We came into 2023 with gloomy predictions of a recession. We’re coming out of it with a surprisingly resilient economy—high interest rates notwithstanding—and still buzzing about generative AI. Against this backdrop, take a look at a few of the companies and sectors that rose and fell this year:

• Winning: Big Tech. With Nvidia and Tesla on the rise, acronyms like FAANG and MAMAA no longer cut it: The top tech giants (Amazon, Alphabet, Apple, Meta, Google, plus Nvidia and Tesla) have now been dubbed the “Magnificent Seven.” Buoyed by the generative AI gold rush, they were responsible for 29% of the S&P 500’s total value.
• Losing: WeWork. Once a $47 billion “unicorn,” the coworking company filed for bankruptcy last month. WeWork stumbled after a failed bid to go public in 2019, and was hit hard by the pandemic and the rise of remote work. It joined a list of other household names that went bankrupt in 2023, including Bed Bath & Beyond, David’s Bridal, Party City, and Instant Brands, maker of the Instant Pot.

Click here to see more of 2023’s winners and losers.—CV

It’s basically 2024—and a new year deserves a new social media strategy based on the freshest trends.

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Their report found a 64% increase in how much finance orgs plan to use AI. Check it out for more firsthand insights, industry inspo, and valuable guidance on topics like:

• AI’s role in finance social teams
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• how entertainment can boost the bottom line (even for finance orgs)
• the rise of “finfluencers”
• navigating compliance and brand safety

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There are a couple ways you can explain your job as a CFO Brew reporter at a dinner party.

You can go the newsletter route, explaining how your stories arrive in the inboxes of finance professionals three times a week, and how you’re sooooo good at writing for a specific audience.

When that fails (“So, you write emails?”), you can try skirting the issue by finding the nearest finance bro and letting him deliver a bittersweet eulogy to the end of Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon’s DJ days. That’ll inherently make you want to never do that again, so you can just say you’re a reporter, thus prompting the inevitable question—“What do you report on?”—and bringing you back to square one.

I like to think CFOs run into some of the same dinner party confusion, and, perhaps unsurprisingly, my top-line lesson this year is all about definitions.

Click here to read what else Natasha learned.—NP

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Today’s top finance reads.

Stat: 3,200. That’s how many startups failed in 2023, according to PitchBook data. Those startups raised more than $27 billion combined, or roughly the 2022 GDP of Cambodia. (Business Insider)

Quote: “It’s been a long road to get to this point. As our bill goes into effect, my hope is that America will no longer be the easiest place in the world for criminals and kleptocrats to stow illicit money.”—Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, on the Corporate Transparency Act. New beneficial ownership disclosure rules are facing pushback from a variety of groups. (the New York Times)

Read: What printing fake money taught these businesses about real money. (the Wall Street Journal)

Social media secrets: Get all the info you need to create a strong social media strategy for 2024 with Hootsuite’s Social Trends 2024 in Financial Services. Insights + inspo for your social strat are right here.*

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