Three French entrepreneurs are living the American dream.
Clément Delangue, Julien Chaumond and Thomas Wolf, the founders of AI startup Hugging Face, had a big day yesterday, when news broke about chip maker Nvidia -the world's largest publicly traded company-agreeing to buy the New York-based AI company in a deal worth roughly $13 billion.
As my colleague Gareth Vipers reports, a central rationale behind the acquisition is the concept of building AI models based on so-called open-weight models and other related services.
Why it matters for CFOs: The deal carries significant weight for finance and other corporate leaders debating how to reduce their AI development costs, or weighing their own AI investments, capital allocation and potential acquisitions.
In the build-it-or-buy-it debate, this is the ultimate example of buying to avoid the massive capital needed to develop proprietary models, or so the argument goes.
Nvidia said as much in noting that the deal was aimed at accelerating the spread of open models. Or as Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang put it more succinctly:
"Open weights broaden access to AI and help ensure that AI leadership is distributed across companies, institutions and communities," he said in a statement Thursday.
"Open models let startups, businesses, universities and public institutions build on advanced capabilities without training every model from scratch."
Also read: The 'Deeply Nerdy' Founders Behind Nvidia's $13 Billion Bet on Hugging Face
Please note, The Morning Ledger won't be published Monday in observance of the Labor Day holiday in the U.S. We will be back Tuesday.
The Day Ahead
📈 Economic Indicators
The BLS releases the jobs report for August.
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What Else Matters to CFOs
At Uber and elsewhere, managers with small teams are vulnerable in the push to purge management ranks, my colleague Chip Cutter reports. The ride-sharing giant said Wednesday it would reduce the number of "micro-teams"-those with only one or two direct reports-by nearly half.
The move is part of a broader plan to cut 10% of its staff, about 3,300 people. Ultimately, the company will have 20% fewer managers, a spokesman said.
Background and key C-suite quote: Intel CFO David Zinsner said last week that the chip maker had shrunk its layers of management by half, from 12 to six. The company "pulled a lot of middle management out, which bogged down a lot of the decision-making," he said. In May, Coinbase announced layoffs with the aim of having no more than five management levels below its leadership team.
Volkswagen's supervisory board has approved a plan to double job losses at the automaker to 100,000 and halve its model portfolio as it contends with President Trump's tariffs and intensifying competition from Chinese automakers.
In a surprise move, the company's often-fractious supervisory board unanimously approved Chief Executive Oliver Blume's radical restructuring package, called Future Plan 2030.
Volkswagen Shakes Up U.S. Leadership Again After Steep Sales Declines
📰 Other headlines
The American Dream Is Alive. And It's Minting Millionaires.
BOE's Chief Economist Sees Need for Rate Rise as War's Course Remains Uncertain
Leon Black Sues House Committee Over Epstein Probe
Starbucks Refreshed Its Menu. Chai Fans Are Losing Their Minds.
Why Big Oil Is Wary of Trump's Foray Into Venezuela's Oil Patch
Netherlands Moves Gold From New York to London, Citing Geopolitical Unrest
Norway's Massive Oil Fund Proposes Selling Roughly $80 Billion in U.S. Treasurys
Gloria Steinem, Longtime Symbol of the Women's Movement, Dies at 92
Podcast: How Big Food Is Navigating the GLP-1 Era
📈 Earnings wrapup
Victoria's Secret Lifts Outlook Despite Cooling Sales Growth
Campbell's Looks to Reset After Quarterly Loss
Lululemon Cuts Outlook Again After Another Tough Quarter for Sales
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CFO Moves
Confectioner Hershey said Dave Hulays has been named as its new CFO, succeeding Steve Voskuil. Voskuil will transition to the position of SVP, strategic projects, and will support strategic priorities and the leadership transition through early next year, the company said. Hulays joined Hershey in 2012 as VP finance, Canada, and has since taken on roles including global supply chain, M&A, corporate FP&A and finance strategy and enterprise transformation. Before Hershey, Hulays spent 15 years at Procter & Gamble, Hershey said. Hulays will receive an annual base salary of $725,000.
-Stephen Nakrosis contributed to today's Ledger.
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The WSJ Leadership Institute's CFO Journal offers corporate leaders and professionals CFO analysis, advice and commentary to make informed decisions. We cover topics including corporate tax, accounting, regulation, capital markets, management and strategy.
Follow us on X @WSJCFO. The WSJ CFO Journal Team comprises reporters Kristin Broughton, Jennifer Williams and Bureau Chief Walden Siew.
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