Good morning. At the AICPA conference earlier this week in Washington, D.C., U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins told an audience of accountants, auditors, and financial preparers that it’s time to make going public more accessible.
Atkins noted that over the past 30 years, there has been a significant net decline in the total number of publicly traded companies, due in part to mergers and bankruptcies outpacing IPOs. His goal, he said, is to “make it cool to be a public company” again—something he believes has “taken a hit over time.”
Atkins outlined three obstacles he believes are holding issuers back. The first is what he described as expensive, overly long disclosures that impose an unnecessary burden on issuers. The second is the threat of securities litigation. Atkins reiterated his support for allowing companies—where state law permits—to adopt bylaws mandating arbitration and applying “loser pays” fee-shifting provisions, and said the SEC staff will no longer block an IPO solely because such measures are included. “If the state allows it, then that will be fine with us,” he said.
His third concern centers on what he characterized as “politicized shareholder activists” who can influence corporate governance battles. Atkins expects any related policy proposals to take most of next year to move through the regulatory process.
IPO momentum returns in 2025
After a significant downturn, the IPO market has been gaining momentum. In my conversation with Lynn Martin, president of the New York Stock Exchange, during the recent Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit, she said: “The IPO market is really, really strong. We’ve had a great year so far across all sectors.”
According to S&P Global research, the first half of 2025 was the strongest start for U.S. IPO issuance since 2021, with 102 IPOs versus 78 in the same period of 2024. Deal activity accelerated through the period, with 59 IPOs raising about $15 billion in Q2, up from 45 IPOs and $11.2 billion in Q1.
Momentum carried into the third quarter: EY reports that Q3 2025 saw 23 U.S. deals raising $100 million or more, including five IPOs that each raised over $1 billion. Technology, media, and telecommunications accounted for roughly one-third of these transactions and more than half of total proceeds. Overall, both deal count and capital raised in 2025 have already surpassed full-year 2024 levels.
In a LinkedIn post in April, Lynn Martin congratulated Atkins on his appointment and outlined what she sees as some of the challenges for companies considering going public. “I have the great privilege of speaking frequently with CEOs and other senior executives of companies around the globe,” she wrote. “While each company is unique, I do hear a similar refrain: The complexity and cost of meeting the regulatory requirements of public companies is onerous, and represents a disincentive for private companies considering an IPO.”
Martin also emphasized that the U.S. capital markets are “unmatched in their ability to foster economic growth, empower companies, and create long-term wealth opportunities for investors.
As 2026 approaches, the stakes are high to keep this year’s IPO revival from being just a fleeting upswing in the public markets.
Have a good weekend.
Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com
Leaderboard
Fortune 500 Power Moves
The latest CFO-to-CEO move in the Fortune 500 is at Altria Group, Inc. (No. 209). Salvatore (Sal) Mancuso, CFO of Altria, has been promoted to chief executive. Billy Gifford, Altria’s CEO, has decided to retire, effective May 14, 2026, at the conclusion of the 2026 annual meeting. Gifford has spent more than 30 years with the Altria family of companies and has served as CEO since 2020. Mancuso joined Philip Morris USA (PM USA) in 1990 and has held numerous leadership roles across the Altria family of companies, including EVP and CFO since 2020.
The board also elected Heather Newman to serve as CFO, effective May 14, 2026. Newman joined the Altria family of companies in 1999 and has served as chief strategy and growth officer since March 2022. She previously held several leadership positions, including president and CEO of PM USA.
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Kathryn A. Mikells, SVP and CFO of Exxon Mobil (No. 8), will retire effective Feb. 1, 2026. Mikells, who has undergone several procedures to address a debilitating but non-life-threatening health issue, is stepping down to focus on her recovery, according to an SEC filing.
Mikells is among the CFOs represented on the Fortune Most Powerful Women list for 2025. She joined Exxon Mobil in 2021. Mikells is the company's first official CFO; before her appointment, the finance duties were shared across a range of executive roles. Mikells is the first woman to join the management committee of Exxon Mobil.
Exxon Mobil named Neil A. Hansen, as her successor. Hansen has served as president of Exxon Mobil Global Business Solutions since May 2025 and previously held senior roles in Energy Products, Europe, Africa and Middle East Fuels, and in the company’s controllers, audit, treasury, and investor relations departments.
Every Friday morning, the weekly Fortune 500 Power Moves column tracks Fortune 500 company C-suite shifts—see the most recent edition.
More notable moves this week:
Marc Winniford was appointed CFO of MoneyGram, a global payments network, effective in February 2026. Winniford succeeds Gary W. Ferrera. Winniford joins MoneyGram from Wells Fargo, where he has served as CFO of corporate and investment banking. During his 17 years at Wells Fargo, Winniford has held a range of senior leadership roles, including head of corporate finance (leading FP&A), assistant treasurer, head of corporate development and various positions in treasury and fixed income.
Barbara Larson was appointed EVP and CFO of Workiva Inc., an AI-powered platform for financial, governance, risk, compliance, and sustainability reporting. Larson will join the company on Jan. 20, 2026. She has more than 20 years of experience, most recently serving as CFO at SentinelOne. Before that, Larson spent a decade in financial leadership positions at Workday, including as CFO. Workiva previously announced that Jill Klindt, EVP, CFO, and treasurer, will step down and that her employment will end on Dec. 26. Julie Iskow was appointed interim CFO and treasurer, effective Dec. 27.
Heather Planishek was appointed CFO of Lambda, an AI cloud infrastructure provider that specializes in high-performance GPU computing. Planishek most recently served as chief operating and financial officer at Tines, an intelligent workflow platform. She previously served as chief accounting officer at Palantir Technologies Inc. Earlier in her career, Planishek held key leadership roles at Hewlett-Packard Enterprise and Ernst & Young.
Ross Tennenbaum was promoted to CFO of Dropbox, effective Dec. 16. Tim Regan, CFO since 2020 and with Dropbox since 2016, has decided to move on from the company. Tennenbaum brings more than 20 years of experience as a finance and operations leader, most recently serving as president and previously CFO at Avalara. Before that, he spent a decade advising technology companies in investment banking roles at Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse.
Michael Gordon was appointed CFO and chief operating officer at Crusoe, a vertically integrated AI infrastructure provider. Gordon brings over 25 years of experience. Most recently, he served as COO and CFO of MongoDB for nearly 10 years, helping to lead the company to an IPO. Before joining MongoDB, Gordon was COO and CFO at Yodle.
Matthew M. Pullins was appointed EVP, CFO and treasurer of The Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (Farmer Mac; NYSE: AGM and AGM.A), effective Dec. 11. Pullins brings more than two decades of experience. He most recently served as SVP and CFO of capital markets at PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. Earlier in his career, Pullins served as CFO of PNC's institutional asset management division.
Jeff Chesnut was appointed CFO of Conestoga Energy, a provider of low-carbon intensity, effective immediately. Chestnut has over 25 years of experience. Prior to joining Conestoga, Chesnut served as SVP of treasury, investor relations and corporate development at Upbound Group, Inc. Before that, he served as EVP and CFO at Loyalty Ventures Inc., which was a spinoff from publicly listed Alliance Data Systems, Inc. (now Bread Financial), where he spent over a decade.
James Robert "Rob" Foster was promoted to SVP of finance and CFO of ATI Inc. (NYSE: ATI), effective Jan. 1. Foster succeeds Don Newman, who will serve as strategic advisor to the CEO beginning Jan. 1. As previously announced, Newman will retire on March 1, 2026. Foster most recently served as president of ATI's specialty alloys and components business. He previously served as ATI's VP of finance, supply chain and capital projects.
Big Deal
Protiviti’s latest Executive Perspectives on Top Risks study, “Unlocking Opportunity,” highlights leaders’ views on near-term risks, growth opportunities, investment priorities, and long-term challenges.
The global survey, conducted in partnership with NC State University’s ERM Initiative, is based on the viewpoints of 1,500 board members and C-suite leaders. This year’s results show a meaningful mindset shift, according to Protiviti: rather than viewing risks as obstacles, leaders are increasingly treating them as powerful levers for growth and transformation. Nearly 70% of executives are optimistic about revenue growth in the next two to three years.
Respondents identified the top five global risks as cyber threats; third-party risks; adoption of emerging technologies elevating the need to upskill and reskill the workforce; operations and legacy IT unable to meet performance expectations; and economic conditions, including inflationary pressures.
Nearly one-third (31%) of leaders are focused on data integrity and cybersecurity exposure tied to AI, while a similar share (31%) is actively integrating AI into operations.
Going deeper
Here are four Fortune weekend reads:
"Top economist Diane Swonk: Jerome Powell risks losing the Fed’s credibility on a gamble over AI and immigration" by Eva Roytburg
"What it takes to be wealthy in America: $2.3 million, Charles Schwab says" by Sydney Lake
"YouTube launches option for U.S. creators to receive stablecoin payouts through PayPal" by Ben Weiss
"At 18, doctors gave him three hours to live. He played video games from his hospital bed—and now, he’s built a $10 million-a-year video game studio" by Preston Fore
Overheard
"For leaders, the invitation is simple: What might change if we measured work not by how visible it appeared, but by what was learned and created? How can you begin to cultivate that environment and mindset to motivate your team towards more meaning?"
—Jon Rosemberg writes in a Fortune opinion piece. Rosemberg is currently CEO of Strongpoint Group and co-founder of Anther. He has coached Fortune 500 executives for over two decades and previously held senior leadership roles at Walmart, Procter & Gamble, Indigo, and GoBolt. Rosemberg’s latest book is A Guide to Thriving.
