Plus: Inside Private Equity’s $29 Trillion Retirement Savings Grab |
Good morning,
It continues to be a rough year for the airline industry, as two major carriers slashed their 2025 forecasts Thursday.Southwest Airlines cut its outlook for full-year earnings by more than half, while American Airlines adjusted its 2025 earnings per-share estimates significantly downward, leading shares to tank 11.2% and 9.6%, respectively. The travel industry is still struggling to recover from President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff announcement in April, which considerably slowed bookings. Airline executives say that demand is stabilizing, though it remains to be seen how the tariffs slated to go into effect August 1 will impact consumers, who tend to pull back on discretionary expenses like travel when inflation is elevated.
Let’s get into the headlines, |
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The Federal Communications Commission approved the $8 billion merger between Paramount and Skydance Media Thursday, after Skydance said it would end diversity, equity and inclusion considerations in hiring, promotions, development and compensation. In her dissent, Biden FCC appointee Anna Gomez called it “only the beginning” of the Trump administration’s “assault on the First Amendment,” in the wake of Paramount’s agreement to settle a ”60 Minutes” lawsuit brought by President Donald Trump for $16 million.
Cognition, maker of the generative coding assistant Devin, is in discussions to raise more than $300 million, which would value the AI firm at $10 billion—more than double its current valuation. The news comes amid rapid expansion in the generative AI coding market, and after the startup’s surprise announcement earlier this month that it would join Google in a $2.4 billion deal. |
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 | | Wellington Management CEO Jean Hynes Michael Prince for Forbes |
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| Blackstone, Wellington and Vanguard—the heavyweights of private equity and retail distribution—are now partnering to offer products for individual investors blending private and public market assets. The urgency in the partnership suggests they’re desperate to avoid missing out on the next big moneymaking opportunity: getting into Americans’ 401(k)s and IRAs. And the Trump Administration aims to help them. In February, Boston’s State Street Investment Management, which created the exchange-traded-fund business back in 1993, kicked off the action by offering the first ETF with a mix of public and private debt, with the latter sourced from private equity giant Apollo Global ($785 billion under management). Until now, private asset managers haven’t cracked regular investors’ $29 trillion retirement nest egg—$12 trillion in defined contribution workplace plans like 401(k)s and $17 trillion sitting in individual retirement accounts. Former President Joe Biden’s Department of Labor threw cold water on private assets in 401(k)s, but President Donald Trump is reportedly close to signing an executive order specifically encouraging alternative assets in the accounts. The mutual fund and retail distribution companies see a win here, too. Their margins have shrunk as competition and the share of money in low-cost index funds have grown. A private-assets kicker is a new way to differentiate their offerings and charge higher fees. But ordinary investors may or may not be winners. More options are almost always a good thing, but they need to be careful of higher fees and less liquidity. Plus, assessing the performance of these new hybrid private products will be difficult. |
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| “For decades, private equity’s superior investment returns have been reserved for institutions like pensions and endowments, and in more recent years for wealthy individuals,” write Forbes’ Hank Tucker and Sergei Klebnikov. “But it probably won’t be long before private assets become available to all of us through target-date funds that hold our retirement savings. In theory, this should make the playing field more level for everyone, but it’ll just be even more important for individuals to be aware of what they own in their 401(k)s and pay attention to fees to avoid overpaying for lackluster performance.” |
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President Donald Trump’s delayed “Liberation Day” tariffs will start being levied in one week, and they could cost households an extra $2,700 on average this year, according to recent analysis from the Yale Budget Lab. As many Americans are back-to-school shopping, the price of items like computers and electronics is expected to rise more than 20% in the short term. “These tariffs are more likely to impact low income families,” says Ernie Tedeschi, Yale Budget Lab’s director of economics.
The luxury slowdown is hitting LVMH, whose brands include Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior and Givenchy, as the firm reported a sales drop for the first half of the year. The firm’s billionaire CEO Bernard Arnault, Europe’s richest person, announced plans to open a second factory in Texas despite concerns about the impacts of Trump’s tariffs on the sector. |
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| WEALTH + ENTREPRENEURSHIP |
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At the time of his death in 2019, Jeffrey Epstein was a fabulously wealthy man: between his collection of lavish homes, two private Caribbean islands and nearly $380 million in cash and investments, he was worth $578 million, according to his estate. The full origins of Epstein’s wealth remain shrouded in mystery, but what is clear, according to Forbes’ review of court filings, an investigative memo and financial records, is that Epstein relied above all on two billionaire clients and a tax gimmick to build his fortune.
It was a rocky day for Tesla on Wall Street, as shares fell more than 8% following the company’s lackluster earnings report. Elon Musk’s fortune plunged by more than $15 billion as a result, and the world’s richest man warned that the EV maker would likely have a “few rough quarters” ahead as federal electric vehicle tax credits are set to expire in September. |
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| Vice President JD Vance is worth more than ever, with an estimated fortune of roughly $12 million—a long way from the upbringing he wrote about in his book Hillbilly Elegy. Vance’s net worth is up $2 million from a year ago, when President Donald Trump chose him as his running mate, and the growth is a result of a pay raise, newly disclosed assets and strong equity markets. |
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| Wrestling phenomenon Hulk Hogan, who helped grow the World Wrestling Entertainment’s reach over a career that spanned decades, died Thursday at age 71, the WWE confirmed. Hogan became known as a wrestling icon after signing with WWE in 1983, and bolstered his celebrity status with a successful film and television career. |
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| At the 19th annual Spirited Awards, for which Forbes is the official media partner, Chicago’s Japanese-inspired Kumiko took home the prize of the World’s Best Bar. Meanwhile, the Best New U.S. Cocktail Bar went to Sip & Guzzle, the New York outpost of a renowned Tokyo establishment, while San Francisco’s Trick Dog was named the Best U.S. Cocktail Bar. |
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57% | The share of U.S. workers for whom purchasing power increased last year | |
| 2.7% | The year-over-year inflation growth in June, just below annual wage increases | |
| ‘The narrowest it’s been in 12 months’ | Indeed said of the gap between wage growth and price increases |
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| Debt isn’t inherently bad, it’s just another tool in the financial toolkit—and it’s critical to understand when it can be helpful. For example, taking out a mortgage for a home or student loans for your education are typically advantageous as an investment, while most credit card debt and personal loans for discretionary spending are considered bad debt. Before taking out any loan, always consider whether you can afford it, how long it will take to pay back and the interest rate. |
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