‘You Had to Be Brave’: Wall Street Remembers a Wild 2025

Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen on Jan. 26 called it “AI’s Sputnik moment.” The rollout of a powerful, seemingly low-cost AI program by DeepSeek, a Chinese upstart, appeared to threaten the foundations of the recent US tech boom. When US markets opened the next day — a Monday — Nvidia Corp. shares plunged 17%, erasing nearly $600 billion from its value in the largest wipeout in market history. Semiconductor stocks had the worst day since March 2020.Here are some recollections from money managers and stra ...