• Billionaire CEO Jared Isaacman will be the next head of NASA.
• Isaacman has led and flown on two SpaceX missions, including the first-ever commercial space walk.
• Trump had earlier withdrawn Isaacman's nomination, but now the Senate has confirmed he will lead the US space agency.

Jared Isaacman isn't just a billionaire CEO. He's also a SpaceX astronaut and financier — and now he's going to lead NASA in the new space race.

The Shift4 founder and high school dropout was confirmed as the new administrator of the US space agency by the Senate on Wednesday, after a tumultuous process in which his nomination was temporarily derailed during Donald Trump and Elon Musk's falling out.

Last December, Trump announced he was nominating Isaacman to be the new NASA administrator, but the US president rescinded the nomination in May, shortly before his disagreement with Musk.

In a Truth Social post in July, Trump said he withdrew Isaacman's nomination because of his previous support for the Democratic Party, and because he was too close to Musk. However, Trump renominated Isaacman for the top NASA job in November, after an apparent thawing in his feud with Musk.

Isaacman has flown to space twice aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon, on flights he commissioned, funded, and commanded — including a mission where he conducted the first-ever commercial space walk in September.

So who is Jared Isaacman, and how did the entrepreneur end up on Trump's radar?

Read on to learn about his career rise.

Isaacman dropped out of high school at the age of 15.

At the age of 15, Isaacman decided to drop out of high school and take the GED, according to the Netflix docuseries "Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission to Space."

"I was a horrible student," Isaacman said in the series. "And I wasn't, like, happy in school, either."

He described his younger self as independent and said he didn't understand things like raising your hand to go to the bathroom.

At 16, he founded a multibillion-dollar payment-processing company in his parents' basement.

Isaacman founded United Bank Card in 1999.

The company, now called Shift4, offers mobile-payment software, point-of-sale solutions, and online payments for various businesses.

Isaacman said in the Netflix docuseries that when he started the company, he would wake up every day at 7:30 a.m. and fall asleep on the keyboard at 2 or 3 in the morning.

By 2020, he took the company public. Today, Shift4 processes over $260 billion annually and serves over 200,000 customers, according to its website.

Isaacman has a wife and two kids.

Isaacman has known his wife, Monica Isaacman, for most of his life. The two come from the same town and got married in 2012. They now live in Pennsylvania with their two daughters.

"I want my kids to see humans walking on the moon and Mars," Isaacman told Business Insider.

His wife said in the docuseries that she had good and bad dreams leading up to his first SpaceX mission, Inspiration4, which launched in 2021.

She said while she wouldn't want him to compromise on his dreams of going to space, she worried about what could happen if something went wrong.

Isaacman told Business Insider in the interview that his family and wife were much more enthusiastic about the Polaris Dawn mission this time around, thanks to a successful first mission.

While there are still risks, he told Business Insider his family is aware and accepts them.

He also founded Draken International.

Isaacman founded Draken International in 2012. The company is a private aircraft provider that also trains pilots for the US military, the UK, and NATO countries.

In 2019, Isaacman sold the company to Blackstone.

Isaacman became a billionaire in 2019.

Isaacman hit billionaire status in 2020 after selling Draken International and taking Shift4 public. His net worth is estimated at $1.1 billion, according to Forbes.

He always had a passion for flying planes.

Isaacman said in the Netflix docuseries that he took an early interest in flying and went to flight school at a local airport in 2004.

At the time, he was feeling burned out from starting his company and described flying as "therapeutic." Isaacman also set a world speed record for flying around the globe in 2009.

"I do believe you only get one crack at life," Isaacman said in the docuseries. "To the extent you have the means to do so, you have this obligation to live life to the fullest. You never know when it's going to be your last day."

He added in the docuseries that this philosophy had taken him to fly in air shows as part of a seven-ship formation aerobatic team and on mountain-climbing expeditions in Antarctica.

He's involved with philanthropy.

Isaacman has been involved in several charitable causes and organizations, including the Make-A-Wish Foundation and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

His first SpaceX mission raised over $240 million for St. Jude and was named Inspiration4 to inspire support and raise awareness for the research hospital.

Isaacman and his wife have also committed to The Giving Pledge, a charitable campaign founded by Bill Gates, Melinda French Gates, and Warren Buffett in 2010.

The Giving Pledge serves as a commitment from wealthy people to donate the majority of their wealth to philanthropy.

Isaacman's first space mission took place in 2021.

In 2021, Isaacman funded and led the first civilian mission to space, called Inspiration4. The mission was carried out by SpaceX's Dragon capsule.

Isaacman previously told Business Insider that the prep for the mission was extensive and involved a lot of studying and physical tests.

"The academics were pretty intense," Isaacman said, adding that there were thousands of pages across a hundred manuals to learn about SpaceX's Falcon and Dragon aircraft.

It also involved crew members learning how to draw blood from each other as well as take skin samples to prepare for increased radiation levels on the trip.

Isaacman commanded the first-ever privately funded space walk.

On September 10, 2024, Isaacman and three other crew members successfully took off on their way into orbit for the first-ever privately funded space walk.

The space walk featured SpaceX's new EVA suits.

During the spacewalk, the Polaris Dawn crew will wear the new SpaceX EVA suits → https://t.co/LRl5pPlAC9 pic.twitter.com/MVHzNwiWZU

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 10, 2024

Polaris Dawn lifted off from Launch Complex-39A at NASA's KSC, which also saw the launches of other historic missions, such as the Apollo 11 moon landing. Dragon and the Polaris Dawn crew safely arrived back on the coast of Florida on September 15, 2024.

Trump nominated Isaacman to lead NASA.

In an X post on December 4 of last year, Isaacman called the nomination "the honor of a lifetime" and suggested that human space exploration would be a top priority.

Space-industry experts told Business Insider that Isaacman was not a traditional pick for NASA Administrator, but his background in commercial spaceflight would benefit the agency.

"They need someone who is not afraid to try something new if the old ways aren't working," George Nield, a former head of the FAA's office of commercial space transportation, previously told Business Insider.

Michelle Hanlon, executive director of the Center for Air and Space Law at the University of Mississippi School of Law, called Isaacman "an inspired pick," in part due to his "stellar" managerial skills.

"He has shown a real commitment to increasing access to space, and I think he is going to be a great person to promote space to the general public," she said.

Trump later withdrew Isaacman's nomination, citing a review of "prior associations."

Trump said he was dropping Isaacman's nomination on May 31 in a post on Truth Social, after a "thorough review of prior associations." He also said that he would soon announce a new, "mission aligned" nominee.

Isaacman had donated to Democratic candidates throughout his career up until the 2024 election, according to OpenSecrets.

Isaacman responded to the withdrawal on X by saying he was "incredibly grateful" to the president, the Senate, and anyone who supported him throughout the nomination.

"The past six months have been enlightening and, honestly, a bit thrilling. I have gained a much deeper appreciation for the complexities of government and the weight our political leaders carry," Isaacman wrote in a post.

Isaacman later said he was a "good visible target."

In an episode of the "All-In Podcast" released in June, Isaacman said that his Democratic donations were always public and he doesn't think it was the reason his nomination was withdrawn.

"I don't think that the timing was much of a coincidence that, you know, there was other changes going on the same day," Isaacman said, adding that there was "more than one departure that was covered on that day."

Isaacman said that he thinks there were "axes to grind" and he was a "good visible target." He said he doesn't "fault the president at all" and fully supports him.

Musk defended Isaacman and later entered into a highly public feud with Trump over his spending bill.

Musk had ended his time at the White House leading DOGE just days before the decision to withdraw Isaacman's nomination. Musk swiftly came to Isaacman's defense following the withdrawal and wrote in a post and said on X that it was "rare to find someone so competent and good-hearted."

Days later, Musk ramped up his criticism of Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill," which escalated into the two exchanging insults on social media. Musk accused the president of being involved in the Epstein files, and Trump threatened to eliminate government contracts with Musk's companies.

Trump referred to Isaacman as a "blue blooded Democrat" on Truth Social.

While the dust appeared to momentarily settle between Musk and Trump after their public dust-up, the feud started back up again when Musk renewed his criticism of Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill," which was just signed into law in July.

Isaacman was drawn to the forefront as tensions rose between the two.

In a post about the end of EV mandates in Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill," Trump shed some more light on the decision that went into withdrawing Isaacman's nomination.

"Elon asked that one of his close friends run NASA and, while I thought his friend was very good, I was surprised to learn that he was a blue blooded Democrat, who had never contributed to a Republican before," Trump said on Truth Social in July.

Isaacman had previously said in the "All-In Podcast" in June that he's always been "somewhat of a moderate" and leaned right.

Trump added that he thought it was "inappropriate" that a close friend of Musk would run NASA when it's such a big part of Musk's corporate life.

Isaacman said he thought his initial nomination was a scam.

On an episode of the "Shawn Ryan Show" in September, Isaacman said he didn't take it seriously when Trump's transition team first approached him about leading NASA.

He said that in late November 2024, a friend informed him that his name was being circulated for a job in the administration. Then, while running in Central Park, he said he missed a call and had a message from a number he didn't recognize — he said he assumed it was a scam.

"It was like, 'Would you be interested in serving in DJT's administration?" Isaacman said on the podcast. "And I deleted it because I was like, if it was not a scam, it would be just a little bit more legit than this."

Isaacman said he realized his mistake when the friend reached out again and said the administration was trying to reach him. He soon got on the phone with Howard Lutnick, who had been running his transition team at the time, about leading NASA, Isaacman said. The next day, he said he met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago.

He said Trump shook his hand at the end of the meeting and said "you got the job." Isaacman added that he thought Trump liked him in part because he was a "political newcomer."

Trump re-nominated Isaacman for NASA administrator in November.

Months after withdrawing his nomination for Isaacman, Trump renominated Isaacman for NASA administrator on Tuesday.

"Jared's passion for Space, astronaut experience, and dedication to pushing the boundaries of exploration, unlocking the mysteries of the universe, and advancing the new Space economy, make him ideally suited to lead NASA into a bold new Era," Trump wrote in his Truth Social post.

Following the renomination announcement, Isaacman thanked Trump for the opportunity in a post on X.

"Godspeed, President Donald J. Trump, and Godspeed NASA, as America leads the greatest adventure in human history," Isaacman said in the post.

Isaacman is confirmed as the new head of NASA.

After a volatile year, Isaacman was finally confirmed as NASA administrator on December 17, with the US Senate voting 67-30 to approve his appointment.

Isaacman will take over the position from Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who has served as the agency's interim administrator since July.

In a hearing before the Senate earlier this month, Isaacman stressed the importance of beating China in the race to land astronauts on the moon, warning that failure to do so could "could shift the balance of power here on Earth."

This story was originally published on September 11, 2024, and most recently updated on December 18, 2025.

• Bernard Arnault, CEO of LVMH, remains guarded on his succession plans.
• The 76-year-old billionaire leads the world's largest luxury goods company, LVMH.
• Uncertainty about LVMH leadership succession continues to draw attention in the luxury sector.

Bernard Arnault really doesn't want to talk about his succession plans.

The 76-year-old billionaire, who has been at the helm of LVMH since 1989, remains guarded about his plans for retirement and his future replacement.

In an interview on Wednesday, Arnault said that he hopes to be at the helm of the company for another decade before naming his successor. Earlier this year, the LVMH board voted to allow Arnault to keep his top spot at the business until he's 85.

"Talk to me again in 10 years, I can give you a more precise answer," he told CNBC's Sara Eisen, adding that he hopes he "will make these 10 years."

The LVMH family's eventual handover of power has been frequently compared to HBO's satirical drama "Succession," where the Roy family is locked in a battle over who will inherit control of the patriarch's global empire.

Analysts have said that Arnault has created a "Darwinian contest" between his five children for the top spot at LVMH.

All five of his adult children — Delphine, Antoine, Alexandre, Frédéric, and Jean — have senior roles at the company across its various brands. Four of them also sit on LVMH's board.

"For my children, I tried since their birth to explain that they are very lucky to be in a family that has the chance to manage such a group," he told CNBC's Eisen.

"But for getting responsibility, they have to merit the responsibility and to prove they can do it," he added.

Still, it isn't necessarily guaranteed that one of his children will take over the reins of the company. Arnault told CNBC that when he speaks of a "family company" at LVMH, this includes some of his longtime senior employees.

"As in any family, at one point there is a succession," he added.

• AI mentions in job listings are declining as employers expect AI competency to be a basic skill.
• Ladders' data shows AI roles have grown, but it's listed as a required expertise less frequently.
• Knowing how AI is affecting your industry and your job is still important, said one CTO.

That job description you're reading might not mention AI, but an employer will likely still expect you to know how to use it.

A new snapshot of job listings from career platform Ladders showed that, while the number of AI roles listed on the site has tripled since 2021, the share of postings mentioning AI has decreased.

It's an indication that more employers are viewing technology as an everyday skill rather than as a differentiator, Marc Cenedella, founder and CEO of Ladders, told Business Insider.

"It will be mentioned less and less in the same way that Microsoft Office isn't mentioned in job postings anymore," he said.

Among about a dozen job categories Ladders reviewed, each saw a drop in postings that name-checked AI. For design and UX roles, AI mentions dropped from 56.7% of jobs in 2021 to 44.6% in 2025. Listings for product management positions registered a similar decrease.

Even in software engineering, where the proliferation of coding agents has raised concerns that junior coders, in particular, will have a harder time finding work, AI references in job listings decreased from 53.5% to 45.8% in the four-year span.

Mentions of AI in job listings could pick up again, Cenedella said, if specialized tools emerge in different industries, though he said that might not happen until sometime in 2026 or 2027.

If that shift does come, it might mean that people in areas such as sales, pharmaceuticals, or semiconductors could need to demonstrate fluency with specific AI applications or methods for using the technology, Cenedella said. Employers could then start calling out those skills in job postings.

AI outside technical roles

The overall drop in mentions of AI doesn't mean interest in the technology is fading, especially in certain areas. Ladders found that about 525,000 leadership and executive roles include AI references, up from 213,000 in 2021. All told, in 2025, the technology has been mentioned in 45% of executive postings on the site.

Roles that aren't primarily technical — areas like finance, ops, design, sales, and project management — are seeing some of the fastest increases in AI skills adoption, Ladders found.

One reason, Cenedella said, is because the technology is moving so fast.

Overall, Ladders said that jobs specifically about AI, such as engineering roles, shot up on its site to 6.7 million in 2025 from 2.1 million in 2021.

Regardless of whether a job posting mentions AI, a boss will likely want you to be able to use it, Agur Jõgi, chief technology officer at the software company Pipedrive, told Business Insider.

"It's just like a ticket to the game," he said.

Know your business

Jõgi said that you need to understand how AI is transforming your field and how it's affecting your job. "That enables you to move as fast as the rest of the industry is moving," Jõgi said.

By knowing how others in your line of work are using AI, he said, you can then develop similar skills.

Jõgi said that if you're a holdout who's resisting using the technology, it could mean you're in for longer days if you want to keep up with colleagues who are going all in.

Eventually, as more people embrace AI, the early adopters who juiced their workplace productivity through AI will see that advantage fade, he said. To maintain it, Jõgi said, these go-getters will need to develop a fresh advantage.

"To beat the competition, you need to do something smarter, or you need to do slightly more," he said.

Do you have a story to share about your career? Contact this reporter at tparadis@businessinsider.com.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Stacey Kennedy, the US CEO for Philip Morris International, based in Stamford, Connecticut. It's been edited for length and clarity.

I began my career with Philip Morris International, a tobacco company, in 1995 as a territory sales manager. I held several other positions before becoming vice president of sales for the Southeast region in Atlanta in 2006.

From there, I worked in Lausanne at the VP level and subsequently became the managing director for multiple countries in Europe, before being appointed president of the South and Southeast Asia region. I assumed the role of CEO of PMI's US business in January 2023.

I just celebrated 30 years at PMI. I've spent half of my career in the US and half outside the US. I'm a former smoker myself who switched to IQOS, a heated tobacco product, more than a decade ago.

Here's what a typical day in my life looks like.

I wake up between 6:30 a.m. and 7 a.m.

I allow myself five minutes to check my phone and ensure there's nothing urgent, as we're a global business and things can happen overnight.

I start my mornings with a mantra of 'pay myself first.' I've adopted the mental image of putting my own oxygen mask on first, because if you start the day refreshed, you can show up as a better leader.

In my ideal morning, I get out of the house and take a mindful walk in my neighborhood. I add a 15-minute yoga routine after the walk.

The less ideal morning is when I skip the walk, either because the weather isn't great or I decide to trade it for 30 minutes of extra sleep, and then try to get my 15 minutes of yoga and stretching to start the day, regardless.

I'm not a big breakfast person, so I might grab a handful of berries or a couple of figs. I always have a double espresso from my Nespresso machine. Occasionally, I'll have a matcha from a Cuzen Matcha maker.

I hit the road for my office around 8 a.m.

I usually go into the office in Stamford four days a week on average, and it's about a 25-minute drive away. What makes me anxious before walking into the office is whether the business is moving fast enough — if we're innovating with urgency while staying disciplined and responsible.

My mornings are filled with meetings. I've ensured we have a well-organized office layout with numerous open spaces, a barista bar, and coffee corners.

I spend a lot of my morning with my direct reports, working on our strategic plans, and there's a lot of travel mixed in there, too.

We have our flagship factory in Owensboro, Kentucky, and we're building a new factory in Aurora, Colorado. Additionally, we have an office in Washington, D.C., where I spend time on policy and regulatory matters. I work with our teams and policymakers and regulators, including the FDA, to ensure adult smokers have access to better alternatives.

My calendar is typically scheduled a year in advance

We start with the global management team and board meetings, which are fixed on the calendar. We're usually six weeks out for non-fixed things that come up on the schedule.

We've developed interesting ways to ensure that there's free and flexible time. We have something called P.O.D.D. meetings — a problem, opportunity, discussion, and decision meeting. We address issues that arise and ensure we don't miss a critical opportunity.

One of my leadership principles is to identify your strengths and operate from a position of strength, while also acknowledging your weaknesses. I have my fair share of flaws; one of mine is the importance of running timely, efficient, and effective meetings.

I'm not a particularly timely person myself — I just don't possess that capability. To me, time is a concept, and as a curious person, I love engaging in conversations. When I get into a deep discussion or solve a problem, I honestly can't tell you if I've spent 40 minutes or four hours, because I'm fully immersed. My husband is an extremely timely person, so this drives him bananas.

I take an hour lunch and have meetings during it

I think it's a great way to sit and hear different topics from different groups.

I usually have lunch in a conference room or an open space. Sometimes, I go down to the canteen, but I prefer to have a smaller group with me so I can actually have a conversation.

If I'm choosing my meal, it's usually a salad with grilled chicken and a drizzle of olive oil. If it's a lunch arranged around a bigger meeting, my assistant chooses, and I'm very happy to eat what someone else has decided. It's one less decision to make.

My afternoons are full of, you guessed it, meetings

I take a moment at the end of the day with my chief of staff and assistant to reflect on what we accomplished that day and review the schedule for the rest of the week.

My job is very demanding, and it's easy to get overwhelmed; it's also easy to get frustrated. My non-negotiable indulgence that gets me through the day is a strong espresso and an IQOS break.

During the moments when things feel overwhelming, I almost always go to a gratitude practice. It's amazing how much it shifts your entire mood and perspective away from the things that frustrate or make you grumpy and onto the things that are so important to be grateful for.

I leave the office around 6:30 p.m.

I try to have dinner with the family at 7 p.m., but sometimes it ends up being 7:30 p.m., depending on whether my teenage 16-year-old twins have sports practice after school.

Normally, I'm the chef, and when I travel, I try to set my husband up for success — he's definitely not a chef. We had to have crockpot lessons.

I cook a Mediterranean-style diet. It's likely a salad with grilled fish and possibly rice.

We have a 'check your phone at the door' policy, and it's been a game changer for the whole family. My husband almost always brings an interesting topic to the dinner table. It's a great way for our kids to develop their own perspective on things.

My husband's tried to get me into some TV series, but it's just not my jam

I've gotten into a couple of shows with the kids on weekends, and my son has a wicked sense of humor, so we got into Parks and Recreation. We don't watch TV during the week, because they're off with their homework.

I almost always have a decaf espresso with my husband after dinner and debrief on our day.

I read in the evening for anywhere between 30 and 60 minutes. I usually allow myself two fiction books and a nonfiction book. I save fiction for the weekend, because once I start a fiction book, it's really hard to put it down.

I typically go to bed around 11 p.m.

Going to bed before 10 p.m. is really tough for me, but I try to have my lights out by 11 p.m. so I can have an ideal morning.

I usually do a quick check-in before I start reading, so if everything's OK by 10 p.m., we're good to go.

If I check in, I try not to get caught up in responding to everyone. Sometimes I do. I might send my chief of staff a quick note so that she can get this organized first thing in the morning, but I limit myself to no more than five to 10 minutes of work-related tasks at night.

When I go to bed, I'm a great sleeper. I'm about asleep the second my head hits the pillow.

I try not to work on the weekend, but things always come up

I rarely go into the office, but I do work to engineer any tasks that need to be done on the weekends around the family schedule.

I attend as many regattas as I can. My son is in crew and loves it, and my daughter's in debate. I volunteer as a parent judge at debate competitions.

My non-routine routine is what helps me show up as my best. If I'm too routine and scheduled, I feel like I'm in a box. I need a bit of free space and curiosity to drive me.

• Tech unicorns valued at $1 billion aren't all that special anymore.
• The hectocorn, companies valued at $100 billion or more, are the hot new thing.
• OpenAI, SpaceX, and Anthropic are leading the way with multi-centibillion-dollar valuations.

Nearly two decades ago, tech startups used to chase the distinct pedigree of being a unicorn — reaching a $1 billion valuation.

Now, fast-growing tech startups like OpenAI and SpaceX have shifted the goal posts by hundreds of billions of dollars.

The era of the hectocorn has arrived. It is a small but growing club, and you must be valued at more than $100 billion to qualify.

The next company to join the list could be Waymo, the self-driving robotaxi startup owned by Alphabet Inc. The autonomous automaker is in talks to raise billions in a new round of funding that could send its value soaring past $100 billion, multiple outlets reported on Wednesday.

Here are seven startups that have already reached hectocorn status.

OpenAI

One of the buzziest startups to emerge in Silicon Valley over the last decade is OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT. After launching in 2022, the AI-powered chatbot attracted hundreds of millions of weekly users, cementing OpenAI's position as a leader in the AI race.

CEO Sam Altman cofounded OpenAI alongside eleven others in 2015.

OpenAI reached a $500 billion valuation in October after a secondary share sale, making it, at least for a few months, the most valuable private company in the world. The Information reported on Wednesday that it is seeking to raise many billions more at a gobsmacking $750 billion valuation.

SpaceX

Tesla CEO Elon Musk expanded his business portfolio in 2002 when he founded SpaceX, an aerospace startup based in Texas that has completed over 320 launches. The core mission for SpaceX is to make humanity multi-planetary.

SpaceX has secured numerous contracts with NASA. In 2024, NASA tapped SpaceX to retrieve the International Space Station from orbit in 2030 before its operational life is over.

SpaceX was the most valuable private company in the world, with a $400 billion valuation, before OpenAI surpassed it in October. SpaceX, however, is planning its own secondary share sale, which would value it at a whopping $800 billion.

The startup is also exploring an initial public offering in 2026, at a potential valuation of $1.5 trillion.

Anthropic

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and President Daniela Amodei cofounded Anthropic, an AI startup, alongside four others in 2021.

All of them were former employees of OpenAI.

Anthropic's main product is Claude, a family of large language models that power an eponymous AI chatbot.

Anthropic has received major investments from tech giants like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft, as well as the pick-and-shovel company of the AI rush, chipmaker Nvidia.

In September, Anthopic's valuation reached $183 billion. However, Business Insider reported in November that Google is in discussions to increase its investment in Anthropic, which could boost its value past $350 billion.

ByteDance

ByteDance, based in China, gained widespread recognition through its popular social media app, TikTok. Although the startup introduced the app to Chinese users in 2016, it later launched an international version a year later. It also acquired the popular app Musical.ly that year, transferring all its users to TikTok, which fueled its growth.

TikTok is now one of the most widely used social media sites in the world. It specializes in short-form videos and opened a popular e-commerce retailer, TikTok Shop, in 2023.

Zhang Yiming founded ByteDance in 2012, and its current CEO is Liang Rubo.

In August, ByteDance valued itself at $330 billion as it explored a share buyback program for employees. Fidelity, an early investor in ByteDance, has valued the company even higher, at $380 billion.

Databricks

Databricks is a software and AI startup founded in 2013. It is led by cofounder Ali Ghodsi, who serves as CEO. Databricks offers enterprises its Data Intelligence Platform, which manages and implements cloud infrastructure.

The startup says it uses generative AI to understand an enterprise's data, then "it automatically optimizes performance and manages infrastructure to match your business needs."

Databricks was on track to become a hectocorn in 2024 when it announced a new funding round to raise $10 billion, lifting its valuation to $62 billion.

Databricks recently announced it was raising over $4 billion in a new funding round, raising its valuation to $134 billion.

Stripe

Brothers John Collison and Patrick Collison founded Stripe, an online payment startup for businesses, in 2010.

Stripe reached a $20 billion valuation in 2018 but has grown rapidly in recent years. The startup reached a $36 billion valuation in 2020 and $95 billion the following year after a $600 million raise.

In September, Bloomberg reported that Stripe's value had risen to $106.7 billion, putting it just barely in the hectocorn club.

xAI

xAI is Elon Musk's newest business venture, founded in 2023. The startup develops AI tools, including Grok, a large language model that powers a chatbot of the same name. Musk has implemented the technology across his companies, including X and Tesla.

Reports in November 2024 valued the startup at $50 billion. That number rose in March to $80 billion after xAI acquired X, the social media company formerly known as Twitter that Musk purchased in 2022. At the time, Musk said X was valued at $33 billion, so the two startups reached a combined valuation of $113 billion.

Multiple outlets reported in November that xAI was raising another $15 billion, at a $230 billion valuation. Musk, however, denied those reports at the time.

The offers and details on this page may have updated or changed since the time of publication. See our article on Business Insider for current information.

• For Love & Money is a column from Business Insider answering your relationship and money questions.
• This week, a reader struggles with her husband's anxiety and negativity around saving for retirement.
• Our columnist suggests being gentle and honest about their financial situation to her husband.

Dear For Love & Money,

I have a large inheritance coming my way when my grandmother dies. She's still alive and healthy, so it feels gross even talking about it at this stage, but she's 86 and has had us sit down with her estate planner to explain how her trust for me would work.

My husband and I are both 42 and work great jobs with high incomes. Between the retirement packages we have in place and my grandma's money, we'll have more than enough to ride out the 20 to 30 years we will hopefully have left if we retire at 65.

The problem is our quality of life right now. My husband has a lot of anxiety around money, and he groans constantly about never getting to retire and working till he dies. Anytime I suggest we do anything fun with our money, he shuts it down because he thinks we should be saving for retirement.

When I argue that we're more than fine and that we can count on grandma's inheritance, he acts like it's stupid for me to really think that's going to happen. He says that the money will probably get tied up in court, or she won't keep her word.

I'm a fun person with a lust for life and adventure. I'm sick of his negativity and find his inability to enjoy life with me exhausting. How do I get through to this man?

Sincerely,

Sick of the Negativity

Dear Sick,

With two high incomes, retirement saving plans in place, and a generous inheritance on the way, I agree that your future financial security is well in hand. More money won't solve your problems because the problem isn't a lack of funds. Instead, the solution to your husband's negativity and "inability to enjoy life," as you put it, will require the much more complex work of a mindset shift.

A common issue affecting couples is the frequent, conflict-prone pairing of fun-loving types with serious-minded counterparts. You know the type: Guests are arriving in an hour, and one person thinks the house looks great and is just looking forward to watching the game with friends, while the other is having heart palpitations over the baseboards. One person wants to jump in the car and go on an adventure, but the other can't leave the house without a bag packed for doomsday. Or — and this one might sound familiar — one person wants to travel, live generously, and bask in the present; the other wants to save for retirement and safeguard the future. Who is "right" depends entirely on the individual situation, and the healthiest functioning is found in the balance of the two.

What makes finding this balance so difficult is that the mismatch is rarely as simple as opposites attracting. No, the incompatibility is more dynamic than that. It's losing thousands of dollars because your spouse never got around to filling out their expense reports. It's having a terrible vacation because your partner won't stop checking their bank account app. When our significant others fail us in these ways, we tend to try to compensate for their shortcomings ourselves. But overcompensating for them will only make our partners feel the need to overcompensate for us — worsening the imbalance.

The only way to break this cycle is for one person to stop participating in it. In the case of you and your husband, you need to stop seeing it as your full-time job to elicit your husband's reluctant buy-in to a joyful, adventurous life that you alone must manufacture. You also need to recognize that when you say, "We don't need to worry about the future," what he hears is that he now has to worry for both of you.

Instead, show him it's possible to be fiscally responsible and have a good time. Make an appointment with a financial advisor to get hard numbers and set clear retirement objectives. Then, treat this information as the actionable intel that it is. If your husband keeps trying to shut down your attempts to have a good time after you've walked through the numbers together, go on your adventure without him. Perhaps, if your husband sees you actively participating in your retirement strategy beyond depending on inherited wealth, he'll feel less stressed about it.

Over time, he may realize that you're right, the sky isn't falling, and that your grasp on the numbers is as strong and steady as his own. In the meantime, you're still living the life you want and deserve.

That said, when you share a life with someone you love, I know that watching them remain stubbornly dissatisfied when your circumstances are objectively wonderful tends to drain the joy out of your experience as well. It may be worth exploring if his anxiety about the future is a deeper-rooted personal struggle. If it is, there's nothing you can do to change his mindset; he has to do that.

However, you can support your husband in this by being gentle but honest with him. Gentle, because living with his scarcity mindset is likely just as exhausting for him as it is for you. And honest, because, as his spouse, there may be no one else to tell him he needs help and doesn't have to exist in a perpetual state of dread and doom. Help him find a therapist to help him work through his fear of the future and the roots of his relationship with money.

If nothing else, your gentle, honest support will show him that he can count on you no matter what happens. And with time, perhaps you can both find peace and joy in a life that balances spontaneous adventure with long-term security.

Rooting for you,

For Love & Money

Looking for advice on how your savings, debt, or another financial challenge is affecting your relationships? Write to For Love & Money using this Google form.

• NGL is an anonymous messaging app that soared to the top of the Apple app charts in 2022.
• It has been acquired by Mode Mobile, a smartphone company that allows users to earn rewards.
• In 2024, NGL paid a $5 million fine to settle with the FTC over allegations that it targeted minors.

NGL, an anonymous messaging app that soared to the top of the Apple app charts in 2022 before reaching a settlement with federal regulators for targeting minors, has been acquired by Mode Mobile, a smartphone company that allows users to earn rewards.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Started in a WeWork, NGL never raised outside funding and stayed lean with only five employees. Named after an acronym for "Not Gonna Lie," the app debuted in November 2021 and briefly shot to the No. 1 overall spot on Apple's US App Store in 2022.

"Anonymous apps have long held a certain kind of allure for young people," Business Insider wrote at the time in 2022. "They offer a sense of anticipation, a dopamine hit if the anonymous comments or questions are favorable. Will someone confess their feelings for you? Shower you with compliments? One can only hope."

NGL surged in popularity, but much of that growth came from illegally targeting minors, according to a 2024 complaint filed by the Federal Trade Commission and Los Angeles District Attorney's Office.

"NGL marketed its app to kids and teens despite knowing that it was exposing them to cyberbullying and harassment," FTC Chair Lina M. Khan said in a statement.

NGL and its founders paid a $5 million fine to settle and agreed to no longer market to minors.

Since then, cofounders Raj Vir and João Figueiredo have refocused the app on adults and strengthened safety measures.

"There was a short-term effect from restricting under-18 usage, followed by renewed momentum after refocusing on an 18+ audience," said Figueiredo, who says the app now has reached the point where he believes it would be best to sell.

"NGL stands out as one of the most culturally relevant Gen-Z platforms operating at true global scale, with more than 125 million monthly active users and one of the strongest viral loops we've seen replicate across countries and cultures," Dan Novaes, CEO and Co-founder of Mode Mobile, wrote in an email.

The company's three employees will join Mode Mobile, while Vir and Figueiredo say they will move on to pursue other unspecified projects while also advising during the transition.

Other anonymous messaging apps, such as Ask.fm, Yik Yak, Yolo, and LMK, have also been criticized for facilitating cyberbullying and harassment. Ask.fm shut down last year.

• Watches dominated responses to a Business Insider survey about what the finance world wants this year.
• Certain quiet luxury brands, alcohol, and fitness gear also got shoutouts.
• Experiential gifts are on the rise, especially for those who "have everything they want."

The trading floor might have a little extra sparkle after the holidays.

Business Insider asked readers who work in finance what was at the top of their wishlist this holiday season, and of the more than 100 responses from those who said they work in the industry, watches were at the top of their list.

While an unscientific survey, the answers helped give a glimpse into what to give the banker in your life. All of the costs included are retail prices from the companies' websites, though many of the pieces are likely ripe for the booming secondhand luxury market.

Read more about what Wall Street wants this holiday season below.

Watches

Rolex and Patek Philippe were among the most popular brands listed among respondents.

"There's still room and opportunity, even with all this digitization, of having a really nice statement watch," said Reginald Ferguson, a fashion consultant and founder of NY Fashion Geek, who works with some clients in finance.

The pieces can cost tens of thousands of dollars — new models of the Rolex Daytona that one person mentioned, for example, range $16,000 to $141,150.

A Cartier Santos, which costs between $4,800 and $77,000 new on Cartier's website, is a "great flex/gift," Ferguson said.

Health gear

Respondents mentioned health-tracking bracelets, running gear, and a bike. One said they wanted something from Goruck, a company that sells gear for rucking, or walking with a weighted pack.

Another mentioned a Garmin Venu4, a smartwatch that tracks heart rate, stress, ovulation, and sleep, among other metrics. It costs $549.99 on the Garmin website.

Bags

Jeremy Balrup, who covers sales and analytics for Bloomberg's enterprise data business, told Business Insider he'd love a specific gym bag: P. Johnson's suit travel bag, which has compartments and folds into a tote.

"You don't want to be the dude with the duffel bag or banker bag. That's kind of douchey," he said. Balrup, 30, added that the bag is pretty pricey — it's $370, according to P. Johnson's website — but is "super sleek."

One self-identified VP said in the survey that they want a "designer bag that I can use for bringing by gym clothes into work."

Other respondents mentioned an Hermes bag or a Tumi backpack, which range from $175 to $2,195.

Apparel

Balrup said he is also looking for multifunctional clothing, like a wool sweater.

"There's a meme of, 'Go from the boardroom to the bar,' and that's kind of cringe, but actual clothes that have more wear than just office wear," Balrup said. "We're not at a point where you have to be super white collar or formal at work."

Some survey respondents said they want coats, sweaters, or suits from quiet luxury brands like Loro Piana.

Mentions included a roughly $4,000 Dunhill wool jacket with gold buttons, a more than $1,000 Moncler gilet, and a Brunello Cucinelli shearling coat, some of which go for more than $17,000. Another requested Versace ties, most of which cost $275 on Versace's site.

Shoes

One survey respondent said they want the $1,100 Zegna sneakers, which have recently started to take over trading floors. Another said they might want a new pair of penny loafers, and another specified they wanted Loro Piana shoes. Loro Piana men's loafers range from $950 to $1,830, while women's loafers cost between $925 and $8,725.

Experiences

Some Wall Streeters would rather spend their holidays doing something than unwrapping something. Several of the survey respondents said they want rest or family time, or are spending days off traveling. One person mentioned a two-week trip around Southeast Asia with their partner; another said they're going skiing in Switzerland.

Elisabeth Brown, the US membership director at the luxury concierge service Knightsbridge Circle, has mentioned an uptick in experiential gifting, which can include sporting events, concerts, or trips.

"A lot of these people do sort of have everything they want, from a physical perspective," she said.

Cars

A few survey respondents had their hearts set on cars. Two mentioned wanting a Porsche — a vintage model and a 911 — and another said they want a Ferrari F80. Porsche 911 models start at more than $130,000.

Booze

And despite the wellness boom on Wall Street — and many other corners of the corporate world — alcohol is still a go-to option. None of the survey respondents said they wanted booze for themselves, but Eileen Rizzo, the CEO of Zachys Wine and Liquor, said it's a popular gift.

Rizzo said that champagne is "always the hero of the holiday season," but more customers are starting to opt for statement wines, like those that are limited-edition or grace the top of annual best wine lists. People interested in banking and investment are among her most active clients, she added.

"Champagne, Italian, and Bordeaux wines tend to be the most requested categories as they're classic, universally respected, and easy to tailor to different budgets," Rizzo said.

Wine Enthusiast named the $179 Mastroberardino 2018 Stilèma Riserva Aglianico as its top wine of 2025, and the $370 Gusbourne 2016 51°N Traditional Method Sparkling Blend took the number-two spot. A bottle of Veuve Clicquot Brut champagne usually costs $57.95 on Zachys' website.

Seventeen survey respondents said they're giving colleagues alcohol, and Balrup said a nice bottle of wine is always a hot gift in his office's white elephant exchange, either to drink or regift at one of many holiday parties.

• As college costs soar, Starbucks is doubling down on its free degree program for eligible employees.
• Enrollment is up 60% in the last five years, Chief People Officer Sara Kelly told Business Insider.
• Starbucks says the program boosts promotions, retention, and builds a stronger leadership pipeline.

Starbucks receives more than a million job applications a year, the company's Chief People Officer says one reason is a quietly powerful lure: the promise of a fully-funded bachelor's degree from Arizona State University.

For Brea Yancey, a barista in Washington state who has worked at the company for eight years, that benefit hasn't just reshaped her future — it reshaped her family's. She enrolled, then inspired her mother, a Starbucks store manager, to join her, turning a workplace perk into a two-generation push toward a goal neither woman thought was financially in reach.

"I didn't think college was going to be an option because of how much it costs with loans and things like that," Yancey, who celebrated her graduation on Monday, told Business Insider. "I know it's going to make all the difference in the world not having to worry about that."

Yancey pursued a degree in interdisciplinary arts and performance, with the goal of becoming a music teacher. Her mother graduated last semester with a degree in interdisciplinary studies, concentrating in sales, marketing, and project management.

"I'm glad that she got to finish school, because that's all she ever wanted, and she stopped originally because she got pregnant with me, but now we finished it together," Yancey said.

As college costs have soared, so has enrollment in Starbucks' College Achievement Plan (SCAP) program, Chief People Officer Sara Kelly told Business Insider. The program, which began in 2014, offers eligible employees 100% upfront tuition coverage for their first bachelor's degree, facilitated through online classes at ASU.

"Over the last five years, we've seen a 60% increase in participation," Kelly said. "We have 13% of our partners participating as scholars today."

That represents at least one enrolled Starbucks staff member at about 90% of its coffeehouses, Kelly added.

Starbucks isn't the only retail or Fortune 500 employer offering education benefits. Amazon, Walmart, and Chipotle also offer similar programs. However, compared to most programs in the US retail sector, Starbucks doesn't require reimbursement of tuition payments or require students to stay with the company for a certain amount of time after graduation.

Younger students are increasingly questioning the value of a college degree. A May 2024 Deloitte survey found that a third of Gen Z and millennials chose to skip higher education due to rising costs, and the average price of attendance for a student living on campus at an in-state public 4-year institution is $108,584 over 4 years, according to Educationdata — so you can't beat free.

"This started over 10 years ago, all in service of creating access to education, and the importance of creating access to education," Kelly said. "College is incredibly costly, and so how do we create access to that education for all of our partners? So we're really proud, because we see this as one of the most powerful expressions of our investment in our partners."

Starbucks has expanded the SCAP program in recent years, offering access to more than 150 degree pathways, providing enrolled students with a broader range of fields to pursue than in the program's early years. They've also added a "Pathway to Admission" support route for partners who don't initially qualify for university admission, allowing them to take preparatory courses and earn their way into ASU. Additionally, a "plus-one" benefit is available for eligible military and veteran partners, extending SCAP to a qualifying family member.

This year, Starbucks introduced new study abroad and coffee education opportunities, offering a hands-on sustainability immersion at Hacienda Alsacia in Costa Rica, where scholars study climate, agronomy, and the future of coffee at their global research and development farm.

Of course, the students aren't the only ones benefiting. The program is a significant retention win for Starbucks. Turnover is at record lows, Kelly said, and baristas who have spoken to Business Insider frequently cite the SCAP program as a reason they've stayed with the company.

The program also helps to strengthen Starbucks' talent pipeline, as the company has committed to a 90% internal hire rate or fill rate for its retail leadership roles.

"Our Starbucks college achievement plan partners are part of our pipeline for those management roles, and we're very excited about that," Kelly said. "But do they have to stay with Starbucks? No."

Starbucks has never considered adding a retention requirement to the program, Kelly said, because the company wants "to offer access to education that people can take with them on their journey, no matter where it takes them."

For Yancey, her Starbucks journey is winding down, but it's not over. She continues to work part-time as a barista and has a second job as a music instructor, while planning her next career moves.

"They find a way to make it work for whoever wants to go into the university through the SCAP program; they find a way for you to complete it," Yancey said. "I don't think finances or learning ability should hold anybody back, and they really delivered on that."

• Startup Natilus is building a "blended-wing body" aircraft that fits the cabin into one giant wing.
• Natilus' first announced airline customer is the Indian carrier SpiceJet.
• The up to 240-passenger plane may have less natural light but could offer lounges or kids' zones.

Another airline is placing bets on the radical "flying wing" plane that industry professionals foresee as the future of commercial aviation.

California startup Natilus announced Wednesday that Indian carrier SpiceJet will order up to 100 of its new airliner called Horizon. The triangle-shaped "blended-wing body" (BWB) aircraft ditches the traditional tube-and-wing design for one giant, sweeping wing with the cabin built inside.

It's a more efficient aircraft that allows for more space and fewer emissions. Natilus hopes to launch Horizon in the early 2030s.

Company CEO Aleksey Matyushev said in a press release that India's growing aviation sector will be short about 2,200 aircraft by 2040 and believes his next-generation BWB could help fill that demand.

India is the world's fifth-largest aviation market with about 211 million passengers in 2024 — an increase of about 11% year-over-year, according to the global airline trade association IATA.

SpiceJet said it will help Natilus navigate India's regulatory process, with the order contingent on the Horizon ultimately being certified in the country. Natilus also plans to source manufactured parts from India and has established a subsidiary called Natilus India, headquartered in Mumbai, to support its operations.

This is the first publicly announced international airline order for Horizon, but Natilus told Business Insider that its commercial order book — which also includes its BWB cargo version, Kona — stands at more than 570 orders valued at $25 billion following SpiceJet's order.

Kona has purchase agreements with carriers like US operator Ameriflight, a partner of FedEx, DHL, and UPS, as well as Canadian airline Norolinor. However, it's unclear if Horizon has other buyers besides SpiceJet.

Horizon could host unique cabin configurations

Horizon would bring a new type of aircraft to India's skies that promises better operating economics than those offered by the reigning Boeing-Airbus duopoly.

Matyushev previously told Business Insider that Horizon will offer improved efficiency because its wing design generates lift across a much larger surface area, cutting fuel burn by roughly 30% and operating costs by about 50% compared with similarly sized aircraft such as the Boeing 737 and the Airbus A320.

The plane, which could carry up to 240 people in a high-capacity configuration, would also fit into existing airport infrastructure and offer about 40% more cabin space thanks to its wider footprint.

Matyushev said this could translate into unique spaces that today's jets can't fit, like a lounge or a kids' playroom.

Renderings of Horizon published in July show a futuristic business class, up to three aisles between rows of a dozen economy seats, and dedicated privacy pods.

Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury recently said that it sees BWB planes as the future of aviation. But he said the jet may be windowless due to the curved structure. This means passengers could face minimal natural light, disorientation, and claustrophobia.

The wider cabin also poses additional safety challenges during emergency evacuations since those in the very center would be further from the exit doors than on today's aircraft, and the passengers and crew wouldn't be able to see the situation outside.

Matyushev confirmed to Business Insider that Horizon would have windows, but for those in the middle of the plane, it is also designing skylights and other lighting strategies to mimic the outside.

He has previously said Horizon would meet and exceed safety standards.

Companies have long experimented with passenger BWBs

The BWB concept is not new. It has long been used by the US military — among the most famous being the Northrop B-2 Spirit stealth bomber — and passenger variants have been studied by innovators like Airbus, NASA, Lockheed Martin, and Boeing for decades.

Sub-scale demonstrators have flown, but no full-sized BWB has been certified for commercial use.

With a team of employees who have worked for companies like Northrop Grumman and SpaceX, Natilus is betting Horizon can break into the fiercely competitive commercial aircraft market. But it's not the only player chasing that goal.

Airbus has been experimenting with commercial BWB aircraft since 2017 as part of its ZEROe program, which aims to build zero-emission airliners that run on hydrogen instead of traditional jet fuel. That project flew a demonstrator in 2019 but has since been delayed at least a decade from its initial 2035 timeline.

Another California startup, JetZero, is developing a 250-person BWB, called the "Z4," that is expected to launch in the early 2030s and offer up to 50% lower fuel burn. It could replace jets like the Boeing 767 or the Airbus A330.

United Airlines' venture capital arm, United Airlines Ventures, plans to order up to 200 Z4s. Managing director Andrew Chang previously described JetZero to Business Insider as a "living room in the sky."

"Everything around the customer travel experience — how they sit in the plane, board, and deplane, and how [crewmembers] serve them — can be reinvented around the new space within this new aircraft design," he said.