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Fast Company recognized nine companies based in Asia, Europe, and South America as International category winners in its Best Workplaces for Innovators 2026 list. Judges highlighted these firms for how they invest in employees and build internal systems that support innovation, with seven of the nine also ranking among the overall top 100 companies on the broader list.
Alan Waldenberg, longtime outside counsel to Cerberus Capital Management and personal trust manager for Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg, also served as the Pentagon's lawyer on its $400 million equity stake and $150 million loan to rare earth miner MP Materials. Feinberg, Cerberus's founder, now holds vast sway over Pentagon budgets and contracts, and reportedly picked Waldenberg himself to work on the deal. The arrangement surfaced amid a broader Pentagon push, now exceeding $2 billion, to invest directly in critical minerals and battery firms to counter China.
HTeaO, a family-owned iced tea chain based in Amarillo, Texas, reported over $147 million in sales in 2025, a 26.7% jump from the prior year, and now operates 178 locations across eight states. The company has named Brian Wise, formerly of Freddy's Frozen Custard and Steakburgers, as its new CEO to guide further expansion, with backing from Crux Capital and Trive Capital.
A former startup CEO who has raised tens of millions in VC funding argues that traditional venture capital, once about backing founders to build companies, has been co-opted by a small group of extremely wealthy investors. He says this cohort now operates with little accountability to markets, regulators, or voters, using the VC label to pursue a broader ideological agenda rather than genuine innovation.
Sequoia Capital chairman Doug Leone, worth an estimated $11.7 billion, told his dentist to perform a root canal without novocaine so he wouldn't miss a scheduled meeting. He described gritting through the drilling by comparing it to a soldier's battlefield injuries, then went straight to his meeting before changing his sweat-drenched shirt.
Yum! Brands has finished divesting Pizza Hut, selling its non-China operations to private equity firm LongRange Capital for $1.5 billion after already selling Pizza Hut China to Yum! China Holdings for $1.2 billion. Yum! could earn up to $75 million more by 2030 if Pizza Hut meets performance benchmarks, while CEO Chris Turner said the move frees the company to focus on KFC, Taco Bell and Habit Burger & Grill.
Venture capital firms are increasingly directing funding toward businesses built around physical, real-world experiences—such as sports, gambling and travel—rather than digital or software-based startups. The strategy reflects investor concern that AI's rapid advancement could quickly disrupt or devalue many traditional tech business models.
Palo Alto Networks acquired Console, a two-year-old startup using AI agents to automate IT help desk tasks, for roughly $500 million in cash and stock, according to people familiar with the deal. The company had only raised $29 million and was last valued at $157 million, meaning investors—including Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora, an early angel backer—saw a swift and substantial return. Neither company disclosed financial terms publicly.
Yum Brands has finalized the sale of Pizza Hut to private equity firm LongRange Capital, closing a deal first announced in June. The transaction comes after the chain closed hundreds of restaurant locations over the past year amid ongoing struggles in the pizza segment.
Michael Wisler, who became M&T Bank's chief information officer in 2018 after years at Capital One, has shifted the 170-year-old Buffalo-based bank away from outside tech contractors toward an in-house engineering team. The move aims to speed up how quickly the bank can adapt its systems to new technology and customer demands while building more resilient infrastructure.
Thrive Capital founder Josh Kushner issued a statement defending his firm's involvement as lead investor in FIFA's now-abandoned FIFA Forward Enterprise plan, which would have sold private investors a 20% stake in FIFA's commercial rights for $4.2 billion. The plan collapsed after European and North American member associations objected to outside private-equity influence, and FIFA scrapped the proposal before it could go to a vote. Kushner said he still believes the underlying concept was sound but would not have gotten involved had he anticipated the fallout.
Entrepreneur magazine, working with Statista, is collecting recommendations from founders, startup employees, investors and service providers about their favorite business tools and services across finance, legal, HR, marketing, product and tech support. The findings will be compiled into a ranking of the most valued startup resources, to be published in an upcoming issue of Entrepreneur magazine.