Bill Gates daughter busted over alleged unearned commissions scam
Selena Gomez sued by investors: She promised 500 million followers, delivered nothing
Hello Capitalists!
Get the edge on what you need to know today:
Bill Gates daughter busted over alleged unearned commissions scam
Selena Gomez sued by investors: She promised 500 million followers, delivered nothing
Uber cuts a deal with China to flood Europe with 2000 robo taxis
JPMorgan analyst sees 30% more upside in Microsoft as Azure explodes
S&P 500 inclusion sends Reddit soaring. AI is the bigger story
Sandisk’s 540% rally just got rocket fuel from the AI memory boom
Sponsored by Mode Mobile
Support The Capitalist, become a paid subscriber today:
Bill Gates daughter busted over alleged unearned commissions scam
Phoebe Gates and Phia co-founder Sophia Kianni reportedly pushed features allowing their shopping startup to claim affiliate commissions on sales it did not drive, with knowledge of the practice since December.
Awareness timeline conflict: Bloomberg reported the founders knew of cookie stuffing since December via Slack messages, contradicting their July 8 claim they learned of it within the last 24 hours and blamed a software bug.
How the scheme worked: Phia’s browser extension places tracking cookies during checkout without user intent, claiming credit for purchases on sites like Nike, Gap and Nordstrom even if unused.
Partners ban the practice: Commercial partners prohibited cookie stuffing, yet the startup used three different strategies; Impact.com suspended Phia from its marketplace after the initial report.
Funding and company background: Phia launched in April 2025, raised $30 million in December at a $180 million valuation from investors excluding Bill Gates after an earlier $8 million seed.
Selena Gomez sued by investors: She promised 500 million followers, delivered nothing
Pop star Selena Gomez is accused of fraud by five investors who claim she failed to leverage her celebrity status and more than 500 million social media followers to promote the collapsed Wondermind mental-health startup.
Lawsuit targets three founders: Five investors filed a Thursday lawsuit in Delaware federal court against Gomez, mother Mandy Teefey and Daniella Pierson alleging the app was never built and revenue never materialized.
Company raised five million: Wondermind Global Inc. raised $5 million in a 2022 early-stage round from Serena Williams’s venture fund, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Sequoia Capital while claiming a $95 million valuation.
Gomez ignored marketing duties: As chief impact officer and head of marketing, Gomez failed contractual obligations to promote the mental fitness company partly due to long-running personal struggles with her mother Teefey.
Founders stayed silent years: For three years while the company quietly collapsed around them, not one of its founders, officers or directors said a word to the investors about the failed initiatives.
Buffett's ‘Rule’ Could Make This Company Soar
Warren Buffett famously said that “If you don’t find a way to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die.”
But what if your phone could do it for you? 📲
That’s exactly what Mode Mobile has created - technology that turns idle phone time into passive income. With 490M+ users in their ecosystem and $1B in earnings and savings, their EarnPhone is being called the Uber of smartphones.
With 32,481% revenue growth, they were named the fastest-growing software company in 2023 by Deloitte, and with 7 billion smartphones worldwide their market could be significantly larger than Uber’s.
They’ve just secured their Nasdaq stock ticker $MODE, and you have until August 14 to invest in their pre-IPO offering at $0.52/share.
⚠️ Last chance to invest. Price changes on August 14.
Disclaimers
Please read the offering circular and related risks at invest.modemobile.com. This is a paid advertisement for Mode Mobile’s Regulation A+ Offering.
Mode Mobile recently received their ticker reservation with Nasdaq ($MODE), indicating an intent to IPO in the next 24 months. An intent to IPO is no guarantee that an actual IPO will occur.
The Deloitte rankings are based on submitted applications and public company database research, with winners selected based on their fiscal-year revenue growth percentage over a three-year period.
Uber cuts a deal with China to flood Europe with 2000 robo taxis
Uber and China’s Pony.ai plan to deploy 2,000 robotaxis across Europe and the Middle East after a Zagreb launch, while Unitree prices a $900 million IPO and firms like Apple and Ford deepen Chinese tech use.
European robotaxi fleet expansion: Uber and Pony.ai will deploy 2,000 self-driving taxis across Europe and expand to the Middle East after their claimed first commercial European service launched in Zagreb this spring.
Unitree IPO valuation details: Hangzhou-based Unitree priced shares at 150.8 yuan to raise $900 million at a $9 billion valuation, with retail demand oversubscribed more than 5,000 times and DeepSeek investing.
Humanoid commercial limits remain: Unitree robots perform backflips and kung fu kicks yet face questions on useful work, limited to about 4 hours of runtime with hands lacking the precision needed for daily tasks.
Western firms source Chinese: Apple partners with Alibaba and Baidu for AI in China while Ford uses CATL battery technology for a $3.5 billion Michigan plant amid Chinese dominance in the EV market.
Anthropic takes IPO meetings, but no one is talking numbers
Anthropic CFO Krishna Rao is leading high-level meetings with prospective investors ahead of a potential IPO, covering Claude models and enterprise strategy while avoiding specific financials or valuation, sources said.
Claude models focus areas: Meetings cover Claude AI models, Claude Code development, enterprise market position, management composition and release volume without any specific financial details or targets.
May funding valuation metrics: Anthropic closed a late May funding round at a $965 billion valuation after its run-rate revenue crossed $47 billion, up from roughly $10 billion in 2025.
Investor valuation growth outlook: Some investors independently project a $2 trillion or higher IPO valuation, with half a dozen backers seeing $100 billion to $120 billion annualized revenue by year-end.
Pricing controls litigation risks: One investor cites 800% annual growth supporting over $3 trillion at 30 times revenue, amid higher model pricing, temporary export controls and Defense Department litigation.
Why JPMorgan cut off the biggest prediction market
JPMorgan Chase terminated its banking relationship with prediction market Polymarket last year over regulatory concerns according to the Financial Times, though it retains some ties for a potential IPO role.
Notification issued in October: JPMorgan notified Polymarket in October that it needed to find a new bank, the Financial Times reported citing people it did not identify.
New lender now engaged: Polymarket is working with a new lender that the report did not identify while a JPMorgan representative declined to comment on the matter.
Partial ties still retained: The bank retains some ties and is leaving the door open for an underwriting role should Polymarket attempt to go public, according to a familiar source.
Industry faces regulation fight: Prediction markets have grown into a multi-billion dollar industry with sports wagers dominating trades and standing at the center of a wide-ranging regulatory debate.
Cisco beat earnings hard and the stock still crashed 8%
Cisco shares dropped 8.4% Thursday even after reporting fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $17.3 billion, up 18%, and guiding current-quarter revenue to $18 billion to $18.2 billion, both above estimates.
Guidance called conservative: Piper Sandler said the numbers were good but guidance looks conservative given current demand, and some investors may nitpick that peak growth is already visible in the results.
Hyperscaler order strength: Hyperscalers placed $4 billion of infrastructure orders in the quarter for a $9.3 billion fiscal-year total, with related revenue expected to nearly double to $7.5 billion next year.
CEO defends prudent start: Chuck Robbins told CNBC the company delivered a record year and quarter yet chose to start the new fiscal year a little bit prudent while operating in incredible markets.
Analysts stay supportive: KeyBanc remains bullish expecting market share gains as hyperscalers and neoclouds ramp spending, while the stock had risen more than 60% year-to-date before the drop.
The Capitalist is a reader-supported publication, we exist for you, because of you!
Intel’s $20B raise dilutes holders, BofA keeps the Buy rating
Bank of America maintained a Buy rating on Intel after its $20 billion stock offering of 210.5 million shares at $95 each, while lowering the price target to $145 from $160 due to dilution and sector multiples.
Shares climb on BofA note: Intel shares climbed more than 3% Wednesday after Bank of America maintained its Buy rating saying the offering could support expansion of the company’s foundry operations.
Offering creates dilution impact: The $20 billion offering involves 210.5 million shares priced at $95 each and is estimated to create four- to five-percent dilution for existing holders according to the analysis.
Foundry strategy remains central: BofA estimates Intel could capture a portion of the global wafer-manufacturing market by 2030 while expanding its role in advanced chip packaging to support higher earnings.
Server pricing strengthens sharply: Server average selling prices reached about $1,200 in the second quarter, up 43% from a year earlier, though execution risks remain around yields, process ramps and winning large customers.
AI’s $1 trillion problem no one can buy their way out of
Hyperscalers aim to spend up to $1 trillion on AI data centers in 2026, but persistent chip shortages, skilled labor gaps, regulatory pushback and a projected 19-gigawatt power shortfall threaten to slow the build-out.
Spending forecasts escalate: Goldman Sachs estimates global spending will reach $1 trillion in 2026, JPMorgan forecasts $697 billion in the US, and Bank of America sees a path toward $1.2 trillion by 2027.
Multiple bottlenecks emerge: Chip shortages persist despite new capacity, construction faces skilled labor shortages, and regulatory constraints include a one-year New York moratorium plus a Texas power hookup audit.
Analyst warns of delays: Canaccord Genuity’s George Gianarikas said the combination of equipment, permits and people needs plus protests and moratoria means power will not arrive at the expected pace.
Power approvals limited: Wood Mackenzie reported utilities and grid operators may approve only 28% of requested data center power due to phantom applications and those from less-experienced operators.
JPMorgan analyst sees 30% more upside in Microsoft as Azure explodes
JPMorgan analyst Samik Chatterjee raised his Microsoft price target to $625 from $550, implying about 30% upside, citing accelerating Azure and M365 growth driven by AI infrastructure buildout and lower capital needs than peers.
Analyst hikes price target: JPMorgan’s Samik Chatterjee lifted Microsoft’s price target to $625 from $550 on Thursday, assuming about 30% upside from current trading levels based on AI-driven growth.
Azure growth accelerates sharply: Azure and other cloud services growth surged 43% in the fiscal fourth quarter as the business officially crossed the $100 billion annual revenue milestone with enterprise AI deployments at scale.
Strong quarterly results delivered: Microsoft posted $90 billion in revenue up 18% year over year along with operating income rising 18% to $40.6 billion while returning $10.2 billion to shareholders via dividends and buybacks.
Lower capital needs advantage: The company demonstrated operating leverage and did not aggressively raise its capital expenditure plans like peers Alphabet and Meta while significantly building out data center capacity.
S&P 500 inclusion sends Reddit soaring, AI is the bigger story
Reddit shares rose more than 15% in early trading after S&P Dow Jones Indices said the platform will join the S&P 500 prior to the open on August 18, replacing AvalonBay Communities.
AI advertising opportunity: Co-founder Steve Huffman said people frustrated with AI slop and useless summaries are gravitating toward Reddit’s long human conversations, creating potential for more advertising sales.
Strong second-quarter results: The company reported a 61% year-over-year revenue increase to $805 million driven by advertising, with earnings per share rising 178% to $1.25 in the period.
User base continues expanding: Global unique daily active users reached 130.3 million, up 18% year over year, fueled by a 28% international surge and 36% rise in average revenue per user.
Consistent sales growth streak: Sales have increased by more than 10% in each of the past 13 quarters according to Yahoo Finance AlphaSpace analysis of the platform’s performance.
Sandisk’s 540% rally just got rocket fuel from the AI memory boom
Sandisk shares rose 3% on Friday after a 12% prior-session climb as the NAND flash maker set mid-to-high teens revenue growth targets and near 80% gross margins for 2028-2030.
Multi-year customer contracts: RBC Capital noted the deals are multi-year, detailed by quarter or month, carry fixed pricing plus a variable element, and include financial guarantees supporting sustainability.
Sustainable cycle outlook: Raymond James analysts said the guidance points toward sustainable margins and returns with lower volatility through the cycle despite volatile trends and unprecedented demand.
Unique AI positioning: JPMorgan assigned an Overweight rating as analyst Harlan Sur said Sandisk is uniquely positioned to capture structural NAND demand growth driven by rapid AI inference expansion.
Major year-to-date gains: Spun off from Western Digital in February 2025, Sandisk has gained more than 540% this year as memory emerged as a key AI infrastructure bottleneck with deficits extending ahead.
Another rich spoiled clueless over educated pro socialism idiot in need of attitude adjustment in a court of law