Musk’s wealth rises by one Bill Gates

Together with

Good Morning,

Nvidia will raised debt for the first time since the AI boom, some Asia hedge funds are up 100% on AI bets, and SpaceX rallied another 20% to become the world's sixth-largest public company after rallying for a second day.

That's a whole $120B in wealth gained by Musk in one day. One Bill Gates in American terms.

Also, a long overdue shoutout to my ex-intern TJ. His startup data platform, Fundable, has been on a roll since launching last year, with users tapping into real-time funding signals to find customers, source deals, or discover investors deploying into their vertical. If you're a founder, VC, or on a growth team, a subscription is a no-brainer.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

Learn more about the Litquidity portfolios and subscribe to the strategies on Autopilot.*

Markets

• US stocks rallied on Friday after US and Iran agreed to a peace deal

  • Dow hit a new ATH

  • Nasdaq had its best day since late-March

  • SpaceX rallied another 20% to become the world's sixth-largest public company

• Japan's Nikkei 225 index surged to a new ATH

• Oil settled at a three-month low

• West Texas natural gas turned positive for the first time in four months to end a record streak

• Dollar fell to 10-day low

Earnings

• What we're watching this week:

  • Wednesday: CarMax

  • Thursday: Kroger

• Full calendar here

Prediction Markets

• The White House banned all non-Americans (including immigrants) from using Anthropic's latest model. Anthropic is working on a resolve

• Trade event contracts on Polymarket, the world's largest prediction market

Headline Roundup

• US might pay $300B to Iran as part of peace deal (TH)

• Hedge funds reopen pre-war playbook as Iran risks recede (BBG)

• Some Asia hedge funds are up 100% YTD (RT)

• Companies rush to bond markets as US-Iran deal spurs bullish mood (BBG)

• SpaceX will release quarterly earnings on X (RT)

• Bridgewater's revamp is working for clients but owners aren't convinced (BBG)

• Ex-Fed governor Miran rejoined Hudson Bay Capital Management (AX)

• Musk said SpaceX could bring $1T in revenue by 2030 (RT)

• Top banks rush to fill chief AI roles as talent jumps to rivals (BBG)

• Anthropic will meet with White House over AI security concerns (BBG)

• Students push business schools to beef up private markets teaching (FT)

• White House UFC event concentrates Trump's sporting, political, and economic power (RT)

A Message from Fundable

Put funding signals to work.

If you're a loyal Exec Sum reader, you know our VC section highlights our favorite rounds from around the world every day.

The platform doing the heavy lifting behind the scenes is my favorite startup data provider, Fundable, which surfaces every VC round the moment it breaks. Readers are putting that signal to work in all sorts of ways:

• Recruiting agencies running automated LinkedIn outbound to founders right after a raise

• Startup sales teams pushing Slack alerts to AEs when a company matching their ICP raises

• Founders building investor lists based on active angels and VCs in their space, using the Fundable MCP

• At Litquidity Ventures, Fundable helps us source new deals by flagging companies that fit our thesis and may be open to follow-on rounds

Same data the incumbents sell, except it's built to plug into your sourcing or outbound workflows. Can connect via API, MCP, or through native integrations.

Get a subscription or connect with TJ here!

Deal Flow

M&A / Strategic

• Fox Corp. agreed to acquire streaming video platform Roku for $22B, including debt

• Qualcomm is in talks to acquire AI chip startup ​Tenstorrent for $8B-$10B

• Australian pharmacy group Sigma Healthcare withdrew from talks to acquire UK pharmacy chain Boots from Sycamore Partners for over $10B

• Aussie toll road operator Atlas Arteria recommended shareholders reject an improved $5.2B bid from IFM Investors

• Salesforce will acquire AI customer service firm Fin for $3.6B

• Canadian payments firm Nuvei will acquire cross-border payments company Payoneer Global for $2.75B cash at a 44% premium

• Indian conglomerate Aditya Birla Group emerged as the frontrunner to buy Shell's Indian renewable power producer Sprng Energy at a $1.8B valuation

• Finnish retailer Kesko agreed to buy building materials distributor Dahl's Nordic operations from building materials giant Saint-Gobain for $1.4B, excluding debt

• American Express will buy restaurant booking platform TheFork from ‌Tripadvisor in a $700M all-cash deal

• Pacific Equity Partners, I Squared Capital, and Oaktree Capital submitted improved bids of reportedly over $550M for Aussie outdoor advertising firm oOh!media

• Champ, a new PE fund backed by fashion giant LVMH and over 200 pro athletes, took a $50M minority stake in activewear brand Rhoback

VC

• Robotics biotech Cellares raised a $330M Series D from BlackRock, T. Rowe Price, and others ahead of a potential 2027 IPO

• Hydra Host, a data center software and AI server brokerage platform, raised $100M in project funding at an $800M post-money valuation led by Kindred Ventures

• NewCore, a cybersecurity startup focused on identity for humans and AI agents, raised a $66M seed round at a $300M post-money valuation led by Cyberstarts

• Arcade.dev, the secure action layer for production AI agents, raised a $60M Series A led by SYN Ventures

• Radical Numerics, a developer of general biological intelligence and genome language models, raised a $50M seed round led by Obvious Ventures

• Interchecks, an instant payments platform serving sports books, fintechs, and financial institutions, raised a $50M Series C led by Bettor Capital, Commerce Ventures, Decades Holdings, and Thayer Street Partners

• Podium Automation, a manufacturer reimagining industrial control panels, raised an $18M Series A led by Construct Capital

• Thrive Financial, a home improvement loan servicing startup, raised a $7M funding round led by Flintlock Capital

• Pints AI, a Singapore enterprise AI startup, raised a $5.6M pre-Series A led by Tin Men Capital and SBI Ven Capital

Access the complete VC deal flow and data on Fundable

IPOs / Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• SpaceX raised $85.7 billion in its record IPO after underwriters exercised a greenshoe option to purchase additional shares

• Activist Elliott took a 5% stake in $11B-listed UK distributor Bunzl

• Activist Ananym Capital Management built a stake in $8.8B-listed medtech Bio-Techne Corp. and is pushing for a sale

• Tencent-backed Chinese AI chipmaker Enflame received approval for an $888M China IPO

• UK aerospace parts supplier Doncasters is seeking to raise as much as $747M at a $4.4B valuation in a US IPO

• Indian payments firm Razorpay Software confidentially filed for a $500M India IPO

• IP data provider Patsnap filed confidentially for a Hong Kong and Singapore IPO seeking to raise $400M at an over $2B valuation

• Singapore's Foundation Healthcare plans to file for a Singapore IPO to raise $400M at an over $1B valuation

• UK retail group Frasers offered to acquire the remaining 78% it doesn't already own in $300M-listed Aussie footwear company Accent Xiaohongshu Technology, the Chinese owner of social platform RedNote, will confidentially file for a Hong Kong IPO

Debt

• Nvidia plans to raise $25B in its first bond sale since the AI boom

• Banks are lining up a $6.7B debt package to back EQT's potential $12.5B takeover of UK product-testing firm Intertek Group

• Kenya plans to sell $1.13B of foreign bonds

• Footwear brand Birkenstock is set to raise $1B in its first bond sale since 2021 to fund buybacks

• UK chemicals giant INEOS Group is seeking to raise $960M in its second loan deal in recent weeks

• Waste Management of Canada is seeking to sell $500M on bonds

• Goldman Sachs arranged a deal for Alphabet in munis markets to allow the firm to raise financing through a structure known as prepaid energy bonds

• Indonesian SWF Danantara is exploring a 30Y bond sale following strong demand for its debut dollar bond sale

Funds / Secondaries

• Abry Partners raised a $780M CV for healthtech firm Centauri Health Solutions led by Apollo and Neuberger Berman

• Credit investor Veld Capital raised a $400M CV led by Blue Owl

Crypto Sum Snapshot

• SpaceX IPO stress tests crypto's bid to reinvent stocks

• Trump meme coin generated $616M for Trump while buyers lost $700M

Crypto Sum compiles the most important stories on everything crypto. Read it here.

Exec's Picks

• SpaceX is rallying. Meet SPCU, the Defiance 2X Long SpaceX ETF, doubling the rally. Multiply your gains on SpaceX's rally with one ticker, no options or margin. A leveraged single-stock ETF that resets daily.* Check out SPCU.

• Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella shared his thoughts on running a business in an AI-driven economy. Even Musk found it insightful. Read it here.

*Distributor: Foreside Fund Services. An investment in SPCU is not a direct investment in SPCX.

Financial Services Recruiting

If you're a junior banker looking for your next career move, check out Litney Partners, a recruiting firm established by Litquidity and Whitney Partners (the oldest purely financial services executive search and consulting firm).

We aim to place strong candidates across private equity, hedge funds, venture capital, growth equity, credit, and investment banking.

We're currently seeking talent for some incredible roles. Head over to Litney Partners to drop your resume / create your profile and we'd love to get in touch!

Meme Cleanser

Merch Store: Visit our merch store to shop our latest apparel, shoes, bags, accessories and more.

Litquidity Ventures: Accredited investors & qualified purchasers within the Litquidity community can gain access to alternative investments such as venture, late-stage growth, and private equity through Litquidity Ventures. Interested? Fill out this form.

☎️ Book a call with Lit: Want to pick Litquidity's brain on business advice, insights, or just chat to say what's up? Buy his time here.

Launch your own newsletter: Have great content ideas and looking to launch your own publication? We highly recommend beehiiv to get started.

*DISCLAIMER: Investment advice provided by Autopilot Advisers, LLC ("Autopilot"), an SEC-registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investing carries risks, including loss of principal. As always, be smart out there. Litquidity is compensated to promote AutoPilot. Compensation details available upon request.