Good morning and Happy Friday! Nvidia became the first public company to hit a $4 trillion market cap. Kellogg shares popped 50% after reports of a $3 billion cereal deal with Italian candy maker Ferrero Rocher.

A tech rally powered the Nasdaq to a record high, and Bitcoin also hit a $112,000 all-time high. Linda Yaccarino is out at X a day after the social media site’s AI bot posted antisemitic comments. And Meta poached Apple’s Pang with a staggering pay package over $200 million.

Plus: OpenAI will take on Chrome with a new AI-powered browser, Bill Ackman’s nightmare start to pro tennis, and tips on making it to the executive ranks.

One of NYC’s hottest bars is scaling. Here is your opportunity to invest in their future.

SQUEEZ OF THE DAY

Goldman’s Loyalty Oath

For Goldman Sachs banking analysts grinding out 90-hour weeks, the job isn’t meant to last forever. It’s supposed to be a launchpad to buyside jobs like private equity earned in exchange for two years of financial modeling, PowerPoint decks and anything else your MD wants at any hour of the day.

But Goldman just made that exit strategy a lot trickier. The firm is rolling out a policy requiring junior bankers to certify every three months that they haven’t accepted another job. It’s not quite a blood oath, but it’s close, and it puts would-be PE associates in a delicate spot.

The move is a quiet escalation in an arms race among banks to stop the brain drain. JPMorgan recently threatened to fire junior bankers if they accept a PE offer within 18 months of joining. Goldman’s method is more passive-aggressive: make you swear you’re not cheating, then leave the door wide open to cut you anyway.

For years, PE firms like Apollo and TPG were locking in second-year analysts nearly two years in advance, and juniors were joining banks with one foot already out the door. From the banks’ perspective, they weren’t building talent; they were running a prep school for private equity.

But this year, PE firms started to hit the brakes after JPMorgan made the first move. Apollo, General Atlantic, and TPG all pledged to stop ultra-early recruiting.

The sudden delay in private equity recruiting has frustrated graduates who came to New York expecting to secure multi-year jobs quickly. Now, they’ll have to recruit while working demanding junior banking jobs with little free time. Banks also fear ending up with excess junior analysts as PE, hedge fund, and corporate hiring slows.

A senior Goldman banker warned this shift might disrupt banks’ own hiring models and predicted private equity firms may begin hiring directly from universities instead.

Takeaway: Is on-cycle private equity recruiting dead for now? Only time will tell, it takes just one firm to break ranks and go early, and the rest will pile in. For now, Jamie Dimon seems to have successfully rallied the industry to pause the “unethical” practice of locking in PE offers before banking jobs even start.

If the PE on-cycle dies for good, we might finally see a world where bankers get to actually do the job before plotting their escape… shocking concept, we know.

HEADLINES

Top Reads

• Nvidia briefly touched $4 trillion market cap for first time (CNBC)

• Ferrero nears $3B deal for maker of Froot Loops, Frosted Flakes (WSJ)

• Trump announces 50% tariff on Brazil over Bolsonaro trial, ‘unfair’ trade (Fox)

• ​​Wall Street is calling Trump’s bluff (CNN)

• X CEO Linda Yaccarino steps down after two years at the job (YF)

• OpenAI to release web browser in challenge to Google Chrome (CNBC)

• Robinhood CEO downplays OpenAI concerns on tokenized stock structure (CNBC)

• Meta poached Apple’s Pang with pay package over $200 million (BB)

• Goldman names Maliah Global Chairman of investment banking (BB)

• Why Vanguard joined the ‘private markets’ craze (WSJ)

• Trump blasts Brazil with 50% tariff threat (YF)

• Trump’s next Fed chair pick already comes with a credibility problem (CNBC)

• Youth sports are $40B business, private equity is taking notice (NYT)

• Vanguard, BlackRock drop ETFs that could cushion growth slowdown (CNBC)

• Tesla is in deeper trouble than you think (CNN)

• Trump sends tariff letters, placing 25% levies on top allies (Axios)

• Google’s unloved stock makes it a big tech bargain (WSJ)

• There’s more information than ever on ESG investing, but it isn’t helping (WSJ)

• Bill Ackman’s quest for pro tennis win falls short in early exit (BB)

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CAPITAL PULSE

Markets Rundown

Market Update

• U.S. stocks closed higher, led by utilities and tech, while consumer staples and energy lagged

• President Trump announced new tariffs on seven countries, continuing the trade policy shakeup

• Asia finished mixed; China’s CPI rose 0.1% annualized in June, above expectations

• The U.S. dollar declined against major international currencies

• WTI crude oil fell as U.S. supply stocks unexpectedly increased

Economic Data Highlights

• Trump has announced tariffs on 21 countries this week, with rates between 20%-40%

• August 1 remains the enforcement date for countries without trade deals

• Vietnam and the U.K. both secured trade deals at reduced tariff rates

• Lower-than-expected tariff levels could ease inflation and growth concerns, in our view

Reported Earnings

• No significant earnings reported

Earnings Today

• Delta Air Lines (DAL) – Investors watching demand trends and yield growth amid summer travel season

• Levi Strauss (LEVI) – Key focus on margins, DTC channel growth, and China performance

• Vista Energy (VIST) – Analysts expect solid upstream performance and production updates

Movers & Shakers

• (+) AES ($AES) +20% after the renewable energy company is considering a sale.

• (+) Bloom Energy ($BE) +18% because the energy stock was upgraded by JPMorgan.

• (–) RxSight ($RXST) -38% after the medical device maker slashed its revenue forecast.

Private Dealmaking

• Merck acquired Verona Pharma for $10 billion 

• Telenor bought GlobalConnect’s Norwegian consumer business for $592 million

• Actithera, a radioligand therapies developer, raised $75.5 million

• Huspy, a proptech for finding homes, raised $59 million

• Vytalize Health, an accountable care organization, raised $55 million

• Million Victories, a mobile gaming company developer, raised $40 million

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

BOOK OF THE DAY

Negotiating the Impossible

Description: Harvard Business School professor Deepak Malhotra presents a newly expanded version of his acclaimed negotiation playbook. Filled with striking real-world case studies—from crafting the U.S. Constitution and NFL/NHL disputes to business crises—this edition adds 20% new material, including an interactive discussion guide and strategies for negotiating amid today’s challenges: polarization, AI, and remote formats.

Rating: Amazon: 4.6 / 5; Audible: 4.2 / 5  

Book Length: 300 pages
Audible Length: 7 hrs 48 min

Ideal For: Executives, dealmakers, mediators, and anyone facing complex negotiations—especially when force or budget isn’t leverage. This book is tailor-made for times when ingenuity, emotional acuity, and creative thinking are the only paths forward.

“Easily the best negotiation book I have ever read…valuable nonintuitive ideas.” — Bill Gurley, Benchmark Ventures

DAILY VISUAL

Apple Revenue by Segment

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• Excel ↔ PowerPoint Linking: tweak the model once, every linked chart & table in the deck updates. 

• Formula & Precedent Tracer: catch #REF chaos before your model ships; analysts and interns learn best practices as they click. 

• Shared Libraries: centralized access to firm-approved slides, models, and snippets to keep branding FTC-level tight. 

• Doc Builder: CIMs, working group lists, engagement letters, and NDAs, built via a quick questionnaire; headers, footers, and styles auto-populate. 

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• AI Writing Assistant: Create copy at warp speed while keeping your documents on-brand with your company’s voice and language standards. 

Result: Day-1 analysts, VP-grade output, and a summer with fewer midnight and weekend “fix my deck” fire drills. 

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DAILY ACUMEN

Play Your Game

Every business has a superpower. The mistake is thinking yours works everywhere.

When Hooters launched an airline, they swapped burgers for boarding passes—and lost $40 million.

They had brand, but no edge in aviation.

Bloomberg, by contrast, launched a media business not to win awards, but to sell more terminals.

They stayed close to their strength: data.

Success isn’t about chasing what’s shiny—it’s about knowing where your advantage is, and pressing it hard.

Play your game. Not someone else’s.

ENLIGHTENMENT

Short Squeez Picks

• How to become an effective keynote speaker

• How to jump from manager to executive

• Tips to be more likable at work

• How to ace a job interview in 90 seconds

• Three meeting red flags skilled leaders notice

MEME-A-PALOOZA

Memes of the Day

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