- In today’s CEO Daily: Diane Brady previews election day in New York City.
- The big story: OpenAI’s $38 billion AWS deal.
- The markets: Down across the board.
- Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune.
Good morning. It’s election day here in New York City. President Donald Trump has endorsed former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo for mayor, calling on New Yorkers to defeat “Communist” Zohran Mamdani in a post on Truth Social. But in my conversations with business leaders over the past few weeks, I’ve sensed a more nuanced stance on the 34-year-old Democratic Socialist who’s now leading in the polls. As one Wall Street executive pointed out to me in Miami: “He’s changed his mind on some things (such as defunding the police) and he needs to get support on others (such as raising state tax rates), so let’s see how he operates.”
Here are some issues on the radar for business:
Tax Hikes – Mamdani has said he can raise $10 billion through a 2% income tax surcharge on salaries over $1 million, raising the state’s top corporate tax rate to 11.5%, transforming procurement and collecting almost $700 million that the city is owed. But Mamdani himself has admitted that the bulk of these moves require legislative action beyond his control.
Business Exodus – Dave Portnoy of Barstool Sports has threatened to move his New York City headquarters if Mamdani is elected. That would impact a little more than 300 people. But Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan, which has 24,000 employees in the city, recently told Fortune editor-in-chief Alyson Shontell that he’d help Mamdani or any mayor who wins the election. “You know, we survived [Mayor] Bill de Blasio,” he said. “New York will survive.”
City-run Stores – If you want to bet on the prospects for Mamdani’s plan to open a government-run grocery store in every borough, talk to one of my favorite people to interview: John Catsimatidis, who runs Gristedes and D’Agostino Supermarkets in New York. Opening a business with 2% margins in a city that already gets top scores for equitable access to groceries sounds like a losing proposition. Catsimatidis has threatened to close stores if Mamdani wins. Maybe he’ll go back to his earlier offer to give the mayor a store to run.
Real Estate – Mamdani’s promise of a rent freeze for 2 million New Yorkers in rent-stabilized apartments means a rent hike for everyone else. That, plus the prospect of tax hikes, is reviving interest in real estate in the city’s affluent suburbs. But affordability is a real issue as CEOs have told me it’s harder to attract talent to the city because of the cost of living, especially for startups and industries like fashion and advertising that can’t offer Wall Street salaries.
Gen Z – Frustrated over housing costs, career opportunities and more, young New Yorkers want to change the status quo. That’s not unique to New York, of course, and CEOs are concerned that the next generation of leaders doesn’t trust that business or government is on their side. If Mamdani can ignite enthusiasm for civic engagement among Gen Z, that could be a boon for everyone.
Just a reminder to join my colleagues Geoff Colvin and Sheryl Estrada for a conversation on “Optimizing for a Human–Machine Workforce,” next Thursday, Nov. 13, from 11:00 AM to 12:00 Noon ET. They’ll be joined by Deloitte’s Global AI Leader Nitin Mittal and INRIX CFO Thadd Stricker. You can register here.
More news below.
Contact CEO Daily via Diane Brady at diane.brady@fortune.com
Top news
OpenAI taps AWS
Amazon shares closed at a record high Monday after OpenAI agreed to buy $38 billion worth of AWS capacity in a fresh sign that the ChatGPT developer is no longer dependent on Microsoft. Amazon will eventually build new data centers to meet OpenAI’s demand.
Norway rejects Musk’s pay
Norway’s sovereign-wealth fund rejected Elon Musk’s proposed $1 trillion pay package due to concerns over “the total size of the award, dilution, and lack of mitigation of key person risk.” The $1.9 trillion fund is the first major Tesla investor to publicize its decision ahead of Thursday’s vote.
Starbucks offloads its China business
Starbucks is selling a 60% stake in its China business to Boyu Capital, a Chinese private equity firm. The U.S. coffee chain will continue to own and license its brand in the country. Starbucks has struggled in China, its second-largest market, due to sluggish consumer spending and new competition from domestic brands like Luckin Coffee.
Kimberly-Clark’s Tylenol deal
Consumer goods company Kimberly-Clark will buy Tylenol parent Kenvue for $40 billion, part of CEO Mike Hsu’s decade-long effort to turn around the maker of Huggies and Kleenex. Kimberly-Clark investors appeared skeptical of the deal; Kenvue is at risk of personal-injury lawsuits over the Trump administration’s claims that Tylenol causes autism.
Partial SNAP payments
Tens of millions of Americans will only get partial payments from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for November due to the government shutdown, the White House announced late on Monday. Around one in eight U.S. families receive SNAP benefits.
Trump officials block Nvidia’s China hopes
Top U.S. officials like Secretary of State Marco Rubio convinced President Donald Trump not to discuss the sale of advanced Nvidia chips to China during last week’s summit with Xi Jinping, the Wall Street Journalreports. Trump had previously signaled openness to allowing Nvidia to sell its advanced Blackwell AI chip to China as part of his trade war truce with Beijing.
The markets
S&P 500 futures were down 1.37% this morning. The last session closed up 0.17%. STOXX Europe 600 was down 1.51% in early trading. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 was down 1.22% in early trading. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 1.74%. China’s CSI 300 was down 0.75%. The South Korea KOSPI was down 2.37%. India’s NIFTY 50 was down 0.68%. Bitcoin was down at $104K.
Around the watercooler
Goldman Sachs CEO says AI-induced growth offers a ‘path out’ of America’s $38 trillion debt crisis by Eleanor Pringle
Walmart CEO said paying its star managers upwards of $620,000 yearly empowered them to ‘feel like owners’ by Emma Burleigh
Both subprime and super prime loans are on the rise, signs of a K-shaped economy that is a ‘prescription for real trouble’ by Sasha Rogelberg
MacKenzie Scott gifts $80 million to Howard University, marking one of the school’s largest donations in its 158-year history by Sydney Lake
CEO Daily was compiled and edited by Angelica Ang, Nick Gordon, and Claire Zillman.
