What you need to know on Wall Street today
Jeff Bezos is now the world's richest person.
A surge in Amazon stock on Thursday morning increased his net worth by $1.1 billion, officially moving him ahead of Bill Gates. Here's how he got there, and here's what he could do with his money.
Elsewhere in tech, Facebook blew past Wall Street's expectations in its second-quarter earnings. Here's what you need to know:
- Facebook beats across the board for Q2 with $9.32 billion in revenue
- Mark Zuckerberg wants Facebook to move faster at making money off Messenger and there's a good reason why
- Facebook Messenger just made itself a whole lot more attractive for brands
- 'The best growth story in tech': What Wall Street is saying about Facebook's explosive earnings
In other tech news, Twitter didn't add any new users last quarter, and the stock is diving. Slack just got a $5 billion valuation in a mega funding round led by SoftBank and Accel. And Samsung is smashing it with record profits, despite a corruption scandal.
Back in finance, global markets are too calm for Deutsche Bank. The corporate and investment banking division of Germany's largest lender posted a 10% slide in revenues in the second quarter to €6.6 billion. Also, 11 Deutsche Bank board members past and present just turned down bonuses of €38 million as "an act of solidarity."
Credit Suisse has hired one of the biggest names in trading technology for its equities team. Goldman Sachs is launching a digital platform for the rich to borrow as much as $25 million. Apollo raised $24.6 billion for largest private equity fund ever. And the $2.6 trillion asset manager behind the "Fearless Girl" statue is putting its money where its mouth is.
Lazard is having a record-breaking year amid a "choppy" environment for M&A, with the retail apocalypse driving a $175 million business at the advisory firm.
In deal news, Bill Ackman is buying up shares in a company that might manage your firm's payroll. "High Times" is planning an IPO. Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway could walk away from its $9 billion energy deal. And Starbucks is paying $1.3 billion for 1,300 stores in China.
The Federal Reserve left its benchmark interest rate unchanged on Wednesday and said it planned to start shrinking its balance sheet "relatively soon." And Elizabeth Warren unloaded on Trump's pick to lead Fed bank regulation.
Howard Marks, billionaire investor and founder of Oaktree Capital, published a memo for clients on Wednesday. Here are some snippets:
- He listed the ingredients for a bubble - and warned many are present today
- He used the example of a Netflix bond deal to show why markets are overheated
- He cited one of the iconic quotes of the financial crisis to highlight what's wrong with markets today
- He also said cryptocurrencies "aren't real"
Also, legendary strategist Byron Wien says the stock market is entering uncharted territory. And stock market fear just hit a record low.
Lastly, here's what it's like to eat a 10-course meal at the farm-to-table mecca that's one of the best restaurants in the world.