Good morning. Geopolitical risk takes center stage at the World Economic Forum in Davos (but don’t forget about AI); what OpenAI’s CFO says about building for the long haul; SEC approves PCAOB pay cuts; plus, is crypto IPO fever back?

Greetings, CFOs. Today we’re spotlighting some of this week’s highlights from Davos, which attracted corporate leaders and more than 60 heads of state to the annual Swiss gathering. Geopolitical risk was one of the main themes throughout the week.

“The big message from Davos this year is that the post-War international order in which the U.S. supported multilateral defense and economic institutions and arrangements is over, and we are moving into a new world governed by national and perhaps regional interest,” Alan Murray, president of the WSJ Leadership Institute, said in a post on LinkedIn. “It only makes sense that in such a world, dependence on the U.S. dollar will decline.”

Generative AI and how leaders are thinking about using the technology to unlock growth also remained a key focus.

Speaking on a panel titled “Building AI for the Long Term,” OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar discussed the company's financial strategy and business model, including its introduction of advertising to ChatGPT, which attracted attention. Here’s what Friar said:

On the evolution of ChatGPT:

“On the product side, we've gone from a consumer product that was really a chatbot to now be a task worker that can do things like healthcare for you. On the enterprise side, something that can go from a simple ChatGPT wall-to-wall deployment to APIs to now agentic behavior throughout the enterprise; we believe we're there.”

On the company’s business model:

The model “is becoming multi-dimensional from simple subscription through fast-based pricing through enterprise licenses through credit-based pricing, through commerce into advertising, and then ultimately I think we can do some real value sharing. For example, in drug discovery, what if we took a license down the line to the drug that is discovered and used that as a way to pay for it.”

“So I think we're holding stuff back that just would help the world writ large. That said, from a CFO sitting in my seat who now has to work through how to pay for that. I mean, there's nothing that beats a good business model. First and foremost, cash flow is king.”

Related reads:

• Wine, Water and No Chairs: Inside Trump’s Private Reception With CEOs in Davos
• Alarm Over Trump’s Greenland Threat Gives Way to Uncertainty Around Future Deal
• Trump’s About-Face on Greenland Thrusts Europe Into Another Dilemma

🎥 Read on below for the latest video highlights.

📆 Earnings

• Booz Allen Hamilton Holding
• Comerica
• First Citizens BancShares

📈 Economic Indicators

S&P Global releases both its Manufacturing and Services Purchasing Managers’ Indexes for January.

The Securities and Exchange Commission approved the 2026 budget for the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, including a substantial pay cut for board members.

The salary of the PCAOB’s chair will fall 52% while other board members will see a 42% drop under the auditing watchdog’s budget plan for this year. The PCAOB chair is paid nearly $673,000 and the four other board members almost $547,000, as has been the case since 2009.

The SEC move follows the PCAOB’s approval last month of the $362.1 million budget. That’s down 9.4% from the amount approved for 2025. The PCAOB is primarily funded by public companies and broker-dealers and overseen by the SEC.

“The decrease in this year’s budget does not detract from the significance of the PCAOB’s mission, which remains crucial; rather, it underscores that fiscal discipline and regulatory effectiveness complement each other,” SEC Chair Paul Atkins said in a statement.

The SEC is working to appoint a new slate of PCAOB board members.

—Mark Maurer

The crypto-infrastructure firm BitGo debuted on the New York Stock Exchange yesterday, marking the first major test for digital-asset company IPOs since the sector’s market downturn late last year.

What was the market reaction? BitGo’s initial public offering was priced Wednesday at $18 a share, above the expected range and giving the firm a valuation of more than $2 billion. Shares of BitGo opened nearly 25% higher. The company and its shareholders raised $212.8 million by selling about 11.8 million shares. Its shares, which trade under the ticker symbol BTGO, opened at $22.43 Thursday.

Background reading: BitGo was launched in 2013 by Silicon Valley entrepreneur Mike Belshe, who helped pioneer the multi-signature wallet, or the digital version of a joint bank account, where multiple passwords are required to move funds. Over the years, the company has grown to include services in custody, prime brokerage and institutional trading.

📰 Other headlines

• TikTok Finalizes Deal to Keep Operating in the U.S.
• This Time, Lululemon’s Founder Blames Its Board for See-Through Pants
• Private-Credit Investors Are Cashing Out in Droves
• Leidos, OpenAI Team Up to Build AI for Federal Agencies
• Exclusive: Capital One Strikes $5.15 Billion Deal for Fintech Brex
• Elon Musk Is Diving Back Into U.S. Politics
• The West Stepped Back From the Brink. But Europe’s Distrust of America Lingers.
• Minneapolis ICE Standoff Has Become the Political Issue CEOs Can’t Ignore

📈 Earnings wrapup

• Intel Shares Fall on Swing to Loss
• McCormick Raises Prices as Higher Costs Hurt Profitability
• GE Aerospace Revenue Rises on Surge in Orders
• Autodesk Cutting 1,000 Jobs As Part of Restructuring
• Procter & Gamble Revenue Ticks Up, Helped by Higher Prices
• Intel Returns to Losses as Supply Shortages, Spending Weigh on Q4 Results

Join us this week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, for insights CFOs and other executives will need to lead through 2026. Alan Murray, president of the WSJ Leadership Institute, will be on the ground all week from Davos, interviewing corporate leaders on topics ranging from managing AI investments to geopolitical risk and how C-suite leaders are navigating market conditions. For the full slate of interviews, click here.

🎥 Watch video highlights of their conversations below:

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