Good morning.
Fortune has some news of its own this morning. Anastasia Nyrkovskaya, chief finance and strategy officer, will replace me as CEO when I step down at the end of this month. She is well prepared for the job, having been at my side for the last five years. She is the architect of our strategy to diversify revenues, which has enabled us to grow substantially since our independence and allowed us to record three straight years of profitability—pretty rare in this business. She is the right person to lead Fortune at this time.
For those of you who don’t know, running a media company is hard work these days. The advertising model that allowed us to thrive in the last century has been upended over the last two decades. Giant tech companies, which can reach massive audiences at a fraction of our cost, rule the industry. The ranks of journalists in professional newsrooms has dropped precipitously, and failed news organizations litter the landscape. Disruption is not just something we talk about, but something we’ve lived through.
But at Fortune, we’ve turned the corner. We have created a foundation of profitable growth, thanks in large part to Anastasia’s efforts. At the same time, we have invested in our journalism and expanded our reach, increasing our audiences by three-fold over the last few years, thanks to the great work led by our editor-in-chief Alyson Shontell. Our executive communities are widely regarded as without peer in the media world. We are hiring new people and incubating new businesses to power future growth. Building on that base, Anastasia and Alyson have the skills and the team they need to lead Fortune, established in 1929, successfully into its second century.
And it’s icing on the cake that the media brand that created the Most Powerful Women franchise back in 1998 will have women in its two top jobs for the first time.
So keep your eyes on this place. The team has big ambitions for the years ahead. And I will be wildly rooting for them. (More on my plans later this month.)
You can find more on the transition this morning in this New York Times article. Other news below.
Alan Murray
@alansmurray
alan.murray@fortune.com
TOP NEWS
A shock to the industry
The CHIPS Act, with its $52 billion in government subsidies, has an ambitious goal: Reversing a 30-year-long decline in U.S. semiconductor manufacturing that pushed the industry’s best and brightest elsewhere. “We needed a bit of a shock to the industry, and that’s what the CHIPS Act provided,” Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger tells Fortune’s Geoff Colvin. The U.S. government awarded Intel $19.5 billion in grants and loans for domestic manufacturing. Fortune
Smucker succession
The J.M. Smucker Company, owner of brands like Uncrustables and Folgers, has established guidelines for family members who want to join the business: Work outside the company, go overseas, and get a graduate degree. “J.M. Smucker is a meritocracy,” says CEO Mark Smucker, a descendent of founder Jerome Monroe Smucker. “I was able to earn this seat.” Fortune
Congestion at Europe’s ports
The flood of cheap Chinese EVs is causing congestion at European ports due to a slowdown in the car market and a shortage of truck drivers. Chinese car companies often can’t book onward transport once cars land in Europe, leading to pile-ups. “Car distributors are increasingly using the port’s car parks as a depot,” the Port of Antwerp-Bruges said. Financial Times
AROUND THE WATERCOOLER
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon shares his leadership ‘secret sauce’ in annual shareholder letter: Get in the trenches and have a heart by Emma Burleigh
Open-source AI is booming, but OpenAI’s GPT-4 is still the big winner with corporate customers—for now by Sharon Goldman
Refusing to drink the corporate Kool-Aid, half of Gen Zers would turn down a job that doesn’t align with their beliefs by Chloe Berger
The only housing markets with fresh supply are those loaded with baby boomers who are unbothered by higher mortgage rates by Alena Botros
This edition of CEO Daily was curated by Nicholas Gordon.
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