Special purpose vehicles were always the sort of tool investors used only occasionally, in special circumstances. A hot deal. A founder who didn’t want 100 angels on the cap table. A one-off opportunity that didn’t quite fit inside a fund’s mandate. SPVs were the exception.In 2025, they stopped being that. As Forbes put it recently,
Financial
Some Dystopic Thoughts for the New Year
Things are looking pretty sweet out there right now, aren’t they? The economy seems immune to all the handwringing over jobs and inflation. The stock market is on fire. The financial community, including but certainly not limited to the commercial real estate finance community, is doing cartwheels over the expectation that 2026 will be the year we’ve been…
New Proxy Advisor Developments
With each passing day, the 2026 proxy season gets more interesting (and not in a positive way for proxy advisory firms). On December 8, 2025, the Trump administration issued an executive order (the “Executive Order”) addressing the influence that proxy advisors “wield” to promote “radical politically-motivated agendas” (read more here). The Executive Order instructed…
Worried About a Possible AI Bubble Burst?

There’s lots to worry about as we enter the New Year, not least a newly emboldened and militarily active U.S. There are also things to worry about in the financial markets, even as the various indices trade at or near record levels. Much of the recent run-up in market valuations is due to investor…
The Top Ten D&O Stories of 2025

The directors’ and officers’ liability environment is always changing, but 2025 was a particularly eventful year, with important consequences for the D&O insurance marketplace. The past year’s many developments also have significant implications for what may lie ahead in 2026 – and possibly for years to come. I have set out below the Top Ten…
Federal Court Securities Suit Filings Declined Slightly in 2025

After two consecutive years in which the annual number of federal court securities class action lawsuit filings increased, the number of federal court securities class action lawsuit filings decreased slightly in 2025 compared to 2024, to the lowest level since 2022. The number of federal court securities class action suit filings during past year reflected…
2025: The Year in Review
The Year the Future Became the Default Setting
If 2024 was the year we all started talking to machines, 2025 was the year they, as agents, started talking back. More importantly, my agents kindly worked for me. Looking back at the last twelve months from my desk today, I feel grateful for another year of…
Inside Cisco’s AI Playbook: Austin Lin on AgenticOps, Meraki, and the Future of Network Management
Today’s discussion will explore the rapid evolution of technology, spanning hardware, software, and the pivotal race toward rapidly evolving AI, and what these changes mean for organizations – and everyday users alike.
We may dive into the balance between open source and proprietary innovation, and unveil how Cisco is driving operational simplicity through breakthrough…
Digital Ad Analytic Firm Hit With AI-Related Disclosure Suit

As readers of this blog know, in recent months there have been a number of AI-related corporate and securities suits filed against companies and their executives (as discussed, for example, here). In general, these suits have mostly involved “AI-washing” allegations – that is, allegations that the defendant company misrepresented its AI-related prospects or capabilities.…
Building Tomorrow: NEAR, Modular Internet, and User-Owned AI with George Zeng
What does it take to reimagine the building blocks of the internet and put user ownership at the center of it all? Well… Luckily, we have George here to explain it all, no pressure George! He is one of the architects behind a protocol that’s redefining how crypto and AI can work hand in hand.…