Author: Editor

The creator economy looks a lot different than its 2022 surge.Artificial intelligence is changing how creators produce content. Social apps are becoming e-commerce platforms, while shopping apps are adding social features. And the golden era of becoming a YouTube and TikTok superstar has gotten harder as platforms prioritize niche, personalized feeds.If you’re an investor, where do you make bets?Business Insider asked investors who study the creator space which upstarts they believed show promise. Each VC provided a company they had invested in, as well as one outside of their portfolio.As AI is slapped onto every pitch deck, finding startups that…

When McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski posted a taste test of the chain’s new Big Arch burger, the internet had notes.Viewers mocked his buttoned-up delivery, his modest mouthful, and zeroed in on one word in particular: his description of the double-patty indulgence as a “product.” Memes painted him as overly corporate and detached, more boardroom than drive-thru, and questioned whether he actually enjoyed the burger he was promoting.The clip didn’t just spark ridicule. It set off a chain reaction across the fast-food industry.In the days since the clip went viral, rival CEOs from fast-food giants like Burger King to smaller chains like Ohio-based Gold…

There’s something going on at Steak ‘n Shake lately. It’s put up giant American flags and axed microwaves. Its pinned tweet is a picture of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Judging by the fast-food chain’s social media, it’s really into beef tallow. It celebrates a special dubbed “Tesla Tallow Tuesday” from 2:22 pm to 4:20 pm each week and teases plans for tallow soap. It’s very excited about its tots fried in tallow.Steak ‘n Shake is embracing the Make America Healthy Again agenda and making an outwardly Make America Great Again turn.In an era where many…

Coach’s former CEO said Gen Z reminds him of his generation.Speaking to Bloomberg in an interview released on Sunday, ex-CEO Lew Frankfort said he started at the New York City-based luxury company 45 years ago.”So I’ve seen generations change, and Gen Z is the generation that’s most similar to my generation, the sixties,” he said.”They’re very value-driven,” Frankfort added. “They’re concerned with climate, they’re concerned with authenticity, truth, being who they are, and relationships.”Frankfort joined Coach in 1979 and served as the company’s CEO and chairman from 1985 through 2014. He sought to position Coach as an “accessible luxury” brand.…

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Scottlynn Krause, the co-owner of CS80 Vintage. It has been edited for length and clarity. Loading audio narration… My best friend is Hannah, and her grandpa, Franz, owned a sporting goods store in the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s. When he went out of business, he boxed up his stock, and the unused items sat in a storage unit from 1990 until 2021. In the summer of 2021, Hannah’s mom called my mom, who is an organizer for hoarders, asking for help with the storage unit. She didn’t know what to do…

Financial disclosure laws apply to justices, but with some caveats. All federal employees (including judges) have to disclose “income, dividends, most capital gains, significant debts, the purchase or sale of land, and gifts, among other things,” per the Brennan Center.However, Supreme Court justices aren’t beholden to the code of conduct for other federal judges, the “Judicial Conference’s interpretations of the ethics law.”In 1991, the justices agreed to follow these lower-court rules, but it was voluntary. Then, in 2023, the Court adopted its own formal Code of Conduct for Justices, but it did not include a mechanism for enforcement.This means it’s a…

Figure skating has long been a big part of my life. At 15, I convinced my school district to override attendance so I could pursue my then-competitive figure skating career. I then scheduled college classes around training.Three undergraduate apartments and two graduate dorms later, I found a great place to live in New York City on Bleecker and Thompson for three years. I worked as a private figure skating coach at the Wollman and Chelsea Piers ice rinks. At 25, I enrolled at UCLA as a postdoctoral fellow and snagged a place in the Venice Canals. I loved it for…

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Victoria Hattersley, a 70-year-old millionaire who lives in Mount Vernon, Washington, about the state’s proposed millionaire tax. The bill would create a 9.9% tax on income earned over $1 million. The following has been edited for length and clarity. Loading audio narration… We didn’t have a lot of money when I was a kid. I lived in Trumbull, Connecticut, which was a more affluent town, but we weren’t the affluent people.My friends were going shopping at the really fancy mall, and I had to go to the discount stores, so I…

Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for freeYour guide to what Trump’s second term means for Washington, business and the worldAs cash-strapped US states look to plug holes in their budgets, plans to raise taxes on the super-wealthy are gaining support. The most prominent is California’s proposal for a “one-time” 5 per cent tax on the total wealth of residents with a net worth of $1bn or more, which could go to a ballot in November. Elsewhere, New York mayor Zohran Mamdani has threatened higher property taxes if state legislators do not approve his proposed levy on millionaires. Virginia, Washington…

I sat on the terrace of my Washington Heights apartment building, soaking in the view of the city skyline one last time.It was my last night in New York City before I moved back to India. I’d relocated to the US five years earlier, at age 17, to study journalism and business management. I went on to work at CBS News, which was a dream come true. Saying goodbye was incredibly hard, but I also knew more challenges lay ahead.At that point, I hadn’t heard the term “reverse culture shock” — a sense of disorientation you feel when returning to…