Good Morning! Steve Cohen relinquished his president title at Point72. AI investment helped GDP grow at a 2% rate in the first quarter. And Nvidia plunged almost 5% as investors weigh rising competition from Google and Amazon.

Lazard acquired private capital advisory group Campbell Lutyens in a $575 million deal. Hershey says GLP-1 drugs are driving higher gum and mint sales due to "Ozempic breath" tailwinds. And Thoma Bravo refused to inject fresh cash into ailing Medallia.

Plus: Jobless claims plummeted to their lowest level in decades, and 5 ways to take breaks at work.

The mechanism that the wealthy have used for centuries is now available in a card. Request access to Stelrix today.

SQUEEZ OF THE DAY

Wall Street's Wildest 24 Hours

Yesterday X (formerly Twitter) went into meltdown over the most lurid Wall Street lawsuit in recent memory.

The story: a married junior banker, filing as "John Doe," sued JPMorgan and one of its leveraged finance executive directors, Lorna Hajdini, 37, accusing her of turning him into her "sex slave."

The complaint was a tabloid editor's dream, allegations of Rohypnol, Viagra, racial slurs, unauthorized access to his bank account, threats to tank his bonus if he didn't comply, and even a claim that Hajdini turned up at his apartment unannounced to force him into sex. The Daily Mail ran with it. So did everyone else.

Then a few hours later, the court document was quietly withdrawn for "corrections."
And late evening yesterday, the NYPost unmasked Doe.

Enter Chirayu Rana, 35, (pictured above) now a principal at Bregal Sagemount, formerly of Houlihan, Credit Suisse, TCG, Morgan Stanley, Carlyle, and finally JPMorgan. Bregal has removed his profile since and it's not clear if he's still employed there.

JPMorgan said its internal investigation found "no merit" to the claims, citing phone and email records, and noted Rana "refused to participate" in the probe. The bank also pointed out a small but devastating detail: Hajdini wasn't even Rana's manager. They were peers on the leveraged finance team, reporting to two different MDs. She had no sway over his bonus.

Hajdini's camp called it "a complete fabrication." Her statement: she's never been to the apartment where the assault allegedly happened. Sources say Rana filed an internal complaint in May 2025 and tried to negotiate a "millions"-dollar exit package before suing.

Court filings in the U.S. enjoy absolute privilege against defamation claims. Which means every outlet that ran the lurid details is legally bulletproof, even if it all turns out to be invented. Her name is now permanently attached to "JPMorgan sex slave" in Google's eyes.

Takeaway: Wall Street has a long history of harassment claims being dismissed or buried, and that history is exactly why every accusation deserves to be taken seriously on first read. But it's also why this case, if Hajdini's account holds up, could be uniquely destructive: a fabricated complaint that weaponizes the very system designed to protect real victims. Either way, somebody's career just ended. The only question is whose.

PRESENTED BY STELRIX

How Does Elon Musk Save Billions on Capital Gains Tax?

Instead of selling his stock and triggering taxable gains, he uses his shares as collateral to secure loans, giving him access to large amounts of cash without selling. 

This approach has been used in major moves like financing the Twitter acquisition, where he leveraged Tesla stock for a margin loan rather than cashing out. 

It is a strategy many billionaires use: borrowing against appreciating assets to fund spending while deferring or avoiding capital gains taxes.

Now, non-billionaires have access to this strategy through Stelrix, the gold credit card backed by your portfolio. 

Request access to the waitlist today.

HEADLINES

Top Reads

• Point72 elevates Schwefel as Cohen relinquishes president title (BB)

• US economy grew steadily in March, but oil shock looms (WSJ)

• Nvidia stock plunges as investors weigh rising competition (YF) 

• Lazard to buy private capital advisory group Campbell Lutyens in $575M deal (FT)

• Hershey says GLP-1s are driving higher gum and mint sales (CNBC)

• Thoma Bravo refuses to inject fresh cash into ailing Medallia (BB)

• Jobless claims plummet to lowest level in decades (BB)

• America's national debt is now larger than the entire economy (YF)

• Uber taps Hertz to clean, charge, and fix its robotaxis (YF)

• Private credit fears loom large over Europe’s banks this earnings season (CNBC)

• White House pushes back on Anthropic's Mythos expansion (WSJ)

• Activist hedge fund makes nearly $3 billion offer to buy Meineke owner (WSJ)

• SoftBank reportedly weighs $100 billion valuation for new AI and robotics spinout in potential U.S. IPO (CNBC)

• Private credit risk grows as European banks ramp up lending (CNBC)

• OpenAI and Anthropic keep switching places (Axios)

• Mercor, the $10 billion AI startup recruiting white-collar workers to train AI (BB)

• Google cloud growth tops Microsoft and Amazon as all three beat estimates on AI demand (CNBC)

CAPITAL PULSE

Markets Rundown

Market Update

• Stocks rallied to close out April, fueled by strong earnings momentum and tech leadership

• The S&P 500 posted its best month in years, reflecting a sharp recovery from March volatility

• Big Tech results drove sentiment, though reactions were mixed beneath the surface

• Bond yields moved lower, offering some relief despite persistent inflation concerns

• Oil prices eased slightly, but remain elevated and a key macro driver

Economic Pulse: Holding Steady

• Growth came in solid but not overheating, signaling a balanced backdrop

• Business investment remains a standout, particularly tied to AI infrastructure buildout

• Consumer spending softened slightly but is still supportive of overall growth

• Inflation is still running above target, reinforcing a “higher for longer” tone from the Fed

• Labor markets continue to show strength, with historically low jobless claims

Big Tech: Strong Results, Higher Bar

• Major tech companies delivered better-than-expected results across the board

• Despite strong numbers, some stocks sold off as expectations were already priced for perfection

• The key tension: rising AI-related spending vs. near-term profitability

• Markets are starting to ask whether massive capex today leads to durable earnings tomorrow

• This signals a shift from “growth at any cost” to “show me the returns”

What the Market Is Really Saying

• Earnings strength is anchoring the market near highs

• But leadership is becoming more selective as valuation discipline returns

• The backdrop is no longer just about growth, it is about efficient growth

• Macro risks still exist, especially tied to oil and inflation, but are being absorbed

• The market is transitioning from momentum-driven to fundamentals-driven

Movers & Shakers

• (+) Eli Lilly ($EBAY) +10% after crushing Q1 estimates as Mounjaro and Zepbound combined for $12.8B in global revenue.

• (+) Alphabet ($GOOGL) +10% because of a blowout Q1 led by Google Cloud surging 63% to $20B.

• (–) Meta ($META) -9% after raising its 2026 capex forecast to $125–$145B; JPMorgan also downgraded to Neutral on AI competition concerns.

Prediction Markets

• Spirit is about to get direct one-way flights to Somalia

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

Private Dealmaking

• Rogo, an AI platform for finance, raised $160 million

• Hightouch, a marketing AI startup, raised $150 million

• Netomi, a customer service startup, raised $110 million

• JuliaHub, an agentic AI platform for hardware engineering, raised $65 million

• Axoft, a brain-computer interface startup, raised $55 million

• Legora, a collaborative AI platform for lawyers, raised $50 million

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

BOOK OF THE DAY

The 12 Levers

Description:
A structured, science-backed framework from Spencer Greenberg and Jeremy Stevenson that breaks personal growth into 12 core “levers” you can systematically improve. The book draws on psychology and behavioral science to show how small, targeted changes in thinking and behavior can create outsized impact across your life. It emphasizes clarity, measurement, and repeatability, turning self-improvement into something you can actively engineer rather than passively hope for.

Book Length: 304 pages
Release Date: July 28, 2026

Ideal For:
Anyone looking for a structured, systems-based approach to personal growth, decision-making, and improving outcomes across multiple areas of life.

You do not need to change everything at once you need to pull the right levers consistently.

DAILY VISUAL

Starbucks is Back

PRESENTED BY MOSAIC

Mosaic Raises Series A

Mosaic just raised an $18M Series A led by Radical Ventures to scale its AI-driven deal modeling platform.

Instead of LLMs that guess their way through math, Mosaic uses deterministic, rules-based logic to spit out MD-ready LBOs and DCFs in minutes, fully auditable and exportable to Excel.

Five of the top 10 global PE firms and a number of bulge-bracket banks are already using Mosaic including Warburg Pincus, Bridgepoint, CVC, New Mountain, and Evercore.

Read the press release here and book a demo here.

DAILY ACUMEN

Slow Yes

Saying yes too quickly is one of the more underrated ways to lose control of your own life. The dinner you committed to without thinking. The favor you agreed to before checking your week. The opportunity you said yes to because it sounded good in the moment, only to spend the next three months resenting the version of yourself who agreed to it.

Most people are far more careful with their no than their yes, which is exactly backwards. Every yes is a no to something else, usually to something quieter and more important that did not have a person standing in front of you asking.

A slower yes is not rudeness. It is the recognition that your time is the only thing you cannot manufacture more of, and that protecting it requires friction that most people are too uncomfortable to introduce.

ENLIGHTENMENT

Short Squeez Picks

• Why people with dark personality traits seek leadership roles

• The Core 4 decluttering method

• How to let go of little annoyances

• How to train your brain to see possibility instead of doom

• 5 ways to take breaks at work

MEME-A-PALOOZA

Memes of the Day

📣 Partner With Us: Get in front of an audience of over 1 million finance professionals, business leaders, and policy influencers. Submit a partnership inquiry.

📊 Wall Street Comp & Culture Data: Get the most detailed comp, carry, and culture insights across 800+ Wall Street firms. Explore the data.

📈 Grow With Us: Work directly with the Overheard on Wall Street team to scale your finance brand. Schedule your free consult.

🧢 Wall Street Shop: Explore our collection of finance-themed apparel and merchandise. Visit the shop.

📬 Deals Newsletter – Buysiders: A curated roundup of major M&A, private equity, and VC activity. Plus access to private deal flow. Subscribe here.