Financial Mindset

In today’s CEO Daily: Diane Brady on what CEOs are saying about the government shutdown. The big story: Trump using shutdown to cut spending, fire workers.  The markets: Up, up, up! Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune . Good morning. I was talking to a CEO over the phone yesterday about the potential business impact of a government shutdown when the news broke that the White House is withholding $18 billion in federal infrastructure funds for New York City. “Whoa! Look at this,” he said, reading out allegations that the city has “discriminatory, unconstitutional” contracting processes.  “If you work with the government, that could be more significant.” Maybe. The impact of a shutdown will, of course, depend on its length and the reaction of those impacted. Investors aren’t happy , but that could pass. While roughly three-quarters of federal employees are classified as “essential” workers who must stay on the job, some may stop showing up if they’r...

It’s a site you may not expect in one of the world’s most expensive cities. But on the outskirts of Geneva, known for its discreet wealth, high wages and multimillion-dollar homes, the Fortune 500 Europe fragrance producer DSM-Firmenich has its historical headquarters, where it still conducts a huge part of its manufacturing and R&D. In one wing of the sprawling HQ, a few dozen so-called “Master Perfumers” mix vials to create the next Acqua di Gio or CK One luxury perfume, or a new detergent for a client aiming to reach new customers in Singapore, the U.S., or the Middle East. There are thousands of vials, many of them containing copyrighted scents. A friendly robot fetches them for the perfumers, saving time. A little further out, there’s a much more conventional factory site, where giant industrial mixers mass-produce the Firmenich scents. A few workers overlook the process. Others pick the fluids up in trucks and send them across Europe and the world. In another, central bui...

In today’s CEO Daily: Ruth Umoh on McKinsey’s CEO pipeline. The big story: The U.S. government is shut down. The markets:  U.S. futures are down but everywhere else is up. Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune . Good morning. McKinsey is best known as a consulting powerhouse, but its quieter distinction is as a leadership factory— a point I explore in my latest piece for Fortune . No other organization has minted more sitting Fortune 500 chiefs, with a global roster that includes Alphabet’s Sundar Pichai, Citigroup’s Jane Fraser, and Allianz’s Oliver Bäte. The tally stands at 18 current Fortune 500 CEOs and 28 worldwide. For companies serious about succession, the question isn’t just why McKinsey has this record, but how to emulate it to strengthen internal pipelines. The firm’s method is as rigorous as it is intentional, more than a dozen former and current McKinsey alumni told me. From day one, new consultants rotate across industries, geographies, and...

Intel’s employees needed some good news. The company may still boast one of Silicon Valley’s most storied names, but its staff, which numbered 96,000 as of the end of July, had worked for years through nearly uninterrupted decline, watching their company lose nearly all relevance . Though its stock price soared just before the pandemic on a data center boom, then again on an ambitious (and since abandoned) plan to expand its manufacturing business, Intel last produced truly leading-edge chips in 2017. While neighbors feasted on the AI boom, Intel couldn’t seem to find its footing. So when employees logged on to watch a press conference on Sept. 18, anticipation was high. And finally, there was some good news to share: Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan and Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang appeared on a split screen to share the details of a surprise deal: Nvidia would be investing $5 billion into Intel , a hugely needed boost of capital and confidence from the most powerful man in business. O...