Turkish Gold Contracts Trade at Huge Premiums as Buyers Pile In
A new wave of Turkish gold bugs is driving a widening gap between the price of the physical metal — a long-time investing favorite in the country — and newer digital instruments that track it.
Gold certificates traded on the Borsa Istanbul exchange should in theory follow the price of the 0.01 grams of physical bullion they represent, but rose to a record 21% premium this week, according to local brokerage Gedik Yatirim AS. The cost gap is driven by a surge in investor interest since early March as global trade tensions drive gold prices higher, research analyst Burak Pirlanta said.
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Boston Globe
15 hours ago
- Boston Globe
What happened to Moscow? A dispatch from behind the sanctions.
None of which is to say the Russian capital hasn't changed. It has — in small ways, and some not so small. It still feels unmistakably European. But it's a Europe outside the EU, orbiting on its own track. Advertisement A lot of famous names are gone. No McDonald's, no IKEA, no Zara. In their place, Russian versions, Chinese entrants, and homegrown upstarts that mimic the aesthetic, if not the price point. Yet Burger King still grills away, and KFC has become Rostic's again. Starbucks lives on in everything but name as Stars Coffee. Capitalism didn't leave. It changed its clothes. Get The Gavel A weekly SCOTUS explainer newsletter by columnist Kimberly Atkins Stohr. Enter Email Sign Up Walking along Maroseyka street on a recent hot day in Moscow. Pavel Bednyakov/Associated Press On the high street, Turkish and Chinese brands have filled the gaps. Many Western luxury names still linger — Lacoste, Armani, Saint Laurent — but these days they share space with labels few outsiders would recognize. Luxury perfumes are easy to find. iPhones too. In fact, they're sometimes cheaper here than in the EU. Nightlife, once among the continent's most electric, has changed. The once visible LGBTQ scene has largely vanished. Even the legendary Propaganda nightclub has shut. But the lights remain on –– Simach still rocks, and rapper Timati's Flava is the place to be seen. With suitably absurd prices to boot. Advertisement The pubs are busy. Guinness is a luxury at 950 rubles ($12), so people drink local stouts like St Petersburg's Black Sheep instead, at less than half the price. Barmen report take-home earnings of around 150,000 rubles a month with tips. That's about $1,800, and in Moscow, it goes surprisingly far. Rent is still modest, and a single metro ticket costs $0.85. Unlimited monthly travel is $40. A third as much as in Berlin. A sunny day in central Moscow earlier this month. ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP via Getty Images Restaurants remain lively. But signs of strain are there. Birds, once a flashy Moscow City skyscraper favorite, has closed. So too has the famed Williams in Patriki. Chefs grumble about inflation, but the kitchen staff still show up, and wages are rising. Unlike in much of Europe, pay here hasn't stood still in recent years. The real shift is human. The migrants and tourists are different. The Americans have gone. So have the Germans. Irish pubs that once echoed with the English language now host mostly Russians. On the streets you hear more Arabic, Persian, and Chinese. Moscow feels more Global South than Global West. Cuisine tells the same story. A decade ago, decent Indian food was a rarity. Now it's everywhere — upmarket on Tverskaya or downmarket in the suburbs. Not just for expats. Russians eat there too, curious and increasingly cosmopolitan in their tastes. Moscow's Cartier boutique closed, a casualty of the West's sanctions. Alexander Zemlianichenko/Associated Press Politics? Hardly a whisper. Summers used to bring protests around Trubnaya. Often attended by more Western journalists than actual Russians. Now, silence. The liberal opposition is muted, abroad, or fearful to show its head. The political void isn't heavy with menace. Politics just feels absent. Moscow keeps moving, with or without the drama. Advertisement Football, once a cultural anchor, has drifted too. This year's Champions League final came and went with barely a murmur. Match TV no longer shows it. You can find a stream online, but it's not an event anymore. Hard to believe the World Cup final was played here just seven years ago. The Ukraine conflict is present but not prominent. You see the uniforms, the occasional recruitment poster. And sometimes, a stranger leans in and asks what you think of the 'special military operation.' But there's no rationing. No gloom. Construction crews keep pouring concrete. Shops stay stocked. Streets stay swept. The cars have changed. The Hyundais and Toyotas are thinning out. Mercedes and BMWs still pass by, though they're harder to come by. Now, it's BYD, Lixiang, Zeekr — badges of status from a different place. The digital world reflects the city's new orientation. While such Western media as CNN and The Guardian are not blocked and can still be accessed directly, others require a VPN. The same applies to Instagram, X, and YouTube. This, however, comes with a shrug from most Muscovites. After all, it was the EU that first blocked Russian media for its own citizens, they remind you. In this new bifurcated world, reciprocal restrictions are just part of the game. The departure of many liberals, both native and foreign — journalists, artists, and tech workers — has also left a cultural mark. Once fixtures of Moscow's cosmopolitan energy, many left for Berlin, Tbilisi, Istanbul, and farther afield. In their absence, the city recalibrated. Few mourn the 'relocants,' as they're derisively known. Among those who stayed, they're seen as quitters — self-important chumps who abandoned ship and now jeer from the shore. Meanwhile, a quiet trickle of returnees — particularly young liberal men — have begun to reappear. A few of the more privileged ones discreetly admit that life in Bali or Koh Samui wasn't quite what they'd hoped. Advertisement Tourism patterns have shifted too. Paris weekends and London shopping sprees are out. Now it's Dubai, Antalya, Bangkok. The destinations may be different, but the appetite for travel remains. Moscow's mood, if it can be captured, is one of motion without anxiety. No triumph. No collapse. Just a city learning to walk a new path. A couple dances to a busker on Arbat. A policeman eats a shawarma near Leningrad Station. A barista at Stars Coffee hands you a cappuccino with the faintest smile. Life ticks on. The sanctions were meant to isolate. Instead, they've underlined a truth: This city, with all its contradictions and churn, is going its own way. No fanfare, no hand-wringing, little introspection. Just work to do, money to make, bills to pay, dreams to chase — and plenty to bury. To walk Moscow today is to encounter a capital that no longer seeks the West's approval — and may not miss its presence, either.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Report – Galatasaray Offer €30M For Inter Milan Star
Galatasaray have made Inter Milan an offer of €30 million for Hakan Calhanoglu. This according to Turkish outlet Haber Expres, via FCInterNews. They report that the Nerazzurri are holding out for €40 million to sell the 31-year-old. Advertisement Istanbul giants Galatasaray look to have set their sights on Hakan Calhanoglu. The Turkish international has just come to the end of his fourth season at Inter. He joined the Nerazzurri on a free transfer from city rivals AC Milan in the summer of 2021. Calhanoglu has certainly become an integral player for Inter. However, he is also into his thirties at this stage, whilst the Nerazzurri are reportedly looking to focus more on younger players. Galatasaray Offer Inter €30M For Hakan Calhanoglu MUNICH, GERMANY – MAY 31: Hakan Calhanogl of FC Internazionale in action during the UEFA Champions League Final 2025 between Paris Saint-Germain and FC Internazionale Milano at Munich Arena on May 31, 2025 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by) Turkish outlet Haber Expres confirm recent reports that Galatasaray have made an offer to Hakan Calhnaoglu. Advertisement The outlet report that the Turkish side have offered the former Milan and Bayer Leverkusen midfielder a deal worth around €10 million net per season. Meanwhile, Haber Expres report, Galatasaray's President was in contact with Calhanoglu. He attempted to persuade the 31-year-old personally on their project. Then, Galatasaray have submitted a bit to Inter, according to Haber Expres. This was for around €30 million. However, the Nerazzurri have rejected that offer. They are holding out for a bid of at least €40 million.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Exclusive: Felicis has raised $900 million tenth fund
Aydin Senkut got 50 nos before he heard one yes. 'I thought I was never going to raise that fund,' said Senkut. 'I had my first son coming, and it was a really tough time…So, when I heard that first 'yes,' I thought it was a miracle.' The year was 2009, and Aydin Senkut—a Turkish immigrant who'd first arrived in Silicon Valley in 1995—had been investing since he left Google in 2005, where he'd been the company's first product manager and was official employee number 63. He wanted to prove he wasn't just lucky, but that he could engineer luck, both for himself and for others. Determined to build something from scratch like his entrepreneurial parents, Senkut in 2006 launched Felicis Ventures, a firm named after the Latin word for 'good fortune.' His fortune wasn't very good at first, as he tells it—rejected by former Google colleagues almost unanimously, he forged ahead fundraising, drowning in nos. That first institutional fundraise, finally, pulled together $41 million, with early backers like Peter Thiel and Marc Andreessen. At a moment when little else was in his control, Senkut focused on what he could: his business card. 'I was so into details, like Steve Jobs,' laughed Senkut, founder and managing partner of Felicis. 'I literally found this specific printing shop in South San Francisco. They were the only ones that took heavy card stock and embossed business cards.' He still keeps that card—it's even got a QR code that to this day, links back to his contact information. Now, three logos, nearly 20 years, and nine funds later: Felicis has raised its tenth fund at $900 million, the firm's largest to date, Fortune can exclusively report. It comes two years after the firm announced its ninth fund of $825 million in 2023, and the size of the 35-person team has remained consistent since. The firm's current portfolio includes Notion, Plaid, and Canva, along with AI startups like Supabase, Mercor, Runway, Poolside, Revel, and Skild AI. Credit Karma, Adyen, Shopify, and Weights & Biases are some of Felicis's key exits over the years. But Senkut remains acutely attuned to the version of himself that was rejected by dozens of other VCs and LPs at the very beginning. 'You can do one of two things,' he said. 'You can either admit defeat, let people put you in a box, like you're a loser. Or you can take that and say 'No, I'm not a loser.' And the way to show them they're wrong is that you have to pull magic tricks out of nowhere…That's why there will never be a victory lap.' Senkut is often described as being in 'founder mode'—a term originated via Brian Chesky and Paul Graham to describe a relentless, hands-on leadership style. That ethos carries through in how Felicis engages with startups: The firm includes a unique clause in its term sheets promising never to vote against a founder, contractually aligning itself with the entrepreneur. 'We kept saying we were founder-friendly,' said Senkut. 'One of our founders was like: What the hell does that even mean? Just commit. So, it's now in our term sheet.' I tell Senkut that I could easily see that going wrong, and he doesn't flinch. 'It could go really wrong,' he said. 'We've made hundreds of investments and there were only two in the history of Felicis where things have gone drastically wrong. But you can't be successful on fear. You'll only be successful on the companies that work out…That's the most misunderstood aspect of venture. People think we sit at a table, eliminating risk. And no, actually—you're taking it on. You're running into the risk. It's like F1. One driver says, 'I can crash, but that's what it's gonna take to cut another 0.01 second and get over the finish line first.' That's the mindset.' Felicis was notably active during the ZIRP (zero-interest rate policy) era, when markets were frothy and valuations were especially high. According to prior TechCrunch reporting, Felicis funded 50% more deals in 2022 than in 2021. Senkut isn't worried how that might shake out—that's part of the race, too. 'If you're not active, you're actually going backwards,' he told Fortune. 'We can't say that we'll just sit it out for a while: Nobody's going to care about you in nine months. So we never stop investing…The big fabric that people are missing is this: The only thing that matters in this business is not the stages, ownership, whatever. It's all about how you look after you invest. Is there a hockey stick growth?' One of the most dramatic growth stories in AI right now is recruiting startup Mercor, which raised a $100 million Series B led by Felicis in February. Mercor CEO and cofounder Brendan Foody wasn't planning to raise at the time—but when Felicis invited him and his cofounders to race Ferraris in Las Vegas, he figured, 'why not?' 'They've got incredible hustle—like very few other firms,' Foody told Fortune. 'They asked what valuation we thought made sense, we gave them a range of $1 billion to $2 billion, and they went straight to the top. We closed the deal.' Foody sees Felicis as uniquely poised to help Mercor—whose revenue surpassed $75 million over about two years—in its next phase of growth, citing the firm's deep understanding of frontier AI research and hiring help. Felicis managing partner Sundeep Peechu and partner James Detweiler have been taking calls with 'almost every candidate' as Mercor has been hiring, Foody said. The firm doesn't disclose ownership, but told Fortune it varies—Mercor was the largest check of Felicis's last fund at $50 million, while the smallest was $100,000. Supporting these types of AI companies is key to Felicis's future and, to this end, the firm this year hired OpenAI's Peter Deng as a general partner. (Deng was a consumer VP leading the team working on ChatGPT.) Katie Riester, Felicis managing director and GP of fund of funds investing, said that Felicis is actively making choices to stay competitive in a venture space that, over the last two decades, has become more ferociously competitive. 'We're constantly evolving what our platform looks like, and does it match the game that's being played today,' said Riester, who was a Felicis LP herself for seven years while an SVB director. 'I actually don't like to think of venture as gambling, so that's not the association I'm making. I think of it as getting to play a game over and over, but the game changes every time. How do you keep winning? You have to constantly change. You have to be aware of that, recognize that ego doesn't matter. The fact you've won before doesn't matter.' To win, Felicis is ultimately looking to underwrite without reservation, going all-in, come what may. Data bears this out: In fund nine, 94% of Felicis's investments were at the seed or Series A stage, and 87% of the capital deployed went into rounds where the firm led or co-led. They expect a similar breakdown for fund ten. When Senkut was raising the first institutional Felicis fund, he heard 50 nos before landing his first yes—from Judith Elsea, managing director at Weathergage Capital. 'Felicis has reinvented itself from a small, scrappy seed stage investor to a large, scrappy multi-stage investor who regularly leads deals,' says Elsea. While startup investors often catch an 'innovation wave' and reap big profits, Elsea wrote Fortune in an email, the VCs who stay relevant are the ones who are already paddling out for the next wave as the first one reaches the beach: 'Being a VC investor is hard to do well and particularly hard to do well over long periods of time. Felicis is showing that kind of stamina.' Senkut goes to waves too, and we talk about the HBO series, The 100 Foot Wave. You have to be ready to wipe out seriously in order to succeed spectacularly. 'If you ask me, like, our biggest fail mode is we need to take more smart risks,' said Senkut. 'So, you have to really unwind your brain, like that surfer in Portugal. I used to say we're wave surfers. But I realized there are too many good surfers, and too many waves. So, now I'm saying we're tsunami surfers.' See you tomorrow, Allie GarfinkleX: @agarfinksEmail: a deal for the Term Sheet newsletter here. Nina Ajemian curated the deals section of today's newsletter. Subscribe here. Correction, June 12, 2025: We misspelled Katie Riester's name in the email version of this story. This story was originally featured on Sign in to access your portfolio
