Author: openjargon

• Experts recommend eating 30 plant foods a week for a healthy gut microbiome. 
• I tried it and was surprised by how quickly I reached the target.
• Focusing on adding nutritious ingredients to dishes is a sustainable way to eat healthily. 

As a health journalist, I write about the buzzy topic of gut health a lot. So when I noticed lots of gut experts saying they aim to eat 30 plants a week, I knew I had to give it a try.

There are so many fads in the wellness world that I know to steer clear of, but the idea of eating 30 plants a week for gut health comes from a large 2018 study called The American Gut Project. It found people who ate 30 plants a week had more diverse gut microbiomes than people who ate 10 or fewer.

The gut is populated by "good" and "bad" microbes, and fiber, which is found in plant foods, feeds the good ones. Gut health researchers believe that eating different types of fiber results in a more diverse and, therefore, healthier microbiome. This, in turn, is linked to better overall health, immunity, mood, and even a lower risk of certain cancers.

Plants are so powerful when it comes to looking after our guts that experts agree the best thing you can do for your microbiome is to eat a high-fiber, balanced diet that's low in ultra-processed foods, despite what the gut health supplement market, which has been valued at $12 billion, will have you believe.

Having said all that, going into my weeklong experiment, 30 plants sounded like a lot. But more foods count as a plant than you might think. The definition of 30 plants includes fruits, vegetables, legumes, herbs, spices, nuts, seeds, coffee, and even dark chocolate.

I was also lucky to already be in a pretty good spot with my diet. I've never counted calories or tracked my macros, but when I tried out the DASH diet for a week last year I ended up forming some healthy habits like adding more wholegrains to my diet and eating breakfast. So I was excited to see what I might get out of this experience but worried I might not hit the target.

I mostly ate how I normally would but kept a note of all my meals and snacks throughout the week. I was surprised to reach 30 by day three and hit 40 plants overall.

It's easier than you think to eat a lot of plants at breakfast

Every weekday, I ate oatmeal for breakfast with a combination of berries, nuts, and seeds. I found this was a really easy way to get in a variety of plants every day.

I mainly used what I already had in the cupboard and bought a few punnets of different berries because they're easy to sprinkle onto oatmeal. I usually just buy one type of berry a week, but I bought three types because I wanted my diet to be more diverse than it usually is.

Throughout the week I switched between strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries, and peanuts, pistachios, and almond flakes. I also sprinkled on chia seeds.

I could have easily added even more fruits, nuts, and seeds, but I was already on track to hit my target early on. If you were planning on doing this long-term, however, buying bags of multiple types of nuts and seeds would be worth it as they last for a long time and you could switch up your combination daily.

I ate a lot of plant-based proteins

Another way I ate more plants was by opting for plant-based proteins over animal products like meat and eggs. I am a pollo-pescatarian, meaning I eat chicken and fish but no other meat, so this wasn't much different from how I usually eat.

I ate beans, chickpeas, and lentils as alternatives to animal proteins. For example, I had refried beans in my tacos instead of chicken or shrimp.

Rather than a chicken curry, I chose a chickpea one when I went to a food market, and I added butter beans to my salad.

I also used red lentil or pea pasta instead of white pasta as the wheat in it doesn't count as a plant for this experiement. You could use wholewheat pasta but I went with those alternatives as I wanted to add extra protein.

Frozen vegetables help with cost and food waste

As I buy and cook food only for myself, I had to consider cost and food waste. I've previously made the mistake of splashing out on lots of fresh vegetables only for them to go moldy before I get around to eating them because I've eaten out instead.

For this reason, I ate fewer types of vegetables than I would have liked but having some frozen edamame and sweetcorn in the freezer meant I could add more plants to my meals easily without worrying about them going off.

I tried to add at least one additional vegetable to each meal. For example, I boiled some broccoli with pasta and mixed it all in with pesto.

Focusing on adding nutritious food feels sustainable

Reaching my goal by day three surprised and comforted me. I think pretty much anyone with the time and means could eat 30 plants a week with relatively little planning, as there are so many types of plant food. Stocking up on nuts and seeds, as well as frozen fruits and vegetables, can lower the cost and make it easy to boost a meal's plant count.

I enjoyed planning my meals around nutritious ingredients and focusing on what I could eat rather than what I should try to limit. By aiming for a high number of healthy foods a week, I probably ended up naturally eating less low-nutrient foods like refined carbs and added sugar.

I think this is a pretty sustainable way to eat long-term and encourages a healthy attitude toward food. I'll definitely keep aiming for 30 a week.

• Timothy Mellon is a secretive billionaire who's the heir to a Gilded Age banking fortune.
• He's RFK Jr.'s biggest financial backer and has given $25 million to a super PAC supporting him.
• But he's also spent $75 million on Trump, including $50 million the day after his conviction.

Timothy Mellon has now emerged as the most important donor to both former President Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., spending tens of millions of dollars on both men.

A GOP megadonor for several years, the relatively secretive billionaire emerged as a key financial backer of Kennedy's last year, contributing the majority of the funding for American Values 2024, the main super PAC supporting Kennedy's candidacy.

In July 2023 — before Kennedy abandoned his Democratic primary campaign for an independent bid — Mellon described Kennedy as the "one candidate who can unite the country and root out corruption." He has since given $25 million to the super PAC, including $10 million in April.

At the same time, Mellon has contributed handsomely to the pro-Trump super PAC "Make America Great Again Inc.," pouring $25 million into the PAC from July 2023 to April 2024.

Then came the big one: the day after Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts by a jury in Manhattan, Mellon gave $50 million to MAGA Inc., according to documents filed with the Federal Election Commission on Thursday.

Mellon did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

Who is Timothy Mellon?

The 81-year-old Mellon is the grandson of Andrew Mellon, a Gilded Age-era banking titan who served as Treasury Secretary from 1921 – 1932, spanning three Republican presidents.

He is an heir to the family fortune. Forbes estimates the family's net worth to be more than $14 billion.

When it comes to Mellon's own business ventures, he's perhaps best known for purchasing and turning around Pan Am Systems, and he's set to release a book about it next month entitled "panam.captain."

Mellon is a former liberal who has veered rightward over the years, telling Bloomberg in 2020 that it was mostly about his business dealings.

"I think it came largely from going into business with certain small companies and seeing the interaction between commerce and government — it just seemed like government was making things way too difficult and against the interests of working people," Mellon said at the time. "The more restrictions you have, the less likely you are to hire people."

He also once wrote in a self-published autobiography that welfare programs are "slavery redux" while saying that Black people became "even more belligerent and unwilling to pitch in to improve their own situations" after the expansion of social welfare systems.

He told Bloomberg that he "said everything I wanted to say" and doesn't "have any regrets" about the book.

He's a big contributor to GOP causes — and Democrats have been eager to point that out

The last time Mellon spent this much money in one fell swoop, it was for a literal border wall.

In 2021, Mellon contributed $53 million to an effort led by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas to build a wall along the US-Mexico border, effectively funding that entire venture on his own.

But he's given millions of dollars to GOP causes and campaigns in recent years, including $20 million to a pro-Trump super PAC in 2020, $45 million to a super PAC tied to GOP House leadership, and $30 million to a super PAC associated with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

As Democrats seek to minimize Kennedy's appeal to the party base, lest he negatively impact President Joe Biden's chances, one key calling card has been Mellon's donation history.

After Mellon's most recent contribution to Kennedy became public in May, Democratic National Committee spokesman Matt Corridoni said the transaction "tells us everything we need to know."

"MAGA Republicans are hellbent on propping up RFK Jr. to be a spoiler for Trump in this race," Corridoni said in a statementat the time. "This is even more proof that a vote for RFK Jr. is a vote for Trump."

• Between sunning in the Mediterranean and the Hamptons, summer is a good time to be a billionaire.
• But for a few events, they deploy their private planes and leave the yachts and second homes behind.
• Here are the spots where you can find the ultrarich this summer.

Summer has officially begun, and billionaires have already dispersed to their favorite vacation spots to enjoy the spoils of their labors.

Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez, for example, were recently spotted in Mykonos, Greece, and Mark Zuckerberg and his yacht were seen in Mallorca, Spain.

And while much casual billionaire-socializing will be done in passing in Europe in the Mediterranean or in the US in the Hamptons, there will still be a few must-attend events on their calendars over the next few months.

Here's where the uberwealthy will be this summer.

Allen & Company Sun Valley Forum: July 15-18

For more than 40 years, media moguls and tech CEOs have made their way to Sun Valley, Idaho, after the July Fourth holiday for the Allen & Company Sun Valley Forum — also known as billionaire summer camp.

The event, hosted by boutique investment bank Allen & Co, has drawn the biggest — and richest — names in business who partake in rounds of golf, guided hikes, and, famously, dealmaking.

AI and the Hollywood actors' and writers' strikes were the topics of the day at last year's meeting, which counted Sam Altman and Bob Iger (not a billionaire, but close) among its attendees.

On this year's invite list, according to Variety: Shari Redstone, who will surely be asked about the fate of Paramount; Iger and a gaggle of his potential successors; and a smattering of tech executives like Apple's Tim Cook and Mark Zuckerberg, who will likely come ready to discuss the latest in AI.

Olympics: July 26-August 11

While the Olympics are, in theory, an event for every spectator, billionaires enjoy the games a little differently and will do so in Paris this year.

For starters, one of the richest families in the world, the Arnaults of LVMH, is a major sponsor of the Games, and its members — including the third-richest person in the world, Bernard — will likely be highly visible attendees. One of Paris-based LVMH's jewelry houses, Chaumet, is designing the medals; Moët & Chandon and Hennessy will be flowing at various events, and Sephora will host activations along the Olympic torch's route.

Billionaires with no official connection to this year's Olympics will no doubt be there, too, and in style.

Bill Gates and Rupert Murdoch have attended the event with their families in years past, and newly minted billionaire Magic Johnson has played for Team USA and carried the Olympic torch.

This year, the ultrarich are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to watch the most covetable events, meet athletes, and have a front-row seat for the Opening Ceremony, the Guardian reported. Tickets to events like the women's gymnastics final cost $6,500 each from the official ticket seller.

Vistajet has seen an uptick in private flights booked to Paris around the Olympics, and luxury yacht brokerage Fraser has fielded a number of requests around the Games — including one client chartering a yacht to follow the windsurfing competition live.

Burning Man: August 25-September 2

Burning Man has gone from anti-billionaire to peak billionaire in the decades since it was founded.

The annual art and "radical self-expression" festival in the Nevada desert has drawn techies like Elon Musk and Google cofounders Sergey Brin and Larry Page since the 1990s — before they became billionaires.

Mark Zuckerberg, Drew Houston, and Josh Kushner have all been spotted at the anti-capitalist revelry. Even Ray Dalio, the billionaire hedge fund manager, wanted to see what all the hype was about, sporting some psychedelic bell bottoms and joining the party in 2019.

Some of the uberwealthy — or uber-famous, after all, Paris Hilton has attended — eschew the traditional Playa experience. They charter private planes to land on Black Rock City's temporary runway, stay in "fancy camps" complete with air conditioning and private chefs, and travel in tricked-up art cars that definitely require money to create.

This may explain why the internet didn't feel all that bad when the festival was marred by flooding.

As one TikTok user commented: "Isn't this where rich people go to feel poor?"

US Open: August 26-September 8

Tennis has long attracted the monied, and the US Open is proof.

The biggest names in finance, tech, and entertainment — Bill Gates, Jamie Dimon, David Geffen, Jerry Seinfeld, and Bill Ackman are regular attendees — head to Arthur Ashe Stadium to catch the last of the year's tennis Grand Slams.

Many Wall Street firms have boxes at the event to wine and dine clients — and things may soon get even more luxe. The USTA is reportedly considering renovating the stadium, which would include "bunker suites" off the main court, complete with top-of-the-line amenities. They could cost as much as $175,000 per person for the duration of the tournament, The New York Times reported.

Tickets to this year's men's final cost as much as $18,000 each on the resale market, and suites can go for six figures. Luxury sponsors from Rolex to Ralph Lauren pay millions to attract spectators' attention.

Monaco Yacht Show: September 25-28

For billionaires, the summer ends and begins with yachting.

In September, the uberwealthy or their surrogates gather in Monte Carlo to check out the superyachts and megayachts on offer, already plotting for their next vacation season. The boats — some for sale, some for charter — have an average length of 50 meters and include features like helipads, spas, and wine cellars.

While the list of vessels on offer has yet to be announced, past years' shows have included yachts belonging to Paul Allen, Steve Wynn, and Heidi Horton.

Last year's most expensive public listing was the Lady Lara, a 91-meter ship with two swimming pools (one of which can convert to a dance floor) and a movie theater. Its price? A cool $245 million.

• My best friend and I knew each other for 16 years before we met in person.
• We met online as teenagers and had lived thousands of miles away. 
• She invited me to her wedding, and it felt like we'd always known each other. 

Watching your best friend marry the love of their life is one of life's greatest joys — even when their wedding day is the very first time that you meet them.

I met Miranda 16 years ago on a social networking website called Bebo; before Instagram and Tiktok, this is where many teens spent their time online. I lived in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, and Miranda lived in Virginia, US.

While we lived on different continents, our lives were very similar. We were both raised by single mothers, both lived in small towns, and both had an interest in writing, music, and pop culture, so it was easy for us to connect and build a friendship. Soon, I was staying up all night to talk to her, separated by a six-hour time difference.

We grew together, even thousands of miles apart

I was 13 years old, and Miranda was 12 years old, and we were at the crux of growing up. We thought we were so much older, wiser, and more mature than we really were and would spend hours talking about the ways no one understood us. We went through important life phases together, including Miranda's obsession with owls and abstract photography, and when I dyed my hair black and got a nose ring.

We endured our first heartbreaks together, toxic teenage friendships, bullying (both offline and online), family life changes (like when Miranda's mom got married and had her youngest brother), and made important decisions — particularly where we would attend college and what we would study.

Unsurprisingly, we both chose to study journalism, our similarities becoming more prevalent the older we got. Our friendship dwindled in the years we attended college but we still liked every photograph and video the other posted on social media, encouraged to remain in contact by the friendship we had already cultivated together.

We didn't talk every day or even every month, but our love and care for each other never diminished. Miranda was still one of my favorite people. The teenage girl I had once told all my secrets to was now in her mid-20s, navigating life after college, and I was preparing to pack up my life and move to the United States. We would finally be on the same continent, but would that change our friendship, the one that had only ever existed online?

We met for the first time at her wedding

Once I moved to New York in 2017, it still took seven years for us to meet in real life. Now, the first time we were going to meet was at Miranda's wedding.

She had invited me to her rehearsal dinner, reserved for extended family and the bridal party, of which I was neither.

"But I want you there, I want to spend time with you!" Miranda said.

Even on a day that was supposed to be all about her, she prioritized our friendship. I was grateful but also incredibly nervous to meet her and her family, people I'd only ever seen in photographs online.

The first thing her mom said to me when we met was, "I feel like I know you already, I've heard so much about you!" The nerves immediately melted away as her family embraced me wholeheartedly.

Meeting Miranda for the first time felt like reuniting with an old friend. It wasn't weird or awkward. We talked like we had physically been in each other's lives for 16 years, not separated by thousands of miles. It was comfortable and natural. She was even more beautiful in person and even kinder and more considerate than I could ever imagine.

Our lives had been integrated for so long that there was never any doubt that we would find our groove and learn how to be in each other's presence, no longer separated by a computer screen.

I would watch wedding guests' incredulous expressions every time I told them that I'd been Miranda's internet friend for 16 years, and this was my first time meeting her. It was an incredible and unlikely story, and it was ours.

• BI spoke to Gen X and boomer student-loan borrowers nearing retirement with six figures in debt.
• The student loans have prevented each of them from saving sufficiently for retirement.
• It's part of a larger retirement crisis and could put Social Security benefits at risk.

Diane Shelton, 58, has been working as a clinical psychologist for over 25 years — but her student loans are still in the six figures.

Shelton's debt load is something of a double-edged sword.

"There's just no doubt the value of the education and the value and the intrinsic richness that I have from the work that I've done," she said. But that's coupled with a heavy loan burden, complicated bureaucracy, and the interest it's accruing.

"I've taken forbearances at times when I really couldn't afford my mortgage. I had to pick and choose," she said. Even now, with a stable and well-paying career, her debt is still impacting her economic trajectory.

The situation is a bit different for Larry, 75, who requested his last name be withheld for privacy. He's staring down a $208,000 balance that he took out in the late 1990s to help his kids go to school. While they took out federal student loans for themselves, Larry wanted to ensure their options weren't limited. So he took out parent PLUS loans — a type of federal loan that allows a parent to cover up to the full cost of attendance for their kid's education. It has the highest interest rate of all federal loans.

Larry consolidated the four PLUS loans in 2007 with an original principal of nearly $160,000, but due to periods of unemployment, his loans went on forbearance, during which interest grew and surged the balance. Now, Larry is working full-time in retail sales, and while he hopes to retire in a few years, he knows he'll be taking his six-figure student-debt load with him.

"We have savings, which is probably about a 10th of what it should be," Larry said. "This is just hanging over our heads mentally. I think it affects me a lot because I probably think about it every day because I can't help but think about it. It's really very frustrating, very embarrassing, and just not fair."

Shelton and Larry aren't alone: As Gen Xers and boomers age into retirement, they're bringing student loans with them. It's part of a looming retirement crisis that could put even more seniors in a financially precarious position — and potentially without full Social Security benefits to back them up.

"I'm making a decent salary now, but there's all of this price that I've paid in terms of not being able to save for retirement," Shelton said.

The retirement student debt crisis

Both Shelton and Larry are facing a particular aspect of the retirement crisis: hoping to throw in the towel while sitting on mountains of student loan debt. Over a million American ages 55 to 64 are either holding student loans or have spouses holding loans, according to a report from the New School's Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis. Those loan holders said that, on average, they expect to take 11 years to repay their debts — but it can oftentimes end up being much longer due to interest and financial hardship.

Among Americans holding student loan debt, Gen Xers and boomers have the highest median balance, although only a small percentage of those 55-64 — around 13% — and those 65-74 — around 5% — hold educational installment loans.

Just the other day, Shelton was checking what her Social Security check would look like at different retirement ages, since the program incentivizes waiting to collect checks.

"If I work until I'm 70, that's where I've got the most amount. But that's still going to be tight when a quarter of that is a student loan payment," Shelton said. "It stresses me to no end."

Interest is a key reason many older adults find themselves struggling to pay off their student loans for decades. Since Larry could not afford to make payments for a period of time due to financial hardship, the 6.25% interest rate caused his balance to grow larger than what he originally borrowed. It's an issue other PLUS borrowers have previously told BI — while they took out loans to give their children the best shot at a successful future, they didn't know at the time that doing so would leave them with balances they could not afford to pay off.

"We surely would've saved more than what we tried to do," Larry said. "And because of those payments, we pretty much have not saved a lot, other than my wife's retirement fund."

And while many older Americans rely on Social Security to get by in their later years, it's a benefit that's particularly imperiled for student loan borrowers. That's because if the borrower defaults on their payments, the government has the power to seize Social Security benefits and wages until the borrower can fulfill their student-loan obligations again. It's a practice some Democratic lawmakers, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren, have called to end.

"The idea of just not paying it — well, now I understand they can garnish your Social Security, and so it just feels like there's no way out," Shelton said. "And so I'm probably going to work until I can't work anymore."

Are you worried about student loan debt impacting your ability to retire? Contact these reporters at asheffey@businessinsider.com and jkaplan@businessinsider.com.

• Jensen Huang is on top of the world.
• The AI frenzy briefly made his company, Nvidia, the most valuable in the world this week.
• Its future growth hinges on generative AI succeeding.

It's been a week to remember for Jensen Huang.

The 61-year-old CEO of Nvidia watched as his company briefly surpassed Microsoft to become the world's most valuable company for the first time with a $3.34 trillion valuation.

Though Nvidia has since slipped behind Microsoft again, with Apple now breathing down its neck too, its position among two titans of American tech battling for the bragging rights at the top spot is a sign of just how far it has come.

No longer is Huang's company — once on the brink of bankruptcy in the 1990s — just a purveyor of niche graphics cards designed for the gaming industry, but a near-indispensable component of the generative AI boom.

Nvidia's chips, known as GPUs, have been the subject of hot demand from the likes of Meta, Google, and OpenAI as they've sought to get their hands on hardware that can help them train and build increasingly powerful AI models.

Last month, the company showed just how relentless demand has been when announcing results for the first quarter of its fiscal year: it set a record quarterly revenue of $26 billion, up from 18% the previous quarter and 262% from the same quarter a year ago.

It helps explain why the frenzy around Nvidia has been reminiscent of the stock market rally during the dot-com boom.

The company has not only left its roughly $400 billion valuation from January 2023 in the dust, but is now worth about as much as the 100 biggest companies on the UK stock market.

The question now is how long will it last.

AI forever?

For the bulls, Nvidia's rally still has plenty of room to run.

Since the launch of ChatGPT, the most optimistic proponents of the generative AI boom — driven forward by Nvidias H100 GPUs — have made the case that we are still in the beginning stages of a revolution that has the potential to be as influential as smartphones and the internet.

In a research note on Thursday, analysts at Wedbush including Dan Ives, who has called Nvidia's CEO the "Godfather of AI," wrote that "the AI party is just getting started as its 9 p.m. in a party going till 4 a.m. with the rest of the tech world now joining."

Huang has done his own bit to make the case for AI mania just getting started, too.

Speaking in Taipei this month, the Nvidia boss boldly claimed that "the intersection of AI and accelerated computing is set to redefine the future" and laid out a road map for releasing upgraded chips every year to help achieve this future.

In other words, Huang suggests that companies engaged in fierce competition to make generative AI smarter will do so by working closely with a company like Nvidia, which can give them the computing power they need.

Boom or bust?

Nvidia's position as the primary provider of that computing power has been helped by its CUDA software, which has made it easy for companies to use their GPUs — no matter how varied or complex their AI is.

However, Nvidia's run faces one big risk: it depends on the generative AI boom lasting. That's a bet facing considerable uncertainty for a few reasons.

Though tech giants, including Apple, Google, Meta, and Microsoft, now appear to have made generative AI their priority, there appears to be awareness of the technology's weaknesses.

Earlier this month, for instance, Apple CEO Tim Cook said Apple Intelligence — the company's bold new package of AI features for iPhones, iPads, and Macs — was "not 100%," acknowledging that the technology was liable to making mistakes.

Such mistakes have already threatened the reputation of its peers. Google, for instance, was forced to apologize earlier this year after its generative AI image generator created historically incorrect images in response to user requests.

Race to $4 trillion

Meanwhile, Meta's AI chief Yann LeCun told The Financial Times last month that large language models, the tech powering the generative AI boom, were not going to lead to the field's holy grail of artificial general intelligence.

If others start to feel LLMs are a bit of a dead-end on that path, too, there could be a knock-on effect that impacts demand for Nvidia's chips as AI leaders try to figure out if alternative paths forward are viable.

For now, though, the industry seems intent on moving ahead with LLM-enabled generative AI. That should keep Nvidia in the race with Microsoft and Apple to a $4 trillion valuation.

• Jensen Huang isn't sitting comfortably atop the world's most valuable company.
• He doesn't want Nvidia to meet the same fate as Cisco or Sun, The Information reports.
• The two other companies were on top in the 90s, but collapsed when the dot-com bubble burst.

For Jensen Huang, unparalleled success has reportedly come with a healthy helping of anxiety.

The Nvidia cofounder has been christened the tech world's Taylor Swift — with a rock-star persona to match the company's unprecedented riches.

Known for his signature leather jackets, Huang was recently pictured autographing a woman's chest at a tech event in Taiwan — this as 31-year-old Nvidia became the world's most valuable company on Tuesday, edging out Microsoft with a $3.338 trillion market capitalization.

But The Information reported that behind the scenes, Huang, 61, is concerned with future-proofing Nvidia, telling colleagues he doesn't want it to meet the same fate as former tech titans Cisco and Sun Microsystems.

Having launched in 1999 as a maker of GPUs for gaming systems, Nvidia has had its stumbles over the years, The Information reports, including a failed attempt at software for self-driving cars.

There's no imminent sign of a slowdown for Nvidia's white-hot chips that are largely powering the AI boom.

But a glimpse at the histories of fallen tech companies illuminates just how quickly fortunes can turn.

Cisco shares plunged when the dot-com bubble burst

Several analysts have drawn parallels between Nvidia and Cisco, which also trafficked in hardware that fueled its day's transformative technology.

Cisco sold routers and other networking hardware during the dot-com bubble. It went public in 1990 and saw its stock crest in 2000, briefly becoming the world's most valuable company with a $569 billion market cap.

Sound familiar?

But then the bubble burst. Data centers built by telecom companies went untapped, and Cisco's hardware went from revolutionary to commonplace.

The company announced layoffs in 2001, and by October 2002, its share price had plunged 90%, according to Investor's Business Daily. While shares have never reached peak levels again, the company continues to operate.

Sun had a $200 billion valuation — and was later acquired for a fraction of that.

Another cautionary tale Huang reportedly heeds is Sun Microsystems.

"He tries to remind people not to get 'Sunned,'" a Nvidia employee told The Information.

The server and computer manufacturer experienced a similar ascent to Cisco during the dot-com bubble, with CEO Scott McNealy and programmer Bill Hoy emerging as celebrities of the tech industry, according to Forbes.

Sun's operating systems were an early hit and eventually led the company to a peak market cap of $200 million in 2000, according to Marketwatch.

But eventually competitors caught up — and Sun failed to pivot to the lucrative software space, The Information reports.

It was acquired by Oracle for $7.4 billion in 2009.

The Information reports Huang is seeking to avoid the same fate by diversifying Nvidia's business beyond chips, including with cloud server rental and software businesses.

Nvidia AI Enterprise, for instance, is an operating system that trains AI. Whether history repeats itself remains to be seen.

• R. J. Fenton built a career in media for years before she decided to add a plumbing qualification to her portfolio.
• After being laid off from her job and becoming a single mom, she decided to take on a new challenge.
• She turned to plumbing as a way to supplement her income and regain self-confidence.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with R.J. Fenton, 40, about how she opted to reskill as a plumber after she became a single mom during the pandemic. The following has been edited for length and clarity. Business Insider has verified her previous and current employment.

Over the past 18 years, I've built a career in publishing and media. I started in audio publishing, working at Amazon's Audible and later becoming head of development at a TV production company.

Then, the pandemic hit, and my life trajectory changed.

In August 2020, I was laid off from my job, and a couple of days later, my husband left me.

To add to the shock, I found out weeks later that I was pregnant. We'd been trying for children for a few years and had unfortunately suffered two miscarriages in our fertility journey, so finding out I was pregnant was a piece of joy amid a very trying time.

My pregnancy was surprisingly calm. I tried applying for a few jobs but soon gave up, as sleep deprivation left my energy levels on the floor. I gave in to the idea of leaning on some of my savings and taking statutory maternity pay during the pregnancy and the first year of my daughter's life while continuing to do some volunteer mentoring.

The main struggle came after my daughter was born, as I tried to navigate being a single parent with only a small amount of family support.

I registered with the job center in mid-2022 when my daughter turned 18 months old. I needed to return to a career for financial reasons and to boost my self-esteem.

The job center introduced me to the Connecting Communities scheme, where I could receive £500 ($640) toward a chosen training course. That's when I decided to do something completely different: retrain as a plumber.

Within weeks of applying, I found myself in a drafty workshop in the South East of England, undertaking a weeklong plumbing accreditation course.

A trial-by-fire

I was the only woman on the ten-person course, and it's safe to say I felt out of my comfort zone. I'd barely done any DIY before, and the tutor had us soldering and bending metal pipes from day one.

I felt embarrassed that I couldn't distinguish a hacksaw from all the other saws laid out before me.

It was definitely a trial-by-fire, but by the end of the week, I felt a real sense of accomplishment.

As a new mom and a single parent, you can feel that your capability is in doubt. Sleep-deprived and mentally exhausted, I felt disconnected from myself. Despite the intensity of the course, learning a new practical skill allowed me to engage a new side of my brain, and I couldn't get enough.

Six months later, I took another course to obtain a Level 2 plumbing diploma. I was lucky enough to receive a full bursary from the City & Guilds Foundation, a charity that offers vocational training.

This course upped the ante: it was six weeks long, and I'd be in the workshop most days from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. It was a mixture of classroom and manual learning followed by nine academic exams. Once again, I was the only woman on the twelve-person course.

It was a lot to manage: I was getting three to five hours of broken sleep each night with my daughter, then having super intensive days where I'd be heavy lifting and using a threading machine on heavy-duty iron pipes.

Outside my comfort zone

Most people were surprised when I opted to reskill in plumbing maintenance instead of returning full-time to my previous career.

It might sound crazy to have chosen to dedicate my time to a new pursuit so far removed from my previous career. But I was at a point where I had to prove to myself that I could do something that was out of my comfort zone.

As a new parent, sometimes you feel your sense of self falter. I didn't have a partner or a full-time job to give myself a sense of continuity, so achieving something I'd never even imagined doing gave me a lot of pride.

From training to setting up my own business

While doing my training, I was still maintaining my freelance work as a media consultant, using the network and skills I'd built up over 18 years.

I was working a contract job for a literacy nonprofit, and thankfully, they allowed me to take six weeks off to complete the plumbing course.

After the course, I started by practicing my skills close to home. I live in a new development building that contains around 150 flats. All the residents have a WhatsApp group where they ask around for contacts in the trades or ask other residents for advice on home maintenance.

I shared with them that I was about to become a qualified plumber and immediately had around four jobs booked.

That pushed me to become self-employed in plumbing and do this alongside my media work, which forms the basis of my income.

I work the two jobs side-by-side, and I'm a little taken aback that I can charge clients the same rate as a newly qualified plumber as I do as a media consultant with 18 years of experience.

The thing I like about the trades is that people know they have to fork out a certain amount for an in-demand service, so you don't get as many clients cheekily asking you to do extra work for free.

How I manage my time and income

I began combining my two careers earlier this year when I became a spokesperson for TaskHer, a platform that matches female tradespeople with clients.

Some female clients prefer a woman tradesperson. But also a number of male clients have told me they've felt embarrassed to admit to a male tradesperson that they can't fix a problem themselves.

I currently carve out one day a week for plumbing work — I concentrate on smaller maintenance, so I can do around four to six jobs within a day. I get the satisfaction of solving problems for my clients as well as bringing home a decent wage.

Right now, being self-employed is the best option for me while my child is below school age. I need a bit of work-life balance, and working for myself means I can go to a morning fitness class or go out for lunch on occasion.

The plumbing work gives me good flexibility, and I'm very aware that it is a way of future-proofing my career in case the rise of AI makes elements of my media work redundant.

To some extent, I've always been a bit of a hustler. I love having these two wildly different careers and blending them together. It means that I don't get bored.

I don't want my trade knowledge to end at plumbing. Next, I'm planning to start a new course in carpentry and joinery to continue expanding my skill set.

I want to show my daughter and other women in the trades that there are many options out there to design your own portfolio career.

• My mom died just before I turned 8 and my maternal aunt adopted me years later. 
• We got off to a rough start, but I accepted her help when I saw she wasn't trying to replace my mom.
• I'm so grateful for the life she gave me.

My mother died unexpectedly 10 days before my 8th birthday. She had been sick for less than a month before eventually succumbing to her illness. She was warm, bright, funny, and smart, and my time with her was unbelievably short.

I lived with my biological father for four years after my mother's death before I was removed from his care and ended up in the Department of Children and Family Services' custody.

While living with him, I became withdrawn, distrustful, and completely uncommunicative. Once in the custody of DCFS, I was diagnosed with major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder. After a month in the custody of the state, my maternal aunt, Elizabeth, was granted guardianship when I was 12 years old.

I was resistant to her help at first

She tells the story like it was yesterday — she received a call from DCFS asking whether she would be my guardian, and she literally raised her hand while on the phone and said, "I'll do it." I moved in with her and her 17-year-old son, John, on August 1, 2013. She was divorced from her ex-husband, Cary, and had another 26-year-old son, Tim, who no longer lived at home.

At first, it was just the three of us. It wasn't exactly smooth sailing — I hadn't really been parented in four years, and though we'd always been close, I think I was subconsciously afraid of her replacing my mother. I was resistant to a lot of her help for a long time.

Elizabeth contacted Cary and asked if he wouldn't mind spending some time with me so that I would have a paternal figure in my life. He agreed, and I began spending weekends at his house like I was the kid of a divorced marriage. My cousin, John, didn't go with me, so I had one-on-one time with him. And while I was spending time with Cary, he and Elizabeth eventually started dating again.

They remarried in 2014, and Cary moved back in. He said he never stopped loving Elizabeth, even while they were divorced, and I was as good of a reason as any as to why they got back together. However, I was still struggling with my connection with Elizabeth, even though I enjoyed spending time with Cary — though I'd always wanted a replacement for my biological father, I'd never wanted a replacement for my mother.

She assured me she wasn't trying to replace my mom

Elizabeth sat me down one day and asked me if I was afraid of her replacing my mom. I said yes, and I can remember her response as clear as day.

"I'm not trying to replace your mother. She was my sister. But I promised her I would look after you. Are you in or are you out, kid?" she said.

And I realized then that all I'd needed was for her to acknowledge that my mom was still my mom and that she could never be replaced. I softened to her then, and I was finally all in. Calling Cary and Elizabeth "Mom" and "Dad" felt quite natural afterward.

There was still an adjustment period after the realization, though. I had a hard time believing I was safe and loved and that I had nothing to worry about — that I could be a child. I also had to learn that wasn't my job to worry about the electricity being on, whether there was enough food for dinner, or if there was gas to heat water for a shower.

But my parents were patient. They took me to therapy, helped me talk through my feelings and break out of bad habits, cared for and loved me, and nurtured me while still pushing me to be capable of the things they knew I could do. It took a lot of work, both on their behalf and mine.

I'm forever grateful for my mom's decision to take me in, and even more grateful that she loved me just as my biological mother would have wanted her to. Even though she had two kids already, there was still enough room for me in her heart. She has loved me like her own, and while she hasn't replaced my mother, she has honored her memory just by being her.

I live in Ireland now, and my parents retired from Illinois to Tennessee, after spending two short years in Ireland with me. Now, I see them once every two years if I'm lucky. But when I am home, it truly feels like home. My parents gave me a life I could have never dreamed of before they took me in. They gave me a chance to be me. I couldn't have done it without them.

• Chris Elle Dove, once bankrupt, is set to retire early with over $1.5 million net worth.
• She transitioned from earning $50,000 a year as a professor to investing full-time.
• Her strategy includes living minimally, investing in real estate, and keeping spending low.

Chris Elle Dove, 52, declared bankruptcy at age 29 in 2001 and survived off government benefits and side hustles to provide for her two kids. She had recently lost her husband and was struggling to be a good mom while finding more stable work.

Two decades later, she and her second husband have a total net worth of over $1.5 million and are set to retire early in their 50s.

After years of earning between $50,000 and $60,000 as a professor, Dove was convinced by her husband — who is in the military and had maxed out his retirement accounts — to invest full-time. Investing, alongside income from real estate and financial consulting, allowed her and her husband to be on track to become FIREs — or those who have reached financial independence and retired early.

She acknowledged her FIRE journey started much later than many others, though she stressed reaching financial independence isn't as inaccessible as many think.

"It was a long time before I got back on my feet, and I have no intention of ever being in that situation again," Dove said.

A rocky financial start

Dove was raised in an upper-middle-class family that went on two vacations a year, and she did extracurriculars from cheerleading to horseback riding to ice skating.

"I didn't even think about not going to college," Dove said. "I only thought about what college."

Her parents never openly discussed money, but she knew they kept a strict budget. They taught her about managing money, such as by giving her a pre-paid credit card in high school for clothes that she had to budget.

She had her first kid at 20 and her second at 24, putting her bachelor's degree on hold — it took her 17 years to finish her degree. At one point, she held three jobs — teaching ballroom dancing, bartending, and shoveling mulch for a landscaping company.

While raising her kids, her husband developed a brain tumor that left him sick for years. The medical bills piled up, and most weren't covered by their insurance. She also had student loan debt that she put on the back burner.

Her husband died at 28 when her kids were 7 and 3.

Dove didn't have much time to grieve, though. She worked so many hours to support her kids she would get sick. After a car accident that led to a hospital stay, she declared bankruptcy.

With little money to her name, relying on Social Security survivor benefits, she moved with her two kids to a town in Western Illinois. She bought a $50,000 home, paying $200 a month in mortgage payments. She maintained her dance teaching position, privately tutored, and was a research assistant.

"I always felt like a failure, like I should be providing for my kids the way I was provided for," Dove said. "I was never able to do that. I was just trying to make it to the next paycheck."

Getting back on her feet

In a stroke of luck, she got the opportunity to teach sociology courses at a community college, which paid her $34,000 a year in 2006. Her salary rose to $56,000 a few years later. Having plenty of vacations and more stable hours allowed her to be more present in her kids' lives, though money was still a stressor. She made extra income from advising campus clubs.

"We kept the wheels on the bus, but we never got ahead," Dove said.

She barely had money in her retirement accounts and hadn't invested much for her kids' futures. All she could think about was squeezing enough money out of her next paycheck to take her kids to a museum.

"I honestly spent most of my life not caring about money unless I had an emergency expense and I couldn't pay for it," Dove said. "I thought money was probably something that corrupted people, and I just didn't have a very positive opinion of money."

Her second husband, whom she met in 2015 and married in 2021, had maxed out his retirement accounts and saved much of his income. They agreed she would take off a few months to write children's books and see if it was financially sustainable. Once it became clear this career switch wasn't viable, she began investing after her husband convinced her she would be good at it.

"I pushed back because I didn't think it was rewarding. I didn't think I would feel like I was contributing to society in a meaningful way as an investor," Dove said.

Reaching financial independence

She sold her car and invested that money in the stock market, starting with buying a share of Berkshire Hathaway, then diversifying her portfolio.

"One of the biggest realizations for me is that I used to think you needed more money to be wealthy, but now what I've learned is you can have a ton of money and still live paycheck to paycheck," Dove said. "You can make a very small amount of income and live within your means and live stress-free and happy and build wealth."

She knew she couldn't start her financial independence journey alone, and her more financially savvy husband helped her get on track. On a national parks trip, they decided they would do whatever they could to retire early and spend more time exploring the world without worrying about money.

She read dozens of books and articles about financial markets, completed graduate degrees in financial planning, and became a Certified Financial Behavior Specialist. She modified her investing strategies to fit her personality, schedule, and risk tolerance. She and her husband started with $240,000 invested in retirement accounts, as well as about $80,000 in equity. Within the first four years, they doubled their investments twice.

In her mid-40s, she paid off her student debt, which she considered a huge milestone. It was the first time she could start saving money and max out her 401(k).

She and her husband adopted a minimalist lifestyle, starting by adopting a "one in, one out" rule — for every shirt she bought, she would sell one. They prioritized experiences over gifts and significantly increased savings, only purchasing what they needed.

Over the last four years, she estimates they've saved over 40% of their income — and about 60% if including investments from home sales. Still, she said they're not overly frugal and spend on fitness, food, and hobbies like bikes.

She created an "intense and intimidating" spreadsheet to track everything coming in and going out. She added sections for emergency savings, investments, net worth, and their "slush fund" of purchases above $500.

They pivoted to moving 20% of her husband's base income, 100% of her income, and at least 50% of bonuses into investments. Her husband's military pension, which is inflation-adjusted, has also taken some weight off the planning process.

"In addition to paying ourselves first, we've adopted the 'give every dollar a job' approach. At the end of each month, any 'extra money' is assigned to either slush, emergency, or it's invested," Dove said.

Dove didn't want to work even more hours, which would force her to sacrifice time with her kids, so she made more with less. They recently bought a home for $96,000 in Bloomington, Illinois, just as State Farm moved their headquarters and home prices fell, then sold their house right as Rivian came in and prices rose.

This encouraged her to dabble in real estate investing, putting their mountain home up on Airbnb. The home was almost immediately booked out each week for eight months.

Dove has published four children's picture books and spends her days writing, facilitating workshops, and working as a financial coach. She is also an angel investor in some startups. Ultimately, she hopes to retire early to spend more time with loved ones and set them up for success.

"Although we have not hit our FI number yet, we will reach our target amount by our target date with just what we contribute from my husband's income," Dove said. "That has paved the way for me to chase my many dreams."

Are you part of the FIRE movement or living by some of its principles? Reach out to this reporter at nsheidlower@businessinsider.com.