Conglomerates aren't a strictly optimal form of organization. They are more resilient, but they are also massively bureaucratic and can lose their focus. They m

Conglomerates aren't a strictly optimal form of organization. They are more resilient, but they are also massively bureaucratic and can lose their focus. They may also be able to exert a disproportionate amount of leverage on vendors and suppliers. I'm not saying infinitely asset-light companies are strictly superior either. I'm saying there's no silver bullet or free lunch here. If you look at it from one layer above, capital markets that enable the continuous recycling of corporate structures into smaller or larger as needed are more resilient than those in which company structures are ossified. Of course not every deal is for the better. But no M&A isn't good either. Speaking as a former Wall St M&A banker.