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Good Morning,

The WHO gave a Monkeypox update, Snap plummeted after earnings, Starbucks is leaving Russia, Bill Hwang had to turn in his passport, and Goldman Sachs employees are worried about being targets for violent crime.

Check out today's Exec's Picks section for details regarding a $100,000 home down payment giveaway!

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

If you want to learn more about crypto trading strategies and the world of DeFi, check out our Foot Guns newsletter.

Markets

• Stocks rallied yesterday after last week’s steep sell-offm with the major averages closing 1.5%+ for the session

  • Bank stocks led the rebound with the help of rising rates as the Fed continues to battle inflation

  • 11 S&P 500 sectors were positive for the day

• Today we will receive new home sales data, a speech from J Pow at the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development summit, and some key retail earnings

Earnings

• Zoom climbed as high as 18% AH after the company beat analysts’ expectations and raised its full-year guidance (YHOO)

• Snap fell 31% AH on Monday after CEO Evan Spiegel warned in a note to employees that the company will miss its own targets for revenue and adjusted earnings in the current quarter (CNBC)

  • You can read Spiegel's internal memo, in full, here

• What we’re watching today: Best Buy, Nordstrom

• Full calendar here

Headline Roundup

• Monkeypox outbreak primarily spreading through sex, WHO officials say (CNBC)

• Klarna to lay off 10% of its workforce as souring economy hits BNPL space (CNBC)

• Starbucks will exit Russia after 15 years, closing 130 licensed cafes (CNBC)

• Bill Hwang ordered to turn over passport after release on $100M bond (BBG)

• JPMorgan shares pop after bank says it will reach key returns target earlier than planned (CNBC)

• Russian diplomat quits in rare public protest over war in Ukraine (BBG)

• Goldman Sachs bankers fret that they are targets for violent crime after NYC subway slay (NYP)

• Biden says US would intervene militarily if China invaded Taiwan (WSJ)

• Smallpox vaccine enters wider production amid Monkeypox outbreak (WSJ)

• The average age of vehicles on US roadways hits a record 12.2 years (WSJ)

A Message From Lex

JUST BECAUSE THE S&P IS FALLING DOESN’T MEAN YOUR PORTFOLIO SHOULD

War, inflation, interest rates, and a million other variables make stocks volatile. Luckily, a building is still a building. Commercial real estate is your answer to hedging inflation and diversifying your portfolio. That’s why we're excited about LEX.

Truth is, the best deals in real estate are hard to find, unless you shorted Russian stocks all the way to accreditation (legend) and now you have access. Even then, you’ve got scarce deals, crowdfunding, or REITs to pick from…until LEX.

LEX IPOs buildings so you can get in the game.

By taking buildings public, LEX has created a way for you to invest in marquee commercial real estate. Build a portfolio by picking the buildings you want to invest in. Each building gets a ticker and trades like your other stocks.

The best part? As a shareholder, you can get paid dividends flowing from the rent paid by the tenants. You can also earn tax advantaged passive income and trade without lockups.

Check out LEX’s live assets in New York City and upcoming IPO in Seattle.

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Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

• Broadcom is in talks to acquire Michael Dell-backed cloud-computing company VMware, which is currently valued at ~$40B (BBG)

• Crypto derivatives exchange FTX has kicked of acquisition talks with at least three brokerage startups, including Webull, Public.com, and Apex Clearing (DC)

• i80 Group, an investment firm that partners with venture-backed and growth tech companies, received a $750M capital commitment from a new strategic partner (PRN)

• Conan O'Brien’s Team Coco podcast network and digital media business joined satellite radio provider Sirius XM for $150M in a deal that values the company at roughly $1.5B (TC)

• Online greetings card retailer Moonpig Group agreed to buy Smartbox Group, the owner of Red Letter Days and Buyagift brands, for $156M (BBG)

• Dexcom, a producer of glucose monitoring systems for diabetes management, is in talks to acquire medical device company Insulet in a deal that would create a giant in diabetes devices (BBG)

• Saudi energy firm Rawabi Energy is seeking to raise as much as $500M in funding ahead of its IPO. The company is working with Evercore on the pre-IPO funding (BBG)

VC

• Israeli social trading network eToro is in advanced stages of completing an $800M - $1B private funding round after its SPAC merger fell apart. It is likely to be valued around ~$5-6B instead of the $10B SPAC valuation (CT)

• B2B payments startup TransferMate raised a $70M round at a $1B+ valuation led by Railpen (BW)

• Digital securities platform ADDX raised a $58M pre-Series B (TBC)

• Esports 3.0 platform GEMS raised a $50M investment commitment from GEM Digital Limited (PRN)

• Internet infrastructure startup Meter raised a $38M Series B led by Sequoia and Lachy Groom (BW)

• 3-D creator app BUD raised a $37M Series B led by Sequoia Capital India (TC)

• Indian hyperlocal shopping and distribution platform 1K Kirana raised a $25M Series B led by Alpha Wave Global, Info Edge Ventures, and Kae Capital (TC)

• LatAm shipping solutions startup clicOH raised a $25M Series A led by Tiger Global (BW)

• Homethrive, a caregiving benefit startup, raised a $20M Series B led by Human Capital (BW)

• Hedonova, an alternative assets hedge fund, raised an $18.4M Series A-1 at a $330M valuation led by Chemie-Tech DMCC (PRN)

• Fairtility, a startup improving fertility outcomes through digitalization, raised a $15M Series A led by Gurnet Point Capital (PRN)

• Online used car retailer Sylndr raised a $12.6M pre-seed round led by RAED Ventures (TC)

• Equipifi, a fintech startup providing banks and credit unions a BNPL solution, raised a $12M Series A led by Curql Collective and PHX Ventures (PRN)

• Payments facilitation platform PayEngine raised a $10M Series A led by Point72 (PRN)

IPO

• Borouge, a JV between UAE's biggest oil company and Borealis, is seeking to raise $2B in an Abu Dhabi IPO (BBG)

• Upson International Corp, the largest retailer of personal computers and IT products in the Philippines, filed for an IPO of up to ~$103M (USN)

• Japanese e-commerce company Rakuten Group is preparing a listing for its Rakuten Securities unit (BBG)

SPAC

• Asia Innovations Group, the startup that operates social platform Uplive, is in talks to merge with E.Merge Technology Acquisition Corp. in a potential $2B+ deal (BBG)

Fundraising

• Advent International raised $25B for the 2nd biggest PE fund on record (BBG)

Crypto Corner

• Korean police move to freeze Luna Foundation Guard assets (CD)

• Magic Johnson launches NFT collection on NBA Top Shot (DC)

• Balenciaga to accept Bitcoin, Ethereum, as payment (DC)

Exec's Picks

• GIVEAWAY: Parcl and the Suh Family Foundation are hosting a giveaway from 5/23 to 6/3 where they'll be giving up to $100,000 (plus a full year's worth of mortgage and tax payments) to one lucky winner. You can find more information about it right here.

• Yesterday, we were featured in beehiiv's Creator Spotlight. Laura Pelcher wrote a great piece breaking down the history of Litquidity, the mission of Exec Sum, our future plans, and why we love beehiiv. Check out our Creator Spotlight here.

The Hiring Block

If you're looking to break into finance, lateral, or move out, check out our job board on Pallet, where we curate highly relevant roles for you. We've got 40+ jobs spanning IB, S&T, VC, tech, private equity, DeFi, crypto, CorpDev and more. We sift through all the noise on LinkedIn, Indeed, Monster, etc. so you don't have to.

And for those who want a more of a "match-making" approach, we're now launching a Talent Collective. It's essentially a reverse-job board where top companies ask to be introduced to you based on candidate profiles. This is a free, application-only community targeted at finance professionals looking to transition to VC / tech / web3 (we'll have broader collectives as more companies join the platform).

Candidates: you are welcome to apply here and can choose to stay anonymous for privacy concerns.

Companies: if you're hiring, join our collective and start getting recurring drops of amazing talent who are searching for new gigs - actively or passively. Apply now, as spots are limited.

Meme Cleanser

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