Good Morning! OpenAI is in talks for a secondary share sale that could value the company at $500B, up from $80B last year. ESPN officially acquired NFL Network, RedZone, and the NFL’s digital assets. In return, the NFL gets a 10% stake in ESPN.

Trump says JPMorgan and BofA dropped him as a client after he left the White House. Former X CEO Linda Yaccarino wasted no time in finding a job, and was announced as the new CEO of eMed.

Wall Street bonuses are expected to come in higher this year: equity traders could see +30% jump, fixed income +10–20%, and bankers flat to +5%. College endowments over $500M are also having a strong year, with a median return of 11.5% through June, their best since 2021.

Plus: Morgan Stanley, DB, and Evercore warn the S&P 500 is due for a correction, Super Micro fell 16% after hours on weak earnings, and a new social app replaces your username with your net worth.

Learn equity comp strategies from 2,000+ PE-backed companies in Carta’s new PE Executive Equity Report. Download it here.

SQUEEZ OF THE DAY

BofA Joins the War on Early Exits

Investment banks have been cracking down on private equity recruiting, and it looks like the pressure is working. PE megafunds like Apollo, KKR, and TPG have paused early recruiting efforts for banking analysts.

Now, Bank of America is the latest to take a hard line, joining Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Citi, and Morgan Stanley in trying to reassert control over the career trajectories of junior bankers.

BofA’s newly enforced policy requires investment banking analysts to disclose any outside job offers within one week of accepting them. Fail to do so, and they face termination. And if analysts report their offers, they will likely be moved to another area within the bank to avoid “conflicts of interest.”

While disclosing any outside offers has always been in the fine print of their offer letters and the code of conduct, managers are enforcing it in real time. Investment bankers might be faced with a dilemma: do they come clean and risk low-exposure, maybe even back-office work to “reduce conflicts of interest” or do they gamble and risk losing their job?

This policy mirrors recent moves by other top banks:

• JPMorgan enforces an 18-month minimum tenure and will fire analysts who accept external offers before that.

• Goldman Sachs requires analysts to attest every three months that they haven’t committed elsewhere.

• Morgan Stanley introduced a mandatory disclosure rule in May, also under threat of dismissal.

• Citi now reviews outside offers case-by-case, but still mandates disclosure.

Takeaway: JPMorgan may have triggered the domino effect, but the whole Street is now tightening its grip. After years of watching PE firms poach junior talent months into the job, banks are pushing back hard.

But the question remains: will these policies actually stop analysts from recruiting, or just encourage them to hide it? For many young bankers, it feels like they’re being punished for planning their future, while the firms driving the frenzy face no consequences.

One thing’s for sure the “banking-to-buyside” isn’t going away any time soon. It’s just under a lot more surveillance.

HEADLINES

Top Reads

• OpenAI in talks for share sale at $500 billion valuation (BB)

• Disney’s ESPN to acquire NFL media assets in major deal (CNBC)

• Trump says JPMorgan, Bank of America rejected him as bank customer (CNBC)

• Wall Street is warning investors that stocks will drop (BB)

• Wall Street bonus pool to grow as bank revenue boosted by rally (BB)

• Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent off list for next Fed chair (Axios)

• Big college endowments post best investment gains since 2021 (BB)

• Super Micro tumbles as growth slows (CNBC)

• New social media platform replaces usernames with net worth (NYP)

• Buffett ignored his own private equity advice and paid the price (Axios)

• Trump says pharma tariffs could go to 250% (YF)

• Marc Rowan calls out competitors that won’t trade private assets (BB)

• White House preps order to punish banks that discriminate against conservatives (WSJ)

• Coindesk owner Bullish seeks to raise up to $629M in IPO (BB)

• Silicon Valley’s dream job is disappearing (NYT)

• Apollo draws $61B in record quarter but less from wealth (BB)

• Ares looks to continue its push into sports (WSJ)

• Linda Yaccarino lands CEO job post-X (BB)

• Private equity worries that Trump might bundle crypto into 401(k) order (WSJ)

PRESENTED BY CARTA

So… Who Really Gets The Equity In PE-Backed Companies?

Compensation strategies at private equity-backed companies aren’t one-size-fits-all. In this multi-trillion dollar industry, incentive structures can make or break outcomes.

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• Trends in carry, co-investment, securities, and vesting schedules

• Why incentives are increasingly tied to value creation

• How much equity CEOs are getting (spoiler: the median is over 2%)

If you’re a PE investor, GP, or portfolio leader, this report is your cheat code.

Discover the facts you need here.

CAPITAL PULSE

Markets Rundown

Market Update

• Stocks lost ground after early gains faded, with a weak ISM services report highlighting slowing activity and rising price pressures

• The S&P 500 fell 0.5%, led by declines in utilities, tech, and communication services

• Small caps outperformed, with the Russell 2000 rising 0.6% and now up 2.2% for the week

• Canadian equities rallied, rebounding after Monday’s holiday market closure

• The 10-year Treasury yield held steady near three-month lows, while oil prices declined as markets reassessed OPEC supply and U.S. demand risks

Economic Data Highlights

• The ISM services index weakened, showing stagnant growth and the highest price pressures since 2022

• June trade data showed a sharp drop in imports, helping narrow the U.S. trade deficit

• Markets now expect around 60 bps of Fed rate cuts in 2025, with a 90% chance of a cut in September

• Fed commentary was mixed, with some officials downplaying recent weakness while others flagged the need for multiple cuts

Reported Earnings

• Super Micro (SMCI) missed on both revenue and EPS; weaker margins and slowing server demand drove shares lower

• AMD (AMD) met EPS expectations and beat on revenue, but guidance and margin concerns weighed on the stock

• Snap (SNAP) missed on EPS and posted weak user monetization trends; ad platform issues led to a sharp selloff

Earnings Today

• Uber (UBER) – Watch for updates on ride-share recovery, Eats performance, and progress in autonomous strategy

• Shopify (SHOP) – Focus on merchant volume growth and commentary around margin trends amid tariff pressures

• Disney (DIS) – Key areas include streaming subscriber growth, theme park performance, and full-year profit outlook

Movers & Shakers

• (+) Lemonade ($LMND) +30% after the insurance company announced a revenue beat.

• (+) Palantir ($PLTR) +8% because the software company posted its first $1B quarter.

• (–) Hims & Hers Health ($HIMS) -12% after announcing a revenue miss.

Private Dealmaking

• Alcon bought Staar Surgical for $1.5 billion

• Good Job Games, a mobile games publisher, raised $60 million

• Wallarm, an API and AI security startup, raised $55 million

• Positron AI, a developer of transformer inference appliances, raised $51.6 million

• RD Technologies, a stablecoin infrastructure firm, raised $40 million

• Calo, a Saudi meal subscription service, raised $39 million

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

BOOK OF THE DAY

Read Life Accurately

Description: A practical guide to tuning in to your inner wisdom and interpreting the subtle signals of life. Sonia Choquette teaches how to read energy, environments, and emotions with clarity—so you can stop reacting impulsively and start responding intentionally. With real-world stories and intuitive tools, this book helps you navigate challenges with confidence and inner alignment.

Rating:
• Amazon: 4.6 / 5
• Goodreads: 4.2 / 5

Book Length: 256 pages
Audible Length: ~6–7 hours

Ideal For: Anyone seeking clarity during transitions, sensitive thinkers, intuitives, or those ready to strengthen their trust in gut instinct and energy awareness.

“When you stop reacting to what you fear and start responding to what’s true, your whole life changes.”

DAILY VISUAL

Starbucks Keeps Adding Stores

PRESENTED BY MACABACUS

Turn Messy Models Into Client-Ready Decks (Fast)

TL;DR: Financial modeling errors and sloppy slides tank credibility. Macabacus gives banking & finance firms an enterprise-grade productivity tool to deliver error-free models & decks with confidence and speed.

Why It Matters

• Missed links and hard codes = delays, rework, and awkward client moments. 

• Formula errors = inaccurate models, incorrect decisions. 

• A tight workflow = tighter timelines and a safer reputation. 

What You Get (power-user favorites) 

• Excel → PowerPoint linking: Seamlessly & reliably update tables, charts, and text as your models change. 

• Model Check + Tracing Tools: Surface hard codes, broken/circular refs, and bad links before they hit leadership or clients. 

• Deck Check: Enforce brand standards automatically (fonts, layouts, logos) across every slide. 

• AI Writing Assistant: Turn analysis into slide narratives that align with your brand guidelines and tone-of-voice. 

• Shared Libraries & Templates: Access firm-approved slides, templates, and a logo library for consistent, on-brand deliverables. 

The Outcome 
Ship error-free, client-ready work and spend your time on high-value analysis instead of clean-up. 

Who’s Using It
Join 80,000+ professionals across finance & banking firms who rely on Macabacus to safeguard quality, compress timelines, and protect reputation.

DAILY ACUMEN

Mental Liquidity

Cash is king in a downturn.

So is mental liquidity.

It's the ability to drop sunk costs, change your mind, and shift your strategy without ego dragging you into bankruptcy.

Most people double down on old ideas for the sake of consistency.
But in real life—just like investing—rigidity gets punished.

The best thinkers reprice in real time.
They rotate sectors, reallocate attention, and admit when the model’s broken.

Your ROI is capped by how often you're willing to be wrong.

ENLIGHTENMENT

Short Squeez Picks

• How to afford a career break without wrecking your finances

• How to be happier with a simple mindset shift

• Why you should ask someone out in real life

• The meaning deficit at work

• The risks and benefits of giving up coffee

MEME-A-PALOOZA

Memes of the Day

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