Good Morning and Happy Friday! Nvidia’s earnings electrified markets, and the S&P 500 closed at a record high. Nvidia has been responsible for ~27% of the entire S&P 500's growth in 2024. Citi’s CEO earned $26 million last year even amidst job cuts. Reddit filed to list its IPO on the NYSE, and AT&T customers got hit by widespread outages. Plus 5 steps to fast-track a promotion, and how much moving in NYC really costs. 

_{SQUEEZ OF THE DAY}

Schwarzman Loves AI

After Nvidia reported earnings on Wednesday, its CEO declared that AI is a ‘whole new industry.’ But it turns out that Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman has been eyeing AI since 2015 - and he might be the industry’s single largest benefactor.

Blackstone as a firm has been investing in data centers and AI companies. But over the past few years, Schwarzman hasn’t just been cutting checks - he’s also been creating institutions. He’s pledged $500 million to AI education and research.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology will soon unveil the Schwarzman College of Computing, and Oxford University has already opened the doors to the Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities, home to an institute focusing on AI ethics. 

Schwarzman gave a $350 million gift to MIT and a $240 million donation to Oxford. 

And Schwarzman isn’t stopping at academia. He’s taken his AI crusade to Washington, D.C., helping to nudge the Chips and Science Act of 2022 over the finish line. This act earmarks over $80 billion for the National Science Foundation, focusing on AI and quantum computing among others. 

Takeaway: Apparently, Schwarzman still relies on multiple secretaries to place his phone calls, and says email is his favorite app. But he’s pouring lots of money into philanthropy around AI. And if his track-record building Blackstone into a $1 trillion firm is any indication, Schwarzman isn’t afraid to go big here.

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_HEADLINES

Top Reads

• Americans are working fewer hours (Axios)

• Reddit files to list IPO on NYSE (CNBC)

• How KKR helped JPMorgan seal a key victory over private credit (BB)

• Citi lifts Jane Fraser’s pay to $26 million in 2023 (YF)

• Nvidia declares AI a whole new industry (WSJ)

• Wealthiest Americans commit $150 billion of tax evasion a year (CNBC)

• Private equity payouts at major firms plummet 49% in two years (YF)

• Why the U.S. economy looked better than peers in February (Axios)

• AT&T customers hit by widespread outages (NBC)

• Wall Street thinks stocks have more room to run than originally thought (YF)

_{CAPITAL PULSE}

Markets Rundown

The S&P 500 closed at a record high after Nvidia released earnings.

Movers & Shakers

• (+) Nvidia ($NVDA) +16% after blowout earnings, added $230 billion in value in one day.

• (+) Moderna ($MRNA) +14% after the pharmaceutical company posted a surprise quarterly profit.

• (–) Rivian ($RIVN) -26% after a weak EV earnings report, layoffs.

Private Dealmaking

• MMI, a microsurgery robotics startups, raised $110 million

• EigenLayer, a crypto startup, raised $100 million

• Clumio, a cloud data backup and recovery company, raised $75 million

• Fabric, a health care management software developer, raised $60 million

• Simetrik, a financial records automation startup, raised $55 million

• Reprieve Cardiovascular, a medical device company, raised $42 million

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

_{BOOK OF THE DAY}

Practical Optimism

As the first medical director and attending psychiatrist at the World Trade Center Mental Health Program, Dr. Sue Varma worked directly with civilian and first-responder survivors in the aftermath of 9/11. There, she met people at every point of the stress and trauma continuum. She saw devastation and stagnancy as much as she saw amazing resilience and growth. 

She asked herself: how do some people survive, even thrive, despite profound challenges? And how can we optimize the things we have control over, while buffering ourselves from stress?

Through her work with patients and combining philosophy, her own personal experience, and a review of the latest research in psychology, psychiatry, medicine, and neuroscience, Dr. Varma discovered that the answer lies in cultivating an optimistic mindset that stays tethered to the real world and helps us make sound and reasonable decisions.

This epiphany inspired Practical Optimism, Dr. Varma’s powerful program with eight pillars to help all of us experience a sense of meaning, mastery, and self-acceptance and create lives filled with joy and purpose. Optimists, research has shown, are not just happier and more successful, but physically healthier.

And if you’re a natural-born pessimist? No problem: the most vital piece of the Practical Optimism program is that it is a practice, a skillset that we can choose to adopt and get better at every day.

This book isn’t about magical thinking. Practical optimists are resourceful, realistic, and thoughtful problem solvers who possess something of rare value: the inner resources to cope during a crisis and to use as fuel to flourish.

“A practical program rooted in optimism to help you live fully and joyfully in an imperfect, turbulent world.”

_{DAILY ACUMEN}

Gimmicks

“When architects show off their work, or propose a bold new building complex or even ask for a zoning variance, the public sees the external photos. The tall spire, the innovative use of glass, the weird hole in the center of the building.

And when a car company shows off a new model at a press conference, it’s the headlights or the door handles that catch our attention.

And colleges brag about their football teams…

But the thing is, most of the time the building serves its function for the people working inside of it. The owner of the car can’t see the headlights, and almost all the benefits of college have zero to do with what happens for two hours on Saturday.

Gimmicks are memorable. But they’re gimmicks.”

Source: Seth Godin

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Short Squeez Picks

• How much moving in NYC really costs

• 5 steps to fast-track a promotion 

• The most helpful laws of productivity to get more done

• How to use public salary ranges to negotiate a raise

• What it really costs to live and work in Bali

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Memes of the Day