Money Stuff: The Podcast

Episode: "Embarrassment of Something: IQ, PE, BX"
Hosts: Matt Levine & Katie Greifeld
Release Date: January 9, 2026

Episode Overview

In this week’s episode, Matt Levine and Katie Greifeld dive into an "embarrassment of riches" on Wall Street topics, ranging from the latest in AI-driven proxy voting at JP Morgan, the infamously early private equity recruiting cycle, and Donald Trump’s populist turn on housing and buybacks. With their trademark blend of technical insight and dry humor, the duo unpack the implications for the finance industry, corporate governance, and the quirks of modern economic policymaking.

Key Topics & Segments

1. Celebrity Encounters & Wyclef Jean's Crypto Role

Starts: 01:25

• Katie shares her experience interviewing Wyclef Jean, who has recently signed on as Circle’s Chief Culture Officer.
  • Discussion on stablecoins and Circle's planned activations.
  • Matt's humorous envy over missing out on meeting Wyclef.
  • Matt: "Wyclef was like the soundtrack of my college years...I'm very jealous that you got to talk to him about crypto." (01:42)

2. JP Morgan, AI, and the End of Outsourced Proxy Advising

Starts: 03:12

• JP Morgan ditches ISS and Glass Lewis (the big proxy advisors) in favor of its own AI-powered system ("Proxy IQ") to vote on corporate issues.
  • Background on the longstanding backlash against proxy advisors, particularly complaints that they’re "too woke" or not management-friendly enough.
  • Matt: "There’s a story that JP Morgan is cutting ties with the big proxy advisors...and will now use its own AI system to decide how to vote proxies..." (03:36)
  • The AI will be trained on thousands of past cases; Matt and Katie agree this is a "natural" use case for AI, given the often low-impact nature of proxy votes.
  • Matt: "Will the AI always have the most nuanced understanding of corporate governance? No. But who cares? Nobody cares." (05:43)
  • Discussion on the conflicts of interest for banks as both asset managers and corporate dealmakers.
  • Matt predicts insourcing will make it easier to always vote with management, which aligns bank interests and shields them from activist pressure.
  • Katie: "I do wonder...when it comes to really unique situations such as...should Elon Musk get paid a trillion dollars..." (08:07)
  • Matt: "You're overthinking the intelligence of this artificial intelligence. I know, just vote with management. That's the training." (08:07)
  • Reader suggestion (referenced in Matt's newsletter): Hiding instructions in proxies to "large language models" to automatically align votes with management recommendations.
    • Matt: "If you put that in, it might turn out to be true." (09:12)
  • Will this approach spread across asset management, and will ISS/Glass Lewis develop their own AIs?
    • Katie jokes: "Maybe it just reroutes to ChatGPT." (09:59)

3. Private Equity (PE) Recruiting Madness Returns

Starts: 13:01

• The rapid, early recruiting cycles for junior bankers moving into private equity jobs—despite efforts to push it later—are back in full swing.
  • Context: Historically, PE recruiting has happened absurdly early, with offers being made to analysts only a few months into their investment banking stint, sometimes hiring for jobs that start nearly two years later.
  • Matt explains the system’s perverse incentives, the annoyance of senior bankers, and the unceasing "arms race" among PE firms to hire first.
    • "Your entire time at an investment bank is like a lame duck...where you have already got your next job lined up." (13:09)
    • Offers now finalized within 36 hours; banks issue empty threats of firing early movers, but rarely follow through.
    • Anecdote: Analysts interviewed Monday at 7:30am, accepted offers by 9pm, for jobs in 20 months’ time. (15:44)
    • Katie: “Are offers contingent on you being employed for those 20 months?” (16:05)
    • Matt: "For a combination of, like, you would lose your offer if you quit or got fired. And also the whole thing is being kind of type A and working really hard..." (16:14)
  • The symbiotic relationship: Banks actually expect most analysts to leave, especially for PE, as alumni often return as clients (i.e., bringing deals back to the bank).
  • Systemic pushing of finance recruiting ever earlier, even beginning with college finance clubs.
    • Matt: "You’re not interviewing at Blackstone...on a whim. Some of those reasons were money." (19:24)

4. Trump’s Populist Attacks on Wall Street: Housing & Buybacks

Starts: 23:02

• Donald Trump’s recent remarks (posted on Truth Social) about barring institutional investors from buying single-family homes, and against defense contractor buybacks and dividends.
  • Hosts’ bemused reaction to Trump "forgetting" his own real estate background, and the market’s instant reaction (i.e., Blackstone shares selling off).
  • Matt’s rule: He doesn't usually cover proposals that aren’t near real policy.
    • "It used to be that I would be like, you know, some senator would introduce some legislative proposal and I’d be like, yeah, I’ll write about it when it happens. Right?...Now it’s like, it’s a Truth Social [post]." (23:59)
  • The idea of banning institutional ownership of homes is a classic populist sound bite—not grounded in market reality.
    • Katie: “It’s like 2% of homes.” (25:06)
  • Matt: “There’s a lot of good things to be said for Blackstone owning some houses and renting them to people, and the negative consequences...are kind of hard to actually see in reality. But it sounds great to some people.” (25:08)
  • The American obsession with homeownership: Katie reflects personally on the urge to own, despite it not always being rational.
  • Second policy: Trump’s hit at defense contractor buybacks and dividends is characterized as further left than populist Democrats; followed quickly by a promise to ramp up military spending.
    • “If you looked at these posts in abstract, you would say this is not a Republican proposing these ideas.” (29:19)
  • Conclusion: Policy trial balloons and Wall Street’s whiplash, but little lasting substance.

Memorable Quotes

• On AI Proxy Voting:

  • "Will the AI always have the most nuanced understanding of corporate governance? No. But who cares? Nobody cares." — Matt Levine (05:43)

• On Private Equity Recruiting:

  • "Your entire time at an investment bank is like a lame duck...where you have already got your next job lined up." — Matt Levine (13:09)
  • "Are offers contingent on you being employed for those 20 months?" — Katie Greifeld (16:05)

• On Institutional Home Ownership:

  • "There’s a lot of good things to be said for Blackstone owning some houses and renting them to people, and the negative consequences...are kind of hard to actually see in reality. But it sounds great to some people." — Matt Levine (25:08)

• On Policy Populism:

  • "If you looked at these posts in abstract, you would say this is not a Republican proposing these ideas." — Katie Greifeld (29:19)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Celebrity Interview / Wyclef Jean — 01:25
• AI Proxy Advising at JP Morgan — 03:12
• Private Equity Recruiting Cycle — 13:01
• Trump on Institutional Homeowners — 23:02
• Trump on Buybacks & Defense Spending — 29:00

Tone and Style

• Language: Collegial, witty, and irreverent, with dry humor and inside-baseball references throughout (e.g., “vote with management, that's the training”).
• Approach: Blends technical finance details with playful banter and a skepticism toward grand narratives and knee-jerk policy proposals.

For Listeners Who Missed It

This episode offers a snapshot of several zeitgeist-y Wall Street issues: the gradual automation of back-office tasks (and the realpolitik behind it), the self-perpetuating churn of elite finance recruiting, and how both bipartisan and Trump-flavored populism are reshaping Wall Street’s expectations on housing, governance, and public perception. As ever, Matt and Katie’s exchanges make the wonky subject matter feel lively and relatable.

To keep up with Money Stuff, subscribe on your preferred platform and catch Matt’s column at Bloomberg.