<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><feed xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/"> <title>All Content from Business Insider</title> <id>https://www.businessinsider.com</id> <updated>2025-02-17T10:29:26Z</updated> <rights>Insider Inc. 2023</rights> <subtitle>All Content from Business Insider Excluding Premium</subtitle> <link href="https://feeds.businessinsider.com,%20feeds.businessinsider.com/pull/bi/all?after=20&amp;limit=20&amp;toDate=2025-02-17T10%3A27%3A26Z" rel="next"></link> <entry> <title>Nike can take a leaf out of its past struggles with Adidas to boost sales, analysts say</title> <updated>2025-02-17T10:27:02Z</updated> <id>https://www.businessinsider.com/nike-draw-on-adidas-playbook-to-boost-sales-running-shoes-2025-2</id> <content type="html">&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/67af74f06630eb10385cafe1?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;5253&#34; width=&#34;7879&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Pedestrians walk by Nike and Adidas storefronts&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;Nike has faced tough competition before.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Cheng Xin/Getty Images&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;ul class=&#34;summary-list&#34;&gt;&lt;li&gt;Nike is trying to reclaim its sports apparel edge by focusing on performance wear.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;The company previously overcame challenges by boosting product launches.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Nike will have to &amp;#34;Just Do It Again,&amp;#34; analysts said.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/nike-catching-up-running-shoes-competition-on-hoka-brooks-2025-1&#34;&gt;Nike&lt;/a&gt; should use its own playbook to stage a proper comeback in sports apparel, analysts said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The company&amp;#39;s sales have been slumping, with revenue down 8% in Q2 FY25 from the year prior. It&amp;#39;s turned to a new strategy and a new CEO to help recover and drive product innovation. One of its biggest challenges has been competition from brands like &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/gen-z-millennial-women-drive-chunky-hoka-sneakers-sales-record-2023-2&#34;&gt;Hoka and On&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;For help, it should look to its last period of challenges in 2015 to 2018, BMO analyst Simeon Siegel wrote in a February note titled &amp;#34;Just Do It Again.&amp;#34; That&amp;#39;s when Adidas&amp;#39; Ultra Boost sneakers, which first launched in 2015, threatened Nike&amp;#39;s growth in North America.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Spiegel said the company used four strategies to overtake Adidas in incremental revenue dollars: upping product launches, re-elevating the Jordan brand, accelerating demand creation spending, and cleaning up inventory.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Some of those &amp;#34;key shifts&amp;#34; could boost its firepower in reclaiming its position in running now, Spiegel said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Nike has already said that it will focus on it performance wear for athletes, particularly running. During its Q1FY25 earnings call, CFO Matthew Friend said running has been &amp;#34;one of our toughest fights over the past few years.&amp;#34; It trailed behind ASICS, Adidas, Brooks, and Hoka in running-shoe launches in 2024, according to data from BMO.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Back in 2017, Nike responded to the Adidas Ultra Boost with the Epic React, BMO analysts said. But it&amp;#39;ll have to be a &amp;#34;fast copier&amp;#34; again to compete with Hoka, Spiegel said in the note.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hoka is currently driving the trend of &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/nike-competition-sportswear-hoka-on-running-earnings-2023-7&#34;&gt;ultra-cushioned shoes&lt;/a&gt; in the sport, and &amp;#34;although it doesn&amp;#39;t sound glamorous, we believe a line-up of Hoka resembling shoes may be exactly what is needed,&amp;#34; Spiegel wrote.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#34;They kind of lost their way in terms of product innovation, and I think Hoka, Brooks, and other players started taking market share,&amp;#34; Brian Yarbrough, an analyst at Edward Jones, said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/67af96a7eb4be2fff9a4bcf4?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;702&#34; width=&#34;936&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Nike Vomero 18&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;The Nike Vomero 18 launches February 27 with a cushioned sole.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Courtesy of Nike&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;p&gt;It looks like Spiegel&amp;#39;s advice to increase product launches is already in Nike&amp;#39;s sights, with running-shoe Vomero 18 expected on February 27. The company said the Vomero Plus, the Vomero Premium, and the new Structure model will come &amp;#34;later in 2025.&amp;#34;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;If it can launch good innovative products, consumers may be &amp;#34;willing to trade away out of Hoka, On,&amp;#34; and more that have been gaining market share, Yarbrough said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;As for demand creation, Nike reported $1.1 billion in demand creation expenses to investors for Q2 FY25. It paid for a 60-second spot for &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/the-high-stakes-of-super-bowl-advertising-for-brands-2024-2&#34;&gt;Super Bowl LIX&lt;/a&gt; &amp;mdash; its first ad during the event in nearly 30 years. It starred a number of female athletes, including Caitlin Clark and Sha&amp;#39;Carri Richardson.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The investment paid off as it topped other &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/super-bowl-ad-social-media-buzz-data-nike-dunkin-2025-2&#34;&gt;Super Bowl advertisers&lt;/a&gt; in engagement actions, a key metric in the business.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;However, Nike is going to need products that are &amp;#34;on point with what the consumer wants&amp;#34; to capitalize, Yarbrough said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;read-original&#34;&gt;Read the original article on &lt;a href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/nike-draw-on-adidas-playbook-to-boost-sales-running-shoes-2025-2&#34;&gt;Business Insider&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content> <published>2025-02-17T10:27:02Z</published> <summary type="text">Brands like Hoka and On are threatening Nike in the running-shoe category. It could turn to prior Adidas competition to rebound, analysts say.</summary> <author> <name>Jordan Hart</name> <email>jhart@insider.com</email> </author> <link href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nike-draw-on-adidas-playbook-to-boost-sales-running-shoes-2025-2"></link> <category term="Retail" scheme="https://www.businessinsider.com/retail"></category> <category term="nike"></category> <category term="adidas"></category> <category term="sportswear"></category> <category term="hoka"></category> <category term="on"></category> <category term="brooks-running"></category> <media:thumbnail url="https://i.insider.com/67af764a7bb3f854015cf262?format=jpeg" width="7004" height="5253"></media:thumbnail> </entry> <entry> <title>RTO mandates won&#39;t necessarily boost worker engagement &amp;mdash;&amp;nbsp;and might hurt it</title> <updated>2025-02-17T10:22:01Z</updated> <id>https://www.businessinsider.com/rto-office-full-time-could-hurt-worker-engagement-2025-2</id> <content type="html">&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/67841f9c50dfd88e193e04d0?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;1500&#34; width=&#34;2250&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;A close-up of JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon speaks at The Institute Of International Finance annual membership meeting.&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon dismissed pushback from some employees on the company&amp;#39;s return-to-office mandate.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;ul class=&#34;summary-list&#34;&gt;&lt;li&gt;JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon recently dismissed employee pushback on a return-to-office mandate.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/rto-mandates-workers-quit-look-new-remote-jobs-overemployment-2025-2&#34; data-autoaffiliated=&#34;false&#34;&gt;RTO pushes&lt;/a&gt; from some employers come as worker engagement is at its lowest in a decade.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Experts argue that flexibility, not strict office mandates, is more likely to boost engagement.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;Jamie Dimon wants employees focused on work, not &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/jamie-dimons-viral-remote-work-criticisms-draw-supporters-haters-2025-2&#34;&gt;sending snarky texts&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The head of JPMorgan said recently he also wants workers who pay attention in meetings &amp;mdash;&amp;nbsp;and to be able to get colleagues on the phone on Fridays.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In short, what Dimon seems to be seeking is staffers who are engaged in their jobs.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Many CEOs no doubt want the same. Gallup &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.gallup.com/394373/indicator-employee-engagement.aspx&#34;&gt;found&lt;/a&gt; that worker engagement in the US slipped to 31% in 2024, the lowest level in a decade.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Some leaders appear to see &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/where-you-live-workers-return-to-office-wfh-distance-rto-2025-2&#34;&gt;RTO&lt;/a&gt; as one way to help remedy the situation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Workplace observers told Business Insider that bringing workers together can usher in a host of benefits. Yet, they said, returning to the office isn&amp;#39;t a surefire way to improve lackluster worker engagement &amp;mdash;&amp;nbsp;and could even drive it lower.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#34;There isn&amp;#39;t going to be this silver-bullet fix,&amp;#34; Kelly Mendez-Scheib, chief people officer at the data platform Crunchbase, told BI, referring to RTO orders. In part, she said, that&amp;#39;s because engagement was a challenge even before the pandemic lockdowns sent office workers home.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#34;Engagement is something that organizations have been trying to crack forever,&amp;#34; she said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;For some CEOs, having workers back together is more appealing than sticking with pandemic norms. Asked about JPMorgan&amp;#39;s plan to have most workers &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/jpmorgan-return-to-office-memo-ending-remote-work-jamie-dimon-2025-1&#34;&gt;back in the office&lt;/a&gt; five days a week starting in March, Dimon on Wednesday dismissed pushback from some workers during an employee town hall in Columbus, Ohio.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#34;A lot of you were on the fucking Zoom, and you were doing the following,&amp;#34; Dimon said in a recording obtained by BI and first reported by Barrons, &amp;#34;looking at your mail, sending texts to each other about what an asshole the other person is, not paying attention, not reading your stuff.&amp;#34;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Most of the firm&amp;#39;s workers are already back in the office five days a week. JPMorgan has said in-person work is the best way to run the company and that the benefits of being together are &amp;#34;substantial and irreplaceable.&amp;#34;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;A spokesperson didn&amp;#39;t respond to a request for additional comment on the motivation for the bank&amp;#39;s tighter RTO policy.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h2 id=&#34;c9f2a490-9e63-4dad-b3d7-d6ecede566db&#34; data-toc-id=&#34;c9f2a490-9e63-4dad-b3d7-d6ecede566db&#34;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Crimping flexibility can hurt engagement&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;p&gt;Tempting as it might be, ratcheting up control over workers by removing flexibility often &amp;#34;drives down engagement,&amp;#34; Brian Elliott, a former executive at Slack who is now CEO of Work Forward, an advisory firm on future-of-work issues, told BI.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#34;You&amp;#39;re going to get what you asked for if you&amp;#39;re not careful, which is disengaged employees who are there to punch a clock,&amp;#34; he said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;That might already be happening. Gallup &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; href=&#34;https://www.gallup.com/401384/indicator-hybrid-work.aspx#ite-510899&#34;&gt;data&lt;/a&gt; from late 2024 found that workers who could do their jobs remotely but were on-site each workday showed the biggest drops in engagement since 2020. Both hybrid and fully remote workers reported higher levels of feeling connected to their work.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Nicole Kyle, who researches the future of work, told BI that it&amp;#39;s not accurate to assume that engagement levels are higher when workers are in the office. Yet, often, that&amp;#39;s something leaders often gravitate toward.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#34;The RTO lever is the easy one to pull,&amp;#34; she said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Remote or hybrid arrangements can give workers a stronger sense of autonomy, said Kyle, who is cofounder of CMP Research.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#34;Nothing is less engaging to employees than not having flexibility and choice,&amp;#34; she said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h2 id=&#34;43d16f77-25f6-4d86-a249-61f576ba91b4&#34; data-toc-id=&#34;43d16f77-25f6-4d86-a249-61f576ba91b4&#34;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;#39;Predictable flexibility&amp;#39;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ginnie Carlier, Americas vice chair for talent at EY, told BI that the firm&amp;#39;s employees tend to work with their team leaders to plan days in the office &amp;mdash; an approach she refers to as &amp;#34;predictable flexibility.&amp;#34;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It&amp;#39;s one that&amp;#39;s proven fruitful, she said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#34;Our most engaged and highest-performing individuals are the ones that are on a hybrid work arrangement,&amp;#34; Carlier said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;For most EY workers, that means spending two to three days a week in the office, she said. The focus is on how teams can work best together, not solely on how much gets done.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#34;We&amp;#39;ve really gotten away from this discussion around this illusion of increased productivity by being in the office,&amp;#34; Carlier said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;She said that when EY surveys new hires about why they accepted a job with the firm, flexibility reliably is one of the top reasons.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Studies from numerous settings show that giving people flexibility in how they work &amp;mdash; and allowing them to work remotely part of the time &amp;mdash; raises productivity, retention, worker satisfaction, and engagement, Siri Chilazi, a senior researcher at the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard&amp;#39;s Kennedy School of Government and the coauthor of the book &amp;#34;Make Work Fair,&amp;#34; told BI.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h2 id=&#34;7f5b9135-186a-4ca5-98f9-5173003b036e&#34; data-toc-id=&#34;7f5b9135-186a-4ca5-98f9-5173003b036e&#34;&gt;Flexibility can also bring challenges&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;p&gt;John Rossman, a business strategist who was an early exec at Amazon and is the author of the book &amp;#34;The Amazon Way,&amp;#34; told BI that it can be easier for workers to be disengaged when they don&amp;#39;t face the &amp;#34;peer pressure&amp;#34; of being observed by colleagues.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;He said trying to increase engagement shouldn&amp;#39;t be the main reason employers require workers to be in the office, though he said the move could reveal which workers feel most connected to their work.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#34;Those people who really want to be there are going to figure out how to do it,&amp;#34; Rossman said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;One way to boost worker engagement is through training, Joe Galvin, chief research officer at the executive-coaching firm Vistage, told BI.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;He said helping workers build their skills &amp;mdash;&amp;nbsp;especially in an environment where technology like artificial intelligence promises to reshape many jobs &amp;mdash;&amp;nbsp;can result in employers having more &amp;#34;highly engaged A players.&amp;#34;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#34;They do it as best they can. They&amp;#39;re focused on quantity. They focus on quality. They do all the right things,&amp;#34; Galvin said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;read-original&#34;&gt;Read the original article on &lt;a href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/rto-office-full-time-could-hurt-worker-engagement-2025-2&#34;&gt;Business Insider&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content> <published>2025-02-17T10:22:01Z</published> <summary type="text">Worker engagement in the US is at its lowest level in a decade. Full-time return-to-office mandates could worsen the situation.</summary> <author> <name>Tim Paradis</name> <email>tparadis@businessinsider.com</email> </author> <link href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rto-office-full-time-could-hurt-worker-engagement-2025-2"></link> <category term="Careers" scheme="https://www.businessinsider.com/careers"></category> <category term="careers"></category> <category term="rto"></category> <category term="jpmorgan"></category> <category term="engagement"></category> <media:thumbnail url="https://i.insider.com/67afbf757bb3f854015d04f8?format=jpeg" width="4969" height="3727"></media:thumbnail> </entry> <entry> <title>Uber and Lyft drivers are teaming up and creating their own apps to make more money</title> <updated>2025-02-17T10:17:02Z</updated> <id>https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-lyft-drivers-joining-making-apps-cooperatives-rideshare-2025-2</id> <content type="html">&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/5d9b491732bf0f306357a73a?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;1533&#34; width=&#34;3915&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Uber driver&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;Some Uber and Lyft drivers are looking to create cooperatives.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Scott Varley/MediaNews Group/Torrance Daily Breeze via Getty Images&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;ul class=&#34;summary-list&#34;&gt;&lt;li&gt;Some Uber and Lyft drivers are creating cooperatives.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;The drivers own the cooperatives, which are more transparent and increase earnings, they say.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/gig-drivers-pay-down-uber-lyft-doordash-gig-work-alternatives-2024-12#:~:text=Garin%20and%20other%20gig%20economy,some%20drivers%20to%20earn%20money.&#34; data-autoaffiliated=&#34;false&#34;&gt;Gig workers&lt;/a&gt; say that claiming rides and making money has gotten harder.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;San Diego &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-lyft-driving-worth-it-low-tips-rare-minimum-wage-2024-6&#34;&gt;ride-hailing driver&lt;/a&gt; Lee Sperry has spent the last year pushing for better treatment from Uber and Lyft as a member of the advocacy group San Diego Drivers United.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;But lately, he&amp;#39;s asking: Why not create something that drivers could use instead of &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-product-manager-ai-use-at-work-2025-1&#34;&gt;Uber&lt;/a&gt; or Lyft?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sperry and several hundred fellow drivers in San Diego are exploring forming a cooperative. Instead of driving for the established apps, Sperry said, they would set up their own app, elect leaders to manage it, and create transparent policies around issues such as deactivating drivers.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#34;The co-op would be very different in the way it operates, in the way that we handle how the app works and how the pricing goes, how the driver gets paid, how the hiring goes, who makes the decisions,&amp;#34; he told Business Insider in an interview.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Many ride-hailing drivers are looking for ways to make money outside the apps as their earnings fall and claiming rides gets harder. Some have created their own &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-lyft-drivers-starting-own-ride-businesses-as-earnings-drop-2024-11&#34;&gt;black-car businesses&lt;/a&gt;, for instance.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Others, like Sperry, are creating these ride-hailing cooperatives, a nonprofit model that they say could yield better returns for drivers.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In some cities, driver co-ops already exist.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In New York City, &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/driver-owned-rideshare-service-new-york-city-review-2021-6&#34;&gt;The Drivers Cooperative&lt;/a&gt; has been offering rides since 2021.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Another, Drivers Co-op Colorado, launched last September. The co-op has about 16,000 drivers, and it guarantees them 80% of each fare that riders pay. Many ride-hailing drivers say they get paid less than half of the fare on other apps. The co-op&amp;#39;s promise also represents a greater share than Lyft, which says it pays drivers &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/lyft-earnings-gig-driver-rider-payments-uber-hourly-pay-stock-2024-2&#34;&gt;70% of the weekly rider payments&lt;/a&gt; they earn after fees.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Phred Riggs, one of the co-op&amp;#39;s drivers, said that he has seen his pay decline for the same rides on Uber over the last few years.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;A ride between downtown Denver and Denver International Airport &amp;mdash; a trip of about 21 miles that takes about 30 minutes with light traffic &amp;mdash; used to pay drivers about $35, he said. These days, the same journey grosses about $16. Through the co-op&amp;#39;s set prices, which don&amp;#39;t surge based on demand, a driver can earn $33.60 for the same trip.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;To start driving for the co-op, Riggs and other drivers had to undergo a background check, a requirement that Uber and Lyft also have. Unlike the big apps, though, the co-op also requires potential drivers to attend an orientation session. They also have the option to buy a stake in the co-op for $200.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The co-op requires drivers to use dash cams, which can provide evidence in case either a passenger or driver claims that something bad happened during a ride. It has a committee to review those cases and decide whether to issue a warning or dismiss the driver from its app, said Isaac Chinyoka, the co-op&amp;#39;s general manager.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Uber, Lyft, and other gig work apps often &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/how-gig-workers-are-fighting-against-sudden-account-deactivations-2023-9&#34;&gt;deactivate drivers&amp;#39; accounts&lt;/a&gt; without providing a clear justification or a transparent investigation. Some drivers have told BI that following up with the companies or requesting arbitration to get their accounts reactivated can be a complicated process, especially without being able to talk to someone face-to-face.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This co-op has a physical office in Denver where drivers can speak face-to-face with leadership, Chinyoka said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#34;We don&amp;#39;t just take off the driver immediately without going through that due process,&amp;#34; he told BI. &amp;#34;We sit down with the driver. They know.&amp;#34;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Lyft told BI that its drivers can take on other employment, including &amp;#34;services similar to rideshare services to other companies,&amp;#34; under its terms of service for independent contractors.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#34;Drivers are independent contractors and have the freedom to work however and whenever they want &amp;mdash; for example, by driving for other ride-share platforms,&amp;#34; an Uber spokesperson told BI.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Luis Arias, a ride-hailing driver and another member of San Diego Drivers United, said that he hopes a co-op would be able to tackle a variety of issues beyond pay, such as combating drivers who &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-spark-delivery-accounts-go-for-hundreds-dollars-social-media-2023-9&#34;&gt;buy and use accounts&lt;/a&gt; in other peoples&amp;#39; names to offer rides.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#34;It&amp;#39;s not just about how bad we&amp;#39;re getting screwed about the pay rates, but now it is a safety concern issue as well,&amp;#34; he told BI.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Do you work for Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Instacart, or another company as a gig worker and have a story idea to share? Reach out to this reporter at abitter@businessinsider.com&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;read-original&#34;&gt;Read the original article on &lt;a href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-lyft-drivers-joining-making-apps-cooperatives-rideshare-2025-2&#34;&gt;Business Insider&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content> <published>2025-02-17T10:17:02Z</published> <summary type="text">Ride-hailing drivers for Uber and Lyft are forming cooperatives as many try to increase their earnings and fight for transparency.</summary> <author> <name>Alex Bitter</name> <email>abitter@businessinsider.com</email> </author> <link href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-lyft-drivers-joining-making-apps-cooperatives-rideshare-2025-2"></link> <category term="Economy" scheme="https://www.businessinsider.com/economy"></category> <category term="uber"></category> <category term="lyft"></category> <category term="rideshare"></category> <category term="gig-workers"></category> <category term="gig-work"></category> <category term="gig-economy"></category> <media:thumbnail url="https://i.insider.com/67ae536f6630eb10385c9504?format=jpeg" width="2044" height="1533"></media:thumbnail> </entry> <entry> <title>I escaped a cult and became a female breadwinner after starting on Upwork. Freelancing changed my life.</title> <updated>2025-02-17T10:05:02Z</updated> <id>https://www.businessinsider.com/escaped-cult-female-breadwinner-freelancing-2025-2</id> <content type="html">&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/67afa1e4eb4be2fff9a4bf6c?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;2589&#34; width=&#34;3452&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;headshot of a woman in a purple dress with black background&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;Julia McCoy.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Grand Tapestry/Grand Tapestry&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;ul class=&#34;summary-list&#34;&gt;&lt;li&gt;After escaping a cult, Julia McCoy turned freelancing on Upwork into a successful business.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;McCoy&amp;#39;s business, Express Writers, grew to $1.8 million in revenue with 100 contractors.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;She sold Express Writers for over $1 million and now runs FirstMovers.ai with AI agents.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Julia McCoy, a 33-year-old business owner in Arizona. Business Insider has verified the financial claims. This story has been edited for length and clarity.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I was 19 years old when I decided to follow my passion. I Googled &amp;#34;How to make money writing,&amp;#34; and I found &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-get-started-upwork-clients-2023-12&#34;&gt;Upwork&lt;/a&gt;, which back then was Odesk.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/freelancer-seo-consultant-how-to-get-jobs-upwork-2023-2&#34;&gt;Freelancing on Upwork&lt;/a&gt; allowed me to escape the difficult living situation I grew up in. Once I was free, I turned my freelancing into a successful business. My entrepreneurial ventures now support my husband and two children.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h2 id=&#34;46b0a0cb-4ed1-4256-8735-3c168f9541b3&#34; data-toc-id=&#34;46b0a0cb-4ed1-4256-8735-3c168f9541b3&#34;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I grew up in a cult that made it difficult to work&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;p&gt;I lived inside what I &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/how-cults-actually-work-former-member-nxivm-2024-11&#34;&gt;considered to be a cult&lt;/a&gt; for over half my life. It was a religious extremist environment with a dress code of long dresses, curfews, and spiritual rules. I was allowed to use the internet, attend community college, and &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/politicians-ceo-successful-people-who-worked-at-mcdonalds&#34;&gt;work at McDonalds&lt;/a&gt;, but only if I gave my father the bulk of my earnings.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Within a month of creating a freelancer profile, I tripled my income at McDonald&amp;#39;s. I woke up at 4 a.m. every day, applied for hundreds of gigs on Upwork, and fulfilled any gigs I got in the afternoons.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;While freelancing, I met the man who would become my husband. Josh hired me to run SEO for his website, and we immediately hit it off. I told him about growing up in a cult, and I realized I had to get out.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I bought a car in cash with my freelance money in 2012, packed up in the middle of the night, and drove from Pennsylvania to Missouri to be with Josh. We started dating right away. I haven&amp;#39;t talked to my father since.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h2 id=&#34;b80c0918-6678-4e37-b950-754f03737b40&#34; data-toc-id=&#34;b80c0918-6678-4e37-b950-754f03737b40&#34;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I made $30,000 in my first year as a freelancer&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;p&gt;Being a one-woman show was difficult because I was responsible for the sales, marketing, content creation, tech, and fulfillment departments. Josh wanted to leave his business as a website developer, so he joined me as the CTO of my company, Express Writers.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We got married in 2013. Josh and I working together helped the business grow quickly, but everything else took a back seat once we had our daughter in 2014.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We started talking about the logistics of parenting. I had been the &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/female-breadwinner-moved-switzerland-job-google-2024-11&#34;&gt;breadwinner&lt;/a&gt; since the beginning of our relationship and would continue to be.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We had stability because I hired some managers and implemented a delegation process. I could work an hour a day, sometimes even less, and spend most of my time with the baby.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h2 id=&#34;50125cdf-1f5c-4976-b331-44dd6dba2ec4&#34; data-toc-id=&#34;50125cdf-1f5c-4976-b331-44dd6dba2ec4&#34;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Josh went back to building the technical side of the business, and I went all in on continuing to grow it after a year off&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;p&gt;Josh worked a lot less than I did. As I worked more and late into the night, Josh took over making dinner, caring for our child, and doing household tasks.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The business grew significantly. Revenue hit $1.8 million in 2018.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;My husband and I were the only employees, but we had 100 people who were all structured as contractors. My team did everything a client could need content-wise: Wrote blog posts and website pages, edited copy and articles, wrote ebooks and guides, and offered content strategy.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h2 id=&#34;d53a3e45-6fe6-4fcb-95cf-803507b2b46c&#34; data-toc-id=&#34;d53a3e45-6fe6-4fcb-95cf-803507b2b46c&#34;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I sold my business and started a new one&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;p&gt;When the business started making seven figures in revenue, I started to think about selling it. I wanted to do something else and was tired of being responsible for that many people. I also saw what &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-chat-gpt-2023-1&#34;&gt;ChatGPT&lt;/a&gt; was capable of, and AI was a real threat to writing and freelancing.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;After hiring a brokerage specializing in e-commerce, I sold my business for over $1 million in 2021.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I started a new company called Content Hacker, which I would also sell to my next employer for a multimillion-dollar valuation in exchange for a partnership stake. I created courses, taught, and built an online community with Content Hacker.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h2 id=&#34;2a1161cd-c447-41c8-85c1-6116f598c2d6&#34; data-toc-id=&#34;2a1161cd-c447-41c8-85c1-6116f598c2d6&#34;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Our son was born in March 2022&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;p&gt;Josh stepped into his role of taking care of us four &amp;mdash; the home, family, cleaning, and even growing food for us. He installed solar panels and made the house almost fully &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/family-live-off-grid-tiny-house-2024-2&#34;&gt;off-grid&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I don&amp;#39;t think I would&amp;#39;ve reached this place of success without Josh&amp;#39;s support. I&amp;#39;m very ambitious, and Josh knew if he were to try to box that in, I would lose my passion for life.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h2 id=&#34;51549b5f-01ff-4771-ba9c-fd1690169e9d&#34; data-toc-id=&#34;51549b5f-01ff-4771-ba9c-fd1690169e9d&#34;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Next, I took a job at an AI startup&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;p&gt;In January 2023, I discovered an AI company I was interested in and pitched the founder for a job. I told him I was a former content writer who had sold my agency, knew the content space, and could help his business grow.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;He hired me, and by March, I was promoted to vice president of marketing. I was doing well, so I told him to make me president and bump my salary. My salary was $100,000 initially, but it increased to $300,000 by August 2023.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#39;ve since left that position and returned to entrepreneurship with my third company, &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; href=&#34;http://FirstMovers.ai&#34;&gt;FirstMovers.ai&lt;/a&gt;. I have a small team and have created AI agents to manage most of the business&amp;#39;s tasks.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h2 id=&#34;999b991a-3347-4532-bd0e-7527298c9c8b&#34; data-toc-id=&#34;999b991a-3347-4532-bd0e-7527298c9c8b&#34;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Josh takes care of everything at home, and I&amp;#39;m grateful&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;p&gt;I start work at 8 a.m., and if I&amp;#39;m at a networking meeting, I might not be home until 9 p.m.&lt;strong&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;When I do come home, everything is done and taken care of.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Even though I&amp;#39;m the breadwinner, we haven&amp;#39;t split up our finances &amp;mdash; we &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/banking/joint-bank-account-vs-individual-bank-account&#34;&gt;share one bank account&lt;/a&gt;. Nobody has a side account; nobody says, &amp;#34;This is mine!&amp;#34;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We keep a family budget; if we want to make a big expenditure or investment, we discuss it and always make a joint decision. That communication has helped us overcome any kind of animosity.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Being the breadwinner has not affected the relationship romantically. It&amp;#39;s funny because Josh says he sees it as a very sexy thing.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I feel grateful for this opportunity to support our family and have an amazing husband who supports me by caring for the home and our children.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;read-original&#34;&gt;Read the original article on &lt;a href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/escaped-cult-female-breadwinner-freelancing-2025-2&#34;&gt;Business Insider&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content> <published>2025-02-17T10:05:02Z</published> <summary type="text">Using money she saved from freelancing on Upwork, Julia McCoy bought a car and escaped her cult in the middle of the night in 2012.</summary> <author> <name>Kimanzi Constable</name> <email>ehochberg@insider.com</email> </author> <link href="https://www.businessinsider.com/escaped-cult-female-breadwinner-freelancing-2025-2"></link> <category term="Careers" scheme="https://www.businessinsider.com/careers"></category> <category term="as-told-to"></category> <category term="bi-freelancer"></category> <category term="cult"></category> <category term="cults"></category> <category term="freelancing"></category> <category term="upwork"></category> <category term="ai"></category> <category term="contributor-2025"></category> <category term="lauryn-haas"></category> <media:thumbnail url="https://i.insider.com/67afa8176630eb10385cbc79?format=jpeg" width="3298" height="2473"></media:thumbnail> </entry> <entry> <title>The Rainmakers: Meet the 20 bankers who led last year&#39;s M&amp;A rebound, driving billions in fees to their firms</title> <updated>2025-02-17T10:00:01Z</updated> <id>https://www.businessinsider.com/rainmakers-top-mergers-acquisitions-bankers-2024-goldman-sachs-jpmorgan-evercore-2025-2</id> <content type="html">&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/67ae08a4eb4be2fff9a48652?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;1500&#34; width=&#34;2000&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Photo collage of 2025&amp;#39;s Rainmakers list&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;From left: Riccardo Benedetti (Perella Weinberg Partners), Anu Aiyengar (JPMorgan Chase), and Suhail Sikhtian (Goldman Sachs)&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty, Riccardo Benedetti/PWP, Suhail Sikhtian/Goldman Sachs, Anna Kim/Getty, Tyler Le/BI&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;ul class=&#34;summary-list&#34;&gt;&lt;li&gt;Welcome to the 6th edition of &amp;#34;The Rainmakers,&amp;#34; representing the top 20 investment bankers of 2024.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;These 20 bankers completed some of the year&amp;#39;s biggest deals, based on data assembled by MergerLinks.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;This year&amp;#39;s list marks the first time a woman, Anu Aiyengar of JPMorgan, took the top spot.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;If you were to describe dealmaking in 2024, you might say it&amp;#39;s the year Wall Street got its swagger back.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;US companies announced over $1.43 trillion in deals last year, the highest amount since 2021, when a dealmaking frenzy resulted in a record $2.51 trillion in US M&amp;amp;A activity, according to deals tracker LSEG. The uptick &amp;mdash; combined with signs of economic growth and a more relaxed approach to &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-administration-impact-investment-banks-regulation-mergers-fintech-2025-2024-12&#34;&gt;regulations&lt;/a&gt; under the Trump administration &amp;mdash; has led some industry leaders to suggest that the M&amp;amp;A freeze that started in 2022 might &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/goldman-sachs-3q-results-dealmaking-trading-resurgence-david-solomon-2024-10&#34;&gt;finally be coming to an end&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#34;There&amp;#39;s a lot of pent-up energy in capital markets, particularly around the financial-sponsor community, and that will be unleashed,&amp;#34; David Solomon, CEO of Goldman Sachs, said at a financial-industry conference in February. &amp;#34;I am very confident we will get back to 10-year averages&amp;#34; in historical dealmaking contexts, said, adding: &amp;#34;This year could be one of those times.&amp;#34;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Bankers have &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/jpmorgan-goldman-sachs-4q-earnings-wall-street-hiring-trends-2025-1&#34;&gt;good reason to be hopeful&lt;/a&gt;: There were 96 megadeals, or deals over $5 billion, announced globally last year &amp;mdash; the most since 2021, according to LSEG. Such deals are the &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/megamergers-deals-m-a-wall-street-comeback-2024-9&#34;&gt;lifeblood of the biggest investment banks&lt;/a&gt; as they can generate hundreds of billions in fees for firms. Last year&amp;#39;s M&amp;amp;A activity generated advisory fees of about $33.4 billion, a 7% increase from roughly $31.3 billion the year before, LSEG said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Some of the multibillion-dollar tie-ups facilitated by the &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/goldman-sachs-investment-bank-leaders-lay-out-winning-strategy-2024-6#:~:text=With%20signs%20of%20an%20M%26A,a%20raft%20of%20partner%20exits%3F&amp;amp;text=Goldman%20Sachs&amp;#39;%20core%20business%20of,bankers%20are%20raring%20to%20win.&#34;&gt;battle-hardened M&amp;amp;A bankers&lt;/a&gt; on this year&amp;#39;s list included the nearly $36 billion sale of food manufacturer Kellanova to the snack brand Mars and the $26 billion takeover of Endeavor Energy Resources by rival Diamondback Energy.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;To find out which bankers helped their firms benefit from last year&amp;#39;s boom, Business Insider partnered with MergerLinks, a UK-based data provider that reviews M&amp;amp;A performance, to present the sixth annual edition of &amp;#34;The Rainmakers,&amp;#34; a list of the top-20 investment bankers ranked by overall transaction volume, in the US.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This is the first year a woman &amp;mdash; Anu Aiyengar of JPMorgan &amp;mdash; has snagged the No. 1 spot. It&amp;#39;s also the first time more than one woman has made the ranking, which is based on volumes of deals announced in the US.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Aiyengar, JPMorgan&amp;#39;s global head of mergers and acquisitions, was joined by Lily Mahdavi, who was recently promoted to cohead of M&amp;amp;A in the Americas at Morgan Stanley.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It&amp;#39;s Aiyengar&amp;#39;s fourth appearance. Other repeat names include Suhail Sikhtian, who leads Goldman&amp;#39;s natural-resources practice; Blair Effron, a co-founder of the elite-boutique investment bank Centerview; and Stephan Feldgoise, Goldman Sachs&amp;#39; head of M&amp;amp;A.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;More notable, perhaps, are the unusually high number of new faces &amp;mdash; including Mahdavi and her fellow Morgan Stanley dealmaker, Steve Munger. Also new to the list are Centerview&amp;#39;s Todd Davison, Jefferies&amp;#39; Conrad Gibbins, and Xavier Loriferne of JPMorgan Chase. In total, nearly 50% of the members on this year&amp;#39;s list &amp;mdash; nine names &amp;mdash; are making their inaugural debut, MergerLinks said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The 2024 list also marks the first time a Jefferies banker has made the top 20.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;MergerLinks tracks publicly announced deals and calculates deal values on a net basis, including both equity and debt components. To make the individual league table, a banker must have been the lead advisor on either side of a transaction.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Deal sizes are sourced from MergerLinks and public press releases and include the target company&amp;#39;s net debt. The transaction values are converted from British pounds to US dollars at the average 2024 exchange rate. As a result, some deal prices announced in dollars throughout the year may not match up.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;hr/&gt;&lt;h2 id=&#34;5f245c36-4726-41ac-98e8-225489cc69d6&#34; data-toc-id=&#34;5f245c36-4726-41ac-98e8-225489cc69d6&#34;&gt;Anu Aiyengar, JPMorgan Chase&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/67af885d7bb3f854015cf71e?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;1832&#34; width=&#34;2748&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Anu Aiyengar&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;Anu Aiyengar.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Courtesy of JPMorgan Chase.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;p id=&#34;5f245c36-4726-41ac-98e8-225489cc69d6&#34;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Title: &lt;/strong&gt;Global head of M&amp;amp;A&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Number of deals: &lt;/strong&gt;14&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Value of deals:&lt;/strong&gt; $83.2 billion&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Aiyengar became JPMorgan&amp;#39;s solo head of mergers and acquisitions in 2023, but has been with the bank since 2002. She is routinely cited as one of the financial-services industry&amp;#39;s most powerful and influential female leaders. She has appeared on the list three times &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/top-mergers-acquisitions-bankers-2021-goldman-jpmorgan-liontree-aryeh-bourkoff-2022-1&#34;&gt;in the past&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Her 2024 deals included:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised Intel in its $11 billion joint venture with Apollo Global Management tied to semiconductor development.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised the private-equity firm Bain Capital in its $4.5 billion acquisition of Envestnet, a tech company focused on wealth management.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Advised Rio Tinto, a global mining organization, its $6.7 billion acquisition of the chemicals firm Arcadium Lithium.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;hr/&gt;&lt;h2 id=&#34;d46907a5-b8a4-40d2-8e21-18b7d3ab6108&#34; data-toc-id=&#34;d46907a5-b8a4-40d2-8e21-18b7d3ab6108&#34;&gt;Stephan Feldgoise, Goldman Sachs&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/67af7d38eb4be2fff9a4b667?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;1500&#34; width=&#34;2000&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Stephan Feldgoise Co-head of Global Mergers &amp;amp; Acquisitions at Goldman Sachs&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;Stephan Feldgoise.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Goldman Sachs&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Title: &lt;/strong&gt;Global head of M&amp;amp;A&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Number of deals:&lt;/strong&gt; 7&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Value of deals:&lt;/strong&gt; $78.2 billion&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Feldgoise was named Goldman&amp;#39;s global head of mergers and acquisitions following a management reshuffle of its investment-banking division in January. Feldgoise was previously cohead of M&amp;amp;A and has also led the investment bank&amp;#39;s consumer and retail coverage group. He joined the firm in 1997 and became a partner in 2008.This is his second time on the list, with his first appearance being &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/top-investment-bankers-biggest-deals-goldman-jpmorgan-2023-2&#34;&gt;two years ago&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;His 2024 deals included:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised Pactiv Evergreen, a food industry manufacturer, in its all-cash sale for $6.7 billion to the packaging firm Novolex.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised Ito Kogyo in its $47 billion acquisition of Seven &amp;amp; I Holdings, a retail firm that operates convenience stores in Japan.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Advised the data center firm AirTrunk in its roughly $15 billion sale to the private-equity firm Blackstone.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;hr/&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;h2 id=&#34;d9e1c3af-2622-4201-b1b7-07a4cbc79af3&#34; data-toc-id=&#34;d9e1c3af-2622-4201-b1b7-07a4cbc79af3&#34;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;George Boutros, Qatalyst Partners&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/62264e03990863001998c108?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;2880&#34; width=&#34;3840&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Headshot of George Boutros at Qatalyst&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;George Boutros.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Qatalyst Partners&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Title: &lt;/strong&gt;CEO&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Number of deals: &lt;/strong&gt;7&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Value of deals:&lt;/strong&gt; $76.2 billion&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Boutros is the CEO of the tech-focused investment bank Qatalyst. Previously, he was a senior banker at Credit Suisse, where he served as chairman of both the global technology and healthcare groups. Qatalyst says he has completed more than 700 transactions of various types over the years. This is his &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/top-investment-bankers-biggest-deals-goldman-jpmorgan-evercore-2024-2&#34;&gt;fourth year in a row&lt;/a&gt; on the Rainmakers list.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;His 2024 deals included:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised R1 RCM, which provides billing and financial tech to healthcare providers, on its nearly $9 billion sale to investment firms TowerBrook and CD&amp;amp;R.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised Ansys, a design and engineering software company, on its $35 billion sale to Synopsys.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised Hewlett Packard Enterprise on its all-cash acquisition of IT networking provider Juniper Networks for $14 billion.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;hr/&gt;&lt;h2 id=&#34;a7a70e09-14f8-4a63-a614-53f78fa64782&#34; data-toc-id=&#34;a7a70e09-14f8-4a63-a614-53f78fa64782&#34;&gt;Steve Munger, Morgan Stanley&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/67af7db66630eb10385cb222?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;2306&#34; width=&#34;3075&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Morgan Stanley&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;The corporate logo of financial firm Morgan Stanley is pictured on the company&amp;#39;s world headquarters in the Manhattan borough of New York City.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;REUTERS/Mike Segar&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Title: &lt;/strong&gt;Chairman of global M&amp;amp;A&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Number of deals:&lt;/strong&gt; 5&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Value of deals: &lt;/strong&gt;$74.2 billion&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Munger has been a Morgan Stanley banker for nearly 40 years and chairman of its M&amp;amp;A group for two decades. This is Munger&amp;#39;s first time on the Rainmakers list.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;His 2024 deals included:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised Discover on its $35.3 billion all-stock sale to rival credit card giant Capital One.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised Truist Financial on the sale of 80% of its insurance subsidiary to an investor consortium for $12.4 billion.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised Marathon Oil on its $22.5 billion sale to ConocoPhillips.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;hr/&gt;&lt;h2 id=&#34;40a40915-442e-4974-89f0-b4b2349e1012&#34; data-toc-id=&#34;40a40915-442e-4974-89f0-b4b2349e1012&#34;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Xavier Loriferne, JPMorgan Chase&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/67af991feb4be2fff9a4bd7e?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;1471&#34; width=&#34;1960&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Xavier Loriferne&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;Xavier Loriferne.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Courtesy of JPMorgan Chase&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Title: &lt;/strong&gt;Managing director, head of FIG M&amp;amp;A, co-head of media &amp;amp; communications M&amp;amp;A&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Number of deals:&lt;/strong&gt; 10&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Value of deals: &lt;/strong&gt;$70.9 billion&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Loriferne joined JPMorgan in 2006. This marks Loriferne&amp;#39;s first time on the Rainmakers list.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;His 2024 deals included:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised on the $12 billion sale of HPS Investment Partners to the asset manager BlackRock.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised on the $13.4 billion merger of the real-estate investment trust Uniti with telecommunications and broadband firm Windstream.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised Nippon Life in its $10.6 billion acquisition of the life-insurance firm Resolution Life.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;hr/&gt;&lt;h2 id=&#34;13a962ba-9c8c-40c5-94fd-0e8cd66cb0bd&#34; data-toc-id=&#34;13a962ba-9c8c-40c5-94fd-0e8cd66cb0bd&#34;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Todd Davison, Centerview&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/67af7e0e7bb3f854015cf491?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;599&#34; width=&#34;799&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Headshot of Centerview banker Todd Davison&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;Todd Davison.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;LinkedIn&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Title: &lt;/strong&gt;Partner&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Number of deals: &lt;/strong&gt;4&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Value of deals:&lt;/strong&gt; $63.2 billion&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Davison is a partner at Centerview and has been an investment banker for more than 25 years. This is his first time appearing on the list. He joined Centerview in 2013 to cohead its media practice and was previously cohead of North American media coverage at Morgan Stanley. Centerview says he&amp;#39;s been involved in more than $300 billion worth of transactions throughout his career.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;His 2024 deals included:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised Verizon on the $20 billion acquisition of Frontier Communications, a rival provider of TV, internet, and phone services.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised Charter Communications on its $17.9 billion acquisition of Liberty Broadband, a data and wireless provider.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised the independent directors of Endeavor, the talent agency and entertainment company, on a take-private sale to Silver Lake, which valued Endeavor at $13 billion.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised entertainment giant Paramount on its $8.4 billion deal to buy production company Skydance Media.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;hr/&gt;&lt;h2 id=&#34;779d6815-c940-4eb0-858b-c7b98c999eb8&#34; data-toc-id=&#34;779d6815-c940-4eb0-858b-c7b98c999eb8&#34;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Lily Mahdavi, Morgan Stanley&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/67af7e2feb4be2fff9a4b6b6?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;2306&#34; width=&#34;3075&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Morgan Stanley&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;The corporate logo of Morgan Stanley as pictured on the company&amp;#39;s world headquarters in New York City.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;REUTERS/Mike Segar&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Title: &lt;/strong&gt;Cohead of M&amp;amp;A, Americas&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Number of deals:&lt;/strong&gt; 9&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Value of deals: &lt;/strong&gt;$59.6 billion&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Mahdavi, who has spent the entirety of her career focused on mergers and acquisitions, joined Morgan Stanley in 2012; she was previously at Deutsche Bank and Citi. She &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; href=&#34;https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-01-15/morgan-stanley-promotes-mahdavi-teasdale-to-run-americas-m-a&#34;&gt;&lt;u&gt;was promoted&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt; to co-lead the M&amp;amp;A business in the Americas in early 2025. This is Mahdavi&amp;#39;s first time on the Rainmakers list.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Her 2024 deals included:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised Marathon Oil on its $22.5 billion sale to ConocoPhillips.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised insurance brokerage AssuredPartners on its $13.5 billion sale to Arthur J. Gallagher.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised Nippon Paint on its $4.4 billion acquisition of AOC, a chemicals supplier.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;hr/&gt;&lt;h2 id=&#34;7afde1e0-a570-46f7-9759-57cc47a4d780&#34; data-toc-id=&#34;7afde1e0-a570-46f7-9759-57cc47a4d780&#34;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Timothy Ingrassia, Goldman Sachs&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/67af7e486630eb10385cb24c?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;643&#34; width=&#34;857&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Tim Ingrassia&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;Timothy Ingrassia.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Goldman Sachs&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Title: &lt;/strong&gt;Co-chairman of global mergers and acquisitions&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Number of deals: &lt;/strong&gt;8&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Value of deals: &lt;/strong&gt;$59.2 billion&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ingrassia was previously head of Americas M&amp;amp;A at Goldman, a role he held since 2004. Previously, he ran the consumer retail group. He has appeared multiple times on the Rainmakers list, including last year and the year prior.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;His 2024 deals included:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised Kellanova, a snack food manufacturer, in its $35.9 billion sale to the snack producer Mars.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised Oneok, an energy company, in its $2.6 billion acquisition of Medallion Midstream.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised Oneok in its $4.3 billion acquisition of a majority stake in EnLink Midstream, an energy firm.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;hr/&gt;&lt;h2 id=&#34;24f21be4-6ea7-4156-9be1-3711cf69e1e0&#34; data-toc-id=&#34;24f21be4-6ea7-4156-9be1-3711cf69e1e0&#34;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Chris Gallea, Goldman Sachs&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/67af7e5f6630eb10385cb256?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;643&#34; width=&#34;857&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Chris Gallea&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;Chris Gallea.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Goldman Sachs&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Title: &lt;/strong&gt;Vice chairman of investment banking&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Number of deals: &lt;/strong&gt;7&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Value of deals: &lt;/strong&gt;$51.3 billion&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This is Gallea&amp;#39;s third time on the list. Gallea joined Goldman Sachs from JPMorgan in 2018 after spending nearly two decades there. He has distinguished himself as a leading banker in the industrials sector.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;His 2024 deals included:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised Carrier, a climate and energy solutions company, in the $3 billion of its commercial and residential fire business to the private-equity firm Lone Star.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised Emerson, a technology and software firm, in its $3.5 billion sale of a joint venture, Copeland, to the private-equity firm Blackstone.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised Emerson Electric company, a software and engineering tech firm, in its $7.2 billion purchase of a large minority stake of software company Aspen Technology.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;hr/&gt;&lt;h2 id=&#34;40063235-b32e-47f2-a666-de6a832360d9&#34; data-toc-id=&#34;40063235-b32e-47f2-a666-de6a832360d9&#34;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Gary Posternack, Barclays&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/67af7e786630eb10385cb25e?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;1777&#34; width=&#34;2369&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Headshot of Gary Posternack at Barclays&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;Gary Posternack.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Barclays&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Title: &lt;/strong&gt;Chairman of global M&amp;amp;A&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Number of deals: &lt;/strong&gt;6&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Value of deals: &lt;/strong&gt;$49.8 billion&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The long-time global M&amp;amp;A leader moved into a &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; href=&#34;https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-04-19/barclays-essaid-named-sole-global-mergers-and-acquisitions-head&#34;&gt;&lt;u&gt;new role as chairman&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt; last year so he could spend more time advising Barclays&amp;#39; top clients. Posternack joined the firm in 2008 after it bought Lehman Brothers, his previous firm. He led its natural-resources practice and its M&amp;amp;A takeover defense business. He became head of M&amp;amp;A worldwide in 2014.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;His 2024 deals included:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised R1 RCM, which provides billing and financial tech to healthcare providers, on its nearly $9 billion sale to investment firms TowerBrook and CD&amp;amp;R.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised Frontier Communications, a provider of TV, internet, and phone services, on its $20 billion sale to Verizon.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised fuel pipeline and storage operator NuStar Energy on its $7.3 billion sale to gas station chain Sunoco.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;hr/&gt;&lt;h2 id=&#34;34703fde-1675-43b7-a671-5407e1570d70&#34; data-toc-id=&#34;34703fde-1675-43b7-a671-5407e1570d70&#34;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Suhail Sikhtian, Goldman Sachs&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/67af89c3eb4be2fff9a4b9ab?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;864&#34; width=&#34;1152&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Suhail Sikhtian&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;Suhail Sikhtian.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Courtesy of Goldman Sachs&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Title:&lt;/strong&gt; Global head of natural resources investment banking&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Number of deals:&lt;/strong&gt; 3&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Value of deals:&lt;/strong&gt; $45.9 billion&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sikhtian became Goldman&amp;#39;s sole head of natural-resources investment banking in 2020. He&amp;#39;s been with the firm since 1998, when he started in the energy and power group. He has also worked with European energy companies from London. He made his first appearance on the list last year.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;His 2024 deals included:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised Southwestern Energy on its $11.4 billion acquisition of Chesapeake Energy, the Oklahoma City-based natural gas producer.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised the energy company Endeavor in its $26 billion sale to Diamondback Energy.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised Schlumberger, an energy tech firm, in its $8 billion acquisition of ChampionX, a maker of pumping equipment.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;hr/&gt;&lt;h2 id=&#34;9e78650c-e276-4f11-8850-dd25bbef59f4&#34; data-toc-id=&#34;9e78650c-e276-4f11-8850-dd25bbef59f4&#34;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Chris Ventresca, JPMorgan Chase&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/67af89dc6630eb10385cb542?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;1800&#34; width=&#34;2400&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Chris Ventresca&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;Chris Ventresca.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Courtesy of JPMorgan Chase.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Title: &lt;/strong&gt;Global chairman of investment banking and mergers and acquisitions&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Number of deals: &lt;/strong&gt;14&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Value of deals:&lt;/strong&gt; $45.1 billion&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ventresca, a three-decade veteran of JPMorgan, has advised on mandates spanning industrials, telecoms, consumer retail, and more. He appeared on the Rainmakers list for the first time last year.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;His 2024 deals included:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised IBM in its $6.4 billion acquisition of software firm HashiCorp.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised energy firm ALLETE in its $6.2 billion sale to the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Global Infrastructure Partners.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised Vizio, a consumer electronics firm, in its $2.3 billion sale to Walmart, the US retailer.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;hr/&gt;&lt;h2 id=&#34;b9cf1304-80e8-4b91-ae89-e160ba1589df&#34; data-toc-id=&#34;b9cf1304-80e8-4b91-ae89-e160ba1589df&#34;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conrad Gibbins, Jefferies Financial Group&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/67af89ea7bb3f854015cf774?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;3000&#34; width=&#34;4000&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Conrad Gibbins&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;Conrad Gibbins.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Courtesy of Jefferies Financial Group&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Title: &lt;/strong&gt;Managing director&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Number of deals: &lt;/strong&gt;10&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Value of deals:&lt;/strong&gt; $44.5 billion&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This year marks Gibbins&amp;#39; first appearance on the list. The banker, who&amp;#39;s based in Texas and concentrates on the energy sector, joined Jefferies as an analyst nearly 15 years ago. Since late 2022, he&amp;#39;s served as Jefferies&amp;#39; co-head of Upstream in the Americas, and a managing director.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;His 2024 deals included:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised Diamondback Energy, an oil and gas company based in Texas, in its $26 billion acquisition of Endeavor, an energy firm.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised Grayson Mill Energy, a Texas-based energy production firm, in its $5 billion sale to Devon Energy Corporation.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised Franklin Mountain Energy, a Colorado-based oil and gas firm, in its $3.95 billion sale to Coterra Energy.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;hr/&gt;&lt;h2 id=&#34;60bdd24c-deb0-4c14-8eb8-c46d4cb62f05&#34; data-toc-id=&#34;60bdd24c-deb0-4c14-8eb8-c46d4cb62f05&#34;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Drago Rajkovic, JPMorgan Chase&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/67841f9c50dfd88e193e04d0?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;1500&#34; width=&#34;2250&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;A close-up of JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon speaks at The Institute Of International Finance annual membership meeting.&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Title:&lt;/strong&gt; Global chairman, mergers and acquisitions&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Number of deals: &lt;/strong&gt;5&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Value of deals: &lt;/strong&gt;$43.6 billion&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Rajkovic joined JPMorgan from Barclays in 2011 as head of technology mergers and acquisitions and has since risen to serve as a global chairman of M&amp;amp;A at the firm, led by CEO Jamie Dimon (shown above). At Barclays, he led tech M&amp;amp;A as well. It&amp;#39;s his first time on the list.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;His 2024 deals included:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Juniper Networks/Hewlett Packard Enterprises&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised Squarespace, a custom website-development platform for businesses and entrepreneurs, in its $7.2 billion sale to the private-equity firm Permira.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Intel Apollo Joint Venture/Intel Corporation&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;hr/&gt;&lt;h2 id=&#34;2c44cc9d-abc2-4d17-aa37-976f3f8927f3&#34; data-toc-id=&#34;2c44cc9d-abc2-4d17-aa37-976f3f8927f3&#34;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Naveen Nataraj, Evercore&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/67af7efc6630eb10385cb283?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;1624&#34; width=&#34;2165&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Headshot of Evercore banker Naveen Nataraj&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;Naveen Nataraj.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Evercore&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Title: &lt;/strong&gt;Senior managing director and cohead of US investment banking&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Number of deals: &lt;/strong&gt;5&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Value of deals:&lt;/strong&gt; $40.8 billion&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Nataraj, who has been at Evercore since 2002, is a member of the firm&amp;#39;s management committee and a top banker in its technology, media, and telecommunications business. He has advised on more than $600 billion worth of transactions, the company says. His first appearance on the list was in 2022.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;His 2024 deals included:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised Synopsys on its $35 billion acquisition of Ansys, a design and engineering software company.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised private-equity firm Veritas Capital on its acquisition of NCR Voyix&amp;#39;s digital banking business for $2.6 billion.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised Gen Digital, a security software company, on its $1 billion acquisition of MoneyLion, a digital banking fintech company.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;hr/&gt;&lt;h2 id=&#34;29a3bbdb-cbc9-4e55-ad37-a7c17133bdb2&#34; data-toc-id=&#34;29a3bbdb-cbc9-4e55-ad37-a7c17133bdb2&#34;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dan Ward, Evercore&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/67af7f146630eb10385cb28a?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;1432&#34; width=&#34;1909&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Headshot of Evercore investment banker Dan Ward.&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;Dan Ward.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Evercore&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Title: &lt;/strong&gt;Senior managing director&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Number of deals:&lt;/strong&gt; 4&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Value of deals: &lt;/strong&gt;$40.1 billion&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ward has advised on more than $450 billion worth of M&amp;amp;A transactions, Evercore says, and is one of the industry&amp;#39;s top energy bankers &amp;mdash; this is his second year in a row on the Rainmakers list. Before joining Evercore, Ward led the global natural resources investment-banking business at Deutsche Bank.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;His 2024 deals included:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised Chesapeake Energy, the Oklahoma City-based natural gas producer, on its sale to Southwestern Energy for $11.4 billion.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised Enerplus, an oil and gas producer, on its roughly $4 billion merger with Chord Energy.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised ConocoPhillips on its $22.5 billion acquisition of Marathon Oil.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;hr/&gt;&lt;h2 id=&#34;fdcb4532-237f-4467-9f83-37be60b1afbc&#34; data-toc-id=&#34;fdcb4532-237f-4467-9f83-37be60b1afbc&#34;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Riccardo Benedetti, Perella Weinberg Partners&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/67af7f4a6630eb10385cb2a3?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;2028&#34; width=&#34;2704&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Headshot of PWP banker Riccardo Benedetti&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;Riccardo Benedetti.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;PWP&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Title: &lt;/strong&gt;Partner&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Number of deals: &lt;/strong&gt;2&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Value of deals: &lt;/strong&gt;$38.2 billion&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Benedetti has been a senior banker with PWP since 2009, joining from Morgan Stanley, where he started his career in 1991. It&amp;#39;s his first time on the list.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;His 2024 deals included:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised Holcim, a Swiss building materials manufacturer, on the $30 billion spinoff of its North American operations.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised German conglomerate Bosch on its $8.1 billion acquisition of the HVAC business unit owned by Johnson Controls and Hitachi.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;hr/&gt;&lt;h2 id=&#34;ec5292f0-351d-4524-8ecb-19229843038e&#34; data-toc-id=&#34;ec5292f0-351d-4524-8ecb-19229843038e&#34;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Adam Taetle, Lazard&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/67afab267bb3f854015cff7a?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;900&#34; width=&#34;1200&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Headshot of Lazard investment banker Adam Taetle&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;Adam Taetle.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Lazard&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Title: &lt;/strong&gt;Managing director and global head of consumer, retail, and leisure&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Number of deals:&lt;/strong&gt; 2&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Value of deals: &lt;/strong&gt;$37 billion&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Taetle is a first-timer on the Rainmakers list, but he&amp;#39;s a veteran dealmaker with consumer and retail firms like Campbell&amp;#39;s and Keurig Dr Pepper. He started his career with Goldman Sachs in the 1990s and has since held senior leadership roles at Barclays and Evercore, which he joined in 2018 to &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/talent-war-on-wall-street-for-consumer-ma-bankers-2018-4&#34;&gt;&lt;u&gt;co-lead its consumer retail group&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. He left Evercore earlier this year, taking a top role with Lazard in June.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;His 2024 deals included:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised Kellanova, the Pringles and Pop-Tarts snack company formerly known as Kellogg&amp;#39;s, on its $35.9 billion sale to Mars&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised Siete Foods, which makes tortillas, chips, and salsas, on its $1.2 billion sale to PepsiCo.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;hr/&gt;&lt;h2 id=&#34;08603d18-102a-4b61-87a0-b50c58ee4d23&#34; data-toc-id=&#34;08603d18-102a-4b61-87a0-b50c58ee4d23&#34;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Michael J. Freudenstein, PJT Partners&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/67af8a06eb4be2fff9a4b9c2?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;2700&#34; width=&#34;3600&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Paul Taubman&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;Paul Taubman, founder and CEO of PJT Partners.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Victor Hugo/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Title: &lt;/strong&gt;Partner&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Number of deals:&lt;/strong&gt; 2&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Value of deals: &lt;/strong&gt;$35.8 billion&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This year marks Freudenstein&amp;#39;s first time on the list. He joined PJT in 2017, having previously worked at JPMorgan in various roles. Those positions ranged from deputy head of Americas equity research to JPMorgan&amp;#39;s head of market structure and asset management, and an investment banker focused on deals in the financial-services sector, before he left for PJT. The firm was founded by former top Morgan Stanley executive Paul Taubman, shown above.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;His 2024 deals included:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised Discover, the financial-services firm, in its $35 billion sale to Capital One.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised Victory Capital, an investment manager, in its acquisition of Amundi, a firm offering a variety of financial-services products. Terms were undisclosed.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;hr/&gt;&lt;h2 id=&#34;efa079d5-317d-487a-9306-ef7ec37b20f0&#34; data-toc-id=&#34;efa079d5-317d-487a-9306-ef7ec37b20f0&#34;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Blair Effron, Centerview Partners&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/67af80156630eb10385cb2e1?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;1376&#34; width=&#34;1835&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Blair Effron, cofounder of Centerview Partners, at a benefit event.&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;Blair Effron.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Title:&lt;/strong&gt; Co-founder and partner&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Number of deals: &lt;/strong&gt;5&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Value of deals:&lt;/strong&gt; $34.6 billion&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Effron cofounded Centerview in 2006 and built it into an influential name in investment banking, with more than 350 employees in the US and UK. Previously he was a top investment banker at UBS and has advised companies across healthcare, media, consumer and retail, and more. He also appeared on the Rainmakers list in 2019 and 2024.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;His 2024 deals included:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised the independent directors of Endeavor, the talent agency and entertainment company, on a take-private sale to Silver Lake, which valued Endeavor at $13 billion.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Advised production company Skydance Media on its $8.4 billion sale to entertainment giant Paramount.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;p&gt;Advised Emerson, a technology and engineering conglomerate, on a $7.2 billion deal to acquire the remainder of Aspen Technology, a provider of software for manufacturers that Emerson bought a majority stake of in 2022.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;To see more dealmaker rankings, &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; rel=&#34;noopener noreferrer&#34; class=&#34;c-link&#34; href=&#34;https://news.mergerlinks.com/league-tables&#34;&gt;visit the MergerLinks website&lt;/a&gt;. For more on its methodology and criteria, click&lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; rel=&#34;noopener noreferrer&#34; class=&#34;c-link&#34; href=&#34;https://mergerlinks-production.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/mergerlinks-news/MergerLinks%20Deal%20Inclusion%2C%20Ranking%20and%20League%20Table%20Criteria%20%282020%29v2.pdf&#34;&gt; here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Reed Alexander is a correspondent at Business Insider and can be reached at ralexander@businessinsider.com. Alex Morrell is a senior correspondent and can be reached at amorrell@businessinsider.com.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;read-original&#34;&gt;Read the original article on &lt;a href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/rainmakers-top-mergers-acquisitions-bankers-2024-goldman-sachs-jpmorgan-evercore-2025-2&#34;&gt;Business Insider&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content> <published>2025-02-17T10:00:01Z</published> <summary type="text">The top US merger banker last year was a woman. Meet her and 19 other dealmakers who dominated the M&amp;A rebound, from Goldman Sachs to Evercore.</summary> <author> <name>Reed Alexander,Alex Morrell</name> <email>ralexander@insider.com</email> </author> <link href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rainmakers-top-mergers-acquisitions-bankers-2024-goldman-sachs-jpmorgan-evercore-2025-2"></link> <category term="Finance" scheme="https://www.businessinsider.com/finance"></category> <category term="tyler-le"></category> <category term="bi-illustration"></category> <category term="goldman-sachs"></category> <category term="jefferies"></category> <category term="ma"></category> <category term="barclays"></category> <category term="jpmorgan"></category> <category term="evercore"></category> <category term="qatalyst"></category> <category term="pjt-partners"></category> <category term="centerview-partners"></category> <category term="perella-weinberg"></category> <category term="lazard"></category> <category term="investment-banker"></category> <category term="limited-synd"></category> <category term="mergers"></category> <category term="women"></category> <media:thumbnail url="https://i.insider.com/67ae08a4eb4be2fff9a48652?format=jpeg" width="2000" height="1500"></media:thumbnail> </entry> <entry> <title>Why Target is more exposed to Trump&#39;s tariffs than Walmart</title> <updated>2025-02-17T09:59:01Z</updated> <id>https://www.businessinsider.com/target-walmart-trump-tariffs-exposure-analysts-2024-11</id> <content type="html">&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/673e276fede4eeae3928a43a?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;1666&#34; width=&#34;2500&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Shoppers in a Target store parking lot.&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;Walmart and Target have a few key distinctions that could significantly affect how each company is affected by rising import costs.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Paul Weaver/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;ul class=&#34;summary-list&#34;&gt;&lt;li&gt;As America&amp;#39;s grocery king, Walmart sources a high share of its products from within the US.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Target, by contrast, relies more on merchandise that is often imported, such as apparel and housewares.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;The difference puts more of Target&amp;#39;s business at risk from Trump&amp;#39;s promised tariffs.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;For all their &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-and-target-are-looking-increasingly-similar-these-days-2023-12&#34;&gt;similarities&lt;/a&gt;, Walmart and Target have key distinctions that could spell big differences in how each could be affected by rising import costs as President Donald Trump introduces new tariffs.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In a recent research note, Truist Securities analyst Scot Ciccarelli said Walmart is better positioned to deal with new tariffs than Target, especially since inflation-weary shoppers are likely to be more sensitive to price hikes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;While some of the new tariff costs could be passed on to customers via higher prices, Ciccarelli said retailers are more likely to put pressure on their vendors to absorb some of the pressure.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;As the largest retailer in the world, Walmart has shown itself to be particularly effective at negotiating favorable deals from its suppliers.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;And if retailers do wind up raising prices, that could tilt in Walmart&amp;#39;s favor.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#34;Higher costs via tariffs would likely further accelerate the consumer search for &amp;#39;deep value,&amp;#39; and further increase the wallet share for top value providers, including Walmart,&amp;#34; Ciccarelli said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The differences go beyond the price tags. Where a product comes from is increasingly important in the new trade landscape.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#34;Target is actually much more exposed than Walmart because Walmart is grocery-heavy and groceries are predominantly domestic,&amp;#34; Jason Miller, supply chain professor at Michigan State University, told Business Insider.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;As &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-grocery-sales-us-compared-kroger-albertsons-2024-3&#34;&gt;America&amp;#39;s grocery king&lt;/a&gt;, Walmart US makes nearly 60% of its revenue from the grocery category and only about a quarter of sales from general merchandise.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In addition, grocery as a share of sales has been increasing in recent years as the general merchandise share has declined, according to Walmart&amp;#39;s annual report.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Target, by contrast, relies much more heavily on merchandise that is often imported, such as apparel, housewares, and beauty. Food and beverage sales accounted for less than a quarter of Target&amp;#39;s sales last year.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;TD Cowen retail analyst Oliver Chen told BI that Target&amp;#39;s apparel segment presents another potential complication, as fashion is more sensitive to seasonality. That could make it more difficult to reschedule orders or reshuffle suppliers and still be on-time and in-style.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#34;When you miss apparel timeline, you don&amp;#39;t get it back, and Target has more apparel exposure,&amp;#34; he said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Beyond its grocery-to-merchandise ratio, Walmart has another key advantage over Target: scale.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#34;Walmart is much bigger,&amp;#34; Kantar analyst Gina Logan told BI. &amp;#34;And I&amp;#39;m not just talking about sales.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#34;They have a much more advanced supply chain,&amp;#34; she added. &amp;#34;They have a wider range of suppliers, they have more ability to pivot and predict demand, and can use their automation and forecasting in order to react to this in a much faster, more predictive way than Target.&amp;#34;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This is not the first time the Spark has found &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-finding-groove-should-terrify-target-2024-5&#34;&gt;a competitive advantage&lt;/a&gt; over the Bullseye in the grocery aisle.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;When US shoppers began to cut spending back in 2023, prioritizing essentials like groceries in their weekly budgets, &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-sales-boom-target-slides-as-shoppers-shift-to-groceries-2023-8&#34;&gt;sales at Walmart chugged along while Target struggled&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Target has since found success by taking a much more &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/target-lowers-prices-battles-walmart-customers-shopping-for-deals-2024-5&#34;&gt;Walmart-like stance with price cuts and bargain brands&lt;/a&gt;, and its share of grocery sales has increased by 1-2 percentage points per year over the last three years.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Logan says tariffs could push Target harder into the grocery game, especially with its portfolio of private-label food brands.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Walmart reports its earnings next week and declined to comment. Target, which reports on March 4, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Neither company mentioned tariffs during their respective third-quarter earnings calls, both of which took place after the US presidential election.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;However, Walmart CFO John David Rainey told CNBC later in November that Trump&amp;#39;s sweeping tariff plan could lead the retailer to raise prices on a portion of its products.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#34;We never want to raise prices,&amp;#34; he &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; rel=&#34; nofollow&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.cnbc.com/2024/11/19/walmart-wmt-q3-2025-earnings.html&#34;&gt;told&lt;/a&gt; CNBC. &amp;#34;Our model is everyday low prices. But there probably will be cases where prices will go up for consumers.&amp;#34;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Before that, the last time the companies&amp;#39; executives discussed tariffs on earnings calls was in 2019, according to data from AlphaSense.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;At the time, Walmart said it would not raise prices on food impacted by tariffs and would instead look to offset the cost elsewhere.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#34;As a guest-focused retailer,&amp;#34; Target CEO Brian Cornell said in May 2019, &amp;#34;we&amp;#39;re concerned about tariffs because they lead to higher prices on everyday products for American families.&amp;#34;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;He later said in a November 2019 call that then-President Trump&amp;#39;s tariffs were amounting to $50 million to $60 million in added costs per quarter, adding that &amp;#34;obviously we&amp;#39;re all facing the same tariff issues together.&amp;#34;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;But as Target&amp;#39;s and Walmart&amp;#39;s financials show, not everyone will be impacted by tariffs to the same degree.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;read-original&#34;&gt;Read the original article on &lt;a href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/target-walmart-trump-tariffs-exposure-analysts-2024-11&#34;&gt;Business Insider&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content> <published>2025-02-17T09:59:01Z</published> <summary type="text">As America&#39;s grocery king, Walmart sources a high share of its products from the US, while Target relies more on products that are often imported.</summary> <author> <name>Dominick Reuter</name> <email>dreuter@businessinsider.com</email> </author> <link href="https://www.businessinsider.com/target-walmart-trump-tariffs-exposure-analysts-2024-11"></link> <category term="Retail" scheme="https://www.businessinsider.com/retail"></category> <category term="Economy" scheme="https://www.businessinsider.com/economy"></category> <category term="target"></category> <category term="walmart"></category> <category term="trade"></category> <category term="tariffs"></category> <media:thumbnail url="https://i.insider.com/67af8485eb4be2fff9a4b855?format=jpeg" width="2221" height="1666"></media:thumbnail> </entry> <entry> <title>Trump is escalating the fight over the role parents play in their kids&#39; education</title> <updated>2025-02-17T09:36:02Z</updated> <id>https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-vouchers-school-choice-block-grants-public-funding-private-education-2025-2</id> <content type="html">&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/67af81de7bb3f854015cf585?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;1500&#34; width=&#34;2000&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;A mother drawing a hopscotch board in an untraditional way&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;President Donald Trump is escalating the school voucher debate.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;PhotoAlto/Odilon Dimier/Getty, sanjeri/Getty, Tyler Le/BI&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;ul class=&#34;summary-list&#34;&gt;&lt;li&gt;Trump signed an executive order aimed at expanding school voucher programs.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;He escalated a state-level fight by proposing redirecting federal funds from public schools to private schools.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Supporters say vouchers give parents more choice in their kids&amp;#39; education, while skeptics say they sabotage public education.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p id=&#34;42f83c20-6aaf-407b-bb16-b980cdb10ce9&#34;&gt;The push to provide public money to parents to send their children to schools outside their district has been raging at the state level for years. President &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump&#34;&gt;Donald Trump&lt;/a&gt; is taking it up a notch.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Trump&amp;#39;s recent executive order aimed at&amp;nbsp;&lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-school-choice-vouchers-education-policy-exeuctive-orders-anti-woke-2025-2&#34;&gt;expanding school voucher programs&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;has long been a&amp;nbsp;&lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/private-school-vouchers-arizona-cautionary-tale-savings-accounts-parents-cash-2024-5&#34;&gt;priority for Republican lawmakers&lt;/a&gt;. Trump&amp;#39;s call to&lt;strong&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;potentially redirect federal funds&lt;strong&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;for that use would mark &amp;#34;a huge ideological shift&amp;#34; in the conversation, said Derek Black, a professor of law with a focus on education at the University of South Carolina.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#34;The federal government, since before we even had the United States Constitution, has put its weight behind trying to expand our public education system,&amp;#34; Black said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The order called for federal agencies to determine whether they could redirect funding for states that receive federal block grants meant for public education, like the Child Care and Development Block Grant, to use instead for sending children to private and religious schools.&lt;strong&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;Over 20 states are already using their taxpayer funds for voucher programs.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Advocates of vouchers lauded Trump&amp;#39;s executive order for investing in more educational options and strengthening parents&amp;#39; role. Policy experts told BI that Trump&amp;#39;s plan would likely face resistance from both Democratic and some Republican-led states that have previously rejected school voucher proposals.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Savannah Newhouse, an Education Department spokesperson, told BI that the administration believes in &amp;#34;investing in meaningful activities that help public schools deliver high-quality education.&amp;#34;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Linda McMahon, Trump&amp;#39;s pick for education secretary, also said during her Thursday confirmation hearing that &amp;#34;public schools are the bedrock of our education&amp;#34; and that universal vouchers will help public schools become more competitive. The administration has not yet introduced any proposals aimed at boosting public school education. Trump signed an executive order intended to ensure curricula in public classrooms align with his political ideologies.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Black said that diverting funding to private schools, by definition, &amp;#34;may very well hurt the public school system.&amp;#34;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h2 id=&#34;1d91eefb-da36-414a-8649-fde7c5b4d235&#34; data-toc-id=&#34;1d91eefb-da36-414a-8649-fde7c5b4d235&#34;&gt;The growth of the school-choice movement&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;p id=&#34;42f83c20-6aaf-407b-bb16-b980cdb10ce9&#34;&gt;Christopher Lubienski, an education policy professor at Indiana University, told BI that the idea that involving parents in their kids&amp;#39; educations would improve achievement&lt;strong&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;dates back to the early 1990s. Now, he said, the focus is on providing more choices for students&lt;strong&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;beyond public school. The main criticism is that it could hurt students whose only option is public school.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p id=&#34;42f83c20-6aaf-407b-bb16-b980cdb10ce9&#34;&gt;&amp;#34;There&amp;#39;s the concern that families that don&amp;#39;t have other options or can&amp;#39;t get into a private school are going to be the ones left in public schools,&amp;#34; Lubienski said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p id=&#34;42f83c20-6aaf-407b-bb16-b980cdb10ce9&#34;&gt;Most US students go to public schools, many of which are supported by hefty local tax revenues in wealthy school districts. Lubienski said that families in rural areas with fewer school options rely more heavily on the federal block grants Trump is targeting, and that they&lt;strong&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;would suffer the most&lt;strong&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;from funding diversions.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;He added that while voucher programs began with income thresholds, they have since morphed into universal programs in some states, &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.brookings.edu/articles/arizonas-universal-education-savings-account-program-has-become-a-handout-to-the-wealthy/&#34;&gt;benefiting&lt;/a&gt; some more affluent families who would&amp;#39;ve sent their kids to private school anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p id=&#34;42f83c20-6aaf-407b-bb16-b980cdb10ce9&#34;&gt;Supporters of Trump&amp;#39;s executive order said it&amp;#39;s a step in the right direction for the US education system. Robert Enlow, president and CEO of EdChoice &amp;mdash; a nonprofit that advocates for voucher programs &amp;mdash; told BI that Trump&amp;#39;s executive order is intended to &amp;#34;give parents more power and to help states do their job better, rather than to get in the way of states.&amp;#34;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p id=&#34;42f83c20-6aaf-407b-bb16-b980cdb10ce9&#34;&gt;Enlow added that he thinks Trump&amp;#39;s executive order will make it easier for students to directly&lt;strong&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;access federal funds&lt;strong&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;through the block grants.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p id=&#34;42f83c20-6aaf-407b-bb16-b980cdb10ce9&#34;&gt;&amp;#34;Why must it go through the federal government and then go through the state government, then go through local government, where everyone gets cuts? Why can&amp;#39;t it be given directly to families? And I think that&amp;#39;s what I really like about what he&amp;#39;s doing,&amp;#34; Enlow said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p id=&#34;42f83c20-6aaf-407b-bb16-b980cdb10ce9&#34;&gt;Keri Rodrigues, cofounder and president of the National Parents Union, which advocates for policies that increase access to high-quality education, said that she&amp;#39;s concerned about the potential outcome of redirecting public funds toward private schools.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#34;We&amp;#39;re going to just push all this money down to the states and depend that they&amp;#39;re going to make the right choices and do the right things without leadership, without standards, without guidance and direction and best practice,&amp;#34; Rodrigues told BI. &amp;#34;It&amp;#39;s absurd.&amp;#34;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h2 id=&#34;86093a26-cc44-47e0-9010-dcc093e21400&#34; data-toc-id=&#34;86093a26-cc44-47e0-9010-dcc093e21400&#34;&gt;The political limitations of Trump&amp;#39;s plan&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;p id=&#34;42f83c20-6aaf-407b-bb16-b980cdb10ce9&#34;&gt;Lubieski said that Trump can only do so much without congressional approval.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p id=&#34;42f83c20-6aaf-407b-bb16-b980cdb10ce9&#34;&gt;&amp;#34;It remains to be seen whether or not the White House goes through Congress, or they try to do this more through executive action,&amp;#34; Lubienski said, referring to allocating more federal funding toward school vouchers. &amp;#34;So it&amp;#39;s a political strategy that I don&amp;#39;t think it&amp;#39;s yet clear which one they&amp;#39;re going to choose.&amp;#34;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p id=&#34;42f83c20-6aaf-407b-bb16-b980cdb10ce9&#34;&gt;It&amp;#39;s not only blue states that might be resistant to Trump&amp;#39;s proposals. Voters in &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.wsaz.com/2024/11/06/kentucky-voters-reject-school-choice-ballot-measure/&#34;&gt;Kentucky&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2024/11/05/nebraska-voters-reject-state-funding-for-students-attending-private-k-12-schools/&#34;&gt;Nebraska&lt;/a&gt; &amp;mdash; two states that Trump won &amp;mdash; rejected ballot measures that would have redirected funds from public schools to voucher programs.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p id=&#34;42f83c20-6aaf-407b-bb16-b980cdb10ce9&#34;&gt;Black said that if the Trump administration tries to allocate funds without congressional approval, there will likely be litigation. More broadly, he said the implications of prioritizing private and religious schools over public schools raise a red flag.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p id=&#34;42f83c20-6aaf-407b-bb16-b980cdb10ce9&#34;&gt;&amp;#34;The entire premise of the public school system, going back to Jefferson, going back to John Adams, was it was the common ground upon which democracy would develop,&amp;#34; Black said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p id=&#34;42f83c20-6aaf-407b-bb16-b980cdb10ce9&#34;&gt;&amp;#34;Even if you still have public schools, if people have one political stripe, or one religion, if they all leave, that ends up leaving the people of the other political stripes left alone in the public school,&amp;#34; he added. &amp;#34;And that&amp;#39;s problematic.&amp;#34;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p id=&#34;42f83c20-6aaf-407b-bb16-b980cdb10ce9&#34;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Got a tip, or have a story to share? Contact this reporter securely on Signal at asheffey.97 or email her at &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;mailto: asheffey@businessinsider.com&#34;&gt;&lt;em&gt;asheffey@businessinsider.com&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;em&gt;.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;read-original&#34;&gt;Read the original article on &lt;a href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-vouchers-school-choice-block-grants-public-funding-private-education-2025-2&#34;&gt;Business Insider&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content> <published>2025-02-17T09:36:02Z</published> <summary type="text">Trump signed an executive order aimed at expanding private school vouchers. Some education experts told BI it could put public schools at risk.</summary> <author> <name>Ayelet Sheffey</name> <email>asheffey@businessinsider.com</email> </author> <link href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-vouchers-school-choice-block-grants-public-funding-private-education-2025-2"></link> <category term="Politics" scheme="https://www.businessinsider.com/politics"></category> <category term="Economy" scheme="https://www.businessinsider.com/economy"></category> <category term="economy"></category> <category term="politics"></category> <category term="policy"></category> <category term="trump"></category> <category term="education-department"></category> <category term="school-choice"></category> <category term="vouchers"></category> <category term="parents"></category> <category term="tyler-le"></category> <category term="bi-illustration"></category> <media:thumbnail url="https://i.insider.com/67af81de7bb3f854015cf585?format=jpeg" width="2000" height="1500"></media:thumbnail> </entry> <entry> <title>I helped my mom set up her phone. It could have gone better.</title> <updated>2025-02-17T09:08:01Z</updated> <id>https://www.businessinsider.com/older-people-struggling-new-technology-aging-parents-kids-assistance-2025-2</id> <content type="html">&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/67afa984eb4be2fff9a4c12e?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;1000&#34; width=&#34;2000&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;An elderly woman with different kinds of app floating around her head.&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;DUMMY IMAGE FOR OLD PEOPLE TECH&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Alex Castro for BI&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;p class=&#34;drop-cap&#34;&gt;My stepfather died a few months ago, after a long decade dealing with Parkinson&amp;#39;s disease. Doug was living in a care facility, and even though my mom visited all the time, for overall contact with the world &amp;mdash; and just general fun &amp;mdash; he relied on his phone and his iPad. But Parkinson&amp;#39;s is a neuromuscular disorder; eventually, Doug&amp;#39;s hands and fingers couldn&amp;#39;t reliably navigate a &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-is-working-on-touch-screen-macbook-pro-report-2023-1&#34;&gt;&lt;u&gt;touchscreen or a keyboard&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. As his dementia worsened, he couldn&amp;#39;t really figure out how to buy stuff online anymore, much less how to manage a healthcare or banking website.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;He started buying sketchy apps &amp;mdash; probably without even realizing it &amp;mdash; and sending disjointed, sometimes inappropriate emails and texts. We got worried he was going to do something bad with his bank accounts, or fall for a &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/phishing-scams-in-your-inbox-waiting-to-steal-your-money-2023-4&#34;&gt;&lt;u&gt;phishing attack&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. Apple&amp;#39;s operating system has a tool that lets you limit which apps a user can access; my mom pared Doug&amp;#39;s down to nearly nothing.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The thing is, Doug had been an IT guy. He loved computers. At work, he installed enterprise servers and helped maintain a citywide network. In his spare time he tinkered on a boat and built cabinets; he knew how to tie complicated knots. Doug had, I am saying, a technical mind. Right until the end, he &lt;em&gt;wanted&lt;/em&gt; to FaceTime my mom, email his medical team, and buy stuff from West Marine. He just wasn&amp;#39;t able to.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Getting older doesn&amp;#39;t necessarily come with the kind of extreme disability Doug dealt with. But it inevitably brings to us all a bit of mental inflexibility and physical limitation. The ubiquitous gadgets and apps that are our windows onto the world aren&amp;#39;t made for any of that &amp;mdash; they&amp;#39;re confusing, hard to use, ever-changing, and either too poorly or too well secured. And meanwhile, every sector of society is scrambling to trade storefronts for websites and &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/chatgpt-ai-will-not-take-jobs-create-future-work-opportunities-2023-2&#34;&gt;&lt;u&gt;human staff for AI chatbots&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Americans, meanwhile, are the &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/aging-demographics-impact-on-economy-growth-markets-2019-2&#34;&gt;&lt;u&gt;oldest we&amp;#39;ve ever been&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. Many millennials are already old enough to need their phone flashlights to read the menu in a dimly lit restaurant, and the over-65 population is expected to grow from 60 million today to 82 million by 2050. Technology is designed by, and for, the young. So what happens when an unprecedented number of us are old?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;hr/&gt;&lt;p class=&#34;drop-cap&#34;&gt;Debaleena Chattopadhyay is a primary caregiver for her parents &amp;mdash; her mom is 66, her dad is 73. That&amp;#39;s complicated, because Chattopadhyay is in Chicago and they live in India, where smartphone apps mediate just about every activity of daily life, from finances to healthcare to food delivery. &amp;#34;When my dad was still working, computerized banking was introduced, and he was very proud. He helped everyone,&amp;#34; Chattopadhyay says. &amp;#34;Now he can&amp;#39;t do anything.&amp;#34;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Still, strong dad energy will always prevail. The other day, Chattopadhyay tells me, a restaurant&amp;#39;s online order form so confused her dad that he just telephoned instead. But the guy on the phone told him he&amp;#39;d get a discount if he used the app. So her dad hung up, dragged himself to the restaurant, and had the guy who&amp;#39;d answered his call use the app to put in his order.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Chattopadhyay says that kind of technological madness is coming for all of us. And she would know &amp;mdash; she&amp;#39;s a researcher at the University of Illinois Chicago who studies how older adults interact with computers. It&amp;#39;s a wide-open field, because the research from just a couple of decades back got a whole bunch of things terribly wrong.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In the early days of mobile phones and MP3s, researchers assumed that older people would be resistant to digital technology in any form &amp;mdash; preferring, presumably, to shout at clouds or watch television with the volume turned way up. So the focus turned to developing tech meant to help old people with old-people things, like reminders to take their medications or games to aid their memory.&lt;strong&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;Researchers also worked on creating elderized versions of familiar products, like phones with giant buttons.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Everyone hated that stuff. &amp;#34;If I tell you, &amp;#39;You&amp;#39;re old, you should use Facebook for Seniors,&amp;#39; that&amp;#39;s infantilizing,&amp;#34; Chattopadhyay says. Older people want to do the same kinds of things with computers as anyone else &amp;mdash; edit videos, talk to friends and family, share Spotify playlists, call an Uber, whatever. And they want to use the same, or similar, tools everyone does.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;es-blockquote data-styles=&#34;pullquote-breakout&#34; data-quote=&#34;The more tech companies step boldly into the future, the more users get stuck in the past.&#34; data-quote-updated=&#34;true&#34; data-source=&#34;&#xA;&#34; data-source-updated=&#34;true&#34;&gt;&#xA; &lt;blockquote class=&#34;pullquote-wrapper pullquote-breakout&#34;&gt;&#xA; &lt;q class=&#34;pullquote-quotation&#34;&gt;The more tech companies step boldly into the future, the more users get stuck in the past.&lt;/q&gt;&#xA; &lt;cite class=&#34;pullquote-source&#34;&gt;&lt;/cite&gt;&#xA; &lt;/blockquote&gt;&#xA; &lt;/es-blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;But it&amp;#39;s also true that with age, our eyesight and hearing get worse. Texting thumbs get arthritic. Memory gets slippery.&lt;strong&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;And maybe most significantly, age can reduce what researchers call &amp;#34;fluid intelligence,&amp;#34; the cognitive flexibility that enables us to multitask and learn new things &amp;mdash; like where the hell the damn search button went in the latest app update. Plus, older people kind of stop wanting to bother. How many versions of Word do you have to live through before deciding, eh, maybe I don&amp;#39;t need the new one?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;That&amp;#39;s the core problem that even sophisticated digital natives face as they age. Innovative features, updated apps, and entirely new products are how tech companies grow and make money. They&amp;#39;re also exactly what older adults have trouble metabolizing. So the more exciting ways a tech company finds to step boldly into the future, the more users get stuck in the past. &amp;#34;Older adults will say, &amp;#39;I have been working with computers since the 1980s, and now the Calendar app has changed, and I can&amp;#39;t use it,&amp;#39;&amp;#34; Chattopadhyay says. &amp;#34;People assume that if you grew up with AOL, you will be good with Gemini. But it&amp;#39;s not the same.&amp;#34;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;hr/&gt;&lt;p class=&#34;drop-cap&#34;&gt;Tech companies know what they&amp;#39;re facing here. Apple, Google, and Microsoft offer all sorts of &amp;#34;accommodations&amp;#34; to users &amp;mdash; from text-to-speech and live captioning to audible alarms. Last year, Google finished an international research program on older users&amp;#39; needs, finding that they wanted tech to be &amp;#34;empowering, clear, and intuitive, but not overly reduced or overly simplified,&amp;#34; says Laura Allen, the company&amp;#39;s director of accessibility and disability inclusion. In response, Google introduced something called Simple View for its phone software. Activated on setup, it not only increases font and app sizes but also adds a home button, a go-back button, and a recent-app button.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Allen understands the value of these kinds of assistive technologies &amp;mdash; she relies on them to help with her own vision impairment. &amp;#34;I have been out at multiple dinners with my parents, who have been losing just slight visual acuity over the years, and none of us could see the menu,&amp;#34; Allen says. &amp;#34;I pass around my Pixel with the Magnifier app open, and they&amp;#39;re like, &amp;#39;Oh, my gosh &amp;mdash; this is amazing!&amp;#39; These kinds of apps are just universally useful, and my parents had no idea they were available.&amp;#34;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Still, the kinds of tech that help people with physical issues like vision or hearing impairments aren&amp;#39;t what some older users are looking for. One recent journal article warned of &amp;#34;the &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; href=&#34;http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3431280&#34;&gt;&lt;u&gt;harm in conflating aging with accessibility&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;#34; That&amp;#39;s to say, functions that make screens easier to read and phones easier to use are important, but they miss the point. The tech industry is mostly young, fit, busy gadgeteers building products for younger, fitter, busier users. Anything outside that category is viewed as a disability they grudgingly accommodate. &amp;#34;It&amp;#39;s not: How can we develop technology for things that older adults would want?&amp;#34; says Karyn Moffatt, a researcher in human-computer interaction at McGill University.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Take mobile banking. It&amp;#39;s life-changingly convenient to be able to transfer funds and make deposits on your phone, but our financial well-being now depends in no small part on our ability to thumb-type accurately and remember long strings of alphanumeric nonsense. &amp;#34;Mobile banking, we&amp;#39;re assuming a lot of responsibility for errors,&amp;#34; Moffatt says. Lots of older folks rely on friends, relatives, or caregivers as informal banking helpers &amp;mdash; but that can require risky moves like sharing passwords. So a research team at the University of Manitoba is looking at approaches that would let older adults &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; href=&#34;https://doi.org/10.1145/3670947.3670962&#34;&gt;&lt;u&gt;delegate a proxy&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt; with limited, flexible access to do things like pay only certain bills, or move money around with case-by-case approval. That preserves the older customer&amp;#39;s independence, while making it easier for caregivers to provide a much-needed backstop. &amp;#34;I just set up a bank account for my daughter, and because she&amp;#39;s a minor, I can have access,&amp;#34; Moffatt says. But for older adults, the options are thin.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/67ad0cf56630eb10385c72a6?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;3840&#34; width=&#34;5760&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;a hand reaches toward a watch with a digital screen worn on the person&amp;#39;s wrist&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;Older adults love tech as much as anyone, but the learning curve on new gadgets is steep.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;p&gt;Or take exercise. Researchers used to think that older people didn&amp;#39;t want to work out, and that a gadget like a Fitbit or some other gamified nudge-reminder tech would get them off the couch. But it turns out older folks were actually being prevented from getting off the couch by simple things like an absent workout buddy or inclement weather. Moffatt imagines that a workout gadget could use shared calendars, weather reports, and other relevant info to help aging jocks better navigate their infirmities and stick to their workout routines.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Even something as basic as instruction manuals could stand improvement. Older users love tech as much as anyone, but they tend to be slower in absorbing how to use new gear, and more worried they&amp;#39;re going to break it. A persistent, always-on chatbot could serve as an &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; href=&#34;https://doi.org/10.1145/3411764.3445702&#34;&gt;&lt;u&gt;enhanced user manual&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, standing by to answer baffled questions like &amp;#34;Where&amp;#39;s the &amp;#39;like&amp;#39; button?&amp;#34; Or online manuals could offer older users a virtual sandbox, allowing them to try out various settings before turning them on for real.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#34;There&amp;#39;s so much potential for technology to facilitate things as we get older, to provide real services that are valuable and meaningful,&amp;#34; Moffatt says. &amp;#34;But for the most part, we&amp;#39;re not building those today.&amp;#34;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;hr/&gt;&lt;p class=&#34;drop-cap&#34;&gt;My mom&amp;#39;s healthy, but she&amp;#39;s in her 80s, and I live hundreds of miles away. She has friendly neighbors, but if she fell, it could be hours before anyone figured it out. So she recently bought an Apple Watch, which provides shareable location tracking and fall monitoring. (The truth is, Mom likes cool gadgets, and she&amp;#39;d been wanting to replace her Garmin fitness watch anyway. Plus, she found the idea of paying for stuff and listening to audiobooks with her watch kind of magical.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I wasn&amp;#39;t itching to have surveillance data on my mom. But I didn&amp;#39;t know what else to do. So, during an epic session over Thanksgiving, we figured out how to make my phone sync with her watch&amp;#39;s location. While we were at it, she also insisted that I set up a bunch of shared passwords and other information so I could get access to things like her bank accounts and medical data &amp;mdash; something she wished had been easier to do during Doug&amp;#39;s long decline. We also reorganized the apps on her phone into folders she named, and I showed her some search tricks. It was, I&amp;#39;ll admit, a little frustrating for both of us. I went too fast; she was worried she&amp;#39;d somehow mess up the watch.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Mom uses an iPad, and I noticed that she was having to reach across the keyboard with her right hand to trigger the fingerprint ID. I told her she should add her left index finger to the security settings. Turned out she hadn&amp;#39;t known that was even possible.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;When I showed her where to set it up, the on-screen instructions weren&amp;#39;t very clear about where to put your finger, or how long to hold it there, or when to move it. Mom kept moving off the scanner too soon, and she&amp;#39;d have to start over. Finally, I took her hand and helped her hold her finger on the button. It wasn&amp;#39;t the most comfortable way for us to face the future, honestly. But we didn&amp;#39;t really have a choice.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;hr/&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/author/adam-rogers&#34;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Adam Rogers&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;em&gt; is a senior correspondent at Business Insider.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;read-original&#34;&gt;Read the original article on &lt;a href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/older-people-struggling-new-technology-aging-parents-kids-assistance-2025-2&#34;&gt;Business Insider&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content> <published>2025-02-17T09:08:01Z</published> <summary type="text">Tech gadgets could help us navigate our golden years. Instead, they&#39;re making things worse.</summary> <author> <name>Adam Rogers</name> <email>arogers@businessinsider.com</email> </author> <link href="https://www.businessinsider.com/older-people-struggling-new-technology-aging-parents-kids-assistance-2025-2"></link> <category term="Tech" scheme="https://www.businessinsider.com/tech"></category> <category term="Discourse" scheme="https://www.businessinsider.com/discourse"></category> <category term="Parenting" scheme="https://www.businessinsider.com/parenting"></category> <category term="Health" scheme="https://www.businessinsider.com/health"></category> <category term="elderly"></category> <category term="aging"></category> <category term="consumer-tech"></category> <category term="user-interface"></category> <category term="interface-design"></category> <category term="discourse-staff"></category> <category term="discourse"></category> <category term="discourse-explainer"></category> <category term="health"></category> <category term="mental-health"></category> <category term="apple"></category> <category term="iphones"></category> <category term="touchscreen"></category> <category term="chelsea-jia-feng"></category> <category term="freelance-illustration"></category> <media:thumbnail url="https://i.insider.com/67afaafbeb4be2fff9a4c1a8?format=jpeg" width="1200" height="900"></media:thumbnail> </entry> <entry> <title>Ukrainians say civilian-funded drones destroyed 3 high-value Russian air defense systems in a single day</title> <updated>2025-02-17T08:43:59Z</updated> <id>https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-ronin-drones-civilian-funded-russian-air-defense-destroyed-day-2025-2</id> <content type="html">&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/67b2bf4d6630eb10385ccc3a?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;2943&#34; width=&#34;4586&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;A Russian Buk-M3 is seen on display at a defense forum in 2022.&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;A Ukrainian drone unit said it took out a Russian Buk-M3, pictured here at a defense forum in 2022, as one of three air defense systems it destroyed in a single day.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Contributor/Getty Images&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;ul class=&#34;summary-list&#34;&gt;&lt;li&gt;A drone unit in Ukraine said it destroyed three prized Russian air defense systems in a single day.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;It posted clips of drone attacks, saying it hit a Tor-M2, a Buk-M2, and a Buk-M3.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;In its post on Saturday, the unit also highlighted that the drones were funded by civilians.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;The drone unit of a Ukrainian brigade in Zaporizhzhia said it destroyed three advanced Russian air defense systems in a single day.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Ronin company of the 65th Mechanized Rifle Brigade &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://t.me/Ronins44_65/453&#34;&gt;posted footage&lt;/a&gt; of the first-person view drone attacks on Saturday, saying it took out a Tor-M2, a Buk-M2, and a Buk-M3.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Those are some of Moscow&amp;#39;s most prized mobile surface-to-air missile systems, with the Tor-M2 lauded in &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://tass.com/defense/1580769?&#34;&gt;Russian state media&lt;/a&gt; in 2023 as a &amp;#34;cutting-edge&amp;#34; weapon that can counter drone swarms on the move.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;With a range of about 7.5 miles, the Tor-M2 is designed to engage up to 48 targets at once at low to medium altitudes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Buk-M3 is also one of Russia&amp;#39;s newest air defenses. Russian state media outlet &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://tass.com/defense/1580769?&#34;&gt;TASS &lt;/a&gt;compared it in 2016 to the Medium Extended Air Defense System, a Western-made system meant to replace the Patriot. Each Patriot system is estimated to &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/us-patriot-missile-defense-system-cost-middle-east-syria-iraq-2023-11&#34;&gt;cost about $1.1 billion.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The clips posted by the Ronin company on Saturday showed first-person view drones closely approaching the air defense systems before their video feeds went dark. While the drones&amp;#39; flight trajectory and distance to the Russian defenses indicate a successful hit, Business Insider couldn&amp;#39;t independently verify if the systems were actively deployed assets or were destroyed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;But the videos show yet another example of how the fighting in Ukraine is increasingly relying on cheap loitering munitions, even to counter high-value targets.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraines-drone-makers-producing-fiber-optic-weapons-didnt-think-possible-2025-2&#34;&gt;Drone makers in Ukraine&lt;/a&gt; usually tell BI that they sell or create exploding drones for $750 to $1,500 apiece, depending on the device&amp;#39;s size.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Meanwhile, it&amp;#39;s difficult to pinpoint how much Russia spends on its air defense systems. The Ukrainian military has estimated that the Tor-M2 costs about &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://t.me/usf_army/287&#34;&gt;$27 million per unit&lt;/a&gt; and that the Buk-M3 costs about &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://t.me/GeneralStaffZSU/18121&#34;&gt;$40 to $50 million per unit.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Ronin company&amp;#39;s post on Saturday also indicated that the drones used in the attack weren&amp;#39;t officially supplied but received through civilian donations.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#34;The sponsor of the defeat is the Sternenko community,&amp;#34; the unit wrote on its social media channel, referring to the Ukrainian crowdfunding activist Serhii Sternenko.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sternenko, one of the biggest drone crowdfunders in Ukraine, acknowledged the attacks on Saturday, calling the drone unit &amp;#34;true masters of their craft&amp;#34; in a &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://t.me/ssternenko/40052&#34;&gt;post on his Telegram channel.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#34;We provide them with drones upon individual requests specifically for performing such tasks,&amp;#34; he wrote, adding that the air defense systems were positioned at the Russian rear.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Drone warfare continues to evolve on the battlefield in Ukraine.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;For example, with loitering munitions becoming so ubiquitous, the war fronts have increasingly been reported to become saturated with jammers. That prompted Russian units to bring &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-unjammable-fiber-optic-drone-keep-pace-russia-2025-1&#34;&gt;fiber-optic drones to the fight last year&lt;/a&gt;, and Ukrainian companies and brigades have been following suit in manufacturing their own versions.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Russia&amp;#39;s defense ministry did not respond to a request for comment sent by BI outside regular business hours.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;read-original&#34;&gt;Read the original article on &lt;a href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-ronin-drones-civilian-funded-russian-air-defense-destroyed-day-2025-2&#34;&gt;Business Insider&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content> <published>2025-02-17T05:56:02Z</published> <summary type="text">The Ronin company of the 65th Mechanized Rifle Brigade posted clips saying it took out a Tor-M2, a Buk-M2, and a Buk-M3. </summary> <author> <name>Matthew Loh</name> <email>mloh@businessinsider.com</email> </author> <link href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-ronin-drones-civilian-funded-russian-air-defense-destroyed-day-2025-2"></link> <category term="Military &amp; Defense" scheme="https://www.businessinsider.com/defense"></category> <category term="ukraine-war"></category> <category term="russian-air-defenses"></category> <category term="drone-warfare"></category> <media:thumbnail url="https://i.insider.com/67b2c01b6630eb10385ccc44?format=jpeg" width="3585" height="2689"></media:thumbnail> </entry> <entry> <title>Twitter&#39;s former safety chief is helping women avoid harassment on Hinge and Tinder</title> <updated>2025-02-17T06:29:35Z</updated> <id>https://www.businessinsider.com/former-twitter-safety-chief-yoel-roth-match-ai-dating-apps-2025-2</id> <content type="html">&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/67b298266630eb10385ccb9e?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;2194&#34; width=&#34;3292&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Yoel Roth, former Global Head of Trust &amp;amp; Safety at Twitter, testifies during a House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing.&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;&amp;nbsp;Yoel Roth said Match is focused on improving men&amp;#39;s behavior for safer dating.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;EVELYN HOCKSTEIN/REUTERS&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;ul class=&#34;summary-list&#34;&gt;&lt;li&gt;Yoel Roth is leading Match Group&amp;#39;s initiative to curb inappropriate messages on dating apps.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;The company uses AI to flag abusive messages, promoting respectful dating interactions.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Match&amp;#39;s CEO said safety and security are good for business.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/twitter-trust-safety-yoel-roth-fled-home-elon-musk-report-2022-12&#34;&gt;Yoel Roth&lt;/a&gt;, Twitter&amp;#39;s former head of trust and safety, is trying to reduce inappropriate messages sent on Match Group&amp;#39;s dating platforms, like Tinder and Hinge.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The company is working on what Spencer Rascoff, its new CEO, called &amp;#34;an ecosystem cleanup.&amp;#34; On an earnings call earlier this month, Rascoff said safety and security are good for business.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Roth joined Match a year ago as its vice president of trust and safety, responsible for overseeing content moderation across its dating apps. He formerly led the team that set rules for what was allowed on Twitter but quit shortly after &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/musk-smeared-twitters-ex-safety-head-with-child-sexualization-claims-2022-12&#34;&gt;Elon Musk&lt;/a&gt; took over the platform in 2022.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Last month, Meta ignited a firestorm when it announced it would &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; rel=&#34;noopener noreferrer&#34; class=&#34;c-link&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/meta-cuts-fact-checker-ties-by-march-leaked-meeting-2025-1&#34;&gt;end professional fact-checking&lt;/a&gt; in the US. But Roth, who dealt with online harassment himself after &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/ex-twitter-exec-tells-congress-sold-home-twitter-files-abuse-2023-2&#34;&gt;speaking out against Musk&amp;#39;s Twitter&lt;/a&gt;, said Match is &amp;#34;doubling down on safety.&amp;#34;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#34;For men especially, a big part of our safety approach is focused on driving behavioral change so that we can make dating experiences safer and more respectful,&amp;#34; Roth told the Financial Times.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Using AI tools, Match can flag messages that could be perceived as abusive or overtly sexual. Match asks users who type what Roth called &amp;#34;off-color&amp;#34; messages if they would like to reconsider &amp;mdash; and a fifth do, the FT reported.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The company found &amp;#34;a real need and opportunity to help people understand the norms and behaviors that go along with respectful and consensual dating,&amp;#34; Roth said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Due to dating app fatigue, women are also creating their own alternatives. A journalist with no previous event experience created the&amp;nbsp;&lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/dating-apps-events-transforming-meeting-singles-ghosting-jess-evans-2025-2&#34;&gt;Bored Of Dating Apps&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;events, where single people can meet in real life and form deeper connections, which took off in the UK and the US.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Between May 2023 and the end of 2024, more than half a million users left Tinder, a report from the UK-based online behavior research group Ofcom said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Bumble and Hinge also reported losing 368,000 and 131,000 users, respectively, in the same period. Bumble&amp;#39;s stock has slumped 37% in the past year, and Match is down 7.7%.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Match Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;read-original&#34;&gt;Read the original article on &lt;a href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/former-twitter-safety-chief-yoel-roth-match-ai-dating-apps-2025-2&#34;&gt;Business Insider&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content> <published>2025-02-17T04:48:45Z</published> <summary type="text">Yoel Roth, former Twitter safety chief, now leads Match Group&#39;s AI initiative to curb harassment on dating apps, in a bid to retain users.</summary> <author> <name>Katherine Li</name> <email>katherineli@insider.com</email> </author> <link href="https://www.businessinsider.com/former-twitter-safety-chief-yoel-roth-match-ai-dating-apps-2025-2"></link> <category term="AI" scheme="https://www.businessinsider.com/artificial-intelligence"></category> <category term="ai"></category> <category term="twitter"></category> <category term="dating"></category> <category term="dating-app"></category> <category term="hinge"></category> <category term="tinder"></category> <category term="content-moderation"></category> <category term="online-safety"></category> <category term="relationship"></category> <media:thumbnail url="https://i.insider.com/67b29941eb4be2fff9a4cfab?format=jpeg" width="2925" height="2194"></media:thumbnail> </entry> <entry> <title>My mom always told me I could call her anytime I needed her. I&#39;ve done it throughout my life and she always shows up.</title> <updated>2025-02-17T01:17:02Z</updated> <id>https://www.businessinsider.com/can-call-mom-whenever-needed-she-shows-up-2025-2</id> <content type="html">&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/67ae0c24eb4be2fff9a4871a?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;5464&#34; width=&#34;8192&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Girl sitting on a sofa, frustrated and angry, covering her face with her hands. Concept of childhood, mental health, frustration, unpleasant, moving, bullying, bullying and fear&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;The author (not pictured) called her mom when she was 9 to come get her from a sleepover.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;DBenitostock/Getty Images&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;ul class=&#34;summary-list&#34;&gt;&lt;li&gt;LaVina Hawkins is a 45-year-old who lives in Gaithersburg, Maryland.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;When she was 9, she went to her first sleepover and was teased by the other girls. &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;She called her mom and asked if she&amp;#39;d come pick her up.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;em&gt;This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with LaVina Hawkins. It has been edited for length and clarity.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;When I was 9, I got my first invitation to a sleepover. We had just moved from the Bronx to &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/travel/best-airbnbs-virginia-beach&#34;&gt;&lt;span&gt;Virginia Beach&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span&gt;. The birthday girl gave cute invitations to the girls in my class. I knew my mom wouldn&amp;#39;t let me &amp;mdash; that I would be the only one who wouldn&amp;#39;t be allowed to go.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;My mom had always been &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/pros-cons-sleepovers-kids-risks-tips-safety-plan-2024-3&#34;&gt;&lt;span&gt;very strict about sleepovers&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span&gt;. All my siblings knew it wasn&amp;#39;t a question &amp;mdash; we were never allowed to stay at someone else&amp;#39;s house. My mom had experienced things as a child, and she wanted to protect us from the same happening to us.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;When I told the birthday girl I knew I wouldn&amp;#39;t be allowed to go, she said she could ask her mom to call my mom. The mom called my mom and said there would be no men or boys at the house for the sleepover. My mom conceded &amp;mdash; I could go. I was ecstatic. The invitation had a little list of what we would need, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/camping-gear-cleaning-and-care&#34;&gt;&lt;span&gt;including a sleeping bag&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span&gt;. Since I didn&amp;#39;t have one, we bought one ready.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;I was so excited. I&amp;#39;d only &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/share-bed-sleepovers-cosleeping-friendship-intimacy-2023-11&#34;&gt;&lt;span&gt;heard about sleepovers&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span&gt; and seen them on TV, and they looked really fun.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;Before I went, my &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/mom-daughter-long-distance-living-abroad-closer-relationship-2024-5&#34;&gt;&lt;span&gt;mom told me I could call her&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span&gt; if I didn&amp;#39;t feel safe or just didn&amp;#39;t want to be at the sleepover anymore. She&amp;#39;d be there right away to pick me up.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h2 id=&#34;8b519ac2-9f0b-47ca-bebb-298c0202c994&#34; data-toc-id=&#34;8b519ac2-9f0b-47ca-bebb-298c0202c994&#34;&gt;&lt;span&gt;I called her, and she came as promised&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;When I arrived, I knew most of the girls there, besides a few of the girl&amp;#39;s family members. The mother ordered pizza, which was shaping up to be a good time.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;After the pizza, we went upstairs, and as I got to the top, the birthday girl&amp;#39;s cousin pushed me into the wall. Then, she started talking about how my braids were ugly, asking me why I had them in my hair. Everyone else started following the cousin&amp;#39;s lead in making fun of my hair.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/67ae1457eb4be2fff9a4895d?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;360&#34; width=&#34;480&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Mom and daughter posing for photo&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;LaVina Hawkins has called her mom multiple times throughout her life when she needed help.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Courtesy of LaVina Hawkins&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;I didn&amp;#39;t fight back but I did run downstairs and told the mother. She called all the girls downstairs and tried to handle it, but when I returned upstairs, it was radio silence. No one would speak to me. I&amp;#39;d become an outsider. It felt awful to be excluded after having been invited.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;All I could think to do was phone my mom.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;I went downstairs and used the home phone to call her.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;#34;Mom, come get me,&amp;#34; I said.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;#34;I&amp;#39;m on my way,&amp;#34; she replied.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;She didn&amp;#39;t ask what happened &amp;mdash; she just said she was coming. I felt so safe.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;Minutes later, she knocked on the door, and I got my things and left with her.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;Once we were in the car, she asked what happened. She told me sometimes people are afraid of what they don&amp;#39;t know. She said everything was OK &amp;mdash; that I was safe. We went out for ice cream and then watched movies together.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h2 id=&#34;558e3190-fed4-4521-84c8-47e4f50f3315&#34; data-toc-id=&#34;558e3190-fed4-4521-84c8-47e4f50f3315&#34;&gt;&lt;span&gt;She reminded me that she would always show up for me when needed&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;Throughout our childhood, my mom kept saying the same thing to myself and my siblings &amp;mdash; that she would come to pick us up if ever we felt unsafe and needed her.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;I remember when I was in high school, I had been out with friends of friends and everyone had been drinking. One person said they would drive us. I said I would call my mom to come get me. The friend I was with didn&amp;#39;t want me to, but I told her that it didn&amp;#39;t matter where we were or what we were doing; my mom would come get us without asking a single question. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;Mom came and got me. The friends whose car I refused to get in ended up getting in a car accident that night. The driver died.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;Years later, when my second child was just a few months old, I was struggling with postpartum depression. I woke up one morning and felt awful, like checking out. I didn&amp;#39;t want to feed my child.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;But I wasn&amp;#39;t ashamed to call my mom. She wouldn&amp;#39;t judge me. She would just come. &amp;#34;Mom, come get me,&amp;#34; I told her over the phone. She knew from my voice something was off.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;#34;I&amp;#39;m on the way,&amp;#34; she said. She kept me on the phone until she got to my house.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;With my own five children, I&amp;#39;ve told them the same thing my mom used to tell me. They can always call me, and I will come get them, no matter where they are.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;read-original&#34;&gt;Read the original article on &lt;a href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/can-call-mom-whenever-needed-she-shows-up-2025-2&#34;&gt;Business Insider&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content> <published>2025-02-17T01:17:02Z</published> <summary type="text">LaVina Hawkins is 45 and a mom herself. She says that throughout her life her mom has showed up when she needed her, no questions asked. </summary> <author> <name>Lauren Crosby Medlicott</name> <email>insider@insider.com</email> </author> <link href="https://www.businessinsider.com/can-call-mom-whenever-needed-she-shows-up-2025-2"></link> <category term="Parenting" scheme="https://www.businessinsider.com/parenting"></category> <category term="as-told-to"></category> <category term="parenting"></category> <category term="parenting-freelancer"></category> <media:thumbnail url="https://i.insider.com/67ae0dd26630eb10385c831b?format=jpeg" width="7285" height="5464"></media:thumbnail> </entry> <entry> <title>A group fighting the fentanyl crisis says Trump&#39;s tariffs could make the problem worse</title> <updated>2025-02-16T22:08:43Z</updated> <id>https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-tariffs-fentanyl-crisis-mexico-canada-harm-reduction-expert-2025-2</id> <content type="html">&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/67b254376630eb10385ccb51?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;5760&#34; width=&#34;8640&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;President Donald Trump signing an executive order.&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;Harm reduction advocates say that President Donald Trump&amp;#39;s tariffs could actually make drug overdoses spike.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Andrew Harnik/Getty Images&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;ul class=&#34;summary-list&#34;&gt;&lt;li&gt;The Trump administration says tariffs on Mexico and Canada will curb fentanyl flow into the US.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;A harm reduction expert warns that tariffs may increase overdoses by disrupting drug supply.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Canada plans retaliatory tariffs, targeting goods from Trump&amp;#39;s political base.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;President Donald Trump introduced &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;editor-rtfLink&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/ford-ceo-trump-tariffs-devastating-auto-industry-2025-2&#34;&gt;tariffs on Mexico and Canada&lt;/a&gt; as part of an effort to fight drug trafficking, but a harm reduction advocate says that stopping the regular flow of drugs could make overdoses spike.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Trump announced on February 1 that he &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;editor-rtfLink&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/what-goods-are-imported-china-mexico-canada-trump-tariff-trade-2024-11&#34;&gt;planned to place 25% tariffs&lt;/a&gt; on &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;editor-rtfLink&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-tariff-mexico-delayed-month-sheinbaum-2025-2&#34;&gt;Mexico&lt;/a&gt; and Canada. Trump said at the time that the tariffs were intended to crack down on drug and border policy, particularly to stop the flow of fentanyl into the US.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Trump &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;editor-rtfLink&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/trudeau-trump-tariffs-canadian-goods-paused-2025-2&#34;&gt;paused the tariffs for 30 days&lt;/a&gt; on February 3 after both countries agreed to tougher border control measures, but he still promised &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-reciprocal-tariffs-nations-2025-2&#34;&gt;&amp;#34;reciprocal tariffs&amp;#34;&lt;/a&gt; on goods imported from any country that levies tariffs on the US.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In posts on Truth Social, Trump has maintained that &amp;#34;drugs are pouring into our Country, mostly through Mexico, at levels never seen before.&amp;#34;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Laura Guzman, the executive director of the National Harm Reduction Coalition, told Business Insider that Trump&amp;#39;s tariffs could make drug overdoses go up if they are successful in slowing the flow of illegal drugs into the country. Harm reduction generally refers to policies and practices that aim to minimize the negative health, social, and legal effects of drug abuse.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#34;The biggest fear I had when I saw the negotiation to postpone the tariffs, immediately, my reaction was, &amp;#39;that is not going to be good for the folks that are impacted by both the war on drugs, but also by this tainted drug supply,&amp;#39;&amp;#34; Guzman told BI.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Guzman said that while slowing the rate of fentanyl entering the country is a good idea, there is still a large amount of fentanyl that is produced inside the US that ends up on the streets. She said that disrupting the flow of drugs can create a situation where addicts are mixing drugs that they don&amp;#39;t normally use, which can lead to health risks and death. She said mixing drugs can lead to drug contamination where people might take drugs they aren&amp;#39;t familiar with or are unaware that they are taking. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#34;What happens is more dangerous, because then the mixes, the kind of mixes, what it gets mixed with, puts people at risk of not just opiate overdoses, but also increase sedation that results in death,&amp;#34; Guzman said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Guzman said that it is common for harm reduction workers to see spikes in overdose deaths in cities after local police do heavy drug takedowns.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#34;They do an interdiction, they start arresting, they say how much fentanyl have confiscated, and we very soon start seeing spikes of overdose deaths,&amp;#34; Guzman said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h2 id=&#34;29fe1868-2c55-4e5b-87f5-28582b8c81e8&#34; data-toc-id=&#34;29fe1868-2c55-4e5b-87f5-28582b8c81e8&#34;&gt;Putting &amp;#34;all the eggs on interdiction&amp;#34;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/67b25383eb4be2fff9a4cf5a?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;1800&#34; width=&#34;2705&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;fentanyl&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;People walking past anti-fentanyl campaign posters in Mexico City.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;YURI CORTEZ/AFP via Getty Images&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;p&gt;She was also critical of Mexico, saying that government needs to do more to recognize the ongoing fentanyl crisis impacting both countries. Guzman said that there is &amp;#34;a denial&amp;#34; from Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum&amp;#39;s administration of &amp;#34;the influx of fentanyl from the border.&amp;#34;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sheinbaum said in a statement on February 3 that Mexico rejected claims by the Trump administration that Mexico colluded with criminal organizations.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#34;If the United States government and its agencies wanted to address the serious consumption of fentanyl in their country, they can combat the sale of narcotics on the streets of their main cities, which they don&amp;#39;t do,&amp;#34; Sheinbaum said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Naloxone, a drug that is used to reverse opioid overdoses, is a controlled substance in Mexico, where it is considered a psychoactive drug. Guzman said the country&amp;#39;s refusal to recognize naloxone as a life-saving drug shows that it is &amp;#34;putting all the eggs on interdiction and denies the fact that fentanyl is also taking lives on the other side of the border.&amp;#34;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Even as the Trump administration leans into fentanyl trafficking as a leading reason for its new tariffs, they have sometimes struggled to defend it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;On NBC&amp;#39;s &amp;#34;Meet the Press&amp;#34; on February 2, Kristin Welker asked Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem why Canada had been hit with more severe tariffs than China.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#34;Why is the United States punishing Canada, one of its closest allies, more than China, where fentanyl originates?&amp;#34; Welker said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#34;We have sent a message this week that we&amp;#39;re not just going to enforce our southern border,&amp;#34; Noem said. &amp;#34;We&amp;#39;re going to put extra resources at that northern border as well. So Canada needs to come to the table.&amp;#34;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;US Customs and Border Protection seized more than 21,000 pounds of fentanyl at the Mexican border last year, according to the agency. The agency seized 43 pounds of fentanyl at the Canadian border.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also announced retaliatory tariffs if Trump&amp;#39;s tariffs go into effect. Some tariffed goods&lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;editor-rtfLink&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/tariffs-us-states-biggest-trade-partners-mexico-canada-china-imports-2025-1&#34;&gt; target Trump&amp;#39;s political base&lt;/a&gt;, covering items like Florida oranges and Kentucky bourbon.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The White House did not immediately return a request for comment from Business Insider.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;read-original&#34;&gt;Read the original article on &lt;a href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-tariffs-fentanyl-crisis-mexico-canada-harm-reduction-expert-2025-2&#34;&gt;Business Insider&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content> <published>2025-02-16T22:08:43Z</published> <summary type="text">Trump&#39;s tariffs on Mexico and Canada, aimed at curbing fentanyl flow, may worsen the crisis by spiking overdoses, a harm reduction advocate warns.</summary> <author> <name>Kenneth Niemeyer,Katie Balevic</name> <email>kniemeyer@insider.com</email> </author> <link href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-tariffs-fentanyl-crisis-mexico-canada-harm-reduction-expert-2025-2"></link> <category term="News" scheme="https://www.businessinsider.com/news"></category> <category term="Politics" scheme="https://www.businessinsider.com/politics"></category> <category term="fentanyl"></category> <category term="mexico"></category> <category term="canada"></category> <category term="tariffs"></category> <category term="drug-smuggling"></category> <category term="narcotics"></category> <category term="border-security"></category> <category term="borders"></category> <category term="naloxone"></category> <category term="health"></category> <media:thumbnail url="https://i.insider.com/67b2546d7bb3f854015d0d37?format=jpeg" width="7680" height="5760"></media:thumbnail> </entry> <entry> <title>Hermès will give staffers a $4,700 bonus as sales and revenue jump</title> <updated>2025-02-16T21:00:24Z</updated> <id>https://www.businessinsider.com/hermes-gift-employee-annual-bonus-luxury-sales-2025-2</id> <content type="html">&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/67b22273eb4be2fff9a4cf03?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;2967&#34; width=&#34;4450&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Hermès store sign&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;Hermès employees will receive a 4,500 euro bonus in 2025.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Volha Shukaila/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;ul class=&#34;summary-list&#34;&gt;&lt;li&gt;Hermès employees will receive a 4,500 euro bonus in response to the company&amp;#39;s 2024 financial performance.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Bonuses have steadily increased at Hermès despite a luxury market slump.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Hermès earned over $15 billion in revenue last year.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;editor-rtfLink&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/hermes-ceo-viral-wirkin-walmart-birkin-bag-copies-2025-2&#34;&gt;Hermès&lt;/a&gt; employees are cashing in on the company&amp;#39;s success.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;On Friday, Hermès presented its 2024 financial report that showed &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;editor-rtfLink&#34; href=&#34;https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/hermes-stock-surges-sales-earnings-lvmh-kering-luxury-birkin-bags-2025-2#:~:text=Herm%C3%A8s%20reported%20better%2Dthan%2Dexpected%20fourth%2Dquarter%20results%20on,estimates%20of%203.69%20billion%20euros.&#34;&gt;better-than-expected sales&lt;/a&gt;. (Business Insider converted the euros to dollars based on currency rates as of Friday.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The French luxury group said that sales reached 4 billion euros ($4.1 billion) during the fourth quarter, an 18% increase at constant and current exchange rates. Additionally, Hermès earned 15.2 billion euros ($15.9 billion) in revenue last year.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In response, Hermès employees are getting a &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://assets-finance.hermes.com/s3fs-public/node/pdf_file/2025-02/1739475049/hermes_20250214_pr_2024fullyearresults_va.pdf?VersionId=qQriZY_1BlBwpp2OmhmriU1k0MRVbUjd#:~:text=True%20to%20its%20commitment%20as,year%20in%20respect%20of%202024.&#34;&gt;4,500 euro ($4,723) bonus&lt;/a&gt;. There are more than 25,000 staffers currently at Hermès.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#34;True to its commitment as a responsible employer and its willingness to share the fruits of growth with all those who contribute to it daily, Hermès will be giving out a bonus of €4,500 to all its employees worldwide at the beginning of the year in respect of 2024,&amp;#34; the report said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hermès has made a habit of gifting year-end bonuses to its employees, but the amount has steadily increased over the last five years. The company offered a &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;editor-rtfLink&#34; href=&#34;https://assets-finance.hermes.com/s3fs-public/node/pdf_file/2021-02/1613734103/hermes_20210219_results2020_en.pdf&#34;&gt;1,250 euro ($1,312) bonus&lt;/a&gt; following its 2020 financial results, then handed out a &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;editor-rtfLink&#34; href=&#34;https://assets-finance.hermes.com/s3fs-public/node/pdf_file/2022-02/1645172680/hermes_20220218_resultats2021_cp_vanglaise.pdf&#34;&gt;3,000 euro ($3,148) bonus&lt;/a&gt; the following year.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The bonus was bumped to &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;editor-rtfLink&#34; href=&#34;https://assets-finance.hermes.com/s3fs-public/node/pdf_file/2023-02/1676575550/hermes_20230217_pr_2022fullyearresults_va.pdf&#34;&gt;4,000 euros ($4,198)&lt;/a&gt; following the company&amp;#39;s 2022 and &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;editor-rtfLink&#34; href=&#34;https://assets-finance.hermes.com/s3fs-public/node/pdf_file/2024-02/1707422069/hermes_20240209_pr_2023fullyearresults_va.pdf&#34;&gt;2023 financial results&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#34;In 2024, in a more uncertain economic and geopolitical context, the solid performance of the results attests to the strength of the Hermès model and the agility of the house&amp;#39;s teams, whom I thank warmly,&amp;#34; Axel Dumas, executive chairman of Hermès, said in a statement on Friday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The company&amp;#39;s financial results are a bright stop in the luxury industry, where some companies struggled to navigate a&lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;editor-rtfLink&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/luxury-stocks-chart-shows-bad-year-kering-lvmh-gucci-cartier-2024-12&#34;&gt; market slump in 2024&lt;/a&gt;. Share prices for LVMH, Burberry, and Kering all dropped last year.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Would-be luxury shoppers in China cut back on spending amid an &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;editor-rtfLink&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/china-xi-jinping-recession-economy-american-companies-profits-trade-war-2024-9&#34;&gt;economic crisis&lt;/a&gt;, while inflation prompted many Americans to &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;editor-rtfLink&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/lvmh-says-the-aspirational-customer-is-suffering-2023-7&#34;&gt;avoid pricey luxury goods&lt;/a&gt;. In Europe, uncertainty surrounding politics led shoppers to hesitate.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#34;50 million luxury consumers have either opted out of the luxury goods market or been forced out of it in the last two years,&amp;#34; Claudia D&amp;#39;Arpizio of consulting firm Bain &amp;amp; Company said in a November report.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Representatives for Hermés did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider that was made outside regular business hours.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;read-original&#34;&gt;Read the original article on &lt;a href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/hermes-gift-employee-annual-bonus-luxury-sales-2025-2&#34;&gt;Business Insider&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content> <published>2025-02-16T21:00:24Z</published> <summary type="text">Hermès employees will receive a 4,500 euro &amp;mdash; or $4,723 &amp;mdash; bonus this year in response to the company&#39;s 2024 financial performance.</summary> <author> <name>Lauren Edmonds</name> <email>ledmonds@businessinsider.com</email> </author> <link href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hermes-gift-employee-annual-bonus-luxury-sales-2025-2"></link> <category term="Retail" scheme="https://www.businessinsider.com/retail"></category> <category term="Careers" scheme="https://www.businessinsider.com/careers"></category> <category term="herms"></category> <category term="luxury"></category> <category term="business"></category> <category term="bonus"></category> <category term="employee-bonuses"></category> <category term="retail"></category> <category term="fashion"></category> <category term="limited-synd"></category> <media:thumbnail url="https://i.insider.com/67b2227c7bb3f854015d0cd8?format=jpeg" width="3956" height="2967"></media:thumbnail> </entry> <entry> <title>Your avocado toast with eggs may become a breakfast luxury rather than a tasty staple</title> <updated>2025-02-16T20:12:19Z</updated> <id>https://www.businessinsider.com/avocados-eggs-toast-expensive-tariffs-mexico-luxury-flu-2025-2</id> <content type="html">&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/67b24079eb4be2fff9a4cf2e?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;1414&#34; width=&#34;2119&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Avocado toast with an egg on top.&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;Prices for eggs and specialty produce are on the rise.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Chanda Hopkins/Getty Images&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;ul class=&#34;summary-list&#34;&gt;&lt;li&gt;Egg prices are high due to the bird flu.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Avocados, already more pricy this year, may follow suit thanks to potential tariffs.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Consumers are facing higher breakfast prices as a result.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;Savor the taste of that avocado toast with eggs because it is about to get more expensive.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;From avian diseases to tariffs, there are multiple forces at work driving the price increases on your breakfast.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In January, the &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/eggs-expensive-high-prices-supply-shortage-bird-flu-2025-2&#34;&gt;price of eggs hit a record high&lt;/a&gt; at an average of $4.95 for a dozen, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. The price of eggs rose in part because of the &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/h5n1-avian-bird-flu-virus-human-outbreak-pandemic-concerns&#34;&gt;bird flu&lt;/a&gt; outbreak that has spread to &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/raw-farm-milk-california-tests-positive-bird-flu-2024-11&#34;&gt;dairy cattle&lt;/a&gt; and, in some cases, to &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/us-first-bird-flu-death-louisiana-2025-1&#34;&gt;humans&lt;/a&gt;. As a result, millions of birds have been killed, making eggs not just more expensive but also &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/eggs-prices-shortage-avian-bird-flu-eggshells-grocery-store-why-2025-2&#34;&gt;harder to find&lt;/a&gt; on the shelves.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Avocados are likely about to follow suit, though for different reasons.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Some &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/chipotle-could-see-mexico-tariff-hit-despite-new-avocado-sources-2025-2&#34;&gt;90% of the avocados&lt;/a&gt; consumed in the US come from Mexico, a nation that &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump&#34;&gt;President Donald Trump&lt;/a&gt; hit with a &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-tariffs-plan-deadline-trade-policies-2025-1&#34;&gt;25% tariff&lt;/a&gt; on February 1. He later announced the tariffs would be &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-tariff-mexico-delayed-month-sheinbaum-2025-2&#34;&gt;delayed by a month&lt;/a&gt;, after which he may still impose them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/what-are-tariffs&#34;&gt;Tariffs&lt;/a&gt; are taxes on foreign goods imported to the US, and they prompt importers to raise their prices to compensate for the added tax and cover their bottom line. As a result, the consumer usually bears the brunt of the price increase.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Even pre-tariff, avocados, at an average of $0.91 each, were already 17% more expensive in the first week of February than they were during the same period last year, according to the US Department of Agriculture.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Gary Williams, an emeritus professor of agricultural economics at Texas A&amp;amp;M, said avocados are elastic goods, so people will buy them regardless of the price.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#34;A tariff on avocado imports is basically a tax on US avocado consumers and most tariff revenue would be paid by US consumers,&amp;#34; Williams told BI.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Price hikes on breakfast ingredients are already impacting consumers.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In New York City, customers are paying more for their &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/egg-price-inflation-new-york-city-bacon-cheese-deli-sandwich-2025-2&#34;&gt;breakfast sandwich&lt;/a&gt;, the beloved bacon, egg, and cheese. &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/waffle-house-charging-50-cents-egg-extra-avian-flu-prices-2025-2&#34;&gt;Waffle House&lt;/a&gt; customers, meanwhile, will face a $0.50 surcharge for each egg they order.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Though it&amp;#39;s uncertain how long disease outbreaks and trade wars will last, one thing is certain: some of our favorite breakfasts may soon feel more like luxuries than daily staples.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;read-original&#34;&gt;Read the original article on &lt;a href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/avocados-eggs-toast-expensive-tariffs-mexico-luxury-flu-2025-2&#34;&gt;Business Insider&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content> <published>2025-02-16T20:12:19Z</published> <summary type="text">With forces like tariffs and avian diseases at play, your avocado toast topped with eggs will likely become more expensive.</summary> <author> <name>Katie Balevic</name> <email>kbalevic@businessinsider.com</email> </author> <link href="https://www.businessinsider.com/avocados-eggs-toast-expensive-tariffs-mexico-luxury-flu-2025-2"></link> <category term="Food" scheme="https://www.businessinsider.com/food"></category> <category term="avocados"></category> <category term="eggs"></category> <category term="avian-flu"></category> <category term="bird-flu"></category> <category term="inflation"></category> <category term="breakfast"></category> <category term="limited-synd"></category> <media:thumbnail url="https://i.insider.com/67b240a87bb3f854015d0d09?format=jpeg" width="1885" height="1414"></media:thumbnail> </entry> <entry> <title>ChatGPT is making homework a lot easier &amp;mdash; for parents</title> <updated>2025-02-16T20:37:05Z</updated> <id>https://www.businessinsider.com/parents-chatgpt-ai-education-students-homework-2025-2</id> <content type="html">&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/67b225daeb4be2fff9a4cf0d?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;3543&#34; width=&#34;4724&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;a woman standing over her son as he does homework&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;More than 2 in 5 parents use ChatGPT to help their kids with homework, according to a new study.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Catherine Delahaye/Getty Images&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;ul class=&#34;summary-list&#34;&gt;&lt;li&gt;Some parents are resorting to ChatGPT to find answers to their children&amp;#39;s homework.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Those who spoke with Business Insider said it makes learning more engaging and jump-starts assignments.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;AI tools like ChatGPT are debated for educational use, with concerns about critical thinking.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;Roughly two years ago, Phil Birchenall&amp;#39;s 11-year-old daughter, Daisy, was having a hard time with math.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#34; She&amp;#39;s a bright girl,&amp;#34; Birchenall, an AI consultant based in a suburb of Manchester, England, told Business Insider. Yet her long division skills were stopping her from acing the standardized tests known as SATs, which are required for secondary school in the UK.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Birchenall said he last learned math in the eighties, and problem-solving techniques have changed since then. He could have hired a tutor, but he resorted to what he felt was a more personal, and cost-effective approach. He built a GPT, &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-make-gpt-custom-chatgpt-ai-15-minutes-guide-2023-12&#34;&gt;a customizable version of ChatGPT&lt;/a&gt;, one evening to help his daughter get back on track.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#34; I fed in all of the subject areas that Daisy was falling behind on. I added in that she was in the UK, and she was doing a SAT,&amp;#34; he said. To keep her engaged, he gave it the personality of a dog, inspired by his daughter&amp;#39;s love for their cocker spaniel. It didn&amp;#39;t take more than a few weeks with the &amp;#34;tutor&amp;#34; for Daisy to get up to speed. &amp;#34; She smashed her SATs in the end,&amp;#34; he said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Parents in the US can also share the stress of homework and exam preparation. Nearly 60% of parents said they struggle to help their children with homework, according to a September 2024 survey of 1,006 parents of students in kindergarten through eighth grade in the US, conducted by Prodigy, a maker of educational games.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Math may be the most feared subject. Over 80% of parents said they avoid helping their children with it, while 20% of parents spurn science, and 19% steer clear of language arts. And they&amp;#39;re turning to generative AI for help &amp;mdash; 44% of parents said they use &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-chat-gpt-2023-1&#34;&gt;ChatGPT&lt;/a&gt; to find answers to their children&amp;#39;s homework.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Data shows that students rely heavily on &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/school-is-back-chatgpt-mainly-tool-cheating-homework-2023-9&#34;&gt;ChatGPT for homework&lt;/a&gt;, as visits often spike while school is in session. But the merits of the bot are still up for debate. Educators in support of it say it can &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/teacher-ai-chatgpt-classroom-cheating-essays-2024-11&#34;&gt;make assignments more approachable&lt;/a&gt;, helping students get over their writer&amp;#39;s block, or coaching them through math problems. Critics worry that it could foster a kind of mental inertia, with students outsourcing too much intellectual work to a chatbot.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h2 id=&#34;e9c9496e-e9e1-4fbf-b4d8-c141ff6eb190&#34; data-toc-id=&#34;e9c9496e-e9e1-4fbf-b4d8-c141ff6eb190&#34;&gt;New skills for a new learning paradigm&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;p&gt;Stephen Salaka, a software engineering director from Florida, and his 14-year-old son both identify as neurodivergent. They excel under clear directions, but tend to struggle with more open-ended, creative work. He said they turn to ChatGPT to work things out through the Socratic method.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#34;He&amp;#39;ll get an assignment, it&amp;#39;ll be like, hey, draw a poster about, you know, the Civil War or something. It&amp;#39;s very nebulous,&amp;#34; he told BI. The bot helps his son get organized, talk through his thoughts, and move forward with the assignment.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;As generative AI technology becomes more integrated into students&amp;#39; lives, Salaka encourages parents to help them cultivate new critical thinking skills.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#34;At some point in time, AI work is going to be distinguishable from human sources, and because of that, there&amp;#39;s no way for us to track the provenance of information,&amp;#34; Salaka said. &amp;#34;So disinformation, deepfakes, all of these things are going to become much more prevalent as we move forward.&amp;#34;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Students, he said, should learn to start asking questions like: &amp;#34;Is that source valid? What is the rationale behind that source to say, hey, this is true? Are there other sources that corroborate?&amp;#34;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;For now, AI tools are beginning to display sources in their outputs. Earlier this month, &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/openai-deep-research-launch-chatgpt-ai-agent-deepseek-2025-2&#34;&gt;OpenAI launched &amp;#34;deep research&amp;#34;&lt;/a&gt;, a new agent that conducts extensive research online, synthesizes it, and documents its outputs with &amp;#34;clear citations and a summary of its thinking.&amp;#34;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In January, Anthropic launched Citations, an API feature that lets its chatbot, Claude, provide &amp;#34;detailed references to the exact sentences and passages it uses to generate responses.&amp;#34; AI-powered search engine, Perplexity, also includes footnotes linking to original sources in every answer it generates.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;There are still many parents who are apprehensive about tools like ChatGPT, according to Audrey Wisch, cofounder of &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; href=&#34;https://www.curiouscardinals.com/&#34;&gt;Curious Cardinals&lt;/a&gt;, a tutoring and mentorship network based in San Francisco. Over the past 20 months, Wisch has taught over 75 workshops for parents on how to use AI to optimize their productivity. Before the workshops, she asks parents to fill out a registration form detailing their AI anxieties, among other points, and has collected more than 2,000 responses to date.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#34;They have this anxiety that they&amp;#39;re going to screw up their kids,&amp;#34; she said. &amp;#34;So there&amp;#39;s just so much fear and there&amp;#39;s so much misunderstanding. I think some of the biggest fears are cutting corners &amp;mdash; will my kid not know how to write?&amp;#34;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Curious Cardinals pairs students in kindergarten through 12th grade with mentors to help them with schoolwork, pursue passion projects, or provide career guidance, and has incorporated AI education into those services.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Wisch said that a few parents have started asking for AI mentoring, too. &amp;#34;We have two mentors who are teaching moms AI one on one,&amp;#34; she said. &amp;#34;What I love is seeing these women become very digitally empowered who otherwise are digitally insecure.&amp;#34;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;read-original&#34;&gt;Read the original article on &lt;a href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/parents-chatgpt-ai-education-students-homework-2025-2&#34;&gt;Business Insider&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content> <published>2025-02-16T18:54:52Z</published> <summary type="text">From customizable tutors to brainstorming partners ChatGPT is easing the stress of homework time on parents. </summary> <author> <name>Lakshmi Varanasi</name> <email>lvaranasi@insider.com</email> </author> <link href="https://www.businessinsider.com/parents-chatgpt-ai-education-students-homework-2025-2"></link> <category term="AI" scheme="https://www.businessinsider.com/artificial-intelligence"></category> <category term="Education" scheme="https://www.businessinsider.com/education"></category> <category term="openai"></category> <category term="chat-gpt"></category> <category term="homework"></category> <category term="parents"></category> <category term="ai"></category> <category term="mathematics"></category> <category term="tutoring"></category> <category term="generative-ai"></category> <category term="limited-synd"></category> <media:thumbnail url="https://i.insider.com/67b228187bb3f854015d0ce9?format=jpeg" width="4724" height="3543"></media:thumbnail> </entry> <entry> <title>Photos show how Air Force One has changed through the years</title> <updated>2025-02-16T16:49:02Z</updated> <id>https://www.businessinsider.com/air-force-one-photos-through-history-2021-8</id> <content type="html">&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/612d38d812b9cc001963687a?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;682&#34; width=&#34;1024&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Joe Biden on Air Force One.&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;President Joe Biden met with staff aboard Air Force One.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;ul class=&#34;summary-list&#34;&gt;&lt;li&gt;Any Air Force plane carrying a US president is called Air Force One.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;John F. Kennedy was the first to use a jet designed specifically for a US president.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;President Donald Trump proposed new paint colors for the exterior of Air Force One in 2019.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;Since the mid-20th century, US presidents have flown on special planes designated as &amp;#34;&lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/air-force-one-retired-plane-tour-2024-11&#34;&gt;Air Force One&lt;/a&gt;&amp;#34; while carrying out their official duties.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Nicknamed the &amp;#34;flying &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/white-house-decor-evolution-2018-2&#34;&gt;Oval Office&lt;/a&gt;,&amp;#34; today&amp;#39;s Air Force One is equipped with everything the president might need, including office spaces, two kitchens, sleeping quarters, and a fully functional operating room.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Here&amp;#39;s how the design of Air Force One has changed through the years.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div id=&#34;slideshow&#34;&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide&#34;&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-title&#34;&gt;President Dwight D. Eisenhower was the first president to travel on a jet aircraft in 1959.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-image&#34;&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/612ce93d9ef1e50018f8aa97?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;679&#34; width=&#34;1024&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Air Force One taking off in 1959.&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;Air Force One taking off.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Terry Fincher/Mirrorpix/Getty Images&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-content&#34;&gt;&lt;p&gt;Eisenhower&amp;#39;s Boeing 707 Stratoliner, nicknamed &amp;#34;Queenie,&amp;#34; featured a section for telecommunications, room for 40 passengers, a conference area, and a stateroom, according to &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; href=&#34;https://www.britannica.com/topic/Air-Force-One/Air-Force-One-enters-the-jet-age&#34;&gt;Encyclopedia Britannica&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide&#34;&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-title&#34;&gt;John F. Kennedy was the first to use a jet specifically designed for the US president. It had the tail number 26000.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-image&#34;&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/612cf61a9ef1e50018f8b00d?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;2250&#34; width=&#34;3000&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Pilots in the cockpit of Air Force One during John F Kennedy&amp;#39;s presidency&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;President John F. Kennedy&amp;#39;s pilot and copilot in Air Force One&amp;#39;s cockpit.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;John Rous&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-content&#34;&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Boeing 707 included a living room, bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide&#34;&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-title&#34;&gt;Raymond Loewy designed the&amp;nbsp;plane&amp;#39;s blue-and-white exterior.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-image&#34;&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/612cf94c12b9cc00196350bf?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;2844&#34; width=&#34;1956&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Jackie Kennedy lands in Texas in 1963.&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;President John F. Kennedy and first lady Jacqueline Kennedy in San Antonio.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Kennedy Library Archives/Newsmakers/Getty Images&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-content&#34;&gt;&lt;p&gt;The plane&amp;#39;s design featured an American flag on the tail and presidential seals on the nose.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide&#34;&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-title&#34;&gt;After Kennedy&amp;#39;s assassination in 1963, President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in on Air Force One.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-image&#34;&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/6128ebbc80be940019b9f4da?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;3671&#34; width=&#34;3989&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Lyndon Johnson takes the oath of office aboard Air Force One after the assassination of John F. Kennedy.&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;President Lyndon Baines Johnson took the oath of office on Air Force One.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Universal History Archive/Getty Images&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-content&#34;&gt;&lt;p&gt;It marked the first and only time a presidential swearing-in ceremony took place on an airplane.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide&#34;&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-title&#34;&gt;Johnson met with Cabinet members on the presidential aircraft in 1966 in a small seating area.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-image&#34;&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/6128ec1080be940019b9f4ef?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;678&#34; width=&#34;1024&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Lyndon Johnson meets with members of his Cabinet on Air Force One.&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;President Lyndon Johnson met with Cabinet members on Air Force One.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Bettmann/Contributor/Getty Images&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-content&#34;&gt;&lt;p&gt;The small alcove was decorated with a globe decal on the wall and curtains lining the windows.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide&#34;&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-title&#34;&gt;In 1972, Richard Nixon was the first president to use the Boeing 707 plane with tail number 27000 as Air Force One.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-image&#34;&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/6128ec4780be940019b9f504?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;2143&#34; width=&#34;3176&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;President Nixon in a meeting on Air Force One.&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;President Richard Nixon aboard Air Force One.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Wally McNamee/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-content&#34;&gt;&lt;p&gt;Nixon stood behind the plane&amp;#39;s bar while meeting with military and civilian leaders en route to Vietnam.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide&#34;&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-title&#34;&gt;When President Gerald Ford took office after Nixon resigned, seats in the rear cabin were upholstered with striped fabric.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-image&#34;&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/6128fd3e12b9cc0019631dce?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;658&#34; width=&#34;877&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;President Gerald Ford speaks to reporters on Air Force One.&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;President Gerald Ford held a mini news conference aboard Air Force One.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Bettmann/Contributor/Getty Images&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-content&#34;&gt;&lt;p&gt;Presidents would occasionally make their way back to the rear cabin to chat with reporters.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide&#34;&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-title&#34;&gt;Ford&amp;#39;s office, just off the stateroom, also featured striped furniture.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-image&#34;&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/6128ed5280be940019b9f57e?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;1967&#34; width=&#34;3000&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Gerald Ford with a photographer on Air Force One.&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;President Gerald Ford with Candice Bergen on Air Force One.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;David Hume Kennerly/ Getty Images&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-content&#34;&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ford is pictured with Candice Bergen, the first female photographer to shoot a behind-the-scenes story on an American president.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide&#34;&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-title&#34;&gt;President Jimmy Carter outfitted the press area with blue carpeting.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-image&#34;&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/6128ed1a80be940019b9f563?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;680&#34; width=&#34;1024&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Jimmy Carter is interviewed on Air Force One.&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;President Jimmy Carter spoke to reporters aboard Air Force One.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Bettmann/Contributor/Getty Images&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-content&#34;&gt;&lt;p&gt;Carter talked to reporters on his way back from a trip to Europe in 1978.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide&#34;&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-title&#34;&gt;President Ronald Reagan used 27000 as his primary presidential aircraft.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-image&#34;&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/6128f1e980be940019b9f6d0?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;2684&#34; width=&#34;4003&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Ronald Reagan with staff aboard Air Force One.&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;President Ronal Reagan met with advisors aboard Air Force One.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Bill Fitz-Patrick - White House via CNP/Getty Images&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-content&#34;&gt;&lt;p&gt;In 1983, Reagan met with Secretary of State George P. Shultz and the national-security advisor designate Robert McFarlane in a meeting space that featured a magazine rack, teal chair, wood-grain table, and photos of him and the first lady, Nancy Reagan.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide&#34;&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-title&#34;&gt;Reagan also hung pictures of himself in Air Force One&amp;#39;s rear cabin.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-image&#34;&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/6128f12312b9cc0019631a53?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;2861&#34; width=&#34;4258&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Ronald Reagan aboard Air Force One.&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;President Ronald Reagan with reporters aboard Air Force One.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Bettmann/Contributor/Getty Images&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-content&#34;&gt;&lt;p&gt;The photos showed Reagan toasting with a champagne glass and waving while boarding Air Force One.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide&#34;&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-title&#34;&gt;New blue-striped curtains matched the blue carpeting and furniture in another meeting area.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-image&#34;&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/6128fb7912b9cc0019631cf8?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;2541&#34; width=&#34;3817&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Ronald Reagan on Air Force One.&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;President Ronald Reagan with staff aboard Air Force One.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-content&#34;&gt;&lt;p&gt;The meeting room also included a television set.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide&#34;&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-title&#34;&gt;In 1990, George H. W. Bush began using new Boeing 747 planes with tail numbers 28000 and 29000 as Air Force One.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-image&#34;&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/6128fbe480be940019b9fa1b?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;2714&#34; width=&#34;4021&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;The presidential office of Air Force One in 1990.&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;The presidential office of Air Force One.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Consolidated News Pictures/Getty Images&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-content&#34;&gt;&lt;p&gt;The presidential office was updated with a stately desk, gray carpeting, and leather chairs.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide&#34;&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-title&#34;&gt;The staff and secretarial area was decorated with neutral whites and grays.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-image&#34;&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/6128fc5612b9cc0019631d51?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;693&#34; width=&#34;1024&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;The staff area of Air Force One in 1990.&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;The staff and secretarial area of Air Force One.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Consolidated News Pictures/Getty Images&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-content&#34;&gt;&lt;p&gt;The staff area featured plenty of phones for official business. Air Force One is also known as the &amp;#34;flying Oval Office.&amp;#34;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide&#34;&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-title&#34;&gt;The new plane&amp;#39;s annex could also be configured for medical use.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-image&#34;&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/6128fcc280be940019b9fa71?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;689&#34; width=&#34;1024&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Chairs facing each other in the Annex of Air Force One&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;The annex of Air Force One.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Consolidated News Pictures/Getty Images&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-content&#34;&gt;&lt;p&gt;The annex is pictured in executive configuration, with seating for meetings.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide&#34;&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-title&#34;&gt;The new planes featured over 4,000 square feet of space, which President Bill Clinton often used to hold meetings.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-image&#34;&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/61292fef9ef1e50018f87794?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;664&#34; width=&#34;1024&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Bill Clinton meets with staff on Air Force One.&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;President Bill Clinton in a meeting aboard Air Force One.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;LUKE FRAZZA/AFP via Getty Images&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-content&#34;&gt;&lt;p&gt;Clinton met with a delegation from North and South Dakota in 1997 to address flooding in the area.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide&#34;&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-title&#34;&gt;In the guest area, Clinton&amp;#39;s Air Force One featured tan chairs and blue carpeting.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-image&#34;&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/6129306c9ef1e50018f877ac?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;1264&#34; width=&#34;1969&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Bill Clinton meets with staff on Air Force One.&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;President Bill Clinton on Air Force One.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;DAVID SCULL/AFP via Getty Images&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-content&#34;&gt;&lt;p&gt;Clinton met with members of Congress to discuss &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/hanford-nuclear-waste-site-photos&#34;&gt;nuclear-waste management&lt;/a&gt; in 1999.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide&#34;&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-title&#34;&gt;President George W. Bush flew 27000 one last time in August 2001 before it was retired to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-image&#34;&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/612931b69ef1e50018f8784e?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;2000&#34; width=&#34;3000&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;George W. Bush and Laura Bush on Air Force One.&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;President George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush aboard Air Force One on the plane&amp;#39;s last mission.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Rick Wilking/Getty Images&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-content&#34;&gt;&lt;p&gt;The plane flew 444 missions and logged over 1 million miles, according to the &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; href=&#34;https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/08/20010829-7.html&#34;&gt;Bush White House.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide&#34;&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-title&#34;&gt;When the World Trade Center and Pentagon were attacked on September 11, 2001, the Secret Service kept Bush in the air aboard the new Air Force One.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-image&#34;&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/612931e012b9cc0019632e09?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;2048&#34; width=&#34;3072&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;George W. Bush talks on the phone and staffers huddle aboard Air Force One.&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;President George W. Bush on the telephone on September 11, 2001, as senior staff huddled in his office aboard Air Force One.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Eric Draper, Courtesy of the George W. Bush Presidential Library/Getty Images&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-content&#34;&gt;&lt;p&gt;Bush insisted on returning to Washington, but the Secret Service refused since they were unsure if more attacks were coming.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In a 2016 interview with &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; href=&#34;https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/09/were-the-only-plane-in-the-sky-214230/&#34;&gt;Politico&lt;/a&gt;, Bush&amp;#39;s assistant White House press secretary Gordon Johndroe described Air Force One that day as &amp;#34;the safest and most dangerous place in the world at the exact same time.&amp;#34;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide&#34;&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-title&#34;&gt;Bush conferred with his chief of staff, Andy Card, in the stateroom, designed by Nancy Reagan.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-image&#34;&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/612931679ef1e50018f87817?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;1502&#34; width=&#34;2000&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;President George W. Bush talks with his chief of staff aboard Air Force One.&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;President George W. Bush and Andy Card on September 11, 2001.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Eric Draper, Courtesy of the George W. Bush Presidential Library/Getty Images&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-content&#34;&gt;&lt;p&gt;The president&amp;#39;s suite included a small bed, light-pink couch and carpeting, and a desk with a brown leather chair.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide&#34;&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-title&#34;&gt;Bush walked down a hallway arm-in-arm with Harriet Miers, the assistant to the president and staff secretary.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-image&#34;&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/612932e09ef1e50018f878c8?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;2048&#34; width=&#34;3072&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;George W. Bush on Air Force One.&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;President George W. Bush and Harriet Miers on September 11, 2001.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Eric Draper, Courtesy of the George W. Bush Presidential Library/Getty Images&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-content&#34;&gt;&lt;p&gt;The hallway was lined with a beige couch with side tables and lamps on either side.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide&#34;&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-title&#34;&gt;When President Barack Obama took office in 2009, Air Force One&amp;#39;s conference room had been updated with a TV screen and leather chairs.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-image&#34;&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/6129368312b9cc0019632f71?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;2333&#34; width=&#34;3500&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Barack Obama sits around a table with staff on Air Force One&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;President Barack Obama talks with his staff aboard Air Force One.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Pete Souza/White House via Getty Images&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-content&#34;&gt;&lt;p&gt;The plane has 85 phone lines as well as encryption and scrambling devices to ensure secure communication, &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; href=&#34;https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/09/were-the-only-plane-in-the-sky-214230/&#34;&gt;CNBC&lt;/a&gt; reported.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide&#34;&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-title&#34;&gt;On the other side of the conference room, a decal that read &amp;#34;Air Force One&amp;#34; was displayed on wood paneling.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-image&#34;&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/612d2bfa9ef1e50018f8c92f?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;1000&#34; width=&#34;1500&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Barack Obama speaks on the phone in a conference room on Air Force One.&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;President Barack Obama on the phone aboard Air Force One.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Official White House Photo by Pete Souza&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-content&#34;&gt;&lt;p&gt;Food and drinks are provided by the plane&amp;#39;s galley kitchen.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide&#34;&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-title&#34;&gt;The plane&amp;#39;s senior staff room featured more phones, a coat closet, and leather chairs.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-image&#34;&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/612d2e0a9ef1e50018f8ca37?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;1366&#34; width=&#34;2048&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;President Barack Obama meets with staff on Air Force One.&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;President Barack Obama with senior staff and President Bill Clinton on Air Force One.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Official White House Photo by Pete Souza&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-content&#34;&gt;&lt;p&gt;Obama met with his chief of staff, Jack Lew, his senior advisors David Axelrod and David Plouffe, and former President Bill Clinton in the senior staff room in 2012.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide&#34;&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-title&#34;&gt;The presidential office furniture was also updated, with mahogany chairs and sofas replacing the gray.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-image&#34;&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/612d299212b9cc0019636362?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;1000&#34; width=&#34;1500&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Barack Obama aboard Air Force One.&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;President Barack Obama with staff on Air Force One.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Official White House Photo by Pete Souza&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-content&#34;&gt;&lt;p&gt;The carpeting was updated to a subtle star pattern, which also appeared in the conference room.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide&#34;&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-title&#34;&gt;The plane&amp;#39;s guest section was reserved for special visitors like members of Congress.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-image&#34;&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/612d2b0412b9cc00196363ca?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;533&#34; width=&#34;799&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Barack Obama on Air Force One.&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;President Barack Obama with a congressional delegation aboard Air Force One.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Official White House photo by Pete Souza&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-content&#34;&gt;&lt;p&gt;The chairs featured a subtle polka-dot pattern, and the tables folded down to make more space.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide&#34;&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-title&#34;&gt;The rear cabin for press looked like a standard commercial airliner.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-image&#34;&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/6129354a9ef1e50018f879a0?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;2832&#34; width=&#34;4256&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Barack Obama briefing reporters on Air Force One&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;President Barack Obama briefed journalists on Air Force One.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;JEWEL SAMAD/AFP via Getty Images&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-content&#34;&gt;&lt;p&gt;Journalists can wander the rear cabin freely, but they aren&amp;#39;t allowed to walk forward to speak to the president &amp;mdash; the president has to come back to them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide&#34;&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-title&#34;&gt;President Donald Trump proposed new paint colors for the exterior of Air Force One in 2019.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-image&#34;&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/612d307d12b9cc0019636586?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;683&#34; width=&#34;1024&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;President Donald Trump&amp;#39;s proposed paint scheme for Air Force One.&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;A model of the proposed paint scheme of the next generation of Air Force One.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Alex Wong/Getty Images&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-content&#34;&gt;&lt;p&gt;As part of the Air Force&amp;#39;s Presidential Aircraft Recapitalization program to update Air Force One planes, Trump proposed a red, white, and navy-blue color scheme for the new models.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide&#34;&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-title&#34;&gt;The Air Force ultimately rejected Trump&amp;#39;s proposed color scheme because it would have been more costly and caused engineering issues.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-image&#34;&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/65cf7ff66fcb546d2d50a38d?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;641&#34; width=&#34;855&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Air Force One&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;Air Force One in February.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Brittany Murray/MediaNews Group/Long Beach Press-Telegram via Getty Images&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-content&#34;&gt;&lt;p&gt;The darker paint color would have caused overheating issues and been too costly. Instead, President Joe Biden &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/what-we-know-about-the-air-force-one-replacement-project-2020-7&#34;&gt;selected a baby-blue color scheme&lt;/a&gt; similar to the current model.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The new VC-25B Air Force One planes are expected to be ready by 2027, according to the Air Force. The project has already &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/boeings-losses-air-force-one-project-two-billion-donald-trump-2023-10&#34;&gt;cost Boeing over $2 million&lt;/a&gt; due to various manufacturing and supply-chain issues.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide&#34;&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-title&#34;&gt;In President Joe Biden&amp;#39;s Air Force One, the conference room had the same star carpeting as the plane&amp;#39;s presidential office.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-image&#34;&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/612d38d812b9cc001963687a?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;682&#34; width=&#34;1024&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Joe Biden on Air Force One.&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;President Joe Biden met with staff aboard Air Force One.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-content&#34;&gt;&lt;p&gt;Plain beige carpeting continued down the hallway.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide&#34;&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-title&#34;&gt;The placard in the conference room was updated to read &amp;#34;Aboard Air Force One&amp;#34; with an image of the iconic aircraft.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-image&#34;&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/6129377612b9cc0019632fbb?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;1066&#34; width=&#34;1600&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Joe Biden sits at a table on Air Force One&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;President Joe Biden on the phone on Air Force One.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-content&#34;&gt;&lt;p&gt;Biden took his first overseas trip as president in June 2021, visiting Europe for the G7 summit.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide&#34;&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-title&#34;&gt;In his second non-consecutive term, President Trump renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America while flying above it on Air Force One.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-image&#34;&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/67af68986630eb10385cac11?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;683&#34; width=&#34;1024&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Donald Trump renames the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America aboard Air Force One.&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;Donald Trump renamed the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America aboard Air Force One.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;slide-content&#34;&gt;&lt;p&gt;Trump signed a proclamation establishing the &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/google-maps-changes-gulf-of-mexico-america-name-trump-2025-2&#34;&gt;name change&lt;/a&gt; in his Air Force One office in February.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;read-original&#34;&gt;Read the original article on &lt;a href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/air-force-one-photos-through-history-2021-8&#34;&gt;Business Insider&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content> <published>2025-02-16T16:49:02Z</published> <summary type="text">Nicknamed the &#34;flying Oval Office,&#34; modern Air Force One planes are equipped with everything the president might need.</summary> <author> <name>Talia Lakritz</name> <email>tlakritz@businessinsider.com</email> </author> <link href="https://www.businessinsider.com/air-force-one-photos-through-history-2021-8"></link> <category term="Politics" scheme="https://www.businessinsider.com/politics"></category> <category term="Transportation" scheme="https://www.businessinsider.com/transportation"></category> <category term="features"></category> <category term="air-force-one"></category> <category term="presidents"></category> <category term="us-history"></category> <category term="air-travel"></category> <category term="airplanes"></category> <media:thumbnail url="https://i.insider.com/67af6b38eb4be2fff9a4b133?format=jpeg" width="1667" height="1250"></media:thumbnail> </entry> <entry> <title>Ukraine is making weapons &#39;faster and cheaper&#39; than anywhere else in Europe &amp;mdash; and that&#39;s a problem, Danish PM warns</title> <updated>2025-02-16T15:38:44Z</updated> <id>https://www.businessinsider.com/europe-weapon-making-issue-highlighted-ukraine-being-faster-denmark-pm-2025-2</id> <content type="html">&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/67b1d5797bb3f854015d0c2a?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;1333&#34; width=&#34;2000&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;A man in a black jumper and beanie leans over a table that has silver mortar shells on it, with other tables and green boxes in the background&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;A worker assembles mortar shells at a factory in Ukraine.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;ul class=&#34;summary-list&#34;&gt;&lt;li&gt;Ukraine can make weaponry &amp;#34;faster and cheaper&amp;#34; than elsewhere in Europe, Denmark&amp;#39;s prime minister said.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&amp;#34;We have a problem, friends, if a country at war can produce faster than the rest of us,&amp;#34; Mette Frederiksen said at the Munich Security Conference.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Europe&amp;#39;s defense spending has soared in recent years, but problems remain.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/denmark-to-send-all-artillery-ukraine-pm-russia-war-2024-2&#34;&gt;Denmark&amp;#39;s prime minister&lt;/a&gt; has said Ukraine is able to produce weaponry &amp;#34;faster and cheaper&amp;#34; than anywhere else in Europe despite being at war, something she said should alarm the West.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Speaking on Saturday at the Munich Security Conference, attended by Business Insider, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned that Europe must ramp up production efforts going forward, working with the US to do so.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#34;We have a problem, friends, if a country at war can produce faster than the rest of us,&amp;#34; she said. &amp;#34;I&amp;#39;m not saying we are at wartime, but we cannot say we are at peacetime anymore. So, we need to change our mindset.&amp;#34;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Frederiksen added that Europe needed &amp;#34;a sense of urgency&amp;#34; and must reduce legislation and bureaucracy to ensure Ukraine &amp;#34;will get what they need, but also to ensure that we are able to protect ourselves.&amp;#34;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/67b1d22eeb4be2fff9a4ce4e?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;1333&#34; width=&#34;2000&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;A woman with dark, pulled-back hair and wearing a dark jacket speaks into a microphone in front of a white background with a blue hotel logo on it&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;Denmark&amp;#39;s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen at the Munich Security Conference.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;AP Photo/Matthias Schrader&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;p&gt;Since &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/why-did-russia-invade-ukraine-putin-politics-motive-2023-6&#34;&gt;Russia launched its full-scale invasion&lt;/a&gt; of Ukraine in February 2022, Ukraine has ramped up domestic arms production, producing increasing numbers of homemade products such as &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-tested-new-weapon-first-ballistic-missile-zelenskyy-2024-8&#34;&gt;missiles&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/30-percent-military-equipment-ukraine-used-2024-made-domestically-zelenskyy-2025-1&#34;&gt;howitzers&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraines-drone-makers-producing-fiber-optic-weapons-didnt-think-possible-2025-2&#34;&gt;drones&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy previously said that 30% of the military equipment Ukraine used in 2024 was domestically made.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Denmark has spearheaded a major project to make more weaponry in Ukraine, giving Frederiksen a particular insight into Ukraine&amp;#39;s production efforts.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;While Frederiksen did not point to specific figures, Ukraine&amp;#39;s defense industry has boomed, matching or even outpacing Europe in some areas.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The widespread use of drones on the battlefield has seen Ukraine become a leader in drone production, with Kyiv saying the country produced more than 1.5 million first-person-view drones in 2024.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ukraine also said it made 2.5 million mortar and artillery shells from January to November 2024, while the EU said it would make around 2 million artillery shells in 2025.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/67aba8cceb4be2fff9a44bff?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;2400&#34; width=&#34;3600&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;A Ukrainian drone operator wearing camouflage holds a drone controller with a fixed wing drone flying in front of him. He&amp;#39;s standing on black dirt with a grey background.&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;A Ukrainian drone operator.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Typhoon drone unit/National Guard of Ukraine&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;p&gt;Europe has significantly increased defense spending and production in recent years, but some officials say much more needs to be done.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Dovilė Šakalienė, the Lithuanian defense minister, told Business Insider in Munich that &amp;#34;Europe needs to up our defense spending very fast and very significantly to be able to stand on equal footing with the United States.&amp;#34;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Germany&amp;#39;s defense minister, Boris Pistorius, also addressed the issue over the weekend, saying, &amp;#34;The critics are right that we have to do more and that we did too little in the years before, much too little.&amp;#34;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Mark Rutte, NATO&amp;#39;s Secretary General, has also frequently called on European members of the alliance to boost military spending.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Speaking in Munich, he said the US was &amp;#34;right&amp;#34; to think &amp;#34;we have to step up, we have to spend more.&amp;#34;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;He added that both the US and Europe were &amp;#34;not producing nearly enough&amp;#34; and that Russia produces more ammunition in three months than NATO does in a year.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;But Vice President JD Vance, also appearing in Munich, seemed unmoved by Europe&amp;#39;s pledges, and used his speech to attack what he called free speech violations in Europe. Vance said it was &amp;#34;great&amp;#34; that Europe was planning to boost defense spending but that he was more worried about the threat to Europe from &amp;#34;within&amp;#34; rather than Russia.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;For his part, Trump has long called for Europe to spend more on defense, threatening to leave NATO if that did not happen and even suggesting before he was re-elected that he would &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/white-house-trump-nato-russia-comments-appalling-unhinged-2024-2&#34;&gt;allow Russia to attack NATO members that don&amp;#39;t spend enough on defense&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Some countries have already taken big steps toward boosting spending. In 2024, Poland led the alliance in defense spending as a percentage of GDP, with Warsaw investing more than 4% of its economic output in defense.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Lithuania and Estonia have also both &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/nato-member-beside-russia-thrilled-trump-wants-more-defense-spending-2025-2&#34;&gt;pledged to increase their own defense spending to 5% of GDP&lt;/a&gt;, saying that while they agreed with Trump&amp;#39;s demands, they were not taking that step solely because of the president but because of Russia&amp;#39;s threat.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;But the future of the US-Europe alliance appears at risk over more than just defense spending. Trump&amp;#39;s team in recent days suggested Europe could be sidelined in negotiations between Russia and the US on Ukraine and that it was &amp;#34;unrealistic&amp;#34; that Ukraine could get back all territory occupied by Russia.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Despite rising tensions, many leaders said in Munich that there were still opportunities to keep working with the US to combat Moscow.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Kristrún Mjöll Frostadóttir, the prime minister of Iceland, said that &amp;#34;it&amp;#39;s easy to become very negative&amp;#34; about the US-Europe relationship and called the situation &amp;#34;uncomfortable&amp;#34; as Ukraine&amp;#39;s sovereignty is at stake. But &amp;#34;that doesn&amp;#39;t mean relations with the US have to be bad,&amp;#34; she continued.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Šakalienė added that while Trump had &amp;#34;unique&amp;#34; and &amp;#34;unexpected&amp;#34; negotiating tactics, that wasn&amp;#39;t necessarily a negative thing as &amp;#34;playing by the rules does not work with Russia.&amp;#34;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;As many other European officials said over the weekend, the US also needs Europe and its capabilities as an ally, she went on.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;read-original&#34;&gt;Read the original article on &lt;a href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/europe-weapon-making-issue-highlighted-ukraine-being-faster-denmark-pm-2025-2&#34;&gt;Business Insider&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content> <published>2025-02-16T15:20:21Z</published> <summary type="text">Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned Saturday that Europe must ramp up production efforts going forward.</summary> <author> <name>Sinéad Baker</name> <email>sbaker@insider.com</email> </author> <link href="https://www.businessinsider.com/europe-weapon-making-issue-highlighted-ukraine-being-faster-denmark-pm-2025-2"></link> <category term="Military &amp; Defense" scheme="https://www.businessinsider.com/defense"></category> <category term="russia"></category> <category term="ukraine"></category> <category term="denmark"></category> <category term="nato"></category> <category term="news-uk"></category> <category term="uk-weekend"></category> <category term="war"></category> <media:thumbnail url="https://i.insider.com/67b1d5a0eb4be2fff9a4ce59?format=jpeg" width="1777" height="1333"></media:thumbnail> </entry> <entry> <title>I want my daughters to be best friends, but I also have to accept they might never be</title> <updated>2025-02-16T14:44:01Z</updated> <id>https://www.businessinsider.com/i-want-my-kids-to-be-best-friends-2025-2</id> <content type="html">&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/67acb3826630eb10385c5b69?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;4480&#34; width=&#34;6720&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Affectionate girl hugging sister at home&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;The author&amp;#39;s daughters (not pictured) are three years apart in age.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;OR Images/Getty Images&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;ul class=&#34;summary-list&#34;&gt;&lt;li&gt;I have two daughters, ages 4.5 and 1.5 years old. &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;I wanted one kid, but my husband felt we should give our oldest a sibling. &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;I want them to be friends and maybe I&amp;#39;m projecting the relationship I wanted to have with my brother.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;#34;Can you hold your sister&amp;#39;s hand?&amp;#34; I ask my oldest as we walk through the &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/flight-attendant-advice-traveling-kids-2022-2&#34;&gt;&lt;span&gt;crowded airport&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;I decided to &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/i-love-flying-solo-with-my-5-year-old-son-2022-12&#34;&gt;&lt;span&gt;fly solo with both kids&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span&gt; for a long weekend. In doing so, though, I also put a lot of trust in my 4.5 and 1.5-year-old daughters to get through the airport as a unified team.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;#34;Her hand is sweaty,&amp;#34; Maeve said, shaking her little sister off.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;#34;Please,&amp;#34; I try again. &amp;#34;She&amp;#39;s your little sister and best friend.&amp;#34; It&amp;#39;s hard to mask the pleading in my eyes as I roll two &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/travel/best-carry-on-bag&#34;&gt;&lt;span&gt;carry-on suitcases&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span&gt; and have absolutely zero free hands.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;#34;Ugh, fine,&amp;#34; Maeve said. Gemma smiles when her big sister grabs her hand again. And I smile, too.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h2 id=&#34;e042b9ce-93a8-44a2-ada6-b65bb17f669a&#34; data-toc-id=&#34;e042b9ce-93a8-44a2-ada6-b65bb17f669a&#34;&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;strong&gt;My husband and I disagreed on the number of kids we should have&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;My husband, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/only-child-benefits-financial-support-parents-2024-7&#34;&gt;&lt;span&gt;an only child&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span&gt;, had felt a bit lonely growing up, whereas I&amp;#39;d had a little brother and knew friendship wasn&amp;#39;t guaranteed. &lt;/span&gt;While I was happy with one, he wanted our daughter to have a sibling. He figured they&amp;#39;d be best friends. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;I told him we didn&amp;#39;t know if that was the case. They could very well hate each other. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;My brother and I are only 18 months apart. I remember being inseparable as little kids &amp;mdash; we looked out for each other, spent hours riding bikes together, and would put on elaborate plays for our parents. Today, though? We &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/sibling-relationships-can-be-complicated-and-change-through-the-years-2023-7&#34;&gt;&lt;span&gt;have a fraught relationship&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span&gt;. It was a divide that began when I was in middle school and has continued well into adulthood, thanks to a combination of differing personalities and the competitive atmosphere my parents unintentionally fostered.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h2 id=&#34;cef7b7ec-b6bd-4915-9b68-b9c3c65b52d7&#34; data-toc-id=&#34;cef7b7ec-b6bd-4915-9b68-b9c3c65b52d7&#34;&gt;&lt;span&gt;I want my kids to be friends&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;Now that I have two daughters who are three years apart, I&amp;#39;ve made it a goal that they not only have a strong relationship but are also friends &amp;mdash; maybe even &lt;em&gt;best &lt;/em&gt;friends.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;#34;You and your brother are best friends?&amp;#34; I once asked a coworker when I was pregnant with my second daughter. She&amp;#39;d told me she was traveling with her brother &amp;mdash; something I could never imagine doing. &amp;#34;How did that happen?&amp;#34;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;She said that her mom just kept telling them they were best friends, and so that&amp;#39;s what they became. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;Could it really be that simple? Almost immediately, I started telling my oldest that her new little sister would be her best friend.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;As it turned out, it&amp;#39;s obviously &lt;em&gt;not &lt;/em&gt;that simple. When Gemma was born, Maeve was (understandably) upset that this screaming potato with eyes had come in and taken her mom&amp;#39;s attention. It wasn&amp;#39;t until the six-month mark that Maeve seemed to finally accept that Gemma wasn&amp;#39;t going anywhere. And then, at around eight months, Maeve made Gemma laugh. Which seemed to give Maeve just enough satisfaction to try to make her laugh again.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h2 id=&#34;bfe868fd-8915-473b-8dd2-fda5233261e4&#34; data-toc-id=&#34;bfe868fd-8915-473b-8dd2-fda5233261e4&#34;&gt;&lt;span&gt;Their relationship has ups and downs&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;Almost two years into being siblings, I watch their relationship ebb and flow &amp;mdash; sometimes hugging and giggling, other times crying and screaming. The book &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://affiliate.insider.com?h=5b918dad087f1180a8c6080a8bb6994d0bb54765ce707ed313d6e801a5367bb1&amp;amp;postID=67acb248e72cf8b49374e587&amp;amp;postSlug=i-want-my-kids-to-be-best-friends-2025-2&amp;amp;site=bi&amp;amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FSiblings-Without-Rivalry-Children-Together%2Fdp%2F0393342212&#34;&gt;&lt;span&gt;&amp;#34;Siblings Without Rivalry&amp;#34;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span&gt; told me to set expectations low &amp;mdash; they don&amp;#39;t need to be friends, the goal should be for them to have a good relationship.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;Still, I &lt;em&gt;want &lt;/em&gt;them to be friends. I know that I&amp;#39;m projecting the relationship I wish I&amp;#39;d had with my brother onto them. But I can&amp;#39;t help it &amp;mdash; I don&amp;#39;t want them to grow up and not be able to rely on each other. While I know I can&amp;#39;t force them to willingly spend time together (they may very well end up like my brother and I), there are some things I can control.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;So, for now, I try to plan activities they both like to do together. I occasionally remind them they&amp;#39;re built-in best friends. And when something good happens for one of them (like my daughter&amp;#39;s holiday recital), I make sure her sister cheers her on from the crowd. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;Soon enough, I won&amp;#39;t be able to dictate how they spend their time, and it will be up to them to decide their future relationship. Selfishly, I hope that relationship is friendly, and I have to hold on to that.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;read-original&#34;&gt;Read the original article on &lt;a href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/i-want-my-kids-to-be-best-friends-2025-2&#34;&gt;Business Insider&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content> <published>2025-02-16T14:44:01Z</published> <summary type="text">My daughters are three years apart. While I was fine having one child, my husband felt like we needed two so they could be friends. </summary> <author> <name>Erin La Rosa</name> <email>insider@insider.com</email> </author> <link href="https://www.businessinsider.com/i-want-my-kids-to-be-best-friends-2025-2"></link> <category term="Parenting" scheme="https://www.businessinsider.com/parenting"></category> <category term="essay"></category> <category term="parenting"></category> <category term="parenting-freelancer"></category> <category term="siblings"></category> <media:thumbnail url="https://i.insider.com/67acb4196630eb10385c5b8b?format=jpeg" width="5973" height="4480"></media:thumbnail> </entry> <entry> <title>I moved from Russia to Tennessee. I tried to become the perfect Southern mother without losing my Russian culture.</title> <updated>2025-02-16T14:17:01Z</updated> <id>https://www.businessinsider.com/moved-from-russia-to-tennessee-became-southern-mother-2025-2</id> <content type="html">&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/67ae59e56630eb10385c96d2?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;3334&#34; width=&#34;4445&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;a mom and son baking cookies in the kitchen&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;The author (not pictured) became a perfect Southern mom, loving to cook.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Maria Korneeva/Getty Images&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;ul class=&#34;summary-list&#34;&gt;&lt;li&gt;I moved from Russia to the US as a teen for college and loved Southern culture.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;When I became a mother, I mixed my Russian culture with Southern ideals.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;It wasn&amp;#39;t until I became a single mother that I saw how great the South truly is.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;It was the summer of 1994. I was only 19 and leaving Russia to &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/attend-state-school-college-best-decision-2025-2&#34;&gt;start college&lt;/a&gt; in America. I grew up in the most amazing family that loved art, culture, and cooking.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sunday brunches, fun Friday dinners with cousins, and dance parties at my grandmother&amp;#39;s house after a big meal were always a big hit. My family has been there for me at every &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/field-day-should-be-cancelled-causes-embarrassment-2023-9&#34;&gt;school event&lt;/a&gt;, dance recital, theater production, and math competition. They threw me a big surprise party and invited my friends and family to send me to America.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;A few days later, I began my journey to the US. After almost 10 hours of travel, I landed in New York. My next stop was Nashville, a land of country music, the best church &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/perfect-mac-and-cheese-for-super-bowl-2024-2&#34;&gt;potluck meals&lt;/a&gt; in the South, and high humidity.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It did not take long to dive into the charming &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/things-southerners-know-2017-9&#34;&gt;southern culture&lt;/a&gt;. The little town in western Tennessee &amp;mdash; Henderson &amp;mdash; where I went to college was everything I thought it would be.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The people I met there shaped me into the mother I am today, with &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/rich-gen-z-redefining-luxury-wealth-travel-clothing-food-scents-2025-2&#34;&gt;old-fashioned values&lt;/a&gt; and a pantry room full of southern cooking recipe books &amp;mdash; but I never forgot my Russian roots.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h2 id=&#34;4ce4e3e0-708e-4781-9686-fa3312b8a216&#34; data-toc-id=&#34;4ce4e3e0-708e-4781-9686-fa3312b8a216&#34;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;My parenting became a mix of Russian culture and Southern ideals&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;p&gt;Like many girls in the 90s, I married young at the age of 21 in a small church &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/nashville-local-upset-become-party-destination-culture-2024-1&#34;&gt;outside Nashville&lt;/a&gt;. By the time I turned 30, I was a mom of two amazing sons.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;My life was more than baking cornbread and biscuits and serving sweet tea for Sunday lunches. I embraced my upbringing and was quite excited to introduce my Russian traditions, which had been passed from my grandparents to my parents.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Being a Russian mom to me meant staying home and raising my kids. It meant throwing big birthday parties and inviting all your adult Russian friends and their kids. Being a Russian parent was about teaching my kids about &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/i-own-a-russian-restaurant-we-hired-security-for-harassment-2022-4&#34;&gt;my home country&amp;#39;s cuisine&lt;/a&gt; and accepting that they might not like it. It meant teaching my kids everything about Russian art, music, and books &amp;mdash; just how my mom raised me.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Even though I left my parents and everything I knew to start a new life in America, I took a piece of my heart with me to America.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Still, I wanted to be a perfect Southern Mom. After 20 years of living in the US, I learned to speak English with a little drawl, make cornbread and chili for potluck meals, and bake homemade cookies. I eventually mastered the art of &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/midwest-south-differences-food-culture-2024-1&#34;&gt;Southern hospitality&lt;/a&gt;, kids&amp;#39; sleepovers, and pizza nights.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I still took my kids to church because everyone in the South seemingly went to church on Sunday. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sometimes, I felt like a Russian soul operating in the body of an American Southern mother.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h2 id=&#34;5ca7c402-4845-4055-9024-c23c5559ab4a&#34; data-toc-id=&#34;5ca7c402-4845-4055-9024-c23c5559ab4a&#34;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Going through a divorce showed me a new side of the South&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;p&gt;Just before Christmas in 2014, I became a &lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; class=&#34;&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/working-from-home-single-mom-saved-relationship-with-daughter-2025-2&#34;&gt;single divorced mom&lt;/a&gt; and started my life over again in Nashville. I was overwhelmed. I had to adjust my lifestyle, thinking, and career choices.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I had to become the most fearless mother. I also had to figure out how to continue living my life as if nothing had changed so my kids could weather the storm.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Thankfully, the community I built in Tennessee helped me along the way. That&amp;#39;s when I learned the Southern way of welcoming people was more than an accent and sharing a recipe. Some people truly opened their hearts to me and helped me care for my children independently. They were there for me. They helped my family and me through a challenging time.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;That&amp;#39;s when I saw the real soul of the South.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;After 20 years of living in America, I proudly carry the title of a perfect Southern Mom, but when I became a single mother, I finally learned what it meant to be a true Southerner.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;read-original&#34;&gt;Read the original article on &lt;a href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/moved-from-russia-to-tennessee-became-southern-mother-2025-2&#34;&gt;Business Insider&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content> <published>2025-02-16T14:17:01Z</published> <summary type="text">Even though I grew up in Russia, I wanted to be the perfect Southern mother to my two sons. I adopted old-fashioned values and Southern recipes.</summary> <author> <name>Tatyana Gann</name> <email>insider@insider.com</email> </author> <link href="https://www.businessinsider.com/moved-from-russia-to-tennessee-became-southern-mother-2025-2"></link> <category term="Parenting" scheme="https://www.businessinsider.com/parenting"></category> <category term="Travel" scheme="https://www.businessinsider.com/travel"></category> <category term="essay"></category> <category term="parenting-freelancer"></category> <category term="parenting"></category> <category term="russia"></category> <category term="southerner"></category> <category term="tennessee"></category> <media:thumbnail url="https://i.insider.com/67ae59f5eb4be2fff9a49b35?format=jpeg" width="4445" height="3334"></media:thumbnail> </entry> <entry> <title>I became a millionaire at 27. I still rent a modest condo and hang out with my high school friends.</title> <updated>2025-02-16T14:07:02Z</updated> <id>https://www.businessinsider.com/young-millionaire-still-rents-modest-condo-2025-2</id> <content type="html">&lt;figure&gt;&lt;img src=&#34;https://i.insider.com/67ae387b6630eb10385c8fb2?format=jpeg&#34; height=&#34;1227&#34; width=&#34;1636&#34; charset=&#34;&#34; alt=&#34;Darrell Spencer sanding next to a woman holding a product while on the set of a show.&#34;/&gt;&lt;figcaption&gt;Darrell Spencer is the founder of Kings Crowning and Crowned Skin.&lt;p class=&#34;copyright&#34;&gt;Courtesy of Darrell Spencer&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/figcaption&gt;&lt;/figure&gt;&lt;ul class=&#34;summary-list&#34;&gt;&lt;li&gt;Darrell Spencer founded Crowned Skin, a skincare brand for men.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;He invested profits into real estate, but still rents the condo that he lives in.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;He says his high school friends don&amp;#39;t expect him to pay for things.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;em&gt;This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; href=&#34;https://www.instagram.com/iamdarrellspencer/&#34;&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;em&gt;Darrell Spencer&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;em&gt;, founder of &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; href=&#34;https://crownedskin.com/&#34;&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;em&gt;Crowned Skin&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;em&gt;. It has been edited for length and clarity.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;Growing up, my mom worked for the post office, and my dad was an officer with the Chicago Police Department. They rose through the ranks at those solid, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/middle-class-lifestyle-six-figure-salary-economy-2024-5&#34;&gt;&lt;span&gt;middle-class jobs&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span&gt; until my mom was a Postmaster and my dad was a Commander. Their income covered necessities for me and my sister, but my parents had another income source that pushed us into the upper middle class: real estate investing.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;One of my first memories is living in a three-family home in Chicago. My dad owned the building, so we were living essentially for free since the other tenants&amp;#39; rent&amp;#39; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/i-paid-my-mortgage-off-early-sometimes-i-regret-it-2025-2&#34;&gt;&lt;span&gt;paid the mortgage&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span&gt; &amp;mdash; it was house hacking before that term existed.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;My dad sold that building for a substantial profit, which he used to buy us a one-family home while also &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-pick-rental-property-earn-passive-income-cash-flow-2024-2&#34;&gt;&lt;span&gt;reinvesting in rental properties&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span&gt;. I started learning at an early age that real estate was a great way to build wealth while also maintaining cash flow through asset appreciation.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h2 id=&#34;bb920d3f-88b0-4998-99fb-5cd9352dcc54&#34; data-toc-id=&#34;bb920d3f-88b0-4998-99fb-5cd9352dcc54&#34;&gt;&lt;span&gt;My company made $4 million during its first year&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;We were comfortable financially, but I knew we weren&amp;#39;t rich. I also saw how hard my parents worked. In addition to the police department and real estate, my dad had a third part-time job. I knew I wanted to go to college, but I didn&amp;#39;t want my parents to have the financial burden of paying for it. I applied for a &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/student-loans/how-to-get-college-scholarship&#34;&gt;&lt;span&gt;full-ride scholarship&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span&gt;, and being able to tell them I got it felt like a gift to them and me.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;After college, I worked for the biggest-name tech companies, focusing on digital marketing strategy. That sparked my interest in entrepreneurship. I first started my business, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; href=&#34;https://www.kingscrowning.com/collections/satin-lined-turbans/products/turbans?gad_source=1&amp;amp;gclid=CjwKCAiAh6y9BhBREiwApBLHC7OYVQtWd9ZIs9E9yXiKVCsRKTviZzkI9jidLeqqJPmnJbGbjPkr4xoCGHYQAvD_BwE&amp;amp;tw_adid=700818232004&amp;amp;tw_campaign=14251093890&amp;amp;tw_source=google&amp;amp;variant=42671075721469&#34;&gt;&lt;span&gt;Kings Crowning&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span&gt;, about five years ago, which sells satin-lined hair wraps for men of color. About two years ago, I launched Crowned Skin, which makes men&amp;#39;s body butter with scents and pheromones. I still own both companies, but Crowned Skin has taken off in a huge way, making $4 million in revenue during the first year.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h2 id=&#34;6abb9271-2ad9-434f-a338-7f9f909b2b1c&#34; data-toc-id=&#34;6abb9271-2ad9-434f-a338-7f9f909b2b1c&#34;&gt;&lt;span&gt;I own 18 rentals, but I rent the condo where I live&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;As soon as I started making money, I started investing in real estate. I now own about 18 rental units in greater Chicago. Last year, I officially &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/being-a-millionaire-made-it-difficult-to-connect-with-friends-2025-2&#34;&gt;&lt;span&gt;became a millionaire&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span&gt; at 27. I see real estate investing as a way to continue to grow my wealth and create more financial stability independent of my companies.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;Despite that, I still rent the condo I live in. It&amp;#39;s modest: about 1,200 square feet and three bedrooms. As a real estate investor, I&amp;#39;m very conscious about any debt I take on since banks consider my debt-to-income ratio when making loans. I haven&amp;#39;t taken on a personal mortgage because I can make more money taking on loans for rental properties. When I take the leap into a personal mortgage, it will be for my first home.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;I&amp;#39;m &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/multimillionaire-balance-frugality-treating-kids-indulging-2025-2&#34;&gt;&lt;span&gt;conscious of spending&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span&gt;, but I have some indulgences, like the Porsche Panamera I drive. Driving it makes me feel good. I love cars, and my parents always drove nice vehicles like Land Rovers and BMWs.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h2 id=&#34;07213943-94c4-4da3-971c-49c59788adaa&#34; data-toc-id=&#34;07213943-94c4-4da3-971c-49c59788adaa&#34;&gt;&lt;span&gt;My old friends can&amp;#39;t relate to my wealth, but we still hang&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;I still hang out with a lot of my high school friends. The foundation of our friendship is all the experiences we shared growing up and stories that we can still laugh about today. Sure, I have some new experiences because of my wealth they can&amp;#39;t relate to, but we share enough that the friendships are still deep.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;If I&amp;#39;m out with friends I&amp;#39;ll often pick up the tab for dinner or drinks. I want to do it, and I appreciate that my friends never expect me to pay. I&amp;#39;ve worked really hard to get where I am. I continue to live modestly and spend strategically to &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a target=&#34;_blank&#34; href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/top-wealth-building-strategy-2025-starting-ecommerce-business-2025-1&#34;&gt;&lt;span&gt;build my wealth&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span&gt;. I would be uncomfortable if people expected me to pay just because of my financial status. Luckily, money hasn&amp;#39;t created a wedge in any of my relationships, and I think that&amp;#39;s a testament to the quality of friends that I have.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;h2 id=&#34;82903c66-4bd2-4401-86be-39ad1d24349d&#34; data-toc-id=&#34;82903c66-4bd2-4401-86be-39ad1d24349d&#34;&gt;&lt;span&gt;I work as if I&amp;#39;m not a millionaire&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;These days, I&amp;#39;m very comfortable financially, but I&amp;#39;m careful not to be complacent. I know that when you feel too comfortable, that&amp;#39;s when things can get shaky. Money can go as quickly as it came.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;So, I still work like I&amp;#39;m young and hungry, not like I&amp;#39;m a millionaire. I have big dreams for my businesses and for myself. That&amp;#39;s just called ambition.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&#34;read-original&#34;&gt;Read the original article on &lt;a href=&#34;https://www.businessinsider.com/young-millionaire-still-rents-modest-condo-2025-2&#34;&gt;Business Insider&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content> <published>2025-02-16T14:07:02Z</published> <summary type="text">Darrell Spencer became a millionaire at 27 through investing and his business, Crowned Kings. He rents a modest condo and spends strategically. </summary> <author> <name>Kelly Burch</name> <email>insider@insider.com</email> </author> <link href="https://www.businessinsider.com/young-millionaire-still-rents-modest-condo-2025-2"></link> <category term="Health" scheme="https://www.businessinsider.com/health"></category> <category term="as-told-to"></category> <category term="health"></category> <category term="health-freelancer"></category> <category term="finance"></category> <category term="career"></category> <category term="money"></category> <category term="budget"></category> <category term="real-estate-investing"></category> <category term="business"></category> <media:thumbnail url="https://i.insider.com/67ae39446630eb10385c8fdd?format=jpeg" width="1580" height="1185"></media:thumbnail> </entry> </feed>