Good Morning! Palantir is relocating its headquarters from Denver to Miami, joining the finance and tech exodus to Florida. Josh Kushner’s Thrive Capital just raised $10 billion for its largest fund yet. And Blackstone agreed to buy residential services firm Champions Group for $2.5 billion, leaning into sectors less exposed to AI.

Anthropic unveiled another model it says is faster and cheaper. Keens Steakhouse, the 141-year-old Manhattan institution, bought the $525,000 flag that once draped Abraham Lincoln’s casket. And Venezuelan real estate is already surging after Maduro’s capture.

Plus: Ambitious high schoolers are stressing over summer résumé-building, how much athletes will earn for medals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, and is marathon running actually safe?

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SQUEEZ OF THE DAY

Goldman Ditches DEI

Goldman Sachs is preparing to remove explicit DEI language from the criteria it uses to nominate directors to its board. The bank’s governance committee currently evaluates potential board candidates using four core criteria, including experience, professional background, and diversity of viewpoints. That section also includes a reference to “other demographics,” encompassing race, gender identity, ethnicity, and sexual orientation, but Goldman now plans to remove that language.

The change follows a shareholder push from the National Legal and Policy Center, a conservative nonprofit that owns a small stake in the firm. Rather than face a public proxy vote at its annual meeting, Goldman reportedly struck a deal: revise the language voluntarily, and the proposal will be withdrawn. It’s a quiet governance adjustment designed to avoid a louder conflict.

The move comes amid rising legal scrutiny of corporate DEI programs following the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling on affirmative action. Activist groups have increasingly targeted public companies under anti-discrimination statutes, which now subject firms that explicitly factor demographic characteristics to litigation and regulatory risks.

Goldman was once one of Wall Street’s most vocal advocates of formal board diversity standards, including a now-abandoned requirement that IPO clients maintain diverse boards. While its own board today remains demographically diverse, they just can’t explicitly choose board members based on race.

Takeaway: Goldman isn't dismantling diversity; it's making it legally defensible. In an environment where explicit demographic criteria invite lawsuits, you can still achieve diversity through "viewpoints" and "backgrounds" without putting a target on your back.

The irony is that removing the language may actually protect the practice better than defending it ever could. Wall Street doesn't abandon principles, it just finds quieter ways to implement them.

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HEADLINES

Top Reads

• Palantir moving its headquarters from Denver to Miami (CNBC)

• Josh Kushner’s Thrive Capital raises $10 billion in new funding (BB)

• Blackstone agrees to acquire Champions for about $2.5 billion (BB)

• Anthropic's Claude Sonnet 4.6 is faster, cheaper (Axios)

• $525K flag that covered Abraham Lincoln's casket finds home -- in NYC steakhouse (NYP)

• Prices jump as Venezuelans abroad consider buying property back home (NYT)

• For college applicants, pressure to make summers count has gotten even worse (WSJ)

• Dave's Hot Chicken investors bet on birria with national franchise expansion plan (CNBC)

• US charges two ex-executives at private equity-owned group with fraud (FT)

• KPMG partner fined over using AI to pass AI test (FT)

• Visa’s Olympics monopoly highlights Europe's payment headache (CNBC)

• Hedge fund manager Rob Citrone is short U.S. stocks. Here's why (CNBC)

• Elliott builds over 10% stake in Norwegian Cruise, seeks board change (CNBC)

• Teachers unions push for investigation into Apollo's Epstein ties (Axios)

• Anthropic Pentagon talks snag on AI for surveillance, weapons (BB)

• Meet Florida Man 2.0: the executive working to replace retirees and Disney tourists with Fortune 500 HQs (Fortune)

• TikTok’s Chinese parent has an app to replace Hollywood (WSJ) 

• Predicting next crash made harder as private markets obscure data (BB)

• Here’s how much athletes at the 2026 Winter Olympics get for winning medals (CNBC)

CAPITAL PULSE

Markets Rundown

Market Update

• U.S. equities closed modestly higher, reversing early losses

• Financials and real estate led gains, each up roughly 1%

• Technology and industrials posted small advances, while most other sectors finished lower

• Treasury yields were little changed, with the 10-year at ~4.06% and the 2-year at ~3.44%

• U.S. dollar stabilized, up 0.2% versus a basket of developed-market currencies

• Oil fell nearly 1%; gold dropped almost 3%

Economic Data Highlights

• No major U.S. economic releases today

• Markets continue to digest last week’s CPI and recent labor data, which point to moderating inflation and a stable labor market

• Policy expectations remain centered on the Fed staying on hold near term, with potential cuts later in 2026 if disinflation continues

Sector Trends

• Value-oriented sectors continue to outperform early in 2026

• Technology and communication services remain under pressure year-to-date despite strong earnings

• International equities continue to lead, supported by a modestly weaker dollar

  • MSCI EAFE up nearly 8% YTD, led by Japan (+13% in USD terms)

  • MSCI Emerging Markets up ~11% YTD, driven by Korea (+~34%)

Earnings

• Q4 earnings season is winding down, with 75%+ of S&P 500 companies reported

• Q4 S&P 500 earnings tracking ~12% YoY growth, well above the ~7% expected entering the quarter

• 9 of 11 sectors posting positive earnings growth, led by technology, industrials, and communication services

Movers & Shakers

• (+) Norwegian Cruise Line ($NCLH) +12% after hedge fund Elliott built a 10% stake in the cruise line.

• (+) Southwest Airlines ($LUV) +6% after UBS upgraded the airline.

• (–) General Mills ($GIS) -7% after the Cheerios maker lowered guidance; warned of weak consumer sentiment.

Prediction Markets

• With one week remaining, who will win the most gold medals?

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

Private Dealmaking

• Temporal, a microservices orchestration startup, raised $800 million

• Applecart, a marketing technology platform that maps influence networks, raised $100 million

• Braintrust, an AI tools developer, raised $80 million

• Cyclic Materials, a recycling company focused on critical materials recovery, raised $75 million

• Cascade Pharmaceuticals, an obesity and diabetes drug developer, raised $72 million

• Neurent Medical, a maker of devices to treat chronic rhinitis, raised about $68 million 

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

BOOK OF THE DAY

Beyond Stoicism

Description: A modern guide to ancient wisdom that expands the conversation beyond Stoicism to include Skepticism, Epicureanism, and other Hellenistic philosophies. Pigliucci shows how these schools approached life’s core questions about desire, happiness, uncertainty, and resilience, and offers practical practices for integrating their insights into daily life. It is both a philosophy crash-course and a toolkit for building a more examined, intentional, and flourishing life.

Book Length: 304 pages
Release Date: April 26, 2022

Ideal For: Thinkers, self-improvers, leaders, and anyone seeking a grounded framework for living well in the modern world.

“Wisdom from the ancients is not relics to admire. It is guidance to apply.”

DAILY VISUAL

Mom’s Screen Time Is Higher

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DAILY ACUMEN

Perspective

The same boiling water that hardens an egg softens a potato. Your circumstances don't define you, your response to them does.

Viktor Frankl survived Nazi concentration camps and emerged with a profound truth: the last of human freedoms is the ability to choose your attitude in any circumstance. What you see depends entirely on where you stand.

So today, try standing somewhere new. When life feels overwhelming, zoom out. When a problem feels unsolvable, look at it from a different angle.

The obstacle blocking your path might just be the path itself. Remember, a change in perspective isn't a sign of weakness, it's the mark of wisdom.

The world looks entirely different from the top of your struggles than it does from the bottom.

ENLIGHTENMENT

Short Squeez Picks

• A tool to create your edge*

• 3 emotionally secure tactics for tough conversations

• Why quitting your job might not solve your burnout

• People who are easy to talk to never use these 7 phrases

• 6 hobbies that naturally boost dopamine

• Is marathon running actually safe?

MEME-A-PALOOZA

Memes of the Day

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