Good Morning! The Boston Celtics’ majority owner is taking ‘sell high’ to the next level, putting his team up for sale two weeks after winning the NBA title. The Moelis banker who infamously punched a woman in Brooklyn was arrested yesterday (a longer video of the incident was also released). Citi was money launderers’ favorite bank last year. M&A is slowing down, Nvidia’s stock is in treacherous waters, and Wall Street is deliberating over potential replacements for Biden if he steps aside. Plus how to identify a toxic work environment before accepting a job offer.

_{SQUEEZ OF THE DAY}

Newest Meme Stock Just Dropped

Chewy, the online pet retailer, may have just become the latest meme stock.

It all started on Thursday when Roaring Kitty aka Keith Gill tweeted the picture (above) resembling Chewy’s logo. Shares rallied up as much as 34% but ended the day down slightly.

Yesterday a 13G filing disclosed Roaring Kitty’s 6.6% stake in $CHWY (9 million shares) and based on Friday’s close, his stake is valued at more than $245 million.

It is not clear whether he sold his GameStop position to fund the Chewy purchase. GameStop shares fell more than 5% following the news.

In the filing, Gill clarified that he is "not a cat," a line also included in his 2021 congressional hearing.

Analysts are wary that meme stock status could be problematic for the company. Despite Chewy's solid fundamentals compared to more traditional meme stocks like GameStop and AMC, meme stock status really isn’t a label you’d want.

A Mizuho analyst thinks the volatility is a golden exit chance for investors because unpredictable news could scare off institutional investors and make them dump their shares. Meanwhile, BC Partners, Chewy’s largest shareholder, added fuel to the fire by selling 17.6 million shares back to Chewy for $500 million, and another 5.3 million shares in the open market just as Gill’s filing sent the stock soaring.

Some insiders are thinking BC Partners might be waiting to offload more shares if another meme-driven rally occurs, putting a ceiling on Chewy’s stock.

Monday’s action showed this dynamic perfectly: Chewy’s stock opened 9% higher, then promptly tanked 6%.

Takeaway: If you’re the CEO of a publicly traded company, you’re probably petrified that Roaring Kitty is going to buy up millions of shares in your company before proceeding to send them on a wild roller coaster. It can also spell danger for shareholders, many of which will exit at the first sign of becoming a meme stock. After Warren Buffett, Roaring Kitty might be becoming the most influential investor on Wall Street.

_{PRESENTED BY KALSHI}

Richest Person in the World by Year End?

Elon Musk currently leads with a net worth of $228 billion, boosted by his xAI startup's recent $24 billion valuation. He has a 59% chance of retaining his position, primarily driven by Tesla and SpaceX's performance. 

Jeff Bezos follows with a 29% chance, supported by Amazon's e-commerce and cloud computing dominance. Bernard Arnault & family hold a 13% chance, backed by LVMH's strong market presence.

Earlier this year, Bernard Arnault briefly surpassed Musk and Bezos due to a surge in LVMH's stock prices.

Looking ahead, Musk's fortunes are tied to tech stock volatility and his ventures' performance. Bezos's wealth will be influenced by Amazon's strategies, while Arnault's position depends on the luxury market and LVMH's growth.

What's your take? Trade your thoughts on Kalshi now.

_HEADLINES

Top Reads

• The Boston Celtics are now for sale (Axios)

• U.S. M&A tailwinds slow during Q2 (Axios)

• Moelis banker Jonathan Kaye arrested for assault following Pride Event (NYP)

• Citi was money launderers’ favorite bank (TBS)

• CEOs say borderless talent is the future of tech work (CNBC)

• Roaring Kitty faces securities fraud claims in GME lawsuit (YF)

• Big tech eyes nuclear power for AI (WSJ)

• Who Wall Street wants to replace Biden with if he steps aside (YF)

• VC-backed IPOs had a tepid first half (WSJ)

• Why Nvidia stock is now in treacherous waters (YF)

• Salesforce shareholders reject comp plan for CEO Benioff (CNBC)

_{CAPITAL PULSE}

Markets Rundown

Stocks closed higher, and one economist thinks AI optimism could boost S&P 500 to 7,000 next year.

Movers & Shakers

• (+) Tesla ($TSLA) +6% ahead of its Q2 delivery report.

• (–) Chewy, Inc. ($CHWY) -7% after Roaring Kitty disclosed 6.6% stake.

• (–) NextEra Energy Partners ($NEP) -9% RBC downgraded to sector perform from outperform.

Private Dealmaking

• BlackRock bought Prequin, an alternative asset data provider, for $3.2 billion

• SmartHR, an HR management software provider, raised $140 million

• Bright Machines, a software manufacturing company, raised $106 million

• Hebbia, a document search AI startup, raised $100 million

• Axelera, a Dutch AI chipmaker, raised $68 million

• K Health, a health-symptom-checking chatbot, raised $50 million

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

_{BOOK OF THE DAY}

The Conservative Futurist

America was once the world’s dream factory. We turned imagination into reality, from curing polio to landing on the Moon to creating the internet. And we were confident that more wonders lay just over the horizon: clean and infinite energy, a cure for cancer, computers and robots as humanity’s great helpers, and space colonies. (Also, of course, flying cars.) Science fiction, from The Jetsons to Star Trek, would become fact.

But as we moved into the late 20th century, we grew cautious, even cynical, about what the future held and our ability to shape it. Too many of us saw only the threats from rapid change.

The year 2023 marks the 50th anniversary of the start of the Great Downshift in technological progress and economic growth, followed by decades of economic stagnation, downsized dreams, and a popular culture fixated on catastrophe: AI that will take all our jobs if it doesn’t kill us first, nuclear war, climate chaos, plague and the zombie apocalypse. We are now at risk of another half-century of making the same mistakes and pushing a pro-progress future into the realm of impossibility.

But American Enterprise Institute (AEI) economic policy expert and long-time CNBC contributor James Pethokoukis argues that there’s still hope. We can absolutely turn things around—if we the people choose to dream and act. How dare we delay or fail to deliver for ourselves and our children.

With groundbreaking ideas and sharp analysis, Pethokoukis provides a detailed roadmap to a fantastic future filled with incredible progress and prosperity that is both optimistic and realistic.

“Discover the surprising case for how conservatism can help us achieve the epic sci-fi future we were promised.”

_{DAILY VISUAL}

Working-Age Population Growth In the G7

According to the UN, working-age population growth is going to shrink in Europe and Japan and increase in the US, UK, and Canada.

_{WHAT ELSE TO READ}

Business News From a Legal Perspective?

If you want to a lawyer's perspective of business news, check this out. LittleLaw is a weekly newsletter that puts your business knowledge on autopilot.

How does it work?

Every week, you’ll get commercial news, with a legal twist — straight to your inbox.

Join 15,000+ readers (it's free).

_{DAILY ACUMEN}

Diverse Perspectives

Imagine trying to solve a Rubik's cube with only one color visible.

That's life without diversity.

Our strength lies in our differences, not our similarities.

Look at the success of Pixar, where janitors and security guards are invited to pitch movie ideas alongside executives.

This inclusive approach birthed blockbusters like "WALL-E" and "Up."

Your next breakthrough might come from the most unexpected source.

So today, seek out a perspective different from your own.

Listen to understand, not to respond.

Remember, in the grand mosaic of life, every piece matters.

What unique color will you bring to the picture?

_{ENLIGHTENMENT}

Short Squeez Picks

• How to spot a toxic workplace before accepting a job offer

• Walmart CEO’s three tips for success

• How not to fall into the most common leadership trap

• How to spot stress bragging

• Why we don’t need self-help

_{MEME-A-PALOOZA}

Memes of the Day