Category: Business Insider

• CEOs are often known for having extreme sleep schedules. One takes this further by rising at 3:30 a.m.
• Stress management methods can range from strict workouts to long hours of meditation.
• "It's what makes me superhuman," a CEO 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 a step 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. 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 CEO 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 each day

"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. A massage just before midnight

If reading a book and meditating isn't relaxing enough, Steven Barlett, a former CEO and founder famed for his Diary of A CEO podcast, calls for 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.

10. 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.

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• Fast-food franchisees in California fear diners will flock to Chili's and Applebee's to avoid price hikes.
• Limited-service restaurants are raising prices to offset the state's $20 wage for fast-food workers.
• As a result, the price gap between fast-food and casual dining restaurants could narrow.

California recently raised its minimum wage for fast-food workers to $20, and franchisees raising prices to offset this fear they could send some diners into the arms of casual dining chains like Chili's and Applebee's.

These chains aren't subject to the new minimum wage and, therefore, aren't expected to raise prices as much. This could potentially cause the price difference between fast-food and casual dining restaurants to shrink.

The $20 wage applies to workers at limited-service restaurant chains — those where diners typically don't get table service and pay for their food before eating it — with at least 60 locations nationwide.

Fast-food restaurants in California have been hiking prices to offset the wage, which is 25% above the state's general minimum wage.

Though the legislation was enacted on April 1, some restaurants gradually raised prices to avoid the sticker shock of dramatically hiking prices from one day to the next.

Shane Paul, who owns seven Jack in the Box restaurants in San Diego, told BI he'd raised the prices at his restaurants by about 10% or 11% over the past six to 12 months in anticipation of the higher wages. In previous years, he generally put prices up by around 3.5% to 4%, he said.

Transactions at his restaurants "are already trending down," he said.

Paul speculated some of the diners could be going to casual dining restaurants like Chili's or Applebee's instead, which he said had deals that meant diners could have a sit-down meal for "a dollar or two more than us."

Harsh Ghai, who said he owns about 180 Burger King, Taco Bell, and Popeyes restaurants in California, expressed similar concerns.

He told BI that his price increases were already impacting restaurant sales and that he expected more diners to turn to grocery stores and Chili's and Applebee's instead.

"We're gonna start to compete with them," Ghai said, speaking about the casual dining restaurants.

In a typical year, Ghai's restaurants put up their prices by between 2% and 3%, he said. But in the last 12 months, he's raised prices by between 8% and 10% — largely just to reflect food inflation, he said. He can't raise prices any further to absorb the higher wages because customers wouldn't come back, he said.

Scott Rodrick, who owns 18 McDonald's in northern California, told BI he had a "deep concern" that the new minimum wage "narrows the competitive gap" between different types of restaurants.

Rodrick said he'd increased prices at his restaurants by between 5% and 7% in the three months of 2024.

Executives at Kura Sushi, a sit-down Japanese chain with about 60 locations in the US, told analysts in early April that they thought the $20 wage would increase their value proposition as other chains keep increasing prices.

CEO Hajime Uba noted that Kura Sushi's prices were getting "closer and closer and closer" to fast-food pricing.

Diners generally go to fast-food and casual dining restaurants for different occasions, Brian Vaccaro, a restaurant analyst at Raymond James, told BI.

Sit-down restaurants typically attract diners who want to "relax and rewind" with family and friends. In contrast, people generally go to limited-service restaurants for the speed and convenience, he said.

Wages could soar across the entire restaurant industry

Analysts say that it's hard to predict exactly how diners' habits will change in response to the price increases at fast-food chains. People could buy more groceries, choose fast-food value deals, or switch to different restaurants.

Still, some analysts do expect other employers in the state — like full-service restaurants and retailers — to start paying workers more so that they can stay competitive, which could ultimately mean other restaurants increase their menu prices, too.

Sal Vitalie, who owns The Garden Club, a restaurant in South San Francisco, told BI that he will "absolutely" have to raise his wages to compete with local fast-food chains.

Still, in some cases, Vaccaro noted that servers at mid-priced, full-service restaurant chains are likely to already make $30 or more an hour, including tips, so price hikes may just be a way off.

"If casual dining can hold prices and doesn't see the upward labor pressure, it could receive some benefit as the gap between casual dining and limited service prices narrow," Sharon Zackfia, a restaurant analyst at William Blair, told BI over email.

"But limited service will still be cheaper, and the key tenets of fast and convenient will remain a positive factor for demand at limited service for customers on the go," she said.

Are you a fast-food worker excited about the new minimum wage? Or a franchisee or restaurant manager worried about how it will affect your business? Email this reporter at gdean@insider.com.

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• Ezra Gershanok was a business analyst at McKinsey & Company. 
• He said he was forced out as the firm grappled with declining client demand and too many hires.
• Post-McKinsey, Gershanok co-founded Ohana, a sublet startup backed by Zillow and Airbnb's execs.

This is an as-told-to conversation with Ezra Gershanok, a former Business Analyst at McKinsey & Company and the cofounder of sublet startup Ohana.

Long story short, I don't regret my time at McKinsey & Company.

I was hired straight out of college as a Business Analyst, an entry-level consultant role at the firm. I'm glad I had the opportunity, and I appreciated the firm's high expectations and learned a lot from my colleagues.

However, several aspects of my job frustrated me.

There was an expectation that everything needed to be done immediately. I felt a constant sense of urgency even though we weren't building anything. My work output was always a PowerPoint deck, and its biggest impact was making whoever paid for us to be there look good.

In such an environment, you quickly realize that everything is political. Your ability to get on good projects, and even your performance goals, boil down to how well-liked you are by colleagues. Everyone at the firm can do the work so well that the higher-ups ultimately build teams of people they like working with.

The firm had clearly over-hired

My biggest issue was that McKinsey over-predicted how much work I would have.

I started at the firm in June 2021 as one among a class of pandemic hires. I left in March 2023.

During that time, McKinsey secured many government and private sector contracts and hired extensively, assuming there would be a steady workflow. Then, interest rates started rising, companies started tightening their budgets, and several realized they could automate much of their work. So, client demand began to dry up.

For me, the pace of the work started to slow down in the second half of 2021 and into 2022. Several jobs at the firm started to be seen as redundant. The pressure to cut down the workforce was palpable.

McKinsey doesn't normally conduct layoffs. Instead they push employees out by marking them down on performance. But the communication channels aren't clear when you're an entry-level employee. So, it's possible to get positive feedback from the clients you're working with and your direct manager, even when the higher-ups are trying to push you out.

And that's not a pleasant experience.

It would have been easier if they just laid me off

I remember getting a call in mid-February 2023. Things had gone pretty well on the project I was working on that week, which was on semiconductors, an pretty competitive to get staffed on. On Saturday, I got a call out of the blue from an Associate Partner who told me I was no longer on the project, even though I was supposed to go to Seattle that Monday to continue work. I received another call on Sunday and was told to talk to my Senior Partner because there was some hope I could get back on the project. But he flat-out said there was no way I was getting back on the project.

I had a meeting put on my calendar a week later and was told that senior managers would be present at the meeting to decide my fate at the firm. In the days leading up to the meeting, I kept receiving warnings that it wouldn't go well and that I was better off just quitting. I told them that I refused to quit before going through with the meeting.

At the meeting, they complained about my performance, even though it was clear that the real reason they wanted me out was because the firm had over-hired. It would have been easier if they said, "We're letting you go" or "We're firing you." Instead, they told me that the senior partners had met and decided that my next step was "search." I'd be paid for six weeks and given a guidance counselor who would help me look for another role.

I could have fought it, but I was pretty frustrated with my work by then. My biggest gripe is that McKinsey preys on people who are status-insecure. Everyone the firm hires is an overachiever. We want to do well, and what people care more about than money, honestly, is the gratification of our bosses.

Life after McKinsey

By then I was already thinking about solving this other problem I had experienced as an intern — the struggle of subletting. So my good friend, who was working at Apple at the time, quit his job, and we both bit the ground running, building a new startup called Ohana.

Ohana fills the gap between short-term rental platforms like Airbnb and long-term housing sites like Zillow. We provide an efficient way to sublease in NYC. We've found that the average host on Ohana saves $5,969 per sublease, and in the last month, Ohana has saved New Yorkers over $238,000 in rent. We've also brought on some heavy-weight backers, including Zillow's cofounder and former CEO, Spencer Rascoff, and Airbnb's former director of Engineering, Surabhi Gupta.

I'm passionate about the work I'm doing now. Looking back, the irony of my time at McKinsey is that they're constantly giving right-sizing advice to their clients, but completely miss the mark themselves.

Are you a consultant in a tough work environment? We would like to hear from you. Contact reporter Lakshmi Varanasi at lvaranasi@businessinsider.com.

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• Many boomers are holding on to their large homes, stressing the housing market for younger buyers.
• For millennials with growing families, purchasing a home has become even more difficult.
• For Biden and Trump, the issue of housing affordability could make or break their candidacies.

For baby boomers with growing families in the 1980s and 1990s, homeownership was a natural next step in their adulthoods.

But when their children moved out to pursue their own dreams years later, many of these boomers remained in their large homes. And at least for the foreseeable future, they're not going anywhere.

For millennials now looking to purchase a home, especially those now having children of their own, the road has been difficult. The tight housing market has effectively cut them off from purchasing homes within their budget, and high-interest rates haven't helped.

But many boomers, some still working and trying to navigate their fast-approaching retirements, have chosen to remain in large properties. And many of these homes have continued to appreciate in value, giving boomers second thoughts about downsizing.

According to a Redfin analysis of US Census Bureau data, 28% of homes throughout the country that contain three or more bedrooms are owned by empty-nesters aged 60 to 78. Millennials with children own 14% of similarly-sized properties, a stunning disparity.

But what does this mean for the 2024 election, especially with Gen Z and millennial voters effectively priced out of so many housing markets?

A house of cards

When housing construction stood still during the housing crisis, it led to a lack of new homes for growing families.

And just last week, mortgage rates rose to nearly 7%, according to The Wall Street Journal. Compare that figure to 2020, when there was an average 30-year fixed mortgage rate of just 3.38%.

With the current housing shortage and less-than-ideal mortgage rates, many millennial families are not enjoying the same quality of life as their parents.

Millennials also grew up with soaring higher education costs, so many are still paying off student-loan debt. Others are also paying off record credit-card debt.

According to The Journal, boomers are less likely to have credit-card debt than millennials.

That means a lot of Gen Z and millennial voters are frustrated with leaders in Washington for what many see as inaction to address some of the most pressing issues of their generation.

President Joe Biden has sought to emphasize housing affordability while on the campaign trail, recently making a major speech in Nevada where he spoke about his administration's efforts to build new units. But right now many voters aged 18 to 44 aren't enthused with the administration, which could benefit former President Donald Trump despite the left-leaning orientation of many young voters.

Trump has continued to tout the success of the pre-COVID economy under which he presided, but it remains to be seen if he'll be able to win over the scores of millennials who soundly rejected the GOP in the 2016 and 2020 elections.

One thing is certain, though. There's still not enough housing.

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• Lego is cashing in on adult fans buying high-priced Lego sets.
• The $850 Millennium Falcon set is part of how Lego doubled its revenue in a decade.
• Other toy companies are also rebranding kids products for adult audiences and seeing hefty returns.

Big kid fans mean big kid prices.

Lego knows that and is cashing in on its base of adult fans willing to dish out hundreds of dollars on elaborate sets.

Some are dishing out $850 or more for a Star Wars Millennium Falcon and $700 or more for a Liebherr crawler crane.

"We don't buy every new set that comes out," 38-year-old collector Jonny Edmondson told The Wall Street Journal. "We've got to eat."

Lego's investment in sets for adults is paying off in spades. The company's revenue has doubled over the last decade to almost $10 billion in 2023, the Journal reported.

"We decided to focus on adults because we realized that we had a much bigger opportunity than we were tapping into," Julia Goldin, Lego's chief of product and marketing, told the Journal.

For adults, part of the appeal is displaying the finished product.

"Nowadays it's not so geeky," Sian Twynham, another adult Lego builder, told the Journal. "You can have a set on your coffee table, and no one would bat an eyelid."

Whether it's nostalgia or strategic marketing, toy companies are seeing big returns when they rebrand kids products for adult audiences.

Take last year's blockbuster Barbie summer, when director Greta Gerwig's hit movie "Barbie" made over $1 billion in the global box office and became the highest-grossing film ever for Warner Bros. It also led to a boom in Barbie sales by toymaker Mattel, company execs said.

Hasbro, another classic toymaker, has latched onto a similar strategy, rebranding classic games like Scrabble and Trivial Pursuit for both older and younger generations, the Associated Press reported.

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• Iran launched an unprecedented missile and drone attack on Israel this weekend.
• The IDF said 99% of the 300 or so Iranian munitions were shot down.
• US forces destroyed more than 70 of them, according to Biden administration officials.

US forces engaged and shot down more than 75 of the missiles and drones that Iran fired at Israel this weekend, marking its biggest air-defense battle of the six-month-long Middle East crisis.

Iran and its proxy militias launched a barrage of 170 attack drones, 120 ballistic missiles, and 30 cruise missiles at Israel in a massive and unprecedented attack on Saturday night local time, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

It was the first-ever direct attack on Israel from Iranian soil. About 99% of the threats were intercepted by Israel and its partners, the IDF said, and most of them did not even cross into Israeli territory — a remarkable air-defense success.

US forces in the region eliminated more than 70 of the Iranian munitions, senior Biden administration officials told reporters on Sunday.

Two US Navy destroyers operating in the eastern Mediterranean Sea — the USS Arleigh Burke and USS Carney — engaged and destroyed between four and six ballistic missiles, and a Patriot air-defense system shot down one ballistic missile above Iraq, an official said.

A majority of the remaining ballistic missiles were engaged by Israel's Arrow 2 and 3 systems, which make up the top echelon of the country's sophisticated air defense network. A few of the ballistic missiles entered Israeli territory and struck targets, including an IDF base, causing minor damage, the military said.

US fighter jets also shot down more than 70 Iranian one-way attack drones, the Biden administration official said. They would not say how many aircraft were involved in the interceptions.

President Joe Biden said he directed the US military to move aircraft and ballistic missile defenses to the region over the past week.

"Thanks to these deployments and the extraordinary skill of our servicemembers, we helped Israel take down nearly all of the incoming drones and missiles," he said in a statement.

"Our forces remain postured to protect US troops and partners in the region, provide further support for Israel's defense, and enhance regional stability," Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement after the attack.

Britain's defense minister, Grant Shapps, confirmed that the UK also intercepted multiple drones. None of the drones or cruise missiles launched by Iran crossed into Israeli territory, according to the IDF.

The attack marked the US military's biggest air-defense battle of the ongoing and widespread Middle East crisis, which began with Hamas' October 7 terror attack across southern Israel, sparking an outburst of violence across the region.

Since October, US forces have engaged aerial threats launched by Iran-backed militias above Iraq and Syria, and also the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. The largest of these attacks involved more than 20 drones and missiles carried out by the Yemen-based Houthis earlier this year.

Tehran's attack against Israel, meanwhile, came in retaliation for an Israeli airstrike on an Iranian diplomatic facility in Syria at the start of April. The strike killed several military officials, including two generals in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Following the incident, Iran vowed revenge and telegraphed that it would retaliate against Israel. The Middle East had been on heightened alert over the past two weeks as it braced for a possible response from Tehran, which was unclear in terms of size and scope.

The attack on Saturday was met with resounding international condemnation, with world leaders blasting Iran as "reckless." The leaders of the G7 — which is made up of the US, UK, France, Germany, Canada, Italy, and Japan — said they expressed solidarity with Israel and are committed to the country's security.

"With its actions, Iran has further stepped toward the destabilization of the region and risks provoking an uncontrollable regional escalation," the leaders said in a statement. "This must be avoided."

For now, Israel appears to be calibrating a response to the Iranian attack, although it is unclear at this time what that may look like.

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• Ex-national security advisor John Bolton called for a "far stronger" response from Israel against Iran.
• Bolton made the comments after Iran launched a barrage of retaliatory strikes toward Israel.
• John Kirby told NBC News President Joe Biden did not want to engage in a wider war with Iran.

Former national security advisor John Bolton called for a "far stronger" response from Israel after Iran launched a missile and drone attack against the country.

Bolton, a UN ambassador under President George W. Bush and an advisor in President Donald Trump's administration, took to CNN shortly after the attack began to call out what he said was an insufficient deterrence strategy.

"What we had tonight was a massive failure of Israeli and American deterrence. Massive failure," he told anchor Wolf Blitzer. "A 200 ballistic missile, cruise missile, drone failure."

"I think notwithstanding that there appears to be very little damage, fingers crossed, until we get the final assessment," he continued.

The world is now waiting to see how Israel will respond. Bolton, for his part, said Israel should "reestablish deterrence in a major way."

"I think that means by definition, Israel's response — and there should be a response — should not be proportionate," he told Blitzer. "It should be far stronger because when deterrence fails to re-establish, you have to teach the adversary that any gain they may hope to get by any future attack will be more than outweighed by the damage that will be called."

Bolton, who was instrumental in the Trump administration's withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, then suggested that the Israeli government should use the attack to "destroy" Iran's nuclear weapons program.

Bolton said on NewsNation's "The Hill Sunday," however, that the Iranian government looked "weak" after its attack.

"Whatever it is, 300 plus drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles and maybe three or four got thorough," he said. "So, who's the fool in this posture right now?" Who looks weak? The regime in Iran looks weak."

Bolton also blasted the Biden administration for what he said was its "weak" posture toward Iran.

The United States helped Israel counter the aerial assault by intercepting dozens of Iranian drones and missiles.

On Sunday, White House national security communications advisor John Kirby on NBC's "Meet the Press" said that Israel's response would be "up to them" and repeatedly affirmed that President Joe Biden did not want to engage in a wider conflict with Iran.

"I'm certainly not going to get ahead of their decision-making," Kirby said of Israel, adding: "And as the president said to the prime minister [Benjamin Netanyahu] last night, that support for Israel's self-defense will stay ironclad."

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• Detroit spent $400,000 on a new Hollywood-style sign as it hosts the NFL Draft.
• Detroit views the NFL Draft as a chance to showcase its recovery after years of financial trouble.
• Residents have widely mocked the sign and at least one rapper made it the subject of a diss track.

"All I want to know is now much we paid for this?" Detroit rapper Gmac Cash asks in his new single, "Detroit Sign."

The answer: About $400,000.

Jessica Parker, the city's deputy chief operations officer, told The Detroit Free Press that the installation of the sign is one of several infrastructure improvements planned ahead of the NFL Draft, which is set to take place in Detroit at the end of the month.

Before the city installed the sign, Parker told the outlet it would look "like the Hollywood sign, but smaller."

Cash disagrees.

"I thought our sign was going to look like Hollywood," Cash raps. "That's probably why they put this bitch right by the hood."

Cash's new song — in which he says the sign looks like "Times New Roman" — attracted more than 1 million views on TikTok in just one day.

Cash, a local Detroit rapper, has several songs about landmark attractions in the city, usually with a comedic spin. In 2022, he performed his song "Giant Slide" on Jimmy Kimmel Live after the city's giant metal slide briefly closed following safety complaints.

"This new slide you got to take a Tylenol to get on. If your kids gettin' on your nerves, make em get on," he raps in the song's chorus.

Parker said the city spent $400,000 of city funds to pay Fairmount Sign Company, which is based in Detroit, for the sign, the Free Press reported. The sign's letters stand at eight feet tall and sit on two-foot concrete blocks, according to the city.

In 2013, Detroit filed the largest ever Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy, defaulting on more than $600 million in loans. The bankruptcy filing erased about $7 billion worth of debt, and the city's financial situation has since improved.

In March, Moody's, a credit ratings research agency, upgraded the city's municipal bonds to investment grade for the first time since 2009.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan previously told Business Insider he hopes hosting the NFL Draft will show people how far the city has come since he took office in 2014.

"The last time the country paid attention to Detroit was 10 years ago when we were in bankruptcy," Duggan told BI. "Those images of streetlights being out, police not showing up, and blighted communities have stuck in many people's minds."

"We see the draft as a chance to reintroduce Detroit to America and the world," Duggan added.

Fairmont Sign Company did not immediately return a request for comment from Business Insider.

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• Squatters are residing in one of Gordon Ramsay's restaurants in London.
• The squatters hung a "legal warning" on the restaurant's window, arguing their right to remain.
• Local authorities told BI they're "aware" of the situation and will "take action when appropriate." 

Squatters have taken over one of Gordon Ramsay's restaurants in London.

At least six people are residing in York & Albany, an eatery connected to the eponymous hotel in Camden Town, according to The Sun and BBC. York & Albany is temporarily closed while Ramsay, 57, finalizes a new lease, The Sun reported.

It's unclear when the squatters first arrived. Metropolitan Police told Business Insider they "were made aware of squatters at a disused property" on April 10 in Regents Park, where the restaurant is located.

The outlets reported that the group had locked themselves inside the building, boarded up the windows, and are threatening legal action against those attempting to remove them.

Photos obtained by the outlets showed a "legal warning" taped to one of the restaurant's doors. It was signed by "The Occupiers."

"Take notice that we occupy this property and at all times there is at least one person in occupation," the notice reads. "That any entry or attempt to enter into these premises without our permission is therefore a criminal offence as any one of us who is in physical possession is opposed to such entry without our permission."

The legal warning said the group will to take legal action against those who "enter by violence" or "threaten to enter by violence."

The notice read, "LASPO does NOT apply," referring to the 2012 Legal Aid, Sentencing, and Punishment Offenders Act. Under LASPO, occupying a non-residential building is not a crime. So the squatters are claiming the law allows them to be there.

Ramsay called local authorities about the property but has so far failed to have the squatters removed, the outlets reported.

Metropolitan Police in London told Business Insider that this issue "is a civil matter and so police did not attend as an emergency call out. However we in the process of identifying if any subsequent offences have occurred, and will take action where appropriate."

While it's unconfirmed what the group intends to do with the space, BBC reported that two Instagram accounts — Autonomous Winter Shelter and Camden Art Cafe — have described it as a "new squatted community space."

"Pop down to a new squatted community space in Camden," a post's caption read. "Come on down and say hi, grab some food and a coffee on our first day open tomorrow."

Camden Art Cafe's Instagram also appeared to share photos of the restaurant's interior.

"An autonomous cafe in the heart of Camden committed to providing free food and creating a space for the community," the bio read.

Ramsay became attached to the property in 2007 when director Gary Love leased it to him on a 25-year term with a yearly rent of £640,000, or about $797,000, the outlets report. Ramsay tried to get out of the lease in 2015 but lost the legal battle.

The property was listed in late 2023 with a guide price of £13 million, or more than $16 million, according to the outlets.

Representatives for Ramsay and York & Albany did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.

Other stories about squatters have made headlines this year.

In New York City, a couple cannot move into the $2 million home they purchased because of a squatter who refuses to vacate the property. The couple sued the squatter to evict him, but he countersued for harassment.

Outlets reported later that month that squatters had lived in a Beverly Hills mansion for five months. The group was evicted but did not face any criminal charges.

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• Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu is considering how to respond to Iranian drone strikes on Israel.
• Iran launched more than 300 drones and missiles on Saturday night.
• There are fears the conflicts in the region could increase further.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must weigh up the implications of escalating the conflict in the Middle East as he mulls Israel's response to Iran's attack, experts say.

Israel's air defenses, with support from the US, UK, French, and Jordanian militaries, intercepted 99% of the more than 300 drones and missiles launched by Iran on Saturday night, the Israeli military said.

A small number of ballistic missiles did still reach Israeli territory.

Iran launched the attack in response to Israel's bombing of an Iranian diplomatic facility in Damascus earlier this month, which killed seven Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officers.

Ali Khamenei, Iran's Supreme Leader, responded to the killings by warning that the "Zionist regime will be punished."

But while some believed Iran may carry out a "symbolic" attack, experts say it went much further.

And depending on how Israel and Iran move forward, the countries may risk taking their yearslong shadow war into an open, regional conflict.

"I don't think that we're past the point of no return, but I think we're in a new, kind of uncharted territory, and everything now depends on how the different actors decide to operate," Mairav Zonszein, a senior Israel analyst with the International Crisis Group, told Business Insider.

"This was a very dangerous attack, that could easily have ended with us discussing the war to come, rather than whether Israel will respond or not," Michael Horowitz, a geopolitical expert and security analyst, wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

In another post, he argued that the attack was not symbolic, as some had suggested, as Iran had attempted to "overwhelm Israel's air defenses."

Zonszein agreed that the attack "wasn't symbolic" but told BI "it was calibrated in the sense that it was a larger and more powerful response" than people in Israel had anticipated.

"It's a very precarious situation," Zonszein continued. "There are conflicting views on whether Israel should respond. A lot of military analysts and former officials are saying 'Israel was able to defend itself. This is a win. And we should stop here and leverage the support that Israel has gotten.'"

Shashank Joshi, the defense editor of The Economist, told LBC that the hope now is that because the attack was so "calibrated" and had "such little lethal effect," Netanyahu can confine himself to striking Iranian facilities or personnel without launching a full-out attack on the Iranian regime.

In spite of the minimal damage caused, the implications of Iran's actions are difficult to ignore, as it marks the first time the Islamic Republic has directly attacked the Jewish state.

"At no point previously had Iran directly struck Israel in a way that violated its sovereignty, meaning directly on Israeli soil. So, while Iran may now say that the issue is closed, it would be very surprising to see the Israelis not feel the need to respond, given the extent of the escalation," Carmiel Arbit, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council think tank, told BI.

Iran has since warned Israel and its allies against a counterstrike, saying it would launch an even larger attack if they retaliated.

Some Sunni Arab states could unite against Iran

How Israel chooses to respond is now in the hands of Israel's war cabinet, which consists of Netanhayu, defense minister Yoav Gallant, and former army general Benny Gantz.

Gantz has already said that Israel will "exact a price" from Iran when the time is right, per the BBC.

But the cabinet runs a serious risk of both escalating the conflict in the region and jeopardizing support from its allies, particularly from the US.

Prior to the attack, President Joe Biden said the US would "do all we can to protect Israel's security" while avoiding further escalation.

And the president has since warned Netanyahu that the US would not collaborate in any Israeli counterattacks against Iran, US officials familiar with the matter have said, per CNN.

Meanwhile, Arbit said Iran's unprecedented action could unite some Sunni Arab states against it.

"I think what was particularly interesting yesterday is that we saw Iran violate the airspace of a number of different Arab countries, including Jordan, who then participated in the response. So, on the one hand, I think you see where a coalition of moderate Sunni states find themselves, in a very tangible way, united in their interests in curbing the threat posed by Iran to the region."

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