Author: openjargon

• JPMorgan's CEO of Asset & Wealth Management, Mary Callahan Erdoes, spoke with BI about AI.
• She believes curiosity is the key trait humans need to harness the potential of AI.
• "It has to be okay to ask the questions," Erdoes said.

JPMorgan's top exec believes a single human trait will define the winners of the AI age.

"Curiosity," Mary Callahan Erdoes, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase's Asset and Wealth Management division, told Business Insider in an interview. "It has to be OK to ask the questions, to not know, to not be afraid, and then to keep going with the questions."

Erdoes spoke Tuesday morning at "Leading with AI," a conference hosted by Harvard's Digital Data Design Institute and Harvard Business School, where the school's alums and leaders in business, technology, and academia discussed the challenges and opportunities of artificial intelligence. JPMorgan has also partnered with Harvard's Digital Data Design Institute to research ways to leverage the technology across its business.

At JPMorgan, Erdoes said conversations about AI are happening "every day" and that she engages with the technology frequently. She believes successfully implementing AI requires curiosity from employees at all ranks — from managers at the top to workers at the bottom.

"If we can infuse that in all of our people, we will move faster to get to what we all really want to get to," and that's understanding if there are "entirely new products, processes, procedures, solutions for clients," she said.

She said that once people learn to leverage AI, they can "make the gunk go faster" in their jobs and help clients in more complex ways.

The looming threat of AI is that it'll advance to the point where it eliminates some jobs. But Erdoes hopes it will only eliminate "the no-joy" work that "people shouldn't have to do."

"Companies that take their employees through that journey and they combine the human with the AI to augment their job, their joy and the ability to serve the client will be successful," She said.

• Rich Otto, former head of product launches at Tesla, said he resigned last week.
• The executive said the recent Tesla layoffs have thrown the company "out of balance."
• Otto's departure follows six other senior-level Tesla executives leaving in recent weeks.

Tesla keeps shedding executives.

Rich Otto, the former head of product launches at Tesla, said on Wednesday that he'd made the decision to resign last week amid the mass layoffs at the company.

"It's a company I love and that has given me so much, but has also taken its pound of flesh," Otto wrote on LinkedIn. "Great companies are made up of equal parts great people and great products, and the latter are only possible when its people are thriving. The recent layoffs that are rocking the company and its morale have thrown this harmony out of balance and it's hard to see the long-game. It was time for a change."

Otto worked at Tesla for over six years, according to his LinkedIn profile. He said in the post that there are many things he'll miss about Tesla and he plans to take a break for a while before jumping into another project.

Otto and a spokesperson for Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The executive is one of a handful of higher-ups that have left Tesla over the past month. Six other executives, including the senior director of HR and the senior director of Supercharging, have left the carmaker amid the series of layoffs.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk kickstarted a series of layoffs on April 15 when he told staff he planned to cut more than 10% of the company's workforce. On Monday, Tesla workers entered their fourth week of layoff notices.

Do you work for Tesla or have insight to share? Reach out to the reporter via a non-work email and device at gkay@businessinsider.com

• Mitzi Lacerna, 28, said she's been working two full-time jobs since 2021. 
• Lacerna, who is based in San Francisco, said she regularly works over 80 hours a week. 
• Lacerna aims to save $100,000 and advises others with similar goals to "live below" their means. 

Mitzi Lacerna is on a mission.

Lacerna, a 28-year-old part-time content creator near San Francisco, wants to save $100,000 to put toward a down payment to buy a house.

To do that, she's working two full-time jobs: one as a barista earning $27.94 an hour, and one as an overnight attendant at an apartment building earning $22 an hour. (Business Insider verified Lacerna's April paystubs.)

Lacerna told Business Insider via email that she began working multiple jobs after immigrating to the US from the Philippines in 2018. However, it wasn't until 2021 that she took on the two 40-hour-a-week gigs.

Lacerna is one of many people in the US who voluntarily work more than one job. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that around 8.4 million Americans, or roughly 5.2% of the US workforce, worked multiple jobs in April — though that figure also includes people who hold down several part-time jobs.

Business Insider's Jacob Zinkula — who has interviewed many people working multiple jobs, also known as being overemployed — found that their reasons vary but include saving money for retirement, dream vacations, and weight-loss drugs.

Unlike Lacerna, Zinkula reports that many overemployed people work remotely in IT or other corners of the tech industry. Companies have different policies on employees working multiple jobs — some allow it, while others don't, which means anyone choosing to do so secretly could risk being fired.

Working two jobs is no easy feat, but Lacerna said in an email she's "more than halfway" to reaching her $100,000 target and has "already saved $52,000."

Working over 80 hours a week isn't for the fainthearted

Lacerna's strategy is simple.

"I save everything from my highest-paying job, and live off one paycheck for my spending," she said in an email.

Her schedule, however, is draining.

From 7 a.m. to 4:15 p.m., Lacerna said she's on her feet working as a barista at a tech company.

Later, from around 10 p.m. to 6:50 a.m., Lacerna clocks in for her role as a "resident relations specialist" at the front desk of a residential condominium building.

Lacerna regularly posts glimpses of her life on TikTok. In March, she shared a video with highlights of a typical day in response to a user who accused her of faking her schedule. That post went viral, amassing more than 25.8 million views.

Some TikTok users commented on Lacerna's schedule, citing the potential for sleep deprivation.

While sleep requirements vary from person to person, experts recommend adults get between seven and nine hours of sleep each night. Anything less can result in mild to severe health consequences.

Lacerna said in an email that she sometimes only gets two or three hours of sleep on days when she works both jobs.

In the email, she said that because she has Tuesday and Wednesday nights off from the front desk job and Saturday and Sunday mornings off from the coffee shop, she can get between six and eight hours of sleep on those days.

Lacerna also tries to sneak in extra shut-eye whenever she can.

"I take naps during my 15-minute break and 30-minute break on both jobs," she added in an email.

Working two jobs allows her to aggressively save money

Lacerna knows that her schedule is tougher than most.

But it hasn't dissuaded her from her goal, which she is working toward by religiously tracking the money coming in and out of her accounts and "spending mindfully."

"I am saving aggressively this year," Lacerna said on email. "I haven't spent anything on new clothes, new shoes, new bags, and even new skincare."

She said this year, she hopes to cut down her spending on rideshare apps and food delivery.

Lacerna said she knows her schedule is "not always possible for everyone." But for those inspired by her work ethic and savings strategy, her best advice is simply to "live below" your means.

Lacerna doesn't plan to hold down two full-time jobs forever.

When she reaches her goal of saving $100,000, she plans to quit one of her current jobs and study medical coding.

• Last year's job cuts weren't the end of layoffs. Further reductions have begun in 2024.
• Companies like Tesla, Google, Microsoft, Nike, and Amazon have announced plans for cuts this year.
• See the full list of corporations reducing their worker numbers in 2024.

A slew of companies across the tech, media, finance, and retail industries made significant cuts to staff in 2023. Tech titans like IBM, Google, Microsoft, finance giants like Goldman Sachs, and manufacturers like Dow all announced layoffs.

This year is looking grim too. And it's only May.

Nearly 40% of business leaders surveyed by ResumeBuilder think layoffs are likely at their companies this year, and about half say their companies will implement a hiring freeze. ResumeBuilder talked to about 900 leaders at organizations with more than 10 employees. Half of those surveyed cited concerns about a recession as a reason.

Another major factor is artificial intelligence. Around four in 10 respondents said they'll conduct layoffs as they replace workers with AI. Dropbox, Google, and IBM have already announced job cuts related to AI.

Here are the dozens of companies with job cuts planned or already underway in 2024.

Nike's up-to-$2 billion cost-cutting plan will involve severances.

Nike announced its cost-cutting plans in a December 2023 earnings call, discussing a slow growth in sales. The call subsequently resulted in Nike's stock plunging.

"We are seeing indications of more cautious consumer behavior around the world," Nike Chief Financial Officer Matt Friend said in December.

Google laid off hundreds more workers in 2024.

On January 10, Google laid off hundreds of workers in its central engineering division and members of its hardware teams — including those working on its voice-activated assistant.

In an email to some affected employees, the company encouraged them to consider applying for open positions at Google if they want to remain employed. According to the email, April 9 will be the last day for those unable to secure a new position.

The tech giant laid off thousands throughout 2023, beginning with a 6% reduction of its global workforce (about 12,000 people) last January.

Discord is laying off 170 employees.

Discord employees learned about the layoffs in an all-hands meeting and a memo sent by CEO Jason Citron in early January.

"We grew quickly and expanded our workforce even faster, increasing by 5x since 2020," Citron said in the memo. "As a result, we took on more projects and became less efficient in how we operated."

In August 2023, Discord reduced its headcount by 4%. According to CNBC, the company was valued at $15 billion in 2021.

Citi will cut 20,000 from its staff as part of its corporate overhaul.

The layoffs announced in January are part of a larger Citigroup initiative to restructure the business and could leave the company with a remaining head count of 180,000 — excluding its Mexico operations.

In an earnings call that month, the bank said that layoffs could save the company up to $2.5 billion after it suffered a "very disappointing" final quarter last year.

Amazon-owned Twitch also announced job cuts.

Twitch announced on January 10 that it would cut 500 jobs, affecting over a third of the employees at the live-streaming company.

CEO Dan Clancy announced the layoffs in a memo, telling staff that while the company has tried to cut costs, the operation is "meaningfully" bigger than necessary.

"As you all know, we have worked hard over the last year to run our business as sustainably as possible," Clancy wrote. "Unfortunately, we still have work to do to rightsize our company and I regret having to share that we are taking the painful step to reduce our headcount by just over 500 people across Twitch."

BlackRock is planning to cut 3% of its staff.

Larry Fink, BlackRock's chief executive, and Rob Kapito, the firm's president, announced in January that the layoffs would affect around 600 people from its workforce of about 20,000.

However, the company has plans to expand in other areas to support growth in its overseas markets.

"As we prepare for 2024 and this very exciting but distinctly different landscape, businesses across the firm have developed plans to reallocate resources," the company leaders said in a memo.

Rent the Runway is slashing 10% of its corporate jobs as part of a restructuring.

In the fashion company's January announcement, COO and president Anushka Salinas said she will also be leaving the firm, Fast Company reported.

Unity Software is eliminating 25% of its workforce.

Around 1,800 jobs at the video game software company will be affected by the layoffs announced, Reuters reported in January.

eBay is cutting 1,000 jobs.

In a January 23 memo, CEO Jamie Iannone told employees that the eBay layoffs will affect about 9% of the company's workforce.

Iannone told employees that layoffs were necessary as the company's "overall headcount and expenses have outpaced the growth of our business."

The company also plans to scale back on contractors.

Microsoft is reducing its headcount by 1,900 at Activision, Xbox, and ZeniMax.

In late January, nearly three months after Microsoft acquired video game firm Activision Blizzard, the company announced layoffs in its gaming divisions. The layoffs mostly affect employees at Activision Blizzard.

"As we move forward in 2024, the leadership of Microsoft Gaming and Activision Blizzard is committed to aligning on a strategy and an execution plan with a sustainable cost structure that will support the whole of our growing business," Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer said in a memo obtained by The Verge.

The cuts come a year after the tech giant announced it was reducing its workforce by 10,000 employees. It then slashed a further 1,000 roles across sales and customer service teams in July 2023.

Salesforce is cutting 700 employees across the company, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Salesforce announced a round of layoffs that the company says will affect 1% of its global workforce, The Journal reported in late January.

The cuts followed a wave of cuts at the cloud giant last year. In 2023, Marc Benioff's company laid off about 10% of its total workforce — or roughly 7,000 jobs. The CEO said the company over-hired during the pandemic.

Flexport lays off 15% of its workers.

In late January, the US logistics startup laid off 15% of its staff which is around 400 workers.

The move came after Flexport founder and CEO Ryan Petersen initiated a 20% reduction of its workforce of an estimated 2,600 employees in October.

Flexport kicked off 2024 with the announcement that it raised $260 million from Shopify and made "massive progress toward returning Flexport to profitability."

iRobot is laying off around 350 employees and founder Colin Angle will step down as chairman and CEO.

The company behind the Roomba Vacuum announced layoffs in late January around the same time Amazon decided not to go through with its proposed acquisition of the company, the Associated Press reported.

UPS will cut 12,000 jobs in 2024.

The UPS layoffs will affect 14% of the company's 85,000 managers and could save the company $1 billion in 2024, UPS CEO Carol Tomé said during a January earnings call.

Paypal CEO Alex Chriss announced the company would lay off 9% of its workforce.

Announced in late January, this round of layoffs will affect about 2,500 employees at the payment processing company.

"We are doing this to right-size our business, allowing us to move with the speed needed to deliver for our customers and drive profitable growth," CEO Alex Chriss wrote in a January memo. "At the same time, we will continue to invest in areas of the business we believe will create and accelerate growth."

Okta is cutting roughly 7% of its workforce.

The digital-access-management company announced its plans for a "restructuring plan intended to improve operating efficiencies and strengthen the Company's commitment to profitable growth" in an SEC filing in February.

The cuts will impact roughly 400 employees.

Okta CEO Todd McKinnon told staff in a memo that "costs are still too high," CNBC reported.

Snap has announced more layoffs.

The company behind Snapchat announced in February that it's reducing its global workforce by 10%, according to an SEC filing.

Estée Lauder said it will eliminate up to 3,100 positions.

The cosmetics company announced in February that it would be cutting 3% to 5% of its roles as part of a restructuring plan.

Estee Lauder reportedly employed about 62,000 employees around the world as of June 30, 2023.

DocuSign is eliminating roughly 6% of its workforce as part of a restructuring plan.

The electronic signature company said in an SEC filing in February that most of the cuts will be in its sales and marketing divisions.

Zoom is slashing 150 jobs.

The latest reduction announced in February amounts to about 2% of its workforce.

Paramount Global is laying off 800 employees days after record-breaking Super Bowl.

In February, Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish sent a memo to employees announcing that 800 jobs — about 3% of its workforce — were being cut.

Deadline obtained the memo less than a month after reporting plans for layoffs at Paramount. The announcement comes on the heels of Super Bowl LVIII reaching record-high viewership across CBS, Paramount+, and Nickelodeon, and Univision.

Morgan Stanley is trimming its wealth management division by hundreds of staffers.

Morgan Stanley is laying off several hundred employees in its wealth-management division, the Wall Street Journal reported in February, representing roughly 1% of the team.

The wealth-management division has seen some slowdown in recent months, with net new assets down by about 8% from a year ago. The layoffs mark the first major move by newly-installed CEO Ted Pick, who took the reins from James Gorman on January 1.

Cisco slashes more than 4,000 jobs amid corporate tech sales slowdown.

In February, networking company Cisco announced it was slashing 5% of its workforce, or upwards of 4,000 jobs, Bloomberg reported.

The company said it was restructuring after an industry-wide pullback in corporate tech spending — which execs said they expect to continue through the first half of the year.

Expedia Group is cutting more than 8% of its workforce.

Cutbacks part of an operational review at online travel giant Expedia Group are expected to impact 1,500 roles this year, a company spokesperson told BI.

The company's product and technology division is set to be the worst hit, a report from GeekWire said, citing an internal memo CEO Peter Kern sent to employees in late February.

"While this review will result in the elimination of some roles, it also allows the company to invest in core strategic areas for growth," the spokesperson said.

"Consultation with local employee representatives, where applicable, will occur before making any final decisions," they added.

Sony is laying off 900 workers

The cuts at Sony Interactive Entertainment swept through its game-making teams at PlayStation Studios.

Insomniac Games, which developed the hit Spider-Man video game series, as well as Naughty Dog, the developers behind Sony's flagship 'The Last of Us' video games' were hit by the cuts, the company announced on February 27.

All of PlayStation's London studio will be shuttered, according to the proposal.

"Delivering and sustaining social, online experiences – allowing PlayStation gamers to explore our worlds in different ways – as well as launching games on additional devices such as PC and Mobile, requires a different approach and different resources," PlayStation Studios boss Hermen Hulst wrote.

Hulst added that some games in development will be shut down, though he didn't say which ones.

In early February, Sony said it missed its target for selling PlayStation 5 consoles. The earnings report sent shares tumbling and the company's stock lost about $10 billion in value.

Bumble is slashing 30% of its workforce

On February 27, the dating app company announced that it would be reducing its staff due to "future strategic priorities" for its business, per a statement.

The cuts will impact about 30% of its about 1,200 person workforce or about 350 roles, a representative for Bumble told BI by email.

"We are taking significant and decisive actions that ensure our customers remain at the center of everything we do as we relaunch Bumble App, transform our organization and accelerate our product roadmap," Bumble Inc CEO Lidiane Jones said in a statement.

Electronic Arts is reducing its workforce by 5%

Electronic Arts is laying off about 670 workers, equating to 5% of its workforce, Bloomberg reported in late February.

The gaming firm axed two mobile games earlier in February, which it described as a difficult decision in a statement issued to GamesIndustry.biz.

CEO Andrew Wilson reportedly told employees in a memo that it would be "moving away from development of future licensed IP that we do not believe will be successful in our changing industry."

Wilson also said in the memo that the cuts came as a result of shifting customer needs and a refocusing of the company, Bloomberg reported.

IBM cutting staff in marketing and communications

IBM's chief communications officer Jonathan Adashek told employees on March 12 that it would be cutting staff, CNBC reported, citing a source familiar with the matter.

An IBM spokesperson told Business Insider in a statement that the cuts follow a broader workforce action the company announced during its earnings call in January.

"In 4Q earnings earlier this year, IBM disclosed a workforce rebalancing charge that would represent a very low single-digit percentage of IBM's global workforce, and we expect to exit 2024 at roughly the same level of employment as we entered with," they said.

IBM has also been clear about the impact of AI on its workforce. Last May, IBM's CEO Arvind Krishna said the company expected to pause hiring on roles that could be replaced by AI, especially in areas like human resources and other non-consumer-facing departments.

"I could easily see 30% of that getting replaced by AI and automation over a five-year period," Krishna told Bloomberg at the time.

Stellantis is slashing 400 white-collar jobs

On March 22, the owner of Jeep and Dodge announced it's laying off employees on its engineering, technology, and software teams in an effort to cut costs, CNBC reported.

Workers learned they were being let go through video calls after the car company ordered them to work remotely for the day. The cuts are set to occur on March 31.

Amazon is laying off hundreds in its cloud division in yet another round of cuts this year

Amazon is cutting hundreds of jobs from its cloud division known as Amazon Web Services, Bloomberg reported on April 3.

The reduction will impact employees on the sales and marketing team and those working on tech for its retail stores, Bloomberg reported.

"We've identified a few targeted areas of the organization we need to streamline in order to continue focusing our efforts on the key strategic areas that we believe will deliver maximum impact," an Amazon spokesperson told Bloomberg.

On March 26, Amazon announced another round of job cuts after the company said it was slashing 'several hundred' jobs at its Prime Video and MGM Studios divisions earlier this year to refocus on more profitable products.

"We've identified opportunities to reduce or discontinue investments in certain areas while increasing our investment and focus on content and product initiatives that deliver the most impact," Mike Hopkins, SVP of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, told employees in January.

This year's cuts follow the largest staff layoff in the company's history. In 2023, the tech giant laid off 18,000 workers.

Apple has cut over 600 employees in California

Apple has slashed its California workforce by more than 600 employees.

The cuts follow Apple's decision to withdraw from its car and smartwatch display projects.

The tech giant filed a series of notices to comply with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification program. One of the addresses was linked to a new display development office, while the others were for the company's EV effort, Bloomberg reported.

Apple officially shut down its decadelong EV project in February. At the time, Bloomberg reported that some employees would move to generative AI, but others would be laid off.

Bloomberg noted that the layoffs were likely an undercount of the full scope of staff cuts, as Apple had staff working on these projects in other locations.

Representatives for Apple did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent outside normal business hours.

Tesla is laying off over 10% of its workforce

Tesla CEO Elon Musk sent a memo to employees Sunday, April 14, at nearly midnight in California, informing them of the company's plan to cut over 10% of its global workforce.

In his companywide memo, Musk cited "duplication of roles and job functions in certain areas" as the reason behind the reductions.

An email sent to terminated employees obtained by BI read: "Effective now, you will not need to perform any further work and therefore will no longer have access to Tesla systems and physical locations."

On April 29, Musk reportedly sent an email stating the need for more layoffs at Tesla. He also announced the departure of two executives and said that their reports would also be let go. Six known Tesla executives have left the company since layoffs began in April.

Grand Theft Auto 6 publisher Take-Two Interactive is reducing its workforce by 5%

Take-Two Interactive, the parent company of Rockstar Games, said on April 16 that it would be "eliminating several projects" and reducing its workforce by about 5%.

The move — a part of its larger "cost reduction program" — will cost the video game publisher up to $200 million. It's expected to be completed by December 31.

As of March 2023, the company said it employed approximately 11,580 full-time workers.

Peloton is reducing its staff by 15% as the CEO steps down as well

Peloton CEO Barry McCarthy is stepping down, the company announced May 2. Along with his departure, the fitness company is also laying off about 400 workers.

McCarthy is leaving his role just two years after replacing John Foley as CEO and president in 2022. Peloton said the changes are expected to reduce annual expenses by over $200 million by the end of fiscal 2025 as part of a larger restructuring plan.

Microsoft-owned Xbox is cutting more jobs

Xbox is offering some employees voluntary severance packages in May after shutting three units and absorbing a fourth earlier in the month. Microsoft had already made cuts to the division at the start of 2024.

According to Bloomberg, the offers were extended to producers, quality assurance testers, and more staff at Xbox-owned ZeniMax. Others across the Xbox organization were told that more cuts are coming.

Xbox president Matt Booty told staff in a May 8 town hall that the studio closures are part of an effort to free up more resources, Bloomberg reported.

• Baidu's public relations lead just made a major PR blunder.
• Qu Jing, executive at the Chinese firm, posted several videos online encouraging extreme work. 
• In one video, she claimed she could destroy the careers of employees who failed to comply.

The public relations lead at Baidu has reportedly left the Chinese internet giant, according to state media, just days after posting videos online ripping into staff who disagreed with her extreme work expectations.

Qu Jing, a senior executive at the Beijing-based firm, recently posted a number of videos to Douyin, China's version of TikTok, in which she set out the brutally tough working conditions that she expected of her staff.

In one video, reported by the FT, the Baidu PR executive said she expected employees to be prepared to travel for 50 consecutive days of business with her. She also suggested she had no regard for their wellbeing, claiming that she was not their mother. "I only care about results," she said.

Qu's message to those who disagreed with her position was more threatening: "I can make you jobless in this industry," the FT reported.

The posts triggered a flurry of criticism on Chinese social media, and brought fresh scrutiny to the country's work culture having gained notoriety in recent years for allowing difficult — and often illegal practices — to take hold.

One user on Weibo, China's version of Twitter, wrote that "employees will never feel at home at a company that doesn't have even a little bit of warmth," according to the FT.

In a post on WeChat, Baidu PR lead Qu acknowledged the criticism leveled at her, writing: "I deeply reflect on and humbly accept them."

The saga has proven to be detrimental for Qu, after it emerged on Thursday that she had left the company, according to a report by Chinese publication the Economic Review, first cited by CNN.

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

Work-life balance has been a contentious issue in China in recent years, with the "996" system — once endorsed by Alibaba founder Jack Ma — facing a regulatory clampdown in 2021. The system expected workers to put in toil from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week.

Elon Musk, who advocated for "hardcore" work following his takeover of Twitter, has recently been reported to have built close ties with Baidu through his electric vehicle company, Tesla.

• OnlyFans offers creators a variety of options to earn money.
• Models can monetize through subscriptions, pay-per-view posts, or paywalled DMs, for example.
• Learn how OnlyFans creators make money and have built incomes of up to $9.6 million a year.

The subscription platform OnlyFans has become a lucrative service for creators to publish exclusive content, and it has boomed among adult entertainers.

We spoke with eight OnlyFans models about how much money they made in a year, and their answers ranged from $143,000 to $5.4 million.

Read more about exactly how much these eight OnlyFans creators earned and how they did it

Even higher than that was Bryce Adams, who made $9.6 million in a year, she told Business Insider.

"I have over 300 videos that I've made," she said at the time. "I like to have a lot of variety, and it's always something new, so I'm not just heading up the same thing."

Read about how Adams built her OnlyFans business to millions in yearly revenue

Adams isn't the only one pulling in major cash. According to the company's most recent tax filings, OnlyFans users spent over $5.6 billion on the platform in 2022, and there were over 3 million registered creators for almost 250 million fans.

Creators on OnlyFans can make money in a variety of ways:

• Subscriptions: In order to unlock content, users usually pay a monthly or annual fee. The creator keeps 80% of subscription revenue, while 20% goes to OnlyFans. Creators can establish different subscription tiers, and sometimes, they have accounts that can be accessed free of charge. (Read more about how creators set prices for their content.)
• Pay-per-view content: On their feeds, creators have the option to put additional content behind a paywall, which the users can purchase at an extra cost — usually photos or videos.
• Pay-per-view messages: OnlyFans offers a direct messaging feature for fans to chat with creators. Fans normally pay a per-message fee or flat fee to interact with the creator, and sometimes request personalized content in exchange for an additional payment. Some creators, overwhelmed with the amount of messages from subscribers, have relied on ghostwriters to respond. (Read Insider's investigation into a secretive firm offering ghostwriting services for OnlyFans creators.) Recently, some creators have also started using AI tools to help with their chatting needs. (Here are some of the ways adult creators have been experimenting with AI.)
• Tips: Subscribers to an OnlyFans page also have the option to send cash to creators in the form of a tip. For example, Amber Sweetheart, whose OnlyFans business is based on her personal connection with her fans, says she has subscribers who come back daily to interact with her and send her tips. (Read more about how Sweetheart built her OnlyFans business to $2.6 million.) Sweetheart is not the only one to capitalize on the users' need for a connection, as men turn to the platform to build friendships or find "virtual girlfriends." (Read more about how men are using OnlyFans for personal connection.)
• Promo "shoutouts": Creators rely on marketing tactics to get new customers, like buying and selling "shoutouts" from each other to advertise on OnlyFans and other social-media platforms. For some, selling promotional content has become a big business, and they even hire assistants to help manage the requests for "shoutouts." (Read more about the business of promo content and how much creators make from it.)
• Coaching: Some creators have built a significant part of their business on teaching others how to leverage OnlyFans to make a sustainable income.
• Livestreaming: Going live can be a good way for creators to build deeper connections with their fans. Livestreams can be free for subscribers, or accessible for an additional fee. Some creators rely heavily on livestreaming for their income.

How much money OnlyFans models make

Creators on OnlyFans don't generally earn money from a single income stream — they often take advantage of the various monetization options the platform offers, as well as making money off-platform.

• Here's how much seven adult content creators charge for different kinds of content on OnlyFans, and how they determined their pricing strategies.
• Here's how much money eight OnlyFans creators make in a year, and the top ways they earn money, from subscriptions to messaging.

How much OnlyFans creators with fewer than 10,000 fans earn:

• Belle Grace, a British creator, has around 2,400 subscribers. She shared the exact schedule that made her six figures on OnlyFans and allowed her to buy a house.
• Audrey Aura has about 3,000 subscribers. She shared how much she made in a year and broke down her various income streams.

How much OnlyFans creators that have between 10,000 and 100,000 fans earn:

• Amber Sweetheart has about 26,000 fans on two profiles. And she's made over $2.6 million since joining OnlyFans.
• Steph Mi has about 50,000 subscribers. Read how she built her income to over $73,000 per month through livestreaming, airplane banners, and more.
• Rayna Rose, who works with Bryce Adams, has 26,000 fans. Working with Adams and sharing profits with her has allowed Rose to kickstart her career.
• Liensue, a creator known for her cosplay, has about 44,000 fans. She's been able to earn almost half a million dollars by fostering a connection with her fans.

How much OnlyFans creators with over 100,000 fans earn:

• Bryce Adams, who had over 700,000 subscribers as of early 2023, shared her strategies for success. She also broke down how she made over $5 million in a year from OnlyFans.
• OnlyFans superstar Amouranth explained how she built an adult-content business that made her $1.5 million per month, and her advice to creators.

• Barron Trump is set for to share in Donald Trump's big moment.
• Trump's youngest son will be a delegate to this July's Republican National Convention.
• Trump's other children, with the exception of Ivanka, will also be delegates. 

Former President Donald Trump's youngest son is set to enter the political spotlight.

Florida Republicans selected Barron Trump, 18, as an at-large delegate to the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee this July. The news, first reported by Politico and NBC, underlines how the Trump family will again play a major role in their father's third straight nomination to lead the Republican Party's presidential ticket.

Barron is set to graduate high school next week, a ceremony that the former president was set to miss before Justice Juan Merchan granted Trump a break in his Manhattan criminal trial.

Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump are also part of the delegation. Tiffany Boulos, Trump's youngest daughter, and her husband, Michael, are also at-large delegates. Former Fox News host Kimberly Guifoyle, Trump Jr.'s fiancée, rounds out the list.

Ivanka Trump, the former president's eldest daughter, and former senior White House advisor Jared Kushner are notably absent. Trump, who also served in the Trump administration, said she would stay away from her father's bid to reclaim the White House.

Like the former president, many of the Trumps now live in Florida. Trump easily won the Sunshine State's primary and its 125 delegates. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, once Trump's best-positioned primary foe, bowed out of the race and endorsed Trump long before Floridians headed to the polls.

President Joe Biden has vowed to compete in Florida this year, but the state has increasingly moved away from its swing state roots.

• Walmart CEO Doug McMillon started his career with the company unloading trucks in Arkansas. 
• After college, he rose through the ranks to join the C-suite in 2005 and was appointed CEO in 2014.
• McMillon is now in charge of 2.1 million employees, more than 10,000 stores, and annual sales of $648 billion.

Doug McMillon has been part of the Walmart family for a very long time.

40 years ago, McMillon started unloading trucks at a Walmart distribution center as a teen saving money for college, and later rose through the ranks to join the C-suite in 2005. 

Since becoming CEO in 2014, McMillon has expanded Walmart's offerings by launching Walmart+ and modernizing the company with new tech, drone delivery services, and by leveraging generative AI.

McMillon is now in charge of the largest company in the world by sales and headcount, with 2.1 million employees, more than 10,000 retail stores, and annual sales of $648 billion.

Here's a look at McMillon's journey from unloading trucks to becoming the Walmart CEO.

Carl Douglas McMillon was born in 1966 in Memphis, Tennessee, and spent his early years in Jonesboro, Arkansas.

When he was 16, his family moved to the birthplace of Walmart, Bentonville, Arkansas, where his father opened a dental practice.

During the summer, McMillon worked at a Walmart distribution center unloading trucks.

"The highest paying job in Bentonville, Arkansas, in 1984 was the Walmart Warehouse at $6.50 an hour compared to McDonald's at $3.35, so I chose Walmart," McMillon told the Stratechery podcast. ($6.50 an hour in 1984 is worth about $19.79 in today's dollars.)

After graduating from the local public high school, McMillon set off for the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.

He graduated in 1989 with a bachelor's degree in business administration. His Instagram bio, "Husband. Father. Razorback. Gadget geek. Retail lifer. Proud Walmart associate," nods to the university's mascot, a razorback hog known as "Big Red."

Next, McMillon enrolled in the University of Tulsa's MBA program.

While completing his studies, he returned to Walmart as an assistant manager at store #894 in Oklahoma. Soon after, McMillon moved back to his Arkansas hometown to be Walmart's fishing tackle buyer at the corporate headquarters.

From fishing tackle, McMillon has since worked across food, apparel, home furnishing, baby food, and more.

He worked as a general merchandise manager at Sam's Club (Walmart's wholesale club store) and climbed to a senior VP at Walmart overseeing toys, electronics, and sporting goods.

In 2006, McMillon got his first truly high-profile job in the company, as CEO of Sam's Club.

McMillon found success by focusing on small business owners, the Wall Street Journal reported.

"The job at Sam's really stretched me to be responsible for everything from club operations to real estate, finance and all the other functions, which was a lot of fun. And I finally started to use my MBA a bit to polish off some of those skills," McMillon told Stratechery.

After four years leading Sam's Club, McMillon was appointed CEO of Walmart International in 2009.

With the international business, "we were all over the world and operating these different independent businesses, and got a lot more involved in strategy, M&A, and talent development specifically," McMillon told Stratechery.

As CEO, McMillon has extended his leadership beyond retail, seeking to make a positive impact on social issues.

In 2019, Walmart announced it would stop selling e-cigarettes after vaping-related lung injuries were linked to 530 hospitalizations and eight deaths. That year, Walmart also announced it would limit the sales of guns and ammunition in the wake of two deadly shootings at Walmart stores in El Paso, Texas, and Southaven, Mississippi.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Walmart provided essential goods to low-income shoppers and helped strengthen vaccination efforts through out the country.

In February 2021, McMillon urged Congress to pass another stimulus check, referencing Walmart spending data as proof that families need more money to buy essentials like groceries.

Following the murder of George Floyd, McMillon condemned racial violence and pledged that Walmart would provide mentorship and funding to help advance racial equity.

The company donated a total of $14 million to 16 different nonprofit organizations and set a goal to donate $100 million over five years to fight systemic racism.

In 2020, McMillon also oversaw the launch of the Walmart+ membership program.

The company also launched the Walmart Connect advertising business, express delivery, and curbside pickup at Sam's Club.

2022 tested McMillon and Walmart, as e-commerce growth slowed down and supply chain issues and inflationary issues led to a glut of excess inventory.

The company reported a 32% year-over-year increase in inventory in the second quarter that year.

McMillon continues to modernize Walmart, expanding drone delivery and advancing the use of generative AI.

"It's a people business and it's a merchandising business," McMillon told Stratechery. "Today, it's increasingly a technology business."

More recently, McMillon has been positioning the 62-year-old retail business as a tech-powered company with advancements in robotics, media, and artificial intelligence.

"We've changed and are changing a lot," McMillon said at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. "I've been asked, how do you even describe Walmart today? We're a people-led, tech-powered, omni-channel retailer dedicated to helping people. We want to help people live better. That starts with saving them money. But it doesn't stop there."

McMillon is paid handsomely for his work, earning $26.9 million in total compensation in 2023.

By comparison, Target CEO Brian Cornell's most recently disclosed compensation package was $17.6 million, while Craig Jelinek made $16.8 million in his final year as Costco's CEO.

With Walmart's scale, McMillon is also having a significant impact on workers and the environment.

"Under his leadership as president and CEO, Walmart is investing heavily in wages, benefits and education — including a debt-free college program and an expanded parental leave policy," his corporate bio says. "During his tenure, the company also set an aspirational goal to become a regenerative company and launched ambitious work such as Project Gigaton to combat climate change and work with suppliers to avoid 1 billion metric tons of emissions worldwide."

McMillon says he's often asked for advice on how to climb the corporate ladder like he did.

His top tips: do your job well, be a good teammate, and help solve new challenges.

 

Ben Tobin and Hannah Towey contributed to previous versions of this story.

• This post originally appeared in the Insider Today newsletter.
• You can sign up for Business Insider's daily newsletter here.

Almost Friday! Yesterday, I asked you if TikTok should be banned in the US. More than 60% of readers said they support the ban.

In today's big story, we're looking at how Corporate America is rethinking its sustainability and diversity efforts amid a push to avoid being labeled "woke."

What's on deck:

• Markets: A Wall Street tragedy has led to a reexamination of junior employees' workloads.
• Tech: Apple's iPad ad is literally crushing everything we love.
• Business: No, seriously. Where are the TikTok buyers?

But first, let's not talk politics.

If this was forwarded to you, sign up here.

The big story

The great un-wokening

"Go woke, go broke!"

The rallying cry against companies' progressive campaigns is starting to leave a mark on Corporate America.

After years of big promises and grand plans around social issues like diversity and sustainability, companies have taken a noticeable step back, Business Insider's Emily Stewart writes.

DEI and ESG — the two acronyms at the center of these debates — are MIA, according to data Emily got from FactSet. Mentions of ESG on fourth-quarter earnings calls in 2023 compared to 2020's Q4 dropped more than 78%. DEI's decline was even larger during that time frame, falling 88%.

The so-called "great un-wokening" in the business world could be a product of the current economy.

When business was booming and stocks were only going up, companies were happy to talk about how they planned to improve the world.

But it's not 2021 anymore. Interest rates are a long way from zero, and the threat of a recession still feels very real. Rather than stick their neck out for causes that could alienate customers, companies are just worried about keeping their heads above water.

The shift from businesses touting progressive ideologies hasn't always led to a boon for conservative ones.

An "anti-woke" bank backed by Peter Thiel closed three months after it was founded. And right-leaning companies that went public amid the SPAC frenzy haven't soared.

Trump Media, former President Donald Trump's social media company, has managed to maintain a lofty valuation that seems to confound even bankers. But it hasn't come without plenty of volatility.

Meanwhile, those caught up in the public fight against "woke capitalism" are trying to rebound.

Take Bud Light. The backlash from the beer brand's partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney cratered sales and AB InBev's stock. Layoffs ensued.

Things have settled down more than a year later, but scars remain. The stock is still shy of where it sat before the controversy. But Kid Rock, who filmed himself shooting cases of the beer, seems to have come around on the brand, so there's that.

Corporate America's approach going forward might be to avoid politics altogether, especially in an election year, in an attempt to stay above the fray.

3 things in markets

1. A banker's untimely death raises questions about Wall Street's working conditions. A 35-year-old Bank of America associate who was a Green Beret died after closing a deal. Now Wall Street is questioning the onerous demands of the industry, where 100-hour-plus weeks can be the norm. 
2. The best of Warren Buffett. The legendary investor discussed AI fraud, fiscal woes, and bad bets at Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting. Here are 15 of his top quotes from the event. 
3. China's central bank is on a gold-buying spree. According to official data released on Tuesday, the People's Bank of China loaded up on the precious metal for the 18th straight month in April. It's trying to push back against the soaring US dollar, which is making it too expensive for Beijing to import goods.

3 things in tech

1. Viewers are not pleased with Apple's iPad ad. The video shows a pile of creative tools — cans of paint, a piano, a trumpet, books — slowly crushed in a hydraulic press and replaced by an iPad. In a rare misstep for Apple's advertising, the video hit a nerve for people concerned about tech replacing human creativity.
2. Merit raises are back at Microsoft. After freezing salaries last year, the company plans to restart performance-based raises for some employees during this year's review cycle. The past year has been marked by internal dissatisfaction over pay.
3. Tesla's hiring freeze. The electric car maker axed more than 3,400 job postings in North America down to just three on Wednesday. The move comes as Elon Musk's company presses ahead with layoffs in a bid to cut costs and reassure investors.

3 things in business

1. Where are all the TikTok buyers? Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt decided against buying the company, leaving a really tiny list of people who say they want to buy TikTok. It could (theoretically) be Steve Mnuchin or Kevin O'Leary, but that's about it. We have some theories. 
2. Google is capitalizing on the TikTok ban. According to an internal document, Google is telling salespeople to highlight the possibility that TikTok could be banned in the US. It's an attempt to nudge advertisers to spend more on YouTube. It also comes as YouTube tries to capitalize on its status as the top streamer. 
3. The dark heart of modern chess. Thanks to the pandemic's forced isolation and the Netflix smash hit "The Queen's Gambit," the game has never been more popular. But chess's ugly side has also never been more exposed — it's a cheater's paradise that's mired in rampant sexism, BI's Rob Price writes. 

In other news

• A California school district 'ignored and concealed' the sexual abuse of students.
• Golden visas attracted wealthy Americans to Southern Europe. Then their housing crisis followed.
• A top Citi tech exec breaks down the 4 phases of the bank's AI strategy that will impact everyone from operations to wealth and product.
• Goodnight, sweet Panera charged lemonade prince.

What's happening today

• Today's earnings: Dropbox, Groupon, and other companies are reporting.

The Insider Today team: Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Jordan Parker Erb, editor, in New York. Hallam Bullock, senior editor, in London. George Glover, reporter, in London.

• Warner Bros. Discovery reported a $200 million loss on the game "Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League."
• It's a reminder of how similar the video game business is to Hollywood: big expenses, big rewards, big penalties for missing.
• Big media companies can't ignore video games. But should they be making their own?

Did you play "Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League," the video game that came out in February?

Me neither. And the problem for Warner Bros. Discovery, which released the game, is that very few people did, and the ones who did really didn't like it.

And that led the company to take a staggering $200 million loss on the game, which it disclosed in its first-quarter earnings Thursday.

WBD CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels described the game's results as "disappointing," and the company repeatedly pointed out the impact of the game's failure on its bottom line. Particularly since a year ago, it had a massive hit with a different game — "Hogwarts Legacy."

All of which points out something the games industry has been grappling with for some time: It looks more and more like Hollywood. That means it places very big bets on would-be blockbusters, which are increasingly tied to intellectual property that's been successful in the past. When that strategy works, it's great. And when it doesn't …

But even by those standards, "Suicide Squad" is a spectacular dud, in line with some of the worst mistakes a movie studio has ever made. In 2012, for instance, Disney announced that it would take a $200 million charge for "John Carter;" a year later, it said it would lose up to $190 million on "The Lone Ranger."

All of which might make you question, yet again, if a Big Media company ought to be in games at all. Big Media doesn't have an answer to that question, by the way: Sometimes companies like Disney make really big investments in games, correctly assessing that the people who watch their TV shows and movies also spend a lot of time playing games; sometimes they pivot out of that strategy, after concluding that making good TV shows and movies doesn't give them a leg up when it comes to making games.

Warner Bros. Discovery has gone through that indecision in the past. Its previous owners had thought they might sell the company's game business, then decided to keep it.

And you can see it at other Big Media companies — like at Disney, which has made multiple forays into games, pulled back, and most recently announced a $1.5 billion investment in Epic Games, the company behind "Fortnite." And Netflix started building its own games division a few years ago, though the results seem underwhelming so far, and the company has been rethinking its strategy as well.