Money, Wealth & Power—A Daily Look at the Financial World
Russia’s Lukoil, a 75% stakeholder in Iraq’s West Qurna 2—one of the world’s biggest oil fields—is suddenly losing its grip on the project’s operations after U.S. sanctions forced the company into a rushed divestment of its international holdings. Iraq announced plans to nationalize the field’s operations as Lukoil faces a January 17 deadline to sell…
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, a Democrat, announced plans on February 18, 2026, to temporarily suspend tax incentives for data centers, directly linking the facilities’ explosive electricity demand to rising power bills across the state. The proposal targets a generous incentive package that has offered sales tax exemptions lasting up to 20 years, and it arrives…
Tesla sidestepped a potential suspension of its California dealer license by quietly stripping “Autopilot” and “Full Self-Driving Capability” from its consumer-facing marketing materials. The California Department of Motor Vehicles confirmed on February 17, 2026, that the automaker took corrective action to satisfy a stayed penalty stemming from an administrative law judge’s finding that the company…
Saudi Arabia’s state-backed artificial intelligence company Humain announced on February 18, 2026, that it invested $3 billion into Elon Musk’s xAI as part of the startup’s Series E funding round. The deal, which closed just before SpaceX formally acquired xAI, converted Humain’s stake into SpaceX equity and made the Saudi entity a significant minority shareholder….
Ford Motor Co. is staking roughly $5 billion on a bet that it can build an electric pickup truck affordable enough to compete with gas-powered alternatives. The centerpiece of that wager is a $2 billion overhaul of the company’s Kentucky Truck Plant, where production lines will be retooled to accommodate a new electric vehicle platform…
Florida legislators are trying to stop data centers from driving up electricity bills for ordinary households, but the very bills designed to protect consumers carry a built-in contradiction that could undermine public accountability. Senate Bill 484, filed for the 2026 session, would ban certain nondisclosure agreements between state agencies and data center operators while directing…
Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin issued a sharp critique of crypto prediction markets on February 14, warning that platforms like Polymarket are drifting toward what he called “corposlop,” dominated by sports betting and short-term crypto price wagers rather than genuine forecasting tools. The rebuke arrives as prediction markets face an escalating legal and regulatory battle across…
True Value Company, the decades-old hardware cooperative that built its name supplying independent retailers competing against big-box chains like Home Depot and Lowe’s, is ceasing operations as a standalone business. The company announced a sale agreement with fellow cooperative Do It Best and simultaneously initiated Chapter 11 proceedings in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the…
BlackRock filed a registration statement on December 5, 2025, for a new iShares Staked Ethereum Trust ETF that would pass roughly 82% of Ethereum staking rewards to shareholders, keeping the remaining portion as a fee. The proposed fund, expected to trade under the ticker ETHB, represents a distinct product from BlackRock’s existing spot ether ETF…
Berkshire Hathaway reduced its positions in Amazon, Apple, and Bank of America during the fourth quarter of 2024, while adding at least one new holding to its portfolio, according to the company’s latest regulatory filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The filing has also prompted fresh questions among investors about whether the 94-year-old…