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Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup, xAI, aims to secure $1 billion in equity financing to compete with industry leaders such as OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google. The company, co-founded by Musk, has already garnered $135 million from investors, as revealed in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
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Madison Dearborn Partners Eyes Eighth Fund, Sets $4.5 Billion Goal
Madison Dearborn Partners, a Chicago-based private equity giant, is launching its eighth fund. The company wants to raise $4.5 billion. The figure would top the $4.4 billion it raised for its a fund just three years ago.
Bitcoin Options to be Highly Popular with Asian Traders, Miners: CME Group
CME Group’s forthcoming launch of Bitcoin options will likely be lapped up by Asian crypto players.
Asian crypto traders and miners, along with European speculators and hedgers, already account for nearly half of the trading of CME’s bitcoin futures product. Bitcoin options, used along with futures, would allow these players to fine-tune the management of their exposure and risk to the cryptocurrency.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg Will Testify Before House Financial Services Committee
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will testify before Congress about his firm’s cryptocurrency project. Zuckerberg will speak before the House financial services committee on the launch of Libra.
Blackstone Sells Last Building from Famous 2007 Real Estate Deal
The Wall Street Journal says that Blackstone has sold the last office building it purchased in 2007. The building was part of their $39 billion purchase of Equity Office Properties Trust. That purchase was the largest real estate deal in history.
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.
PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor: VC Investing Declined in Third Quarter
PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor released its examination of venture capital flows for the third quarter of 2019. The report says that American VC shops invested $28.2 billion in 2,265 transactions during the quarter. This figure suggested a continued decline in deal flow among venture capitalists.
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.
#Fuelherfuture: Crowdfunding Platform Kiva Hits $1 Billion In Lending to Female Entrepreneurs
Crowdfunding loans platform Kiva celebrates the $1 billion mark in lending to women entrepreneurs with a tie-up with Pepsi.
Kiva, the crowdfunding loans platform, created a new initiative, #FuelHerFuture with Pepsi. From October 7 to October 13, 2019, Pepsi will provide a credit of $25 to anyone who makes a loan on the Kiva platform. The credit must be utilized to lend to a female borrower of their choice.
Federal Reserve’s Harker: The Fed Will Have a Digital Currency (One Day)
Digital currency may come to the Federal Reserve in the future. Philadelphia Federal Reserve President Patrick Harker expects that the U.S. central bank will begin issuing a digital currency.
John McAfee Invents Something on Blockchain
McAfeeDex is poised to launch on Monday. Bitcoin advocate John McAfee announced the launch of his latest crypto project on Friday.
Elizabeth Warren: Everything is Wrong with Private Equity, Everything
The “Elizabeth Warren War on Private Equity” hit a new stride after the Democratic candidate took aim at PE firms that own or back for-profit colleges. Recently, Senator Warren (D-Mass) and Representative Mark Pocan (D-Wisc.) co-signed a 30-page letter to six private equity firms about investment in these colleges. The Democrats asked several questions about the schools’ marketing, tuition costs, federal aid practices, profits, graduation rates, and related legal actions.
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…
Finablr And Samsung Pay Announce New Fintech Money Transfer Service
For the first time in the US, a Samsung Pay user can transfer money internationally to 47 countries using their mobile.
Finablr, a UK-based and listed fintech, has partnered with Samsung Electronics to offer secure cross-border payments within Samsung Pay, the native mobile wallet. The consumer simply initiates the Money Transfer tool inside the app.
State Street on Blockchain: The Trickle of Digital Assets Will Soon Turn Into A Flood
State Street, the huge custody bank which holds assets of over $30 trillion, may soon see a flood of blockchain-based digital assets. According to Jay Biancamano, State Street’s head of digital assets and blockchain in capital markets, historically illiquid assets may soon use the blockchain to become more liquid.
The DailyAlts Playbook – October 3, 2019
Today, the DailyAlts Playbook talks Trump tariffs on the things we love, Libra’s woes, the ESG Gold Rush, and a special lunch with Bill Ackman.
The Dow was flat on Thursday and unable to get any footing after a massive downturn yesterday. The markets continue to raise concerns about economic data and growth while monitoring ongoing trade developments. With trade dominating the headlines, let’s dive into the two related stories driving sentiment.
Why McAfee Expects Bitcoin to Touch $1 Million by 2020
John McAfee explains in a Forbes interview why he thinks Bitcoin will climb to $1 million by 2020.
McAfee’s bitcoin prediction, famously made in 2017, is still alive and kicking despite the stomach-wrenching volatility in the value of the cryptocurrency.
John McAfee is a colorful tech personality who founded computer firm McAfee Associates. He is also a 2020 United States presidential campaigner.
Liquid Alternatives: Schroders’ GAIA Platform Launches Nuveen’s US Equity Strategies
Investors outside the US may now access Nuveen’s US equity long-short and equity market neutral strategies through Schroders.
Schroders and Nuveen have tied-up to offer two new funds on the Schroders UCITS GAIA platform.
The funds, Schroder GAIA Nuveen Equity Market Neutral and Schroder GAIA Nuveen Equity Long-Short funds focus on large-cap US equities. Further, they offer the added advantage of daily liquidity without a performance fee.
Artificial Intelligence: Novartis And Microsoft Team Up to Transform Global Medicine
Novartis announced its plan for founding the Novartis AI innovation lab in collaboration with Microsoft as the AI and data-science partner. The Novartis-Microsoft alliance will “reimagine medicine” and boost Novartis’ AI capabilities. The new lab will discover and develop transformative medicine for patients globally.
SEC Extends EGC Rule, Modernizes ETF Rules
The SEC announced Wednesday it had adopted new rules that extend the “test-the-waters” accommodation.
Burning Through Cash, WeWork Turns to Goldman
Is WeWork running out of money? According to Bloomberg, WeWork (or We Co.) burning through the green stuff at a torrid pace.
EQT Partners Stock Pops 25% in Debut
The markets are cheering the IPO of the private equity firm. EQT Partners stock surged more than 25% on the first day of trading in Stockholm. The firm now has a valuation of more than $8 billion. Private equity firms have sometimes struggled to gain investor acceptance. Perhaps this is a sign that investors are…
As Losses Pile Up, Woodford Fund Suspension Extended By 28 Days
The Woodford Equity Income Fund is bleeding but remains suspended.
Fund administrator Link Fund Solutions confirmed the Woodford fund suspension would continue for another 28 days regardless of losses.
After completing the fourth 28-day review, Link said it had decided that it “remains in the interests of all investors for the suspension of dealings to continue.”
Activist Investors Push Out eBay CEO Devin Wenig
CEO cites disagreements with his board as activist pressures intensify Activist investors have pushed out CEO Devin Wenig. In a Tweet marked Wednesday, Wenig cited disagreements with fellow board members over the company’s future. “In the past few weeks it became clear that I was not on the same page as my new Board,” he…
Revisiting the End of an Era at Blackstone Group
The departure of Bennett Goodman will reverberate across the company for years. The Bennett Goodman era comes to a close as the co-founder of GSO Capital Partners is stepping down. Along with J. Albert Smith III and Douglas Ostrover, Goodman founded GSO in 2005 and sold the operations to Blackstone in 2010. During that time,…