Before we end our inaugural year, I think it’s important to reflect on the community we have created with the LION Investing Society. I am so lucky to have met all of you. From the people who showed up once or twice to those that made it to every meeting, you truly changed the trajectory of my LMU experience and career development. I cannot wait to see what the society looks in 1 year, 2 years, 5 years, and it’s terminal period. Had to sneak in one last cheesy finance joke.
📰What was in the News?
💍Bill and Melinda Gates are splitting up after, a lot of years of marriage. For those of us that still believe in true love, this was a crushing blow. Oh, and there could be more bad news in store for old Bill. Between the Epstein relations, workplace acquisitions, and the divorce, the billionaires are not good people fan club may have just found another target.
⚖Epic Games and Apple are in a heated legal battle. On Monday things got spicy. Read more here.
👨💻In the heat earnings season. Big Tech absolutely crushed earnings. Berkshire Hathaway held their annual shareholder meeting. Quarterly operating profit, mainly from stock-market gains swung up 20% to $7 billion, and share buybacks topped $6.6 billion. Charlie Munger hit us with an iconic quote about crytpo, calling bitcoin, “disgusting and contrary to the interests of civilization.” In more tapered earnings news, Uber and Lyft report this week. It will be interesting to see if people are doing more taxi hailing with restrictions loosening in the U.S. and around the world.
🗄Robinhood shows us behind the curtain… a little bit. Their revenue climbed to $331 million in Q1, which… TRIPLED revenue from Q1 2020. Regardless of where your opinion of Robinhood, that’s an awfully impressive number. Though we didn’t hear much, this factoid alone, shows that the trading giant is not slowing down anytime soon, despite the controversy.
🤝Meeting Recap
🧊Our last meeting was laid back and chill. After having countless intense, gut-wrenching meetings, it was nice to kick back and chat for an hour. We all pitched a stock that we are most bullish on for the next year. 🎵Spotify was the easy choice for me. Entering the audio space and creating platforms for artists and podcasters to better monetize has my money to take off.
✨Highlights of the Week:
Everyone who was elected to E-board! Congrats to all of you. What an accomplishment and honor to carry on our community and to grow it to a place unimageable. Special shoutout to Addison Valdez who is taking MY job as President. He is going to carry on my legacy and more! I have no doubt in my mind. Below are the rest of the positions.
President: Addison Valdez
VP of Operations: Emily Walker
VP of Equities: Jack Baldner
VP of Venture: Brandon Frith
Chief Marketing Officer: Valerie Olivia
VP of Recruiting: Peyton O'Hara
VP of Communications: Max Baker
I also want to give some space real quick for the people who had the courage to run for a position on the executive board and more specifically, the folks who will come on as directors next fall.
Director of Communications: Mark Joseph
Director of Marketing: Frankie Pavone
To Be Determined: Dom Pacheco
To Be Determined: Taylan Karaoguz
💸SoLo Funds Group: They are on the brink of completing the first project for a FinTech startup. Keep your eyes peeled on the website for a deep dive into a FinTech space that is blowing up 🔥.
Associates: Addison Valdez, Dezmin Hemmans
Analysts: Brendan Parke, Max Baker, Brandon Frith, Ani Jain
Wildcard: Billy Oxley
🔮What to Look forward to:
Summer…
Or maybe…..
Most likely….
Quote(s) of the week:
Those who keep learning, will keep rising in life
Charlie Munger, Billionaire philanthropist and Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway