Good morning, CFOs. What’s up with the record investment-grade bond sales?; Fed Chair Powell: ‘No intention’ of leaving, Nick Timiraos writes; plus, the leader trying to follow the CFO-to-CEO pipeline.

The idea for today’s CFO Journal story about bond tranches came from reading the details on this year’s jumbo deals, including Amazon’s $37 billion U.S. bond sale. Companies in recent weeks have announced bond issuances worth tens of billions of dollars, sliced up into a long menu of tranches. WSJ Leadership Institute’s Kristin Broughton wondered about the strategy behind carving up a deal. She writes for today’s newsletter:

The big takeaway: It’s simply how you get the market to take down a massive amount of debt. Companies need to break the transactions into pieces to attract investors, all of whom have different mandates and interests.

Amazon broke up its U.S. offering into 11 parts, which led a record day for investment-grade borrowing. Honeywell’s aerospace unit issued $16 billion in nine tranches. The average number of tranches per investment-grade issuance is currently 3.3, an all-time high, according to data from the London Stock Exchange Group.

So it’s a story about the record start to the year in the investment-grade bond market.

But perhaps the more interesting takeaway for CFOs and treasurers is about pricing. When a company splits its bond deal into multiple parts, bankers have more flexibility when they go into the market on the day of a bond issuance and work their magic to land on the optimal price for an issuer. And it’s hard to argue with lower costs.

You can read more here.

—Kristin Broughton

📆 Earnings

• Accenture
• Alibaba Group Holding
• Darden Restaurants
• FedEx
• Planet Labs
• Signet Jewelers

📈 Economic Indicators

The Census Bureau reports new residential sales data for January.

Fed stands pat. The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady Wednesday and preserved a path to cutting rates this year as higher energy prices from the Iran war threaten to prolong its yearslong inflation fight.

Meanwhile, Nick Timiraos reports…

• Trump Wants Powell Out. Powell Is Digging In.

What Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro wants. The former parks chief, who succeeded Bob Iger on Wednesday, is hoping to use technology to accelerate franchises that can boost Disney’s stagnant stock.

Private-credit concerns. A fund holding consumer and small-business loans made by companies including Affirm and Block is the latest corner of the private-credit market to come under stress, Peter Rudegeair writes.

Mark Mason could be the next example of the CFO-to-CEO pipeline.

Alexander Saeedy covers banking and finance for The Wall Street Journal and had an interesting interview with Mason. What struck me was Mason’s rise to CFO at Citigroup after a nearly 25-year run at the bank, and his goal for the top C-suite job.

His decision to leave was prompted by Citi Chief Executive Jane Fraser’s move to also become chair of the company’s board of directors, Saeedy writes, citing people familiar with the matter.

“I’m looking for an opportunity to lead and drive growth,” Mason said in an interview.

Prospects and next steps. But Mason’s move to jump ship and get a simultaneous promotion to CEO—known as a “double switch”—might prove an uphill battle. “The double switch tends not to work because the board will say you’re untested as a CEO, even though we think you’re a great leader,” said Peter Crist, chairman of executive-recruitment firm Crist/Kolder Associates. “He’s going to be relegated to going down the food chain in terms of the size of the enterprise to become a CEO, if that is his aspiration.”

Read his profile here.

📰 Other headlines

• S&P 500 Owner Jumps Into 24/7 Futures for Index on Crypto Exchange
• Being ‘the Next Warren Buffett’ Sounds Like an Honor. It Is More of a Curse.
• The Unexpected Risk of Letting ChatGPT Fact-Check Your Financial Adviser
• Economists Don’t See a Recession Unless Oil Hits $138—and Stays There for Weeks
• 🎧 Podcast: Why War Isn’t Spooking Wall Street—Yet

📈 Earnings wrapup

• Williams-Sonoma Shrugs Off Lower Fourth-Quarter Results With Upbeat Forecast
• General Mills Struggles Persist as Turnaround Efforts Weigh on Results
• Macy’s Same-Store Sales Boosted by Bloomingdale’s While Guidance Mixed
• Five Below Posts Higher Fourth-Quarter Profit as Shoppers Hunt for Value Over the Holidays
• Alibaba’s Profit Disappoints, but AI Outlook Bright

For more earnings news, click here.

Financial leaders will gather in Palo Alto next week for The WSJ CFO Council Summit to examine how CFOs are navigating market volatility, evolving trade and regulatory policy and the growing impact of AI on the future of the enterprise. Mark Maurer and I will be on the ground in California, and Kristin Broughton and Jennifer Williams will be in New York providing the top coverage and details from the gathering next week. Join the CFO Council and be part of the conversations shaping the future of finance and corporate leadership.

Request Invitation.

KPMG, the Big Four accounting firm, said it elected Gary Wingrove as its next global chair and chief executive. His four-year term is set to begin Oct. 1. Wingrove serves as the firm’s global chief operating officer and previously was CEO of KPMG Australia. Wingrove will succeed Bill Thomas, who has served as global chair and CEO since 2017.

—Mark Maurer contributed to today’s Ledger.

The Wall Street Journal'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, Mark Maurer and Jennifer Williams, and Bureau Chief Walden Siew.

You can reach us by replying to any newsletter, or email Walden at walden.siew@wsj.com.