KEVIN KELLEHER

Fortune • August 5th, 2022

U.S. companies are hoarding more and more cash overseas

A good cash stockpile has always provided companies with a strong insurance policy in uncertain times. But many multinationals are stuffing cash an increasingly bloated piggy bank for a different reason: to keep tax bills low. Cash held by U.S....

Fortune • July 29th, 2022

Alpine Investors finds its edge—cultivating CEOs for its portfolio companies

Graham Weaver founded San Francisco-based Alpine Investors in 2001, but it wasn’t until the depths of the financial crisis that the firm discovered its edge. With several portfolio companies struggling, Weaver was jetting from city to city putting...

Fortune • July 26th, 2022

Tech M&A’s surprising acceleration despite a sputtering economy

Merger and acquisition spending, like most other areas of finance, tends to cool off during economic downturns as corporate executives and boards get skittish about big deals and private equity firms grow more choosy. But so far this year, the tech...

Fortune • June 23rd, 2022

Startups and VCs should be preparing for the possibility of stagflation

The last time stagflation hit the U.S., “startup” was a niche term and VC an obscure cottage industry. How stagflation hurt small business in the 70s and early 80s can tell us now startups may need to respond to this looming threat.

Fortune • June 1st, 2022

Buybacks vs dividends? In market downturns, the rules may change

CFOs have two common levers to pull when returning cash to shareholders: dividends and buybacks. Both can present challenges when market selloffs signal a recession may be coming.

Fortune • May 24th, 2022

The shock waves of tech stocks crashing are headed straight for startups

Companies are seeing their valuations fall, to paraphrase Ernest Hemingway's quote on bankruptcy, in two ways: Gradually, and all at once.

Fortune • May 9th, 2022

Unicorns are finding it harder to run with the pack as valuations tumble

Unicorns—private startups valued above $1 billion, so called because they seemed once a rare and magical beast—have become a ho-hum, run-of-the-mill breed. Agile and quick enough to win races, perhaps. But unique? Not so much in 2022.

Mean Returns • September 13th, 2021

The Inflation Thing That Wouldn't Leave

In 1978, Christopher Lee appeared on Saturday Night Live and bemoaned the sorry state of horror films back then, showing a few mock trailers for truly bad-looking films. One of them featured John Belushi as a houseguest who showed up one night and...

Mean Returns • September 7th, 2021

An Awkward 'Employment Situation'

Catholics aren't alone in greeting the first Friday of the month with a longstanding ritual. On 8:30 a.m. on that date, economists gather to await a sort of monthly revelation from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The two headline numbers in the...

Pando • March 22nd, 2018

Softbank's Vision Fund: A 300-year vision with a case of myopia

For decades, Silicon Valley venture capital has operated on the principle that bigger is not always better. The dot-com bust left seasoned VCs with scars that still serve as a reminder that simply throwing money into emerging technologies isn't...

Pando • March 1st, 2013

What does it take to turn around a Web company? A look inside the only two we've ever seen

Every time a has-been startup like Myspace or Digg or a big public company like Yahoo or AOL attempts a Web turnaround, the tech media is quick to remind them that Web turnarounds never work. Technically, we can't say that anymore. Two companies--...

Wired • April 29th, 2008

Microsoft Is Very Quiet, But Pushing to Buy Yahoo

Microsoft has been radio silent since Yahoo's doomsday clock struck midnight last weekend. No chariots-cum-pumpkins, no big bombs—just dead air. Even employees say they're in the dark as to the company's next move. So as its stock slowly loses...

Pando • March 1st, 2018

Spotify's direct offering is cheaper and simpler than an IPO, but brings new risks for investors

“Transparency breeds trust,” Spotify CEO Daniel Ek tweeted after his company filed for a direct stock listing. Ek is certainly right, and so it may be a bit churlish to point out that, whether a company goes public through an IPO or a direct listing,...

TIME • November 30th, 2016

Investors Hoping To Ride High On Trailblazing Marijuana IPO

With several states passing measures to legalize marijuana in 2016, the cannabis business looks poised to finally to take off. But for investors, there remains a quandary: How do you find a way to get in on the ground floor of this new growth...

TIME • November 12th, 2015

Silicon Valley Has Just Arrived at a Major Turning Point

This year has been an unusual one for corporate finance–record M&A dealmaking, a drought in IPOs–but as 2015 wears on, things are starting to get downright weird. The trend is especially noticeable in the tech industry, where startups have been...

TIME • June 13th, 2016

Why Microsoft Is Spending $26 Billion on LinkedIn

A key to understanding the massive and unexpected $26.2 billion acquisition of LinkedIn by Microsoft can be found in the letter LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner wrote to his employees explaining the deal. “You might feel a sense of excitement, fear, sadness,...

TIME • February 10th, 2016

Disney CEO Bob Iger Isn't Going to Take Bull from the Street

Ever since Bob Iger took over as CEO of Disney in 2005, the stock has risen 300%—five times better than the Dow. Now Iger wants Wall Street to know that Disney is still growing strong under his leadership, tumbling markets be damned. He got his...

Fortune • September 24th, 2010

Anne Mulcahy's tarnished resume - Sep. 24, 2010

FORTUNE -- No sooner did news break that Larry Summers would step down as director of the National Economic Council than speculation began on his successor. White House aides hinted they wanted a prominent corporate executive. Anne Mulcahy, who led a...