Category: Business

• Shein's CEO Xu Yangtian is staying out of the spotlight despite a hotly-anticipated IPO.
• Xu is so under the radar that his own employees don't recognize him in the office, the SCMP reported.
• Shein's executive chairman is more public, but he sparked scrutiny in a recent speech.

Fast-fashion giant Shein is gearing up for its widely-anticipated debut as a public company. But one key figure has stayed out of the spotlight: CEO Xu Yangtian, also known as Sky Xu.

The reclusive 40-year-old CEO, earlier referred to as Chris Xu, has avoided the kind of attention executives typically attract. He doesn't give interviews, speak at conferences, or have any public social media footprint despite leading a company boosted by TikTok.

Even Xu's own employees don't recognize him in the office, the South China Morning Post reported on Monday.

Shein senior advisor Frances Townsend told The Wall Street Journal — which ran an illustration of Xu in a December profile — that when she was in Shein's Guangzhou office last summer, nobody acknowledged the CEO sharing the elevator with them. Townsend highlighted the lack of interaction to Xu, who told her, "That's not our culture."

No verified photos of Xu exist, internally or externally. The SCMP said Xu's company photo is a basic landscape with the phrase: "If you have dreams, you are remarkable."

Bloomberg ranks Shein's founder as the 86th richest man in the world, with a net worth of $21.5 billion, based on the private company's scant filings. Bloomberg said a Shein spokesperson disputed that figure without explaining what was wrong.

Shein is expected to go public this year, although the big details, like when and for how much, are still under wraps. The Wall Street Journal reported in late May that a London filing could come weeks after the company faced roadblocks in the US.

If and when the company starts trading, Xu may finally emerge on the public stage. As a public company CEO, he'll be expected to participate in regular updates — UK companies are not required to have quarterly earnings calls, but most do — and interact with investors.

American culture celebrates founders who turn ideas into multi-billion-dollar companies. But Chinese executives must take care not to invite too much attention from party officials, who can exert significant power over their companies and personal lives. Alibaba founder Jack Ma disappeared from public for years after criticizing the government, and several other Chinese billionaires have similarly vanished in recent years.

Loyalty to China under scrutiny

So far, Shein's public face has been executive chairman Donald Tang. The Shanghai-born businessman, who became a US citizen as an adult, moved up the ranks at now-defunct investment bank Bear Stearns and joined Shein in 2021.

A recent speech Tang gave underscores the careful tightrope all Chinese executives walk — and why Xu may be staying out of public view. At the Milken Institute last month, Tang said Shein's roots are Chinese, while its headquarters make it Singaporean, but its ethos is American.

Tang's attempt to pacify officials on both sides of the Pacific attracted significant attention in Beijing. The company is still waiting for officials to greenlight its application to list outside of China.

"It raises questions of loyalty to China that some in Beijing find uncomfortable," a person familiar with the listing issue told the Financial Times on Friday.

Two Chinese business writers told the FT that Shein pressured them to skip writing about Tang's apparent gaffe, and the Milken Institute removed a video of the speech. The group did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment sent outside standard business hours, nor to the FT.

Shein did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.

• Ukraine is set to receive a hybrid air defense tank from Germany.
• It consists of a Skyranger turret mounted on a Leopard 2 chassis, per arms manufacturer Rheinmetall.
• This comes as both Russian and Ukrainian armies struggle against exploding drones.

Ukraine's war effort may soon get a boost from a new hybrid tank that merges a Cold War-era tank chassis with an advanced air defense system.

Rheinmetall, a German arms manufacturer, revealed in a media release on Monday that the new design consists of a Skyranger turret mounted on a Leopard 2 chassis.

Björn Bernhard, Head of Land Systems at Rheinmetall, hinted to German media outlet Bild that more such hybrid tanks could be in the works.

"There are still a lot of Leopard 1 battle tanks on whose chassis we could put the Skyranger turret with the 35mm machine gun," Bernhard told Bild.

According to Rheinmetall, the new system "offers an optimum combination of mobility, protection, flexibility and precision to meet the growing requirements of challenging threat scenarios in the near and closer range."

Amalgamations of newer military hardware with aspects of older technology have been rolled out on the Ukrainian battlefield. Ukraine has been deploying the "FrankenSAM," a hybrid air defense system that combines US missiles with Soviet launchers.

The new tank design comes as both Ukraine's and Russia's militaries have been grappling with the overwhelming presence of exploding drones, which fly into military vehicles and explode or burst into flames.

Even the most powerful tanks need to be protected by cage armor. Both armies have adopted the practice of welding "cope cages" to tanks to try to prevent drone attacks.

Russia has also taken to installing metal tent-like structures on tank roofs to protect against anti-tank fire. Also called "turtle" tanks, the metal sheets cover the tanks so extensively that they can barely turn their guns, as seen in a video uploaded by the open-source intelligence Telegram channel CyberBoroshno.

However, makeshift armor is not always effective. Video footage posted on May 6 by the 8th Separate Mountain Assault Battalion shows Russian tanks sporting "cope cages" being hit and destroyed by Ukrainian drones.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's supply of Leopard 2 tanks from Germany is also dwindling.

Sebastian Schäfer, an economist and member of Germany's Green Party, wrote a letter to weapons manufacturers, urging them to improve the repair process and supply of parts for the damaged tanks, per German outlet Der Spiegel in a report on January 2.

Rheinmetall didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, made outside normal working hours.

• Jon Stewart came out swinging on Monday about how he thinks the POTUS race has devolved.
• Stewart said it's now "boiled down to each candidate accusing the other of having soup where there should be brain."
• Biden and Trump are slated to go head-to-head in a debate at CNN's Atlanta studio on June 27.

Jon Stewart isn't mincing words about how he thinks the 2024 presidential race has devolved into mud-slinging about the state of each candidate's cognitive abilities.

In his Monday monologue on "The Daily Show," Stewart kicked off his segment by giving a "quick state of play."

"I guess the election has basically boiled down to each candidate accusing the other of having soup where there should be brain," Stewart quipped.

Stewart, 61 years old, then went on to do something that got him plenty of flak back in February when he first started doing Mondays at the Comedy Central show: He called out both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump for their advanced ages.

Biden is 81, and Trump is 78.

"For instance, for President Biden, it is his habit of seemingly staring at what can only be considered ghosts or out-of-frame paratroopers," Stewart said as an embarrassing clip of Biden appearing to wander off at the G7 summit played. "And then when he's pulled back into frame, somehow giving the impression someone has just quantum leaped into his body."

Stewart also slammed Trump, commenting on how Trump recently crowed about having great cognitive abilities at a GOP event.

"The case he's making to the American public is that he's the sharpest tool in the shed. See if you can find the flaw in his logic just one sentence later," Stewart said.

The show then played a clip of Trump bragging about acing a cognitive test — then getting the name of the doctor who gave him that test wrong.

"I took a cognitive test, and I aced it. Doc Ronny — Doc Ronny Johnson," Trump said, garbling then-White House physician Ronny Jackson's name. "Does everyone know Ronny Johnson, congressman from Texas? He was the White House doctor."

"He got the guy's name wrong on his cognitive test," Stewart said, laughing. "I don't even know what to say."

Stewart, in a February episode of "The Daily Show," also expressed his concern about the candidates' advanced ages.

"The stakes of this election don't make Donald Trump's opponent less subject to scrutiny. It actually makes him more subject to scrutiny," Stewart said in February.

But Stewart's critics pummeled him and said he'd unfairly equated the aging president with his opponent, a four-times indicted, now-convicted felon.

Trump and Biden are set to face off on stage in the first presidential debate of 2024. This debate will be hosted on CNN on June 27 at the network's Atlanta studio.

Representatives for Trump and Biden did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular business hours.

• Japan's abandoned homes are casting a shadow on nearby properties, a Nikkei report revealed. 
• The homes cost the Japanese property market some $24.7 billion over five years through 2023.
• Japan has been offering these abandoned homes at throwaway prices to lure buyers. 

Japan's glut of abandoned homes — or akiya — has hit the prices of surrounding properties, and the damage goes into the tens of billions.

A report by Nikkei Asia on Tuesday estimated that the country's property market suffered losses of some $24.7 billion over the last five years due to the falling property values of homes near derelict buildings.

The report quoted research from the Japan Akiya Consortium, a group of 14 companies and a research institution that aims to tackle Japan's akiya problem.

According to the consortium's research, land prices for properties within a 165-foot radius of the akiya are cratering.

This is due to various factors. For one, potential buyers concerned about vegetation overgrowth and pest infestations from the abandoned homes are steering clear.

Pest infestations aside, the houses can also pose serious safety hazards. Poorly maintained properties, for one, could collapse in earthquakes, landslides, or extreme weather.

An akiya also can't be occupied or demolished without tracking down the original owner — a time-consuming exercise, as descendants may have moved away or become uncontactable. As such, these houses have led to the formation of "ghost villages" in Japan's rural prefectures.

The Japanese government is offering incentives, such as cheap $500 homes and tax reliefs, to entice residents to move from urban areas back to rural towns.

Foreigners have jumped on the deals, snagging large properties for low prices and renovating them into their dream homes.

However, Chris McMorran, an associate professor in the Department of Japanese Studies at the National University of Singapore (NUS), told BI in 2021 that the outlook for rural communities remains bleak.

"The fact that there are so many empty houses is a blight on the landscape, and a further deterrent, because people don't want to live in a terminal village surrounded by 'ghost houses,'" McMorran said to Insider's Lina Batarags and Cheryl Teh.

Japan'a akiya have ballooned to nine million as of October 2023, accounting for nearly 14% of all homes in the country. The number is set to increase as Japan's population shrinks, ages, and moves from rural to urban dwellings.

Akiya also includes abandoned condominiums. According to Nikkei, owners who leave their homes and don't pay the condominium management and maintenance fees could lower the value of the building as a whole.

"Our estimate was limited to the impact of abandoned single-family houses on land prices," Teppei Kawaguchi, CEO of Crassone, a construction and demolition services company that heads the consortium, told Nikkei. "The actual negative impact may be even greater."

There is a flip side to this property crisis. While buyers may be shying away from purchasing homes around akiya, some abandoned homes have caught the fancy of people wanting to buy cheap property in the Japanese countryside.

And in November, Airbnb told Nikkei that it wants to partner with local governments to encourage homeowners to renovate their abandoned homes, so that they could be used as tourist attractions.

"It can be a good source of income after people retire as our lifetime gets longer. If the owners of idle assets refurbish them and convert them into lodgings, that would be a solution," Airbnb's head of Japan, Yasuyuki Tanabe, told Nikkei.

Crassone, a construction and demolition services company that heads the consortium, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

• China increased its nuclear warheads from 410 in 2023 to 500 this year, per SIPRI.
• The European think tank says China's nuclear arsenal is growing "faster than any other country."
• China could have over 1,000 operational nuclear warheads by 2030, per the Pentagon.

China has beaten its fellow superpowers when it comes to growing its stockpile of nuclear warheads, a European think tank said in a report on Monday.

"China is expanding its nuclear arsenal faster than any other country," said Hans M Kristensen, a Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) expert on weapons of mass destruction.

According to SIPRI, China has increased its nuclear warheads from 410 in 2023 to 500 at the start of this year. But China, Kristensen said, isn't the only country that's been busy expanding its nuclear arsenal.

North Korea has increased its warheads by two-thirds over the past year, going from 30 in 2023 to 50 this year, per the think tank.

To be sure, China's and North Korea's growing nuclear stockpiles still cannot compare to what the US and Russia have.

In terms of total inventory, the US has 5,044 warheads while Russia has 5,580, and their combined stockpile makes up almost 90% of the world's nuclear weapons, per SIPRI.

Representatives for China's foreign ministry didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from BI sent outside regular business hours.

China could have over 1,000 warheads by 2030

The institute's figures are in line with the Department of Defense's forecasts, which were published in October in their annual China Military Power Report.

"In 2020, the Department of Defense estimated China's operational nuclear warhead stockpile was in the low-200s and expected to at least double by 2030," the report said.

"However, Beijing has accelerated its nuclear expansion, and the Department of Defense estimates China's stockpile had more than 500 operational nuclear warheads as of May 2023," the report continued.

And China's nuclear stockpile will only continue to grow in the years to come. The Pentagon said in its report that it expects China to have over 1,000 operational nuclear warheads by 2030.

"These changes to the numbers, capability, and readiness of the PRC's nuclear forces in the coming years are likely to outpace potential developments by the nuclear forces of any competitor," the report said of China's growing nuclear capabilities.

Expanding its nuclear arsenal isn't China's only military goal. The country has also been focused on bolstering its naval capabilities.

According to a 2021 US Navy Institute report, China has the world's largest navy, with over 355 vessels in its fleet. In July, leaked US Navy intelligence revealed that China's shipbuilding capacity is 232 times greater than the US.

However, some military experts believe that China still won't be able to take on the US in the next decade, even with its burgeoning military capabilities.

"China, in my estimation, will not be ready to take on the US in a very mature way for about 10 years," retired US Navy Adm. James Stavridis said in an interview on "The Michael Medved Show" in December.

"Even though China is building a massive fleet, even though they're acting very aggressively, they're not ready yet to line up all that they need to take on the US Pacific Fleet," he continued.

• The US surgeon general wants to attach an official government warning to social media platforms.
• But social media experts are mixed on how whether a warning could help curb kids' mental health woes.
• Parents can and should play a massive role in teaching their kids how to stay safe online. 

The US surgeon general on Monday proposed a bold new step in fighting social media's negative effects on children, suggesting the government affix social media platforms with a surgeon general's warning about the inherent risks of being too online.

But social media experts and researchers are mixed on just how effective such a move would be.

In a New York Times op-ed published this week, Dr. Vivek Murthy called for government warning labels on social media platforms, citing recent studies that point to kids' worsening mental health in an increasingly digital world.

"Adolescents who spend more than three hours a day on social media face double the risk of anxiety and depression symptoms, and the average daily use in this age group, as of the summer of 2023, was 4.8 hours," Murthy wrote, citing a 2019 American Medical Association study and a 2023 Gallup poll.

While scientific researchers are still hashing out the exact impacts social media has on children, Titania Jordan, chief parent officer at parental controls company Bark Technologies, said parents need only look around to see the ways in which kids are suffering.

"The rates at which young children are struggling with suicidal ideation, exposure to graphic sexual content, drug, and alcohol-related content — dying because of fentanyl-laced pills they've bought on Snapchat — the bullying, the depression, the disordered eating, the predators, the violence — all of those are way higher than anyone would imagine," Jordan told Business Insider.

Last year, Murthy made a similar social media-related plea, issuing a surgeon general's advisory that urged Americans to pay attention to what he deemed a public health issue. Since then, Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg has testified before Congress about the company's child safety policies, and legislation focused on online safety for kids continues to work its way through Congress.

But little has actually changed, Jordan said. And kids themselves are increasingly aware of social media's potential harms. According to one August 2022 study, almost half of all adolescents said social media makes them feel bad about their bodies.

"A warning label via a pop-up on an app isn't going to be the end-all-be-all to keeping kids safe online, but at least it starts the conversation and levels the playing field," Jordan said.

A mixed-bag

Karen North, a professor of digital and social media at the University of Southern California, is skeptical about whether a surgeon general's warning would do much of anything to curb kids' mental health woes.

"It's far more complicated than putting a warning on something that is clearly dangerous, like cigarettes or alcohol, because social media is a real mixed bag," North said. "It's a true double-edged sword.

While social media has, without question, negatively affected scores of children, many young people have also used the platforms to build community, befriending people they would never have had the chance to meet in "the real world," North said.

She questioned which platforms would be subject to the surgeon general's warning. Instagram and TikTok, certainly. But what about something like Duolingo? And what exactly would the warning say, North wondered, noting that social media is rarely exclusively harmful.

Still, a warning — which could only be implemented with Congress' approval — could have marginal benefits in keeping the conversation around mental health top of mind, North said.

But there's something even more powerful in fighting social media's perils, online experts said: Parenting.

Proactive parenting

For most kids, social media use begins at home. Parents set the rules, purchase the smartphones, and model social media behavior.

"We as parents and caregivers have to say no and delay," Jordan said, echoing Murthy's call to restrict kids' social media use until high school.

Kids often point to feeling left out without smartphones or access to social media, said Jordan, who is a parent. She suggested parents resist the urge to bend to their children's will and instead encourage their kids to focus on spending time with their peers in the physical world.

But what about when social media facilitates connection in the physical world? North, who is also a parent, said when her daughter was in middle school, the tween's peers exclusively used Snapchat to make plans and organize meetups. Without the app, her daughter would have been left in the dark on social gatherings.

"Someone once said you have to give your kids the tools for success in the world that you've placed them in," she told BI.

Instead of restricting kids' access to social media entirely, North suggested parents take an active role in teaching their children how to use social media as safely as possible.

"We hand over social media to our kids at a young age, but we don't do the same thing with crossing the street," North said. "We take them, time after time, holding their hand and pointing to the stop sign. We tell them to look both ways. We go to great lengths to teach kids how to cross."

The same should go for using social media, she argued.

"Parents need to teach their kids how to cross the virtual street," North said.

Are you a parent who has struggled with your children's social media use? Have you restricted your kids' access to social media or taken a proactive approach to teaching them how to navigate the digital world? Email the reporter at esnodgrass@businessinsider.com to share your social media stories.

• Nicola Prentis sorted out her finances three years ago and is on track for retirement.
• She's found that a man's attitude toward pensions, saving, and spending is a good indicator of compatibility.
• Now, she always asks them if they have a pension early on while dating.

"Have you got a pension?" isn't the first question I ask a date but it's high on my list if I'm considering an actual relationship.

It's not about how much they earn, and I'm not looking for someone rich. In my opinion, a low-earning saver, like me, is actually much better off financially than a high-earning spender with no safety net. But I have to ask about pensions to really find out where our future is heading as a couple.

Pensions impress me more than a fat wallet

One guy I dated had his own business and earned four times more than me. He kept offering to buy me flights to visit him, sent me expensive flowers, and had a penchant for buying anything in the grocery store labeled "finest."

Big spenders make me uneasy because I don't enjoy extravagance and I'm happier living simply. But my fears were confirmed when I asked him the pension question.

It turned out that, at 50, he had no emergency fund to call on, no pension, and no investments. Even more telling about how the balance of our future relationship would be was when he added, "I don't understand all that stuff but I'm happy for you to manage it for me."

That was my cue to end it. No relationship can work if one person is always the "fun police" and has to do all the labor because the other can't be bothered to learn. I ended it and truly hope he put that flower money toward a pension.

Another guy had a sneaker collection to rival the Nike flagship store. He bought them for comfort and as a reward for working long hours in a high-pressure job. I, too, work a lot, but I'm trying to create a business, so my reward will be that I eventually work less. Also, I only buy sneakers when the old ones fall apart.

Did he have a pension though? I wondered. He didn't. "Who knows how long we have to live?" he shrugged. To me, it's precisely that we don't know how long we'll live that creates the reason to prepare financially for retirement, not to spend everything and work until you die. Clearly, we weren't heading in the same direction at all.

I secured my own finances, so I want a man who's done the same

As a low earner, a single mother, and someone who had their head in the sand for years over financial security, I finally woke up three years ago and sorted out my own future financial security.

I started by making sure I was up to date on the state pension systems in the UK, where I'm from, and Spain, where I live. I invested my savings instead of leaving them in an account earning nothing and opened a private pension plan that I automate small contributions to every month. I've even started a business teaching other people to do exactly what I've done.

Since I started getting interested in personal finance, I've learned that attitudes toward money are one of the most persistent and destructive factors in relationship issues. That's a clear theme when I look back at my past relationships. Disagreements about money caused more than just arguments. They brought a feeling of distance from a partner because their beliefs and behaviors around money were so alien to me.

Past boyfriends' attitudes toward money caused problems

I had a boyfriend once who thought it was smart to put everything on a credit card and pay the minimum balance each month because it increased the amount he had available to spend. The fact he couldn't see why that didn't work out mathematically amplified all the other ways we were incompatible.

In another relationship, we almost split up over an argument that began over a difference of opinion on buying a 2,000 euro piece of art. I thought it was a waste of money — he saw that as an indication of how little our tastes overlapped. We were both "right," and, inevitably, the relationship didn't last.

So when I'm asking if a guy has a pension, what I'm really asking is: "Are you thinking about the future or just about enjoying today?" It's not that there's anything wrong with living in the moment. After all, I get that "you can't take it with you" and "there's no point being the richest person in the cemetery." But, to me, I can enjoy the present more if it's not ruined by worrying about what will happen later if I don't have money.

If our approaches differ on that, I am certain we won't be a good match — financially or romantically.

Got a personal essay about life as a single parent that you want to share? Get in touch with the editor: akarplus@businessinsider.com.

• Maria Estrada's children have collectively won over $67,000 in science fair awards.
• Her son John's video games sparked his interest in AI, robotics, and electronics.
• Estrada worried about his video game habit at first, but now she sees some advantages to it.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Maria Estrada, 51, who is a plant-science lecturer at Fresno State and the mother of two teenagers. It's been edited for length and clarity.

Both of my kids love to compete in science fairs. Combined, they've won more than $67,000 in awards for their projects.

Being immigrant parents, my husband and I are a little bit strict. We make sure that our kids follow the rules.

You need to be respectful and compassionate — that's part of our Filipino culture. We tried to emphasize to them that academics are important, but you need to also be a well-rounded person.

But screen time is one thing that I am probably not good at. My son John loves video games, especially Mario and Pokemon.

He started playing games in fifth or sixth grade on his handheld Nintendo, I think it was. Then he had a PlayStation. He could play for hours.

I did try to control my son's video game use a bit to make sure he would not be addicted to it. I didn't want him to hate me, and I believe in moderation, so I tried to be reasonable. On most school nights, we would ask him to do his assignments first.

Any technology has a positive and a negative aspect. At first, I was just looking at the negative. You don't want your kids to be on the computer a lot.

I saw a lot of articles about kids starting on computers, smartphones, and iPads early. I felt like it could do him harm.

Then I saw how gaming piqued his interest in computers. It helped him, especially in his science fair projects.

After a while, I saw a lot of advantages to his video game habits.

Games introduced both of my kids to coding

It started with the consoles, but soon John was also playing games on the computer. That's when he began researching how the game was made, which piqued his curiosity about coding.

So I put him and my daughter, Pauline, into an after-school program where they learned to code.

They both used their coding skills later when they developed AI models for their science fair projects.

Video game controllers helped him excel at robotics

John is into electronics — not just the PlayStation 5 console. He programmed a Lego robot in fifth grade.

But video games might have taken my son a step further. John could already use controllers really well, so he got interested in building remote-controlled cars and drones.

In middle school, he built his own drone and flew it around. I don't think he would have been able to do this if he had not been really good at playing with a joystick from his video games.

Soon John was building drones and rovers for his science fair projects.

My kids' electronics projects won awards

Eventually, the kids needed a workshop for their science projects, so we converted a big informal living room into one big table with chairs.

They built their drone there, they built their rover, they built their camera. It was so messy. I would just close the door so I wouldn't see the mess, all the wires and cables. They had so much electronics in there.

In 2021, when he was 16, John won the $50,000 Gordon E. Moore Award for a project he presented at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), as well as $5,000 for first place in the plant sciences category. He had developed an AI model to detect drought stress in bell pepper plants, using a robotic infrared camera he built.

John and Pauline did their next science fair project together, expanding on the concept with tomato plants and a rover.

Their project went to ISEF in 2022 and won first place in the plant sciences category.

Now John is studying computer science at the University of California, Berkeley. Ultimately, his gaming helped him get there.

• Bilt Rewards, a Wells Fargo co-branded credit card, allows people to earn rewards by paying rent.
• Bilt's core demographic are high-earning young professionals.
• The company may have miscalculated how its customer base would use its card. 

Wells Fargo may have underestimated just how savvy young professionals could be with a credit card that rewards renters.

In 2022, Wells Fargo, the San Francisco-based bank, partnered with Bilt Technologies, a fintech startup, to offer a rewards program that incentivizes customers to pay rent with a credit card.

For many young renters, the allure was clear: Bilt offered a zero-annual-fee card that allowed its users to earn a point for every dollar spent on rent without incurring transaction fees. The only requirement was that customers make five transactions each statement period to earn the points.

Customers could also receive points for travel and dining. Those points could then be used for purchases with any of Bilt's partners, such as Alaska Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, Hyatt, and Soul Cycle.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Bilt opened more than one million accounts within the first 18 months.

But the return for the bank has yet to materialize.

A 'generation of young, affluent new customers'

Bilt's demographic is decidedly different from the average American — who has a median salary of just less than $60,000, with 49% of them holding onto a credit card balance month-to-month.

But a report on Bilt prepared by investment banking firm Financial Technology Partners said the company was reaching out to a "generation of young, affluent new customers."

In a February interview with The Wise Marketer, Dave Canty, Bilt's head of loyalty and partnerships, said the company's core demographics are between 24 and 34, with a median age of about 29.

"The average income," he said in the interview, "is about $147,000, so these are high-achieving young professionals."

Bilt CEO and founder Ankur Jain said on X that his company was attracting "highly valuable customers" for Wells Fargo at low costs. The average customer is 31 years old and has a 760 FICO score, he said.

Kevin and Amanda Smidt, a Miami-based couple, told Business Insider they've been Bilt cardmembers for about a year after they heard about the program on a financial podcast.

"I've never heard of it, and I was like, 'Wow, that's so smart,' because — especially if you live in a major city like New York or Miami — you're spending a lot of money on rent," Amanda, a 32-year-old business owner and registered nurse anesthetist, said. "I was like, 'This makes so much sense because I have this huge payment every month, but now I'll get points.'"

The two described themselves as financially responsible, telling BI they never carry a balance on their multiple personal credit cards, including Bilt.

"I heard about it on a financial podcast about investing. I'm a responsible person who invests, you know what I mean?" Amanda said.

Kevin, who is 33 and working on his fellowship as an orthopedic surgeon, told BI that the card has been fruitful.

The couple said they racked up 56,000 points in about six months and transferred them through one of Bilt's programs to turn their earnings into 126,000 points with Virgin Atlantic. Kevin said they used the reward to pay for three flights, two in business class and one on Virgin's new plane.

The husband told BI that he could see the card being beneficial for general use, given the rewards a customer could gain from travel and dining. But for the Smidts, most of the other purchases they made with Bilt were to meet the minimum five-transaction requirement.

"A lot of the times, that's like a latte," Amanda said. "I just do small purchases to be able to get the points from the rent."

Kevin said he hopes Wells Fargo doesn't get rid of Bilt, but Amanda chimed in: "Well, actually, we just bought a house."

"Oh yeah," Kevin added, "so we won't be able to use it anymore."

A costly program

The Journal reported on Sunday that Wells Fargo was losing up to $10 million monthly to sustain the Bilt program, citing anonymous current and former employees.

According to the report, part of the problem is that Wells Fargo may have miscalculated how Bilt customers would use the card.

The Journal reported that only 15% to 25% of the dollars people spent on the card were carried over month-to-month, which is crucial for Wells Fargo to generate interest-fee revenue. The bank projected that the carry-over would be between half and three-quarters of the dollars spent.

Wells Fargo also anticipated that 65% of the credit card purchase volume would be for expenses other than rent. Instead, according to The Journal, most purchases are for rent payments despite Bilt's requirement for five transactions per statement to score points.

Wells Fargo and Bilt declined to comment on the reported numbers. A Bilt spokesperson told Business Insider that Wells Fargo does not make the numbers publicly available.

In an email, a Wells Fargo spokesperson told Business Insider that co-branded credit cards are "one modest piece of the company's overall credit card business strategy, and the BILT credit card is one component of that."

"As with all new card launches, it takes multiple years for the initial launch to pay off and while we are in the early stages of our partnership, we look forward to continuing to work together to deliver a great value for our customers and make sure it's a win for both BILT and Wells Fargo," the spokesperson said.

According to The Journal, the losses have pushed Wells Fargo to rethink its partnership with Bilt, and the bank won't renew its contract, which is set to expire in 2029.

The Wells Fargo spokesperson said that "there has been no conversation among decision-makers to exit the BILT agreement. To suggest otherwise is false."

A Bilt spokesperson said the Journal's story is an "inaccurate representation of our strategic partnership with Wells Fargo."

On X, Bilt CEO Jain did not address the reported losses but repeated Wells Fargo's statement denying the bank's plan to end the partnership once the contract expires.

• "Bridgerton" season three focuses on Colin and Penelope's love story.
• The latest batch of episodes of the Regency-era show includes several instrumental pop covers.
• Season three features covers of Taylor Swift's "Snow on the Beach," Ariana Grande's "POV," and more.

Warning: There are major spoilers ahead for season three of "Bridgerton."

"Bridgerton" is back with more romance, drama, and, of course, classical covers of the biggest pop songs.

Season three, which focuses on Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) and Penelope Featherington's (Nicola Coughlan) friends-to-lovers relationship, features recognizable tracks revamped to fit into the Regency era.

Here's a guide to every cover that's part of the season three soundtrack.

"Abcdefu" by Gayle

During the season three premiere "Out of the Shadows," Penelope Featherington gets frustrated by living at home with her sisters and becomes determined to find a husband this year. So, she ditches her signature citrus-colored gowns and tries out a new hairstyle for Lady Danbury's (Adjoa Andoh) ball.

A classical rendition of Gayle's "abcdefu" plays when Penelope arrives at the ball and reveals a dazzling, sophisticated dark green dress paired with sheer gloves. She catches the attention of fellow attendees — including her longtime crush and future husband, Colin Bridgerton.

"Dynamite" by BTS

During episode two ("How Bright the Moon"), the Vitamin String Quartet's cover of the BTS track briefly plays at a ball as Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel) observes pairs on the dance floor, including Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson) and Miss Stowell.

"Jealous" by Nick Jonas

After taking notes from Colin's charm lessons, Penelope is finally able to speak more naturally with potential suitors during episode two. A cover of Jonas' solo track "Jealous," performed by Shimmer, plays as Colin watches with slight envy as Penelope converses with Lord Remington.

"Cheap Thrills" by Sia featuring Sean Paul

The Vitamin String Quartet's cover of "Cheap Thrills" can be heard during episode three ("Forces of Nature") as members of the Ton arrive at the Innovations Ball of 1815.

Violet Bridgerton (Ruth Gemmell) watches as her kids Benedict, Francesa (Hannah Dodd), Colin, and Eloise (Claudia Jessie) head inside. Then a handsome stranger, later revealed to be Lady Danbury's brother Lord Marcus Anderson (Daniel Francis), helps Violet pick her glove up off the ground.

"Happier Than Ever" by Billie Eilish

Just as Colin is about to finally ask Penelope if she feels the same way about him during episode three, he's interrupted by Lord Debling (Sam Phillips) whisking her away to dance. As the pair dance to the Vitamin String Quartet's cover of "Happier Than Ever," Colin watches on with jealousy.

"Snow on the Beach" by Taylor Swift featuring Lana Del Rey

Another Taylor Swift cover appears this season — this time from her "Midnights" album — during episode four ("Old Friends").

The song, recorded by Atwood Quartet, can be heard during a pivotal part in the episode, as Penelope asks Lord Debling if love could develop between them over time. Lord Debling admits that his work takes up much of his passion, but he's glad that she has such a full life already.

Colin, who arrived late, interrupts them on the dance floor to talk to Penelope. As Colin and Penelope talk and dance, he tells her that she can't marry Lord Debling because he'll be away for three years. But Penelope is already aware of Lord Debling's plans and is going to accept his proposal.

While dancing with Cressida Cowper (Jessica Madsen), Lord Debling realizes that Penelope sits at her drawing-room window so frequently to catch glimpses of Colin. He ends his courtship with Penelope because he needs to be with someone who isn't preoccupied with feelings for another person.

"Give Me Everything" by Pitbull, Afrojack, and Ne-Yo featuring Nayer

Episode four culminates in Polin finally getting together, to the tune of a stripped-down version of "Give Me Everything" by Archer Marsh.

After Lord Debling rejects Penelope, she promptly leaves the ball distraught. Colin runs after her carriage and finally admits that he has feelings for her, too.

Then, Penelope tells Colin that she'd like to be more than friends and they have a heated makeout session in the carriage. When the carriage arrives at the Bridgerton home, Colin asks Penelope to marry her.

"POV" by Ariana Grande

Penelope and Colin share a lengthy, intimate moment — dubbed the mirror scene by fans — during episode five.

The entire sequence, which is the show's longest sex scene ever, is set to a dreamy cover of Grande's "POV" by Strings from Paris.

"Thunder" by Imagine Dragons

In episode six, Thomas Mercier's cover of "Thunder" plays in part during an interaction between Violet and Marcus, and continues when Francesca Bridgerton (Hannah Dodd) and John Stirling (Victor Alli) announce that they plan on getting married.

"Confident" by Demi Lovato

Demi Lovato's "Confident," covered by Archer Marsh, plays during episode six at the Mondrichs' ball as Cressida crashes the festivities wearing a bright red outfit with impossibly large sleeves.

After publicly claiming to be Lady Whistledown, everyone at the ball stares at Cressida and whispers about her.

"Yellow" by Coldplay

Vitamin String Quartet's cover of Coldplay's hit song "Yellow" plays as Penelope walks down the aisle at her wedding.

The song is a fitting, spot-on choice, considering that the citrus shade was most associated with Penelope before her season three transformation.

"You Belong With Me" by Taylor Swift

Colin and Penelope have their first dance as a married couple to Duomo's cover of "You Belong With Me" at their wedding breakfast during episode seven.

"Lights" by Ellie Goulding

A stripped-down cover of "Lights," performed by Archer Marsh, plays during the Dankworth-Finch ball in the season three finale.