More public relations firms are creating venture arms or outside funds to support the clients they are advising.
Why it matters: The trend could signal a new business model for an industry that is grappling with economic headwinds brought on by AI and its threat to billable hours.
Chipotle is rolling out its first-ever High Protein Menu — and it's tying the launch to the rise of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs and a broader focus on macronutrients.
Why it matters: The fast-casual chain is stepping into territory most major restaurant brands have avoided — directly acknowledging how GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Zepbound are reshaping how Americans eat, signaling the messaging is going mainstream.
The House on Thursday passed a bill that would streamline and speed up agencies' environmental reviews for energy and other projects — but it faces major changes in the Senate.
Why it matters: Overhauling the process for green-lighting industry projects is of paramount importance for many business groups.
Medline yesterday jolted the sleepy IPO market, raising the largest offering in years and then watching shares pop more than 40%.
It also might have restored faith in leveraged buyouts, at a time when many limited partners in private equity funds are questioning the model's viability.
Catch up quick: Axios wrote a lot about Medline when it was acquired in 2021, namely because it felt like a nostalgic throwback.
For starters, the deal was huge. More than $30 billion, in what was one of the largest health-care buyouts ever. And over half the headline number was debt.
Second, it was a club deal. Three private equity firms — Blackstone, Carlyle, and Hellman & Friedman — that each had identical stakes that, when combined, gave them control. There also was a few billion of sovereign wealth co-invest, while the founding Mills family remained Medline's largest single shareholder.
Finally, this was never going to be flipped via a trade sale, as Medline was the market leader in hospital supplies by a country mile. Its new debt made a sponsor sale unlikely. Going public was always the goal.
The intrigue: There also was timing risk related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Medline's financials still were stuffed with revenue from products like masks, gloves, and testing kits. The buyers had to suss out how much of that excess demand would wane.
Meanwhile, some rivals abandoned the space. McKesson announced plans to spin off its relevant business, while Owens & Minor last month agreed to sell its unit to Platinum Equity for $375 million.
Zoom in: Medline spent four years growing via over $1 billion in acquisitions and international expansion.
It filed confidentially for an IPO at the end of 2024 and began serious conversations in March.
But those plans got waylaid by President Trump's tariff rollout in early April, both because of their impact on Wall Street and also on Medline's actual business.
By the numbers: Blackstone, Carlyle, and H&F invested roughly $3.5 billion into the buyout, Axios Pro's Lucinda Shen reports.
At yesterday's close, each of those stakes would have been valued at $9.3 billion. Minus any shares sold via a synthetic secondary tied to the IPO.
It's the sort of return that can calm a lot of LP concerns (much like what SpaceX might do next year for VC fund LPs).
The bottom line: It feels weird to say that private equity needed a win. But it did.
Anthropic is releasing new tools to help business customers bring order to the wild west of workplace AI.
Why it matters: Chatbots can't achieve meaningful productivity gains and return on investment for businesses until they're tailored to how users actually work.
Communication leaders are continuing to gain influence in the C-suite and are making more money than ever before, according to a new report from executive search firm Korn Ferry, shared exclusively with Axios.
Why it matters: A function that used to be seen as a cost center is now an indispensable alignment mechanism, guiding businesses through AI transformation, political upheaval and a fractured information landscape.
Time is running out to ship gifts and have them delivered by Christmas.
Why it matters: Carriers are hitting their last recommended dates to get packages to doorsteps by Dec. 24 — and the longer you wait, the more you'll pay.
The Consumer Price Index cooled in November, signaling easing inflation, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Thursday.
Why it matters: The first inflation report since the government reopening shows easing price hikes as the White House faces growing pressure to address affordability concerns.
Washingtonians, it's time to consider a new sleep routine.
The big picture: Compared to the rest of the country, Oura users in D.C. had the lowest average sleep score, per data the smart ring company shared with Axios.
Bond yields for the largest Big Tech debt borrowers have climbed and trading in credit default swaps has surged as investors reassess the risks behind the AI boom.
Why it matters: The activity may actually reflect traders hedging so they can buy even more AI-linked debt, a sign of froth, not fear.
Over half of U.S. homes — and 85% of homes in Tampa Bay — lost value in the past year, according to Zillow.
Why it matters: The national figure, 53%, is the highest since 2012, but the vast majority of homeowners still "have plenty to feel good about," the real estate site reports.
Oracle keeps making investors nervous. Not just about the company itself, but about Big Tech's enormous bet on AI that has been the engine of our economic growth and the bull market.
Why it matters: With so much money at stake, any sign of a delay in AI profits raises the risk that some players may never get there.
Nearly 3,000 new data centers are under construction or planned across the U.S., per a new analysis shared first with Axios — adding to the more than 4,000 already in operation.
Why it matters: Big tech and many local leaders are full steam ahead on building as many data centers as possible to generate revenue and power the AI boom — but they're fueling a major political fight, with locals pushing back over energy use and other concerns.
Google search data shows America is craving peanut butter this Christmas, with recipes for Peanut Butter Blossoms and Peanut Butter Balls topping the holiday charts for fastest-rising cookies.
The big picture: Holiday baking patterns offer an early look at what Americans are craving this winter.
A former Harvard Medical School morgue manager was sentenced to eight years in prison for stealing and selling human body parts as part of a nationwide scheme.
The big picture: Cedric Lodge, 58, pleaded guilty in May to conspiracy and interstate transportation of stolen human remains, which prosecutors said involved the theft and sale of organs, skin, brains and dissected heads from cadavers donated to Harvard from 2018 "through at least March 2020," a Department of Justice statement announcing their sentencing on Tuesday.
The White House said the U.S. would be "lucky" to have President Trump remain in office for a longer period, after lawyer Alan Dershowitz told the Wall Street Journal he shared a draft of his new book exploring the possibility of a third presidential term.
The big picture: Trump and his administration have repeatedly teased a 2028 run, despite the 22nd Amendment barring presidents from being elected to a third term.
