Rewards programs are getting revamps all over the place. Earlier this week, JPMorgan Chase announced major changes to its Chase Sapphire Reserve rewards credit card. That announcement came shortly after competitor American Express teased an upcoming overhaul to its premium Platinum rewards card.
And now, one of Americas most popular cruise lines, Carnival, has announced it will radically shake up its rewards program come 2026. Heres what you need to know about Carnival Cruise Lines upcoming overhauled rewards program.
Bye-bye, Very Important Fun Person (VIFP)
Carnival Cruise Lines current rewards and loyalty program is called the Very Important Fun Person (VIFP) program. The program has been in existence since 2012 and is beloved by many Carnival Cruise enthusiasts.
One of the reasons frequent Carnival customers love the VIFP program is its simplicity. You earn points based on how many days you cruisethats it. Theres no complicated earning structure or confusing rules.
The total number of these points based on the total number of days cruised slots you into one of five groups: blue, red, gold, platinum, or diamond. The higher the group (diamond is tops), the more perks you get, including everything from free bottles of water to priority reservations at Specialty restaurants.
However, Carnival has now announced that the VIFP program is being discontinued. Its last day of operation will be May 31, 2026.
Hello, Carnival Rewards
Carnivals VIFP program is being replaced with a new rewards and loyalty program called Carnival Rewards. The program will officially launch on June 1, 2026, and it represents a radical departure from the current VIFP program.
One of the biggest changes to the new Carnival Rewards program is that points are no longer earned based on how many days you cruise with the line. Instead, points will be earned based on what you spend with Carnival Cruise Line. This spend includes the cost of tickets, drinks you buy on board, and even what you spend in the ships casino. Points can also be earned through the use of a new Carnival Rewards Mastercard, which will be debuting.
However, you wont just be collecting points to move up the group rankings anymore. The new Carnival Rewards program will use a dual-earning structure. The dollars you spend will earn you both stars and Carnival Rewards points.
The stars will dictate which group you are slotted intothere are only four this time: red, gold, platinum, or diamond (blue is going away). The more prominent the group, the better perks you get, such as embarkation and debarkation priority, if you are a member of the diamond group.
The Carnival Rewards points you earn can be redeemed for anything from cruise fares, transfers, onboard purchases, and more.
Why is Carnival revamping its rewards program?
The business answer to this question is that Carnival Cruise Line likely believes that the revamped rewards program will lead to a better bottom line. As points and group tiers are now dependent on what you spend, customers who are keen to collect Canrival Rewards points may be more willing to spend more onboard to keep earning those points.
But Carnival would likely argue that the revamped program is now a little fairer than its current VIFP program. Under the VIFP, Carnival customers would receive the same amount of rewards regardless of whether they paid for the lowest or highest class of cabin on the ship. Thats because the rewards were simply linked to the number of days cruised.
The new program will mean that customers who book higher-priced cabins will now earn a higher number of reward points.
But there is some bad news for customers under the new Carnival Rewards program, no matter how much they spend: the new status tiers they earnred, gold, platinum, and diamonddont last forever. Under the VIFP program, when a customer earned a status, they could only move up, not down. That means someone who earned diamond status would keep it for life.
But the new status program will see customers lose their status after two years. And the points earned to achieve a status must be earned within a two-year period; otherwise, they do not count towards a status upgrade.
In a FAQ about the new rewards program, Carnival says that this move is consistent with loyalty programs across the travel industry. The company says it recognizes that change can be difficult, but the current program based on cruise frequency makes it difficult to properly recognize our loyal guests.
Carnival stock price still well below pre-pandemic levels
The owner of Carnival Cruise Lines, Carnival Corporation & plc, filed its most recent earnings report on March 21 for the first quarter of 2025. The company announced that its Q1 revenues increased by over $400 million from the same quarter a year earlier, reaching $5.8 billion. At the time, Carnival Corporation & plcs CEO, Josh Weinstein, boasted that the quarter was truly characterized by outperformance.
That growth is something investors are undoubtedly happy to see, especially after Carnival, like all other cruise lines, took a major hit in 2020 following the outbreak of the pandemic. In January 2020, Carnival Corporation & plcs stock (NYSE: CCL) was trading at above $50 per share. But by April, it had fallen to below $8 per share.
As recently as October of 2022, CCL stock was trading below $7 per share. However, the stocks fortunes have improved as the cruise industry has slowly recovered from the pandemic’s impact, receding from peoples memories.
As of yesterdays close, CCL stock is trading at above $23 per share. However, that is still down more than 5% since the beginning of the year. We wont know whether Carnivals new rewards program will have a material impact on the companys business, and thus its stock price, until it launches next year.
PepsiCo is the latest big-name marketer to rev up alongside Formula 1, joining a growing roster of brands eager to tap into the surging popularity of the global motorsport.
The snack and beverage giant recently signed a multiyear partnership with F1 that includes TV-visible trackside ads, on-site activations at 21 races, and co-branded promotions for three of its marquee brands: Gatorade, Doritos, and Sting Energy. With this move, PepsiCo joins the ranks of luxury powerhouse LVMH, Qatar Airways, and tech heavyweights like Oracle, HP, and Amazon Web Serviceseach of which has struck sponsorship deals with either individual racing teams or the league itself.
Young, rich, global
While PepsiCo has long been a fixture in sports marketingteaming up with leagues like the NFL, NBA, WNBA, and the 2026 and 2027 FIFA World Cupscompany execs say Formula 1 brings something different to the table. The sports fan base skews younger, is more affluent, and appeals equally to men and women. And with 24 Grand Prix races spanning 21 countries, F1 offers marketers a unique chance to connect with both global and hyperlocal audiences on the same circuit.
It’s a pretty unique global property right now with great momentum, Adam Warner, PepsiCos vice president of global sports and entertainment partnerships, tells Fast Company. We see a great fit with many of the iconic brands in our portfolio.
It is also growing massively. Celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2025, F1 commands a TV audience of 1.6 billion, 97 million social media followers, and in-person attendance that grew 9% to 6.5 million in 2024 versus the prior year, according to the leagues parent company Liberty Media. F1 generates the highest sponsorship deal spending across all major leagues, at $6 million on average, according to data analytics firm SponsorUnited.
Liberty Media, the mass media owner of Sirius XM and Live Nation Entertainment, gets much of the credit for boosting the sports popularity after it acquired F1 in a $4.4 billion deal in 2016. Since then, F1 has launched a fantasy league to increase online engagement, launched a female-only racing series in 2023, and most importantly to the U.S. market, added races in Miami and Las Vegas.
The U.S. markets F1 fan base grew by nearly 11% last year to total 52 million, according to analytics company Nielsen Sports. Marketers expect interest will increase after General Motors and Cadillac add an American team to the league for the 2026 season.
Theres not many sports in the world that travel around in the way that they do, to the amount of locations that they do, and actually bring fans in from two different directions, says Clare Lawson, global president of Ogilvy One, the ad giants customer engagement and experience division. Lawson explains that this core base is now made up of petro heads that love the data and technology behind the cars and the fans that are more into the glitz and glamor of the party scene thats developed around each race.
F1 is also benefiting from a more expansive position in pop culture. Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, and other drivers have become huge stars and tabloids are closely following their personal lives, as well as the women they date and marry. Netflixs popular TV documentary series based on the league, Drive to Survive, is widely credited for expanding the audience, particularly in the U.S. Later this month, Apple Original Films will release a sports drama film based on the league called F1.
Big brands, big money
What weve seen with Formula 1 is its become more part of almost the cultural fabric of people following the drivers themselves, says Alison Payne, chief marketing officer of Heinekens U.S. business.
[Image: Heineken]
The Dutch brewer has been an advertiser with the league since 2016 and this month debuted a new ad spot featuring the F1 film stars Brad Pitt and Damson Idris to promote the nonalcoholic beer brand Heineken 0.0. Alcohol and driving never mixes, says Payne. It is a perfect platform to raise the awareness that you can still have fun and be part of the social scene, just without alcohol.
Brands say F1 is an exciting vehicle to build creative local campaigns that can match the unique vibe for each Grand Prix race. For Patrón, that resulted in sponsoring a live concert at members-only Soho House in Austin, tapping into the DJ and nightclub culture in Las Vegas, and toasting the glamorous party scene in Miami with the spicy margarita, as that race tends to run close to Cinco de Mayo.
[Photo: Patrón]
The tequila producer found a natural affinity in the motorsports league in 2021 when it kicked off a partnership with the only F1 driver from Mexico, Sergio Pérez. But that initial deal only involved his own name and likeness and Patrón had to ink a subsequent partnership with Pérezs former team, Oracle Red Bull Racing, to show him in his F1 uniform.
Those are the things you have to figure out as a brand, says D-J Hageman, VP of marketing at Patrón. What are the right IP [intellectual property] rights that I need and want to have to use in my marketing materials and assets.
Adidas accelerated their partnership with F1 by signing a multiyear partnership with the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 team in January, a collaboration that allows the German sportswear brand to create apparel and footwear to outfit both the pro team and fans. To coincide with the Miami race, Adidas debuted a Floridian inspired collection in burgundy and coral that featured a graphic of a mangrove tree leaf.
[Photo: Adidas]
We have to spice it up with local insights to make it more relevant for local consumers, says Michael Batz, general manager of Adidas Motorsport.
Capital Ones digital concierge service Velocity Black has been a F1 partner since 2023, working closely with F1s Aston Martin Aramco team. CEO Sylvain Langrand says particularly strong demand for races in popular destinations, including Monaco and Singapore, can make it hard for travelers to book high-end hotels and tables at popular restaurants and bars.
[Photo: Velocity Black]
Langrand says his service offers their clientele a full end-to-end F1 experience that includes transportation, hotel reservations, hospitality experiences, and even an opportunity to meet the Aston Martin team in person. Velocity Black offers F1 packages across the globe, but says that the U.S. events sell out first.
Even when you think about the entire F1 racing calendar throughout the year, these three events in the U.S. are very, very special, says Langrand.
Scroll through a TikTok feed, and you’ll eventually come across someoneusually incredibly photogenic, with perfect teeth and flawless skinextolling the virtues of some product or another, or a restaurant, or a destination. And then another. And another.
Influencer marketing is an unintended consequence of the social media revolution. Platforms like YouTube and TikTok allowed ordinary people to build followingsand, in a way, become celebrities. Brands and businesses soon latched onto these influencers, leveraging the trust they had with their audiences to advertise products.
Mia Maples and Linus Sebastian are the Serena Williams and George Foreman of the digital age: celebrities who can raise a companys profile with a single post, lending credibility to products with a young, energetic audience. Crucially, they allow marketers to reach consumers increasingly cynical toward traditional advertising, and even taking steps to shield themselves from it, whether by paying for ad-free subscriptions on YouTube and Spotify or using ad-blocking browser extensions.
That is, at least, the argument on paper. In practice, things are murkier. Reasonable questions remain about whether influencer marketing is as effective as once thought, or whether it still works at all.
What Even Is an Advertisement?
To understand the challenges facing influencer marketing, we first need to define what constitutes an advert. An advert is, in essence, any materialwritten, spoken, or audiovisualthat attempts to sell a product or service to a third party.
For brands, influencer marketing offers a way to connect with an elusive demographic. Gen-Z and Gen-Alpha don’t read newspapersand neither do many millennialsor consume much broadcast television or radio. Theyre tech-savvy, know how to block ads, and often pay to remove them from their services.
These consumers, skeptical of legacy media, likely feel differently about their favorite creators. When those creators tout a product, it can convey a level of credibility. These influencer-brand tie-ins may not feel like ads, but they are, and thats the intent behind them.
That is, at least, the theory. In practice, things work a little differently.
Waning Influence
Let me be clear: Influencer marketing still holds power, and value for brands. But its influence is often overstated, and were now seeing diminishing returns.
First, theres influencer fatigue. Brand deals are so common that almost everyone knows when their favorite creator posts a new video, a good portion will promote a VPN provider, budget headphones, or some other product.
These in-content ads are so ubiquitous (and often grating) that browser plug-ins now skip past them. SponsorBlock, for example, is the largest, with over two million Chrome users. Just as people might leave the room during TV commercials, theyre now doing the same for online content.
Similarly, on apps like TikTok and Instagram, the #ad hashtag (the telltale sign of an influencer deal) often prompts users to immediately scroll. This almost reflexive, negative response is called influencer fatigue, fueled by the overwhelming wave of promotional content on social mediaand a growing annoyance with influencers themselves.
Thats the thing: Influencers were once seen as a way to deliver advertising without it feeling like advertising. But over timethanks to saturationthats no longer true.
A Matter of Trust
Theres also a growing trust gap between consumers and brands that lean heavily on influencers. Take PayPal-owned Honey, once promoted by some of YouTubes biggest creators. It was pitched as a free browser plug-in that scoured the web for discount codes.
In reality, Honeylater described as a scamsiphoned affiliate revenue from those it was otherwise owed toincluding, ironically, the very creators who promoted it. It also manipulated which codes were shown, hiding the most valuable ones.
Honey isnt alone. Other companies, like BetterHelp, also leaned on influencers, only to later land in controversy.
These scandals chip away at the credibility of influencer marketing. They make consumers wary of creators promoting new productsespecially when those creators, often small one-person teams, lack the resources to vet what theyre endorsing. The result: a decline in trust for both influencers and brands.
Evidence suggests this decline is real. A 2023 study from EnTribe found that just 12% of people are likely to buy products promoted by influencersand 42% of those who did regretted it.
Then theres the issue of attribution. If a million people watch a video, how many truly saw the promotionand didnt skip it, either manually or via a plug-in? How do you measure impact, beyond simple conversions tied to affiliate codeswhich fail to capture brand awareness or perception?
Is Influencer Marketing Still the Future?
Thats the $33 billion question, isnt it? I still believe the influencer economy holds value. Without it, wed still face the same challenge: reaching an audience increasingly elusive to traditional advertising.
But as an industry, we need to recalibrate expectations and find more creative ways to reach younger consumers.
Though younger audiences live much of their lives online, they dont exist entirely behind screens. They leave the houseand outdoor advertising should be part of the strategy.
Podcasts. Streaming video. In-game advertising. And yes, even legacy mediawhen supported by the dataall have a role to play.
There’s room for influencer marketing, too. But it alone isn’t enough. And likely never was.
Any student of American history knows that there are hard truths to ponder about our past. Slavery certainly falls into this category. Today (Thursday, June 19, 2025), the United States commemorates the end of that horrific institution and wrestles with its lasting impact. As this occasion has only been formally established as a federal holiday since 2021, it may be confusing to know what will be open and closed. Lets take a deeper look so you can plan ahead.
A brief history of Juneteenth
Juneteenth celebrates the end of slavery in the United States.
The holiday is always held on June 19 because this is the anniversary of the day that federal troops reached Galveston, Texas, in 1865. Under the leadership of General Gordon Granger, troops took control of the state and made sure that enslaved people were freed in accordance with the Emancipation Proclamation, which was enacted two and a half years prior.
Although celebrations of the holiday date back to 1866, the landmark day did not become a federal holiday until 2021 under President Biden.
Are banks open on Juneteenth?
No. Juneteenth is considered a bank holiday. The Federal Reserve along with most major banks such as Bank of America, Chase, and Wells Fargo will be closed.
Are ATMs open on Juneteenth?
Yes. If you find yourself in a bind and need to complete some transactions on Juneteenth, ATMs located outside branches and online banking are available.
Is the post office open on Juneteenth?
No. The U.S. Postal Service locations are not open on the holiday. If you need to buy stamps, some grocery or convenience stores sell them. Additionally, you can buy them online at www.usps.com.
Is mail delivered on Juneteenth?
No. You will not receive letters or written invitations sent through the mail on Juneteenth. The silver lining of this is that you wont get any paper bills either. The only exception is Priority Mail Express, which is delivered 365 days a year, including federal holidays.
Are FedEx and UPS operating on Juneteenth?
Yes. According to its website, UPS is open for business as usual on Juneteenth. This includes store locations and deliveries. The same can be said for FedEx locations and deliveries.
State Department
Is the stock market open on Juneteenth?
No. It’s not possible to buy or sell stocks on Juneteenth. The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Nasdaq exchange are closed for the day. You can still trade Bitcoin to your heart’s content.
Are schools open on Juneteenth?
No. Because Juneteenth falls during the summer holiday, most schools are out of session already. Check in with your local summer camps or year-round institutions to double check how they are handling the holiday.
Are restaurants, pharmacies, and grocery stores open on Juneteenth?
Yes. Speaking in general terms, most retail locations will be open on Juneteenth. Target, Costco, and Aldi will all remain open. Olive Garden will serve its famous breadsticks.
Major pharmacy chains such as CVS and Walgreens will be open, although they might be operating under limited hoursso check your local pharmacy hours to be sure.
Smaller mom-and-pop shops, meanwhile, might close for the day, so it is a good practice to double check those.
Any student of American history knows that there are hard truths to ponder about our past. Slavery certainly falls into this category. Today (Thursday, June 19, 2025), the United States commemorates the end of that horrific institution and wrestles with its lasting impact. As this occasion has only been formally established as a federal holiday since 2021, it may be confusing to know what will be open and closed. Lets take a deeper look so you can plan ahead.
A brief history of Juneteenth
Juneteenth celebrates the end of slavery in the United States.
The holiday is always held on June 19 because this is the anniversary of the day that federal troops reached Galveston, Texas, in 1865. Under the leadership of General Gordon Granger, troops took control of the state and made sure that enslaved people were freed in accordance with the Emancipation Proclamation, which was enacted two and a half years prior.
Although celebrations of the holiday date back to 1866, the landmark day did not become a federal holiday until 2021 under President Biden.
Are banks open on Juneteenth?
No. Juneteenth is considered a bank holiday. The Federal Reserve along with most major banks such as Bank of America, Chase, and Wells Fargo will be closed.
Are ATMs open on Juneteenth?
Yes. If you find yourself in a bind and need to complete some transactions on Juneteenth, ATMs located outside branches and online banking are available.
Is the post office open on Juneteenth?
No. The U.S. Postal Service locations are not open on the holiday. If you need to buy stamps, some grocery or convenience stores sell them. Additionally, you can buy them online at www.usps.com.
Is mail delivered on Juneteenth?
No. You will not receive letters or written invitations sent through the mail on Juneteenth. The silver lining of this is that you wont get any paper bills either. The only exception is Priority Mail Express, which is delivered 365 days a year, including federal holidays.
Are FedEx and UPS operating on Juneteenth?
Yes. According to its website, UPS is open for business as usual on Juneteenth. This includes store locations and deliveries. The same can be said for FedEx locations and deliveries.
State Department
Is the stock market open on Juneteenth?
No. It’s not possible to buy or sell stocks on Juneteenth. The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Nasdaq exchange are closed for the day. You can still trade Bitcoin to your heart’s content.
Are schools open on Juneteenth?
No. Because Juneteenth falls during the summer holiday, most schools are out of session already. Check in with your local summer camps or year-round institutions to double check how they are handling the holiday.
Are restaurants, pharmacies, and grocery stores open on Juneteenth?
Yes. Speaking in general terms, most retail locations will be open on Juneteenth. Target, Costco, and Aldi will all remain open. Olive Garden will serve its famous breadsticks.
Major pharmacy chains such as CVS and Walgreens will be open, although they might be operating under limited hoursso check your local pharmacy hours to be sure.
Smaller mom-and-pop shops, meanwhile, might close for the day, so it is a good practice to double check those.
Want more housing market stories from Lance Lamberts ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter.
There is a consensus among major publicly traded homebuilders that the spring 2025 housing marketespecially in many parts of the Sun Belt, where inventory has climbed above pre-pandemic 2019 levelswas softer than they expected.
While some builders have started focusing more on maintaining marginsand some have slowed their housing startsLennar has continued to push forward.
Instead of defending short-term profitability, LennarAmericas second-largest homebuilderis using this period of housing market softness as an opportunity to capture market share and maintain sales pace through bigger affordability adjustments.
The ResiClub team reviewed Lennars Monday earnings report and listened in on its Tuesday earnings call.
Here are our top nine takeaways:
1. Lennar: All of the markets we operate in experienced some level of softening
According to Lennar, it has observed at least some softening” across all its markets this spring. Even its “strongest” markets have lost some momentum. This aligns with ResiClubs reporting.
All of the markets we operate in experienced some level of softening [this quarter], Lennar co-CEO John Jaffe said on the companys June 17 earnings call. Even in our strongest performing markets, buyers needed the assistance of incentives. Incentives will vary across the different markets, but primarily in the form of assistance with mortgage rate buy downs.
Jaffe added: The markets that experienced more challenging conditions during the quarter were the Pacific Northwest markets of Seattle and Portland, the Northern California markets of the Bay Area and Sacramento, the Southwestern markets of Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Colorado, and some Eastern markets such as Raleigh, Atlanta, and Jacksonville.
2. Lennar is deploying bigger sales incentives
Lennars average sales price came in at $389,000 in Q2 2025thats down 8.7% from $426,000 in Q2 2024.
And oh, boy, is Lennar spending a lot on incentives.
In Q2 2025, Lennar spent an average of 13.3% of the final sales price on sales incentives, such as mortgage-rate buydowns. At that incentive rate, a home with a $450,000 sticker price would come with nearly $60,000 in incentives.
According to John Burns Research and Consulting [see its historical chart here], thats the highest incentive level Lennar has offered since 2009and its significantly higher than Lennars cycle low in Q2 2022, when it spent 1.5% of the final sales price on sales incentives.
Earlier this year, Lennar co-CEO Stuart Miller noted: “These are outsized [incentives] for the moment and normalized incentives should be around 5% to 6%.
Pretty much: Where and when neededespecially in pockets of Florida, Arizona, Colorado, and Texas, where active inventory has bounced back and buyers have gained leverageLennar is cutting net effective prices through larger incentives to find the market and keep sales rolling.
3. Average price net of incentives is down across Lennars divisionseven more so in Florida
The biggest net price cuts occurred in Lennars East divisionwhich, while it includes Florida, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, is dominated by operations in the Sunshine Statethe epicenter of housing market weakness over the past year.
4. Additional margin compression
During the pandemic housing boom, many publicly traded homebuilders achieved record profit margins as home prices soared and buyer demand ran red hot. Once the national housing demand boom fizzled out in the summer of 2022, many large homebuilders made affordability adjustments where and when needed to maintain their sales pace. Despite some profit margin compression, almost every major homebuilder entered 2024 with gross margins still above pre-pandemic 2019 levels.
However, in recent quarters, margin compression has returnedespecially for Lennar.
During the companys December 2024 earnings call, Lennar CFO Diane Bessette stated that the company anticipates further margin compression, with gross margins expected to range between 19.0% and 19.25% for Q1 2025.
Lennars Q1 2025 gross margin ended up being 18.7%, and its Q2 2025 gross margin on home sales came in on June 16 at 17.8%.
On the June 17 earnings call, Miller said he expects Lennars gross margin to be 18.0% in Q3 2025.
5. Lennar: Sales pace > margin
As highlighted above, amid the softening market, Lennar has chosen to maintain sales pace over margin. Among the big builders, it has been the most aggressive on that front. Its now spending 13.3% of final sales price on incentivesand doing some of the biggest net effective price cuts in the Sun Beltin order to keep sales up.
We are not there yet, but we are certain that we are finding a floor with margin and getting close to building it back even in a softer housing market environment, Miller said on the June 17 call. As the current market softness unfolded, we focused on consistent [sales] volume by matching our production pace with our sales pace.
Miller added: Although some have questioned why we have maintained volume rather than protect our margin, we are very clear and steadfast on our strategy. Historically, we protected margin as market conditions stalled, and we generally led the way in protecting short-term profitability. But we learned through those times that once we step backwards and lose momentum, it becomes increasingly more and more difficult to restart and recapture volume. The machine slows and does not restart easily. We have concluded that by maintaining volume, we can create new efficiencies and new solutions that are durable for the future and will result in meaningful long-term efficiencies in our cost structure.
6. Sales steady-ish across markets
Lennars Q2 2025 division-level performance was relatively steady once you account for its February 10 acquisition of Rausch Coleman Homes, which largely explains the sharp year-over-year jump in the South Central division.
The Western division was a bit softer, reflecting broader cooling trends across many Western housing markets over the past six months. In contrast, Lennar saw a bit more growth in its Eastern division, particularly in Florida. Why? Its likely that Lennars earlier and more aggressive discounting in Florida is now paying off, attracting buyers who are still encountering resale sellers resisting the shifted pricing environment in their local neighborhoods.
7. Lennar: No impact from tariffsyet
With respect to the question regarding tariffs, consistent with our commentary last quarter, we have had no impact to date on our costs from tariffs, Lennars Jaffe said on the earnings call. We work closely with the supply chain to prepare for alternative sourcing if it becomes necessary as well as the expectation that our trade partners will work with us to mitigate and offset cost impacts should they present themselves.
8. Lennar: Theres little evidence to support expectations of materially lower mortgage rates this year
Initially, many in the housing market held on to the hope that higher interest rates were temporary, expecting inflation to subside and rates to drift back to lower levels. However, this expectation has not materialized, Miller said on the June 17 call. Looking ahead, theres little evidence to support expectations of materially lower interest rates in the near term. As a result, elevated interest rates have solidified as the new normal. The environment is about recognizing that short supply is keeping prices higher and that only lower prices enabled by lower cost structures will define affordability.
9. Homebuilder stocks remain in purgatory following Wall Streets pullback late last year
Hello and welcome to a special edition of Modern CEO! Im Stephanie Mehta, CEO and chief content officer of Mansueto Ventures. Each week this newsletter explores inclusive approaches to leadership drawn from conversations with executives and entrepreneurs; this week Im dropping a few extra newsletters from the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. If you received this newsletter from a friend, you can sign up to get it yourself every Monday morning.
Engaging with consumers and clients has traditionally been the purview of customer service teams and chief marketing officers (CMOs) who communicate with customers through advertising and messaging. CMOs are the folks gathered at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity this week.
But thanks to social platforms, consumers now have the ability to tarnish or burnish brands, impact revenue, and even hurt or help stock pricesall part of the CEO remit. Consumers are more powerful, and they have more access and more tools, says Anton Vincent, president, Mars Wrigley North America and global ice cream at Mars. The creator economy will only help to accelerate consumer power.
Straight from the top
As a result, more CEOs are going direct to consumer. LinkedIn says it has seen a 52% increase in posts from CEOs in the past two years. We think about [posts] as a conversation, says Dan Shapero, LinkedIns chief operating officer. Executives feel safe posting because it is a platform for constructive conversation. Indeed, comments on LinkedIn are up 32% year over year.
The most progressive companies and CEOs arent just talking to customers, they are harnessing customers energy to help build loyalty and support for their waresand even to help companies build new products. Research from ad agency TBWA\Worldwide found that 15% of adults globally would spend more for a brand that lets them participate in collaborative projects via co-creation, decentralization, or crowdsourcing.
The customer connection
Thanks to generative AI, consumers are already creating art, marketing messages, and other content for brands, much of it unauthorized and much of it technically impressive but conceptually shallow, says Jen Costello, global chief strategy officer for TBWA\Worldwide.
A better approach is where co-creation is less about spectacle and defined more by transparency, reciprocity, and the infrastructure for true partnership, she says. Think co-branded product lines with fans, closed-loop design labs with select contributors, and shared revenue or credit for substantial contributors. With that in place, AI becomes a powerful accelerant rather than the showpiece.
Vincent of Mars Wrigley says the company engages consumers by offering superfans a peek under the tent of what may be coming next. The M&M candy brand, for example, has embraced personalization, selling customized packaging and candies, and its Fun Club community engages members with quizzes, surveys, recipes, and more. Vincent says he also is upskilling his employees to become fluent in technologies and platforms that consumers are using to communicate displeasure or loyalty.
CEOs who cede responsibility for engaging with consumers do so at their peril. Says Jim OLeary, North America CEO and global president at Weber Shandwick: Consumers are much more important to CEOs today because they have a much greater ability to influence things.
How are you connecting with customers?
CEOs, how do you engage with customers? Are you posting on LinkedIn or TikTok? Send me your examplesand links. Id love to feature helpful examples of CEO-consumer interactions in a future newsletter.
Read more: CEOs go direct to consumer
What its like to be a female founder in the age of Instagram
MillerKnoll CEOs lessons from a town hall that went viral
Mighty Networks CEO says community is key to building business
The stats are ironic. There are near-impossible odds to hit a Powerball jackpot (one in 292 million), yet a high probability that those that do will squander it (70% of lottery winners go broke). Not Tim Schulz. In 1999, he was a 21-year-old buried in student debt and working at a gas station for minimum wage before an improbable $28 million Iowa Powerball win instantly reversed his circumstances.
More than 25 years later, Schultz is happy, successful, and still wealthy. He invested the majority of winnings, and still lives off of the interest on top of earnings from his successful Lottery, Dreams and Fortune podcast.
I’m still incredibly grateful, said Schultz, now 48. Your life can go in different directions. It’s one of the biggest things that’s ever happened to me.
Schultz’s initial purchases were practical. He eliminated his debt. He hired a financial advisor who put him on a budget. His first purchase was a Nintendo 64 game console, and eventually, Schultz purchased a modest house and car.
Managing the logistics of a massive windfall
The prospect of upgrading your life situation overnight is the lotterysor anyone who falls into instant wealth like an inheritancegreatest seduction. There are the problems you would solve, the house in Newport Beach you would buy, the tech startup you could start, and the money (or Birkin bags) you would gift your family.
But rarely do dreamers factor in the actual logistics that immediately precede a golden ticket.
From a process standpoint, I do think some of [the lottery winners] are a little surprised to find out how much is involved after the win, said Carolyn Becker, a spokesperson for the California Lottery. They are learning in real time.
As fiscally responsible as Schultz was, there were tough lessons along the way. Demands for money from family and friends led to fallings-out. And becoming an instant Powerball millionaire at 21 created pressure, guilt, and stress at times for Schultz.
Fast Company spoke to Schultz, who has also interviewed dozens of fellow lottery winners and financial advisors on his podcast, and representatives from the California Lottery to explain what to expect after hitting a 9- or 10-figure jackpot. And more importantly, how to survive it.
1. SECURE THE TICKET
No ticket, no payout. Take it to a safety deposit box or someplace that will protect it from fire or getting wet, getting ruined, or lost, said Schultz, who suggests getting your ducks in a row before you claim your prize. In addition, if you are a part of an office pool or a shared ticket situation, the California Lottery advises a representative of the group can sign the ticket and attach an affidavit or pool agreement to the ticket to prevent internal disputes later.
2. BUILD A TEAM OF EXPERTS
In most states, you have 365 days from the date of the draw to claim your winnings. That’s plenty of time (but not too long, there have been close calls and missed deadlines) to prepare a plan and hire the professionals who will protect you and your money, before redeeming your ticket. A reputable financial advisorto build your investment portfolio and veto the Birkin bag idea aboveis a given. But Schultz takes it a step further. There are lots of different types of attorneys, but I recommend an estate attorney before you redeem the ticket, he said, noting estate attorneys can often assist with taxes, legal forms, insurance, drafting media statements, and dispersing cash between family members. Schultz also warns against prematurely broadcasting your new fortune, rather, keeping those in the know limited to your new professional team and a few trusted family members and friends.
3. FILE YOUR CLAIM. (SPOILER ALERT: YOU WONT BE PAID TODAY)
Unfortunately, the process of claiming a billion-dollar Powerball or Mega Millions jackpot (or even anything over $1,000 for that matter) is a little more complicated than just providing a routing number, explained Daniel Kelly, a spokesperson for the California Lottery. The first step involves completing and delivering a claims form, either in person or by mail, to the official lottery office in your state. In addition to providing the legitimate physical ticket, the lottery winners identity will be vetted. They want to make sure, because this is so much money that it’s going to the right person, Schultz said. They don’t want to mess that up.
Also expect filling out formsand lots of them. Once the winner decides on whether to be paid in a lump sum (a one-time payment, which Schultz said is typically half of the sticker prize) or an annuity payment (annual payments, often for around 30 years), they must complete a variety of tax formsincluding state and federal tax (typically 24% is withheld). Eight states, including California, Washington, and Wyoming, do not tax lottery winnings.
And dont expect a same-day deposit. The waiting time can be between six and eight weekssometimes longer if you have outstanding payments (unpaid parking tickets, child support, etc.) with the government. I think there was an overdue vehicle registration fee [from a major lottery winner in California] three years ago, literally $20 that stalled the process, said Becker.
4. CONSIDER MOVING (OR AT LEAST DELETE FACEBOOK)
The degree of privacy for major lottery winners depends on the tickets point-of-sale origin. Some states like Wisconsin require you to claim your winnings publicly, while others like Arizona and Michigan allow large prize winners to remain anonymous. In California, winners names are public record, although they are not required to have their photo taken or talk to the media. I’ve been here five years, and no big winner has ever agreed to appear at a press conference with us, which is fine, said Becker.
Edwin Castro, a Los Angeles-area resident who won a Powerball record $2.04 billion in 2023, did not appear on camera (he did provide a written public statement) but news media outlets like TMZ and the New York Post have tracked his home purchases and recent dating life. An anonymous lottery winner from California, who recently hit an eight-figure jackpot, told Fast Company that she eliminated her social media accounts, hired a company to scrub her digital footprint, and started a LifeLock account to protect her from identity fraud. Schultz advises refraining from drawing attention to yousef (suddenly driving a mustard-yellow Ferrari F80 might qualify).
There is a safety component when you win a massive amount of money and I’ve definitely talked to winners who have changed their phone numbes, said Becker.
5. SAY NO. AND REPEAT
In Schultzs own press conference two decades ago, he expressed returning to school to study film and journalism. Letters (early internet and pre-social media) poured in from around the country from filmmakers seeking funding. But it wasnt the shameless asks from strangers (sob stories and loans that will never be paid back) that were most challenging for Schultz, it was the entitlement from those closest to him. If you just get [your wealth] from a one or two-dollar lottery ticket, then for some people, it’s viewed as getting something for nothing, he said. The consequence was the relationships were really damaged because of that. Creating boundaries and understanding that he cannot help everyone has helped Schultz manage the requests. He also learned how to deflect. I blame it on my financial adviser, he said. Which is true, because I want to be financially responsible.
6. VIEW A LOTTERY WIN AS A BLESSING, NOT A CURSE
Quit your job. Start a charity. Go on a safari in Tanzania. Do what feels authentic, is Schultzs two cents for anybody who wins a Powerball jackpot like he did 26 years ago. He is aware that his life benefited from a little luck. And hes grateful for that. I did pay off my debt, and I went back to college, and I pursued my dreams, he said. And you don’t need to win the lottery to do that. Almost everyone in the world whos ever achieved their dreams has not won the lottery, but you can, and people do.
The official posters for the 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics were revealed today, and theyre designed to introduce the world to some of Italys foremost emerging artists.
For next years Milano Cortina Games, 10 posters have been created: 5 for the Olympic Games and 5 for the Paralympic Games, featuring the work of 10 Italian artists (all younger than 40) hailing from different regions of the country. According to a press release from Milano Cortina, the artists were chosen in collaboration with the Triennale di Milano, an art and design museum in Milan that displayed the torches designed for the 2026 Games earlier this year.
The tradition of Olympic posters goes back to the 1912 Stockholm Games, when Swedish painter and illustrator Olle Hjortzberg was tasked with advertising the Games as a newly global media phenomenon. More than a century since then, the posters have become an integral symbol of each unique edition, ranging from an explosion of color for the 2016 Rio Olympics to a series of trippy designs for the 2020 Tokyo Games and a multimedia collection of high art for the Paris Games in 2024.
Giorgia Garzilli, 2026 [Image: courtesy Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026]
The Olympic posters
The five designers tasked with creating posters for the 2026 Olympic Games are all women: Flaminia Veronesi, Beatrice Alici, Giorgia Garzilli, Martina Cassatella, and Maddalena Tesser.
Maddalena Tesser, The Mountain [Image: courtesy Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026]
Veronesi, a 39-year-old from Milan, took the prompt in a whimsical direction with her work The Oasis of Play, a bubbly portrait overflowing with bright color and dynamic shapes.
Flaminia Veronesi, The Oasis of Play [Image: courtesy Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026]
It tells how we create a parallel world when we play that is an oasis of joy, Veronesi explained in a video promoting the designs, adding that the paintings subject represents a young athlete or young spectator dreaming about the Games. Sprinkled throughout the work are Easter eggs referencing the Biscione of Milan, a symbolic dragon; the Dolomites mountain range; and the five Olympic rings.
Beatrice Alici, Silver Peaks, [Image: courtesy Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026]
Alici, a 33-year-old from San Don di Piave, took a more literal approach with her work Silver Peaks, opting to render three true-to-scale Olympic athletes in the foreground of the Venetian Prealps. The compositions cold, subdued color palette draws viewers eyes to the medals held by each figuregold, silver, and bronze. In contrast, 28-year-old Cassatella, hailing from San Giovanni Rotondo, chose a warm palette for her painting Torch. The poster spotlights a close-up of two glowing, intertwined handsreminiscent of the Olympic torchin a deep range of reds and yellows.
Martina Cassatella, Torch (Olympics) [Imge: courtesy Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026]
Representing a poster for the Olympic Winter Games has been, especially at the beginning, a challenge, since I did not want my work to be too explicit, too didactic, Cassatella shared in a video interview. Instead of leaning too literally into the symbolism of the winter season, she chose to highlight a warmer image of unity and inclusion.
Andrea Fontanari, Together We Play, Together We Transform [Image: courtesy Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026]
The Paralympic posters
Of the five posters created for the Paralympic Games by artists Roberto de Pinto, Andrea Fontanari, Giulia Mangoni, Aronne Pleuteri, and Clara Woods, several take a distinctly unexpected direction.
Aronne Pleuteri, Untitled [Image: courtesy Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026]
Perhaps the most abstract among them is 24-year-old Pleuteris Untitled. The piece is a burst of brightly colored shapes made using digital sketches on paint, inkjet prints, and mixed-media add-ons, resulting in a composition that verges on chaotic. According to an interview with Pleuteri, the poster works with the idea of escaping from visual stereotypes.
Roberto de Pinto, Untitled (Snowdrops) [Image: courtesy Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026]
For his work Untitled (Snowdrops), 29-year-old De Pinto chose to forgo color altogetherrelying only on black charcoal against a white background to depict a field of snowdrops, white flowers that bloom in late winter and early spring, often when theres still snow on the ground. Its captioned, Cracking the limit just like snowdrops crack cold ice.
Clara Woods, You Love [Image: courtesy Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026]
[I compared] the figure of the para-athlete with the snowdrop, since it is a flower that breaks the ice and snow to blossom, De Pinto said in an interview. It is a symbol of hope.”
Giulia Mangoni, Victory is more than a moment [Image: courtesy Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026]
More than $60 billion of investment will be spent by Texas Instruments to build and expand seven semiconductor factories in the United States, creating more than 60,000 jobs in the country, the company said today.
The announcement, which will see the investment spent across seven semiconductor fabrication sites, is a boost for President Donald Trump, though it is not exactly new cash, some experts argue.
“I think its exactly what they’ve been saying for the last four or five years,” says Stacy Rasgon, a senior analyst at Bernstein who covers semiconductors. “Theyre probably one of the few thats actually put massive amounts of dollars in the ground in the U.S. already. So you might as well get credit for it.”
The announcement also does not include a time frame. Texas Instruments CEO Haviv Ilan said in a statement: “TI is building dependable, low-cost 300-millimeter capacity at scale to deliver the analog and embedded processing chips that are vital for nearly every type of electronic system.”
While the announcement may be aimed at pleasing Trump, it reinforces a strategy to ensure the survival of the U.S. AI sector at a time when the country is increasingly at odds with China. The threat of a potential invasion by China looms constantly over Taiwan, the worlds main manufacturer of computer chips.
“Personally, I think TI has been preparing for a decoupled world, where its no longer viable, for whatever reason, to source parts from Asia. And theyll be sitting here with a whole bunch of capacity,” Rasgon says.
“TI’s latest investment is another move for the U.S. legacy semiconductor player to show its determination in strengthening its production capacity in the United States, which aligns with the current administration’s agenda,” says Ray Wang, research director for semiconductors and emerging technology at the Futurum Group.
Others believe the announcement is a move to onshore chip production in an uncertain world.
“This announcement builds on Texas Instruments’ long-standing efforts to build new chip factories in Texas and Utah,” says Chris Miller, professor at the Fletcher School at Tufts University.
Miller points out that Texas Instruments is already “a key supplier of the foundational semiconductors that industries from autos to smartphones require.” He adds that the company seems poised to grow its footprint even more, having steadily added new facilities and ramped up capacity in recent years.
That puts TI in a position of relative strength, giving the company the ability to ramp up domestic production and reduce reliance on overseas partners like the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) by bringing more manufacturing back in-house.
A $100 billion deal, announced in March 2025, would also see TSMC bring more chip production capacity to the United States. At the time, experts questioned whether the move might result in Taiwan losing its economic defensive shield against a Chinese invasion.
“This is the exact countermove that the U.S. needed in the context of increasing its annual chip output,” says Koray Köse, founder and chief analyst at Köse Advisory. “This enhances the U.S. supply chain resilience and the security of it, especially when we look at the geopolitical tensions and the over-reliance on Taiwan from foreign chipmakers.” This, Köse says, shifts the balance in Americas favor by giving the country a stronger, more self-reliant supply chain.
It also helps Texas Instruments be insulated from Chinese competition.
“Those segments they are in are really commodity segments, where a lot of that supply, Chinese manufacturers are trying to take share from them,” says Willy Shih, a professor at Harvard Business School.
Beyond cash, more work is needed to keep the U.S. up to pace with China and others, says Miller, the Tufts professor. “Facilitating chip production will require streamlining regulation, training more workers, and ensuring that U.S. firms don’t face unfair competition from heavily subsidized companies in China,” he says. “The U.S. needs to continue to invest in training programs at universities and community colleges to produce a strong supply of fab technicians, trained construction workers, and engineers to build and operate chipmaking facilities.”
But Trump may resist one key step that Miller says is vital for the U.S. to become a chipmaking champion: immigration. “It also needs to facilitate immigration of high-skilled engineers with unique, chip-specific capabilities,” he says.
