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Cities of Success

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The aerospace industry has grown 88% over the past two decades in the Denver and Boulder metro areas, according to a CNBC analysis.
The region’s corporate roster ranges from the biggest contractors such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Northrop Grumman to the newest commercial space and defense tech startups.
The area also benefits from industry partnerships and Colorado’s robust military presence.

These giant white structures called radomes at Buckley Space Force Base in Colorado house massive satellite dishes.

This story is part of CNBC’s quarterly Cities of Success series, which explores cities that have transformed into business hubs with an entrepreneurial spirit that has attracted capital, companies and employees.
In the shadow of the Rocky Mountains, with an elevation one mile closer to space than sea level, lies an area that’s home to a burgeoning cluster of aerospace businesses.

It might not be obvious to someone driving around Denver and Boulder that there are hundreds of companies actively working on some of America’s most complex national security needs and building innovative products like those that might be seen in a sci-fi film.
But the local industry’s liftoff has been undeniable: Aerospace grew 88% over the past two decades, more than any other emerging industry in the Denver and Boulder metro areas during that time period, according to a CNBC analysis. Now, 191 aerospace businesses are supporting 29,000 jobs in the region, the Colorado Space Coalition reports.
“When we were creating Voyager and thinking through the best growth markets where we could have access to talent … Denver really rose to the top,” Dylan Taylor, chairman and chief executive of Voyager Space, told CNBC’s Morgan Brennan in an interview on CNBC’s “Manifest Space” podcast. He founded the privately held multinational space conglomerate in 2019 in Denver.

Voyager Space CEO Dylan Taylor traveled to space on a Blue Origin flight in 2021.
AFP via Getty Images

“I think talent coupled with alignment from the government were really important considerations, and then also if you look at other elements of Denver, whether it’s access to capital, this is an emerging venture capital market, especially the Boulder corridor,” he added.
The region’s corporate roster ranges from the biggest, oldest, prime contractors such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Northrop Grumman to the newest commercial space and defense tech startups such as Ursa Major and True Anomaly. United Launch Alliance, BAE Systems and RTX also have a presence in the area, as do private space stalwarts in addition to Voyager such as Sierra Space and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, which has been expanding its local footprint aggressively in recent years.

Follow and listen to CNBC’s “Manifest Space” podcast, hosted by Morgan Brennan, wherever you get your podcasts.

“I think aerospace has become a fulcrum of our whole economy now,” said U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., who previously served as Colorado’s governor and before that as mayor of Denver.
“It’s a community that works together in terms of aerospace,” said Hickenlooper, who is cited by local business executives as being a key space proponent for the region and the state. “It’s not dog eat dog. It’s all dogs working together. It’s hunting like wolves.”
For Voyager, that’s been true. The company has so far made seven acquisitions — the first two of which were local startups. “We’re circa 700 employees now and, you know, quite a bit of revenue, looking to enter in the public markets at some point,” Taylor said.
Its most high-profile project, Starlab, is an effort to replace the aging International Space Station. Voyager has teamed up with Airbus in a joint venture to build the commercial space station, with Mitsubishi recently announced as a strategic partner and equity owner. The space station is expected to launch to orbit on SpaceX’s powerful Starship rocket system, which is under development.
For Taylor, who has been to space himself after a trip on Blue Origin’s New Shepard, the Denver-Boulder space story extends beyond Voyager too. He’s spent years investing in the sector personally, as an early backer in more than 50 startups, including Orbit Fab.

Orbit Fab employees manufacturing the company’s refueling ports for satellites.

Backed by neighboring Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, Orbit Fab moved into a roughly 60,000-square-foot manufacturing facility after relocating from California in 2021.
“We started the company in Silicon Valley. We moved to Colorado mainly because of the workforce. There’s a bigger aerospace workforce here,” said Daniel Faber, Orbit Fab’s CEO and founder.
Since making the move, the company has grown from six to 60 employees, and is focused on building “gas stations” in space to refuel satellites. Historically, many satellites have been decommissioned not because their payloads or hardware no longer work, but because they have run out of power.
“If you ran out of fuel on a highway, AAA can come and deliver you fuel. That’s actually the typical way that we’ll do it in space,” Faber said. The startup recently revealed a refueling port — or gas cap — that’s been flight qualified and is commercially available for $30,000 per unit.

Denver area startup Orbit Fab is building refueling ports for satellites that will allow them to fuel up in space.

Like many companies in the area, Orbit Fab counts the U.S. military, specifically the Space Force, among its biggest customers. One thing that makes the broader Denver-Boulder region so unique is its robust military presence, including three separate U.S. Space Force bases, the U.S. Space Operations Command and the U.S. Air Force Academy in nearby Colorado Springs.
“I think the location matters greatly,” said Col. Heidi Dexter, commander of Space Base Delta 2 at Buckley Space Force Base in Aurora, Colorado. “The partnership that we have with all of the local defense contractors and the startups allow us the opportunity to drive down the cost of space operations, as well as innovate very quickly so that it’s crucial to national defense.”
Colorado now boasts more private aerospace employees per capita than any other state, according to the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation.
“What an executive, a CEO for a rapidly growing company, wants to hear is that young people will be attracted,” Hickenlooper said. “Once you attract young people, eventually the entrepreneurs come, the businesses start.”
TUNE IN: The “Cities of Success” special featuring Denver and Boulder will air on CNBC on April 11 at 10 p.m. EDT. More

Sierra Space is considering an IPO as soon as next year.
CEO Tom Vice tells CNBC that the company’s NASA-contracted space plane Dream Chaser is on pace to make its first flight in the fourth quarter.
The company unveiled its Eclipse line of satellite buses, with the aim of serving a wide range of missions from low Earth to cis-lunar at a more cost-effective level.

A render of Sierra Space’s Velocity satellite bus
Credit: Sierra Space

Amid preparations for its spaceplane’s maiden flight and an initial public offering as soon as next year, Sierra Space is expanding its satellite offerings.  
Ahead of the much-anticipated solar eclipse, the commercial space unicorn unveiled its aptly named Eclipse line of satellite buses — the main structures of satellites — to serve a wide range of missions in orbits ranging for low Earth to cis-lunar. 

“We’ve actually been waiting for six months, so it’s like, this [name], we really thought about it,” Tom Vice, Sierra Space chief executive said in an interview for CNBC’s “Manifest Space” podcast. “I think the name is very appropriate, because I think it will change everything in terms of the affordability of building the next generation buses for the next generation satellites.”
Valued at $5.3 billion as of September, Sierra Space was spun out of defense contractor Sierra Nevada Corporation three years ago. Touting a three-decade spaceflight heritage, the independent subsidiary is the result of an ambitious early bet by SNC’s billionaire husband and wife team, Fatih and Eren Ozmen. 
Sierra Space touts a diverse space and defense tech portfolio spanning space transportation, space habitation, propulsion and satellites. It’s perhaps best known for its NASA-contracted, reusable spaceplane Dream Chaser which will run cargo resupply missions to the International Space Station and eventually carry humans to and from orbit.
It’s also working on a commercial space station with Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin called Orbital Reef, and in January landed a $740 million high-profile Pentagon contract to develop a constellation of missile tracking satellites for the U.S. 
The Eclipse offerings bring it further into the spacecraft subsystem business.

On Dream Chaser, Vice said he’s “very confident” it will make its first flight in the fourth quarter of this year. He added the spaceplane passed the first phase of environmental testing in March and said since it will be carrying cargo to the ISS on this first demonstration, the company is dependent on NASA’s manifest and it’s working with the FAA to get a reentry license.

Artist’s rendering of Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser spaceplane in this undated handout obtained March 25, 2022.
Sierra Space | via Reuters

“Dream Chaser is also a vehicle that can spend a year on orbit and be an orbiting space station for microgravity research,” Vice said, speaking to the opportunities for R&D and manufacturing that he and the company are betting will materialize in low earth orbit, providing business cases for the space plane as well as its space habitats.
Sierra Space has identified four segments it believes can be served by microgravity to disrupt industry on earth: stem cells, oncology, vaccines and industrial glass. Those markets combined amounted to $900 billion in 2022, according to Vice, and are growing at such a rate to reach roughly $3.7 trillion by 2038. 
“You can do some things that are radically different in terms of protein crystallization that we know actually will produce better drugs. So we think actually this is a huge market for us,” he said. 
Sierra’s nearer-term focus is on finalizing a Series B funding round to raise capital for potential acquisitions, on getting Dream Chaser flying, and on getting its financials in a strong position ahead off a possible IPO as soon as next year. 
“We’ll start to look at that as an option and make the decision depending on what the markets look like,” said Vice. “But I think we’re very quickly becoming a company that has been able to demonstrate significant top line growth.”
Sierra’s sales are expected to double in 2024, according to Vice. Its backlog currently tops $4 billion, and it’s working to become cash flow positive. 
After significant layoffs in November, Sierra Space also plans to double its workforce this year. 
While it has received offers to go public via a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, the plan is to embark on a traditional IPO process.
“We’re a company that thinks a lot about ushering in the most profound industrial revolution in human history,” explained Vice.  More

Department stores and other retailers will feel the impact of a new federal rule, which caps credit card late fees at $8.
Analysts say department stores will get squeezed more by the rule, since their revenue is already under pressure.
Store credit cards allow retailers to drive repeat purchases and make a cut of cash. Even before a recent CFPB ruling, the revenue segment was under pressure.

A customer uses a credit card to pay for items January 28, 2022 at a retail shop in New York City. 
Robert Nickelsberg | Getty Images

Department stores like Macy’s and Kohl’s have long used store-branded credit cards to drive purchases and get a cut of cash. 
Starting this spring, though, those cards will become less lucrative. Late fees for customers will be capped at $8, down from an industry average of around $32, under a new rule from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The change faces legal challenges, but is scheduled to take effect on May 14.

The new rule will benefit customers with overdue balances, but will take a bite out of retailers’ highly profitable business of making money from customers’ credit card swipes and the interest or late fees that get tacked onto their unpaid balances.
Specialty retailers with store cards, such as Gap, will feel the pinch, but it’ll be the most significant at department stores since their revenue is already under pressure, according to Jane Hali, CEO and retail analyst at equity research firm Jane Hali & Associates.
“We are talking about an area of weakness, so any cut in revenue is going to be more important to them than another area of retail,” she said.
For fiscal 2023, credit card revenue totaled $619 million for Macy’s and approximately $475 million for Nordstrom.
Kohl’s reported $924 million in “other” revenue in 2023, a broader category that includes unused gift cards and third-party advertising on its website, though Fitch Ratings estimates the majority of that revenue category is from credit cards.

The three companies do not break out how much of total credit card revenue comes from late fees.

Value add

Store-branded credit cards are a clear boon for retailers: They encourage purchases and come with virtually no overhead, said David Silverman, a retail analyst at Fitch Ratings.
They’re typically issued through financial services companies and banks, such as Synchrony Financial, TD Bank or Capital One. And they often come with extra perks for shoppers, such as additional discounts or rewards for repeat purchases.
For retailers, the branded cards provide insights into customer behavior, since they track purchases, and can amount to a perpetual advertisement, right in customers’ wallets, Silverman said.
“If I’m constantly using my Macy’s card or my Home Depot card or whatever it is, that brand is even more so part of my daily life,” he said.
Even before the CFPB ruling, retailers’ credit cards faced challenges.
Shoppers, particularly those who are younger, are paying in new ways like buy now, pay later, which allows a customer to pay back a purchase in installments. Use of buy now, pay later with online purchases between January and March totaled $19.2 billion, an increase of 12.3% from the year-ago period, according to Adobe Analytics, which analyzes online transactions across retail sites.
Some customers are opting for credit cards that offer experience-based perks, such as access to airport lounges or early purchases of high-demand concert tickets.
Plus, in a higher interest rate environment, getting customers to sign up for store cards or use them may be a trickier proposition. For retailer-issued credit cards, interest rates — also called APRs, or annual percentage rates — were about 29.33% on average as of early April, according Bankrate. That compares with an average of 20.75% for all U.S. credit cards.
All of that adds up to dwindling credit card revenue for retailers, who can now expect to see it shrink even further.

Shrinking segment

For all the millions brought in by private-label cards, they drive a small portion of retailers’ net sales. The retailers’ credit cards accounted for nearly 3% of Macy’s net sales and a little over 3% of Nordstrom’s net sales in the most recent fiscal year.

Kohl’s, Macy’s and Target all reported year-over-year declines in credit card revenue for the most recent fiscal year — a reflection of reduced discretionary spending and normalizing credit patterns, according to the companies.
Target’s credit card revenue fell to $667 million last year, down from $734 million in the prior fiscal year. Chief Operating Officer Michael Fiddelke said at an investor meeting in March that the discounter has seen softer spending on credit cards, but has been able to make it up with growth of its advertising business, Roundel.
The big-box retailer recently relaunched its loyalty program as a three-tiered offering that includes a free tier, a paid annual membership and a credit card that’s now called the Target Circle Card.
Macy’s, too, has dealt with falling credit card revenue. The segment’s $619 million during the most recent fiscal year was a decline of about 28%. And the company said it expects that to tumble even further to between $475 million and $490 million for this fiscal year as net sales fall.
That outlook doesn’t take into account the credit card late fee ruling.
Adrian Mitchell, chief operating officer and chief financial officer, told investors on the company’s earnings call that Macy’s is working with Citi, its financial partner, to try to offset the late fee ruling. It’s also looking for strategies to increase customers’ use of Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s credit cards, he said.
Nordstrom, for its part, has reported year-over-year gains in credit card revenue for each of the past three years, though its haul is smaller than that of Kohl’s, Macy’s and Target. It downplayed the CFPB change, saying the average credit quality of its portfolio tends to be higher than other retailers, meaning it relies less on late fees.
Gap does not disclose credit card revenue, but its chief financial officer, Katrina O’Connell, said on an earnings call that losses from late fees will be “largely offset in 2024 by other levers within our credit card program.” The company declined to share specifics about those offsets.
Some card issuers, such as Synchrony, have said they will make changes in the coming months, such as increasing APRs, to try to blunt the federal rule’s effect. Synchrony is a major issuer of store cards, including the cards for Sam’s Club and Lowe’s.

Offsetting losses

At Kohl’s, it’s a bit of a different story.
Kohl’s customers typically have lower household incomes than those of other retailers, such as Nordstrom, which makes them more likely to miss a payment and be subject to a late fee, said Lorraine Hutchinson, a research analyst at Bank of America.
And, off-mall department store retailer Kohl’s is chasing a turnaround under CEO Tom Kingsbury, the former chief of off-price chain Burlington, and is leaning in part on co-branded cards to pull it off.
To offset losses, Kohl’s has been working to get customers to switch from store-branded credit cards, which can only be used in its stores and on its website, to co-branded Capital One cards that can be used to pay for other purchases, too.
In an interview with CNBC in mid-March, Kingsbury said the company had previously planned to introduce the co-branded cards, but accelerated its plans because of the impending CFPB late fee cap.
Co-branded cards “will help offset any late fee changes that we have,” he said.
Kingsbury said as of March that Kohl’s has converted nearly 700,000 private-label cardholders. It plans to convert about 5 million more later this year, covering more than a quarter of its 20 million active cardholders.
He also underscored why Kohl’s — and other retailers — want to be in the credit card business.
On average, Kohl’s credit customers spend six times more per year than shoppers who don’t belong to its loyalty program, Kingsbury said. Incremental credit revenue from the co-branded card is expected to grow to between $250 million and $300 million annually by 2025, he said.
— CNBC’s Gabrielle Fonrouge contributed to this report.

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Macy’s said it would add two new directors to its 15-person board as it settles a proxy fight with a group led by activist Arkhouse Management.
Arkhouse is also in the middle of negotiating with the department store about a possible sale that would take Macy’s private.
Both new directors will be part of the committee reviewing Arkhouse’s bid to buy the company.

Macy’s flagship store in Herald Square in New York, Dec. 23, 2021.
Scott Mlyn | CNBC

Department store Macy’s on Wednesday said it had settled its proxy fight with an activist group led by Arkhouse Management, and that it would add two new directors to its 15-person board.
The reshuffle moves Macy’s closer to a deal that could take the 165-year-old department store private.

Ric Clark, a former executive at Brookfield, and Rick Markee will join Macy’s board effective immediately. Markee is also on the board of discount retailer Five Below. Both Clark and Markee were Arkhouse nominees.
“The Board is open-minded about the best path to create shareholder value,” the company said.
Macy’s shares fell around 2% in pre-market trading Wednesday.
Macy’s also said it had provided the Arkhouse-led investor group with confidential business information as the two sides negotiated the terms of a possible sale. Both new directors will be part of the committee reviewing Arkhouse’s bid to buy the company.
Arkhouse first submitted an offer to take the retailer private in 2023. The investor, which is working in concert with Brigade Management, has since increased its offer multiple times. The investment-firm-turned-activist then launched a proxy fight at the company in February, putting up a nine-director slate.

Clark and Markee’s appointment “will ensure that our discussions continue to be constructive and that our proposal is treated seriously and expeditiously,” Arkhouse managing partners Jonathon Blackwell and Gavriel Kahane said.
The storied retailer has struggled for nearly a decade as consumers have rapidly swung to online shopping and away from department stores. Macy’s said in February it would close around 150 of its roughly 500 stores, just weeks after CEO Tony Spring stepped into the top job.
It has laid off thousands of people in recent years as the company grapples with the dramatically altered landscape.
Macy’s has attracted activist attention before. Starboard Value, a well-established investor in the space, took a position in the retailer in 2015, only to sell it off two years later after a potential acquisition fizzled.
Arkhouse’s bid differs from past engagements at the company. The real estate investor seeks to take the company private, removing it from the rigors of the public market and allowing executives time to streamline and rightsize the business, which still has a significant real estate portfolio. More

Delta swung to a profit in the first quarter with record sales for the period.
The company forecast second-quarter earnings of $2.20 to $2.50 a share.
CEO Ed Bastian said hiring has slowed after the airline added staff aggressively following the pandemic.

An Airbus A330-941 is being delivered to Delta Air Lines, flying from Toulouse Blagnac Airport to Atlanta, in Toulouse, France, on December 8, 2023. 
JoanValls | Nurphoto | Getty Images

Delta Air Lines swung to a profit in the first quarter, and CEO Ed Bastian said bookings for both leisure and business travel are strong as the peak travel season approaches, despite persistent inflation.
“Consumers continue to prioritize travel as a discretionary investment in themselves,” Bastian said in an interview.

Delta forecast second-quarter earnings of $2.20 to $2.50 per share, while analysts forecast between $2.23 per share on average, according to LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv. It said revenue in the current period could rise as much as 7%, ahead of analysts’ estimates. Delta also reiterated its full-year forecast for $6 to $7 a share and free cash flow of between $3 billion and $4 billion.
Business travel improved in the last quarter and solid demand is likely to continue, executives said, citing 14% growth in corporate travel sales. They called out the technology, consumer and financial services sectors as particularly strong.
Delta has slowed hiring, like other carriers, after a massive spree in the wake of the pandemic, and is focusing more on efficiency. Bastian told CNBC that the company’s headcount will likely be up low single digits this year compared with 2023.
Delta’s shares were up nearly 5% in premarket trading Wednesday after the company released results.
Here’s how the company performed in the three months ended March 31, compared with Wall Street expectations based on consensus estimates from LSEG:

Adjusted earnings per share: 45 cents vs. 36 cents expected.
Adjusted revenue: $12.56 billion vs. $12.59 billion expected.

The carrier made $37 million, or 6 cents per share, in the first three months of the year, up from a loss of $363 million, or 57 cents per share, in the year-earlier period, it said Wednesday. Delta’s adjusted earnings of $288 million, or 45 cents a share, rose from $163 million, or 25 cents a share in the first quarter of 2023.
Revenue of $12.56 billion, adjusted to strip out refinery sales, was up 6% from last year, and slightly below analysts’ expectations.
Delta’s unit cost, when stripping out fuel, rose 1.5% on the year. Delta said domestic unit revenue rose 3% from a year ago with airplane loads at records for the quarter, traditionally a slow period for travel. Airfare rose 1% from February to March, but was down 7% last month compared with the same month last year, according to Wednesday’s U.S. inflation report.
“Growth is normalizing and we are in a period of optimization, with a focus on restoring our most profitable core hubs and delivering efficiency gains,” CFO Dan Janki said in an earnings release.

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The wealthy are building “passport portfolios” — collections of second, and even third or fourth, citizenships — in case they need to flee their home country.
Recent high-profile examples of second citizenships include billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel, who added a citizenship in New Zealand, and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, who applied for citizenship in Cyprus.
The top destinations for supplemental passports among Americans are Portugal, Malta, Greece and Italy, according to Henley & Partners.

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.
Wealthy U.S. families are increasingly applying for second citizenships and national residences as a way to hedge their financial risk, according to a leading law firm.

The wealthy are building these “passport portfolios” — collections of second, and even third or fourth, citizenships — in case they need to flee their home country. Henley & Partners, a law firm that specializes in high-net-worth citizenships, said Americans now outnumber every other nationality when it comes to securing alternative residences or added citizenships.
“The U.S. is still a great country, it’s still an amazing passport,” said Dominic Volek, group head of private clients at Henley & Partners. “But if I’m wealthy, I would like to hedge against levels of volatility and uncertainty. The idea of diversification is well understood by wealthy individuals around what they invest. It makes no sense to have one country of citizenship and residence when I have the ability to actually diversify that aspect of my life as well.”
Recent high-profile examples of second citizenships include billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel, who added a citizenship in New Zealand, and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, who applied for citizenship in Cyprus.

Thomas Kokta | Photographer’s Choice Rf | Getty Images

Of course, the wealthy aren’t packing up en masse and ditching their American citizenship. While a relatively small number of Americans do renounce their citizenship every year to declare a new home country, mainly due to tax-filing requirements, the so-called “exit tax” required to renounce citizenship makes it financially prohibitive for most except the ultra-wealthy to simply renounce and declare a new citizenship.
Instead, many wealthy Americans are shopping around for an added visa or citizenship program to supplement their U.S. passport.

According to Henley, the top destinations for supplemental passports among Americans are Portugal, Malta, Greece and Italy. Portugal’s “Golden Visa” program is especially popular since it provides a path to residency and citizenship — with visa-free travel in Europe — in exchange for an investment of 500,000 euros (roughly $541,000) in a fund or private equity. Malta offers a Golden Visa for 300,000 euros invested in real estate, which Volek said has become “especially popular with Americans.”
“With Malta you become a European citizen, with complete settlement rights across Europe,” he said. “So you can live in Germany, your kids can go and study in France and you have the right to live, work and study throughout Europe.”
There are three main reasons for the rise of American passport portfolios, or “domicile diversification.” An alternative passport makes travel easier for Americans venturing to parts of the world that are less friendly to the U.S.
“For American, British, and Israeli citizens suddenly unsure of their welcome abroad, supplementary passports provide vital flexibility,” according to a Henley report. “With rising global instability, holding citizenship in another country, particularly one that is considered more neutral or politically benign, now provides a valuable back-up or alternative option.”
Another reason is business travel, which can be safer and less conspicuous with a non-U.S. passport in many countries. U.S. business leaders could be targets for “resentment, hostage-taking, or random terrorism in the chaos of collapsed states or high-risk countries they need to travel to for business purposes,” according to the report, which says interested parties range from hedge-fund managers who meet with global clients to mining company executives who visit operations sites.
Using a secondary passport can also help cross-border financial transfers or deals within the new country.
Finally, some wealthy Americans simply want a back-up residency for possible retirement, to be closer to their families who live abroad or for lifestyle reasons in the new age of remote work. For others, U.S. politics is the driver.  
“We all live in uncertain times, not just in the U.S., but in all nations globally,” Volek said. “Who knows what’s going to happen next. It’s really about having not only a Plan B but Plan C and D in place as well.”

Arrows pointing outwards

Globally, millionaire migration is expected to hit a new high in 2024, as wars, government crackdowns on wealth, and political uncertainty drive more wealthy residents to other countries. An estimated 128,000 millionaires are forecast to move to a new country this year, up from 120,000 in 2023 and up from 51,000 in 2013, according to Henley.
The U.S. remains a top destination for global millionaires leaving other countries, with a net inflow of 2,200 millionaires in 2023 and a projected inflow of 3,500 in 2024, according to Henley.
China remains the biggest source of millionaire out-migration, losing a net 13,500 millionaires last year.
“The wealth-creation opportunities in the U.S. are second to none globally,” Volek said.
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Chains owned by publicly traded restaurant companies accounted for half of the top 10 fastest-growing retail brands in the U.S. last year, according to a new Yelp report.
Jack in the Box, First Watch and Dutch Bros. were among the public restaurant chains included in the report, but they didn’t crack the top 10.
Here are the top 10 fastest-growing brands, based on Yelp’s research:

The new restaurant in your neighborhood may look familiar.
Chains owned by publicly traded restaurant companies accounted for half of the top 10 fastest-growing retail brands in the U.S. last year, according to a new Yelp report.

Review site Yelp compiled the list by using a blended metric that includes net new openings, searches on its platform from 2022 to 2023 and consumer interest that was measured by page visits, posted photos and written reviews. Of the 50 fastest-growing chains in Yelp’s report, 35 were restaurant brands.
Jack in the Box, First Watch and Dutch Bros were among the public restaurant chains included in the report, but they didn’t crack the top 10. Publicly traded retailers included Levi Strauss, Nordstrom and Costco.
Here are the top 10 fastest-growing brands, based on Yelp’s research:

1. Cava

CAVA, at the New York Stock Exchange during its initial public offering, June 14, 2023.
Source: NYSE

The Mediterranean fast-casual chain went public through an IPO 10 months ago, raising nearly $318 million. Cava said in a regulatory filing that it planned to use the offering’s proceeds for new location openings, as well as general corporate purposes. It opened 30 net new locations in the second half of 2023 and plans to open at least 48 this year.

2. Scooter’s Coffee

Mascots for Scooter’s Coffee race around the warning track during a Pacific Coast League game between the Omaha Storm Chasers and the Memphis Redbirds on April 26, 2019 at Werner Park in Omaha, Nebraska.
Zachary Lucy | Four Seam Images | via AP

The Midwestern coffee chain was founded in 1998 in Nebraska but has only recently begun aggressively expanding through franchised locations. Its standard, drive-thru-only location is only 664 square feet. The restaurant’s small size makes it cheaper to operate and quicker to build, helping the chain and its franchisees accelerate development quickly.

Scooter’s net new locations jumped 53% from 2022 to 2023, giving it the largest percentage growth of any restaurant brand on the list, according to Yelp.

3. LongHorn Steakhouse

Customers leave a LongHorn Steakhouse restaurant on June 22, 2023 in Skokie, Illinois.
Scott Olson | Getty Images

The Darden Restaurants steakhouse had more than 560 locations nationwide at the end of Darden’s fiscal 2023. Since the pandemic began, the casual-dining chain’s sales have consistently outperformed the restaurant industry’s average, fueled in part by the strong growth of its takeout business.
Parent company Darden plans to open at least 50 new locations across all of its brands in fiscal 2024.

4. The Habit Burger Grill

Source: Habit Burger Grill

When Yum Brands bought the California-based burger chain in 2020, its footprint was less than 280 restaurants, dwarfed by Yum’s other chains: Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and KFC. But Yum has been accelerating the Habit Burger Grill’s development ever since the deal closed. At the end of 2023, the chain had 378 locations on the East and West coasts.

5. Wawa

A Wawa store hiring sign in Bethany Beach, Delaware.
Stephanie Dhue | CNBC

While Wawa is a convenience store and gas station chain, its loyal fans probably know it more for its cheesesteaks and hoagies. The chain has been expanding outside its Philadelphia stronghold into new markets down the Atlantic seaboard. It’s also been opening drive-thru locations, encroaching further on restaurants’ territory.

6. Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen

Tim Hortons owner to purchase Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen. The parent company of Tim Hortons and Burger King said it will pay US$1.8 billion cash to buy the Popeyes chain. (Randy Risling/Toronto Star via Getty Images)
Randy Risling | Toronto Star | Getty Images

The Restaurant Brands International chain’s famous chicken sandwich has helped fuel its new restaurant growth in the U.S. and beyond. Popeyes’ higher sales have encouraged franchisees to open more locations and led new operators to join the brand, Restaurant Brands executives have previously said.
In 2023, Popeyes surpassed KFC as the second-most popular chicken chain in the U.S. by sales, trailing only Chick-fil-A.

7. Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

Freddy’s frozen custard and Steakburgers creates fresh, made-to-order, food in Lansing, Kansas.
Michael Siluk | UCG | Universal Images Group | Getty Images

Private equity firm Thompson Street Capital Partners bought the Midwestern fast-casual chain in 2021 for an undisclosed sum. Under its new ownership, Freddy’s has ramped up its development, opened restaurants in new locations like airports and signed on new franchisees. Last year, the burger joint opened 62 new locations, setting a new development record for the chain and surpassing 500 locations overall.

8. Rally House

Rally House staff members wait in a closed store following Super Bowl LV between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on February 7, 2021 in Kansas City, Missouri. 
Kyle Rivas | Getty Images

Rally House is the sole apparel retailer to crack the top 10 of Yelp’s report. The store, which sells team gear and sports apparel for professional and college teams, has been setting its own record for new openings. In August, it opened seven locations in a single weekend. While its footprint is largely concentrated in the Midwest, its stores now stretch from Pennsylvania to Arizona.

9. Olive Garden

A sign marks the location of a Olive Garden restaurant on June 22, 2023 in Lincolnwood, Illinois.
Scott Olson | Getty Images

The Italian-inspired chain is the gem of Darden Restaurants’ portfolio, accounting for nearly half of the company’s overall revenue. It’s also the rare casual-dining chain to open locations, adding about 20 new restaurants in its fiscal 2023.

10. Jersey Mike’s Subs

A sign is posted in front of a Jersey Mike’s Subs shop on April 05, 2024 in Petaluma, California. 
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images

Jersey Mike’s is the second-largest U.S. sandwich chain, trailing only Subway by number of stores. Its current footprint hovers around 2,700 restaurants, but it’s growing rapidly. And despite its name and origin, most of its restaurants are now in California, Texas and Florida.
The privately owned sandwich chain is also reportedly looking for a buyer, according to a Wall Street Journal report last week. Blackstone’s interest in Jersey Mike’s has reportedly cooled, but a new owner could further ramp up the chain’s development.

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Toyota Motor revealed a new 4Runner SUV for the first time in nearly 15 years — completing a recent redesign of the automaker’s current trucks and SUVs.
Aside from its new looks, which are similar to the recently redesigned Toyota Tacoma pickup, the 2025 4Runner will be offered with a hybrid engine for the first time.

2025 Toyota 4Runner TRD Pro

Toyota Motor revealed a new 4Runner SUV for the first time in nearly 15 years — completing a recent redesign of the automaker’s current trucks and SUVs.
Aside from its new looks, which are similar to the recently redesigned Toyota Tacoma pickup, the 2025 4Runner will be offered with a hybrid engine for the first time as well as new “Platinum” and “Trailhunter” high-end trims.

“This all-new 4Runner has incredible versatility and capability that nicely rounds out our truck family,” Dave Christ, Toyota group vice president and general manager, said in a release. “We’ve sold over 3 million 4Runners over the past 40 years, and this sixth-generation model offers a cool new look and incredible features yet retains the rugged style and capability our customers love about this adventure icon.”
Toyota’s “truck family” is also known as the “five brothers”: the Tacoma and Tundra pickup trucks and the 4Runner, Land Cruiser and Sequoia SUVs. The 4Runner is the last to be redesigned and built on Toyota’s global truck platform, which debuted with the Land Cruiser and Tundra in 2021.

2025 Toyota 4Runner Trailhunter

Toyota said pricing of the 2025 4Runner will be released closer to its on-sale date. Starting prices for the 2024 model range from about $41,000 to more than $55,000.
While Toyota is known for its fuel-efficient vehicles such as the Prius, its larger “brother” SUVs, including the 4Runner, had much worse fuel ratings prior to being updated — at 17 mpg combined or less, according to federal ratings. The current 4Runner has been on sale, with some updates, since 2010.
Toyota said miles per gallon ratings for the new 4Runner will be released closer to the vehicle arriving in showrooms in the fall. Toyota’s other redesigned trucks and SUVs have notably improved fuel economy.

Jack Hollis, executive vice president of Toyota Motor North America, last month told CNBC that the company continues to balance out its truck and SUV portfolio, including potential hybrid, plug-in hybrid and all-electric models.
“Those brothers, they all have a lot of similarities, and they have a lot of differences,” he said. “How do we curb carbon emissions fastest with everyone, everywhere? It’s having the right mix between those five products.”

2025 Toyota 4Runner Limited

The 4Runner’s available hybrid engine is a turbocharged 2.4-liter engine with a 48-horsepower electric motor integrated into the eight-speed transmission to produce up to 326 horsepower and 465 foot-pounds of torque. The vehicle’s standard turbocharged 2.4-liter engine produces 278 horsepower and 317 foot-pounds of torque.
The 2025 4Runner will be offered in nine models: SR5, TRD Sport, TRD Sport Premium, TRD Off Road, TRD Off Road Premium, Limited, Platinum, TRD Pro, and Trailhunter.
The new Trailhunter model features additional off-road styling and equipment including rock rails and high strength steel skid plates, while the Platinum model is geared toward more convenience and luxury features.
Production of the 2025 4Runner is taking place at Toyota’s Tahara plant in Japan.
Correction: The 2025 Toyota 4Runner is the first new version of the vehicles in 15 years. A previous version of the article misstated how many years it had been. More