#c-corporation

#c-corporation

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth took the unprecedented step of designating a U.S. firm-Anthropic-as a supply chain risk. Anthropic's crime? It refused to violate industry-wide protocols against using AI for mass surveillance or autonomous weapons. Hegseth's designation, which has until now been reserved for foreign firms, bars U.S. military contractors from doing business with the company.

Anthropic sought explicit contractual restrictions to prevent its AI from being used for mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons. The Pentagon, in contrast, insisted it must be able to deploy contractor technology for any lawful purpose. Negotiations broke down, the Department of Defense moved to terminate the contract, and it designated Anthropic a supply chain risk, effectively restricting many government agencies and defense contractors from working with the company.

Awards may be encouraging and occasionally useful for visibility, but they are weak indicators of validation and poor predictors of long-term success. In the longevity and healthspan industry, where timelines are long and claims are easy to overstate, venture capital ultimately follows alignment and evidence, not applause received at glitzy industry events.

"I don't think the tax conversation is productive because we are going to be 100% higher than New Jersey if we take that proposal. New Jersey's current corporate tax rate is 11%. If we do what the Mayor has recommended, will be at 22% - 100% over New Jersey," Steve Fulop, the new CEO of the Partnership for The City of New York said Sunday on 77 WABC's the "Cats Roundtable" program.

On one side stood Dell, fighting to take his eponymous company private and rebuild it away from the merciless glare of quarterly earnings calls. On the other stood famed activist raider Carl Icahn, who aggressively peddled a proposal amounting to purely destructive financial engineering at the cost of the company - a scheme involving stock buybacks, warrants for future shares, and ruthless plans to carve up Dell's creation for quick, extractive cash.

Aaron Schroeder's company wasn't for sale, yet the offers kept coming. For years, the Vancouver-based climate engineer received a few unsolicited bids every month, sometimes a couple every week. The offers were often from larger companies and hedge funds, especially those based in the United States. When Schroeder was ready to sell Brightspot Climate, an engineering consultancy with offices in Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto, he decided to go in a different direction and create a special trust to make all 40 of his staff owners.

Nearly 150 countries have agreed on a landmark plan to stop large global companies shifting profits to low-tax jurisdictions, but the US will be exempt from the deal, angering tax transparency groups. The plan, finalised by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, excludes large US-based multinational corporations from the 15% global minimum tax after negotiations between the Trump administration and other members of the G7.

If your partner in Munich mishandles customer data, or your reseller in Paris uses a "black box" AI tool to generate deceptive ads, it isn't just their reputation on the line. It's yours. With the EU AI Act now in full swing and GDPR entering its "mature enforcement" era, the distance between a partner's mistake and your company's $20 million fine has never been shorter.

limetax is an AI enabled roll up in the accounting space, transforming how CFO and tax services are delivered to German SMEs. We acquire profitable tax firms and scale them with an AI powered operating platform, driving step changes in productivity and service quality. The team previously built a roll up to unicorn valuation, executing over 100 M&A transactions and scaling to 500 employees.

Every purchase you make as an entrepreneur is an investment decision, whether it's for a one-time $500 software subscription or a $500,000 equipment lease. What differentiates the successful founders from the struggling ones is how they approach each decision. Casual spenders leak margins over time, while founders who spend consciously build sustainable, profitable businesses. The key is learning to frame everyday spending through an investor's lens.

Warning to executives: Don't get too comfortable in your corner office. Nearly one in nine CEOs was replaced last year, the highest rate since the financial crisis, and CFO turnover hit a seven-year high, according to new data from Russell Reynolds Associates. The replacements are younger and greener. More than 80% of the 168 incoming CEOs were first-timers with no prior experience running public companies.

The federal government signaled a new direction in federal funding this week when it announced plans to put as much as $150 million into a private semiconductor startup. Instead of a grant or a loan, the government would take an equity stake. It's a meaningful departure from how federal funding has traditionally operated. For years, federal R&D support came structured as non-dilutive grants and Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) awards that didn't require equity concessions.

"AI is changing the CEO's role-and could lead to a changing of the guard," is a Fortune feature by my colleague Phil Wahba. He points out that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, for example, has had an extremely successful run-12 years in the corner office-with shares rising about elevenfold during his tenure. Microsoft has also joined the elite group of companies valued above $3 trillion. But Wahba argues that Nadella won't remain relevant or effective if he doesn't stay on top of AI and its sweeping impact on the industry-and neither will his peers in any sector.

As we kick off 2026, activist investor campaigns are no longer just prevalent; they are global, sophisticated, and have increasingly become an acute threat to corporate leadership. The escalating pressure is undeniable: Barclays data shows that activist investor campaigns hit a high last year - surpassing 2024 by 5% - with 32 CEOs resigning as a result (a record) - and showing no signs of slowing down.

New analysis published today (6 February 2026) reveals a structural issue that is eroding valuations, limiting exits, and trapping founders in their businesses, with around 80% of UK private companies failing to sell. The White Paper, The Owner Dependence Problem in UK SME Businesses, published by Exit Factor, highlights how excessive reliance on founders is undermining business value across the UK SME sector. The White Paper analyses businesses with annual revenues between £3m and £30m and demonstrates how owner dependence materially restricts strategic options for owners.