Remitly Hires Santander Alum as Its Next CEO
Remitly announced Sebastian Gunningham, a former Santander Consumer Finance chair with executive experience at Amazon, Apple and Oracle, will become its chief executive on Thursday. Co‑founder Matt Oppenheimer will transition to board chair as the company reported a strong 2025 performance, with send volume up 37% to $74.9 billion and revenue climbing 29% to $1.6 billion. Net income turned positive at $67.9 million and the user base expanded 19% to 9.3 million. The leadership change aligns with Remitly’s refreshed strategy to evolve from a cross‑border payments provider into a broader digital financial platform.
Marketplace Briefing: Inside Marc Lore and Melissa Bridgeford’s AI Shopping Agent Wizard
Wizard, the AI shopping agent co‑founded by Marc Lore and Melissa Bridgeford, has moved from a stealth B‑to‑B conversational commerce model to a consumer‑facing platform. Founded in 2021, the startup spent years refining its technology before publicly debuting in February...
House-Hasson Names Jeff Land as CEO
House‑Hasson Hardware Company announced Jeff Land as its new chief executive officer, succeeding retiring CEO Steve Henry after a 16‑year tenure. Land joins from Northern Tool & Equipment, where he served as senior vice president overseeing merchandising, inventory, product management,...
‘We Are at Risk’: Mistral CEO Warns Against US Dominance in AI
Mistral CEO Arthur Mensch warned at the AI Impact Summit that a handful of U.S. tech giants are monopolising AI development and infrastructure, creating a risk of excessive leverage. He contrasted Mistral’s €12 bn valuation with OpenAI’s $850 bn-plus market cap, underscoring...
Craft Brewer Tilray Inks Licensing Agreement for Carlsberg Beer in the US
Tilray Brands, a leading U.S. craft brewer, signed a five‑year licensing agreement with Carlsberg Group to produce, market, and sell Carlsberg’s core beer portfolio in the United States starting in 2027, with an automatic renewal clause. The deal covers Carlsberg,...
Why Jack in the Box Bets Parking Lot Paint Can Cure Sales
Jack in the Box reported a 6.7% same‑store sales decline in Q1 2026, an improvement over the 7%‑plus drops in the prior two quarters. Restaurant‑level margins fell to 16.1% and franchise margins to 38.6%, signaling unit‑level pressure. The chain is executing...
Toast Courts Fast Food Restaurants
Restaurant POS provider Toast announced plans to launch a dedicated drive‑thru product in 2026, targeting fast‑food operators for the first time. The move follows a rapid expansion last year, with 30,000 new restaurants joining its platform, bringing total customers to...
Veradigm Cut 15% of Its Workforce in 2025
Veradigm announced a 15% workforce reduction in 2025, closed three offices and plans two more closures, and will discontinue six low‑revenue products as part of a broader turnaround. The health‑IT firm is also focused on updating its financial filings after...
Are Target’s Store Investments Enough to Turn Its Experience Around?
Target’s new CEO Michael Fiddelke is prioritizing customer experience by adding store labor hours and launching a universal training program, while cutting about 500 district and supply‑chain roles. The initiative aims to fix in‑store pain points such as low in‑stock...
What CEOs Can Learn From The Deepest Man On Earth
Herbert Nitsch, the world’s deepest free‑diver, has set 33 records, including a 253‑metre breath‑hold dive, while maintaining a full‑time airline pilot career. His approach hinges on ultra‑efficient training, razor‑sharp focus, and pre‑planned risk protocols that allow him to operate under...
Giorgio Armani’s Bizarre Will Has Caused a Rift at His Fashion Label
Giorgio Armani’s death in September 2026 revealed a will packed with eccentric assets—from elephant tusks to Japanese rugs—and unexpected beneficiaries, including a personal aide granted millions in securities and yacht access. The document has sparked a leadership rift within the...
Autotech Ventures Bets Big on Hard-to-Copy Logistics Startups
Autotech Ventures, a $600 million industrial‑focused VC, is targeting logistics startups that are hard to replicate, leveraging its deep network of global manufacturers and carriers. The firm highlighted investments in GenLogs, a data‑rich freight intelligence platform, and Augment, an end‑to‑end AI...
Why Some Companies Grow Rapidly While Others Stall
A global survey of over 500 senior revenue leaders shows that while 72 % of companies grew year‑over‑year, only 29 % achieved rapid, double‑digit growth. Smaller firms outperformed larger ones, but the key differentiator is functional alignment across marketing, sales, product and...
Klarna Delivers $1bn Quarter but Shareholder Returns Take Beating
Klarna posted a record fourth‑quarter revenue of just under $1 billion, a 38% year‑on‑year rise, while gross merchandise volume hit $38.7 billion, up 32%. Active customers grew to 118 million, and the firm continued its push to become a full‑service bank. Despite the...
How Build-A-Bear’s Sharon Price John Made the CMO to CEO Jump Flawlessly
Sharon Price John, former CMO, has become President and CEO of Build‑A‑Bear, steering the 30‑year‑old retailer into an IP‑driven, multi‑vertical business. Under her leadership, digital commerce now accounts for 40% of sales and the brand is expanding globally. In a...
A Surprising Reading List for CEOs in 2026
CEOs are diversifying their reading and listening habits, favoring tech‑focused books on generative AI and quantum computing alongside historical accounts of conflict and light‑hearted fiction. Korn Ferry’s research shows many executives consume up to one book a week and supplement...
Amazon Surpasses Walmart in Annual Revenue for the First Time
Amazon reported $716.9 billion in 2025 revenue, overtaking Walmart's $713.2 billion for the first time. The shift ends Walmart's 13‑year streak as Fortune's top‑revenue company and highlights Amazon's transformation into a tech‑services powerhouse. Growth is now driven by Amazon Web Services, advertising...
Deere Soars as Tractor Maker Sees Upturn in Farm Economy
Deere & Co. saw its shares jump the most in six years after the company lifted its annual profit outlook. The farm‑machinery giant said it expects a sustained upturn in the global agriculture economy. CEO John May highlighted recovering demand...
ClearBank Appoints Ex-Uber Exec to Oversee European Expansion
ClearBank has appointed former Uber payments chief Tristan Kirchner as its European CEO to accelerate the bank’s cross‑border growth. The fintech already holds an EU banking licence and serves more than 30 clients across multiple markets. Kirchner will oversee the...
Warmer Weather Hits Profits at British Gas Owner
British Gas, owned by Centrica, saw operating profits in its residential supply business drop 39% to £163 million in 2025, partly due to an £80 million hit from the UK’s warmest year on record, which reduced heating demand. Despite the profit slump,...
The Case for Being Exclusive at Work
The article argues that deliberately excluding certain customers and employees through values‑based repelling and explicit audience definition can strengthen brand loyalty, reduce misalignment, and cut costs. Broad messaging often leads to disengaged staff, wrong‑fit customers, and wasted resources. Patagonia’s “Don’t...
Nestlé Bets on Four Key Categories as It Separates Ice Cream
Nestlé reported 3.5% organic growth for 2025, with real internal growth rising 0.8% and free cash flow reaching CHF 9.2 bn. CEO Philipp Navratil outlined a sharpened portfolio strategy centered on coffee, petcare, nutrition and food‑&‑snacks, while preparing to spin off the remaining...
Walmart’s Ad Business Grew 46% in 2025, Hitting Nearly $6.4B
Walmart’s advertising arm surged 46% in 2025, generating nearly $6.4 billion, while the broader company posted $713.2 billion in revenue. Walmart Connect alone grew 41% in Q4, and the Vizio acquisition added high‑minimum‑price inventory. AI chatbot Sparky, now tested with ads, drives...
I Founded 1-800-Flowers.com 50 Years Ago. This Is the Secret to Business Success
The founder of 1‑800‑Flowers.com marks a 50‑year milestone, attributing the company’s endurance to deep, trust‑based relationships rather than just capital or strategy. Starting as a modest Manhattan flower shop in 1976, the business expanded into a national brand by consistently...
Boeing Moves Its Defense HQ Back to St. Louis
Boeing announced it will move the headquarters of its Defense, Space & Security division from Arlington, Virginia back to St. Louis, Missouri, ending a nine‑year stint on the East Coast. The relocation positions senior leaders alongside roughly 18,000 employees at...
TBWA Alum Launch AI-Native Shop with Hitachi as Founding Client
Two former Omnicom executives, James Sparano and Kevin O’Sullivan, are launching JK, an AI‑native creative and strategy shop that promises to shrink traditional planning cycles from months to days. The boutique is self‑funded and begins operations on Feb. 19. Hitachi has...
AI Adoption Is Rising in Retail, but Efficiencies Remain Surprisingly Underwhelming
AI adoption is accelerating in retail, with roughly 70% of firms reporting use of some AI technology. Despite this uptake, more than 80% of senior executives say AI has not noticeably affected employment or productivity over the past three years....
L’Oréal's Ankit Porwal Moves to India-Based Marico to Drive Digital Beauty Ambitions
L’Oréal regional leader Ankit Porwal has left the French beauty giant to become Marico’s CEO of beauty, styling and digital business. Porwal brings more than 13 years of e‑commerce, innovation and marketing transformation experience across Southeast Asia, the Middle East and India....
‘We Have some Work to Do’: Nasdaq Stockholm’s President on Losing Klarna to New York
Nasdaq Stockholm’s president warned that the exchange must act after Klarna chose a New York listing, a move that underscores growing competition from U.S. markets. Last year Nasdaq Stockholm and its Nordic peers captured 60% of Europe’s equity capital‑market activity,...
The Olympics’ Beauty Moments, Plus CEO Catherine D’Aragon on First Aid Beauty’s Partnership with Team USA
First Aid Beauty announced its first brand redesign in nearly two decades, aligning the launch with the 2026 Winter Olympics. The company secured the role of official skin‑care partner for Team USA, gifting products to every athlete. CEO Catherine D’Aragon...
EGI Innovations Hires Jon Hatchuel as First Aussie Country Manager
eG Innovations, a US‑based software vendor, has appointed Jon Hatchuel as its first country manager in Australia, marking the firm’s first dedicated employee in the market. Hatchuel, who brings over 20 years of senior IT experience, will focus on expanding...
Figma's Answer to the AI Software Sell-Off
The episode examines Figma’s latest AI integration with Anthropic’s Claude Code, exploring how the partnership emerged organically and what it means for the design‑to‑code workflow. Host discusses Figma’s steep stock decline amid a broader SaaS AI sell‑off and probes CEO...
Guest Column: IdeaNova Highlights Untapped Potential of Legacy IFE Systems
Legacy inflight entertainment (IFE) systems are being re‑engineered through software rather than costly hardware replacements. Airlines such as Delta and United are upgrading seat‑back screens with modern interfaces, faster DRM, and new features using IdeaNova’s two‑decade expertise. The company’s Inplay AI...
‘Low Hanging Fruit’: Why Regional Audio Is Australia’s Biggest Opportunity For Brand Growth
Commercial Radio & Audio’s CEO Lizzie Young urged advertisers to tap Australia’s regional audio market, citing research that shows a 33% lift in campaign effectiveness. The analysis of the Advertising Council Australia database reveals that regional listeners—9.9 million people, 37% of...
MXR Hospitality Names Brent McDowell CEO, Eric Watts President
MXR Hospitality, a joint venture between RREAF Holdings and Phillip McNeill Sr., announced Brent McDowell as its inaugural CEO and Eric Watts as its inaugural president. McDowell brings nearly three decades of hospitality experience, most recently as COO of McNeill Hotel Company,...
Telstra Posts Strong First Half FY26 Profit Amid Job Cuts
Telstra reported an 8.1% profit increase to $1.2 billion for the first half of FY26, with revenue edging up 0.3% to $11.6 billion and earnings rising 4.7% to $4.4 billion. The company achieved 3.1 percentage points of operating leverage by cutting $179 million in...
Dr. Hope Jacoby, Podiatrist: Leading with Precision in Podiatry
Dr. Hope Jacoby, DPM, has built a leading podiatric practice in Dallas‑Fort Worth, focusing on advanced wound care and foot‑ankle surgery. Her career stems from a sports‑focused upbringing, elite athletic training, and a chief residency that honed surgical leadership. She...
Floor & Decor Holdings Inc (FND) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
Floor & Decor announced a leadership transition, naming President Brad Paulsen CEO effective fiscal 2026 while Tom Taylor moves to Executive Chair. The company posted EPS of $0.53, a 10.4% increase, and total sales of $1.18 billion, up 5.5% year‑over‑year, but...
Barings BDC Inc (BBDC) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
Barings BDC reported a fourth‑quarter NAV of $11.09 per share, essentially unchanged from the prior quarter, while net investment income slipped to $0.27 per share. The firm declared a $0.26 quarterly dividend, delivering a 9.4% annualized yield on NAV, and...
Casella Waste Systems Inc (CWST) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
Casella Waste Systems reported record Q3 2025 results, with revenue of $485.4 million, up 17.9% YoY, and adjusted EBITDA of $119.9 million, up 16.4%. Growth was driven by $53.4 million of acquisition revenue and solid‑waste pricing, while same‑store landfill volumes rose 11.7%. Management...
Production-Ready: Red Hat’s Blueprint for 2026
Red Hat’s 2026 blueprint redefines the company from a software vendor to a strategic partner that delivers end‑to‑end, open‑source platforms for virtualization, containers and artificial intelligence. The announcement highlights RHEL 10, OpenShift, OpenShift AI, vLLM, Granite 4, Guardian and Ansible as a unified stack...
Zuckerberg Grilled About Meta's Strategy to Target 'Teens' And 'Tweens'
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified in Los Angeles as part of a high‑profile social‑media addiction trial, facing questions about internal documents that show the company deliberately targeted users as young as ten. Plaintiffs highlighted memos from 2015‑2018 that set goals...
Booking CEO Touts Ties With Independent Hotels as Agentic AI and Airbnb Seek Gains
Booking Holdings CEO Glenn Fogel emphasized the platform’s deep ties with independent hotels, which supply the bulk of its room nights, as the company confronts rising pressure from AI‑driven travel agents and Airbnb’s expansion into the boutique‑hotel segment. He announced...
Matthew Lewis Labarre: Building a Business for the Youngest Athletes
Matthew Lewis Labarre launched Never Too Young FC in 2021 to serve children ages three to five who were excluded from traditional soccer programs. The company blends introductory soccer drills with age‑appropriate nutrition lessons, creating a playful yet structured environment....
Manie Du Bruyn’s Rise: Real Estate, Mining, and the Long Game
Manie Du Bruyn founded Black Lion Property Group in 2015 and built a portfolio of high‑demand residential and mixed‑use projects in Pretoria, emphasizing reinvestment and a 30‑year horizon. Leveraging the disciplined financial and operational framework of the property business, he launched Black Lion...
REMAX Names New President; Tech Exec Joins Offerpad Board
REMAX promoted Chris Lim, who joined a year ago as chief growth officer, to president while keeping his growth responsibilities. Lim, formerly president of Christie’s International Real Estate, will now oversee the global network, emphasizing international expansion and affiliate services....
Benjamin Berkowitz: Building a Career in Retail Real Estate
Benjamin Berkowitz, Vice President at Colonial Commercial Real Estate and co‑founder of Pearl Capital, has completed more than $60 million in retail transaction volume across Texas. After rising from sales associate to VP, he added tenant‑representation for autonomous‑drone firm Flytrex, broadening...
Ebay to Acquire Depop Resale Fashion Marketplace for $1.2 Billion
eBay agreed to buy Depop from Etsy for $1.2 billion in cash, with the deal slated to close in Q2 2026. Depop, a social‑centric C2C fashion marketplace, will keep its brand and culture after the acquisition. The purchase follows Etsy’s 2021 $1.6 billion...
Airbnb Tests Loyalty Benefits. Chesky Says Program ‘Could Be a Massive Accelerant’
Airbnb has begun testing a suite of loyalty‑program benefits that avoid traditional points structures, signaling a strategic shift toward more personalized guest incentives. The company previously explored a “Superguest” program but never launched it, and now it is evaluating models...
Generative AI Reduces M&A Costs by 20%, McKinsey Says
McKinsey reports that generative AI has slashed M&A costs by roughly 20% and accelerated deal timelines by 10% to 30%. The technology enables faster target identification, due diligence, and integration, especially amid geopolitical and supply‑chain disruptions. Bain finds one in...