In today’s episode of The Entire Economy Is Datacenters, two of the biggest names in the power game just teamed up.

NextEra Energy is buying Dominion Energy in a deal valued at nearly $67 billion, the companies announced today. The merger will create the world’s largest regulated electric utility business with a market cap of about $249 billion. The new company, which will still operate under the NextEra name, will be the third-largest US company in the energy sector, behind only Exxon Mobil and Chevron.

NextEra is currently the largest renewable energy developer in the US, and headquartered in Florida, while Dominion is based in Virginia, where it powers the largest datacenter market in the world (Northern Virginia). Together, the companies will serve about 10 million utility customer accounts across the east coast.

The deets: NextEra is offering about $76 per share to Dominion shareholders, along with a one-time cash payment valued at $360 million, and 0.8138 NextEra shares for each Dominion share. Once the deal closes, NextEra shareholders will own roughly 75% of Dominion, with Dominion shareholders owning the remaining quarter.

Shares of Dominion jumped 9.44% on the news, while NextEra fell 4.63%.

AI is making utilities cool again

Datacenters, the infrastructure at the heart of the AI boom, don’t just require huge amounts of cash to function, but startling amounts of energy, too. That’s why utilities, the most boring space on the Monopoly table, has suddenly become a hot sector.

Despite more recent headwinds from energy volatility tied to the Iran war, the sector is expected to keep the good times rolling longer term. “Looking ahead, we expect utilities to grow EPS at above historical rates through at least 2030, driven by continued strength in electric demand as large-load customers—including datacenters and advanced manufacturing facilities—ramp toward full capacity,” explained Tim Winter, portfolio manager at Gabelli Funds in a recent note.

To AI bulls, this merger is “the clearest possible confirmation that the AI-driven power demand supercycle is not a cyclical trade but a decades-long infrastructure build,” explained Wedbush analyst Dan Ives in a note today.—LB

🟢 What’s up

• Bio-Rad was feeling totally rad today, jumping 13.85% on reports that Elliott Investment Management has built a stake in the life-science tools maker.
• Bank of America analysts reinstated their coverage of ServiceNow (up 8.78%) and Salesforce (up 3.44%). The bank says ServiceNow is a buy, but rated Salesforce as underperform.
• Data co-creation company LiveRamp jumped 27.29% on the news that French advertising company Publicis is buying it for $2.17 billion.
• Brady Corp popped 18.7% thanks to a strong earnings report for the security company, as well as its forthcoming acquisition of Honeywell’s Productivity Solutions and Services business.
• Macy’s got a 0.65% boost today after Berkshire Hathaway’s latest 13F filing revealed it initiated a small position in the retailer last quarter.

What’s down

• Speaking of Berkshire Hathaway, UnitedHealth lost 0.69% after the conglomerate revealed it closed its position in the health insurance giant.
• Regeneron tumbled 9.82% after the pharma company missed its goals in a late-stage trial for its new melanoma treatment.
• Crypto-trading stocks suffered thanks to a dip in bitcoin over the weekend. Coinbase sank 3.07%, while Strategy lost 6.08%.
• Lumentum dropped 8.83% and Coherent shed 5.13% on the news that bigwig AI investor Leopold Aschenbrenner dumped his positions in the optical networking companies.

A jury finished deliberating on the three-week trial of Elon Musk vs OpenAI in just two hours today. Their conclusion: The lawsuit that has gripped both Silicon Valley and Wall Street alike should be unceremoniously tossed out.

They decided that Musk waited too long to accuse fellow OpenAI founder Sam Altman of defrauding him, determining his lawsuit fell outside the three-year statute of limitations. The decision is non-binding, but the judge agreed with the jury’s findings and promised to dismiss the case “on the spot.”

It’s a huge blow to Musk at a critical time for SpaceX, which is preparing to publish its prospectus ahead of its summer IPO, while his AI startup, xAI, still trails far behind OpenAI. Speaking of, it’s a big win for OpenAI as it heads to what will likely be a $1 trillion IPO later this year, though it continued the recent streak of negative publicity for Altman.

Spill the tea: The trial is over, but boy oh boy did we get some juicy gossip from the showdown between the biggest names in tech. If you missed all the courtroom drama, here’s a brief recap of the hilariously mean things each side said about the other:

• Elon Musk accused OpenAI founder Sam Altman and president Greg Brockman of “stealing a charity,” while Musk was accused of having “selective amnesia” of OpenAI’s early years.
• Brockman’s personal journals were used as evidence of his alleged greed, while Altman testified that Musk spent meetings showing people memes on his phone.
• Shivon Zilis, OpenAI board member and mother to four of Elon Musk’s children—thanks to the unsolicited offer of his sperm—was accused of spying for Musk.
• Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella called OpenAI’s board “amateur city”, referring to when they tried to push Altman out back in 2023.
• Speaking of, the blow-by-blow text messages chronicling Altman’s ousting make for incredible reading.—MR

The AI trade is roaring these days: Old school tech companies are learning new tricks, the latest tech IPO has enjoyed some serious hype, and retail investors are pouring money into the red-hot memory stock trade.

There’s plenty of enthusiasm for memory stocks across the Pacific, too: Shares of South Korean electronics giant Samsung have soared 394% over the past 12 months, and the company just climbed to a $1 trillion market valuation.

Samsung’s success is thanks to its control over about 36% of the global market for dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips—the memory chips AI hyperscalers need to power their AI products. The company is reaping the rewards of a sudden global memory shortage, with hyperscaler demand for DRAM dramatically outpacing production, leading to a surge in orders for Samsung chips. The result: Last quarter its sales climbed 70% year over year, while its profit soared 750%.

But Samsung isn’t alone: Its biggest competitor is fellow South Korean tech powerhouse SK Hynix. While not as much of a household name, SK Hynix also makes high-bandwidth memory chips, controlling roughly 32% of the global DRAM market. Shares have popped 799% in the last year, putting SK Hynix well on its way to becoming the second company in South Korea to hit a $1 trillion valuation this year.

Here’s where the drama comes in

Despite (or perhaps because of) its recent success, Samsung is staring down the barrel of a massive strike. Unionized employees have asked management for 15% of all operating profits and to remove any caps to their bonuses, but after their demands weren’t met during recent negotiations, about 45,000 workers announced they’re going on an 18-day strike beginning on May 21.

In preparation, Samsung has already begun to “warm down” some of its equipment to prevent damage if operations are suspended, prioritizing manufacturing chips used by its biggest customers like Nvidia. But if a strike does arrive, the pain would be felt much further afield than just Samsung: Even a short-term disruption to the global supply of DRAM could cause a massive economic domino effect across the entire AI trade, pushing memory prices higher.

For now, Samsung has dodged a bullet: Earlier today a South Korean judge granted the company’s request for an injunction against the strike that should keep machines plugged in if workers walk out.

Despite the ruling, analysts expect that any further upheaval at Samsung would be great news for US-based Micron Technologies, which controls 23% of the DRAM market and could acquire new customers who can’t get their orders filled by Samsung.

By the way: In 2025, SK Hynix removed its bonus cap for employees for the next 10 years, which means many of its workers stand to make massive windfalls in excess of $470,000. That’s one way to make sure it won’t be encumbered by unhappy employees anytime soon.—MR

• Take a look at the trades Greg Abel is making at Berkshire Hathaway after the departure of investing legend Warren Buffett.
• Kevin Warsh will be sworn in as Fed Chair this Friday.
• The DOJ created a $1.8 billion fund to settle claims of alleged weaponization in exchange for Trump dropping his $10 billion suit against the IRS.
• Homebuilders are getting hit with a wave of lawsuits over shoddy construction.
• Lululemon is going toe-to-toe with founder Chip Wilson in a proxy war that’s quickly heating up.
• JPMorgan said Americans have created $68 trillion in new wealth since 2019, propping up the economy.
• The bond rout continued today, with 10-year Treasury yields rising to their highest point in a year.
• One last Musk story: Elon Musk likened his company Neuralink to Jesus Christ.

Economic announcements: It’s a quiet start to what we’re hoping will be a calm, straightforward week (feels like we haven’t had one of those in a while). Keep an eye out for comments from Philadelphia Fed President Anna Paulson.

Earnings reports: Home Depot, Bilibili, Amer Sports, Cava, and Toll Brothers.

Everything else: The central bankers from the Group of Seven (G7) will continue their two-day meeting in Paris tomorrow.