Zuckerburg Considered an Instagram Spin Off…What the Heck is a Spin Off?
By Jen Saarbach & Kristen Kelly, Co-Founders of The Wall Street Skinny There’s been renewed buzz about Big Tech breakups after a courtroom reveal: Mark Zuckerberg considered spinning off Instagram in 2018 over fears of antitrust scrutiny. The news surfaced during a high-profile trial in Washington that’s widely seen as the first real test of […]
Why is Yale’s Endowment Liquidating Its Private Equity Portfolio?
By Jen Saarbach & Kristen Kelly, Co-Founders of The Wall Street Skinny When you learn about institutional investors, you’re bound to come across the “David Swensen” or “Yale Endowment” model. David Swensen, the former CIO of Yale’s Endowment, pioneered the asset-class based allocation theory that many capital allocators still use today. And now, we’re seeing […]
Who Is Winning the Trade War: US or China?
By Jen Saarbach & Kristen Kelly, Co-Founders of The Wall Street Skinny Amidst the rollercoaster of the US’ tariff standoff with China, the Chinese RMB fell to an 18-year low. Some pundits pointed to this as a signal that the US was prevailing in weakening China through its tariff policies, which have yet to be finalized. […]
Basis Trade Blow-up: The REAL Culprit behind the Bond Market Chaos?
By Jen Saarbach & Kristen Kelly, Co-Founders of The Wall Street Skinny There’s been considerable speculation that last week’s bond market chaos wasn’t caused by a loss of confidence in U.S. assets due to tariff policy announcements. Rather, some argue, massively levered hedge funds unwinding something called “the basis trade” was perhaps to blame. Bloomberg […]
Why Private Equity Panicked: The 4 Ripple Effects of Tariff Talk
By Jen Saarbach & Kristen Kelly, Co-Founders of The Wall Street Skinny At first glance, you might think private equity firms wouldn’t be too fazed by Trump’s proposed tariffs. After all, PE is a long-term, illiquid asset class. Investors can’t check their performance minute-to-minute like they can with public stocks. But you’d be wrong. The […]
What Made Trump Blink? The Treasury Market’s Quiet Power Move
By Kristen Kelly & Jen Saarbach, Co-Founders of The Wall Street Skinny We think the Treasury market was the ultimate impetus behind the 90 day pause in reciprocal tariffs. Why? Let’s get back to macro theory. If there’s a “normal” negative shock to the U.S. economy — say, a spike in oil prices — and […]
Elon’s $33 Billion xAI–X Deal: Valuation Tricks, Ownership Dilution, and Why It Matters
By Kristen Kelly & Jen Saarbach, Co-Founders of The Wall Street Skinny Elon Musk just bought Twitter…again. But this time, he bought it from himself — sort of. His artificial intelligence startup, xAI, acquired X (formerly Twitter) for a headline valuation of $33 billion in an all-stock deal. So, if he paid $44 billion for […]
The Skinny on Tariffs & Market Shock: What’s Behind the New Trade War
By Jen Saarbach & Kristen Kelly, Co-Founders of The Wall Street Skinny Never a dull moment… Markets are imploding after Trump announced a new set of “reciprocal” tariffs on the U.S.’s trading partners in addition to the tariffs already levied against Canada and Mexico. Equities are down as much as 10% in their worst week […]
What Private Equity Analysts Building LBOs Models Must Know About How D&A Impacts Interest Deductibility
By Kristen Kelly, Co-Founder of The Wall Street Skinny Let me walk you through one of the juiciest (and most misunderstood) finance policy fights happening right now: private equity firms are pushing for a simple tax rule change that hinges on just two little letters — D&A. If you’re thinking, “That sounds dry,” stick with […]
Google’s $32 Billion Acquisition of Wiz: Why Investors Are Skeptical
By Kristen Kelly, Co-Founder of The Wall Street Skinny Last week, Google announced its largest acquisition ever: a $32 billion all-cash deal to acquire cybersecurity startup Wiz. You’d think such a massive investment in a high-growth sector like cloud security would get investors excited, right? But instead, Google’s stock dropped nearly 2.5% on the news. […]