1/ Thread on Bill Foley

Over the last ~40 yrs, Foley has been one of the most successful investor-operators

Using the public markets Foley has built, invested in, and driven the growth of 6 generational fintech companies

In some ways, he is the John Malone of Fintech/Software

2/ The Beginnings:

Foley began his as a lawyer in AZ, where he came across Fidelity National (FNF), which was an under-optimized title insurance co.

Title insurance was (still is) a fragmented and arcane industry

Foley saw an opportunity ripe for optimization & consolidation

3/ In 1984, Foley led a $21mm LBO of FNF and got to work

He ruthlessly optimized and professionalized the co. Under his leadership, FNF's title margins avg'd 300-500 bps better than its closest competitor

At the same time, FNF executed a massive roll-up strategy to mrkt-share

4/ Between 1984-2020, tiny FNF acquired 90+ companies and became the country's largest title insurance and settlement services co.

But that wasn't all...

Ever the multi-tasker, during this period Foley used FNF's regulatory capital to invest in generational fintech companies

5/ With the FNF's regulatory capital, Foley created companies that are now standalone public companies:

- Black Knight
- FIS
- Ceridian
- FNFV / Cannae