🍋 Goldman Banker ‘Lied a Lot’

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Good Morning! Russian sanctions galore continues... Apple is halting product sales in Russia. President Biden announced a ban on all Russian aircraft from American airspace in his State of the Union address. Hedge fund managers are trimming exposure to Russia to protect against volatility. Commodity and gas prices jumped the most since 2009 as war threatens supply. Steaks prices also bout to head to the moon as beef prices soar amid rising costs for ranchers. Uber is taking the opposite approach of Meta and bringing more of the real world into their app with a new "Explore" function, showing nearby concerts you can go to, or restaurants you may want to make a reservation at.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's 26-year-old son Zain, born with celebral palsy, has passed away. We hope the Nadellas are able to grieve privately and send them our thoughts and wishes. 

For those looking to invest their bonus checks, check out today's sponsor Masterworks, which allows you to invest in blue-chip art.

1. Story of the Day: Goldman Banker ‘Lied a Lot’

Most of you have probably heard of the 1MDB scandal. To jog your memory, from 2009 to 2014 Goldman Sachs raised $6.5 billion for the Malaysian development company, 1MDB and earned $600 million in fees, but $4.5 billion of the raised amount was diverted to officials, bankers and their associates through bribes and kickbacks.

As the 1MDB trial goes on, some new evidence has emerged and ex-Malaysian Prime Minister, Najib Razak, may not have been the most messed up player in that game. (who btw asked for his kids to get jobs at Goldman in return for the 1MDB business)

Ex-Goldman banker and head of Asia Investment Banking, Tim Leissner, is being brought forward as the star witness in the federal bribery trial of his ex-colleague Roger Ng, ex-head of investment banking in Malaysia.

Leissner has already pleaded guilty to charges associated with the case and agreed to cooperate with the government to now bring down his ex-colleague.

Lawyers of Roger Ng, questioned Leissner and all hell broke loose.

Leissner admitted to lying to federal authorities when he was originally arrested, being a two-time bigamist and telling multiple lies to former partners and lovers. 

Leissner presented a fake divorce decree, that he found on the internet and photoshopped, to his famous fashion designer and model fiancé Kimora Lee Simmons. He was in fact, still married to a miss Judy Chan the whole time. However, it turns out he actually got married to Chan before even finishing the divorce with his first wife.

The playboy banker went on further to say that he had a long affair with an executive at one of Goldman's clients, obviously breaking rules the bank had. He went so far as to convert to Islam because he thought he'd marry her one day: "I didn't really mind what religion I had. I did convert for the purposes of getting married."

"I have lied a lot sir, and I have regretted those choices," Leissner said. 

Short Squeez Takeaway: Leissner's courtroom lies might only be the tip of the iceberg. The government's star witness might very well be great news for Ng's defense, as Leissner's credibility is in question with his history of being a chronic liar. Whatever the outcome, something tells us a Netflix producer somewhere is taking good notes, and bout to go all in on a 1MDB documentary.

P.S. Apologies for the terrible photoshop job in the pic above (intern is still learning photoshop smh)

Source: Bloomberg, NYT, Reuters

2. Markets Rundown

Continued conflict in Ukraine dragged on equity markets, because of the obvious geopolitical issues, but also rising commodity prices. Crypto markets are up thanks in part to increased demand from Russia and Ukraine.

Movers & Shakers

• (+) Target ($TGT) +10% as the retailer's annual revenue passes $100 billion.

• (+) Kroger ($KR) +3% after receiving an upgrade from Telsey prior to the earnings report.

• (–) Foot Locker ($FL) -8% after the sneaker store announced they will sell fewer Nike products.

3. Top Reads

• Elon Musk is not happy as Biden fails to mention Tesla at SOTU (CNBC)

• Optimists tend to win over time (ODAD)

• The potential outcomes from the invasion have increased (AWOCS)

• Move over PE, here comes PC (Economist)

• Car dealers don't want you to pay cash (WSJ)

• Putin may have underestimated united sanctions (NYer)

• Portfolio diversification not all it's cracked up to be? (MS)

• Europeans have open arms for Ukrainian refugees (WP)

• The "Amazonification" of Whole Foods (NYT)

• US and Iran are split on major nuclear issues (WSJ)

• Putin fails in attempt to assassinate Ukrainian President Zelensky (Fox)

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4. Book of the Day: The Founders: The Story of Paypal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley

Today, PayPal’s founders and earliest employees are considered the technology industry’s most powerful network. Since leaving PayPal, they have formed, funded, and advised the leading companies of our era, including Tesla, Facebook, YouTube, SpaceX, Yelp, Palantir, and LinkedIn, among many others. As a group, they have driven twenty-first-century innovation and entrepreneurship. Their names stir passions; they’re as controversial as they are admired.

Yet for all their influence, the story of where they first started has gone largely untold. Before igniting the commercial space race or jumpstarting social media’s rise, they were the unknown creators of a scrappy online payments start-up called PayPal. In building what became one of the world’s foremost companies, they faced bruising competition, internal strife, the emergence of widespread online fraud, and the devastating dot-com bust of the 2000s. Their success was anything but certain.

In The Founders, award-winning author and biographer Jimmy Soni explores PayPal’s turbulent early days. With hundreds of interviews and unprecedented access to thousands of pages of internal material, he shows how the seeds of so much of what shapes our world today—fast-scaling digital start-ups, cashless currency concepts, mobile money transfer—were planted two decades ago. He also reveals the stories of countless individuals who were left out of the front-page features and banner headlines but who were central to PayPal’s success.

“My proceeds from the PayPal acquisition were $180 million. I put $100 million in SpaceX, $70m in Tesla, and $10m in Solar City. I had to borrow money for rent.”

5. Short Squeez Picks

• No deal-maker should have to spend half their week creating contacts or logging interactions in a CRM. Save time, work smarter, and close deals with Affinity

• A podcast primer on Russia, Ukraine, and sanctions

• The war and Wikpedia

• Skillful is launching a Tech Discovery Weekend. You'll find your dream role, nail job interviews and meet mentors from companies like Stripe and DoorDash. Sign up here

• Betting on passion podcast

6. Daily Visual: Electric vehicles sold by automaker in 2021

Source: Axios

7. Daily Acumen: Expectations

When you have expectations of something, you put it in a predesigned box that has little to do with reality. 

Expectations plague your daily life, causing you to be disappointed and disillusioned. 

They're so dangerous that you can persist in maintaining them even after you have clear evidence that they are unfounded.

Try to experience reality as it is, appreciate it for what it is, and be happy that it is.

“Happy is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed.”

8. Crypto Corner

• Electric Capital raises $1 billion for new crypto funds

• Experts say claims for Russia to use crypto for getting around sanctions is "totally unfounded"

• Gavin Wood, Polkadot founder, donates $5.8 million to Ukraine

• Bitcoin soaring despite the war. What could happen next.

• Payment services provider Shift4 acquires crypto donations experts The Giving Block for $54 million

• The SEC can't find $2.4 billion BitConnect Ponzi scheme runner

9. Memes of the Day

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