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Michael de la Merced

@mdelamerced.bsky.social
4.2K followers 279 following 117 posts

Distractible business reporter for The New York Times and DealBook. Tell me stuff. linktr.ee/mdelamerced

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Michael de la Merced @mdelamerced.bsky.social · 29/07/2025
Rewatching "The Incredibles" for the first time in a while is a reminder that the opening bits include an ongoing bit about denying insurance claims ... and it hits very weirdly these days.
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Michael de la Merced @mdelamerced.bsky.social · 11/06/2025
“Dick was always by our side,” Henry Kravis of KKR, whom Beattie advised in the Nabisco takeover fight, told me. Kravis also mentioned this moving anecdote
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Michael de la Merced @mdelamerced.bsky.social · 11/06/2025
It's always a bit difficult but fascinating to write an obit, and the most recent one was especially informative: Dick Beattie, the NYC legal legend who helped pioneer leveraged buyouts and featured heavily in "Barbarians at the Gate" www.nytimes.com/2025/06/11/b...
nytimes.com
Richard Beattie, Who Helped Pioneer Private Equity Takeovers, Dies at 86
A top Wall Street lawyer, he worked on some of the biggest corporate mergers in history, including KKR’s takeover of Nabisco in 1989. He also served in the Carter administration and in city government...
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Michael de la Merced @mdelamerced.bsky.social · 06/06/2025
on.ft.com/4jB6PUs Top Paul Weiss lawyer defects from firm after its capitulation to Donald Trump
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Michael de la Merced @mdelamerced.bsky.social · 28/05/2025
Does it feel like there are a lot of crypto physical attacks — ie, kidnappings, assaults, &c — these days? (Hard to escape that feeling with the latest arrests in NYC.) @bwarner.bsky.social finds that we could be heading toward a record this year in today's DealBook www.nytimes.com/2025/05/28/b...
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Michael de la Merced @mdelamerced.bsky.social · 28/05/2025
Feels like this could be said of most memoirs these days, but yes, business moguls especially www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general...
hollywoodreporter.com
Barry Diller and the Twilight of the Hollywood Tell-All
The juicy "Who Knew" reads like a last-of-the-Mohicans memoir for a business no longer defined by the big personalities and singular tastes of its iconoclasts.
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Michael de la Merced @mdelamerced.bsky.social · 20/05/2025
In our old place, we caught a mouse and dropped it off at a park that was 10m away. Pretty sure it came back. We caught it a second time, except we took it on the Tube for a 30m ride that crossed the Thames, took it to a small park and released it. A bird immediately swooped down and ate it.
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Michael de la Merced @mdelamerced.bsky.social · 19/05/2025
Terrific story — and a blast from my SF past. Haven't thought about the coyotes since we used to walk our (then-puppy) dog in Bernal Heights in the mid-2010s, and owners of small canines were hypervigilant about coyotes www.nytimes.com/2025/05/19/u...
nytimes.com
The Coyotes of San Francisco
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Michael de la Merced @mdelamerced.bsky.social · 14/05/2025
Ouch www.nytimes.com/2025/05/14/b...
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Michael de la Merced @mdelamerced.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
Obviously, as a Filipino-American, seeing the first Asian/Filipino pope would have also been significant. Regardless, what a moment
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Michael de la Merced @mdelamerced.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
As an American Catholic — with all the internal contradictions and emotional baggage that entails — it’s still kind of amazing to see an American pope
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Michael de la Merced @mdelamerced.bsky.social · 04/05/2025
• And he taught generations of investors how to, well, invest @laurenhirsch.bsky.social, Maureen Farrell and I dug into why Buffett mattered to so many for @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/2025/05/04/b...
nytimes.com
How Warren Buffett Changed the Way Investors Thought of Investing
The idea of “value investing” had long existed. But no one did it as successfully or for as long as he did.
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Michael de la Merced @mdelamerced.bsky.social · 04/05/2025
• Value investing long predated Buffett. But no one had done it for as long, or nearly as successfully, as him • Berkshire is truly a remarkably unique creation and wealth-generation machine • Buffett transcended business fame for actual fame, and that made Wall Street, Washington pay him heed
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Michael de la Merced @mdelamerced.bsky.social · 04/05/2025
Capitalists the world over are still reckoning with Warren Buffett finally announcing that he would seek to step down as Berkshire Hathaway's CEO. But why was this so affecting — to both average investors and moguls like Bill Ackman and Jamie Dimon? 🧵
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Michael de la Merced @mdelamerced.bsky.social · 03/05/2025
What's kept me busy today: Warren Buffett finally announcing that he plans to retire, by year end. Greg Abel will be his successor — and appeared shocked to hear Buffett's plans, announced in front of tens of thousands in Omaha For @nytimes.com: www.nytimes.com/2025/05/03/b...
nytimes.com
Warren Buffett Plans to Step Down as Berkshire Hathaway CEO by End of 2025
Mr. Buffett said at the annual shareholders’ meeting that he wanted to turn over the reins to Greg Abel at the end of the year. Earlier, he criticized Trump’s trade policies.
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Michael de la Merced @mdelamerced.bsky.social · 03/05/2025
Everything is local eu.amestrib.com/story/news/2...
eu.amestrib.com
Des Moines resident to become Berkshire Hathaway CEO by end of year, Warren Buffett says
Warren Buffett said Saturday he will step down by year’s end, paving the way for Des Moines man Greg Abel to take over the conglomerate.
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Michael de la Merced @mdelamerced.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
Read more in DealBook www.nytimes.com/2025/04/29/b...
nytimes.com
Thrive Capital Creating Vehicle for Serial M&A
The investor is raising money to start and build companies infused with artificial intelligence, then use them to buy more.
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Michael de la Merced @mdelamerced.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
Meet Thrive Holdings, which I'm told is seeking to raise at least $1 billion. It intends to incubate companies, infuse them with AI and use the cashflow to buy other companies. (Roll-ups, essentially.) But as a permanent capital vehicle, it can own stakes in these companies "forever," I'm told.
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Michael de la Merced @mdelamerced.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
Thrive Capital, Josh Kushner's VC firm, has long invested in AI companies like OpenAI. But now it's betting on a different kind of strategy: buying and building AI start-ups — largely in unsexy sectors like, um, IT. Yes, others are trying to do that too. But Thrive is doing something else 🧵
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Michael de la Merced @mdelamerced.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
This is the content I want, having just rewatched "Conclave" again www.vulture.com/article/conc...
vulture.com
Which Papal Candidate Is Which Guy From Conclave?
We made a (holy) spirited effort.
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Michael de la Merced @mdelamerced.bsky.social · 22/04/2025
I spoke with Ulukaya about how I haven't been able to buy Chobani since moving to the UK. (Unless I've missed it somewhere!)
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Reposted by Michael de la Merced
Michael de la Merced @mdelamerced.bsky.social · 22/04/2025
I wrote about how this underscores Chobani's growth ambitions and a potential future attempt at an IPO. But another interesting thing that Ulukaya spoke about was Chobani's commitment to hiring refugees, even in this moment. “We cannot operate any other way,” he said. “To me, anybody is welcome.”
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Michael de la Merced @mdelamerced.bsky.social · 22/04/2025
Ulukaya said the company will of course follow whatever the law says. But as of now, he told me, there has been no change that requires Chobani to change course. Anyway, read more on all of this on DealBook: www.nytimes.com/2025/04/22/b...
nytimes.com
Chobani Plans to Invest Over $1 Billion in New N.Y. Factory
The company, which has branched out from Greek-style yogurt, will invest more than $1 billion in the plant in the city of Rome.
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Michael de la Merced @mdelamerced.bsky.social · 22/04/2025
I wrote about how this underscores Chobani's growth ambitions and a potential future attempt at an IPO. But another interesting thing that Ulukaya spoke about was Chobani's commitment to hiring refugees, even in this moment. “We cannot operate any other way,” he said. “To me, anybody is welcome.”
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Michael de la Merced @mdelamerced.bsky.social · 22/04/2025
New York State offered nearly $100 million in development grants and tax credits. The math, Gov. Kathy Hochul told me, works out, especially since the package is dependent on Chobani meeting certain milestones: "That to me is worth the investment to get a $1 billion growth investment," she said
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Michael de la Merced @mdelamerced.bsky.social · 22/04/2025
First, the numbers: • Net sales last year rose 17 percent, to $2.96 billion • Adjusted Ebitda rose 26 percent, to $509 million It's already planning to spend $500mn to expand an Idaho plant. But Hamdi Ulukaya, Chobani's CEO, says the company needs more capacity.
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Michael de la Merced @mdelamerced.bsky.social · 22/04/2025
ICYMI: I got a jump on Chobani announcing that it plans to spend more than $1bn on a huge new factory in Rome, NY, in what it says will the largest dairy products plant in the nation. Why? The company insists it expects to keep growing hugely. 🧵
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Michael de la Merced @mdelamerced.bsky.social · 16/04/2025
Jesus, it's been a while, longer than I could have ever dreamed of. Also, perhaps a sign that I've been here so long I forgot when my work anniversary was
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Michael de la Merced @mdelamerced.bsky.social · 08/04/2025
Our pain is real. (But seriously, Jonny Kim's résumé is as gold-plated as it gets.) www.wsj.com/lifestyle/jo...
wsj.com
Navy SEAL. Harvard Doctor. NASA Astronaut. Don’t Tell Mom About This Overachiever.
Jonny Kim’s achievements at age 41 have been a global source of inspiration—and mild dismay; ‘Every Asian kid’s worst nightmare.’
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Michael de la Merced @mdelamerced.bsky.social · 02/04/2025
Rippling says Keith O'Brien, the payroll employee whom it accuses of spying for archrival Deel, has confessed in Irish court — and that his handler was Deel cofounder and CEO Alex Bouaziz. O'Brien says he was paid thousands, with codewords straight from a spy novel. More TK shortly
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Reposted by Michael de la Merced
vaggab0nd.bsky.social @vaggab0nd.bsky.social · 19/03/2025
Its gone to the Irish High Court this morning! This chap is in big trouble!! www.irishtimes.com/business/202...
irishtimes.com
Dublin office employee used by rival company to obtain trade secrets, global HR firm claims
Employee locked himself in toilet after being asked to hand over phone, High Court told
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Michael de la Merced @mdelamerced.bsky.social · 17/03/2025
Update: Here's Deel's response. “Weeks after Rippling is accused of violating sanctions law in Russia and seeding falsehoods about Deel, Rippling is trying to shift the narrative with these sensationalized claims. We deny all legal wrongdoing and look forward to asserting our counterclaims.”
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Michael de la Merced @mdelamerced.bsky.social · 17/03/2025
It all comes as the two companies have been fighting hard against each other for a while, including via other litigation. Read the whole thing in today's DealBook: www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/b...
nytimes.com
Rippling Sues Deel, a Software Rival, Over Corporate Spying
A lawsuit by Rippling accuses a top competitor, Deel, of placing a mole in its ranks — which it uncovered via a “honeypot” trap on Slack.
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Michael de la Merced @mdelamerced.bsky.social · 17/03/2025
Rippling said it caught the alleged spy by sending a letter to three top Deel executives mentioning a Slack channel ... only it was one that was created specifically for the "honeytrap" plot. It worked, according to the lawsuit. Except the employee has refused to give up his phone.
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Michael de la Merced @mdelamerced.bsky.social · 17/03/2025
Rippling today sued Deel, accusing it of a "brazen act of corporate espionage." The suit says Deel managed to plant a spy in its Dublin office, who systematically combed through Rippling's Slack channels, obtaining confidential competitive information.
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Michael de la Merced @mdelamerced.bsky.social · 17/03/2025
This is one of the stranger, and more gripping, tales of a software rivalry I've heard of recently: accusations of a mole, a "honeypot" trap and the alleged spy fleeing to a bathroom when confronted. (It's in today's DealBook newsletter) Oh, and it involves two HR providers, Rippling and Deel 🧵
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Michael de la Merced @mdelamerced.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
www.ft.com/content/4643...
ft.com
With Love, Meghan is a lifestyle show for a lifestyle nobody can have
The Duchess of Sussex’s Netflix series is an indulgent portrayal of Montecito millionaire moms — but it might just leave you charmed
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Michael de la Merced @mdelamerced.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
What a description
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Michael de la Merced @mdelamerced.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
Spicing up the Tulane M&A law conference this morning
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Michael de la Merced @mdelamerced.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
Does anyone have an opinion on Bluetooth keyboards? Am specifically curious about how, say, the Satechi X1/X2 stack up to the Apple Magic Keyboard. (Am potentially open to mechanical keybs as well, but the noise during Zoom calls might be a dealbreaker)
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Michael de la Merced @mdelamerced.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
Getting on a flight, which of course means “watch blockbusters on a sub-iPad-quality screen” time
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Michael de la Merced @mdelamerced.bsky.social · 03/03/2025
Read more here www.nytimes.com/2025/03/03/b...
nytimes.com
Trump Faces Blowback Over Plans for Crypto Reserve
Digital assets like Bitcoin rallied on the president’s backing for a strategic holding, but even some conservatives and industry backers disapproved.
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Michael de la Merced @mdelamerced.bsky.social · 03/03/2025
SoftBank also shared a survey of its Vision Fund portfolio company CEOs first with me. Highlights include them feeling more optimistic about the economy — but also worries about inflation, high interest rates and ongoing market volatility
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Michael de la Merced @mdelamerced.bsky.social · 03/03/2025
Alex Clavel, the head of SoftBank's Vision Funds, told me that yes, the Japanese tech investor is being mindful of AI valuations — but it feels like it has to pay for entry. “Valuing world-beating companies in revolutionary times is not an easy thing to pinpoint,” he told me for today's DealBook
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Michael de la Merced @mdelamerced.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
It's based on a single use case, but I was surprisingly impressed by how good Grok 3's DeepSearch was. (That use case being an extremely nerdy question about a discontinued watch model.)
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Michael de la Merced @mdelamerced.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
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Michael de la Merced @mdelamerced.bsky.social · 20/02/2025
Just learned that J. Crew no longer makes perhaps their best-ever shirt, the selvedge chambray work shirt (www.jcrew.com/uk/p/mens/ca...), and it bums me out to no end
jcrew.com
Selvedge Japanese chambray utility shirt
Shop J.CREW JEANS for the Selvedge Japanese chambray utility shirt for men. Find the best selection of men mens-categories-clothing-shirts-chambray-and-denim-shirts available in-stores and on line.
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Michael de la Merced @mdelamerced.bsky.social · 03/02/2025
And if you want to read the full responses by both R1 and o1, check them out here DeepSeek R1: ChatGPT o1: chatgpt.com/share/67994a...
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Michael de la Merced @mdelamerced.bsky.social · 03/02/2025
Read more here: www.nytimes.com/2025/02/03/b...
nytimes.com
Weighing the Fallout From Trump’s Looming Trade War
Business groups, economists and even some Republicans cautioned that new tariffs on goods from Canada, Mexico and China could undercut U.S. industry and the economy.
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Michael de la Merced @mdelamerced.bsky.social · 03/02/2025
Both chatbots laid out a series of steps for de-escalating the conflict and creating scenarios where all the sides could claim some victory. Interestingly, both laid out fairly similar strategies, though o1 made more of an argument for why there was no need to fight.
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