Papa Johns gets cheeky to power its comeback

When you’re half the size of Pizza Hut and Domino’s in a U.S. pizza market that’s competitive—the average consumer already eats 288 slices per year—and being squeezed by third-party apps, the question is how. 

Penegor is taking inspiration from Wendy’s, where he doubled the stock price during his eight year stint as CEO through innovation, technology investments, a focus on franchisees and cheeky branding. Says Penegor: “We weren’t a king. We weren’t a clown. We were Dave Thomas’s daughter, Wendy, and we created a voice on Twitter that was a little snarky that allowed us to make fun of the competition where we had unique quality differences.” (Here’s our recent podcast with Wendy’s new chief Kirk Tanner.) 

Papa Johns does seem cheekier these days. From its garlic bath bombs to new Meet the Makers ads with TikTok star Jacob “Doughtoli” Bartoli, the brand is generating buzz. Penegor is also trying to catch up to more tech-savvy rivals with moves like a new partnership with Google Cloud for AI-driven customer service. 

But the key is to get the core right. “If I go and look at an ingredient product label, I read six simple words,” says Penegor, arguing that rivals’ labels have “a lot of big words that, for a kid from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, get hard to read.” When going after competitors like Domino’s, a little spice can’t hurt.

More news below.

Contact CEO Daily via Diane Brady at diane.brady@fortune.com

TOP NEWS

Tariff-induced stockpiles could mean lower prices

Billionaire Mark Cuban says consumers could soon see lower prices since companies have stockpiled goods, and will be quick to get rid of them, amid tariff uncertainty. “You do all you can to clear out inventory and get back to cash. And take your chances on tariffs not being as big as you feared,” Cuban wrote in a post on X.

Chime Financial sets price range for IPO

Chime Financial has set a price range of $24 to $26 for the 32 million shares it’s set to debut on the Nasdaq on Thursday. That represents a valuation of roughly $11 billion, which is more than 50% less than the $25 billion valuation the neobank earned in 2021.

Meta plans to replace certain workers with AI

Internal Meta documents reviewed by NPR indicate that the tech giant plans to replace the workers that review privacy and societal risks with AI. The technology can automate up to 90% of that work, according to the documents.

OECD marks down global growth

The OECD warned Tuesday that the global economy is heading into its weakest growth since the COVID-19 slump as President Donald Trump’s trade war drains momentum in major economies—including the U.S., which it says will slide from 2.8% last year to just 1.6% in 2025.

Ukraine-Russia talks end with no ceasefire

Negotiators for Ukraine and Russia met in Istanbul but talks ended after an hour, with no major ceasefire agreement. That's perhaps unsurprising, as Russia is demanding Ukraine retreat from parts of the country Russia does not occupy—and Ukraine just destroyed a chunk of Moscow's long-range bomber fleet. 

FEMA scraps new hurricane plan

FEMA officials are scrapping a hurricane-response plan that its new leader had said was almost completed, and returning to last year's. Some in FEMA wonder if that's possible, as the agency had eliminated key programs and slashed its workforce. The Wall Street Journal reports that the new FEMA head suggested he recently learned there was an annual hurricane season.

Music companies negotiate AI rights

Universal, Warner, and Sony are negotiating licensing deals with startups that could set a precedent for how songs are used and artists are paid for AI-generated remixes. The music companies want the startups to develop fingerprinting and attribution technology to track when and how a song is used. Bloomberg first reported the talks. 

Trump administration won’t garnish Social Security for now

The Department of Education is pausing its plan to garnish people’s Social Security benefits if they are in default on their student loans, CNBC reports. The Trump administration had announced in April that it would restart collection activity on the country’s $1.6 trillion student loan portfolio.

The markets

• The S&P500 was up 0.4% Monday. The index is up 0.9% YTD. 
• S&P futures were trading down 0.5% this morning. 
• The Stoxx Europe 600 was down 0.2% in early trading. 
• Asia was mixed: Japan was off 0.1%. Hong Kong rose 1.5%. Shanghai was up 0.4%, and India’s Nifty 50 was off 0.6%.
• Bitcoin was sitting up at $105,200 this morning.

From the analysts 

• Deutsche Bank on trade war vibes: "There’s a growing sense that we’re now on a turbulent but sustained path towards de-escalation. Even if the U.S. administration remain hawkish on trade, we have already seen there are limits to that approach, particularly in the face of market turmoil and declining approval ratings for President Trump. So although we think there’s likely to be prolonged uncertainty and a notable slowdown in U.S. growth over H2, the de-escalation so far will support growth relative to earlier expectations. Nevertheless, a lot of collateral damage has already been done. Our outlook argues that the structural foundations of U.S. exceptionalism—particularly the ability to finance itself cheaply via the dollar’s reserve status—have begun to erode. So we remain structurally bearish on the dollar and expect U.S. term premia to keep rising," per Jim Reid.
• Principal Asset Management on job cuts: "The Trump administration’s sweeping overhaul of the federal workforce—through hiring freezes, buyouts, early retirements, and broad reductions in force—is starting to ripple through the broader labor market. More recently, cuts have extended to contracts and grants, signaling a wider drag ahead. Direct federal employment accounts for less than 2% of total nonfarm payrolls, but the U.S. government indirectly employs approximately 7.5 million workers through contract or grant spending, roughly four private employees per federal employee. That puts over 6% of U.S. payrolls potentially at risk," per Seema Shah.
• Convera on selling U.S. treasuries: "Tariffs have unsettled confidence, while speculation swirls about China offloading treasuries. In reality, China has simply reduced its purchases over the years, diversifying its holdings. The bigger moves, however, are coming from traditional allies, Canada and Europe, whose treasury investments eclipse China’s. Their retreat from U.S. assets isn’t abrupt but rather a measured shift driven by multiple factors, including hedging strategies. This transition isn’t easily seen in the data, as institutional investors are hedging U.S. exposure rather than dumping portfolios outright. Instead of bulk selling, they sell USD forward while buying CAD or EUR forward. Then, they gradually fine-tune their positions to trim underlying dollar-denominated asset exposure… Their positioning suggests a deeper recalibration rather than just short-term fluctuations, hinting at broader shifts in global portfolio strategies," per Kevin Ford.

AROUND THE WATERCOOLER

Walmart CEO started his career unloading trailers at the warehouse—he says raising his hand led to his success by Sydney Lake

‘Something is awry in Delaware’: New study reveals lawyers in the smallest U.S. state are winning fee ‘multipliers’ from major companies up to 66 times their normal hourly rate by Chris Morris

Syrian stock exchange reopens after a 6-month hiatus as part of U.S.-led push for a new free market economy by Paolo Confino

A 21-year-old borrowed money from his grandmother to open a food stall in 1997. Now, it’s now the world’s largest fast-food chain—even bigger than McDonald’s by Dave Smith

The most EV-friendly country in the world is still loyal to Tesla, as Model Y sales surge in May by Christiaan Hetzner

CEO Daily is compiled and edited by Joey Abrams and Ian Mount.