On Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth's trip to Asia last month, Air Force leadership issued an unusual directive: Keep him from seeing a service member with a beard. The instruction was surreal, the kind of stage management usually reserved for celebrities with eccentric phobias. Yet for Hegseth, facial hair has become a symbol of everything he believes has gone wrong in the U.S. military'a distraction from its 'warrior ethos,' and, somehow, a threat to military readiness. In late September, he lectured on the subject of beards at an unprecedented global convening of the military's most senior leaders, where'framed by the American flag'he proclaimed, "No more beardos. The era of rampant and ridiculous shaving profiles is done.' I served as assistant secretary of the Air Force during the Biden administration, as well as the Army secretary's chief of staff during the Obama administration. Shaving profiles'exceptions to the general grooming policy that members of the military must be clean-shaven, save for mustaches'were without question the most emotional military-personnel matter I worked on in nearly a decade as a political appointee in the Pentagon....

Rizzbot has more than a million followers (and 800 million views) across social media and is known for its comedic roasting of subjects, as well as giving people the middle finger. Speed, meanwhile, has more than 50 million followers (and 6 billion views) across various platforms and is known for his dramatic behavior while livestreaming. What happened when the two parties met is the subject of a lawsuit that Rizzbot's creators, Social Robotics, detailed in a petition filed in November against Speed, ne Darren Jason Watkins Jr., his management company, Mixed Management, and another producer who was with Speed's team that day. The petition, obtained by TechCrunch, alleges that Speed inflicted 'irreparable damage' to Rizzbot. 'Speed absolutely knew that this was not an appropriate way to interact with a sophisticated robot and knew that such actions with inflict irreparable damage to Rizzbot,' the petition read. 'These actions resulted in the total loss of the Rizzbot.' 'Additionally, the head cameras no longer function, the ports behind the neck which connect to robot's sensors that allow it to see and hear are dead, and the robot is unstable and cannot walk straight any longer,' the petition alleges. The petition is asking for compensation for damages, including actual and lost profit, though Rizzbot's legal team declined to comment on the dollar amount the owner is seeking....

The fund will target holdings across five major North American sports leagues, including the NFL and NBA, alongside investments in film and TV companies, music catalogues, and live event properties. CAIS Advisors will launch the vehicle with a minimum investment as low as $25,000. Investors may redeem up to 5% of net asset value twice a year, subject to approval. The management fee is set at 0.95%. According to the firms, the initial portfolio will include exposure to more than 30 sports franchises, media assets, and live entertainment businesses. Neil Blundell, chief investment officer at CAIS Advisors, said the structure will give retail investors access to a diversified slice of the fast-growing sports economy. Eldridge, founded by Todd Boehly, has a long-standing presence in global sport with stakes in the Los Angeles Dodgers and Lakers, and previously led the acquisition of Chelsea FC in 2022. Arctos is one of the most active sports investors globally, with holdings across multiple teams and leagues....

Good morning & happy Thursday! Today, all eyes are on eToro, the hidden social investing gem currently trading at a discount (breaking down their most important 3Q 2025 financial facts & figures, understanding what they mean, and why eToro might be worth your time and money + bonus deep dive into Robinhood), and see how AI is transforming wealth management (a look at the new AI-powered FinTech startup Nevis, why it's interesting & what it tells us about the future of wealth management + inside you'll find bonus pitch deck teardowns of some of the most interesting AI stratups out there). So let's just jump straight into the interesting stuff '' In short, eToro presents a textbook mispricing - trading at 15.7x P/E versus Robinhood's HOOD 0.00%' 28x despite delivering superior revenue diversification, global scale across 75 countries, and a patented CopyTrader moat that Robinhood can't replicate....