Forbes Daily Briefing

San Francisco-based Checkr, which got its start running criminal record checks on Uber drivers and gig workers, has seen its gross revenue jump 14% to $800 million as companies try to spot a flood of AI-generated CVs and faked financial documents. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Despite a boon from Trump's "big, beautiful bill,” billionaires faced higher prices last year for everything from racehorses to private jets to caviar. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Brian Lian founded publicly traded Viking Therapeutics to focus on metabolic diseases. With obesity drugs in development and the GLP-1 space booming, it’s now a prime M&A target for giants jostling for their share of a potential $100 billion market. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Former SpaceX propulsion CTO Thomas Mueller’s space startup reached unicorn status this year thanks to $525 million in funding since 2021. It’s just one of 141 other startups founded by SpaceX alumni. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Trump backer and hedge fund billionaire Paul Singer is getting credit for his prescient $6 billion bet on oil refiner CITGO. Others set to cash in on the deal include Goldman Sachs alums, oil tycoons and private equity billionaires. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.