🟡Holy Pokémon - suit jabs CEO's $35B; Texas fails, so casino funds gambling therapy; Lockheed, GM announce project.

An investor filed a lawsuit seeking to stop a July 7 shareholder vote on a $35-billion pay package for GameStop Chief Executive Officer Ryan Cohen until the company provides proper disclosures. The proposed class action, filed in Delaware's Chancery Court, challenges the board's decision to grant Cohen stock option awards that could result in a multibillion-dollar payout if certain aggressive milestones are achieved. 

Milestone moment: Bell Textron has completed the first tiltrotor wing structures for the first two MV-75 Cheyenne test aircraft, which was a $1.3-billion contract awarded in December 2022.

Lockheed Martin and GM Defense agreed to explore opportunities to accelerate the delivery of critical capabilities and innovation by combining Lockheed's defense production expertise with GM 's advanced industrial capabilities in high-rate commercial manufacturing and engineering. The focus is strengthening defense supply chains, advancing manufacturing and design capabilities, and evaluating opportunities to expand production capacity. 

Time to punt: Texas Tech University System board chairman Cody Campbell said that — because of "all the various pending legal disputes" — quarterback Brandon Sorsby, suspended by the NCAA for gambling, would be leaving the university and entering the NFL's July supplemental draft.

In case you missed it: Serena Williams will play Wimbledon for the first time in four years, reuniting with her sister, Venus, in women’s doubles as a wild-card entry. Serena, 44, and Venus, 45, have won the Wimbledon title six times as a pair, plus the singles title 12 times between them — Serena seven and Venus five. 

Dallas-based Braemar, which had a gross asset value of more than $1B, will terminate all agreements with Monty Bennett's Ashford Inc. and become a self-managed REIT led by Richard Stockton. After nearly a year of positioning, Braemar will pay Ashford a $480-million termination fee for its advisory services as part of the sale.

We told you earlier Texas was No. 1 in the U.S. for Fortune 500 companies. Now we know the Tarrant County companies listed:

• American Airlines in Fort Worth is No. 85

• Arlington's D.R. Horton is No. 132

• Charles Schwab in Westlake is No. 183

TCU announced that David Allen, the Luther A. Henderson University Chair in Leadership, has received a Fulbright award to support his collaborations with research teams at Hiroshima University, the University of Amsterdam and the Università degli Studi di Cagliari. They will study how employees and organizations navigate career transitions, workplace technology and evolving labor environments in different cultural and economic contexts.

Newmark arranged the sale, acquisition financing and equity capitalization of Centreport Lake, a 452-unit multi-family community located in the Mid-Cities, minutes from D-FW International Airport. Newmark represented the seller, Marlin Spring US Realty. Located at 14301 Center Station Drive, Centreport Lake was constructed in 2008 on a 24-acre site, with an average unit size of 946 square feet. 

Streams and Valleys' gift to Trinity Park is open. On the west bank of the Phyllis Tilley Memorial Bridge, the non-profit has put together a gathering space, including a butterfly garden, water fountain, wildflower meadow and a community harvest table. Also, 63 trees have been planted ... for shade and to honor Tilley's philanthropy.

LanCarte Commercial assisted in the quick sale of 2524 Carson St., a 1,500-square-foot, free-standing, masonry building previously occupied by Wayne's Boots & Shoe Repair. LanCarte's Kristen Fegley secured a sale in three weeks after the property had been on the market for more than a year. The buyer intends to establish an insurance agency.

Texas Secretary of State Ruth Hughs announced a collaboration with Amazon Web Services to unlock job opportunities in cloud computing. The initiative will scale to create pathways toward high-paying, tech related careers for students across Texas. Tarrant County College is included in the initiative. 

The Texas Education Agency released Spring 2026 State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness results for students in grades 3–8. The results show gains in social studies and math, while reading results remain largely steady.

Saks Global received approval from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas to exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy with roughly $1.2 billion in debt, almost 75% less than pre-bankruptcy. The company, which runs upscale department stores Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman, will get $500 million in fresh financing. 

Five Tarrant County representatives are on the 2026-27 Executive Board of the North Central Texas Council of Governments. They are Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare, Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker, Arlington Mayor Jim Ross, Mansfield Mayor Michael Evans and Hurst City Council member Jon McKenzie.

Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin are using the building blocks of life to construct thin, foldable DNA origami longhorn logos. They are thousands of times thinner than a human hair and the hope is they would be able to find and attack certain cancers. 

Ya gotta believe: Life Biosciences has injected a reverse-aging treatment into its first human patient. The goal is to determine if epigenetic re-programming, a technique that trains aging cells to act young again — can actually improve how people age.

Fort Worth-based Koddi released research that found that 70% of commerce media leaders are already using AI agents to analyze data, recommend actions and automate campaign execution. However, they continue to express caution around fully autonomous decision-making, reinforcing the growing importance of transparency and human oversight across AI-mediated commerce environments.

Fox Corporation's agreement to acquire Roku for approximately $22 billion combines Fox's sports, news and entertainment assets with Roku's connected TV platform and streaming ecosystem. The acquisition is expected to strengthen Fox's digital strategy and expand its reach into high-growth streaming markets.

Fort Worth-based Escalante Golf, owner and operator of luxury golf properties, acquired Ireland-based GreenGolfBall, a tour operator specializing in customized global golf travel experiences.

Franchisee Bobby Asad has a five-unit development deal for Huey Magoo's restaurants in Arlington, Grand Prairie and Mansfield. The fast-casual chain is known for its hand-crafted chicken tenders.

Three Texas universities landed among the world’s top 100 in the Center for World University Rankings’ 2026 list. The ranking reviewed more than 21,000 universities. See the complete list here.

• The University of Texas at Austin at No. 35

• UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas at No. 69

• Texas A&M University at No. 91

Today in history:

• 1885: The Statue of Liberty arrived in New York Harbor in pieces after being shipped from France. It was reassembled and dedicated the next year.

• 1976: The NBA and ABA completed their merger, bringing the San Antonio Spurs, Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers and New York Nets into the NBA.

• 1994: O.J. Simpson was arrested after the nationally televised slow-speed Bronco chase in Southern California.

Announcements:

• National Athletic Trainers Association: Hires Aubrey Guzman as Development and Partnerships Manager. 

• Gendy Street Management Corp.: Hires Isaac Nations as Event Coordinator for Will Rogers Memorial Center. 

• Camp Fire: Names Jenny Wester Chief Program Officer, Nicole Willingham CFO and Operations Officer, and Yolanda Willis Vice President of Early Education Workforce Development.

• Fort Worth: Hires Haley Hankins as its Web Administrator.

• Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas: Adds Michelle Heron as Staff Attorney, Community Lawyering Center.

• Simmons Bank: Promotes Melissa Kidder to Treasury Management Officer for D-FW, north and east Texas. 

• Dynamic Development Strategies: Hires Hannah Brestowski as Program Specialist.

• D-FW International Airport: Promotes T.J. Nguyen to International Facilitation in Terminal D. 

• AMN Healthcare: Hires Holly Novak as Chief People Officer.

• D.R. Horton: Adds Joel Wixson to the Strategic Growth & Innovation team at DHI Corporate. As the National Land Strategies Manager, he will support business development initiatives throughout the country.

• American Airlines: Steve Johnson, Chief Strategy Officer and Vice Chairman, will retire at the end of the year. Among his successes is garnering the partnership with Citi, the issuer of American’s co-branded AAdvantage credit cards.

• American Airlines: Names Paola Torri Director of Operations for Mexico and Canada. 

• Grapevine-Colleyville ISD: Trustees approve the contract for new Superintendent Jason Adams.

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