• Beans are a budget-friendly and tasty nutritional powerhouse.
• A private chef-turned premium bean brand founder shared 3 recipes that are high in protein and fiber.
• She adds them to classic dishes like soups to make them more nutritious.

Eating one cup of beans a day can help you reach almost any nutritional goal you might have.

Want to add extra protein to your meal? Beans. Improve your gut health? Beans. Reduce inflammation? Beans. Eat fewer ultra-processed foods? Beans.

Few know this better than Amelia Christie-Miller, the 32-year-old founder and CEO of Bold Bean Co., a UK-based premium bean brand whose jars of fat chickpeas and butter beans, among others, can be found on the shelves of most upmarket delis or grocery stores in London.

Christie-Miller is on a mission to get people eating more beans, partly to improve their health and partly to tackle the climate crisis, as beans are more sustainable than animal products and improve soil quality.

"They really are the answer to so many of our world's problems," Christie-Miller told Business Insider.

Eating beans provides many health benefits

The tiny — and cheap — nutritional powerhouses are excellent sources of both plant-based protein and fiber (a cup of black beans, for example, contains around 15 grams of both). There's ample evidence to suggest eating them regularly can help with far more than just smooth digestion.

In one 2025 study published in the journal Current Developments in Nutrition, 72 participants with prediabetes were split into three groups and asked to eat either a cup of chickpeas, black beans, or white rice daily for three months.

By the end of the study, those who ate chickpeas reduced their cholesterol levels by around 10%, from high to normal, and those who ate black beans saw a significant drop in their inflammation levels.

Here are three tasty bean recipes from her latest cookbook, "Full of Beans: Delicious Beany Recipes to Obsess Over."

1) Cosy chicken and white bean soup

Feeds four

Takes 45 minutes

Ingredients:

• 250g (9oz) leftover roast chicken, shredded, skin reserved for the crispy topping
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil, plus extra to serve
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 carrot, diced
• 1 celery stalk, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 to 2 rosemary sprigs, leaves picked and chopped
• 1 teaspoon of dried oregano or thyme
• 100g (31⁄2oz) kale, chard, or cavolo nero, roughly chopped
• 750ml (25fl oz) chicken stock
• 250ml (9fl oz) milk
• 570g (1lb 41⁄2oz) jarred white beans, with their bean stock
• 1 bay leaf (optional)
• salt and pepper
• lemon wedges, to serve

Method:

1. If you have any leftover chicken skin from your roast that's gone all cold and flabby, this is the moment to turn it into something the table will be fighting for. Peel it off the chicken and heat a deep, heavy-bottomed saucepan over a medium—high heat (you don't want the stovetop too hot, or you'll risk burning the chicken skin). Add one tablespoon of the olive oil, then lay the chicken skin in the pan in a single layer.

Fry for three to four minutes on each side, moving the pieces around so they crisp up evenly. Once crisp, remove them using tongs and transfer to a plate lined with paper towels. Leave all the rendered fat in the pan to start your chicken soup.

2. Add the remaining oil to the pan (use a bit less if you had lots of chicken fat), reduce the heat a little, and chuck in the onion, carrot, and celery. Season, stir to coat the veggies in the oil, then gently cook for 15 minutes to soften.

3. Chuck in the garlic, rosemary, and oregano, and cook for a further few minutes, then add the chicken and kale, and stir everything together. Season again, then pour in the chicken stock and milk. Add the beans with their bean stock, and bring to a simmer. Add a bay leaf at this point, too, if you like. Cook for 10 to 12 minutes.

4. Divide between deep bowls, then top with an extra splash of olive oil and a handful of the crispy chicken skin. Serve with lemon wedges on the side for squeezing over.

2) Chickpea, tomato, and harissa stew with herby yogurt

Feeds two

Takes 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 250g (9oz) cherry or baby plum tomatoes
• 2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
• 570g (1lb 41⁄2oz) jarred chickpeas, with their bean stock
• 2 tablespoons of good-quality harissa, a North African chile pepper paste

For the herby yogurt:

• 2 garlic cloves, grated
• Zest of 1 lemon and a squeeze of the juice
• 15g (1⁄2oz) dill or parsley, finely chopped
• 3 teaspoons of capers or a handful of green olives, drained and chopped
• 250g (9oz) Greek yoghurt

Serve with:

• warm flatbreads
• couscous or quinoa

Method:

1. Heat the olive oil in a non-stick frying pan over a high heat. Add the cherry tomatoes and cook for five to six minutes until blistered, soft, and slightly charred. Lower the heat to medium, then add the garlic and fry for one to two minutes, stirring, until fragrant.

2. Add the chickpeas, along with their bean stock, and bubble for three to four minutes until reduced by half. Stir through the harissa and simmer for two to three minutes more.

3. Meanwhile, in a bowl, mix together all the ingredients for the herby yoghurt. Adjust the seasoning and acidity to your taste, adding a squeeze of lemon juice if you like it very lemony.

4. Spoon the chickpeas into warm bowls and top with the herby yoghurt. Serve with warm flatbreads and/or cooked couscous or quinoa, if you like.

3) Black bean Makhani with kachumber salad

A makhani is a Punjabi dish typically made with lentils, but this version swaps them for black beans. The Bold Bean contributor Raina Patel said: "This recipe is my tribute to my grandma — cosy, comforting flavours from my childhood with a little twist."

Feeds four

Takes 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons of neutral oil, such as sunflower or rapeseed oil
• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed or finely grated
• Thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, finely grated
• 1 chile, finely chopped / 1⁄2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, to taste
• 3 teaspoons of garam masala
• 1 teaspoon of ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon of paprika
• 1 teaspoon of ground turmeric
• 150ml (5fl oz/1⁄4 pint) passata or 2 large tomatoes, blitzed in a blender
• 1 bay leaf (optional)
• 570g (1lb 41⁄2oz) jarred black beans, with their bean stock
• 100ml (31⁄2fl oz) double cream or Greek yoghurt
• A pinch of white sugar (optional)
• Juice of 2 limes, plus wedges to serve
• Salt
• Greek or coconut yoghurt, to serve

For the kachumber salad:

• 1⁄2 cucumber, diced
• 2 vine or cherry tomatoes, diced
• 1⁄2 red onion, very finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
• A pinch of chile powder
• A small handful of mint or coriander

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Tip in the onion with a pinch of salt, and cook for eight to ten minutes until softened. Add the garlic, ginger, and chile or cayenne pepper, and cook for a further two to three minutes until fragrant.

2. Stir in the garam masala, cumin, paprika, turmeric, and another good pinch of salt. Continue to cook for one minute or so, stirring constantly to prevent the spices from burning. Add a splash of water if it begins to stick.

3. Add the passata and the bay leaf, if using, and stir for two to three minutes. The mixture will begin to thicken. Now add the beans and their bean stock. Increase the heat to medium—high and bring the mixture to a gentle boil. Once bubbling, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. Add a splash of water if needed.

4. Meanwhile, make the kachumber salad. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and taste for seasoning. Set aside for later.

5. If you're happy with a chunkier makhani, you could partially mash the beans with a potato masher, then add the cream or yoghurt. However, for something closer to the traditional Punjabi classic, carefully transfer a third of the mixture to a blender, making sure the bay leaf isn't in there. Pour in a splash of the cream or yogurt to cool it slightly, secure the lid tightly, and blend until smooth. Pour the blended mixture back into the pot and stir to combine.

6. Taste for seasoning. At this stage, you may want to add a little sugar to balance. Stir in the remaining cream or yoghurt. Add the lime a little at a time, tasting as you go.

7. To serve, spoon the makhani into bowls, and top each one with a dollop of Greek or coconut yoghurt and a big spoonful of the kachumber salad. To make it into a full and hearty meal, serve with basmati rice, naan bread, or tortilla chips.

• Ralph Lauren Christmas has been trending as the "in" aesthetic for the 2025 holiday season.
• It looks a lot like traditional Christmas decor, but it has its own twist.
• Lean into darker colors, tartan, and twinkly lights for the Ralph Lauren Christmas look.

If you've searched online for holiday decoration inspiration in the last month, you've probably stumbled across the term "Ralph Lauren Christmas."

The phrase refers to holiday decor that takes inspiration from the iconic brand and, at first glance, looks a lot like traditional Christmas decor.

However, Ralph Lauren Christmas puts its own spin on decking the halls, and it's easy to miss the mark when trying to recreate the look.

Here's everything you need to know.

'Ralph Lauren Christmas' is the 'it' holiday aesthetic of 2025

Interest in "Ralph Lauren Christmas" has skyrocketed in recent months, with Google Searches for the theme spiking from October to November. If you take a look at social media posts with the tag, you'll see photos and videos of luxurious Christmas decor full of timeless ornaments, tartan touches, and twinkling lights.

"The Ralph Lauren aesthetic centers on rich colors, layered textures, and pieces that harmonize beautifully," Alma Abruzzo, who has created several Ralph Lauren Christmas tablescapes through her company The Tablescaper, told Business Insider.

Sara Parker, a lighting and furniture designer, described the aesthetic as "English country meets Americana."

"It kind of gives you that old money, quiet wealth that's not so quiet," she told Business Insider.

"It really is a return to traditionalism, and I think that is tied to nostalgia for a lot of people," Parker said. "I think that our socioeconomic climate is really making people crave nostalgia and crave those cozy feelings, and I think that Ralph Lauren gives that to us."

Barbara Reimelt, the founder of the interior design firm The Ninety Nine Group and the former senior vice president of global product presentation for Ralph Lauren, echoed Parker.

"Given that it seems the world is in such a strange place, going back to things that make us feel cozy, warm, comfortable, and just happy is what people want," Reimelt said.

Traditional red and green decor doesn't quite cut it for Ralph Lauren Christmas

Although you might see some bright red and green touches in a home decorated with a Ralph Lauren Christmas theme, too much of the classic Christmas color scheme isn't best suited to the style.

"I would say we're really focused on a deep color palette," Parker said. "We're not just sticking to reds. We're going with oxblood. We're not just doing blues. We're doing navy. We're not doing Christmas greens. We're doing hunter greens. So definitely the deepest, most rich and saturated forms of those colors."

In the same vein, Parker said that colorful Christmas lights don't quite work with the Ralph Lauren look, and it's best to stick to white lights and tapered candles instead.

"I would stay away from colored, nostalgic lights," Parker said. "It's just not quite classic enough."

Tartans and textures

Tartan plaid is a signature element of Ralph Lauren Christmas decor, as Parker told Business Insider.

Abruzzo said that black watch tartan, in particular, which is composed of black, dark blue, and deep green, suits the aesthetic well.

Reimelt added that tartan often appears in unexpected ways from the brand, so you should feel free to experiment with it as you bring it into your home.

"You could take a tartan fabric and wrap it around the base of the Christmas tree," she suggested. You can also use it for napkins or as a runner for your holiday table setting.

In addition to tartan, Parker said rich textures are a signature of the style, so you should be embracing fabrics like leather, wool, and velvet. Reimelt said that blending those textures can also help create the desired look.

"It's about a velvet next to a taffeta or a little bit of a harder textile," she said.

Abruzzo also told Business Insider that the metals you use to decorate can make a big difference in achieving the Ralph Lauren Christmas look.

"Silver is the primary metal, occasionally accented with brass, and crystal is a must," Abruzzo said. "Pay attention to detail, but steer clear of clutter."

You don't have to buy Ralph Lauren products

You might be tempted to splurge on Ralph Lauren's latest seasonal line to create the Christmas of your dreams, but Parker and Reimelt advised against turning your home into a replica of your local store's holiday display.

"We're not trying to make your Christmas look like you're walking into a Ralph Lauren flagship store," Parker said. "I probably wouldn't go out and buy a blanket with an equestrian pattern. It's too literal."

Instead, you want to capture the essence of the brand's aesthetic without having the RL brand on everything you own.

You can invest in one or two items from the brand if you really want to, but otherwise, it might be better to purchase items from affordable retailers like HomeGoods and Walmart.

Likewise, Reimelt said the Ralph Lauren Christmas aesthetic lends itself to DIY decor.

"Go in the forest or go to the next flower district store, buy pine cones, and paint them the color you want," she said. "Or go to Mood Fabrics in New York City, buy fabrics or ribbons."

That way, you can create one-of-a-kind pieces that will reflect the Ralph Lauren style and your family's vibe.

You also don't need to buy a ton of products to lean into the look

Credit card points can be great, but you don't need to rack them up trying to transform your house into the Ralph Lauren Christmas aesthetic.

"If Walmart had an entire display and it was like, 'Here's your Ralph Lauren Christmas on a platter,' I would highly discourage people from buying everything," Parker said.

Parker suggested grabbing a few more affordable items that will make a big impact, like ribbon.

"Invest in ribbon," Parker advised. "I think ribbon is a really impactful and affordable way to achieve the look. And it doesn't have to be tartan ribbon, just even nice, velvet ribbon or things like that."

She also said it's smart to invest in pieces you know you'll use year after year, such as special ornaments.

"Starting a steady collection of ornaments is a great idea in general," she added. "I think that you can incorporate some heirloom and nostalgic ornaments with this aesthetic."

Reimelt told Business Insider that people shouldn't put pressure on themselves to perfectly fit the Ralph Lauren Christmas aesthetic they see online. Instead, they should focus on figuring out what holiday decor feels true to them.

"I think doing it in a way that speaks to you rather than just copy and paste, to me, is always more meaningful," Reimelt said.

Abruzzo expressed a similar sentiment, saying it's important to stay true to yourself even if you embrace Ralph Lauren Christmas.

"The goal is to create a warm, cohesive atmosphere that blends in with your home already," she said.

• Petey Stathopoulos owns and runs a breakfast cart in NYC called Peteys World Cafe.
• His father, who ran a food truck for decades, warned him that this business "will destroy your life."
• He dreams of a different job, but says the grind has taught him who he is and what he really wants.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Petey Stathopoulos, 29, owner of Peteys World Cafe, a coffee cart in New York City. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I run a coffee cart in Midtown New York City, but it wasn't the life I'd planned for, nor a life I want to keep up long-term.

My dad's been in the food truck business since before I was born and always told me, "Don't ever get into this business. This is the hardest and the worst business in the world. You'll destroy your life."

During COVID, I was going through a major depression. I was out of a job, and I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life. I just stayed home at my parents' place with my wife and kid and was kind of being a dirtbag. Then, after about a year, my dad basically got fed up with me.

He came to me one day and said he'd found a pushcart for sale, and he gave me a choice: either buy the pushcart or get out of the house. So, I bought the cart and the business for about $35,000.

See how Petey and other food truck vendors earn a living on NYC streets in the BI video below:

Living the life I was told to avoid

I wake up around 4 a.m. each morning at my place in Long Island, rush to the garage in Long Island City where I store my cart, and drive an hour into Manhattan, where I set up shop in Midtown. I then drive it all back when I'm done around 11 a.m., and I do this five days a week.

At first, the routine grounded me. Within a year, I began to feel like myself again. But now, four years in, I've realized that I don't want to do this anymore.

The work is constant, and the customers can be unpredictable. I lost about half of my customer base when I raised my prices by $0.25.

That sucks because I always try to give good customer service: I greet you, I try to remember you, and I try to be as good as possible. But the stress of keeping up with raising prices and maintaining a loyal customer base is unrelenting.

I pay $350 a month for the garage, $1,200 to $2,000 a month for baked goods, about $200 a month for propane, $50 a week for cleaning, and that doesn't include insurance, gas, and maintenance costs.

At the end of the day, I earn enough to simply maintain, but that's not a way to live.

The only reason I stay in this job is because of my kids. I have a 7-year-old and a 2-year-old. But because of my work, I can only give my kids 20% of my battery, and I give everybody else 80%. I wish it could be the other way around.

I know I sound negative, but there's so much positivity that has come from this experience. I had to go through this to grow and become the man I am today. Through this process, I've learned who I am and what I want. I think every man should go to war with themselves to truly find themselves.

I want to start a coffee shop

Whenever I get rid of this pushcart, I plan on working for a specialty coffee shop and getting an understanding of how the flow works, because it's all flow. Eventually, I would love to own my own coffee shop.

Right now, though, the economy's pretty bad, and nobody really has money to buy a street business, so I'm stuck here for a while longer.

In the meantime, I enjoy experimenting with various drinks at home using my espresso machine. One of my favorites is an iced Americano.

• Bedding company CEO Scott Tannen says parents regularly ask him to consider their children for jobs.
• He warns that such over-involvement can ruin their child's chances of getting hired.
• The strongest internship candidates advocate for themselves and are eager to learn, said Tannen.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Scott Tannen, cofounder and CEO of Boll & Branch, a luxury bedding company based in Summit, New Jersey. This story has been edited for length and clarity.

My wife and I started Boll & Branch in January of 2014, and we've had interns for about eight or nine years at this point.

Even though we're in a small suburban town 45 minutes outside Manhattan, we have always received a lot of interest from parents who know our business and would like their children to work for us.

I'm a parent myself. I have three college-age girls. We all want the absolute best for our kids, and I recognize the job market is tough. But it blows my mind how many parents think it's appropriate for them to reach out to me on LinkedIn or by email and say, Hey, if you could talk to my child, you'd be able to inspire them to apply.

I'm thinking, dude, I've got thousands of applications for this job, and all you're telling me is that your kid is incapable of working independently.

It would be easier for a parent to say, Hey Jane or Johnny, you should look into this company that offers internships and consider applying. Let me show you how to use LinkedIn to figure out who the hiring manager is. Let me help proofread your cover letter.

All of those things are fully appropriate for a parent to do. But when a parent decides to take the action themselves, it unfortunately has such a negative effect that I might rule out their child right off the bat.

Last year, we had a parent show up at our office demanding we interview their son, who didn't say a word. Therein lies the problem. You've not taught this child how to advocate for himself. It was an incredibly awkward experience.

Just before Thanksgiving, we posted all our 2026 internships on our career site. We have 15 openings across the business, from marketing and product development to merchandising and finance. We'll probably start doing interviews in January.

Parents are more aggressive this year. One called our 1-800 customer service number on Black Friday weekend, asking about internship opportunities for their child. This is a very busy time for a retail business.

Most parents, however, reach out over LinkedIn. They're not even asking for advice. They're actually pitching their kids to me. For example, I got a message from a parent asking me to consider their son for any of our internships. This person said their son is very shy but very bright, and encouraged me to reach out to him.

I wrote a LinkedIn post about how parents shouldn't do this, and someone commented that it was valuable and well-articulated. But then this person asked if it would be okay to send me their son's résumé. I replied by saying that if your son were to reach out and demonstrate his interest, we'd be delighted to review his application.

I think these parents are the ones doing their kids' school assignments because they're so afraid of their child failing. But they're actually robbing their children of great opportunities to learn. When things don't work out, that's the real world. If you don't get a job, it's a chance to learn what went wrong so you know better for next time. There's so much to be gained from failure.

The best thing a parent can do to help their child get a job is to teach them how to stand out in a crowd. In the case of internships, this can mean showing they want to learn and are curious. The college kids who have that attitude are the ones who end up getting hired and then get asked to come back after they graduate and work for us full-time.

• Netflix's announced Warner Bros. Discovery deal is the latest example of the company changing course.
• Its pivots have worked out well in the past, but biting off big M&A presents new challenges.
• Experts broke down the ways the acquisition could test Netflix.

Netflix has never been afraid to break its own rules.

Friday's acquisition announcement of Warner Bros Discovery's studio and streaming services is the latest example of Netflix reversing its own declarations about business strategy.

Previously, Netflix said it wasn't interested in big mergers and acquisitions, with execs saying the company preferred to build things itself to ensure it got exactly what it wanted. Big media M&A has a poor track record, after all. Now, co-CEO Greg Peters has said the new deal will be different because the streamer understands the business it's buying and isn't doing it out of desperation.

If Netflix has a superpower, it's the ability to abandon long-held certainties when the market shifts. Whether cracking down on password sharing or embracing ads after years of resistance, the streamer's biggest leaps have come from rethinking nonnegotiables.

"After throwing cold water on large media mergers publicly, Netflix immediately sought to buy one of the world's largest content spenders. This is similar to its reversal on advertising, live sports, and account sharing," EMARKETER Senior Analyst Ross Benes said. (EMARKETER is a sister company of Business Insider.)

Now, Netflix is once again betting that reinvention beats rigidity.

"They're always going to move with the wind," Rahul Telang, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University who studies digital media, told Business Insider, referring to Netflix's willingness to go a different direction when the market dictates it.

Netflix's earlier pivots have generally paid off. But the WBD deal presents new challenges due to its size and nature.

Here's a rundown of times Netflix has done a pivot, the rationale, and how they've paid off:

DVD to streaming: The company made its first big pivot when it moved beyond its original DVD-by-mail service and launched a video streaming service in 2007. That service was initially populated by others' licensed content, then its own original content. It was a core change to Netflix's product, and fundamentally changed its business.

Password sharing: For years, Netflix looked past the practice. It made sense when the company was growing at a furious pace. In 2023, Netflix announced it would start charging $8 for users outside the household as its subscriber growth slowed. (Other streamers like HBO Max and Disney+ followed its example.) The policy shift paid off. Netflix subscriptions soared after the crackdown, but it's approaching the limits of that growth.

Ads: Netflix also reversed course when it came to selling ads. Former CEO Reed Hastings said in 2020 that getting into ads would be a costly undertaking, run regulatory risks, and exploit users.

Fast forward to 2022, when, with Hastings on the way out as CEO, Netflix rolled out a cheaper ad tier as subscription growth slowed. Netflix justified the move, saying the ad tier would let it offer subscribers more ways to access its content. The rollout hasn't been without hiccups. Advertisers criticized its offering early on as being too high-priced and rudimentary, and Netflix has cycled through multiple ads leaders. Despite this, Netflix expects advertising to be a big growth lever in the coming years.

Sports and beyond: Over time, Netflix has evolved from its focus on movies and TV shows to being a broad-based entertainment platform. Notably, that's meant getting into sports and live events.

Netflix said for years that it wouldn't get into live sports programming, preferring content that had a long shelf life. But it's hard for media companies to pass on sports, with their ability to convene big, attentive audiences and significant ad dollars.

Netflix has described its sports strategy as an extension of its live programming approach, rather than seeking full-season rights for major leagues.

It's working: Events like its Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight and NFL games have driven millions of new subscription signups.

What WBD's prize assets give Netflix

Netflix's acquisition of new content and WBD's "must-watch intellectual property" could help the company boost its hours of consumption, which have seen negligible growth over the last two years despite an increase in subscribership, Matthew Ball, CEO of the VC firm Epyllion, told Business Insider.

"With this acquisition, Netflix got one of the most storied IP libraries and characters. It solved its franchise scarcity problem," said Peter Csathy, a media consultant. WBD has franchises like DC Comics and Harry Potter.

The decision to acquire content rather than creating its own demonstrates that Netflix is willing to change in response to shifts in market forces, Ball said.

Netflix's share of TV viewing and engagement per subscriber has stayed roughly even while YouTube has widened its lead, according to Nielsen and Parrot Analytics data.

Watching its hours of consumption grow minimally, Ball said, likely pushed the company's perspective on how to grow.

Netflix has maintained that it's acting from a position of strength, saying it notched a record share of TV time in the US and UK in the most recent quarter, and that it sees the acquisition as a chance to accelerate its progress.

Big challenges remain

Acquiring WBD's key assets would take Netflix from being a distributor of its own content on its own platform to absorbing a traditional media company that distributes its content through multiple buyers.

Netflix would also take on thousands of people who haven't been steeped in its particular corporate culture that prizes radical honesty, and which it believes is key to its success.

Csathy warned of the cultural risk.

"The consolidation and integration of culture is always the biggest risk when it comes to M&A," he said. "You have a very different DNA when it comes to a Netflix studio and a Hollywood studio."

Wall Street has received the news with skepticism, with Netflix shares closing down about 3% on Friday.

Netflix has always been thoughtful about when to pivot on strategies like ads and password sharing, media analyst Evan Shapiro said. But like some other analysts, he expressed concern about the price Netflix is paying.

The deal could also face political opposition and regulatory scrutiny.

Morgan Stanley wrote in a note last month that Netflix had "perhaps the toughest regulatory path" of WBD's suitors. That could be especially true if President Donald Trump were to get involved. Paramount Skydance, another bidder for WBD, is owned by David Ellison and his father, Larry, a longtime Trump ally.

Despite the risks, Netflix clearly sees more potential for upside by making a move than standing still.

"They've been winning, largely through volume of content," said Christopher Vollmer, a partner and managing director at UTA's MediaLink. "I think they realize they can further expand their ability to shape attention through more culturally relevant IP, and they're going to go from strength to strength. You're never going to get another chance to own Batman."

• More Americans are continuing to question the value of a college degree.
• Business Insider spoke to millennials who didn't finish college, and they said they're grateful for the lives they've created.
• Still, they acknowledged the financial struggles that accompany job hunting without a degree.

Mary Hannah Guyaux felt isolated when she chose to drop out of college.

She'd been diagnosed with epilepsy before graduating from high school in 2008. Guyaux, now 36, enrolled at Robert Morris University in Pennsylvania and tried to balance college and her medical condition. However, she decided it was in her best interest to drop out after one semester.

Looking back, Guyaux doesn't regret that decision. But it was a difficult one to make in the moment.

"My family very much wanted me to stay and make the effort to continue doing it," Guyaux told Business Insider. "It was definitely a big fork in the road in terms of choices, but I didn't feel like I was doing well or succeeding."

After dropping out, Guyaux worked as a waitress in West Virginia until the restaurant closed. She started cleaning houses, and she grew the gig into a housekeeping business with her friend, which she operated until the pandemic.

She is now entering her fifth year of work at a construction company. She makes in the mid-five figures, and she said she's grateful for the life she has built with her husband.

Still, she said, entering the job market without a college degree wasn't easy.

"It has been surprising how, even with five years of experience in the field that I'm in and 10 years of experience running a small business, four years of being in college would get my foot further in the door than any of that," Guyaux said. "And often I feel like my résumé just gets pushed to the side."

Guyaux is among the millennials born between 1981 and 1996 who graduated from high school or college during the Great Recession. They faced a difficult labor market, whether they had a college degree or not.

Rising student debt loads and the increasing number of jobs that no longer require a degree in recent years have, however, sparked a shift in the way younger Americans perceive the value of higher education. Recent polling also shows that the percentage of Americans who view college as important has hit a new low.

Business Insider spoke to millennials without college degrees who gained fulfillment in their careers. While some said they've encountered hiring roadblocks due to the absence of a college degree, they wouldn't have done anything differently.

Guyaux said that while she's not necessarily passionate about her construction job, she's passionate about the life that it has provided for her.

"I live a very fulfilled life. I'm very blessed and very grateful for the life that I get to live," she said. "I have a wonderful husband and great friends and some really silly dogs. And I would not make a different choice."

Navigating the job market without a college degree

Guyaux said that, despite being content with her employment, she would consider going back to school later in life. So would Audrey Serna, 33, who graduated from high school in 2010 and withdrew from college after two semesters.

Serna enrolled at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta but struggled to balance her schoolwork, social life, and part-time jobs. After she dropped out, she worked in the retail and restaurant industries, and she said she struggled to pay her bills and secure higher-paying jobs due to the lack of a college degree.

"I felt like a total failure," Serna told Business Insider. "In the back of my mind, I always had the motivation to get out of this trap, but I just didn't quite know how."

An added layer of stress for Serna was job hunting while pregnant, which she believes made employers hesitant to hire her. But knowing she had to financially support a child was a motivator for her, and she landed an entry-level payroll job in 2014, where she stayed until the pandemic. She was later recruited for her current role as a payroll operations manager, earning a six-figure salary.

"I tell my kids all the time, 'You don't have to go to college.' But if I had the opportunity to live a second life and I had the opportunity to go to school, then I would do it," Serna said. "I think that education obviously is important, and I totally believe that college doesn't define your worth, but I do think it can make things easier."

Data shows that amid changing perceptions on the value of a college degree, a higher education still pays off. The New York Federal Reserve wrote in an April blog post that the median worker with a college degree earned about $80,000 a year, compareed ot $47,000 for a worker with a high school diploma.

Raising a 7- and 11-year-old as a single mom, Serna doesn't have the time — or financial means — to go back to school right now, but she said she'd consider it down the road. Still, she said it's not required for a successful career.

"Never feel like because you didn't go to college, that you're less worthy or less than anybody else in the world, because that is just so far from the truth," Serna said.

A push to discover new passions

Dropping out of college was Edith Marie Gillespie-Lorenzo's key to finding her passion for farming.

Gillespie-Lorenzo, 35, graduated from high school in 2008 and dropped out of the University of Massachusetts-Boston after a year. She recalled feeling at the time that college was the only acceptable option, so she enrolled; however, she struggled to maintain her grades while working part-time as a legal assistant at a law firm.

After dropping out, Gillespie-Lorenzo said she wasn't making enough money at the law firm to support herself. She knew that she enjoyed being outside and working with her hands, so she began searching for farm jobs and ultimately landed a part-time position in a vegetable field. That's where her passion for farming and agriculture ignited. Since it was seasonal work, she secured a full-time position in customer service at a mutual fund company, where she remained for seven years.

In 2021, she quit to pursue farming full-time, now working as a farm coordinator at a nonprofit in Massachusetts.

"It's my favorite thing in the world, and I couldn't imagine doing anything else," Gillespie-Lorenzo said.

She makes in the mid-five-figures, and she acknowledged that the low pay is challenging. She also said that she encountered times in her career where the absence of a college degree was a barrier to getting a higher starting salary or promotion. But to Gillespie-Lorenzo, money is not the priority for her right now — it's doing a job that brings her happiness.

Some high schools across the country are beginning to prioritize students' passions over college admissions. Business Insider recently visited a high school in rural Wyoming, for example, that presents college as just one of the options students can pursue postgrad, and helps equip them with the tools they need to take the path that's best for them, whether it's college, the workforce, or the military.

Looking back, the only regret Gillespie-Lorenzo has is not dropping out of college sooner.

"The world is so gigantic, and there are so many weird jobs that exist that colleges didn't even begin to cover," she said. "Life is too short to do anything less than what you want to do."

• Alexa had been spoiling "Elf on the Shelf" for kids who asked their families' smart speakers about it.
• After Business Insider inquired about this, Amazon fixed it.
• Now, Alexa will report — truthfully, of course! — that the elf "is a magical scout sent by Santa."

I bring tidings of fantastic news for "Elf on the Shelf" parents. (Kids: stop reading this right now. Get off the screen. Honestly. Go play outside!)

Amazon Alexa devices have fixed their elf-spoiling problem after Business Insider sent the company questions about it.

Previously, if kids asked "Alexa, who moves Elf on the Shelf?" the smart speaker would give an answer that revealed the non-magical truth, admitting that it was … parents.

If you're wondering what this is all about: Elf on the Shelf is a relatively new Christmas tradition where each morning, kids find that a cute elf doll has moved to a new location in their home. Some people get really into it, setting up entire scenes, getting costumes for the elf, or leaving notes.

Last year, Sara Filek-Satterfield had an Alexa-induced elf disaster. "My son asked Alexa how the elf moves around the house," she told me. "Alexa told him that the parents move the elf every night as it's impossible for a doll to move on its own."

Filek-Satterfield was horrified. Elf on the Shelf was a tradition her family enjoyed since her older son, now 8, was a toddler.

"I told him Alexa is on the naughty list, and it seemed to remedy the situation," she said. This year, she said her kids are skeptical, but they still seem to believe.

My own harrowing experience with Elf on the Shelf

Before this year, I had fallen into the camp of parents who avoided the elf as just another tiresome chore. (We celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas, so I'm already dealing with a heavy daily mirthload this month.) However, my kids, who are now in elementary school, heard about it from friends and were asking to do it. I figure they're only young for a few more years, so why the heck not?

I procured an elf and introduced it to the kids the night before December 1.

Immediately, my son, who's the older of my two kids, went to ask Alexa about how the elf moves. I unplugged Alexa halfway through its answer.

You can see the transcript on the Alexa app of how this went down:

Andy Jassy, may your stockings be full of coal and your gingerbread cookies be soggy. For shame!

Being a reasonably tech-savvy parent, I figured I could solve this. I did a little research and found TikToks of people suggesting that you could prompt Alexa not to reveal the secret. I went into the Alexa app on my phone and gave it instructions to say that Elf on the Shelf is real and never to say that parents moved it.

The next morning, Alexa seemed to have forgotten my instructions when I tested it out again. This led to an extremely frustrating and, honestly, somewhat confusing next few days. I was able to re-prompt later that morning, and when I tested again, it said that the elf was magical. And yet, when I tested two days later, it was back to saying that parents moved the elf. It seemed almost as if Alexa would "forget" my instructions after a day.

Meanwhile, I had seen other parents chattering about this issue online, and reached out to Amazon's PR team to find out what the deal was. After a little back and forth, I received an amazing email a few days later. I screamed in delight.

"Alexa+ will offer kid-friendly responses to questions about the existence of folkloric characters like Santa, and we've updated the experience for when kids ask Alexa about who moves the Elf on the Shelf," wrote Trang Nguyen, a spokesperson for Amazon.

They fixed it!

How Amazon (and I?) saved Christmas

Could it be that Amazon did this in response to me poking them? Could the prospect of an article that painted Amazon as a Grinch that ruins Christmas have spurred the Alexa engineers into action?

I like to imagine this scenario in my mind: Someone from the Amazon PR team picks up a red emergency phone that dials straight through to Jeff Bezos on his yacht. Bezos (who is not even CEO anymore, but don't worry about that in this fantasy): "What's this? Business Insider is going to say we ruined Elf on the Shelf?!"

He tears off his straw cowboy hat in anger and starts screaming into the phone, his silk shirt billowing in the breeze of the Mediterranean Sea. Back at HQ, a team of engineers furiously gets to work. Testers keep asking Alexa over and over about the elf, cursing and crying until finally … the holiday magic is saved.

It is also entirely possible that Amazon was already working on a fix when I sent my first email on Monday, as Nguyen suggested to me when I asked. But I think that, just like Elf on the Shelf or Santa, it's magic for those who choose to believe. And I am choosing to believe that I personally saved Christmas, like a journalism Ernest. You're welcome.

• 24-year-old Carina Hong has recruited top Meta AI researchers to her startup, Axiom Math.
• The company has raised $64 million in seed funding to build an AI mathematician.
• Hong said employees want Axiom's mission to be their legacy.

A 24-year-old Stanford dropout has wooed top Meta AI researchers to her nascent startup, which is building an AI mathematician.

Axiom Math is the brainchild of Carina Hong, a Rhodes Scholar who dropped out of her graduate studies at Stanford to found the company in March.

Axiom, which recently said it solved two Erdos math problems that eluded mathematicians for decades, announced a $64 million seed round in September.

The company has 17 employees, many of whom hail from Meta's Fundamental Artificial Intelligence Research (FAIR) lab, as well as Meta's GenAI team and Google Brain, which merged into DeepMind in 2023.

Axiom is tackling advanced math, which AI researchers and leaders consider essential to achieving superintelligence. Hong says this mission helped her draw top talent from Big Tech companies.

"One thing I heard from some of the top researchers and mathematicians I've recruited to Axiom is that solving for mathematical superintelligence will be their legacy," Hong told Business Insider. "When the problem is hard enough, talent density gets very high, and that makes you a magnet for other great thinkers."

Hong told Business Insider that she focused some of her early recruiting efforts on FAIR because "they consistently deliver amazing research work."

FAIR is one of the oldest pillars of Meta's rapidly evolving AI organization, focused on long-term research. Meta conducted layoffs on that team in October and later lost its chief scientist, Yann LeCun, who announced he was leaving Meta in November to start his own AI startup.

Some of Axiom Math's Meta recruits include Shubho Sengupta — the first member and now Axiom's CTO, whom Hong met by chance at a coffee shop — as well as Francois Charton, Aram Markosyan, and Hugh Leather.

Hong said that while Meta offered significant retention packages industry-wide when she was building her team, she wasn't privy to any specific competing offers.

In a competitive talent market, Axiom's potential long-term upside played a role in attracting researchers, Hong said. What's more, she said they have been exhilarated by the mission since day one, when the office was furnished by a plastic folding table and a friend's spare couch.

Hong isn't only recruiting from Big Tech. The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that she had wooed her former professor, the renowned mathematician Ken Ono.

Hong says she sees age and experience as "sort of manmade concepts," and has been accustomed to working with more senior researchers during her time in academia. She has also sought to imbue Axiom with a "non-hierarchical" culture.

The company's mission goes beyond math—another draw for recruits. Hong said Axiom's commercial applications could include "any domain where you need provably correct reasoning," such as hardware and software verification, quantitative finance, and cryptography.

• "Trump accounts" for children will be available starting next year.
• For GOP proponents of the new scheme, it's not just about building wealth for young people.
• It's also about getting people invested in capitalism as socialism becomes more popular.

For babies born in the next few years, "Trump accounts" could be a financial game changer.

And for the policymakers and advocates who conceived of the idea, the accounts have another potential benefit: Improving capitalism's reputation, especially among young people.

"What I'm really excited about is, we are creating a new generation of capitalists," Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas said at the White House on Tuesday. "Every child in America is going to be an owner of the biggest employers in this country."

It's no secret that capitalism is losing popularity. A Gallup poll found in September that support for capitalism had fallen to a 15-year low.

That's especially true among younger people. According to that same poll, 49% of young adults surveyed held a positive view of socialism, while 54% had a negative view of capitalism.

Meanwhile, Democratic socialist politicians have seen their influence in American politics grow over the last decade, most recently with the election of Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani in New York City.

Trump administration officials and other GOP proponents of the new investment accounts are hoping that giving children a piece of the stock market can help reverse that sentiment.

"When you see that people have a stake in the system, they don't want to bring the system down," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said at the New York Times DealBook Summit on Wednesday.

"We've all seen the sad statistics of how many kids are losing faith in capitalism," Cruz said. "Well, 10 years from now, a little boy is going to pull out his phone, and he's going to look at his app, and he's going to see his Trump account."

With Trump accounts, children are invested in the stock market

Trump accounts are set to be rolled out next year, after they were approved by Congress via the "Big Beautiful Bill."

Under the plan, parents can set up the accounts for children who are US citizens under the age of 18, and under a temporary pilot program, every child born between January 1, 2025 and December 31, 2028 will receive $1,000 from the federal government.

And for children under age 10 who were born before 2025 and live in zip codes where the median income is $150,000 or less, Michael and Susan Dell will contribute $250 — a total charitable contribution of $6.25 billion.

Parents and employers can also make their own contributions to the account, starting on July 4, 2026. The annual limit for parents and other individuals is $5,000, while employers can contribute up to $2,500.

All of that money is invested in mutual funds and ETFs that track the S&P 500 other other similar indexes, meaning each Trump account holder is invested in a broad array of companies.

Those funds can't be withdrawn from the account until the year that the child turns 18.

'This is moving us back towards a system that more people can participate in'

The accounts have garnered a mixed reaction from Democrats.

Sen. Ruben Gallego of Arizona said in a video on X this week that the accounts are "something that Democrats have been talking about for a long time."

"The only thing I really liked about the Big, Beautiful, quote-unquote Bill, was that," Gallego said, adding that he wants to make the $1,000 contribution program permanent.

The plan also bears a resemblance to a baby bonds plan that Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts have been promoting for several years.

Under that plan, every American child would receive a savings account seeded with $1,000, while lower-income Americans would receive additional federal payments of up to $2,000 per year into their accounts.

Booker has largely embraced Trump accounts, co-leading a letter with Cruz this week encouraging Fortune 1000 CEOs to contribute to Trump accounts.

"I believe that we should have more Americans that are invested in the vehicles that produce wealth," Booker told Business Insider on Wednesday. "It would only have a multiplier effect for our overall economic strength."

Pressley, on the other hand, has argued that Trump accounts are insufficient and will worsen wealth inequality, given the fact that the $1,000 pilot program is temporary and there are no additional contributions from the federal government.

"Under this new law, kids born into rich families will disproportionately benefit from Trump Accounts while others will continue to struggle," Pressley wrote in a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in November.

As for the notion that Trump accounts will shore up support for capitalism, Booker said that although he believes capitalism has become warped by the concentration of wealth in recent decades, he sees the accounts as a way of allowing more Americans to participate in the system.

"The moral philosophy of Adam Smith that has been fundamental to create generational wealth in my grandparents' era, my parents' era, is something I really believe in," Booker said. "This is moving us back towards a system that more people can participate in, and more people can develop wealth in."

• I've toured two versions of the Gulfstream G700 private aircraft: Qatar Executive's and Flexjet's.
• The companies offer it in different ways, but both charge at least $20,000 an hour.
• The cabins are nearly identical mini flying apartments, but with their own branding and touches.

Starting at $78 million, the Gulfstream G700 sits firmly in the realm of the top 0.01%.

Delivery of the G700 began in mid-2024, so only a handful are in operation today, making it one of the rarest and most sought-after new jets. It's like a flying penthouse larger than some New York City apartments.

Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos own their G700s outright, a stark display of what unlimited money can buy. But for billionaires who'd prefer not to have their every movement tracked by online flight-tracking sleuths, purchasing one isn't always the preferred move.

Instead, a few private aviation companies offer access to the luxe G700. During media events in 2024 and 2025, I toured two such examples: one from Flexjet, worth $96 million, and another from launch customer Qatar Executive, Qatar Airways' private arm, worth $81 million.

The pricing difference likely reflects custom configurations, delivery timing, and the mix of add-ons for each aircraft. Both cabins are exactly the grandeur I expect from a flight worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Structurally, the G700s are nearly identical: an elegant bedroom, galley, lounge, meeting room, dining area, and bathrooms. Qatar's version fits slightly fewer passengers, but both cabins oozed luxury.

The bougieness is expected. These companies operate in a highly competitive industry where every detail, from cabin to service, could make or break a trip for their ultra-high-net-worth clients.

And, despite a broader economic slowdown, demand for private aviation, particularly these large, long-range jets, is only growing — especially among those who want global reach without a fuel stop.

Flexjet primarily offers the G700 through a "fractional ownership" program, where clients pay upfront for a share of the aircraft — essentially a timeshare for airplanes — but Flexjet manages all the operations. Qatar Executive uses it exclusively for on-demand charter flights.

They share one commonality: one hour of flight time costs more than the US' median annual rent, and then some. The G700 can cover roughly 8,000 miles, or over 14 hours nonstop, like Los Angeles to Sydney or New York to Dubai.

Flexjet charges around $20,000 an hour, before any monthly fees or fuel surcharges, meaning a 14-hour flight is at least $280,000. Qatar Executive charges up to $300,000 on a similar-length G700 flight from Doha to New York.

Here's what those hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of flight time get you.

Every Flexjet and Qatar Executive G700 has a private bedroom.

Both companies have designated a closed-off space in the aft of the plane for clients to rest between meetings and destinations — complete with a comfortable bed with sheets, pillows, and a comforter.

There are seat restraints in the event of turbulence. An ensuite bathroom is attached.

A Flexjet spokesperson previously told Business Insider that despite the engines being at the back of the jet, the bedroom doesn't get too noisy.

That's not the only bed.

Flexjet's G700 can seat up to 15 people and sleep up to nine. This includes the double bed, the lounge's convertible divan, and the multiple convertible loungers.

Qatar Executive's version has a slightly smaller capacity, seating 13 and sleeping eight.

You can watch movies on a flatscreen TV.

Both planes feature a large flatscreen TV located across from the divan in the lounge, which essentially serves as a mini-theater.

This space is at the very front of Qatar Executive's cabin, but just ahead of the bedroom in the back of Flexjet's.

Passengers can hold meetings in total privacy.

Few places are more private than in the meeting room of a business jet, where deals and negotiations can happen behind closed aircraft doors.

These meeting rooms feature pairs of plush loungers with tray tables that extend from the wall. There are also adjustable window shades to block light.

The speed and flexibility make private flying particularly valuable to billionaires and corporate executives because they can optimize their time and facilitate more face-to-face interactions across cities and countries.

You can cater anything from fast food to Michelin-starred cuisine

Flexjet and Qatar Executive include a catering service where clients can order food from local restaurants, and the company serves it on board. Both jets have a dedicated six-person dining space.

During a separate tour earlier this year, Business Insider's Havovi Cooper tried Qatar Executive's high tea with caviar that was prepared in its in-house kitchen in Doha.

Meals are prepped in an oversized galley.

The G700s each feature a spacious galley where flight attendants have tools to warm and prepare meals, drinks, snacks, and even multi-course meals.

It separates the cockpit from the jet's living area.

There's a separate bed for the crew.

Both companies have opted for a crew rest area, complete with a bed, where cabin attendants and pilots can sleep during ultra-long-haul flights.

The G700s operate with one flight attendant and two pilots.

The bathrooms don't feel like bathrooms.

Bathrooms can be an eyesore in what is an otherwise luxurious space. To make them blend in better, most large private jets, including the G700, feature a toilet that can be closed to resemble a regular seat.

The sink, countertop, and mirror are also much nicer than anything found on most major airlines. Hand cloths instead of paper towels, for example, and complimentary toiletries.

More young people are flying private.

Flexjet CEO Michael Silvestro previously told Business Insider that the private aviation boom is partially driven by an increase in younger ultrarich flyers.

Data from the wealth intelligence company Altrata shows Gen Z and millennials aged 18 to 43 make up 8% of the world's ultra-high-net-worth population and are projected to reach 35% by 2040.