CAPITAL MARKETS

Roy Hefer

The private credit market grew rapidly, but 2026 has thrown it for a loop. According to Goldman Sachs, “several high-profile defaults, concerns about valuations, and exposure to a software industry vulnerable to AI disruption have fueled a surge in redemption requests.”

But that doesn’t mean dealmaking has slowed entirely, even with all the talk of the SaaS-pocalypse earlier this year. In June, AI travel and spend platform Perk announced a $300 million credit facility led by Neuberger Specialty Finance, Blue Owl Capital, Hercules Capital, and Liquidity. “The facility upsizes and replaces Perk’s 2024 credit facility on materially improved terms,” according to a Perk press release.

Perk CFO Roy Hefer acknowledged the debt deal was a “big thing that happened for us from a capitalization perspective.”

“The timing for us—this is Q1, Q2—was challenging, because again there was so much uncertainty about what’s happening to SaaS B2B. The deal teams were trying to get the deal through on their side, but…the backdrop was a lot of these big credit funds had actually downgraded their portfolio,” he said.

Why you don’t call investors only when you need money.—DL

      

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CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

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What’s the difference between a board meeting and a middle school dance where all of your “friends” randomly decide you’re out of the group?

Oh…you thought that was a punchline? We were genuinely asking.

For any CFOs with a board seat, it’s safe to assume that at least some of your so-called “colleagues” secretly want you G-O-N-E, based on PwC’s annual corporate directors survey: Over half (55%) of corporate directors thought at least one of their colleagues should be replaced, and of those, 39% cited “insufficient expertise” as their reasoning.

Just wait until middle schoolers realize you can banish someone for “insufficient expertise.”

Board members have clearly picked up on the would-be tween insult: While the percentage of corporate directors who want to see a colleague replaced was in line with last year, the “insufficient expertise” reasoning climbed from 2025, when only 21% of directors cited the same rationale.

Board members are really looking for cultural fit, not more expertise.—NP

      

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IPOs

Getty Images/Morning Brew Inc.

We’ve all heard it: AI could take our jobs, outsmart humans, or, if you ask some, kill us all. Anthropic isn’t interested in dispelling the rumors.

The Claude maker’s newly leaked IPO prospectus spends a sizable chunk of its 261 pages laying out everything that could go wrong as AI gets smarter, including “catastrophic or existential risks to humanity.” But for investors considering buying in, the scarier reading may be the 48 pages covering the actual business.

Among the numbers inside:

• Anthropic is seeking a valuation above $2 trillion, more than double the $965 billion post-money valuation it announced in May.
• While revenue grew twelvefold in 2025 to nearly $4.6 billion, the company still posted a net loss of roughly $42 billion. Most of that came from an accounting charge, but operating losses still exceeded $8 billion. In other words, for every dollar Anthropic brought in, it lost $9.
• Of at least $518 billion committed to cloud computing and other AI infrastructure over roughly the next decade, about 80% is effectively noncancelable.
• Two customers accounted for nearly a quarter of revenue last year, and the firm disclosed that many major customers are not locked into long-term contracts.

Anthropic IPO is big, but at a $2 trillion valuation, it’s expensive, Brew Markets reports.—SY

      

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market forces

Francis Scialabba

Today’s top finance reads.

Stat. $250 million. That’s how much dating app Grindr paid in cash and stock to acquire HIV-prevention telehealth provider Freddie, as it aims for a broader platform for the gay community. (Wall Street Journal)

Quote. “There are many different measures of inflation, but it’s running at around a 3% rate. It’s been elevated now for more than five years. I didn’t think the inflation data today really changed that story for me very much.”—Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari on Wednesday (CNBC)

Read. Inside Jane Street, Wall Street’s biggest trading house, and the people behind it. (Bloomberg)

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