65UNITED AIRLINES
LEADING
THE FLEET
As COVID-19 cases spiked in the U.S. last
summer, United Airlines took the bold step
of requiring its workers to get vaccinated,
even before the Biden Administration
mandated such rules. While some
employees scoffed at the mandate, 99.7%
got their shots, and only one coronavirus-
related death has been reported among
that group. Many of United’s rivals have
followed suit. “Some are mad at me
still,” says CEO Scott Kirby. “But they’re
alive.” Kirby is also pursuing greener
ying; United recently ew a 737 Max from
Chicago to Washington with one engine
running on cooking oil and grease to
promote alternative fuels.
—Don SteinbergCAPITAL ONE
FEWER FEES
In December, Capital One became the
rst major U.S. bank to announce that
it was completely eliminating overdraft
and insuf cient-fund fees, which
accounted for $150 million of Capital
One’s $30.4 billion in revenue last year.
Such fees typically run around $25
to $35 each but cost Americans over
$15 billion in total annually. They can be
particularly devastating for families living
on the nancial edge, who frequently
get dinged with these fees yet are least
likely to have the means to pay them.
After Capital One’s trendsetting move—
and amid regulatory pressure—other top
U.S. banks, including Bank of America,
Wells Fargo, and Citigroup, announced
plans to follow suit. —Nik PopliALPHABETSilicon Valley
standout
Alphabet nearly
doubled its annual
revenue last year
despite mounting
regulatory pressure,
thanks to both its con-
tinued dominance of
online advertising and
its investment in arti-
ficial intelligence (AI).
Five years after CEO
Sundar Pichai
announced a whole-
sale embrace of AI,
the tech giant is now
using such technol-
ogy “to tackle some
of humanity’s most
pressing challenges,”
he says. For example,
Alphabet helps users
reduce their carbon
footprint by providing
eco- friendly routes in
Maps, emissions data
in Google Flights, and
home-energy-use data
with Nest thermostats.
—Jared LindzonNUBANKBetter banking
Latin America’s traditional
banking system is notori-
ously expensive, bureau-
cratic, and inaccessible,
leaving an estimated 45%
of adults across the region
unbanked. Under CEO
David Vélez, fintech and
banking disrupter Nubank is
leading the charge to change
that by making it easier than
ever for people to access the
banking system via their
mobile devices. It has the
backing of influential inves-
tors including Warren Buf-
fett’s Berkshire Hathaway,
and grew its customer base
by % last year to almost
54 million. Nubank also
made its stock-market debut
in December via a $2.8 bil-
lion IPO that lifted its market
capitalization to over $50 bil-
lion, cementing its creden-
tials as the world’s most
valuable digital-only bank.
—Juliette PearseFORD
ELECTRIFYING
EVERYTHING
Cars, SUVs, pickups, and other light-duty
trucks account for over half of all U.S.
transportation emissions, making electric
vehicles (EVs) key to mitigating climate
change. But it’s not enough to just offer
EVs—people have to actually want them.
Ford’s approach, under CEO Jim Farley:
electrify some of its most popular models,
like the F-150, long America’s best-selling
pickup. And it’s working—demand for the
all-electric F-150 Lightning helped push
Ford’s market value over $100 billion for
the rst time in January. “Ford is going all-
out to lead the EV revolution,” says execu-
tive chair Bill Ford. —Kyla MandelMAERSK
GREENER SHIPPING
Shipping is responsible for 3% of global
greenhouse-gas emissions, emitting close
to 1 billion metric tons of CO 2 annually.
To clean things up, Danish shipping giant
Maersk is working with renewables rm
European Energy to kick-start large-scale
production of sustainably produced car-
bon-neutral e-methanol. Maersk plans to
launch the rst container ship using car-
bon-neutral fuel next year, and is building
12 larger liners that run on green metha-
nol too. It also recently accelerated its net-
zero emissions goal to 2040, up from the
industry standard of at least 50% by 2050
compared to 2008. —Alison Van HoutenSUNDAR PICHAIPFIZER: ALVARO CALVO—GETTY IMAGES; UPS: JIM WATSON—AFP/GETTY IMAG
ES; ALPHABET: GIAN EHRENZELLER—KEYSTONE/AP