AI Dispatch from The Eternal City

The World According to Boyar: Inside Shareholder Activism with Wachtell Lipton’s Lina Tetelbaum
In a wide-ranging interview, Lina Tetelbaum gives insight into how activist shareholders think and why they target companies along with sharing her perspective on Wachtell Lipton’s history in shaping how these fights are won. Listen Here

Financial Times: Elliott Presses Bunzl for Buybacks After Building Stake
The activist has called on the business supplies distributor to consider share buybacks and review its North American business in Elliott’s latest foray into the U.K. following its involvement with LSEG. Read More

Financial Times: Activist Investor TOMS Capital Targets Devon Energy After Landmark Merger
Only a few months after its merger with Coterra Energy, Devon has seen TOMS Capital enter its stock. This news comes on the back of activist investor Kimmeridge, who has been in the stock for a while, pushing the oil and gas to consider asset sales and improve operational performance. Read More

Bloomberg: Ananym Urges Bio-Techne to Consider Sale
Ananym Capital is pushing the life-sciences company to initiate a strategic review after it has underperformed peers and the broader market. In a letter to Bio-Techne, Ananym argued that the company could see greater value as part of a larger industry player rather than operating as a standalone company. Read More

The Wall Street Journal: SpaceX’s $60 Billion Deal to Buy Cursor Gives It More AI Coding Power
Armed with additional capital after the company’s historic IPO, SpaceX officially announced its acquisition of “vibe-coding” pioneer Cursor in a move that is designed to help keep up with its AI rivals. Read More

Fox Enters the M&A Fray as Netflix Potentially Sets Sights on a New Target
After a year of dealmaking in the streaming sector, Reuters reports on Fox’s proposed acquisition of Roku in a bet that the streaming platform will help Fox’s ad business and expand its online reach. Meanwhile, Semafor reported that streaming giant Netflix was interested in acquiring Roku and might now be interested in pursuing long-time acquisition target Lionsgate. Netflix denied both reports, but this could indicate that the streaming M&A spree is not done yet.

The Wall Street Journal: EQT Agrees to Buy Intertek Group for $12.36 Billion
After months of speculation, Swedish PE giant EQT clinched a deal to buy the U.K. testing specialist that will boost Intertek’s innovation and targeted M&A efforts. The deal is a win for shareholders, including Lost Coast Collective (run by Nelson Peltz’s son Matthew), who had been pushing the company to engage with EQT after the PE firm’s first three bids were rejected. Read More

TechCrunch: Salesforce Acquires AI Customer Service Platform Fin for $3.6 Billion
Chatter about AI use in the workplace continues after Salesforce moves to strengthen their AI platform, Agentforce, by incorporating Fin’s customer service software. Ultimately, Salesforce seeks to support companies with developing agents to accelerate tasks, efficiency, and customer service offerings. Read More

The New York Times: Elon Musk’s Feud With Delaware May Transform Corporate America
Elon Musk’s legal battle over his $55 billion Tesla compensation package has accelerated a corporate exodus from Delaware, as companies defect to Texas and Nevada courts with weakened shareholder protections, raising fears among legal experts of a systematic degradation of U.S. corporate governance standards. Larry Hamermesh, a retired Delaware attorney and former law school professor, noted that, while he agreed with the Tesla rulings, Delaware should address the concerns about the “toxic” environment – “particularly for controlling shareholders.” Read More

Governance Intelligence: When Governance Fails at the Top: Lessons from BP’s Boardroom Upheaval
Tonya Mitchem Grindon writes that BP’s chairman ouster over sustained abusive conduct illustrates how governance failures rarely emerge suddenly, but instead reflect unaddressed behavioral problems that erode accountability, psychological safety, and institutional trust until a crisis forces action. Read More

Reuters: SPACs are Back, Thanks to Wall Street’s Mega-IPO Frenzy
With $56.8 billion in dry powder and 44 mergers announced year-to-date, blank-check companies are resurging as smaller firms seek an alternate route to public markets rather than compete for investor attention against marquee listings such as SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI. Read More

Reuters: Ant Group-Backed DSC Targets $901 Million Valuation in US IPO
China’s DSC Holdings, an Ant Group-backed software provider, is seeking up to $54 million on Nasdaq in a rare U.S. listing of a Chinese company amidst tightened Beijing scrutiny over offshore IPOs and U.S.-China relations. Read More

Bloomberg: Brookfield-Backed Data Center Firm Csquare Files for US IPO
Riding the wave of recent AI-related IPOs, data center company Csquare has filed to go public with the goal to pay down more than $800 million in debt. Read More

In a rite of passage for those new to New York City, GPPs Summer Interns recently set out on a noble quest to sink their teeth into one of our most iconic culinary achievements: a New York slice.

Based on recommendations from locals, the Beli app and other GPPers, they set out on a self-guided pizza walking tour around the West Village. Stops included Bleecker Street Pizza, Joe’s Pizza, Mama’s TOO! and Upside Pizza (L’Industrie Pizzeria was also on the list, but after seeing the line that slice will have to wait for another day).

The clear favorite was Mama’s TOO!’s “Uncle Joe” slice. With a vodka sauce base, burrata, pepperoni and pesto, it packed an impressive amount of flavor into a single slice. The crust was crispy on the outside and perfectly fluffy on the inside, while the pepperoni brought just the right amount of heat. But the real shoutout was the pesto, which added freshness and tang that made the slice unforgettable.

Even though they didn’t win first place in the prestigious GPP Intern Pizza Contest™, you can’t miss our second place and third place spots, Joe’s Pizza and Bleecker Street, respectively. Both had classic slices that had incredible cheese pulls and the best old school and classic “New York” atmosphere. Last (but certainly not least), Upside Pizza brought sourdough crust and spicy vodka sauce, but unfortunately, it could not keep up with the others.

In addition to finding perfect pizza, if you’re also on the hunt for new cuisines to try this weekend, consider heading to the Lower East Side this Saturday for the 25th Annual Egg Rolls, Egg Creams & Empanadas Festival. Along with plenty of food, you can catch live performances, brush up on your mah-jongg skills, and even learn how to make empanadas, dumplings and challah bread.

• The New York Times: David Hockney and the Bliss of Not Standing Still
• The New Yorker: Ken Griffin’s Billions, and Billions
• The New York Times: Here Are the 2026 James Beard Restaurant Award Winners
• Oceanographic Magazine: Reef Relief: Scientists Map 165,000km² of Climate Resilient Coral
• ESPN: Cape Verde GK Vozinha Stopped World Cup Favorites Spain … Then Gained 8M Followers

• June 18-20: Rome Conference on AI, Ethics, and the Future of Governance – Rome, Italy