Russia’s Anti-War Billionaires | Private Equity’s Huge Paydays | Canadian Banks’ U.S. Expansion

Plus: How Putin’s War Is Hitting Ukraine’s ‘Silicon Valley’

Good morning.

Russian billionaires have started to speak out against President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine. We’re also covering why private equity firms executives are earning much bigger paydays than bankers, and why Canadian banks are spending millions in M&As to expand their U.S. footprints. Finally, don’t miss this story on the struggle to evacuate staff working in Ukraine’s biggest tech hubs.

In The News Today

Ukrainian authorities have accused Moscow of engaging in “barbaric tactics” and war crimes as the death toll from the Russian invasion mounts. Follow our live blog for real-time updates.

A man shot and killed his three daughters and their chaperone before taking his own life at a church in Sacramento, California.

Top Take-Aways

Thousands of Russians have taken to the streets to oppose President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Russian billionaires who amassed their fortunes by remaining loyal to the Kremlin—and are now facing sanctions—are also beginning to speak out against his war on the neighboring country.

Major cryptocurrencies are reversing earlier losses inflicted by the war in Ukraine amid expectations that Russians could turn to crypto to evade sanctions—a strategy that could prove only minimally successful.

Access to unbiased media sources is extremely restricted in Russia. So some Ukrainian tech entrepreneurs are using their own apps to inform their neighbors about what is happening on the ground.

Conti, a hacker crew best known for ransomware attacks on European and American companies, has been hacked and had internal data leaked within days of declaring allegiance to Russia and threatening retaliation for attacks on the country's entities.

The impact of the conflict in Eastern Europe on the U.S. economy will be “modest,” analysts predict, with the biggest threat being a surge in oil prices that risks worsening inflation. It has, however, proved a boon for India’s energy tycoon Mukesh Ambani, who surpassed infrastructure billionaire Gautam Adani to reclaim the title of richest person in Asia.

Top private equity firms executives are seeing massive paydays—Blackstone cofounder and CEO Stephen A. Schwarzman alone took home $1.1 billion. The massive sums reflect an industry flush with more cash than ever before.

There’s no end in sight to a pandemic-fueled wave of consolidation among North America’s retail banks—the latest example comes from Toronto-Dominion Bank, which struck a deal to buy First Horizon for $13.4 billion in cash.

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