Saturday, July 11, 2026

Foreword

Alyson Shontell

Editor-in-Chief

As podcasts continue to rise in popularity, there’s one host powerful CEOs and startup founders keep tuning in to: David Senra.

Senra launched his podcast Founders in 2016 from his kitchen in Miami. For years it was a lonely endeavor—he had a handful of listeners. But Senra, an insatiable reader who has devoured some 415 biographies by his count, kept telling the stories of people who interested him, and gradually his audience started to appear.

Senra now says he is making a few million dollars per year from the podcast (he recently launched a second, longform interview show called David Senra) and adds that he has declined offers to sell the company for as much as $50 million. “If you maintain control and really care about the quality of your product, you wind up with the money anyway,” Senra told Fortune’s Lily Mae Lazarus. “It just takes a little longer.”

Fortune profiled Senra’s rise, how he built his lucrative business, and how he’s chasing his ultimate goal: To become the millennial Charlie Rose.

Check out the full story on the rise of CEO podcaster David Senra.

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Faena New York

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Fortune 500 C-suite Power Moves

Kyndryl Holdings (No. 300) appointed Ellen Johnson CFO, effective Aug. 6. United Natural Foods (No. 146) appointed Alfredo Luchini CFO, effective Aug. 10. HF Sinclair (No. 171) appointed Steven Ledbetter President and COO.

And more in this week's Fortune 500 Power Moves.

Deals & Developments

Microsoft (No. 11) has begun shifting some AI requests in Excel and Outlook from OpenAI and Anthropic systems to its own MAI models, as it seeks to lower costs after years of heavy investment in outside providers. Still, Microsoft is relying heavily on third-party frontier models for many requests.
Apple (No. 4) is expanding its manufacturing partnership with Broadcom (No. 70) through a multiyear agreement expected to exceed $30 billion. Broadcom will supply more than 15 billion U.S.-made wireless chips and will make investments to expand its existing facilities.
- Apple also lost its challenge to the EU’s Digital Markets Act, leaving iOS and the App Store subject to stricter competition rules in Europe. The ruling preserves the EU’s ability to impose obligations designed to give rival services more opportunity to compete.
President Donald Trump said Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin (No. 61) subsidiary, will make a $5 million donation through the National Park Service to fund a new helipad on the White House South Lawn. Lockheed framed the project as part of its broader history of philanthropic support for federal sites.

Overheard

“In order to grow, we made a bunch of bets…and as we did that, we inherently didn’t focus on the core business.”

—Xbox CEO Asha Sharma in an interview with Fortune after announcing roughly 3,200 job cuts at the company.

On earnings calls:

PepsiCo (No. 46) beat expectations, reporting $24.18 billion in quarterly revenue, up 6.4% year-over-year, as strong international demand offset softer U.S. food and beverage sales. CEO Ramon Laguarta noted that inflation-weary American consumers are tightening their budgets even as global snack and beverage volumes continue to grow.
Delta Air Lines (No. 71) beat expectations with $17.67 billion in adjusted quarterly revenue, despite a 77% year-over-year rise in adjusted fuel expense. Premium-seat revenue exceeded main-cabin revenue, reflecting the airline’s focus on higher-income travelers. CEO Ed Bastian said elevated industry costs mean “the opportunity has to be in finding ways to secure higher revenues, not higher market share.”

Earnings calls next week include: JPMorgan Chase (No. 12), Bank of America (No. 20), Citigroup (No. 24), and Goldman Sachs Group (No. 36) on July 14; Johnson & Johnson (No. 45) and BlackRock (No. 190) on July 15; UnitedHealth Group (No. 3) and Netflix (No. 105) on July 16; and more.

See all recent coverage of Fortune 500 earnings calls.

Looking Ahead

Nov

Fortune 500 Innovation Forum

Fortune will convene CEOs, U.S. policy officials, top founders, and thought leaders to explore new paths to prosperity during the unprecedented AI transformation—and at this pivotal time for America and the world. Our mission is to foster conversations about the role of capitalism and competition in America. (Detroit, Nov. 16–17)