🎯 My Top 10 Business Predictions For 2026

In today’s newsletter I discuss my Top 10 business predictions for 2026, copper prices just hit an all-time high along with gold and silver, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s board of directors just voted to dissolve the private nonprofit entity all together 😿, Gen Z isn’t drinking as much as Gen X, Nvidia just introduced an open-source AI platform for self-driving cars, Starbucks just launched their new Iced Dubai Chocolate Mocha (so I know what I’m getting today), and lastly Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg just bought a minority stake in the Welsh soccer club Swansea AFC.

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🎯 My Top 10 Business Predictions For 2026

I’m sucked for a good Top 10 list, so today I’m counting down my Top 10 business predictions for 2026, and before you go placing bets on Kalshi I need to tell you I’m almost never right about these things, but I’m going to give it try now and I’ll check back in a year from now to see how I did. Let’s get into it.

I figured I’d get some of my easier predictions out of the way early in my Top 10 list of business predictions for 2026.

#10
Paramount will be successful in acquiring all of Warner Brothers Discover. I know the board has selected Netflix, and Paramount has submitted their bid multiple times and been rebuffed, but I don’t think the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) would approve it. I also think Paramount may raise their bid, and then Warner Brothers Discover’s board will be forced to reconsider. Ultimately I think Paramount would be a better home, if for no other reason than Paramount wants to continue to debut new movies in the theaters, which Netflix only does reluctantly for a short theatrical release in order to qualify for awards. My money is always on seeing movies in the theater.

#9
SpaceX IPOs in 2026 and reaches a valuation of $2 trillion dollars by the end of the year. The first part of this prediction is easy, because Elon Musk has already said that his aim is for SpaceX to IPO in 2026, in what I’m guessing will be the biggest IPO in history. The second part of my bet is that by the end of 2026 SpaceX will have a valuation of over $2 trillion dollars. I think this will just be down to the momentum of the stock, and FOMO from Wall Street and individual investors.

#8
If #9 on my list, SpaceX’s IPO comes true in 2026, then my #8 prediction is pretty easy: Elon Musk becomes the world's first trillionaire. This is just simple math. Elon Musk owns around 44% of SpaceX, so if it IPOs at $1.5 trillion dollars, he will make $660 million dollars. He’s already worth around $717 billion dollars, so a SpaceX IPO will put his net worth over $1 trillion dollars.

#7
Gold hits $6,000 per ounce. Right now the world is like a nervous cat in a room full of rocking chairs (I got that one from my Dad). Investors seem to be continuously running for safety, and Gold is where they are investing their money when things get spicy. I think the momentum of Gold alone will drive it to $6,000 per ounce in 2026.

#6
More companies will mandate return to office. This is a mistake, but apparently no one asked me what I think, but I’ll tell you anyway. I’ve worked remotely for the last 15 years since 2010. Some of my favorite companies are fully remote, including beehiiv and Expensify. Corporate America got it right during the Covid epidemic, then they forgot the lessons of improved productivity that came with a remote workforce, and now the flavor-of-the-month buzzword is “return to office” (which yes I know is more than one word). In my network I know a bunch of corporate cubicle dwellers who used to be able to work remote 2-3 days a week, then in 2025 that was whittled down to a max of 2 days a week, and then starting in 2026 they’ve been told they must be in the office at least 4 days a week. It’s not a stretch to imagine a near future where corporate America mandates 5-days a week in office for all their employees, and I think that’s a big missed opportunity for both productivity and employee retention, but what do I know? I work remotely!

#5
Number 5 on my list has a lot to do with number 7, Gold hitting $6,000 per ounce. I think Bitcoin will hit $250,000 in 2026. There was a time when Bitcoin moved in lock-step with Gold, but in the last few years they’ve detached. As the world witnesses more wars, inflation, “nation building”, and AI market bubbles, I think Bitcoin will rally, and I predict will hit $250,000. I know people have been making yearly Bitcoin predictions only to eat their words a year later, but this is the prediction hill I’m choosing to dye on. So go buy some Bitcoin (that’s only a joke. DYOR. This is not investment advice. No one should EVER take investment advice from me).

#4
I think 2026 is the year of Ripple’s XRP. With more banks adopting XRP for cross-border payments, I think we’ll see XRP hit $5 a coin in 2026. If Bitcoin rallies, then Ripple’s XRP will follow. With Ripple’s legal cases settled, and a more favorable forward-thinking crypto minded administration in the Whitehouse, I think the tailwinds of change will push Ripple’s XRP to $5 a coin in 2026.

#3
OpenAI will reach a valuation of $1 trillion dollars. They’re currently valued at $500 billion dollars on the secondary market. Add to that OpenAI’s co-founded Sam Altman is in competition with his fellow OpenAI co-founder Elon Musk for who can have the most valuable private startup. Elon Musk has SpaceX, which is planning their own $1.5 trillion dollar IPO in 2026, and Sam is jealous of Elon. I also think with OpenAI’s data center ambitions, and the continuing AI stock rally, I’m betting that by the end of 2026 OpenAI will be valued at over $1 trillion dollars.

#2
The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be an incredible economic event for the U.S.. I’m not saying the U.S. men’s team will win (any) matches, because let’s be honest Uruguay has beaten the U.S. men’s team on multiple occasions, and when Uruguay can beat us I don’t really hold a lot of hope for a win in the World Cup. But economically speaking, the 2026 FIFA World Cup is projected to have a massive economic impact on the U.S., with total gross output estimated to be around $30 billion dollars, it’ll add approximately 185,000 jobs across the country, and contribute an estimated $17 billion dollars to the U.S. GDP in 2026. Go Team USA!

#1
Nvidia will reach a market cap of $6 trillion dollars. Nvidia’s market cap in the beginning of January 2026 currently stands around $4.64 trillion dollars, so it’s only $1.36 trillion dollars away from my prediction of $6 trillion dollars, and I don’t see the demand for AI chips slowing down in 2026, so I think it can get there if the AI stock market rally continues.

And a bonus prediction:

The Business Behind The News reaches 10,000 subscribers in 2025. This isn’t a joke. I really think we can achieve this, but I can only do it with your help. If you haven’t already please forward this email to your closest friends and family, and tell them how much you enjoy reading The Business Behind The News each week.

Quick Hits

🪏 Business

Copper prices just reached a record high of $11,771 dollars per metric ton as the industry faces supply challenges and increasing demand thanks to the AI industry. This surge in copper prices is happening at the same time that gold recently hit an all-time high of $4,565 dollars per ounce, and silver hit an all-time high of $83.62 per ounce in late December 2025. So if you have any old gold, silver, or a ton of copper sitting around your house you might want to think about selling it right about now.

💵 Entertainment

After cutting nearly every penny of the roughly $500 million dollars in annual funding for public media in 2025, the current Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s board of directors just voted to dissolve the private nonprofit entity all together. I don’t care what side of the political spectrum you may find yourself, but when they start coming after Big Bird and Elmo we should all be up in arms! Now how are future generations supposed to learn to read?!?

🤖 Tech

Nvidia’s Jensen Huang just announced the company’s new open-source AI platform for self-driving cars, called Alpamayo, which will first appear in the new all electric Mercedes Benz CLA compact sedan to bring human-like reasoning to vehicles. Nvidia also introduced the Vera Rubin architecture, named after the astronomer Vera Rubin who discovered dark matter. This is Nvidia’s successor to their Blackwell architecture. And lastly they debuted their new Jetson T4000 high-performance system-on-module chip (whatever that is) that’s designed specifically for humanoid robots, or what Nvidia is calling "Physical AI"; as in one-step closer to taking over the human race.

🍹 Partying

The global nightlife industry is shifting towards sober raves, as young people in Gen Z spend less on alcohol, and it's shaking up the spirits industry. Currently Gen Z consumers are spending $1,200 dollars less a year on drinks than other generations, like my Gen X. This nonalcoholic beverage industry has grown to be an $11 billion dollar a year market, while traditional bars saw their revenues drop by 15 percent in the last few years. Since I’m too old to be staying up all night at raves, and my anti-cholesterol statin prevents me from drinking alcohol in excess, these Gen X kids might be onto something.

☕ Starbucks

Starbucks just launched the new Iced Dubai Chocolate Mocha and the Caramel Protein Latte. I’m a sucker for caramel anything, so I’m gonna be looking for this at my local Starbucks next time I drive-thru. Starbucks had $37.2 billion in revenue in 2025, and I’m pretty sure my family single-handily helped them boost their revenue during the holiday season.

⚽ Sports

Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg have joined an investment group to purchase a minority stake in the Swansea City AFC soccer club, which is currently valued at $216 million dollars. No word on how much either celebrity is investing, but since both of them are savvy investors I’m guessing it’s in the low single-digit millions, but what do I know. I’m just a content creator.

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The Business Behind The News is written, edited, and published by Chris Thompson.