Markus Andrews

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Tech billionaire Peter Thiel has disclosed a 9% stake in a bitcoin miner through his venture capital firm Founders Fund
Bitmine Immersion Technologies recently initiated a buying strategy around ether and appointed market strategist Tom Lee of Fundstrat as chairman of its board
Interest in Ethereum has swelled amid a stablecoin fever following Circle’s IPO and ongoing progress on the Senate’s proposed stablecoin legislation

Peter Thiel, president and founder of Clarium Capital Management LLC, holds hundred dollars bills as he speaks during the Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami, Florida, U.S., on Thursday, April 7, 2022. 
Eva Marie Uzcategui | Bloomberg | Getty Images

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Bitmine (BMNR) 1-month

The current wave of interest in Ethereum and related assets follows an announcement by Robinhood that it will enable trading of tokenized U.S. stocks and ETFs across Europe, and a groundswell of interest in stablecoins throughout June following Circle’s wildly successful IPO and ongoing progress in Congress on the Senate’s proposed stablecoin bill, the GENIUS Act.
The price of ether itself also continued its rally, up more than 4% Wednesday. The coin has doubled in price in the past three months.
Thiel is a venture capitalist and hedge fund manager best known as a cofounder of both PayPal and Palantir and an early investor in Facebook. Founders Fund was an investor in Tagomi, the crypto brokerage acquired by Coinbase in 2020, and Polymarket, the prediction market built on Ethereum.

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Starting in mid-2026, President Donald Trump’s massive tax and spending package will set new limits on student loan borrowing.
Experts predict this new policy could have lasting consequences for higher education. 

President Donald Trump’s massive tax and spending package will bring sweeping changes to federal student loans, in part by capping how much money people can borrow from the federal government to pay for college and graduate school.
Among other measures, the legislation, which Trump has called the “one big, beautiful bill,” sets new limits for students and their families. The following changes go into effect for new borrowers on July 1, 2026:

For the first time, borrowers will have a total lifetime borrowing limit of $257,500 for all federal student loans.

Unsubsidized student loans for graduate students will be capped at $20,500 per year with a lifetime loan limit of $100,000. Borrowing for professional degrees, such as those for doctors and lawyers, will be limited to $50,000 per year and $200,000 over a lifetime. Currently, graduate and professional students can borrow up to the full cost of attendance each year. 

Parent borrowing through the federal Parent PLUS loan program will be capped at $20,000 per year per student with a $65,000 lifetime limit. By current standards, parents of dependent undergraduates can also borrow up to the full cost of attendance each year.

Grad PLUS loans will be eliminated entirely. These currently allow grad students to borrow up to their entire cost of attendance minus any federal aid.

These new limitations “will reshape how students borrow,” said Lesley Turner, an associate professor at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and a research fellow of the National Bureau of Economic Research. 
“Students are either going to borrow less or make up the difference with private loans, or they will not start or complete a graduate program,” Turner said.
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Aspiring lawyers, doctors and dentists are most likely to be impacted by the new loan limits, Turner said. “It’s quite a substantial cut in the loans students have access to.”
Roughly 9.3% of law students, 27.5% of medical school students and 60% of those in dentistry programs graduated with more debt in 2020 than is allowed under the new loan limits, according to calculations by higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz.

Halfpoint Images | Moment | Getty Images

In fact, the average cost of medical school already exceeds $200,000. At private institutions, the average cost is closer to $300,000.  
The new student loan caps “will affect many prospective medical and other health professions students and worsen the nation’s persistent doctor shortage,” David Skorton, president and CEO of the Association of American Medical Colleges, said in a statement.  

Other experts say the new loan limits may provide a much-needed check on soaring tuition costs, which have jumped significantly in recent decades — outpacing inflation and other household expenses — leaving some students feeling priced out of higher education.
Nearly every year, students and their families borrow more to cover the rising cost of attendance, a trend that has led to a ballooning of total outstanding student debt to more than $1.7 trillion.
With new limits on how much people can borrow, high-priced schools might have to lower tuition or increase aid, Turner said.

Private student loans likely to fill the gap

The limits on federal student loans are likely to spur students to find other lenders to bridge the gap.
“The new loan limits for Parent PLUS loans and graduate/professional school loans will shift some borrowing from federal loans to private student loans,” Kantrowitz said. “This will particularly impact low-income students, who are less likely to qualify for private student loans.”
Unlike federal loans, private student loan lenders rely on credit scores for the borrower — which could be the student, a parent or even another relative or friend as a cosigner — to determine eligibility and interest rate. “Access is by no means guaranteed,” Turner said.

As it stands, roughly 90% of student loans come from the federal government, and the remaining 10% are private student loans, according to the College Board. 
Students often turn to private student loans once they have reached the federal student loan limits and still need additional education financing.
Already, private student loan volume is up significantly. Private student loan originations during the 2024-25 academic year jumped 8.63% from a year earlier, according to Enterval Analytics, a student loan data analysis firm.
Private loans can also come with fewer safety nets and less flexible repayment options compared to federal loans.
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The consumer price index rose 2.7% on an annual basis in June 2025, up from 2.4% in May, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
However, the full impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs is still to come, according to economists.

Customers line up at the check out booth on April 18, 2025 at a Costco branch in Niantic, Connecticut.
Robert Nickelsberg | Getty Images

The annual inflation rate ticked higher in June, in line with expectations, as lower prices at the gasoline pump somewhat offset higher prices at the grocery store.
Economists said they expect the full impact from the Trump administration’s tariff agenda to raise consumer prices more in the months ahead — but they said trade policies have already started to noticeably affect inflation.

The consumer price index, a key inflation barometer, rose 2.7% in the 12 months through June, up from 2.4% in May, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Tuesday.

Tariffs’ inflationary effect

President Donald Trump’s tariffs continue to work their way through the U.S. economy, even as the risk of further escalation grows.
Trump announced Saturday that the U.S. will impose 30% tariffs on the European Union and Mexico starting Aug. 1. On Monday, Trump threatened to impose “secondary tariffs” on Russia’s trade partners, “at about 100%.”
Tariffs are a tax on imports from foreign nations, paid by U.S. companies that import the good or service. Businesses negatively affected are expected to pass on at least some of that additional cost to consumers through higher prices.
“While inventory front-running has mitigated the need to raise goods prices, it will become increasingly difficult for businesses to absorb higher import duties as pre-tariff stockpiles dwindle,” Sarah House, senior economist at Wells Fargo, said in a July 8 research report. “We expect core goods prices to pick up further in the second half of the year as a result.”

“As we are in this higher-tariff environment longer, you will begin to see more of these effects,” House told CNBC.
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White House economic advisor Kevin Hassett has contended that new tariff policies have not been as inflationary as expected because consumers are buying more American-made goods.
But other economists also predict the full impact from tariffs on pricing will likely show up in the second half of the year. 
“Inflation is going kick into a much higher gear in coming months,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s. “We are on the leading edge of that now, but it will become clearly evident in the months ahead.”
“Higher tariffs are also adding to businesses’ production costs and that will flow through to consumers more indirectly,” Zandi said.

‘This won’t be like 2022’

Still, longer-term inflation expectations are somewhat muted. “Despite accelerating inflation, this won’t be like 2022,” said Stephen Kates, a financial analyst at Bankrate. He pointed to the June report three years ago, when inflation spiked to 9.1%, marking the largest year-over-year jump since 1981.
In many ways, shoppers are still struggling with that sticker shock, Kates said. “People have long memories for that,” he said.
“I used to pay $2 for a can of peas and now it’s $3.50,” he said as an example. “That is a huge change, and you are constantly reminded of it every week.”

There were some mixed signals in this month’s report.
Grocery prices rose 0.3% over the month and were 2.4% higher year over year. The meats, poultry, fish and eggs index jumped 5.6% over the last 12 months. However, while eggs are still almost 30% higher than they were a year ago, they’re down 7.4% from last month.
Inflation for housing, the largest CPI component, increased just 0.2% for the month but was 3.8% higher compared with a year ago. That was the largest contributor to the overall CPI gain, the BLS said. 

Gasoline prices climbed by 0.1% from May to June, on a seasonally adjusted basis, but are down 8.3% for the year, according to the CPI data.
Meanwhile, prices for used cars and trucks declined in June, with prices on new vehicles falling 0.3% and used car and trucks down 0.7%. Airline fares were also slightly lower, by 0.1%.
“There are a lot of cross currents, but the net is a general tilt higher, and that’s a precursor to stronger inflation numbers in the months ahead,” Zandi said.
Core inflation — which strips out energy and food prices, which can be volatile categories — was up 2.9% in June.
Correction: Eggs were down 7.4% from last month. An earlier version misstated the percentage.

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To live comfortably in retirement, workers who are investing in retirement plans expect to need a seven-figure sum.
Yet many say they will fall short of that goal.
Here are the moves experts recommend to boost retirement savings.

Vithun Khamsong | Moment | Getty Images

American workers who participate in a retirement plan expect to need an average $1.28 million set aside to retire comfortably, according to a new survey from investment management company Schroders.
Yet just 30% of workers say they expect to have $1 million or more by the time they retire, the survey found. About half, 48%, expect to have less than $500,000, and 26% expect to have less than $250,000.

Other studies point to similar challenges, with Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies reporting that 68% of workers say they could work until retirement and still not have enough saved.
Feeling behind can prompt financial insecurities, including a fear of running out of money in retirement, according to Schroders.
Schroders’ survey was conducted between March and April and included 1,500 investors, including 602 retirement plan participants.
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Yet with competing financial priorities, workers may be tempted to prioritize their immediate needs over future retirement goals, according to Deb Boyden, head of U.S. defined contribution at Schroders.

“People think here and now, ‘I need that money to cover whatever expense that is hitting at this point,'” Boyden said.
Experts say there are several moves workers can make to help nudge their retirement balances higher.

Strive for a higher savings rate

While surveys may tout the grand total aspiring retirees think they need to have saved, experts say there’s another number that should be a priority instead — their retirement savings rate. That’s the share of pay that employees set aside, plus company contributions.
If a 401(k) or other retirement savings plan provides an employer match, experts generally say workers should contribute at least enough to reap the benefit of that free employer money.
The average promised match was 4.6% of pay in 2024, according to Vanguard’s latest annual report on defined contribution plans.

Yet to achieve a meaningful sum set away for retirement, experts say having a high savings rate is crucial.
The ideal target savings rate may range from 12% to 15%, including company contributions, according to Vanguard.
In 2024, the average 401(k) savings rate was in the low range of that sweet spot at 12%, including both employee and employer contributions, Vanguard’s report found.

Avoid tapping 401(k) funds

Workers may be tempted to tap their 401(k) or other work retirement plan if they’re short on cash.
Around 17% of savers said they have borrowed from their retirement plan, the Schroders survey found.
Among the reasons for tapping those funds included paying for unforeseen expenses or emergencies, paying down credit card or other debts, keeping up with a higher cost of living, purchasing a home or paying for medical care, according to the survey results.
While workers who take 401(k) loans may avoid taxes and penalties that come with withdrawals, they still lose out on the gains the money would have made if it had stayed invested. Importantly, if those borrowers leave or lose their job, they could be on the hook to repay those loans quickly.
To help avoid the temptation to borrow from retirement savings, workers may strive to build emergency savings that can serve as a buffer when cash needs arise, Boyden said.

Don’t put too much in cash

Nearly one-third of investors — 31% — say they don’t know how their retirement money is invested, Schroders found.
For those who do know, equities were the most popular retirement investment, with 31%. Meanwhile, cash came in second, at 23%, followed by fixed income with just 16%. Other allocations cited by respondents included target-date funds, which customize asset allocations based on a determined retirement date, as well as other miscellaneous investments.
While higher interest rates have made it possible to earn higher returns on cash, investors with a long-term time horizon would be wise to have higher allocations to equities and other investments that provide more potential upside.
Retirement savers who are tempted to play it safe and hold more cash may want to consider how long the lump sum they have set aside may last, Boyden said. By keeping their long-term goal in mind, they may feel more comfortable taking on more risk now, she said.
Ideally, investors would reassess those allocations quarterly, Boyden said. More

Student loan borrowers enrolled in the interest-free SAVE forbearance will soon see their debt begin to grow again, the Trump administration says.
Borrowers should take steps to find another repayment plan as soon as possible, experts said.

A person walks on campus at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania, U.S. March 26, 2025. 
Hannah Beier | Reuters

Why is the interest-free forbearance ending?

Former President Joe Biden rolled out the SAVE plan in the summer of 2023, describing it as “the most affordable student loan plan ever.”

But millions of borrowers who signed up for the plan were caught in limbo after GOP-led lawsuits led to a block on the plan last year. The Biden administration put these borrowers in a forbearance while the legal challenges played out, and stopped interest from accruing on people’s debts in the meantime.
Forbearances are a period during which federal student loan borrowers are excused from making payments.

The Trump administration has called the SAVE plan illegal. In the announcement ending the pause, it said the Education Dept. “lacks the authority to put borrowers into a zero percent interest rate status.”
The Biden administration “invented a zero percent ‘litigation forbearance,’ forcing taxpayers to foot the bill,” the Education Dept. wrote.
Borrowers enrolled in the forbearance will not be charged interest retroactively, the department said.

What should SAVE enrollees do now?

Because the SAVE plan is no longer available and its interest-free forbearance is ending, borrowers need to move quickly to find a new repayment plan, experts said.
Unfortunately, the options are limited.
Currently, there is only one income-driven repayment plan available to borrowers: the Income-Based Repayment plan, said higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz. (Income-driven repayment plans cap borrowers’ monthly bills at a share of their discretionary income, with the aim of making payments affordable.)
President Donald Trump’s “one big beautiful bill” establishes another IDR repayment plan, known as RAP, but that plan won’t be operational until next year.
“The Department urges SAVE borrowers to consider enrolling in the Income-Based Repayment Plan authorized under the Higher Education Act until the Department can launch the Repayment Assistance Plan,” the agency said in its release. More

Budrul Chukrut | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Optimism about the strong growth opportunities presented by the ongoing artificial intelligence (AI) boom has been tempered by tariff-related distractions and macroeconomic challenges.
Against this uncertain backdrop, investors looking for consistent income can add attractive dividend-paying stocks to their portfolios, and studying top Wall Street analysts can offer useful insights into picking the right dividend payers.

Here are three dividend-paying stocks, highlighted by Wall Street’s top pros, as tracked by TipRanks, a platform that ranks analysts based on their past performance
ConocoPhillips
Oil and gas exploration and production company ConocoPhillips (COP) is this week’s first dividend pick. The company distributed $2.5 billion to shareholders in the first quarter of 2025 via $1.5 billion of share repurchases and $1.0 billion in dividends. At a quarterly dividend of $0.78 per share (annualized dividend of $3.12), COP pays a dividend yield of 3.3%.
In a research note on the third-quarter update on RBC Capital’s Top 30 Global Ideas for 2025, analyst Scott Hanold reiterated a buy rating on ConocoPhillips with a price target forecast of $115. The analyst expects COP to outperform its large-cap exploration and production peers.
“COP has a returns-focused value proposition, a strong balance sheet, and peer-leading distributions,” Hanold said.
The analyst believes that ConocoPhillips is well-positioned to generate competitive free cash flow (FCF) through various commodity price cycles. Hanold highlighted that the company has a global and diversified asset base, which gives it spending flexibility to deliver industry-leading shareholder returns through economic and commodity price cycles.

Moreover, Hanold expects ConocoPhillips’ vast position in the Permian basin to enable greater FCF generation, while providing asset diversity and development flexibility. He noted that the company has a low break-even point of below $40/bbl (WTI), where it can fund its production maintenance capital and dividends. The analyst also noted COP’s solid balance sheet, which allows it to enhance shareholder value.
Hanold ranks No. 12 among more than 9,800 analysts tracked by TipRanks. His ratings have been successful 71% of the time, delivering an average return of 31.2%. See ConocoPhillips Insider Trading Activity on TipRanks.
U.S. Bancorp
U.S. Bancorp (USB) is another stock that is a part of RBC Capital’s list of Top 30 Global Ideas for 2025. It is the parent company of the U.S. Bank and offers customers financial services through a diversified mix of businesses, including consumer banking, commercial banking and wealth management, among others.
With a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share (annualized dividend of $2 per share), USB offers a dividend yield of 4.2%.
RBC analyst Gerard Cassidy reaffirmed a buy rating on USB stock with a 12-month price target of $50. He highlighted several positives supporting his bullish stance, including the bank’s new leadership. Cassidy noted that Gunjan Kedia, who succeeded Andy Cecere as the CEO of U.S. Bancorp in April 2025, has reiterated the company’s financial goals, including a target of delivering more than 200 basis points of operating leverage. USB reported 270 basis points of operating leverage in the first quarter of 2025.
Cassidy also highlighted that USB has consistently been one of the best-performing banks in the U.S., as reflected in an attractive compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in shareholder return generated over the past 20 years. That growth is mainly driven by the bank’s focus on increasing its tangible book value and dividends per share. Notably, U.S. Bancorp has consistently returned as much as 80% of its earnings every year through stock buybacks and dividends.
Cassidy also cited USB’s strong asset quality and underwriting skills. The long-time analyst believes that “following general underperformance over the last two years, USB is at an inflection point in 2025 where headwinds are becoming tailwinds.” The improvement is driven by the investments made by the bank over the past decade, which are expected to fuel revenue growth ahead of expense growth in years to come, Cassidy said.
Cassidy ranks No. 24 among more than 9,800 analysts tracked by TipRanks. His ratings have been profitable 72% of the time, delivering an average return of 21%. See U.S. Bancorp Statistics on TipRanks.
HP Inc.
Finally, dividend-paying technology company HP (HPQ) declared a quarterly dividend of $0.2894 per share last month, payable on October 1, the fourth dividend in the company’s fiscal year 2025. At an annualized dividend of $1.1576 per share, HPQ yields of 4.5%.
Despite tariffs and other ongoing challenges, Evercore analyst Amit Daryanani reiterated a buy rating on HPQ stock with a price target of $29. Following an investor webinar with HP’s chief enterprise officer Ernest Nicolas, the analyst highlighted key takeaways supporting his bullish stance.  
Daryanani noted that HP is successfully diversifying and is on track to achieve its target of manufacturing 90% of all U.S.-bound products outside China. Much of the manufacturing will remain in Asia and take place in countries such as Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia, along with some planned in Mexico. The analyst added that HP is attempting to close the gap with rivals by adopting a multi-site approach to manufacturing and optimizing its supply chain.
HP expects the “tariff environment to remain fluid,” but management believes the company is now better equipped to face tariff-related challenges, Daryanani said.
HP also remains focused on generating $2 billion in gross annual run-rate savings from its Future Ready cost savings plan, the analyst said. The plan includes various initiatives, including internal artificial intelligence tools that could drive productivity and efficiencies.
Daryanani ranks No. 174 among more than 9,800 analysts tracked by TipRanks. His ratings have been profitable 64% of the time, delivering an average return of 15.3%. See HP Ownership Structure on TipRanks. More

Tariffs are taxes on imported goods paid by the entity importing those products. Businesses often pass the cost of tariffs along to consumers through higher prices.
Sometimes, that process is not so subtle.
“We know that tariffs show in prices no matter what, but this was like the most explicit thing imaginable,” said certified financial planner Dave Yeske, the managing director of Yeske Buie, a wealth management firm in San Francisco, California.

Getty Images

As President Donald Trump continues to set aggressive new tariff rates on imports, U.S. consumers are feeling the effects on their wallets.
Tariffs are taxes on imported goods paid by the entity importing those products. Businesses often pass the cost of tariffs along to consumers through higher prices.

Sometimes, it’s not so subtle.
In June, Dave Yeske, a certified financial planner in San Francisco, California, bought a side table from a seller in Mexico through an online marketplace for antiques. Before UPS would deliver the disassembled table in July, the delivery company required Yeske and his wife to pay about $585 in U.S. Customs and Border Protection fees for each of the two boxes — around $1,170 in all, on a side table that already cost roughly $1,980.
“We were very disappointed,” said Yeske, who is the managing director of Yeske Buie, a wealth management firm in San Francisco, California. “We know that tariffs show in prices no matter what, but this was like the most explicit thing imaginable.”
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Assessed fees are set by the U.S. government, and not by the carrier, according to a UPS spokesperson. Those fees depend on the value of the product and its origin.

When UPS brings in a shipment into the U.S., the delivery company becomes the importer of record, meaning the company is responsible for the duties, taxes and fees associated with the delivery. The retailer can choose to pay the fees, or pass the cost on to the end consumer, the spokesperson said.
Yeske’s experience is not uncommon. After Trump’s first round of tariffs were implemented this spring, consumers began reporting that they received payment requests from carrier companies after a purchase in order to receive their shipments. Experts also warned of scams mimicking those legitimate requests.
While consumers have long faced duties, taxes and fees on imported purchases, Trump’s tariffs are exacerbating the issue, according to Bernie Hart, vice president of customs of Flexport, a logistics firm.
“In today’s world, the dollar amount is too big to not pass it on or to not look for recovery,” he said.
If you plan to order products from overseas, here’s what to keep in mind, according to experts.

How tariffs make costs rise

‘All the hallmarks of legitimacy’

How levies materialize in online orders will depend on where the product is being shipped from, said Bernie Hart, vice president of customs of Flexport, a logistics firm.
If you order a product and it’s already in a warehouse or distribution center in the U.S., you will probably not get hit with import-related duties, taxes or fees, said Hart.
“It’s just when you order internationally, and you don’t really know this when you’re on a website,” he said. 
If the product is coming from abroad and you do get hit with a tariff payment request, it might be real. As noted above, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection will sometimes charge consumers a processing fee in order to release an imported good.
However, scammers are also aware that many consumers are unfamiliar with the ever-changing landscape of tariffs, and will use it to their advantage, experts say. Fraud attempts may appear in the form of a “tariff payment request” text or email claiming to be from a retailer, delivery company or a government agency.
In Yeske’s experience, he said he had “all of the hallmarks of legitimacy,” with the request coming from a UPS delivery driver who routinely made deliveries to his apartment building.
“I had to make the checks out to UPS, so this is not a scammer,” he said. “It was a check made out to UPS given to a UPS delivery driver who had actually delivered a UPS box.”

‘Start with a suspicious state of mind’

If you receive an email or text message that says your upcoming delivery requires a tariff payment before it arrives, “start with a suspicious state of mind,” CFP Yeske said. 
“Taking a beat, taking a breath to figure this out is not going to be a problem,” he said.
Instead of immediately paying the charge, make sure the payment request is real and is coming from a legitimate company or delivery service, he said. 
For instance, instead of clicking through any links the sender provided, go to the company’s website or call the entity’s verified number to corroborate the charge.

You can also check if the request includes the form 7501, an official government document detailing the import, said Hart.
If you realize it is a legit charge, “you could just refuse delivery,” Yeske said, but “you’re then going to have to recover the original cost of the product, which is maybe the tricky part.”
Hart said that in that scenario, you’re going to encounter the seller’s return policy, on top of the carrier looking for their reimbursement as well.
“You really need to understand what that return policy is and what your liability is in that,” he said. You may or may not get all your money back. Some returns can incur a restocking fee, return shipping fee or other logistics costs. 
“Those costs can be substantial,” Hart said. More

The Tripadvisor logo is displayed on a tablet.
Mateusz Slodkowski | Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Company: Tripadvisor (TRIP)
Business: Tripadvisor is an online travel company. It leverages its brands, technology, and capabilities to connect its global audience with partners through content, travel guidance and two-sided marketplaces for experiences, accommodations, restaurants and other travel categories. Tripadvisor operates through three segments: Brand Tripadvisor, Viator and TheFork. Its Brand Tripadvisor segment is engaged in providing an online global platform for travelers to discover, generate and share authentic user-generated content in the form of ratings and reviews for destinations, points-of-interest, experiences, accommodations, restaurants and cruises. The Viator segment offers travelers a comprehensive online marketplace that provides access to over 400,000 experiences and more than 65,000 experience operators. TheFork segment offers an online marketplace that enables diners to discover and book online reservations at approximately 55,000 restaurants in 11 countries.
Stock Market Value: ~$2.36B ($18.00 per share)

Stock chart icon

Tripadvisor shares in 2025

Activist: Starboard Value

Ownership: 9.01%
Average Cost: $13.92
Activist Commentary: Starboard is a very successful activist investor and has extensive experience helping companies focus on operational efficiency and margin improvement. The firm is known for its excellent diligence and for running many of the most successful campaigns. Starboard has taken a total of 158 prior activist campaigns in its history and has an average return of 22.34% versus 13.18% for the Russell 2000 over the same period.
What’s happening
Starboard intends to engage with Tripadvisor’s management and board regarding opportunities for value creation.
Behind the scenes
Tripadvisor is the operator of three online platforms designed to enhance the travel planning experience. Its legacy business, Tripadvisor.com, is the largest travel guidance platform in the world, with 300 million monthly unique visitors and more than a billion reviews and $900 million in revenue. Viator, a rapidly scaling booking platform for tours and other travel experiences, is expected to do well over $900 million in revenue this year. Lastly, TheFork is a restaurant reservation platform, which is now the largest marketplace for online dining reservations in Europe and is expected to generate over $200 million of revenue this year. Despite owning a trio of market-leading businesses, the company still trades at a heavy discount: around seven-times earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization versus low to mid-teens for peers and even higher multiples for Tripadvisor historically. 

There are a few explanations behind this valuation disconnect. Since its spinoff from Expedia in 2011 and up until just a few months ago, Tripadvisor had poor governance: a controlled ownership by Liberty Media Corp, a dual class share structure and weak shareholder protections such as a plurality voting standard. This was reflected in the election of directors at the 2025 Annual Meeting, where three directors received a large number of withhold votes including Tripadvisor chairman and former CEO of Liberty Media Gregory Maffei, who received over 60% withhold votes. Small, controlled companies don’t tend to trade very well, and that is what this was. However, this all changed in April 2025 when Tripadvisor bought back Liberty Media’s controlling position and consequently collapsed the dual class structure. While Tripadvisor’s share price has appreciated since, it’s likely there is still some hangover from Liberty Media’s years of control. Secondly, the decline of Tripadvisor’s core nameplate business, which saw revenue decrease 7.95% from 2023 to 2024, is certainly a factor. If the Tripadvisor business was the company’s only segment, this valuation could be justified. But Viator does as much revenue as Tripadvisor and is growing at double-digit rates. TheFork is also growing at high single digits, has $200 million in revenue, $65 million in EBITDA and can reach margins greater than 20% at scale. While Tripadvisor did have a year of declining sales, it is still a market leader with $900 million of revenue and $250 million of EBITDA with the company expecting a return to growth this year.
Enter Starboard, which filed a 13D announcing that it has taken a 9.01% position in Tripadvisor and intends to meet with the company’s board and management team regarding potential value creation opportunities. As is typical in a Starboard investment, there are multiple levers to unlock value here. The first and maybe most likely plan is status quo, which is extremely rare for an activist like Starboard. But if Tripadvisor returns to revenue growth and the other two segments continue to grow revenue and margins, there may be very little to be done here except watch the stock soar as the market starts understanding the company better. If growth does not happen at Tripadvisor, there is an opportunity to run it differently, focusing more on the bottom line than investing for the top line. This is where Starboard has been very valuable in helping companies. Third, while the three businesses have some strategic synergies, if not operational ones, they are run independently and can really show the sum of the parts value through a sale of even just one segment. This is not something that Starboard generally advocates for and is not advocating for it here. But TheFork is a very strategic asset in a space that is ripe with acquisition: Resy to Amex, OpenTable to Priceline Group (now Booking Holdings), and SevenRooms to DoorDash are just a few examples. These deals typically occurred at mid- to high-single-digit revenue multiples. A five-times revenue multiple for TheFork would be a $1 billion valuation, approximately 40% of Tripadvisor’s total enterprise value, despite only accounting for approximately 10% of the company’s total revenue and 5% of its EBITDA. Finally, there is a potential hidden artificial intelligence value here. With hundreds of millions of users and a 25-year history, Tripadvisor has very valuable and unique data that could be a highly valuable asset for AI providers. Moreover, the company has recently announced partnerships with Perplexity and OpenAI, but the terms of these deals are not public.
Lastly, there is the potential sale of the entire company. While Starboard is not a “sell-the-company” activist, any time an activist engages with a company, it ends up in pseudo-play and any potential acquirer who has been kicking the tires will suddenly have their interest piqued. There have been interested potential acquirers here. In February 2024, Tripadvisor announced the formation of a special committee to evaluate proposals for potential transactions. During the Liberty buyback process, Tripadvisor disclosed receiving multiple acquisition offers, and another bid from a strategic buyer surfaced in early 2025 at $18 to $19 per share. Since then, Q1 results were better than expected, future guidance has improved, and the stock has increased more than 20% year to date. If interest existed then, there is no reason it shouldn’t exist now. A sale of the company is not Starboard’s agenda here, but the firm is an economic animal with a fiduciary duty to its investors. If an unsolicited offer comes in, the firm will encourage the company to accept it if the activist thinks that it is in the best long-term interest of stockholders.
With an activist like Starboard engaging, it would be remiss of us not to mention the shareholder discontent at Tripadvisor’s recent annual meeting. Three directors received at least 45% withhold votes with Jeremy Philips and Chairman Gregory Maffei receiving 56.8% and 69.3%, respectively. Since the company does not have a majority voting standard in uncontested elections, all three directors remain on the board. One might look at this and assume that Starboard is targeting these three directors for a potential proxy fight. While Starboard is no stranger to a proxy fight and will go there if necessary, we do not believe that to be the case here. First, most of the reasons for the withhold votes are no longer relevant, and Maffei — who received the most withhold votes — is a well-respected operator. Moreover, much like Starboard, Maffei is an economic animal who prioritizes stockholder return and is likely aligned with Starboard in recognizing the company’s current undervaluation and value accretive opportunities. We think Starboard could add a lot of value here with board representation, but this one seems to feel more like a partnership rather than a battle. 
Ken Squire is the founder and president of 13D Monitor, an institutional research service on shareholder activism, and the founder and portfolio manager of the 13D Activist Fund, a mutual fund that invests in a portfolio of activist 13D investments. Tripadvisor is owned in the fund. More