Amazon founder Jeff Bezos sold more than a million shares last week, per an SEC filing.
Some of the money will be used to fund the billionaire's chain of nonprofit preschools.
Day 1 Academies are "Montessori-inspired" schools. The first opened in 2020.
Jeff Bezos sold around 1.1 million Amazon shares last week — and used the money raised to fund his "Montessori-inspired" nonprofit preschools, SEC filings show.
The world's third-richest man sold 431,426 shares on May 29 and 667,260 shares on May 30, with the $117 million raised from the second of those sales going to Day 1 Academies, a chain founded by Bezos.
The nonprofit serves children between the ages of 3 and 5. The first of its schools opened in Des Moines, Washington, in 2020.
Bezos stepped down as Amazon CEO in 2021 but remains the company's executive chairman and largest shareholder.
Bezos announced his push into education in 2018, when he unveiled his two philanthropic initiatives: the Day 1 Families Fund and the Day 1 Academies Fund. Both initiatives are funded by the Bezos Day One Fund, to which Bezos committed $2 billion at the time, in a bid to create a network of preschools in which "the child will be the customer."
The schools are directly operated by Bezos' fund, which "creates an opportunity to learn, invent, and improve" upon early childhood education, according to its website.
Murdoch, 93, had announced his engagement to the 67-year-old retired molecular biologist in March, less than a year after he called off his last engagement, to Ann Lesley Smith, a former model and police chaplain.
In all, the founder of News Corp. and Fox News been married five times.
His love life, including high-profile marriages to entrepreneur Wendi Deng and model Jerry Hall, has often made headlines throughout his career. His split from his second wife, Anna, has been cited as one of the most expensive divorces in history, with reports claiming she earned a staggering $1.7 billion in their divorce settlement, though that figure has been called in to question, per The Guardian. In 2024, Murdoch and his family are worth almost $20 billion, according to Forbes.
Here's a timeline of his marriages.
Patricia Booker
Rupert Murdoch holding a copy of the Daily Mirror, a Sydney tabloid, taken in May 1960.
Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Murdoch married his first wife, Patricia Booker, a former department store model and flight attendant when he was 25 years old in 1956. He married her against the wishes of his mother, Dame Elisabeth Murdoch, who reportedly regarded Booker as "less than" who she expected her son to marry, Vanity Fair reported.
The pair had a daughter together, Prudence, now 66, who sits on the board of Times Newspapers, a subsidiary of News Corp, London's Evening Standard reported.
Rupert Murdoch with his wife, Anna and their baby daughter, Elizabeth, at London Airport in 1968.
Evening Standard/Getty Images
Shortly after his divorce from his first wife, Murdoch met his soon-to-be second bride, Anna Murdoch Mann, whose maiden name was Torv.
They first met when Murdoch Mann was 18 years old when she had the opportunity to interview Murdoch while she worked for the Sydney newspaper, The Daily Telegraph, which he later owned.
The media mogul and Scottish-Australian novelist were married for 32 years and had three children together: Elisabeth Murdoch, Lachlan Murdoch, and James Murdoch.
Though Murdoch's marriage with Anna was his longest, the couple did have a tumultuous relationship towards the end as rumors circulated that the media tycoon was having an affair with Wendi Deng, who was working as an intern for News Corp.-owned Star TV.
Murdoch and Torv divorced in 1999.
"I thought we had a wonderful, happy marriage," she said in an interview with Australian Women's Weekly in 2001. "Obviously we didn't."
Wendi Deng
Rupert Murdoch and Wendi Deng.
Featureflash / Shutterstock.com
Just 17 days after his divorce from Anna Murdoch Mann was finalized in June 1999, Murdoch, then 68, married Chinese-American entrepreneur Wendi Deng, who was 31 at the time, as reported by the Evening Standard.
The pair had met when Deng was a 29-year-old intern for Star TV, a Hong Kong television station owned by News Corp. They share two daughters, Grace and Chloe.
Deng and Murdoch separated in 2013.
Jerry Hall
Rupert Murdoch (L) and Jerry Hall attend the 2019 Vanity Fair Oscar Party.
Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images
A week before his 85th birthday in 2016, Murdoch married former supermodel and actress Jerry Hall, then 59.
Hall was previously married to Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger, with whom she shares four children, before they were granted an annulment in 1999.
After six years of marriage, Hall filed for divorce from Murdoch in of June 2022, but in mid-August of last year, she filed a request in Los Angeles Superior Court to dismiss her original petition for divorce and for permission to file a new one, which was dismissed, the Associated Press reported.
In a joint statement a day after news reports of Hall's filing, their representatives announced they had finalized their divorce and "remain good friends and wish each other the best for the future."
Ann Lesley Smith
Rupert Murdoch at his annual party at Spencer House, St James' Place in London, on June 22, 2023.
Victoria Jones/PA Images via Getty Images
In March 2023, Murdoch's love life was back in the spotlight after he announced he was getting married for the fifth time.
In an interview with the New York Post, owned by Murdoch's News Corp., Murdoch said he proposed to his bride-to-be Ann Lesley Smith, then 66, a former model and San Francisco police chaplain, on St. Patrick's Day.
"I was very nervous," Murdoch told the Post. "I dreaded falling in love — but I knew this would be my last. It better be. I'm happy."
The pair first met in September 2022 at his vineyard in Bel Air, California. Two weeks later, Murdoch said he called her.
Smith, who was married to the late country musician Chester Smith who died in 2008, said, "In perspective, it's not my first rodeo. Getting near 70 means being in the last half. I waited for the right time. Friends are happy for me."
Murdoch added, "We're both looking forward to spending the second half of our lives together."
But the engagement was short-lived. They called off the wedding just weeks later in April 2023.
Elena Zhukova
Rupert Murdoch and Elena Zhukova at their June 2024 wedding.
Murphy Pizza (not pictured) has a PhD but lives paycheck to paycheck and has nearly $250,000 of student loan debt.
Boy_Anupong / Getty Images
Murphy Pizza, burdened by $250,000 in student loans, left academia due to low and inconsistent pay.
Pizza is an ALICE — asset-limited, income-constrained, and employed.
She now pays $40 monthly under Biden's repayment plan but still faces financial hardship.
Murphy Pizza has accepted that she may never pay off her student loans. But she's anxious about her other expenses, like credit card bills and rent.
The 51-year-old has about $250,000 in student loan debt. She completed her doctorate degree in 2009 and worked for over a decade as an adjunct professor at various colleges in the Twin Cities, where she lives. The cost of her education is something she has "learned to live with," she said.
"That's the least of my worries, the student loan debt," she said. "It's the other stuff from day to day that I have to negotiate: credit card debt, medical expenses, or just rent bills."
She is what economists call an ALICE — asset-limited, income-constrained, and employed. Like 29% of US households, Pizza lives paycheck to paycheck, but her income is too high for most government assistance, per Census Bureau data and cost-of-living estimates analyzed by the nonprofit United Way. This compares to 13% of Americans who live at or below the federal poverty line, which is $15,060 for an individual.
Teachers and adjunct professors are especially vulnerable to being ALICEs. Sixty percent of adjunct professors make less than $50,000 a year, despite most of them holding at least a master's degree, according to a 2022 report by The American Federation of Teachers that surveyed 1,900 adjunct professorsacross the US.
"There are many teaching college who are hungry and can't go to the doctor," Pizza said in an email to Business Insider.
Pizza could make about $45,000 a year when she taught classes, but she had no steady income over the summer or winter breaks. She also didn't have health insurance and "never went to the doctor," she said.
If there weren't enough students enrolled in her courses— which focused on history, anthropology, and religion — Pizza was often dropped from her fall or spring position with minimal notice. She had to work side hustles to support herself: teaching at three schools simultaneously, scoring exams online, and more. At one point, she was working five jobs to afford housing, food, healthcare, and her student loan payments. She once had to declare bankruptcy because she couldn't take on a sixth job.
Adjunct professors often feel like "over-educated gig workers," she said.
And, after thirteen years, she quit teaching because it was unsustainable for her finances.
Pizza left her adjunct role for less pay, but it's worth the stability
WhenPizza left academia, she took a customer service job at a tech nonprofit making $30,467 a year, according to documents reviewed by BI. She still lives on a tight budget, but she is grateful for the security of a 9-to-5.
Early in her academic career, she thought she could get her degrees, earn a full-time professor salary, and maybe join the steady tenure track. She's been trying to get a better-paying job for 15 years, but she said the positions aren't available — even with a Ph.D.
Her nonprofit job has offered some relief.
"I'm making less money, but I know when I show up at work now, five days a week, there will be a paycheck," she said. "That's done a lot for my own sense of self."
Shortly after starting the job, she needed surgery. She was relieved to have consistenthealth insurance for the first time in her adult life, but couldn't afford out-of-pocket medical expenses. Her best friend set up a GoFundMe to help with the costs not covered by insurance.
Pizza also lives alone in her St. Paul apartment and gets discounted rent because she's been in the building for about 20 years. She said her income is currently too high for SNAP, and her friends will help cover her groceries to make sure she eats.
She's still paying off her student loans, but has been able to enroll in SAVE, President Joe Biden's income-based repayment plan. Pizza pays around $40 a month right now. Still, because of interest, she said her debt total isn't getting any smaller.
Although Pizza is used to transitions, she's not sure what will happen next. Lately, she's been working on some grant-funded anthropological research and archiving, which allows her to continue dissertation work and earn some extra income.
The dream, she said, would be to make all the money she needs from just one job. She also wishes she could build savings.
Pizza said many people living paycheck to paycheck feel lonely and isolated. She is especially grateful for her friends, who have always made sure she has food in her fridge and is able to visit the doctor when she's sick.
Community is "gold," she said.
"If somebody's out there in the same situation that doesn't have friends or community, just figure out a way to reach out," Pizza said. "Because there will be people that will care about you."
Do you live paycheck to paycheck? Are you open to sharing how you afford food, housing, and other expenses? If so, reach out to this reporter at allisonkelly@businessinsider.com.
I left an office job 10 years ago because I wanted more flexibility.
Now I'm self-employed and while I get to do things when I want, I don't know when to retire.
I want to have time to do the things I want to do.
When I started my business 10 years ago, after leaving my position as the executive vice president of a large public relations agency, I did so because I wanted to have the freedom of being my own boss. I worked from home (a rarity then), made my own hours, and had unlimited vacation and sick days. Plus, it would be a perfect way to ease into retirement when the day came.
But with business slowing down, I'm wondering if it's time to close up shop, semi-retire, or keep trying to rebuild my business.
I had a number in mind, but it wasn't my age
When I thought about retirement, I had a specific number in mind. Not an age, although I knew working until 70 would allow me to maximize both my Social Security benefits and my 401(k) distributions. The number in mind was the amount of money I'd need to maintain my lifestyle. I would eventually need to lower some expenses, but I didn't want to have to downsize or move to a less expensive area. Plus, I wanted to travel as long as I was physically able to and continue going to the theater regularly.
But, as my workload lightened, I started to think about semi-retirement. My work hours were flexible, but I always kept my laptop and phone close by just in case. When COVID-19 gave me more free time, I decided to test out an official four-day workweek. I let my clients know I was no longer working on Fridays, except for anything urgent or pressing. I flexed back to five days when I was offered a lucrative project with a tight timeline; when the project ended, so did my full workweek.
Retiring now will allow me to pursue my passions
I'm thinking about retiring even with all that flexibility because it's hard to stay relevant in a constantly changing field. When traditional media gave way to social media, I adapted. Now, AI is changing the way everyone does business, and I'm not sure if I'm willing or able to climb the steep learning curve ahead.
PR is also a young person's field. I've enjoyed working with and mentoring young colleagues and clients. But, more than once, I've heard "OK, boomer" in the voices of junior team members.
I'm also tired of selling myself. I always disliked sales, but having a heart for my work made it easier. However, continually searching for and pitching new business can be disappointing and time-consuming, with little reward.
The final — and perhaps most compelling — reason for me to retire is so I can pursue my passions. A few years ago, I renewed my love for writing and started writing personal essays and a memoir. Any writer will tell you it's hard to take the time to sit down and write, but it can be difficult to find that time when you're trying to squeeze it in between emails and Zoom calls.
I love my work
Why not retire? Finances are the most obvious answer to that question, but I also love the work: the variety — no day has ever been the same as the one before — as well as the people I meet, the ability to be creative and to continually learn, and the gratification from knowing that I am an expert in my field.
Again, I have flexibility. If I ease back now, who says I can't pick things back up again? I don't need to announce my retirement, throw myself a retirement party, or give myself a gold watch.
So, for now, I will stay semi-retired. I can use my spare time to write essays and jump into work as it comes. Who knows, maybe I'll even end up working past 70.
Welcome back! Lifestyle creep can get the best of us, but it can lead to some serious financial stress. A Harvard professor shares tips for nipping it in the bud.
In today's big story, we're looking at China's strict approach to overseeing its AI development and the threat it poses to the world.
We've heard about the dangers of AI running wild, but what kind of risks come from the tech being highly regulated and controlled?
For the Chinese Communist Party, that's the plan. The country's history of censorship and surveillance is extending to its approach to AI, writes Business Insider's Linette Lopez.
The CCP's plan for AI is about shaping reality and enforcing its power, according to internal documents. To that end, the government has final sign-off on large language models and the data they were trained on.
In short, it's less "move fast and break things" and more "proceed in a government-approved fashion and avoid upsetting the status quo."
China's push to exert control over AI comes at a critical juncture for the country.
As Linette has previously reported, China's bright economic future has dimmed considerably. And its recovery plan — China shock 2.0 — won't come easily or be welcomed by the rest of the world.
So, as AI chatbots become the new method of receiving information, it's no wonder the CCP is making sure AI is getting accurateits messages across.
Xi Jinping makes a public pledge of allegiance to the Constitution at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 10, 2023.
Xie Huanchi/Xinhua via Getty Images
However, this isn't a call for a libertarian approach to generative AI.
So putting in some types of rules around the tech — albeit not to the degree the CCP has — seems like a good idea.
But that poses another issue. How can we expect lawmakers, who often struggle with the basics of tech, to grasp something people on the cutting edge can barely wrap their heads around?
In the meantime, China could extend the AI tools of control and surveillance it creates to other regimes with similar ideologies.
It's a distressing outcome.
"The digital curtain AI can build in our imaginations will be much more impenetrable than iron, making it impossible for societies to cooperate in a shared future," Linette writes.
3 things in markets
Getty Images; Shutterstock; BI
Here come the interns. Ken Griffin's Citadel and Citadel Securities welcome more than 300 interns for their 11-week program that starts today. BI got a look at how the firms recruit and run a program that draws over 85,000 applicants and has a 0.5% acceptance rate.
What to do ahead of May's jobs report. Permabull Tom Lee said it's a great time to buy stocks — shocking — with a new jobs report set to drop on Friday. Stocks' slight decline last week and April Core PCE data showing cooling inflation means investors can get in ahead of the next rally.
GameStop surges again. Shares in the retailer almost doubled ahead of Monday's opening bell after trader Keith Gill, also known as "Roaring Kitty," revealed a $116 million position.
3 things in tech
istock/BI
More layoffs hit Google, this time in its Cloud unit. The company announced it was cutting jobs across several Cloud teams, according to an internal document reviewed by BI. The layoffs appear to be more sweeping than Google's more surgical cuts to other teams in recent months.
This anti-Instagram photo-sharing app is grabbing the tech world's attention. Launched in 2023 by two former Instagram staffers, Retro is a social media app that isn't chasing AI hype. Instead, it's focused on building a cozy, small-scale user experience that's wooing many Silicon Valley figures.
It's been a tough start for Amazon's Shopify killer. Launched over a year ago, Buy with Prime has seen mixed results so far, according to sellers who spoke with BI. Internal Amazon emails discussed "dissatisfaction," with sales off target "by a wide margin."
3 things in business
American Express; Apple; Alyssa Powell/BI
Meet Gen Z's newest status symbol: an AmEx card. American Express credit cards aren't just for your rich, boomer dad anymore. AmEx's new benefits are targeting Gen Z and millennial customers by offering Uber ride rewards and special access to events like Coachella. So far, it's working.
Why Americans don't exercise. Many of our collective crises — depression, loneliness, and anxiety — are made worse by our tendency toward a sedentary, shut-in lifestyle. Research shows that exercise can help. So why have we given up on trying to be active?
Boomers and Gen Z are feeling happy-lonely. New studies show that happiness and loneliness both peak early and later in life, with a decline in middle age. We spoke with adults who feel happy and lonely at the same time — and researchers on how that works.
Manuel Medrano is a former member of the Arizona Mexican Mafia, also known as the New Mexican Mafia, a US prison gang. He was in and out of the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry for 20 years and served time for armed robbery and drug trafficking.
Medrano speaks with Business Insider about the gang structure and hierarchy, as well as ties to the cartels. He covers gang tattoos, language, and rivalries with the Border Brothers. He also talks about the loose alliance the gang had with the Aryan Brotherhood. Medrano discusses corrupt prison guards and offers his opinion on mass incarceration and US drug policy.
Medrano now runs Phase Two of Life, a charity in Arizona. He also runs the YouTube channel Chronicles, where he speaks with former gang members.
The Mexican Mafia, also known as La Eme, originated in 1957 in the California prison system. According to law enforcement, the gang is splintered into the New Mexican Mafia, founded in Florence, Arizona, around 1974, and other factions. Many prison gangs in the US take the name Mexican Mafia, including the Mexikanemi, or Texas Mexican Mafia.
Arielle Francois moved from the Miami metropolitan area to Dallas for a job.
She's been living in Dallas since 2022; she talked to BI about how it compares to living in Florida.
She thinks it's more affordable than being in South Florida for someone her age.
Arielle Francois, 24, would tell her past self it's fine to be nervous about making the move from South Florida to Dallas.
That move at thestart of 2022 came with the unknown of what her "first big girl job" would be like. Francois would also have to figure out rent and finances, how to meet people, and everything else needed to thrive in a city and state she hadn't been to before.
"There was no initial excitement or happiness at all just because it was an unknown city to me," Francois told Business Insider.
She had been living with family in the Miami metropolitan area; she also attended college in Florida. Francois moved to Florida from Haiti because of the earthquake in 2010.
Fast-forwarding to the end of 2021, she had to consider moving for a job offer to take part in a program at PMG that required the relocation to Texas. She told BI she only had a short time "to find somewhere to stay, to learn about Dallas, to even figure out if I wanted to move to Dallas."
Francois studied criminal justice but changed interests toward the end of college after getting a taste of digital marketing work as a college side hustle. "The program is specifically designed for post-grad students who are looking to kick-start their career in digital marketing,"she said.
After successfully completing the program, she works as a digital marketer on the influencer marketing team at PMG.
Francois works for PMG.
Skylar/Courtesy of Arielle Francois
Francois is among the many people who moved to the Dallas metro area in 2022. Nearly 91,600 more people moved in than out of the Dallas area from elsewhere in the US during the period of July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2022, data from the Census Bureau showed.
"I find Dallas is up and coming," Francois said.
Francois sees several positives to living in Dallas, including more visibility and opportunities as a content creator. With more and more Gen Zers moving into full-time employment while baby boomers enter retirement or leave behind full-time jobs, Francois talked to BI about advice for anyone uprooting their lives to move somewhere new.
Leveraging social media
Francois advised people who are moving to make sure they do their research. She has also found social media can be useful for moving — not only to see what life is like in the place you are heading to but as a way to reach out to people.
For instance, Francois said she used Smart City to find a place to live. She said it's a service where you connect with a "locator to help you find the apartment that you want in your desired location." Francois said she learned about this "through a Dallas local I reached out to on social media while doing my research. This highlights the importance of seeking advice from locals and leveraging social media during the moving process."
"I feel like social media is the perfect place for you to discover a city because you have a ton of content creators who are creating amazing content about the good, the bad, pretty, the ugly about the city," she said.
Beyond scrolling through social media posts and apartment sites, there are also rent and costs to think about.
"I recommend budgeting and saving as much as possible — your future self will appreciate it," she said for other Gen Zers living on their own for the first time. She added that can include not spending too much on furniture and thrifting items.
Moving to a new city can also mean figuring out how to make friends. Francois said not to forget others may be new to the area and seeking new friends.
"Making friends can be intimidating, but there are often many social groups on Facebook or platforms like The Nudge that organize social events and provide lists of activities in your city," she told BI. "Social media is also a great way to meet new people and discover local events."
How her life in Dallas compares to Florida
"I think I would definitely say that my favorite part about the city is how helpful and open everyone is," Francois said about Dallas.
She said going out with her colleagues is one of her favorite things to do in the area. For instance, she went to her first-ever baseball game with her coworkers.
Francois has also found Dallas a good city to live in as a content creator compared to Miami. "The visibility I got in South Florida was very limited just because there were so many other creatives in terms of models and artists and content creators," she said.
Meanwhile, in Dallas, she feels she gets more visibility as a creator, "which has actually resulted in much more opportunities for me here," she said. "For example, I get invited to a ton of Dallas creator events with some brands that I personally use, and I just actually feel like a creator here just because I get that visibility as a creator, and so I'm treated like I'm a creator."
Additionally, Francois said she feels it's more affordable to live in Dallas than South Florida for someone her age.According to Zillow data at the time of reporting, the median rent for a one-bedroom property is $2,700 in Miami and around $1,400 in Dallas.
Francois, who hasn't had roommates while living in Dallas, paid nearly $1,600 a month in rent, including some fees, for her first apartment in the city. She moved earlier this year to a new building, where she pays over $1,800 a month.
She said she has "everything you could possibly need," at her current place. "To me, it was worth the increase in rent, but I know not everyone would necessarily agree."
Additionally, she finds that Dallas is quieter than Miami. "I remember when I lived there, I would say, 'I live where you vacation,'" Francois said.
"If you want to party, you go to Florida, whereas I don't think if you want to party, you would think of Dallas as the go-to city for that," Francois said. "And I'm totally OK with living somewhere like that because of where I'm at mentally, professionally, and all of that."
While she does miss being close to the beach, a personal pro for her of living in Dallas is seeing the differences in seasons and the changing weather.
"Because I grew up in the Caribbean islands, I'm very used to sunny weather and just basically summer weather all year long," Francois said. "So, I actually like that in Dallas I'm able to see the seasons change."
She also misses the Haitian community in Florida and says that if she's craving Haitian food, she won't really find it in Dallas.
"Because South Florida is so close to Haiti, you'll find a huge population of Haitians in South Florida," she said. "So when I moved to Florida, I didn't feel like I was too far away from home because there were so many Haitian restaurants, so many Haitian churches. There's even Little Haiti in South Florida. So, Haitian culture is very present there."
Given the mix of things she misses about South Florida and the perks of being in Dallas, Francois said she would tell her past self who was getting ready to move that, "It's normal to be nervous because change is uncomfortable" and it's an uneasy feeling to experience this new chapter in life alone.
"It's fine to feel how you feel, but if only you knew what was on the other side of all of that fear and anxiety, you would quickly wipe your tears and get to packing," she said.
Have you moved out of Florida or moved to Texas? Share your moving experience with this reporter at mhoff@businessinsider.com.
Washington state secured the top spot due to its performance in both economic activity and innovation potential.
Caroline Purser / Getty Images
WalletHub's report ranks state economies based on their economic activity, health, and innovation.
Washington leads the list driven by high-tech jobs and STEM professionals.
Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Kentucky are among the weakest state economies in the US.
States like Washington, Utah, Massachusetts, Texas, and California may not seem like they have much in common, but each has a strong economy that's helping to fuel national growth.
Those five states have the best economies, according to a new ranking of all 50 states and DC by financial services company WalletHub. Meanwhile, Mississippi, Hawai'i, West Virginia, Arkansas, and Louisana have the worst.
"A strong state economy doesn't guarantee success for the state's residents, but it certainly makes financial success more attainable," Cassandra Happe, a WalletHub analyst, wrote in the report. "Factors like a low unemployment rate and high average income help residents purchase property, pay down debt, and save for the future."
To determine the best state economies, WalletHub compared the 50 states and DC across three categories: economic activity, economic health, and innovation potential. Each of the three categories was evaluated using 28 metrics of varying weights, including share of fast-growing firms, unemployment rate, and entrepreneurial activity.
"The best state economies also encourage growth by being friendly to new businesses and investing in new technology that will help the state deal with future challenges and become more efficient," Happe wrote.
Washington secured the top spot due to its performance in both economic activity and innovation potential. The state's economy benefits significantly from high industry research and development investment levels, positioning it at the forefront of technological advancement. After all, Amazon and Microsoft are headquartered in the state.
Additionally, people who move to Washington are the fifth-most educated in the country, contributing to the state's sixth-highest median household income after adjusting for the cost of living. A November report from Bank of America based on internal customer data showed that people who move to Seattle for a new job receive the largest pay raises among all US cities.
Utah wasthe runner-up with the second-highest median annual household income after adjusting for the cost of living. The state also has a healthy labor market, featuring one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country and substantial growth in its civilian labor force.
Meanwhile, several states in the south are among those with the lowest rankings. Many of the states scored low across the board as they struggled with issues like high unemployment rates and low household incomes.
Here are the top five states, followed by the five states ranked the lowest.
Guards during a protest backing the Houthis in Sana'a, Yemen, on March 22, 2024.
Photo by Mohammed Hamoud/Getty Images
The US has been "too passive" in the Red Sea, a retired US general told CBS' Face The Nation.
Kenneth F. McKenzie, former CENTCOM commander, said the US Navy should go after Houthi leaders.
The Houthis have been using drones and missiles to target commercial shipping in the Red Sea.
A retired US general said the US has been too passive when it comes to the Houthis, letting them dominate the Red Sea, and said that it should go after their leaders instead.
"We've been too passive," Kenneth F. McKenzie, who previously led the US Central Command, told CBS' Face The Nation on Sunday.
"We've allowed the Houthis really to dominate the global maritime communications by closing down effectively the Suez Canal," he said.
The Houthis have been using drones and missiles to target ships in the Red Sea corridor to exert pressure on Israel and the West over the war in Gaza.
As a result, the main maritime lanes have needed to be guarded by a US Navy carrier strike group and vessels from European nations.
The US Navy's Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group has spent months combating the Houthis in the key shipping lanes of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden to allow the safe transit of international commercial shipping.
The US strike group — which consists of an aircraft carrier and several other warships — has gone after over 400 Houthi targets in dozens of self-defense operations, according to data Navy officials shared with Business Insider last month.
But McKenzie, who oversaw the high-profile 2019 special forces raid in Syria to kill or capture then-ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, said the US has been essentially "catching and not pitching" in the Red Sea, despite deploying "multi-billion-dollar warships."
While he acknowledged the US Navy had upped its use of munitions, he said it needed to go after the source of the attacks: Houthi leadership and command-and-control facilities in Yemen.
"I would argue that the threat of escalation is very small if we conduct these attacks," McKenzie said.
The sheer number of ships engaged in the region makes it the largest battle the US Navy has been engaged in since World War II, Vice Adm. Brad Cooper told "60 Minutes" in February.
That same month, Rear Adm. Marc Miguez, the US strike group's commander, told BI that they had planes in the sky "constantly."
"It's a huge effort," Miguez said.
According to a post by The Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, the Houthis are difficult to degrade or deter, in part because Iran supports them with weaponry, but also because they use the conflict to strengthen their domestic support in Yemen.
Yahya Sare'e, a spokesperson for the Yemeni Armed Forces, has vowed to continue attacks until the Israeli "aggression" in Gaza stops, per Reuters.
Last month, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines warned of the prospect of a protracted conflict, saying the Houthis' threat is likely to remain active for some time.
In an analysis in February, BI's defense writer Michael Peck said that the US could face the same fate as Egypt, which sent 70,000 soldiers into Yemen and conducted a relentless bombing campaign in the 1960s, but failed to suppress the group.
But while critics think the repercussions of a flatter corporate structure could be less mentorship and feeling more stress coming from above, according to hiring experts, there are also benefits. And one might be that Zoomers get better at their jobs.
Sophie O'Brien, a Gen Z hiring expert and the founder of the recruitment agency Pollen Careers, told Business Insider the role of a middle manager is to effectively "micro-manage juniors."
"But actually, there's evidence to suggest this is not productive and limits people's learning potential," she said. "The most effective team development is when people are given autonomy and the freedom to fail."
O'Brien said fresh talent is often better equipped to identify issues with traditional ways of working in a company, which could help with shaking up the structure to be more efficient.
She said that not having a micromanager picking apart their work could benefit Gen Zers who don't feel they need to be "spoon-fed."
O'Brien said micromanagers can have a "detrimental impact" on Zoomers' productivity, especially if it's their first job.
"It can cause them to feel demotivated, doubt or second-guess themself, and make them disengage from their work," she said. "Because if their ideas or work is constantly being rehashed or rejected, they'll naturally lose interest in their role."
Not having multiple layers of management will give Zoomers "more autonomy and flexibility," O'Brien said, "and this can encourage empowerment, creativity, and for them to take full responsibility for their work."
Doing it right
Those who are skeptical of companies axing middle managers say it could mean junior staff won't receive the mentorship needed to climb the ladder.
But issues should only arise with this shift if companies don't handle it properly, O'Brien said.
One way to ensure young hires feel supported is to introduce mentoring programs, she said, because this will give them first-hand exposure to people from different teams with different levels of responsibility.
They should also be introduced to the leadership team, O'Brien added, so they have visibility within the company.
"This not only benefits more junior employees but mentors, too," she said.
"We're now in a working world where there can be four generations working together, and the intergenerational divide has never been so vast."
Making room for more conversations between people at all levels "can make for greater empathy, understanding, and better culture," O'Brien said.
Reverse mentoring can also help bring an organization together, O'Brien said, to help give junior employees access to a variety of senior staff and leaders, so they are not stuck with a "terrible boss."
Overall, it's about "trial and error," O'Brien said, and "making brave decisions."
"Even just making a change and adopting a growth mindset as a business can create positive change, even if it fails, because it shows you want to do the best by people, that you won't just stick to the status quo," she said.
Catherine Rymsha, a visiting lecturer in management at The University of Massachusetts Lowell, told BI that cutting middle managers "alleviates the time and costs of upskilling and developing them into effective leaders."
Companies are cutting managers to "weed out underperforming talent," Rymsha said, "while promoting the next-gen of leaders to aid in both developing those people and keeping an eye on the bottom line."
According to Joe Camberato, the CEO of the fintech marketplace National Business Capital, it all comes down to who brings value and who doesn't.
"If you want to protect your job, don't just focus on your title or job description," he said. "Focus on what brings real value to your company, department, or team, and go above and beyond to make that happen."
Camberato said staffers of all generations, from Boomers to Gen Zers, need to evolve, "especially as technology advances."
"You need to embrace change and new technologies to keep bringing value to your company and your position," he said. "If you don't, you risk being left behind without a job."