• Omnicom's $9 billion merger with Interpublic Group will result in about 4,000 job cuts.
• The merger creates the world's largest advertising agency group with $25 billion in revenue.
• Omnicom will retire legacy brands and restructure into new divisions to streamline operations.

Advertising agency giant Omnicom's $9 billion merger with fellow ad firm Interpublic Group officially got over the line last week. Now come the "synergies."

Omnicom CEO John Wren said in media interviews on Monday that the total number of acquisition-related layoffs is expected to reach 4,000, with the majority of jobs to go by the end of December. A spokesperson confirmed the figure.

The layoff accounts for about 3% of the company's combined head count of 128,200 as of the end of 2024, based on their regulatory filings.

Since the deal was first announced late last year, IPG has already shed 3,200 roles, while Omnicom has had about 3,000 job cuts. Omnicom last year set out a "$750 million cost synergy target" related to the merger.

The new Omnicom is now the largest advertising agency group in the world, with combined annual revenues exceeding $25 billion. By merging, Omnicom-IPG can reduce operating costs by consolidating systems. The new company can also leverage its collective client ad spending from the world's biggest brands to negotiate better deals with media owners and tech platforms.

"Together, we will be the go-to company that shapes how brands grow, people connect, and culture evolves," Omnicom chairman and CEO John Wren said in a statement.

Madison and Wall, an advisory and consulting firm, wrote in a research note on Monday that Omnicom's success in managing both people and clients through the transition would determine whether a significant number of advertising contracts are put up for review.

The consolidation of the two companies will result in the retirement of storied creative agency brands DDB, FCB, and MullenLowe, the company said Monday. The newly formed Omnicom Advertising division will operate three creative agency networks: BBDO, TBWA, and McCann.

Omnicom announced its new company structure on Monday, which will consist of these main divisions:

• Omnicom Media — with agencies including Hearts & Science, Initiative, Mediahub, OMD, PHD, UM, and Acxiom.
• Omnicom Public Relations — including FleishmanHillard, Golin, Ketchum, Porter Novelli, and Weber Shandwick.
• Omnicom Production — including Content Solutions, Production Management, and Studios.
• Omni and Flywheel Commerce Network — including Omni and Flywheel.
• Omnicom Advertising — BBDO, McCann, TBWA, and the US Advertising Collective.
• Diversified Agency Services — comprising health marketing companies Healthcare Professional & Consumer, Medical Communications, Patient Engagement, and Managed Markets; branding agencies Interbrand, Siegel+Gale, Sterling Brands, and Wolff Olins; and Precision Marketing, including Credera, Critical Mass, and RAPP.

• I tried the biggest burgers at McDonald's, Wendy's, Burger King, In-N-Out, and Shake Shack.
• I thought Shake Shack's burger was a little overwhelming.
• Burger King's Triple Whopper impressed me with its flame-grilled patties and fresh toppings.

When it comes to fast food's biggest burgers, the prices are often stacked just as high as the patties.

Hikes in fast-food prices and "shrinkflation" — a phenomenon in which people say menu items get smaller while either remaining the same price or costing more — are deterring customers, and chains have released meal deals aimed at luring them back.

As some chains see sales decline, brands are thinking beyond limited-time promotions and more about how they can deliver the best value for customers.

To determine which chain offered the best value on its larger-ticket items, I compared six of the largest burgers sold at fast-food chains.

I tested burgers from McDonald's, Wendy's, Burger King, In-N-Out, and Shake Shack to see how they stacked up in terms of taste and overall value.

Here's how the biggest burgers at five fast-food chains ranked, from worst to best.

Shake Shack's double cheeseburger, my least favorite, was particularly large.

It cost me $13.89, not including tax, making it the most expensive burger I tried.

I chose pickles, onions, and Shack sauce as my toppings.

The burger patties were perfectly crispy on the outside and covered in gooey melted cheese.

The pickles were large and crunchy, and the amount of other toppings was generous. The chain's signature Shack sauce also added a lot of flavor, and the cheese was perfectly melted.

However, the burger was almost too heavy to pick up.

I know I purposefully ordered the largest burger on the menu, but the Shake Shack burger was a little overwhelming.

This burger was massive. I saw it as a hindrance rather than an asset, and I struggled to get through more than a few bites.

The burger patties were much thicker than quite a few of the other burgers I tried, and the toppings definitely enhanced the flavor. However, for me, it was simply too big, to the point where it tasted like a giant meat-and-cheese grease bomb. 

My second-to-least favorite burger was a classic: a McDonald's Big Mac.

I was conflicted over whether the biggest burger at McDonald's was the Big Mac — which felt like the largest thanks to the extra bun — or the Double Quarter-Pounder, which is the burger with the most meat.

I decided to try both to appease both sets of McDonald's fans who argue for one over the other.

A Big Mac cost $7.99 at my local McDonald's, excluding tax.

There was a generous layer of pickles, lettuce, and sauce on the sandwich.

The sandwich wasn't overwhelming, and I also liked the tangy, creamy Big Mac sauce.

However, I thought the added bun made the sandwich taste too much like bread, and the other flavors were slightly lost.

The sandwich was a good size and very filling, but I wasn't crazy about the flavor profile.

I simply wanted more flavor happening. Between the extra bun and the generous serving of Big Mac sauce, that was all I could taste.

Tomato, cheese, or simply other condiments might have taken the sandwich to the next level.

The 4×4 is the largest burger available at In-N-Out.

The burger, which is on In-N-Out's "not-so-secret" menu, is also referred to as the "Quad Quad" or simply "Quad," and comes with four beef patties, four cheese slices, lettuce, tomato, spread, and the option to add onions.

It cost $10.99, excluding tax and fees.

The giant burger was difficult to hold in one hand, let alone bite into.

The burger was far too large for me to eat in one sitting, though the flavor made me want to. 

The burger was delicious in every way, from the juicy beef patties to the layers of cheese and fresh lettuce and tomato.

However, I thought the additional burger patties ended up detracting from the burger's overall ranking instead of enhancing it. The burger was overwhelmingly heavy, with the tomato and lettuce failing to offset the excessive amount of meat and cheese.

The buns couldn't contain the juicy beef patties, and they started disintegrating as I ate the burger. Truthfully, I wouldn't order this again. Although it was tasty, the amount of meat was just too much for me.

I also tried the McDonald's Double Quarter Pounder with cheese. I preferred it over the Big Mac.

Looking at the burger in the box, I immediately noticed that it had more meat than the Big Mac. The meat was clearly the star of the show, with the other toppings barely visible beneath the patties and bun.

The burger cost me $10.49, excluding tax.

The Double Quarter-Pounder with cheese comes with a whopping half-pound of meat, pickles, onions, ketchup, and mustard.

I found this burger to be pretty flavorful, especially thanks to the condiments and large slices of crunchy pickles.

However, I wasn't crazy about the bun — while I normally love a sesame-seed bun, I found this one to be pretty bland, airy, and artificial-tasting.

I would order this burger again.

Despite having a lot of meat, the burger didn't feel too overwhelming to eat.

I thought it was a filling yet completely manageable sandwich, especially compared to the gigantic burgers from Shake Shack and In-N-Out.

The second-best burger I tried was Wendy's Dave's Triple.

The Dave's Triple burger cost $11.49, excluding tax.

Wendy's Dave's Triple burger comes with nearly a pound of beef, American cheese, crisp lettuce, tomato, pickle, ketchup, mayo, and onion.

The sandwich was difficult to pick up, but all of the ingredients appeared to be well-balanced.

There was a large serving of tomatoes, pickles, and cheese, so it didn't look like the beef patties would be overpowered. 

This burger was so flavorful. The cheese was perfectly melted, and the patties were super juicy.

While I couldn't finish the entire thing, I definitely thought the flavors were there and it was a good value for the price.

If I were to change one thing, it would be to remove the mayonnaise. It ended up mixing with the juice from the tomatoes in an unappetizing way, creating a tomato-mayo sauce that I thought brought the other flavors down.

The best burger I tried was the Triple Whopper with cheese from Burger King.

Similar to the Dave's Triple, the Triple Whopper also comes with three quarter-pound beef patties, although the ones at Burger King are flame-grilled.

The burger cost me $10.99, excluding tax, making it the second-most expensive burger I tried.

Unlike the other burgers, the Triple Whopper only comes with one slice of cheese.

However, I felt that this allowed the other flavors to really come through, and it led to a less gut-filling, more appetizing eating experience.

The lettuce, tomatoes, and onions tasted fresh and added a delicious crunch to the burger.

I also liked the beef patties on this burger the most out of the ones I tried.

The burger patties had a smoky, savory flavor that made the sandwich taste fresh off the grill. I also thought the patties' shape, which were larger in circumference but flatter than some of the other burgers, made the sandwich easier to eat. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this burger and would definitely order it again, if I have the appetite.

While I'm not sure I'm happy to pay more than $10 for any fast-food burger, it was a very generous serving and the most flavorful out of the bunch, without being overwhelmingly huge.

• Nvidia said it had purchased $2 billion of Synopsys common stock as part of a wider partnership.
• The companies said they are partnering to accelerate AI for design and engineering.
• Nvidia continues to weave an intricate web of AI-related deals.

Nvidia has made a $2 billion investment in semiconductor design firm Synopsys, adding to the chipmaker's large web of AI-related investments.

Nvidia said on Monday that it had purchased $2 billion of Synopsys common stock as part of a partnership to accelerate the development of AI for design and engineering applications.

"Our partnership with Synopsys harnesses the power of NVIDIA accelerated computing and AI to reimagine engineering and design — empowering engineers to invent the extraordinary products that will shape our future," Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said in a release.

Nvidia has long been a prolific investor in other companies, but it has ramped up its spending in recent months, with xAI, ElevenLabs, and Nscale among the chipmaker's portfolio companies.

In September, Nvidia said it plans to invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI to support the build-out of AI data centers. Earlier that month, Nvidia also made a $5 billion bet on Intel.

The expanding web of investments, which has included some circular financing, has raised bubble concerns among market watchers.

• Accenture and OpenAI have announced a new partnership.
• The deal will bring ChatGPT Enterprise to tens of thousands of Accenture employees.
• AI transformation work is becoming increasingly common in the consulting industry.

Consulting giant Accenture is partnering with OpenAI to put ChatGPT Enterprise into the hands of tens of thousands of its employees.

Employees will start using ChatGPT Enterprise across consulting, operations, and delivery work, while the partnership will help OpenAI scale its capabilities to enterprises.

AI is rapidly changing the type of work that consulting firms like Accenture perform for clients. Rather than strategy advisors, consultants are increasingly becoming long-term transformation partners for companies, providing advice but also building the tools that companies need to maximize on AI.

Julie Sweet, Accenture's CEO, said the deal with OpenAI will "accelerate enterprise reinvention and business outcomes for our clients."

Accenture will also have the largest number of professionals upskilled through OpenAI Certifications, OpenAI said in a press release on Monday.

As well as reshaping the way firms work, AI is changing the talent landscape within the top firms. In a September earnings call, Sweet said that Accenture has been "exiting" staff that the company cannot reskill for the AI era.

On Monday, the two companies also announced plans to launch a "flagship AI client program," combining OpenAI's products with Accenture's "AI expertise and industry and function domain knowledge."

The program will be used to help clients adopt AI in real business workflows, OpenAI said in a press release.

Its goal is "to enable joint clients to adopt OpenAI's agentic capabilities faster and with deeper integration across their organizations," OpenAI said.

• Getty Images highlighted the 100 most powerful news photos taken by its photographers in 2025.
• The photos captured political unrest, natural disasters, travel nightmares, and major news events.
• Donald Trump's presidency and administration also featured heavily in the collection.

Sandy Ciric, senior director of news photography at Getty Images, told Business Insider that the 2025 news cycle was "unrelenting."

"From the first days of the new year when devastating wildfires swept through Los Angeles, every week brought a barrage of breaking stories — including the death of a US president, a newly elected Pope, tariff wars, terror attacks, migration, starvation, hostages, plane crashes, floods, heat waves and in addition to all that, political turmoil and upheaval from the US to Nepal and beyond," Ciric said.

As the year comes to a close, the team at Getty Images curated 100 of the most powerful news photos of the year taken by its photojournalists around the world, highlighting the defining moments of 2025.

"Through it all, Getty Images photojournalists faithfully covered all of these stories and indelible moments with expertise, empathy, and creativity," Ciric said.

Here are 30 images from the collection of the best news photos of the year.

On January 8, the casket of former President Jimmy Carter lay in state in the Capitol Rotunda the day before his funeral.

Carter died at the age of 100 at his home in Plains, Georgia. He served as president from 1977 to 1981.

An aerial photo taken on January 15 showed beachfront homes in Malibu, California, destroyed by the Palisades Fire.

Multiple wildfires across Los Angeles County, propelled by high winds, caused widespread damage in January.

Firefighters worked to contain the Hughes Fire on January 22 in Castaic, California.

The California wildfires burned over 40,000 acres and killed at least 29 people.

On January 30, an American Airlines flight collided with a military helicopter over the Potomac River in Washington, DC.

All 67 people on board both aircraft died in the crash, which occurred near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

A worker removed signage on the headquarters of the US Agency for International Development on February 7 after it was shut down by the Department of Government Efficiency.

President Donald Trump and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency targeted numerous federal agencies with layoffs and cuts to decrease government spending.

Elon Musk and his son, X, joined President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on February 11.

Musk and his son watched as Trump signed an executive order to implement DOGE's "Workforce Optimization Initiative."

Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a heated exchange during a White House meeting on February 28.

Zelenskyy left the White House after the Oval Office shouting match without signing a proposed minerals agreement between the US and Ukraine.

As Trump arrived for his speech to a joint session of Congress on March 4, Democratic Rep. Melanie Stansbury held a sign reading "This is not normal."

Other Democratic lawmakers held up signs reading "False," "Musk steals," "Protect veterans," and "Save Medicaid," as Trump outlined his policy agenda.

On March 31, SpaceX launched the Falcon 9 Fram2 Mission from NASA's Kennedy Space Center.

The mission carried four space tourists in a low-orbit flight.

An airline employee at Newark Liberty Airport in New Jersey was photographed looking fatigued amid delays and cancellations on May 6.

Newark Airport experienced days of snarled travel due to air traffic control staffing shortages and radar outages.

After the death of Pope Francis, Pope Leo XIV was elected to the papacy in Vatican City on May 11.

Pope Leo XIV, who hails from Chicago, is the first US-born pope in history.

A woman was photographed in the ruins of her home on May 18, the day after a tornado hit in London, Kentucky.

At least 25 people died as a result of the storm, CNN reported.

Protesters in Paramount, California, clashed with US Border Patrol officers on June 7 amid immigration raids.

Protests broke out following immigration raids across Southern California conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Trump ordered 2,000 National Guard members to the Los Angeles area to quell protests, circumventing California Gov. Gavin Newsom's authority.

On June 14, the US Army celebrated its 250th anniversary with a military parade in Washington, DC.

The military parade, which coincided with Trump's 79th birthday, featured 150 vehicles, 50 aircraft, and about 6,600 troops.

The USS Gerald R. Ford deployed to Europe on June 24 amid conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Iran.

The USS Gerald R. Ford is the world's largest aircraft carrier.

A woman was photographed pouring water over her head in Berlin during a record-high heat wave on July 2.

Temperatures exceeded 40 degrees Celsius, or 104 degrees Fahrenheit.

On July 6, a girl stood in her aunt's home in Center Point, Texas, after torrential rains caused the Guadalupe River to overflow.

At least 78 people died in central Texas, including 11 people at the Christian girls' summer camp Camp Mystic, when the Guadalupe River rose 26 feet in 45 minutes and caused severe flooding.

Ukrainian troops conducted a medical evacuation with an armored infantry fighting vehicle on the border between the Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions of Ukraine on July 21.

The photo of the 505th Separate Marine Battalion was taken with an infrared camera.

On July 24, members of ICE dragged a man away after his immigration court hearing in New York City.

In an interview with Fox News, border czar Tom Homan said that ICE planned to "flood the zone" in sanctuary cities such as New York City amid Trump's immigration crackdown.

The Royal Jordanian Air Force performed an air drop of humanitarian aid over Gaza on August 6, providing a sweeping view of the devastation.

An assessment by the United Nations conducted in October found that 81% of all structures in Gaza were damaged in Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip following the Hamas-led attacks on October 7, 2023.

Zohran Mamdani was photographed at a press conference on August 7, a few months before his election as the next mayor of New York City.

Zohran Mamdani, who served as a member of the New York State Assembly, defeated former New York City Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa in the mayoral election in November.

Trump and Putin met in Alaska on August 15 to discuss the war in Ukraine.

Trump gave Putin a ride in the presidential limousine known as "The Beast."

A fishing boat was photographed on August 13 in Kochi, India, amid the Trump administration's 50% tariff on products from the country.

India is one of the top suppliers of frozen shrimp to the US, where 80% of seafood is imported. The Trump administration's 50% tariffs on imports from India are expected to raise seafood prices.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth joined Trump in the Oval Office for the signing of several executive orders on August 25.

Trump signed executive orders to end cashless bail in Washington, DC, and criminalize burning the American flag despite a 1989 Supreme Court decision that protects flag burning under the First Amendment.

A billboard in Orem, Utah, displayed on September 13 commemorated Charlie Kirk, who was shot and killed on September 10.

Kirk, a right-wing political activist who cofounded Turning Point USA, was killed while speaking at Utah Valley University on the first stop of his "American Comeback Tour."

Anti-corruption protests left burned debris in place of what was once the Department of Roads building in Kathmandu, Nepal, on September 15.

The protests in Nepal opposing government corruption, nepotism, and social media bans were largely led by members of Gen Z.

Senior military leaders were summoned to Washington, DC, on September 30 for a speech by Hegseth in which he berated "fat troops" and "woke" policies.

"It's tiring to look out at combat formations, or really any formation, and see fat troops," Hegseth said in his speech about "warrior ethos." "Likewise, it's completely unacceptable to see fat generals in the Pentagon and leading commands around the country and the world."

On October 13, Israeli hostages were released from Gaza as part of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

Ziv Berman was released after being held hostage for 737 days in Gaza. He was photographed raising his fist in the air while riding a helicopter to Chaim Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Israel.

On October 19, thieves broke into the Louvre Museum in Paris and stole pieces of jewelry that belonged to Napoleon and Empress Eugénie.

The thieves broke into the Louvre's Galerie d'Apollon using a lift and an angle grinder before escaping on motorized scooters. Four people have been charged in connection with the robbery.

On October 23, Trump demolished the East Wing of the White House to make way for his 90,000-square-foot ballroom.

The ballroom is expected to cost an estimated $300 million. It's one of many changes Trump has made to the White House in his second non-consecutive term.

• Airbus' share price fell as much as 10% on Monday morning over concerns of an issue with some A320s.
• It said it had identified an issue with some metal panels on a limited number of the best-selling jet.
• This could affect the planemaker's delivery targets — a key metric for financial analysts.

Airbus's share price dropped as much as 10% on Monday morning after the planemaker found an issue with some components for its best-selling A320 aircraft.

In a statement, Airbus said a "supplier quality issue" affected "a limited number of A320 metal panels."

Airbus didn't disclose exactly how many planes were potentially affected.

"As it always does when faced with quality issues in its supply chain, Airbus is taking a conservative approach and is inspecting all aircraft potentially impacted — knowing that only a portion of them will need further action to be taken," the statement continued.

"The source of the issue has been identified, contained, and all newly produced panels conform to all requirements."

Airbus's share price opened at 201.15 euros and fell as low as 183 euros after Reuters first reported on the issue.

However, it has pared some of the losses, and the stock was down 6.5% as of 8:10 a.m. ET.

The falling share price was likely triggered by market concerns that the issue could cause Airbus to struggle to meet its delivery targets — a key metric for financial analysts.

Airbus has said it's targeting around 820 plane deliveries this year. Forecast International, a market intelligence firm, has estimated that it will need to deliver over 160 planes in December to meet that figure.

The planemaker typically has a big push at the end of the year, delivering 123 last December. However, it would require a record output this month to hit 820 deliveries for 2025.

The A320 family accounts for the bulk of Airbus's production and is the most popular plane in commercial aviation.

Monday's news follows a software recall affecting some 6,000 Airbus A320 jets over the weekend.

European regulators issued an emergency directive after it was found that intense solar radiation could corrupt data that is critical for flight controls.

After some concerns that this could disrupt travel over the Thanksgiving holiday, many airlines were able to update their software overnight, which minimized the impact.

• Emil Barr, 22, started a company in his college dorm and is worth over $25 million.
• He said he spent most of his time at college working and has no regrets.
• Barr said he still works around the clock, but has optimized his life so he has more time for family.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with 22-year-old Emil Barr from Ohio. Business Insider has verified Barr's claims, including his net worth. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

When I wrote that maintaining a work-life balance will keep you mediocre in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal in August, I didn't think my views were that controversial.

I built my first company, Step Up Social, from my dorm room during my 2021 and 2022 sophomore and junior years at Miami University.

I received thousands of comments beneath the article and on social media on the three-and-a-half hours I slept on average each night, the classes I skipped, the friends I lost, and how I outsourced everything nonessential, including cooking food, meaning I gained 80 pounds.

It was all so I could spend as much time as possible on my company, and get closer to achieving my goal of being a billionaire by age 30.

Step Up Social was worth $15 million when I exited last year, and my second business, the employee upskilling platform Flashpass, is now valued at $50 million.

What really surprised me was how negatively many people reacted. Some called me crazy, which I took as a compliment, as I've always been a bit weird. Others thought I was a jerk because I suggested they weren't making money because they weren't working hard enough

But we can't be the generation that demands paid internships while we're still in college, wants to work from home in our pajamas, and preaches this idea that everyone should make six figures and work a four-day week.

I believe advocating for extreme work-life balance is a recipe for mediocrity.

I accept that lots of people have very fulfilling lives working 40-hour weeks and being able to show up for their kids, and that making $20 million in your early 20s is not the norm.

I ate a lot of cheeseburgers and cookies to survive working until 3 a.m.

At the time, it was all about survival. You get really hungry when you're still working at 3 a.m. Unfortunately, in my college town, the only places open after midnight were the cookie store and the cheeseburger joint, so I ate a lot of those.

Since cutting out the midnight cookies and cheeseburgers, I've lost about 30 pounds, but I'd love to lose another 30 in the next year. I've tried to do things like hire trainers, but my work schedule is still far too demanding. I care very little about how I look and more about how my weight and health affect decision-making.

Focusing on my business instead of getting blackout drunk wasn't a huge sacrifice

Most of my relationships didn't survive. But I find college relationships inherently superficial, with very little business yield and far less personal yield than people think. Drinking with a group of quasi-strangers for six hours until I black out has never really appealed to me. It didn't feel like an immense sacrifice to not have 50 people blowing me up on Snapchat to go to the bar on a Saturday night.

I've also had childhood friends reach out and say, "If you don't hire me for at least $100,000 a year, we're no longer friends." Some people become a bit parasitic and feel like they're entitled to some portion of your wealth.

But I have really valuable and deep relationships with others who are either starting and building companies or who have built and sold them. There's such a small group of entrepreneurs who have also really had to make sacrifices.

I've optimized my life to spend more time with my family

As for my family, I don't think they had any idea what was going on.

I missed most major events, like Christmas and Thanksgiving, from 2021 to 2023. I always thought I would spend more time with them once I had achieved some degree of financial freedom, but I didn't convey that to them. That was a bit painful for my family, because it felt like I was estranged, and they didn't know why. But if I had communicated the degree of financial risk and pressure I was under, I think it would have made them far more worried about me.

I think they get it now, especially since I've optimized my life to spend time with them. I typically work 100-hour weeks, getting up around 8:30 a.m. and working with minimal breaks until about 6 p.m. Then I'll spend between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. with family and friends, then work until 1 a.m.

Financial freedom has also enabled me to have a more flexible travel schedule. Sometimes I'll visit my grandparents in Chicago or my dad in New Mexico. I've also been able to gift my family things like cars.

My girlfriend, whom I met at college, has been super supportive. She lives with me and is used to how I work. I'd like to have a family, but I don't think about it too much, as I'm sure most 22-year-olds don't.

I would make the same choices again. I was fortunate in how quickly my sacrifices resulted in a return on investment. This was not 15 years of not seeing my family or becoming chronically obese. This was a very concentrated, 24 months of real effort that started with me as an 18-year-old with no money and ended with me being a millionaire.

• A Russian drone nearly struck a vehicle carrying a small crew of Ukrainian special operators.
• An operator who survived the attack told Business Insider that he credits the driver's skills.
• The driver managed to maneuver away from the Russian drone, and it struck the side of the road.

The Russian drone screamed as it chased down the Ukrainian vehicle at high speed, going for a direct strike. One of the soldiers in the back opened fire with a machine gun, but couldn't knock it down.

"It starts to maneuver to hit us," said Khyzhak, one of the Ukrainian special operators who was riding shotgun in the vehicle.

"And my dude in the backseat, he started the shooting — firing — at the drone," he said. Drones, though, are notoriously hard to hit. The operator couldn't get a clean shot.

"But our driver — he drove like a god," Khyzhak said.

In his first interview since the harrowing incident, Khyzhak — for security reasons identified only by his call sign, "Predator" in Ukrainian — told Business Insider that the Russian drone armed with an explosive closed to within just a few feet during the chase.

He captured the entire incident on his helmet camera. The drone narrowly missed and detonated by the roadside.

Checking to see if they had been hit, the Ukrainian soldiers scrambled to get out of the vehicle. After realizing they had actually survived the attack, a shock in this war where so many haven't, they quickly got back in and sped off, fearing that another Russian drone might be on its way to their location.

The dangerous incident occurred in September in Ukraine's northeastern Sumy region, but the 4th Ranger Regiment, a Ukrainian special operations unit modeled after its US Army counterparts, only published the footage captured from Khyzhak's camera in mid-November.

The footage offers a front-row seat to the style of drone warfare that has been playing out on the battlefield in Ukraine for years. First-person-view (FPV) drones that carry explosive warheads, like the one in this video, are a common way for both sides to deliver cheap and deadly precision strikes on vehicles and personnel.

At the time of the incident, Khyzhak, a small-unit commander in the 4th Ranger Regiment, was traveling back to base with two other operators and their driver after completing a front-line mission.

The Ukrainians were in a buggy, a four-wheel vehicle with no external protection but excellent maneuverability and speed, when the Russian FPV drone suddenly appeared from behind.

The hostile drone was a fiber-optic FPV, meaning that it could not be jammed and disabled with electronic warfare. The best chance soldiers have to defeat these weapons is to shoot them, but even then, it requires precision and a lot of luck. It's a hard shot even when soldiers aren't fighting from the back of a moving vehicle.

Khyzhak said he experienced an "instant adrenaline explosion" and that there was no time to think; all he knew was that they needed to shoot it down.

"I'm looking at the drone, [and the] drone's looking at me. I know it wants to kill me, or just hit me, so I need to do something with that," he recalled. But options were limited. "You can try to shoot it down, and you can try to maneuver, just what our driver did."

The buggy driver saw the drone coming from behind and realized it was moving into position to strike the front of the vehicle. He pumped the brakes a few seconds before the anticipated impact, and it exploded a few feet away.

In the scramble to exit their vehicle, one of the operators broke his leg while jumping out. In the moment, though, they were focused on surviving and then getting out of there before another drone came to kill them. It's not uncommon for more to follow.

Khyzhak said that he "absolutely" credits the buggy driver with saving the crew's lives. In such an exposed vehicle, a direct hit would have almost certainly caused serious damage, as well as injuries or worse, among the operators.

"Our drivers in our battalion — our squad — I think they're big, big professionals, and we are lucky to have them on our side," Khyzhak said. "I trust them absolutely and completely."

Russian and Ukrainian forces continue to use small drones with explosives to deliver strikes on enemy positions, equipment, weaponry, military vehicles, and personnel as uncrewed systems increasingly dominate the conflict.

Drones are estimated to be responsible for destroying around 90% of targets on the battlefield, Lt. Col. Yurii Myronenko, Ukraine's deputy minister of defense for innovation and a former drone unit commander, recently told Business Insider.

• Realtor.com ranked the 10 US cities where home values have increased the most since 2019.
• The company found that the cities are mostly located in the South and Northeast.
• A Tennessee boomtown leads the way, with average home values up $189,865 since 2019.

If you've checked your home's estimated value on a real-estate listing site like Realtor.com or Zillow lately, you may have noticed it dip.

You're not alone. In cities across the country, high mortgage rates and economic uncertainty have cooled buyer demand, slowing price growth and knocking the value of some homes down by thousands of dollars.

However, some cities are doing better than others. Realtor.com has identified 10 metros, mostly located in the South and Northeast, where home values have experienced the largest double-digit gains since 2019.

To find them, Realtor.com looked at the top 100 US metros and calculated the average change in a home's value between October 2019 and October 2025 in each city, then compared that to the average 2019 value to determine the percentage difference.

Here are the 10 cities where home values have climbed the most since 2019, according to Realtor.com.

Business Insider included each city's percentage change in home values and average dollar change since October 2019, as well as the median home sale price as of October 2025 using data from Realtor.com.

10. Chattanooga, Tennessee – Georgia

• Percentage change in home values since 2019: 72.9%
• Average amount of change since October 2019: $149,470
• Median listing price as of October 2025: $399,950

9. Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, North Carolina -South Carolina

• Percentage change in home values since 2019: 73.1%
• Average amount of change since October 2019: $206,597
• Median listing price as of October 2025: $438,348

8. New Haven, Connecticut

• Percentage change in home values since 2019: 73.8%
• Average amount of change since October 2019: $209,131
• Median listing price as of October 2025: $459,500

7. Rochester, New York

• Percentage change in home values since 2019: 75.2%
• Average amount of change since October 2019: $133,699
• Median listing price as of October 2025: $267,950

6. Portland-South Portland, Maine

• Percentage change in home values since 2019: 75.7%
• Average amount of change since October 2019: $289,366
• Median listing price as of October 2025: $599,000

5. Syracuse, New York

• Percentage change in home values since 2019: 77.6%
• Average amount of change since October 2019: $131,816
• Median listing price as of October 2025: $297,450

4. Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania

• Percentage change in home values since 2019: 78.4%
• Average amount of change since October 2019: $89,803
• Median listing price as of October 2025: $262,350

3. Charleston-North Charleston, South Carolina

• Percentage change in home values since 2019: 81.3%
• Average amount of change since October 2019: $311,798
• Median listing price as of October 2025: $499,250

2. Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, Arkansas

• Percentage change in home values since 2019: 84.5%
• Average amount of change since October 2019: $195,153
• Median listing price as of October 2025: $438,486

1. Knoxville, Tennessee

• Percentage change in home values since 2019: 85.9%
• Average amount of change since October 2019: $189,865
• Median listing price as of October 2025: $449,900

• For the past three and a half years, I've been living in a tiny home in the mountains of California.
• I love many things about this lifestyle, like not having clutter or much space to clean.
• However, I miss living near my parents in the Midwest and wish I had more space for my belongings.

I was first drawn to the idea of tiny living after watching "Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things" on Netflix.

As a recovering compulsive collector, the concept of living a simpler, smaller life was very appealing to me. From there, I decided I also wanted to live in a community of tiny homes, where I'd be surrounded by others with some similar ideals.

After a few years of researching and planning, I got a house and moved from Minnesota to a tiny-home community inside a national forest in California.

My home is just 388 square feet, with two lofts (including one with full-size stairs leading up to it), a full bathroom, a kitchen, and a washer and dryer.

It's one of about two dozen others in my community, where people can park the homes they own or rent them from others. My neighbors are wonderful, and I've gotten to know them even more because I got a job nearby.

I've had a great experience living this way for the past three and a half years — even if I may not stay here or in such a small space forever.

This lifestyle has come with great lessons and perks

One of the most important lessons I've learned over the past few years is that less is more.

Having less clutter around me also seems to keep my mind in a way more peaceful state. Fortunately, a small space makes it easy to own fewer things.

When I lived in bigger houses, I would find myself accumulating possessions without even thinking about it. Now that my space is limited, I make every purchase with great intention and consideration.

I prioritize essentials, and if I need new clothing items, I first make room for them by donating garments I no longer wear.

I spend far less time doing household chores now than before I moved in here, too. A significant advantage of a tiny house is that I have less space to clean.

Though I used to let my laundry pile up for weeks at a time, I no longer have the room to do so. Now, I wash my clothes once a week.

For me, home is wherever my house is — and that might be changing in the next few years

My parents are still settled in Minnesota, and I miss them dearly.

My mom has been struggling with her health, and I don't want to leave the responsibility of taking care of our aging parents solely to my sister, who lives much closer.

If I were to move back home, I'm leaning toward bringing my house with me because I'm pretty attached to it and not yet ready to retire from tiny living.

Fortunately, my house is on four wheels. Plus, my parents still have a leveled space on their property where my home used to sit before I moved it.

I'd have to bring the structure back across the country with a long-haul transport company, just as I did to get it to California in the first place.

From there, I'd mostly just have to navigate connecting my home to their electricity, water, and septic systems.

Though I love tiny living, I know it probably won't be forever

At this point in my life, I'm very comfortable in my tiny home, but for a few reasons, I know I won't live this way forever.

Though having less stuff around is definitely a plus, I still miss some of my possessions.

My old bedroom at my parents' house serves as my storage unit, complete with a fairly large collection of artwork and many knickknacks with sentimental value that I currently don't have room to display.

I also have quite a few pieces of wood furniture that I love, but have no space for. I'd be lying if I said my house wouldn't feel like much more of a home if I had room for these things.

I'm also supposed to inherit a piano from my parents, and that's definitely not going to fit in my tiny home.

One day, it'd also be nice to have enough room so I don't have to modify positions during my at-home yoga classes. I also miss having a real closet, as a garment rack just isn't the same.

Additionally, the ceilings in my lofts are 4'7", and I'm 5'7" — bending over to put away laundry or change my bed already takes a toll on my back, which I imagine will only worsen as I age.

Though I'm currently happily single and have been for years, I'd like to leave room in my life, both emotionally and physically, for another person.

Unfortunately, it'd be extremely challenging to share my small space with someone. I could see myself someday living in a house that's just a bit bigger … maybe 600 to 800 square feet would be ideal.

But, for now, the positives of tiny living far outweigh the negatives. I'm grateful for however long I get to experience this lifestyle, whether it's a few more months or another decade.