The weekend is here! Pour yourself a mug of coffee, grab a seat outside, and get ready for our longer-form weekend reads:
• Silicon Valley’s Trillion-Dollar Leap of Faith: Tech companies are spending as if AI’s transformative uses are a foregone conclusion. They’re not. (The Atlantic) see also Sequoia Capital invested early in Google, Nvidia, and Apple. Can Roelof Botha keep the legendary venture capital firm ahead in the AI future? It helps that the Bay Area-based firm has delivered hit after hit, decade after decade. Sequoia has led investments in tech titans including Apple, Cisco, and Google, plus newer names like Nvidia, Airbnb, DoorDash, and WhatsApp, minting billions in returns along the way. More than 25% of the overall market capitalization of the Nasdaq—more than $7 trillion, as of mid-July—is composed of Sequoia-backed companies. (Fortune)
• ETFs are eating the bond market: This is no longer a niche. In fact, fixed income ETFs — now a $2tn asset class — are shaking up the old order in a shadowy but important pillar of finance that has long been ruled by big banks and investment groups. (Financial Times)
• Wait, is PowerPoint cool now? Wait, is PowerPoint cool now? “This isn’t your Father’s PowerPoint”: Millennials and Gen Zers are repurposing the software for parties, pickup lines, and live entertainment. No longer the sole domain of Bob from accounting, the presentation software is being repurposed for parties, pickup lines and the persuading of parents. (Washington Post)
• Exxon Almost Walked Away From Its $1 Trillion Oil Discovery: A few geoscientists pushed a reluctant energy giant to take a chance on Guyana. (Markets)
• Walking Town to Town Is a Magical Way to Travel Through the US: As American interest in walking trips grows, we take to the mountains of western Massachusetts. (Businessweek) see also Don’t Underestimate the Power of a Walk: Walking is one of the simplest and most strategic things you can do for yourself. It takes little preparation, minimal effort, no special equipment, and it can contract or expand to fit the exact amount of time you have available. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a single bout of moderate-to-vigorous activity (including walking) can improve our sleep, thinking, and learning while reducing symptoms of anxiety. (Harvard Business Review)
• The Interview Melinda French Gates Is Ready to Take Sides. In May, Melinda French Gates said that she was leaving the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which she helped found in 2000. Despite her divorce from Bill Gates a few years ago, the couple continued working together, and it was understood that Melinda was a crucial part of what made the foundation so effective. It’s hard to overstate what an earthquake her departure was in the world of big-donor charitable giving. (New York Times)
• Rupert Murdoch’s Family Battle Proves He’s Losing Control: The media mogul is scrambling to protect Fox News from three of his politically moderate heirs. It’s a sign of Rupert’s waning influence. “Murdoch is no longer the pope,” one political vet says. (Vanity Fair)
• The Olympics: A visual guide to the history and story of the Games: Welcome to the Olympic Games, the greatest show on Earth. Paris 2024, the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad, is about to get under way. But before it begins, let us take you on a journey through the history of the summer Olympics, and how it became the spectacle that it is today. (BBC) see also No, You Can’t Beat an Olympic Table Tennis Player: An N.B.A. star’s trash talk was good-natured but typical, elite players said. They say they play along with it … to a point. (New York Times)
• How Kamala Harris took control of the Democratic Party: Party officials and campaign aides raced to flip an entire brand from fading hope to salute emojis. (Washington Post)
• 104 Shows. $260 Million. After 10 Years, Billy Joel Closes a Chapter. The singer and songwriter, 75, wrapped his decade-long residency at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night. Up next? A new era in his live career. (New York Times)
Be sure to check out our Masters in Business this weekend with Lakshman Achuthan, CEO and co-founder of ECRI. He is the author of “Beating the Business Cycle: How to Predict and Profit from Turning Points in the Economy.”
4 companies are hoarding billions of dollars worth of Nvidia GPU chips
Source: Sherwood
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