| In case you haven't heard by now, Goldman Sachs held its first-ever investor day this week. No worries if you didn't get around reading through the hundreds of pages of presentations — we were on it Wednesday morning and picked out these 10 critical slides. Dakin Campbell was on-site at 200 West for the much-hyped event and reported on what the vibe was like. Chief Executive David Solomon got things started by telling the audience to hold their questions until the afternoon, but added that they were free to break into spontaneous applause whenever it moved them. Booths set up in the lobby featured Goldman employees in light-blue tops demonstrating the firm's new digital transaction-banking dashboard and its Marquee trading platform on large flat screens. Many of the booths lacked walls and had something of a Restoration Hardware meets Apple store look. His story is a must-read to understand Goldman's pitch, learn who said what, and even find out what food the bank served up along with its vision for the coming years (Avo toast made an appearance — TBD if that craze will see the end of any three-year plans.) Speaking of laying out a path for the future, Rebecca Ungarino chatted with six up-and-coming financial advisers to hear how they're building their books and connecting with younger clients. Still, cracking into a new industry can be tough. As Dan DeFrancesco reported, "Billions" cocreator Brian Koppelman wanted to get cozy with hedge-fund insiders for research purposes to make the show as realistic as possible. If you aren't yet a subscriber to Wall Street Insider, you can sign up here. Luckily, an in with the CEO of Wheels Up helped. And as the show picked up steam, people in the hedge-fund world became more willing to share insights. But there were criticisms. Koppelman said one "very, very famous hedge-fund guy" pointed out that fictional hedge-fund billionaire Bobby Axelrod would never fly around in his "sardine can" of a PJ in real life. I'll wrap up with a scoop on the 2020 hiring front. Alex Morrell reported that Barclays has hatched plans to hire double-digit numbers of investment banking MDs this year, and laid out details on what sectors and regions the bank is targeting in the push. Read on to learn why PE firms are ringing up lawyers to learn more about activist strategies; how point-of-sale lending startups are partnering with buzzy consumer brands such as Warby Parker; and why WeWork is getting rid of its free beer and wine on tap. —Meredith
Law-firm insiders say they've been getting calls from private-equity execs asking how to go activist after KKR's splashy stake in Dave & Buster's Private-equity firms often rely on close relationships with a company's management to land deals. But they're increasingly considering mounting stakes in public companies — a move that can be viewed as antagonistic to a CEO — as they seek to crank out better returns in an industry bloated with undeployed capital. PE firms are consulting with lawyers — such as those at Goodwin Procter as well as those at Cadwalader, Wickersham & and Taft — about public-company investing possibilities, though the PE firms would like to avoid any reputational harm that could come from getting into activism.
4 startups are changing the way millennials pay for brands such as Casper and Warby Parker — and have attracted investors including Andreessen Horowitz and Snoop Dogg A buzzy cohort of startups are trying to redefine how shoppers get credit at checkout. Retailers have traditionally offered discounts and promotions in store and online for shoppers who sign up for a store's credit card. And retail-branded credit cards, like those offered by Amazon and Gap, come with rates as high as 30%, according to Creditcards.com's 2019 retail-card survey. But the number of these cards in circulation has declined steadily since 2009, especially among millennial shoppers. Now a number of well-funded startups are offering subscriptionlike installment plans to appeal to millennial shoppers who might not want to apply for credit cards from their favorite stores.
WeWork is getting rid of free beer and wine on tap in all its North American locations — here's how it's explaining the move WeWork is getting rid of free beer and wine on tap in its North American offices, marking a huge culture shift for the coworking company. WeWork offices have long been known for having free beer and wine, though in 2018 the company changed its policy so the booze was no longer unlimited. The company plans to phase out beer and wine taps across all North American locations by March. The move applies to WeWork's member and employee locations. The company will continue to serve alcoholic beverages at on-site happy hours, however.
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