• SpaceX's satellite internet service, Starlink, is booming as it prepares for a reported $1.5 trillion IPO.
• Starlink internet traffic more than doubled in 2025, according to data from Cloudflare.
• Starlink has launched in a host of new countries this year and hit 8 million customers last month.

SpaceX is reportedly preparing for a monster IPO — and a booming Starlink is a big reason why.

Global web traffic from SpaceX's satellite-based internet service more than doubled in 2025, according to data from Cloudflare, a cybersecurity company that handles tens of millions of requests between users and websites every second.

It's the latest year of explosive traffic growth for Starlink, which uses a constellation of more than 9,000 low-orbit satellites to provide internet connection, including to remote areas.

SpaceX said in November that the service has 8 million active customers, up from 4 million in September 2024, and is now online in over 150 markets.

Around 23 airlines have also announced plans to use Starlink to offer high-speed WiFi on their planes, and SpaceX has signalled it could soon launch its own mobile carrier service powered by the satellite network.

Starlink's growth comes as reports suggest a colossal SpaceX public listing is on the cards. Elon Musk seemed to confirm on Wednesday that the rocket maker is considering an IPO as early as next year, which multiple outlets have reported could see SpaceX valued at around $1.5 trillion.

That would catapult SpaceX into the list of the world's most valuable companies, and potentially put Musk within touching distance of becoming the first-ever trillionaire.

Since its founding by Musk in 2002, SpaceX has successfully commercialized reusable rockets, a feat previously thought impossible by many within the space industry, and now launches more cargo into orbit than any other company.

In the long term, SpaceX aims to fulfill its billionaire founder's ambitious visions of colonizing Mars and putting data centers in space with its giant Starship rocket.

For now, however, the Texas-based company's huge valuation is driven by the success of Starlink, with Musk saying this month that the satellite network was "by far" the largest driver of SpaceX's revenue.

Cloudflare's annual report found that in the more than 20 countries and regions where Starlink launched in 2025, internet traffic from its satellite service surged immediately after the service became available. Cloudflare said that internet traffic grew 295% in Botswana this year, with Starlink launching in the African country in August 2024.

There's no sign of Starlink slowing down, with SpaceX preparing to launch the service in India next year.

There's also little sign of major competition. Rival services, including Amazon's Leo and China's Spacesail, are attempting to build their own constellations, but they have launched fewer satellites than Starlink.

• The Rockefeller tree has been put up every season around Christmas since the 1930s.
• Each year, a tree is selected and driven across state lines to Manhattan's Rockefeller Center.
• The iconic tree has come from Canada, New York, and various states across the Northeast.

Few holiday traditions are as enduring — or as photographed — as the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree.

Since the 1930s, a towering tree has appeared in Midtown Manhattan each winter, drawing crowds from around the world and signaling the unofficial start of the holiday season.

But long before it's lit in front of millions, each Rockefeller tree begins its journey elsewhere, sometimes traveling hundreds of miles to reach its famous perch above Rockefeller Center's skating rink.

Practically every tree since the tradition's inception has been a Norway spruce, though there have been a couple of white spruces and balsam firs over the years.

The tree is selected from candidates across the country, either through people submitting photos of their own trees or through the Rockefeller Center head gardener scouting potential picks in person.

Here's where the Rockefeller tree has come from over the past 100 years — see if your hometown has ever supplied the iconic tree.

1930s: Babylon, New York

Height (1934): 70 feet

1940s: Long Island, New York

Height (1944): 65 feet

1950s: Belvidere, New Jersey

Height (1955): 65 feet

1960s: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Height (1966): 64 feet

1970s: East Montpelier, Vermont

Height (1971): 65 feet

1980: Mahwah, New Jersey

Height: 70 feet

1981: West Danville, Vermont

Height: 65 feet

1982: Mahwah, New Jersey

Height: 70 feet

1983: Valley Cottage, New York

Height: 75 feet

1984: Far Hills, New Jersey

Height: 75 feet

1985: Harveyville, Pennsylvania

Height: 75 feet

1986: Nanuet, New York

Height: 68 feet

1987: Suffern, New York

Height: 75 feet

1988: Raritan Township, New Jersey

Height: 75 feet

1989: Montebello, New York

Height: 70 feet

1990: West Norwalk, Connecticut

Height: 75 feet

1991: Suffern, New York

Height: 65 feet

1992: Stony Point, New York

Height: 65 feet

1993: Nanuet, New York

Height: 85 feet

1994: Ridgefield, Connecticut

Height: 85 feet

1995: Mendham Borough, New Jersey

Height: 75 feet

1996: Armonk, New York

Height: 90 feet

1997: Stony Point, New York

Height: 70 feet

1998: Richfield, Ohio

Height: 75 feet

1999: Killingworth, Connecticut

Height: 100 feet

2000: Buchanan, New York

Height: 80 feet

2001: Wayne, New Jersey

Height: 81 feet

2002: Bloomsbury, New Jersey

Height: 76 feet

2003: Manchester, Connecticut

Height: 79 feet

2004: Suffern, New York

Height: 71 feet

2005: Wayne, New Jersey

Height: 74 feet

2006: Ridgefield, Connecticut

Height: 88 feet

2007: Shelton, Connecticut

Height: 84 feet

2008: Hamilton Township, New Jersey

Height: 72 feet

2009: Easton, Connecticut

Height: 76 feet

2010: Mahopac, New York

Height: 74 feet

2011: Mifflinville, Pennsylvania

Height: 74 feet

2012: Flanders, New Jersey

Height: 80 feet

2013: Shelton, Connecticut

Height: 76 feet

2014: Danville, Pennsylvania

Height: 85 feet

2015: Gardiner, New York

Height: 78 feet

2016: Oneonta, New York

Height: 94 feet

2017: State College, Pennsylvania

Height: 75 feet

2018: Wallkill, New York

Height: 72 feet

2019: Florida, New York

Height: 77 feet

2020: Oneonta, New York

Height: 75 feet

2021: Elkton, Maryland

Height: 79 feet

2022: Queensbury, New York

Height: 82 feet

2023: Vestal, New York

Height: 80 feet

2024: West Stockbridge, Massachusetts

Height: 74 feet

2025: East Greenbush, New York

Height: 75 feet

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

Don't say bah humbug to applying to jobs during the holiday season.

It's easy to feel like a Scrooge about the job market these days. At this point, you might think you'll need a Christmas miracle to get hired in the waning moments of 2025.

But unlike Santa Claus, your chances of getting hired in December are real, writes BI's Sarah E. Needleman.

I don't mean to be a Grinch by telling you to spend your holidays applying for jobs. I get the feeling of wanting to shut it down for the year and give it a go in 2026. After all, it's been a brutal year for job seekers.

But recruiters and hiring managers told Sarah they're not slowing down, so neither should you. In some cases, they need to rush through hirings or risk losing any remaining budget for the year.

Also, what's the alternative? Wait until the New Year? That just means even more competition as people reevaluate their jobs after bonus season. There's also the risk of another wave of layoffs to kick off the new year, which will increase the candidate pool.

So set aside the eggnog for a bit and keep plugging away on those applications. Take it from me, it can happen.

My Business Insider work anniversary? December 10.

Job hunting isn't the only thing you shouldn't hold off on until the New Year.

At the risk of sounding like a cringey LinkedIn influencer, the best time to do something is yesterday; the second-best time is now.

Here are three other things you can check off your to-do list before midnight on December 31:

A new home for the holidays. The holidays can be a great time to go home shopping. In fact, according to one real-estate investor and agent, you could get a better deal. A few days before Christmas is her favorite time to submit an offer because the seller could be distracted or keen to wrap things up before year's end.

Invest then rest. If you're investing for the long haul — which, let's be honest, is the only way you should be investing — the end of the year could be a good time to dive in. Certain investment vehicles, like IRAs, have limits on yearly contributions, meaning you can load up before starting fresh next month.

Silver (dumb)bells. Gyms in January are a mess. Front-run the New Year's resolution crowd and start getting your workouts in now. The last few weeks of December are my favorite: It's mostly empty, and the people there are the gym rats who are always the friendliest. Get a lay of the land before people start doing curls in the squat rack on January 2.

• A JetBlue plane had a close call with a US Air Force plane near Venezuela on Friday.
• The pilot told air traffic controllers he nearly had a midair collision, a recording shows.
• "They don't have their transponder on," he said. "It's outrageous."

A JetBlue pilot said he nearly had a midair collision with a US Air Force plane on Friday.

Flight 1112 was flying from Curaçao to New York. The island country, which is part of the Netherlands, is about 40 miles off the coast of Venezuela.

About 20 minutes after takeoff, the JetBlue pilot contacted Curaçao's air traffic control center.

"We just had traffic pass directly in front of us, within 5 miles, maybe 2 or 3 miles," he said in a recording published by LiveATC.net. He added that it was an Air Force air-to-air refueller.

The JetBlue Airbus A320 was also only about 600 feet below the military aircraft. The pilot said the latter was at 34,000 feet while the JetBlue plane was passing through 33,400 feet and ascending to 35,000 feet.

"So we had to stop our climb and actually just descend to avoid hitting them," the pilot said.

While the distance between the two aircraft gave the plane enough time to maneuver, the pilot was evidently shocked.

"They don't have their transponder on," he said. "It's outrageous."

"I don't have anything on my scope," the controller replied. "You are totally right, sir."

The pilot then asked the controller to make a note of it, adding: "We almost had a midair collision up here."

Transponders are a vital piece of aircraft equipment, as they send signals to air traffic control centers and to other nearby planes.

The Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System, or TCAS, relies on active nearby transponders to warn both aircraft and, if necessary, provide instructions for them to avoid each other.

However, military aircraft may turn off their transponders to remain undetected during sensitive missions.

The US military has launched air strikes against suspected drug traffickers in the Caribbean Sea amid escalating tensions with Venezuela. It has also deployed thousands of troops and the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world's largest aircraft carrier.

On November 21, a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) was put in place until the end of December, warning pilots to "exercise extreme caution" around Curaçao due to the "presence of non-identified aircraft operations."

Later in November, President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social, saying that pilots should consider the airspace around Venezuela "to be closed in its entirety."

US Southern Command, which is responsible for military operations in the area, said in a statement shared with Business Insider: "We are aware of the recent reporting regarding US military aircraft operations in the Caribbean and are currently reviewing the matter."

"Military aircrews are highly trained professionals who operate in accordance with established procedures and applicable airspace requirements," it added. "Safety remains a top priority, and we are working through the appropriate channels to assess the facts surrounding the situation."

JetBlue didn't immediately respond to a request for comment sent by Business Insider outside US working hours.

• New technology is changing the decades-old maintenance work on Air Force refueling aircraft.
• Companies MetroStar and ActionStreamer worked with Air Force technicians to develop IRIS.
• IRIS includes AI-enabled workflow and a live-feed video and audio setup, and it's already speeding up work.

Inside some of the Air Force's oldest refueling aircraft, technicians are crawling through tight, dirty spaces, painstakingly cleaning sealant on fuel tanks and tightening loose rivets.

They climb into the dark, cramped tanks with little more than a flashlight, some tools, and shaky comms. It can be hard to breathe, the air smells like jet fuel, the fixes aren't always clear, and the punishing work can be dangerous if done wrong.

It's a job that hasn't changed much in over 50 years, but new gear, including a live-feed video headset and artificial intelligence-enabled technology, is finally bringing it into the 21st century.

The Integrated Respirator Information System, known as IRIS and developed by MetroStar and ActionStreamer, is speeding up the maintenance process, company officials and Air Force technicians say, and making it safer and more efficient.

Tankers are important logistics assets, what the Air Force calls "silent enablers," that support missions by helping keep fighters and bombers airborne for longer than the onboard fuel tanks can sustain alone. For instance, Operation Midnight Hammer, which saw US stealth bombers strike Iran's nuclear site this year, involved dozens of refueling tankers supporting the strike package.

Although fighter aircraft like the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter or bombers like the B-2 Spirit get the most attention, tankers like the KC-135 Stratotanker are critical to US and allied airpower. For them to be useful, though, they have to be well-maintained.

IRIS began as an idea from two maintainers who noticed the broader potential of ActionStreamer's live-streaming tech — gear originally built for athletes to capture first-person views during games. The Air Force technicians pursued the concept for years, even as they rotated through new assignments and bases.

The Air Force had long believed that tools like this could be a major boost for maintainers. There were early forays into video tech in the 2000s, but the "technology wasn't quite there," Master Sgt. Troy French, a former 100th Maintenance Squadron member, told Business Insider. "An initial phase of this was kind of set up and abandoned because cameras weren't small enough."

Now, though, Air Force maintainers based at Royal Air Force Mildenhall, a central refueling base for the US missions in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, have been testing out IRIS.

"They were, to be honest with you, a little apprehensive to start with," ActionStreamer CEO Bob Lento said, noting it was the first significant change to how technicians have done their jobs in years. But by the end of the first week, attitudes had flipped. "We were taking the cart out of the hangar into a safe area to do some software punch-ups, and they were like, 'Wait a minute, where are you going with that? We need to use that now.'"

A hard, multi-step, high-risk job

On a tanker aircraft like the KC-135, there's a hole just big enough for a person to fit through under the wing. It's the access point for the fuel tanks. "You crawl up there and you contort your body to be able to lie down flat and then put your feet in," French said. Inside, it is a tight space with lots of bumps and edges.

The workers wear heavy protective suits to guard against fuel exposure and keep sweat out of the tanks. They carry a flashlight and breathe through respirators that feed fresh air in from a hose running outside the aircraft.

Outside the aircraft, a support team stands by. One person runs tools to the person inside the tank while another monitors for any hazards or issues.

"If you need something, sometimes you just have to peel the respirator back, like, 'Hey, I need this extra wrench that I forgot,'" French said.

The runner will grab it and bring it to the entry point, screaming into the tank or pulling on the respirator hose to get the technician's attention. "If you're really deep in the tank, then you have to crawl back to get it from them, and you have to wait there for them to bring it, reducing the amount of time you're actually working."

Before a worker enters the aircraft, they'll know what issues they're looking for. A broken rivet, for instance, along with regular fuel tanker maintenance to keep the aircraft operating. But sometimes they adjust a different part in the wrong area of the refueling aircraft or leave a tool inside the tanker.

There's a lot of double-checking the work. Steps like removing sealant, cleaning, and putting adhesion in the tank require approval from other team members. It's inherently an hourslong job made even longer by wait times and communication lags.

And that's if it all runs smoothly. Sometimes, technicians make mistakes, extending the time. "A simple sealant job can turn from a couple of hours of scraping and then eventually reapplying to another day because it turned out that you applied it to the wrong spot," Tech Sgt. Chris Anderson, with the 100th Air Refueling Wing, said. "The way that we did things left a lot of room for error."

A logical fix, Frank said, was something wearable: "a camera with two-way audio would be awesome, and if it had lights, that'd be a second bonus."

A new way of doing an old job

The IRIS technology sits on top of the face mask tanker maintenance workers wear. It features a high-definition video camera, a two-way comms system that goes inside the mask, and a hands-free light. IRIS shows everything the technician is looking at to those outside the fuel tank and allows them to communicate with their team.

It connects to a mobile workstation outside the aircraft. On the cart, which can host up to four IRIS units simultaneously, the support team can see what the technician sees, talk them through the work, and record the footage.

Video records help verify what each shift completed and resolve disputes quickly. For instance, Anderson said that the day shift had cleared a fuel puddle, but the next shift found one and questioned the work. IRIS showed that the first team had done the job, revealing, as French said, " another problem, something's leaking." That prevented unnecessary rework and let them fix the issue.

In the past, a tricky aircraft issue could halt work while the right Air Force experts traveled in to assess it. Now, IRIS can send video to them instantly or launch a group call so everyone can see exactly what the technician sees.

Developers also see AI playing a growing role in streamlining the job. As a technician uses IRIS, an AI agent compiles images and data to make requests, anticipate needed work, and handle forms. That frees technicians from what retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Cedric George called "shallow work," so when their shift ends, "all he or she has to do is button up, clean up, go home."

IRIS is currently in use only at Mildenhall, but early results are promising, as the Air Force considers expanding it to other bases. Technicians using the system haven't had any safety incidents, and inspections are running 60% faster in test environments, according to pilot evaluations and internal logs. Based on KC-135 maintenance baselines, MetroStar estimates IRIS could save 35,000 maintainer hours and add more than 7,000 aircraft availability days.

George attributed the success of IRIS to the technicians who wanted to revamp the decades-old process to make it better for future workers. "This is not for the faint of heart, it's dirty work," he said, saying current technicians who worked on IRIS believe future maintainers "have to have something better than what we have now."

• David Chung is a serial entrepreneur and CEO of multiple beauty brands.
• Farmacy Beauty, which he founded in 2015, was acquired by Procter & Gamble for $350 million.
• He isn't driven by money, and at 66, he can't envision retiring, he says.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with David Chung, owner and chairman of Amare Global. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I couldn't believe there was a banana just sitting on the kitchen table. In Korea, having a banana was a big deal, but when I immigrated to New York City at 12, we had fruit and even M&Ms. Everything was so luxurious.

My mother immigrated to the US in 1963 with less than $100. When she arrived in New York, she started a small, mom-and-pop gift shop. She grew the business through and eventually got her green card. I joined her about eight years later, in the middle of a New York winter. I didn't speak the language, but I felt lucky to be in the US.

I decided to get into cosmetics after watching my mom's business

My mother continued to grow her store, expanding into a drugstore and pharmacy. By the early 2000s, she had a business worth tens of millions.

She was very, very entrepreneurial. Watching her journey inspired me and has carried over even today. I have a lot of her DNA when it comes to business. Now that I'm 66, I'll think, "I'm just like my mother!" It's scary.

My mom's business set the stage for mine. Working in her shop, I saw that beauty products provided a great business opportunity. The products are small, which reduces warehousing and shipping costs. They're consumable, so customers return again and again. And even if the economy is bad, people don't give up on their skin.

I started my first business at 23

I went to college, but I found it difficult to concentrate because I was always thinking about starting my business. Even today, I don't drive much because I get so distracted thinking about running my companies (instead, I use a driver). Eventually, I graduated with a degree in engineering.

Right next to my school, there was a small video rental store. These were the days before Blockbuster. I bought that store when I was 23, and expanded it slowly to sell gifts and cosmetics.

That was my start in business. Other than my mom, I've never worked for anyone else. That meant I had to learn hard lessons about business structure, processes, and systems on my own.

I have more money than I could ever spend, but still love building businesses

Over time, I pivoted from retail to research, design, and manufacturing. In 2018, I sold my shares in one company for $53.7 million. In 2021, I sold my company, Farmacy Beauty, for hundreds of millions (I'm not allowed to share the specific amount). I remember being at my computer on December 31st, watching the funds being deposited into my account. I didn't feel anything. I didn't think "I'm rich now." I didn't even go out to dinner to celebrate.

Entrepreneurship has never been about money for me. It's more about the accomplishment and excitement of building something. I remember the first time I was in a room with people who had more credentials than me. I came up with an idea they hadn't considered. That's the first time I realized that I had a different way of thinking about things.

I have a huge amount of money now — I could never spend it all. And yet, when those funds hit my account, I didn't buy a Rolex or a fancy car. I went out and bought another company to run.

I want to build wealth in order to give back

Recently, I told an employee that I'm going to retire in three years. She laughed and said I told her the same thing 15 years ago.

I don't think I will ever retire fully. God has given me a talent for being business-minded and good at what I'm doing. I want to utilize that as long as I'm able to.

My mother was very passionate about giving back, particularly to the Korean American community. I figure the more money I make, the more I can give back. So, why not use this skill?

• Clory Jackson and her husband pay $20,000 a year on childcare for their two small children.
• Jackson juggles two jobs, budgets, and cuts down on her lifestyle to afford childcare.
• She says the sacrifices and costs are worth it for her kids to receive full-time care.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Clory Jackson, a 41-year-old VP in insurance technology, community organizer, and founder of The Brownsville Project, who lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two young children. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I knew before having children that raising a child was expensive, but I didn't fully understand the monthly cost of childcare.

I juggle two remote jobs, as a VP at an insurance-tech company and founder of a nonprofit, while my husband works as a principal. Our 4-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son are in kindergarten and day care, and we pay $380 a week for full time day care and afterschool care in NYC. That's a little under $20,000 a year on childcare alone.

We've had to make lifestyle changes to manage our costs, but it's worth it for my kids to receive the care and education they need.

I can't provide the care my son needs while working from home

After dropping my husband and kids off at work, school, and day care, I make my way home and work from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. We were fortunate that my son's day care picks my daughter up and watches her after school, so I don't have to pick the kids up until 6 p.m"

Since I work from home and take calls all day, I can't provide the care and education my son needs. I don't want a TV babysitting him all day. He needs active engagement from educators, socialization, time outside, and a routine. I wouldn't be able to fulfill my duties at work, prepare meals, change diapers, and care for him if he stayed at home instead of daycare.

When we get home, we eat, then my husband and I try our best to wrangle the kids into taking a bath, brushing their teeth, and getting to bed. I'll maybe sneak some more work in before getting to bed by 10 p.m. or 11 p.m.

We're lucky to only pay $380 a week for daycare

Our last daycare had a beautiful center with a pedagogy for students, progress reports for infants, and three video updates a day through an app, but we couldn't sustain the cost when I unexpectedly became pregnant with our youngest.

We had just closed on a fixer-upper condo and were in a tight spot. After looking around for options, we found an in-home daycare that was within our budget.

Still, some weeks we couldn't afford the payment, and they've been forgiving and understanding. They've given us gentle reminders or waived it entirely when we were going through a rough patch, like when we had a death in the family.

Our current at-home daycare is less luxurious, but we know our kids are safe and loved, and that's all that matters.

I've made several life changes to manage the cost

While our condo was under renovation, we moved back in with my parents briefly, who live in Maryland, and I had our youngest at WVU Hospital, which was much cheaper than giving birth in New York.

Both my kids used cloth diapers to save a couple of hundred dollars on even the cheapest diapers at Costco. We also shop at discount and bin stores to save money on clothes. I've bargain shopped for pleasure, but now it's out of necessity.

I've also switched up my hair routine to braids instead of my natural hair. I spend less on products and wash my hair once a month, as it requires less frequent upkeep than natural hair care. The self-care standards for me, as a single person, versus me now, married with kids, have undergone a steep decline.

I'm working to provide for my family

In my opinion, childcare is a necessity, even if it's still treated as a luxury by the working world. Every child deserves a good education, and what raising kids has shown me is that you get what you pay for.

I work and try to climb a career ladder because I want to provide for my family. I love my children and husband, and we need to afford and invest in their future. One of those investments right now is childcare.

• Sergey Brin says retiring before COVID left him "spiraling" and pushed him back into Google's AI work.
• He'd planned to "sit in cafés and study physics" in his retirement, but couldn't due to the pandemic.
• Brin admitted Google initially "underinvested" in AI and let rivals get the upper hand.

Sergey Brin tried retirement — and immediately regretted it.

Speaking at Stanford University's School of Engineering centennial celebration last week, the Google cofounder said he stepped back from day-to-day work in December 2019, imagining he'd spend leisurely days and "sit in cafés and study physics."

Then the pandemic hit.

"That didn't work because there were no more cafés," he joked.

Worse, he said he felt himself "spiraling" and "kind of not being sharp" without the intellectual stimulation he'd always relied on.

So as soon as Google began allowing a small number of employees back into its offices, he joined them — eventually diving into what became Gemini, Google's flagship AI model.

"To be able to have that technical creative outlet, I think that's very rewarding," the 52-year-old said. "If I'd stayed retired, I think that would've been a big mistake."

Inside Brin's AI rethink

Brin also offered a candid assessment of Google's AI trajectory.

Despite publishing the 2017 "Transformer" paper that underpins nearly every major AI model today, he said Google "underinvested" in the technology and was "too scared to bring it to people because chatbots say dumb things."

OpenAI, he said, "ran with it, which, good for them."

Still, he said Google retained an edge through its long-standing investment in neural-network research, custom AI chips, and massive data center infrastructure.

"Very few have that scale," he said.

Asked what students should study in an era when AI can code, Brin warned against fleeing technical fields.

"I wouldn't switch to comparative literature because you think AI is good at coding," he said. "The AI is probably even better at comparative literature."

He also shared what he sees as the biggest mistake founders make — one he admits he fell into with Google Glass.

He rushed the product before it was affordable, polished, or even actually ready.

"Everybody thinks they're the next Steve Jobs," he said. "I've definitely made that mistake."

Now deeply involved in Gemini, Brin said the pace of AI development keeps him energized.

"It's absolutely amazing just the rate of innovation," he said. "If you skip the news for a month, you're way behind."

• Cabbage, the cheap, high-fiber leafy green, appears to be having a moment.
• It's popping up on more menus, and Pinterest searches for cabbage-related recipes have spiked.
• Cabbage is packed with nutrients that support gut health and help protect the brain from disease.

After decades of terrible PR (think: WWII boiled cabbage recipes and The Cabbage Soup Diet of the '80s), cabbage — the cheap, high-fiber, low-calorie vegetable — is quietly gaining cultural capital.

A recession indicator? Maybe. But also, likely a result of our obsession with health, longevity, and the gut microbiome.

People are looking for ways to eat more fiber, support their gut health, and eat more plants without blowing their budget, Rob Hobson, a registered nutritionist and author of "The Low Appetite Cookbook," told Business Insider.

"In a world of 'fibre-maxxing' and fermented foods trending on social feeds, it makes perfect sense that cabbage is having a moment," said Hobson, who predicts fiber will overtake protein as the trendiest nutrient next year.

A cheap flavor vessel for chefs

Of course, kimchi, the fermented Korean cabbage dish, has been a staple of cosmopolitan American food culture since at least the 2010s.

But, whether you've noticed it or not, the data shows that interest in cabbage appears to be growing once again. Hispi cabbage (known in the US as sweetheart cabbage) is a mainstay of trendy restaurants across London.

Chefs at some of the city's buzziest kitchens, including Rochelle Canteen, Ottolenghi, and Fallow, told the New York Times of their love for the conical leafy green in August for a story headlined: "London's Sexiest Produce Star Is a Cabbage." It's used in all sorts of cuisines ranging from Sri Lankan to Middle Eastern to British.

It's an "ultimate vessel for flavor," Will Murray, a chef and founder of Fallow, which is known for its steaks and Sunday roast, told the outlet. The current cabbage dish on the restaurant's menu is confit smoked cabbage with miso butter, pickled walnuts, and chestnuts.

Cabbage is making headway on US menus, too. The number of menu items mentioning "cabbage" grew 20.65% year on year between October 2023 and October 2025, led by Mexican restaurants, according to data that Tastewise, a food and drink market research agency, shared with Business Insider. The dataset included 636,366 cabbage menu items across 166,984 restaurants and 8,543 chains, plus 24,023 cabbage items across 5,070 schools.

Online, people are searching for cabbage recipes: From September 2024 to August 2025, Pinterest searches for cabbage dumplings spiked by 110%, searches for glomupki soup, a Polish dish that consists of cabbage and ground beef in a tomato broth, rose by 95%, and cabbage alfredo, a lower-carb version of the pasta dish, was searched for 45% more, according to the platform's 2026 Pinterest Predicts report.

This affordability and versatility make it appealing to today's bold-flavor seeking consumer, Wesley Allan, a consumer insights analyst at Tastewise, told Business Insider.

"Today's consumer is more open to exploring global cuisines than ever. Cabbage's versatility comes in handy, as it can be a part of tacos, rice bowls, noodles, and other culturally relevant dishes," he said.

Cabbage has major health credentials

With 84% of US consumers saying wellness is a "top" or "important" priority in McKinsey & Company's 2025 Future of Wellness survey, "functional" foods are king, and cabbage fits the bill.

Cabbage "punches well above its weight in terms of nutritional value," Hobson said. It's a rich source of fiber, which supports digestion, and provides fuel for the beneficial bacteria in the gut, vitamin C, which helps protect cells from damage, and vitamin K, which plays a key role in bone health and blood clotting," he said. It's also very low in calories, making it appealing for those on a calorie deficit looking to add volume, fiber, and micronutrients to meals.

Dean Sherzai, a neurologist and dementia researcher, previously told Business Insider that eating leafy greens — which includes cabbage — is his number one tip for fending off cognitive decline.

With two servings per day, "you've significantly reduced inflammation, oxidation, glucose dysregulation, and lipid dysregulation," which are hallmarks of many age-related diseases, he said.

Given its low cost, many health credentials, and ability to take on almost any flavor, what's not to love?

"If anything, it feels like cabbage has been waiting for its moment," Hobson said.

• Five Below CEO Winnie Park has been in her current role for one year.
• Once a relatively little-known retail executive, she has led a major turnaround for the discount retailer.
• Analysts trace her impact to a laser focus on retail fundamentals and sharp merchandising.

Christmas, it is often said, is a time for second chances.

So it would seem for Five Below, which is celebrating a transformational year under the leadership of CEO Winnie Park.

The stock is up about 85% this year so far — that's well more than the returns of most major retail stocks and AI chip darling Nvidia in the same period.

To rewind, last year's holiday season wasn't looking like a very joyful one for the tween- and teen-focused retailer.

The Philadelphia-based company was on its way to posting its fourth-straight quarter with negative or flat comparable sales, and that was coming off several prior years of underwhelming performance.

While Five Below was managing to grow overall sales through the addition of new stores, existing stores weren't resonating with shoppers. It was also dealing with industry-wide challenges, including shoplifting and the rise of low-priced e-commerce players like Shein and Temu.

With Five Below's stock languishing around a third of its 2023 peak, the company tapped Park, then-CEO of Forever 21, to take over as CEO in December 2024 during the holiday rush last year.

Betting on Park's 'complete package' of retail experience

"When she came in, she was sort of an unknown quantity," Mizuho retail analyst David Bellinger told Business Insider. "It was a question of how is she going to fix this business immediately."

While Park may not have been the most widely known CEO on Wall Street, she did come equipped with decades of industry experience, including as CEO of Forever 21 and Paper Source, as well as executive roles at Duty Free Shoppers and Levi's, and a stint with McKinsey's retail team.

"Her background allows her to really understand how all of these different aspects of the Five Below business work, because she's drawing on a very rich career," Global Data retail analyst Neil Saunders told Business Insider.

"A lot of people come in sometimes as CEOs, and they don't have a tremendous background in retail, or they may have experience in merchandising, but not in supply chains," he added. "Winnie Park was almost like the complete package."

Five Below did not respond to a request for comment on this story.

Getting the business back to retail fundamentals

Park wasted no time diving in with cofounder and executive chairman Tom Vellios and chief operating officer Ken Bull.

The first order of business was refocusing the merchandise on what Five Below's core teen and tween customers want.

Bellinger said this was a result of Park's major reset with the sourcing teams, guiding them to find hot items and buy with confidence, while steering away from items, like luggage, that were more adult-focused.

"They loaded the store up with 'Lilo and Stitch' merchandise, SpongeBob, Hello Kitty — so when you do have these good, well-known brands, it sort of lifts the whole store," he said.

The merchandising effort was also paired with a social media push that the company says has helped attract new shoppers.

Park's other major area of focus was simplifying store operations for both employees and customers.

With a bit of planning and an incremental investment in labor hours, Five Below says it has improved in-stock rates and customer support at its stores, helping to drive higher sales.

"Winnie Park is the type of leader that has a very clear vision for the business," Saunders said. "She doesn't really overcomplicate things."

Letting some things go can help the business move ahead

In addition to getting Five Below back to some principles it may have lost touch with in recent years, Park is also showing a willingness to let go of at least one thing that may have been holding the company back: its $5 price point.

The last few years of inflation haven't made it easy for retailers with dollar-denominated branding to stick to their original promises. Dollar Tree had to hike its base price to $1.25, and it's tough to run a 99 Cents Only store at a time when the US government is eliminating the penny. President Donald Trump's trade war this year hasn't been much help for import-heavy businesses, either.

To manage these cost pressures, the company lumped more merchandise in a catch-all section of the store called Five Beyond, which it had set up years earlier.

But that distinction brought unnecessary complexity without meaningful benefit, and the company recently ditched the plan in favor of grouping products by category instead of a price threshold.

"It was a very disjointed merchandising set," Bellinger said. "Anything in that price threshold was in the back there."

Now, he said, "the way they've assorted the store and spread these items out makes a lot more sense."

Looking beyond price to focus on value

Bellinger said the move shows that Park understands a critical lesson that successful retailers have had to reckon with in the last few years: value and price are not the same thing.

"You could find value in that $30 item. It's all relative," he said.

Taken together — exciting products, well-run stores, a focus on great value — Five Below is starting to look in some ways more like a warehouse club than a discount store.

"Five Below is essentially the Costco for kids," Bellinger said. "Maybe you want to get some core birthday or party items, and then you wind up expanding your basket and buying all these things you didn't know were there. And then it leads you to your next visit, and you just keep coming back."

The success of the past year will raise the expectations for next year's quarterly comparable sales numbers, but Five Below still has several levers it says it can pull to meet the moment.

Bellinger said investors are keen to see whether the recent changes at Five Below have led to a structural shift that will drive long-term performance.

The average Five Below store generates annual sales of around $2.1 million, but Bellinger said Park's initiatives could significantly boost that number: "Why can't that be a $3 million store now, or even higher?"