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    in Finance

    How Munger and Buffett’s 60-year partnership was so special: ‘Charlie and I have never had an argument’

    Warren Buffett (L), CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, and vice chairman Charlie Munger attend the 2019 annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, May 3, 2019.
    Johannes Eisele | AFP | Getty Images

    Charlie Munger’s unique partnership with Warren Buffett, spanning over half a century, helped forge one of the most successful conglomerates in history.It was a special relationship.
    At age 35, Munger was introduced to the then-29-year-old Buffett in Omaha, Nebraska. The two started working together and ended up transforming Berkshire Hathaway from a small textile mill into a $785 billion multifaceted juggernaut. The journey to their unparalleled success was full of learning, experience and laughter, but never an argument.

    “Charlie and I have never had an argument,” Buffett said in 2014. “We’ve disagreed on a lot of things. And it’s just never led, and never will, lead to an argument. We argue with other people.”
    Buffett said when they did have a differing view, Munger, who died Tuesday just one month shy of his 100th birthday, would say “well, you’ll end up agreeing with me because you’re smart and I am right.”
    ‘We think alike’
    As often shown in interviews and shareholder meetings, they shared a similar, quirky sense of humor and enjoyed occasionally poking fun at each other. Compared to Buffett’s folksy image, Munger often spoke bluntly, sprinkling witty zingers that his followers adored.
    “Most of the time, we think alike,” Munger said in 2014. “That’s one of the problems. If one of us misses it, the other is likely to, too.”
    In 2010, when Munger had to miss a special Berkshire shareholder meeting, Buffett brought on stage a cardboard cutout of his right-hand man, mimicking “I couldn’t agree more” in Munger’s voice.

    “It is almost hilarious. It’s been so much fun,” Munger said of his partnership with Buffett.
    Munger’s Costco obsession
    On the rare occasions they disagreed, the two icons dealt with it by wielding laughter. One example was Munger’s love and obsession over Costco, a big-box retailer Buffett never really favored.
    During Berkshire’s 2011 annual meeting, Buffett made up a scenario involving airplane hijackers asking about his and Munger’s last requests on earth.
    “The hijackers picked us out as the two dirty capitalists that they really had to execute,” he said. “They didn’t really have anything against us, so they said that each of us would be given one request before they shot us.”
    “Charlie said, ‘I would like to give, once more, my speech on the virtues of Costco — with illustrations.’ The hijacker said, ‘Well, that sounds pretty reasonable to me.’ He turned to me and said, ‘And what would you like, Mr. Buffett?’ And I said, ‘Shoot me first,'” Buffett said, sparking gales of laughter from shareholders.

    Charles Munger and Warren Buffet faces in Berkshire Hathaway T-Shirts at the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting in Omaha, Nebraska.
    David A. Grogan | CNBC

    Munger broadened Buffett’s approach
    Early in their careers, Munger broadened Buffett’s investing approach from buying dirt cheap, “cigar-butt” companies that might still have a little smoke left in them, to instead focusing on quality companies selling at fair prices.
    “He actually hit me over the head with a two by four from the idea of buying very so-so companies at very cheap prices, knowing that that was some small profit and looking for really wonderful businesses that we could buy at fair prices,” Buffett said.
    As Munger put it at the 1998 Berkshire shareholder meeting: “It’s not that much fun to buy a business where you really hope this sucker liquidates before it goes broke.”
    Later in his career, Buffett realized he was more inclined toward action than Munger when it comes to deal-making. He once joked that Munger was the “abominable no-man,” often curbing Buffett’s enthusiasm to acquire certain companies.

    Read more about Charlie Munger’s legacy

    Win-win relationship
    The two investing legends were firm believers in reciprocation and respect when it came to successful relationships.
    “We both have this fundamental idea that the world works better if you make your relationships win win. And we both early learned that the way to get a good partner was to be a good partner,” Munger said. “These are very old fashioned ideas. And they just worked so fabulously well.”

    Charlie Munger (left) and Warren Buffett.
    VCG | Visual China Group | Getty Images

    Much like Munger encouraging Buffett to pivot toward quality businesses early on in their career, the “Oracle of Omaha” said Munger inspired him every day in one way or another.
    “He’s made me think about things I haven’t thought about. In fact, I would say that every time I’m with Charlie, I’ve got at least some new slant on the idea that that causes me to rethink certain things,” Buffett said.
    Munger graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1948, founding his law firm of Munger, Tolles & Olson and his own hedge fund in 1962. Munger closed the fund in 1975, and three years later, he formally became vice chairman of Berkshire.
    “Charlie has given me the ultimate gift that a person can give to somebody else,” Buffett said. “I’ve lived a better life because of Charlie.”
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    in Finance

    Jamie Dimon says JPMorgan Chase would exit China if ordered to

    JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said Wednesday that his bank, if ordered by the U.S. government, would exit China, the world’s second-largest economy.
    “If the American government makes me leave China, I’m leaving China,” Dimon said at the DealBook Summit.
    Growing geopolitical tensions have raised concerns that China could move to annex Taiwan.

    JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said Wednesday that his bank would exit China if the U.S. government ordered him to.
    “If the American government makes me leave China, I’m leaving China,” Dimon said at the DealBook Summit during a discussion about a potential future conflict over Taiwan. “If there’s a war in Taiwan, you would take all bets off.”

    JPMorgan, which says on its website that it has been active in China for a century, does investment and corporate banking, payments and asset management there. Growing geopolitical tensions, fueled by wars in Ukraine and Israel, have raised concerns that China could move to annex Taiwan.
    “No one thinks it’s going to happen; it may happen,” Dimon said about war over Taiwan. “That would be really bad for the world and really bad for China.”

    Jamie Dimon, chair and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, speaks during the New York Times annual DealBook summit in New York City on Nov. 29, 2023.
    Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images

    Dimon called relations with China, the world’s second-largest economy, “a very complicated subject” and said that engagement with both China and the U.S. government was necessary.
    “I think it’s good for an American bank to be there to help multinationals around the world and China with their own development if it makes sense,” Dimon said. “If for some reason the American government says ‘Nope, can’t do that anymore,’ then so be it.”
    Dimon also pointed out that while the U.S. maintains good relations with Mexico and Canada, China has “done a pretty good job angering all the people around them,” and the country has “terrible demographics.”

    The bank advises Chinese clients including fast-fashion retailer Shein and Tiktok parent company ByteDance.
    Dimon addressed security concerns related to TikTok, saying, “You can imagine the due diligence and work we do to figure out the truth about those things.”
    “If some of those people are doing things that we think are truly bad, we would not bank them,” he said.Don’t miss these stories from CNBC PRO: More

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    in Business

    Luxury hotels move into Nashville as demand for rooms surges

    Cities of Success

    “Cities of Success” special featuring Nashville will air on CNBC on December 6 at 10pm ET

    Nashville is seeing an unprecedented surge in luxury hotels, with renowned brands such as the Four Seasons Hotel, the W Hotel and the Grand Hyatt opening their doors in Music City.
    More than 90 new hotels have been constructed in Nashville since 2013, contributing more than 14,000 rooms to the city’s accommodation offerings, according to the Nashville Chamber of Commerce. In the past year alone, hotel expansion has generated more than $2 billion in revenue.

    “This is a great city and, for the most part, very pro-growth and pro-development,” real estate developer Dean Stratouly told CNBC.
    Read more: Nashville hot chicken is everywhere, but it’s still at the heart of its hometown’s culture
    “That’s something that you don’t find everywhere. You then layer in all the things that are really cool about Nashville: Broadway, music, [the NFL’s Tennessee] Titans. And all of that put together makes Nashville just a great place to come,” he said.

    The exterior of the Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences in Nashville.

    Stratouly is one of the key figures behind a new Four Seasons Luxury Hotel in Nashville. The hotel boasts 235 rooms across a 40-story glass tower, including a 2,200 square foot penthouse suite with a hefty price tag of $10,000 or more per night.
    And he’s not alone in moving in.

    In 2020, Hyatt opened the Grand Hyatt Nashville, a 591-room hotel situated in a 25-floor tower, with amenities such as a rooftop bar, outdoor pool deck and more than 7,000 square meters of meeting and events space.

    The Grand Hyatt Nashville pool.
    Grand Hyatt

    In 2021, W Nashville opened in the Gulch neighborhood, with 286 rooms and 60 suites in a 14-story mirrored tower, providing a 360-degree view.
    A $585 million Ritz-Carlton project was originally set to break ground in Nashville’s SoBro district in late 2022 but has reportedly faced construction delays due to a developer dispute and a $10 million lawsuit.
    While luxury hotels break ground, Nashville is struggling to keep up, according to Stratouly.
    As construction of the Four Seasons project progressed and designs were finalized, it became apparent that no local laundry service could accommodate the hotel’s daily load of 3,000 pounds of linens. The solution was to outsource the hotel’s linens to Alabama, requiring a daily round-trip journey of over four hours by truck, Stratouly said.
    What’s more, during construction of the hotel, Stratouly said the team faced a serious shortage of skilled labor and building inspectors in Nashville.
    “The problem they are having is a product of their success,” he said. “They can’t move concepts through as fast as the market is asking them to push it through.”
    City officials acknowledged the ongoing challenge of maintaining sufficient staffing and funding for permit reviews and inspections. Will Dodd, public information officer for the Nashville department of codes and building safety, told CNBC the office is working to secure staff and decrease inspection times.
    At the heart of the hotel demand surge is the Music City Center, a 2 million square foot convention center that CEO Charles Starks says has ignited a need for new accommodations.
    On the center’s opening day in 2013, there were already 125 large events pre-booked, with attendees reserving more than one million hotel rooms through 2024, Starks said.
    “We’re seeing somewhere around about half a billion dollars a year of direct economic impact,” said Starks.
    TUNE IN: The “Cities of Success” special featuring Nashville will air on CNBC on Dec. 6 at 10 p.m. ET/PT. More

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    in Business

    Nashville hot chicken is everywhere, but it’s still at the heart of its hometown’s culture

    Cities of Success

    “Cities of Success” special featuring Nashville will air on CNBC on December 6 at 10pm ET

    Nashville hot chicken reputedly traces its origins back to a family in the city who added some spice and other flavors to their fried chicken.
    In recent years, the chicken specialty has spread rapidly across the country, with even large fast-food companies adding the dish to their menu.
    Local restaurants say the boom has attracted more tourists to their original hot chicken, but nothing competes with what they’ve been creating for generations.

    Prince’s Hot Chicken
    Courtesy: Prince’s Hot Chicken

    Nashville hot chicken had its humble beginnings nearly a century ago. Now, the specialty chicken style is a national phenomenon.
    The Tennessee city has numerous hot chicken restaurants competing for the top spot, as both locals and tourists flock to get a taste of the dish. At the same time, large fast-food companies such as KFC, Baja Fresh, Dave’s Hot Chicken and more are increasingly featuring Nashville hot chicken on their menus.

    According to data from Technomic, a food service research and consulting firm, the Nashville hot chicken trend saw a boost at the onset of the pandemic, with a peak at the end of 2022.
    From the first quarter of 2020 to the second quarter of that same year, Nashville hot chicken menu mentions saw a nearly 25% increase. It’s an even bigger increase over the past five years: 65.7%.

    The Nashville hot chicken origin story

    But Nashville hot chicken isn’t just a spicy new trend.
    The origins of the dish are unofficially traced back to the kitchen of Thornton Prince in the 1930s, according to his great-great niece, Semone Jeffries, the CEO of Prince’s Hot Chicken in Nashville.
    Read more: Luxury hotels move into Nashville as demand for rooms surges

    As the story goes, Prince’s scorned lover wanted to teach him a lesson after a suspicious night out — and that lesson manifested in what the restaurant likes to call a “devilish” amount of spices and flavor atop a delicately fried chicken.
    That recipe was soon perfected and transformed into a Nashville classic, becoming central to local Black residents’ lives, Jeffries said. The chicken is covered in a blend of spices, topped with pickles and served with fries atop a toasted slice of bread.

    Owner Andre Prince of Prince’s Hot Chicken
    Courtesy: Prince’s Hot Chicken

    Though the city has changed a lot since Thornton Prince’s first hot chicken, Prince’s has remained one of the city’s classic treasures.
    “What makes our hot chicken the most interesting is because of the care we put into it. We do not do things haphazardly. We cook almost to order, and we don’t usually use warmers,” Jeffries, whose mother currently owns the restaurant, told CNBC. “Everything is intentional.”
    After Prince’s success took off, other local chefs in the city began starting their own hot chicken restaurants and food trucks as the dish became one of the city’s trademarks.
    According to food trends expert Kara Nielsen, the Nashville hot chicken trend is a “controversial topic” because of how it’s been appropriated from its origins as a Black-owned local business. Though it began going mainstream about eight years ago, Nielsen said, Nashville boasted Prince’s Hot Chicken for decades before the broader culture picked it up.
    “In the last few years, a lot of foods that perhaps come from certain communities have been appropriated by mass pop culture, without proper recognition, and then other people leverage it and make money, and the people who started it aren’t getting enough credit,” Nielsen said. “So I think this is also an interesting story of appropriation from Black culture, which is why it gets very delicate.”

    ‘You’ve got to do it for the culture’

    Nielsen credits the explosion in hot chicken’s popularity to a confluence of millennials looking for something bigger and bolder with their fried chicken and restaurants’ need to create buzz coming out of the financial crisis and recession over a decade ago.
    Now, Nielsen said, Nashville hot chicken is just part of the “choice set.” She doesn’t see it going out of fashion while it still has its novelty, but she’s sure some other new flavor will overtake its popularity soon.
    “People just sort of keep moving along,” Nielsen said. “So if it’s not part of your heritage, or it’s not something you ate every year for Thanksgiving, it doesn’t resonate with you in the same way as it might for somebody who’s from Nashville who grew up eating it.”

    400 Degrees Hot Chicken
    Photo: Aqui Hines

    One of those hot chicken enthusiasts is lifelong Nashville resident Aqui Hines, the owner and chef at 400 Degrees, a hot chicken restaurant in the city. Hines, who started her restaurant in 2006, said she grew up eating hot chicken at Prince’s every week and developed a deep love for the dish.
    “It makes me happy, it brings me joy. It’s for the culture — growing up, that’s all that we had,” she said. “I fell in love with hot chicken. I fell in love with how it made me feel. I wanted to share that experience with everyone.”
    Hines describes her relationship with hot chicken as “complete euphoria,” something that drives her to share the Nashville dish with as many people as she can.
    In recent years, she said, she’s noticed a lot of people around the country begin to associate hot chicken with the city of Nashville. As she travels to other cities, Hines said she’s torn on whether she’s a fan of the popularity that her favorite food has experienced.
    She said she loves to travel and always wants to be able to grab some hot chicken, even if she’s not in Tennessee. But she also said she’s been disappointed by some of the hot chicken she’s tried in other places, like that at a Florida restaurant that she said was mild at best.
    “If you’re going to represent it, represent it well,” Hines said. “People capitalize off of it because you can make money, but it needs to be legitimate. Seventy percent of hot chicken is not authentic — you’ve got to do it for the culture.”

    Hot chicken unbound

    Eric White, owner and chef of Red’s Hot Chicken
    Courtesy: Red’s Hot Chicken

    Red’s Hot Chicken owner and chef Eric White began with a humble food truck seven years ago, and he opened his brick-and-mortar restaurant in 2020. He said his success is due to his recipe’s flavor profiles that carefully balance flavor and spice in a healthy middle ground.
    White said he likes that the word is getting out about Nashville hot chicken, especially as it brings more tourists to his restaurant, but he’s focused on trying to maintain the heart of the dish as it spreads.
    “We actually started the same year as Dave’s Hot Chicken, and of course, they’re the largest name now,” he said. “It’s getting the word out, and I’m getting a lot of calls from people around the country. I’m actually currently working with folks from India, Canada and Germany about starting some hot chicken-type deals there.”
    While White said he has yet to try Dave’s Hot Chicken, he’s had just about every fried chicken in Nashville and has a feeling he might not like what he gets from the fast food restaurant, which doesn’t have any locations in Tennessee. Dave’s Hot Chicken did not respond to a request for comment.

    Dave’s Hot Chicken in Manhattan. Nov. 27, 2023.
    Mike Calia | CNBC

    At Prince’s, the unofficial original hot chicken spot, Jeffries said there are mixed feelings about the hot chicken trend. While she said it’s been inspiring to see the dish make it outside her city, she’s torn about retaining the authenticity of it.
    “There’s a lot of feelings we have, and they can run from ‘Oh, boy’ to ‘Okay,'” Jeffries said. “But I think ultimately, there’s enough people in the world that this can be shared, even though they do their own version.”
    Jeffries said the hot chicken at restaurants outside Nashville is an entirely different version of the dish and that the authentic recipe can only be found at Prince’s or other local restaurants.
    “It’s a humbling experience to think this one little piece of chicken has now made it across the world,” Jeffries said. “I wonder sometimes what Thornton would really think right now to see his chicken move around the world — what would he say to us as we get ready for the next generation? But at the core of it, it’s still the exact same hot chicken he served.”
    TUNE IN: The “Cities of Success” special featuring Nashville will air on CNBC on Dec. 6 at 10 p.m. ET/PT. More

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    in Finance

    Fed’s Barkin says rate hikes are still on the table if inflation doesn’t continue to ease

    To learn more about the CNBC CFO Council, visit cnbccouncils.com/cfo-council/

    Founding Members
    CNBC CFO Council

    Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin said he’s not ready to commit to a particular policy path with so much uncertainty in the air.
    Barkin called the possibility of easing policy and cutting rates “a forecasting question” that he’s not ready to answer.
    Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic also offered commentary Wednesday, saying in an essay that he sees economic growth slowing substantially and believes inflation will come down further as well.

    Richmond Federal Reserve President Thomas Barkin said Wednesday that policymakers need to retain the option of raising interest rates if inflation doesn’t show enough progress coming down.
    Markets largely expect the Fed has stopped raising rates and will start cutting in 2024. But Barkin said he’s not ready to commit to a particular policy path with so much uncertainty in the air.

    “If inflation comes down naturally and smoothly, awesome, you know, there’s no particular need to do anything with interest rates if inflation steps down,” he told CNBC’s Steve Liesman during an interview at the CNBC CFO Council Summit.
    “But if inflation is going to flare back up, I think you want to have the option of doing more on rates,” Barkin added. “I guess the bigger point is, there’s no precision that anyone can point to at exactly what the level of rates that exactly handles inflation and exactly the way you want to handle it. So you’re constantly trying to adjust on the fly as you learn more about the economy.”
    Barkin spoke shortly after the Commerce Department reported that the economy grew at a 5.2% annualized pace in the third quarter. As growth has held strong, inflation is still above the Fed’s 2% annual target, though it has shown a consistent progression lower in recent months. The Fed’s preferred inflation measure of core personal consumption expenditures showed a 12-month rate of 3.7% in September and is expected to show a slightly lower reading in October.
    Pricing in futures markets indicates the Fed could cut rates as much as four times, or a full percentage point, next year. Fed Governor Christopher Waller said Tuesday that he’d consider cuts if the inflation data shows progress over the next several months.
    However, Barkin called the possibility of easing policy “a forecasting question” that he’s not ready to answer.

    “I don’t see it as a there’s a right answer on rates or a wrong answer on rates,” he said, adding that he’s “skeptical” about inflation and thinks it’s going to be “stubborn” ahead.
    Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic also offered commentary Wednesday, saying in an essay that he sees economic growth slowing substantially and believes inflation will come down further as well.
    “Altogether, the research, data, survey results, and input from business contacts tell me that tighter monetary policy and tighter financial conditions more broadly are biting harder into economic activity,” Bostic wrote. “At the same time, I don’t think we’ve seen the full effects of restrictive policy, another reason I think we’ll see further cooling of economic activity and inflation.”
    Bostic said his staff expects the inflation rate to decline to 2.5% by the end of 2024 and then get back to the Fed’s 2% target by the end of 2025.
    Both Bostic and Barkin will be voters in 2024 on the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee. More

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    in Business

    GM says union labor deals will increase costs by $9.3 billion

    GM expects new labor contracts with the UAW and Canadian union Unifor to increase its costs by $9.3 billion and add approximately $575 in costs per vehicle during the terms of the deals.
    The UAW’s targeted strikes, which ended in late October, cost GM $1.1 billion in adjusted earnings before interest and tax, or EBIT, in 2023.
    The company is finalizing a budget for next year that will “fully offset the incremental costs of our new labor agreements,” GM CEO Mary Barra said Wednesday in a statement alongside a broad business update.

    United Auto Workers members strike the General Motors Lansing Delta Assembly Plant on September 29, 2023 in Lansing, Michigan. 
    Bill Pugliano | Getty Images

    General Motors expects new labor contracts with the United Auto Workers and Canadian union Unifor to increase its costs by $9.3 billion and add approximately $575 in costs per vehicle during the terms of the deals.
    Most of those cost increases stem from GM’s deal with the UAW that’s set to expire in April 2028. The pact, which was ratified earlier this month, includes at least 25% hourly pay raises, the reinstatement of cost-of-living adjustments and enhanced profit-sharing payments, among other benefits.

    The GM-UAW deal was reached after contentious talks between the sides that included personal attacks, political mudslinging and roughly six weeks of targeted labor strikes by the union.
    Some of the increased costs could be passed on to consumers in the form of higher vehicle prices, however GM — as well as fellow Detroit automakers, Ford Motor and Stellantis, which also negotiated new labor agreements — has several other options such as operational cuts, headcount reductions and other means to help offset costs.
    GM disclosed the expected labor deal impact as part of a business update Wednesday in which it initiated a $10 billion accelerated stock buyback program, increased its dividend and reinstated its full-year 2023 guidance.
    GM said Wednesday the UAW’s targeted strikes, which ended in late October, cost it $1.1 billion in adjusted earnings before interest and tax, or EBIT, in 2023. Additional wages, bonuses and other benefits for that labor contract and the Unifor agreement will cost another $200 million this year, the automaker said.
    GM said the $9.3 billion in labor cost increases are expected to occur as follows: $1.5 billion in 2024; $1.8 billion in 2025; $2.1 billion in 2026; $2.5 billion in 2027; and $1.1 billion from January-April 2028.

    The company is finalizing a budget for next year that will “fully offset the incremental costs of our new labor agreements,” GM CEO Mary Barra said Wednesday in a statement.
    GM’s expected vehicle cost increase includes $500 per vehicle in 2024. Last month crosstown rival Ford estimated it would see additional costs of between $850 and $900 per vehicle assembled.
    At the time, Ford CFO John Lawler said the company was working to “find productivity and efficiencies and cost reductions throughout the company” to offset the additional costs and deliver on previously announced profitability targets. That included canceling or postponing $12 billion in investments related to electric vehicles.
    Ford is expected to update investors further on the cost impacts soon.
    Chrysler parent Stellantis, which was the second of the so-called Big 3 U.S. automakers to reach a deal with the UAW, has not disclosed expected costs of its labor pact with the union.
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    GM initiates $10 billion buyback, boosts dividend and reinstates 2023 guidance after UAW strikes

    General Motors is working to regain Wall Street’s confidence leading into 2024 with several investor-focused initiatives Wednesday following a tumultuous year.
    The Detroit automaker is initiating a stock buyback, increasing its dividend and reinstating its full-year 2023 guidance.
    GM CEO Mary Barra in a statement said the company is finalizing a budget for next year that will “fully offset the incremental costs of our new labor agreements.”

    General Motors is working to regain Wall Street’s confidence leading into 2024 with several investor-focused initiatives Wednesday following a tumultuous year of labor strikes and setbacks in its plans for electric and autonomous vehicles.
    The Detroit automaker plans to increase its quarterly dividend next year by 33% to 12 cents per share; initiate an accelerated $10 billion share repurchase program; and reinstate its 2023 guidance to include an estimated $1.1 billion in earnings before interest and tax, or EBIT-adjusted, impact from roughly six weeks of U.S. labor strikes by the United Auto Workers union.

    GM CEO Mary Barra in a statement said the company is finalizing a budget for next year that will “fully offset the incremental costs of our new labor agreements.
    “The long-term plan we are executing includes reducing the capital intensity of the business, developing products even more efficiently, and further reducing our fixed and variable costs,” she said.
    Shares of GM jumped roughly 8% during premarket trading Wednesday. Heading into the announcement, the stock was down 14.1% so far this year.
    GM’s reinstated 2023 guidance also includes:

    Net income attributable to stockholders of $9.1 billion to $9.7 billion, compared with a previous outlook of $9.3 billion to $10.7 billion.
    Adjusted EBIT of $11.7 billion to $12.7 billion, compared with the previous outlook of $12 billion to $14 billion.
    Adjusted earnings per share of roughly $7.20 to $7.70 including the stock buyback, compared with the previous outlook of $7.15 to $8.15.
    EPS in the range of $6.52 to $7.02, including the stock buyback, compared with the previous outlook of $6.54 to $7.54.
    Adjusted automotive free cash flow of $10.5 billion to $11.5 billion, compared with the previous outlook of $7 billion to $9 billion.
    Net automotive cash provided by operating activities of $19.5 billion to $21 billion, compared with the previous outlook of $17.4 billion to $20.4 billion.

    GM pulled its guidance when it reported its third-quarter earnings on Oct. 24, citing volatility caused by the UAW negotiations and labor strikes. The work stoppages ended Oct. 30 when the sides reached a tentative deal.

    UAW impact

    Before the UAW strikes, CFO Paul Jacobson said the company was on track to achieve “toward the upper half” of its earnings forecast.
    On Wednesday the automaker said new labor deals in the U.S. and Canada are expected to increase costs by $9.3 billion and add approximately $575 in costs per vehicle. A majority of that impact is from the UAW deal, which expires in April 2028.
    The UAW deal includes at least 25% hourly pay raises, the reinstatement of cost-of-living adjustments and enhanced profit-sharing payments, among other benefits.

    Stock chart icon

    GM stock after a slew of business updates on Wednesday.

    To offset some of those increased costs, GM said Wednesday it now anticipates 2023 capital spending to be between $11.0 billion and $11.5 billion, down from prior guidance of between $11 billion and $12 billion. That’s driven by previously announced plans to delay some new products and investments, specifically regarding EVs.
    Barra in a letter to shareholders Wednesday said she was “disappointed” in the company’s production this year of its next-generation EVs, known as Ultium vehicles. She said the company expects “significantly higher Ultium EV production and significantly improved EV margins.”
    “We’ve spent years preparing the company for an all-electric future, and our long-term EV profitability and margin goals are intact, despite recent headwinds,” Barra said.
    GM has said it plans to earn low- to mid-single-digit EBIT-adjusted margins on its EV portfolio in 2025, before the positive impact of clean energy tax credits. It also has said it plans to exclusively offer electric vehicles by 2035.

    Cruise

    Barra also said the automaker is “addressing challenges” at its majority-owned autonomous vehicle subsidiary Cruise.
    Cruise recently issued a voluntary recall affecting 950 of its robotaxis and suspended all vehicle operations on public roads following a series of incidents that sparked criticism from first responders, labor activists and local elected officials, especially in San Francisco.

    Read more CNBC auto news

    The events, specifically an October accident involving a pedestrian, led to CEO and cofounder Kyle Vogt resigning from the company.
    “Our priority now is to focus the team on safety, transparency and accountability,” Barra said. “We must rebuild trust with regulators at the local, state and federal levels, as well as with the first responders and the communities in which Cruise will operate.”

    Stock buyback

    The accelerated stock buyback includes an aggregate of $10 billion to the banks executing the program, including Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Barclays and Citibank.
    GM will immediately receive and retire $6.8 billion worth of its common stock. GM had approximately 1.37 billion shares of common stock outstanding prior to the program.
    The total number of shares ultimately repurchased under the initiative will be determined at the end of the program, which is expected to occur during the fourth quarter. It will be based on the average of the daily volume-weighted prices of GM stock.
    Outside of the announced program, GM said it will have $1.4 billion of capacity remaining under its share repurchase authorization “for additional, opportunistic share repurchases.”
    The company said it has returned $4.2 billion in common stock dividends and buybacks from the start of 2022 through the third quarter of 2023, while generating more than $20.5 billion in adjusted automotive free cash flow after business investments.
    “These strategies are designed to keep our margins and free cash flow strong, and we are well-positioned as we head into 2024,” Barra said at the end of her letter to shareholders. “I’m confident we’ll be able to execute our plan and excited about what the future holds. We look forward to sharing our progress with you.”
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    Mark Cuban is selling majority stake in the Dallas Mavericks to the Adelson family

    Billionaire Mark Cuban is selling a majority stake of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks to Miriam Adelson and her family.
    Adelson, the largest shareholder of Las Vegas Sands, is selling $2 billion worth of company stock.
    The company said in a filing that Adelson would use proceeds to buy a sports team.

    Billionaire investor Mark Cuban is selling a majority stake of the Dallas Mavericks to Miriam Adelson and her family, a source familiar with the deal told CNBC.
    Cuban still owns a stake in the team and will run basketball operations.

    Adelson is selling $2 billion worth of Las Vegas Sands stock, or roughly 10% of her stake, according to an announcement from the company. The proceeds will be used to buy a professional sports team, the casino company said in a filing Tuesday.
    Adelson and her family are the largest shareholders in Las Vegas Sands.
    “We have been advised by the Selling Stockholders that they currently intend to use the net proceeds from this offering, along with additional cash on hand, to fund the purchase of a majority interest in a professional sports franchise pursuant to a binding purchase agreement, subject to customary league approvals,” Las Vegas Sands said in the filing.
    Las Vegas, which has become a sports mecca, has been rumored to be a destination for an NBA team. The WNBA’s Aces play there, and the city will host the final games of the NBA’s midseason tournament.
    The league did not comment on the news, and the Mavericks referred CNBC to the Adelson family for comment. CNBC has reached out to Cuban for comment.

    Adelson is listed as the fifth-richest woman in the world by Forbes. She and her family inherited 56% of the shares of the world’s largest casino company when her spouse, Las Vegas Sands founder Sheldon Adelson, died in 2021. At the market close Tuesday, shares owned by the Adelson estates were valued at more than $20 billion. 
    Shares of LVS are roughly flat year to date, an indication investors are discounting the reopening of casinos in Macao, where the company has the biggest real estate footprint in the market, and in Singapore.  
    Las Vegas Sands disclosed in filings Tuesday that it will buy $250 million worth of Adelson’s shares. The company announced a $2 billion share repurchase authorization during its third-quarter earnings call Oct. 18. The stock fell more than 4% in extended trading after the news of Adelson’s share sale.
    “As we consider our future capital return, we expect share repurchase will be more heavily weighted than dividends. We believe repurchases will be more accretive than dividends over time, as they reduce the denominator,” Patrick Dumont, Sands’ president and chief operating officer and Adelson’s son-in-law, said on the earnings call. “We fundamentally believe in the compounding long-term benefit of share repurchases.”
    Owning a sports franchise will be a significant departure from the activities that Miriam Adelson and her late husband were known for.  
    The couple set records for political giving, including more than $218 million to Republican and conservative causes in the 2020 election cycle alone, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks political spending.
    According to published reports, Miriam has recently met with GOP candidate Nikki Haley in Las Vegas, as well as former President Donald Trump. 
    As a medical doctor, Miriam Adelson is also widely known for her focus on addiction.
    Born in Israel, she has made significant philanthropic donations toward causes that improve Jewish relations in the United States. Recently, she has been a vocal critic of people protesting Israel’s military response to Hamas’ terrorist attacks of Oct. 7.
    – CNBC’s Jessica Golden contributed to this article.
    Disclosure: CNBC owns the exclusive off-network cable rights to “Shark Tank,” which features Mark Cuban as a panelist.
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