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Good Morning,

Berkshire is sitting on a record $157B cash pile, Musk released his ‘Grok’ AI to combat ChatGPT, Jack Dorsey is taking a more hands-on approach at Block again, Washington Post is projected to lose $100M this year, Tesla is raising wages for German workers, and bankers are looking for legal cover after backing $1.5T of ESG debt.

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Let’s dive in.

Before The Bell

Markets

• US stocks rose after a soft jobs report drove bond yields lower 

  • The Nasdaq led indices with a 1.38% gain

• Asian stocks followed US stocks on Friday as investors grew more confident that interest rate hikes have come to an end

Earnings

• Berkshire Hathaway reported a $12.8B Q3 loss mostly due to unrealized losses from stocks; its operating profit jumped 41% to $10.8B, and it now has $157B in cash (AP)

• What we're watching this week:  

  • Today: Diamondback Energy

  • Tuesday: Uber, Bumble, Rivian, Datadog, Realty Income

  • Wednesday: Disney, Arm Holdings, Roblox, AMC, Warner Bros Discovery, Affirm

  • Thursday: Li Auto, Unity

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway sits on record $157B cash pile (WSJ)

• The price of money is going up, and it’s not only because of the Fed (BBG)

• Pimco, JPMorgan are gearing up for long winter in China markets (BBG)

• Elon Musk debuts ‘Grok’ AI bot to rival ChatGPT (CNBC)

• Jack Dorsey to take a more hands-on leadership approach with Block’s stock down 80% (WSJ)

• Washington Post appoints William Lewis as CEO; to reduce headcount by 10% as the company is projected to lose $100M this year (CNBC)

• China’s fight against deflation may be far from over (BBG)

• Bankers seek legal cover after backing $1.5T of ESG debt (BBG)

• South Korea to ban short-selling of stocks until June 2024 (BBG)

• Tesla raises wages for German workers amid union pressure (WSJ)

• Harvard, Yale warned by top law firms about antisemitism (BBG)

• Russia to stick with voluntary oil exports cuts until year-end (BBG)

• Michigan warns Big Ten against disciplining team over sign-stealing allegation (WSJ)

• Afghanistan opium poppy supply plummets 95% after Taliban ban, UN says (RT)

• Tamirat Tola sets NYC Marathon course record to win men’s race; Hellen Obiri takes women’s title (CNBC)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Telecom Italia’s board approved the sale of its landline network to KKR in a $23.6B deal backed by the Italian government (BBG)

• Origin Energy’s top investor AustralianSuper boosted its stake in the energy company by 1.2% to 15% after rejecting an improved $12.5B takeover offer from a Brookfield Asset Management-led consortium; AusSuper declined further talks with Brookfield (BBG & BBG)

• British regulators cleared Cameco and Brookfield Renewable Partners' $7.9B acquisition of nuclear power plant equipment maker Westinghouse Electric (RT)

• Saudi Arabia expressed interest in investing up to $5B for a stake in $30B Indian Premier League, international cricket’s most lucrative event (BBG)

• PE firm Platinum Equity is in advanced talks to purchase Kohler’s generators division for over $3B (BBG)

• Polywood, a maker of recycled plastic outdoor furniture, is exploring options including a sale that could value the PE-backed company at ~$1B (RT)

• Buyout firm The Jordan Company is in exclusive negotiations to acquire medical equipment maker Tidi Products from Roundtable Healthcare Partners for at least $900M (RT)

• Ineos CEO Jim Ratcliffe is looking to invest $300M in Manchester United's infrastructure in addition to a $1.5B+ offer to acquire a 25% stake in the football club (RT)

• Greece's biggest power utility Public Power will acquire retailer Kotsovolos from British electrical retailer Currys in a $215M deal (RT)

• Investment bank Houlihan Lokey is in talks to acquire Triago, a placement agent best known for assisting private equity firms with fundraising (BBG)

• RidgeLake Partners will acquire a minority stake in middle-market buyout firm Gridiron Capital from the firm (BBG)

VC

• Gynesonics, a minimally invasive solutions startup for uterine fibroids, raised a $42.5M round led by Amzak Health, Endeavor Vision, Kaiser Permanente Ventures, and Runway Growth Capital (FN)

• Cyber defense startup Wraithwatch raised an $8M seed round led by Founders Fund (FN)

• Ambercycle, a molecular regeneration technology company for the fashion industry, raised $5M in funding led by Drive Catalyst (FN)

• HeartBeat.bio, a biotech startup providing a human organoid and AI-supported drug discovery platform for heart disease, raised a $4.8M pre-series A led by i&i Biotech Fund, Invest AG, and Tensor Ventures (FN)

• Carepatron, a healthcare management platform, raised a $4M seed round from Blackbird and TQ Ventures (TC)

• Ophthalmic medical device startup Pantheon Vision raised a $2.5M seed round led by KeraLink International (FN)

• GlassFlow, a Berlin-based data streaming platform, raised a $1.1M pre-seed round led by High-Tech Gründerfonds, TinyVC, Roosh Ventures, and others (FN)

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

• Chinese electric truck maker Windrose Technology is seeking to raise at least $200M in a 2024 US IPO (BBG)

SPAC

• Chip designer and supplier GCT Semiconductor will merge with Concord Acquisition Corp III in a $461M deal (BW)

Debt

• Indian mining conglomerate Vedanta Group is in advanced talks to raise a $1.3B private loan with an interest rate of 18-20% to overhaul its debt (BBG)

Bankruptcy / Restructuring

• Austrian entrepreneur Rene Benko is handing control of $25B property empire Signa Holding to a restructuring expert in an effort to save the real estate company (BBG & RT)

Fundraising

• Pan-African VC Norrsken22 closed its debut fund, Norrsken22 African Tech Growth Fund, at $205M (TC)

Crypto Corner

• The US Supreme Court agreed to hear a dispute over Coinbase's effort to move a dispute with users of the cryptocurrency exchange out of courts and into private arbitration (RT)

Exec’s Picks

• Number Go Up author and Bloomberg investigative reporter Zeke Faux joined Barry Ritholtz to discuss his journey down the crypto rabbit hole that led to his book.

• Barron’s published a cool highlight on Kyla Scanlon, explaining how she became the face of Gen Z financial content.

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