Category: Financial

Boaz Weinstein Targets Blue Owl BDCs With Tender Offer Amid Private Credit Concerns
Activist investor Boaz Weinstein is offering to buy shares in Blue Owl Capital Inc.’s business development companies after a challenging week for the lender and broader fears about bubbling risks in the $1.8 trillion private credit market.
Saba Capital Management, led by Weinstein, and Cox Capital Partners launched the tender with an offer price that’s expected to be at a 20% to 35% discount to the most recent estimated net asset value and dividend reinvestment price. That will be determined when tender offers start after a 10-business day notice period, Cox and Saba said in a statement Friday.
Existing shareholders in the non-traded BDCs would have the option — but no obligation — to sell to the firms.

The price that any tender clears at will provide a window into where the market gauges the value of these funds and if it reflects Blue Owl’s internal net asset value. Steeply discounted exits could hurt future fundraising efforts.
“The purchasers’ tender offers would provide a liquidity solution to retail investors in the wake of a significant industry-wide increase in BDC redemption requests, multiple quarters of net outflows and a rise in redemption gate provisions,” Saba and Cox said in the statement.
The move comes just days after Blue Owl decided to restrict withdrawals from one of its private credit funds. Facing a looming deadline to return cash to investors in Blue Owl Capital Corp. II, also known as OBDC II, it raised capital by selling a $1.4 billion portfolio of loans to three of North America’s biggest pension funds and its own insurance firm.

Boaz Weinstein. (Jason Alden/Bloomberg)
Blue Owl shares extended losses on Friday, closing the week at their lowest level since June 2023, while shares in other asset managers also sold off.
“Saba and Cox are looking to capitalize on the headlines in the market,” said Michael Covello, executive managing director at investment bank Robert A. Stanger & Co. Inc.
For an investor who says, “I’ve read all the headlines, I’m scared, I don’t care what it costs, I want to get out today,” the tender offer could be a good opportunity, even with the discount, Covello said. “But there’s a cost to liquidity.”
Saba and Cox sent notice to purchase OBDC II shares on Feb. 17. They plan to make similar offers for Blue Owl Technology Income Corp. and Blue Owl Credit Income Corp., which are also BDCs.
Who’s Buying?
Weinstein is a seasoned activist investor who has waged aggressive proxy battles against Wall Street’s biggest names, including BlackRock Inc. and Nuveen. He launched Saba in 2009 and the hedge fund has focused on building stakes in closed-end funds and special purpose acquisition companies.
A Deutsche Bank AG alum, Weinstein has sometimes positioned himself as a defender of retail investors, taking on fund managers that he sees as more interested in collecting fees than maximizing returns for shareholders.
Cox Capital is an investor in dozens of private funds, from BDCs to real estate investment trusts. The Philadelphia-based firm, founded by John Cox in 2020, provides a source of “secondary liquidity” to investors in alternative assets, according to its website.
The credit secondaries market is a fast-growing area of finance, and has proven useful to private equity firms in need of cash, especially as dealmaking slowed down after the Covid-19 pandemic.
February 20, 2026
Trump Pushes for Lower Mortgage Rates, but Fed Pick Kevin Warsh Could Tighten Policy
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a move that reeks of the same old establishment maneuvering, President Donald Trump has nominated Kevin Warsh, a former Federal Reserve governor with deep ties to Wall Street and neoconservative circles, to replace Jerome Powell as Fed Chair. Trump, ever the populist showman, has been pounding the drum for lower mortgage rates to ease the burden on everyday Americans squeezed by skyrocketing housing costs. Yet, his pick—Warsh, a vocal critic of the Fed’s bloated $6.6 trillion balance sheet—could very well steer policy in the opposite direction, tightening the screws on borrowers and inflating risks for the broader economy. This nomination, announced Friday amid Trump’s ongoing feud with Powell, highlights the president’s contradictory impulses: championing the working class while cozying up to financial elites whose agendas often prioritize globalist interests over Main Street relief.
Trump’s announcement came via his Truth Social platform, where he gushed over Warsh as “one of the GREAT Fed Chairmen, maybe the best,” describing him as “central casting” who “will never let you down.” It’s classic Trump hyperbole, but beneath the bluster lies a potential policy clash. The president has made housing affordability a cornerstone of his economic agenda, repeatedly vowing to slash interest rates to make homeownership accessible again. “We can drop interest rates to a level, and that’s one thing we do want to do,” Trump declared last month. “That’s natural. That’s good for everybody.” Mortgage rates, which hovered above 7% in early 2025, have become a political lightning rod, locking out first-time buyers and fueling resentment toward the elite-driven housing bubble.

But Warsh, with his history of hawkish stances on inflation and skepticism toward easy money policies, isn’t the dovish ally Trump might imagine. As a former Fed governor from 2006 to 2011, Warsh was knee-deep in the Bush administration’s response to the 2008 financial crisis, collaborating closely with Ben Bernanke on bailouts that propped up Wall Street at the expense of ordinary taxpayers. Critics, including those wary of neoconservative overreach, argue that era’s interventions—rooted in endless wars and deficit spending—set the stage for today’s economic distortions. Warsh has lambasted the Fed’s quantitative easing programs, which ballooned the balance sheet from $900 billion in 2008 to a peak of $9 trillion by 2022, before a modest rollback to $6.6 trillion today. In an April speech, he warned that such expansions “encroach further on other macroeconomic domains,” leading to “more debt accumulated… more capital misallocated… risks of future shocks magnified.”
Shrinking that balance sheet—holding $4.3 trillion in Treasuries and $2 trillion in mortgage-backed securities—could directly counteract Trump’s rate-cutting dreams. By unloading these assets or letting them mature without reinvestment, the Fed would flood the market with supply, pushing up long-term yields and, consequently, mortgage rates. As Yale professor and former Fed official Bill English noted, “If all he does is move to a smaller Fed balance sheet, it’s hard to see how that would be consistent with lower mortgage rates, and that creates some tension with the president.” This isn’t just academic jargon; it’s a recipe for higher borrowing costs that could exacerbate the housing crisis Trump claims to fight.
Market reactions were telling: The dollar surged while gold and silver prices tumbled, signaling traders’ bets against aggressive rate cuts under Warsh. Investors see him as a bulwark against political meddling, but skeptics view this as code for preserving the status quo favored by global financial powers. Warsh’s recent pivot toward openness on rate cuts—after criticizing the Fed’s September 2024 reduction—smacks of opportunism, aligning with Trump’s demands while masking his deeper reservations. As Harvard economist Jason Furman quipped, Warsh’s desire to trim the balance sheet might “collide with reality,” leading to gradual changes at best. Yet, in a Trump administration eager to project economic wins, such caution could frustrate the president’s base.
Warsh’s nomination caps a tumultuous saga with Powell, whom Trump appointed in his first term but later branded a “moron” for resisting deeper cuts. The feud escalated when the Department of Justice launched criminal investigations into Powell, an unprecedented assault on Fed independence that has alarmed even some Republicans. Senator Thom Tillis vowed not to confirm any nominee until the probe ends, calling it essential to protect the central bank from “political interference or legal intimidation.” Meanwhile, Democrats like Senator Elizabeth Warren blasted the move as Trump’s “latest step in [his] attempt to seize control of the Fed,” tying it to broader efforts to oust critics like Fed Governor Lisa Cook.
But let’s peel back the layers on Warsh himself. At 55, he’s a product of the elite circuit: A Morgan Stanley mergers-and-acquisitions banker turned Bush White House economic adviser, then the youngest Fed governor ever at 35. Today, he’s a fellow at the Hoover Institution—a bastion of neoconservative thought—and a lecturer at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. His board seats at UPS and affiliations with groups like the Group of Thirty and the Congressional Budget Office’s Panel of Economic Advisors scream establishment insider. More intriguingly, Warsh’s personal connections raise eyebrows among those questioning undue influences in U.S. policy.

Warsh is married to Jane Lauder, granddaughter of cosmetics mogul Estée Lauder, whose Eastern European Jewish immigrant roots built a billion-dollar empire. Warsh himself identifies as Jewish, and his father-in-law, Ronald Lauder—president of the World Jewish Congress and a fervent Zionist—has been a longtime Trump confidant since their Wharton School days. Lauder’s influence extends beyond cosmetics; he’s pushed Trump on issues like acquiring Greenland, where he has investments in development and bottled water. The World Jewish Congress, under Lauder, aggressively advocates for Israeli interests, often lobbying U.S. policymakers to prioritize Zionism amid global conflicts. Critics argue this network exemplifies how a small cadre of influential Jewish figures—tied to finance, media, and politics—wields outsized power, sometimes at the expense of American sovereignty. Warsh’s ascent, facilitated by these ties, fuels suspicions that Fed policy could subtly favor internationalist agendas over domestic relief, echoing neoconservative priorities that have dragged the U.S. into endless Middle East entanglements.
This isn’t to say Warsh lacks credentials; he was a key communicator during the 2008 crisis, bridging policymakers and markets. But his “hawkish” reputation—favoring tighter policy to combat inflation—clashes with Trump’s push for stimulus. Some economists speculate Warsh might invoke offbeat theories, like a productivity boom from AI justifying cuts, or even the fiscal theory of the price level, where lower rates reduce deficits and curb inflation. Yet, with labor force growth stalled by immigration crackdowns and aging demographics, the standard model warns against it. As one analyst put it, Warsh is “hamstrung” on multiple fronts, including the balance sheet.
Trump edged out other contenders like Fed Governor Christopher Waller, BlackRock’s Rick Rieder, and adviser Kevin Hassett, reportedly because Warsh signaled willingness to cut rates. In a Fox Business interview last year, Warsh backed easing to boost growth, critiquing the Fed for straying into “political areas” like climate change—areas outside its mandate, he argued. But his past objections to low rates during crises, including downplaying unemployment in 2008 as it neared 10%, paint him as a “chameleon,” per policy expert Skanda Amarnath. “His track record speaks to someone who is pretty partisan and political,” Amarnath said, noting Warsh’s shifts depending on who’s in power.
If confirmed—facing a Senate grilling over Trump’s Fed assaults—Warsh could assume the role by mid-May, when Powell’s term expires. Speculation swirls on whether Powell would step down early or dig in. Economists like Robert Rogowsky call Warsh a “solid pick” but warn of his potential as a “political opportunist”—hawk under Democrats, dove for Trump. Rachel Ziemba of the Center for a New American Security adds that Trump’s trade wars and immigration policies could stifle growth, making rate cuts ineffective anyway.
In the end, this nomination underscores the rot in Washington’s financial corridors: A president railing against elites while appointing one with Zionist and neoconservative baggage, potentially sabotaging his own pro-worker promises. Americans deserve a Fed that prioritizes domestic stability over global distortions, not another insider perpetuating the cycle of debt and inequality.
February 11, 2026
Elon Musk Wins Shareholder Approval for Tesla’s Historic $1 Trillion Pay Package
Elon Musk speaking at the 2025 Tesla shareholder meeting. ·© Tesla.com

Stock Widget

Tesla TSLA -2.85% ▼ shareholders approved a record-setting pay package for Chief Executive Elon Musk, a plan designed to motivate the world’s richest man with as much as $1 trillion in additional stock.

Flanked by dancing humanoid robots on a stage bathed in pink and blue light at the electric-vehicle maker’s Austin, Texas, headquarters, Musk thanked the crowd of shareholders who supported the pay package with more than 75% of the votes cast.
“What we’re about to embark upon is not merely a new chapter of the future of Tesla but a whole new book,” Musk said. “I guess what I’m saying is hang onto your Tesla stock,” he added later.
The measure was hotly debated, with some large shareholders taking opposing sides. The voting was largely seen as a referendum on the company’s longtime leader and his vision to shift Tesla’s focus to humanoid robots and artificial intelligence.
Musk, who is also CEO of SpaceX and xAI, had threatened on social media to leave Tesla if the measure had been rejected. He is already Tesla’s biggest shareholder, with a roughly 15% stake.
Musk had said he wanted a big enough ownership stake in Tesla to be comfortable that the “robot army” he was developing didn’t fall into the wrong hands, but not so large that he couldn’t be fired if he went “crazy.”
On another proposal that would authorize the Tesla board to invest in Musk’s artificial-intelligence company, xAI, Tesla General Counsel Brandon Ehrhart said more shares had been voted for the proposal than against, but there were many abstentions. He said the board would consider its next steps.
Musk had publicly endorsed the idea as he seeks to catch up in the AI race.
The new pay package, which includes 12 chunks of stock, could give Musk control over as much as 25% of Tesla if he hits a series of milestones and expands the company’s market capitalization to $8.5 trillion over the next 10 years. Its market cap is now around $1.5 trillion.
Tesla’s board described the package as pay for performance, designed to motivate Musk to transform the company with new products such as autonomous vehicles, robotaxis and humanoid robots.
“Having worked with him now for 11 years, I can say what motivates him is doing things that others can’t do or haven’t been able to do,” Tesla Chair Robyn Denholm said in an interview last week.
Tesla struggled to keep Musk’s attention earlier this year as he spent time in Washington running the Department of Government Efficiency. Tesla’s vehicle sales fell more than 13% in the first half of the year. After Musk left Washington in May, he turned his focus to his startup xAI and the development of its chatbot Grok, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The new pay package was opposed by several proxy advisers and institutional investors including the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, various New York City retirement systems, and Norges Bank Investment Management, which is the sixth-largest institutional shareholder with a 1.2% stake.
Institutional Shareholder Services, one of the proxy advisers that urged passive funds to vote down the compensation package, said it had concerns about the magnitude and design of the “astronomical” stock award.
Charles Schwab, which has a Tesla stake of about 0.6%, said Tuesday it would vote in favor of the package. “We firmly believe that supporting this proposal aligns both management and shareholder interests,” it said in a statement.
Huge stock awards tied to ambitious targets—sometimes called “moonshot” pay packages—are cast by proponents as a high-octane incentive for outstanding performance. Critics say they are often doubly flawed: overly expensive if targets prove easier than predicted; and counterproductive if the targets become unattainable and executives see little reason to stick around.
Musk’s new package is divided into 12 tranches. He could reach the first tranche if Tesla’s market cap grows to $2 trillion from around $1.5 trillion today, combined with an operational goal such as selling 11.5 million new vehicles, on top of the 8.5 million vehicles on the road.
More challenging milestones include selling one million robots to paying customers and maintaining an adjusted Ebitda of $400 billion. Last year, Tesla posted an adjusted Ebitda of $16 billion.
For each tranche he unlocks, Musk would receive equity equivalent to about 1% of Tesla’s current shares. Once he earns a tranche, he could vote those shares but wouldn’t be able to sell them until they vest, in either 7.5 years or 10 years.
Musk’s 2018 pay package, the most valuable on record before the 2025 package, is tied up in a dispute at the Delaware Supreme Court. Tesla is appealing a lower-court decision to rescind the 2018 pay package after a judge ruled in January 2024 that Tesla’s directors were beholden to Musk and the approval process for that package was tainted and lacked transparency.
Here is a breakdown of Musk’s current Tesla ownership:
November 7, 2025
Biden Faces Challenges Turning Presidency Into Post-Office Influence
Europeans are worried about U.S. President Joe Biden. © Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Joe Biden, the doddering architect of America’s near-collapse under socialist policies and endless scandals, is now reaping what he sowed in the form of a post-presidency that’s as bankrupt as his administration’s border strategy. Eight months after handing the White House back to a resurgent Donald Trump, Biden finds himself persona non grata among the elite circles that once propped him up. Corporate boards won’t touch him, speaking gigs are evaporating faster than his poll numbers, and donors are treating his presidential library like a toxic asset. This isn’t just bad karma; it’s a market correction on a failed leader whose unpopularity and the looming shadow of Trump’s retribution have turned “Diamond Joe” into fool’s gold.
Let’s face it: Ex-presidents typically glide into golden parachutes, cashing in on their Oval Office stint with seven-figure speaking fees, cushy board seats, and memoir deals that could fund small nations. Bill Clinton turned influence-peddling into an art form, raking in $200 million post-White House. Barack Obama? He and Michelle scored a $60 million book bonanza and Netflix gigs while hobnobbing with billionaires. Even George W. Bush paints his way to quiet millions. But Biden? At 82, battling a severe prostate cancer diagnosis that’s metastasized, he’s reduced to haggling over scraps. The Wall Street Journal lays it bare: No corporate sinecures for old Joe, thanks to his glaring cognitive decline—evident in that fateful 2024 debate that sealed his fate—and the baggage of a presidency marred by inflation, crime waves, and foreign policy blunders.
Speaking fees? Sure, he’s quoting $300,000 to $500,000 a pop, but the invites are scarce, and bookers are lowballing him like a yard sale find. Why? Fear of Trump’s wrath. With the 47th president vowing to drain the swamp deeper than ever, companies dread audits, investigations, or lost contracts if they align with the man who weaponized the DOJ against conservatives. As one insider whispered to The Journal, “Who’s going to risk it for Biden?” Instead of jet-setting on private planes—avoiding those pesky “unsavory flight logs” à la Epstein—Biden’s slumming it in coach on American Airlines or breaking Amtrak quiet car rules with his endless chatter. His Fourth of July? Holed up in a luxury trailer in Malibu, courtesy of Hunter’s pal Moby. Nice, but hardly the Hamptons elite circuit where real power brokers summer.
The real kicker is the Biden Presidential Library—or lack thereof. NBC News reports a donor drought that’s turned the project into a punchline. John Morgan, the Florida lawyer who funneled $800,000 to Biden’s doomed reelection, scoffed: “I don’t believe a library will ever be built unless it’s a bookmobile from the old days.” Another top bundler? A flat “Me? No way.” Over a dozen major Democratic funders are sitting on their wallets, blaming Biden’s ego-driven refusal to bow out gracefully, which gifted Trump a landslide. The projected $200-300 million price tag? Forget it; they’re saving for the party’s post-Biden rebuild. Contrast that with Trump’s library plans, already flush with MAGA millions and set to be a monument to American greatness in Florida.
Biden’s not destitute—far from it. His $250,600 presidential pension, plus $166,000 from Senate and VP annuities, keeps the lights on. A $10 million Hachette book deal for his memoirs will pad the nest, though it’s a pittance next to the Obamas’ haul—ego bruise alert. But obligations mount: He’s bankrolling Hunter’s post-pardon legal circus (despite the get-out-of-jail-free card, debts linger) and supporting Ashley amid her divorce woes. Then there’s the $800,000 mortgage on his Rehoboth Beach mansion, compounded by a 20% property tax spike this year. For a guy whose “lifestyle” screams modest (read: boring), these hits sting, especially as Trump’s economy booms, lifting all boats except Biden’s leaky dinghy.
This financial flop isn’t misfortune; it’s market justice. Biden’s presidency was a disaster: Skyrocketing costs from “Bidenomics,” an open border inviting chaos, and a foreign policy that emboldened adversaries from Beijing to Tehran. Voters rejected it resoundingly, and now the donor class is following suit. Trump’s shadow looms large—his promises of accountability have executives thinking twice about associating with the Biden brand, synonymous with corruption and incompetence. As the Journal notes, even universities are wary after the Penn Biden Center’s classified docs fiasco. The cold shoulder? It’s conservatives’ quiet revenge, proving that in Trump’s America, failure has consequences.
Biden’s diminished twilight serves as a cautionary tale for the left: Peddle radical agendas, ignore the will of the people, and watch your legacy evaporate. While Trump builds empires and rallies crowds, Biden fades into irrelevance, a footnote in the history of American resurgence. If he’s lucky, that bookmobile library might tour nursing homes—fitting for a president who put the nation to sleep.
September 16, 2025
UK and US Move to Bolster Financial Ties in Advance of Trump Visit
U.S. President Donald Trump, centre right, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrive at Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, Monday, July 28, 2025. © Jane Barlow/Pool Photo via AP, file
Donald Trump flies into Britain on Tuesday evening for a three-day state visit, with the US and UK promising to boost financial ties, including by exploring closer alignment of their capital markets.
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer wants to use Trump’s visit to showcase Britain as an inward investment hotspot, with US private equity company Blackstone pledging to invest £100bn in British assets over the next decade. US officials said there would be at least $10bn of investment deals in the technology sector, an agreement on nuclear co-operation and an exploration of “how the deep connections between our leading financial hubs can be maintained into the future”. But Trump’s arrival could throw up problems for Starmer.
The US president is unpopular in Britain and his schedule has been designed to shield him from any public or political protest. Trump will not address the UK parliament and is expected to travel by helicopter from the US ambassador’s residence in London to Windsor Castle and later to Starmer’s country retreat at Chequers. Trump has not yet finalised a deal, agreed with Starmer in May, to exempt British steel exports from US tariffs, although they do benefit from lower 25 per cent levies compared with the 50 per cent applied to other countries.
British officials were in Washington on Monday holding urgent talks with US trade officials to try to conclude a deal that would exempt Scotch whisky from a 10 per cent tariff imposed on other UK exports.
A senior US official said the White House was not “tracking” any announcement to reduce US tariffs on whisky, in a sign that an agreement was unlikely. But the official suggested it may well be discussed. Meanwhile, US officials would not be drawn on whether Trump would endorse Tommy Robinson, a far-right activist who is admired by figures on the American right and who organised a “Unite the Kingdom” rally in London on Saturday, attended by between 110,000 and 150,000 people.
Asked whether he would speak out in support of Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, or even meet him, a US official said: “I don’t have anything on that right now.” For Trump, the highlight of the visit is expected to be a stay with King Charles and Queen Camilla at Windsor Castle, where he will be feted with a fly-past by military jets, a carriage procession and a state banquet.
But Starmer will try to use the visit to focus on financial, tech and nuclear co-operation, in an attempt to bolster his claims to have a “growth agenda” and to move on from a series of scandals that have rocked his government. Starmer is facing a wave of anger among Labour MPs and questions over his judgment after sacking his US ambassador Lord Peter Mandelson last week over his links to the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Trump is likely to be grilled over his own connections to Epstein at a press conference on Thursday, his last official business before returning to the US.
The state visit will be preceded on Tuesday by talks in Downing Street between UK chancellor Rachel Reeves and US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent over closer financial co-operation.
By aligning UK standards more closely with the US, Reeves would be hoping to increase access to the world’s deepest and most liquid financial markets, as well as attract greater American investment into Britain.
Stock Widget
The push follows a period of intense political anxiety over an exodus of London-listed companies to the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, as businesses seek higher valuations on the other side of the Atlantic. Trump will bring leading figures from Big Tech including OpenAI’s Sam Altman and chipmaker Nvidia’s NVDA +2.45% ▲ Jensen Huang on his delegation, while companies such as Rolls-Royce RYCEY +1.80% ▲, GSK GSK +1.35% ▲ and Microsoft MSFT +1.95% ▲ will attend a business roundtable at Chequers.

US officials did not indicate to what extent Trump would press Starmer on Britain’s Online Safety Act, which has been a source of tension between Washington and London as some US tech companies have decried it as censorship.
“How that may or may not play into the bilateral discussion that will take place with the prime minister is yet unknown. It may well arise, but it may not,” a senior US official said. “Free speech in the UK, but free speech elsewhere, is something that we in this administration are very much focused on,” they added.
Stock Widget
Blackstone BX +2.65% ▲ is making its commitment to Britain as part of a broader $500bn investment push across Europe, which co-founder Stephen Schwarzman told The Financial Times aimed to profit from economic reforms and a revival of growth. Blackstone’s top leaders like Schwarzman and president Jonathan Gray have long considered the UK a key market for the $1.2tn in assets investment group, and they have strong ties with Downing Street.

Blackstone is already one of the largest foreign investors in the UK, with billions put into digital infrastructure and ecommerce warehouses, among other things. It also has large corporate investments including Merlin Entertainments, the owner of Legoland, and was a major shareholder in the London Stock Exchange’s parent company until fully divesting its shares last year.
September 15, 2025
Citi Joins U.S. Firms in Promising UK Investment as Trump Prepares Visit
Citi Group has confirmed it will invest £1.1 billion across its UK operations © Alamy/PA
London – In a resounding vote of confidence in President Donald Trump’s pro-business agenda, major U.S. financial giants are pouring billions into the UK economy just ahead of his high-profile state visit next week. The announcements, totaling £1.25 billion in immediate investments, underscore the enduring strength of the transatlantic alliance under Trump’s leadership, signaling a new era of economic prosperity free from the regulatory shackles that plagued previous administrations.
Stock Widget
Citi Group C +1.85% ▲ led the charge today, confirming a substantial £1.1 billion investment across its UK operations. This move will bolster the bank’s presence in London’s financial hub and beyond, creating jobs and driving innovation in a post-Brexit Britain that Trump has championed as a model for sovereign trade. Joining Citi is S&P Global SPGI +2.20% ▲, which pledged £4 million to expand its Manchester offices, enhancing credit ratings and market analysis capabilities in one of the UK’s fastest-growing regions.

The investment wave doesn’t stop there. PayPal announced a £150 million commitment focused on product innovations and growth initiatives, aiming to supercharge digital payments and e-commerce ties between the two nations. Meanwhile, Bank of America is set to create up to 1,000 new jobs in Belfast through its first-ever operation in Northern Ireland, a strategic foothold that promises to revitalize the region’s economy and honor the peace process Trump has long supported.
Beyond these upfront pledges, U.S. firms are vowing to accelerate commercial activity across the Atlantic in the years ahead. BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, revealed plans to allocate £7 billion to the UK market over the next five years, injecting vital capital into infrastructure and sustainable investments. Rothesay, a leading UK pension insurer, reciprocated by committing to double its U.S. investments with an additional £7 billion, fostering mutual growth in retirement security and financial stability.
Collectively, these moves line up an impressive £20 billion in trade flows between the U.S. and UK, with £8 billion directed toward the UK and £12 billion flowing stateside, according to the Department for Business and Trade. This surge not only highlights the “golden corridor” of opportunity Trump has nurtured but also positions both economies to outpace global competitors mired in bureaucratic red tape.
Business and Trade Secretary Peter Kyle hailed the developments, stating: “These investments reflect the strength of our enduring ‘golden corridor’ with one of our closest trading partners, ahead of the US presidential state visit.” Kyle’s comments come at a time when Trump’s tariff policies have protected American workers while opening doors for fair trade deals, a stark contrast to the open-border free-for-all of the Biden era.
President Donald Trump delivers remarks after signing an executive order on reciprocal tariffs in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, on February 13. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Adding tech firepower to the mix, reports indicate that OpenAI and Nvidia are poised to unveil billions of dollars in investments into UK data centers during Trump’s visit. Sam Altman, CEO of the ChatGPT creator OpenAI, and Nvidia’s Jensen Huang are expected to join a delegation of U.S. executives accompanying the president, showcasing America’s cutting-edge AI and semiconductor leadership. This collaboration could propel the UK into the forefront of the trillion-dollar tech sectors, from AI to quantum computing and cybersecurity—areas where Trump’s administration has poured resources to maintain U.S. dominance.
Trump’s two-day itinerary kicks off on Wednesday, featuring an overnight stay at the historic Windsor Castle, a fitting backdrop for discussions on deepening economic ties. The visit arrives amid ongoing talks on tariffs, particularly for British steel, where the future remains fluid. While the landmark UK-U.S. trade deal signed in June slashed tariffs on car and aerospace imports to the U.S., no parallel agreement was secured for steel, leaving duties at 25%. Critics on the left might decry this as unfinished business, but supporters see it as leverage for even stronger negotiations under Trump’s deal-making prowess.
A Government spokesperson emphasized the robustness of the partnership: “Our special relationship with the US remains strong. Thanks to our trade deal, the UK is still the only country to have avoided 50% steel and aluminium tariffs, and we continue to partner on technologies such as AI, Quantum, and cyber security in our trillion-dollar tech sectors. We will work with the US to implement this landmark deal as soon as possible to give industry the security they need, protect vital jobs, and put more money in people’s pockets through the plan for change, as well as welcoming the president on this historic state visit.”
These announcements aren’t just numbers on a balance sheet; they’re a testament to Trump’s vision of America First policies that benefit allies like the UK. By prioritizing bilateral deals over multilateral entanglements, the president is rebuilding the special relationship on solid, profit-driven foundations. As global uncertainties loom—from China’s economic aggression to Europe’s regulatory overreach—the U.S.-UK axis stands as a beacon of free-market resilience.
September 12, 2025
Trump is hosting a dinner for the biggest buyers of his memecoin. The guest list is finalized, and many of the top buyers are from other countries
For weeks, wealthy individuals have been scooping up the Trump family’s cryptocurrency in hopes of amassing enough to qualify for one of 220 seats at a dinner with President Donald Trump himself. In the words of Trump’s own website: “The competition is fierce. Own $TRUMP—or watch from the sidelines.” Now, the leaderboard is final and the winners from around the world are set to descend on Washington, D.C., to rub shoulders with the world’s most powerful man. So, who is going?
While the leaderboard is public, the identity of each winner—obscured by pseudonymous blockchain addresses—is not. But an analysis by Fortune revealed that 18 out of these top 25 holders have interacted with Binance, a foreign crypto exchange that excludes Americans, meaning they are likely foreign nationals.
Meanwhile, some of the winners—the top 25 of whom are entitled to attend an “ultra-exclusive private VIP Reception”—have publicly identified themselves or been identified by a crypto analytics firm. Here are three guests slated to go to the “Gala Dinner,” which critics have lambasted as an unprecedented example of corruption.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Chinese crypto billionaire Justin Sun
With more than $18 million in Trump’s memecoin, according to Monday prices, the top spot on the leaderboard is identified simply by the name “SUN.” The crypto analytics firms Arkham Intelligence and Nansen have said that the wallet is linked to HTX, a crypto exchange for which the billionaire Justin Sun serves as global adviser.
Neither Sun, who told Forbes in March that his net worth exceeds $40 billion, nor HTX responded to requests for comment.
The billionaire is a controversial figure in the crypto industry. Born in China, Sun founded Tron, a blockchain that hosted 58% of all illicit activity in crypto in 2024, according to a report from crypto analytics firm TRM Labs. (Illicit crypto volumes on Tron, however, declined by $6 billion from the year prior.)
Sun has found himself in the midst of numerous crypto debacles. Most recently, he allegedly pushed crypto trade outlet CoinDesk to spike a story on how the crypto billionaire bought and ate a $6.2 million banana.
Singapore crypto firm MemeCore
With about $17.5 million in Trump’s memecoin, the second largest holder on the leaderboard is the Singaporean crypto startup MemeCore, according to public posts from the firm and Nansen.
Founded in January 2024, the firm is building a blockchain for memecoins, or cryptocurrencies created as jokes without any inherent value, Ting Hsu, MemeCore’s chief business development officer, told Fortune. Trump himself is one of the most “iconic” memes, she said.
Hsu didn’t share exactly how the company is funding its Trump crypto investments, but she did say some of the money came from the company’s “internal treasuries” as well as from one of the startup’s anonymous cofounders, whose identity she declined to share. That anonymous founder will attend the dinner with Trump on May 22, according to Hsu.
The Memecore executive didn’t know who else was planning to attend the dinner and was also curious to see the guest list. “Why [do] you guys want to join this?” she asked.
Australian investor Kain Warwick
While he’s not one of the top 25 largest Trump memecoin holders, Kain Warwick, an Australian crypto investor, has made the top 220, according to The New York Times. (Warick did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fortune.)
The founder of the crypto company Infinex, Warwick was playing basketball with his kids on a weekend afternoon in January when he saw on social media that the 47th president had apparently launched his own memecoin, according to his X account.
He didn’t know whether the cryptocurrency was legitimately Trump’s and worked feverishly to verify that it was real. He eventually did, invested some money, and went back to playing with his children.
But, as he was taking his kids to the beach, he doubled his bet. “Yesterday was a once-in-a-career opportunity,” he wrote, reflecting one day later on Trump’s cryptocurrency launch.
May 13, 2025
The Bank of England has lowered interest rates in response to the threat that tariffs present to global economic growth
The Bank of England has cut its main interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point, citing lower UK inflation.
The move, which had been widely expected, brings the main cost of borrowing in Britain to 4.25%. It is the fourth cut the central bank has made since it started reducing rates in August last year.
The central bank said in a statement that “substantial progress” on reducing inflation over the past two years has allowed it to gradually cut rates.
But it also said that “uncertainty surrounding global trade policies has intensified” since US President Donald Trump’s tariffs have ignited a trade war in recent weeks.
“Prospects for global growth have weakened as a result of this uncertainty and new tariff announcements, although the negative impacts on UK growth and inflation are likely to be smaller,” the central bank said.
Bank officials thought the global trade war was likely to drag on the UK economy, according to the minutes of the bank’s Wednesday policy meeting.
Speaking to reporters Thursday, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said he welcomes reports that the United Kingdom and the United States are set to announce a trade deal later in the day.
“It will help to reduce uncertainty,” he said, adding that the UK is “a very open economy” that is affected by the consequences of Trump’s tariffs and trade policies applied to other countries.
“I hope the UK agreement, if it is indeed announced this afternoon, will be the first of many,” Bailey added.
Last month, he said he was concerned about the potential “growth shock” to the UK from Trump’s tariffs.
In an interview with CNBC, Bailey said the “sheer level of uncertainty” Trump’s trade policy injected into the global economy means that businesses are more likely to hold off making investments and consumers will be less willing to spend.
In April, a closely watched survey of UK businesses already showed a contraction in output. The PMI index based on the survey registered its lowest level since November 2022.
Also in April, the International Monetary Fund downgraded its economic growth forecasts for numerous countries, including the United Kingdom, and joined a chorus of warnings from economists and business leaders about economic damage from US tariffs.
Bailey, in his interview with CNBC, said the higher US tariffs could also lower UK inflation. That would give the Bank of England more room to cut rates if the economy needed a boost.
Bailey cited the potential for goods to be redirected from the United States to Britain. One way this could happen is if the UK sees an influx of low-priced Chinese exports, diverted from the US. More goods on the market mean more competition, which tends to lower prices.
May 10, 2025
Merger between Capital One and Discover, Two Major Credit Card Companies, Receives Approval
Two of the country’s largest credit card companies are poised to merge after key banking regulators approved the deal on Friday, despite concern among some advocacy groups and lawmakers that it could lead to higher fees and less choice for consumers.
Capital One received the green light from the Federal Reserve Board and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to acquire Discover Financial Services in a roughly $35 billion deal announced in February 2024. Capital One, the nation’s ninth-largest bank, with $479 billion in assets, issues credit cards on networks run by Visa and Mastercard. Acquiring Discover will give it access to a credit card network of 305 million cardholders, adding to its base of more than 100 million customers.
The banks, which said they expected the deal to close on May 18, have argued that the merger would create a stronger competitor to the giants in the network space: Visa and Mastercard. The deal will “increase competition in payment networks, offer a wider range of products to our customers, increase our resources devoted to innovation and security, and bring meaningful community benefits,” Michael Shepherd, the interim chief executive of Discover, said in a statement on Friday.
But after the deal was announced, it was swiftly met with concerns from consumer advocates about concentration in the credit card market, since the country’s biggest credit card issuer would control its own network.
“The feds got this one wrong — so it falls to state attorneys general to intervene against the harmful, anticompetitive Capital One-Discover merger,” Jesse Van Tol, the chief executive of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, said in a statement. The group, which promotes access to banking services, has opposed the deal since it was announced.
In announcing its approval, the Fed also said it had fined Discover $100 million for overcharging certain interchange fees — transaction fees that a merchant’s bank pays to the credit card-issuing bank — from 2007 to 2023. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, in a statement on Friday, said its approval of the deal was conditional on the banks’ addressing “the root causes of any outstanding enforcement actions against Discover Bank and remediation of harm.”
Capital One cleared another significant obstacle to its acquisition of Discover after the Justice Department, which also has authority to block banking deals, told regulators this month that it didn’t see sufficient competition concerns to block the merger. Banking analysts said the move indicated that Trump administration regulators might be more open than the Biden administration to bank mergers.
During the Biden administration, the Justice Department told regulators that it was concerned, in part, about the deal’s impact on potential credit card users who had no credit. In the last months of the administration, the department moved to tighten oversight of banking deals, placing more stringent guidelines on how it evaluates banking deals — the first update to that framework since 2008.
In February, shareholders of both companies approved the all-stock deal, which was valued at roughly $35 billion when it was announced last year.
April 19, 2025