• AI agents aren't taking off on apps like Uber and DoorDash.
• The AI tools have generated hundreds of food and ride-hailing orders, the companies said.
• Shoppers have said that agents can make mistakes and need guardrails to be useful.

AI agents aren't getting much love from restaurant patrons or ride-hailing passengers.

Despite predictions that agents will revolutionize ordering stuff online, both Uber and DoorDash mentioned on their latest earnings calls that they've received hundreds of orders through AI agents like Meta's Muse or Instinct.

Those are tiny numbers compared to the millions of rides and deliveries that the companies complete each day.

For example, Uber provided 320 million ride-hailing and delivery trips during the last week of October, CFO Balaji Krishnamurthy said on Uber's third-quarter earnings call on Wednesday. It was "one of our largest weeks" thanks to Halloween orders, Krishnamurthy said.

Only about 500 of those Uber Eats orders came from AI agents, he said. And agents were the source of four ride-hailing trips during the week.

"It is very, very early, and very limited traction that we have seen so far," Krishnamurthy said.

The comments came a week after DoorDash CEO Tony Xu said that his company had received "several hundred orders in total" from AI agents. That's a sliver of the billions of orders that DoorDash delivers annually.

Some AI users have put agents in charge of buying everything from plane tickets to groceries for them. Shoppers have also said the tools are useful for monitoring prices. Ordering errors and fears about the agents going rogue with credit card details have led others to use them more cautiously, Business Insider previously reported.

Even with limited usage, both Uber and DoorDash are moving ahead with AI tools on their own apps.

DoorDash said in September that it was testing a text-to-order feature that allows users to bypass the company's app, for instance.

Do you have a story idea about the gig economy? Contact this reporter at abitter@businessinsider.com or via encrypted messaging app Signal at 808-854-4501. Use a personal email address, a nonwork WiFi network, and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.

• Italian restaurants nationwide are often rich in history and beloved by their local communities.
• Fior d'Italia in San Francisco is widely recognized as the oldest Italian restaurant in the country.
• We found iconic Italian restaurants based on customer reviews, their reputations, and local history.

Few meals feel more suited to a cozy autumn night out than dinner at a beloved local Italian restaurant.

From red-sauce institutions to hole-in-the-wall pizza joints, Italian restaurants remain some of the most enduring gathering places in communities across the US.

We identified an iconic Italian restaurant in every state, weighing local legacy, longtime popularity, cultural impact, customer feedback, and the signature dishes that have earned each spot a devoted following.

The list includes historic institutions like Fior d'Italia in San Francisco — widely believed to be the oldest Italian restaurant in the country, dating back to 1886 — and beloved neighborhood staples like Mystic Pizza in Connecticut.

Here are the most iconic and enduring Italian restaurants in every state.

ALABAMA: Gianmarco's Restaurant in Birmingham

Gianmarco's Restaurant is a Birmingham staple founded by a father-and-sons trio who have brought generations of Italian family recipes to the city for nearly 20 years.

The upscale yet welcoming spot is known for handmade pastas, fresh seafood, and signature dishes, such as veal Parmesan and house-made gnocchi, all served in an intimate, old-world setting.

ALASKA: In Bocca Al Lupo in Juneau

In Bocca Al Lupo is led by six-time James Beard award-nominated chef Beau Schooler and brings a modern, handmade approach to Italian cooking in downtown Juneau.

The restaurant has earned a loyal following for its fresh, house-made pastas, creative small plates, and seasonal ingredients, offering a refined take on Italian cuisine in Alaska's capital.

ARIZONA: Marcellino Ristorante in Scottsdale

Marcellino Ristorante is led by Italian-born chef Marcellino Verzino, who brings decades of culinary experience to his Scottsdale establishment.

The intimate restaurant is known for fresh pasta, seafood, and rotating regional dishes that showcase authentic Italian cooking methods.

ARKANSAS: Bruno's Little Italy in Little Rock

Bruno's Little Italy has been a Little Rock institution since 1949, founded by Italian immigrants who helped shape the city's dining scene.

A longtime local favorite, the restaurant serves generous portions of red-sauce staples — including spaghetti and meatballs and baked lasagna — in an old-school dining room with red-and-white checked tablecloths.

CALIFORNIA: Fior d'Italia in San Francisco

Fior d'Italia, founded in 1886, is widely recognized as the oldest Italian restaurant in the United States.

The historic San Francisco institution is famous for classic dishes like cioppino, veal parmigiana, and house-made pasta, served in a space that reflects more than a century of Italian-American dining tradition.

COLORADO: Gaetano's in Denver

A fixture of Denver's historic Northside since 1947, Gaetano's was once reportedly associated with the infamous Smaldone crime family, according to a local radio outlet.

Today, the restaurant serves Italian-American favorites such as spaghetti and meatballs and chicken Parmesan, pairing hearty red-sauce dishes with a setting steeped in neighborhood history.

CONNECTICUT: Mystic Pizza in Mystic

Mystic Pizza was a neighborhood pizzeria for 15 years before it inspired the 1988 Julia Roberts film of the same name.

After screenwriter Amy Jones visited the Mystic, Connecticut, restaurant, she used it as the backdrop for the movie, which was filmed there and turned the longtime local spot into a destination for fans eager to try its signature "A Slice of Heaven" pizza slice.

DELAWARE: Mrs. Robino's in Wilmington

Since 1940, Mrs. Robino's has welcomed Wilmington diners with the kind of Italian cooking that feels like it came straight from a family kitchen.

Still family-owned generations later, the longtime local favorite serves comforting plates of lasagna, ravioli, and meatballs based on recipes passed down over the years.

FLORIDA: Christini's Ristorante Italiano in Orlando

Christini's Ristorante Italiano has been a fine-dining destination in Orlando since 1984, founded by restaurateur Chris Christini.

The elegant, old-school restaurant is known for tableside service, handmade pastas, and signature dishes like veal saltimbocca, as well as a vast wine cellar, nightly music, and roses given to every female customer.

GEORGIA: La Grotta Ristorante Italiano in Buckhead, Atlanta

La Grotta has been a Buckhead favorite since 1978 and is known for its refined, romantic atmosphere and garden area.

The upscale Italian restaurant is celebrated for Northern Italian dishes such as lobster ravioli and veal scaloppine, as well as an extensive wine list and a celebrity clientele.

HAWAII: Arancino in Honolulu

Arancino opened in Waikiki in the 1990s and has grown into one of Hawaii's most beloved Italian restaurant groups.

The restaurant is especially known for its signature pasta dishes — including uni pasta and dishes finished in a large Parmesan cheese wheel — blending Italian tradition with high-quality island ingredients.

IDAHO: Luciano's Italian Restaurant in Boise

Luciano's Italian Restaurant is a longtime Boise favorite known for its classic Italian-American comfort food made from scratch.

The welcoming restaurant draws regulars for hearty dishes such as fettuccine Alfredo, chicken Parmesan, and baked pasta, served in a casual, family-friendly setting.

ILLINOIS: The Village in Chicago

The Village opened in 1927 in Chicago's Little Italy and has remained a landmark for nearly a century.

The historic restaurant is known for traditional dishes like chicken cacciatore and house-made pasta, along with its old-world dining rooms that reflect generations of Italian heritage.

INDIANA: Iaria's Italian Restaurant in Indianapolis

Iaria's Italian Restaurant has been serving Indianapolis since 1933. It was founded by Italian immigrants in the city's historic Italian neighborhood, and has remained on the same street corner ever since.

It's known for its signature meat sauce, spaghetti, and veal dishes, along with a retro interior that hasn't changed much in decades.

IOWA: Tumea & Sons in Des Moines

Tumea & Sons dates back to the late 1990s, when the Tumea family opened their own Italian restaurant, drawing on family recipes and knowledge gained from previous jobs at other restaurants.

The longtime Des Moines institution is famous for its handmade pasta, baked lasagna, and family-style meals that reflect generations of Italian-American tradition.

KANSAS: Garozzo's in Kansas City

Garozzo's has been a Kansas City staple since 1989, founded by a local Italian-American family and rooted in traditional recipes.

The beloved restaurant is best known for its signature chicken spiedini — a Kansas City favorite — along with classic red-sauce dishes served in a warm, old-school setting.

KENTUCKY: Pompilio's in Newport

Pompilio's has been serving Northern Kentucky since 1933 and is one of the region's most historic Italian restaurants.

It's known for hearty classics like lasagna, ravioli, and seafood dishes, and gained national attention after appearing in the film "Rain Man."

LOUISIANA: Pascal's Manale in New Orleans

Pascal's Manale opened in 1913 and is a cornerstone of New Orleans' Italian-Creole dining tradition.

The historic restaurant is credited with popularizing barbecue shrimp — its most famous dish — along with classic pasta and seafood served in a timeless dining room.

MAINE: Via Vecchia in Portland

Via Vecchia is a newer addition to Portland's dining scene, offering a stylish take on Italian cuisine in the city's Old Port. It's known for its ivy-covered red-brick building and romantic, trendy interiors.

It serves up handmade pastas, wood-fired dishes, and fan-favorite menu items like short rib ragu.

MARYLAND: Il Pizzico in Rockville

Il Pizzico has been a Rockville favorite for decades, known for bringing refined regional Italian cuisine to the suburbs of Washington, DC.

The intimate restaurant is celebrated for its house-made pastas, fresh seafood, and rotating specials.

MASSACHUSETTS: Regina Pizzeria in Boston

Regina Pizzeria first opened in Boston's North End in 1926 and is one of the most iconic pizzerias in the country.

The legendary spot is known for its brick-oven pizzas with charred, chewy crusts and classic toppings, drawing lines of locals and tourists every day.

MICHIGAN: Buddy's Pizza in Detroit

Buddy's Pizza, founded in 1946 as Buddy's Rendezvous, is widely credited as the birthplace of Detroit-style pizza.

The iconic restaurant is known for its square, deep-dish pies with caramelized cheese edges and sauce layered on top — a style that has become famous nationwide.

MINNESOTA: Yarusso Bros in St. Paul

Yarusso Bros has been serving St. Paul since 1933, making it one of Minnesota's oldest Italian restaurants.

The family-run institution is famous for its signature baked mostaccioli pasta, classic red-sauce dishes, and old-school charm that has endured for generations.

MISSISSIPPI: Giardina's Restaurant in Greenwood

Giardina's Restaurant dates back to 1936 and is one of the most historic restaurants in the Mississippi Delta.

The elegant yet nostalgic spot is known for its steaks and Italian-influenced seafood dishes that also reflect its Southern heritage.

MISSOURI: Jasper's Italian Restaurant in Kansas City

Jasper's has been a Kansas City institution since 1954, founded by a Sicilian immigrant family.

The longtime favorite is known for authentic Italian dishes like lasagna and linguini with clams, as well as a lively dining room and generations of loyal customers.

MONTANA: Lucca's in Helena

Lucca's in Helena, Montana, is a fine-dining restaurant specializing in Italian cuisine.

The eatery serves Italian and Italian-American staples, including baked ziti, spaghetti, risotto, and chicken. TripAdvisor has ranked it among the best eateries in the state, and Business Insider previously named Lucca's the best restaurant in Montana.

NEBRASKA: Orsi's Italian Bakery & Pizzeria in Omaha

Orsi's Italian Bakery & Pizzeria dates back to 1919 and remains one of Omaha's most historic Italian establishments.

The bakery-turned-pizzeria is famous for its thick, square-cut pizzas and fresh-baked bread, served in a no-frills, old-world setting.

NEVADA: Piero's Italian Cuisine in Las Vegas

Piero's Italian Cuisine opened in 1982 and has long been a power-dining destination just off the Las Vegas Strip.

The upscale restaurant is known for Northern Italian dishes like osso buco and veal Parmesan, as well as its history of hosting celebrities and mob-era figures.

NEW HAMPSHIRE: The Rosa in Portsmouth

The Rosa, previously known as Rosa's Restaurant, is a modern Italian restaurant in downtown Portsmouth that blends tradition with contemporary flair.

The stylish spot has served customers since it opened in 1927 and is known for handmade pasta, seasonal ingredients, and refined dishes.

NEW JERSEY: Chef Vola's in Atlantic City

Chef Vola's has been a hidden gem in Atlantic City since 1921, operating out of a small house in a residential neighborhood.

The famously hard-to-book restaurant is known for classic dishes like veal Parmesan and rigatoni, as well as its old-school, cash-only charm and loyal following.

NEW MEXICO: Trombino's Bistro Italiano in Albuquerque

Open since 1979, Trombino's Bistro Italiano has been a longtime favorite in Albuquerque, founded by a family with deep Italian roots.

The welcoming restaurant is known for generous portions of classics like baked lasagna and chicken Parmesan, all served in a warm, neighborhood setting.

NEW YORK: Lombardi's in New York City

While New York has no shortage of iconic Italian establishments, from Carmine's to Carbone, Lombardi's is widely recognized as America's first pizzeria.

Established in 1905, the Nolita landmark — previously located in New York's Little Italy neighborhood — is famous for its coal-fired, thin-crust pizzas with charred edges and simple, high-quality toppings that helped define New York-style pizza.

NORTH CAROLINA: Amedeo's Italian Restaurant in Raleigh

Amedeo's opened in 1963 and has become a Raleigh institution, especially among NC State University students and alumni.

The longtime favorite is known for hearty Italian-American classics like lasagna and baked ziti, as well as its sports-themed décor celebrating Wolfpack history.

NORTH DAKOTA: Spaghetti Western in Fargo

Spaghetti Western brings a creative, modern take on Italian cuisine to downtown Fargo.

The popular spot is known for house-made pasta, inventive dishes, and a lively atmosphere that blends Italian flavors with a contemporary Midwestern twist.

OHIO: Guarino's in Cleveland

Guarino's, founded in 1918, is the oldest restaurant in Cleveland and a cornerstone of the city's Little Italy neighborhood.

The historic eatery is known for classic dishes like gnocchi, manicotti, and wedding soup, served in a charming, old-world setting with an expansive garden patio.

OKLAHOMA: Pete's Place in Krebs

Pete's Place dates back to 1925 and was founded by Italian immigrants in the coal-mining town of Krebs, once known as Little Italy.

The beloved institution is famous for its family-style meals, including spaghetti, ravioli, and fried chicken, served alongside its signature house salad and garlic bread.

OREGON: Nostrana in Portland

Nostrana has been a Portland staple since 2005, known for its focus on seasonal, farm-driven Italian cuisine.

The acclaimed James Beard-nominated restaurant is especially famous for its wood-fired pizzas, handmade pastas, and simple, elegant dishes that highlight high-quality ingredients.

PENNSYLVANIA: The Victor Café in Philadelphia

Established in 1918, The Victor Café in Philadelphia specializes in Italian food, offering customers ravioli, risotto, and steak.

However, the restaurant isn't known only for its food. Victor Cafe's claim to fame is its appearances in the "Rocky" franchise: The restaurant appeared in "Rocky Balboa" in 2006, and its spinoff, "Creed." In the movies, the restaurant is called Adrian's.

RHODE ISLAND: Camille's in Providence

Camille's has been a fixture on Providence's Federal Hill since 1914, making it one of the city's oldest Italian restaurants.

The historic spot is known for its romantic atmosphere and classic dishes like veal Parmesan and seafood pasta in the heart of Rhode Island's most famously Italian neighborhood.

SOUTH CAROLINA: Villa Tronco in Columbia

Villa Tronco dates back to 1940 and is widely considered South Carolina's oldest Italian restaurant.

The family-run institution is known for recipes passed down through generations, including lasagna, baked ziti, and rich tomato sauces, as well as for its unique location inside a historic firehouse.

SOUTH DAKOTA: Maribella Ristorante in Sioux Falls

Maribella Ristorante offers an upscale Italian dining experience in Sioux Falls.

The restaurant is known for refined dishes like house-made pasta, seafood specialties, and elegant presentations, making it a go-to for special occasions and a favorite among locals, who've consistently awarded the restaurant highly rated reviews on Google and Yelp.

TENNESSEE: Caffé Nonna in Nashville

Established in 1999, Caffé Nonna is a seven-time winner of Nashville's Best Italian Restaurant and is known for its cozy, intimate atmosphere and for featuring recipes from Chef Dan's grandmother or "nonna."

The restaurant is especially beloved for its signature lasagna — often cited as one of the best in the city — as well as other classic Italian comfort dishes.

TEXAS: Rosie Cannonball in Houston

Rosie Cannonball is a modern Italian-inspired restaurant in Houston that has quickly gained national attention and is even featured in the Michelin Guide.

The stylish spot is known for wood-fired pizzas, fresh pastas, and Mediterranean-influenced dishes, along with an extensive wine list and vibrant atmosphere.

UTAH: Valter's Osteria in Salt Lake City

Valter's Osteria was founded by Italian-born chef Valter Nassi, who became a local legend and a famed Italian restaurateur in Salt Lake City after 20 years of owning and operating restaurants there.

His namesake restaurant is known for tableside service, handmade pasta, and signature dishes like pappardelle and osso buco, all served with theatrical flair.

VERMONT: Sarducci's in Montpelier

Sarducci's, located along the Winooski River in the heart of downtown, has been a Montpelier favorite for decades.

The cozy restaurant is known for classic Italian dishes such as seafood pasta, risotto, and wood-fired pizza, served alongside scenic waterfront views.

VIRGINIA: Luigi's Italian Gourmet in Roanoke

Luigi's Italian Gourmet has been serving Roanoke since 1970, making it one of the city's most enduring Italian restaurants.

The casual, family-run spot is known for generous portions of classics like spaghetti, baked ziti, and subs, along with a loyal local following.

WASHINGTON: The Pink Door in Seattle

The Pink Door opened in 1981 and is one of Seattle's most iconic restaurants, hidden behind an unmarked entrance in Pike Place Market.

The restaurant is known for its Italian-inspired menu, including handmade pasta and seafood, as well as live entertainment like cabaret and trapeze performances.

WEST VIRGINIA: Fazio's Italian Restaurant in Charleston

Blessed with the tagline of "the most famous Italian restaurant in West Virginia," Fazio's Italian Restaurant has been a Charleston staple for decades, founded by a family with Italian roots.

The longtime favorite is known for classic dishes like veal Parmesan, spaghetti, and house-made sauces, served in a welcoming atmosphere.

WISCONSIN: Calderone Club in Milwaukee

Calderone Club has been a Milwaukee institution since 1945, and is even credited with introducing pizza to the city.

The beloved family-owned restaurant is known for its thin-crust pizzas, homemade pasta, and classic Italian-American dishes.

WYOMING: Calico Restaurant and Bar in Jackson

Established in 1966, Calico Restaurant and Bar has been a Jackson Hole favorite for decades, offering Italian-inspired cuisine just a stone's throw from local tourist attractions.

The restaurant is known for wood-fired pizzas, hearty pasta dishes, and a cozy, cabin-like atmosphere near Grand Teton National Park.

Editor's Note: This story was originally published in April 2026 and most recently updated in November 2026.

• Graphon has raised $35 million to enhance AI data mapping for businesses and developers.
• Graphon says it creates a “fabric” of information, rather than retrieving data in individual pieces.
• Check out the pitch deck it used to secure the new funding:

AI agents can write code, search databases, and carry out multistep tasks. But they can still lose track of past conversations and struggle to make sense of huge, changing troves of company information.

San Francisco-based Graphon is trying to solve that problem with software that lets agents store and retrieve information over time. Now, it has raised $35 million to further build and sell its technology.

The company’s name comes from “graphons,” a mathematical framework founder and CEO Arbaaz Khan used during his Ph.D. research into coordinating swarms of robots. Rather than treating a company’s documents, videos, and images as isolated snippets, Graphon maps the connections among them — including where information came from and when it changed.

Khan compared common AI search systems to tearing pages out of a book, crumpling them up, and tossing them into a bin.

“Now when you go searching that trash can, you’re just trying to find the pieces to answer,” he told Business Insider. “You’ve basically lost all that information because each piece is living on its own.”

Graphon, he said, instead creates a connected “fabric” of information.

The company says it has two groups of customers in mind: individual developers and companies with enormous stores of technical and operational data like industrial businesses, financial services, and healthcare companies.

“You can basically point your Claude or GPT or whatever to Graphon,” Khan said about the product being compatible with any off-the-shelf agents. “You can push in any amount of data in this, and we literally mean any.”

Graphon says its software is already used by the San Francisco 49ers and HP.

The company's $35 million Series A round was led by RRE Ventures, with participation from Energy Impact Partners, Hitachi Ventures, Gaia VC, and HP. The company closed a roughly $8 million seed round earlier this year.

Graphon, which has 20 employees, plans to use the cash injection primarily to hire engineers and researchers, as well as some sales and go-to-market staff. Khan said the company expects to remain focused on enterprise customers before moving further into personal devices and consumer products.

Check out the pitch deck Graphon used to secure fresh funding:

• Markets were hit on Tuesday by new inflation fears after hot October CPI data.
• Stocks were slightly lower, but bond yields soared, with the 10-year Treasury yield up 13 basis points.
• Comments from a top Fed official hinted at a jumbo rate hike to combat inflation.

Inflation was back in the picture on Tuesday after a hot October consumer price index report.

Stocks dipped and bond yields spiked after last month's CPI data showed prices rose slower than they did in September, but still at a faster pace than forecasters expected.

Data showed a 0.4% increase, above expectations for 0.3%. Meanwhile, markets were shaken ahead of the CPI report by a comment from Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller, who indicated he would support a jumbo rate hike if the inflation picture didn't improve.

Waller said the if October inflation looked similar to past months, "a 50 basis point hike in the policy rate should be considered at the December meeting. Hiking only 25 basis points would put our credibility at risk, a risk I am not eager to take."

The rate hike odds for next month's policy meeting surged. According to the CME FedWatch Tool, traders see nearly 90% odds of a 25 basis point hike and 10% odds of a 50 basis point move.

Bond yields surged following Waller's comments and the October CPI report. The 10-year spiked 13 basis points to 4.99%, climbing back toward the key 5% level after weeks of stock volatility sent investors fleeing back to bonds.

The 2-year Treasury, which is most sensitive to Fed policy expectations, climbed 19 basis points to 4.73%.

Here's where major indexes stood around 10:45 a.m. ET:

• S&P 500: 7,497.79, down 0.7%
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 52,075.42, down 0.6% (-314.33 points)
• Nasdaq 100: 27,701.12, down 0.74%

Daniel Siluk, a portfolio manager at Janus Henderson, said that the outlook has dimmed, as inflation is still moving in the wrong direction in the last three months.

"For the Federal Reserve, we think this cements the case for a December rate hike, particularly following Governor Waller's comments earlier this morning around the risks from persistent inflation," he stated.

Jeff Schulze, head investment strategist at the Franklin Templeton Institute, also said that Waller's hawkish comments make it clear that a December rate hike is a done deal.

"Today's release will be a headwind to risk assets as investors price the possibility of a 50bp hike in December and additional hikes beyond," Schulze stated, "with higher front-end yields and a stronger dollar weighing on equity valuations."

• Nvidia would be worth 25% to 30% less without Jensen Huang at the helm, Dan Ives says.
• The tech bull said Huang cannot be easily replaced, pointing to "key-man" risk at the company.
• Nvidia stock tumbled again on Tuesday, extending Monday's losses as traders react to the scandal.

Jensen Huang is worth about 30% of Nvidia's total value.

That's according to prominent tech bull Dan Ives, who said on Tuesday that Huang's departure from the AI chip titan would whittle its value by nearly a third.

Huang is embroiled in a scandal related to an affair with a suspected Chinese spy. The woman, Alice Huang, has been an executive at Singaporean data firm Megaspeed, a company with ties to big Chinese tech firms.

If Huang were to depart, Ives said that Nvidia stock would fall 25% to 30%, implying a drop to around $122 per share.

"We believe if Jensen was removed as CEO, Nvidia is worth a lot less (25%-30%) as a company/stock and would change the future direction of the company and create a dramatically different competitive environment around AI GPUs both in the US and globally especially for China," Ives, a senior managing director at Yorkville Ives, wrote in a note.

Nvidia shares were hit by a broader panic in the AI trade last week, with Huang's affair the latest headwind pushing against the price. The stock has tumbled 25% from its early October peak, and is down 8% year-to-date.

Ives pointed to the "key man risk," the idea that much of Nvidia's value is pegged to the visibility and image of Jensen Huang. There is no publicly known succession plan at Nvidia.

"Jensen is the core DNA of Nvidia and its AI success and ambitions are heavily tied to him staying on as CEO. Jensen is not replaceable," Ives said. "There is no other person on the management team bench that can step in seamlessly as CEO."

The dilemma extends to the broader stock market and the economy, as well. Nvidia, which was the world's largest company by market-cap before the recent stock slide, has been a pillar of the AI-led bull market.

The chipmaker was overtaken by Apple as the world's most valuable company, with its market cap falling below $5 trillion amid the post-election rout and Huang's affair.

CEOs have sometimes weathered relationship scandals that public. Jeff Bezos, notably, stayed on as Amazon CEO after his affair with Lauren Sanchez was exposed in 2019, though former leaders at Astronomer, Nestlé, Kohl's, Intel, and McDonald's have been outed after similar developments. Huang's episode differs, as his relationship with a Chinese national has potential national security implications.

• John Turturro looked back on the start of his career in the 1980s.
• He recalled working with directors he described as "borderline beyond abusive."
• "There was a lot of violence done to the actors in those movies," he told Business Insider.

Legendary actor John Turturro is best known for crafting memorable characters through his collaborations with directors like Spike Lee and the Coen brothers. But earlier in his career, Turturro's work with certain directors made him feel less like a collaborator and more like a punching bag.

Turturro got his start in movies in the fast-and-loose era of the 1980s, landing parts in films made by established names like William Friedkin ("To Live and Die in L.A."), Woody Allen ("Hannah and Her Sisters"), Martin Scorsese ("The Color of Money"), and Michael Cimino ("The Sicilian"). But not all his memories from this time are positive.

"A few of the people you mentioned — not Marty — were really rough," Turturro told Business Insider. "They were borderline beyond abusive sometimes. There was a lot of violence done to the actors in those movies."

He still remembers filming one scene in particular.

In Friedkin's 1985 neo-noir thriller "To Live and Die in L.A.," Turturro had a bit part playing a man who's caught using counterfeit money at an airport and is pursued by a Secret Service agent (William Petersen), who finally tracks him down in a bathroom and throws him against a wall.

"Oh, I got jacked up for real," Turturro said, thinking back on the scene. And he didn't take kindly to it.

"My father was a builder, so where I came from, if someone did something to someone, even if it was the boss, it got physical," Turturro said. "On a movie set, you don't think you have to take it there. But I learned some things from some of those movies."

One thing he realized was that he would have to speak up for himself. He'd find his voice on the set of the indie crime drama "Five Corners" (1988).

"For me, that was the first time that I really asserted myself, speaking out and saying I'm not going to do certain things," Turturro recalled. "That was the first time, at that stage in my life, that I gave a full performance that really landed the way I wanted it to."

The performance would also grab the attention of Spike Lee, who would go on to cast Turturro in "Do the Right Thing." The duo have collaborated on eight other movies since.

Decades after his early foray into film, there's one kind of project that's an instant pass for Turturro: one that's "violent for violence's sake."

"I feel like the world has enough of that," he said. "I'm really not interested in that."

• The UK's newest aircraft carrier uses small drones for logistics and surveillance roles.
• They can be used instead of helicopters, said a flight deck officer aboard the HMS Prince of Wales.
• Britain is pushing to integrate aerial drones into its two Queen Elizabeth-class carriers.

ABOARD THE HMS PRINCE OF WALES — Small drones are taking on some jobs once reserved for helicopters aboard the UK's newest aircraft carrier, from ferrying supplies to conducting surveillance.

The HMS Prince of Wales is equipped with what the Royal Navy calls a "state-of-the-art" air wing that consists of F-35B stealth fighter jets, a mix of Merlin and Wildcat helicopters, and quadcopter drones.

Speaking to Business Insider during a visit to the Prince of Wales last week off the coast of Norway, a flight deck officer said the drones — made by British company Malloy Aeronautics — can carry up to 150 pounds. They take off from a space on the flight deck called the "graveyard," next to the ski-jump ramp where fighter jets launch.

The officer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that the Malloy drones can be used instead of helicopters for logistics and for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, and that their use will only become more prominent over time. They won't completely replace crewed aircraft for these missions, though.

The $4 billion Prince of Wales was commissioned into the Royal Navy in 2019; however, it wasn't until 2025 that the UK first used a Malloy T-150 quadcopter to deliver supplies from the aircraft carrier to a nearby warship.

The Royal Navy said at the time that the goal of the trial was to find a "cheap and efficient alternative" to helicopter and boat deliveries. The T-150 flew just over a mile, but it has a maximum range of roughly 23 miles, according to Malloy.

The helicopter squadrons aboard the Prince of Wales are equipped to take on a variety of missions. The Merlin Mk4 Commando, for instance, can move troops from ship to shore and transport heavy cargo, while the Merlin Mk2 variant and the Wildcat offer advanced anti-submarine warfare capabilities.

But there are new opportunities in uncrewed systems. Britain is pushing to integrate drones into its two Queen Elizabeth-class carriers as part of broader efforts to make the military — at sea, on land, and in the air — more autonomous.

On Thursday, the Royal Navy announced that a strike drone was launched from the flight deck of the HMS Queen Elizabeth in the North Atlantic last month, the first such trial aboard one of the UK's aircraft carriers.

The trial marked an important step toward the Royal Navy's development of a "hybrid carrier air wing," a concept in which the UK is investing hundreds of millions of dollars to develop jet-powered drones to fly alongside its F-35s.

The mid-October trial also saw an AR-5, a fixed-wing drone made by the Portugese-British defense company Tekever for surveillance and logistics missions, operate from an aircraft carrier for the first time.

Similar drone trials could eventually be extended to the other carrier in the class; the Prince of Wales has already tested similar uncrewed systems from its flight deck.

Militaries around the world are increasingly integrating aerial drones into their naval operations, even constructing purpose-built ships and systems for at-sea missions.

NATO ally Turkey, for instance, as well as China and Iran, have converted vessels into drone carriers, and South Korea has tested the launch of uncrewed aircraft from an amphibious assault ship. Meanwhile, the US Navy has experimented with using a variety of drones for naval logistics and support missions.

In September, the US Department of Defense awarded Boeing Co. a $562 million production contract for the MQ-25A Stingray, a drone designed to refuel Navy fighter jets. The Pentagon has described this system as "the world's first fully integrated, carrier-based" uncrewed aircraft.

NATO militaries like the US and UK are also integrating other uncrewed systems into their surface fleets. Britain, for instance, recently launched its first squadron formed entirely of autonomous surface vessels to work alongside traditional warships.

• About a year ago, I moved into a van with my 4-year-old dog, Maple.
• There have been logistical challenges, and I've also dealt with loneliness at times.
• However, I've gotten to explore so much of Europe and learned a lot about my own resilience.

Traveling wasn't how I originally pictured spending my 30s. But when I found myself single, without the commitments I'd expected to have at this age, I started thinking about what I could do with the freedom.

I'd always wanted to see more of the world, and with my 4-year-old dog Maple beside me, I decided to stop waiting.

Up until then, I'd worked as a financial advisor, spending my days in the corporate world, helping people plan for their futures. It made me think about all the things I wanted to do before I retired.

I wanted to travel while I was fit and healthy enough to climb mountains and enjoy the places I'd dreamed of visiting.

So, I sold my belongings, packed up my car, and set off with Maple in April 2025. We spent three months traveling between Greece and my native UK. I was nervous about going alone, but that experience showed me I could manage more than I'd given myself credit for.

By the time we got back, I wanted to keep exploring.

A trial trip convinced me to buy a van, but our early days were tough

I'd seen people on social media post about van life, and I knew that was the freedom I was looking for. Two months after our first trip, before committing fully, I rented a van for two weeks and traveled around the Welsh coast.

I really enjoyed living in a van; traveling with Maple was much easier when we had somewhere familiar to sleep, cook, and retreat to at the end of the day. I decided to bite the bullet and buy our very own.

I ended up spending more than I intended, but comfort mattered if this van was going to be our home. I picked it up in September 2025 and drove straight to Scotland, excited about what was ahead.

The first few days weren't what I imagined.

The electrics failed, the boiler broke, and the skylights leaked, all while I was dealing with Scottish storms alone. I kept driving back and forth from remote parts of the Highlands, trying to find someone trustworthy who could help.

Instead of enjoying our new home (and the beautiful sights of Scotland), I worried about what might go wrong next. There were moments when I genuinely wondered whether I'd made an enormous, expensive mistake.

Traveling alone means handling the difficult days yourself

Despite those early challenges, I kept going. After driving the entirety of Scotland, we decided to venture back into mainland Europe. We drove across France, Spain, Italy, and down the Balkans to Greece again, and I learned a lot about my own resilience.

Before moving into the van, I'd thought about freedom much more than the responsibility. Now, if something breaks, I have to work out what to do, find someone who can help, and handle repairs wherever we happen to be.

Everyday jobs take more planning, too. I have to think about water, electricity, laundry, and where we'll spend the night. Those worries don't disappear just because I'm parked somewhere beautiful.

Safety is always another consideration. If I arrive somewhere and feel uncomfortable, I move. I've learned to trust that feeling rather than persuade myself to stay because a view is good. Luckily, I haven't had any bad experiences so far, but I am definitely conscious of my surroundings.

Finally, there are times when I feel lonely. Maple is wonderful company, but she can't help me make a difficult decision or talk through a stressful day. Sometimes, I'd love someone beside me to share both the practical load and the experience.

The ordinary good days make it worthwhile

Now, a year later, we've explored much of Europe, from deep winter snow in the Pyrenees to summer heat on the Albanian Riviera.

Some of my favorite moments have been the simplest: opening the van door to mountains, taking Maple for a swim at the beach, or finishing a hike knowing our little home is waiting nearby.

I love having the time to stay somewhere because we like it. We can revisit a favorite place or change direction whenever a new one catches my attention. Maple gets to be part of almost everything I do, which was a huge reason I chose this way of traveling. Watching her live her best life brings me so much joy.

Over the past 12 months, I've gotten better at handling the tough parts of van life, too. I'm more practical, more resourceful, and more willing to ask for help. Problems still upset me, but I have a growing collection of experiences that remind me I can get through them.

I still think about the life I imagined having by now. Traveling hasn't erased my hopes for a family or a settled-down future someday, but it's given me a way to enjoy my life while I work out what comes next.

There are days I miss the ease of a house, then I wake up somewhere beautiful, Maple ready for her walk, and I am so glad we took the leap.

• A change in high-altitude jet streams is propelling airliners to super speed this week.
• On Monday, a United Airlines flight from Singapore to San Francisco was boosted by 200 miles per hour.
• Supercharged jet streams can lead to quicker flight times, but also more turbulence.

Some international airline passengers are in luck this week as a supercharged jet stream helps flights land over an hour ahead of schedule.

Numerous transpacific flights from Asia to the US clocked ground speeds around 750 miles per hour on Monday, according to data from Flightradar24.

For example, United Airlines Flight 2, from Singapore to San Francisco, reached a ground speed of 767 miles per hour. That's 200mph faster than the Boeing 787's normal cruising speed, and equivalent to the speed of sound at sea level.

Flight 2 touched down in California at 7:50 a.m. — 1 hour and 25 minutes before its scheduled arrival time.

While airlines build padding into their timetables to absorb delays, there's still a sizable boost. The total flight time is 26 minutes faster than Sunday's flight, and an hour faster than Saturday's.

However, the plane wasn't actually flying supersonic. Ground speed measures how fast it moves relative to the Earth, and this was propelled by the North Pacific jet stream.

The North Pacific jet stream has since accelerated, too. It reached 246 miles per hour at typical cruising altitude on Tuesday morning, according to European weather data displayed by Windy.

United Airlines Flight 876 from Tokyo reached a ground speed over 785 miles per hour as it crossed the ocean on Tuesday, per Flightradar24.

For passengers flying from the US to Europe later in the week, the North Atlantic jet stream is also set to accelerate, with speeds of 200 miles per hour forecast for Saturday.

However, the jet stream is further south than usual, below the flagship New York to London route, Guy Gratton, professor of aircraft test and evaluation at Cranfield University in England, told Business Insider.

As of Tuesday, the jet stream is ideally positioned for flights from Florida to Spain.

"They are basically getting 150 miles an hour of free speed, which is absolutely brilliant from their viewpoint," Gratton said.

By the weekend, the jet stream is forecast to move further north, boosting flights from Washington, DC, and the Carolinas to northern Europe. And as the jet stream is an ideal place to fly, air traffic control can help re-route airplanes.

"Things are much more flexible than they used to be, so you're going to see captains and operations departments asking for specific routes to take best advantage of the speed," Gratton said. "Apart from anything else, that keeps the fuel burn down and makes the flights cheaper."

It isn't going to be plain sailing for everyone, though.

Gratton pointed out that the jet stream is forecast to be split rather than a continuous current.

"I would think that you probably are going to see more turbulence in those regions where you're crossing the edges of the jet stream," he said.

• Cold weather is expected ahead of a potential nor'easter across the eastern US.
• The weekend's weather is more difficult to predict so many days out.
• Snow could pile up in northern New England, upstate New York, and the Appalachians.

A potential nor'easter later this week could bring the season's first snowfall, with rain, coastal flooding, and freezing temperatures possible from the Great Lakes to Florida's Gulf Coast.

Meteorologists at The Weather Channel predict daytime high temperatures from Chicago to Atlanta will fall 20 degrees between Wednesday and Friday.

Rain is also expected from Georgia to Michigan by Wednesday night, and the interior Northeast could see rain by Thursday night, which could mix with or become wet snow.

By the weekend, meteorologists say temperatures could fall into the 30s and spread as far south as the Florida Panhandle.

Usually occurring between September and April, a nor'easter is a type of storm that forms along the US East Coast and typically brings winds from the Northeast, per the National Weather Service.

The weekend is harder to predict

Meteorologists said the weekend is more difficult to predict so many days out.

Some forecasts indicate strong winds and coastal flooding along parts of the East Coast, as well as heavier rain near the coast and snow farther inland. Other forecasts suggest lighter precipitation and winds, but with some risk of coastal flooding.

The mountains of northern New England, upstate New York, and the Appalachians could see accumulating snow, marking the season's first snowfall in many areas.

The Weather Channel's forecast indicates that major cities along the East Coast, such as New York and Boston, are not expected to receive any snow, as temperatures will remain above freezing.

The last nor'easter occurred in September and brought heavy rainfall and strong winds, causing coastal flooding and power outages for tens of thousands of households.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

• I spent 30 years raising four children, and being their mom became the center of my identity.
• When my last child moved out, I cried over the memories, mistakes, and years that had passed.
• At 57, I'm learning to put myself first and figure out what I want from the next chapter.

It was a morning like most others. Rise with the sun, kiss my husband, feed the cat and dogs, make my coffee, and sit out back to greet the day. Except that this morning, the house was empty for the first time in 30 years.

As I sat down to drink my coffee, I whispered, "I can't believe it's actually here."

Fat, warm tears began making their way down my face, and my heart felt like it was breaking into a thousand tiny pieces.

I closed my eyes, took a slow, deep breath, and reflected back through the years that now felt like one long, beautiful dream that I was trying not to wake from.

I raised 4 kids

I saw each of their four faces at different ages and seasons, felt the warmth of their snuggles, heard the echoes of their little voices bouncing off the walls of our home, and remembered rocking them to sleep and kissing away their tears.

I smiled, thinking of the giggles and knock-knock jokes, the farts at dinner that made at least one of us spit out our food, the endless silly games and stories meant to distract them on long car rides, and the refrigerator covered with their drawings.

Memories of the teenage years held a different tone of overriding fear and worry in the midst of helping each of them navigate learning to drive, friendships and dating, substance use, grades, college prep, and a few excruciatingly traumatic experiences that at one point I was sure would destroy us all.

The tears that came from these memories were those of deep relief and gratitude that we not only survived, but we also raised four children into adulthood who were now out in this big world creating their own amazing adventures.

Unfortunately, I still judged myself for the moments I felt resentful, irritated, and exhausted from the endless needs and responsibilities of raising four children and of my deep insecurity of not feeling good enough as a mom. As I sat in these memories, regret churned in my gut and the tears turned into sobs.

This sadness was not just because I hated thinking about how I had hurt my children in these moments, but also for the younger version of myself that believed she was never good enough.

As this wave of emotion moved through, I felt grateful and even proud of myself that I had learned to heal and take responsibility for my pain, trauma, and the many mistakes I made along the way. So many messes and mistakes over the years, but I had been committed to making sure my children knew they felt safe coming to me about any hurt I had caused. I assured each of them that I would always listen, accept my responsibility, and do what I could to grow and change.

I wanted them to experience and learn from a parent who was willing to take responsibility for their pain rather than pass it on to their children.

I'm now an empty nester

Once the tears and memories began to subside, I took another deep breath and got up to start a day that was, for the first time, all about me. It was strange not to have a child to think about or arrange my schedule around. I didn't have to remind anyone to clean the litter box or put away their dirty dishes, and although I felt relieved about this, I also felt directionless.

Who was I now that I was not responsible for taking care of children? I had left my career as a physician when my first child was a baby, and although I had done a myriad of things throughout the years, raising children had remained my primary work.

There was a mix of anger and excitement at the fact that, at 57 years old, I was literally starting over. I had just completed the most beautiful, challenging, never-ending job that was also unpaid, undervalued, and had deeply affected my mental, emotional, and physical well-being for the past 30 years. I had no retirement plan or 401(k) from my work, no big retirement party to celebrate all I had accomplished, and no résumé that would impress potential employers.

And yet, I felt a rising excitement about a similar question I had asked myself in my late teens: "What do I want to do with my one wild and precious life?"

On this first empty nest day and every day since, my answer to both my younger self and the woman I am now is this — "I want to finally choose myself without shame, guilt, or fear. I want to listen to my heart, honor my body, and open myself to brand new adventures every single day."

• WhiteMatter has raised $20 million to keep a company's AI agents in check.
• The startup spawns "guardian agents" for every AI agent in an enterprise to ensure it does what it's supposed to.
• Business Insider got an exclusive look at the pitch deck WhiteMatter used to raise its Series A round.

A startup using AI agents to keep rogue AI in line has raised $20 million.

WhiteMatter, founded in 2024 and formerly known as QuilrAI, has built agents that oversee what a company's existing AI agents can access, do, and share.

The startup spawns one "guardian agent" for each AI agent in an enterprise, which ensures the original agent acts as intended.

Before a company lets an agent access files, use software, make a decision, or trigger an action, WhiteMatter's agent checks whether that's allowed. The so-called guardian also monitors outcomes.

Guardian agents scale automatically — when an enterprise creates a new AI agent, a new guardian agent pops up, too.

"Our existing stack wasn't built for agents being the main actor in the story," Vidit Arora, the startup's 35-year-old founder and CEO, told Business Insider. "Organizations are going now from humans being the core actor to agents being the core actor, and our entire tool stack wasn't built for that."

Arora said that his company has helped customers transition from human-first to agent-first organizations. He says we're "not even at the tip of the iceberg" when it comes to agent attacks and compromises, both from external and internal agents.

Agentic security has become an increasingly important topic as enterprises grant more non-technical employees access to AI agents capable of completing tasks. A recent string of agent-powered security incidents has pumped new urgency into the cybersecurity space that WhiteMatter operates in.

Other startups have pounced on the business opportunity in agent security, and WhiteMatter's competitors include Onyx Security, Zenity, and Noma.

The guardian agents don't run on customers' tokens, but rather on WhiteMatter's self-hosted AI model and GPUs. The company charges customers a flat rate based on a techy version of AUM: agents under management.

Business growth is organic, Arora said, since companies continue to invest in more agents and therefore need more guardian agents. Current customers include Fortune 200 and Fortune 500 companies, such as the asset management firm Alter Domus. Whitematter, whose new name is a nod to the brain's connective tissue, says it has 2.25 million agents under management to date, and has overseen more than 116 billion AI interactions.

Blumberg Capital led WhiteMatter's $20 million Series A funding, and existing investors Crew Capital and Sprout & Oak also participated. Arora plans to use a big portion of the money to hire for go-to-market and sales roles, and expects his 80-person team to grow by 50% in the next 12 months. He also intends to use the fresh capital to invest in his research team.

Read the pitch deck WhiteMatter used to raise its Series A round.

WhiteMatter oversees the whole agent lifecycle.

The startup has a roughly 80-person team.

Many AI agents take actions they're not meant to.

Guardian agents oversee every action an agent takes.

WhiteMatter measures AUM: agents under management.

Customers include companies in highly regulated industries, like healthcare.

WhiteMatter has governed 116 billion AI interactions to date.

• This post originally appeared in the Business Insider Today newsletter.
• You can sign up for Business Insider's daily newsletter here.

Is Jensen Huang too important to lose his job?

That's the key question tech insiders and market watchers are asking as Nvidia's board prepares to investigate whether its CEO was the target of a foreign intelligence effort. Some, like President Donald Trump, are supportive of Huang. Others, like The Future Fund investor Gary Black, think his days are numbered. (Meanwhile, the internet is just having fun roasting Huang.)

BI's Sarah E. Needleman recapped the back-and-forth debate over Huang's job security.

There are a lot of names to keep straight. Here's who's who in the Nvidia scandal.

In the meantime, details continue to emerge about the woman at the center of the saga — Alice Huang. US intelligence officials reportedly believe Alice Huang (no relation) developed a close relationship with the Nvidia CEO and passed information to Beijing.

Photos show the pair together at industry events dating back to 2024.

The New York Times reported the Commerce Department halted an investigation into Megaspeed, the company Alice Huang has been an executive at, after an email from Nvidia's general counsel asking about the probe. And the Financial Times reported that Alice Huang and a business partner bragged to China-based investors they'd have "no problem securing GPUs."

In a vacuum, the scandal reads damning for the average executive. But Jensen Huang isn't your average executive.

How do you replace someone who's the face of your company AND an entire industry?

That's the other big question tied to Jensen Huang's future. With dozens of direct reports, Huang isn't a figurehead-type leader. He's heavily involved in the day-to-day operations of Nvidia, a company he cofounded more than three decades ago.

And then there's the wider position Nvidia holds in the AI ecosystem. Whether it's supplying chips, providing financing, or cutting deals, all roads lead back to Nvidia in the AI trade.

So you're not just replacing a CEO. You're replacing the key person at the key company in an industry the economy is betting big on. (But no pressure.)

Our Nvidia beat reporter, Geoff Weiss, has some analysis on who could succeed Huang if Nvidia decides to send him packing.

Monday's market reaction was a bit convoluted. Nvidia finished down 4.3%, but the three major indices (S&P 500, Dow Jones, and Nasdaq) were all up over 2%.

On Chinese social media, users have been tallying the cost of the fallout, from Nvidia investors to Huang's own fortune.

Are investors confident Huang isn't going anywhere? Or do they think a Huang-less Nvidia won't upend the wider market?

BI's Alistair Barr and Eugene Kim explain why Huang's scandal won't be a death knell to the AI trade.

Don't expect Huang to weigh in anytime soon. He dropped out of two tech events he was scheduled to speak at this week.

But he can't hide for long. Nvidia's next earnings report: November 17.

• I've been to all 50 states and have found that my favorite places to visit aren't major cities.
• Instead, I tend to gravitate toward under-the-radar cities, towns, and villages.
• Some of my favorites include Wickford Village in Rhode Island and Charlevoix in Michigan.

Earlier this year, I visited my 50th state after decades of travel.

Since then, when people ask me for domestic travel recommendations, I rarely point them to cities like Los Angeles or Miami. Instead, my brain goes to places that fly under the radar.

That mindset lines up with my travel style, too. I'm naturally drawn to the places most people wouldn't typically consider — like a weekend outing to Anchorage, Alaska, in the dead of winter.

Here are six underrated American cities, towns, and villages I can't wait to revisit.

If I could, I'd move to Wickford Village in Rhode Island.

Located about 30 minutes south of Providence in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, Wickford is a gorgeous, walkable harbor village.

It's full of quality, independent shops like World Store — a nature-inspired gift shop — and local restaurants like Wickford on the Water.

I'm always so impressed by how well maintained it is, too. The landscaping always seems to be immaculate, and everything feels well preserved.

Next time I go, I want to visit in July for the Wickford Art Festival. The event takes over the village every summer, and I remember a local gallery artist telling me about how much fun it is to attend.

Clinton, New York feels like a postcard for small-town America.

Clinton is a small village in upstate New York, right outside Utica. The main square is lined with independent shops and cafés, and it looks like a scene from a Hallmark holiday movie set.

I love the coffee shops in particular. I'm a big fan of maple lattes, and one of the best ones I've ever had was at Utica Coffee of Clinton.

Clinton Cider Mill, which is open from late August until Thanksgiving weekend, is another big draw. The fresh cider doughnuts are absolutely delicious.

I think Charlevoix, Michigan, is one of the prettiest towns in the Midwest.

Charlevoix is a city that sits on a strip of land between Lake Michigan and Lake Charlevoix. There are water views in almost every direction, which makes it incredibly scenic.

The downtown drawbridge regularly rises to let boats pass from lake to lake, and an iconic red lighthouse is positioned at the end of the pier. During my visit, I remember relaxing on a bench in the area and just taking it all in.

I also loved walking past the city's mushroom houses, a set of cute stone cottages built by local builder Earl Young. They look like they're straight out of a fairytale.

I underestimated Fargo, North Dakota.

Admittedly, I judged Fargo, North Dakota, too early. I expected it to be a sleepy prairie town, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much it has to offer.

For example, the city has everything you'd expect from a much bigger city, like a walkable downtown anchored by the Fargo Theatre.

My favorite stop was Brewhalla, a brewery and food hall in an industrial part of the city. The service was great, and there was a real community feel.

I love visiting Columbia, South Carolina.

Although it's the state capital, I feel like Columbia, South Carolina, doesn't get the same attention as Charleston or Hilton Head Island. After a couple of visits, though, something about the city keeps calling me back.

Columbia has all the attractions you'd expect from a midsize city, from a great zoo to plenty of restaurants and parks. The zoo's koalas and giraffes, in particular, really captured my attention.

What sticks with me most, though, are the people I met. Strangers complimented my outfits on the street, I saw people helping older pedestrians across crosswalks, and restaurant servers seemed genuinely happy to help.

I've been to plenty of Southern cities known for their hospitality, but in my eyes, Columbia takes the cake.

Glenwood Springs, Colorado, is one of my favorite places in the state.

As a Colorado native, I've been to plenty of small mountain cities. However, Glenwood Springs is my favorite.

If you're coming from Denver, getting to Glenwood Springs is an attraction in itself. I-70 cuts through the Glenwood Canyon just east of town, and I typically lose cell service along the way. But honestly? It's great because I have no choice but to look out the window and admire the scenery.

Once you arrive, downtown Glenwood is easy to explore on foot. There's also a convenient pedestrian bridge over the Colorado River that connects to the Glenwood Hot Springs Pool.

I was most impressed by the size of the primary pool, but the spa and facilities are great, too. My favorite time of year to go is winter, during or right after a light snowfall.

• Jensen Huang is no longer one of the world's 10 wealthiest people.
• The Nvidia CEO's net worth fell $6.5 billion on Monday after an affair and spying scandal emerged.
• A broader fall in Nvidia's share price in recent weeks has seen Huang drop five places on the rich list.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is no longer one of the world's 10 richest people.

Huang's net worth has been sliding in lockstep with Nvidia's share price in recent weeks, but revelations that he may have been targeted by a "foreign intelligence effort" in recent days pushed the stock even lower.

Nvidia stock fell as much as 9% on Monday, before paring the loss to end 4.3% lower at $178.67 per share. At the same time, Huang's net worth dropped $6.5 billion to $148 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

The index ranked Huang as the world's 12th wealthiest person after markets closed on Monday — one spot below Rob Walton, the former Walmart chair.

Huang was 10th when markets closed on Friday, and as recently as October, he was ranked 7th, with a net worth roughly $60 billion higher.

Huang's net worth is tied to Nvidia's stock, as he owns over 870 million shares, according to the company's latest annual report. The company's stock has been hit hard by the recent tech sell-off, dropping 21% over the past month and nearly 27% from its October 6 peak of $243.37.

Tech's sell-off has been driven by investor worries that AI infrastructure won't be developed as quickly as hoped. This was first sparked by neocloud companies' high debt levels, and then by last week's election of several Democrats at the state and federal levels who have spoken out against data center construction.

Last week, Huang briefly dropped out of the top 10 during the worst of the sell-off before returning by the end of the week.

Huang scandal compounds Nvidia's stock fall

Monday's Nvidia slide was triggered after Nvidia's board of directors said on Sunday that it had opened an investigation into whether Huang was the target of a "foreign intelligence effort."

The CEO also sent a note to staff apologizing for being "unfaithful" to his wife of over 40 years, Lori Huang.

It followed a New York Times report in late October that said American intelligence agencies found that the Nvidia CEO had a close relationship with Alice Huang, a Chinese citizen and one-time executive at Megaspeed, a Singapore-based data center company.

US officials suspected her company was steering Nvidia's advanced AI chips to China, and concluded that she was a Chinese intelligence asset, the report said.

As its longtime CEO, Huang is seen as instrumental to the firm's success, so investors are likely pricing in the risk that the board's investigation could trigger his departure from Nvidia.

• A major overseas war could leave governors short of National Guard troops for emergencies.
• National Guard leaders warn that hurricanes and other domestic threats won't stop for war.
• Some states are preparing separate forces to fill gaps left by Guard deployments.

A major war overseas could leave US governors without enough National Guard troops to respond to hurricanes, cyberattacks, and other emergencies at home, senior Army National Guard leaders warn.

Several generals raised that concern at the Association of the United States Army's annual meeting in Washington last month, where they discussed how the Guard's more than 329,000 soldiers could face competing demands in a war against a major military power.

"Hurricanes will not take a break for great power war," said Lt. Gen. Jonathan Stubbs, director of the Army National Guard, according to an Army news release published Friday.

The National Guard is different from the rest of the US military. Its forces respond to emergencies under the authority of state governors and also serve as a combat reserve for the military. In a major conflict, large numbers of Guard troops could be called to active duty, leaving governors with fewer personnel to respond to disasters or protect critical infrastructure.

Army leaders described the dilemma as "simultaneity," warning that the military could face enormous demands for troops overseas just as threats to the homeland intensify.

It's not uncommon to see the Guard facing competing demands.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan made the National Guard a key part of US combat operations, with Guard troops accounting for about 20% of Army deployments and 11% of Air Force deployments between 2001 and 2015. A 2005 watchdog report warned that overseas deployments were straining the Guard's ability to respond to domestic emergencies.

Today, thousands of Guardsmen are deployed to the US southern border, and there are thousands more in the nation's capital supporting an anti-crime initiative. This year, National Guard troops have also supported overseas combat operations, such as Operation Epic Fury against Iran, while also responding to domestic ice storms, hurricanes, and flash floods.

A major war could stretch the Guard even further, forcing tough choices.

Maj. Gen. Larry Muennich, Indiana's adjutant general, questioned what capabilities governors would have left to respond to domestic threats if their National Guard forces were mobilized for war. "What's left for the governor in a contested homeland?" he asked.

Some states are already taking steps to address the potential shortfall.

Maj. Gen. Bob Carruthers, commander of the Florida Army National Guard, said Florida had revived its State Guard, a separate, state-controlled volunteer force, in part to fill potential gaps left by federal mobilizations. The force, which Carruthers said has been "on the books" since World War II, can include up to 1,500 volunteers to respond to emergencies at home.

Other generals suggested establishing a process to resolve competing demands for troops between state and federal authorities, improving civilian emergency response capabilities, and streamlining mobilizations, a notoriously burdensome administrative process, for certain home-defense missions.

Maj. Gen. Brey Hopkins, the deputy commanding general of US Army Western Hemisphere Command's Reserve Component, warned that America's adversaries are closely watching how quickly it can mobilize for war and how it handles critical missions.

If "you don't think they have a stopwatch on it," he said, "you got another thing coming."

• Anthropic has unveiled plans to raise as much as $90 billion in its record-breaking IPO.
• The AI startup said in a filing it expects to price its shares between $70 and $78.
• It means Anthropic's IPO could outstrip the $75 billion initially raised by Elon Musk's SpaceX.

Anthropic has set a price for its much-anticipated IPO that could give the AI startup a valuation of up to $1.4 trillion.

In a regulatory filing on Tuesday, Anthropic said that shares for the upcoming public offering would be priced between $70 and $78, indicating that it intends to raise between $56 billion and $63 billion.

Anthropic did not give a date for the IPO, but some reports have said it could come as soon as mid-November.

The filing also said that Anthropic has entered into an agreement with investors including Broadcom, Google, and Nvidia to purchase $26 billion in shares at the IPO price, taking the total amount the company expects to raise up to around $90 billion.

At the high end, that would make Anthropic's public offering the largest of all time, outstripping the $75 billion initially raised by SpaceX's record-breaking IPO in June. Elon Musk's rocket company ultimately sold more than $85 billion worth of shares.

If Anthropic prices its shares at $78, the top end of its planned range, that would value the company at just over $1 trillion. Its market capitalization could reach $1.4 trillion on a fully diluted basis, which includes shares that could be issued through employee awards, convertible notes, and other commitments.

Previous reports had suggested that Anthropic could seek a valuation as high as $2 trillion, while later reporting said some investors had lowered their expectations to about $1.5 trillion.

Anthropic's IPO price range comes amid uncertainty over the wider AI economy. Last week, major US indexes and tech stocks plummeted in the aftermath of sweeping Democratic Party victories in the midterms, before recovering, as investors worried that the blue wave might lead to a slowdown in data center construction.

It marks a dizzying rise for the red-hot AI startup behind Claude, founded in 2021 by CEO Dario Amodei and other former OpenAI members.

Anthropic was valued at $965 billion following its $65 billion Series H funding round announced in May. Business Insider reported in July that Anthropic had soared to a $1.2 trillion valuation on secondary markets amid surging demand for shares.

Anthropic's November 10 regulatory filing also disclosed that some members of the company's board of directors and others affiliated with them have "indicated an interest" in buying up to $303 million worth of shares in the offering.

The company's seven founders are set to each hold roughly 240 million shares after the IPO, giving their stakes an implied value of about $17 billion to $18 billion apiece at the midpoint of the range.

In Anthropic's S-1 filing, which was released last month, the company disclosed a total net loss of about $42 billion in 2025 against revenue of $4.6 billion.

In an amended filing submitted earlier this month, Anthropic said it generated nearly $17 billion in revenue in the third quarter, and a $567 million operating loss.

The AI firm also disclosed $895 billion in committed spending on compute and infrastructure, nearly half of which is expected by the end of 2030.

• A new Urban Institute analysis showed nearly a quarter of Americans have debt in collections.
• The analysis includes borrowers behind on student loans, credit cards, and medical bills.
• Borrowers have reported financial strain due to high inflation and interest rates.

Americans are struggling to keep up with their monthly bills.

Affordability was top of mind for voters in the midterm elections, and new data from the Urban Institute illuminated just how pressing an issue it is. An analysis from the think tank, using US Census Bureau and credit bureau data, showed that 23.5% of Americans with a credit history have debt in collections, with a median amount of $2,913.

And some corners of the country are struggling more with outstanding debt than others. In rural Jim Hogg County in south Texas, over half of those with a credit history have debt in collections. Who holds debt is also unequal: The Urban Institute found communities of color — zip codes where at least half of the population is non-white — were around 50% more likely to have debt heading to collections than white communities.

The time it takes to go to collections varies by product. A borrower behind on credit card payments would typically go to collections four to six months after a missed payment, while medical debt is around three to six months. The analysis said that the median credit card delinquent debt is $680, compared to $1,492 for those behind on medical bills.

The collections process for student loans depends on whether the loan is federal or private. A federal student loan typically defaults after 270 days, and a borrower would then have the opportunity to work with their servicer to rehabilitate their loan and return to good standing.

The Education Department paused involuntary collections on federal student loans, including the consequences of wage garnishment and the seizure of federal benefits, while it implemented its repayment overhaul. It has not specified when the pause will lift. Private student loans, meanwhile, typically default after 180 days of nonpayment and are subject to standard collection procedures.

Urban Institute's data showed that 16% of federal and private student-loan borrowers were behind on payments in 2026, with a median defaulted amount of $5,078.

Across the board, Americans owed $18.8 trillion in debt as of the second quarter of 2026, according to the New York Federal Reserve; 4.7% of debt had transitioned into some form of delinquency at the end of June, with 10.6% of student loan debt 90 days or more delinquent.

From inflation to rising grocery prices, Americans' wallets have been strained, leading some to pick and choose which bills to prioritize. High interest rates on products like credit cards and student loans also deter borrowers' ability to stay on top of their payments. For example, Susan Cannon, a 73-year-old, previously told Business Insider that she has nearly $40,000 in debt spread across 19 credit cards with interest rates ranging from 12% to nearly 35%.

"I've always tried to put some in savings, but it's gotten to where it's all going toward interest," Cannon said. "I just cannot get ahead."

• It's been a tough year for apple growers, after a spring freeze decimated crops.
• Some growers pivoted, incorporating entertainment and food to bring in visitors.
• Others shuttered for the season, hoping more apples will grow next year.

New Jersey apple farmer Kurt Alstede says running his business this year has been torturous.

"Everything is just ugly this year," the first-generation orchard owner said.

April freezes decimated crops from the Midwest to the Northeast, leaving trees bare and orchards — which often rely on revenue from autumn apple-picking tourists — scrambling to stay afloat. At the same time, farm costs have been skyrocketing; the cost of operating a farm has grown by nearly 44% since 2018, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation, a farmers' advocacy organization. And in the Northeast, rainy weekends kept crowds away on key Sundays.

For the orchards trying to get by, that's meant diversifying their portfolios with new crops and entertainment — or just hitting pause altogether.

"As a farmer in New Jersey, I think given everything that's occurred, we can't wait for 2027," Alstede said. "We've had enough of '26."

Vegetables, hay rides, and pumpkin patches

In the past, farms wouldn't have to worry about temperatures dipping below 25 degrees during apple bloom. "Now it's a thing that seems to happen every few years," said C.J. Walke, the orchard program manager at the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association.

Alstede, a first-generation farmer, has spent his year pivoting. When summer camps came to tour an apple orchard, they learned about the joys of picking pumpkins and vegetables instead — something the kids also found fun, if not as iconic as apple picking. Even so, "it's been a tough grind this year," he said.

"People really want to pick apples, and when you don't have enough apples, there's only so many pumpkins…and other things you can sell," Alstede said.

Josh Morgenthau, the third-generation owner-operator of Fishkill Farms in New York, said the farm lost all its cherries and 90% of its peaches and nectarines to the freeze. Around 60% of the apple crop was viable. With that dreary outlook for summer fruit, Fishkill leaned into live music, wagon rides, and festivals.

"It really made a huge difference, and I credit it with why it's not going to be the worst season ever despite the cards we were dealt," Morgenthau said.

Beyond fun programming, Fishkill Farms has diversified its crops. Morgenthau said they now grow strawberries, blueberries, cherries, nectarines, and pears — all of which have slightly different seasons and sensitivities, so that it's "very, very unlikely for all of our crops to fail in one year."

Of course, pivoting and diversifying isn't possible for every orchard; some orchards might not have the space, while others might not be able or willing to deal with the logistics or expenses of creating a concert or kitchen on their premises. Running a farm in the US is already expensive without investing in a business transformation. Farmers are taking on record debt, with 2026 debt forecast to hit $605 billion, and that borrowing has gotten pricier as interest rates increased. Alstede said that he's been borrowing more money to get through the year, and most of his loans are variable rate — meaning they're beholden to Federal Reserve moves.

For smaller hobby farms, the apple juice isn't worth the squeeze. Monte Marti, who owns Big Apple Orchard in Iowa, has closed it for the season. They lost almost all of their apples in April, Marti said. It's been a quiet fall without their usual visitors and high school staffers. For him, the orchard and farm operation is entirely a hobby; for him, it pays more dividends in community than revenue. He hopes they'll have more apples next year: "We can't have any less!"

For Fishkill Farms, which was battling the apple crop loss and rainy Sundays in the early fall, this season wasn't a total wash, especially with all of the programming they added in to supplement their crops.

"The weather in October really turned out beautifully, and we wound up having a pretty decent apple season," Morgenthau said. "I call this season the best bad season possible."

And Jared Buono, the director of Cornell's Hudson Valley Research Lab, said that apple lovers should support their favorite orchards by buying local. Even with freezes and high costs, the art of the orchard is still very much alive.

"It's not going anywhere," Buono said, "and the growers are as innovative as ever."

• Zee Gustafson is a content creator and freelance hair and makeup stylist living in Chicago.
• She and her husband bring in $400k, but had racked up about $91k in credit card debt by 2026.
• Spending $14,000 monthly on fashion was normal, until a month in an RV changed everything.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Zee Gustafson Bowen, a 37-year-old fashion and finance content creator and freelance celebrity hair and makeup stylist. It has been edited for length and clarity.

As a celebrity hair and makeup stylist, I spent much of my early career surrounded by media personalities, lights, and glamour in the heart of New York City.

I loved it and am grateful for the profession I had worked hard to enter. Somewhere along the way, though, my lifestyle habits changed.

I left the busy city to move out west to Bend, Oregon, a small mountain town, to settle with my husband during the height of the pandemic.

We raised our child there, but we also raised something else: Our credit card debt.

Together, we make around $400,000 a year. I'm a freelance stylist, bringing in about $100,000, and I also earn roughly $50,000 creating social media content. My husband earns about $250,000 a year in passive income from his family's real-estate business.

In Bend, I was spending compulsively.

At our worst, I was shelling out an average of $14,000 a month on material items I didn't need, like clothes, luxury goods, and home items.

For a long time, I told myself I just loved fashion and nice things. Therapy helped me see that shopping had become a coping mechanism: I was unhappy, in debt, and buying things to create an image of the person I wanted others to think I was.

Once I admitted there was a problem, my husband and I moved to Chicago, where I'm originally from, and began changing how we spent, saved, and talked about money.

I escaped the mountains through shopping

My husband and I moved to Bend during the pandemic because we wanted a slower, outdoorsier life. We quickly realized it wasn't for us.

We missed our support system, being far from our work, and I was dealing with postpartum sadness. But instead of getting help, I went shopping.

I was buying anything and everything: Luxury bags, clothes, jewelry, home goods, and beauty products. When I was growing up, my family loved collecting, so having beautiful things around has always felt normal.

At its height, I had about 85 designer bags — including a $12,000 Hermès bag — clothes spread across multiple closets, coats in basement bins, and enough shampoo that I had 12 bottles at one point. My credit card debt was climbing near six figures.

I started therapy after having my daughter. Over time, I came to see that shopping was a way to cope with my unhappy feelings and a source of validation. I was buying items for a quick dopamine hit, only to realize I already had more than I could use in my closet.

By December 2024, I told my husband we needed to leave Bend. We moved back to Chicago in April 2025.

A cross-country RV trip made me confront my shopaholic habits

That summer, we took a monthlong RV trip that included Bend, Sun Valley, Idaho, and the drive to Chicago. I had to fit clothing for several different climates and activities into a tiny RV, plan our food around a small refrigerator, and account for every dollar we spent on gas, lodging, and activities.

I had never budgeted that way before. I had to get granular because I wanted the trip to work. It made me realize I could manage money if I stopped treating it as something scary or shameful.

During the trip, I read a personal-finance book by Mrs. Dow Jones that pushed me to think about how my family had handled money. It also helped me see debt as a number I could work through, not proof that I was a bad person.

By the time we got home, I had spent a month living with far less than I owned — and I loved it.

When I got home, I started decluttering my closet first, then my finances

I began decluttering in the closet I had built in my sunroom. I had spent money making it look beautiful and used it as a place to shoot content, but it had become overwhelming.

I worked in small sections instead of trying to clear everything at once. For each item, I asked myself why I had bought it. If it was because I wanted someone else to think it was cool but never wore it, it was gone.

I sent sellable pieces to consignment or The RealReal, used textile-recycling bags for worn-out items, and gave other belongings away through a local Buy Nothing group. I got rid of at least half of my clothing.

Selling items sometimes brought in $1,000 here or there, but the bigger benefit was seeing my closet shrink without being upset about it, and knowing that my items were now in the homes of more grateful owners.

Here's my debt-payoff plan

As of August 2026, we had about $91,000 in credit card debt — meaning we were still spending well outside our means, despite a $400k income.

I used a debt-payoff spreadsheet to stop keeping everything in my head and started attacking the cards with the highest interest rates first.

I'm putting as much extra money as I can toward the cards, but I'm also building an emergency fund so I don't have to rely on credit when something breaks.

My six-month emergency-fund goal is about $118,000, and I'm taking advantage of a high-yield savings account. I had about $10,000 saved when I started this plan and hope to have it fully funded in about 18 months.

I also contribute $100 a week to Acorns, a micro-investing app. I used to think luxury goods could double as investments. I would tell myself a bag, a diamond, or a piece of jewelry was worth buying because I could always resell it later.

Now, I separate enjoying something from investing in it. I can still want a beautiful bag, but it's not my retirement plan, and I'm building financial security for the money I may need in the next three to five years — not just the money I need now or decades from now.

• Have you ever wanted to boss around robots? This hourly job may be for you.
• Figure AI is hiring a night-shift coordinator to oversee its robots and human operators.
• Figure envisions robots eventually replacing human labor, but for now, it still needs people in charge.

A new kind of babysitter is wanted in Silicon Valley.

The robotics startup Figure AI is looking to hire a night-shift coordinator in Santa Clara to oversee its humanoid robots alongside the humans who operate them.

The contract-to-hire job entails scheduling and coaching the team, troubleshooting robot failures and safety issues, and sometimes operating the machines themselves, according to a recently posted ad for the position. It pays $40 to $45 an hour, runs from 10:30 p.m. to 7 a.m., and includes a weekend shift.

The role is also physically demanding. The coordinator will be on their feet most of the time and must be able to safely lift, carry, and maneuver equipment or humanoid hardware weighing up to 50 pounds, the posting says.

The unusual career opportunity comes as a growing number of startups race to bring humanoid robots into homes and businesses. Last week, one of Figure's rivals, Agility Robotics, went public through a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company.

Investors poured $33.4 billion into robotics and physical AI companies worldwide in the first half of this year, data from PitchBook show. That is well above the $28.7 billion that the sector raised in all of 2025, and a huge jump from 2020, when such companies raised just under $5 billion.

Figure's opening for a night-shift coordinator isn't the only human role that it's advertising to keep its robots humming. The company is also seeking humanoid robot operators to work directly with its machines to test and validate new behaviors and skills.

Founded in 2022, Figure said a little over a year ago that it was valued at $39 billion after securing $1 billion through a Series C fundraising round led by Parkway Venture Capital.

Its website says Figure is focused on providing resources for jobs that humans don't want to perform. It's starting with roles in industries such as manufacturing, shipping and logistics, warehousing, and retail, where it says labor shortages are especially acute. The company expects its machines initially to handle structured, repetitive work before eventually taking on more complex tasks.

"Robots that can think, learn, reason, and interact with their environments will eventually be capable of performing tasks better than humans," Figure's website says. "Over time, humans could leave the loop altogether as robots become capable of building other robots — driving prices down even more."

For now, though, Figure still wants a night-shift coordinator with a pulse.

"You'll set priorities, keep robots running for real commercial use cases, solve problems as they come up, and hand the day team a clear, accurate picture of what happened overnight," the job posting says. "You'll be the one making the calls."

• Scandal-stricken Nvidia got left behind as major stock indexes and chipmakers rebounded.
• Wall Street is still bullish, but the scandal could complicate Nvidia's China growth escape hatch.
• Sign up for First Trade, Business Insider's daily markets newsletter.

"So you built your model, but forgot to account for the CEO getting honeypotted by a Chinese spy in your downside case?"

That was an X post I saw yesterday — one of many that made me chuckle as social media was engulfed with memes, GIFs, and jokes centered on Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's affair-with-an-alleged-spy bombshell.

Out of all the things that could've derailed the stock of the world's second-largest company, romance-linked corporate subterfuge was pretty low on the list.

But it happened, and Nvidia shares fell 4% on Monday, tumbling as much as 9% in the first few minutes of trading. Major US indexes, meanwhile, sped past hobbled Nvidia in the other direction, rising more than 2%.

Nvidia's fellow chipmakers added insult to injury, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) surging nearly 7%. It marked a much-needed rebound for a sector that was an outsized loser during last week's post-election sell-off, given its central exposure to the data-center buildout.

The response sent the message that investors see this as an Nvidia-specific destabilization event. The rest of the AI trade — and the demand driving it — remains intact.

But the intense period of scrutiny for Nvidia and Huang is far from over. Here are a couple of storylines to watch going forward:

China expansion hurdles

Here's where it gets tricky. Nvidia has spent years trying to convince US officials that it should be allowed to sell more chips to China. Now the company could face awkward questions about an alleged intelligence effort involving a business executive tied to an Nvidia cloud partner.

Even if the situation doesn't impact future numbers, it could make Nvidia's China lobbying effort more difficult. That matters greatly within an AI trade already worried about the limits of America's data-center buildout. China was supposed to be a potential release valve for growth, not another policy headache.

Investors will have to contend with "potential governance implications, increased regulatory scrutiny, and export-control compliance of the flow of H200 chips into China," Citi analyst Atif Malik wrote in a client note on Monday.

Wall Street remains bullish

But Malik — like the vast majority of Wall Street — still has a "buy" rating on Nvidia stock, even though it's negative year to date and has lagged the Magnificent 7. Not a single analyst downgraded the stock in response to the probe. Instead, a wave of firms including RBC, Bernstein, Citi, Wedbush, and Mizuho published new research reiterating their bullishness.

There was acknowledgment of the key-man risk surrounding Huang, but not enough to put a dent in the company's long-term AI-spending thesis. Hyperscalers still need compute, data centers are still being built, and Nvidia is still the biggest maker of the chips at the center of it all.

A bottom for the AI trade?

Did I mention that, outside of Nvidia, the rest of the AI trade thoroughly dominated on Monday? After a moderate bounce on Friday, dip-buying, calmed nerves, and — always critically — a drop in oil prices kicked in.

If the trend holds, that could mean last Thursday's meltdown in tech stocks — the worst since 2020 — marked a market bottom.

It would be a strange way for AI to find its footing, with Nvidia embroiled in tabloid-style headlines as everything else connected to the trade finds new life.

• Target is taking a higher-cadence approach to the holidays this year.
• With the season starting earlier, the retailer is aiming to keep shoppers coming back more often.
• Business Insider toured a store in Wisconsin to see the team in action.

Target is looking for a big win this holiday season, and it's coming fast out of the gate.

Christmas Day is still more than six weeks away, but the trees, stockings, and gingerbread houses have already started popping up at Target stores across the US.

"Two weeks ago, this was still very much Halloween," said Ben Kossack, the store director at Target's West Madison location in Wisconsin, as he led Business Insider past the seasonal section near the back of the store.

"Then over here was very much transitioning into Christmas," he continued, saying that Target has gotten much better at staying relevant to the current season while also letting early shoppers get a jump on the next one. "I think that's where the company has really figured out how to win."

Earlier in Kossack's career with Target, store teams would have just a few days to get a store set for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

In recent years, Target has taken more of a phased approach, with Halloween costumes and candy facing off against tree ornaments and twinkle lights.

Of course, two months is a long time in retail, and the increasingly early start to the season can leave stores looking a bit tired as they near the finish line.

Target says it's planning to finish strong by having a steady cadence of fresh merchandise and store displays to keep shoppers interested.

"Typically, like we set this and we set this, and this lasts till Christmas," Kossack said of a featured section of faux fur apparel near the front of the store that will only be up until Thanksgiving, after which something new will come in. "That would be the first time in my recollection that we'll have two things of newness post-Halloween for this specific space. So really excited about that."

Kossack said he's already seeing shoppers at his store respond positively to the quick turnover, even if it might seem too early for some folks.

Kossack has also been steadily hiring over the past several months to build his staff and help make everything work. Even the seven green chandeliers near the front of the store took most of a shift for one of his team leaders to assemble.

There's still a lot of work to do, but Kossack says he's excited to create a memorable holiday experience for the families who shop at his store.

"If we do a good job with that as a company, and then we execute it well as a store, that's what creates that inspiring moment," he said. "It's that extra piece. And if we do it right, we do it well."

• I never expected to be raising my daughter in the same place I grew up, but life had plans for us.
• I'm building strong community ties with neighbors and local moms.
• I love experiencing the pool days and snowy hills of my childhood through the lens of motherhood.

On a weekday afternoon this summer, I threw my 2-year-old in the air as she landed back in the pool, and we erupted in laughter. Feet away, cars and trucks whizzed by on the highway overpass.

Four decades earlier, I'd swum in the same sparkling blue, New York City Parks pool. Amidst the surrounding chaos of the city. I pretended to be a mermaid as the sun hit my red hair, and tanned my shoulders. Now, at 45, I'm rife with freckles, likely a result of those carefree summer days spent happily splashing in the sun.

Moving back to my childhood neighborhood as an adult wasn't my plan. The Craigslist apartment listing was vague. Once there, I realized I was in the new leasing office of the complex where I'd grown up.

The 80-acre property, with meticulously manicured green space, was built in the 1940s as middle-class housing for returning World War II veterans. Now, the complex is a multi-generational space that houses original renters, new families, and recent college graduates.

Before I knew it, I'd rented an apartment, just steps from the building where I'd been raised. Culturally, moving back to your hometown can have a negative connotation. In movies, it's often shown as a step backward, or failure. For me, it was the opposite.

There was comfort in living where I'd been raised

This place, where I'd lived for four decades, had seen every version of me. A 30-year-old daughter mourning the loss of her mother. Later, as a wife, desperate for a baby. Tortured by the green spaces that seemed like the perfect place to raise a family. Then finally, as a parent.

I'd grown up with my single mother as a cliché New Yorker who barely knew her neighbors. Now, as a mom myself, everything looked different. The community I'd always known was a new exploration.

The metal jungle gym I climbed was long gone. Replaced by a modern, blue slide and climbing walls. The well-kept lawn, once restricted from use, was now a hub for gatherings, movie nights, and slow, summer days.

My daughter already had certain privileges I never experienced like air conditioning and a dishwasher. As well as leisurely walks with our Goldendoodle, on a property that just 15 years ago didn't allow dogs.

During last winter's historic snowstorm, we took a walk to the same spot I ran to for sledding on a snowy morning in the 90s. Gleeful kids came flying down, igniting memories of when I did the same, in my own modest saucer. I'd once deemed this hill scary. Now it appeared almost miniature to me.

I'm reliving parts of my childhood with a new perspective

Returning to my old neighborhood has given me a chance to do things differently on the other side. As an older toddler mom, I've formed micro-connections that have provided healing and comfort, even in the big city. I don't just know my neighbors, I consider some of them good friends.

I also utilized something my mom never had, social media. I've lurked in the local virtual city hall to read daily gripes and connected with other moms about tips for getting our kids to eat dinner, the best carriers, and babysitting resources. I'm more engaged in my neighborhood than I ever was as a kid or young adult, and that's giving me a completely new appreciation for where I live.

Leaving the pool with my daughter, I was flooded with nostalgia for the summers of my youth. After a day of swimming, my mom would sometimes take me to a nearby McDonald's as a special treat. Instead, my daughter and I headed to the nearby deli for a turkey sandwich. It's been a local mainstay for more than five decades.

"I knew your mommy when she was a baby!" the owner told my daughter. Later, we'd walk by the fountain. A spot I'd passed by many times without a thought. Now, it's become a pitstop for whimsy and curiosity.

My daughter isn't yet old enough to understand the significance behind these spots, but forging her childhood — in the same place I experienced mine — has been an indescribable joy. One I never expected, but am fully embracing.

• Phil Boissierie is a Silicon Valley therapist who works with couples in high-profile careers.
• He said news like Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's affair causes clients to worry about their own indiscretions.
• Boissierie, who has never met Huang, has seen many couples survive infidelity; he urges connection.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Phil Boissierie, a 50-year-old marriage and couples therapist at The Relationship Therapy Group in Silicon Valley. His words have been edited for length and clarity.

I've been a therapist for almost 20 years, and cofounded The Relationship Therapy Group with my wife about 10 years ago. I specifically work with couples and high-powered individuals in Silicon Valley.

The news of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang admitting to an extramarital affair broke over the weekend. People have affairs and work through them all the time; sometimes it makes the relationship stronger in the end.

But this particular story has a lot of nuances; the geopolitical trade and government involvement mean this isn't your run-of-the-mill CEO who has an affair, gets caught, and tries to do damage control.

Like any business center, I think people in Silicon Valley need to be smart about the relationships they have and how they treat others, because it reflects who you are as a leader and how your company will look, too. And for the most part, people around here do — but mistakes are made; that's for sure.

I've been a therapist in Silicon Valley for almost 20 years

A story like Jensen Huang's hitting the news can make clients think of past scenarios of their own — things like, "Hey, I had this indiscretion X amount of years ago, and now I'm really worried. What if something gets out about what I did? What should I do?"

What someone should do in that situation varies from person to person. My straightforward advice is, if you're actively in something and worried or feeling bad about it, stop right away.

If a couple is going to get anywhere positive following an affair, it has to be addressed and prioritized by both individuals, and they need to create a bubble around them of support so they can do that.

At the end of the day, all of these high-powered tech folks are just people; they just happen to be in a special position in life. I see people all the time come out the other side of an affair with a better relationship because it forces the couple to look at things and see, maybe he wasn't present, maybe they lost their connection along the way, etc.

I think Jensen Huang did the right thing telling his Nvidia staff

If you think about a typical affair, what are the things that make it complicated? The relationship itself, the kids and family, and then any sort of business piece. With Huang and his wife Lori Huang's two kids also working at Nvidia, you've got all of those factors all together here.

I'm not aware of it being typical to have a rumor of an affair, and then a CEO sends an email to the whole company or their key staff to let them know it happened. My hunch is that it was an effort to get a handle on this thing because it broke in the media and because of all these really complicated geopolitical and security factors.

But when something salacious breaks in the media, you have two choices: bury your head and hide, or address it head-on, and he did the latter. In this scenario, for him, addressing it with the staff, apologizing publicly, and showing that he's working to repair things is the right move.

I can't give advice to someone I don't know, but I feel for his wife because I can't imagine how stressful it is for her amid the public scrutiny. I think right now it's important for her to have someone close to her who can advise her and help her take care of herself to get through this stressful time. (Editor's note: Lori Huang has not commented publicly about her husband's admitted affair.)

My advice for couples in high-profile careers

If you're a C-level individual at a Fortune 500 or Fortune 100 company, time is a real thing. If you're married, you're married not only to your partner but also to your job, and that's hard.

Time away from home and feeling disconnected from your spouse are real issues I see all day long. When I talk to especially busy couples about, "Look, you need to find time to connect," their minds immediately go to, "I don't know when I can take a weekend or a week off or a night off because someone's traveling." There's probably a hundred rom-coms that have something to do with business travel.

The key thing I tell spouses is to stay in contact; nowadays it's easy. Send a text that you miss them and are thinking of them, check in in the evening when you get back to your hotel, things like that. If you're only in town for a day here and there because you're constantly traveling internationally, make those days count.

If you only have 10 minutes together because of the pressure between work, the kids, all of it — stop, put the phone and screens away, and use those 10 minutes to connect. Make eye contact, engage with your partner, feel them, and be felt. We're incredibly social creatures and we need that undivided attention.

Staying connected is more than just asking your partner about how their day is; it's also about sharing. I tell my busy clients to share about their work, their day, their ups and downs; it brings your partner into your life. Connection is a two-way street; both people share or the whole thing breaks down.

Remember: Your business is important, your investors are important, but your partner is more important.

Do you have a story to share about your relationship affecting your career? If so, please reach out to the reporter at aapplegate@businessinsider.com.

• Morgan Stanley says the AI stock sell-off after the blue wave is overdone.
• The bank laid out a 3-part investing plan for playing an AI rebound.
• It highlights data center supply chain stocks, hyperscalers, and AI adopters.

AI stocks are back in favor after last week's plunge, and Morgan Stanley says it sees "multiple buying opportunities" for investors following last week's midterms.

The blue wave election outcome spooked AI bulls, who worried that Democrats' control of Congress and governorships in states like Texas would significantly slow the data center buildout. Chip stocks, neoclouds, and hyperscalers sold off hard on Thursday, with the Nasdaq 100 seeing its worst day since April 2025.

But in a client note on Monday, Morgan Stanley said the pullback was too extreme and argued that a potentially slower pace of the buildout as a result of the election would elongate the AI capex cycle and help smooth out supply chain hiccups.

"We believe the market's reaction to the midterms is overdone," wrote Stephen Byrd, an equity analyst, in the note. "Over the past week, the market has undergone an earthquake event, with significant uncertainty around the impact of the midterms on the data center build-out, the trajectory of the cycle, and implications for global stocks."

"We are recommending a selective 'Buy the Drop' strategy," Byrd added.

The bank broke down its strategy into three buckets: hyperscalers, data center and supply chain stocks, and software enablers and AI adopters.

Let's unpack each of them, and how Morgan Stanley says to capitalize on each opportunity.

1. Hyperscalers

In this realm, the bank said it puts an emphasis on firms with scale, access to capital, and those able to capitalize on advances they make. In other words, the bigger the better.

Hyperscalers that Morgan Stanley's analysts rate overweight include Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, Alphabet, and SpaceX.

"In a world with multiple constraints on the growth in AI infrastructure, we believe the largest, most sophisticated AI players are well positioned to gain share and grow margin," Byrd wrote.

2. Data center and supply chain stocks

This is the AI infrastructure trade — all the picks and shovels involved in the data center buildout. With a potential buildout slowdown ahead, the bank urged selectivity in this space, and shared stock picks for each part of the supply chain.

To identify opportunities, Morgan Stanley looked at firms with high current profit margins and low valuations relative to their past levels.

They include:

US powered shell providers (the exterior shell of a data center): Terawulf, Riot Platforms, Hut 8, and Applied Digital are all "less exposed" to regulatory risks in Texas.

Behind-the-meter power generation companies: Bloom Energy, Solaris Energy, Liberty Energy, Vistra, Talen Energy, Constellation Energy, and BorgWarner are all more immune to slowing data center growth.

Energy: Williams Companies, Clearway Energy, HA Sustainable Infrastructure, Ormat Technologies, and Fervo Energy.

Semiconductor and hardware firms: Nvidia, Broadcom, Taiwan Semiconductor, Seagate Technology, Western Digital, Lumentum, Coherent, Arista Networks, and Keysight Technologies.

3. Software enablers and AI adopters

Morgan Stanley said that every technology cycle in the past has seen outperformance first by semiconductor firms, then infrastructure, and then software enablers and adopters.

The bank listed stock picks for each the software enabler and AI adopters categories. We've listed below the US stocks from each that have the highest upside to Morgan Stanley's price target as of Monday morning, which are also rated "Overweight" by the bank's analysts.

Upsides to price targets are shown in parentheses.

Software enablers: Snowflake (74.4%), Datadog (54.6%), ServiceNow (53.6%), Cloudflare (51.3%), Palantir (50.3%)

AI adopters: Devon Energy (54.7%), Grindr (48%), GXO Logistics (41%), Citigroup (38%), Blackstone (38%), Citizens Financial Group (38%)

• The Education Department said it would involuntarily move SAVE borrowers to a standard plan.
• Borrowers still haven't received information on that transfer, a new legal filing said.
• It asked the department for clarity on how it will move borrowers off SAVE.

A new legal filing is pressing the Department of Education for clarity on its transition of student-loan borrowers off a key repayment plan.

On Monday, the law firm Public Goods Practice filed a request for information in its ongoing lawsuit to restore benefits for borrowers enrolled in the Biden-era SAVE plan, which allowed for cheaper payments and a shorter timeline to debt relief.

Beginning in July, the Education Department started sending notices to the 7.5 million borrowers enrolled in SAVE, informing them of their 90-day timeframe to transition to a new repayment plan. The department said in multiple notices to borrowers that if they did not transition within their timeframe, they would automatically be placed on the standard plan, which would result in the most expensive payments.

However, since those initial notices, the timeline has shifted: after borrowers reached their 90-day deadlines, they began receiving a "final notice" granting an extra 30 days to transition. Those 30 days have now passed for some borrowers and they're still on forbearance, with no information on new payments. The latest legal filing asked the department to provide details on what comes next.

When Public Goods Practice asked the Education Department's counsel when borrowers would be involuntarily moved off SAVE, the counsel said, according to the legal filing, that it doesn't "'know when borrowers whose 30-day period has expired will be moved to new plans.'"

The Education Department has not responded to repeated requests from Business Insider on the timeline for transferring borrowers from SAVE to a standard plan. In July, the law firm filed a motion seeking to block borrowers from being involuntarily transferred off of SAVE. The department disputed the motion at the time and encouraged borrowers to enroll in "a lawful repayment option."

Over the past few months, borrowers have been navigating President Donald Trump's student-loan repayment overhaul, which included a new Repayment Assistance Plan. Borrowers have reported higher monthly payments under RAP, compared to SAVE, and have said they're worried about the consequences of defaulting, like wage garnishment and seizure of federal benefits.

Have a story to share about student loans? Contact this reporter at asheffey@businessinsider.com.

• Jensen Huang joins a long list of tech execs whose relationship scandals have been thrust into the spotlight.
• The Nvidia CEO wrote a memo apologizing for an affair. The company's board is investigating the matter.
• From Bill Gates to Astronomer's former CEO, here is how various business leaders have dealt with relationship drama.

Jensen Huang is far from the first CEO to navigate a relationship scandal in public.

The Nvidia CEO's disclosure of an affair has captured the tech industry's attention. Now, the scandal is calling into question whether he will keep his job. The memes are flowing.

From the decision by Amazon's Jeff Bezos' to throw down the gauntlet while risking the release of intimate texts, to the viral Coldplay "kiss cam" scandal involving Astronomer's former CEO, here's how executives have navigated relationship drama while in the public spotlight.

Jeff Bezos went on offense

In 2019, the National Enquirer published a series of text messages detailing Jeff Bezos's relationship with former TV host Lauren Sánchez. The report showed Bezos sent the texts while still married to MacKenzie Scott.

Bezos dealt with the situation by going direct.

In a lengthy post on Medium, Bezos accused the publication's parent company of "extortion and blackmail" and published emails in which the company threatened to release intimate photos of the Amazon founder if he didn't agree to say that their reporting wasn't politically motivated.

"I prefer to stand up, roll this log over, and see what crawls out," Bezos wrote.

American Media Inc., the company that owned the Enquirer, has said that it acted lawfully.

Amazon itself never became a protagonist in the fight, and Bezos remained CEO for roughly two more years. Still, the episode ignited broader conversations over privacy, tabloid media, and Bezos's split with Scott.

Scott and Bezos filed for divorce in 2019 after a "long period of loving exploration and trial separation," per a joint statement. Bezos married Sánchez in 2025.

Bill Gates left Microsoft's board during an investigation following affair revelation

The Wall Street Journal reported that a Microsoft employee told the company in 2019 that she once had an extramarital relationship with former CEO Bill Gates that started around 2000.

That story — and the company's response — were notable for their timelines. While Gates remained on Microsoft's board, he had stepped down as the company's CEO in January 2000.

Microsoft hired an outside counsel to investigate the claims, the Journal reported in 2021, the same year that Gates and Melinda French Gates were divorcing.

Microsoft's board governance committee received a confidential briefing on the investigation that November. Four months later, Gates left the board.

Representatives for Gates said at the time that the affair had ended amicably and denied that his move off the board was tied to the investigation.

Astronomer's CEO resigned after Coldplay "kiss cam" cuddle went viral

In July 2025, Astronomer, a software and data management company, suddenly found itself in the middle of a high-profile scandal.

Its CEO, Andy Byron, and its chief people officer, Kristin Cabot, went viral after their embrace during a Coldplay concert was projected onto big screens during a "kiss cam" segment.

Before the concert, Byron, Cabot, and Astronomer were not household names. Videos of their cuddle went viral on TikTok, inspiring several days' worth of headlines.

The company's board opened a formal investigation into their relationship — and Astronomer found itself debunking viral statements falsely attributed to Byron. These included a fake statement that ended on Coldplay's own lyrics: "Lights will guide you home, and ignite your bones, and I will try to fix you."

The CEO resigned a few days later, and Pete DeJoy, the company's cofounder, was appointed to the position on an interim basis.

"As stated previously, Astronomer is committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding," the company posted on LinkedIn. "Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability, and recently, that standard was not met."

Intel replaced its CEO

Intel's former CEO, Brian Krzanich, resigned in 2018 after outside counsel investigated his relationship with another employee.

In a press release at the time, the company said Krzanich had a "past consensual relationship with an Intel employee" that violated the tech company's non-fraternization policy, which applied to all managers.

Krzanich resigned as CEO and from the Intel board. The company's then CFO, Bob Swan, took over as interim CEO.

Intel's story is perhaps the most cut-and-dried example of how a company can respond to a relationship scandal.

• Sondre Pettersen earns around $78,000 a year and owns a one-bedroom apartment in Oslo, Norway.
• He budgets for his mortgage and loans while saving $1,000 a month in index funds and company stock.
• He spends on ski trips and hair treatments, has universal healthcare, and is paying student loans.

This is an as-told-to essay based on a conversation for our video series, The Pay Check, with Sondre Pettersen, 25, who lives in Oslo, Norway. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I live alone in a one-bedroom apartment in Oslo, Norway, on a $74,700 annual base salary.

Buying an apartment has been a big financial goal of mine for a long time. I saved money working throughout high school, university, and internships. I used to live with seven people, so I've been getting used to living alone, but I mostly enjoy it. It's really nice to own my own place.

I bought my apartment for $465,000. My down payment was $50,000, and I pay $2,060 a month on a 30-year mortgage with a 4.29% interest rate. I pay $496 a month in building amenities fees, which cover my heating, water, and maintenance. For utilities, I pay $57 a month, with $32 for electricity and $25 for streaming services.

I work as an incident response analyst in the financial sector. My base annual salary is $74,700, but with my annual bonus, it can range from $78,000 to $79,000. I also have access to my employer's stock purchase program, which allows me to buy company stock at a 25% discount once a year, paid through an interest-free salary advance.

I get a few perks from my job: financial counseling, affordable company cabins in Norway and abroad, a subsidized canteen for $5 lunches, discounted insurance, a higher interest rate in my savings account, and lower interest rates on my mortgage, subject to tax. During the summer, our working week is shortened to 35 hours a week. In Norway, there are 25 statutory vacation days, and my company gives us 3 more, for a total of 28 days a year.

I have $88,000 in student loans. However, since I've finished my degree, the government will pay 40% of my student loan debt, leaving me with $53,000 to repay at a variable rate of 4.6%. I will start paying around $400 a month in January 2027.

I pay $1,380 in taxes each month. If I didn't have a mortgage or student loans, I would pay $1,700 instead. This is because locals get a 22% tax deduction on any interest we pay on debt in Norway from our income. I also pay $71 for benefits per paycheck. That includes $31 for my employer-preferred mortgage, $9 for my employer-paid mobile plan, and $31 for my comprehensive group insurance. This leaves my net monthly income at around $4,774.

I save around $1,000 a month. I have an automatic $400 transfer set up from my salary, which is invested in index funds. In stocks, I have $3,700, and in my index funds I have $14,000. My employer pays 7% of my pre-tax income into my pension, which equates to $5,230 a year, and it is 100% employer-funded, meaning I don't have to save anything myself or match it in any way.

I consider myself reasonably financially disciplined. I try only to buy things I really need and really want. If I want something, I usually wait a week or two, which filters out a lot of bad purchases.

I connected an AI agent to a grocery app, which plans my weekly meal plan and creates a shopping list. I then use an app that tells me which grocery store is the cheapest for those items, where I budget around $295 on groceries. Besides that, I spend $112 on my workplace canteen and $100 dining out a month.

I don't own a car. It would be expensive and impractical here in Oslo, especially because of parking. I budget around $32 a month for single rides, bus tickets, and city bikes, since I can bike to work in 10 minutes. To me, a car is a depreciating asset here.

I also pay $40 a month to avoid being bald. Unfortunately, I inherited some bad genes from my dad, so I pay $30 a month for minoxidil, which is like a serum I rub into my scalp, and $10 for another medication. I've been on medication for one and a half years, and I am very happy with how it turned out.

Usually, I spend around $100 a month to go out clubbing or to bars about twice a month, which is way less than when I was a student.

Skiing is my most expensive hobby. I do downhill skiing and ski touring, where I walk up the mountain and ski down. A weekend ski trip could cost anywhere between $200 and $400. I've spent up to $5,000 on ski equipment in the last seven or eight years. My skis, bindings, and boots have been worth around $2,400.

I pay $0 a month for healthcare; it is 100% funded by the National Social Security scheme here in Norway. If I see a doctor for any reason, I will pay $25 out of pocket each time; this amount is capped at $330 a year, and it also covers medicine.

I take vitamin D supplements because it gets very dark in Norway during the winter. I also take omega-3 supplements because fish is quite expensive. I spend around $12 a month on those supplements; my dentist appointments cost me around $20, but they are heavily subsidized for young adults.

• Goldman Sachs promoted 109 people to partner on Thursday, its largest class under CEO David Solomon.
• 6 of the newest partners shared how they learned the news and celebrated the accomplishment.
• They also reflected on their biggest challenges and key pieces of advice, good and bad.

On Thursday, Goldman Sachs promoted 109 people to partner, welcoming them into one of Wall Street's most exclusive clubs.

Becoming a partner at Goldman is no small feat — it comes after years of impact and leadership, and an intense review process known internally as "cross-ruffing."

Business Insider heard from six newly promoted partners the day after they got the news about how they got to this point and the moment they received the coveted call from the CEO, David Solomon, or the president, John Waldron. Their emailed answers have been lightly edited and condensed.

Sung Cho, Asset & Wealth Management

Where were you when you found out? Who was the first person you told?

I was at my desk in the middle of the most volatile trading session of the year when David Solomon's name flashed across my phone. Receiving that call directly from David was an extraordinary honor, but the most memorable part was looking up to see the entire third floor stand up and erupt in applause.

The first person I called was my wife, who is also an MD at Goldman Sachs; reaching this milestone would not have been possible without her partnership and sacrifice. After that, I called my parents. That's when the dam broke emotionally — as immigrants who sacrificed everything to build a life in this country and give me these opportunities, hearing their reaction made realizing this dream complete. My teenage girls, on the other hand, could not have cared less!

How are you celebrating?

We celebrated by going out with my investment team to Le District, a restaurant near Goldman Sachs' headquarters. Making partner is never an individual endeavor — it is a reflection of shared investment performance through some very demanding market cycles.

What's a personal or professional challenge that has impacted your work and leadership?

As a fundamental investor, nothing tests your conviction and leadership like navigating a prolonged drawdown. Early in my career, I fell into many behavioral pitfalls: fixating on a single underperforming name, viewing a deteriorating thesis through rose-colored glasses, and letting market volatility cloud objective judgment. Those painful stretches have taught me the importance of developing a process that helps navigate periods of drawdown. Some of the most important pillars are seeking contrarian perspectives, eliminating emotional noise, and mitigating concentration risk. Drawdowns are inevitable, but permanent capital impairment is preventable.

Best piece of career advice you've gotten?

One of my most influential mentors at the firm is Lou D'Ambrosio, a senior partner who previously served as a chief executive and senior operator across several businesses. Hanging in his office is a framed sign with a mantra: "No Spectators Allowed." The phrase demands radical ownership, constant curiosity, and bias toward action. You don't analyze problems from the perimeter or wait for direction; you get into the arena and drive outcomes.

In an AI-accelerated era, this principle is more urgent than ever. The divergence between those who lean in and do the heavy lifting and those who passively observe from the sidelines is going to widen.

Inna Swenson, The Core

Where were you when you found out? Who was the first person you told?

The call came in on my cellphone, which I keep on silent in the office, and I was so focused at work I almost didn't answer! Luckily I did, and heard, "Hi Inna, it's David Solomon…"

The first person I told was my boss, Carey Halio, who sits across from me and has been a mentor for years.

How are you celebrating?

I had the great opportunity to celebrate immediately with my team in Corporate Treasury, and sharing the moment with them was especially meaningful.

I came home to two very excited teenage girls who were incredibly proud of their mom, along with some very thoughtful handmade cards. Friday, I celebrated with my family, including my parents, husband, and daughters. They've been part of every high and low.

What's a personal or professional challenge that has impacted your work and leadership?

One of the biggest transitions in my career was moving from roles where I largely supported other leaders to one where I had to create the agenda, own the outcome, and lead execution. In some cases, the role wasn't clearly defined.

That transition pushed me outside my comfort zone, but it taught me an important lesson: you don't need to wait for someone to define the role or give you permission to lead. It's your job to identify what needs to be done, bring people together around it, and take ownership.

Best piece of career advice you've gotten?

Careers are long. Don't get too high on the highs or too low on the lows. It's advice I've come back to many times over the years, and it was a pretty good reminder during the partner process too.

Gowri Sekar, Engineering

Where were you when you found out? Who was the first person you told?

I was in my office, playing music to distract myself, but was sometimes worried that I might miss hearing the phone. The first person I called was my husband, who has been the wind beneath my wings. I called my parents immediately after — it was beautiful to hear the pride in their tone.

How are you celebrating?

I came out of my office, thrilled, and gave my team a lot of hugs, saying, "We did it!" Reflecting on my 20-year journey since joining the firm as an intern, I spent the night compiling a list of the mentors and colleagues who shaped my career and reached out to thank each of them.

It's the Diwali weekend in India, and that's the best gift I could've asked for. Looking forward to celebrating with a lot of family and festivities.

What's a personal or professional challenge that has impacted your work and leadership?

I have always been anchored in building strong followership through personal investment in my people. As my mandate scaled to enterprise-level initiatives, direct operational proximity got harder, creating friction between higher-order outcomes and maintaining team engagement. I realized that being extremely deliberate about connecting our goals to individual career trajectories created connection and trust.

Best piece of career advice you've gotten?

The best piece of career advice I have received is, "You cannot control your situation, but you can control how you react." It has helped me see things objectively and positively, and go after the toughest problems.

The worst piece of advice: "You have to strive and plan for a good work-life balance for a sustainable career." I have learned that work-life integration creates a more sustainable career and helps me take one day at a time. It could be about a school project for my children, or a production issue that I need to spend a night on, or just self-care.

Mark Romanczuk, Global Banking & Markets

Where were you when you found out? Who was the first person you told?

I was sitting at my desk and received a call from John. I sit on a large, open floor, and my team saw John's name pop up on my phone. When we were finished speaking, I turned around, and there were a few hundred of my colleagues standing and clapping. After hugs and high-fives, my wife, Jennifer, was the first person I called.

How are you celebrating?

Jennifer and I plan to have dinner at Gigino Trattoria in New York City, where we dined each time we found out we were expecting each of our five children — it has become our special-occasion venue!

What's a personal or professional challenge that has impacted your work and leadership?

I played professional baseball for four years prior to joining Goldman Sachs. While the team orientation and competitive aspects of the game transferred to the world of finance, I lacked many other elements of the finance role and had a very steep learning curve.

Several of my Goldman colleagues at that time invested in my development, and it was only through their guidance that I was able to get up the curve. When I think back on that early part of my career, it serves as a reminder that feeling uncomfortable is a natural part of the growth path in any endeavor, and what we do is a team game, and investing intentional energy into coaching junior team members is a huge driver of success.

Best piece of career advice you've gotten?

When I joined Goldman 17 years ago, my dad told me, "Work hard every day with a 'play the long game' mindset." Investing in client relationships, my team, and skill acquisition with a long-term mindset remains my top priority.

Kristin Kramer, Global Banking & Markets

Where were you when you found out? Who was the first person you told?

I was on the desk and could hear cheering across the trading floor as other new partners received their calls. I stood up to join in the applause and then realized my own phone was ringing! When I came back to my desk, my whole team was waiting, and we enjoyed the moment together.

How are you celebrating?

Coincidentally, my team's annual alumni reunion was also that night, so I ended the evening surrounded by former colleagues and friends. I started here as an intern, and it was incredibly meaningful to celebrate with people who have impacted me across my career.

What's a personal or professional challenge that has impacted your work and leadership?

The pandemic was a defining challenge for our business. A major part of our Capital Introduction offering is conferences, and we had a full slate planned for 2020. Almost overnight, we had to rethink the model.

Our global leadership team met every day for two months and created working groups with members across each region. The result was a new virtual conference format that helped clients continue building investor relationships.

Challenges can force lasting innovation, but we can only accomplish that if we leverage our strengths as a global team. Even as we have returned to in-person conferences, virtual events remain a cornerstone of our offering.

Best piece of career advice you've gotten?

The best advice I've received was from one of my fellow partner promotes: always treat feedback as a gift. Even if you don't immediately agree with it, you need to sift out the "gold nuggets" that lie beneath.

Pavlos Syrimis, Global Banking & Markets

Where were you when you found out? Who was the first person you told?

Sitting at my desk, nervously watching the phone! The first person I called was my wife — she has been such a big support for me, and I wanted to share the moment with her.

How are you celebrating?

I had the pleasant surprise of several of my team members from London coming over to Paris to celebrate together.

What's a personal or professional challenge that has impacted your work and leadership?

Sitting in a trading role, there have been many major macroeconomic moments that have been challenging to navigate over the course of my career. One that stands out is the pandemic. It taught me the importance of communication when times are challenging, and that keeping the team motivated is key.

Best piece of career advice you've gotten?

My former boss once told me that you can't get scale as a leader if you micromanage. You need to have the best people, and it's your job to empower and trust them.

One of the things they don't tell you about getting bangs is that they require a lot of upkeep. And unless you dare to cut them yourself, it's a pricey endeavor — even pricier when, in my case, said upkeep comes with a hefty fee.

I finally got bangs a couple of years ago, much to my mother's delight. (She has long lamented the size of my forehead even though it's half her fault). Because I don't yet trust myself with scissors, I go to a professional, accompanied by a crippling fear that they'll cut them too short and I'll wind up looking like Courteney Cox in "Scream 3."

A couple of months ago, I looked in the mirror and determined it was that time again, so I decided to do some price comparison. The salon near my office was $40, so I opted for Hair & Co BKLYN, whose advertised price was just $20. On the walk from the subway to the Brooklyn-based salon, I filled out a form in a link they sent via text message to "ensure the best experience before your visit" without really reading it. It was already too late to avoid the cancellation fee, and who scrutinizes these things anyway?

When I went to pay at the end of my appointment, I noticed an extra $8 charge had been tacked on to the advertised price. A stylist described it as an "environmental service fee" that should have been in an initial email confirming my appointment. She agreed to waive it that time only, which I appreciated, though I was embarrassed. I write about these types of hidden fees all the time, shouldn't I have noticed?

I went through my communications from Hair & Co to see where I'd missed mention of it. I couldn't find anything in the body of any emails or texts, and the link to that long form they'd sent over no longer worked. Down the rabbit hole I went.

Surcharges like this are rampant across the economy. Americans spend more than $90 billion on so-called "junk fees" each year, according to one estimate. They are increasingly common in concert tickets, hotels, banking, telecommunications, flights, food delivery, car rentals, and more. Consumers are suffering from a "service fee" epidemic where it's often unclear what the actual service is.

Some companies tell you about fees up front and include them in the total price, either because they want to be transparent or because they have to. In 2025, the Federal Trade Commission implemented a rule requiring ticketing and hospitality platforms such as Ticketmaster, StubHub, and Airbnb to use "all-in pricing." They now have to disclose the entire cost of what they're selling, add-ons and all, right off the bat. California has a law requiring all businesses there to do the same, though restaurants are exempt.

Many businesses, however, can be sneakier with fees. They list them in the fine print, partition them out, or hit people with them late in the purchasing process. That latter technique is known as "drip pricing," in which companies draw customers in with a low initial price and reveal additional charges later.

These types of less-than-transparent pricing practices and junk fees are becoming more commonplace for three reasons, explains Stanford economist Neale Mahoney. First is the diffusion of revenue-maximizing strategies across businesses and industries — just as companies learn consumer-friendly tactics from each other, they also pick up less-friendly ones. Second is the rise of online shopping, which creates more opportunities to add fees. Third is inflation: The cost of everything is up, and surcharges are a way for businesses to keep pace with their costs (or exceed them). In the meantime, "the laws have not caught up," Mahoney says.

Ultimately, the main driver behind drip pricing and fee stacking is that it works. Research shows that people buy more and spend more when fees are shown at the end of a purchase compared to when they see the total cost right away.

Incremental disclosure makes price comparison more difficult for consumers, so it's hard to know if they're getting a good deal. Markets work best when people can easily evaluate the price and quality of different options. But when learning the true cost requires multiple steps, it "throws sand in the gears," Mahoney says.

And when people finally do see the total price at the end of their shopping journey, they're hesitant to abandon the purchase.

"We think it'd be such a hassle to start all over again, and we overestimate how much effort it would be," says Vicki Morwitz, a marketing professor at Columbia University's business school. "We also underestimate the benefits of starting over again."

Hair & Co's environmental service fee did not appear in my email inbox, as the salon's stylist had suggested, nor did it appear anywhere prominently in the online booking process. (Its cancellation policy, however, did.) After clicking around the website for a while, I found a mention of the fee in question by hovering over the "services" section, clicking on "policies," and then scrolling halfway down. It was placed right above the section on transparent pricing.

The page attributed Hair & Co's fee to its status as a "proud member" of Green Circle Salons, a sustainability program that says it helps beauty businesses recover and recycle waste. Green Circle's website was pretty clear that the point of this is part environmental friendliness, part profit. "Most salons turn sustainability into an additional revenue stream," it reads. It has a little calculator for salon owners to estimate how much they can bring in through a "Green Fee."

I could have stopped there, but I couldn't find Hair & Co listed as one of Green Circle's partner salons. Via email, Green Circle told me that Hair & Co was "part of our movement, but their program is currently paused."

It was time to reach out to Hair & Co. as a confused customer. I asked the salon: Where was the fee conspicuously disclosed and what's the fee going toward if the Green Circle program was on hold? The salon's owner, Allyson Hurley, responded in a series of back-and-forths. Hair & Co had found a "better service" than Green Circle, she said, and the environmental service fee was charged to every client as a cost of doing business. She said it was all spelled out in the form I'd signed without reading, which is true. I can no longer access the original form I was sent, but I was later sent a copy. She noted I'd paid the fee before, which is also true. It was in 2024, and I didn't notice it. She said that the fees were "everywhere" in the booking process, which was not my experience. I found the fee, but I had to dig for it.

Hurley told me that post-pandemic, her expenses had increased significantly, and folding in the fee "would make it too expensive." She wanted to "keep it affordable," she added.

But the service fee is mandatory, meaning it's just part of the price. And that price is more expensive and less affordable for the customer. The salon could list a $28 trim and explain that $8 goes toward waste management, sustainability, or other operating costs. The question is why the first number customers see is $20. Right after my haircut, I left a couple of online reviews to warn other customers about the issue.

When I followed up a couple of months later to say I was working on a story, Hurley said the fees are a "necessary part of business" for a small operator in New York City and that Hair & Co is "one of the few salons with limited price increases," adding that they offer benefits to employees.

Hair & Co isn't an outlier in tacking on a mandatory fee or surcharge — it's becoming an increasingly common practice in salons. One recent industry survey found that about one in four salons nationwide were sharing a "green fee" with clients that averaged $2.98.

There are a lot of should-haves for me in this equation. I should have read the form before signing it. I should have checked out the website more thoroughly. I should have noticed the other time I was charged the fee instead of assuming I was mistaken and not wanting to rock the boat over the equivalent cost of a semi-fancy coffee.

But that's also what makes this whole thing so frustrating: Price strategies like this depend on consumers like me moving through the economy on autopilot and being too lazy, tired, and/or busy to scrutinize how every single dollar is justified. People don't generally set out to reconstruct the true price of each purchase from the fine print, policy pages, and checkout screens. I wanted to get my stupid bangs trimmed and go home. Instead, I'm here, two months later, obsessing over $8. I realize this ordeal is a bit Kelly Clarkson-esque on my part.

These small potatoes can become pretty big, life-altering potatoes in different settings. A growing number of patients report being charged hospital "facility fees" for doctor visits, even though they never set foot in a hospital, resulting in hundreds of extra dollars in charges. In housing, renters across the country are encountering surprise surcharges they only realize they can't afford once they've signed leases.

I reported the incident with Hair & Co to New York City's Department of Consumer and Worker Protection the day it happened, but I haven't heard back on my case. The city has a new rule in the works that would bar businesses from misrepresenting the nature, purpose, amount, or refundability. It would also require businesses to include fees in advertised prices and document what they're for. That rule isn't in place yet.

Since my visit, Hair & Co has scratched Green Circle Salons from its website. It now says its service fee — no longer specified as "environmental" — is attributable to its water-conserving showerheads and color management software. It has also increased the fee to $9.

Emily Stewart is a senior correspondent at Business Insider, writing about business and the economy.

• Russia's official stats agency, Rosstat, said in early November that it was hit by a cyberattack.
• The two groups responsible for the attack said they found troves of Russian death certificates.
• They said the data shows Russia has been recording over 400,000 combat deaths from the war.

Anti-Kremlin hacking groups say Russia's civil registries recorded at least 400,000 combat deaths in Ukraine, a statistic that Moscow has declined to disclose since September 2022.

The pro-opposition Belarusian group Cyber Partisans and the Ukrainian group Silent Crow said they obtained the data from 11 million death certificates and other records held by Rosstat, Russia's official statistics agency.

Their findings say that 356,056 Russians were killed with "operations of war" as the cause of death, along with another 57,100 people marked as having died by other war-related causes or a "terrorist act."

Another 36,949 deaths were listed with unclear or non-combat causes of death, the groups added.

Russia's combat losses are likely far higher, Silent Crow said, as the tally doesn't include statistics on the missing, wounded, or deaths of foreign mercenaries.

Rosstat did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside regular business hours.

The federal agency, which publishes a wide array of data but has withheld war mortality records, said in early November that it had been the target of a coordinated cyberattack campaign. Cyber Partisans and Silent Crow had claimed responsibility for the attacks, broadcasting messages on the agency's website and online portals.

While both groups said they stole 23 terabytes of data, Rosstat denied that any data was leaked.

The hackers' findings loosely align with other third-party gauges of Russian war losses.

A top British defense official estimated in September that nearly 500,000 Russian troops have been killed since the start of the full-scale invasion. Meanwhile, NATO's former Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, US Ret. Gen. Chris Cavoli, said in July that roughly 450,000 Russian troops have been killed.

A more widely cited figure is the number of wounded and killed combined, which Ukraine says has eclipsed 1.6 million people, while Western think tanks estimate it hovers between 1.2 million and 1.4 million.

More details on Russian deaths

Cyber Partisans and Silent Crow also published data analysis on where the deceased Russians hailed from, as well as where they died.

The Volga region — one of Russia's most populous and ethnically diverse heartland areas — accounted for 21.7% of deaths, taking the top spot, per the two groups.

Roughly 3% of the deaths were from Moscow Oblast, one of the highest shares among individual oblasts, though behind a few such as Rostov and Krasnodar Krai.

Data on the location of death was far more varied. The two groups said the stolen registries show that 54.9% of these soldiers were killed in Donetsk, while the next spot was Luhansk, which accounted for 8.3% of the deaths.

About 17% of the death registries listed unknown locations, per the two groups.

They added that the pace of Russian deaths recorded had risen by a factor of 1.26 over the past year, with each year of the war recording far more deaths than the previous.

There were 18,877 war-related death records in 2022, 42,365 in 2023, 109,683 in 2024, and 182,264 in 2025, the groups said.

About 99.4% of the deceased were men, with the most common age range being 35-44, accounting for 135,741 deaths. Nearly 40,000 Russians aged 18 to 24 were recorded as killed, per the groups.

Cyber Partisans and Silent Crow said the records show that war has become the fourth-most common cause of death in Russia.

• Chinese social media users are tallying who has lost the most due to Jensen Huang's personal crisis.
• Some rallied around his wife, while others counted the cost to Nvidia investors.
• For some Weibo users, the real price was the trust the Nvidia CEO may never win back.

Jensen Huang is having a rough week. On Chinese social media, users are now trying to tally up who has lost the most from the fallout of his affair.

Nvidia stock swung sharply on Monday, plunging as much as 9% before recovering to finish the day about 4% lower at $178.67. The slide briefly knocked about $13 billion off the value of Huang's Nvidia holdings, leaving them worth around $138 billion on Monday morning.

Several hashtags about Huang trended on Weibo, China's version of X, as users debated both the personal and financial costs of the fallout.

The cost of a divorce

Some Weibo users tried to calculate what a split could mean for Huang's multibillion-dollar fortune under the hashtag "How much could Jensen Huang's wife get in a divorce?"

"With this move, Jensen Huang has truly maxed out the 'sky-high divorce settlement,'" one user from Shandong wrote.

The user said Lori Huang could theoretically receive half of her husband's fortune, citing California's community property laws, which generally divide assets and debts accrued during a marriage equally. However, the user also said that reality would likely be much more complicated, given how much of his wealth is tied up in Nvidia shares and other complex assets.

Another user from Zhejiang pointed to a personal loss that no settlement could fully account for.

"Money can be divided. The share price can rebound. The board still supports him. But when someone gives you the most awkward, poorest, and most hopeful years of their youth, and you trade that for a polished apology letter, that is a debt the law cannot calculate," the user wrote.

The cost to investors

Other Weibo users turned to the investors and Silicon Valley power players caught up in Nvidia's slide, using hashtags such as "Which Silicon Valley tycoons did Jensen Huang's 'love brain' hurt?" and "Jensen Huang sets a record for the biggest losses caused by an executive's personal scandal."

One user from Guangxi said that even the most advanced technology cannot insulate the AI industry from the personal risks posed by those running it.

"When personal matters become entangled with clients, chip compliance, and security investigations, they cease to be merely a family dispute," the user wrote.

Another user from Jiangxi said Huang's personal life was a reminder of how sensitive capital markets can be to the ethical risks posed by corporate leaders.

"The scale of the losses is also a warning to the industry: Founders and executives of leading technology companies no longer represent only themselves. Their words and actions can affect hundreds of billions of dollars in market value," the user wrote. "A private controversy can ultimately leave the whole company and countless investors to bear the cost."

A user from Sichuan said some investors bought into not just Nvidia's business, but also Huang's carefully cultivated reputation.

"Business leaders' 'devoted-husband image' can feel like a kind of trust guarantee. This time, after Huang said he was unfaithful, Nvidia's stock plunged. The ones ultimately paying for his lovestruck behavior are still retail investors," the user wrote.

The cost of success

Across a range of hashtags — including "How high is the cost of Jensen Huang's infidelity?" — Weibo users said his personal troubles were a reminder that money and power can bring their own temptations.

One user from Jiangsu said that the hardest part of success may be holding onto the values that got you there.

"Success is difficult, but holding the line is harder. A moment of indulgence can destroy the reputation and stability built over decades," the user wrote.

Another user from Zhejiang said that for someone at Huang's level, the consequences of a private misstep can be far greater than most people imagine.

"The truly costly price is never just money. It is the trust and hard-won reputation that have been spent down," the user wrote.

The Weibo reactions followed a turbulent few days for Huang and Nvidia.

The Nvidia CEO said in a memo to staffers on Sunday that he had been unfaithful to Lori Huang, his wife of over 40 years and the mother of his two kids. His statement came as the chipmaker's board launched an independent investigation into whether Huang was the "target of a foreign intelligence effort."

Huang did not name the person involved in his memo, but the attention has been centered on Alice Huang, a former executive at Megaspeed, an Nvidia customer. The New York Times reported that US intelligence officials believe she was passing information to Beijing.

• Dana White has turned down Trump's offer to be Katie Zacharia's successor.
• The UFC CEO declined the role of White House press secretary, saying he does not want to be in politics.
• Trump insisted on White filling the role, saying on Truth Social, "Dana, please take the job!"

The tumultuous White House press secretary job vacancy remains open — for now.

Dana White, longtime president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, said on Monday that he will not be the US's next press secretary, despite President Donald Trump's many requests.

Trump, who has been short of a press secretary since Katie Zacharia quit five days into her tenure, floated White for the job over the weekend on Truth Social.

"I am pleased to announce that the Great Dana White, a violent Fighter and Warrior, has been offered the job of Press Secretary of the United States," he wrote, adding, "Dana, please take the job!"

He reiterated his offer in a presser on Monday, saying White would do a "hell of a job," before calling the UFC leader to the podium.

White initially skirted around the topic, saying that while he had "no political aspirations," he doesn't say no to Trump for anything.

White then stood beside Trump as he answered questions about last week's midterm elections, Jensen Huang's cheating scandal, and the war in Iran.

But toward the end of the presser, Trump asked White directly whether he would like to take the job or "stay with this ridiculous UFC."

"Thank you for the offer, sir," White replied. "I do not want to be in politics."

Trump replied that he was "devastated" to hear it, before ending the presser.

White and Trump have had a decadeslong friendship, dating back to Trump's days as a casino tycoon.

A challenging vacancy to fill

The role of White House press secretary has been largely vacant since the end of August, when former secretary Karoline Leavitt left the job, saying she planned to focus on parenthood.

Leavitt, 29, took the job as Trump's press secretary when she was 27 in 2024, which made her the youngest person to fill the role in the White House's history. But she resigned before the administration hit its halfway mark.

In August, Leavitt wrote on X, "Being a mother and welcoming a new baby while working in one of the most demanding jobs in the world has been the most rewarding yet challenging season of my life, to say the least."

In a Truth Social post about her departure, Trump called Leavitt "one of my most trusted aides" and said he respected her decision to leave.

She was soon replaced by Katie Zacharia in October, whose stint lasted all of five days.

Zacharia held a 14-minute press conference on October 13, during which she mostly read from prepared remarks. Later, while answering questions alongside Trump, she was unable to provide a satisfactory answer about where she passed the bar exam, leading to scrutiny of her credentials.

A White House official later told Business Insider that Zacharia would be "transitioning out" of the role.

• Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is caught up in a scandal after admitting to an extramarital affair.
• Following allegations of a Chinese spy plot, Nvidia is investigating if Huang was targeted.
• Here's everyone who's been talked about in the scandal, from Huang's family to top US officials.

One of the most powerful figures in Big Tech is caught up in a messy scandal that involves an affair, an alleged Chinese spy, and a wide array of characters.

At the center is Jensen Huang himself.

The Nvidia CEO on Sunday admitted to having an extramarital affair in a memo sent to Nvidia employees. Nvidia's board of directors announced the same day it was launching an investigation into whether Huang was the "target of a foreign intelligence effort."

The investigation came after The New York Times previously reported US intelligence officials believed a woman who had grown close to Huang — Alice Huang, a Chinese tech executive — was recruited to gather information for Beijing.

The timeline of events goes back at least to the Spring but has ramped up in the past week, as has speculation about what the news means for Huang and Nvidia.

Here's all the people you need to know who have been talked about in the saga.

Jensen Huang, Nvidia CEO

Jensen Huang is the CEO of Nvidia, a company he cofounded in 1993 and has led through the generative AI boom, including its rise to the world's most valuable company.

The executive on Sunday admitted to having an extramarital affair and apologized for being "unfaithful" to his wife. He said that given the national security concerns around the matter, he supported the Nvidia board pursuing an investigation.

"I love our country and our company. I am committed to protecting NVIDIA and supporting America's national security," Huang said in a memo to Nvidia employees.

Alice Huang, Chinese tech executive

Alice Huang is a Chinese tech executive who developed a close relationship with Jensen Huang. The two are not related, despite having the same last name. She was an executive at Megaspeed International, a Singapore-based cloud computing company and Nvidia customer.

The New York Times reported last month US intelligence officials believed Alice Huang was acting as a spy for the Chinese government.

It's unclear when Huang met Alice Huang, but the pair have been photographed together on several occasions. Last week, Huang told Bloomberg his dealings with Alice Huang had been business related and "completely normal and not unusual."

When Huang told Nvidia staff he had engaged in an affair, he did not name Alice Huang.

Lori Huang, Jensen Huang's wife

Lori Huang has been married to Huang for over 40 years. The pair met as lab partners in an electrical engineering class at Oregon State University.

Lori Huang is the president of Jen-Hsun and Lori Huang Foundation, a charitable organization founded by the couple in 2007. Huang has praised his wife for supporting his work with Nvidia.

"Lori's been with me for a long time, our whole life," Huang told CNA, a Singapore-based outlet, in May. "She's been part of Nvidia every step of the way."

The Huangs have two adult children, both of whom work at Nvidia.

Marco Rubio, US secretary of state

Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, has been caught up in the drama due to an alleged memo from earlier this year that warned about Huang's ties to a Chinese spy.

The New York Times, citing unnamed sources, reported Sunday that Rubio oversaw the drafting of a "highly classified memo" this Spring that warned about Huang's relationship with a Chinese spy. The Times said the memo was based on electronic surveillance of Alice Huang, who was under investigation regarding illegally sending Nvidia AI chips to China.

Donald Trump, US president

President Donald Trump has had a positive relationship with Huang and has stuck by the executive through the scandal.

Trump told reporters he called Huang on Monday to see how he was doing. He said the CEO told him he had "no idea" the person he was involved with was a Chinese spy.

"And I really believe him," Trump said.

The president also praised Huang and added he was "very confident that he'll be in good shape."

Madison Huang, Nvidia senior director of product marketing

Madison Huang is Huang's daughter and an executive at Nvidia as senior director of product marketing for physical AI.

Huang's memo to employees about his affair referenced his family and his children directly.

"I was unfaithful to my wife. My actions hurt her and our children," he wrote, adding, "To my wife and family: I love you. I know an apology cannot undo what I have done. I hope our family will heal and that, over time, I can earn back your trust."

Bloomberg reported early Monday that Madison Huang had abruptly dropped out of an AI event happening in Seoul.

A former employee told Business Insider's Geoff Weiss that Madison Huang had been asserting authority across the company's divisions, potentially in an effort to set herself up for a greater leadership role.

Spencer Huang, Nvidia director of product management

Spencer Huang is Huang's son and also works as an executive at Nvidia as director of product management for robotics.

John Rizzo, Nvidia head of public policy communications

John Rizzo is Nvidia's head of public policy communications and a spokesperson for the company.

Rizzo told The Times last week that Huang's dealings with Alice Huang were business related.

"Jensen's interactions with Ms. Huang are not unusual or unexpected. Meetings with customers are part of a C.E.O.'s job; Jensen talks with thousands of customer executives every year," Rizzo said, as reported in the outlet.

Tim Teter, Nvidia general counsel

Tim Teter is an executive vice president and general counsel at Nvidia.

The Times reported Monday that the Commerce Department paused an investigation into Megaspeed, which was suspected of illegally sending Nvidia chips to China, and that it was transferred to the Justice Department. The outlet reported the pause came after Teter reached out to Commerce employees about the case, claiming Jeffrey Kessler, who was a top official in the department, said it was okay.

The Times reported the communication was unusual and that it "alarmed" the Commerce agents.

Jeffrey Kessler, US Department of Commerce official

Kessler was a top official at the US Department of Commerce as the undersecretary of commerce for industry and security, appointed by Trump last year.

Kessler got entangled in the Nvidia scandal when the Times reported Teter, Nvidia's general counsel, name dropped him in an email to Commerce Department agents who were investigating Megaspeed.

• Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has admitted to having an affair.
• The admission followed reports about his relationship with Alice Huang, who US officials believe was passing information to Beijing, per The New York Times.
• Here is a compilation of public sightings of the duo together.

Headlines and markets have one thing on their minds this week: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's affair.

The semiconductor tycoon said on November 8 that he had been unfaithful to his wife, days after The New York Times reported on his close relationship with Alice Huang, an executive at the Singaporean data center company Megaspeed who US officials believe was passing information to Beijing.

Following the Times' initial story in late October, Nvidia characterized Jensen Huang and Alice Huang's interactions as routine business. Megaspeed, established in 2023, is an Nvidia customer and a spinoff of the Chinese company 7Road Holdings.

But the pair have been seen together several times in recent years, at conference after-parties and often surrounded by other tech executives.

Little is known about Alice Huang — identified as Huang Le in Singapore corporate filings — but the Times wrote that she previously worked in a Shanghai-based investment fund that backed 7Road.

Here's a timeline of Jensen Huang and Alice Huang's public appearances over the years.

June 2024: The earliest publicly known interaction

It's unclear when the duo first met, but their first public sighting together was at an after-party following Computex 2024, Taiwan's famous annual computer and tech trade show.

NetThunder, a software company, shared a picture of Huang and Alice Huang at a bar with other technology executives in June 2024.

NetThunder shared the picture on its LinkedIn page, writing that the executives were raising their drinks to the "seemingly endless possibilities enabled through AI."

The pair was photographed again in Taipei in 2025

Jensen Huang and Alice Huang were photographed together again at a dinner during an industry conference in Taipei in May 2025. This was close to Computex 2025, where Huang delivered a keynote presentation.

Footage from a local Taiwanese broadcaster showed the pair exiting San Liu Shi Fu, an upscale reservation-only restaurant in Taipei specializing in Shanghainese and Cantonese cuisine.

Local media reported that Huang has visited the restaurant multiple times.

The dinner took place on the sidelines of Computex 2025

Footage from local news outlet SETHN News Network showed Jensen Huang exiting the restaurant with to-go bags of "chao mian," a stir-fried noodle dish, which he handed out to the crowd gathered outside.

Alice Huang, who exited the establishment with him, was seen standing in the background, waiting while Huang signed autographs for the crowd.

Alice Huang shared photos of the two together on WeChat

Alice Huang also shared a series of photos taken with Jensen Huang on WeChat, a Chinese social media platform. Hong Kong-based news agency EyePress, which is a Reuters content partner, obtained the picture from Alice Huang's WeChat.

One photo shows the two sitting on a sculpture identified by a placard as the "Friendship Bench" made by artist John Kennedy.

Another photo shared by Alice Huang shows the two standing on a lawn

Another picture obtained by EyePress showed Jensen Huang and Alice Huang together on a lawn. It's unclear where or when the photos shared to WeChat were taken. Business Insider was unable to independently verify the authenticity of these images.

Nvidia's stock was down more than 4% at market close on Monday following Huang's admission of the affair. The stock had already taken a hit last week, after a widespread Democratic win in the US midterms elections caused a major tech sell-off.

In a memo to Nvidia staff on Sunday admitting to the affair, Huang apologized to his colleagues, Nvidia's board, partners, and shareholders, saying that they deserved better from him.

Nvidia's board has launched an independent investigation into whether its CEO was targeted by foreign intelligence. Huang said in his memo that he loves the US and Nvidia, and is "committed to protecting Nvidia and supporting America's national security."

• Carrie Kirby, a mother of three in California, enrolled her 16-year-old in a Scout camp in Norway.
• In the US, she wanted her kids to grow up with freedom and independence, but accepted that it wasn't safe enough.
• Her perspective shifted after a trip to Norway. Instead of saying no to everything, she now asks one question.

I was desperate to show up at camp to surprise my son on his 16th birthday. But I was sure I wouldn't be allowed to set foot on the grounds.

After all, in two decades as an adult volunteer in both Girl Scouts and Scouting America — the organization formerly known as Boy Scouts — I knew the drill: Any adult who wanted to be among kids would need to be background-checked, fingerprinted, and cross-checked against a master list. They couldn't just have people showing up randomly.

And this wasn't just any Scout camp. It was Norway's national scouting jamboree, a 10,000-person event that drew visiting Scouts from multiple countries, including the California contingent that my son had joined.

When I asked the organizers how to get through security, the answer helped me understand that youth activities in Norway are nothing like what I am used to in the US.

The answer I received via email: "Just come … no security. Lots of families just wandering around visiting."

I found this situation idyllic — yet hard to believe

I've always wanted to raise my three kids with more freedom and independence than most 21st-century youth in the US are allowed. But I'd accepted that the world just isn't safe enough anymore for kids to have the type of independence I enjoyed growing up in the 1970s and '80s.

My son had the opportunity to visit this Norwegian event through his Scouting America troop, which had connected with a larger group of scouts who regularly travel internationally. My parents and I went to Norway with him, but we didn't attend the camp.

When I arrived in Gjøvik, the town near the jamboree, I saw that the porous borders of the youth encampment worked in both directions. The bus stop in town was swarming with boys and girls wearing kerchiefs indicating they were part of the jamboree. Only the younger kids were accompanied by adults.

Some middle school-aged Scouts from my son's contingent recognized me and guided me to the right bus.

I was surprised the American kids could handle this level of freedom. Despite having grown up in our Bay Area suburb where even teens are often driven everywhere by adults, they had clearly mastered the bus system and had no fear about moving alone through a foreign country. On the bus, they told me what they'd been up to in town: They'd collected recyclables throughout the camp, cashed them in at a recycling machine, and used the proceeds to get McDonald's.

My son was delighted to see me, but we didn't have long to catch up. His group needed to take their camp photo. To pose, the kids all scrambled onto a platform they'd constructed from logs, sticks, and lashings.

I felt nervous watching them all balance on the homemade structure. In my experience at scout camps at home, kids are required to wear helmets and harnesses if they get that high off the ground.

My eyebrows rose higher when my son told me about his favorite part of the jamboree: camping overnight in the woods away from the camp, with no adults present.

In both Girl Scouts and Scouting America, kids can't go anywhere without adult chaperones. When I brought my daughter's troop of high school seniors to New York City, even the 18-year-olds weren't supposed to venture out alone, based on the organization's safety rules.

The kids in my son's overnight group ranged in age from about 14 to 17. And they were perfectly fine — although they got soaking wet because they'd opted to play capture the flag instead of setting up the tarps.

"That was a learning experience," my son, James, said. They weren't told to set up their tarps and had to deal with the consequences of not getting around to it.

The visit changed my point of view as a mom

By the time we left Gjøvik the next day, my view of raising kids in the 21st century had changed irrevocably. I no longer wished we still lived in a world safe enough for kids to move about independently, developing self-confidence and competence as they go.

Instead, I understood that everything I wished for today's kids is still possible. And it's not just that Norway is so much safer than the United States. It's that the Norwegian adults I met valued kids' need for freedom and autonomy more than they worried about their safety.

It's an experience I won't forget as I move forward with parenting my son and his older sisters into adulthood. I'm now less likely to try to talk them out of staying out all night or taking off on an outdoor adventure with friends.

Instead of saying no, I'm asking what preparations they've made. I'm making sure they know what to do if anything goes wrong.

Am I still worrying? You bet. But I'm trying to worry more quietly—and to let the kids have their experiences.

• California has voted against a one-time 5% tax on its billionaires.
• The controversial measure saw the tech elite pour hundreds of millions into an opposition campaign.
• Supporters said it would raise over $100 billion, while opponents feared it would spark a wealth exodus.

California's 200-plus billionaires are officially in the clear.

The latest episode of "How to Tax a Billionaire: California Edition" — featuring plenty of drama, tech celebrities, and a big pot of money at stake — ended with a failed vote on Monday.

Californians who went to the polls rejected Proposition 40, which would have imposed a one-time "5% tax on certain taxpayers with assets over $1 billion."

The tax would've been levied against billionaires living in the state as of January 1, 2026, which included 214 people, according to Forbes data compiled by Americans for Tax Fairness, a group that advocates for higher taxes.

The controversial measure had sparked a showdown with Silicon Valley executives.

Google cofounder Sergey Brin, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Affirm CEO Max Levchin, Stripe CEO Patrick Collison, DoorDash CEO Tony Xu, Kleiner Perkins Chairman John Doerr, and angel investor Chris Larsen collectively poured millions into an opposition campaign. Brin himself donated more than $100 million, per CalMatters.

State campaign-finance filings showed committees opposing Prop. 40 had reported about $130 million in contributions through October 22, versus about $33 million for its supporters.

Meanwhile, tech executives were preparing for the possibility that they'd be asked to pay up.

Brin and fellow Google cofounder Larry Page moved entities tied to them out of California in December, Business Insider first reported.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg weighed moving out of the state. In October, the company announced it was creating a new class of shares that would give Zuckerberg $20 billion in "immediate liquidity," potentially allowing him to pay the tax without giving up some of his voting power.

But not every billionaire was fazed.

"I've got to tell you, I have not even thought about it once," Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, said during a January spot on Bloomberg TV. "We chose to live in Silicon Valley, and whatever taxes they would like to apply, so be it. I'm perfectly fine with it."

The vote also split some regular political alliances. Progressive Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders backed the proposed billionaire tax, while California's Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, opposed the measure.

There were multiple paths to "No"

Voters were asked to vote "Yes" or "No" on Prop. 40, but there were additional measures that could've negated a "Yes" vote.

Props. 41 and 42 were designed to undercut Prop. 40 by imposing new restrictions on state taxes.

Even if voters had voted in favor of Prop. 40, the billionaire tax could still have been blocked if either measure received a higher number of "Yes" votes.

Billions of dollars were on the line

Under the measure, taxable wealth would've included ownership stakes in businesses, securities, investment accounts, art, collectibles, and intellectual property, among other assets. Real estate, pensions, and retirement accounts would generally be excluded.

The tax would've been due in 2027, though taxpayers could've spread out their payments across five years at a higher cost.

Supporters said the measure would've raised over $100 billion for the state. A majority of the proceeds from the tax were to be allocated to healthcare, as well as education, food assistance, and the operation of the tax program. Backers pitched the measure as a way to help backfill looming federal cuts to Medi-Cal.

A National Bureau of Economic Research working paper from Stanford economists, published in October, warned that the results could be much less rosy. The paper said the initial tax event could bring in around $30 billion, but that by prompting high-earning executives to leave the state it could result in a net loss of $38.9 billion.

For many in the tech industry, the midterms landed like a hangover after a two-year bender. In the sober light of day, their flirtations with MAGA and extravagant spending may now seem embarrassing. Yet for Silicon Valley's billionaire class, there's still reason to keep the champagne flowing after the election — because it still pays to be rich.

California voters have rejected prop 40, a landmark initiative to impose a one-time 5% tax on billionaires in the state. They also seem to favor a countermeasure, prop 42, that would hamstring any future attempts to tax financial assets —the kind that separate the rich from the really rich. (Votes are still being tallied.) That people in the most progressive state with the highest wealth inequality in the country made such decisions in the bluest national election in recent history is either a failure of populism, or a victory of free enterprise, depending on who you ask. On X, Mike Solana of Peter Thiel's Founders Fund heralded Prop 40's apparent defeat succinctly: "Eat shit, communists."

More than 200 billionaires live in California. Cumulatively, they hold an estimated $2.3 trillion in wealth, a sum that UC Berkeley economist Gabriel Zucman notes is roughly equivalent to the combined annual income of every single resident in the state. Soon, there could be dozens more, as companies like Anthropic and OpenAI prepare world-historic IPOs. (Anthropic's alone could mint close to a thousand centimillionaires.) Wealth for these people is not a matter of salary, but of assets. Most fortunes in the tech industry remain in company equity, which is untaxed until shares are sold. That has allowed some of the richest people in the state to avoid paying much in income tax: Billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Ellison, and Larry Page all famously take $1 salaries.

"The way this system works is they can literally create gigantic fortunes without paying tax," says Tom Steyer, an investor and former gubernatorial candidate, and one of the few billionaires to come out in support of the billionaire tax. "We know where we need to go, which is a fairer tax system."

Prop 40 offered one such alternative. Supporters argued that it would mark a long overdue correction, and still allow billionaires to remain very, very rich. "The poorest billionaire in California will make about $300 million this year. If we pass the CA wealth tax, he will only make $235 million," Saikat Chakrabarti, a former Stripe engineer and political adviser, wrote on X. Critics argued that asking billionaires to pay cash on their paper wealth would ruin the tech economy, forcing them to sell off parts of private companies, and inspiring an exodus from the state. Earlier this year, the investor Balaji Srinivasan noted on X that Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Elon Musk, and Peter Thiel had already "exited the failed state of California," and Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan warned that should a billionaire tax pass, many startup founders would choose not to come to California at all.

The would-be victims of the billionaire tax feared those outcomes enough to form a coalition, which included prominent names in tech — Brin, Patrick Collison, Eric Schmidt, and John Doerr among them. Together, they spent more than $300 million to defeat the measure (including a reported $148 million ad campaign), the most ever spent by one side on a single ballot initiative. Supporters, by comparison, spent about $2 million on ads. "The disparity in money in this thing was too high," says Cooper Teboe, a political strategist in Silicon Valley. "There was a genuine marketing gap."

Money isn't everything. In Texas, where sometimes trillionaire Elon Musk spent nearly $500 million trying to keep Republicans in office, voters turned around and elected a Democratic governor for the first time since 1991, and a Democratic Senator who made reining in data centers a major part of his message. Both of those campaigns were modeled on the idea of a "top versus bottom" rather than "left versus right" politics — that is, an alignment over class interests above all else.

The zealous interest from both sides of prop 40 — and the fact that some 46% of voters in California favored the tax despite what many saw as significant flaws — are signs that conversations about wealth taxation are just getting started. Most Americans think billionaires don't pay enough in taxes, according to a national survey from last year; one study found that 73% of Americans would favor a "special additional tax on billionaires." In April, a Pew survey found that 60% of people believed that corporations and very wealthy people did not pay "their fair share" in taxes.

That's led some proponents of a wealth tax to shift their gaze nationally. Indeed, some of prop 40's detractors, including Governor Gavin Newsom, made the argument that they would rather tax wealth federally than on the state level. Other opponents, who had grievances with the details of prop 40 — like what its actual fiscal impact would be, how the state would assess wealth, and where all of that hypothetical money would actually go — have come out in support of wealth taxes in general. Steyer, who supports the idea of a federal tax on billionaires, says that if prop 40 is "not the way to skin the cat, don't come back and tell me there's no way to skin the cat."

Having a plan for taxing the ultra rich "becomes almost a prerequisite for whoever ends up as the dominant 2028 candidate," says Teboe. "The war continues."

• Jensen Huang has come a long way from waiting tables at Denny's.
• The Nvidia CEO has an estimated net worth of $158.7 billion.
• Here's a look at how he built his fortune — and how he spends his money.

Nvidia's meteoric rise in the past few years has been good news for its CEO, Jensen Huang.

The chipmaker hit a trillion-dollar valuation in 2023 and has shown few signs of slowing down amid the AI boom. In July 2025, Nvidia became the first company to crack the $4 trillion mark.

By October 2025, the company's stock price reached an all-time high, keeping Nvidia at the top spot for the world's most valuable company.

Huang, who cofounded Nvidia in 1993 and has served as its president and CEO ever since, has seen his net worth balloon as the chipmaker's market cap rises.

In 2024, he broke into Forbes' list of the top 10 richest people for the first time ever. His net worth is about $158.7 billion, according to the ranking.

Leading one of the Magnificent 7 companies, Huang has come a long way from his first job washing dishes and cleaning toilets at Denny's. However, recent questions about his relationship with a woman who, according to The New York Times, US officials believe was passing information to China may threaten his position at Nvidia.

Here's a closer look at how Huang built and spends his fortune, and how he hit his recent rough patch:

How Huang became a billionaire

As of March 2025, Huang owned roughly 3.77% of the company's outstanding shares, according to a proxy statement. He is the company's largest individual shareholder.

Before starting Nvidia, Huang worked at computer chip manufacturer LSI Logic and at semiconductor company AMD, which is today helmed by his distant cousin, Lisa Su.

How much of Nvidia Huang owns, and what is his CEO salary

Huang received a total compensation package of $49.8 million for fiscal year 2025, which included a base salary of $1.5 million, $38.8 million in stock awards, $6 million in cash bonuses, and $3.6 million in other expenses, including residential security and car and driver services.

His pay package was up 46% from the prior fiscal year, when it was $34.2 million.

Huang followed a prearranged trading plan in 2024 to sell 6 million shares by the end of the first quarter of 2025; as a result, he offloaded roughly $700 million in Nvidia shares.

How Huang compares to other tech CEOs and billionaires

Huang's total compensation for 2024 was pretty middle of the pack compared to other tech CEOs of the Mag 7 companies.

He's one of roughly 17 centibillionaires identified on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

At 62, Huang is older than some of his Big Tech peers, such as Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, Google's Sundar Pichai, and Amazon's Andy Jassy, but younger than others, such as Apple's Tim Cook.

How Huang spends his fortune

As far as Huang's real estate is concerned, he has owned property in California, where Nvidia is headquartered in Santa Clara, as well as in Hawaii.

He isn't known for many ostentatious splurges, but Huang's leather jacket is a staple of his wardrobe. He has worn several over the years at high-profile events, including one lizard-embossed jacket that appeared to be from Tom Ford's spring 2023 collection and retailed for $8,990.

Huang has also given some of his fortune to philanthropic causes. In 2007, he and his wife established the Jen-Hsun and Lori Huang Foundation.

They've given $50 million to Oregon State University, which subsequently named a research center for the couple, both of whom are OSU alums.

The couple donated $30 million to Stanford University, from which Huang received his master's degree, for an engineering center. They've also given $22.5 million to the California College of the Arts.

An Nvidia spokesperson declined to comment.

Jensen Huang hit a rough patch

Huang is facing questions about his relationship with Alice Huang, who has worked as an executive at Nvidia customer Megaspeed.

Alice Huang, also known as Huang Le, was photographed with the Nvidia CEO on various occasions, including at dinner events in Taipei.

In October 2026, The New York Times reported that US officials believed Alice Huang had been recruited to gather information about Nvidia for the Chinese government. Jensen Huang initially described their interactions as normal business dealings involving Megaspeed, a Singapore-based company that rents out computing capacity.

On November 8, Jensen Huang told employees in an open letter that he had been unfaithful to his wife of more than 40 years and apologized to his family. He did not name the person with whom he had the affair.

Nvidia's board launched an independent investigation into whether he was targeted by a "foreign intelligence effort." The board said it still has confidence in his leadership and that it has no reason to believe that company secrets or national security have been compromised.

He's not a little kid anymore, but he's not quite a teen, either. Finding a gift for a 12-year-old boy can be tricky, but play is far from over at this age. "The rise of the 'kidult' trend is helping change the conversation around what it means to play as you get older," says Maddie Michalik, trends specialist at The Toy Association. "With more adults proudly embracing toys, games, and collectibles, there's less of a sense that play is something you have to leave behind at a certain age."

To find the best gifts for 12-year-old boys, I looked for picks that reflect their evolving interests and give them room to express themselves, unwind, and connect with friends, which Michalik says is what today's best toymakers are prioritizing for this age group. Below, I make shopping a breeze with timeless favorites and challenging builds alongside this year's biggest trends, from award-winning STEM kits to the latest tech.

A pocket-sized puzzle he'll race to solve

Kanoodle, available at Amazon, $10

If you've seen the viral TikTok speedrun videos, you already know why tweens are obsessed with this compact brain teaser. It challenges him to solve 200 different 2D and 3D geometric puzzles, turning spatial reasoning and logic into a fast-paced game. He can use it as a quiet desk fidget, or set a phone timer and challenge friends to beat his best solve time. It's affordable, portable, and secretly good for his brain.

A smart soccer ball

StrikeSphere Speed Ball, available at Amazon, $65

I can only imagine the turf wars my brother and I would have waged over this ball. A built-in screen scores the power of every kick from 0 to 999 and saves his high score, so there's always a number to beat. When he's ready to up the stakes, a timed challenge mode tests how many goals he can score before the clock runs out.

A metal detector for a curious treasure hunter

Bounty Hunter Tracker IV Metal Detector, available at Amazon, $118

Every kid dreams of digging up buried treasure, and this beginner-friendly metal detector gives him a real shot. Whether he's sweeping the beach on vacation or killing some time in the backyard, it beeps when he finds coins, jewelry, or other buried metal. At just 2.6 pounds, it's light enough that it won't bog him down, even if he goes for hours. Plus, the next time someone loses an earring in the grass, you'll know who to call.

A pair of durable binoculars for young birders

Nocs Provisions x National Audubon Society Field Issue 8x32 Waterproof Binoculars, available at Amazon, $180

Bird ID apps like the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Merlin have turned birding into a real-life collection game, and kids are hooked. Joshua Morris, conservation director at Birds Connect Seattle, says 8x magnification is the sweet spot for young birders, bringing birds close without magnifying the little shakes in his arms, and the wider field of view makes fast little birds easier to find and follow. The 32mm lenses reduce bulk, and they're waterproof, fogproof, and backed by a lifetime "No-Matter-What" warranty. Pair with Bird Songs: 250 North American Birds in Song (also available in Western and Eastern editions), so he can learn to identify birds by sound before ever spotting them.

A sweet treat for the aspiring chef (and his friends and family)

Dash My Ice Cream Maker, available at Amazon, $45

With this compact ice cream maker, your budding chef can whip up a pint of homemade ice cream, gelato, or sorbet. Just freeze the cooling bowl ahead of time, pour in the ingredients, and let it churn, then stir in his favorite mix-ins. It's small and simple enough for him to run on his own, plus it comes with a handful of recipes to get him churning.

A quiet drum set he can rock out to

Donner DED-80 Electronic Drum Set, available at Amazon, $230

A jam sesh without the whole house (or the neighbors) hearing it? Plug in the included headphones, and he can bang away at full volume while everyone else hears little more than the soft tap of sticks on mesh pads. It comes with four pads, three cymbals, and two pedals, plus 180 sounds and 30 demo songs to play along to. It's compact enough to fit in his bedroom but still gives him the real feel. For part two of the gift, sign him up for a few drum lessons.

A kit that turns his doodles into a playable video game

Pixicade Special Animation Edition, available at Amazon, $35

For the tween who loves video games and doodling, Pixicade is a dream come true. From serious gaming concepts to silly doodles, he draws characters and levels on paper, snaps a photo with the free app, then watches his creation turn into a playable video game. The kit comes with more than 100 sample game ideas to get the wheels turning, plus tips from animator and YouTube star Alan Becker.

A popular (and practical) water bottle

Owala FreeSip Water Bottle (24 oz.), available at Amazon, $30

Move over, Stanley: Owala is the water bottle every tween wants on their desk right now. Admittedly, I want one too. I could never sip from my Nalgene without dribbling half of it down my shirt (how utterly mortifying for a tween). The FreeSip lid lets you sip through the built-in straw or tilt it back and swig from the spout, mess-free. It comes in tons of bold colors, and the 24-ounce size fits most cup holders and backpack side pockets.

A LEGO set that's equal parts toy and collector piece

LEGO Star Wars Imperial Remnant AT-AT with INT-4, available at Amazon, $159

For a toy that meets 12-year-old boys at the intersection of play and collecting, consider this mid-scale AT-AT from The Mandalorian and Grogu. He gets a serious, 1,453-piece build equipped with spring-loaded shooters, an opening cockpit, and a full cargo hold, plus seven minifigures, including the Mandalorian, Grogu, and a squad of Snowtroopers. It's built to be played with, yet impressive enough to earn a spot on his desk between battles.

A buildable rocket that soars

Estes Tandem-X Flying Model Rocket Launch Set, available at Amazon, $34

Half the fun is building these two model rockets, and the other half is watching them blast off. With an Estes C6-5 rocket engine (sold separately), the Amazon rocket can reach 600 feet while the Crossfire can reach 1,150 feet with the Estes C6-7 rocket engine (also sold separately). He'll need a big open field, well away from trees and power lines, for the launch, and room for the whole family to join in the countdown.

For the tween who wants to build real machinery

LEGO Technic NASA Mars Rover Perseverance, available at Amazon, $100

This isn't his little brother's LEGO set. Technic swaps traditional bricks for beams, axles, gears, and pins, so the finished rover actually moves like the real thing, with working suspension for rough terrain and a movable arm modeled after NASA's Perseverance. Once the build is done, an augmented reality app lets him explore the real mission.

A backyard game for the tween with a competitive streak

Spikeball, available at Amazon, $70

I love Spikeball (or at least I did before I became a mom and couldn't risk diving for a ball without being out of commission for a week). A fast-paced hybrid of volleyball and four square, it has two teams of two smacking (or spiking) a small ball off a mini trampoline-style net. Don't be alarmed if you look out the window and see him and his friends diving, sprinting, and yelling across the lawn — it burns a ridiculous amount of energy while keeping them outside. The whole set breaks down into a lightweight drawstring bag for outings to the park, beach, or a friend's yard.

A solar-powered robot kit he can build 12 ways

Sillbird Solar Robot Creation Kit, available at Amazon, $20

One kit, 12 robots. He'll use the 190 pieces to build one creation, then take it apart and build something totally different. Every version runs on solar power, so once it's built, he can take it outside and watch it come to life in the sun, or power it indoors under a bright lamp. With clear step-by-step directions, he'll be proud to do it all on his own.

A fantasy adventure he can play with his friends

Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set: Heroes of the Borderlands, available on Amazon, $40

Whether he's Dungeons and Dragons-curious after watching Stranger Things or just joined a D&D club at school, this kit has everything he needs to start a lifelong hobby. It comes with dice, poster maps, hundreds of cards and tokens, and three adventures built for first-time players. The game runs on teamwork and storytelling: Players have to plan together, think on their feet, and talk their way through problems. Michalik says tweens increasingly gravitate toward games they can enjoy with friends, which makes a regular D&D night with his crew a hit.

A blaster for the tween who loves a Nerf showdown

Nerf Rebel Ops Doom Cannon, available at Amazon, $40

Cousins, siblings, Dad: Everyone is invited to this game. One of Nerf's newest blasters, the Doom Cannon launches three darts at once and can send 12 flying in rapid succession. It comes with 60 Nerf Elite darts and 5 Supershells, cartridges that hold 12 darts each, so there's less downtime between rounds. Don't blame us if darts are flying before the wrapping paper hits the floor.

A stocking stuffer for the tween who's into his hair

Slick Gorilla Hair Styling Powder, available on Amazon, $18

According to my friends' tween sons (yes, multiple), the viral Slick Gorilla Hair Styling Powder is the holy grail for getting a messy, gravity-defying fringe without it looking greasy or crunchy. Whether they're due for a restock or trying it for the first time, this makes for a great stocking stuffer.

A cookbook for the tween who's always hungry

The Super Easy Teen Cookbook, available on Amazon, $24

We can't guarantee he'll start whipping up family dinners, but with 75 simple, step-by-step recipes, there's a much better chance he'll give it a try. Occupational therapist Christina Bellini points to cooking and baking as a great way for older kids to build dexterity and fine motor skills.

Wall art for a sneaker head

Pop Chart A Visual Compendium of Sneakers Print, available at Amazon, $25

If his sneaker collection is his pride and joy, help him put it on display, no shoe boxes required. This print features more than 80 iconic kicks, from vintage Chuck Taylors to modern collabs, each labeled with its name, brand, and release year. He might even find a few from his own closet.

A gaming console the whole family will enjoy

The Nintendo Switch 2, available on Amazon, $499

Don't be surprised when he challenges the whole house to a Mario Kart World showdown or spends hours building a digital empire with friends in Minecraft. My husband never boards a plane without his Switch (I recommend pairing it with one of the best Switch 2 travel cases) and at home, it goes from handheld to the TV in seconds. The Switch 2 upgrades the original with a sharper display, faster loading, and way more storage, though battery life is shorter. A Nintendo Switch Online membership lets him play online with original Switch and Switch 2 owners, except when playing Switch 2-exclusive games like Mario Kart World.

A just-released remake of a gaming classic

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, available at Amazon, $60

Ocarina of Time is a fond memory from my own childhood, and the just-released remake gives the classic a visual makeover. He'll step into a sprawling fantasy world where he'll navigate tricky dungeon puzzles and sword-fight his way through one of the most beloved adventures in gaming. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is exclusive to Switch 2.

A fantasy book series

Skandar and the Unicorn Thief by A.F. Steadman, available at Amazon, $8

If he's finished Harry Potter and is hunting for his next can't-put-it-down series, start here. Forget sparkles and rainbows: These unicorns are ferocious, meat-eating, and armed with elemental magic. Bonded to their riders the moment they hatch, they battle it out in high-stakes aerial fights. With five books in the main series, plus three companion books, he won't run out of reading anytime soon. This first book won Waterstones Children's Book of the Year.

A gaming chair for leveling up his setup

GTPlayer Ace Pro Gaming Chair, available at Amazon, $170

If he's been dropping hints about upgrading his gaming or coding setup, a proper chair is a great place to start. Gaming chairs can run the gamut in price, but the GTPlayer Ace Pro packs in a lot for the money. It has built-in Bluetooth speakers for an immersive gaming experience, a pull-out footrest for kicking back between rounds, plus a removable headrest pillow, sliding lumbar cushion, and a generous recline.

An (almost) anatomically correct card game

The Awkward Store Organ ATTACK!, available at Amazon, $27

This one's a hit with our friends' tweens, thanks to a light dose of "gross" humor that 12-year-old boys tend to love. Players take turns afflicting each other's organs with real diseases and conditions, like enamel erosion for the teeth, an arrhythmia for the heart, or glaucoma for the eyes, until one person is left standing with at least one healthy organ. The cartoon organs, from the popular web comic The Awkward Yeti, are adorable, and kids might even pick up a little anatomy along the way.

A pair of sound-blocking headphones

Soundcore Space 2, available on Amazon, $130

Whether he's drowning out a rowdy bus ride home or a chatty sibling on a holiday road trip, a good pair of noise-canceling headphones is a tween staple. The Soundcore Space 2 earned top marks in our testing for its impressive noise canceling and plush ear cups he can wear all day, at a fraction of the price of premium models. Parent tip: If he's using an iPhone you can cap headphone volume by turning on Reduce Loud Audio under the Headphone Safety settings, so his ears stay protected even when his playlist is cranked.

A sports-themed Squishmallow

Squishmallows Squish My School, available at Jazwares, $25

They double as pillows, backrests, and bed decor, but whether he admits it or not, there's comfort in having something soft to squeeze. "Tactile input regulates the nervous system at every age. What changes is how kids want it packaged," says occupational therapist Samantha Stiles. Snag one repping his favorite college team, or there are hundreds of other designs to choose from.

A put-together look with little effort

Nike Sportswear Tech Fleece Big Kids' Full-Zip Hoodie, available at Nike, $105

If there's an unofficial tween uniform right now, this is it. Nike Tech Fleece feels as soft as wearing pajamas all day, but with its clean lines and tailored silhouette, he looks pulled together instead of like he just rolled out of bed. It's also warm without being bulky, which makes it ideal for layering on chilly mornings at the bus stop. To complete the look, pair with Nike Sportswear Tech Fleece Joggers.

A build-it, code-it robot for the future engineer

Makeblock mBot2, available at Amazon, $70

Building it is just the warm-up. Once assembled, he can program this smart bot to navigate obstacle courses, follow lines, and react to light or sound, starting with simple drag-and-drop blocks before stepping up to real Python code. Occupational therapist Pooja Joshi says robotics kits are fantastic for building planning skills and flexible thinking in kids 10 and older, while Michalik says many 12-year-olds are ready for bigger coding projects. It's compatible with LEGO Technic, so he can raid his own brick stash to build custom plows, claws, or armor. Open-source add-on packs continuously expand what the robot can do.

Arcade basketball game for the tween who lives for bragging rights

Pop-A-Shot Home Dual Shot, available at Amazon, $310

Fair warning: Put this in your garage or game room, and your house will instantly become the designated hangout spot for him and his friends. With two hoops, 16 game modes, and infrared sensors that track every shot on the electronic scoreboard, it brings arcade-level competition home. It's more than 7 feet deep when set up, but it folds away when not in use.

A portable Bluetooth speaker

Cleer Scene, available on Amazon, $75

Our pick for the best budget Bluetooth speaker, the Cleer Scene delivers impressive sound at a price that won't make you cry if he leaves it out in the rain. Not that a little water would hurt it: It's rated to survive 30 minutes in about 3 feet of water (like a drop in the pool, though we don't recommend it). The rugged design can handle being tossed in a backpack, and the battery keeps the party going for up to 12 hours on a charge.

A comfortable seat for the tween-to-teen room upgrade

Modern Bean Bag Lounger, available at West Elm, $299

Got a tween who's ready for a room refresh? This vegan leather bean bag is the perfect spot to read, game, or hang with friends. The neutral caramel color goes with almost any style and decor he picks.

The socks every tween is wearing

Nike Everyday Elevated Crew Socks (6 Pack), available on Amazon, $30

White crew socks are still trending this year, especially taller styles pulled up high with shorts or sweats. Between the ever-growing laundry pile and the dryer that eats one of every pair, he can never have too many. They're an easy stocking stuffer he's sure to wear, even if he won't admit he's excited about socks.

• If you've heard about AI, you're probably familiar with Nvidia too.
• Booming business for the chipmaker has boosted the net worth of CEO Jensen Huang.
• Here's a look at the career rise of the Nvidia founder.

The AI arms race has been good business for Nvidia, which supplies the highly in-demand chips used by many Big Tech giants and startups alike to train AI models.

That's also been good news for Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang. In 2024, he shot into Forbes' list of the world's 10 wealthiest people as business boomed for Nvidia.

Huang and fellow Nvidia founders Curtis Priem and Chris Malachowsky planted the seed for Nvidia at a Denny's in northern California in 1993. Today, it's a household name in the AI industry, and Huang is the billionaire businessman leading it.

In November 2026, a scandal hung over Huang's future after the Nvidia chief admitted that he had an affair. Huang's statement came after The New York Times reported that he had a close relationship with someone who US officials suspected of being a Chinese intelligence asset.

Here's a look at Jensen Huang's career rise and background.

Early life, education

Huang was born in Taiwan in 1963. He spent some of his childhood there and in Thailand before his parents sent Huang and his brother to the US to live with an uncle in Tacoma, Washington.

His uncle sent him to Oneida Baptist Institute in Kentucky, but after Huang's parents immigrated to the US, the family lived in Oregon. He graduated from high school at age 16 before going to college. Huang got his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Oregon State University and his master's degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University.

Huang got his first job at 15. He washed dishes and bussed and waited tables at a Denny's in Portland.

Before founding Nvidia, Huang worked at computer chip manufacturer LSI Logic from 1985 to 1993 and at semiconductor company AMD, or Advanced Micro Devices, from 1984 to 1985.

Founding Nvidia, leading company as CEO

At a Denny's in 1993, Huang and his Nvidia co-founders, Curtis Priem and Chris Malachowsky, came up with the idea that would eventually lead to Nvidia's creation.

In 1999, the company released the GeForce 256, which it called the first graphics processing unit, or GPU.

Today, Nvidia is instrumental in the generative AI industry, supplying the coveted chips that tech companies use to train AI models.

Interest in Nvidia's chips amid the AI boom has pushed the company to new heights.

In 2023, Nvidia joined the handful of companies at the time with a trillion-dollar market cap, becoming one of the most valuable companies in the world.

As of November 2026, Huang's net worth is $155 billion, per Bloomberg.

Huang's management and leadership style sees him skipping 1-on-1 meetings, managing around 60 direct reports as CEO, giving feedback publicly, and sending his staff hundreds of emails a day.

Current and former Nvidia employees previously told BI that Huang is a hands-on boss with high expectations and meticulous attention to detail who values owning up to your mistakes.

Huang has said he has workaholic tendencies, logging 14-hour days and working on holidays.

He has a tattoo of Nvidia's logo on his shoulder, which he agreed to get when the company's stock price hit $100 per share.

Huang's black leather jacket has also become a famous part of his wardrobe — a staple piece he often wears when giving keynotes or showing off a new product.

Nvidia's other founders, meanwhile, have stayed further out of the spotlight than Huang.

Priem was Nvidia's chief technical officer from 1993 to 2003, and Malachowsky is a senior technology executive at Nvidia.

After Nvidia went public in 1999, Priem put more than three-quarters of his Nvidia shares into his Priem Family Foundation and by 2006, he'd sold the rest of his shares. He was left with a fortune of roughly $30 million, Forbes estimated in 2023.

A scandal clouds the rise

In November 2026, Huang faced a scandal that threatened to derail the chipmaker's incredible rise.

Nvidia's Board of Directors announced that it was starting "an independent investigation" into whether Huang had "been the target of a foreign intelligence effort."

The board's statement came after The New York Times reported that US officials believed that Alice Huang, the former CEO of a Singapore-based cloud computing company, had a relationship with the Nvidia CEO. Those officials also believed that Alice Huang was a Chinese intelligence asset. Beijing strenuously denied such allegations.

Without naming Alice Huang, the Nvidia CEO admitted to his employees that he had an affair and asked for their forgiveness.

"Leading NVIDIA is the privilege of my life," Huang wrote in the message. "My responsibility is to serve you and be worthy of your trust. I have fallen short of that responsibility."

President Donald Trump, who has grown close to Huang, later told reporters that Huang was unaware of allegations that Alice Huang might be a spy.

Jensen Huang's family

Huang met his now-wife, Lori, while still attending Oregon State University. The couple share two children: Madison Huang is a director of product and technical marketing at Nvidia, and Spencer Huang is a product line manager at the company.

Huang and Lisa Su, CEO of Nvidia's rival chip giant AMD, are distant cousins.

He has a home in Silicon Valley, as Nvidia is headquartered in Santa Clara, California.

Nvidia and Jensen Huang's future

Huang has been president, CEO, and a member of Nvidia's board of directors since the company's creation. He and Nvidia haven't said much about succession planning.

He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2024 and has received the Semiconductor Industry Association's highest honor, the Robert N. Noyce Award.

In past years, The Economist has named Huang the world's best CEO, Fortune has dubbed him its Businessperson of the Year, and TIME has included him in its yearly list of the world's 100 most influential people.

As of June 2025, Huang owned roughly 3.77% of the company's outstanding shares, according to a proxy statement. He is Nvidia's largest individual shareholder.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are almost here, which means it's prime time to shop for gifts, replace tired tech, and finally buy the big-ticket item you've been holding off on. As a deals editor, I spend every holiday season tracking price drops, and this long weekend is still one of the best times of year to save.

The distinction between the two shopping holidays is blurrier than it used to be. Black Friday was once all about early-morning store lines, while Cyber Monday belonged to online shoppers—but now, most retailers launch overlapping sales well before Thanksgiving. In 2026, Black Friday falls on November 27, followed by Cyber Monday on November 30.

Below, we break down what still separates Black Friday from Cyber Monday, when each sale is worth shopping, and how to decide when to hit checkout. You can also browse all of our Black Friday and Cyber Monday coverage, including the best early deals available now.

What is the difference between Black Friday and Cyber Monday?

Although they historically had very real differences that affected best shopping practices, by 2026, Black Friday and Cyber Monday have largely converged. There's only one major caveat: Black Friday sales can occur both online and in-store, while Cyber Monday is exclusively online. Most retailers, both big and small, run sales all weekend, offering the deepest discounts on Friday and Monday after Thanksgiving. By now, many of them have dubbed the five-day period after Thanksgiving as "Cyber Week."

In the 2000s and early 2010s, Black Friday was primarily associated with in-store shopping. This is the period when you could find hopefuls camped outside stores in sleeping bags after Thanksgiving dinner, waiting for midnight to strike and doors to open. Cyber Monday was reserved for online shopping, typically from one's work computer. It also gained a reputation for featuring technology products, including computers, gaming accessories, and the like.

Nowadays, what's on sale for one will be on sale for the other. You can find PC part sales on Friday, and air fryer deals on Monday.

Is Black Friday better than Cyber Monday?

As outlined above, the two holidays no longer differ significantly. However, if you're hoping to score a limited-stock item or discount, you could benefit greatly by shopping on Friday rather than Monday. Most major retailers reserve stock for both days, so the deals don't all die before Monday, but small brands and DTC companies may run out early.

What to expect in 2026

As a deals editor, writer, and reporter of several years now, I'll join the chorus of voices warning that "deals aren't as good as they used to be." It's true — gone are the days of huge price cuts on appliances, tools, and tech. Nowadays, even during Cyber Week, the best deals event of the year, some of the deepest discounts only knock prices down by a meager 15%.

That said, people still need stuff. Parents need gifts for their kids, home chefs need kitchen tools, and households need TVs for watching big games. That's why we're here, highlighting the best deals you can grab now — because you might still need it, regardless of how low prices are. Anyway, 15% off a $1,000 mattress still saves you $150 that could go toward sheets and pillows to complete your bedroom.

If you're wondering what categories you can find on sale during Cyber Week, just about everything under the sun is discounted for the holiday. Kitchen appliances, bathroom essentials, bedroom furniture, entertainment tech, gaming rigs, and much more will be at their best prices of the year. Major retailers, including Amazon, Walmart, Target, Nordstrom, and Best Buy, will participate, as they do every year. Brands we love, like Away, Leesa, Lo and Sons, and the like, will also probably chime in with their own all-time lows.

For the latest buying advice updates, follow us on Instagram and WhatsApp.

• Skydance CEO David Ellison and co-CEO Ynon Kreiz shouted out staffers after posting an earnings beat.
• "The progress we've made is a direct result of your contributions," Ellison and Kreiz said.
• Read the full memo from Ellison and Kreiz below.

Skydance's top execs are thanking employees after a solid inaugural earnings report.

CEO David Ellison and co-CEO Ynon Kreiz sent an email to staffers after the Paramount side of Skydance reached its revenue goal and topped its profit projections in the third quarter — the first since the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery mega-deal last month.

"The progress we've made is a direct result of your contributions," Ellison and Kreiz said in a post-earnings memo, which was obtained by Business Insider.

In the memo, Ellison and Kreiz reiterated their three goals:

• Establishing Skydance as the premier global content engine and the home of the world's leading storytellers
• Accelerating our integrated direct-to-consumer platform
• Optimizing our highly profitable linear TV portfolio, anchored by CBS.

The Skydance CEOs expressed confidence that their new-look company has the size and library to compete with tech-savvy giants like Netflix and Google's YouTube.

Skydance controls a slew of enviable, iconic assets, including the Warner Bros. studio, Paramount Pictures, HBO, CBS, CNN, Paramount+, HBO Max, Pluto TV, TNT, HGTV, and Comedy Central.

"We will lead in a crowded market by using our scale, assets and global reach to drive transformation and growth," Ellison and Kreiz wrote.

However, investors aren't sold on Skydance's business so far.

Despite posting a solid report, shares slid 2% in after-hours trading after initially jumping over 4%. The stock has whipsawed in recent weeks, soaring over 8.5% on Monday after falling more than 11% from pre-merger levels.

Skydance's success hinges on its ability to pay down its debt load of roughly $79 billion, a concern for some investors and analysts.

"The newly merged Skydance comes with massive debt that remains at the center of concern over the company's ability to profitably grow," Forrester media analyst Mike Proulx said in commentary ahead of Skydance's earnings report.

Ellison's company has said it plans to save $6 billion by buying WBD, and that the majority of those cost savings won't come from layoffs. Still, employees are antsy about cuts and bracing for stiff internal competition as Paramount and WBD's teams come together.

In late October, Skydance told employees to return to the office five days a week, or take a buyout offer, Business Insider has reported.

Read Ellison and Kreiz's full memo below:

Team,

It's been a very busy five weeks since we closed the transaction and launched our newly combined company, Skydance. In many ways it feels like we just got started, and in others, it's hard to believe how much we've accomplished together in such a short time.

This afternoon, we reported our third quarter results for legacy Paramount and shared an overview of the business, including our strategy and plans for the combined company. We wanted to follow up with all of you because the progress we've made is a direct result of your contributions. We've moved quickly to put our leadership teams in place across our three segments (Skydance Studios, Direct-to-Consumer and TV), established our organizational structure and are well on our way with integration. These are still early days, but the more we dig into the business, the more excited we are about the opportunity ahead.

As we shared on day one, our strategy is built around three goals: establishing Skydance as the premier global content engine and the home of the world's leading storytellers, accelerating our integrated direct-to-consumer platform and optimizing our highly profitable linear TV portfolio, anchored by CBS.

To get there, we will win in storytelling by leveraging our creative capabilities, talent relationships, production prowess and expansive library of iconic IP. We will build the most technologically capable media company, with a unified technology platform spanning streaming, live and linear that improves the user experience and drives efficiencies. We will lead in a crowded market by using our scale, assets and global reach to drive transformation and growth. And we will earn trust every day by communicating directly and transparently, backing up our words with action and following through on our commitments to the people we serve and work alongside. Underpinning all of it is our pledge to achieve at least $6 billion in annual savings and efficiencies as we bring the two companies together, and we're already seeing real results.

We know there is still a lot of work ahead to position this company for long-term success. And the reason we're so optimistic about getting there is you. Everything we've done so far, and everything we hope to build, starts with our people. Whether you're telling stories, building products, reporting the news, serving our partners, supporting our productions or helping keep this great company running every day, you've embraced the pace and the change of the past several weeks with extraordinary determination and enthusiasm. We're incredibly grateful.

We encourage you to review our shareholder letter for more details on the quarter. A replay of today's earnings call will be available shortly on our investor Relations site.

Thank you for your effort, your commitment and your belief in what we're building.

Keep up the great work!

David and Ynon

The discount-laden holiday shopping season is almost here, and every year, the best Black Friday streaming deals have thoroughly impressed us. While most of the major limited-time deals don't get underway until closer to Thanksgiving, you can still cut costs while cutting the cord with these early deals.

Our team is constantly hunting for deals using our rigorous vetting process, so you can rest assured that we'll keep this page updated as soon as new streaming deals launch. If you can't wait until later this month, there are a few stellar streaming sales you can shop right now, which we've rounded up below.

Best early Black Friday streaming deals

We don't know what the official Paramount Plus Black Friday deal might be this year, or if the platform will even offer one, but there's a stellar deal available right now. The annual plans are 50% off using the code SAVEANNUAL50. This brings the ad-free Premium tier from $140 a year down to $70 a year, and the ad-supported Essential tier from $90 a year to $45 a year. You just need to enter the coupon code at checkout, and the prices will be slashed in half. In comparison, last year's Paramount Plus Black Friday deal discounted the first two months of Essential and Premium monthly subscriptions.

YouTube TV has consistently offered the best live TV deals throughout the year, and the ongoing sale is no exception. New users can get $15 a month off their first five months of service with the Main plan. This offer brings monthly subscription prices from $83 a month down to $68 a month for five months, or $75 in total savings. You'll need to click through our link to find the full five-month offer, which runs until Thanksgiving Day.

If you're interested in live TV platforms but want something other than YouTube TV, Fubo is one of the best live TV streaming services we've tested, especially for international sports fans or those seeking a massive number of channels. First-time customers can get $25 off their first month of the Pro plan (normally $89 a month) or $30 off their first month of the Elite plan (normally $99 a month).

Other ways to save on streaming services

Most Black Friday streaming deals haven't launched yet, but opting for an annual plan or a bundle is an easy way to score savings right now. The prices below show how much you'd save with an annual plan each year compared to paying for 12 months of a monthly plan, or how much you'd save with a bundle each month compared to paying for the two services separately.

Disney Plus offers some of the best Black Friday deals each year, and we're hoping the streaming platform will participate again in 2026. While the platform doesn't usually launch its deals until much closer to the shopping holiday, you can save some money right now by opting for a Disney Plus annual plan or by bundling monthly service with Hulu and ESPN Unlimited, ESPN Select, or HBO Max.

If the Disney Plus and Hulu bundles aren't quite your speed, but you're still interested in ESPN, you can also save some money by giving one of the stand-alone annual plans a go. Likewise, ESPN Unlimited can be bundled with FOX One or NFL Plus Premium at a lower price than paying for two services separately each month.

Even Apple TV got in on the Black Friday action last year, and we'll see if the streaming platform decides to play ball once again. You can already save big-time on a yearly basis by signing up for an annual plan.

If you don't want to commit to an annual plan, there are also some monthly savings opportunities when you sign up for one of the Apple TV and Peacock bundles, compared to what you'd pay if you subscribed to them separately. Last year, Peacock didn't participate in Black Friday, despite doing so in the past, so we're curious to see if they get back into the deals game in 2026. Like Apple TV, you can save money on a yearly basis by subscribing to a Peacock annual plan.

Crunchyroll is the top anime streaming service out there, and last year, the platform offered $20 off the Mega Fan annual membership fee on Black Friday. While the streaming service hasn't rolled out any limited-time deals yet, you can save right now with an annual plan compared to what you'd pay after 12 months of a monthly plan.

HBO Max typically offers a Black Friday deal, usually a 12-month discount on the ad-supported monthly subscription. Right now, the best way to save on the streaming service is by signing up for an annual plan.

YouTube TV and Fubo are running some of the best live TV introductory offers right now, but DirecTV and Sling TV are two other popular options we've enjoyed that also have some deals. DirecTV is running intro offers on all of its Signature plans, as well as a few genre packs. While Sling TV doesn't have any notable introductory offers, you can get the Sling Orange + Blue combo plan for less than subscribing to Sling Orange and Sling Blue separately, since both plans have some channel overlap.

FAQ

When do Black Friday streaming deals typically launch?

We've found that if a streaming service is going to launch a special limited-time deal, they'll do it by Black Friday and not wait until Cyber Monday (although the sales usually extend until then, which you can read more about below). This year, Black Friday is on November 27, 2026. Oftentimes, a streaming platform will kick off the deal beforehand.

In 2025, services like Apple TV and Prime Video launched their deals about a week before Black Friday. HBO Max launched its deal on the Monday of Thanksgiving week, and the Disney Plus and Hulu bundle deals launched that Tuesday, although early access was available the day before for the ad-supported version. Last year, Paramount Plus also launched its monthly promos on the Tuesday of Thanksgiving week.

When do Black Friday streaming deals end?

Black Friday streaming deals rarely end on Black Friday. Instead, these limited-time discounts usually turn into Cyber Monday deals, and occasionally extend beyond that. This year, Cyber Monday falls on November 30 (not December!), so we recommend signing up by the end of the day on Cyber Monday. When these deals launch, we'll comb through the fine print and identify the exact end date so that you don't have to.

If you're interested in the YouTube TV deal we've highlighted today, you'll want to cash in before Black Friday since the offer ends on November 26, 2026. There's a chance YouTube TV will extend the offer or launch another deal in its place, but if you're keen to sign up for this particular deal, it might be a good idea to do it by Thanksgiving.

Check out our best streaming services guide for more information on these services. If you're planning to wait for official Black Friday deals, check out our piece on why you might want to cancel your services before then.

• Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's affair and a board investigation are sparking questions about succession.
• Analysts and former employees point to Colette Kress and Ian Buck as possible successors.
• Nvidia said Huang is "committed to continuing to lead Nvidia as CEO without interruption."

It's hard to imagine Nvidia without Jensen Huang — and the CEO has repeatedly discussed his intention to work for as long as possible.

Now, the question of succession has come into sharp focus this week as Huang admitted to having an affair, and Nvidia's board announced it's investigating whether Huang was the target of a "foreign intelligence effort."

If Huang steps down from his role, analysts and former employees floated several potential successors, including vice president Ian Buck and chief financial officer Colette Kress. Huang's two children, Madison and Spencer, also work at Nvidia, raising questions about whether leadership could remain in the family.

Nvidia told Business Insider in a statement on Sunday that "Jensen is committed to continuing to lead Nvidia as CEO without interruption."

Huang would be hard to replace, said Brad Gastwirth, the global head of research at Circular Technology. While Huang doesn't have controlling voting power, he owns about 3.6% of Nvidia and would likely "have considerable input into succession unless the investigation uncovers serious wrongdoing," Gastwirth said.

"Jensen's combination of technical expertise, strategic vision, and industry relationships is nearly impossible to replicate," he said.

Inside Nvidia's succession dilemma

Nvidia has not publicly designated a number two, and Huang is known for keeping an unusually flat leadership structure with as many as 60 direct reports.

"That works beautifully while he's in the seat, but it means nobody has been groomed, tested, or publicly positioned as the heir," said Daniel Newman, CEO of The Futurum Group.

One former employee said Madison Huang, who works as senior director of product marketing for physical AI, has been asserting greater authority across Nvidia's businesses, which they believe could be an effort to position herself for a larger leadership role.

Gil Luria, an analyst at DA Davidson, said Kress is the company's only other highly visible executive and could take over as interim CEO if Huang stepped aside.

Kress has worked at Nvidia for 13 years, and prior to that, she held finance roles at Cisco and Microsoft.

Since Kress lacks the engineering background that has been central to Huang's leadership, another possible long-term replacement is Ian Buck, a longtime executive who helped develop CUDA, the chip software that has become central to Nvidia's dominance in AI.

Buck heads Nvidia's data center and computing businesses, and he has worked at Nvidia for 22 years.

"He's already running the group that is generating virtually all the revenues," the former employee said, referring to Nvidia's data center business.

A second former employee cited the importance of Nvidia's distinctive culture in promoting a current executive as a successor.

"Ideally it has to be someone from the company who's lived the values and the culture," they said.

Could Nvidia look to an outsider?

Some observers have floated executives from other major technology companies as potential successors, including Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian and Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman.

Both oversee enormous cloud computing businesses that invest heavily in AI infrastructure and work closely with Nvidia, giving them firsthand knowledge of the customers and technologies driving its growth.

While Huang's departure appears unlikely for now, Gastwirth said losing him under the current circumstances could seriously hurt Nvidia.

"I think it would be one of the worst things that could happen to Nvidia," he said. "The company would continue operating, but I would question whether it could maintain the same pace of innovation and execution."

Have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at gweiss@businessinsider.com or Signal at @geoffweiss.25. Use a personal email address, a non-work WiFi network, and a non-work device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.

• President Donald Trump is backing Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang after an affair scandal.
• Trump said Huang told him on Monday that he didn't know the person he had an affair with "was a spy."
• "And I really believe him," Trump said.

President Donald Trump is sticking by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.

At an impromptu White House press conference on Monday with Dana White, Trump said he had checked in on the exec earlier that day to see how he was doing.

On Sunday, Huang admitted to having an extramarital affair, and Nvidia's board of directors said it was opening an investigation into whether the CEO was the "target of a foreign intelligence effort."

Trump said that on a phone call Monday, he asked Huang directly about the allegations that the woman was a spy.

"He said he had absolutely no idea that the person in question was a spy," Trump told reporters at the White House. "I asked him that question. 'Did you have any idea that she was a spy?' Said, 'I had no idea that she was a spy,' and I really believe him."

Trump also praised Huang and said he felt "very confident that he'll be in good shape."

Nvidia did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The New York Times has reported that US intelligence officials believe the woman at the center of the scandal, Alice Huang, was recruited to gather information about Nvidia for the Chinese government.

The scandal has led to speculation about whether Huang will maintain his role as CEO of Nvidia.

There are just a few weeks left in the regular season, and the Crimson Tide are fighting to secure their College Football Playoff spot. We've rounded up everything you need to know about where to watch Alabama Crimson Tide football, including global live streaming options.

The easiest way to live stream every Alabama Crimson Tide college football game is via ESPN Unlimited in the US. Coverage is available through DAZN in the UK and other regions. You can access your streaming options from anywhere with a VPN.

Where to watch Alabama Crimson Tide in the US

Like the rest of the major college football teams, Alabama games are spread across several different channels throughout the season. Since Alabama plays in the SEC, all 12 Longhorns games will air or stream on ESPN-owned networks and services, like ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, ESPNU, the SEC Network, and the ESPN streaming service.

This means that fans will be able to live stream all of the action through an ESPN Unlimited subscription, which carries live streams from flagship ESPN networks and ESPN+ and SECN+ streaming-exclusive content. Subscriptions cost $32 a month and unlock a wealth of live sports programming, including comprehensive US Open coverage.

A live TV streaming service can also help you tune in, and it might be a better fit if you're hoping to watch other teams that are available on non-ESPN networks and services. YouTube TV and Fubo are two of the best options in the game, and both platforms offer budget-friendly sports packages.

YouTube TV carries ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, and the SEC Network in both its Sports and Main plans. The Sports plan costs $65 a month, but new users can get $20 a month off their first six months after a free trial. The Main plan costs $83 a month, but first-time customers can get $15 a month off their first five months after a free trial. ESPN Unlimited is now available through YouTube TV.

Fubo offers ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, and the SEC Network in all of its plans (other than Latino). The Pro plan costs $89 a month, but first-time customers can save $25 on their first month after a free trial. These Fubo plans also unlock access to ESPN Unlimited at no extra cost.

Where to watch Alabama Crimson Tide in the UK and other regions

College football coverage is available on DAZN in the UK and other international markets this year. A DAZN NCAA College Sports subscription shows tons of games each week (including most of the marquee match-ups), but it's always a good idea to double-check that the one you're interested in is available. Subscription prices vary by region and contract.

How to watch Alabama Crimson Tide from anywhere

If you're traveling abroad, you can still keep up with every game with the help of a VPN. VPNs, or virtual private networks, are easy-to-use cybersecurity tools that let people temporarily change their virtual location. This way, they can still access their favorite websites and apps from anywhere in the world. Since the services we've highlighted require country-specific payment methods, this option will work best for fans who are just traveling away from home.

NordVPN is one of the best VPNs on the market. It's speedy, secure, and has a 30-day money-back guarantee if you find that it's not what you're looking for.

Alabama Crimson Tide Football Schedule

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.

The next Monday Night Football game kicks off soon in Minneapolis. We've rounded up everything you need to know about how to watch the Bills vs. Vikings, including global live streaming options.

If you don't want to read any further, you can live stream the game on ESPN Unlimited in the US, DAZN in Canada, Sky Sports in the UK, and the DAZN NFL Game Pass in most other international markets. You can access your usual streaming services from anywhere with the help of a VPN.

What channel is the Bills vs. Vikings game on?

The Bills vs. Vikings game will be broadcast on both ABC and ESPN in the United States. The game will kick off on Monday at 8:15 p.m. ET

How to watch the Bills vs. Vikings in the US

Just because you don't have cable or a good antenna doesn't mean you need to miss out on tonight's game. There are several easy ways to live stream Monday Night Football in the US.

ESPN Unlimited is ESPN's direct streaming counterpart, offering full live streams from every ESPN network (and ESPN on ABC programming) in one place. The streaming service costs $32 a month, but it can be bundled with multiple other services to save some money each month. The ESPN Unlimited and NFL Plus Premium bundle costs $42 a month.

If you're looking for a more comprehensive streaming option that lets you watch popular networks beyond the ESPN family, a live TV streaming service is the way to go. These month-to-month platforms function as cable alternatives, eliminating hefty equipment and long-term contracts.

YouTube TV is one of the most popular options available. ESPN and ABC are available in multiple tiers, including the flagship Main plan. YouTube TV's Main plan normally costs $83 a month, but new users can get $15 a month off their first five months after a free trial.

Fubo is one of the best live TV streaming services we've tested. ESPN and ABC are available in multiple plans, including Fubo Pro. Pro costs $89 a month, but new users can get $25 off their first month after a free trial.

How to watch the Bills vs. Vikings in other regions

In most countries outside the US and China, you can live stream the entire NFL season (including the regular season and postseason games) via DAZN's NFL Game Pass. Subscription prices vary from region to region.

Select countries might have special broadcast agreements for certain games. Often, these games are still live-streamed on DAZN's NFL Game Pass. As with several NFL games, tonight's match-up will air on Sky Sports NFL in the UK. In Canada, NFL games are available with a standard DAZN subscription.

How to watch the Bills vs. Vikings from anywhere

Football fans traveling abroad can still access their favorite streaming services with the help of a virtual private network (VPN). VPNs are handy cybersecurity tools that let people temporarily change their virtual location. This way, their usual websites and apps work from anywhere — just like they would back home. The services we've recommended require country-specific payment methods, so this option will work best for those who are just traveling away from home.

NordVPN is our top recommendation right now. It's one of the best VPNs on the market, thanks to its fast speeds, impressive server variety, and 30-day money-back guarantee.

• See also: Where to watch the WTA Finals | How to watch Texas Longhorns college football | How to watch NFL games

How are the teams doing so far this season?

The Buffalo Bills and Minnesota Vikings are both having strong 6-1 starts to their seasons. The Bills lead the AFC East, and the Vikings lead the NFC North. Each team has only dropped one game so far, with the Bills falling to the New England Patriots in October and the Vikings losing to the Detroit Lions last weekend.

When did the Bills and Vikings last play each other?

The Bills and the Vikings haven't faced each other since 2022. The Buffalo-hosted match-up was an overtime thriller that Minnesota ultimately won 33-30.

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.

No matter how many Ceramic Shield iterations Apple introduces (we're on Ceramic Shield 2, for the record), a case is always the right choice for prolonging your iPhone's performance and appearance. With so many options ranging in price, design, and utility, you can find a good option for every type of iOS user. Whether you're a modern minimalist or quirky accessorizer, I've got you covered with the best iPhone cases below.

Not only have I spent the last few months testing the biggest brands in the tech accessory space, but I also have years of product experience and research to back up the picks below. While my team and I weren't throwing iPhones off of balconies to assess the damage, we put every model through the throes of daily life, including frequent pocketing, button pressing, and waist-height falls.

A quick look at our top 5 picks

Since iPhone cases are a largely subjective category, I recommend reading through all of our picks below — you might be surprised by which fits your needs. However, if you're looking for the best offerings in terms of affordability, quality, protection, and appearance, these designs stood out.

Best all-rounder: ESR - See at Amazon

Thanks to the brand's well-fitting, simple yet appealing cases, it quickly became a team favorite. ESR products aren't exorbitantly priced either, making them an easy purchase after shelling out hundreds on a new phone. Our favorites include the frosted Classic Hybrid with a stand and the sleek Atelier case.

Best budget-friendly: Spigen - See at Amazon

Spigen remains a tried-and-true choice for iPhone accessories, especially if you're shopping on a tight budget. With cheap clear cases, textured MagSafe stand options, and techy thin shells to choose from, you can protect your phone without sacrificing style.

Most protective: OtterBox - See at OtterBox

A longtime favorite of ours and many other smartphone users, OtterBox remains the top option for clumsy phone users. Not only does it make super-defensive cases like the Defender Series Pro, but the brand is now also extending into more stylish options, like a faux-leather option that we love for the iPhone Air.

Best grip: Smartish - See at Smartish

Despite its relatively low prices, Smartish makes cases that really prioritize your experience as a user. They're comfy to hold, available in a wide array of prints, and fit like a glove. The Gripzilla specifically stood out for its ridged sides that nest naturally between your fingers.

Thinnest: Pitaka - See at Amazon

If you're not at risk of dropping your phone from extreme heights, Pitaka's Edge cases are beautiful and offer the thinnest profile of any we tested. The shells have a unique, matte, woven texture that feels nice to hold and provides surprising strength. If you do need some bumper defense, the brand's Cairn cases offer the same look with rugged edges for shock absorption.

Below, I've highlighted some of the best styles from our favorite brands. If you have an older device, don't be afraid to click in and check for your size; all of our picks make cases for a range of iPhones, and some even cover Android models.

Best overall: ESR

With so many random tech brands vying for shoppers' attention on Amazon, I didn't expect much from ESR before testing the brand's designs. After getting a few cases in hand, though, the quality, craftsmanship, convenience, and durability blew me away.

My personal favorite is the Classic Hybrid with the built-in stand, but the full ESR lineup is worth looking at if you want an iPhone case that won't cost an arm and a leg. For surprisingly cheap, these cases fit like a second skin — they're not the slimmest you can find (especially because of the stand's extra bulk), but each hugs its device tightly and securely. The frosted finish of the Classic Hybrid and the smooth faux leather of the Atelier also feel great to hold, and are sleek enough to slide in and out of pockets with ease.

For a case that covers the essentials and stretches your dollar as far as it can, ESR is my favorite. I'm also a big fan of the brand's accessories — the Geo MagSafe Wallet Stand is a resident on the back of my phone.

• Find a case for your iPhone at ESR's storefront.

Best protective: OtterBox

If you've shopped for a new phone case any time in the last decade, chances are, you've already heard of OtterBox. The brand has made a name for itself in the industry, and for good reason. Its designs offer some serious defense against even the toughest environments.

Ideal for the clumsy, sporty, or anyone else who puts their iPhone in danger, OtterBox's cases spare no expense in keeping your device protected with layers of shock-absorbing plastic. They're on the pricier side for sure, but in exchange, you likely won't need to buy another for as long as you have your smartphone.

Based on years of using the brand and updated tests across its recent case line, we still recommend the Defender Series Pro for shoppers in need of top-tier protection. Alternatively, we also like the brand's lighter, sleeker designs for more casual shielding against everyday threats — the Symmetry Series Stand and shoe-like Sole Series both stood out in our experience.

• Find a case for your iPhone at OtterBox.

Best budget: Spigen

Spigen has been in the iPhone case game for what feels like forever, and over the years, it has perfected the balance between low cost and quality coverage. For a long time, it rose to the top as our top case pick across all brands, and while it's no longer our best overall, we still love what Spigen offers.

You've got a lot to choose from in the lineup, but it especially shines in affordable yet quality cases. If you spent all your money getting your phone, this is the brand to browse for something that won't bleed you dry. You can keep it simple with a clear resin option for less than $15, or flash some techy style with the brand's signature teardown cases. Personally, I really enjoyed the Parallax S MagFit, which offers some nice texture variation for added friction and visual interest.

The Nano Pop cases are a potential hit for being especially slim with satisfying buttons and grippy silicone, but I also found that the flexible material is prone to fingerprints and smudges from food oils.

• Find a case for your iPhone at Spigen's storefront.

Best grippy: Smartish

Beloved across the internet, Smartish comes with a reputation for reasonable pricing, striking prints, and butterfinger-proof grips. I was excited to give them a shot and found that while they may miss the mark with more fashion-forward iPhone owners, they're a hit for functionality and design. They've actually become a staff favorite for some of my teammates.

While rubbery cases may seem like a low-quality option in the age of thick resin, Smartish does them well. The brand's designs are easy to put on and take off, yet still fit like a glove. While the Gripzilla stood out as our favorite with its ridged, textured sides that feel excellent in hand, the simpler Gripmunk also offers solid protection and friction. Fans of quirky designs will also revel in the brand's striking graphics, such as Y2K flame decals, trippy optical illusions, and vaporwave compositions.

The Smartish Wallet Slayer Vol. 1, though great in theory, sacrifices MagSafe compatibility to keep your cards on the back. It's also bulkier, as you might expect from a wallet case.

• Find a case for your iPhone at Smartish.

Best ultra-slim: Pitaka

If unnecessary phone bulk is your pet peeve, Pitaka has you and your iPhone covered. I've been a fan since finding the brand in 2016, and I'm happy to say its designs have only gotten better, with excellent additions like metallic accents, capacitive buttons, and new styles to choose from. Its signature appearance features woven fibers that lend strength and style without weighing you down.

The Edge Case is the thinnest option offered by the brand; it's available for the newest iPhones and even Android devices. While you won't find trendy Y2K prints and photos on these cases, Pitaka has created an aesthetic of its own, with woven designs invoking vivid sunsets, starry skies, and more. If you want a little extra protection, you can opt for the hefty and rugged Cairn case or the thin, full-coverage Summa case, both of which shield more surface area while still showcasing the brand's signature look.

Though I've only just snapped one on the 18 Pro, I can attest to Pitaka's Edge Case heartiness — my husband used one on an older iPhone for years. The construction makes them hard (but not impossible) to scratch, and the slightly raised edges lend enough display and lens protection for careful users to sleep soundly.

• Find a case for your iPhone at Pitaka's storefront.

Best designs: Society6

If you prefer to go big and bold, Society6 is where it's at. Another longtime name in the custom printing business, the brand offers artist-designed phone cases, wall art, bedding, and more. In terms of iPhone coverage, it's yet another hub of striking designs to choose from.

Though there are literally thousands of prints to choose from, Society6 keeps it simple with two main bases: MagSafe and Tough cases. The latter isn't MagSafe compatible, but knocks $5 off the price in exchange. In hand, the brand's shells are thick, rigid, and glossy, providing reasonable protection without adding too much weight. The buttons work nicely, and the tapered edge to the camera button makes it easy to access even with longer nails. The MagSafe Case's magnet is strong, too, making it easy to pair with grips and mounts.

You've got a lot of options for printed cases, but if you're more of an art connoisseur, or if no other options have satisfied you yet, Society6 is your best bet.

• Find a case for your iPhone at Society6.

Best clear: Zagg

Another longtime contender in the tech space, Zagg is one of our tried-and-true favorites. You may have heard of its lifetime warranty-backed screen protectors, but don't ignore its cases. No one does clear quite like Zagg.

For a durable, long-lasting, super-clear case, Zagg's Crystal Palace Snap is our pick, but I'd also recommend checking out the brand's other cases. It's expanded its library to include an array of equally protective yet slightly more colorful cases, still featuring a perfect see-through back so you can peep your device's finish anytime. Favorites include the rugged Rainier and the glittery Milan.

For more colorful defense than what OtterBox offers, I've also loved the durability and comfortable grip of Zagg's Sedona case. Overall, where OtterBox leans rugged visually, Zagg veers bright and bold. Users of MagSafe accessories can also trust these cases, as they use some of the strongest magnets of all the models we've tested to date.

• Find a case for your iPhone on Zagg.

Best leather: Troubador

It's hard to deny the classiness of a simple, one-piece leather iPhone case, and Troubador does them best. Formerly known as Mujjo, the brand's precisely engineered shells offer a shocking amount of protection, with ridges to spare your camera lenses and display from damage.

The brand's catalog keeps it short and sweet, offering just a one-piece leather case in five colors. In real life, the leather is supple and smooth for a luxurious phone-use experience, though the Tan and Terracotta colors look a little cheap compared to the darker options. The buttons are excellent, save for the camera button, which might be a little too deeply recessed in the case for long-nailed users.

Troubador also offers a Modular case that pairs excellently with the brand's MagSafe 3 Card Leather Wallet Stand, reducing the bulk by making the back panel removable. However, if you don't intend to get the wallet, I advise against the Modular option, as it introduces an unnecessary crevice that can lead to dust and leather damage.

• Find a case for your iPhone on Troubador.

Best statement: Bandolier

If you don't want your phone case dragging down your look, check out Bandolier. We've tested and loved the brand for years, and its polished leather wallet cases just get better with every new design. With a slew of styles, colorways, and straps to choose from, the frequently pocketless should not sleep on this brand.

The most versatile in its lineup, the Remi Magnet uses a MagSafe base case with a magnetic envelope-style wallet that snaps onto the back and attaches to the phone's loops for added security. It's a modular format, perfect for magnetic accessory users who like versatility. Alternatively, if you prefer your cards firmly secured at all times, the Hailey keeps it simple and more compact with a card slot permanently affixed to the shell. In exchange, it loses MagSafe compatibility.

After using a Bandolier case for a year, I was very pleased with the protection and the built-in strong magnets. The on-case loops are also the most secure lanyard and charm attachment methods I've tested to date, though they definitely add some extra bulk to the overall silhouette.

• Find a case for your iPhone on Bandolier.

Best accessories: PopSocket

PopSocket has, at this point, become synonymous with phone grips. Regardless of whether it was the first to do them, the brand definitely perfected the design over the years, with collapsible pucks that can use adhesive or MagSafe to firmly hold your device. It should be no surprise that the brand also offers iPhone cases to pair seamlessly with them.

If you like quirky designs and official collaborations, PopSocket is where to look. While its solid- and gradient-color cases are a little pricey for what you get, its designs (like this floral or Winnie the Pooh print) are adorable and beautifully accommodate the space a PopSocket Grip takes up. The magnets are also robust, making the MagSafe shells ideal for grip and mounting use.

The brand also just released its latest phone grip, the Low-Pro, which boasts a flatter-than-ever profile while still providing a handle and a stand for your device. The flexi plastic feels a bit different than the brand's traditional design, but it is an excellent option for users who don't like extra bulk.

• Find a case and grip for your iPhone at PopSocket.

Best sporty: Torras

One of the best brands you can find on Amazon, Torras cases integrate extra features, and rather than hiding them, spotlight them as part of the design. It's reminiscent of athleticwear and designer sneakers, and the available colorways lean into it.

Depending on what model you're covering, Torras has several designs to choose from. One of the priciest, the Q3 Air Pro, showcases built-in airbags along the corners to absorb shock when dropped. Its back ring is also adjustable, giving you a kickstand for watching videos, or it can be collapsed flat for use with MagSafe accessories. For a more designer look, you can also find the brand's signature features in a faux-leather finish on the Q3 VegSkin.

Torras definitely offers a unique visual that some iPhone users will love. I found the cases to be shockingly slim, as they don't add much to the phone's thickness. However, the airbags and corner protections do add width and length that may feel uncomfortable in smaller hands.

• Find a case for your iPhone at Torras' storefront.

Best for all of your devices: Casely

If it wasn't already obvious, there are a lot of case brands to choose from, especially in the printed design space. Casely is another contender here, and its pieces stand out for neat printing, solid all-around protection, and quality coverage for all of your devices.

My personal favorite, the Bold Flex MagSafe case, is the heartier of Casely's iPhone case designs, featuring a plastic outer shell and a rubber inner lining for shock absorption. While not the thinnest case, it's not bulky either, and the beveled edges make it smooth to put in and take out of your pockets. A little cheaper, the Classic MagSafe is more of the traditional printed shell you'd expect, with a thinner silhouette and the same eggshell finish.

Casely's strength as an option is in its collection of designs and cases. Tons of brands offer an overwhelming amount of flowers, animal hides, and stripes you can have printed on your phone. Casely stands out for its options for Apple, Samsung, and Google smartphones, along with laptop, iPad, Kindle, and other tech device cases to browse. Whether you want to match with your bestie or keep your AirPods coordinated with your MacBook, this is the brand that'll help you do it.

• Find a case for your iPhone and other devices at Casely.

Best for bikers: Peak Design

Peak Design is known for luggage, travel gear, and other accessories that move with you. Its phone cases are no different. Deceivingly simple, we found that the brand's iPhone designs offer minimal, sleek protection and, with SlimLink-compatible options, integrate seamlessly with biking.

SlimLink, as the name suggests, is Peak Design's low-profile mounting hardware intended for use on handlebars. The Universal Mount features a silicone band with some stretch, making it adaptable to a range of handlebar diameters. The small square indent on the back of a SlimLink Case is unintrusive and snaps easily yet securely onto the compatible mount.

Even if you're not a biker or motorcyclist, the brand's Everyday Case gives that same techy yet outdoorsy look, and feels nice to hold. It's slim and sleek, too, making it pocket- and purse-friendly. Peak Design also makes a Loop Case, which is the same thing with a slot for your finger. It's initially attractive because the loop collapses so flat, but in testing, we found it to be a tight fit even for slim and average-sized fingers, so we don't recommend it.

• Find a case for your iPhone at Peak Design.

How we test iPhone cases

While I could make an argument for throwing iPhones in cases from great heights to see exactly what "military-grade drop protection" really means, most people aren't doing that in their daily lives. So, rather than creating a lot of electronic waste in the name of science, my team and I opted to assess these products based on a few key factors instead.

Preliminary research: With so many brands vying for shoppers' attention, I narrowed my initial focus to industry staples, viral sensations, and cult favorites. From there, I looked through countless customer reviews, Reddit threads, and, of course, price points, to see what was worth testing in the first place. I still test plenty of new names and startups if the prices aren't astronomical, though.

Appearance: A largely subjective factor, I do my best to withhold personal bias when judging appearance. Instead, this is best assessed through quality markers such as print irregularities, overall finish/texture, leather grain, smudgability, and the variety of available colorways and styles. All of the iPhone cases above passed most, if not all, of these tests, leaving it up to your personal preference from there.

Thickness/bulk: Though this can also be a very personal preference, I assessed a case's clunkiness based on how the bulk is allocated and whether it serves a purpose. For example, a wallet case will always be thicker than a minimalist one, but is it unnecessarily so? Alternatively, is a design heavy because it has more drop protection, or is it simply made of weighty materials?

Glass protection: All smartphone cases should have at least a small ridge around the display and camera lenses to reduce the chances of glass breakage in a fall. The height of this lip depends on how protective the design is: the higher it is, the more defensive it is, but it will also make it bulkier. All of the picks above offer at least a small ridge, with some brands going minimal to reduce thickness.

Magnet strength: Since MagSafe is one of the major selling points of iPhones, it's important for your case to have strong magnets for use with accessories like grips, car mounts, and wireless chargers. Thin cases can get away with weaker ones, as they compound on the magnetic strength already built into your iPhone. Thicker cases require especially powerful magnets to ensure true compatibility.

Fit: For comfort, protection, and quality, an iPhone case should fit snugly, but not be impossible to remove. All of the picks above held the device without it shifting around within, and while some took a little elbow grease, they could all be removed without damaging the phone. Tougher designs include specific instructions for uncasing, too.

Buttons: You don't want a case that makes your phone harder to use or less pleasant to use, so buttons are an important feature of any model. There are a variety of ways manufacturers address them, like cutouts, metallic caps, and capacitive touch sliders.

See more: iPhone Duo cases | 18 Pro Max cases | 18 Pro cases | 17 Cases | Air cases

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