Raphael Stevens

Stellantis Chairman John Elkann detailed several upcoming plans for U.S. investments when meeting with President Donald Trump during a dayslong trip before his Monday inauguration.
The plans included confirmations of investments in plants in Ohio, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan.

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

DETROIT — Stellantis Chairman John Elkann detailed several upcoming plans the trans-Atlantic automaker has for U.S. investments when meeting with President Donald Trump during a dayslong trip to Washington, D.C., before Trump’s Monday inauguration.
The plans, as outlined in an internal message Wednesday to U.S. employees, included creating 1,500 jobs and reopening a plant in Illinois to build a new midsize pickup truck in 2027; building a new version of the Dodge Durango SUV that was being considered for Mexico at a Detroit plant instead; and adding more support for plants in Toledo, Ohio, and Kokomo, Indiana.

“John told the President that building on our proud, more than 100-year history in the U.S., we plan to continue that legacy by further strengthening our U.S. manufacturing footprint and providing stability for our great American workforce,” Antonio Filosa, head of Stellantis’ North American operations, said in the message.
Leaders from each of the “Big Three” automakers in Detroit have now separately spoken or met with Trump. They also were among the companies to each donate $1 million to Trump’s inauguration.
General Motors on Wednesday confirmed CEO Mary Barra also spoke with Trump prior to the inauguration about the U.S. automotive industry and economy. The company characterized it as a great, “friendly and productive” conversation.

Flanked by Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman (L) and General Motors CEO Mary Barra (R), U.S. President Donald Trump holds a strategy and policy forum with chief executives of major U.S. companies at the White House in Washington February 3, 2017.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters

Ford Motor Chair Bill Ford earlier this month said he had a lengthy phone call with the then-president-elect.
“We had a long, long, conversation,” Ford said Jan. 9 during an event for the Detroit Auto Show. “He called me out of the blue and we had a terrific conversation. And he understands the importance of our industry and Ford in the industry. He wants to be helpful. I think once he gets his staff together, we’ll probably be able to go a little bit deeper.”

Some of the Stellantis’ announcements, such as building the midsize pickup truck in Illinois, were previously expected under a contract with the United Auto Workers union. However, they had come into question under strategic decisions made by former Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares.
UAW President Shawn Fain, who had been campaigning for Tavares’ firing, hailed the announced plans. The union had previously filed grievances and held anti-Stellantis rallies over job cuts and potential changes to the company’s production plans.
“This victory is a testament to the power of workers standing together and holding a billion-dollar corporation accountable. We’ve shown that we will do what it takes to protect the good union jobs that are the lifeblood of places like Belvidere, Detroit, Kokomo, and beyond,” Fain said in a statement Wednesday.

The New York Stock Exchange welcomes The Jeep Brand (NYSE: STLA) to the podium, on May 31, 2024. To honor the occasion, Antonio Filosa, Chief Executive Officer, joined by Lynn Martin, President, NYSE Group rings The Opening Bell®.

Elkann, scion of Italy’s Agnelli family who founded Fiat, is overseeing the automaker amid a search for a new CEO following Tavares’ abrupt December departure amid declining profits, slumping market share and disagreements with the company’s board.
Plans for Stellantis’ Jeep complex in Ohio include “additional technologies and strong product actions for Jeep Wrangler and Jeep Gladiator” and “more components critical” to supporting facilities.
Stellantis’ investments for Indiana include production of a new four-cylinder engine, according to the memo.
“Our plans, focused on increasing market share and growing sales volume, entail a multibillion-dollar investment in our people, great products, and innovative technology, all here in the U.S.,” Filosa said.
Reuters on Tuesday reported Elkann met with Trump and several top administration officials before Trump’s inauguration, which Elkann was invited to but did not attend.
Elkann, who also serves as chairman of Ferrari, flew back to Italy prior to the inauguration to meet seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton as the new Ferrari Formula One driver, Reuters reported.

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CNN is planning to lay off hundreds of employees this week.
NBC News is also planning layoffs this week, although the scale will be much smaller than those at CNN.
Newsrooms around the U.S. are reorganizing around digital audiences as fewer people watch cable and broadcast news.

The stage is set for the first 2024 presidential debate between U.S. President Joe Biden and former U.S. President Donald Trump, in Atlanta on June 26, 2024.
John Nowak | CNN | Via Reuters

Warner Bros. Discovery’s CNN plans to lay off hundreds of employees Thursday as it refocuses the business around a global digital audience, according to people familiar with the matter.
The layoffs come as CNN is rearranging its linear TV lineup and building out digital subscription products. The cuts will help CNN lower production costs and consolidate teams, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss nonpublic changes.

Certain shows that are produced in New York or Washington may move to Atlanta, where production can be done more cheaply, said the people.
For the most part, the job cuts won’t affect CNN’s most recognizable names, who are under contract, said the people. CNN has about 3,500 employees worldwide.
During a town hall meeting earlier this month, CNN CEO Mark Thompson said the media company has received an investment of “more than $70 million” from Warner Bros. Discovery to help fund the company’s digital operations. Part of that investment will go toward hiring employees in areas where CNN sees potential growth avenues, such as data scientists and product development.
In October, CNN launched a digital paywall, charging heavier users of the site $3.99 per month.
NBC News is also planning cuts later this week, according to people familiar with the matter. While the exact number couldn’t be determined, the job losses will be well under 50, two of the people said.

Spokespeople for NBC News and CNN declined to comment.
Both news organizations waited until after the U.S. presidential inauguration to make the cuts. The news media landscape is in transition as fewer people watch linear TV and more consume their news on streaming services and through social media.
Disclosure: NBCUniversal is the parent company of CNBC and NBC News. More

Family offices are paying top dollar to compete with Wall Street, not only for C-suite roles but also for administrative positions.
Executive assistants can command base salaries of as much as $190,000 at family offices with billions in assets.
These well-paid assistants are expected to go above and beyond for these ultra-rich employers.

Martin-dm | E+ | Getty Images

Good help is hard to find. Family offices, the private investment firms of the ultra-wealthy, are increasingly willing to pay extra for it.
The talent war between family offices and Wall Street has driven up salaries not only for top investment roles but also for administrative staff. While compensation depends on the size and scope of the family office, executive assistants now often command base salaries exceeding $140,000, according to three recruiters who spoke to CNBC. This is well above the industry average of $81,500 for a senior executive assistant post, according to staffing firm Robert Half.

There are about 8,000 single-family offices worldwide, with nearly 3,200 in North America, according to a survey by Deloitte Private. Family office administration roles can come with sweeping responsibilities well beyond typical duties, such as compiling expense reports and managing correspondence. Mandates to organize travel for the entire family or coordinate household staff at multiple personal residences, for example, are frequently fair game. 
“You will have to do anything for this person, and you don’t know what that will be,” said Jonathan Hova, recruiter and senior vice president at Career Group. “If a pipe bursts in Southampton in January, that’s where you’re going.”

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The median base salary for executive assistants at family offices is $100,048, according to a survey of 436 family offices and family investment firms by Botoff Consulting.
The larger the family office the more executive assistants can expect to be paid. At family offices with at least $2.5 billion in assets under management, that median pay is about 35% higher, the survey found.
That’s before annual bonuses, which typically range from 10% to 20% of the base salary, according to Botoff.

The top 10% of administrative assistants at family offices regardless of size make $188,800 with a 20% bonus, according to the survey. Among the largest family offices, which are more likely to use long-term incentive plans, the top 10% of assistants can see all-in compensation of up to $240,000.
“Certainly for some families there is going to be some sticker shock,” said Trish Botoff, founder and managing principal of Botoff Consulting. “But I think they also find that when they can control services that are being provided, how it’s being done, who it’s being done by, they’re much happier with the results they get.”
Executive assistants to family offices are often required to travel with the executives they support, both on personal and professional trips. 
Recruiter Dawn Faktor Pincus is looking to hire an executive assistant who will travel with the family office principal at least once a month, including on holidays. She estimated the total compensation for the role would top $200,000 between a $170,000 base salary, travel pay and sign-on and yearly bonuses.
The travel and time commitment are just part of why the role pays so much, said Faktor Pincus, a senior recruiter at Howard-Sloan Search. These ultra-rich employers are often picky, desiring candidates with top-tier or Ivy League degrees or previous experience working with high-net-worth individuals, which comes at a premium, she said. For one family office seeking an executive assistant with a creative background, she placed a graduate of a prestigious university who was an aspiring novelist.
“It’s a small pool,” Faktor Pincus said. 
Most of these family offices seek at least five years of related experience, with some requiring at least eight to 10 years due to the complexity of the role, according to recruiter Fira Yagyaev of Larson Maddox.
“They are really in the weeds of what the family experiences day to day so it is probably one of the most crucial hires,” said Yagyaev, head of wealth management, trust and family office services at the recruiting agency.
At the same time, these accomplished assistants are expected to take on any task, big or small, without complaint. Hova said executive assistants can expect at least 10% of their work to verge on personal assistant duties.
“It is always a service role,” he said.
Plus, the work comes with thorny personalities, said Faktor Pincus. 
“A lot of times the ultra-high-net-worth individuals could be difficult,” she said. “People don’t become as successful as they are by being so nice and sweet.” More

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JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon on Wednesday called the U.S. stock market inflated and said he felt more cautious than others in the business world.
He noted risks from deficit spending, inflation and geopolitical upheaval.

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon on Wednesday called the U.S. stock market inflated and said he felt more cautious than others in the business world because of the risks from deficit spending, inflation and geopolitical upheaval.
“Asset prices are kind of inflated, by any measure. They are in the top 10% or 15%” of historical valuations, Dimon told CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Dimon said that he was speaking specifically about the American stock market, which is in the midst of a multiyear bull run.
The S&P 500 had back-to-back annual gains of more than 20% in 2023 and 2024, the first time that has happened in over 25 years. Last year, Dimon even called the shares of his own company expensive.
On Wednesday, Dimon also noted that parts of the bond market, like sovereign debt, are “at all-time highs.”
“So yeah, they’re elevated, and you need fairly good outcomes to justify those prices,” Dimon said. “Having pro-growth strategies helps make that happen, but there are negatives out there, and they can tend to surprise you.”
Dimon, 68, is one of the most respected voices in finance after he built JPMorgan into the biggest American bank by many measures, including assets and market valuation.

He has been sounding a note of caution since 2022, when he said a “hurricane” was heading for the U.S. economy. That storm, however, has yet to arrive as the U.S. exceeded expectations in recent years, and the election of Donald Trump in November boosted hopes around what a pro-growth administration will do.
“I do have a little more caution around a bunch of subjects,” Dimon said Wednesday. “What I’m a little cautious about is the deficit spending; it’s a global issue, not just an American issue,” he said. “And the related [question], ‘Will inflation go away?’ I’m not so sure.”
The rising tide of global conflict, including the Ukraine war, tension in the Middle East and growing threats from China has “just got me very concerned how it’s going to affect our world for the next 100 years,” Dimon said.
In the wide-ranging interview, Dimon voiced support for tariffs on imports to the U.S. if they bolster national security, and said that he and tech entrepreneur Elon Musk have smoothed over a previously contentious relationship. Dimon also said he had no intention to run for office in 2028.
Later Wednesday, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon acknowledged that stock market valuations were high, while indicating that they could be justified by enthusiasm over the impact of both artificial intelligence and Trump’s expected moves to relax regulation for American companies.
“It’s hard to dispute the fact that equity multiples are high,” Solomon said. “Markets look forward, and we are coming off of a very, very tough regulatory environment across all industries.”
If Trump administration officials allow more mergers to happen, boosting capital markets activities, it could boost GDP growth by a half percentage point, Solomon said.

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Michelle Mack, the California “queenpin” accused of running a retail crime ring that targeted Ulta Beauty stores, will have to pay the company and other retailers millions of dollars in restitution.
Mack struck a plea deal with prosecutors last year and agreed to spend five years and four months in state prison.
As part of the deal, Mack was forced to sell her Bonsall, California, mansion, which will be used to pay off her restitution.

The California mom who pleaded guilty to running an organized retail crime ring that stole millions of dollars in beauty products from Ulta Beauty and Sephora to resell on Amazon will now have to pay those retailers back as part of her sentence.
Michelle Mack, who began her five-year prison sentence on Jan. 9 following her arrest outside of San Diego in December 2023, was ordered to pay $3 million in restitution to Ulta, Sephora and a number of other retailers after striking a plea deal with prosecutors last year. 

As part of the deal, Mack, 54, forfeited her 4,500-square-foot mansion in Bonsall, California, which was sold in December for $2.35 million, property records show. 
Any funds left from the sale, after bank debts were satisfied, will go toward restitution, while Mack and her husband Kenneth Mack, 60, will pay back the remainder “over time,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office said. 
It’s not clear if Mack had a mortgage on the property, but she originally purchased it for $2.29 million in 2021, according to property records.
It’s also not clear how the restitution will be divvied up among Mack’s victims. The crime ring she admitted to running primarily targeted Ulta stores, but it stole from other retailers, including Sephora.
When compared with the net income that retailers like Ulta bring in annually, the restitution is likely a drop in the bucket — but it would still be a small windfall. Ulta declined to comment on the restitution, including how it would use the funds or account for them in financial statements. The company did say it was proud to have partnered with law enforcement officials on the investigation and was grateful for their efforts. 

“This case demonstrates that through close partnerships between retailers, law enforcement and prosecutors, as well as legislative support, we can make a meaningful impact on organized retail crime and hold the criminals perpetuating this problem accountable,” Dan Petrousek, senior vice president of loss prevention at Ulta Beauty, said in a statement. 
Sephora didn’t return a request for comment. 
David Johnston, vice president of asset protection and retail operations at the National Retail Federation, said restitution is common for retailers, victimized by theft, but the amounts only recently started reaching the millions.
“The level of theft … has not been as substantial and as commonplace as we’ve seen over the last, you know, four years or so,” said Johnston. “This is going to be what we would expect to see when we start to get these organized retail crime groups through the judicial process. It is a substantial amount of loss, a complex organization, which involves a number of individuals, and then sentencing and restitution that meet the crime.” 
He cautioned that restitution rarely makes up for a retailers’ lost income in full, and it can take years for a defendant to pay back the fines entirely.
“Restitution is part of the judicial process, but it does not guarantee that the victim will receive all or any funds,” said Johnston. “It’s dependent upon the ability to obtain that restitution from the offender and the process in which that restitution is in fact paid and shared across multiple victims.” 
Last year, Bonta filed a slew of felony charges against Mack and her husband, alleging they ran what his office called a sprawling retail crime ring that led to an estimated $8 million in stolen beauty products, CNBC previously reported. The operation spanned at least a dozen states, CNBC reported.
Mack wasn’t accused of stealing the products herself. Instead, police said she recruited a crew of young women to take the items so she could resell the products on her Amazon storefront for a fraction of their retail price. 
The investigation, led by the California Highway Patrol, gained national attention and revealed the sophisticated nature behind some retail crime rings and how bad actors can use online marketplaces to sell stolen products. 
Last summer, Mack was sentenced to five years and four months in state prison, but was given a delayed sentence that began this month. Mack’s husband, Kenneth, was also sentenced in connection with the case, so the judge agreed to postpone her sentence so she could care for their children while Kenneth was incarcerated. 
Additional reporting by Scott Zamost and Courtney Reagan

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