A version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high net worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.

Equity Group Investments, backed by the family of late billionaire Sam Zell, owns a John Deere dealership, a bluefin tuna fishery and a pedestrian bridge that connects San Diego to Tijuana International Airport.

While those holdings sound entirely unrelated, what unites the private investment firm’s wide-ranging portfolio is a focus on old-economy businesses that are less susceptible to disruption from artificial intelligence and other technologies, according to EGI’s president, Mark Sotir.

“We tend to put our capital to work for a longer duration than most [private equity] firms. If you’re thinking out 10 years, 12 years, you have to start with picking a company in an industry that you know will be around,” he said. “That’s why we shy away from some tech and some startups. It’s not because we don’t like doing them. It’s just very hard for me to tell you where software is going to be 10 years out.”

The anti-AI trade gained steam on Wall Street earlier this year, dubbed “HALO” for “heavy assets, low obsolescence.” Family offices already employ the same strategy with private markets as they invest for generations and value the cash flow that often comes with old-economy businesses, according to Sotir. Economic uncertainty and tax reform has also made backing these asset-heavy companies more attractive.

Asset-heavy businesses tend to deter traditional PE investors who are looking to buy and sell within three to seven years, giving family offices opportunities to acquire at a discount, according to Sotir.

“Everybody gets so enamored with asset-light, but I like to say, ‘If you’re paying an asset-light premium, then I’m not sure where the advantage is,'” he said.

The “one big beautiful bill” law also provided a boon to owners of these businesses by renewing bonus depreciation, enabling companies to deduct the full cost of qualifying assets like machinery or vehicles the first year they are used.

“It’s a very material change that can make a big difference in terms of the tax benefit,” said Brian Hans, who leads the tax efficiency strategists for UBS’ advanced planning group. “Family office clients are increasingly approaching investing in general with more proactive tax planning, looking at the after-tax return, calculating what the return from the investment is going to be, and factoring that in when making the decision to invest.”

If the family participates in the business as an active investment, the depreciation can potentially be deducted against income on other investments like stocks, Hans added. This is a sizable benefit for families that have highly appreciated stock holdings, he said.

Auto and equipment dealerships are ripe for taking advantage of bonus depreciation and check off other important boxes for families like reliable cash flow, according to Joe Mowery, head of dealership investment banking at Stephens.

“It’s very simple. They like a tax-advantaged income stream,” Mowery said.

While inflation and other economic trends can weigh on consumers’ ability to buy vehicles and equipment, the parts and service business is resilient and has high margins, according to Mowery.

“It’s not a nice-to-have. It’s a must-have. You know, you got to get to work, you got to take the kids to school, whatever the case may be,” he said.

Old-economy businesses aren’t immune to disruption, but they can come with geographic moats, limiting competition, according to Sotir. For instance, EGI owns John Deere and Kenworth dealerships. Thanks to the franchise terms, Sotir said he does not have to worry about another dealership of the same brand opening nearby.

As for EGI’s bluefin tuna fishing and farming business in Baja California, there are substantial barriers to entry due to quotas on fishing, according to Sotir.

EGI isn’t under pressure to deploy capital, unlike traditional PE firms, as it’s family backed, Sotir said, noting the firm typically makes one to two deals a year. Sotir said the firm is receiving more inbound queries from business owners who are pressured by tariffs, inflation and other factors.

“The amount of uncertainty that people are dealing with has oddly turned into a benefit for us,” he said.

There are attractive opportunities in agriculture, with farms under tremendous stress, Sotir said. The challenges are real, such as the rising costs of fertilizer and fuel, but EGI can afford to wait for a payoff, he said.

“People are worried about the space, and that’s the perfect time for us to step in to buy,” he said. “Even if the value doesn’t come in the first two, three years, that’s okay, as long as we know it’s coming, because we’ve got that duration.”

BEIJING — U.S. President Donald Trump met his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday morning, kick-starting a high-stakes summit that is expected to cover trade, tariffs, Taiwan and Iran, and runs through Friday.

At a state banquet held in Trump’s honor, the leaders praised the “historic” visit and vowed to jointly deepen and promote the U.S. and China’s relationship.

Following an “in-depth exchange of views,” Xi said both leaders believed that Chinese-U.S. relations were “the most important bilateral ties in the world” and that the countries should be partners rather than rivals, in comments translated by Reuters. Xi added that “mutual respect” was key to stable ties.

In his speech, Trump described Xi as a “friend” and said the relationship was one of the most consequential in world history. Both countries, he added, had an opportunity to “create a future of greater prosperity, cooperation and happiness.”

He said the leaders had held “extremely positive and constructive discussions” earlier in the day and invited the Chinese president to visit the U.S. on Sept. 24.

Speaking just ahead of Trump, Xi noted the global attention on the meeting, and said a major question for the two countries was whether they could avoid the “Thucydides Trap,” according to an official English translation of his remarks broadcast by CCTV.

The Thucydides Trap refers to how tensions historically between a rising and ruling power have often resulted in a war. Graham Allison, the Harvard professor who popularized the concept, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” that he expects the trade truce Trump and Xi reached at their meeting in South Korea last fall will become a formal agreement.

Xi also said that Taiwan was the most important issue for U.S.-China relations, and if not handled well it would push the bilateral relationship to a “dangerous” place, according to state media. Beijing considers Taiwan, a democratically self-ruled island, part of its territory. The island’s ruling party rejects that claim.

In addition to posing the rhetorical question of whether the U.S. and China could avoid the Thucydides Trap, Xi asked if the two countries could meet major challenges together for global stability, and work for “a brighter future” for humanity. That’s according to the official CCTV broadcast of his opening remarks.

A White House official said the two sides agreed that the Strait of Hormuz must remain open to support the free flow of energy, and that Xi expressed interest in buying more American oil to reduce China’s dependence on the strait in the future.

The presidents also discussed increasing Chinese purchases of U.S. agricultural products, the official said.

Thursday morning’s meeting was just the start of a packed schedule. Trump visited the Temple of Heaven, a historic landmark, with Xi in the afternoon, and is set to attend a state banquet in the evening. The two leaders are set to have multiple discussions through midday Friday.

The visit to China is the first by a sitting U.S. president in nearly a decade. Much has changed since, including an escalation in trade tensions and U.S. restrictions on Chinese technology.

“China comes into this meeting far more confident than in 2017, when it feared even a small rise in U.S. tariffs. In the last year, Xi has been able to push back and neutralize much of Trump’s actions,” said Scott Kennedy, senior adviser and trustee chair in Chinese Business and Economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

China was the first major economy to retaliate against Trump’s “liberation day” tariffs in April 2025.

“Although expectations are low and no grand bargain is likely, the welcoming ceremony and initial remarks at the opening session highlight how truly consequential this relationship is for the world,” Kennedy said. “That’s why everyone is paying close attention and waiting to find out what they discuss and decide on issues of commerce and security.”

Xi is expected to reciprocate Trump’s trip with a visit to the U.S. The two leaders could also meet alongside APEC and G20 events in China and the U.S. late in the year.

Earlier on Thursday, Xi walked down the stairs of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing to shake hands with Trump, according to official broadcast footage. The U.S. president first shook hands with Chinese officials, followed by Xi greeting the U.S. delegation.

China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, and Zheng Shanjie, head of the economic planning agency, were among the Chinese representatives, the footage showed.

The U.S. contingent included Secretary of State Marco Rubio as well as business executives such as Tesla‘s Elon Musk, Apple‘s Tim Cook and Nvidia‘s Jensen Huang. Images of the initial Xi-Trump meeting also showed U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and his Chinese counterpart Dong Jun were also present.

On Apple’s first earnings call since the company announced its planned C-suite changes, traders on Kalshi think the company may discuss its creator studio, streaming platform and a fellow megacap tech company’s artificial intelligence model. 

Apple is set to report earnings after the bell on Thursday, just over a week since the company announced that longtime CEO Tim Cook will be leaving in September and replaced by senior vice president of hardware engineering John Ternus. 

Traders think it’s almost certain that the company will mention on its earnings call China and tariffs, placing odds at 98% and 96%, respectively. But there are other topics that traders are more divided on. 

But traders are more uncertain on other topics.

Google’s artificial intelligence model Gemini has a 27% chance to get mentioned. Apple has a deal with Google to implement the model into its Apple Intelligence features, but Apple is also widely viewed by Wall Street as the biggest tech laggard on AI development.

Meanwhile, traders mostly think the company won’t chat about glasses, assigning only a 24% chance. Apple has reportedly been working on designing an AI-supported smart glasses product as a new wearable technology for quite some time, but has yet to make a formal announcement of the development.

Traders also give just a 9% chance the company says fold, folding or foldable. That’s after a report this month that the timeline for the development Apple’s proposed foldable iPhone is delayed. However, a Bloomberg report indicates a planned fall 2026 launch is still on schedule.

Disclosure: CNBC and Kalshi have a commercial relationship that includes a CNBC minority investment.

Warren Buffett warned that the spread of nuclear weapons is making the world a more dangerous place, saying the prospect of Iran acquiring a bomb would heighten the risk of a catastrophic conflict.

The Berkshire Hathaway chairman said the growing number of nuclear-armed states has fundamentally altered the global risk landscape, amplifying concerns he has voiced for decades about proliferation.

“Now you’ve got … nine countries,” Buffett said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Tuesday. “We worried enormously about it when there were two. … You were not dealing with unstable people or anything like that. The ship’s turned around.”

Buffett pointed specifically to rising geopolitical tensions involving Iran and North Korea, suggesting that the potential presence of nuclear weapons in those regions raises the stakes considerably.

“Just think of how you’d feel with North Korea having it and Iran wanting to get it,” he said. “The most dangerous thing is, actually, somebody that’s got their hand on the switch, who is dying themselves, or is facing enormous embarrassment. … I don’t know the answer for it, but I do know that … it’ll be more difficult if Iran has the bomb than they don’t.”

The 95-year-old investor has long warned that the spread of nuclear capabilities increases the likelihood of a worst-case scenario. Asked what advice he would give a U.S. president confronting the issue of enriched uranium, Buffett struck a fatalistic tone about the long-term trajectory.

“I would say that one way or another … in the next 100 years — maybe it’s 200 years, who knows — something will happen to cause it to be used,” he said. “And we can’t take what’s out there now.”