Experts React to Fed Chair Powell’s Renomination

President Joe Biden announced Monday he will be renominating Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for a second term as Fed chair and will nominate Fed Governor Lael Brainard as vice-chair.Biden was widely expected to nominate either Powell or Brainard for the position of Fed chair. Powell was init...

By Vincent Ryan • Nov. 22, 2021

Authentic Brands Stays Private With PE Deal

Authentic Brands Group has shelved its plans for an initial public offering in favor of a deal with two private-equity firms that values the brand developer at $12.7 billion.CVC Capital Partners and HPS Investment Partners will acquire “significant” equity stakes in the company from certain exist...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 22, 2021

Explore the Trendline➔

Tax policy shifts: What CFOs need to know to stay ahead

Discover how evolving tax policies are creating new opportunities and challenges for CFOs.

By CFO.com staff

Build Back Better Would Raise Deficit, CBO Says

With the House nearing a vote on President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better bill, the Congressional Budget Office has projected the measure would add a net $367 billion to the national debt over the next decade.USA Today said the CBO’s projection “undercuts Biden’s long-standing pledge the bill is n...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 19, 2021

ESG: The Financial Reporting Implications

In a KPMG survey of 3,300 financial professionals, more than half of respondents indicated climate change-related financial disclosures were an opportunity to demonstrate their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) edge to employees and investors while distancing themselves from competitors...

By Scott Flynn • Nov. 17, 2021

CFO Appointed to FASB’s Private Company Council

The board of trustees of the Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF) on Tuesday announced the reappointment of Marsha L. Hunt to the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) as well as naming the finance chief of a family-owned business to a three-year term on the Private Company Council.The CFO...

By Vincent Ryan • Nov. 16, 2021

Dispelling the Myths About CPM Implementations

This is the second of two columns on corporate performance management tools. The first article, The ABCs of CPM Software, was published on November 10.Myths and misinformation about corporate performance management systems and their use in finance departments abound. Many revolve around these too...

By Mike Cochran • Nov. 15, 2021

Record 4.4 Million Quit Jobs in September

The number of Americans who quit their jobs hit a record high in September, continuing a historic turnover that shows no signs of abating before the holiday season.The Labor Department reported that quits, or the number of jobs that workers left voluntarily, totaled a record 4.4 million in Septem...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 15, 2021

Toshiba Goes GE With Three-Way Split

Three days after General Electric said it was splitting into three, scandal-plagued Toshiba announced a similar move that will dismantle the Japanese industrial giant.Toshiba’s plan, unveiled on Friday, would split the company into three businesses focused on infrastructure, semiconductors, and d...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 12, 2021

Wynn SPAC Deal Called Off: Is A Buyout Coming?

Two recent developments at Wynn Resorts could signal a buyout coming.On Friday morning, Wynn Resorts announced it was terminating a previously announced special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger for Wynn Interactive with Austerlitz Acquisition.The deal was going to bring Wynn Interactive,...

By Vincent Ryan • Nov. 12, 2021

Experts React to 6.2% Rise in the CPI

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust traded higher by 0.3% on Wednesday morning after the Labor Department reported a 6.2% increase in the consumer price index in the month of October, the fastest inflation growth since late 1990.The headline CPI for October exceeded economists’ estimates of 5.9% and m...

By Vincent Ryan • Nov. 10, 2021

Rivian to Raise $11.9B From Mega-IPO

Rivian priced its IPO well above expectations at $78 per share on Tuesday, setting the stage for a big Wall Street debut amid investor enthusiasm for the electric vehicle industry.The offering of about 20.7 million shares was expected to raise $11.9 billion and value Rivian, if underwriters exerc...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 10, 2021

GE to Split Into Three Public Companies

In a historic move that will dismantle what was once the world’s largest company by market size, General Electric announced Tuesday it will split up into three separate businesses.Under Larry Culp, who took over as chief executive three years ago, GE had already been putting the brakes on predece...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 9, 2021

Panera Returning to Public Market With IPO

Panera is returning to the public markets with a future IPO that will include an investment from a restaurant-themed special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC).The SPAC, USHG Acquisition (HUGS), announced Tuesday it will be a “cornerstone partner” for an IPO of Panera Brands.Panera Brands will pu...

By Vincent Ryan • Nov. 9, 2021

McAfee Acquired by Investor Group in $14B Deal

McAfee is being acquired by a six-entity investor group in a $14 billion deal that will take the company private.What Happened: The buyer entity in the transaction, Condor BidCo, will acquire all outstanding shares of the cybersecurity company’s common stock for $26 per share in an all-cash trans...

By Lauren Muskett • Nov. 8, 2021

Jobs Market Storms Back With 531,000 Gain

The U.S. jobs market roared back in October from a late-summer lull, easing concerns about the resiliency of the pandemic recovery amid the surge of the delta variant and labor shortages.Since adding more than a million jobs in July, the labor market had slowed sharply through the rest of the sum...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 5, 2021

Ford to Repurchase $5B in High-Yield Bonds

Ford Motor said Thursday it would buy back up to $5 billion of its high-yield junk bonds as it restructures its balance sheet to pay for vehicle electrification and other sustainable projects.Ford shares rose 4.2% to $19.42 on news of the repurchase, which includes much of the $8 billion in bonds...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 4, 2021

Exxon Warns Assets at Risk From Climate Change

Exxon Mobil has indicated for the first time that it may have to write down the value of assets due to the effects of climate change risks on demand for fossil fuels.The nation’s largest oil company said that as part of its annual business planning process, it now evaluates climate change as a bu...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 4, 2021

Allbirds Soars 93% in Stock Market Debut

Shares in Allbirds surged Wednesday after an IPO that indicated investors are receptive to its vision of sustainable footwear for eco-conscious consumers.Allbirds raised about $303 million in Tuesday’s initial offering, which was priced at $15 per share, above the expected range of $12 to $14 per...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 3, 2021

Yahoo Pulls out of China After 22 Years

Yahoo said Tuesday it is pulling out of the Chinese market amid a crackdown on foreign tech firms that has increased the risks of operating in China.Yahoo’s move comes less than a month after Microsoft shut down its LinkedIn social-networking site in response to Beijing’s tightening control of th...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 2, 2021

November SPAC Calendar: Upcoming Votes

November shows a continued slowdown in special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger deal votes, but the calendar includes several multibillion-dollar deals.SPAC merger votes can act as a catalyst, as the votes complete the last step in the merger process and change the company over to a new ...

By Lauren Muskett • Nov. 2, 2021

Coke Buys Full Control of Bodyarmor for $5.6B

Coca-Cola said Monday it had acquired full ownership of sports drink brand Bodyarmor for $5.6 billion, positioning itself to compete for market dominance with Gatorade.The acquisition is Coke’s largest to date for a brand, topping its purchase of Costa Coffee for $5.1 billion in 2018. The company...

By Matthew Heller • Nov. 1, 2021

Dell Spins Off VMware

Dell Technologies will shed its 81% stake in VMware this week, creating an independent software company with a stock market value of $64 billion, Financial Times reports.The separation from Dell will free VMWare from Dell’s focus on corporate data centers and give it more freedom to invest and ma...

By Lauren Muskett • Nov. 1, 2021

Labor Costs Gauge Surges 1.3% in Q3

The cost of employing the average U.S. worker rose in the third quarter by the most since 2001, underscoring the impact of labor shortages resulting from the coronavirus pandemic.The Labor Department reported Friday that its employment cost index (ECI), a broad gauge of wages and benefits, increa...

By Matthew Heller • Oct. 29, 2021

U.S. GDP Growth Slows to 2% in 3rd Quarter

The U.S. economy grew in the third quarter at the slowest rate since the pandemic recovery began in the spring, reflecting the impact of the delta variant and supply-chain constraints.The Commerce Department reported Thursday that gross domestic product rose at a 2.0% annualized pace in the third...

By Matthew Heller • Oct. 28, 2021

China Urges Repayment of Offshore Debt

Chinese regulators have urged corporate offshore bond issuers to “actively prepare” to pay off their debt amid concerns over defaults by property developers.At a symposium on Tuesday, the National Development and Reform Commission, which oversees offshore bonds, said it would smooth the way for b...

By Matthew Heller • Oct. 27, 2021