• Morgan Stanley chairman James Gorman is stepping down at the end of the year.
• The former CEO revealed his plans at the bank's annual shareholder meeting.
• Gorman joined Morgan Stanley in 2006 and helped steer the bank through the financial crisis.

James Gorman will leave Morgan Stanley at the end of 2024, bringing an 18-year stint at the investment bank to a close.

The chairman revealed his plans on Thursday at the bank's annual meeting, outlets including Bloomberg and Reuters reported.

Gorman, 65, stepped down as CEO at the end of last year and was succeeded by Ted Pick, who is expected to eventually take on the chairman role as well.

The Australian joined Morgan Stanley's wealth management team from Merrill Lynch in 2006 and was appointed as CEO in 2010, although his predecessor John Mack stayed on as chairman for another two years.

Part of Gorman's legacy was shepherding the bank through the financial crisis. In September 2008, Morgan Stanley shed $20 billion in valuation over a four-day period, reportedly forcing it to consider merging with rivals.

The stock has risen nearly 250% since Gorman took over as CEO. That's helped make him one of Wall Street's best-paid executives, netting a $37 million salary in 2023.

In an interview late last year, Gorman was asked to rate his time at Morgan Stanley and gave himself an "A-minus" grade — but said he was happy to be stepping down as CEO.

"I do not want to be CEO anymore. I've loved it. I've loved all of it. I've done it for 14 years, that's enough," he told the Financial Times.

• I graduated high school in 2020, so I didn't get the normal graduation ceremony.
• The pandemic also ruined my classes and social life at college the first year. 
• Now that I'm graduating from the New School, I'm happy I finally get to celebrate properly.

In March 2020, when the world stopped for the COVID pandemic, my small high school in New Jersey sent an email explaining our spring break would start early and last indefinitely.

My senior year was ripped from me. We pushed prom back until it became nonexistent. Graduation traditions like Senior Sunrise and Senior Ditch Day disappeared completely. Meanwhile, the details of our actual graduation ceremony became a mystery.

I watched on social media as schools around the country forced their seniors into graduating on Zoom calls. Some were even given their diplomas via drive-thrus as if they were ordering at McDonalds.

Luckily, my high school decided to push our graduation to late July for an in-person ceremony. But it didn't feel like a moment of celebration. Everyone had to be six feet apart, silent, and wearing a mask. Graduation parties were nonexistent except for a select few.

Those of us who persevered through the strange pandemic high school graduation are now graduating from college. This month, I finally got my chance to celebrate my education properly at the New School in New York City.

The pandemic rippled throughout my college career

After my high school graduation, the awkward Zoom school years didn't end. In fact, I took virtual classes in college on and off through the end of 2021. Right when we thought we were safe to continue maskless, someone would get sick. It'd be another round of pretending to pay attention while my video was off.

I assume those who were able to enjoy college pre-2020 got to experience new adventures, like sneaking into frat parties as a freshman. For the class of 2024, that wasn't really a possibility. Even visiting campus facilities was a feat since actual campuses were shut down.

Plus, being locked inside for so long took away our social skills. Once we were let out into the world again, it was difficult for me to make friends, and college is the time you're supposed to be the most social. It was incredibly frustrating.

But as my college career continued, I was able to enjoy the true "college experience" everyone describes: parties, late nights studying in the library, and all the essential experiences that allow for the bridge into adulthood.

I almost missed out on an in-person graduation again

Just a couple of weeks before my college graduation was scheduled, protests for Gaza began on the New School campus. At the same time, our professors moved our classes to parks, studios, or the dreaded Zoom.

Once again, my graduation ceremony seemed uncertain. It wasn't clear if the school would cancel it amid the protests.

My fellow classmates and I felt a mass amount of exhaustion. We had already gone through so much over four years, and at the home stretch, it felt like it could all fall apart again. Our last ask as debt-ridden 20-year-olds was to walk across the stage for 10 seconds.

Thankfully, the ceremony was not canceled. On my graduation day — just last week — I woke up at 6 a.m., sat with my fellow graduates, and received my diploma on the stage.

It's funny to think that three years ago, in order to leave a dorm, I had to put on a mask to go through the hallway and then head outside. But now, my friends and I can sit right next to each other with our caps and gowns while joking throughout our ceremony.

The heaviness of the moment was not lost on me. After everything my class has been through, graduation felt more meaningful and lively. I'm beyond grateful to finally get the chance to celebrate everything I accomplished.

• A Pew Research Center report found young men without college degrees earned more in 2023 than a decade earlier.
• In the longer term, though, real wages for those without degrees have been mostly flat since the '90s.
• It could be contributing to a much smaller share of men without degrees in the labor force.

Young men without college degrees have been dropping out of the workforce for decades. But those who are working have higher earnings compared to 10 years ago, even as those wages have been mostly going sideways for decades.

On Thursday, the Pew Research Center released a report delving into whether a college degree is worth it. The report compares economic outcomes for young adults who've completed a college degree with those who have not.

In a survey of 5,203 adults in the US conducted from November to December 2023, the report found that only 22% of adults think the cost of college is worth it if it's accompanied by taking on student loans.

And while those who graduated from a four-year degree program reported their higher education as being extremely or very useful in equipping them with the skills they needed for their careers, young men — aged 25 to 34 — without college degrees saw improvement in their economic conditions over the past decade, even though in the longer term their wages have not kept up.

For example, according to the report, median earnings have been "increasing modestly" over the past 10 years for young men with a high school education or some college education who are working full time — and the median household income adjusted for inflation of young men with a high school education is now $75,200, up from $63,800 in 2014.

In the recently tight labor market where some employers have had a rough time getting workers interested in filling open roles and amid low unemployment rates, Richard Fry, senior researcher at Pew Research Center, told Business Insider in a statement "employers have to pay higher wages in order to attract and retain workers, including less-educated workers."

"Labor markets were also tight in the late 1990s," Fry said. "Accompanying that wages were also bid up for non-college educated young men at that time."

While young men working full-time, year-round and whose highest educational attainment is a high school diploma have higher real earnings than in 2014, they are not earning as much as their peers with a bachelor's degree or more.

Pew found young men with at least a bachelor's saw their median earnings rise from $67,500 in 2014 to $77,000 in 2023, a 14% increase over the decade. Meanwhile, those whose highest educational attainment is a high school diploma saw median earnings climb from $39,300 in 2014 to $45,000 in 2023, a similar increase of 14.6% based on the data shared with Business Insider.

This report comes amid a changing higher education atmosphere. A growing number of young adults are choosing to skip college because they don't believe taking on student debt will pay off, and some states are increasingly removing college degree requirements in an effort to fill more jobs. As a result, earning a degree might not come with the same benefits and prestige that it used to. The unemployment rate for Americans aged 25 and older with only a high school diploma was 4.0% as of April 2024, down from 6.2% in April 2014.

But despite the gains in earnings and household income for young men without degrees over the past decade, economic conditions are still far from perfect. Over the past few decades, the challenge of finding a high-paying job without a college degree is among the reasons some men have exited the labor force.

In April 1950, about 96% of American men ages 25 to 54 had a job or were actively looking for work, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. As of April 2024, that figure had fallen to about 89%. As of April, 62.9% of US men aged 25 and older with only a high school degree were employed, down from over 72% in 2000 — although an aging population could explain some of this decline.

Pew Research Center's analysis shows the share of young men with a high school diploma as their highest educational attainment who are working or looking for work has dropped from 98% in 1970 to around 87% in 2023. That rate had climbed from 84% in 2021.

Fry said in a statement that one reason for the long-term drop in the share of this particular group of men seeking work or actually working could be due to falling wages. "But there is debate as to whether that alone is sufficient to explain the decline," Fry added.

Fry added, "the rising rates of young men with criminal records" could be a reason given they could have a hard time finding work. "More recently, the rise of opioid addiction may be contributing to the decline in young men's labor force participation," Fry said.

These challenges persist today for some men, who now account for less than half of college enrollees, even as more companies have started hiring candidates without a degree and wages have risen over the past few years for some lower-income workers. While the median inflation-adjusted earnings of young US men without a college degree have risen over the past decade, they remain lower than they were in 1970, per Pew's analysis.

In contrast, a chart in the new report said, "Labor force participation of young women without a college degree has risen since 2014." The report said, "as of 2023, 69% of young women with a high school education were in the labor force, as were 78% of young women with some college education." Still, the levels are slightly lower than 2000, which could be a result of a lack of federal paid and family leave benefits, forcing some women to leave their jobs if they have a baby.

Deciding whether the cost of college is worth it is something younger Americans are increasingly grappling with. A recent survey from Deloitte found that a third of Gen Z and millennials chose to skip higher education due to financial barriers, personal circumstances, and looking for careers that don't require college degrees — showing how if schools don't adjust to the changing values of young adults, they might soon lose their relevance.

• The 2024 Hyundai Tucson compact SUV comes in both traditional hybrid and plug-in hybrid options. 
• I recently reviewed a $41,000 Hyundai Tucson Hybrid with all-wheel-drive in Limited trim.
• I was impressed with the Tucson Hybrid's stylish looks, fancy technology, and efficient drivetrain. 

For the past two decades, Hyundai has relied on the Tucson to compete against compact SUV rivals from Honda, Toyota, and Nissan.

Now in its fourth generation, the Tucson is available with a traditional internal combustion engine, a hybrid drivetrain, or a plug-in hybrid.

I recently reviewed a 2024 Hyundai Tucson Hybrid with all-wheel-drive in Limited trim. I was impressed with the $41,000 Tucson Hybrid's quiet cabin, futuristic looks, peppy performance, and comprehensive collection of tech features.

Here's a closer look at some of my favorite features.

1. Edgy styling

The Tucson's stylish sheet metal is the work of a team led by Hyundai's chief of global design, SangYup Lee, whose other works include the Bentley Bentayga and the fifth-generation Chevrolet Camaro of Bubblebee fame.

The Tucson's overall design is punctuated with sharp, chiseled surfaces. According to Hyundai, the prominent angular wheel arches are styled to evoke vehicles created by Bertone, the defunct Italian design house responsible for some of the wildest supercars of the 1960s and '70s.

2. Parametric jewel hidden lights

The striking design starts with the front grille's parametric jewel pattern, created using geometric algorithms instead of traditional sketches or drawings. The coolest part of the design is the embedded LED daytime running lights, which look like dark chrome when turned off.

3. Hybrid power

The Tucson Hybrid is powered by a 1.6-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine working in unison with an electric-drive motor and a 1.49 kWh lithium-ion battery pack.

The Tucson Hybrid's 1.6-liter engine produces 180 horsepower, while the electric motor is rated for 59 horsepower. The total output is 226 horsepower and is mated to a traditional six-speed automatic transmission.

The SUV boasts EPA fuel-economy figures of 37 mpg city, 36 mpg highway, and 37 mpg combined.

4. Safety tech

The Tucson Hybrid Limited is equipped with a complete suite of advanced driver-safety aids, including adaptive cruise control, forward collision-avoidance assist, lane-keep and lane-following assist, rear cross-traffic collision avoidance, and parking collision-avoidance assist.

5. Info-tainment screen

The Hyundai Tucson Hybrid Limited is equipped with a touchscreen infotainment system. The 10.25-inch screen is standard on higher-trim levels, but lower-trim levels get an 8-inch touchscreen.

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard on all models. However, only vehicles with the smaller screen get wireless CarPlay and Android Auto.

6. 360-degree camera

In addition to the rearview function, the Tucson's collection of cameras gives the driver a 360-degree view of the vehicle's surroundings.

7. Digital gauge cluster

The Tucson Hybrid Limited came equipped with a 10.25-inch reconfigurable digital gauge cluster. The color, design, and information present are configurable based on the drive mode and the preference.

8. Blind-spot view monitor

The instrument display houses a blind-spot view monitor. It uses rear-view mirror-mounted cameras to show drivers their blind spots when changing lanes.

9. Quiet mode

The Tucson Hybrid is equipped with a "quiet mode" feature that can activated through the infotainment screen. Quiet mode mutes the Tucson's rear speakers, allowing back-seat passengers to sleep without disturbance.

10. Panoramic power sunroof

The Tucson's optional panoramic sunroof bathes the interior in sunlight, helping to support the cabin's relaxing feel.

11. Charging options

The Tucson Hybrid offers a variety of charging options, including a charger and a 12V plug on the front dash. There are also four USB-A plugs, two up front and two for rearseat passengers.

12. Hands-free liftgate

The Tucson Hybrid Limited is equipped with a hands-free power liftgate. The liftgate triggers if you stand within 3 feet of the rear bumper for more than three seconds while possessing the key fob. This is a departure from rival systems that require the driver to swing their leg under the back bumper.

13. Stylish wheels

I'm a fan of the Tucson's optional 19-inch alloys, which remind me of something you'd find on some wild supercar from the 1970s.

14. Bountiful cargo capacity

Open the liftgate, and you'll find 38.7 cubic feet of cargo room behind the rear seats. With the rear seats folded, the Tucson Hybrid boasts 74.5 cubic feet of cargo space.

15. Push-button gear shifter

The Tucson's push-button shifter was easy to use and really opens up the center console, allowing for obstruction-free access to the cup holders.

16. 'Smaht Pahk'

It's also equipped with remote smart-parking assist, or as they called it in the commercial, "Smaht Pahk," which can pull a vehicle into and out of a parking space with the driver outside the car.

• Jamie Dimon and David Solomon are still wary of stubborn inflation and a potential recession.
• The JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs CEOs issued cautious economic outlooks this week.
• Dimon warned of rate hikes and possible stagflation, while Solomon predicted no cuts this year.

Persistent inflation and a full-blown recession are still firmly on the table, two Wall Street titans have warned.

Jamie Dimon told CNBC on Thursday that sticky inflation is more likely than many people think. The JPMorgan CEO pointed to the tidal wave of fiscal and monetary stimulus since the pandemic, suggesting it may still be fueling liquidity and driving up asset prices.

Dimon said interest rates, which the Federal Reserve has hiked from virtually zero to more than 5% since early 2022, could rise further — and the world was "not really" prepared for that.

Asked if a "hard landing" or recession were still possible, he replied: "Of course. How could anyone who reads history say there's no chance?"

Inflation has cooled from a 40-year high of over 9% in mid-2022 to below 4% in recent months, but remains well above the Fed's 2% target. The US economy grew at an annualized 1.6% in the first quarter, but that was down from 3.4% during the previous three months.

Dimon said the "worst outcome" would be stagflation — a painful combination of elevated inflation, higher rates, and a recession that would hit consumers and pull down corporate profits.

"The world will survive that, but I just think the odds are a little bit higher than other people think," the JPMorgan boss said, describing his outlook as cautious.

No cuts and a real slowdown

David Solomon struck a similar tone at a Boston College event on Wednesday, Bloomberg reported.

The Goldman Sachs CEO predicted there would be "zero" cuts to interest rates this year. Pointing to signs of weakening demand in recent earnings from McDonald's and AutoZone, he cautioned that consumers are being squeezed by higher prices.

"Everything is more expensive," Solomon said. "You're starting to see the consumer, the average American, feel this."

Steeper living costs have raised the chances of a "real and palpable slowdown" compared to six months ago, he added.

Both Dimon and Solomon have been warning against complacency for a while.

The JPMorgan chief said in March that he only sees a 35% to 40% chance of a soft landing. He's repeatedly flagged foreign wars, quantitative tightening, and ballooning government debt as reasons to be cautious.

Solomon also said in March that he was less certain of a soft landing than the market consensus. He noted that overseas conflicts could fuel inflation and curb global growth, and business leaders had told him lower-income consumers were cutting back and some parts of the economy were faltering.

• TSA agents criticized the special crewmember lane as a safety risk due to smuggling incidents.
• Four flight attendants were charged with smuggling $8 million using the lane at JFK.
• Critics argue that flight crew should undergo thorough screening to prevent abuse of privileges.

Airport security officers have concerns over the special crewmember lanes that enable flight attendants and airline pilots to bypass typical passenger screening procedures.

The lanes were implemented in 2011 under the Known Crewmember Program (KCM) — a joint initiative by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Airlines for America (A4A), and the Air Line Pilots Association International (ALPA).

However, former and current TSA agents told Business Insider they are "terrible," and that cabin crew can be "a bigger flight risk than the passengers themselves.

Criticism of KCM is mounting, particularly after four flight attendants were charged with smuggling millions of dollars in drug money out of the US using the lane at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.

Charlie Hernandez, 42; Sarah Valerio Pujols, 24; Emmanuel Torres, 34; and Jarol Fabio, 35, were arrested earlier this month. They managed to smuggle $8 million in "bulk cash" between 2014 and 2023, prosecutors said.

Flight attendants can be paid off by drug dealers to smuggle illegal substances or cash and only tend to be found when they are subjected to random searches, the NY Post reported.

"It stands to reason that this [smuggling by flight attendants] is commonly done," attorney Dennis Ring, who represented a convicted flight attendant named Marsha Gay Reynolds, told the outlet.

There have been multiple instances of airline crew being caught after trying to "abuse these privileges," Ben Schlappig wrote in an article for the travel site One Mile At A Time.

"Of course, a vast majority of airline employees follow the rules, though with the volume of people using these checkpoints, there are going to be some bad apples," Schlappig said.

'KCM should be eliminated'

TSA agents, who wanted to remain anonymous due to strict internal rules about speaking to the media, told BI these stories of cabin crew wrongdoing "completely breach the trust that we put in them."

One agent said KCM was "terrible," and some of the crew they had interacted with had "worse attitudes" than passengers that go through regular screening. Another described crewmembers as "cocky."

When passengers accidentally bring something they shouldn't through security, more often than not, it's a mistake, another agent said.

"Crew, on the other hand, know exactly what they are doing," they said.

"I truly do think KCM should be eliminated," said one agent.

"Time and time again, we have seen that the crew members get so much 'trust' just because they're crew and they're the ones doing the illegal shit."

Most agents said they believed crew should have their own lines and be screened separately but that security measures right now were far too lenient.

An Airlines for America spokesperson told BI that "the safety and security of our passengers and crews is the top priority of US airlines."

KCM "is a TSA-approved program that has been in successful operation for 12 years," they said.

TSA and ALPA did not return BI's request for comment.

Bad apples and loopholes

Caleb Harmon-Marshall, a former TSA agent of eight years and the founder of the newsletter Gate Access, told BI that KCM has been controversial since it was implemented in 2011.

"If you're seeing all of these incidents, why has nothing been done to correct it?" he said.

Harmon-Marshall said there's a "low-key love-hate relationship" between cabin crew and TSA officers, with the latter being critical of KCM and flight attendants enjoying the privilege.

For example, there is no limit on how much liquid they can bring in their hand luggage.

However, Harmon-Marshall believes airlines should do a better job of educating their crew about the potential dangers of the program, particularly when flight crew are walking around in their uniform.

'"When you have a layover internationally, sometimes it's dangerous for you to broadcast that your flight attendant because people will come up to you and they'll try to offer you something," he said.

Being offered tens or maybe hundreds of thousands of dollars to smuggle something could be tempting, Harmon-Marshall said, especially if they are struggling financially.

"And sometimes it's dangerous situations where they'll threaten your family," he added. "It's very scary."

Harmon-Marshall posted a TikTok asking cabin crew and other TSA agents about what they thought about KCM, and many people who responded agreed the system has to change.

"I get randomly selected seven out of 10 times," one crew member commented. "I would prefer to just have a crew lane to have my bags scanned. It would make my already unpaid time easier to plan for."

Harmon-Marshall said KCM is a great tool, and he still believes flight crew should be given a certain amount of trust because they've earned it.

But, he said, the loopholes make him "uneasy," and it is time for the agencies behind KCM to "rethink things."

"I think that passengers should be very aware of the loose ends that some of these programs have," he said. "And KCM has some, and unfortunately, one bad apple ruins the bunch."

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

Almost Friday! Grilling season is here, so take some tips from a chef on the best ways to cook your chicken on the BBQ. And here's a bonus one just for newsletter readers: A little bit of high-quality extra virgin olive oil rubbed on the grill goes a long way.

In today's big story, we're looking at the thinning of Corporate America's middle management, which is putting millennials and Gen Z at risk.

What's on deck:

• Markets: Citi just got a costly lesson in not double-checking your numbers.
• Tech: TikTok's user base is getting older, and that's good for its business.
• Business: A new rating system to judge a CEO's effectiveness.

But first, who's your manager?

If this was forwarded to you, sign up here.

The big story

The great "unbossing"

Hate your boss? Don't worry. They might not be around much longer.

Middle managers are becoming an endangered species in Corporate America, with some companies viewing the role as obsolete, writes Business Insider's Lindsay Dodgson. Remote work, tech efficiencies, and a general push to cut costs have contributed to middle managers' demise.

The immediate impact is being felt by millennials entering their middle-management era. It's another gut punch for a generation that seems to keep getting the short end of the stick.

Having trouble buying a house? Try doing it without a job!

But in the long term, the death of middle management will be felt beyond millennials.

Gen Zers haven't hid their disdain for middle managers. But successfully canceling their bosses means killing a primary source of mentorship and workplace guidance.

That's a big gamble coming from a generation that needed to take classes on making small talk and writing work emails.

Middle managers have always been a bit of an easy target.

We all know that person — or persons — at work whose job isn't abundantly clear. They seem busy, but you're never sure what they're actually doing. If your company were to make cuts, why not start there?

It's a strategy Corporate America, particularly Big Tech, deployed in 2023. The "year of efficiency," as Mark Zuckerberg dubbed it, was all about flattening organizations, and middle managers were the ones getting squished.

But dismissing the much-maligned middle managers as busybodies is misunderstanding their value to a company.

A buffer between employees and executives ensures the former meets the latter's expectations. That point is especially relevant when so many things are changing in the workplace, from the departure of boomers and the arrival of Gen Z to navigating return-to-office mandates.

The death of middle managers could also fuel the current dismantling of another cohort: the middle class.

Eliminating an entire management level means fewer earning opportunities for those looking to climb the economic ladder, which is already becoming increasingly difficult to do.

3 things in markets

1. Jeffrey Gundlach believes winter is coming for the US economy. The billionaire investor said interest rates will stay elevated, tanking companies and ultimately leading the economy into a recession. For the record, we're not in a recession, even though most Americans seem to think that's the case.
2. A fat-finger mistake led to a fat fine for Citi. In May 2022, a trader mistakenly tried executing a trade worth $444 billion, sparking a flash crash in European stocks. UK regulators levied a $78 million fine against the bank on Wednesday.
3. Blackstone is about to start granting stock to portfolio companies' employees. The Wall Street Journal reported that the investment firm plans to give equity to workers at most of the large US-based businesses it buys, following in the footsteps of other private equity giants like KKR.

3 things in tech

1. TikTok has a secret weapon: millennials. The app's millennial viewership is growing faster than its Gen Z audience. If TikTok can survive the US ban, its growing appeal to an older demographic could make it even bigger and more powerful than it already is.
2. Meta is considering paying media publishers for AI training data. Internal discussions are still in the early stages, according to two people familiar with the consideration. If it goes through, Meta would join rivals Google and OpenAI in making deals with publishers for their data.
3. Another win for Nvidia. The tech giant knocked it out of the park again on Wednesday when it posted better-than-expected quarterly sales figures. CEO Jensen Huang also touted strong demand for the firm's Hopper and Blackwell chips.

3 things in business

1. There's a new way to rate CEOs. Paragon Intel, an alt data company, is rolling out executive ratings, which will show how executives fit into their firms and whether they will drive stock gains.
2. Target is missing the mark.The store's comparable sales have dropped for four straight quarters, and it's pulling out all the stops to avoid a fifth. That includes cutting prices on thousands of items — a move its CEO says will save shoppers millions this summer.
3. Buying a house is getting even more expensive. Median home prices climbed nearly 6% year-over-year to hit a record $407,600 in April, according to a new report from the National Association of Realtors. That's the 10th month in a row that prices have risen.

In other news

• I'm a financial planner, and my richest clients have the same 5 habits.
• Humane AI is reportedly looking for a buyer, just weeks after its disastrous wearables launch.
• An early retiree shares 3 money moves he made to save seven figures, quit work at 48, and still live comfortably: 'You don't have to live on ramen'
• Apple thinks it's figured out the top 10 albums of all time. That's kicked off debate among music fans.
• Check out 7 new emojis that could hit your iPhone next year, including a tired face with eyebags and a shovel.
• Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt just gave an unsettling answer about how to handle AI with free will

What's happening today

• The FAA expects today to be the busiest day for air travel since 2019.

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

• A US veteran who fought in Ukraine said many Western fighters assumed it would be an easy fight.
• He said some "treat it almost like it's a vacation, and they're not really expecting to die."
• Many foreign veterans are not willing to accept that their training has not readied them for this war, he said. 

Western fighters who joined the war in Ukraine have been killed, in some cases, because they assumed the fight would be easy, a US veteran who fought in Ukraine told Business Insider.

The veteran, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said a lot of foreign veterans who came to Ukraine to fight against Russia's invasion had been used to fighting at an advantage and struggled to adapt to the conditions there, where they were often outmanned and outgunned.

"A lot of Westerners that come to Ukraine, they want to be heroes," he said. "I just kept seeing dudes that would go out to Ukraine, and they treat it almost like it's a vacation, and they're not really expecting to die."

He said he had the same mentality when he first started fighting there. But that changed, and he better understood how risky it was, as the war progressed. "I was expecting to die because that's just the type of mentality that I fucking had, and I was okay with it."

The veteran started fighting when Russia's full-scale invasion began in February 2022 and left Ukraine last December. He fought in some of the deadliest areas, like Kharkiv and Bakhmut, and also served as a combat medic for his unit, helping injured comrades.

He said he previously fought in Iraq as a contractor after he left the US military. He said "the tempo is a lot higher in Ukraine."

A different type of war

He explained that it was harder to find places to stay safe in Ukraine, where more drones are being used than in any conflict in history, and artillery and long-range weapons are in constant use.

He said that "even if you're fucking miles and miles behind the fucking front lines, you can still get hit by a fucking rocket out there." He said it's not like conflicts in Middle East, where if you're on a base you're "relatively safe."

That same comparison has been made by other US veterans in Ukraine, who described the fight in Ukraine as more intense.

One, who uses the call sign Jackie and who fought in Afghanistan and Iraq, previously told BI that the fighting in the eastern city of Bakhmut offered no place to stop and rest, unlike the other conflicts.

Both men also compared the war in Ukraine to World War I, with trenches and unrelenting artillery standing out as defining elements of the conflict.

The veteran said that Western fighters in Ukraine need to try and adapt to those conditions if they hope to survive.

"You have to be willing to relearn everything that you've been taught, which is, I think, one of the reasons why some of the Ukrainian soldiers are doing so well out there, because they don't have any base where they've been taught."

"Meanwhile, a lot of the Westerners, they already have a set idea about how things should be and everything, and it's just not that way out in Ukraine."

He said foreign fighters need "a willingness to learn and a willingness to give up everything. You have to be willing to fucking give up everything in order to fight this fucking war."

Western tactics have been questioned in this war, with Ukrainian soldiers and some experts saying that the NATO-style training given to Ukrainian soldiers has not been right for this war. And Western militaries training Ukrainians say they are now also adapting training as they learn from them, the soldiers who have real-world experience against Russia's military.

The veteran said of foreign fighters in Ukraine: "A lot of these people, they're just not willing to give up and to do what actually needs to be done for that country."

Foreign fighters coming to Ukraine

He was one of many foreign fighters who fought for Ukraine. Many of those who have signed up have had previous combat experience, such as with the US military, though some had none. Others have said they had experience but were lying.

There are no proven figures for how many foreign fighters have come to Ukraine or have been killed there. Ukraine founded its International Legion in 2022, allowing foreign fighters to come to Ukraine and help it fight back against Russia. While many foreigners fight through the legion, others are separate from it.

There are some units fighting in Ukraine that are made up entirely of foreign veterans. Many who have come have cited what they said was a need to fight back against global injustice and defend democracy in Ukraine.

But some of those fighters say that some of their comrades came just to seek adventure or escape from problems at home.

Reasons aside, many foreign fighters have been killed, as Business Insider's Cameron Manley previously reported, with some international survivors saying they were used as a "sacrificial unit."

• US officials are considering letting Ukraine strike Russia with US weapons. 
• Ukraine says it's necessary to fight cross-border attacks. 
• But fears of crossing Russia's red lines have long made the US hesitate. 

The US has banned Ukraine from striking targets in Russian territory with its arsenal of US weapons.

But that may be about to change. The New York Times on Thursday reported that US officials are debating rolling back the rule, which Ukraine has argued severely hampers its ability to defend itself.

The apparent U-turn comes after Russia placed weapons across the border from northeastern Ukraine and directed them at Kharkiv, according to the Times. The report said that Ukraine would only be able to use non-American drones to hit back.

According to the report, the proposal is still being debated and has yet to be formally proposed to President Joe Biden.

Analysts say the policy shift could hand Ukraine a crucial advantage in fighting Russia's attacks, using US weapons to strike troop gatherings and Russian planes that carry "glide bombs."

Some of the US' allies, such as the UK, have already lifted the restriction on their weapons being used to hit targets inside Russia.

However, there are concerns about how Russia might respond to the move. According to reports, Biden believes that Russia could hit back by launching an attack on the US or one of its allies, leading to a retaliatory spiral that could result in nuclear war.

It's a concern that has long played a central role in how much aid to give Ukraine.

Throughout the war, the US has incrementally increased its support for Ukraine, handing it more sophisticated weapons.

Ukraine has several times ignored US warnings about potentially escalating the conflict, such as by attacking the Crimea peninsula or launching long-range drone attacks deep inside Russia itself.

But so far Russia has yet to respond to these moves with a massive escalatory attack, and analysts recently told BI that the Kremlin appears keen to avoid a direct war with NATO allies.

However, Russia's President Vladimir Putin menaced the West with nuclear weapons over its support for Ukraine and announced new nuclear exercises near Ukraine's border this week.

Some warn that the West will only know when it has crossed Russia's red lines when it is too late.

Analysts writing for the Responsible Statecraft think tank last year said the response could take the form of an attack on US satellites to destroy civilian and military communications. According to the Times, US officials believe Putin has red lines that'd trigger an escalation; they just don't know where they are or what the response would be.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in an interview with Reuters this week, criticized Western caution, saying that its support typically came about a year too late.

"But it is what it is: one big step forward, but before that two steps back. So we need to change the paradigm a little bit," Zelenskyy said. "We are negotiating with partners so that we can use their weapons against buildups of Russian equipment on the border and even [on] their territory," he said. "So far, there is nothing positive."

• A Native American costume designer on 'Killers of the Flower Moon' is suing Apple and others.
• She alleges that her work on the Martin Scorsese movie was overlooked during awards season.
• The costume designer has already settled a racial discrimination claim against Apple.

A Native American costume designer for "Killers of the Flower Moon," who previously settled a racial discrimination charge with Apple, is going after the company again.

Kristi Marie Hoffman claims her contributions to Martin Scorsese's movie, originally an Apple TV+ production, about murders within the Osage Nation, were downplayed during the awards season.

Hoffman filed the lawsuit on Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, accusing costume designer Jacqueline West, Apple Studios, Apple, and the Costume Designers Guild (CDG) of "completely burying" her work.

In the lawsuit, Hoffman, a member of a federally recognized tribe, said West invited her to join "Killers of the Flower Moon" because of her "design expertise and cultural competency."

The lawsuit said she worked for a year alongside West, Osage Nation members, and other Native Americans to create authentic costumes, including a jacket worn by Leonardo DiCaprio.

The movie received critical acclaim, earning 10 Academy Award nominations, seven Golden Globe nominations, and a CDG award for Excellence in Period Film, among others.

It also generated $156.4 million globally, according to Screen Rant, though Forbes said this was against a budget of $200 million.

According to the lawsuit, Hoffman was identified as "First Assistant Costume Designer" when the CDG award nominations were first announced.

However, the lawsuit claims that West requested the removal of this credit, which was applied to all assistant costume designers.

Hoffman challenged this change with the CDG, according to the suit, which found West's action "improper" and reinstated her title.

However, it said that Hoffman was again excluded when the movie was nominated for an Oscar for costume design.

The lawsuit claims that Hoffman's involvement was overlooked during the promotional tour, with defendants presenting West and a consultant as having done most of the work.

Hoffman said in the lawsuit that she completed "most of the research and costume design" and "poured her heart into KOTFM as a film about Native Americans to which she could relate as a Native herself."

The lawsuit also stated that Hoffman experienced racial discrimination on set, leading to her filing a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in July 2021 against Apple Studios, Apple TV+, and Apple Inc.

According to the lawsuit, the parties resolved the issue with a confidential settlement in December 2022.

The lawsuit against Apple and others brings claims for intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress, false advertising, and breach of contract. It seeks an unspecified amount of damages.

It also requests an injunction preventing the defendants from making statements downplaying Hoffman's contributions.

Apple, the CDG, and representatives for West did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.