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Investment firms of the ultra-rich made 46% fewer direct investments in September compared with the same period last year, according to Fintrx.
But family offices such of those of Jeff Bezos and Michael Dell are still inking high-profile mega-rounds or making opportunistic bets.
Health-care entrepreneur Mark Mitchell told CNBC why his family office acquired a beauty retailer.

Jeff Bezos, founder and executive chairman of Amazon and owner of the Washington Post, takes the stage during the New York Times annual DealBook summit at Jazz at Lincoln Center on December 04, 2024 in New York City.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images

A version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.
Deal-making may have rebounded on Wall Street, but investment firms of the ultra-wealthy are still moving cautiously. Family offices made 54 direct investments in September, down 46% on an annual basis, according to data provided exclusively to CNBC by private wealth platform Fintrx.

Despite the broader slowdown, billionaire family offices are still investing in mega-rounds for high-flying startups. Last month, the firms of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt joined a $300 million seed round for Periodic Labs. Founded by former OpenAI and DeepMind researchers, Periodic Labs seeks to automate scientific research with artificial intelligence-powered robots running lab experiments.
Health-care and biotech startups also still garner interest from high-profile investors. Primary-care clinic group Harbor Health raised $130 million from Michael Dell’s DFO Management, Breyer Capital and Martin Ventures. The startup’s chief medical officer, Dr. Clay Johnston, was previously the dean of Dell’s namesake medical school at the University of Texas at Austin. Much of the funds will be used to expand Harbor’s insurance offerings and open more clinics.
The private equity slowdown has also left room for family offices to make opportunistic bets. In September, Birmingham, Michigan-based Mitchell Family Office acquired luxury beauty retailer Cos Bar for an undisclosed amount. Principal Mark Mitchell told CNBC that his offer was accepted within a month. Cos Bar had been held by a private equity owner for nine years and was the last deal in its fund, he said.

Mitchell founded his family office in 2015 after selling a majority stake in his home health-care business, U.S. Medical Management, to Centene. He later exited, receiving a total of $325 million, he said.
Having made his fortune in health care, Mitchell primarily invests in the sector, from adolescent in-patient psychiatric hospitals to bone marrow harvesting technology.

However, MFO is increasingly making investments in other industries to meet the needs and interests of Mitchell’s family, he said. In the case of Cos Bar, its high-end locations will be used to showcase AI-powered smart mirrors developed by his wife Colby’s startup, Swan Beauty. Retailing at $695, the mirrors analyze skin complexion to recommend beauty products and can also be used to virtually try on makeup.
“I would say the last few investments we’ve made are less, let’s say ‘patriarchal Mark Mitchell decisions’ and more second-generation decisions,” he said.

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Mitchell, 60, has five children ranging from 6 years old to 30. His adult son and daughter founded an automotive business and clothing line, respectively, that are owned by MFO. Involving his children in the family office has helped keep them motivated to succeed, he said.
“My son is the first one in and the last one to leave every day, and he’s actively looking at real estate investments. And my daughter is actively running her company 14 hours a day, seven days a week,” he said. “Sometimes the second generation of a wealthy family, in my experience, those adult children don’t grind after college. Mine are truly grinding, which also sets a good example for their younger siblings.”
In April, Mitchell bought women’s soccer team AFC Toronto. He said he initially invested because he was looking for a hobby, but he’s since become more involved with the team’s operations. It’s also brought the family together. Mitchell said his daughter is considering purchasing a women’s soccer team, his younger sons have started playing soccer and his whole family attends the games.
“Going back to the multigenerational thing, it’s been wonderful for the family to focus on and really take an interest in this,” he said. More

Ferrero North America plans to spend more than $100 million on marketing campaigns tied to the Super Bowl and World Cup next year.
The confectioner’s parent company has been pushing further into the U.S. over the last decade, through acquisitions and organic growth.
Live sports represent one of the few opportunities today to reach a large audience of consumers all at once.

Kinder Bueno chocolate bar packaging on a shelf in a store.
Igor Golovniov | SOPA Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Ferrero North America is planning to spend more than $100 million on marketing campaigns tied to the Super Bowl and World Cup next year.
The sports push comes as the confectioner’s parent company drives further into the United States through acquisitions and investments in domestic production. Ferrero, which was founded in Italy but is now based in Luxembourg, entered North America nearly a half century ago, but the company only really started investing in the market over the past decade.

In July, Ferrero bought cereal maker WK Kellogg for $3.1 billion, the latest in a deal spree that included snapping up Nestle’s U.S. candy business and Halo Top owner Wells Enterprises.
The Nutella owner, which just started its fiscal 2026 in September, is preparing itself for its biggest year yet in the U.S., where it is the third-largest candy company, trailing only Hershey and Mars. Its privately held parent company saw an 8.9% increase in turnover — or revenue — in the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2024, Ferrero disclosed in its most recent financial data. In the past year, Ferrero USA has seen dollar sales grow 4.5%, outpacing the broader confectionery and cookie categories, according to the company.
“We want to do something big to kind of reintroduce ourselves to North America,” said Michael Lindsey, chief business officer of Ferrero North America.
Ferrero North America’s bet on sports will kick off in February with the company’s first-ever Super Bowl ad, which will star Kinder Bueno. Its sister company Ferrera has previously aired spots during the big game, including last year’s Nerds Gummy Clusters ad.
Then, starting in June, Ferrero North America is planning a slate of promotions around the World Cup. Ads for its products will play before or after the games and the company plans to push promotions tied to roughly two dozen of its brands.

“Why sports? It’s still the largest audience, especially if you want to reach live consumers with something that they’re actually going to sit down in front of a TV and watch,” Lindsey said. “Especially the Super Bowl, they watch TV with an intent to watch the commercials, which is a very unique situation today when you’re trying to reach consumers who are skipping past your ads or getting up to make a sandwich.”
Earlier this year, more than 127.7 million viewers tuned in to watch the NFL’s championship game, setting a record, according to Nielsen Media Research. All of those eyeballs can make it appealing for companies to pay the hefty price tag for airing a commercial during the game. Advertisers are reportedly paying as much as $8 million to Comcast’s NBCUniversal for a 30-second spot during February’s match. In early September, NBCUniversal said it had already sold all of its Super Bowl ad spots.
And while football still reigns as the top sport for viewers in the U.S., soccer has been gaining ground. A reported 26 million U.S. viewers watched the 2022 World Cup final.
For the Super Bowl, all focus will be on Kinder Bueno, which has been sold stateside since 2019.
Ferrero chose to highlight the candy because it sees Kinder as “its most under-leveraged brand in the portfolio relative to its global success,” Lindsey said. Few Americans would guess that Kinder is the best-selling chocolate brand in the world, not Hershey or Nestle, according to Lindsey. Still, in a few years, Kinder has grown to become a more than $500 million brand in the U.S. for Ferrero, according the company.
Plus, last year, Ferrero opened its first-ever North American chocolate factory in Bloomington, Illinois, to manufacture Kinder products.
While the Super Bowl spot hasn’t been filmed yet, Lindsey said the commercial will coincide with a new dark-chocolate version of Kinder Bueno and a white chocolate iteration.
“[The Super Bowl] is just the perfect vehicle to drive a lot of trial all at once,” he said.
When the Super Bowl ad spot airs, the company said it will be the biggest marketing push by Ferrero ever, in any global market. But two months later, Ferrero plans to top that record with its World Cup promotions, which will kick off in April in North America. Almost every product across its portfolio will see its packaging shift as part of the campaign.
“We’re going all in: We’ll have one promotion and one set of packaging,” Lindsey said.
Customers will have to buy multiple products from across the portfolio to benefit from the promotion. The intention is to help consumers understand that Ferrero makes the breadth of products that they’re buying, from Nutella to Ferrero Rocher to Blue Bunny ice cream.
“It’s all very intentionally focused to drive trial from people who love one brand in the portfolio to become people who love the whole portfolio,” Lindsey said.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal, which owns CNBC. Versant would become the new parent company of CNBC upon Comcast’s planned spinoff of Versant. More

Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian told CNBC that the carrier’s operation is running smoothly despite the federal government shutdown.
More than 13,000 U.S. flights were delayed this week, some of them due to shortages of air traffic controllers, raising concerns about strains on the country’s aviation industry during the shutdown.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned this week that the FAA is seeing a “slight uptick” in sick calls of air traffic controllers.

A Delta Air Lines Airbus A220 airplane prepares to takeoff at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, on July 10, 2025.
Saul Loeb | Afp | Getty Images

Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian told CNBC that the carrier’s operation is running smoothly despite the federal government shutdown, but if it goes another 10 days that could change.
More than 13,000 U.S. flights were delayed this week, some of them due to shortages of air traffic controllers, raising concerns about strains on the country’s aviation industry during the shutdown.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned Monday that the Federal Aviation Administration is seeing a “slight uptick” in sick calls of air traffic controllers.
Bastian also said the shutdown is exacerbating concerns about the strain on air traffic controllers, a shortage of whom has vexed airline executives for years. Under the shutdown thousands of federal employees, including air traffic controllers and Transportation Security Administration officers at airports are working without pay.
Delta’s CEO said in an interview that the airline hasn’t seen “any impacts at all” so far from the shutdown but urged a quick resolution. A more than monthlong government shutdown from late 2018 to early 2019 ended hours after an increase in sick calls from air traffic controllers snarled travel in the New York area.
“I would say that if this doesn’t get resolved, say beyond another 10 days or so, you probably will start to see some impacts,” Bastian said in an interview with CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Thursday.
A perpetual shortage of air traffic controllers has vexed U.S. airline executives for years, and the FAA has scrambled to increase hiring.
Delta on Thursday reported better-than-expected third-quarter results and forecast a more profitable end of the year than analysts expected.

Read more CNBC airline news More

PepsiCo reported fiscal third-quarter earnings and revenue that topped Wall Street’s estimates.
The food and beverage giant reiterated its full-year forecast.
Pepsi also announced the departure of its Chief Financial Officer Jamie Caulfield and his replacement, Walmart executive Steve Schmitt.

FILE PHOTO: Cans of Pepsi are seen at the PepsiCo Walkers factory in Leicester, Britain, August 14, 2024. 
Hollie Adams | Reuters

PepsiCo on Thursday reported quarterly earnings and revenue that beat analysts’ expectations, as international growth offset another quarter of declining volume in North America.
Shares rose nearly 2% in premarket trading.

Here’s what the company reported for its fiscal third quarter compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:

Earnings per share: $2.29 adjusted vs. $2.26 expected
Revenue: $23.94 billion vs. $23.83 billion expected

Pepsi reported third-quarter net income attributable to the company of $2.6 billion, or $1.90 per share, down from $2.93 billion, or $2.13 per share, a year earlier.
Excluding restructuring and impairment charges and other items, the company earned $2.29 per share.
Net sales rose 2.6% to $23.94 billion. Stripping out acquisitions, divestitures and foreign exchange, Pepsi’s organic revenue increased 1.3% in the quarter.
However, the Frito-Lay and Gatorade owner is still seeing softer demand for its products. Pepsi’s worldwide volume for both food and drinks fell 1% during the quarter. The metric strips out pricing and foreign exchange changes.

In particular, Pepsi has struggled in its home market in recent quarters, leading the company to invest back into its brands and to explore cost-cutting measures.
“We also expect our North America business to deliver improved growth and profitability trends as we aggressively reduce costs, accelerate innovation and further sharpen our price pack architecture initiatives,” executives said in prepared remarks.
Pepsi Foods North America, which includes brands like Doritos, Quaker Oats and Pearl Milling, reported that its volume fell 4% in the fiscal third quarter. The company has been investing in more “permissible” snack offerings, like Stacy’s pita chips and Quaker rice cakes. It has more snack options on the way, like Doritos Protein, which aims to cash in on a consumer shift toward protein-rich foods.
Pepsi also unveiled new packaging for Lay’s potato chips that highlighted its lack of artificial colors and flavors, and pledged to launch Doritos and Cheetos “NKD,” which will not use synthetic dyes or flavors. Pepsi and other brands have moved to cut out those ingredients in part due to pressure from the Trump administration.
The company has also been trying to attract price-conscious consumers by making its multipacks and single-serving snacks cheaper.
Improving the performance of the North American food segment “is a top priority for the business,” executives said in prepared remarks.
Pepsi’s North American beverage unit saw volume shrink 3%, although CEO Ramon Laguarta noted “improved momentum” in the business. The company’s namesake soda grew both volume and revenue in the quarter, while new acquisition Poppi has seen its year-to-date retail sales climb more than 50% compared with the year-ago period, executives said.
In September, Pepsi divested its ownership of Rockstar Energy in the U.S. and Canada to rival energy drink maker Celsius. The beverage giant owns an 11% stake in Celsius.
The company also reiterated its full-year outlook. It still expects its core constant currency earnings per share to be roughly unchanged from the prior year and organic revenue to grow by a low single-digit percentage.
Pepsi also announced on Thursday that Chief Financial Officer Jamie Caulfield plans to retire. Walmart U.S. CFO Steve Schmitt will succeed him, effective Nov. 10. More

The government shutdown is exacerbating concerns about the strain on air traffic controllers, a shortage of whom has vexed airline executives for years.
A shortfall of already-thin air traffic control staffing this week had prompted the FAA to slow or halt arrivals in Burbank, California, and Nashville, Tennessee, among others.
About 10,000 flights were delayed on Monday and Tuesday, but disruptions dropped on Wednesday to just more than 1,900.

The Hollywood Burbank Airport air traffic control tower stands in Burbank, California, on Oct. 6, 2025.
Mario Tama | Getty Images

A shortage of air traffic controllers are delaying flights, the Federal Aviation Administration warned on Wednesday, as concerns grow about the effect of the government shutdown on U.S. aviation.
There were half-hour delays at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport late Wednesday afternoon due to staffing, the FAA said.

About 10,000 flights were delayed on Monday and Tuesday, though disruptions dropped on Wednesday to just over 3,200. Delays could be caused by weather or other reasons aside from staffing issues. But a shortfall of already-thin air traffic control staffing this week had prompted the FAA to slow or halt arrivals in Burbank, California, and Nashville, Tennessee, among others.

Read more CNBC airline news

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned Monday that the FAA is seeing a “slight uptick” in sick calls of air traffic controllers.
He also said the shutdown is exacerbating concerns about the strain on air traffic controllers, a shortage of whom has vexed airline executives for years. 
“Nearly 11,000 fully certified controllers remain on the job, many working 10-hour shifts as many as six days a week, showing extraordinary dedication to safely guiding millions of passengers to their destinations—all without getting paid during this shutdown,” the air traffic controllers’ union, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said in a statement.

Earlier Wednesday, the FAA had warned there could be a staffing trigger at Newark Liberty International Airport, but that caution had been removed by the afternoon. Newark was not seeing an influx of flight delays.

The government shutdown stretched into its eighth day Wednesday, as the Senate failed to pass a funding proposal again.
Duffy said Tuesday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that no one airport is consistently having issues with air traffic controller staffing and urged Congress to pass a funding bill.
“The conversations and the fights that are happening are about issues allegedly that are going to come to fruition at the end of the year,” he said. “Open up the government, take the months to have a conversation and negotiate, but let’s not use this as leverage with hardworking Americans that keep our skies safe for political benefit.”

During a shutdown, “essential” workers such as air traffic controllers and TSA agents are continuing to work without pay, while many other employees are placed on furlough.
A more than monthlong shutdown that started in late 2018 ended early the next year, hours after a shortage of air traffic controllers snarled air travel in New York. More

Until recently Yu Faxin was best known as a leading scientist and entrepreneur, specialising in advanced semiconductors for military applications. But on September 22nd he made headlines for another reason. His company, Shanghai-listed Great Microwave Technology, disclosed that Mr Yu had been taken away by China’s anti-corruption agency. Mr Yu is in liuzhi, an extra-judicial form of detention in which increasing numbers of Chinese businessmen are being snared. More

The impact of a government shutdown on commercial real estate, while not quite as immediate, is far-reaching.
A federal shutdown affects data collection, causes uncertainty for CRE dealmaking and hits investor confidence.
Looking at specific sectors, retail and hospitality will see the quickest impact because they are entirely consumer driven.

The sunset is reflected in the windows of the US Capitol as a man runs on the National Mall in Washington, DC, on October 1, 2025, the first day of the US federal government shutdown.
Andrew Caballero-reynolds | Afp | 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.
When the government shuts down, real estate watchers tend to focus first on the impact to the residential market. Potentially thousands of home sales will be held up because the federal flood insurance program is no longer able to issue new policies; the Federal Housing Administration, Department of Veteran Affairs and Department of Agriculture might slow or suspend their mortgage processing; and the IRS might not process tax transcripts or income verification documents as quickly.

But the impact to commercial real estate, while not quite as immediate, is much more far-reaching. A government shutdown delays government data on the economy. It causes uncertainty in the financial markets and, consequently, commercial real estate dealmaking, especially for small businesses. It also hits investor confidence. Finally, but most immediately, it causes a pullback in consumer demand for certain sectors.
According to a post from the Commercial Real Estate Alliance (CREA), potential ramifications include:

Reduced demand for CRE as businesses and government agencies delay or cancel leasing and development projects.
Greater difficulty for CRE investors and developers to obtain financing and conduct transactions amid uncertainty and market volatility.
Delayed approvals of permits or other government sign-offs necessary for CRE development projects.

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Economic data

The government shutdown meant there was no release of the September monthly employment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That affects investors who need this kind of data to make decisions about the state of the economy and interest rates. 
If the shutdown continues, the Census Bureau will not release economic data on construction spending, housing starts and building permits. Those are all key for multifamily investors.

CRE finance

Market uncertainty leads to tighter credit from lenders and potentially higher risk premiums on deals, especially if they have anything to do with federal programs.

“Investors in general and lenders specifically look for stability, and when there’s political instability, it always creates more caution about making investment decisions and lending,” said Ran Eliasaf, founder and managing partner of Northwind Group, a real estate private equity and debt fund manager. “We think the biggest risk to underwrite is political risk. It’s true for the federal level, like government shutdown, and it’s true for local, like the New York City mayoral election.”

Retail, hospitality, senior housing

Looking at specific sectors, retail and hospitality will see the quickest impact because they are entirely consumer driven. Consumer spending, especially in areas where there is a high concentration of federal workers, could drop as employees are furloughed or even laid off. 
“I think that’s a big risk,” said Christine Cooper, chief U.S. economist and managing director at CoStar, a commercial real estate information and analytics firm. “Think about all the small retailers and coffee shops. They have very slim margins, so they’re more likely to be disrupted if they lose their customers. They won’t be able to afford it, and you’ll see some closures in pretty short order.”
It’s a similar situation in hospitality, where closures in government services and at national parks will impact tourism. Washington, D.C.’s tourism has already been hit by the administration’s activation of the national guard and other federal troops. This is just one more strike against the city.
Skilled nursing facilities and senior care properties could also see deal delays. Those, along with affordable housing projects, use financing from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). 
“I think [for] HUD financing, the queue will get longer. Applications will not be processed,” said Eliasaf.

Federal CRE

The federal commercial real estate market will take the hardest hit, as sales of those properties, which are managed by the General Services Administration (GSA), will either be delayed or stopped. Federal contracts, including new leases and property maintenance agreements with tenants, will also have to wait. 
“It’s going to impact dealmaking. Definitely anybody that’s negotiating a GSA lease, a government-backed lease, from the VA to even securing HUD financing is going to run into some issues right now,” said Eliasaf.
Depending on how long the shutdown lasts, REITs that cater to federal agencies, like Easterly Government Properties and JBG Smith that depend heavily on government rent payments, could be in hot water. 
In an SEC filing earlier this year, Easterly said, “substantially all of our revenue is dependent on the receipt of rent payments from the GSA and U.S. Government tenant agencies.”  

Construction

If past shutdowns are any guide, the construction sector will be hit as well. A report from ConstructConnect, an information and technology company for the construction industry, notes that the government shutdown in 2013 hit federally funded infrastructure projects, because permit reviews by the Environmental Protection Agency stopped. Contractors and trade specialists rely on those permits to mobilize crews. 
And, the 2019 shutdown “froze billions of dollars in federal construction spending, stalled approvals for projects tied to the Department of Transportation, and disrupted bidding timelines, which squeezed subcontractors like electricians, plumbers, and concrete specialists, who depend on predictable project starts to manage labor, materials, and cash flow,” according to the report. More

Some jewelry companies that aim to offer gold products at lower price points are beginning to sound the alarm on higher prices for the precious metal.
Gold has risen significantly over the past year, reaching record highs amid recession fears and macroeconomic uncertainty, and is forecast to continue to rise through next year.
To adapt, some companies are raising prices of their products, while others are exploring alternative avenues for producing high-quality products.

Gold prices held steady on Thursday, hovering near the record high hit the day before, helped by expectations of further U.S. rate cuts and political uncertainty.
David Gray | Afp | Getty Images

Amid global economic turbulence, the prices of precious metals have been climbing higher and higher.
The price of gold in particular has skyrocketed over the past year, rising more than 50%. For midsize jewelry companies aiming to offer fine gold necklaces, earrings and more at lower price points than legacy luxury jewelry brands, gold futures could be spelling trouble.

Though gold is often subject to market fluctuations, investors have been increasing their holdings over the past year over recession fears and market uncertainty, according to Goldman Sachs. Gold is on pace for its third straight year of double-digit gains, even hitting record highs this week during the government shutdown.
On Tuesday, gold prices hit $4,000 an ounce for the first time in history — and they’re showing no signs of slowing down.
Analysts from UBS wrote last week that lower interest rates, weakness in the dollar and political uncertainty will only continue to drive the price of gold higher.
“We now expect inflows for this year to be 830 metric tons, which is almost double our initial forecast of 450 metric tons at the start of the year,” the UBS analysts wrote in a note. “The key risk for gold is better U.S. growth and if the Fed is forced to raise rates due to inflation-related upside surprises.”
A Goldman Sachs report from late last month predicted the climb, forecasting that the price of gold will rise 6% through the middle of 2026 to $4,000 per troy ounce, a unit of measurement used for precious metals. The report categorized buyers of gold into two groups: conviction buyers, who purchase the metal consistently, and opportunistic buyers, who jump in “when they believe the price is right.”

The analysts said they expect central banks to continue buying gold for three more years.
“Our rationale is that emerging market central banks remain significantly underweight gold compared to their developed market counterparts and are gradually increasing allocations as part of a broader diversification strategy,” analyst Lina Thomas wrote.
And according to July survey data from the World Gold Council, roughly 95% of central banks expect global gold holdings to rise in the next year.

Stock chart icon

Gold futures

That uncertainty comes on top of an already turbulent global economy reeling from changing tariff policies from President Donald Trump. Though he made clear in August that gold will not be tariffed and that bars from Switzerland will not be subject to the country’s 39% tariff, Trump’s steep rates on other countries have been disrupting the global supply chain.
For jewelers, the rising price of the precious metal may be a cause for concern. Large retailers like Pandora and Signet have signaled that they are exploring price hikes or alternative manufacturing methods to counteract the hit they’re taking from gold.
And some jewelry companies that aim to offer gold products at lower price points, like Mejuri, are feeling the pressure too.
Mejuri, which aims to sell gold and luxury jewelry at more affordable levels than its competitors, announced last month that the company was being forced to raise its prices due to the rising cost of gold, silver and tariffs.
“While we’ve been doing everything we can to absorb the impact and preserve the quality and craftsmanship you expect from us, you’ll see some prices update on Monday, September 29th,” Mejuri wrote in an email to customers. “We’re tackling these shifts head-on: streamlining our supply chain, strengthening sourcing and designing with pricing in mind.”
The company said it’s also innovating new products like 10 karat solid gold to keep offering quality jewelry at affordable prices. Mejuri declined to comment.

‘A fear indicator’

With the price of gold rising and showing no signs of stopping, some jewelry companies are being forced to be innovative with their pricing and products.
In its second-quarter earnings report in August, Pandora said it faced an 80-basis point hit due to higher prices of gold and silver and that it planned some price adjustments to offset those headwinds. And on Signet’s most recent earnings call in early September, the company said it had seen more than 30% increase in the cost of gold.
BaubleBar, which specializes in fine jewelry, offers a large selection of “demi-fine” gold pieces, which co-founder Daniella Yacobovsky said has allowed the company to somewhat avoid the brunt of the pressure from gold prices.
The company’s demi-fine jewelry features a thick, high-quality 18k gold plated over a sterling silver base, which allows BaubleBar to avoid the costs associated with solid gold jewelry. The brand’s demi-fine earrings range from anywhere between $50 to $150.
“We’ve actually seen a really huge increase in interest in demi-fine,” Yacobovsky told CNBC. “I think that it offers people a really fantastic alternative to solid gold. … You’re going to get a really fantastic quality similar to that for a lower price point.”
Still, Yacobovsky said it’s concerning that significant events affecting the global economy are happening at higher rates than even five years ago. She said she hasn’t seem something as volatile as the skyrocketing price of gold in the industry “for a long time.”
The key, she said, will be for businesses to capitalize on their ability to make smart choices.
For Alexis Bittar, CEO of his eponymous jewelry company, the smart choice meant leaning into gold-plated pieces, which allows the company to save costs over solid gold, and raising prices slightly to match the products that are coming in.
But the company is not repricing any of its existing products, Bittar said.
“You’re constantly juggling between the tariff and the acceleration of the gold prices, so you’re staying within a price point that you’re known for,” Bittar said. “From the consumer side, they’re not really caring. They vaguely know the prices of gold are going up … but mentally, they have an unconscious price point that they’re looking to spend, and when you start to way exceed it, you’re pricing people out.”
Bittar said his company is seeing a “cautious” consumer, but that any pullback in spending is likely more related to solid gold than plated gold, and that the wealthy consumer base is more willing to pay higher prices than lower- or middle-income shoppers.
Even for ear piercing company Rowan, which also offers gold jewelry, the rapidly changing industry may be spelling trouble. CEO Louisa Schneider told CNBC that it’s hard to imagine any other industry whose raw material costs have risen as dramatically as gold.

Rowan Piercing Studio’s Suburban Square location in Ardmore, PA.
Courtesy: Rowan

Because ear piercing requires some level of surgical steel or titanium for ideal healing, Rowan often uses 14k gold to coat those materials, leaving the company “somewhat insulated” from the rising price of gold because it is required to uphold certain health and safety standards.
Still, Schneider said Rowan had to raise prices on some of its gold pieces in the beginning of the third quarter, which she said customers are willing to pay for because the company specializes in employing trained nurses for the piercings.
“This is a fear indicator. So that, from my standpoint, is quite concerning,” Schneider said. “Our expectation is that we do not see a significant reduction in the current pricing – if anything, we expect that gold will continue to be quite expensive. So we will continue to hedge ourselves and to work really closely with our vendors.”
Schneider said she’s seeing an “inflection point” in the price of gold and that it’s a cause for concern for all jewelry companies, but especially those that are unable to raise their prices to counteract the costs because they sell to non-luxury consumers who are less flexible with price changes.
Ultimately, she said this serves as a warning sign for the broader economy, even if it might not be hitting Rowan too hard.
“The demand is not coming from consumers that want to wear gold or industries that require gold as a component of manufacturing,” Schneider said. “This is coming from a hoarding of gold given an uncertainty around the U.S. dollar, and that’s unlike anything that we’ve seen.”
Correction: A previous version of this story misstated Signet’s sales. More