Author: openjargon

• A US military aircraft landed on Peleliu's WWII airstrip, reopening it after many years.
• The Peleliu airstrip, vital during the 1944 battle, was restored by Marine Corps engineers.
• The landing could enhance US military capabilities to counter China in the Indo-Pacific.

A US military cargo plane returned to a World War II airstrip on Saturday, a site in the Pacific region that Marines had to reclaim.

"The landing of the C-130 on the resurfaced runway after many years hopefully begins a new chapter for a prosperous future of Peleliu island," Peleliu Governor Emais Roberts said in a United States Indo-Pacific Command press release.

The Peleliu airstrip, also known as the Sledge runway, was the scene of the 1944 Battle of Peleliu, in which 8,000 Marines and soldiers were wounded, and about 1,800 service members were killed; the Imperial Japanese forces suffered an estimated 10,900 casualties.

Marine Corps Engineer Detachment Palau 24.1 has made efforts to restore the strip since then. The runway was named for Eugene Sledge, an enlisted Marine veteran whose memoir of the desperate Peleliu battle formed a basis for the HBO miniseries "The Pacific."

The aircraft's touchdown on the Peleliu airstrip epitomizes the US military's expanding footprint as it recognizes more bases may be needed to counter China's military build-up.

Peleliu, an island of Micronesia that belongs to the nation of Palau, is part of the jurisdictions the US military is trying to gain exclusive access to. The island in the southern Philippine Sea may hold renewed strategic value in the face of China's growing missile arsenal.

In March, President Joe Biden renewed compacts and secured $7.1 billion dollars for Palau, Micronesia, and the Marshall Islands.

This would allow the US to gain access to resources like air, land, and sea territory. Palau citizens would also be permitted to work, study, join the US military, and receive access to veteran healthcare.

The US has been scouring the region for other historic airfields that can be rebuilt. Last year, the US checked up on the island of Tinian, a piece of US territory belonging to Guam, where another airfield was heavily used during WWII.

In April of this year, it was announced that an airfield construction project would be completed in Tinian and is expected to be finished within five years.

US forces have been trying to compete with China's growing military presence, which is capable of striking American bases using long-range missiles it has developed in recent years.

Jonathan Bailey was fully naked, lying on a slab at a bathing house in Morocco when a woman whispered a sentiment to him that he'd heard countless times before: "I love 'Bridgerton.'"

The actor, who stars as Anthony Bridgerton in the hit series, was across the world from his home in the UK. But, as Bailey told BI, "You're never too far from someone who loves 'Bridgerton.'"

Such is the global reach of Netflix's Regency-era drama, which released its third season in two parts this spring. Adapted from Julia Quinn's romance novel series of the same name and centered on the love lives of eight siblings from a noble family, "Bridgerton" has become a pop-culture phenomenon since its first season premiered in 2020. It's smashed viewership records, inspired "SNL" skits, and sparked renewed interest in the Regency era's fashion and culture — all proving that superproducer Shonda Rhimes still has the golden touch.

On paper, a show about high society in 1800s England doesn't seem like an obvious slam dunk. But "Bridgerton" is not your mother's stuffy historical drama. From its steamy sex scenes to its "color-conscious" casting to its deliberately modern touches like a soundtrack full of orchestral covers of pop songs, "Bridgerton" grabbed viewers' attention by offering something familiar yet unique, sexy yet demure.

That's translated into big wins for Netflix. Season one was viewed by 82 million households globally in its first 28 days, surpassing Netflix's own projections and dethroning the fantasy series "The Witcher," which previously held the record with 76 million views; season one of "Bridgerton" is still one of Netflix's most popular English TV shows. The fan base's appetite has only grown larger since 2020: A prequel spin-off series, "Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story" premiered in 2023; a web series following one lucky fan couple as they planned the "Bridgerton"-themed wedding of their dreams premiered in 2024.

With "Bridgerton" mania sweeping the world each time a new season drops, brands are also hopping on the bandwagon, collaborating with the Netflix series to release everything from "Bridgerton"-branded bath bombs and body balms to satin pillowcases and scrunchies. It's a testament not just to the show's distinct marketability but to its fervent fans, who are opening their wallets and snapping up products so quickly they sell out.

The fans have a point: why simply like a TV show when you can be a part of the Ton?

'Bridgerton' provided escapist entertainment during a period of isolation

"Bridgerton," created by Chris Van Dusen, was set up for success from the start. With the backing of Shondaland, "Grey's Anatomy" and "Scandal" creator Rhimes' production company, it had built-in hype, not to mention a legion of already-established fans of Quinn's New York Times-bestselling book series.

When season one premiered in December 2020, it also had the benefit of a captive audience. With the world months into COVID-19 lockdown, people were confined to their homes and yearning for connection — or at least, something to watch while sitting inside.

Then there was the show itself. The world of "Bridgerton" presented an alternate universe: a reimagined Regency era that normalized diversity and had no shortage of drama or titillating sex scenes. All of it struck a chord with viewers.

"I think 'Bridgerton' came at a time when we all just really desperately needed an escape," said Cat Quinn, a content creator who frequently posts about the show. "People just wanted to step into this fantasy that was filled with these gorgeous characters and costumes and sets and storylines — something that was unapologetically romantic and sexy and beautiful."

The show's aesthetic took hold: Regency-core became a fashion trend, people suddenly took a lot more interest in drinking tea, and Vitamin String Quartet's covers saw a surge in streams after being featured on the show in dreamy ballroom sequences and intimate scenes.

It helped that the show's diversity and deliberately anachronistic choices made the era feel more modern and approachable, like a historical fantasy anybody could feel comfortable reveling in.

"Shonda Rhimes opened the doors of historical period romance to these communities of people who never saw themselves represented in that space before," Quinn, the content creator, said. "It really set the stage for other releases like 'Barbie' and showed that women's stories are not only worthy of being told, but also [can be] incredibly successful blockbuster hits and lifestyle brands."

Julia Quinn's 2000 novel "The Duke and I," which was adapted for season one of "Bridgerton," reentered The New York Times bestseller list for the first time in years after the show premiered. And this time, more than two decades after "The Duke and I" was originally published, a new audience could dissect the book on a new platform: TikTok.

In the "BookTok" corner of the app, where avid readers discuss their favorite books, users began cataloging the differences between the source material and the show and discussing elements of the novels that didn't age well. All of it was a boon for sales of Quinn's novels and the popularity of the often overlooked (but now-booming) romance genre in general, as many viewers discovered "Bridgerton" and then sought out the books to continue getting their fix of the story.

Not only did "Bridgerton" fans read the novels, but they showed off the books themselves — original editions, newer covers, and limited edition variant box sets — on BookTok. One fan even took customization to another level by rebinding the second book and turning the cover into an ornate red-and-gold masterpiece.

The 'Bridgerton' aesthetic is eminently marketable

A show with such potent fan and aesthetic appeal is the perfect storm for brands, who were eager to collaborate with Netflix and Shondaland for product tie-ins. For season three of "Bridgerton," Netflix and Shondaland partnered with companies to sell everything from makeup and patterned rugs to pet accessories and macarons.

But these brands didn't simply put the "Bridgerton" logo on a product and call it merch. Instead, they took care to develop products that feel like they could have been plucked directly from the "Bridgerton" set — or, at the very least, evoke the same feeling of the show.

Cassandra Morales Thurswell, founder and CEO of Kitsch, said that the Netflix and Shondaland teams gave the hair care company "freedom within a framework" to design their products. The result was Kitsch's season three collection, which uses a print directly inspired by Daphne Bridgerton's beaded and embroidered dress from season one.

The Republic of Tea released four new teas encased in collectible tins focused on the main characters in season three: a ginger peach vanilla tea for Colin Bridgerton and Penelope Featherington, a lemon mint black tea for Eloise Bridgerton, a rose chamomile tea for Francesca Bridgerton, and a triple Earl Grey tea for the three eldest Bridgerton sons.

The Republic of Tea vice president of sales and communication Kristina Tucker described the process as an "integrated collaboration" in which a select few people at the beverage company got glimpses into the characters and colors that would be used in the season three months before release to help craft their product.

But not every company has a product that's as seamless a fit in the "Bridgerton" world as tea. Bath & Body Works chief customer officer Maurice Cooper told BI that the company viewed collaborating with "Bridgerton" as "a big opportunity for us to think differently about how we would deepen fandom."

The company took a cue from one of the season's most anticipated scenes — "the mirror scene" — and released a gold-colored tilting mirror tray that sold out in roughly two weeks. The 36-piece collection also included a carriage-shaped hand sanitizer holder in an homage to a key scene in season three and a crown-shaped candle holder. To further spread the word about the partnership, Bath & Body Works placed a 10-foot "diamond of the season" candle in New York City's Flatiron district as part of a two-day activation that attracted fans and curious passersby.

A company once known for fruity body sprays might not be synonymous with Regency-core elegance yet, but Cooper said the collaboration is helping Bath & Body Works build a new identity. "It made sense for us because when you look at the demographic profile of 'Bridgerton,' it is a younger audience, it is more diverse, and this is really critical to our growth journey as well," he said.

For kitchenware and houseware brand Williams Sonoma, a "Bridgerton" collaboration was an easy way to lean into already rising food and design trends around entertaining, teatime, and picnics.

"You're seeing so much floral and femininity in fashion, but the same is also true for home design, where maximalism and pattern play and traditional details and 'grandma chic' are gaining popularity," said Kendall Coleman, Williams Sonoma's vice president of public relations. "It can be very chicken or egg, which came first. But the truth is they're just playing so well together, and as people are exploring these design trends and these food trends, it's running parallel to the popularity of that show."

Williams Sonoma's "Bridgerton" collection includes more than 20 products with Regency-era flair: a handwoven picnic basket, a breakable chocolate teapot filled with candy jewels, baking mixes, tableware, and an eight-day countdown calendar with a different surprise for every episode of season three.

All these inescapable "Bridgerton" collaborations walk a fine line between satisfying passionate viewers and oversaturating the market. Season three of the show "didn't so much premiere as invade," Los Angeles Times culture critic Mary McNamara wrote in a column about the series' marketing blitz. Yet she conceded that, for the most part, the series' publicity tour and brand collaborations have been met with praise.

For now, people are buying into the marketing — literally. Melody Morton, creative concepts director at the cosmetics company Lush, said the brand saw an uplift of 25% in sales from new subscribers for their "Bridgerton"-themed subscription box, which featured products like a Penelope Featherington cleanser and a diamond-shaped body scrub.

Not only did Bath & Body Works' "Bridgerton" products sell well, Cooper said, but they helped attract younger customers to stores thanks to promotional efforts on social media, where the "Bridgerton" campaign was the company's "most engaged" effort of the year.

Not to mention, "we had people showing up in Regency garb to buy our products," he added.

The 'Bridgerton' hype is a win-win for the show and for fans

The weekend before the season three premiere, "Bridgerton" transformed a plaza in New York City into a Regency-style market and promenade that featured items from collaborations with Bath & Body Works, International Delight, Ladurée, Kiko Milano, and more.

More than 2,000 fans and influencers waited in lines spanning several blocks for hours, eager to immerse themselves in the pop-up; catch a glimpse of stars Jonathan Bailey, Jessica Madsen, and Hannah Dodd; and watch dancers perform as live musicians played classical renditions of Miley Cyrus' "Wrecking Ball" and Billie Eilish's "Bad Guy."

Bailey tossed "Bridgerton"-themed bracelets at fans waiting to get in, scents from the Bath & Body Works collection wafted through the air, and people dressed as members of the Ton greeted guests with special issues of Lady Whistledown's gossip column filled with information about the pop-up's activities. Madsen and Dodd told BI that one fan even drove 11 hours to attend the promenade takeover.

The event felt exclusive yet egalitarian — exactly like the world of "Bridgerton." With its expansive marketing blitz, Netflix has shown its crown jewel doesn't have to be rare to be considered precious.

• Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Apple CEO Tim Cook have taken shots at each other's companies for years.
• They've traded barbs over Apple's prices and Facebook's Cambridge Analytica scandal. 
• Now, their companies have reached new battlegrounds: AI and their competing headsets.

Meta's Mark Zuckerberg and Apple's Tim Cook have a long-standing feud. 

The two tech titans have been bickering since at least 2014, trading barbs over each other's products and business models. Over the years, their battle has escalated to include public jabs, pointed ad campaigns, and even a legal dispute.

Here's when the rivalry began, and everything that's happened since.

The feud between Zuckerberg and Cook became public in 2014, when Cook lambasted Facebook's business model.

In September 2014, Cook gave an in-depth interview with Charlie Rose that touched on a range of topics, including privacy.

During the interview — which took place in the weeks following the infamous leaks of multiple female celebrities' nude photos stored on their iCloud accounts — Cook espoused Apple's commitment to privacy while denouncing the business models of companies like Google and Facebook. 

"I think everyone has to ask, how do companies make their money? Follow the money," Cook said. "And if they're making money mainly by collecting gobs of personal data, I think you have a right to be worried. And you should really understand what's happening to that data."  

Shortly after, Cook reiterated his stance in an open letter on Apple's dedicated privacy site. 

"A few years ago, users of Internet services began to realize that when an online service is free, you're not the customer. You're the product," Cook wrote. 

Cook's comments rankled Zuckerberg, who called the claims "ridiculous" and blasted Apple products as being expensive.

In an interview with Time later that year, Zuckerberg was reportedly visibly irritated by Cook's assertions. 

"A frustration I have is that a lot of people increasingly seem to equate an advertising business model with somehow being out of alignment with your customers," Zuckerberg told Time's Lev Grossman. "I think it's the most ridiculous concept. What, you think because you're paying Apple that you're somehow in alignment with them? If you were in alignment with them, then they'd make their products a lot cheaper!"

Their squabble came to a head following the Cambridge Analytica scandal when Cook criticized Facebook's actions.

In 2018, a whistleblower revealed that consulting firm Cambridge Analytica harvested user data without consent from 50 million users. 

During an interview with Kara Swisher and Chris Hayes in the months following, Cook was asked what he would do if he was in Zuckerberg's shoes.

Cook responded: "What would I do? I wouldn't be in this situation."

Cook said that Facebook should have regulated itself when it came to user data, but that "I think we're beyond that here." He also doubled down on his stance that Facebook considers its users its product. 

"The truth is, we could make a ton of money if we monetized our customer — if our customer was our product," Cook said. "We've elected not to do that."

Zuckerberg hit back, calling Cook's comments "extremely glib."

"You know, I find that argument, that if you're not paying that somehow we can't care about you, to be extremely glib. And not at all aligned with the truth," Zuckerberg said during an interview on The Ezra Klein Show podcast.

He refuted the idea that Facebook isn't focused on serving people and once again criticized the premium Apple places on its products. 

"I think it's important that we don't all get Stockholm Syndrome and let the companies that work hard to charge you more convince you that they actually care more about you," he said. "Because that sounds ridiculous to me."

Privately, Zuckerberg was reportedly outraged by Cook's remarks — so much so that he ordered his employees to switch to Android devices.

In November 2018, The New York Times published a blockbuster report detailing the fallout from the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The Times reported that Cook's comments had "infuriated" Zuckerberg, who ordered employees on his management team who used iPhones to switch to Android. 

Soon after the report published, Facebook wrote a blog post refuting some of the reporting by The Times — but not the Zuckerberg-Cook feud. 

"Tim Cook has consistently criticized our business model and Mark has been equally clear he disagrees. So there's been no need to employ anyone else to do this for us," Facebook wrote. "And we've long encouraged our employees and executives to use Android because it is the most popular operating system in the world."

In 2019, Zuckerberg and Cook had a meeting at the annual Sun Valley retreat in Idaho that went poorly, according to The New York Times.

According to The Times, Zuckerberg asked Cook for his advice following the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

Cook told Zuckerberg Facebook should delete the user data his company collects from outside of its family of apps, which "stunned" Zuckerberg and was akin to Cook saying Facebook's business was "untenable," The Times reported.

In August 2020, Zuckerberg jumped in the fray as Apple faced criticism over its App Store policies.

During a company-wide meeting, Zuckerberg openly criticized Apple, saying it has a "unique stranglehold as a gatekeeper on what gets on phones," according to a report from BuzzFeed News. 

Zuckerberg also said that the App Store blocks innovation and competition and "allows Apple to charge monopoly rents," BuzzFeed reported. 

Apple has been facing antitrust scrutiny from Congress and has been strongly criticized by developers — most notably "Fortnite" creator Epic Games — for the 30% fee it takes from App Store purchases. In 2020, Facebook said Apple blocked an update to Facebook's iOS app that would have informed users about the fee Apple charges.

Apple's iOS 14.5 software update angered Facebook, which says the privacy features could destroy part of its business.

That version of Apple's smartphone operating system, iOS, made it so that iPhone app developers would need permission from users to collect and track their data. While this affects any company that makes iOS apps, it also has a direct impact on Facebook's advertising business: It uses data tracking to dictate which ads are served to users. 

In an August 2020 blog post, Facebook said it may be forced to shut down Audience Network for iOS, a tool that personalizes ads in third-party apps. 

"This is not a change we want to make, but unfortunately, Apple's updates to iOS 14 have forced this decision," Facebook said. 

The complaints from Facebook and other developers led Apple to temporarily delay the new privacy tools, saying it wanted to "give developers the time they need to make the necessary changes."

Facebook escalated the feud to a full-page ad in The New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal.

 

 

 

 

 

—Dave Stangis (@DaveStangis) December 16, 2020

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In the ads, Facebook argued that the changes would hurt small businesses that advertise on Facebook's platform.

"Without personalized ads, Facebook data shows that the average small business advertiser stands to see a cut of over 60% in their sales for every dollar they spend," the ad reads, which was posted by Twitter user Dave Stangis. 

Apple hit back, telling Business Insider that it was "standing up for our users." 

"Users should know when their data is being collected and shared across other apps and websites — and they should have the choice to allow that or not," an Apple spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, Facebook also said it would help Epic Games, the company behind "Fortnite," in its legal battle against Apple.

Epic Games had accused Apple of violating antitrust laws and engaging in anticompetitive behavior regarding the App Store's fees and policies.

Facebook said it planned to help Epic with discovery for the trial. 

Zuckerberg also lashed out at Apple during an earnings call in 2021, saying the company frequently interferes with how Facebook's apps work.

When discussing Facebook's suite of messaging apps during the company's fourth-quarter earnings call, Zuckerberg made a clear dig at Apple, saying the iPhone maker made "misleading" privacy claims. 

"Now Apple recently released so-called nutrition labels, which focused largely on metadata that apps collect rather than the privacy and security of people's actual messages, but iMessage stores non-end-to-end encrypted backups of your messages by default unless you disable iCloud," Zuckerberg said.

Zuckerberg went on to describe Apple as "one of our biggest competitors" and said that because Apple is increasingly relying on services to fuel its business, it "has every incentive to use their dominant platform position to interfere with how our apps and other apps work, which they regularly do to preference their own."

"This impacts the growth of millions of businesses around the world," he added.

But Cook hasn't backed down from his view that Facebook's business model of harvesting user data and selling it to advertisers is harmful to consumers.

During a speech at the European Computers, Privacy and Data Protection Conference the same week, Cook discussed business models that prioritize user engagement and rely on user data to make money. Though he didn't mention Facebook by name, Cook made several references that alluded to the platform.

"At a moment of rampant disinformation and conspiracy theories juiced by algorithms, we can no longer turn a blind eye to a theory of technology that says all engagement is good engagement — the longer the better — and all with the goal of collecting as much data as possible," Cook said.

Facebook launched another ad campaign in 2021 aimed at proving the need for personalized advertising amid its ongoing battle with Apple.

The initiative, titled "Good Ideas Deserve to be Found," makes the case that personalized ads help Facebook users discover small businesses, particularly during the pandemic. 

"Every business starts with an idea, and being able to share that idea through personalized ads is a game changer for small businesses," Facebook said in a blog post announcing the theme. "Limiting the use of personalized ads would take away a vital growth engine for businesses."

Cook called Facebook's objections to the privacy update "flimsy arguments" during an interview with The New York Times.

During a podcast interview with Kara Swisher, Cook said that he believes society is in a privacy crisis and that he's been "shocked" that there's been pushback to the new feature to this degree. 

"We know these things are flimsy arguments," Cook told The Times. "I think that you can do digital advertising and make money from digital advertising without tracking people when they don't know they're being tracked."

Cook also said he doesn't view Facebook as a competitor, contrary to what Zuckerberg has said.

"Oh, I think that we compete in some things," Cook said. "But no, if I may ask who our biggest competitor are, they would not be listed. We're not in the social networking business."

Apple's iOS 14.5 update finally rolled out in April 2021, and Facebook paid steeply for it.

"The impact of iOS overall as a headwind on our business in 2022 is on the order of $10 billion," then-Meta CFO David Wehner estimated in an earnings call that year.

In March 2024, Meta, Microsoft, X, and Match Group joined Epic Games in arguing that Apple has been flouting a 2021 court-ordered injunction that required the company to let developers show users links to alternative payment systems beyond the App Store.

Apple, for its part, said in January that it had "fully complied" with the injunction.

One of the latest battlegrounds in Apple and Meta's feud is their work on virtual and augmented reality.

Apple released its Vision Pro headset in February, and Zuckerberg was quick to offer his critique of the competitor to Meta's Quest headsets.

"I have to say that before this, I expected that Quest would be the better value for most people since it's really good and like seven times less expensive, but after using [Vision Pro] I don't just think that Quest is the better value, it's the better product, period," Zuckerberg said in a video on Threads. "They have different strengths, but overall Quest is better for the vast majority of things that people use mixed reality for."

Zuckerberg says many people "assumed that Vision Pro would be higher quality because it's Apple and it costs $3,000 more."

"I know that some fanboys get upset whenever anyone dares to question if Apple's going to be the leader in a new category," he said. "But the reality is that every generation of computing has an open and a closed model. And yeah, in mobile, Apple's closed model won, but it's not always that way."

In Meta's first quarter earnings call in April, Zuckerberg said he didn't think AR glasses would find mainstream success without "full holographic displays."

"I still think that that's going to be awesome and is the long-term mature state for the product," he said. "But now, it seems pretty clear that there's also a meaningful market for fashionable AI glasses without a display."

Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth has also taken shots at Apple over its Vision Pro.

"As soon as I put the headset on, I can see what trade-offs they made and why they made them. And, perhaps definitionally, those aren't the trade-offs I would have made," he said.

Bosworth called the Vision Pro's motion blur "really distracting" and said the headset was "very uncomfortable to use."

The companies also reportedly had a disagreement over a potential AI partnership.

Apple months ago rejected the possibility of integrating Meta's Llama AI chatbot into the iPhone because it doesn't consider Meta's privacy practices up to par, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported in June 2024, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

Apple has since announced a partnership with OpenAI for ChatGPT.

• Tatyana Bakalchuk is Russia's richest woman with an estimated net worth of $7.4 billion.
• She founded e-commerce retailer Wildberries, Russia's version of Amazon that sells a range of items.
• Bakalchuk is developing a payment platform to bolster Russia's economy amid international sanctions.

In 2004, Tatyana Bakalchuk spent $700 to create a website for Wildberries, an e-commerce business she started out of her Moscow apartment while on maternity leave.

Today, Wildberries is considered the Russian equivalent of Amazon, a booming online retailer that earned $6 billion in revenue in 2023, and Bakalchuk is Russia's richest woman, Bloomberg reported.

Yet, despite her immense wealth, Bakalchuk, 48, keeps a low profile and apparently lives modestly — she reportedly doesn't own a home, choosing to rent instead.

Here's how Bakalchuk makes and spends her fortune.

Tatyana Bakalchuk is worth an estimated $7.4 billion, Forbes reported, making her Russia's richest woman.

Bakalchuk was born in the Moscow Oblast region in 1975 and studied at the Kolomna State Pedagogical Institute, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

She and her husband, IT entrepreneur Vladislav Bakalchuk, have seven children.

She founded the e-commerce retailer Wildberries in 2004 while on maternity leave from her job as an English teacher.

Wildberries started as a small venture reselling clothes from Otto, a German retail company. Bakalchuk told Bloomberg in 2018 that she used to make deliveries herself in the company's early days.

"At first, I did everything myself, collecting the goods and taking them to customers on the other side of Moscow by subway or bus," she said.

As the business grew, Bakalchuk began hiring delivery workers and renting space to store more inventory.

Russian bodybuilder Sergei Anufriev invested in Wildberries in 2006, Bloomberg reported. Bakalchuk owns 99% of the company, and her husband owns 1%.

In 2020, The Bell reported Vladislav Bakalchuk earned $5 million from selling stock in an internet provider, raising questions about Bakalchuk's status as a self-made billionaire. Wildberries representatives told the outlet that the money was not involved in starting Wildberries.

In 2023, Wildberries earned $6 billion in revenue with a gross merchandise volume of $27.8 billion.

Wildberries stocks items from over 60,000 brands, selling a range of products including clothes, electronics, and housewares, according to Bloomberg's Billionaires Index.

The retailer launched in Europe in 2021, expanding into Germany, Italy, Spain, and France, The Moscow Times reported.

Despite her billionaire status, Bakalchuk keeps a low profile and doesn't own a home.

In a 2018 interview with AFP, Bakalchuk described herself as "introverted."

Unlike other billionaires who live in sprawling mansions, Bakalchuk rents instead of owning a home, Bloomberg reported.

Bakalchuk's latest venture will involve building an alternative payment platform to help bolster Russia's economy amid international sanctions.

The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, known as SWIFT, banned seven Russian banks in 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In a joint statement condemning the invasion, members of the European Commission wrote that the ban would "ensure that these banks are disconnected from the international financial system and harm their ability to operate globally."

In June, Bloomberg reported that Bakalchuk will work with advertising operator Russ Group on developing a new digital trading platform as an alternative to SWIFT. The project will be overseen by Maxim Oreshkin, Russia's former minister of economic development, who was handpicked for the task by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

• Derek Edwards, 28 moved to Miami from Denver to be closer to the Caribbean.
• Life in the mountains didn't suit him, plus the community wasn't as diverse as he had wanted.
• He loves Florida's warm weather and beach access even though it's a little pricier to live there.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Derek Edwards, a 28-year-old theology teacher and soccer coach who moved from Denver to Miami this month. The conversation was edited for length and clarity.

I ended up enjoying Denver a lot more than I thought I would. I had planned to stay there for a year or two, and ended up staying for three years.

I went in with not a lot of expectations other than that it's close to the mountains and that there's lots of outdoor stuff to do.

What was interesting was this dream of always going out to the mountains and traveling around — I didn't actually go to the mountains that often. I ended up just sticking mostly to the city of Denver and getting to know what Denver was like.

It's such a job to plan and drive out into the mountains — young people who move to Denver realize they won't be able to do it as often as they wish. There's traffic, and life gets crazy and busy.

Personally, I kind of forced that personality on myself. I'm not really that. But I do know that a lot of people who are super-adventurous explorers probably make more time than I did to get out to the mountains during the weekend.

I grew up in a rural town in central Wisconsin — the closest big city would be Wausau.

When COVID hit, I ended up teaching in Wisconsin and loving it. A friend of mine moved out to Colorado for a nursing job, and I knew that I didn't want to stay in Wisconsin.

I ended up moving to Colorado in 2021 and found a teaching job out there, but I also just needed space to recollect myself and figure out what my next steps and goals were.

I wanted to be closer to big Caribbean communities

I went to college at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, and I took a few courses about international relationships. I particularly had an interest in the situation in Haiti and what was going on there.

I ended up going on a service trip in college for a week, and during the summers I would continue to go back to Haiti. The organization I worked with, Missionaries of the Poor, was based out of Jamaica, so I ended up going to Jamaica as well. I lived in Jamaica for a year doing missionary service.

Miami was my layover spot every time I went to Haiti or Jamaica. I probably ended up going about 12 times or so. A lot of them were long layovers, so I would get out and explore the city a bit — and got lost a couple of times on the transit system.

It was during those times that I encountered the Haitian community in Fort Lauderdale and Miami. I also really loved the soccer culture that exists here — especially with Messi in town now.

I went to an Inter Miami soccer game with a friend last July, and we explored the city for 48 hours.

I had this deep desire to figure out what I'm supposed to do with the time I spent in Haiti and Jamaica, and how can I get connected more intentionally in those communities here in the US.

Denver does have a very small Caribbean community, but it didn't really influence the culture, and it was really hard to get connected there.

So I decided that Miami was the perfect place to explore that because it has the highest population, besides New York City, of Caribbean migrants. So that was a major factor.

Colorado was just this transition phase.

I'm almost in my 30s, I'm not getting younger. Now is the time to make a change if I'm going to do it again.

I ended up landing this job at a mostly Haitian-American school, and I decided, "If I'm going to explore this, I'm going to do it now and give it a shot."

Florida's warm weather is a plus, but things are more expensive

Part of the reason I moved away from Wisconsin was because I couldn't handle the cold. Twenty-something years was enough for me.

I lived in Jamaica through a winter and thought, "Wow, this is crazy." I love the tropical weather, being close to the beach. It's been in the 80s and really nice here in Miami, and the beach is close by. It's just beautiful.

The day I moved into my apartment, it was a super crazy day of rain and I was in the thick of it. I was walking through the parking lot with water up to my shins carrying boxes that were just drenched. My apartment was soaked.

Those videos on the news about what was going on in Miami, I was moving in during — that was kind of discouraging at first and it made the move really difficult. But now it's a week later, and I'm walking outside in 85 degrees and sunny.

Another guy I knew was moving from Philadelphia around the same time that I was, and we ended up looking mostly online with a price range of ideally no more than $1,300 per person.

We found an apartment complex in Miami Gardens that was pretty much about that price. It's a pretty decent apartment complex. It's probably not the ideal place, but it's within our budget and close to our jobs so we went with what worked for us.

It's pretty over my comfort zone coming from paying $800 a month for a room in an entire house in Denver.

Everything is kind of expensive everywhere, but I have noticed that groceries are more expensive here. I have a lot of allergies, so when I go grocery shopping, sometimes I go to Whole Foods. A lot of those foods that I need are quite a bit more expensive here than what I was used to in Denver, so that's been a little annoying thing too.

Gas is pretty comparable, except in Miami Beach. I've been a couple of times and it's crazy to see how gas is an entire dollar more at the beach than it is in Miami — so I just won't get gas in Miami Beach.

I already feel welcome in Miami

I'm still in the middle of figuring out switching over my car and insurance and title and all that. It's more complicated here than it was in Colorado because there are a lot of Florida-specific laws and things to navigate.

I really love the diversity. It's interesting because I kind of feel like the minority sometimes, which I probably am, at least in the neighborhood I live in, but it doesn't make me feel out of place. I actually really appreciate that.

People have been really warm and welcoming. I don't know if that's everyone's experience here, but at least it was for me, even more so than Denver.

The first week here was kind of chaotic with the weather. But now as it's settled down, I've really come to enjoy the last few days.

I'm about 10 miles from the beach. Just in case I don't stay in Florida forever, I'm going to go to the beach as much as I can.

Master chef and restaurateur Paul Liebrandt rates 11 fine-dining scenes in movies and television, such as "The Bear," for realism.

Liebrandt breaks down the reality of running a fine-dining restaurant for three episodes of "The Bear," starring Jeremy Allen White and Ayo Edebiri, such as kitchen jargon used in the kitchen, the creation and execution of dishes, and the high-stress environment in the kitchen often depicted in popular culture. He further explains fine-dining culture — from food critics to the impact of social media — as seen in the food critic scene in both "Ratatouille" and "Chef," with Jon Favreau; the pursuit to receive three Michelin stars in "Burnt," starring Bradley Cooper; and how social media has shaped the fine dining experience in "The Menu," with Anya Taylor-Joy and Ralph Fiennes. He also explains cooking and plating techniques, along with the evolution of French cuisine, via the molecular gastronomy scene in "The Hundred-Foot Journey," with Helen Mirren; the use of foie gras in "Cook Up a Storm"; the cooking competition scene "Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma," and the omelet-making scene at Le Cordon Bleu in "Julie & Julia," starring Meryl Streep as Julia Child.  

Liebrandt has been a chef for over 25 years and owned the two-Michelin-starred restaurant Corton in New York City. He also previously worked at the New York restaurants Atlas, Gilt, and Papillon. His book "To the Bone" is part cookbook and part memoir of his culinary experiences. 

You can follow Paul here:

https://www.paulliebrandt.com/ 

https://www.instagram.com/paulliebrandt/?hl=en 

• Trump is now free to rail against hush-money trial witnesses and his jury, the trial judge ruled.
• He and his lawyers remain barred indefinitely from identifying individual jurors.
• Justice Juan Merchan preserved Trump's gag on commenting about court staff, family until sentencing.

Donald Trump is free to rail away at hush-money trial witnesses and his jury, the trial judge ruled on Tuesday — but he still can't refer to jurors by name.

Key prosecution witness Michael Cohen showed zero concern when told of the gag lift.

"Good," he told Business Insider, his tone defiant.

"For the past 6 years, Donald and acolytes have been making constant negative statements about me. Donald's failed strategy of discrediting me so that he can avoid accountability didn't work then and won't work now."

Under a five-page order by New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, the former president remains barred indefinitely from revealing juror identities.

Merchan also kept in place Trump's gag on statements attacking court staff and family members, but that will be lifted after Trump's July 11 sentencing.

Trump has fought the gag unsuccessfully, on Constitutional free-speech grounds, since it was imposed in March, two weeks before the start of a trial that resulted in the first criminal conviction of a former president.

After the May 30 conviction, Trump's lawyers added a second strategy, challenging the gag as not only unconstitutional but also moot.

Prosecutors did not oppose lifting Trump's gag on trash-talking witnesses, but fought allowing him to attack jurors, or court and prosecution staffers and their families.

Lawyers for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg noted that so long as sentencing is still pending, proceedings have not yet concluded.

However, "the trial portion of these proceedings ended when the verdict was rendered, and the jury discharged," Merchan wrote.

"While it would be this court's strong preference to extend those protections, the court cannot do so," when it comes to the jury, Merchan wrote.

"Nonetheless, there is ample evidence to justify continued concern for the jurors," he added, saying that his March 7 protective order barring the release of juror identities remains in effect "until further order of this Court."

That order prohibits disclosure of the names and addresses of any prospective or sworn juror.

Trump's jurors have remained anonymous, and have been identified in public only by a three-digit number. Only he, his lawyers, prosecutors, and court staff know who they are.

Violating a court order can result in contempt-of-court sanctions that include fines and incarceration.

• CEOs are often known for having extreme sleep schedules. One even rises at 3:30 a.m. daily.
• Stress management methods can range from strict workouts to long hours of meditation.
• "It's what makes me superhuman," a leader said of his morning routine. 

Running a company is a stressful job, especially if you're running one of the biggest firms in the world.

That high stress can lead to some intense and unconventional daily habits. Here are some of the most unusual routines of CEOs:

1. Waking up at 3:30 a.m. and launching into a 90-minute workout

CEOs are known for waking up early: Tim Cook and Richard Branson both rise around 5 a.m.

But Josh York, the 40-year-old CEO of in-home personal training company Gymguyz, takes it further and starts his mornings at 3:29 a.m., he told Fortune.

After having a cold rinse in the shower, he launches into an hour-and-a-half workout followed by a three-minute ice bath.

"It's what makes me superhuman," he told the outlet.

2. Bob Iger prefers to work out in a dark room with the TV on mute

The CEO of Disney works out first thing in the morning in a darkened room, he says in his MasterClass on 'Using your time effectively.'

He keeps a TV on silent during his workout so he can watch it against the backdrop of his own choice of music.

"It's my most creative time in many ways," Iger said.

3. A teaspoon of Icelandic cod liver oil washed down with black coffee to start the day

Mikael Berner, CEO of email software company Edison Software, starts his day with a dose of cod liver oil, a source of omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin A, and vitamin D.

It's meant to have benefits like promoting heart health and benefiting cells. Experts warn against taking more than one tablespoon daily to avoid consuming too much vitamin A.

4. Or, if you're Elon Musk, your morning routine includes eating a doughnut

Tesla CEO Elon Musk opts for a sugary start to the day.

A post on X declared that sugar is poison. Musk replied, "I eat a donut every morning. I'm still alive."

5. Mark Zuckerberg's diet requires eating 4,000 calories a day

The Meta CEO previously said on Threads that he eats roughly 4,000 calories to offset his intensive MMA and jiujitsu training.

Another popular diet with successful CEOs is only eating within specific time windows — intermittent fasting.

6. Taking an afternoon nap in the office

Robin Zeng, whose role as leader of the world's largest EV battery manufacturing firm CATL makes him known as China's "Battery King," takes a daily nap at noon in the office, according to an interview with the FT.

Some experts recommend short naps of between 20 and 30 minutes to improve focus and combat fatigue.

7. Two hours of meditation a day

Jack Dorsey, who runs financial services company Block, adhered to a strict wellness schedule that allowed him "just to stay above water," when he was also CEO of Twitter. Each day involved walking five miles, meditating for two hours, and only eating one meal.

Dorsey is a big proponent of mediation. For his birthday in 2018, he took part in a 10-day silent Vipassana meditation retreat where he meditated for nearly 17 hours daily.

"It's extremely painful and demanding physical and mental work," he said on a thread on Twitter at the time.

8. "Eyes-open" meditation

Another fan of meditation is Gwyneth Paltrow, CEO of wellness brand Goop.

She advocates "eyes-open" meditation, which involves being mindful at any moment in everyday life.

"Once you learn how to do eyes-open meditation — something you can literally incorporate at any time — you can be engaged with the world but still very connected to yourself," said previously told Business Insider. "I rely on it to feel more whole."

9. When faced with a tough problem, Jeff Bezos engages in some mind-wandering

The former Amazon CEO would hold meetings that lasted an undetermined amount of time. He used this time to let his mind wander in order to come up with creative ideas.

"When I sit down at a meeting, I don't know how long the meeting is going to take," Bezos told the Lex Fridman Podcast in December, "the reality is we may have to wander for a long time.

"Real invention, real lateral thinking that requires wandering," he said.

Letting your mind wander may seem like an inefficient use of time, but some psychologists believe it helps increase creativity and improve working memory.

10. A massage just before midnight

If reading a book and meditating aren't relaxing enough, Steven Barlett, a former CEO and founder famed for his Diary of a CEO podcast, recommends an 11 p.m. massage.

"I often get massages in the evening — it sounds crazy, but usually my masseuse comes over at 11 p.m," he told The Telegraph.

11. A more unusual habit among CEOs, Tobias Lutke says he never works later than 5:30 p.m.

While some CEOs brag about their long hours in the office and spending nights sleeping on the office floor, Shopify CEO Tobias Lutke previously said he never works later than 5:30 p.m.

"The only times I worked more than 40 hours in a week was when I had the burning desire to do so. I need 8ish hours of sleep a night," he said in a thread on Twitter, now X.

12. Bernard Arnault spends his weekends visiting LVMH-owned stores

The 75-year-old CEO and chairman of retail empire LVMH doesn't sleep in on Saturday mornings.

Instead, Arnault and his entourage take the time to visit the stores of any one of the several brands that LVMH owns. He's not there to shop but to point out any issues that might depart from his vision for the company, according to Bloomberg.

Celine, Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, and Tiffany & Co. are just a few of the luxury brands under LVMH's umbrella. His sons told Bloomberg that Arnault's notes can be extremely detailed.

"He made a bunch of comments that were very, very detail-oriented," Alexandre Arnault said. "Things that you wouldn't typically notice, but once you've seen tens of thousands of stores over the years, I think it's what comes to your mind immediately."