Kraft Heinz Opt for Counselling than Splitting; Uber Expands Across Europe, and Big Banks Hand Their CEO’s Big Cheques

Corporate America is recalibrating. Kraft Heinz is shelving its long-planned breakup as its new CEO vows to fix pricing missteps and reignite growth, while six of Wall Street’s biggest bank chiefs collectively pocketed more than $250 million in pay after a blockbuster year for stocks. Uber is doubling down on its European food-delivery ambitions with a push into seven new markets, and AI-powered ad platform Moloco is preparing to test investor appetite with a Goldman and JPMorgan-led IPO. All this and more in today’s Read It and Eat!

Markets Around The World

Markets as of 13th February 2026. Cells in RED mean that the value is down, cells in Green mean the value is up.

MAJOR HEADLINES

• Kraft Heinz pauses split, new CEO says problems are 'fixable'

Kraft Heinz has halted efforts to split the company, in a surprise move that new CEO Steve Cahillane said was necessary due to deteriorating conditions in the food industry, though he called the challenges "fixable and within our control."  

The packaged-foods maker announced plans to split into two in September, one focused on groceries and the other on sauces and spreads; after failing to achieve the kind of growth expected when the company was formed a decade ago under a merger orchestrated by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway and 3G Capital. Kraft Heinz has since lost out to rivals, with Cahillane saying a recent spate of price hikes alienated consumers who were already straying from its brands in favor of healthier alternatives at a lower cost.

"We busted through four or five levels of price points in a very accelerated fashion and the consumer was left very disappointed in that," Cahillane said on a post-earnings call. Shares were little changed on Wednesday after earlier falling about 5%. "Faced with the choice of continuing the separation and all the work that's required there or shifting all resources against growing the business and the early opportunities that I saw, it became very compelling that we ought to pause the separation," Cahillane told Reuters in an interview. Reuters

• Six Wall Street bank chiefs bring in combined pay of $250 million in 2025

The pay of Wall Street bank bosses soared last year as six of them took home more than $250 million combined, potentially further widening the gap with average bank workers. The heads of the largest US banks by assets, JPMorgan (JPM), Bank of America (BAC), Citigroup (C), Goldman Sachs (GS), Wells Fargo (WFC) and Morgan Stanley (MS), all received $40 million or more in annual pay, according to recent regulatory filings. BofA chief Brian Moynihan’s $41 million pay award for 2025 was disclosed in a regulatory filing by the bank late on Friday.

The combined average pay increases for the six chiefs represented a 22 percent increase over the prior year. With their average remuneration already standing at 298 times that of their median bank employees in 2024, according to regulatory filings, the robust raises stand to further widen the gap with the rank-and-file at a time when inflation and modest wage gains are making affordability issues a top concern across the economy. Still, the CEOs presided over average stock price gains of 42 percent last year,  perhaps the most closely watched measure of executive performance.

“It’s bull market banking with bull market results and bull market pay for the CEOs,” said Wells Fargo banking analyst Mike Mayo. “Directionally, it’s correct.” Goldman Sachs’ David Solomon was the highest paid CEO with a $47 million total package that included a $10.1 million cash bonus, $31.5 million in stock and $3.4 million in carried interest from the funds the bank manages. Goldman added carried interest to Solomon’s pay a year ago in order to reflect the pay framework of large asset managers to retain top talent. Yahoo.Finance

• Uber enters 7 new European markets in food delivery push

Uber  plans to expand its food-delivery business into seven new European markets in 2026, launching services in markets including the Czech Republic, Greece and Romania, a company spokesperson told Reuters on Sunday.

The expansion will also see Uber enter Austria, Denmark, Finland and Norway. The company expects the move to generate an additional $1 billion in gross bookings over the next three years. "We're seeing strong demand from merchants and consumers for Uber's platform - and we think it's time to raise the bar, shake things up and deliver better value across the category," said Uber's global delivery head Susan Anderson.

Earlier this week, Uber agreed to acquire the delivery arm of Turkey's Getir from Emirati controlling shareholder Mubadala, strengthening its footprint in Turkey. Reuters

• Ad Platform Moloco Said to Pick Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan for IPO

California-based advertising platform Moloco has selected Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. to arrange its initial public offering, people familiar with the matter said. The move signals growing investor confidence in AI-driven advertising technology as the sector reaches public market maturity. Moloco has raised over $200 million in funding and employs 886 people as of 2026.

Moloco, headquartered in Redwood City, California, specializes in machine learning-based advertising solutions for apps, commerce, and streaming platforms. The firm held preliminary talks with advisers earlier this year, though deliberations continue and additional banks may join the syndicate. The company has not disclosed a potential valuation or timeline for the offering. In the Middle East, Moloco already powers onsite advertisements for Ounass, the region’s leading luxury e-commerce platform, demonstrating proven traction in MENA markets. The company has identified MENA as a key growth region and supports strategic partnerships including one with Xiaomi for mobile app advertising.

This IPO preparation underscores the advertising technology sector’s evolution, with firms like Moloco leveraging artificial intelligence for performance marketing across gaming, e-commerce, and fintech verticals. The selection of Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, two premier investment banks, validates the commercial viability of AI-powered ad platforms as alternatives to dominant players like Google and Meta.nFor MENA’s fintech landscape, Moloco’s expansion highlights immediate opportunities in digital advertising infrastructure. Bloomberg

Minor Headlines

• Polymarket opened NYC's first free grocery store Yahoo.Finance

• Donald Trump plans to roll back tariffs on metal and aluminum goods  Financial Times

• Four partners quit EY after breaching independence rules  Reuters

• ByteDance pledges to prevent unauthorised IP use on AI video tool after Disney threat Reuters

• Family Fights to Keep Control of 157-Year-Old Firm in Japan Bloomberg

• The Bangladesh Nationalist Party swept to victory and its leader, Tarique Rahman, is set to be prime minister  Aljazeera

• Goldman Sachs’s top lawyer will step down over Epstein links BBC

• Kim Jong Un chooses teen daughter as heir, says Seoul BBC