Good morning. I rarely use the word ‘courage’ when describing leaders. Making hard choices is part of the job. But it’s an apt label for Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado, who called in from a secret location to speak with us at the Fortune Global Forum earlier this week. With her life at risk and U.S. warships poised nearby, she had a lot to say about Donald Trump, Nicolás Maduro and the potential $1.7 trillion opportunity for business in Venezuela. You can watch our full interview here.
Bestselling author and researcher Brené Brown talks about courage in this week’s episode of Leadership Next. She frames it in the context of showing vulnerability and leading in a period where “people are emotionally dysregulated, distrustful and disconnected.” Says Brown: “Leadership is plumbing and poetry. A good leader is poetic enough to set a vision that people want to follow, but they can also build the systems to deliver against that.” You can listen to the full conversation with Kristin Stoller and me on Apple or Spotify.
Many of the systems needed to thrive in business are built by leaders in the public sector. At the turn of this century, Venezuela was the richest country in South America. Now its economy has collapsed under the weight of corruption, mismanagement, human rights violations and other woes. It’s hard to imagine creating the infrastructure for a thriving economy without a fundamental shift in its politics.
Cities are the engines for innovation, job creation and growth in most countries. The skills needed to effectively run those cities are similar but distinct from what it takes to run a company. I’m glad we had a chance to discuss that in Riyadh with H.E. Fahd bin Abdulmohsan Al-Rasheed. He’s currently Advisor, General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers and Chairman of the Saudi Conventions and Exhibitions General Authority, our host partner for the Fortune Global Forum, alongside Invest Saudi. Al-Rasheed has also been a leader in urban development across Saudi Arabia and represents Saudi Arabia as a lead on Urban 20, which brings together mayors from major cities in G20 countries.
In 1950, one in 5 Saudis lived in an urban area. Today, more than 85% do. That trend is playing out around the world. Great cities are hubs for great people, businesses and visitor experiences. “Cities don’t lie,” said Al-Rasheed, adding that Saudi Arabia wants to attract at least 400,000 global executives to move to the kingdom within the next five years. “You can’t build a country on your own. You need to partner with the world.” Click here for my full conversation with Al-Rasheed. More news below.
More news below.
Contact CEO Daily via Diane Brady at diane.brady@fortune.com
Top news
AI job cuts
Artificial intelligence appears to be behind at least some of the recent white collar job cuts at employers like Amazon, UPS, and Target as companies use AI to do tasks previously carried out by experienced and young workers alike. Employers are also limiting seasonal hiring amid political and trade uncertainty.
Trump Nvidia
Nvidia shares soared after President Donald Trump said he’d discuss the company’s Blackwell chips—which he called “super duper”—with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the pair’s much-anticipated Thursday meeting. The U.S. has effectively banned Nvidia from selling its top chips to China, the largest chip market, since 2022, and investors cheer a potential loosening of restrictions.
OpenAI completes for-profit recapitalization
OpenAI completed its for-profit recapitalization on Tuesday, granting Microsoft a 27% stake in the company and access to its models through 2032. Under the new structure, OpenAI’s for-profit arm operates as the OpenAI Group Public Benefit Corporation but remains under the control of its nonprofit foundation. The WSJ reports that OpenAI won the California AG’s approval for its plan, in part, by promising to stay in the state.
The next Fed chair
President Trump is expected to name his replacement for Fed Chair Jermone Powell by Christmas. The leading internal contender is Fed governor Christopher Waller, the FT reports, but Trump floated Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who’s leading the search, as a possible Powell successor. Many candidates are adopting Bessent’s effort to fix the Fed’s “mission creep.”
Energy, cars, and financials top the Fortune 500 Europe
Fortune published the Fortune 500 Europe this morning, highlighting the continent’s largest companies by revenue. Four out of the top five companies are in the energy sector—see who made the top of the list here.
Cathie Wood warns Fed may swing to increasing rates
Investor Cathie Wood told CNBC that the Fed may reverse course and begin raising interest rates in the next year, causing a “shudder” in the economy. She however dismissed fears of an AI bubble and forecast a major productivity surge in the U.S. and global economies ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
The markets
S&P 500 futures are up 0.16% this morning. The last session closed up 0.23%. STOXX Europe 600 was flat in early trading. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 was up 0.33% in early trading. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 2.17%. China’s CSI 300 was up 1.19%. The South Korea KOSPI was up 1.76%. India’s NIFTY 50 was up 0.40%. Bitcoin is down at $113K.
Around the watercooler
Meet the billionaires spending over six figures to stop Zohran Mamdani from becoming New York’s next mayor, from Michael Bloomberg to Bill Ackman by Jessica Coacci
The U.S. just bet $1 billion that AI supercomputers can turn most cancers from ‘death sentences’ to ‘manageable conditions’ within 8 years by Eva Roytburg
Elon Musk’s ‘polarizing and partisan actions’ may have cost Tesla more than 1 million U.S. EV sales, Yale study finds by Sasha Rogelberg
Trump media firm dives into red hot prediction markets, in tie-up with Crypto.com by Carlos Garcia
CEO Daily is compiled and edited by Joey Abrams and Claire Zillman.
