The newsletter also highlights the top stock picks hedge funds and mutual funds agree on, a key player in the world of AI, and the $190 million Seattle real-estate empire Jeff Bezos is leaving behind with his move to Miami. Other topics include the stocks both mutual funds and hedge funds are betting on, what central bankers are saying about rate cuts, and predictions for the market. In tech, it discusses America's smartest AI optimist, Microsoft's shakeup of its security organization, and the mini wave of Amazon employees quitting. In business, it covers the previously unreported Seattle properties of Jeff Bezos, Business Insider's fourth cohort of emerging commercial and residential real estate talent, and how Mark Cuban forced the biggest US pharmacy to upend its business.
Key takeaways:
- Despite the Biden administration's anti-trust stance, corporate America is not afraid of pursuing big M&A deals, with more than $170 billion worth of deals announced since September.
- The failure of the FTC to stop Microsoft's $69 billion bid to buy Activision Blizzard was a key turning point, signaling to companies that they could pursue their own transactions.
- Analysts predict a "tidal wave of M&A ahead," especially with the market predicting significant cuts to interest rates next year.
- Large incumbents and startups that initially set out to disrupt them could potentially form interesting tie-ups, especially with VC money drying up and an unwelcoming IPO market.