The new power figures in hedge funds do not manage money

The hedge-fund industry's newest rock stars don't manage money. That and more in today's newsletter.

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Hello! A submersible superyacht sounds like it should belong to a supervillain in an animated movie. But an Austrian company says it's a real possibility, and it's already in talks with potential buyers.

On the agenda:

• Silicon Valley is betting on a Goldman prodigy to build the city of the future.

• The more you earn, the harder it is to find a job right now.

• Big Tech has a big green-card problem.

• The hedge-fund industry's newest rock stars don't manage money.

But first: Why Wall Street is so happy to see the job market slowing down.

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This week's dispatch

Job market slowdown

The US economy added 175,000 jobs in April, falling short of expectations for the first time in six months and showing a steep drop from the revised 315,000 figure for March.

That sent stocks soaring and bond yields plunging. Why? A higher number had the potential to push any rate cuts from the Federal Reserve further out into the future. A lower number would signal cracks in economic growth and hint at stagflation.

Instead, investors took the not-too-high, not-too-low hiring numbers as a sign that the hoped for soft landing for the economy is still on the cards, despite sticky inflation.

"In our view, the softening trend in labor markets will make it easier for the Fed to cut rates," Brian Rose, a senior US economist at UBS Global Wealth Management, wrote.

While investors might be happy with the jobs numbers, they're likely to do little for the economic mood. Wage growth slowed while unemployment picked up. White-collar workers are finding it harder to get hired.

It's a reminder that good news for the stock market isn't always good news for workers.

Big Tech's urban hero

Jan Sramek quietly became the largest landowner in Solano County, a sparsely populated area wedged between Napa and Sacramento that he hopes will one day become California Forever.

Sramek, a former Goldman Sachs trader, is backed by a who's who of Silicon Valley billionaire investors. Tech barons from Reid Hoffman to Marc Andreessen are betting on him to make the city of the future — the question is whether he can pull it off.

Meet the man behind California Forever.

The white-collar recession

For people who've recently searched for a job, the market appears to be brutal.

That's especially true if you're a relatively high-earning worker. New data from Vanguard shows a two-tier job market: one divided between a blue-collar boom and a white-collar recession.

Why high-earners can't find work.

Also read:

10 things you should be negotiating every time you land a job offer, according to ex-Microsoft HR VP

Big Tech's green card problem

As competition dwindles and the green-card process gets tougher, some Big Tech companies are backing off green-card applications.

The situation is making it harder for foreign tech workers to stay in the US. One top immigration attorney said overseas candidates may want to search far beyond Silicon Valley and New York City for jobs in the industry.

More on that here.

Also read:

• Google says immigration rules are making it hard to hire top AI talent

• Here are the 25 startups that sponsor the most H-1B visas for immigrants looking for work

The portfolio-manager whisperers

The new power figures in hedge funds do not manage money. Instead, these business development professionals scout and evaluate investment talent.

These so-called BD roles, once an under-the-radar gig, have become coveted, multimillion-dollar jobs amid the war for talent.

Inside the rise of the business-development professional.

Also read:

• Citadel's stock-pickers lead the way in April — here's how hedge fund competitors fared

This week's quote:

"Satya (Nadella) and the entire senior leadership team lean on (Bill) Gates very significantly. His opinion is sought every time we make a major change."

- A Microsoft executive on Gates' continued presence.

More of this week's top reads:

• Endless Shrimp didn't kill Red Lobster. Wall Street did.

• Joseph Stiglitz explains why America's appetite for Trump endures.

• The US's major job hubs are now cities like Charleston and Hilton Head, South Carolina.

• Tesla tells the EV industry: Fend for yourselves.

• Quit hosting PowerPoint parties with your friends.

• Gen Z is outpacing boomers on income and millennials on home ownership.

• Biden used ChatGPT for the first time. Here's how that went.

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  The Insider Today team: Matt Turner, deputy editor-in-chief, in New York. Jordan Parker Erb, editor, in New York. Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Lisa Ryan, executive editor, in New York.