The Austin Daily News - April 26, 2026

In this week's issue: A 26-year-old Duke dropout raised $20M at a $100M valuation from Bill Ackman, Josh Kushner, and the Coinbase co-founder — to build nuclear reactors and cargo drones in a Lockhart trailer park 40 miles from Austin Austin just posted record VC numbers and simultaneously landed at #24 on the best-cities-for-startups ranking — while Florida cities swept the entire top five Clarence Thomas walked into UT Austin and called progressivism an existential threat to the Declaration of Independence, to its face A viral 405K-view video shows Austin influencers paying a homeless man to drink until he cracked his head on the sidewalk — Reddit banned it, X didn't Aman — the world's most exclusive hotel brand — passed on Wyoming and Montana and chose Texas Hill Country instead Let's ride.