Goldman’s next king?

One thing to start: Elon Musk’s X has raised about $1bn in a new equity funding round that values the social media company at $44bn, bringing its valuation back in line with the price the billionaire paid in 2022.

In today’s newsletter:

John Waldron: the Goldman prince in line to be king

On Wall Street, leverage is key. Just ask John Waldron.

Goldman Sachs’ president and chief operating officer used talk of a $500mn senior role at Apollo Global Management to clear his path to be the bank’s likely next chief executive.

That’s the jumping off point for an FT Big Read on Goldman’s (lack of a) succession race to take over from David Solomon.

But one thing is unclear: what kind of CEO would Waldron be?

Almost all the people who worked with him talk about Waldron’s work ethic and way with clients — United Airlines chief executive Scott Kirby told the FT that Waldron is “the most senior investment banker who is regularly out with clients”.

Waldron’s career has been closely linked to Solomon’s — they’ve worked together for more than three decades and people who know them describe their relationship as almost fraternal.

“The world has never seen a John without David’s input,” said one person who has worked with both men. “None of us know what that is.”

Solomon is clearly a huge fan, telling the FT: “I’ve had the privilege of working with John for 33 years. He’s an extraordinary banker, business partner and executive — but more than anything, he’s been an extraordinary friend.”

It’s not uncommon for leadership to change, or reveal, a person’s character. The public perception of pre-CEO Solomon was of someone who could charm employees; the reality once he got the job was very different.

Waldron may ultimately have ambitions beyond Wall Street. The persistent talk inside Goldman is that Waldron, a Republican, has ambitions one day to do something political in Washington.

The Goldman CEO job may not be the last big role Waldron is able to leverage.

Has the IPO window arrived?

For the past three years, venture capital investors and start-up founders have waited anxiously for an opening to finally take their companies public. And critically, cash out. The time has finally arrived, but for only a select few.

A handful of tech start-ups expect to publicly list their shares next month in New York, including AI data centre operator CoreWeave — which originally targeted a valuation at $35bn that it lowered on Wednesday — and Swedish fintech group Klarna, which is hoping for a $15bn valuation.

Yet CoreWeave and Klarna are both second-tier tech decacorns. The most valuable tech start-ups out there, such as Stripe or xAI, which both boast valuations well north of $50bn, are still, for now at least, happily raising money in private funding rounds.

Back when Facebook went public in 2012, the IPO route was considered the ultimate goal for any tech entrepreneur. But founders like Elon Musk have changed that calculation, holding companies private for years by raising hordes of capital behind closed doors. 

While CoreWeave and Klarna still plan to list next month — likely alongside a few other tech companies, according to one senior banker — the recent market tumult has raised some concerns. (CoreWeave could start its roadshow as soon as this week, but hasn’t given a date for its IPO.) 

Other companies have pushed back their plans. Fintech platform Chime and software provider Genesys both filed confidentially to list their shares late last year, but have now told investors their IPOs would probably happen later this year.

CoreWeave, in part because of its size, could be a bellwether for its peers. 

Bankers at Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan have pitched to investors that the data centre company will be the first and largest of a handful of tech IPOs in April, opening a window for smaller companies to list their shares.

But there are serious sceptics — even among venture investors, who have every reason to lean into unbridled optimism.

“The public market sentiment has changed so drastically in the last four to six weeks that most people will retreat back to calmer waters,” said Peter Hébert, co-founder and managing partner at $5bn venture firm Lux Capital, which owns stakes in several pre-IPO start-ups. 

“Anyone publicly out there like CoreWeave is going to do everything possible to get a deal done, but anyone else who has filed confidentially is just watching. This is not a market environment anyone is interested in joining.” 

$30bn here, $25bn there: UAE cash is everywhere

Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al-Nahyan had an eventful visit to the US.

The United Arab Emirates’ powerful national security adviser held court at the White House, sitting with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office and attending a private dinner between top US and UAE officials. 

He paid a visit to Oracle’s billionaire founder Larry Ellison and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in person and beamed into a virtual meeting with Elon Musk from a hotel suite.

In between the photo opportunities, Sheikh Tahnoon also won good business and big headlines. 

MGX, the centrepiece of his efforts to leverage the UAE’s vast oil wealth to bet heavily on artificial intelligence, had a nice win on Wednesday when a $30bn fund it set up with BlackRock, Global Infrastructure Partners and Microsoft added firepower.

Musk’s AI company xAI and chipmaker Nvidia are becoming partners on the fund, which aims to build up to $100bn in data centres and energy projects to power generative AI.

The AI world is in some ways segmenting into competing megafunds. While Microsoft, BlackRock, GIP and xAI plan to pool their resources, a separate sphere has emerged.

In January, SoftBank and OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, launched their own so-called Stargate project to build AI infrastructure, which was endorsed by Trump and which has plans to spend up to $100bn. Oracle is the US tech giant backing the effort. 

Stargate has revealed growing distance between Microsoft and OpenAI after the latter was one of the start-up’s biggest early backers.

MGX participates in both megafunds, meaning Sheikh Tahnoon has spread his bets well as faultlines emerge. 

The UAE is also seeding other bets. ADQ, Tahnoon’s fund focused on critical infrastructure and global supply chains, on Wednesday announced a $25bn fund with US private capital group Energy Capital Partners to build power production to meet AI demands.

Job moves

• Ducera has hired Andrew Vogt as a managing director in San Francisco. He previously worked for Tidal Partners and Centerview Partners. 

• ASC Advisors has hired Max Rayden as a senior director based in West Palm Beach. He previously worked for Edelman Smithfield. 

Smart reads

A conflict of interest The Trump Organization’s lawsuit against Capital One is just the latest in a number of worrying legal claims that spell trouble for deals, Todd Baker writes in Alphaville.

Convenient banking TD has become the bank of choice for criminals and money launderers, Bloomberg reports.

Down to business Tech bosses are toughening up, slashing jobs and demanding more from staff, writes Business Insider.

News round-up

Thames Water’s 6 bidders include Stonepeak and distressed specialist FitzWalter (FT)

Deutsche Bank to axe 2,000 more jobs (FT)

Brussels takes action against Google and Apple despite Trump threat (FT)

BYD’s 5-minute charge: is time running out for electric-vehicle rivals? (FT)

Cinven sells life insurer after scrutiny of private equity ownership (FT)

Apollo to buy UK energy services group OEG as investors bet on demand for power (FT)

Tech groups boost IPO revival hopes despite market tumult (FT)

EY cuts jobs in pullback from UK legal sector (FT)

Santander to close a fifth of UK branches (FT)

China’s Hesai denies short-seller claims on revenues and military ties (FT)

Samsung promises to pursue deals in ‘do or die’ bid to revive growth (FT)