About
Who makes this, and how we know what we say
Who we are
Deal Autopsies is made by Unknot Partners.
Unknot builds the models, reports and tools that businesses run on, from deal and investment models to research and teaching modules.
Each autopsy takes one famous deal and rebuilds it from the public record, so you can see the numbers, check the working, and argue with the price.
It is for learning and discussion. It is not investment advice.
How numbers are sourced
01
Public sources only
We use company and regulatory filings, press releases, and reporting from reputable outlets. Nothing private, nothing leaked, nothing behind a promise of confidentiality.
02
Every number is tagged
Reported means a source states the number, and the page links to it. Estimated means we worked it out from numbers that are reported, and the page says how in one line.
03
We never invent a number
If we cannot find it or work it out from public figures, we leave it out and say so. A gap is more useful to you than a guess dressed up as a fact.
04
Conflicts are shown, not hidden
When sources disagree, we pick the most direct one (a filing over a news report, a report from the time over a later retelling) and note the other version.
05
Our own words
We paraphrase our sources and link to them. We do not copy their text.
06
Dollars first
Amounts are in US dollars. Where an Indian source gives rupees, we show its rupee figure next to the dollar one, exactly as the source gave it.
How the maths works
- Multiple
- Money out divided by money in. It ignores time: doubling your money in one year and in ten years are both 2x.
- IRR (internal rate of return)
- The yearly return that makes money in and money out balance once timing is counted. We work it out from dated cash flows exactly as Excel's XIRR does: days between flows divided by 365.
- Implied valuation
- The price paid divided by the stake bought. It is the value of the whole company that the deal implies.
- Paper value
- Where an investor kept shares, we count them at a stated valuation and label that flow as paper value, not cash.
Every calculation on an autopsy page has a "Show the working" panel with each step in words and in numbers. The downloadable workbook rebuilds the same calculations with live Excel formulas, and its Checks sheet compares each answer with the page.
Spotted an error?
Tell us through unknotpartners.com with the number, the page, and a better source. We will check it against the source and fix the page if we got it wrong.