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Bill Ackman blamed retail investors for his weak IPO debut, Musk says he didn't read the 'fine print' about OpenAI becoming for-profit, Trump 'doesn't care' if J Pow stays on the Fed board, and Amazon is in talks to reboot 'The Apprentice' with the Trump family.

Also, Chirayu Rana was identified as the man behind the 'sex slave' lawsuit against a JPMorgan woman exec. While the memes are banging, it's worth noting that the whole lawsuit is a total fabrication.

Transform your sleep for the better with Eight Sleep, technology trusted by the likes of Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, and Lewis Hamilton.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

As of 4/30/2026 market close.

Learn more about the Litquidity portfolios and subscribe to the strategies on Autopilot.*

Markets

  • US stocks rallied yesterday as traders digested solid Big Tech and other corporate earnings

    • S&P and Nasdaq hit fresh ATHs

    • S&P and Nasdaq gained 10% and 15% respectively in their best months since Covid

  • Dollar fell 1.9% in its worst month since June

Earnings

  • Apple beat Q1 earnings and revenue estimates but missed iPhone sales estimates for the second time in three quarters despite the iPhone 17 being the most popular lineup in Apple history; the firm is preparing for a historic CEO succession (CNBC)

  • Sandisk crushed Q3 earnings and revenue estimates on booming demand for memory amid the AI boom; the stock is up 3,300% as the S&P's best performer last year and this year (SN)

  • Reddit crushed Q1 earnings and revenue estimates as strength in online ads, DAUq growth, and ARPU led to a 69% surge in revenue (CNBC) 

  • Eli Lilly issued a Q1 beat-and-raise on skyrocketing demand for weight loss drug Zepbound and diabetes treatment Mounjaro (CNBC)

  • Mastercard beat Q1 earnings estimates on resilient consumer spending despite economic uncertainty fueled by the Iran war and US tariffs (RT)

  • What we're watching this week:  

    • Today: ExxonMobil, Chevron, TPG

  • Full calendar here

Prediction Markets

  • Musk testified that he didn't read the 'fine print' about OpenAI becoming for-profit. The 'fine print' was a four-page document🤦

  • Trade event contracts on Polymarket, the world's largest prediction market

Headline Roundup

  • Chirayu Rana identified as man behind fabricated 'sex slave' lawsuit against JPMorgan LevFin woman exec (NYP)

  • Trump 'doesn't care' if J Pow stays on Fed board after chair term (WSJ)

  • Bond traders brace for volatile Fed transition as J Pow stays on (FT)

  • US public debt topped 100% of GDP for first time since WWII (WSJ)

  • US GDP grew 2% YoY in Q1 with PCE inflation rising 3.5% (CNBC)

  • US weekly jobless claims plunged to the lowest since 1969 (BBG)

  • BoE held rates at 3.75% (CNBC)

  • ECB held rates steady at 2% (CNBC)

  • EU overhauled M&A rules to encourage mega mergers (RT)

  • Hospitals are selling munis at the fastest pace in a decade (BBG)

  • Private credit giants reassure investors on AI risks and software (BBG)

  • Berkshire will host first AGM under new CEO Greg Abel (RT)

  • Bill Ackman blamed retail investors for weak IPO debut (RT)

  • Elliott compares Iran war to fight against Nazis (FT)

  • Activist Boaz scores victory in fight over fund with SpaceX stake (WSJ)

  • Musk says he didn't read 'fine print' about OpenAI becoming for-profit (RT)

  • Zuck attributed Meta layoffs to capex (RT)

  • US senators banned themselves from prediction markets trading (CNBC)

  • Amazon is in talks to reboot 'The Apprentice' with Don Jr. (WSJ)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Strategic

  • Apollo, Blackstone, and KKR are competing to acquire a significant stake in the mammoth LNG Canada project from ‌Shell in a potential $10B-$15B deal

  • KKR is exploring a $10B sale of Flora Food Group, the spreads business it carved out of Unilever for $8B in 2017

  • UK-listed energy group DCC rejected a $6.7B equity takeover bid from a consortium of Energy Capital Partners and KKR at an 8% premium

  • Mark Zuckerberg and Tim Cook are among potential suitors for the NFL's Seattle Seahawks, which the estate of late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen is seeking to sell at a potential $6B valuation

  • Activist hedge fund ADW Capital offered to acquire automotive service rollup Driven Brands for $3B at a 40% premium

  • Activist Jana Partners is renewing a push for insurance firm Markel Group to divest its VC arm and buyback $2B of stock

  • A shell company backed by Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump agreed to merge with Kaz Resources, a critical minerals firm that secured $1.6B in US government support to mine tungsten in Kazakhstan

  • Crypto miner MARA Holdings will acquire Long Ridge Energy & Power from ‌FTAI Infrastructure for $1.5B including debt

  • Lazard will acquire private capital advisory Campbell Lutyens in a $575M deal

  • Sports streaming firm DAZN agreed to buy technology company ViewLift for $100M

  • Asian PE firms CPE and PAG and electronics manufacturer Hisense are interested in acquiring water heater maker A.O. Smith's China business for a few hundred million dollars 

  • Danish drugmaker LEO Pharma agreed to buy US drug developer Replay for $50M upfront

  • Belgium is in talks to acquire the Belgian nuclear operations of French utility Engie

  • LIV Golf is seeking new long-term financial backers after Saudi's PIF paused funding

VC

  • Blue Owl sold half its stake in SpaceX at a $1.25T for a 10x return

  • Santander-owned UK SME cross-border payments platform Ebury  raised a $750M round led by Centerbridge Partners

  • Flourish, an AI efficiency startup, raised a $500M round at a $2.5B valuation led by Lux Capital and GV

  • Parallel Web Systems, the AI search agent startup of ex-Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal, raised a $100M Series B at a $2B valuation led by Sequoia

  • AI customer service startup Netomi raised a $110M Series C led by Accenture Ventures

  • JuliaHub, a Scientific AI and digital twins company, raised a $65M Series B led by Dorilton Capital

  • Legora, a legal AI startup, raised a $600M Series D extension at a $5.6B post-money valuation from Atlassian, NVentures, Airtree, Barclays, and others 

  • Versana, an industry-backed enterprise data and digital infrastructure company for the broadly syndicated loan and private credit markets, raised $43M led by BNP Paribas 

  • DISA Technologies, a mineral processing and uranium remediation company, raised a $33M strategic round led by Galvanize 

  • Creati Gen AI, an AI-powered creative tools company, raised a $20M round led by Redpoint Ventures 

  • pmtbox, a unified commerce platform, raised a $15M seed round led by Tandem Ventures

  • XO Market, a prediction-markets startup, raised a $6M seed round led by 20VC, Coinbase Ventures, and others 

  • Cata, a white-label SaaS platform for F&B and retail businesses, raised a $5.3M seed round led by Portage

Access the complete VC deal flow and data on Fundable

IPOs / Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

  • Activist Engine Capital built a 2% stake in $4.5B-listed engineering contractor KBR and is pushing for a sale

  • Brookfield-backed Indian tower operator Altius is preparing to file for a $630M India IPO

  • Novo-backed respiratory-focused biotech Avalyn Pharma soared 44% in its trading debut after raising $300M for a $1.1B market cap in an IPO priced at the top of a marketed range

  • Defense supplier L3Harris ​confidentially filed for an IPO of its missile solutions business

  • Spanish energy giant Repsol is in no rush to list its O&G production unit in US despite hints of an IPO last year

Debt

  • Meta raised $25B in another mega investment grade bond sale

  • Citigroup-backed Mexican retail bank Banamex sold $1.3B of bonds for the first time since Citigroup's divestment

  • Ares, Antares, and JPMorgan lent $800M in private credit to finance Apollo's minority investment in Canadian fitness chain GoodLife 

  • Insurer New York Life Global is weighing a Canadian-dollar bond sale

  • India's Federal Bank will acquire a portfolio of 450k Indian credit cards from Standard Chartered

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

  • Luxury retailer Saks Global cut 16% of corporate staff (4% of total workforce) as it seeks to emerge from bankruptcy 

Funds / Secondaries

  • KKR raised over $10B for Helix Digital Infrastructure, a new company to develop and operate AI infrastructure

  • Investors committed just $9B to Blue Owl in Q1 its its lowest capital haul in a year

  • Blackstone's private credit fund inflows slowed to just $1.9B in Q1

  • European PE firm Investindustrial raised $1.75B for its fourth lower MM PE fund

  • UK investment firm Gresham House plans to raise a $1.2B fund to invest in battery-storage systems

  • 137 Ventures raised $700M across two new funds to back startups over longer time horizons; 137 has a 1% stake in SpaceX worth over $10B

Crypto Sum Snapshot

  • Elon Musk says most cryptos are 'scams' in OpenAI trial testimony

  • A Cartier descendant was sentenced to 8 years for laundering $470M in drug money through crypto

Crypto Sum compiles the most important stories on everything crypto. Read it here.

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*DISCLAIMER: Investment advice provided by Autopilot Advisers, LLC ("Autopilot"), an SEC-registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investing carries risks, including loss of principal. As always, be smart out there. Litquidity is compensated to promote AutoPilot. Compensation details available upon request.

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