Leadership
US Class Action Settlement Amounts Hit Record High, Top 10 Cases in 2025 Total $79 Billion
The latest report from Duane Morris LLP shows that US class action settlement amounts reached a historic peak in 2025, with the top 10 cases totaling $79 billion. Federal courts received over 13,000 new cases throughout the year, averaging more than 36 per day. Data privacy lawsuits exceeded 1,800, up over 25% year-over-year. The $38 billion settlement between Visa and Mastercard and the $2.8 billion payout by Blue Cross Blue Shield became landmark cases of the year.
Orbia appoints financial transformation lead as new CFO
Orbia announced on Wednesday that current CFO Jim Kelly will retire on March 15, with his successor being Cristian 'Cape' Capellino, the company's Vice President of Financial Transformation. Kelly will remain until mid-year to ensure a smooth transition. The company released its Q4 and full-year 2025 results the previous day, also mentioning progress on its cost-saving program.
MindBridge CFO: The Gap Between Generative AI and Machine Learning Pressures Finance Teams
MindBridge CFO Matthias Steinberg says financial leaders are under pressure from the capability gap between generative AI and machine learning. He believes that LLM-based generative AI is not 'out-of-the-box' for numerical processing and needs to be combined with technologies like machine learning. He advises CFOs to start with small projects and gradually advance AI adoption.
Lucid plans to cut 12% of jobs, expecting to save about $500 million in costs over three years
Lucid Motors announced on Tuesday that it will cut about 12% of non-hourly positions in the United States, expecting to incur costs of $40 million to $42 million and achieve cost savings of about $500 million over three years. This move aims to optimize operations, advance the development of mid-size platforms, robotaxis, and ADAS technologies, while addressing industry regulatory and tariff uncertainties.
Amid Accounting Talent Shortage, CFOs Need to Reassess ROI: Insights from HubSync Executive
Against the backdrop of a persistent shortage of qualified accountants, with seasoned professionals retiring and insufficient new graduates to replenish the pipeline, CFOs face a dilemma: they must streamline teams to boost efficiency, cut costs, and support growth, while also avoiding talent burnout caused by unrealistic expectations. Mahati Mukkamala, Senior Vice President of Finance and Operations at HubSync, points out that CFOs need to rethink how they measure ROI on support for accounting and finance teams by focusing on technology integration, upskilling, and mentorship mechanisms—looking beyond just the hard cost returns of software investments to whether employees are made more efficient and more analytically capable.
Westlake Corp. CFO Announces Departure Amid Weak Performance and Board Restructuring
Westlake Corporation's securities filing on Monday showed that Chief Financial Officer M. Steven Bender announced he would retire after a successor is appointed, ending a tenure of nearly two decades. The company also expanded its board to 14 members and appointed President and CEO Jean-Marc Gilson and former Chevron executive Bhavesh Patel as new directors. Fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 results released on Tuesday showed revenue missed expectations, with continued declines in performance and materials segment sales, and a full-year net loss of $1.5 billion.
Rising AI Costs Boost FinOps Teams' Influence
According to the FinOps Foundation's "2026 State of FinOps" report, AI cost management has become the most sought-after skill for FinOps teams, with 58% of surveyed enterprises listing it as their top priority. The report shows that the proportion of FinOps teams reporting to CTOs or CIOs has risen from 61% in 2023 to 78%, while their management scope has expanded to SaaS, software licensing, and private cloud.
FedEx sues U.S. government to demand refund of Trump tariffs
FedEx formally sued the U.S. government on Monday, demanding a refund of all tariffs levied under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), after the Supreme Court ruled such tariffs invalid. FedEx stated it has paid multiple IEEPA tariffs and requested the court to order U.S. Customs and Border Protection to reliquidate the relevant import entries.
Gartner: Advanced ERP Systems Expected to Reduce Financial Closing Time by 30%
Gartner released a report on Tuesday stating that modern enterprise resource planning (ERP) platforms are increasingly integrating advanced features such as artificial intelligence, which is expected to deliver tangible outcomes for CFOs. The firm predicts that by 2028, finance teams using cloud ERP applications with embedded AI assistants can increase the speed of financial closing by 30%.
Study: Only a Few 10-K Filings Link AI to Substantive Revenue Growth
A recent analysis by AI software company Metal found that 85% of Fortune 500 companies mention artificial intelligence in their annual 10-K filings submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, a sharp increase from 29% in 2022. However, the report notes that AI remains largely an "operational tool" and has not yet become a primary revenue driver for most companies.