Good morning and Happy Veterans Day.
Today also marks the start of the 2024 Fortune Global Forum in New York City. You can check out the agenda here and follow along on the livestream here if you’re not joining us in person.
We will open this morning with two army veterans: Mike Pompeo, former secretary of state and CIA director in the Trump administration, and Leon Panetta, who was secretary of defense and CIA director under Obama. We will end the day in conversation with former U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who will no doubt reflect on his role in shaping where Britain is today—and where the U.K. and Europe go from here with President Donald Trump returning to Washington.
In between, we will have a series of compelling discussions, debates, workshops, and special performances. Having recently visited Riyadh, which is transforming itself at a speed and scale unlike any city I’ve seen, I look forward to speaking about the ambitious scope of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 with H.E. Fahd bin Abdulmohsan Al-Rasheed, advisor to the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
I get a lot of thought-provoking and insightful comments from the readers of this newsletter, many of whom are leading businesses themselves. So please feel free to reach out to me at the email below with any questions or thoughts you have for our speakers.
My opening panel this morning, for example, will look at the transformative changes that are reshaping business and what may change with a shifting political landscape. I’ll be speaking with Columbia University’s Abby Joseph Cohen, NYSE Group president Lynn Martin, and IBM vice chairman Gary Cohn, who served as director of the National Economic Council and chief economic adviser to President Trump.
Later in the day, I’ll speak with McKinsey senior partner Eric Kutcher and Qualtrics CEO Zig Serafin about powering the AI revolution. I also look forward to a deep dive into how you really connect culture and performance with Target CEO Brian Cornell and Steven Williams, the CEO of PepsiCo Foods North America—both of whom have also known each other for more than two decades. And my colleagues will be interviewing many other leaders, thinkers, artists and disrupters on the issues shaping not just business but society and ourselves.
Please do join in the conversation and let me know what you’re curious about.
More news below.
Diane Brady
diane.brady@fortune.com
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TOP NEWS
Amazon CEO wants more employees than managers
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy plans to increase the ratio of employees to managers because he hates bureaucracy. The comments came during an all-hands meeting at the company last week, and the CEO had already introduced a “bureaucracy mailbox” to field employee complaints about excessive processes. Fortune
“Roaring ’20s” could last longer
Market research veteran Ed Yardeni predicted last week that bullish market performance since the pandemic ended could extend through the 2030s with Republicans taking stronger control of the federal government. The market had its best week in a year following Trump’s election win. Fortune
Starbucks chairmen: Be an employee before a founder
In a recent interview with Fortune, Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz suggested that young people should work for a company before trying to start their own. According to Schultz, “There’s great benefit to being in an organization and seeing firsthand how a company actually operates.”
AROUND THE WATERCOOLER
Crypto CEO safe after being kidnapped and held for $1 million ransom by Catherine McGrath
Think Donald Trump’s AI policy plans are predictable? Prepare to be surprised by Sharon Goldman
Expect a ‘huge sucking sound’ of foreign capital flooding in as U.S. dominance of global finance increases, top economist says by Jason Ma
Here is how much RFK Jr. is reportedly worth by Alena Botros
Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan says he founded the popular prediction market from his bathroom by Sydney Lake
Trump’s first big fight is shaping up: Powell’s refusal to resign from the Fed by Jason Ma
Trump vowed to oust SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, and these crypto advocates could take his place by Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez
