Nelson Peltz calls GE’s Larry Culp ‘the No. 1 industrial CEO on the planet’ after stock outperformed Apple and Google last year

How does he do it? Fortune’s Shawn Tully takes a deep dive in a story you should read this morning here. It has a lot to do with “lean” manufacturing, also known as “kaizen.” Culp used the Japanese management system to outperform in his previous job, as CEO of Danaher, and now he’s killing it at GE. Says investor Nelson Peltz: “He’s the No. 1 industrial CEO on the planet. There is no No. 2.”

And since it’s Friday, some feedback:

B.C. correctly noted that the CEOs at our Davos dinner, whom I quoted on Monday, didn’t mention climate when talking about the top risk of 2024. That’s true and may reflect their view that climate change is a longer-run issue.

R.P. and M.H. beat me up from opposite sides on my Wednesday post that looked at the business implications of the 2024 election. R.P. said “it can be easily argued that the current government is socialistic,” while M.H. complained there is “only one party and candidate openly proclaiming dictatorial powers on Day One.”

And D.M. sent a nice tribute to our new magazine, which is fronted by a haunting picture of a unicorpse: “That’s a brilliant, iconic cover.”

Have a great weekend. On Monday, CEO Daily will have a treat for you: a new addition to our growing stable of contributors, Diane Brady, writing on her first day as executive director of Fortune Live Media. I’ll be skiing in Colorado.

More news below.

Alan Murray
@alansmurray
alan.murray@fortune.com

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Bird’s bankruptcy

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Apple cracks open its walled garden

Apple is opening its app store in Europe to competitors to comply with the upcoming Digital Markets Act. The iPhone maker isn’t happy about the decision, complaining that it puts users at risk of scams. Apple will charge a so-called core technology fee on developers that want to skip Apple's store, a decision that Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney, who sued Apple for anti-competitive practices in the U.S, called “hot garbage.” CNBC

AROUND THE WATERCOOLER

Chris Dixon, the philosopher king of crypto, makes a fresh case for blockchain. Is he too late? by Leo Schwartz

Harvard economist Jason Furman says the soft landing is here—and the risk we ‘veer off the runway’ into recession is not ‘unusually high’ by Will Daniel

Spotify has found a way around rival Apple’s brutal 30% charges—at least in Europe by Ryan Hogg 

Tesla CEO Elon Musk says protectionism is the only thing stopping China’s cheap EVs from demolishing the competition by Lionel Lim

Bob Iger has ‘systemically eliminated’ any successor candidates, says former Disney CFO and board member by Eleanor Pringle

Gates foundation chief takes a shot at donors who give only to elite universities, urging them to follow Chuck Feeney’s example by Dylan Sloan

This edition of CEO Daily was curated by Nicholas Gordon.