Hey, people. Got some news for you.
First, a Reuters story:
Crete Professionals Alliance, an accounting platform backed by Thrive Capital, plans to invest over $500 million to acquire U.S.-based accounting firms in the next two years, and equip them with OpenAI-powered artificial intelligence technology to boost efficiency, company executives told Reuters.
Now let’s check out this Futurism article that came across my news feed over the weekend: A Billionaire Is Buying Entire Businesses and Converting Them to Run With AI. It’s not about the same group, merely the same concept at play:
Private equity, or “termite capitalism,” as it’s been ironically called, is a sweeping term for a massive industry built around buying and flipping established companies. These businesses can be just about anything — municipal water utilities, chain restaurants, bottling plants, and even retirement homes.
The strategy is largely extractive. When someone flips an abandoned house, they’re theoretically making structural repairs and quality-of-life updates, in the hopes of selling for more than the cost of the whole project. At its worst, private equity does the opposite: taking over healthy companies, selling off their assets and laying off employees en masse — hence the “termite” moniker.
Now, venture capitalist and tech billionaire Elad Gil is doing something that sounds awfully similar — except that unlike the largely technophobic private equity space, according to a recent profile by TechCrunch, he’s been using his immense fortune to buy up companies and reshape them to run using AI.
The scheme looks like this: Gil, or a firm he backs, acquires a stable, white-collar business with a healthy cashflow, like a law firm or a marketing agency. Then, Gil “helps them scale through AI” — techno corpospeak for “lay off a bunch of workers and automate their labor with AI” — using the proceeds to buy other firms to add to the empire. Think Sam Bankman-Fried meets “The Blob,” and you’re not far off.
Were you wondering where former IRS commish Danny Werfel would end up after he resigned from the position in January? Wonder no more.
You can't make this 💩 up. Former IRS commissioner @danny_werfel is joining @alliantgroup
— davidleary (@davidleary) June 7, 2025
The same Alliant Group that the IRS raided when he was commissioner. https://t.co/1v2UOD0r0s pic.twitter.com/DsgZ2BkMWo
Coverage of the raid in 2022:
- The IRS Is Paying an Unwelcome Visit to Alliantgroup, Experts Weigh In On Feds’ Raid of the ‘Blue A’
- Former and Current Alliantgroup Employees Speak Out About ‘Evil, Toxic, Emotionally Damaging Company’
India is getting serious about creating its own mega firm to compete with Big 4. We’ve been telling you this for a while now so either it’s actually going to happen or they’re just going to keep talking about it. Either way, we’d love to see them try.
The Indian government is considering the establishment of home-grown consulting firms to rival the Big Four—Deloitte, PwC, EY, and KPMG, reported Moneycontrol citing government sources.
The move is reportedly a bid to lessen dependence on foreign advisory firms and foster global capabilities in the professional services sector.
Did you think they would be content doing all the grunt work for pennies on the dollar forever?
‘Ex-rivals’ Baker Tilly and Moss Adams CEOs tell Business Insider why they merged.
In a joint interview, the two CEOs of the merged firms told Business Insider that the move is mutually strategic and will help them navigate the challenges facing the mid-market.
“We just added a bunch of arrows into our quiver,” said Jeff Ferro, CEO of Baker Tilly.
And:
Combining firms also created strategic advances in geographic reach — Moss Adams is West Coast-focused, while Baker Tilly mostly covers the East, central, and has some international clients.
Then a whole bunch of stuff about how private equity will enable them to revolutionize the middle market or some such.
It’s a slow news day in Fairbanks, Alaska as the local paper celebrates this guy earning his CPA:

Jokes aside, I actually love when local papers do write-ups about residents getting their certifications. I dunno, it’s cute to me and must feel pretty good after busting your ass to get it.
In data breach news, an Aussie firm got got. Cyber Daily has the story:
The Blacklock ransomware gang, which previously operated under the moniker El Dorado, has listed Toowong-based accounting firm Ryan Harvie McEnery on its darknet leak site and is threatening to publish the company’s alleged data shortly.
According to the gang’s ransom note, it is entirely apolitical.
“Your files have been stolen from your network and encrypted with a strong algorithm,” the note said.
“We work for money and are not associated with politics. All you need to do is contact us and pay.”
Argentina could soon be an investing hotspot according to this PwC director who spoke to Reuters. Consulting work would undoubtedly follow.
Argentina’s mergers and acquisitions market could grow significantly in the coming years if President Javier Milei’s economic reforms continue, Juan Tripier, director of M&A and corporate finance at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Argentina, told Reuters.
Investors have shown renewed interest in Argentina following Milei’s measures, which include sharp reductions in inflation and public spending, a restored fiscal surplus, and relaxed foreign exchange controls.
“Two, three years ago you contacted an international company, an international investor, and Argentina was a bad word. That has changed since Milei became president,” Tripier said in an interview with Reuters in Buenos Aires.
Nebraska’s state auditor says his office is getting tons of calls from local citizens wanting him to look into municipal finances:
After Nebraska State Auditor Mike Foley issued a recent statement exposing alleged financial improprieties involving several local governments, he said his office faced a surge of callers requesting probes of their towns, too.
It’s a common response, Foley said, after news hits of a small-town investigation by the auditor.
“The phone starts ringing,” he said, repeating a common refrain: “‘Hey look at us. Look what’s happening in my village or county too.’”
While grateful for the interest, Foley said such complaints are “disconcerting” in that they could signal rising misuse of public resources in smaller public entities across Nebraska. He said the alerts also “distract” from one of his office’s other main tasks, bird-dogging the “mega agencies” of state government.
If only some kind of third-party auditor existed to audit these agencies, maybe like some kind of business of uniquely ethical people one could hire to come in and check finances out.
OK that’s all for now. Email or text if you have something interesting for us and have a great week!