Author: openjargon

• Donald Trump has stamped his name on a variety of products since leaving office.
• The former president has continued to hawk items while also balancing his 2024 campaign.
• Trump has sold shoes, NFTs, and even a bible. 

Former President Donald Trump's campaign might be cash-strapped, but that hasn't stopped him from hawking merchandise that will benefit him directly.

As a former reality TV star, Trump has put his name on everything from board games and steaks to the sides of buildings. According to his most recent financial disclosure, Trump is the manager and president of an LLC that has been the vehicle for many of his post-White House dealings.

Former presidents have long found ways to profit after leaving office. But unlike Trump, no modern one-term president has seriously sought to reclaim his old job.

President Ulysses S. Grant's widow, Julia Grant, made $450,000 off of the memoirs that he penned shortly before his death. More recent former presidents have found other avenues beyond just book sales.

Gerald Ford is regarded for kick-starting the trend of serving on corporate boards after the "accidental president" accepted seats from blue-chip companies like 20th Century Fox and American Express. Ronald Reagan caused a stir when he accepted $2 million for a series of appearances in Japan. Bill Clinton later electrified the speaking fees trend.

It's estimated that he and former former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton amassed a staggering $100 million fortune after she left office. Not to be outdone, Netflix reportedly paid Barack and Michelle Obama into the high eight figures.

As President George W. Bush explained his approach upon leaving office, it was time to "replenish the ol' coffers."

"I don't know what my dad gets," Bush told journalist Robert Draper. "But it's more than 50, 75" thousand dollars a speech. He added, "Clinton's making a lot of money."

Congress once feared former presidents living in destitution. Former President Harry Truman personally wrote to key members of Congress after he left office that he might have to resort to taking welfare. (New York Magazine uncovered evidence that strongly undermines Truman's widely attributed image of meager post-White House wealth.) After Truman's lobbying, lawmakers passed financial support for former presidents that continues to this day.

In addition to receiving lifetime Secret Service protection (a perk that briefly appeared to be going away and is now enshrined again in law), former presidents enjoy perks that cover office space, staff funding, and travel reimbursement.

Trump's businesses primarily include golf courses, hotels, resorts, other real estate holdings, and licensing his name. Both his campaign and his family's business have official stores selling various products. As has been previously reported, some Trump-branded products have been made in other countries, including China and Canada. His campaign appears to only sell merchandise made in the US. Trump-owned companies have filed for bankruptcy six times, including the Trump Taj Mahal, the Plaza Hotel, Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts, and Trump Entertainment Resorts.

Here's how Trump is trying to make some extra money in 2024.

Truth Social

While not a product, Truth Social, Trump's social media platform, looms the largest in his post-presidential portfolio. The initial surge in share prices when the Truth's parent company went public caused Trump to soar back onto Bloomberg's Billionaire Index. (His status has sometimes changed amid the volatility in share prices.)

Trump's stake in Trump Media & Technology Group, Truth's parent company, is worth billions. The platform also illustrates the blend between Trump's business interests and campaign. He is undoubtedly Truth's greatest asset, a testament to the fact that he uses the platform almost exclusively even though major social companies have since reversed their post-January 6 bans on his accounts.

In a nod to his role, Trump Media & Technology Group is listed on Nasdaq under "DJT," the former president's initials.

Trump is selling a copy of his favorite book: The Bible.

For $60, Trump's edition of the religious text includes "a "handwritten chorus to 'God Bless The USA' by Lee Greenwood.'" The former president frequently features the Greenwood patriotic anthem at his rallies.

The Trump Bible also includes a copy of the US Constitution, Pledge of Allegiance, Declaration of Independence, and Bill of Rights.

Shoes

Three pairs of shoes emblazoned with a T are selling under Trump's umbrella. They range in price from the nearly all-gold "Never Surrender" high tops at $399 to the lower cut "Red Wave" and "POTUS 45."

According to the website that offered them for sale, only 1,000 pairs of the "Never Surrender" shoes were made. The company says that pairs have sold out. Like other current Trump products, the shoes come with the disclaimer that Trump himself is not selling the shoes but that the company licensed his name, image, and likeness. Trump is president of the LLC that sold his likeness rights.

The former president also attended SneakerCon, a shoe-focused convention in Philadelphia, to promote the shoe line.

NFTs

Trump has licensed multiple editions of digital trading cards since leaving office. The most recent set, "The Mugshot edition," offered collectors a chance to own a physical card that included a swatch of the suit the former president wore for his Fulton County Georgia mugshot.

Cards were available for $99 a piece or $4,653 for the full set, which included an invitation to a dinner at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club.

According to his most recent disclosure, Trump reported income of between $100,001 and $1 million from past NFT sales.

Cologne and perfume

The same company selling Trump shoes also sells cologne and perfume stamped with the former president's name. The "Victory47" bottles are each listed for $99 respectively. The cologne bottle's image, subject to change, has a Trump head topper.

Victory 47 is a nod to Trump's hope that he will win in November, making him both the 45th and 47th president.

• Warren Buffett discussed AI fraud, fiscal woes, and bad bets at Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting.
• The 93-year-old investor said he fully expects his successor, Greg Abel, to work long past 65.
• Buffett hailed his late business partner, Charlie Munger, and offered a raft of life advice.

Warren Buffett rang the alarm on the federal deficit, warned about AI-powered fraud, and owned up to a losing bet on Paramount during Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meeting on Saturday.

The 93-year-old CEO ruled out retirement at 65 for his successor, paid tribute to his late business partner, Charlie Munger, and offered advice about role models, quality relationships, and giving back.

Here are Buffett's 15 best quotes, lightly edited for length and clarity:

1. "Insurance always looks easier than it is, and it's so much fun because you get the money at the start, and then you find out whether you've done something stupid later on."
2. "I have no idea how the iPhone works, there may be some little guy inside or something. But I know what it means to people, and I know how they use it. And I know enough about consumer behavior to know that it's one of the great products, maybe the greatest product of all time. The value it offers is incredible."
3. "I was 100% responsible for the Paramount decision. We sold it all, and we lost quite a bit of money. I'm smarter now than I was a couple years ago. But I also think I'm poorer because I acquired the knowledge in the manner I did."
4. "There have been times in my life that I've been awash in so many opportunities that I could have invested everything by nightfall. But this is not a time when the phone is going to be ringing often. We haven't seen anything that makes sense that moves the needle."
5. "I can't help thinking about the fiscal deficit. It's what we should be focused on. Jay Powell is not only a great human being, he's a very, very wise man, but he doesn't control fiscal policy. And every now and then, he sends out a kind of disguised plea of, 'please pay attention to this because that's where the trouble will be if we have it'."
6. "We let a genie out of the bottle when we developed nuclear weapons. The power of that genie is what scares the hell out of me. I don't know any way to get the genie back in the bottle. And AI is somewhat similar."

7. "Scamming is going to be the growth industry of all time. Based on the one I saw recently, I practically would send money to myself over some crazy country."

   

8. "If you copy the right people, you're off to a great start. And I don't mean a great start about making money. I mean a great start about living your life."
9. "If you're lucky in life, make sure a bunch of other people are lucky, too."
10. "There's more fun having somebody that's your partner in digging your way out of a foxhole, than there is just sitting there and watching an idea that you got 10 years ago just continually produce more and more profits."

11. "Charlie [Munger] always said that, 'Just tell me where I going to die, so I'll never go there.' Well, the truth is he went everywhere with his mind, and therefore he was not only interested in the world at 99, but the world was interested in him."

    

12. "Ask yourself, 'Who would you want to spend the last day of your life with?' Then figure out a way to start meeting them today, or tomorrow, and meet them as often as you can — because why wait until the last day and not bother with the others?"
13. "This place, if anything happened to me, it would be working extremely well the next day. I don't get any phone calls. We can rig something up so we got some answering machine that people think I'm still around or something."
14. "Anybody that wants to retire at 65 would be disqualified from being CEO of Berkshire. They might get retired the next day if they were the wrong person."
15. "Thank you very, very much for coming, and I not only hope that you come next year, but I hope I come next year. "

• Melinda Binkley, 56, struggles to afford basics but earns 'too much' for assistance.
• Binkley is part of a growing group who live above the poverty live but can't afford necessities.
• The federal poverty line doesn't account for cost-of-living differences, leaving many without help.

Melinda Binkley, 56, has tried to apply for safety net programs before — like SNAP — but she's told her household makes too much money, usually by less than $100.

"I go through all that legwork, and I get everything that's on the application," Binkley said."Then, within days, they are either emailing me or calling saying 'you're too high'… I feel like it wastes my time."

Binkley lives in Stillwater, Minnesota and said she receives around $1,500 a month in Supplemental Security Income benefits. She doesn't currently work due to medical reasons, but has in the past. She estimates her husband brings home under $4,000 a month from his job at a medical supply company, but his income varies because he has health issues and is not always able to work a full-time schedule.

The couple is part of a growing number of Americans who live above the federal poverty line but struggle to afford basic necessities. The poverty line isn't adjusted to reflect cost-of-living differences in individual cities or states and is set at $20,440 a year for a family of two.

About 29% of US households are now ALICEs — people who are asset-limited, income-constrained, and employed. This compares to 13% of Americans who live below the federal poverty level, according to the Census Bureau's American Community Survey data and cost-of-living estimates analyzed by United Way's United For ALICE program.

"There is nothing in between that allows people to get assistance or help of any sort," Binkley said, referring to the gap between the poverty line and middle class. "We always tend to fall right in that part of the economy."

Binkley is trying to "make ends meet," hopes to leave Minnesota one day

Primarily, Binkley said she struggles with her rent and utility bills. She has worked out a deal with her landlord where she can make different payments for rent whenever she and her husband have the funds, but she worries that they might face eviction if they fall any further behind, she said.

Binkley said extreme temperatures in Minnesota and limited insulation in her home also mean she can pay almost $5,000 dollars anually in electricity bills to keep the heat on.

For food, Binkley said she is especially thankful for her local food pantries, where she often goes to pick up canned goods. However, she said there used to be more food pantry options available during the pandemic when "everybody was having issues."

Binkley added that she can afford to go to the grocery store sometimes, but only for basic, perishable goods like milk and bread.

Although Binkley is enrolled in Medicare and her husband gets a basic healthcare plan through work, she estimates they pay at least $350 a month out-of-pocket for medications — and it's often more.

"My husband will go without his meds, especially the more expensive ones," she said. "He will go without to make sure that I have mine, and I don't like that."

Binkley hopes she can leave Minnesota soon for Idaho. Her sister, whom she says is her biggest supporter, lives there and Binkley wants to be closer.

She's slowly trying to prepare herself and her husband for the move by sorting through their belongings and trying to stabilize finances. In the meantime, she's doing her best to "make ends meet."

"That is one thing that keeps driving me to make my payments, get things caught up, and set a little bit aside each week or each month, Binkley said. "Being able to use a big UHaul and finally get out of here."

Are you making above the poverty line but still struggling to afford daily life? Reach out to this reporter at allisonkelly@insider.com.

• An influx of over 175,000 migrants in New York City has further exposed the city's housing crisis.
• Mayor Eric Adams warned the migrant influx could 'destroy' the city.
• But the US relies on immigrants to fill key jobs – and they've long boosted the housing market.

No country in the world attracts more immigrants than the US — and no place symbolizes this better than New York City.

The convergence of the Big Apple's historic housing affordability crisis and an influx of asylum seekers has created a perfect storm that threatens to further marginalize the city's most vulnerable newcomers.

Over the last two years, New York City has struggled to handle more than 175,000 new migrants — part of an influx of asylum seekers on the Southern border. Many new arrivals don't have family members or other connections in New York, and tens of thousands of them don't have a place to live when they arrive.

But the city has a policy that's exceedingly rare in the US: it must provide a shelter bed for every unhoused person — a policy known as right-to-shelter, enforced by a 1981 state Supreme Court ruling. About 65,000 migrants are now living in about 200 emergency shelters, thousands more are in tent complexes, and others are staying in former hotels and jails.

The fact that New York — and other communities across the country — are so unprepared to handle new arrivals is further evidence of their failure to address a long-running housing affordability crisis. In New York City, underbuilding homes for years — particularly affordable units — has meant skyrocketing housing costs and the lowest home vacancy rate in decades. It's also helped the city's homeless population grow larger than it's been since the Great Depression. An influx of new residents, regardless of their immigration status, could be a wake-up call for the country that solving the housing crisis is a prerequisite for growth.

However, some New Yorkers aren't interested in welcoming asylum seekers. Mayor Eric Adams last year warned the influx of migrants "will destroy New York City," pointing to an estimated $12 billion the city is expected to spend on housing and other services between 2023 and 2025. He's repeatedly demanded more funding from the state and federal governments.

Some public figures who've opposed efforts to support migrants explicitly stoke fear that New Yorkers' homes are at risk. Elon Musk recently warned in a post on X that migrants will "come for your homes" after hotels and other emergency shelters fill up.

But an uptick in immigration isn't the problem. Immigrants have long played a key role in improving communities across the country. And the US depends on immigrants to keep the economy running. Experts say the country desperately needs an influx of immigrants to fill jobs in key sectors, like the construction industry, in order to build the homes that are in such short supply.

Immigrants boost home values

While politicians with anti-immigrant views and others have long sought to stoke xenophobia by demonizing immigrants, immigrant-heavy neighborhoods across the US have thrived.

Foreign-born residents make neighborhoods safer and wealthier, in part by boosting home values. Immigrants have long helped keep the US housing market strong and played a major role in stabilizing it following the Great Recession.

Not only do newly immigrant-heavy neighborhoods tend to see their home prices and rents increase, but surrounding areas see their housing costs and values rise even more, Susan Pozo, a professor of economics at Western Michigan University, and her colleagues found in one study. One reason behind this uptick is likely that many native-born residents leave for surrounding areas, pushing up demand there, Pozo said.

What's more, immigration might have a disinflationary impact on the housing market because new arrivals disproportionately work in the construction industry, helping solve the housing shortage.

"Immigration tends to raise local rents but slow inflation modestly in other core categories, resulting in little net impact," researchers at Goldman Sachs wrote in a research note published on May 5. "Since housing construction has been constrained for the last decade by labor shortages, it is possible that new immigrants will eventually do more to boost housing supply than housing demand."

Pushing migrants out of shelters

New York City has managed to absorb much larger influxes of immigrants in the past. In 1907, 3,400 people were processed at Ellis Island every day, on average. Right now, an average of about 600 migrants are arriving in the city each day.

But last month, the city government amended its right-to-shelter law, announcing it will begin forcing single adult migrants out of shelters after 30 days, while some families with children will be limited to 60 days in a shelter.

The New York City comptroller's office says the Adams administration is intentionally making life more difficult for asylum-seekers as a way to force them out of the city. Without legal documents, migrants aren't eligible for other government housing assistance, like vouchers or public housing.

"The policies are intentionally designed basically to just make it frustrating for people," said Celeste Hornbach, director of housing policy in the New York City comptroller's office. "It is just a system that is meant to really discourage people from getting help from the city and from exercising their rights that they have as residents of New York City."

The city has also failed to provide proper case management for thousands of migrants, and rarely follows up with families and individuals after they've left the shelter system, experts in the comptroller's office said.

"The case management the city has stood up is more focused on just getting people out of the shelter, rather than stabilizing them and helping them succeed once they're gone," said Sam Stanton, a senior policy researcher in the comptroller's office.

It's unclear where many go once they leave the shelters, Hornbach said, but some likely end up in substandard "gray market housing," including in basements or other potentially unsafe, overcrowded places.

Without local, state, and federal efforts to build more housing — including affordable homes — communities across the country won't be able to sustain dynamic economies and vibrant neighborhoods.

• Germany plans to send Ukraine a prototype artillery shell that can travel 62 miles, Handelsblatt reported.
• They'd be part of a planned package of hundreds of thousands of conventional rounds. 
• Germany previously announced a $5.3 million military aid package for Ukraine.

Germany is gearing up to send Ukraine a prototype artillery shell that can travel up to 62 miles, German newspaper Handelsblatt reported.

That would more than triple the reach of the conventional 155 mm artillery rounds Ukraine is heavily reliant on, depending on what system is used to fire it. Shells fired by a Howitzer can travel around 20 miles, per the Associated Press.

It's not clear what the prototype munition actually is. The manufacturer, Rheinmetall, declined to provide further information to BI, citing Ukraine's security interests.

Rheinmetall, Germany's largest arms manufacturer, is currently focusing heavily on artillery production for Ukraine, with a plan to send hundreds of thousands of rounds — including some of the new prototype — within the year, Handelsblatt reported.

The longest-range munition supplied by Germany to Ukraine so far is the Vulcano, according to Ukrainian military news site Defense Express. Berlin has sent an unconfirmed quantity of this munition to Ukraine since the start of the conflict.

According to its manufacturer, the Vulcano is highly compatible with existing artillery systems and its guided version can travel up to 43 miles.

Before Russia's full-scale invasion, Rheinmetall was producing 70,000 rounds a year — a figure that is expected to balloon to 700,000 this year, Handelsblatt reported.

That figure would likely lead to a significant increase compared to Germany's ammunition supplied to Ukraine thus far. As of late April, the country had sent 81,500 155mm rounds in total.

Ukraine gets through a reported 6,000-8,000 rounds a day, per the AP.

But much of the company's capacity to ramp up production in the future depends on investment from the German government, Rheinmetall's CEO Armin Papperger told Handelsblatt.

Earlier this year, Germany announced a $5.3 million military aid package for Ukraine, including 10,000 artillery rounds from its own stocks, Politico reported.

Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz has trod a careful line in his country's provision of military aid.

Behind only the US and European institutions as a bloc in terms of the dollar value of aid, Scholz has nonetheless hesitated to provide more-lethal weapons to Ukraine.

Germany only allowed the transfer of Leopard tanks after months of international pressure, and it now faces continued calls to follow the UK and France's example in sending long-range cruise missiles.

• Scott and Marissa Vleeschouwer relocated from Arizona to China to work at an international school.
• The couple found China offered a lower cost of living and diverse travel opportunities.
• Despite cultural differences and language barriers, the Vleeschouwers enjoy their life in China.

Scott Vleeschouwer, 34, and his wife weren't quite ready to start a family and re-budget their lives for having kids. They instead set their eyes on international travel.

His wife, a teacher, had been to China before and realized she could get a visa to teach at an international school there and bring Scott along. She got a job in a suburb of Shenzhen, China's third-most populous city. The school that hired her also hired Scott, and the two put their lives in the US on hold and relocated to China.

Vleeschouwer said it's taken some time to get used to the language and culture barriers, though they've enjoyed the lower cost of living, the natural landscape, and the relative quiet.

"When we looked through all the other places to be a teacher overseas, somewhere like China just beat everywhere else," Vleeschouwer said.

Moving to China

Vleeschouwer was born and raised in Maryland. He got a business degree and designed layouts for retail stores. For work, he moved to Roanoke, Virginia; San Antonio; and Phoenix in 2019, where he met his wife.

After eight years in retail design, he switched to real estate as an agent and then worked as a mortgage broker for a year. He also held a job building vans, from campers to mobile doctor vans to fire and SWAT trucks. He lived on a sailboat in Mexico between visits to the US just prior to moving abroad.

The couple knew they wanted to go on a "wild adventure" before they had kids, though they also wanted to work during their trip to supplement the costs. After some research, they determined they could live comfortably in China and find employment despite the language barrier, as neither speaks fluent Mandarin or Cantonese. Despite some opposition from his family and friends, they predicted their experiences would be better than what many anticipated for them.

His wife got a job as a teacher at an international school, and the two moved to China on her visa. Although he had never taught, Vleeschouwer also secured a position at the school. They moved eight months ago to Dapeng, a suburb of Shenzhen by the beach.

The job allows both of them to take more time off than corporate positions due to various breaks, festivals, and holidays. They get two weeks off for spring break and Christmas, in addition to summer vacation, which has allowed them to visit Beijing and Shanghai. They have also traveled to India, Hong Kong, and the Philippines and booked trips to Indonesia and Kenya.

"We have access to a lot of places down in Southeast Asia that are pretty quick, short, affordable flights," Vleeschouwer said. "I didn't realize that we would have this many cool places to travel to so close."

Cost of living in China compared to the US

His wife's base salary in China is more than she made in the US, and the school pays for their healthcare and housing. Their flight to China was also paid for, and the school provided them with free lunches.

Before moving to China, the couple paid $1,900 a month in rent in Arizona. They still own and maintain two rental homes in the US. He said their internet bill was $130 a month, their cellphone bill was $70, and their electricity bill was $100. He said they spend about $500 to $600 a month on groceries, and their car insurance costs $100 monthly, in addition to $130 a month in gas.

In China, bicycles and e-scooters are the most common form of transportation, which saves them over $1,000 a year. They estimate the cost of a decent e-scooter to be $300. They occasionally take DiDi — the Chinese equivalent of Uber — which is only $1 to $2 to their workplace or $30 round-trip to the city's downtown, about an hour away.

If they paid rent on their three-bedroom apartment, it would amount to about $800 a month.

Their phone bill is $27 monthly for three lines and 45 gigabytes of data. Their three-month water bill was just $9. They spend about $30 a week on groceries, frequently purchasing fresh fruit, fish, and rice. He said they shop at an expat grocery store that's fairly Westernized.

Adjusting to cultural differences

Vleeschouwer said it's taken him some time to adjust to cultural norms in China as he tries to improve his language skills.

While he's trying to pick up on phrases and expressions to get around easily, he often relies on technology that automatically translates signs and labels. He also uses translation apps for communicating with people who don't speak English, which is very common in his more rural area.

"The languages are very difficult to learn as an outsider," he said. "You can teach yourself a word, and you say it again, and they don't understand you."

He's able to access many apps on his VPN that are otherwise blocked by the government, which has allowed him to stay in better contact with friends and family in the US. Still, he misses having full access to the internet that he had in the US.

He's slowly adjusted to restaurants not offering cold water and dining being community-style. He doesn't drink tap water, as boiling it before drinking is recommended. He also knows to take off his shoes before entering someone else's home.

Though he can get most of what he needs in his area, he misses the brands he's come to love in the US. Getting products like medicine or vitamins or hair products takes some time to select due to the language barrier, as most brands are China-specific. He said in Shenzhen proper, there are a lot more Western stores, as well as a larger expat community.

He has felt very welcomed by those at his school and many in his community, though he said locals are sometimes confused about why he and his wife live so far outside of the city. They've made some good friends in China, many of whom are from abroad.

"We stick out like a sore thumb, and everyone stares at us," Vleeschouwer said. "We will literally eat dinner and kids will come up and put chairs next to us and just watch us eat dinner. We held someone's baby once; they just handed us their baby because they wanted a picture of their baby with a white person."

Sometimes he enjoys doing the more touristy things like hiking the Great Wall of China or visiting Shanghai, parts of which reminded him of the US. He said the scale of cities and the "unfathomable high rises" in China also shocked him. Not having easy access to a car, though, is sometimes tough.

"We just are kind of locked where we are compared to what we're used to," Vleeschouwer said. "It's a lot like city life, except we just can't go anywhere."

They plan to stay in China for two years per his wife's contract, then they're not sure where to go next. They may stay in China, which he said is a "really good place to have children," given six months of paid maternity leave in his city. Still, they've considered going back to living on a sailboat in Mexico or building a homestead in Arizona.

Have you recently moved to a new country or state? Reach out to this reporter at nsheidlower@businessinsider.com.

• Musi is a music-streaming app that has millions of users, especially among teens.
• It works by streaming music from YouTube, and unlike Spotify, it doesn't make deals with record labels. 
• But this arrangement is, uhhhh, potentially quite curious.

Of all the early 2000s trends to make a comeback — low-rise jeans, Creed appreciation, Anne Hathaway — I would not have expected popular digital music platform that raises a lot of questions about copyright.

Wired reports that Musi is a free music streaming app out of Canada that's especially popular with teenagers. And unlike Apple Music or Spotify, which make their own deals with record labels and pay artists for streams, Musi works quite differently. It essentially streams music from YouTube — and Musi runs its own ads against those streams.

It's now facing potential legal action, Wired reported, citing industry sources. (Musi didn't respond to Wired's requests for comment.)

From Wired:

Musi claims not to host the music videos its users stream, instead emphasizing that these videos come from YouTube. Those videos appear within Musi's own barebones interface, but some flaunt their origins with watermarks from YouTube or Vevo.

Users have to sit through video ads right when they open Musi and can then stream uninterrupted audio, but video ads play silently every few songs while the music continues. The app also displays banner ads, but users can remove all ads from the app for a one-time fee of $5.99.

As you can imagine, this whole arrangement feels sort of … gray area?

Read more from Wired: Musi Won Over Millions. Is the Free Music Streaming App Too Good to Be True?

Wired talked to a copyright professor who said he wasn't totally clear if Musi was in violation of any laws — some of the details about how Musi functions are unclear, which leaves some open questions. A spokesperson for Vevo, the company in charge of most of the music videos you watch on YouTube, told Wired that Musi doesn't have permission to use its videos and Vevo would be taking action.

I certainly downloaded a lot of music (and malware) from Napster, LimeWire, and Soulseek in the early 2000s. At that time, it felt like downloading a free song couldn't really hurt those fat cats in the record industry. (Lars Ulrich wasn't really too sympathetic a character if you remember.)

But two decades on, anyone can see what happened to the music industry: It's terrible for the streaming platforms, record labels, and, of course, the artists themselves. Knowing this, my level of desire to do something that might rip off an artist of the even puny portion of a penny they get for a YouTube or Spotify stream is much diminished. I think I'll pass on Musi.

• China's economy is struggling, leading to a surge in gold purchases as a safe-haven asset.
• Central banks are on a gold-buying spree, contributing to record-high spot gold prices.
• Other central banks are also snapping up gold to diversify their assets on the back of a strong greenback.

China's economy is in a funk and people are rushing out to buy gold as a safe-haven asset to hedge against economic uncertainties, sending prices of the precious metal to record highs.

The country's central bank has also gotten into the act, adding 60,000 troy ounces of gold to its stash in April, according to official data released on Tuesday. It marked the 18th straight month the People's Bank of China was piling in on gold.

But it's not just about economic uncertainty. The heightened interest in gold is also a pushback to the strong US dollar, which is making it too expensive for emerging nations like China to import goods.

The Dollar Index — which measures the value of the green against a basket of six other currencies — has risen 4% this year and 10% since the start of 2022. This is due to the Federal Reserve's interest-rate hikes since March 2022, which tend to strengthen the dollar.

The Chinese yuan has lost 1.6% against the dollar this year to date. It's down 4% over the past 12 months and about 12% lower against the greenback since the start of 2022.

Other central banks are also loading up on gold. Big gold buyers include China, Turkey, and India, the World Gold Council, or WGC, wrote in a report last week.

"Accounting for almost a quarter of annual gold demand in both those years, many have attributed central banks' ongoing voracious appetite for gold as a key driver of its recent performance in the face of seemingly challenging conditions: namely, higher yields and US dollar strength," wrote the council.

In all, the world's central banks bought 290 tons of gold in the first quarter of this year — the strongest start to any year on record, per the WGC.

Central banks are not done buying gold

Even though central banks have bought a whole lot of gold since 2022, they may not be done yet, said the WGC.

"Not only is the long-standing trend in central bank gold buying firmly intact, it also continues to be dominated by banks from emerging markets," the WGC added.

Emerging market central banks that bought gold in the first quarter of the year include Kazakhstan, Oman, Kyrgyzstan, and Poland.

There are political motivations for central banks to diversify their assets, too.

"It has become apparent that in some cases, nations that are not allied with the United States have begun to look to reduce their reserve mix away from dollars, as they perceive the risks of keeping these reserves vulnerable to sanctions," JPMorgan analysts wrote in a March report.

Governments aligned with the US are also adding gold to protect themselves against higher and more volatile inflation globally, the JPMorgan analysts added.

The rush into gold assets may not bode well for the US dollar in the longer run, should the currency continue to gain.

"A stronger USD would weaken its role as reserve currency," economists at Allianz, an international financial-services firm, wrote in a report on June 29. "If access to USD becomes more expensive, borrowers will search for alternatives."

The spot gold price is now around $2,330 an ounce, off its record highs above $2,400 an ounce in April.

• Summer is approaching, and that means ditching bulky outerwear for new work styles.
• Business Insider spoke to style experts about what's hot and what's not for the upcoming season.
• Here's what finance workers should be wearing to work this summer.

The weather is heating up, and it's time for finance bros to update their wardrobes along with it.

With Wall Street having mainly returned to the office, the investment bankers and workers who power firms like JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and Citigroup have had to ditch their sweatpants for tailored suits again. But some of them are struggling to readjust to non-stretchy garments, it would seem.

More and more white-collar workers are relying on stylists to elevate their work wardrobes. The gig can earn fashion experts tens of thousands from merely one client.

And it seems like the finance and Silicon Valley guys hiring these style arbiters have the right idea. Lately, tech titans like Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos — possibly by way of his fashionable fiancée Lauren Sanchez — have been featured in publications for what they're wearing instead of what project they're working on.

So, Business Insider asked some style experts — and a finance bro — which brands and styles those on Wall Street should check out for their summer workwear.

Men's fashion consultant Reginald Ferguson told BI that he wants his clients to remain "modern, yet classic" in their daily attire. Here's what he and others had to say.

Tops

Peter Millar and Charles Tyrwhitt were two brands suggested to BI by an early-career investment banker who asked to remain anonymous to protect his career.

Style consultant Ferguson also nodded to British retailer Charles Tyrwhitt, calling it a good "starter kit" for workwear. Those in their first year as associates tend to take advantage of its "multibuy" deal that discounts shirt prices — about $100 for most styles — when you buy in bulk.

Meanwhile, Peter Millar is more on-trend with its use of athletic fabric in work attire. The shirts categorized as a "workweek" style go for about $250 on the official website.

It's a "luxury golf brand that was smart to expand its line for its client to wear other garments while not on the course," Ferguson told BI.

Bottoms

Those who dress the wealthy have touted Italian brand Zegna for its range of classic to casual looks. Pants from the company typically go for under $2,000.

Kiton, another high-end brand with origins in Italy, is "the grail for the partner of the firm," Ferguson told BI. The high price point might indicate why it's the choice for more seasoned —and higher-paid — employees.

Pants from Kiton can cost anywhere from around $1,000 to over $4,000 for cashmere trousers.

"The fabrics they choose are luscious, and yes, everyone can tell when you are wearing a Kiton suit," Nicole Pollard Bayme, CEO of LA-based styling firm Lalaluxe, said.

Footwear and accessories

Zegna's TripleStitch sneakers cost about $1,000 and have gained quite a following among the wealthy.

"In a breathtakingly short time, the Zegna TripleStitch has become the defacto shoe of private jet travel," Bayme told BI.

And while our style gurus didn't comment on specific brands for accessories, perhaps workers can take inspiration from tech leaders about which watches are in.

Billionaire Bill Gates has been seen wearing a $70 Casio watch, for example, while Oracle CTO Larry Ellison is said to have an extensive Richard Mille collection that can range from six figures to even more for one timepiece.

Meanwhile, when in doubt, sunglasses are always a functional way to make your outfit look cooler.

• Vincent Peters worked in military compliance when he was poached to work at SpaceX. 
• He said the work culture was ruthlessly efficient and you could see Musk on the office floor. 
• However, if you need your hand held, the former employee said to avoid Musk's companies.

This is an as-told-to essay based on a transcribed conversation with Vincent Peters, founder of Inheritance AI and former SpaceX employee discussing his career path and experience at SpaceX. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I graduated from West Point in 2005 at 23. Shortly before graduating, I was diagnosed with allergy-induced asthma. So I graduated on medical leave, couldn't be deployed, and continued on medical leave for another six months before being discharged.

Because I didn't have any internships or corporate experience, it took me a while to transition into the workforce. Once I did, I went on to work in many different industries.

The beginning of my corporate career

I got a contractor job with the Federal Aviation Administration through a friend and gained experience doing business administration, research, and development.

From there, I got work more aligned with my degree in systems engineering and technology as a security project manager at Freddie Mac. I stayed in banking but moved into working on compliance and risk management.

I then left the banking industry to partner with one of my best friends from West Point, who owned a tech company, 2 Twelve Solutions. We worked in "authority to operate," certifying what technology can be used for US Government military missions. We got the opportunity to pitch our services to SpaceX.

I was introduced to people on the SpaceX Mission team, and ultimately, they asked me to interview with them for a job at SpaceX. After a long process with multiple conversations, they offered me a job doing information compliance and assurance.

At first, I said no, but after their counteroffer, I had to tell my friend, "I love you, but I'm going to go work for SpaceX." I started in November 2018. My primary role was showing government clients that SpaceX was compliant.

My first project was the Commercial Crew program where astronauts needed to be returned to the International Space Station by US space capabilities. SpaceX was one of the companies awarded that contract. I was brought on to engage with NASA and show SpaceX was compliant. From there, I supported some of the Department of Defense customers and the beginning of the Artemis program to return to the moon.

What it's like working at SpaceX

SpaceX is the most efficient company I've ever worked for. Instead of having a manager and a list of tasks, I was asked to sit in on meetings and add value to projects aligned with my interests or expertise.

I thought I would get fired every day during the first six months. There was no one there to tell you what to do. In the military, there was a change of command. At SpaceX, you ask yourself, "How do we do this thing? How do we do it safely? How do we do it so that it's a good value for our customers?" Then you figure it out.

There were no boundaries in my role as long as I was adding value to whatever I was working on. For example, someone would ask if I was interested in flight software, and if I were, I'd be invited to attend those meetings.

The directive was if I was in a meeting and it was adding value to what I did daily, stay, or if I was adding value based on my expertise, stay — but if neither of those things were happening, you should get up and respectfully walk out.

In one instance, a government customer came in with a 50-slide deck. Six slides into the presentation, 75% of the room had walked out. I had to tell him that if he didn't get to the point, I'd be the only person left in the room — and only because I had to walk him out. He skipped ahead to his last five slides. That kind of environment makes you much more efficient.

Also, everyone is accessible. You're all in cubicles, including Elon and the COO, Gwynne Shotwell. You can look up, be seen, and say to people, "Hey, I need this." It's very open and makes collaborating and getting to know people easy. The only fixed offices are for people who often need to have confidential conversations — like the head of human resources and the CFO.

Working on Starlink

I quickly found that once you're in the circle of trust within Elon Musk's companies, you get a job more easily at another company in the portfolio. For example, someone who started around the same time as me at SpaceX is running IT at X now — the culture is just to do whatever is required.

That mentality is how I started working on Starlink.

The Starlink team had several questions from the Canadian communications regulators. They wanted to know how SpaceX was handling Starlink customer data and the configuration of some Starlink ground systems that were built and maintained by SpaceX. With my background in government work and compliance, it felt like a natural fit for me to step in.

In 2020, I asked to help and was allowed to work on their projects in addition to my work at SpaceX.

The work is rigorous, but people are very accepting

SpaceX was probably the most accepting work culture I've ever participated in.

There also wasn't a lot of value placed on where people went to school. Some of the most intelligent people I worked with there were high school graduates.

Regardless of your background or credentials, it's a place where you have to be able to hold yourself accountable. It's assumed that you should know what you should be doing.

If you're looking for a boss to hold your hand and tell you what you need to do and how to do it, you will be disappointed working with Elon. But if you're looking for a boss who trusts in your decision-making, you'll thrive.

I ultimately left in February 2022 because I felt I was no longer learning. While SpaceX was one of my best work experiences, there seemed to be a high turnover rate where people would leave between their first and second years. After my third year, I was one of the most senior in my group, and there weren't many people to learn from.

My time at SpaceX has helped me run my own company

From there, I started my new project, Inheritance Art, in early 2022. We're working on various projects — from crypto to large language model services and even creating our own AI models. I'm enjoying the challenge, but I still look back fondly on my time at SpaceX.

Working at SpaceX taught me how to hire and manage people efficiently — I was never a fan of middle management, and my experience there showed me how to run an organization without it. Space X is a flat organization, and it works well that way.