Big food companies are under pressure to put up or break up as American spending patterns shift.

• ↔️ Kraft Heinz today announced plans to split into a pair of independently, publicly traded companies.
• 🥊 Separately, activist investor Elliott Investment Management disclosed a $4 billion stake in PepsiCo, blasting the Frito-Lay owner's "disappointing trajectory" and calling for an "ambitious turnaround plan."

The big picture: At a time of inflation and mounting economic uncertainty, consumers are also snacking less and avoiding processed foods.

• The Kraft breakup follows similar separations by Kellogg and Keurig Dr Pepper, and it's the ignominious end to Warren Buffett's rare foray into private equity.
• Kraft is splitting into one company that will make condiments and boxed foods — like Heinz ketchup, Philadelphia cream cheese, and Kraft Mac & Cheese — and another housing its slower-selling grocery staples such as Oscar Mayer hot dogs, Kraft Singles and Lunchables.
• Kraft's been working to revamp its lineup, steering investment toward healthier options that better match shifting consumer tastes, WSJ reported.

📉 By the numbers: Kraft Heinz shares are down about 9% so far this year and 20% over the last five years, badly underperforming broader markets.

At PepsiCo, cost-cutting efforts — including the closure of two food factories this year — weren't enough to assuage Elliott.

• The company said it "values constructive input on delivering long-term shareholder value" and "will review" Elliott's "perspectives within the context of our strategy to drive sustainable growth."

Elon Musk says Tesla's future will be driven by robots — with 80% of its value expected to come from Optimus humanoids, Axios' Joann Muller writes.

• 🤖 🌍 Musk made the prediction yesterday on X, shortly after Tesla published its fourth "master plan," a corporate manifesto that laid out a gauzy goal of "sustainable abundance" based on the expansion of AI and robotics.
• 🚗 👋 It's another sign that he's moving past the electric car business, where Tesla has seen deliveries falling worldwide.

Friction point: The vague corporate update triggered plenty of questions from Musk followers, and Musk acknowledged the lack of specifics, saying more details would follow.

• 🍿 Fred Lambert, editor-in-chief of Electrek, a popular EV website, called Master Plan Part 4 "nothing more than a smorgasbord of AI promises about its humanoid robot, which can't even serve popcorn."

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🥷 Jaguar Land Rover production and retail operations have been "severely disrupted" by a cyberattack. The automaker said there's no evidence customer information was taken. (BBC)

📈 Klarna hopes to raise up to $1.27 billion in an IPO that would value the buy-now-pay-later company at as much as $14 billion. (CNBC)

🦾 OpenAI agreed to acquire product testing firm Statsig for $1.1 billion. Statsig helps software developers assess the performance of new features. (Bloomberg)

🤖 Anthropic raised $13 billion in a Series F round valuing the AI company at up to $183 billion. (Axios)

Condé Nast today named Chloe Malle as its new head of editorial content of Vogue U.S., marking the most significant step taken by longtime Vogue leader Anna Wintour in mapping her succession plan, Axios' Sara Fischer reports.

• Malle has been with the franchise for nearly 15 years. Most recently, she served as the editor of Vogue.com.
• In her new role, Malle will lead the creative and editorial direction of Vogue U.S.
• She will join 10 executives on a leadership team reporting to Wintour.

Zoom out: Wintour, 75, has overseen the editorial restructuring of many of Condé Nast's iconic brands since becoming global chief content officer in 2020.

• Because the storied magazine has been synonymous with her brand, rumors of her succession plan have run rampant for years.

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