Category: Business

• Around 1 in 5 US engineering students in a survey chose Lockheed Martin as an ideal employer.
• That made it the No. 1 employer on Universum's new ranking using what engineering students said.
• General Motors, Apple, and Tesla were part of the top 15.

While the labor market is looking tough for job seekers, some US engineering students are thinking about hopefully landing work at Lockheed Martin, GE Aerospace, or Nvidia one day.

These places ranked highly on a new ranking about the employers US engineering students most want to work for. Universum, an employer branding specialist, put together the ranking — and similar rankings, such as one focused on what business students said and another focused on what computer science students said — based on how many people in a survey chose them as one of their ideal employers.

The survey of students for these rankings was done from September 2023 to April 2024, and students could name up to five ideal places. The ranking was based on what students chose; students were provided with a list of employers during the survey to select places they would consider working for.

The top five in the list of what US engineering students said were exactly the same as last year's results, including Tesla at No. 5 and Lockheed Martin at No. 1. The share who said Lockheed Martin rose slightly.

Below are the top 15 in the new ranking, along with the share of engineering students who listed each employer among their top five ideal employers.

15. General Motors

Percentage who said this: 6.15%

Rank last year: 11

Last year's percentage: 7.20%

14. Nvidia

Percentage who said this: 6.20%

Rank last year: 27

Last year's percentage: 4.19%

13. Ford Motor Company

Percentage who said this: 6.26%

Rank last year: 14

Last year's percentage: 6.36%

12. Toyota

Percentage who said this: 7.01%

Rank last year: 12

Last year's percentage: 6.97%

11. GE Aerospace

Percentage who said this: 7.14%

Rank last year: N/A

Last year's percentage: N/A

10. Microsoft

Percentage who said this: 7.36%

Rank last year: 10

Last year's percentage: 7.47%

9. Google

Percentage who said this: 9.02%

Rank last year: 8

Last year's percentage: 9.63%

8. Apple

Percentage who said this: 9.63%

Rank last year: 6

Last year's percentage: 10.71%

7. Northrop Grumman

Percentage who said this: 9.69%

Rank last year: 7

Last year's percentage: 9.74%

6. Raytheon Technologies (now RTX Corporation)

Percentage who said this: 10.09%

Rank last year: 9

Last year's percentage: 8.66%

5. Tesla

Percentage who said this: 12.86%

Rank last year: 5

Last year's percentage: 14.24%

4. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Percentage who said this: 15.20%

Rank last year: 4

Last year's percentage: 15.78%

3. Boeing

Percentage who said this: 15.61%

Rank last year: 3

Last year's percentage: 16.67%

2. SpaceX

Percentage who said this: 18.66%

Rank last year: 2

Last year's percentage: 20.20%

1. Lockheed Martin

Percentage who said this: 22.66%

Rank last year: 1

Last year's percentage: 20.60%

• Current and former employees at top AI companies are speaking out about the risks of AI.
• At least 9 OpenAI insiders signed the letter calling for more protection for whistleblowers.
• Their open letter, which has 4 demands, was endorsed by the "Godfathers of AI."

A group of nine current and former OpenAI employees signed a letter calling out tech firms over major concerns about the risks of artificial intelligence.

In their letter, the tech workers called for more transparency in AI companies and better protections for whistleblowers who wish to raise concerns about the power of AI.

A total of 13 people signed the letter, and they all come from some of the top players in AI — including OpenAI, Anthropic, and DeepMind. It was also endorsed by two men known as the "Godfathers of AI," Yoshua Bengio and Geoffrey Hinton.

"I decided to leave OpenAI because I lost hope that they would act responsibly, particularly as they pursue artificial general intelligence," former OpenAI employee Daniel Kokotajlo said in a statement.

"They and others have bought into the 'move fast and break things' approach and that is the opposite of what is needed for technology this powerful and this poorly understood," he added.

The AI employees outlined a list of four demands that they said would help mitigate the existing issues of inequality and misinformation in the AI space.

Here's a look at the four principles the 13 employees said they want OpenAI and other AI companies to adopt, according to the letter.

1. That the company will not enter into or enforce any agreement that prohibits "disparagement" or criticism of the company for risk-related concerns, nor retaliate for risk-related criticism by hindering any vested economic benefit;
2. That the company will facilitate a verifiably anonymous process for current and former employees to raise risk-related concerns to the company's board, to regulators, and to an appropriate independent organization with relevant expertise;
3. That the company will support a culture of open criticism and allow its current and former employees to raise risk-related concerns about its technologies to the public, to the company's board, to regulators, or to an appropriate independent organization with relevant expertise, so long as trade secrets and other intellectual property interests are appropriately protected;
4. That the company will not retaliate against current and former employees who publicly share risk-related confidential information after other processes have failed. We accept that any effort to report risk-related concerns should avoid releasing confidential information unnecessarily. Therefore, once an adequate process for anonymously raising concerns to the company's board, to regulators, and to an appropriate independent organization with relevant expertise exists, we accept that concerns should be raised through such a process initially. However, as long as such a process does not exist, current and former employees should retain their freedom to report their concerns to the public.

Business Insider has reached out to OpenAI, Antrhopic, and Google Deepmind for comment on the letter.

OpenAI spokesperson Lindsey Held told The New York Times that the company is "proud of our track record providing the most capable and safest A.I. systems and believe in our scientific approach to addressing risk."

"We agree that rigorous debate is crucial given the significance of this technology, and we'll continue to engage with governments, civil society and other communities around the world," the statement continued.

• My grandmother always wrote thank-you letters to everyone in her life, and it inspired me. 
• As a college professor, I told my students to write a thank-you note to someone in their lives.
• The letters showed me that these students can be thoughtful and gracious.

My grandmother loved to send handwritten thank-you notes to everyone in her life.

She died in December. At her funeral, my mom asked everyone in attendance to raise a hand if they had ever received a note from my grandmother. Every single person lifted their arm high in the air.

Her letters always touched me and helped me feel special, so I passed her idea on to my students. I'm a professor, and I've taught many journalism and introductory media writing courses at several universities.

Earlier this semester, I asked my undergraduate students to draft a brief thank-you note to someone who did something nice for them. The results surprised me.

The letters my students wrote moved me

When I came up with the assignment for my students, I was looking for a way to get them to just write — and to write conversationally. I gave them the option of using pen and paper or their computers. Either way, I knew an open-ended free rewrite might overwhelm them, so I provided the thank-you note prompt.

One student thanked a family friend for their care package after her appendectomy: "The sleeping mask and blanket have granted me the coziest sleep in my recovery."

Another student thanked her friend for helping her carry her bags from the car to the dorm in the snow. "Without your help, I would have had to make multiple trips in the cold weather with several heavy bags all on my own," she wrote.

But I think my favorite thank you note was about a mirror. The student thanked his brother for buying him a full-size mirror for Christmas. Previously, he had to go into their parents' bedroom to use theirs.

"Now I don't even need to step a foot out of my room. I appreciate the thoughtful gift."

The letters showed me a new side to my students

The writing drill definitely renewed my faith in young people. I realized they can be thoughtful and gracious.

People like to rag on students, and sometimes they deserve it. But most of the time these kids are just hanging on by a thread. They're juggling school, jobs, internships, and their families.

I hoped my thank-you note exercise would reassure us that they could express themselves clearly. It turns out they can if given the right assignment and a little nudge.

When my grandmother sat down at her big, beautiful desk to write her thank-you notes, she wasn't distracted. She had a singular goal: to let her friends and family know she was grateful for their gifts. Anyone who knew her will tell you she expected the same in return. When my students sat down with a similar goal, they were able to tap into that gratefulness.

I'm not sure if my students will remember this exercise next semester or the semester after that, but I hope they will slow down and take the time to craft a kind-hearted note the next time they need to thank a friend, boss, or family member. I hope they will show each other kindness — the same kindness they showed in my class.

• A company developing Russia's answer to Elon Musk's Starlink said it completed its first tests.
• Bureau 1440, a Russian-owned project, said the trials were successful, with more to come.
• It uses the same approach as SpaceX's Starlink and other companies vying for the market.

A company developing Russia's answer to Elon Musk's Starlink said it has completed its first series of tests, using a laser inter-satellite link of its own design.

Bureau 1440, a project office for research on using low-earth orbit satellite systems for high-speed data transmission, shared the update in a Telegram post on Monday.

It said that more than 200 gigabytes of data was transferred at 10 gigabits per second, between spacecraft located more than 30 kilometers apart.

The tests were the company's first successful experience of domestic laser inter-satellite communication in space, it said, and confirmed the performance and potential of its technology.

It added that it was preparing dozens of new tests at a distance of hundreds of kilometers between satellites.

SpaceX's Starlink satellites operate in low-Earth orbit and also use inter-satellite laser links to pass data between one another.

This allows it to offer broad internet coverage around the world.

Russia has been banned from using Starlink, though reports suggest that Russian forces are getting the company's terminals through a complex black market and bringing them to the Ukrainian battlefield at scale.

The Russia-based company, formerly known as MegaFon 1440, announced its plan to invest the equivalent of $76 million in the development of a satellite data transmission system in 2020.

The company launched its first three satellites into orbit in 2023, according to the Russian business portal TAdviser.

In a Telegram post last month, the company said its goal was to create a broadband data service that would provide high-speed communications with low latency anywhere in the world — exactly like Space X's Starlink.

Its website touts the project as a revolution similar to Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite successfully launched into orbit in 1957.

Bureau 1440 didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

The company is one of several developing global high-speed internet access through satellite constellations in low Earth orbit.

In addition to Starlink, Amazon's Project Kuiper, Eutelsat's OneWeb, and Telesat's Lightspeed are also vying for the market.

• Universum shared a new set of rankings about what US students said would be their ideal employers.
• JPMorgan Chase ranked No. 1 among business students.
• Fidelity Investments moved from No. 22 to No. 15, and BlackRock moved from No. 23 to No. 14.

The dream employers of US business students vary a lot based on new results from employer branding specialist Universum.

Universum surveyed over 40,000 US students from September 2023 to April 2024 and put together rankings based on what students in different fields of study, such as business, chose as their ideal employers. The lists are based on the up to five ideal employers a student could note.

While many students will be heading back to school next year as they continue their education, those who have graduated may now be applying for full-time work. They might find it hard to land not only what they consider their ideal company or organization but to find work in general, given how the labor market is looking for new entrants to the workforce.

JPMorgan Chase ranked No. 1 on the list based on what US business students said. This employer ranked at the top because the share who said this was around 14%. Only the top four had shares over 10% in this new ranking. Fidelity Investments surged from No. 22 in the 2023 ranking to No. 15, with a share of 5.06% in the new results.

Below are the top 15, along with the share of business students who listed each company among their top five ideal employers.

15. Fidelity Investments

Percentage who said this: 5.06%

Rank last year: 22

Last year's percentage: 3.97%

14. BlackRock

Percentage who said this: 5.30%

Rank last year: 23

Last year's percentage: 3.87%

13. Bank of America

Percentage who said this: 6.45%

Rank last year: 15

Last year's percentage: 5.56%

12. Morgan Stanley

Percentage who said this: 6.77%

Rank last year: 12

Last year's percentage: 6.75%

11. Deloitte

Percentage who said this: 6.93%

Rank last year: 11

Last year's percentage: 6.85%

10. Amazon

Percentage who said this: 7.18%

Rank last year: 9

Last year's percentage: 8.41%

9. The Walt Disney Company

Percentage who said this: 7.66%

Rank last year: 8

Last year's percentage: 9.69%

8. Microsoft

Percentage who said this: 7.66%

Rank last year: 10

Last year's percentage: 8.28%

7. Spotify

Percentage who said this: 7.67%

Rank last year: 5

Last year's percentage: 10.30%

6. Netflix

Percentage who said this: 7.74%

Rank last year: 7

Last year's percentage: 9.80%

5. Nike

Percentage who said this: 8.80%

Rank last year: 6

Last year's percentage: 10.20%

4. Goldman Sachs

Percentage who said this: 10.51%

Rank last year: 4

Last year's percentage: 11.14%

3. Apple

Percentage who said this: 11.50%

Rank last year: 3

Last year's percentage: 13.83%

2. Google

Percentage who said this: 12.18%

Rank last year: 1

Last year's percentage: 14.89%

1. JPMorgan Chase

Percentage who said this: 13.81%

Rank last year: 2

Last year's percentage: 13.95%

• Ukraine appears to have struck a prized air-defense system on Russian soil using a US-supplied HIMARS.
• The attack came amid a flurry of reports suggesting a major Ukrainian attack over the weekend.
• It also came hours after Biden approved the limited use of US-supplied weapons on targets in Russia.

Ukraine appears to have used US-supplied weapons on Russian soil in a wave of reported attacks — signaling that a new phase of the war may well be underway.

Russian media outlets said on Monday that Ukraine fired M42 missiles from M270 and HIMARS rocket launchers — all of which are US-made — over the border into Russia, the Kyiv Post reported.

The paper added that Russian officials said that cross-border attacks took place, but gave no details as to what weapons were used.

If confirmed, the strikes would represent the first known instance in this war of US-supplied weapons being used on Russian territory — a red line that President Joe Biden only pulled back on late last week.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy acknowledged on Sunday that his forces had fired HIMARS from the northern Kharkiv region, the Kyiv Post reported.

On Monday, Ukrainian government minister Iryna Vereshchuk shared an image of burning military equipment on Facebook, saying that a prized Russian S-300 air defense system had been struck, CNN reported.

She noted that it took place in the "first days after permission to use Western weapons on enemy territory," without giving further details, per CNN.

The image appeared to have been taken from the pro-Russian Telegram account Dosye Shpiona, which said that a HIMARS had been used.

BI was unable to find Vereshchuk's post on either her Facebook or Telegram accounts, suggesting it has since been deleted.

But the Institute for the Study of War, citing prominent pro-Russian military bloggers, also concluded that an S300 or S400 system had been struck in Russia's Belgorod region, some 60 miles from the border, on either June 1 or June 2, saying it was "likely" hit by a HIMARS.

The target was well within HIMARS range but exceeded the range of the systems Ukraine usually uses to strike over the border, the think tank said.

The Kyiv Post cited a flurry of other Russian media reports — both unofficial and state-sanctioned — detailing dozens of strikes aimed at artillery systems, troop concentrations, and a bridge as part of the attack.

The reports came shortly after Biden said that Ukraine could fire HIMARS against targets on Russian soil, in limited circumstances.

The change in policy came after several of Ukraine's Western allies — including the UK and France — gave similar go-aheads.

The Biden administration's decision came after months of appeals from Ukrainian officials.

One Ukrainian soldier complained of having to watch helplessly as Russia built up its forces over the border ahead of a renewed offensive in the Kharkiv region, held back by the US restrictions on the use of its weapons.

Depriving Russia of these "sanctuary zones" could be of "huge" assistance to Ukraine, Keir Giles, a senior consulting fellow at Chatham House's Russia and Eurasia Programme, told Business Insider's Thibault Spirlet last week.

But the decision was long past due, he said.

And faced with other problems — including recruitment and ammunition shortages — the US decision is "clearly not a silver bullet to win the war," Alexander Libman, a professor of Russian and East European politics at the Free University of Berlin, told BI.

• Homeschooling our son allows my family to travel. 
• In addition to our son's homeschooling curriculum, he has attended schools in different countries. 
• We've noticed differences — and similarities — between the schools he attended in Europe and the US.

My son has been homeschooled, essentially, his whole academic life. Because of this, we're able to travel multiple times each month without worrying about him missing school. I am a writer and my husband is a film and TV composer as well as an investor, which also makes this possible.

Not only can we take my son's work with us, but he has also been able to experience schooling in various countries by joining classrooms and homeschool groups throughout our travels. His curriculum is based in the United States, but integrating local schools helps him learn different languages, culture, and of course, make friends.

Because we have spent extended periods of time in Portugal, the Netherlands, and Italy, we have been able to experience how a few schools in these places approach education more intimately. While we've experienced some similarities across the schools he's attended, like classroom size and curriculum structure, we also noticed distinct differences in approach.

School was low-stress in the Netherlands

Where we lived in the Netherlands, children as young as four years old often happily walked themselves to school. The school my son attended in the Netherlands was run like a well-oiled machine, yet they still maintained a playful and innocent atmosphere.

The school administrators were strict about timeliness — I often witnessed that if students arrived even one minute late, they were considered late, with no exceptions. However, discipline for kids was simply a stern talking-to from teachers. Teachers told us that if children had issues with each other, they were expected to sort it amongst themselves, while the adults observed from a distance.

Friends who had kids at other schools in the Netherlands confirmed that this focus on independent conflict resolution with minimal adult intervention was common. Play was the central focus of the day for children until they were about seven years old. The primary focus during those early years was on children learning to coexist with one another rather than academics.

Learning to swim was also a significant focus in the early years in the Netherlands and considered more critical than learning to read by many locals we spoke with. Once compulsory, now only some schools integrate swim classes into the curriculum. Given the numerous canals everywhere, this emphasis is understandable.

Children at my son's school spent a large portion of their day outdoors, regardless of the weather, which parents said was typical. The Dutch often say, "There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing." At school, my son assisted in preparing daily vegan meals, and occasionally brought home crafts to do.

Friends who had older kids in the Netherlands told me that the homework increased once they hit middle school, where there was more of an emphasis on academics. I truly appreciated this low-stress setting we encountered during our son's primary school years.

We saw more emphasis on collaboration than individual performance in Portugal

In Portugal, there was an emphasis on projects that children completed together to enhance their collaboration skills, and praise was often based on the collaboration itself rather than individual performance.

We noticed that children rarely had packed schedules filled with extracurricular activities like in the US, and often stayed up very late at night with their families, based on our own observations and talking to Portuguese parents.

While I adored the genuinely "crunchy" vibe of the schools my son attended and the kindness of the teachers, I believed our son would benefit from more structure and consistency in his routine. So, for a time, we supplemented even more than our usual load of schoolwork at home to provide more academic consistency during his short stint at a Portuguese school and eventually transitioned to only homeschooling again and met with a homeschool group for field trips.

We noticed less encouragement of competition in Italy than in the US

At the school my son goes to in Italy, it was immediately evident that food and dining is treated as an important part of the school day. Students are given a proper dining experience with formal table settings. The primary schools get a full two-hour break in the middle of the day including lunch and free time, known as riposo, lending to a much longer school day overall.

Football (soccer) is also taken seriously, so most schools we visited have specialized schedules specifically for children who play and perhaps want to pursue it as a career. Participation in the arts, football, and music is encouraged, but football is by far the most popular activity at our school and in our region.

As for the emphasis on the curriculum, so far, it seems far less rigid than in the US. Cognitive and social skills appear to be the primary objectives, rather than a heavy focus on testing. There is almost no encouragement of competition that we witnessed, as collaboration seems to be the focus until middle school.

My son is not yet in middle school, but from what I've heard both in preliminary conversations with schools, open days, and from Facebook groups with other expat parents, it sounds like middle school takes a more rigorous academic approach across Europe. For example, some countries, like Italy, expect children to know their primary focus of study by the time they enter high school, and then are placed in a specialized school program geared towards that interest area. Middle school seems to help form this decision by focusing on more specific subjects like robotics, engineering and anatomy, as they are already expected to know how to work together.

The unifying theme we observed throughout the schools in Europe that our son has attended, regardless of the country, was to allow children to be children and let the serious learning come later. At almost all the schools my son attended or toured, more importance was placed on children's ability to coexist together, work on projects and tasks collaboratively, than on core subjects like math, science, and history in those early years.

Each country had something we cherished and something we had to learn to adjust to. Overall, compared to our group homeschooling experience in the US, I would say that the primary schools in the European cities we joined were far less stressful. The academics seemed to get prioritized more as the kids got older. This makes me really appreciate how the lower grades focused on collaboration and coexistence.

• Narendra Modi's party won far fewer seats than expected in India's election.
• Modi's weakened majority may make it tougher for his government to push through reforms.
• That could spook American firms that have warmed to the Prime Minister's pro-growth policies.

Narendra Modi looks set to secure a historic third term leading Indian despite his party winning far fewer seats than exit polls had suggested.

The outcome sent Mumbai-listed stocks plummeting — and Modi's significantly weakened majority could be a source of concern for American businesses, too.

Modi's decade as Prime Minister has often been controversial, with his vision of building a "divine India" fueling a rise in Hindu nationalism that's threatened to marginalize other religious groups.

But his pro-growth, pro-business policies have boosted growth and drawn in huge amounts of foreign investment — as well as winning the support of some of the loudest voices on Wall Street.

"Modi has done an unbelievable job in India," JPMorgan boss Jamie Dimon told the Economic Club of New York in April. "I know the liberal press here, they beat the hell out of him. He's taken 400 million people out of poverty."

Elon Musk has also posted on X about his desire to visit India and meet with Modi. The pair are expected to discuss Tesla's plan to build a multibillion-dollar new factory in the world's most-populated country.

Meanwhile, Apple CEO Cook said on a November earnings call that India is an "incredibly exciting market" and a "major focus of ours" given the explosive growth in potential customers as locals get richer. Modi has also met with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Microsoft boss Satya Nadella, and Alphabet's Sundar Pichai in recent years.

Political stability

"I think most investors have read the tea leaves and have realized that some of the political stability and predictable policies that they expect, that they desire when it comes to making investment decisions, is likely to be available in India," Rajesh Kumar Singh, a trade official for India, told Business Insider in January at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

"I think the trick for India is going to be political stability, going forward for a period of time — because I think a lot of the economic fundamentals are there," Andy Baldwin, a partner at EY, said at the same conference.

But Modi's significantly reduced majority could erode that sense of stability and make it tougher for him to pass further pro-market reforms, analysts said on Tuesday.

China hedge

"The fear will be that if he has to rely on alliances with smaller parties, any market-friendly policies will be diluted," Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, wrote in a research note.

"Some may now worry that India's lofty earnings rating leaves it exposed on the downside now that the political narrative may not be quite as clear cut as once thought," he added.

One appeal of India for the likes of Dimon, Musk, and Cook will likely have been Modi's firm grip on power, as USA Inc aims to hedge its bets on China given its strained relationship with the US and post-pandemic economic woes.

The surprise election result could undermine that confidence.

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

Hello! You can rest easy knowing Costco's beloved $1.50 hot dog combo is "safe," according to its new CFO.

In Friday's newsletter, I asked whether your opinion of former President Donald Trump had changed in light of his recent felony conviction. More than 78% said it hadn't.

In today's big story, we're examining Skydance's acquisition of Paramount and what it means for the streaming race.

What's on deck:

• Markets: Tech's run as the stock market's golden child could be coming to an end.
• Tech: Layoffs hit Microsoft's cloud business.
• Business: Inside a tight-knit circle of judges and attorneys that fueled a spectacular rise, and fall, of a Texas bankruptcy court.

But first, cut to black.

If this was forwarded to you, sign up here.

The big story

Paramount's happy ending

In a town known for storylines, Paramount's sale didn't disappoint.

The media giant, which owns Paramount Pictures and CBS, has been in the news as an acquisition target since late last year. And just like its movies and television shows, Paramount's sale included twists, turns, and a slew of characters.

In the end, media company Skydance, with help from RedBird Capital Partners and KKR, secured the goods. The deal is expected to be announced in the coming days and values Paramount at $8 billion.

Paramount had no shortage of high-profile suitors. Warner Bros. Discovery chief David Zaslav, media entrepreneur Byron Allen, and private-equity giant Apollo, in collaboration with Sony, were among those who considered buying the company.

Skydance might not be as recognizable a name, but the company's owner and CEO David Ellison is. As the son of billionaire Oracle founder Larry Ellison, he's basically tech royalty.

But all the interest in Paramount this year didn't equate to smooth sailing. The day after broadcasting the Super Bowl it announced companywide layoffs. A few months later its CEO was shown the door. At least one high-profile investor headed for the exits as well.

All the while, Paramount's stock suffered. Even with a nice bump from reports of the deal, shares in Paramount are still down more than 11% on the year.

To make sense of the deal, I turned to one of Business Insider's media experts: Peter Kafka.

Talks of Paramount's sale have been brewing for a while. What are your initial thoughts on Skydance being the one to seal the deal?

Well, it's not sealed yet. This thing may still get derailed by a lawsuit from cranky investors. But if it does go through: It's the least-bad version for Hollywood, since owner-to-be David Ellison wants to keep Paramount making movies and TV shows, and that isn't a foregone conclusion with any other buyer.

Paramount has fallen pretty far behind its peers in streaming. What is its biggest pain point that Skydance will look to address?

Paramount loses money on streaming, like many of its peers. That's fixable. It has a subscale audience, and I don't know how a new owner fixes that.

The deal means one of the richest people in the world is tangentially connected to Paramount. How could that play a factor?

As I've written, the most important thing about David Ellison being Larry Ellison's son is that his dad is helping to finance the deal (what a dad!). But suggestions that Larry Ellison's tech background will help his son run a Hollywood studio make no sense.

As for other streamers, are any happy, or upset, by the outcome of this deal?

The most important question for Paramount isn't "who owns Paramount?" It's "is Paramount big enough to survive on its own?" And that question remains unanswered and unchanged by this deal.

3 things in markets

1. The tech industry's crown as the stock-market king could be slipping. Tech stocks have had an incredible run in the market over the past decade. But Bank of America equity strategist Savita Subramanian sees a shift by year-end that favors other sectors due to several factors, including higher-for-longer interest rates.
2. How to hedge your portfolio against market volatility. Wall Street legend Gary Shilling offered investment rules to follow to avoid getting blindsided by the markets' sudden movements. That includes pivoting out of China and into India and betting on the US dollar.
3. Roaring Kitty is at risk. Trader Keith Gill, known as Roaring Kitty on social media, could get barred from E*Trade, sources told The Wall Street Journal. It comes after he posted a screenshot that appeared to show he had a $116 million stake in GameStop, causing the stock to surge.

3 things in tech

1. The future of AI is in the hands of three tech giants. About 65% of global data centers' capacity is owned by three companies: Amazon, Google, and Microsoft. The rush to corner the market on data centers is a move by Big Tech to secure the keys to the coming AI kingdom.
2. Layoffs are hitting Microsoft. The company is cutting hundreds of jobs in its Azure cloud business, sources say. In a leaked memo viewed by BI, Microsoft exec Jason Zander blamed layoffs on the 'AI wave' and said they'll be doubling down on quantum computing.
3. Apple's big event is almost here. Apple's highly anticipated Worldwide Developers Conference kicks off next week, and it's gearing up to deliver some big announcements. Here's what we're expecting, from more on its AI strategy to iOS 18 and Siri updates.

3 things in business

1. In a Texas bankruptcy court, conflicts of interest ran deep. New details have emerged about the tight-knit circle of attorneys and judges that fueled the rise — and spectacular fall — of one of the most influential bankruptcy courts.
2. Are we seeing a BuzzFeed-ification of the Washington Post? The struggling newsroom is launching a new news site focused on social media, for a broad audience. Creating another newsroom, while still operating the original one, is going to be hard to pull off.
3. 'Promised land' jobs are falling apart. Big Tech, finance, and consulting jobs are becoming harder to come by, upending the job search for young people. One survey found 21% of companies at large expect to decrease hiring this academic year, up from 6% in 2023 — and that's just the tip of the iceberg.

In other news

• India's election is turning out far closer than expected, with Modi unlikely to win by a landslide.
• With AI writing so much code, should you still study computer science? This new data point provides an answer.
• Washington and Utah are the states with the best economies in 2024, while many in the South are struggling.
• Spotify CEO does damage control after his 'reductive' comments about creators spark backlash.

What's happening today

• Today's earnings: Hewlett Packard Enterprise and other companies are reporting.

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

• Sam Mitchell lives comfortably in a tiny New York home on less than $30,000 a year from Social Security.
• He left a high-paying real estate career in 2008 before moving to Peru and road-tripping across the US.
• He said his fellow peak boomers should be more creative about approaching retirement.

Sam Mitchell, 64, has a yearly income of below $30,000 a year from Social Security. But he said he lives "perfectly comfortably."

He bought a 384-square-foot "little shack" on the side of a road in upstate New York, where he stays for half the year. He stays in a mobile home at the end of a dirt road in Florida the other half. It's a very different way of life from the corporate real estate job he had 15 years ago in Austin making six figures and owning five homes.

Last year, he made a "whopping" $15,000 from his Airbnb operation in the Finger Lakes region, all of which he reinvested in the business.

He thinks his way of life isn't that far out of reach for other people around his age.

"I have friends who are 80 years old who are still working because they're so terrified not having enough money, and I'm going, guys, look at me," he said. "I am making a fourth of the money I was making in 2008, but nobody is going to do it."

Across the country, many peak boomers — or those set to hit the traditional retirement age of 65 between now and 2030 — are worried they won't have enough saved for retirement. Some have told Business Insider they won't be able to retire ever, while others are concerned that with rising rent and food costs, Social Security payments won't be enough to cover basic expenses.

Mitchell, though, said people's definition of "comfort" may be too idealistic.

"I call it the 'C-word,'" he said. "A peak boomer's definition of comfort is the reason they're so freaked out and feeling FOMO. It's called stepping out of your comfort zone, but people are so terrified and can't do it. They have nobody but themselves to blame."

Leaving luxury behind

Mitchell was born and raised in Atlanta and went to college at the University of Florida. He worked as a journalist in Santa Cruz, California, for a few years, then switched to being a real estate agent, a transition he described as "absolutely absurd."

For two decades, he worked on and off at Keller Williams in the Austin market. He said he would "run up a bunch of money" one year, then take a few months off in countries like Costa Rica, before starting the whole process again. He also was a landlord and bought up rental properties across the state.

He recalled attending lavish parties with musicians performing at South by Southwest and Austin City Limits. He also had a nice car and truck, and he anticipated that by the mid-2000s, he was spending about $80,000 a year on expenses.

"The life I was leading in South Austin in 2008 was the life that 95% of this planet probably would have traded for," Mitchell said. "I had a beautiful four-bedroom, three-bath on the South Austin Greenbelt. I was up to five houses."

Around that time, he had a goal of wanting to own 40 houses in Austin by the time he turned 65, then sell one every six months until he was 85. He wanted to follow the path of one of his real estate investor friends.

But that year, he walked away from all of it.

"I made the decision to disentangle myself, this whole career hamster wheel," he said, noting he began liquidating his assets in April of that year. "The pressure just popped in 2008, even before the market crashed."

He sold his primary residence and three other homes, and his license expired at the end of that year. He paid off all his credit cards, got rid of many of his belongings, and left behind the luxurious life, knowing he could always go back to it and make $100,000 "without getting out of my chair."

Moving to New York and Florida

To start life anew, he bought a farm in Peru and built a small house. He lived in Peru and Ecuador for four years, mostly off the grid, before coming back to the US in 2012. He kept one Austin home that he rented to a tenant, who paid him $650 a month.

Upon moving back, he decided to live out of his pickup truck and drive through California, Oregon, and Washington at first. He had a bedroom in the Austin home he could resort to, but he spent 10 months of the year traveling with his dog, Sancho Panza. He did this for about seven years, getting to see much of the US.

He eventually found a home outside of Ithaca, New York, for $35,000 on 14 acres of land. He had almost no money left and was still three years from getting Social Security, but his sister helped him cover the cost with the promise that he would sell the Austin home to pay back his debt.

He put the Austin home on the market on March 9, 2020, perhaps the "single worst day to put a house up for sale in the 21st century," he said, coming just days before the COVID-19 pandemic would lead to lockdowns across the country. With the money, he bought a "new" 2013 truck that had 200,000 miles on it and been wrecked previously.

Once Social Security payments kicked in, he relied on the $900 a month to get by. He didn't have many expenses, as he had no children to support, no mortgage, and no health insurance. Though the $900 a month could not compare to his salary 15 years ago, he said it's enough to get by and live comfortably.

He started an Airbnb business on his property after constructing his first tiny house from an eight-foot by eight-foot toolshed. He moved into this property and rented out the 384-square-foot house to tenants who take care of the home during the winter.

He worked with a local Amish family to build two other tiny houses on the property. He also built a little community kitchen measuring eight feet by 20 feet. When all homes are rented, he lives in a 96-square-foot camper.

He said he's still on the red on this business, as he's only open five months a year, but he's hopeful it will soon be profitable. He has a small side hustle buying vacant lots in Florida with two friends, sometimes doubling the money on their initial investments and using their returns to purchase more real estate. Still, it's zero annual income as none of it lands in his pocket.

He also goes to Florida each November for a few months, living near a swamp in a 600-square-foot mobile home.

"If you are willing to do this, then you can easily live comfortably in these beautiful surroundings making less than $30,000 a year," he said. "I'm living proof of it. I have other friends who have made similar decisions, and we're all getting a little sick and tired of the whining."

He said many of his fellow peak boomers need to reconsider what they need to live comfortably, arguing that they need to get more creative with income streams.

"I'm not living under a bridge — I'm running a business," he said. "I live in these absolutely beautiful surroundings, but you just have to trim down on all your gadgets. I just traded in my beautiful i7 computer that was going haywire for a Pentium processor. The guy at BestBuy was absolutely horrified that I was making this decision."

Have you recently moved to a new state? Are you worried about retirement? Reach out to this reporter at nsheidlower@businessinsider.com.