The Musk banker who took a back seat to Goldman Sachs

{"text":[[{"start":3.6,"text":"One scoop to start: JPMorgan is seeking to offload risk tied to over $4bn in loans to private equity funds as the biggest US bank looks to cut its exposure to an industry grappling with a prolonged slowdown."}],[{"start":16.650000000000002,"text":"And another: LIV Golf has offered its players equity in a restructured league as the heavily lossmaking competition races to raise up to $350mn in fresh capital after Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund withdrew its hefty financial support."}],[{"start":33,"text":"And a last thing: US cosmetics giant Estée Lauder has ended merger talks with Spanish rival Puig over a deal that would have created a fashion and beauty powerhouse worth nearly $40bn."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":45.45,"text":"In today’s newsletter:"}],[{"start":48.550000000000004,"text":"The SpaceX IPO runner-up"}],[{"start":51.00000000000001,"text":"A bank boss blunder"}],[{"start":52.85000000000001,"text":"Michael Grimes, left out"}],[{"start":55.25000000000001,"text":"If you’re an Elon Musk loyalist, the blockbuster IPO of SpaceX is your long-awaited reward."}],[{"start":62.95000000000001,"text":"The rockets-to-chatbot conglomerate expects to list at a historic valuation as high as $1.75tn during a rare planetary alignment next month, which translates to riches for some executives and longtime investors."}],[{"start":77.80000000000001,"text":"At that valuation, the stakes of SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell and chief financial officer Bret Johnsen will be worth more than $1bn apiece, according to the company’s prospectus filed on Wednesday."}],[{"start":91.10000000000001,"text":"Longtime Musk backer and SpaceX director Antonio Gracias, head of Valor Equity Partners, has holdings that could be worth $70bn or more. Luke Nosek, who co-founded Founders Fund and joined SpaceX’s board in 2008, holds a stake worth about $5bn."}],[{"start":110.25,"text":"And the stakes of early hedge fund investors D1 Capital Partners and Darsana Capital Partners could be worth about $20bn and $15bn, respectively, DD previously revealed."}],[{"start":123.15,"text":"But not all Musk insiders are feeling like winners right now."}],[{"start":126.60000000000001,"text":"When the S-1 was filed, much of Wall Street fixated on one detail: which bank had landed the prized “lead left” role on the listing. It was something of an upset."}],[{"start":137,"text":"The Morgan Stanley banker long viewed as Musk’s closest adviser on Wall Street failed to clinch the spot, the FT reports."}],[{"start":144.25,"text":"Instead the lead role went to Goldman Sachs, positioning the bank at the helm of what could become one of the most lucrative underwriting mandates ever."}],[{"start":151.5,"text":"Michael Grimes had been widely expected to run SpaceX’s flotation. The banker was behind blockbuster tech listings including Facebook, Uber and Palantir, as well as Musk’s $44bn Twitter buyout."}],[{"start":165.5,"text":"Grimes left Morgan Stanley last year after almost three decades to serve in the Trump administration. The move was widely seen as following his banking client, Musk, to Washington where the billionaire led the shortlived so-called Department of Government Efficiency."}],[{"start":181.45,"text":"Grimes returned to the bank in February amid the fierce jockeying for senior roles on the SpaceX IPO. Many expected him to give Morgan Stanley an edge in securing the coveted lead role. "}],[{"start":195.2,"text":"But Grimes has spent much of his time in recent months cultivating relationships tied to the US commerce department and advising on transactions linked to politically sensitive industries, rather than the tech IPO work."}],[{"start":208.2,"text":"“Morgan Stanley showed up late, to be frank,” a person familiar with the process told the FT. “And over-relied on Grimes’ relationship with Elon.”"}],[{"start":218.35,"text":"Grimes remains involved in the SpaceX listing, but his influence has been significantly smaller than many anticipated. For example, several Goldman bankers, as well as Morgan Stanley staff outside Grimes’ orbit, secured “daily badge” access to SpaceX’s offices during preparations for the flotation. Grimes did not, said people familiar with the matter."}],[{"start":239.54999999999998,"text":"Morgan Stanley still maintains a key role and stands to earn substantial fees from the SpaceX transaction, outstripping other leads such as Bank of America, Citigroup and JPMorgan."}],[{"start":250.24999999999997,"text":"Some people have suggested Morgan Stanley ranked second simply because the two lead advisers are listed alphabetically. (DD sees this as a rather dubious explanation that only highlights just how intense the rivalry is between the banks.)"}],[{"start":264.79999999999995,"text":"Still, Grimes may take some consolation from the fact that Goldman finds itself with a monumental undertaking. "}],[{"start":271.74999999999994,"text":"SpaceX is a complex and lossmaking company — which has businesses ranging from reusable rockets, Starlink satellites, social media and an AI business far behind those at the frontier. It’s headed by a controversial and mercurial chief executive, who has made himself unfireable."}],[{"start":288.84999999999997,"text":"“This is a defining moment, but the stakes are high and it has to go perfectly,” one person involved in the deal told the FT. “There is a lot that can go wrong and if it does, Morgan Stanley and Grimes will be dining out on it for years.”"}],[{"start":302.84999999999997,"text":"Bill Winters eats his words"}],[{"start":305.15,"text":"It’s hard to imagine anyone in global finance had a worse week than Standard Chartered chief executive Bill Winters. "}],[{"start":311.9,"text":"Well, aside from the nearly 8,000 employees of the bank whose jobs are at risk in the coming years."}],[{"start":318.25,"text":"A typical redundancy announcement would attempt to cushion the blow, but Winters’ one added insult to injury. Particularly for those working at the bank’s back-office hubs such as in Warsaw, Bengaluru and Tianjin."}],[{"start":329.9,"text":"The former Jamie Dimon protégé told journalists that StanChart will replace “in some cases, lower-value human capital with the financial capital and investment capital we’re putting in”. "}],[{"start":340.2,"text":"It was an all-timer alongside HSBC’s “demising” of staff and EY’s “strengthening our alumni network”. It’s also a reminder that announcing job cuts is a minefield for bosses. "}],[{"start":352.84999999999997,"text":"The backlash forced Winters to later reassure staff that the bank did in fact value their work and would invest in reskilling staff where possible."}],[{"start":361.84999999999997,"text":"Dimon himself weighed in, telling a television interviewer the comment was “inartful”. But he did not shy away from saying there would be AI-related job losses at JPMorgan too."}],[{"start":373.04999999999995,"text":"Ultimately Winters’ statement caught fire online as it gave voice to the fear that many of us hold: we too could be destined for the AI chopping block."}],[{"start":383.84999999999997,"text":"If you’re ready to embrace it, our colleagues at FT Alphaville are now offering “lower-value human capital” merch."}],[{"start":391.7,"text":"Job moves"}],[{"start":393.7,"text":"Evercore has hired Clay McCoy as a senior managing director in private capital advisory in New York. He joins from Campbell Lutyens."}],[{"start":401.65,"text":"Wells Fargo has hired Mark Gracia, Jusung Kwok and Derrick Chao as managing directors focused on digital assets, semiconductors and tech M&A, respectively. They join from Citi, Deutsche Bank and Bank of America, respectively."}],[{"start":415.95,"text":"Paul Hastings has hired Roberto Gonzalez as a litigation partner. He joins from Paul Weiss."}],[{"start":422.3,"text":"Smart reads"}],[{"start":424.1,"text":"Moonshot Valuing a company with ambitions to colonise Mars and put data centres in space is a novel challenge. Analysts will try, but at this point SpaceX is “worth whatever Musk says it is”, Lex writes."}],[{"start":437.85,"text":"AI workforce Cloudflare recently laid off about 20 per cent of its employees. Behind the move is a push to replace “measurers” with AI tools, and hire more “builders” and “sellers”, the tech company’s chief executive writes in The Wall Street Journal."}],[{"start":452.6,"text":"Shadow market As OpenAI and Anthropic prepare to go public this year, investors outside of Silicon Valley are going to extreme lengths to get shares, the New Yorker writes in a dispatch on the secondary market for the tech start-ups."}],[{"start":467.3,"text":"News round-up"}],[{"start":468.8,"text":"Saudi Arabia stops new work for consultants as war rattles finances (FT)"}],[{"start":474.45,"text":"Jamie Dimon praises China for being ‘more consistent’ (FT)"}],[{"start":479.25,"text":"BYD in talks with Christian Horner over entering F1 (FT)"}],[{"start":483.75,"text":"US quantum investment includes groups tied to Trump administration (FT)"}],[{"start":488.95,"text":"Crypto platforms rush to launch derivatives linked to SpaceX (FT)"}],[{"start":494.45,"text":"‘Fast entry’ SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic IPOs to ignite Wall Street trading frenzy (FT)"}],[{"start":501.55,"text":"Oura files confidentially for IPO as smart ring sales surge (Bloomberg)"}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":513.6500000000001,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1779516676_4651.mp3"}