Raphael Stevens

Goldman Sachs, American Express and others top the list of best companies for working parents in a new study.
Companies that best support parents offer 20 or more weeks of paid parental leave for both primary and secondary caregivers.

Vadym Buinov | Moment | Getty Images

Working parents, guardians or caretakers know the challenge of striking the delicate balance between work and care responsibilities.
From paid parental leave to quality health-care coverage and equal pay that cover child care costs, it’s become a priority for workers to find an employer that recognizes parents have specific needs.

With no federal oversight of workplace benefits like paid leave and caregiving policies, corporate leaders are being asked to take the lead.
CNBC partner Just Capital looked through policy disclosures at America’s largest companies to find the best in the country at meeting these needs.
“Americans are very clear about what they believe companies should prioritize: their workers,” said Alison Omens, president of Just Capital.

Top companies for parents

Goldman Sachs, American Express, Deckers Outdoor, S&P Global and Splunk are the top companies for parents in 2024, according to Just Capital’s research.
All five companies offer the following benefits: 20 or more weeks of paid parental leave for both primary and secondary caregivers; parental leave parity for all caregivers; and backup subsidized dependent care for their employees.

“What the pandemic uncovered and remains true today, is that for working parents, particularly for mothers who disproportionately provide caregiving, a key part is their paid parental leave,” said Omens.

Courtesy: Lauren and Mario Washington

S&P Global offers paid parental leave policies of 26 weeks. Company employees and married couple, Lauren and Mario Washington, told CNBC that taking parental leave together after welcoming their second daughter in 2021 had a profound impact on their family’s dynamic and well-being.
“Those initial weeks seem fleeting, but they tangibly enhanced our family’s balance and relationship,” Lauren said. “Mario’s involvement helped our oldest daughter adjust from being an only child to a big sister and help me focus on nurturing our newborn and my own recovery.”
The human resources profession, however, takes a different view regarding the impact of parental leaves on business. The more “direct cost,” according to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), is an employee’s pay over the course of the number of weeks that they are on leave. SHRM argues that employers already have salaries factored into budgets.
The “indirect costs” are the loss of productivity during an employee’s leave, temporary replacement and cost of administering a paid leave program.
“Paid parental leave is an expensive proposition,” said Yvette Lee, an HR knowledge advisor at SHRM. “But turnover of key talent may be even more costly.”
Lee said the investment in paid parental leave and similar policies may make sense in the long run.
Many companies have introduced measures to ensure equity in the workplace for all employees.
Deckers Outdoor is targeting gender parity in leadership positions by 2030, and Goldman Sachs has set a hiring goal for women in both entry-level and senior management positions to reach 50% and 40%, respectively.
“We invest in our success as a company by investing in our people,” said a spokesperson for S&P Global.

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McDonald’s is working to introduce a value meal in U.S. stores to help offset an increasingly challenging environment for consumers.
The $5 meal could include four items: a McChicken or McDouble, four-piece chicken nuggets, fries and a drink.
The potential new offering comes at a time when low-income consumers are beginning to pull back on spending, particularly at fast-food brands.

A McDonalds located on Santa Monica Blvd in Los Angeles, California, April 1, 2024.
Robert Gauthier | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images

McDonald’s is working to introduce a value meal in U.S. stores to help offset an increasingly challenging environment for consumers, two people familiar with the matter told CNBC.
The people said the $5 meal could include four items: a McChicken or McDouble, four-piece chicken nuggets, fries and a drink. The value meal was first reported by Bloomberg News.

The potential new offering comes at a time when low-income consumers are beginning to pull back on spending, particularly at fast-food brands. Mentions of low-income consumers on company earnings calls are at their highest levels in nearly two years, according to data from Bank of America. Executives from McDonald’s to Wendy’s to Dave and Buster’s have all noted the restraint in spending. 
McDonald’s recently reported a mixed first quarter, with U.S. same-store sales slightly missing expectations. Higher prices helped grow average checks, but some consumers pulled back as a result of the steeper costs.
“Consumers continue to be even more discriminating with every dollar that they spend as they faced elevated prices in their day-to-day spending, which is putting pressure on the [quick-service restaurant] industry,” CEO Chris Kempczinski said on the company’s earnings call on April 30.
He added that McDonald’s has to be “laser-focused” on affordability to attract diners.
On the call, Kempczinski said the company is working on a national value deal in the U.S., and the company’s Chief Financial Officer Ian Borden said the U.S. leadership team was working closely with owner-operators in this environment. McDonald’s corporate and franchisees, who run 95% of McDonald’s locations and weigh in on such offerings, are often at odds over promotions that could eat into owners’ profits.

An initial proposal by McDonald’s for the $5 value meal did not clear necessary hurdles, and additional details are now being discussed, according to a person familiar with the process. A second person said Coca-Cola added marketing funds to the equation to make the deal more appealing.
McDonald’s and Coca-Cola declined to comment to CNBC.
— CNBC’s Amelia Lucas contributed to this article.

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Fat Brands and its chair Andy Wiederhorn were indicted for a “sham” loan scheme that netted him $47 million.
Wiederhorn, 58, stepped down as CEO last year following the company’s disclosure that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission was investigating him.
Fat Brands’ portfolio includes Fatburger, Johnny Rockets and Twin Peaks.

Andy Wiederhorn, former Fatburger CEO.

Federal authorities on Friday charged Fat Brands and its chair Andy Wiederhorn of committing a brazen scheme that netted him $47 million in bogus loans from the restaurant company that owns Fatburger, Johnny Rockets and Twin Peaks.
Shares of Fat Brands closed down 27% on Friday. The company has a market value of $92 million.

Fat Brands, Wiederhorn and a few other people were criminally indicted by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles for wire fraud, tax evasion and other counts related to the alleged scheme.
In a separate civil complaint, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accused the company and Wiederhorn of violations related to the same conduct.
“These charges are unprecedented, unwarranted, unsubstantiated and unjust,” Fat Brands counsel Brian Hennigan said in a statement. “They are based on conduct that ended over three years ago and ignore the Company’s cooperation with the investigation.”
Wiederhorn, who was convicted two decades ago in a criminal case that involved similar conduct, was separately criminally charged in an indictment in Los Angeles of being a federal felon in possession of a handgun and ammunition.
“We look forward to making clear in court that this is an unfortunate example of government overreach — and a case with no victims, no losses and no crimes,” Wiederhorn’s attorney Nicola Hanna said.

As chief executive of Fat Brands, Wiederhorn, 58, allegedly directed the company to loan its own funds to him, with no intention of ever paying the “sham” loans back, according to the indictment.
The SEC alleges that Wiederhorn then used the cash to pay for private jets, first-class airfare, luxury vacations, mortgage and rent payments, plus nearly $700,000 in “shopping and jewelry.”
Wiederhorn stepped down as CEO last year, following the company’s disclosure that the SEC was investigating him. In February, Fat Brands disclosed it had received a Wells notice from the agency, meaning the SEC was planning to take action against it.
Wiederhorn’s alleged fraud accounted for roughly 44% of Fat Brands’ revenue between 2017 and 2021, which meant the company often was not able to pay its bills. In those situations, Wiederhorn would allegedly redirect funds from credit cards paid for by Fat Brands back to the company with assistance from his son Thayer, who was then the company’s chief marketing officer and is now its chief operating officer.
Fat Brands never disclosed the cash transfers as related party transactions to investors. In 2020, the cash transfers were written off after the company’s merger with Fog Cutter Capital Group, Fat Brands’ largest shareholder, which also happened to be majority owned by Wiederhorn, according to the SEC complaint.
Ron Roe, the company’s vice president of finance and former chief financial officer, and Rebecca Hershinger, another former CFO, were also named as defendants in the SEC complaint. Hershinger and tax advisor William Amon were also named in the indictment. Hershinger’s attorney Michael Proctor said in a statement to CNBC that the charges are baseless.
Additionally, as far back as 2006, Wiederhorn has owed taxes for his personal income to the IRS. He also did not report any of the so-called loans from Fat Brands as income, according to the indictment. As of March 2021, Wiederhorn owed $7.74 million to the IRS for his unpaid personal taxes.
Twenty years ago, he pleaded guilty to filing a false tax return and paying an illegal gratuity to an associate while leading Fog Cutter Capital. He paid a $2 million fine and spent more than a year in federal prison in Oregon. During his time in prison, Fog Cutter Capital’s board opted to pay him a bonus equal to the fine and continued paying his salary, a decision that attracted widespread criticism.
Wiederhorn is expected to be arraigned Friday afternoon in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles. The remaining defendants’ arraignments are expected to be in the first week of June.

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Rivian, Lucid and Nikola this week each detailed plans to reduce costs while attempting to grow operations and make their first profits.
The efforts have ranged from job cuts and production changes to supplier rearrangements and shifting priorities.
All three of the high-profile EV startups are near 52-week or all-time lows.

R1T trucks on the assembly line at the Rivian electric vehicle plant in Normal on April 11, 2022. 
Brian Cassella | Tribune News Service | Getty Images

Once-hot electric vehicle startups — years ago fueled by low interest rates, free cash and Wall Street bullishness — are now scrambling to prove they can survive in tougher market conditions. That is if they haven’t gone bankrupt already.
Chief among their talking points: cash.

Executives of Rivian Automotive, Lucid Group and Nikola Corp. this week each detailed plans to reduce costs while attempting to grow operations and make their first profits. Those efforts have ranged from job cuts and production changes to supplier rearrangements and shifting priorities.
The scramble comes as EV adoption takes hold slower than many expected and after companies spent billions in an attempt to rush vehicles to market to gain first-mover advantages in white-space segments.
The slowdown, as well as the increased competition, has even impacted U.S. EV leader Tesla, which is in the midst of a global restructuring that includes laying off roughly 10% of its workforce.
Wall Street analysts have referred to the current state of the electric vehicle market as an “EV winter,” an end to so-called EV Euphoria or, more optimistically, a temporary pullback that carmakers will need to overcome for long-term gains.
“US EV adoption likely entered an air pocket after having penetrated initial adopters & specific regions,” Citi analyst Itay Michaeli wrote in a Thursday investor note. “The situation will not change overnight, but we see reason for optimism over the next 12-18 months.”

Stock chart icon

Performance of Rivian, Lucid and Nikola stocks over the past year.

Rivian has been on a cost-cutting mission for months. It has trimmed staff, retooled its Illinois plant to increase efficiencies and paused construction of a new multibillion-dollar factory in Georgia. That last measure is expected to save more than $2.25 billion in capital spending, including the impact of starting production of Rivian’s next-generation R2 vehicle at its current plant in Normal, Illinois.
Rivian reported $7.86 billion in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments to end March, with more than $9 billion in total liquidity.
Lucid, for its part, ended the first quarter with approximately $4.6 billion in cash, cash equivalents and investments, with total liquidity of approximately $5.03 billion.
Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson said he’s never been “more optimistic” about the startup’s future, despite notable demand issues, significant losses and capital needs. The company raised $1 billion from an affiliate of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, its largest shareholder.
“We have identified additional opportunities in cost of goods sold, and we’ll continue to focus on implementation and further areas for cost out. Longer term, our technology will be key driver of our gross margin,” Rawlinson told investors Monday. “With scale, I believe you will see strong gross margins with efficiency the key enabler.”
Rawlinson said the $1 billion illustrated the “continued confidence and steadfast support” of the Public Investment Fund, which owns roughly 60% of the company, according to FactSet.
Rivian and Lucid both reported wider first-quarter losses than Wall Street was expecting, according to estimates compiled by LSEG.
Nikola actually beat the Street, slightly, with a 9-cent per-share loss during the first three months of the year, but revenue of $7.5 million was less than half of what analyst compiled by LSEG were anticipating.    
Unlike Rivian and Lucid, Nikola is exclusively focused on commercial vehicles rather than ones to retail customers. Nikola CFO Thomas Okray said the company needs to lower its costs, while continuing to expand its sales, including potentially reducing prices for large customers in order to build scale.
“We definitely need to optimize our cost structure. No question about it,” Okray told investors Tuesday.
Nikola’s cash reserves are far lower than Lucid and Rivian. The company’s assets included $469.3 million to end the first quarter, consisting primarily of cash and cash equivalents of $345.6 million and truck inventory of $61.3 million.

Lucid Group CEO Peter Rawlinson and Derek Jenkins, senior vice president of design and brand at Lucid Motors sit on frunk of Lucid’s Gravity electric SUV during the press day preview of the Los Angeles Auto Show in Los Angeles, California, U.S. November 16, 2023. 
David Swanson | Reuters

Shares of Rivian, Lucid and Nikola all trade near 52-week or all-time lows, with the stock of Nikola – once valued more than Ford Motor – trading for less than $1 per share. That puts the company at risk of being delisted from the Nasdaq, which executives are attempting to avoid through a reverse stock split that needs to be approved by shareholders.
Shares of Rivian are off about 56% this year but remain the healthiest of high-profile EV startups, most of which (other than Rivian) went public via special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, in the last five years.
Lucid’s stock has traded under $8 for most of the past year. The shares closed Thursday at $2.70, down more than 60% in the last 12 months.
Other EV startups such as Lordstown Motors and Electric Last Mile Solutions have gone bankrupt, while Fisker is on the verge of filing for bankruptcy and has paused vehicle production.
Lesser-known Canoo is scheduled to report its first-quarter results Tuesday. Tony Aquila, Canoo CEO and executive chairman, during the company’s fourth-quarter investor call last month said the company needs to continue to raise capital and cut costs.
“We have seen a very difficult market. We have adapted our disciplined capital deployment approach by raising only the amounts of capital we need for each milestone, and we will continue to do so,” he said.
— CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this article.

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Sherry House, who previously worked at electric-vehicle maker Lucid Motors, will join Ford in early June and transition into the chief financial officer role in early 2025.
In the meantime, current CFO John Lawler will continue in his position and take on the role of vice chair.
The move comes as Ford amps up its focus on electric vehicles.

Ford’s Chief Financial Officer John Lawler and Linda Zhang, chief engineer for the company’s All Electric F-150 Lightning, participate in the opening bell ceremony at the New York Stock Exchange, April 28, 2022.
Brendan Mcdermid | Reuters

Ford Motor on Friday named the former chief financial officer of electric-vehicle startup Lucid to replace its current CFO, who is being promoted to closely oversee the company’s ongoing turnaround plan, the company said in a press release. 
The ex-Lucid executive, Sherry House, will join Ford first as finance vice president in early June. In that position, she’ll be working to transition into the CFO role by early 2025, according to the release.

In the meantime, current CFO John Lawler will continue in his position while expanding his role to become vice chair.
Lawler has been CFO since October 2020. During this time, he helped build the company’s Ford+ turnaround plan to make Ford more efficient and profitable as the company worked to expand current operations and invest billions in electric vehicles.
Ford has faced years of inflated warranty costs, including $1.9 billion in 2023. The company last year said it has a $7 billion to $8 billion annual disadvantage compared with traditional rivals due to production costs, quality issues and other operational inefficiencies.
The move comes as Ford ramps up its focus on electric vehicles. The automaker’s U.S. sales jumped 10.5% in February 2024 compared with sales in February 2023, thanks to increases in its all-hybrid and all-electric vehicle sales. The results included an 81% jump in all-electric vehicles. 
“Make no mistake, EVs are coming, EVs are part of the future,” Lawler told CNBC back in February.

Still, the unit is not yet profitable. As part of its 2024 guidance, first released in February, Ford said it expected its EV business to lose between $5 billion and $5.5 billion this year.  
House served as CFO at Lucid Motors for nearly three years until last December. Over that time, the company went public, started producing and delivering its luxury EVs, and opened manufacturing plants in the U.S. and Saudi Arabia. She’s also held roles at Alphabet-backed autonomous-driving technology company Waymo and General Motors.
“Sherry adds an important leadership dimension to Ford as we urgently build a profitable EV business, generate new and recurring revenue streams, and create a more dynamic and resilient company,” Ford President and CEO Jim Farley said in the release. 
Ford reorganized its operations in 2022, splitting EVs and legacy autos into two separate units to streamline the growing EV business and maximize profits.

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