The Secret show will be late today. Thanks for your patience. But it’s pretty good.
Next week a Democratic Socialist will be elected mayor of New York City and like many True Conservatives I am deeply concerned about the rise of socialism in America!
For instance, did you know that this week three private companies entered into a partnership with the U.S. government to build $80 billion worth of nuclear reactors? Here’s how the partnership will work:
The Trump administration wants America to have more nuclear power plants. It selected Westinghouse, Cameco, and Brookfield Asset Management as partners for this enterprise. Westinghouse builds nuclear reactors. Cameco sells uranium fuel. Brookfield Asset Management (BAM) is a massive, publicly traded holding company with a portfolio worth roughly $1 trillion, that happens to own 51 percent of Westinghouse.
The U.S. government is going to give Westinghouse, Cameco, and BAM $80 billion to build nuclear reactors. At the same time, the government is promising to grease the regulatory skids for these projects.
This is normal-ish behavior. Governments spend money to spur infrastructure projects all the time.
It’s when you get down into the term sheet that the deal gets hinky:
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The government is being given a “participation interest” in Westinghouse, entitling it to 20 percent of “any cash distributions in excess of $17.5 billion made by Westinghouse.”
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If, before January 2029, the estimated value of Westinghouse is more than $30 billion, then the Trump administration can require BAM and Cameco to let Westinghouse go public via an IPO. At which point the government’s “participation interest” will convert to 20 percent ownership of Westinghouse.
Wait what?
Let me decode the back end of the deal for you.
First of all, you have to know that half of Westinghouse is owned by Cameco and the other half is owned by Brookfield Asset Management. Those companies purchased Westinghouse in 2023 for $4 billion.
The government has picked the winner for nuclear reactor construction—Westinghouse—by committing to infuse it with $80 billion in funding while also promising to alter regulatory structures to its benefit.
In return, the government will take 20 percent of “cash distributions” after the first $17.5 billion Westinghouse receives and then, in 2029, if the value of Westinghouse’s business created by the government’s investment is over $30 billion, the government will require it to go public via an IPO and the government will then have a 20 percent ownership stake in the resulting company.
In sum:
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The government decides that nuclear power should be built.
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The government selects the private company to build it.
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The government then extracts an ownership position in the company, whose value has been created by the government.
How is this different from the way the Chinese Communist Party operates?
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