Business Insider Mo Gawdat made predictions about AI in 2020 that seemed bold at the time. Today, they have already come true, he said, and it's reshaping society as we know it. We will likely see…

A Business Insider reporter reviewed and ranked 14 different high-protein chocolate drinks, including popular brands like Core Power, Muscle Milk, and Boost, noting the expanding market for such products.

Business Insider's analysis of work-visa salary data for over 5,000 roles at Meta in 2025 reveals top software engineering positions pay up to $450,000, with specific figures for software engineers and product managers also reported.

A champion has been crowned in a business-focused March Madness-style bracket competition, as reported in the Business Insider Today newsletter.

Business Insider is holding its first flagship San Francisco event, "The Long Play," on April 14, featuring leaders like Bryan Johnson and Jason Blum to discuss leadership in the AI era and its industry impact.

Perks like comfortable seats and spacious bathrooms made my train trip enjoyable. Kristine Villarroel/Business Insider The partial government shutdown caused long, hourslong TSA lines at many US…

Business Insider's business-focused March Madness bracket has reached its final two contenders, setting up a 'final showdown' between 'tariffs' and 'longevity'.

A Business Insider reviewer compared McDonald's new Big Arch burger to the iconic Big Mac, finding the Big Arch to be significantly larger and superior, putting the chain's signature burger to shame.

A Business Insider opinion piece recommends seven walkable US cities, including Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, as ideal destinations for travelers without a car, based on personal experience visiting all 50 states.

Ryan Kailath has been appointed as a Senior Editor on Business Insider's Economy team, where he will oversee coverage of the job market, student loans, and the intersection of culture and the economy.

Alistair Barr (right) winning the Oscar ballot at a friend's party Alistair Barr/Business Insider A version of this story originally appeared in the BI Tech Memo newsletter. Sign up for the weekly…

pcess609/Getty Images This post originally appeared in the BI Today newsletter. You can sign up for Business Insider's daily newsletter here. Colon cancer just got younger Do you know the subtle…

Carl Godfrey for BI This post originally appeared in the Business Insider Today newsletter. You can sign up for Business Insider's daily newsletter here. Gen Z is having a China moment. The…

There are a few things you should never order at a work event, an etiquette expert said. Jovanmandic/Getty Images Business Insider asked an etiquette expert what employees should avoid ordering at…

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has gone all in on AI. Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC Meta might not yet have the best AI models, but it could be winning on another crucial front. Meta is considering major layoffs across the company, Business Insider reported. A top analyst suggested these cuts could signal that Meta's AI transformation is underway. Could more Meta layoffs mean the company still has bloat to trim — or could it signal its AI investments are actually starting to pay off? A note from a top Wa...

Stylists think shoes with personality will be popular this spring. Valentina Frugiuele/Getty Images Business Insider asked professional stylists to share which shoe trends are in and out for…

The value of gold reached record highs at the start of 2026. Ty Snaden for Business Insider Gold's surge to $5,000 per ounce draws criminal groups in Colombia, reshaping illicit industries. Illegal gold mining in Colombia now surpasses cocaine in profit for organized crime networks. US demand for Colombian gold complicates efforts to combat illegal mining and money laundering. As gold surpasses $5,000 per ounce, its record-setting rally is reshaping more than investment portfolios. The spik...

Ina Garten's shepherd's pie with a photo of the chef. Erin McDowell/Business Insider; Nathan Congleton/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal/Getty Images I tried Ina Garten's easy shepherd's pie recipe. The…

"It's so hard to train someone to have good ideas," said Imani Ritchards, Snap's director of product design. Snap Snap's director of product design told Business Insider what she looks for in a candidate. Design degrees aren't important to Imani Ritchards. She cares more about creative risk-taking. While school can help you learn the process, she said AI tools now allow people to get together and simply "make stuff." Imani Ritchards is an ideas person. The director of product design at Snap...

iStock; Getty Images; Tyler Le/BI This post originally appeared in the Business Insider Today newsletter. You can sign up for Business Insider's daily newsletter here. Sometimes it pays to be a hater. Online trolls rejoice! An AI software company is looking for someone to spend the day bullying chatbots, writes BI's Ana Altchek. Memvid is shelling out $800 for someone to spend eight hours testing and critiquing the memory of popular chatbots. There's certainly an element of viral marketing ...

Max Junestrand Legora Legora is acquiring startup Walter to strengthen its AI tools for law firms. With $550 million in new funding, Legora could acquire more legal tech startups. The companies declined to disclose the amount of the transaction. In the battle for Big Law's business, legal artificial intelligence startup Legora is bulking up its talent roster. Legora is acquiring Canadian legal-tech startup Walter to sharpen its tools for lawyers, the companies tell Business Insider exclusiv...

British forces prepare to fire artillery rounds in Norway. Jake Epstein/Business Insider The proliferation of drones in Ukraine means soldiers are always being watched by the enemy. In the Arctic,…

CEOs say that AI hype might have been too much in the past year, but that its true impact and "disruptive potential" over the next five to 10 years is likely underappreciated. Momo Takahashi, Business Insider 100 CEOs of large US companies shared their AI spending and hiring plans with KPMG. They said they expect to invest in AI despite concerns that the tech has been overhyped. Cybersecurity topped the list of CEOs' worries, in part due to AI. After a lot of big talk about AI, CEOs say the...

A Reddit user claimed to have footage of an alternative OpenAI Super Bowl featuring Alexander Skarsgård. OpenAI has said it is fake. X post This post originally appeared in the BI Today newsletter. You can sign up for Business Insider's daily newsletter here. A worthy addition to your inbox I'm incredibly excited about the newest offering to our growing newsletter lineup: CMO Insider. Helmed by Lara O'Reilly, this weekly newsletter unpacks the companies and leaders shaping marketing, advert...

Susan DiLeo is a Manhattan real estate agent who spoke to Business Insider about how cosmetic surgery changed her life and career. "I've been in real estate for 14 years.

Jack Dorsey Rolf Vennenbernd/picture alliance via Getty Images Naoko Takeda wrote on LinkedIn that Block offered her a pay bump and retention bonus after its recent layoffs. Takeda said she quit instead. "That's not an honor. It feels shameful and dehumanizing," she wrote. Business Insider viewed messages in which two employees said their retention bonuses were $60,000 and $80,000. Survived the Block layoffs? You might be getting a hefty retention package, including a bonus. Naoko Takeda wa...

Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images This post originally appeared in the Business Insider Today newsletter. You can sign up for Business Insider's daily newsletter here. The credit might be private, but the problems are becoming pretty public. A once-wonky corner of Wall Street that's exploded in recent years is facing increased scrutiny. But what even is private credit? Why are people nervous? And, most importantly, why should you care? Let's break it down: People a...

A Reddit user claimed to have footage of an alternative OpenAI Super Bowl featuring Alexander Skarsgård. OpenAI has said it is fake. X post A version of this post originally appeared in the CMO Insider newsletter. You can sign up for Business Insider's weekly marketing newsletter here. There's a mystery marketer playing 4D chess on social media — and they made another unexpected move this week. Last month, a Reddit user claiming to be a disgruntled OpenAI employee alleged that the company s...

A Business Insider article suggests that hiring managers are increasingly skipping traditional resume reviews, highlighting a shift in recruitment practices.

Ben Shimkus, a reporter at Business Insider, tried to simulate his own data center in the new 'Data Center' demo game. It didn't go particularly well. Ben Shimkus/ Business Insider I demoed 'Data Center,' an upcoming PC simulator game. It was humbling. Box CEO Aaron Levie jokingly called the game "Madden" for techies. I found it to be a detailed simulation of working at a data center, but I won't be switching careers. I began my virtual career in the data center industry, standing next to a...

The author gets ready to board a Trenitalia train in Rome. Joey Hadden/Business Insider I went backpacking through Europe for two weeks and traveled by train through four countries. The trip left me…

Goldman's Top DEI Exec Out Days After Bank Scraps Woke Board Policy Days after the firm announced that they were scrapping DEI requirements for new board members, and six years after the death of George Floyd that ushered in institutionalized virtue-signaling, the bank's head of DEI is leaving.  Megan Hogan, who's been at the firm 12 years, is taking her shtick to Morgan Stanley according to Business Insider, which Hogan confirmed via email, telling the outlet that Morgan Sta...

Widows in Rajasthan, India. Suhail Bhat / Business Insider A deadly disease called silicosis is killing many workers in sandstone mines in India. In a village in the state of Rajasthan, 20 widows work in the same deadly mines to pay off debt. Business Insider spoke with some of these widows, including Bimla, Sapna, and Radha Bai. Bimla is in her late 20s and already a widow. She breaks sandstone in a quarry in the Indian state of Rajasthan, shaping tiles from the same rocks that once coated...

Not all trends are built to last. Sheila Say/Shutterstock We asked interior designers which home trends and decor choices they think people will regret. When it comes to flooring, they suggest rethinking white carpet, laminate, and terrazzo. Consider skipping low-hanging light fixtures and marble countertops, which can be impractical. Trends come and go, but there are a few you might want to avoid bringing into your home. Business Insider spoke to interior designers about which decor choice...

Business Insider's reporter spent 53 hours on Amtrak's California Zephyr train in a bedroom accommodation. Joey Hadden/Business Insider I spent two nights in a private bedroom on an Amtrak sleeper train for $2,200 in February 2026. The 50-square-foot space had a couch, a seat, a table, two beds, and a full bathroom. It was worth the price for my 53-hour train ride on the California Zephyr. When I decided to take the longest train ride in the US, I splurged for comfort. The 53-hour journey o...

Recruiters said little has changed about Wall Street hours. Momo Takahashi, Business Insider Wall Street averted a closely watched trial over how many hours junior bankers can sleep. The settlement c

The Enola Gay viewed from an elevated platform at the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider Enola Gay, a B-29 bomber, dropped the "Little Boy" atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. The plane is on display at the National Air and Space Museum's second, larger location in Virginia. The exhibit has been the subject of controversy as interest groups have debated the plane's legacy. The Enola Gay, the Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber th...

When planning a multigenerational trip to the Caribbean during the busy holiday season, our family settled on an ultra-luxury cruise. David Morris We booked the least expensive suite on a Seabourn ultra-luxury cruise for about $9,000. After crunching numbers and seeing high-end resort prices, this felt reasonable for a family trip. We loved getting to see lots of new places and not worry about having to plan our meals. I paid $9,000 for what was technically the cheapest room on an ultra-luxury cruise — a price that initially felt steep until I compared it with alternatives. My family had been planning a multigenerational trip to the Caribbean during the busy period between Christmas and New Year's Eve, which is also one of the most expensive travel weeks of the year. We wanted something that felt indulgent without becoming logistically exhausting or financially disproportionate once all the extras were added up. At first, we looked at high-end beach resorts, but they were commanding eye-watering rates. I saw a few in Barbados and St. Barts charging over $4,000 a night for a room, and that price doesn't even include food, drinks, and gratuities. The costs seemed like they could really add up. As we ran the numbers, an all-inclusive cruise began to make more sense. Plus, we liked the idea of exploring Caribbean destinations we hadn't visited before without having to deal with multiple hotel check-ins, flights, and transfers. A port-heavy itinerary could allow us to sample several places while unpacking just once. So, our group settled on a 12-night Caribbean cruise aboard the Seabourn Ovation. Our family booked two rooms and spent about $20,000 on the cruise. David Morris We traveled as a group of five: my mother, my brother and sister-in-law, their 7-year-old son, and me. In total, we booked two entry-level suites — one for my mother and me, and another for my brother, sister-in-law, and their son — bringing the combined cruise fare to just over $20,000 for five people across 12 nights. This figure includes accommodations, all meals, a selection of soft drinks and alcoholic beverages, and gratuities. We saved some money on my 7-year-old nephew's fare thanks to the cruise line's third-guest-at-half-price policy. By booking through a preferred travel advisor, I also received $400 in onboard credit, plus an additional $250 referral credit (which my brother's family also received). Our cabin felt like part of a boutique hotel. David Morris Our suite measured 302 square feet, plus a 68-square-foot balcony. Its decor was pretty minimal, but it felt a bit elevated with accents of marble, dark wood, and glass. Despite being the cheapest option on the ship, this room felt more like it was part of a boutique hotel than just a standard cruise cabin. The walk-in closet was a pleasant surprise. David Morris The base-category suite felt thoughtfully laid out, with a seating area, a couch, a table, two beds, and a generously sized walk-in closet. Our clothes and bags easily fit inside with space to spare. In the other suite, a sofa bed was set up as a dedicated sleeping space for my nephew. The bathroom had dual sinks, a tub, and a compact but functional shower. David Morris The bright-white bathroom featured dual vanities, a soaking tub, and a glass-enclosed shower. My only critique was the shower size, which felt slightly tight compared to ones in some newer ships we've sailed on. Our room's minibar was stocked exactly to our preferences. David Morris We were delighted to find our room's minibar stocked with complimentary ginger beer, juices, and the spirits we requested prior to our sailing. Twice-daily housekeeping kept everything meticulously refreshed. Room aside, we were pretty happy with the ship. David Morris Since all of our meals, standard beverages, and gratuities were included in the cost of the cruise fare, we didn't have to budget or crunch numbers during our trip. We had most of our dinners in the ship's main dining room, which was so easy. It felt quite formal, and the rotating menus kept things interesting across the 12-night itinerary. Passengers also had access to The Patio, a poolside eatery with laid-back fare, and The Colonnade, a more casual spot serving buffet breakfasts and lunches, plus seated themed dinners. We also enjoyed our opportunities for specialty dining. 12 David Morris Options for specialty dining included a sushi restaurant and a Mediterranean eatery called Solis, which was a standout for me. The menu featured steak, lobster, and whole grilled fish deboned tableside. I particularly loved its post-dinner affogatos Pools, hot tubs, and quieter outdoor spaces were easy to find. 13 David Morris The ship has a large main pool surrounded by lots of loungers, though we preferred the smaller hot tubs in other areas. Quieter spots, like the hot tub at the bow with incredible views of the ocean, quickly became our favorites. My favorite area on board was The Retreat. 14 The Retreat. David Morris Located on the top sundeck, The Retreat was my favorite area on the ship. The space offered shaded cabanas, a noticeably calmer atmosphere than the main pool deck, and attentive, unhurried service. To access it, passengers had to pay an additional $150 per day on port days or $250 on sea days. Booking it on sea days felt especially worthwhile. The quiet setting made it easy to relax or catch up on a bit of remote work on my laptop without feeling out of place. Excursions cost extra, but they felt well-organized and fairly priced. 15 David Morris We mostly booked excursions through the cruise line for peace of mind. Our favorite was in Saint Lucia, where a packed day included a catamaran ride, volcano hike, mud bath, and snorkeling. The excursion ran late, but the ship waited for us as it had been booked through them. Holiday surprises added to the experience. 16 David Morris On Saint Kitts, the crew arranged a private Christmas Day beach party with grilled lobster and drinks. Later, Santa Claus arrived by Jet Ski to serve caviar and Champagne in the surf. The cruise's overall cost felt reasonable considering everything it included. 17 David Morris Ultimately, our cruise averaged out to about $333 per person, per night. That felt surprisingly fair considering how much was included in our 12-night trip. We also really enjoyed the ship's intimate size. Compared to other mega-ships carrying thousands of people, this 600-passenger vessel felt calm, navigable, and personal. We never felt overwhelmed by crowds, even on sea days. Although children aren't typically the target audience for ultra-luxury cruises, my nephew genuinely had a great time alongside the mostly older guests. His sailing also felt like a great value, considering he was charged half price as a third guest and still had his own proper bed. For a multigenerational holiday trip that combined ease, variety, and consistent service, the value ultimately justified the price. All in all, we enjoyed the trip enough to book another Seabourn voyage (at a discounted price) before disembarking. Read the original article on Business Insider

Lucid launched its latest EV, the Gravity SUV, last year. Josh Lefkowitz/Getty Images EV startup Lucid Motors is cutting 12% of its US employees as demand for electric vehicles plummets. CEO Marc Winterhoff told staff on Friday that the cuts were necessary as Lucid attempts to become profitable. The US is facing an EV winter as sales plummet and manufacturers pull back their electric vehicle plans. Tesla rival Lucid is slashing its workforce as the EV winter tightens its grip. EV startup Lucid is cutting 12% of US employees, according to an email interim CEO Marc Winterhoff sent to unaffected employees on Friday, which Business Insider has seen. Winterhoff said the cuts would exclude hourly production employees in manufacturing, logistics, and quality. "This difficult but necessary decision was made to improve organisational effectiveness and optimize our resources as we continue on our path toward profitability," he wrote. It comes as Lucid faces a difficult environment for EV makers amid an industry-wide downturn, with sales plummeting following the end of the $7,500 tax credit in September. In its most recent earnings report in November, the company reported a net loss of nearly $1 billion. Lucid reports Q4 earnings next week. A Lucid spokesperson told Business Insider the cuts would not impact the company's hourly production workforce in Arizona, adding that the cuts were designed to "streamline" the organisation as it seeks long-term growth and margin improvement. "We are grateful for the contributions of all impacted employees and are providing resources, benefits, and support to assist them through this transition," they said. Read Lucid CEO Marc Winterhoff's full memo: Team; Today I want to share an important business update. We have implemented a 12% reduction of our U.S. workforce, excluding hourly production employees in manufacturing, logistics, and quality. This difficult but necessary decision was made to improve operational effectiveness and optimize our resources as we continue on our path toward profitability. If you are receiving this message, your role is not impacted. We are streamlining our organization so we can operate with greater efficiency and deliver on our commitments to gross margin improvement and long-term growth. We will continue to evaluate our day-to-day work to ensure that our time, energy, and resources remain focused on the initiatives that drive the greatest impact. This disciplined approach to execution is a core operational imperative for Lucid. Importantly, today's actions do not affect our strategy. Our core priorities remain unchanged, and we continue to focus on the start of production of our Midsize platform. With disciplined execution, we are also focused on further expansion into the robotaxi market, continued ADAS and software development, and growth in sales of Lucid Gravity and Air across existing and new geographies. Saying goodbye to colleagues is never easy. We are grateful for the contributions of those impacted by today's actions, and we are providing severance, bonus, continued health benefits, and transition support to help them through this period. As we move through today, I ask everyone to treat one another with empathy, professionalism, and respect, recognizing the personal impact these changes have on our teammates. To sustain and build on progress made in 2025, we must remain focused, operate with discipline, and execute with urgency. I know we are asking a great deal of our team, and I sincerely appreciate your continued commitment, resilience, and professionalism. I will address today's actions and answer questions during Monday's Town Hall. As always, you may presubmit your questions on The Hub. Warm regards, Marc Are you a Lucid employee or former employee with a story to share? Get in touch with this reporter at tcarter@insider.com. Read the original article on Business Insider

The USS Lionfish docked at Battleship Cove in Fall River, Massachusetts. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider The USS Lionfish was commissioned in 1944 and earned one battle star for service in World War II. It sank a Japanese submarine, rescued the crew of a B-29 bomber, and served as a training submarine. The Balao-class submarine is now a museum docked at Battleship Cove in Fall River, Massachusetts. The World War II submarine USS Lionfish was part of America's "Silent Service." Despite comprising less than 2% of all US Navy vessels during World War II, submarines like the USS Lionfish sank 55% of Japanese vessels in battle. This once-fearsome vessel is now a 311-foot-long museum exhibit, allowing the public to learn about its top-secret wartime operations. Take a look inside the USS Lionfish. Commissioned in 1944, the USS Lionfish earned one battle star for service during World War II. The USS Lionfish at sea in an undated photo. Arkivi/Getty Images Over the Balao-class submarine's two war patrols, she sank a Japanese submarine, destroyed a schooner, and rescued the crew of a downed American B-29 bomber. The USS Lionfish was recommissioned for the Korean War, serving from 1951 to 1953. From 1960 to 1971, the USS Lionfish served as a reserve training submarine, teaching crew members to operate similar vessels. Since 1973, the USS Lionfish has been on display at Battleship Cove, a maritime museum in Fall River, Massachusetts. The USS Lionfish. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider Tickets to Battleship Cove cost $25 per adult. I visited the museum in January to take a closer look at the retired submarine. The first stop on my self-guided tour was the forward torpedo room, where 16 torpedomen slept and worked. The forward torpedo room. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider The forward torpedo room featured six torpedo tubes, each storing a torpedo, and 10 reloads. The 16 crew members slept alongside the torpedoes on pull-out bunks, remaining ready to fire at all times. Behind the torpedo room was officers' country, which included the officers' pantry. The officers' pantry. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider In the officers' pantry, meals for the higher-ranking crew members were reheated and plated on Navy china. They ate the same food as the rest of the sailors, but in a fancier setting. Officers used the wardroom for dining, working, and relaxing. The wardroom on board the USS Lionfish. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider It could also serve as an operating room in medical emergencies. Junior officers slept in a room with four bunks. The junior officers' quarters. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider Officers enjoyed more privacy on board than enlisted men. Senior officers had even more privacy in a room with a triple bunk. The senior officers' quarters. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider The submarine's second-in-command, known as the executive officer, slept in this room. The commanding officer slept in the only private room on board the submarine. The commanding officer's stateroom. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider The commanding officer's stateroom featured a small desk that functioned as a private workspace. Chief petty officers slept five to a room in their quarters. The chief petty officers' quarters. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider Chief petty officers served as liaisons between the officers and the crew. This room was also colloquially known as the "goat locker" since the more experienced officers were affectionately nicknamed "old goats." In the ship's office, an administrator known as the yeoman handled all of the ship's paperwork. The ship's office. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider Personnel files, orders of supplies, and other administrative tasks were the yeoman's domain. Equipment in the control room managed the submarine's depth, speed, steering, and navigation. The control room. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider The commanding officer issued orders from the control center or the conning tower located directly above. The USS Lionfish's conning tower wasn't open to the public, but I did get to look inside one while touring another Balao-class submarine, the USS Becuna. Communications and covert operations were handled in the radio room. The radio room. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider The USS Lionfish was equipped with sonar, or "sound navigation and ranging," to listen for enemy ships in the surrounding waters. Chefs prepared meals for the submarine's 80 crew members in the main galley. The main galley. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider The galley prepared four meals a day: breakfast, lunch, dinner, and midnight rations known as "mid-rats." The crew's mess was an all-purpose room where sailors ate, lounged, and played games. The crew's mess. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider Frozen and refrigerated food was stored in compartments underneath the floor. The bunks have been removed from the crew's berthing during ongoing restoration work. The crew's berthing. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider Other Balao-class submarines held 35 or 36 bunks in this space. The USS Lionfish featured two engine rooms, each containing two diesel engines. The forward engine room. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider Each engine room was responsible for half of the ship's electric and propulsion power. In the maneuvering room, switches controlled the flow of electricity to the submarine's generators. The maneuvering room. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider While surfaced, the submarine's four diesel engines powered its generators, which in turn powered the ship's motors. While submerged, storage batteries powered the motors. My tour ended with the after torpedo room at the back of the submarine. The after torpedo room. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider Around 13 enlisted men worked and slept in the after torpedo room, which featured four torpedo tubes. The USS Lionfish remains unique among World War II submarines. The USS Lionfish docked at Battleship Cove in Fall River, Massachusetts. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider Over 50 submarines underwent a Greater Underwater Propulsive Power 1-A, or "GUPPY," modernization after World War II. However, the USS Lionfish remained as it was. Museum staff and volunteers are working to restore the USS Lionfish and preserve its original configuration. Even in frigid temperatures, I saw volunteers holding tools and walking carefully around the deck's open panels, revealing the complex mechanics beneath. Read the original article on Business Insider

Machina Labs This post originally appeared in the Business Insider Today newsletter. You can sign up for Business Insider's daily newsletter here. The US manufacturing industry is at a crossroads: try catching the leaders where they are or beat them to where the industry is headed. Edward Mehr sits firmly in the second camp. The thesis of his robotics-enabled manufacturing startup, Machina Labs, is that America's reindustrialization needs to be distributed and flexible. Trying to build the centralized, traditional factories China has perfected is a lost cause. "It's going to be a miracle to catch up if you want to replicate what they have," Mehr told me. "It's just not the right chess move. We need to try to see if we can leapfrog and then do the next generation." We're still in the early stages of robotics in factories. Mehr said the industry is still five years away from a major, ChatGPT-like breakthrough. But there's no shortage of companies giving it a go, including giants such as Tesla and Amazon. The opportunity is huge, with the manufacturing industry accounting for trillions of dollars. It's also a brutal business to break into. If a robot doesn't immediately help you cut costs or improve efficiencies, there's not much point pursuing it any further. (Example: Amazon's recent "Blue Jay" warehouse robot.) Machina Labs, which specializes in producing complex metal structures for the defense, aerospace, and automotive industries, sees its value-add on two fronts. Its robots can switch between different manufacturing operations, saving the time it would take to retool a factory to produce a new product. It's also portable, meaning there's no need to custom-design factories for specific productions. The space is crowded, and Mehr acknowledged that competitors are also pursuing portability or flexibility, but typically not both. "We're almost rethinking a lot of the manufacturing processes from scratch," he said. "If you go to our factory, things are being built in a way that you cannot see in any other place." Like many robotics players, Machina Labs now needs to prove its thesis at scale. The company raised a $124 million Series C round earlier this month from investors including Lockheed Martin Ventures and Toyota's venture arm. It'll use that cash to build a new 200,000-square-foot factory. The factory will feature 50 robots and initially serve Lockheed Martin. The goal is to produce a few thousand structures every year. That's a significant step up from its current factory, which runs 10 robots and has an annual production of a few hundred. But what about the humans? Tensions are already high around AI's impact on white-collar jobs. Are blue-collar workers headed to a similar fate? Machina Labs' new factory will include about 150 human workers, which Mehr said is roughly equivalent to the number of humans who'd work at a robot-free factory. The work is different, but no one seems to be complaining. Mehr said a recent internal survey found that employees' interest level in the job was exceptionally high. (So much for AI fatigue!) "You're working with robots. You're working with software. Compared to previously, you had these instructions. You'd follow it daily, over and over again," he said. "Now, you almost feel like you're playing a game." Read the original article on Business Insider

Marques Brownlee, a well-followed YouTuber and tech reviewer, said he is no longer in contact with Tesla. Chance Yeh/Getty Images for HubSpot Marques Brownlee, the YouTuber known as MKBHD, said he is no longer in contact with Tesla. He said he had to source a car from a local dealership for his latest review. He reviewed the company's latest Model Y Performance, which hit dealerships in September. Social media's most influential tech reviewer said Tesla keeps leaving him on read. Marques Brownlee — better known as MKBHD to his 20.8 million YouTube subscribers — said he had to take a trip to a nearby car dealership to source his own Tesla Model Y Performance for a January review. "Tesla stopped talking to me," Brownlee said in a recent TikTok, filmed as he picked up the SUV from New Jersey EV dealer George Saliba. "It's not cause I gave them a negative review." @georgejsaliba Tesla stopped talking to @Marques Brownlee, so he’s borrowing one of ours to review #cardealership #carreview #tesla ♬ original sound - George Saliba Automakers typically offer loan cars to influencers and journalists for weeklong test drives, and Tesla has supplied Brownlee with its vehicles in the past. In 2022, he called the Model S Plaid the "best overall car of the last decade," after a review. The TikTok clip is the latest sign that the relationship has cooled. In 2023, Brownlee spoke out after the Cybertruck's delivery event. The pickup, which Musk initially said would have a 500-mile range and a starting price under $40,000, launched with just over 300 miles of range and a $70,000 sticker. Brownlee said Tesla's reveal was "straight up not delivering" on its promises. He still took delivery of the new car, but sold the Cybertruck after eight months and replaced it with the Rivian R1T, a rival electric pickup. And in September 20205, Brownlee publicly canceled his $50,000 deposit for two long-awaited Tesla Roadsters. "Tesla has been sitting with my 50 grand for eight years and hasn't done anything with it, obviously," he said on his "Waveform Podcast." Tesla didn't respond to a request for comment from Business Insider. MKBHD's largely positive review Despite the apparent chill in the relationship, Brownlee's latest Tesla review was largely rosy. After spending time with the refreshed Model Y Performance — a dual-motor SUV with about 460 horsepower and a starting price of about $59,130 — Brownlee said Tesla still leads in several key areas. "The thing about testing one and actually driving a Tesla for a while, you start to remember all of the ways that Tesla is still ahead of the competition," he said in the video. He praised the center display as the automotive "gold standard," highlighted improvements to the ride and rear design, and said Tesla's regenerative braking remains best in class. His review wasn't completely glowing. Brownlee said he wants more physical controls and argued that the trim doesn't meaningfully sharpen the steering or overall driving feel in sport mode. He also said Tesla's lead isn't as commanding as it once was, pointing to rising competition from Lucid, Rivian, and General Motors. Brownlee's return to the dealership lot It's not the first time Brownlee has turned to Saliba's lot when a carmaker didn't provide a vehicle. In 2024, he picked up a Fisker Ocean from the same dealership and called it the "worst car I've ever reviewed," setting up a PR firestorm for Fisker. The automaker pushed back on the review, saying he had driven the car just before an expansive software update. Fisker filed for bankruptcy three months later. Read the original article on Business Insider

Ben Goertzel had dozens of email exchanges with Jeffrey Epstein. Horacio Villalobos#Corbis/Getty Images Ben Goertzel, a computer scientist who popularized the term AGI, courted Jeffrey Epstein for research funding, emails show. DoJ files show that Goertzel was aware of Epstein's criminal charges, and their correspondence continued until at least 2018. Goertzel told Business Insider he "made a mistake" in accepting Epstein's money and regretted not doing due diligence. In January 2013, Jeffrey Epstein sent a blunt email to the computer scientist Ben Goertzel. Epstein had funded Goertzel's research in artificial intelligence and was frustrated with a lack of progress. However, on this day, the disgraced financier wasn't writing to discuss algorithms or neural networks — he wanted to discuss Goertzel's hair. "I think it is now time for you to drop the hippie look," Epstein wrote, warning Goertzel that his "disheveled 80s appearance" was an "unnecessary hindrance" to securing the capital that might one day help the two men achieve AGI — artificial general intelligence, a hypothetical level of computer intelligence that could surpass that of humans. Epstein compared the scientist's ponytail to "spinach in the teeth of a friend." "I would be willing to cut my hair for a lot of AGI money," Goertzel replied. Ben Goerzel (right) with Kelly Larson (co-curator of TEDx Hong Kong and Asia Consciousness Festival) and Jeffrey Martin (visiting assistant professor at Polytechnic University) Chris Ip/South China Morning Post via Getty Images The exchange was among dozens between Epstein and Goertzel in files released by the Department of Justice, chronicling Epstein's fascination with the potential of AI. Goertzel, a researcher who helped popularize the term AGI and develop the humanoid robot Sophia, courted Epstein for money over several years, promising he could build the "Sputnik of AI," the emails show. In an online résumé that has since been removed, Goertzel said Epstein gave him a $100,000 research grant in 2001. Emails reviewed by Business Insider show Epstein agreed to give Goertzel at least another $100,000 between 2008 and 2018, spread out across multiple transfers. It could not be learned how much of the money Goertzel ultimately received. The emails show Goertzel was aware of Epstein's criminal charges. In a 2010 email, Goertzel congratulated Epstein on his release from the Palm Beach County Jail. In 2008, Epstein had pleaded guilty to two sex charges, including solicitation of a minor. In 2015, several days after Prince Andrew was named in a lawsuit over underage sex claims related to Epstein, Goertzel wrote about "utterly idiotic negative publicity in the news" and said he was sorry Epstein's camp had to deal with it. "Maybe some variation of what is alleged did happen, but if so it was surely an occurrence among reasonably mature people who mutually consented at the time, so why is it anybody else's business?" Goertzel wrote, before asking for $25,000 for a "corporate contribution" to one of his companies. In a statement to Business Insider, Goertzel said he "made a mistake" in accepting Epstein's money. He said he regretted not doing due diligence on Epstein's crimes and that he had "basically zero knowledge of Epstein's sexual peculiarities and exploitative practices." He added: "I deeply regret being social-engineered by this terrible human being and not doing more research into him decades ago. I won't make this sort of mistake again." 'The Sputnik of AI' Goertzel is currently the CEO of SingularityNET, an AI and blockchain company. He is also chair of The AGI Society, a nonprofit that holds an annual AI conference. His correspondence with Epstein was among millions of documents released by the Justice Department. The files have reverberated through the business world, revealing emails between Epstein and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Virgin founder Richard Branson, LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, among others. The fallout for some people named in the files has been swift. Goldman Sachs' top lawyer, Kathryn Ruemmler, resigned in mid-February, and Brad Karp resigned as chairman of the law firm Paul Weiss, among others. Appearing in the files does not necessarily suggest that a person has engaged in wrongdoing. In one of the emails released by the Justice Department, Goertzel said he had known Epstein since 2001. Epstein took an interest in what labs like MIT and Google were doing in the AI field. Goertzel, who some consider one of the "godfathers of AGI," coauthored a 2006 book on the topic, and in 2008, he created OpenCog, an open-source project to try to architect human intelligence. Goertzel told Business Insider that he met Epstein through "mutual friends" in New York City. Epstein was well-connected with the rich and the powerful. Martin BUREAU / AFP via Getty Images Epstein appeared concerned in some emails by the lack of support for Goertzel's AGI theories among mainstream experts. "i believe in you. i can't figure out why i am in the minority," he told Goertzel in 2010. In a 2011 email, Goertzel asked if Epstein would fund half of a $3 million grant over four years to fund a "full speed ahead toward AGI" plan, which included building AI that could control a video game character and a humanoid robot. "Of course, US$3M is a lot of money. However, this would be the 'Sputnik of AGI' -- it would set the development of AGI on a whole new course," Goertzel wrote. In his statement to Business Insider, Goertzel said, "I had basically zero knowledge of Epstein's sexual peculiarities and exploitative practices and have no orientation toward that sort of thing and little understanding of it -- it was all about being overly desperate at that stage for any source of $$ to fund innovative frontier science, which Epstein did recognize as valuable but mainstream science at the time did not." Epstein sometimes pushed Goertzel for more tangible proof of breakthroughs and tried to influence some research directions, the emails show. In February 2013, he emailed Goertzel and suggested that having an AI system pass "iq tests for children" would provide a concrete research milestone. Goertzel agreed to pursue the idea. "Epstein was very smart and fairly technically savvy and had a lot of ideas about AI, which were not terribly stupid nor terribly brilliant," Goertzel told Business Insider. "I did not pay much attention to them nor did they influence my work in any way." Ben Goertzel, gives a press conference with Hanson Robotics at Web Summit, 2019 Henrique Casinhas/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images Epstein used corporate and foundation vehicles to send money to Goertzel, including his Southern Trust Company, registered in the US Virgin Islands, the emails show. "As before, we can do this as a tax-deductible donation to a nonprofit, assuming that's still your preference," Goertzel said in a September 2010 email to Epstein. Depending on the circumstances, Goertzel, who spent some of his time in Hong Kong, requested that the money be sent to different nonprofits' accounts, the emails show. In 2014, Goertzel requested that Epstein send the money to Humanity+, a nonprofit focused on transhumanism that he was vice president of. Goertzel said it would act as a fiscal "pass-through" so the money could be diverted to himself and other researchers. "Yes all this was totally legit, the funding was going to open-source AGI R&D for the good of humanity and its future, which was very much within the mandate of Humanity+ as a 501-3c nonprofit," Goertzel told Business Insider. 'Moronic media shitstorm' Goertzel told Business Insider he "reconnected" with Epstein in 2008 after several years of no contact, and that Epstein told him about his legal situation. "He framed it as a politically motivated prosecution for involvement with a consenting adult. I believed him. I should not have," Goertzel told Business Insider. Several emails show Goertzel and Epstein arranging to meet in person. Goertzel told Business Insider they met on several occasions at Epstein's New York and Florida offices. "I never hung out with him in a social setting, never went to the island or flew in the jet or saw him partying with girlfriends or anything like that," he said. In 2015, Goertzel was following up on a payment he hoped to receive from Epstein. Richard Kahn, Epstein's accountant, responded that it had to be put on hold due to "bad press." The Guardian had reported days earlier that Prince Andrew was named in a US lawsuit involving Epstein. "I don't want to push you guys at a difficult time, but given my own situation I do feel moved to ask if Jeffrey might still be able to help with $25K for my 'corporate contribution' to the OpenCog Hong Kong project," Goertzel wrote. "He has helped in this way every year since 2010, usually via a donation to Humanity+." The South China Morning Post reported earlier on some of the payments Epstein made to Goertzel to help him secure Hong Kong grants. Epstein responded, "yes 25," and Goertzel thanked him and said he hoped to resume conversations "once this current moronic media shitstorm blows over." Emails between the men continued for several years. In December 2018, a few days after the Miami Herald published an investigation into Epstein that contributed to his arrest on federal sex-trafficking charges the next year, Goertzel sent an email inviting Epstein to an AI and blockchain event in New York. Alternatively, he said, they could find another time to meet in the city. "let me know if you're in town and might spare a few moments," Goertzel wrote. "it's been a while!" Have something to share? Contact this reporter via email at hlangley@businessinsider.com or Signal at 628-228-1836. Use a personal email address and a non-work device; here's our guide to sharing information securely. Read the original article on Business Insider

Charles Porch (with red flower), formerly of Meta and now OpenAI, at the Met Gala. Theo Wargo/FilmMagic OpenAI just hired Charles Porch, Instagram's head of partnerships. Porch has deep connections to celebrities and Hollywood, and plans to talk to them about their "fears" of AI. Maybe OpenAI is realizing they need celebrities to stop publicly hating AI so much. A "detriment" to human creativity, said Vince Gilligan, creator of "Breaking Bad" and "Pluribus" about AI. "Horrifying," said James Cameron about the possibility of AI actors. "I'd rather die," said Guillermo del Toro. "Incredibly destructive," said Cate Blanchett. It's not hard to see why OpenAI recognizes it has a bit of an image problem among some people in Hollywood. It appears that the company is now trying to change that. OpenAI just poached Charles Porch from Meta, where he oversaw celebrity partnerships for over a decade, as Vanity Fair reported earlier. Porch is generally recognized for helping make Instagram the cultural juggernaut it is today by helping celebrities who might have been confused by or disinterested in newfangled social media join and use the platform. Porch has deep connections in the entertainment industry — celebrities like Harry Styles attended his lavish wedding this summer in France. Porch wrote on his personal Instagram about his job change: "From helping Beyoncé figure out how to launch an album exclusively on social media to onboarding Pope Francis to Instagram (he held my hands and asked me to pray for him) to watching creators become the next generation of entrepreneurs, the impact on culture that me and the team have been able to have is something that I take great pride in." It's not clear exactly what Porch's new gig will entail. He told Vanity Fair that his first step will be to go on a "listening tour" to hear the hopes and fears about AI from creatives and celebrities. I've asked OpenAI for comment. For Hollywood actors, filmmakers, and studio executives, those fears are pretty big. Why wouldn't Brad Pitt be alarmed to see a passably real AI-generated version of himself in a fist-fight against Tom Cruise? The idea that AI could replace actors, screenwriters, and other creatives is alarming, especially as Hollywood as an industry is hurting. Box office sales haven't bounced back from the pandemic, streaming is complicated, fewer and fewer projects are being made, and efforts to cut costs by filming overseas have devastated Los Angeles' middle-class of film industry workers. On top of that, AI is, as far as I can tell, widely considered a theft machine that gobbled up tons of images and videos from movies and TV for training data, largely without permission or compensation. You can see a filmmaker or actor's point of view here: They stole my face and my work to build this tool, and now they want to use it to make soulless slop that will undercut the value of my work? Why OpenAI's hire has a tough road ahead Not great! I imagine Porch has his work cut out for him. OpenAI and other AI companies have started making deals with Hollywood. Disney made a $1 billion deal with OpenAI around the time Sora 2 launched, licensing Disney characters like Mickey Mouse and Darth Vader, and also becoming a customer and investor in OpenAI. Lionsgate and AMC made deals allowing their catalogs to be used for training Runway. (Business Insider, through our parent company, has a somewhat similar deal with OpenAI.) But those deals with studios, while they might stave off copyright lawsuits and create some cash flow, aren't winning over the hearts and minds of the celebrities and creatives — the kinds of people who make headlines when they call AI "horrifying." Perhaps OpenAI is realizing that celebrities still hold the kind of cultural capital that can't be built in the Bay Area. And while OpenAI has been pretty successful in pushing its agenda in Washington, thanks to an AI-friendly administration, it still has an uphill battle to win over the general public, which remains fairly skeptical of AI. And for that, you need to get the celebs on board. There's a beautiful irony now that these big AI companies are paying big bucks to hire human writers, and VCs are now obsessed with the concept of "taste." It turns out that kinds of "soft skills" that had long been undervalued in Silicon Valley are more relevant than ever now that AI can do a lot of the technical work. And someone like Charles Porch, who has the connections and ability to charm a roomful of Hollywood types and other cultural elites, is more valuable than ever. That's the kind of job AI can't take. Read the original article on Business Insider

Marc Benioff said that the promise of AGI was a "TK" Halil Sagirkaya/Anadolu via Getty Images Business Insider obtained the results of Salesforce's annual employee survey. Most employees felt AI made them more productive. Fewer felt it had decreased their workloads. Salesforce says the survey shows big gains in AI use and enthusiasm. Salesforce says it's at the vanguard of the AI revolution and has even toyed with renaming itself Agentforce in honor of its bet on AI agents. The company is rapidly adopting AI internally as well, and a survey obtained by Business Insider reveals how that's actually playing out behind the scenes. The results — which were broadly positive — show that most employees feel AI is increasing their productivity, although fewer say it's lightening their workloads. Salesforce's annual "Great Insights" survey, which is not public, was conducted in November 2025 and released inside the software company the following month. It surveyed about 80% of the 76,000-person workforce. Most questions about AI received high favorability ratings: In addition to the 81% of employees who said AI tools boost productivity, 83% said they feel equipped to handle AI risks such as bias, and 81% said they felt encouraged to experiment with AI. More than half of employees — 57% — said AI tools helped their team identify opportunities that would have been impossible otherwise. And 62% said their workload is more manageable because they use AI tools. Both of these were among the lowest results in the survey. Salesforce told Business Insider in a statement that the survey showed significant gains in AI use and strong enthusiasm. A composite it creates called the AI Readiness score was at 85% enterprise-wide, an 18% gain year-over-year. "We're thrilled that our employees have moved on from adoption and are seeing AI tools make a meaningful impact in their daily work," a Salesforce spokesperson said. The results suggest that Salesforce is ahead of the pack on encouraging AI adoption, said Jason Schloetzer, an associate professor at Georgetown University's business school who has interviewed dozens of executives about AI adoption. The results also show that, for some employees, AI intensifies their workload rather than reducing it. "The gaps suggest people believe AI is enabling them to do more work, but it's not making their work easier," he said. Salesforce, which sells customer relationship management software, has garnered attention for an intense AI push led by CEO Marc Benioff. Last August, he said half of the work at Salesforce was being done by AI and that the company had eliminated 4,000 support roles because of AI agents. Salesforce's website says the company uses a mix of internal AI tools, including an AI from Salesforce-owned Slack that can quickly find old project templates, and Career Connect, which analyzes employees' strengths and weaknesses to help them move within the company. Salesforce is facing challenges despite its embrace of the AI revolution. Its stock is down over 40% in the past year as concerns mount about the fate of legacy software companies amid the arrival of AI tools from OpenAI and Anthropic. The company has also struggled to deliver on promises made in demos of its AI product Agentforce, Business Insider previously reported. Read the original article on Business Insider

Palantir cofounder and CEO Alex Karp Francois Mori/AP Palantir made an announcement Tuesday, saying it relocated its headquarters to Florida from Colorado. The software company, which generates much revenue from defense contracts, did not give a reason for the move. When founder-led firms change headquarters, it often reflects "worldview as much as strategy," said one expert. When a company moves its headquarters, it's making a statement — whether leadership spells it out or not. That's the case with Palantir's surprise announcement Tuesday that it has relocated its home base to Florida from Colorado. The defense-tech contractor disclosed the change in a one-sentence press release citing a new address just outside Miami. Palantir, led by cofounder and CEO Alex Karp, didn't provide a reason or say what it means for employees. The lack of details has left many observers speculating on the motive. "This seems like a pretty obvious attempt to put both Karp and Palantir in friendlier territory," said Jo-Ellen Pozner, a management and entrepreneurship professor at Santa Clara University's Leavey School of Business. Though Karp backed Kamala Harris' 2024 campaign, he has more recently praised the Trump administration's immigration and national security policies. On a November earnings call, Karp called for tougher border policies and highlighted Palantir's work with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Israel. Palantir, which relies heavily on government contracts, has also faced protests in Colorado in recent years. Colorado is a blue state, Florida is red. "Not only will the company receive a more welcoming reception and more eager labor pool in Florida, but Karp and his top deputies will probably be more comfortable spending time there than they do in Colorado," said Pozner. Palantir didn't respond to a request for comment from Business Insider about the reason for the headquarters shake-up or the move's impact on employees. Palantir was founded in California's Silicon Valley region in 2003 and moved to Colorado in 2020. At the time, Karp cited an "increasing intolerance and monoculture" in Silicon Valley. Karp owns property in Colorado. Some leadership experts point to Florida's more tax-friendly policies as a reason why Palantir has a new ZIP code. "To me, this is dollars and cents," said Zack Kass, a former OpenAI executive who now advises companies and governments on leading in today's AI-centric business world. "If building a better company meant Karp moving the business to Alaska, he'd probably do it." A number of finance and tech heavyweights have planted flags in Florida in recent years, including Citadel, Thiel Capital, and Thoma Bravo. In January, venture capitalist David Sacks proclaimed that Miami will soon replace New York City as America's financial capital. "I'm grateful for the leadership of the state of Florida," said Citadel's Ken Griffin at the America Business Forum in Miami in November. "This is a great place to call home." Not everyone agrees, though, as others have noted that Miami's social scene hollows out in the summer and the city lacks a major university to pipe in tech talent. Whatever the incentives are behind Palantir's change of address, headquarters moves in general are rarely about real estate, said Jeff LeBlanc, a management professor at Bentley University. Instead, they often speak to the kind of identity leaders want for their companies. "In a world where so much work is hybrid or distributed, the HQ is often more symbolic than operational," he said. "Geography communicates. It says something about who you want to attract, who you align with, and what kind of company you believe you are." LeBlanc pointed Elon Musk's decision to move some of his companies' headquarters from California to Texas for political reasons as an example. In 2024, the billionaire lashed out at California for being the first state to outlaw schools from having to notify parents if a child changes their name, pronouns, or gender identity at school, calling the move the "final straw." "Particularly in founder-led companies, those moves often reflect worldview as much as strategy," LeBlanc said. "Geography has become part of executive messaging." Read the original article on Business Insider

captiontk modena Kaitlyn Rosati I've spent a lot of time in Italy, and my favorite region for food is Emilia-Romagna. This part of the country is home to Parmigiano-Reggiano, Mortadella, and balsamic vinegar of Modena. I especially love eating truffles and tortellini whenever I visit. It's no secret that Italy has some of the world's best food. However, after visiting all 20 regions, I've learned that the country isn't one-size-fits-all when it comes to dining in la dolce vita. Each region has niche dishes and products that locals wear like a badge of honor, like mozzarella di bufala from Campania, pesto alla Genovese from Liguria, and arancini from Sicily. Although I would gladly choose to eat anywhere in Italy over any city in the US, Emilia-Romagna gets the gold for the best cuisine in the country. The region is home to delicious foods like Parmigiano-Reggiano This region is home to Parmigiano-Reggiano, among other exports. Kaitlyn Rosati From Parmigiano-Reggiano and balsamic vinegar of Modena to Prosciutto di Parma and mortadella from Bologna, Emilia-Romagna is home to some of Italy's most beloved exports. These are just a few of the products that are PDO and PGI-certified. This is a high standard in the world of food that signals an official link between a product and a region. Emilia-Romagna has 44 PDO and PGI products in total — more than any other Italian region. You'll also find some of the country's most famous restaurants here, like Osteria Francescana and Al Gatto Verde in Modena, and Trattoria da Amerigo in Savigno. Beyond the accolades and fancy titles, though, I believe that what makes Emilia-Romagna's cuisine a standout is simply the care and attention put into the food I've had here. After visiting the region at least twice a year for the past six years, I have yet to have even a subpar meal. You can get a taste of all the best parts of Italy, from cheese to truffles, in this one region In Savigno, you can hunt for truffles with the help of trained dogs. Kaitlyn Rosati In Italy, some regions just do certain products better. For example, Tuscany is famous for its red wine; meanwhile, many head to Piedmont for truffles, and Campania's tomatoes are top-notch. However, Emilia-Romagna really has a city or town for everything you could ever want on your plate. Savigno has a sign when entering that says "Cittá del Tartufo," which quite literally translates to "City of Truffles." A visit to Appennino Food Group, a food production group explicitly known for its truffle exports, is a great way to plan an afternoon of truffle hunting with trained pups. The company was founded by Luigi Dattilo, who, at 17, refused his father's offer of a car and asked for a truffle dog instead. As for tomatoes, Mutti, the famed canned tomato brand, has its headquarters in Parma. Plus, if you're looking to enjoy Parmigiano-Reggiano in its rightful birthplace, the only place in the world you can do just that is in Emilia-Romagna. Tortellini has some roots here, too. There was a long-standing debate between Modena and Bologna about who made tortellini first. However, a popular legend holds that tortellini originated in Castelfranco Emilia, a small town between the two hubs. Some Italians theorize that tortellini's shape was inspired by Venus's belly button after she spent a night at an inn in town. After years of visiting, I have some favorite spots in the region Tortellini in crema di Parmigiano at Franceschetta58 in Modena. Kaitlyn Rosati As someone who constantly craves a taste of Emilia-Romagna — and who spends a lot of time in Italy — I'm in the region often. I love trying new places, but I have a few favorite spots. One is Franceschetta58 in Modena, known for its decadent tortellini en Parmigiana crema dish (where, yes, I do lick the plate clean every single time). For something more traditional, I prefer Sfoglia Rina in Bologna for tortellini en brodo. In Parma, Salumeria Garibaldi is an ideal spot for a sip of Lambrusco, the region's most famed wine, paired with bites of prosciutto and mostarda. Meanwhile, an hour and a half away in Ferrara, check out Al Brindisi, a historic wine bar dating back to 1435, making it the world's oldest. Despite its prominent history, Al Brindisi has an unfussy feel, still preserving its medieval charm in a warm, welcoming atmosphere. Pro tip: Order the cappellacci di zucca, or pumpkin-stuffed pasta, a staple of Ferrarese cuisine. Read the original article on Business Insider

Nikita Bier said that Elon Musk's X was "essentially operating like a startup." Marc Piasecki/Getty Images Want to work for one of Elon Musk's companies? Expect small, flat teams. X product head Nikita Bier compared his experience at X to past jobs at Meta and Discord on the "Out of Office" podcast. Bier said that Musk holds "weekly reviews" of one or two slides with every X engineer. One of Elon Musk's lieutenants at X is sharing what it's like to work in the trenches with him. There are some trademarks of a Musk company, whether it be Tesla, SpaceX, or xAI. His teams are flat, his schedule is jam-packed, and his expectations are high. In the lead-up to a big launch, expect to grind out some long hours. X's head of product, Nikita Bier, recently opened up about working under Musk on the "Out of Office" podcast, contrasting it with his past work at Silicon Valley staples like Discord and Meta. Bier described a "very flat organization" with lots of individual contributors reporting directly to Musk himself. There are very few managers, Bier said. "Everyone has an incredible amount of agency," Bier said. "We come up with an idea, we build it in a week, and it's out." Bier also said that Musk was "deep in the weeds." That's a feat for an executive who runs multiple companies (and once a government agency) at the same time. "He does weekly reviews basically with every engineer at the company," Bier said. "You have one or two slides, you present what you got done that week, he gives feedback." While some social media commenters expressed skepticism that every engineer received a weekly review, Musk is clearly hands-on — as evidenced by another xAI employee's podcast appearance. Sulaiman Ghori worked on xAI's Macrohard team. He described flat teams, few managers — and a wager between Musk and an employee on how quickly he could set up a rack of GPUs. The employee won himself a Cybertruck. (Ghori, who also talked about the company's "carnival company" permit workaround for building data centers, announced he was no longer at xAI four days after the podcast was published.) Bier also described a lean but efficient team that had "like 30 core product engineers." "The size of the engineering team is equivalent to a feature when I worked at Facebook," Bier said. "It's essentially operating like a startup." On X, one user asked whether these 30 employees were on the product or design team. Bier responded: "Engineers, 2 designers, 1.5 product managers and me." It's difficult to compare engineering team sizes to the pre-Musk Twitter days — or even discern which "core" team Bier is referencing. After six months of ownership, Musk cut Twitter's staff by 90%. Five hundred engineers remained at the time. What Bier didn't realize before working with Musk, he said, was that the executive will "always do the hard things." Consumer product builders are often looking for quick wins, Bier said. Musk chooses the most important — and difficult — thing to do, he said, from rebuilding the algorithm to building data centers. That also means: Don't expect a lazy Friday at X. "Every morning, every day, there's a new crisis," Bier said. "I'll just open my phone and be like: 'Oh my god.'" Read the original article on Business Insider

I visited Denver Airport's hidden bar, Williams & Graham. Kasia Kovacs I visited Williams & Graham, a speakeasy hidden inside Denver International Airport. The bar had an extensive cocktail menu and a decent amount of food options, too. My drink was pretty good, and the experience was a fun way to pass the time during my layover. Flying internationally in the winter can be difficult — crowded airports sometimes turn into a no-man's land of grumpy travelers, downcast due to bad weather and flight delays. But I know one thing can make that trip more bearable: a cocktail. Especially when it's in a themed bar. During a recent 16-hour journey from the UK to the US, I decided to visit a speakeasy called Williams & Graham during my layover at the Denver International Airport. Although I was initially nervous the concept would be cheesy, it made for a fun way to pass the time. Here's what it was like. The entrance was hidden, but it wasn't hard to find The hostess made finding the speakeasy simple. Kasia Kovacs The entrance to Williams & Graham, located near Gate A38, is disguised by a curved bookshelf. An observant passerby would notice clues — like the hostess with a bright smile standing next to a red velvet rope — that this wasn't any old bookcase. There was also prominent Williams & Graham signage. When I walked up to the hostess, I was told the wait would be about 15 to 20 minutes. As I waited for a table, I watched a steady stream of people try to get in, and the wait time rose to 25 minutes. After calling my name, the hostess pulled open the bookshelf, which turned into a door and revealed the bar. The door to the bar was hidden inside a bookshelf. Kasia Kovacs Although not exactly large, the speakeasy had more space than I expected for an airport location. The lights were dimmed, which made the atmosphere feel more bar-like after leaving the sterile lighting of an airport. I was given a seat at the fully stocked bar, which felt appropriate for a solo traveler. The menu had a good amount of options There were 26 different cocktails on the menu. Kasia Kovacs All cocktails were $18, and the menu included a mix of both classic and unique house options, with names like "Becky with the Good Hair" and "Swol Juice." The price felt steep for my own day-to-day spending, but considering that airport prices are notoriously high, I was almost surprised they weren't more expensive. I counted 26 cocktails on the menu, which felt like a good range of options for travelers in a time crunch. The menu didn't list specific beer or wine offerings, but patrons could ask a server about the selection if they were interested. Along with cocktails, the menu had food items like mac and cheese, a burger, and the occasional French-themed dish like ratatouille. The entrées ranged in price from $14.20 to $28.80. Since I didn't want to miss my flight, I stuck with a drink. But I noticed a few people around me ordering meals, including a hefty, juicy-looking burger and frog legs, described on the menu as "frog booties." I enjoyed my drink and thought the speakeasy was a fun way to pass the time I ordered a whisky-based cocktail called the Highland Lass. Kasia Kovacs I ordered the Highland Lass, a whiskey-based cocktail made with Glenfiddich 12, yellow Chartreuse liqueur, lemon, cucumber, honey, and ginger. The drink went down smoothly, and the whiskey, honey, and ginger felt comforting. Although it was an iced cocktail, the combination felt like warmth on a winter's day. I also enjoyed the bit of sweetness that didn't feel too overwhelming. Though nothing spectacular, it was a pleasant drink. Overall, although the idea of an airport speakeasy is a bit camp, the drinks were nice enough for an airport bar, and the atmosphere was friendly. For me, a cocktail and conversations with strangers were fun ways to distract me from the woes of a layover. Read the original article on Business Insider

Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images; Getty Images; Rebecca Zisser/BI Tech's elite are taking their talents to South Beach — again. In January, David Sacks, the venture capitalist and crypto and AI czar, proclaimed that Miami will soon replace New York City as America's financial capital. Stripe's Patrick Collison has been marveling at the city's "boomtown" vibes. With California flirting with a one-time tax on billionaires, said billionaires like Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and Mark Zuckerberg are buying oceanfront mansions. And on Tuesday, Palantir announced that it's moving its headquarters from Denver to Miami. Is Miami the next Silicon Valley? We've been here before. The pandemic sent waves of coastal workers to the city, turning it into a Zoomtown full of online venture capitalists like Keith Rabois and Delian Asparouhov, bitcoin bull runners, and purveyors of the finest NFTs. Billboards went up in San Francisco featuring a mock tweet from then-Miami mayor Francis Suarez: "Thinking about moving to Miami? DM me." Here's the thing: It's easy to fall for Miami when a big chunk of the workforce is stuck at home and online. Five years later, it's a lot harder to build companies there. "Miami is great three months out of the year," says one prominent venture capitalist who moved to the city during the pandemic but is now returning to an established hub. While the Floridian tax benefits are real, the investor has found that the social scene hollows out in the summer as residents leave, making it "hard to build roots or have reliable friends." More critically for the startup ecosystem, the scene lacked the "hustle" of San Francisco or New York. Silicon Valley practically runs on a conveyor belt from Stanford and Caltech to Y Combinator's Dogpatch offices. The machine turns students into founders, builders into companies, and companies into the next wave of founders. Miami, meanwhile, lacks a major university to pipe in tech talent. Instead, the investor says, the city tends to attract people who have already "made it." Miami and Fort Lauderdale-based startups raised $3 billion in 2025. Bay Area-based startups raised $177 billion. The Miami market, while busy, significantly lags behind the major hubs. Startups in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale metro raised about $3 billion in 2025, per PitchBook, down from $8.6 billion in 2022, when money and crypto sloshed about. The Bay Area, by contrast, still grabs 52% of the nation's venture funding, with $177 billion in capital pouring in last year. Alligators may be all around in Miami, but unicorns are hard to find. In January, Cast AI, a startup that helps companies cut cloud costs, crossed the $1 billion valuation mark, becoming the region's first homegrown unicorn in years. Before that, Adam Neumann, the ousted WeWork cofounder, debuted his Miami residential real-estate venture, Flow, at a $1 billion valuation in 2022. Even Garry Tan, the Y Combinator president and gadfly who's usually first in line to dunk on San Francisco's politics, has been blunt about where the breeding grounds are best. Tan recently said on X that the accelerator still hasn't opened offices outside the Bay Area because founders are simply more likely to build unicorns there. According to a Business Insider analysis of Crunchbase data, of the at least 97 new unicorns that investors minted in 2025, 43 of them were based in the Bay Area. But those who dismiss the city entirely miss the point. Miami isn't the next San Francisco. It's establishing itself as something else. Patrick Murphy, a former Florida congressman and entrepreneur, says that Miami's tech scene is growing, it's just being built in "reverse order." Silicon Valley, he says, emerged from an if you build it, they will come approach: Engineers built great companies first, which eventually created fortunes that cycled back into the community to fund the next generation of companies. Miami, however, has a more if you come, they will build it tact. It's attracted the "wealth achievers" first — the family offices, private equity names, and already-successful founders who emigrated for lifestyle reasons. Finance heavyweights like Citadel and Thoma Bravo arrived early. Vanguard, one of the world's largest asset managers, is eyeing an expansion in Miami as it targets more Latin American wealth. The city is now importing the machinery that follows them. Legal, accounting, and consulting firms are opening local offices to stay close to clients — and scoop up star talent that no longer needs to live near HQ. This dynamic has established Miami as a "control center" for decision-makers, Murphy argues, but not yet the "factory floor" where the actual work gets done. Murphy says that despite running a successful construction-tech startup, Togal.AI, his engineering team has been offshore from the beginning because the local talent pool simply "didn't exist" when he started in 2019. "If you go to Miami, you're not going to see dozens of engineers at a Starbucks cranking away," he says. "That's not here yet." Still, Miami's flood of wealth is creating demand for startups built on the city's local economy, especially in property tech and fintech, Murphy says. Togal.AI's annual recurring revenue has grown 1,000% over the past two years, Murphy says, and is now raising fresh venture funding in order to hire dozens of new employees this year. Palantir's move immediately became a kind of Rorschach test for Miami's future. "Florida is the new crypto," one user wrote on X. Maya Bakhai, a Fort Lauderdale resident and founder of the early-stage venture firm Spice Capital, tells me that the city will flourish alongside "net new" industries that are still taking shape and where the center of gravity isn't locked in yet. Crypto firms like MoonPay and QuickNode still treat South Florida as a home base, she notes. A new space-tech accelerator backed by the state is trying to persuade founders to stick around by pairing them with funders. Bakhai's bigger bet is that just as New York became the hub for e-commerce, Miami could become the place where creator businesses get built. Research out of the University of Hong Kong found Miami has more top influencers per capita than New York or Los Angeles. And then there's Palantir, the strongest signal flare yet that tech is taking America's Playground seriously. It's hard to know what the data giant's HQ move will mean in practice — Palantir hasn't said how many employees it plans to relocate, or whether it will offer moving packages to lure talent south. The company did not respond to an email request for comment. If Palantir does move a meaningful slice of its workforce, it would give Miami something it's been short on: a marquee tech employer that can recruit and keep technical workers on the ground year-round. On X, Palantir's move immediately became a kind of Rorschach test for Miami's future. ""Florida is the future," cheered Andreessen Horowitz investor Katherine Boyle. Others were less convinced. "Florida is the new crypto," one user wrote. "For the next 20 years, nothing will change, but they will always tell you 'big things are happening in Florida.'" Turning Miami into Silicon Beach is a long game, Bakhai argues. It won't be built by the billionaires buying houses to snowbird in today, she argues, but by the young strivers arriving for their first serious jobs — the entry-level analysts heading to Citadel and the junior lawyers starting at firms like Orrick. For the first time, she says, ambitious graduates can launch careers in Miami instead of treating New York or San Francisco as the default. The payoff, she says, comes years later, when they eventually spin off to start their own companies. Until then, Miami remains largely a playground for the "made it" crowd, waiting in the sun for the builders to come. Melia Russell is a reporter with Business Insider, covering the intersection of law and technology. Read the original article on Business Insider

Jake Paul said he bonded with Sam Altman over a love of "fast cars." Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images; Gerrit van Keulen/Soccrates/Getty Images Jake Paul said that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman taught him to be "hella productive" with 15-minute meetings. "Time is the most valuable thing, and it's the only reason you can't accomplish more," Paul said on "Sourcery." Paul said that he met Altman at President Donald Trump's inauguration. His fund later invested in OpenAI. Jake Paul was a firebrand YouTuber. Then he was an NFT merchant, and a betting site operator. Now, Paul is a professional boxer — and venture capitalist. And he's learning from one of the biggest names in tech. On "Sourcery," Paul said that he met OpenAI CEO Sam Altman while sitting next to each other at President Donald Trump's inauguration. "Sam likes fast cars, and so do I," Paul said. "So, we just started talking about cars, and then we got along, and that was really it." Paul's Anti Fund — which is also led by his brother Logan and longtime founder Geoffrey Woo — invested in OpenAI in 2025. The biggest lesson he's learned from Altman is efficiency, Paul said. He described the quick-and-tidy meetings that Altman runs. The OpenAI CEO "walks into the room, sits down, let's get right into the conversation, boom boom boom," he said. In 15 minutes alone, Altman was "hella productive," Paul said. Then, Altman can go on to his next meeting and do it all over again. "We'll do hourlong meetings or calls and just waste time," Paul said. "I think that was inspiring because time is the most valuable thing, and it's the only reason you can't accomplish more." Indeed, Altman has long opted for the 15-minute meeting. In a 2018 blog post, he wrote that the ideal meeting time is either around 15 to 20 minutes or 2 hours, but "the default of 1 hour is usually wrong." Paul has worked closely with OpenAI in the last year, beyond participating in fundraising. Remember all of those strange Paul memes running around the internet during the Sora 2 launch? They were by design. Paul said he helped consult on the project and was one of the first to sign over his name, image, and likeness. Woo also appeared on the podcast, and spelled out the thinking behind those far-out memes (such as an AI Paul declaring he was gay). "It was not something that was like, 'Hey, Jake Paul is now gay.' Jake was thoughtful in terms of why we were part of that launch." Woo also said that he had formed a good friendship with Altman and Mark Chen, OpenAI's chief research officer. For the Sora 2 launch, Paul said that he had "regular calls" with OpenAI and offered "super detailed consulting." "Me and my brother have however many years combined of social media experience since the beginning," Paul said. "We were there when the term 'influencer' was even made up." This background, Paul said, helped him give good advice on what OpenAI's social media-like interface should look like. He advised on both what creators and audiences wanted, he said. Anti Fund closed its $30 million fund in September. Other investments include defense tech startup Anduril and prediction market Polymarket. Woo said their ties to OpenAI remain strong. "We were just at OpenAI for three hours looking for other ways to collaborate," he said. "Things might be cooking." Read the original article on Business Insider

I rode two Amtrak trains on a long-haul journey from New York to Texas. Michael Rosenthal I spent 60 hours in coach across two Amtrak trains to get from New York to Austin via Chicago. Getting to see historic landmarks and beautiful views was a pleasant surprise. The delays got tedious and a bit frustrating, but the train felt like home by the end of my trip. Spending 60 hours on Amtrak trains in coach isn't ideal for a lot of people. Fortunately, I don't mind a long ride. To get from New York to Austin, I booked two different Amtrak routes that would take me to Texas via Chicago. Ultimately, my long journey over several days was pretty nice. After this trip, I'd still say Amtrak trains are one of the most pleasant and enjoyable modes of travel. Here are a few things that surprised me about the 60-hour ride. At times, I forgot I was even on a train. Sometimes I forgot I was even on a train. Michael Rosenthal Local train rides can be slow and clunky, so I prefer long-distance ones — you can largely sit back, relax, and enjoy the journey because the stops are much farther apart. The ride was smooth and enjoyable, and I watched the country pass by right outside my window, as if I were watching TV or a movie. Sometimes I was so distracted by a conversation with someone else on board that I forgot we were moving. However, there's also a lot of potential for delays. Many Amtrak lines run on a single track. Michael Rosenthal Long-distance trains are great when they run properly, but delays can be tough to avoid. Amtrak mostly operates on freight railroad lines, which means you're often at the mercy of those dispatchers. To make matters worse, some lines run on a single track. So if there's an oncoming train, you have to wait on a track siding until it clears. Freight trains can cause anywhere from 10 minutes to multiple hours of interference. These delays — which came every hour or so on my trip — interrupted the joy and relaxation that came with the otherwise smooth ride. Sometimes passengers didn't receive announcements about delays, or only got vague ones. I wish I'd brought a radio scanner that picked up on the frequencies used by the dispatchers so I could stay up to date on the information or estimate the delay time myself. Many passengers relied on the café car for food. I mostly ate the food I brought from home. Michael Rosenthal I brought enough of my own food for my two and a half days on the rails, and my short layover in Chicago gave me a chance to grab a hot meal. I also packed a reusable bottle so I could fill it up with tap water on the train. However, I was surprised by how many people depended on Amtrak's onboard dining options. The café car is OK in a pinch: It has basic snacks, beverages, and hot foods like burgers and pizza. The prices aren't unreasonable, but I still don't think they're worth it for food that generally gets taken out of a plastic wrapper and microwaved. I expected more people to get off the train to stretch their legs at the stops. I wanted to take the opportunity to stretch my legs in fresh air. Michael Rosenthal Every so often, the train made an extended stop at a station for a crew change or servicing, and passengers were allowed to step off for a bit. There's no smoking on the trains, so I noticed a fair number of people using these stops as smoke breaks. However, I expected more people to take the opportunity to get some fresh air and stretch, rather than stay on the train. There were only so many of these opportunities, and it was great to walk around, feel some sun on my face, and say that I set foot in a different place, instead of just passing through it. The history all around me felt remarkable. We passed through so many interesting towns. Michael Rosenthal My trip took me through more than a dozen states, including six state capitals and the US capital. The trip from New York to Washington, DC, started out on tracks that were part of the historical Pennsylvania Railroad and continued down one of the busiest rail corridors in the country. The bulk of my Cardinal-line trip went along old Chesapeake and Ohio Railway tracks. There was a lot of interesting history to learn about the railroad towns that sprang up along the tracks when they were first laid. My trip through Virginia took me across tracks that played a vital role in the Civil War. The train also traveled through old boom-and-bust towns in West Virginia — some of which still exist, but others have only scant remnants. There was no WiFi on the Texas Eagle line. The coach car on an Amtrak train. Michael Rosenthal The Texas Eagle is one of the few Amtrak trains that doesn't have WiFi, and some areas we passed through had little-to-no cell reception. The Cardinal line also passed through areas with poor cell reception, which made the onboard WiFi quite unstable. For this reason, I'm glad I brought an AM/FM HD radio with me. I had a lot of fun tuning in to different stations as my trains traveled the country. It helped me feel more connected to the small towns and gave them more life. I found surprisingly good content in some remote areas. I didn't really end up watching all of the entertainment I downloaded. I mostly ate the food I brought from home. Michael Rosenthal I came prepared for my train ride by downloading a bunch of TV shows and movies onto my laptop. However, surprisingly, the 60 hours went by so quickly that I didn't watch any of them. I only kept my laptop open on the Cardinal line to look at Amtrak's "Track Your Train" map. I was also having too much fun with the radio and didn't want to miss out on live broadcasts. Plus, I could continue fully taking in the sights out the window while listening. The train was a very social place at times, too, so I was often busy speaking with the people around me. The camaraderie with other passengers is second to none. I met a lot of interesting people on my trains. Michael Rosenthal The camaraderie I've experienced on Amtrak train rides is pretty much unmatched. I didn't get to talk with as many people as I have on past trips, but it was still enjoyable to journey together with a bunch of people for such an extended time. It was great to see others get off at their destinations, but, in a funny way, it also made me a little sad to see them (and the ways they contributed to the train's atmosphere) go. Getting to spend time with fellow passengers from all over the world while different parts of the country passed by provided some true slices of American life. There was no observation car on the Texas Eagle during my trip. I had to make due with the views from my window. Michael Rosenthal It's great to switch things up by sitting and socializing in the café cars. However, the Cardinal and Texas Eagle trains have combined café and dining cars, so seating was very limited and only for passengers who purchased something. I missed hanging out in observation cars, as I've done on past trips. I knew this would be the case for my time on the Cardinal, but the Texas Eagle usually has an awesome sightseeing lounge with a variety of seating and viewing windows. The fact that my train didn't have one was by far the biggest disappointment of the trip. However, the Eagle has since brought back its observation cars. It's definitely worth checking whether your train has an observation car before booking a long Amtrak ride. I fell into a routine on the train that made it feel like home. Michael Rosenthal When you spend enough time somewhere, it can start to feel very familiar and comfortable, which was my case on the train. Doing things like making room while walking in the aisle so someone else can pass, heading down the stairs to the bathroom, and refilling water bottles felt as routine as anything I'd do at home. There was almost a weird comfort in walking around and seeing different parts of the train that became very familiar to me during my many hours aboard. This story was originally published on November 9, 2021, and most recently updated on February 17, 2025. Read the original article on Business Insider

Vinod Khosla says stock prices aren't the way to evaluate AI bubbles. Mert Alper Dervis/Anadolu via Getty Images Vinod Khosla says the rise of AI might warrant steeper taxes on capital and none for most workers. The billionaire VC wrote on X that AI displacing workers could shrink the labor part of the economy. Khosla wrote that some popular tax breaks were "special interest goodies" and not "true capitalism." If artificial intelligence eliminates millions of jobs, it might make sense to scrap income taxes for the vast majority of Americans and target capital instead, Vinod Khosla says. "AI will transform economies and need a rethink of capitalism & equity," the billionaire venture capitalist wrote in an X post on Monday. "Labor portion of economy (vs capital) will decline sharply. Should we eliminate preferential treatment of capital gains tax and equalize to ordinary income?" Khosla — who cofounded Sun Microsystems and made the first VC investment in OpenAI — was making the point that AI replacing labor on a grand scale might warrant greater taxes on assets such as stocks and real estate. The veteran financier, who founded Khosla Ventures after leaving Kleiner Perkins, attached a video highlighting some of the jobs that could be taken by AI, from accountants and therapists to truck drivers and chip designers. AI will transform economies and need a rethink of capitalism & equity. Labor portion of economy (vs capital) will decline sharply. Should we eliminate preferential treatment of capital gains tax and equalize to ordinary income? 40% of capital gains taxes are paid by those with… pic.twitter.com/7oSA9xj5Ko — Vinod Khosla (@vkhosla) February 16, 2026 Khosla said in a follow-up post that ramping up taxes on capital would generate so much revenue that the government could scrap taxes for most of the roughly 150 million US taxpayers. "Could easily eliminate bottom 125 million taxpayers from the tax rolls and be revenue neutral at the same time with a capital gains tax equal to ordinary income and a few other tweaks," he wrote. He added that tax breaks such as carrying over tax losses and tax-free borrowing against unrealized gains — which he called a "true abuse!" — are "special interest goodies inserted by lobbyists and campaign contributions, not true capitalism." Khosla didn't address common critiques of higher taxes, including that they can discourage entrepreneurship and investment, that collecting them can be tricky, and that wealthy people may leave the country to avoid them. Khosla has previously underscored that the advent of AI may require sweeping policy changes. He estimated in late 2024 that in 25 years' time, AI could be doing 80% of the work in 80% of all jobs, and universal basic income might be needed to compensate for job destruction. "As AI reduces the need for human labor, UBI could become crucial, with governments playing a key role in regulating AI's impact and ensuring equitable wealth distribution," he wrote on his firm's website. Khosla isn't alone in predicting AI will change the fabric of society. Elon Musk suggested late last year that work could become "optional" and money might become "irrelevant" if advances in AI and robotics generate abundant resources for all. Moreover, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO recently said that retirement savings may not be needed in 10 or 20 years, as everyone might have "whatever stuff they want." However, skeptics such as Michael Burry of "The Big Short" fame have cautioned the AI boom is a speculative bubble, tech companies are overinvesting in microchips and data centers that will quickly become obsolete, and true AI is further away than many think. Read the original article on Business Insider

Jason Kurtz is the CEO of Basware Basware This post originally appeared in the Business Insider Today newsletter. You can sign up for Business Insider's daily newsletter here. It's the end of the wo

Ivan Leong, like many other millennials and Gen Z in Singapore, has ditched the corporate grind and opened small F&B businesses. Aditi Bharade "We're the same age," I told Ernest Ang, a 24-year-old who opened an eatery two years ago with his grandmother's recipes. And yet, it feels like we live in different worlds. Every day, he whips up large batches of fried chicken and beef rendang in Singapore's 90-degree tropical heat. On the other side of the island, in the glitzy financial district, I write about the Trump administration and the general chaos of the world. I started my first job in a newsroom after graduating from college in 2024, diving headfirst into the corporate grind. I sign off at 5:30 p.m. and value the work-life balance my writing job offers. Last year, I started collecting stories of Singaporean Gen Zers and millennials shunning the comfort and stability of the 9-5 in favor of starting their own food businesses — ventures that come with backbreaking long hours. I was humbled. Au Hui Her, a millennial bakery owner, starts prepping loaves of sourdough bread at 4 a.m. Aditi Bharade Hawker centers, like where Ang set up shop, are the go-to for budget meals in Singapore. They're cheap, hearty, and convenient, and I've eaten from them as long as I can remember. There are 123 hawker centers in the country, managed by the National Environment Agency. On average, each center has about seven to 10 individual stalls. Traditionally, they sell dishes like Hainanese chicken rice, bak kut teh, a peppery and flavorful pork soup, or nasi lemak, aromatic rice served with dishes. The stalls are typically run by middle-aged to senior hawkers. Hawker centers in Singapore are typically run by older business owners who sell traditional fare. Aditi Bharade But as younger hawkers join the business, there's been an increase in specialty stalls selling matcha, craft beer, baked goods, and fusion dishes. Success is an uphill battle, with a massive failure rate due to rising store rents and a frugal consumer base. In 2025, 3,074 food and beverage businesses in Singapore closed their doors, per statistics from the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority of Singapore. This has not deterred hopeful entrepreneurs — 4,103 new food businesses opened last year. Ernest Ang, 24, opened a restaurant featuring his grandmother's recipes, and said he prefers the life to working in an office. Aditi Bharade Most of the young chefs I interviewed work six to seven days a week, getting up well before the sun rises to prep ingredients for the day and retiring late into the night after feeding hungry dinner crowds. I spoke with eight Gen Z and millennial F&B owners across the country about what makes them tick, what fears give them chills at night, and if they regret choosing a risky career path. Spoiler: They don't. Credits Reporter: Aditi Bharade Editors: Cheryl Teh, Meghan Morris Read the original article on Business Insider

Lufthansa's new Allegris business class has faced certification issues on the Boeing 787. It appears to have fixed the problem. MICHAELA STACHE/AFP via Getty Images Lufthansa's Boeing 787 business class debacle is almost over after a yearslong certification delay. The airline has been flying some Dreamliners with only four of the 28 high-dollar seats sold. Lufthansa expects to boost the number of sellable 787 business-class seats to 25 by mid-April. Lufthansa can finally start making money on its Boeing 787 Dreamliners after a certification debacle left one of its most lucrative cabins largely empty for months. The German flag carrier said on Monday that it will begin selling tickets for its Allegris business class on the 787. Allegris, Lufthansa's signature cabin concept, spans economy, premium economy, business, and first class, but the business class rollout has been particularly tricky. The program first launched on the Airbus A350 in May 2024, with the cabin spanning the entire plane. The first Allegris-equipped 787 followed in October 2025, but certification of business class dragged on due to the cabin's complexity: there are five staggered seat configurations in a single airplane cabin — some with doors or more legroom, others with extra-long beds. The middle front-row suite can be combined into a double bed. The first-row window seats have extra workspace. Lufthansa This is because the Dreamliner's geometry — including a slightly tighter usable footprint and different fuselage contouring compared to the A350 — made it harder to demonstrate to regulators that passengers could evacuate quickly from every seat, whether staggered, partially enclosed, or fully cocooned, in an emergency. The result? For months, only four of the 28 business class seats could be sold — the front-row Business Class Suites — leaving the remaining 24 empty. Business class is a cash cow for airlines, and by flying most of the cabin empty as competitors pour investments into their own premium seats, Lufthansa was essentially leaving money on the table. It has been a particularly costly headache for a carrier in the midst of a multi-year turnaround plan to restore profitability after years of financial pressure from frequent maintenance, aircraft shortages, rising operating costs, and labor strikes. Lufthansa even opted for an already-certified business-class seat to retrofit onto its Airbus A380s rather than risk another prolonged and costly certification process. But the saga is nearing the finish line. Beginning April 15, Lufthansa plans to carry passengers in 25 business-class seats on its 787s, with three remaining blocked in the second row of the cabin. Bookings are open, though it's unclear whether the news indicates the seats have been fully certified or if that's just Lufthansa's expected timeline. Lufthansa said "Classic" seats — one of the Allegris categories available — are free to secure with the premium fare. The others require an extra fee: this includes the first-row suites, the "Privacy" seat next to the window, the "Extra Space" seat with more legroom, and the "Extra Long Bed" with an over seven-foot sleeping surface. The three second-row seats that are blocked — and not yet available for booking — are two privacy seats and an extra-legroom seat. Some Allegris seats can be fully enclosed with extra workspace; others can combine into a double bed. LUKAS BARTH/AFP via Getty Images Lufthansa flies eight Allegris-equipped Dreamliners and expects to have 29 by the end of 2027. They are set to first fly from Frankfurt to Rio de Janeiro, Bogota, Cape Town, Shanghai, Hyderabad, Hong Kong, and Austin; New York-JFK and Los Angeles join the roster in June, followed by Delhi in July. As part of Lufthansa's greater multibillion-dollar fleet overhaul plan, Allegris is also being fit onto the airline's existing A350s and Boeing 747-8s, as well as its future, yet-to-be-certified Boeing 777Xs. A similar spacing issue on the 747 double-deckers' upper level means it will have a split business class: the lower deck will have Allegris, while upstairs will feature the plane's original cabin. Read the original article on Business Insider

Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images OpenAI hired the creator of OpenClaw, Peter Steinberger. The news made waves in the AI community. Some AI leaders took to X to celebrate the news, and others expressed concern. OpenAI announced on Sunday it had hired Peter Steinberger, the creator of OpenClaw. Within hours, the news sent ripples across the AI community, drawing praise from some executives, jabs from rivals, and a flood of memes from engineers watching the talent wars unfold. Steinberger wrote in a blog post shared on X Sunday that he was "joining OpenAI to work on bringing agents to everyone." OpenAI CEO Sam Altman amplified the news, writing that "the future is going to be extremely multi-agent." Peter Steinberger is joining OpenAI to drive the next generation of personal agents. He is a genius with a lot of amazing ideas about the future of very smart agents interacting with each other to do very useful things for people. We expect this will quickly become core to our… — Sam Altman (@sama) February 15, 2026 In response to the news, several OpenAI leaders welcomed Steinberger. Thibault Sottiaux, an engineering lead on OpenAI's Codex team, wrote that "@steipete is proof you can just build things." @steipete is proof you can just build things — Tibo (@thsottiaux) February 15, 2026 Another Codex engineer posted that one of the "neat" parts of OpenAI's culture is how many former founders work there. One thing @steipete and I talked about over lunch last week was how many former founders are at OpenAI. It’s a really neat part of the culture. — Andrew Ambrosino (@ajambrosino) February 16, 2026 Steinberger told Lex Friedman in a podcast last week that both Mark Zuckerberg and Altman had made him offers. OpenClaw and its agent-only social media network Moltbook became wildly popular earlier this year as developers and AI enthusiasts shared clips of autonomous AI agents posting, replying, and interacting online. The open-source project, which demonstrates how networks of AI agents can coordinate to perform tasks across apps, also rapidly gained traction on GitHub. After Steinberger's announcement on Sunday, some of the people who worked on OpenClaw commented on the news. "I know the decision was not an easy one, and I saw firsthand the pressure Peter was under, given that he understands how fundamental this could be for the AI timeline," Jamieson O'Reilly, an OpenClaw advisor, wrote on X in a post congratulating Steinberger. One thing has become very clear to me working together with @steipete on @openclaw. While lots of people spectate from the sidelines, sharing their opinions, concerns and even hot takes at times, the dude is there, vigilantly on the front-lines pushing AI forward for every one… https://t.co/fe5OEKgevm — Jamieson O'Reilly (@theonejvo) February 16, 2026 Aaron Levie, the CEO of Box, said it was a sign "2026 was the year of the agents." If anyone was wondering if 2026 was the year of agents, OpenAI is bringing on the maker of Openclaw. This space is about to get very real. https://t.co/ocqX4kE9PT — Aaron Levie (@levie) February 15, 2026 Not everyone in the tech space was as enthusiastic about the news. XAI cofounder Igor Babuschkin asked users on X: "What's the best open alternative to OpenClaw right now? Doesn't make sense to put all your data into it if it's owned by OpenAI." PayPal mafia member Jason Calacanis expressed similar concerns. 😔 what are the chances the open source project survives / thrives after this? https://t.co/4sUZkKWkGh — @jason (@Jason) February 15, 2026 Steinberger and OpenAI have said that OpenClaw will remain an open-source project with OpenAI's support. Other experts in the space pointed out that OpenAI's win could be a loss for Anthropic, especially after Steinberger wrote on X that Anthropic sent "love letters from legal." "Another interesting detail is Anthropic's visible disdain for anything open source: their only contribution to this was legal threats," George Orosz, a tech industry analyst and author of the tech newsletter The Pragmatic Engineer, wrote on X. Kris Puckett, a designer at Stripe, expressed a similar sentiment Instead of @AnthropicAI getting Claudebot, they rushed legal to send a C&D and lost out on not only brilliant talent but community drive. Truly would love to know the decision making process. — Kris Puckett (@krispuckett) February 16, 2026 Raphael Schaad, a visiting partner at Y Combinator, said, "I bet this causes lots of VC tears." I bet this causes lots of VC tears and angry OSS folks. But think about this: - Peter showed the future and lots of awesome startups are starting to bloom from this. Invest in those! - Peter created one of the most exciting OSS projects in years. The community is vibrant and… https://t.co/RFWwfXU9Lz — Raphael Schaad (@raphaelschaad) February 15, 2026 And finally, some X power users did what they do best: posted memes about the news. Was expecting this one in replies pic.twitter.com/bfcZt3Ugg6 — Tibor Blaho (@btibor91) February 15, 2026 Read the original article on Business Insider

Scott DeRue is CEO of The Ironman Group. Ironman Scott DeRue is the CEO of The Ironman Group. The Ironman Group is the largest operator of participation sports, including the Ironman race. DeRue shared his daily routine, which includes fitness training and binging "Schitt's Creek." This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Scott DeRue, CEO of The Ironman Group. The Ironman Group is the largest operator of global participation sports events, including the Ironman Triathlon Series, City2Surf, and the Epic Series mountain bike races. This story has been edited for length and clarity. I've had a pretty eclectic path, but there's a singular throughline of purpose that runs through it. I love creating experiences that transform people's lives for the better. I went into private equity, investment banking, and consulting after college. I developed a passion for the role business can play in society. Education, though, changed my life, so I took a big step back and said, "If I want to live a life of purpose, how might I do that?" A business school professor sounded like a pretty big gig. I joined the University of Michigan's faculty in 2007. Ultimately, I was on faculty for 14 years and served as dean of the business school at Michigan. Scott DeRue often exercises in the mornings or evenings, depending on his schedule. Ironman During that time, I joined the Equinox board as one of three independent directors. I fell in love with the brand, the team, the community, and really saw a sense of purpose behind it. It's really about unlocking and maximizing people's potential in life through health and fitness. When the pandemic happened, the board asked if I would join full-time and serve as president. We did a lot of great work, and I'm really proud of the team and what we built there. Then, Ironman called and asked if I would serve as CEO. We get to make people's dreams come true, so it's the same purpose, just a different vehicle. We're headquartered in Tampa, Florida, but my wife and I also have a place in Park City, Utah. Business Insider's Power Hours series gives readers an inside look at how powerful leaders in business structure their workday. Reach out to editor Lauryn Haas to share your daily routine. I wake up between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. I care deeply about my sleep, so I aim for about 8 hours a night and wake up between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. We're a global business, so some mornings I need to start early because we have teams in different time zones. Depending on the day, I'll either train in the morning or in the evening. For the last 17 years — usually once a year — I would climb a really big mountain. If I'm training for a mountain, it's a lot of running and lifting weights. I typically live in flat areas except for Utah, so I spend a lot of time on the StairMaster with my weighted pack. Last year, I finally finished the Seven Summits Quest, which is climbing the tallest mountain on each continent. If I'm training for a trail run in the mountains, I try to get out there as much as possible. If I'm in Florida, I just run long distances. If I'm training for a triathlon, then it's swim, bike, and run. I usually sit down every weekend and map out when I want to train vis-à-vis my work schedule that week. I usually have a Kashi cereal, a yogurt, and some fruit for breakfast. I'm not a big caffeine guy. I love the smell, don't like the taste. I arrive at work around 7:30 a.m. and take time to map out my day I'm usually at the office by 7:30 in the morning. I tend to drive when I'm in Tampa since it's more of a commuter city. In Park City, I keep a small office I can either drive to or walk to. Sometimes an early morning meeting is inevitable, but I like to sit down for about an hour to map out the two or three things I need to achieve to make it a great day. There's going to be a lot that happens during the day, but for me, I try to be very intentional. If you jump into every urgent matter, you'll never actually focus on what's important, and your team will come to expect you to engage in every matter. That's not healthy for me in my role or for them. In many, if not most, cases, they're better equipped to handle that matter than I am because I don't have the experience in the specific domain. My job is to create an environment and empower them to be successful. In the morning, Scott DeRue tries to map out two or three things he must achieve each day. Ironman I sometimes have untraditional morning meetings I have a lot of meetings during the day. It really depends on the day, and the stakeholders are varied, but they're not always your traditional meetings. This week, we're at the Iron Man World Championship in Hawaii. We organized a run for some of the partners, spouses, and coaches of some of our professional athletes this morning. Basically, a group of friends got together and went for a run. That's not a traditional meeting, but I learned a lot and gathered some good feedback on what we're doing well, so we can keep doing more of that and identify where we can continue to improve. My favorite lunch spot is in Utah Typically, I have a sandwich for lunch — nothing too fancy. My favorite sandwich in the world is the Crazy Chicken at the Clockwork Cafe in Park City, Utah. If I'm training for something specific, I'll supplement my diet with a smoothie and other supplements to get additional nutrients. Surprises can happen throughout the day We're in the live events business. There's always a surprise, and that surprise can come in many different forms. You come to expect the unexpected. But we have an incredible team with tremendous experience. I have a lot of trust in our team because they're the best in the business and can adapt to address issues that come up. Frankly, I don't get thrown off balance that much because our team is so talented, committed, and capable of handling matters as they come up. I typically go home around 7 p.m. Scott DeRue. Ironman Usually, I'll leave around 7 p.m. if it's a day in the office. If it's an event day, we can start at 4 a.m. and go to bed around 2 a.m. the next day. For dinner, my wife and I love to cook out, and fortunately, we live in places where we can do so for most of the year. Typically, some good chicken, rice, and vegetables on the grill is always a good one for us. If I'm training that evening, I'll run, and my wife will ride her bike next to me. That's our quality time. We also have two chocolate labs, so we'll play with them in the backyard or take them for a walk. Later, we'll watch television. We've got a few shows that we like together, typically in the realm of comedy. One of our favorite shows we binged together was "Schitt's Creek." I had never actually watched "Friends," which mortified my wife, so we binged that for a while. We like shows that bring a smile to our faces and give us a little bit of humor to end the day. We're usually in bed by 9:30 p.m. or so. I'm asleep by 10. Read the original article on Business Insider

Lisa Werner/Getty Images Gen Z now leads restaurant loyalty signups, reshaping rewards programs. Survey data shows that diners will switch brands for better, faster loyalty perks. QSR giants are doubling down on digital rewards to win Gen Z — and it's paying off. Gen Z isn't just signing up for restaurant loyalty programs. They're raising the bar for how those programs have to work. By 2024, nearly half of all new loyalty program signups came from Gen Z as the cohort overtook millennials as the most active generation in restaurant rewards programs for the first time, according to data from PAR Punchh, a loyalty program software from the foodservice tech company PAR Technology. That number has only increased as more and more of the generation, aged 14-29, start flexing their spending power. "Gen Z isn't just participating," Savneet Singh, PAR's CEO, told Business Insider. "They're redefining loyalty." National data backs up just how central these programs have become for this generation. Gen Z consumers make up a higher-than-average share of restaurant customers who say being a member of a loyalty or rewards program is important when choosing where to eat, the National Restaurant Association's 2026 State of the Restaurant Industry report showed. That holds true across dining behaviors — whether they're eating in, ordering delivery, or grabbing takeout — and across segments, from drive-thru and limited-service chains to full-service restaurants. Singh argues that the generational takeover is structural, not cyclical. Gen Z grew up with smartphones and came of age during a pandemic that turbocharged mobile ordering and digital payments. For them, digital ordering, real-time rewards, and seamless app experiences aren't just perks — they're table stakes. "When loyalty is frictionless, Gen Z shows up," Singh said. "When it's clunky, they move on immediately." Rewards programs are no longer optional New survey data from PAR underscores the significance of loyalty programs for consumers. In a December report based on a survey of 1,000 US diners, nearly 70% said loyalty programs help them manage costs in today's inflationary environment. One-third said they're using restaurant loyalty programs more often because of economic pressure, and another third said their usage has held steady. A good deal from a rewards program can make all the difference. One in four respondents said they'd switch to a less-preferred restaurant for better loyalty perks, and half said they compare offers before deciding where to eat. How restaurants respond to that demand defines which formats resonate most with younger diners. PAR's platform data shows Gen Z over-indexing at quick-service restaurants like McDonald's and Taco Bell. In 2024, they accounted for more than a third of check-ins at QSR brands, compared with 20.8% at fast-casual restaurants like Chipotle and Panera Bread. Singh said the appeal is execution: speed, price, convenience, and integrated loyalty perks in one place. Fast casual establishments, by contrast, can sit in "an awkward middle ground" — not as convenient as QSRs and not as experiential as full-service dining. In a crowded landscape where PAR found that over half of consumers prefer managing no more than five loyalty accounts, clear value and seamless execution can determine which brands make the cut. And the chains that embrace the generational trend are already seeing the payoff. Taco Bell delivered 7% same-store sales growth in the fourth quarter, driven in part by transaction gains, especially among younger customers. The Mexican chain's active loyalty members climbed 31% in 2025, and digital channels saw double-digit growth, as app-exclusive drops and rewards nudged its core customers to visit more often. CEO Sean Tresvant told Business Insider earlier this month that "loyalty is going to continue to be a big story for us," adding that Taco Bell will be "really leaning into" its rewards strategy going forward. McDonald's is also leaning heavily into digital engagement. On its fourth-quarter earnings call on Wednesday, CFO Ian Borden described active loyalty membership as the company's "single most important digital metric." McDonald's has about 210 million 90-day active loyalty users across 70 markets, and 46 million active users in the US, he added. Borden said that, in the US, customers visited 10 and a half times in the year before joining the loyalty program — and 26 times in the year after. "When we get consumers into our loyalty program, they visit more often, they spend more over time, and they interact with us more frequently, so they get more value in their interaction with us, and we get more value by them interacting with us," Borden said. Starbucks also recently revamped its rewards program, bringing back its tiered system, extending the window for members to redeem their free birthday reward, and introducing a quicker-to-earn tier that lets customers redeem 60 Stars for $2 off any purchase — a move that lowers the barrier to instant gratification, which Singh said is particularly appealing to Gen Z. That kind of immediacy matters. PAR's survey found that discounts and free items or upgrades remain the most influential rewards, while more than half of respondents said better reward value, such as a surprise free item after a large order, would prompt them to switch programs. For Singh, the takeaway is clear: loyalty is less about points and more about performance. The brands that make participation effortless, deliver instant value, and respect privacy boundaries won't just win Gen Z — they'll define the next era of dining. Read the original article on Business Insider

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Yerin Ha as Sophie Baek in "Bridgerton." Liam Daniel/Netflix Yerin Ha spoke to Business Insider about the intimacy scenes in season four of "Bridgerton." She said she loved the way the show changed…

Megan Hogan, Goldman Sachs' chief diversity officer, exited the firm in recent weeks to take a role with Morgan Stanley that's set to begin this spring, Business Insider has learned. Courtesy of Goldman Sachs Goldman's top diversity and inclusion official has taken a job with Morgan Stanley, sources said. Megan Hogan was previously the chief diversity officer and global co-head of talent at Goldman. Hogan's exit comes as Wall Street pulls back from diversity pledges under the Trump administr...

A Business Insider reporter shares her experiences and observations from her first visit to Vancouver, British Columbia, highlighting seven surprising aspects of the Canadian city.

The author (second from right) moved with her family from Utah to Denver. Courtesy of Katy Anderson Our house was affordable in rural Utah, but we sold it anyway to pay more for a rental in Denver. It was a financially risky move, but it's worked out great for us because we're closer to nature. To help with the increase in housing, we're driving less and canceled subscriptions. Sometimes, a decision doesn't make sense on paper, but it just feels right to your soul. That's what my family's big move was like. Last year, our family of five sold our affordable home in rural southern Utah to move into a more expensive rental in a Denver suburb. We had wanted a change for a long time, and the timing finally felt right. We could've stayed where we were "safe" financially, but all our family members were struggling in different ways. I couldn't shake the feeling that nothing would really get better until we were brave enough to make a big change — so we did. Moving from Utah to Denver was a difficult financial decision One of the hardest parts to accept about moving was leaving our extended family and a house that we had lived in for 13 years. Even more difficult was that our house in Utah was affordable. We were privileged to buy a house when prices were reasonable, and mortgage rates were low. We would have moved a long time ago, but we felt stuck in a home we had outgrown because it was cheap. We knew that if we sold our house, we would be paying a lot more elsewhere. But the decision still felt right for our family. We figured Denver was worth the price increase We chose a Denver suburb because we love the outdoors and also miss the opportunities that a city provides. We have friends in the area, so we knew we would have a community once we arrived. The author's kids enjoy Denver's nature. Courtesy of Katy Anderson We chose an area known for its "small town feel." As soon as we moved in, I immediately fell in love with the neighborhood. We are surrounded by an abundance of mature trees, and are within walking distance of wonderful trails for walking and biking. I've been amazed at the wildlife around us, especially considering we live in a Metro area. Just walking the trails in our neighborhood, we've seen rabbits, coyotes, elk, raccoons, turkeys, and many different species of birds. We feel closer to nature here than we did in rural Utah. After living here for a few weeks, we decided to purchase e-bikes so we could ride much farther along the trails, including to coffee shops, restaurants, city gardens, and parks. This area also provides us with access to shopping, museums, concerts, and sporting venues. After living in a secluded town for so many years, having these amenities feels like a luxury. We're saving money in other ways Our rent is high in Denver, and that has been the biggest adjustment. Before we made the move, I was also worried about the cost of living, but I have been pleasantly surprised. Our kids even get free school lunch thanks to a statewide Healthy School Meals for All program. My kids have all commented that the food is of better quality. They actually want to eat the school lunches here. We are paying much less for gas in Colorado, as we are driving substantially less. In Utah, we lived on the outskirts of town and had to drive 15 to 20 minutes to get to work or to the nearest grocery store. When we moved to Colorado, we also immediately ended most of our subscriptions and streaming services. We've cut down on our discretionary spending and are eating more family meals at home. We also chose jobs that would help us adjust to our new housing costs We knew we would be paying more for housing no matter where we moved, so we chose a location with ample work opportunities. My husband is a psychiatric nurse practitioner, and I have picked up a part time job in addition to my freelance writing business. We are all making more money in Colorado than we could in Utah, where the minimum wage is still $7.25 per hour. Two of my teenage sons were amazed when they realized how much more they could earn in their new city. Right now, we are enjoying the freedom of renting. Buying a home in this economy feels daunting, and we want to take our time exploring Colorado to see where we may want to buy if it feels right. For now, I am grateful that my kids have a chance to experience living in a bigger city with more diversity and opportunities. Overall, I feel like we fit in here in a way that we never did in our old town, and that is priceless. Read the original article on Business Insider

Al Drago/Bloomberg This post originally appeared in the Business Insider Today newsletter. You can sign up for Business Insider's daily newsletter here. Call it De-Liberation Day. The Supreme Court

Alyssa Powell/BI Meet the up-and-coming marketing power players of 2026. These rising leaders are driving growth for brands like Meta and Coca-Cola. They're mastering tech like generative AI and creating inspiring work to reach new audiences. The next generation of marketing leaders is helping brands navigate an industry being rocked by new tech and a changing competitive landscape. Business Insider is highlighting 16 rising stars who are looking to take the industry to new heights. They're...

Non-monogamy comes with its own challenges, Dr. Justin R. Garcia, the executive director of the Kinsey Institute, told Business Insider. Hinterhaus Productions/Getty Images Dr. Justin R. Garcia, head of the Kinsey Institute, said non-monogamy has gotten more popular. However, he said open relationships and polyamory tend not to work for most people. Some find non-monogamy to be too much work in practice. Open relationships have gotten a cultural glow-up among younger adults. In practice, th...

Google's AI boss Demis Hassabis said the memory market came down to "a few suppliers of a few key components." PONTUS LUNDAHL/TT NEWS AGENCY/AFP via Getty Images Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis said that the "whole supply chain" for memory chips is constrained. "You need a lot of chips to be able to experiment on new ideas," Hassabis told CNBC. Google produces its own TPUs, but Hassabis said that there were still "key components" that were supply-constrained. The memory shortage takes no prisoners. Even Google isn't immune. AI companies are duking it out for greater and greater quantities of memory chips. The problem? The industry is heavily supply-constrained. Costs have skyrocketed, products have been tied up, and some companies — especially those in consumer electronics — are increasing prices. On the AI front, Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis told CNBC that physical challenges were "constraining a lot of deployment." Google sees "so much more demand" for Gemini and its other models than it could serve, he said. "Also, it does constrain a little bit the research," Hassabis said. "You need a lot of chips to be able to experiment on new ideas at a big enough scale that you can actually see if they're going to work." Researchers want chips, whether they work at Google, Meta, OpenAI, or other Big Tech companies, and memory is a key component. Mark Zuckerberg said that AI researchers demanded two things beyond money: the fewest number of people reporting to them, and the most chips possible. Hassabis said that wherever there was a capacity constraint, there was a "choke point." "The whole supply chain is kind of strained," Hassabis said. "We're lucky, because we have our own TPUs, so we have our own chip designs." Google has long built TPUs — Tensor Processing Units — for internal use. The company also leases them to external customers through its cloud, which has also put Nvidia on edge. But even access to their own TPUs won't save Google from having to navigate the highly competitive memory market. "It still, in the end, actually comes down to a few suppliers of a few key components," Hassabis said. Three suppliers dominate memory chip production: Samsung, Micron, and SK Hynix. These companies are struggling to meet demand for chips from AI hyperscalers without dropping their longtime electronics customers. It doesn't help that AI companies mainly want a different type of memory chip than PC manufacturers do. Large language model producers want HBM (high-bandwidth memory) chips. Don't expect Google's spending on AI infrastructure and chips to go down anytime soon. On its fourth-quarter earnings call, the company projected capital expenditures of $175 billion to $185 billion for 2026. Read the original article on Business Insider

Ratel Robotics said it had adapted one of its ground robot models to carry and launch fiber-optic drones. Ratel Robotics A Ukrainian arms maker said one of its ground robots can now launch fiber-optic aerial drones. It said the robot can launch them closer to the front without putting operators at risk. "Everything is as safe as possible for all people performing this mission," the CEO told Business Insider. A Ukrainian arms company says it has modified one of its ground robots to carry and launch unjammable fiber-optic drones. Ukrainian forces can put the drones in the air closer to the front without exposing pilots. Ratel Robotics shared a video this week of its Ratel H model robot equipped with a protected box. In the clip, the launcher opens up and releases a small drone connected to a fiber-optic cable. The uncrewed ground vehicle functions as a mobile launch point. CEO Taras Ostapchuk told Business Insider the "ground robot becomes like a base station" for the up to four drones that it can carry. Those bases are typically human-operated launch points, where pilots need to be closer to danger to put the drone in the air. Ostapchuk said that the ground robot can drop off operators at a safe location and then continue toward the front to launch the drones. The operators remotely controlling it and the fiber-optic drones can hang back "in the safest place possible." The aim is that "everything is as safe as possible for all people performing this mission," the CEO said. Fiber-optic drones, which receive signals by a thin cable rather than radio links, have become central to the war because they can't be jammed by electronic warfare like other drones — though their range is limited and the cable can be cut or snagged. Fiber-optic drones can't be jammed by electronic warfare. Kostiantyn Liberov/Libkos/Getty Images It is unclear how many of Ratel Robotics' systems have been adapted for this mission or whether they are already in the field. Drone carriers are not necessarily a new concept. For instance, Ukrainian soldiers say Russia is using its medium-sized strike drones to fly smaller drones into battle like "an aircraft carrier." Ground robots account for only a small share of Ukraine's drone missions, but the technology is becoming more prolific. New Ukrainian defense minister Mykhailo Fedorov said this week that Ukrainian forces carried out more than 7,000 combat and logistics missions with ground robotic systems in January. He added that production and upgrades are accelerating. Ukraine uses its fleet of ground robots for many different missions, including carrying ammunition and gear, evacuating wounded soldiers, laying mines, demining, firing on Russian positions, and exploding near targets. Ukraine uses robots for a host of uses, including firing at Russian positions and carrying wounded troops. Serhii Mykhalchuk/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images The Ratel H can carry more than 880 pounds and can travel more than 37 miles. The company says it is multipurpose, able to transport cargo and evacuate wounded soldiers. The robot can also be equipped with weaponry and electronic warfare systems. The West is paying close attention to Ukraine's fight, seeking to learn lessons about what it would need to fight Russia. Ground robots are drawing close scrutiny in the West. Western militaries have fielded similar systems, but not at this scale or across so many roles, and Ukrainian companies are pushing the technology forward. Read the original article on Business Insider

Jared Isaacman. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman blasted the "troubling" failures of the Boeing Starliner mission. In a letter to NASA staff, he said it wasn't initially deemed a mishap due to reputational concerns. A report into the mission found "unprofessional behavior," including yelling in meetings. The head of NASA sent a scathing letter to employees on Thursday, outlining the failures of the botched Boeing Starliner mission that left a pair of astronauts stuck in space. Jared Isaacman slammed "design and engineering deficiencies" but said the "most troubling failure" was decision-making and leadership. "If left unchecked, [it] could create a culture incompatible with human spaceflight," he added. The mission took place in June 2024, flying two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station. However, helium leaks saw Starliner's thrusters malfunction. The mission was supposed to last eight days, but the pair ultimately spent over 90 days in space before returning to Earth on a SpaceX flight. "We returned the crew safely, but the path we took did not reflect NASA at its best," Isaacman told staff. Also on Thursday, the incident was formally designated as a "Type A mishap" — the most severe level, on par with the Columbia and Challenger Space Shuttle disasters. NASA defines such mishaps as those causing more than $2 million in failure costs, the loss of a vehicle or its control, or deaths. However, a mishap was not initially declared for Starliner, despite a loss of control and, according to Isaacman, "cost thresholds exceeding a Type A mishap by a factor of one hundred," implying a loss of at least $200 million. This decision was influenced by "concern for the Starliner program's reputation," he added. Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, before boarding Starliner in June 2024. MIGUEL J. RODRIGUEZ CARRILLO/AFP via Getty Images Isaacman's letter wasn't entirely gloomy. He praised the "extraordinary professionalism" of controllers and crew who recovered control of the spacecraft and achieved docking with the International Space Station. "At that moment, had different decisions been made, had thrusters not been recovered, or had docking been unsuccessful, the outcome of this mission could have been very different," he added. 'Unprofessional behavior' included 'yelling in meetings' The letter coincided with the publication of the report into the Starliner mission. It's over 300 pages long and details the engineering and cultural problems. Investigators said there were "times of unprofessional behavior" as NASA and Boeing butted heads on how to bring the astronauts home. "There was yelling in meetings," one interviewee said. "It was emotionally charged and unproductive." Another said they heard safety engineers being berated "off muted mics." "It was probably the ugliest environment that I've been in," said another. The report listed three root causes for the debacle. Firstly, it said NASA had a "hands-off approach" to setting up the contract, leading to insufficient oversight of Boeing's design and testing. Then, Boeing didn't verify the propulsion system across all environments and use cases during the design phase, leaving Starliner exposed to conditions for which it wasn't properly certified, the report said. Lastly, it said the culture at NASA's Commercial Crew Program led to greater acceptance of technical risk and a reluctance to fully challenge Boeing's analyses. Isaacman said that NASA will continue working with Boeing. "But to be clear: NASA will not fly another crew on Starliner until technical causes are understood and corrected, the propulsion system is fully qualified, and appropriate investigation recommendations are implemented," he added. In a statement, Boeing said it was "grateful" to NASA for its "thorough investigation." "In the 18 months since our test flight, Boeing has made substantial progress on corrective actions for technical challenges we encountered and driven significant cultural changes across the team that directly align with the findings in the report." Read the original article on Business Insider

Bloomberg/Getty Images Blue Owl Capital failed to secure financing for a $4 billion data center project in Pennsylvania. One lender said the lack of interest was due to CoreWeave's creditworthiness. AI data center investments face financing challenges due to concerns about credit risk. Blue Owl Capital, a leading investor in the data center boom, was unable to arrange financing for a $4 billion data center it is co-developing in Pennsylvania after pitching lenders to help bankroll the project in recent months. The facility, 80 miles west of Philadelphia in the city of Lancaster, will be occupied by CoreWeave, a provider of artificial intelligence cloud computing services that has become a closely watched name in the AI race for its rapid expansion — and the billions of dollars of high-interest-rate debt it has taken on to fuel that growth. An executive who arranges debt for major data center deals told Business Insider that the lack of interest in the Lancaster project was due to growing caution among lenders and investors about taking on sizable exposures to AI players with less-than-sterling credit. CoreWeave has a below-investment-grade rating of B+, according to S&P Global Ratings. "We saw it. We passed," a senior executive at a large specialty lender told Business Insider. The financing executive and the lender did not want to be identified because they were speaking about an industry name they may seek to do business with. A spokesman for Blue Owl said that the company had "considered" third-party financing for the Lancaster project "as we would with any transaction as we explore alternatives before choosing the most attractive path forward." The spokesman added that the project, which he said is already under construction, "is fully funded, on time, and on budget." It is unclear whether Blue Owl has been funding construction entirely from its own capital. If Blue Owl is unable to raise debt for the Lancaster development, it could be on the hook for a potentially huge outlay of cash to pay for the data center's construction. The situation shows the complications and risks involved in financing the massive buildout of infrastructure for AI computing. Brennan Hawken, an equity analyst at BMO Capital Markets who covers Blue Owl, said that difficulties to raise debt for the Lancaster project would raise concern. "I'm not familiar with this deal, but if there is a struggle to find the debt financing, that's a bit of a red flag that I would want to drill into," Hawken said. Business Insider previously reported that major banks had recent difficulty selling off pieces of $38 billion of debt to finance the construction of two data center campuses that will be anchored by Oracle. Banks often sell pieces of such large commitments to other lenders to spread risk and also reap a quick profit. The slowdown in interest in participating in that financing was due to worries about Oracle's enormous AI spending and whether the tech company's credit rating could be impacted by those outlays. Oracle has since sought to calm the lending market, announcing that it would raise up to $50 billion of cash from stock and bond offerings in order to "maintain a solid investment-grade balance sheet." One of the boom's most creative financiers Last summer, CoreWeave announced it would lease 100 megawatts of initial capacity at the Lancaster data center and potentially expand its commitment to 300 megawatts. The company said it would pour up to $6 billion into the project to equip it with chips and other cloud infrastructure. A month later, in August, Chirisa Technology Parks announced it would partner with Blue Owl and Machine Investment Group to develop the project. The partnership said it would provide $4 billion of funding, an amount separate from CoreWeave's investment, to support the construction of the project's data center facilities. In the fall, Blue Owl began shopping the development to potential lenders, a person familiar with that effort said. Blue Owl has been one of the most creative financial architects of the data center building boom. Last year, it structured a deal to partner with Meta in the ownership of a large data center campus that Meta will build and operate in Louisiana. Blue Owl utilized Meta's strong credit to raise $27.3 billion of investment-grade corporate bonds against its share of the project's equity, proceeds that will be used to help pay for construction, according to S&P. Blue Owl could arrange a similar type of vehicle that could attempt to tap the credit of an investment-grade customer of CoreWeave's who might use the Lancaster facility or Nvidia, the chipmaker that has purchased large stakes in CoreWeave. It could also potentially raise cash for construction debt by tapping large institutional investor clients to pool together a loan, Hawken said. Much of the development of hyperscale data center campuses has sought to utilize the strong credit ratings and deep pockets of big-tech partners. Fluidstack, a peer of CoreWeave's, announced a deal last year to lease a 168-megawatt data center in Colorado City, Texas, which will be built by the crypto mining firm Cipher. Google, Fluidstack's tenant for the project, said it would guarantee about half of the $3 billion due under the 10-year lease. Fluidstack signed another similar-sized lease in December with the data center builder TeraWulf that will also provide "investment-grade credit support." Read the original article on Business Insider

AI demand is boosting unexpected Japanese companies — including a toilet maker and a seasoning giant. Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images A toilet maker and seasoning giant are Japan's unlikely winners in the AI boom. Toto, famous for its bidets, has drawn investor attention because it makes key components for memory chips. Food giant Ajinimoto produces an insulating material used in advanced semiconductor packaging. The AI boom isn't just lifting chipmakers and Big Tech. In Japan, it's flushing gains into a toilet manufacturer and a seasoning giant. As demand for AI chips surges, investors are piling into companies that sit inside the semiconductor supply chain — even if they're better known for bathrooms and soup stock. Toilet maker Toto, famous for its high-tech bidets and heated seats, has drawn investor attention. The company makes electrostatic chucks, which are critical components used in the production of NAND memory chips. Memory prices have climbed sharply in recent months, driven by AI-related demand. Last week, UK-based activist fund Palliser Capital called Toto "the most undervalued and overlooked AI memory beneficiary," according to reports by Bloomberg and the Financial Times. After news broke on Tuesday that Palliser Capital had taken a stake and was pushing Toto to promote its chip-parts business, the toilet maker's stock jumped more than 5%. Its shares are up more than 54% over the past year. It's not just Toto. Japanese food giant Ajinomoto, better known for its umami seasonings and soup bases, has become an unlikely AI infrastructure play. The company produces an insulating material used in advanced semiconductor packaging. Ajinomoto's latest financials point to strength beyond its core food business. For the nine months ended December, the company reported an 8.9% rise in net profit, while operating profit increased 5.6% year-on-year. The gains were partly driven by its "Healthcare and Others" segment which includes electronic materials used in semiconductors, the company said in a February earnings statement. After Ajinomoto posted its earnings on February 5, the company's stock rose 13%. Its shares are up more than 56% over the past year. Not all non-tech companies are benefiting equally from the AI boom. Daikin, best known globally for its air conditioners, supplies high-purity chemical materials used in semiconductor manufacturing. It recently trimmed its outlook, citing uncertainty over US tariffs as a drag on demand. The Japanese air conditioning maker reduced its operating profit forecast by about 5% to 413 billion Japanese yen, or $2.6 billion, for the fiscal year ending in March. "Operating profit was significantly affected by the decline in semiconductor demand, decreasing by 44.6% year over year to ¥18,102 million," the company said in its financial report in February. "Net sales of fluoropolymers fell year over year, despite focused Group efforts to capture strong new demand in the data center field, and was due to the stagnation in the construction markets of the United States and China and the significant overall impact of delays in the recovery of semiconductor demand," it added. The company said it plans to cushion the blow through price increases and cost reductions. Daikin's stock dropped as much as 8.4% in Tokyo following its financial results. Read the original article on Business Insider

Business Insider CMO Insider Business Insider Business Insider is launching CMO Insider, a new weekly newsletter delivering a candid look at the forces reshaping marketing. Business Insider's CMO Insider franchise serves as a destination for marketing professionals, combining video interviews, news and trend coverage, and live events. The newsletter will serve as a central pillar of the franchise and the first edition will be sent on March 4th. Written by Business Insider senior correspondent Lara O'Reilly, CMO Insider takes readers inside the power and pressures defining modern marketing by blending scoops, analysis, and insights designed to help CMOs and marketing leaders stay ahead in a rapidly changing industry. O'Reilly's award-winning work has sparked global conversations about leadership in advertising and has revealed the inside stories behind the rise and fall of major adtech companies. She is in constant conversation with CMOs and is closely tracking trends shaping the industry right now, from the explosive growth of the creator economy to the disruptive impact of AI. "Every Wednesday, I'll be opening up my reporter's notebook to share a candid take on what really matters across the modern marketing landscape," O'Reilly said. "With more than a decade of experience reporting on some of the biggest businesses — and biggest personalities — in the space, my CMO Insider newsletter is designed to be your trusty sidekick to help you keep up with an industry that never stays still." During the Cannes Lions Festival, CMO Insider will publish daily, bringing readers in on O'Reilly's on-the-ground conversations and observations. The announcement builds on Business Insider's recent expansion of its newsletter portfolio beyond its flagship Business Insider Today newsletter, including newer offerings such as First Trade, Tech Memo, Work Shift, and Side Hustlers. Read the original article on Business Insider

GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen GameStop GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen channeled Warren Buffett in a fiery post titled "The Hollow Men" on X. He took aim at directors, executives, and managers who collect big money and shirk responsibility. Michael Burry said Cohen has "rougher edges than Buffett," but he's "more modern in approach." Ryan Cohen seems to be doing his best Warren Buffett impression, just like Michael Burry suggested. The billionaire GameStop CEO and Chewy cofounder channeled the legendary investor in a lengthy X post titled "The Hollow Men" on Wednesday. Cohen railed against a "new, parasitic class of corporate bureaucrat: The Risk-Free Insider." He lambasted independent directors who don't dare rock the boat and risk losing their cushy, well-paid jobs. He berated corporate bosses who balk at tying their fortunes to their company's success — they collect big bonuses if its stock price rises, and receive huge payouts if they tank the business and leave. He also chastised managers who avoid accountability by hiring expensive consultants to blame if things don't work out. Cohen labeled those three groups the "hollow men of the boardroom" who "wear the right suits" and "say the right buzzwords" but have little skin in the game. Risking your own bottom line is the "only thing that keeps a business honest," Cohen wrote. He called for a return to an "owner's mentality," where bosses treat shareholders' money as if it were their own. He warned that failure to change would mean "iconic American franchises hollowed out by fees, managed for the benefit of the Insiders, while the true owners — the shareholders — are left holding the bag." Ryan has rougher edges than Buffett, but that just makes him more modern in approach. https://t.co/p0R06M2Ojr — Cassandra Unchained (@michaeljburry) February 18, 2026 Burry shared Cohen's post and wrote: "Ryan has rougher edges than Buffett, but that just makes him more modern in approach." The investor-turned-writer of "The Big Short" fame and GameStop shareholder has been touting the opportunity for Cohen to transform GameStop through acquisitions, drawing parallels to how Buffett reshaped Berkshire Hathaway from a failing textile mill into a $1 trillion conglomerate over six decades. Following Buffett's lead Buffett, who recently stepped down as Berkshire's CEO, has frequently taken aim at crony directors, overpaid executives, and costly consultants. In his shareholder letter for 2019, he bemoaned that many independent directors don't spend a penny of their own money on shares of the companies they're overseeing — and high fees heavily incentivize them to be compliant in the hope of landing additional, lucrative board seats. "When seeking directors, CEOs don't look for pit bulls," Buffett wrote. "It's the cocker spaniel that gets taken home." Buffett joked that he was the "Typhoid Mary of compensation committees," as he'd only ever been appointed to one despite sitting on 18 different boards up to that point. Time and again, Buffett has espoused an owner's mentality, underpinned by having more than 99% of his net worth in Berkshire stock. "We want to make money only when our partners do and in exactly the same proportion," he and the late Charlie Munger wrote in their "Owner's Manual" for Berkshire shareholders. "Moreover, when I do something dumb, I want you to be able to derive some solace from the fact that my financial suffering is proportional to yours," Buffett added. Cohen has diverged from Buffett's playbook in some ways, such as buying bitcoin for GameStop last year, and recently agreeing a compensation package worth tens of billions if he hits certain market-value and profit milestones. But he's also refused a salary as GameStop CEO, built a roughly 9% stake in the video-game retailer, urged frugality across the business, and even modeled its investor-relations website on Berkshire's homepage. Cohen's tirade against the "Risk-Free Insider" is certainly rooted in Buffett's philosophy too, even if he's harsher in his wording as Burry said. Read the original article on Business Insider

John F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, attended the Municipal Art Society Gala in 1998. Richard Corkery/NY Daily News Archive/Getty Images Before her death in a plane crash, Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy was a well-known fashion icon. As the wife of John F. Kennedy Jr., she was frequently photographed at glamorous events. Bessette-Kennedy's style is practically a main character in "Love Story." Arguably, no one can nail classic, "cool-girl" style quite like Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy did. Bessette-Kennedy shot to prominence in the mid to late '90s as the girlfriend and then the wife of John F. Kennedy Jr., the son of former President John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. John F. Kennedy Jr., Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, and her older sister, Lauren Bessette, were killed in a plane crash on July 16, 1999. There were no survivors from the accident, which happened off the coast of Martha's Vineyard. Before her passing, Bessette-Kennedy was known as a fashion icon, thanks to her minimalist outfits, which embodied what we now call the quiet-luxury aesthetic and featured a color palette of mostly black, white, beige, and navy blue. Her personal style is now coming back into the zeitgeist with the release of Ryan Murphy's "Love Story," which chronicles the couple's seven-year relationship. Here are 11 of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy's best, most timeless looks. Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy defied the fashion "rule" that you can't mix black, brown, and beige. John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy stand in front of their apartment in Tribeca. Jon Naso/NY Daily News Archive/Getty Images Pictured here with John F. Kennedy Jr. in front of their Tribeca apartment in New York City, Bessette-Kennedy embodied classic autumnal fashion by pairing patent-leather brown boots with a simple black sweater and a camel-colored, calf-length skirt. She accessorized with an understated black-leather bag and swept her blonde hair back into a low ponytail. Before she married John F. Kennedy Jr., she was a publicist at Calvin Klein, which appeared to influence her personal style. Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy at the Annual Fundraising Gala on March 9, 1999. Evan Agostini/Liaison/Getty Images Bessette-Kennedy knew how to ace perfectly tailored, classic pieces similar to the ones Klein is known for, like this structured white button-up and black mermaid-tail skirt. Vogue called this minimalist look "the epitome of uptown glamour without compromising her pared-back aesthetic." She largely stuck to a basic black palette for formal events. John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy at the Municipal Art Society Gala in 1998. Richard Corkery/NY Daily News Archive/Getty Image Pictured here with her husband at the Municipal Art Society Gala in 1998, Bessette-Kennedy wore a strapless black column gown, velvet gloves, and pointed strappy stiletto heels. However, for an off-duty look, she didn't shun color altogether. Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy in New York City in 1996. Lawrence Schwartzwald/Sygma/Getty Images In 1996, while walking around New York City, she was photographed wearing a flowy summer dress with a bright floral print, black strappy heels, and a black, patent-leather handbag. She looked effortlessly cool in a pair of perfectly tailored jeans and strappy sandals. Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy in New York City in 1996. Lawrence Schwartzwald/Sygma/Getty Images This classic look, from the black sleeveless tank to the brown-and-cream heeled sandals, would still be stylish now. She often accessorized with a pair of sunglasses. Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy walking on Madison Avenue in 1997 Lawrence Schwartzwald/Sygma/Getty Images These rounded black sunglasses paired with a black button-up and green cargo pants epitomized '90s fashion. She was also the master of a classic coat. Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy in January 1997. Lawrence Schwartzwald/Sygma/Getty Images While heading to the airport to catch a flight for Bill Clinton's inauguration in January 1997, Bessette-Kennedy was photographed wearing a camel-colored skirt, black leather boots, and a belted black suede coat. Nothing screams classic New York style like a pair of jeans, a white T-shirt, and a black leather jacket. Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy in October 1996. Lawrence Schwartzwald/Sygma/Getty Images She finished the look with a tortoise-shell headband and a pair of oval sunglasses. Even for events, she leaned into structured outerwear. John F. Kennedy and Carolyn Bessette during "Newman's Own" George Awards at US Customs House in New York City in 1999. Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images When attending the Newman's Own George Awards in 1999, she paired a black coat with ruffled detailing with simple black pants and strappy heels. Even when walking around New York City, she upgraded an otherwise casual look by choosing designer pieces. John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy walk in New York City in 1996. New York Daily News/NY Daily News via Getty Images In this 1996 ensemble, she layered a grey Miu Miu dress beneath a sleek black coat, striking a balance between understated elegance and effortless cool. Tall black boots elongated the silhouette, while a glossy patent-leather bag added a more playful touch. Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy will always be remembered as a fashion icon. John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy in 1997. Brooks Kraft LLC/Sygma/Getty Images Bessette-Kennedy effortlessly blended elegance and simplicity in her fashion, becoming one of the decade's most recognizable style icons. There's no arguing that Bessette-Kennedy, through her iconic minimalist style, made a lasting impact on the fashion world. She showed that while fast-fashion trends come and go, simple elegance lasts forever. Read the original article on Business Insider

After writing about Amazon sellers for years, the author decided to try e-commerce for herself. Kathleen Elkins In early 2025, a friend and I launched a pickleball paddle company with about $10,000. We haven't yet cracked the Amazon code, and the learning curve has gotten expensive. After paying hundreds of dollars in long-term storage fees, we removed a bunch of inventory from Amazon. When Amazon tried to charge my business account $288.56 last month, the payment didn't go through. Instead, I got an "insufficient funds" notification on my phone. Turns out, it's expensive to let inventory — especially "aged inventory" — sit in an Amazon warehouse. The "aged inventory surcharge" quite literally bled my business partner and me dry. By February 2026, our business bank account balance sat just above $6. Kathleen Elkins Let me back up. In 2024, inspired by the successful e-commerce entrepreneurs and Amazon sellers I write about, I decided to start my own business. I convinced a friend to join me, and we each put in $5,000 from our own savings to launch a pickleball paddle company. We hired my high school English teacher to design our logo, we worked with a sourcing company to find a manufacturer, and we spent about a year developing our paddle before placing our first inventory order in early 2025. The minimum order quantity was 500 units. We shipped 250 paddles to ourselves in Los Angeles and sent the other 250 to Amazon. The plan was to run a hybrid Shopify-Amazon model while we figured out who our typical customer was. That was advice from an e-commerce industry veteran. He told us that, on Shopify, we'd earn better margins because there are fewer platform fees, but we'd have to generate our own traffic through social media, ads, and word of mouth. On Amazon, we'd sacrifice margin, but gain visibility. As he put it: "Amazon is guaranteed traffic. There's a guaranteed flow of people who are going to see your product every single day." After a year, we haven't cracked the Amazon code, and the learning curve has gotten expensive. Among the various Amazon seller fees is an "aged inventory surcharge." It's charged on units stored in its fulfillment network for 181 days or more, in addition to its standard monthly storage fees. The surcharge increases the longer your inventory sits. Items aged 181 to 210 days cost $0.50 per cubic foot. At 211 to 240 days, it jumps to $1 per cubic foot. Our inventory, sitting in the 331- to 365-day range, costs $5.90 per cubic foot. We didn't fully understand the cost structure until it started hitting our bank account. Here's a screenshot from our Amazon seller account showing our service fees between November 2025 and February 2026. Kathleen Elkins Last month, we owed nearly $300 in service fees — much more than we were bringing in in sales. Rather than continue to see that number climb (items aged 456 days or more would cost us $7.90 per cubic foot or $0.35 per unit, whichever is greater), we decided to pull most of our inventory out of Amazon. The removal process took five minutes. We submitted a removal order for about 200 paddles, and were surprised when 40 of our units arrived on my doorstep the next day. According to Amazon's website, removal orders can take 90 days or more to process before leaving a fulfillment center, plus another two weeks for delivery. We're still waiting on the rest of the inventory, and we haven't fully escaped fees. There's a removal fee, which is charged per unit and based on the unit's shipping weight, that we expect to show up on our next statement. Plus, the 30 or so paddles that we left in Amazon's warehouse will trigger storage fees. We don't want to abandon Amazon entirely; we just don't have the time and resources to dedicate to figuring out that sales channel. For now, we're shifting our focus to Shopify, in-person events, and wholesale partnerships. If we hit another sales dry spell, at least we won't be paying hundreds of dollars a month just to store our own product. We're not discouraged. It's just one more lesson in our crash course in e-commerce, but it's a big one: Understand the fees. On Amazon, unsold product isn't harmless. It's expensive. Read the original article on Business Insider

James Deering's 1916 winter home is located less than 10 minutes away from the heart of Miami. Robin Hill/Courtesy of Vizcaya Museums and Gardens Vizcaya, built by James Deering more than a century ago, might be Miami's most valuable real estate. The 45,000-square-foot mansion has a total of 54 rooms, with the main house open to the public. Citadel CEO Ken Griffin began assembling a waterfront compound next to the historic mansion in 2022. The exorbitant price tags on Miami's luxury real estate are not a secret to anyone, least of all the flock of billionaires moving to the city. But unlike the high-rise apartments in the financial center of Brickell or exclusive mansions in Indian Creek — where you might be neighbors with Jeff Bezos or Ivanka Trump — the city's potentially most valuable piece of real estate is decorated with limestone, mangroves, and tiles salvaged from Cuban estates. Built between 1914 and 1922 by International Harvester heir and Gilded Age millionaire James Deering as a winter home, Villa Vizcaya sits fewer than 10 minutes from downtown Miami, in a waterfront neighborhood that's quickly becoming a magnet for the city's new billionaire residents. While built in the years following the Gilded Age, it is notable for its Gilded Age-era extravagance, technologies, and collection of fine art. Vizcaya Museum & Gardens estimates the mansion cost $26 million to build, which is more than $800 million in today's money, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Florida International University estimates that the mansion is worth over $1 billion today. In 1962, Miami-Dade County bought the property for $1 million, and today, the 45,000-square-foot mansion and its surrounding gardens operate as a museum open to the public. Shortly after announcing that Citadel would move its headquarters from Chicago to Miami, CEO Ken Griffin bought up a waterfront compound less than a half-mile from Vizcaya, in the neighborhood of Coconut Grove. The $106.9 million sale set a country record for the most expensive residential property purchase at the time. Since then, the hedge fund magnate has proposed relocating the historic Villa Serena mansion, located on his estate, to Vizcaya's campus after he donated $20 million to Vizcaya Museum and Gardens. Take a look inside James Deering's historic mansion and see how its new neighbor could alter the surrounding landscape. Vizcaya was James Deering's winter home from 1916 until his death in 1925. Robin Hill Photography/Courtesy of Vizcaya Museum & Gardens Struggling with illness toward the end of his life, James Deering came to Miami, then a small city surrounded by mangrove forests and wetlands, looking for tropical warmth, which was believed to help improve health. By the turn of the century, the Deering family had begun to develop estates around South Florida, with patriarch William Deering purchasing a home in Coconut Grove in 1900. By the time James Deering began building Vizcaya, his brother, Charles Deering, was also developing a winter home in the south of Miami. The property, known today as Deering Estate, also operates as a museum and is open to the public. The main house features 54 rooms, including 34 rooms decorated with their original furniture. Kristine Villarroel/Business Insider Spanning over 45,225 square feet, Vizcaya's main house features the living spaces of James Deering himself, his guests, and the house staff. Envisioned by interior designer Paul Chalfin, Vizcaya drew inspiration from the Italian Renaissance, adapted to South Florida's subtropical climate, and showcases furniture, artworks, and artifacts purchased by Chalfin and Deering on their travels to Europe. Although Miami's population was estimated to be only 10,000 in 1916, the construction of the Vizcaya estate employed an estimated 1,000 workers, many of whom were Black immigrants from the Bahamas. Apart from the main house, Vizcaya is also home to the Vizcaya Village, the historic quarters of the mansion's workers and farmers that allowed Vizcaya to serve as a self-sufficient farm-to-table estate. The Village expands over 12 acres and includes 11 "architecturally significant" buildings, according to the museum's website. The tour begins in the courtyard, which is adorned with tropical plants. Kristine Villarroel/Business Insider Lined with tropical plants such as palms and philodendrons, the courtyard highlights South Florida's natural beauty while reflecting the mansion's European inspirations. While today the courtyard is covered by a glass canopy that allows for the estate's air conditioning, it was originally open to the elements, allowing the tropical climate to seep into the main house. Meant to be used as Vizcaya's main entrance, the East Loggia opens up to the Biscayne Bay. Kristine Villarroel/Business Insider Featuring marble floors and columns and decorated ceilings, the East Loggia was meant to serve as Vizcaya's main entrance for guests arriving by sea, which was Deering's intended — and preferred — way of entering the mansion. It was used as an entrance for guests who arrived by boat, while the current main entrance of the museum was used as a back entrance for guests arriving by car. The room also features a model boat hanging from its ceiling in honor of the explorers who inspired Deering's interpretation of Vizcaya. Although he began living in Vizcaya during his retirement, Deering included multiple working spaces in the property. Kristine Villarroel/Business Insider James Deering was heir to the International Harvester manufacturing firm, which produced tractors and other agricultural machinery, and he worked as its vice president from 1902 until 1909. Deering might have been one of the first prominent Florida "snowbirds," retirees who travel South during the colder months. His downstairs library, located in the northwest corner of the main house, is steps from the entrance hall that welcomes guests. It features Deering's personal book collection, desks for him and a secretary, and seats for business guests. When closed, the door leading to the next room — a reception room meant for entertaining guests — is concealed within the book-lined walls. The reception room features a ceiling imported from Venice, which had to be resized to fit. Kristine Villarroel/Business Insider The reception room is lined with tropical-inspired silk panels showing palm trees. Our tour guide brought our attention to the ceiling, which is decorated with sculpted panels that extend to the sides of the room. The ceiling was imported from Venice and purchased before construction on the property was finished. By the time workers were putting up the decorations in the mansion, they realized that the ceiling panel did not fit the room dimensions, leading to the restructuring of the panel, which curved into the walls. "We should remember that this house was built during the First World War," curator Flaminia Gennari said in the audio tour. "So to import large quantities from Italy in the middle of the war was very complicated." Vizcaya's telephone line was one of the first in Miami. Kristine Villarroel/Business Insider Wired throughout the house, Vizcaya features a highly innovative telephone system for the time. Only 17 years before the start of Vizcaya's construction, the Miami Telephone Company began providing telephone service to the city. Vizcaya's telephones also featured automatic electric exchange, allowing users to connect directly to the number they dialed without going through a human operator. The telephone room, located between two of Vizcaya's main entertainment rooms, was meant for guests to communicate privately without disturbing the flow of the entertainment. The living room showcased Deering's most impressive collections. Kristine Villarroel/Business Insider The living room, with its 1600s limestone fireplace, features some of Vizcaya's most impressive items, including an "admiral carpet" originally commissioned in the 1450s by the grandfather of King Ferdinand II of Spain, the Spanish king who sponsored Christopher Columbus' exploration of the Americas. The room also features throne-like armchairs where US President Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II sat in 1987 during the Pope's visit to America. A centerpiece of the room is the Welte Philharmonic Organ, designed to fill the house with music through elaborate sound systems. Designed for guests rather than full-time professional players, the organ uses perforated paper rolls to aid the musicians' performance by adjusting notes and volume. Concealing the organ pipes is an oil painting, which was cut in half to cover wooden doors. "Chalfin had the idea of cutting it in half and using it as the doors of the organs, which is not a very respectful thing to do for a representation of the Virgin Mary, the child, and the saints, but it somehow testifies to the freedom and positive carelessness that they had around old objects," Gennari said in the audio tour. The mansion's formal dining room features the house's oldest artifacts, although it was rarely used. Robin Hill Photography/Courtesy of Vizcaya Museum & Gardens While Deering himself didn't often eat in the formal dining room, he made sure it was impressively decorated for his guests. Sitting to the side is the room's most awe-inspiring feature: a marble tabletop on carved bases resembling mythical creatures, historical artifacts unearthed near Pompeii, dating back to the times before Mount Vesuvius' eruption. Next to the dining room, on the south side of the mansion, the enclosed loggia gave guests a view of the gardens. Kristine Villarroel/Business Insider The colorful glass panels, designed for Vizcaya, feature the estate's main symbols: the seahorse and the caravan. Providing a view of the garden through the glass panels and double doors, the enclosed loggia allowed guests to take in the garden views while staying cool from the Florida sun. The loggia also connects the gardens to the main house through sculpted iron gates. Kristine Villarroel/Business Insider Aside from giving guests an inside view of the gardens from the ground level, the room also connects the outdoors to the rest of the mansion. Downstairs, the kitchen worked as a serving space for staff to plate food and bring it to guests. Kristine Villarroel/Business Insider When designing Vizcaya, Deering asked for the main kitchen to be built upstairs as he didn't want the smell of food to flood the main entertaining rooms on the first floor. To facilitate the transportation of meals and the serving of guests to the dining room, the entertaining rooms, and the loggia, he built a downstairs serving pantry. Today, the serving pantry cabinets display one set of Deering's fine dining china, the one designated for his 80-foot-long luxury yacht, Nepenthe. Commissioned in 1912 to be shipped from Europe, the original set of china purchased by Deering was transported to America as cargo aboard the Titanic. After the ship sank, a replacement set was ordered and is now displayed. The kitchens feature state-of-the-art Gilded Age technology. Kristine Villarroel/Business Insider Throughout the house, Deering incorporated cutting-edge technology, including annunciators with bells connected throughout the house that Deering or guests could ring at any time to get the house staff's attention. Another then-advanced feature of the serving kitchen were its refrigerators, which were rare at the time. The kitchen also featured a warming oven that helped keep food warm while guests were served. Connecting to the upstairs kitchen, which serves as the house's main cooking area, was a dumbwaiter: a food elevator meant to carry the food cooked upstairs to the downstairs plating area, where staff would then take it to the main entertaining rooms, like the dining and sitting rooms. Upstairs, 24 rooms housed guests, staff, and Deering himself. Kristine Villarroel/Business Insider Nine of the bedrooms were dedicated to guests and each was given a name and decorated uniquely, showcasing the artifacts and furniture purchased by Deering and Chalfin on trips to Europe. While not open to the public, an additional 14 rooms housed staff. Another then-advanced technological feature of Vizcaya was its elevator. Kristine Villarroel/Business Insider Deering was motivated to move to South Florida because of his illness, so accessibility features were built throughout the house, including an elevator he would use when using a wheelchair or to avoid walking upstairs. Today, the elevator isn't open to the public, and the museum's second floor is not wheelchair accessible. Deering's main office was inspired by the Napoleonic era. Kristine Villarroel/Business Insider Connected to Deering's bedroom and bathroom, the sitting room was his office where he would tend to business and personal matters, such as sorting his mail. The decoration style was inspired by Napoleonic France. Deering's bedroom was modest compared to some of his guest bedrooms. Robin Hill/Courtesy of Vizcaya Museum and Gardens Unmarried all his life, Deering's room features a single bed rather than a larger size, and his room is furnished for practicality rather than aesthetics. His personal bathroom has one of the most breathtaking views of the property. Kristine Villarroel/Business Insider Opening onto a balcony, Deering's bathroom overlooks Biscayne Bay and offers one of the best views of the house, although it is not accessible to the public today. The closed-off balcony also leads to a secret door to the Espagnolette, the guest bedroom located next to his, usually reserved for Deering's dearest guests. Spiral staircases lead to the South tower. Kristine Villarroel/Business Insider A set of spiral staircases leads up to the South tower, one of the two guest suites overlooking the estate. The tower bedroom has views of the bay and the gardens. Kristine Villarroel/Business Insider The corner room atop the North tower was designed to transport guests to Europe. "Water reflects upwards to the ceiling and the sound of waves is audible in this room, precisely as upon the quay of this great canal of Venice," noted Chalfin about the room, according to the mansion's website. A central piece in the room is a large wardrobe assembled with 1700s Venetian panels, as well as antique painted closet doors. The breakfast room was Deering's preferred dining space. Robin Hill Photography/Courtesy of Vizcaya Museum & Gardens Back on the second floor, the breakfast room was the central entertaining spot. The room is lined with oil paintings depicting ocean scenes, and the windows slide into pocket doors, revealing views of the garden. It also features a sound system, with a piano hidden in a room off the spiral staircase next door and connected to the breakfast room through floor vents that allow sound to travel into the space. Most of the time, Deering opted to dine in this room rather than the formal dining space. Tucked next to the breakfast room is the main kitchen. Kristine Villarroel/Business Insider Designed to maximize staff efficiency, the main kitchen upstairs has different areas for different tasks, including separate sinks for washing dishes and produce. It also features ice boxes, or refrigerators of the time, powered by salt water. During Deering's time at the estate, Vizcaya employed two French chefs dedicated to food and pastries. Food served at the mansion was sourced from the staff village built across the street, where a farm provided vegetables, dairy, chicken, herbs, and citrus. "You and I could come down and drive into the farm area, stop and buy a dozen Deering eggs and take them home and have them for breakfast, and I think that was probably particularly important during World War I," historian Arva Moore Parks said in the audio tour. "He was able to supply not only himself but his workers also." Inspired by European designs, the gardens feature mazes, terraces, fountains, and more. Kristine Villarroel/Business Insider Inspired by 17th- and 18th-century Italian and French villas, the Vizcaya gardens feature a variety of scenes, from a garden theater to multiple paths and mazes, intended to highlight and enhance the native South Florida flora surrounding the estate. The original layout of Vizcaya featured over 180 acres of subtropical forests. Today, that number has gone down to 50 acres. In 1987, President Ronald Reagan hosted Pope John Paul II at the estate. Diana Walker/Getty Images On September 10, 1987, President Ronald Reagan welcomed Pope John Paul II at Vizcaya, where the two conversed while exploring the gardens and the estate. Atop a garden mount is the Casino, a focal point of the gardens. Robin Hill/Courtesy of Vizcaya Museums and Gardens Located at the top of garden mounds designed to block the reflection of water ponds into the main house, the garden casino — Italian for "little house" — was a space where Deering and his guests could take in the garden views or enjoy the subtropical weather without being in direct contact with the sun. Inside the building, a painted ceiling depicts heavenly images. Underneath, bathrooms and other now closed-off areas hide under decorated ceilings. Originally, the casino overlooked a water park part of the estate, where gondolas would be launched, a crucial part of Deering's vision for Vizcaya. Today, the water park no longer exists, and the land is instead taken up by a Catholic church, hospital, and schools after the Deering family sold part of the property to the Catholic Diocese of St. Augustine in 1946. The opposite side of the estate was once used for clandestine entertainment; now, it is a café. Kristine Villarroel/Business Insider While today a café sits underneath the mansion, the space served as a leisure center during Deering's stay. The rooms were filled with billiard tables, bowling alleys, and leather chairs. Hidden underneath the billiards table was also a roulette table, which Deering often used when his college friends visited the estate. The mansion, which opened at the peak of the Prohibition era, also had a decent supply of liquor, which Deering smuggled into the estate and hid in secret bars and cellars. The swimming pool is half-covered, providing relief from South Florida's relentless sun. Robin Hill/Courtesy of Vizcaya Museum and Gardens Tucked next to the leisure rooms underneath the main house is the half-indoor swimming pool, in which Deering is said to have only swum once. Designed as the main entry point to the mansion, the east side of the mansion opens up to a stone barge in the Biscayne Bay. Kristine Villarroel/Business Insider When he first moved into his winter home in December 1916, Deering arrived by sea on what he intended was the front entrance to Vizcaya. Opening up to the Biscayne Bay, the waterfront side of the property features a stone barge, a sculpted structure that acts as a breakwater and protects the main house from changing tides and waves. Today, the mansion hosts private events and has become a local staple for Quinceañera pictures. The mansion is often used for private events. Kristine Villarroel/Business Insider Purchased from the Deering family by Miami-Dade County for $1 million in 1962, Vizcaya today operates as a museum open to the public and for private reservations. The estate often serves as the backdrop for Quinceañera pictures among Miami's large Hispanic population. Walking around the gardens, I saw multiple young women dressed in extravagant gowns posing in the many stunning locations of the estate. Along with being a photographic hot spot, Vizcaya also hosts private events, from Miami Swim Week runway shows to floral-decorated weddings in the gardens. Today, the estate remains an icon of Miami, a city that many would often relate to modern luxury rather than the old and classic wealth on display in Gilded Age-style mansions like Vizcaya. The Vizcaya Village could be the future home of Ken Griffin's Villa Serena. Robin Hil Photography/Courtesy of Vizcaya Museum and Gardens After purchasing the historic Villa Serena estate in Coconut Grove in 2022, Citadel CEO Ken Griffin proposed relocating the 1913 Mediterranean Revival mansion to Vizcaya's Village campus. The home, designed by architect August Geiger for William Jennings Bryan, a three-time Democratic presidential candidate and former US secretary of state, is considered one of Miami's earliest grand waterfront residences. The proposal would move the century-old home from Griffin's property to Vizcaya's Village grounds, where it would be open to the public for the first time in its history and would benefit from an additional $5 million endowment provided by Griffin for its preservation. Any relocation would require extensive planning and government approvals, which have not yet been cleared. Skeptics have said that moving the structure would be an ambitious undertaking that wouldn't align with preservation goals. "Moving a historic structure is absolutely a last resort solution, to be done only if (there) is no other way possible to save a structure… It is not a preservation-minded alternative just because someone bought it and now doesn't want it," Kathleen Slesnick Kauffman, Miami's former historic preservation officer, told the Chicago Tribune in 2023. The Village originally served as Vizcaya's self-sufficient farm and the servants' quarters. Robin Hil Photography/Courtesy of Vizcaya Museum and Gardens The Vizcaya Village, which covers about 12 acres of agricultural fields and includes nearly a dozen buildings, was originally built as the quarters for the mansion's servants and farmers. Today, the campus houses a café and hosts a weekly farmers market, and is undergoing construction and expansions to transform the grounds into a cultural and community space. The Citadel CEO's $20 million donation will expand the village's role in the community. Robin Hil Photography/Courtesy of Vizcaya Museum and Gardens In November 2025, Vizcaya Museum and Gardens announced a $20 million capital donation from Griffin and said that the funds would be used toward building a brand new Center for Learning and Discovery in the village grounds. Once open, the center will offer educational programming like "hands-on artmaking and urban-agriculture experiences," the museum organization wrote in the announcement. The expansion will seek to expand Vizcaya's role in its community. Read the original article on Business Insider

Eric Immesberger posed as a hit man in undercover operations to gather evidence against people attempting to hire one. He is a former agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives who spent 21 years investigating violent crime, including firearms trafficking, organized criminal crews, and murder-for-hire plots. Movies and TV often portray murder for hire as a clean, professional transaction. In reality, it's rare, emotionally driven, and far easier to unravel than people expect. During Immesberger's undercover work, what he encountered wasn't criminal precision, but panic, unrealistic expectations, and mistakes that often created evidence almost immediately — the very things that allow law enforcement to intervene early and stop violence before anyone is killed. Immesberger retired in 2019. For more: https://www.ericimmesberger.com/ https://www.instagram.com/ericimmesberger Read the original article on Business Insider

Former CFPB Director Rohit Chopra reached a settlement with Navient over claims the lender overcharged student-loan borrowers. Michael A. McCoy/Getty Images Student-loan borrowers are now receiving checks from a $100 million settlement by Navient. A government watchdog accused Navient of misleading borrowers on their repayment options. The settlement comes as the Trump administration has reduced student-loan oversight. Student-loan borrowers, check the mail: there might be some money waiting for you. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — a federal watchdog — announced that on February 13, checks began going out in the mail to student-loan borrowers who qualified for a portion of the settlement the agency reached with major lender Navient in 2024. The settlement resolved claims from a 2017 lawsuit that accused the servicer of misleading borrowers about their repayment plan options, leaving them "cheated" out of lower monthly payments. The settlement permanently banned Navient from servicing federal student loans and required it to return $100 million to borrowers. Do you have a story to share about your experience with private student loans? Reach out to this reporter at asheffey@businessinsider.com. The payments are ongoing, and the CFPB has contracted with Rust Consulting — a firm that manages settlements — to administer them. The CFPB said in its latest announcement that the payments do not reduce any student loans that borrowers currently have. "I think there's been millions of Americans who could have avoided the consequences of default if they had been treated properly by their servicer," Former CFPB Director Rohit Chopra told Business Insider in 2024 after the settlement was announced. In addition to misleading borrowers about their payment plans, the CFPB accused Navient in its lawsuit of making errors in processing borrowers' payments, failing to deliver relief to defaulted borrowers, and misrepresenting cosigner requirements for taking out loans. Navient did not deny any wrongdoing and said in a statement at the time that "while we do not agree with the CFPB's allegations, this resolution is consistent with our go-forward activities and is an important positive milestone in our transformation of the company." The settlement was reached under former President Joe Biden, and it's unlikely that the Trump administration will pursue similar oversight. President Donald Trump slashed CFPB staff as part of his broader effort to reduce the federal workforce, and an April 2025 internal memo from the CFPB's chief legal officer called on the CFPB to "deprioritize" oversight over student loans. With Trump's looming changes to student-loan repayment, oversight over the industry could be even more critical, some lawmakers and policy experts have said. The Department of Education's plan to place lower caps on borrowing could push some borrowers into the private lending market, which lacks federal protection and could have higher interest rates. "Student debt places a tremendous burden on borrowers, their families, their communities, and the U.S. economy, driving employment, spending, and housing decisions that have long-lasting negative impacts on borrowers' financial health," a group of Democratic lawmakers wrote in a letter last year. "Placing a greater share of student loans into the hands of private lenders threatens to make these problems much worse." Read the original article on Business Insider

A US startup wants to lure customers with lucrative cargo space unavailable on today's narrowbodies. Natlius US startup Natlius unveiled plans for a dual-deck blended-wing jet with a level for passengers and another for cargo. It's a familiar setup, but the ultra-wide jet would hold more freight than existing narrowbodies. The smaller, cargo-heavy plane could be built as a designated freighter and replace the Boeing 757. Airbus' CEO recently said the future of flying is a B2-bomber-shaped "blended-wing body" plane with passengers housed inside the plane's one giant wing for maximum efficiency. Aleksey Matyushev, the CEO of the US aerospace startup Natilus, told Business Insider that his company has taken that vision one step further by redesigning its proposed blended-wing plane, Horizon, with plans to offer more lucrative cargo space while still delivering the 50% lower operating costs and up to 250 seats previously promised. Instead of the single-deck seating layout originally planned, the newly unveiled Horizon Evo — which the company expects to enter service as soon as the early 2030s — reimagines what cargo-heavy passenger jets can look like by adding a "dual-deck" layout. So far, Natilus' blended-wing vision is just a sketch on paper, and a mini-sized prototype it's been flying; actually developing and certifying the new plane type and getting it into the air is a much longer road. The dual deck design would have cargo sitting below the passengers, as is the case with traditional airplanes. Natilus Still, the dual-deck idea should be familiar to regulators and airlines, as it is the configuration of traditional tube-and-wing jets where passengers sit in a single level above the cargo hold. When installed on an ultra-wide blended-body, it results in a very cargo-heavy plane. Evo is expected to boast 2,600 cubic feet of dedicated cargo space on the lower level. For context, most Boeing 737s or Airbus A320s, which are at least 10 feet longer but have a cabin roughly half as wide despite similar wingspans, offer between roughly 1,300 and 1,800 cubic feet of belly cargo space. This cargo focus comes at a time when belly freight has become one of the most reliable money-makers in aviation (e-commerce helped keep airlines afloat during the pandemic). The lure could help break the Airbus-Boeing duopoly while also addressing a projected shortfall of roughly 15,000 narrow-body aircraft over the next two decades. "The market has gravitated toward a single-deck [blended-wing] layout because it's simpler to design and build in many ways, but I just don't see it as operationally better," Matyushev said. Natilus said its futuristic Evo jet will fit into existing airport infrastructure. Natilus California-based competitor JetZero, for example, is developing a single-deck version. Company leaders have previously said there is a lower deck for the landing gear and some cargo containers, but it could move that floor up to create more space. Making a dual-deck layout in a blended-wing aircraft is challenging. Unlike conventional jets, the design spreads volume horizontally rather than vertically, and stacking passengers above a cargo deck in this uniquely triangular-shaped airframe requires careful structural and engineering solutions. Evo's cargo economics could shake up the market for freight-reliant carriers. With roughly 11,000 cubic feet of cargo space across its two levels, Matyushev said Evo could serve as a dedicated freighter — potentially replacing planes like the Boeing 757. "There's a huge product gap left behind by the 757; companies like UPS and FedEx heavily rely on that configuration," Matyushev said. "Evo has the same volumetric capacity as a 757 but in a smaller airframe." Beyond cargo, Matyushev said the plane's unique geometry would similarly enhance the customer experience: airlines could fit the wide upper level with unique living spaces, such as a playroom or mini-offices. Natlius envisions a 12-abreast economy cabin with the potential to also install unique spaces that are not practical on traditional jetliners. Natilus He added that the economy cabin would feature more overhead bins and three aisles for better comfort, door access, and safety during evacuations: "It'd have four sets of three seats across, which is close to the A380," Matyushev said, referring to the superjumbo's possible 11-abreast seats." We're thinking about it like a widebody layout in a narrow-body type of footprint." Matyushev also said that Evo would have windows — something Airbus' top executive warned could be absent from some blended-wing designs. A windowless passenger jet could create a claustrophobic environment, and flight attendants may struggle to see outside as easily during an emergency. Natilus doesn't have a prototype of Evo, but a subscale model of its blended-wing cargo plane, called Kona, has been test-flying since 2023. Kona has secured orders from companies like US-based Ameriflight and Canada-based Norlinor, while Indian carrier SpiceJet has signed a conditional deal for 100 Evos. The above rendering shows Natilus' proposed "privacy pods" onboard the wide BWB jetliner. Natilus Natilus has raised $28 million in Series A financing to support its first full-scale Kona prototype and further development of Evo. It typically costs billions of dollars to develop passenger-ready commercial jetliners, and Natilus has a long way to go. The 737 Max cost around $2 billion to develop (before safety issues and the subsequent global grounding forced Boeing to redesign the plane). It was built on an older airframe that cost around $1.1 billion, in inflation-adjusted dollars, to develop. Meanwhile, the Airbus A320neo cost just over $1 billion to develop; it was also built on an older airframe, that originally cost around $3 billion to develop. Natilus isn't the only company betting on a Jetsons-like blended-wing aircraft. United Airlines has tentatively committed to buying up to 200 of JetZero's "Z4," which it previously described to Business Insider as a "living room in the sky." Airbus has also been developing a commercial flying wing since 2017 as part of its ZEROe program, which aims to build zero-emission airlines powered by hydrogen rather than traditional jet fuel. That project flew a demonstrator in 2019 but has since been delayed at least a decade from its initial 2035 timeline. Read the original article on Business Insider

Kalshi's website Thomas Fuller/NurPhoto via Getty Images Nevada regulators sued Kalshi, saying its markets are actually illegal sports gambling. The suit was filed just as the Trump administration sided with prediction markets. Other states have also sued Kalshi, and many legal observers expect the Supreme Court to weigh in. Nevada gambling regulators sued the prediction markets company Kalshi on Tuesday, saying the platform's rapid growth forced their hand. The Nevada Gaming Control Board and the state attorney general sued in Carson City District Court shortly after a federal appeals court rejected a request by Kalshi to stop the state from taking action. The state is seeking an order to stop Kalshi, the country's largest prediction market, from operating what it sees as an unlicensed sports betting operation. "Kalshi has continued to dramatically expand its business, rather than attempting to maintain any kind of status quo," Nevada authorities said in a letter earlier this month. The regulators emphasized that Kalshi has grown rapidly, doing 27 times as much business on Super Bowl Sunday this year compared to the year before. Meanwhile, regulated Nevada gambling operations saw their business shrink, the state said. A Kalshi spokesperson declined to comment on Tuesday afternoon, but the company swiftly asked a federal court to take over the new state case. They argued that only federal law applies to prediction markets, and that the new state enforcement action turns on the same questions that federal courts are already considering. Kalshi has said that its markets are "event contracts," a financial instrument regulated by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission. The CFTC on Tuesday sided with another events-contracts company that is fighting with Nevada regulators, and its chairman, Michael Selig, filmed a video statement defending the new platforms. "Today, the CFTC is taking an important step to ensure that these markets have a place here in America," Selig said. "To those who seek to challenge our authority in this space, let me be clear: we will see you in court." Economists and political scientists have long been fascinated by prediction markets as a way to channel the so-called wisdom of the crowds. They were generally a niche activity until the 2024 US presidential election, when people wagered millions of dollars on sites like Polymarket. Since the election, sports and cryptocurrency speculation have become the dominant markets. Today, more than 90% of the money that flows through Kalshi's platform is staked on sports-related events, and the growth of platforms like Kalshi has spurred traditional sportsbooks like FanDuel and DraftKings to create their prediction markets to take advantage of the light-touch regulation and lower taxes they offer. Legal battles are pending on the East Coast as well, with regulators in Maryland and New Jersey having clashed with prediction markets. Attorneys and other industry commentators have said they expect the Supreme Court to eventually weigh in on the legality of sports contracts on prediction markets. Read the original article on Business Insider

Anderson Cooper said he's leaving CBS News to spend more time with his family. Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty Images Anderson Cooper said Monday he was exiting CBS News' "60 Minutes" after nearly 20 years. It comes at a turbulent time for CBS News under its new editor in chief, Bari Weiss. Some media commentators said Cooper's exit will add to the uncertainty surrounding '60 Minutes.' Veteran broadcaster Anderson Cooper said Monday that he is leaving his role as a correspondent on CBS News' "60 Minutes" after nearly 20 years. In a statement, Cooper said he intended to spend more time focusing on his CNN gig, and his family. His exit comes at an already turbulent time for CBS News under its new editor in chief, Bari Weiss. Here are what some of the leading voices in media are saying about Cooper's "60 Minutes" departure. Keith Olbermann Chris Sorensen for The Washington Post via Getty Images Sports broadcaster Keith Olbermann shared the news about Cooper's departure on his Bluesky account, posting: "Anderson Cooper has left the sinking ship that is Idiot Bari Weiss's New Stormfront CBS." Olbermann later added, "Now, people will only be able to NOT watch AC on cnn." Cooper has worked at CNN since 2001, where he is a political commentator and hosts the "Anderson Cooper 360" show. Brian Lowry FilmMagic/FilmMagic for HBO Brian Lowry, a longtime media columnist and current Hollywood correspondent at Status News, a media newsletter, wrote on X: "Have worked around Hollywood long enough to know nobody ever really leaves a job to spend more time with their family." Tom Jones Tom Jones, senior media writer at The Poynter Report, wrote in his newsletter that Cooper's departure marked "the end of a journalism era." Jones said that Cooper's exit "certainly adds more uncertainty in a news division that is very much in flux under relatively new editor-in-chief Bari Weiss." He added: "It also raises questions about '60 Minutes,' the previous gold standard of TV news shows." Lydia Polgreen Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images for Audible Lydia Polgreen, a New York Times opinion writer and the former editor in chief of HuffPost, posted to X on Tuesday: "I don't watch much TV news, but @andersoncooper is in a league of his own as a television journalist. A huge loss for 60 Minutes." Brian Stelter Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for CNN/WBD CNN's chief media analyst, Brian Stelter, wrote in his "Reliable Sources" newsletter Tuesday that there are open questions about which other correspondents might leave, "and on what terms." "The risk is obvious: Loyal '60 Minutes' viewers will leave along with the correspondents they like to watch," Stelter said. Read the original article on Business Insider

Brands like Toteme are becoming more popular as investment dressing resurges. Edward Berthelot/Getty Images Workwear is recalibrating to styles that balance comfort with a more polished look. The tightening job market and return-to-office mandates have chipped away at pandemic casualness. Employees may also be using more polished workwear to create a boundary between work and home. Dress for the job you want to… keep? In a job market where power has shifted toward employers, at least one thing remains within an employee's control: how they choose to show up to work. With layoffs and slow hiring shaping the labor market and RTO mandates pulling employees back into offices, experts say workers are dressing more carefully to project competence. In periods of uncertainty, clothing is less about comfort and self-expression, and more about job security, Lizzy Bowring, a creative strategist and trend forecaster, told Business Insider. "Dressing smarter serves as career risk management," she said. The business casual era gave way to full-on casual Business casual had an era — a long one. Over the past 30 years, suits and ties have given way to blazers and sweaters in many white-collar industries. By the early 2000s, the casual look was ubiquitous in tech. Think Mark Zuckerberg's signature gray T-shirt, hoodie, and jeans. Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg delivers the opening keynote address at the f8 Developer Conference April 21, 2010 Justin Sullivan/Getty Images When the pandemic hit, casual dressing went from trend to default. There was no need to dress up for your living room. But times are different now. Workers are being called back into the office, and the franzied "Great Resignation" period post-pandemic, when employers were scrambling to retain staff and thrust into bidding wars to scoop up talent, is well behind us. The balance of power has shifted from employee to employer. US businesses are hiring at one of the slowest rates since 2013, and the early impact of AI is beginning to show up. Last month saw more layoffs than any January since 2009, as big companies like Amazon and Citi announced plans to cut thousands of jobs. Because of this, "employees are becoming more conscious of how they present themselves, not because they're being told to, but because uncertainty changes behaviour," Frances Li, founder and director of Biscuit Recruitment, a boutique recruitment agency based in London and New York, told Business Insider. Recalibration, not return An example of a more tailored silhouette is the oversized blazer, pictured here on content creator and writer Alba Garavito Torre. Edward Berthelot/Getty Images Still, experts say we aren't seeing a full return to suits and straight-cut dresses. Trend forecaster Lizzy Bowring describes this as an "'intentional recalibration' — blending comfort with sharper silhouettes, structured tailoring and more deliberate styling." The jacket you once wore over a T-shirt to look smarter for a Zoom meeting is now shifting to a more tailored look, said Bowring. Think oversized blazers and fitted dresses. Fashion's messaging is reflecting this. There's a focus on tailoring and silhouette-forming pieces across luxury brands like Prada, Saint Laurent, and Bottega Veneta, she said. A model walks the runway at Bottega Veneta's Spring/Summer 2026 fashion show at Milan Fashion Week in September. Victor VIRGILE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images Economic uncertainty has also revived interest in investment dressing: wardrobe staples that work in the office and beyond, cut with precision and built to last. Brands like The Row and Toteme have gained cultural relevance by positioning their pieces as investments, reinforcing the appeal of clothing "that communicates stability, longevity and professional credibility," Bowring added. TikTok content about what to wear to the office and why it matters has also grown in popularity. Younger members of Gen Z, entering office settings for the first time, are questioning how to balance their personal style with work-appropriate attire. Grace McCarrick, a content creator who delivers soft skills training to companies such as Uber and Spotify, said her TikTok videos on being intentional with your appearance at work have been some of her most viral — garnering hundreds of thousands of views. @graceforpersonalityhires The cheat no one is telling you about- you don’t have to look super polished if you look rich. In the north east, the look tends to be a bit dull lol but do what feels right for you ♬ original sound - grace mccarrick "It is so complicated to move up and get noticed in the workforce today," she said. The idea of 'dressing for success' is one of the only levers you can control to help you progress at work, she added. "People who put in the effort stand out like neon signs. They've upped their charisma factor by simply not being as schlubby as everyone else. They could be the most awkward person, but because they look good in a sea of wrinkled khakis with black sneaker 'dress shoes,' they're magnetic," she said. Setting boundaries Formal dress is also a way for employees to clearly distinguish between work and home life. "Work wear cues a performance state, whereas home wear signals a relaxation state," Hajo Adam, an organizational psychologist and professor at the University of Bath, told Business Insider. This separation might help people to actually switch off when work finishes. So, once the clock strikes 5 p.m. — go ahead, loosen up, and hang up your blazer, whether your desk is in the office or in your living room. Read the original article on Business Insider

I moved from the US to Brazil and have experienced some culture shocks along the way. Isaiah Reynolds After losing my job, I decided to move from Chicago to São Paulo, Brazil. I love my new home, but I've experienced some culture shocks during the transition. For example, I didn't expect to feel chilly in São Paulo, and the food is different (in a good way). After an incredible three weeks traveling around Brazil, I was on the first leg of my flight home to Chicago when I received a message from my director at work — a 15-minute "check-in" with an HR representative. Worried I might receive news of a layoff, I frantically deboarded the plane after landing in Rio de Janeiro and joined the call in a quiet corner of the duty-free section of the airport. There, I was informed that my role had been eliminated. Faced with the reality of returning home to the frigid Chicago temperatures with no job, I quickly changed my connecting flight and decided to hostel-hop around Brazil for another month. However, even that extra month didn't feel like long enough in the country I'd fallen in love with. Exploring beautiful destinations while practicing a new language every day was incredibly fulfilling for me. Once I went back to the US, I realized I was looking for ways to push myself out of my comfort zone. I had always wanted to live abroad, and my unemployment seemed like the perfect alignment to make that move to another part of the world. So, a few months after my original trip, I relocated from Chicago to São Paulo and was greeted by lots of surprises along the way. Coming from Chicago, I didn't expect to feel chilly in São Paulo The temperatures in São Paulo caught me by surprise. Cristian Lourenço/Getty Images Growing up in the Midwest, I've endured my fair share of snowstorms and wind chills so cold that I felt as though my eyelids would freeze together. So, I felt well-equipped for any kind of cold weather Mother Nature could ever throw my way. Even so, I wasn't prepared for just how chilly Brazil could feel — especially during a springtime cold front while living in an area without access to central heating. Although Brazil's springtime temperatures (which last from September through November) are similar to what I experienced during the Chicago fall, it was difficult to adjust to the lack of central heating. So, I found myself wearing multiple layers of T-shirts and the only hoodie I brought with me. Before I moved, I'd only visited Brazil during its smoldering summer months, so I had naively assumed the subtropical temperatures in São Paulo would be pleasant year-round. The food is different — and that's not a bad thing I've grown to love acarajé: stuffed black-eyed-pea fritters Isaiah Reynolds Between seeing unrefrigerated milk in grocery stores to trying vegetables I've never heard of, the day-to-day food in Brazil is a lot different than what I was used to in the States. For example, contrary to the common American adage, breakfast doesn't seem to be the most important meal of the day here; many Brazilians opt for bread or fruit instead of the hefty pancakes or sausage links I was accustomed to. For lunch and dinner, many locals seem to rely on a tried-and-true formula: arroz (rice), feijão (beans), some meat, and salad. Classic dishes like stroganoff (a creamy chicken or beef dish topped with crispy shoestring potatoes) or feijoada (pork and black bean stew) may enter the rotation. Still, the aforementioned combo is a popular default dish that I've grown to love. Although tavern-style Chicago pizza still holds a special place in my heart, my new Brazilian favorites include acarajé (stuffed black-eyed pea fritters fried in dendé oil), acerola (a sweet cherry fruit), and doce de leite (sweet caramelized milk used as a topping or filling). Plus, there's a pretty great international food scene here, too. While wandering around the city, I've come across a wide range of cuisines, from Lebanese and West African restaurants to Colombian and Venezuelan spots. Although I was initially worried about feeling welcomed, I can see myself putting down roots here One thing I've noticed since my first visit to the country is that Brazilians are very proud to be Brazilian. From football matches to the celebrations that occur when Brazilian films are nominated for Academy Awards, the people here seem to be the loudest and proudest fans in the room. Because of this, I was worried I might not feel as welcome as an outsider. Instead, I've found an endearing level of curiosity among many Brazilians I've met, who either want to practice English or ask how I'm enjoying their beloved country. This openness to connect has softened a lot of the original culture shock during my move. Although very different from my life in Chicago, I'm excited to continue building a life for myself in São Paulo. Read the original article on Business Insider

Jet2 has barred two people from ever flying with it again after they brawled midair. OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images British budget airline Jet2 barred two people after a midair brawl prompted a diversion on Thursday. Jet2 said it plans to "vigorously pursue" the pair to recoup costs for the diversion. Unruly passengers can face civil and criminal prosecution in addition to airline lawsuits. "Nothing beats a Jet2 holiday" — except when it ends in a midair brawl. The British budget carrier has issued lifetime bans to two passengers after a flight from Turkey to England diverted to Belgium on Thursday following a fight on board, the airline told multiple news outlets. It's unclear what caused the altercation, but videos circulating on social media show passengers screaming and pushing as cabin crew and others attempted to break it up. The plane later continued to the UK after police removed the two passengers. Jet2 said in a statement that the pair exhibited "appalling behavior" and that it would "vigorously pursue them" to recoup the costs of the diversion. Diversions aren't cheap: they can cost airlines tens of thousands of dollars in fuel, labor, and airport fees. Any hotel and transportation costs also add up. "As a family-friendly airline, we take a zero-tolerance approach to disruptive passenger behaviour, and we are very sorry that other customers and our colleagues on board had to experience this too," the airline said. Jet2 has a history of chasing down unruly passengers. In 2019, the airline barred a disruptive traveler and billed her about $115,000 after she attempted to open an exit door midair, prompting a diversion escorted by military jets. In 2022, two brothers who fought on board another Jet2 flight forced a diversion and were later charged about $68,000 and issued lifetime bans. Other airlines have taken similar approaches, seeking reimbursement from passengers whose behavior disrupted flights. Budget competitor Ryanair, for example, last year filed a lawsuit seeking about $18,000 from a passenger it described as disruptive after a diversion to Portugal in April 2024 left 160 people needing overnight accommodation. Unruly passenger incidents surged during the pandemic, when mask mandates fueled confrontations between travelers and airline staff. Data from the Federal Aviation Administration shows there were nearly 6,000 reports on US airlines in 2021 — up about 500% from roughly 1,000 the year before. Reports fell to about 2,500 in 2022 and further to roughly 1,600 in 2025, though they still remain well above pre-pandemic levels. There have been 126 reports so far in 2026. The FAA maintains a zero-tolerance policy and has issued more than $20 million in civil fines since 2020 (these are separate from the money airlines can collect through lawsuits). In more extreme cases — such as physical assaults on crew — passengers have faced criminal prosecution, including by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, resulting in larger fines and jail time. Read the original article on Business Insider

Logan Paul sold his record-breaking Pokémon card, seen here on a diamond chain in his WWE promo material, for a new record on Monday. WWE Logan Paul's record-setting Pikachu card just set another one. He sold the Pokémon card at auction on Monday for over $16 million, beating a record he set in 2021. The rare card was bought by AJ Scaramucci, a venture capital founder and son of Anthony Scaramucci. Logan Paul just made millions off a Pokémon card. The influencer turned wrestler sold his one-of-one Pikachu Illustrator card — one of 41 ever distributed and the only one graded the highest quality by collectibles company PSA — at auction Monday for a jaw-dropping $16.492 million. The winner? AJ Scaramucci, the founder of venture capital firm Solari Capital and the son of former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci. Scaramucci appeared on Logan Paul's livestream early Monday after auction house Goldin announced him the winning bidder in the auction, which closed at 1:14 am ET. "My ambition for the card is just a small story," Scaramucci said at the event. "The real story is that I'm on a planetary treasure hunt. I'm planning to buy a T. rex dinosaur fossil, the Declaration of Independence, and I'm not stopping there. This is only the beginning." "You're just starting?" Paul replied. "Bro. Bro, that is so epic." Paul also used the livestream to open packs of Pokémon cards and announce RipIt, a new collectibles business he's launching. This Pikachu illustrator Pokémon card set a new record for the most expensive Pokémon card sold privately. Goldin In a statement, Goldin described the Pokémon card, which was originally given to winners of an illustration competition in Japan, as "one of the Holy Grails of the collectibles industry." Paul previously set the world record back in July 2021 when he purchased the same card for $5.275 million, meaning he will make millions in profit. The card also came with a diamond-encrusted chain appraised at $75,000, Goldin said. Paul wore the card during his WWE debut at WrestleMania 38 in 2022. In an Instagram post on Saturday, Paul bid farewell to the card. "Goodbye my friend 😢 What a privilege it's been to be the owner of the greatest collectible in the world," he wrote. The markets for Pokémon cards, along with other collectible card sets like Magic: The Gathering and Yu-Gi-Oh!, have become huge in recent years among collectors — especially Gen Z — with the rarest cards selling for tens of thousands of dollars, if not more. Some people are even forgoing stocks and investing in Pokémon cards instead. Read the original article on Business Insider

Maya Hawke and Christian Lee Hutson. Bruce Glikas/WireImage/Getty Maya Hawke and Christian Lee Hutson got married on Saturday. The "Stranger Things" star and musician had been linked for years. Hutson is known for his folk music, which is produced by Grammy-winner Phoebe Bridgers. Love was certainly in the air this Valentine's Day as "Stranger Things" star Maya Hawke married musician Christian Lee Hutson on Saturday. The duo tied the knot at St. George's Episcopal Church in New York City. Guests included Hawke's celebrity parents, Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke, and Maya's fellow "Stranger Things" stars, including Sadie Sink, Finn Wolfhard, Caleb McLaughlin, Joe Keery, Gaten Matarazzo, and Natalie Dyer, according to People. Hawke, 27, and Hutson, 35, were first sighted together in 2023. The two have since collaborated on music projects, including Hawke's second studio album "Moss," and she sings on Hutson's latest album "Paradise Pop. 10." Here's everything we know about Christian Lee Hutson Hutson found his groove after teaming with a Grammy-winner. Christian Lee Hutson. Rebecca Sapp/Getty Images for The Recording Academy Hutson was born in Kansas City, Missouri, but was raised in Los Angeles, where he's lived since he was 5. He began playing guitar at 12 and was influenced by Hank Williams and Elliott Smith. Hutson forged a country-folk sound in the early 2010s while part of The Driftwood Singers, a group composed of students from the California Institute of the Arts. He then went solo and released two albums that didn't get much attention. Then everything changed in 2018 when he met Phoebe Bridgers. The Grammy-winner has since been Hutson's producer and main collaborator, which led to his first major album, 2020's "Beginners," and follow-ups "Quitters" in 2022 and "Paradise Pop. 10," in 2024, which Hawke is featured on. How Hawke and Hutson met Maya Hawke and Christian Lee Hutson performing at the 37th Annual Tibet House US Benefit Concert at Carnegie Hall on February 26, 2024 in New York City. Noam Galai/Getty Images The couple was first seen together in December 2023, but they had already collaborated musically for years prior. Hutson wrote on Hawke's second album, "Moss" (2022). The "Inside Out 2" star talked about working with Hutson in a 2021 Interview Magazine chat with Margaret Qualley. "And I sent him some poems, and he sent me back some unbelievable songs," Hawke said. The two have since collaborated on Hawke's 2024 album "Chaos Angel," Hutson's latest album "Paradise Pop. 10," and performed live together. The couple became red carpet official in April 2025 when they smiled for cameras at the opening night of "John Proctor Is the Villain," which starred Hawke's "Stranger Things" castmate, Sadie Sink. A week later, Hawke was seen wearing what appeared to be an engagement ring on her ring finger, according to People. Read the original article on Business Insider

Fiddelke at a Target event in December. Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images for Target Target CEO Michael Fiddelke has been in his new job for two weeks now — and he's been busy. His appointment was met with skepticism over whether he'd make the changes needed to get on track. Fiddelke's early moves show he's determined to make his own mark on the company. Michael Fiddelke is working like a man with something to prove. Target's newest CEO has been in the job for two weeks now, and he's wasted no time getting down to business on some of the retailer's most difficult problems. "He's got off to a running start," Global Data retail analyst Neil Saunders told Business Insider. "He wants change, but I think he's also keen to be seen that he wants change at Target." Fiddelke's CEO appointment was met with skepticism by many, including Saunders, who questioned whether the longtime Bullseye employee would be willing to make meaningful changes to get the company back on track. Critics also pointed to the board's decision to keep outgoing CEO Brian Cornell on as executive chairman. Such a move has tied the hands of new CEOs at other companies that have tried it, several leadership experts told Business Insider. Fiddelke's early moves indicate he is determined to make his own mark In his first companywide meeting, Fiddelke said Target "didn't do enough" to maintain trust with its customers in recent years and that he's moving to reconnect those communities, Bloomberg reported. Fiddelke said in that meeting that Target was committing an additional $1 million to its Bullseye Builds community program and that company employees had logged more than a million hours of volunteer service in 2025. Target has found itself in the national spotlight in recent weeks as federal immigration agents crack down on its hometown of Minneapolis and the company previously faced criticism over its decision to roll back diversity efforts in 2025. "If yesterday was a true glimpse of Fiddelke stepping up, honestly, it's a good start," one employee who listened to the meeting told Business Insider the following day. "He seems to be very much on point with trying to restore guests' faith in us as a company," the person also said. Fiddelke also dove right into the field, visiting stores and distribution centers in Dallas and near his hometown of Manchester, Iowa, fulfilling a commitment he made in the days leading up to his start date. The new boss has had to make tough choices, too. On Monday, the company laid off 500 workers across its district offices and supply chain, a move it said would translate into beefed-up labor hours in stores across the US. The resource shift reflects Fiddelke's focus on improving the shopping experience to get Target back to growth. "Adding labor to the stores is a good move," former Target board member Gerald Storch told Business Insider. "The stores had gotten too messy, the lines had gotten too long upon checkout, and there were too many items out of stock." The day following that announcement, Target revealed two C-suite appointments that underscore the Fiddelke strategy, with a new chief merchant and chief operating officer taking over for outgoing execs Jill Sando and Rick Gomez. The moves also simplify the top of Target's org chart. Fiddelke's start has set a distinct tone for how he intends to run Target, and now the task is to sustain that effort in the months and years ahead. He's now responsible for fixing three years of flat or declining sales, a rocky relationship with customers and employees, and a race with competitors who have been charging forward without those same headwinds. Storch said Target has a lot of fundamental issues. "That's not going to be solved in two weeks," he said. Still, Saunders said there's something to be said for coming out of the gate with gusto. "It takes a long time to fix these things, and it takes even longer to push them through into customer perception and behaviors," he said. "The next best thing is being able to say, 'Look, we know there are problems, and we're getting on with remedying them." Read the original article on Business Insider

Gong Cha's founder said he opened his first few stores in strategic locations. Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images Bubble tea chain Gong Cha's founder said he banked on Starbucks' success to get his first customers. He said he opened stores in South Korea next to Starbucks outlets to get a fraction of its customers. The bubble tea chain now has nearly 2,200 stores in 33 countries. The founder of the bubble tea brand Gong Cha said he had a novel idea to get his first patrons through the door. In an interview with CNBC, Martin Berry, the founder and chairman of Gong Cha group, spoke about how he came across one of the chain's outlets in Singapore before it became a global boba behemoth. Berry said he and his wife pooled $2.5 million of their savings to open the first five Gong Cha franchise stores in South Korea, a venture he said was "quite terrifying." Berry quit his banking job to go all in on bubble tea. To get his first customers in Seoul, he decided to get Starbucks' help. "So my strategy was, I'm going to put a Gong Cha — the first five stores — next to Starbucks," Berry told CNBC. "And if I can get one in a hundred people who are going into Starbucks to come and try a Gong Cha, then I've got a business." Gong Cha was founded in Taiwan in 1996 by Wu Zhenhua, and Berry entered the business in 2011 to expand the brand to South Korea and other countries. As of January, the chain had about 2,200 stores in 33 countries, including the US and Canada. The chain is known for its fragrant, fruity teas and its milk foam topping. Bubble tea brands have seen large success in recent years, with several making splashy IPOs. Mixue, the world's largest fast-food chain that sells cheap bubble tea and ice cream, has more than 45,000 stores worldwide and just opened its first outlet in New York City at the start of the year. It went public in Hong Kong last March, with its stock jumping 30% from its IPO price at market open. Other Asian beverage brands, like Luckin Coffee, have positioned themselves as Starbucks' rivals, offering similar drinks at lower prices. Luckin Coffee expanded to the US last year, with several outlets in NYC. Read the original article on Business Insider

A Business Insider reviewer tried Red Lobster's new Lobsterfest menu after its revamp, noting that the chain's offering has changed significantly from two years prior.

In 2025, Meta launched a barrage of hirings, offering astronomical amounts to attract the elite of Artificial Intelligence experts. According to a Business Insider analysis of over 5,800...

A Business Insider reporter recounted their 53-hour journey on Amtrak's California Zephyr, the longest train ride in the US, sharing six surprising observations from the cross-country adventure.

A Business Insider reporter recounted her first 48-hour trip to Chicago in February 2026, expressing four regrets, including the timing of her winter visit.

Business Insider is seeking stories on how technology, including AI, is being utilized by older Americans and their caregivers to support aging and caregiving journeys, noting a boom in age tech investments.

A Business Insider article explores the frustrations of dynamic pricing, with a reporter finding a pair of jeans more expensive in-store than online.

Business Insider offers advice for adults looking to enjoy spring break, highlighting that the vacation period is not exclusively for college students and can be a much-needed break for anyone.

Business Insider announced Jennifer Maloney as its new Executive Editor for Enterprise, highlighting her accomplished career as a business reporter and editor.

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Business Insider highlights "vibe coding" as a new trend, aiming to keep its readers updated on innovation and work culture.

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Volvo confirmed that it has discontinued the EX30 for the US market. John Keeble/Getty Images Volvo is discontinuing the EX30 and EX30 Cross Country by year's end, the company said. The car was first pitched as a $35,000 EV. Tariffs and trade wars complicated the price promise. Automakers have reorganized their US EV lineups — and many have focused on their foreign-made cars. The Volvo EX30 will exit stage left later this year. The Swedish automaker confirmed to Business Insider that it wil...

TNL Mediagene has announced an exclusive partnership with Moby to launch 'Moby Japan' on the Business Insider Japan Platform, expanding its digital media offerings.

The inside of BlueHouse, which opened at JFK International Airport last year. Gabbi Shaw/Business Insider BlueHouse, JetBlue's first airport lounge, opened at JFK in New York in December. As a JetBlue credit card holder, I decided to pay a visit. It was spacious and well-designed, but I didn't spend enough time there to justify the $79 cost. Rejoice, JetBlue lovers: There's now a lounge where you can eat, drink, and be merry while waiting to board your flight. BlueHouse, the airline's first...

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At an AI class in Singapore, seniors are learning to engage AI. Lee Chong Ming/Business Insider I went to an AI class for retirees in Singapore. I saw them grill the instructor, furiously scribble notes, and marvel at a vibe-coded app. "AI is definitely going to stay. Like it or not, we have to engage it," said one participant. Susanna Lau, 70, squinted at her screen, then laughed. The AI chatbot she was playing with had just generated a dish she described as "an extravagant Hokkien mee," a...

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JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette in New York City, and Paul Kelly and Sarah Pidgeon are seen on the set of "Love Story." Mitchell Gerber/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images; Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images/Getty Images "Love Story" follows the doomed love story of JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy. The show recreates several of Bessette-Kennedy's iconic looks and timeless style. The show's costume designer was replaced after initial backlash to how star Sarah Pidgeon was styled. The iconic style of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy has been often imitated but never replicated — until now. "Love Story," which is produced by Ryan Murphy for FX, chronicles the fated relationship between John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, who died in a plane crash off the coast of Martha's Vineyard in July 1999. The series has drawn praise for its striking casting — with Sarah Pidgeon bearing an uncanny resemblance to Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy and Paul Anthony Kelly closely capturing the look of John F. Kennedy Jr. — as well as for its thoughtful costume design, which carefully recreates and honors Bessette-Kennedy's real-life style. Here's a look at how the show recreated and paid homage to Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy's style. The series recreated an early Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy look down to the leather loafers. Jenny Landy and Carolyn Bessette Kennedy in New York City in 1995; Sarah Pidgeon is seen filming "Love Story" in New York City. Patrick McMullan/Patrick McMullan/Getty Images; TheStewartofNY/GC Images In this scene, before she meets John F. Kennedy Jr. for the first time, Carolyn (played by Sarah Pidgeon) wears a simple black turtleneck, flared black capri pants, and black leather loafers. In both the show and real life, Bessette-Kennedy worked as a showroom assistant for Calvin Klein before rising the ranks to become head of publicity for the fashion house. Despite marrying into American royalty, Bessette-Kennedy knew how to perfect a casual look. JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette in New York City, and Paul Kelly and Sarah Pidgeon are seen on the set of "Love Story." Mitchell Gerber/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images; Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images/Getty Images She was often seen wearing loose Levi's 517 jeans, her hair slicked back into a bun, with a simple monochromatic coat over the top. When it came to recreating the New York City icon's style, the series didn't always nail it. Early leaked images from the set were criticized online for being too modern, fast-fashion-looking, and different from Kennedy-Bessette's more upscale style. In response to the backlash, the show brought in a new costume designer, Rudy Mance, who dedicated himself to making the costumes as accurate as possible. "I get it. I'm protective of [John and Carolyn] as well. We all just wanted to be as precise and accurate as possible," Mance told Variety. Mance said he and his team studied for months throughout filming, comparing old paparazzi photos of the couple with the new looks he was creating for the show and pulling in as many archival and vintage pieces as possible to accurately recreate the look. Part of Bessette-Kennedy's enduring appeal was her dedication to a minimalist, understated style that felt polished yet effortlessly cool. Lawrence Schwartzwald/Sygma/Getty Images; Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images/Getty Images "There's so much mystery about Carolyn. My familiarity with her was through paparazzi images," lead actor Sarah Pidgeon told Vogue. Mance said that recreating Kennedy's style before she was thrust into the public eye was the most challenging. "Everybody knows what they wore from 1996 to 1999, but we were telling the story of how they met," he said, according to Glamour. Her formal looks remained simple but added a sexy edge, a balance "Love Story" tried to recreate. Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy and JFK Jr. in 1998; Sarah Pidgeon in "Love Story." Steve Eichner/Penske Media/Getty Images; FX Networks Bessette-Kennedy often looked effortlessly sexy when she stepped out on red carpets, like in the strapless black Yohji Yamamoto gown photographed above. Pidgeon wears a similar dress for her meet-cute with Kelly in episode one of the series. It was delicate work for Pidgeon to strike the same balance, especially when fans reacted strongly to early images of her in the role. However, the actor told Vogue she was ultimately grateful for the public feedback about her portrayal. "The online conversations at the beginning of the process served as a reminder of how important it was to get our portrayal of Carolyn correct. She grew even more important to me," Pidgeon told Vogue. "People really, really love Carolyn, and my priority every single day on set was doing justice to her legacy." And even when they were recreating simple outfits, the "Love Story" team ensured the fit was similar to what Carolyn would have worn. Carolyn Bessette Kennedy poses for a picture at a gala in 1999; Sarah Pidgeon in "Love Story." Evan Agostini/Liaison/Getty Images; FX Networks Although Bessette-Kennedy's simple outfits could be recreated with off-brand designers — like the white blouse and floor-length black skirt by Yohji Yamamoto that she wore in 1999 — Mance was dedicated to finding archival pieces. Pidgeon was wearing true recreations of Bessette-Kennedy's looks whenever possible. He also ensured the pieces would fit Pidgeon similarly to how they fit Bessette-Kennedy, as Pidgeon told Vogue. "We found her Prada and Valentino coats, and fitted some Levi's so that they looked exactly how they fit Carolyn," Pidgeon told Vogue. By recreating the magic of Bessette-Kennedy's wardrobe, the "Love Story" team offered a window into her world. Carolyn Bessette Kennedy in 1999; Sarah Pidgeon on the set of "Love Story." Justin Ide/Getty Images; Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images/Getty Images Kennedy's clothes were always going to play a central part in her on-screen portrayal since style was so critical to her identity. However, Pidgeon said she hoped the clothes she wears offer a jumping-off point for the total woman she hopes to portray. "She is known as this minimalist fashion icon, but I learned that she was also vivacious, funny, and had a wildness about her," she told Vogue. Read the original article on Business Insider

Over the years, I've seen passengers making some basic mistakes and social faux pas on train rides. sculpies/Getty Images I've been riding trains across the US for over 26 years, and it's one of my favorite ways to travel. After hundreds of trips, I have a running list of some of the worst things passengers do on board. Avoid bringing too much luggage and taking up more than your fair share of space on board. Train travel can be an adventure. Whizzing by different terrain and meeting new people are all part of the trip. However, a ride can also be frustrating or a bit chaotic, especially if other passengers are doing things that irritate you. After more than 26 years of riding trains up and down both US coasts and across the Midwest, here are seven things I wish passengers would stop doing. Talking your seat partner's ear off As is the case on most public transportation, you risk encountering talkative seatmates on trains. Being stuck in a conversation for a multihour train ride can be exhausting, especially since many people choose this form of transit because it's considered a leisurely and relaxing travel option. I don't usually mind having brief conversations with people near me — it's a shared experience after all — but not everyone wants to be social. When it comes to chatting on board, consent from both parties is key. Bringing too much luggage There probably won't be tons of storage space on the train. Daniel J. Macy/Shutterstock Similar to air travel, trains have limited space in front of the seats and in the overhead bins. Try to stick to your fair share of luggage, or plan in advance to check it when you board. On Amtrak, most reservations allow you to bring one bag and two carry-on items. You may be able to bring more if you book a private car or upgrade your ticket. People are getting on and off at every stop, so even if your train car looks empty when you board, you should still be mindful of how much space you're taking up. Spreading your belongings (or body) out across a row of seats Speaking of taking up too much space: Spreading all your things across a row or more of seats is annoying for fellow passengers. Since there isn't much extra space on trains, I wish people were more mindful about taking too many seats, blocking the middle aisle, and knocking into the people around them when they need to unpack something or resituate their luggage. This also goes for lying down across multiple seats. If you need to stretch out, go to the café car or observation space, where there's usually a little more room to move around. Leaving trash and spills for others to clean A lot of people think they don't have to clean up after themselves on trains and planes. It's especially annoying because there are trash receptacles throughout the train, making it easy to organize your space as you go. I usually find them near stairwells, in restrooms, in the dining car, or at the end of the passenger cars. Your trash is your responsibility — the same goes for anything you spill during the trip. Trapping people on the stairs or between cars Try not to stand in front of doors for too long. Dogora Sun/Shutterstock Don't stand in the way of people in the space between cars or on the narrow, sometimes winding, stairwells. Space is limited, and if you trap someone for too long, they may start to feel unsafe or uncomfortable. It's sometimes unavoidable to momentarily block people as they get on and off the train, but otherwise, be mindful and stay aware of your surroundings. Taking your shoes off When you're in a public place that's not a pool or spa, taking your shoes off probably won't elicit a pleasant reaction. This is especially true when you're trapped in what's essentially a metal tube for hours. Keep your shoes on to avoid bothering your fellow train riders. I personally wouldn't want my feet touching the floor of a train anyway. Watching videos or listening to music without using headphones If you want to avoid irritating everyone around you, reduce your noise pollution. You might be fascinated by the cooking video you found on YouTube, but the rest of the passengers probably aren't. And no matter how amazing your taste in music is, use headphones while on the train. This also applies to phone calls — no one wants to hear your whole conversation on speakerphone. This story was originally published on November 10, 2024, and most recently updated on February 20, 2025. Read the original article on Business Insider

John F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, attended the Municipal Art Society Gala in 1998. Richard Corkery/NY Daily News Archive/Getty Images John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife, and her sister died in a 1999 plane crash near Martha's Vineyard. Rumors of a "Kennedy curse" were fueled by multiple family tragedies over the decades. JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette's relationship is now the topic of an FX series, "Love Story." The Kennedy family has been subjected to many tragedies over the years, including two assassinations and a plane crash that took the lives of John F. Kennedy Jr. and two other passengers. Nearly 27 years ago, on July 16, 1999, John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, and her older sister Lauren Bessette were killed in a plane crash off the coast of Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts. There were no survivors from the accident. The relationship between John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy is now the topic of an FX series executive-produced by Ryan Murphy, "Love Story." Their deaths became a major news story and perpetuated rumors of a "Kennedy curse." JFK Jr.'s father, former President John F. Kennedy, was assassinated in 1963. His uncle, Robert "Bobby" Kennedy, was assassinated five years later in 1968. And two years before JFK Jr.'s death, his cousin Michael Kennedy also died after hitting a tree while skiing in Aspen, Colorado. Here's what we know about the plane crash that killed John F. Kennedy Jr. and two others. John F. Kennedy Jr. frequently made headlines throughout the 1990s. John F. Kennedy, Jr. at the Democratic National Convention in 1988. Bettmann/Getty Images As the son of a president and a member of one of America's most prominent political dynasties, John F. Kennedy Jr. was destined for the spotlight. JFK Jr. was born on November 25, 1960, just two weeks after his father was elected president. His father was assassinated on November 22, 1963, just three days shy of JFK Jr.'s third birthday. JFK Jr., affectionately nicknamed "John-John" by the public, attended the funeral on his birthday and was famously photographed saluting his father's casket. Throughout much of his adolescence and adulthood, he mostly remained out of the public eye. However, his public image began to change after he introduced his uncle, Ted Kennedy, at the Democratic National Convention in 1988. In September 1988, People named Kennedy, who was then a 27-year-old third-year law student at NYU, the "Sexiest Man Alive." JFK Jr. also dated a few celebrities throughout the 1990s, including "Sex and the City" star Sarah Jessica Parker, Cindy Crawford, and Daryl Hannah. John F. Kennedy Jr. began dating Carolyn Bessette, a publicist for Calvin Klein, in 1994. John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy in 1995. Rose Hartman/Getty Images They met in the fitting room at Calvin Klein, where Bessette helped JFK Jr. pick out wardrobe items, Elizabeth Beller wrote in "Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy," cited by People. Tall, sophisticated, and beautiful, JFK Jr.'s new girlfriend captivated the public. After two years of dating, the pair married in an intimate ceremony on Cumberland Island, Georgia, People reported. While their wedding ceremony was private, their relationship was anything but, thanks to the prying eyes of the paparazzi. Evan Agostini/Getty Images; NY Daily News Archive/Getty Images The media attention may have even inspired Kennedy to get his pilot's license in 1998. "That was some of the happiest times he ever had. Floating around with the buzzards in his Buckeye [plane]. It was the freedom," his close friend Robbie Littell told "JFK Jr: An Intimate Oral Biography" author RoseMarie Terenzio, according to People. "He said, 'It's the only place I can go where no one is bothering me. I have complete silence, and no one can get to me except the air traffic controllers.' Maybe that gives you insight into what he was really dealing with on the ground," his college friend Gary Ginsberg said, People reported. John F. Kennedy Jr. was traveling to Martha's Vineyard with his wife and her older sister when their plane was reported missing. The hangar where John Kennedy Jr. kept his Piper Saratoga airplane. Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection/Getty Images The Washington Post reported that Kennedy departed Essex County Airport near Fairfield, New Jersey, at around 8:38 p.m. on Friday, July 16, 1999. The sun was already beginning to set and "hazy conditions," which had been reported earlier in the evening, were getting worse, People reported. Kennedy planned to drop his sister-in-law Lauren Bessette on Martha's Vineyard before traveling to his family's compound in Hyannis Port with Carolyn. The couple was due to attend his cousin Rory Kennedy's wedding the following day, according to People. However, the plane never landed in Martha's Vineyard. An unidentified driver reported the plane had failed to arrive at Martha's Vineyard Airport as expected, according to the Post, citing an NBC report. It kicked off a search for the missing aircraft in the early hours of July 17. The Kennedy family notified the Cape Cod Coast Guard that the couple had not made it back to Hyannis. A Coast Guard helicopter searching for debris from John Kennedy Jr.'s plane. Daniel Goodrich/Newsday RM/Getty Images The Washington Post reported that the Coast Guard then began investigating whether the plane had landed at another airport. By 4 a.m., the Coast Guard began searching for the missing plane, and by 7:30 a.m., the Air Force and Coast Guard had launched 20 aircraft vehicles and two boats to search the area between Long Island and Martha's Vineyard, according to the Post's timeline. On Sunday afternoon, what was presumed to be debris from the plane was found on Philbin Beach on Martha's Vineyard. Among the debris was a headrest that was later concluded to be from the missing aircraft and a black suitcase that contained Lauren Bessette's business card. Rory Kennedy's wedding, scheduled for 6 p.m. that night, was put on hold as the family awaited more news. The Washington Post reported that after more debris was found in the days to follow, the search-and-rescue mission became a search-and-recovery mission. All three of the plane's passengers were now presumed dead. John F. Kennedy Jr. was 38 years old. Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy was 33, and her sister Lauren Bessette was 34. Five days after the crash, the bodies of John F. Kennedy Jr., Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, and Lauren Bessette were recovered. Massachusetts State Police divers left Menemsha on Martha's Vineyard on July 19, 1999. DON EMMERT/AFP/Getty Images The debris field was identified off the coast of Martha's Vineyard, relatively near the estate once owned by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Kennedy's mother, The New York Times reported. (Kennedy Onassis died in 1994.) The bodies of John F. Kennedy Jr., Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, and Lauren Bessette were discovered by Navy divers on July 22, 1999, after an extensive search approved by President Bill Clinton. The bodies of the crash victims, which were ''near and under'' the main body of the aircraft, were still strapped in, according to the Times. Details began to emerge about what led to the crash. A television technician holds up the official handout map of the search and rescue area off Martha's Vineyard. JOHN MOTTERN/AFP/Getty Images Kennedy had only flown about 72 hours without a flight instructor, and had only about 300 total hours of flying experience, The New York Times reported in July 2000. He had reportedly rejected an offer to have a flight instructor accompany the group on their journey. As a newly trained pilot, Kennedy was not licensed to fly and navigate the air using flying instruments. Instead, he had only trained to fly using sight alone, which would have been extremely difficult in dark or hazy conditions such as those on the night of July 16. Warren Morningstar, a spokesman for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, told the Times that "flying at night over featureless terrain or water, and particularly in haze or in overcast, is a prime setup for spatial disorientation." About an hour into the trip, the plane's flight path became irregular as it began its descent into Martha's Vineyard, indicating that the pilot may have become disoriented by the darkness of the sky and the water, the National Transportation Safety Board concluded. "His flight path into the water is consistent with what is known as a graveyard spiral," Jeff Guzzetti, an NTSB investigator in the accident, told Terenzio, according to People. "The airplane makes a spiral nose down … kind of like going down a drain. The plane went into one final turn and it stayed in that turn pretty much all the way down to the ocean." The aircraft went down in the water about 7 miles from its intended destination of Martha's Vineyard. Mourners pay respects at the floral shrine outside of the building where John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn lived in 1999. Allan Tannenbaum/Getty Images The Washington Post reported that the plane did not send out a distress call. Instead, it made its final descent and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean in under 30 seconds. Kennedy, Kennedy-Bessette, and Bessette's bodies were cremated and buried at sea off the coast of Martha's Vineyard on July 22, 1999. "We are filled with unspeakable grief and sadness by the loss of John and Carolyn and Lauren Bessette," Ted Kennedy said in a statement on behalf of the Kennedy family. "John was a shining light in all our lives and in the lives of the nation and the world that first came to know him as a little boy." As the country mourned the loss, rumors of a "Kennedy curse" were reignited. John F. Kennedy, Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy attended the White House Correspondents dinner in 1999. Tyler Mallory/Liaison/Getty Images The extensive search captured the nation's attention, as did the tragedy of the three young passengers' deaths. Yet another tragic accident for the Kennedy family, the plane crash only added to rumors of a Kennedy family curse. "I've looked high and low and cannot find another family since the ancient Greek House of Atreus that has suffered more calamities and misfortunes than the Kennedys," Edward Klein, the author of "The Kennedy Curse: Why Tragedy Has Haunted America's First Family for 150 Years," said, according to The Washington Post. While there are many logical reasons for the fateful plane crash, it's nevertheless poignant that the Kennedy family, one of the wealthiest and most influential political families in the world, has suffered so much tragedy throughout the last 100 years. "The humanity of their story is what keeps us engaged," Kennedy family biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli told NBC News in 2019. "We peer behind the scenes of their wealthy lifestyle, and we see, for all the advantages they have, tragedy can still happen." Read the original article on Business Insider

PwC, like many consulting firms, is investing heavily in engineering talent. Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images PwC's engineers have created a new AI agent to tackle enterprise-grade spreadsheets. Spreadsheets are unsexy, but crucial to corporate operations, PwC exec Matt Wood told Business Insider. Traditional AIs "just kind of shrug and give up" when they meet a big spreadsheet, Wood said. The real way to judge a company's AI expertise isn't in the flashy headlines, but by looking at the "unsexy" work rolling out behind the scenes, Matt Wood, PwC's global and US commercial technology and innovation officer, told Business Insider. If Wood's theory holds — that real AI prowess shows up in unglamorous advances — PwC's latest launch is certainly notable. After all, what could be less sexy than spreadsheets? The Big Four firm announced this week that it has developed a "frontier AI agent" capable of reasoning over vast, enterprise-grade spreadsheets — something that conventional AI systems struggle with because of their complexity, size, and interdependencies. The agent can understand and navigate spreadsheets, mimicking "how experienced practitioners work: scanning, searching, jumping across tabs, integrating charts and receipts, and reasoning," PwC said in a press release. Why spreadsheets matter Wood, who joined PwC in 2024 from a role as vice president of AI at Amazon Web Services, said that when he started, he'd noticed the wraparound, ultra-wide monitors filled with spreadsheets: "That's all anybody was working on," he said. But these were not "your school soccer team budget spreadsheet," said Wood. The spreadsheets that power large enterprises are enormously complex, often containing millions of cells, charts, graphs, images, receipts, and dozens of interlinked workbooks. "They are more like financial engines than they are spreadsheets," he told Business Insider. These files often underpin business-critical decisions, yet PwC "found that even today's modern AI was very poorly suited to managing these big enterprise spreadsheets," Wood said. "They just kind of shrug and give up for want of a better word." Matt Wood, PwC's global and US commercial technology and innovation officer. PwC Creating an AI capable of understanding and reasoning across large, complicated spreadsheet applications is what PwC's engineers set out to solve. Their solution was a "genuine advance in the field," Wood said. The agent has unlocked use cases across assurance, advisory, and tax, and boosts time saving on some tasks "from literally days to hours," said Wood. He gave the example of audit walkthroughs, where teams previously spent weeks manually gathering and validating evidence across numerous complex spreadsheets that existing AI tools couldn't handle. Now, users simply upload the files, and the frontier agent automatically maps their structure, extracts relevant data, and performs validation and consistency checks — tasks that would otherwise require combing through millions of rows by hand. The result is faster meetings, less back-and-forth with clients, and cleaner, structured data ready for deeper AI-driven analysis, he said. Consulting powered by engineers PwC's AI spreadsheet agent was built in-house by engineers — a function the firm has been rapidly expanding as it shifts beyond the traditional roles associated with the Big Four. In January, PwC launched a dedicated tech engineering career track to attract more technical talent, saying it wants to become "a destination for top engineering talent." Previously, the firm offered only consulting and accounting career paths. Wood told Business Insider that adding the engineering track is "a signpost" of its future plans. At the same time, PwC is retraining non-technical employees. The US branch of the firm recently announced a companywide workplace learning strategy focused on knowledge sharing and on developing a mix of human and AI skills needed for the future. Wood described the work engineers do at PwC as having two modes: "transforming today" and "building for tomorrow." The first focuses on improving current workflows — reducing back-and-forth with clients, increasing trust, and delivering work more efficiently. The second reimagines professional services from scratch: "If you were to start from a blank piece of paper, what would professional services look like in an AI agent world?" said Wood. PwC engineers also work directly on client engagements, building AI systems tailored to specific projects. For example, they help organizations reorganize and redesign their finance functions from the ground up using agents, Wood said. Many of the consulting industry's top players are pursuing similar investments in technical talent as AI reshapes the work they do. Accenture, already one of consulting's most technically sophisticated players, has added nearly 40,000 AI and data professionals in the last two years. They now account for roughly 10% of its global headcount. EY, another Big Four firm, has added 61,000 technologists since 2023, according to its latest annual report. Have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at pthompson@businessinsider.com or Signal at Polly_Thompson.89. Use a personal email address, a nonwork WiFi network, and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely. Read the original article on Business Insider

captiontk Sukhman Rekhi I took my first solo trip when I turned 29, even though I was scared I'd be lonely on my birthday. Being alone in a new country felt awkward at first, but I loved the freedom to do what I wanted. In Cancún, I learned the importance of prioritizing my needs and doing things that bring me joy. I'm a girl who loves her independence. Although I'm a proud extrovert, I live on my own, I like being able to get in my car and drive wherever I want, and I enjoy a good solo date. As comfortable as I am doing things alone, though, I still prefer to celebrate really special moments with my loved ones. One of those moments is my birthday. Unfortunately, in the weeks leading up to my 29th birthday, the stars weren't exactly aligning in my favor. Friends either already had their schedules booked, were tied up with other responsibilities, or just didn't respond when I asked if they were free. I understand life is busy, but I did feel a bit sad that no one showed a lot of interest in celebrating with me. Still, one thing I'm trying to learn as I get older is that I can't press pause on my happiness just because other people aren't available. Instead, I booked my very first solo trip to an all-inclusive resort in Cancún, and it ended up being exactly what I needed. The first day felt a little uncomfortable captiontk Sukhman Rekhi Shortly after I landed in Mexico, it hit me that it was my first time traveling outside the US in 24 years — and if you've done the math, that last time was when I was 5 years old. Simple things like going through immigration at the airport or communicating with my driver in limited Spanish felt very new to me. When I checked in at the resort, the gentleman helping me noticed that I'd listed my birthday as the reason for my reservation. The lady standing at the counter next to me overheard the exchange and asked if I was here on my own. After I said yes, she told me how brave I was to celebrate alone, adding that she would never be able to do that. Hours later, I made my way to dinner at the Mexican restaurant they had on the property — I couldn't wait to take a bite of the chicken fajitas and tres leches cake I saw on the menu. When I got there and requested a table for one, though, I remember the hostess asking, "Oh really, it's just you?" I know she didn't mean any harm, but I started feeling a little self-conscious. Was this all a mistake? However, by the time my order arrived, I was so happy just to eat the yummy food in front of me and admire the sounds of the waterfall in the nearby courtyard that I wasn't really concerned about what other people may have been thinking. After all, I told myself, most people on vacation are probably too preoccupied enjoying themselves to judge anyone else. Getting to set my own itinerary was a dream Being on a group trip means you often have to take into consideration several other people's opinions about what to eat, where to go, when to rest … the list goes on. The nice thing about being at an all-inclusive alone, though, was that my trip was already somewhat planned. I just got to sit back and handpick the things I actually wanted to do — without any compromises. Sleep in until noon? Sure. Order room service in the middle of the night? Go for it. Attend the morning sip-and-paint class? Check. If I wanted to spontaneously take a dip in the ocean even after straightening my hair and putting on a full face of makeup, I could, and no one would stop me. I did all of these absolutely guilt-free, because I wasn't responsible for anyone else and nobody was waiting on me, either. I got to catch up on so many things I was neglecting On my trip, I realized I'd been neglecting a lot of my needs. Sukhman Rekhi Going on my first major solo trip made me realize I hadn't been prioritizing all my needs. Even though I really enjoy getting dressed up, I hadn't been putting much time into my appearance, mainly because I work from home and not many people see me throughout the day. Since it was my birthday week, I made an extra effort to feel pretty, and it instantly uplifted my mood. I'm also always wishing for more time in my day to read. Although I've historically been a nonfiction reader, I forced myself to bring two romance novels on this vacation as a reminder that I'm allowed to read purely for fun. I finished reading both books over the six days I was there, and have kept up the habit since returning home. Overall, this was the first time in a long time I felt confident in living my life as I pleased, without worrying about anyone else's thoughts or concerns. I love the rain, and on the day of my birthday, there was a short thunderstorm. I felt a sense of childlike joy as I jumped into the lazy river while it was pouring outside. I'd do it all again captiontk Sukhman Rekhi What started as a vacation I was really nervous about turned into the trip I was most sad to leave. Traveling solo on my birthday filled my cup and desperately gave me the rest I needed. Most of all, it also reminded me to do more things that bring me joy, even if they're scary at first. I came back to California feeling more confident and empowered than ever. And who knows? My 30th birthday is right around the corner, so maybe I'll do it all over again. I think Europe's calling my name. Read the original article on Business Insider

Anti-drone netting covering tanks at an oil depot in Velikiye Luki, Russia. Satellite image ©2026 Vantor Ukraine carried out a long-range drone attack against a Russian oil depot on Wednesday night. A Ukrainian security source said anti-drone netting at the facility failed to stop the attack. Anti-drone netting has emerged as a common makeshift defense tactic on and off the battlefield. Ukrainian drones struck a Russian oil depot overnight, breaking through the netting that had been installed earlier to protect the site from such attacks, a security official told Business Insider on Thursday. Long-range Ukrainian drones struck an oil depot in Velikiye Luki, a city in western Russia's Pskov region, a source in the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said. They were only authorized to speak on the condition of anonymity to discuss military operations. The source said protective anti-drone nets had been stretched above fuel tanks at the oil depot. The facility belongs to the company Pskovnefteproduct and is located nearly 500 kilometers (310 miles) from the Ukrainian border. The nets were unable to prevent the strike from doing damage, the source added. Satellite imagery captured in December by US spatial intelligence firm Vantor and analyzed by Business Insider, shows what appears to be anti-drone netting covering roughly 15 tanks at the depot in Velikiye Luki. Anti-drone netting is seen in this December 14, 2025, image of storage tanks at Velikiye Luki. Satellite image ©2026 Vantor Anti-drone netting covering tanks at an oil depot in Velikiye Luki, Russia. Satellite image ©2026 Vantor Several explosions and a large fire were reported at the oil facility, the source said, citing local channels on the Telegram messaging app. Video footage shared on social media shows a massive blaze burning through a structure resembling anti-drone netting. This kind of netting has been spotted at other oil facilities in Russia in recent months. The tactic underscores how the country is turning to crude-looking, improvised defenses to protect energy infrastructure from ongoing Ukrainian attacks. "Vietnam, run!" - overnight, drones from the Special Operations Center "Alpha" of the Security Service of Ukraine successfully struck the Velikolukskaya oil depot. A large fire broke out at the site. Anti-drone nets had been stretched over the fuel storage tanks, but they did not… pic.twitter.com/bLBxuHNxtm — WarTranslated (@wartranslated) February 19, 2026 Concerns over the high drone saturation have led to similar measures on the battlefield. Anti-drone netting is common near the front lines. Ukrainian soldiers are using this material to cover critical logistics routes. And both militaries have added cage-like fencing to their armored vehicles to protect against drones. Additionally, Russia has also installed makeshift defenses, such as large, floating barriers, to protect its ports from the Ukrainian naval drones that have wreaked havoc on its Black Sea Fleet. The Ukrainian attack on Wednesday night marked Kyiv's latest deep-strike drone operation against the vast Russian energy sector, a major source of revenue that fuels Moscow's ongoing war efforts. "The SBU continues to work methodically on facilities that provide the Russian army with fuel," the security source said in a translated statement. "The destruction of oil depots directly affects the enemy's ability to conduct combat operations, advance and transfer reserves. Such operations are an element of the systematic weakening of the military potential of the Russian Federation," they added. Anti-drone netting has become increasingly common near the front lines in Ukraine. Dmytro Smolienko/Ukrinform/NurPhoto via Getty Images Neither Russia's defense ministry nor its US embassy responded to a request for comment on the attack. Moscow said its air defenses shot down roughly 300 Ukrainian drones over the past 24 hours. Since last August, Ukraine has been intensifying its long-range drone attacks on Russia's energy sector, targeting oil refineries, terminals, tankers, and platforms at sea. Kyiv has described the deep-strike campaign as its way of imposing "long-range sanctions" on Moscow. Many of these attacks — at least four in the past week, including the most recent strike — have been carried out by the SBU's Alpha group, an elite unit considered to be among the best of Ukraine's special forces. Its personnel have also been involved in ground operations. Meanwhile, Russia has significantly stepped up its missile and drone strikes against Ukraine's energy infrastructure this winter compared to previous years of the war. Since October, Ukrainian energy facilities have been the main target of Russian barrages, Britain's defense ministry said on Thursday. Russia has launched more than 20,000 drones, and its aircraft have fired over 300 missiles, "in attempts to systematically destroy Ukraine's electrical grid and heat generation capacity," the ministry said in an intelligence update. Read the original article on Business Insider

Snowbird destinations from Palm Springs to southern Florida are feeling the impact as Canadians remain hesitant about traveling to the US. Sarah Gray/Business Insider New data from Longwoods International shows Canadians are still hesitant about traveling to the US. Major snowbird destinations from Palm Springs, California, to southern Florida are feeling the impact. Canadians are opting for Europe, Mexico, and the Caribbean instead, or for domestic travel. Canadian travellers are still unhappy with President Donald Trump, and that's affecting the 2026 outlook of visitors to the US from Canada. In 2025, there was a noticeable travel chill from the US's northern neighbor, following President Donald Trump's quips about the "51st state" and the levying of hefty tariffs. A January survey of more than 1,000 Canadian prospective travelers found that they remain hesitant to travel to the US and would rather support domestic tourism, according to Longwoods International, a tourism industry market research company. According to Longwoods International, 55% of surveyed Canadian travelers report that they intend to travel to the US within the next 12 months, which remains mostly unchanged from 54% reported in October 2025. Among those who intend to make the trip, only 9% say they have already made bookings. In 2025, 4 million fewer Canadian travelers visited the US than the previous year, marking a 22% drop, according to the US Commerce Department's National Travel and Tourism Office. Seventy-three percent of Canadian respondents to the latest survey, who said they changed their 2026 travel plans to avoid the US, cited economic policies and tariffs. Other factors are also at work. More than 40% of respondents told Longwoods International that they strongly or somewhat disagree that the US is a place that values international travelers, welcomes travelers with diverse backgrounds, is a safe place to visit, and feels welcoming in general, and the number of Canadians who agree that the US feels safe to visit has been declining over the past year. Popular destinations for Canadian snowbirds, such as southern California and Florida, have been trying to woo them back. But it appears that those attempts have fallen flat as Trump continues to threaten Canada with tariffs and recently threatened to delay the opening of a bridge Canada paid for. In 2025, California's Gov. Gavin Newsom began trying to convince Canadians with targeted video campaigns that California welcomes them. Recently, heart-shaped banners featuring the Canadian flag also popped up in Palm Springs, which, according to the Los Angeles Times, is feeling a chill this winter from fewer Canadian tourists. "Sure, you-know-who is trying to stir things up back in DC, but don't let that ruin your beach plans," Newsom said in a campaign video. "California is the ultimate playground — over 2,000 miles from Washington and a world away in mindset." According to Visit California, the number of Canadian visitors to the state still fell by over 18% in 2025 compared to the year prior, slipping to 1.4 million. In 2024, Visit California showed that 1.7 million Canadians visited the state and spent around $3.7 billion. Even Disney, the happiest place on earth, is feeling the impact as international travelers skip the US. In the Walt Disney Company's first-quarter earnings report earlier in February, the company said it is facing "international visitation headwinds" at its US parks, including Disney World in Florida and Disneyland in California. Visit Florida lists Canada as the state's top source of international visitors, with around 3.4 million travelers from Canada to the state in 2024. In 2025, the state saw a 15% year-over-year drop, according to Visit Florida, with only 2.9 million visitors from Canada. Canadian airlines Air Transat and WestJet are also suspending all or some flights from Canada to the US this summer. "We saw a notable decline in transborder travel demand throughout 2025," Julia Kaiser, media relations advisor for WestJet, told Global News earlier in February. "As a result, we made timely decisions to modify our network to stay aligned with where Canadians want to go." The slowdown in trips to the US doesn't mean that Canadians are no longer traveling. Longwoods International said that 45% of Canadian travelers who changed their plans for a US trip now say they would substitute it with a domestic trip, while about a quarter of prospective travelers are looking toward Europe, Mexico, and the Caribbean. As of February 17, China also opened up visa-free entry for all Canadian citizens, allowing up to 30 days of travel for business, tourism, family visits, or transit. Read the original article on Business Insider

Google executives meet with officials at a Google data center in Midlothian, Texas. Fortune via Reuters Connect Northern Virginia is home to the world's largest data center market. That could soon change, as Big Tech ramps up data center construction across the US. West Texas, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and Ohio are emerging as key markets. The old saying "Everything is bigger in Texas" now applies to data centers. The Lone Star State is on track to unseat Virginia as the world's largest data center market by 2030, new research from Jones Lang LaSalle shows. The shift indicates how drastically the data center development boom has reshaped the US's digital infrastructure map and the landscape as a whole. Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Meta plan to spend more than $600 billion on AI infrastructure expansion in 2026 — a number so dizzyingly high that Wall Street is on high alert for signs of an AI bubble. More than half of all data center construction in the US now happens outside the industry's traditional hubs, according to JLL's North America Data Center Report — Year-End 2025. Tennessee, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Texas are now considered the top emerging markets for data centers. Texas alone has 6.5 gigawatts of data center capacity under construction. That amount of power is roughly equivalent to more than three Hoover Dams or over 17,000 Tesla Model 3s when using the US Department of Energy's standard, and it accounts for about one-fifth of the 35 gigawatts of data center capacity the US added to its pipeline. That 35 gigawatts is roughly equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of the UK or Italy, and adding it would nearly double the existing data center capacity in the US, according to JLL. Part of Texas's appeal is its sprawl. The state houses some of the most ambitious data center projects in the country. Oracle and OpenAI's flagship Stargate data center is in Abilene, Google is planning a $40 billion expansion in West Texas, and Meta is building a massive new site in El Paso, just to name a few. Texas also has abundant energy resources, which is good news for data center developers. The AI boom has driven electricity demand to new heights and strained the nation's power grid. In Texas, several data centers — including Stargate — are being built alongside on-site power plants. Northern Virginia has been the data center industry's central hub for more than 15 years, going back to the early days of cloud computing. That has changed rapidly as Big Tech spreads out across the country in search of available power, cheap land, and the best tax incentive packages for the coming wave of AI data centers. Have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at ethomas@businessinsider.com or on Signal at 929-524-6964. Read the original article on Business Insider

DoorDash reported worse-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings on Wednesday. Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images DoorDash has a key advantage over Amazon in grocery delivery, CEO Tony Xu said Wednesday. The delivery service offers a wider variety owing to its myriad partnerships with grocers, Xu said. Amazon is ramping up its grocery delivery, creating more competition for DoorDash and Instacart. DoorDash CEO Tony Xu says that his company's grocery offering has a key advantage over Amazon: choice. Amazon is doubling down on grocery delivery, especially perishables like produce and ice cream. The retail and tech giant said last month that it's expanding same- and next-day grocery delivery to more parts of the US this year, adding to the thousands of towns and cities it already serves — news that sent shares of Instacart and DoorDash tumbling at the time. DoorDash, though, has something that shoppers want and that Amazon isn't replicating, Xu said on the company's fourth-quarter earnings call on Wednesday. Unlike Amazon, which owns Whole Foods and several of its own food brands, DoorDash works with existing grocery chains. The delivery service has struck deals in recent years. Last year, it expanded its partnership with Kroger and signed new deals with regional chains, including Schnucks in the Midwest. Few customers complete all their grocery shopping at a single chain, Xu said. Many stop at multiple stores each week, especially to find specific fresh groceries, such as produce, meat, and seafood. "Consumers prefer choice," Xu said on the call, adding that he expects there to "continue to be very strong interest in the DoorDash product" as a result. DoorDash is also expanding its services for retailers, such as fulfillment through its DashMarts, convenience store-sized retail spaces designed for picking and delivering orders. Xu said DoorDash is "doing that for every single grocer so that they have the capability to compete against companies like Amazon." DoorDash shares rose as much as 14% in after-market trading on Wednesday, despite disappointing fourth-quarter earnings and guidance for 2026. The company's stock took its biggest one-day hit in November after it unveiled plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on tech improvements. While DoorDash has become known for restaurant deliveries, its gig workers are increasingly making grocery deliveries — many of which make more financial sense for DoorDash. Xu said DoorDash has attracted more big grocery orders from customers, not just small fill-in trips. That matters in the grocery industry, where grocers tend to make more money when customers buy a wider range of goods. "People use us for both the quick runs as well as the stock-up use cases," he said. Ravi Inukonda, DoorDash's CFO, said on the call that DoorDash's retail and grocery business expects to "be unit-economic positive" in the second half of 2026. Have a tip? Contact this reporter at abitter@businessinsider.com or via encrypted messaging app Signal at 808-854-4501. Use a personal email address, a nonwork WiFi network, and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely. Read the original article on Business Insider

I like to prep my meals for the Mediterranean diet in advance. George Arkley I've followed the Mediterranean diet for years, and I meal prep to save time and money. My favorite Chicken meatballs are versatile and packed with protein. I like to pair my prepped dishes with olive salad, which I can also make in advance. I have followed the Mediterranean diet for more than five years. It's long been considered the healthiest diet, and this way of eating emphasizes the consumption of unprocessed foods and healthy fats. Common ingredients people on the diet eat include vegetables, seafood, whole grains, and beans. While following it, I like to cook meals in advance in larger batches so I can enjoy them throughout the week or freeze them to eat at a later date. Some of my go-to Mediterranean-diet recipes stray slightly from more typical ones I've seen, but I try to stick with the core principles of this style of eating while keeping things interesting. Here are some of my favorite meals to make in advance and how I usually prepare them. I make chicken meatballs to pair with salads and pasta dishes. George Arkley Chicken meatballs are versatile and can be easily incorporated into pasta dishes, salads, wraps, and sandwiches. Plus, they freeze well. To make them, I usually combine ground chicken, chopped red onion, egg, breadcrumbs, and olive oil. Then, I mix in oregano, garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper and form my meatballs. I pop them in the air fryer or oven until brown, let them cool, then freeze them in individual portions for later. Stuffed peppers are a budget-friendly, easy-to-make dish that's perfect for freezing for later. George Arkley Stuffed peppers are easy to customize with different types of meat, rice, cheese, and vegetables. To start, I cut each bell pepper in half and remove the seeds. I drizzle the peppers in olive oil and bake them for a bit while I cook my preferred filling on my stovetop. I often stuff peppers with a mix of cooked ground turkey (be sure to drain any excess juice), diced onions, canned diced tomatoes, garlic, tomato puree, chicken stock, and herbs. Once I bake and cool the peppers, I freeze them. When I defrost them, I add grated cheese and heat them in the oven until they're hot and the cheese is golden. I whip up a big batch of beef stew for cold days. George Arkley Sometimes I spend a free afternoon cooking a large batch of beef stew I can fill my freezer with. To make it, I brown ground beef in olive oil on my stove and set it aside on a plate. Then, I add diced onion, rosemary, and garlic to the pan I was using. I cook them for a few minutes and then add red wine. I then pour in beef stock, canned chopped tomatoes, and jarred grilled peppers. I add the beef back in and cook my stew in the oven for two hours. Then, I stir in canned butterbeans and olives and cook for another 30 minutes. I make a slurry with cornstarch and cold water and stir it into my stew to help it thicken. I let it simmer until I like the consistency. Once it cools, I freeze individual serving sizes that I can thaw whenever I want them. Try these fishcakes even if you're not a fan of white fish. George Arkley Homemade fishcakes are a great way to incorporate seafood into your diet without spending a fortune at the fishmonger. To make them, I fry chopped leeks on the stove and set them aside in a bowl. Then, I grind up a few tilapia filets in a food processor and add them to the leeks, along with an egg, breadcrumbs, garlic, parsley, lemon juice, and cumin. I form my mixture into small cakes, then fry them in a pan for five minutes on each side until golden brown. I freeze the cakes individually and usually serve them with garlic mayo and salsa. My favorite chicken traybake works well as leftovers. George Arkley A one-pan chicken traybake is perfect to throw in the oven on a busy weeknight, particularly if you also need lunch prepped for the next day. For mine, I chop potatoes, onions, and lemons into medium-sized chunks and toss them in a pan with olive oil, capers, jarred peppers, sundried tomatoes, rosemary, oregano, salt, and pepper. I start roasting them in the oven while I season chicken thighs with olive oil, salt, and pepper. I fry the thighs skin-side down on the stove until the skin turns brown, then add them to the tray of things I began roasting. I cover the whole thing in foil for a bit, then keep baking and tossing everything around until my potatoes are crispy. Once finished, I serve myself a portion and keep the rest for lunch the next day. It's very tasty leftover. I cook Moroccan soup to use up any veggies that are on their way out. George Arkley Nothing says batch cooking like a cozy soup. Drizzle diced carrots, onion, celery, and leeks with olive oil and cook in a large pan on the stove. Season with turmeric, harissa, and red-pepper flakes before adding chopped tomatoes, fresh cilantro, vegetable stock, and water. Leave to simmer uncovered for at least 30 minutes, then add cans of green lentils and chickpeas. Simmer for another half an hour. Whisk a couple of eggs, a tablespoon of flour, and lemon juice into a couple of cups of water, then add that mixture to the soup. Let it simmer for a few more minutes before pouring yourself a serving and freezing the rest. Olive salad is the perfect side dish. George Arkley I prepare olive salad once or twice a week to keep in the fridge. To make it, I chop pitted olives, shallots, cherry tomatoes, carrots, and bell peppers into tiny chunks. I toss those in a dressing made with lemon juice, sweet paprika, extra-virgin olive oil, and chili flakes. Lastly, I top my salad with fresh parsley, mint, crumbled feta, and walnuts. It can be eaten on its own, but I usually serve a small portion of it with one of my batch-cooked recipes. This story was most recently updated on February 18, 2026. Read the original article on Business Insider

Bernard Hoffman/Getty Images Thanks to the postwar Baby Boom and other factors, families in the '50s began moving to the suburbs. Levittown in Long Island, New York, is widely recognized as the first modern American suburb. Each home looked the same — they were all built in the Cape Cod-style and cost around $7,000. As World War II came to an end, families looked for ways to start over. Emboldened by the GI Bill's provisions for home loans, they moved out of the cities in droves for newly developed suburban communities. In fact, the suburbs expanded by 47% during the 1950s, according to the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. Levittown in Long Island, New York, was one of the first to introduce the idea of a pre-planned, mass-produced uniform suburban community, The New York Times reported. Families started moving there on October 1, 1947. Though the community welcomed an influx of families, non-white prospects weren't allowed. Notably, African Americans didn't see the same benefits from the GI Bill, and it would take some years before racial and ethnic minorities broadly shifted to the suburbs. Here's what it was like to live in America's first modern suburb in the 1950s. Before the 1950s, people mostly lived in cities to be close to factory jobs. Historical/Getty Images At the time, most people lived close to the city center to work in factories, or they lived in rural communities to work on farms, according to economist Jay Zagorsky. Everything changed in the 1950s when soldiers returned from World War II, sparking the great migration to the suburbs. Irving Haberman/IH Images/Getty Images The 1950 Census found that 60% of people lived in cities, while 40% lived in the suburbs. Thanks to factors like the construction of highways, the development of new neighborhoods from farmland, and even safety in the event of an atomic attack, these percentages would soon shift drastically. The GI Bill made it easier to afford a new home, prompting this transition from urban to suburban. Newsday LLC/Getty Images The GI Bill provided each returning soldier with benefits designed to stimulate economic growth. Each soldier was given a year of unemployment and free tuition to go to college. The military pledged to back all home loans, which allowed veterans to buy houses with little to no down payments. The Baby Boom started at the same time, causing many families to outgrow their city apartments. A family of four stands in front of their house in Levittown, NY. Joseph Scherschel/Getty Images Shortly after WWII ended, the Baby Boom began. In 1946, 3.4 million babies were born, more than ever before, and 20% more than in 1945, per History.com. This trend continued into the '50s. By the end of the boom in 1964, this generation made up 40% of the country's population. Most historians think it was because Americans were eager to have families after having postponed marriage and childbirth because of the Great Depression and World War II. Whatever the reason, people flocked to the suburbs to accommodate their growing families. In response to this growing need for space, suburban communities popped up at a faster rate in the '50s. An aerial view of a suburban community. Hulton Archive/Getty Images During the war, factories focused on creating wartime essentials, like airplanes and barracks. In the '50s, they refocused their efforts on building home components and automobiles using the new practices — like the assembly line — they implemented in the war, As a result, factories were able to produce materials for homes faster than ever before. Levittown in Long Island, New York, is widely recognized as the first modern American suburb. Tony Linck/Getty Images Levitt and Sons, a construction company, purchased a 7-square-mile plot of potato and onion farms in Long Island in 1947. They set out to build one of the first uniform suburban communities in the US. The community grew fast. In fact, a house was built every 16 minutes in Levittown. Tony Linck/Getty Images To construct the new community, which sits about 30 miles east of Manhattan, Levitt and Sons hired mostly unskilled workers to build the homes. They gave each a specific skill and created a sort of human assembly line. William Levitt even called his firm "the General Motors of the housing industry," The Guardian reported. The Levitts eventually constructed 17,447 houses between 1947 and 1951. During the peak of the construction boom, one was built every 16 minutes. People flocked to home sale events to get themselves a slice of suburbia. Al Fenn/Getty Images The first homes in Levittown cost new residents around $7,000, The Guardian reported. For veterans, there was no down payment. When adjusting for inflation, a Levittown home in 1950 would be roughly $97,000 in today's money. Every house in Levittown was identical. The Levitt family called it "the best house in the US." Joseph Scherschel/Getty Images At first, all the homes were built in the same style, and some residents even admitted to walking into the wrong house at times because they couldn't tell them apart, according to Khan Academy, citing Kenneth T. Jackson's "Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States." The picturesque community was lined with greenery. In fact, a tree was planted every 28 feet in Levittown. Newsday LLC/Getty Images Each home in Levittown sat on a 6,000-square-foot lot, The New York Times reported. Outdoor spaces, like backyards, became focal points. Robert W. Kelley/Getty Images With the growing number of children, outdoor spaces became increasingly important to the suburban neighborhood. Inside each home, there were four rooms, a built-in TV set, and Hi-Fi for the radio. Joseph Scherschel/Getty Images At first, they were modest homes, but most families saw their new suburban lives as luxurious. Most Levittown residents experienced the responsibilities of owning a home for the first time. A man and a woman clean opposite sides of a window. Many homeowners experienced the responsibilities of owning a home for the first time. Newsday LLC/Newsday via Getty Images Many Levittown homeowners learned homeownership responsibilities, such as tending to a lawn. The suburb helped cement the idea of the "nuclear family" in American culture. The community prided itself on neighborhood amenities, like this mobile public library. Joseph Scherschel/Getty Images There were also swimming pools that children could use during the summer. Levittown also had seven shopping centers. Underwood Archives/Getty Images The shopping centers were called "village greens" and were designed to make the town more of a bustling community, per Encyclopedia.com. The suburbs were also known for being a safe alternative to the gritty city streets. Joseph Scherschel/Getty Images Since the streets in the suburban neighborhood were considered safer than those in the city, parents used to allow children to bike around by themselves, per the National Center for Safe Routes to School. Levittown was also known as a cheaper option compared to an apartment in the city. Bernard Hoffman/Getty Images The mortgage on a home in Levittown was reportedly about $29 per month, while most paid $90 per month in the city. By comparison, the average rent in New York City in 2026 is just under $3,500, according to Zillow. The monthly cost of a 30-year mortgage on a Levittown home today would be roughly $2,000. With all the amenities and perks, the community grew rapidly. In less than a decade, the population of Levittown reached 82,000. Bettmann/Getty Images The community has over 17,000 homes, making it one of the largest private housing projects in the history of the US. As a result, Levittown became a model for other suburban communities in the US during the 1950s. A suburban community in the 1950s. Joseph Scherschel/Getty Images Suburban home construction boomed in the 1950s. In fact, at least 15 million units were under construction by the end of the decade, according to the Wealth Management Group. Although suburban communities boomed in the '50s, the shift was reserved for white Americans. Joseph Scherschel/Getty Images For years, there were rules that restricted minorities from buying homes in Levittown, and even as the Civil Rights Movement was starting to take form and the rest of the country began integrating after Brown v Board of Education in 1954, Levittown remained mostly white. Two-thirds of Levittown residents today are white, according US Census estimates. Some of the few non-white families resisted this standard. Some non-white residents like William Cotter and his family fought against Levittown's whites-only standard. Newsday LLC/Newsday RM via Getty Images In 1952, William Cotter, a Black man, and his family, sublet a home at 26 Butternut Lane. When the lease was up, Levitt refused to renew it or sell them the home. The refusal sparked support for the Cotters, and the family eventually purchased another home from a white homeowner. With modern highways leading to the suburbs, men commuted into the city. New highways leading to the suburbs didn't come without traffic. Newsday LLC/Newsday via Getty Images The suburban boom corresponded with the expansion of interstate highways in the US, starting the modern iteration of the commute from the suburbs to the city. In 1950, 80% of men in Levittown commuted to Manhattan for work, The Guardian reported. During a typical day, the streets of Levittown were filled with women, as the men were mostly working in the city. Bettmann/Getty Images When men left to fight in WWII, women began entering the workforce, gaining newfound independence and freedom. However, they were suddenly expected to give this up again and instead focus on childbearing and rearing. In 1963, author Betty Friedan wrote in "The Feminine Mystique" that the suburbs "were burying women alive." However, some believe that women's dissatisfaction with staying home "contributed to the rebirth of the feminist movement in the 1960s," History.com reported. Women also got active in civic engagement. Women and children protest in favor of new stop signs. Newsday LLC/Newsday RM via Getty Images In 1959, women of Levittown, with children in hand, protested in favor of putting stop signs in an area with automobile-related deaths. Levittown became a symbol of prosperity and anticommunism in American politics and culture. William J. Levitt speaks with three senators. Bettmann/Bettmann Archive/Getty Images As American politics increasingly centered on anticommunism and Cold War tensions rose, Levittown and suburbs like it took on a symbolic meaning in American culture, representing prosperity and the "American Dream." Levitt was once quoted saying, "No man who owns his own house and lot can be a Communist. He has too much to do." In 2026, Levittown is still a sizable community with a population of about 50,000. Though it's full of modern businesses and technology, the community still holds a legacy as a post-war suburban haven. Read the original article on Business Insider

My wife and I at our new home in Canada. Tara Pyfrom After a hurricane hit our home in the Bahamas in 2019, we decided to permanently move to Canada. Our family did so after a three-week whirlwind of online research and thorough paperwork. The quick move wasn't easy, but we're still in Canada six years later and glad we did it. "I guess we're moving to Canada." It was a quiet, almost outrageous statement considering our position. Just a few weeks earlier, Hurricane Dorian had slammed into our home in the Bahamas, a country I'd lived in my entire life. My family had spent 24 hours trapped in our attic, praying the roof would hold before evacuating to nearby Florida. Once we arrived, we found ourselves stuck in immigration limbo. For as long as possible, we tried to remain in Florida, close to home. However, in the wake of the disaster, the US authorities limited many Bahamians to stays of only a few weeks, our family among them. We had no legal option to stay in the US long-term, but we didn't want to return to devastation, either. This left us with very little time to figure out a future for our 6-year-old daughter and four dogs. Canada started to seem like our best option, since the country was actively looking for immigrants, with pathways toward legal permanent residency. We weren't confident in our choice, but we committed. I wish I'd known what was in store for us over the next three weeks. We spent the next few weeks searching for signs and navigating red tape We decided to move to a town near an ocean in Canada. Tara Pyfrom Once we'd set our sights on Canada, we narrowed our search to areas that met our nonnegotiables: Our home had to be near the ocean and within driving distance of some of our relatives in the US. We looked into school districts and housing costs and settled on a small town we'd only ever seen on Google Maps and Google Earth. From our temporary place in Florida, I cried and squinted over blurry Street Views, looking for a sign from the universe. During the most frantic time of my life, I learned to pay attention to the things that soothed my soul and made me breathe easier. The endless forests lining the residential streets, the deer-crossing signs, and the knowledge that the ocean would be just a short drive away were our consolations. My wife found a home on a local real-estate site that was the size and location we were hunting for. When we spotted a seashell from the tropics sitting on the bathroom counter in the grainy photos, it felt like a sign from the universe that we were on the right path. When we showed up, the place turned out to be the perfect fit. Our move to Canada happened quickly and frantically, but it worked out in the end. Tara Pyfrom Of course, our journey wasn't as simple as just selecting a property to call home. Moving to a brand-new country can be a legal maze full of dead ends. We knew we needed help with our immigration applications almost right away, but we didn't know anyone in the field to ask questions. We reached out to every Canadian we knew, asking for a referral to an immigration attorney. It didn't take long to find one: the ex-wife of our daughter's camp counselor's sister. The world might be a big place, but six degrees of separation is still a solid link. The paperwork was overwhelming. Every time I thought we finally had everything, our lawyer emailed another list of documents we needed. I ended up calling in favors back home and begging officials for copies of things as I struggled with the delays and extra stress. I learned the hard way that I should have all our important documents in the cloud before ever needing them. The whirlwind move wasn't pretty, but 6 years later, I'm still glad we did it I learned a lot throughout the move. Tara Pyfrom Moving to a new country with only three weeks of preparation is unhinged. For a long time, we struggled with mental-health issues from the trauma of the hurricane and the quick, major changes that followed. I didn't handle the stress well at all. I threw a fork at the dinner table once and had a full-on anxiety attack when I couldn't find the car keys. To-do lists became my lifeline, and eventually, I accepted that I couldn't make the process perfect. It took years of therapy to feel stable again and for our new home to really feel like home. Eventually, we managed to focus on the good in Canada, even though it was so different from where we'd lived before. We learned our new country had more in common with the Bahamas than we realized, like an abundance of kind people and dedicated families. Our family is in Canada now, but still has our Bahamian roots. Tara Pyfrom Today, we even tease our daughter that she is more Canadian than Bahamian when she insists she doesn't need a coat in sub-zero temperatures. At times, we catch ourselves acting very much like the locals — complaining about the weather constantly and apologizing for everything. Six years later, I'm confident this move was the best decision we could have made for ourselves and our family. However, I still tell people, "Don't move to a new country with only three weeks of planning!" Sometimes, though, there's little choice in the matter. And whether it's been planned for three weeks or three years, a move won't ever be perfect. Moving to a new country quickly is ridiculous, complex, and emotional, but survivable — and you can find peace on the other side of the chaos. Read the original article on Business Insider

Business Insider has been awarded the George Polk Award for Environmental Reporting for its data center series, recognizing its significant journalistic achievement.

Samir Hussein/Getty Images Billionaire rapper Jay-Z loves luxury watches; the rarer and harder to get, the better. His collection includes timepieces from Audemars Piguet, Richard Mille, and Patek Philippe. He's even worn watches valued at $1 million to attend events like the Grammy Awards. Jay-Z, born Shawn Carter, has long mentioned his love of luxury timepieces in his songs. You can find references to Rolex, Audemars Piguet, and Hublot throughout his decades-long music catalog. He doesn't only flash watches in his lyrics, though. The billionaire rapper, who has a $2.5 billion net worth, has amassed quite a collection of statement timepieces. The $1,075,652 Patek Philippe Grand Complication 5304-301R he wore at the 2025 Grammys was just one of them. Here's a look at that watch and other items included in his watch collection. Jay-Z has a Patek Philippe Grand Complication 5304-301R that retails for more than $1 million. Jay-Z wears a Patek Philippe to the Grammys in 2025. Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy ; Patek Philippe Jay-Z is a big fan of Patek Philippe watches. He wore one with a rose-gold case and dozens of diamonds for the 2025 Grammys. Its face includes several functions, such as days of the week and moon phases, that help keep a perpetual calendar for tracking the date. The calendar automatically adjusts for leap years and accurately counts the days until 2100, according to GQ. The hand-stitched strap is made of alligator leather. Beyoncé reportedly gifted him a Hublot Big Bang. Hublot Jay-Z quite literally announced his love of Hublot in the 2011 song "Otis," where he pronounced, "New watch alert: Hublot." Perhaps it was prophetic. In 2012, his wife and fellow artist Beyoncé gifted Jay-Z a $5 million Hublot Big Bang in 18-karat white-gold for his 43rd birthday, according to jewelry blogs. The watch was encrusted with 1,282 diamonds, and it took more than 14 months to assemble, the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève, a foundation that highlights contemporary watches with awards and exhibitions, reported. It also took more than a year to source all the diamonds. A year later, the Swiss watchmaker collaborated with the rapper to design a timepiece under his name. Jay-Z wore his own Hublot watch onstage in 2013. Hublot/Adam Bettcher/Getty Images Hublot released the Shawn Carter Hublot Classic Fusion in yellow gold and black ceramic in 2013. The former watch was priced at $33,900, and the latter at $17,900. The collection was limited to just 350 total pieces, according to GQ. You can't miss his Richard Mille 56 Blueprint watch. Gotham/GC Images via Getty Images/Richard Mille Jay-Z's custom Blueprint Richard Mille 56 watch required more than 3,000 hours to produce, GQ said in 2019. No wonder it cost $2.5 million. During a 2019 show in his hometown of Brooklyn, the rapper freestyled a tribute to the timepiece: "Blueprint on my wrist cost 2.5/Only thing that flips the script between you and I." The rapper later purchased another one-of-a-kind Richard Mille piece — this time in green. Rich Schultz/Getty Images What was the price of that Richard Mille 56 watch? $3 million, according to Complex. Or at least, that was its retail value. Alex Todd, who customized the watch, told the outlet that its monetary value is higher. It was custom-made for Jay-Z and featured rare green sapphire crystals. Jay-Z eventually expanded his collection of Richard Mille watches. The Richard Mille RM011 Felipe Massa watch. Richard Mille He did so with an RM011 Felipe Massa Chronograph in rose gold. The watch was originally released in 2007 and was designed with its namesake, F1 driver Felipe Massa, the brand said on its website. The timepiece is meant to invoke a racing aesthetic and the sport's history of tech innovation. Its crown "resembles a smooth tyre encircling a spoked wheel rim," the maker said. Mille is no longer making this model, but you can get a used one for $215,000. He's worn Richard Mille pieces to attend major sporting events, like the US Open. Richard Mille/Matthew Stockman/Getty Images Jay-Z wore the Richard Mille RM027 Rafael Nadal to watch its namesake take on Novak Djokovic at the 2011 US Open championships. It was designed to be as lightweight as possible and take on all the wear and tear a tennis superstar like Nadal might put it through, Richard Mille said. Nadal referred to it as his "second skin" timepiece. There were only 50 of these watches made at the time, according to Mille. You can buy one on the secondary market for $1.95 million. Nadal collaborated with Richard Mille on several additional versions of this timepiece that the rapper later acquired. Jay-Z has also worn the Richard Mille Rafael Nadal 27-01, which has an anthracite casing. His collection also includes Audemars Piguet watches. Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Audemars Piguet Jay-Z shouted out Audemars Piguet in his 2011 "Watch the Throne" track "N—s in Paris," saying: "Ball so hard, got a broken clock / rollies that don't tick-tock / Audemars that's losing time / hidden behind all these big rocks." He's also worn the brand. Included in his collection is the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Openworked 26585CE. It has an openwork sapphire dial, rose gold dial markers, a black ceramic band and case, and a titanium clasp. You can buy one from the watchmaker, but it's "price upon request" — or, in other words, wildly expensive. To get it on the secondary market, you'll need to shell out over $375,000. Patek Philippe watches can be tough to buy, but not for Jay-Z. The Patek Philippe Sky Moon Tourbillon 6002R watch. Patek Philippe When describing the Patek Philippe 6002 Sky Moon Tourbillon watch on its website, the brand notes the extensive detail that went into creating the timepiece. Some of the highlights include handmade engravings, a double-face design, a retrograde perpetual calendar, a sky chart, and more. It's one of the most technically complicated Patek Philippe watches, and its price is only available "on request." However, used versions of the watch can be found on the secondhand market for prices between $4 million and $6 million. Jay-Z wore his model to Lebron James' 39th birthday party. Jay-Z picked up a Tiffany and Co. x Patek Philippe collab in 2021. The Patek Philippe Tiffany watch. Tiffany & Co. The Patek Philippe Nautilus 5711 in Tiffany Blue initially retailed for $52,635, but since only 170 were made, the price skyrocketed on the secondary market. Days after the watches sold out, one was auctioned off for $6.5 million, CNBC reported in 2021. Jay-Z and Beyoncé were named Tiffany ambassadors that year. In 2023, the musician wore one of the rarest Audemars Piguet pieces. An Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 25594ST "Yves Klein" watch. Audemars Piguet The "Yves Klein" version of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 25594ST watch is an ode to the French artist. He's widely known for developing his own vibrant shade of blue — international Klein blue 191. The Royal Oak design features a perpetual calendar, which keeps track of everything from the time and date to the moon's phases. It's a popular style in its own right, but the Yves Klein version is especially rare. Few are rarely found on the resale market. He also sported a unique Patek Philippe that year. A Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar Split Seconds Chronograph 5004P watch. Patek Philippe Jay-Z sported the Perpetual Calendar Split Seconds Chronograph 5004P watch during a decadent, seafood tower-filled lunch meeting with DJ Khaled in 2023. The watch is modeled on Patek Philippe's first perpetual calendar watch, released in 1996. The particular watch that Jay-Z has, the 5004P model with a silver link band, is nearly impossible to find, but it was valued at $600,000 in 2022, according to IFL Watches. The most intricate Patek Philippe watch belongs to Jay-Z. Jay-Z wearing the Patek Phillipe Grandmaster Chime Reference 6300G in 2019. Patek Philippe/Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Sean Combs The Grandmaster Chime is considered Patek Philippe's most complicated watch, with more than 1,500 individual components. The company made the watch in 2014 to commemorate its 175th anniversary, and only seven were produced. Six went to the watchmaker's most dedicated collectors (who apparently had to apply for the privilege of buying one), while the seventh went to the company's museum in Geneva. Patek Philippe then went on to make the Grandmaster Chime in other fabrications. Jay-Z has the white gold version, which runs around $2.5 million, according to reports. He acquired the Patek Philippe 2499 in a tight-lipped deal. A Patek Philippe 2499 went up for auction in 2011. Harold Cunningham/Getty Images Patek Philippe produced this watch in limited quantities from 1950 to 1985. Only 349 were made. Jay-Z's Patek Philippe 2499 was previously owned by Swedish watch collector and dealer Tony Kavak, who had a yellow-gold band specially made for the piece. As Kavak tells it, the watch wasn't initially for sale. "The watch is so exclusive that I often chose not to wear it in public, and I always wear my watches, that's my philosophy," Kavak told watch site Bezl. But he knew Jay-Z was the right person to own the watch, he added. "You should have seen his happiness," Kavak said in an interview with watch blog Hodinkee. "It just reminded me of how happy I get when I find something rare myself." Neither Kavak nor Jay-Z would reveal the deal's cost, but in 2022, a similar watch sold at auction for $7.68 million. He wore two different F.P. Journe pieces to the 2026 Super Bowl. Jay-Z photographs his daughter at the 2026 Super Bowl. Carlos Avila Gonzalez/Getty Images His first FP Journe Tourbillon Souverain was set with 93 baguette diamonds circling it and even more across its face, according to Celeb Watch Spotter. Jay-Z wore the piece for a meeting with Tom Brady. His wife Beyoncé later shared photos from Super Bowl weekend on her website. They included a close-up shot of another FP Journe Tourbillon Souverain watch, this one in green, on Jay-Z's wrist. Read the original article on Business Insider

My favorite chocolate cake recipe to make for guests is from Joanna Gaines. Alexa Mellardo I love dessert, and one of my favorites to make for guests is Joanna Gaines' chocolate-cola cake. The recipe's star ingredient is cola, which goes into both the cake mix and the buttercream. It's incredibly decadent, and I like to pair it with fresh strawberries. I'm a major dessert person — you know, one of those people who looks at the dessert menu before deciding on my appetizer and entrée. That's why, regardless of what I'm serving for dinner, the night always ends with decadence, namely, Joanna Gaines' chocolate-cola cake with chocolate-cola buttercream. It's as scrumptious as it sounds and has become one of my go-to desserts for dinner parties and special occasions. Here's how to make it. To start, I gather all the ingredients. Alexa Mellardo Gaines' recipe calls for 12 ingredients, including nonstick baking spray, all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, dark brown sugar, kosher salt, salted butter, natural unsweetened cocoa powder, cola, baking soda, buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla extract. The salted butter, cocoa powder, and cola are also used to make the buttercream frosting, along with powdered sugar. Next, I preheat the oven and whisk together the dry ingredients. Butter also works as an alternative to nonstick spray. Alexa Mellardo Once I have all the ingredients handy, I preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and spray a 10-inch round baking pan with nonstick spray. Then, I begin making the cake batter by adding all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, dark brown sugar, and salt to a large bowl and mixing thoroughly. After the dry ingredients are combined, I boil butter, cocoa powder, and cola in a saucepan. I used unsweetened cocoa powder for this recipe. Alexa Mellardo For the next step in the batter-making process, I add salted butter, cocoa powder, and cola to a small saucepan and bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring until it's completely smooth. Then, I pour the mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients and whisk until there are no lumps. In a separate bowl, I combine buttermilk and baking soda before finishing the batter. The baking soda needs to be dissolved in the buttermilk before adding it to the batter. Alexa Mellardo In another small bowl, I dissolve the baking soda in room-temperature buttermilk before pouring it into the existing batter. After whisking, I add the vanilla extract and eggs and whisk again until smooth. Then, it's time to bake. I used a cake tester to make sure the center was done cooking. Alexa Mellardo I add the finished batter to my baking pan, then place it in the oven to bake for 40 to 45 minutes. Once it's done, I let the cake cool on a wire rack while I prepare the frosting. I use a mixer to prepare the chocolate-cola buttercream. A handheld mixer will also work to make the frosting. Alexa Mellardo To make the frosting, I use my stand mixer with the paddle attachment. At medium speed, I beat the room-temperature butter until smooth. Next, I add cola and cocoa powder and mix on low until there are no lumps. Then, I scrape the bowl, add some powdered sugar, and mix on medium again before repeating the process with the remaining powdered sugar. To finish, I frost the cake and serve. I like to present the finished cake on a pedestal with fresh strawberries. Alexa Mellardo The last step is to gently spread the frosting over the cooled cake. The cake itself is rich yet incredibly moist, thanks to the cola, while the buttercream frosting serves as the perfect creamy complement to the cake's consistency. When it comes to presentation, I always like to pull out a fun cake pedestal, because I think a dessert of this caliber deserves one. I also place fresh strawberries around the cake to add a bit of color to my dessert table, and it looks absolutely decadent. A small slice does the trick to satisfy any sweet-tooth cravings. Read the original article on Business Insider

I tried chicken tenders from 14 different fast-food chains and ranked them based on taste and value. Erin McDowell/Business Insider I tried chicken tenders from 14 different fast-food chains. Chick-fil-A and KFC's chicken tenders were similar in their breaded texture. Raising Cane's impressed me with its crispy yet juicy tenders and delicious signature sauce. The fast-food chicken wars have entered a new battleground — now, it's all about the tender. McDonald's launched its McCrispy Strips in May last year, marking the first time chicken strips have been on the menu since the COVID-19 pandemic. Then, a few months later, Wendy's launched its own Wendy's Tendys and a lineup of six new sauces made for dunking. "Consumers told us what they wanted in a chicken tender, and we listened — taste-tested, fine-tuned, and delivered," Lindsay Radkoski, Wendy's US chief marketing officer, told Business Insider. I decided to compare chicken tenders from 14 fast-food chains across the country to see which were the best. Here's how the tenders ranked, from worst to best, based on taste and value. Of all the chicken tenders I tried, Whataburger's didn't completely wow me. Erin McDowell/Business Insider A three-piece chicken tender cost $7.48 at Whataburger at the location I visited in Austin. The chicken tenders were large and perfectly fried. Erin McDowell/Business Insider I thought the tenders could only be described as "classic" — they weren't anything out-of-the-box, but I enjoyed them. The meat inside was juicy, but I thought the fried coating could have had a bit more crunch. Erin McDowell/Business Insider The chicken tenders tasted good on their own, as well as with ranch dipping sauce. They weren't bad by any stretch of the imagination. However, I did think the other tenders I tried were slightly crispier and had just the slightest hint of more flavor in the batter. Regardless, for a relatively low price, I'd definitely order these again. I also ordered chicken tenders from Cook Out, a regional chain I visited in South Carolina. Cook Out chicken tenders. Erin McDowell/Business Insider The three-piece "snack" cost $4.99, not including tax. The chicken tenders were crispy on the outside. Cook Out chicken tender. Erin McDowell/Business Insider They were also a good size. I thought the price was also a great deal for the generous portion I received. However, there wasn't an abundance of chicken meat inside. Cook Out chicken tender. Erin McDowell/Business Insider These were undeniably classic chicken tenders, similar to the ones from Whataburger, but they were a touch too fried for my liking. However, I thought they were well-seasoned and had a lot of peppery flavor. Smashburger's chicken tenders were just slightly too fried for my liking. Erin McDowell/Business Insider An order of three chicken tenders from Smashburger costs $9.99, excluding tax and fees. I thought this was a little pricey. The chicken tenders were heavily fried and bigger than other ones I tried. Erin McDowell/Business Insider The breading on the chicken tenders felt thick and crunchy. The chicken tenders, overall, tasted dry, even when paired with sauce. Erin McDowell/Business Insider The chicken meat inside and the ranch dipping sauce provided could only do so much to offset the intense dryness of the crunchy breading. The next time I order from Smashburger, I'll stick to the chain's beef offerings. Next up were the crispy chicken tenders from Sonic Drive-In. Erin McDowell/Business Insider A five-piece order of chicken tenders cost $8.41, excluding tax. The chicken tenders were evenly fried but on the thinner side. Erin McDowell/Business Insider Rather than thick and juicy like some of the other chicken tenders I tried, these were flatter. In fact, I'd say these were the thinnest and flattest tenders out of all the ones I tried. I enjoyed the flavor of the seasoning, but there was a lot to be desired when it came to texture. Erin McDowell/Business Insider The chicken was on the drier side, and there simply wasn't a lot of it. I gravitate toward thicker, more shreddable chicken tenders, and these slightly missed the mark for me. However, the flavor was definitely there — the breading had a peppery essence and the tenders were evenly fried. My ninth favorite chicken tenders came from Popeyes. Erin McDowell/Business Insider A three-piece tender combo costs $16.89 before taxes and fees. The meal deal included a large serving of fries, a drink, and a biscuit, as well as a choice of dipping sauces. The chicken tenders from Popeyes were crispy, flaky, and crunchy. Erin McDowell/Business Insider I really liked the crunchy exterior. The meat inside was flaky and moist as well. Popeyes chicken tender dipped in ranch sauce. Erin McDowell/Business Insider I also thought the batter was quite flavorful — I could taste hints of seasoning and buttermilk, although they weren't quite as buttery-tasting as the Chick-fil-A tenders. However, this meal felt expensive for only three chicken tenders, even though they were large. I thought the chicken tenders from Bojangles were flavorful and super crispy. Erin McDowell/Business Insider A four-piece chicken tenders combo, including fries, a medium drink, and a biscuit, cost me $10.49, excluding taxes and fees. I thought the chicken tenders were a good size. Erin McDowell/Business Insider The texture and flavor of the breading made them taste like a cross between the chicken tenders from Chick-fil-A and Cook Out. The breading was peppery, just the right thickness, and perfectly encased the juicy white chicken meat inside. Erin McDowell/Business Insider I also thought the price was fair, considering the amount of food I received. The chicken tenders paired perfectly with honey mustard but were also tasty on their own. I would definitely order these again. Wendy's is the latest chain to bring out chicken tenders. Erin McDowell/Business Insider Wendy's new tenders are available in a three-piece or four-piece option. I ordered a three-piece tender for $8.12, excluding tax and fees, at my local restaurant in Brooklyn, New York. The tenders were about the same size as the ones from McDonald's, but crispier. The breading was crunchier and thicker than some other chains. Erin McDowell/Business Insider However, I preferred the slightly thinner breading on the McDonald's and KFC tenders. In terms of flavor, these tenders had a distinct peppery flavor that paired well with the new signature sauce introduced with the tenders' release. These tenders were solid, and I'd order them again. The breading was well seasoned, but I wanted more chicken. Erin McDowell/Business Insider However, the slight lack of chicken meat inside — at least compared to other chains — and the chunky breading prevented Wendy's tenders from ranking higher for me. KFC's original recipe chicken tenders really impressed me with their taste and value. Erin McDowell/Business Insider I ordered a four-piece tender meal for $13.65, excluding taxes and fees, in Brooklyn, New York. I thought this was excellent value for the amount of food I received. The tenders were well-breaded on the outside, though the breading wasn't as crispy or crunchy as others I tried. Erin McDowell/Business Insider The breading stuck closely to the chicken tenders, rather than having a thick or crunchy texture. However, the chicken tenders paired well with the chain's honey mustard and new comeback sauce. The breading had a tasty, very peppery flavor to it that was unique compared to the other chicken tenders I tried. The chicken tenders were flavorful and contained an impressive amount of white meat chicken. Erin McDowell/Business Insider However, the slightly less crispy texture of the breading meant they didn't come out on top when compared to the last six chains I tried. McDonald's recently launched its new McCrispy Strips. Erin McDowell/Business Insider At my local McDonald's in Brooklyn, New York, three McCrispy chicken strips cost $10.99, excluding tax and fees. The chicken strips were large and evenly coated in breading. Erin McDowell/Business Insider The chicken strips differed from the chain's buttermilk crispy tenders, which were discontinued in 2020 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Chicken tenders haven't been on the menu since, despite fans' pleas to bring them back. The breading was relatively thin, but very crispy. Erin McDowell/Business Insider Unlike some flakier chicken tenders, each bite was evenly coated in well-seasoned, peppery breading. Inside, the chicken meat was thick and juicy. Paired with the chain's creamy chili sauce, which was specifically created to go with the chicken strips, these packed a decent amount of flavor. However, on their own, I thought they were just a touch blander than some of the higher-ranked tenders I tried. Taco Bell released chicken strips after bringing out nuggets last year. Erin McDowell/Business Insider Taco Bell's chicken strips were available as part of three different kinds of tacos and burritos, or on their own with dipping sauce. An order of four chicken strips and two sauces cost $9.14, excluding tax and fees. The chicken strips were thick, juicy, and the ideal level of crispy. Erin McDowell/Business Insider The chicken strips were marinated in zesty jalapeño buttermilk and breaded with crispy tortilla chips and breadcrumbs, which is the same formula as the chain's chicken nuggets, which I ranked as my favorite across six chains. The chicken strips packed a lot of flavor. Erin McDowell/Business Insider The breading was super flavorful, and I definitely got hints of tortilla chip. The chicken inside was also moist and juicy, while the breading remained crispy. My only real complaint was that I wanted more than two. Chick-fil-A's chicken tenders were perfectly crispy and juicy. Erin McDowell/Business Insider When it's not included in a meal deal, a three-piece chicken tender costs $9.69 at my nearest location in New York City. For a meal, the price bumps up to $17.35, excluding tax and fees. Some of the chicken pieces looked slightly darker and more fried than others. Erin McDowell/Business Insider Small bits of fried breading were scattered on the outside, which I always love with chicken tenders. The chicken tenders were nicely fried but still juicy on the inside. Erin McDowell/Business Insider When I dipped them in the chain's signature Chick-fil-A sauce, the experience was mouthwatering. The chicken tenders were also great on their own, with the perfect balance of crispy breading and a delicious, briny flavor. The sauce just took them over the edge. Wingstop's chicken tenders came in third place. Erin McDowell/Business Insider Wingstop recently revamped its chicken tenders, and I was excited to try them out. The chain sells its chicken in various flavors, from original hot to hickory-smoked barbecue and mango habanero. However, I ordered these chicken tenders plain. I ordered a five-piece chicken tender combo at my local Wingstop in Brooklyn, New York. It cost $15.39 and came with a drink, dipping sauce, and a regular side of fries. The chain also sells four chicken tenders, which come with one dipping sauce, for $10.69, plus tax and fees. The chicken tenders were large and well-breaded. Erin McDowell/Business Insider The chicken tenders were deep golden in color and evenly fried, with small clumps of fried breading adding even more texture to every bite. These tenders were filled with real chicken. Erin McDowell/Business Insider The chicken tender easily tore apart with every bite, which is something I look for. The breading itself was slightly peppery, but not overly flavorful. They paired well with Wingstop's signature ranch — my favorite of any fast-food ranch — and the chain's honey mustard. Wingstop delivered great classic tenders, though the breading didn't pack as much flavor as the top two chains I tried. Nevertheless, I'd definitely order these again. My second favorite chicken tenders came from Zaxby's. Erin McDowell/Business Insider A five-piece chicken tenders combo came with fries, a small drink, coleslaw, and a piece of Texas toast. I also asked for a side of honey mustard and Zaxby's famous Zax sauce. My meal cost $15.43, excluding taxes and fees. The breading of the chicken tenders was similar to Chick-fil-A's in consistency, flavor, and texture, but I thought these ones had more meat. Erin McDowell/Business Insider The breading was crispy and flavorful, with a slight sweetness. The chicken tenders held their own without sauce but were really taken to the next level when dipped in the tangy Zax sauce. Erin McDowell/Business Insider Zax sauce tastes similar to the Cane's sauce I tried from Raising Cane's, but I found it to be just ever-so-slightly less flavorful, and creamy. I also thought it didn't have the same kick. However, the chicken tenders really impressed me. They were a good size, extremely flavorful, and addictingly delicious. I found myself craving even more than the five chicken tenders I was given, which is rare for me. In the end, it was a really tough call on whether I preferred Zaxby's or Raising Cane's chicken tenders. But my favorite chicken tenders came from Raising Cane's. Erin McDowell/Business Insider A combo that includes three chicken fingers, fries, Cane's sauce, Texas toast, and a regular drink costs $12.19, excluding tax and any additions or swaps. The chicken tenders were super crispy. Erin McDowell/Business Insider The chicken tenders were also thick. After biting in, I could actually see the strips of white chicken underneath, which, in my experience, you don't always find with fast-food chicken tenders. The chicken tenders were crispy and juicy on the inside — I had to give them the win. Erin McDowell/Business Insider I tried the tenders on their own and with the Cane's sauce. On their own, the tenders were simply everything one could ask for: thick, juicy, and crispy on the outside. However, the chain is famous for its chicken-complementing sauce, and after biting in, I could definitely see why. It had a slight kick to it, and it was creamy and surprisingly tangy. It paired perfectly with the chicken and was unlike any other sauce I've ever tried. In the end, Raising Cane's took home the win for me with the chain's near-perfect chicken tenders and fair prices. Read the original article on Business Insider

The US has the most expensive military in the world. Tajh Payne/US Navy via Getty Images The International Institute for Strategic Studies compiled data about the world's military budgets. The top militaries spend hundreds of billions of dollars on defense, with the US leading worldwide. President Donald Trump has proposed increasing annual defense spending to $1.5 trillion. The US has the world's most expensive military, spending nearly $1 trillion on defense each year. That's roughly four times China's reported defense budget, the next largest. From spending on nuclear technology to advanced aircraft and warships, the world's top militaries allocate hundreds of billions of dollars each year to stay ahead. In some countries, big-ticket items such as naval assets or technologically advanced aircraft or missiles account for the bulk of military spending, while others devote large sums to maintaining large conscription troop systems. Ultimately, military spending varies by country depending on location and interests, Gian Gentile, a retired US Army colonel and senior historian at RAND, told Business Insider. Some countries prioritize homeland defense while others value overmatch and far-reaching power projection. "The US spends a lot on more sophisticated, extremely precise weapon systems," he said. A military's budget can be measured either as a total amount or as a share of its country's GDP, reflecting the burden on its economy. Worldwide, countries spent an average of 2.4% of their GDP on defense in 2024. Wartime spending as a share of GDP typically rises, putting strain on the civilian economy, said Mark Cancian, a senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Ukraine in 2024, for example, devoted over 15% of its GDP to its military, the highest share globally. Spending statistics help paint a picture of defense priorities, but they don't always translate into readiness for conflict. "Readiness is very expensive, and perishable," Cancian said. A country's on-paper investment in its defense systems doesn't always translate directly into military capability, he added. Training and maintenance are often overlooked in analyses of spending on equipment and technologies. A particularly significant cost when it comes to technologically advanced aircraft, for instance, is maintenance and sustainment. Still, looking at military budgets can reveal how much capital each country relies on to defend itself. Last year, the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a London-based think tank, released its Military Balance report, which included data on nearly every country's defense budget based on each's reported 2024 figures. The report includes each country's total budget (in US dollars), per-capita figures, and defense budget as a share of GDP. Some countries, such as North Korea, Libya, Syria, Cuba, and Afghanistan, did not publicly report their defense budgets. These are the 30 countries that spend the most on their military, ranked by the size of their defense budgets. 30. Qatar KARIM JAAFAR/AFP via Getty Images Defense budget: $9.66 billion Defense budget per capita: $3,785 Percentage of GDP: 4.36% 29. Norway Yauhen Yerchak/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images Defense budget: $9.79 billion Defense budget per capita: $1,776 Percentage of GDP: 1.94% 28. Mexico Victoria Razo / AFP Defense budget: $10.19 billion Defense budget per capita: $78 Percentage of GDP: 0.55% 27. Indonesia BAY ISMOYO / AFP Defense budget: $10.93 billion Defense budget per capita: $39 Percentage of GDP: 0.78% 26. Sweden Leon Neal/Getty Images Defense budget: $12.25 billion Defense budget per capita: $1,157 Percentage of GDP: 2.01% 25. Iraq Zaid AL-OBEIDI / AFP Defense budget: $12.68 billion Defense budget per capita: $301 Percentage of GDP: 4.8% 24. Turkey Anadolu/Anadolu via Getty Images Defense budget: $14.27 billion Defense budget per capita: $170 Percentage of GDP: 1.06% 23. Singapore ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP via Getty Images Defense budget: $15.17 billion Defense budget per capita: $2,517 Percentage of GDP: 2.86% 22. Taiwan I-Hwa Cheng / AFP Defense budget: $18.86 billion Defense budget per capita: $799 Percentage of GDP: 2.43% 21. Spain picture alliance/dpa/picture alliance via Getty Images Defense budget: $19.44 billion Defense budget per capita: $411 Percentage of GDP: 1.12% 20. Algeria NurPhoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images Defense budget: $21.4 billion Defense budget per capita: $455 Percentage of GDP: 8.23% 19. United Arab Emirates VCG/VCG via Getty Images Defense budget: $22.27 billion Defense budget per capita: $2,220 Percentage of GDP: 4.09% 18. The Netherlands Remko de Waal / ANP / AFP Defense budget: $23.61 billion Defense budget per capita: $1,328 Percentage of GDP: 1.94% 17. Brazil Anadolu/Anadolu via Getty Images Defense budget: $24.4 billion Defense budget per capita: $111 Percentage of GDP: 1.11% 16. Canada Artur Widak/NurPhoto Defense budget: $27 billion Defense budget per capita: $696 Percentage of GDP: 1.22% 15. Poland Aleksander Kalka/NurPhoto Defense budget: $28 billion Defense budget per capita: $723 Percentage of GDP: 3.25% 14. Ukraine Tetiana DZHAFAROVA / AFP Defense budget: $28.41 billion Defense budget per capita: $797 Percentage of GDP: 15.43% 13. Israel Elke Scholiers/Getty Images Defense budget: $33.75 billion Defense budget per capita: $3,589 Percentage of GDP: 6.39% 12. Italy Antonio Masiello/Getty Images Defense budget: $35.23 billion Defense budget per capita: $578 Percentage of GDP: 1.48% 11. Australia Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images Defense budget: $36.40 billion Defense budget per capita: $1,360 Percentage of GDP: 2.02% 10. South Korea Kim Jae-Hwan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images Defense budget: $43.88 billion Defense budget per capita: $842 Percentage of GDP: 2.35% 9. Japan JIJI Press / AFP Defense budget: $53.01 billion Defense budget per capita: $430 Percentage of GDP: 1.3% 8. France Philippe Magoni / POOL / AFP Defense budget: $64.03 billion Defense budget per capita: $937 Percentage of GDP: 2.02% 7. Saudi Arabia BANDAR ALDANDANI/AFP via Getty Images Defense budget: $71.73 billion Defense budget per capita: $1,963 Percentage of GDP: 6.52% 6. India Roslan RAHMAN / AFP Defense budget: $74.36 billion Defense budget per capita: $53 Percentage of GDP: 1.91% 5. United Kingdom Owen Humphreys - PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images Defense budget: $81.06 billion Defense budget per capita: $1,184 Percentage of GDP: 2.26% 4. Germany Michaela Stache / AFP Defense budget: $85.98 billion Defense budget per capita: $1,022 Percentage of GDP: 1.83% 3. Russia VCG/VCG via Getty Images Defense budget: $120.32 billion Defense budget per capita: $854 Percentage of GDP: 5.51% 2. China Greg Baker / AFP Defense budget: $234.98 billion Defense budget per capita: $166 Percentage of GDP: 1.29% 1. United States Mario Tama/Getty Images Defense budget: $967.96 billion Defense budget per capita: $2,831 Percentage of GDP: 3.32% Read the original article on Business Insider

Parker Harris addressed Marc Benioff's controversial jokes about ICE. BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff made jokes about ICE during an employee event. Salesforce cofounder and CTO Parker Harris addressed the controversy in an internal meeting. "Marc made a very bad joke," he said. "I'm not okay with it personally." Salesforce cofounder Parker Harris addressed the controversy over CEO Marc Benioff's ICE jokes in an internal meeting, saying he was "not OK with it," Business Insider has learned. "Marc made a very bad joke," Harris, who is the company's chief technical officer, said. "But that's something that Marc did, and I'm not gonna call him out in public out on the internet." A transcript of Harris' remarks at a meeting of the product and tech team last week was posted by an employee to a Slack channel. Business Insider verified that the transcript was accurate. Salesforce did not respond to a request for comment. Benioff has not spoken about the jokes or the company's reaction to them. In his meeting, Harris began by addressing a question about why many company leaders had not addressed Benioff's comments at Salesforce's employee-only company kickoff in Las Vegas last Tuesday. "So I'll start by saying that somebody already has, and it was immediately leaked," Harris said, referring to a Business Insider story about another executive who criticized Benioff's jokes. "Let's talk about it with each other and not out to Business Insider and other places because it doesn't do us any good," he said, adding. "It's a violation of the Code of Conduct, and it's a fireable offense. And if we do catch you, we will fire you." At the kickoff, Benioff made "multiple" jokes about ICE, including one about agents surveilling Salesforce employee travel, employees told Business Insider at the time. Workers reacted with anger on Slack, which is owned by Salesforce. Slack General Manager Rob Seaman posted a comment saying he could not "defend or explain" his boss' comments. "They do not align with my personal values and I know this to be the case for many of you as well," he wrote. Craig Broscow, a Salesforce VP, acknowledged the "deep disappointment" in his own Slack message after the kickoff remarks. "It would be a step in the right direction and for Marc to acknowledge as soon as possible — ideally publicly — that his attempted joke was extremely upsetting to large segments of his employee base," Broscow said. Speaking to his team, Harris said Seaman got in hot water for his post. "I'll tell you personally, and this is what Rob said as well, and I respect Rob for saying that, but he got in big trouble 'cause it went out on the internet," Harris said. "Personally, I'm not OK with that joke. Harris went on to say that "it's hard right now with what is going on [in] the US" and "what's going in, like, Minneapolis is not about our software. Our software is not being used there." Harris said Salesforce is "not a political organization" and encouraged employees to make their views known at the ballot box. "I'm going to use my democratic right to vote, and that's how I'm gonna take action against some of the things that I'm not okay with," he said. He closed with saying, "So that's my statement. It may not make you feel better. So I'm sorry if it doesn't make you feel better. I think we should keep talking about it. I'm totally fine talking about it more. Please keep it confidential." Have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at astewart@businessinsider.com or Signal at +1-425-344-8242. Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely. Read the original article on Business Insider

Sylendran Arunagiri Sylendran Arunagiri Sylendran Arunagiri wanted to work at Nvidia, his "dream company." He said the US job market felt far more challenging than what he'd experienced in India. After being rejected for an internship, he reflected on what went wrong — and made a plan. As Sylendran Arunagiri considered moving from India to the US to pursue a master's degree, some friends and mentors advised him to delay his move. They warned that the US tech job market had become too challenging. Arunagiri's goal was to move to the US in late 2023, begin a master's program in product management at Carnegie Mellon University, and land a Big Tech internship for the summer of 2024. He hoped this would be a stepping stone toward landing an AI-related role, ideally at Nvidia, his "dream company" because of its central role in the AI technologies he'd long wanted to work on. However, there were several things working against him. For one, the US tech hiring landscape was already creating headaches for job seekers. Openings had plummeted from highs reached a year earlier, and industry layoffs were increasing competition for available roles. Additionally, Arunagiri had grown accustomed to the job market in India, where he earned a bachelor's degree and an MBA from top institutions that he said relied on structured campus placement programs to funnel many students directly into jobs. But from what he'd heard, the US was very different. Job fairs were often more like networking events than recruiting opportunities. "You're completely on your own," said the 30-year-old, who now lives in San Jose. Arunagiri is among the many job seekers who have struggled to navigate a US hiring landscape that's become more challenging in recent years. Amid economic uncertainty, the early effects of generative AI adoption, and a broader push to streamline operations, US businesses are now hiring at one of the slowest rates since 2013. window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";r.style.height=d}}}); Still, some people have managed to break through in a challenging market. Arunagiri shared how he pursued his goal of working at Nvidia — a company he described as his dream employer — and offered his top advice for other job seekers. Striking out on Nvidia Many of the tech companies Arunagiri was targeting had conducted summer internship interviews the previous fall, so he began applying before moving to the US. After sending out many applications, he landed an interview with Nvidia in November 2023. Arunagiri said the interview process went so well that he stopped applying to other internships. But after moving to the US and completing his final interview in February, he learned that he wouldn't be getting the role — which left him scrambling to find another internship. "I had to start from scratch, but by then many of the applications had dried out," he said Arunagiri was able to land an AI product manager internship based in India at the tech company Informatica. However, that summer, he found it difficult to stop thinking about what went wrong during his interview process with Nvidia — and began setting his sights on eventually landing a full-time role with the company. Business Insider is speaking with workers who've found themselves at a corporate crossroads — whether due to a layoff, resignation, job search, or shifting workplace expectations. Share your story by filling out this form, contacting this reporter via email at jzinkula@businessinsider.com, or via Signal at jzinkula.29. A second chance at Nvidia Upon reflection, Arunagiri suspected that his final Nvidia interview may have doomed him. He said he was lower energy than usual because he was feeling sick that day, and that he'd been hesitant to postpone it out of fear that the opportunity would be filled in the meantime. In hindsight, he said that decision was likely a mistake. "I came off as a dull candidate, but I'm usually energetic and conversational," he said. "I should have probably postponed it to a day that I was feeling better." Arunagiri decided to reach out to an HR professional from Nvidia to get insight into where he fell short, and they agreed to jump on a call with him. While they didn't provide specific insights into his candidacy, he said they recommended he try to connect with people at Nvidia in current roles, including hiring managers and interns, to get insight into the kinds of projects they were working on and how he could better align his profile. He eventually connected with about five Nvidia interns, who he said provided valuable insights. Those conversations helped shape the personal AI-related projects he began pursuing and sharing on LinkedIn in hopes of standing out. After the summer, Arunagiri dove back into the job search, eager to land a role before he graduated in December 2024. He knew that if he didn't land a job within 90 days after graduation, his F-1 visa restrictions would force him to return to India. In September 2024, he submitted a cold application for a technical product marketing role in agentic AI at Nvidia —a role he described as his "dream AI role" at his dream company. He was asked to interview starting in October, and around the same time, he was also invited to interview for a more junior product management role at Microsoft. Advice for other job seekers In December, with his graduation looming later that month, Arunagiri received offers from Nvidia and Microsoft within days of each other. Given that Nvidia was his dream employer, the role checked a lot of his boxes, and the pay was higher than Microsoft's, he said the decision was fairly easy — and he accepted Nvidia's offer. He said that so far, working at Nvidia has been "everything that I've dreamed of." Arunagiri believes that his LinkedIn presence helped him stand out. During the interview process, he said, the hiring manager told him that he'd reviewed his LinkedIn profile and noticed the projects he'd been working on, including small experiments with new generative AI tools and models he'd shared publicly. He has a few pieces of advice for job seekers. First, he said, time management is key, particularly because applying for jobs and connecting with people can be time-consuming. Second, he said, never compare your job search journey to anyone else's, since a variety of factors can influence how it plays out. Rather than quietly applying and networking, he recommends sharing tangible projects publicly — such as posting about AI tools you've explored and linking to projects on LinkedIn or a personal website — so hiring managers can see your work. "You need to find something that sets you apart from others," he said. Read the original article on Business Insider

ElevenLabs is a $11 billion voice cloning AI startup. Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images ElevenLabs set "ruthless" sales quotas for its representatives, one of its execs said. VP Carles Reina said sales reps are expected to meet quotas equivalent to 20 times their base salary. He said ElevenLabs adopts a small team model for higher sales success. At $11 billion AI startup ElevenLabs, the message to sales reps is simple: Hit 20x your base salary, or you're out. Speaking on the 20VC podcast on Friday, Carles Reina, VP of sales at the voice-cloning startup, talked through its "ruthless" quotas. "So if I pay you $100,000 a year, your quota is $2 million. That's it. If you don't achieve your quota, then you're going to be out, right?" Reina said. "And we're ruthless on that end." ElevenLabs — which was recently valued at $11 billion after closing a $500 million funding round — operates in micro-teams of five to ten people each, according to CEO and cofounder Mati Staniszewski, who spoke on a separate 20VC podcast episode in September. Reina said he prefers to operate in smaller teams that hit their quotas, and pay them more. Small teams have become a growing trend in tech, with AI startups touting their ability to scale with far fewer employees by working alongside AI agents. LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman wrote in January that a team of 15 people using AI can rival a team of 150 who aren't. Meanwhile, Mark Zuckerberg said on a Meta earnings call in July that he has "gotten a little bit more convinced around the ability for small, talent-dense teams to be the optimal configuration for driving frontier research." Reina said the "ruthless" quota has been successful at ElevenLabs, saying on the 20VC podcast that more than 80% of reps hit their sales quota. ElevenLabs did not respond to a request for a comment. He added that the firm compensates both the account executive and customer success manager if they upsell a company within the first 12 months. "I'm paying double, but I don't care," Reina said. "It makes perfect sense because then I have these two people busting their ass to make sure that they actually can make more money, which is fantastic for me as a company." The push for higher performance isn't limited to AI startups. In April, Google said it was restructuring its compensation structure to increase rewards for top performers. "High performance is more important than ever," Google's head of compensation told staff at the time. Read the original article on Business Insider

Tyra Banks and Jay Manuel at the finale party for "America's Next Top Model" season two. Gregg DeGuire/WireImage Netflix's new three-part docuseries explores the legacy of "America's Next Top Model." One of the show's stars, Jay Manuel, says he objected to season four's race-swapping photo shoot. Tyra Banks says she didn't think it was controversial because she was in her "own little bubble." In a new documentary, Tyra Banks responds to criticism of "America's Next Top Model" with a familiar refrain: "Hindsight is 20/20." But for her former costar, Jay Manuel, one controversial moment was troubling from the start. Netflix's three-part documentary "Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model" explores the TV show's legacy, from its peak popularity in the early aughts to the divisive reactions from current viewers. Perhaps the most infamous photo shoot in "Top Model" history aired in 2005, when the season four contestants were told by Manuel, "We're actually going to switch your ethnicities." Several of the models' faces and bodies were painted with dark makeup: Christina Murphy, Brittany Brower, and Noelle Staggers were assigned the roles of "East Indian," "African American," and "traditionally African woman," respectively. "The challenge here really is taking on the persona of that other ethnicity while in the photograph, and owning it," Manuel tells the models in the episode. Brittany Brower in season four of "America's Next Top Model." UPN/Amazon Prime Many viewers and critics have since condemned the photo shoot as blackface, an offensive practice that dates back to racist minstrel shows in the 1830s. In the documentary, Manuel says he was uncomfortable with the concept from the start, especially given his family's history with racial segregation. "The shoot that I had the most difficult time with was this race-swapping shoot. My parents are from South Africa. They grew up during apartheid. I am very aware of that history," he tells the camera. However, he says his objections were brushed off by Banks. "I first asked to be excused from the photo shoot," Manuel continues. "And Tyra said to me, 'I will handle this on camera with the girls at judging, just go and do your job.' I recognized that my role was starting to have limitations. That shoot was happening regardless." The documentary includes clips from the episode, including several of Manuel, who was billed as the "art director of photo shoots," coaching the models behind the camera. "If you really look for it, you can see it on my face. Especially the setup for the day, where I tell the girls what we're doing. I could tell I was just, like, double swallowing," he recalls. "But I just had to do my job." Tyra Banks says she didn't anticipate backlash to the race-swapping photo shoot Tyra Banks and her fellow judges on season four, episode five of "America's Next Top Model." UPN/Amazon Prime Banks, who created "Top Model" and hosted the reality show for 12 years, says she "didn't think it was controversial" at the time to paint the models' skin. "I was in my own little bubble, in my own little head, that this was my way of showing the world that brown and Black is beautiful," she says in the documentary. "But then we put it out there, and the world was like, 'Are you crazy? Have you lost your mind?'" "Looking at the show now, through the 2020 lens, it's an issue, and I understand 100% why," Banks adds. "Top Model" became a surprise hit for UPN when it premiered in 2003. Banks worked with producer Ken Mok to develop a competition show that blended the performative elements of "American Idol" with the behind-the-scenes drama of "The Real World." It made for irresistible TV, and "Top Model" drew millions of viewers. However, Banks and Manuel both recall pressure to pump up the drama on "Top Model" as its audience continued to grow. "It was a time in the world where there was a show, 'Fear Factor,' and 'Survivor,' and all of these things of, like, pushing the limits and all of that," Banks says. "And so we kept pushing, and we kept creating more and more and more. You guys were demanding it." Dawn Ostroff, then-president of UPN, says there was a constant push to raise the stakes, even as contestants were having emotional breakdowns or health emergencies on camera. Season three contestant Rebecca Epley fainted in the middle of judging, for example, and season seven winner CariDee English developed hypothermia during a photo shoot in a swimming pool. "How do you get that, 'I can't believe they're doing that' moment again? You have to keep one-upping yourself," she says in the documentary. "I never thought about, you know, 'Can we air it? Can't we air it?' Good television is good television." Nicole Fox on season 13, episode nine of "America's Next Top Model." The CW/Amazon Prime Although Manuel was originally cast as a creative director and occasional judge, he says the content of the challenges and photo shoots was largely out of his control, especially as the show got bigger. Eventually, his role was narrowed to "on-camera talent." "There was a time when the creative of the show started to shift. We were supposed to be showing the behind-the-scenes of what the fashion world was, helping change the industry. But the show had evolved in a way I'd never expected," Manuel says. "I really struggled over some of the things that happened. And that was something that was slowly depleting me, chipping away at my soul." He adds, "Tyra would always reinforce, 'We need to keep it entertaining. We need to keep people watching.'" In "Top Model" season 13, which aired on The CW in 2009, the models were tasked with yet another race-swapping shoot. This time, Banks was the photographer. Representatives for Ostroff and Banks did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider. Read the original article on Business Insider

Instacart hired software engineers and data scientists on H-1B visas last year. illustration by Cheng Xin/Getty Images Instacart is growing beyond its traditional grocery delivery business. The company's advertising and retail tech businesses are expanding. Here's what the company paid some of its corporate employees in 2025. Delivery service Instacart is moving further into new areas, such as advertising and retail tech. The company's roughly 600,000 gig workers, who shop and deliver groceries and other retail goods, are its most visible face for many people. But Instacart's business is growing in many directions, CEO Chris Rogers said on a November earnings call. "We have the leading online grocery marketplace, a best-in-class suite of enterprise technologies for retailers, and a growing advertising ecosystem," Rogers said on the call, his first as CEO after assuming the position in August. Instacart needs people to make good on its growth plans. The company had about 170 open roles on its careers website as of early February. "We're hiring selectively, with priority on roles that support our core marketplace, Instacart Enterprise solutions for retailers globally, and our ads and data platform," an Instacart spokesperson told Business Insider. "We regularly review compensation to ensure it's competitive and aligned with market benchmarks, location, and role," the spokesperson said. That hiring can include some employees from outside the US on H-1B work visas. Business Insider analyzed how much money companies from Apple to Walmart are paying for tech jobs and other roles. Explore salary data from America's biggest employers. Business Insider analyzed 157 H-1B visa applications submitted by Instacart and certified by the Department of Labor in the year ending September 30, 2025. These applications provide insight into how much employees in certain roles make. Many of the salaries were for tech roles, including data science, engineering, and product management positions. The Trump administration has initiated changes to the H-1B visa system. In September, Trump imposed a $100,000 fee on new applications. He's also proposed changes to work visa rules that could tilt the already competitive visa lottery in favor of the highest-paid applicants, lawyers told Business Insider. However, these changes were largely initiated after this reporting period. Here's a look at some of the jobs for which Instacart has disclosed salaries in the work visa data. Data Scientist: $125,000 to $210,000 Director of Engineering, Machine Learning: $320,000 to $380,000 Engineering Manager, Software: $220,000 to $290,000 Manager, Machine Learning Engineering: $260,000 to $280,000 Principal Software Engineer: $350,000 to $380,000 Senior Computer Vision/AI Engineer: $180,000 to $290,000 Senior Data Scientist: $170,000 to $265,000 Senior Engagement Manager: $235,000 to $285,000 Senior Engineering Manager: $275,000 to $305,000 Senior Engineering Manager, Software: $275,000 to $305,000 Senior Machine Learning Engineer: $185,000 to $300,000 Senior Machine Learning Engineer: $190,000 to $298,000 Senior Product Manager: $185,000 to $280,000 Senior Software Engineer: $176,000 to $285,000 Software Engineer: $165,000 to $215,000 Staff Software Engineer: $250,000 to $310,000 Have a tip? Contact this reporter at abitter@businessinsider.com or via encrypted messaging app Signal at 808-854-4501. Use a personal email address, a nonwork WiFi network, and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely. Read the original article on Business Insider

Cheska Hull decided to call off her wedding and move to Phuket, Thailand with her son. Provided by Cheska Hull Cheska Hull left the UK for Thailand after calling off her engagement. A networking connection in Phuket landed her a hotel PR job. She says Phuket offers her the perfect blend of career and high quality of life for her and her son. This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Cheska Hull, 40, a British reality TV star and PR professional who relocated to Phuket. Her words have been edited for length and clarity. My move to Phuket was about choosing a fabulous place to live while continuing my freelance career. I feel like I've been part of the island's community for years. I'd visit annually for a couple of weeks at a time, maintain friendships, and get to know local business owners. Every trip had me dreaming about potential jobs and interesting opportunities. I'm a PR specialist who has always worked in the luxury sector, across food, beverage, and hospitality. In London, I specialized in private members' clubs. That work also led me into radio and television, where I starred in the reality show "Made in Chelsea" for nearly four years. It helped me understand the evolving world of influencers and celebrities. Having lived on both sides of the PR and fame spectrum, I gained a deep understanding of that industry. Her life in London involved hosting A-list celebrities and attending big events. Provided by Cheska Hull I happened to be born in Thailand My parents lived in Phuket in the 1980s, when my dad was head of Standard Chartered Bank for Phuket, which is why I was born here. We moved back to England when I was young. Being born in Thailand didn't simplify moving back as an expat. I still had to go through all the same steps as everyone else. Initially, I came on a DTV digital nomad visa while freelancing for my UK clients. I told all of them, "I want to live in Thailand. That's my dream." I wanted the best of both worlds. There were a few reasons for the move I've always been drawn to the famous Thai "sabai sabai" — take-it-easy — lifestyle. But when it comes to business, I'm driven. I could never just move to Phuket and not work. Even between projects, I was constantly networking, talking to people, and pushing for collaborations with brands I'd worked with before. Now, I get to do what I've always loved in a place I love. My son was also at the right age for a big change. As a single mom, the stress came from knowing how significant the move was and wondering, "Have I made the right decision?" My main priority in life is his happiness. If he hadn't been happy, I don't think we would have stayed. But he's 8, and he was able to fit in quickly — learning some Thai at school and thriving. There was another catalyst, too. At the time, I was engaged to be married and realized that wasn't the path for me anymore. Once I called off the wedding, the door felt wide open. Nothing was holding me back. She says her 8-year-old son is learning Thai in school and was able to fit in quickly Provided by Cheska Hull Finding my career groove in Thailand Browsing jobs in Phuket started as a guilty pleasure. Through meeting people and networking, someone told me about a new opening at Anantara, a hotel I already knew well. It seemed perfect. And so now, as cluster director of public relations, I have a work permit. I've had to quickly learn Thai workplace customs, like addressing colleagues respectfully using "khun" before names or navigating the widespread use of nicknames. It's about understanding a different culture and being respectful within it. One of my favorite rituals happens every Friday during my team's morning meeting. We go outside to a huge tree in front of the hotel with two spirit houses. We all take incense, make a prayer, and privately speak to the spirits. It's so different and unique, I find it special. It's a meaningful part of their culture that I've come to love. I can't imagine trying to get everyone in London to do that, they'd laugh. Cheska Hull decided to call off her wedding and move to Phuket, Thailand with her son. Provided by Cheska Hull Thailand is my long-term plan There haven't been many hard parts to settling in. The main challenge of living on a small, seasonal island like Phuket is traffic. You get used to a calm pace, and then suddenly there's a massive influx of people. But that comes with the territory in hospitality and tourism, which is ultimately what we want here. My move to Thailand is long-term. Looking back, there was an element of risk. I came with a bit of an "Eat, Pray, Love" vision. I knew I loved it here and wanted it to work, but I also told myself, "If it doesn't, you can just go back." For me, the quality of life, the people, the food, the weather — just about everything about Phuket — makes it a place I want to call home forever. Island life simply couldn't be better right now. Do you have a story to share about living abroad? Contact the editor at akarplus@businessinsider.com. Read the original article on Business Insider