• Kim Izaguirre-Merlos says she's never felt like getting married and having kids was right for her.
• Instead, she's felt a pull to be there for her immediate family, especially after her mom got sick.
• She now lives with her mom and family, which is where she feels she's needed.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Kim Izaguirre-Merlos, an ICF Certified Coach and founder of How We Won. It's been edited for length and clarity.

I've been in a caretaking role for most of my life. We lost my dad when I was 11, and my mom had a stroke soon after. As the only girl in a Latino immigrant family, I grew up carrying responsibility early. That early experience of taking care of my family members, coupled with my take-charge personality, has shaped every stage of my life, including my decision not to have children.

I never saw myself on a traditional path

In the town I come from, it's really common to stay here, fall in love, get married, and start a family. But it was never a path I saw for myself, partially because my upbringing had provided me with very strong lessons about what it takes to raise kids. In high school, when everyone was dating, I remember thinking marriage and kids weren't interesting to me.

Then, in my mid-20s, I had a spinal injury that left me learning how to walk again. The chronic pain that followed, combined with severe menstrual issues I'd spent years normalizing, made me unsure whether my body could handle pregnancy and birth. I was already living with so much pain that the idea of adding more felt like too big a sacrifice.

I wanted to live a life where I could be there for my immediate family

I didn't consider motherhood until my mid-30s, when I finally fell in love. For the first time, I considered building a family of my own. But going off to start my own family felt like leaving my family behind in some sense. Then my mom got really sick, and that was the crux moment for me.

I ended my personal relationship, initially telling myself it was because my mom needed me. However, I quickly admitted the truth to myself: Being a mother wasn't what I wanted for myself. I wanted to live a life where I could be there for my immediate family and their needs, especially my mom. While I could have chosen to rise to the occasion and try to carry this double load like many other women do,  I didn't want to.

Looking at the circumstances and being truly honest with myself showed me that becoming a mother wouldn't let me show up at my best in this life. For me, being responsible meant making a different decision from starting a traditional family. It meant caring for my current one.

I live with my family because it's where I'm needed

Later, I learned that my former partner had a child. The amount of relief I felt after learning that told me I had made the right decision for both of us. I knew this person should be a father, and that I couldn't provide that kind of life for him. I'm so glad he has found his path, and that I'm on mine.

It amazes me the capacity women have to care for their children, and there are times when I don't fully feel like I'm meeting the measure of a woman in society. But I watched my mom make sacrifices for us, and while I admire her deeply, I know that I couldn't live that way. Instead, my fulfillment comes from making sure the person who raised me can age with support and love. These days, I live with my mom and family members, not out of financial necessity but because this is where I'm needed and where I feel most fulfilled.

Choosing not to have children isn't always about not wanting them. Sometimes it's about opting for a different kind of family, or protecting your health, or recognizing where you're most needed. While it's easy to judge women who don't have kids, we have no idea what experiences in life led to this moment. Even if we are on different paths in life, my hope is that we can all offer each other compassion in our choices.

• Alphabet's stock surge has made its two cofounders the world's richest people after Elon Musk.
• Larry Page and Sergey Brin have gained a combined $185 billion in wealth this year.
• Alphabet's stock has jumped by over 50% since mid-August on renewed hopes for its AI efforts.

The "Google Guys" are now richer than Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Oracle's Larry Ellison, and Meta's Mark Zuckerberg.

Alphabet's cofounders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, are worth $265 billion and $246 billion each as of Monday's close, per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. They're the second- and third-richest people on the planet, behind only Elon Musk and his $638 billion net worth.

Page and Brin have added $97 billion and $88 billion to their respective fortunes since the start of January, for a joint wealth gain of $185 billion, the rich list shows. Ellison and Nvidia's Jensen Huang trail them by some distance, with wealth increases of $46 billion and $39 billion, respectively.

Page and Brin are worth a combined $511 billion — much more than some of the most valuable S&P 500 companies, including Exxon Mobil, Bank of America, and Netflix. Combined, they remain $127 behind Musk.

The pair have seen a huge swing in their fortunes since late July, when they ranked sixth and seventh on Bloomberg's list with sub-$175 billion net worths, and year-to-date gains of under $5 billion each.

Less than five months later, they're each more than $85 billion richer. That's because Alphabet stock has surged by over 50% since mid-August, from $200 to record highs of over $300 in recent weeks.

Page and Brin each own about 6% of the Alphabet, which has a $3.7 trillion market value and counts Google, YouTube, Waymo, and DeepMind among its subsidiaries.

Warm praise for Google's new AI model, Gemini 3, has reignited investors' hopes that Alphabet can beat out rivals, including OpenAI, to become a dominant force in AI.

Alphabet has also benefited from fading antitrust concerns, a huge deal with Anthropic, and broader buzz around AI companies that has boosted their stock prices and enriched key shareholders such as Page and Brin, even as concerns that the boom is a bubble have grown.

• Without adjusting for inflation, 57 movies released by US studios have grossed $1 billion or more at the box office.
• Using data from Box Office Mojo, we compiled a list of the highest-grossing movies worldwide.
• "Zootopia 2" is the latest film to join the elite club.

Don't let anyone tell you different — Hollywood is powered by box office coin.

For over a century, the movie business has entertained countless people around the globe by creating powerful stories that astound us and make us want to come back for more.

It has led to a collection of titles reaching the rarified $1 billion box office mark during their theatrical run.

This is where Marvel movies, Disney animation, and James Cameron reign supreme.

Here are the movies that have crossed the prized $1 billion.

Kirsten Acuna and Kim Renfro contributed to previous versions of this story.

57. "Jurassic World Dominion" (2022)

Worldwide gross: $1,001,978,080

Poor reviews didn't stop people from seeing the third "Jurassic World" outing.

It took over three months, but "Jurassic World Dominion" crossed $1 billion worldwide. The sequel likely crossed the number thanks, in part, to the original "Jurassic Park" cast returning to the big screen and teaming up with the newer "Jurassic World" cast in this entry.

56. "The Dark Knight" (2008)

Worldwide gross: $1,008,287,756

Back in July of 2008, people began speculating that Christopher Nolan's "Batman Begins" sequel starring Heath Ledger as the Joker might have the box-office power to set a world record.  "There are even whispers starting whether 'Dark Knight' can beat the incredible worldwide numbers posted by the all-time $1.8 billion benchmark of 'Titanic,'" Deadline reported.

At the time, the film broke several box-office records, including highest-grossing opening weekend, highest Friday midnight showings, and highest-opening day record. "TDK" went on to become the highest-grossing movie of 2008.

The film's successful viral marketing campaign and box-office performance really set the bar for what a superhero movie could be. Many consider it a blueprint for the success of superhero movies that came afterwards. Unfortunately, instead of DC catapulting into the stratosphere from here on out, Marvel took the lead, appearing on this list 10 times compared to DC's four.

55. "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" (2012)

Worldwide gross: $1,017,453,991

When Peter Jackson's first "Hobbit" movie crossed the $1 billion mark, it looked like a good indication that the subsequent two sequels would perform equally well, if not better, at the box office.

But neither of the second two "Hobbit" films wound up crossing that box-office landmark. Both "The Desolation of Smaug" and "Battle of the Five Armies" grossed around $960,000,000 each.

54. "Alice In Wonderland" (2010)

Worldwide gross: $1,025,468,216

When Tim Burton's take on the original Disney classic hit $1 billion at the box office in 2010, it was only the sixth ever film to do so. In the years since, more than 20 other films have joined the club — but the sequel to this live-action "Alice In Wonderland" was not among them. 2016's "Alice Through the Looking Glass" grossed over $299 million worldwide. 

53. "Zootopia" (2016)

Worldwide gross: $1,025,521,689

"Zootopia" became a surprise hit for Walt Disney Animation. At the time, it set a record for the biggest animated March opening weekend of all time.

52. "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" (2001)

Worldwide gross: $1,028,496,499

Nineteen years after its initial 2001 release, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" managed to cross the $1 billion mark only after it was given a theatrical re-release in China.

Deadline reported that the movie had grossed $13.6 million over the course of three-days after it was released in theaters with a "remastered 4K 3D" version. It's the second movie in the "Harry Potter" franchise to gross more than $1 billion. 

51. "Finding Dory" (2016)

Worldwide gross: $1,029,266,989

Moviegoers flocked back to theaters in the summer of 2016 for Disney Pixar's "Finding Nemo" sequel. It was the second animated feature of 2016 to pass the $1 billion mark ("Zootopia" is the other).

At the time, the box-office numbers also made "Finding Dory" the fifth highest-grossing animated movie of all time. 

50. "Despicable Me 3" (2017)

Worldwide gross: $1,034,800,131

"Despicable Me 3" was a sleeper hit of 2017. With the return of Gru, Lucy, and of course the Minions, this is the second movie in the franchise to gross over one billion dollars. The introduction of "South Park" co-creator Trey Parker as a new villain was a smart move.

49. "Lilo & Stitch" (2025)

Worldwide gross: $1,038,017,312

Disney's live-action remake genre followed the dud of "Snow White" with this major success.

Along with hitting the billion mark, the movie also broke the Memorial Day opening weekend box office record with $341.7 million worldwide.

48. "Star Wars: Episode 1 — The Phantom Menace" (1999)

Worldwide gross: $1,046,515,409

"The Phantom Menace" was the first "Star Wars" movie to earn $1 billion, thanks to its 3D re-release in theaters 13 years after the original debut. Without that second surge of ticket purchases, the film would have stayed under $1 billion along with the original three movies.

47. "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" (2011)

Worldwide gross: $1,046,721,266

There are four total "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies in the franchise — and two of them have joined the billion-dollar club. "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" sits behind the "Dead Man's Chest" installment of this Disney franchise.

46. "Aladdin" (2019)

Worldwide gross: $1,054,304,000

Like many of the Disney live-action versions of animated classics, "Aladdin" did very well at the box office. "Aladdin" became one of Disney's record-breaking seven movies to hit $1 billion in 2019.

45. "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" (2016)

Worldwide gross: $1,058,684,742

"Rogue One" cemented its place in the "Star Wars" franchise by raking in $1 billion just 39 days after its global release. The spinoff became the fourth and final movie of 2016 to make $1 billion at the box office. All four billion-dollar movies of 2016 were Disney releases.

44. "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" (2006)

Worldwide gross: $1,066,179,747

Back in 2006, when the sequel to Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl" hit theaters, it took just three months for the movie to make $1 billion at the box office. At that time, it was the third ever film to do so.

43. "Toy Story 3" (2010)

Worldwide gross: $1,067,316,101

The third movie in the "Toy Story" franchise crossed the $1 billion mark in 2010 and made Disney history as Pixar's highest-grossing film of all time. The success of "Toy Story 3" helped push a fourth movie into Disney's animated movie plan.

42. "Toy Story 4" (2019)

Worldwide gross: $1,073,841,394

With "Toy Story 4" also crossing this milestone, Disney became the first movie studio to create seven billion-dollar movies in a single year. The movie joined its Disney comrades "Captain Marvel," "Aladdin," "Avengers: Endgame," "The Lion King," "Frozen II," and "The Rise of Skywalker."

CEO Bob Iger recently announced a fifth "Toy Story" movie is in the works.

41. "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" (2019)

Worldwide gross: $1,077,022,372

The ninth episode in the "Star Wars" Skywalker saga, "The Rise of Skywalker," crossed the $1 billion mark on Tuesday, January 14.

As reported by Variety, it took this film 28 days to hit this milestone, while "The Force Awakens" did it in 12 days and "The Last Jedi" managed it in 19 days.

40. "Joker" (2019)

Worldwide gross: $1,078,958,629

This DC comic movie is the first R-rated movie to ever make $1 billion at the box office. Deadline announced the milestone, which came about six weeks after the movie premiered worldwide.

Marvel's "Deadpool" star Ryan Reynolds snarkily congratulated "Joker" on becoming the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time.

39. "The Dark Knight Rises" (2012)

Worldwide gross: $1,085,199,115

Christopher Nolan's follow-up to "The Dark Knight" had became the 13th film in history to reach $1 billion in 2012. This achievement was remarkable, especially given concerns that the movie's success would be dampened after the Aurora theater shooting took place during a midnight screening of the film.

38. "Jurassic Park" (1993)

Worldwide gross: 1,103,096,466

Similar to "The Phantom Menace," a 3D re-release is responsible for putting "Jurassic Park" over the edge and into the $1 billion club. "Jurassic Park" wasn't originally released in China in 1993, according to a report from The Wrap. But the 20th anniversary international re-release included China — and the difference in ticket sales showed.

A few more pandemic re-releases in 2020 and 2022 helped send it up the chart even more.

37. "Transformers: Age of Extinction" (2014)

Worldwide gross: $1,105,261,713

Ah yes, the unstoppable box-office power of the "Transformers" franchise. According to The Wrap, "Age of Extinction" (the fourth movie) was made specifically with international audiences in mind — and it paid off. Almost a third of the total box-office revenue came from China alone.

36. "Skyfall" (2012)

Worldwide gross: $1,108,594,137

At the time of its release, "Skyfall" was Sony's highest-grossing movie worldwide and the first Bond movie to surpass $1 billion at the box office. It became the second highest-grossing film of 2012 (behind "Avengers").

It also helped that Adele recorded a banger of a theme song for the film, which won the Academy Award for best original song.

35. "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" (2011)

Worldwide gross: $1,123,794,079

The third "Transformers" movie was Paramount's first film to reach $1 billion at the box office. Similar to "Age of Extinction," the boost in ticket sales came largely from international movie audiences. This was the last "Transformers" movie which starred Shia LaBeouf. 

34. "Captain Marvel" (2019)

Worldwide gross: $1,131,416,446

And here we begin with the seemingly unstoppable success of Marvel universe movies. Just over three weeks after its release date and record-breaking opening weekend, "Captain Marvel" crossed the billion-dollar mark for global box office sales.

33. "Spider-Man: Far From Home" (2019)

Worldwide gross: $1,132,723,226

The Hollywood Reporter broke the news of this new milestone for the Spider-Man franchise as "Spider-Man: Far From Home" crossed the one-billion mark less than a month after its US premiere on July 2.

32. "Zootopia 2" (2025)

Worldwide gross: $1,136,670,004

Some sequels can get hurt at the box office for coming out so long after the original. Not this Disney title.

Released almost a decade after the first "Zootopia" movie, audiences rushed back to watch Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps go on another case.

After opening with a huge $559.5 million global take, making it the biggest global opening for an animated movie ever, it hit the $1 billion mark in just 17 days, becoming the second 2025 release to hit the billion milestone (the other being Disney's "Lilo & Stitch").

31. "Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" (2003)

Worldwide gross: $1,139,431,705

People came out in droves for the final installment of Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. After only 10 weeks in theaters, "Return of the King" became the second movie ever in history to make $1 billion ("Titanic" was the first in 1997). The film went on to break an Academy Award record by sweeping all 11 categories for which it was nominated. 

The film's 2021 re-release in theaters during the pandemic in nine markets, including China, helped move it a few spots up this list.

30. "Aquaman" (2018)

Worldwide gross: $1,152,028,393

"Aquaman" became the first DC superhero movie to make $1 billion dollars at the box office. The movie was already breaking records in China before it had opened in the US in early December, and clearly it was all up from there.

A sequel is set for December 2023 with Amber Heard reportedly in a pared-down role.

29. "Captain America: Civil War" (2016)

Worldwide gross: $1,155,046,416

"Captain America: Civil War" was a blockbuster hit in 2016, and the first movie of that year to rake in $1 billion. The wild success of Cap's third outing came from it playing more like an Avengers film thanks to a large superhero roster, including Iron Man, and the introduction of Tom Holland's Spider-Man.

28. "Minions" (2015)

Worldwide gross: $1,159,457,503

The 2015 prequel to "Despicable Me" focused only on the overall-wearing Minions the world had come to love. People clearly appreciated the yellow henchman's standalone film, since neither of the two "Despicable Me" movies have breached $1 billion. 

27. "Iron Man 3" (2013)

Worldwide gross: $1,215,577,205

Tony Stark swept away comic fans with the third movie of his trilogy, "Iron Man 3." It only took 23 days in the box office for the film to hit $1 billion. If anyone doubted the power of Robert Downey Jr.'s  success as Iron Man, this movie, which grossed nearly double of the actor's second solo outing as the character, was the final confirmation of his vital role in Marvel's franchise.

26. "The Fate of the Furious" (2017)

Worldwide gross: $1,236,009,236

In April 2017, the eighth movie in "The Fast and the Furious" franchise joined the billion-dollar club.  Clearly Vin Diesel's creative control of these action-packed movies is paying off along with its diverse cast. This is the second movie from the franchise to make more than $1 billion.

25. "Incredibles 2" (2018)

Worldwide gross: $1,243,225,667

Despite the 14-year gap between the first Pixar original movie "The Incredibles" and its sequel, the critically acclaimed "Incredibles 2" created a new record as fastest animated film to gross $1 billion at the box office.

24. "Beauty and the Beast" (2017)

Worldwide gross: $1,266,115,964

Also in April 2017, Walt Disney Studios announced that its live-action remake of "Beauty and the Beast" had officially passed the $1 billion mark for global box-office sales. Its total revenue makes "Beauty and the Beast" the highest-grossing film of 2017.

23. "Frozen" (2013)

Worldwide gross: $1,285,319,131

"Frozen" maintained the top spot for the highest-grossing animated feature of all time until the release of its sequel in 2019. The film joined the billion dollar club in the same week it nabbed two Oscars. 

After its initial release, it became Walt Disney Pictures' third highest-grossing film of all time. According to Deadline, the film earned a profit of over $400 million for Disney.

22. "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom" (2018)

Worldwide gross: $1,310,469,037

The second installment in Universal's rebooted "Jurassic Park" trilogy had an impressive opening weekend and then quickly grossed $1 billion after two weeks. 

21. "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" (2017)

Worldwide gross: $1,334,407,706

"Star Wars: The Last Jedi" crossed the $1 billion mark just three weeks after its release. This second installment in the new franchise made $500 million in its first weekend alone — though "The Force Awakens" still holds the record for biggest "Star Wars" opening weekend of all time with $529 million.

20. "Deadpool & Wolverine" (2024)

Worldwide gross: $1,338,073,645

The team-up no one thought was possible turned out to be a cash cow.

Along with breaking opening weekend records with its over $440 million take, its worldwide total gross makes it the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time.

19. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two" (2011)

Worldwide gross: $1,342,505,340

Following the trend of some other franchises in our top list, the final "Harry Potter" film was the only one of the bunch that raked in $1 billion or more until "Sorcerer's Stone" was given a theatrical release in China.

18. "Black Panther" (2018)

Worldwide gross: $1,349,926,083

"Black Panther" crossed this milestone in just 26 days after breaking the record for best February opening weekend of all time. This movie was the 16th Disney film to gross over one billion dollars. 

17. "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" (2023)

Worldwide gross: $1,360,879,735

Universal Pictures' adaptation of the Nintendo game crossed $1 billion in just 26 days, making it the first film of 2023 to cross the threshold and the studio's seventh-largest film.

"The Super Mario Bros. Movie" is the fifth film released during the pandemic to hit $1 billion theatrically and the first animated movie to do so.

16. "Avengers: Age of Ultron" (2015)

Worldwide gross: $1,405,018,048

"Transformers," "The Dark Knight," and "Pirates of the Caribbean" are three franchises which each have two movies in the billion dollar club — and you can add "The Avengers" to that list.

The 2015 follow-up ensemble movie added James Spader as the terrifying new villain, and (surprising no one) "Age of Ultron" opened in the number one spot around the world.

15. "Barbie" (2023)

Worldwide gross: $1,447,138,421

Greta Gerwig's "Barbie" has been unstoppable in theaters since its release. Not only did the film earn 2023's highest-grossing domestic opening weekend, but it also contributed to the fourth-largest box-office weekend of all time.

When it crossed the billion-dollar mark in 17 days, Gerwig became the first solo female director to have a movie cross that threshold. Every other $1 billion movie directed by a woman has a male codirector.

"Barbie" is now the highest-grossing movie of 2023.

14. "Frozen II" (2019)

Worldwide gross: $1,453,683,476

The highly-anticipated sequel to the highest-grossing animated movie of all time, 2013's "Frozen," easily surpassed the box-office gross of its predecessor. "Frozen II" became Disney's sixth (out of seven total) movies to cross $1 billion in 2019 after 24 days.

A third "Frozen" movie is currently in the works.

13. "Inside Out 2" (2024)

Worldwide gross: $1,698,863,816

After relegating titles like "Luca" and "Turning Red" to direct-to-streaming releases during the pandemic, which led to frustration and low morale within the company, Pixar is back on top.

"Inside Out 2" hit the $1 billion global mark in 19 days, the fastest ever for an animated movie. It's also the only movie released in 2024 that has crossed the $1 billion mark.

We wouldn't be shocked if Pixar is already crafting another sequel for Joy, Anxiety, and all of Riley's other feelings.

12. "Top Gun: Maverick" (2022)

Worldwide gross: $1,495,696,292

The highest-grossing movie of Tom Cruise's career, the sequel to the 1986 film crossed $1 billion in just 31 days.

11. "Furious 7" (2015)

Worldwide gross: $1,515,342,457

"Furious 7" broke records when it raced past the $1 billion box-office mark in just 17 days. As Entertainment Weekly reported "that makes 'Furious' 7 the fastest live-action film to reach that number." But two other 2015 movies (coming later on our list) eventually bumped it to third place.

This was the last "Fast and Furious" movie to include Paul Walker, which some believe helped boost box-office numbers.

10. "Marvel's The Avengers" (2012)

Worldwide gross: $1,520,538,536

The first "Avengers" movie brought together an all-star cast of comic book heroes — and Marvel's efforts were rewarded at the box office. The film passed $1 billion in ticket sales in just 19 days — which means it's tied for third place in the list of fastest grossing movies alongside "Avatar" and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two."

9. "The Lion King" (2019)

Worldwide gross: $1,662,020,819

"Jurassic World" broke all sorts of records. It bumped "Furious 7" out of the number one spot for fastest movie to make $1 billion when it broke the record in only 13 days. At the time it also stunned box-office analysts with the highest-grossing opening weekend of all time, besting "Marvel's The Avengers," with $208.8 million. Worldwide, it opened to over $500 million, making it the first movie to ever crack that number opening weekend. 

That record didn't last long, however.

8. "Jurassic World" (2015)

Worldwide gross: $1,671,537,444

"Jurassic World" broke all sorts of records. It bumped "Furious 7" out of the number one spot for fastest movie to make $1 billion when it broke the record in only 13 days. At the time it also stunned box-office analysts with the highest-grossing opening weekend of all time, besting "Marvel's The Avengers," with $208.8 million. Worldwide, it opened to over $500 million, making it the first movie to ever crack that number opening weekend. 

That record didn't last long, however.

7. "Spider-Man: No Way Home" (2021)

Worldwide gross: $1,921,426,073

Spider-Man broke the pandemic curse. "No Way Home" became the first film since 2019's "The Rise of Skywalker" to cross $1 billion at the box office. The Tom Holland-starring film crossed $1 billion in just 12 days and become the highest-grossing movie of 2021.

According to Forbes, it's only the fifth film to cross $1 billion without a China release. If it ever does open there, it will likely cross $2 billion. 

6. "Avengers: Infinity War" (2018)

Worldwide gross: $2,052,415,039

The third "Avengers" film broke the all-time world record with a $630 million opening weekend, proving the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise is stronger than ever. By mid-June, "Avengers: Infinity War" became only the fourth movie to ever crack the two-billion dollar ceiling as well.

5. "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" (2015)

Worldwide gross: $2,071,310,218

The seventh movie in the "Star Wars" franchise broke the "Jurassic World" records when box-office numbers tallied $1 billion after only 12 days. And it didn't stop there — "The Force Awakens" went on rake in more than $2 billion, solidifying its number four spot on our list and becoming the highest-grossing "Star Wars" movie of all time.

4. "Titanic" (1997)

Worldwide gross: $2,264,812,968

"Titanic" is one of three movies on this list from director James Cameron.

More than two decades later, Cameron's "Titanic" is holding steady as one of the biggest box-office hits of all time. The movie made around $1.8 billion during its initial 1997 release and then topped $2 billion after it was rereleased in 3D in honor of the 100-year anniversary of the iconic ship's sinking.

3. "Avatar: The Way of Water" (2022)

Worldwide gross: $2,343,477,301

Two weeks after its premiere in movie theaters, Cameron's first "Avatar" sequel had already grossed more than $1 billion at the box office, a rare feat during the COVID-19 pandemic.

It then became the second-fastest movie to cross $2 billion in just 39 days.

While discussing the digital release of "Avatar: The Way of Water," out March 28, producer Jon Landau told Insider he and Cameron wondered if the sequel to the 2009 film would reach the number "Titanic" crossed at the box office.

"I was never nervous that people would lose interest because I didn't think they needed to have interest. I thought we were making a new movie," Landau said when asked if he was nervous that audiences may lose interest in an "Avatar" sequel after waiting more than a decade for it.

"I looked at this almost like an original piece of content that happened to be with known characters in a known world, but we were showing them in a new way. So I was nervous about how the movie would do because when you stop being nervous, you stop caring. But I was never worried," Landau added of the movie's strong box-office performance.

2. "Avengers: Endgame" (2019)

Worldwide gross: $2,799,439,100

Marvel's major endcap to its run of 22 comic-book-based films broke the record for the fastest movie to reach $1 billion dollars in international box-office totals.

On the Sunday of its opening weekend, Disney estimated "Avengers: Endgame" had made $1.2 billion within the first five days of its global debut. 

It became the highest-grossing movie of all time until Disney rereleased "Avatar" in China in 2021.

1. "Avatar" (2009)

Worldwide gross: $2,923,710,708

With more than $2.7 billion in box-office revenue, James Cameron's "Avatar" was miles ahead of other films on the list.

Disney's epic Marvel adventure "Avengers: Endgame" knocked it out of the top spot in the summer of 2019.

However, "Avatar" retook the top spot when Disney (which now owns the rights after the Fox acquisition) rereleased the film in China in spring 2021.

• JPMorgan Chase sees rich upside in middle-market investment banking outside of New York City.
• Many of the mid-cap banking team's members, including its head, live and work from regional hubs.
• John Richert, the group's head, explains how he built JPMorgan's mid-cap IB business from scratch.

JPMorgan took a bet to build an investment banking machine outside Wall Street, and it tapped John Richert to do it.

Under Richert's watch, the business that serves founder-run companies with deep ties to their local economies has grown from four people to nearly 300 bankers, collectively generating more than $1 billion annually. After completing their junior analyst years — most often in New York — bankers on his team can relocate to any of the 13 offices the group operates across the country.

It's a model that challenges the traditional idea of investment banking as a strictly New York endeavor. What's far less visible is what it looks like to build and run a franchise in places like Atlanta, Dallas, Chicago, or across the Southeast.

Mid-cap investment banking deals generally fall within the range of roughly $2 billion and below, with the group's sweet spot for deal transaction value of about $500 million to $1.5 billion. Under Richert, who serves as the team's head, coverage sectors have expanded to encompass industrials, consumer retail, healthcare, media and communications, and more.

Wall Street rivals have taken note. Goldman Sachs launched its Cross Markets Group in 2019 to target founder-led and mid-sized companies, and UBS stood up a middle-market effort during the pandemic, dispatching bankers to the same cities where its wealth managers operate. What's more, the pipeline between capital markets teams and wealth advisers is become more intertwined, creating lucrative referral opportunities as founders seek to invest the wealth created from major IB transactions.

Richert spoke to Business Insider from his office in Atlanta about what it's like to build a national investment-banking operation far from New York — and why he's optimistic about where the middle market is headed in the coming year. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

How are you feeling about the mid-cap M&A environment heading into next year?

I think we're pretty optimistic on 2026. We have our highest backlog sell-sides that we've ever had.

We have a lot of private equity funds that need to return capital to their LPs. They need to sell assets. You have a lot of funds that aren't going to be able to raise another fund but have a bunch of portfolio companies that they're going to need to sell. You've got aging baby boomers and founder-owned businesses that children are not wanting to take over the business.

Why does being local matter so much in your business, and how does that shape the way your team is built across the country?

A dinner, bumping into a CEO on a Saturday on the soccer field or at kids' events. Like being in the communities, commercial banking is a local business. You've got to be in front of your clients. I once had a CEO tell me, "The reason we like having you local is we like bumping into you and seeing you in the community. When you come and visit us, you're just paying a visit. You're not flying in from New York."

We don't chase fees or transactions, we chase relationships. Over time, if you do that, when that client decides that he has a transaction he needs you to work on, you've built that relationship over months and years. Local matters in our opinion.

What's the allure of working outside of New York, and how can bankers who do stay plugged in with clients?

I do think that analysts and associates should start out in New York to be in the center and the nexus of where it's happening. But then when you're tired of Manhattan or tired of commuting in from the tri-state area, there's a lot of great places you can work.

Come to New York or LA, the two big concentrations for us. Do your two years there, and then once you get promoted to associate, if you're from the Southeast or the Midwest or Texas or the West Coast, we have these offices you can go work in.

Take us back to the beginning. How did JPMorgan's mid-cap banking group start, and why was it created?

I was at Barclays when I got a call from Doug Petno, now our CEO of JPMorgan's corporate investment bank. The firm asked me to move to Atlanta when we started this business about 12 years ago. Doug's first question was: What's our investment banking market share? And it was a low single digits compared to high single digits for the overall investment bank at JPMorgan. His first question was, 'Why is that?'

I'm originally from Tennessee, so they said, "You're the southerner. Would you like to go to Atlanta?" We started in New York, Dallas, Chicago, and Atlanta.

What challenges did you face as you built the business from the ground up?

We needed to find the right mix of talent who were both highly skilled and, critically, excited to help build something new and enduring in the industry — and that isn't easy. Hiring is a full time job.

We looked for individuals who saw the opportunity to innovate and grow, and who were willing to take a leap of faith with us. This endeavor was and continues to be very entrepreneurial. We are here building something brand new within JPMorgan, which is incredibly exciting but also incredibly hard work.

How is AI changing the work your bankers do today and do you think it will change who gets into banking or affect the number of jobs?

We have an internal LLM that summarizes information and makes us smarter when we talk to clients. Tasks that used to take a day to do, you can now do in an hour using AI.

But we are not doing anywhere near as much as we should be. Drafting S-1s, drafting confidential information memoranda, drafting communications — all of that we should be using AI to create efficiencies for the analysts' and associates' work.

AI will allow us to cover more clients, which requires more people. Nobody likes staying up all night writing an S1. But if you can do an S1 in six or seven hours by using AI and leave the office at 8, that's not eliminating people. It's just making it a better lifestyle business.

What part of running this business keeps you up at night?

My focus is always on ensuring our team is set up for success and that we maintain our drive for excellence.

There are myriad macro factors causing uncertainty across the market, and we are of course monitoring them all closely. Our priority is to stay agile and proactive so we can continue delivering outstanding results for our clients, no matter the environment.

How would you describe your leadership style and the culture you've built?

Lead by example. There's nothing I would ask anybody on my team to do that I have not done or would not do myself.

I tell everyone, 'This is just a job. Family comes first. Treat everyone you meet with respect.'

I'm trying to make this team the best it can be. Everyone from the top to the bottom matters. The MDs can't be successful without the analyst, and the analyst can't be successful without the MDs. Culture is not transferred over Zoom.

It's pretty easy. Just go give good advice to your clients. The rest of it will work out.

• Shari Williams landed a full-time job by creating a dating app website for her target company.
• She marketed her website on LinkedIn, gaining attention from the company's creative director.
• She says her bold approach helped her land the job without extensive experience.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Shari Williams, a 41-year-old social media strategist based in Chicago. It's been edited for length and clarity.

In 2017, my four-month contract at an advertising agency was wrapping up with no word of a job offer or extension. I thought to myself, "I have to do something crazy to catch their attention."

My husband and friends were skeptical when I told them of my plan to create a dating-app style website to pitch myself as "the perfect match" for the company, but something told me it was going to work.

A few weeks later, I posted my website on LinkedIn and even passed out custom candy hearts with the URL to my coworkers. My post gained traction, even catching the attention of the company's creative director, and I was extended a full-time offer.

I learned it's always worth a shot to be bold.

I used my web development background to create the website

I had been working as a web developer for several years when I ended up pregnant and realized it wasn't the career path for me. I transitioned into social media and later went the freelance route, landing the four-month contract job at Burrell Communications to help with a campaign.

The office location was convenient, the people were cool, and the work was fun. I really liked working there and didn't want it to end.

I figured if I created my own website as a way to pitch myself to the company, it could be easily shared online to garner attention and get noticed by the company. My original inspiration was Nina Mulfeh, who was actually featured in Business Insider, for creating a website to land a job at AirBnB. Since I was working in advertising, I wanted to do something creative and attention-grabbing, so I decided to make mine have a dating-app look and feel.

Here's everything I put on my 'dating app' website

It probably took a few weeks to build ShariLovesBurrell.com, but most of that time was spent gathering information and planning out how I wanted it to look. The site had a pink background with hearts — it was one of those sites where content floats as you scroll.

I created a dating "profile" for Burrell and one for me, and wrote things like "I've never felt this way about a company before" and "I think we have something special."

Then I added a few sections including a portfolio of everything I had done at Burrell during my contract period, testimonials from coworkers, and an "about me" section for anyone who just happened to stumble onto the website.

At the end of the page, it said something like "I think we're a perfect match" and there was a Tinder-like graphic of Burrell and me "matching."

Some people liked my idea and others questioned it

I shared my website on LinkedIn and created custom conversation heart candies with my website's URL to pass around the office. If the company didn't come across the website online, they'd see the URL printed on this little package. I'm pretty sure I put those conversation hearts on everyone's desk.

People seemed to think it was super cute and creative, but they also were like, "Why are you doing all this for a job?"

Getting an advertising job is not easy, and there's a lot of competition. I knew it was a place I liked working, so I wanted to give it a shot. I just felt like I didn't have anything to lose. Even if they didn't hire me, my hope was that people would see it, share it, and something could come of it.

My website gained traction, and I got a full-time offer

The creative director at Burrell shared my LinkedIn post about my website with the caption "Shari, we hear you loud and clear," and Burrell later ended up extending me a full-time offer as a social content manager.

I took the job but ultimately didn't stay at the company for much longer. However, having a full-time role on my résumé helped me to land other jobs and escape the "contractor only" trap. Now I work at Northwestern Medicine as a lead social media strategist, and I learned a lot that I use now from my role at Burrell.

I learned to be bold if I want to stand out in the job market

My experience taught me that there are ways to stand out in the job market and compensate for a lack of experience, awards, or big company names on your résumé.

Jobseekers don't need to take my exact approach, but if there's a role you really want, it's worth a shot to be bold and put yourself out there to get noticed. If you're good at something, find a way to let people know.

• Natalie Holloway found her dream career on a burnout recovery trip, but later burned out again.
• She learned to manage burnout through making lifestyle changes and getting a life coach.
• This is the fourth installment of a five-part personal essay series, The Burnout Cure.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Natalie Holloway, a 37-year-old cofounder of Bala, based in Los Angeles. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

The first time I recognized I was experiencing burnout, my husband and I left our advertising jobs and traveled without any set plans. This trip got me out of the nonstop grind mindset I'd functioned in for too long.

I came back to corporate work refreshed and inspired in October 2016. Our company, Bala, was supposed to be a side hustle, creating cute wrist and ankle weights inspired by our travels. We never imagined it would take off the way it did. I went full-time on Bala in 2019, and my husband joined in 2020.

After building the business for five years, we had to lay off our entire team due to the post-COVID-19 fitness industry downturn. I felt immediate burnout knowing the work that was ahead of me, but this time, I couldn't take a year off to recover.

Having experienced burnout in multiple stages of my career, I now understand what it looks like, and I can navigate it effectively with the right tools and tactics.

I fell into advertising and burned out quickly without realizing it

After college, I landed a job in advertising and fell in love with that career path. As my career progressed, I would often stay at the office late into the night and miss 9 p.m. dinner reservations. I felt creatively inspired by what I was doing, but the hours were so long that I began to wonder what the point was.

My husband, whom I had met at work and just started dating, suggested that we quit our jobs to recover and travel, and I said yes. We were both experiencing burnout, and I didn't even realize how bad it was until that moment.

We spent several months saving money and planning before leaving our jobs in March 2016.

We came up with the idea for Bala Bangles on our recovery trip

It was so freeing to leave with no real plan, but also scary. We didn't have jobs, we didn't have an income, and our résumés were not being built. But we did finally have the mental space to slow down, look around, and feel inspired.

One day, we were taking a yoga class in Indonesia, and the class was too easy; we wanted to work up a sweat. After the class, my husband, Max, had the idea for wrist and ankle weights that look like cute bracelets. We decided to try creating them when we returned.

This trip taught me that detachment is what helps the most when I'm feeling burned out, and that's the easiest to achieve through time away from the source of my stress.

We came back and our side hustle became our full-time jobs, but then we had to rebuild again

We got back and both got new jobs in advertising, but started working on Bala on the side. We never thought it would be our full-time jobs, but it started growing.

Once we were carried in stores and had enough orders coming in, we felt we couldn't keep up with both our corporate jobs and Bala. I left my advertising job first, and my husband followed a few months later.

Then the COVID-19 pandemic happened, and the fitness industry experienced a surge in demand. However, after the pandemic, the fitness industry experienced a decline, and we had to lay off our entire staff.

I was pregnant and felt like I didn't have enough stamina to take on the work of 30 people. It was a really demoralizing time, and the burnout hit me immediately because all of our hopes and dreams were on the line.

The second time I experienced burnout, I had to confront my mindset

I was determined not to let burnout destroy my health during my pregnancy. This time, I focused on and learned the value of how I speak to myself.

During my second experience with burnout, I learned that giving myself a mantra helps ground my anxiety. Sometimes it's something like 'I'm calm, present, and have an abundance of time.' Repeating this helps when I'm feeling overwhelmed and burned out.

I can't control when stress creeps in, but I can control how I talk myself through it because my head is my reality, and I'm trying to create a positive one.

When we started rebuilding the business, my husband and I decided that no matter how long it took for the company to recover, we were determined to see it through to the end. We had to prepare for a marathon, not a sprint.

We've started regrowing our team back to its original size.

These small changes have made all the difference

I started working with a life coach, and that's really helped. They're helping me understand what's on my to-do list that aligns with my values, which will give me energy, and what doesn't align with my values, which will deplete my energy.

Although we can't travel to cure burnout as we once did, I now take mini recovery trips, either for a weekend, a week, or a month, when I can. We sometimes visit Joshua Tree as a family to escape from LA, unwind, and mentally reset.

We also spend every July in Lakeside, Ohio. We don't make any plans. It's just our kids and us. We still do some work, but we're able to meaningfully downshift our lives in a way that recharges us.

I always have my mantras going now, and I've learned how to feel comfortable being kind to myself. I realized that burnout is inevitable, but it's about how I handle it. I try to prevent it by reminding myself that I'm working toward the long game.

• Air taxi makers have been vying for regulatory clearance for short commercial flights in the US.
• They're also developing gas-electric hybrid versions in hopes of winning defense contracts.
• They say air taxis could be used for intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, or moving supplies.

US tech companies are hoping soon to gain clearance for flying taxis that make short commercial hops like Manhattan to LaGuardia Airport. Eyeing defense dollars, they're also equipping air taxies for the battlefield.

Air taxis have wings and propellers, allowing them to take off and land like a helicopter and fly like an airplane. You can't yet hail a flying taxi anywhere in the US, though those futuristic flights could be coming in the next couple of years.

Pentagon leaders have shifted their focus to the tech industry, arguing that traditional defense contractors can't deliver new weapons fast or cheaply enough to meet today's fast-changing global threats. The Pentagon has pledged to pour billions of dollars into new technology and has issued requests for information on hybrid, autonomous air taxis, also known as vertical takeoff and landing vehicles, or VTOLs.

Flying-taxi makers including Archer Aviation, Joby Aviation, and Beta Technologies say that gas-electric hybrid vehicles reminiscent of "The Jetsons" could carry military cargo more cheaply and quietly than helicopters. Some of the designs under development for the battlefield incorporate autonomous technology that could detect and avoid threats. The aircraft could be used for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, or moving supplies and equipment, these companies say.

American air-taxi makers are racing to develop cutting-edge technology as Chinese companies like EHang do the same. The VTOL industry is still young, and China hasn't yet cornered the air-taxi market as it has for smaller, aerial combat drones.

"When we can fundamentally go further and faster than a helicopter, then we have a tool that's more powerful than what the Chinese are going to bring to the fight," said Beta's CEO, Kyle Clark.

Commercial air-taxi designs are typically electric. Swapping the electric battery for a hybrid engine will help the aircraft carry more weight and travel farther, a key consideration for the Pentagon, executives from Joby and Beta told Business Insider.

Archer, Joby, and Beta are all developing military VTOLs that can fly autonomously. In Beta's battlefield version, a human must plug in destination coordinates for the aircraft, and artificial intelligence can help it navigate to the destination, said Clark. Configuring the aircraft to operate without a pilot makes it lighter than a commercial air taxi, since it doesn't require seats or the safety and avionics systems that are necessary when transporting people, Clark added.

Clinching coveted contracts from the Pentagon would add air-taxi manufacturers to a growing list of dual-use companies that sell to commercial clients as well as to the government. Joby is collaborating with traditional defense firm L3Harris on a military VTOL and test-flew a prototype in November. Archer is developing one with Anduril Industries for the US, according to Archer's CEO, Adam Goldstein. Anduril is also developing a military VTOL called Omen in a joint venture with Emirati defense giant Edge Group.

Permission to fly

One of the air-taxi makers' biggest hurdles to commercial adoption is securing Federal Aviation Administration certification, though the Trump administration is attempting to make it easier. In September, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced an FAA program that permits VTOL companies to test-fly piloted and unmanned aircraft before receiving federal certification.

Joby is leading the pack in the certification race, having cleared four of the five stages for commercial clearance. Archer and Joby hope to fly commercially as early as 2026.

For defense adoption in the US, the companies would need the Defense Department to deem their VTOLs ready to fly, Goldstein said.

Taylor Rains contributed to this story.

• Adtech company Fluency automates the process by which agencies and brands run digital ads.
• It provides a streamlined workflow to manage campaigns across Meta, Google, TikTok, and more.
• The startup just raised a $40 million Series A investment, led by Integrity Growth Partners.

Adtech company Fluency has built a platform that helps brands and agencies automate their campaigns across Meta, TikTok, Google, and other platforms. Now, it aims to introduce AI agents to the mix.

Large brands and agencies typically manage campaigns across multiple platforms and ad buying tools, known as demand-side platforms, each with separate logins and interfaces.

Founded in 2017 in Burlington, Vermont, Fluency created what it describes as a digital advertising operating system. It connects to the various platforms' application programming interfaces (APIs) and lets its customers manage their digital ads using a single workflow.

"It takes a lot of people, and hours, and button clicking to be able to effectively execute your advertising," Fluency CEO Mike Lane said in an interview with Business Insider.

He added that Fluency wanted to "help simplify and streamline that, much like HubSpot or Salesforce" did in the customer relationship management (CRM) space. Fluency's competitor set includes other campaign management and ad automation tools, such as Hootsuite, Smartly, and Sprinklr, though these companies tend to cater to larger advertisers and agencies.

The company said it manages around $3 billion in annual ad spend for brands and agencies, including Cox Automotive, Innocean, and The Johnson Group.

Fluency is set to announce on Tuesday that it has raised a $40 million Series A investment round, led and fully funded by Integrity Growth Partners.

Fluency said it plans to invest the funds in enhancing its agentic AI capabilities, which can autonomously oversee marketers' digital ad campaigns. This could mean AI agents automatically swapping out ad creatives or copy with better-performing versions, for example.

Fluency mostly uses Amazon's Bedrock generative AI models, as well as Anthropic's Claude and Google's Gemini, the company said.

Lane said that for agentic AI to work effectively for a marketer's digital advertising, the AI needs robust frameworks and structures to operate within, connections to all major media platforms, and for everything to be integrated into a single system.

He said these factors make Fluency well-positioned to be "the premium platform for agentic" AI in the digital ads space.

Check out the pitch deck Fluency used to secure its $40 million Series A investment, shared exclusively with Business Insider. Some of the slides have been omitted or redacted.

Fluency describes itself as the 'digital advertising operating system.'

Its platform uses artificial intelligence to help agencies and brands manage digital ads.

Fluency says it manages around $3 billion in annual ad spend.

Fluency says it's well-positioned in the digital ad market.

Fluency says marketer budgets are shifting from analog to digital. There's also a proliferation of new channels, although spending is concentrated among the major platforms, such as Google and Meta.

Complexity creates challenges for marketers.

Fluency says marketers often use "point solutions" that don't interact with each other, which can also bring in issues around compliance and performance.

Fluency further outlines the challenges.

Fluency says ad strategists often have to cobble together several different tech solutions to handle tasks like targeting or reviewing campaign performance.

Fluency explains how it addresses the challenges.

Fluency's platform aims to address these concerns as a kind of "one-stop shop" across various channels.

Fluency says its platform makes marketers' digital advertising more efficient.

Its founding team built an in-house adtech solution for their first company, Dealer.com.

Dealer.com was acquired by Dealertrack Technologies in 2014 for approximately $1 billion.

Fluency lists some of its key attributes.

Those attributes include a blue-chip client base and high customer-retention rates.

Fluency outlines the size of the digital ad market.

Global ad spend is expected to cross $1 trillion in 2027, according to the consulting firm Winterberry Group.

Brands are shifting more of their digital advertising in-house.

Fluency describes the evolving agency landscape.

There's been a shift in budgets from big agency holding companies to independent agencies, though smaller firms have constrained resources, Fluency says.

Fluency outlines the market opportunity.

Fluency says its "serviceable addressable market" is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 11%, reaching $6.4 billion by 2028.

This slide compares Fluency to other adtech.

Fluency says its platform serves agencies and brands better than agency-developed tech, in-house channel management, legacy omni-channel tools, and point solutions.

Fluency describes how its operating system connects.

The slide showcases how the Fluency platform integrates a marketer's own data, big media platforms, and DSPs using AI automation to manage campaigns and assess their performance.

Fluency says its platform delivers returns for clients.

Fluency says its tools can save customers time, improve ad performance, and boost their revenue.

• Shiloh Luckey founded a tax-compliance startup and has a popular TikTok channel where she gives financial advice.
• She raised a $5.5 million seed round led by Craft Ventures, the VC cofounded by investor and White House advisor David Sacks.
• Luckey is under federal criminal investigation for alleged fraud and is also being investigated by the SEC.

Shiloh Luckey, founder and former CEO of ComplYant, a Los-Angeles-based tax-compliance startup that raised more than $13 million from top venture capitalists, is under federal criminal investigation for alleged securities and bank fraud, according to court filings.

In a civil complaint, the SEC has charged Luckey with violating securities laws for using millions of dollars of company funds to pay for her home, Super Bowl tickets, and a destination wedding in the Caribbean. The SEC alleges she painted a rosy picture of the company's booming revenue when ComplYant never brought in more than $620 in monthly revenue.

Reached by telephone, Luckey said, "I don't have anything to offer you," and hung up.

Startups face far less regulatory scrutiny than public companies, and founders sometimes present overly optimistic growth stories while VCs rush to fund hot companies with limited diligence. After high-profile scandals like Theranos and FTX, regulators have taken a tougher line.

"Startup founders cannot fake it until they make it by falsifying revenue metrics," SEC regional director Monique Winkler warned in a statement. Recent cases, including the seven-year prison sentence for Charlie Javice and fraud charges against Mozaic Payments' former CEO Marcus Cobb, show that regulators are increasingly willing to pursue criminal and civil penalties for these founders.

Luckey, who formerly went by Shiloh Johnson, founded ComplYant in 2019 to help small businesses navigate the labyrinth of tax regulations from state to state. In 2022, the company closed a $5.5 million seed round led by Craft Ventures, the San Francisco venture firm cofounded by the investor and White House advisor David Sacks.

A spokeswoman for Craft did not respond to a request for comment. The FBI and SEC declined to comment.

Luckey hired more than 50 employees, and when ComplYant abruptly shut down last year, she severed contact with them. It took seven weeks for all employees to get their final paychecks and some discovered 401(k) contributions were missing, as Business Insider previously reported. Luckey was informed in April of this year that she was under federal criminal investigation by the FBI and the United States Attorney's Office for securities and bank fraud, according to a recent petition she filed to pause the civil case against her.

In that case, filed in October, the SEC alleges Luckey routinely misled investors.

"Luckey painted a rosy picture for investors of ComplYant's business performance, allegedly telling investors that ComplYant's monthly revenues had grown from around $2,500 in November 2020 to over $250,000 by September 2022, and that the company was bringing in dozens if not hundreds of new paying subscribers each month," the SEC said in a statement. "However, ComplYant only generated on average monthly revenues of about $250 during roughly the same time period and averaged fewer than four new subscribers each month."

Luckey also represented herself as a CPA, but there is no record of her ever having the accreditation, according to the complaint.

The SEC says she allegedly siphoned off $2.2 million for trips to Aspen, Miami Beach, Turks and Caicos, and Lisbon, and used the funds to pay for her Caribbean wedding, her car, and house.

Luckey, who is representing herself in court, has not responded to the SEC allegations.

Since ComplYant shut down last year, Luckey has continued to post instructional videos with advice for taxes and accounting on her TikTok channel with nearly 24,000 subscribers.

In October, records show, she launched a new startup called HabitLoop, which she describes as a digital financial assistant to help people manage their money.

"I grew up with very poor financial habits," Luckey said in a video introducing her latest company as inspired by a lifetime of spending beyond her means.

"This is something I built on hard lessons," she said.

• Howard Marks warned that the AI hype is fueling risky "moonshot" bets on startups with no profits.
• He says most AI newcomers will fail — and prefers tech giants that can absorb the shift.
• The Oaktree Capital cofounder added that new tech rarely guarantees profits for investors.

Legendary investor Howard Marks has seen enough manias to know when a bubble is brewing.

On the "We Study Billionaires" podcast last Saturday, the billionaire and cofounder of Oaktree Capital Management said he is alarmed by how many investors are piling into speculative startups in hopes of landing the next trillion-dollar winner.

"Do you want to have a novel entrepreneurial startup pure play which has no revenues and no profits today, but could be a moonshot if it works?" he asked.

"Or do you want to invest in a great tech company, which is already existing and making a lot of money where AI could be incremental but not life-changing? It's a choice."

Too many investors, he said, are treating AI like a lottery where the slim chance of a jackpot overshadows the far greater likelihood of failure.

"People say, 'Well, they have a low probability of success, but maybe a big payoff, so I should buy it.' That's what I call lottery-ticket mentality," he said.

A familiar bubble pattern

Marks has been sounding this warning for months.

In a 2023 conversation with financial historian Edward Chancellor on Oaktree's "Behind the Memo" series, he put it bluntly: "AI will change the world," he said, predicting that most of the companies that people are investing in today for AI purposes "will end up worthless."

On the "We Study Billionaires" podcast, Marks said he sees echoes of the dot-com era: a groundbreaking technology, sky-high expectations, and a growing assumption that early movers will inevitably dominate.

"Most bubbles are around something new," he said, pointing to the growth-stock boom of 1969, the subprime-mortgage mania of 2006, the dot-com bubble in 1999, the 1720 South Sea Bubble, and even the Tulip Craze of 1636 in the Netherlands.

Such moments, he added, arise because "the imagination is untrammelled, and it can go off in a flight of fancy."

In reality, he said, most early-stage companies don't survive the transition from promise to profitability.

"On the AI, I'm led to believe that you can make binary bets in companies that have nothing else going on, which will be sink-or-swim bets, or you can invest in pre-existing great tech companies, which will get moderate benefits from AI if they're successful."

Why Marks prefers tech giants over AI pure plays

Rather than gamble on moonshots, Marks said he'd rather own stocks in established tech titans that are already generating profits — companies that can integrate AI as an incremental advantage rather than a life-or-death proposition.

He contrasted those firms with the fragile AI startups drawing hype, saying that Big Tech is positioned to reap some benefits from AI, even if the technology rolls out more slowly or unevenly than hoped.

But a breakthrough in productivity doesn't automatically translate into investment gains.

"Change the world and investors making money are not the same thing."

Marks echoed a warning Warren Buffett issued at Berkshire Hathaway's 2000 annual meeting, when Buffett warned that the internet stock mania had detached valuations from underlying profit potential — a mistake he believes investors are repeating with AI.

"I think the same is true of AI," he said.