IPO frenzy — Silver Lake travel bets — The next big short

Welcome to Wall Street Insider, where we take you behind the scenes of the finance team's biggest scoops and deep dives from the past week.

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It was another tough week for the nation, with an outpouring of anguish and frustration continuing through days of protests. You can keep up with our newsroom-wide coverage here.

Business Insider took a look at how execs at big companies around the country are responding to the deaths of George Floyd and other black people in America and addressing protests against police brutality, and wrote about how leaders can use their visibility to join broader conversations about race and racism and promote actions for change. Business Insider has also spotlighted some of the most influential leaders who are fighting inequality and driving changes in corporate diversity and inclusion.

Despite social unrest across the US, investors were largely optimistic about the country's economic prospects after months of setbacks due to the coronavirus pandemic.

US stocks surged this week, boosted by early signs of a labor-market recovery. And the IPO market came roaring back, with Warner Music Group raising $1.9 billion in the biggest initial public offering of the year. Other companies including marketing-software firm ZoomInfo as well as Shift4 Payments priced shares above their expected ranges and skyrocketed in their first day of trading.

Shift4 Payments was the first company to appear in-person to celebrate a market debut at the New York Stock Exchange since the pandemic took hold. Shannen Balogh talked with Jared Isaacman, the payment-tech firm's CEO, about what it was like live-streaming a bell-ringing to Shift4's over 700 employees and how the company pitched itself to investors without meeting them in person.

Read the full story here:

The CEO of Shift4 Payments walked us through the 300-meeting virtual road show it took to launch its IPO

It was a busy week for real-estate news as well.

Silver Lake added to a string of bets in the struggling travel sector by leading a $108 million investment in vacation-property startup Vacasa. WeWork cofounder Miguel McKelvey is out, and his job as chief culture officer at the coworking giant won't be replaced. And Neiman Marcus's flagship store in the glitzy Hudson Yards mega-mall is now being marketed as office space.

Thanks for reading, and enjoy the weekend,

-Meredith

PayPal power players

Digital payments have taken off amid the pandemic, with consumers and merchants alike looking for more ways to digitize the way they pay, both online and in-person.

PayPal in turn has seen record transaction volumes and sign-ups this year. Shannen Balogh took a look at the people who are driving PayPal's growth, launching new products, and positioning the payments giant to take off in an increasingly digital world.

Read the full story here:

Meet the 8 PayPal execs shaping the payment giant's future as its stock rockets to record highs and e-commerce surges

Big bets on the future of retail space

Months before the pandemic hit the US, investors were placing bets against the future of shopping malls, while a major asset manager was positioning billions of dollars in mutual funds it controls on the other side of the wager. Dan Geiger took a look at how these complex bets were made, and how things are shaping up for each side in light of the pandemic.

Read the full story here:

Inside a 'big short' bet against malls: Investors are claiming wins, and a research analyst who said the wagers were misguided is out

What's in store for Wells Fargo's next wealth head

Wells Fargo has been searching for a new wealth and investment management head since February, when it announced a reorganization and leadership shuffle across business lines. The firm is primarily considering outside candidates as CEO Charlie Scharf, less than seven months at the helm of the scandal-plagued bank, continues shaping a new set of execs poached from rivals.

Rebecca Ungarino took a look at what's at stake for Wells Fargo, and what's in store for whoever takes over running the $1.6 trillion unit.

Read the full story here:

Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf is looking at outsiders to run the bank's sprawling wealth business. Here's why it may be one of the toughest jobs on Wall Street.

Chatting with Webull's CEO

Webull started as a mobile app for market data and analytics. Now, the fintech that's pitched itself as a Robinhood rival has a slew of product launches planned for this year. And it's going after just about everyone in the crowded field of brokerages and wealth tech.

"We will go after the Robinhood demographic. We will go after the robo-adviser demographic. And we also want to go after the advanced trader demographic," Webull CEO Anthony Denier told Rebecca Ungarino and Dan DeFrancesco.

Read the full story here:

Robinhood rival Webull is plotting an aggressive growth push. The fintech's CEO laid out plans to add everything from robo-advice to wonky options trading.

On the move

• EmeraldRidge Advisors — the new fund coming from Tom Conheeney, Steve Cohen's former right-hand man — is adding some star power. Vincent Daniels and Porter Collins plan to join the not-yet-launched firm, sources told Business Insider. The pair of portfolio managers are most well-known for being featured as characters in the movie and book "The Big Short."
• Citi is forming a new investment banking team, combining the firm's activism and shareholder defense, data science, and corporate finance advisory groups. The new global unit, called strategic advisory solutions, will number more than 80 bankers and will be led by top activism-defense banker Muir Paterson.
• WeWork's head of real estate for the US, Canada, and Israel is leaving the company after two years. The executive, Aaron Ellison, had helped spearhead growth during the heady runup to the firm's peak valuation of nearly $50 billion.

Corporate finance

• Some cash-strapped US oil companies can't even afford Chapter 11 bankruptcies. That means they have to wait things out or liquidate.

Hedge funds and investing

• Stock-picking hedge funds are suddenly back in vogue— a welcome shift for an industry that's hemorrhaged billions
• Coatue's $350 million quant hedge fund pulled money out of the market in a move that exposes the dangers of data-driven trades

Law

• The post-pandemic law firm will consist of smaller summer classes, more remote workers, and a less decked-out office, a top legal recruiter predicts
• A Boies Schiller lawyer who represented a key witness in the Trump impeachment proceedings is jumping ship to Jenner & Block — adding to a list of 30-plus BSF partner exits

Fintech

• Buy now, pay later startup Affirm just launched a high-yield account with an eye-popping rate. Its CEO explains why the startup wants to cater to both saving and splurging.
• Startup Hippo is buying an insurer that has licenses to sell across the US — here's how the unicorn insurtech is flipping the script on incumbents
• $3 billion Carta is looking for a new COO, and WeWork's former CEO just turned down the job

Real estate

• Burning through cash and nothing coming in: We talked to 7 VC investors about what's keeping them up at night in their proptech portfolios
• Companies need to add contactless-entry tech to safely reopen offices. Here are 7 firms ranging from startups to huge conglomerates that are set for a surge in business.