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☆ Explainer: Why First Republic Bank failed and what JPMorgan's deal means
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Lawrence Delevingne | Thomson Reuters | Delevingne Works Primarily On Enterprise Stories Related To Finance. He Joined Reuters In | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

May 1 (Reuters) - The focus of the U.S. regional banking crisis turned on First Republic Bank in late March after the wealthy clients it courted to fuel its breakneck growth began pulling their deposits. The failure of First Republic, which said last week it had first-quarter outflows of more than $100 billion, marks the demise of a third major U.S. bank in just two months, after Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank . Merrill Lynch acquired the bank in 2007 but First Republic was listed on the stock market again in 2010 after being sold by Merrill's new owner, Bank of America. WHAT THE JPMORGAN DEAL MEANSJPMorgan said that under its deal First Republic's 84 offices in eight U.S. states would reopen as branches of JPMorgan Chase Bank from Monday, so customers of the failed bank will be dealing with the giant financial group instead. The biggest U.S. bank will get even bigger as a result of the deal for most of First Republic's assets.

☆ Crypto is either dead in the water or about to notch new records as soon as next year - it depends on who you ask
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Max Adams | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

You can scroll a bit further down for the market's reaction to the stunning Tucker Carlson announcement, but for today, we're turning our attention to crypto. If you ask Chamath Palihapitiya, that's because crypto crossed the wrong people and now it's dead, at least in the US. While crypto may be "dead in America," bitcoin is still going to $100,000. The housing market is close to bottoming and that could stave off a bad recession. That's according to Morgan Stanley, which wrote in a research note that housing is linked to broader business cycles.

☆ 'Crypto is dead in America,' says longtime bitcoin bull Chamath Palihapitiya
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Mackenzie Sigalos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

"Crypto is dead in America," Palihapitiya said in the latest episode of the All-In podcast. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler has said crypto trading platforms should abide by strict U.S. securities laws. "You had Gensler even blaming the banking crisis on crypto," Palihapitiya said. The SEC has ramped up its enforcement of the crypto industry, bearing down on companies and projects that the regulator alleges were selling unregistered securities. In early 2021, Palihapitiya predicted on CNBC that bitcoin would rise from $39,000 at the time to $100,000 and then up to $200,000.

☆ 'Crypto is dead in America' as US regulators target the sector for threatening the establishment, Chamath Palihapitiya says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Filip De Mott | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Crypto is paying the price for challenging the establishment, Chamath Palihapitiya said. "Crypto is dead in America," the so-called SPAC King said recently on the All-In podcast. "Crypto is dead in America," Palihapitiya said. Recent examples of the SEC's enforcement efforts include a February proposal to stop investment advisors from trading in crypto, and the threat of legal action against a number of Coinbase products. Meanwhile, Palihapitiya also lamented the SEC's enforcement rationale, claiming that it is excessively targeting a company that has a history of being regulation-friendly.

☆ Clover Health, which bet its technology would disrupt health insurance, will outsource health-plan operations and cut jobs to help it turn a profit
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Clover Health bet its technology would disrupt health insurance, but it's struggled with losses. Now it's cutting jobs and it plans to outsource some health-plan operations to lower its costs. Clover Health, an insurance upstart that bet its technology could transform healthcare for seniors, now plans to outsource basic functions like paying medical claims. The Tennessee-based health insurer said Monday that it will shift the responsibility of its core operations to UST HealthProof, a company that handles administrative operations for health plans. It's not unusual for small health insurers to outsource some health-plan operations.

☆ Fears that the US dollar will collapse are nonsense, and doomsayers are often hawking gold, investment chief says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-15 | by ( Filip De Mott | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Dollar collapse fears are bogus as the greenback can't be replaced anytime soon, Brad McMillan said. A lot of the talk is often from doomsayers trying to push gold, Commonwealth Financial's CIO said. The dollar "is not only the established choice and, in most cases, the smart choice, but it is the only choice." "Frankly, a lot of the talk is nonsense designed to panic you into buying something the doomsters are trying to sell, often gold," he wrote. "As far as the markets are concerned, the dollar is still where it has always been.

☆ Chamath Palihapitiya was supposed to be the next Warren Buffett. Then interest rates spiked.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-09 | by ( Matthew Fox | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Chamath Palihapitiya was dubbed the "next Warren Buffett" after a series of successful bets in 2019 and 2020. Palihapitiya even compared his returns to Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway in his annual letters. The dealmaking prowess of Palihapitiya sparked comparisons that his Social Capital investment vehicle was essentially a baby Berkshire Hathaway. Even Palihapitiya himself, who has called Buffett an inspiration, compared his investment returns to the early returns of Berkshire Hathaway in his annual shareholder letters. Palihapitiya addressed the destruction in value seen across technology companies in Social Capital's 2022 investment letter.

☆ How First Republic's courtship of the wealthy led to meltdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Lawrence Delevingne | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

March 27 (Reuters) - First Republic Bank (FRC.N) became the epicenter of the U.S. regional banking crisis after the wealthy clients it courted to fuel its breakneck growth started withdrawing deposits and left the bank reeling. Reuters GraphicsFor years, First Republic lured high net-worth customers with preferential rates on mortgages and loans. Morgan Stanley analysts estimated a deposit outflow of nearly half of total deposits according to a March 20 note. First Republic's loan book and investment portfolio also became less valuable as interest rates rose, which is hampering a capital raise. "Wealthy customers were drawn to First Republic in part because they could get large mortgages at rock-bottom interest rates," said McCoy.

☆ Michael Klausner, the SPAC boom's chief naysayer, is trying to prevent another frenzy for good
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Darius Rafieyan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Stanford Law professor Michael Klausner is suing a SPAC sponsor, claiming it misled investors. Michael Klausner, the Stanford Law professor who has become the chief critic of the SPAC boom, remembers the exact moment he realized SPACs were broken. It was 2017 – way before the investment vehicles took off in 2020 – and he was teaching a class on business transactions at Stanford Law School. In addition to getting all their money back with interest, they also get 20% of the final public company. Klausner was thrust into the role of being the SPAC boom's resident Cassandra, warning of calamity but never taken seriously.

MIAMI, Feb 2 (Reuters) - The mood at the annual 'Miami hedge fund week' gatherings this week was as bright as the winter sunshine, with one notable dark cloud on the 2023 horizon: U.S. stocks. But right now in the hedge fund and alternative market investor community, reluctance to get sucked in is trumping fear of missing out. And there is no shortage of reasons why - inflation, weak earnings, squeezed margins, recession, 'higher for longer' interest rates. Despite massive Fed tightening and the prospect of liquidity drying up significantly this year, investors see opportunities out there. This suggests equity investors are betting heavily on the Fed successfully engineering a 'soft landing' - possible, but far from certain.

☆ The era of health insurance disruptors is over
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Today, they're mostly the poster children of just how challenging it is to break into the insurance industry. Clover Health; Bright Health; Oscar Health; Olivia Reaney/Business InsiderOscar, founded in 2012, and Bright, in 2015, set out to sell health plans to people buying coverage through the Affordable Care Act marketplace. Elevance Health, the parent company of Anthem health plans, is No. Health insurance remains overly complex and mind-numbingly frustrating. Established health insurers haven't been able to stem the rise in health costs, which are mostly determined by the prices for medical care.

☆ 11 podcasts that busy venture capitalists and founders say they trust right now
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( Robin Madell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Investors at JetBlue Ventures, Mighty Capital, and other VC firms shared their favorite podcasts. Another recommendation is "Origins" by partners at the biotech VC firm Notation Capital. Here are 11 great options, recommended by VCs, founders, CEOs, and other industry insiders. "The main thing about the VC world is building relationships, and Harry is an example of a great networker," Gershfeld said. "BTC is the single-most important asset in the world, and that podcast gets to the heart of why that is."

☆ Apple and Google are both at their biggest risk of disruption in over a decade
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Matt Weinberger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

This year, Apple and Google will both face their first real tests in a very long time. Apple could finally open its walled garden, potentially disrupting the App Store juggernaut. Google has spent the last decade-plus guarding its advertising business; Apple has built as many moats around its all-important iPhone business as possible, happily collecting App Store fees and Apple Music subscriptions. Let's look at how this is finally the year that Apple and Google will face their most meaningful competition yet. If the App Store opens up and the iPhone doesn't become a toxic hellstew, perhaps Apple will reconsider its approach.

☆ Everything you need to know about the M&A market for 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

After a long, cold dealmaking season, insiders are hoping to the market begin to thaw this year. So Insider's Carter Johnson spoke to six M&A bankers about what to expect this year. And while it's true sellers could always try and wait out the market, there's no gurantee of when things can get better. Click here to read more about what to keep an eye out for in the M&A market this year. This is what we know about the man some once considered to be a potential successor to CEO James Gorman.

☆ Amid the rise of ChatGPT and other AI chatbots, venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya thinks Google Search will be the biggest loser of 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Lakshmi Varanasi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

On the business podcast All-In, Palihapitiya said Google Search will be the biggest business loser of 2023. Amid the rise of chatbots like ChatGPT, Palihapitiya said more companies will engineer competitive search engines. The All-In podcast is a business podcast co-hosted by four tech industry veterans — PayPal COO David Sacks, investor David Friedberg, entrepreneur Jason Calacanis, and Palihapitiya. However, Palihapitiya doesn't think that ChatGPT is the only reason Google's search business might be on shaky grounds this year. With enough time and money, Palihapitiya said companies like Microsoft, Oracle, "Chinese internet companies," and even Facebook could be potential competitors to Google search.

☆ Nasdaq closes out its first four-quarter slump since dot-com crash
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Ari Levy | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

The only other negative four-quarter stretch in the Nasdaq's five-decade history was in 1983-84, when the video game market crashed. watch nowOther than 2008, the only other year worse for the Nasdaq was 2000, when the dot-com bubble burst and the index sank 39%. Numerous companies went bankrupt, most notably crypto exchange FTX, which collapsed after reaching a $32 billion valuation earlier in the year. In total, Nasdaq companies have shed close to $9 trillion in value this year, according to FactSet. At its peak in 2000, Nasdaq companies were worth about $6.6 trillion in total, and proceeded to lose about $5 trillion of that by the time the market bottomed in October 2002.

☆ Elon Musk laughed when asked about Twitter layoffs and said a focus on working hard 'was not Twitter's prior culture' before he took over
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Musk spoke about his "roller coaster" first two months at Twitter on the "All-In Podcast." When asked how he decided who to lay off, Musk laughed before saying that "exceptional" staff should stay on. Venture capitalist and podcast cohost Chamath Palihapitiya asked Musk how he decided what "the efficient frontier of employees" needed to be to make Twitter better. He noted that staff also needed to be "up for working hard," adding that that wasn't part of Twitter's "prior culture." Other Twitter workers, meanwhile, chose to quit their jobs, saying Musk had changed the company's culture and they were worried about the site's future.

☆ Chamath Palihapitiya says he's faced privacy concerns over jet-tracking like Elon Musk, and would consider ditching flying private for something 'more anonymous'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Chamath Palihapitiya said he's dealt with privacy concerns similar to Elon Musk's jet-tracking. Palihapitiya said the question for him was whether or not to switch to "more anonymous" transportation. Thousands of commercial and private flights around the world are public and can be found on online tracker ADS-B Exchange. In a Twitter Space Thursday night with suspended journalists and Sweeney, Musk reiterated his point that accounts who "dox" people will be suspended. The journalists pushed back on the characterization that they had participated in any doxing, and Musk eventually left the conversation.

☆ 2023 is shaping up to be a big year for dealmaking in live sports. Here's why.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Big deals for the big (and little) screen. Next year is shaping up to be a big one for media deals. Like many other industries, media quickly turned quiet on the dealmaking front this year as the economy soured. However, a stabilization of interest rates, along with money burning a hole in investors' pockets, could lead to a big 2023, insiders say. The landscape for media deals is fascinating when you consider the two opposing forces, as Lucia pointed out to me.

☆ SPAC king Chamath Palihapitiya says the Fed crushed the bubble in blank-check firms, and swears he's not responsible for the poor performance of companies he took public
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Jennifer Sor | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Chamath Palihapitiya said he isn't responsible for the poor performance of so-called blank check companies. Instead, the venture capitalist blamed Fed policy for causing the market rout this year, according to his recent interview with the NYT. He used SPACs to bring 10 businesses public, including Virgin Galactic, Opendoor, and his own SPAC in 2017, Social Capital. That was a "perverted" and "distorted" marketplace created by the Fed, he said earlier this year, criticizing the low interest rates that allowed speculation and SPAC companies to take hold of investors. But the Fed has raised interest rates 375 basis points so far this year in a scramble to rein in inflation.

☆ SPAC Sponsors Used to Win at Investors’ Expense. Now Both Are Losing.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Jon Sindreu | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Buying stock in a firm going public through a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company is usually a terrible idea. But, in a damning development, SPACs may not be great for those launching them either. So far in 2022, there have been 48 SPAC liquidations, and another 40 are planned for before the end of the year, fresh data by SPAC Research shows. Buyout stars such as Alec Gores and Chamath Palihapitiya have recently said they would return billions to investors. Until recently, liquidations were rare.

☆ Health-insurance upstart Clover touted enormous revenues from a new federal program to boost its Chamath Palihapitiya-backed SPAC deal. Now it's slashing its participation after results that one analy
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Clover Health bet big on a controversial new Medicare program with a huge revenue opportunity. Clover Health is slashing its footprint in a key federal program that the health-insurance upstart has bet big on since 2021. The direct-contracting program aims to lower costs for Medicare by changing up how doctors caring for traditional Medicare patients are paid. But Clover lost money during the first year of the program. This article was initially published on November 8 and has been updated with information about Clover's performance in the direct-contracting program in 2021.

☆ Tech's reality check: How the industry lost $7.4 trillion in one year
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Rohan Goswami | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +14 min

Not one of the 15 most valuable U.S. tech companies has generated positive returns in 2021. In total, investors have lost roughly $7.4 trillion, based on the 12-month drop in the Nasdaq. In the war for talent and the free flow of capital, tech pay reached new heights. Loading chart...SPACs allowed companies that didn't quite have the profile to satisfy traditional IPO investors to backdoor their way onto the public market. A slowing IPO market informs how earlier-stage investors behave, said David Golden, managing partner at Revolution Ventures in San Francisco.

☆ Chamath Palihapitiya said Sam Bankman-Fried once pitched him, but after the investor suggested changes like forming a board, FTX told him to get lost
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Sam Bankman-Fried once pitched Social Capital, but Chamath Palihapitiya said he "didn't make much sense." After the Zoom meeting, the firm sent FTX recommendations if things were to proceed, including the formation of a board. Palihapitiya said that FTX then told his firm to "go fuck yourself" for suggesting changes. He said Bankman-Fried pitched Social Capital while raising a $17 billion round. Palihapitiya said he still thought Bankman-Fried and FTX were in "the bucket of these guys are unbelievably arrogant and smug."

☆ The 'next Warren Buffett' curse: Sam Bankman-Fried is the latest market icon to fall after being compared to the legendary investor
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Matthew Fox | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The Warren Buffett curse is alive and well following the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried and his crypto exchange FTX. Fortune magazine asked if Bankman-Fried was the next Warren Buffett in an August profile. Fortune put Bankman-Fried on the front page of its August issue, asking readers if he was in fact the next Warren Buffett? Several of Palihapitiya's SPAC companies soared in value amid the SPAC boom of 2020 and the early months of 2021. Palihapitiya was often compared to Buffett by market participants, and Brown called the investor "the new Buffett" on a podcast in January 2021.

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