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☆ JPMorgan just dropped some clues as to who might succeed Jamie Dimon. See Insider's exclusive organizational chart identifying the bank's top 114 executives.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Carter Johnson | Samantha Stokes | Dakin Campbell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

We've got names and faces for more than 100 top JPMorgan leaders across investment banking, and more. The bank's CEO and chairman, Jamie Dimon, has consequently been a leading voice shaping both Wall Street and Main Street for decades. On Tuesday, JPMorgan's board of directors provided a little more insight into its CEO succession plans via a 116-page annual proxy filing. Additions to the organizational chart also highlight the growth within some of JPMorgan's key teams. It also provides some clues as to who might one day succeed Dimon, Wall Street's longest running CEO.

☆ The US housing market is tanking - and the banking fiasco could make things worse, RH CEO Gary Friedman says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Theron Mohamed | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The US housing market has slowed dramatically over the past year, RH CEO Gary Friedman said. Soaring interest rates have hit housing demand, and the banking fiasco is a fresh blow, he said. Friedman said the outlook is less clear now than in 2008, and he urged the Fed not to tank the economy. "The fact is, we've been in a massive housing recession for the past year," Friedman continued, adding that "accelerating weakness" in the sector could weigh on his company's revenue and profits for several quarters. Several experts have sounded the alarm on the housing market and economy.

☆ Credit Suisse's investment bankers are so concerned about cuts, employees are being told to look for new jobs. 'They encouraged it.'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Carter Johnson | Casey Sullivan | Dakin Campbell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

The fate of Credit Suisse's investment bank hangs in the balance after being sold to UBS. The investment bank's planned spinoff has been put on hold and bankers are bracing for job cuts. People said they expect Credit Suisse's planned spinoff of its investment banking operations, announced last year, to be scuttled. Over at 11 Madison Ave., where Credit Suisse's NY operations are headquartered, emotions were running hot on Monday. Now, the proposed CS First Boston deal hangs in the balance, with both industry experts and Credit Suisse employees uncertain whether it will go through.

☆ Brace for a home improvement slump as consumers battle inflation, debt, and pressure on house prices, Home Depot warns
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Theron Mohamed | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Home Depot warned the boom may be over as higher prices and borrowing costs squeeze consumers. Here's a closer look at the US home improvement boom, and why Home Depot warned this week it might be over. Why might the home improvement boom be over? The upshot is that consumers are spending less on goods, battling rising prices and borrowing costs, and feeling less wealthy. Against that challenging backdrop, Home Depot warned on Tuesday that it anticipates flat sales and a 5% drop in diluted earnings per share.

☆ What Carlyle wants from incoming CEO Harvey Schwartz: Fix the firm's lagging stock price as it faces a sour market
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Rebecca Ungarino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The firm's interim CEO, Bill Conway, said Schwartz will be tasked with boosting the stock price. First of all, we want to increase the stock price," said William Conway, a Carlyle cofounder and interim CEO. Notably, he has the opportunity to make some $180 million over five years, depending on how well the firm's stock performs, according to a regulatory filing. The uncertainty that came with the firm's scramble to find a new leader has weighed on the firm's stock price. On Tuesday morning, Carlyle stock dropped 3% while the S&P 500 fell less than 1%.

☆ Blackstone's real-estate business is totally fine, so please stop asking about it
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Blackstone's real-estate business is literally fine, everyone. Yes, the private-equity giant had to limit investors from pulling their money out from the $69 billion Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust (BREIT) in December. And yes, it's also true that Blackstone had to tell investors again on Wednesday that investors were pulling money from BREIT. Murphy, an executive at Standard Investments, serving as Blackstone's new COO of corporate private equity and Heather von Zuben's appointment as COO of Blackstone's credit arm. As much as I enjoy poking fun at Blackstone, Schwarzman and Gray aren't necessarily wrong, to a degree.

☆ Skechers says slip-on shoes will 'hit in full force' later this year as it joins Kizik and Nike in the race to be the leader in laceless sneakers
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Matthew Kish | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Skechers on Thursday reported record quarterly sales. Skechers reported record quarterly sales on Thursday, and executives said that despite some "recessionary signals" in the marketplace, they expect a strong second half, buoyed by robust demand for its new slip-on shoes. Utah-based Kizik and industry leader Nike also are investing in slip-on technology in order to meet rising demand. The second half is where we see a ton of opportunity." Among the opportunities in the second half: slip-on shoes.

☆ Barclays nabs a former Goldman Sachs Marcus exec to lead its US cards and partnerships business
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Dakin Campbell | Carter Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Goldman Sachs' consumer business is under pressure as CEO Solomon pivots. Villone will join Barclays this April from Goldman Sachs Marcus, where he was a managing director and led global operations and consumer delivery for the Wall Street firm's consumer business. A pivot for Goldman Sachs and MarcusVillone's departure for Barclays also comes as top Goldman Sachs leadership telegraph a retreat from core parts of its consumer business. Goldman Sachs' consumer business was particularly impacted when the firm laid off roughly 3,000 employees last month, or roughly 6% of its workforce. Do you work on Wall Street or at Goldman Sachs or Barclays?

☆ Inside JPMorgan massive tech org: 7 key execs helping global CIO Lori Beer manage the firm's $14 billion tech budget.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Bianca Chan | Carter Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

JPMorgan's tech organization is led by nine-year bank vet Lori Beer, its global CIO. As the biggest US bank by assets, JPMorgan's sprawling $14.1 billion tech budget can be hard to comprehend. The size and scale of JPMorgan's tech spending can seem unfathomable to a small startup or everyday consumer. Lori Beer, JPMorgan's chief information officer, oversees that sprawling tech budget, which grew by 20% from 2019 to 2022. Insider mapped out the key tech executives at JPMorgan who report to Beer and help her lead the bank's massive tech org.

☆ Just 40% of people say their lives will be 'better off' in the next 5 years, a new global survey finds, with trust in business growing and trust in government falling
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Reed Alexander | Read More | Read Less | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Just 40% of respondents in a new global survey believe they'll be "better off" in the next five years. The annual Edelman Trust Barometer also found growing trust in business versus the public sector. Just four in 10 respondents who participated in the Edelman Trust Barometer for 2023 predicted that they and their families will be "better off" in five years — a dramatic 10-point reduction from last year. Edelman published its 2023 Trust Barometer this weekend, coinciding with a constellation of other warning signs that further economic pain may be on the way. The Edelman Trust Barometer, which this year polled more than 32,000 respondents in 28 countries, found that trust is tilting away from the public sector.

☆ Banks vs. Fintechs: Why all the billions in the world can't help Wall Street crush its digital rivals
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Bianca Chan | Reed Alexander | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

To compete, banks have written fat checks to acquire fintechs — tech, talent, and all. But on Wall Street, old habits die hard, and Goldman has struggled to make Marcus, a big fintech bet, a success. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Wall Street leaders have been at the helm of a push to get their employees back to their desks. It's more that the very things that make Wall Street, well, Wall Street are preventing it from embracing the ethos of Silicon Valley. And perhaps, for Wall Street, that's the moral of the story.

☆ The Teamsters' new chief is readying UPS drivers for a strike as he heads toward contract negotiations — and key moves show he's not bluffing
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Emma Cosgrove | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

UPS drivers will be ready to strike next summer, said the Teamsters general president Sean O'Brien. The process left many members disenchanted with their union, multiple UPS drivers told Insider. Partly as a reaction to those grumblings, Teamsters lifer Sean O'Brien was elected to take over the union's leadership last year. And for months, O'Brien has openly spoken about UPS drivers going on strike for the first time in 25 years. O'Brien has said publicly several times that he plans to use the UPS contract negotiations as an example for other workforces that have yet to unionize — especially Amazon.

☆ A Silicon Valley biotech just showed a simple blood test can detect a hidden and deadly type of cancer. But the results fell short of investors' hopes.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Leah Rosenbaum | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Guardant Health said that its blood test to screen for cancer caught 83% of colorectal cancer cases. On Thursday, Silicon Valley-based biotech Guardant Health announced that its blood-based cancer screening test correctly caught colorectal cancer cases in 83% of people who had the disease. The company already has several products on the market, including Guardant360CDx, an FDA-approved blood test to test cancer genomic markers that could help show what treatments the cancers are susceptible to. Colonoscopies are still the gold standard of colorectal cancer screening, despite involving sedation and hours of unpleasant physical preparation. And while colorectal cancer is the first cancer that is being studied for a blood-based screening, it certainly won't be the last.

☆ KKR's co-CEO says the firm is looking at investments in 'all things digital,' while avoiding tech companies with lofty valuations and no earnings
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Rebecca Ungarino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

KKR's co-CEO said on Tuesday that the firm is staying away from unprofitable companies. The private-equity behemoth KKR still has an appetite to invest in tech companies. KKR oversaw $496 billion as of September 30 as one of the largest managers of alternative assets such as private equity, private credit, and real-estate. While it used to be far more heavily weighted toward private equity, KKR's fundraising has increasingly shifted toward other assets like private credit, liquid credit, and real estate, Bae said. Private credit has been a particular focus for alternative money managers like KKR, Blackstone, and Carlyle amid rising rates and big banks' retreats from some lending, Insider previously reported.

☆ Fashion brands can't keep up with the latest trends because of supply-chain chaos — and it's one more reason everything's on sale
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Emma Cosgrove | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Victoria's Secret execs said supply-chain woes meant it couldn't chase trends, adding to the pileup. Brands like Nike, Kohl's, and Ralph Lauren were laser-focused on shaving days and even weeks out of their lead times to be more responsive to consumer preferences. In 2017, Nike was trying to get 60-day lead times down to 10 days. Brands can't chase trends successfully if they lack any semblance of certainty on when goods will arrive — the pandemic certainly stripped that away. Victoria's Secret's chief financial officer, Tim Johnson, said on a Thursday earnings call that the company should regain the supply-chain confidence to chase trends next year.

☆ Blackstone's bet on small investors bites the private-equity giant as investors pull out of its high-profile real-estate fund
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Rebecca Ungarino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

BREIT, as the large real-estate fund is known, has been key to the firm's retail investor push. Blackstone, the $951 billion private-equity behemoth, is better known for its big buyouts, splashy deals, and real-estate market domination than its products catering to individuals. BREIT, as the real-estate fund is known, has posted a return of 9.3% so far this year and a 15.5% three-year annualized return, according to its website. But investor sentiment has appeared to turn for this real-estate fund, posing a challenge for the firm's retail push. Last month, Credit Suisse downgraded Blackstone stock over concerns in BREIT and BCRED.

☆ 3 reasons a major health insurer just made a $2.7 billion bet on a Walgreens-backed effort to upend healthcare
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The deal would give it a stake in VillageMD, an annual dividend, and a push toward value-based care. VillageMD said this week that it plans to merge with fellow primary-care provider Summit Health-CityMD in an $8.9 billion deal funded in part by the healthcare giant Cigna. VillageMD CEO Tim Barry Courtesy VillageMD3 reasons why Cigna's investing $2.7 billion in VillageMDEvanko said the investment provides financial and strategic benefits for Cigna. That stake would provide the healthcare company, which reported profits of $5.4 billion in 2021, with an annual dividend of about 5.5% on $2 billion of the $2.7 billion investment, Evanko said, according to a transcript from Sentieo. Evernorth could take what it learns from partnering with VillageMD and extend those capabilities to other healthcare providers it works with, he said.

☆ A top Cigna exec shares 3 key reasons the health insurer just bet $2.7 billion on Walgreens-backed primary-care upstart VillageMD
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Cigna is putting $2.7 billion behind primary-care company VillageMD's merger with Summit Health-CityMD. The deal would give it a stake in VillageMD, an annual dividend, and a push toward value-based care. VillageMD said this week that it plans to merge with fellow primary-care provider Summit Health-CityMD in an $8.9 billion deal funded in part by the healthcare giant Cigna. VillageMD CEO Tim Barry Courtesy VillageMD3 reasons why Cigna's investing $2.7 billion in VillageMDEvanko said the investment provides financial and strategic benefits for Cigna. Evernorth could take what it learns from partnering with VillageMD and extend those capabilities to other healthcare providers it works with, he said.

☆ Apple has touted its 'deliberate' hiring amid a tough economy, but insiders say widespread hiring freezes are in place for the year ahead
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Reed Alexander | Claire Atkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Apple has frozen hiring for roles across corporate divisions at the tech giant, three sources tell Insider. The company has said it will be "deliberate" with recruiting but has not acknowledged halting hires in some departments. Since the summer, Apple has touted its "deliberate" decisions about investment and hiring, including on its most recent quarterly earnings call last week. But three sources with close knowledge of conversations at the company told Insider it has paused almost all hiring. The second source, who has knowledge of multiple high-level conversations inside Apple, agreed that it's experiencing a hiring freeze.

☆ Companies Focus On Constant-Currency Metrics to Soothe Investors’ Nerves
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Kristin Broughton | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

Reporting results on a constant-currency basis can be beneficial to global companies whose results have been hit by swings in foreign-exchange rates. To report on a constant-currency basis, companies must have a full understanding of their exposure to foreign-exchange rates, Mr. Koester said. Revenue was $4.43 billion, up 13% year-over-year on a reported basis and 15% on a constant-currency basis. Ralph Lauren Corp. said in August that its fiscal first-quarter revenue grew 8% on a reported basis and 13% on a constant-currency basis. Ralph Lauren said it expects, on a constant-currency basis, to report fiscal 2023 revenue growth in the high-single-digit percentages, around 8%, compared with 2022.

☆ One of the biggest US hospital chains was slammed in the third quarter by high temporary staffing costs, and it has investors spooked
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Major chain Tenet Health said last week that labor costs ate away at its third-quarter finances. Last week, Tenet reported lower revenue and earnings in the third quarter compared with 2021, missing Wall Street's expectations as the company suffered from higher temporary labor costs. Investors had expected Tenet to report an improvement in contract labor costs, Ben Hendrix, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, said in a Friday note. Contract labor increased to 11% of total hospital labor expenses, compared with just 2% in 2019, according to the report. "We still are running with a lot more nurses in contract labor than we did in 2019," he said.

☆ Blackstone is betting big on lending out money in the private markets, and the PE giant has $182 billion to do it
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Blackstone has some money to lendBlackstone, the world's largest private-equity firm and a big fan of warehouses, reported earnings on Thursday. By comparison, back in the good ole days (see: Q3 2021), Blackstone reported a profit of $1.4 billion. Blackstone reported its private credit unit was up 3% in the third quarter and 9.3% over the past 12 months. To read more about Blackstone's push into private credit, click here. A Fed president spoke somewhere that a Fed president shouldn't really be speaking, The New York Times reported.

☆ Private credit is king, for now: How Blackstone is seizing on making loans while banks pull back in a dismal market
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Rebecca Ungarino | Emmalyse Brownstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Blackstone is doubling down on private credit investments in a volatile market. While its corporate private equity investment performance fell in the quarter, private credit rose. As stock markets plunge, private equity investments' values sour, and central banks hike interest rates, the growing private credit market is heating up — and benefitting private investors stepping in to make loans as banks pull back. Take Blackstone, the world's largest alternative asset manager known for its powerful private equity and real estate businesses. Risks and opportunitiesBlackstone is hardly alone as it doubles down on private credit investments.

☆ Goldman Sachs' humbling U-turn on its consumer banking ambitions
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Jeffrey Cane | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Third-quarter results from the big Wall Street banks are now behind us, and they were … pretty good, all things considered? Goldman Sachs reported yesterday, and while it may not be the biggest nor the best bank (OK, No. Trading and dealmaking made the reputation of the 153-year-old Wall Street firm, but the spotlight lately has been on its struggling consumer banking unit, Marcus. The consumer business "doesn't make money at the moment," Solomon acknowledged, but he added: "The deposits are hugely valuable. From Wall Street darlings to prey.

☆ After months of subscriber losses, Netflix is under pressure to prove its ad-supported tier can stop the bleeding. Here's why Wall Street is skeptical ahead of this week's earnings results.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Reed Alexander | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Netflix will report third-quarter earnings Tuesday, and all eyes are on its new ad-supported tier. Wall Street hopes that the streamer's Basic with Ads plan will boost subscriptions and revenue — but some analysts are skeptical. Complicating matters further, analysts at Wedbush Securities warned that the streamer may report hundreds of thousands of additional subscriber losses this quarter. A recent survey conducted by Samba TV with Harris X found that nearly half of current Netflix subscribers said they'd consider simply trading down their existing membership to the forthcoming cheaper service. While the service still counts more than 220 million overall subscribers, Netflix has blamed the losses on increased competition and account sharing.

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