Klarna was Wall Street's darling in 2021. In March of that year, it raised $1 billion ($31 billion valuation) – Sequoia Capital, BlackRock, and GIC led the charge. In June, it raised another $639 million ($45.6 billion valuation), led by Masa Son and SoftBank Vision Fund 2, with other participants as well. But things didn't go so well, and today it's worth a mere $5 billion. In reality, it was NEVER worth $46 billion, but they said it was to make it seem real. A lot in the financial world is like that: a future promise of profit. In fact, almost everything. That's why Wall Street needs the circus of narratives so much: to keep you believing that the company will make a profit in the future. Because if you don't believe it, you won't take the money out of your account and put it in their hands.