☕️ Quarter billion split

Good morning.

Wall Street bank bosses had a pretty good year. The top six bosses took home more than USD250 million combined in 2025, according to numbers tallied by the FT, with each earning at least USD40 million.

The combined average pay rise across the group was 22% on the prior year, even as their remuneration was already running at 298 times median employee pay in 2024.

🏆 LOI Subscriber #TBD

Market movers

Shares in Austal, the shipbuilder and defence contractor, plunged almost 23% after it slashed its FY26 earnings guidance by $25 million to $110 million, acknowledging a $24 million overstatement in its previous target.

The quick sync

• “No one at our company writes code anymore,” says Harvey’s Gabe Pereyra, who built the USD8b legal AI startup on GPT-4 and says while AI is accelerating engineers, it is nowhere near replacing entire professions. (Capital Brief)

• January’s jobs data will reveal whether December’s shock fall in unemployment was a blip or a trend. (Capital Brief)

• Fixed smiles and calls for unity: The scenes behind the end of Sussan Ley’s political career. (Capital Brief)

• Treasury halves consumer data right team as open banking reset stalls expansion. (Capital Brief)

• Graduate employment is strong, but regional, gender and international gaps still limit fairness and productivity, writes Rorden Wilkinson.(Capital Brief)

Trading floor

M&A

• Webjet ended takeover talks and cut earnings guidance. (Capital Brief)

• Macquarie to take Qube private for $11.6b, GIC may co-invest. (AFR)

• QIC eyes Ausgrid Plus ES acquisition to expand metering business. (The Australian)

• Brisbane duo sell AlgoDriven software to US fund for millions. (AFR)

• Global buyers favour breaking up BlueScope; SGH offer may need lower price. (The Australian)

• ACCC clears Ramsay Health Care’s $251m National Capital Private Hospital acquisition. (Capital Brief)

• KKR and EQT eye majority stake in Victoria’s $3b land titles registry. (The Australian)

• White House pushes AVZ Minerals to sell Congo lithium stake to US firm. (AFR)

• Nib is selling World Nomads travel insurance for $67.5m. (Capital Brief)

Capital Markets

• Anthropic secured USD30b funding as Claude Code revenue jumped. (Capital Brief)

• Trek Metals raises $12m for Christmas Creek drilling. (AFR)

• Westpac earned $1.9b in Q1 as lending grew but margins slipped. (Capital Brief)

• Misha Saul and Benjamin Plummer launch AI company to buy and transform legacy businesses. (AFR)

• Cochlear profit fell 21% on Nexa delays, shares tumbled. (Capital Brief)

• Botanix raises $30m, shares offered at 45% discount. (AFR)

• GQG flags risks in AI sector and defends avoiding AI stocks. (Capital Brief)

• Contact Energy targets $449m equity raise to fund growth. (AFR)

• BWP Trust profit jumped 41% and it lifted its dividend. (Capital Brief)

• The Horse raises $50m for global expansion with PE backing. (AFR)

• Nick Scali profit rose 23%, but shares fell sharply. (Capital Brief)

• Reddit and social media are outpacing the ATO in teaching Australians about tax. (Smart Company)

• PsiQuantum supercomputer project delayed, approvals not yet started. (AFR)

• Austal cuts FY26 guidance; shares drop 24%. (Capital Brief)

• Affinity ups Lumus Imaging debt by $150m for acquisitions and upgrades. (AFR)

• High Court to hear CBA class action appeals over disclosure breaches. (Capital Brief)

• KPMG struggles with revenue and AI competition while hosting leadership events. (AFR)

• US inflation drops to 2.4%, boosting rate-cut bets. (Capital Brief)

• Alvarez & Marsal targets 60% revenue growth and maiden profit amid consulting downturn. (AFR)

• Graduate employment is strong, but inequality still shapes outcomes. (Capital Brief)

• Cbus and Rest lose $2b to rivals, seek government reforms to stop outflows. (AFR)

• Harvey co-founder says AI transforms legal software, but limits remain. (Capital Brief)

VC 

• None

People moves

• Jim Chalmers appoints Bruce Preston to the RBA board. (Capital Brief)

• Magellan chief stock picker Arvid Streimann resigns amid investigation into workplace conduct. (AFR)

• Treasury halves CDR team, sparking open banking concerns. (Capital Brief)

The watercooler