ANOTHER UNEASY year for chief executives is drawing to a close. A series of elections, from India to America, cast a shroud of uncertainty over 2024. Wars in Ukraine and the Middle East kept geopolitics front and centre. China’s economy slowed and Europe’s continued to sputter. Excitement over artificial intelligence (AI) was balanced by gnawing questions over the pace of adoption and the rate of further technological advances. More
American briefly grounded U.S. flights on Tuesday.
The carrier said a technical problem stemmed from a hardware issue with a third-party platform.
The ground stop lasted about one hour but more than 900 American flights were delayed.
American Airlines planes sit by their gates at the Miami International Airport on October 25, 2024 in Miami, Florida.
Joe Raedle | Getty Images
American Airlines briefly grounded its U.S. flights Tuesday morning due to a technical problem, snarling travel during what carriers expect to be a period of record demand for the holidays.
By 7:55 a.m. ET, the ground stop had been lifted, an American Airlines spokeswoman told CNBC. The ground stop lasted for less than an hour but more than 900 American Airlines mainline flights had been delayed, according to flight-tracking site FlightAware. That was more than 38% of American’s schedule for Tuesday, and more delays than any other U.S. carrier. Only 11 mainline flights were canceled, however.
The airline’s subsidiary regional carrier Envoy also reported another 200 delayed flights. In addition to the earlier ground stop, American was also facing thunderstorms in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, where its biggest hub is located.
The problem was a network hardware issue involving a platform using DXC Technology, a vendor that maintains the flight operating system that lets flights leave the gate, American said in a statement.
The system is tied to critical data like an aircraft’s weight and balance, which is required before a flight can leave the gate.
“That issue has been resolved and flights have resumed,” the carrier said in a statement. “We sincerely apologize to our customers for the inconvenience this morning.”
The Federal Aviation Administration said American had requested the ground stop.
Airlines routinely request ground stops, which hold flights at origin, so that destination airports aren’t overwhelmed by flights with nowhere to park when there are disruptions. In addition to technical problems, ground stops are put in place for thunderstorms and other severe weather.
American was operating a smaller schedule on Christmas Eve compared with other days around the Christmas holiday. The carrier didn’t have any cancellations tied to the issue, a spokeswoman said.
Airlines’ patchwork systems of critical technology platforms have gained more attention lately after periods of mass flight cancellations such as Southwest’s meltdown during the 2022 year-end holiday season and Delta’s struggle to recover from the CrowdStrike outage this past summer.
Correction: The ground stop was issued Tuesday. An earlier version misstated the timing.
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The Food and Drug Administration announced that branded tirzepatide, the active ingredient in Eli Lilly’s weight loss drug Zepbound, is no longer in short supply.
That decision will largely prevent compounding pharmacies from making and selling cheaper versions of the drug in the next two to three months.
It will also leave some patients in limbo, closing a niche market for compounded tirzepatide that patients say helped fill a gap in care for those who say they simply can’t afford to pay out of pocket for Zepbound.
An injection pen of Zepbound, Eli Lilly’s weight loss drug, is displayed in New York City on Dec. 11, 2023.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
The roughly $1,000 monthly price tag of Eli Lilly’s weight loss drug Zepbound put the blockbuster treatment out of reach for Willow Baillies, 29, whose insurance does not cover it.
Baillies, a human resources specialist based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has been attempting to lose weight and dealing with chronic autoimmune issues for years, so she turned to a cheaper alternative: a compounded, off-brand version of tirzepatide.
Tirzepatide is the active ingredient in Zepbound and in Eli Lilly’s diabetes counterpart Mounjaro, which are part of a class of highly popular medications called GLP-1s.
She said compounded tirzepatide has helped change her life dramatically since she began taking it in June, alleviating pain from her autoimmune issues and helping her lose about 52 pounds. She said it costs her around $350 per month.
But soon, compounded versions of tirzepatide could become inaccessible to Baillies and other patients who rely on them. Patients and health-care experts said that could force some consumers to stockpile doses, switch to other treatments, or stop receiving care altogether due to financial constraints. Others could turn to a potentially unsafe method of mixing vials themselves.
That’s because the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday announced that branded tirzepatide is no longer in short supply — a decision that will largely prevent compounding pharmacies from making and selling cheaper versions of the drug in the next two to three months.
During FDA-declared shortages, pharmacists can legally make compounded versions of brand-name medications. But drugmakers and some health experts have pushed back against the practice because the FDA does not approve compounded drugs, which are essentially custom-made copies prescribed by a doctor to meet a specific patient’s needs.
The FDA’s decision, based on the agency’s comprehensive analysis of data, could mean that more patients with insurance coverage will be able to access Zepbound after months of limited supply. It also suggests that Eli Lilly’s multibillion-dollar effort to ramp up manufacturing for tirzepatide is starting to pay off.
But it will also leave other patients in limbo, closing a niche, lucrative market for compounded tirzepatide that patients say helped fill a gap in care for those who can’t afford to pay out of pocket for Zepbound.
Many insurance plans still don’t cover drugs for weight loss, and some patients said prices under Eli Lilly’s savings program and for its half-priced vial versions are still too high.
“I’ve stockpiled 10 compounded vials at home, so I have at least a year’s worth,” said Baillies, one of six patients CNBC spoke with about compounded tirzepatide. “We’re willing to kind of do anything to have this. It’s not just about looks; it’s about the opportunity it gives us to live our lives to the fullest.”
Many patients and major trade groups question whether the shortage is truly resolved amid reports of people still struggling to find Eli Lilly’s drugs.
Some medical professionals raised concerns about whether Eli Lilly can meet demand once more patients come off compounded tirzepatide and others start Zepbound for its newly approved use: obstructive sleep apnea.
It’s unclear how many people are on compounded tirzepatide, but one trade group estimated in November that there are more than 200,000 prescriptions for compounded versions of its main rival — Novo Nordisk’s weight-loss drug Wegovy — being filled each month.
“In this current moment, I have confidence that the shortage is over,” said Dr. Shauna Levy, an obesity medicine specialist and medical director of the Tulane Bariatric Center in New Orleans. “Do I think the shortage is over forever? Probably not.”
Eli Lilly did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Compounders face deadlines, with some exceptions
The FDA initially declared the tirzepatide shortage over in October.
But a trade group called the Outsourcing Facilities Association sued days later, claiming the agency made its determination without proper notice and failed to account for continued supply disruptions. That lawsuit pushed the FDA to reconsider and allowed pharmacists to make compounded versions in the meantime.
In its decision announced Thursday, the FDA concluded based on data from Eli Lilly, patients, providers, compounders, and other sources that “Lilly’s supply is currently meeting or exceeding demand and that, based on our best judgment, it will meet or exceed projected demand.”
The FDA is giving so-called 503A compounding pharmacies until Feb. 18 before it takes enforcement action that would put a halt to their work. The 503A pharmacies make compounded drugs according to individual prescriptions for a specific patient and are largely regulated by states rather than the FDA.
Meanwhile, pharmacies manufacturing compounded drugs in bulk with or without prescriptions — known as 503B outsourcing facilities — get an additional month, with a deadline of March 19. They are regulated by FDA guidelines.
An Eli Lilly & Co. Zepbound injection pen arranged in the Brooklyn borough of New York on March 28, 2024.
Shelby Knowles | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Those “off-ramp periods are appreciated” because it gives patients time to switch to brand-name tirzepatide, said Tenille Davis, chief advocacy officer for trade group Alliance for Pharmacy Compounding.
But the group’s members are still reporting that “there’s a real lack of availability” of tirzepatide, she said. That trade group represents compounding pharmacies and hybrid pharmacies that also dispense regular drug prescriptions.
Still, 503A pharmacies may be allowed to continue making compounded tirzepatide in certain situations under the law, Davis said.
That includes when a prescriber determines that a compounded version with certain changes will produce a “significant difference” for a patient. For example, a patient may need a specialized dose or be allergic to the dye in a branded product.
Davis said that means compounded tirzepatide won’t be completely eliminated in the U.S., but the scale of it will “certainly decrease.”
The legal battle between the FDA and the Outsourcing Facilities Association isn’t over yet, however. On Thursday, the FDA and OFA jointly said they will provide an update in court by Jan. 2 to address the “next steps in this litigation.” They also said if the trade group files a preliminary injunction over the next two weeks, the FDA will not take action against its members for continuing to make compounded tirzepatide until the court resolves the case.
That pending litigation further “adds to the confusion of the status of compounded tirzepatide after February and March,” said Dae Lee, a partner at law firm Frier Levitt who represents pharmacies, none of which were involved in the dispute with the FDA.
Patients look to alternatives
Amanda Bonello has been taking compounded tirzepatide and has launched a petition demanding the FDA support access to compounded GLP-1s.
Courtesy: Amanda Bonello
Many patients who rely on compounded tirzepatide are scrambling to ensure they can continue care.
That includes Amanda Bonello, 36, an Iowa-based account manager who said she is prediabetic. Bonello said taking compounded tirzepatide over the last two months has helped her lose 26 pounds and normalized her blood sugar levels, allowing her to avoid a diabetes diagnosis.
She said she “absolutely cannot” afford branded tirzepatide since her insurance does not cover it, so she will consider switching to compounded semaglutide. That is the active ingredient in Wegovy and its diabetes counterpart Ozempic, Novo Nordisk’s two GLP-1s that are still on the FDA’s drug shortage list.
Many compounding pharmacies make unbranded versions of semaglutide, which has been on the U.S. market — and in short supply — for much longer than tirzepatide. But an end to the shortage may be imminent, with the FDA announcing in late October that all doses of semaglutide are available.
“If compounded semaglutide goes away as well, then I will be screwed,” Bonello said. She has launched an online petition demanding that the FDA support access to compounded GLP-1s. The petition has gained more than 15,000 signatures in the past month.
Erin Hunt (right,) a patient who has been taking compounded tirzepatide, and her husband Brice.
Courtesy: Erin Hunt
Another patient, Erin Hunt, 31, a communications analyst based in Maryland, said she may eventually switch to the branded version of tirzepatide.
Hunt started taking compounded tirzepatide in April after struggling to find supply of Zepbound, which she took for one month. It has helped her lose around 55 pounds, experience fewer symptoms from her chronic inflammatory conditions and pursue a healthier diet and exercise. She said she initially paid $300 per month for the compound drug and now pays $350 for a higher dose.
Hunt’s insurance does not cover Zepbound. But she qualifies for Eli Lilly’s savings card program, which allows commercially insured patients without coverage for Zepbound to buy a month’s supply for around $650. Under that program, patients whose commercial insurance plan covers Zepbound can pay as low as $25.
“I am extremely concerned for what it’s going to cost,” Hunt said. “This medication has literally changed my life, and it’s probably going to benefit me to be on a maintenance dose for life.”
For Jill Skala, 49, a teacher in western Pennsylvania, the FDA’s decision means that she will lose a more affordable option after her insurance drops Zepbound coverage on Jan. 1.
Her copay for Zepbound has been around $10 per month since she started the drug in March. Skala said she has lost 52 pounds and noticed “profound improvements” in her mental health, sleep and energy levels. She has stockpiled a three-month supply of Zepbound, she said, and will “do the best I can to maintain my weight loss” once that runs out.
“I don’t see myself continuing to get the branded version at this point unless there’s a pathway back through insurance or Eli Lilly drops the price,” Skala said. “I just paid off my student loans. I don’t want to start my medical debt problem here.”
Jill Skala has been taking branded Zepbound since March, but will soon lose insurance coverage for it.
Courtesy: Jill Skala
Other patients may turn to an underground community Reddit users call “the gray market”: People directly purchase powdered tirzepatide or semaglutide peptides for as little as $50 per month from certain vendors, including Chinese manufacturers, and mix that with sterile water at home, creating a solution they can inject under their skin.
Reddit users say the community establishes protocols for third-party lab testing of peptides to verify their purity and promotes safe mixing and dosing practices.
But Tulane’s Levy said the method “seems very dangerous,” noting that mixing homemade medications without proper training “could potentially have real consequences.”
She said it “highlights people’s desperation to treat the disease of obesity, which is being inadequately met by our current insurance status” for drugs such as Zepbound.
Continuing care
Some compounding pharmacies such as Strive Pharmacy are operating as usual pending more updates to the legal fight. Strive operates nine 503A pharmacies across the U.S., which offer compounded GLP-1s and other services.
But Strive will largely stop making compounded tirzepatide by the February deadline if nothing further happens, according to Matthew Montes de Oca, the company’s chief clinical officer. He acknowledged that Strive could create compounded versions of the drug for specific prescriptions, such as adding glycine to help prevent muscle deterioration in a patient.
Compounded tirzepatide with glycine is what Gina Wright’s doctor will prescribe for her so she can continue taking the unbranded version, which she gets from a different pharmacy. Wright, 58, a self-employed business consultant in Colorado who is prediabetic, said she is paying $225 for a five-milligram dose, which she began taking earlier this month.
She is on her state Medicaid plan, which does not cover Zepbound, so she does not qualify for Eli Lilly’s savings card program. But Wright said she also has sleep apnea, so she is trying to get insurance to cover Zepbound for that purpose.
Gina Wright began taking compounded tirzepatide earlier this month.
Courtesy: Gina Wright
De Oca said compounding individual prescriptions for specific patients will make it harder for Strive to ensure that all of its safety procedures are still in place. Strive typically tests its tirzepatide and semaglutide with a third-party analytical company and conducts a months-long “stability study” to guarantee the quality and safety of the product before creating batches of up to 250 vials, he noted.
Dr. Mace Scott, the owner and medical director of Chronos Body Health Wellness, said the fate of compounded tirzepatide at his Louisiana-based medical spa will depend on the pharmacies he sources it from and “how they decide to move forward.” His spa relies on both 503A and 503B pharmacies, he said, so some patients may be able to continue compounded tirzepatide with a specialized prescription.
Scott said he is trying to help some patients get insurance approval for branded tirzepatide. He is recommending that others switch to compounded semaglutide, which is what roughly 75% of Chronos patients are taking, he said. The spa has treated more than 10,000 patients with branded or compounded GLP-1 medications, according to its website.
“It’s kind of a tough road to traverse right now, so we’re trying to figure out what’s best on a patient-by-patient basis,” Scott told CNBC.
The American Diabetes Association, a nonprofit organization that promotes diabetes research and advocacy, told CNBC it recommends against the use of compounded GLP-1s due to “ongoing concerns” about their safety, quality and efficacy.
It is difficult to discern the quality of the product and its distributor, which poses a potential risk to patients, Joshua Neumiller, the association’s president-elect for health care and education, said in a statement.
Neumiller also pointed to an FDA alert in July about cases of patients measuring and administering incorrect doses of compounded GLP-1s, some of which resulted in adverse events that required hospitalization.
But Molly B., an interior designer based in New York who asked CNBC to omit her full last name, said compounded GLP-1s are her only option.
She said her insurance denied coverage for brand-name semaglutide twice before she started taking compounded tirzepatide in September. It has helped her lose 23 pounds, she said, and eliminated constant thoughts about food — a game changer for a patient suffering from polycystic ovary syndrome, a hormonal disorder that makes it difficult to lose weight.
“I have never been able to lose this much weight on my own, and I’ve tried 100 times,” she said. “This has really changed my life, so I would hope that I can continue to get it the way I am now.” More
There’s growing concern that a 25% potential tariff on Canadian imports to the U.S. could be an existential threat to the country’s recovering automotive industry.
President-elect Donald Trump has said he will impose an additional 10% tariff on goods from China and a 25% levy for Canada and Mexico.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford told CNBC any tariffs would be harmful to both sides of the border.
Canadian and American flags fly near the base of the Ambassador Bridge connecting Canada to the U.S. in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, on Wednesday, May 26, 2021.
Cole Burston | Bloomberg | Getty Images
DETROIT — There’s growing concern that President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to impose 25% tariffs on Canadian imports would be an existential threat to the country’s recovering automotive industry.
Potential tariffs on vehicles and automotive parts are particularly alarming for the province of Ontario, the epicenter of Canada’s auto industry. Five automakers — Ford Motor, General Motors, Stellantis, Toyota Motor and Honda Motor — produced 1.54 million light-duty vehicles last year in the province, largely for U.S. consumers.
“It’d be terrible. It’d not only devastate Canadian jobs, it’d devastate American jobs,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford told CNBC during a phone interview.
A tariff is a tax on imports, or foreign goods, brought into the U.S. They are paid for by companies, which some fear would simply pass any additional costs on to consumers.
Ford, who said he has not spoken with Trump directly, argued that any tariffs would be harmful to both sides of the border.
He said raw materials and parts routinely pass across the border multiple times before being used in the final assembly of a vehicle. Tariffs, he warned, would increase prices, which could then slow production and eliminate jobs.
“We have a trade agreement right now. Things have been working,” Ford said. “I’ve said it publicly: I’d love to do a bilateral trade deal with the U.S. And Mexico wants a trade deal, we’ll do a bilateral trade deal with Mexico. But Mexico, if they want a seat at the table, they have to follow the rules.”
Ontario premier Doug Ford answers questions from reporters as he hosts the Fall meeting of Canada’s premiers in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada December 16, 2024.
Carlos Osorio | Reuters
Trump has said he will impose an additional 10% tariff on goods from China and a 25% levy for Canada and Mexico, though he has offered few details, such as if there would be exceptions. He has he said plans to invoke “national security” concerns to enact such hikes, rather than seeking congressional approval, saying illegal immigration and the illicit drug trade are causing concerns on the border, justifying the tariffs.
Putting tariffs on components could add $600 to $2,500 per vehicle on parts from Mexico, Canada and China, according to estimates in a Wells Fargo analyst note. Prices on vehicles assembled in Mexico and Canada — which account for about 23% of vehicles sold in the U.S. — could rise $1,750 to $10,000.
Such tariffs and increased costs would add to problems for embattled Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as he fends off calls for his resignation.
Ontario: Canada’s auto capitol
Ontario recently launched a multimillion-dollar ad campaign in the U.S. to promote its role as a key trading partner and “ally to the North.”
Ontario, as a province, is the third-largest trading partner for the U.S., including the top foreign trade partner for 17 states, according to Ford, the premier. He points out that trade between Ontario — as well as broader Canada with the U.S. — is much more evenly split than it is with Mexico, especially when removing the oil Canada sends to the U.S.
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addresses the Liberal party caucus meeting in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada December 16, 2024.
Blair Gable | Reuters
Canadian exports of auto parts came in at $23.5 billion in 2023, while exports of light vehicles totaled $53.5 billion. Imports totaled $47.5 billion and $70.4 billion, respectively, according to Canada-based DesRosiers Automotive Consultants. Of those, the U.S. accounts for 95.3% of Canada’s total auto exports and 57.7% of its overall auto imports.
“Anything that kind of disrupts that balance is going to affect both sides of the border,” said Flavio Volpe, head of the Canadian Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association. “The best tariff level for Canadian and American auto parts suppliers is zero.”
Volpe argues a double-digit tariff would be “existential,” with ripple effects into the U.S. automotive industry. As an example, he pointed to 2022, when Canadian truck drivers blocked the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, in Canada — the busiest border bridge between the countries — disrupting manufacturing for several automakers in the U.S.
Toyota is the top-producing automaker in Canada, at roughly 526,000 units in 2023, followed by Honda at nearly 378,500 vehicles. GM, once the largest producer in Canada at more than 1 million vehicles, is now one of the smallest manufacturers of light-duty vehicles in the region.
Industry on the mend
The Canadian automotive industry is on an upswing following a decades-long decline that escalated during the coronavirus pandemic.
Light-duty vehicle production in Canada hit 1.54 million vehicles last year, up from a recent low of 1.1 million in 2021, but still a 47% decline from the country’s peak of 2.9 million in 2000, according to industry data provided by the Global Automakers of Canada trade association.
“The industry, like the American industry, has been challenged recovering from the pandemic. We’re still not there from a sales and production point of view, but we have been recovering,” said David Adams, president of the Global Automakers of Canada, which represents the interest of 16 non-U.S. based automakers.
The uptick comes despite two large assembly plants in Ontario, owned by Ford and Stellantis, existing in limbo, as the factories don’t currently have vehicles to produce. Thousands of workers have been laid off as a result of the lack of production.
Much of the uncertainty was caused by the automotive industry’s transition to all-electric vehicles, as adoption of EVs has not occurred as quickly as expected. Trump also has vowed to remove subsidies for purchasing EVs, which have assisted in spurring sales while federal benefits still exist.
“There is profound concern about the Canadian automobile industry as much because it’s not clear what direction to go,” said Charlotte Yates, president of the Automotive Policy Research Centre and professor emeritus at McMaster University. “There’s a series of public policy changes as well as political attitudinal changes, and, of course, the threat of tariffs really rattling the industry in Canada.”
Ford, Ontario’s premier, said the U.S. and Canada should be working together, as they have been for decades.
“We should be focusing on China and Mexico, not on its closest ally in the entire world,” Ford said. “Let’s build a fortress, an American–Canadian fortress against the rest of the world. We can’t be stopped if we if we stick together.”
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The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Monday sued Walmart and work-scheduling platform Branch Messenger for allegedly forcing delivery drivers to use poorly managed and costly deposit accounts in order to get paid.
The lawsuit alleges that, since 2021, Walmart and Branch opened Branch accounts for drivers and then deposited drivers’ pay into these accounts without the drivers’ consent.
The lawsuit is the latest in a slew of actions by the CFPB against companies for mishandling consumer and worker financial accounts.
A Walmart truck pulls out of a Walmart Distribution Center in Hurricane, Utah, on May 30, 2024.
George Frey | Afp | Getty Images
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau filed a complaint Monday against Walmart and work-scheduling platform Branch Messenger for allegedly forcing delivery drivers to use poorly managed and costly deposit accounts in order to get paid.
“Walmart made false promises, illegally opened accounts, and took advantage of more than a million delivery drivers,” CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said in a press release. “Companies cannot force workers into getting paid through accounts that drain their earnings with junk fees.”
The lawsuit alleges that, since 2021, Walmart and Branch opened Branch accounts for more than one million drivers part of the Spark Driver Program, Walmart’s platform for gig economy workers to accept and schedule “last mile” deliveries, and then deposited drivers’ pay into these accounts without their consent.
The company allegedly told drivers that they would be fired if they did not want to use the Branch accounts and misled drivers about when they could access their earnings. When drivers did use the platform, they allegedly faced numerous delays or fees if they needed to transfer the money into a different account, which resulted in more than $10 million in “junk fees.”
Walmart disputed the agency’s allegations.
“The CFPB’s rushed lawsuit is riddled with factual errors and contains exaggerations and blatant misstatements of settled principles of law,” a Walmart spokesperson wrote in a statement to CNBC. “The CFPB never allowed Walmart a fair opportunity to present its case during their rushed investigation.”
The CFPB also accused Branch of failing to investigate alleged errors, failing to provide certain disclosures, failing to maintain records, failing to follow through on stop payment requests and illegally requiring consumers to waive their rights under the law.
“Branch strongly disagrees with the lawsuit filed today by the CFPB, which misstates the law and facts, and includes intentional omissions to mask the Bureau’s clear overreach,” a representative from Branch wrote in a statement to CNBC.
The lawsuit is the latest in a slew of actions the CFPB has taken against companies for mishandling consumer and worker financial accounts. The bureau previously sued Comerica Bank over allegations that it failed to administer a federal benefits program and charged illegal fees on prepaid debit cards.
Most recently, the CFPB filed a complaint against the operator of the Zelle payments network, as well as JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo, alleging that the firms failed to properly investigate fraud complaints or give victims reimbursement. The lawsuit claims customers have lost more than $870 million since the launch of Zelle in 2017.
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Nordstrom will become a private company after it agreed to a buyout deal valued at $6.25 billion from Nordstrom’s founding family and Mexican retailer El Puerto de Liverpool.
Common shareholders will receive $24.25 in cash for each share of Nordstrom common stock they hold, according to a press release.
In September, the Nordstrom family offered $23 a share for the chain, which valued the company at roughly $3.76 billion.
A sign marks the location of a Nordstrom store on March 20, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois.
Scott Olson | Getty Images
Nordstrom on Monday announced it will become a private company after it agreed to a buyout deal valued at roughly $6.25 billion from Nordstrom’s founding family and Mexican department store El Puerto de Liverpool.
The company’s board of directors unanimously approved of the transaction, which is expected to close in the first half of 2025.
As part of the deal, the Nordstrom family will have majority ownership in the company, with 50.1%, and Liverpool will own 49.9%. Common shareholders will receive $24.25 in cash for each share of Nordstrom common stock they hold, according to a press release.
“For over a century, Nordstrom has operated with a foundational principle of helping customers feel good and look their best,” Nordstrom CEO Erik Nordstrom said in a press release. “Today marks an exciting new chapter for the business. On behalf of my family, we look forward to working with our teams to ensure Nordstrom thrives long into the future.”
It’s not the first time the retailer has tried to go private. A previous effort fizzled out in 2018. In September, the Nordstrom family offered $23 a share for the chain, which valued the company at roughly $3.76 billion.
Nordstrom stock fell roughly 1% in early trading. Shares of the company have shot up since a Reuters report in March that the family wanted to take the company private.
Nordstrom beat Wall Street’s sales expectations in November for the fiscal third quarter, as revenue grew about 4% year over year. But the company gave only a slightly rosier full-year sales forecast as it said it expected a soft holiday season.
Luxury clothing stores have been under pressure as retailers including Walmart, Best Buy and Target have reported that customers remain choosy when it comes to buying items that are wants, not needs, and have paid more attention to price.
Nordstrom was founded as a shoe store in 1901 before transitioning into a department store that sells a wide variety of clothing and accessories across more than 350 Nordstrom, Nordstrom Local and Nordstrom Rack locations.
El Puerto de Liverpool operates two other department store chains, Liverpool and Suburbia, and owns 29 shopping centers across Mexico.
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The toy industry is headed for its second consecutive annual sales decline, but it’s got one thing propping it up — Lego.
The Danish company saw revenue jump 13% in the first six months of the year and continues to snap up market share.
Lego has reshaped its business and diversified its customer base, helping it to elevate sales even in inflationary market conditions.
A customer reaches for a box from the Lego Dots range at the Lego A/S store in London, U.K., on March 7, 2022.
Bloomberg | Getty Images
The toy industry is headed for its second consecutive annual sales decline, but it’s got one thing propping it up: colorful, interlocking plastic bricks.
At a time when toy companies are struggling to match the massive gains of pandemic-era sales, Lego is growing rapidly. The Danish company saw revenue jump 13% in the first six months of the year and continues to snap up market share.
“When you look at toy sales, Lego has just been driving all the growth in the industry this year,” said Eric Handler, managing director at Roth MKM.
After coming to the brink of bankruptcy in the early 2000s, Lego has reshaped its business and diversified its customer base, helping it to elevate sales even in inflationary market conditions.
Lego has posted positive annual revenue growth in each of the past six years.
Its strategy has involved delving into the world of licensing, catering to adults as well as kids, tapping into the digital gaming world, partnering with studios and streamers to bring Lego content to consumers and building manufacturing sites close to distribution hubs to smooth the supply chain.
Recent standouts among its tried-and-true portfolio are newly emphasized “passion points,” kits that appeal to a wide variety of consumers, from those obsessed with franchises such as Star Wars and Harry Potter to car enthusiasts and animal lovers.
“Lego has consistently bucked the trend the past few years,” said James Zahn, editor in chief of The Toy Book. “When other companies go down, Lego tends to go up.”
Zahn noted that Lego’s ability to be “ahead of the curve” has allowed it to be more nimble during times of inflation, as consumers tighten their purse strings, and to navigate upheaval in the theatrical entertainment industry and even looming tariff increases.
“I think, perhaps, the overarching story here is that they really are, it seems, like they’re two to three steps ahead of everybody else,” Zahn said.
License for fun
From miniature models of Emerald City from “Wicked” to a version of Wednesday and Enid’s dorm room in the Jenna Ortega-led “Wednesday,” Lego has tapped into pop culture to bring fan-favorite stories to life in brick form.
Licensing has long been an important strategy for toy companies. Pulling from existing and upcoming intellectual property from movies and television shows allows brands such as Lego to cater to an already robust and engaged consumer.
A Lego set based on Netflix’s “Wednesday.”
Lego’s first licensed partnership was in 1999 when it linked up with Lucasfilm to bring Star Wars sets to the public. Some of these kits were tied to the release of “Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace,” while others celebrated vehicles and characters from the original trilogy of films.
“Lego embraced adults, long before we started saying ‘kidults,’ and they’ve managed to continue that in new ways,” said Zahn.
Over the past two decades, Lego has worked with hundreds of other partners to translate the likes of Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Ghostbusters, Marvel, DC, Jurassic Park and Pixar into building blocks.
More recently, the company has launched kits such as the Sanderson sisters’ house from “Hocus Pocus” and even a “Jaws” set featuring the iconic shark taking down Quint’s boat.
“For the Lego brand, [we’ve seen] tremendous years of growth,” said Julia Goldin, chief product and marketing officer at Lego. “We made a very deliberate decision to unlock our potential with many new audiences, double down on the audiences that we already had and really ensure that we are very connected.”
Finding new brick builders
Lego isn’t stopping at franchise-based sets.
The company has worked to design different types of sets that cater to new audiences, ones that might not have otherwise bought or built a Lego set, Zahn said. This includes cityscape sets featuring skylines from London to New York, brick versions of famous paintings such as Vincent van Gogh’s “Starry Night” and Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” as well as a line of botanicals.
Goldin noted that Lego is “investing in bringing in new audiences to the portfolio” and creating more products for them.
Icons Tiny Plants by Lego.
James Manning – Pa Images | Pa Images | Getty Images
That’s why Lego has partnered with Formula 1 to create a line of F1-inspired sets that range from Duplo kits for preschool children all the way to collectible sets for adults. The partnership will also span Lego’s digital platforms, and the toy company will have a presence at future F1 auto racing events.
Goldin said previous car products, including a McLaren Lego set, performed well at retail, giving Lego confidence to delve deeper into the auto racing space.
“We always start with the audience,” she explained. “We’re always looking at, what are kids into? And we saw that F1 was one of the No. 1 most growing passions among younger kids, and also growing globally and attracting a lot of new audiences, especially women and families.”
Attracting new consumers has allowed Lego to drive revenue and helped to counterbalance softness in the theatrical realm.
Much of the toy industry’s current sales woes can be attributed to the disrupted pipeline in Hollywood production. A global pandemic followed by labor strikes left Tinsel town with fewer new releases that could have served as the basis for breakout toys.
The lack of kids movies, in particular, meant toy companies were not producing as many new action figures, roleplay items and other movie tie-ins.
But in 2023, Lego offered 780 products, around 50% of which were new items, on par with recent years.
Delving into digital
At the same time, Lego has expanded beyond its retail shelf space.
The company has launched several theatrical features of its own, partnered with streamers such as Disney+ to bring Marvel and Star Wars content to the small screen and even launched its own vertical within Epic Games’ popular Fortnite game.
The expanding portfolio has kept Lego at the forefront of consumers’ minds, given them alternative ways to engage with the brand and driven incremental retail purchases.
“We have to remember that kids, they grow up,” said Goldin. “So there’s a new generation coming all the time. I think the next five years we’ll see even more digitalization and interactivity coming into the different experiences that we can create.”
Goldin said with Fortnite, the company aimed to go beyond sets and create an experience. Within the larger game of Fortnite, players can participate in a Lego-based world where they construct digital Lego buildings, battle against creatures, customize their online mini figure and socialize with other Lego fans.
Lego CEO Niels Christiansen has repeatedly touted the importance of meeting kids where they are, noting during previous earnings reports that the company is competing for children’s time and attention. Being relevant to them and in spaces that they already occupy has translated back to sales of physical Lego kits.
It is a similar strategy to the one Lego has employed in partnering with Disney+ for several Star Wars and Marvel animated shows and in its recent theatrical release of a feature-length animated documentary about Pharrell Williams called “Piece by Piece.”
Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga game allows players to relive the epic narrative of the Skywalker Saga told through the lens of hilarious Lego humor.
Lego | Warner Bros. Games | Lucasfilm
“We felt [‘Piece by Piece’] really was something that was super original,” said Jill Wilfert, head of global entertainment partners and content at Lego.
“We want to attract a broader audience that’s going to be engaged with the brand,” Wilfert added. “So, this was something we thought would help us get there. And when we do entertainment for us, it’s really about doing those things that help us really convey the values of the brand in a super entertaining and relevant way, but it’s also something that families, people, friends, can experience together.”
Wilfert said Lego has several theatrical projects in development that could arrive on the big screen in the coming years.
In the meantime, the company plans to continue releasing episodes and shorts tied to existing shows that air on Netflix, Nickelodeon and YouTube.
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Several media executives expect big transactions from Comcast and Warner Bros. Discovery.
Other executives focused on Donald Trump’s regulatory administration loosening rules for TV broadcast affiliates to consolidate.
Two executives predicted who will — and won’t — be considered to take over for Bob Iger as Disney CEO.
Bob Iger, CEO of Disney (L), and Brian Roberts, CEO of Comcast (R).
Getty Images
Ho, ho, ho! It’s a holiday tradition: Anonymous media executives make their 2025 industry predictions.
In honor of the 12 days of Christmas, we give you 12 predictions from some of the most powerful media and entertainment executives in the world, weighing in on the condition of anonymity so they can speak candidly about their visions of the year ahead. And then, because we have holiday cheer, we give you a bonus one. A baker’s dozen!
Looking back at 2024’s predictions, they were not as good as previous years. But there were some hits, or partial hits.
While Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max, Netflix and Disney didn’t all team up for the first significant streaming bundle, as one participant predicted last year, Max and Disney did join forces. TV broadcast station groups continued to pick off regional sports rights, as another executive anticipated. RedBird Capital didn’t quite acquire Paramount Global, but the private equity firm was part of the consortium with Skydance that announced a merger with the company in July.
As for other 2024 predictions, Nelson Peltz and Jay Rasulo did not win their activist campaign to join the Disney board; Disney CEO Bob Iger did not renew his contract beyond 2026, buy Candle Media or name Dana Walden his successor; and NBA media rights did not go to Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery and Apple — they went to Disney, NBCUniversal and Amazon.
Oh, and one more miss: While Comcast did announce a spinoff of most of its cable networks, it did not spin off NBCUniversal and merge it with Warner Bros. Discovery.
That’s a nice segue to this year’s predictions:
Executive 1: Comcast will acquire the studio and streaming assets of Warner Bros. Discovery and merge them with NBCUniversal
Second time’s the charm! Warner Bros. Discovery is separating its linear assets from the rest of the company. Comcast is spinning out most of its cable networks. It has to mean something, right?
Executive 2: Comcast will acquire Charter and spin off the rest of NBCUniversal
That’s right, Comcast may have SpinCo 1 and SpinCo 2! This executive predicts Comcast will test the Donald Trump regulatory administration and try to combine the two largest U.S. cable companies, 10 years after dropping its bid to buy Time Warner Cable — which used to be the second-largest U.S. cable provider before it was acquired by Charter — after concluding the government would block the deal.
Executive 3: Fox will acquire most of Warner Bros. Discovery’s assets
After selling the majority of its entertainment assets to Disney in 2019, Fox will shock the media world by again gaining scale, acquiring HBO, the movie studio, the Turner networks and the streaming assets of Warner Bros. Discovery, according to this executive.
For what it’s worth, another executive predicted Fox would sell, given the unknown future of the Murdoch family trust.
Executive 4: Dana Walden will leave Disney at year-end when she doesn’t get the CEO job
Disney has already said it plans to delay naming a new CEO until early 2026, so this prediction assumes the company will slightly move up the announcement. Walden, Disney’s co-chairman of Disney Entertainment, is the ultimate Hollywood insider who many view as the front-runner for the job. The board is taking its time vetting candidates after the handoff from Iger to Bob Chapek in 2020 did not go very well.
Dana Walden, Ryan Murphy, Bob Iger, and FX Networks Chairman John Landgraf, from left, attend the premiere of Murphy’s limited series “Feud: Capote vs. The Swans,” on Jan. 23, 2024.
Credit: Disney
Executive 5: Jeff Bezos will be bullied into selling The Washington Post after President Trump makes it clear his space company, Blue Origin, will suffer for his paper’s coverage
Bezos has said he is dedicated to The Post’s future, but the paper has been engulfed in drama this year. Perhaps 2025 is the year Bezos decides he has had enough extra headaches.
Executive 6: Several TV station groups will sell out of financial hardship
Companies such as EW Scripps, Tegna and Sinclair Broadcast have watched their shares slump in recent years as traditional pay-TV valuations have declined with cord cutting. Executives at those companies are hopeful a new Trump administration will clear the way for more consolidation. Several will sell out of desperation, either to avoid bankruptcy or to gain needed scale, guesses this executive.
Executive 7: The Trump administration relaxes TV station ownership rules, leading to CBS, ABC, NBC and Fox buying up their own affiliate stations
A similar thought as the last one, but this executive took the bolder step of saying the acquirers of the stations will be the broadcast networks themselves.
The Paramount Global headquarters in New York on Aug. 27, 2024.
Yuki Iwamura | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Executive 8: Paramount Global will acquire Lionsgate after it spins off from Starz
If Paramount Global gets the government’s approval to merge with Skydance Media next year, its new leadership will likely look to transform the business. One big move the company will make is to acquire Lionsgate studio after it spins off from Starz at the beginning of next year, said this executive.
Executive 9: A big tech company will acquire video game maker Electronic Arts
After flirting with both Comcast and Disney in past years, Electronic Arts will sell in 2025 to a big tech company such as Netflix, Alphabet, Apple or Amazon, said this executive. That would follow in the footsteps of Microsoft acquiring Activision in 2023.
Executive 10: The M&A hype around the industry will be wildly overblown, and there will be far fewer deals than anyone thinks
You’re all wrong! This executive said M&A predictions generally won’t come true because consolidation won’t provide any real fixes to an industry in transition.
Executive 11: Paramount+, Peacock and Max get bundled together
Executives at Paramount Global, NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. Discovery are all on record about needing to consider options for streaming consolidation. What if there was a bundle that featured all three services? This executive guesses the three services will be sold together, either through a hard bundle on one platform or sold together at a discount.
Executive 12: The sports streaming service Venu will never launch, and Fox will license its sports content to ESPN’s streaming service
Venu, a joint venture owned by Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery, was announced to great fanfare earlier this year. But an antitrust lawsuit filed by Fubo has stalled the service’s launch. Meanwhile, ESPN will debut its “flagship” streaming service by the fall of 2025. That will cause the companies to abandon Venu, predicts this executive.
Executive 13: Kathy Kennedy will depart Lucasfilm
Kennedy has been the president of Disney’s Lucasfilm since 2012 and is now in her 70s. It may be time for a new leader of the Star Wars franchise.
May the force be with you. Let’s see what 2025 brings. Happy holidays!
Disclosure: Comcast owns NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC. More
