174. Canaries in the Coal Mine? Perplexity's $34bn bid for Chrome; Fed Cut Fallout, and Private Credit PIK Concerns

Send us a text This week, Kristen and Jen dive straight into the finance headlines with a M&A story: Perplexity, an AI startup valued at $18 billion, has made a $34 billion all-cash bid for Google Chrome. Kristen unpacks why this is virtually unprecedented in dealmaking, explaining how the size mismatch, lack of financing capacity, and Chrome’s not-for-sale status make the offer so unusual. They revisit the AOL–Time Warner merger as the closest (though still imperfect) precedent and debat...