The Motley Fool was founded in 1993 by brothers Tom and David Gardner. The same comes from a Shakespeare play where the Court Jester was the only person who could tell the truth to the Duke under the guise of comedy.
In 1994, The Motley Fool published a series of messages online promoting a nonexistent sewage-disposal company. The messages, which were an April Fool’s joke designed to teach a lesson about penny stock investing, garnered widespread attention, including an article in the Wall Street Journal.
In 2002, the company switched to a subscription-based online model which offered investment advice and discussion, the first of its kind.
In August 2018, the company launched a personal-finance sub-brand called The Ascent to provide personal finance product reviews and free educational resources.
In 2019, the company launched a cell phone app called Investor Island. Investor Island is a real-time strategy board game based on investing.
The Motley Fool often makes public suggestions about buying or selling certain stocks, such as Palantir and Vanguard.
The Motley Fool maintains a corporate office in Alexandria, Virginia.
Leave a Reply