Good Morning! Companies that handed out $100M+ CEO “moonshot” pay packages lagged the S&P 500. Sequoia is reportedly joining Anthropic’s $25B round, breaking a VC norm as it already backs rivals OpenAI and xAI. And Fannie and Freddie’s stock woes are deepening as IPO questions mount.

The global sports industry could lose $1.6 trillion by 2050 as climate change and inactivity take their toll. AI unicorn founders are getting younger, with the average founder now just 29. And retail M&A and IPO activity is expected to rebound this year after tariff uncertainty froze activity.

Plus: How Wall Street turned its back on climate change, why Buffett’s pledge to give away 99% of his wealth could test Berkshire, and why sleep may matter more than diet or exercise for longevity.

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SQUEEZ OF THE DAY

Musk vs. Ryanair

Elon Musk and the CEO of Ryanair, Michael O'Leary, are publicly feuding over whether in-flight Starlink Wi-Fi is worth the cost. And the feud has led to Musk suggesting he might buy out the budget airline, fire O’Leary, and install a CEO named Ryan.

The clash started after Ryanair ruled out installing Starlink across its more than 600 aircraft.  Ryanair is the ultra-low-cost carrier known for its cheap flights across Europe. O’Leary said the satellite antennas would add drag, raise fuel costs, and could cost the airline as much as $250 million per year.

Musk pushed back publicly, calling O’Leary “misinformed” and arguing that Ryanair was overstating the fuel penalty. O’Leary responded on Irish radio by saying Musk knew “zero” about aviation and drag physics. Musk then escalated further on X, calling the Ryanair CEO an “utter idiot” and suggesting he should be fired. 

While Tesla and SpaceX take up most of the spotlight, Starlink is still one of Musk’s favorite projects. Airlines are becoming an increasingly important customer base for Starlink, and Musk is positioning the company as a premium in-flight connectivity product.

More than two dozen carriers, including United Airlines, Qatar Airways, and Lufthansa, are rolling out the service, mostly on long-haul or full-service fleets where better Wi-Fi can support higher fares and loyalty programs.

Ryanair sits on the opposite end of that spectrum. Its model is built on cost minimization, fast turnarounds, and avoiding optional upgrades that don’t clearly pay for themselves. 

For example, a flight from London to Ibiza might be €39, but the airline will charge you for a bag, seat selection, and certainly Starlink internet. So Musk has a point; Ryanair isn’t spending on Starlink because they’ve found a good niche being the low-cost, Spirit Airlines equivalent for Europe.

Takeaway: Billionaires’ spatting will always be entertaining. And just because Elon Musk can buy Ryanair doesn’t mean he should. Ryanair is still Europe’s largest airline and has a $35B+ market cap. While Starlink may be a winner for premium and long-haul carriers, ultra-low-cost airlines like Ryanair remain unconvinced that faster Wi-Fi justifies higher operating costs. But no matter what happens, Elon Musk might have found his next billionaire nemesis to spar with.

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HEADLINES

Top Reads

• Supersized CEO pay packages aren’t paying off for shareholders (WSJ)

• Sequoia Capital plans 'big investment' in Anthropic (TC)

• Fannie, Freddie stock woes deepen as IPO questions mount (BB)

• Sports sector stands to lose $1.6T globally by 2050 (LI)

• The founders of billion-dollar AI startups are getting younger (CNBC)

• Firms eye more mergers, IPOs as tariff cloud clears (LI)

• How Wall Street turned its back on climate change (NYT)

• Buffett’s pledge to give away 99% of his wealth could eventually test Berkshire (CNBC)

• Hohn breaks Citadel's record with $18.9B trading profit (BB)

• Goldman Sachs predicts blockbuster 2026 for M&A mega-deals (NYP)

• Trump’s proposed single-family homes ban has uncertainty for family offices (CNBC)

• Fresh off $2B Goldman Sachs deal, ETF guru buys $55M Florida home (WSJ)

• Dominion Energy wins bid to resume coastal Virginia offshore wind project (YF)

• Why this CEO won’t let private funds near his company’s 401(k) (WSJ)

• Clear Street said to close pre-IPO round at $12B value (BB)

CAPITAL PULSE

Markets Rundown

The stock market was closed in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Prediction Markets

• IPO season is looking strong for 2026. Which company is your favorite?

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

Private Dealmaking

• Mytra, a supply chain robotics company, raised $120 million

• Mediar Therapeutics, a fibrosis treatment biotech, raised $76 million

• Listen Labs, an AI-powered platform that automates user interviews, raised $69 million

• Depthfirst, a security platform focused on protecting AI systems, raised $40 million

• GS Microelectronics, a semiconductor services company, raised $35 million

• Known, a dating app, raised $9.7 million

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

BOOK OF THE DAY

Disrupt Everything

Description: A timely leadership and self-strategy guide for an era of relentless change. Patterson and Leddin argue that disruption isn’t something to fear, it’s the defining force of our time. Through frameworks, real-world examples, and actionable habits, they show how to own disruption, harness it for growth, and build resilience in work, relationships, and personal goals instead of being buffeted by it.

Book Length: 384 pages
Release Date: September 29, 2025

Ideal For: Leaders, entrepreneurs, creators, and anyone who wants to stop reacting to change and start shaping it.

“In a world of constant upheaval, the choice isn’t to survive, it’s to disrupt and win.”

DAILY VISUAL

China’s Birth Rate Just Hit a New Low

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DAILY ACUMEN

The Future Arrived Early

We're standing at the precipice of the most extraordinary transformation in human history, and it's not coming someday. It's here. Right now. AI has arrived, not with fanfare or flying cars, but with something far more revolutionary: agents that can figure things out. Think about what that means.

For all of human history, your potential was limited by your personal capacity, your waking hours, your singular brain. Now? You're about to manage a team of tireless, brilliant agents who never sleep, never complain, and get exponentially better every seven months. This isn't incremental improvement. This is a phase change in what's possible for humanity.

Imagine what you could accomplish with a century of work compressed into months. Every impossible dream you've shelved because "there aren't enough hours" just became feasible. That novel you wanted to write while building your company? Possible.

That research project requiring years of data analysis? Done by Tuesday. That world-changing idea you dismissed as too ambitious? Your new baseline. We're not talking about AI making you slightly more productive. We're talking about the difference between being a solo climber and commanding an expedition of expert Sherpas.

The tasks that would take a human expert a full day will be accomplished by 2028. A full year's work by 2034. A century's work by 2037. Let that number haunt you in the best way: one century of expert human work, completed while you sleep.

What problems suddenly become solvable? What becomes your new impossible? The future isn't coming. It just arrived early, and it's more magnificent than we dared imagine.

ENLIGHTENMENT

Short Squeez Picks

• Why sleep matters more than diet or exercise for longevity

• 3 unique hacks to eat healthier 

• How to make your life easier

• What music teaches us about time management

• How to arrange your desk

MEME-A-PALOOZA

Memes of the Day

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