Economists Warn That Costs Of ‘All Products’ Will Rise Amid War With Iran |
In the world of fintechs, it pays to stay private.
Take payments giant Stripe. After a stellar 2025, the company reached a valuation of $159 billion—nearly five times more than its Dutch rival Adyen, which is publicly traded. In what’s becoming a more common trend, most fintechs that have gone public in recent years are seeing their stocks stagnate or slump, while private equity firms and VCs continue to prop up others.
But such high numbers risk a reckoning. Michael Gilroy, a former general partner at investment firm Coatue and cofounder of venture capital shop Marathon Management, says the valuations for top private fintechs “are beyond nonsensical.”
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It’s not just your average drivers feeling the pain at the pump in recent weeks. With the price of diesel spiking more than 36% in the past month, farmers, shipping companies and the retail industry are all seeing an impact—and that could soon mean higher prices for just about everything. “The costs of all products will rise,” energy economist Philip Verleger told Reuters.
A spike in global crude oil prices resumed in early trading on Tuesday, as Iran continues to strike oil infrastructure and shipping in the Gulf region. The global benchmark Brent Crude index rose to $104 per barrel, up more than 3.7% compared to Monday’s close, an increase that comes after Iran’s foreign minister said that the Strait of Hormuz would only be closed for “tankers and ships belonging to our enemies.”
WEALTH + ENTREPRENEURSHIP
A group of Harvard students and faculty has submitted a “denaming” request that asks the university to remove billionaire Les Wexner’s name from buildings on campus, the latest fallout for Wexner after the government’s release of files on Jeffrey Epstein. The proposal argues Wexner’s name should be removed due to his “strong ties” to the disgraced financier, while claiming that keeping the name would act as “an unintended signal of institutional tolerance of his conduct.”
MORE: Bank of America has reached a settlement with victims of Epstein who alleged the financial institution aided in Epstein’s crimes, though the agreement still has to be approved by a judge. Bank of America declined to comment on the settlement, while Sigrid McCawley, one of the attorneys representing the victims, said the outcome was “one more step on the road to much deserved justice.”
Before he was Donald Trump’s running mate, JD Vance lauded Trump for starting no wars during his first term: “[H]e has my support in 2024 because I know he won’t recklessly send Americans to fight overseas,” Vance wrote in a 2023 op-ed. Now Trump’s vice president, Vance has been notably absent from public discourse about the war with Iran, raising questions about whether he’s safeguarding his own political future, or at genuine odds with the president.
Changes to the U.S. childhood vaccination schedule made by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s advisors were blocked Monday, with a judge temporarily stopping further votes on vaccine policy changes. The judge’s actions come after the advisors voted to change the childhood vaccination schedule, including a reduction in recommended shots from 17 to 11.
Over the past three decades, Lucia Penrod has turned her “barefoot luxury” Nikki Beach clubs into a $400 million hospitality brand. Forbes estimates that Nikki Beach Hospitality Group pulls in net profits that are more than double most fine dining restaurants, with Penrod owning 100% of the business. Despite the business’s success, Penrod now faces a nasty dispute over the future of the original Nikki Beach club in South Beach.
How 3 Billionaire Investors Used AI To Double Their Fortunes In A Year
Last year was a banner year for many hedge funds and quant shops, and Greenwich, Connecticut-based Applied Quantitative Research—better known as AQR—was no exception. Its assets under management have ballooned to $187 billion, increasing $73 billion in 2025. All three of its billionaire founders saw their net worths double.
Cliff Asness, AQR’s PhD-holding chief investment officer and largest individual shareholder with an estimated 30% stake, is now worth $6.3 billion. Cofounders John Liew and David Kabiller each saw their net worths jump to over $2 billion.
If AQR maintains last year’s growth trajectory, it will soon eclipse its previous all-time high of $226 billion in assets (in 2018), which would cap an impressive comeback for the firm. It managed less than $100 billion as recently as four years ago amid underperformance and customer outflows.
AQR’s turnaround has coincided with its full-throated embrace of AI and deliberate expansion of machine-learning techniques across research and trading. As a factor-based investor, AQR traditionally sought to use value investing metrics to determine which equities in the market are over- or undervalued. It then relied on human input to assign weights to the various factors they use to drive stock selection.
Now, machine learning is helping do that—detecting complex interactions between factors, recalibrating their weights in real time, and mining huge datasets for predictive signals. On the research side, natural language processing (think ChatGPT or Claude) is helping analysts comb through reams of data to improve their models.
WHY IT MATTERS Can AQR keep up its great run? Market volatility tends to boost hedge funds and quant shops, but AQR’s comeback story now hinges on whether its models can keep outrunning the market—and other hedge funds now embracing their own AI-infused quant strategies.
MORE Why An Insurance Software Goliath Is Crushing An AI David
Amid a surge in online casinos and sports betting, most American adults still have a much more relaxed view of gambling than people in other countries, new data from the Pew Research Center finds:
No. 24: Where the U.S. ranked out of 25 countries when asked if gambling was morally wrong, with only Canada taking a more relaxed stance
About 50%: The share of Americans surveyed who said gambling isn’t a moral issue, while 29% of respondents said it’s morally unacceptable
$14 billion: How much gambling addictions cost the U.S. annually, according to estimates from the National Council on Problem Gambling
With all the focus on how AI is disrupting certain industries, it’s important to note where the technology falls short. For example, there are a number of human abilities still needed in the workforce. Strategic thinking is a big one, as questions like “What problem are we trying to solve?” require more experience and context than can fit in a prompt box. Effective communication and storytelling also remain uniquely human—AI has yet to replicate the authenticity and emotional awareness that a strong communicator brings to conversations.
Fresh guidelines released Friday lowered the age threshold for doctors to consider prescribing one of the most commonly used medications for older adults, from 40 to 30. Which type of pharmaceutical treatment could be considered more often for a patient as young as 30?
A. Antihypertensives for high blood pressure
B. Statins to manage cholesterol
C. Anticoagulants for blood clot prevention
D. Antidiabetic agents for Type 2 diabetes
Thanks for reading! This edition of Forbes Daily was edited by Sarah Whitmire.