- In today’s CEO Daily: Diane Brady grades Dow on its succession planning.
- The big leadership story: AI CEOs are facing physical risks.
- The markets: Holding relatively steady as investors eye U.S.-Iran talks and digest early earning results.
- Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune.
Good morning. Former Cisco Chairman and CEO John Chambers once told me that a CEO has three main tasks: to set the vision and strategy of the company, to hire the senior leadership team to get it done, and to create the conditions to successfully replace themselves. To that, I’d add a fourth: Know when and how to move aside.
Dow announced yesterday that chief operating officer Karen Carter will become CEO on July 1, with Jim Fitterling staying on as executive chair. My colleague Ruth Umoh noted that Carter was a leading contender for that job, having landed on the latest Fortune Next to Lead list. In a LinkedIn post, Fitterling noted that Carter’s appointment “reflects a deliberate, multi‑year succession process, in partnership with our Board of Directors, designed to support consistent execution as we continue advancing Dow’s strategy.”
Kudos to Fitterling for taking succession seriously. Now, he should give Carter space to do her job.
During his eight-year tenure, Fitterling has transformed Dow from a commodity chemicals company to an innovative high-growth materials science company. As one of the few openly gay leaders in the Fortune 500, he’s also an inspiration to many who don’t know the company. But he’s only just starting to get a significant rebound in the stock and traction from technology after seeing sales crushed by industry overcapacity, tariffs, and other challenges.
And he made clear a new CEO is not a shift in course. “Our direction is unchanged,” he wrote in his post, noting that his plan going forward is to “focus on long‑term strategy, governance, and key external relationships—supporting Karen and the leadership team to ensure continuity and strong execution.”
It’s easy to take comfort in a former CEO staying close by during tough times. But Disney’s Bob Iger learned the hard way the importance of giving successors a clean slate. Many wonder if Iger’s continuation as executive chair factored into Bob Chapek’s short tenure and Iger’s sudden return to the CEO job. (In Disney’s latest shakeup, Iger is only staying on the board as a senior advisor to CEO Josh D’Amaro through the end of the year.)
Carter will face the same headwinds as her boss. As Fitterling told energy editor Jordan Blum last month: “The volatility is off the charts right now.” She might welcome his guidance as she takes over a capital-intensive, energy-sensitive global business that’s navigating a cyclical downturn, war, regulations and a brand-new “transform to outperform” plan to quickly cut costs with automation and AI.
That said, Carter knows operations. She’s done it for years. As CEO, it will now be her job to set the vision and strategy for Dow and to put together her own team to get it done. Maybe that means continuity, or maybe she’ll decide to take a different direction amid new realities. And Fitterling will hopefully know when to step aside and give her the space to do her job.
Contact CEO Daily via Diane Brady at diane.brady@fortune.com
Top leadership news
AI CEOs at risk
The two recent attacks at OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s home come amid a larger anti-AI backlash that’s growing in the U.S. In fact, the escalating threats are reminiscent of the upheaval ushered in by the second Industrial Revolution, an expert told Fortune.
Anthropic’s Claude backlash
Anthropic is facing backlash online as prolific users of the company’s AI model Claude believe its performance is in decline; they claim it’s failing to follow instructions and making mistakes on complex workflows just as the company hopes to woo investors for a potential IPO.
A life-saving AI bet
Actor Jeremy Renner says 150 people kept him from dying when a 14,000-pound snowcat pinned him on an icy mountain in Nevada three years ago. In a Fortune exclusive, he explains why he’s betting on a technology that could have saved his life faster.
The markets
S&P 500 futures are down 0.05% this morning. The last session closed up 1.18%. The STOXX Europe 600 was down 0.08% in early trading. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 was up 0.04% in early trading. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 0.44%. China’s CSI 300 was down 0.34%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 0.29%. South Korea’s KOSPI was up 2.07%. India’s NIFTY 50 is up 1.63%. Bitcoin was down to $74K.
Around the watercooler
U.S. utilities are planning a $1.4 trillion spending spree, up 30%, over the next five years amid the AI construction boom by Jordan Blum
He was coding at 12 like Elon Musk and became one of Google’s youngest ever CMOs—but now says Gen Z is better off ice skating than learning to code by Orianna Rosa Royle
Bitcoin, Ethereum approach two-month highs as markets grow optimistic over U.S.-Iran peace negotiations by Ben Weiss
Trump’s agricultural tariffs hit all 50 states—driving up food prices, crushing exports, and leaving farmers with nowhere to turn by Tristan Bove
CEO Daily is curated and edited by Andrew Wyrich, Jason Ma, Claire Zillman, and Lee Clifford.
