Posts by lucidcapitalism

(Reuters) A group founded by the conservative activist instrumental in the U.S. Supreme Court’s June decision rejecting affirmative action in collegiate admissions on Wednesday sued an Atlanta-based venture capital fund that supports Black women who own small businesses, accusing it of unlawful racial discrimination. The nonprofit American Alliance for Equal Rights, founded by affirmative action foe Edward Blum, said…

(WSJ) Private-equity and hedge funds are bracing for what could be the biggest regulatory challenge in years to their business of managing money for deep-pocketed investors. The Securities and Exchange Commission is preparing to adopt a rule package as soon as this month aiming to bring greater transparency and competition to the multitrillion- dollar private-funds industry, people familiar with…

(WSJ) Sequoia Capital pared back the size of two major venture funds, including its cryptocurrency fund, as part of a dramatic downsizing the storied venture firm is undertaking amid a broad startup downturn. Sequoia cut the size of its cryptocurrency fund to $200 million from $585 million, according to people familiar with the matter. It…

(Vox) Humans now have left undeniable fingerprints on extreme heat, drought, wildfires, and flooding experienced around the world. As these disasters intensify, they push questions the world has grappled with for over 30 years to the forefront: Who is responsible for that damage? And how much should they pay? Increasingly, people around the world are…

(Bloomberg) For more than a year, Spain has been struggling with drought that has sent water levels in dams below historical averages, prompting local officials to tell residents not to water their gardens and to turn off taps at night to guarantee supply during the day. The situation is particularly hard for farmers. The central…

(WSJ) Two years ago chief diversity officers were some of the hottest hires into executive ranks. Now, they increasingly feel left out in the cold. Companies including Netflix, Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery have recently said that high-profile diversity, equity and inclusion executives will be leaving their jobs. Thousands of diversity-focused workers have been laid off since last year, and…

(Bloomberg) Firms that fail to take ESG seriously face a bleak future in the European Union, as the bloc pushes ahead with the world’s most ambitious set of environmental, social and governance regulations. That’s according to Mairead McGuinness, the EU’s commissioner for financial markets and services. “What the European Union has been doing is quite extraordinary,” McGuinness said…

(WSJ) Social media was more than a decade old before efforts to curb its ill effects began in earnest. With artificial intelligence, lawmakers, activists and executives aren’t waiting that long.  Over the past several months, award-winning scientists, White House officials and tech CEOs have called for guardrails around generative AI tools such as ChatGPT—the chatbot launched…

(The Information) The California Supreme Court recently agreed to hear a challenge from labor unions to Proposition 22, which classified gig workers as independent contractors rather than as employees. Many gig workers want to be independent contractors, but Prop 22 doesn’t honor the spirit of what this means. I run a company that works frequently…

(Bloomberg) Prime Coalition and Azolla Ventures have rolled out a $239 million fund to invest in early-stage startups that are unlikely to lure traditional investors for their climate technology solutions. The new fund will look at three factors as part of its investment criteria — impact, lack of alternative funding options and commercial potential of the climate solution,…