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Welcome back to Dry Powder, my biweekly private email about what's really happening on Wall Street.
 ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ 
Dry Powder

Happy Sunday.

I’m William D. Cohan and you’re reading Dry Powder, my biweekly email about what’s really happening on Wall Street. Welcome to all of the new subscribers who have joined Puck over the past few weeks. It’s so exciting to watch this community continue to grow. If you’re still receiving the free version of this email, sign up here for full access to my reporting and to all of my very talented colleagues.

In today’s column, I explain why the histrionics surrounding the Tesla and Twitter stocks are premature. Plus my thoughts on Apollo’s cash injection and why bankers love Comcast C.E.O. Brian Roberts. But first, what Warren Buffett’s new Hollywood play reveals about the worst kept secret on Wall Street…

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What Warren Sees in Shari
What Warren Sees in Shari
News and notes on Buffett’s mediaco M&A play, Elon’s latest machinations, and why Wall Street bankers love Brian Roberts.
WILLIAM D. COHAN WILLIAM D. COHAN
My former M&A banker instincts were triggered this week after Warren Buffett, the most gifted investor of our lifetime, disclosed a $2.6 billion stake in Paramount Global, formerly ViacomCBS, a company whose leadership I have occasionally criticized. Paramount, after all, holds an awkward position on the streaming leaderboard, not only too small to compete with the likes of Netflix and Disney but also too bulky—following Shari Redstone’s recombination of the Viacom and CBS assets—to be easily acquirable by a rival, especially as long as the once-beloved CBS linear television network remains in the picture.

If there is one thing I know about Buffett, it is that he tries pretty damn hard not to overpay for companies. So let’s stipulate that he thinks Paramount Global is undervalued. Since Warren revealed Berkshire Hathaway’s stake on Monday, in a S.E.C. filing, the Paramount Global stock is up around 16.5 percent in a very rocky market. That doesn’t yet prove Warren is right that the company is undervalued, but it does prove that the Buffett halo is still for real. It’ll take longer to prove whether C.E.O. Bob Bakish and his team at Paramount Global can live up to whatever Buffett is expecting from it. (Buffett did not respond to my request for comment.)

Personally, I suspect the underpinning of Buffett’s logic is the M&A play that has been lingering over what Shari is now calling Paramount Global ever since its inception as ViacomCBS in 2019. One of the biggest open secrets on Wall Street is that Shari would happily sell the company to the right suitor offering the right price...

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FOUR STORIES WE'RE TALKING ABOUT
Roberts' EA Flirtation
Roberts' EA Flirtation
The Comcast-NBCUniversal chief was close to a deal that would have changed the content wars.
DYLAN BYERS
Jeff Roe '24
Jeff Roe '24
Insiders are obsessing over the political canoodling between Trump and Jeff Roe, the G.O.P. political operative.
TARA PALMERI
Upfront Overkill
Upfront Overkill
It’s all about “the portfolio” now, or “our unified approach,” or “company-wide capabilities.”
MATTHEW BELLONI
$12 Million Candidate
$12 Million Candidate
Crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried lost big on Tuesday despite airdropping a historic sum into a congressional race. What was he thinking?
THEODORE SCHLEIFER
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Latest Articles from Wall Street

gabe.madway@chime.com • May 22, 2022
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keith.lieberthal@hakluytandco.com • May 22, 2022
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Welcome back to Dry Powder, my biweekly private email about what's really happening on Wall Street.  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  Happy Sunday. I’m William D. Cohan and you’re reading Dry Powder, my biweekly email about what’s really happening on Wall Street. Welcome to all of the new subscribers who have joined Puck over the past few weeks. It’s […]

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