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☆ Ex-Waymo CEO is not impressed by Tesla's Robotaxi
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-11 | by ( Lauren Edmonds | Tom Carter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Waymo's ex-CEO said Tesla isn't "serious about building a safe and accessible Robotaxi business." AdvertisementIt seems former Waymo CEO John Krafcik was unimpressed by Tesla CEO Elon Musk's much-hyped "We, Robot" event. Alongside the Robotaxi, Tesla also showed off a 20-passenger Robovan and its Optimus humanoid robots. He added: "If a company were serious about building a safe and accessible Robotaxi business, it would look nothing like what was shown, or said, last night." AdvertisementMusk teased Tesla Robotaxis in 2019.

Persons: Tesla, Waymo's, Elon, —, John Krafcik, Elon Musk's, Musk, Krafcik, Tesla's Robovan, Donald Trump, Phil Koopman, Horacio Villalobos, Morgan Stanley, Gene Munster Organizations: Service, Warner Bros, Fifth, Business, Deepwater Asset Management Locations: Burbank , California

☆ I attended Bryan Johnson's Don't Die Summit in Singapore. It started with a rave.
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-03 | by ( Amanda Goh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Bryan Johnson brought his "Don't Die" summit to Singapore in mid-September. This year, Bryan Johnson, the millionaire entrepreneur obsessed with reversing his biological age, brought his "Don't Die" summit to Singapore, less than two weeks after a similar event in San Francisco. The "Don't Die" summit organizers provided Business Insider with access to attend the event. Coinbase's former chief technology officer Balaji Srinivasan even talked about how he planned to "build an actual 'Don't Die' community" at his three-month crypto-focused "school" for adults in nearby Malaysia. As he invited several audience members onstage for a discussion about his "Don't Die" philosophy, I surveyed the room.

Persons: Bryan Johnson, Johnson, —, Taki Taki, blared, Amanda Goh, Coinbase's, Balaji Srinivasan, Horacio Villalobos, Dustin Giallanza, Andrea Maier, hasn't, Chrystal Fong, Dr, Fong, Marion Neubronner, Jacky Wang, Wang, Dan Buettner Organizations: Service, Bloomberg, National University of Singapore, FDA, AsiaHealth Partners Locations: Singapore, San Francisco, Miami , New York, Los Angeles, Valley, Southeast Asia, Malaysia, Taiwan

☆ Americans aren't spending like they used to, and it's forcing a reckoning for companies from Starbucks to Whirlpool
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-31 | by ( Alex Bitter | Dominick Reuter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Read previewShoppers are slowing down spending on everything from burgers to dishwashers, and that's bad news for a growing number of companies. While inflation has since cooled, Americans are still stuck with higher prices for many of the things they buy. Shoppers are slowing down food spending — even at grocery storesThe spending slowdown has hit restaurant chains, which have launched new deals to get customers in the door. Over the past two years, income growth has helped consumer spending beat expectations, Jefferies analyst Corey Tarlowe said in a note on Monday. One bright spot in consumer spending: Cruises, which are seeing record demand.

Persons: —, McDonald's, Burger, Taco, Jefferies, ETIENNE LAURENT, Laxman Narasimhan, It's, Dirk Van de, Van de, Andrew M, Watterson, Michael Liersch, Wells, Corey Tarlowe, Horacio Villalobos, dreuter@businessinsider.com Organizations: Service, PepsiCo, UPS, Business, Shoppers, Burger King, Taco Bell, Starbucks, Getty, Walmart, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Unilever, Whirlpool, Airlines, Jefferies, Costco Locations: Pellegrino, North America

☆ Fintech has hit a bottom after plunge in valuations and squeeze on funding, execs and VCs say
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-13 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Executives and investors at the Money20/20 event in Amsterdam last week told CNBC that valuations have corrected from unsustainable highs from the industry's heyday in 2020 and 2021. Iana Dimitrova, CEO of embedded finance startup OpenPayd, told CNBC in an interview at the firm's booth that the market has "recalibrated." "Value is now ascribed to businesses that manage to prove there is a solid use case, solid business model," Dimitrova told CNBC. In 2021, global fintech funding reached an all-time peak of $238.9 billion, according to KPMG. Nanu added that the trend mimics the "craziness" fintech saw in terms of frothy valuations in 2020 and 2021.

Persons: Long, Dimitrova, Horacio Villalobos, Revolut, Prajit Nanu, fintech, Nanu, OpenPayd's Dimitrova, OpenPayd, Crypto, Andrea Pirlo, Fintech execs, they're, James Black, IVP, We've, Black, Charles McManus, Chris Ratcliffe Organizations: Bloomberg, Getty, AMSTERDAM, CNBC, RAI, KPMG, Companies, U.S ., ClearBank, Global Summit Locations: Amsterdam, Lisbon, Portugal, fintech, Italian, stablecoins

☆ Inside the Growing Alarm Over Blackstone's BREIT Real-Estate Fund
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-07 | by ( Bethany Mclean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +23 min

Investors in Blackstone's real-estate fund asked for their money back in droves — more than $15 billion to date. Unless the real-estate market comes roaring back, analysts warn, BREIT could end up shrinking to a fraction of its current size, leaving the fund's investors holding the bag. Only 3% of BREIT's holdings are in office buildings, which have been ground zero for commercial real estate pain. Advertisement"Not all real estate is created equal," BREIT boasted in a recent letter to stockholders, "and where you invest matters." "Commercial real estate is a slow burn," Brian Moynihan, the CEO of Bank of America, recently observed.

Persons: Blackstone, —, BREIT, REITs, Steve Schwarzman, Jeenah, Nate Koppikar, Craig McCann, BREIT's, Chilton, McCann, McCann, Horacio Villalobos, That's, Donald Trump, Robert Chang, Schwarzman, Michael Blackshire, Phil Bak, Stephen Schwarzman, Shannon Stapleton, Brian Moynihan, it's, It's Organizations: BREIT, Orso Partners, Securities Exchange Commission, Blackstone, SEC, Chilton Capital Management, SLCG Economics Consulting, Publicly, University of California, Regents, Armada Investors, Reuters, Bank of America Locations: BREIT, Lisbon, Fideres

☆ Disney is the No. 1 cruise line for families, travelers say
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-05 | by ( Celia Fernandez | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

1 cruise for families: Disney Cruise LineDisney Cruise Line is the best cruise line for families, with a rating of 4.46. The cruise line has five ships: Disney Magic, Disney Wonder, Disney Dream, Disney Fantasy and Disney Wish. Disney Cruise Line is the best cruise for families, travelers say. Disney Cruise Line is typically more expensive than other family-friendly cruise lines, the report states. The 5 best cruise lines for familiesDisney Cruise Line Royal Caribbean International Carnival Cruise Line Norwegian Cruise Line MSC Cruises The second best family-friendly cruise line is Royal Caribbean International with a rating of 4.17.

Persons: Disney, Horacio Villalobos, James D, bauer Organizations: . News, Cruise Lines International Association, Condé, U.S . News, Disney Cruise, Disney, Corbis, Getty, Disney Cruise Line, Cruise, Cruise Line MSC Cruises, Royal Caribbean International, Morgan Locations: U.S, Canada, Mexico, Europe, Caribbean, Australia, Pacific, Haiti, Coco Cay, Bahamas, South

☆ A luxury cruise liner bound for Europe got diverted to a cargo-ship crash where several people likely died
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Numerous rescue ships and a cruise liner rushed to the scene of a cargo ship crash on Tuesday. Two cargo ships collided, with one sinking, in the early morning. AdvertisementAdvertisementA fatal crash between two cargo ships in the North Sea on Tuesday saw multiple vessels brought in for a rescue attempt. One was a luxury cruise liner headed for the major European port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands. AdvertisementAdvertisementThe P&O cruise liner the Iona seen at port in Lisbon., Portugal, on January 12, 2022.

Persons: —, Verity —, Verity, CMME, twitter.com/sji, tim e, hal, tod, meg Organizations: Service, Germany's Central Command, Maritime Emergencies, Guardian, wea, ue, P&O Locations: Rotterdam, Netherlands, Helgoland, British, Polish

☆ Here's the 6 personality traits you need to found a successful startup
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-22 | by ( Polly Thompson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Researchers used AI to determine the personality traits of 21,000 startup founders. They found that the success of a startup is linked to the personality traits of its founder. Here are the six personality traits you need to be a successful founder. AdvertisementAdvertisementA startup founder's personality traits may have a major impact on their company's success, a study published in Nature suggests. AdvertisementAdvertisementThe researchers found that these core personality traits were dramatically different to the wider population, the report says.

Persons: —, Paul X, McCarthy, It's, " McCarthy, Melanie Perkins, Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Horacio Villalobos Organizations: Service, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, University of Technology Sydney, University of Melbourne, University of New Locations: Nature, University of New South Wales, Sydney

☆ Trips to Europe Will Require a New Step for American Travelers
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-20 | by ( Allison Pohle | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Passengers will use e-gates like the one at the Humberto Delgado International Airport in Portugal as part of the EU’s automated border-control initiative. Photo: Horacio Villalobos/Corbis/Getty ImagesAmericans who want to travel to Europe will have to register online to enter the continent starting in 2025. U.S. travelers will need prior authorization for travel to European Union countries beginning in spring 2025, EU officials said Friday. The new requirements for travel will also mean that U.S. travelers arriving in Europe will no longer get passport stamps. Instead, their faces and fingerprints will be scanned and logged in a new digital registration system beginning next fall.

Persons: Humberto Delgado, Horacio Villalobos, Corbis Organizations: Humberto Delgado International Airport, Getty, European Union Locations: Portugal, Europe

New York CNN —Disney is greatly expanding its investment into theme parks and cruises, the company said Tuesday. The investment comes at a time the company is facing revenue challenges in its streaming services, movie and television assets — almost everywhere but its international theme parks. The theme park, which was announced in 2019, is set to include restaurants, hotels and, of course, rides. It will become the third theme park within the Universal Orlando Resort, stepping up its rivalry with Walt Disney World’s four theme parks. Trouble at homeDisney said Tuesday that it is focused on “expanding and enhancing” its theme parks, in the US and internationally, along with its cruise lines.

Persons: That’s, Walt Disney, Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda, Alicia Stella, didn’t, ”, Josh D’Amaro, Wakanda, Disney, Horacio Villalobos, Corbis, Kevin Lansberry, Bob Iger, ” Iger, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, “ Disney, Stella Organizations: New, New York CNN, Disney, Disney Parks, SEC, Universal Orlando Resort, Orlando Sentinel, Tribune, Service, Star Wars, Getty, Parks, Walt Disney, Florida Governor Locations: New York, Parks, Orlando , Florida, Orlando, Anaheim , California, Asia, ”, Florida

☆ The 2023 superyacht summer recap: Jeff Bezos is now king of the high seas
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Madeline Berg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

For billionaires and their celebrity friends, warm weather means it's yacht season. Four years later, Bezos is no longer Amazon's CEO, and he's spent the last few months earning a new title: king of the high seas. As 2023's yacht season comes to a close, it's clear that Bezos' brand new $500 million superyacht won the summer. AdvertisementAdvertisementYacht season's runner-up: billionaire Barry Diller's EosThe Eos, owned by Barry Diller and Diane von Furstenberg, is a yacht-season staple. The Eos docked in Venice to end its summer season, where von Furstenberg hosted the annual DVF Awards — and began furnishing one of her dry-land residences.

Persons: Jeff Bezos, David Geffen's, Goldman Sachs, Lloyd Blankfein, he's, superyacht, David Zaslav, Bezos, Koru, Lauren Sanchez —, —, that's, Sanchez, Bill Gates, Whitney Wolfe Herd, Ari Emanuel, Leonardo DiCaprio, Orlando Bloom, Katy Perry, Usher, Barry Diller's Eos, Barry Diller, Diane von Furstenberg, Horacio Villalobos, Eos, Diller, von Furstenberg, Oprah Winfrey, Gayle King, Edward Enninful, Valentino, Valentino Giancarlo Giammetti, Kris Jenner, Candice Bergen, Emma Thompson, Jason Blum, Diane Sawyer, Bryan Lourd, Giorgio Armani's, Sydney Sweeney, Kerry Washington, Geffen, it's Organizations: Service, Warner Bros, Discovery, Hollywood, Bezos, British Vogue, Creative Artists Agency, Geffen Locations: Wall, Silicon, Gibraltar, Spain, Cannes, Positano, Dubrovnik, Croatia, Mallorca, Greece, Amalfi, Venice, Venice's, Capri, Portland , Maine

Budrul Chukrut | Lightrocket | Getty ImagesAt midnight on Tuesday, the moderators of the Reddit community r/Gaming decided to go dark. "We're talking hundreds of thousands of volunteers putting in hours a day to keep the site safe, entertaining and enjoyable for community members. As a private company, Reddit doesn't have to disclose its financials or provide revenue and profit projections. "You have a lot of people, both professionals and general community members, who are running the numbers on this," Croach said. Jacqueline Sheeran, known as "MCHammerCurls," is the head moderator of r/Fitness, which has more than 10 million members.

Persons: Budrul, Dacvak, Slack, weren't, Croach, Reddit, Christian Selig, Selig, Steve Huffman, Huffman, Horacio Villalobos, subreddits, they're, –, David DeWald, subreddit, Shane McCarthy, McCarthy, Meepster23, ModCoord, Omar, Jacqueline Sheeran, Sarah Gilbert, Gilbert, Huffman's, RamsesThePigeon, that's, there's Organizations: Lightrocket, Reddit, CNBC, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google, Amazon, Yahoo, Microsoft, Corbis, NBC, Wall, NBC News, Cornell University, school's Citizens, Technology Locations: U.S, Lisbon, Portugal

☆ The 'Robinhood of passports' says it's a mistake to ban golden visas — make them fund affordable housing and refugee programs instead
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Hannah Towey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Portugal and Ireland recently announced they are shutting down their "golden visa" programs. Their less-advantageous siblings, "golden visas," provide temporary residence permits in exchange for investment, as opposed to permanent citizenship. A golden taxInstead of banning golden passports and visas outright, countries should adjust the investment requirements to match their current needs, Arton says. A scandalous historyBut golden passports don't only raise the issue of inequality, the European Commission argues, they also pose a threat to national security. Last year, 282 of Ireland's 306 golden visa applications came from Chinese citizens, The Irish Times reported.

☆ Here’s how A.I. and virtual reality can help companies boost employee engagement and productivity
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Mikaela Cohen | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

One area where this is likely to be seen most significantly is in employee training. Of course, training employees with virtual reality simulations isn't new. But with advancements in AI, VR training can be used effectively for soft-skills training as well, which "creates an opportunity for employees to practice conversations," Byham said. Byham has worked with VR training sessions for years, since before the pandemic. They're supposed to listen, connect with you, and help employees feel heard.

☆ Reddit employees who lost their jobs are livid that the company is painting them as low performers: 'A cruel and dishonest way to kick a person when they're down'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Dan Whateley | Sydney Bradley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

A Reddit spokesperson declined to share the number of employees the company had let go so far, or planned to in total. In total, 10 former Reddit staffers who lost their jobs in January told Insider they did not consider themselves low performers based on their past feedback from the company. One current staffer told Insider they felt they may have been on the chopping block in January and narrowly avoided a termination. Some moved from business development jobs to work on creator services within its community-management and product teams, the Reddit spokesperson previously told Insider. Reddit also informed employees about a cut to some benefits late last year, eight current and former staffers told Insider.

☆ 'We will see spectacular failures': CEOs and investors on what the end of cheap money means for tech
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Horacio Villalobos | Getty ImagesLISBON, Portugal — Once high-flying tech unicorns are now having their wings clipped as the era of easy money comes to an end. Rising cost of capitalPrivate tech company valuations are under immense pressure amid rising interest rates, high inflation and the prospect of a global economic downturn. "What we've seen in the last few years was a cost of money that was 0," Pousaz said. Pousaz said investors are yet to find a "floor" for determining how much the cost of capital will rise. 'An entire industry got ahead of its skis'A common topic of conversation at Web Summit was the relentless wave of layoffs hitting major tech companies.

☆ IBM salaries revealed: Engineers can earn nearly $200K. See how much analysts, managers, and others at the tech giant make.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Caroline Haskins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

IBM is among the oldest and largest computer companies in the world and has more than 350,000 employees. These offers must be equal to what US employees earn making them a great guide to employee salaries at the company. When Insider analyzed IBM salary data in 2021, the highest offer was to an engineering program director, earning $335,000. A technical team lead, for instance, earned $57,500 in Monroe, LA, and as much as $114,500 in Parsippany, NJ. Insider has also compiled a database of salaries across other big tech companies like Google, Apple, Tesla, Amazon, and more.

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☆ Travel insurance probably won't save you during this summer's airline chaos. Here's when it's worth buying trip protection — and when it's not.
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-09 | by ( Hannah Towey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Here's when it is worth it to purchase travel insurance for your flight this summer. For example, a typical travel insurance policy cover cancellations due to mechanical issues, but not those caused by staffing shortages. "When there's a lot of money at stake, it makes more sense to perhaps invest in travel insurance." Another reason to buy travel insurance for international trips is to ensure medical coverage when you're abroad. If your kid gets sick and it's not COVID, your travel insurance probably isn't going to cover that," Balber said.

☆ Say goodbye to paper money — banks are quietly working to get rid of cash
▼ + stars: | 2022-06-14 | by ( Brett Scott | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

A payments system without cash is one dependent on banks that are prone to financial crises, systems failure, and cyberattacks. The digital chips promise you government-issued dollar bills, and that promise is empty if you can't get those from the ATM. Despite how crucial it is to maintain an inclusive, multimodal payments system with nonbank and non-digital options, our payments system is being driven toward a monoculture. Ads for digital payments don't say, "Enjoy the speed, convenience, surveillance, cyber-hacking, exclusion, and critical infrastructure weaknesses that our platform brings," yet that is what lies beneath the surface-level slickness of digital payments. The world's most vulnerable people rely on the already existing, physical cash system, and our priority should be to protect that system.

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