FTSE 100 chief executives were paid more than £5mn this year on average as British companies competed for talent. On Sunday, Oliver Barnes and Antoine Gara reported that Michael Dell's family office DFO Management and Sequence Holdings prevailed in a $7.7bn deal for The Baldwin Group, besting PE giants including KKR. DD reckons this is a watershed moment as technology investors armed with AI encroach on private equity turf. Firms such as General Catalyst, Thrive Holdings and Long Lake are fashioning private equity-style business units to bring AI to the real economy. Long Lake struck a deal to acquire American Express GBT for $6.3bn. These firms are populated by former mid-level private capital associates at groups including Apollo Global or Oaktree aiming to leapfrog their former superiors. The idea is that agentic AI technologies can revolutionise businesses, creating new efficiencies and higher returns on capital. Sequence Holdings, backed by Dell, came at a about 20-times multiple, far richer than traditional PE buyers like Madison Dearborn who paid about six times after the 2008 crisis.

Vy Capital is one of Silicon Valley's most secretive venture capital firms, led by Alexander Tamas and John Hering. The firm has just a four-person investment team and has never given interviews. However, it has become one of Elon Musk's most important backers. A decade ago, Vy first invested in Musk's Space X at a $15bn valuation. The firm built its position, including writing a $100mn cheque in 2016 after the failed Falcon 9 launch. That early bet has paid off big time, with Vy's stake in Space X now worth about $40bn, making it the rocket group's fifth-largest shareholder. Vy's total assets reached about $50bn through June, up from $27bn at the end of last year, marking a 41 per cent gross IRR since 2014. Vy is also the largest outside investor in Musk's Boring Co and Neuralink, and committed $700mn to his 2022 acquisition of Twitter.