of Ease, a tech startup in California that aims to become the household name for weed distribution.

Ashley Klanac

How Eaze teched over the weed industry

Zachary Crockett, writing in The Hustle, tells the remarkable story of Gerald Ratner, the CEO of the UK's biggest jewellery chain who, in 1991, sealed his own fate with an ill-timed joke.

How to lose $1B in 10 seconds

Zachary Crockett, writing in The Hustle, tells the remarkable story of the rogue Romanian economist who legally gamed the lottery and won millions of dollars around the world.

The man who won the lottery 14 times

Zachary Crockett writes in The Hustle about what happens when a robot kills someone, and considers who is to blame.

What happens when a robot kills someone?

Life offline is difficult to fathom today, but Zachary Crockett, writing in The Hustle, speaks to the 11% of Americans who don’t use the internet.

Meet the 11% of Americans who don’t use the internet

Conor Grant, writing in The Hustle, tells the story of a digital currency that raised millions in venture capital, dodged Russian trolls, and went bankrupt -- long before Bitcoin was even invented.

A decade before crypto, one digital currency conquered the world — then failed spectacularly

Spain is stuck in the wrong time-zone, no seriously, and it affects a lot more than you’d think. Kendall Baker, writing in The Hustle, explains how a single decision made during World War Two resulted in the country’s late bedtimes, midday siesta, and an overall lack of productivity.

Spain has been in the wrong time zone for over 70 years

If you’re looking to run a business, you can learn as much from other entrepreneurs’ failures as you can from their successes. Zachary Crockett, writing in The Hustle, tells the story of Jason Goldberg, who raised 336 million dollars for his e-commerce company, Fab.com, only to watch it all crumble away in 3 years. "

Sh*t, I’m F*cked: Jason Goldberg, Founder of Fab

The fascinating story of a man who divided himself into 100k shares at $1 apiece.

Sometimes it’s best to sit back, relax, and let others make your decisions for you. Zachary Crockett writing in The Hustle tells the remarkable story of the man who gave 663 investors complete control over his major life decisions, including how much sleep he got at night.

The man who sold shares of himself

In the 1980s, American Airlines sold an unlimited, first-class ticket for life. The cost? 250 thousand dollars. But what they didn’t account for were two super- travelers: Jacques Vroom and Steve Rothstein. Writing in The Hustle, Zachary Crockett tells the remarkable story of the two men who led American Airlines to discontinue the unlimited pass in 1994.

The rise and demise of the AAirpass, American Airlines’ $250k lifetime ticket

In 2006, Alex Tew became a millionaire at 21. In 2012 he struck again, launching ‘Calm,’ the phenomenally successful meditation and sleep app. Many would give anything to be in Tew’s shoes, but Zachary Crockett, writing in The Hustle, speaks to the man about the depression that consumed him after his first success.