🧶 Talent Frenzy

Happy Sunday, it’s August 03, 2025.

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🔦 Spotlight

🧵 Swiss Watch Tariff Shakes the Market. A surprise 39% tariff on Swiss imports, taking effect August 7, is sending shockwaves through the luxury watch scene. New Rolex and Cartier prices are climbing, pushing collectors toward the pre-owned market. But even that won’t stay cheap. Dealers expect used watch prices to rise up to 35% in six months as demand soars. For buyers, it’s either shop fast or get ready to pay a premium. (More)

🧵 Buffett’s Kraft Bet Sours Again. Berkshire Hathaway just swallowed a $3.8B hit on its Kraft Heinz stake, slashing its value to $8.4B in a second major writedown. The ketchup-to-mac-n-cheese combo has badly underperformed, and now faces a possible breakup. Meanwhile, Buffett’s empire saw profits dip, stock buybacks stall, and insurance margins shrink, all while $344B in cash mostly sat on the sidelines. The Oracle’s patience is starting to look pricey. (More)

🧵 DOJ Antitrust Turmoil Could Stall Tech Cases. Two top antitrust officials were abruptly fired for “insubordination,” shaking up the DOJ team tasked with taking on tech giants. Internal drama over a politically influenced merger decision is raising fears that Trump-world loyalty could trump antitrust consistency. Gail Slater’s crackdown agenda just lost key allies, and Big Tech’s legal headaches may get a reprieve. (More)

👀 Next Up

🧵 Cadence Pays $140M for Shady Exports. Cadence admitted to illegally exporting chip design tools to a Chinese military university via a front. It’ll pay $140M in penalties. The DOJ called it a serious national security breach tied to nuclear tech. A guilty plea, and a very expensive lesson in compliance. (More)

🧵 $14.5B Bitcoin Heist Finally Unmasked. Arkham Intelligence says LuBian, once a top Chinese mining pool, lost 127K BTC in a 2020 hack, crypto’s biggest theft ever by value. A flawed private key algorithm likely opened the door. The stolen stash hasn’t moved in months, but LuBian’s still begging the hacker for mercy. (More)

🧵 Cambodia’s Huione Is Cybercrime’s Amazon. A Bloomberg deep dive reveals Huione Group as a $96B laundering hub for scams and crypto heists across Asia. Telegram chatrooms, fake stablecoins, shell firms, and a sprawling web of aliases helped fuel a global cybercrime boom. The kicker? They’ve survived shutdowns by simply changing names. (More)

🧵 Big Tech’s India Hiring Defies Layoffs. While global headlines scream layoffs, FAAMNG quietly added 28K jobs in India this year, a 16% headcount bump. AI, cloud, and cybersecurity are hot skills, while routine roles fade. Despite TCS cutting 12K staff, Big Tech is doubling down on India’s talent pool and innovation muscle. (More)

🧵 OPEC+ Opens the Taps Again. OPEC+ is set to greenlight a 548K bpd oil boost in September, capping a full reversal of 2023’s 2.2M bpd cut. It’s a pivot from price defense to market share grab. Good news for drivers, risky for balance sheets. A surplus looms, and traders are already eyeing the next cut tier. (More)

🎭 Backstage

🧵 A.I. Researchers Are the New NBA Stars. Meta offered $250M to a 24-year-old A.I. researcher. Welcome to Silicon Valley’s talent war, where engineers get superstar treatment. (More)

🧵 Foxconn Bets Big on AI Hardware. Hon Hai (Foxconn) is buying 10% of Teco in a bid to pivot from iPhones to AI servers and data center gear. (More)

🧵 Japan’s Farmer Bank Reins in Risk. After a $12B hit on US Treasury Bonds, Norinchukin is ditching risky bets for real diversification. Its new CEO vows caution, not cowboy investing. (More)

🧵 European Bank Stocks Hit Post-2008 Highs. Thanks to soaring long-term rates and fatter profit margins, Europe’s once-shunned banks are now market darlings, outpacing even Wall Street peers this year. (More)

🧵 Nvidia Shoutout Sends InnoScience Soaring. Shares of InnoScience jumped up to 64% after Nvidia listed it as a silicon supplier, the only China-based firm in the AI power pack. (More)

🧵 Cinven Bags Smart Communications for $1.8B. Cinven has taken majority control of UK-based Smart Communications in a deal valuing it at $1.8B, while Accel-KKR hangs on to a minority stake. (More)

🧵 Lina Khan Cheers Figma’s Big IPO Win. Khan called Figma’s IPO a win for anti-merger policy, framing it as proof that startups thrive without Big Tech buyouts. Critics? Not buying it. (More)