• Larry Ellison and his son, David, own Paramount, which wanted to buy Warner Bros. Discovery.
• The Ellisons also have a close relationship with Donald Trump.
• Will the Ellisons convince Trump to stop — or at least try to stop — the Netflix/WBD deal?

Netflix wants to buy Warner Bros. Discovery for $72 billion.

It's an astonishing story about business, culture, and technology. Back in 2013, Netflix was starting to make its own shows, and floating what seemed like an audacious ambition: "The goal is to become HBO faster than HBO can become us," Netflix executive Ted Sarandos said.

Now Netflix has a deal to buy HBO, along with the iconic Warner Bros. movie and TV studio. Amazing.

But will Donald Trump let that happen?

Because the fact that Netflix and WBD announced a deal Friday morning doesn't necessarily mean that the deal will go through. It needs regulatory approval — and in 2025, that means it needs the approval of the president of the United States, who has dispensed with the notion that there's any distance between what he wants and what his regulators do.

That's why Paramount CEO David Ellison, who has been competing with Netflix and Comcast for the right to buy WBD, was reportedly at the White House this week, making the case that a Netflix deal to buy HBO and the Warner studio should be shut down based on antitrust grounds.

If he's persuasive, you could see Trump's Department of Justice suing to block the deal — just like Trump's DOJ sued to block the sale of Time Warner to AT&T in 2017, during his first presidency. The US lost that case, but only after a long court battle — something AT&T and Warner people complained about for years after the fact.

I've asked the White House for comment; a Paramount rep declined to comment.

If Ellison — whose father, Larry, is both the second richest man in the world and a longtime Trump backer — doesn't persuade Trump and his administration to shut down the deal, the Ellisons still have other options. They could mount a hostile takeover and try to persuade WBD shareholders to reject the deal and take their offer. And/or they could sue WBD themselves, arguing that WBD executives didn't really take their offer seriously.

Which was the not very subtle subtext of the letter Paramount's lawyers sent out early this week, alleging that WBD had "embarked on a myopic process with a predetermined outcome that favors a single bidder."

That didn't sway the WBD board, which agreed to a deal that requires Netflix to pay a $5.8 billion fee if the sale doesn't close.

The fact that WBD went with the Netflix offer — which buys part, but not all of the company, versus a Paramount bid for all of WBD — certainly seems like it has stung the Ellisons, who have been privately and publicly playing up their closeness to Trump. "We have a good relationship with the administration," David Ellison deadpanned in October.

Now we'll see just how strong that relationship is. Is it good enough to get the president to kill a rival's deal?

• In 1990, my parents moved our family from West to East Germany to build a new life.
• My kids now face the same distance I once had from my own grandparents.
• We've turned long-distance grandparenting into something deeply meaningful.

In 1990, one year after the Berlin Wall came down, my parents decided to move from Western Germany to Eastern Germany to become a Tupperware franchise partner.

For my parents, it was a goldmine. People were starved of luxury for almost 30 years, and they were hungry to discover the world and everything it had to offer.

I was 8 years old at the time, and I remember when my parents told my younger siblings and me that we would be moving.

My heart sank. I just started primary school and had to leave my friends behind and start over again. The worst part, though, was that I had to leave my grandpa behind. I remember missing him so much, even though we visited him a couple of times a year.

I unconsciously created the same situation for my kids

In 2017, I moved to the Netherlands because I fell in love with an amazing man, as well as the country, its people, and its language. We got married and have a daughter and a son, whom we are raising trilingual. I love my life here, but I hate that my kids can't see my parents whenever they want, since they live 400 miles away.

Although our kids don't know it any differently, I remember how it felt to miss my grandfather, which is why my husband and I actively worked to create ways to keep our kids and their grandparents connected.

It's essential to both of us that all four of them bond, get to know each other well, and create loving memories that they will cherish for a lifetime.

Ways we keep our kids connected with their grandparents

Our kids are 6 and 4 now, and since they were born, we have changed how we keep in touch with my parents.

First of all, we decided to visit my parents as often as possible. Since I am an entrepreneur who can work from anywhere, and my husband is working from home a lot, that wasn't a problem for the first four years. Since our daughter started school, we've had to juggle a bit more, but we always make it work because it is our priority. Often, that means we'll leave home at 2 p.m. and arrive at my parents' around 9 p.m. to spend the weekend together.

Once a year, my parents and their dog come to the Netherlands for one to two weeks. They park their motorhome on our driveway and live with us during that time. They bring the kids to school and pick them up; they do fun stuff together, and in the evening, we cook and eat together.

And every summer we go on a 14-day vacation together. That's our kids' favourite time of the year. And frankly, mine, too, because I don't have to work and can enjoy time with my parents. Another upside is that my husband and I can also spend quality time together, while the four of them create memories.

Besides that, they video call at least once a week to share what they're experiencing in their lives. Well, sometimes the kids only want to see the dog and wave at her, but even that is a great bonding moment with lots of laughter.

Don't dismiss the smaller things

Besides those active moments together, we also created an environment with smaller things we do to keep their grandparents in our daily life.

Our daughter has just started writing and sends a WhatsApp message occasionally. But we also share photos and videos whenever we can. For example, when our daughter learned a new move in her breakdance class, or our son proudly started his first swimming lesson.

We also craft and draw things for grandma or grandpa. We have a photo calendar in the living room that reminds us of the time we spent together.

We celebrate Halloween and Christmas together, and whenever possible, we meet for birthdays as well.

Sometimes it's hard not to have them around every day. Still, distance doesn't have to mean disconnection, and I've learned that with a bit of creativity and consistency, kids can grow up to truly know their grandparents, no matter how many miles separate them.

• Netflix will maintain its short theatrical movie runs despite acquiring the Warner Bros. studio.
• Co-CEO Ted Sarandos confirmed Netflix's focus on streaming over long exclusive theater windows.
• Warner Bros. will continue to put movies in theaters for longer runs, though.

Netflix is buying the iconic Warner Bros. movie studio as part of its mega-deal for Warner Bros. Discovery's streaming and studios business. Does that mean Netflix will start putting its movies in theaters for long, exclusive runs?

The answer is no, according to Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos.

Sarandos said Netflix plans to continue to put Warner Bros. movies in theaters if and when the deal closes. But he said Netflix, which won the streaming wars by delivering entertainment to people in their homes, will continue its practice of short runs for its movies in theaters.

On a call with investors Friday to discuss the deal, Sarandos said Netflix doesn't have an opposition to movie theaters but that his "pushback has been mostly in the fact that the long, exclusive windows" aren't "consumer-friendly."

Sarandos added that he thinks over time, theatrical windows will continue to shrink so they become available faster to people via streaming.

Netflix's stance has at times created tension with big-name talent who want the prestige and audience experience of the big screen.

As to whether Netflix will adopt WBD's model of licensing its movies and shows to competing media companies, Sarandos shot down that idea. He said Netflix plans for Warner Bros. to keep producing for third parties, but Netflix doesn't plan to change its own model.

"We've not produced for third parties," he said. "They do, and they're quite successful at it. And we want to keep that successful business operation. Netflix doesn't plan to have any change in that model."

Bottom line: Netflix is doing what it has to do to get Warner's prized HBO and studio assets, but it's not fundamentally abandoning the model that's made it a success.

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

Like a helicopter too heavy for lift off, tech companies are ditching anything they don't view as essential to get their AI plans off the ground.

Meta is planning to cut its metaverse division's budget by as much as 30% and considering job cuts as part of the move, writes BI's Jyoti Mann and Pranav Dixit. The decision comes as tech companies look to pare back anything not directly focused on giving them an edge in the AI wars.

Investors loved the move, with the stock finishing the day up almost 3.5%.

For Meta, ditching the metaverse has been a long time coming. (We actually declared it dead back in checks notes May 2023.) During Meta's most recent earnings call, the word "metaverse" wasn't even used once.

It's quite the reversal from when the metaverse was the literal inspiration for the entire company's rebrand from Facebook. But it's tough to keep making the case for funding something that burns billions of dollars and doesn't directly generate a ton of revenue.

Especially when you need to make room for AI plans that are burning billions of dollars and have yet to directly generate a ton of revenue.

Meta is unlikely to be the last company to cut non-AI-related fat.

AI projects are really expensive. From hardware to talent to power, there doesn't appear to be a "cheap" way to do it. The space is also incredibly competitive, and even the first movers are feeling the heat.

That's forcing companies to rethink their allocation of resources, particularly when it comes to projects that don't get them to their AI goals.

Even those focused solely on AI are recalibrating their approach. OpenAI is sidelining ancillary projects to solely focus on beefing up ChatGPT.

Tech companies with business lines already benefiting from the AI boom hold an advantage. Amazon, Google, and Microsoft's cloud businesses are experiencing an uptick from AI investments.

Those players aren't standing still, though. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella tapped a new advisor to "rethink the new economics of AI."

Next month could be a good indication of how much tech companies are willing to throw overboard to keep their AI dreams afloat. Several companies conducted layoffs at the start of the year as part of their annual culling.

Where companies draw the line will be interesting to watch. Money-losing endeavors not tied to AI will be obvious targets, but what about the stuff that is bringing in money but doesn't fit a company's future AI vision? How much will companies cut from what already is to support what could be?

• Growing up in Portland, Oregon, was magical, but I hated my hometown the way angsty teens often do.
• To my surprise, I moved back to my hometown in my 30s and realized it's the perfect city for me.
• I love Portland's quirks, strong sense of community, natural beauty, food, and LGBTQ+ nightlife.

Portland, Oregon, isn't perfect.

It's not particularly diverse, and most restaurants close way too early for anyone under the age of 60. The "Pacific Northwest freeze" is a real thing: People here can be simultaneously too nice and impossible to befriend.

When I left Portland in my early 20s to travel the world for almost a decade, I didn't think I'd ever move back. Growing up there was pretty magical, but I hated the city in the way most angsty teens hate their hometown.

Then, amid the coronavirus pandemic, I booked a flight back to Portland to be near family. Five years later, I'm still here — and I can't see myself living anywhere else. Here's why.

The access to nature is unbeatable

Portland is surrounded by natural beauty.

Locals love to brag that you can be in the mountains or on the coast within an hour and a half — a luxury few cities can claim.

Believe it or not, you can even be in the rainforest in half an hour, surrounded by ferns and fluorescent-green moss.

I regularly make the scenic drive to the Columbia River Gorge, a historic stretch dotted with tunnels and waterfalls, when I need to clear my mind. Stopping to stand at the base of a 620-foot waterfall and get misted in the face never fails to do the trick.

The natural beauty really is everywhere. On a casual walk around my neighborhood, I've found everything from fresh blackberries and wild bunnies to roaming chickens and secret gardens filled with dahlias and roses.

Our local food scene is on par with major metropolises

I'm convinced Portland has more outstanding restaurants per capita than any other city.

Though the city is predominantly white, my taste buds have been thrilled in recent years to see diversity reflected in Portland's rise to foodie fame.

The star of the show is Kann, a James Beard Award-winning restaurant by Gregory Gourdet, where "Haitian cuisine meets Pacific Northwest bounty," and an absolutely mind-blowing plantain brioche meets my mouth.

Then there's Jinju Patisserie, named the country's most outstanding bakery at the James Beard Awards earlier this year. There, two Korean-born pastry chefs whip up croissants that rival any I've had in Paris.

But award winners barely scratch the surface. My personal list of outstanding local Thai restaurants is longer than my Trader Joe's receipts.

Plus, Portland is especially known for its food trucks, which is how I first tried Guyanese food (at Bake on the Run), snow-cheese Korean fried chicken (at Frybaby), and Puerto Rican-Philly fusion dishes (at Papi Sal's).

The LGBTQ+ nightlife feels truly queer

I came out after leaving Oregon, and before moving back, I'd only lived in areas where the LGBTQ+ community was either small or centered on gay men.

Portland is the first time I've felt included, and the queer community here is at the heart of why I chose to stay. This city's LGBTQ+ community feels refreshingly queer.

My friends and I joke that most bars in Portland are gay bars just because the local population has so many queer folks. Many popular nightlife spots regularly host LGBTQ+ events, even if they aren't specifically "gay bars."

On any given weekend, I might have to choose between a "Twilight"-themed drag show, an LGBTQ+ storytelling event, a queer pie-eating contest, a lesbian dance party, or a trans wrestling match.

Because it rarely takes me longer than 15 minutes to get anywhere around the city, I can try to squeeze all the events in.

And when I wake up exhausted and hungry on Sunday morning, I can join my fellow Portland gays doing what we love most — waiting in inordinately long brunch lines.

Portland has a community for even the quirkiest hobbies

If you've got a special interest, you're bound to find a group of people here who are loudly and proudly into the same thing, no matter how niche or offbeat.

Can you guess where I've made the most friends in Portland? If you said, "a weekly '80s-themed mall walk in the city's half-abandoned Lloyd Center mall," you'd be right.

When I picked up rollerskating during the pandemic, I was thrilled to learn that the city runs a "secret roller disco" every week in undisclosed pop-up locations like warehouse parking lots (and the same half-abandoned mall).

Over the summer, I participated in a watermelon-wrestling fundraiser. In the fall, I got to take an entire four-week class about 1970s cult horror in the back room of Movie Madness, one of the country's only remaining video-rental stores.

All in all, I've fallen for the city

The older I get, the more I appreciate that Portland doesn't feel like a city, but rather it's a bunch of neighborhoods quilted together.

It's easy to feel welcome here when there are free tiny libraries and flyers for different clubs and events around every corner.

Everything I love about Portland, from the hiking trails to my favorite Thai soup spot (shoutout to Khao Moo Dang) to the drag scene, comes down to one thing: community.

It's an elusive concept I spent most of my 20s searching for in far-off places. In an ironic twist of fate that really pleases my mother, I ended up finding it in my hometown.

• Korean Air is the latest airline to sign up for Elon Musk's Starlink WiFi.
• 22 other carriers have also announced deals for the ultra-high-speed internet.
• It's already available on some airlines — here's the full list.

Elon Musk's Starlink has gained yet another airline customer as the ultra-high-speed WiFi service continues to gain popularity.

Korean Air announced in early December that it's installing Starlink and expects it to enter service between July and September next year, becoming the 23rd airline in total to do so.

Business Insider previously tested Starlink on Qatar Airways' first flight with it last October. The connection speed peaked at 215 megabits per second, more than enough for a lag-free video call, and faster than many cable-based internet services.

Starlink functions thanks to a constellation of over 7,000 satellites, which allows internet connections in remote locations, such as flying over an ocean. The satellites are in low-earth orbit, which means faster internet speeds — but also disrupts astronomers.

Starlink isn't the only game in town, however.

JetBlue has signed up for Amazon Leo, which functions similarly, but has only launched 150 satellites so far.

Another in-flight WiFi rival is Viasat, which is used by Delta Air Lines and American Airlines. It only has a handful of satellites in a geostationary orbit, which have a longer time delay.

While it has rivals, Starlink wants to cement its dominance. As Starlink grows in popularity, it could be that more carriers sign up to Starlink to keep up with competitors. All airlines with Starlink offer it free of charge, although some require passengers to sign up for their loyalty programs.

As of the Korean announcement, here are all the airlines that have publicly announced plans to launch Starlink:

• From Christmas markets to light displays, small towns across the US get into the holiday spirit.
• Helen, Georgia, is a recreation of a Bavarian alpine village that goes all-out for Christmas.
• Santa Claus arrives by boat during Nantucket, Massachusetts' annual Christmas Stroll.

From dazzling festivals of light to towering Christmas trees, there are plenty of ways for small towns across the US to celebrate the holidays.

Whether you're celebrating the season in a quaint New England town or hitting the slopes in Jackson Hole, there's no wrong way to get in the holiday spirit.

For local small businesses, hotels, and restaurants, the holiday season offers more than just festive cheer — it's also an opportunity to generate income from tourism. Day-trippers and overnight tourists boost local economies while enjoying festive holiday markets, local restaurants, quaint and cozy inns, and more.

Keep reading to discover the best Christmas towns in the US, from Alaska to North Carolina.

• I started vaping in college, right as it was becoming trendy, even though I never smoked cigarettes.
• It became a significant problem — both for my health and my finances.
• After almost 8 years, quitting has saved my lungs and my wallet.

I was at my senior year homecoming dance when I learned what a vape was for the first time.

It was 2017, and I saw a group of my classmates huddled in a corner, passing around what looked like a USB drive.

Out of curiosity, I asked what it was, and one said, "What, you've never heard of a Juul before?" I hadn't, but a quick Google search taught me it was meant to be a replacement for cigarettes.

I eventually joined the growing trend, which left me feeling awful for years — before I could muster the willpower to quit vaping. Thankfully, quitting has helped me save money and feel healthier.

It started with good intentions

A friend of mine had started smoking right before we left for college. After many years of health classes and TV commercials warning of the dangers of cigarettes, I knew this wasn't a habit I should sit back and let my friend form. I went out and bought a vape for them — since getting them to stop altogether seemed like a tall order.

It seemed innocent enough because there was no actual tobacco involved, so I gave it a go myself. I immediately understood why they had become so popular. They tasted great and were fun to use, so without even considering the addictive qualities of nicotine, I bought my own.

Pod-based vapes were all the rage on my college campus. They were easy to pass around with friends, and every gas station for miles sold refills. They were also discreet and easy to use, so many students, including myself, carried them everywhere. It was common to run into classmates taking a "bathroom break," when in reality we were all just vaping in the stalls.

Being that it was so easy to get away with, it didn't occur to me that I was wiring my brain to become dependent on this little stick of nicotine in my pocket.

The cost hit both my wallet and my health

It was a regular errand of mine to go to the gas station after class. Running about $25 for a pack of four vape pods, it didn't seem like a huge expense as a college dorm resident with few bills to pay.

Over time, the pods began to fall out of fashion and were replaced with disposable vapes. They weren't much more expensive — at about $30 each.

But the frequency at which I made these purchases affected not only my wallet but also my health.

The habit continued for years. It became obvious to me that the idea of vapes being "better for you" simply because they lacked tobacco wasn't true. I tried to quit several times, rarely making it longer than a few days or maybe even a week due to the withdrawals.

Factoring their costs into my budget felt like a cold sore that wouldn't go away, knowing it was unnecessary, but the struggle to stop remained. But once I found myself so sick from it that I could barely take a deep breath, I buckled down and told myself the time had come.

In May, I threw away what would be my last vape and have not purchased one since.

Kicking the habit brought a breath of fresh air

The physical relief from quitting came slowly, but the financial part was almost immediate. Since the day I quit six months ago, I have saved over $900.

My resting heart rate has improved significantly, energy levels are up, and I don't wake up each morning reaching for a vape before my eyes are even open.

I had looked up every technique I could possibly try to make the withdrawals easier, but it came down to the sheer willpower to lock myself in my apartment until the worst of the cravings stopped.

I can't say they don't still arise when I find myself particularly anxious (or just bored), but a life free from nicotine is one both my body and wallet are happy to have back.

• Citadel, Millennium, Point72, and more all made money in November.
• Big-name funds battled a choppy equities market, though stocks bounced in the second half of the month.
• Many hedge funds outperformed the modest 0.1% gain in November by the S&P 500 index.

Hedge funds' biggest names had a solid November despite an early-month sell-off of hot tech stocks.

Citadel, Balyasny, and Point72 made money in the month, people close to the managers told Business Insider.

Miami-based Citadel, run by billionaire Ken Griffin, was up 1.4% in its flagship Wellington fund. The fund has made 8.3% for the year. The manager's Tactical Trading fund, which combines the firm's quant and flesh-and-blood stockpickers, is up 16.3% in 2025 after 2.6% gain last month.

The $30 billion Balyasny continued its strong year with a 2.5% gain in November. The manager is now up 15.3% in 2025. ExodusPoint pushed its year-to-date returns to 15.6% with a 1.2% bump in November. Billionaire Steve Cohen's Point72 is up 15% in 2025, following a 1.4% gain last month.

Millennium eked out gains of 0.5% over the month, bringing its year-to-date returns to 8.3%. The $81 billion manager was dragged down by significant losses from its index rebalance teams, Business Insider reported.

These firms and many other multistrategy managers outperformed the S&P 500 last month; the index gained just 0.1% thanks to an early-month sell-off of tech stocks that was partially reversed by strong earnings from chipmaker Nvidia and solid iPhone sales by Apple.

The index for the year has still made more than 16% in 2025, which is greater than many funds' year-to-date gains.

The firms below declined to comment. More performance figures will be added to the table and the article as they are learned.

(Editor's note: This story was originally published on December 1 at 2.32 pm. New figures have been added to the table below as they have been learned.)

Fund	November performance	2025 performance
Boothbay	0.6%	16.4%
AQR Apex	0.4%	16.2%
Dymon Asia	1.1%	16%
ExodusPoint	1.2%	15.6%
Balyasny	2.5%	15.3%
Point72	1.4%	15%
Walleye	1.6%	13.1%
Pinpoint Asset Management	-1%	10.4%
Schonfeld Partners	1.4%	10%
LMR	1.6%	8.9%
Citadel Wellington	1.4%	8.3%
Millennium	0.5%	8.3%
Jain Global	-0.4%	2.2%