Author: Editor

Earlier this year, I shook a strategy leader out of her deeply held convictions by asking three questions that made her stop and think. It shifted the tenor of the discussion, and after a more expansive, free-flowing exchange, she asked me how I find new ways to address complex issues. The answer surprised her: I think and ask questions like a writer. I didn’t become a sharper strategist by filling my calendar with training courses or innovation workshops. I became sharper by writing fiction. Loading audio narration… And I believe this is a skill and mental framework that will keep…

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav’s potential payout of more than $800 million from the Paramount Skydance deal highlights an obscure tax rule originally designed to limit CEO pay.According to SEC filings, Zaslav could collect hundreds of millions of dollars in severance and other stock awards and payments following Paramount’s acquisition of WBD. The payments include about $500 million in share awards, about $115 million in vested stock awards and $34 million in cash, according to the filings.The deal also includes up to $335 million in potential payments to Zaslav for what’s known as the “golden parachute” excise tax. The…

A version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.Washington state’s proposed new income tax includes the largest “marriage penalty” in the nation, placing higher taxes on certain couples who file jointly, according to tax experts.The state House of Representatives approved Washington’s first-ever income tax, imposing a 9.9% tax on income of more than $1 million a year. Having also passed the state Senate, it will now go to the governor, who plans to sign it into law.…

Pavlo Gonchar | Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty ImagesNexstar Media Group closed its acquisition of fellow broadcast station group owner Tegna after sealing regulatory approval, despite antitrust lawsuits filed against the deal in recent days.Nexstar’s $6.2 billion merger with Tegna brings together more than 260 local broadcast TV affiliate stations across the U.S. Nexstar and Tegna, like other broadcast station group peers, have been looking to consolidate as the industry faces the same challenges as its cable and entertainment media counterparts — namely the drop in pay-TV customers due to the rise of streaming and tech options. “This transaction…

CBS News’ leadership just told staffers why the broadcast network is enacting a new round of job cuts.”Today we are reducing the size of our workforce,” top editor Bari Weiss and network president Tom Cibrowski said in a memo to CBS News staff on Friday morning, which was obtained by Business Insider.”It’s no secret that the news business is changing radically, and that we need to change along with it,” they wrote.A person with direct knowledge of the cuts told Business Insider that CBS News is laying off about 6% of its approximately 1,100 employees. The company also told staffers that on May…

Despite being a self-proclaimed professional shopper, I’d never set foot in an Eddie Bauer until this week.I’d always assumed the retailer specialized in outdoor gear and menswear — two categories I’m not particularly interested in.As it turns out, I was only half right. The mid-range brand is known for its outdoor products, but it also sells casual clothes like jeans and sweaters, with plenty of offerings for women.However, I’m late to the game. Business Insider reported on Monday that nearly 200 Eddie Bauer locations in the US and Canada are expected to close after the operating entity behind the stores…

I opened up my annual performance review and gasped. For the first time, I was seeing the words “Successful Contributor” instead of the “Exceptional Contributor” I’d earned the previous two years. Loading audio narration… So what changed? I became a mom.It wasn’t just about the words. It was also that future promotions were tied to them, and my annual review was now stored away in an HR file as a reference point for any raise opportunities.As our family’s primary earner, my salary covered our health insurance, mortgage, and new life as a family of three. I couldn’t afford to let…

When Ryan Lake and Stephen Rooney scan a bar menu, they might spot a drink they once evaluated — or helped sell. Loading audio narration… The JPMorgan bankers cover the beverage industry, talking to everyone from executives to beer distributors to lawyers to retailers to figure out where consumer tastes are headed.After a slowdown last year, partly due to tariffs, the pair is prepping to leverage that expertise as beverage M&A is expected to rebound in 2026, according to the investment bank Capstone Partners.”There’s been so much activity in the smaller space — bigger players buying smaller brands that are…

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Tejal Rives, 35, who lives in Arizona. The following has been edited for length and clarity. Loading audio narration… In October 2025, I read a news article that Amazon was planning to cut jobs. I’d survived other layoffs, but this time my gut told me I’d be affected. Sure enough, not long after, I received an email that my position as a product marketer was being eliminated.I was one of 14,000 people impacted, and even though I understood the decision wasn’t personal, it was very disheartening. I thought up-skilling in AI…

True Religion had to recognize some hard truths in order to turn its brand around. Loading audio narration… When Michael Buckley returned to True Religion as CEO in 2019, he inherited a company that was struggling to emerge from bankruptcy. Since then, he’s helped turn things around — doubling sales to $500 million from 2022 to 2025 — and now aims to reach $1 billion in revenue within five years.He said the company didn’t reach an annual revenue growth rate of 20% last year by sticking to the strategies from its heyday in the early 2000s, when it was selling…