White House dinner with the Saudi royal family on Tuesday.
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images
President Donald Trump hosted a White House dinner for the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
The dinner was attended by nearly 50 American CEOs and executives from different industries.
The guest list included Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Apple CEO Tim Cook, and Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff.
Business leaders, including Elon Musk and AMD CEO Lisa Su, joined a dinner with President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House on Tuesday.
The guest list, shared by the White House, included members of the Saudi government and royal family, as well as almost 50 US business executives. Soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo also attended.
The dinner was the Tesla CEO's first public visit to the White House since his bitter feud with Trump this summer, following Musk's departure from his role as leader of the White House DOGE Office.
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison, and Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev were on the guest list, but it is unclear if they attended the event.
Here is a list of US executives who attended the high-profile dinner.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk
Elon Musk attended the White House dinner.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
Elon Musk made a rare public appearance at the White House since his falling-out with Trump earlier this year, after stepping down as the informal head of the White House DOGE Office.
The world's richest man and head of Tesla, SpaceX, and X, Musk exerts significant influence in technology, energy, and artificial intelligence — industries central to both the US and Saudi economic ambitions.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang
Jensen Huang appeared in one of David Sacks' photos of the evening.
Yui Mok – Pool/Getty Images
Nvidia chief Jensen Huang attended the White House dinner as one of the most influential figures in artificial intelligence and chipmaking.
Nvidia's CEO's presence underscored the pivotal role of advanced computing in US-Saudi economic relations and the global competition to dominate AI technology.
Apple CEO Tim Cook
The Apple CEO was among the business leaders seen at the White House dinner.
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Apple chief Tim Cook joined the White House dinner as one of the most powerful figures in global business, representing a tech giant that shapes everything from consumer tech to privacy standards.
His appearance highlighted Apple's pivotal role in US innovation — and its importance to any conversation about the future of tech and trade.
AMD CEO Lisa Su
The AMD CEO also joined the dinner.
Brendan Smialowski / AFP
AMD's Lisa Su was among the high-profile executives at the White House dinner, bringing the perspective of one of the world's top chipmakers.
As the leader driving fierce competition in semiconductors — a sector vital to both AI development and global supply chains — Su's inclusion signaled the critical importance of her industry to US strategy.
Late on Wednesday evening, Su shared photos from the dinner, including one of her sitting with Ronaldo.
Billionaire investor Bill Ackman attended the White House dinner as one of Wall Street's most outspoken figures.
Known for his bold market bets and influence in finance and policy circles, Ackman's presence reflected the growing alignment between political power and the capital shaping global markets.
President of OpenAI Greg Brockman
OpenAI's president, Greg Brockman, was at the dinner.
Errich Petersen/Getty Images for SXSW
OpenAI president Greg Brockman joined the White House dinner as a key architect behind the modern AI revolution.
His invitation underscored the growing importance of artificial intelligence in diplomacy and economic strategy, with OpenAI's technology now at the center of global debates about innovation and regulation.
David Sacks posted a selfie from the dinner on X on Tuesday and said, "Great night!
Jeff Swensen/Getty Images
Venture capitalist and White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks was among the attendees at the dinner, reflecting his growing influence at the intersection of tech, politics, and finance.
As both an early investor in major startups and the chair of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, Sacks embodies the blend of innovation and policymaking that defined the evening's guest list.
In December, Trump appointed Sacks as White House's AI and crypto czar, guiding the government on policy and regulation around the digital asset industry.
Coinbase's chief, Brian Armstrong, attended the White House dinner as the leading voice in America's cryptocurrency industry.
His presence showed the increasing importance of digital assets in global finance and the White House's commitment to engaging with fintech leaders who are shaping the future of money.
My family moved from Texas to Tanzania a decade ago, and it wasn't easy.
We learned to ask for help and not to rush the language barrier.
Now that we're moving to Portugal, we have tools in our belt to make the transition easier.
My family and I had been in Tanzania for two days and found ourselves in Zanzibar. We had just moved from Texas and came to the beautiful archipelago for language learning. Quickly, we realized that we had no idea what it would be like to adapt to a new culture.
It was Ramadan, and in Zanzibar — outside the tourist area — this meant closed restaurants, shuttered groceries, and recommendations to refrain from even drinking water in public until after dark. The cultural norms, so normal for our hosts and neighbors, were way out of our comfort zone and, unfortunately, our realm of understanding.
Still, my family of four made it our mission to connect with our Tanzanian neighbors. Once we settled in Dar es Salaam, we began the real work of adapting to a new culture as an American family. It took us 11 years.
Recently, a new opportunity in Portugal opened up. The process of grieving our home in Tanzania is still ongoing, but we have hope that our move to Portugal will be guided by the lessons we've learned over the last decade.
Here are three lessons that will help us as we make our second international move — with our now family of six.
1. Ask questions and ask for help
When we first moved to Tanzania, we reached out to people to ask questions about lifestyle, home, and community. It still wasn't enough. This time we will be asking even more.
We have already connected with Portuguese and expat friends. We found others who had lived in Tanzania before, as well as a Portuguese real estate agent. My partner has an "auntie" in Portugal, whom she knows through her grandmother, and now this auntie has become our local host as we navigate the newness of Lisbon.
These are the "first people" everyone needs to settle into a new country, helping to navigate everything from turning the lights on in the apartment to the "real" places to shop for ceramics.
We will lean on them before we branch out to build an even stronger community.
2. Learn the language at our own pace
When we first moved to Tanzania, my partner and I felt pressure to become fluent in the language as quickly as possible.
We did fairly well, but we could have enjoyed those first years even more if we were more relaxed about the learning process. Others fall at the other end of the spectrum and don't try to learn the language at all.
In Portugal, I'd like our family to land somewhere in the middle — eagerly learning Portuguese and cultural norms for the sake of knowing others more fully and navigating daily situations, but without pressure to reach a certain level.
Learning language and culture is a process, and everyone goes at their own pace. I found that locals know you are trying, and usually, friendly people will help you along the way.
3. Find the bright spots in the stress
During our time in Tanzania, we tried to discover the "bright spots" about where we lived. It was easy to complain about the things that are different or difficult, so we're going to put in real work to find places of refuge and activities in Portugal.
These aren't a "fix" for the challenges of adapting to and learning a new culture, but they can be places or bits of fun that provide stress relief.
For Portugal, we have already identified some of these places and activities, but we're open to finding more once we officially make the move.
Moving to Portugal will be an adjustment, but we're excited
This time around, we feel more prepared for our transition to Portugal than we ever did when we first moved to Tanzania. We are now a family of 6, but having a bigger family doesn't mean extra worry. We are all well-equipped with emotional toolboxes to help us navigate our new normal. Not to mention we have each other if times get tough.
Beyond knowing what to take with us to provide a little bit of comfort and familiarity, we also know that our accumulated knowledge and understanding about how to adapt to a new cultural environment will help us to adjust quickly.
We look forward to new adventures, relationships, and opportunities to grow as we begin our next chapter in Lisbon.
I tried to avoid looking like a tourist in Scotland, but I made some mistakes along the way.
Amanda Shammas
On my first trip to Scotland, I made some mistakes that caused me to feel like a total tourist.
Despite having five days to explore the country, I never tried traditional Scottish food.
I had no local currency with me and ended up in situations where having it would've been helpful.
Between hiking in a trench coat and only carrying US dollars, I probably looked like the ultimate tourist on my recent trip to Scotland.
As someone who frequently travels to the UK, I thought I'd be prepared for my first trip to Edinburgh.
However, I ran into a few awkward moments, including packing missteps, planning errors, and a few surprises along the way.
Here are seven mistakes that made me feel like a total tourist.
I didn't pack the right outfits for Scotland's diverse terrain.
Amanda Shammas
When I started planning what clothing to pack for this trip, my mind immediately went to all the outfits I'd saved on Pinterest — things like trench coats, boots, tights, and sweaters.
However, none of that accounted for the amount of walking I had to do in Scotland, or the variety of terrain I encountered.
For example, when I plugged in a destination on Google Maps, I would see warnings like "steps ahead" or "steep elevation change." As I followed these walking routes, I had to navigate hidden staircases in alleyways, steep hills, and forest paths.
So, there I was, trying to make my Instagram-worthy outfits work through rugged, muddy trails, while locals breezed by in leggings, windbreakers, and sneakers.
Next time, I'd definitely pack some athleisure and a good pair of walking shoes.
Despite having five days to explore the country, I missed out on trying traditional Scottish food.
Amanda Shammas
On the plane ride home, I found myself thinking back on the trip and all the fun I had. And then it hit me — I never even tried traditional Scottish food.
During my travels, I tried lots of other types of restaurants, from Italian to Indian. Somehow, though, I never made it to a proper Scottish place.
Everything I ate was still incredible, but looking back, I can't help but feel like I missed out. I made it all the way to Scotland and didn't try black pudding, meat pies, or haggis.
It feels a little silly that I was in the heart of it all and somehow skipped over one of the most iconic parts of the culture.
Following social media recommendations without further research threw off my schedule.
Amanda Shammas
Before the trip, my friends and I researched tons of places to visit. I kept seeing TikTok videos of a farm just outside Edinburgh with Highland cows.
Every video started the same way. Someone would walk into the farm, and bam — there were the cows right in front of them. I didn't think to look into it any further.
When we arrived, we asked a group of people which direction the cows were. They pointed to the very top of an incredibly steep mountain and said, "up there."
It turns out, the online videos had left out the part where visitors had to hike for an hour up a grueling incline to see the cows.
Once again, I found myself hiking up a mountain in my full trench coat and styled hair, passing people who were decked out in hiking boots and gear. I don't think I have ever screamed "tourist" more.
By the time we got to the top, we'd also completely thrown off our schedule for the day, ending up sweaty, disheveled, and smelling like the farm, rushing to a dinner reservation.
The experience was incredibly cool, and I'll never forget seeing the cows up close. But next time, I'll definitely do more research in advance.
I thought I could explore Edinburgh Castle without a guide, but I ended up feeling lost on my own.
Amanda Shammas
In my opinion, the iconic Edinburgh Castle is a must-see when visiting Scotland.
After we purchased our tickets, the website offered an option to add an audio tour to listen to while walking around the grounds. However, my friends and I decided not to purchase it.
Without the audio guide, though, it was hard to make sense of everything, and we ended up wandering about aimlessly, hoping we didn't miss anything too important.
We did our best, but I'm sure there were some cool things we completely overlooked, simply because we didn't know they existed.
Looking back, it would’ve been worth it to add on the audio tour and save ourselves the confusion, especially because it only cost a couple of extra pounds.
It would’ve been helpful to have local currency on me instead of relying on credit cards.
Amanda Shammas
I don't always take out local currency before I travel because it can feel like a hassle. So, on my last few trips to the UK, I relied on my cards.
However, this time around, I ran into a few situations where having pounds on hand would've been really helpful.
For example, we visited a pub that didn't accept my type of credit card, so my friend had to cover the cost for me. Plus, there were moments when I wanted to tip impressive street performers, but I only had US dollars.
Next time, I'll definitely pull out money before I go. It's helpful for emergencies or those little moments when cards won't suffice.
I took rideshares everywhere, which was convenient — but also costly and limiting.
Amanda Shammas
As an American, the idea of driving on the opposite side of the road always freaked me out. It sounded like one of those things I'd never, ever attempt. However, when it came down to it, we had to find a way to get around, so we opted for Uber.
We Ubered everywhere — restaurants, pubs, farms, and even castles. I hadn't realized how much we stuck out until a guy at a pub casually joked, "Americans Uber everywhere instead of walking."
It was definitely the easiest option, but also pretty costly. And honestly, it didn't give us the same freedom renting a car would've.
Looking back, I wish I'd faced my fear and tried renting a car. It would've opened up more possibilities to explore beyond the city and the ability to come and go wherever we pleased.
Only exploring Edinburgh made me feel like I missed out on all the other places Scotland has to offer.
Amanda Shammas
There is no doubt that Edinburgh was absolutely stunning. However, I felt like we only scratched the surface of what Scotland has to offer.
There's so much more I would like to see, like Glasgow, the Highlands, or the gorgeous landscapes on the Isle of Skye.
I think three to four days in Edinburgh could've been just enough to soak in the city's charm. However, with a bit of extra time to hop on a bus or take a day trip somewhere else, we could've gotten a much more complete feel for the country.
The author (not pictured) recently rebuilt her professional career and has a preschooler, tween, and teen.
ljubaphoto/Getty Images
I was a stay-at-home parent for 12 years, and after my divorce, I reentered the workforce.
I have my three kids half-time, and juggling parenting and rebuilding my professional life is tough.
It's forced me to rethink my relationship with work and how I see success.
After 12 years as a stay-at-home parent, my divorce forced a reckoning: I had to learn how to support myself and rebuild a professional life from scratch. I had become pregnant with my first child in my early 20s before I'd established a full-time, steady career, and after years out of traditional paid work, I struggled to see the value in what I had done. Questions about what I "do for a living" began to feel haunting.
Before, my days were structured around the rhythms of the household and the endless invisible labor that made life feel seamless for everyone else. Now, I have my three kids — a teen, a tween, and a preschooler — half-time, and the precarious balancing act during this life transition is exhausting.
The mosaic career I've been able to piece together is a patchwork of projects, day job shifts, and side hustles. I write and edit essays in the spaces between hockey practices and dance rehearsals, research podcast guests from the laundromat at 9 p.m., and chase creative ideas that might grow into income streams as I try to fall asleep, furiously typing into my notes app, hoping none of my kids wake up in the middle of the night vomiting.
This time period has reframed how I think about work
And I'm far from alone. Across the US, millions of workers are piecing together multiple income streams, whether through gig work, freelancing, or side projects, to make ends meet and pursue meaningful work on their own terms. Between 25% and 43% of US workers have taken on some form of gig or nonstandard work. And about one in 10 people rely on freelancing, temporary, or contract work as their main source of income.
Knowing so many others are navigating work this way helped me reframe my own interrupted career ambitions. Every day, I make an effort to shift my perspective and view a nontraditional trajectory not as a setback, but as part of a larger shift in how people, especially mothers, manage work, ambition, and income.
Somewhere in the midst of this rethinking, I came across Neha Ruch's book, "The Power Pause," which helped me find the words for what I'd been feeling: time spent outside the workforce doesn't silence ambition, it just changes its rhythm. Still, reclaiming my professional identity and laying the foundation for financial independence meant facing another truth: the work I'd done as a stay-at-home parent had been largely invisible and undervalued.
I started reaching out to other moms who had made the transition from staying at home to working outside the home, asking how they thought about their time at home in hindsight and what strategies had helped them balance their careers and families. I read books, watched Instagram Reels, joined online communities, and listened to podcasts. In the end, shifting how I thought about work meant seeing my own experience as a resource, not a liability, in the life I was building.
I'm also rethinking what success looks like
This untangling and restructuring process in my late 30s hasn't been tidy. Most days, I feel a mix of doubt, exhaustion, and guilt. But the work feels meaningful because it's mine, shaped on my terms.
I used to think success was a salary or a title that sounded impressive on paper. Now, it's messier than that, nothing like I imagined. A successful day might mean I got some writing work done, remembered to drink water, put in the hours at my day job, and got all the kids to their extracurriculars on time. A successful week is when all of that happens without me feeling like I'm about to spin out completely.
While it's exhausting to manage all the moving parts, it's also liberating, and I feel proud because my kids have had a front row seat to watch me build things from scratch, to see ideas take root and grow. Because I want my kids to see me working hard, being creative, and following my intuition. My plan for the future is to keep adjusting, learning, and making space for both work and life in ways that feel sustainable and meaningful.
Ari Emanuel wants to host UFC fights featuring Elon Musk's Optimus humanoid robots.
Emanuel floated the idea after witnessing the "unbelievable" progress of Optimus, which is still in development.
The TKO CEO said Musk showed him robots capable of punching and kicking.
The man behind some of the biggest televised fights ever wants to see humanoid robots in the ring next.
Ari Emanuel, the entertainment boss overseeing the WWE and UFC as CEO of TKO Group Holdings, went on the "Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy," where he spoke about the future of live events. Emanuel was also asked about his friendship with Elon Musk.
"I believe in Elon Musk," Emanuel said.
Emanuel said he's seen the progress of Tesla's Optimus humanoid robot firsthand. Specifically, its hand movements.
Musk has previously said that Tesla has spent a lot of effort trying to develop human-like hands for Optimus, calling it "an incredibly difficult engineering challenge." Emanuel said the progress in hand movements between generations was "unbelievable."
It also gave him an idea.
"I came up to him, and I said, 'I want to do UFC fights with the robots,'" Emanuel said.
It doesn't sound like Musk dismissed the thought. In fact, Emanuel said, the billionaire showed him robots that could throw punches and kicks. He floated the idea of a fight between Chinese and American robots, which podcast host and investor O'Shaughnessy said "everyone in the world would watch."
Emanuel made it clear that he's no expert in the algorithms and data centers that make AI possible, but he does know entertainment. He said he knows how to create "really great live events" and monetize them.
In a new era of AI-generated content, Emanuel is leaning hard into live experiences, like food and art festivals and sporting events. Still, he praised Musk for his work on the long list of innovative and AI-powered companies he leads.
"If I'm a betting man, I'm betting on that dude," Emanuel said.
Project Maverick's mission is to simplify and modernize the company's complex IT sprawl, a step that's seen as "critical" for Dell's AI strategy and future success, according to internal documents first seen by Business Insider in September.
Dell's plan was to decommission most backend systems in one of its two main divisions on February 1, with the second main division to follow in May.
Those plans have been pushed back to May and August, according to an internal memo sent by Jeff Clarke, Dell's vice chairman and chief operating officer, last Thursday.
"After reviewing our readiness assessment, we've made the decision to launch 1.0 in May and 1.1 and 1.2 in August," Clarke said in the memo, which was addressed to all execs, people leaders, and key people working on the project.
Of Dell's two divisions, the client solutions group, which handles hardware like PCs and monitors, will get the new systems first, the memo shows. Three months later, the infrastructure solutions group — which provides servers, storage solutions, and other IT infrastructure — will see the changes.
Clarke, who took on a more active role in the day-to-day leadership of Dell's slowing CSG division in July, said in the memo that a readiness assessment showed that the new system works, but was "not yet ready to scale to Dell's global business."
When asked about the delay, a Dell spokesperson told Business Insider: "While we're not going to discuss the specifics of our internal processes, we prioritize innovation and service to support our team members, customers, and partners."
Dell has been working on the highly-secretive 'Project Maverick' since 2024.
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
In the memo, Clarke said the company needed "more time to test and confirm the system performs consistently under the kind of load Dell will put on it every day."
One Dell employee working on Project Maverick told Business Insider that it was "slightly disappointing" the launch had been pushed back, but that it would be impossible to go ahead with numerous core functions not operating properly.
"We are replacing like two plus decades of tools and processes in about two years. I have no reference for how long this would take in another similarly sized company, but even when pushing the launch back a quarter, it seems like we are doing pretty well," the person said.
What is Project Maverick?
According to a Project Maverick onboarding presentation, Dell's existing operations are supported by approximately 4,700 applications, 70,000 servers, and over 10,000 databases. That environment that is "holding us back," Dell said in the presentation, because it is so complex and expensive to maintain.
In November 2024, the company began work on Project Maverick to replace its complex system architecture with a standardized, modern system.
The project was a tightly kept secret — staff working on it have signed NDAs warning them not to mention it by name — and a team of Deloitte consultants was brought in to advise.
These kinds of transformations are "inevitable" as companies implement AI, Joe Depa, the global chief innovation officer at the Big Four professional services firm EY, previously told Business Insider.
"Implementing AI isn't about dropping a tool into old workflows — it requires rethinking processes, systems, and even business models through an 'AI-first' lens," he said.
As the launch delays show, for legacy giants like Dell, which has over 100,000 employees and a four-decade history as a company, modernizing for the AI future is a challenging feat.
Committing to launch in May
"We won't shift this timeline again," Clarke said in the memo, encouraging teams to continue working at the "unprecedented velocity" they have achieved so far.
"We need one set of books by the end of FY27, which means we need six months between the 1.0 launch and December. Compressing that window isn't an option. And losing momentum between now and May isn't either," the chief operating officer said.
Tasks that teams working on Project Maverick still need to tackle before the May launch date include wrapping up development, testing of new systems, scaling them up, and training staff on their use, Clarke wrote.
Have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at pthompson@businessinsider.com or Signal at Polly_Thompson.89. Use a personal email address, a nonwork WiFi network, and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Anastasia Soare, the 67-year-old founder and CEO of cosmetics brand Anastasia Beverly Hills and author of "Raising Brows." She immigrated to the United States from Romania in 1989 and now lives in Los Angeles. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
I opened my first salon in Beverly Hills in 1997 based on my "Golden Ratio" eyebrow method, and launched my line of makeup three years later.
Now, I run the global company, Anastasia Beverly Hills, from my home in Los Angeles.
Here's what a day in my life is like.
I get out of bed at 7:30 a.m.
Most days, I wake up before my alarm, but I force myself to stay in bed until 7:30. I start working immediately, checking emails and social media even as I lie there.
My life is largely focused on work, but I've learned to find pleasure in it. Sometimes, I'll do a weather forecast for my Instagram or TikTok audience in the mornings, and everybody loves it, but I don't always have time.
Then I have my long black — I only have two coffees a day, and maybe a cup of Kusmi's Anastasia tea later in the day — as I continue responding to emails.
I exercise at 8:30 a.m.
By 8:30, I'm exercising with the weight machine that's in my bedroom. If I have time, I'll run on the treadmill, but I'm often bombarded by early Zoom meetings.
My morning skincare routine includes a lot of products, and I change them often, sometimes every week. I feel like you get better results. Then I do my makeup — my foundation, my brows, my blush, and everything else. I use a lot of my own products.
I don't plan out my clothes each day, but I have an impressive closet. I'm a bit of a fashion addict, and I have pieces from many designers, from Chanel to Yohji Imamoto.
Soare has a big, diverse closet.
Anastasia Soare
Back-to-back Zoom meetings can start at 9 a.m.
I like to stay informed about the latest developments in the fashion world, so I read The Business of Fashion, Bloomberg, and geopolitical news that may impact our shipping operations.
A lot of my day is spent on Zoom. I try to do my weight exercises in between calls.
On Fridays, we have more strategy Zooms, and I'll train the field team on new products by doing my makeup on camera. I want to teach them myself. I'm pretty involved in every aspect of the business.
Soare likes to train the makeup team herself.
Anastasia Soare
My desk is filled with makeup products, bills, and print-outs of my schedule. We don't have an office anymore, and I kind of miss those days.
At home, though, I play music all day. I'll play classical in the morning and Pink Martini, a band with happy, European-style music, later.
I eat lunch around noon
I practice intermittent fasting, so my first meal is around 12 or 1 p.m., depending on my Zoom schedule. Usually, I make a salad with grilled chicken or fish, or maybe a soup. I don't snack during the day.
I don't really get stressed. There will be problems the moment I open my email — small, big, and extremely important problems. Business is about finding solutions.
Around 4 or 5 p.m., I'll take a walk around my neighborhood
After a walk, I drive five minutes to my 92-year-old mom's house most days around 6 p.m. She's not very active anymore, so we usually just sit and talk.
I'm usually home by 7 p.m., and if I'm going out to dinner or an event, I'll shower, style my hair, and apply my evening makeup.
If I'm staying in, I'll cook dinner, which usually consists of a small piece of steak with vegetables, or Alaskan fish with rice and a variety of spices. I spend a lot of the night doing research on social media or in magazines.
I don't watch TV during the week, as I struggle to stop after just one show. I'll watch brainless shows until 3 a.m., and that's a no-no, so I only log into Netflix on Sundays.
Some nights I'll do flower arranging, but I usually save that for the weekends. I love all flowers, especially roses and orchids, and the arranging relaxes me.
Hair care is crucial
When it's time for bed, I remove all my makeup and apply a face mask. I've also recently become obsessed with Jennifer Lopez's eye patches. I take great care of my hair — using masks, conditioners, and anything else to keep it healthy.
There's a red light therapy bed in my bathroom, and I try to use it for 20 minutes at night to reduce inflammation.
Soare tries to use her red light bed each night.
Anastasis Soare
I go to sleep around midnight
With social media, I'm lucky if I read even a few pages at night. When I lived in Romania, I read constantly. There was nothing on TV except for Communist propaganda, and we didn't have computers or much of anything else. Reading was the best way to learn.
I still love history and business books. Right now, I'm reading "The Power of Action," "Scrambled or Sunny Side Up, and "Cartier: The Untold Story."
In 2019, Keaidy Bennett and her then-husband bought a large home in Fort Worth, Texas.
But when their relationship ended, they decided to sell it during their divorce.
Now, with home prices soaring, Bennett says she regrets selling and wishes she'd kept the house.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Keaidy Bennett, a 36-year-old who sold her marital home in Fort Worth, Texas, in 2021. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
In 2019, my ex-husband and I purchased our first home in Fort Worth, Texas, for $222,000. We were able to buy our home with down payment assistance available to veterans.
Our starter home had four bedrooms and three bathrooms, and was an almost 3,000-square-foot home. I had my own garden, an office, and all three of my children had their own rooms, as well as an upstairs playroom. We were also in a really great school district. The home really was a dream come true.
Unfortunately, by 2020, our marriage was coming to an end. When you're breaking apart a life you once built, it just feels like everything is crashing down. Eventually, I moved in with my mom.
When I finally filed for divorce, there wasn't much conversation about it — we just decided to sell the house. It felt like our life together was over, so that was over, too.
I wish we hadn't sold our house
Once I finally got to a point where I was ready to divorce, my emotions were so heightened that all of my common sense kind of went out of the window. I can't speak for him, but in that moment, I wasn't thinking about the long-term vision.
During the divorce, he agreed to take whatever he had, and I agreed to take whatever I had. The only real sore spot was the house. We both felt strongly about wanting to keep the house.
Bennett's former home garden.
Courtesy of Keaidy Bennett
I assumed I'd stay at home with our children, as we were within walking distance of their school.
Still, I hired a real estate attorney to help with the sale process because I was overwhelmed. In the end, we sold it and split the proceeds.
Looking back, it was the wrong approach. I wish we had taken some time to really consider the future for our children — and how keeping that asset could have benefited everyone in the long run.
It's more difficult to become a homeowner now
When we purchased our home in 2019, it was the perfect time in the real estate market — everything fell into place: A low mortgage rate and a reasonable home price. However, today it's a very different story; the housing market just isn't what it used to be.
When we bought back then, we had more leverage. I remember walking into certain places and saying, "I don't like this," and they'd be agreeable to making changes. But now, the prices of everything have gone up.
Florida townhomes.
Marcia Straub/Getty Images
My children and I now live in a townhome in Central Florida that I'm renting. It's been four years since we moved, but my children still make comments about missing their old playroom or the scenic view they had from their bedroom.
I pay $1,598 for my townhome, and with extras like internet and the in-unit washer and dryer, it comes to almost $2,000 a month. It's more than our previous mortgage of $1,738.
The last time I checked, our old home's value had also almost doubled since we purchased it. Instead of selling and losing that asset, I wish we could have found another solution that would have had a more positive financial impact on us and our children.
Don't let emotions rule your finances
Fortunately, my ex-husband and I are on great terms.
Still, if I had known then what I know now, I would have found a way to cohabitate. I'd say to my ex, "Let's just keep the house. When it's your time, I'll leave — and vice versa."
Honestly, I think that could have worked for us if we had slowed down and really thought the process through.
I don't think anyone gets married expecting to get divorced, but if I were to go through a divorce again, I'd definitely be more of an adult about it. I'd also have those tough discussions upfront — like, if anything were to happen, this is how we'd handle it.
Editor's note: Bennett's ex-husband declined to comment.
During a January all-hands with employees of the startup, Tools for Humanity, CEO Alex Blania laid out his expectations.
"We will neither fail, nor will we be an average outcome, and that's what we want and that's all I care about every day and all you should care about every day, and nothing else should matter," Blania said, according to a recording reviewed by Business Insider. "If you should care about something else, and if you want something else, you should just not be here. It's as simple as that."
He said that the company exists solely to achieve its mission and that anything else is a distraction.
"We don't care about politics, we don't care about DEI, we don't care about anything, we just care about how can we achieve the mission through merit, performance, and excellence," said Blania, who also told staffers he had recently attended President Donald Trump's inauguration in Washington, DC.
Several "team values" displayed on a television screen in the start-up's now-former San Francisco office echoed Blania's messaging, a February video viewed by Business Insider shows.
The "Afterburner on" team value in Tools for Humanity's now-former San Francisco office.
Business Insider
"We are very (very) hard working. We believe this is a once in a lifetime project and that success is important for humanity," one read. "Therefore, we work weekends, we're always on call, and we push as hard as our circumstances allow us to. As a result we defy the odds, get to escape velocity and succeed on the mission."
Other values included a warning that the company doesn't "tolerate slowness and comfort," as well as the idea that "we have no place for talkers, ideology, or politics. We don't have time to worry about each other's feelings; we say what needs to be said."
The values were written by Blania, according to a former employee.
"The organization's transparency about its values and operating principles has resulted in building a team that is passionate and focused on its increasingly urgent mission of ensuring every human benefits from the age of AI," a Tools for Humanity spokesperson told Business Insider.
The core values currently include optimism about the project, individual responsibility, and clear thinking.
During the January meeting, Blania said that the company aimed to deploy an additional 3,000 Orbs to verify 30 million users by the end of the quarter, and that it wanted 100 million verifications by the end of the year.
He has described the company's overarching goal as reaching a billion users. Business Insider previously reported that, so far, Tools for Humanity has verified around 17.5 million people — a little under 2% of its target.
Employees were also encouraged during the January meeting to use artificial intelligence to boost productivity.
"We're here as a company that's trying to solve problems in the AI world," said Damien Kieran, whose LinkedIn describes him as the company's chief legal and privacy officer. "We also probably don't use AI as much as we should."
To address this, he said, the IT team was negotiating a new deal with ChatGPT Enterprise — the large language model sold by Altman's OpenAI. Business Insider has reported that there were also discussions around integrating Tools for Humanity's cryptocurrency World project with OpenAI to verify those using its services.
OpenAI didn't respond to a request for comment.
ChatGPT wasn't the only artificial intelligence tool being employed by Tools for Humanity. Staffers were told that another AI model — which directly competes with Altman's flagship venture — would soon be accessible.
"Gemini Enterprise will also be available by the end of the month to everybody," Kieran said. "All of the Gemini AI stuff that Google has to offer will be available to folks."
Daniel Walton landed a creative strategist role at Meta after 20 years in advertising.
He balanced agency work with travel breaks to prioritize work-life balance and personal growth.
At Meta, Walton utilizes AI tools and helps brands leverage platforms like Instagram and Facebook.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Daniel Walton, a 43-year-old creative strategist for Facebook's Creative Shop based in Singapore. It has been edited for length and clarity.
I've wanted to work in advertising since I was a teenager. When I was 13, my aunt, who worked for an advertising company, said, "You like design, you should be an art director." She explained that it involved drinking coffee, coming up with ideas, and going on photo shoots. I was like, "Wow. That sounds amazing."
I studied graphic design and did everything I could to get an internship at an ad agency. I'd leave direct mailing pieces in the foyers of multinational agencies to try to catch the attention of creative directors and land an internship.
During my final year of university, I worked as an unpaid intern at McCann-Erickson in New Zealand.
From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., I'd split my time between college and the advertising agency
In the evenings and on weekends, I'd work as a bartender, waiter, or barista to earn some money. I was working long hours, but I felt lucky to be working at such a big agency.
During my internship, I put forward an idea for a Coca-Cola TV ad. The client loved it, and they even asked me to act in it because they liked my long-haired, dishevelled look.
I suddenly was getting a check for starring in the ad, and I thought, "This is pretty good."
After I graduated in 2002, I got a full-time job with McCann-Erickson
Over the next three years, I advanced to junior art director, and then I was headhunted to join Blue Hat Advertising. The money was twice the amount I was getting at McCann.
I then moved to London to freelance for ad agencies before I returned to Sydney in 2008 and got a job at BMF. They had some amazing projects and people, but when you're working 80 hours a week, all parts of your life take a dive.
I had a trip planned to go to the Himalayas, but a beer ad shoot scheduled for the same date forced me to cancel my trip. I left the company a few months later.
I had an early midlife crisis
I quit my job, left my apartment, and bought a one-way ticket to the Himalayas. It started a tradition that I still follow today. Every birthday, I do something I've always wanted to do. I'm now a huge advocate for work-life balance.
For the next two years, I traveled around the Himalayas and worked with one of my former colleagues in Africa before returning to New Zealand.
In February 2012, I began working at the social media agency Contagion as a deputy creative director. Following a move in 2015 to Clemenger BBDO in Sydney, where I worked for 18 months, I decided to go traveling again.
I loved the people, but I worked crazy long hours, so I wanted to take another break, which some might call a micro-retirement.
I was next encouraged to apply at Meta
My plan was to take six months off and travel around South America. I was just about to leave Sydney when an old boss, now working as a creative strategist at Meta, took me out to lunch.
He said I should apply for a creative strategist role. I explained I was about to go traveling, but he said that was fine, as it'd take me about six months to get the job.
While traveling, I had nine interviews with various staff members. I was nervously waiting for my final interview on the last day of my trip when I received a call from HR stating that no further interview was necessary.
I was hired at Meta in May 2017
I would be based in Sydney, but I had to attend a boot camp at the campus in SF. I was given an airplane ticket to San Francisco and watched Zuckerberg do a Q&A session right in front of me. It was quite a shift.
I was excited because I knew it was the beginning of something quite different. It wasn't like going to another advertising agency. I'm still at Meta now.
My role is to showcase the creative potential of various platforms, including Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook, Meta Quest, and Ray-Ban Meta. I show brands how they can be utilized for modern storytelling and brand building. I act more as a consultant, working closely with the brands' creative teams to help them navigate the platform.
Everything at Meta changes so rapidly
You also don't follow a traditional advertising promotional route. For instance, at an ad agency, you'll move from a junior creative to a midlevel creative, up to a creative director. If you get a promotion at Meta, you could be an IC6 versus an IC5, and that doesn't mean anything to someone outside the company.
Since I joined, AI has become an integral part of everyone's world. Meta offers Meta AI integration and Gen AI tools in the ad creation process. I'm very excited about the road map the company has for the future rollout in this space.
I'm using AI in my role in many ways
In-house at Meta, we use the AI tool Metamate for anything from writing emails to creating presentations. It's incredible for efficiencies, but I'm still trying not to use AI for idea generation.
AI will always be quicker than I am, but I believe there's so much to be gained by generating an idea. Whether it's writing copy or taking a photo, there's a real sense of fulfilment from that. I worry it'll be something that'll be eroded.
I use the Meta Ray-Bans. They're phenomenal. As they're hands-free, I use them when riding my motorbike to make calls, get directions, or play music.
I moved to Singapore with Meta
After six years with Meta in Sydney, I applied to work in Asia as a creative strategist, and I'm now based in Singapore, working across eight markets.
My favorite part about working for Meta is that I've found a company where I can truly embrace my work-life balance. I could never have done my birthday tradition in traditional advertising agencies.
I had my Mad Men days, but I've learned to prioritize.