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British fintech startup Fly No Pay Later’s innovative and quite literally “grab your bags and go” product allows travelers to pay for their trip over up to 12 months. Once travel restrictions ease, travelers eyeing mouth-watering flight and hotel offers, therefore, have no excuse. Unsurprisingly, Fly Now Pay Later found investors out there who were willing to bet $43 million on its product for the virus-battered, given-up-for-dead travel industry.
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Venture Capital: The Kobe in “Bryant Stibel & Co”
Kobe Bryant was a legendary basketball player and star. Until his untimely death in a helicopter crash on Sunday, it was not commonly known that he was also a successful businessman who ran a venture capital firm.
Bryant Stibel & Co, the VC firm Kobe founded in 2013 with Jeff Stibel, is said to hold more than $2 billion in assets.
ESG: Lately-turned Tesla Bull Jim Cramer Adds Fink To The Mix
Larry Fink’s emotionally charged plug for ESG ticks all the investment boxes for Tesla.
According to Cramer, electric car maker Tesla could be a beneficiary of BlackRock’s new-found love for everything ESG.
Byron Wien And Joe Zidle Release Their Ten Surprises for 2020
Byron Wien, Vice Chairman of Blackstone Group, and Joe Zidle, Chief Investment Strategist in the Private Wealth Solutions group, released a list of “Ten Surprises for 2020.”
SIFMA: US Economy Will Expand in 2020 But at a Moderate Pace
SIFMA’s bi-annual survey compiles economic focus from its Roundtable members, the chief US economists of over 20 global and regional financial institutions. SIFMA’s 2019 End-Year US Economic Survey forecasts US GDP growth for 2020 at 1.8%, down 0.1% from the June Survey. “Despite the markdown in 2020 GDP growth, the economy still expected to expand at a moderate pace,” said Ellen Zentner, a Managing Director and Chief U.S. Economist for Morgan Stanley. She is also the chair of SIFMA’s Economic Advisory Roundtable.
Research from Preqin Shows Funds Lost $34.4 Billion in Q3
Research from Preqin shows that the hedge fund industry lost $34.4 billion in the third quarter. This was the sixth-straight quarter that outflows outpaced inflows. That said, the strong performance across hedge fund strategies have bolstered AUM by 3.5% since the start of the year.
Prison For the Man Who Tried to Scam The Mooch
Premium Point Investments trader receives 40 months in prison for a mismarking scheme. Anthony Scaramucci has received justice from the firm that caused Skybridge Capital about a $79 million loss. Scaramucci’s fund of funds had sued Premium Point Investments on claims that the investment firm inflated the value of its hedge fund assets. Skybridge announced…
Icahn Capital, Berkshire Hathaway and the Battle Over Occidental
Icahn Capital and Berkshire Hathaway were among the asset managers to release 13Fs last week. While Warren Buffett boosted his stake over Occidental Petroleum, Carl Icahn faced a setback in his legal battle against the company.
Mitsui Fudosan Scores Facebook as Tenant at Hudson Yards
Facebook is moving to Hudson Yard, the single largest private real estate project in the United States. The social media giant will lease 30 floors and three buildings in the West Side neighborhood of Manhattan.
Billionaires’ Wealth Falls for First Time in Three Years
The richest people in the world saw their wealth decline in 2018 for the first time in three years. According to the UBS/PwC Billionaires’ Report, the selective class of billionaires saw their global wealth fall by $388 billion. Today, they control about $8.54 trillion in global wealth.
Does the Apple Card Like Women Less, or is it ‘black-box’ A.I.? DFS Investigating…
New York’s DFS, a financial regulator, will investigate whether the Apple Card differentiated between men and women over credit limits.
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has accused the Apple Card of gender bias by offering men higher credit limits compared to women. Wozniak found that his credit limit was 10X that of his wife, even though they both share banks and other credit cards.
Blackstone Group CEO Stephen Schwarzman Expects Trade Resolution
Blackstone Group CEO Stephen Schwarzman believes that the U.S. and China will reach an agreement on trade. The private equity chief said he expects “good faith” at the start of negotiations during an interview at a Reuters event in Manhattan.
Jeremy Corbyn Takes Shot at Crispin Odey
Jeremy Corbyn has launched his campaign for Prime Minister ahead of a December 12 snap election. The British Labour leader used his campaign launch to take shots at Crispin Odey. Corbyn accused the head of Odey Asset Management of being one of many “representatives of a rigged system.”
The Cost of Fisher’s Foot-in-Mouth: $2.6 Billion
Investors in Fisher Investments are heading for the exits after Ken Fisher’s lewd comments at a conference earlier this month.
The Employees Retirement System of Texas became the latest in a series of institutional investors to pull funds from Fisher Investments. The pension system is moving out $350 million in protest against Fisher’s sexist remarks against women at an October 8 conference.
Big Reveal by Dallas Fed President: Fed “Actively Looking at and Debating” a Digital Currency
In a significant disclosure, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Rob Kaplan said the Fed is “actively looking at and debating” issuance of a US digital currency. The Fed could be mulling a US digital currency on fears that an upstart cryptocurrency could gain global adoption. The new currency may dislodge the US dollar from…
Is a WeWork Bailout on Tap?
A WeWork bailout could be coming from JPMorgan or Softbank. Two weeks after the office-sharing giant pulled its IPO, its cash position has deteriorated. CNBC reports that the two banks are examining a plan to offer debt and equity to WeWork.
Hilton Grand Vacations Might Experience a Bidding War
Hilton Grand Vacations may soon experience a bidding war from two private equity titans. Apollo Management has reportedly made an offer for the Orlando0based timeshare company. Early reports suggest a price of $40 per share. Its competitor Blackstone may also make an offer for Hilton Grand Vacations.
KKR & Co Cuts IPO Price for Latitude Financial
KKR & Co and its investment partners will lower the IPO price for their Australian non-bank lender Latitude Financial. A Reuters report indicates that the private equity giant could drop the price by at least 11%. This is likely a disappointment for KKR & Co. and its partners Deutsche Bank and Varde Partners. This is the second attempt to list Latitude, which was set to go public this week.
Climate Change Protests in London: Activists Glue Themselves to BlackRock’s Doors
Climate change activists took on the world’s biggest financial institutions today, specifically BlackRock and the Bank of England, in London. They demanded the cessation of funding of a looming environmental crisis.
Ripple’s Blockchain to Support Finastra’s Cross-Border Payments
Enterprise blockchain provider and payment network Ripple has tied-up with giant fintech Finastra.
The latter’s users can utilize Ripple’s blockchain based network and its RippleNet partners for cross-border payments.
RippleNet, a global blockchain payments network, has over 200 financial institutions as its global partners. These entities will also have access to Finastra’s massive global network of banks.
Senators strong-arm Visa, Mastercard, and Stripe on Libra: “…expect a high level of scrutiny.”
Facebook’s Libra stablecoin project received another jolt when US Senators wrote an “or…else” letter to certain Libra Association members.
Senators Brian Schatz (D-HI) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) wrote to the CEOs of Visa, Mastercard, and Stripe, urging them to be wary of their participation in Facebook’s Libra Association.
SEC Rejects Bitcoin ETF Proposal from Bitwise
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rejected Bitwise Asset Management’s efforts to launch a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). The agency said that Bitwise’s proposal failed to meet legal requirements tied to market manipulation and other concerns. However, the SEC blamed NYSE Arca instead of Bitwise for the rejection.
US Blacklists Chinese AI Organizations Including Leading Startups
The US government punished China for its “repression” of Muslim minorities by blacklisting Chinese AI organizations and security bureaus.
In rather sensitive timing just ahead of high-level trade discussions in Washington this week, the US took a hard line on allegedly brutal suppression of ethnic minorities in China by banning certain Chinese AI startups.
Peter Thiel’s VC Firm is Suing “Winnie Cooper’s” Sister
Crystal McKellar played Becky Slater on The Wonder Years. Her older sister is Danica McKellar, who played Winnie Cooper. And today, she faces a breach of contract lawsuit from Peter Thiel’s Mithril Capital Management. Put on your seatbelt…