Letter No. 1 — The Founding Letter
The First Principles of Capital
By Michael C. Jakob — Founder & Chief Investment Officer
January 2026
To our partners, colleagues, and friends,
This is the first annual letter in the history of Atlas Capital.
It marks not just a beginning for our firm, but a statement of purpose — a declaration of what we believe capital is for.
I. Why Atlas Exists
Capital is the purest expression of human judgment.
Every allocation — a trade, a loan, an investment — is a decision about what the future should look like.
For too long, capital has been treated as a spectator sport.
Funds chase momentum, trade symbols instead of substance, and measure success in quarters, not decades.
Atlas was founded to restore a lost art: the long-term, principled allocation of capital toward civilization's next frontiers.
Our mission is to build the most disciplined and intelligent capital machine in the world — one capable of compounding wealth and progress across generations.
II. The Year in Reflection
2025 was a year defined by paradox.
Markets soared even as global uncertainty deepened.
AI reshaped industries faster than regulators could define them.
Energy, data, and intelligence — the three pillars of progress — converged into a single competitive race among nations and firms.
Through it all, Atlas held its course.
We ignored volatility and focused on quality, patience, and process.
Our capital was deployed into businesses with real earnings, tangible moats, and leadership grounded in first principles.
We believe the next decade will not be won by those who trade faster, but by those who think clearer.
III. The Philosophy of Allocation
Our framework rests on three convictions:
Truth compounds.
Markets are not perfect, but they are the best system humanity has ever built for revealing truth over time.
Quality endures.
A business that can earn high returns on capital for decades is rarer — and more valuable — than any temporary trend.
Progress is moral.
Investing in innovation, in productivity, and in civilization's forward motion is not just profitable — it is right.
We allocate where these three intersect:
at the crossroads of truth, quality, and progress.
IV. The Atlas Method
We study industries the way historians study civilizations — seeking patterns of resilience and leverage.
We value companies not by the next quarter's earnings, but by the next century's endurance.
Atlas is designed to compound over 100+ years.
We optimize for longevity, culture, and discipline.
Every process, every model, every relationship is built to outlive us.
Our portfolio today reflects that ambition:
technology, infrastructure, and intelligence — the core forces shaping the next industrial age.
V. The Long View
Great civilizations fall not from lack of intelligence, but from misallocation of capital.
When resources chase consumption instead of creation, decline begins.
Our duty is to resist that entropy.
The next century will be defined by those who allocate well —
those who finance knowledge, energy, and the tools of abundance.
That is the work of Atlas.
And we will pursue it with the patience of investors and the conviction of builders.
To our partners
Thank you for your trust, your time horizon, and your shared belief in disciplined compounding.
The road ahead will be long, and that is precisely why it is worth walking.
Respectfully,
Michael C. Jakob
Founder & Chief Investment Officer
Atlas Capital Management