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00:00Did you know one of the world's richest men built his fortune by selling warships back to the same government he bought them from?
00:08Aristotle Onassis spotted the opportunity of a lifetime after World War II ended.
00:13The U.S. government was desperately trying to get rid of thousands of surplus liberty ships.
00:19These massive cargo vessels were just sitting in harbors, costing money to maintain.
00:24So Onassis swooped in and bought 100 ships for just $120,000 each.
00:31But here's the brilliant part.
00:33When the Korean War broke out three years later, the same government suddenly needed ships again.
00:38Onassis sold those exact same vessels back to them for over $1 million each.
00:44He turned 12 million into over 100 million in just three years.
00:49While others saw old warships, he saw floating gold mines.
00:52He created artificial scarcity by controlling supply, then watched prices explode.
00:59This single deal launched his $500 million shipping empire.
01:03Sometimes the biggest fortunes come from being in the right place when conflict creates opportunity.
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