👩🏻‍⚖️Jury cracks down on Meta/Google; IOC says no to transgender women; Musk/billionaires even richer.

Century 21 Judge Fite Property Management, with four locations in north Texas including Camp Bowie Boulevard, has acquired Rogers Healy Property Management, which managed 134 units, mostly in North Dallas and Uptown. With the addition, Judge Fite passes the 2000-unit mark. Rogers Healy and Associates recently merged with New York-based Compass, as Healy plans to focus on his investment arm, Morrison Seger Venture Partners.

Arizona-based Alliance Residential Co. acquired Northpark Landing, a 226-unit, multi-family at 9001 N. Beach St. in Fort Worth. Sankalp Developers of Frisco was the seller. Alliance took out a $32-million permanent loan from Invesco Real Estate.

Fort Worth-based Trilogy Aviation Group launched Quartet Jet to focus on aircraft acquisition and ownership advisory services. Founded by Thomas Nelson, Trinity provides on-demand private jet charter services. 

A jury in Los Angeles decided Meta and YouTube harmed a young user by making their platforms addictive. The case was brought by a woman, now 20, who said features such as infinite scroll and algorithmic recommendations led to her anxiety and depression. The verdict gives some validity to a  legal theory: that social media can be addictive similar to other products. The defendants were ordered to collectively pay roughly $6 million in damages; possibly worse, this could be a harbinger of more suits and platform changes.

North Texas and Houston will receive a total of $116 million in grants to support public safety efforts ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, according to Gov. Greg Abbott’s office. The funding goes to the city of Houston and the North Central Texas Council of Governments to support additional safety personnel, equipment and other public safety resources.

The International Olympic Committee barred transgender athletes from competing in the women’s category of the Olympics and ordered all participants in those events to undergo genetic testing beginning in 2028 in Los Angeles. The decision is the most consequential since Kirsty Coventry was elected last year as the first woman to serve as president of the I.O.C.

Executives with Elon Musk’s rocket maker SpaceX are preparing materials for April meetings with investors in hopes of raising roughly $75 billion in its initial public offering, It would be the largest in history, dwarfing the $29 billion Saudi Aramco raised in 2019. The Texas-headquartered company added $25 billion to its earlier figure and Musk is said to be targeting a valuation of about $1.75 trillion.

The number of billionaires worldwide continues to climb, according to the latest tally from Forbes. The magazine’s 2026 list counts 3,428 billionaires with combined wealth of about $20.1 trillion, both record highs. In 2025, the numbers were 3,028 billionaires worth about $16.1 trillion. 38 billionaires have strong ties to north Texas. Here’s the master list from Forbes.

The business of bull riding: CEO Sean Gleason opens up his Professional Bull Riders playbook to share with D CEO how the Fort Worth group evolved into a made-for-TV, multibillion-dollar sports property.

The Environmental Protection Agency issued a waiver to allow the sale of E10 and E15 ethanol gasoline in an effort to maintain domestic supplies and ease prices at the pump since the bombing of Iran. The waiver takes effect for 20 days starting May ⁠1 and can be extended if needed. 15% ethanol is typically not permitted during ​warmer months. 

Only five more days until the 817 Biz free, one-hour AI Workshop for local business owners, executives and managers. Next Wednesday (April 1) at 2 p.m. sales and marketing consultant Ryan Dohrn will walk through practical examples of how AI tools can be used. Find more information and a registration link here.

Albertsons is closing two Tarrant County grocery stores on or before April 25. The Fort Worth store at 6700 W. Freeway (56 employees) and the Euless store at 1155 N. Main St. (82 employees), are to be affected, according to the Texas Workforce Commission. 

The Eddie Bauer bankruptcy declaration will take out the store in Southlake Town Square during April. It was one of the original tenants in 1999. 

Weir’s Furniture is closing all its stores after 78 years in business, including the one at 201 N. Nolen Drive in Southlake.

Gary Leff, a writer with View From the Wing, says American Airlines wants to be a premium airline...so it added a board member with McDonald's and Quaker Oats background. 

The Dallas-Fort Worth metro area reached an estimated population of 8.4 million last summer, adding roughly 123,557 residents year over year. D-FW maintains one of the highest growth rates in the U.S., though overall growth has moderated. Tarrant County grew by 18,428 people, while Dallas County’s population declined by 2,616.

UT-Arlington says it is the first U.S. university to acquire the Beacon Discovery instrument from Bruker Cellular Analysis. The technology is being used by researchers at UT-Arlington’s Institute on Biomanufacturing and Precision Medicine for North Texas to speed the discovery of new antibodies. It helps connect early-stage antibody discovery more directly with existing drug-development pipelines.

Visa, Street Soccer USA, and Bank of America teamed to create Visa Street Soccer Parks across the U.S., with the latest park opening Saturday in Fort Worth. Țhe Visa Street Soccer Park at Hillside Park --1201 E.Maddox Avenue -- will feature two soccer fields with professional-grade turf, a financial education learning center, and flexible spaces for community events. The opening ceremony is at 12:30. 

The U.S. Army increased its maximum enlistment age to 42 for the Army, Army National Guard and Army Reserve. Previously, the cap for enlistment had been 35. The Air Force, Space Force and Coast Guard accept recruits up to 42; the Navy accepts recruits up to 41, and the Marine Corps accepts recruits up to 28.

The Pentagon signed off on its January agreement with Lockheed, which will quadruple its production of infrared seekers for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense interceptors from 96 to 400.

Lockheed Martin and Firefly took part in a U.S. Space Force exercise aimed at testing how quickly satellites can be prepared and launched in response to potential threats, highlighting ongoing efforts to accelerate military space operations. The companies completed payload processing in fewer than 12 hours, a step that typically takes significantly longer in traditional launch schedules. 

A statewide emergency alert led by the Texas Division of Emergency Management is scheduled April 2 between 10 a.m. and noon. Mobile phones will receive a test, and the message will state that it is a TEST and that no emergency is occurring. Outdoor warning sirens will not be activated; that test is April 1, at 1 p.m. No fooling. 

Significant stat: 19.9 billion = Volume of $100 bills in circulation at the end of last year, nearly double the number from 2015. $100 bills surpassed the $1 bill in circulation volume during 2017.

Snippets:

• Texas will ban smokeable hemp cannabis Tuesday. Here’s what you need to know.

• Private equity firm KKR reached agreement to acquire bakery franchise Nothing Bundt Cakes from Roark Capital in a deal valued at more than $2 billion, including debt.

• Texas birthed Business Courts Sept. 1, 2024, to handle complex business disputes with appointed, not elected, judges. Go inside a recent decision to see how they work.

Announcements:

• Trinity Valley School: Welcomes Marc Addington as Head of Upper School and Assistant Head for Strategic Initiatives.

• Coltala Aerospace: Names Phil Bathurst President. 

• ZacTax: Hires Caryn Riggs, who had been assistant city manager and CFO for Bedford since 2022.

• Fort Worth: Hires Edgardo Barreto as Assistant Emergency Coordinator in the Office of Emergency Management. 

• McDonald Sanders: Names Dustin Fillmore Shareholder and Director. 

• Greater Southlake Hispanic Chamber: Names John A. Gonzalez President. 

• American Airlines Group: Elects Mary Dillon to the Board of Directors. She has served as President and CEO of Foot Locker, CEO of Ulta Beauty, and President and CEO of U.S. Cellular. 

• Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center: Names Nancy Ochs regional Dean of the School of Nursing, which has programs in Mansfield and Dallas.

• Dallas Mavericks: Hire Keiran Kelliher as Chief Financial Officer.  

• Spine Team Texas-Southlake: Names Neil Patel, MD, President and Board Chair.

• Cogent Analytics: Adds Javier Hernandez as a Project Director. 

• TrailRunner International: Names Alden Mitchell President. She had been COO of Stanford Athletics. 

• StubGroup: Selects Joe Ladehoff as Chief AI Officer. 

• Dream City 3D: Scott Parsinen joins as co-founder. 

• Avaline: Hires Joe Rance as Sales Director-South Central Region for the wine company’s expansion. 

• Kubota Tractor Corporation: Hires Annie Gimbel as a senior copywriter on the Brand/Strategy team.

• A-Rent Test Equipment: Hires Shane Franklin as Load Bank Account Manager. 

• Rios Brothers Concrete Services: Hires Valerie King as Purchasing Manager. 

• National Life Group: Promotes Jason Puckett to Senior Director, Creative Services.

• Dealonomy: Names Mike Garza an M&A Advisor.

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