Family investors turn to old-economy businesses like dealerships and fisheries to avoid AI disruption

Cnbc · May 15, 2026 · 789 words · By Hayley Cuccinello

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What to know about Family investors turn to old-economy businesses like dealerships and fisheries to avoid AI disruption

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.

Claims checked 8

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center75%

Right25%

4 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

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.

Why it matters

Common ground

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.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: Family investors turn to old-economy businesses like dealerships and fisheries to avoid AI disruption?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that Joe Mowery, head of dealership investment banking at Stephens?
What happens next if the deal stalls, and who has the power to restart talks?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/15/family-investors-economy-businesses-to-avoid-ai-…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 8 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 2

info Single Source 2

verified Verified 2

help Insufficient Evidence 1

verified Verified By Reference 1

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Claim 1: “Joe Mowery, head of dealership investment banking at Stephens.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found in the provided search results to confirm Joe Mowery's role at Stephens.

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Claim 2: “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.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple web search results confirm that a tax bill (referred to as the 2025 tax bill or OBBB) renewed bonus depreciation, allowing businesses to deduct the full cost of qualifying assets like machinery and vehicles in the first year.

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web search NEUTRAL — The 2025 tax bill renewed bonus depreciation, allowing businesses to deduct the full cost of qualifying assets like machinery, computers or vehicles the first year they are used.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/im-tax-man-martine-de-bono-ah…

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web search NEUTRAL — This means businesses can write off the full cost of eligible assets in the first year instead of depreciating them over time. Eligible property: Equipment, machinery, technology infrastructure, and c…
https://onalgallant.com/blog/how-one-big-beautiful-bill-effe…

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web search NEUTRAL — Bonus depreciation is a tax advantage that allows companies to deduct a significant portion of the cost of qualifying assets, such as machinery, office furniture, and vehicles, in the year they start …
https://blog.steinkeandcompany.com/master-tax-bill-bonus-dep…

info

Claim 3: “EGI's president, Mark Sotir.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The search results for 'Mark Sotir' returned only biblical references to the Gospel of Mark and no information regarding a person by that name as president of EGI.

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web search NEUTRAL — The Gospel of Mark[a] is the second of the four canonical Gospels and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It narrates the ministry of Jesus from his baptism by John the Baptist to his death, the burial…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_of_Mark

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web search NEUTRAL — John the Baptist Prepares the Way - The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will pre…
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=mark+1&version=…

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web search NEUTRAL — Read the Book of Mark online. Scripture chapters verses with full summary, commentary meaning, and concordances for Bible study.
https://www.biblestudytools.com/mark/

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Claim 4: “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.”

SINGLE SOURCE

While one web result confirms Equity Group Investments acquired Baja Aqua Farms (bluefin tuna), there is no evidence in the provided results regarding the John Deere dealership or the pedestrian bridge to Tijuana Airport.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, LLC (CD&R) is an American private equity company. CD&R is the 24th oldest private equity firm in the world. It has $30 billion invested in approximately 90 businesses. CD&R h…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clayton,_Dubilier_&_Rice

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Equity Residential is a United States–based publicly traded real estate investment trust that invests in apartments. As of December 31, 2024, the company owned or had investments in 311 properties con…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equity_Residential

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — TPG Inc., previously known as Texas Pacific Group and TPG Capital, is an American private equity firm based in Fort Worth, Texas. TPG manages investment funds in growth capital, venture capital, publi…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TPG_Inc.

+ 3 more evidence sources

verified

Claim 5: “Brian Hans, who leads the tax efficiency strategists for UBS' advanced planning group.”

VERIFIED

LinkedIn and other professional profiles confirm Brian Hans is an Executive Director and Senior Tax Strategist within the Family Office Solutions Group at UBS, which aligns with the claim of leading tax efficiency strategists in the advanced planning group.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Sir Brian Clarke (2 July 1953 – 1 July 2025) was a British painter, architectural artist, designer and printmaker, known for his large-scale stained glass and mosaic projects, symbolist paintings, se…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Clarke

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Credit Suisse Group AG (French pronunciation: [kʁe.di sɥis], lit. 'Swiss Credit') was a Swiss investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland. Headquartered in Zürich, it…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_Suisse

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Sarah Morris (born 20 June 1967 in Sevenoaks, Kent, England) is an American and British artist. She lives in New York City in the United States.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Morris

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 6: “EGI's bluefin tuna fishing and farming business in Baja California”

VERIFIED

A web search result explicitly states that US private equity firm EquityGroup Investments acquired Baja Aqua Farms, a leading bluefin tuna ranching company in Mexico (Baja California).

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web search NEUTRAL — The Pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis) is a predatory species of tuna found widely in the northern Pacific Ocean, but it is migratory and also recorded as a visitor to the south Pacific.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_bluefin_tuna

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web search NEUTRAL — A group of prominent investors has acquired Baja Aqua Farms (BAF), one of the world’s leading vertically integrated bluefin tuna ranching companies. The investor group is comprised of US private equit…
http://antarcticallc.com/investors-snap-up-mexican-bluefin-t…

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web search NEUTRAL — To meet global demand for Bluefin tuna while protecting the species, many seafood processors rely on fish farms. The major challenge lies in the fish feed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7q4-8xVl9c

verified

Claim 7: “EGI owns John Deere and Kenworth dealerships.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

The provided evidence for this claim consists of dictionary definitions of 'equity' and unrelated private equity firms (CD&R, TPG), with no mention of EGI owning John Deere or Kenworth dealerships.

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+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 8: “The anti-AI trade gained steam on Wall Street earlier this year, dubbed "HALO" for "heavy assets, low obsolescence."”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent sources (The Daily Upside, Goldman Sachs Research, and The Motley Fool) confirm the 'HALO' (Heavy Assets, Low Obsolescence) framework as a strategy to identify companies less exposed to AI disruption.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The AI bubble is a theorised stock market bubble growing amidst the AI boom, a period of rapid increase in investment in artificial intelligence (AI) that is affecting the broader economy. Speculation…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AI_bubble

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Claude is a series of large language models developed by American software company Anthropic. Claude was released as a AI chatbot in March 2023. It is also used in AI-assisted software development. Cl…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_(language_model)

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Perplexity AI, Inc., or simply Perplexity, is an American privately held software company offering a web search engine that processes user queries and synthesizes responses. Perplexity products use la…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perplexity_AI

+ 3 more evidence sources

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.