Good Morning! The Warner Bros. fight is heating up, with Paramount launching a $108 billion hostile bid and Trump also weighing in. Apollo made another move in European football, taking a minority stake in Ryan Reynolds’ Wrexham.

Soaring markets have already minted 287 new billionaires this year. IBM is buying data-streaming platform Confluent for $11 billion as it doubles down on AI. And Deutsche Bank rolled out an AI trading model it thinks can beat retail investors.

Plus: The hedge fund that hides secrets on its office walls, and why Scott Galloway once hated investment banking.

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SQUEEZ OF THE DAY

End of Buffett Era

Berkshire Hathaway just lost its closest thing to a successor investor that could replace the Oracle of Omaha. Todd Combs, Warren Buffett’s handpicked stock picker and CEO of GEICO, is leaving to run JPMorgan’s new $10 billion Strategic Investment Group. While it’s a huge poach for JPMorgan, it means we could see some changes to the Buffett model that has defined Berkshire for sixty years.  

Combs was one of only two people Buffett delegated authority to manage Berkshire’s $283 billion stock portfolio. Combs was a former hedge fund manager and performed well during the 2007-08 financial crisis before Buffett hired him in 2010.

He also rebuilt GEICO and was long viewed as a future chief investment officer and potential successor to Ajit Jain. While Berkshire had been defined by star investors, with Greg Abel taking the CEO job in 2026 and full authority over capital deployment, Berkshire could be shifting into a pure operator-led conglomerate.

JPMorgan, meanwhile, is handing Combs an opportunity and mandate that banks almost never take on: use equity, not loans, to buy stakes in companies tied to national security, energy, defense, and AI.

Combs will report directly to Jamie Dimon in the new role. The platform sits inside a $1.5 trillion financing push and comes with an advisory council that includes Jeff Bezos, Michael Dell, and former Defense Secretary Robert Gates. So Dimon is importing Berkshire-style capital allocation DNA into the largest bank in America.

Berkshire announced Combs’ exit with a broader restructuring: GEICO COO Nancy Pierce will become CEO, longtime CFO Marc Hamburg will retire in 2027, and Berkshire will appoint its first-ever general counsel. The architecture of the post-Buffett era is now visible.

Takeaway: The last true Buffett-style investor is gone and the conglomerate is becoming a different machine. Berkshire is moving away from centralized stock picking, and JPMorgan is surprisingly moving towards it. We’ll see if the legacy Berkshire model works for JPMorgan’s new Strategic Investment Group. But for now, it’s looking like it will be Greg Abel’s show at Berkshire for 2026.

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HEADLINES

Top Reads

• Paramount Skydance launches hostile bid for WBD after Netflix struck deal (CNBC)

• Battle over future of Warner Bros. Discovery captures Trump’s attention (CNN)

• Apollo bought a minority stake in Wrexham football club (BBC)

• IBM will buy Confluent for $11 billion as it seeks to bolster its data offerings (CNBC)

• Can AI make you the next Warren Buffett? Deutsche Bank is working to find out (CNBC)

• Rising stocks, IPOs, created 287 new billionaires in 2025 (CNBC)

• The hedge fund that hides secrets on the office walls (BB)

• Scott Galloway hated investment banking, but learned important lessons (WSJ)

• Ray Dalio says Middle East is becoming a Silicon Valley of capitalists (CNBC)

• Upstart hedge fund launches fresh attacks on U.S. regional banks (FT)

• What to know about Jared Kushner’s private equity web (Axios)

• Tiger Global launches new fund as it takes more disciplined approach (CNBC)

• Are investment trusts the best route into private assets? (FT)

• 401(k)s are minting a generation of modest millionaires (WSJ)

• CoreWeave stock falls on $2 billion convertible debt offering (YF)

• First Brands rescue loans tumble on new business fears (WSJ)

• Home sellers are giving up at an unusually high rate (CNBC)

CAPITAL PULSE

Markets Rundown

Market Update

• Stocks traded lower Monday ahead of the final Fed meeting of 2025, as investors turned cautious following recent strength in equities.

• Technology was the only S&P 500 sector to finish higher, led by Broadcom, which rose after reports surfaced of talks to supply semiconductor chips to Microsoft.

• Small-caps outperformed, with the Russell 2000 gaining modestly and now up nearly 4% over the past month.

• Overseas, Asian markets were mixed, while Europe edged lower despite an uptick in the eurozone Sentix economic index.

• Bond yields rose, with the 10-year Treasury yield ending near 4.17%.

Economic Data Highlights

• Investor focus remains on the upcoming Fed meeting, which concludes Wednesday.

• Markets are pricing in a near 90% probability of a rate cut, which would bring the fed funds range to 3.5%–3.75%.

• With a cut largely expected, attention will turn to the Fed’s updated economic projections, which are likely to signal a cautious pace of easing through 2026.

• We expect the Fed to deliver one or two additional cuts next year, helping sustain moderate growth as inflation continues to ease toward target levels.

Sector Trends

• Tech led gains, driven by semiconductors, while industrials and materials lagged amid weaker global demand data.

• Energy was lower as oil prices remained subdued near $60 per barrel.

Market Perspective

• December has historically been a strong month for equities, averaging +1.4% since 1950 versus a 0.8% monthly average across all periods.

• The so-called “Santa Claus rally”—spanning the final five trading days of December and the first two of January—has produced positive returns roughly 73% of the time, with an average gain of 0.9%.

• Equities could finish 2025 on firm footing, supported by improving rate expectations and resilient corporate earnings.

Earnings Today

• AutoZone (AZO) – Focus on inventory efficiency and margins.

• GameStop (GME) – Watch for signs of operational progress and cost discipline.

• Casey’s General Stores (CASY) – Key metrics include fuel margins and in-store sales growth.

Movers & Shakers

• (+) Confluent ($CFLT) +29% after IBM announced they will acquire the technology company for $11B.

• (+) Carvana ($CVNA) +12%  because the online used car retailer will join the S&P 500.

• (–) Lucid Group ($LCID) -5% after Morgan Stanley downgraded the EV maker on profitability concerns.

Prediction Markets

• We are all but guaranteed a Fed rate cut tomorrow.

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

Private Dealmaking

• IBM is buying data-streaming platform Confluent for $11 billion

• ProAmpac will buy TC Transcontinental Packaging for $1.51 billion

• Anheuser-Busch InBev will buy a majority stake in BeatBox for $490 million

• Excelsior Sciences, an AI chemistry startup, raised $95 million

• Carbon, a 3D printing company, raised $60 million

• WisdomAI, an AI data analytics startup, raised $50 million

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

BOOK OF THE DAY

The Curious Case of Mike Lynch

Description: A dramatic, page-turning biography of Mike Lynch — the brilliant and controversial British tech founder who soared from working-class roots to one of the richest men in Britain, sold his company for billions, then spent decades in court defending that deal, only to meet a tragic, improbable end. Through meticulous reporting and courtroom drama, Prescott unpacks ambition, hubris, brilliance — and the dark side of “disruptive” success. 

Book Length: 464 pages 
Release Date: November 13, 2025 

Ideal For: Tech watchers, investors, business-history junkies, and anyone fascinated by stories that mix genius, risk, and the knife-edge line between triumph and disaster.

“When the numbers are audited and the storms come — some legends survive in myth, others go under.”

DAILY VISUAL

Delaware Incorporation King

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DAILY ACUMEN

Deep Work

Bill Gates takes "Think Weeks" - seven days alone in a cabin with no distractions, just books and ideas.

J.K. Rowling wrote much of Harry Potter in cafes, away from distractions.

In our age of constant interruptions, the ability to focus deeply is increasingly rare and valuable.

Schedule time for deep work. Eliminate distractions. Protect your attention like the precious resource it is.

Remember, shallow work keeps you busy, deep work makes you successful.

ENLIGHTENMENT

Short Squeez Picks

• The ultrarich are spending a fortune to live in extreme privacy

• How to get shredded the right way

• Should you use a humidifier in the winter?

• 3 ways to use overthinking as a superpower

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