• I maintain my 35-pound weight loss while still enjoying my favorite foods in moderation.
• Almost every night, I have a variation of a yogurt bowl with fruit, honey, and chocolate.
• Because it has protein, fiber, and vitamins, it's a nutritious option that keeps me satisfied.

Seven years ago, I lost 35 pounds while still eating my favorite foods — chocolate included. Without changing my approach or restricting myself, I've managed to maintain a similar weight and physique.

Like most people, my weight fluctuates a little, and I've actually built muscle mass over the past seven years, which adds weight on the scale. However, I've maintained my fat loss.

I follow the 80/20 approach, meaning I eat a diet full of nutrient-dense whole foods, fiber, protein, healthy fats, carbs, and gut health-boosting micronutrients 80% of the time. The remaining 20%, I enjoy foods that are less nutrient-dense without worrying about it.

A huge part of my weight-loss journey was improving my relationship with food. When I no longer mentally categorized foods as "good" or "bad," it removed less nutritious foods from the pedestal I'd placed them on. I didn't feel guilty or tempted to overeat when I had them.

My staple evening snack reflects my balanced approach to healthy eating, combining fruit, yogurt, honey, and a little bit of chocolate.

I make a yogurt bowl at night that I tweak based on my mood, hunger levels, and fridge contents

I don't always eat the same evening snack. It changes based on my hunger level and mood. Some days, I eat a more classic dessert, like chocolate mousse or ice cream, and other days, I'm too full to have anything other than peppermint tea.

On most evenings, my go-to combination of fruit, yogurt, and chocolate hits the spot. I tend to mix all of the ingredients together to create a yogurt bowl, but there are also nights when I enjoy each one separately.

Trying out different combinations means I benefit from getting different nutrients and get to enjoy interesting flavors.

For example, I alternate between fat-free, high-protein skyr and full-fat Greek yogurt. Each nutritious, delicious option carries different benefits: Skyr typically has more protein and fewer calories, whereas Greek yogurt has more fat and a creamier texture.

The dietitian-approved snack has protein, vitamins, and fiber

I ran my Greek yogurt bowl by London-based dietitian Sophie Medlin, who told Business Insider it's a great snack, as the protein in it helps keep me full and satisfied.

"The fruit also provides additional vitamins and fiber, which are both beneficial for health," she said. "Honey is sugary, but when used sparingly and mixed with protein from the yogurt and fiber from the fruit, the impact on blood sugars will be moderate, which means it shouldn't affect your sleep."

To make the most nutritious choice, Medlin recommends using dark chocolate instead of milk or white chocolate because it contains more beneficial plant compounds and less sugar.

However, she cautioned against having too much dark chocolate in the evening, as the small amount of caffeine it contains might keep you awake.

I only add a small amount of chocolate — usually dark, but not always — to my bowl and try to eat it two to three hours before going to sleep so I can properly digest.

It's important to remember that all food, dessert included, can be part of a balanced diet

According to Medlin, any food can fit into a balanced diet that supports weight management, including this protein-filled snack combination.

If you want to lose weight, a calorie deficit is key, so Medlin advises keeping an eye on portion size.

"This is the sort of snack I recommend to patients, but with the caveats of being careful with the honey and ideally choosing dark chocolate," she said.

I've found that eating a delicious snack plate with fruit, yogurt, and chocolate satisfies my sweet tooth and keeps me from feeling hungry later at night.

• Retail traders are buying the year to date dip in Tesla stock, Vanda Research said.
• The cohort, meanwhile, has slowed its buying of Nvidia stock.
• Vanda said tax-day selling pressure could be to blame for the pivot from Nvidia.

Retail traders are flocking back to an old favorite.

According to data from Vanda Research, which tracks retail investor flows into stocks and ETFs, Tesla is seeing a renewed buying spree among retail investors following a tough start to this year.

Tesla stock is down 15% in 2026, and retail traders seem to be seizing on the opportunity to buy it on the dip. At the same time, Vanda said that individual investors are rotating away from Nvidia.

"NVDA is seeing sustained retail outflows after an extended period of buying," the report stated. "In contrast, NVDA has seen multiple successive sessions of net selling, a reversal from the record buying we saw in and around prior earnings. The last time the 5-day net buying was this weak (-$294mn) was last May."

Vanda added that this pattern recalls a similar scenario that played out last year, when retail traders pulled out of Nvidia after the market rally following Donald Trump's Liberation Day tariff announcements. However, they quickly returned and resumed heavy buying, helping spark new momentum for the stock.

Vanda also said last month that retail investors had become net sellers of stocks for the first time in three years amid the volatility created by the Iran war, though they've since resumed buying.

"TSLA has seen $216mn of net buying over the past 5 days, making it the most actively bought retail name again. This comes as 1M rolling retail flows have moved to their highest since late Oct last year — with retail persistently buying the dip," Vanda noted.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is a popular figure among retail traders. While Wall Street analysts have raised concerns about Musk's various ventures, Vanda's data suggests that everyday traders are still upbeat.

According to Vanda, their pivot from Nvidia might not be an explicitly bearish position, and the same selling pattern has been seen in previous tax seasons as investors take profits to help cover their IRS bills.

The research firm noted that tax day selling pressure is likely to pass soon. It said the data reflect a positive shift in investor sentiment, likely to help the market recover.

"Under the hood, retail engagement remains strong, with TSLA, PLTR, MSFT and AAPL dominating the most actively traded names," the report stated. "If retail flows do inflect higher post-tax day, this big tech cohort is likely to lead. But we would expect buying to broaden out across the usual retail favorites."

• The war with Iran triggered debate in Congress over war powers.
• Presidents have repeatedly ordered military operations without Congress since WWII.
• In some instances, lawmakers have checked the president's power in response.

Following the United States' and Israel's attacks on Iran, a host of ethical, economic, and political questions have been raised about the decision to strike the country.

One of the conflict's most pressing political questions has centered on the legality of the war itself. Operation Epic Fury, a large-scale military operation, was launched without congressional authorization, which lawmakers argue is required under the Constitution.

Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, said in a post on X on March 17 that President Donald Trump ordered the operation after determining Iran posed an "imminent threat." Trump's former head of counterterrorism, Joe Kent, refuted the claim in his resignation letter last month.

Trump, who has referred to the conflict as a war multiple times, has repeatedly said it could end "very soon" — or last longer. A two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran is currently in place, but Vice President JD Vance left peace talks with Iran on April 12 without securing a deal to end the war.

Congress hasn't officially declared war since December 8, 1941, when war was declared on the Empire of Japan the day after the Pearl Harbor attacks. Since then, in instances like the Gulf War, the war in Afghanistan, and the Iraq War, Congress has typically approved force via "Authorization for Use of Military Force." While not an official declaration of war, it allows the military to engage in targeted objectives, according to the Library of Congress.

Still, there have been plenty of times throughout American history when the president has ordered large-scale military operations without direct Congressional approval, whether through loose interpretations of presidential powers or without providing any legal justification. This has become much more common since World War II, as the US became a global superpower and maintained large standing forces of troops, aircraft, and ships.

While this practice has been met with legal challenges at times in history, in other instances, presidents have avoided scrutiny from Congress due to widespread support for the military action.

Andrew Wiest, a professor of military history at the University of Southern Mississippi, said these instances are part of a broader concession of Congressional war powers to the executive branch since WWII.

"Since 1946, Congress has relinquished this constitutional authority and granted it to the president, probably much to the founders' chagrin," Wiest said. "The founders were extremely wary of a president with too much military authority."

In recent decades, US presidents have repeatedly used drones and cruise missiles to strike at terror groups. In President Trump's second term, his administration has launched airstrikes in Nigeria, Iraq, Yemen, and Somalia.

Here are 11 notable examples of US military operations conducted without direct congressional approval.

Philippine-American War

Even before WWII, certain US military actions were the source of fierce debate. Following the Spanish-American War, the Philippine Islands were ceded to the US in the Treaty of Paris in 1898. Despite the United States' claim to the territory, Filipino revolutionary fighters declared independence and resisted American attempts to acquire the islands.

President William McKinley never sought a formal declaration of war or authorization from Congress. Since the Treaty of Paris was newly ratified by Congress, however, McKinley interpreted it as an effective approval of force from lawmakers. The war was controversial in Congress, with anti-imperialists claiming the annexation of the Philippines was illegal, according to the House of Representatives.

The war lasted over three years, from 1899 to 1902, and American deaths totaled 4,200. About 20,000 Filipino fighters were killed, while up to 200,000 civilians died of disease, famine, and violence, per the Department of State.

Korean War

After the US and Soviet Union divided Korea into two countries following WWII, fighting ensued in 1950 when North Korean forces invaded South Korea. The United Nations Security Council soon directed its member nations to assist South Korea, prompting US involvement.

President Harry Truman, however, never sought any form of approval from Congress, instead labeling the US's efforts a "police action" under the auspices of the UN. This framing was refuted by some members of Congress, with Republican Senator Robert Taft claiming the lack of congressional approval was "a complete usurpation by the president of authority to use the armed forces of this country," per the Brennan Center.

The war's identity as an international effort overshadowed the lack of congressional approval, according to Wiest.

"At the time, the UN was young, robust, and something new," Wiest said. "With a UN resolution to defend South Korea, what more top cover do you need?"

The Korean War ultimately lasted three years and resulted in the deaths of 37,000 American soldiers, according to the Department of Defense. As many as 5 million people lost their lives in total from the conflict, many of them civilians.

Vietnam War

Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution in August 1964, giving President Lyndon Johnson the authority to use military force in Vietnam and the surrounding countries. But as the war dragged on and opposition at home grew, pressure mounted on the US government, and questions arose about Johnson's continued war powers.

Then, two years after Richard Nixon had assumed office, Congress repealed the resolution, meaning no law on the books authorized US military force in Southeast Asia. Though Nixon began reducing the number of deployed US troops when he took office in 1969, bombing campaigns continued until the end of the war.

A federal appeals court later declared the war a political issue and did not rule on the legality of Nixon's continued bombing, The New York Times reported.

A total of 58,220 Americans died as a result of the war, per the National Archives.

Bombing of Cambodia

Nixon also conducted bombing campaigns in Cambodia, which began in 1969 and continued after the repeal of the Gulf of Tonkin resolution. The operation — to disrupt supply routes along the Ho Chi Minh trail and to target suspected communist hubs — began in secret without Congress ever being informed.

The bombings prompted Congress' passing of the War Powers Resolution of 1973, which aimed to limit the president's power in conducting military operations. Nixon vetoed the legislation, but Congress overrode the veto with a two-thirds majority.

The successful war-powers challenge represented a rare moment in modern American history where Congress reclaimed its war powers. Wiest said political factors play a large role in Congress' usual inaction.

"Partisanship and politics is part of it," Wiest said. "No congressman can be seen as being against the troops. In my view, there's no more risky electoral thing to do."

From 1969 to 1973, the US dropped 540,000 tons of bombs on Cambodia. Estimates for civilians killed as a result of the bombings range from 150,000 to 500,000, per PBS Frontline.

1983 invasion of Grenada

In 1983, a coup in Grenada resulted in the execution of the country's leader, Maurice Bishop. Ostensibly to protect hundreds of medical students in the country and restore order after the government's overthrow, the US invaded the island nation with help from Caribbean allies.

The US invasion, ordered by President Ronald Reagan, was carried out without congressional approval. This prompted Congress to apply the War Powers Resolution, forcing withdrawal of US troops within 60 days, The New York Times reported.

The campaign only lasted eight days, but it resulted in the death of 19 US soldiers and 24 Grenadian civilians, per Army University Press.

1989 invasion of Panama

In what was codenamed Operation Just Cause, the US invaded Panama in 1989 with the intention of overthrowing its leader, Manuel Noriega, who was indicted under US law for drug trafficking.

Other reasons cited for the operation were protecting Americans in Panama, defending democracy, and protecting the Panama Canal treaties. The State Department said the actions were also carried out with the consent of Panama's legitimate government, which was sworn in before the invasion.

Like Reagan before him, President George H.W. Bush didn't seek congressional approval beforehand. However, the invasion had strong public and congressional support, subduing potential war-powers challenges.

The invasion was swift, and Noriega was quickly captured and tried in the US. He was later convicted and sentenced to 40 years in prison, eventually serving 17 years in the US.

All in all, 23 US soldiers were killed in the operation, and an internal US Army memo estimated the number of Panamanian deaths at around 1,000, per Politico.

1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia

During the Kosovo War, NATO forces led by the US initiated a bombing campaign in Yugoslavia against the Yugoslav Army.

NATO said the strikes were intended to stop "ethnic cleansing" of Kosovar Albanians by Yugoslav forces and to pressure those forces to leave Kosovo.

Though Congress originally voted to send US peacekeeping troops to NATO in March of 1999 before the bombing began, a later House measure authorizing the strikes failed in a tie vote.

The continued bombing campaign under President Bill Clinton later prompted a war powers lawsuit filed by 31 members of the House, which was dismissed by a judge on the grounds that "a clear impasse between the executive and legislative branches" was absent, CBS News reported.

Much as with the Korean War after WWII, Wiest said, the notion of internationalism following the end of the Cold War provided cover for the operation's legality.

"It was a period of early optimism in the wake of a world-changing event, so that optimism, with the top cover of the UN or NATO, just overwhelmed any American constitutional need to declare war," he said.

As well as killing over 1,000 Yugoslav combatants, the strikes claimed the lives of roughly 500 civilians, per Human Rights Watch.

2011 US and NATO intervention in Libya

As part of an intervention conducted by NATO forces, US forces participated in strikes on Libya during the Libyan Civil War. In response to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's attacks on civilians, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1973 on March 17, 2011, which authorized military action in Libya.

President Barack Obama never sought congressional approval for the action, leading to criticism from Congress and 10 House members filing a lawsuit in an attempt to block further military action, NPR reported.

The legal action was later dismissed by a federal judge, Reggie Walton, who noted that lawmakers already had the legislative means to challenge the military operation in Congress. In light of other pressing political issues, Walton said, "…the Court finds it frustrating to expend time and effort adjudicating the relitigation of settled questions of law."

The Obama administration used the UN Security Council resolution as a justification and claimed the operation was limited and thus within the scope of the War Powers Resolution.

US strikes in Yemen

The US struck Houthi targets in Yemen after the military group began targeting commercial ships in 2023 in response to Israel's invasion of the Gaza Strip.

Both the Biden and Trump administrations conducted strikes against the Houthis without seeking congressional approval. The most recent strikes in 2025, conducted by the Trump administration, killed at least 224 civilians, per the Middle East monitoring group Airwars.

Wiest said there's a double standard applied to ground versus air military operations, with the latter offering more war-powers leeway.

"The use of air power has almost been a kind of national 'Get Out of Jail Free' card when it comes to opening these types of conflicts," he said.

2025 strikes on Iran nuclear sites

In what was codenamed Operation Midnight Hammer, the Trump administration struck Iran's nuclear facilities without Congressional approval. President Trump argued the strike was a necessary measure to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.

While the strikes had the broad support of Republican lawmakers, Democrats and Republican Thomas Massie criticized the operation's lack of authorization from Congress, NPR reported.

2026 US raid inside Venezuela

On January 3, the Trump administration conducted surprise strikes on Venezuela that deposed the country's president, Nicolás Maduro. Maduro was captured and brought to the US, where he faces narco-terrorism and other drug charges. The former Venezuelan leader has pleaded not guilty.

The Trump administration justified the strikes by calling them "law-enforcement operations" to target what it called Maduro's "narco-terrorist organization."

The strikes resulted in about 75 deaths, including two civilians and 32 Cuban special forces, per the Center for Strategic & International Studies. Seven American troops were injured.

Critics in Congress questioned the legality of the intervention. While a war powers resolution was brought to the floor for a vote in the Senate, it was blocked by the Republican-led majority.

Editor's note: This story was originally published in March 2026. It was most recently updated in April 2026 to reflect the US-Iran ceasefire.

• Allbirds is trading shoes for GPUs and the stock is soaring.
• The sneaker company announced it's pivoting to AI, rebranding itself as NewBird AI.
• The company will focus on providing GPU compute-as-a-service.

What's All is New.

Allbirds, once the go-to shoemaker for finance and tech bros coast to coast, is transforming into NewBird AI, and its stock is seeing a wild rally on the pivot.

Shares exploded higher by as much as 876% to $24.31 after closing at $2.49 on Tuesday.

The sneaker company announced it entered into an agreement with an institutional investor for a $50 million convertible financing facility, which it will use to buy "high-performance GPU assets" as part of a pivot into AI computing infrastructure.

Allbirds announced a deal at the end of March to sell its shoe business for $39 million to American Exchange Group, which owns brands like Aerosoles, Ed Hardy, and Mudd.

The new company cited a "long-term vision to become a fully integrated GPU-as-a-Service (GPUaaS) and AI-native cloud solutions provider."

The company joins a long list of firms stretching back to the early 2000s internet boom that have pivoted to initiatives far outside their core business in a bid to win back investors.

In 2017, the Long Island Iced Tea announced a pivot to become Long Blockchain Corp. The stock surged almost 500% on the news. More recently, media company BuzzFeed pivoted to AI in 2023, sparking a huge stock rally, and other firms in the last year, including a karaoke machine maker, have said they're shifting gears to AI.

Allbirds' statement framed the pivot as the company stepping up to meet a growing gap in the supply of critical AI computing power.

"The rise of AI development and adoption has created unprecedented structural demand for specialized, high-performance compute that the market is struggling to meet," the announcement read.

"NewBird AI is being built to help close that gap. The Company will initially seek to acquire high-performance, low-latency AI compute hardware and provide access under long-term lease arrangements, meeting customer demand that spot markets and hyperscalers are unable to reliably service."

The sharp pivot comes after Allbirds' stock valuation has plunged since going public in 2021. The Allbirds IPO raised roughly $348 million with the stock priced $15 per share.

Allbirds shoes were once a favorite of Wall Street traders, Silicon Valley tech workers, and even former president Barack Obama.

Yet the company, which focused on sustainability and comfort, has seen deepening losses since going public, with revenue declining in each quarter since 2022.

Correction: April 15 — An earlier version of this story misstated the dollar amount Allbirds was sold for. The figure has been updated.

• Tariff fluctuations over the last year have added a new level of complexity for importers.
• Companies are using generative AI to complete the time-consuming tariff refund process.
• Generative AI can also save weeks of time on complex scenario planning for sourcing materials.

US businesses have been on a tariff roller coaster over the last year. Sweeping tariffs were implemented at varying levels across different countries. Though some were eventually overturned by the Supreme Court, there is now an added layer of bureaucracy as companies seek potential refunds. Some are turning to AI for help.

Companies like EQI and customs advisory firms like KPMG are using generative AI "to process all that chaos," said Brendan Connallon, the VP of finance at EQI, a company that supplies metal components and provides supply chain advising services to manufacturers. The technology can rapidly scrape and synthesize vast quantities of data, track tariff changes, model potential supply chain scenarios, and accurately classify goods by their government-assigned tariff codes — a highly nuanced system with more than 17,000 codes.

Emil Stefanutti, the CEO of Gaia Dynamics, a software company that provides AI tools to help companies automate trade compliance, said AI is proving particularly useful in this rapidly changing environment, as it can reduce compliance errors and save businesses time. With the Supreme Court ruling specifically, Stefanutti said importers can use AI to analyze data on where and when they paid tariffs, quantify potential overpayments, and flag areas that need correction.

AI "can continuously track and adapt to new rules in a way humans simply can't at scale," Stefanutti said.

AI can shave weeks off pinpointing tariff refunds

The consulting firm KPMG has been advising its clients on trade compliance for decades, but last year in particular, "the tariffs were changing fast and furious," said Andrew Siciliano, the leader of the Global and US Trade and Customs practices at KPMG.

Company leaders needed real-time data quickly to make decisions, so KPMG launched an AI-powered tariff modeler.

The firm's clients include many large businesses that import goods ranging from auto parts to retail goods and pharmaceuticals, and that use several ports of entry and customs brokers. KPMG takes its clients' decentralized customs entries and product information from suppliers and freight forwarders — the intermediaries between importers and their transportation providers — and plugs the data into the tariff modeler, Siciliano said.

This approach has helped KPMG's clients navigate the process of applying for refunds for tariff overpayments resulting from the policy change that took effect after the Supreme Court overturned some tariffs. Many trade rules have nuanced exceptions, leading some businesses to pay multiple tariffs when they should have paid only one. Siciliano said his firm uses AI to interact with a client's data and better understand which products came from which factories, narrowing down which qualify for refunds.

Though the refund system is in the works, there could still be confusion and uncertainty, said Connallon. He told Business Insider that he anticipates the process will be "an administrative nightmare."

Before AI, manually sifting through thousands of custom entry data points to spot overpayments could take weeks or months — or not happen at all because of the complexity, Siciliano said. Now, an importer can prompt AI, which delivers the information right away.

AI can speed up complex scenario modeling

AI also saves weeks of time in scenario planning. An importer might wonder how costs could change if it moved sourcing from China to Vietnam, for example. Instead of taking weeks to update multiple spreadsheets, AI models scenarios with the click of a few buttons, Siciliano said.

Connallon said EQI uses AI in a similar way to model potential sourcing scenarios. The company uses the AI platform Altana, which focuses on supply chain management and trade compliance.

In a potential sourcing move from country A to B, EQI uses AI to model total costs, accounting for tariffs, manufacturing costs, and ocean freight rates. For manufacturing, which sources thousands of different products from myriad locations, "the complexity becomes extremely dense very fast," Connallon said. "So, AI helps us simplify it." EQI sends the simplified data to its trade attorneys, who can interpret it within hours, said Connallon.

"We've turned something that would take weeks into a same-day thing," he said.

He added that "AI is not good at critical thinking," and that humans are essential for sourcing decisions. For example, the AI model might say that sourcing all materials from one country results in the greatest cost savings, but business leaders have to consider the bigger picture, said Connallon. Supply chain executives have learned, especially in recent years, that sourcing solely from one country carries risks, such as product shortages or delays if a geopolitical or economic issue halts trade flows.

• Anxiety about private credit is likely overdone, a top JPMorgan strategist says.
• JPMorgan Private Bank's global investment head said institutional clients are still bullish.
• The sector has been battered by headlines about redemptions and investor concerns in recent months.

The drama unfolding in the private credit market hasn't deterred big-money investors, according to a top JPMorgan strategist.

Monica DiCenso, the global investment opportunities head at JPMorgan Private Bank, brushed off the jitters that have swirled around the private credit sector in recent months. Despite some funds freezing investor withdrawals, risks in the sector are likely overstated — and institutional clients are actually using the panic as an opportunity to continue adding exposure, she said, speaking to CNBC on Wednesday.

"I am seeing institutional clients add to private credit here. They're using this fear as a time to add. And so that's always something that you want to watch when you see a very sophisticated part of the market saying, 'This is probably a little overdone,'" Dicenso said, though she acknowledged that private credit was a "higher risk" corner of the market.

Fears about the health of private credit were first kindled with the collapse of TriColor Holdings and First Brands late last year. Since then, private credit funds have faced a wave of withdrawal requests, with firms like BlueOwl, BlackRock, and Apollo limiting amounts investors can withdraw.

The news fueled fears of a contagion event that could spread to other areas of the financial system, but DiCenso said she believed that firms putting up redemption limits was actually a "good thing."

"It stops the run of the banks, if you will. So while it doesn't feel good to see that headline, it helps calm people's nerves, and it helps these companies manage and run these risks," she said.

Private credit investments are less liquid than publicly traded assets. Many of the developments that have unfolded in the private credit sector recently stem from how retail investors, used to daily liquidity in stocks and ETFs, have been spooked by the relative illiquidity of private debt funds.

Meanwhile, much of the debt in the private credit universe is still doing just fine, DiCenso noted. The default rate for private credit loans hovers around 2.5%, in line with the historical average for high-yield and leveraged loans, according to one JPMorgan Private Bank analysis.

"If you're partnering with a manager who's well-seasoned and knows how to do this, I do think it's going to be okay," DiCenso said of the sector's performance.

Other big names on Wall Street have also shrugged off recent panic in the private credit sector.

Speaking on the bank's earnings call on Tuesday, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said he was "not particularly worried" about the systemic risks related to private credit. Dimon — who suggested that TriColor and First Brands were just some of the "cockroaches" lurking in the broader credit market last year — was among the first people on Wall Street to warn of risks in the private credit market.

Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon also said he believed private credit is still an attractive space, despite more "noise" from investors in recent months.

The Champions League quarterfinals all come down to today's highly anticipated matchups. We've gathered everything you need to know about where to watch Champions League, including free and global streaming options for Arsenal vs. Sporting.

If you don't want to read any further, Arsenal vs. Sporting will live stream on Paramount Plus in the US, TNT Sports on HBO Max in the UK, and Virgin Media 2 in Ireland. If you're away from the location where your streaming option works at kick-off, like Ireland, you can still access it with the help of a VPN, such as Proton VPN. More global streaming options are below.

• See also: Where to watch Bayern vs. Real Madrid for free

How to watch Champions League for free

The Champions League is available to stream for free in select regions. In Ireland, Virgin Media 2 hosts free coverage of today's Arsenal vs. Sporting match. The streaming service carries several Champions League matches each season. Check out our wider free Champions League live stream guide for details each match week.

How to watch Champions League from anywhere

Fans who are outside the location where their streaming service is available, such as Ireland, can still access their free option with a VPN. These virtual private networks are handy tech tools that let people temporarily alter their device's virtual location. They're popular among those looking to keep up with their usual services while traveling abroad or hoping to upgrade their cybersecurity.

Proton VPN is one of the best VPNs we've tested. It's fast and user-friendly. Plus, it comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee if you find that it's not helping you out.

Where to watch Arsenal vs. Sporting in the US

All Champions League matches, including Arsenal vs. Sporting, are available to live stream through Paramount Plus in the US. While you need the Premium tier for some live content, the Champions League is available in both tiers, including the budget-friendly Essential plan. Paramount Plus Essential costs $9 a month or $90 a year.

Where to watch Arsenal vs. Sporting in the UK

Most Champions League matches, including today's Arsenal vs. Sporting game, are available through TNT Sports in the UK. This means that you can live stream the action through HBO Max, the new streaming home of TNT Sports.

There are some savings if you sign up with a 12-month commitment, but a month-to-month Standard with Ads HBO Max plan with TNT Sports costs about £37 a month. Sole access to TNT Sports costs £31 a month. If you have an existing Discovery Plus subscription (the previous streaming home of TNT Sports), you can keep watching TNT Sports by downloading HBO Max and signing in using your Discovery Plus credentials.

Where to watch Arsenal vs Sporting in Ireland

Irish Champions League fans are a lucky bunch. Arsenal vs. Sporting is available for free via Virgin Media 2. While this streaming service won't carry every Champions League match this season, it typically offers multiple matches each week, including yesterday's Atletico Madrid vs. Barcelona.

Note: The use of VPNs is illegal in certain countries, and using VPNs to access region-locked streaming content might constitute a breach of the terms of use for certain services. Business Insider does not endorse or condone the illegal use of VPNs.

• Private credit direct lending redemptions hit a record $19.5 billion in the first quarter.
• But only 53% of the requested cash, or $10.4 billion, was returned to investors.
• These three charts tell the story of the record redemption rush in the first quarter.

Investors asked to take out $19.5 billion from private credit direct lending funds in the first quarter, according to a Business Insider analysis of SEC filings.

However, firms only paid out 53% of requests, or $10.4 billion, across the 17 investment vehicles Business Insider analyzed. Nine funds decided to cap investor withdrawals to the maximum amount they are required to pay out per quarter (either 5% or 7%).

These redemptions are a sign of faltering confidence among some investors in non-traded private credit funds, as concerns mount about exposure to software loans in the age of generative AI and the difference between private and public market valuations. While some investors are pulling money out, others continue to invest, meaning that these vehicles may see much smaller net outflows, or even net inflows, for the quarter.

Private credit, or loans written by non-bank lenders such as asset managers, has been one of the fastest-growing asset classes in the first half of the decade. The largest segment of private credit is direct lending to businesses to help fund their operations, much of it to finance leveraged buyouts for its private equity cousin.

The private markets industry has also been making a large push into retail investors via semi-liquid investment vehicles sold to them by their wealth managers. The private credit vehicles, either business development companies or interval funds, promise higher returns than "public" credit, but the trade-off is that investors can only pull their money out quarterly.

The data comes from SEC filings. For some firms, the Q1 2026 numbers for are estimates based on their most recently disclosed net asset values, as they have not yet released the March net asset values that are the basis for final payouts to investors.

Business Insider included large funds that have a large percentage of direct lending loans, but didn't include funds that focused on other strategies, like asset-backed lending. The figures have been rounded to the nearest 10th.

Many of these funds chose to limit withdrawals for the first time in the first quarter of this year. While that decision may irritate some investors, it helped keep more than $9 billion in these funds.

Requests were up 142.2% from the last quarter of 2025, but actual redemptions were only up 28.9% from the $8 billion redeemed at the end of last year.

While the $10.4 billion withdrawn this past quarter was a record, the amount withdrawn had been climbing steadily before that, jumping 154% from the third to fourth quarter when investors pulled $8 billion.

We decided to focus from the second quarter 2025 onwards because that was when redemption numbers began to increase, potentially after the impact of tariffs on BDCs.

The largest payout, by far, came from Blackstone's Private Credit Fund, the largest non-traded BDC with $82.7 billion in assets. It returned $3.7 billion to investors after the firm declined to limit withdrawals to 5%.

Just because Blackstone returned $3.7 billion to investors doesn't mean it has $3.7 billion less cash on hand, as nearly $2.5 billion of money came into the fund from new investors, as well as the firm and some executives.

The biggest requests in dollar amounts were Cliffwater's Corporate Lending Fund and Blue Owl Credit Income Corp.

Blue Owl Technology Income Corp, Blue Owl's smaller tech-focused fund, had the highest percentage of requests to redeem in the last two quarters and redeemed 15.40%, or $527 million, in the fourth quarter of last year. It also sold some assets held by this fund in the first quarter, bolstering its liquidity. The next quarter, it decided to limit withdrawals.

Andy Kiersz created the charts for this story.

• My partner and I flew from London to Sydney in the Emirates business-class cabin.
• As part of the experience, a car service picked us up at home and brought us to the airport.
• From the in-flight cocktail lounge to the luxurious amenities, I had a great time on board.

When my partner and I booked a 24-hour journey from London to Sydney, we decided to upgrade our Emirates flights to business class to make things more comfortable.

Emirates' business class has a reputation for being luxurious, so I was excited to take in all the company had to offer. Little did I know, however, the experience would start before I even entered the airport.

Shortly after booking the flight, I was prompted to book a private car service to pick us up from our house and take us to the airport. I was also able to book ground transportation to and from the airport in Sydney, as well as a car to take us home on the return trip.

I was particularly impressed that the chauffeur dropped us off at a dedicated Emirates entrance at London Gatwick airport, and we were escorted by an attendant to the priority check-in desk — we didn't need to touch our bags from the moment we left home.

It truly set the tone for the rest of the trip, which exceeded my expectations.

We spent time in the Emirates lounge in London, which was stocked with a variety of cuisines and drinks.

Our business-class fare also gave us access to the Emirates lounge, which offered lots of warm and cold food options, vibrant salads and desserts, and attentive staff.

The lamb shoulder and roasted potatoes were incredible on a cold winter night, and I loved the goat cheese and beetroot salad so much that I went back for seconds.

Boarding the flight was so easy, and my seat came with some amazing amenities.

Our business-class seats gave us access to priority boarding, which gave us plenty of time to get settled.

I noticed the aircraft for the first leg of our journey seemed to be older, and at first glance, the upholstery looked a bit dated. However, the lie-flat seat was incredibly comfortable with plenty of legroom.

My pod also had a large touchscreen entertainment system with an accompanying tablet, headphones, slippers, an eye mask, snacks, and both mineral and sparkling water.

We were welcomed with drinks and amenity kits.

Once I sat down, the friendly flight crew offered me a choice of Champagne or juice, plus hot towels.

One of my favorite parts of the experience, however, was the beautiful amenity kit full of Bulgari products, including a moisturizer, lip balm, perfume, and body lotion.

The kit also had a few other useful items like a hair tie, deodorant, tissues, a dental kit, a comb, and ear plugs.

The in-flight cocktail lounge was the best part of the flight.

About an hour after takeoff, the cocktail lounge opened, which, in my opinion, was the best part of flying business class on Emirates.

The flight crew became mixologists and created classic cocktails and delicious mocktails in the air. It was an incredible experience to order a drink and sip a cosmopolitan while looking out the window, watching the clouds drift by.

The crew even snapped Polaroids of us enjoying the lounge to take home as a fun keepsake.

I couldn't believe how much food I got during the flight.

The seven-hour flight from London to Dubai included three separate meals, served to my pod with a cloth placemat and silverware.

For one meal, I had a beef filet with gravy, mashed potatoes, and vegetables, which was great. However, my favorite was the traditional Arabic mezze plate with kibbeh, babaganoush, stuffed vine leaf, hummus, and pita.

The food was delicious and plentiful — with so much to eat and drink that I even ended up skipping the light meal served between dinner and breakfast.

During the flight, I also had access prepackaged snacks in my pod, and there was even more food available in the lounge.

During my layover, I explored the incredible Dubai Emirates lounge.

During a three-hour layover at the Dubai airport, we explored the Emirates lounge, and it was by far the most spectacular I've ever visited.

Sprawling an entire floor above the main terminal, it felt more like a hotel lobby than an airport lounge, offering three different food stations, each with its own cuisine.

During my visit, there was also an ice cream cart with an attendant, and a Costa Coffee stand with a barista. I had a frothy vanilla latte and a chocolate chip cookie while waiting for my flight.

The lounge even featured a Moët and Chandon Champagne-tasting mini-lounge, where we enjoyed a glass of Nectar Impérial paired with canapés.

The longer flight from Dubai to Sydney was even more incredible than the first.

The long 14-hour leg from Dubai to Sydney was on a more modern aircraft that really gave that wow factor. I gasped out loud as I was ushered on board and directed up a flight of stairs that opened up to the stunning first-class cabin.

I walked past the private suites to my pod in the business-class section, which was breathtaking as well, with chic seats that fully reclined into a horizontal bed.

As was the case on the first leg of my flight, the pod was clean, comfortable, and well-organized.

Unsurprisingly, I slept better than I ever have on a plane. On both legs of the flight, the flight crew added a mattress pad to my seat before bedtime, and handed out a loungewear set that was so soft and comfortable that I brought it home with me.

Overall, the entire Emirates experience was one I'll never forget.

Although it was a splurge, flying business class on Emirates was an experience I'd happily recreate in the future. It really did transform the travel experience across two long-haul flights.

There were only a couple of things I think could've made the flight better, like a privacy screen for each pod and a more up-to-date selection of TV shows and movies.

Overall, though, my Emirates business-class experience was delightful, memorable, and seamless — and it made my long journey fly by.

• Taxes are due April 15. File by mail or electronically to avoid penalties.
• You can file for a six-month extension, which gives more time to file but not to pay.
• Penalty relief is rare. If you owe taxes, submit the payment by April 15 to avoid penalties.

For most Americans, taxes are due on Wednesday, April 15.

Paper filers must postmark their return by the due date, and e-filers must submit it by 11:59 p.m. in their time zone.

Business Insider spoke with tax specialist Timothy Wingate Jr. about the consequences of filing and paying late.

You can request an extension to file, but it won't extend your time to pay

If you know you're going to need more time to file your taxes, you can request a six-month extension by filling out IRS Form 4868.

"Anyone can file for the six-month extension," said Wingate. "It's automatically approved once you file it."

Form 4868 is a one-page document you can send by mail or file electronically — just make sure you do so by April 15. Otherwise, you could face a failure-to-file penalty equal to 5% of your unpaid taxes for each month your tax return is late, up to 25%.

The penalty starts accruing the day after the tax deadline. If you file more than 60 days late, the minimum penalty is $510 or 100% of the taxes you owe, whichever is smaller. There is no late-filing penalty if you're due a refund, but you won't receive it without filing.

An extension to file does not mean an extension to pay.

"If you owe money to the IRS, it still needs to be paid by the 15th," said Wingate. "Otherwise, you will incur a penalty."

The failure-to-pay penalty is 0.5% of your unpaid taxes for each month you don't pay, up to 25%. The IRS also charges interest on penalties.

If you expect to owe taxes, estimate the amount and submit the payment by April 15 to avoid penalties. If you're unsure of your tax liability, "send them what you paid last year," advised Wingate, noting that if you overpay, the IRS will refund you.

You may owe taxes if you withheld too little on your W-4 form, took on a side hustle, or are self-employed and haven't made enough quarterly tax payments. Major life events can also trigger a larger tax bill.

Don't expect penalty relief

While there are valid reasons for failing to file or pay on time — you may qualify for penalty relief in the event of a natural disaster, for example — don't expect relief from the IRS.

Wingate highlighted four scenarios that taxpayers mistakenly believe constitute reasonable causes for failing to file or pay on time.

1. "My tax preparer told me that they filed on time." If someone else handles your taxes, you'll still want to review what they file and get proof that your return has been sent. "It's not the tax preparer's responsibility to ensure that the tax return was filed on time," said Wingate.

2. "This is my first year filing on my own." The IRS doesn't care if you're a first-time filer or filing for the 50th time.

3. "I gave the IRS my correct information, so my tax return shouldn't have been rejected." If your return is rejected, you'll receive an explanation as to why, said Wingate: "It could be rejected for the wrong tax identification number or not having used the identity protection pin when you file." Filing early gives you time to correct any mistakes you may have initially made before the deadline.

4. "I couldn't afford to pay the taxes, so I waited until I had the money to file my tax return." If you can't pay the amount you owe, it's still important to file. Then, you can apply for a payment plan with the IRS to resolve your tax debt.

This story was originally published in April 2025.

• The US Navy has confirmed the loss of its first-ever MQ-4C spy drone, which costs roughly $240 million.
• A new Navy mishap report said the drone crashed earlier in April during the US-Iran war.
• An MQ-4C had disappeared from flight-tracking sites last week, though its fate was unknown.

The US Navy has confirmed the loss of an expensive spy drone amid the Iran war, its first known loss of this particular uncrewed aircraft.

Naval Safety Command revealed in a new aviation mishaps report that an MQ-4C Triton crashed on April 9, with no injury to personnel. The document did not specify where the drone went down, citing operational security.

Last week, an MQ-4C out of Naval Air Station Sigonella in Italy was flying a mission over the Persian Gulf when it suddenly and rapidly descended and disappeared from flight-tracking sites, leading to speculation that it had crashed in the Middle East.

The Navy report listed the MQ-4C under "Class A" mishaps, meaning the incident caused more than $2.5 million in damage and/or destroyed the aircraft. The designation is also used to indicate that an accident caused a fatality or permanent total disability, though that doesn't appear to apply in this case.

Neither US Central Command, which oversees American operations in the Middle East, nor the Navy provided a comment on or an explanation for the MQ-4C crash. The War Zone, a military news site, first reported the drone's inclusion in the mishap report.

The MQ-4C, manufactured by American defense contractor Northrop Grumman, is an advanced high-altitude, long-endurance drone designed for maritime intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions. The aircraft can operate for more than 24 hours and fly at up to 50,000 feet.

As of last year, the Navy was operating 20 MQ-4Cs, making the loss of one significant. These drones are estimated to cost $240 million apiece, roughly eight times more expensive than the Air Force's MQ-9 Reaper, a combat drone that has also seen losses during the US war with Iran.

The US has lost a number of crewed and uncrewed aircraft during Operation Epic Fury. Three F-15 fighter jets were shot down by Kuwait in a friendly fire incident, while a fourth Strike Eagle and an A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft were downed by Iran. A KC-135 refueling plane also crashed in Iraq, killing all six crew members.

Iranian strikes have also damaged support aircraft on the ground at US bases in the Gulf region, including a high-value E-3 Sentry command plane.

The US and Iran agreed to a brief ceasefire last week, but the conflict has moved into a new phase. The American military said last weekend that it would start clearing naval mines from the Strait of Hormuz and block maritime traffic from entering or leaving Iranian ports.

CENTCOM said on Tuesday that the blockade involves more than a dozen US warships, as well as drones and surveillance aircraft.

Listening to vinyl doesn't mean you have to give up modern perks like wireless audio. The best Bluetooth turntables make it easy to pair with wireless speakers or headphones, so you can drop the needle and start listening without fuss. Some all-in-one record players even go a step further, with two-way connectivity, so you can transmit audio to a separate device or stream music from a phone to the turntable's built-in speakers.

I've been covering audio gear for more than a decade, and I've tested my fair share of record players along the way. For this guide, I spent hands-on time with several Bluetooth turntables to narrow down the best options for different setups. If you want something simple with built-in speakers, the House of Marley Rise Up stands out. It's one of the few all-in-one models I've reviewed that actually sounds great. Meanwhile, if you're willing to use external speakers, the Sony PS-LX3BT is a great upgrade pick with performance that outclasses most entry-level players.

Though purists will want to stick with a wired connection for the most authentic sound quality, the best Bluetooth record players are perfect for beginners or anyone who wants a pain-free setup that doesn't require a separate amp or pesky speaker wires.

Our top picks for the best Bluetooth turntables

Best overall: House of Marley Rise Up - See at House of Marley

Best for beginners: Victrola Automatic - See at Amazon

Best upgrade pick: Sony PS-LX3BT - See at Amazon

Best budget all-in-one: Victrola Eastwood II - See at Amazon

Best overall

The House of Marley Rise Up is my pick for the best Bluetooth turntable overall. It has everything you need to enjoy a record right out of the box, so you don't need to worry about extra components or even a pair of speakers.

The Rise Up supports two-way Bluetooth use, so you can stream a vinyl record to a separate wireless speaker, or you can stream audio from your phone to the player's built-in speakers. There are also RCA connectors on the back for wired playback, offering a host of connectivity options.

But what really makes the Rise Up stand out from other all-in-one players is one simple fact: its built-in speakers actually sound good. Seriously, so many all-in-one players have terrible audio quality, but the Rise Up sounds notably better than most rivals. The stereo speakers hidden beneath the fabric actually do an album justice. It also makes the Rise Up a viable Bluetooth speaker for streaming Spotify or Apple Music.

The turntable features a replaceable Audio-Technica AT3600L stylus and cartridge. This is a respectable entry-level component that sounds detailed and full, especially for this price point. I also like the player's unique bamboo finish. And this design choice isn't purely for aesthetics. The company has partnered with the Marley family to continue Bob Marley's legacy of championing music and sustainability. Its products are responsibly sourced, from packaging to materials like recycled slipmats.

If you like the idea of the Rise Up, but want even more kick from the player and speakers, the brand's Soul Rebel is the next step up. I haven't tested that model yet, but it features a dual-bass port design, which should enable deeper low-end sound. It also has a switchable preamp, a 3.5mm jack, and ambient lighting.

Check out our guide to all the best record players.

Best for beginners

The Victrola Automatic is the best Bluetooth record player for beginners, primarily because it's so easy to operate. It's not intimidating, even for people new to vinyl albums. It comes mostly assembled and doesn't require advanced knowledge beyond the most basic use.

Of course, it comes equipped with Bluetooth connectivity, allowing you to easily stream to any wireless Bluetooth speaker or headphones without worrying about cables, an AV receiver, or an amplifier. The player is also fully automatic, with controls to play, repeat, lift the tonearm, and switch between speeds.

This design lets you place a record on the turntable, press a few buttons, and listen to your music in no time. There's also an automatic repeat feature. This function lets you keep your music playing indefinitely, which isn't common on many competing budget models.

I also like that it has an integrated, selectable preamp. The Automatic uses an Audio-Technica ATN-3600LA cartridge, which offers a robust sound profile, though it isn't quite audiophile-caliber. But for this class of turntable, it's perfectly fine.

The Victrola Automatic also stands out for its compact size, making it suitable for most locations. However, keep in mind that while the platter is aluminum, the Automatic is otherwise completely plastic, including the tonearm. The buttons can be quite clicky and loud, and it just doesn't have the build quality that you get with pricier turntables.

As an alternative, I also like the Audio-Technica AT-LP60XBT, which is another excellent stand-alone Bluetooth turntable for those new to vinyl. It offers simple, accessible use while still supporting upgrades to components like the cartridge if you want to enhance performance in the future. It's very similar to the Victrola Automatic, and prices for both fluctuate, so sometimes one is more than the other. Ultimately, I give an edge to whichever is currently cheaper.

Best upgrade pick

If you're willing to spend a bit more on a stand-alone Bluetooth turntable, the Sony PS-LX3BT is a great step-up model. It's the successor to the brand's time-tested PS-LX310BT, which was a favorite among casual vinyl fans. This new model keeps what made that older player so appealing: simple setup, automatic playback, and great sound quality.

Getting started takes just a few minutes, and once everything's assembled, you can play or stop a record with a single button. The tonearm moves into place automatically, which is great if you don't want to fuss with manual controls. Of course, the player also supports Bluetooth, including aptX Adaptive for higher-quality wireless audio with compatible headphones.

When wirelessly connected to speakers or wired through its built-in preamp and RCA cable, the PS-LX3BT delivers clear, balanced sound that's noticeably more detailed than what you'll get from cheaper Bluetooth record players. However, the turntable's automatic movements can be noisy. Its plastic housing and buttons also feel cheaper than those of similarly priced players that lack Bluetooth. Thankfully, these drawbacks are easy to overlook once the music starts.

The PS-LX3BT is pricier than my other picks, but it sounds better than most entry-level models while still offering the convenience that makes Bluetooth record players so appealing.

Check our full Sony PS-LX3BT turntable review.

Best budget all-in-one

The Victrola Eastwood II is all about affordability and convenience. It's a great entry-level choice for anyone who wants a budget-friendly all-in-one record player with built-in speakers. Not only can it wirelessly stream music to a Bluetooth speaker or pair of headphones, but it can also play music from your phone directly through its own integrated speakers.

To hit its low price point, the Eastwood II does make a few compromises, so it's best to keep expectations in check. Still, it's a clear step up from the many ultra-cheap suitcase-style record players out there. After using it, I'm confident it's one of the best Bluetooth record players in this tier. Prices vary depending on sales, but it often drops to around $99, which is hard to beat for an all-in-one unit like this.

Its compact design is another big plus. The Eastwood II is a real space-saver, making it a smart choice for people who don't have a lot of console or table real estate. It's so compact that a full-size record hangs slightly off the side, which explains the cutout in the dust cover — a thoughtful design touch that keeps the overall footprint small.

The Eastwood II uses the popular AT-3600LA cartridge and stylus, which is a solid entry-level setup. But while it's convenient that the player has built-in speakers, their audio quality is lacking. The speakers are fine for casual listening, but don't sound nearly as good as typical bookshelf speakers or the integrated speakers on pricier all-in-one models like the House of Marley Rise Up.

Fortunately, Victrola gives you options. There are RCA and 3.5mm outputs for connecting external speakers or headphones, and of course, Bluetooth is available if you'd rather stream your vinyl wirelessly to a better Bluetooth speaker.

Check out our guide to all the best budget record players.

What else we considered

The Standard from Wrensilva - See at 1st Dibs

If you're a big audio enthusiast who wants one of the most impressive vinyl listening experiences you can get, The Standard from Wrensilva is nearly unbeatable. Though most Bluetooth record players are aimed at beginners and budget shoppers, this system goes in the complete opposite direction. This isn't just a record player; this is a $14,000 luxury system with high-end speakers and a custom cabinet.

I've had a few listening sessions with the Standard, and its 200W-per-channel speakers sound incredible. The hand-built cabinet adds a level of presentation to the total package that's phenomenal. It houses up to 130 vinyl albums, along with the speakers, turntable, and all the components. The system is also compatible with the Sonos app, so you can stream vinyl records to other Sonos speakers around your home. You can also stream Bluetooth audio from your phone to The Standard for quick, easy use.

Though a bit too pricey to fit as a full-fledged pick in this guide, The Standard is too impressive not to get a mention. It's not only timeless but also, thanks to its plentiful connectivity options, fully modern.

How we test Bluetooth turntables

To select the best Bluetooth turntables, I spent hours testing different models while playing dozens of vinyl records. Whenever possible, I used the same album on multiple turntables to keep things consistent. For Wrensilva's The Standard, I visited the company's listening room multiple times to see it, hear it, and get hands-on time with it.

During each listening session, I focused on clarity, detail, and depth. While the models I reviewed weren't all direct competitors, I still paid attention to how players at different price points stacked up against one another. I listened for mechanical noise, unwanted clicks or ticks, and anything else that might pull you out of the music. Just as important was how each player felt to use — from the smoothness of the controls to the overall build quality.

For Bluetooth testing, I paired each record player with a variety of speakers and headphones, including the Sony WH-1000XM6, Marshall Stanmore, and Bose SoundLink Plus. When streaming music to a record player's built-in speakers, I used an Apple iPhone 17 Pro with Apple Music to see how easily and reliably everything connected and performed.

Meet the expert behind this guide:

Tyler Hayes, contributing reporter: I've been covering consumer technology since 2013 and have spent plenty of time testing and living with record players along the way. When putting this guide together, I focused on finding great Bluetooth turntables at a range of prices. I paid close attention to build quality, sound performance, design, and overall value, while also considering convenience features like built-in speakers for people who want an easy, plug-and-play setup. Though a wired connection will always get you a more authentic vinyl experience, Bluetooth is undeniably convenient, and my picks in this guide are for people who want a no-fuss turntable.

Learn more about the Reviews team at Business Insider.

Bluetooth turntable FAQs

How does a Bluetooth turntable work?

A Bluetooth turntable plays records the same way a traditional one does, using a needle and cartridge to read the grooves. The difference is that it also has a built-in Bluetooth transmitter, which sends the audio wirelessly to Bluetooth speakers, headphones, or soundbars instead of — or in addition to — a wired connection.

What's the benefit of Bluetooth support in a record player?

The primary benefit of Bluetooth on a record player is convenience, as you can wirelessly connect it to other Bluetooth devices, such as speakers or headphones. This eliminates messy cables. Not all Bluetooth record players will send audio out, however. Some with built-in speakers only work as Bluetooth receivers, meaning you can stream audio to them. The ones described as two-way can transmit and receive Bluetooth.

Does Bluetooth reduce sound quality when listening to vinyl?

Technically, yes, there is a drop in quality when wirelessly transmitting a vinyl record via Bluetooth. However, casual listeners will likely find the difference to be subtle. If you're an audiophile or vinyl purist, a wired connection will deliver better results.

Does a Bluetooth record player need an amp or a separate preamp?

Usually, no, at least not for Bluetooth listening. The best Bluetooth record players have a built-in preamp, which means they can send audio directly to Bluetooth speakers or headphones without any extra gear. If you want to use a wired setup with passive speakers or a traditional stereo system, you may still need an external amp or receiver, depending on the turntable and your speakers.

Can I connect a Bluetooth record player to any speaker or headphones?

As long as the speaker, soundbar, or headphones you're using support Bluetooth, they should pair just fine with a Bluetooth record player. If you're looking for recommendations, check out our buying guides:

• Best Bluetooth speakers
• Best headphones
• Best wireless earbuds
• Best soundbars

• Sydney Sajadi had an emergency hysterectomy, but said she felt unsupported and alone afterward.
• She researched her own recovery, realizing that she'd neglected her health for decades.
• The ex-financier wanted to help others like her, ditched her career, and founded a wellness brand.

This interview is based on a conversation with Sydney Sajadi, 46, the founder and CEO of a wellness brand from Toronto. It has been edited for length and clarity.

In the financial field, when I co-owned a real estate lending firm in New York City, I was the type of person who checked my emails first thing in the morning and last thing at night.

It was "go, go, go," and I didn't get enough sleep, underate by missing meals because I was too "busy," and overexercised to achieve the "right look."

I'd always had an issue with uterine fibroids. I dealt with the problem as something that came along monthly, which landed me in bed for a whole week.

I burst into tears with no explanation

Then, in 2024, I suffered a health crisis. I went to the ER with a towel wrapped around me because the bleeding wouldn't stop. I was hemorrhaging and needed four blood transfusions.

It wasn't enough, and the only option left was a full hysterectomy. Usually, the surgery is treated as the main event, but nobody talks about the aftermath.

People rallied around me during the operation. They were my cheerleaders. But after I got home, I was pretty much on my own. Everybody has their own lives to lead, and besides, I didn't want to be a burden.

I was completely depleted in every way. I would burst into tears with no explanation. I started feeling that my skin, even my hair, felt different.

Back at work after three weeks of medical leave, I experienced more stress because I couldn't focus and keep up with emails. The hours dragged, and I'd look at the clock and think, "When is it going to be noon? When will it be 1 pm? When can I go back to bed?"

I felt depressed and didn't want to socialize or go to the gym. I felt completely on my own for eight long months.

I tried to push through it, but there came a point when it was clear I couldn't keep operating at that level while my health was declining. The period forced me to step back and reassess everything.

I was suffering from burnout

I started researching my symptoms. My body was full of inflammation, and my hormones were out of whack. I took independent action to improve my digestion, lymphatic support, circulation, and tissue repair.

These were things I'd never thought of before. For years, I'd assumed I was a healthy person who went to the gym and drank protein shakes. I realized I'd burned myself out and not given myself enough time and grace to recover.

I also knew that I wasn't the only one. A lot of high-achieving women need guidance and support after surgery, whether elective, like a facelift, or an urgent medical situation.

I started my own business

So I changed direction in my career, moved from New York City to my native Toronto, and launched my wellness brand, Sanadi Life. It helps women navigate recovery, hormonal changes, and overall health.

Many are high-performing and don't have the luxury of extended downtime, so the focus is on efficient recovery while supporting long-term vitality and aging well.

As for me, I feel wonderful now, more so than I did pre-surgery. I have my energy and vitality back. I feel like the better version of myself, and I like her a lot.

From effortless everyday outfits to business-casual occasions, a good button-up top is one of the most versatile spring and summer fashion staples.

I often wear button-ups over a swimsuit with jean shorts for beach days, or pair them with nice slacks for professional lunch meetings or work events.

However, I noticed many of my tried-and-true staples were starting to wear down, so I figured it was time for a restock.

The first place I always turn to for wardrobe basics is the reliable roster of Gap Inc. retailers — Gap, Banana Republic, and Old Navy. So, I tested out similar options from each store to see which deserve permanent spots in my closet.

I wore each item for everyday activities and rated them based on design, fit, material, price, and overall quality. Here's how it went.

I tried on the Banana Republic option first

Banana Republic is Gap Inc.'s more upscale retailer that offers elevated staples. I ordered the cotton poplin Everyday Shirt in a brown-and-white striped design — a neutral color combination that would offer diverse styling options.

When I first opened my package, I noticed the material felt durable and structured, yet still lightweight. Made from 100% cotton, it felt soft on the skin and breathable when putting it on.

I wore it with jean shorts and flip flops for a day of running errands. It kept me comfortable going from place to place, and it seemed like it would hold up well over time.

In terms of style, I liked the oversize fit, but I wished it were a bit more relaxed and less stiff, especially around the collar and shoulders.

Although I typically prefer my button-ups to be slouchy, I think this fit would work well for corporate and professional settings. However, I probably wouldn't wear this again for such a casual outing.

I also didn't necessarily think it was worth the $90 price tag. I did appreciate the natural cotton fabric and well-constructed design, but the cost seemed a bit steep for what it was: a basic button-up.

Next, I put my Gap button-up to the test

Over the past few years, Gap has continued to earn its place as one of my favorite retailers for high-quality pieces at reasonable prices.

I ordered the organic cotton poplin Big Shirt in the blue-stripe shade, which looked nearly identical to its Banana Republic counterpart. It was even comprised of almost the same material.

The only true difference was that the Gap version was made with 100% organic cotton and cost $20 less.

In addition to the lower price, the shirt's cut and fit also caught my eye. The fit was oversize, but it had a tunic length (namely, a slightly longer hem) and a more relaxed fit around the chest and shoulders.

I paired it with white linen pants to create an elevated summer aesthetic, and wore the outfit to work from a coffee shop for several hours.

The shirt was comfortable and breathable, so I know that I could easily wear this throughout the spring and summer months.

At $70, it's definitely an investment, but for the organic materials and flattering style, I think it's a worthy purchase.

I wasn't a huge fan of the Old Navy button-up, but I think it's a great option for the price

Finally, I was excited to try a piece from Old Navy, which is Gap Inc.'s more budget-friendly retailer.

I ordered the classic button-down shirt in the pink stripe design, and loved the vibrant shade for spring and summer ensembles.

However, as soon as I opened the package, I noticed the shirt felt more flimsy — and of lesser quality — than the Banana Republic and Gap options.

Although the tag said this button-up was also made from 100% cotton, the fabric felt much thinner and less durable. This can be due to a number of factors that are invisible to the consumer — like how the cotton is processed, woven, or finished.

After putting it on, I also realized the style fit much more snugly than the others, even though I ordered them all in the same size. To be fair, though, this one wasn't marketed as having an oversize fit like the Gap version was.

Next time, I'd order a size or two up to achieve a more laid-back feel.

Once I styled the shirt with a pair of baggy jeans and some sandals, though, I loved the look of it.

I wore it to the local farmers market, followed by brunch. It was comfortable and perfect for a casual outing, but it would have been more breathable if it were a bit looser.

This was my least favorite option, but I still thought it was a solid choice. I didn't feel confident it would last more than a year, but for only $30, it's a budget-friendly piece worth wearing for the season.

At the end of the day, though, the Gap button-up proved to be my top choice for its durability, materials, and overall style.

• Pew released a report about teens and social media usage.
• Notably, Snapchat was what teens used most for posting and daily messaging.
• Instagram and TikTok would very much like to get in on Snapchat's DM party.

A new Pew report about teens and social media reveals something you probably could already guess: Parents are more concerned that teens are watching too much TikTok than teens are.

Among respondents, 44% of parents say their teen spends too much time on TikTok, while only 28% of teens feel the same. Breaking news: Water is wet!

At this point, we know — or feel like we know — a lot about how young people are experiencing the internet. Adults (and teens themselves) are reasonably concerned about the effects of social media on young people's mental health. Meta and Google just lost a landmark legal battle that found them liable for getting a young woman addicted to Instagram and YouTube. (Both of the companies said last month that they would appeal.)

But that's not the only story; plenty of teens happily use social media and find it enriches their lives. This leaves us with a big question about how they're using it, and what they do and don't like.

Pew asked both teens (ages 13 to 17) and their parents in the U.S. about their opinions on the three most popular social platforms for teens.

Snapchat is most popular for messaging, but also for bullying

Some of this was very straightforward, like the top reason for using all these apps was "entertainment," and the least popular reason was "keeping up with politics or political issues." As an adult, I can relate.

What stuck out to me was how much Snapchat is used for messaging. Of teens, 57% said they message people daily on Snapchat — 41% said several times a day. In comparison, only 24% of teens do daily messaging on TikTok, and 34% on Instagram.

Snapchat also beat the others in having teens actually post to it — 28% said they share or post daily on Snapchat, compared with 16% on Instagram and 19% on TikTok.

The reason is easy to understand: Snapchat is for direct connections; TikTok and Instagram are more public-facing (and therefore intimidating to post to), or for passive watching of professional creators' content. Snapchat is for people you know in real life; Instagram and TikTok are for strangers.

It follows that Snapchat was the app that most teens said had a positive effect on their friendships (44%). The downside was that Snapchat was also the place where teens experienced the highest rate (27%) of bullying or harassment, like someone spreading a rumor about them or calling them names.

(Although teens may love Snapchat, the company on Wednesday announced layoffs of about 16% of its global workforce.)

So what does this all mean?

Instagram's leaders have been very clear in the last year or more that they see messaging as the future. Several new product features have rolled out to encourage direct messaging, like a way to share a Reels feed with a friend (a dangerous premise, but I love it).

TikTok is less messaging-focused, but there are some signals it would like to change that: I've noticed a new feature where when you accidentally tap in the caption area of a video, it DMs it to a mutual friend (yikes!).

Snapchat's users are mostly younger people, so parents and adults aren't as familiar with it as Instagram and TikTok. But Snapchat is so crucial to how teens communicate with each other that perhaps parents should get themselves more familiar with it. It certainly seems that Meta and TikTok would like to learn from Snapchat, too.

• I wanted my son to participate in household tours, so I taught him how to do laundry at a young age.
• By 10, he was doing his own laundry, and he became more independent in his teenage years.
• Now he's teaching his college friends to do their laundry, and I'm so proud.

From the time my son was small, I took time to complete our household chores with him.

We are a household that believes everyone in the home should do their share of work and contribute fairly.

My husband would work with our son on the tasks that populated his list, and on Saturday mornings, my son and I would run through my own to-dos side by side. I would help my kid dust and vacuum, put his things away, and fold his clothes. He would stand on a stool and wipe down his bathroom counter or help with the dishes and cooking.

As he grew, so did his list of responsibilities. By the time he was 8, he was sorting his laundry and watching as I taught him how to measure the soap, adjust the water level and temperature, and hang everything except his towels, sheets, and whites on our drying racks. It was the start of something important.

I laid a foundation early on

I often walked him through the steps: "Don't forget to turn it to hot, but only for this load," "Did you remember the laundry soap, did you measure?" and "If you hang your clothes straighter on the drying rack, they won't have so many wrinkles when you pull them down to fold them."

We went over cleaning the lint trap and putting away the loads as they were dry, folding socks and T-shirts as we talked.

When he turned 9, our bodies switched places, and I provided over-the-shoulder encouragement as he took on the cleaning task himself. I took a permanent marker, noting settings for loads of colors and loads of whites. I did the same on the dryer, marking time and temperature for those reminders when he no longer wanted me hovering behind, but still wasn't sure about flying solo.

By the time he turned 10, I was completely hands off, but nearby if there was ever a question he needed to ask, be it steps he second-guessed or a new stain he hadn't encountered before.

Teaching him young helped in his teenage years

When high school and part-time jobs came around, it was a relief not to hear the common-moms complaint of dirty uniforms not washed in time or favorite jeans not being clean when needed.

By then, I had been hands-off for half a decade, never once wincing at the state of cleanliness my teenager exhibited.

There was freedom behind my common refrain: "I'm not your maid!" being echoed throughout our home from the time he was small.

It's a refrain I'm hoping is stuck, making a future transition into being an equal partner less fraught with uncertainty and smoothing any bumps along the way.

It all paid off in the end

After about a year of being a young adult, out of the house, and on his own, we were talking on a video call when he gently complained about his college friends.

"Mom," he said. "I had to teach them. It's like they've never had to do anything to keep a house before."

I didn't even try to hide my smile; I wasn't surprised either.

I may have fumbled at least as often as I won at parenting, but this? This was the payoff. This was the ability to sleep knowing he could take care of himself. This was the reminder of why I sacrificed time and energy. This was the very reason I painfully taught him, even when it would have been easier to do it myself. This was the very reason I had permanent marker reminders on the machines and lived with them until the machines needed to be replaced.

There is a lot said about nearly every aspect of parenting. I wanted to make sure I was on the best side — at least where our laundry was concerned.

• My family and I visited Bangkok for the first time and made a few key mistakes along the way.
• We definitely misjudged how the heat would affect us and should've structured our days differently.
• I also wish we'd allocated enough time to explore Thailand's beautiful islands.

Last year, my family and I spent four days traveling around Bangkok for winter break.

We stayed in the Siam Square neighborhood, also known as the shopping district, and thoroughly enjoyed tasting the street food and exploring the Buddhist temples.

Looking back, however, our trip could've been even better if we'd avoided these five simple mistakes.

We misjudged the heat.

During our trip, temperatures stayed at or above 96 degrees Fahrenheit. As Northern Californians used to temperatures closer to 55 to 75 degrees during the winter months, we weren't prepared for the extreme heat.

We ended up having to travel back to the hotel midday to rest and recharge, which we don't typically need to do on trips. Looking back, I wish I had prioritized building more breaks into the day to help avoid heat exhaustion.

For those traveling at a similar time of year, I'd recommend wearing loose clothing such as elephant pants, which are popular throughout Thailand because they're comfortable and appropriate for temples where you need to cover up.

I wish we'd known how long we'd have to wait for ride-hailing transportation.

While preparing for the trip, I saw many tour guides recommended using ride-hailing apps such as Grab, an alternative to Uber.

When we arrived in Thailand, however, we learned it could take upward of 30 minutes to get a ride, especially in crowded tourist areas.

So, we took advantage of Grab's ride-schedule feature to plan all our trips to the temples and attractions ahead of time.

However, scheduling rides provided less flexibility because we had a timed itinerary to adhere to. Still, I appreciated the assurance that we wouldn't be stuck waiting for a car.

We spent too much time in malls.

Our hotel was in the shopping district, so we inevitably wandered around the malls quite a bit. They were great for taking a break from the heat, and the decor and plant markets were impressive.

However, it was too easy to spend an excessive amount of time there and miss out on other parts of the city.

I wish we'd allocated enough time to explore Thailand's beautiful islands.

Next time I return to Thailand, I'd like to spend a few days exploring islands such as Koh Samui and Koh Phi Phi.

It would've been nice to experience a tropical beach destination on what was otherwise a city vacation.

We tried to pack too much into a day.

There are so many temples and sites to visit in Bangkok, and some are more elaborate and time-consuming than others.

We spent the first day following an itinerary we'd planned ourselves, and we thought doing a few activities each day would be perfect.

But we soon found that visiting more than two sites was both difficult and stressful because we didn't have enough time to explore everything, learn about the history, and take pictures.

So, the following day, we only picked two temples to visit, which was a much more satisfying choice.

This story was originally published on April 7, 2025, and most recently updated on April 15, 2026.

Editor's note: Updated on April 15, 2026, to include additional information about the results of the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals and previous Bayern vs. Real Madrid matches.

The final Champions League quarterfinal matches play out today. We've gathered everything you need to know about where to watch Bayern vs. Real Madrid, including free and global streaming options.

If you don't want to read any further: the match will live stream on Paramount Plus in the US, TNT Sports on HBO Max in the UK, free on RTE2 in Ireland, and free on RTL Club in Belgium. If you're away from the location where your favorite streaming service works when the game starts, like Ireland or Belgium, you can still access it with the help of a VPN, such as ProtonVPN. You can learn more about additional global watch options below.

Bayern Munich and Real Madrid met last Tuesday in a tight match that saw the German team pull ahead 2-1. The win follows a strong season for Bayern, which finished second in the league phase. Real Madrid had a trickier year and was forced to the playoffs. Prior to these quarterfinal matches, the two teams last met in the 2024 Champions League semifinals, which Real Madrid won 4-3 on aggregate. From there, they advanced to the final, where they beat Dortmund to win the title.

How to watch Bayern vs. Real Madrid for free

The Bayern vs. Real Madrid match will be available for free in multiple regions. In Ireland, fans can watch for free via RTE2. In Belgium, RTL Club will host the free coverage. While these options don't have every Champions League game, they do carry several matches each throughout the season.

How to watch Bayern vs. Real Madrid from anywhere

If you're away from Ireland or Belgium when the game kicks off, you can still access these free streaming options with the help of a VPN. Short for virtual private networks, VPNs are easy-to-use tech tools that let people change their device's virtual location. They're most popular among those hoping to keep up with their usual services while traveling abroad or looking to boost their cybersecurity.

Proton VPN is a solid option. It's fast and user-friendly (even for beginners). Plus, it has a 30-day money-back guarantee if you find that it's not helping you out. You can learn more in our roundup of the best VPNs.

Note: The use of VPNs is illegal in certain countries, and using VPNs to access region-locked streaming content might constitute a breach of the terms of use for certain services. Business Insider does not endorse or condone the illegal use of VPNs.

• Nas Daily's Nuseir Yassin has secured $27 million for his AI platform, Nas.com.
• Nas.com helps solo entrepreneurs build online stores using AI for marketing, ads, and branding.
• Read the pitch deck it used to secure $27 million in a round led by Khosla Ventures.

Nuseir Yassin, the content creator known as Nas Daily, has raised $27 million for his newest venture: an AI platform for solo entrepreneurs to launch and run an online business.

After quitting his job in 2016 to become a content creator sharing short, high-energy videos, Yassin amassed around 70 million followers across social media platforms. He says that era is behind him.

"My next 10-year bet is completely different, and it's about entrepreneurship on the internet," Yassin told Business Insider.

Yassin's focus is now on Nas.com, which the Israeli-Palestinian founded to provide "solopreneurs" with the tools to launch a business — even if they lack the technical skills to build a storefront or create marketing campaigns.

Entrepreneurs take a picture of a product that they want to sell, such as a printed T-shirt, and add it to the Nas.com platform. The startup's AI tools analyze that picture and then build a storefront — including logos, product descriptions, and branding — around the product to match it thematically.

Users can manually tweak the design and text of the AI-generated storefront. They can also generate ads and marketing content with AI by entering plain-English prompts and then run them as ad campaigns on Facebook.

Yassin says Nas.com can help the "mom in Wisconsin" who "would never start marketing" due to the complexity of tools like Meta Business Suite, and that his platform can help entrepreneurs without large followings find customers.

The startup aims to tap into the growing trend of businesses that are operating with smaller teams thanks to AI tools.

"You needed to be good at coding, you needed to be good at marketing, creating content, and you needed to be good at creating your product," Yassin said of the previous barriers to entry for entrepreneurs. "And how many people in the world are good at everything? Very few."

The startup says 3.5 million people have purchased products from businesses listed in Nas.com, and its annual recurring revenue grew from $1 million to $8 million in 2025. It has more than 350,000 businesses using its platform, according to its website.

It makes its money by charging a subscription fee, with the lowest tier starting at $6 a month, and taking a 5% cut of marketing spend made through its platform.

Nas.com operates in a competitive space, with companies like Shopify and Etsy offering online storefronts and e-commerce tools to businesses. Yassin told Business Insider that he believes Nas.com's simplicity can help it compete with larger incumbents.

While Shopify could "theoretically" build a platform like Nas.com, Yassin added, it would be too risky to shake up its features because so many big brands are accustomed to them.

Nas.com's $27 million Series A funding round was led by Khosla Ventures, with participation from other VCs, including 500 Global, and angel investments from Shuo Wang, cofounder of Deel; Stanley Tang, cofounder of DoorDash; Scott Adelson, CEO of Houlihan Lokey; and entrepreneur Tim Ferriss.

Vinod Khosla, the founder of Khosla Ventures, told Business Insider that his firm backed Nas.com because he likes to "invest in companies that could not have existed five years ago and will be inevitable five years from now."

"Coding, customer service, marketing, and design are no longer blockers. This means millions of new entrepreneurs will be born. What I see is massive wealth creation opportunities," he added.

Nas.com plans to use the capital injection to hire more people for its 30-strong team, as well as for product development and expansion.

Read the 24-slide deck that Nas.com used to secure the funding.

• OpenAI said there's been a surge in tax-related queries on ChatGPT this tax season.
• The company also issued a disclaimer about relying too heavily on the chatbot.
• Americans are increasingly using AI for help with their taxes.

OpenAI said more Americans than ever are using ChatGPT to do their taxes — just don't rely too heavily on the chatbot.

OpenAI shared some stats on Tuesday, a day before tax day, on how people are using its AI to figure out what they owe Uncle Sam. The company said in an X post that total tax-related searches on ChatGPT were up four times in quarter one of 2026 compared to a year prior.

On the graphic showing the breakdown of what taxpayers were asking ChatGPT, there was some tiny but telling fine print toward the bottom.

"ChatGPT is not intended to replace professional advice," the graphic said.

Still, as the company broke down, people are using ChatGPT to answer a host of questions about their taxes.

OpenAI identified the three main themes for which users were turning to ChatGPT: a third of all tax-related queries were about earnings and withholding; over 30% were asking for help filing forms and using tax software; and around 10% were questions about investments and retirement reporting.

Surveys suggest more and more Americans are using AI for help with their taxes. Adobe surveyed 1,010 full-time employees about taxes and found that "surveyed US workers are 136% more likely to use AI for tax filing this year compared to last, with reported adoption jumping from 11% in 2024 to 26% for 2025 returns filed in 2026."

While professional tax preparers like H&R Block and TurboTax have rolled out AI features, tax experts have warned that AI can make mistakes and that relying on it too heavily could cost you.

AI chatbots and agents still make a lot of mistakes, so when it comes to trusting them with something as complex as US tax law, proceed at your own risk.

• Cleary Gottlieb is getting into the legal software game.
• ClearyX, a business owned by the law firm, has built services to help clients speed up legal work.
• It's starting with tools for due diligence and contract review, ClearyX's standard services.

A business owned by Wall Street law firm Cleary Gottlieb has begun selling software that could help clients send less work to firms like its own.

For years, law firms have worried that artificial intelligence will make lawyers faster and cut into billable hours. ClearyX, a Cleary Gottlieb subsidiary that provides routine legal work at a lower cost, is betting on a bigger threat: that the tools will let clients do more legal work themselves, leaving less to send to outside counsel in the first place.

ClearyX tells Business Insider it has built software for corporate due diligence and contract analysis, its core legal services. Clients can license it on its own or use it when they hire ClearyX to work on a deal.

It's a calculated bet. If some legal work is becoming cheaper and easier to automate, ClearyX would rather sell the software that enables that shift than lose that business altogether.

Since 2022, ClearyX has used third-party software and lean legal teams to handle work like due diligence and contract review — the kind of tasks clients no longer want to pay Big Law rates for. "The whole genesis was let's get out ahead of it," ClearyX CEO Carla Swansburg said in an interview. "Let's build the thing that's likely to compete with us."

But after years of hearing clients say they wished the technology could do more, the company concluded the existing tools were not cutting it. ClearyX works with companies across sectors, including consumer products, health and wellness, and private equity.

Swansburg said many in-house legal teams were testing AI tools like Claude or Copilot, but getting from a raw model to something useful for legal work still took a lot of effort. Plus, many budget-strapped in-house teams could not afford the specialized legal copilots on the market.

Swansburg said the rise of large language models made it possible for ClearyX to build the software clients had been asking for.

One product, CX+Transact, is built for reviewing deals. It lets in-house teams assign tasks across reviewers, track progress, flag key risks, and export the findings into a report. The other, CX+Insights, is designed for legal and business teams that want to search across their contracts and better understand what's in them. The software then displays those results in dashboards and graphics.

ClearyX is being unusually transparent about price in a market where that information is often closely held. Lawyers looking for what tools like Harvey or Legora cost often end up swapping estimates on Reddit. Swansburg, by contrast, sent Business Insider a full pricing sheet.

CX+Transact will be free for clients who hire ClearyX for diligence services, while stand-alone pricing starts at about $12,000 per project or $30,000 a year. CX+Insights, which is built for broader use across a company, is expected to start at about $50,000 annually for dozens of users. Pricing is still being finalized.

The open question is whether the legal industry really needs another software vendor. Unlike Harvey or Legora, which pitch broader platforms for law firms and legal teams, ClearyX is aimed at narrower workflows like due diligence and contract review — already a crowded corner of the market. Last week, Anthropic added more pressure by releasing Claude for Word, a tool built for Microsoft Word, still the default workspace for many lawyers.

With ClearyX's push into the software business, Cleary Gottlieb is not just testing demand for another tool. It's trying to stay relevant to clients who want to lean less on law firms.

Have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at mrussell@businessinsider.com or Signal at @MeliaRussell.01. Use a personal email address and a non-work device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.

• Now that I have more free time, I've found myself scrolling on my phone and reaching for it often.
• To change that habit, I've created a list of activities that satisfy me and reference it often.
• Instead of scrolling, I now bake, play Scrabble, go bird-watching, and so much more.

After I got home from work, my wife Michelle and I would decide how we'd spend our evenings. We did not have cellphones, and a TV was the only "device" we owned at the time.

Though we watched the occasional show or sporting event, we both felt agitated if we sat in front of the idiot box for too long. My wife started stenciling the kitchen wall. Each evening, she spent several hours painting.

I was bored. I didn't want to watch television; I read a bit, but if I did so for more than 10 minutes, I'd fall asleep.

In an attempt to fill my time with meaning, I bought a sketchbook and tried to emulate pictures of dilapidated barns, book covers, and animal faces. I erased more than I drew, but the process was comforting, and regardless of how ridiculous the end product appeared, it always felt like time well spent.

That was in 1996, when we were still newlyweds.

Over the next several years, I started running, dabbled in photography, bread baking, and writing. None of these endeavors came easily, but I found something valuable in their processes.

Soon, we had two young children, and discretionary time all but disappeared. The next two decades were filled with soccer practices, basketball tournaments, playdates, homework, and beach trips.

I was so busy working and living outside myself, I didn't think much about my hobbies. When given a brief respite from our busy lives, Michelle and I went out to dinner or fell asleep watching a movie.

After raising our kids, I was once again faced with how to spend my free time

In the blink of an eye, our children grew up. They are now in college, and most evenings, my calendar is empty.

While raising them, I'd longed for free time — time to pursue my interests, pick up my camera, or maybe, write that novel.

But once given that free time, I found myself scrolling mindlessly on my phone, which made me feel emptier than watching the idiot box in my 20s.

Even when I wasn't endlessly watching Instagram Reels, I was frequently reaching for my phone as a resource.

When I'd put my phone down and pick up a book, a question would inevitably surface — and this would require an immediate Google search. Who was president at the start of the Roaring Twenties? How was Prometheus related to Zeus? How many grams of fiber are in a serving of broccoli?

Though I knew none of these questions was urgent, I needed an answer — now. As a result, I'd either open my laptop to find the answer or I'd just grab my phone again.

One Google search would lead to another, and before I knew it, it was time for bed. What had I done that evening? How was I choosing to fill my free time? What did this say about how I'd spend my time in retirement?

I created a list to remind myself of what's important and push myself away from the screens

I did not like my choices, and I was afraid that I'd lost control of my decision-making. Defaulting to my phone or laptop was not how I wanted to live my life.

So, I made a commitment to myself: an ongoing to-do list.

The activities on it bring me satisfaction and joy: play tennis, strum the guitar (and try to learn a new chord), start a game of Scrabble with Michelle, go bird-watching, plan a dinner with friends, and so on.

Scrolling on my phone had become an automatic response to boredom or downtime. I had to train myself to break this habit, and I did so by planning ahead.

When I know I'll have a stretch of unscheduled time, I make myself read the list, which is in the front of my journal and on a sticky note hanging in my office. This prompts me to make a commitment to at least one of the activities. It's working.

Now, instead of picking up my phone, I'm connecting with my wife, baking a new recipe, or improving my photography skills.

My list is still growing. The more things I add, the more options I have, and the less likely I am to mindlessly scroll away my time.

• Uplane is a startup that wants to replace marketing agencies with AI.
• It just raised $4.5 million in seed funding, led by Play Ventures.
• Sign up for Business Insider's weekly marketing newsletter.

Uplane wants to replace marketing agencies with AI — and it just raised $4.5 million in seed funding.

The San Francisco-based startup has a platform where brands can launch and test ad campaigns on digital channels like Meta, Google, TikTok, and LinkedIn, and steer their ad spending toward the best-performing ones. Uplane also lets clients launch and test website landing pages.

Clients can upload their own ads or use Uplane to make AI-generated visuals. Uplane works on text and video ads.

The startup's seed funding round was led by Play Ventures, with participation from Y Combinator, 20VC, Rebel Fund, and Multimodal Ventures.

Julius Körfgen, Lukas Vollmer, and Marvin Abdel-Massih founded Uplane in November. They're targeting companies that spend $100,000 or more a month on digital marketing and charging them an annual fee. So far, clients include Aonic, a wellness company cofounded by Kim Kardashian's personal trainer; Wagetap, an Australian fintech company; and German railroad Deutsche Bahn.

Körfgen said that overall, its clients have improved their return on ad spending by 30% in about six weeks, compared to their agencies' performance — with Aonic, the improvement in return was 60%.

Körfgen said Uplane enabled Deutsche Bahn to do the same work its big agency used to in a fraction of the time.

"They're literally taking them off many of or all of the tasks in the campaigns that we manage now," he said.

Anton Backman, general partner at Play Ventures, said his firm was impressed by Uplane's early signs of success in demonstrating the payoff from ad spending.

2 of Uplane's founders came from performance marketing

Körfgen said he got the idea for Uplane while working with Abdel-Massih at Enpal, a German performance marketing company. He realized that the measurable work he did could be improved with AI, from creating ads and landing pages to tracking and improving their performance. They teamed up with Vollmer, who was looking to start a new company.

"Each of those steps, AI can do faster and better than humans," Körfgen said. "And right now, only really large marketing teams can achieve this."

A number of agencies and marketing companies offer solutions similar to Uplane, including investment-backed players like Smartly and startup Pomo.

Uplane is limited by AI's capabilities. It's not yet offering audio as part of its ads, for example. Its focus is on measurable outcomes, not helping brands with their overall strategic direction or story. Using external agencies can also give a brand a useful independent perspective.

Uplane plans to use the new funding to grow its 15-person team, bring on new customers, and integrate with more ad platforms.

Check out the pitch deck Uplane used to secure its $4.5 million seed investment, shared exclusively with CMO Insider:

Uplane is an AI marketing startup.

Its founders bring performance and engineering experience.

The slide lists its founders — Lukas Vollmer, Marvin Abdel-Massih, and Julius Körfgen — and their past employers, including Enpal and Fastgen.

This slide shows how Uplane can test variations of a client's ad.

Its platform shows which ads are the most efficient.

Uplane says it takes the guesswork out of digital advertising.

Uplane said it's solving a problem that costs companies billions of dollars.

Uplane describes its offering as a 'full-stack solution.'

It tests ads, makes landing pages, and steers ad budgets to the best-performing ads.

Uplane says it can boost clients' growth.

Uplane wants to replace external and in-house marketers with AI.

Uplane lays out its targets to get to the next funding round.

Uplane says it originally sought to raise $4 million (versus the $4.5 million it ultimately raised). It aims to reach $200,000 in monthly recurring revenue and plans to add engineers to build more ads and to implement its tools in new channels.

Uplane gives an example of how it helps make marketers more productive.

It says that with Uplane, marketers can multiply the number of ads, landing pages, and budget adjustments they can make each day.

Uplane says its capabilities exceed Meta's.

Uplane says its results get better the longer clients use it.

Uplane says it can do more than other digital marketing companies.

• The Titanic, billed as an unsinkable ship, hit an iceberg and sank on April 15, 1912.
• More than 1,500 people died in the maritime disaster, while about 700 survived.
• Among the victims was one of the world's richest men, John Jacob Astor IV.

As a new luxury ocean liner, the Titanic attracted some of the wealthiest and most prominent members of American society.

When the ship sank off the coast of Newfoundland on its maiden voyage to New York City in the early hours of April 15, 1912, among its victims were the co-owner of Macy's, an aide to President William Taft, and the richest passenger on board, who was a member of the Astor family.

Most of the well-known people on board were first-class passengers. Researcher Chuck Anesi found that 97.22% of the 144 female first-class passengers were rescued, while only 32.57% of their 175 male counterparts were saved.

Ultimately, he found that male second-class passengers fared the worst in terms of survival, with only 14 out of 168 making it out alive. The total survival rate for women was 74%, while the male survival rate was 20%, his analysis found.

Here are 12 of the most famous victims of the Titanic disaster, and 11 prominent people who survived.

DIED: John Jacob Astor, millionaire

John Jacob Astor IV, 48, was a member of the prominent Astor family and helped build the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City. He was also an inventor, a science-fiction novelist, and a veteran of the Spanish-American War.

He was traveling with his wife, Madeleine, in Europe when she became pregnant. To ensure the child would be born in the US, the couple booked a trip home on the Titanic.

The New York Times reported that Astor was last seen smoking a cigarette on the deck. His wife, who was 30 years his junior, survived the disaster.

He had a fortune worth somewhere between $90 and $150 million, CNBC reported, when he boarded the fateful ship, or as much as $5 billion in today's dollars when adjusted for inflation. He was the richest passenger on board the Titanic.

SURVIVED: Archibald Gracie IV, historian and author

Gracie achieved prominence in the wake of the Titanic disaster because of his meticulous and detailed account of the tragedy.

The historian and Alabama native, who had written a book on the American Civil War's Battle of Chickamauga, was on the Titanic, returning from a European vacation.

He was woken up when the ship crashed into an iceberg. After escorting several women to the lifeboats, Gracie helped other passengers evacuate the ship.

When the ship sank, Gracie surfaced beside an overturned lifeboat. He managed to climb on top with other men, and they spent much of the night balanced there.

The historian was one of the first Titanic survivors to die after being rescued, on December 4, 1912, after a prolonged illness. He was 54.

The New York Times reported at the time that Gracie's final words were "We must get them all in the boats," according to Alabama News Center.

DIED: W. T. Stead, investigative journalist

Stead was a highly influential editor who, in an uncanny twist, may have foreseen his death on the Titanic.

As the editor of The Pall Mall Gazette, the newspaperman published an explosive and controversial investigative series about child prostitution, Britannica reported. He is credited with helping to invent investigative journalism.

A devoted spiritualist, Stead also established a magazine dedicated to the supernatural and a psychic service known as Julia's Bureau.

He also wrote a fictional story in 1886 that resembled the real-life events of the Titanic in unsettling ways.

"How the Mail Steamer Went Down in Mid Atlantic by a Survivor" tells a story of an ocean liner that sinks in the Atlantic.

In the story, only 200 passengers and crew members of the original 700 people on board survive the disaster because of a lifeboat shortage.

His website reported that Stead didn't hang around on deck as the Titanic sank. Instead, he reportedly spent his final hours reading in the first-class smoking room. He was 62 years old.

SURVIVED: Noël Leslie, countess and philanthropist

Leslie, the Countess of Rothes, was one of the Titanic's most famous passengers.

A popular figure in London society, Leslie became a countess after marrying Norman Evelyn Leslie, the Earl of Rothes, in 1900.

Leslie and her cousin Gladys Cherry booked a trip on the Titanic.

When Leslie made it into a lifeboat, she reportedly found it understaffed and volunteered to help row it away from the sinking ship.

The countess reportedly helped take care of her fellow survivors on board the Carpathia and was dubbed "the plucky little countess" in the press.

After surviving the Titanic disaster, Leslie became a prominent philanthropist and worked as a nurse during World War I.

DIED: Thomas Andrews, architect of the Titanic

Andrews was no ordinary Titanic victim. 

The longtime Harland & Wolff employee designed the ship itself. He traveled on the Titanic's maiden voyage to observe the ship and make recommendations on areas where the ship could be improved.

When an iceberg damaged the Titanic's hull and he learned that five of its watertight compartments had holes in them, Andrews immediately knew the ship was going to sink, the BBC reported.

The 39-year-old shipbuilder then began helping women and children into the lifeboats. He made no attempt to exit the ship and was last seen in the first-class smoking room, not wearing a life vest.

SURVIVED: Margaret Brown, socialite

Brown, a socialite and philanthropist, is best known for surviving the Titanic disaster.

Biography reported that she was born in Missouri to Irish immigrants. She married James Joseph Brown in New York City. The couple became fabulously wealthy when Brown's mining business struck ore.

Margaret Brown became a well-known socialite with a penchant for dramatic hats and social activism on behalf of women and children.

She was returning from a voyage around Europe when she decided to book a trip on the Titanic.

During the disaster, she reportedly helped row the lifeboat and demanded that the group of survivors row back to the spot where the ship went down to look for survivors. This earned her the nickname "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" — though her friends and family reportedly called her Maggie.

Brown's life was immortalized in the Broadway musical "The Unsinkable Molly Brown," which was later adapted into a Hollywood film. Kathy Bates also portrayed her in the award-winning film "Titanic."

DIED: John Thayer, railroad executive

Thayer was well known in 1912 as both a former cricket player and a Pennsylvania Railroad Co. executive.

The railroad company vice president was traveling on the Titanic with his wife and son following a trip to Berlin. After the ship struck an iceberg, Thayer made certain that his wife and their maid boarded a lifeboat.

According to Encyclopedia Titanic, Gracie's account of the events reported seeing Thayer looking "pale and determined" on deck before the ship sank. Thayer's body was never found. His son survived by diving into the water and swimming to an overturned lifeboat.

SURVIVED: J. Bruce Ismay, White Star Line executive

Ismay may have survived the sinking of the Titanic, but he never lived down the public scorn he received in the wake of the disaster.

The White Star Line managing director was the highest-ranking company official to survive the disaster. He boarded a lifeboat 20 minutes before the ship sank into the Atlantic.

He later said he turned away as the Titanic slipped beneath the surface of the water, saying, "I did not wish to see her go down. I am glad I did not," The Telegraph reported.

Ismay received a lot of flak for boarding a lifeboat before other passengers. He was ostracized in society and ultimately resigned from his post and kept a low profile.

The BBC reported in 2012 that Ismay's family said the press unfairly maligned him and that he never fully recovered from the ordeal.

DIED: Isidor Straus, co-owner of Macy's, and his wife, Ida

Isidor and Ida Straus first met after the Civil War when a penniless Straus moved to New York City.

Isidor and his brother later acquired Macy's, and he eventually became a powerful businessman and a member of the US House of Representatives.

Straus was reportedly offered a spot on a lifeboat while the ship was sinking. He declined, saying he wouldn't board a raft until every woman and child had gotten off the ship.

Ida then refused to leave her husband. When her husband urged her to evacuate the ship, she reportedly responded, "I will not be separated from my husband. As we have lived, so will we die, together."

She then ordered her maid to board a lifeboat and gave her a mink coat, quipping that she wouldn't need the garment anymore. The couple was last seen together on the deck of the Titanic. Isidor's body was recovered from the ocean, but Ida was never found.

Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York, memorialized Isidor and Ida Straus with a cenotaph bearing a line from the "Song of Solomon."

"Many waters cannot quench love — neither can the floods drown it," it reads.

SURVIVED: Cosmo and Lucy Duff-Gordon, landowner and fashion designer

Cosmo Duff-Gordon and his wife, Lady Lucy Duff-Gordon, were two of the most prominent passengers on board the Titanic. 

Cosmo Duff-Gordon was a major landowner and society figure in the UK known for his fencing skills. His wife was a top British fashion designer whose innovations included the precursor to the modern-day fashion show.

The Duff-Gordons booked a trip on the Titanic to travel to New York City on business. When disaster struck, they both escaped on the first lifeboat that embarked off the ship.

Vogue reported that Lady Duff-Gordon described the scene on the Titanic, saying, "Everyone seemed to be rushing for that boat. A few men who crowded in were turned back at the point of Capt. Smith's revolver, and several of them were felled before order was restored. I recall being pushed towards one of the boats and being helped in."

In the wake of the tragedy, Cosmo Duff-Gordon received criticism for not adhering to the ship's "women and children first" evacuation policy.

A few years later, in 1915, Lady Duff-Gordon escaped death again after canceling her voyage on the doomed Lusitania.

DIED: Benjamin Guggenheim, mining magnate

Guggenheim was a member of the powerful Guggenheim family, which earned its fortune in the mining industry.

He was traveling on the ship with his mistress, Léontine Aubart, and staffers.

Guggenheim was initially optimistic about the ship's prospects, telling his maid: "We will soon see each other again. It's just a repair. Tomorrow the Titanic will go on again," according to "Life Titanic: The Tragedy That Shook the World,"

Britannica reported that Guggenheim, whose body was never recovered, dressed in his best evening attire and quipped, "We've dressed up in our best and are prepared to go down like gentlemen."

He later passed on a message for his estranged wife to a Titanic survivor.

"If anything should happen to me, tell my wife in New York that I've done my best in doing my duty," he said.

SURVIVED: Dorothy Gibson, actor

After getting her start as a young girl in vaudeville, Gibson became a model and launched a career as a silent film star.

She was 22 years old when she booked a passage on the Titanic. Gibson reportedly heard the ship crash into an iceberg. She grabbed her mother, and together they escaped the ship on the first lifeboat.

"I will never forget the terrible cry that rang out from people who were thrown into the sea and others who were afraid for their loved ones," Gibson told a newspaper reporter shortly after the disaster, The History Press reported.

Gibson subsequently appeared as herself in a now-lost 1912 film about her experience called "Saved From the Titanic." The History Press reported that Gibson sported the same clothes in the film as she had on during the disaster. Gibson quit acting shortly afterward.

After that, Gibson's life is a bit cloudy. Her affair with a prominent film producer was a scandal in America and prompted Gibson to move to Paris. As World War II began, there were allegations that she was a Nazi sympathizer — the veracity of those rumors is unclear.

Later, while living in Italy in the 1940s, the former actor was imprisoned by fascists. She survived prison but died shortly after the war ended.

DIED: George Dennick Wick, steel magnate

The industrialist was the founding president of Youngstown Sheet and Tube Co., a now-defunct steel-manufacturing business. 

Wick had been traveling in Europe to improve his health. Unfortunately, he booked a trip on the Titanic to return to the US.

Encyclopedia Titanica reported that he was last seen on the ship's deck waving to his wife, daughter, cousin, and aunt as they escaped on a lifeboat.

SURVIVED: Elsie Bowerman, lawyer

Bowerman survived the sinking of the Titanic and went on to have an extraordinary career.

Biography reported that the British suffragette and Cambridge graduate booked a trip on the ocean liner with her mother to visit friends living in America and Canada.

They both survived the catastrophe by getting on the same lifeboat as Margaret Brown.

When WWI broke out, Bowerman served in a traveling hospital unit that moved across Europe. Later, in 1923, she was admitted to the bar and became the first woman barrister to practice in the Old Bailey, the Central Criminal Court of England and Wales.

Biography said that later in life, Bowerman headed the establishment of the UN's Commission on the Status of Women.

DIED: Charles Melville Hays, railroad executive

Hays started in the railway business as a teenage clerk. He went on to become the president of the Grand Trunk Railway, which operated in Canada and the Northeastern US. 

The American railway magnate may have had some reservations about embarking on the Titanic's maiden voyage. Encyclopedia Titanica reported that he told his companions that the trend toward large boats might end in tragedy.

Hays' wife, Clara, and their daughter, Orian, were evacuated from the ship on lifeboats. 

After Charles and Clara were separated, she called out to every other lifeboat they came across, hoping that he had made it on one of them.

But Hays had died when the Titanic sank — his body was later recovered and buried in Montreal.

SURVIVED: Helen Churchill Candee, author

An author and a single mother, Candee wrote the early feminist work "How Women May Earn a Living" in 1900.

The American writer traveled extensively and befriended several prominent people, including Theodore Roosevelt and William Jennings Bryan.

She booked a passage on the Titanic to return to the US to care for her son who'd been injured. The writer teamed up with Margaret Brown to operate the oars of the lifeboat.

Even after surviving the Titanic, Candee continued to travel the world, undaunted. She also spoke of the men aboard's bravery during the disaster.

"The men were the heroes, and among the bravest and most heroic, as I recall, were Mr. Widener, Mr. Thayer, and Colonel Astor," Candee said in a 1912 interview, Titanic Archive reported. "They thought only of the saving of the women and went down with the Titanic, martyrs to their manhood."

DIED: Henry B. Harris, Broadway producer

Harris was a major player on Broadway when he died on the Titanic. He was returning to the US after a business trip to London.

He went down with the ship after ensuring his wife, Renee, who had previously broken her elbow after falling down the ship's grand staircase, got on a lifeboat.

"Harry lifted me in his arms and threw me into the arms of a sailor and then threw a blanket that he had been carrying for me through the hours," his wife said, according to the author Charles Pellegrino's website.

Renee achieved prominence by taking up her husband's line of work and becoming one of the first female theatrical producers in the US.

SURVIVED: Karl Behr, tennis player

The Independent reported that Behr, a banker and tennis star, booked a trip on the Titanic only to pursue his future wife, Helen Newsom.

Behr survived the disaster because he was asked to help row one of the lifeboats. Encyclopedia Titanica reported that he may have asked Newsom for her hand in marriage while they were adrift in a lifeboat.

Behr went on to continue his successful tennis career, The New York Times reported.

DIED: Jacques Futrelle, mystery writer

Futrelle achieved success as a mystery author before dying on the Titanic.

The Georgia native started out as a journalist, working for the New York Herald and The Boston Post — two now-defunct papers.

Futrelle is best remembered for his fictional stories. He wrote a series about the fictional detective professor Augustus S.F.X. Van Dusen. His most famous story was "The Problem of Cell 13."

Futrelle and his wife dined with Henry and Renee Harris on the night the ship sank. Futrelle ensured that his wife got on a lifeboat and was last seen speaking on deck with Astor.

SURVIVED: Edith Rosenbaum, stylist

Rosenbaum was a stylist, fashion buyer, and journalist who was returning to the US on the Titanic after embarking on a reporting assignment in Paris.

The Telegraph reported that a year before the Titanic disaster, Rosenbaum had "survived a car accident the year before in which her fiancé, a German gun manufacturer, had been killed."

Following the accident, her mother purchased her a small musical toy pig as a good-luck charm.

As the ship went down, the stylist would play the toy's tune to calm and distract the crying children on her lifeboat, The Daily Mail reported.

"The children were crying and whimpering," Rosenbaum said, The Huffington Post reported. "And I said, I believe I'll play music and maybe the children would be diverted. ... And the poor children were so interested, most of them stopped crying."

DIED: Archibald Butt, presidential aide

Butt led a distinguished — and varied — career before dying during the Titanic disaster.

Arlington National Cemetery's website said that Butt started out as a reporter but enlisted in the US Army during the Spanish-American War.

He served in Cuba and the Philippines. In 1908, he became President Theodore Roosevelt's military aide and served Roosevelt's successor, William Taft, in the same capacity.

Butt's "health began to deteriorate in 1912 because of his attempts to remain neutral during the bitter personal quarrel" between Roosevelt and Taft, which may have prompted his decision to travel to Europe.

There are a number of unverified accounts of Butt's behavior during the sinking, with many sensationalized stories of the military officer leading the evacuation or threatening male passengers who tried to ignore the ship's "women and children first" protocol.

"If Archie could have selected a time to die, he would have chosen the one God gave him," Taft said in a private memorial service, according to the Smithsonian. "His life was spent in self-sacrifice, serving others."

He added: "Everybody who knew him called him Archie. I couldn't prepare anything in advance to say here. I tried, but couldn't. He was too near me."

Taft then said: "To me, he had become as a son or a brother."

The president later broke down weeping while delivering the eulogy at Butt's funeral.

• The Iran war has affected businesses across sectors, from retail to advertising.
• Its impacts are starting to show up in earnings calls.
• Here's what top CEOs and execs are saying about the impact of the Iran war on the business world.

More than six weeks have passed since the Iran war began, and the impact of the conflict on businesses is becoming more evident.

The impacts of surging oil prices, supply chain issues, and lower demand from the Middle East are starting to show up in Q1 earnings.

In some sectors, such as investment banking, executives say business activity is in good shape overall.

However, for industries such as luxury goods, which have a strong retail presence in the Middle East, there are concerns about how the ongoing conflict will affect business.

David Solomon, CEO of Goldman Sachs

David Solomon, CEO of Goldman Sachs, said in the company's first-quarter earnings call on April 13 that "the environment for investment banking activity continues to be incredibly robust, particularly M&A activity."

Solomon said that while leaders are "watching what's going on geopolitically," they are also looking at the opportunities that artificial intelligence could bring.

"They are focused on that, and that candidly trumps some of the geopolitical risk," Solomon added.

Arthur Sadoun, CEO of Publicis Groupe

The French advertising giant said on its first-quarter earnings call on April 14 that the conflict in the Middle East had led some clients to delay "large transformation capex projects" due to uncertainty over how the situation might unfold.

CEO Arthur Sadoun said on the call that clients had become resilient in navigating uncertainty, after other major events, including COVID, the war in Ukraine, tariffs, and inflation. Publicis said it hadn't seen brands making significant reductions in their marketing budgets in the first quarter.

"They know that if they cut marketing spend, they will lose market share," Sadoun said. "That will be very expensive and very difficult to win back."

Publicis' Middle East and Africa business posted a 5.1% decline in organic revenue in the quarter, with the United Arab Emirates and Israel most affected, the company said.

Cécile Cabanis, CFO of LVMH

LVMH said in its earnings call on April 13 that its first-quarter performance was negatively affected by the war in Iran.

Cécile Cabanis, CFO of the French luxury conglomerate, said that "demand is very much down" in the Middle East, particularly citing lower foot traffic to malls.

Cabanis said Sephora, one of LVMH's companies, has been able to resist this downward trend better because of its large presence in Saudi Arabia, which she said has been "more resilient" during the conflict.

"What we have not seen yet is repatriation. And what we know is that the wealth has not evaporated," Cabanis said.

She added that if the conflict persists and wealthy people leave the region, they will ensure that they are "there to serve the clients."

Armelle Poulou, CFO of Kering

Gucci parent company Kering said during its first-quarter earnings call on April 14 that geopolitical tensions in the Middle East weighed on its traffic and performance.

"Since the end of February, the situation in the region has remained an area of heightened attention for the group," CFO Armelle Poulou said.

It saw an 11% decline in retail revenue in the region during Q1, which dragged on the overall retail segment.

The Middle East accounts for about 5% of the luxury conglomerate's retail revenue, with about 1,100 employees and 79 stores, the company said. Despite some recent disruptions, it said stores are fully open.

Kering is also feeling the impact of the Iran war on sales outside of the Middle East. Its sales were down 7% in Western Europe in Q1, where "trends remain challenging, particularly due to softer tourist flows, notably from Asia and Middle East," Poulou said.

Eric du Halgouët, CFO of Hermes

Luxury brand Hermes said its sales in the Middle East were down 6% during the first quarter as the conflict in Iran kicked off.

The company also saw its sales in France take a hit as it saw a "strong decrease" in Middle East customers shopping for its products.

"The impact of the slowdown because of the Middle East is not significant on profitability," its CFO Eric du Halgouët said during the company's earnings call.

"It remains to be seen whether the events continue for a month or two, but if it's just two months, I think that we can absorb this impact without too many difficulties," he added.

• Meg Leonard renovated her kitchen a few years after buying her home in Annapolis, Maryland.
• She replaced the dark, early 2000s decor with white cabinetry and brass finishes.
• Leonard also created a cozy nook that serves as a dining and entertaining space.

Meg Leonard is rarely as happy as when she's squeezed between loved ones in her kitchen nook. Usually, sports are on the TV hanging from the wall, kids run through the kitchen to the backyard — which she can see from the picture window opposite the screen — and food waits to be eaten on the island a few steps away.

Since Leonard and her husband added the nook to their home during their kitchen renovation in 2023, it's become a go-to gathering spot in their house, whether they're dining as a family of three or hosting a party.

"Sometimes, almost 15 people are piled in the nook, and it's just so fun," she told Business Insider.

Leonard invested $150,000 to renovate her kitchen — a price tag she said was completely worth it.

Meg Leonard and her husband bought their dream home in December 2021.

Leonard, 34, is an entrepreneur and content creator who owns a digital and interior design studio.

In 2021, she and her husband were living in Baltimore City, but they were dreaming of buying a house in Annapolis, Maryland.

"We were looking for something to make our own," Leonard said, telling Business Insider that she and her husband are both drawn to homes with charm that's hard to come by with new builds. Leonard hoped to remodel a home and lean into the traditional, coastal vibe with her design.

Then, in May 2021, they found the perfect house: a four-bedroom, three-bathroom house in Annapolis. The 2,900-square-foot space needed a little TLC, which was just what Leonard wanted.

"It had great bones, but things were added on in different phases," Leonard said. "It felt entirely meant to be."

After some back-and-forth on the sale, they finally bought it in December 2021, eager to start turning the house into their forever home. They now live there with their son and golden retriever.

Their early 2000s kitchen was high on the renovation list.

As Leonard told Business Insider, the home's previous owners renovated the kitchen as an addition to the original house. It had wooden cabinetry and windows, tile floors, and a large stone wall framing the oven.

"It was definitely Italian style from the early 2000s that was brought into the home," Leonard said of the kitchen's style.

Though the kitchen had good bones, Leonard didn't love its details. The stone made it feel dark, despite the big windows, and the 8-foot ceilings didn't help. Likewise, the appliances were high-end but dated. Leonard also wasn't a fan of the orange wood cabinets, which she said were falling apart, or the dark granite countertops.

"It wasn't feeling like the happy, airy space that I wanted," she said.

Leonard also didn't think the kitchen's dining area was being used to its full potential.

Because the home had been renovated multiple times before Leonard and her family bought it, it had some strange design elements. For instance, the kitchen was added to the front of the house, so the former front door ended up on a wall inside the space after that addition.

Leonard also thought the space in front of the door felt too isolated from the rest of the kitchen to serve as a dining area.

After they moved in, Leonard and her husband tackled a renovation of their primary bedroom and bathroom, and added a laundry room upstairs. Then, after saving up some money, they hit the ground running with their kitchen renovation in October 2023.

"We really tried to balance the function on top of making it look better," Leonard said. "Storage and aesthetically really opening it up was our goal."

Leonard designed the kitchen herself.

Leonard liked the kitchen's overall shape, including the placement of the appliances, which helped the design process.

"We liked the footprint of everything," she said. "My goal was to kind of create a neutral, timeless base that I can then style everything around through the stools and the accent pieces."

To start the process, they gutted the space so they could start fresh. Leonard designed the kitchen herself, but she hired out a contractor and professionals to bring the work to life. Leonard said she thinks it's worth paying professionals to work on rooms like your kitchen, which are so central to a home.

"This is the space where you need to invest properly, especially when it comes to plumbing and gas lines in all of the things," she said. "You never want to then resent your space."

She also ended up feeling grateful she lived in the kitchen for a while before the renovation began, as it allowed her to see how she really needed the space to function.

"I listed out our dream inclusions, how I wanted them to flow, where I wanted the dishwasher to be, and even practiced unloading where the dishes would go," she said.

The tile floors and dark wood framing the windows needed to go.

Leonard didn't love the look or feel of the chunky tile floors that were in the kitchen when they bought their home. She didn't think they fit the space, nor did she love the feel of them when she walked around.

And while she loved the shape of the windows, she didn't like the wood framing them, particularly because of the color.

"To each their own, but orange wood is not something that brings me joy," she said.

Wood floors and white windows lightened the space.

Leonard decided to continue the white oak flooring from the rest of her home into her kitchen to create a "seamless" look.

"As long as you wipe things up right away, they last," Leonard said about the floors. "So we've been loving that."

The walls and trimmings were painted white, making the space feel airy, and Leonard also had white beams added to the ceiling for depth.

"As soon as they went in, I think that was the first time that I was like, 'I could cry,'" she said of how much she loved the beams. "It made the room look taller, and I think it's because they weren't a dark-stained wood."

Decorative touches — like a dinner bell hanging near the backyard door and dark-wood and wicker barstools at the island — give the kitchen the homey feel Leonard was searching for.

The wood cabinetry didn't work for Leonard either.

Although she liked where the cabinets sat, the dark color wasn't Leonard's favorite. She also didn't like that the cabinets didn't go to the ceiling, and she thought the countertops made the whole space feel darker. Plus, the cabinet doors were falling off, so they needed to be updated anyway.

Leonard planned to replace the cabinets with new white cabinets that extended to the ceiling, with appliance covers to match.

"I wanted inset cabinets that were panel-ready on the appliances just to have a more seamless, perimeter look," she said.

White cabinetry and countertops brightened the space.

Leonard got the ceiling-high cabinets she was hoping for, which she complemented with a white marble countertop that extended to the backsplash.

"I just loved the idea of it looking a little more rich and and grand by using that marble slab," she said.

The real marble was one of the biggest splurges Leonard and her husband made on the kitchen, and she said that even though some people think marble can be hard to maintain, it "was definitely worth splurging on" for her.

"Any of the etchings are great signs of life, and it shows that it's natural, real stone," she said.

Leonard chose brass finishes throughout the kitchen, from the hardware to her oven and a rack that hangs by a window. It elevates the kitchen's otherwise neutral tones.

Leonard also incorporated her personal style through small details, such as the sconce on one side of her sink, which serves as a high-end nightlight they turn on when their kitchen is closed for the evening.

"I just love those little bits of character that are a little different," she said.

The bulky, arched stone surrounding the stove and oven didn't work for Leonard either.

When Leonard bought her home, the oven sat in an alcove with an arch above it, surrounded by a dark tile pattern. Double ovens were inset into the tile, with a cabinet above them.

Leonard wanted to keep the arch above the oven and make it a statement piece in the kitchen, but the dark tile around it had to go. She also wanted to reduce the arch's footprint and decided to remove the double ovens, even though many people find them appealing in a high-end kitchen. It wasn't suited to her lifestyle.

"Double ovens sound like a dream, but we really only use those on Christmas," she said. "We needed that storage."

Leonard kept the arched shape, but she modernized it.

The new arch is wider and slightly square, allowing the white-and-gold oven and six-burner stovetop to shine. The marble backsplash flows all the way up the arch for a seamless look.

Combining the oven and stove freed up space to the right of her kitchen, so now an "appliance garage" sits where the double ovens used to be. The large cabinet gives Leonard space to store things like her coffee maker and air fryer. Her counters were left open for decorative rather than utilitarian touches.

She also added cabinets with glass panes framing the oven on either side so she could display some of her everyday items and pitchers.

The details around the stovetop helped elevate it.

Leonard had shelving built into the sides of the archway, where she stores everyday items and decor to add a pop to her space.

They also added a pot-filler above the stove, which Leonard said she loves.

"I know a lot of people are like, 'Is that worth it? Am I actually going to use it?'" she said. "We use that all the time. I love to have tea every day."

"It's like a piece of jewelry, but it definitely has changed our day-to-day routine," she added.

Leonard liked the large island, but it needed some updates.

Much as she did with the rest of the kitchen, Leonard wanted to keep the island in the center of the room but make adjustments to it. She liked it as a seating area for stools and as a prep space.

Leonard said it was particularly important to her to keep the trash can built into the island, as she likes chopping and preparing food there and easily tossing things into the bin below.

"We spend most of our time standing over that block and preparing, easily cleaning up, and turning to cook," she said. "It's been really functional for us."

The island's built-in features make it more functional.

Rather than white, Leonard decided to use a darker wood for the island.

"I always knew I wanted a dark island just to give it more of that traditional, rich contrast," she said.

The gold hardware and white marble top gave it continuity with the rest of the kitchen, and Leonard tried to lean into the elevated feel with the design, including table-like legs on one side.

The built-in features that make it easier to use are Leonard's favorite parts of the island. The built-in trash can still works great for her family, as does the paper towel bar above it. They also built a cabinet that stows a microwave, creating another hidden space for an appliance.

The off-white and brass light fixtures hanging above the island tied it all together. Leonard said she had the lights raised slightly higher than usual. The height allows people to see through the kitchen uninterrupted when they walk into the space.

Closing up the old front door was important to Leonard.

"That was actually one of the first projects my husband and my father-in-law did," Leonard said of removing the door and closing up the wall. "We wanted it to feel like a traditional hallway and not have this random door that was an old exterior door there."

That left them with an empty square off the side of the room, which used to be cut off from the kitchen by a peninsula. Rather than making it into a traditional dining space, Leonard decided to transform it into a nook with ample built-in storage.

"We figured we would get more use out of a nook than a traditional dining area," she told Business Insider.

The nook has built-in bench seating.

A three-sided bench seat creates the nook, and a rectangular table with two chairs on the exterior side sits in the center.

Leonard also lined the ceiling and walls of the nook with white paneling, making it feel distinct from the rest of the kitchen.

"I figured to panel that space would kind of give it a statement without doing some type of bold color," she said.

The bench tops also lift up, and Leonard uses them to store items she doesn't use day to day.

"We have all of our Christmas stuff on one side, and all of our bigger platters," she said. "We know exactly where things are, and they're not shoved in the basement."

The nook has become an entertaining space for Leonard and her family.

In addition to the bench storage, Leonard also had shelving built above the nook along one side, creating additional spots to display her style. She likes that she can change the feel of her kitchen by swapping out items on display.

For now, Leonard has platters and sentimental items she doesn't use day to day on the shelving, like a plate she uses for her son's birthday and a portrait of her late dog. A TV also hangs on one wall.

The nook has become one of Leonard's favorite spots in her home, both as an entertaining space and a place for her family to relax. People crowd into it for parties, and her family dines there daily.

"We never sat in that area before, and now I use it every day," she said.

Leonard also wanted to update the pantry.

Before the renovation, Leonard's pantry sat across from the island between two doorways. She wanted to keep it in the same spot, but she didn't want it to extend quite so far into the kitchen.

"You would be unloading groceries, and you couldn't walk around because it was basically hitting the island stools," she said of the issues the pantry's size caused.

As they designed the new pantry, Leonard decided to make it slightly smaller so there was a larger walkway between the pantry and the island.

"People find it hard to believe that you would make a pantry smaller, but we didn't really lose a ton of space," she said. "It was worth it to not have the kitchen feel a little claustrophobic. "

She made the new pantry a statement piece in her kitchen.

Leonard said she wanted to play up the island's dark wood as she crafted her space, and the pantry door felt like a natural fit.

She hoped to find antique doors that would work, but when she couldn't, she had her doors custom-built. They have glass panels, and brass bolts serve as her door handles and line the center.

"I feel like that kind of gave it that look on a lower budget," she said.

Striped curtains cover the bottom shelves, peeking through the glass for a quaint touch.

Leonard's family loves their kitchen now.

Leonard's family loves the whole kitchen, but she said the nook is her favorite spot in the airy space.

"I love having a place to sit down and have a substantial family meal, but it's cozy, and it doesn't feel like we're sitting at a formal dining area," she said.

She also said she's happy "having a place for everything," thanks to her ample and well-thought-out storage.

"It feels like us," she added of her kitchen. "We're happy to start and end our days in there. And I think that's the biggest thing, just making it a space that you actually enjoy."

All in, Leonard spent around $150,000 on the kitchen renovation.

Leonard said her kitchen was "absolutely" worth the price tag because it works so well for her family now.

"I was so strategic about not making it just a pretty kitchen but really thinking about where each dollar was going," she said. "I wanted us all to have a space that we're proud of and want to spend time in."

Leonard recommends really thinking through a kitchen renovation before starting it, focusing on how the space will function for your family before aesthetics.

"List out your priorities, your needs, your current pain points, your dreams, and make sure that they're easily documented, so you can always kind of refer back to that inspiration," she said. "You can have fun with the aesthetic parts and kind of fill that in."

• Starbucks launched a new ChatGPT app that lets users ask the AI chatbot for a drink suggestion.
• The feature will recommend Starbucks drinks based on user taste, the weather, or their outfit.
• Users can begin their order in ChatGPT and then finish checkout in the Starbucks app or website.

Starbucks' newest feature lets ChatGPT turn your "vibe" — or even a photo of your outfit — into a coffee order.

The coffee giant on Wednesday rolled out a new app within ChatGPT's app ecosystem that lets users provide a prompt, such as their preference for protein or sugar-free drinks, something that captures the essence of the sunset, or alters the vibe of their workday, and receive a drink recommendation.

Users can add customizations, such as cold foam or matcha powder, and choose a location through ChatGPT, then complete their order through the Starbucks app or website.

"Over the past year, one thing has become clear: customers aren't always starting with a menu. They're starting with a feeling," Paul Riedel, senior vice president of digital & loyalty at Starbucks, said in a statement about the beta app. "We wanted to meet customers right in that moment of inspiration and make it easier than ever to find a drink that fits."

Riedel added that the technology is meant to make customers "more excited" about their drink.

"As a beta experience, it's also an opportunity for us to listen, learn, and refine as we go," Riedel said. "You'll see us continue exploring new ways technology can delight our customers while supporting our baristas. This is only the beginning."

Users are already turning ChatGPT into everything from a personal stylist to a meal planner, and now, increasingly, a way to decide what to order online.

Several major retail brands — including Walmart and Target — have partnered with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into their shopping experiences, allowing users to discover and purchase products directly within the chatbot's interface.

The push reflects a broader shift toward "agentic commerce," where chatbots don't merely suggest products, but help users buy them.

The practice is expanding among delivery operators and food and beverage brands. DoorDash and Uber Eats have created ChatGPT apps that let users turn recipes into shoppable grocery lists, browse restaurant menus, and place delivery orders, while fast-food operators like Burger King and Firehouse Subs have ChatGPT apps that show nearby locations and help users find deals.

The ChatGPT app isn't Starbucks' first foray into AI in its coffeehouses, but it marks one of its biggest public-facing bets on the tech.

In June 2025, Starbucks announced it would roll out Green Dot Assist, its AI-powered virtual assistant for baristas, powered by Microsoft Azure's OpenAI platform. First piloted at 35 locations, Green Dot Assist is being rolled out more widely this year.

The rollouts signal how quickly AI is becoming part of everyday consumer decisions — including something as routine as ordering coffee.

Have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert at ktl@businessinsider.com or Signal at byktl.50. Use a personal email address, a nonwork WiFi network, and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.

• Emergent is launching Wingman, a personal AI agent, to take on OpenClaw.
• Wingman operates on messaging platforms and integrates with tools like Gmail and Slack.
• Emergent emphasizes Wingman's security, offering features to prevent hacking and data leaks.

Vibe-coding startup Emergent is coming for the OpenClaws of the world with its own AI agent.

CEO Mukund Jha said that the company is launching Wingman on Wednesday, a personal AI agent that operates on messaging platforms like WhatsApp or iMessage and connects to tools like Gmail, Google Calendar, and Slack.

"It's going to come with its own identity. So it's going to have a phone number, it's going to have an email," he told Business Insider in an exclusive interview. "You would interact with it just like you would interact with a human employee, a human teammate, a human assistant."

The new product puts the AI coding company squarely in competition with tools like OpenClaw and NanoBot, which have seen blockbuster virality in the last few months. People around the world are using personal agents for practical and quirky uses such as productivity, stock trading, and even dating.

Wingman will also compete with agentic tools made by bigger AI labs such as Microsoft, Google, and OpenAI. AI agents use large language models to execute specific multi-step tasks semi-autonomously. Unlike chatbots, they can make decisions on behalf of the user, including through interactions with everyday applications.

Emergent, founded out of Y Combinator's startup class of 2024 by Jha and his brother Madhav Jha, is one of the fastest-growing vibe-coding companies. In February, the San Francisco and Bengaluru-based startup announced that it hit $100 million in annual run rate in eight months, and is used by more than 8 million builders. In the interview, Jha said that the company made $8.4 million in revenue in March.

In January, Business Insider reported that the startup raised $70 million in Series B funding, including from Khosla Ventures and SoftBank Vision Fund 2. The valuation was not disclosed.

'Really, really secure'

Jha said that he uses Wingman to reply to his emails, schedule meetings, and do research — like finding the closest WeWork in a new city.

He said that once users scan a QR code and do an authentication step, Wingman lives on their messaging platform of choice. They can then chat with it and delegate their work.

Jha said that the potential "downfall" of some AI agents and open platforms is their susceptibility to hacking and security breaches.

"We spent a lot of our time and energy in essentially making sure it's really, really secure," the CEO said. "We have had like multiple security teams, red team us," he added, referring to simulated attacks to identify security gaps in a technology.

Security features include not granting any open permissions by default, flagging content from the internet as untrusted, and offering a draft for review before an email goes out.

Wingman's pricing starts with a small subscription fee, followed by usage-based pricing.

In the interview, Jha said that starting off in the AI coding space has given Emergent a leg up in building AI agents.

"Our thesis right now is that most of the work that agents will do, whether it's building a PPT, building a research report, is going to be by writing code," he said, referring to PowerPoint. Emergent's background in making coding agents that are topping benchmarks would be a plus here, he added.

The company also wants to differentiate itself by being more user-friendly and having better outcomes compared to other agents in the market.

"It's more snappier, much more friendly," he said about Wingman. "A lot of our focus is on the quality of the outcome, and that's where we think we're going to win."

• A version of this post appears in the CMO Insider newsletter.
• You can sign up for Business Insider's weekly marketing newsletter here.

Apple has quietly been making moves that show it's serious about building a formidable advertising machine.

The iPhone maker is bringing ads to Maps this summer, and this week, it rolled out Apple Business, combining a suite of business-focused tools — including ads — into a single platform.

The vast majority of Apple's ad revenue comes from app developers buying ads within the App Store. These new moves signal that it wants a bigger share of the ad market for small and midsize businesses.

Map ads make up a small but highly competitive part of media plans for marketers whose products are tied to physical locations. That's especially true in sectors like quick-service retail, where brands jostle for top placements.

Analysts at Omdia estimate that Google's revenue from map ads is around twice that from app install ads on the Play Store.

"There is big potential uplift in bringing ads to Apple Maps," Omdia analyst Matthew Bailey told me. He added that ads on Google Maps are closely tied to Google's broader base of search advertisers, which Apple doesn't have.

Widening the advertising aperture presents a delicate marketing challenge for Apple.

Ads and a "premium" brand identity make for awkward bedfellows.

"It's quite a tightrope that Apple is walking," Bailey said.

Apple frames privacy as a "fundamental human right," and famously threw the mobile ad market for a loop in 2021 with updates to its app-tracking rules. (Apple's ad revenue skyrocketed that year.)

Apple's approach to the ad market has been cautious and muted relative to its Big Tech peers.

Don't expect to see the "Apple beach" at Cannes Lions anytime soon. Apple ad execs prefer to keep it low-key.

"Apple is probably the largest advertising company that doesn't identify as an advertising company," Itai Cohen, chief strategy officer of the mobile ad company Digital Turbine, told me.

Omdia estimates Apple's ad revenue grew by 15% last year to nearly $7 billion, 95% of which was tied to app install ads on the App Store.

Despite continued growth, Apple's App Store is starting to give off "shaking the cushions" energy — to borrow a phrase from former Google ads chief Jerry Dischler — as it tries to keep its ad business growing in the double digits. Ad loads are rising: What was once a single sponsored search result has expanded to multiple ad placements.

Maps offers a fresh revenue spigot.

As iPhone upgrade cycles lengthen, Apple's $109 billion services business, which includes advertising, has become central to the company's growth.

It also faces challenges. Global antitrust regulators are zeroing in on the App Store over its fees and the tight grip the iOS ecosystem has on developers and users. Then there's the DOJ's threat to Apple's $20 billion-a-year Google search deal.

Apple's ad business is a hedge.

What will Apple do next with ads? It already sells TV ads during its MLS broadcasts, so a full ad tier for Apple TV could be a logical next step. Maybe in time for this year's upfront?

If you know anything, get in touch: loreilly@businessinsider.com.

• Soccer fans face jacked-up prices for this summer's World Cup.
• Train fares for games in Boston have been hiked four-times to $80.
• Politicians and fan groups have criticized high ticket prices for games and transport.

It isn't just tickets to games that FIFA World Cup fans will have to shell out for — they'll also have to pay way more for transit to stadiums.

Gillette Stadium, the home of the New England Patriots, is hosting seven matches of the tournament, which is being held across the US, Canada, and Mexico. Fans going to games at the venue face $80 round-trip train fares for the journey to and from Boston's South Station, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority announced last week.

Such tickets usually cost $20 during other events, or $8.75 on a regular day. The two rail stations are about 20 miles apart.

The Athletic also reported on Tuesday that New Jersey Transit is planning to charge $100 for a round-trip rail ticket between Penn Station and MetLife Stadium. It's set to host eight World Cup matches, including the final.

That journey usually costs $12.90, meaning prices during the World Cup could be up to 8 times higher than during most events.

The report drew criticism from Chuck Schumer, the New York senator and Senate minority leader.

"FIFA is set to reap nearly $11 billion from this summer's World Cup, yet New York area commuters and residents are being handed the bill," he said in a post on X. "The least FIFA can do is ensure New York residents can go to the stadium without being gouged at the turnstile."

Schumer also called on the sport's governing body to cover transportation costs.

FIFA and NJ Transit did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by Business Insider outside US working hours. An NJ Transit spokesperson told The Athletic that prices "have not been finalized."

The MBTA said last Thursday that it sold some 17,450 rail tickets to Gillette Stadium on the first day sales opened.

Phillip Eng, the CEO and general manager, said the "tremendous demand" showed the MBTA "needed to think outside the box to safely deliver unprecedented train service."

With 6,200 tickets, fans attending the Haiti vs. Scotland game on June 13 broke the record for the most special-event train tickets sold for an individual event at Gillette Stadium — including Taylor Swift's three concerts in 2023.

This year's World Cup is the biggest one yet, as FIFA expanded it from 32 teams to 48. That has helped the debuts of countries including Uzbekistan, Cape Verde, and Jordan.

The price of tickets for games has drawn criticism from fan groups, particularly as only a small number of match tickets were originally offered at the lowest price of $60.

"In practice they were so scarce that the entire Category 4 inventory was practically sold out before general public sales opened," said Football Supporters Europe, a fan group that advocates for affordability.

While Scotland qualified for its first World Cup in 28 years, political leaders said fans could be priced out.

The BBC found that the cheapest ticket available on FIFA's resale platform cost $690 for the Scotland vs Haiti match, up from $400.

"Our historic return has been marred by FIFA's dynamic pricing model that has made the trip simply unaffordable for so many loyal supporters," Scottish First Minister John Swinney said in a letter to FIFA President Gianni Infantino earlier this month.

"This model has made this the most expensive World Cup in history and it is the opposite of what football, and indeed the biggest sporting occasion on the planet, should be about."

• Valvoline is launching its first-ever FIFA World Cup campaign this week.
• Chief brand officer Michael Kirtman spoke about how it feels to prepare for a World Cup debut.
• Sign up for Business Insider's weekly marketing newsletter.

What does it feel like being a marketer about to launch the first FIFA World Cup campaign of your career?

"Excitement. Anxiousness. I can't believe it. Boy, I hope it works," Michael Kirtman, chief brand officer of Valvoline Global, told CMO Insider in an interview.

"So, all the emotions I feel."

Three months into his tenure, Kirtman, a former Procter & Gamble marketer, has been charged with leading the 160-year-old motor oil and lubricant brand's first-ever FIFA World Cup sponsorship. It's also the company's largest global marketing push to date, aimed at expanding brand awareness beyond its North American roots. (Aramco, the Saudi oil company, acquired Valvoline's global operations in 2023.)

The World Cup is a big stage for a marketing debut.

The World Advertising Research Centre predicts the World Cup — hosted in the US, Canada, and Mexico and starting in June — will drive a $10.5 billion surge in global ad spend. Brands will look to capitalize on the tournament's feel-good factor, large live-TV audiences, and favorable kick-off times for US viewers.

FIFA said 5 billion people engaged with content from the Qatar 2022 World Cup across linear TV, streaming, and social channels, with over 1.4 billion viewers tuning in to watch the final between Argentina and France.

Valvoline's main World Cup ad — "The original motor oil for the driven" — follows a father-daughter trip to a soccer match, intercut with clips of other fans making their own journeys and mechanics ensuring the cars, buses, and motorcycles get them there reliably and safely.

Kirtman said he hopes the key takeaway consumers will have after watching the ad is: "I understand what Valvoline does, who they are, and if I use their product, I never have to worry about, 'Does my car get me to where I need to go?'"

For Valvoline, sales, volume, and profit will determine whether the campaign was a success.

"I think impressions and clicks are vanity KPIs a lot of the time," Kirtman said, referring to key performance indicators. "They make us feel good, but rarely do they really correlate to real business."

Kirtman said the company is spending half of its media budget on TV, and the rest on digital. It kicks off in Mexico on Thursday and will launch in other countries, including the US, China, India, and Saudi Arabia, shortly after.

Scenario planning during unpredictable times

The geopolitical environment has been "top of mind" in the planning stages leading to the campaign launch, Kirtman said.

Research released by the U.S. Travel Association earlier this month found that international World Cup visitors are concerned about safety, costs, and visa requirements. Meanwhile, the ongoing conflict in the Middle East has pushed up oil prices and could make travel difficult for some overseas supporters.

"Will there be some customers that make the choice not to come to the World Cup now? For sure," Kirtman said. "I have to be flexible about what the implications of that are."

He added that he's focused on "controlling the controllables," such as which media channels the brand appears on in certain regions and the timing and tone of its communications.

"What it requires is constantly looking at the data to understand what's going on globally," Kirtman said.

He said he hasn't been tempted to cut back Valvoline's World Cup ad budget, though.

"When you're a brand that has the pride to lean in during a time like this, I think it pays dividends to your stakeholders," Kirtman said.

• The IMF's latest outlook sends a "sobering" message about the global economy, Mohamed El-Erian says.
• The economist said the Middle East war threatens growth, inflation, inequality, and public finances.
• El-Erian warned of a "stagflationary wind" and "unsettling financial instability" in recent weeks.

The global economy faces a laundry list of threats, and the war in the Middle East could worsen pretty much all of them, Mohamed El-Erian has warned.

"Reading between the lines, the message of today's IMF flagship report is sobering: Virtually every challenge facing the global economy is poised to intensify due to the fallout of the Middle East War," El-Erian said in an X post on Tuesday.

The Wharton professor and former deputy director of the International Monetary Fund ticked off a bunch of those challenges: tepid growth, onerous living costs, severe inequality, large budget deficits and national debts, climate risks, and policy constraints.

The conflict between Iran and the US and Israel has sent shockwaves through the global economy in large part because of the virtual closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping channel for oil and liquefied natural gas. The upshot has been surging energy prices over the past few weeks.

El-Erian, the chief economic advisor at insurer Allianz and the former CEO of fixed-income giant PIMCO, sounded the alarm after the IMF released its latest World Economic Outlook.

The report warned of a "major test" for the global economy as the war threatens to choke growth and reignite inflation. The IMF cut its global growth forecast for this year from 3.3% in January to 3.1%, and hiked its inflation projections to 4.4% this year and 3.7% in 2027.

The global financial body also cautioned that if the war drags on and energy infrastructure in the Middle East is damaged, growth this year could fall to 2%, and inflation could exceed 6% next year.

The IMF also said that "larger fiscal deficits and increasing public debt" could heap pressure on long-term interest rates, tightening wider financial conditions.

"The current hostilities in the Middle East pose immediate policy trade-offs: between fighting inflation and preserving growth and between supporting those affected by the rising cost of living and rebuilding fiscal buffers," the agency wrote.

El-Erian has been sounding the alarm on the war's economic repercussions for a while. In an X post on April 13, he wrote that "each day of higher oil prices and interrupted energy supplies blows a stronger stagflationary wind."

In an April 2 post, he warned the fallout from the war for US households included "surging gas prices and more expensive mortgages," almost certainly a "broader hit to the cost of living," and potentially "lower economic growth and a higher risk of unsettling financial instability."

Another leading economist and Wharton professor, Jeremy Siegel, spelled out why consumers and businesses should brace for steeper prices in his weekly WisdomTree commentary on Monday:

"The key issue now is that higher oil, higher diesel, and higher fertilizer costs are likely to work their way into freight, shipping, airfares, and a broad range of goods prices over the next two to three months."

• BeReal has been making a pitch to creators that they should post more regularly on the app.
• The social media app is trying to regain some of the momentum from its breakout year in 2022.
• BeReal is hoping to attract creators with the potential for big-name advertiser tie-ups.

BeReal wants influencers to help chart its next era.

The social media app, which prompts users to quickly snap a photo or video within a two-minute window each day, is starting to proactively pitch creators in the US to get verified on the platform and post more regularly.

Ben Moore, BeReal's US managing director, told CMO Insider that the company has been talking with creators who "have this very unfiltered, raw, and authentic way of engaging with their audience, that are a perfect fit for BeReal."

He said the concentrated effort to begin courting US influencers began in the second quarter of this year. It builds on the outreach it kicked off in France and Japan in the first quarter, which helped it build deeper relationships with creators, including Léna Situations, Inoxtag, and Michou.

The move is part of a broader strategy to help the app regain some of the momentum from its breakout year in 2022, when BeReal went viral and topped app store charts.

The research company Sensor Tower estimates BeReal was downloaded about 8.5 million times in 2025, representing a 41% year-over-year decline. While BeReal's current user base might be much smaller than rivals, the company says its audience is loyal. BeReal says it has 40 million monthly active users, with more than 50% of them opening the app 6 days a week.

BeReal doesn't have an ad revenue-sharing program or a creator fund like other big social platforms. Instead, BeReal says it can help facilitate partnerships between creators and big-brand advertisers who use the platform. It also offers creators insights tools to help them understand the types of people who see their posts and which ones are gaining the most traction.

Moore said the company has worked with more than 500 advertisers since launching ads, including major brands such as Amazon, Apple, and L'Oréal. More than 60% of its clients in the US are repeat advertisers, Moore said.

Part of the pitch to creators is about expanding their potential audiences. BeReal says that around 27% of its US users aren't on Snapchat, 25% aren't Facebook users, and 23% don't use TikTok, citing November 2025 data from the research firm GWI.

In its outreach to creators, BeReal emphasizes that its feed is populated by real humans and that it will "never have AI" or encourage infinite scrolling, Moore said.

BeReal "resonates with creators that want to show the behind-the-scenes and want to show a different side of themselves that they don't post to other platforms," Moore added.

Simon Andrews, founder of the digital marketing consultancy Addictive, said BeReal could struggle to compete with larger platforms like Meta, TikTok, and YouTube for creators.

Those platforms demonstrate "huge numbers, constant innovation, and clear evidence of the platform's impact," Andrews said. "Apps like BeReal feel like they are lost — installed but nowhere near the first screen where people keep the apps they constantly use."

BeReal is hiring for a Paris-based head of growth who will report to the CEO and be responsible for scaling the platform globally, per a job ad on its parent company's website.

BeReal's creator-monetization strategy may create a tension with the app's original ethos, said James Poulter, founder of digital transformation consultancy ThreePoint Labs.

"They set themselves out as the unfiltered, unedited, no-algorithm-in-sight social platform, but it's exactly what breaks the moment creators start treating it as a monetization channel," Poulter said.

"Creators optimize for engagement, and then authenticity goes out the window, and you end up with a slightly less polished Instagram," he added.

This challenge isn't insurmountable, Poulter said, but he added that BeReal will need to build more formal matching mechanisms between brands and creators, with clear rates and transparent terms, if it wants serious creator buy-in.

• Snap is the latest tech company to announce layoffs.
• The company behind Snapchat will cut 16% of its global workforce, according to a regulatory filing.
• In a memo to employees, CEO Evan Spiegel referenced "rapid advancements" in AI.

Snap has become the latest tech company to announce sweeping layoffs.

In a memo to employees released in a regulatory filing on Wednesday, CEO Evan Spiegel said Snap would cut 1,000 employees, about 16% of its global workforce, citing "rapid advancements" in AI and "small squads" using the technology to be more efficient.

"While these changes are necessary to realize Snap's long-term potential, we believe that rapid advancements in artificial intelligence enable our teams to reduce repetitive work, increase velocity, and better support our community, partners, and advertisers," Spiegel wrote.

The Snap CEO said the company would also close more than 300 open roles, and that US-based employees would receive four months of severance, healthcare coverage, and equity vesting. Spiegel also wrote that employees based in North America should work from home on Wednesday.

Snap joins a wave of tech companies cutting staff this year. Oracle and Meta announced layoffs last month, while Amazon slashed 16,000 corporate roles in January, citing a need to chop bureaucracy. In some cases, leaders are citing AI. The CEOs of Atlassian and Block both said AI was changing the needs of their workforce when they trimmed staff earlier this year.

In an investor update included in Snap's regulatory filing, the company said the layoffs would result in estimated annualized cost savings of $500 million.

"Snap faces a crucible moment — squeezed between giants with enormous resources and nimble startups moving fast," the company wrote in the investor presentation. "To meet this moment, we are pivoting toward profitable growth."

Snap said this new strategy would include scaling its subscription business and higher-margin ad placements.

The company said it also plans to transform its internal business model to spread critical work across both human teams and "increasingly capable AI agents." Under Snap's new operating model, at least 65% of new code was generated by AI, the company said in its investor presentation.

Read Spiegel's memo below:

Dear Team,

Today we are announcing changes that will impact approximately 1,000 team members at Snap, including 16% of our full time employees, in addition to closing more than 300 open roles. This is an incredibly difficult decision, and I am deeply sorry to the colleagues who will be leaving us. You have made important contributions to Snap, and we are committed to supporting you through this transition.

Last fall, I described Snap as facing a crucible moment, requiring a new way of working that is faster and more efficient, while pivoting towards profitable growth. Over the past several months, we have carefully reviewed the work required to best serve our community and partners, and made tough choices to prioritize the investments we believe are most likely to create long-term value. As a result of these changes, we expect to reduce our annualized cost base by more than $500 million by the second half of 2026, helping to establish a clearer path to net-income profitability.

While these changes are necessary to realize Snap's long-term potential, we believe that rapid advancements in artificial intelligence enable our teams to reduce repetitive work, increase velocity, and better support our community, partners, and advertisers. We have already witnessed small squads leveraging AI tools to drive meaningful progress across several important initiatives, including Snapchat+, enhanced ad platform performance, and efficiency improvements in our Snap Lite infrastructure.

If you are part of our North America team, please work from home today. In the US, impacted team members will receive an email notification within the next hour, including information about next steps. For non-US locations, you will receive additional details about next steps from leadership and HR.

To our departing colleagues: thank you. Your hard work has helped shape Snap, and we are deeply grateful for your contributions. For U.S.-based team members who are leaving, we will provide four months of severance, healthcare coverage, and equity vesting, along with career transition support.

Outside the U.S., we will follow local processes and seek to provide comparable support aligned with local norms.

To everyone continuing on this journey: change of this magnitude and at this speed is never easy and it will not be seamless. Thank you for your resilience, compassion, and commitment to one another, and to the community and partners we serve. Our responsibility is to move forward with clarity, empathy, and determination as we build a faster, stronger, and more durable Snap for the long term.

Evan

• The Long Play is a series bringing together leaders, builders, creators, and thinkers who are shaping what comes next.
• For the first edition, attendees heard from Bryan Johnson, Jason Blum, Joanna Strober, and Carina Hong.
• Ben Bergman shared what it was like backstage.

I was eating a cup of fruit standing backstage at the Long Play, the first edition of Business Insider's new live event series, when Bryan Johnson, who has amassed more than 2.4 million Instagram followers for extolling the lifestyle of living forever, strolled in with his partner, Kate Tolo.

Fortunately, my meal was healthy and I could sense Johnson's seal of approval. But he said he couldn't partake because we were well past his strict cut-off for any form of eating before his mandatory 8:30 PM bedtime. Rules are rules.

People love taking selfies with Johnson and another speaker, Joanna Strober, founder and CEO of Midi Health, was not shy about immediately asking him for one. He politely obliged. "Can I also get a video?" she asked.

Since the floodgates were open, I could not resist asking him for a selfie too before he went on stage to discuss why Silicon Valley founders need to have more sex and shared a test for figuring out your biological age.

The event was held at The Exploratorium, a museum known for hands-on displays, located on the San Francisco waterfront. The Long Play also featured Jason Blum, founder and CEO of Blumhouse, and Carina Hong, founder and CEO of Axiom Math.

An audience of more than 100 people gathered to snack on poke bowls and chicken thighs, and to glean insights about what the future holds in this perilous moment for AI when everyone is trying to figure out how to stay one step ahead of the bots.

But if they were looking for advice from Johnson, they were not going to get it.

"Nobody has anything intelligent to say about the future," he said.

• Hedge funds are in high demand, BlackRock says in its latest report on the industry.
• Still, the world's largest asset manager warns that outcomes across the industry will be varied.
• Hedge funds' value "is not inherent," the new report states.

The hedge fund industry is expected to grow by hundreds of billions of dollars over the coming years — exceeding $6 trillion by 2030 — but not every investment will be a winner.

Hedge funds will experience a "wider range of possibilities" than in the past, BlackRock states in a new report, due to choppy markets and the uncertain geopolitical environment. While those conditions give the roughly $5 trillion hedge fund industry more opportunities to outperform, the added volatility can wrongfoot even the smartest investors.

The institutions and family offices that invest in hedge funds need to know that the industry's value "is not inherent," the report states.

"Today's market environment is not only expanding the opportunity set for hedge funds, but it's also increasing the premium on manager skill," writes Michael Pyle, the $13.9 trillion asset manager's deputy head of the portfolio management group, in the report.

In other words, the gap between the industry's winners and losers will be significant, so the "selectivity, adaptability, and discipline" of hedge-fund backers will matter more than ever.

Hedge funds as a whole are not a monolith. Instead, they comprise a range of strategies, from sprawling multistrategy funds with dozens of teams trading different asset classes around the world to concentrated equity managers that focus on a small collection of companies to sophisticated systematic strategies run by algorithms and computer scientists.

Hedge funds' advantage in the increasingly volatile market conditions slamming equity and bond markets lies in their nimbleness and ability to use more complex instruments, such as derivatives, to express their market views, BlackRock writes. But these same instruments and against-the-grain views can backfire.

"Disciplined manager selection, thoughtful portfolio construction, and rigorous risk management" are essential to build a resilient roster of hedge funds, the report reads, and "that includes stress-testing exposures, trimming allocations where risk has risen alongside strong performance, and maintaining the flexibility to deploy capital to the most interesting opportunities."

The ability to move capital in and out of different strategies has diminished in recent years as sought-after managers, such as Izzy Englander's Millennium, have increased lock-up periods, and many of the top funds have been closed to new capital for years. The risks posed by the growth of multistrategy managers, in particular, should be top of mind, BlackRock states, as they've increased industrywide talent costs and warped markets through the leverage they employ.

Of course, the most essential part of any recipe is the quality of the ingredients, and a stew of hedge funds is no different.

"Access to and selection of the best hedge funds remains critical," the report states.

• MrBeast is on the hunt for his first global CMO to round out his executive suite.
• The move reflects the top YouTuber's growing ambitions as he aims to build an entertainment giant.
• MrBeast's company has expanded into categories including snacks and financial services.

MrBeast is on the hunt for his first global CMO as his company looks to round out its executive suite.

The world's biggest YouTuber, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, has been on a hiring spree lately, staffing up across brand partnerships, consumer products, and studio operations. Big hires have included NBCUniversal vet Corie Henson, who leads the studio division, and TikTok alum Beau Avril, who heads brand partnerships.

These moves reflect Beast Industries' growing ambitions, as it expands far beyond Donaldson's YouTube channel and seeks to become a Disney-style entertainment giant.

Along with Feastables, his snack company, Donaldson recently expanded into financial services with the acquisition of the app Step, and has plotted a mobile phone service.

He's also laying the groundwork to expand into ad and marketing services for brands, as well as services for other independent content creators like himself.

The CMO will have a wide remit, a person familiar with the search told Business Insider.

They'll step into a role overseeing a brand that's trying to become less reliant on its famous founder. It'll also require someone who can do everything from getting people to theatrical releases — Donaldson is lending his voice to "Angry Birds Movie 3," which is scheduled for a December release — to selling snacks and toys in stores, or pitching them on phone plans and checking accounts.

The person familiar with the search emphasized that the company is seeking a top marketer who's above all a businessperson, with a record of delivering results.

The person said the CMO role will report directly to Jeff Housenbold, who became CEO of Beast Industries in September 2024 and has been leading the charge to button up the company financially as it plans for an eventual IPO.

Housenbold, who brings experience at Shutterfly and SoftBank, is leading the search with chief people officer Tia Silas and hopes to fill the role within six months.

In recent months, Beast Industries has struck broad partnerships with blue-chip giants that reflect its growing marketing ambitions.

A Starbucks collaboration included sponsoring "Beast Games" season 2, providing round-the-clock access to Starbucks food and drink for contestants of the reality competition series, and creating a limited-time special "Cannon Ball Drink." Donaldson also lent his image and young-audience appeal to help Salesforce create a Super Bowl spot.

A 'dream job' with challenges

"This is a CMO's dream job," a MrBeast spokesperson said. "It's a chance to work with one of the world's most talented entrepreneurs and creators, alongside a seasoned CEO and executive team who have grown massive consumer businesses and taken companies public."

Filling the role presents some special challenges. On one hand, candidates could be drawn to the chance to help YouTube's top creator, with over 477 million subscribers, reach new heights. On the other hand, candidates with big-company experience may have to get used to smaller budgets and a nimble, creator-led culture. The company said it won't require a relocation to its Greenville, NC, home base, which could have been a dealbreaker for some.

"No matter how you slice it, this is still an early-stage business that's growing rapidly," said John McCarus, president of Content Ink, an executive search firm focused on the creator economy. "There's going to be chaos and resource challenges and significant expectations, so you have to be entrepreneurial and use unconventional tactics to increase awareness and bring in new customers who aren't watching the Beast main channel."

In January, Beast Industries, which was previously valued at around $5 billion, announced it raised $200 million in new funding from the ethereum holding company Bitmine Immersion Technologies.

• US stocks have been absolutely ripping since hitting a multi-month low in late March.
• All three major indexes have seen both Iran-war and year-to-date losses erased in the past few days.
• The rally can be traced back to three main reasons.

While oil traders stay suspended in limbo over the Iran war, stock traders seem to have called it a day.

Since dropping to a multi-month low in late March, US equities have accomplished the following feats, through Tuesday's close:

• The S&P 500 has rallied 10%, and the Nasdaq 100 has climbed 13%
• Both indexes have recovered all of their Iran-war and year-to-date losses, and then some
• The Nasdaq's 10-day winning streak is its longest since 2021

The primary reason is straightforward: Even as Iran-war uncertainty persists, investors are pricing in a peace deal. They've proven willing to overlook near-term war rhetoric. That's allowed them to focus on more positive catalysts, like future earnings growth, which has historically been the biggest source of returns.

The US stock rebound has also been driven by earnings forecasts getting more aggressive across Wall Street. Firms like Deutsche Bank and Barclays have raised estimates in recent days, while data from FactSet shows that there have been broad upward revisions by sell-side analysts.

The ratcheting-up of earnings expectations has secondarily served to help suppress stock valuations. As profit forecasts grow, the forward price-earnings (P/E) ratio for an index drops.

You know what else has helped it fall? The fact that the Iran war stock sell-off reset valuations across the market. Look no further than the chart below — which shows Bloomberg's forward P/E ratio for the Nasdaq 100:

Sure, the drop is enormous in the context of history. But the ratio also hasn't rallied back with stock prices, suggesting the sector remains attractively priced. That's been a popular argument for a growing chorus of market pundits who are advising clients to get back into tech stocks, and fast.

Just last week — in what now looks like a prescient move — Goldman Sachs released a list of seven reasons why tech stocks were a screaming buy-the-dip opportunity. Valuations were also cited as a primary reason for piling back into tech for a handful of the interview subjects for our latest edition of "How to Invest $10,000" series.

From a non-Iran perspective, the next big test for the earnings-driven bull narrative will be the last week of April, when juggernauts Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta, and Apple report across a two-day period.

Investors will of course be watching to make sure newly raised profit forecasts are met. But there's also the wild card of how they'll treat capex spending on AI. If certain results don't sit right with them, tech stocks could see a fresh wave of selling.

• State Street's Michael Arone maintains a bullish market outlook despite recent economic turmoil.
• His firm has upgraded technology, energy, and materials stocks to overweight positions.
• Arone also highlighted real assets like gold as beneficiaries of deglobalization trends.

At the start of 2026, Michael Arone was one of the most bullish strategists on Wall Street, calling for the S&P 500 to rise 17% to 8,000. Things have changed quite a bit since January (see: surging oil prices, inflation fears, and AI threatening to upend entire industries), but Arone is sticking with his rosy outlook.

"I think that the market is like a spring right now, and that spring is kind of coiled, and you can see it really wants to move higher," Arone, State Street Investment Management's chief investment strategist, told Business Insider.

He pointed to a handful of factors he thinks will push the market higher:

• The US-Iran conflict is likely to be resolved soon
• The tax cuts in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and other fiscal stimulus will provide a tailwind to growth
• Average tariff rates have come down to around 8% since the Supreme Court IEEPA ruling in February
• Inflation is likely to stay low as a low labor market quits rate implies suppressed wage growth, teeing up the Federal Reserve to cut rates later this year
• The FIFA World Cup should boost earnings a bit in the US as consumers spend on hotels, tickets, food, merchandise, and more

But Arone said a few new opportunities have opened up since the start of the year, leading State Street, which oversees $5.7 trillion in assets, to upgrade them to overweight in recent days.

4 trades State Street is overweight on

The first is technology stocks, which now trade at a lower premium while driving much of the market's earnings growth. Plus, he argues they're more protected from geopolitical volatility and a potential economic slowdown than other areas of the market.

"In many ways, technology is somewhat insulated from some of those dynamics and is delivering exceptional earnings and revenue growth, and I can buy that growth at essentially a market multiple," he said.

Second is the energy sector, which Arone argues had fundamental growth drivers behind it even before the US-Iran war sent oil prices soaring. Those bullish trends include an expected economic recovery cycle, expected lighter regulation, greater capital discipline from firms in the industry, and AI innovation.

Plus, their valuations are cheaper now.

"The stocks were already starting to rally prior to the conflict breaking out, and now all of a sudden at higher oil prices, their revenue outlook just got a whole lot better, and they're trading at a far cheaper multiple than the market," he said.

Third are materials stocks. Arone said they should continue to get a boost from a trifecta of factors: increased defense spending, AI infrastructure spending, and geopolitical tensions driving governments to take a national interest in certain materials. Earnings in the sector are growing 24% year over year, he said.

Finally, Arone said he's bullish on real assets like gold as deglobalization accelerates and government spending and debt grow. The firm had already been overweight on the trade, but Arone said that the US-Iran war only bolsters their view.

"That spending that they're all doing is also increasing the level of debt at a time when many of them can ill afford to expand their poor fiscal positions — Germany, Japan, the US, etc. And so they're debasing their currencies," he said. "All of this leads us to want to own more real assets.

• Should you reach out if you get ghosted after an interview? We asked career coaches and recruiters.
• While two job coaches said it's a waste of time, one recruiter encouraged candidates to do so.
• A recruiting leader at Zapier shared a template you can send if you do decide to follow up.

Getting ghosted is all too common when submitting job apps — but the silence feels even louder when you don't hear back after an interview.

After all, if you've taken the time and effort to prepare, the least a company can do is send a rejection note once they hire someone else, right?

While it may be best practice to let candidates know where they stand, sometimes hiring managers let follow-ups "slip through the cracks," said Bonnie Dilber, a recruiting leader at Zapier. Recruiters might accidentally archive everyone from the role once they've filled it, she said.

"It's general disorganization. It's not someone trying to be cruel," Dilber said.

What should you do if it happens to you? Is it a good idea to follow up with the company if you haven't heard anything for weeks? Or is it best to stay quiet?

To respond or not respond

Two job coaches told Business Insider that candidates should not waste their time sending a response to a company after they've been ghosted during the interview process.

"The likelihood that they actually care or going to change anything is very low," T. Brad Kielinski, founder and CEO of IT Pros, a tech recruitment and outplacement firm, told Business Insider.

Kielinski said that even if dozens of applicants provide the same feedback, it probably won't make a difference in the company's practice, unless the employer received public backlash. However, it's generally not a good look to publicly badmouth a company, Kielinski said.

If you had a bad experience with a company, you're probably not alone, however. Eventually, word will probably get out about the company's practices, Kielinski said, whether it's on Glassdoor or other channels.

Alan Stein, CEO of Kadima Career, Life, and Mindset Coaching, echoed the sentiment. He said that while it may feel "cathartic" to give feedback, most companies don't care. Stein, who has had 31 jobs, said that every company he worked for cared about whether the role was filled in time and within budget, not the kind of feedback that candidates gave.

However, Dilber encourages escalating the situation to a manager or department leader if there's been no follow-up from the recruiter after a week of asking for an update.

"As somebody who manages a recruiting team, I would want to know if my recruiters are ghosting people," Zilber said, adding that she's had candidates reach out about not hearing back from anyone and has asked recruiters on her team to follow up.

What to say if you choose to speak up

If you decide to speak up after getting ghosted, it's important to first consider your motive.

If the intention is to get closure about the job, sales coach Josh Braun suggests this template:

It seems like you decided to move forward with someone else. I'm guessing my dog barking in the background sealed my fate. I know you have a lot of candidates interviewing for the VP of sales job, so I appreciate you considering me.

He said the first sentence may elicit a response confirming that the decision has been made. The second brings humor into the conversation and lowers the stakes, and the third ends the conversation gracefully.

If your goal is to improve the process for candidates who follow, think carefully about your tone, said Dilber. As a recruiting leader, she said she's been on the receiving end of aggressive messages from candidates who haven't gotten a response from recruiter. That signals the candidate assumes negative intent and can't manage their emotions, she said.

Dilber said candidates should instead take an approach that assumes the best and provides constructive feedback on how companies can improve their processes and better retain engaged candidates. She said that she's successfully followed up twice with employers after being ghosted herself.

Dilber said candidates should first follow up to the recruiter they've been speaking to with a short and direct message that says something along the lines of, "I know it's been a while, so I can probably guess what the decision is, but just wanted a final update," or, "I've enjoyed our conversation and was curious if you had an update for me." Candidates should usually give it a week if they haven't heard back before sending that kind of message, she said.

Dilber said she's then contacted people in the C-suite of the organization and said, "Hey, I know you spend a lot of money on leveraging these folks, and it's a negative candidate experience, and it reflects negatively on your experience, and it reflects negatively on your organization."

Dilber said that both times she sent those messages, the company apologized and followed up with her.

• Anthony Scaramucci thinks Trump's move to blockade the Strait of Hormuz is correct.
• The hedge fund founder and Trump critic told Business Insider it's an effective negotiation tactic.
• In his view, it will economically impair Iran to the point that it will be forced to resume talks.

Anthony Scaramucci has been a vocal Donald Trump critic in the years since his vanishingly short run as communications director during the president's first term, but he thinks he might be making the right move on Iran.

The founder of SkyBridge Capital told Business Insider that while he thinks Trump hasn't executed well on a lot of things during the war, he believes a military blockade in the Strait of Hormuz is the best way for the US to bring Iran back to the negotiating table.

Scaramucci was the White House communications director for 11 days during the first Trump administration. Since then, he's become an active political commentator and influencer, appearing on political podcasts and hosting The Rest is Politics: US.

"We've done a series of wrong things, but blocking the Strait right now, in my opinion, is the correct move," he said.

Economists and market pros, including International Monetary Fund managing director Kristalina Georgieva, say the move is risky for both the US and broader economy. Yet, Scaramucci believes it could help bring a quicker end to the conflict.

"If you put the Strait in a complete lockdown, you're going to have the Iranians are going to be forced to come back to the table," he said, adding that Iran won't be able to handle the hit to the economy created by the blockade.

Scaramucci said, however, that even if the blockade motivates Iran's leaders to reach an agreement with the US, markets won't immediately stabilize, and oil price volatility will persist until the strait is fully reopened.

Still, he sees Trump's latest move as necessary to permanently end the global economic turmoil produced by the war. His view is similar to that of other commentators, such as former JPMorgan chief quant Marko Kolanovic, who argued that Trump should stomach the pain in financial markets to demonstrate he's serious about the US's goals in the war.

"It's going to be a real case study in how a mid level player can take on a superpower," Scaramucci said. "I think his move to shut the Strait makes it harder for them because it impairs them economically."

• The Trump-branded smartphone has a new look.
• Among the changes: three cameras stacked vertically, rather than in a triangle.
• It's not clear when the phone will be released, and its "Made in the USA" claims have been watered down.

The much-anticipated Trump smartphone has a new look. But the eventual release date is less clear than ever, and the phone's initial "made in the USA" claims have been watered down even further.

Trump Mobile, a cell phone company founded by Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, released an updated mock-up of the design of the T1 Phone, the company's main Trump-branded smartphone offering.

Though the phone is still gilded, it has some notable design changes, including a vertical array of cameras rather than the previous triangular design.

However, there's no longer any information on the website about when the phone might be released: The website simply prompts potential customers to "Join the Waitlist."

It's the latest setback for the planned rollout of the Trump phone.

When it was first announced in June 2025 — on the 10-year anniversary of President Donald Trump's first campaign launch — the phone was slated to come out in August.

That release date has since been delayed multiple times, and a company representative previously told Business Insider that the phones would be shipped at the end of January, attributing the delay in part to the 43-day government shutdown in the fall.

That's not the only change Trump Mobile has made along the way.

Within days of the launch event last June, the company's "MADE IN THE USA" branding was scrubbed from the website, with the phone described as being "brought to life right here in the USA" with "American hands."

Now, the phone is simply described as "designed with American values in mind" and "shaped by American innovation," with "American teams helping guide design and quality."

• Democratic lawmakers launched a new effort to block Trump's rule to limit Public Service Loan Forgiveness.
• The rule, set to take effect in July, would narrow program eligibility.
• Nonprofits have already filed lawsuits to block the rule.

The Trump administration is seeking to limit a major student-loan forgiveness program for public servants. Democratic lawmakers want to slam the brakes.

On Tuesday, legislators led by Sen. Tim Kaine and Rep. Joe Courtney announced a resolution under the Congressional Review Act — a fast-track mechanism to overturn federal rules — to block President Donald Trump's looming changes to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.

PSLF, signed into law by former President George W. Bush in 2007, forgives student debt for government and nonprofit workers after 10 years of qualifying payments. To date, any employer in the government or nonprofit sector is eligible for the program.

The Trump administration wants to change that — at the end of 2025, it finalized a rule that would redefine what "public service" means and bar employers that engage in "substantial illegal activity." The administration said such activities could include gender-affirming care or harboring illegal immigrants.

Courtney said in a statement that the new rule "would pick and choose which public servants are eligible for forgiveness based on the Trump Administration's ideological agenda, which clearly goes against Congressional intent."

The rule would take effect on July 1.

"With this new rule, the Trump Administration is refocusing the PSLF program to ensure federal benefits go to our Nation's teachers, first responders, and civil servants who tirelessly serve their communities," Undersecretary of Education Nicholas Kent previously said in a statement.

If the department determines an employer engaged in illegal activity, the employer would be notified and given an opportunity to rebut the findings. If the employer is disqualified, they can reapply to be eligible for PSLF within 10 years or enter a "corrective action plan" in cooperation with the department.

The rule has already faced legal challenges. In November 2025, a coalition of cities and nonprofits sued the administration, arguing that limiting PSLF would harm nonprofit recruitment.

Have a story to share about student loans? Contact this reporter at asheffey@businessinsider.com.

• American, Delta, and United all now offer doors in business class.
• The suite-style pods are increasingly popular as airlines compete for premium flyers.
• Here's how the Big 3 airlines stack up now that doors are table stakes in business class.

Business class just lost one of its biggest differentiators.

When United Airlines unveiled its newest Polaris business-class cabin in March, it cemented the industry-wide shift to sliding-door suites. What was once a standout feature is now table stakes for US carriers as they compete for premium revenue.

Delta Air Lines became the first of the Big 3 to adopt doors in business class in 2017; it one-upped itself on Monday with a new, even more high-end version, set to deploy on its Airbus A350-1000 planes in 2027.

Eight years later, in June 2025, American joined the trend with its new door-equipped Boeing 787 Flagship Suite. United's latest Polaris seat will launch this month on 787s, though the doors are still awaiting certification and will remain locked open for now.

Other airlines are reinforcing this focus on privacy: JetBlue Airways and Alaska Airlines — the only other US airlines flying long-haul international routes — also fly suite-style business class.

Still, airlines are finding new ways to stand out and claim a slice of the booming premium pie — from self-serve snack bars and two-person suites to build-your-own ice cream carts.

The Big 3's cozy new suites are mostly used for long-haul international flights. Looking at fares for mid-August, the suites at each airline cost roughly $5,800 roundtrip between the West Coast and London.

That price is United's cheapest option under its new unbundled business class model. Seat assignments, lounge access, and other perks would cost about $300 more to add. Delta's newest long-haul suite isn't yet on sale; it's unclear whether it'll cost more.

Here's how American, Delta, and United's door-equipped business-class cabins compare.

Doors in business class are now standard on new airplanes.

Virtually every new widebody aircraft delivered to the Big 3 will have sliding doors.

Delta's current business class uses the Vantage XL platform from Northern Ireland's Thompson Aero Seating; its future Airbus A350-1000 Delta One Suite will use the next-generation VantageNOVA with slimmer doors for more space.

United and American's new 787s are being delivered with doors-equipped business class from Elevate Aircraft Seating (formerly Adient Aerospace).

Delta has more suite-style seats flying than any US airline.

Delta's door-equipped business class was years ahead of its rivals, and today it has hundreds of suites flying across its A350-900 and A330-900neo fleets. Its A330-200 and -300s are also getting a retrofit. Delta said it expects 90% of its business seats will have doors by 2030.

American has more than half a dozen premium 787s flying; it has 30 total on order, all to be delivered with the new Flagship Suite.

United's first long-haul door-equipped Polaris flight will be to Singapore on April 22; it's unclear when the doors can close. It has more than 100 Dreamliners on order.

The physical suites are more similar than they are different.

Pod-style suites are now the baseline in business class. The beds stretch about six and a half feet, though Delta said its new A350-1000 suite's bed will be longer.

All of the Big 3 suite seats also angle in, giving flyers a better view out the window. All cabins also feature standard cubbies, power ports, wireless charging, and large Bluetooth-capable televisions.

Delta will have the largest seatback screen; United has Starlink.

Delta's next-generation suite will have 24-inch screens, up from the about 18 inches in current suites. American's screens are about 17 inches; United's new Polaris screen will be about 19 inches.

United also plans to offer hyperfast Starlink on its future 787s, while American and Delta still use satellite-based providers that support streaming on most aircraft. All three have made WiFi free for loyalty members, regardless of cabin.

American and United have 'business-class-plus' seats.

These are oversized seats that use the bulkhead to increase the living space. American's eight "Preferred" seats are up to 42% bigger, has a larger footwell, and comes with pajamas. It doesn't currently carry an additional fee.

United's "Polaris Studio" is 25% larger than the standard seat and also features an ottoman to let two people meet, dine, or socialize in-flight. It will also have what United says is the largest seatback television of any US carrier at 27 inches. The fee is $499 each way.

United and Delta will have special business-class-only treats.

United and Delta are both introducing onboard self-service refreshment areas with snacks and drinks in their long-haul business-class cabins.

They also both offer a build-your-own sundae cart exclusive to business-class flyers.

Some Big 3 airplanes will still fly business class seats without doors.

While standardizing business class is the goal, Big 3 fleets will remain fragmented for years, as retrofitting every aircraft is not always economical. This means the premium experience will still turn on the aircraft type.

Delta's Boeing 767s will remain without doors as the fleet is gradually retired later this decade. American's older 787s will not get the Flagship Suite, but it plans to retrofit it onto its 777s.

United is limiting its refreshed Polaris cabins to new 787 deliveries, leaving existing Dreamliners and 777s with older business-class seats. Passengers who prioritize privacy should check the aircraft type when booking to confirm whether a door-equipped suite is available.

In August 2024, we published the story of Wannapa Suprasert, a 29-year-old Thai woman living in San Francisco, who lost $300,000 of her own savings and her family's money in a three-month-long government impersonation scam involving what she thought were multiple law enforcement agencies, a criminal syndicate, check-ins four times a day, and a vow of secrecy.

The scam left her struggling to distinguish between reality and the fictional world the scammers constructed for her. She fabricated stories to convince her family back home in Thailand to send her money, which she forwarded on to the scammers. "I feel like I'm the scammer because I scammed my family, in a sense, by lying to them," she told me after she realized the truth. "The guilt will stay with me for the rest of my life."

Two years after the scam took over her life, I caught up with Suprasert. She answered my call while on one of her daily morning walks, something she's taken to doing as she moves forward with her life.

The ordeal left her with $10,800 in credit card debt, which she quickly paid off with loans from friends. She continues to work in the same data analyst role she's had since before the scam began, which allowed her to pay back her friends. She still carries strong feelings of guilt, especially in relation to her aunt, whose retirement funds were largely drained. Though she plans to repay her, she hasn't been able to yet.

The following as-told-to essay is based on conversations with Suprasert and has been edited for length and clarity.

For months after the scam, I went to war with my past self — for being naive, for not seeing it coming, for trusting the wrong people.

My mind was still racing in an endless, vicious negative feedback loop where I was thinking, What if I didn't pick up the phone? What if I didn't go to the bank? There were so many things that could've prevented everything from going down.

But no matter how many times I replayed it or how many doors I knocked on asking for help, I couldn't change a thing. No one was coming to save me.

Therapy helped me put a pause on this unhealthy loop and helped me process the grief and loss. After my Business Insider article was published, more people in my life reached out to me, which also helped.

I had to learn to ask for help

I set up a GoFundMe, which felt like putting myself out there. It raised almost $6,000, and the donations really helped kick-start things.

Rent was always a big portion of my expenses, so to cut costs, I sublet my room for about a month and a half and crashed in friends' living rooms or apartments while they were on vacation. A few friends let me borrow a couple of thousand dollars to pay off my debt. I'm super grateful for having trusting friends who offered a hand during that time.

Another way I tried to save up was by doing bake sales. I got to do something I like — baking — while also making some money. A few strangers who asked about my story were touched and helped me out by covering groceries for that week. I'm grateful for their acts of kindness.

I finished paying off my bank debt at the end of June 2024, and I finished paying back all of my friends in October 2024. Being out of debt is a huge mental relief.

I also definitely feel obligated to repay my family, but I haven't quite worked out any plan with them yet.

Knowing I'm not alone has helped a lot

While I read some cruel comments online, there was no negative feedback among my friends and family; talking to them has really helped.

A few of my coworkers also checked in with me, especially in the beginning. One would take me out to a bar to grab a drink, to be sure I had company and didn't spiral.

There were days that got dark, and knowing that I'm not alone and that there are people who still care deeply about me and my well-being has really helped. It reminded me that I'm not alone in this. It could've gone a lot worse.

I don't know how to move past the guilt I feel toward my aunt

I don't feel any tension with my dad and my brother. I feel like I can talk to them about anything, and they check on me quite often.

With my aunt, though, it's a whole different dynamic.

I went back to Thailand last year for about two weeks to see family. It was difficult because I didn't feel like I could talk to my aunt or look her in the eye.

The majority of the money I lost was her retirement fund, which she'd been saving up her whole life. In some ways, I feel like I scammed her, and I think maybe she thinks of it that way, too, at least partially. I wouldn't blame her for thinking that.

I tried to apologize. She didn't want to show it, but I think deep down, she was angry and had lingering thoughts like, Why did you do this to me? I don't know how to break the weird family tension that we have now.

It's a guilt that I'm still living with. I think about it less now, but it's there. It's like a jacket that you don't wear. Sometimes you forget about it, and then you open your closet, and there it is.

Focusing on my hobbies has helped with my physical and mental health

Lately, I've been going for 3- or 4-mile daily morning walks and doing more outdoor activities, because that's where I really find my serenity and community. I got more into backpacking and camping.

I also moved apartments last year. My expenses increased, but my dad and brother told me, "It's OK because your mental health comes first — whatever it is that you need to do to be whole again." I'm grateful that they're allowing me time and space to do that, before repaying my family.

I also got into cooking and have been making my own yogurt. These small things really help physically and emotionally — being kind to myself, exploring new hobbies and interests.

The level of trust I have in other people has taken a 180-degree turn. I tense up when anyone approaches me, especially online. In person, over time, I got out of the belief that people were going to come and physically hurt me — which is what the scammers had told me — but online is really tricky.

I still find it very difficult to use Line, the platform that I used to communicate with the criminals. I still have an account because it's what most Thai people use, but I ignore most of the app's notifications and try not to go on the platform too often. I've asked my family to use other apps like Facebook Messenger to communicate with me.

I've learned to pick myself back up and move forward

I keep thinking of something my brother told me, about how you can't always focus on what you lost. No matter what happened, your life moves on. Quite frankly, the world doesn't care too much about what happened to you, in both sad and positive ways.

It sucks; now what? There aren't that many choices. You either sink in and give up, or you endure the pain, the discomfort — whatever it is that makes you feel like you want to fall apart any minute — and tell yourself you can't. Pick yourself back up, look for the best, gather your resources, and ask for help.

I've been interviewed a few times, including speaking with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and done some podcasts. It was definitely difficult to keep talking about what happened, but I'm glad I can help spread awareness. I don't want anyone to have to experience what I did.

My advice for other scam victims: It might feel like your whole world is collapsing, but it's in these moments that you see another side of humanity and allow yourself to experience kindness, whether from strangers or from your friends and family who care about and love you.

It's hard to get out of that victim mindset and thinking, Why did it happen to me? What did I do so wrong to deserve all that?

However, there's more to life than this mess I got myself into. There are more things to experience and to look forward to. I'm just trying to be happy in my daily life and take care of myself. I'm on an upward trajectory.

Do you have a story to share about being scammed? Contact this reporter at janezhang@businessinsider.com.

• Utilities plan to spend $1.4 trillion on capital expenditures by 2030, a PowerLines study found.
• The electricity demands of AI are fueling spending growth, utilities say.
• Duke Energy, Southern Company, and American Electric Power have become some of the biggest spenders.

Big Tech isn't the only big spender in the AI race.

Spending on new power plants and transmission lines has reached record highs as utilities in the US try to meet the electricity demands of AI while modernizing the country's aging electric grid.

By 2030, investor-owned utilities are on track to spend $1.4 trillion on capital expenditures, according to a new report from PowerLines, a consumer education nonprofit.

The projected total spend over the next five years exceeds the $1.3 trillion the industry reported spending over the last decade.

Training and using AI require massive amounts of power from data centers, and utilities across the country have said they will need to build extensive new infrastructure to serve their data center customers.

A PowerLines analysis of 51 utility earnings calls found that the increased spending was concentrated among a small group of key players.

Duke Energy plans to spend $102.2 billion in capital expenditures by 2030, the most of any investor-owned utility in the US. Duke serves customers in Florida, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, North Carolina, and South Carolina, all of which are experiencing increased electricity demand driven by data centers.

Southern Company plans to shell out $81.2 billion. Southern serves data center projects in several southern US states, including a Meta campus in Huntsville, Alabama, and Microsoft's growing network in Georgia.

American Electric Power plans to spend $72 billion by 2030. AEP battled the data center industry last year over a proposed tariff in Ohio. Regulators approved the tariff in July, which requires financial commitments from data centers seeking a grid connection through AEP Ohio.

In the US, investor-owned utilities often seek state regulators' approval to recoup their high infrastructure costs from their customers.

Electric and gas utilities sought to raise customer bills by $31 billion in 2025, more than double the amount sought in 2024, according to a PowerLines report released earlier this year.

This way of conducting business has sparked a fierce debate across the country over who should pay for the AI boom.

Last month, tech companies including Microsoft, Meta, and OpenAI signed President Donald Trump's Ratepayer Protection Pledge, a voluntary agreement intended to prevent tech companies from driving up consumer electricity bills over the cost of powering data centers.

• Salesforce is facing a fight for its life as generative AI threatens to upend its business model.
• An internal Salesforce chart shows the executives helping CEO Marc Benioff with this effort.
• Salesforce earlier this year appointed new leaders in an executive shake-up.

An internal Salesforce organizational chart viewed by Business Insider shows the 10 executives helping CEO Marc Benioff lead the company during a pivotal moment.

Salesforce, like many software companies, is under pressure as generative AI threatens to upend its business model. The company is racing to add AI agents into its products as a defense.

Salesforce earlier this year appointed new leaders in an executive shake-up. A new bench of executives replaced five high-profile leaders who have announced departures from the company since December, according to a person familiar with the changes.

The changes came as the company's new fiscal year started on February 1.

Here are Benioff's direct reports, according to the org chart. For context, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang as 36 direct reports, Business Insider reported in October:

Robin Washington, president and chief operating and financial officer

Salesforce hired Washington in March 2025 for a newly created role overseeing operations and financial strategy across the company.

Washington has been a Salesforce board member since 2013, including serving as lead independent director, and was previously the chief financial officer of biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences.

Washington effectively replaced two executive roles. Brian Millham, the previous president and chief operating officer, who retired in May 2025. Amy Weaver, the previous chief financial officer, also left in May 2025.

Parker Harris, cofounder and Slack CTO

A Salesforce cofounder, Harris sets the company's long-term technology vision as chief technology officer and runs Slack's engineering team as CTO of that important business.

Sabastian Niles, president and chief legal officer

Niles runs Salesforce's global legal and corporate affairs organization, advising leadership on regulation, risk, and governance. He joined in 2023 from Wachtell Lipton and plays a key role in navigating AI policy and global compliance.

Srinivas Tallapragada, president and chief engineering and customer success officer

Tallapragada leads engineering and customer success, overseeing the technical backbone of Salesforce's platform. He is responsible for scaling infrastructure and integrating AI across products. Tallapragada has worked for Salesforce since 2012, and Oracle and SAP before that.

Miguel Milano, president and chief revenue officer

Milano is in charge of worldwide sales and distribution for Salesforce's products and services. He took on the role in 2023, rejoining Salesforce after a few years at data company Celonis. Previously, Milano ran Salesforce's international sales organizations.

Steve Fisher, president and chief product officer

Fisher has led Salesforce's product strategy since June 2025, including for the company's biggest bets: data-management platform Data 360 and AI agent platform Agentforce. He previously spent a decade at Salesforce before rejoining in 2021.

David Schmaier, president and chief strategy officer

Schmaier is in charge of Salesforce's strategic priorities, including M&A and venture capital, market strategy, and monetization. He was previously chief product officer and joined the company in 2021 via its $1.3 billion acquisition of Vlocity, which makes software for specific industries.

Kendall Collins, president and CEO, GovCloud

Collins runs Salesforce's Government Cloud, which is the company's portfolio of products for governments around the world. He was previously the company's chief business officer and Benioff's chief of staff.

David Ward, president and chief architect

Dave Ward is Salesforce's new chief architect. He joined in January from Lumen Technologies, where he was chief technology officer.

Jason Yau, chief business officer and chief of staff

Yau has been Salesforce's chief business officer and Benioff's chief of staff since July 2025, leading the office of the CEO. He joined Salesforce in 2024 as a senior vice president and architect in the office.

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Aaron Solomon and his wife briefly considered purchasing their first home in 2022, when the national homebuying frenzy was in full swing. But they laughed at the prices, which struck them as exorbitant for even a modest house. They decided to bide their time, moving from their fourth-story walkup apartment in Brooklyn to a more spacious rental home in Madison, New Jersey, about 45 minutes outside New York City.

"We were like, 'Yeah this is crazy. It's going to come down at some point,'" says Solomon, a 37-year-old who works in sales. "And it didn't."

When the couple begrudgingly picked up their search in the summer of 2024, the market still wasn't doing them any favors. Though rising mortgage rates had forced many buyers to the sidelines, prices in their area had held firm due to the lack of available homes. Solomon and his wife arrived at a harsh realization: "I guess we really need to rethink our budget," he recalls. Armed with a spreadsheet that detailed the maximum amount they'd be willing to pay, they browsed listings for more than a year until they found the winner: an idyllic four-bedroom in Morristown, New Jersey, with a backyard that opens up to the surrounding woods.

Their "forever home" came at a steep cost. Though they bargained the asking price down after an inspection, it still sat at $1 million when they reached the closing table in January. Solomon and his wife were careful to avoid overextending themselves; still, their monthly payments are now $6,000, compared to $4,000 in rent at their old place. The sticker price alone, Solomon says, would have been unimaginable in the pre-pandemic days.

"I'm still like, 'Holy crap, how did we buy a home for a million dollars?'" Solomon tells me.

Solomon isn't alone in his disbelief. A recent analysis of census data by the Economic Innovation Group, a bipartisan think tank, found that new homeowners are spending a far larger share of their income on housing than those who purchased years ago. In 2024, the latest data available, housing costs ate up 26% of the budget for people who bought a home in the previous 12 months, compared to just 20% for longer-tenured homeowners. The six percentage-point difference is the largest on record since at least 1990, the earliest year for which data exists. If that gap doesn't sound all that wide, consider that 6% of the median household income is over $5,000 a year, or more than half of a typical household's annual spending on food.

"That six percentage-point difference really adds up to, practically speaking, a lot of your money," says Jess Remington, a research analyst at EIG who focuses on housing policy.

This "new homeowner penalty," as Remington calls it, is the latest evidence of how much the landscape has shifted for buyers over the past few years. Rising home prices, a surge in borrowing rates, and spikes in costly but overlooked expenses like insurance and taxes have conspired to make homeownership a stretch even for buyers with healthy savings and a helping hand from family.

Economists and real estate agents tell me there's no indication that the situation for new homeowners has improved in the past couple of years: Mortgage rates haven't dropped significantly, dashing hopes of cheaper monthly payments. Given the aging population and home prices that remain at or near record highs in much of the country, buyers these days may face a longer climb to the kinds of housing wealth gains enjoyed by their predecessors — if they ever see them at all. The financial gut-punch of the "new homeowner penalty," meanwhile, could linger long after they settle into their new place.

"There are other options and ways that they could catch up," Remington says. "But for now, the current trajectory in the short term — I'd say they're just at a disadvantage. They're screwed for a while."

New homeowners have almost always spent more of their income on housing than the rest of the pack. They're typically younger and earn less than more tenured owners, and their mortgage payments are often larger due to rising home values. The gap between housing costs for new and existing homeowners has hovered between two and four percentage points over the past three decades, with one brief exception: In the wake of the Great Recession, buyers scooped up homes at steep discounts and spent a slightly smaller share of their income on housing than existing owners. By 2017, however, the usual gap was back.

Several factors have put new buyers on shakier ground in recent years. For one thing, sticker prices have remained high — the median sale price nationwide is up roughly 24% since 2019, per Census data. There are key differences as you look across the map: Prices are down from their peak in some once-overheated markets (think Austin or Phoenix) where builders delivered lots of new homes, but in other areas like the Midwest and Northeast, where there was no wave of construction, eyewatering numbers are the new normal. Those high list prices make it harder to save up the chunk of cash needed to break into the market. Adjusting for inflation, the average down payment grew by 30% from 2019 to 2024, an EIG analysis found, while the average household income grew by less than 1%.

Even if you gather enough in a savings account to make the leap, the monthly payments for your dream home will likely be a heavier burden. The Federal Reserve's inflation-fighting interest rate hikes made all kinds of loans, including mortgages, far more expensive. Between 2021 and 2024, the typical mortgage rate for new buyers jumped from 3% to 6.6%, the Urban Institute found, a massive cost increase for those who got in later. Though mortgage rates drifted downward over the past year, a recent spike due to the war in Iran has dampened the mood — the typical rate for a loan is back up to roughly 6.4%, according to Freddie Mac. Some quick-and-dirty math illustrates the pain: Say you buy a $400,000 house, put 20% down, and get a typical 30-year loan to cover the rest. Someone who buys at today's going rate would pay roughly $650 more each month than someone who grabbed the same home in 2021. While longtime owners had the chance to refinance when rates plummeted, new homeowners are stuck.

"There is a housing affordability crisis — a lot of people get that," Remington tells me. "But it's really not hitting everybody equally."

Given the financial resources needed to become a homeowner, it should come as no surprise that wealthier house hunters are grabbing a bigger piece of the pie. The share of homebuyers earning more than 120% of the median income in their area — a standard measure of affordability — grew by three percentage points from 2019 to 2024, the Urban Institute found, while the share earning less than 80% of the area median income fell by almost four percentage points.

"That really causes a greater gap between those who can enter into homeownership and those who are left as renters," Jung Hyun Choi, a housing researcher at the Urban Institute, tells me.

The affordability gap between new homeowners and incumbents has widened nationwide, but some states are worse off than others. The Northeast and West, long considered the epicenters of the housing supply crisis, once again stand out. In Rhode Island, the difference is a whopping 10 percentage points, the second widest behind only Hawaii. A report published last year by HousingWorks RI at Roger Williams University found that in order to affordably buy a typical home in any Rhode Island municipality, a household would need to earn roughly $130,000 annually — more than $40,000 above the state's median household income, and $17,000 more than the typical owner's income.

"That's not a matter of people should work harder, or people should prioritize their savings, or should spend differently. There's limited resources," says Melina Lodge, the executive director of the Housing Network of Rhode Island, a nonprofit advocacy group. She adds that other rising costs — gas, health insurance, childcare — are also eating into household budgets.

"There's only so much to cut in a life that's very expensive."

Some buyers may still find an opening if they don't offer top dollar. Steph Mahon, the principal agent at Dwell New Jersey and the Solomons' representative in their home hunt, says she's had two clients win out recently thanks to buyer's remorse — the top bidder pulls out (perhaps after crunching the numbers), and the sellers turn to the next best offer. Buyers these days are also more willing to compromise, she says, searching at a lower price point or looking farther afield rather than canceling the hunt altogether.

"I see compromising way more than I see stretching," Mahon tells me.

Collin Whelan, an agent in suburban Philadelphia, says most homes are still getting multiple offers, especially those priced under $1 million. He advises clients to consider fixer-uppers as an alternative to the stiff competition.

"Unfortunately, the inventory is next to nothing because homeowners are sitting on properties with very low interest rates, or sitting on tons of equity because they've been there for decades," Whelan tells me. If a client is eyeing a maximum sticker price of $500,000, he might nudge them to look at homes in the $250,000 to $350,000 range, he says, and use the balance for renovations.

"I just think the buyers are becoming more realistic about what they can and can't afford," Whelan tells me.

A drop in mortgage rates might help existing homeowners who are eager to refinance, Remington says, but it probably wouldn't do much for those still trying to break into the market, since cheaper loans would likely stoke demand and drive up prices. Proposed cuts to property taxes, she says, would also benefit older homeowners more than recent buyers. The primary solution to the "new homeowner penalty," Remington says, is building more housing in the places where people want to live.

In this respect, Remington says she's been encouraged by a nationwide wave of reforms designed to boost housing construction, including streamlined home permitting and tweaks to zoning rules. Lodge, of the Housing Network of Rhode Island, tells me she's also hopeful about recent policy changes, though the downstream effects may take time to materialize.

"I think people sometimes are like, 'Well, we did a thing, and why isn't that thing reflected in the landscape?'" she says. "It takes a minute for all the cogs in the machine to catch up."

An influx of supply might tamp down prices and lead to more humble equity gains — "the price won't be as crazily inflated 30 years from now," Remington tells me. But if a homeowner wants to downsize, or move closer to their grandkids, or upgrade, "they will probably have way more options to choose from, and be able to find something cheaper when it's time for them to move," Remington tells me. "So I do think we're moving in a good direction."

Lodge can't help but reflect on her own stroke of luck, though. In 2018, she bought her house in Rhode Island for $270,000. Its value has doubled in eight years, a possibility that she realizes is vanishingly small for those buying at today's inflated prices.

"I don't think that same opportunity will exist in the near future," Lodge says.

James Rodriguez is a correspondent on Business Insider's Discourse team.

• Keith Rabois said he doesn't rely on a laptop or desktop computer.
• The former Stripe COO said he prefers working with an iPhone, smartwatch, and iPad.
• Computer sales still bring in billions — but startups are rethinking their desk-bound setups.

While many executives live on their laptops, Keith Rabois says he doesn't rely on one at all.

In an interview with "Lenny's Podcast," the famed executive — a former COO of Stripe, vice president at LinkedIn, and member of the PayPal mafia — said he prefers smaller, more mobile devices.

It's a preference that's been in the making for more than 15 years, he said.

"When I started working at Square, Jack Dorsey was running the company off of an iPad. And so, I immediately converted in September of 2010, and haven't looked back," he said. "Everything I do in my life is either done from my phone, my watch, or my iPad."

His approach comes as parts of Silicon Valley rethink their reliance on traditional computers. In the past year, a wave of AI tools has pushed more work onto mobile devices, including so-called "vibe coding" apps that let users build software by prompting AI.

Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian, for example, invested $9.4 million in seed funding for Vibecode, an iOS app that lets users create new features — all on their iPhones.

This isn't the first time Rabois has talked about moving away from computers. Since 2010, on what was then Twitter (now X), he's talked about using his "iPhone as a persistent computer, not as a 'phone.'"

During the podcast, Rabois said he prefers smaller devices because they're less distracting and more portable.

"Like, taking a laptop with you anywhere is super easy," he said. "There's no reason to use a more powerful, heavier-weight, less flexible machine."

It should be noted that, despite recent trends, laptops and desktop computers remain popular overall — Apple reported $8.39 billion in revenue from Mac sales in the first quarter of 2026.

• As AI companies demand more and more memory chips, consumer electronics companies face a shortage.
• Microsoft is raising Surface prices in the face of skyrocketing costs. Others may absorb costs at the expense of their margins.
• When will the shortage end? Intel's CEO predicted "no relief until 2028."

Did that computer you were eyeing jump in price? Is that gaming handheld out of stock?

You might want to practice a new refrain: Thanks, memory shortage.

As AI companies demand increasingly large troves of chips to power their large language models, memory chips remain in short supply. That's bad news for much of the consumer electronics market, which relies on DRAM and NAND memory chips.

The research firm IDC expects "significant pressure on the memory ecosystem," warning that supply growth would be below historical norms this year. Electronics companies from Valve to Framework have already changed their sales procedures because of the shortage. Even Apple, the industry goliath, said it was expecting supply chain pressures on memory that would weigh on its famously high gross margin.

The memory shortage has existed for months — but it's beginning to affect more shoppers' wallets. And the bad news is it's not expected to let up anytime soon.

Which companies have been affected?

Electronics CEOs are sounding the alarm for "RAMageddon."

In February, Lenovo CEO Yang Yuanqing told Reuters that he expected PC unit sales to "face pressure." Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan predicted that there would be "no relief until 2028."

Dell has already begun adjusting its device prices, according to an internal list of price changes sent to staff in December seen by Business Insider. The company raised the prices of its Dell Pro and Pro Max notebooks and desktops with 32GB of memory by between $130 and $230, among other increases.

HP also planned price hikes "across the board" thanks to the memory shortage, its CEO said on its November earnings call.

The industry's biggest players are feeling the pressure. Microsoft raised prices on its Surface PC offerings, telling Windows Central that it was due to "recent increases in memory and component costs." The 13-inch Surface Pro previously started at $999; now, it starts at $1,499.

On Apple's fourth-quarter earnings call, Tim Cook said that the company was watching memory prices increase "significantly." In March, the company announced its new MacBook Air and Pro lineups with new chips, more storage, and, yes, higher entry-level prices — though it also introduced a new budget offering, the $599 MacBook Neo.

Smaller PC makers — which may not enjoy the same amount of supply-chain leverage as their tech titan peers — have also been hit especially hard by the memory shortage.

Framework raised its prices in December, then again in January, and again in February. Corsair accidentally underpriced its DRAM kits, canceling preorders and sending out coupons. It then raised prices days later, citing "market costs."

The gaming device market is also struggling. Valve updated the site for its popular Steam Deck handheld device to say that it may be "out-of-stock intermittently in some regions due to memory and storage shortages." The company also said it must "revisit" the pricing and scheduling of its upcoming Xbox and Playstation competitor, the Steam Machine, and VR headset, the Steam Frame, because of the shortage.

Bloomberg reported in February that Sony was considering pushing back the launch of the next PlayStation, and that Nintendo was considering a price hike for the Switch 2.

Some companies could choose to absorb any associated cost increases at the expense of their margins, opting to wait out the supply crunch.

So, what's going on with memory?

This is where things get a bit more technical, but it all boils down to basic supply and demand.

There are three types of chips that are important to know. DRAM (dynamic random access memory) and NAND (non-volatile flash memory) are crucial for building consumer devices. HBM (high-bandwidth memory) chips are used to help train large language models.

Three companies dominate the memory chip market: Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron. These companies also produce HBM chips.

AI companies are hungry for more and more chips, and are willing to break out the checkbook to be first in line for factory production — giving them an edge over many consumer tech companies. They're also flush with cash, with companies like Microsoft and Meta projecting multi-billion-dollar capital expenditures, much of which is going toward AI-related costs like chip acquisition.

That leaves chipmakers responding to the spike in demand by raising prices, selling supply to AI companies, and some transitioning to HBM production.

The shortage isn't fading anytime soon. SK Hynix has long secured demand for its entire 2026 DRAM and NAND production volume. The CEO of Micron predicted on its first-quarter earnings call that supply would remain substantially short for the "foreseeable future."

And if you're trying to build your own PC, a mere consumer navigating the increasingly volatile memory marketplace: Good luck.