CEOs unhappy with Trump on Ukraine

What’s interesting is where he said it—and why. This is the annual U.S. gathering of the Future Investment Initiative Institute, a nonprofit foundation backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. Its flagship event is typically held every October in Riyadh. Trump is the first U.S. president to address FII, which brings together leaders to discuss innovation, investing, and global trends. Trump’s family has ties to the kingdom through son-in-law Jared Kushner’s private equity firm. And Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman recently pledged to invest $600 billion in the U.S. over the next four years. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other senior officials were in Riyadh earlier this week for talks with their Russian counterparts on ending the war in Ukraine.

The kingdom’s importance as a source and destination for capital was evident in the other attendees present. Elon Musk had a front-row seat for the speech, along with Kushner, Oracle CEO Safra Catz, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Dina Powell McCormick of BDT & MSD Partners, and other business leaders, especially in finance, tech, and real estate. Also in attendance: Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, FII Institute’s Richard Attias, Saudi Ambassador Princess Reema Bandar Al-Saud and PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan (who is on the inaugural list of Fortune’s 100 Most Powerful People in Business.

Among the people I spoke with afterwards, reactions were mixed. There was widespread opposition to the president’s stance on Ukraine and calls for more specifics about U.S. policy in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East. But there was also optimism about Trump’s continued focus on cutting regulation and taxes. “If he could back off on geopolitics and focus on clearing a path for innovation, this could be a golden age,” said one finance CEO.

Michael Saylor, who has amassed 478,740 bitcoins through Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), thinks it’s already here. During our fireside discussion yesterday, Saylor said Trump’s support for Bitcoin could spur more demand and a stronger ecosystem around Bitcoin. Even without Trump’s support, Saylor will continue to buy.

More news below.

Contact CEO Daily via Diane Brady, diane.brady@fortune.com, LinkedIn.

Top news

Trump called Zelenskyy a dictator: “A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left. In the meantime, we are successfully negotiating an end to the War with Russia,” he posted on Truth Social. 

In reality: Elections in Ukraine have been postponed because of the Russian invasion; Zelenskyy was elected democratically in 2019.

Zelenskyy accused Trump of living in a Russian “disinformation space.”

U.S. allies are aghast. Europe is scrambling to salvage the Western alliance but is blindsided that the U.S. is siding with Russia in a war on its Eastern borders. Trump has also lost the support of WSJ’s editorial board, which said he “mimicked Russian propaganda.”

U.K. and France propose sending 30,000 troops. The “reassurance force” would prevent Russia from restarting the conflict if a peace agreement is signed. There’s only one catch: It needs U.S. air cover to work. 

The Fed held rates because it was concerned about Trump’s tariffs, according to minutes of their January meeting. 

Microsoft invented “a new state of matter”: The “topological qubit” is a quantum computing technology that exceeds the power of Google’s Willow quantum chip. The technology relies on cooling the chip to extremely low temperatures, inducing a state that is neither solid nor liquid nor gas.

From Fortune

Ford cuts some manager bonuses
A Ford spokesperson announced on Tuesday that only half of the automaker’s 3,300 middle managers will receive stock award bonuses as a way of “driving a high-performance culture that recognizes and rewards employees.” However, sources told the AP that the bonuses are a way for the company to cut costs. Fortune

Is Ackman the new Buffett?
In an X post this week, billionaire investor Bill Ackman expressed his wishes to become the next Warren Buffett by purchasing a real estate company and turning it into the next Berkshire Hathaway. Ackman has tapped real estate company Howard Hughes Holdings, which would cost $900 million and mirrors Buffett’s acquisition of a textile factory 60 years ago. Fortune

HP is acquiring parts of Humane
HP announced that it is purchasing parts of Humane, the AI startup that developed the failed Ai Pin, for $116 million. The pin, which was supposed to rival the smartphone, will be discontinued. HP will acquire other intellectual property, absorb most Humane employees, and take over Humane’s software platform. Fortune

The markets

• The S&P 500 hit a second all-time high in two days, perching at 6,144.15 … S&P futures were down 0.20% this morning, pre-bell … Japan sold off sharply this morning, down more than 1% on its major indexes … Trump Media & Technology Group is down 17% YTD … The FT has a thoughtful deep-dive on misgivings in the bond market about Trumponomics that just won’t go away.

From the analysts

• JP Morgan on Bumble: “... trends remain challenged with revenue down 4% Y/Y and net adds negative for the first time since 4Q20. We were encouraged to hear Whitney [Wolfe Herd] emphasize her return to the CEO role is not expected to be temporary and that peak season trends improved in the US (similar to Tinder/Hinge), but the 1Q guide of revenue down 7% to 4% FXN (vs. -3% in 4Q) and Bumble app net adds down 120k to 100k (vs. -57k in 4Q) highlights that the Bumble turnaround remains in the early innings,” per Cory Carpenter and Daniel Pfeiffer
• Wedbush on Trump’s idea for a 25% tariff on semiconductor chips: “...semiconductor tariffs could create some modest positive implications for companies with US based fabs (INTC, GFS, TSEM). However, we also believe that any differentiated impact is moderated by several factors including: Semiconductor packaging as well as device, and product assembly often take place in geographies outside the US, and TSMC has a near monopoly on advanced chip production,” per Matt Bryson and Antoine Legault.
• Convera on Trump’s effect on the dollar: “A follow-up summit between Putin and Trump has not yet been scheduled, and the lack of progress has likely dampened risk sentiment, aiding the dollar's recovery,” per George Vessey.
• Wedbush on DeepSeek and Nvidia: “...we have seen NOT ONE AI enterprise deployment slow down or change due to the DeepSeek situation. No customer wants to ‘lose their place in line’ as it is described to us for Nvidia's next gen chips. The Blackwell ramp will be front and center on Nvidia's conference call next Wed, Feb 26th after the bell and we see massive demand drivers ahead for Jensen & Co,” per Daniel Ives et al.

Around the watercooler