• John Ternus, Apple's new CEO, has a background in hardware engineering.
• Oculus inventor Palmer Luckey unearthed a VR headset from Ternus's time at Virtual Research in the '90s.
• Ternus left the small VR company in 2001 before joining Apple the same year.

Apple's John Ternus is a 25-year veteran of the tech giant, but one of his first engineering gigs was at a lesser-known company building virtual reality headsets.

Defense startup founder and Oculus headset creator Palmer Luckey reminisced on X about a product that Ternus, who is set to become Apple's CEO in September, might've had a hand in during his early engineering days.

Luckey posted a photo of an old V8 head mount display from Virtual Research.

"From what I can tell, he was the lead mechanical engineer on the V8 I obtained when I was 16!," Luckey wrote, referring to Ternus.

"It was an incredible headset for the time," Luckey told Business Insider.

He described the headset as well-balanced and relatively lightweight, with a field of vision that was ahead of that of other consumer products at the time. It mainly sold to military flight simulators for around $50,000, Luckey said.

Ternus and Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

A user guide for the V8 published online suggests the model was released in 1998, when Ternus would've been working at the company. He was an engineer at Virtual Research from 1997 to 2001, and joined Apple later that year, according to his LinkedIn profile.

A patent filed in 1995 and issued in 1998, during Ternus's time at Virtual Research, describes a similar-looking product, a virtual display apparatus for use in a virtual reality system. It supported the attachment of video displays.

Ternus is best known today as Apple's hardware boss, notably for working on AirPods and the iPad among other products, and as the incoming CEO.

His appointment marks the return to a product-minded chief like Steve Jobs. Current CEO Tim Cook's background is in operations.

The tech giant made its debut in the high-tech headset market in 2024 with the Vision Pro, which received a lukewarm response from the public. Its $3,500 price tag and lack of a killer app didn't wow consumers. At that point, Ternus had been in the senior vice president of hardware engineering role for three years.

Despite an underwhelming response to the Vision Pro, execs like Cook and Ternus remain optimistic about the product and the future of VR.

"Vision Pro is an extraordinary product," Ternus said in a Tom's Guide interview earlier this month. "It's like we reached into the future and pulled it into the present."

• Bought a Tesla before 2023? Bad news: your car won't be able to drive itself.
• Elon Musk said last week that vehicles with previous-gen tech can't support full autonomy.
• Longtime Tesla owners told Business Insider they felt let down by the company's announcement.

For years, Tesla sold its EVs with the promise of an autonomous future. Now, some owners face being left behind.

On Tesla's earnings call last Wednesday, Elon Musk said that Tesla vehicles shipped before 2023 — which are equipped with a previous-gen Hardware 3 computer — would not be able to achieve fully unsupervised Full Self-Driving (FSD).

"I wish it were otherwise, but Hardware 3 simply does not have the capability to achieve unsupervised FSD," said Musk.

The billionaire said that Tesla would offer Hardware 3 owners the choice of a "discounted trade-in" or a physical replacement of their car's computer and cameras at "micro factories" in major cities.

The announcement is a major blow for longtime Tesla owners, who paid thousands of dollars and have been waiting for years under the impression that their vehicles have the tech necessary to achieve fully autonomous driving.

As far back as 2016, Tesla stated in marketing materials that all its vehicles had the necessary hardware for "full self-driving capability at a safety level substantially greater than that of a human driver."

In a 2019 tweet, Musk said that all Tesla vehicles produced since 2016 had the right hardware for FSD or were "trivially upgradeable."

"It feels like a bait and switch at this point," Andrew Apperley, who bought a used 2018 Model 3 with FSD for $53,000 in 2023, told Business Insider.

"They kind of shot themselves in the foot by saying that this is going to come, and then it never does," Apperley said, adding that he felt like Hardware 3 customers would find it hard to trust Tesla and Musk's promises in the future after waiting in vain for unsupervised FSD.

Tesla did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Autonomy angst

Rick Flashman, who paid $10,000 for FSD when he bought his Model 3 in 2022, told Business Insider that, despite receiving increasingly generous trade-in offers from Tesla, he was not interested in swapping out his EV for a vehicle with up-to-date hardware.

"My car's in great shape. It's got 73,000 miles, it's driving perfectly, so I have no reason to upgrade it," Flashman said.

The Florida resident said that FSD was one of the main reasons he bought a Tesla, adding that he uses it for "over 90%" of his driving.

Hardware 3 vehicles in the US run a more limited version of FSD, with Tesla planning to release a "lite" variant of FSD version 14 for older vehicles in June.

Despite his car's limited capabilities, Flashman said he was well satisfied with the tech and is happy to wait for the overhaul Musk promised on Wednesday.

"It might take another year, but I'm one of the ones who's just waiting it out," he said.

"I wish it were sooner, obviously. But I don't feel like I was ripped off," Flashman added.

Matt Simmons, a Tesla owner who bought his Model 3 Performance in 2019, told Business Insider he added FSD for an extra $6,000 because he was curious about the hype. Seven years later, he says he rarely uses the feature.

"It kind of sucks, if I'm being honest," said Simmons, who said he doesn't use FSD on highway trips because of issues with the software's speed control.

Simmons said that he was not surprised by Musk's comments, pointing to the Tesla CEO's track record of making ambitious predictions for self-driving cars have often failed to fully pan out.

"We realize we're being strung along at this point," Simmons said.

The Pittsburgh resident described his Tesla as "long paid for" and said he had no intention of trading it in for a more advanced model.

"That would mean I'd have to buy another Tesla," said Simmons, who said he was hoping that rival EV maker Rivian would offer a similar deal for disenfranchised FSD owners.

Backlash goes global

Some Hardware 3 owners are done waiting for the software they paid thousands of dollars for years ago.

Tesla is already facing several lawsuits in the US from owners who say they were misled by the company's FSD marketing, and the backlash is starting to go global.

Earlier this month, Tesla finally received the green light to launch FSD in the Netherlands, marking the tech's debut in Europe after a yearlong campaign to woo regulators.

However, the rollout in the Netherlands excluded Hardware 3 owners, prompting Mischa Sigtermans, an executive at Amsterdam-based Ryde Ventures, to start a website to gather European Tesla owners for potential legal action.

Nearly 4,000 verified Tesla owners have now signed up to Sigtermans' website.

The Model 3 owner, who paid 6,400 euros ($7,530) for FSD in 2019, told Business Insider that Musk's comments confirmed many owners' worst fears, and said that the proposed solution of a discounted trade-in would simply make owners "pay for the same broken promise twice."

"Musk said out loud what many of us have been saying for months, if not years," said Sigtermans. "The admission is there, the solution isn't."

• The suspect traveled from Los Angeles to Washington by train with two guns, an official said.
• President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance were evacuated and are safe.
• The accused man will be formally charged in federal court on Monday.

The suspect in the shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner traveled from Los Angeles to Washington by train and checked into the hotel where the event was held — with two guns and a plan to target Trump administration officials, the nation's top prosecutor said on Sunday.

"We know that there were some writings, and we've already spoken with several witnesses who knew him," Todd Blanche, the acting US attorney general, said on NBC News' "Meet the Press."

Blanche stressed several times during the interview that the information about the suspect, widely identified by media citing law enforcement officials as Cole Allen, was "very preliminary."

Blanche said the suspect will be formally charged in federal court on Monday morning and faces at least two felonies — assault on a federal officer and discharging a firearm during that assault — that relate to a Secret Service agent who was shot at but protected by his armored vest.

No one else was injured during the chaotic incident at the Washington Hilton, where hundreds of journalists and government officials — including Trump, the first lady, Vice President JD Vance, and House Speaker Mike Johnson — were gathered for the annual celebration of a free press.

The shooting has raised questions about the level of security at the event, which Trump boycotted in his first term and last year. He was quickly hustled off stage and evacuated to the White House after the shots rang out.

A security video posted by Trump on Truth Social hours after the shooting showed an individual running past security officers outside the main doors of the event. Officers in the video could be seen trying to grab the man, then drawing their weapons and pointing their guns at him.

In a press conference following the incident, Trump said a Secret Service agent was shot in his bulletproof vest and said that "he's in great shape."

What we know about the suspect

Photos of the shooter posted online by Trump on Saturday night appear to match the LinkedIn profile and other photos of Allen. Authorities have not publicly named him, and Business Insider has not independently confirmed his identity.

Allen, 31, of Torrance, describes himself on his LinkedIn as a "mechanical engineer and computer scientist by degree, independent game developer by experience, teacher by birth."

His current job is listed as part-time tutor at C2 Education, which provides "personalized support designed to improve test scores, strengthen academic skills, and help students reach their full potential." He graduated from CalTech in 2017 and earned his master's in computer science from California State University, Dominguez Hills in 2025.

Jeffrey Carroll, the interim chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, said in a press conference following the president's remarks that the suspect was armed with a shotgun, handgun, and knives when he tried to bypass a security checkpoint at the event.

The suspect was not struck by gunfire and was transported to a hospital for evaluation, Carroll said.

In remarks after the incident, Trump described the suspect as a "sick person" who had been "totally subdued and under control."

Inside the room when the shooting occurred

The incident occurred after 8:30 p.m. Friday night, shortly after Trump took his seat.

There was suddenly shouting in front of the stage, according to Tim Röhn, the senior editor of the Axel Springer Global Reporters Network, who attended the event. Business Insider is part of the network.

Röhn reported that pushing and chaos broke out, people started running, guests threw themselves to the floor, and hid under tables. From behind the curtains onstage, heavily armed officers emerged and pointed their rifles at the crowd.

Guests needed a screenshot of an invitation to gain access to the premises and the building, Röhn reported. Photo ID wasn't required. Inside, Secret Service agents patrolled in some areas with dogs, and there was an airport-style security checkpoint in front of the ballroom. Jackets did not need to be removed for security checks.

CBS senior White House correspondent Weijia Jiang, the president of the White House Correspondents' Association, said law enforcement had requested that everyone leave the premises "consistent with protocol," and that Trump "insists" the event be rescheduled within 30 days.

Röhn reported that, following Jiang's remarks, attendees started leaving the venue.

Suspect to be arraigned on Monday

Blanche said law enforcement had worked through the night to piece together information about the suspect and had obtained warrants to examine his devices in their search for a motive.

"We believe he was targeting administration officials in this attack," Blanche told "Meet the Press," adding, "Obviously, President Trump is a member of the administration."

He added, "It does appear he did in fact set out to target folks who work in the administration, likely including the president, but I want to wait and not get ahead of us on that."

Jeanine Pirro, the US attorney for the District of Columbia, who was at the dinner, said at a press conference that her office would consider terrorism charges if the investigation revealed evidence sufficient to sustain them.

Responding to reporters' questions during his press conference, Trump advocated for the man to be sentenced to life in prison.

'Praying for our country tonight'

Until the start of the event, it was unclear when Trump would appear and how long he would stay.

Though Trump appeared as a private citizen and media personality in 2011 and 2015, he boycotted the White House Correspondents' Dinner during his first term.

The Washington Hilton hotel, long the site of the annual dinner, is where President Ronald Reagan was shot and wounded in a 1981 assassination attempt, just steps outside the hotel after addressing a labor gathering.

Trump was the target of two assassination attempts during his 2024 campaign, including a shooting at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, that left him injured, and a separate incident at one of his Florida golf courses in which a suspect was apprehended and later sentenced to life in prison.

Video shows a man believed to be the shooter at the White House Correspondents Association dinner being detained by security on Saturday, April 25. FBI officials told Reuters the man fired at a Secret Service agent.

• Apple's outgoing CEO, Tim Cook, expanded the iPhone's size during his tenure, delighting some fans.
• The standard iPhone grew from 3.5 inches to over 6 inches, and Cook introduced larger-format models.
• Cofounder Steve Jobs initially dismissed the larger phones, calling them impractical.

Apple's outgoing CEO, Tim Cook, proved his predecessor, Steve Jobs, wrong: some people love a large iPhone.

Jobs, the cofounder and driving force behind the iPhone, once knocked smartphones larger than 4 inches. "You can't get your hand around it," he said in a 2010 press conference. "No one's going to buy that."

When Cook took the reins in 2011, he began expanding the iPhone's size. In 2012, the release of the iPhone 5 increased the phone's screen size from 3.5 inches to 4 inches. Later base models reached up to 5.8 inches before landing at around 6.3 inches in the latest iteration, the iPhone 17.

Cook also introduced larger-format iPhones, starting with the Plus series in 2014, which had a display size of 5.5 inches that year.

Cook deftly leaned into larger models as the world turned to video streaming and on-the-go viewing. Netflix, for example, shifted its business around 2011 to focus more on streaming, and YouTube was growing rapidly around that time.

In 2025, Apple introduced its largest iPhone model yet, the iPhone 17 Pro Max, which topped out at 6.9 inches.

The shift to larger sizes has been working out for Apple. Cook said in January that iPhone demand was "staggering" and "unprecedented" in the holiday quarter. Apple posted $85 billion in iPhone revenue for the period.

Early data also showed that demand for the 17 Pro Max was stronger in the first two weeks of availability than other models in the 17 lineup, according to market research firm Counterpoint Research.

Apple's larger-format phones are an example of how the tech giant prioritizes putting its own spin on technology rather than being first-to-market with an idea.

"We could have done a larger iPhone years ago," Cook told PBS News' Charlie Rose in 2014. "It's never been about just making a larger phone. It's been about making a better phone in every single way."

Thanks, Tim.

• Courtney Clapper started applying for jobs in 2025 after graduating from Cornell Tech.
• She tried video cover letters, portfolios, and more to stand out, but had no luck.
• A hack on Reddit helped her get in contact with hiring managers and land her strategy lead job.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Courtney Clapper, a 32-year-old strategy lead for a major retailer in New York. It's been edited for length and clarity.

I started my job hunt in the fall of 2025, a few months after graduating with my MBA from Cornell Tech. I was applying for a mix of roles, such as product manager or digital strategist, and I knew the competition would be fierce in this tough job market.

From portfolios to video cover letters, I tried all sorts of creative methods to stand out and show off my personality, but they didn't work. A simple, free AI tool that locates hiring managers' emails landed me multiple interviews — and a job.

Video cover letters were a great start for me

My first thought process when entering the job market was to imagine myself as a recruiter, getting slammed with thousands of résumés filled with data and numbers.

I figured it would be in my best interest to give them a sense of what makes me stand out: my personality. So, I recorded myself reading my AI-written cover letters, throwing in a joke or two, and attached the video via a private YouTube link.

The video tells the recruiters I can speak and present well, and it gives them a sense of who I am. This approach helped me land an interview at Microsoft. They specifically called out the video, saying it made them feel like they already knew me, which I thought was pretty good feedback.

I still wanted to try several different creative ideas.

Next, I decided to make something more visual — a portfolio

My portfolio was in the form of a timeline. It included pictures of all professional endeavors I thought could help me land a job, from products I've built and my time at Cornell to pictures of me pitching. My goal was to showcase my skill set and personality while also creating something more visually interesting.

I'd also heard of people getting jobs by putting together a slideshow on how they'd improve the company, so I gave it a shot, and it didn't really get me anywhere. Neither of these strategies was worth the time commitment they required.

Referrals also got me nowhere. I have a solid network, and that wasn't making a difference. Interestingly, I applied for a bunch of roles at Microsoft, and the only one I got an interview for was the one I didn't have a referral for.

I came across a job-finding hack on Reddit

I was reading comments on Reddit from people complaining about their job-hunting struggles, and I saw a few people saying they found success by reaching out to hiring managers directly.

Some people said they cold-called, which made me think, "Okay, that's a little bit too far," but the emphasis was just to reach out. The idea of emailing them seemed low-risk, so I decided to give it a shot.

I started by researching on LinkedIn, trying to guess who the hiring manager or recruiter might be. Sometimes it was listed, but it wasn't the best method. Then I came across a Reddit comment about Apollo AI, a free tool that can locate hiring manager emails. I found it to be pretty accurate, so I started reaching out with my résumé and cover letter. It was a game changer.

The CEO of Sweetgreen responded to my email

My messages showed initiative and, honestly, probably just made things easier for the hiring manager. I reached out to three people directly and got interviewed for two jobs.

I even emailed the CEO of Sweetgreen directly, and he responded by putting me in touch with the hiring manager to schedule an interview.

One of my email reachouts turned into my current job, a strategy lead role for a major retailer. This strategy made things more efficient because I already had a direct line of contact, so it was easy to follow up if there was a delay.

I didn't get any negative feedback about it and would do it again

I was wondering if anyone might be weirded out about me finding their emails, but no one said anything. They could find it creepy, but they could also find it resourceful.

If I were back in the job market, I'd start with the email strategy. The exercise of thinking through creative approaches like portfolios and video cover letters was fun and got me thinking about how to present my personality most effectively, but ultimately, getting in direct contact was the best way to be competitive.

Do you have a story to share about a unique job-finding hack? If so, please reach out to the reporter at tmartinelli@businessinsider.com.

• President Trump will be the first sitting US president to have his signature on the nation's currency.
• The move is symbolic of the nation's "fiscal strength" under Trump, the Treasury announced Thursday.
• Since Trump took office, the dollar has fallen amid sweeping tariffs and global conflict.

The US Treasury Department announced Thursday that President Donald Trump's signature will appear on future US paper currency, marking the first time a sitting president's name will be printed on American bills.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in a press release, framed the move as symbolic, saying US currency should reflect the country's economic standing under Trump's leadership and serve as a marker of the nation's "fiscal strength and stability."

The decision breaks with long-standing precedent. For more than a century, US banknotes have carried the signatures of Treasury officials — not the president.

The Treasury said the move was to commemorate the coming 250th anniversary of American independence, as the administration pursues a broader effort to mark the milestone through currency and coin redesigns.

New bills bearing Trump's signature, along with that of the Treasury Secretary, will begin being issued at the semiquincentennial, the Treasury said. It's unclear which bills will bear Trump's signature or how long the initiative is expected to last.

"The decision for Trump to end years of precedent of Treasury Secretaries signing bills is another piece of evidence that Trump is trying to brand everything in his name, even though it is unusual and in the mold of what more undemocratic leaders typically do in other countries," Christian Grose, a professor of political science and public policy at the University of Southern California, told Business Insider.

Grose said the move risks making using cash a partisan act, potentially making Trump's supporters more enthusiastic about cash payments, and Democrats more likely to use electronic payments.

The US dollar has faced downward pressure in recent months, driven in part by sweeping tariffs that have rattled global trade and increased import costs, as well as the ongoing war in Iran, which has heightened geopolitical risk and unsettled currency markets.

Economists have warned that both factors can weaken demand for the dollar by slowing growth and increasing uncertainty.

• TSA agents are a hot topic as scores quit and call out sick during the partial government shutdown.
• Agents undergo up to six months of rigorous training to ensure they can spot prohibited items.
• Take Business Insider's quiz and see if you know what you can — and can't — bring on the plane.

Do you have what it takes to be a TSA agent?

Transportation security officers don't only screen passengers and luggage, but also ask travelers security questions and look out for suspicious activity.

From the X-ray machine to pat-downs, it takes substantial training to ensure agents can spot prohibited items. Becoming a TSA agent takes four to six months.

And sometimes, what's prohibited might not be as obvious as you think. While there are definite no-nos — like weapons — other banned items are a little more unexpected.

With that in mind, Business Insider created a quiz on passengers bringing items through airport security and take into the cabin with them.

Try it below to see if you know what's allowed and what's not in your carry-on:

TSA issues persist

Staffing shortages are causing enormous lines at airport security checkpoints right now and putting severe pressure on TSA workers.

Large numbers have been calling out since the partial government shutdown began on February 14, which stopped TSA staff from being paid. More than 400 have quit entirely.

The Department of Homeland Security says this leaves "critical gaps in staffing."

"TSA simply cannot afford to lose its screening workforce as it takes four to six months to train new recruits."

During the shutdown, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have been deployed to 14 US airports.

That's drawn criticism from many in the aviation industry, including flight attendants' unions, which accused politicians of using workers as "pawns in this dangerous game" in a Sunday statement.

On Tuesday, the Association of Flight Attendants created an online reporting form for its members to flag incidents, like ICE agents "doing work they are not trained to do, such as screening passengers and baggage."

• Elon Musk said that Tesla and SpaceX would collaborate on a moonshot Terafab chip-building project.
• Tesla has posted its first Terafab roles in California and Texas, and is offering a wide salary range.
• SpaceX is also ramping up hiring at its silicon division as it looks to bring chip production in-house.

Tesla and SpaceX are ramping up semiconductor hiring as Elon Musk's ambitious plans for a Terafab take shape.

Tesla is hiring Terafab engineers in Palo Alto and Austin, according to job listings on the company's website, after Musk said the company would collaborate with SpaceX to build what could be the largest chip manufacturing plant in history.

In California, the EV giant is looking for module process engineers with expertise in lithography, the highly technical discipline that uses ultraviolet light to etch chip designs onto silicon wafers at a molecular scale. It is offering a base salary of $88,000 to $240,000, depending on experience and other factors.

Applicants need to have at least 10 years of experience in cutting-edge semiconductor development.

The job listing suggests they would also need to be comfortable with Tesla's famously intense work culture, with expectations including a willingness to be on-call to "support 24/7 manufacturing operations" and respond rapidly to "critical production issues."

At the Terafab announcement on Saturday, Musk said the facility would create lithography masks — the quartz or glass template that contains the chip design imprinted onto the wafer — in-house, allowing Tesla and SpaceX to quickly iterate and improve chip designs.

"To the best of my knowledge, this doesn't exist anywhere in the world," said Musk, who added that the companies were exploring "some very interesting new physics" to make the project work.

Tesla's Terafab division is also hiring process integration engineers to build advanced logic chips, with base salaries ranging from $88,000 to $338,280. Musk has said Terafab will combine logic and memory chip production under a single roof, something that is highly unusual in the chipmaking industry.

The wide salary range is in line with Tesla's approach to compensation. Business Insider previously reported that the company offers lower base salaries than its tech giant rivals, but includes substantial stock grants.

Tesla is also advertising open roles for silicon engineers in Austin, and is looking to recruit a technical program manager with a proven track record of running "$100 million-plus capex projects" to oversee the design and construction of the fabs. Neither job listing includes base salaries.

Tesla faces talent scramble over Terafab

Recruitment will be one of the biggest challenges facing Musk's ambitious goal of building one of the world's largest semiconductor manufacturers from scratch. The industry relies on specialized knowledge that is carefully cultivated within leading companies like TSMC. It's also facing a global shortage of skilled workers.

SpaceX is scaling up its semiconductor hiring as the rocket maker prepares to launch up to one million orbital data centers, powered by AI chips built by Terafab that are specially adapted for the icy wastes of space.

The company has around 60 open positions in its Silicon division, according to SpaceX's website, though it's unclear which of these roles — if any — are directly related to Terafab.

They include assembly and packaging engineers at its Starlink factory in Bastrop, Texas, where the company invested $280 million last year to expand its semiconductor R&D and packaging facilities, as well as engineers in Washington and California to develop "cutting-edge" specialist chips for deployment in space and on Earth.

"In true SpaceX fashion, Starlink is taking the next step in vertical integration by bringing integrated circuit packaging and assembly in-house for development and manufacturing," read the descriptions on the Bastrop job listings, which do not include salaries.

SpaceX and Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.

Do you work at Tesla or in the semiconductor industry? Contact this reporter via email at tcarter@businessinsider.com or tcarter.41 on Signal. Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.

• Salesforce is skipping raises for director-level and above employees this year, according to an internal memo.
• The company said it is increasing stock and bonus pools for its "highest performing individuals."
• Employees will find out about their pay during reviews, which start at the end of this month.

Salesforce isn't offering raises this year to employees at the director level and above, according to an internal email viewed by Business Insider.

"We have decided to focus merit increases at the Senior Manager level (grade 8) and below," states the email, sent by the company's human-resources team.

Instead of giving raises, the company said it is increasing stock and bonus pools for its "highest performing individuals" among upper-level employees, calling it part of an "investment in performance and long-term growth."

Employees will learn about their compensation during performance reviews, which begin at the end of March.

Salesforce's decision could reflect a broader shift in how Big Tech is paying senior talent. Instead of increasing base pay, some companies are increasingly tying compensation to stock performance and equity, preserving cash while still incentivizing top leaders. Meta just announced this week that it created a lucrative incentive system for stock for a number of its C-suite executives.

Salesforce stock is down about 37% over the past year. CEO Marc Benioff recently downplayed fears about AI's threat to software-as-a-service companies. Those fears have prompted recent sell-offs of software stocks.

The email stated that 10% more directors and senior directors are getting stock grants, that the average stock grant increased, and that 80% of directors and senior directors who received "highly successful" or "exceptional" performance ratings received a 20% to 40% bigger grant.

The pool for bonuses "is funded at 103%," the email stated. Most eligible directors and senior directors received 100% or more of their bonus, and all of the directors and senior directors who received the top performance ratings got 115% to 140% of their bonuses.

Salesforce laid off some employees around the start of its fiscal year Feb. 1. Those cuts affected fewer than 1,000 employees, according to a person familiar with them. Around that time, the company also hired or promoted six new leaders, replacing five high-profile leaders who had recently announced departures from the company.

Have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at astewart@businessinsider.com or Signal at +1-425-344-8242. Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.

• Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang urged all workers, from farmers to electricians, to embrace AI.
• He told podcaster Lex Fridman that the technology could elevate blue-collar jobs, such as carpentry.
• Blue-collar has generally been viewed as less likely to be affected by AI disruption than white-collar jobs.

Artificial intelligence isn't only coming for office jobs — Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says blue-collar workers should be paying attention, too.

Huang leads one of the biggest chipmakers fueling the AI revolution. He joined Lex Fridman's podcast in an episode published Monday to discuss everything from AI in space to work.

While blue-collar jobs have been considered relatively safe from AI disruption compared to tech roles like engineering, Huang said workers in every profession, including farming and electrical work, should use artificial intelligence to help future-proof their jobs.

"If I were a farmer, I would absolutely use AI. If I were a pharmacist, I would use AI," Huang said. "I want to see what it could do to elevate my job so that I could be the innovator to revolutionize this industry myself."

For example, he said coding represents a big opportunity for carpenters, and he would go "completely berserk" using AI if he were in that line of work.

"A carpenter with AI is also an architect," he said. "They've just increased the value that they could deliver to the customer. Their artistry just elevated tremendously."

Huang has said before that he is "certain 100% of everybody's jobs will be changed" by artificial intelligence, and that while he expects some jobs to be lost, many will also be created.

Many tasks, for example, will be automated, and those jobs will be highly disrupted, he said on Fridman's podcast.

But, he said, "If your job's purpose includes you … then it's vital that you go learn how to use AI to automate those tasks."

Anxiety grows alongside AI

As AI advances, so has anxiety around job security. The fears aren't unfounded. Companies have slashed thousands of jobs in the name of prioritizing new technology and automation.

Huang's solution: Become an expert in AI, no matter what your job function is.

It could be the difference between landing a job and ending up unemployed. In almost every case, Huang said he'd rather hire the candidate who's an AI expert over one who isn't.

"Every college student should graduate and be an expert in AI," Huang said.

It could help them stay ahead of the curve as AI quickly advances.

The next phase of AI is already here

Artificial general intelligence is a form of AI that elicits anxiety or excitement among the field's most advanced minds. It's the idea that AI will one day meet or surpass human intelligence. Huang said that the age of AGI is already here.

Fridman asked if AI could do Huang's job of starting, growing, and running a successful tech company worth more than $1 billion.

It's possible, Huang said.

He also said, "It's not out of the question" that chatbots like Anthropic's Claude could design an app that billions of people would use for $0.50 apiece, and then go out of business shortly after, similar to websites that went bust in the dot-com era.

Even his job running one of the most successful tech companies today isn't immune to the effects of AI, he said, encouraging everyone to jump on the technology before they're left behind.

"Go see what it can do to transform your current job, elevate yourself," Huang said.

• Kim Vaccarella, CEO of Bogg, said dupes have cost her business tens of millions.
• Social media has driven the Bogg bag's growth, but also boosted competition and copycats.
• Bogg's unique offerings and customer service aim to outshine cheaper dupes.

Bogg's founder takes each dupe she sees personally.

Kim Vaccarella began making Bogg 15 years ago to be the ultimate beach bag for working moms. She saw an opportunity in the plastic material used for flip-flops — durable and waterproof.

Thus, the Bogg bag was born with its patented design featuring signature holes and a flat bottom, which Bogg says makes it tip-proof.

"My plan was to come up with the idea, patent it, and maybe sell it because I had a career," Vaccarella said. "Once I put my papers in for the patent and started reaching out to a few companies, I was getting a lot of nos."

There were those who said the Bogg bag was a one-time purchase that wouldn't attract repeat customers.

Vaccarella believed in her idea, however, and quit her job in 2018 to run the company full time. It wasn't long after that she realized she had a viral hit on her hands thanks to social media. The power of TikTok and beyond has been a game changer for Bogg. It led the business to $100 million in annual revenue by 2024, Vaccarella said.

However, being the new it-bag came with its hardships. Along with her success came Vaccarella's No. 1 enemy: dupes.

Dupes are products that are similar in appearance or functionality to a higher-end item but sold at a lower price. Bogg bags start at $55 for the smallest size and go up to $100 for the largest. Similar bags in the largest size sell online from retailers like Walmart for less than the small Bogg "bitty bag."

"Social media is kind of that double-edged sword where you're getting a lot of exposure, a lot of new customers, but also, that visibility is introducing new competitors and giving them ideas," Vaccarella told Business Insider.

The viral success and dupes that have come with it have cost Bogg tens of millions of dollars, Vaccarella said.

As dupes become more common, even larger brands like Lululemon have taken action to curb copycats, including suing retailers. To combat the copycats, Vaccarella said she keeps three principles in mind.

Know your audience

Gen Z may be the talk of the town among many retailers, but Vaccarella said that Bogg knows its customer base skews older. Its target shoppers are women ages 18 to 64, but moms over 35 are the brand's "sweet spot," she said.

"She's carrying all the things for a day at the ball field, for the pool, for the beach," Vaccarella said.

Knowing who is willing to pay the premium price for the real thing is a key part of its strategy.

Social media is also a powerful tool driving Bogg's growth. Vaccarella said that it has helped build its customer base to 78% new shoppers, with 22% being returners.

It's still not an ideal mix, Vaccarella said, as companies tend to want to see a higher percentage of return visits. However, she said the numbers are based on Bogg's direct-to-consumer business and don't include its retail partners that carry Bogg products, such as Dick's Sporting Goods, Nordstrom, or Bloomingdale's.

You won't find Bogg bags at your local Hobby Lobby, Five Below, or other discount stores, though.

"Unfortunately, with our pricing, we can't sell in a Walmart," Vaccarella said.

Stand up for your ideas

Vaccarella has taken legal action against retailers whose marketing and products she thinks could confuse consumers. It's not about making a profit, she said, but making up for the "significant" amount of revenue that may have been taken away from Bogg.

"I just want them to stop in most cases," Vaccarella said.

Bogg applied for trade dress, a form of intellectual property protection that protects a product's visual appearance. It's worth the time and money, she said.

It's helped Bogg when it sent out cease-and-desists, followed by further legal action. Suing copycats isn't a "money-making scheme," Vaccarella said.

"Even if it pays the legal fees that I have to pay, just to get somebody to stop, it's worth it," she said.

Offer something the dupes can't

While dupes make certain product types more accessible to those who can't afford to spend $100 on a bag, Vaccarella said some things can't be replicated.

That's how Bogg justifies its premium pricing. You may be able to pick up a similar bag for $20, but Vaccarella said it won't come with the service Bogg offers.

"I'm not going to say every single dupe is a throwaway product, but we see that they break," Vaccarella said. "If your bag breaks, if the button comes off, we're going to send you a new button."

It's not only the repairs that Vaccarella said keep customers loyal, but also the ability to accessorize your bag to make it both functional and stylish. Shoppers may hope to kit out their Bogg dupes with accessories from the real brand, but they don't fit.

It's an opportunity to get them to buy into the Bogg family and leave their dupes behind.

OpenAI has built one of the most popular products in the world. Now it has to figure out how to pay for it.

Enter Fidji Simo.

Simo, the 40-year-old former Instacart CEO and longtime Meta executive, became OpenAI's product boss in August under CEO Sam Altman. While Altman has long been the face of OpenAI, Simo is increasingly shaping how the company operates and makes money.

"Part of bringing me on, and giving me the responsibilities of a CEO, was to make sure that I could really run that part of the company with autonomy," Simo, whose title is CEO of applications, told Business Insider.

Altman defers to Simo when he doesn't feel strongly, she said, and they "debate it out" when he does.

As OpenAI races toward a possible IPO later this year, Simo, who oversees nearly two-thirds of the company, has a delicate balancing act. She must craft a strategy to make products profitable, while convincing staffers who joined a research-driven organization that commercialization won't change the mission.

The stakes are high. Deutsche Bank estimated that OpenAI is expected to amass the "largest startup losses in history," totaling a projected $143 billion between 2024 and 2029. (An OpenAI spokesperson said that figure is incorrect, and one person familiar with the numbers said OpenAI's internal projections are in line with other reports of $111 billion cash burn by 2030.)

Competitors like Anthropic and Google are starting to erode OpenAI's early and commanding lead and, in some cases, surging ahead. Anthropic's coding tool has outperformed OpenAI's even after the latter made dominance in coding its top priority, a person familiar with internal goals told Business Insider.

OpenAI and Simo now face pressure to create the most powerful models and turn them into accessible and marketable products that can sustain the enormous cost of training and deployment.

"This AI moment is so unique that there is really no blueprint for OpenAI to follow," UBS analyst Karl Keirstead told Business Insider. "This is uncharted territory."

In an interview, Simo was warm and charismatic — a charm paired with a reputation for intensity and follow-through. This month, she unveiled a strategy shift for the company: an increased focus on coding and enterprise users.

"We cannot miss this moment because we are distracted by side quests," Simo told employees at an all-hands meeting, according to a person familiar with her remarks. The company needs to nail productivity — primarily on the business side, and then on the consumer side, she said. "Everything else is going to have to take a backseat to those priorities."

Former colleagues said they were familiar with this laser focus.

One former Meta employee recalled a moment when, after a contentious meeting, Simo sent a one-line follow-up saying she was unlikely to change her mind, so the team shouldn't waste time trying to persuade her. She has little patience for internal debates that lose sight of the product, the former employee said, and she's skilled at "being super clear in her directive so teams don't scramble and waste time."

Priya Monga, who served as Simo's chief of staff at Facebook and Instacart and is now director of go-to-market strategy at Instacart, said Simo arrives at any new role having mapped out the full journey.

"She knows she's going from A to Z, and she sees that right at the beginning," Monga said. "In the back of her mind, she has already really thought a lot about the broader visionary 10-year road map."

Interviews with Simo, current and former OpenAI employees, and former colleagues reveal how she's approaching one of the company's most crucial years — and the mark she's already made on it.

Competing for resources

A few months after she joined OpenAI, Simo invited the company's researchers to a series of roundtable meetings.

She wanted to talk about advertising inside the AI giant's flagship product, ChatGPT: what it might look like, what guardrails should be in place, and what principles would make AI ads publicly defensible. Nearly 100 employees weighed in.

For years, OpenAI executives said the company wouldn't turn to ads for revenue. Altman referred to the idea as a "last resort." A year later, Altman hired Simo, a seasoned executive with a reputation for monetizing new products. In February, OpenAI began testing ads.

The drive to become more product-focused predated Simo, two people familiar with the company's internal strategy told Business Insider.

After ChatGPT took off in 2023, OpenAI leaders decided to put research teams in two buckets: one for improving products, and another centered on more forward-looking exploratory projects. In the years since, the company has faced more pressure to roll out products as competitors gained ground.

OpenAI had two broad goals in 2025, according to a former executive: reach a $12 billion revenue run rate, which it handily beat midway through the year, and "dominate in AI coding," which it did not. It was the first time the company had failed to meet a major internal objective, according to the person familiar with the goals.

Codex, OpenAI's coding tool, has since reached more than 2 million weekly active users, nearly four times as many as at the start of the year. Anthropic doesn't disclose active users; it said in February that Claude Code's run rate revenue is more than $2.5 billion, and its weekly active users had doubled since January 1.

OpenAI leadership realized it needed to start acting more like a Big Tech company, not a research lab. "There's definitely some stress happening to the company, and no company wants to be behind," one of the people familiar with the company's strategy said.

Since Simo joined, OpenAI has moved several executives into different roles, two people with knowledge of the shifts said.

A few months after she arrived, Kevin Weil moved from chief product officer to vice president of OpenAI for science, and VP of engineering Srinivas Narayanan became chief technical officer of B2B applications. In January, Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap shifted to overseeing commercial operations, while Barret Zoph began overseeing B2B after he rejoined the company. Weil and Narayanan underwent title changes in September, according to their LinkedIn profiles.

Simo has also personally recruited a number of high-level executives from across Big Tech, including former Facebook VP Vijaye Raji, Slack CEO Denise Dresser, OpenClaw founder Peter Steinberger, and several executives from Amazon, Shopify, and Instagram, according to a person familiar with the leadership changes.

Since Simo started, the company's post-training team, which fine-tunes AI models after initial training, has acted as a bridge between research and product teams. The team interfaces directly with Simo about research projects, a person with knowledge of the organizational strategy said.

Early on, Simo told Business Insider, she did a "listening tour." More than 200 people took up her offer to meet, she said. That helped her better understand the company and culture and build trust with her new colleagues.

"I think that really made the company feel like I wasn't jumping in with preconceived notions," she said. "I was really trying to understand what was right for this company at this specific moment in time."

Simo said she manages the company's product research team alongside Mark Chen, the company's chief research officer. One of her first priorities was to understand how the research side operated, something she worked closely with Chen on.

As ChatGPT grows — it has nearly a billion weekly users — and its valuation surges, resources like compute power — the GPU chips, energy, and data-center capacity required to train and run AI models — have become increasingly competitive.

The tension between research and product has become increasingly visible inside OpenAI, some insiders say. Some researchers told Business Insider that the focus on user optimization and product growth risks narrowing the lab's ability to chase more exploratory work.

Earlier this year, vice president of research Jerry Tworek resigned after seven years at OpenAI, saying in a post on X that he wanted to "explore types of research that are hard to do at OpenAI."

Others have voiced similar frustrations. Tom Cunningham, the company's chief economist, left in December over friction between OpenAI's work on the economic impact of AI and the marketing of its product, Wired reported at the time.

One former researcher told Business Insider that as ChatGPT has grown, they "started feeling a little bit of pushback" from the rest of the company and began to feel as if "ambitious research" didn't have a place at the company anymore. Another former employee said the pivot towards a more traditional tech culture at OpenAI was "inevitable," but it has led to a "changing of the guard."

"At the end of the day, it's about survival," they said.

Chen has pushed back against claims that the company is driving a product-focused agenda. "The majority of our compute is allocated to foundational research and exploration — and not product milestones," he wrote on X in February.

Are we going to turn into Big Tech?

Simo was hired by OpenAI after serving on the board for more than a year.

Some employees, Simo told Business Insider, worried that her arrival meant OpenAI would transform into a Big Tech clone. "Is the only way to build this big product company to hire tons of people and kind of do what Big Tech is doing?" she recalled employees asking.

She spent her first few months trying to convince them that the answer was no.

One of her early moves was a company-wide effort to eliminate the unnecessary bureaucracy that can bog down a large organization. She publishes a monthly update on the company's Slack detailing obstacles that have been removed — everything from small annoyances like how to get headphones to bigger structural bottlenecks like clunky code reviews. She created a dedicated inbox where employees could flag issues and says she reads every submission.

"I'm very focused on scaling the company without creating the excess process and friction that many of us have seen in big tech," read an excerpt of her first dispatch.

Her aim, she said, is to keep OpenAI small, focused, and process-light. To that end, Simo said, OpenAI has an advantage that most Big Tech companies don't: It started as a research lab.

"There is no product if there is no research," Simo said. It's easier to build products on top of a strong research base than to put a research lab on top of a product-driven company, she added.

Big Tech would "put products out into the world and then kind of react to what would happen," Simo said. "We started with a research lab that was very focused on safety, and really thought of safety as a leading research field and not as the thing you do right before the launch."

"I think we have a very big advantage in how we think about problems and anticipating where the technology is going and feeling a lot of responsibility for guiding that technology towards the right place," she added.

Vivek Sharma, who worked under Simo at Meta, said that's a natural part of the maturation process in tech.

"Tension is a good sign someone is advancing beyond the basics," he said. "If there's no tension, no division happening — real expertise, experience, past multi-domain decisions haven't been made."

'Founder mode'

Simo isn't a traditional Silicon Valley insider. Raised in Sète, a fishing town on France's Mediterranean coast, she was the first in her family to graduate from high school before earning a place at one of France's elite business schools.

From there, she worked her way into tech — first through an internship at eBay, then at Facebook, where she went on to help monetize the company's core app and eventually oversee some of its most ambitious product expansions. She also served as CEO at Instacart, where she helped steer the company through the pandemic boom and took it public in 2023 during a notoriously difficult market for tech IPOs.

Simo married her high school sweetheart, former software engineer turned chocolatier Remy Miralles, in 2011; they have a young daughter. Simo has spoken in the past about how navigating chronic health issues, including endometriosis and the nervous system disorder POTS, has shaped some of her work. She cofounded a women's health venture called the Metrodora Institute and was largely responsible for the launch of ChatGPT Health.

Former colleagues describe Simo as intense, empathetic, and known to crack a joke during a high-stakes meeting.

They say that background shapes how she leads. Sharma described her as a "hard-charging" executive with a distinctly human lens — someone who thinks about what ordinary people would actually find useful, not just what's technologically impressive.

Nick Turley, the head of ChatGPT who reports to Simo, said she has a "customer orientation" that has reshaped how the company approaches products. During an interview, he said that she has driven a new focus on reliability and performance over "flashy" new tech.

She also has a relentless operating tempo. Turley described it as her propensity to go "founder-mode."

"She will read every single document — including the links," he said.

Daniel Danker, who worked with Simo on Facebook's video team and later at Instacart, said "she was causing all of Facebook to move faster."

Simo's track record of commercialization is not without controversy.

At Facebook, she oversaw the company's video push, which later came under fire for inflating numbers. Facebook admitted in 2016 that it had overestimated how long viewers watched video ads by 60 to 80 percent; a lawsuit alleged the figure was as high as 900 percent. Facebook settled for $40 million while admitting no wrongdoing.

At Instacart, Simo inherited a fraught relationship with gig workers. On her first day as CEO in August 2021, she published an open letter pledging to be "a thoughtful and open partner" to the company's hundreds of thousands of gig workers, and invited them to email her directly.

The Gig Workers Collective, representing some 13,000 contract workers, called for a boycott and walkoff within weeks, telling Fortune that her responses were "basically canned answers."

OpenAI's next chapter

At OpenAI, Simo has helped push several high-profile initiatives, including a newsletter product called ChatGPT Pulse, OpenAI's Frontier enterprise agents, and advertising. This month, the company launched GPT-5.4, a model that incorporates coding capabilities into its core system, and announced a desktop "superapp," which Simo will oversee.

Simo said she approaches new product launches by involving employees throughout the process. She pitched those advertising roundtables by sharing her own ideas for what kind of ads the company could be proud of, and asking employees to share where they agreed and disagreed.

"The way I approached it was not to tell the company we're going to have ads. It's to actually start a dialogue," Simo told Business Insider. "That's not usually the way it goes. That's a big difference for this place."

As product chief, Simo has to prepare the company for battle inside a complex leadership structure, working closely with Altman.

Simo has said the two are complementary and aligned on vision, with Altman focusing heavily on research and compute scaling while she drives product execution.

It's a dynamic familiar to Simo, who worked closely with Mark Zuckerberg. She had a special talent for knowing how to navigate the CEO, Sharma said.

OpenAI can be a cutthroat place to work for leaders. As one former executive put it, OpenAI is such a rocket ship that there's very little time or patience for those who don't hit the ground running. "What a leader needs to do is astounding," the person said.

"The speed at which OpenAI is growing, it's relatively easy for Sam to hire the best, most famous people, but it's hard to keep them. His mode is: Nobody is not sacrificeable," the person said. "'You have to magically grow to what I think you can do right now.'"

OpenAI no longer has the luxury of being a research lab dreaming about the future of AI. It has rapidly become a global consumer product under intense scrutiny. Now Simo's job is to help it grow up without losing what made it successful in the first place.

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• Americans are visiting bars less often and spending more when they do, due to rising costs.
• That leaves plenty of room for products that promise bar-quality results at home.
• As a result, ready-to-drink cocktails and mix-it-yourself kits are surging in popularity.

If you can crack a can or pour from a jar, you're halfway to a cocktail.

Across the drinks industry, "lazy bartending" has gone mainstream. Ready-to-drink cocktails, canned spirits, and DIY infusion kits promise bar-quality drinks without the shaker, the garnish station, or even a bartender. And increasingly, consumers seem happy to trade mixology theater for convenience.

From canned margaritas to dehydrated fruit infusion kits, companies are racing to make cocktails easier to prepare and more portable. The trend reflects a broader shift in how younger consumers approach alcohol: they want high-quality drinks but without the effort, the bar tab, or the late-night outing traditionally associated with cocktails.

The rise of canned cocktails and mix-at-home kits also comes as bar habits shift. Industry data from NielsenIQ shows that Americans are visiting bars less often and spending more when they do, due to rising costs — leaving room for products that deliver bar-style cocktails with minimal effort.

That demand is fueling a fast-growing ready-to-drink category. Grand View Research estimated the global RTD cocktail market at about $3.7 billion in 2025 and projected it to reach more than $10 billion by 2033, driven largely by younger consumers prioritizing convenience and on-the-go drinks. In the US, the Distilled Spirits Council found that spirits-based RTDs posted 16.4% sales growth last year, making them the fastest-growing spirits category even as the broader alcohol market softened.

For brands like On The Rocks, convenience is the point. The company built its business on what Daniel May, senior brand director at On The Rocks, calls "high quality, crafted experiences" delivered in bottles or cans — cocktails developed with a mixologist but designed to be "pop it or crack the can, pour it over ice or drink."

The approach reflects how people are drinking today. On The Rocks says many cocktail occasions now happen outside traditional bars — casual gatherings, game nights, or smaller social events where consumers still want a premium drink but not the hassle of building a full home bar.

Smaller companies are leaning into the same logic from another angle. Infuse & Booze sells cocktail infusion jars filled with dried fruit, herbs, and sugar that customers add alcohol to at home. The founders told Business Insider that the idea started during camping trips when they realized mixing drinks outdoors was tedious.

The jars can make eight to 10 cocktails and are designed to sit in a refrigerator until guests want a drink — another nod to the industry's shift toward low-effort entertaining.

Even major spirits companies are adjusting to this mindset, with ready-to-drink mixes from brands like Malibu, Bacardi, and Absolut spreading across shelves nationwide. Caroline Begley, US VP of Marketing for Absolut Vodka, previously told Business Insider that younger drinkers are "drinking differently" and are increasingly "intentional about what they want to drink," with the occasion and vibe shaping their beverage choices.

That intentionality doesn't mean consumers are abandoning alcohol. Instead, they're redefining how cocktails fit into their lives — favoring drinks that are portable, flexible, and easy to prepare, whether they're hosting friends, heading to a festival, or opening something quick at home.

In other words, the modern cocktail hour might still involve premium spirits and creative flavors. It just might not involve a bartender.

• Elon Musk is about to unveil his most challenging project yet: a giant semiconductor factory.
• The billionaire has said Tesla needs to build a "Terafab" to churn out chips for its robotaxis and Optimus robot.
• One analyst said to never rule Musk out, but that building a Terafab could be harder than sending rockets to Mars.

Self-driving cars, cyborgs, and catching rockets in midair: Elon Musk can't resist the lure of the impossible.

The world's richest man has made a habit of taking on the world's most difficult engineering challenges at Tesla and SpaceX — and has often proved the doubters wrong. His latest target is a tall order even by his standards.

For several months, Musk has been talking about building a "Terafab," a mammoth factory that would churn out semiconductors critical for Tesla's ambitious rollout of robotaxis and humanoid robots.

On Saturday, he teased that an announcement was imminent. "Terafab Project launches in 7 days," Musk wrote in an X post, without providing further details.

In a January earnings call, the billionaire cited chip production as the major long-term headwind to the company's growth, suggesting that output from suppliers Samsung, TSMC, and Micron would be nowhere near enough to meet Tesla's targets as the EV giant scales its robotaxi and humanoid robot programs.

"This is definitely going to be sort of a controversial thing, but I think Tesla needs to build a Terafab," Musk told investors, adding that such a facility would also protect Tesla against geopolitical upheaval.

The Tesla CEO suggested that the company would pursue the hardest possible version of that vision, a "very big fab" that would produce and package logic and memory chips entirely in the US.

Speaking at Tesla's annual shareholder meeting last November, Musk estimated the Terafab would aim to initially produce 100,000 silicon wafers a month and could eventually grow to 1 million.

Ahead of the Terafab announcement, Tesla has begun laying the groundwork for Musk's grand plan. The tech giant is hiring a semiconductor infrastructure manager to oversee factory design and construction, per a recent job posting. The role is based in Austin, suggesting the Terafab could be built near Tesla's gigafactory on the outskirts of the city.

However, analysts told Business Insider that Tesla would face enormous challenges — and a huge bill — as it tries to master one of the most complex technologies on the planet.

"It's Musk, so I would never count it out. But I suspect this is actually harder than sending rockets to Mars," Stacy Rasgon, managing director and senior semiconductor analyst at Bernstein, told Business Insider.

Semi-impossible?

The global supply of semiconductors is almost entirely produced by a small handful of companies, many of them based in East Asia.

Manufacturing them is an expensive, complicated, and time-consuming process. Deep within hermetically sealed factories, chip designs are etched onto thin silicon wafers at the molecular level by specialist lithography machines, which are almost entirely made by one company in the Netherlands and can have a waitlist of over a year.

Rasgon said that procuring these in-demand ASML-built machines was a critical roadblock for any would-be chipmaker.

"If you're a brand new customer, you're probably waiting a couple of years before getting your hand on one of those," he said.

Rasgon added that chipmakers usually split up production of logic and memory chips and semiconductor packaging across different factories.

Musk's suggestion that Tesla could integrate them all into one facility would make scaling the Terafab even more complicated, Rasgon said, as each product has wildly different processes and economics.

Musk is not alone in fearing geopolitical disruption. The threat of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, which would plunge global chip supply into chaos, has prompted companies, including TSMC, to build new chip fabs in the US.

But the road to US-produced semiconductors has been far from smooth. TSMC's Arizona expansion has faced years of delays and a total price tag of around $165 billion across multiple facilities.

The industry runs on technical knowledge that is deeply embedded within leading companies. TSMC flew employees out from Taiwan to help the Arizona facility ramp production and brought US workers to its home country to train them.

The need for specialized knowledge will make recruitment critical for Tesla's Terafab hopes, Rasgon said, adding that the semiconductor industry is already facing a worker shortage.

"These guys don't grow on trees," he said.

A 'Herculean' challenge

Analysts warned that overcoming these challenges would add to the severe cash burn Tesla is set to face in the coming years.

The company said in January it would spend $20 billion on building out its robotaxi and Optimus production lines this year, a figure which does not include the Terafab project.

Ben Kallo, a senior research analyst at Baird, told Business Insider that investors would have questions about how Tesla plans to fund such an ambitious project — especially considering Musk has also said Tesla will build around 100 gigawatts of solar panel manufacturing.

"Where's the money coming from? I think that's going to be a question," said Kallo, who added that he wouldn't rule out Tesla raising outside capital for the first time since 2020 to fulfill Musk's ambitious targets.

Musk hasn't given a specific timeline for building the Terafab and producing chips, but he said in the January earnings call that he was building it to "remove a probable constraint in three or four years."

In a Tuesday note, Morgan Stanley analysts led by Andrew Percoco pointed to Micron's factory in Boise — which began construction in late 2022 but isn't expected to begin shipping chips until mid-2027 — as evidence of how long it can take to build semiconductor infrastructure in the US.

They estimated that building a factory capable of producing 100,000 wafers for cutting-edge logic chips a month could cost as much as $45 billion. A note from UBS analysts in January estimated that just getting to Musk's initial production target of 100,000 silicon wafers a month would cost $30 billion.

"Even understanding Elon Musk's history of doing difficult things, this seems like a Herculean task," the Morgan Stanley analysts wrote.

• Delays persist at TSA checkpoints across US airports due to the partial government shutdown.
• As of Monday morning, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport is advising travelers to show up 4 hours early.
• Here's the latest on TSA delays, and how to check wait times before you travel.

If you're flying in the US, get ready to stand in line.

Airports across the US are continuing to see lengthy waits at security checkpoints as scores of TSA workers call out due to missed paychecks.

A partial government shutdown has left the Department of Homeland Security and its Transportation Security Administration unfunded and their agents unpaid at the height of the spring break travel season.

As many as 10% of all TSA agents called out on several days last week, DHS updates showed, with absence rates averaging as much as 20% in some airports. A DHS spokesperson told Business Insider that some airports, such as William P. Hobby Airport in Houston, had seen absence rates as high at 40.8%.

Security lines in affected airports are spiking unpredictably from day to day, and sometimes even from hour to hour.

"The current unpredictability is being driven by unpredictable staffing levels, basically, how many TSA officers are showing up for work on any given day," Sheldon H. Jacobson, the founder professor of engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and an expert on aviation security and airport security screening, told Business Insider.

"TSA officers have historically been cross-trained to do many different tasks, so the number that show up is the key factor," Jacobson said.

How long are the TSA delays?

Delays at TSA checkpoints across the US have been unpredictable, and some airports are changing how they're communicating with travelers.

As of Monday morning, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the world's busiest by passenger numbers, now displays the following message on its website: "Due to current federal conditions, passengers are advised to allow at least 4 hours or more for domestic and international screenings."

Atlanta has been among the worst-affected airports since the shutdown began, with over a third of TSA staff not showing up on some days.

The airport said there had been congestion at the international checkpoint as domestic travelers try to bypass long lines in the domestic terminal. The airport said domestic travelers should use the domestic checkpoints.

At Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport, lines stretched over three hours on Sunday evening. As of Monday morning, the average wait time is 28 minutes.

Lines at checkpoints at JFK, the New York area's biggest airport, are running at 45 minutes on Monday.

JFK said it has "deployed additional customer care staff into terminals to help manage queues, assist passengers, and keep people moving as efficiently as possible."

As of Monday, Newark Liberty International Airport displays a message on its website that says security wait times may be "significantly longer than normal."

"Please allow for significantly more time and check with your airline for the current status of your flight," the message says.

Separate from TSA issues, LaGuardia Airport was closed early Monday after a plane collided with a vehicle. It will remain closed until at least 2 p.m. ET.

Denver, home of the fourth-busiest airport in the US, is experiencing wait times of 45 minutes on Monday. Dallas-Fort Worth lines are at 46 minutes.

At Los Angeles International Airport, the nation's fifth-busiest travel hub, waits were listed as "0" minutes.

Some airports have so far avoided the hourslong lines. Business Insider's Taylor Rains flew out of Las Vegas last week and saw minimal TSA lines.

The maximum wait time at Philadelphia International Airport was listed as 30 minutes on Monday, although some terminals were quicker.

How to check TSA wait times

The unpredictable delays mean travelers should plan for long waits even if their airport hasn't yet experienced problems.

The easiest way to avoid the stress of missing your flight is to give yourself extra time in the airport. Many airports are advising travelers this week to arrive up to three hours before their flight, even for domestic flights.

Many airports, including major hubs like Atlanta, Houston, JFK, Newark, Philadelphia, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Denver, have been posting TSA wait times live on their websites.

These can also provide more specific insights. For example, DFW's website shows the wait times at each checkpoint.

You can also use the MyTSA mobile app. It provides estimated wait times in 15-minute intervals based on average checkpoint data. The app, however, will use historical data if the live data cannot be retrieved. The TSA also says it is not "actively" managing its sites during the partial shutdown, and so the app may not always be updated.

How long will the TSA delays persist?

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said airport delays could get worse.

"As we get into next week and they're about to miss another payment, this is going to look like child's play, what's happening right now," Duffy said on CNBC.

Some airports could be forced to close, both Duffy and Adam Stahl, the TSA's acting deputy administrator, said.

Airports like Denver and Seattle have asked the public for food, gift cards, and basic supplies to support TSA staff working without pay.

• Michael Buckley revitalized True Religion, doubling the brand's sales to $500 billion over three years.
• The Y2K denim brand shifted its focus to younger, diverse shoppers and became more accessible.
• Partnerships with artists like Megan Thee Stallion also highlighted the brand's roots in hip-hop culture.

True Religion had to recognize some hard truths in order to turn its brand around.

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 $300 jeans at stores like Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. It needed some serious reevaluation to get True Religion back on the path to a comeback, with its iconic horseshoe logo on the back pockets of stars like Kylie Jenner.

While the brand is still dwarfed by denim giants like Gap and American Eagle, True Religion has been building its comeback among a new generation of shoppers drawn to its Y2K heritage.

It started with getting to know its customers. The old True Religion shopper was niche, Buckley said. They shopped at Saks, Bloomingdale's, and Nordstrom, and they came from households earning over $250,000.

"That's not the consumer anymore," Buckley told Business Insider.

The new True Religion customer

Buckley used consumer surveys to learn the ages, genders, and ethnicities of True Religion's customers in the post-Y2K era. Today, he said the brand's average shoppers are 15 to 45-year-olds from households earning about $65,000 a year.

True Religion needed to make the brand more accessible and inclusive to a wider audience without lowering prices, Buckley said. However, he said, the team understood that promotions are a key component.

"We know that the customer always expects to buy us on sale," Buckley said.

It also struck new deals with stores like Dillard's, Macy's, and Urban Outfitters, where Buckley said True Religion's customers like to shop both the sales rack and full-price items. In those stores, Buckley said the silhouettes of the early 2000s have come back stronger than ever in apparel. From baggy jeans to low-rise waists, Gen Z and Gen Alpha are getting on the trends of their parents and older siblings.

"We don't create trends, we follow the trends," Buckley said. "We make sure that we have our version of it because we know what the consumer wants."

Staying true to its roots with a twist

Buckley highlighted True Religion's "big affiliation" with hip-hop, dating back to its early years. More than two decades later, the brand is tapping into that relationship through its social media partnerships with celebrities and influencers.

Its most recent advertising campaign stars rappers Megan Thee Stallion and Key Glock. A 2024 Instagram post featuring Megan Thee Stallion is still True Religion's best-performing in its history, the company said.

"We know what our consumer likes," Buckley said. "We know what artists they like, who they aspire to be, and who moved the needle for us."

Buckley also expanded True Religion beyond jeans. From 2006 to 2010, 80% of its sales came from denim jeans, the company said. Today, 60% of the business comes from other apparel, such as T-shirts, hoodies, and joggers.

Its biggest opportunity is also a challenge

The Y2K-revivial led by Gen Z is a major opportunity for True Religion, Amy Leverton, CEO of denim-focused consultancy Denim Dudes, said.

"It's a return to more expressive, identity-driven denim after this decade of minimalism," Leverton said.

Brands like Von Dutch, Baby Phat, Juicy Couture, and Ed Hardy have had their own resurgences as the trend continues to capture young people.

Leverton said True Religion will have to figure out how to ride the wave of relevance into a profitable future. Fashion trendsetters are already pondering what the next big trend will be after Y2K.

"When things quiet down. because they're going to, it's like a pendulum that goes from side to side," Leverton said. "It's going to move away from this Y2K thing."

Buckley said True Religion is spending 10% of its annual sales on marketing, and it will have to keep leaning into that marketing investment to keep up with powerhouses like Gap, which has had a slew of viral partnerships in the last six months.

The key, Leverton said, is staying true to its brand identity and tapping into its DNA.

The signature thick stitching, the horseshoe logo, and its presence in hip-hop are all elements that thrust True Religion back into the cultural conversation in 2026.

• More than 1,500 US retail stores and restaurants are set to close by the end of 2026.
• Major chains, including Wendy's and Macy's, are citing efficiency as the reason behind the closures.
• Eddie Bauer is one of the latest companies to announce closures.

Retailers and restaurants are gearing up for another wave of store closures.

It's shaping up to be the continuation of a retail pullback that Business Insider tracked in 2024 and 2025. Major chains, from department stores like Macy's and Saks Fifth Avenue to restaurant chains Pizza Hut and Wendy's, have already announced multiyear closure plans that extend into 2026, as have some niche stores.

Some companies, such as Macy's, are closing their physical stores to invest more resources into their online businesses.

In 2025, Business Insider tracked around 4,100 closures as of late December. Retail data and consultant firm Coresight Research predicted earlier in the year that roughly 15,000 retail locations would close in the year.

So far for 2026, Business Insider has identified more than 1,500 planned closures.

See the list of major closures below.

Francesca's: over 400 stores

After filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on February 5, apparel retailer Francesca's said it will conduct going-out-of-business sales at all of its roughly 400 stores across the US.

Francesca's previously filed for bankruptcy protection in 2020 before being acquired by TerraMar Capital and Tiger Group.

"This process provides a structured path to pursue the best outcome for all stakeholders," Curt Kroll, CFO, said in a February statement about the bankruptcy. "We remain focused on operating responsibly and supporting our teams, partners, and guests throughout this process."

Wendy's: 300 stores

In a February 13 earnings call, Wendy's interim CEO Ken Cook said the company planned to close underperforming restaurants in the US, representing 5% to 6% of its roughly 6,000 locations. An estimated 5% of Wendy's restaurants would come out to around 300 locations.

Cook told investors to expect the closings to take place in the first half of 2026.

Pizza Hut: 250 stores

Restaurant chain Pizza Hut is set to close 250 underperforming stores in the US during the first half of 2026, its parent company, Yum! Brands, said in February. The reduction comes as part of a program to accelerate the Pizza Hut brand in the long term.

The company said that the 250 targeted closures are a fraction of the 20,000 locations that Yum! Brands operates globally.

Eddie Bauer: 175 stores

Nearly 200 North American Eddie Bauer storefronts are expected to shut down after the operating entity behind the stores failed to find a buyer during its Chapter 11 restructuring.

Liquidation sales have been underway at the 175 Eddie Bauer stores in the US and Canada.

Those store-closing sales are projected to wrap up before April 30, according to court filings in the company's bankruptcy case.

Carter's: 100 stores

Carter's, one of North America's biggest children's and baby apparel retailers, said in October that it plans to close 150 stores across the region over the next three years as leases expire, including about 100 by the end of 2026.

Macy's: 80 stores

In January 2025, Macy's said it planned to close 150 locations through 2026, allowing it to focus on its best-performing locations and online experience. After the closures are complete, about 350 Macy's stores are expected to remain. Macy's closed at least 66 stores in 2025.

Kroger: 60 stores

Grocery giant Kroger said in June 2025 that it planned to close 60 "unprofitable" stores across the US over the next 18 months. The company said in September that it had begun that process.

The company said in its last annual report that it operated 2,731 supermarkets in 35 states and Washington, DC, as of February 2025.

Saks Off 5th: 57 stores

Saks Off 5th, a luxury outlet retailer offering discounted designer brands, plans to close 57 stores in early 2026. It announced plans to close nine of those stores last year, and the rest were announced in January.

Saks Global, the parent company of Saks Off 5th, as well as Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, and Bergdorf Goodman, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in early January. The outlet's website, a separate legal entity, is also winding down operations.

In addition to the Saks Off 5th closures, Saks Global is closing five Last Call locations, the off-price Neiman Marcus stores.

Grocery Outlet: 36 stores

Supermarket chain Grocery Outlet is set to close 36 underperforming stores, representing about 6% of its fleet in 2026. CEO Jason Potter told analysts on March 4 that the company had identified stores that no longer had a "viable path to sustained profitability."

The closures come as the grocery chain has been expanding rapidly, particularly in Eastern states. The chain said in November that it planned to end 2025 with 37 new store openings. It plans to open another 30 to 33 net new stores in 2026, Potter said in the March call.

Of the 36 stores closing this year, 24 are located in the Eastern US. The closures make up about 30% of that region's stores, Potter said. He said Grocery Outlet won't be exiting any state completely.

"However, it's clear now that we expanded too quickly and these closures are a direct correction," Potter said.

Grocery Outlet saw a nearly $235 million operating loss and a more than $218 million net loss in its fourth-quarter earnings results.

Torrid: 29 stores

Torrid, a plus-size apparel retailer, told investors in March that it had previously identified 180 unproductive stores, of which it closed 151 locations by the end of 2025. CEO Lisa Harper said the company plans to close the remaining stores in the first half of 2026.

Torrid closed 11 locations in the first quarter of 2026, Harper said.

Allbirds: 23 stores

Shoe brand Allbirds said in January that it would close its remaining full-price stores in the US by the end of February. The company said the closures would enable it to dedicate resources toward its e-commerce business.

As of December 2025, Allbirds' US retail presence consisted of 23 stores.

"By exiting these remaining unprofitable doors, we are taking actions to reduce costs and support the long-term health of the business," said Joe Vernachio, CEO.

In March, Allbirds agreed to sell to American Exchange Group, a New York-based fashion and consumer goods company, for $39 million.

Yankee Candle: 20 stores

Newell Brands said in December 2025 that it would close 20 Yankee Candle stores in the US and Canada beginning in January 2026. The closures were announced alongside the reduction of its workforce by over 900 employees.

"This productivity plan is about taking the next, disciplined step to enhance efficiency, sharpen our strategic focus, and deliver stronger, more consistent performance," CEO Chris Peterson said in a press release.

Saks Fifth Avenue: 18 stores

After filing for bankruptcy in January, Saks Global announced a series of closures.

The first wave was announced in February, with the company saying it would optimize its Saks Fifth Avenue footprint by closing eight locations. In March, it announced that another 10 locations would close.

Those closures leave 15 Saks Fifth Avenue locations remaining.

Neiman Marcus: 4 stores

In addition to many Saks Fifth Avenue and Off Fifth locations, Saks Global closed four Neiman Marcus locations. The company announced one of the closures — a Boston store — in February and another three in March.

REI: 3 stores

REI confirmed to Business Insider that it plans to close three stores, starting with a location in New Jersey, in the first quarter of 2026. Its stores in New York City's SoHo neighborhood and Boston are set to follow in late 2026.

"As markets and customer needs evolve, we must adapt to position the co-op for long-term success," the company said in a statement.

People love to complain about baby boomers, including that they have a lot of stuff. They're hoarding all the houses, they're keeping all the money, they're materialists who have accumulated an exorbitant amount of possessions. There are a couple of problems with these gripes: For one, no generation is a monolith, and everybody amasses things over the course of their lives, so back off. But more importantly, youths and slightly-beyond-youths, the stuff pileup is actually to your benefit.

The golden age of boomer estate sales is upon us, and while you probably don't want all the wedding china that's about to flood the market, there's a lot of other neat stuff you can pick up. Think knickknacks for Gen Z maximalists, midcentury modern decor, and so much silver that one estate seller says the weighing it all makes her team "feel like drug dealers." Over the next couple of decades, baby boomers' stuff has to go somewhere, and that rehoming process is increasingly taking place at estate sales.

"I call it the tsunami of stuff," says Julie Hall, the director of the American Society of Estate Liquidators. "It's cresting."

There are … a lot of baby boomers. America's over-65 population reached 55.8 million in 2020, and an additional 42.4 million are in the 55-64 age group (which, yes, catches some Gen Xers). This adds up to nearly 100 million people who have amassed a large amount of possessions — stuff they bought, stuff they got from their own parents, stuff their kids stuck them with.

"They kept everything," says Sarah Hersh, one of the owners of Ben Hersh Estate Sales in New Jersey. Boomers were the first American generation to come up in an era of mass production and blatant consumerism, and many of the things they bought were built to last. "When we go into these houses of the boomer generation, they're packed to the rafters with stuff from the mid-century to current."

Many elders would prefer to keep all of this stuff in the family, but their kids, grandkids, nieces, and nephews don't want to inherit much, or simply don't have the space. Enter the estate sale — pop-up limited-time museums of a person's life, where everything on the premises is for sale.

"Boomers were an era of collectors. They believed in entertaining, and they believed their possessions had value, so they were proud to amass large collections of things to display to the world," Hersh says. "We don't really live like that anymore, but those things make for excellent inventory for resellers and the new younger generation of consumers who are into that vibe."

Gen Z likes the appeal of sustainability, plus they're into "cottagecore" and "grandmacore" aesthetics. Millennials and Gen X want midcentury modern and utilitarian pieces.

I recognize estate sales can sound a bit morbid at first, but not all offloadings come after a funeral. There are actually four Ds to estate sales: downsizing, divorce, decorating, and, yes, death. That latter one may give you the heebie jeebies, but as the saying goes, you can't take it with you, and there are plenty of people willing to scoop up the stuff you've left behind.

Janelle Stone, a high-end estate liquidator, operates out of what she calls the "mecca of estate sales" — Dallas — and sees her line of work as a goldmine. After decades of minimalism in fashion and design, maximalism is back. She's started buying plate hangers to put dishes on display again and marvels at 20-something shoppers grabbing various tchotchkes. Furs have gone "insane," she says, and the same goes for vintage fashion. Customers will wait in line for two hours for a Herend porcelain starfish they've scoped out online prior to the sale. "You're never going to completely clear a house, but it's pretty amazing," she says. "People know what they want, and they come and buy."

It's a huge moment for sterling, given the increase in the price of silver, which hit an all-time high of over $120 per ounce at the start of the year. (It's since come back down but is still in the $85 range.) Stone tells me it's affected how they price it — they can't be as aggressive, because nobody can afford to pay $16,000 for an eight-piece silverware set, and the smelters are so inundated they might not even take it. Hence the drug dealer analogy: "We have to weigh it out. I mean, we look like drug dealers with our gram scales and baggies everywhere," she says.

Hersh, in New Jersey, concurs on the popularity of sterling silver and vintage clothes, and adds that vintage collectibles, jewelry, toys, and electronics are also a big draw.

Not everything is flying off the estate sale shelves. Hersh says midcentury modern furniture still sells, but "it's not as strong as it was." Few buyers are into china, etched crystal, and glass. The big brown furniture that's long sat in baby boomers' and the silent generation's homes often goes unwanted.

"A general rule of thumb is the bigger and heavier and darker a piece is, the more likely it's going to remain there and not be sold," Hall says. Younger generations tend to prefer smaller, portable pieces. Hersh tells me clear glass isn't a popular seller "no matter what you do."

I recently witnessed this for myself at an estate sale in Long Island, New York. It was a lazy Sunday, so I showed up during the last hour of a five-hour sale. The first thing I noticed when I walked into the kitchen was two sets of china, one of which looked very similar to the set my mother has. Around the corner was a big brown hutch filled with stacks of crystal and clear glassware, and there was more in the basement. My main thought was we should shut down Ikea immediately and never buy new dishes or glasses again.

The internet has changed and accelerated the scale of the estate industry, just as it has every other part of the economy. Everyone can look up what everything costs, so sellers have to do their research and can't simply guesstimate a fair price anymore. Sellers often post what's available online ahead of time, so buyers can pinpoint exactly what they want before they show up in person.

And then there are the resellers — technology has given birth to a plethora of resale platforms, from eBay to Depop to Whatnot, and droves of people eager to turn flipping used stuff into a side hustle or even a full-time gig. Most of the estate sellers and aficionados I spoke to for this story had tales about this development. Hersh tells me resellers are "vicious," and on certain sales, flipped me up the first 50 people in line. "They are like elbowing each other out of spaces to get to stuff," she says.

Hall points out that the resellers are generally a positive for estate sales — after all, the goal is to get rid of everything in the house, and who cares if someone plans to put it on eBay for triple the price. But they can be pushy, asking for deals. "Resellers sometimes want more of a bargain, and a lot of times we cannot give it to them on the first day," she says. "It's not for the faint of heart."

Maddy Brannon, an estate sale influencer based in Washington, DC, says she prefers to hit up estate sales later in the day so she doesn't have to duke it out with the pros. She stumbled into the market when she and her husband were looking to furnish their home, and now she uses her experience to pass along useful tips to the noobs.

"You don't need to be the first person at the estate sale unless you saw something on the listing you absolutely have to have," she says. She's not sure if it's the "Disney World effect" or what, but people worry about long lines and feel like they must be first in at all costs. Plus, later in the day, you're more likely to get a discount.

Brannon's other pieces of advice included going during the week to avoid crowds and making sure you understand the rules of getting in — for some sales, waiting in line isn't enough. Instead, the executor will call you in by name or number. And don't shop off the "hold" table, where shoppers place items they want to buy. "People get really upset about that," she says.

There's genuinely something quite nice to all of this, albeit awkward. We spend our lives accumulating things and, over time, getting attached to them. Getting rid of them can be emotionally fraught, especially if we'd hoped our loved ones would want them or believed they'd hold more value than they do. For many people, it's a hard pill to swallow that their kids don't want their prized tea set, but acknowledging that is also permission to let it go.

There's a peculiar sense of intimacy to estate sales — you walk through someone's home, touch their things, look through their drawers, and get to make up stories about them based on their possessions. The golden age of estate sales isn't just about the "goldmine" of inventory or the "vicious" hustle of the resale market, it's about the way we experience life through tangible items — and how those things can live multiple lives, even ones we're not involved in.

So next time you see an estate sale nearby because your boomer neighbors are finally selling their family home and moving to a condo in Florida, instead of begrudging that it took so long, pop over to see if you can pick up a vintage Le Creuset.

Emily Stewart is a senior correspondent at Business Insider, writing about business and the economy.

• After years of decline, the Gap brand recently posted its ninth straight quarter of growth.
• Gap brand CEO Mark Breitbard said he's shifted the company's focus back to basics.
• Gap has regained relevance with millennials while building appeal with Gen Z via viral partnerships.

Danielle Shaw, a 31-year-old living in Los Angeles, said her mom used to dress her in Gap clothes as a kid — and that was her only memory of wearing the brand until about two years ago.

"I went into Gap, and I honestly became obsessed with everything that I tried on," Shaw told Business Insider.

Shaw said she stocked up on basics like sweatsuits and T-shirts. She left with three or four pairs of denim because the fit and price point were "amazing." The brand is now a staple in her wardrobe, and she said her friends have bought in, too.

Shaw isn't the only zillennial embracing the 57-year old brand for the first time. A new wave of shoppers is discovering Gap after years of declining relevance. TikTok is full of influencers showing off their Gap hauls, while buzzy partnerships with artists like Katseye and Young Miko have breathed new life into the brand, once known to be the epitome of American basics.

Founded in 1969 with a simple idea to help customers find a pair of jeans that fit, Gap is leaning back into its roots: affordable, well-fitting essentials.

Gap's focus on younger customers — its target shopper is 25 to 35 — appears to be paying off. Sales rose 5% last year to $3.5 billion, cementing its comeback after years of flat or declining growth. Comparable sales were up 7% in the fourth quarter, marking Gap's ninth straight quarterly increase. Parent company Gap Inc. is riding the momentum too, posting its second year in a row of revenue growth and one of its highest gross margins in 25 years.

Gap's global brand CEO Mark Breitbard returned to the brand in 2020 and has been on a mission to return to basics, reconnect with once-loyal millennials, and simultaneously win over Gen Z.

Now he wants everyone to know: Gap is back.

"It's been a full return to relevance of the brand," said Breitbard, who's been in leadership roles at Gap Inc. — the parent company of Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic, and Athleta — on and off since 2009.

Back to the basics

After its '90s peak, Gap Inc. shares hit roughly $52 in 2000, a level it hasn't reached since. Gap's namesake brand started to falter in the 2010s and entered a roughly decadeslong slump in revenue.

As Zara and H&M pushed further into trendy fast fashion and others doubled down on athleisure or premium denim in the mid-aughts, Gap landed in the awkward middle and lost its selling point. Many industry insiders thought that Gap Inc.'s brands couldn't be turned around, UBS analyst Jay Sole said.

Breitbard said the brand used to have awareness and affinity — and people missed the old Gap.

"We moved into this period where we were over corporate and too many products in the store, and too many ideas, and too much discounting — and not enough of our playbook," said Breitbard.

Breitbard said his 2020 tenure began with a major cleanup from the inside out: rounds of layoffs to reduce bureaucracy and reset leadership, store closures in unprofitable markets, a narrower assortment of styles, and a dramatic upgrade in product quality.

The sweats and jeans that once made the brand famous are now "central" to its comeback, Breitbard said.

That renewed focus on classic American style is a major reason the strategy is resonating, Bill Kenney, CEO of brand agency Focus Lab, told Business Insider. Rather than trying to reinvent itself — like when it briefly changed its logo in 2010 — Gap is leaning into what worked all along.

"They're not trying to tell 17 different stories," Kenney said.

The power of viral partnerships

Breitbard said that the brand grounds its purpose in "great storytelling" around big product ideas every season. That includes partnerships with popular artists, which have had a strong impact, especially with younger consumers.

Breitbard said that 2023, Gap's first year returning to positive revenue after its slump, marked the true turning point.

From there, the momentum built with a LoveShackFancy collaboration. By 2024, Breitbard said, a steady "drumbeat" of moves followed.

Lily Comba, founder and CEO of creator marketing agency Superbloom, told Business Insider that she noticed a change when Fabiola Torres was hired as the brand's chief marketing officer that year.

It began with Gap's spring 2024 linen campaign featuring Tyla. In August 2025, the brand followed up with its "Better in Denim" partnership with Katseye — a TikTok-ready moment that featured the girl group performing to 2003 hit "Milkshake." It arrived on the heels of Sydney Sweeney's controversial American Eagle ad, and it positioned Gap as a lighter, more inclusive voice in the denim category.

The Katseye campaign appeared to pay off in store visits, as Gap saw positive visit growth across most of the six-month period from August to January, according to data from analytics platform Placer.ai.

Part of what makes Gap distinct, Breitbard said, is that "we bridge gaps" (no pun intended). Some of its best-selling styles are worn by both mothers and daughters, he said.

For the holidays, the multi-generational choir featured in the "Give Your Gift" campaign reinforced the message that Gap is an American brand, Comba said.

Most recently, its partnership with Puerto Rican Gen Z artist Young Miko felt especially well-timed, Comba said, tapping into the cultural momentum sparked by Bad Bunny's halftime show. She said the choice to team up with Young Miko was "exactly what Gen Z wants."

"That's the beauty of Gap," Comba said, adding that, "they've always made denim; they've always made sweats; they've always made linen; but it's just how they're communicating is evolving."

Although Gap's turnaround is in full swing, Sole, the UBS analyst, said it has to meet the moment in more ways than its marketing. Shoppers want to know they're getting good value for their money, he said.

Gap will have to deliver items that match the price point and identity it has built if it wants to retain the customers it's attracted.

"They have money in their pocket, they're willing to pay, but they want to have real value," Sole said.

• Camillia Nwokedi left her tech career to become a content creator in 2025.
• She started with $6,000 in savings and experimented with posting for 60 days before leaving tech.
• Nwokedi said the journey is lonely, but it's the best decision she has ever made.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Camillia Nwokedi, a 28-year-old content creator based in Pittsburgh. It's been edited for length and clarity.

When the crypto startup I was working for was sold in July 2025, I saw it as the perfect opportunity to go all in on myself as a content creator. I had about $6,000 in savings and less than 40,000 followers on TikTok, but I believed I was worth the investment.

In less than a year, I've gained brand deals, consulting and coaching clients, and I'm launching my second cohort soon. I'm taking the lessons I learned from the startup to build myself from the ground up.

It's been a difficult emotional journey, but investing in myself is the best decision I've ever made.

I worked at Accenture before getting into crypto

I worked at Accenture from late 2019 to 2021. Bitcoin was popping off at the time, and I started getting the itch to get into crypto, so I started listening to podcasts and building connections in that space.

In 2022, I connected with the CEO of a bitcoin rewards platform, and we hit it off right away. He offered me a job as a special ops agent, and I took it.

The team was really amazing, and I had a lot of senior responsibility, which I loved. At the same time, I was building a social media presence on TikTok and Instagram, where I posted about optimization, self-belief, competence, and more.

In mid-2025, the company was preparing to be sold, and I saw it as an opportunity to give myself a shot. I had been posting consistently, and it really gave me confidence to start looking at myself as an entity and not just a cog in the system.

I had helped scale and sell for other people, but now it was time to give myself that opportunity.

I did a 60-day trial run before going all in on content creation

In the 60 days prior to leaving the startup, I did a series on TikTok called SIM 60, where I posted a video each day pretending to act like a video game Sim. It was all an attempt to get me out of my head, put myself out there, and make content creation more fun. What it did was unblock me as a creative and force me to stop taking myself so seriously.

My audience significantly grew in that period, which gave me confidence that I'd be able to make life as a content creator work.

There are two necessary components for creating a startup: finances and self-belief. And sometimes, if you don't have the financial component, your self-belief can make up for that gap. Getting my self-belief up helped me feel as though I could go all in.

I started with $6,000 in savings and created a research and development budget

A lot of the initial planning was trying to get my working capital in place so that I could make this leap. I had about $6,000 in liquid savings and a retirement account with about $30,000 in it, which I didn't want to touch.

It wasn't a lot to go off of, but because I had been putting myself out there on social media consistently and even had a few user-generated content (UGC) and brand deals coming in, I had a lot of self-belief.

I even gave myself a research and development budget, so I had a little money set aside if I wanted to invest in coaching or consulting to help me with my branding. Thankfully, I haven't touched my retirement account.

I set quarterly goals and have days dedicated to things like CEO and CFO responsibilities

I looked at all the roles that I would have to maintain as a one-person business and decided to split my week into days dedicated to each role.

I have CEO day, COO day, CMO day, and more. It makes it so that every part of me can show up at the table, but I'm not necessarily asking myself to do it all at once.

Tuesdays are typically consulting and operations days for me. This is when I get things in order and execute things for my clients. As much as I've left the 9-to-5, I try to work within that realm for the structure. It helps me manage my time well without overwhelm.

I also give myself quarterly goals or KPIs, which has been comforting. It adds familiarity and structure to a space that is entirely new territory for me.

It's been an emotional and lonely journey

The most challenging and the most worthwhile part of switching from tech to content creation has been the emotional journey.

One morning, I cried because I was so stressed. There's a lot of discomfort that comes along with pursuing my goals. It can feel lonely to be building something entirely on my own.

I have to gentle-parent myself and my nervous system to keep going, and to keep believing that it's going to pay off.

It's hard to communicate to people how many internal conversations I have with myself on a daily basis to reframe old narratives and rewire limiting self-beliefs.

At the end of every week, I can't believe I made it

If you're considering leaving your job or making a big leap, don't ignore that feeling or settle.

I think people often stay as close to their dreams as possible without actually going after them directly.

As someone with not much savings who is still pursuing her dream, and it's working out, I could not recommend it more. It's the best decision I've ever made, and I hope others can have the experience of pursuing what they want as directly as possible.

Do you have a story about leaving tech and pursuing a different career you want to share? Email the editor, Manseen Logan, at mlogan@businessinsider.com.

• Airport security checkpoints in the US are under pressure due to the partial government shutdown.
• Many now-unpaid TSA agents are skipping work or even quitting, causing long lines and wait times.
• Here's the latest on TSA delays, and how to check wait times before you travel.

If there's anything that can bring Americans together to demand government action, it's long lines at airport security.

Those lines persisted at airports across the US this week as a partial government shutdown left the Department of Homeland Security and its Transportation Security Administration unfunded and their agents unpaid at the height of the spring break travel season.

Airports are now telling passengers to arrive up to three hours early to clear security in time for their flights.

The TSA on Sunday called on Congress to resolve the impasse over the immigration enforcement policies that have left the DHS unfunded for a month. The agency said hundreds of unpaid agents have quit.

"3+ hour TSA lines for travelers. 300+ TSA officers who have quit. A $0 paycheck for those continuing to serve. Enough is enough," the agency said in an X post on Saturday.

A group of airline CEOs also sent a letter to Congress on Saturday calling on Republicans and Democrats to figure it out. "Americans —who live in your districts and home states — are tired of long lines at airports, travel delays, and flight cancellations caused by shutdown after shutdown," the letter, which was signed by the CEOs of Delta, United, American, JetBlue, and others, says.

By early Tuesday morning, lengthy lines were still present at several airports, though they had calmed at some locations that had seen long lines over the weekend.

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the world's busiest by passenger numbers, had lines as long as 90 minutes at some domestic security checkpoints early on Tuesday morning, having seen waits of up to 2 hours over the weekend.

In a Monday X post, the airport encouraged travelers to allow extra time for screening and to arrive at least 3 hours before their flight. Many flights also faced lengthy delays or cancellations due to a major storm.

Lines at some checkpoints in the New York area's two biggest airports, JFK and Newark, were both around 30 minutes long early Tuesday.

At Dallas-Fort Worth, waits varied by checkpoint, ranging from over 20 minutes to as short as 2 minutes.

Austin-Bergstrom International was one of the worst-affected airports over the weekend, due in part to an influx of travelers for the SXSW festival.

The airport's social media channels are posting frequent updates about how busy TSA lines are, showing long lines in the terminal building on Tuesday morning.

While busy, Austin appeared to have calmed down compared to the end of last week and the weekend. Photos and videos shared by travelers over the weekend showed lines stretching from the terminal building into the parking lot.

To ensure passengers clear security in plenty of time, many airports are telling passengers to leave longer than usual to get through. Dallas-Fort Worth Airport told travelers to allow at least 2 hours for domestic flights, while Austin advised leaving 2.5 to 3 hours.

How to check wait times

The easiest way to avoid the stress of missing your flight is to arrive as early as you can. Many airports are advising travelers this week to arrive up to three hours before their flight.

To check TSA wait times, many airports, including major hubs like Atlanta, Houston, JFK, Newark, Philadelphia, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Denver, post them live on their websites.

These can also provide more specific insights. For example, DFW's website shows the wait times at each checkpoint.

While broadly reliable, some airport websites aren't always accurate. On Monday, Atlanta Airport said the feature was "currently unavailable due to a technical issue," although it was later fixed.

You can also use the MyTSA mobile app. It provides estimated wait times in 15-minute intervals based on average checkpoint data. The app, however, will use historical data if the live data cannot be retrieved. The TSA also says it is not "actively" managing its sites during the partial shutdown, and so the app may not always be updated.