Irma downgraded to tropical storm; Heinz’s new CFO is 29

Sound smarter today: Here's the news professionals are talking about on LinkedIn right now. Join the conversation by clicking the hashtags below.

Hurricane Irma was downgraded to a tropical storm, with winds of 70 mph, as it began moving along Florida’s west coast early Monday — but forecasters warn that flooding and strong winds are still a risk as the storm inches toward Georgia. Irma raged through Florida over the weekend, making landfall twice on Sunday and leaving over 5.8 million homes and businesses without power. Before reaching the state, the largest Atlantic hurricane ever recorded left a path of destruction across the Caribbean — decimating islands, killing at least 27, and leaving millions without power. Catastrophe modeling company AIR Worldwide says Irma’s damages could cost up to $65 billion. ? This is a developing story. Follow the latest updates: #HurricaneIrma

Kraft Heinz’s new CFO couldn’t rent a car five years ago. 29-year-old David Knopf will soon handle finances for the food giant, which has a $100 billion market cap; he’ll be the youngest CFO to lead one of the US’s largest companies. (The average age of a Fortune 500 or S&P 500 CFO is 52, according to Crist Kolder.) Knopf, also a partner at Brazilian private equity group 3G Capital, worked on the very merger that created Kraft Heinz. Now he’ll help the company cut costs and boost sluggish sales. ? Share your thoughts: #HeinzNewCFO

Salary data compiled by Google employees suggests female workers are paid less than their male counterparts. The New York Times obtained a spreadsheet of 2017 salary and bonus data, submitted by some 1,200 US Googlers, which shows women are paid less across most job levels at the tech giant (and that this trend continues as they climb the corporate ladder). Google said the data presents an incomplete view of company compensation, adding that its own January analysis found that female employees make 99.7 cents for every dollar made by a man, compared to the 4-6% gap indicated by the spreadsheet. This isn’t the first time Google has had to face the issue; in addition to controversy surrounding an ex-engineer’s diversity memo, the tech firm is under investigation by the Labor Department for potential “systemic” disparities in compensation between genders. ? Share your thoughts: #GoogleGenderPayGap

Nordstrom’s testing a new store — without clothes. The retailer’s experimenting with a new type of physical location next month: Nordstrom Local, a 3,000-square-foot space in West Hollywood that will offer everything from manicures and tailoring to an in-store juice and beer bar. Noticeably absent: clothes, although you can still try on what personal stylists grab from various Nordstrom locations around Los Angeles. The department store chain is one of many retailers trying to figure out how to best use its physical spaces, as customers increasingly shop online. ? Share your thoughts: #NordstromLocal

US high schools are getting more international: The number of international students attending American high schools more than doubled between 2004 and 2016. The growing interest is primarily about what comes after high school: Most hope an American diploma will ease the path to US universities. Federal law dictates that these students must pay full tuition, typically between $3,000 and $10,000, to attend public schools (private schools set their own rates). Roughly 42% of international students at US high schools come from China, with South Korea, Vietnam, Japan, Mexico, and Canada also among the top senders. ? Share your thoughts: #HighSchoolAbroad

Ceremonies will be held across the country to remember the September 11 terrorist attacks. Thousands are expected to gather at the site of the World Trade Center in New York City, which will begin its commemoration with a citywide moment of silence at 8:46 a.m. President Trump will later lead a moment of silence at 9:37 a.m. at the Pentagon, while Vice President Mike Pence will deliver remarks near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where the final plane went down. ? Share your thoughts: #Remember911

Idea of the Day: Multitasking fries your attention span. Heavy multitaskers are more easily distracted, according to Stanford research; when they try to focus on one task, their brains activate more areas than needed — “a neural indicator of distraction,” explains psychologist, speaker, and author Daniel Goleman. But don’t worry, multitaskers: The same research found that exercises like breath counting and mindful meditation can help restore that ability to focus. ? Share your thoughts: #Multitasking

“Attention tasks don’t really go on in parallel, as ‘multitasking’ implies; instead they demand rapid switching from one thing to the other. And following every such switch, when our attention returns to the original task, its strength has been appreciably diminished.”

What's your take? Join the conversations on today's stories: #HurricaneIrma | #HeinzNewCFO | #GoogleGenderPayGap | #NordstromLocal | #HighSchoolAbroad | #Remember911 | #Multitasking

— Katie Carroll / Share this using #DailyRundown