Forbes Talks

Jerami Grant, forward for the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers franchise, joins Forbes senior writer Jabari Young at the Nasdaq MarketSite to discuss his equity stake in soccer club D.C. United.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The 2024 Midas List features 13 women investors, matching 2021’s record number. They include No. 99 Annabelle Yu Long, a China-based newcomer at BAI Capital, and No. 86 Annie Lamont, Connecticut’s First Lady and cofounder of Oak HC/FT, appearing for the fifth time, but her first in nine years.A data-driven ranking, the Midas List is produced annually from a combination of public data sources and the submissions of hundreds of investment partners across dozens of firms. To qualify, investors are ranked by portfolio companies that have gone public or been acquired for at least $200 million in the past five years, or that have at least doubled their private valuation to $400 million or more over the same period. Forbes and TrueBridge allow firms to share credit for a deal between up to two investors, and put a premium on liquid exits over unrealized returns. Early stage investors who deliver large multiples on money invested, and later-stage investors who return large sums of cash, can both make the list. Top Midas investors typically achieve both, across a dozen or more eligible investments.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Palo Alto investing startup hasn’t raised its rock-bottom fees since its inception, yet it has found a way to build a sustainable business.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

President Joe Biden borrowed at least $50,000 against a line of credit on his vacation home last year, according to his annual financial disclosure, which the White House released on May 15.Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/zacheverson/2024/05/15/biden-borrowed-at-least-50000-via-home-equity-loan-new-disclosure-reveals/?sh=597eaabb70efSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It was a record-breaking year for these queens of capitalism, as their combined fortunes soared by nearly one-fourth to $154 billion and the minimum to make the list jumped more than 35%. The country’s most successful women have found dozens of ways to prosper. Nearly three-fourths of the 100 women on the list started or confounded a company, while 22 are chief executives or co-chief executives. A healthy stock market helped push the combined fortunes of members of Forbes’ tenth annual list of America’s Richest Self-Made Women to a record $154 billion, up nearly 25% from last year. The minimum to qualify rose to $300 million, up from $225 million last year, the highest since Forbes started tracking the top 100 in 2020. Seventy-three members are richer than they were in 2023, while just ten saw their fortunes fall. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Matt Craig a reporter at Forbes, joins Forbes talks to break down the disappointing holiday weekend box office. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ex-NBA player Mustafa Shakur, who previously played for the Washington Wizards and Oklahoma City Thunder, launched a sports nutrition startup called Pure Fuel. He joined Forbes senior writer Jabari Young at the Nasdaq MarketSite to discuss the startup's hydration drink.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Sanctions after the invasion of Ukraine sent tanker values soaring, boosting the fortunes of these Greek maritime moguls to record highs and minting at least seven new 10-figure fortunes.Forbes estimates there are now at least 12 shipping billionaires in Greece, more than at any other time in history. Seven of them are making their debut in Forbes’ billionaire ranks. They are worth a collective $32 billion—the equivalent of roughly 12% of the country’s gross domestic product.These tycoons are the latest in a line of swashbuckling pioneers hailing back to iconic figures like Aristotle Onassis and Stavros Niarchos, who launched the global oil tanker trade after World War II and became famous for their glamorous marriages and lifestyles. This newer group has been in shipping for decades but kept a lower profile. (Despite their success, none would speak to Forbes, while their representatives either declined to comment or did not respond.)See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Trump Media’s strategy to attack short sellers and prop up its swooning stock price may be futile, experts warn. Forbes money in politics reporter Kyle Mullins joins Brittany Lewis to discuss. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kylemullins/2024/04/26/truth-social-wants-wall-street-to-stop-shorting-its-stock-good-luck/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On "Forbes Talks," attorney John M. Phillips joined Forbes Senior Law Editor, Liane Jackson, to discuss former President Trump's NYC hush money trial, the Trump team's approach to Michael Cohen, the cases he is working on, and more.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

After years of turbulence, including jail time for the founders of the two biggest cryptocurrency exchanges, many providers are getting serious about controls and regulation. Coinbase leads our list of the 20 most trustworthy marketplaces in an industry that still requires caution.Forbes reporter, Nina Bambysheva and Javiar Paz discuss the top crypto names and market-places. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

One of the biggest expenses in geothermal power is finding the right spot to dig. Utah-based Zanskar thinks its big data and machine learning platform can help.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Founder and CEO of FindMine Michelle Bacharach joins "Forbes Talks" to discuss her company, which uses AI in the retail space, and her thoughts on AI over the past decade. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In 2023, female-owned venture capital firms received just 3% of the total $107 billion raised across venture firms worldwide, up from 2% in 2022. It is within this environment that Renata Quintini, cofounder and managing director of Renegade Partners, is announcing the close of a fresh $128 million in dry powder. The close of Fund II brings her firm’s total assets under management to $228 million, a size Quintini believes is a “Goldilocks” fit for the work she and cofounder Roseanne Wincek want to do. “If you’re managing a billion dollars, the math works against you,” she said during a sitdown interview at the Forbes studio. “At our fund size, we can write checks for $10 million, or in some cases have single digit percentage ownership that makes sense for our fund math… I’d much rather own a bite of a watermelon than the whole grape. Let’s optimize for opportunities to say yes to great founders.” Quintini also dished on what aspiring founders—of companies and venture firms alike—need to know about operating in 2024.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hiring managers have long used the reputation of a new college graduate’s alma mater as an indicator of an applicant’s ability and expected job performance. Elite national consulting, banking and investment firms focused their recruiting on the Ivy League and a handful of the other most selective schools. Big companies looked more widely, but still often favored a limited number of highly ranked universities. Regional firms would tap graduates of schools with the best reputations in their geographic area.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

You’re not imagining things: The Ivy League is forfeiting its standing as America’s producer of great talent. Here are the schools producing the hard-working high achievers that employers crave.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Rhino Onward International, or ROI as it called itself, launched in 2022 with some big promises. The renewables development firm claimed that its “proprietary process and technology” put it in position “to assume the leading role in Green Hydrogen production.” The company said it was building a green hydrogen plant in Arizona that would be worth about $530 million within 5 years, according to marketing materials it shared with investors.ROI raised $31 million from over 200 investors but apparently only invested $200,000 in the business; the firm’s promoters Paul Croft and J.D. Frost diverted the rest of the investors’ money to themselves and entities they control, according to an investor lawsuit filed in Illinois last month, which cited bank records obtained through subpoenas. Beginning in 2021 until last year, Croft, a 42-year-old entrepreneur living in Chicago, and Frost, a 40-year-old accountant based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, raised approximately $46 million from a series of phony renewables investment schemes, which the pair used to live extravagantly, pay employees at their tax advisory business, pay down short-term loans and even lend money to embattled professional hockey player Robin Lehner, according to allegations in lawsuits, bankruptcy filings, former investors and ex-employees of Croft’s and Frost’s businesses who spoke with Forbes on the record, and others with knowledge of the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to speak about sensitive information.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

YouTube creator and former Forbes Under 30 lister Sean McLoughlin "Jacksepticeye" spoke about why he's giving fans at least two more years on his channel before retiring. However, McLoughlin is already testing other business opportunities with his coffee company Top Of The Mornin' Coffee and his comic book series The ALTRVERSE.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The runaway success of weight loss drugs took the markets by storm last year, spurring huge stock gains for drugmakers like Novo Nordisk, which makes Wegovy and Ozempic. Most patients take them at home in weekly injections, using plastic, pen-like devices known as autoinjectors, filled with the liquid medication and fitted with a tiny needle as wide as two human hairs.As demand for the drugs soars, so does the need for those devices. That growth has now minted a new billionaire: Roger Samuelsson, the 60-year-old Swedish cofounder of Switzerland-based SHL Medical, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of autoinjectors. Forbes estimates he’s worth $3 billion, largely thanks to his 69% stake in the company he cofounded in 1989. The remaining 31% is held by Swedish private equity firm EQT—which has minted seven billionaires over the years—and Athos, the family office of the billionaire Struengmann brothers. Press-shy Samuelsson, who declined multiple requests for an interview, also enjoys fast cars (he raced in the 2016 Ferrari Challenge series) and owns the 414-foot megayacht Octopus, which he bought in 2021; the yacht was built for its first owner, Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen (d. 2018).See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On March 21, the roughly 70 employees of the Schuler Education Foundation, based in the affluent suburb of Lake Forest, Illinois, were summoned to an emergency all-hands meeting. Over the past two-plus decades, the nonprofit founded and funded by a former president of healthcare giant Abbott Laboratories, Jack Schuler, had spent at least $150 million counseling and tutoring more than 1,800 low-income students from Chicago and Milwaukee-area high schools to help them gain admission to elite colleges; those colleges in turn covered most (if not all) of the students’ tuition and other costs.The employees, who first had to certify they wouldn’t record anything, were let into a Zoom room where the nonprofit’s executive director Joanne Bertsch read from a script announcing that the foundation would shut down on May 24. Everyone would be let go except for a skeleton crew of seven college counselors left to support students through August. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.