☕️ Good morning, friends,

investment tip of the week: you can’t choose a poor father, but you can definitely do something about a poor father-in-law.

So here’s a service announcement for our female readers: a Chinese billionaire investor (self-described as the “Warren Buffett of China”) is looking for a wife.

Here you’ll find photos of him (and his Rolls-Royce).

And with that, have a great start to the week!

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Highlights: Asian markets ended the week higher, following Wall Street’s record highs after the Fed cut rates by 25 basis points to 3.50–3.75%.

Tech remains potential bubble candidate: Oracle and Broadcom disappointed, AI valuations once again came under scrutiny, and this is also weighing on tech stocks in Asia. When AI heavyweights fail to perform as expected in this phase of the market, sentiment can quickly shift from risk-on to caution.

TOP BIT

🛵 China’s couriers at the limit: JD responds with a mega housing program

JD.com plans to invest 22 billion CNY (around 3.12 billion USD) in housing for couriers.

The backdrop is the brutal battle over “instant retail”: one-hour delivery, billions in discounts, and growing pressure on drivers.

Details

🚲 Housing instead of just delivering: JD.com says it has already provided 28,000 housing units for frontline workers and plans to offer 150,000 units over the next five years.

🏢 Meituan sets the pace: Rival Meituan previously announced it would invest 10 billion CNY over five years into a better welfare system for riders, including subsidized “rider apartments” in multiple cities.

🛵 12 million on the road: The price war hits a massive workforce. An estimated 12 million couriers in China keep the daily instant-delivery machine running.

🏛️ Regulators tap the brakes: Authorities are pushing platforms toward “fair” and “rational” competition, also with an eye on working conditions.

Sell or Hold?

In the stock market, $JD ( ▼ 0.34% ) remains a problem child.

• The share price is down around 13% since the start of the year, even though revenue and profits are growing.

The reason for investor skepticism: cutthroat competition in delivery and rising costs are squeezing margins. For investors, JD is a classic China trade: attractively valued, operationally solid, but not for the faint-hearted.

Background

China’s platforms have been locked for months in a race over “instant retail,” meaning ultra-fast delivery of everyday goods and electronics. This fuels aggressive pricing campaigns and increases pressure on drivers and partners.

📊 All Details & Data: Reuters, Yahoo Finance, Global Tech Desk

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NUMBER OF THE DAY

So much of South Korea’s total financial wealth is now held by the richest 1%.

💰 Wealth piles up at the top: The number of Koreans with more than 1 billion won (≈ USD 670k) in financial assets has tripled over the past 15 years to 476,000 people. Together, they hold over 3,000 trillion won (≈ USD 2 trillion).

🏠 From bricks to balance sheets: Real estate remains the single largest asset class but is losing share. Business income is becoming a more important source of wealth, while financial assets and value stores like gold and art are gaining appeal.

Watch: South Korea is pouring billions into future industries and trying to build new tech champions. But financial wealth remains extremely concentrated. If AI and chip-driven growth continues to accrue mainly to a small group of owners, political pressure for broader participation in wealth creation will intensify.

MARKET BIT

🏦 From IPOs to buyouts: Japan’s deal season to continue in 2026

💰 Capital cocktail fuels M&A in 2026: Goldman Sachs expects Japan’s M&A momentum to remain strong in 2026 as new structures blend equity, bank loans, and private credit. Insurers play a central role as long-term capital providers.

🧹 Exit over survival: Takeovers and management buyouts are driving delistings to record levels. Added pressure comes from the TSE’s capital-efficiency push, nudging weaker firms toward a sale rather than a long grind.

🏗️ Bigger deals, no balance-sheet hangover: “High-grade” financing aims to preserve investment-grade ratings and lower funding costs. What used to be “too big” is now doable, especially in data centers and AI infrastructure.

📉 Stock market on a diet: The number of companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange is expected to fall by 58 to 3,778 in 2025. After years of growth since the TSE–Osaka merger in 2013, this marks a clear reversal.

🔄 Prime, but too small: Around 70% of companies in the TSE Prime segment sit below a USD 2 billion market cap. Unattractive for many global funds, making a sale or MBO the more rational exit.

Background

Japan’s market is clearing out micro-listings while M&A replaces IPOs as the main path to renewal and growth. Private capital increasingly fills the role once played by public markets. Tokyo becomes more investable for global investors, and far less comfortable for small caps.

👉🏻 Full Story: DealStreetAsia, The Business Times SG, The MiddleMarket

WORD OF THE WEEK

🇯🇵 Mottanai もったいない

In Japan, there is a word for the quiet discomfort you feel when something good is wasted.

• Mottanai expresses regret over waste — whether it’s food, time, money, or even opportunities.

It’s why leftovers are treated with care, packaging is thoughtful, and throwing things away never feels casual. In a world obsessed with more, mottanai is a gentle reminder to value what you already have.

HIGHLIGHTS

🚌 Hyundai lands a mega hydrogen-bus deal: The Korean automaker will supply 224 hydrogen-powered buses to Guangzhou’s state-owned transit operator, securing the largest single order for H₂ buses in China to date. The model runs on a 90 kW fuel cell, refuels in five minutes, and offers a range of up to 576 kilometers. Its China unit HTWO aims to put more than 1,000 hydrogen vehicles on the road nationwide by the end of 2025, positioning itself as a core player in China’s hydrogen mobility strategy.

🏢 SoftBank hunts for the next AI bottleneck: Masayoshi Son is exploring a mega deal involving US data-center operator Switch, while also holding talks about a potential acquisition of its investor DigitalBridge. Switch is known for energy-efficient data centers and is valued at roughly USD 50–60 billion depending on the scenario. For Son, the move would be a direct grab at the infrastructure that makes AI possible, following bets on Ampere (USD 6.5 billion), massive commitments to OpenAI, and the USD 500 billion Stargate project.

🤖 Pony.ai bets on an “asset-light” path to robotaxi growth: The Chinese autonomy specialist plans to scale without owning fleets, instead selling vehicles and software to taxi and ride-hailing partners, collecting licensing fees, and taking a share of trip revenues. The model is designed to scale faster and push the company toward profitability by 2030, with partners such as Sunlight Mobility helping Pony.ai expand into more cities.

COUNTRY READS

🇨🇳 Geely opens the world’s largest vehicle safety center in Ningbo. More on this.

🇰🇷 South Korea’s leading science and engineering university KAIST plans an independent AI college for 2026 with 300 students per year. More on this.

🇲🇾 The Malaysian ringgit reaches its highest level in more than four years thanks to strong growth prospects. More on this.

BITS TO DO

✅ Make your guests gasp with a homemade a Christmas charcuterie board.
✅ Pose with the world’s largest stone Buddha statue - bonus points if you pretend to hold its toe.
✅ Feel like a superhero after a 20-minute morning Pilates session at home.
✅ Win “neighbour of the year” by gifting a neck massage tool for instant relaxation.
✅ Spend HK$100 in Hong Kong with Anna as your guide.

FORTUNE COOKIE

MORE ASIABITS

• All the latest AI trends from Asia — every Wednesday, exclusively with us.

• Champagne & Chopsticks — your Sunday guide to Asia’s best insider spots.

CAREER BITS

🌏 Xiaomi: E-Commerce Sales Intern, Singapore
🌏 IBM: Business Analyst-2025 graduate, Beijing
🌏 Alibaba: Influencer-Marketing, Seoul
🌏 Ericsson: Future Star-Account Manager, Beijing
🌏 Gap Inc.: Junior Operations Specialist, Tokyo
🌏 Databricks: Business Development Representative, Seoul
🌏 OpenAI: Community Lead, Singapore
🌏 Uber: Account Executive, Taipei
🌏 Sea: Partner Strategy & Operations Associate, Singapore
🌏 Thales: Business Development Representative (Japan), Chiyoda