Tony Fadell’s company isn’t in the Fortune 500 - but he’s had a had a big impact on several of the 500’s tech giants. Fadell was the brains behind the iPod, and key to developing the iPhone. He went on to create Nest Labs – the company that brought us energy-saving thermostats, and was acquired by Google in 2014. Today, he’s head of Future Shape. The firm invests in environmentally- friendly projects and businesses.

Nike is the world’s largest athletic apparel company with revenues of more than thirty-six-billion dollars. But attracting today’s consumers requires a different approach than it did in 19-64 when the company was founded. Nike’s Chief Sustainability Officer, Noel Kinder, took the stage at Fortune’s Global Sustainability Forum in September to explain.

Last year, The Oxford Dictionary Word of the Year was “toxic”. The runner-up was the word “techlash” ... Something Oxford defines as a “strong and widespread negative reaction to the growing power and influence that large technology companies hold.” PAULA GOLDMAN SOT @ 2:43 “We are at a moment of reckoning, not just for tech but for all business, as a whole.

The mobile phone market is buzzing about 5-G… the wireless technology that promises crazy fast speeds. So this summer, when Intel announced it was selling its 5-G smartphone modem biz to Apple – many considered the move a mistake. But Intel has a different take. It’s touting all of the OTHER ways it can dominate 5-G. Like developing modems for P-C’s, Internet of Things devices – or even self-driving cars… basically anything that’s NOT a smartphone.

At the end of August, Ulta Beauty slashed its outlook for the rest of the fiscal year. According to C-E-O Mary Dillon, Americans are spending more on skin care products, and less on cosmetics. But despite the recent cooling, Dillon has made Ulta a hot brand. Company revenue and stock prices have shot up since she took the helm in 20-13. Ulta has steadily opened new stores and inked deals with beauty influencers like Kylie Jenner.

Millennials will make up half of the American workforce by next year. By 20-30 they’ll represent seventy-five percent of all U-S workers. So it’s no wonder companies and executives are working hard to attract and retain younger employees. The V-F Corporation is one of them. The company owns apparel and footwear brands such as Vans, NorthFace and Timberland. Its C-E-O, Steve Rendle, told Fortune in June that what attracts customers, will attract these millennial employees too.

Americans love their fast food. According to the C-D-C, about eight-five million Americans eat fast food on any given day. But with more and more choices for getting food quickly and conveniently, traditional fast food companies like McDonald’s are looking for new ways to grow. Lucy Brady is McDonald’s Senior V-P of Strategy and Business Development.

Say the word “cloud” these days and many people are won’t immediately picture those white fluffy things in the sky. Instead, they’ll think of that magical place where all of their data is stored. In the business world – cloud computing is clearly mainstream: Ninety-percent of companies are now using some type of cloud service.

An estimated 55-million millennials will use some form of digital banking this year. BUT – studies show nearly half of those 18 to 34-year-olds have no interest in switching to a digital-only bank. This leaves the country’s biggest banks straddling a fence between the traditional banking world, and the digital future. Citigroup – the fourth largest bank in the U-S – knows this challenge first-hand.

The long-awaited merger of Viacom and C-B-S finally came in August – to the tune of eleven-point-seven-billion dollars. The mega media company will operate cable channels like M-T-V and Showtime, Paramount’s film and T-V studios, book publisher Simon & Schuster and of course - the C-B-S network.