Stripe's efforts to buy PayPal might have died the moment PayPal reported Q2 earnings, even if the bid remained active for another month.

The big picture: Stripe and private equity partner Advent International based their $60.50 per share bid on PayPal's value before the first news reports of a possible deal.

• PayPal, meanwhile, believed that subsequent price appreciation was mostly due to its own performance — which meant $60.50 was way too low.

Timeline:

• Feb. 24: Bloomberg reports on a possible deal. Shares open that morning at $43.49 and close at $47.02.
• Feb. 26: Semafor pours cold water on the deal, saying the two sides weren't in talks. Shares fall back to $45.53.
• March 1: Enrique Lores takes over as PayPal CEO.
• Early April: Stripe and Advent approach PayPal about a deal, but don't get a response. It doesn't leak.
• April 29: PayPal announces a corporate reorganization. Shares close the month at $50.14.
• May 5: PayPal reports Q1 financials. It beats on earnings, misses on revenue and maintains guidance. Shares close at $46.49.
• July 14: Reuters reports late in the evening that Stripe and Advent have offered to buy PayPal for $60.50 per share, a 39% premium to the pre-Bloomberg report price. Shares open 16% higher the next morning at $54.85.
• July 29: PayPal reports Q2 financials, beating on both earnings and revenue. Shares rise only slightly, closing at $58.35, but up 3% from the prior day's open of $56.76.
• Aug. 13: The share price surpasses Stripe and Advent's bid, closing at $60.59.
• Aug. 27: Stripe and Advent walk away, and PayPal shares tumble 12% at the next morning's open and have kept sliding. Yesterday it closed at $52.66.

Behind the scenes: Sources suggest that negotiations kept coming back to the divergent opinions of why the share price was rising.

• Stripe thought it was because of its acquisition interest, whereas PayPal thought it was because of a turnaround plan that was delivering results.

Zoom in: Both sides have some evidence in their corner.

• For Stripe, it's the stock price bumps after acquisition reports, and the big drop since last Thursday. For PayPal, it's the premium before last Thursday — suggesting investors believed a sweetened bid was in order.
• Stripe has the slightly better case, just based on the preponderance of movement.

Look ahead: It's still possible the two sides come back to the table, although a likelier M&A outlook involves PayPal divesting some noncore businesses.

The bottom line: This would have been the largest merger ever in the payments space, but it collapsed over how much to pay.

Easy Aerial, a New York-based developer of autonomous tethered drone systems for aerial surveillance, raised $20 million in Series B funding from Insight Partners and Entrée Capital.

Why it's the BFD: The startup was at the center of controversy earlier this year, when it was booted from the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

• Easy Aerial said the eviction was prompted by protests over its work with the Israeli Defense Forces, with its CEO claiming that Mayor Zohran Mamdani was behind the decision.
• Navy Yard officials claimed that Easy Aerial's lease wasn't renewed because of "repeated compliance" violations, including "flying drones in unauthorized areas."
• The company now appears to be based in a different Brooklyn commercial complex.

The bottom line: "Two of the company's multi-rotor drones are on the Defense Department's Blue UAS Cleared List, which means they meet certain congressionally mandated requirements and are therefore eligible for purchase by DoD and federal agencies." — Cal Biesecker, Defense Daily

• Clay, an NYC-based sales automation startup, is raising new funding led by Wellington Management at a $7b pre-money valuation, per Axios Pro. axios.link/4qKNyVM

• Polymarket secured around $300m from insider 1789 Capital at a $21b valuation, as part of a larger round, per the WSJ. axios.link/4zQyBWg

• HiBob, an NYC-based HR and benefits software startup, raised $160m at a valuation north of $3.2b, per Bloomberg. Salesforce led, joined by Farallon Capital Management. axios.link/4qRyW7d

🚑 Scan.com, a medical imaging network, raised $90m in equity funding. Noteus Partners led, joined by Aviva, Concord Health Partners, YZR Capital, and Oxford Capital. It also secured $130m of debt from VerisFi Capital and Atempo Growth. axios.link/4gGQvC2

• HubX, a Turkish mobile app builder, raised $50m at a $1.2b pre-money valuation from Point72 Private Investments, which has an option to invest another $25m. axios.link/4zPk3Gz

⚡ Light, an Austin-based enabler of embedded electricity products for businesses, raised $46m in Series A funding. Matrix Partners led, joined by Activate Capital. axios.link/4cgFLcw

• Locus Robotics, a Wilmington, Mass.-based warehouse robot and software developer, raised $41.6m in a Series G round that could hit $100m, per Axios Pro. Backers include Tiger Global, Goldman Sachs, G2 Venture Partners, and Scale Venture Partners. axios.link/4xvMzLE

• Reframe Systems, an Andover, Mass.-based home construction platform, raised $40m. Energy Impact Partners led, joined by Counterpart Ventures, E12 Ventures, Global Brain, Thin Line Capital, Up Partners, LACI Impact Fund and insiders Eclipse, VoLo Earth, Cubit Capital, RA Capital Management, MassMutual Catalyst, and Nor'easter. axios.link/4hZTgAU

• Clipto, an SF-based video search startup, raised $15m at a $250m valuation from HSG, GL Ventures, EnvisionX Capital, Palm Drive Capital, Hans Tung, Lu Zhang, and 522 Ventures. axios.link/4xwshSg

• Aranya, an SF-based platform for managing inference workloads, has raised $11m, per Axios Pro. First Round Capital led, joined by Box Group, Vermilion Cliffs, and Asylum Ventures. axios.link/4i61lEm

⚡️Molten Salt Solutions, a Santa Fe, N.M.-based lithium enrichment startup, raised $7m in seed funding. Dolby Family Ventures led, joined by Vanedge Capital Partners, Alumni Ventures, Gaingels, True Ventures, and Future Ventures. axios.link/4h1kjuG

• Blue Voice, a Boston-based real-time policy guide for police officers in the field, raised $6m led by SignalFire and Las Olas VC. axios.link/4qQph0G

• Xorlab, a Swiss email security startup, raised €5m in Series A+ funding. Spicehaus Partners led, joined by insiders Grapha Holding, EquityPitcher Ventures and ZKB Start-up Finance. axios.link/3UL6Xdh

• Alteon, an Indian developer of long-flight autonomous aircraft, raised $2.5m in pre-seed funding. Lachy Groom led, joined by Together Fund. axios.link/45Vujzo

⚡️Leanwatts, an Indian developer of power electronics and EV charging infrastructure, raised $2m in seed funding led by India-based Trivest Partners. axios.link/4i0MNpr

🚑 Bain Capital and EQT are circling Nucleus Network, an Australian clinical trials company owned by Blackstone, per The Australian. axios.link/46vajno

• Corridor Capital invested in Titan Investors, a Miami-based producer of investment events. axios.link/4x0qRi4

• Empris agreed to buy U.K. telco Gamma Communications (LSE: GAMA) for around £1b. axios.link/4600xcQ

• Envestnet, a Bain Capital portfolio company, is in advanced talks to buy Vestmark, a Wakefield, Mass.-based provider of wealth management software that's backed by Summit Partners, per Citywire. axios.link/4xCeqdu

• Flexstone Partners, an affiliate of Natixis, completed its acquisition of Glouston Capital Partners, a Boston-based PE secondaries manager with over $3.4b in AUM. axios.link/4a25yE7

• GI Partners agreed to acquire Otodata, a Montreal-based provider of remote monitoring and vehicle tracking solutions, from backers like Renovo Capital (which retains a minority stake). axios.link/4d7BaJN

• Great Hill Partners invested in Aurenity, a West Hartford, Conn.-based excess & surplus managing general agent. axios.link/4yjgirv

• Levine Leichtman Capital Partners acquired Colt Group, a Pasadena, Texas-based provider of specialty industrial services. axios.link/4gI57RR

• Pye-Barker Fire & Safety, backed by ADIA and GIC, acquired Suppression Systems, a Tacoma, Wash.-based fire suppression company. axios.link/4gITmuA

• Veritas Capital agreed to buy British heat treatment firm Bodycote (LSE: BOY) for £1.85b, beating out CVC Capital Partners. axios.link/4deVnxo

• Shein, the fast-fashion retailer, raised $1.74b in its Hong Kong IPO after pricing in the middle of its range. axios.link/4i4Zxve

⚡ SB Energy, a Redwood City, Calif.-based data center infrastructure firm, filed for an IPO. It reports a $3.2b net loss on $139m of revenue for the first half of 2026 and plans to list on the Nasdaq (SBE). Backers include SoftBank, OpenAI, and Nvidia. axios.link/4zLI9lD

• Wella, an NYC-based maker of nail polish and other beauty products, filed for an IPO that Renaissance Capital estimates could raise more than $500m. It reports $62m of net income on $2.94b of revenue for the year ended June 30, 2026 and plans to list on the NYSE (WELA). KKR carved Wella out of Coty in 2020. axios.link/4yaK3KN

• Figure (Nasdaq: FIGR) completed its $717m acquisition of Kiavi, a Pittsburgh-based lending platform for residential real estate investors. Kiavi had raised over $600m from firms like Ribbit Capital, Quiet Capital, Benefit Street Partners, Sberbank, FJ Labs, First Round Capital, and Foundation Capital. axios.link/3Uy7iju

🚑 H.I.G. Capital is seeking to sell Rising Pharmaceuticals, an East Brunswick, N.J.-based drugmaker that could fetch $1b, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4izEocI

• Deloitte acquired Wavicle Data Solutions, a data and AI engineering organization with a Databricks practice. axios.link/4zOUTI0

• Elliott Investment Management has built a stake in Air Liquide (Paris: AIRP), per Reuters. axios.link/4zMJkRA

⚡ ePointZero of Abu Dhabi, UAE, agreed to acquire a 90% stake in Azura Power, a pan-African independent power producer. axios.link/46wtDR4

• Frasers Group (LSE: FRAS) plans to increase its stake in Hugo Boss (ETR: BOSS) to over 50%, after its €2.7b takeover offer failed. axios.link/4ybw8nR

• Shoprite (JSE: SHP), a South Africa-based grocer, agreed to buy both coffee shop chain Vida e Caffè and a majority stake in R&A Cellular. axios.link/4gvGp8x

• A16z expanded its fifth growth fund to $8.5b, after having announced a $6.75b close in January. axios.link/3SBFZEs

• Ares Management raised around $4b for its fifth Japanese logistics development fund. axios.link/4gvufwo

• Carrick Capital Partners raised $600m for a single-asset VC focused on identity security company Saviynt, including a new $255m investment. Coller Capital and HSBC Asset Management led. axios.link/4A3vA5k

• Prompt Capital, a solo-GP venture effort from Loren Straub (ex-Bowery Capital), is raising up to $40m for its debut fund. axios.link/4x0rTKY

⚡ Erik Elsea joined Simpson Thacher & Bartlett as a partner in the law firm's energy and infrastructure practice. He previously was with Skadden Arps. axios.link/4gG7Pax

• David Layton is out as CEO of Partners Group, where he'll become CIO, with Roberto Cagnati and Juri Jenkner to serve as co-CEOs. axios.link/4ybiNMj

• Doug Stebbins joined Mirus Capital Advisors as a managing director. He previously was with Consensus Advisors. axios.link/4zNqpGn

Tim Cook's run as Apple CEO came to a close yesterday, 15 years after taking over for the ailing Steve Jobs.

• He didn't introduce many novel products, but supercharged the top and bottom lines as Apple became as much of a services company as a hardware company.
• Investors gave him high marks, with Apple shares more than doubling the Nasdaq and more than quadrupling the S&P 500.

Go deeper: Cook's legacy hinges on Apple's AI bets