The Profile: The billionaire betting it all on the AI boom & the mom who vanished without a trace
This edition of The Profile features Larry Ellison, Karl-Anthony Townes, and Savannah Guthrie.
Good morning, friends!
Five years ago, I wrote a mini-profile on legendary mountaineer Nirmal ‘Nims’ Purja.
At the time, he had just done what many mountaineers believed was impossible. He had successfully climbed all 14 of the world’s 8,000-meter peaks in six months and six days. He called the mission “Project Possible” because everyone else insisted it wasn’t.
This week, Nims died doing what he loved while on a Himalayan expedition. At age 43, he was found dead after an avalanche struck Pakistan’s Broad Peak.
I’ve been thinking about one quote that I included in his profile: “Most of us are forgetting that from the beginning of our life, we are approaching death.”
It’s the underlying philosophy behind everything he did. He lived his life with the thought that our life on this planet is finite, so we might as well really make the most of it. He would say, “Sometimes, the idea that you come up with may seem impossible to the rest of the world. But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible for you.”
Many of us — myself included — consciously or subconsciously optimize our lives for safety. We wait for the perfect time to do that thing we’ve always wanted to do. We convince ourselves we’ll start writing the book, making the career change, taking the trip, or making the leap into the unknown.
You postpone and postpone until those postponements turn into regret.
The thing that really impressed me about Nims is that he knew nothing ever went according to plan, but he never postponed. Over his years of mountaineering, he ran into logistical challenges, funding shortages, dangerous weather, and constant uncertainty. Yet his default assumption was that he would somehow, someway find a way forward.
His death is tragic, but I don’t think it diminishes what he believed. He refused to let the certainty of death keep himself from fully experiencing life. He said, “You only got one life. Live it.”
Read the full Profile Dossier here:
The Profile Dossier: Nims Purja, the Mountaineer Who Summited the World's 14 'Death Zone' Peaks
There are 14 'death zone' peaks in the entire world that are higher than 8,000 meters. The fastest anyone had summited all 14 had been eight years.
A WORD FROM OUR PARTNER ✨: Have you ever read about a founder building the next great consumer brand and thought — I wish I could invest in that? Most people can’t. The best startup deals go to a handful of elite VC firms, and everyone else hears about them years later.
Alumni Ventures changes that. As one of TIME’s Top Venture Capital Firms, AV gives accredited investors access to curated Next-Gen Consumer deals — startups like Oura, Quince, and Bluesky — already co-invested alongside brand-name investors including a16z, Forerunner, and Khosla.
No cost to see deals. No obligation to invest. Just access to the deal flow that used to be off-limits.
Disclosure: Not an offer to sell securities. Example portfolio companies for illustrative purposes only and not available to future investors except potential follow-on investments. Venture capital investing involves substantial risk, including risk of loss of all capital invested.
THE PROFILES.
— The billionaire betting it all on the AI boom [**HIGHLY RECOMMEND**]
— The influencers competing with AI
— The Knicks star playing for his mom
— The mom who vanished without a trace
THE PEOPLE.
The billionaire betting it all on the AI boom (gift link): Larry Ellison has turned Oracle from a legacy software company into one of the biggest bets on artificial intelligence. Oracle has become central to the industry’s future while exposing itself to enormous financial risk. If the trillion-dollar AI buildout fails to generate the profits investors expect, Oracle could become the first major casualty of a bubble with consequences far greater than the dot-com crash. Here’s why Ellison is willing to bet it all on AI. (New York Times Magazine)
The influencers competing with AI: The influencer economy is undergoing a brutal evolution. As social media becomes more crowded, creators are struggling to hold our attention. They have to constantly reinvent themselves. Some are opting for strategic rage-bait, hyper-specific series, or genuinely useful expertise. The ‘generic lifestyle advice’ influencers can’t cut it anymore because AI is threatening that whole genre. The next generation of successful influencers will be the ones who can consistently earn attention & offer something that AI can’t easily replicate. (New York Magazine; alternate link)
The Knicks star playing for his mom (gift link): Karl-Anthony Towns thought he was coming home to New York to play for the Knicks. He never imagined he’d help deliver the franchise’s first championship in more than half a century. In this candid conversation, Towns reflects on the improbable title run, the emotional weight of playing for his late mother, the competitiveness that fuels him, and the leadership dynamics that transformed the Knicks into champions. Here’s how the Knicks’ win gave an entire city hope. (New York Times Magazine)
The mom who vanished without a trace (gift link): Savannah Guthrie spent years sharing her beloved mother with America. Then, just weeks after a heartfelt Today show tribute introduced millions of viewers to 83-year-old Nancy Guthrie, she vanished from her Tucson home without a trace. Six months later, despite the attention of the FBI, President Trump, and an army of online sleuths, Nancy remains missing. (The Wall Street Journal)
👉 The Profile is the perfect gift for any occasion! Give a gift subscription to a loved one through the link below:
✨ Pre-order the paperback edition of HIDDEN GENIUS below:
