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Sheldon Cooper | Lightrocket | Getty ImagesCentene said it offered buyouts to some employees on Monday, as the health insurer grapples with higher medical costs, funding cuts and membership declines. “Centene is positioning the company to lead the future of healthcare – working to deliver a simpler and better experience for our members and partners while meeting the realities of today’s healthcare environment,” a company spokesperson said in a statement. “Today we announced a Voluntary Separation Program to support employees who may be considering a transition.”The company did not indicate how many employees it offered buyouts to, or how much…

Rupert Murdoch chased the TV Guide of the Future for years. He spent billions trying to build an on-screen map for digital television before giving up.Now his son Lachlan looks like he’s making it happen by buying Roku in a $22 billion deal.On paper, Lachlan’s transaction seems like the thing his dad spent much of the ’90s and 2000s trying to put together: Once the deal closes, the Murdochs will own the interface that 100 million households use when they want to stream something.It’s a big deal because it means Fox won’t just be a content company, but a distributor…

How much would you pay to help your employees have a good night sleep?Last year, the CEO of AI startup Factory took an unusual talent management tactic: buying everyone pricey sleep tech.Factory has grown rapidly since its 2023 founding. Factory now has 120 employees and raised $150 million in April, backed by Khosla Ventures, Sequoia Capital, and Blackstone.CEO Matan Grinberg shared on “20VC” that he gave every employee a $3,000 Eight Sleep mattress cover when the startup had 30 employees. “The decadence of startups, right?” he said.Eight Sleep’s mattress covers use internal liquid to cool and heat a bed. The…

Rankin Carroll, chief brand officer of Mars Snacking, says the company behind your favorite candies like M&M’s, Snickers, Skittles, and Twix is reworking how it advertises to consumers — and the shift could mean people start seeing very different versions of the same candy campaign.In an interview on Business Insider’s upcoming “CMO Insider” podcast, Carroll said Mars is moving away from traditional, broad advertising campaigns built around mass TV reach and toward more personalized marketing powered by consumer data and AI tools.”We are able to use the data to be much more precise,” Carroll said.The strategy comes as Mars integrates…

Fox mostly sat out the streaming wars, but is making a huge move by acquiring Roku.Buying Roku would make Fox the third-largest TV distributor in the US by monthly viewership, according to Nielsen’s March data (or fourth-largest if Paramount Skydance secures control of Warner Bros. Discovery).That would put it behind YouTube and Disney but ahead of Netflix in total US TV viewership.How did that happen? It mostly comes down to viewership growth in the free streaming business, which both Fox and Roku have focused on.Fox would have a 10% US TV viewership share across its broadcast network, cable channels like…

Students’ chances of tossing their graduation caps on time can vary widely by the US state where they attend high school.In Alaska, the rate of students who graduate from high school in four years is 79.87%, compared to Kentucky’s 93.60%.While graduation rates are one way to measure academic achievement and are used by local and state governments to track educational progress, they are complex metrics.For starters, diploma requirements vary from state to state, meaning students in different states face different course and testing requirements to earn a diploma, influencing the rigor of education demonstrated by a high school degree.Still, the…

The electronic news ticker of Fox News reads headlines at the News Corp. Building in the Midtown Manhattan area of New York City, U.S., July 20, 2025.Eduardo Munoz | ReutersFox Corp. has reached an agreement to acquire Roku for roughly $22 billion, marking another chapter in media consolidation as the industry grapples with changing dynamics and mounting challenges. On Monday Fox announced it would acquire Roku for $160 per share in a cash and stock transaction. Fox plans to fund the cash portion of the deal with a combination of cash on hand and new debt. The company said it…

To win over today’s diners, KFC is prioritizing boneless chicken menu items, expanding its sauce options and designing its restaurants to keep customers’ attention.These days, the Yum Brands chain is facing stiff competition, both from upstart chicken chains and legacy giants like McDonald’s that are betting big on the growing global popularity of chicken. While KFC claims to have invented the chicken quick-service restaurant category, being the first isn’t the same as being No. 1, particularly in the U.S., where its sales have slumped in recent years.”In an increasingly crowded category, we have a clear opportunity to set the standard…

Pain at the pump is easing.The average price of gas across the US has fallen for three consecutive weeks, and continued to fall on Monday, according to AAA data.”The national average for a gallon of regular has been falling for three straight weeks, delivering some relief to drivers during the busy summer travel season,” AAA said in a statement on Friday.At the time of AAA’s release, the average price of a gallon of gas nationwide was $4.12, down from a high of $4.56 in May. By Monday morning, the average price had fallen a further 1.5% to $4.06.Gas prices spiked…

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Amanda Snyder Cathey, a senior product designer in Santa Fe, New Mexico, who built a free layoff support tool. Her identity and background have been verified. This story has been edited for length and clarity.The day after finalizing my divorce in February, I got laid off from a senior product design role at a real estate tech company. A few weeks later, my landlord told me I had to quickly move out because the house I was renting had a septic issue.I knew getting laid off was a possibility. We had…