Raphael Stevens

The Walt Disney Company will pay $10 million to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations that it enabled the unlawful collection of children’s personal data on YouTube.
The FTC claimed the company allowed personal data to be collected from children who viewed kid-directed videos on YouTube without notifying parents or obtaining their consent.
In addition to the civil penalty, Disney has been asked to implement a program to review whether videos posted to YouTube should be designated as “made for kids.”

A water tower stands at Walt Disney Studios on June 3, 2025 in Burbank, California.
Mario Tama | Getty Images

The Walt Disney Company will pay $10 million to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations that it enabled the unlawful collection of children’s personal data on YouTube.
The FTC claimed the company allowed data to be collected from kids who viewed videos directed at children on YouTube without notifying parents or obtaining their consent.

The complaint alleged that Disney violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule by not labeling some YouTube videos as being made for children. The agency claimed the company was able to collect data from viewers of child-directed content who were under the age of 13 and use it for targeted advertising.
In 2019, after a settlement with the FTC, YouTube began requiring content creators to list whether uploaded videos were “made for kids” or “not made for kids.” The designation ensures that personal information is not collected from the “made for kids” videos and personalized ads will not be served to viewers. Comments are also disabled on those videos.
The proposed settlement would require Disney to pay a $10 million civil penalty, comply with the children’s data protection rule and implement a program to review whether videos posted to YouTube should be designated as “made for kids.”
“Supporting the well-being and safety of kids and families is at the heart of what we do,” the company said in a statement obtained by CNBC. “This settlement does not involve Disney owned and operated digital platforms but rather is limited to the distribution of some of our content on YouTube’s platform. Disney has a long tradition of embracing the highest standards of compliance with children’s privacy laws, and we remain committed to investing in the tools needed to continue being a leader in this space.”
Axios was the first to report the settlement. More

BGO, a global real estate investment manager with $89 billion in assets under management, is using artificial intelligence to transform its investment research models.
The model found outperformance or underperformance was determined fully by the local market that was chosen for the investment. 
BGO used its data science to inform a decision to invest in an industrial development in Las Vegas with partner Northpoint Development.

Las Vegas Skyline Landscape
Usa-taro | Istock | Getty Images

A version of this article first appeared in the CNBC Property Play newsletter with Diana Olick. Property Play covers new and evolving opportunities for the real estate investor, from individuals to venture capitalists, private equity funds, family offices, institutional investors and large public companies. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.
John Carrafiell, co-CEO of BGO, a global real estate investment manager with $89 billion in assets under management, takes great pride in the fact that he sits right next to his chief data scientist. 

Investment strategy, whatever the market, has always relied on research and data, but artificial intelligence has taken that to a whole new level, transforming investment research models developed just a few years ago and putting them on steroids. 
Carrafiell, who has been in the real estate business for roughly 40 years, said he was increasingly frustrated by the sector’s research and data methodologies, which he said really hadn’t changed at all over those years. Everyone seemed to be looking at the same information and coming up with the same conclusions. The question he said he kept asking himself was, “How do we really outperform?” 
The answer, he found, was to analyze all of his firm’s past deals going back 20 years, using just a computer model and taking the human element out of it. What the model found was that outperformance or underperformance was determined fully by the local market that was chosen for the investment. 
That may sound trite — given that real estate’s mantra has always been “location, location, location” — but the results told his team to focus almost entirely on local market fundamentals when choosing its future investments, and not so much on property pricing and national economic trends. 

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There are, of course, research firms that analyze and rank local real estate markets, but BGO found their results to be somewhat random, according to Carrafiell. Instead it looked to its own past and built a model that backtested exactly what drove its best and worst performance. The model includes all sorts of local market data points, including demographic and supply trends unique to each location. AI then gave that model increased data volume and velocity. 

“We have taken thousands of data inputs, many that are free from the government, many we have to buy from, for instance, telecom providers, great data. We have found the key,” said Carrafiell. “And we know it’s accurate because we backtest it.” 
BGO used its data science to inform a decision to invest in an industrial development in Las Vegas with partner Northpoint Development. Other data models suggested it wasn’t a particularly good investment. 
Carrafiell said the “best research out there” indicated the investment would be mediocre in terms of performance and returns. 
“But our model was screaming, it is going to explode. We underwrote $5.88-per-square-foot rents. We’ve gotten rents in the $9-per-square-foot range,” he said. “That does not happen in commercial real estate. That is not luck.” 
The model, he explained, saw that the Inland Empire of California was getting too expensive, then analyzed logistics routes. It found that companies could save big by being in Las Vegas instead, where both the rents, taxes and labor were cheaper. 
“So you had an extra two-hour drive, but you saved like 60% on your total cost, and that’s what the model saw,” Carrafiell said. “The tenants we have there are serving an entire region. They’re not serving Las Vegas.”
BGO ran similar analytics for investments in Florida and the Rust Belt, resulting in big returns on its investments. 
“We think our performance has materially increased as a result of this model,” said Carrafiell. 
But he admitted that although the model’s accuracy is improved dramatically by artificial intelligence, it can never be totally accurate, hypothesizing, “Boeing can move out of Seattle, and the model can’t predict that, right? There could be idiosyncratic things.”
While BGO’s investing team focuses on the upside models for potential properties, its lending team looks at the downside modeling, because therein lies its risk. 
New iterations of the research model down the road will include asset allocation to different sectors of commercial real estate. The model would ideally suggest an optimal portfolio mix. The possibilities are still growing, which is why Carrafiell says he’s dialed into the data like never before. 
“AI is an enhancer and an accelerator that allows us to do so much more, but it’s really data science,” he said. “It’s [like] a six-person, dedicated data science team that is sitting next to your CEO and next to your asset management and acquisitions team.” More

Macy’s posted fiscal second-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street estimates Wednesday morning.
CEO Tony Spring said the company’s revamped stores are seeing improved sales trends.
The retailer raised its full-year guidance after slashing it last quarter.

Scott Olson | Getty Images

Macy’s posted second-quarter earnings Wednesday that easily topped Wall Street’s expectations, as it said revamped stores helped sales trends.
The department store operator also raised its full-year earnings and sales guidance. It now expects adjusted earnings of between $1.70 and $2.05 per share, compared with $1.60 to $2 per share, and revenue between $21.15 billion and $21.45 billion, compared with $21 billion to $21.4 billion.

The stock was up more than 10% before the bell.
Macy’s had slashed its full-year guidance last quarter and reported uncertainty in sales due to President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
“We’re just well-positioned right now for the environment we’re in to take share, to deliver for our customers and to provide a better experience,” CEO Tony Spring told CNBC in an interview.
Last quarter, the company said it was hiking prices of certain products to offset tariff costs. Spring said Wednesday that the company now has tariff impacts included in its outlook and remains cautiously optimistic about the future.
“Tariffs are real. It’s a component of the business, but we have tailwinds that we are trying to mitigate against those headwinds,” Spring said. “That’s a better customer experience, that’s a newer assortment, that’s less redundancy in our assortment, that’s now a business that’s growing across all three nameplates in our portfolio and a healthy inventory position going into the fall season.”

Spring added that the consumer remains resilient and continues to spend on new items and fashion.
Macy’s said it saw its best comparable sales growth in 12 quarters, and Spring said the retailer’s strategy is leaning into business segments that are working to keep its momentum going, including growth in denim, women’s contemporary apparel and watches.
Here’s how the company performed during its second fiscal quarter, compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:

Earnings per share: 41 cents adjusted vs. 18 cents expected
Revenue: $4.81 billion vs. $4.76 billion expected

In the three-month period that ended Aug. 2, the company’s net income was $87 million, or 31 cents per share, compared with $150 million, or 53 cents per share, the year prior. Net sales dropped from $4.94 billion in the year-ago period to $4.81 billion. Adjusted earnings per share were 41 cents.
Macy’s said the group of 125 stores that the company has chosen to focus on with higher staffing and renovations, outperformed the broader Macy’s brand, seeing comparable sales growth of 1.1% on an owned basis.
The department store also owns Bloomingdale’s, which reported comparable sales growth of 3.6% on an owned basis, and Bluemercury, which saw comparable sales rise 1.2%. Those two brands have consistently performed better than the Macy’s namesake stores.
The company also reported a $28 million increase in credit card net revenues to $153 million.
“When you think about the strength of a department store or a marketplace, it’s when multiple categories are working,” Spring said Wednesday.
CFO Tom Edwards said on a call with analysts on Wednesday that Macy’s is exploring more price hikes on certain products because of tariffs.
“We’re adjusting prices, but as appropriate, not broad-based and really assessing it with our partners in an effort to remain competitive,” Edwards said. “I believe that we are really well-positioned to navigate through this time given our business model.” More

Holiday spending by U.S. consumers is projected to drop 5% year over year, based on a survey by consulting firm PwC.
The sharpest drop is among Gen Z, which plans to spend an average of 23% less than the year-ago holiday season.
Tariffs have heightened consumers’ awareness of rising prices, and retailers are missing the mark with younger shoppers, said Ali Furman, the U.S. consumer markets industry leader for PwC.

Shoppers at the Walmart Supercenter in Burbank during Walmart’s multi-week Annual Deals Shopping Event in Burbank Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. 
Allen J. Schaben | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images

Holiday shoppers expect to trim the tree and their spending this upcoming season, according to a survey by consulting firm PwC.
Across generations, consumers said they plan to spend an average of $1,552 on holiday gifts, travel and entertainment — which represents a 5% drop from the planned holiday spending average in the year-ago period.

Yet the sharpest decline comes from Generation Z, whose members said they plan to spend 23% less on average than a year ago. That’s the biggest drop of any generation and a significant swing from last year when they said they expected to spend 37% more. Their pullback is also contributing to the overall decline in holiday spending.
“Price is Gen Z’s love language,” said Ali Furman, the U.S. consumer markets industry leader for PwC. “They’ve been raised in an era of rising costs. They’re laser-focused on value and cost transparency. For them, dupes aren’t a downgrade. They’re proof of smart shopping.”
For retailers, Gen Z customers — who span in age from 13 to 29 and have an average age of 22 — are both an opportunity and a challenge, Furman said. As they enter adulthood, they tend to have smaller salaries, new expenses and debt to pay down, she said. Plus, she said, they are experience-driven, often prioritizing concert tickets, hotel stays and plane trips over buying new items, and they’re feeling the pinch as those experiences cost more.
“Entertainment and vacations are taking up more of their wallet than they have, and therefore they have less to spend on holiday,” Furman said.
It’s also been hard for retailers to keep up with young shoppers, who “are the fastest generation to adopt trends and abandon trends,” she said.

For retailers, the survey’s findings highlight the uncertain backdrop for a holiday season that could be shaped, at least in part, by price sensitivity as companies debate how much to absorb and pass on higher tariff costs.
All other generations’ holiday spending expectations were roughly flat compared with a year ago — with the exception of baby boomers, who plan to spend 5% more on average, according to PwC’s survey, which included a representative sample of 4,000 U.S. consumers and was conducted in late June and early July.
Consumers who have already grown weary of the rising cost of living, such as higher utility bills, are also wary of potential price increases from higher tariffs, Furman said. That’s made shoppers pay closer attention to price tags and intensified their resolve to delay or shop early to get the best deal, she said.
“It’s not necessarily the tariffs themselves that are driving sentiment and behavior,” she said. “It’s the threat prices may go up, and people have a consciousness around that.” More

Aircraft lessor Air Lease, founded by aviation mogul Steven Udvar-Házy, has agreed to a $7.4 billion takeover.
The take-private deal is led by a group of investors led by Sumitomo Corporation and SMBC Aviation Capital, as well as asset managers Apollo and Brookfield.
The deal would further consolidate the aircraft leasing industry, which controls more than half the world’s commercial fleet. 

An Airbus A321 is being assembled in the final assembly line hangar at the Airbus U.S. Manufacturing Facility in Mobile, Alabama.
Michael Spooneybarger | Reuters

Aircraft leasing firm Air Lease, founded by industry mogul Steven Udvar-Házy, agreed to sell itself in a deal that would take it private to a group of investors for $7.4 billion, ushering in more consolidation in the airplane-renting business.
The planned acquisition, announced Tuesday, was led by Japan’s Sumitomo and SMBC Aviation Capital, and also includes asset managers Apollo and Brookfield. Shareholders in Los Angeles-based Air Lease would receive $65 per share, a nearly 8% premium to Friday’s close. Including debt, the investors are valuing the company at about $28.2 billion.

Lessors rent aircraft to airlines, helping those carriers conserve cash they’d otherwise have to use to buy planes that can cost more than $100 million apiece at list prices. A shortage of aircraft in recent years — driven by the Covid-19 pandemic, supply chain problems and other slowdowns — has pushed rental rates to records for both new and older models alike.
The aircraft leasing business, which owns more than half the world’s fleet of passenger jets, has grown from a 51% ownership share in 2009 to a 58% share currently, according to aviation consulting firm IBA Group. It hasn’t seen more growth because some large airlines became profitable, allowing them to own many of their planes.
“Cash is not alien to these guys anymore,” said Stuart Hatcher, chief economist at IBA Group.
At the same time, many airlines are now rethinking their capacity plans as an oversupply of flights has weighed on fares and eaten into their profits this year. On the extreme end, Spirit Airlines on Friday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the second time in less than a year after it failed to make major changes the first time around and emerged with high costs and a drop in demand.
The take-private deal underscores a wave of consolidation in the industry, and will help the companies grow their scale. Air Lease ended the second quarter with 495 planes in its owned fleet.

Including its backlog, Air Lease is the fifth-largest aircraft lessor, according to a tally by IBA. The parties expect the deal to close in the first half of 2026. The new company will be based in Dublin.
“It makes perfect sense when you consider it’s … the cheapest way to buy market growth,” said IBA’s Hatcher.

Read more CNBC airline news

Recent deals

The Air Lease acquisition is the latest in a string of deals.
General Electric sold its aircraft leasing arm to No. 1 airplane lessor AerCap in 2021 as the conglomerate was spinning off units to focus on major businesses such as airplane engine manufacturing.
Two years ago, Standard Chartered agreed to sell its aircraft leasing business to AviLease, which is owned by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. 

Steven Udvar-Hazy, chairman of Air Lease Corp., poses for a photograph after speaking at an Aviation Club lunch in London on Sept. 13, 2018.
Simon Dawson | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Often dubbed the “godfather” of aviation leasing, Udvar-Házy founded Air Lease in 2010, working closely with Air Lease CEO John Plueger.
“Since founding Air Lease in 2010, we have been unwavering in our mission to shape the future of the aviation industry and provide airlines around the world with access to the most modern, fuel-efficient aircraft,” Udvar-Házy said Tuesday.
Udvar-Házy, who fled Soviet Hungary with his parents in the late 1950s, has had a lifelong love of aviation and has often been credited with creating the aircraft leasing business. He co-founded his previous leasing company, later known as ILFC, in 1973, and it was later sold to AIG. He continued to run it until 2010 and announced his retirement from Air Lease this past March.

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