Good Morning! Equinox members are up in arms after the gym ended its Kiehl’s skincare partnership and opted for lower-quality products in the locker room. With the dealmaking floodgates open on Wall Street, bankers don’t think election uncertainty will dent M&A activity this year. Sony and Apollo are moving forward with the Paramount sale. Neuralink wants a second patient to test its brain chip (but don’t let the malfunction in the first patient scare you away). Plus Apollo’s latest presentation on how small public markets are compared to the rest of the economy,

_{SQUEEZ OF THE DAY}

BofA Deaths Spark Wall Street Culture Debate

Wall Street had been reeling after the sudden death of Leo Lukenas - the 35-year-old associate and former Green Beret who apparently routinely worked 100-hour weeks leading up to his death.

And, just two weeks later, on Thursday, May 16, another Bank of America employee collapsed and died while playing soccer at a charity event.

It was a 25-year-old credit trader Adnan Deumic, based in the bank’s London office, who reportedly suffered a cardiac arrest, though the cause of death has not been confirmed.

Adnan was reportedly working 60 hours a week, handling highly stressful trades worth as much as $1 billion on some days, despite his young age.

While the deaths of Leo and Adnan may not be directly work-related, they have sparked a broader discussion about the work culture on Wall Street.

Since Leo’s death, we have received hundreds of messages from individuals sharing similar experiences.

To gather more insights, we conducted a survey to collect stories, suggestions for improvement, details about hours worked and slept, and physical and mental health scores.

Based on our survey findings, we wrote an Open Letter to Wall Street firms, calling for long-term change. You can find the letter here and the full survey results here.

We encourage you to read our letter and send us your feedback, particularly regarding the proposed changes. We plan to share it with all major investment banks over the next week.

Further reading: We also spoke with the New York Post, which published a deep-dive into the brutal 100-hour work weeks on Wall Street.

P.S. If you still haven’t shared your story, you can do so fully anonymously here.

_HEADLINES

Top Reads

• AI infrastructure startup CoreWeave raises $7.5B in debt deal led by Blackstone (CNBC)

• Election "uncertainty" won't dent dealmaking in 2024 (Axios)

• Equinox members strike back after gym stops using Kiehl's skincare products (DM)

• Sony, Apollo move ahead with Paramount sale (YF)

• Public markets are a small part of the overall economy (Apollo)

• Elon Musk’s Neuralink is seeking a second person to test its brain chip (CNN)

• Private equity is coming for your infrastructure (FC)

• GameStop stock tanks on move to issue shares, quarterly sales decline (YF)

• Chinese EV maker Xpeng aims to deliver its first flying car in 2026 (CNBC)

• A surging stock market may not need a catalyst — but it's getting one (YF)

• Netflix's NFL deal highlights streamer's 'natural evolution' (YF)

_{PRESENTED BY MERCURY}

Your Bank Account¹ Should Do More Than Just Hold Your Money

Is it just us, or are financial operations needlessly complex?

You have to cobble together a patchwork of tools that don’t integrate with each other, wasting time and leading to errors. And lots of headaches. 

That’s why 200k startups use Mercury. Mercury combines powerful software with your bank account, streamlining your financial operations so you can grow. 

• Simplify bill pay, company spend, and reconciliation

• Syncs with QuickBooks, NetSuite, or Xero

• Earn 5.00% yield on cash²

• Financing options to fuel your growth

• 20x the industry standard in FDIC insurance³

Apply in 10 minutes and try Mercury’s workflows at no cost until August 1st. 

_{CAPITAL PULSE}

Markets Rundown

Stocks closed close to flat after encouraging inflation data.

Movers & Shakers

• (+) Robinhood ($HOOD) +12% after a double-upgrade by Bank of America.

• (+) Reddit ($RDDT) +10% after announcing a partnership with OpenAI.

• (–) GameStop ($GME) -20% because the meme rally lost steam.

Private Dealmaking

• Vercel, a cloud development platform, raised $250 million

• Cover Genius, an embedded insurance startup, rasied $80 million

• Cylib, a lithium-ion battery recycler, raised $60 million

• PolyAI, a conversational AI startup, raised $50 million

• Steno, a legal support provider, raised $46 million

• Alplazo, a BNPL startup, raised $45 million

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

_{BOOK OF THE DAY}

Brave New Words

Whether we like it or not, the AI revolution is coming to education. In Brave New Words, Salman Khan, the visionary behind Khan Academy, explores how artificial intelligence and GPT technology will transform learning, and offers a road map for teachers, parents, and students to navigate this exciting (and sometimes intimidating) new world.

A pioneer in the field of education technology, Khan examines the ins and outs of these cutting-edge tools and how they will revolutionize the way we learn and teach. 

For parents concerned about their children’s success, Khan illustrates how AI can personalize learning by adapting to each student’s individual pace and style, identifying strengths and areas for improvement, and offering tailored support and feedback to complement traditional classroom instruction.

Khan emphasizes that embracing AI in education is not about replacing human interaction but enhancing it with customized and accessible learning tools that encourage creative problem-solving skills and prepare students for an increasingly digital world.

“A timely masterclass for anyone interested in the future of learning in the era of AI.”

_{DAILY VISUAL}

Housing Tenure Distribution Across Countries

_{DAILY ACUMEN}

IKEA Effect

The IKEA Effect, identified in 2011 by Michael Norton and his colleagues at Harvard Business School, highlights our tendency to attribute higher value to products we have a hand in creating.

Companies leverage this bias by offering customization options, such as Build-A-Bear Workshop's interactive experience or Nike's Nike By You line, where customers pay extra to design personalized products.

While there's nothing inherently negative about this effect, recognizing its influence can guide us to make more informed consumer choices.

Understanding how our involvement impacts our perception of value can lead to more discerning decisions when evaluating products and their true worth.

_{ENLIGHTENMENT}

Short Squeez Picks

• How to break dependence on your phone

• How to be driven to succeed by every metric and still find peace

• How to shift your state of mind

• 5 benefits of making the minimalist switch 

• How to start a successful side hustle, from people who have done it

_{MEME-A-PALOOZA}

Memes of the Day