Speakers like Michael Arougheti, the CEO of Ares Management, shared the stage with Saratoga water bottles at the Milken Institute Global Conference. Mike Blake/REUTERS 2025-05-09T07:00:02Z Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Saratoga Spring Water, in its distinct blue glass bottle, was everywhere at the Milken conference. The brand went viral earlier this year because of influencer Ashton Hall. The CEO of the brand's holding company spoke at the power-player-packed conference. Last spring, billionaire Michael Arougheti had two light beers in hand and a good reason to celebrate — he had just become the co-owner of the Baltimore Orioles.Arougheti, the CEO of investment manager Ares, was in Pickles Pub, a popular bar for fans near the team's iconic stadium, offering to buy everyone a beer.The short video of a joyous Arougheti in Pickles was played Tuesday to the amusement of his fellow panelists, Todd Boehly and Michael Milken, at the latter's namesake global conference. Milken, a big healthcare donor who George Washington University's public health school is named after, had one critique. "We're going to try and give you more healthy things to hold up," Milken said.After spending three days traipsing around the ritzy Beverly Hills hotel where the conference is held, it was pretty obvious what that drink would be: Saratoga Spring Water.The glass blue bottles — a 24-pack of 12-ounce bottles costs more than $40 on Amazon — were omnipresent during the conference, with tables laden with them around every corner. Panelists, including Boehly and Arougheti, sipped them onstage. Hotel employees clearing trash cans in common areas sometimes needed backup to get the glass-filled utility trash bags out of their containers. Hotel staff used luggage trolleys to move boxes of Saratoga water. Bradley Saacks The brand, which is a part of the beverage conglomerate Primo Brands, went viral earlier this year thanks to influencer Ashton Hall, whose alleged morning routine includes dunking his face into a bowl filled with several bottles of the distilled spring water. The company's chief marketing officer previously told Business Insider that Hall's use of their product was not an ad, but they were enjoying the attention nonetheless. Hall's TikToks didn't come up during the conference, but the conglomerate's CEO, Robbert Rietbroek, spoke on a panel at Milken. CNBC anchor Sara Eisen introduced him by noting that "we're all drinking his waters."Rietbroek said, "Our mission is to hydrate a healthy America," and that the decrease in alcohol consumption has given Saratoga a boost, he said, sitting next to a small side table with several of his "beautiful blue bottles" on it."We're seeing an expansion of bottled water through the first quarter of this year," he said, despite economic worries.He said consumers are on the hunt "for alternate drinks," but at Milken, they were the house pour. Recommended video

Businesses, large and small, are hoping to retain consumer trust by showing how much tariffs imposed on countries by President Donald Trump increase prices. Dado Ruvic/REUTERS 2025-05-09T01:58:43Z Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? A business owner is labeling tariff costs as a separate line on the price tag of his electric bikes. Businesses, large and small, are hoping to retain consumer trust by showing how much tariffs increase prices. Business experts say consumer awareness of tariffs could spell trouble for Trump's polling rates. When Jared Fisher found out his major supplier of electric bikes was raising its prices by 10%, he had a choice to make: eat the cost or pass it along to his customers."If you cut 10% into a bicycle margin, then you might as well get ready to have your exit strategy for your business because you're not going to be able to operate," Fisher, who owns several bike shops in Nevada and Utah, told Business Insider. "There's no way."Instead, Fisher decided to be transparent with his customers about why prices were rising on some of his products. He added a new line item directly to the price tags on bikes hanging in his shops. On one bike he sells for $7,999, the price tag now shows an additional $300 "Government Tariff Charge." "I have no problem labeling where this tax is coming from on my products," he said. "People need to know that so I have a fighting chance on my end."On April 2, President Donald Trump imposed a 10% baseline tariff on all imports into the US, as well as additional tariffs on dozens of trading partners. Though some of the higher tariffs — with the exception of those on China and some on Mexico and Canada — are on pause, the sweeping 10% tariffs are still in place. And prices are starting to go up.From brick-and-mortar retailers to online small businesses, many have told Business Insider that the tariffs are forcing them to pass the cost to consumers, and it's not because they want to.To make matters worse for smaller operations, they do not have the same bargaining power with suppliers or cash flow as larger retailers like Walmart. Suppliers in some manufacturing hubs like China are also seeing ever-shrinking margins to help absorb the tariff shock."Small businesses are basically in danger of going out of business because of these high tariffs," Peter Cohan, associate professor of management at Babson College and a venture capitalist, told BI, "And they're trying to preserve the trust of their customers by being very transparent about why they're raising the prices.""Maybe they're going to lose customers because of the higher rates, but at least being transparent will help reduce the damage," Cohan added.Larger businesses may also have considered such transparency measures. After reports that Amazon is going to start displaying how much tariffs are contributing to the price of goods on its platform, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called the idea a "hostile and political act." The e-commerce giant denied that it planned to display the cost of tariffs, saying its low-price section, Haul, had considered it for some items but then jettisoned the idea.Chinese fast-fashion giants Shein and Temu — most affected by the 145% tariffs on China and the canceled de minimus exemptions — posted identical customer notices on their websites, saying that that there will be "price adjustments" because their "operating expenses have gone up" under "recent changes in global trade rules and tariffs."At the end of April, Temu started adding "import charges" at checkout, which can double the price of the item. By May, Temu's main website appeared to have blocked US customers from seeing products shipped from China, and the site is filled with products marked "local" to signify they are at a warehouse in the US."Displaying tariff costs directly on product pages can offer strategic advantages for platforms like Temu and Shein," Nasim Mousavi, assistant professor at Georgia State University Robinson College of Business, told BI. "By itemizing tariffs, these platforms frame price increases as the result of external policy rather than their own pricing decisions.""This transparency can enhance customer trust, reinforce a value-oriented brand image, and foster the perception that the platform is advocating on behalf of the consumer," Mousavi added.According to a survey of 1,850 US adult citizens conducted between May 2 and 5 by the Economist and YouGov, 75% of those surveyed think that Trump's tariffs will increase their prices, and 61% would like businesses to display how much of a purchase price goes toward paying tariffs."The obvious reason why the White House wouldn't want businesses to show tariff costs is because it makes it obvious how much their policy is costing consumers," said Cohan. "It's going to drive down the poll ratings because consumers will be extremely aware of how much more they're paying and who's causing them to pay it." Recommended video

Lester V. Ledesma started backpacking across Southeast Asia in the '90s. Lester V. Ledesma 2025-05-09T00:37:01Z Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Lester V. Ledesma, 50, started backpacking across Southeast Asia in the '90s and never stopped. He says that back then, travelers were able to let curiosity, not the internet, lead the way. These days, he says smartphones and social media make it harder to connect with locals and discover places on your own. I began traveling across Southeast Asia in the late '90s. After college, with just a backpack, a camera, and a sense of adventure, I set out to explore the Philippines — my country of birth.That early journey sparked my career as a travel writer and photographer and led me to move to Singapore a few years later, where the rest of the region was just a flight away from Changi Airport.Since then, I've collected travel stories that range from simple to sublime and downright strange. Celebrating the Thingyan Festival, Myanmar's New Year celebration. Lester V. Ledesma In my 20s, during my first trip to Cambodia, I spent a hilarious evening of "cultural exchange" with a group of tuk-tuk drivers — we taught each other the harshest cuss words that our native languages had to offer.A decade later, during the Thingyan Festival — Myanmar's New Year celebration — I found myself on a trishaw as it rode through a gauntlet of cheering, cross-dressing revelers who drenched me with water hoses and planted playful, hairy kisses on my cheeks. The author, in his 20s, sat alongside monks on his first trip to Cambodia. Lester V. Ledesma The following year in Bali, I stood in the middle of a perang api — a ritual fire war between groups of villagers who hurled glowing hunks of coal at each other.None of those adventures had been inspired by a TikTok, and I hadn't been led there using GPS on my phone.Back then, backpacking involved hands-on research — often lugging around a thick copy of "Lonely Planet." I had to make landline phone calls or write emails at internet cafés to reserve rooms. Flights were more expensive, so I often got around by commuting overland (or sea, as the case may be).I was on the road so much that I would often arrive at a destination without any plans or bookings.These days, backpacking's a breeze with everything online — Google Maps shows us where to go, and sites like Expedia and Booking.com let us plan every detail beforehand. It's all super convenient — maybe too convenient.As a salty old road warrior, I'd say we've lost something in this hyper-connected, instant-gratification era. Backpacking in Southeast Asia just isn't what it used to be. Here's what we're missing. The gains of serendipity Getting lost to find oneself was one of the author's favorite parts of backpacking. Lester V. Ledesma Getting lost to find oneself was part of why backpacking was so much fun. But with navigation apps now available on everyone's phone, does anyone still ever really get lost?Transformative travel is no longer the norm these days, replaced by must-see, must-eat, and must-do lists that bombard our social media feeds. Indeed, looking at long lines of people waiting to take the exact same photo at so-called selfie spots, you'd think the whole point of traveling is to feed the all-important 'Gram.For all their game-changing functionality, Google Maps and Street View have diminished the joys of discovery on even the simplest neighborhood walks.My journeys back then felt raw and unfiltered. Since the world was still largely offline, we old-school backpackers let our curiosity (and our printed maps) show us the way.Connecting with the locals The author says it's harder to meet locals when smartphones do all of the planning. Lester V. Ledesma There are plenty of crowd-sourced and influencer-approved travel tips on your phone, and they often guarantee the same experience as everyone else.Of course, some would say that's a modern blessing — especially if you have FOMO — but there's nothing like a touch of kindness from a friendly local to make an experience unique.Over the years, I've shared impromptu meals, received generous rides, witnessed proud displays of skill, and even been welcomed into intimate occasions. It was all because I dared to reach out and engage with the locals.The cold efficiency of online booking, navigation, and even ride-hailing apps has lessened the opportunities to make meaningful connections. I remember when all it took me was a smile and a curious question to break the ice. The author used to trade in old guidebooks at book stands along Khao San Road in Bangkok. Lester V. Ledesma Getting away from it allIn this day and age, we can still travel solo, but constant connectivity means that we are never alone. Not too long ago, backpacking was all about immersion in a place, and oftentimes, it was easy to just fall off the grid. Nowadays, travelers are more likely to update their Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok accounts in real time than keep a handwritten journal.There are also those amusing vloggers who walk around while talking to their streaming, selfie stick-mounted phones. Despite some travelers being physically far from everyone and everything we know, our cellphones are always pinging with text messages, emails, and social media updates.Being part of a community The author remembers making friends with fellow backpackers near places like Khao San Road in Bangkok (pictured) and Pham Ngu Lao Street in Ho Chi Minh City. Lester V. Ledesma Once upon a time, independent travel was a shared experience among a loose community of fellow backpackers. We'd cross paths on the road, and then later meet up in traveler hubs like Bangkok's Khao San Road or Saigon's Pham Ngu Lao Street. Here we would swap travel stories over cheap beer, and trade dog-eared guidebooks at secondhand bookshops.Occasionally, we'd leave messages for newfound friends at guesthouse bulletin boards, before pushing onward to the next destination. Formerly a source of so much camaraderie, this IRL culture has largely dissolved into the realm of social media.These days, we might find our travel friends online, but the things that drove our journeys back then — a sense of adventure, a willingness to connect, and curiosity about different cultures — are values today's generation of net-savvy, card-carrying travelers seem to be missing out on. Recommended video

Instagram head Adam Mosseri was called to testify in Meta's antitrust trial. Gripas Yuri/ABACA via Reuters Connect 2025-05-08T21:22:55Z Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Instagram chief Adam Mosseri testified in Meta's antitrust trial on Thursday. The FTC claims Meta's acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp created an illegal monopoly. Regulators want Meta to sell off Instagram and WhatsApp. Instagram chief Adam Mosseri took the witness stand on Thursday in Meta's landmark antitrust trial in Washington, DC, federal court.Mosseri, who has been at the helm of Instagram since 2018, is among the more than two dozen witnesses that the Federal Trade Commission has called to testify in the case.The FTC argues in its case against Meta that the company violated antitrust laws when it "helped cement" an illegal monopoly in the social networking market with its acquisitions of Instagram in 2012 and the messaging app WhatsApp two years later. The case, to be decided by Judge James Boasberg, could be one of the most consequential antitrust trials in years. If FTC regulators have their way, Meta could be forced to sell off WhatsApp and Instagram.Mosseri began his tenure at Meta, formerly called Facebook, in 2008. Here are five insights and revelations we learned from his more than six hours of testimony:Mark Zuckerberg's 'strained' relationship with Instagram's foundersMosseri recalled a 2018 email he sent to Meta CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg while on paternity leave, warning that Instagram cofounders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger were increasingly frustrated with strategy changes.He wrote that it was "hard for me to get a read on what's going on as the relationship was strained."Mosseri cited two core tensions: Zuckerberg's belief that slowing Instagram's growth would benefit Meta overall.Mosseri acted as a mediator, relaying concerns between the founders and Facebook leadership.These tensions foreshadowed a deeper rift that culminated in the cofounders' departure later that year, a turning point that saw Mosseri take over the reins at Instagram.Worry over TikTok cutting into Instagram's growthTikTok's meteoric rise was a massive threat to Instagram, Meta has argued."TikTok is probably the fiercest competition we have faced during my tenure at the company," Mosseri testified on Thursday.According to internal Meta documents presented in court, TikTok was a "big concern" in 2019, just as the ByteDance-owned app was taking off. Instagram data scientists presented a "conservative estimate" that 40% of Instagram's year-over-year decline in time spent was due to TikTok. Specifically in the US, Instagram estimated a 23% decline in time spent.Instagram would go on to launch its own short-form video product, Reels, in 2020.Mosseri also testified that he briefed Zuckerberg "very often" about the competition with TikTok, adding that there was a monthly dinner with the most senior executives at Meta where this would come up."It became kind of a hazing ritual for me to give an update on Reels," Mosseri said.Mosseri's 'biggest mistake'On the stand, Mosseri testified that Instagram's first version of Reels was his "biggest mistake," built on the "not a sound foundation" of Stories, which the feature was initially built into.The feature flopped and was ultimately scrapped after nearly a year. Mosseri said before he joined Instagram that it tried another venture to compete with TikTok called IGTV — that too failed.Instagram pivoted by relaunching Reels as a dedicated feature in the main feed, a reboot that finally gained traction amid the pandemic and TikTok's rapid rise. Mosseri said that the company "could have and should have been more aggressive" in responding to what he called Meta's fiercest competitor.Hundreds of millions on content creatorsInstagram's fight with TikTok and other apps is just beginning, Mosseri testified.Mosseri said that one of the biggest fights right now is over future creators, those who are just beginning to make content or who haven't even started. He said TikTok has done a better job allowing small creators to rapidly expand their reach, something Meta is actively trying to cut into.In terms of overall investment, Mosseri said that Meta has spent "hundreds of millions, maybe a billion or two" during his time at the company supporting the wider creative ecosystem. That touches everything from incentive payments to the physical infrastructure necessary to power Instagram's AI-backed recommendations. "We are just seeing more and more power shift from institutions to individuals across the industry," Mosseri testified. Instagram's struggles around content safetySusan Musser, the FTC attorney who led Mosseri's questioning, repeatedly questioned the Instagram head over his initial concerns about how the app was ensuring the safety of its content.Mosser pointed to an email from October 19, 2018, less than a month after Mosseri became head of the app, in which he said that Facebook was not investing enough in Instagram's Well-being team."I think we're underinvested in Well-being and were, until recently, the resources we do have are underleveraged," Mosseri wrote to someone whose full name was redacted. The initial email the person wrote was titled, "need to prioritize integrity efforts over growth — we must fight fakes."An internal Facebook document also showed that Instagram had significantly fewer engineers devoted to well-being than the main app. According to the 2018 summary, Instagram had 40 engineers dedicated to doing such work. Facebook had 900.Meta lawyer Aaron Panner later asked Mosseri if Meta employees typically received everything they requested."Never," Mosseri said. Recommended video

Donald Trump announced a trade deal with the UK to open its markets and benefit both countries, as well as his hopes to make progress with China.Read the original article on Business Insider

The site of a reported Indian drone attack in Lahore, Pakistan. Rizwan TABASSUM / AFP 2025-05-08T16:27:16Z Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? India says it targeted Pakistan's air defenses, as tensions increase between the countries. On Thursday, Pakistan said it shot down 25 drones over its airspace. India and Pakistan have been trading blows following a terror attack in Kashmir last month. India says it targeted Pakistan's air defenses in strikes on Thursday, in a sign of escalating violence between the two nuclear-armed countries.India's defense ministry said its forces had "targeted Air Defence Radars and systems at a number of locations in Pakistan.""It has been reliably learnt that an Air Defence system at Lahore has been neutralised," the government said in a statement. This was the first time India acknowledged going after Pakistani military installations.Targeting air defenses threatens to deepen the crisis, as it removes defenses and clears the way for further and deeper strikes.India's statement doesn't detail how the attacks were carried out.Clashes between the two countries have ramped up in recent days, after India carried out military strikes overnight on Wednesday. It said these were in retaliation for a terrorist attack that killed 26 people in the contested region of Kashmir last month.For its part, Pakistan claimed Thursday to have shot down 25 Indian drones, including Israeli-made HAROP long-range drones that can scout and strike targets.The Jerusalem Post reported in 2019 that India had bought several batches of HAROP drones from Israel, including the purchase of 10 drones in a $100 million deal."Debris of Israeli-made Harop drones is being recovered from various areas across Pakistan," the Pakistani military said in a statement.India also said in the statement that it had neutralised Pakistani missile and drone attacks on its territory.The use of drones in clashes between India and Pakistan is a worrying new development in a long-simmering conflict over Kashmir, and points to the growing influence of warfare techniques and technologies used in the war in Ukraine.Both countries have used drones for years for reconnaissance in Kashmir, Christopher Clary, a professor at the University at Albany in New York, told BI, but never before "for apparent attacks on the other.""It seems possible both Pakistan and India were probing enemy air defenses," he said of the strikes.Pakistan said that 31 people have been killed in Indian strikes since Wednesday, while India says Pakistan's attacks have killed 16.The exchange of blows comes after an attack by Pakistani militants on Indian tourists in Kashmir on April 22, which killed 26 people. India has accused Pakistan of being behind the attack, an accusation Pakistan denies. Recommended video

The incident occurred on a Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong to London. Joan Valls/NurPhoto/Getty Images 2025-05-08T13:29:09Z Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? A Cathay Pacific flight attendant mistakenly served a glass of white wine to a child in business class. His mother said there was a "lack of care" for her son after the incident. The airline said it sincerely apologized and had launched an internal review. Cathay Pacific apologized to a family after a flight attendant mistakenly served a 3-year-old boy a glass of white wine with his meal.The incident occurred in business class on Flight 255 from Hong Kong to London on April 24.The child's mother contacted the South China Morning Post after initially posting on a Chinese social media platform.The woman, whom the publication identified only by the surname Wong, said the child took a sip of what he thought to be water and said it tasted sour. His father then checked the drink and found it was actually wine.The mother said flight attendants quickly replaced her son's drink with water.The airline told Business Insider in a statement that the cabin crew put out a call to medical personnel aboard the flight and consulted a ground-based medical service before monitoring the boy's condition for the rest of the flight. "During the whole process, there was a lack of care for my son," the woman told the SCMP. "They gave me the impression that they were trying to shirk responsibility."Cathay Pacific said it "sincerely apologises" for the incident."We take this matter very seriously and have launched an internal review to ensure appropriate follow-up actions are implemented and goodwill is being offered," the airline said. "We will continue to support and assist the family." Recommended video

Olav Aleksander Bu, left, is a renowned coach to elite athletes such as Norwegian triathlete champion Kristian Blummenfelt (right). Courtesy of CORE/Santara Group 2025-05-08T10:25:01Z Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Olav Aleksander Bu is an elite endurance coach whose training balances intensity for better results. You can use his strategies for better VO2 max, a key metric of fitness and longevity. Understanding factors like heart rate, threshold, and heat can help you work out smarter. For Olympic triathlete gold medalist Kristian Blummenfelt, training is a full-time job.He exercises up to 10 hours a day to keep his heart and lungs in peak shape, and doubles up on tough sessions as part of a workout strategy known as "The Norwegian method."That same method can help you, a mere mortal, improve your own longevity and fitness spending just a fraction of the time working out, according to his coach, Olav Aleksander Bu. "We think of elite athletes as freaks of nature. In reality, what we see is working with elite athletes works with everybody," he told Business Insider in an interview tied to a partnership with fitness tech company Core.Bu, who has coached some of the best endurance athletes on the planet, uses the Norwegian method to dial in workout intensity while avoiding injury or burnout.The same principles can help you work out more efficiently.What is the Norwegian method?At the most basic level, the Norwegian method is about balancing volume — the amount of work you're doing — with recovery. The key principle is alternating periods of high intensity with periods of lower intensity and rest.To train with the Norwegian method for a higher VO2 max (the ability to circulate and use oxygen effectively) and better endurance, you need the right kind of stress on your body, which means being able to measure intensity.How tired you feel isn't necessarily an accurate measure of how hard you're working, Bu said. Pace may not be a good measure of intensity either because it varies so much between athletes, and even for the same athlete under different conditions.Running five miles in 40 minutes might be easy for the pros but crushingly difficult for a newbie. Heat training with fitness tech like the CORE sensor can help you exercise to improve heart health and VO2 max without adding stress on your joints and muscles, as shown here by Bu and Blummenfelt. CORE / Santara Group To stay on target, Bu uses metrics like body temperature and lactate, a byproduct the body produces during intense exercise, to precisely assess how hard athletes can push during training.While you can buy a device to measure lactate, heart rate can also measure effort, and it's easier to do at home with a smartwatch or fitness tracker.How to boost your VO2 maxA sample workout plan to increase VO2 max involves three sessions per week of your preferred cardio exercise, such as running or biking. You'll aim to spend time at your threshold heart rate, the maximum effort you'd be able to sustain for about an hour of work. The pros test their threshold in a lab, but you can estimate it.One popular technique is to run or bike hard for 30 minutes and record your average heart rate for the last 20 minutes. Your threshold for running or biking may be different.For threshold sessions, alternate between periods of work at that intensity and rest to recover. Some example intervals from different Norwegian training plans include:Four minutes of hard effort, followed by three minutes of rest, repeated for four total sets, popularized by coach Ulrik Wisløff.1,000-meter effort, followed by a minute of rest, repeated 10 times, is a go-to for athlete Marius Bakken.In one of those sessions, you could incorporate heat training — one of Bu's favorite ways to get the right workout intensity, both in his own workouts and for his athletes. Adding heat also works the heart and lungs while preventing joint pain during exercise.You can be most precise by using a sensor to monitor your body temperature. Aim for around 101.3 degrees Fahrenheit, building toward 102.2 during your session, but not exceeding that temperature, Bu said. Increase the heat by exercising in warm weather or wearing more layers.Over time, you can safely challenge your body to keep getting stronger by gradually spending more time at that threshold intensity.The key is thinking long-term. Working out for an hour or two once a week isn't going to make much of a difference to your fitness. Progress comes from repeating the routine for weeks and months."People that find great pleasure in training find a sustainable intensity, and they get to perceive the tremendous effect it has on their physique," Bu said. Recommended video

Jason Koerner/Getty Images 2025-05-08T07:21:53Z Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Today, Anastasia Soare is the CEO of the beauty giant Anastasia Beverly Hills. When she was starting out, she had to beg Wells Fargo for a $500 credit card. Soare, an immigrant from Romania, shared her journey of pursuing the American dream at the Milken conference on Wednesday. Before she became the CEO of a global beauty brand with celebrity clients, Anastasia Soare needed a $500 credit card.When she arrived in the US in 1989 as an immigrant, "nobody paid attention," the founder of Anastasia Beverly Hills said. At the time, she was an aesthetician with zero credit history and limited English — and a bold idea that needed backing."I went to Wells Fargo and had to beg the manager to give me a $500 credit card," she recalled. "Thirty-four years ago, they didn't throw at you with credit cards like what they are doing right now." Soare made the comments on a panel at the 28th Milken Institute Global Conference on Wednesday. The conference, held in California this year, draws global leaders, tech executives, and experts to discuss finance, innovation, and global markets.In 2000, Soare launched her first product line to bring her signature shaping techniques and tools to anyone who wanted beautiful brows. Since then, Anastasia Beverly Hills has become synonymous with eyebrows in the beauty world. The brand's celebrity clients include the likes of Jennifer Lopez, Kendall Jenner, and Kim Kardashian. In May 2024, Forbes estimated Soare's net worth at $900 million.Soare shared the credit card anecdote as part of her pursuit of the American dream — one that started decades earlier in communist Romania.At 15, her grandfather would take her into a small room, shut the windows and curtains, and tune into a banned radio station called "Voice of America.""He used to tell me that I did a big mistake coming to Romania. The communist regime took everything away from us," she said."You should go to America," Soare recounted her grandfather saying. "That is the American dream."Under the communist regime in Romania, entrepreneurship didn't exist. "You worked only for the government, and that's it. You couldn't be an entrepreneur," Soares said.But Soare knew she wanted more. "I wanted first to show myself what I'm capable of doing," she said. Chasing the American dreamWhen Soare arrived, she started working as an aesthetician — one of the few jobs that didn't require "perfect English," she said.She noticed a gap in the beauty market — nobody paid attention to eyebrows. Believing in the potential of eyebrows as a business idea, she began doing clients' brows for free, as it wasn't "considered a service" then."My husband thought I am totally crazy," she said. "You don't know how to write a check, you don't have a credit card, you barely speak the language, and you want to open a business. Not even American people born here own a business," she recalled her husband saying.But Soare went all in. "What do I have to lose?" she thought.From that little room, she built a clientele. Then she opened a salon in Beverly Hills. "The rest is history," she said."I am proud to say that I invented a category in the beauty industry that didn't exist before," she said at the panel. Recommended video

There are talks of negotiations with various trading partners, including Canada, Mexico, and Japan. Leah Millis/REUTERS 2025-05-08T02:47:51Z Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Global leaders have reacted to Trump's tariffs with a mix of criticism, concern, and calls for calm. Some countries, like China, have chosen to retaliate, which could complicate upcoming talks. Negotiations and talks thus far have not yielded concrete trade deals. Global leaders have reacted to US President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs with a mix of criticism, concern, and calls for calm.As of May 7, there is a 10% blanket tariff on all goods imported into the United States, with limited exemptions for the auto industry and some electronics; additional tariffs on 75 countries were paused on April 9.The US now has up to 245% in tariffs on imports from China, the manufacturing hub, while China has retaliated with a 125% tariff on US goods. The Trump administration has repeatedly indicated that it is negotiating with various trading partners, including Canada, Mexico, and Japan, but none of those talks have yielded a trade deal thus far.Trade and international relations experts have previously told Business Insider that the pressure is now on Trump to deliver trade deals before the tariff pause ends 90 days from April 9.However, on May 6, Trump said he doesn't need to make deals in response to being asked when deals would be made."We don't have to sign deals, they have to sign deals with us. They want a piece of our market. We don't want a piece of their market," Trump said during the White House meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.On the night of May 7, Trump teased a trade deal framework announcement for Thursday morning.Here is what world leaders have said about Trump's tariffs and potential negotiations so far.CanadaPrime Minister Mark Carney called Trump's April 2 tariffs "unjustified," and vowed to defend jobs in Canada "by protecting supply management, doubling revenue protections, and expanding processing capacity."During a May 6 meeting with Trump at the White House, both leaders signaled that the USMCA — a trade agreement between the US, Canada, and Mexico — could face an overhaul."It is a basis for a broader negotiation," said Carney of USMCA while fielding reporter questions with Trump. "Some things about it are going to have to change, and part of the way you've conducted these tariffs has taken advantage of existing aspects of USMCA — so it's going to have to change."Carney is considered by many as a relative newcomer in politics, but he has decades of experience in finance.ChinaTrump and China have thus far disagreed on everything from whether tariffs are justified to who initiated their upcoming trade talks in Switzerland."The meeting between Chinese and US senior officials on economic matters was requested by the US side," China's spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lin Jian, wrote on X on Wednesday. "Recently, the US has said repeatedly it wants to negotiate with China."Trump denied that the US had reached out first, and said, "No," on May 7 when asked if he would consider lowering his tariffs on China to help smooth upcoming talks.China has previously suggested that the US must lower the imposed tariffs first to gain trust."China wants to stress: in any potential talks and discussions, if the US doesn't correct its false unilateral tariffs, it means there is a lack of genuine intent, and that will further erode mutual trust," said the spokesperson of China's Ministry of Commerce in a press conference on May 2."Talking one way and acting another, or using talks as a cover for coercion and pressure, simply won't work with China," the spokesperson added.MexicoDespite facing 25% in tariffs, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has taken a less critical stance than most world leaders."There are no additional tariffs on Mexico, and that is good for the country," Sheinbaum said during a press conference on April 3 after Trump announced broad tariffs the day before.Sheinbaum said Mexico was spared from more tariffs due to "the good relationship we have constructed with the US government, based on collaboration but with respect."In a subsequent daily briefing on April 7, 2025, Sheinbaum confirmed that Mexico will not impose retaliatory tariffs on the US.Sheinbaum had also previously successfully negotiated pauses on tariffs imposed on Mexico in February by highlighting her efforts in curbing fentanyl trafficking and deploying 10,000 National Guard troops to the border, issues that were listed by Trump as reasons to place duties on Mexico.SpainSpanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called Trump's April 2 tariffs on EU imports a "unilateral attack" and "19th-century protectionism." Sanchez also promptly announced a €14.1 billion ($15B) aid package for affected industries like aluminum, olive oil, and wine."We will overcome this unfair crisis without renouncing our values," Sánchez said. "Europe's hand is outstretched, and it always will be because the American people, beyond their governments, are a friendly people, but that does not mean that we are going to stand by and do nothing."After Trump paused additional tariffs on 75 trading partners on April 9, Sánchez said the decision could open "a door to negotiation."GermanyThe outgoing chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz, said Trump's decisions on tariffs are "fundamentally wrong" and supported Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen, president of the EU Commission, when she called for Europe to react "united, strong, and appropriate.""This is an attack on a trade order that has created prosperity around the globe," Scholz said at a news conference in Berlin on April 7."The entire global economy will suffer from these ill-conceived decisions. Businesses and consumers everywhere in the world, including in the US, will be affected," Scholz added. "The US administration is embarking on a path that can only result in losses for everyone."German economy minister Robert Habeck said in February that Trump will "buckle under pressure" if Europe bands together.Conservative leader Friedrich Merz became Germany's new chancellor as of May 7 and has yet to address tariffs.AustraliaAnthony Albanese, the prime minister of Australia and leader of the Labour Party, made it clear that there will be no retaliatory measures against the US."It is the American people who will pay the biggest price for these unjustified tariffs," said Albanese in a statement on April 3. "This is why our government will not be seeking to impose reciprocal tariffs. We will not join a race to the bottom that leads to higher prices and slower growth."Despite being critical of Trump's tariffs, Albanese said there will be "continued constructive engagement" with the US, because the history between the two countries is "bigger than a poor decision."JapanJapanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba urged Trump to lower tariffs against Japan in a phone call with Trump on April 7, but said a deal "won't come overnight.""I've told the president that Japan has been the biggest investor in the United States for five straight years and the tariff policies could hurt Japanese companies' investment capabilities," said Ishiba during a news conference after the call.During Trump's first term as president, the US and Japan signed a bilateral trade deal in 2019 that cut tariffs on US farm goods, Japanese machine tools, and other products while staving off higher duties on Japan's auto exports.Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said on April 21 that Tokyo has no plan to terminate the trade deal struck in 2019, but will keep voicing "grave concern" over inconsistency between the deal and Trump's latest automobile tariffs.Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's chief tariff negotiator, has been visiting Washington, DC, in recent weeks. Recommended video

Google headquarters in Mountain View, California. Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images 2025-05-08T01:07:19Z Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Google has been worrying about losing search share to AI engines like ChatGPT for a couple of years. It looks like that's started to happen, an Apple executive testified in court. Google shares immediately fell. Ever since ChatGPT burst onto the scene in 2022, investors have wondered about the implications for Google. Mainly: What happens to the company if lots of people start using AI engines to answer questions instead of Google's dominant search engine?Now it looks like that might actually be happening.Eddy Cue, an Apple executive, said searches on Apple's Safari browser shrank for the first time ever in April — a change he chalked up to people using AI instead. Cue made that disclosure on Wednesday while testifying in the federal antitrust suit against Google's parent company, Alphabet, because Apple receives more than $20 billion a year from Google to make it the default search engine on Apple devices.He also said Apple would likely add AI engines as search alternatives on its devices over time, Bloomberg reports:[Cue] noted that searches on Safari dipped for the first time last month, which he attributed to people using AI.Cue said he believes that AI search providers, including OpenAI, Perplexity AI Inc. and Anthropic PBC, will eventually replace standard search engines like Google. He said he believes Apple will add those players as options in Safari in the future."We will add them to the list — they probably won't be the default," he said, adding that they still need to improve.Cue's testimony neatly explains a major reason that investors have been pouring money into AI companies like OpenAI at increasingly huge valuations: They're hoping that at a minimum, they'll be able to carve out some of Google's ownership of the stock market — the primary reason Google is worth $2 trillion today.That prospect is also what has prompted Google to turn itself into an AI company, by turning conventional searches into queries it answers with its Gemini AI engine. Early stumbles in those efforts generated a lot of mockery — see glue pizza — but Google has stuck with it, insisting that users like the results.On the company's earnings call last month, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said its efforts were working and that its AI engine had helped increase search volume: "Nearly a year after we launched AI Overviews in the US, we continue to see that usage growth is increasing as people learn that Search is more useful for more of their queries," he told analysts.Cue's testimony suggests that those efforts haven't been enough to protect Google's market. Google shares fell more than 7% on Wednesday.Google released a statement late Wednesday disputing Cue's assertion and saying it continues to see "overall query growth in search.""That includes an increase in total queries coming from Apple's devices and platforms," the statement said. Recommended video

Dan Reed, the chief operating officer of Meta's Reality Labs division, is stepping down after nearly 11 years at the company.Reed's departure marks another leadership change at a time when the division faces mounting internal and external pressure.Reed announced his exit Wednesday in a LinkedIn post, reflecting on his time building what he described as a "fast-growing, multibillion-dollar consumer technology business" spanning AI wearables, augmented and mixed reality, and the metaverse. "I see SO much exciting opportunity in this space, to which I eventually intend to return to lead and grow something cool and exciting," Reed wrote. "In the meantime, I'm very excited after this 20+ year run to take an extended break and spend quality time with my wife and two boys, reconnect with friends and family, and recharge."Reed, a former NBA executive, first joined Meta in 2014 to lead the company's partnerships with sports teams and athletes.Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Reed's departure follows Meta's major restructuring of Reality Labs earlier this year. Business Insider first reported in January that the company began integrating Reality Labs more closely with its core business. This shift reversed parts of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's 2021 reorganization, which had positioned the group as a stand-alone, metaverse-focused division.Under the new structure, sales, marketing, and analytics teams that once reported to Reed were redistributed under broader Meta leadership. Meta COO Javier Olivan now oversees the teams previously led by Reed, and other Reality Labs leaders have been aligned with top company executives, including chief marketing officer Alex Schultz and head of partnerships Justin Osofsky.Meta's chief technology officer, Andrew Bosworth, credited Reed at the time for guiding the business group through a phase of rapid growth. An internal memo viewed by BI in January said that Reality Labs' sales rose over 40% year-over-year in 2024, and the division beat nearly all of its aggressive sales and user goals. Bosworth called Reed's leadership "a major part" of that success.Despite those gains, Reality Labs remains a financial sinkhole for Meta. The division, which includes the Quest headsets, Horizon Worlds, and Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses, has racked up more than $60 billion in losses since 2020.Last month, Meta laid off staff across Reality Labs, including teams working on VR gaming and the Supernatural fitness app.Internally, Bosworth has described 2025 as "the most critical" year for the division and said that Meta's ambitious metaverse bets could either validate years of investment or be remembered as a "legendary misadventure."Do you work for Meta or have a tip or an insight to share? Contact this reporter via email at pdixit@insider.com or Signal at +1408-905-9124. Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.

India hit several sites in Pakistan and Pakistani Kashmir with missiles. Pakistan said it shot down five Indian aircraft in the worst clash in more than two decades between the nuclear-armed neighbors.Read the original article on Business Insider

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi says that if workers want to leave, there are options elsewhere. Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg via Getty Images 2025-05-07T16:22:42Z Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Uber is reportedly cracking down on remote work, return-to-office plans, and other benefits. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said the changes might prompt Uber employees to look for jobs elsewhere. Tech companies have been pulling back on remote work and other employee benefits. Uber's Dara Khosrowshahi is perfectly OK with employees who don't agree with him wanting to jump ship.Khosrowshahi has recently made a slew of changes that might rub some workers the wrong way. He wants corporate employees back in the office at least three days a week, is asking remote workers to return to the office, and is extending the number of years people have to work before being offered a paid sabbatical.In an interview with CNBC on Wednesday, Khosrowshahi said these changes could push some employees away, but they're in luck. "The good news is the economy is still really strong, the job market is strong," he said. "People who work at Uber, they have lots of opportunities everywhere."Hedging his comments, Khosrowshahi said the company would, of course, like the employees to stick around, but the changes are sticking."We want them, obviously, to take the opportunity with us, to take the opportunity to learn," Khosrowshahi added."We want more people in the office," Khosrowshahi said, adding that the revised policy gives employees flexibility to work from home two days a week, on Monday and Friday."It's the right mix of giving your employees flexibility but also getting them to the office for those all-important teamwork tasks," he said.An Uber spokesperson said the changes aren't related to planned layoffs or meant to drive attrition. Starting in June, employees will be expected to work in the office three days a week.Big Tech companies have been cutting or revamping a range of benefits for employees over the last few years.Recent changes to Amazon's compensation structure, for instance, rewards top-performing employees and reduces what some low-performing workers earn, BI reported on Monday.Lately, though, some tech executives have given their staff a choice to either "disagree and commit" to the changes or leave the company.Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth told employees that it was their choice after the company rolled back DEI programs and said it would cut its low-performing employees.There have also been multiple rounds of layoffs at big tech firms. Some companies, such as Microsoft, have explicitly made job cuts based on job performance.Do you work for Uber and have a story idea to share? Reach out to this reporter at abitter@businessinsider.com Recommended video

Sebastian Stan, Hannah John-Kamen, Florence Pugh, Wyatt Russell, and David Harbour in "Thunderbolts*." Marvel Studios 2025-05-07T13:36:08Z Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Marvel has been struggling with superhero fatigue — or fans being bored of the genre — for years. Marvel changed up its marketing for its latest film, "Thunderbolts*" to appeal to cinephiles. It's kept up its quirky new marketing strategy for its upcoming films, too. Marvel Studios has a new strategy for combating superhero fatigue: appeal to cinephiles.Although Marvel is still the highest-grossing movie franchise of all time, it has struggled to maintain its popularity over the past four years.A trend of diminishing box office returns and fans and critics complaining that Marvel projects are declining in quality has resulted in the narrative that audiences are tired of superhero movies. While the billion-dollar-grossing 2024 movie "Deadpool & Wolverine" indicated fans were still willing to turn up for Marvel event movies, this year's "Captain America: Brave New World" grossed $414 million — mediocre compared to the studio's other releases.By marketing its latest blockbuster, "Thunderbolts*," in a way that emulates the industry darling A24 and other huge franchises like "Mission Impossible," Marvel StudiosIt's too early to tell if the gamble paid off at the box office — "Thunderbolts*" grossed less domestically and internationally in its opening weekend than "Brave New World," which came out in February. But "Thunderbolts*" earned an 88% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, the highest for a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie since 2021's "Spider-Man: No Way Home." Fans are saying that Marvel is "so back."Referencing A24 in a 'Thunderbolts*' trailer signals to fans it's a good movie Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova in "Thunderbolts*." Marvel Studios When Marvel first announced "Thunderbolts*" — a film about a ragtag group of antiheroes who form an unlikely alliance — in 2022, it marketed it like past movies. The only difference was an unexplained asterisk at the end of the title when production began in 2024.But after "Brave New World" received disappointing reviews and meager box office results, Marvel took a gamble with "Thunderbolts*."Florence Pugh, who reprises her role as Yelena Belova in the film, described "Thunderbolts*" as a "quite badass indie, A24-feeling assassin movie with Marvel superheroes" in a March interview with Empire, referring to the studio that has earned a reputation as the "cool kid" on the block.Marvel jumped on this and the next day dropped an A24-esque trailer for "Thunderbolts*" titled "Absolute Cinema," which showcased the cast and crew, including Pugh, who have been part of projects produced or distributed by the indie studio.The trailer title could also have been a nod to a popular meme of the director Martin Scorsese with his hands raised up and accompanied by the phrase "absolute cinema." Scorsese famously called Marvel movies "not cinema" in a 2019 interview, while other legendary directors such as Quentin Tarantino have also criticized the quality of Marvel and superhero films."Thunderbolts*" director Jake Schreier recently told The Hollywood Reporter that the A24 trailer idea was a joke between himself and an assistant, but the Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige liked it and asked the marketing department to make it.To Paul Hardart, a professor at New York University Stern School of Business, the trailer signals to fans: "this isn't your father's Marvel, this is a Marvel film for today. They're saying this is a high-quality film from a cinema standpoint."Then in April, Marvel released a featurette that gave a behind-the-scenes look at how Pugh executed jumping from the world's second-tallest building, the 2,227 feet-high Merdeka 118 tower in Malaysia. This gestured to Marvel relying less on CGI and harking back to stunt-heavy blockbusters like "Mission: Impossible." Florence Pugh in "Thunderbolts*." Marvel Studios A representative for Marvel Studios did not immediately respond to a comment request from BI.Finola Kerrigan, a professor of marketing and deputy dean of the University of Birmingham's business school, UK, told BI she believes the A24-style trailer that highlights the cast and crew's quality work is part of an attempt to attract new audiences to the MCU, while trying to lure back dissatisfied fans."We can't be cynical about the film audience, so you have to keep delighting them and challenging them," Kerrigan said.Marvel did then revert to its traditional style of marketing, but is still using quirky tactics now "Thunderbolts*" is out, by rebranding it as "The New Avengers," which is the group's name at the end of the movie, on social media and select posters.Marvel is using quirky marketing for 'The Fantastic Four: First Steps' and 'Avengers: Doomsday' Hannah John-Kamen, Lewis Pullman, Wyatt Russell, David Harbour, Florence Pugh, and Sebastian Stan in "Thunderbolts*." Chuck Zlotnick/Marvel Studios After Marvel's previous failed attempts at appealing to film fans with 2022's "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" and 2021's "Eternals," both directed by auteurs but seen as disappointments, "Thunderbolts*" may mark a watershed moment. Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore, told BI that after "Captain America" saw a 68% drop in ticket sales between its opening weekends after a "lukewarm critical and audience reaction," the second weekend of "Thunderbolts*" will more clearly indicate whether it has been a success.But Marvel is already adopting its new strategy for "The Fantastic Four: First Steps," out on July 25, and "Avengers: Doomsday," billed for May 2026.For the latter, Marvel has generated buzz by announcing part of the cast during a five-and-a-half hour livestream.Meanwhile, since February, the "Fantastic Four" X account has shared the same clip of Pedro Pascal's character, Reed Richards, at 7 p.m. on Sundays, when his family has dinner — then seemingly forgetting to on April 14. At 7:44 p.m. that day, the X account released a new clip of Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn) telling Reed and Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby) that they're late for dinner, teasing a new trailer for the movie.Hardart said Marvel should adopt the "fun" and "creative" elements of these marketing strategies for "Avengers: Doomsday," the next "Avengers" film.But clever marketing can only do so much. Ticket prices aren't cheap, and fans want to know that they're watching movies that are worth their time, money, and attention."I think at the end of the day, they recognize there's no proxy for quality," Hardart said, referring to Marvel Studios. "So if the next 'Avengers' movie is really good, people are going to want to see it." Recommended video

Lucid reported first-quarter earnings on Tuesday. John Keeble/Getty Images 2025-05-07T10:34:15Z Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Carmakers are scrambling to move production to the US as Trump's tariffs disrupt the auto industry. Lucid's CEO said several companies had reached out about using its Arizona factory. Like rivals Tesla and Rivian, Lucid is less exposed to the tariffs as all its production is in the US. President Donald Trump's tariffs are causing carnage in the car industry — but they could provide a boost for one Tesla rival.Lucid CEO Marc Winterhoff said several carmakers had contacted the EV startup about using its Arizona factory to circumvent the tariffs on imported vehicles."We've seen interest in our manufacturing capability in Arizona. As carmakers look for more capital-efficient strategies to make vehicles in the US, we've seen several inbound inquiries to discuss possible cooperation," he told investors on an earnings call on Tuesday. "It's still early and talks are preliminary, but the President and the administration want to have a strong manufacturing sector in the US, and we are looking at potential ways we can leverage our assets," said Winterhoff, who took over as interim CEO of Lucid in February.The Trump administration's 25% tariffs on imported cars and auto parts have sparked a scramble for carmakers to move as much production to the US as possible.Stellantis, Volvo, and Mercedes have all unveiled plans to build more models in the US to get around the tariffs. General Motors, which is facing a $5 billion hit from the levies, said it would offset some costs by building more cars and components in the US.EV firms such as Tesla, Rivian, and Lucid are less exposed to the tariffs because they build all their cars for the US market locally. Lucid has spare capacity after buying the manufacturing facilities of bankrupt electric truck startup Nikola last month."We have had several players reaching out to us, exploring joint manufacturing in the US, given that we now have additional assets that we can leverage," said Winteroff.Lucid reported first-quarter earnings below analyst expectations on Tuesday, but maintained its target of producing 20,000 vehicles this year despite the tariff uncertainty. Recommended video

A Copenhagen-based startup has secured $4.8 million for its AI-enabled personalized learning platform.Alice.Tech, which launched in 2024 and participated in the Y Combinator accelerator, takes generic course materials and uses AI to turn them into tailored learning content for students."We do what Duolingo did for language learning, but for university or high school exams," Kim Rants, the startup's cofounder and CEO, told Business Insider.The startup says it personalizes material to suit each student's learning style, from key theme explainers to multiple-choice questions and flashcards. It also creates study plans to help students better prepare for exams."We target what the student needs to study," based on real-time analysis of their progress, Rants added.Students also have a social learning option, where they can collaborate and study with friends via the platform.Rants said he founded the company because he experienced how problematic a "one size fits all" model of learning could be. "The most challenged students get left behind; I could see how much students struggled with exams, because the learning wasn't tailored to their needs," he explained. Alice.Tech offers a subscription-based freemium model. Students can opt for a monthly or yearly subscription, and the startup is also working with some universities and high schools that are interested in its product.The $4.8 million round was led by Cherry Ventures and Y Combinator, with participation from existing investor PSV Tech, and angel investors from the US and Europe.With the cash injection, the startup said it would double down on its product development and growth.Check out the pitch deck Alice.Tech used to secure the fresh funding. Alice.Tech Alice.Tech Alice.Tech Alice.Tech Alice.Tech Alice.Tech Alice.Tech Alice.Tech Alice.Tech Alice.Tech Alice.Tech Alice.Tech Alice.Tech

The push back against Elon Musk's political activities are evolving beyond mass protests. Eduardo Munoz/REUTERS 2025-05-07T03:41:17Z Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Lehigh County's pension board voted to halt new Tesla stock purchases over Elon Musk. Tesla's revenue and shares have significantly declined, drawing widespread shareholder concerns. Global pension funds, including some in the Netherlands and Denmark, are divesting from Tesla. A swing county in Pennsylvania has decided that it will no longer purchase new Tesla stock, citing CEO Elon Musk's political activities and the company's declining shares.Lehigh County, located toward the east of Pennsylvania with a relatively affluent population that is often a swing county, has a county"Elon Musk's choice to become a political figure rather than a customer-focused leader has compromised the Tesla brand," Mark Pinsley, the Lehigh County controller who first introduced a motion to cease Tesla investments, said in a joint statement with organizers of Tesla Takedown. "Tesla's earnings are down 71% from a year ago, their auto revenues have dropped 20%, and profitability has taken a sharp dive," Pinsley added. "We owe it to our retirees and taxpayers to take a hard look at whether these are wise investments at this time."On Tuesday, the board not only voted to hit the brakes on new Tesla investments in a 4-2 decision, it has also and directed the county's investment manager to draft a report outlining options to divest its passively managed funds from Tesla.The Lehigh County Controller's Office and Tesla did not immediately respond to requests for comments.Pinsley and the retirement board of Lehigh County aren't the only ones concerned about pensions invested in Tesla.In March, a group of 51 New York State legislators called on the state to divest its $1 billion in Tesla holdings. A top contender in the New York City Comptroller race has pledged to pull the city's $300 billion pension portfolio out of Tesla if elected.Brad Lander, the current New York City Comptroller, has also been vocal about his dissatisfaction with Musk's leadership, but stopped short of calling for a divestment in his office's latest response to BI in April. The city's five public pension systems held more than 3 million Tesla shares worth about $1.26 billion on December 31, 2024, yet this figure has shrunk to $831 million by March 28, according to the comptroller's office.In April, eight state treasurers penned a joint letter to Tesla's board to express concern over Musk's lack of focus on Tesla, and the American Federation of Teachers is pressing major asset managers — including BlackRock and Vanguard — to consider divestment.Beyond the US border, the Netherlands' largest pension fund offloaded its $600 million stake in Tesla in January. Denmark's $20 billion pension fund, AkademikerPension, followed suit in March. Recently, Canada's largest public-sector union also urged national pension funds to cut ties with Tesla, though divestments have yet to happen.Tesla has been facing growing pressure over Musk's governance of the company and his political activity.The Tesla Takedown movement that emerged in protest of Musk's involvement in the White House DOGE office is aiming to evolve beyond demonstrations. The movement's next goal is toAs of May 6, Tesla stock has declined more than 27% since the beginning of 2025, and its Q1 revenue missed expectations. Musk has announced during the latest earnings call that he will be stepping back from his political activities at the White House.Marketing experts have previously told BI that Tesla has alienated its core customer base, and that rebranding efforts may require significant concessions from Musk."To some degree Musk can say, 'I don't care because I'm so rich and I've got so many other entities that I could afford to lose a lot of money.'" David J. Reibstein, professor of marketing at the Wharton School, previously told BI. "But for the other shareholders who are bailing on the company, that's problematic." Recommended video

Golero/Getty Images 2025-05-06T20:50:05Z Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Zurich Insurance Group has over 55 million customers around the world. The insurer built an AI tool into its agents' workflow to increase customer loyalty. This article is part of "Build IT: Connectivity," a series about tech powering better business. For insurance agents, quick access to policy data is essential to helping customers faster.With more than 55 million customers around the world, Zurich Insurance Group relies on strong customer relationships to stay competitive."Interaction is by far the biggest driver of loyalty with our customers," Aleksandar Vidović, the CEO of Zurich's AI and analytics company, ZCAM, told Business Insider.Zurich has a network of thousands of agents worldwide who work directly with customers. Their main job is selling insurance policies, but the role also involves explaining complicated policy details.They communicate across various channels, including phone calls, emails, and WhatsApp messages. The agents told Vidović's team that juggling these channels, as well as ploughing through dense policy documents, could make it difficult to keep track of the details needed to give each customer a tailored experience.For instance, Vidović said that the agents spent a lot of time trying to determine whether customers were covered for a specific incident."You can imagine going through 10 or 15 pages of insurance jargon. It can take a lot of time," he said.Previously, data on customers and company policies was scattered across systems or, in some cases, not provided to the agents at all. In January 2024, Vidović's team set about creating a customer relationship management system that could connect the dispersed datasets to help the agents give every customer what they needed.Simplifying customer supportOne of the team's guiding design principles was the "three-click rule": No agent should need more than three clicks to get what they need. Whether it was pulling up a customer's policy details or sending a follow-up message, everything had to be fast and intuitive.Zurich, which serves customers in more than 215 countries and territories, is familiar with rolling out new technology; it has implemented more than 160 AI-powered tools across its operations. But when it came to developing a new approach to the CRM, there wasn't a one-size-fits-all solution because different agents use different platforms. To tackle this, it built the CRM's interface into existing tools like Microsoft Outlook and Salesforce.The first part of the solution involved putting customer and policy data into one easy-to-navigate platform. For instance, when speaking with a customer, the intelligence platform allows an agent to easily find their current policies and records of previous interactions. This data then connects to AI features within other platforms, such as tone analysis and messaging feedback.The CRM also helps each agent suggest the customer's next steps, with the company taking inspiration from tech giants like Spotify."When we listen to Spotify, we get a playlist and then it recommends the next best song," Vidović said. "We use the same modeling to recognize the most appropriate product for a customer based on their needs."The new CRM is now used in four of the company's markets in Zurich."We see a significant increase in customer interaction because it takes less time," Vidović said. "The agents don't need to spend so much time drafting up specific messages."Based on Zurich's initial calculations, the team could cut servicing times by over 70%, though Vidović said that they hope to better understand the tool's impact by the end of 2025.Transforming the insurance industryStephen Poux, the executive vice president of risk management at the Liberty Company Insurance Brokers, told BI that insurers, brokers, and clients were already seeing artificial intelligence's potential."AI is transforming insurance agents from transactional intermediaries into trusted advisors and risk consultants," he wrote."With AI tools automating many administrative and underwriting tasks, agents now have more capacity to focus on building deeper client relationships, offering strategic guidance, and delivering highly personalized risk solutions," he added.Vidović said that the most challenging aspect of the rollout had been managing agent expectations: Once they understand how the customer platform and AI work together, many of them reach out to Vidović's team with new ideas."The challenge now is outlining the relevant features and continuing to upgrade the tool," he said. "Because it's a never-ending process."

Doug Mills won the Pulitzer for photographing an assassination attempt against President Donald Trump. Paul Morigi/WireImage 2025-05-06T21:01:21Z Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? New York Times photographer Doug Mills won the Pulitzer for capturing Trump's assassination attempt. He said his experience as a sports photographer helped him meet the moment. Mills said Trump marveled at his work, and even suggested it was award-worthy. Veteran New York Times photographer Doug Mills said it was a combination of "longevity" and "luck" that led him to capture the assassination attempt against President Donald Trump in a series of Pulitzer-winning photos."This is by far the most dangerous situation I've ever been in," said Mills, who has photographed every president since 1983. He added that it was also the most historic set of pictures he'd ever taken.The sequence of winning photos includes the moment a bullet whizzed by Trump's head. Mills also captured the aftermath, as Trump pumped a fist and was escorted off the podium by Secret Service, blood streaking across his face. Mills remembers being six to eight feet away when the shots rang out, and his news instincts jumping in. He didn't know what the sounds were at first, but already had his finger on the shutter, as he was attempting to capture a photo of Trump gesturing at a chart."I didn't take my finger off the shutter. I didn't flinch," he said, adding his experience as a sports photographer probably came into play. "I didn't stop to look to see where the shots were coming from, but I just kept my finger on the button.""My instincts for shooting sports really came through because it's so fast and you're waiting for that one peak moment," he said.In the wake of the shooting, there was misinformation floating around about what had transpired. He remembers a call with New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman, helping her to debunk claims that glass fragments from a teleprompter had hit Trump's ear.Mills said he was "stunned" after he sent his photos back to the office, when editor Jennifer Mosbrucker called to say that one of the pictures had captured the bullet midair."I just couldn't believe it," he said.'You're going to win awards with that photo'Mills said that Trump — who has long been complimentary of his work — "marveled" at the photo on several occasions, including days after the assassination attempt backstage at the Republican National Convention."You're going to win awards with that photo," Mills said he remembers Trump telling him.Trump has complimented the work of others that day, too."A lot of people say it's the most iconic photo they've ever seen," Trump previously said of a different picture by Associated Press photographer Evan Vucci. "They're right, and I didn't die. Usually, you have to die to have an iconic picture."Mills said that while the work done by his colleagues that day was "equally great," he believes he received the Pulitzer because no one else captured evidence of the shooting as it was happening."That is what I think brought it into a new level of journalism," he said.'Photographing Biden was far more challenging'As a senior photographer for the Times who has covered presidents and campaigns since Ronald Reagan, Mills has previously won two Pulitzers for his coverage of the Clinton/Gore campaign and the Monica Lewinsky affair. He also captured the moment former President George W. Bush was informed about the September 11 attacks in a Florida elementary school classroom.In addition to his Pulitzers, Mills was honored for his work covering former President Joe Biden, including with a White House Correspondents' Association award.But Mills said the difference between photographing Biden and Trump was like "night and day." As a career politician, Biden was a lot less outgoing during photo ops and less interested in his imagery, Mills said. It made him less dynamic and photogenic than Trump."Photographing Biden was far more challenging," he said, "but it kept you on your toes." Recommended video

Rite Aid had financial problems were worsened by the larger industry shifts, experts say. Shoshy Ciment/Business Insider 2025-05-06T19:12:46Z Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Rite Aid is in bankruptcy for the second time in less than a year. The pharmacy cited "rapidly evolving retail and healthcare landscapes" as challenges to its survival. Experts told BI the chain's financial problems were worsened by larger industry shifts. It's not an easy time to be in the drugstore business.On Monday, Rite Aid found itself in bankruptcy for the second time in less than a year, having only exited protection back in September.In a note to business partners, the pharmacy chain cited "rapidly evolving retail and healthcare landscapes" as challenges to its survival. Indeed, the industry has changed a lot in the last few years, and experts tell BI the chain's financial problems were worsened by the larger industry shifts."What's happened to Rite Aid is quite an extreme, but it's not like CVS and Walgreens are without similar problems," GlobalData retail analyst Neil Saunders told Business Insider.While the first foray through bankruptcy was largely due to an unsustainable debt load, Saunders said the company wasn't able to find enough cash to survive in what has become a cutthroat industry.In filings Tuesday, Rite Aid said that although it had reached agreements for some $166 million in credit, several lenders "delayed and in some cases walked away from earlier assurances," leaving the company without funds to restock its shelves."Given the nature of products offered, including many products that consumers purchase on impulse, it is critical for the front end to be stocked with readily available inventory for customers to purchase when visiting the store," the company said.Sarah Foss, bankruptcy attorney and head of legal at Debtwire, told BI she was surprised that post-bankruptcy lenders wouldn't do more to keep stores running."If you don't have liquidity to operate, and your vendors aren't going to give you any more stuff, then that's what happens," she said.Years ago, one of Rite Aid's larger rivals might have jumped at the chance to add the chance to add a competitor's stores to its fleet, but those days are long gone."Both CVS and Walgreens are now in consolidation mode themselves," Saunders said.Powered by the unique combination of back-of-store prescription business and a front-of-store retail operation, the drugstore business made its mark by being both convenient and ubiquitous.Unfortunately for the major brands, that approach led the industry to become "overbuilt," in the words of Walgreens CEO Tim Wentworth, with too many locations to effectively support.Meanwhile more patients turned to competitors like Walmart, Amazon, and other online providers to fill prescriptions, while understaffing and retail theft contributed to declining performance at the front.Grappling with all of that is hard enough with a tidy balance sheet."It's not a viable business model like it once was," Foss said. "If your lenders don't think it's a viable business, then you really have problems." Recommended video

Omeed Malik and Donald Trump Jr. are two of the Executive Branch owners. Ryan Emberley/amfAR/Getty Images for amfAR 2025-05-06T16:12:38Z Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? There's a new, Trump-aligned private club in DC, where membership can reach half-a-million dollars. David Sacks said the club will replace older establishments and attract a new type of Republican. Private clubs are popping up across the US, including in the nation's capitol. There's a new private club in DC for the "younger, hipper, Trump-aligned Republican."That's how David Sacks, President Donald Trump's crypto and AI czar, described Executive Branch on the latest episode of the All-In podcast. The most exclusive membership costs a small fortune, and Trump's orbit is full of people who can pay the price.Interest in private clubs is soaring across the country, including in DC. Ned's Club, a separate members-only space, opened just steps from the White House earlier this year. Here are five key details about Executive Branch, which is billing itself as MAGA's hottest new hangout.Membership can cost half a million dollarsFounding members have to shell out $500,000 to join the invite-only club. Sacks said on All-In that there are around 10 founding members, including himself and billionaire investor Chamath Palihapitiya. They have "additional benefits," Sacks said, though he didn't specify what their special perks include.According to the club's website, the waiting list for new members is closed.Owners include the sons of Trump WorldSacks said on the podcast that his government work means he can't be an owner, but Politico reported that Donald Trump Jr., megadonor Omeed Malik, investor Chris Buskirk, and Zach and Alex Witkoff are the owners. Sacks congratulated the owners in a post on X, which each of them, except Trump Jr., reposted.Malik and Buskirk cofounded 1789 Capital, an anti-ESG VC firm that has invested in Tucker Carlson's new conservative media project. Trump Jr. is a partner at the firm.The Witkoff brothers are the sons of Steve Witkoff, Trump's Middle East envoy and a real-estate developer. The elder Witkoff has known the president for decades.Palihapitiya responded to a request for comment from Business Insider with a poop emoji.The other reported cofounders and owners didn't respond at all. An alternative to the 'old and stuffy' DCExecutive Branch promises to remake the DC social scene in Trump's image, Sacks said."The clubs that exist in Washington today have been around for decades. They're kind of old and stuffy," he said on All-In. "To the extent that there are Republican clubs, they tend to be more Bush-era Republicans as opposed to Trump-era Republicans. We wanted to create something new, hipper, and Trump-aligned."He said the founders wanted to create a place where people could hang out without fear of bumping into lobbyists or "a fake news reporter."The club will reportedly be in GeorgetownThe club will be based in the upscale neighborhood of Georgetown, Politico and other news outlets reported. Sacks didn't share any location details on All-In.Lower-cost options are availableWhile founding members pay a staggering half-a-million dollars to join Executive Branch, other invitees can dole out a smaller sum, Sacks said on All-In."I think people are getting a little bit carried away with that number," he said of the $500,000 price tag. Sacks didn't specify how much lower-tier membership costs.Regular membership at Ned's Club costs $5,000 a year, on top of a $5,000 joining fee, BI reported in April. The Founders' membership there comes in at $25,000 a year, with a $125,000 initial fee. Recommended video

My move to Central America wasn't exactly planned. At the end of 2021, I lost everything I had in an overnight fire at my home in Boulder, Colorado. Without my beloved cat or my condo, my life completely fell apart.So, I did the only thing that made sense to me at the time: I set off on an open-ended backpacking trip. Three years later, and I'm in Santa Catalina, Panama, building a life I never saw coming with the Italian surfer I met along the way.Santa Catalina, the gateway to Coiba National Park and home to the famed La Punta surf break, is quiet and small with just a few hundred residents and a single paved road. Its hibiscus-covered fishermen's homes, dive shops, restaurants, and surf hotels welcome travelers from all over the world. Life here feels worlds away from what I left behind in the US — and that's exactly what I needed. Here are a few things that have surprised me about my move. I was surprised by some of the offerings in town since it is so remote. Santa Catalina often has tons of fresh produce for sale. Melanie Gordon We are six hours from Panama International Airport in Panama City and about two hours from the nearest major city. There's no Uber or quick Amazon delivery here, and power outages can sometimes last an entire day. Life here can feel pretty off-grid, but we have basics like a pharmacy, an ATM, a police station, and a medic station.Much to my surprise, we also have several mini-markets with imported specialties like Spanish jamón, Italian pasta, and Swiss yogurt. There's an abundance of fresh fruits and veggies at the local frutería, too. I didn't expect the weather or my connection to nature to get so intense. I feel very in touch with my surroundings in Santa Catalina. Melanie Gordon The heat here can feel relentless, especially with seasonal humidity reaching nearly 90%. During the rainy season, torrential downpours can last for weeks, causing extreme floods or leaving us stuck inside for days. Lightning storms are also a serious danger — plus, snakes, crocodiles, and scorpions are all home here. It's easy to feel worried living in Santa Catalina, especially considering the nearest hospital is an hour away and there's no fire station nearby. However, life is full of risks. Living here has made me more present in my daily life and more discerning about what risks I choose to take. Plus, the nature around me is absolutely inspiring.I grew up by the Pacific Ocean and spent eight years in Colorado, so although I've always respected nature, living in Santa Catalina has deepened my connection to it. All in all, I'm surprised I'm happier with less convenience. I live a much simpler life now than I did in the US. Melanie Gordon Living in Santa Catalina has reminded me of something that's easy to forget in a material-driven culture: Happiness often comes from the basics. Life here feels simpler, and there's a deep appreciation for the simple pleasures: fresh food, family, and time spent in nature.Without the constant bombardment of ads and access to free shipping and no-contact delivery, I've realized just how much I was consuming back in the US — and how isolating it felt. These days, I wear the same clothes on repeat and own less than I ever have. When I really need something, I use a P.O. Box in Miami that ships packages to Panama. It's always a little celebration when they finally arrive. I didn't realize how individualistic my life was in the US until I moved here. I have felt connected with my community in Panama. Melanie Gordon In a town as small and rural as Santa Catalina, community is everything. A walk to the beach means not just greeting neighbors, but also stopping for a chat and feeling genuinely connected with them — something I rarely experienced in my more urban city in Colorado. I don't think I'd fully grasped how individualistic US culture was until living here. Now, my relationships here feel open and informal — people check in on each other, lend a hand without hesitation, and prioritize collective well-being. It's refreshing. Santa Catalina actually feels quite international. Santa Catalina isn't very big, but it feels quite diverse. Melanie Gordon For a tiny fishing village with only a few hundred residents, Santa Catalina feels surprisingly diverse. Alongside the local fishing families who have lived here for generations, there's a small but tight-knit community of immigrants, digital nomads, and surfers from all over the world. I've met families from Argentina, dive instructors from Germany, and chefs from Italy. The mix of cultures creates an interesting contrast — one where you'll hear Spanish, Italian, and English in the same conversation and find fresh-caught fish served alongside homemade gnocchi.

Amazon's Project Kuiper is a direct rival to SpaceX's Starlink. Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo/Getty Images 2025-05-06T10:40:02Z Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Project Kuiper is Amazon's satellite internet venture. It sets off a new era in Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk's rivalry: Project Kuiper vs. Starlink. Here's the lowdown on Kuiper's history, technology, goals, and competitive stake. Amazon is seeking to expand its already giant reach with Project Kuiper, an internet satellite venture. Kuiper will directly compete with SpaceX's Starlink, furthering the billionaires Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk's decadeslong rivalry.The $10 billion venture aims to bring broadband internet to tens of millions and, if successful, could support some of Amazon's other goals. The project gets its name from the Kuiper Belt, a part of the solar system past the eight major planets. Kuiper has secured launches from various aerospace companies, including Blue Origin, which is owned by Bezos, Amazon's founder and executive chairman.Here's everything to know about Project Kuiper's founding, operations, and competition with Starlink. Project Kuiper's founding and technologyKuiper promises to bring broadband internet access to tens of millions of people, especially those in underserved areas, Amazon says. The company says its services will help close the digital divide, since satellite internet brings faster connections to rural communities.Amazon plans to eventually launch more than 3,200 satellites through Kuiper, which is based out of Washington. Kuiper has three primary components, according to Amazon: infrastructure on the ground, satellites, and customer terminals.Ground infrastructure links the satellite network and the internet. The satellites, which sit in low orbit, transmit data between the ground infrastructure and users. Each user installs an outdoor antenna, or a "customer terminal," that connects to the satellite and delivers WiFi.Kuiper will work with Amazon Web Services, the company's cloud business and the base of its profits. The ground services will connect with AWS, meaning Amazon could own all of the infrastructure from the server to the satellite inIt's not just AWS — Kuiper also has the potential to work with and boost other Amazon services. Alexa, for example, relies on an internet connection. Kuiper could bring the voice assistant to people who currently lack internet. The same goes for bringing the internet to new potential Amazon Prime members and general customers. Timeline and launch plansAmazon began researching Kuiper in 2018, and the Federal Communications Commission gave the company a license to start sending satellites to space in July 2020. Kuiper's initial launch of prototype satellites was scheduled for late 2022 but was delayed when Amazon changed the rocket-delivery system. Eventually, Amazon sent its first two Kuiper prototype satellites into orbit in October of 2023. Those satellites were used to test parts of the Kuiper system before deployingOn April 28, 2025, Amazon launched 27 satellites and the company said it had established communications with all of them. A rocket from United Launch Alliance, a joint venture Boeing and Lockheed Martin, sent the satellites into space. Amazon said it has secured more than 80 launches with a range of rocket companies in addition to ULA, including Blue Origin, SpaceX, and the French company Arianespace.When it approved Kuiper's plans, the FCC said Amazon needs to deploy at least half of its satellites by the end of July 2026.Kuiper internet will become available to customers before the end of 2025, if launches stay on schedule and all goes to plan. The project is hugely expensive — Amazon has invested $10 billion into Kuiper — but could also be quite profitable.Unlike Amazon's core e-commerce business, which has thin margins, broadband services could have an 80% margin, BI previously reported.Project Kuiper vs. StarlinkBezos' Kuiper and Musk's Starlink have the same basic goal: to provide fast broadband satellite internet, mainly to people in remote areas. Both services require users to install antennas.Musk's Starlink has a big head start in nearly every respect. By the time Kuiper launched its first 27 satellites, Starlink had thousands of satellites in space and millions of users. Its web service is booming, and Musk has said he eventually hopes to form a constellation of 42,000 satellites. The service has geopolitical importance, too; Musk sent thousands of Starlink terminals to Ukraine during the early days of its war with Russia, for example.The broadband service is a big part of SpaceX's bottom line, with a projected revenue for the fiscal year 2025 of $12.3 billion.As Kuiper races to catch up to Starlink, the billionaire space race will continue to take on new technological and global significance here on Earth. Recommended video

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Monday that he wanted to reduce the number of four-star positions in the active-duty military by at least 20%. Alex Brandon via AP 2025-05-06T06:53:09Z Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Pete Hegseth said he wants to cut the number of general and flag officers in the US military. "More generals and admirals does not equal more success," Hegseth said. Hegseth said the cuts are "not a slash and burn exercise meant to punish high-ranking officers." Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he wants to "streamline leadership by reducing excess general and flag officer positions" in the US military.In a memo published Monday, Hegseth said he wanted to reduce the number of four-star positions in the active-duty military and the number of general officers in the National Guard by at least 20%. He also called for a further reduction in general and flag officers by at least 10%."More generals and admirals does not equal more success. Now, this is not a slash-and-burn exercise meant to punish high-ranking officers. Nothing could be further from the truth," Hegseth said in a video he posted on X on Monday. Hegseth said the proposed cuts were part of a "deliberative process" between his department and the Joint Chiefs of Staff to maximize "strategic readiness and operational effectiveness by making prudent reductions in the general and flag officer ranks."Hegseth said in his video that the US has "44 four-star and flag officers," as compared to in World War Two, when the US had "17 four and five-star generals."The US military had 37 four-star officers as of September 2023, per a report the Congressional Research Service published in March 2024. This isn't the first time Hegseth has sought to cut defense spending. In March, Hegseth said the Defense Department was terminating over $580 million in programs, contracts, and grants that Elon Musk's cost-cutting outfit, DOGE, identified as wasteful spending.Musk had previously taken aim at the Defense Department's $841 billion budget in an op-ed he co-wrote with Vivek Ramaswamy for The Wall Street Journal in November. Ramaswamy was co-leader of DOGE at the time but left DOGE in January."The Pentagon recently failed its seventh consecutive audit, suggesting that the agency's leadership has little idea how its annual budget of more than $800 billion is spent," Musk and Ramaswamy wrote.Last month, Hegseth said the Pentagon would be cutting its IT and consulting contracts with companies like Accenture and Deloitte. He said the contracts "represent $5.1 billion in wasteful spending" and cutting them would result in nearly $4 billion in savings."So we want to thank our friends at DOGE. We want to thank all the folks here that have helped us unpack this, reveal it, and we're excited to make these cuts on behalf of you, the taxpayer, and the warfighters at the Department," Hegseth said in a video on X where he announced the contract terminations.The Defense Department did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider. Recommended video

"The President loves the entertainment business and this country, and he will help us make Hollywood great again," Jon Voight said in a statement. Matt Rourke via AP 2025-05-06T04:32:01Z Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Jon Voight said he has presented Donald Trump with his plan to "make Hollywood great again." Trump appointed Voight, Mel Gibson, and Sylvester Stallone as his special ambassadors to Hollywood. Voight's proposal called for "tariffs in certain limited circumstances." Actor Jon Voight said on Monday that he has presented President Donald Trump with a plan to revitalize the US film industry."The President loves the entertainment business and this country, and he will help us make Hollywood great again," Voight said in a statement.Voight and his manager, Steve Paul, said in a press release that their proposal includes rolling out federal tax incentives, changing the tax code, inking co-productive treaties with foreign countries, and handing out infrastructure subsidies to cinema owners as well as production and post-production companies. Voight's proposal also called for a "focus on job training" and the imposition of "tariffs in certain limited circumstances." The statement said the White House is reviewing the proposal."We look forward to working with the administration, the unions, studios, and streamers to help form a plan to keep our industry healthy and bring more productions back to America," Voight said.Voight's remarks come just a day after Trump said he was considering imposing a 100% tariff on movies made outside the US.Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Sunday that the US film industry is "DYING a very fast death" while other countries were doling out incentives to lure American filmmakers to produce their work there."This is a concerted effort by other Nations and, therefore, a National Security threat. It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda!" Trump wrote.This isn't the first time Trump has talked about boosting the US film industry.In January, before his second inauguration, Trump announced that he was appointing Voight, as well as actors Mel Gibson and Sylvester Stallone, as his ambassadors to Hollywood."They will serve as Special Envoys to me for the purpose of bringing Hollywood, which has lost much business over the last four years to Foreign Countries, BACK—BIGGER, BETTER, AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE!" Trump wrote."These three very talented people will be my eyes and ears, and I will get done what they suggest. It will again be, like The United States of America itself, The Golden Age of Hollywood!" he continued.Trump did not specify how or when his tariff would be implemented. On Monday, he appeared to soften his stance when he told reporters that he would ask film studios if "they are happy" with his proposed tariff before rolling it out. "So we are going to meet with the industry. I want to make sure they are happy with it because we are all about jobs," Trump said.The White House did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider. Recommended video

On the first Monday in May, celebrities from all over the entertainment industry — actors, musicians, models, influencers, athletes, and designers alike — came together to celebrate fashion at the 2025 Met Gala.This year's event, which was co-chaired by Lewis Hamilton, Colman Domingo, ASAP Rocky, and Pharrell Williams, was dedicated to examining Black fashion and menswear, specifically dandyism.In addition to this celebration, the Met Gala was also date night for some of our favorite celebrity couples, who used the evening to show off their best red-carpet looks.Here are the best-dressed couples at this year's Met Gala. Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade at the 2025 Met Gala. Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade coordinated in chic black and white looks as they walked the Met Gala steps on Monday night.They both added pops of color via their gems, with Union opting for a ruby necklace and Wade sporting a bedazzled baby-blue vest. Raúl Domingo and Colman Domingo Raúl Domingo and Colman Domingo at the 2025 Met Gala. Savion Washington/Getty Images Colman Domingo and his husband, Raúl, weren't afraid to be bold on fashion's biggest night.The "Sing Sing" actor sported a silk blue cape with a tailored Valentino suit underneath, while his husband made an entrance with a sparkling purple suit. Dua Lipa and Callum Turner Callum Turner and Dua Lipa at the 2025 Met Gala. Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images Dua Lipa and Callum Turner were all smiles as they walked the daffodil carpet on Monday night.The pop star sported a feathered black Chanel Pharrell Williams and Helen Lasichanh Pharrell Williams and Helen Lasichanh at the 2025 Met Gala. Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images Pharrell Williams and his wife, Helen Lasichanh, were among the many couples to opt for black-and-white looks at this year's Met Gala.Williams kept things simple with white jacket and black slacks, while his wife opted for a leather bodysuit and patterned sheer tights. Both looks were Louis Vuitton. Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra at the 2025 Met Gala. Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra also coordinated their outfits for fashion's biggest night.Chopra sported a polka-dot Olivier Rousteing suit with a dramatic black hat, while Jonas wore a cream-colored shirt and black pants by Bianca Saundersdecorated with a silver brooch. Simone Biles and Jonathan Owens Simone Biles and Jonathan Owens at the 2025 Met Gala. Theo Wargo/FilmMagic/Getty Images Simone Biles and Jonathan Owens brought some major color and fashion to the daffodil carpet.The Olympian traded her usual gold for a metallic cobalt-blue minidress with a flowing train, while Owens wore an all-white suit that he paired with a black cane. Spike Lee and Tonya Lewis Lee Spike Lee and Tonya Lewis Lee at the 2025 Met Gala. Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue Spike Lee and his wife, Tonya Lewis Lee, looked effortlessly cool on Monday night.The director and Knicks superfan wore an all-black suit that he accessorized with an orange hat from his favorite NBA team, while his wife wore a sleek suitdress. Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz at the 2025 Met Gala. Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz brought the stripes on Monday night.Keys sported a red pinstripe suit with an off-the-shoulder jacket, as well as a puffy cape that matched the fabric of her husband's suit. Debbie Allen and Norm Nixon Debbie Allen and Norm Nixon at the 2025 Met Gala. Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images Debbie Allen and her husband, Norm Nixon, went monochrome for their Met Gala outfits.Allen sported a metallic red dress that sparkled with silver embellishments, as well as a matching bold red hat, while Nixon opted for an all-white suit. Nessa and Colin Kaepernick Nessa and Colin Kaepernick at the 2025 Met Gala. Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue Colin Kaepernick and Nessa looked positively regal in their Met Gala outfits.The former NFL star opted for a burgundy patterned suit, while Nessa wore a sleek black gown with a cropped puffer jacket. Adrien Brody and Georgina Chapman matched in all black as they walked the Met Gala carpet. Adrien Brody and Georgina Chapman at the 2025 Met Gala. Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images Adrien Brody sported black slacks with a long flowing black jacket, while Georgina Chapman wore a strapless black gown with a sheer bodice. Ciara and Russell Willson Ciara and Russell Wilson at the 2025 Met Gala. Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images Ciara and Russell were a picture of elegance on Monday night in their coordinating outfits.Wilson looked sleek in his black suit, decorated with a silver brooch, while Ciara sported a shimmering silver and black dress designed by LaQuan Smith.

This year's Met Gala is all about menswear, so it's no surprise that Hollywood's best-dressed men are stealing the show.The co-chairs of the 2025 event, which is themed "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style," are Colman Domingo, Pharrell Williams, Lewis Hamilton, and ASAP Rocky, who all made sure to make an entrance.However, they weren't the only men to deliver bold red-carpet moments. Many left their boring tuxedos at home, bringing some real fashion to the Met Gala steps.Take a look at the best-dressed men of the 2025 Met Gala. Colman Domingo looked positively regal as he kicked things off on the red carpet. Colman Domingo at the 2025 Met Gala. Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue Domingo, one of the evening's co-chairs, arrived at the event in a royal-blue cape with a sequined overlay designed by Valentino. It was reminiscent of an iconic look worn by André Leon Talley, a former Vogue editor and fashion legend, who chose a similar blue oversized cape for the 2011 Met Gala. Talley died in 2022. Just a few moments later, Domingo removed the cape to reveal another iconic look. Colman Domingo at the 2025 Met Gala. Savion Washington/Getty Images This look, also Valentino, perfectly encapsulates this year's theme of Black dandyism. Lewis Hamilton wore an all-cream suit and a matching hat. Lewis Hamilton at the 2025 Met Gala. John Shearer/WireImage/Getty Images Hamilton, another one of this year's co-chairs, wore head-to-toe Louis Vuitton. Christian Latchman, the face of this year's Met Gala catalogue, also chose a cream ensemble. Christian Latchman at the 2025 Met Gala. Savion Washington/Getty Images The model and face of this year's Met Gala wore a cream-colored suit with a long train and a large carnation pinned to his lapel. British menswear designer Charlie Casely-Hayford looked sleek in pastel. Charlie Casely-Hayford at the 2025 Met Gala. Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images The designer sported an impeccably tailored light-blue suit with matching shoes as he walked the daffodil carpet on Monday night. Designer Manish Malhotra wore a black cape fit for a king. Manish Malhotra at the 2025 Met Gala. Savion Washington/Getty Images The Mumbai-based designer opted for a regal black cape covered in swirls of golden embroidery. He paired the ensemble with silver brooches that sparkled from his tie and lapel. And chef Kwame Onwuachi completed his Met Gala look with a shimmering crown. Chef Kwame Onwuachi at the 2025 Met Gala. Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images The American chef, who is overseeing this year's Met Gala dinner, arrived in style in a pinstripe black suit that he paired with a crown that sparkled with gold jewels.

Joe Balcken and Shelton Steele co-own Wrong Way River Lodge & Cabins, Asheville's only outdoor-centered hotel. Raw + Real Photography 2025-05-05T19:10:59Z Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? With recession chatter and general market uncertainty, is 2025 a good time to start a business? Business Insider asked financial planners and business owners to weigh in. This is the first installment in BI's six-part series on making major life decisions during uncertainty. When longtime friends Shelton Steele and Joe Balcken started thinking about opening an urban cabin campground that matched the outdoor personality of Asheville, North Carolina, the timing may not have seemed ideal."Our business incubation period was Covid, so there couldn't have been a more unpredictable period in life," Steele told Business Insider.Still, they moved forward with their vision of building 16 tiny A-frame cabins and opened Wrong Way River Lodge & Cabins in 2022. As it turned out, a post-COVID climate marked by an increase in outdoor recreation worked in their favor, and "we came out of the gates beating our projections," said Steele. A couple of years later, Hurricane Helene, which decimated numerous parts of the Southeast, most notably Asheville, would be less positive."We were closed for the whole month of October. It was absolutely crippling," said Steele, noting that the fall season is their busiest.About a mile down the road, Cooperative Coffee Roasters owner Matt McDaniel survived the pandemic and Helene while also dealing with unprecedented coffee market volatility.His costs increased so much from when he launched in 2019 that, in 2024, he had to raise prices up to 18% for wholesale clients. Matt McDaniel is the founder of Cooperative, a small-batch coffee roaster in Asheville. Courtesy of Matt McDaniel "I definitely didn't expect things to be so volatile in the world," said the business owner, who has not only maintained operations during chaotic periods but expanded his roasting facility to include a café in 2024. "But I also don't think I was holding on too rigidly to the idea that things would just be smooth and easy either."As Steele and McDaniel's experiences weathering more than just economic headwinds have shown, recession chatter and general economic uncertainty shouldn't necessarily halt your plans to launch a business in 2025."It's always a great time to start a business — and some of the most successful businesses are started during recessions," certified financial planner Cary Carbonaro told BI.In the firstperiods of uncertainty, we're looking at whether now is a good time to start a business. Successful businesses come from recessionsMorgan Stanley compiled a list of companies created during depressions, recessions, and general economic stress — including American Airlines in 1930 and Airbnb in 2008 — and it included nearly half of the Fortune 500 companies."Adversity is the mother of invention," said Carbonaro.That said, you still have to have a sound business plan and be prepared financially. Carbonaro recommends having a big enough runway that you could operate for a year without turning a profit. That's in addition to your personal emergency fund, she noted, which should cover between three and six months' worth of expenses.To further mitigate risk, she advises keeping your full-time job and starting your business as a side project. Only when it grows to the point where you can consistently pay yourself enough to cover your needs and lifestyle should you consider walking away from your day job. Cooperative Coffee Roasters has survived the pandemic and Hurricane Helene. In 2025, it will adjust to Trump's tariffs. Courtesy of Matt McDaniel Certified financial planner Kenneth Chavis IV wants entrepreneurs to think about how a new business would fit into their short-, mid-, and long-term money goals."You want to make sure that that decision is really aligned with what you're setting out to do," he told BI. "Really just ask, 'What's sparking the decision?'"Then, imagine how you and your business would react to a recession or a major challenge such as trade policy changes: "Are you ready to stick it out? There's a high percentage of startups that certainly don't make it past the first couple of years, so I would want to really make sure that somebody has the right expectations and that they're prepared both with what their plan is to do in the business and also with their personal finances."Consider 'recession-proof' businesses that excite youCertain industries may be more recession-resilient than others."The economy will go up and down over the many decades you're an investor, but some industries withstand recessions better than others," writes financially independent entrepreneur Grant Sabatier in his book "Inner Entrepreneur."Take the home services industry, for example: "No matter what the state of the economy, people still need their heating and air conditioning to work." Sabatier considers plumbing, electrical installation and repair, landscaping, and other home services businesses "recession-proof."As more and more homes are built across the country, the demand for these services will only increase, he added: "There's a reason why private equity firms are buying up home-service companies — because they're always in demand and very profitable."Sabatier also categorizes childcare services as recession-resistant — "working parents require childcare regardless of economic conditions" — as well as businesses offering education and job training. "Individuals often seek to improve their skills or retrain during economic downturns to enhance their employment prospects."Business coach and creator of The Break Community Mike Gardon says to "pick industries that have growth behind them and solve real problems."AI, for example, "has obvious tailwinds," he told BI. "If you have the chops to understand how to harness AI, that would be a good long-term business to be in." Wrong Way is an urban cabin campground on the French Broad River Greenway in West Asheville. Colby Rabon What you're good at and what you like"To start a business, you have to be madly passionate about what you're going to be doing," said Carbanaro. "A business should be a passion first, rather than a way to make money or a way to not work for somebody else."As McDaniel puts it, build your "sandbox to play in." His sandbox is buying and roasting green coffee. For Steele, it's providing a space to share river culture and outdoor experiences with visitors.Ideating something that sounds more like play than work will help you cross what Steele considers a prospective entrepreneur's biggest barrier to entry: starting."If you have the gumption and you feel like the timing is right, going for it is the big leap," he said.McDaniel agrees that there's no one-size-fits-all answer. It comes down to the individual entrepreneur: "I don't think that there's ever a right time to open a business except for the time that you feel like you can do it." Recommended video

You must have a Real ID or other acceptable form of identification to fly starting May 7. Jeffrey Greenberg/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images 2025-05-05T16:24:41Z Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? The long-awaited Real ID deadline takes effect on Wednesday, May 7. As of April, 81% of flyers were already prepared for the new requirements, the TSA said. It's still possible to fly if you don't have a Real ID yet. Here's what airlines are saying. One of the many Americans still without a Real ID? You can likely still fly, but there's not much your airline may be able to do to help you if you encounter delays.Business Insider has reached out to 12 of the biggest US airlines about how they plan to manage long waits at security checkpoints or confusion at check-in counters. While they can't help you get around federal ID rules, your ticket may offer free changes if you need to delay your trip.As of April 11, 81% of flyers were already presenting compliant IDs, the Transportation Security Administration said. That means hundreds of thousands more have not yet upgraded their state driver's license or obtained another form of acceptable federal identification. No airlines have announced across-the-board flexibility for those who cannot fly or miss their flights due to security delays or Real ID issues. Long DMV lines have been reported in some large cities around the country, but they may shorten after the deadline passes.Depending on the airline, you can opt to move your flight until after you've secured a new state ID. Luckily, many tickets are now cancellable for credit or changeable with no added fees.What you can use instead of a Real ID, according to the TSA:US passportUS passport cardA US Department of Defense ID, including those issued to dependentsDHS trusted traveler cards (Global Entry, NEXUS, SENTRI, FAST)State-issued Enhanced Driver's License or Enhanced IDBorder crossing cardPermanent resident cardAn acceptable photo ID issued by a federally recognized Tribal Nation/Indian Tribe, including Enhanced Tribal Cards (ETCs)HSPD-12 PIV cardForeign government-issued passportCanadian provincial driver's license or Indian and Northern Affairs Canada cardTransportation worker identification credentialUS Citizenship and Immigration Services Employment Authorization Card (I-766)US Merchant Mariner CredentialVeteran Health Identification Card (VHIC)The TSA said a temporary driver's license is not accepted. It also warned that this list can change at any time and said travelers should check the agency's website before traveling to verify that their form of ID is still accepted.You can also get through security without an updated ID, but you will need to answer questions like your name and current address to verify your identity. If your identity is confirmed, you can enter the checkpoint, but you could be subject to extra screening.This has always been the case (as people who have forgotten their wallets have learned the hard way), but the TSA said this will likely cause delays as more passengers require the alternative method.Here's what airlines have told us so far about what they're doing in anticipation of Wednesday:Delta Air Lines"As we do today, Delta people will work on a case-by-case basis to rebook customers who miss flights due to extenuating circumstances once at the airport," the airline told Business Insider. Avelo AirlinesBudget carrier Avelo Airlines told BI that it cannot offer a waiver for missed flights due to Real ID requirements, as the new rule has been communicated to customers via email for "a while now."Customers can pay a fare difference to change or cancel their flights for a travel credit.Southwest AirlinesSouthwest referred BI to Airlines for America or the TSA because Real ID is a government-mandated program."We have REAL ID reminders on southwest.com, the app, and throughout the booking process," a spokesperson said. Recommended video