SkyBox Coming to San Angelo

San Angelo City Council Member Patrick Keely will hold a Data Center Development Community Meeting on Monday, December 29, 2025 from 5:30-6:30 pm at the Downtown Library in the Brooks & Bates Room.  The subject is the proposed Skybox Data Center on Highway 67 just north of city limits.  Council approved the sale of 350 acres of city owned land to Skybox in March 2025.  

Issues are noise pollution, water use, appropriate zoning, need for city services while residing outside city limits, traffic safety and electrical power use for the proposed 1.5 million square foot development distributed across six buildings (each of which is four stories high).

A flyer for this public meeting states the item will be voted on at Council's next meeting on January 13, 2026.  

Mayor Tom Thompson has been circumspect in his communications regarding the proposed data center, calling local information inaccurate without providing any meaningful information on the project or parameters Council plans to use to balance citizen needs with data center desires.  

The City has chosen thus far to prioritize Skybox's need for privacy regarding proprietary information and trade secret claims over sharing information with the public (based on the City's response to my 12-8-25 public information request).  

Developers are usually not the end user of any project.  West Texas has been through a number of boom and bust cycles.  When projects go underwater, the owner hands the keys over to the bankers (the entity that provided the financing).  The Carlyle Group, a financial juggernaut, already compared data centers to shale.  

Enough communities have been through the data center development process for San Angelo's City Council to use an open, up front process where citizens' needs are clearly prioritized.  A Chamber of Commerce video and an interview with the Mayor discounting social media information do not meet that standard.

Council may rise to the occasion on January 13, 2026 but citizens should be prepared to nudge them if they don't.   

Note:  This was also posted on StateoftheDivision, my local oriented blog, the evening of 12-28-25.

Update:  Baxtel.com states:

Skybox Datacenters is a joint venture between Rugen Street Capital and Bandera Ventures.

Concho Observer reported on an expert's assessment of Skybox's plans.   It's hard to believe anyone can assess the situation given what little information has been released to date.  The expert is from a think tank whose board is loaded with people from vested TechGod interests, Founders Fund (Peter Thiel), Patreon, & Paladin Capital.  The positive "lack of abatement ask" is simply due to the project's location being outside city limits.

Golden Goose Now Giant China Club Deal

M reported the latest news regarding private equity underwriter (PEU) ownership for Golden Goose, the luxury sneaker maker:

Golden Goose closes its sale and passes into Chinese hands. Private equity funds Permire and The Carlyle Group have reached an agreement for the sale of a majority stake in the Italian brand to HSG (a fund called HongShan in China, formerly Sequoia Capital China) and Tamasek. The deal values Golden Goose at about $2.5 billion. 

The purchase would be positioned as the most important luxury acquisition of the year, doubling the value of the sale of Versace to Prada, a transaction worth €1.25 billion. 

Both Permira and other former Golden Goose shareholders, such as the U.S. fund Carlyle, will also hold minority stakes in the Italian footwear company.

The most important luxury acquisition of the year is headed for majority Chinese ownership.  Who said the greed and leverage boys have not taught the Chinese anything....

How long before the whole stinking mess offs the golden goose?

Trump's Next Memecoin Pump

Freedom45Games LLC licensed the use of the Trump name for its new game, Trump Billionaires Club.  And no, this is real and not an SNL skit.

The game uses $TRUMP, the ever shrinking meme-coin, which currently is valued at $4.87.

Trump's last meme-coin contest dangled a private dinner with the President and a special tour.  Investors spent $148 million to win those dinner seats.  His memecoin reached $16 during the "Dine with the President" contest.

Every $TRUMP buy sends money into the Trump family pocket.  Unfortunately, most $TRUMP buys, if held and not sold, lost money for investors.  The memecoin is down 93% from its all time high.

People can continue sending their hard earned money to DT Marks, which benefits Trump and his family.  They can add Freedom45Games LLC to this list which sends money to whatever entity licensed the Trump name.   

Buy Fight Fight Fight at your own risk.  Play Trump Billionaires Club at your own risk.  Use whatever cash you feel comfortable flushing down the toilet and not a penny more.  DO NOT BORROW of FINANCE any $TRUMP purchases as they are "collectible items for personal enjoyment only, not for investment purposes."   

Recognize that most of us aren't billionaires and would be turned away from Don Jr.'s Executive Club in Georgetown.  A silly computer game won't make us influential in Trump world.  However, it will give him another way to tap your wallet, which gives him great joy this Christmas season.

Apollo Battens Down

It seems like yesterday Apollo CEO Marc Rowan was calling private credit "investment grade" and safe for 401(k) retirement accounts.  That virtually risk free private credit is no more as Apollo stockpiles cash, slashes leverage and dumps risky debt.

When "something bad happens" Rowan and his private equity peers have elected officials to work on billionaire bailouts and the Federal Reserve Bank to backstop their junk.  

Before then they can play the system as financial cops have been pulled from the beat.  My wise friend noted:

So Mr. Rowan said last week everything was fine, no worries, but it seems the private markets with his private view of his private problems gives him an edge to misdirect the crowds.

Who would have figured?  Wonder how many cheap CDS he purchased?

Will their PEUs survive the write downs as various sponsors pass bankrupt affiliates around like a bottle of Mezcal?  Get the worm, get the company.  

Surely, the PEU boys will not only survive but thrive in their secure estates to which they retreated.  Batten down the super-yacht's hatches as well as those of the support yacht.  Rough seas may be ahead.

Witkoff, PIMCO in Default on The Park

Steve Witkoff is Trump II's Assistant to the President and Special Envoy for Peace Missions.  His real estate firm,The Witkoff Group, defaulted on an apartment loan alongside investment giant PIMCO.  The $405 million loan was for The Park Santa Monica at 500 Broadway, which has 249 units.

Witkoff's federal financial disclosure form did not specify this property.  It did show several entities with Broadway in the name and a single Santa Monica residential real estate listing.  

One might expect a politically connected developer to make good on his debts, especially given the money Witkoff is making in various Trump associated investments.

PIMCO just closed on a giant 1.8 billion (Euros) European data center fund. 

It's not unusual for the Witkoff's and PIMCO's of the world to make a large cash distribution to sponsor before welshing on their debt.  There is no evidence of that happening in this specific case.

That said, the big money boys are hesitant to throw good money after bad.  How this apartment complex in Santa Monica turned into a financial black hole is an untold story.  

I'm sure few reporters in the business world want to dis Trump II's good friend.  That comes with serious payback, something the Witkoff Group and PIMCO decided not to do in the case of The Park.  

Loan payback, No.  Political payback, Yes.  Welcome to our world under Trump II's irreality.

Carlyle Pulls Reverse Brintons on IRobot

The Carlyle Group purchased discounted debt in British carpet maker Brintons and then forced the family owned firm into a prepackaged bankruptcy.  

It sold discounted debt in IRobot, the maker of Roomba robotic vacuum cleaners, to Santrum Hong Kong Co., Limited (“Santrum”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Shenzhen PICEA Robotics Co., Ltd.  Bloomberg reported Carlyle wrote down that debt for over a $100 million loss.

PICEA manufactures the Roomba for IRobot.  This is the second deal where Carlyle played a role in sending a U.S. based company to Chinese firm ownership.

How many times did Carlyle acquire an affiliate via debt cram-down after Bintons?  Carlyle backdoored the Barclay family with its debt takeover play at the Very Group.  They did that with Mrs. Field's as well.

When private credit goes bad, there is a new owner.  Employees frequently lose if that's a private equity firm.  Carlyle dumped Brintons pension on the public as it snatched the firm from its founding family.

Senator Elizabeth Warren (Blue Team) noted how private equity "guts everything."  They comprise most of the U.S. economy, in terms of corporate ownership.  Elected officials of both political stripes have catered to the PEU boys for decades.

Politicians Red & Blue love PEU and their new TechGod/CryptoBro brethren.  Increasingly, more are one.

Update 12-27-25:  The Atlantic ran a story on Carlyle co-founder David Rubenstein and Trump II's targeting of Rubenstein's favorite charitable endeavors.

Blackstone's Back to the PEUture

My wise friend watched the video and wrote:

Great time of the season to remind everyone it's all fun and games when your forty year financial plans are the result of modeled numbers always going up, collecting fees on capital (which is gated), accommodative monetary policy, leverage and regulatory capture (which just facilitated the 401K dumpster dive into private equity, private credit and alternatives).  Blackstone's video provided another kick in the backside for the public with Bernie Sanders' sidekick, Danny DeVito delivering the message:  "Principles are nice, but principal creates vice."

Call me when Blackstone's portfolio goes from bucolic to bubonic.  Ho, ho, ho ....

Will do!  Who'd have thought the kids (retirees) would be giving their presents to Santa (the PEU boys) in the form of their retirement money? 

Named UVA President is Carlyle PEU

Governor Glenn Youngkin (Red Team) filled the University of Virginia Board of Visitors with his appointees as of July 2025.  Youngkin is the former co-CEO for the Carlyle Group, a politically connected private equity underwriter (PEU).  Youngkin has but weeks left in office as Virginia Governor.  He will be replaced by Governor Elect Abigail Spanberger (Blue Team).

The UVA Board of Visitors named a new President, Scott Beardsley, who himself is a private equity underwriter (albeit on the side of his Darden Graduate Business School Deanship).  Beardsley's CV shows him to be a Senior Advisor for the Carlyle Group as well as Sands Capital.  

Politicians Red and Blue love PEU.  Increasingly, more are one.  

Update 12-20-25:  Senator Elizabeth Warren said "private equity guts everything."  UVA Today neglected to mention Beardsley's PEU role with Carlyle in their story on his Presidential appointment.  It is also absent from the Board of Visitor letter regarding his appointment.  Beardsley also omitted it in his remarks.

DJT Does $6 Billion Fusion Deal with Big Sky Partners

Trump Media & Technology Group (ticker DJT) is expanding beyond social media, streaming video and fintech into powering the AI revolution, a key federal government strategy for Trump II's White House.  DJT will merge in a $6 billion deal with TAE Technologies, an affiliate of Big Sky Partners.

Don Jr. landed another board seat with the combined entity.  He controls the trusts' voting shares of the current DJT.

Trump in December 2024 shifted all 114.75 million of his shares to the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, according to regulatory filings.  

The president's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., is the trustee of the trust and has sole voting and investment power over all securities it owns.

TAE Technologies is a fusion power provider with plans to meet the massive power needs required by AI data centers.

The promise of widespread fusion power has remained elusive as have many of Trump II's notions and beliefs.  

Included in the deal is "TAE Life Sciences, among others."  TAE Life Sciences is working on targeted boron small molecule drugs to treat cancer.

Social media meets fusion and targeted radiotherapy.  I smell a melt-up.

Politicians Red & Blue love PEU and their new TechGod/CryptoBro brethren.  Increasingly, more are one and their sons shall be far richer than their fathers. 

Update:  The presentation shows TAE's three divisions:

Update 12-20-25:  Trump II's Social Media account had eight promotional posts regarding the deal:

PEU Moves that Matter

San Angelo Chamber of Commerce economic developers offered this point in a recent podcast:

"San Angelo has been discovered or should I say re-discovered.  A lot of developers and private equity firms, very interested in San Angelo, many conversations on a weekly basis...because it is such a well located city."  

One gentleman made the analogy to Austin in the 1980's.  Private Equity Underwriters (PEU) "are saying you check all the boxes, where have you been?"

"Growth will be measured and deliberate."  And it will come with hurdle rates that require local subsidies.

Local elected officials will have the opportunity to show their priorities and if they are like our national elected representatives, the PEU boys will be very happy.

Politician Red & Blue love PEU and their new TechGod/CrytoBro brethren.  Increasingly, more are one. 

Update 12-20-25:  The Real Deal reported:

Bolt Data & Energy announced it raised $150 million in capital and struck a partnership with Texas Pacific Land Corporation, which is investing another $50 million into the venture, according to a joint press release Wednesday. The tie-up positions Bolt Data to develop large-scale data centers on Texas Pacific’s sprawling West Texas holdings, as demand for energy-hungry AI computers accelerates, Bloomberg reported.

Reign in "Chief Takers"

Trump II's minions understand two things, the need to endlessly compliment their boss profusely and the requirement to bring him only news that enforces his brilliance and reveals his God-like success.

More people have the opportunity to see Trump's "alcoholic personality" as described by his Chief of Staff.  His bizarre post on the murder of Rob Reiner and his wife prompted many to ask, "have you no decency, sir?"

That he does not.  It's time for Congress and the Supremes to come to the aid of the country and reign in this miscreant.  Duty calls.  Start at the top, Trump II.  Then work their way down, TechGods, CryptoBros and Private Equity Underwriters (PEU).

It won't be easy given politicians Red & Blue love PEU and their new TechGod/CryptoBro brethren.  But the work must start soon and begin in earnest.

Update 12-17-25:  Jesse wrote:

President Trump has announced that he will be making an announcement to the nation this evening at 9 PM EST. 

Speculation on what this will be about is all over the board, but much of it centers on the Administration's provocative confrontation with Venezuela. 

It's difficult to forecast what will happen, because we are dealing with a group of people who live in an alternative reality of lies and purposeful imaginings designed to manipulate public opinion, and the outsized looting of the nation by wealthy, willful sociopaths. 

Whatever happens, let us not overlook or excuse the terrible responsibility that is being laid upon those who watch all this unfolding and ask, 'What is truth?', and then cynically turn away from it. 

May they never rest.

The ballroom cost is up to $400 million.   

Update 12-21-25:  TechGods plan to put political money behind the people they can control.

$TRUMP : Down 93% from High, Daily Unlocks

Kudos to Bloomberg.

Down 93% from the high.

New supply is unlocking daily until January 9, 2026.

TechGoddess Goes from Contractor to Board Seat

Bit Digital is an Ethereum treasury and staking company that also holds a majority position in WhiteFiber.  The company hired Serotonin in June at a monthly retainer of $30,000.

Amanda Cassatt is a TechGoddess, interested in Curtis Yarvin's TechGod blather and designing human babies.  Give them time and they will usurp all of God's realms.  

TechGods and CryptoBros are also talented at self-dealing.  Why would Bit Digital give a marketing contractor a board seat?  Why would they send her board pay to a Hong Kong entity controlled by her? 

Bit Digital had an investor presentation with data from 8-31-25 on its website.  Ethereum dropped from $4,390 on 8-31 to $3,092 on 12-14-25.  That's a 30% decline.   

The "narrative and thesis development" returns are yet to appear.   Maybe a board seat will juice Serotonin's social media/public relations strategy and execution on behalf of Bit Digital.  

Returns to date have been a bit disappointing.  

Admirals & Generals Disappear from Sunday AM News Shows

It used to be fun identifying the private equity ties to retired Generals and Admirals that appeared on the Sunday morning news shows.  General David Petraeus (KKR) and Admiral James Stavridis (Carlyle) were two of the more popular guests.  

At least three factors have contributed to their disappearance.  First, Trump's dumbing down of the Pentagon means smarter, more experienced military leaders are a direct threat to the President's mendacious, venal and banal military undertakings.  

Second, private equity underwriters (PEU) know not to endanger any economic expansion talk pushed by Trump II's underlings.  If a pump wave is coming, that could be a PEU dump opportunity.

Third, Trump's lawsuit happy stance with network news means they have to spend time actually stating his nonsense positions and book his goons.  

The Sunday morning news shows used to be a window into "politicians Red & Blue love PEU (and their new TechGod/CryptBro brethren)." No more.  We just hear from politicians Red & Blue.  I get enough of that during the week.  

Trump II continues lowering the bar on nearly everything.

Update 12-26-25:  Carlyle's James Stavridis wrote a column on Hegseth's upcoming changes to the military's "constitution.:

Trump's Sons Spank Hunter in Shameless Dealing

Flashback to Jan. 6, 2021 when Trump I said:

"And how come Hunter gets three and a half million dollars from the mayor of Moscow's wife, and gets hundreds of thousands of dollars to sit on an energy board, even though he admits he has no knowledge of energy?' 

'And millions of dollars up front. And how come they go into China and they leave with billions of dollars to manage. "Have you managed money before?" "No, I haven't." "Oh, that's good. Here's about 3 billion." No, they don't talk about that."

PEU Report talked about that as it was happening. Trans-actional Trump II ignores the much worse leeching his offspring and their husbands are currently employing, garnering them massive sums. 

And how come Jared gets $2 billion from Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman, the murderer of a Washington Post journalist.  Had Jared run a private equity firm before?  Jared's total take from Middle East monarchies for Affinity Partners is over $5 billion.  Affinity Partners is buying video game maker Electronic Arts and backing Paramount Skydance's hostile bid for Warner Brothers Discovery.  Meanwhile, Jared negotiates on behalf of the U.S. for peace deals in Ukraine and the Middle East.

The Trump organization ramped up deals with Middle East monarchies, while Trump II inserts himself into nearly ever U.S. business.  Deal makers earn deal fees and Trump II wants his share, directly or indirectly.

Don Jr. and/or Eric have inserted themselves into gobs of deals this year.  Dominari, American Bitcoin, Executive Branch Club in Georgetown, Vulcan Elements, 1789 Capital, New America Sponsor, Unusual Machines, Grab-A-Gun, World Liberty Financial, Public Square, Trump Media & Technology Group, Polymarket, MMA, Tribeca Developers, Kalshi and MetaPlanet.

Politicians Red & Blue love PEU and their new TechGod/CryptoBro brethren.  Increasingly, more are one.  And the sons shall be far richer than their fathers.

Politics is an insufficient way to explain our world, given its ever shifting sands, serial mistruths and mind numbing double standards.  Trump II does politics meaner, more mendaciously and with unprecedented hypocrisy.  

Dominari Dividend Enriches Trump Boys

Dominari Holdings 44 cents per share dividend will enrich each older Trump son by $438,300.  That's a combined $876,600 in dividends for Don Jr. and Eric.  The pair joined Dominari's Advisory Board alongside other Trump Organization executives and they control 12% of the company's stock.  

Dominari offices in Trump Tower, moving there in 2023 after the company shifted from biotech/biopharma to financial services.  The firm offers private equity investments via special purpose vehicles.  

Private equity underwriters (PEU) wormed their way into the fabric of our government over the last two decades.  The Trump boys are but the latest to profit from their influence on government operations, even though they have never been elected to office.  

Politicians Red & Blue love PEU and their new TechGod/CryptoBro brethren.  Increasingly, more are one.  And the sons shall be far richer than their fathers.  

Flashback to Jan. 6, 2021:

"And how come Hunter gets three and a half million dollars from the mayor of Moscow's wife, and gets hundreds of thousands of dollars to sit on an energy board, even though he admits he has no knowledge of energy?' 

'And millions of dollars up front. And how come they go into China and they leave with billions of dollars to manage. "Have you managed money before?" "No, I haven't." "Oh, that's good. Here's about 3 billion." No, they don't talk about that."--Trump I

Update 12-15-25:  Dominari changed the date of record to receive the dividend from December 31, 2025 to January 5, 2026. 

PEUs Love 'em Some Middle East Monarchy

Private equity underwriters (PEUs) are excited about investing in the Middle East.  Fresh off consuming U.S politics and destroying America's middle class, it makes sense for PEUs to target Middle East monarchies, where neither a middle class nor democracy exists.  

WaPo quoted one billionaire in the story imaged above.  That person said:

"I worry about America and the way of life we have."

The Carlyle Group's David Rubenstein, the visionary who subsumed Washington politicians with "patriotic philanthropy" and Congressional "lectures", was in the United Arab Emirates, which he knows very well.  Carlyle was part owned by a UAE sovereign wealth fund (Mubadala) beginning in 2007.  

As Carlyle Group co-founder (and Semafor investor) David Rubenstein put it: “I’ve seen the future of capitalism, and its name is Abu Dhabi.”

Rubenstein has seen the future of capitalism and it has nothing to do with freedom.  He has been going there for decades.

Capitalism requires a strong and clear rule of law.  Abu Dhabi justice may be questionable for those used to Western justice.

In the United Arab Emirates: 

•  Depositions are taken without a lawyer present. 
• There is no bond system. 
• There is no trial by jury.

Punishments are divided into two categories, Sharia-based and Chastisement. 

Doctrinal punishments are based on Islamic jurisprudence (Sharia). For example, qisas is equal punishment (an eye for an eye, for example) and diyya is compensatory payment for the death of a victim (known as “blood money”). Diyya is not exclusively used for punishment (or victim’s relief) in a criminal setting. Diyya is often applied in motor vehicle accident and other cases where death has resulted from the actions of another person found negligent. Diyya is federally limited at AED200,000.

Chastisement penalties include:

• death (capital punishment) 
• life imprisonment (15 years +) 
• temporary imprisonment (3 to 15 years)
• confinement (1 to 3 years) 
• detention (1 month to 1 year) flagellation (up to 200 lashes) fines

This sounds very Trumpian, with its "an eye for an eye" and significant "compensatory payments."  Trump II employs both strategies with disturbing frequency.  

As for PEU billionaires taking over politics, that is a familiar theme at PEUReport.  The addition of impatient imitators, TechGods and CryptoBros, has been a blessing given their "in your face" arrogance and poor interpersonal skills.  

It makes things easier to see, especially as the PEU boys work quietly behind the scenes and generally display more subtlety than their TechGod/CryptoBro counterparts.

Middle East monarchs love PEU, just like American politicians.  

Carlyle & Company (Fellow PEUs) to IPO Medline

The Carlyle Group plans to IPO medical supply affiliate Medline at a $55 billion valuation, a 62% increase from its $34 billion valuation when Carlyle, Blackstone and Hellman & Friedman bought Medline in 2021.  The equity return (per an SEC filing) is even higher at 85.5%.  

It's the biggest private equity underwriter (PEU) sponsored IPO since KKR took HCA public in 2011.  Flashback to 2010:

SEC filings show HCA paid investors $1.75 billion and $500 million in 2010. 

The filing shows the impact of PEU's on health care. HCA's interest expense rose from $655 million in 2005 to $2.2 billion in 2007, an increase of over $1.5 billion. Add $1.2 billion in management fees over three years and health care costs go higher.

The PEU impact on healthcare has been more than money, although that has been significant.   Missouri Medicine reported private equity brings:

more debt, more bankruptcies, higher prices, and less quality care.

Elected officials took forever to restrict "surprise medical billing," a nefarious PEU profit maximizing scheme that harmed people needing emergency room care.  

Carlyle, Blackstone and Hellman & Friedman stand to profit handsomely from the IPO.  That's in addition to billions already drawn from Medline.

Private equity's preferred "carried interest" taxation remains firmly in place, long after both political teams promised to eliminate the unpopular tax break.

PEUs know how to pay the tax game, they don't pay and any breaks come to them.  Medline's latest S-1/A states:  

In connection with the Reorganization Transactions, Medline Inc. will enter into a tax receivable agreement with certain of our pre-IPO owners that provides for the payment by Medline Inc. to such pre-IPO owners of 90% of certain tax benefits, if any, that Medline Inc. actually realizes, or is deemed to realize (calculated using certain assumptions)

The greed and leverage boys know how to pull cash from affiliates:

We made payments pursuant to the Services Agreements to BX Management (Blackstone)totaling $270,000, $360,000, $711,000, and $784,000 in the years ended December 31, 2022, 2023, 2024 and the nine months ended September 27, 2025, respectively. That totals $2.1 million

We made payments pursuant to the Services Agreements to Carlyle Management totaling $244,000 and $60,000 in the year ended December 31, 2023 and the nine months ended September 27, 2025, respectively. That's $304,000 in total.

We made payments pursuant to the Services Agreements to H&F Management totaling $120,000 and $133,000 in the year ended December 31, 2024 and the nine months ended September 27, 2025, respectively. Combined that totals $253,000.

Apparently management fees turned into Service Agreements which cost Medline another $2.6 million under PEU ownership.

How many of you have gotten an 62 to 85.5% raise in the last four years?   That's probably more like the increase in your health insurance premiums since 2021.

Health care coverage now comes with absurd deductibles and annual "out of pocket" maximums that destroy the perilous finances of those lucky enough to have coverage, should they actually need care.

Trump II's Big Beautiful Bill benefits the billionaires and leaves ACA subsidy recipients out in the cold.  This is telling you something.

Politicians Red & Blue love PEU and increasingly, more are one.

Trump II's Involvement is Bad Sign for WB

Trump II is tossing around markers as he weighs two opposing bids for Warner Brothers Discovery.  In one corner is TechGod/Media Giant Netflix and in the other TechGod related, Media Giant Paramount Skydance.  Skydance CEO David Ellison is the son of Larry Ellison of Oracle, a major TechGod and good friend of Trump II.

The Paramount Skydance hostile bid has big Middle Eastern money in the equity portion, including funds from Affinity Partners, a private equity underwriter (PEU) founded by Trump II's son-in-law Jared Kushner.  The next Fed Chair is rumored to be National Economic Advisor Kevin Hassett, the former Global Head of Research for Affinity Partners.  Hassett would participate in a CFIUS review if that should come in play.

Under either deal Trump will usurp or extract something that feeds his or his family's pocketbook and enhances his image in each and every present moment.

The White House is tired of losing to women, be it Sabrina Carpenter or Marjorie Taylor Greene.  Fake videos and tantrums to Paramount's Chief gets Trump II that fleeting, hollow moment of payback.  Trump II needs the winner to tamp down the Sabrina's and Marjorie's as his 79 year old ego is as fragile as his lower limb vascular structure. 

Independent voters see a tired, old fool throwing haymakers at apparitions.  There is nothing there, just a series of straw-bots created by the algorithm that poses as Trump II's brain.  

These are diversions for the real agenda, the accumulation of obscene levels of power (in a flipping democracy) and gargantuan wealth, equally obscene in a democracy that once prized a vibrant middle class as a vital ingredient.

Trump intends to get involved.  Deal makers get deal fees.  As for deal making, Trump demands concessions that favor him and his family.  He then berates that party mercilessly, until they give in.  The petulant child style of deal making is back in vogue for the nation and world to see.  

Congress and the Supremes seem happy to support, even cheer, behavior that would embarrass any decent person.  Trump II's antics are offensive, especially to parents wanting to raise a child that could fit in and contribute to society.  Not bully and take from others every chance they get.  

Politicians Red & Blue love PEU and their new TechGod/CryptoBro brethren.  Increasingly, more are one.  The current crop in power wants it all.  That leaves little for the average citizen.  

The Trump brand's tagline should be:  "Conflicts of Interest 'R US"

Dominari Aces with McCourt Appointment

Dominari Holdings added Jamie McCourt, the former Ambassador of France & Monaco, to their Advisory Board.  

That board started with the elder Trump sons Don Jr., Eric and other Trump Organization executives (February 2025) before adding several crypto focused executives.  

Dominari's winning streak keeps on going.  It was only 2022 when the company shifted focus from biotech/pharma as Aikido Labs, LLC.  In June 2022:

" the Company formed a wholly owned financial services subsidiary, Dominari Financial Inc." 

By the end of March 2023 the company paid $3.4 million for the membership interests in: 

Fieldpoint Private Securities, LLC, a Connecticut limited liability company (“FPS”), that is a broker-dealer, a member of FINRA and an investment adviser registered with the SEC.

The entity (FPS) became Dominari Securities. 

Aikido Labs, LLC headquartered at:

One Rockefeller Plaza, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10020

Filings through its 2022 Annual Report (dated 3-31-2023) show that address.  

Dominari's first quarter report (filed 5-11-2023) shows a Trump Tower address.

725 FIFTH AVENUE, 22ND FLOOR, NEW YORK, NY, 10022

That move got Dominari within the Trump deal making orbit.  

...its access to exclusive deals and the Trump family’s networks have changed its trajectory. Once obscure, the firm now sits at the intersection of politics, finance and family loyalty.

Former Los Angeles Dodgers CEO Jamie McCourt planted herself and her Monaco contacts smack in the middle of that intersection.  Accessing old European right wing money could be a sound strategy.

Dominari recently released its 2024 Annual Report.  It included:

Private Equity: Dominari Securities offers private equity investments through special purpose vehicles (“SPVs”) which allows investors to pool capital into specific investment projects while managing risk and liability. Dominari Securities structures and manages the SPVs, providing investors access to high-quality private equity opportunities in both early and late stage emerging technology, med-tech, defense, and artificial intelligence (“AI”) sectors, among others.

Dominari is a private equity underwriter (PEU).  Jamie McCourt is one as well, given her Senior Managing Director position with Steve Mnuchin's Liberty Strategic Capital.

Liberty Strategic Capital is a Washington DC-based private equity firm focused on investing in dynamic global technology companies.

Politicians Red & Blue love PEU and their new TechGod/CryptoBro brethren.  Increasingly, more are one.

Update 12-11-25:  Dominari stock opened today at $4.41 per share.  It announced a $10 million dividend which is roughly 44 cents per share.  That's a 10% dividend.  

With Dominari's 44 cents per share dividend, each older Trump son will get a check for $438,300.  

Trump II & Gowdy's Enriching Round

Some people think the pardon of Tim Leiweke of Oak View Group should not have happened on a golf course as Trump II played a round with Leiweke's lawyer Trey Gowdy.  Others think it should not have happened at all.

Trump's golf partner was Rep. Trey Gowdy (Red Team) from South Carolina.  Gowdy entered politics in 2000 promising to be tough on crime. GoUpstate reported:

"He has an aggressive and successful prosecution record," said Spartanburg police Sgt. Richard Banks, a veteran officer who also serves as president of the Piedmont chapter of the Police Benevolence Association. "He is genuinely interested in bringing felons to justice, and he has built a lasting partnership with law enforcement throughout the Upstate."

Yes, Gowdy is a former prosecutor.   

"He is really head and shoulders above most people in terms of preparation and integrity," said Tony Duarte, a DEA agent who worked with Gowdy in prosecuting a number drug cases. "One of the things I like about him is that he means what he says.

Integrity, aggressive, brings felons to justice in partnership with law enforcement...

What did Oak View Group's Tim Leiweke do?

..the Defendant rigged a bidding process to benefit his own company and deprived a public university and taxpayers of the benefits of competitive bidding

He ripped off the University of Texas as it built a new basketball arena and was caught red handed.

His lawyer (Gowdy) once told a group of prosecutors:

It’s my job to signal to [my elected district attorney] that I’m going to judge you based on how you work for a blindfolded woman holding a set of scales. 

I want a justice system that is not only respected but worthy of respect.

Then don't get a pardon for your sleazy, rich, greedy client during a round of golf with a sleazy, rich, greedy Trump II.  There's no respect in that.  Winning for you and your client, but a huge loss for the U.S. Justice system.  

It's now "Just Us" rich, powerful guys watching each other's backs.  

Update:  The Department of "Just Us" website shows 89 clemency grants by Trump II as of 12-2-25.  He has golfed 79 days thus far.  That's a pardon ratio of 1.13 super rich creeps per round.  It would be far higher if the Jan 6th rioters were included but I doubt many of those people had the money to hire Trey Gowdy as their lawyer.  

Someone with integrity may wish to consider Jesse's words:

The disapproval ratings of the major Western leaders is almost shocking. This is the fashionable thing these days, to damn the public and do what they will. Their devotion to a new order of lawlessness and power is slowly consuming us.

Usurp, appropriate, subsume whatever Trump II wants in order to set up a perpetual, exponentially growing gravy train.

Apollo Sports Capital Takes Stake in Wrexham AFC

The Guardian reported: 

The Wrexham AFC owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have sold a stake in the company to the US private equity investors Apollo, less than three months after the football club was given £14m in state aid. 

 The Welsh club on Monday announced the investment by Apollo Sports Capital, part of the New York-listed investor. It did not reveal the size of the investment, but said Reynolds and McElhenney, who has changed his name to Rob Mac, would remain majority owners. 

Apollo’s investment is likely to have been made more attractive by the prospect of significant government support. Wrexham AFC was awarded £14m in non-repayable grants on 17 September, after receiving £3.8m last year.

Apollo, a monstrous private equity underwriter (PEU), started Apollo Sports Capital in September 2025.  

Its Wrexham PEU investment enabled owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney to garner a sizable return of capital.  The pair purchased the club in 2021.

In just over a year, Wrexham AFC has been able to repay loans worth £15m to a company co-owned by McElhenny and Reynolds, according to its latest accounts. 

It has also attracted tens of millions of pounds in investment from the wealthy New York-based Allyn family. 

The Allyn investment in Red Dragon Ventures LLC came through their family office, 50 State LLC.  

50 State LLC invested in SpaceX and OpenAI.  Eric Allyn and his daughter Kaleen Allyn have substantial financial backgrounds.  

Eric Allyn is also an LP Advisor to Armory Square Ventures, a tech oriented venture capital firm in upstate New York. A managing partner wrote about AI and its ability to empower secondary cities in the Northeast U.S.

Kaleen Allyn is a Director for Wrexham and formerly worked as an Alternative Investment Product Specialist for Rockefeller Capital Management.  

She focuses on strategic investments across private equity, real estate, venture capital, and direct investments.

Apollo Sports Capital weighed in on the Wrexham deal:

Lee Solomon, an Apollo partner, said: “Wrexham is on an incredible journey, and we are thrilled to be a part of it and to support the club, the Wrexham community and Rob and Ryan. This is a multifaceted investment where Apollo Sports Capital can provide long-term, patient capital to help Wrexham reach its goals and to contribute to the ongoing revitalisation of the facilities and local economy.”

With £18m in public subsidy to revitalize facilities Apollo, 50 State LLC and Wrexham Holdings can be very patient.  As for revitalizing the local economy in this age of AI, that remains to be seen. 

Two month old Apollo Sports Capital bought the third oldest football club in the world.  Wrexham was established in 1864.  Is Apollo Sports Capital old enough to order a beer in the stadium?  Ah, hell,  It's Wales.  They don't care, at least not yet.  The greed and leverage boys can be very annoying, maybe more like a two year old.

Warner Brothers: Affinity and Beyond!

Trump II's son-in-law Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners joined Paramount-Skydance in their latest bid for Warner Brothers.  Affinity is a private equity underwriter (PEU) headed by Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner and it's chock full of Middle East money (from various sovereign wealth funds).

Trump II noted problems with the Netflix purchase, a deal accepted by Warner Brothers board of directors.

It's not clear which deal will advance but the amount of foreign money could trigger a CFIUS review.  Should that happen, former Affinity Partners Head of  Global Research Kevin Hassett could be in the room as  the head of the National Economic Council.

It's also not known if a review would take place before Hassett leaves to take over as Fed Chair.  There are a lot of moving parts.  

Oddly, one of those involves another PEU, former Carlyle Group co-CEO Glenn Youngkin.  As his Virginia Governorship grows to a close, Youngkin is under consideration for replacing Kristi Noem, Homeland Security Director.  That role also comes with a CFIUS spot.  

Former PEUs could be approving a PEU aided Paramount deal for Warner Brothers.  That's the kind of conflict of interest they like.

Politicians Red & Blue love PEU and increasingly, more are one.

Trump II Goes After Bit Cons & D Mules

At the start I wish to declare the following:  All fraud is bad.  It is a dishonest appropriation of someone else's resources by manipulative person/agents.

On Face the Nation Treasury Chief Scott Bessent noted that IRS enforcement had caught fraudsters in Minnesota.  

"These are money via bureau services and they are wire transfer organizations outside the regular banking system."

That sounds like fintech and its twisted sister, crypto.  TechGods have long wanted their own system of money outside government inspection.  To my surprise they were willing to work with serial child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein in that endeavor.  

Byline Times reported:

The Edge Foundation was not just a talk-shop. For Jeffrey Epstein, it was a route to influence the direction of Silicon Valley, AI, Big Tech and cryptocurrency at their most pivotal period. One of the most crucial moments of impact was on Bitcoin, the world’s most recognised, valuable and widely used cryptocurrency. 

At the very moment Bitcoin’s future was in jeopardy, Epstein’s money and access placed him inside the institutions that were beginning to frame the cryptocurrency as a tool to route around nation states – and consolidate power among a new class of networked tech elites.

Back to all fraud is bad and Bessent's IRS enforcement.  The Big Beautiful Bill impacts that very thing:

....IRS units auditing the wealthy have faced huge cuts. As of March, the Pass-Through Entities office of the IRS had lost 27% of its staff, while the Global High Wealth unit had lost 38%. These staff reductions bode poorly for tax enforcement: When the IRS was crunched for resources in the 2010s, there was a 71% drop in audits of millionaires.

.Bessent made it clear that fraud by recent immigrants is not acceptable and it will be investigated:  

"When you come to this country you need to learn what side of the road to drive on,you've got to learn to stop at stop signs and you've got to learn not to defraud the American people."

Trump appears interested in catching or killing only small time persons in the drug trade as he recently pardoned convicted drug smuggler former President of Honduras Juan Hernandez.  One does not get convicted in the U.S. without evidence.  The Guardian reported:

Thanks to Trump’s shocking pardon, Hernández’s drug crimes are now more well known than ever. But the rest of his repressive, thieving, dictatorial history, backed by the United States year after year, has evaporated from the story.

Trump II must feel the same way about fraud as he does about drugs.  Let's catch the little guy and make him pay while the President pardoned fraudster after fraudster in the finance world.  

"Fintech appropriates depositor money based on lies."  That's Synapse Financial Technologies, an Andreessen Horowitz affiliate.  We will see who gets prosecuted first, Synapse or Somalis.

Trump II protected Jeffrey Epstein as he worked on the currency of criminals.  He pardoned the Honduran President after he had stolen government money and facilitated the movement of 400 tons of illegal drugs into the United States.  That fit with Trump II's earlier pardon of Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht.

Silk Road, which was shut down in 2013 after police arrested Ulbricht, sold illegal drugs using Bitcoin, as well as hacking equipment and stolen passports.

Ross Ulbricht was a dark marketplace TechGod.  Jeffrey Epstein ran in the same circles as major TechGods:

LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, who sat on MIT Media Lab’s advisory council, invited Ito and Epstein to an August 2015 dinner in Palo Alto with Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Peter Thiel – the PayPal co-founder and driving force behind Palantir. 

The Honduran President worked directly with TechGods to establish Propsera:

Próspera is a special economic zone, specifically a “Zone for Employment and Economic Development (ZEDE),” as established by the Honduran government in 2013. The legality of these zones was originally enshrined in the Honduran Constitution by former President Juan Orlando Hernandez to attract investment and for economic development. In 2017, Honduras Próspera Inc., a U.S. based company, signed an agreement with the Honduran government, taking control of the zone. Its identity as a semi-autonomous zone is unique; the Honduran government has little control over it, Honduran law does not apply there, and the zone does not pay taxes. For example, labor laws and regulations are different, as well as the court system, which is not headed by Honduran judges. The zone is effectively governed by the corporation. 

Libertarian-leaning tech billionaires such as Peter Thiel and Marc Andressen have invested in Próspera’s development.   

And that corporation is owned by a PEU, NeWay Capital.  It's founder spoke at the Federalist Society.

Trump II effectively made the U.S. a fraud non-prosecution zone for the wealthy.  My wise friend wrote after Trump pardoned David Gentile, a private equity underwriter (PEU) who ran a Ponzi scheme:

By pardoning Gentile, the Trump administration made it a moot point to go after people skimming off others assets for personal gain and enrichment. If you're a prosecutor, even if you prove wrongdoing, what's the point? 

Instead of raising the bar on white collar crime we will remove the bar altogether. Therefore party on and no need to fear. Hopefully lack of trust grinds the market to a halt.

I'm sure the full force of the law will come down on Somali immigrants.  

Politics is an insufficient way to explain our world, given its ever shifting sands, serial mistruths and mind numbing double standards.

Politicians Red & Blue love PEU and their new TechGod/CryptoBro brethren.  Increasingly, more are one.  And their sons shall be far richer than their fathers. 

Update:  Trump pardoned another financial criminal after a round of golf with the perpetrator's lawyer, Red Team former Rep. Trey Gowdy. 

Trump pardoned Oak View Group co-founder Tim Leiweke.

...the Defendant rigged a bidding process to benefit his own company and deprived a public university and taxpayers of the benefits of competitive bidding

Oak View was funded by PEUs.

A golf fan noted:

“Another pardon, another GOP representative owned by Trump, another millionaire owned by Trump. And all owe him huge favors in the future. This is the new government. Congress needs to legislate out these kind of pardons, this is a top priority. Why waste DOJ money prosecuting?”

 Sounds an awful lot like my wise friend...