The Profile: The college football coach who re-built a powerhouse & the most talked about woman in Hollywood

NEW ORIGINAL PROFILE ALERT + profiles featuring James Franklin, Sydney Sweeney, Amanda Knox, and Monica Lewinsky.

Good morning, friends!

My latest profile features NFL superstar Saquon Barkley, and it publishes this Wednesday, Sept. 3.

Despite seven years in the NFL and endless highlight reels, Barkley has never had an in-depth profile exploring what he’s building off the field. This one pulls back the curtain on a side of him few have ever seen.

(Photo Credit: Jack Mallers/X; Saquon Barkley at his Super Bowl afterparty with Jack Dorsey (left) and Jack Mallers (right))

We all know Barkley as one of the most electrifying running backs in the NFL. But lately, I kept noticing a different playbook: endless photos of him with startup founders. Founders at his Super Bowl party. Founders at NFL training camp. Founders at dinner. He even starred in a Super Bowl ad for Ramp, the $22.5 billion fintech darling.

And then there’s Barkley himself — a superstar athlete talking about cap tables, Bitcoin, and startup valuations as comfortably as he talks about the game of football.

I wanted to know: Why is he chasing ownership instead of endorsements? How is he getting access to Silicon Valley’s hottest deals? And what does his portfolio actually look like?

To find out, I spent three months reporting. I spoke with his business manager, portfolio founders, NFL peers, VCs, rivals, old friends, and even his former Penn State coach James Franklin. And of course, I interviewed Barkley himself to understand how he’s trying to turn fragility into permanence through venture investing.

What I discovered is that for Barkley, equity is a safeguard — a way to wrestle back control from the injuries, draft picks, or franchise decisions that can derail a career overnight.

Football is fragile, while investing gives him a different relationship to risk. It may be volatile, but it’s a risk he can shape. Guided by business manager Ken Katz, he has avoided the typical athlete playbook of podcasts or clothing lines, instead building a portfolio that looks more like a founder’s cap table than a celebrity brand.

I hope you enjoy reading this one as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Premium subscribers will receive the profile first, and then it will be unlocked for everyone else. (Become a premium member to get it in your inbox first-thing Wednesday morning.)

This is the first in-depth, definitive profile ever done on Saquon Barkley, and you’ll want to read it before everyone else.

It is the first to explore:

— Barkley’s strategic investments in high-growth startups and funds
— The mindset behind converting his endorsement income into Bitcoin
— The theme of turning career vulnerability into generational permanence

Become a premium member to get it in your inbox first-thing Wednesday morning:

Here’s how you can help:

• Share the article when it comes out this Wednesday, Sept. 3.

• Post your favorite takeaway on social media (tag me @polinapompliano— I’d love to hear what resonates)

• Forward this newsletter to a friend and ask them to sign up for The Profile today and get the profile in their inbox on Wednesday morning.

— Polina

—

PROFILES.

— The college football coach who re-built a powerhouse [**HIGHLY RECOMMEND**]
— The CEO who wants to make J.Crew cool again
— The women who survived a global shaming
— The most talked about woman in Hollywood
— The Trump family’s investment bank

PEOPLE TO KNOW.

The college football coach who re-built a powerhouse: James Franklin has rebuilt Penn State into a national powerhouse, piling up wins and reshaping the program’s image, but the knock against him is always the same: he can’t win the biggest games. With a loaded roster, top-tier coordinators, and unprecedented investment in the program, 2025 is his chance to prove otherwise. For critics, Franklin is “Big-Game James” in name only; for supporters, he’s the steady force who dragged Penn State out of scandal into the sport’s elite. This season will decide whether he’s overrated or simply underappreciated. (The Athletic)

“The reality is for a long time James was coaching with one hand tied behind his back.”

The CEO who wants to make J.Crew cool again: Libby Wadle is on a mission to make J.Crew cool again. Since taking over as CEO in 2020, she’s ditched the endless discounts, doubled down on quality, and reignited the brand’s cultural spark with splashy catalogs, Olympic tie-ins, and a renewed sense of Americana style. Under her watch, sales are climbing back toward $3 billion and the average price per item is up 50%, signaling that customers are buying into the revival. (Bloomberg; alternate link)

“I’m always ready for whatever.”

The women who survived a global shaming: Amanda Knox and Monica Lewinsky — two women once defined by tabloid frenzy — have joined forces to reclaim their narratives. Their new Hulu series, The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox, doesn’t just revisit the infamous 2007 murder case; it exposes the media circus and lasting trauma that followed. The duo is determined to show that life after scandal is possible. (The Hollywood Review)

“There is life after trauma. There is growth.”

The most talked about woman in Hollywood: Sydney Sweeney has turned her obsession with work into a superpower. In just two years, she’s gone from making $65,000 for an indie film to commanding $7.5 million per role, while producing her own box-office hits and landing deals with brands from Miu Miu to Dr. Squatch. For her, time off isn’t an option because work isn’t just what she does, it’s who she is. Also, if you’re hoping to learn how Sweeney felt about the American Eagle ad blowback, there’s nothing in this profile about it. (WSJ; complimentary link)

“It’s so fun just not being yourself.”

COMPANIES TO WATCH.

The Trump family’s investment bank: A tiny biotech-turned-investment firm has reinvented itself as the Trump family’s in-house dealmaker. Rebranded as Dominari Holdings, the once-struggling company moved into Trump Tower, courted Eric and Don Jr., and soon found itself brokering everything from crypto ventures to IPOs. With the Trump sons as advisers and shareholders, Dominari has ridden their political and business resurgence into high-stakes deals worth hundreds of millions. (WSJ; complimentary link provided)

✨ The rest of this newsletter is only available for premium members of The Profile, whose support makes this work possible. If you’re not already a premium member, consider upgrading your subscription below for access to an additional section of weekly audio + video recommendations. ✨