Read Sunday ☕️

Last Week’s Headlines

Economy & World News

• Trump plans F-35 jet sales to Saudi Arabia

  The U.S. is preparing to sell F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, signaling a major geopolitical shift. The move raises concerns about weakening Israel’s military edge and reducing U.S. leverage in Middle Eastern diplomacy.

• Klimt painting sells for a record-breaking $236.4 million

  A rare Gustav Klimt painting sold at Sotheby’s for $236.4 million, becoming the most expensive modern artwork ever auctioned. The sale signals renewed strength in high-end art markets after years of sluggish collector demand.

• Larry Summers resigns from OpenAI board after Epstein emails surface

  Larry Summers stepped down from OpenAI’s board following the release of past email exchanges with Jeffrey Epstein. The resignation adds pressure as Summers also retreats from Harvard duties amid sharp criticism over his judgment.

  • Larry Summers drops Harvard teaching as fallout from Epstein emails widens

    Summers will not complete his semester at Harvard and will not teach next term, following calls for him to step aside after his correspondence with Epstein became public. The university confirmed his co-teachers will finish the remaining classes without him.

• Netherlands returns control of chipmaker Nexperia to Chinese owner

  The Dutch government suspended its special powers over Nexperia and handed control back to its Chinese owner in a diplomatic thaw with Beijing. The move follows China loosening export restrictions, though the Netherlands may reassert control if supply risks re-emerge.

• Trump moves to designate Saudi Arabia a major non-NATO ally

  President Trump announced he will formally label Saudi Arabia a major non-NATO ally, expanding military cooperation between the two nations. The designation unlocks prioritized access to U.S. defense equipment and aligns with a new defense pact that includes future F-35 sales.

• U.S. sanctions leave 48 million barrels of Russian oil stranded at sea

  New sanctions have left massive volumes of Russian crude stuck on tankers as traders scramble for alternative buyers. India is rushing to secure Middle Eastern supply while Russia faces mounting pressure to reroute discounted barrels amid looming secondary sanctions.

• Argentina’s $20 billion bank bailout stalls as lenders shift to smaller plan

  A planned $20 billion rescue package for Argentina from major U.S. banks has been shelved in favor of a much smaller short-term loan facility. The move follows a $20 billion U.S. currency swap earlier this fall but reflects ongoing concerns over Argentina’s worsening fiscal crisis.

Public Markets

• Alphabet warns of an AI bubble risk

  Sundar Pichai cautioned that no company - including Alphabet - would be immune if the AI market overheats and corrects sharply. His comments triggered global market volatility as investors reassessed stretched tech valuations.

• Peter Thiel exits Nvidia ahead of AI stock turmoil

  Peter Thiel liquidated his Nvidia stake and dramatically reduced overall equity exposure, citing inflated AI expectations. His move follows nearly $1.8 trillion wiped from AI-linked stocks in a week, echoing warnings from other skeptics like Michael Burry.

• Cloudflare outage disrupts major platforms globally

  Cloudflare suffered a major outage after an unexplained surge in traffic, knocking key websites — including ChatGPT and X — offline. The company says an “unusual” traffic spike triggered the cascading errors.

• Google launches Antigravity, an agent-first IDE powered by Gemini 3 Pro

  Google unveiled Antigravity, a development environment that gives autonomous AI agents direct access to the editor, terminal, and browser to independently write, test, and verify software. Early adopters including GitHub, JetBrains, Cursor, and Shopify report major productivity gains, with JetBrains seeing a 50% improvement in solved benchmarks.

• Blue Owl cancels merger of two private-credit funds after investor backlash

  Blue Owl abandoned plans to merge its non-traded OBDC II fund into the larger OBDC after restricting investor redemptions sparked concern. The controversy intensified scrutiny of the private credit boom, particularly its concentrated exposure to AI-driven data center financing.

Real Estate & Private Equity

• Mark Wahlberg’s $37M Delray Beach mansion doubles in value

  Wahlberg’s Delray Beach estate has surged in value since 2020, outperforming broader luxury real estate markets. The home sits in one of Florida’s most exclusive gated communities and has changed hands four times in five years.

M&A, IPO’s, Bankruptcies

• Anthropic valued up to $350 billion after Microsoft & Nvidia deals

  Microsoft and Nvidia announced multibillion-dollar investments into Anthropic, driving the AI startup’s valuation toward $350 billion. The deal deepens both companies’ bets on foundation-model competition against OpenAI.

• Jeff Bezos returns as CEO to lead new AI venture

  Jeff Bezos is returning to an operational CEO role to co-lead Project Prometheus, a $6.2 billion AI startup focused on advanced engineering and manufacturing applications. The company has poached top talent from OpenAI, Google, Meta, and DeepMind, making it one of the best-capitalized early-stage firms in the sector.

• Walmart in talks to acquire Israeli anti-fraud startup R&A Data

  Walmart is negotiating to buy R&A Data, a startup that monitors online marketplaces for scams and counterfeit goods. The deal comes as Walmart prepares for a leadership transition and seeks to strengthen its third-party marketplace in its competition with Amazon.