Raphael Stevens

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Salt Lake City became a tech hub after the 2002 Olympics, attracting investment, talent and business to Utah’s “Silicon Slopes.”
The Games inspired projects that boosted engineering graduates and brought in big tech names such as Adobe, strengthening Utah’s tech sector.
With the city set to host the Olympics again in 2034, Utah will invest $31 million in upgrades and expects billions in economic benefit.

Spectators file into the Olympic Medal Plaza in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, during the 2002 Olympics. Buildings are draped with Olympic athletic figures, and the Olympic rings glow on the mountainside above the city, Feb. 16, 2002.
AFP Photo/George Frey via Getty Images

This story is part of CNBC’s quarterly Cities of Success series, which explores cities that have transformed into business hubs with an entrepreneurial spirit that has attracted capital, companies and employees.
Salt Lake City has grown from a winter sports venue to a vibrant technology hub in just two decades, leveraging the legacy of the 2002 Winter Olympics to transform into one of America’s fastest-growing business destinations.

Known as part of Utah’s “Silicon Slopes,” the city has become a magnet for entrepreneurial spirit, venture capital and a flourishing workforce. Over the past decade, wages have risen by 51%, and the population has increased by 10%, according to the Census Bureau.
Former Utah Gov. Michael Leavitt credits the Olympics with spurring major infrastructure projects in Salt Lake City, attracting technology talent and establishing an economic legacy that continues to shape the region’s identity.
“The Games were a great catalyst. And big economic growth needs a catalyst like that,” Leavitt told CNBC for the upcoming “Cities of Success: Salt Lake City” special, premiering Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET.

A catalyst for economic growth

In 2002, the world watched as Salt Lake City welcomed athletes and spectators to the Winter Olympics. But for Leavitt, who served as governor from 1993 to 2003, the Games meant much more than 17 days of sporting excitement. 
“The 17 days of the Games is very important,” Leavitt said. “But it’s what happens in the seven or eight years in advance — and what happens in the 10 years after — that ultimately makes the Games a worthwhile experience, both economically and culturally.”

The 2002 Games utilized 10 facilities, all of which continue to serve the community and attract major events, including the Olympic Oval, a premier speed skating venue still used by aspiring Olympians today. 

The Olympic Oval speed skating facility in Kearns, Utah, near Salt Lake City. The facility is home to world-class speed skating events.

The multimillion-dollar facility is said to have the “fastest ice on Earth” by athletes who have broken records on it.
Experts say the high altitude — more than 4,600 feet above sea level — reduces air resistance, which may help give skaters an edge when it comes to speed.
In preparation for the Games, Leavitt said, Utah invested in infrastructure improvements, including light rail and major highways, creating lasting benefits for both residents and visitors.
“It’s a lot like having a party at your house — a lot gets done with that deadline,” Leavitt told CNBC. “We competed with the world and realized we can win.”
Salt Lake City’s 2002 Olympics cost about $2 billion and turned a profit. The University of Utah’s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute reports the state’s allocation for the Games resulted in a $164 million surplus, with $59 million returned to taxpayers.
In the 15 years following the Games, skier visits to Utah increased by 43%, hotel and lodging revenue grew by 70%, and visitor spending soared by 66%, according to the Gardner Institute.

From Olympic host to thriving tech hub

USA’s Todd Lodwick climbs the hill in front of the Olympic Rings during the start in the Men’s Nordic Combined team relay at Soldier Hollow, near Salt Lake City, Utah, Feb. 17, 2002.
Photo by Anacleto Rapping/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

“[The early 90s] was at a time when technology was just beginning to emerge,” Leavitt said. “Up until that point, Utah had been both agriculturally based as well as defense — but there was an ambition on our part to become a tech capital.”
During preparations for the Olympics, Leavitt met with Adobe co-founder and Salt Lake City native John Warnock in Silicon Valley to discuss building a tech community in Utah.
Leavitt recalled a comment Warnock made to him: “If you want [me] to come to Utah, I need engineers.”
Acting on Warnock’s advice, in 2001, Leavitt and the state of Utah launched the Engineering and Computer Science Initiative. The program aimed to improve higher education in these fields by expanding faculty and programs, ultimately doubling the number of engineering and computer science graduates over two decades with a cumulative $40.1 million investment.
With state funding, colleges and universities rose to the challenge, aligning programs with student interests and industry demands. Since then, public and private investments have continued to grow, driven by the region’s increasing need for tech workers.
Adobe years later acquired Utah-based Omniture for $1.8 billion, signaling Utah’s capacity to build competitive tech enterprises, Leavitt said.
“It was the combination of a clear vision, dramatically ratcheting up the number of engineers we were educating, and having the Olympics and a place they wanted to live,” Leavitt said. “All of that came together into what’s become one of the most robust economies in the country around technology.”

Looking ahead to 2034

With the 2034 Winter Games set to return to Salt Lake City, Utah aims to build on its existing infrastructure with an estimated $31 million in upgrades — a modest cost compared with the $286.7 million spent in 2002.
The state expects the upcoming Games to generate $6.6 billion in economic activity, create 42,000 job-years of employment — the equivalent of 4,200 full-time jobs for 10 years — and add nearly $3.9 billion to Utah’s economy, solidifying the Olympics’ role in Utah’s flourishing tech landscape.
“We now have advantages we didn’t have,” Leavitt said. “We have all of the infrastructure that’s there, and we have a reputation. The Games will be done well in 2034. There’s just no question about it.”
Disclosure: CNBC parent NBCUniversal owns NBC Sports and NBC Olympics. NBC Olympics is the U.S. broadcast rights holder to all Summer and Winter Games through 2032. More

Women’s 3×3 basketball league Unrivaled has signed a deal with Baltimore-based Under Armour.
The retailer will provide apparel for both on and off the court.
Unrivaled kicks off its first season Jan. 17 in Miami.

The interior of an Under Armour store is seen on November 03, 2021 in Houston, Texas.
Brandon Bell | Getty Images

The pieces are coming together for the startup basketball league Unrivaled.
The 3×3 women’s hoops league announced Tuesday that it has signed a multiyear deal for Under Armour to become its official uniform partner and performance outfitter. This follows the league announcing a number of recent big player signings and reaching a media broadcast deal in October with TNT Sports.

Financial terms of the deal were not provided, but Under Armour will provide all players, coaches and staff with performance apparel and accessories both on and off the court.
“We couldn’t be more thrilled to partner with Unrivaled to outfit some of the best women’s basketball players in the world as they compete on this exciting new stage,” said Sean Eggert, Under Armour senior vice president of global sports marketing.
The retailer said that all players who do not have an active shoe deal will have Under Armour basketball footwear options available to them. Additionally, Under Armour will give players the opportunity to create custom products.

Breanna Stewart #30 of the New York Liberty dribbles the ball during the game against the Indiana Fever on May 16, 2024 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. 
Nathaniel S. Butler | National Basketball Association | Getty Images

Unrivaled will kick off its inaugural season Jan. 17 in Miami. The league has positioned itself as a destination for WNBA stars to play basketball in the U.S. during the offseason.
In the past, many WNBA players have had to go overseas to play in the offseason as a way to supplement the income. Starting salary in the WNBA is $64,154 according to ESPN.

Unrivaled has signed 36 top players by offering attractive financial incentives that include equity. The league said it offers the highest average salaries in women’s professional sports league history. It’s being backed by a number of investors.
This latest deal comes as Baltimore-based Under Armour is in the midst of a turnaround effort after founder Kevin Plank took the helm again this past March. Former Marriott executive Stephanie Linnartz had been in the role for barely a year before she was ousted; she was the second CEO the company had cycled through in less than two years.
Over the past few years, the brand has struggled to keep up with competition and drive full-price sales, relying on promotions and the off-price channel to move its products.
Before she left, Linnartz had been trying to market more to women and improve the product offering, but when Plank retook the helm, he walked that strategy back and said the company would be doubling down on its men’s apparel business. He later announced a turnaround plan that centers on making Under Armour a premium brand and pulling back on discounting so it can improve profits and boost demand.
Last month, the company saw a bright spot when reporting fiscal second-quarter earnings. It lifted its annual profit forecast and Plank said the turnaround is “beginning to gain traction.” Still, the stock is down about 81% from its all-time high on Sept. 17, 2015.
Under Armour’s deal with Unrivaled offers a glimpse into where the company is putting its money and, perhaps, indicates it wants to focus more on female athlete as it looks to capitalize on the hype of women’s sports to reenergize the brand.
Under Armour currently has partnerships with top women’s college programs such as the University of South Carolina, Notre Dame, Maryland and Utah.
“As a brand, we have a long history of investing in women’s basketball, from the grassroots level all the way up to the pros,” Eggert said.

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Alaska Airlines plans to launch nonstop flights to Tokyo and Seoul from Seattle next year.
The carrier closed its acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines in September, which gave it access to wide-body airplanes.
Alaska will also launch a new “premium” credit card with Bank of America to chase high-spending customers.

Alaska Airlines planes.
Anadolu | Anadolu | Getty Images

Alaska Air Group expects to grow profits by $1 billion through 2027, and plans to ride the wave of high-end travel demand to get there.
Alaska closed its $1.9 billion acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines in September, less than a year after inking the deal that gives it access to routes across the Pacific and wide-body airplanes such as the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Airbus A330. The two brands are operating separately.

The airline will launch nonstop service between its home hub of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and Tokyo’s Narita International Airport in May on Hawaiian’s Airbus A330-200s, and between Seattle and Seoul, South Korea’s, Incheon International Airport in October, Alaska said Tuesday. Tickets for the new Tokyo flights go on sale Tuesday, while fares for the latter route go on sale in early 2025.
By 2030, Alaska plans to serve at least a dozen international destinations from Seattle using wide-body planes, reshaping the carrier.
The carrier said Tuesday that it authorized a $1 billion share buyback.
Alaska also forecast pretax margins of between 11% and 13% in 2027 and per-share earnings topping $10. In October, the company estimated 2024 earnings of between $3.50 and $4.50 a share, including Hawaiian’s results. It raised its fourth-quarter earnings estimates to 40 cents to 50 cents a share, up from a previous outlook for 20 cents to 40 cents.
Alaska’s shares have gained nearly 40% so far this year, more than the S&P 500’s 27% gain. Shares in the airline were up about 10% in premarket trading after releasing its new plans for the carrier.

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Alaska Air and S&P 500 performance

The carrier is also launching a new “premium” credit card with its partner Bank of America, the latest co-brand deal designed to bring in revenue from customers even when they are not flying.
Alaska is evaluating its premium seat offerings across the fleet. Chief Financial Officer Shane Tackett told CNBC that the airline is looking to upgrade options specifically on Hawaiian’s Airbus A330s, with more customers willing to pay up for more space and comfort during travel.
“When you look at the past two or three years, most of the growth in revenues has been in those areas of demand and I think it’s probably going to continue,” Tackett said. “We have a really good base main cabin product … but more people are wanting the opportunity to get into premium economy or first class and we need to serve that demand.”

More seats than ever in first class and premium economy are being bought outright by customers rather than being filled with free upgrades, Tackett said.
Seattle’s rival Delta Air Lines, whose 24% domestic-passenger market share is second to Alaska’s 55% in Seattle, has also noted that shift in demand for its first-class seats. Delta has a bigger share of international passengers from the airport, however.
Alaska said it plans to offer a new lounge at San Diego International Airport. On Wednesday, Delta said it is opening its Delta One Lounge in Boston, its third after locations in New York and Los Angeles opened this year, dedicated to customers traveling in its highest-tier cabin.

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Meanwhile, Tackett told CNBC that he expects more shifts in Alaska’s deliveries from Boeing.
A door plug blew off one of Alaska’s nearly new Boeing 737 Max 9s in January after it left the manufacturer’s factory without key bolts in place. The near catastrophe and stepped-up quality checks have slowed Boeing’s output and deliveries to airline customers such as Alaska, United and Southwest.
“I think they’re making progress. It’s not going to happen in a week. It’s going to take time,” Tackett said about Boeing, whose new CEO Kelly Ortberg is tasked with stabilizing the plane maker. “We’re in a position where we need to be very focused on helping them understand that quality is the most important thing; it’s way more important to us than rate.”
Boeing is scheduled to release November aircraft orders and deliveries at 11 a.m. Tuesday, a tally that is expected to be affected by a nearly two-month machinist strike that halted production of most of Boeing’s aircraft. More

Former Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares was fixated on near-term costs and profits to the detriment of the business and the company’s products, several former or current leaders and other U.S. employees told CNBC.
Stellantis, the fourth-largest automaker in the world, mismanaged its U.S. operations, the people said.
Whoever succeeds Tavares will need to reconcile relationships with suppliers, hourly and salaried U.S. employees, dealers and politicians.

Carlos Tavares, Chief Executive Officer of Stellantis, attends the Paris Automotive Summit during the 2024 Paris Auto Show in Paris, France, October 15, 2024. 
Benoit Tessier | Reuters

DETROIT — “Arrogant.” It’s the word former Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares used in June to describe mistakes that led to the automaker’s troubles in the U.S. It’s also how executives who worked with him described the automotive veteran to CNBC over the past year.
Several former or current leaders, as well as other U.S. employees with the trans-Atlantic automaker, said Tavares’ relentless focus on cost-cutting, his goal of achieving double-digit profit margins under his “Dare Forward 2030” business plan, and a reluctance, if not unwillingness, to listen to U.S. executives about the American market led to the company’s current situation and, ultimately, Tavares’ departure last week.

The sources, who agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity in order to talk freely and avoid repercussions, were interviewed at various times throughout 2024, including several last week.
They described the Portuguese-born executive as being fixated on near-term cost reductions and profits to the detriment of the business as well as to the company’s products, employees and relationships with suppliers, unions and dealers.
The problems included a lack of support for new products and sales, squeezing supplier costs, and mismanagement of plants and products in North America, the sources said.
“If you think you know everything, you’re not going to listen to anybody else,” one source told CNBC, saying the pressure to cut costs felt like having a pistol “to your head.”
Another source said Tavares had a tendency to cast blame on U.S. executives while ignoring any of his own mistakes: “If you don’t know the market, you don’t know the customers, you can’t make the right decisions,” the person said.

Investors also had turned on the chief executive, with U.S.-traded shares of Stellantis off 43% in 2024 prior to his departure. That compares with General Motors, up 55%, and Ford Motor, off 9%, during that time frame.
Such issues ultimately led to Tavares’ resignation, with the company saying Dec. 1 that he was leaving immediately because of “different views” with Stellantis’ board. French financial newspaper Les Echos reported that Tavares’ departure was a negotiated resignation that came after the company’s board decided to terminate the executive.
The board’s actions surprised many inside and outside Stellantis, which Tavares had led since spearheading a merger in January 2021 between his French automaker, PSA Groupe, and Fiat Chrysler. Stellantis is the fourth-largest automaker in the world and owns brands such as Jeep, Dodge, Fiat, Chrysler and Peugeot.

The New York Stock Exchange welcomes Stellantis N.V. (NYSE: STLA), in celebration of its listing on the NYSE following the merger of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. and Peugeot S.A. To honor the occasion, John Elkann, Chairman, and Carlos Tavares, Chief Executive Officer, virtually ring The Opening Bell, Jan. 19, 2021.

Tavares’ departure came less than two months after the board backed him to stay through the remainder of his contract in early 2026. He also was expected to assist with the selection and transition of his successor during that time.
Stellantis said it’s now expecting to name a successor during the first half of next year. Until then, the company has established a new interim executive committee led by Chairman John Elkann, scion of Italian automaker Fiat.
Tavares, 66, was publicly viewed as a business mastermind who could ruffle a few feathers along the way but got things done in the end, as he did with drastic turnarounds of PSA Groupe and General Motors’ former Opel European operations.
A prodigy of former Nissan executive Carlos Ghosn, he was an avid proponent of cost-cutting, mergers and synergies — a trait he also shared with late Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne. Such traits made many believe he was one of the few executives capable of running such an automaker, but they also contributed to his downfall.  
“CEOs in this industry are celebrated like Formula 1 drivers when things go right, but a single misstep can lead to a spectacular spinout,” Bernstein analysts, led by Daniel Roeska, wrote in a Friday investor note about auto company CEO exits. “Just like a F1 race, transformational leadership requires not only vision but also consensus-building among the team, a robust understanding of what the organization (or car 😉 is capable of, and careful timing!”

Wrong turns

Carlos Tavares unveils the B10, at porte de Versailles, in Paris, Oct. 14, 2024.
Magali Cohen | AFP | Getty Images

For Tavares, an avid racer who liked to spend up to one week a month at his ranch in Portugal, there were several wrong turns.
Some sources said his perceived arrogance toward some U.S. hourly and salaried employees peaked this summer when Tavares — who lives in Europe and was compensated nearly $40 million last year in salary, stock and other benefits — publicly announced that he would spend time in North America for a few days to fix problems during his summer break. Such a break is a regular occurrence in Europe but not in the U.S., where sources said it rubbed some employees who don’t get a monthlong vacation the wrong way.
Meanwhile, U.S. leaders, due to the time difference, dealt with regular hourslong meetings in the middle of the night — before having to work their full U.S. day — as well as a smug sense of intellectual supremacy from Tavares and a dismissal of opinions, specifically regarding product planning, the sources said.
“When Tavares started, he said the center of the company is somewhere in the Atlantic … but it became very clear to us that the center of the company was in France,” said a former Stellantis executive.
Several sources said executives tried multiple times to deprioritize the company’s emphasis on electric vehicles or, at the very least, launch gas-powered models before EV models to maintain sales, but Tavares was dismissive of such actions.
Sources said Tavares’ cost-cutting measures also included simplifying vehicles such as the Jeep Grand Cherokee while increasing its pricing above market norms; outsourcing critical engineering work to lower-cost countries and consultants such as France-based Capgemini; and micromanaging budgets and decisions to a point where U.S. leaders felt they had their hands tied behind their backs. A notable one included killing the automaker’s popular V-8 Hemi engines.
“Everybody wanted to keep [Hemi],” said one source. “But it was, ‘You need to be greener'” and there was little to nothing they could do to change the decision.

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Stellantis stock since Jan. 19, 2021

Those issues came even as executives said they were dealing with previously reported problems with delays in new products, cutting low-margin vehicles such as the gas-powered Jeep Cherokee and Dodge Charger and Challenger without any replacements ready, and waging battles over costs with suppliers, dealers and the United Auto Workers union, among other “arrogant” mistakes in the U.S.
“Those are areas where, I think, clearly, you know, we need to build back trust,” Stellantis Chief Financial Officer Doug Ostermann said during a UBS conference Wednesday. “I think there’s a strong desire among the management team today to really work on that. And it will take time.”
Ostermann said such problems with key stakeholders, as well as some disagreements on what Stellantis’ priorities should be during the next 15 to 16 months, were the main drivers for Tavares’ departure.
Stellantis is currently in litigation with the UAW following the union planning strike actions against the company, as well as with at least five notable suppliers, largely due to disputes over pricing and costs.
In Europe, much like the U.S., the budget cuts were excessive. For example, the Financial Times reported guests invited to a factory in the UK this year were served with drinks from a coffee machine that had been transported more than 100 miles from another plant because staff there were not allowed to buy one.

Mismanagement of U.S. operations

A 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee L goes through the Framer 1 section of the assembly line at the Stellantis Detroit Assembly Complex-Mack on June 10, 2021 in Detroit, Michigan.
Bill Pugliano | Getty Images

The mismanagement of U.S. operations led to Stellantis having bloated new vehicle inventories compared with its peers, slashing plant production, undergoing significant head-count reductions and pricing many of its traditional consumers out of the market for its crucial Ram, Jeep and Dodge brands.
“We were arrogant. No excuse,” Tavares said during a June investor event, citing problems with some U.S. plants and his own lack of action to alter business plans amid changing market conditions.
Three executives or top-line managers said Tavares many times dismissed any input that didn’t meet goals in his “Dare Forward 2030” plan, which included doubling net revenues and sustaining double-digit adjusted operating income, or AOI, margins through this decade, led by EVs.
Stellantis’ Ostermann said the company’s board and Tavares didn’t necessarily disagree over long-term plans, but he declined to reconfirm the company’s plans for double-digit AOI. “Whether or not the environment going forward, if double digit is the right number or not, we’ll have to see,” Ostermann said Wednesday.
Tavares also put a level of bureaucracy and budgeting over brand CEOs who had previously had more free range and trust from Fiat Chrysler’s Marchionne to do their jobs, the sources told CNBC.
Such issues led to an exodus of executives, such as Tim Kuniskis, a prior Swiss Army knife for the automaker, who this week returned to the company; global Jeep head Christian Meunier; longtime Jeep North America executive Jim Morrison; and newer leaders, such as Mamatha Chamarthi, who headed the automaker’s software business development, and Chief Financial Officer Natalie Knight. Stellantis North America head Mark Stewart left the company in January to become CEO of Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co.
Other executives, such as Chief Technology Officer Ned Curic, who remains with the automaker and was named last week to its interim executive committee, in June told CNBC that Tavares’ cost cuts were difficult but effective.
But others in the company weren’t so sure, describing the cuts around that time as grueling to the point of excessiveness and leading to the problems in the U.S.

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Tavares, when asked in July about the cuts being responsible for the company’s U.S. problems, said that was categorically false.
“The narrative about the budget cuts is wrong. …  What is requested to the local team is profit, share and customer satisfaction,” Tavares said in July. “When you don’t deliver for any reason … you may want to use a scapegoat. The budget cut is an easy one. It’s wrong.”
Competitors, consciously or not, also tried to distance themselves from what Stellantis was doing.
GM President Mark Reuss, when discussing the automaker’s own cuts in October, noted that companies aren’t able to cut to growth.
“It’s been said time and again you can’t cut your way to growth. No way,” he said during GM’s investor day in October. “You have to make things that people want, that people must have. We are doing both and we are set up for success over the long haul.”

Damage control

A Stellantis sign is seen outside its headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan, U.S., June 10, 2021.
Rebecca Cook | Reuters

Whoever succeeds Tavares will need to continue to reconcile relationships with suppliers, hourly and salaried U.S. employees, dealers and politicians.
Stellantis has reduced employee head count by 14%, or roughly 40,600 employees, between 2020 and the end of 2023, including roughly 15% reductions in the enlarged Europe North America region, according to public filings. That doesn’t include further head-count reductions and layoffs in 2024.
UAW President Shawn Fain, who has been calling for Tavares’ firing for months, applauded the chief executive’s departure, calling it “a major step in the right direction for a company that has been mismanaged and a workforce that has been mistreated for too long.”
U.S. dealers also had been frustrated, but were growing more optimistic given recent changes even before Tavares’ departure.
The head of Stellantis’ U.S. dealer council, Kevin Farrish, commended the company for its recent efforts to support dealers, specifically newly appointed North American Chief Operating Officer Antonio Filosa.
Filosa and Elkann, Stellantis’ chair, were part of a meeting Monday with the Stellantis U.S. dealership council, Farrish confirmed.
“Antonio’s hitting the ground running,” Farrish, who slammed Tavares in September, told CNBC on Friday. “We have a great deal of confidence in Antonio, and we look forward to working with him. … It’s very optimistic to see this much action happening.”

Stellantis Chairman John Elkann speaks during the presentation of the new Fiat Panda as Fiat celebrates the 125th anniversary of its brand in Turin, Italy, July 11, 2024.
Massimo Pinca | Reuters

Meanwhile, damage control surrounding Tavares’ departure was swift, especially in the U.S. and Italy — major markets for the company’s operations and previous headquarters of the former Chrysler and Fiat automakers.
Bloomberg News reported that Elkann alerted Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni prior to Tavares’ resignation. The move came after Stellantis had made significant head-count reductions and production cuts in the country.
Elkann last week also took part in a global tour of Stellantis’ sites in the U.S., Italy and France. A source who attended a leadership meeting last week at the automaker’s sprawling North American headquarters in suburban Detroit said Elkann focused on finishing 2024 and optimism that 2025 would be a better year for the company.
Stellantis did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the visits, including whether the company intends to review Tavares’ past decisions, such as closing and selling the company’s Arizona Proving Grounds.
The source who attended the U.S. town hall said Elkann made no indication of revisiting any decisions. However, they confirmed the company has ended a surgical cost-cutting program internally named “Darwin” — a nod to Tavares saying the auto industry was in a Darwinian period, in which only the strongest survive.
“Darwin is dead because we intend to survive,” Elkann said, according to the source. More

Oreo maker Mondelez made a preliminary takeover approach to Hershey, according to people familiar with the matter.
In 2016, Hershey’s board rejected the snacking company’s $23 billion offer.
Concerns about GLP-1 drugs and soaring cocoa prices have hurt Hershey’s shares this year.

The logo of Hershey’s in Manhattan on Sept. 16, 2023.
Michael Kappeler | Picture Alliance | Getty Images

Cookie and snack giant Mondelez has made a preliminary takeover approach for Hershey, according to people familiar with the matter, a combination that would create one of the largest food and beverage businesses in the world.
Shares of the legacy chocolate maker shot up more than 10% on the news. Mondelez made a previous takeover bid for Hershey in 2016, which the company rebuffed.

Hershey hired advisors to help it respond to the interest, said one of the people. Mondelez made the approach shortly after Hershey reported third-quarter earnings that missed analyst expectations last month, said the person.
Hershey declined to comment on “market rumors and speculation.” Mondelez and the Hershey Trust, which controls roughly 80% of the chocolate maker’s voting stock, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Bloomberg first reported Mondelez’s approach.
Hershey’s stock has risen more than 4% this year, raising its market cap to $39.19 billion. Prior to Monday’s move, shares had fallen 6% this year, hurt by concerns about the growing usage of GLP-1 drugs and soaring cocoa prices.
Share of Mondelez fell more than 2% on Monday. The company’s stock has dropped 15% this year, dragging its market cap down to $82.16 billion.
Hershey shares are on pace for their best day since June 30, 2016, when the stock climbed more than 16% after the company publicly disclosed a $23 billion bid from Mondelez, which owns Oreo, Cadbury and Honey Maid. Hershey’s board unanimously rejected the offer, and Mondelez announced in August of that year that it was giving up on its pursuit of a deal.

Since its founding in 1894 by Milton Hershey, the company has remained independent, despite takeover attempts and even a strategic review in 2007 by its board.
Hershey’s dual-class structure gives holders of its Class B common stock, largely held by the Hershey Trust, 10 votes for every share. As a result, the Hershey Trust has “substantial control” over the company’s future, according to a research note from J.P. Morgan analyst Ken Goldman published Wednesday.
Pennsylvania law also gives the state’s attorney general the power to intercede on any deal that takes power away from the trust.
That is what happened in 2002, after the Hershey Trust announced it planned to sell its controlling interest in the company to Wrigley. Following criticism from the public, the attorney general stepped in to block the sale through the Dauphin County Orphans’ Court, which resolves legal issues related to charitable trusts, and 10 of the trust’s 17 board members departed.
Consumer packaged goods companies have been looking to deals to grow their sales after years of price hikes have put pressure on demand for their existing brands. For example, M&M’s owner Mars bought Pringles maker Kellanova this summer for $36 billion.

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