Jason Goldberg, Barclays senior equity analyst, joins ‘Closing Bell’ to discuss Wells Fargo’s record setting CFPB settlement, how Wells is positioned to withstand the current interest rate environment and how new management will make progress on lifting the asset cap.
WASHINGTON — Consumer banking giant Wells Fargo agreed to pay $3.7 billion to settle a laundry list of charges that it harmed consumers by charging illegal fees and interest on auto loans and mortgages, as well as incorrectly applied overdraft fees against savings and checking accounts.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Tuesday ordered Wells to repay $2 billion to consumers and enacted a $1.7 billion penalty against the bank. It’s the largest fine to date against any bank by the CFPB and the largest fine against Wells, which has spent years trying to rehabilitate itself after a series of scandals tied to its sales practices.
The bureau says the bad behavior by the bank impacted more than 16 million customers. In addition to improperly charging its auto loan customers with fees and interest, in some cases the bank wrongfully repossessed borrowers’ vehicles. The bank also improperly denied thousands of mortgage loan modifications to homeowners.
“Wells Fargo’s rinse-repeat cycle of violating the law has harmed millions of American families,” said Rohit Chopra, director of the CFPB, in a statement.
Wells Fargo has been repeatedly sanctioned by U.S. regulators for violations of consumer protections law going back to 2016, when Wells employees were found to have opened millions of accounts illegally in order to meet unrealistic sales goals. Since then, Wells executives have repeatedly said the bank is cleaning up its act, only to have the bank be found in violation of other parts of consumer protection law, including in its auto and mortgage lending businesses.
Back in 2018, Wells paid a $1 billion penalty to cover widespread consumer law violations. That, at the time, was the largest fine to date against a bank for consumer law violations.
The bank had previously signaled to investors that it was expecting additional fines and penalties from regulators. The bank set aside $2 billion in the third quarter to cover potential regulatory matters.
Wells remains under a Federal Reserve order forbidding it from growing any larger until the Fed deems that its corporate culture problems are resolved. That order, originally enacted in 2018, was expected to last only a year or two.
In a statement, CEO Charles Scharf said the agreement with the CFPB is part of the effort to “transform operating practices at Wells Fargo and to put these issues behind us.”
Charles Scharf, chief executive officer of Wells Fargo & Co., listens during a House Financial Services Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, March 10, 2020.
Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Wells Fargo agreed to a $3.7 billion settlement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau over customer abuses tied to bank accounts, mortgages and auto loans, the regulator said Tuesday.
The bank was ordered to pay a $1.7 billion civil penalty and “more than $2 billion in redress to consumers,” the CFPB said in a statement. In a separate statement, the San Francisco-based company said that many of the “required actions” tied to the settlement were already done.
“The bank’s illegal conduct led to billions of dollars in financial harm to its customers and, for thousands of customers, the loss of their vehicles and homes,” the agency said in its release. “Consumers were illegally assessed fees and interest charges on auto and mortgage loans, had their cars wrongly repossessed, and had payments to auto and mortgage loans misapplied by the bank.”
The resolution lifts one overhang for the bank, which has been led by CEO Charlie Scharf since October 2019. In October, the bank set aside $2 billion for legal, regulatory and customer remediation matters, igniting speculation that a settlement was nearing.
But other regulatory hurdles remain: Wells Fargo is still operating under consent orders tied to its 2016 fake accounts scandal, including one from the Fed that caps its asset growth.
Furthermore, the bank said that fourth-quarter expenses would include a $3.5 billion operating loss, or $2.8 billion after taxes, from the incremental costs of the CFPB civil penalty and customer remediation efforts, as well as other legal matters. The bank is still expected to post an overall profit when it reports results in mid January, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
Shares of the bank rose 1.2% in early trading.
“This far-reaching agreement is an important milestone in our work to transform the operating practices at Wells Fargo and to put these issues behind us,” Scharf said in his statement. “We and our regulators have identified a series of unacceptable practices that we have been working systematically to change and provide customer remediation where warranted.”
CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said Wells Fargo’s “rinse-repeat cycle of violating the law” hurt millions of American families and that the settlement was an “important initial step for accountability” for the bank.
This story is developing. Please check back for updates.
‘Mad Money’ host Jim Cramer and the ‘Halftime Report’ investment committee, Joe Terranova, Karen Firestone and Jason Snipe, weigh in on the Wells Fargo trade and whether now is the time to buy financials.
03:28
Wed, Dec 7 20221:00 PM EST
Many shoppers say they plan to spend less this Black Friday as the cost-of-living crisis bites.
Richard Baker | In Pictures | Getty Images
American consumers are tapping the brakes on spending as the Federal Reserve’s interest rate increases reverberate throughout the economy, according to the CEOs of two of the largest American banks.
After two years of pandemic-fueled, double-digit growth in Bank of America card volume, “the rate of growth is slowing,” CEO Brian Moynihan said Tuesday at a financial conference. While retail payments surged 11% so far this year to nearly $4 trillion, that increase obscures a slowdown that began in recent weeks: November spending rose just 5%, he said.
It was a similar story at rival Wells Fargo, according to CEO Charlie Scharf, who cited shrinking growth in credit-card spending and roughly flat debit card transaction volumes.
The bank leaders, with their bird’s eye view of the U.S. economy, are providing evidence that the Fed’s campaign to subdue inflation by raising borrowing costs is beginning to impact consumer behavior. Fortified by pandemic stimulus checks, wage gains and low unemployment, American consumers have supported the economy, but that appears to be changing. That will have implications for corporate profits as businesses navigate 2023.
“There is a slowdown happening, there’s no question about it,” Scharf said. “We are expecting a fairly weak economy throughout the entire year, and hopeful that it’ll be somewhat mild relative to what it could possibly be.”
Both CEOs said they expect a recession in 2023. Bank of America’s Moynihan said he expects three quarters of negative growth next year followed by a slight uptick in the fourth quarter.
Charles Scharf, CEO of Wells Fargo, Brian Moynihan, CEO of Bank of America, and Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, are sworn in during the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee hearing titled Annual Oversight of the Nations Largest Banks, in Hart Building on Thursday, September 22, 2022.
Tom Williams | Cq-roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images
But, in a divergence that has implications for the coming months, the downturn isn’t being felt equally across retail customers and businesses so far, according to the Wells Fargo CEO.
“We have seen certainly more stress on the lower-end consumer than on the upper end,” Scharf said. In terms of the companies served by Wells Fargo, “there are some that are doing quite well and there’s some that are struggling.”
Airlines, cruise providers and other experience or entertainment-based industries are faring better than those involved in durable goods, he said. That sentiment was echoed by Moynihan, who cited strong travel spending.
“People bought a lot of goods, exercised a lot of the freedom they had in discretionary spend over the last couple of years, and those purchases are slowing,” Scharf said. “You’re seeing significant shifts to things like travel and restaurants and entertainment and some of the things that people want to do.”
The slowdown is the “intended outcome” that’s desired by the Fed as it seeks to tame inflation, Moynihan noted.
But the central bank has a tricky balancing act to pull off: raising rates enough to slow the economy, while hopefully avoiding a harsh downturn. Many market forecasters expect the Fed’s benchmark rate to hit about 5% next year, though some think higher rates will be needed.
“You’re starting to see that [slowdown] take hold,” Moynihan said. “The real question will be how soon they have to stabilize that in order to avoid more damage; that’s the question that’s on the table.”
CNBC’s ‘Halftime Report’ investment committee, Stephanie Link, Jim Lebenthal, Jenny Harrington and Sarat Sethi discuss their calls of the day and the financial trade.
03:45
Tue, Dec 6 20221:34 PM EST
Mobile banking app provider Dave has enough cash to survive the current downturn for fintech firms and reach profitability a year from now, according to CEO Jason Wilk.
The Los Angeles-based company got caught up in the waves rocking the world of money-losing growth companies this year after it went public in January. But Dave is not capsizing, despite a staggering 97% decline in its shares through Nov. 18, Wilk said.
Shares jumped as much as 13% on Monday and closed 7.9% higher.
“We’re trying to dispel the myth of, ‘Hey, this company does not have enough money to make it through,’” Wilk said. “We think that couldn’t be further from the truth.”
Few companies embody fintech’s rise and fall as much as Dave, one of the better-known members of a new breed of digital banking providers taking on the likes of JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo. Co-founded by Wilk in 2016, the company had celebrity backers and millions of users of its app, which targets a demographic ignored by mainstream banks and relies on subscriptions and tips instead of overdraft fees.
Dave’s market capitalization soared to $5.7 billion in February before collapsing as the Federal Reserve began its most aggressive series of rate increases in decades. The moves forced an abrupt shift in investor preference to profits over the previous growth-at-any cost mandate and has rivals, including bigger fintech Chime, staying private for longer to avoid Dave’s fate.
“If you told me that only a few months later, we’d be worth $100 million, I wouldn’t have believed you,” Wilk said. “It’s tough to see your stock price represent such a low amount and its distance from what it would be as a private company.”
The shift in fortunes, which hit most of the companies that took the special purpose acquisition company route to going public recently, has turned his job into a “pressure cooker,” Wilk said. That’s at least partly because it has cratered the stock compensation of Dave’s 300 or so employees, Wilk said.
In response, Wilk has accelerated plans to hit profitability by lowering customer acquisition costs while giving users new ways to earn money on side gigs including paid surveys.
The company said earlier this month that third-quarter active users jumped 18% and loans on its cash advance product rose 25% to $757 million. While revenue climbed 41% to $56.8 million, the company’s losses widened to $47.5 million from $7.9 million a year earlier.
Dave has $225 million in cash and short-term holdings as of Sept. 30, which Wilk says is enough to fund operations until they are generating profits.
“We expect one more year of burn and we should be able to become run-rate profitable probably at the end of next year,” Wilk said.
Still, despite a recent rally in beaten-down companies spurred by signs that inflation is easing, investors don’t yet appear to be convinced about Dave’s prospects.
“Investors haven’t jumped back into fintech more broadly yet,” Devin Ryan, director of fintech research at JMP Securities, said in an email. “In a higher interest rate backdrop where the cost of capital has been materially raised, we don’t see any abatement in investors challenging companies toward operating at cash profitability … or at the very least, demonstrating a clear and credible path toward that.”
Among investors’ concerns are that one of Dave’s main products are short-term loans; those could result in rising losses if a recession hits next year, which is the expectation of many forecasters.
“One of the things we need to keep proving is that these are small loans that people use for gas and groceries, and because of that, our default rates just consistently stayed very low,” he said. Dave can get repaid even if users lose their jobs, he said, by tapping unemployment payments.
Investors and bankers expect a wave of consolidation among fintech startups and smaller public companies to begin next year as companies run out of funding and are forced to sell themselves or shut down. This year, UBS backed out of its deal to acquire Wealthfront and fintech firms including Stripe have laid off hundreds of workers.
“We’ve got to get through this winter and prove we have enough money to make it and still grow,” Wilk said. “We’re alive and kicking, and we’re still out here doing innovative stuff.”
Inflation is weighing heavily on the holidays this year.
Roughly half of shoppers will buy fewer things due to higher prices, and more than one-third said they will rely on coupons to cut down on the cost, according to a recent survey of more than 1,000 adults by RetailMeNot.
Though the study found many consumers are also eager to get an early start on seasonal shopping, that surge is largely driven by concerns about affordability and money-saving strategies, other reports show.
“Inflation is, by far, the biggest issue for households this year,” said Tim Quinlan, senior economist at Wells Fargo and author of its 2022 holiday sales report.
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Household finances have taken a hit with a lower savings rate and declining real wages, which could slow holiday sales, Quinlan said.
“The bottom line is, with inflation remaining a headache, dollars aren’t stretching as far, and most consumers will still be looking for bargains,” Quinlan said.
A separate report by BlackFriday.com also found that 70% of shoppers will be taking inflation into consideration when shopping this holiday season, and even more will be on the lookout for deals.
People are trying to economize and make the most of what they have.
Cecilia Seiden
vice president of TransUnion’s retail business
Roughly 25% of consumers said they would opt for cheaper versions or more practical gifts, such as gas cards, according to TransUnion’s holiday shopping survey.
“People are trying to economize and make the most of what they have,” said Cecilia Seiden, vice president of TransUnion’s retail business.
Still, households will shell out $1,455, on average, on holiday gifts, in line with last year, a separate retail report by Deloitte found.
Shoppers at the Willow Grove Park Mall in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, on Nov. 14, 2020.
Mark Makela | Reuters
“Remember to not put yourself in debt over holiday shopping,” cautioned Natalia Brown, chief client operations officer at National Debt Relief. “Debt prevents people from reaching their financial goals — like building an emergency fund, buying a home and saving for retirement.”
Holiday spending could come at a higher cost if it means tacking on additional credit card debt just as the Federal Reserve raises interest rates to slow inflation, Quinlan added.
Annual percentage rates are currently near 19%, on average, an all-time high, according to Ted Rossman, a senior industry analyst at CreditCards.com.
That will leave consumers worse off heading into 2023, Quinlan explained.
“In many ways we view this year’s holiday shopping season as the last hurrah,” he said.
David Solomon, Goldman Sachs, at Marcus event
Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon is reining in his ambition to make the 153-year-old investment bank a major player in U.S. consumer banking.
After product delays, executive turnover, branding confusion, regulatory missteps and deepening financial losses, Solomon on Tuesday said the firm was pivoting away from its previous strategy of building a full-scale digital bank.
Now, rather than “seeking to acquire customers on a mass scale” for the business, Goldman will instead focus on the Marcus customers it already has, while aiming to market fintech products through the bank’s workplace and wealth management channels, Solomon said.
The moment is a humbling one for Solomon, who seized on the possibilities within the nascent consumer business after becoming CEO four years ago.
Goldman started Marcus in 2016, named after one of the bank’s cofounders, to help it diversify revenue away from the bank’s core trading and advisory operations. Big retail banks including JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America enjoy higher valuations than Wall Street-centric Goldman.
Instead, after disclosing the strategic shift and his third corporate reorganization as CEO, Solomon was forced to admit missteps Tuesday during an hour-plus long conference call as analysts, one after another, peppered him with critical questions.
It began with Autonomous analyst Christian Bolu, who pointed out that other new entrants including fintech startup Chime and Block’s Cash App have broken through while Goldman hasn’t.
“One could argue that there’s been some execution challenges for Goldman in consumer; you’ve had multiple leadership changes,” Bolu stated. “Looking back over time, what lessons have you guys learned?”
Another analyst, Brennan Hawken of UBS, told Solomon he was confused about the pivot because of earlier promises related to coming products.
“To be honest, when I speak with a lot of investors on Goldman Sachs, very few are excited about the consumer business,” Hawken said. “So I wouldn’t necessarily say that a pulling back in the aspirations would necessarily be negative, I just want to try and understand strategically what the new direction is.”
After Wells Fargo‘s Mike Mayo asked whether the consumer business was making money and how it stacked up against management expectations, Solomon conceded that the unit “doesn’t make money at the moment.” That is despite saying in 2020 that it would reach breakeven by 2022.
Even one of the bank’s successes — winning the Apple Card account in 2019— has proven less profitable than Goldman executives expected.
Apple customers didn’t carry the level of balances the bank had modeled for, meaning that it made less revenue on the partnership than they had targeted, Solomon told Morgan Stanley analyst Betsy Graseck. The two sides renegotiated the business arrangement recently to make it more equitable and extended it through the end of the decade, according to the CEO.
With his stock under pressure and the money-losing consumer operations increasingly being blamed, internally and externally, for its drag on operations, Solomon appeared to have little choice than to change course.
Selling services to wealth management customers lowers customer acquisition costs, Solomon noted. In that way, Goldman is mirroring the broader shift in fintech, which occurred earlier this year amid plunging valuations, as growth-at-any cost changed to an emphasis on profitability.
Despite the turbulence, Goldman’s adventure in consumer banking has managed to collect $110 billion in deposits, extend $19 billion in loans and find more than 15 million customers.
“There’s no question that the aspirations probably got, and were communicated in a way, that were broader than where we’re now choosing to go,” Solomon told analysts. “We are making it clear that we’re pulling back on some of that now.”
Bank Of America CEO Brian Moynihan is interviewed by Jack Otter during “Barron’s Roundtable” at Fox Business Network Studios on January 09, 2020 in New York City.
John Lamparski | Getty Images
Bank of America said Monday that quarterly profit and revenue topped expectations on better-than-expected fixed income trading and gains in interest income, thanks to choppy markets and rising rates
Here’s what the company reported compared with what analysts were expecting, based on Refinitiv data:
Bank of America said in a release that third-quarter profit fell 8% to $7.1 billion, or 81 cents a share, as the company booked a $898 million provision for credit losses in the quarter. Revenue net of interest expense jumped to $24.61 billion, on a non-GAAP basis.
Shares of the bank rose 6.1%.
Bank of America, led by CEO Brian Moynihan, was supposed to be one of the main beneficiaries of the Federal Reserve’s rate-boosting campaign. That is playing out, as lenders including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo are producing more revenue as rates rise, allowing them to generate more profit from their core activities of taking in deposits and making loans.
“Our U.S. consumer clients remained resilient with strong, although slower growing, spending levels and still maintained elevated deposit amounts,” Moynihan said in the release. “Across the bank, we grew loans by 12% over the last year as we delivered the financial resources to support our clients.”
Net interest income at the bank jumped 24% to $13.87 billion in the quarter, topping the $13.6 billion StreetAccount estimate, thanks to higher rates in the quarter and an expanding book of loans.
Net interest margin, a key profitability metric for bank investors, widened to 2.06% from 1.86% in the second quarter of this year, edging out analysts’ estimate of 2.00%.
Fixed income trading revenue surged 27% from a year earlier to $2.6 billion, handily exceeding the $2.24 billion estimate. That more than offset equities revenue that dropped 4% to $1.5 billion, below the $1.61 billion estimate.
Like its Wall Street rivals, investment banking revenue posted a steep decline, falling about 46% to $1.2 billion, slightly exceeding the $1.13 billion estimate.
Of note, the bank’s evolving provision for credit losses showed the company was beginning to factor in a more harsh economic outlook.
While Bank of America released $1.1 billion in reserves in the year-earlier period, in the third quarter the firm had to build reserves by $378 million. That, in addition to a 12% increase in net charge-offs for bad loans to $520 million in the quarter, accounted for the $898 million provision.
Analysts have said that they want to see bank executives factor in the possibility of an impending recession before investors return to the beaten-down sector. Bank of America shares hit a new 52-week low last week and have fallen 29% this year through Friday, worse than the 26% decline of the KBW Bank Index.
Last week, JPMorgan and Wells Fargo topped expectations for third-quarter profit and revenue by generating better-than-expected interest income. Citigroup also beat analysts’ estimates, and Morgan Stanley missed as choppy markets took a toll on its investment management business.
Ken Griffin, Citadel at CNBC’s Delivering Alpha, Sept. 28, 2022.
Scott Mlyn | CNBC
Citadel’s billionaire CEO, Ken Griffin, is one of Wall Street’s biggest political donors in the 2022 midterms, giving more than $100 million toward state and federal candidates across the country since April 2021, campaign finance records show.
The $50 million Griffin has donated to Republicans running in federal races alone make him the party’s single biggest individual donor from the finance industry and the third-biggest political donor to federal candidates in this election cycle, according to data tracked by campaign finance watchdog OpenSecrets.
Only Soros Fund Management founder George Soros and shipping magnate Richard Uihlein have given more to candidates running for the U.S. House or Senate. Soros has donated over $128 million to Democrats while Uihlein has given $53 million to Republicans, according to OpenSecrets.
Griffin, however, has spent another $50 million during this election cycle — which runs from Jan. 1, 2021 through the end of this year — on the failed Illinois gubernatorial campaign of Aurora, Ill., Mayor Richard Irvin, who lost in the Republican primary, according to state campaign finance records.
Citadel announced plans this summer to move its headquarters from Chicago to Miami, as the Windy City struggles to stop a rise in crime. Griffin has previously said part of his feud with Illinois Gov. J. B. Pritzker is over the Democratic leader’s record on crime. Griffin said at a DealBook conference last year that when he brought up the crime issue to Pritzker, “he took the moment to call me a liar.”
Zia Ahmed, a spokesman for Griffin, told CNBC in a statement that the Citadel CEO is aiming to “broaden the tent of the Republican Party.”
“Ken wants to elevate talented candidates and broaden the tent of the Republican Party to make it more representative of our country,” Ahmed said. “He supports leaders who will focus on education, job creation, public safety and a strong national defense so that every individual has access to the American dream.”
Democratic political operatives have taken aim at Griffin, especially as he’s tried to make an impact on elections.
The Democratic Governors Association, an outside group that backs Democrats, organized opposition research on Griffin as he was deciding who to support in the Illinois Republican primary for governor. The research, which was reviewed by CNBC, is titled “Ken Griffin Has Been Playing Kingmaker In IL Politics With No Consequences.” It’s a compilation of public documents and reporting that included a focus on Griffin’s divorces. Pritzker, who has an estimated net worth of $3.6 billion, donated $24 million to the group as Griffin moved to back Irvin, according to records filed to the IRS.
In a statement to CNBC, the Democratic governors’ group compared Griffin’s contributions to those of Charles Koch and his brother, the late David Koch. They said that Griffin deserves scrutiny due to him becoming a major donor for Republicans.
“Much like when the Koch Brothers were the Republican Party’s number one donor it was important for the public to understand how they were trying to use their money to further their own special interests,” a Democratic Governors Association spokesperson said after being asked about the opposition research. “Ken Griffin is now the largest donor in the GOP and deserves the same kind of scrutiny.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and other GOP leaders have privately courted Griffin as one of their most important and lucrative donors this cycle, as Republicans try to take back both the U.S. House and Senate, according to people familiar with the conversations.
Democrats control the House and Senate, but by slim margins. The Senate is split 50-50 with Democrats relying on Vice President Kamala Harris to break any ties. Cook Political Report labels Senate seats held by Sens. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., as toss-ups. In the House, Democrats have a nine-seat majority. But the Cook report projects that 30 of the chamber’s 435 seats are up for grabs.
Data from AdImpact shows the general election fight for control of the Senate has cost over $1 billion with almost 30 days left to go until Election Day. In total, federal candidates and PACs have spent in excess of $6.4 billion on the 2022 midterms, putting them on track to be the most expensive ever.
Republican leaders are turning to Griffin to take the lead after two of the GOP party’s most influential donors have died: former executive vice president of Koch Industries David Koch at 79 in August 2019 and casino magnate Sheldon Adelson at 87 in January 2021.
CEO and chairman of casino company Las Vegas Sands Sheldon Adelson (L) listens as US President Donald Trump delivers remarks at a Keep America Great rally in Las Vegas, Nevada, on February 21, 2020.
Jim Watson | AFP | Getty Images
“He likes being a player” in politics, a Koch political advisor told CNBC when asked about Griffin’s efforts to sway the midterms. Griffin said in a 2012 interview with the Chicago Tribune that he knew David Koch and his brother Charles for “a number of years” and regularly went to the Koch network seminars, where business leaders would huddle with the group’s donors.
The Koch’s policy network has spent hundreds of millions of dollars over the past decade on campaigns.
David Koch
Carlo Allegri | Reuters
Griffin, 53, has “youth on his side and probably $35 billion,” the Koch advisor said. “He could step up but those are big shoes to fill.” Forbes estimates Griffin has a net worth of $30.5 billion.
Among Wall Street executives, the next biggest GOP donors include Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman with $20 million in contributions and Paul Singer, the founder of Elliott Management, who’s donated $14 million during this election cycle. Jeffrey Yass, the co-founder of Philadelphia based trading firm Susquehanna International Group, has contributed over $30 million.
McConnell and party officials this summer were expecting Griffin to cut a multimillion-dollar check to the Senate Leadership Fund, according to those familiar with McConnell’s thinking. Though McConnell doesn’t run the super PAC, which is dedicated to helping Republicans get elected to the Senate, it’s closely aligned with the senator and run by his former chief of staff, Steven Law.
Griffin donated $10 million to the PAC in two evenly split checks sent in December and March, Federal Election Commission filings show. Griffin cut another check to the PAC in the third quarter, according to a person close to the billionaire, but they wouldn’t say how much and the PAC doesn’t need to disclose its most recent fundraising records to the FEC until Oct. 15.
Griffin also recently donated to the Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC backing House Republican candidates, that person said, declining to say how much. FEC records show Griffin donated over $18 million to that group from Jan. 1, 2021 through June.
A representative for McConnell did not return a request for comment.
Griffin gave $5 million last year to a separate political action committee backing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ 2022 reelection bid and an additional $5 million to the Republican Party of Florida in August, according to state campaign finance records.
During CNBC’s Delivering Alpha Conference, Griffin indicated that he’s become so close to DeSantis that his team told the governor that Griffin didn’t agree with DeSantis’ decision to fly two planes of Central and South American migrants to Martha’s Vineyard.
“I don’t agree with what he did,” Griffin said when asked at the conference about DeSantis shipping migrants to Florida. “I’m certain that my team’s communicated that to him,” he added. He also said he was open to becoming Treasury secretary if the country was experiencing an economic crisis. DeSantis hasn’t ruled out running for president in the upcoming 2024 election.
A Tesla electric vehicle at a supercharger station in Hawthorne, California, on Aug. 9, 2022.
Patrick T. Fallon | AFP | Getty Images
Check out the companies making the biggest moves midday Monday:
Credit Suisse — Shares of Credit Suisse rose 1.7%, reversing an earlier slump that sent the stock to a record low, after the bank over the weekend made a series of calls to calm investor fears about its financial health. In addition, the cost to insure the bank’s debt against default jumped to a new high.
Tesla — Tesla shares dropped 8.2% after the electric vehicle maker said it delivered 343,000 vehicles in the third quarter, less than analysts expected. However, Wall Street analysts were divided over the report.
Peloton — Peloton shares rose more than 6% after the exercise-equipment company announced it will put bikes in all 5,400 Hilton-branded hotels in the U.S. Peloton is trying to engineer a turnaround and also said last week that its bikes, treadmills and other hardware would be sold in Dick’s Sporting Goods locations.
Roblox — Shares of the gaming platform fell slightly after MoffettNathanson initiated coverage with an underperform rating. The Wall Street firm said it’s too soon to tell whether Roblox will ever meet its metaverse ambitions.
Viasat — Viasat jumped 28% on Monday after striking a deal with L3Harris to sell its tactical data links business. The deal is for just under $2 billion, the companies announced. Viasat said it would use the cash to reduce its leverage and increase liquidity.
Wells Fargo – Wells Fargo’s stock gained 3% after Goldman Sachs upgraded the bank to a buy rating from neutral and said investors are underappreciating its potential.
Livent — The lithium company dropped about half a percent after Bank of America downgraded the stock to underperform from neutral, citing “limited upside.”
DocuSign — DocuSign dropped slid 2.4% after being downgraded by Morgan Stanley to underweight from equal weight, citing pricing pressure.
Myovant Sciences — The biopharmaceutical company jumped 36% after it rejected a bid by Sumitovant Biopharma, its largest shareholder, to buy the shares it doesn’t already own for $22.75 per share. Myovant, which said the offer significantly undervalues the company, said it is open to considering any improved proposal.
Box — Box’s stock rallied 7% after Morgan Stanley boosted its price target, implying the cloud storage company could surge 39% from Friday’s close. The firm also upgraded the stock to overweight from equal weight, citing solid macro positioning, strong execution and a more favorable competitive landscape.
Freshpet — Shares of Freshpet rose 7.6% after Barron’s reported the pet-food maker has hired bankers to explore a potential sale.
LogicBio Therapeutics — Shares of the clinical-stage genetic company skyrocketed more than 644% after it announced it was being acquired by AstraZeneca for $2.07 per share. That price tag is a whopping 666% increase from LogicBio’s closing price of 27 cents per share.
InterDigital — InterDigital’s stock rallied 16% after the research and development company raised its guidance for third-quarter 2022 total revenue a range of $112 million to $115 million, up from $96 million to $100 million.
Fluor Corp. — Fluor rose more than 5% in midday trading. The company announced Monday it was awarded two reimbursable engineering, procurement and construction management contracts by BASF for work in China.
Stanley Black & Decker — The tool maker’s stock jumped more than 4% after The Wall Street Journal reported that the company has eliminated about 1,000 jobs in an effort to cut about $200 million in costs.
Energy stocks — Oil prices jumped, pushing energy stocks higher. Marathon Oil rallied 8%. APA Corp. and Devon Energy gained about 7% each. Diamondback Energy, Halliburton and ConocoPhillips were all up more than 6%.
— CNBC’s Alex Harring, Samantha Subin, Carmen Reinicke, Yun Li, Tanaya Macheel and Jesse Pound contributed reporting.
