Business

Swifties let down as mystery nonfiction book revealed as oral history of K-Pop royalty BTS

The guessing game began a few days ago, when an anonymous, untitled book scheduled for July 9 4C Untitled Flatiron Nonfiction Summer 2023 had Taylor Swift fans so convinced she had written a memoir that they made it a bestseller.

By Thursday, the Swift rumors had been refuted and the mystery resolved: Flatiron Books announced the upcoming release of a book by another musical powerhouse, BTS.

Beyond the Story: 10-Year Record of BTS is 544 pages, according to the publisher, written by the journalist Myeongseok Kang and structured like an oral history about the K-Pop boy band. It has been translated into English by Anton Hur, in collaboration with Clare Richards and Slin Jung.

Details about the book had encouraged fans of Swift and BTS. The author and subject were to be revealed June 13, a favorite number of Swifts, but also the 10th anniversary of BTS first single, No More Dream. The page count numbers 5-4-4 also add up to 13. The publication date, July 9, is close to the release date of Swifts album Speak Now (Taylors Version), but its also ARMY day, the 10th anniversary of the founding of BTS ARMY fan base.

Speculation about the books subject made it a bestseller on Amazon.com and Barnes and Nobles website.

Booksellers had been informed of a major release from Flatiron, which billed the work as a fun, celebratory title that would skew to slightly younger audiences. The book, a Flatiron sales official emailed sellers, would have global appeal and massive publicity.

The man who choked Jordan Neely to death on the NYC subway has turned himself in

A man who kept a chokehold around the neck of an agitated fellow passenger in the New York City subway, leading to the other riders death, turned himself in to authorities Friday on a manslaughter charge that could send him to prison for 15 years.

Manhattan prosecutors announced Thursday they would bring the criminal charge against Daniel Penny, 24, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, in the May 1 death of Jordan Neely, 30.

Penny turned himself in at a Manhattan police station Friday morning.

Neelys death, captured on video by a freelance journalist, has raised an uproar over many issues, including how those with mental illness are treated by the transit system and the city, as well as crime and vigilantism.

Thomas Kenniff, one of Pennys attorneys, said Penny turned himself in voluntarily and with the sort of dignity and integrity that is characteristic of his history of service to this grateful nation.

In a brief statement to reporters outside the police station, Kenniff said that he expected an arraignment later Friday and that the process will unfold from there.

Asked how Penny was feeling, Kenniff said his client is dealing with the situation, like I said, with the sort of integrity and honor that is characteristic of who he is and characteristic of his honorable service in the United States Marine Corps.

Pennys attorneys have said he acted in self-defense when he restrained Neely.

According to an onlooker, Neely, who is Black, had been screaming and begging for money aboard the train, but had not gotten physical with anyone.

Penny, who is white, was questioned by police in the aftermath but was released without charges.

Friends of Neely said the former subway performer had been dealing with homelessness and mental illness in recent years. He had several arrests to his name, including the 2021 assault of a 67-year-old woman leaving a subway station.

A second-degree manslaughter charge in New York will require the jury to find that a person has engaged in reckless conduct that creates an unjustifiable risk of death, and then consciously disregards that risk.

The law also requires that conduct to be a gross deviation from how a reasonable person would act in a similar situation.

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Associated Press writer Karen Matthews contributed to this report.

Everyone really wants to go to Disney World again

More than 74 million visitors came to the Orlando, Florida, area last year, a benchmark just short of pre-pandemic levels, tourism officials said Thursday.

The number of tourists was 25% greater than it was in 2021, when central Florida was still recovering from the blows to tourism caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which restricted international travel and caused convention cancellations. The areas theme parks closed for several months in 2020 in an effort to stop the virus spread.

This past year proved to be a key recovery timeframe for Orlandos tourism industry, with a lot of pent-up demand from our top US and international markets, said Casandra Matej, president and CEO for Visit Orlando, the areas tourism promotion organization.

The Orlando area had more than 69 million domestic visitors, with most of them visiting for vacations, a segment that has fully recovered, tourism officials said. Business visitors still lagged behind pre-pandemic levels.

There were 4.9 million international tourists, making up only about three-quarters of pre-pandemic levels, according to Visit Orlando. The two biggest sources of international visitors were Canada and the United Kingdom.

U.S. starts process to inject $500 million in new tech hubs around the country

The Commerce Department on Friday is launching the application process for cities to receive a total of $500 million in grants to become technology hubs.

The $500 million is part of a $10 billion authorization from last years CHIPS and Science Act to stimulate investments in new technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing and biotech. Its an attempt to expand tech investment that is largely concentrated around a few U.S. cities Austin, Texas; Boston; New York; San Francisco; and Seattle to the rest of the country.

This is about taking these places on the edge of glory to being world leaders, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told The Associated Press. My job is to enhance Americas competitiveness.

The Biden administration has made it a priority to set an industrial strategy of directing government investment into computer chips, clean energy and a range of other technologies. Officials say that being leaders in those fields will foster economic and national security, reflecting a belief that the best way to compete against Chinas ascendance will come from building internal strength.

The tech hubs are meant to build up areas that already have major research specialties but lack the access to financing that could fuel stronger growth and business formation in those fields. Pockets of the U.S. already have leading-edge tech such as medical devices in Minnesota, robotics in Pittsburgh and agricultural technology in Fresno, California. But the challenge has been finding ways to boost those fields so that government investment leads to more support from private capital.

To qualify for the tech hub money, each applicant will need a partnership that includes one or more companies, a state development agency, worker training programs, a university and state and local government leaders. Roughly 20 cities are expected to be designated as tech hubs with 10 eventually receiving funding.

President Joe Biden hopes to broaden the funding over time, requesting in his budget proposal that Congress appropriate another $4 billion for it over the next two years. Raimondo said that she expects a large number of applications from across the political spectrum.

The tech hubs program, formally the Regional Technology and Innovation Hub Program, ties into a political message that Biden has delivered in speeches. The Democratic president has said that people should not feel forced to leave their hometowns to find good jobs nor should opportunity cluster in just a few parts of the country while other regions struggle.

You shouldnt have to move to Silicon Valley if youre a scientist with a great idea, Raimondo said.

What makes an award-winning board? This CFO says its leadership and culture

This week, Fortune released its Modern Board 25 list that features the most innovative boards of directors among S&P 500 companies. Marie Myers, CFO at HP Inc., is on the board of F5, a Seattle-based cyber security and application delivery firm, which earned the No. 1 spot on the list.

Myers isnt on HPs board of directors, which earned the No. 7 spot, but as CFO, she regularly interacts with the board. The Modern Boards ranking is based on criteria including the expertise, independence, diversity, and tenure of board membership. Myers shares with me her perspective on why both boards work so well.

HP CFO Marie Myers.

Courtesy of HP

I believe leadership and culture are what make F5 and its board so effective, and those traits are what first drew me to joining its board, says Myers, who joined in January 2019. CEO Francois Locoh-Donou is a phenomenal leader, as is Alan Higginson, the chairman of the board. Together they have built a board that reflects the company F5 aims to be. Its not just what it does, but also how it does it.

She continues, F5s human-first and high-performing culture fosters inclusivity and purpose among employees and the board. A lot of companies strive to be inclusive, but at F5 it happens naturally.

Theres also a high degree of collaboration between the board and the leadership team, and chemistry is a factor, Myers says. Chemistry is why the board and leadership come together organically outside of the normal schedule of board meetings to discuss evolving situations and tackle complex business matters, she says.

A combination of her experience, passion for digital transformation, and financial acumen, have all been especially useful in the director role, Myers explains. Similarly, having the opportunity to participate in several large-scale transformations in my career provides a great foundation to navigate the broader environment at the board level, she says.

CFOs need to be knowledgeable about all aspects of the business

Myers, who has nearly 25 years of experience at HP, became the tech giants acting CFO in 2020 and was named CFO in 2021. Before being named CFO, Myers served as HPs chief transformation officer, where she led the companys IT and Transformation organizations.

Ive always been proud of the fact that HPs board is one of the most diverse in the technology industry, Myers says. There is a broad mix of gender, age, ethnicity, and experience. This brings diversity of thought to every discussion and challenge the board and our company faces. Theres chemistry among HPs board and leadership team, as well, she says.

Any advice for CFOs when forging a relationship with the board? The role of the CFO is evolving beyond traditional finance and accounting boundaries, Myers explains. For example, leveraging data and analytics to become more strategic advisors and partners to the business. This is also true of CFO interactions with the board.

She continues, I think its important to establish a direct and collaborative relationship with board members. Todays CFOs need to be knowledgeable about all aspects of the business, have a broad and informed view of the company, and share their unique insights with the board, not just financials.

Her most important advice: Above all, CFOs need to communicate with transparency and always act with integrity to build trust and credibility with the board, Myers says.

Enjoy your weekend, and have a Happy Mothers Day. See you on Monday.

Sheryl Estrada
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Big deal

Gallup released a report on Thursday regarding Americans perceptions of the best long-term investment, and gold is perceived to have more value than stocks. Real estate came in first as the best bet for a long-term investment (34%). This is down from last years record-high of 45%. "Higher interest rates over the past year have cooled the housing market, dampening consumer exuberance about real estate as an investment," according to Gallup.

The perception that gold is best increased from 15% in 2022 to 26% today. As a result, gold has overtaken stocks for second position. This year, fewer Americans (18%) than in 2022 (24%) see stocks or mutual funds as the best investment due to U.S. stock indices failing to gain ground over the past year. Todays preference for stocks is on the low end of the 17% to 27% range of Americans choosing it since 2011, the research found. The latest poll was conducted April 3-25.

Going deeper

Here are a few Fortune weekend reads:

"The next CEO of Twitter, replacing Elon Musk, could be this NBC ad executiveor one of these other high-powered woman execs" by Andrea Guzman and Kylie Robison

"Former FTX chief compliance officer cooperating in crypto lawsuit against Tom Brady, Shaq and celebrity promoters" by Shawn Tully

"Jamie Dimon says he wont be buying any more failed banks: Its a lot of work'" by Will Daniel

"Doing an art activity for just 20 minutes can help you live longer. Here are easy ways to add it into your day" by Alexa Mikhail

Leaderboard

Here's a list of some notable moves this week:

Cathy R. Smith was named CFO at Nordstrom, Inc. (NYSE: JWN), effective May 29. Smith joins Nordstrom from Bright Health Group, where she has served as chief financial and administrative officer since 2020. Before Bright Health, Smith worked as the CFO for Target Corporation for five years. During that time, Target achieved double-digit revenue and EPS growth. Before Target, Smith served as CFO for public companies Express Scripts, Walmart International, Gamestop, Centex, Kennametal, Textron, and Raytheon.

James "Jay Saccaro was named VP and CFO at GE HealthCare (Nasdaq: GEHC), effective June 1. Saccaro succeeds Helmut Zodl who is remaining with the company to lead special projects regarding separation from GE. Saccaro joins GE HealthCare from Baxter International, where he has been serving as EVP and CFO since 2015. Before rejoining Baxter, he was SVP and CFO at Hill-Rom Corporation.

Todd Tuckner was named Group CFO at UBS. Tuckner will take on the role at the close of the acquisition of Credit Suisse. Having joined UBS in 2004, Tuckner is currently CFO and head of business performance and risk management for Global Wealth Management. Tuckner will succeed Sarah Youngwood, who has decided to leave the firm after the transaction closes. Youngwood joined UBS in 2022.

Kapil Agrawal was named CFO at Outschool, an education platform that offers a variety of small-group classes online. Agrawal brings experience in finance and international expansion. Most recently, he served as interim CFO at Poshmark. He was also pivotal in improving Poshmark's gross margins, unit economics, and profitability. Before Poshmark, Agrawal served as global head of pricing at Uber Technologies, and head of business strategy at Capital One.

Gayle Jardine was named interim CFO at Coda Octopus Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: CODA), a real-time 3D/4D/5D and 6D imaging sonar technology company, effective May 4. The companys CFO, Nathan Parker, has departed from his role, effective May 3. Jardine joined Coda Octopus Group as its European director of finance in 2015. Before that, she was the owner and director of Pentland Accounting Limited. Jardine also previously served as the operations and finance manager for Wireless Fibre Systems.

Howard Fu was promoted to CFO and treasurer at Procore Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: PCOR), a global provider of construction management software, effective May 8. After four years as CFO and treasurer at Procore, Paul Lyandres is stepping into the newly-created president. Fu most recently served as SVP of finance at Procore for two years. Previously, Fu served as VP of financial planning and analysis at DocuSign. Before that, he led the sales finance and M&A finance teams at Salesforce.

Marcus Glover was named EVP and CFO at Bally's Corporation (NYSE: BALY). Bobby Lavan, Bally's current CFO, will be leaving the company to pursue another opportunity. Most recently, Glover served as chief strategy officer for QPSI LLC, a supply chain solutions and contract packaging company. Before that, he served as president and COO of the Borgata Hotel, Casino & Spa, and president and COO of the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino. Glover was also a senior executive with Caesars Entertainment in various positions, including SVP and general manager for the Horseshoe Casino and Thistledown Racino, assistant general manager at Harrah's/Caesars Entertainment St. Louis, Mo., and VP of operations at Harrah's/Caesars Entertainment in Biloxi, Miss.

Gary W. Ferrera was named EVP and CFO at Driven Brands Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: DRVN), an automotive services company, effective May 10. Ferrera succeeds Tiffany Mason. Most recently, Ferrera served as the CFO of Skillsoft Corporation, an educational software company. Before Skillsoft, he spent four years as the CFO of Cardtronics, PLC, an owner/operator of ATMs. He also served as CFO at DigitalGlobe, Inc., Intrawest Resorts Holdings, Inc., Great Wolf Resorts, Inc., National CineMedia, Inc., and Unity Media.

Overheard

Sadly, the Great Resignation is not over for mothers. The fact that a significant percentage of mothers are leaving the workforce or changing jobs due to the lack of affordable childcare and the need to stay at home with their children is concerning.

Jill Koziol, Motherly CEO and cofounder, told Fortune in an interview. Motherlys recent State of Motherhood report surveyed nearly 10,000 mothers. Eighteen percent of mothers changed jobs or completely left the workforce this past year; 28% said they wanted to stay home with the kids, and 15% said they didnt have childcare options, the research found. For 64% of at-home moms, flexible work schedules would get them to return to the workforce. And 52% said affordable childcare would.

Former Chicago commodities trader arrested for running a Ponzi scheme while posing as a billionaire hedge funder with 122 luxury cars

A former Chicago commodities trader was arrested and charged with fraud for lying to clients about everything from a non-existent collection of 122 luxury cars to phony returns that exceeded 200%.

Phillip Galles, 57, was arrested Thursday and charged with a single count of wire fraud for allegedly stealing more than $2 million from victims since 2019, telling them he was investing their money in commodity futures, according to a statement from New Jersey US Attorney Philip Sellinger.

Galles made almost no investments of any kind, according to prosecutors. Instead, he was running his firm as a Ponzi scheme, using the money to pay off early investors and for his own personal expenses, according to the government.

Galles appeared in court in Chicago and remains in custody, according to Sellingers office. A lawyer for Galles could not be located for comment.

Galles made grandiose claims, including that his car collection included multiple Lamborghinis and Ferraris, that he lived in luxurious homes in Chicago, Miami and London, and decorated with paintings by Picasso and Chagall, according to a civil complaint filed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Thursday in Chicago.

A well-known owner of a professional sports team, who is not identified in court papers, and a Kuwaiti sovereign-wealth fund were interested in investing, he allegedly said. Galles claimed annual returns as high as 363.29%. And he said his firm, Tyche Asset Management, had 30 employees, half of whom were former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. employees, according to the CFTC. A different time he claimed he had more than 100 employees in multiple offices, the regulator said. He allegedly told people he had been valedictorian of a prestigious US university, according to the CFTC.

The same day that one alleged victim, a Texas mortgage professional, wired him $100,000 to invest, Galles transferred $19,300 for a personal credit card bill, $14,800 to a jewelry store, $10,000 to an earlier investor, $9,000 to a mattress store, $6,000 to a luxury car rental company and $3,200 to his girlfriend, according to prosecutors.

When one victim tried to redeem $190,000 of her investment, Galles told her among other things, that he had switched banks, Tyche had been the victim of fraud, banks and wire payments were not working properly, and he was ill, according to the government.

The cases are US v. Galles, 23-mj-08076, US District Court, District of New Jersey; Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. Galles, 23-cv-02970, US District Court, Northern District of Illinois (Chicago).

A CEO posted a picture of herself breastfeeding during a video meeting and went viral. Here are the responses she gotand what they tell us about remote work and misogyny

In December 2022, I went on maternity leave as the (very pregnant) chief operating officer and co-founder of Gatheround, a venture-backed tech startup that helps organizations build better team culture. In March 2023, I returned to work, as a new mom and the CEO of the company.

I announced my new role on LinkedInstandard practice for this kind of move. Not-so-standard? I shared a photo that my husband snapped a few days earlier: me at my desk, breastfeeding our then-12-week-old baby while leading a team meeting online.

I had never encountered a nursing, postpartum CEO before, and I know what that representation would have meant to me earlier in my career. Still, the response was a surprise. Thepost blew up: nearly 5 million impressions, 45,000 reactions, thousands of comments, and hundreds of reposts. Inbound requests for demos of our platform tripled. And our volume of unprompted job applications skyrocketed overnight.

There were plenty of detractors, many of whom betrayed a deep and chilling misogyny, barely veiled as concern for my child and her welfare. If I were a male CEO, no one would ask who was taking care of the baby while I worked.

But most responses were extraordinary. Some defended me and my right to choose a path for my family. Others were from women my age, reaffirming that remote work made it possible for them to choose to have children. Many more were from women beyond their childbearing years who wondered what might have happened in their careers and their families if they had the choices that are available today.

The enthusiastic response from job seekers, most of whom are currently employed, was striking. Having autonomy over when and where we work has become non-negotiable for many. If an employer cant provide that, people will vote with their feet, as the resumes in my inbox demonstrate. This should be a wake-up call to the many companies trying to push for a return to the dated office dynamics of 2019. The rise of flexible work is not a pandemic aberrationits a movement.

One response to the LinkedIn post that stayed with me was by Lisa Tweedie, a user experience designer and mom, who wrote: Remote work absolutely changes the lives of parents and children. Anyone who wants to turn back that clock and send us back to the office full time really doesnt know what theyre losing.

Women,who report that they are happier and less burned out when they work remotely, are among the most vocal advocates. The 2022 Women in the Workplace report fromMcKinsey and LeanIn found that nine out of 10 women want to work remotely all or part of the time. And 49% of women leaders said flexibility is one of the top three things they consider when deciding whether to join or stay with a company.

Some 89% of American workers agree that mothers in leadership roles bring out the best in employees, and a study byCatalyst found that corporate governance improves when at least three board seats are held by women. Yet, just26% of all C-Suite executives are women, and arecent Pew study found that only 24% of working mothers identify themselves as a top manager (compared with 35% of fathers). Companies cant afford to lose these few women in leadership, but they are: Women leaders are leaving their current jobsat the highest rate on recordoften for more flexible companies.

This is not to say that flexibility is a complete solution. To elevate more women to leadership positions, we need mandated paid leave, equitable hiring practices, and accessible, affordable childcare. This support is particularly important for BIPOC women, for whommotherhood is estimated to reduce earnings by an average of 20%, as compared to 10.2% for white women. We also need to repair the so-called broken rung, the tendency for entry-level women to be passed over for manager-level promotions.

I am in a position to balance motherhood and the CEO role in large part because of my privilegemy race, socioeconomic background, and access to education, a husband who shares the load at home, and the supportive community I have around me. Even so, the ability to work remotely, for both myself and my husband, is one of the essential conditions that allow me to make that choice.

We may not solve female representation in leadership with the single lever of flexible work. But its a powerful lever, and it would be an unconscionable waste not to use it.

When Im working with the comfort of knowing that my daughter is napping just a room away, I live the promise of flexible work. It isnt a pipe dream. Its my reality and it can be the reality for many other working mothers if leaders embrace this opportunity to get flexible work right.

Lisa Conn is the co-founder and CEO of Gatheround.

The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.