💰Notable numbers: $1T, $3B, $1.2B, $100M; State selects leader for Fort Worth ISD; Bedford auction has 1944 German Enigma.

Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath appointed a conservator to oversee the Fort Worth ISD after saying last month the district's school board "failed the students.” Former Florida school teacher and New Mexico Education Secretary Christopher Ruszkowski will oversee the Fort Worth ISD's board of trustees, superintendent and school administrators. Ruszkowski is expected to hold the position for approximately two years.

Travelers are facing canceled flights, scrambled plans and potentially holidays stranded in airports as a U.S. government shutdown today threatens 40 airports. The Federal Aviation Administration will reduce air traffic approximately 10% begining today. Airports in Atlanta, New York, Houston, Chicago, Denver, D-FW, Orlando, Miami and San Francisco are among the slowdowns. 

Charles Schwab agrees to buy private shares platform Forge Global in a $660-million deal that gives its clients access to high-growth startups. 

Shareholders approved a plan to grant Tesla founder Elon Musk shares worth nearly $1 trillion if he meets ambitious goals, including vastly expanding the company's stock market valuation. Musk is believed to be the world's richest person with an estimated net worth of $490 billion. Omar Aguilar, CEO & CIO of Westlake-based Schwab Asset Management, explains why Schwab voted in favor of Musk’s pay package.

Significant stat: up to $620,000 = what Walmart set annual pay for top store managers, hoping to reinforce culture and retention after turnover challenges.

Founded in Fort Worth and San Francisco, TPG has had a busy week. It purchased PTC’s Kepware and ThingWorx businesses, and raised $2.1 billion in commitments for its latest real estate credit fund. The target had been $1.5 billion.

An original World War II German Enigma encryption machine, one of the most important cipher devices in history, will be offered during Bedford-based Rock Island Auction Company's Dec. 5-7 Premier Auction. The pre-auction guesstimate for this 1944-dated Enigma I is $250,000 to $400,000.

Believe it or not: SCP Auctions has collected two World Series home run baseballs that a father and son say they caught during Game 7. Each ball is expected to fetch “well into six figures” at auction.

BlueAlpha Capital and CHC Development closed on their joint acquisition of the Mercado Building, a 52,983-square-foot commercial property at 1500 N. Main Street in Fort Worth. Mercado Northside, a partnership formed by BlueAlpha and CHC, will own and operate the building. It is working with the Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber and the Historic Northside District to support retail and office tenants. 

A study performed by Tarrant County College shows nearly 45% of employees are paid under market. Chief Financial Officer Pamela Anglin said, “These key investments with implementation of the compensation study will be $4.2 million. That’s an estimate plus benefits. But we have earmarked money to be able to implement the compensation study.”

Pennsylvania billionaire Jeff Yass donated $100 million to offer free tuition permanently to students who enroll at the University of Austin, a private university founded by critics of traditional higher education who argue colleges have grown hostile to free speech and merit.

Fort Worth-based Advanced Intralogistics, a provider of intelligent warehouse automation and robotics solutions, acquired the key assets of Anchor Technical Services, a provider of warehouse maintenance and facility services. The acquisition enables Advanced Intralogistics to deliver fully integrated, life-cycle solutions for warehouse and distribution center operations.

Texas voters approved Proposition 4 to create the Texas Water Fund, which will receive up to $1 billion in state sales tax revenue each year, totaling approximately $20 billion over two decades for water infrastructure projects. This amendment is intended to fund new water sources, fix aging infrastructure and improve flood control.

The passing of Proposition 14, a priority of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, establishes a Dementia Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (DPRIT) and authorizes the spending of $3 billion to set up the fund and provide grants to researchers. Texas has had a similar program for cancer research (CPRIT) since 2007.

Texas voters favored all 17 propositions for constitutional amendments. Texas Policy Research compares its recommendations to the results. 

TCU hosted a panel for area education leaders and Chancellor Daniel Pullin said what higher education does best is to convene community on its most important issues. Read here about those issues.

Tex-Mex restaurant Blue Goose Cantina is planning to open during January at 9005 N. Tarrant Pkwy, near Precinct Line Road and Davis Boulevard in North Richland Hills. The space most recently was Enchiladas Ole’.

At the end of October, Colonial Savings notified the Texas Workforce Commission that it would lay off 130 employees the first six months of 2026. Colonial spokesperson Graham Ashley told the Dallas Business Journal the layoffs are because the bank sold its mortgage servicing portfolio.

TCU's second biggest college has a new name: the Louise Dilworth Davis College of Science & Engineering. A $40-million gift from the 1977 alumna will support the college’s strategic plan and operations, and will endow the college’s deanship, the Louise Dilworth Davis Dean. From San Antonio, Davis is a fifth-generation Texan with ties to oil and gas, banking and ranching. Her son, Eric, graduated from TCU in 2014 and is a member of the college’s external advisory board. His wife, Anastasiia, has a Ph.D. in physics from TCU.

The Texas A&M University System paid former President Mark Walsh III more than $3.5 million after he resigned amid the fallout of a controversy over the teaching of gender identity issues. 

The Texas A&M University System has received a significant, but undisclosed, financial contribution from The Meadows Foundation to support the Texas A&M-Fort Worth innovation campus.

Southlake-based Sabre announced better-than-expected, third-quarter with sales up 3.5% year over year to $715.2 million. Its GAAP profit of $1.98 per share was significantly above analysts’ consensus estimates. However, fourth quarter revenue guidance of $644.9 million is 3.5% below analysts’ estimates.

The Synthetic Grass Store, a large, family-owned artificial turf wholesaler, has opened in Fort Worth. It sells and services wholesale turf throughout D-FW.

Game, set, movie: The Roditi Rule – a student-produced short film that tells the story of the Horned Frogs’ National Champion Men’s Tennis program under coaches David Roditi and Devin Bowen – was featured during Fort Worth’s 2025 Lone Star Film Festival.

Former NFL quarterback Tom Brady said he cloned his late dog Lua. Brady contracted with Dallas-based Colossal Biosciences to create the clone. Colossal is known for resurrecting the dire wolf and producing red wolf pups. 

Snippets:

• Psst: The Fort Worth Botanic Garden has four free admission days during November.

• Sigel’s Fine Wines, opened in Dallas in 1905, is no more. It has re-branded its seven D-FW locations to Twin Liquors. 

• Texas drag show ban overturned pending deeper analysis.

• Report from Center for Transforming Lives paints hidden crisis among single mothers in Tarrant County.

Announcements: 

• JTaylor: Promotes Daniela Arroyo and Cole Hadley to Partner in the tax division.

• Spark Coworking - Arlington: Adds Scott Parsinen as Entrepreneur in Residence

• Baylor University Medical Center: Appoints Ronan Kelly Director of Scientific Discovery and Precision Medicine. 

• UNT System Board of Regents: Elects Carlos Munguia of Dallas as Chairman and Melisa Denis of Southlake as Vice Chair.

• Fidelity Investments: Promotes S.J. Murdock to Financial Associate II - Multi Product.

• USA Prime: Hires Abel Rios as Vice President of Technology. 

• American Nuclear Society: Selects Paragon’s Ross Lorberbaum as a 40-under-40.

• Twin Hospitality Group: Adds Melissa Fry as Chief Marketing Officer. 

• Texas Recreation and Parks Society North: Honors Mansfield with awards for the pre-school nature program at Oliver Nature Park and the Seniors’ Topsy Turvy Open House.

• Cherokee Media Group’s 2025 Loss Mitigation Executive of the Year: Selects Craig Paterson, SVP of specialty operations with GM Financial. 

• Texas Rangers: Acquires catcher Willie MacIver and pitcher Michel Otañez on waivers from Oakland. Announces outfielders Dustin Harris and Billy McKinney are free agents.

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