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☆ The plot to topple Putin
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-09 | by ( Paul Starobin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +32 min

But it was only when Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine , in 2022, that Ammosov began to plot the overthrow of his homeland. As I found in months of wide-ranging interviews, everyone aspiring to a new Russian revolution grasps the seemingly impossible odds of their bid to topple Putin. Ponomarev — who was profiled last year in The Washington Post under the headline "Could this man bring down Putin?" Most applicants live in Russia, Sokolov tells me, but submissions have come from as far away as Uruguay. "I know a lot of good officers" in the CIA, Ponomarev told me, who "sympathize" with the anti-Putin insurgency.

Persons: Vladislav Ammosov, Ukraine —, Ammosov, wondrously, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Simona Supino, Alexey Navalny —, Ilya Ponomarev, Ponomarev —, —, Sean Guillory, Denis Sokolov, Sokolov, Galina Starovoytova, Anastasia Sergeeva, Sergeeva, Valter, Putin —, Tatiana Kosinova, Yelena Bonner, Itil, Boris Nemtsov, Nemtsov, Vladimir Lenin, specter, NurPhoto, Lenin, Leon Trotsky, Mao Zedong, Fidel Castro, Boris Akunin, Ponomarev, Trotsky, Mao, Castro, Alexei Sobchenko, Sergei Chuzavkov, Ilya Ponomarev Ponomarev, Michał Kamiński, Kosinova, Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov, Nikolai Gogol's, . Barnum, Bernie, Madoff, Donald, Leonid Nevzlin, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Navalny, King George III, Khodorkovsky, Garry Kasparov, Putin's, Andrey Volna, Brian Fitzpatrick, Charlie Wilson's, Tom Hanks, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Daniel Fried, William Burns, Fried, Biden, We're, Evgenia, it's Organizations: Putin, Ukrainian, Russian Federation, The Washington Post, University of Pittsburgh, Civic Council, Kennan, Wilson Center, GRU, Russia, BI, International Republican Institute, CIA, Kremlin, Russian, Memorial, Soviet Union, of America, Civic, Ukraine's Ministry of Defense, Russian Volunteer Corps, European, Human Rights, Siberian Battalion, Ammosov, Ukrainian Armed Forces, Putin's Defense Ministry, True, Bolsheviks, of Russia Legion, People's Deputies, State Department, Justice Department, Polish Senate, Trump University, Trump, Khodorkovsky, FBI, Intelligence, Senate, Ukrainian Security Services, Bolshevik Locations: Siberia, Russia, Warsaw, Poland, Ukraine, Sakha, India, Putin Russia, Russian, Kyiv, The, restive North Caucasus, Washington, Soviet Union, Moscow, WhatsApp, Ukrainian, Soviet, Crimean, USSR, Europe, Uruguay, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, America, Canada, Great Britain, Germany, Australia, Belgorod, Kursk, Kremlin, China, Cuba, True Russia, Ponomarev, Northern Virginia, Polish, ., Lviv, Yukos, London, Pennsylvania, Texas, Afghanistan, Putin Russian, Tallinn, Estonia

☆ Shopify will stop reimbursing employees for internet costs while remaining a remote-first company
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-04 | by ( Madeline Stone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Shopify told employees late last week that, as of July 1, the company will no longer allow certain types of expense reimbursements. Those expenses include a benefit that allows employees to be reimbursed for up to $55 in monthly internet costs. "The Internet expense was set up to fill a need as the pandemic hit and we transitioned to remote work. AdvertisementThe policy will continue in certain countries and US states where regulations require employers to provide reimbursement for remote work costs. AdvertisementRepresentatives for Shopify did not return BI's request for comment on the changes to its expense policy.

Persons: Shopify Organizations: Service, Business, BI, Employees Locations: Canada, Shopify, mstone@businessinsider.com

☆ Amazon's Shopify killer got off to a slow start, according to sellers and internal emails
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-03 | by ( Madeline Stone | Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Rainier...)," Larsen wrote in the email, referring to a snowcapped peak near Seattle, where Amazon is headquartered. Months later, Amazon struck a deal with Shopify that put Buy with Prime on the Shopify merchant marketplace, extending the tool's reach with sellers. Advertisement"When merchants push that metric to >75%, it'll be a good indication that we've found product-market fit," Larsen wrote. To use Buy with Prime, Amazon charges merchants a 3% Prime service fee in addition to fulfillment fees and payment processing fees. However, Piiparinen said the 3% service fee is less than the referral fees merchants pay when selling on Amazon.com.

Persons: —, Craig Leslie, Leslie, It's, Peter Larsen, Andy Jassy, Larsen, Santos, Anders Piiparinen, who's, doesn't, Piiparinen, Amazon's, Smart, ZOA, GreatCircleUS.com, Madeline Stone Organizations: Service, Amazon, Business, Bean Coffee Company, Shoppers, Ekrin Athletics, BI, Prime Locations: . Rainier, ., Seattle, Piiparinen, mstone@businessinsider.com

☆ Shopify COO says in leaked memo that the Shopify Plus brand has 'outlived its usefulness' and will no longer be used
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-30 | by ( Madeline Stone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewShopify plans to stop referring to its Shopify Plus offering as a stand-alone brand, according to an internal post viewed by Business Insider. By deprecating the Shopify Plus brand, Shopify could be signaling that it no longer needs or wants to differentiate between its various customer segments. To make this obvious, we started a product line called Shopify Plus and built entire marketing campaigns around the Shopify Plus brand. We built Plus brand as a counter-position to the Shopify brand. Shopify Plus will have all the same brand equity as Shopify Advanced or Shopify Basic.

Persons: —, Kaz Nejatian, Nejatian, Harley Finkelstein, Shopify, Bobby Morrison, Adrianna Burrows Organizations: Service, Business, Shopify, Manhattan Associates Locations: Shopify's, mstone@businessinsider.com

☆ Shopify says AI has helped keep its head count flat
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Madeline Stone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Shopify executives said during the company's first-quarter earnings call on Wednesday that its head count has stayed flat for the past three quarters and that using AI has been a major contributing factor. Shopify has been touting its "new shape" since it sold its logistics business and laid off 20% of its workforce in May 2023. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. It's also found efficiencies by using AI throughout the company. Internal AI tools have also allowed Shopify to offer multilingual support 24/7, whereas it was previously offered only during set working hours.

Persons: Shopify, We've, Harley Finkelstein, It's, Jeff Hoffmeister, Hoffmeister, crafters, —, Charlie Miner Organizations: SEC, Business, Shopify's Locations: mstone@businessinsider.com

☆ A judge has ordered the owners of get-rich-on-Amazon startup Wealth Assistants to have their assets frozen
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-02 | by ( Madeline Stone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Clients paid upfront fees ranging from $35,000 to more than $100,000 to have their stores run by Wealth Assistants. AdvertisementThe complaint also alleges that Carroll — who was Wealth Assistants' founder and CEO — and the Days violated securities laws because the business opportunity they sold through Wealth Assistants could be considered unregistered securities. Related stories"Plaintiffs' evidence shows that each of the Individual Defendants made intentional misrepresentations in connection with Wealth Assistants' services," the order reads. It follows another lawsuit that was brought against Wealth Assistants in California Superior Court in San Bernardino County in January. Wealth Assistants claimed that the digital bank froze its accounts without warning or explanation in October and is still withholding its funds.

Persons: —, — Ryan Carroll, Max K, Michael Day —, Max O, Carroll —, Judge Wesley Hsu, Carroll, Nico Banks Organizations: Service, Court, Central, Central District of, Wealth, Business, Washington, Banks Law Office, Bank Locations: Central District, Central District of California, DC, California, San Bernardino County, Tennessee, mstone@insider.com

☆ Shopify plans a reorg of its Support division as the ratio of managers to 'crafters' falls below target
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-29 | by ( Madeline Stone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewShopify is planning a reorganization of its Support division, and employees worry cuts are on the way. He said that Support teams working with Shopify's largest enterprise merchants would not be affected. OpenAI recently hired Glen Worthington, Shopify's former vice president of global support, to lead its own customer service operations. Jen Bebb, previously Shopify's director of global merchant and product support, left the company in March when Worthington left. Clovis Cuqui, who previously led support as Shopify's VP of merchant acceleration, announced his departure in October.

Persons: —, David Kohl, We've, Kohl, we're, crafters, Shopify, OpenAI, Glen Worthington, Shopify's, Jen Bebb, Worthington, Clovis Cuqui Organizations: Service, Business, WordPress Locations: Philippines, Canada, mstone@businessinsider.com

☆ Shopify embraced a 'new shape' after a post-pandemic slump and has charted an 18-month comeback
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-29 | by ( Madeline Stone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Read previewIn October 2022, Shopify's once high-flying stock hit its lowest price since before the Covid pandemic. AdvertisementNow, after two rounds of layoffs and a divestment of its fulfillment and logistics business, the picture looks a bit different for Shopify. Shedding a "money-losing logistics business"Dropping logistics and fulfillment is a major part of Shopify's stock comeback story. In May 2023, Shopify announced it would be selling the logistics business entirely to Flexport. In May 2023, Shopify cut another 20% of its workforce as it sold its logistics business to Flexport.

Persons: —, Shopify's, Shopify, Oppenheimer, Ken Wong, Wong, D.A, Davidson, Gil Luria, Tobi Lütke, Lütke, Luria, Morgan Stanley, Jeff Hoffmeister, Bhavin Shah, GMV, We've, Shah Organizations: Service, Business, Systems, Investors, SEC, Deutsche Bank Locations: Salesforce, mstone@businessinsider.com

☆ OpenAI poaches Shopify's former head of support as the e-commerce giant's support org faces a shake-up
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-09 | by ( Madeline Stone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

He's the latest among a string of leaders in Shopify's support organization to leave. Shopify's work with AI has incorporated large language models, including those developed by OpenAI. Shopify's Support organization has undergone some leadership changes in recent months. Jen Bebb, previously Shopify's director of global merchant and product support, left the company in March when Worthington left. Miqdad Jaffer, who led companywide AI initiatives as a director of product at Shopify, joined OpenAI's product staff in March.

Persons: OpenAI, Glen Worthington, Worthington, Shopify, Toby Shannan, generalists, Jen Bebb, Clovis Cuqui, Worthington isn't, Miqdad Jaffer Organizations: Business, OpenAI, Operations, Engineering, LinkedIn, WordPress Locations: Shopify, OpenAI, mstone@businessinsider.com

☆ Judge denies lawyers' request to freeze the assets of Wealth Assistants and its executives amid ongoing fraud case
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( Madeline Stone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewThe judge overseeing a case brought by more than 60 former clients of Wealth Assistants has denied their lawyers' request for a preliminary injunction against the company. Lawyers representing Wealth Assistants' former clients sought to freeze assets belonging to CEO Ryan Carroll, his mentor and business partner Max K. Day, Day's nephew Max O. AdvertisementMany Wealth Assistants clients said they were drawn by the opportunity to generate passive income through an Amazon store. Business Insider previously reported that Wealth Assistants filed a lawsuit on January 5 against Thread Bank, a digital bank based in Tennessee. Several former Wealth Assistants clients filed a motion to intervene in that suit earlier this month.

Persons: —, Ryan Carroll, Max K, Day's, Max O, John Pacheco, Nico Banks, Carroll Organizations: Service, Lawyers, Business, Amazon, Amazon . Business, Court, Banks Law, Thread Bank Locations: California, San Bernardino County, Washington, DC, Tennessee, mstone@businessinsider.com

☆ God's Man in Washington
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-27 | by ( Mattathias Schwartz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +34 min

Trump's departure from the White House hasn't stopped him from using the old administration's star power to fuel Capitol Ministries' growth. But regardless of what happens this coming November, Capitol Ministries is quickly becoming the face of American GOP-style evangelicalism around the world. Other than Ralph's wife, Danielle, and a few members of Capitol Ministries' administrative staff, the room was almost entirely men. Rick Perry spoke to Drollinger at Capitol Ministries' global summit in Washington, DC. And yet, on the question of whether and why to support Israel, Drollinger was indeed looking to Revelation for answers.

Persons: Cheyne, —, He'd, Christ, Rick Perry, Cheriss, Trump, Mike Johnson —, Ralph Drollinger, Drollinger, Alex Acosta, Perry, Acosta, Mike Pompeo, Betsy DeVos, Sonny Perdue, Ben Carson, Jeff Sessions, hasn't, Danielle, you've, Donald Trump, Capitol Ministries doesn't, Samson, Matthew, didn't, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Rick, I'm, Ralph Drollinger's, Daniel Ortega, Ralph, he'd, Washington —, Ortega, Douglas Coe, Maria Butina, Joe Biden, forbearance, Bruce Westerman, Bruce Westerman of, Glenn, Thompson, George Washington, Fame, Mike Johnson, Benjamin Netanyahu, Johnson, Washington, Moses, I've, Westerman, I'd, Netanyahu, God, that's, he's, we're, That's, Israel, King David, wilder, MAGA, David Barton, WallBuilders, doesn't, George W, Bush, Donald Trump's, Mattathias Schwartz Organizations: Hill Club, Business, Israel, Mmm, Christ, Capitol Ministries, Capitol Hill, Capitol Ministries Bible, Trump Cabinet, BI, GOP, Capitol, White, Capitol Ministries ', Trump, NBA, of Energy, Trump's, American GOP, Pacific, BI Drollinger, Capitol Hill Club, Washington Hilton, Senate, Training, Liberty, Gettysburg, Capitol Ministry, NPR, United States Congress, Washington Bible, Republican, Democratic, Times, Wall Street Journal, Brown University Locations: Washington , DC, Arkansas, Hebrew, Israel, Gaza, Egypt, United States, Texas, Washington, Seoul, Kathmandu, Iowa, Rwanda, Ukraine, Washington ,, Drollinger, Nicaragua, California, Nicaraguan, Bruce Westerman of Arkansas, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, schwartz79@protonmail.com

☆ US lawmakers are turning up the heat on Temu, Shein, and their use of a shipping loophole that helps keep their prices low
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-26 | by ( Madeline Stone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

US lawmakers are ramping up their pressure on e-commerce platforms like Temu, Shein, and AliExpress. Representatives for Temu, Shein, and AliExpress did not return Business Insider's request for comment. It added that almost 50% of all de minimis shipments to the US come from China. Shipping consultancy ShipMatrix estimates that Temu and Shein each ship more than a million packages to the US daily. Brown and Scott are not the only US lawmakers to advocate for change as Temu and Shein have gained a foothold.

Persons: Joe Biden, Sherrod Brown, Rick Scott, Brown, Scott, AliExpress, spokespeople, Shein, minimis Organizations: Business, U.S . Customs, Border Protection, Customs, Temu, Chinese Communist Party, China . Shipping, Uyghur, Labor Locations: China, minimis, United States, mstone@businessinsider.com

☆ Shopify's new price hikes could put pressure on its app developer ecosystem
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-14 | by ( Madeline Stone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The price hike comes a year after Shopify raised prices for its base subscription plan. Many have shrugged off the most recent price increase. Shopify frequently touts its third-party app ecosystem as an advantage for merchants looking to grow their business efficiently. Many of the most popular Shopify apps have also raised prices recently. It's possible that some lower-volume Plus merchants will downgrade to more basic subscription options due to cost.

Persons: —, Shopify, Andy Cloyd, Stephen Watson, Cloyd, ” Erman Küplü, Küplü, ” Watson, Jeff Hoffmeister, Hoffmeister Organizations: Service, Merchants, Business, Elysian Solutions, BI Locations: GMV, North America, mstone@insider.com

☆ BlackRock is overhauling the way it advises powerful investors, from sovereign wealth funds to central banks
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-13 | by ( Rebecca Ungarino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The shake-up targets the $10 trillion money manager's influential group that provides services to high-stakes institutional clients like sovereign wealth funds, insurers, and central banks. The group has ambitions to become "the most trusted advisor to financial institutions in our industry," he wrote. AdvertisementThe FSIG includes the firm's Financial Markets Advisory team and the Financial Institutions Group. It had also historically encompassed the Official Institutions Group, known as OIG, which will no longer be a stand-alone unit, a BlackRock spokesperson confirmed on Tuesday. She has been critical to driving relationships with institutions and "instrumental in making BlackRock the partner of choice for central banks globally," he wrote.

Persons: —, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Charles Hatami, BlackRock's, Hatami, Isabelle Mateos y, OIG, Mateos y, Crystal Wan, Olivier Van Eyseren, Anne Parthiot, Mark Erickson, Kimberly Kim, Erickson, Hiro Shimizu, Philipp Hildebrand, BlackRock's Brandon Hall, Brandon Hall, Ben Leax, Rob Goldstein, FMA, Larry Fink Organizations: Service, Business, BlackRock's Financial, Strategic Investors Group, Business Insider, Financial, Group, BlackRock, International Monetary Fund, FIG, EMEA, Presidential, Brandon Locations: Isabelle Mateos y Lago, Hatami, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia, Pacific, Ukraine, Central Asia, US

☆ Exclusive: Shopify rolls out another huge price hike for merchants
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-08 | by ( Madeline Stone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The change comes one year after Shopify raised prices for its base subscription plan. Wall Street analysts have since been looking for the company to raise prices for Plus, which is geared toward larger merchants. The price change is a 25% increase. A Plus subscription gives merchants access to more features and services, like Shopify's B2B tools and its customer-acquisition product Shopify Audiences. At the time of publishing, Shopify's stock is up 3% to around $88 compared to an opening price of $85.

Persons: —, Shopify Organizations: Service, Business, Wall Street, Merchants, Shopify, BI Locations: mstone@businessinsider.com

☆ Shopify Fulfillment Network is back — sort of. Here's why it's different this time around.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-08 | by ( Madeline Stone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The new app has a familiar name: Shopify Fulfillment Network. With the new Shopify Fulfillment Network , merchants can sign up to use Flexport's services through Shopify's app. The newly named Shopify Fulfillment Network is not merchants' only option for fulfillment. Wong said the company had also indicated Flexport would not be the exclusive provider for Shopify Fulfillment Network. "They've definitely given themselves more choices than there were before when it was just Shopify Fulfillment Network or bust," he said.

Persons: Shopify, Tobi Lütke, Oppenheimer, Ken Wong, Wong, It's, Flexport, They've Organizations: Shopify Logistics, Business, Shopify, Flexport, Amazon Locations: Flexport, mlstone@protonmail.com

☆ More than 60 former Wealth Assistants clients sued the get-rich-on-Amazon startup, claiming they were defrauded out of millions
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-30 | by ( Madeline Stone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Lawyers representing Wealth Assistants' former clients are seeking to freeze assets belonging to Carroll, Max K. Day, Max O. When Wealth Assistants informed its clients in October that it planned to shut down, it provided a list of alternative providers clients could work with to manage their stores if they promised not to sue Wealth Assistants. According to the lawsuit, some former Wealth Assistants clients later started receiving emails from Wholesale Universe saying that Wealth Assistants had purchased an inventory package for them to use with Wholesale Universe. Advertisement"Wealth Assistants and Wholesale Universe made that transfer for the purpose of preventing Wealth Assistants' current and future creditors, including Plaintiffs, from accessing Wealth Assistants' assets," the complaint reads. Wealth Assistants claimed that the digital bank froze its accounts without warning or explanation in October and is still withholding its funds.

Persons: —, Ryan Carroll, Max K, Max O, Carroll, Yax, Daddy Jules, Max Day, Troy Marchand, Bonnie Nichols, Marchand, Nichols Organizations: Service, Business, Amazon, Amazon . Business, Court, Lamborghini, Trading, Oak Properties, MKD Investment, Private Management Company, Max, HouTex Farm Equity Partners, Business Financial Solutions, Evo Maxx, Management, Wholesale, Tennessee, Bank, Wealth, Bank of America Locations: California, San Bernardino County, Oak, mstone@insider.com

☆ Shein and Temu use a loophole to ship millions of packages to the US tax-free. Here's why the tax rule faces increased scrutiny.
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-22 | by ( Madeline Stone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The other bill, from Sen. Bill Cassidy and Sen. Tammy Baldwin, would ban de minimis shipments from China. The provision is more likely to change — a prospect that both Shein and Temu have said they support. Jennifer Ortakales Dawkins/InsiderShipping consultancy ShipMatrix estimates that Shein and Temu each ship more than a million packages to the US daily. It added that almost 50% of all de minimis shipments to the US come from China. Related stories"Changes to the exemption could create a paradigm shift for retailers like Temu and Shein," Bank of America analysts wrote in the note.

Persons: minimis, Earl Blumenauer, Russia —, Bill Cassidy, Sen, Tammy Baldwin, Cassidy, Baldwin, Jay Sole, It's, Jennifer Ortakales Dawkins, Shein's, Temu, Shein, Donald Tang, SHEIN, de minimis, they've, Steve Story, Sole, Satish Jindel, ShipMatrix, Jindel Organizations: Business, Customs, Rep, Bank of America, US Chamber of Commerce, Express, UBS, Pinduoduo Holdings, Goods, Shipping, Chinese Communist Party, China . Shipping, Wired, Shein, American Apparel and Footwear Association, Apex Logistics International, Walmart Locations: Xinjiang, China, Russia, Sen, Singapore, Boston, minimis, United States, mstone@insider.com

☆ Wealth Assistants claims in a new lawsuit its accounts were frozen in the weeks before it shut down
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-18 | by ( Madeline Stone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The complaint against Thread Bank lists five accounts that Wealth Assistants held with the bank, saying that CEO Ryan Carroll first noticed the accounts had been frozen on October 11. Carroll and Thread Bank did not return a request for comment from Business Insider on the suit. The timing detailed in the complaint aligns with Wealth Assistants' collapse. However, the lawsuit filed in early January describes Wealth Assistants as a "thriving business." Wealth Assistants filed a similar lawsuit against Bank of America in January 2023, claiming that accounts with more than $3.78 million in them had been closed without explanation.

Persons: Ryan Carroll, Carroll Organizations: Business, Bank, Court, Southern, Southern District of, Houston Division, Carroll, Thread Bank, Forbes , LA Wire, Bank of America Locations: Tennessee, Southern District, Southern District of Texas, Forbes ,, mstone@insider.com

☆ Wealth Assistants claimed it would help its clients make money on Amazon. Clients said they 'lost everything' instead.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Madeline Stone | Jack Newsham | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +17 min

Wealth Assistants also said that if clients didn't break even in the first year, they would get their money back. BI spoke with 16 people who invested between $35,000 and $100,000 each to work with Wealth Assistants and said they lost their money. Ten days later, Wealth Assistants said it laid off its roughly 75 employees and planned to shut down by December 1. Selling customers on the entrepreneur lifestyleMany Wealth Assistants clients said they were drawn by the opportunity to generate passive income. Cart.com sent Wealth Assistants a formal notice of termination in the fall after Wealth Assistants stopped paying its invoices earlier in the year, the representative said.

Persons: Mike Wimmer, Wimmer, they're, I'm, Ryan Carroll, Max K, Max O, —, Carroll, Carroll didn't, we're, Tina Luk, breakeven, Seth Hamilton, Andrew Pou, Suzy Arriola, Saheb Sabharwal, Cart.com, Moe O'Neil, weren't, Max, you've, it's, they've, We've, we've, Madeline Stone, Jack Newsham Organizations: Business, ., Federal Trade Commission, Amazon, Products, Nobu Dallas, Lamborghini, Facebook, Wealth, BI, FTC, DK Automation Locations: China, Texas, Nobu, California, Houston, Pennsylvania, mstone@insider.com

☆ Billionaire FBI informant Peter Thiel dished about two Kremlin invites to private Putin meetings
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( Mattathias Schwartz | Hans-Martin Tillack | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +18 min

It was Angermayer who introduced Bisslinger to Thiel at the party, Thiel would later tell the FBI. After some small talk, Bisslinger made a pitch to Thiel: Thiel should travel to Russia to attend the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. If Thiel chose to attend, Bisslinger said, Bisslinger would arrange for him to meet privately with Putin. "Even if Mr. Angermayer did introduce Mr. Thiel and Mr. Bisslinger," the lawyers wrote in another letter, "Mr. Angermayer is not—and cannot be—responsible for whatever Mr. Bisslinger and Mr. Thiel may or may not have discussed." At his 40th birthday, he connected Peter Thiel with a Russian diplomat, Thiel later told the FBI.

Persons: Peter Thiel, Christian Angermayer, Thiel, Daniil Bisslinger, Bisslinger, Vladimir Putin's, Angermayer, Putin, Maksim Konstantinov, —, Frank Figliuzzi, Vladimir Putin, — Charles Johnson —, Johnathan Buma, Johnson, Welt, Dmitry Peskov, John Lamparski, Donald Trump, — Thiel, Der Spiegel, he'd, Elon Musk, Musk, Thiel —, he's, Palantir, He's, Uma Thurman, Robbie Williams, Queen Latifah, Paul Kagame, Dan McCrum, John Kerry, Richard Grenell, Kerry, Sensei Biotherapeutics, Trump, Dmitry Medvedev, Medvedev, Maureen Dowd, Alexander Schütz, Eva Schütz, Schütz, — Heinz, Christian Strache, Markus Braun, Jan Marsalek, Marsalek, Caroline Haskins, Katherine Long, Jack Newsham, Mattathias Schwartz, Hans, Martin Tillack Organizations: Kremlin, Tech, Pentagon, CIA, Facebook, SpaceX, Kremlin's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Russian Embassy, Thiel, St ., Economic, Getty, FBI, Atlantic, Bisslinger, Germany, Elon, Russia, NSA, US Special Operations Command, National Health Service, Apeiron Investment, Munich Security, intel, Trump, State Department, Angermayer's, PayPal, Nasdaq, Sciences, The New York Times, Deutsche Bank, Welt Locations: Silicon Valley, Schloss Neuwaldegg, Vienna, Silicon, Moscow, Russian, Berlin, Russia, St, St . Petersburg, Petersburg, Ukraine, Europe, Germany, NATO, Crimea, Ukrainian, Sevastopol, Palantir, Washington, Rwanda, Baltic, Belarus, Iran, Angermayer's Malta, Munich, China, China's, Austrian, Austria, Exxpress, Wirecard, schwartz79@protonmail.com

☆ Leaked numbers show YouTube TV is the fastest-growing Google product as the company makes big bets in streaming
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Hugh Langley | Rosalie Chan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

YouTube's big bet on the NFL Sunday Ticket may be paying off, with YouTube TV becoming the fastest-growing Google product over the past year, according to internal growth metrics viewed by Insider. The television streaming service also saw the highest engagement of any Google product as well as the highest retention rate, according to the data. It said 52% of YouTube TV's users were frequent, while only 8% of YouTube TV accounts had lapsed. YouTube TV , which offers a selection of linear and on-demand programming, launched in 2017. "YouTube watch time increases substantially after tablet adoption, with YouTube watch time on form factors other than tablet decreasing only slightly," read a summary of the findings.

Persons: Ruth Porat Organizations: NFL, YouTube, Google, Street Journal, Magic Eye

☆ Wholesale marketplace Faire, which raised $416 million 18 months ago, laid off 250 workers in a company-wide restructuring
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-02 | by ( Madeline Stone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Faire, the wholesale marketplace company, laid off about 250 employees on Wednesday. This is the second time in just over a year that the company has laid off workers, although this second restructuring appears to be bigger. Faire is an online marketplace that connects independent brands with retailers that can stock their products in their stores. Faire recently announced a partnership with Shopify that established Faire as the preferred wholesale marketplace for Shopify merchants. Shopify also became a shareholder in Faire as part of the deal, which Insider first reported on in July.

Persons: Shopify, We're, who've, Layoffs.fyi Organizations: Dragoneer Investment, Sequoia Capital, Founders Fund, Forerunner Ventures, Tech Locations: mstone@insider.com

☆ Why Israel's push into Gaza is killing so many children
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-31 | by ( Lila Hassan | Mattathias Schwartz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Children account for a startlingly high share of Palestinians killed in Gaza — roughly 41%. The overwhelming majority of the children — a reported 3,542 as of October 30, as compared to more than 30 children reportedly killed on the Israeli side — have been Palestinians living in Gaza. On Sunday, international humanitarian organization Save The Children said that the number of children killed in Gaza in three weeks surpasses the total number of children killed in all global conflict zones since 2019. 'A growing stain on our collective conscience'Children constitute 41% of the 8,525 Palestinians killed in Gaza, according to the health ministry. Since 2019, the court has had an open investigation into potential Israeli war crimes.

Persons: —, Joe Biden, Omar Shakir, Shakir, Mohammed Abed, Israel, Brian Finucane, Finucane, HuffPost, Al, HRW's, Benjamin Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant, Isaac Herzog, Herzog, Karim A.A, Khan, Khan's, Tahani Mustafa, Mustafa, Lila Hassan, hassan.com Mattathias Schwartz Organizations: Service, Palestinian Health Ministry, Hamas, Ahli Baptist Hospital, Health Ministry, United Nations, World Health Organization, UN, Human Rights Watch, Palestinian, Getty, State Department, Crisis, ISIS, UNICEF, Department, Israel Defense Forces, Law, IDF, Military, of Defense, ICC, New York Times, Israeli Air Force Locations: Israel, Gaza, Al, Ahli, Ukraine, Syria, Yemen, Palestine, Northern Gaza, Al Jazeera, HRW's Israel, Cairo, Lila@lila, schwartz79@protonmail.com

☆ Shopify's former head of its app ecosystem business is launching an AI imaging tool for online sellers
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-24 | by ( Madeline Stone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

She ended up starting two businesses, one of which is ImagineCreate AI, an AI imaging tool that officially launches Tuesday with an undisclosed amount of pre-seed funding from Precursor Ventures. ImagineCreate AI was directly inspired by a brand Yusuf started shortly after leaving Shopify. ImagineCreate AI is launching as a web app that can be integrated into Shopify merchants' admin. Before-and-after images show how ImagineCreate AI generates custom backgrounds. Launching ImagineCreate AI on the Shopify App Store brings Yusuf's entrepreneurial journey full circle.

Persons: Fatima Yusuf, Yusuf, ChatGPT, Shopify, Madeline Stone Organizations: Precursor Ventures Locations: Shopify, mstone@insider.com

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