{"podcast":{"title":"Preferred Shares Podcast","slug":"preferred-shares-podcast-6594967","podcast_index_feed_id":6594967,"rss_url":"https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/1908337.rss","website_url":"https://www.preferredsharespodcast.com/podcast","image_url":"https://substackcdn.com/feed/podcast/1908337/e73d940b2a7f9e66dbfaaa377d07d0a4.jpg","author":"Preferred Shares Podcast","episode_count":35,"summary":"Business, history, and business history.","last_synced_at":"2026-06-12T22:18:20.663831+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/preferred-shares-podcast-6594967"},"episode":{"title":"Duke Dynasty: The Legacy of the American Tobacco Monopoly, Part Two","slug":"duke-dynasty-the-legacy-of-the-american-tobacco-monopoly-part-two","published_at":"2026-06-12T11:11:20+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/preferred-shares-podcast-6594967/duke-dynasty-the-legacy-of-the-american-tobacco-monopoly-part-two","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/preferred-shares-podcast-6594967","url":"https://www.preferredsharespodcast.com/p/duke-dynasty-the-legacy-of-the-american-tobacco-monopoly-part-two","audio_url":"https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/199009830/5b557b70bbdf7d3f3576be2b41e7ffd6.mp3","summary":"Welcome to Episode 35 of the Preferred Shares Podcast. This podcast is the second and final part on our series on the American Tobacco Company and the founding Duke family. Part One covered the founding of the family tobacco business, and then the unbelievable hardships the family endured and overcame during and after the Civil War to re-start the business. We begin Part Two in 1890 with Buck Duke’s formation of the American Tobacco Company, which would become the dominant force in all the major forms of tobacco in the United States. We hope you enjoy. * The Antitrust Act and Market Dynamics * Antitrust Action Against American Tobacco Company * The Supreme Court’s Ruling on ATC * The Breakup of American Tobacco Company * Buck Duke’s Legacy and Diversification * The Impact of the Duke Endowment * Counterfactuals and the Future of Tobacco * Should We Celebrate Buck Duke? Images, Tables and Charts American Tobacco’s Losses on Plug Tobacco (1894-1898) ATC lost a cumulative $4 million on plug tobacco from 1894-1898. Robust profits from its cigarette business supported these losses. Billions of Cigarettes Sold in the U.S. (1890-1949) For a long time, cigarettes were insignificant compared to plug and chewing tobacco and cigars. However, with ATC’s unrelenting emphasis on scale and efficiency, the cigarette category grew rapidly. From 1910 to 1921, total industry cigarette volumes increased 5x. From 1910 to 1949, volumes increased 35x. Per Capita Consumption in Pounds of Various Tobacco Products (1904-1953) Cigarettes were a minor part of all tobacco products for several generations. It wasn’t until the 1920s that cigarettes overtook chewing tobacco, smoking tobacco, and cigars, on a per capita basis in the United States. Profitability of American Tobacco Company (1890-1908)…","meta_description":"Welcome to Episode 35 of the Preferred Shares Podcast. This podcast is the second and final part on our series on the American Tobacco Company and the fou…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3217,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/preferred-shares-podcast-6594967/episodes/duke-dynasty-the-legacy-of-the-american-tobacco-monopoly-part-two/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/preferred-shares-podcast-6594967/duke-dynasty-the-legacy-of-the-american-tobacco-monopoly-part-two.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}