Category: Business Insider

• Tesla's board urged shareholders in a video to vote for CEO Elon Musk's $47 billion pay package.
• A Delaware court had canceled his 2018 CEO performance award.
• The carmaker announced last month it would hold another vote to reinstate the pay package.

Tesla's board made yet another push to get CEO Elon Musk his $47 billion pay package — this time on-camera.

In a video posted on Friday, Robyn Denholm, the chair of Tesla's board of directors, urged the carmaker's shareholders to reapprove Musk's 2018 CEO performance award after a Delaware judge overturned it in court.

Musk's compensation was worth roughly $56 billion, though it's now worth about $47 billion due to Tesla's falling share price. But Musk's billions in extra pay were thrown out after a Tesla shareholder filed a lawsuit arguing the payout was excessive.

The shareholder vote to bring back the pay for Musk, Denholm said, will be "incredibly important for the future of the company."

"We don't believe one judge's opinion should void the will of millions of votes cast by all of the owners of the company," the chairman told investors in the video. "So once again, we're asking you to make your voices heard by voting for the ratification of the 2018 performance award."

The chairman argued in the video that Musk fairly received the award, which shareholders set to incentivize the tech billionaire to hit "ambitious financial and operational targets" since Tesla reached its goals as of 2023.

She noted that the carmaker grew revenues from $11.8 billion to $96.8 billion and turned a $2.2 billion loss into a $15 billion profit under Musk's leadership.

These milestones, she said, increased the value of Tesla from $53.7 billion to more than $790 billion.

"His success is shared by all stockholders," Denholm said regarding Musk, adding that investors saw the value of their shares increase by 1,100%.

Last month, Tesla filed a proxy statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission announcing its plans to hold another shareholder vote on Musk's enormous compensation package, which includes stock options.

Tesla's leadership argued that Musk hasn't been properly paid for the work he did for Tesla over the past six years.

As of May 3rd, Musk is ranked the second richest person in the world with a net worth of $195 billion, according to Forbes' billionaire index.

Tesla's annual 2024 shareholder meeting is set to take place on June 13, 2024, at 3:30 p.m. central time.

Tesla didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider before publication.

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• Trump is now the GOP's presumptive presidential nominee. 
• The former president is facing competing pressures to find his new running mate.
• Trump has a lot to choose from when it comes to either former rivals or MAGA allies.

Former President Donald Trump is seriously searching for his next running mate.

Trump, now officially the GOP's presumptive presidential nominee, is looking to narrow down a large list of former rivals, lawmakers, and MAGA allies to find the potential next vice president.

The former president faced some pressure to announce his decision quickly. But for now, Trump appears likely to follow a more traditional timeline. NBC News reported that "there is a growing consensus" around a June announcement. The Republican National Convention is set to start July 15 in Milwaukee.

Trump has stoked speculation about his pick by publicly confirming half a dozen names on his list: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, South Carolina Sen. Tim biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, Florida Rep. Byron Donalds, and former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard.

Almost all of the top names will attend a major donor retreat at Mar-a-Lago this weekend. According to CNBC, Rubio, Vance, Scott, Burgum, Noem, and Donals will be "special guests." Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, the No. 4 House Republican, will also attend.

Noem's chances have cratered after her reveal that decades ago, she shot and killed her family's 14-month-old dog named Cricket due to its aggressive behavior. Even some Trump allies have questioned the governor's judgment for including the previously unknown story in her forthcoming memoir.

History shows that the ultimate selection could be surprising, so it's worth considering an even wider pool of potential names.

Here's a look at the names to watch as Trump continues his quest to retake the White House:

Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina

The 58-year-old three-term senator endorsed Trump shortly before the New Hampshire primary. The South Carolinian also largely avoided criticizing Trump in a way that may have foreclosed him being on the ticket.

According to Politico, Scott talks with Trump or texts with the former president nearly every week.

Scott previously stoked speculation that he could be picked by telling the Wall Street Journal that he found his and Trump's contrasting styles "to be very complementary."

It's worth noting that while the former president has a growing list of congressional allies, the Senate has repeatedly been an issue for him.

Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy

Like some other candidates on this list, Ramaswamy is unlikely to be chosen as Trump's next VP. But that doesn't mean there aren't people out there who would like to see it.

Ramaswamy was perhaps the only candidate in the race who never dared to issue substantive criticisms of Trump, choosing instead to run as a staunch supporter of the former president who would carry that mantle forward.

He dropped out immediately after coming in 4th in Iowa, endorsing Trump and likely securing himself some sort of future position in MAGA world, if not Trump's actual cabinet.

But while Ramaswamy would be popular with some of Trump's most devoted followers, his penchant for conspiracy theorizing would likely be a liability in a general election.

Gov. Kristi Noem of South Dakota

The second-term South Dakota governor was once, perhaps best known nationally for flouting COVID restrictions during the pandemic. That was until Noem decided to include a story in a forthcoming book about her decision decades ago to kill the family's 14-month-old dog after it proved to be untrainable and overly aggressive.

Since then, the consensus is that Noem has greatly damaged her prospects of becoming Trump's running mate.

Before the dog episode, Noem faced concerns after she posted a bizarre infomercial-esque video touting a dental procedure she received in Texas.

Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida

Donalds, currently in just his second term, has risen rapidly in Congress. Conservatives opposed to Kevin McCarthy's leadership put the Florida Republican forth as an alternative to the then-longtime House GOP leader. Donalds was later added to the powerful House Steering Committee after he switched his support to McCarthy and McCarthy went on to become speaker.

That wasn't his only major flip. Donalds, who had previously been DeSantis' close ally, endorsed Trump last April, part of a string of Florida Republicans that snubbed their governor to back the former president. Donalds has also been floated as a potential successor to DeSantis, who cannot run for reelection in 2026 due to consecutive term limits.

Donalds was also among the six potential names Ingraham suggested to the former president. Trump responded by saying, "They're all good, they're all solid."

Like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Donalds would also have to deal with potential concerns of sharing the same home state as Trump.

Former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii

Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is likely the most surprising name on this list. A former 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, she endorsed President Joe Biden after previously declaring Trump "unfit" to remain as president.

Gabbard's politics have changed drastically since then. In 2022, she announced that she was formerly leaving the Democratic Party. Over time, the four-term former congresswoman became a fixture on Fox News and at political events. According to The Washington Post, Gabbard has also advised the former president and his team about defense policy.

She was also among the six names Ingraham asked Trump about in terms of potential running mates.

Sen. JD Vance of Ohio

Despite having just been elected to the US Senate last year, Vance has repeatedly been floated as a vice-presidential candidate for Trump.

And he's not saying no.

"Certainly if the president asked, I would have to think about it," Vance recently said while stumping for Trump in New Hampshire — though he also said that the "best place for me" is to remain in the US Senate.

A former venture capitalist and the author of the bestselling book "Hillbilly Elegy," Vance was once a "NeverTrumper" and a fierce critic of the former president. But he has since morphed into one of his staunchest acolytes in the Senate, and he's at the vanguard of a movement that seeks to reorient the party more towards the working class.

Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida

Rubio once viewed as the GOP's future, is reportedly gaining attention as a possible pick.

Rubio, like DeSantis, endured significant taunting and attacks when he opposed Trump during the 2016 primaries. But the pair have moved beyond the "Liddle Marco" jabs.

The Florida senator was a key ally during Trump's presidency, though Rubio did not support overturning the 2020 election results. After the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot, Rubio delivered an impassioned speech on the Senate floor, arguing that it was "a terrible idea" to continue to raise objections to the results.

Now a third-term senator, Rubio, as NBC News pointed out, would also have more experience in federal office than Vice President Kamala Harris did when Biden tapped her to be his running mate.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia

Greene, the fire-breathing conspiracy-minded congresswoman from Georgia, wouldn't exactly be a tent-expanding choice for the former president.

But that hasn't stopped her from talking up her own prospects.

"It's talked about frequently and I know my name is on a list," Greene told The Guardian in August. "But really my biggest focus right now is serving the district that elected me."

A second-term legislator with no major policy accomplishments, Greene wouldn't bring much to the equation when it comes to policy chops or broadening Trump's appeal. In fact, it could damage the ticket, given her extremely poor polling.

Greene has also alienated top party leaders over her push to oust Speaker Mike Johnson. Trump has repeatedly praised Johnson as he's tried to navigate Greene's challenge.

Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York

The chairwoman of the House GOP Conference, Stefanik is the highest-ranking official who is seen as a potential Trump pick.

The New York congresswoman, who ascended to her leadership position on the heels of Liz Cheney's ouster, has notably undergone a sharp shift when it comes to Trump, beginning with the 2019 impeachment hearings.

Trump has reportedly described Stefanik as a "killer" and a potential pick in private, and the congresswoman recently said she "would be honored to serve in any capacity in a Trump administration."

Stefanik has raised her national profile by grilling college presidents over their handling of students who have protested the Israel-Hamas war. The New Yorker has drilled into administrators whom she has accused of being too weak in their response to antisemitism.

Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama

Britt quickly built her profile before delivering the Republican Party's official response to Biden's State of the Union address.

Britt's response was widely panned, including by some Republicans. NBC's "Saturday Night Live" enlisted Scarlett Johansson to impersonate the freshman senator.

At just 42, Britt could become one of the youngest vice presidents in recent memory. Only Dan Quayle, then a US senator from Indiana, would have been slightly younger. Quayle was 41 when he began his vice presidency under President George H.W. Bush.

Britt has made her age and the fact she is a mother of school-age children a key selling point in her political career.

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas

No one on this list knows Trump like Sanders. As his second White House press secretary, Sanders turned her turn at the podium into a governorship. As Arkansas governor, she's pursued an array of conservative policies.

She has endorsed Trump's campaign, but she has hinted that she wouldn't be interested in returning to the White House as vice president.

"Look, I absolutely love the job I have. I think it's one of the best jobs I could ever ask for, and I am honored to serve as governor, and I hope I get to do it for the next seven years," Sanders previously told CBS News.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin of Virginia

Youngkin, 57, unlike the other governors on this list, has shown he can win a competitive state. The former private equity maven shocked political pundits by narrowly winning the Virginia governor's race in 2021. But Youngkin won in large part by ignoring Trump.

The Virginian's political stock has also declined in the wake of disappointing state legislative elections that saw Democrats gain full control of the statehouse in Richmond. Trump might honestly be more concerned that Youngkin has ties to Jeff Roe, a former Cruz advisor, who left Youngkin's orbit to lead a pro-DeSantis super PAC that ended disastrously.

Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida

Trump and his allies spent over a year ruthlessly attacking DeSantis. It was only toward the end of his disappointing primary that the 45-year-old began to return fire.

DeSantis did endorse Trump immediately after dropping out before New Hampshire, but the question remains if either side would want to repair their political alliance.

There appeared to be a brief peace, but that was thrown into after a top Trump campaign official tore into DeSantis. The public attack was in response to a report that DeSantis privately expressed concern that Trump might resort to "identity politics" when selecting his vice president.

Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley

Haley, who has remained clear her campaign will continue, has repeatedly said she's not interested in being anyone's vice president. Trump's choice of Mike Pence illustrates that he could tap someone to unite the party, but it's clear the former president is nowhere near happy with how that marriage ended.

Haley's biggest strength would be her effort to appeal to independent voters. She could also hopefully repair Trump's long-running struggles in the nation's suburbs. It's clear, though, that her decision to keep campaigning is starting to grate on Trump.

Biden has also shown greater interest in bringing Haley's voters than Trump.

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• I tried Chili's Big Smasher burger, the chain's first new burger in three years.
• The half-pound burger comes with lettuce, crunchy pickles, and a creamy Thousand Island dressing.
• The burger was juicy on the inside but had a mouthwatering, crispy crust on the outside.

Chili's just came out with its first new burger in three years in the hopes of competing with fast-food chains like McDonald's.

The burger, which launched on April 29, has similar ingredients to a Big Mac but twice the meat. It's available for $10.99 when included in the chain's value meal — something the chain is advertising to attract value-driven customers as fast-food prices climb.

I tried the burger for the first time at Chili's headquarters in Dallas a few weeks before its official launch. After it landed in restaurants nationwide, I tried it again at my local Chili's.

Here's what I thought of Chili's new Big Smasher burger.

I tried the Big Smasher for the first time at Chili's headquarters in Dallas a few weeks before its official launch on April 29.

I was invited to Chili's headquarters to try the brand's newest burger and other new menu items in development.

I made the burger myself, hand-smashing the half-pound patty with a large iron and arranging the toppings on the freshly buttered bun.

I was really impressed by the juicy yet crispy burger when I tried it in the company's test kitchen, but I wanted to see if I'd be just as blown away trying it in an actual restaurant, like any other customer.

To get a more realistic experience, I also tried it at my nearest Chili's after its launch.

I was looking forward to heading back to a Chili's restaurant. I went to Chili's for the first time last year, and I have been back several times since then, both for work-related taste tests and just to hang out with friends.

I live in Brooklyn, New York, so the closest Chili's restaurant is located in Glendale, about a 20-minute drive from my apartment.

When I arrived at around 5:30 p.m. on a weekday, the restaurant was already filled with customers.

For a limited time, the burger is included in Chili's 3 For Me value deal, which is how I ordered it.

The Big Smasher starts at around $12.99 on its own, but the price differs slightly by location. At my local Chili's, the burger cost $14.39, excluding tax.

This meant that ordering the burger as part of the 3 For Me was a no-brainer because the deal starts at $10.99, excluding tax.

With the deal, you get an appetizer like bottomless chips and salsa, a drink, and an entrée. I decided to add a margarita instead of a bottomless soft drink to my order, which added an additional $3.99.

The burger comes topped with shredded lettuce, diced red onions, pickles, American cheese, and Thousand Island dressing.

I went with fries as my side, but you can also choose from options like mashed potatoes, rice, and steamed broccoli.

The ingredients burger are similar to a Big Mac, but I've admittedly never been a fan of the iconic fast-food burger. I find it too bready, and the patties too thin. So I was excited to see if this similar burger would correct those personal qualms I have with the fast-food staple.

The star of the show truly was the burger patty.

The burger was juicy and slightly pink, but it had a delicious char on the outside. The cheese was perfectly melted onto the patty, but it didn't drip from the burger.

The burger patty was also thicker than I expected.

The burger patty weighs about a half pound, which is thicker than most fast-food burgers. I also thought this was one of the best chain restaurant burgers I've ever had because it was so classic.

While it didn't have all the bells and whistles like bacon, barbecue sauce, and vegetables piled high on this burger, that's what I really liked about it.

Each ingredient complemented and didn't overpower the others, from the fresh-tasting shredded lettuce to the pickles, red onion pieces, and the layer of tangy Thousand Island sauce.

Time will tell if the Big Smasher wins over customers, but it certainly impressed me.

It's hard to say whether the Big Smasher will become as iconic as some of Chili's other menu items, namely the chain's baby back ribs and appetizers.

However, I thought the large, juicy burger was certainly good enough to take on fast-food staples like the Big Mac, as well as burgers available at other chain restaurants.

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• US Marines want better counter-drone capabilities to compete with adversaries like Russia and China.
• The Corps aims to field upgraded air defense systems and acquire its own drones as soon as possible.
• They're also training in other tactics, like using traditional firearms to shoot down drones.

The Marine Corps wants to field better counter-drone capabilities yesterday. Since that is not possible, the service says it's looking to get them to Marines right now, or at least very soon.

Over the last five years, the Marine Corps has been improving its counter-drone systems as it looks to reshape the force and compete with near-peer adversaries. Officials at Modern Day Marine, a military exposition in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, said those efforts are paramount as competing nations such as Russia and China proliferate their own drone stocks.

"I like to say we've done great, but the enemy's got a vote," Steve Bowdren, the Marine Corps' program executive officer for land systems, told reporters Tuesday. "And so even though this has been great progress, we're almost too late, right? … It's not there today, but it's really close."

Bowdren told reporters that the Marine Corps has come a long way from a half-decade ago when it "really just had Stinger" missile systems to shoot down drones. Now, it is looking at fielding upgraded systems such as the Marine Air Defense Integrated System, or MADIS, a mobile, Stinger-mounted vehicle, as well as the Medium Range Intercept Capability, or MRIC, which can target cruise missiles and drones.

Some of these systems can be expected to hit the fleet in the next year, he said.

As drones — sometimes cheap, off-the-shelf commercial models — stalk battlefields in Ukraine amid Russia's full-scale invasion of that country, the Marine Corps is increasing the urgency for acquiring, testing, and deploying its own unmanned aerial systems, or UAS.

"Small UAS and counter-UAS are probably the biggest change that we've seen recently," Brig. Gen. Stephen Lightfoot, director of the service's Capabilities Development Directorate, said when referring to the "changing character of war."

Lightfoot pointed to the war in Ukraine as a specific data point that the Marine Corps is examining for its own counter-drone capabilities — commercial drones, first-person-view drones, and even ones operated by cellphone are all on its radar.

Meanwhile, the service is training Marines in counter-drone tactics. As early as last week, for example, Marines with the 2nd Low Altitude Air Defense Battalion out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, battled single-person drones in a simulated exercise — this time with shotguns, machine guns, and rifles.

Some units, Military.com has previously reported, said that they do not have their own counter-drone capabilities, even when deploying to high-pressure regions such as the Pacific, where tensions with China are running high.

Unmanned aircraft systems are "a wicked problem that everyone's working hard to come to grips with," Col. Brendan Sullivan, then-commanding officer of Marine Rotational Force-Darwin, or MRF-D, told reporters last year. "That's a huge focus of effort within the 1st Marine Division and a specific emphasis going for the division commander."

Other units, such as the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, have had their hands on counter-drone systems such as the Light Marine Air Defense Integrated System, or L-MADIS, the little brother to the system with a similar name, since earlier this year. Some MEUs have used it for longer.

The threat that drones present to the Marine Corps was a concern at last year's Modern Day Marine expo, with then-commandant Gen. David Berger saying "the defense against drones and swarming drones … it's clearly a challenge right now."

That challenge has only grown, according to officials Tuesday, and the need for the Marine Corps to thwart it is critical.

"I think it's needed right now," Lightfoot said. "[It's] easy for me to say that as a requirements guy, because I want counter-UAS yesterday."

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• Elon Musk wants to combine Twitter and Grok, his AI engine, and create a news machine.
• But Grok won't look for "news" — it will look for "things people are saying on Twitter about news."
• There's several problems with this approach! But it may be the future, regardless.

What do you think of when you think of "news?"

I'm both old and in the news business. So when I think of "news," it's usually like something that comes from an organization that specializes in distributing and sometimes sourcing/verifying facts about current events. You know: like a newspaper or a website or TV show/network.

Elon Musk thinks news is something different: It's what people talk about on the service formerly known as Twitter.

And that's the vision he's using to build a news service at X, the company formerly known as Twitter, using Grok, his homegrown AI chatbot.

Musk's idea, he tells journalist Alex Kantrowitz, is that the best way to learn about the news isn't by reading/listening to the news, but by listening to what people say about the news.

Conversation on X will make up the core of Grok's summaries — or, really almost all of it. Musk said Grok will not look directly at article text, and will instead rely solely on social posts. "It's summarizing what people say on X," he said.

And just to make it clear, a Musk employee confirms to Kantrowitz that these are indeed his marching orders: "Igor Babuschkin, a technical staff member working at Musk's xAI, said his team is focused on 'making Grok understand the news purely from what is posted on X.'"

Look. I know that "understanding the news purely from what is posted on the company formerly known as Twitter" is not going to give a lot of us comfort. Definitely not in the Elon Musk era of the company formerly known as Twitter.

But … I kinda like it? In theory?

Let's be clear: Understanding what is happening in the world based solely on what people say on X, or any other social media platform, is Not A Good Idea. But consuming commentary about what people say about what's happening in the world isn't a terrible idea. Maybe even a good one?

And, more practically: That kind of commentary consumption actually is the way many people learn about what's happening in the world. Even if you're a Serious News Consumer (thank you!), the bulk of the information you're getting likely isn't directly from a primary news source, but from someone who has aggregated or at least repeated what a primary news source says. It's basic economics: It's very expensive to go find news for yourself, and very cheap to talk about things that are in the news, or to package and present news other people have procured. That's why even large, well-funded news outfits — take, for instance, CNN — spend most of their time discussing and debating things we've already heard about, instead of presenting you with new things.

And while there are plenty of use cases where generative AI doesn't do a great job, it does seem quite useful at summarizing existing information, particularly when it's already been typed up. So why not summarize commentary?

The to-be-sures: Yes, you'd be foolish to rely on an Elon Musk-run AI machine for factual information.

But to be honest, that caveat applies to any AI machine at the moment. Last week, for instance, I asked Google's AI (not its much maligned Gemini but the one Google has started inserting into some people's phones whether they want it or not) a question about World War II and the Tower of London and it confidently gave me an answer about Big Ben instead.

So let's assume that any generative AI answer about anything should be deemed a starting point at best — something that may or may not be right and definitely requires a fact-check before you use it to inform a consequential decision. Just like you should if your source was "thing I read on the internet" or "thing I heard on a podcast."

Which gets to the other problem with Musk's solution, as Kantrowitz points out: Right now, Musk is barely even trying to tell you about the original source of the information he's summarizing.

When I asked Grok to "tell me about Elon Musk's plan to summarize news using grok" it provided me a very cogent summary of Kantrowitz's piece. But to find the source of that summary, I needed to scroll to the bottom of the entry, then all the way to right, past other people's tweets with zero information about Musk's plans, to find Kantrowitz's tweet linking to his original article.

That's a lousy way to give people access to more information. It's also lousy for publishers who are still spending effort — like Kantrowitz — to find new information. It means Musk gets the benefit of their work and they get next to nothing — barely even a link — in return.

Alas, I think that's the way we're headed with AI in general: Despite efforts to negotiate or sue Big AI, most publishers are headed to a world where Big AI engines provide increasingly complete answers to queries and give users little incentive to head to original sources to learn more.

It would certainly be nice if Grok gave Kantrowitz more prominent billing when it provides an answer, and I think it may or may not get around to doing that, depending on Musk's feelings at any given moment.

But any media company that doesn't have a plan, or at least a hope, for dealing with AI news — beyond wishing for a check or a court order — is going to be in trouble regardless.

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• HGTV's new show "Zillow Gone Wild" premieres May 3rd. 
• The founder of the popular Instagram account says the show brings listings to life in a new way. 
• One featured homeowner tells BI, "It's up to every owner to create their own magic." 

If you're prone to late night scrolls on home-buying website Zillow, lusting after drool-worthy mega-mansions or eye-popping geometric structures, you are not alone.

HGTV's new show "Zillow Gone Wild," — premiering tonight at 10:30 p.m. (EST), and also available to stream on Max — is here to unite all aspirational scrollers and take them behind the scenes of the most out-there houses. The show is based off the popular Instagram account of the same name that posts stunning, one-of-a-kind homes currently on the market.

Led by host Jack McBrayer, famous for playing the NBC page Kenneth on "30 Rock," the show takes viewers on-site to walk through the mind-boggling listings and meet the owners who made the structures feel like home.

Viewers have the added chance to win $25,000 by guessing online which home will be crowned the "wildest" after 8 weeks of episodes.

One man's hobby sparks a community of almost 2 million followers

Zillow Gone Wild first began as an Instagram account, started in December 2020 by content creator Samir Mezrahi. Initially, Mezrahi found himself perusing Zillow listings to entertain himself through the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and had a hunch others were doing the same.

"It felt like there was nowhere to talk about these wild, newsworthy, interesting homes," he told Business Insider.

Mezrahi collected postings of homes with outrageous amenities like go-kart tracks and nightclubs or places that doubled down on aesthetics like futuristic desert dwellings or fantasy-like castles.

The account blew up almost "instantly," Mezrahi says. Within a few weeks, "Saturday Night Live" featured a skit on Zillow scrolling, which Mezrahi saw as confirmation that he pierced the zeitgeist.

Four years later, Zillow Gone Wild boasts nearly 2 million followers on Instagram, where user submissions drive most of the posts, along with community-led traditions like "Castle Fridays" and "Mid-Century Modern Wednesdays."

Mezrahi is proud of the range of homes displayed, rather than just a singular focus on luxury. The account has shown off everything from a $210,000 60's-inspired trailer in North Carolina to a $36.5 million, 7-bedroom estate in California.

His hope is that the show brings the "wild" listings to life, allowing viewers to connect and dream further about the homes.

"Pictures don't always give you a sense of scale, or really do the property justice," he told BI.

A Pink Palace in Palm Springs preserves Hollywood history

One featured home on the new HGTV show is a desert oasis of Hollywood Regency design, an era in the early 20th century defined by the glamorous, over-the-top homes of newly minted movie stars.

Dubbed the "Pink Palace," the 3-bedroom, 4-bathroom Palm Springs home is wrapped in a bubblegum pink color on the outside and the inside features leopard-print walls, 1960's chandeliers, and an explosion of intricate mid-century patterns.

Homeowner and professional interior designer Tracy Turco said the opulence is intentional.

"I go for the gusto. I spark a lot of fun and joy in my decorating," she told Business Insider. The episode featuring her home will run next week, on May 10th.

The home once belonged to Magda Gabor, one of a trio of actress sisters some have compared to a 1950's socialite version of the Kardashians. Turco, a Hollywood Regency enthusiast, intended to keep Gabor's spirit alive from decor like a preserved portrait of Gabor hanging in the foyer to the lifestyle the home allowed.

"At our pool parties, we had people dancing in tuxedos and champagne flowing," she said.

On the show, host McBrayer points out that what makes the home "wild" is its fanatic attention to detail.

"There is not a square inch of this home that doesn't spell glamor," McBrayer said in Turco's episode.

Turco ultimately sold the property to be closer to family in Florida, but is resting easy as she found a set of buyers who are enthusiastic about keeping the home's aesthetic alive. She says she won't be upset if they paint over the pink.

"It's up to every owner to create their own magic," she told BI.

"Zillow Gone Wild" airs 10:30 p.m. on Fridays on HGTV and is streaming on Max.

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• It's not all bad news for electric vehicles these days, but it can seem like it. 
• Automakers aren't likely to walk away from multi-billion dollar investments.
• There are shoppers who want EVs, they just can't afford them.

The electric vehicle market is going through its biggest change yet, and it's not pretty.

The rate of EV sales has been slowing for about a year, major automakers have pulled back on their previously lofty EV goals, and even electric car-giant Tesla is faltering.

High-end vehicles that companies have spent years developing are hitting the market after their target buyers have already gone electric. Meanwhile, a newer crop of EV-curious shoppers can't find a car in their price range and are opting for hybrids instead.

In the once-thriving EV startup market, valuations of previous Wall Street darlings like Rivian have crashed back to earth while others, like Fisker, are at risk of going belly-up.

This thinning of the herd in the EV market gives skeptics of a battery-powered car revolution plenty to point to these days. But to count out EVs altogether ignores the greater context behind this rough moment for the electric-car market.

Demand for electric vehicles hasn't dried up completely

Demand for expensive EVs has softened significantly, but an opening exists in the affordable market.

A new generation of electric car shoppers are looking for different options than their early-adopting counterparts. These shoppers, who are less interested in Tesla, are more frugal and practical, and more likely to be considering replacing their gas-powered car with an EV rather than adding an EV to their fleet.

These shoppers are discovering that there's not much made for them in the way of EVs right now, which has led to an uptick in demand for hybrid vehicles instead.

The result is a slowing in the rapid rate of growth the EV segment has seen in the last few years – not a reversal. Overall sales of electric vehicles are still on the rise, it's just slower going. EVs accounted for 8.9% of retail sales in April, according to JD Power, up from a first-quarter average of 8.3%.

Legacy car companies aren't going to give up on EVs

It's just not that simple. Essentially every major automotive company at this point has built its future around selling more electric vehicles. This has required billions of dollars in investment that executives are not going to just walk away from overnight.

On top of that, car companies will still have to meet increasingly stringent emission standards in the US and globally over the next several years, and EVs are crucial to meeting those standards.

What we're seeing instead is a sobering up of sorts after several years of hype. Companies, egged on by investors, spent the last several years promising a battery-powered future was right around the corner. As these ambitions have met with reality, however, plans have changed.

Hybrid sales are good for EV sales

While hybrid sales can take away from EVs in the short term, industry experts have actually said that hybrids are a good bridge technology for future EV adopters.

But that didn't stop Tesla CEO Elon Musk from blaming hybrids in part for some of his company's poor first quarter results last month.

It's true that as EV growth has slowed, interest in hybrids is on the rise. These cars, which come in plug-in varieties or with hybrid engines that don't need to be hooked up to a charger, are more appealing to the current green-car shopper.

The real divide here is not between hybrids and EVs, but between legacy car companies and EV-only startups. Companies like Ford and GM can keep a shopper in the brand if they opt for a hybrid over an EV, while Tesla or Rivian loses a hybrid buyer altogether.

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• If the US goes to war with Russia or China, it could have to deal with both adversaries at once, US intel leaders warn.
• Russia and China have developed what they call a "no limits" partnership. 
• The two also conducted a joint military exercise near Taiwan for the first time, per a US official.

In the event of a conflict with either Russia or China, US forces may find themselves dealing with both adversaries due to their "cooperative" partnership, according to recent warnings from top US intelligence officials.

And the chance of the US finding itself at war with these rivals is much more likely now than it was a few years ago, prompting the US to revisit its thinking and military planning.

During Thursday's US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on worldwide threats, Avril D. Haines, director of national intelligence, and Lt. Gen. Jeffrey A. Kruse, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, commented on recent cooperation between Russia and China, noting that it indicated that the two could come to each other's aid in a war with the US.

In the hearing, Haines highlighted ties between the two, from military activities to economics, politics, and technology. She added that this was prompting new government planning "across the board."

When asked about whether this dynamic meant the US had to prepare to fight both adversaries at the same time should conflict begin with one, Haines said it was possible, but the likelihood "depended on the scenario." Kruse, however, said that it was a greater possibility than it was a few years ago.

"Bottom line is that, basically, if we were to have a conflict with one, the chances are we would have a second front," Kruse said.

Kruse also noted that what the Department of Defense had seen over past few years had "caused the department to relook at its analysis and become even more concerned" about joint force requirements in an environment where Russia or China could support one another in a conflict.

The "no limits" partnership between China and Russia, declared in February 2022 just before Russia invaded Ukraine, is also prompting the Pentagon to change its thinking about what potential conflict with either rival would look like.

"We are in the middle of that revision today," Kruse said.

Perhaps one of the most glaring pieces of evidence, beyond China's support for Russia's war in Ukraine and helping Russia evade sanctions, is the military cooperation pertaining to Taiwan, long a potential flashpoint.

Haines explained to the Senate committee that Russia and China conducted exercises related to Taiwan for the first time, highlighting a possibility that should China decide to pursue an invasion or blockade of the island, Russia could be involved.

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• Hope Hicks, a former longtime advisor to Donald Trump, took the witness stand in his hush-money trial Friday.
• Just after Trump's lawyer began cross-examining her, she broke down in tears.
• Hicks was Trump's 2016 campaign press secretary and later his White House communications director.

Hope Hicks, an ex-White House aide and longtime advisor to Donald Trump, broke down in tears while on the witness stand on Friday in the former president's hush-money criminal trial.

Her voice cracked as she began answering questions from Trump's lawyer Emil Bove Thursday afternoon, who had asked her whether the Trump Organization created the position of Communications Director to get her to join the company in October 2014.

After answering "yes," Hicks grabbed a tissue and turned to her left while sitting on the witness stand. She turned her face and body away from the courtroom audience.

"Ms. Hicks, do you need a break?" the trial judge Juan Merchan asked.

"Yes, please," she responded in a cracked voice, while facing away from the judge.

After the judge announced a break, she walked across the courtroom, passing by Trump without looking at him.

Hicks is a key witness in the trial, potentially linking Trump directly to what prosecutors call an election-influencing scheme to purchase a porn star's silence in the days before the 2016 presidential election.

Hicks — Trump's 2016 campaign press secretary and later his White House communications director — said on the stand in the Manhattan courtroom that she was testifying pursuant to a subpoena in the historic case.

Prosecutors in the Manhattan District Attorney's Office allege Trump illegally falsified 34 business records by covering up a $130,000 hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.

The payment, handled by Trump's ex-personal attorney and former fixer Michael Cohen, was made to Daniels 11 days before the 2016 presidential election to buy her silence over a 2006 sexual encounter with Trump, prosecutors allege.

While Trump's lawyers have claimed the arrangements were made to avoid personal embarrassment, Hicks — Trump's 2016 campaign communications director — testified about working with Trump and Cohen to respond to media inquiries about the scandal.

In their opening statements, prosecutors said the campaign was particularly vulnerable to the perceptions of female voters following the publication of the Access Hollywood tape, and so Trump sprung into action to block Daniels from going public about an affair she says she had with him.

"I was definitely concerned this was going to be a massive story and make the news cycle for the next couple of days — at least," Hicks said on the witness stand earlier Friday, explaining her reaction to learning about the tape.

In her testimony, Hicks hurt Trump by showing how deeply he — and the campaign — worried about infidelity stories going public in the weeks before the election.

Hicks became emotional as prosecutors wrapped up their direct examination of her.

Her final answer helped bolster the district attorney's case. She said Trump was happy that news of the hush-money arrangement with Daniels had become public in 2018 "rather than just before the election."

Hicks took the witness stand again after about a five-minute break, looking flushed but calmer.

Hicks was one of Trump's most trusted advisors in his 2016 climb to the presidency and federal prosecutors have said in court papers from the 2019 prosecution of Michael Cohen that she could directly tie Trump to the so-called "catch-and-kill" scheme.

She was in on a flurry of phone calls and emails involving Trump, Cohen, and two top executives at the National Enquirer, in the wake of the publication of Trump's notorious Access Hollywood tape, prosecutors have alleged.

"I was concerned. Very concerned," she said of receiving a transcript of the Access Hollywood tape.

Hicks was also in on a three-way conference call with Trump and Cohen as they allegedly talked about safeguarding Clifford's silence, the feds alleged on pages 41 and 42 of a 269-page search warrant.

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• A former aide to Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui has pleaded guilty to fraud.
• Yvette Wang admitted to conspiracy weeks before her ex-boss is set to stand trial.
• Guo is accused of defrauding online followers out of more than $1 billion.

Yvette Wang, a former aide to indicted Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui, pleaded guilty to fraud, federal prosecutors said Friday.

Wang used to work for Guo, a self-exiled rapper, influencer, crypto guru, and real estate mogul who himself is facing 11 counts of fraud and money laundering charges.

William Je, Guo's financier, is facing the same charges — plus an additional count of obstruction of justice, according to the Department of Justice.

Federal prosecutors allege that Guo was the leader of a conspiracy that asked hundreds of thousands of followers to make investments based on false statements. He used the proceeds to buy a New Jersey mansion, a $3.5 million Ferrari, two $36,000 mattresses, and other extravagant purchases, prosecutors allege.

US Attorney Damian Williams said Friday that Wang, 45, played "a leadership role" in the scheme, which "collected more than $1 billion from innocent victims located throughout the country and the world."

Wang's guilty pleas — to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering — carry a maximum sentence of 10 years.

She also agreed to pay $1.4 billion in restitution and forfeit the same amount to the US, according to the DOJ.

She will be sentenced on September 10. Wang's lawyers did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

Guo, an associate of longtime Donald Trump advisor Steve Bannon, is set to stand trial later this month.

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