Good morning! Warren Buffett penned his final shareholder letter as Greg Abel gets ready to take the reins as CEO. The Oracle of Omaha says he’s “going quiet” while ramping up his donations. Stocks surged with a government shutdown resolution in sight, with the Nasdaq jumping 2.2%.

PitchBook is rolling out a new integration that will let users access startup and investor data directly through ChatGPT. BlackRock is facing a 100% loss on a private loan to Renovo Home, adding to the contagion worries for private credit. Gen Z isn’t buying the dip, boomers are, and millennials are doubling down on alternatives.

Plus: How a 31-year-old made $250 million in 30 months, data centers in Nvidia’s hometown sit empty waiting for power, and how to fix your laptop-wrecked posture.

Explore insights from 746 finance leaders on how they're managing cash flow, fighting fraud, and scaling smarter payment systems in BILL’s State of B2B Payments report.

SQUEEZ OF THE DAY

Apollo’s Soccer Bet

Private equity is all in on professional sports, with NFL deals taking the spotlight so far in 2025. But yesterday, PE giant Apollo Global Management agreed to acquire a majority stake in Atlético Madrid in a deal valuing the La Liga team at about $2.5 billion. It’s one of the first big moves for its new sports and entertainment arm, Apollo Sports Capital.

For Apollo, the play isn’t just about the brand or winning matches; it’s about compounding assets. Atlético brings a global fan base, valuable real estate in Madrid, and an $870 million “Sports City” project wrapping around its Metropolitano Stadium. That gives Apollo a mix of sports, media, and property exposure that behaves more like infrastructure than a sports franchise.

Football clubs today are diversified media engines. Matchday revenue is just the icing on the cake; broadcast rights, sponsorships, licensing, and digital content are what investors like Apollo are really eyeing. Atlético’s 12 straight Champions League appearances have turned the club into a predictable cash-flow machine, with global visibility baked in.

Apollo Sports Capital launched earlier this year to professionalize how institutions invest in sports. The division targets control-oriented deals where Apollo can apply its favorite skill set, capital structure engineering, to squeeze out new revenue streams. Insiders call it a generational opportunity: private capital modernizing legacy ownership and scaling global fandom.

Private equity’s been circling Europe’s top clubs for years. Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly snagged Chelsea for $5 billion in 2022, and RedBird Capital picked up AC Milan for $1.2 billion. But Apollo’s move goes further, taking control instead of a minority stake, and betting on one of the few elite teams that actually turns a profit.

Takeaway: This isn’t about owning a soccer team, it’s about building an asset class. Apollo’s betting that sports can deliver the holy trinity of modern investing: real assets, recurring income, and cultural relevance. Even women’s soccer teams are getting in on the action, just last week, PE firm Monarch Collective took a 38% stake in Germany’s FC Viktoria Berlin.

PRESENTED BY BILL

State of B2B Payments Report 2025

If you're leading finance at a growing business, you're juggling a lot: fraud prevention, cash flow, operational efficiency, and trying to scale.

But, you're not alone. BILL recently surveyed more than 700 finance leaders and here's what stood out:

• 1 in 4 lost money to payments fraud last year

• 1 in 3 are bracing for cash flow challenges in the year ahead

• And 88% say digital payments platforms are essential to their ability to grow

One thing was clear: finance leaders are moving away from paper-heavy processes toward smarter, more secure systems. Digital payments are no longer a nice-to-have, but a critical tool for businesses. 

BILL pulled all the findings into a brand new State of B2B Payments report. If you're rethinking your payments stack or just want to see where your peers are headed, it's worth a look.

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HEADLINES

Top Reads

• Warren Buffett says he’s going quiet as he prepares to retire (NYP)

• Wall Street optimistic about end of shutdown (Axios)

• PitchBook rolls out AI navigation tool integrated with ChatGPT (CNBC)

• BlackRock faces 100% loss on private loan, reigniting valuation debate (BB)

• Gen-Z skipping the dip while Millennials buy (Axios)

• Millennials are piling into alternative assets from private credit to collectibles (CNBC)

• Permira nears deal to acquire London-listed fund administrator JTC Group (BB)

• Data centers in Nvidia’s hometown sit empty awaiting power connections (BB)

• Fed’s Miran says half-point December rate cut “appropriate,” minimum quarter-point likely (CNBC)

• Goldman turns overweight on India stocks as growth outlook brightens (BB)

• JPMorgan phone call set off Tricolor Auto bankruptcy domino effect (BB)

• Jim Chanos unwinds short on Strategy as stock and bitcoin premiums collapse (CNBC)

• Robinhood wants to let amateurs invest in AI startups (FT)

• Former Meta, Google raise $100 million in Majestic Labs new AI funding round (CNBC)

• CoreWeave’s stock slides on weak guidance even as revenue more than doubles (CNBC)

• Hedge funds ramp up crypto use following Trump’s regulatory easing push (BB)

• Goldman sees U.S. investors piling into Japan as Nikkei continues rally (BB)

CAPITAL PULSE

Markets Rundown

Market Update

• Stocks rallied as the Senate advanced a plan to end the record-long government shutdown

• S&P 500 gained over 1.5%, with mega-cap tech leading; Nasdaq rose 2.5%

• International markets were broadly higher, with gains across Europe and Asia

• 10-year Treasury yield rose slightly to 4.11% as bonds sold off

• Dollar weakened, while gold and oil both moved higher

Economic Data Highlights

• Shutdown breakthrough: Moderate Senate Democrats backed a deal to reopen the government

• Bill would fund some agencies through FY 2026, others through Jan 30, 2026

• Agreement includes backpay for furloughed workers and restoration of federal transfers

• Once reopened, agencies like BLS, BEA, Census will resume data releases, though data quality may be uneven due to imputation

• Shutdown-related economic drag should reverse into late 2025 and early 2026, though service disruptions could linger

Earnings Today

• Sea Limited (SE) – Watch for ecommerce margin trends and digital-payments momentum

• Oklo (OKLO) – Investors looking for reactor-deployment timelines and capital-spending updates

Movers & Shakers

• (+) Palantir ($PLTR) +9% after the ending shutdown could lead to tailwinds for the software company.

• (+) Nvidia ($NVDA) +6% because the shutdown may be over soon; strong meeting between Jensen Huang and TSMC.

• (–) Monday.com ($MNDY) -12% after the project management software company cut its guidance.

Prediction Markets

• How many rate cuts will we see in 2025?

• Trade on real-world events with Kalshi. Use code OWS to get a $10 bonus when you trade $10.

Private Dealmaking

• Investindustrial agreed to buy TreeHouse Foods for $2.9 billion

• Permira agreed to buy JTC for $2.9 billion

• Arcline agreed to acquire Novaria Group for $2.2 billion

• Rumble agreed to buy Northern Data for $970 million

• CoLab, a collaboration software maker for manufacturers, raised $72 million

• AirOps, an AI search marketing platform, raised $40 million

For more PE, VC & M&A deals, subscribe to our Buysiders newsletter.

BOOK OF THE DAY

Gilded Rage

Description: A sharp, investigative dive into the shifting ideology of Silicon Valley’s elite. Silverman maps how tech tycoons—from Elon Musk and Peter Thiel to their network of wealth and power—have moved beyond innovation to shaping politics, culture, and global influence. The result: a new interplay of tech, money, and radical ideology.

Book Length: 336 pages
Release Date: October 7, 2025

Ideal For: Tech watchers, policy analysts, business historians, and anyone trying to understand how money and innovation are reshaping power in the 21st century.

“These aren’t just technologists building tools—they’re oligarchs rewriting the rules of governance, influence, and belief.”

DAILY VISUAL

Demographic Headwinds in China

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DAILY ACUMEN

Power at the Root

The interesting thing about creatine is that it doesn’t make you stronger by targeting strength. It makes you stronger by upgrading the invisible fuel source inside every cell.

Better ATP production and suddenly your brain thinks faster, your mood steadies, your muscles recover quicker, and your energy lasts longer. One tiny change at the root shifts everything growing from it.

That principle shows up everywhere. People try to fix life at the branches. They chase hacks, switch routines, swap jobs, rewrite goals.

Meanwhile the people who win quietly upgrade their roots. They improve how they think, how they rest, how they learn, how they manage stress. They build a stronger foundation and let the results compound upward.

Creatine’s lesson is simple. The biggest gains come from the places most people never look.

ENLIGHTENMENT

Short Squeez Picks

• How to stop people pleasing at work

• The science of magnetism

• CEO on how running helped him find his footing

• How to let go when a new hire takes on your old responsibilities

• How to work on your laptop-wrecked posture

MEME-A-PALOOZA

Memes of the Day

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