Forbes launched our inaugural Top Wealth Management Teams Private Wealth list alongside Shook Research.
ForbesDemocrats rallied in the midterm elections with a stronger-than-expected performance that fizzled Republican’s hopes for a “Red Wave.” Startup Magic Leap is focusing less on bringing its augmented reality headsets to everyday consumers and more on applying the technology to the manufacturing, healthcare and defense industries. Decentralized social media network Mastodon is having a moment after Elon Musk’s contentious takeover of Twitter.
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In The News Today
- The race to control Congress is still tight early Wednesday morning, with Democrats largely defying expectations and dealing a blow to the so-called “Red Wave” that Republicans anticipated in the midterm elections. More: Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman reportedly won Pennsylvania’s high-stakes Senate race, besting Republican nominee Mehmet Oz and flipping a key seat in the chamber.
- Florida elected 25-year-old Democrat Maxwell Alejandro Frost as the first Gen Z member of Congress on Tuesday, while the state’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis clinched a second term. More: Democrat wins in at least three battleground states will stave off some new abortion bans.
Top Take-Aways
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, confirmed Wednesday that it plans to lay off some 11,000 employees, becoming the latest tech giant to slash its workforce amid gloomy economic forecasts.
Cryptocurrency exchange Binance may soon acquire rival FTX, which is led by billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried, who admitted his company was facing liquidity issues. FTX’s token FTT fell a whopping 31% and FTX appears to have since paused processing clients' requests for withdrawals as spooked investors look to pull their assets. More: Concerns about FTX created a ripple effect throughout the broader crypto market, sending the price of bitcoin, for one, below $20,000.
Ahead of FTX’s cash crunch, Bankman-Fried and two of his deputies poured nearly $69 million into the 2022 midterm elections, with Bankman-Fried alone establishing himself as the second largest billionaire donor to Democratic causes. As it goes, that money may have been better spent shoring up his cryptocurrency exchange.
Augmented-reality tech startup Magic Leap is shifting its strategy away from appealing to everyday consumers to instead focusing on industries such as manufacturing, healthcare and defense, positioning its product to go head-to-head with Microsoft’s HoloLens. Magic Leap’s pivot adds competition to the nascent AR headset market, with tech giants Meta, Apple and Alphabet similarly working to establish themselves in the game in coming years.
After leading Kohl’s as CEO since 2018, Michelle Gass will step down next month to join Levi Strauss, where she’ll ultimately replace Chip Bergh as chief executive. Years of shrinking sales, stock that lost half its value during her tenure, and a dead-end attempt to sell the business may have all served as impetus for Gass’ departure.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos recently transferred $174 million worth of Amazon shares to nonprofits, marking the billionaire’s largest donation via Amazon stock this year. It’s unclear which groups received the 1.9 million shares.
Today's Must-Read
America's Top Wealth Managers: Private Wealth
With markets under pressure from rising interest rates and a looming recession, wealth management teams in the private wealth category (concentrating on accounts with $10 million or higher) are busy helping clients protect their wealth for themselves and future generations. For our inaugural Forbes/Shook Top Wealth Management Teams Private Wealth list, we identified 100 top teams that cumulatively oversee $902 billion in assets. More: We also launched our Top Wealth Management Teams High Net Worth list that spotlights 100 of the high-performing teams focused on households with accounts under $10 million, with cumulative assets under management totaling $288 billion.
In Case You Missed It
Decentralized social media network Mastodon has grown significantly since Elon Musk took over Twitter, but it's still a tiny community with a confusing interface and few resources. Still, for users tired of Twitter’s chaos, those shortcomings might be features rather than bugs.
Tips You Can Trust
- Thanksgiving dinners and leaves changing colors are fall staples, as is the healthcare open enrollment period. Now’s the time that most employees choose which benefits to elect for 2023. Pay extra attention to considerations like the value of an HSA-eligible high deductible health plan or how an FSA can work in your favor, so you can ultimately avoid these five common mistakes.
- During a down market, it’s largely unrealistic to entirely avoid losses on your investments. Still, some decisions may yield otherwise avoidable financial hits. Here are three strategies to reduce the risk of incurring unnecessary, self-inflicted losses during a tumultuous time, including avoiding regularly checking your portfolio to mitigate the risk of making hasty investment choices out of stress.
Must-Watch Video
A Private Tour Of Paul Allen's $1 Billion Art Auction
More than 150 pieces of art owned by the late Microsoft cofounder hit the auction block at Christie’s this week. The collection, which includes works by Botticelli, Cezanne, Seurat, Monet and Hockney, is expected to become the biggest sale in auction history. “It’s historic,” says Max Carter, vice chairman at Christie’s Auction House. “This sale exhausts superlatives.”
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