Let’s say you were playing the game of big-money capitalism and you wanted to create a portfolio of holdings that were not only self-serving, but also infinitely scalable with little to no capital leakage to partners or suppliers. Meanwhile, you wanted to touch everything from supply to transaction to retail, reaping profits at every link in the chain. What would you buy?
Chances are, you’d buy the same things that Delek Holdings ($DK) has.
The Texas-based holding company recently posted more than 1,000 job openings, most in the retail sector. That’s because Delek owns:
- oil refineries
- logistics companies that transport oil and gasoline
- asphalt manufacturing
- biodiesel fuel manufacturing plants
- Alon gas stations
- several hundred 7-11 Locations that also just happen to sell the gas they make.
So - from supply to retail - Delek runs the full gamut, from the dead dinosaur to your gas tank to your Slurpee supply.
Here’s the data: On December 2017, Delek job openings shot from 89 to 1,318 by December 30. Most of those openings are in retail 7-11 establishments that also include Alon gas stations, along with a smattering of logistics and operations positions.
Chances are this is due to acquisition of the 7-11 Alon locations, but it certainly put Delek on our radar. To be fair, they were hiring an awful lot of people last spring, so this could be a seasonal thing. That said, there's no doubting the fascinating full circle that this company is running, in some Ayn Randian sort of "own it all" fantasy mega-holding company.
So the next time someone asks you, “What’s the perfect business model?” The answer could be something like Delek: Own your supply, own your logistics, and own your distribution and retail channels.
