Short Squeez
Posts
🍋 Brady & Steph in FTX Mess

🍋 Brady & Steph in FTX Mess

Tom Brady and Steph Curry endorsed FTX. But these endorsements are coming under further scrutiny during crypto winter.

November 22, 2022

Together With

"Everyone has the brain power to make money in stocks. Not everyone has the stomach." — Bill Ackman

Good Morning! While Twitter's daily active users hit an all time high (260M), Elon's personal wealth is not doing that great. His losses for 2022 topped $100 billion as shares of Tesla dropped to lowest level in two years. He's still the richest person in the world with his $170 billion net worth, down from $340 billion last year.

The US played their first game in the soccer World Cup and drew 1-1 to Wales. The Supreme Court will hear Jack Daniel’s case against a dog toy company - apparently whiskey bottles are dog toys now. Oil prices fell to a two-month low. Penguin withdrew its bid to acquire Simon & Schuster. And Disney’s former CEO Bob Iger rejoined the company. He will be paid $27 million a year.

Want to learn how to find good returns from companies whose values you agree with? You can subscribe to this free newsletter with just 1-click.

If you are interested in getting in front of a smart, young audience of business leaders, bankers, investment professionals, policy influencers of over 450,000 people, then fill out this form, we’ll be in touch.

1. Story of the Day: Brady & Steph in FTX Mess

It's not a good year to be Tom Brady. After his high-profile divorce, both he and his ex-wife are now under legal investigation for their endorsements of FTX.

The Brady’s also joined NBA star Steph Curry in endorsing FTX. Crypto companies have been hiring celebrities for endorsements over the past few years. But these endorsements are coming under further scrutiny during crypto winter.

Regulators want to start treating crypto endorsements like they’re securities. If that becomes the case, Brady and Steph could be in a bit of trouble. Some think Brady and Steph misrepresented their due diligence in their endorsements, and others are wondering if they made the right disclosures.

Regulators allege SBF targeted ‘unsophisticated investors’ like sports stars and celebrities to endorse the company and its tokens. But that doesn't mean celebrities are immune from any wrongdoing. Bitter investors also named Brady, Gisele, and Curry in class-action lawsuits related to the FTX debacle.

Takeaway: Crypto might still be in the wild west, but regulators and investors think differently. Looks like SBF will take down a lot of people (& customer funds) with him as his FTX empire collapses.

Regulators cracked down on Kim K.'s improper crypto endorsement a few months ago, and Brady and Curry could suffer the same fate. On the due diligence part, if the VCs, who are paid to do diligence, can't do it, what hope is there for a quarterback and a point guard?

2. Markets Rundown

If you want access to Wall Street insider interviews, industry deep-dives, and investment ideas, check out our Insiders newsletter.

Stocks closed lower because of fears over inflation and China.

Movers & Shakers

(+) Disney ($DIS) +6% after Iger returned, plans to restructure the company.
(–) Tesla ($TSLA) -7% because of Twitter and China concerns.
(–) Coinbase ($COIN) -9% because crypto contagion fears intensified.

Private Dealmaking

FogPharma, a Boston-based medicines developer, raised $178 million
Advanced Navigation, an AI robotics company, raised $68 million
Akeyless, a Saas-based secrets management platform, raised $65 million
Haystack Oncology, a cancer diagnostic test manufacturer, raised $56 million
SponsorUnited, a brand sponsorship marketplace, raised $35 million
Merck & Co. will buy Imago BioSciences, a cancer drugmaker, for $1.35 billion

A Message from For What It's Worth: Invest in Companies You Agree With!

For what it’s worth, you may be missing out on another amazing newsletter called… For What It’s Worth (FWIW).

FWIW hits your inbox on Thursdays with the latest resources, news, and trends you need to confidently align your investments with your values
FWIW is not in the business of trying to predict the future with individual stock recommendations (which we’ll leave to your all-knowing friend of a friend)

Learn how to find good returns from companies whose values you agree with. You can subscribe to this free newsletter in just one click. Seriously… one click.

4. Book of the Day: When Women Lead

Julia Boorstin was thirteen when her mother told her that, by the time she grew up, women could be just as powerful as men, “captains of industry, running the biggest companies!”

A decade later, working at a top business publication and seeing the dearth of women in positions of leadership, Boorstin assumed her mom had been wrong.

But over the following two decades as a TV reporter and creator of CNBC’s Disruptor 50 franchise, interviewing, and studying thousands of executives, she realized that a gender-equity utopia shouldn’t be a pipe dream.

Yes, women faced massive social and institutional headwinds, and struggled with double standards and what psychologists call “pattern matching.” Yet those who thrived, Boorstin found, shared key commonalities that made them uniquely equipped to lead, grow businesses, and navigate crises.

They were highly adaptive to change, deeply empathetic in their management style, and much more likely to integrate diverse points of view into their business strategies, filling voids that their male counterparts had overlooked for generations.

By utilizing those strengths, they had invented new business models, disrupted industries, and made massive profits along the way.

Now, in When Women Lead, Boorstin brings together the stories of over sixty of those female CEOs and leaders, and dozens of new studies.

Her combination of narrative and research reveals how once-underestimated characteristics, from vulnerability and gratitude to divergent thinking, can be vital superpowers—and that anyone can work these approaches to their advantage.

“If women governed the entire world, it is my theory that soon we would have world peace and healing of the entire planet.” - Leland Lewis

A Message from York Athletics: Your New Go-to Shoe at 30% Off…Yes, 30% Off

YORK Athletics is a 3rd generation, independently-owned family footwear brand with roots dating back to 1946.

A hybrid amongst the crowd, YORK Athletics bridges the gap between style and performance to deliver the new modern classic shoe.

Like that perfect white T-shirt that can easily be dressed up or down, YORK has perfected that go-to sneaker that can effortlessly transition from your morning bike commute to office meeting, or boot camp class to airport terminal.

Check out their best sellers here and get 30% off your entire order* during their Black Friday sale.

*Code automatically applied at checkout

6. Daily Visual: Savings Accounts Finally Pay More Than Nothing

Average interest rate on 1-year of certificates of deposit

Source: Axios

7. Daily Acumen

Laurie Santos on what makes us happy:

"We’re happier when we do nice things for others. We’re happier when we are focused on our healthier habits, things like improving our sleep and getting more exercise, we can really see the effects of this stuff, and often quite profound effects.

One of my favorite most profound effects is the effect of taking a little time for gratitude, the simple act of counting your blessings.

There’s evidence that in as little as two weeks, the simple act of writing three to five things you’re grateful for down on a piece of paper can improve your well-being, and significantly improve your wellbeing.

There’s also evidence that expressing gratitude to other people, like writing a detailed thank you note to someone that you’ve always wanted to thank but never got a chance to, the act of doing that, can improve your wellbeing not just significantly immediately but can give you an improved wellbeing effect that lasts for over a month, right, which is crazy.”

Source: Laurie Santos

8. Crypto Corner

Crypto lender Genesis asks Apollo and Binance for cash
Why were FTX’s headquarters in the Bahamas?
Bill Ackman says crypto is here to stay
FTX hacker splits over $200 million in crypto between 12 wallets
How Gary Gensler wants to rein in crypto
Keeping track of crypto is hard

9. Job Board

Avant - Accounting Manager - Graham, NC
Citi - Front Office - E-Trading Risk & Controlst - New York, NY
American Express Global Business Travel - Director of Technology - Chicago, IL
Youth Consultation Service (YCS) - Chief Financial Officer - Newark, NJ
Deloitte - Tracking and Trading Manager - Frederick, MD
MUFG - Markets and Trading Operational Risk Manager, Vice President - New York, NY