Thrive Capital, the tech investment firm known for taking big stakes in companies including OpenAI, Stripe and Databricks, announced on Monday that it’s tapped Palantir veteran Jim Siders to serve as CEO of Shield Technology Partners, a newly created business focused on IT services.

Siders spent more than 12 years at Palantir, where he most recently served as chief information officer, overseeing global IT operations, business applications and infrastructure. He began his career at the company as an IT helpdesk engineer. 

Palantir has been one of the best performers on the stock market during the artificial intelligence boom, jumping by almost thirtyfold since the end 2022.

Thrive, founded by Josh Kushner, launched Thrive Holdings in April, creating a division to own and operate companies that it believes could benefit from technological transformations. Shield was launched in June by Thrive Holdings and investment firm ZBS Partners, with over $100 million in initial funding.

Shield buys ownership stakes in IT services companies and tries to help them grow by giving them access to cutting-edge AI technology and engineering capabilities. 

“If we’re doing this right, we’re going to see a lot of value created all the way up the chain, from end customer all the way through to us here at Shield,” Siders told CNBC in an interview. “These are great businesses, and they’re going to be rising up even more.”

As of December, Shield works with seven companies and is expected to generate more than $100 million in revenue this year, Thrive said. Shield primarily works with small and mid-sized businesses, and has ambitions to expand its portfolio going forward.

In addition to its work with Shield in IT services, Thrive Holdings also operates in the accounting sector. 

Earlier this month, OpenAI announced it took an ownership stake in Thrive Holdings and will embed engineering, research and product teams within its companies.

“We said, ‘The way in which we’re going to achieve the best results for our customers is if OpenAI is an owner in Thrive Holdings alongside us,'” Anuj Mehndiratta, a member of Thrive Holdings’ founding team, said in an interview. “By being an owner, they will be enabled to actually focus on end outcomes in the same way that we are.”

Shield’s ownership structure is based on a similar line of thinking. To help align incentives and encourage companies to participate, the IT services organizations that Shield backs also get equity in Shield.

Siders kicks off his tenure as Shield CEO on Monday, and he said his initial focus will be on understanding its existing partners and searching for potential targets. He said Shield will be ambitious in the next few quarters.   

“There’s a whole industry out there, people who’ve spent their careers trying to deliver this value for everybody’s benefit,” Siders said. “This is a unique and special thing to attack that.”

WATCH: Joe Lonsdale on AI regulation: Don’t want the populists to break the whole AI wave

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Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day:

Rotation was the word on Wall Street’s lips last week as investors iced out high-flying artificial intelligence stocks in favor of more traditional and cyclical names. Now, the question is whether that divergence will continue, as focus shifts to upcoming inflation and employment data.

Here’s what to know:

Former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh has made his way to the top of Trump’s list of candidates to lead the central bank.

Trump told The Wall Street Journal on Friday that Warsh is a top contender for the role, joining National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett as a front-runner to succeed Jerome Powell. “I think you have Kevin and Kevin. They’re both — I think the two Kevins are great,” the president told the paper, adding that “there are a couple of other people that are great.”

Trump also repeated his belief that the next Fed chair should consult the president on interest rate decisions, saying, “I’m a smart voice and should be listened to.”

A new CNBC investigation found that in the midst of this fall’s record-setting government shutdown, dozens of U.S. Food and Drug Administration staffers traveled to a Singapore resort.

Thirty-one staffers ranging from deputy directors to a program coordinator traveled to Singapore in mid-November to attend a conference of the International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use, according to internal FDA documents obtained by CNBC. In total, the trip cost the agency more than a quarter of a million dollars, or nearly $8,000 per attendee.

The travel was approved even as the FDA operated with reduced staffing and resource constraints amid the 43-day shutdown. The trip also comes as the agency faces a proposed 11.5% budget cut, broad layoffs and tumultuous leadership. In a statement to CNBC, the FDA said that sending employees to the conference was “mission critical.” A spokesperson for the agency also noted that this year’s delegation of staffers was smaller than that of the past two years.

Trump wants to make domestic shipbuilding great again, but as CNBC’s Lori Ann LaRocco reports, he’ll need help from international companies.

China wins as much as 75% of new ship orders and has more than 200 times the building capacity of the U.S., data shows. There are currently eight active U.S. shipyards, compared to China’s more than 300.

As it tries to bolster the U.S. shipbuilding industry and make up ground, the Trump administration is tapping companies like South Korea’s Hanwha through investment deals. As Peter Sand, chief shipping analyst at Xeneta, told CNBC: “When you look at the orders, making American shipbuilding great again is a tall order. Foreign expertise needs to be brought in.”

Netflix will release the final episodes of its hit series “Stranger Things” at the end of the month, marking the end of an era. After being passed over by studio after studio, the underdog series has become one of the biggest success stories of the streaming world.

As CNBC’s Sarah Whitten reports, the streaming giant has launched dozens of partnerships across merchandise and food tied to the 9-year-old series. Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos said the franchise was akin to a “‘Star Wars’ moment” for the streamer, given the show’s role in shaping pop culture and leading to live events.

• Tuesday: Nonfarm payrolls data for November
• Wednesday: Micron earnings (after the bell)
• Thursday: Darden Restaurants earnings (before the bell); FedEx and Nike earnings (after the bell); Consumer Price Index data for November

CNBC Pro subscribers can see a calendar and rundown for the week here.

— CNBC’s Sean Conlon, Brandon Gomez, Jeff Cox, Paige Tortorelli, Scott Zamost, Melissa Lee, Jeff Cox, Lori Ann LaRocco and Sarah Whitten contributed to this report. Josephine Rozzelle edited this edition.

The sell-off in artificial intelligence stocks continued unabated Friday stateside. Broadcom shares tumbled more than 11% as investors grew concerned over lower margins and uncertain deals. Names such as Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices and Oracle fell in sympathy, which caused major U.S. indexes to close lower.

It was a motif patterning the week. Even though the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.1% week on week on the back of outperformance by financial stocks, tech names dragged down the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite, which fell 0.6% and 1.6% respectively for the week.

That said, investors could have just been jittery amid the narrative of an apparent AI bubble, and were spooked by any sign of bad news. After all, Broadcom’s earnings — as well as its guidance for the current quarter — breezed past expectations.

“Frankly we aren’t sure what else one could desire as the company’s AI story continues to not only overdeliver but is doing it at an accelerating rate,” Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon, who has a “buy” rating on Broadcom, wrote in a Friday note.

Future prospects also look rosy, according to UBS. “We expect high profitability and the accelerating impact of the AI, power and resources, and longevity themes to drive 2026 performance,” said strategist Sagar Khandelwal.

But in the near term, investors may still be flighty, unless something concretely reassuring, such as Oracle achieving positive cash flow, reassures them the snapping sound is just a twig in the forest.

U.S. stocks dragged down by AI names. Major indexes fell Friday, a day after they hit record highs. Asia-Pacific markets traded lower Monday. South Korea’s Kospi retreated roughly 1.5% as of 2:45 p.m. Singapore time (1:45 a.m. ET), leading losses in the region.

China’s economic slowdown deepens. Even though the country’s retail sales and industrial production grew year on year in November, their increase missed forecasts and slowed from the previous month. Investment in fixed assets in the January-to-November period contracted from a year earlier.

The end of the ‘Berkshire way’? Several aspects of Berkshire Hathaway’s leadership transition are signaling that the conglomerate is drifting away from the famously decentralized “Berkshire way,” CNBC’s Alex Crippen writes.

Hong Kong court finds Jimmy Lai guilty. The 78-year-old pro-democracy activist and media baron was ruled guilty of sedition and collusion with foreign countries by a Hong Kong court on Monday. The results might unsettle foreign investors, analysts say.

[PRO] China’s food security strategy. The spat between Beijing and Washington over soybean purchases has highlighted the evolution of China’s domestic agriculture industry. Goldman Sachs thinks this is the best way to play the sector.

Copper could hit ‘stratospheric new highs’ as hoarding of the metal in U.S. continues

Copper prices have hit multiple record highs this year, fueled by supply disruptions and as fears over U.S. tariffs have led to a surge in demand. The rally is set to continue into 2026.

Citi analysts expect prices of the red metal to skyrocket on the back of stronger demand led by the energy transition and artificial intelligence sectors. Electrification, grid expansion and data-center build-outs require large amounts of the metal for wiring, power transmission and cooling infrastructure.

— Lee Ying Shan