Business
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These COOs became CEOs. Here’s what they wish everyone knew about the tricky transition
In today’s CEO Daily: Two chief executives on how to nail the COO-to-CEO handoff. The big leadership story: Inside Lip-Bu Tan’s turnaround at Intel. The markets: Mostly down as Middle East tensions rise. Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune. Good morning. CEO succession is never easy and coming up through the COO…
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What is a Fortune 500 company? The story behind the list
The Fortune 500 list is the ultimate measure of success for U.S. companies and Fortune’s flagship ranking. In a letter proposing the business magazine to advertisers in 1929, Time founder Henry Luce envisioned the publication as a way to “reflect Industrial Life in ink and paper and word and picture, as the finest skyscraper reflects…
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How Bazooka’s CIO is bringing AI to the gum game and navigating candy industry headwinds
When Sankar Karuppasamy served as chief information officer at trading card manufacturer Topps, he reported to the chief financial officer. But after moving into the role of CIO at gum maker Bazooka, which was separated from Topps through a $700 million sale to buyout firm Apax Partners in 2023, the technologist began to report to…
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How Amazon’s CFO ‘shatters’ expectations and helped power the company to No. 1 on the Fortune 500
Good morning. A brand new Fortune 500 list is out this morning. Amazon eclipsed the $700 billion mark with a 12% jump in revenue in 2025 and took the No. 1 spot, ending Walmart’s historic 13-year run. And Amazon’s SVP and CFO Brian Olsavsky has led finance for over a decade with a front-row seat…
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Bigger, richer, more concentrated: Inside the new Fortune 500
In today’s CEO Daily: Diane Brady reports on the biggest takeaways from this year’s list. The big leadership story: Executives are debating whether to treat agents as colleagues. The markets: Mixed globally after the S&P 500 closed at another record. Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune. Good morning. The 2026 Fortune 500…
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Anthropic’s CFO Krishna Rao is steering one of the most anticipated IPOs ever
Good morning. Anthropic’s leadership has taken a significant step toward going public—and CFO Krishna Rao is leading the charge. The maker of Claude AI confidentially submitted a draft registration statement on Form S-1 to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed public listing. For Rao, who joined Anthropic in May 2024 after holding…
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Cognizant CEO says AI is remaking middle managers into player-coaches who can ‘both executive and develop others’
In today’s CEO Daily: Diane Brady talks with Ravi Kumar S. about the broad impact of AI. The big leadership story: Inside Kelly Ortberg’s effort to remake Boeing. The markets: Mixed globally, with European markets staging a rebound. Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune. Good morning from Scottsdale, where we are on…
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Robots screening robots: Inside the AI arms race reshaping hiring
Good morning! More than half of job candidates are using AI to apply for jobs. Meanwhile, nearly 90% of companies are using AI to screen candidates, overwhelmed by a staggering volume of résumés. So, if both sides are using AI with such regularity, are any humans actually winning here? That’s the question I set out…
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The hottest job below CEO comes with 4 distinct career tracks
The path to the corner office often runs straight through operations. Consider recent examples: Dow Inc., Best Buy, and Asbury Automotive Group have all elevated chief operating officers to the top job in 2026. That preference is becoming even more pronounced. As companies seek to unify sprawling processes and sharpen execution (especially in the age…
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A SpaceX-Tesla union would mark the largest merger of all time. But does the math work?
Elon Musk may be about to use SpaceX’s soaring valuation as a lifeline for Tesla—and in doing so, create a combined giant that potentially loses money. A new Fortune analysis by colleague Shawn Tully lays out the math behind a reported potential SpaceX-Tesla merger. The combined entity would carry a $3.4 trillion valuation with SpaceX…