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Executive Interviews Liquidity CEO Discusses UAE’s Strategic Advantage Despite Regional Turmoil
Liquidity CEO Ron Daniel says UAE operations remain resilient despite war risks, as Israeli firms expand after Abraham Accords normalization
Following the Abraham Accords, which normalized diplomatic relations between Israel and several Arab countries in 2020, more than 600 Israeli companies have begun operating in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Among them: Liquidity, an AI-driven fintech direct lender that manages a multi-billion-dollar portfolio.
Liquidity’s largest office is now in Abu Dhabi, and its second largest in Tel Aviv. Liquidity CEO Ron Daniel spoke with Global Finance about the latest regional developments amid US and Israeli strikes on Iran.
Global Finance: How are you handling the situation?
Ron Daniel: Well, I have many people on the ground in the UAE and many people in Tel Aviv. In total, that’s more than half of my employees who are in a war zone right now. We are dealing with the situation daily. We continue business, but in both locations, a lot of work is done from home. Our first concern is the safety of our people. If someone wants to relocate to their home country, or outside the main cities, we finance that, but most of the team has been quite resilient.
From the UAE, only a few of our employees went back to their country of origin. Our office is open in Abu Dhabi, but most of our staff chose to work from home. We empower our staff to make the decisions that are right for them and their families. The company is functioning as normal; it’s a bit of a stressful time, but we hope it will end soon.
GF: Iran targeted the US-Israeli interests in the region. How is that affecting Liquidity?
Daniel: Yes, just before the war started, Iranian hackers published a direct threat through Telegram to Israeli companies. That meant we had to take additional measures. We contracted a private security company to ensure our office is safe and secure. Our employees are also able to contact them directly and receive advice for any security-related concerns. Thankfully, we’ve never had to use it because the Emirate authorities have been doing a good job in providing clear information and strong security.
GF: How have attacks on data centers in Bahrain and the UAE affected your business?
Daniel: The situation actually doesn’t affect our business, because our business is global, with multi-billion-dollar assets under management and capital deployed in over 45 verticals across 35 countries. Our research and development centers in Abu Dhabi are unaffected. I believe the UAE remains a very good location for data centers because it has affordable energy and ample land and I don’t see the security issue as a long-term threat. The UAE have intercepted most of the incoming drones and missiles. The region is, in my opinion, still a very good destination for investment.
GF: A big selling point for the UAE has always been its status as a safe haven for investment. Is that still true?
Daniel: I still think it’s a safe haven. If you look at the world, there really isn’t a 100% safe haven. Some investors have left the region, and I think it’s a mistake. It shows a lack of understanding of this region’s strategic advantage. At Liquidity, we don’t do politics. We do business, and as a business, the UAE has been and will remain a very significant hub for us. It sits between East and West, and geopolitically, they are OK with everyone, which is good for business. The security situation is a bit challenging, of course, but I believe it is temporary and will resolve itself relatively quickly. I chose to be in the UAE back in 2020 because it was a strategic location for us, and the current situation doesn’t change anything for me.
GF: You have been a strong advocate of normalization of relations between Israel and the UAE since 2020 – how do you see things evolving?
Daniel: I believe the region is heading towards a brighter future in the long run. I think, taking the fundamentals into account, it is a place that’s good for business and good for people. Overall, the situation doesn’t affect my feelings about the normalization process.
On paper, the case is easy to make. The world’s largest proven oil reserves, a sector being reopened to private capital, sanctions that are no longer absolute but conditional, negotiable. There are new laws, new guarantees, new language around arbitration and contract security. For the first time in years, there is something that looks like a framework, perhaps even a government that exercises absolute power over the country while operating under US tutelage.
And yet, the expected cash tsunami remains elusive. This is because the people who would actually have to write the checks are not asking whether the opportunity is real, but whether it will still exist by the time it matters. No amount of lobbying or PR trips can compensate for almost 30 years of arbitrary abuses. After all, Delcy Rodríguez is not the first chavista “president” to court the private sector or offer guarantees.
The problem is not political risk in the abstract. It is that the legal environment investors are being asked to trust has not meaningfully changed. Judges remain largely unchecked, and contracts are still only as strong as the political relationships behind them. The closest thing to a guarantee is not an institution, but proximity: “I know a guy, who knows a guy, who knows Delcy.”
That may be enough to get a deal signed. It is not enough to guarantee the kind of long-term, multibillion-dollar investment Delcy needs.
There is also the question of who is actually making those commitments. The current governing arrangement, even with partial recognition from Washington, remains the residue of a deeply contested and improvised system. Its authority may be tolerated, even engaged with, but it is not settled. That matters, because any agreement reached today carries the risk of being revisited tomorrow, not necessarily by a hostile regime, but by future jurists attempting to unwind the ambiguities of the present. In other words, the risk is not just expropriation, but retroactive illegitimacy.
And then there is the country itself. The initial shock of alignment with the United States has created a perception of stabilization, but that perception rests on thin ground. Discontent is not ideological, it is material. Power rationing continues to shape daily life. The bolívar remains structurally weak, its periodic stabilizations undone by recurring cycles of depreciation. For most Venezuelans, the promised improvement in living conditions, expected to follow from these inflows, has yet to materialize in any meaningful way.
What investors are being asked to underwrite, then, is not just a country in transition, but a society that has not yet felt that transition in any tangible sense. That gap matters, because it is in that gap where pressure builds.
And even if one is willing to accept all of that, there is the question few are prepared to answer directly: what happens in two years?
The current opening in Venezuela is not just tied to internal dynamics. It is deeply contingent on a specific political configuration in Washington. A different administration, with different priorities, could decide that Venezuela no longer warrants the same level of attention, resources, or political cover. The approach taken by Donald Trump has been unusually direct. There is no guarantee that what follows will resemble it.
That matters more than investors tend to admit. Because what is being built today is not a self-sustaining system, but a politically supported one.
Under those conditions, the risk is not simply policy reversal. It is systemic drift. The incentives that currently bind the government to external actors can weaken, and with them, the logic that sustains the present arrangement. That does not require a dramatic rupture. Only time.
There is a way to make sense of this, and it requires going back, not forward. In structural terms, Venezuela today resembles 2017. Not in its specifics, but in the nature of the moment. Back then, the country hovered between sustained pressure that could force an opening, and a system learning in real time how to absorb that pressure and consolidate power instead. For a time, it was not clear which way it would go.
Until it became clear that the system had adapted faster than the pressure could escalate. What looked like a moment of transition became, instead, a lesson in survival. That is the part of 2017 that tends to be forgotten, not the protests, but the outcome.
What makes the current moment difficult to read is that it carries a similar ambiguity. There is an opening, but it is partial. There is pressure, but it is uneven. There are signals that point in different directions at once. Engagement with external actors, selective liberalization, a degree of flexibility that did not exist a few years ago. But none of that resolves the underlying question.
Is this the beginning of a transition, or another iteration of adaptation?
For investors, that distinction is more than academic. It determines whether the current opening represents a structural shift, or simply a temporary configuration that will be absorbed, reworked, and eventually reversed. Venezuela has already shown that it can look like it is about to change, while in fact learning how not to. Ultimately, this question is likely to be the one that holds meaningful investment back.
There is, underlying many of these conversations, a quieter assumption that rarely gets stated outright. That under the right conditions, a system like Venezuela’s can be made to work. That a centralized authority, aligned with external actors and supported by technocratic management, can deliver stability without resolving deeper political contradictions. The long-held fantasy of the benevolent strongman.
It is an attractive idea. It is also one that Venezuela has consistently disproven.
The problem is not simply that power is concentrated, but that it is unconstrained. In such a system, predictability does not come from strength, but from rules. When those rules are absent, even proximity to power stops being a reliable safeguard.
The recent arrest of Wilmer Ruperti is a reminder of that. Ruperti was not an outsider testing the limits of the system. He was deeply embedded within it. If anything, he represents the kind of relationship many investors assume can mitigate risk.
And yet, under conditions of unchecked authority, those relationships can be redefined overnight.
In practice, this often produces the opposite of what investors expect, a system where decisions are centralized but not necessarily stable, and where alliances are strong until they are not.
Under these conditions, Venezuela does not favor all investors equally. It favors those who can operate within political constraints, tolerate legal ambiguity, and adjust quickly if those constraints shift. It is less hospitable to actors whose models depend on enforceable contracts, long time horizons, and institutional continuity.
Venezuela is not uninvestable, but it is not becoming normal either.
What is taking shape is something more ambiguous. It is open enough to transact and stable enough to operate in the short term, but uncertain in ways that are harder to measure. The legal framework remains contingent, the political authority behind it is still contested, and the external backing that sustains it is, by definition, temporary.
That does not eliminate opportunity, it defines it. Under those conditions, the question is not whether Venezuela works, but for whom, for how long, and under what assumptions about continuity that may not survive the life of the investment.
In that sense, the risk is not only that things go wrong, but that the terms under which they work are never fully settled.
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Companies whose stock prices have historically shown high correlation to movement in interest rates recently saw an all-time high as odds of rate hikes may seem more plausible for investors than rate cuts.
Although it has lagged in the past
China is better positioned than the U.S. in the Iran war – Yale economist
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A SpaceX IPO promises to be one of the biggest Wall Street events of the year, with several investment banks lining up to help raise tens of billions to fund Musk’s ambitions to establish a base on the Moon, place data centres the size of several football pitches into orbit, and possibly one day send a human to Mars.
The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the confidential registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission publicly.
SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Exactly how much SpaceX plans to raise has not been disclosed, but the figure is reportedly as high as $75bn (€65bn). At that level, the offering would easily surpass the $29bn (€25bn) raised by Saudi Aramco in its 2019 IPO.
The offering, which could come as early as June, may value SpaceX at around $1.5 trillion — nearly double its valuation in December, when some minority shareholders sold their stakes, according to research firm PitchBook, prior to an acquisition that increased the company’s size.
Musk currently owns about 42% of SpaceX, according to PitchBook, although that figure will change after the IPO as new shares are issued. In any case, he is likely to surpass the trillion-dollar mark, as he is already close. Forbes estimates Musk’s net worth at roughly $823 billion.
In addition to building reusable rockets to launch astronauts and equipment into orbit, SpaceX owns Starlink, the world’s largest satellite communications company. The company has also recently brought under its umbrella two other Musk businesses: social media platform X (formerly Twitter) and artificial intelligence firm xAI, in a controversial transaction, as both the buyer and seller were controlled by him.
SpaceX has become the leading commercial launch company in its industry, sending payloads into orbit for customers worldwide. However, it has also benefited from significant public funding, raising concerns about potential conflicts of interest, given that Musk was a major donor to President Donald Trump’s campaign and remains a strong supporter.
Over the past five years, SpaceX has secured $6bn (€5.2bn) in contracts from NASA, the Department of Defense and other US government agencies, according to USAspending.gov.
Among current SpaceX investors is Donald Trump Jr, the president’s eldest son, who owns shares through 1789 Capital. The venture capital firm made him a partner shortly after his father won a second term and has since invested in federal contractors seeking government business.
The White House and Trump have repeatedly denied any conflicts of interest between his role as president and his family’s business dealings.
Millicom prices reopening of $75M senior notes
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Oil prices slide ahead of Trump TV address that may see war curtailed in 2-3 weeks
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Kinross Gold (KGC) has started the process of obtaining the environmental permit to develop its $1.5B Lobo Marte gold project in northern Chile, the government said Wednesday.
The permit application, submitted to Chile’s Environmental Assessment Service, seeks approval for the production of
War, tariff volatility, and shifting capital flows challenge the global currency order—even as markets prove resilient.
When Japan’s largest automaker reported 2025 results last May, it said its earnings were hit by $4.6 billion in foreign-exchange losses due to the US dollar’s decline. This month, Toyota has a new concern: the war in Iran that has spread throughout the Persian Gulf. The company sold 325,000 cars to the region in 2025, but the fighting and the closure of shipping lanes through the Strait of Hormuz could further decrease earnings.
Even more damaging, the company is forecasting a roughly $9.6 billion drag on earnings in 2026 due to President Trump’s on-again, off-again tariffs. “The impact of US tariffs,” Toyota CFO Kenta Kon said, “is a significant rise from our initial forecasts.”
The global economy entered 2026 already on shaky ground. The Trump administration’s sweeping tariff policies weakened the dollar and heightened trade fears, while a Supreme Court decision on those tariffs added fresh uncertainty, even as inflation was slowly easing. Then, on February 28, US and Israeli forces launched strikes on Iran, oil prices surged, and the dollar bounced higher in a flight to safety.
The Strait of Hormuz, which carries about 20% of global oil and LNG exports, effectively closed after Iranian threats and tanker attacks, sending oil prices from about $70 to more than $110 a barrel within days. Oil-import-dependent economies such as Japan, South Korea and China were especially vulnerable to the war’s aftershocks.
Higher oil prices. Uncertainty about tariffs. The dollar boomerang. Corporate finance executives face a new series of challenges: Higher oil prices, etc. However, despite short-term headwinds for business, global analysts remain relatively optimistic about the long-term economic outlook, even with the war’s sudden shadow over markets.
While energy concerns increased as war clouds gathered over the Persian Gulf, analysts largely believed that the global economy would revert to a pattern similar to the pre-war period: a gradually declining dollar, reduced foreign investment in US assets, and inflation that persistently prevents central banks from lowering interest rates. A key sign of market consensus was that, by mid-March, the forward price of oil for October delivery was $79 per barrel, compared to its temporary $110 spike after the war began. But the uncertainty surrounding the objectives and duration of the attacks on Iran by the US and Israel has kept oil prices bouncing around $100 per barrel.
Aside from the currency issue, several factors have contributed to relatively positive economic forecasts despite the fighting in the Gulf. The Trump administration maintains, despite its forecast having been extended, that the disruption to energy supplies will be relatively short-lived. “You’re seeing a little bit of a fear premium in the marketplace, but the world is not short of oil or natural gas,” said Energy Secretary Chris Wright on CNBC in early March. “Worst case is a few weeks, not months.”
The dollar had a tough year in 2025, dropping about 12% against a basket of other major currencies. Although US administrations usually support a strong dollar, President Donald Trump broke that tradition and said it was “great” that the dollar was falling on global markets, which caused it to tumble even more.
The dollar’s decline triggered a significant shift into gold, which increased in value by 60% in 2025, reaching a record price of $5,110 per ounce. European stocks saw their largest inflows ever in February as investors moved away from the United States.
Marc Chandler, chief market strategist at Bannockburn Global Forex, said that for much of 2025, foreign investors had been buying US equities while shorting the dollar as a hedge. “Now that US equities are declining, they have to buy back their short-dollar hedge,” Chandler said. “I’m not convinced that what we’re seeing in the dollar is much more than unwinding positions, rather than people flocking to the US as a safe haven.”
Mark Sobel, former head of international finance at the US Treasury, wrote in a March 2025 op-ed for the Financial Times that the dollar’s dominance was slowly eroding. “Like termites eating away at a house’s woodwork, Trump’s dysfunctional policies are eating away at its support and rendering the US currency acutely vulnerable to future shocks,” Sobel said.
A weaker dollar is not just a market story—it is reshaping currency dynamics globally, with China at the center. The Chinese government intervened on February 27 to stop the renminbi’s appreciation against the dollar, which had increased by 7% since last April. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) announced it would eliminate the 20% reserve requirement on foreign exchange forward contracts and stated it would keep the renminbi’s exchange rate at a “reasonable and balanced level.” The higher value of the renminbi did not hurt Chinese exports—the country recorded a $1.2 trillion trade surplus in 2025.
China’s government has used the weaker dollar to strengthen the renminbi’s role in trade finance and payments, with officials claiming the currency is now the world’s largest trade-finance currency. Chinese companies have been gradually decreasing dollar transactions. The dollar’s share of cross-border transfers has dropped from 80% in 2010 to about 40% in 2025, mainly due to increased renminbi flows. The renminbi’s share of global trade has grown from 2% in 2021 to over 7%, a notable rise but still not enough to threaten the dollar’s dominant position in world trade.
In Japan, as inflation rises, the Bank of Japan is expected to increase interest rates, according to Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group. While the Federal Reserve in the US has kept rates steady through its mid-March meeting. The BOJ’s move to tighten policy after ending its negative interest rate policy is seen as a factor aiding yen appreciation.
Europe has been significantly affected by the rise of the euro, which appreciated nearly 12% against the dollar in 2025. “I have watched the dollar rate with concern for some time,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said. “The dollar course is a considerable extra burden for the German export economy.” Dirk Jandura, head of the BGA, Germany’s wholesale and foreign trade association, said the strength of the euro was causing exporters “great concern.” The dollar’s easing, though, has softened some of that impact.
Supporting the Trump administration’s more optimistic oil outlook, the International Energy Agency agreed in early March to release 400 million barrels of oil to address the supply disruption—the largest such action in the organization’s history. The move reinforced officials’ view that any price spike would likely be short-lived, lasting weeks rather than months. The 32 member countries still have about 1.4 billion barrels of emergency reserves that can be tapped if the shortage worsens.
“The rise in crude oil prices to date does not represent a shock of the magnitude seen in earlier episodes,” said J.P. Morgan analysts Bruce Kasman and Nora Szentivanyi. “At [about] $100 a barrel, Brent crude is less than 35% above its two-year trailing average. To deliver a shock similar in size to the Russian invasion, crude oil prices would need to move close to $150 and remain at this elevated level for several months.”
Joe DeLaura, an energy analyst at Rabobank in the Netherlands, urged companies to have a plan in place to make quick decisions involving their energy supplies. “Start assessing your supply chains and your access to capital markets,” DeLuca told a webinar in March. “Are you shoring up relationships? Are you able to have critical redundancy in your supply chains, especially for key inputs like energy? One of the ways to take advantage of this is by looking further out on the curve and take advantage of volatility when it swings in your favor.”
Unlike in 1973, when a Middle East oil embargo caused inflation to soar, the United States now exports both petroleum and liquefied natural gas. Therefore, the war is unlikely to significantly impact the US economy in 2026, as it would require a “very severe scenario” for US economic growth to contract, according to Oxford Economics. “We have a view that the US dollar is going to broadly continue to somewhat weaken,” said Daniel Moseley, associate director for scenarios and macro modeling, at Oxford Economics.
The Iran War most heavily affects Asia. According to the US Energy Information Administration, 84% of crude oil and 83% of LNG travels to the region. I would also say war in Iran. China, India, Japan, and South Korea are the leading destinations for Persian Gulf crude oil, but Thailand and Vietnam also rely heavily on imported energy.
Companies like Toyota have limited options but to cut costs. One strategy is localizing their supply chains. The company announced in February that it plans to invest $10 billion in the US over the next five years to increase production of its most valuable hybrids. It is also reducing production of lower-value models and stated it will implement three price hikes in 2026 to compensate for the “double whammy” of a weaker dollar and US tariffs.
Rajiv Biswas, CEO of Asia-Pacific Economics in Singapore, states that a major concern in Asia is that a prolonged energy shortage could lead to a surge in inflation, prompting central banks to increase interest rates. China’s government, for instance, ordered refiners to halt diesel exports, seemingly worried that supplies could run low during a lengthy conflict.
Biswas stated that the Persian Gulf is also a major shipping route for urea and sulfur used in fertilizer production. This means “the agricultural sectors of many Asian developing countries could also be hit by lack of essential inputs,” as well as the US, right as the Spring planting season begins. Additionally, Brazil, the world’s leading soybean producer, imports most of its urea from Qatar and Iran. India depends on Saudi phosphate exports.
No European industry was more affected by the dollar’s rise than automobile manufacturing. At luxury carmaker BMW, for instance, revenues fell 5.9%, with half of the decline attributable to the strength of the euro, which created a $670 million headwind. Additionally, US tariffs reduced earnings and imports from China and limited sales to Europe.
“If you take all these elements together, the headwind is bigger than the tailwind, which we’re working on,” BMW CFO Walter Mertl said. He added that the company had cut costs by $2.6 billion to boost profitability. “We are working on all cost elements,” Mertl said, including capital expenditures, research and development spending, and sales and general expenses.
To hedge against a weakened dollar that makes their exports more expensive, European companies need to do more than cut costs. These companies need to invest urgently in cutting-edge technologies, such as artificial intelligence, to make them more competitive in the global marketplace, says Marcello Messori, a professor at the Schuman Centre of the European University Institute in Milan.
“Europe needs to look at artificial intelligence and how it is compatible with the green transition and try to exploit these specific sectors,” Messori says. “Between the current European specialization in mature technologies and the technological frontier, there are a lot of opportunities that you can exploit between those extremes.”
One company leading this approach is Siemens, once known for low-profit industrial machinery. CEO Roland Busch stated that the company has strong growth prospects because it has focused on adopting new technology. “We are in a good place because we are offering what the world needs,” Busch said. “We are positioned along secular growth drivers: automation, digitalization, electrification, sustainability, and artificial intelligence.”
Messori emphasizes that the European Union must speed up efforts to unify financial markets to create a larger pool of venture capital. He notes that Sweden boasts a thriving startup economy. However, established companies often relocate quickly to the US, where capital markets are more accessible.
While the results of wars rarely match initial predictions, the consensus among analysts is that by year’s end, the Iran war may be seen as an economic distraction rather than a strategic turning point. The forces that defined markets before the conflict—moderating inflation, steady demand, and resilient consumer spending—are expected to keep the global economy on track. The dollar, meanwhile, is likely to remain volatile but broadly weaker over time, as structural pressures and shifting capital flows continue to test its dominance.
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Renewed optimism over a possible de-escalation in the Iran war, now in its fifth week, gave a strong boost to stock markets in Europe and Asia on Wednesday.
At the time of writing, the Euro Stoxx 50 is up over 1%, while the broader pan-European Stoxx 600 is around 2.5% higher.
In London, the FTSE 100 has risen roughly 0.8% with Germany’s DAX 30 and France’s CAC 40 making equal moves to the upside. Italy’s FTSE MIB has jumped the most and is 1.7% higher.
During a press gaggle at the White House on Tuesday, US President Donald Trump stated that the country would “probably” stop attacks on Iran within two to three weeks “‘whether we have a deal or not”.
Following Trump’s comments, the front month future contracts for oil also saw a sharp decline, with Brent crude and WTI both trading around 4% lower and below $100 a barrel.
Trump also stressed that the US would “not have anything to do with” what happens next in the Strait of Hormuz.
Despite the relief, markets are eagerly anticipating Trump’s address to the nation about the conflict, which will occur overnight on Wednesday, according to the White House Press Secretary.
Asian shares also rose sharply on Wednesday after Trump’s statement.
At the time of writing, South Korea’s Kospi has recovered losses from earlier this week, surging over 8%, while Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 rose more than 2%.
A survey by Japan’s central bank released on Wednesday showed that business sentiment among major manufacturers had improved despite concerns over the Iran war.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index is also over 2% higher, while the Shanghai Composite has jumped around 1.5%. Additionally, India’s Sensex rose roughly 2%, Australia’s ASX 200 is up 1% and Taiwan’s Taiex climbed more than 4%.
“De-escalation hopes have given markets a lift, but we think the effects of the war would, in many cases, persist even if it were to end soon,” said Thomas Mathews, head of markets for Asia Pacific at Capital Economics, in a research note on Wednesday.
US futures are also all trading between 0.7% and 1.2% higher.
The move comes after US stocks recorded their strongest day in almost a year on Tuesday, when the S&P 500 rose 2.9%, its largest gain since May.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 2.5%, while the Nasdaq jumped 3.8%.
“It’s worth considering how markets might respond if the war were to end very soon. Do markets have further to recover if sentiment continues to improve? The answer is almost certainly yes,” Mathews added.
In other trading, gold rose is up 1.4% trading at around $4,730 while silver is down roughly 1% to $74.3 an ounce.
After his October 2015 overdose at a Nevada brothel, Lamar Odom says, he had “12 strokes and six heart attacks. All my doctors say, like, I’m a walking miracle.”
Now, more than a decade later, the Love Ranch brothel has been demolished, but Odom is still around.
The former Laker and onetime husband of Khloé Kardashian is telling his story for “The Death and Life of Lamar Odom,” the newest episode of Netflix’s documentary series “Untold,” along with Kardashian, former coach Phil Jackson and others who were around during his Oct. 13, 2015, health emergency. The episode premiered Tuesday.
“You know what’s funny?” the 46-year-old former player told Sports Illustrated in an interview published Monday. “I haven’t even watched it yet. You know why? Because I lived it.”
Odom, who just got out of another month of rehab in February, insists that the 2015 episode was not a mere overdose but a “hit,” an attempt on his life.
“Right when I signed the divorce papers, I was like, ‘I’m gonna get it in.’ The Bunny Ranch I used to always see on TV, but I don’t have any coke to take,” he says in the documentary. “ … It’s crazy when you think about [how] one decision, so big or so minor, could be so pivotal to you and to people that you really love.”
The late Dennis Hof, owner of the Bunny Ranch, where HBO’s “Cathouse: The Series” was shot, owned other Nevada brothels. Odom set off that October for Hof’s Love Ranch in Crystal, about 80 miles outside of Las Vegas.
“It was pretty rare that a celebrity — certainly anybody above the D-list — would be actively trying to come out to one of the brothels,” former Love Ranch manager Richard Hunter says in the “Untold” episode. “This was kind of a myth. This was something Dennis perpetuated.”
But, Hunter said, “Lamar Odom actually began contacting several of the girls from the Love Ranch on Instagram. … Being a professional athlete, there’s a lot of easier ways to do this than to drive an hour outside of the city into the desert, walk into a brothel, such as it was, and want to live there for a few days.
“As the days progressed, I remember that him or one of his handlers … actually contacted the brothel and wanted a car to pick him up. So it definitely became real when he gave us the address of where he was at.” The driver called the Love Ranch and let them know his passenger really was Odom. They put him in a house behind the brothel, Hunter said, where they put folks who were “spending enough money.”
Odom told USA Today in an interview published Monday that what transpired at the Love Ranch — which was demolished in November 2024, after Hof’s 2018 death — “was like a hit. Obviously they missed. I don’t know if they want to finish the job.”
Hit or not, Odom infamously wound up overdosing on alcohol and various drugs including over-the-counter erectile-dysfunction supplements. He says no cocaine was involved.
Kardashian explains in the episode that her divorce from Odom came as a result of an ultimatum she was told to deliver during a planned intervention: a three-month rehab stint or a split. Odom surprised them, she said, when he said that all he wanted was his passport — and the divorce.
“I was like, looking around like, ‘Wait. Wait. I — I don’t want the divorce,’” she said. “‘You guys [who assembled for the intervention] told me I have to say this.’”
Odom and Kardashian had signed their papers before the OD, but a judge hadn’t yet signed off on the dissolution, which allowed her to keep him insured and, as his wife and next of kin, to make decisions regarding his health. Kobe Bryant, Odom’s Lakers teammate and Kardashian’s close friend, flew to Nevada to help her decide whether to proceed with surgery to fix Odom’s lung that had collapsed. She said yes, even though there was only “like a 10% chance” that it would work and that he would survive the procedure.
Odom made it through, recovering at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Bryant died in a helicopter crash less than five years later.
After the OD, Kardashian never left the hospital. She put their divorce — finalized in 2016 — on hold. When Odom awakened from his coma, he couldn’t control his bowels and needed six hours a day of dialysis, according to the documentary. “So you can understand the humility … I’ve won two championships. I’m Lamar Odom. I can’t walk, can’t talk. And they come in to check my diaper.”
He was 35 at the time. The next summer, he was removed from a flight at LAX before takeoff while drunk and vomiting, having been seen earlier slamming beer and whiskey in the Delta Airlines lounge.
So what would Odom tell his younger self, if he could, after suffering a dozen strokes and six heart attacks after that visit to the Love Ranch?
“Stay away from your weakness. And my weakness, obviously, was drugs because I’m a drug addict,” he told SI. “It could have been passed down to me from my father. But I’m not blaming anybody. Makes no sense to blame anybody. On or off the court, you have to work with what you’ve got. And I had an incredible stat line in terms of skills and how to play the game.
“And just work on being the best player that you can be. Anybody who offers you that s—, drugs, whether it be coke, pot, alcohol, they probably ain’t your friend. And to choose my friends wisely, because they could affect you on or off the court.”
Odom also wasn’t sure why Netflix had tapped him at this moment, but hopes that by telling his story he might help other people who are trying to get out of addiction.
“I was telling my girlfriend on the way here, it’s like swimming in a cesspool of trauma,” he told USA Today, mentioning a partner who has not been identified. “And I’m trying to get out of it, but the story reels me back into that pool every time. But I just know I’m bigger than the situation, and I hope to help a lot of people by giving my testimony. Not just with the story, but just in life, that we can all overcome addiction.”
That and, well, “Netflix had a good paycheck, bro,” he told SI with a laugh. “No, but it’s a time and place for everything. I don’t know what made me relevant now.”
Earnings Call Insights: NIKE, Inc. (NKE) Q3 fiscal 2026
“Last quarter, we said we were in the middle innings of our comeback. Since then, we have continued to take meaningful actions to improve the health, quality and foundation of our business.” (CEO, President & Director Elliott
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Earnings Call Insights: authID (AUID) Q4 2025
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Home Transaction Banking Bridging Continents: The Future of Middle East-Africa Trade Alliances
Islam Zekry, Group Chief Finance & Operation Officer and Executive Board Member at CIB, explores how GCC-Africa partnerships are driving economic growth, resilience and a transformative era of South-South cooperation, and how Egypt’s strategic location and financial expertise position it as a key player in emerging trade corridors.
Global Finance: How can new trade alliances and partnerships, particularly between the GCC and African nations, drive economic growth and resilience across both regions?
Islam Zekry: The partnership between the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Africa is gaining momentum. However, what is changing is the depth and strategic intent behind these partnerships. As global supply chains fragment and capital becomes more selective, structured trade alliances between GCC nations and African economies have the potential to create one of the most significant South–South growth corridors of the next decade.
Several structural complementarities underpin this opportunity. GCC economies possess deep capital pools, sovereign investment vehicles, advanced logistics capabilities and strong global trade linkages. In addition, many African economies are rich in natural resources, arable land, renewable energy potential and rapidly growing consumer markets with favorable demographics.
When strategically aligned, partnerships can yield positive growth outcomes. For example, food security partnerships, where African agricultural production meets Gulf demand, demonstrate this potential. Moreover, investments in energy and transition, particularly in renewables and green hydrogen, support the transition towards cleaner energy resources. Such partnerships can also drive the development of the infrastructure and logistics sector—strengthening ports, industrial zones and transport corridors. Ultimately, financial sector integration enhances capital flows and trade finance capacity.
“Egypt is not just a transit point for global trade—it is becoming a focal point in a more integrated Afro-Arab economic architecture.”
Islam Zekry, Group Chief Finance & Operation Officer and Executive Board Member at CIB
Beyond capital deployment, what differentiates the next phase of GCC–Africa engagement is the development of capacity for resilience. Global shocks—whether pandemic disruptions, geopolitical tensions or commodity volatility—have demonstrated the importance of diversified trade relationships. GCC–Africa alliances reduce overdependence on traditional West–East corridors, creating balanced, multipolar trade flows.
Therefore, for these partnerships to reach their full potential, financial architecture must evolve in tandem with physical infrastructure. Efficient cross-border payment systems, local currency settlement mechanisms, risk-sharing frameworks and strong banking partnerships determine how seamlessly goods, services,and capital move between the two regions. This is where banks with both regional understanding and international connectivity play a transformative role, not merely as financial intermediaries, but as enablers of structured trade ecosystems.
GF: What makes Egypt uniquely positioned to serve as a trade and investment hub between the Middle East and Africa, and how can this role evolve in the context of emerging trade corridors?
Zekry: Strategically positioned at the convergence of Africa, the Middle East and Europe, Egypt controls one of the world’s crucial maritime arteries through the Suez Canal. The country boasts one of Africa’s largest and most diversified economies and hosts one of the region’s leading banking sectors.
However, Egypt’s strategic relevance goes beyond geography. The country serves as a natural logistical bridge. It connects Mediterranean trade routes with Red Sea and Gulf shipping lanes while maintaining deep commercial ties across Sub-Saharan Africa. This dual orientation—northward to Europe and southward into Africa—positions Egypt as a balancing hub within emerging trade corridors.
The country has also built significant industrial and export capacity. Its robust manufacturing base, expanding energy sector,and growing role in Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and renewable energy markets position it as a credible anchor economy within regional value chains. Egypt’s financial institutions support cross-border expansion and structured trade finance. Egyptian banks have developed strong capital bases, regional expertise and global correspondent networks, enabling them to intermediate complex trade flows across Africa and the Middle East.
As new trade corridors emerge, from Red Sea logistics networks to Gulf-backed infrastructure investments in East Africa, alongside the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) driven continental integration, Egypt’s role is set to evolve across three key areas. The country functions as a gateway for capital deployment into Africa, serving as a strategic hub for GCC and international investors seeking structured entry into African markets. It also has the potential to serve as a regional trade finance hub, facilitating corridor-based financing between North Africa, East Africa,and the Gulf. Finally, Egypt can act as a connector of payment ecosystems, enabling interoperability between African financial systems and Middle Eastern capital markets.
The next phase of Egypt’s development hinges on deepening this integration, aligning customs frameworks, digitizing trade documentation, strengthening regional payment systems and encouraging bilateral currency arrangements. If strategically executed, Egypt will not simply remain a transit point for global trade, but will become a focal point in a more integrated Afro-Arab economic architecture.
The future of Middle East–Africa trade alliances will not be defined solely by infrastructure announcements or headline investments. It will depend on how effectively capital, policy and financial systems converge to support real economic exchange. In this context, Egypt stands out as both a geographic and financial bridge. Therefore, strengthening GCC–Africa partnerships represents not just an opportunity, but a structural shift toward greater regional resilience and South–South cooperation.
| VITAL STATISTICS |
|---|
| Location: North Asia |
| Neighbors: China, the Philippines |
| Capital City: Taipei |
| Population (2025): 23.2 million |
| Official Language: Mandarin Chinese |
| GDP per capita (2025): $39,000 |
| GDP growth rate (2025): 7.71% |
| Inflation (2025): 1.66% |
| Currency: New Taiwan dollar |
| Investment Promotion Agencies: Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), Department of Investment Promotion (DOIP), Bureau of Industrial Parks (BIP) |
| Investment incentives: Streamlined approvals; dedicated project managers for projects over NT$500 million ($15 million); R&D tax credits; investment tax credits up to 25% on investment in key supply chains or advanced processes; location-based incentives in science parks, industrial parks, and free-trade zones; relaxed visas for talent attraction, including the Employment Gold Card program for skilled talent |
| Corruption Perceptions Index rank (2024): 25/180, where 180 is most corrupt |
| Political risks: The administration of President Lai Ching-te faces an opposition-controlled legislature that often blocks budget proposals, risking policy paralysis or destabilization in the face of Chinese interference |
| Security risks: Potential for naval blockade, military attack, or full-scale invasion by China |
No other developed market has demonstrated the impact of AI and high-performance computing booms more dramatically than Taiwan. And the data suggests that these booms are not about to turn to bust anytime soon, despite fears of overheating and a decline in external demand for Taiwan’s exports.
A forced unification with China might render it a no-go area for numerous investors. But ignoring that wildcard scenario, there is no escaping the fact that Taiwan is now a lynchpin of the global supply chain and, by extension, the global economy, as well as a significant destination for investment and trade: the latter being a position on which the island’s economy and its 23.2 million population depend.
Taiwan sits at the center of the global hi-tech supply chain thanks to its pre-eminence in semiconductor manufacturing, AI, and 5G telecommunications. Thanks to investment incentives and an environment fully open to growth and cooperative opportunities, the island is a magnet for foreign direct investment (FDI), led by the Netherlands and followed by the US, which held $19.3 billion in FDI as of 2023.
FDI is critical, given Taiwan’s self-imposed debt ceiling and the cap it imposes on public spending. The Department of Investment Promotion provides streamlined services to foreign investors in a bid to boost FDI, making dedicated project managers available for investments above $15 million and R&D subsidies.
Still, some international investors worry about the dominance of Taiwan’s state-owned enterprises, claiming they distort fair-market practice and lack regulatory transparency.
That said, Taiwan stunned with full-year 2025 GDP growth of 7.71%, an upward revision from the initial 7.63% estimate in January by the Department of Statistics and a figure that wrongfooted all but a handful of economic forecasters.
That result marked Taiwan’s fastest pace of economic expansion in 15 years and smashed forecasts from the likes of the International Monetary Fund and the Asian Development Bank, which ranged from 2.9% to 5.1% for 2025 when the year kicked off.
Last year’s economic performance was superlative across the board, boosted by a tidal wave of global demand for the AI-related exports that power Taiwan’s economy, notably semiconductor manufacturing capacity that has propelled the island from developing to developed status in less than a generation.
Exports surged by 35%, quarterly growth in the last three months of the year was an eye-popping 12.68% year-on-year—the highest in 38 years—and stocks advanced strongly, pushing the TAIEX into the global top 10 by market capitalization early this year as the index hit a 100 billion New Taiwanese dollars ($32 billion) valuation for the first time.
| PROS |
|---|
| Preeminence in global semiconductor supply chain |
| Foreign investor-friendly policies, including numerous incentives |
| Low domestic interest rate and inflation |
| Strong correlation of growth and investment with the global AI boom |
| Political stability |
| Strong official institutions |
“We have upgraded our GDP growth forecast for this year to 6%, which is a totally crazy rate for a developed economy,” says Alicia Garcia-Herrera, chief economist for Asia Pacific at French finance giant Natixis in Hong Kong and a senior fellow at the Brussels-based economic think tank the Bruegel Group.
“Bear in mind Japan grew last year by just 1.1%,” she added. “A milestone indicator of the country’s economic success has been its overtaking both Japan and South Korea in terms of GDP per capita, which hit $39,477 last year.”
The fly in the ointment, Garcia-Herrera notes, is that growth is concentrated in the semiconductor sector “and its ancillary industries such as packaging, which are all dependent on demand from that one single sector.”
Taiwan’s focus on exports, particularly semiconductors, has provoked grumbles that the basic stance of the Central Bank of the Republic of China is to keep the Taiwan dollar artificially low, crowding out other domestic industries and exposing the economy to concentration risk via dependence on tech-related exports.
| CONS |
|---|
| Geopolitical tensions with China |
| Overexposure to the global AI boom |
| Risk from excessive capex spending related to AI |
The currency dramatically strengthened against the dollar in May, down to 28.85% as the result of inbound investment flows and generalized the dollar’s weakness versus other Asian currencies.
The new Taiwan dollar subsequently weakened as the result of reported central bank intervention, to stand in late January at 31.7 to the dollar and renewing the view that the currency is artificially undervalued. Rates are ultra-low across the yield curve for government bonds, which range from 1.21% for two-year to 1.43% for 10-year issues, anchored by a 2% policy rate.
In this context, a remarkable feature of last year’s growth was the absence of overheating in the economy, with the CPI at just 1.66%, allowing the central bank to hold the policy rate steady: a stance it is expected to maintain this year.
“The strong concentration on exports leaves the economy vulnerable to a slowdown in its key trading partners and reduced global AI demand,” cautions Sagarika Chandra, director of APAC sovereigns at Fitch Ratings in Hong Kong. “Taiwan’s electrical equipment exports as a share of total exports are relatively large, at around 43%, and weaker demand for such exports is likely to have a substantial negative impact on growth through lower exports.”
Inbound and outbound FDI has played a significant role in Taiwan’s economic trajectory. The former surged 44% last year, to $11.39 billion, driven by technology and services, including semiconductor manufacturing, AI, renewable energy, and financial services. Investment incentives available for inbound FDI include special tax treatment and set-up support from Invest Taiwan, a government agency.
Mainland China has dominated inbound FDI recent years, but as Taipei seeks to strengthen economic ties beyond its neighbor into Southeast Asia and the US, inbound FDI from the mainland shrank by 65.4% last year.
As Taiwan shudders at the prospect of the Trump administration slapping tariffs on its semiconductors the island has committed to its biggest-ever outbound FDI undertaking, the construction of a $250 billion semiconductor manufacturing plant in the US by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (TSMC). In return, Taiwan is to receive a tariff exemption on microchips and a reduction in overall tariffs on other products.
Observers doubt the manufacturing shift will prove a significant liability.
“The offshoring of semiconductors, in my opinion, is not a big problem for the country,” says Garcia-Herrera, “because if Taiwan continues to serve all that global demand from Taiwan, all the resources will only go to the semiconductor industry, whether it’s green energy, water, the best talent, you name it. So offshoring is a good idea, because it frees up domestic resources.”
In 2026, Fitch expects the economy will continue to benefit from the increased production and investment by some advanced AI chip producers, even if there is some moderation in demand, according to China. We expect the US–Taiwan trade agreement, which reduced tariffs to 15% from 20% previously, could offer near-term relief for Taiwan’s semiconductor export-driven economy, creating a more level playing field for key export sectors.”
More concerning, Taiwan is extremely dependent on energy imports: almost 98%, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration. That’s an alarming figure given the needs of the island’s energy-intensive tech sector and its vulnerability to a potential naval blockade. Renewable energy is therefore expected to be a more significant variable in Taiwan’s economic trajectory.
It has a long way to go. Just 12% of the 288 terawatt hours the island generated in 2024 came from renewables, with the bulk coming from natural gas (42%) and the rest from coal (39%) and nuclear power (4%). But this could present an opportunity for further FDI.
“Renewable energy will be vital for Taiwan’s economic development regarding the decarbonization trend and compliance requirements from the international value chain, especially the semiconductor industry,” points out Ching-Wen Huang, director for renewables and sustainability advisory at sustainability consultancy NIRAS. “Taiwan has a relatively open renewable energy market for foreign companies,” he says, “and the government is truly welcoming foreign investment and corporations in the development and supply chain.
The post Taiwan: Powering Ahead appeared first on Global Finance Magazine.
As climate change threatens insurability, adaptation finance has become a mechanism for capturing value.
When Neptune Insurance, the largest private flood insurance provider in the US, went public last October, it quickly achieved a multibillion-dollar valuation. For investors, it signaled that climate adaptation can be both profitable and scalable and that markets are becoming willing to reward business models built around adaptation rather than avoidance.
Built on AI-powered underwriting that integrates satellite imagery and forward-looking climate data, Neptune operates on the assumption that accurately pricing climate risk can restore insurability rather than signaling a retreat from it. During Hurricane Helene, the St. Petersburg, Florida-based company posted an 18% loss ratio—dramatically outperforming the federal government’s National Flood Insurance Program—while offering premiums 30% to 40% lower than alternatives.
“What we’re seeing in real time is that properties once considered uninsurable become insurable again when they’re rebuilt to modern codes and elevated,” says CEO Trevor Burgess. “That’s climate adaptation in practice.”
The potential is significant. The global investment opportunity for climate adaptation solutions is projected to grow from $2 trillion today to $9 trillion by 2050, according to a report from GIC, the Singapore sovereign wealth fund. The 2025 report, conducted with consultancy Bain, forecasts annual revenues from climate adaptation solutions—including weather intelligence systems, wind-resistant building components, flood protection infrastructure, and water conservation technologies—growing from approximately $1 trillion today to $4 trillion by 2050.
That potential is one reason the insurance industry is exploring new ways to help clients manage their risk.
“The change in insurers’ mindset to adopt innovative and transformative solutions is much higher than I have ever seen, especially in P&C insurance, where carriers are leading with AI-led solutions to study and manage climate risk,” observes Adil Ilyas, who heads the insurance group at Genpact, a professional services and technology consultancy specializing in digital transformation and AI. He points to AXA, Zurich, Allianz, and others that have launched parametric insurance solutions that give organizations fast-acting liquidity and cash flow following a disruptive event.
The acceleration of climate change adds urgency to opportunity. On LinkedIn, Allianz board member Günther Thallinger wrote in March 2025 that climate change is on the way to transforming life as we know it: “We are fast approaching temperature levels—1.5°C, 2°C, 3°C—where insurers will no longer be able to offer coverage for many of these risks. The math breaks down; the premiums required exceed what people or companies can pay. This is already happening. Entire regions are becoming uninsurable.”
A 2025 Allianz report, “Climate Risk and Corporate Valuations,” looks at industries facing accelerating risk, disrupted coverage, and fundamental questions about the future insurability of assets.
“We’re seeing a massive repricing event that’s going to unfold over the next couple of decades,” says Lead Investment Strategist and co-author Jordi Basco Carrera. “The question is whether it happens in an orderly way or whether we see a disorderly transition that creates much more volatility and destruction of value.”
The report examined how different climate scenarios would affect corporate valuations across 10 sectors in the US and Europe, using discounted cash flow models and interest coverage ratios.
Under the Net Zero 2050 scenario, representing aggressive climate policy with ambitious carbon-reduction targets, European real estate faces a staggering 40% correction in valuations. Telecommunications and consumer staples also see major setbacks. In the US, the healthcare and consumer discretionary sectors would each drop by roughly 16% while energy and basic resources face smaller declines of 6% to 7%, reflecting partial adaptation through renewables and critical materials demand.
The alternative—a delayed transition scenario where policy intervention is postponed—creates even more dangerous dynamics.
“A delayed transition is not a soft landing,” Basco Carrera observes. “It’s storing up energy for a much more violent adjustment later. The sectors that look like they’re benefiting in the short term are accumulating hidden risks.”
For CFOs managing enterprise risk, either scenario creates a new urgency. Traditional insurance would not be able to adequately protect against the systematic repricing of asset values driven by climate transition policies. Coverage typically compensates for discrete physical losses—a flooded warehouse, a storm-damaged facility—but offers no protection against the gradual or sudden devaluation of entire portfolios as carbon-intensive business models become economically unviable.
This is where adaptation finance enters as not just risk management, but a mechanism for capturing value during the transition.
Sectors that invest early in climate adaptation show remarkable resilience across all scenarios, according to Allianz’s research. Technology and healthcare demonstrate strength under every climate pathway analyzed while energy sectors that diversify into renewables and utilities and upgrade infrastructure face smaller corrections than those maintaining status quo operations.
Allianz’s research methodology was innovative, Basco Carrera notes, using data from the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS), a voluntary, international group of central banks and others launched in 2017 to manage climate-related risks in the financial sector.
“We integrated three NGFS transition scenarios into traditional financial valuation methods,” he explains. “This lets us see not just which sectors face risk, but specifically how much value is at stake and over what timeframe. That granularity is what CFOs need to make capital allocation decisions.”
The analysis introduced the concept of “Climate Elasticity of Demand,” measuring how global warming affects demand for goods and services. What emerged is a sophisticated view of how climate change will reshape entire markets, not just damage individual assets. Companies producing flood-resistant construction materials, for instance, don’t simply benefit from replacing damaged components after disasters. They capture sustained market share as building codes tighten, insurance companies mandate resilience standards, and property developers recognize that climate-resilient buildings command premium valuations.
Commercial real estate provides an example of adaptation intelligence in practice.
Munich Re’s Location Risk Intelligence tool helps users determine their climate-related expected annual losses, according to Thomas Walter, Munich Re product marketing manager. A US-based real estate investment company using the tool to evaluate a multimillion-dollar building purchase found that the building sat in a highly flood-prone area, which led the company to walk away. Within months, a severe flood hit the building.
“They avoided both losses and depreciation,” Walter says.
The investment case for adaptation strengthens when the full spectrum of value creation—not just avoided disaster costs—enters the picture.
The World Resources Institute, a global research nonprofit based in Washington, DC, analyzed 320 adaptation and resilience projects across agriculture, water, health, and infrastructure. Its research found that cumulatively, the analyzed investments cost over $133 billion and were expected to generate $1.4 trillion in benefits over 10 years. Individual investments generated an average return of 27%.
These figures are likely too low, says WRI senior fellow Carter Brandon: “We found that only 8% of investment appraisals estimated the full monetized values of these dividends, suggesting that the $1.4 trillion and the average rate of return are likely substantial underestimates.”
In a recent WRI report, Brandon and colleagues put forth a “Triple Dividend of Resilience” framework that addresses avoided losses from climate events, induced economic development, and additional benefits.
“By positioning portfolios to respond swiftly to emerging climate policies and market dynamics, investors not only limit potential losses but also capitalize on opportunities presented by the growing green economy,” Brandon contends.