Good morning, you're tuned into Markets Desk.
Mercedes-Benz posted a stronger second quarter than many expected, with net profit attributable to shareholders climbing to one point zero six five billion euros from nine hundred fifteen million a year ago. Earnings per share rose to one euro fourteen, though the automaker cautioned full-year revenue will land slightly below last year's level, reflecting persistent softness in key markets.
Shifting to alternative asset management, Ares Management has held talks to acquire Leonard Green and Partners in what would be a landmark deal between two Los Angeles-based private equity powerhouses. A combination would substantially expand Ares' buyout capabilities, adding Leonard Green's deep consumer and retail expertise to an already formidable platform — a transaction that would reshape the competitive landscape of private equity.
And in technology, OpenAI's Sam Altman weighed in on the recent Hugging Face security breach, using it as a platform to argue against concentrated AI power. Altman called it a reminder that any single company, model, or individual holding outsized control over AI infrastructure would be, in his words, terrible — and that broader distribution of AI capabilities actually raises the collective security floor for the entire industry.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
