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 In 1513, Niccolo Machiavelli published "The Prince." That was an amoral guide on how to get, hold and increase political power. The core lessons include: Better to be feared than loved Virtue-signaling a must, but no need to be on the right side of ethical norms Destroy the opposition Accept that the means justifies the end. In 2026, Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan published "Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump."  Ranking 135 on Amazon, "Regime Change" has wide reach. In a sense, it serves to deconstruct the 21st century success formulas for power domination. At least for now. Much of that could collapse after the midterms. However, for now - the setting is the second Trump administration - here seems to be the kind of Machiavelli guidance for power dynamics. The authors present the strategy and then provide copious examples. Following is not a full list. Total lack of shame.  This, though, is not unique to the administration...

  From William Cohan in "Money To Burn" to Dan Adler in Vanity Fair  to government  there's plenty of earnest concern about "the $158 million." That's the amount that financial innovator Leon Black paid to the late Jeffrey Epstein.  So far, the results of the probing have been mere speculation. The hidden agenda seems to be to uncover that the funds were invested by Epstein in his wrongdoing, especially alleged sex trafficking. Therefore, the earnest seem to want to nail Black as an enabler. Maybe accidental but still an enabler. Meanwhile, though, Black doesn't have to care. Sure, there are the reputational body blows. But those are very separate from the life Black leads. He remains prominent in finance and the arts. His family office is successful. His wealth keeps building. So much so that he can afford to continue to hire top lawyers to give him a forum for his points of view. That is the high-profile lawsuit. The most recent is "Black v House ...

  Dow Jones Industrial Average Index Index: DJI Compare 52,656.42 USD ▲ +592.32 (+1.14%) today September 11, 9:32 AM EDT · Market Open

After three brutal days, relief may happen: Dow Futures As on Thursday, 10 Sep 2026 20:33 PM, US Time Last Trade on 10 Sep 20:22 PM, Market Open  Last Trade Change Change in %  52,180.0 +85.0 +0.16%  

  Every spring some of the best and brightest graduates compete for junior analyst positions in financial services. This spring there may be fewer of those plum opportunities. OpenAI announced its ChatGPT for Financial Services . Like Anthropic's Claude for financial services it takes over much of the structured repetitive tasks new entries to the field do. The sweep is end-to-end, ranging from, for example, the research about a target for M&A to the slide deck presentation to pitch to potential clients to handle the business. In between could be building an Excel model.  Not that all junior analyst jobs will be eliminated. The bots have to be overseen. Also the financial firm has to stock the pipeline with the talent to be shaped for senior positions. But, the selection process will be increasingly competitive.  So, where are the ambitious in the Class of 2027 to go for the success journey?  The same AI take-over of entry-level structured repetitive work is happ...

  Already, law students and junior associates are plenty worried if AI will significantly reduce the number of jobs in law firms. However, they might not be worried enough about how the private equity's "invasion" could further shrink the number of positions. And not only for inexperienced lawyers. But also for equity partners. There could be fewer voted in as equity partners and increased de-equitization. Why PE could be such a game-changer for employment is this: PE wil exploit AI to boost overall revenue as well as revenue per lawyer. That's the reality of fewer entry-level slots made available and reduced mobility/employment security within the firm.  And yet there's been an 8% surge in applications to law school.   It takes a lot of funding for a law firm to grow. Two major expenses are the cost of recruiting/retaining stars and technology.  For that funding and increased liquidity law firms ranging from Paul, Weiss to Quinn Emanuel, are exploring investments...