WD-40 Recipe is more closely guarded than Coca-Cola's

Read this really interesting article in the WSJ this morning.

WD-40 might be one of the most secretive companies on the planet.

Their formula is so tightly guarded that even the head of R&D has never seen it. The handwritten notebook with the full recipe lives in a bank vault, only leaves under extreme security, and has been viewed by maybe a handful of executives in decades. Think NDAs, armored transport, keys held by the company’s top lawyer, the whole thing.

Wired Magazine was able to figure out the ingredients in a lab, but that's like knowing Coca-Cola is carbonated water, caramel color, and sugar (not enough to replicate).

Meanwhile, WD-40 still generates roughly 80 percent of company revenue from that original formula, and users keep discovering new uses faster than the company can track them.

Berkshire Hathaway owns Lubrizol... I'm quite surprised that they do not own WD-40.

A simple product. Massive brand power. Extreme secrecy. And a moat that has lasted over 70 years.

I'd like to study them more, I feel like with how much M&A activity is kicking up, WD-40 is a business.