Making Bank

1/14/24 7:00PM

Making bank

JPMorgan Chase’s annual profits surged to a record $49.6 billion in 2023, as the bank continues to extend the ever-widening lead it enjoys over its American industry rivals.

The giant, formed by an amalgam of mergers and acquisitions through the years with foundational roots stretching back as far as 1799, recorded the mind-boggling bottom-line figure despite a 3% dip in quarterly sales — a clear reflection of the very good rest-of-the-year that JPM had, thanks to high interest rates and its successful acquisition of the failed First Republic earlier in the year.

Rather than spending too long celebrating the record-breaking results, CEO Jamie Dimon was keen to use the earnings release to warn investors that increased spending “may lead inflation to be stickier and rates to be higher than markets expect.”

Netflix and Disney+ probably only added ad-tier subscribers this year, says Morgan Stanley

As streaming prices climb, ad-free subscribers are becoming a rarity.

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BLOOD

MONEY

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Discount stores are having a moment in America, drawing high- and low-income consumers alike

Everyone loves a deal in 2025 — and Aldi, Walmart, and Dollar Tree are all cashing in.

Millie Giles12/17/25

Max Knoblauch12/16/25

Report: OpenAI won’t pay a dime in cash for its 3-year licensing deal for Disney IP

More financial details behind the landmark deal that will grant OpenAI three years of access to Disney intellectual property are coming out, and they’re pretty surprising.

The deal will reportedly see OpenAI pay zero dollars in licensing fees, instead compensating Disney in stock warrants. It was previously reported that Disney would invest $1 billion into OpenAI as part of the agreement.

It’s very abnormal for Disney to grant anyone access to its massive IP library without a cash payment, and the entertainment juggernaut has been known to strike down even crocheted Etsy Yodas for infringing on its turf. In its fiscal year 2025, Disney booked more than $10 billion in revenue from licensing fees across merchandising, television, and theatrical distribution.

OpenAI Deal to License Disney Characters Is Entirely in Stock

Max Knoblauch12/15/25

Ford says it will take $19.5 billion in charges in a massive EV write-down

The EV business has marked a long stretch of losing for Ford, and today the automaker announced it will take $19.5 billion in charges tied, for the most part, to its EV division.

Ford said it’s launching a battery energy storage business, leveraging battery plants in Kentucky and Michigan to “provide solutions for energy infrastructure and growing data center demand.”

According to Ford, the changes will drive Ford’s electrified division to profitability by 2029. The company will stop making its electric F-150, the Lightning, and instead shift to an “extended-range electric vehicle” that includes a gas-powered generator.

The Detroit automaker also raised its adjusted earnings before interest and taxes outlook to “about $7 billion” from a range of $6 billion to $6.5 billion.

Ford’s write-down is one of the largest taken by a company as legacy automakers scale back on EVs, giving EV-only automakers a market share boost.