Episode 002 · Weight loss

Ozempic Didn't Kill Weight Watchers. It Might Save It.

A coach sets out a circle of folding chairs in a hired hall before a meeting

In one February, Weight Watchers borrowed $1.5 billion and paid $779 million of it to a single shareholder. The drug arrived nine years later.

In 2024, the average WeightWatchers subscription cost about $17 a month. $2.50 of that went to lenders. None of it went to the coaches, the app, or the rented rooms where the workshops happened. It went to interest, on money the company borrowed and spent on something no member ever saw.

WeightWatchers filed for bankruptcy in May 2025, and the reason everybody gives is Ozempic. Ozempic is real, and it did take the members. It is also the second time this happened. The first time was nine years before the drug existed. Continue reading

Cars queue into an express car wash tunnel

Episode 001 · Car washes

How Rent Broke America's Car Wash Boom

Driven Brands sold 382 car washes for $385 million. The rent that came with them was $812 million.

A wall of filing cabinet drawers with one drawer pulled open to show its files

The paper trailEach episode takes a business you know and follows the money through what it actually filed. About Open Books

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