DealBook: Ellison, Bessent, Kirk, Newsom, MrBeast and more
Also, a shutdown breakthrough.
DealBook
November 10, 2025

Good morning. Andrew here. We’ve got a lot of news below, including the details of how the government shutdown may come to an end. But we also have some news of our own: I’m thrilled to announce the lineup for this year’s DealBook Summit.

We’ll have a full day of interviews with the most consequential individuals of this year, including: David Ellison, who just bought Paramount and is now trying to buy Warner Bros. Discovery; Alex Karp, the outspoken co-founder of Palantir; and Erika Kirk, the widow of Charlie Kirk who now leads the influential conservative nonprofit Turning Point USA.

I’ll also be speaking with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent amid the trade and tariff talks; MrBeast, the most popular social media influencer in the world; Dario Amodei, the co-founder of the A.I. start-up Anthropic; Brian Armstrong, the founder of Coinbase; Larry Fink, C.E.O. of BlackRock; Mary Barra, C.E.O. of General Motors; Gov. Gavin Newsom of California; Halle Berry, the filmmaker and activist. Other notable newsmakers will also take part. We hope you’ll join us in person. For more information, click here. (Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Sign up here.)

Bill Clinton is seen at a distance, speaking with Andrew Ross Sorkin of The New York Times at the annual DealBook Summit in New York. Tall buildings can be seen through the large window.
Andrew interviewed top newsmakers at last year’s DealBook Summit, including Bill Clinton. Jeenah Moon for The New York Times

Our interview lineup for the DealBook Summit 2025

We are pleased to announce our lineup for the DealBook Summit, to be held Dec. 3 at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York. Andrew will host a series of conversations with the biggest newsmakers in the worlds of business, politics and culture. We hope you can join us in person.

  • Dario Amodei, co-founder and C.E.O. of Anthropic
  • Brian Armstrong, C.E.O. of Coinbase
  • Mary Barra, chair and C.E.O. of General Motors
  • Scott Bessent, U.S. Treasury secretary
  • Halle Berry, founder of Respin, filmmaker and advocate
  • Jimmy Donaldson, a.k.a. MrBeast, creator, entrepreneur and philanthropist
  • David Ellison, chairman and C.E.O. of Paramount Skydance
  • Larry Fink, chairman and C.E.O. of BlackRock
  • Jeff Housenbold, C.E.O. of Beast Industries
  • Alex Karp, co-founder and C.E.O. of Palantir
  • Erika Kirk, C.E.O. and board chair of Turning Point USA
  • Gavin Newsom, governor of California

We will announce more speakers in the coming weeks. You can apply to attend here.

HERE’S WHAT’S HAPPENING

President Trump floats the prospect of a tariff “dividend.” Trump wrote on social media yesterday that a payout would amount to at least $2,000, but that “high income people” would be excluded. Hours later, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent appeared to push back on the idea. Economists have warned that such moves could stoke inflation.

Beijing suspends export controls on five critical minerals for a year. China’s move eases the flow of the materials, which are crucial to manufacturing certain semiconductors, batteries and nuclear reactors. The resumption of the exports was a key concession in trade talks last month with U.S. officials.

OpenAI argues for a tax break for data centers. In a recent open letter to the Trump administration, the artificial intelligence giant said the government should consider extending a tax credit intended for the U.S. semiconductor sector “to accelerate the A.I. build” in the country. But last week Sam Altman, OpenAI’s C.E.O., said the company did “not have or want government guarantees for OpenAI datacenters.”

The task forces

The DealBook Summit will also feature a series of task force conversations with experts, stakeholders and leaders on topics shaping the world at large.

While the task forces are not open to attendees, watch for a special section in The Times and tune in to the DealBook podcast in the days after the summit for coverage of the discussions.

This year’s task forces include:

The Global Re-Order, moderated by Nicholas Kristof, Times Opinion columnist, and featuring:

  • Ehud Barak, former prime minister of Israel
  • Senator Chris Coons, Democrat of Delaware and member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
  • Mark Esper, former U.S. secretary of defense
  • Avril Haines, former U.S. director of national intelligence
  • David Petraeus, partner and chairman of the Global Institute; chairman of KKR Middle East Global Institute New York and former director of the C.I.A.
  • Fareed Zakaria, host of “Fareed Zakaria GPS” on CNN

The Education of Higher Education, moderated by Jodi Kantor, Times investigative reporter and featuring:

  • Carmen Twillie Ambar, president of Oberlin College and Conservatory
  • Sian Leah Beilock, president of Dartmouth College
  • Ron Daniels, president of Johns Hopkins University
  • Daniel Diermeier, chancellor of Vanderbilt University
  • James Harris, president of the University of San Diego
  • John King, chancellor of the State University of New York and former U.S. secretary of education
  • Jonathan Levin, president of Stanford University

The New Rules for Leadership, moderated by David Brooks, Times Opinion columnist, and featuring:

  • Alex Chriss, C.E.O. of PayPal
  • Beth Ford, C.E.O. of Land O’Lakes
  • Bob Jordan, C.E.O. of Southwest Airlines
  • Ynon Kreiz, chairman and C.E.O. of Mattel
  • Pete Nordstrom, co-C.E.O. of Nordstrom
  • Emma Walmsley, C.E.O. of GlaxoSmithKline

Journalism, Interrupted, moderated by Michael Barbaro, Times journalist and co-host of “The Daily,” and featuring:

  • Charlamagne Tha God, co-host of “The Breakfast Club” and co-founder of The Black Effect
  • Jon Favreau, co-founder of Crooked Media and host of “Pod Save America”
  • Amna Nawaz, co-anchor and co-managing editor of PBS “NewsHour”
  • David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker and host of “The New Yorker Radio Hour”
  • Stephanie Ruhle, host of MSNBC’s “The 11th Hour With Stephanie Ruhle”
  • Andrew Schulz, host of the podcasts “The Brilliant Idiots” and “Flagrant” with Akaash Singh
  • Ben Shapiro, co-founder of The Daily Wire and host of “The Ben Shapiro Show”

The groundbreakers

The summit will also feature innovators, newsmakers and trailblazers from the public and private sectors, who will each lead a table at a lunchtime discussion focused on the critical issues of the day.

This year’s groundbreakers include:

  • Stacey Abrams, author, entrepreneur and political leader
  • Bill Anderson, C.E.O. of Bayer
  • Mark Barrocas, C.E.O. of SharkNinja
  • Halle Berry, founder of Respin, filmmaker and advocate
  • Mario Carbone, chef and co-founder of Major Food Group and Carbone Fine Food
  • James Carville, Democratic strategist
  • Steve Case, co-founder of AOL, chairman and C.E.O. of Revolution
  • Ron Chernow, author and historian
  • Ezekiel Emanuel, M.D., Ph.D., vice provost of Global Initiatives at the University of Pennsylvania
  • Jon Finer, former deputy U.S. national security adviser and co-host of “The Long Game,” a podcast
  • Amanda Gorman, presidential inaugural poet, activist and UNICEF supporter
  • Lucy Guo, founder and C.E.O. of Passes
  • Karine Jean-Pierre, author and former White House press secretary to Joe Biden
  • Ashley Judd, actor, author and humanitarian
  • Garry Kasparov, chairman of the Renew Democracy Initiative, Russian pro-democracy activist and former world chess champion
  • Paula Kerger, C.E.O. of PBS
  • Monica Lewinsky, activist, producer, podcast host, global speaker and contributing editor to Vanity Fair
  • J. Michael Luttig, former U.S. Court of Appeals judge
  • Lynn Martin, president of NYSE Group
  • Kevin McCarthy, 55th speaker of the House and chairman of ALFA Institute
  • Pete Nordstrom, co-C.E.O. of Nordstrom
  • Michael Nyenhuis, C.E.O. of UNICEF USA
  • Kevin Plank, founder and C.E.O. of Under Armour
  • Bill Ready, C.E.O. of Pinterest
  • Dan Senor, author of “Start-Up Nation” and host of the “Call Me Back” Podcast
  • Ryan Serhant, founder and C.E.O. of Serhant
  • Steve Stoute, founder and C.E.O. of UnitedMasters
  • Jake Sullivan, former U.S. national security adviser and co-host of “The Long Game”
  • Hillary Super, C.E.O. of Victoria’s Secret
  • Hemant Taneja, C.E.O. of General Catalyst
  • Gary Vaynerchuk, chairman of VaynerX
  • Meredith Whittaker, president of Signal
Senator Angus King, Independent of Maine, standing at a lectern with lights above him.
“A lot of people are being hurt,” Senator Angus King, a Maine Independent who caucuses with Democrats, said of his decision to vote for a bill that would end the government shutdown. Tierney L. Cross/The New York Times

A shutdown ending in sight?

After 40 days, a path has appeared for ending the longest federal shutdown on record, as a group of Senate Democrats broke ranks to approve legislation to reopen the government.

Actually restarting the government may take some time, however. And other Democrats quickly criticized the deal as a concession on the central justification for the shutdown fight.

The latest: Eight senators in the Democratic caucus voted with Republicans to approve a measure that would fund most federal agencies through January. Key to its passage was a new provision that reverses the layoffs of federal workers during the shutdown and ensures that furloughed employees receive back pay.

It also includes a promise by Senator John Thune, the majority leader, to hold a vote on extending health insurance subsidies set to expire at the end of the year.

Democrats were unlikely to get a concession on the health care tax credits, Senator Angus King, the Maine independent who caucuses with Democrats, said about why he and other colleagues voted for the bill. He added that Democrats “still have a chance” of getting the credits reinstated via the promised vote, though it’s considered improbable given Republican control of Congress.

“In the meantime, a lot of people are being hurt,” he added.

That pain includes growing delays at U.S. airports, as federal restrictions on flying led to thousands of flights being canceled this past weekend. The F.A.A. is set to widen those limits by Friday, to at least 10 percent of flights from the current 4 percent. And restrictions on business jets and private planes at some major airports are set to take effect today.

“It’s only going to get worse,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on CNN yesterday, adding that air travel would “be reduced to a trickle” leading into the busy Thanksgiving holiday.

The Trump administration also put more pressure on states over food-stamp services, threatening harsh financial penalties for any that didn’t “immediately undo” steps to provide full benefits. (However, a federal appeals court in Boston late last night rejected the administration’s effort to avoid paying full benefits.)

When would the government reopen? The measure approved last night must still win approval by the full Senate, pass the House and be signed by President Trump.

But some progressive Democratic lawmakers and Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, have threatened to effectively delay consideration of the legislation by several days.

Exclusive: A.I. start-up Gamma secures a big fund-raising round

Venture capitalists’ appetite for artificial intelligence start-ups remains enormous: The field now accounts for nearly two-thirds of all venture deals in the U.S., according to PitchBook.

The latest example of that fervor is Gamma, a start-up seeking to build a PowerPoint for the A.I. era. The company plans to announce on Monday that it has raised $68 million in new financing, Niko Gallogly is first to report.

The new round values Gamma at $2.1 billion. The effort was led by Andreessen Horowitz, the big venture capital firm that is a new investor in the company