Raphael Stevens

Sinclair, one of the largest owners of U.S. broadcast stations, is beginning a strategic review of its broadcast business that could result in a merger.
The company is also looking to separate or spinoff its ventures business, which includes pay-TV network the Tennis Channel.
Sinclair is exploring its options amid a push for deregulation across the broadcast TV industry that could lead to more M&A activity.

Signage is displayed outside the Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. headquarters in Cockeysville, Maryland, U.S.
Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Sinclair, one of the largest broadcast station owners in the U.S., is launching a strategic review of its broadcast business that could result in a merger, the company said Monday.
The company and its advisors have already held deep discussions with potential merger partners, according to people close to the matter who could not speak publicly due to the sensitive nature of the talks. Still, it’s too early to determine a valuation for a potential deal, they added.

At the same time, Sinclair is also looking to spin off or split its ventures unit, which includes pay-TV network the Tennis Channel and marketing technology business Compulse. In 2023, Sinclair reorganized its company into two operating unites — local media, or the broadcast stations, and ventures, which also can act as an investment vehicle.
The company has already received board approval to explore its options. While Sinclair has had significant discussions with potential merger partners, there is no assurance a deal or spinoff will ultimately take place.
Sinclair shares were up nearly 13% in after market trading.
The media industry broadly expects deregulation under the Trump administration, particularly in the broadcast space, which could usher in a wave mergers and acquisitions.
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr has publicly said in recent months that he would support getting rid of broadcast station ownership rules and caps.

Sinclair has 178 TV stations, which are affiliated with major broadcasters like ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox and The CW across 78 markets.
The company reported second-quarter earnings last week in which total revenue declined 5% to $784 million and total advertising revenue dropped 6% to $322 million.
Broadcast TV station group owners have suffered in recent years as consumers continue to cut their traditional pay-TV bundles. Most stations make the bulk of their money from so-called retransmission fees, which are paid on a per-subscriber rate by traditional TV distributors, like Charter Communications and DirecTV, for the right to carry the stations.
Advertising, particularly political advertising during local elections, also drives revenue for the companies.
Sinclair has a market capitalization of roughly $875 million, with an enterprise value of more than $4.3 billion, according to FactSet. Its market value has dipped significantly as pay-TV subscribers decline.
Last year, CNBC reported that Sinclair was working with Moelis and looking to sell more than 30% of its broadcast TV footprint, or more than 60 stations. CEO Chris Ripley has said in recent earnings calls that the company was open to offloading parts of its business or exploring deals.
Other broadcast station deals may be in the works, too. Last week The Wall Street Journal reported that Nexstar Media Group, the biggest owner of broadcast TV stations, was in discussions to acquire Tegna, which has explored selling itself in recent years. More

AMC Entertainment reported strong results Monday, narrowing quarterly losses from $32.8 million to just $4.7 million.
AMC reported a 26% increase in attendance during the period.
On an adjusted, per-share basis, AMC reported breaking even.

People walk past an AMC theater in Manhattan, New York City, on Feb. 25, 2025.
Jeenah Moon | Reuters

Shares of AMC Entertainment gained 3% Monday after the movie theater chain reported stronger-than-expected second-quarter results.
The stock was up as much as 11% in intraday trading following the company’s earnings report before the bell.

AMC posted revenue of nearly $1.4 billion, up about 35% year over year and topping the $1.35 billion Wall Street estimate, according to LSEG.
AMC reported a net loss of $4.7 million, or just 1 cent per share, notably narrower than the loss of $32.8 million, or 10 cents per share, the company reported in the second quarter of 2024.
On an adjusted, per-share basis, AMC reported breaking even. Wall Street analysts had expected AMC to report an adjusted loss per share of 8 cents, per LSEG.
AMC also said it saw a 26% increase in moviegoers’ attendance compared to last year.
CEO Adam Aron said the company’s results are indicative of a “recovering industry-wide box office” after previously struggling to pare losses amid dual writers’ and actors’ strikes and an overall post-pandemic decline in movie attendance.

The company is also navigating a significant debt load.
“We’ve now addressed all of our 2026 debt maturities pushing them out to 2029,” Aron said. “In so doing, we have put in place a solid foundation to capitalize on what we believe will be our industry’s continued growth momentum, especially evident in the fourth quarter of 2025 and continuing deep into 2026.”
Aron also said the company saw consolidated admissions revenue per patron topping $12 for “the first time ever,” with total consolidated revenue per patron reaching an “unprecedented” $22.26.
The company reported significant growth in its premium offerings, including its AMC Go Plan, with premium auditoriums operating at nearly three times the occupancy of regular auditoriums.
“The combination of a resurgent box office, our unparalleled theatre footprint with premium experiences galore, our compelling marketing programs and our increasing financial strength have a flywheel impact when they all are happening simultaneously,” Aron said.

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Correction: This story has been updated to correct that AMC reported second-quarter revenue of nearly $1.4 billion. A previous version misstated the amount. More

Sports Media

ESPN and Fox plan to offer their upcoming direct-to-consumer streaming services as a bundle, beginning in October.
Both Disney’s ESPN — the app shares the same name as the TV network — and Fox’s Fox One will launch on Aug. 21, before the start of the college football and NFL seasons.
The bundle will be available on Oct. 2, and cost $39.99 per month. Separately, Fox One and ESPN cost $19.99 and $29.99 per month, respectively.

Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith, #6, scores a touchdown during Super Bowl LIX between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs at the Superdome in New Orleans on Feb. 9, 2025.
Icon Sportswire | Icon Sportswire | Getty Images

Disney’s ESPN and Fox Corp. are teaming up to offer their upcoming direct-to-consumer streaming services as a bundle, the companies said Monday.
The move comes as media companies look to nab more consumers for their streaming alternatives, and draw them in with sports, in particular.

Last week, both companies announced additional details about the new streaming options. ESPN’s streaming service — which has the same name as the TV network — and Fox’s Fox One will each launch on Aug. 21, ahead of the college football and NFL seasons.
The bundled apps, however, will be available beginning Oct. 2 for $39.99 per month. Separately, ESPN and Fox One will cost $29.99 and $19.99 a month, respectively.
While the bundle will offer sports fans a bigger offering at a discounted rate, the streaming services are not exactly the same.
ESPN’s flagship service will be an all-in-one app that includes all of its live sports and programming from its TV networks, including ESPN2 and the SEC Network, as well as ESPN on Disney-owned ABC. The app will also have fantasy products, new betting tie-ins, studio programming and documentaries.
ESPN will also offer its app as a bundle with Disney’s other streaming services, Disney+ and Hulu, for $35.99 a month. That Disney bundle will cost a discounted $29.99 a month for the first 12 months — the same price as the stand-alone app.

Last week, ESPN further beefed up the content on its streaming app when it inked a deal with the WWE for the U.S. rights to the wrestling league’s biggest live events, including WrestleMania, the Royal Rumble and SummerSlam, beginning in 2026. The sports media giant also reached an agreement with the NFL that will see ESPN acquire the NFL Network and other media assets from the league.
The Fox One service, however, will be a bit different. Fox had been on the sidelines of direct-to-consumer streaming for years after its competitors launched their platforms. Just this year, it said it would offer all of its content — including news and entertainment — from its broadcast and pay TV networks in a streaming offering. Fox One won’t have any exclusive or original content.
Fox’s move into the direct-to-consumer streaming game — outside of its Fox Nation app and the free, ad-supported streamer Tubi — came after it abandoned its efforts to launch Venu, a joint sports streaming venture with Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery.
Both Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch and Disney CEO Bob Iger said during separate earnings calls last week that they were exploring bundling options with other services. Since Fox announced the Fox One app, Murdoch has said the company would lean into bundles with other streaming services.
“Announcing ESPN as our first bundle partner is evidence of our desire to deliver the best possible value and viewing experience to our shared customers,” said Tony Billetter, SVP of strategy and business development for FOX’s direct to consumer segment, in a release on Monday.

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Ford on Monday announced it would invest $2 billion in a Louisville, Kentucky, assembly plant aimed at rolling out more affordable electric vehicles.
The investment comes on top of $3 billion already planned for a battery park in Michigan.
The Detroit automaker plans to produce a midsize, four-door electric pickup at the Louisville Assembly Plant, slated for 2027.

Ford on Monday announced it would invest $2 billion in a Louisville, Kentucky, assembly plant aimed at rolling out more affordable electric vehicles.
The investment comes on top of $3 billion already planned for a battery park in Michigan. Together the facilities will create or secure nearly 4,000 new jobs, Ford said in a news release.

“We took a radical approach to a very hard challenge: Create affordable vehicles that delight customers in every way that matters – design, innovation, flexibility, space, driving pleasure, and cost of ownership – and do it with American workers,” Ford CEO Jim Farley said in the release.
The Detroit automaker’s new “Universal EV Program” centered around low-cost EVs will start with a midsize, four-door electric pickup, produced at the Louisville Assembly Plant. That vehicle launch is slated for 2027.
Executives had teased the announcement on the company’s latest earnings call as its next “Model T moment.” Ford said the starting price of the new EV truck, $30,000, will be roughly the same as the famed Model T, when adjusted for inflation.
Ford noted that lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries for the new family of EVs will be assembled in the U.S. and not imported from China.

An aerial view as a Ford sign stands on the sales lot of the Metro Ford dealership on May 06, 2025 in Miami, Florida.
Joe Raedle | Getty Images

Farley said during an event in Louisville on Monday that the announcement comes as the automotive industry is at a crossroads because of new technology and competition.

“We knew that the Chinese would be the major player for us globally, companies like BYD, new startups from around the world, big technology has their ambition in the auto space. They’re all coming for us, legacy automotive companies,” Farley said. “We needed a radical approach and a really tough challenge to create an affordable vehicle.”
The changes also come as Ford and other U.S. manufacturers are navigating shifting EV policies under President Donald Trump, including an end to EV tax credits that will take effect after Sept. 30.
Ford said Monday that the Louisville plant will “secure” about 2,200 jobs, but noted that once it’s retooled for EV production, it will employ about 600 fewer workers than in its current configuration.
According to the Ford website, the plant employed more than 3,000 employees as of April 2024.
Farley told CNBC’s Phil LeBeau during an interview with “Squawk on the Street” on Monday that the automaker continues to add new jobs elsewhere.
“Ford’s the only car company in America that’s added 13,000 jobs since the recession. We’re not going to stop,” Farley said.
— CNBC’s Phil LeBeau contributed to this report.
Correction: This article has been updated to correct that the Louisville Assembly Plant will secure about 2,200 jobs. A previous version misstated the job impact.

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Paramount has acquired the U.S. rights to TKO Group’s UFC for $7.7 billion over seven years, beginning in 2026.
The agreement is for all 43 annual UFC live events, which will be exclusively streamed in the U.S. on Paramount+.
The new Paramount deal will eliminate the pay-per-view model used by ESPN in its current deal with UFC, making all events available for no extra charge on Paramount+.

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA – FEBRUARY 01: (R-L) Michael Page of England punches Shara Magomedov of Russia in a middleweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at anb Arena on February 01, 2025 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
Chris Unger | Ufc | Getty Images

Days after completing its merger with Skydance, Paramount has acquired the U.S. rights to TKO Group’s UFC for seven years, beginning in 2026.
Paramount is paying an average of $1.1 billion per year, totaling $7.7 billion, for UFC’s full slate of 13 marquee events and 30 “Fight Nights,” the companies said in a statement. All matches and events will be streamed in the U.S. via Paramount+, and select events will be simulcast on CBS. The deal payments are weighted, with Paramount paying less than $1.1 billion in the early years of the deal and higher values later.

Paramount won’t charge users any additional fees for access to the events, eliminating the pay-per-view model that ESPN+ has used for certain premium UFC events. Disney’s ESPN had been paying an average of $500 million for five years of UFC rights. That deal expires at the end of 2025.
“The pay-per-view model is a thing of the past,” said Mark Shapiro, TKO Group’s president and chief operating officer, in an interview. “What’s on pay-per-view anymore? Boxing? Movies on DirecTV? It’s an outdated, antiquated model. So, it was paramount to us – forgive the pun – where it’s one-stop shopping, especially for our younger fans in flyover states. When they find out, ‘Wait, if I just sign up for Paramount+ for $12.99 a month, I’m going to automatically get UFC’s numbered fights and the rest of the portfolio?’ That’s a message we want to amplify.”
It’s been a busy few days for both Paramount and TKO. Paramount officially sold control of the company to Skydance Media on Thursday, bringing in new leadership led by Chief Executive Officer David Ellison. Also last week, TKO signed a five-year, $1.6 billion deal with ESPN for the U.S. rights to WWE’s premium live events. UFC and WWE merged to become TKO in 2023.
TKO leadership initially believed it would sell just the 30 Fight Night events to Paramount and the premium numbered events to another media partner, said Shapiro. When the Skydance-Paramount deal closed Thursday, the two sides negotiated this deal in 48 hours, he said.
It was important for Ellison to buy the entire UFC package given the scarcity of sports rights available in the coming years, he said in an interview. With Formula 1 rights likely earmarked for Apple and Major League Baseball waiting until 2028 to reorganize its major media packages, there won’t be many top-shelf sports assets coming to market for Paramount to acquire.

“UFC is a unicorn asset that comes up about once a decade,” Ellison said. He described himself as a UFC fan.
UFC events are desirable for streamers because they take place year-round — keeping fans paying for monthly subscriptions with less incentive to cancel seasonally than with other sports. There are 43 live events annually, consisting of 350 hours of live programming.
Paramount is interested in buying UFC’s international rights to pair with U.S. rights, the company said in a statement. Those rights arise on a rolling basis, with about one-third of them available each year. UFC matches are currently available in more than 210 countries.
Paramount will have a 30-day exclusive negotiating window for each country’s rights when they’re up for renewal, Shapiro said.

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Stitch Fix posted its first revenue growth in 12 straight quarters this spring, and the retailer is expecting a second consecutive quarter of positive sales.
Under former Walmart and Macy’s executive Matt Baer, the company has been in the midst of a turnaround plan to bring down costs, fix its assortment and rebrand the business.
The clothing subscription service is expanding its use of AI to make shopping more accessible, fun and modern for customers.

The Stitch Fix logo on a smartphone arranged in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, U.S., on Saturday, June 5, 2021. Stitch Fix Inc. is scheduled to release earning on June 7.
Tiffany Hagler-Geard/ | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Could Stitch Fix be on the path to a comeback? 
The clothing subscription service, one of the many pandemic winners that’s struggled to find itself in a post-lockdown world, is back to growth and seeing some early wins from a turnaround strategy that’s just over two years in the making. 

Under CEO Matt Baer, a former Walmart and Macy’s executive who was tapped to helm the business in June 2023, Stitch Fix posted its first revenue growth in 12 straight quarters for the three months ended May 3. It’s now forecasting its second consecutive quarter of top-line growth. 
While the apparel company’s customer file is still shrinking, its average order value has grown for seven consecutive quarters and every client cohort it’s acquired since last summer has stayed with the company for longer, and spent more, it said. 
The company, which charges a $20 styling fee for all “fixes” it sends, saw revenue per active client grow to $542 during its most recent quarter, up 3% from the year-ago period. 
“It’s been really affirming to us that, you know, with this return to growth, with this increase in engagement, with this increase in average order value, that we do have the right strategy,” Baer told CNBC in an interview. “We’ve got the right team and we’re executing against it at a high level as well.”
Stitch Fix hasn’t posted an annual profit since 2019 but for three straight quarters, its year-over-year losses have narrowed. It regularly generates free cash flow and its balance sheet is free of debt.

To be sure, Stitch Fix’s sales growth in its fiscal third quarter was modest, up just 0.7%, but it expects those gains to continue in its current quarter with sales projected to be flat to up 1.7% year over year. 
And the company’s stock price is still down more than 95% from its pandemic high in January 2021. So far this year, it’s up more than 3% as of Friday’s close. 

The rise and fall 

Retail and restaurant consultant Katrina Lake founded Stitch Fix in 2011 with the mission to combine data with personalized styling to develop a shopping experience that actually felt individualized at scale.
In a world where shoppers regularly groan about the banality of modern-day shopping, Stitch Fix sought to be the panacea by offering accessible personal stylists that could design and ship outfits specific to a customer’s unique needs and preferences.
Between its IPO in 2017 and 2021, the company was able to acquire customers cheaply online and regularly posted revenue growth north of 20%. 

Katrina Lake, CEO of Stitch Fix and others, celebrate their IPO at the Nasdaq, November 17, 2017.
Source: Nasdaq

But then the market grew crowded and suddenly, customers found themselves overwhelmed by all of the companies looking to sell them a monthly subscription box, whether it was a package of clothes, beauty products or dog treats.
The pandemic had changed the way customers were shopping for clothes, and Stitch Fix struggled to hang on to the customers it acquired. Some shoppers found the company’s service clunky and confusing, and the assortment started to feel stale and out of style. The company’s main value proposition, its personalized styling service, began to feel generic to some and disconnected from their personalized needs and style. 
Within four years, the company went from an $11 billion buzzy startup to a tiny business that’s now worth just under $600 million.
In January 2023, StitchFix announced that CEO Elizabeth Spaulding would be stepping down and Lake would return to the helm as its interim CEO and lead the search process for a new top executive.

The road to a comeback 

Before joining Stitch Fix, Baer spent four years as a vice president on Walmart’s e-commerce team during a critical phase of its online growth. He later joined Macy’s as its chief customer and digital officer, where he remained until Lake hired him to revive the subscription styling service. 
But Baer’s career in retail started long before that: At 16, he started working in his family business, Baer’s Furniture & Interior Design, a small chain of furniture stores dotted along the Florida coasts and founded by his great-grandfather in 1945. 
“Growing up in a retail family business, when your name’s on the door, it might mean a little bit extra,” Baer said. “At a very young age, I was also front and center with our clients. I was greeting them when they would walk into a showroom. I was asking them what it is that they were looking for. I was able to understand their needs and translate that into an exceptional service that we could provide.” 

Matt Baer, CEO of Stitch Fix
Courtesy: Stitch Fix

Baer said his first order of business after taking over at Stitch Fix was to understand the company’s primary client and how that shopper was experiencing the service. 
Within a few months, he was attending client focus groups, styling “fixes” — the curated shipments of clothes that go out to customers — and identifying parts of the process that could be improved for both shoppers and the company’s roster of stylists.
He said he learned that customers liked the flexibility of Stitch Fix’s model but wanted more of it, along with more head-to-toe styling that included accessories and footwear. 
In Stitch Fix’s early days, customers had one option – five items in a box at a recurring cadence with one discount mechanism – but these days, there’s less rigidity. Customers can order a fix on demand, opt in for regular deliveries or shop through Stitch Fix’s “freestyle” catalog, which allows them to instantly select and buy pieces based on their style profile. 
These changes, along with larger fixes that can include eight items, is what’s fueling Stitch Fix’s growth in sales and average order value, said Baer. 
Behind the scenes, Baer said, he also sought to infuse “retail best practices” into every facet of the business, which has a model that comes with steep operational challenges. With no physical retail presence, Stitch Fix’s online customer acquisition is expensive and the company has to manage the headaches of packing individual boxes and then processing the stream of free returns that come when clients don’t like the items that came with their fix.
Under Baer’s direction, the company has worked to streamline merchandising, pricing, transportation and warehouse operations. It exited the U.K. market, closed two fulfilment centers and cut staff to get costs closer in line with the size of the business. That work is still ongoing but has cut more than $100 million in annualized general and administrative expenses out of the business, Baer said. An additional $80 million in cost savings is slated for fiscal 2025, research firm William Blair said in a July note.

Courtesy: Stitch Fix

Another primary area of focus was adjusting Stitch Fix’s assortment and revamping its private brand portfolio, which comes at a higher margin and makes up between 40% and 50% of sales, according to Stich Fix. The company has launched new private brands, and one of its men’s lines, The Commons, is now a top 10 brand within the overall portfolio, said Baer. 
The company has deployed generative artificial intelligence for product design and development and on Monday announced plans to expand its use of AI to improve its styling.
A new AI “style assistant” will allow customers to talk to a chatbot that can recommend AI-generated outfits based on their individual preferences. It also plans to deploy a service that will allow clients to see themselves in the outfits their stylists recommend, which could reduce returns and boost conversion. 
For those more eager for a human touch, the company is also launching a new platform that’ll allow shoppers to connect directly with their stylist if they need fashion advice or help with their fix. 
More than two years into his tenure, Baer said he’s still attending monthly client focus groups and styling fixes for customers “nearly every day,” which he said allows him to stay close to customers. 
“One client, she lives in Letcher, South Dakota, population 159, and it’s only because of Stitch Fix that she has access to these brands, that she has the ability to wear product and clothes that are differentiated, unique and special within her community,” said Baer. “That feels great when I give her that confidence, when I’m able to create that joy for her.” 

More work ahead 

Stitch Fix’s turnaround comes at a difficult time for the apparel industry. Shoppers are more selective than ever with their discretionary dollars, and Stitch Fix’s $20 styling fee can feel unnecessary when customers can purchase many of the same items the retailer offers right off the rack and directly from the brand. 
In a June research note, financial firm Mizuho Securities said Stitch Fix’s growth in average order value is expected to dissipate in fiscal 2026 as it laps its expansion into larger fixes. Its active client base is still declining, even as marketing expenses creep higher as a percentage of revenue, the firm said. 
“While management attributed outsized growth to more opportunistic spend and some natural investment cycle, we caution whether it’s becoming more expensive to keep the active customer base engaged,” Mizuho analyst David Bellinger wrote. 

Courtesy: Stitch Fix

In the note, Bellinger maintained his underperform rating on the stock and price target of $3.
Meanwhile, William Blair analyst Dylan Carden upgraded his rating on the stock in July to outperform after meeting with Baer and the company’s CFO. Carden contended the largest headwinds to the stock “despite clear improvement in fundamentals” are the idea that Stitch Fix is a niche product, its total addressable market is small and active customers are expected to eventually stall.
Carden noted “the model likely works for some but nowhere near any sort of critical mass of consumers.”
“This would suggest it is less about Stitch Fix returning to active customer growth and more about being able to string together several quarters of growth at improving margin (i.e., healthy growth) before a skeptical market will start giving it credit,” he wrote.
Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, agreed the company is now on a better trajectory.
“The consumer economy hasn’t been conducive to the growth of subscription platforms, but many of the improvements and enhancements Stitch Fix has been making are starting to pay dividends,” said Saunders. “It is becoming a stickier proposition which should drive some future growth.” More

As a result of the changing EV landscape under President Donald Trump, U.S. automakers are evaluating their product lineups and calculating the dollar impacts.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said during the automaker’s latest earnings call that the company is in a “weird transition period” as it deals with losing EV incentives in the U.S.
Ford CEO Jim Farley said his company has had to change its EV spending and capital allocation “pretty massively” as a result of softer regulations.

Tesla electric vehicles at a charging station in Alhambra, California on March 11, 2025. 
Frederic J. Brown | AFP | Getty Images

On President Donald Trump’s first day in office, he signed an executive order aiming to eliminate the “electric vehicle mandate” and remove subsidies that favor EVs. Since then, his administration has taken steps to do exactly that, while automakers are left figuring out the impact on their bottom lines.
Late last month, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed rescinding a landmark finding from 2009 establishing that greenhouse gases pose a threat to public health. The implication is that automakers would no longer be required to measure, control or report their greenhouse gas emissions.

That action follows the recent passage of Trump’s tax and spending bill, under which the $7,500 tax credit for new EVs and $4,000 credit for used EVs that automakers had benefited from is set to end after Sept. 30.
The new legislation will also end a provision that U.S. EV makers such as Tesla and Rivian have relied on as a key revenue source. Typically, traditional automakers that sell gas-powered cars buy regulatory credits from EV makers to make up for the emissions that come from their tailpipes. Under the new law, however, automakers will no longer have any reason to buy the regulatory credits — marking a win for gas-guzzlers and a loss for EV makers.
As a result of this changing EV landscape, U.S. automakers are evaluating their product lineups and calculating the dollar impacts. Here’s a roundup of what U.S. automakers have said on their latest earnings calls about the softer regulations.

Tesla

On Tesla’s July 23 earnings call, CEO Elon Musk said that Tesla is in a “weird transition period” as it deals with losing EV incentives in the U.S.
“Does that mean like we could have a few rough quarters? Yeah, we probably could have a few rough quarters,” he told analysts.

CFO Vaibhav Taneja said Tesla is focused on building and delivering as many vehicles as possible in the U.S. before the tax credits expire this fall. As a result of this renewed focus, the ramping of Tesla’s lower-cost model will happen slower than expected next quarter, Taneja said.
Taneja added that while Tesla has never planned its business around selling regulatory credits to other automakers, it will see lower revenue as a result of those changes.

General Motors

CFO Paul Jacobson said on the company’s July 22 earnings call that General Motors is anticipating headwinds to EV profitability as a result of the government removing incentives.
He said he expects a rush on EVs before the tax credits expire, but then slower demand after that. However, Jacobson said he expects the change in legislation to have a minimal impact on the automaker’s 2025 results.
Despite the company touting its portfolio, electric vehicles make up a relatively small portion of GM’s total vehicle sales — amounting to 46,300 for the second quarter compared with total vehicle sales of 974,000.
Jacobson said last month that GM has an “inherent advantage” over Tesla because it has more flexibility to adapt to changing EV demand through the diversity of its gas and electric offerings.

Ford Motor

Ford CEO Jim Farley said on the company’s July 30 call with analysts that it has had to change its EV spending and capital allocation “pretty massively” as a result of softer regulations, including by moving out launches and canceling some products.
He said Ford is focused on offering a full range of hybrids across its lineup because of the reality of the EV market today.
“We think that’s a much better move than a $60,000 to $70,000 all-electric crossover. We think that that’s really what customers are going to want long term,” he said of Ford’s hybrid strategy.
CFO Sherry House added that as a result of tax credits going away, Ford could possibly pull back some of its EV production from the U.S. into other areas, such as leaning more heavily on Europe or moving into internal combustion engine products.

Rivian

Rivian does not expect to earn any revenue from regulatory tax credits for the rest of 2025, CFO Claire McDonough told analysts during its Tuesday call. As a result, the EV maker brought its outlook for regulatory credit sales down to $160 million for the rest of 2025, from its prior outlook of $300 million.
CEO RJ Scaringe added that the regulatory credit changes mark a short-term reduction in positive cash for Rivian.
However, he said that the changes could also mean less long-term competition in the EV space, considering that there will be fewer incentives for traditional manufacturers to make investments toward electrification.
“When we look at all those things together, there’s of course some puts and some takes,” Scaringe said.

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The artificial intelligence boom is quickly becoming the largest wealth creation spree in recent history.
That’s boosted in part by blockbuster fundraising rounds this year for Anthropic, Safe Superintelligence, OpenAI, Anysphere and other AI startups, which have helped mint new billionaires.
With time, and IPOs, many of today’s private AI fortunes will eventually become more liquid, providing a historic opportunity for wealth management firms.

Mira Murati, Chief Technology Officer of OpenAI (L) and Dario Amodei,
Getty Images | CNBC

A version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.
Artificial intelligence startups have minted dozens of new billionaires this year, adding to an AI boom that’s quickly becoming the largest wealth creation spree in recent history.

Blockbuster fundraising rounds this year for Anthropic, Safe Superintelligence, OpenAI, Anysphere and other startups have created vast new paper fortunes and propelled valuations to record levels. There are now 498 AI “unicorns,” or private AI companies with valuations of $1 billion or more, with a combined value of $2.7 trillion, according to CB Insights. Fully 100 of them were founded since 2023. There are more than 1,300 AI startups with valuations of over $100 million, the firm said.
Combined with the soaring stock prices of Nvidia, Meta, Microsoft and other publicly traded AI-related firms, along with the infrastructure companies that are building data centers and computing power and the huge payouts for AI engineers, AI is creating personal wealth on a scale that makes the past two tech waves look like warmups.
“Going back over 100 years of data, we have never seen wealth created at this size and speed,” said Andrew McAfee, principal researcher at MIT. “It’s unprecedented.”
A new crop of billionaires is rising with sky-rocketing valuations. In March, Bloomberg estimated that four of the largest private AI companies had created at least 15 billionaires with a combined net worth of $38 billion. More than a dozen unicorns have been crowned since then.

Mira Murati, who left Open AI last September, launched Thinking Machines Lab in February. By July, she raised $2 billion in the largest seed round in history, giving the company a $12 billion valuation, according to reports.

Anthropic AI is in talks to raise $5 billion at a valuation of $170 billion, nearly three times its valuation in March. CEO Dario Amodei and its six other founders are now likely multibillionaires, according to people familiar with the company.
Anysphere was valued at $9.9 billion in a June fundraise and just weeks later was reportedly offered a valuation of $18 billion to $20 billion, likely making its 25-year-old founder and CEO, Michael Truell, a billionaire.
Granted, most of the AI wealth creation is in private companies, making it difficult for equity holders and founders to cash out. Unlike the dot-com boom of the late 1990s, when a flood of companies went public, today’s AI startups can stay private for longer given the constant investment from venture capital funds, sovereign wealth funds, family offices and other tech investors.
At the same time, the rapid growth of secondary markets is allowing equity owners of private companies to sell their shares to other investors and provide liquidity. Structured secondary sales or tender offers are becoming widespread. Many founders can also borrow against their equity.

Open AI is holding talks for a secondary share sale to provide cash to employees. Its proposed valuation of $500 billion follows the company’s fundraise in March that provided a $300 billion valuation.
Dozens of private firms are being acquired or merging, also providing liquidity. After Meta invested $14.3 billion in Scale AI, founder Alexandr Wang joined Meta’s AI team. There have been 73 liquidity events — including mergers and acquisitions, IPOs, reverse mergers or corporate majority stakes — since 2023, according to CB Insights. Following the Meta deal, Scale AI’s co-founder, Lucy Guo, who left the company in 2018, bought a mansion in LA’s Hollywood Hills for around $30 million.
Still, the AI surge is largely centered in the Bay Area, reminiscent of the dot-com era. Last year, Silicon Valley companies raised more than $35 billion in venture funding, according to the Silicon Valley Institute for Regional Studies. San Francisco now has more billionaires than New York, with 82 compared with New York’s 66, according to New World Wealth and Henley & Partners. The Bay Area’s millionaire population has doubled over the past decade, compared with New York’s growth of 45%.
More homes sold above $20 million in San Francisco last year than in any other year in history, according to Sotheby’s International Realty. Rising rents, home prices and demand in the city, attributed in large part to AI, mark a sharp turnaround for a city facing a “doom loop” just a few years ago.
“It’s astonishing how geographically concentrated this AI wave is,” said McAfee, who is also co-director of MIT’s Initiative on the Digital Economy. “The people who know how to found and fund and grow tech companies are there. I’ve heard people say for 25 years ‘This is the end of the Silicon Valley’ or some other place is ‘the new Silicon Valley.’ But Silicon Valley is still Silicon Valley.”

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With time, and initial public offerings, many of today’s private AI fortunes will eventually become more liquid, providing a historic opportunity for wealth management firms. All of the major private banks, wirehouses, independent advisors and boutique firms are cozying up to the AI elite in hopes of winning their business, according to tech advisors.
Like the dot-com millionaires, however, luring the AI wealthy may be challenging for traditional wealth management companies. Simon Krinsky, executive managing director at Pathstone and former managing director at Hall Capital Partners in San Francisco, said most AI wealth is locked up in private companies and therefore can’t be turned into wealth management accounts.
“I would say a much higher percentage of the ultimate wealth being created is illiquid,” he said. “There are ways of getting liquidity, but it’s tiny compared to being employed at Meta or Google” or another megacap publicly traded tech company.
Eventually, those fortunes will become liquid and prized by wealth management firms. Krinsky said the AI wealthy are likely to follow similar client patterns as the newly rich dot-commers of the 1990s. Initially, the dot-commers used their excess liquidity and assets to invest in similar tech companies they knew through their networks, colleagues or shared investors. He said the same is likely true for the AI wealthy.
“Everybody turned around and invested with their friends in the same kind of companies that created their own wealth,” he said.
After discovering the perils of having all their wealth concentrated in one highly volatile and speculative industry, the dot-commers turned to wealth management. And being born disruptors, many turned their capital and skills toward reinventing the wealth management industry in their image. Netscape founder Jim Clark, for instance, helped launch MyCFO, a response to his dislike of bankers and the industry.
Krinksy said today’s AI entrepreneurs are likely to follow the same path, with huge potential for AI to disrupt — if not replace — many of the traditional functions of wealth management.
Ultimately, however, the ultra-wealthy AI founders will discover the need for the traditional, personalized service that only dedicated wealth management teams can provide, whether it’s around taxes, inheritances and estate planning, or philanthropy advice and portfolio construction.
“After people were beaten up or bruised up in the early 2000s, they came around to appreciating some degree of diversification and maybe hiring a professional manager to protect them from themselves,” Krinksy said. “I anticipate a similar trend with the AI group.” More