• Employers are prioritizing entry-level workers with generative AI skills.
• Job descriptions mentioning generative AI have tripled on Handshake's portal over the past year.
• But students are hesitant to use the technology for more than personal tasks.

There was a time when you needed a polished résumé, stellar interview skills, and a long list of contacts to land a job straight out of college. Now, you might only need to know how to prompt a chatbot.

Employers are prioritizing entry-level workers with generative AI skills amid rapid advances in the technology. On the student job and internship portal Handshake, the number of job descriptions that mention generative AI tools has more than tripled over the past year.

According to a recent survey from Microsoft, 71% of business leaders said they were more willing to hire a less experienced candidate with AI skills than a more experienced candidate without them. About 77% of leaders said AI will help early career workers take on more responsibilities.

Yet students don't see AI as a ticket to full-time employment. According to Handshake's data, most students are still using the technology for personal tasks or fun. One recent graduate told Handshake they were "hesitant to use generative AI because it doesn't seem 'officially' accepted or commonplace yet, and I would feel lazy and guilty for using it to do work for me."

The corporate world, however, is rushing to use AI in part because it can take on the tasks no one else wants to do. So it's up to schools to help students embrace the technology, Valerie Capers Workman, the chief talent officer at Handshake, told Business Insider. "I believe that in three years, every role will require tech skills, regardless of the field," she said. "So it's more critical than ever that institutions and employers support upskilling and provide training opportunities."

• The Supreme Court overturned a Ninth Circuit ruling restricting the removal of homeless encampments.
• Governments can now bar people from sleeping on the street, even when shelter beds aren't available.
• Homeless rights advocates argue that criminalizing homelessness won't solve the issue.

The Supreme Court on Friday ruled that it's constitutional for local governments to fine people for sleeping in public places, even when there isn't sufficient shelter space.

The case — City of Grants Pass v. Johnson — is the most consequential the court has decided dealing with homelessness in decades. The decision was authored by Justice Neil Gorsuch, who was joined by the Court's five other conservatives. The three liberal justices dissented.

The case comes out of Grants Pass, Oregon, where local officials were prevented from clearing a homeless encampment by Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rulings in Martin v. Boise and Johnson v. Grants Pass requiring local governments to have sufficient shelter beds available before forcing unhoused people off the streets.

The appeals court — which controls nine western states, including California — decided in both cases that removing people living on the street without providing alternative shelter violates the Eighth Amendment's protections against cruel and unusual punishment.

The Supreme Court's ruling found that laws regulating sleeping in public places don't constitute cruel and unusual punishment.

State and federal court cases on the legality of clearing homeless encampments reflect a debate between some governments who say they need more authority to protect public safety and address homelessness and advocates who argue authorities are exacerbating the problem by criminalizing homelessness.

While conservatives have led the charge in pushing to overturn the Ninth Circuit's decision, some prominent Democratic leaders, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom, also pushed to overturn the 9th Circuit ruling. California — which is home to 12% of the US population — has struggled to deal with rapidly rising homelessness and is now home to 30% of people experiencing homelessness and half of the unsheltered population in the US.

In an amicus brief filed with the Supreme Court, Newsom argued that the 9th Circuit ruling forces local elected officials "to abandon efforts to make the spaces occupied by unhoused people safer for those within and near them."

An increasing number of cities and states across the country have passed laws — often anti-camping ordinances — similar to that in Grants Pass. In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation in March that bans people from camping in public places. Critics say the state isn't providing enough funding for services, including shelters and addiction treatment.

Critics say criminalizing homelessness doesn't address its root causes — and actually makes the problem worse.

"If you are living outside and are impoverished, a ticket or a fee is probably something you can't afford, and then you have unpaid tickets, which impacts your credit rating, which makes it harder to find a place to live," Jesse Rabinowitz, communications director at the National Homelessness Law Center, previously told Business Insider. "Or you get arrested and then you have a criminal record, which both makes it harder to get a job and harder to get an apartment."

There are several proven pathways to alleviating homelessness, including, most importantly, building more housing. Researchers say other key policy solutions include removing barriers to shelter construction and tenants' rights, creating crisis response systems that don't involve the police, strengthening housing and employment opportunities for formerly incarcerated people, and increasing government support of public spaces.

• President Joe Biden's reelection bid has the strong backing of most elected Democrats.
• But Democrats are fuming after Biden's disastrous debate performance. 
• In the unlikely event that Biden left the race, an array of Democrats would be in the mix to lead the party.

President Joe Biden's disastrous debate performance has reignited the conversation over whether he should step aside before the November election.

David Axelrod, a former Obama White House senior advisor, immediately sounded the alarm after Biden's 90-minute faceoff with Trump ended.

"I think there was a sense of shock actually on how he came out at the beginning of this debate," Axelrod said on CNN.

Axelrod added, "there are going to be discussions about if he should continue."

Technically, there is still time for Democrats to pick another nominee to take on Trump. There are even ways they could wrestle the nomination away from the president ahead of the August Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Still, Biden is unlikely to leave the race. He has repeatedly said it is fair to question his age but has defended his record. As of now, he remains the only Democrat to have defeated Trump. It may be theoretically possible to force him aside, but the drama of such a move could make the chaotic 1968 convention look quaint.

But who could be a Biden successor if such a scenario were to occur?

Vice President Kamala Harris

Harris, by many measures, would be a natural successor to Biden.

As vice president, she's worked closely with Biden on things as varied as voting rights and foreign policy. She was previously a San Francisco district attorney, California attorney general, and California senator and is a historic figure in her own right as the first Black, Indian American, and female vice president.

And she has become the face of the administration's challenge to the raft of GOP-crafted abortion restrictions following the Supreme Court's 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

But Harris previously launched a 2020 presidential bid that seemed promising but fell flat with voters over time. (She eventually ended her campaign before the start of the primaries and caucuses.)

As vice president, Harris has been heavily praised by Biden. But her office struggled with turnover and reports of dysfunction earlier in her term. She has also had to contend with less-than-ideal approval ratings, which have raised concerns among some Democrats about her electability as the party also looks to 2028 — when she'd be a potential frontrunner, given her positive marks with Black voters and young voters.

Gov. Gavin Newsom of California

Gov. Gavin Newsom, a former San Francisco mayor who was also California's lieutenant governor, leads the most populated state in the country and, in recent years, has become one of Biden's most prominent Democratic surrogates.

In the immediate aftermath of the debate, Newsom questioned Democrats who jettison Biden over a bad night.

"You don't turn your back because of one performance," Newsom said on MSNBC where he was representing the Biden campaign. "What kind of party does that?"

Alex Wagner presses Gov. Gavin Newsom on questions about whether Biden should step down.

Newsom: “You don’t turn your back because of one performance. What kind of party does that?”

“This president has delivered. We need to deliver for him at this moment.” pic.twitter.com/J5G9XGNYWn

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) June 28, 2024

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

California is often used as a foil by national Republicans to contrast with the conservative policies of states such as Florida and Texas. But Newsom has been outspoken in not only promoting the Golden State but touting Democratic policy stances and legislative wins — and he's not afraid to take his arguments straight to the GOP.

As governor, Newsom has taken on more moderate stances in recent years on issues involving labor and tackling homelessness in his state.

Newsom's political trajectory could collide with that of Harris, his fellow Bay Area native, but they've long maintained a strong working relationship, and the governor has been highly complimentary of her work with Biden.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, the two-term governor of battleground Michigan, is accustomed to tough political fights. And over the course of her governorship, she has won a lot of those battles: Democrats in recent years have performed strongly in the Wolverine State, holding every top statewide office and flipping control of the state legislature in the 2022 midterm elections.

When Whitmer ran for reelection in 2022 against the Republican Tudor Dixon, she won by nearly 11 points, reflective of her broad appeal with the electorate in a state where the margins are often tight.

This fall, Michigan is expected to be one of the closest states in the country in the presidential race. And Whitmer, a former state lawmaker and ex-prosecutor, is set to be a critical voice for the Biden campaign across Michigan.

The governor has encouraged Biden to speak more forcefully about abortion rights, an issue that has galvanized many voters — but especially women — across the country after Roe was overturned.

In a potential field without Biden, Whitmer's Midwestern background, strong alliance with organized labor, and moderate appeal could make her a strong contender. But she would also be a new face in a contest that will probably feature Trump on the GOP side.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who's served in the Senate since 2007, ran for president in 2020 and made a surprisingly strong finish in the New Hampshire primary — even outperforming Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts at the time.

But her campaign wasn't able to get the sort of momentum it needed in the South Carolina primary for her to continue her bid, and she exited the race.

Still, Klobuchar would be a candidate to watch in an open field, as she boosted her national presence in the primary and could point to a long-standing record of bipartisan accomplishments representing Minnesota in the Senate.

Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey

Sen. Cory Booker also ran for president in 2020, ending his campaign in January that year.

But the former Newark mayor has been a national figure for years and is seen as a likely 2028 contender.

He could easily jump-start a potential 2028 campaign in South Carolina, as he campaigned throughout the state in 2019 and 2020.

In the scenario that Democrats would have to choose a candidate other than Biden, he would probably be a part of the conversation.

Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina

Gov. Roy Cooper isn't a big name among Democratic voters outside North Carolina, at least not yet. The former state lawmaker, onetime North Carolina attorney general, and current two-term governor rose through the ranks of government and, along the way, navigated political divides that would bedevil most politicians.

In a GOP-leaning state where Democratic candidates have to compete on tricky terrain, Cooper, a moderate, has come out on top.

Democrats have not tapped a Southern governor as their presidential nominee since Bill Clinton in 1992. Looking to the future, probably in 2028, Cooper is someone who's poised to be on the minds of many in the party.

Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland

Gov. Wes Moore, an Army veteran who's also a Rhodes Scholar, was first elected to the governorship in 2022. He has focused heavily on tackling issues such as child poverty and housing affordability, two of the most vexing public-policy challenges for leaders on both the state and federal levels.

One of Moore's major pushes is to reshape how patriotism is defined in politics, as he told Business Insider during his first gubernatorial campaign that one party or movement couldn't claim the idea as their own.

"I refuse to let anybody try to wrestle that away," Moore told BI in an October 2022 interview, "or claim that they have a higher stake or some higher claim to it than I or my family or people who I served with or my community members."

The governor, seen by many as a potential 2028 contender, has been a strong political ally of both Biden and Harris.

While Moore may be relatively new to elective politics, his profile only continues to grow within the Democratic Party.

Correction: February 23, 2024 — An earlier version of this story misstated one of President Joe Biden's arguments for why he should be reelected. He has touted low national unemployment numbers, not low national employment numbers.

• Grandmother-of-two Karyn Bennett is a fixture at skate parks in her native Sydney.
• The 57-year-old took up skateboarding less than two years ago.
• She broke her foot and her shoulder in two places but is determined not to quit the energetic sport.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Karyn Bennett. It has been edited for length and clarity.

Nothing beats your adrenalin rush when you do a seven-foot drop on your skateboard.

My latest jump was my biggest accomplishment to date. My heart was pounding, but I faced the fear. Some people prefer ground tricks — like kicks and flips. I gravitate toward dropping.

I'm proud to challenge the stereotype of the older woman who is scared of taking risks, especially in sports. I'm turning 58 in August.

My daughter, Brittany, 31, introduced me to skateboarding in the fall of 2022. She was new to it, too. "Why don't we try it together, Mom?" she said. "It could be fun."

My daughter and I push our limits

At first, I could barely stand on my cruiser board, but we'd go to netball courts in our home city of Sydney and roll around. From there, we visited an indoor skate center, where they'd set up little rails and obstacles, mostly for kids.

We watched with our boards under our arms. "This is cool, but I've got no idea what to do," I told the guys who ran the place. They literally took us by the hands and coached us on the moves.

It lit the spark. Brittany and I like challenges, and we were up for the experience. By pushing our limits, we kept getting better.

Balance is a massive factor. If you don't have balance, it messes up your timing, and you will probably fall.

I found out the hard way. I broke my shoulder in two places just a month or so after getting into the sport.

Our friends took us to a skate park, and we were rolling up this bank. They were doing a trick called a Rock to Fakie, "Come on, Kaz, you can do it," they said. Well, I couldn't. I was fearful and made a mistake.

In skateboarding, if you overthink something, you can rough yourself up. I fell on my shoulder and broke it in two places.

Skateboarding is my primary joy and passion

But I rallied in a matter of weeks. I'd get on the board and roll. People said, "What are you doing? Are you crazy?" But I'm very stubborn. As soon as I got the all clear from the doctor, I was away again.

I had my second nasty accident in February 2023. I was rolling off an eight-foot ramp and collided with a BMX biker who came straight down in front of me. I rolled my ankle and broke my foot.

It was called a Jones fracture, but the tendon tears caused me the most pain. I rested up — but not for long.

Britt and I kept at it. It's a difficult sport, but skateboarding has become our primary joy and passion. We go at least twice a week and can stay for six or seven hours at a time. I live and breathe it.

We post videos of our progress on Instagram, but I'm my greatest critic. A couple of my videos have gone viral, and I scolded Brittany. "Why did you put that one up?" I said. "It's embarrassing." How I see myself is never good enough. But the beauty of the sport is there's always room for improvement.

Britt is my biggest motivator

I get a bit of attention when I skate. I've heard people say, "Look at that grandma go!" I've got two grandchildren and think it's funny.

I feel incredibly fit because I'm using muscle groups I didn't even know existed. I'll be skateboarding well into the next decade. I would need to be completely incapacitated not to.

As for Britt, she is my biggest motivator. We've always been close, but skateboarding has brought us closer. We're conquering it together.

Do you have a powerful story about an activity you pursued in later life that you'd like to share with Business Insider? Please send details to jridley@businessinsider.com

• Rudy Giuliani is dropping coin on polyester ties and pizza, bankruptcy records show.
• Unfortunately for his creditors, he's spending more money than in previous months.
• Some of the financial disclosures that Giuliani prepared himself don't add up.

Now we know what it looks like when Rudy Giuliani tightens his belt.

The former New York City mayor disclosed excruciating details of his financial life with a series of bankruptcy court filings this week, detailing a month of his income and spending.

Unfortunately for Giuliani's creditors looking to satisfy his $153 million in debt, he spent more in May — the month covered in the disclosures — than in previous months.

The most eye-popping expenses include pricy restaurant bills while he evaded being served a criminal indictment for his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Arizona. They also include quite a few Amazon purchases, including cheap ties and "deep bronze" tanning lotion.

Giuliani earned $61,717 in income in May and spent about $33,000. The spending is thousands of dollars higher than in previous months, which creditors have already complained is irresponsibly excessive.

For the first time, Giuliani disclosed the financial details of Giuliani Communications, the company he owns that produces his video livestreams on social media.

It, too, is operating in the red — especially since his radio show was canceled last month.

In response to questions about her work for Giuliani Communications, Maria Ryan, the company's president, discussed theories about coronavirus vaccines and said she was "very disappointed" in Business Insider.

Giuliani has an Amazon habit

Giuliani's largest expense is the $12,000 monthly maintenance fee for his New York City co-op, which Giuliani is trying to sell. The 80-year-old with no dependents also seems to spend hundreds of dollars each month on groceries.

Several of the exhibits included in Tuesday's cache of filings detail Giuliani's spending on Amazon. To compile them, Giuliani appeared to take photos of his laptop showing each Amazon order and then added them to a black-and-white PDF before submitting them to court.

They show expenses you would expect from a social media vlogger, including a tripod and USB cables.

They also include personal items, including coffee (Giuliani appears to be fond of illy), socks, and a lot of neckties.

On May 7, Giuliani spent $22.98 on a 6-pack of "Men's Necktie Classic Silk Tie Woven Jacquard Neck Ties," which comprised a filibuster-proof majority of the nine ties he ordered from Amazon that month.

"The ties aren't silk, but I expected that to be a lie, so it was kind of baked in to the price," one Amazon reviewer wrote.

Photos on the Amazon listing do not show a fabric composition tag. A tag in a photo for another tie from the same brand on eBay says it's made from 100% polyester. Listings for other ties from the same brand on AliExpress and Shein show they are made from 100% polyester.

That comes to a very good deal of less than $4 per tie. But it's not clear why Giuliani, who has worked at the highest levels of politics and law — he was a personal attorney to Donald Trump during his presidency and served as the US Attorney in Manhattan — needed new ties.

Giuliani also spent about $13 on a 6-ounce bottle of "Jergens Natural Glow Instant Sun Sunless Tanning Moisturizer + Bronzer, Self Tanner, Deep Bronze, for Natural-Looking Tan."

Hopefully, he was satisfied. Giuliani has had problems with cosmetics in the past.

Giuliani's financial statements also show multiple Amazon purchases in the $3-10 range, appearing to show he purchased movies or TV episodes for streaming. The documents filed to court don't disclose what he watched.

While Giuliani was evading service for a criminal indictment from Arizona on election interference charges — he was eventually served on May 17 and posted a $10,000 bond — he racked up pricey restaurant bills in Palm Beach, where he owns a condominium apartment. For dinner on May 9, he dropped $167 at a restaurant called Bricktop's. The next day, $113 for a meal at City Pizza. And the day after that, another $119 at the Italian joint Bice.

Mysteriously, Giuliani — who, again, has no dependents — appears to have two different bills each marked as a "Telephone expense." His AT&T bill is $228, and he pays Verizon $256 per month.

Some numbers don't add up

Much to the consternation of creditors, retirement funds such as Individual Retirement Accounts are generally protected from bankruptcy proceedings. But creditors accuse Giuliani of using money from it irresponsibly.

For the first time, Giuliani disclosed that his IRA at Citi — which forms the bulk of his net worth — had a balance of about $2.5 million in 2022.

But the numbers in a table he provided in a Tuesday filing showing its disbursements don't seem to add up.

According to the filing, Giuliani withdrew $1.8 million from the account between 2022 and 2023.

That should have left him with a balance of about $700,000 at the start of 2024, when he filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. But Citi bank documents filed to court show a balance of over $1 million.

It's not clear what caused the discrepancy. Neither Giuliani's spokesperson nor his bankruptcy lawyers immediately responded to a request for comment.

In previous filings, lawyers for Giuliani said he withdrew heavily from his retirement account over the past several years to build up Giuliani Communications, the company that produces his video blogs, where he discusses politics.

Giuliani's vlogging company is operating in the red

Balance of Nature, a vitamin supplements company, was Giuliani Communications' biggest sponsor in May, paying the company $11,500.

Giuliani Communications also made $1,200 from MyPillow, the bedding company owned by Mike Lindell, another election conspiracy theorist who has been the subject of numerous defamation lawsuits.

Newsmax, which hosts one of Giuliani's shows, paid $8,300 that month. And he made another $2,200 from X, formerly known as Twitter, where he livestreams.

Giuliani's biggest payment came from WABC, the New York radio station owned by Republican billionaire and grocery store mogul John Catsimatidis, which paid him $15,000 per month.

That income is now gone. The station dropped Giuliani in that month after he continued to push false conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.

On a monthly basis, Giuliani Communications spends more money than it makes — even before the WABC cancellation.

Giuliani pays himself $45,000 each month, exceeding the company's combined income (Giuliani Communications had about $200,000 left on its balance sheet in May).

He also pays $10,000 per month to Maria Ryan, Giuliani's reported girlfriend who also serves as the company's president and recently brokered a deal with a coffee company to sell "Rudy's Coffee."

In an email to Business Insider responding to a question about her salary, Ryan, who previously worked in healthcare administration, said she took a reduced salary to work for Giuliani and said "there are people who still do not know the truth about the origins of Covid 19."

"I took a large pay cut to join Giuliani Communications," she wrote. "I did it because as an American 🇺🇸 I saw the censorship during the pandemic."

"I am very disappointed in you. There are no real journalists left," she added later in her email. "You are attacking me why? Because I am President of Giuliani communications."

"Please leave me alone. I am a grandmother of five and they are traumatized by you," she continued.

The filings come at a perilous time for Giuliani. The federal bankruptcy judge overseeing his case is considering whether to appoint a bankruptcy trustee, who would be able to control his financial life without encumbrance.

Nearly all of Giuliani's debt comes from a $148 million jury judgment against him in a defamation lawsuit brought by two Georgia election workers, who he falsely claimed manipulated ballots.

The bankruptcy process has halted them from enforcing the judgment and seizing his assets outright. Giuliani's lawyers have asked the bankruptcy judge to hit the pause button on the Chapter 11 process while he pursues appeals in the defamation litigation.

"Unbelievably, Mr. Giuliani continues to spend state, party, and judicial resources in pursuit of an appeal that would be fully briefed by now had he himself not chosen to seek chapter 11 reorganization instead," lawyers for the Georgia workers, Ruby Freeman and Wandrea Moss, wrote in a letter filed to court Wednesday. "This is one more demonstration among many that Mr. Giuliani cannot be trusted to manage his own bankruptcy."

Giuliani's lawyers have said he's struggling to pay for an accountant to put together the monthly bankruptcy reports, which has led to hiccups in past filings.

Earlier filings were compiled by Joseph Ricci, an accountant whose firm was paid $4,000 by Giuliani Communications in May. Ricci has since declined to work on the banruptcy, Giuliani's lawyers have said.

The most recent reports name Giuliani himself as the party "responsible" for compiling them.

One of Giuliani's monthly expenses includes Merry Maids, a home cleaning service. Giuliani paid $195, which is pretty good for a 2,200-square-foot 3-bedroom apartment on Manhattan's Upper East Side.

Confusingly, Giuliani was billed twice for the service on the same day, on May 3, which shows why it's always a good idea to double-check your bills.

• This post originally appeared in the Insider Today newsletter.
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Happy Friday! Democrats are freaking out following Joe Biden's performance in the first US presidential debate last night. Donald Trump fired off a number of lies and misleading statements, but the debate was still a complete disaster for Biden.

In today's big story, we're looking at how young people are booking their summer vacations, finances be damned.

What's on deck:

• Markets: Imposter syndrome is an asset for this tech banker.
• Tech: Tech CEOs explain why layoffs are plaguing the industry.
• Business: It turns out nice employees finish last.

But first, just charge it.

If this was forwarded to you, sign up here.

The big story

Destination debt

Buy the ticket, take the ride… go into crippling debt?

Summer is in full swing, and Independence Day is approaching. That means plenty of people are entering vacation mode. But these trips also put a good chunk of young people into debt, writes Business Insider's John Towfighi.

Surveys from Credit Karma, Bankrate, and Bank of America show Gen Zers and millennials are willing to go on summer vacation at all costs… literally.

Almost half of millennials surveyed (47%) were willing to take on debt to fund their travel plans, with Gen Z not far behind (42%). (However, it's not just young people. A third of Americans were happy to swipe their way to their next trip, according to Bankrate's report.)

Multiple surveys also found young people are willing to put travel plans ahead of their financial goals. In fairness, you'll always be saving for something, but you can't frolic on the Amalfi Coast in your 20s forever.

To be clear, we're not talking about a couple of overdraft fees to make it through a long weekend on the beach.

Almost a quarter of young people surveyed by Credit Karma expected to rack up $2,000 in debt this summer. And about 10% of that group were willing to push it even further, surpassing $4,000 in summer debt.

Fueling your summer vacation with debt isn't a great idea, but it's easy to see how young people can fall into that trap.

This is, after all, a country built on debt. When the government can't stop borrowing money, it's no wonder its citizens feel so comfortable doing it.

The summer is also prime time for the bane of most people's finances: weddings. Bachelor and bachelorette parties can be a particular drag. In 2023, one app estimated the typical bachelorette attendee spends $1,200 per party.

But even if exercising your credit limit might feel like a necessary evil these days, it's a particularly bad time to do it.

The average credit card interest rate is above 24% right now! So what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but the charges you piled up to get there will stay with you for a while, thanks to interest.

That's not to say you should be a homebody this summer. There are plenty of ways to travel on a budget. Maybe you do a tiny bit of work while you're there, or perhaps you don't pay to pick your seat (the middle's not so bad).

Whatever the case, just be able to afford it.

3 things in markets

1. How imposter syndrome fueled a tech banker's rise on Wall Street. As a college kid, Rob Chisholm was turned off by Wall Street's cutthroat reputation. But today, he's at the center of some of the biggest deals shaping the tech landscape. He got candid about dealing with imposter syndrome and offered advice for bankers trying to stay true to themselves.
2. TIMBER! Lumber prices are dropping. With peak home-building season coming up flat due to a lack of demand, lumber prices are down 24% from their mid-March peak. It's a sharp 180 from the start of the year when lumber brokers thought business would boom to address the housing shortage.
3. Trump's policies could be disastrous for the economy, experts warn. A group of Nobel Prize-winning economists led by Joseph Stiglitz sounded the alarm on the economic consequences of a second Trump administration. Stiglitz told BI exactly how Trump's second coming could result in higher inflation, worse inequality, and a broader economic slowdown.

3 things in tech

1. OpenAI's head start fizzles. Though ChatGPT launched OpenAI to the forefront of an intense AI arms race, the company has struggled to maintain that momentum. It's getting harder to match the buzz created by ChatGPT's initial launch — and OpenAI's rivals are catching up.
2. What's driving Big Tech's relentless cuts, according to its CEOs. Leaders like Mark Zuckerberg and Sundar Pichai are blaming tech layoffs on overhiring and a shift toward a smaller workforce. Others say they're restructuring to prioritize AI development.
3. AI will help — not hurt — livestreaming, Twitch CEO says. Contrary to the fear that AI could displace creators, Twitch's Dan Clancy is confident AI will actually help them. He said it's because viewers are looking for a human connection, something AI alone can't deliver.

3 things in business

1. Nice workers finish last. A TikToker went viral after sharing a work theory: people who are both good at their jobs and a pleasure to work with will never get promoted past junior levels. Cynical as that sounds, she may be onto something. Experts say "performance punishment" is a real thing.
2. Amazon Prime + Gigi = advertising win. Gigi, a new adtech startup, wants to help brands with streaming TV ads on Amazon. Working together could help boost Amazon's rise in TV advertising.
3. The Supreme Court had a big week. In a ruling on Thursday, the country's highest court dealt a blow to the SEC by severely limiting the way it pursues financial fraud cases. It also nixed a $7 billion bankruptcy plan for Purdue Pharma that protected the Sackler family from further lawsuits.

In other news

• A crisis comms expert says now is Gavin Newsom's chance to get what he wants: the presidency.
• Summer camps are cracking down on 'Sephora Kids' by banning luxury skincare products.
• I'm delighted by this car dealership's parody of 'The Office'.
• Billionaire Joe Ricketts' latest drama is right out of 'Yellowstone.'
• A Tesla driver says he crashed his brand new Cybertruck after the brakes stopped working.
• The 'worst moment' of Sam Altman's OpenAI ousting happened just before midnight, Airbnb CEO said.
• Patagonia gave 90 staff a choice — relocate across the US or leave the company. They've got 3 days to decide.
• Arizona Iced Tea founder explains why he's bucked the inflation trend and never raised its iconic 99-cent price in 32 years.
• Roaring Kitty post of a dog sparks brief rally in shares of Chewy and Petco.

What's happening today

• Iranian presidential election: Four candidates vie to succeed former President Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a plane crash in May.
• Glastonbury festival begins in the UK with Dua Lipa, Coldplay, and SZA headlining.

The Insider Today team: Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Jordan Parker Erb, editor, in New York. Hallam Bullock, senior editor, in London. Annie Smith, associate producer, in London. Amanda Yen, fellow, in New York.

• A steep shortage of homes has created a serious housing crisis across the country.
• Record numbers of Americans are spending more than they can afford on their mortgage or rent.
• Biden and Trump offer divergent approaches to federal housing policy.

The US is facing a housing crisis. A severe shortage of homes, high interest rates, and elevated building costs mean record numbers of Americans are spending more than they can afford on housing and are homeless.

The economy will likely be a central focus of this week's first presidential debate. Former President Donald Trump has promised to attack President Joe Biden specifically on inflation. And Trump has repeatedly accused his successor of not doing enough to keep housing costs in check.

Since taking office, Biden has pursued a grab bag of policies to incentivize affordable home construction and preservation, loosen regulations that restrict home construction, and subsidize homeownership and the cost of renting. As president, Trump proposed massive cuts to federal housing assistance for the neediest households and rolled back some fair housing policies, while urging states and cities to pursue some zoning reform — a goal that progressives also tend to support.

There have been some bipartisan efforts at the federal level to address the housing crisis. Generally, Republicans tend to be content with states and local governments controlling housing policy, while Democrats are traditionally more supportive of federal subsidies and intervention.

But lawmakers across the ideological spectrum are quick to concede the country is facing a crisis. Home prices have risen 47% since the pandemic, mortgage interest rates are hovering around 7%, and over half of renters spend more than 30% of their income on housing, making them cost-burdened, according to a new Harvard report on the state of US housing. Even as the Federal Reserve has raised interest rates, demand and prices have stayed high, keeping housing inflation stubbornly elevated.

Americans are increasingly concerned about it. US adults listed housing costs as their second-most pressing financial issue in a recent Gallup poll. The concern is bipartisan, although more pronounced among Democrats. Three in four US adults — 83% of Democrats and 68% of Republicans — say the lack of affordable homes is a "significant" problem.

Where Biden stands

As president, Biden has pushed a series of pro-housing policies and generally come out in favor of more federal participation in housing policy.

Among those policy pushes was the "Housing Supply Action" plan, which leverages federal grants and loans to incentivize states and cities to loosen land use regulations and facilitate new construction. The administration has also pushed a slew of initiatives to boost the supply of affordable housing, including encouraging the conversion of office buildings into homes with billions of dollars in federal grants and loans and boosting support for manufactured housing.

Biden's fiscal year 2025 budget proposal, which represents a sort of wish list of the administration's priorities but would require action from an often-gridlocked Congress to become law, includes $258 billion for housing initiatives, including tax credits for first-time homebuyers, homeowners who sell their starter homes, and those who build or renovate starter homes, and an expansion of the Low Income Housing Tax Credit and housing choice vouchers for renters.

Biden has discussed housing in the State of the Union and on the campaign trail, including in Nevada, which is facing a particularly severe affordability crisis. "If inflation keeps coming down — and it's predicted to do that — mortgage rates are going to come down as well, but I'm not going to wait," he said during a speech in Las Vegas in March.

In another indication that the White House is centering housing policy as the election nears, Vice President Kamala Harris and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen this week announced $85 million in funding for 21 cities to subsidize affordable housing development and the construction of supportive infrastructure, including power lines and water mains.

Some of Biden's farthest-reaching policies were cut from the Inflation Reduction Act, and still others are unlikely to make it through Congress, where Republicans have opposed the vast majority of Democrats' housing proposals.

While some housing policy experts have praised the Biden administration's policies, many of the same experts say its actions haven't gone far enough to address the crisis.

Where Trump stands

As president, Trump didn't pursue as many policies directly intended to make housing more affordable. While in office, Trump's proposed budgets included significant cuts to agencies that provide federal housing subsidies, including the Department of Housing and Urban Development. His proposed 2021 budget would have cut housing assistance and community development aid — including shrinking the housing voucher program and slashing funds for public housing — by about 15%, not factoring in inflation, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Trump rolled back certain fair housing protections, including imposing a higher bar for proving housing discrimination and eliminating an Obama-era rule designed to reduce racial segregation. Trump claimed Biden wanted to "abolish" the suburbs and assured suburbanites they would "no longer be bothered or financially hurt by having low income housing built in your neighborhood" after he dismantled the Obama rule, which Biden later restored. The Trump administration also created "Opportunity Zones," designed to incentivize businesses to invest in low-income neighborhoods. But the program has done little to boost affordable housing.

Trump hasn't talked much about housing policy on the campaign trail, despite arguing that Biden hasn't done enough to control housing costs. Last year, he unveiled a vague proposal in a video posted to Truth Social to build up to 10 new American cities on federal land as a way to give American families "a new shot at homeownership."

In another video titled "Ending the Nightmare of the Homeless, Drug Addicts, and Dangerously Deranged," Trump said he would "ban urban camping" in an effort to criminalize unsheltered homelessness. Trump has also promised to crack down on immigration, which his campaign argues would relieve pressure on the housing market. Campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to NPR that Trump would "stop the unstainable invasion of illegal aliens which is driving up housing costs, cut taxes for American families, [and] eliminate costly regulations."

• Steve Jobs' widow, Laurene Powell Jobs, won't leave the $24 billion she inherited to her children.
• Bill Gates' children will receive less than 1% of his total fortune.
• Elton John and other celebrities have announced their plans to leave their fortunes to charity.

Everyone wants what's best for their kids, and for some high-profile business magnates, billionaires, and celebrities that means not handing their wealth to their children.

Laurene Powell Jobs told The New York Times in 2020 that she doesn't want to pass the $24 billion fortune she inherited from her late husband, Steve Jobs, to their children.

"I'm not interested in legacy wealth buildings, and my children know that," she told the Times. "If I live long enough, it ends with me."

Business Insider compiled a list of 12 high-profile millionaires and billionaires, including some the world's biggest business magnates, who won't be signing over their fortunes to their kids in their will. We ranked these wealthy parents in ascending order by their net worth.

Keep reading for a look at the 12 high-profile billionaires and millionaires who aren't leaving their fortunes to their children.

British celebrity chef Nigella Lawson wants her three children to have to work for financial security.

Nigella Lawson is a food writer, TV personality, and journalist. She was one of the pioneers behind the 21st-century celebrity-chef movement with her books including "Feast," "Nigella Express," and "How to Be a Domestic Goddess."

In 2014, The Guardian reported that Lawson's production company Pabulum Productions was producing a profit of nearly $4 million from her popular TV shows and cookbooks. According to Speakers Corner, which lists Lawson among its public speakers, she has sold more than 10 million cookbook copies worldwide. 

Lawson has two adult children from her first marriage and one step-daughter from her second marriage to advertising mogul Charles Saatchi, which ended in 2013.

"I am determined that my children should have no financial security," Lawson told British magazine My Weekly in 2008, as reported by the Daily Mail. "It ruins people not having to earn money."

Gordon Ramsay has said he won't leave his vast fortune to any of his six children.

Gordon Ramsay is one of the biggest names in the British restaurant industry with a net worth of $70 million, Forbes reported in 2020. He is the owner and operator of 35 restaurants worldwide, with seven Michelin stars between them, according to his company website, and the celebrity chef has a strong TV presence, hosting shows such as "MasterChef USA," "MasterChef Junior," and "Hell's Kitchen." 

The father of six, who has been married to wife Tana since 1996, has no intention of leaving their fortune to their children.

"[My fortune is] definitely not going to them," Ramsay told The Telegraph in 2017. "And that's not in a mean way; it's to not spoil them. The only thing I've agreed with Tana is they get 25% deposit on a flat, but not the whole flat."

"I've been super lucky, having that career for the last 15 years in the US," Ramsay said. "Seriously, it has earned a fortune and I've been very lucky, so I respect everything I've got."

Ashton Kutcher isn't even going to set up a trust fund for his children.

Kutcher and his wife, Mila Kunis, are both successful Hollywood actors and recently sold the first home they purchased together for a whopping $10.4 million, People reported in 2022.

On a 2019 episode of the Dax Shepard podcast "Armchair Expert," Kutcher said he wasn't creating trust funds for his two children with Kunis. He also said he'd hear out their business ideas but wouldn't give them special treatment over the other pitches he hears for his venture capital firm, A-Grade Investments.

"My kids are living a really privileged life, and they don't even know it," said Kutcher.

Sting said he plans to spend his money instead of leaving it to his six kids.

The father of six, best known as the front man of the rock band The Police, told The Daily Mail in 2014 that his children would not inherit a penny. Forbes estimated in 2023 that Sting's net worth was about $210 million.

"I told them there won't be much money left because [my wife and I] are spending it," Sting told the Daily Mail. "We have a lot of commitments. What comes in we spend, and there isn't much left."

"I certainly don't want to leave them trust funds that are albatrosses 'round their necks," he continued. "They have to work. All my kids know that and they rarely ask me for anything, which I really respect and appreciate."

Elton John said it's "terrible to give kids a silver spoon" and won't leave his sons a massive inheritance.

With a career in music spanning four decades, Elton John's retirement tour earned a massive $939 million, according to Billboard, adding to his $81 million net worth, per Forbes' 2020 estimate.

John and his husband, David Furnish, have two sons — Zachary, 13, and Elijah, 11 — but the singer has no intentions of spoiling them with his vast fortune.

"The boys live the most incredible lives, they're not normal kids, and I'm not pretending they are," John told The Daily Mirror in 2016. "But you have to have some semblance of normality, some respect for money, some respect for work."

The couple borrows from the Warren Buffett school of inheritance.

"[Buffett] has a really cool model in that he leaves his children enough money so that they have a house, a car, and all their basic needs covered and cared for so they never need worry," John continued. "But it's not crazy, silly, go-wild money so that they could be buying Picassos or private jets."

Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber says it doesn't bother his kids that he wants to leave his fortune elsewhere.

Webber is the musical theater composer behind award-winning, long-running shows such as "The Phantom of the Opera," "Cats," and "Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat." The composer — with seven Tonys, three Grammys, an Academy Award, and a knighthood — had a net worth of about $1.07 billion in 2018, Forbes reported.

The famed composer and father of five told The Daily Mirror in 2008 that he didn't plan to pass his vast fortune on to his children.

"I am not in favor of children suddenly finding a lot of money coming their way because then they have no incentive to work," he said.

Instead, Webber told the Daily Mirror that he wants to invest his fortunes into musical projects after his death, although he had no finite plans at the time. "It is extremely likely that my wife Madeleine will outlive me so I will leave the problem with her," Webber said.

"Star Wars" creator George Lucas plans to use his multibillion-dollar fortune to fund the education of other people's children.

Lucas, a father of four, saw his net worth rocket to $6.4 billion after selling the Star Wars franchise and his production company "Lucasfilm" — both of which Lucas owned 100% of the rights to — to The Walt Disney Company for $4.05 billion in 2012. Forbes estimates his 2024 net worth at $5.3 billion.

However, a spokesperson for Lucas told The Hollywood Reporter in 2012 that the majority of the funds made from the deal would go toward educational philanthropy projects.

Lucas founded the George Lucas Educational Foundation, also known as Edutopia. This foundation aims to research and improve educational practices in schools so that children gain the most from their education.

He has one adopted daughter from his first marriage, two further adopted children, and a daughter with his second wife, Mellody Hobson.

Laurene Powell Jobs said that her family's billionaire status "ends with me."

Laurene Powell Jobs inherited a multibillion-dollar fortune from her late husband, Apple cofounder Steve Jobs, after his death in 2011.

The 56-year-old billionaire is a formidable presence in the investing world and a full-time philanthropist. She is the founder of College Track, a nonprofit organization that helps prepare low-income students for higher education, and the "social change organization" the Emerson Collective.

Jobs has three children: Reed, 32; Erin, 28; and Eve, 25. Forbes estimates her and her family's net worth at $14.7 billion.

"It's not right for individuals to accumulate a massive amount of wealth that's equivalent to millions and millions of other people combined," Jobs told The New York Times in 2020. "There's nothing fair about that."

Michael Bloomberg also plans to give his fortune to charity instead of to his daughters.

Former presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg is the founder and CEO of software, data, and media company Bloomberg LP and is the 14th richest person in the world, with a fortune of $106 billion, according to Forbes.

The former mayor of New York City has publicly announced he hopes to give away his entire fortune before he dies, the majority of which will be donated to his philanthropic initiative, Bloomberg Philanthropies.

Bloomberg also plans to leave his company to Bloomberg Philanthropies upon his death, "if not sooner," Bloomberg spokesperson Ty Trippet told the Financial Times in 2023.

Bloomberg's two daughters, Georgina, 41, and Emma, 45, both work for philanthropic causes themselves.

Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan wrote in a Facebook post after their first daughter was born that they intend to leave their fortune to charity.

After welcoming his first daughter, Max, with his wife, Priscilla Chan, in December 2015, Zuckerberg publicized the child's birth by posting an announcement on Facebook.

In the post, Zuckerberg declared he and his wife would donate 99% of Max's inheritance to charity. According to Forbes, Zuckerberg has a net worth of about $182 billion and is the fourth-richest person in the world.

The announcement, addressed to Max, said, "We want you to grow up in a world better than ours today."

"We will do our part to make this happen, not only because we love you, but also because we have a moral responsibility to all children in the next generation," Zuckerberg continued.

The couple has since welcomed two more daughters, August and Aurelia. 

Warren Buffett is leaving much of his fortune to his best friend Bill Gates' foundation instead of to his children.

Warren Buffett made his name as an investor and serves as the CEO and chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, which owns or holds stakes in dozens of companies including Kraft Heinz, American Express, Duracell, and Apple.

Buffett has been named "one of the most successful investors of all time" and has a net worth of over $134 billion, according to Forbes.

Buffett is also a keen philanthropist who plans to donate 99% of his vast fortune to various charities when he dies, leaving nothing to his children. He is the cofounder of the Giving Pledge, an organization he launched with Bill Gates asking wealthy people to donate at least half of their fortune to charity, according to Forbes.

NBC News reported that rather than handing each of his three children money, Buffett has instead promised to give about $2.1 billion of Berkshire Hathaway stock to each of his children's charities as rewards for the foundations' success.

The majority of his fortune will go to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He has already donated $56 billion to this foundation and his children's foundations, Forbes reported.

Bill Gates may be a multibillionaire, but his kids will "only" be millionaires.

Like many of the world's richest billionaires, Microsoft founder Bill Gates is a keen philanthropist and plans to pass on the vast majority of his fortune to charitable causes. He has a net worth of about $134.1 billion, according to Forbes.

Gates and his now ex-wife, Melinda, established the world's largest private charitable foundation, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which works to "help all people lead healthy, productive lives." Melinda has since stepped down from the foundation.

Bill Gates' three children have inherited their father's philanthropic gene and are reportedly happy not to be inheriting their father's fortune.

In a Reddit "Ask Me Anything," the Microsoft magnate said his children will inherit just $10 million each — equivalent to less than 1% of his fortune, the Huffington Post reported.

"I definitely think leaving kids massive amounts of money is not a favor to them," Gates said. "Warren Buffett was part of an article in Fortune talking about this in 1986 before I met him, and it made me think about it and decide he was right."

Bobbie Edsor, Marissa Perino, and Taylor Nicole Rogers contributed to an earlier version of this story.

• Many tech figures were less than impressed with Joe Biden after his debate with Trump.
• Venture capitalists queried Biden's fitness for office, while joking the country was in danger.
• Other responses ranged from sharp criticism to mockery and despair.

Several Silicon Valley figures have offered their thoughts on President Joe Biden's performance in Thursday's presidential debate — and it's not a pretty picture.

Many believe that the night simply could not have gone worse for the president.

The event triggered no shortage of hot takes from tech personalities and influencers, who took to social media to mock Biden's performance against Donald Trump.

Over the course of roughly 90 minutes, Biden's fitness for office was questioned as he fumbled several lines, appeared to forget what he was saying, and was dragged into a battle of vindictive personal attacks with his Republican nemesis.

"We have a 1,000 trillionaires in America — I mean billionaires in America," the sitting president said at one point while commenting on the country's tax system.

Some Silicon Valley figures have warmed up to Trump

Heading into Thursday's debate, the election was clearly splitting opinion among Silicon Valley figures.

Biden had earned public support in tech circles from the likes of LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman and Vinod Khosla, a billionaire venture capitalist who hosted the president at his home for a fundraiser last month.

But he had also drawn sharp criticism from powerful tech figures like Elon Musk, who wrote on X in April that Biden "is just a tragic front for a far-left political machine" who "obviously barely knows what's going on."

After the debate, Musk chose to focus on the blizzard of memes that had been circulating rather than the candidates' performances.

Plenty of other tech figures did not hold back when discussing Biden's performance, however.

While there's been a deafening silence from Biden supporters like Hoffman and Khosla have shared a deafening silence following last night's broadcast, ardent Trump supporters were vocal.

David Sacks, an influential entrepreneur and investor who officially endorsed Trump this month, took to social media to lay into the president's blunders on live television.

"If Biden can't handle a debate, how can he handle the most dangerous foreign policy situation since the Cuban Missile Crisis? It's time to pull back from the brink," Sacks wrote on X in the aftermath of the debate.

Jason Calacanis, an angel investor who cohosts the "All In" podcast with Sacks, also took to X to comment that wrote on X that a "hot swap" is coming, suggesting that the Democrats were getting ready to replace the incumbent president as their candidate.

"This is unfair to Biden — let him retire and enjoy his twilight years," he said while adding during a live blog that "he objectively seems out of it."

It's notable, though, that he was not positive about Trump's performance either. He accused the former president of rambling and said the fact-checkers would likely "savage" his claims.

Some tech figures leaned into mockery. Nikita Bier, a Los Angeles-based founder, seemed to excoriate the president's performance, writing that "it's crazy that the entire future of the country was changed by a single intern forgetting to bring the Adderall to Atlanta."

Meanwhile, Shaun Maguire, general partner at venture capital firm Sequoia, said: "If Biden was that bad when maximally prepped," it's worth asking what America is getting "behind closed doors."

Others expressed their dismay more broadly.

Delian Asparouhov, partner at Founders Fund, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm, kept things more straightforward, writing: "Every American citizen tonight," alongside a screenshot of Ralph Wiggum from "The Simpsons" carrying the simple caption: "(chuckles) I'm in danger."

Startup investor Sarah Guo also lamented the situation, saying simply, "This is not the best America has to offer."

Still, others sounded positive notes for the Democrats as a whole. Y Combinator cofounder Paul Graham posted on X that "Biden bombing the debate" was good for the party as a better candidate would emerge.

While speculation swirls around whether the Democrats will indeed replace Biden as their nominee ahead of the election, it's clear that a growing percentage of Silicon Valley has decided who their preference is.

• Biden's debate performance has led to mounting pressure for him to bow out of the presidential race.
• Experts said it's not too late, but a decision to drop out could lead to chaos, like in 1968.
• Biden could say he's not running, resign as president, or face delegate defections.

Can the Democrats replace President Joe Biden at the top of the ticket?

Following the president's fumbled debate performance on Thursday, this question could be on many people's minds.

And as Business Insider has previously written, history can usually guide us on what could happen.

In 1968, when President Lyndon B. Johnson dropped out of the race, his vice president, Hubert Humphrey, entered the Democratic primary, but he was too late to get on some states' ballots.

Humphrey amassed a larger share of delegates than his rivals, Robert F. Kennedy and Eugene McCarthy, but did not have the majority needed for the nomination.

This led to a contested Democratic National Convention in Chicago, marked by violent protests.

The nation, already facing upheaval with the Vietnam War and the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., had been thrown into shock and mourning when Kennedy, the younger brother of late President John F. Kennedy, was assassinated in Los Angeles.

Delegates eventually voted to name Humphrey the nominee, but he ultimately lost the election to former Vice President Richard Nixon.

Biden may choose not to stand, but it could lead to chaos

If Biden were to drop out of the race before August, when Democrats are scheduled to formally nominate a candidate in Chicago, there would likely be another contested convention.

Mitch Robertson, a lecturer in US modern political history at University College London, told BI that such a scenario would evoke the tumultuous events of 1968 — a comparison that he said was both apt and disheartening.

Robertson said that, like 1968, which was precipitated by Johnson announcing that he wouldn't run for president, Biden would need to make the decision to decline his party's nomination.

Like Johnson, he could also pledge to serve the rest of his term in office.

Still, it would kick off a contest to find his replacement, as there is no formal mechanism for Biden to automatically anoint his successor.

Robertson said that the process could be bad news for the Democrats.

"The lessons of 1968 and the convention of 1968 in particular have always loomed large in the Democratic mind and the US political history mind as an unmitigated disaster," he said.

In 1968, it led to chaos and an election loss, which Robertson said would be the Democrats' main fears of a contested convention, "that it would do the same thing all over again."

It takes a majority of the roughly 4,000 pledged delegates to win the party's nomination. In the primaries and caucuses, Biden won 3,900 delegates.

Thomas Gift, director of UCL's Center on US Politics, explained that if Biden bows out, and the DNC rules don't change, his pledged delegates would become uncommitted, potentially leading to lobbying and voting for a replacement.

"I think that is still quite unlikely, but it is more likely than it was before last night," he told BI.

Gift said a key challenge is that there is "no obvious heir apparent."

Typically, the vice president is the go-to individual, but Gift said Vice President Kamala Harris's approval ratings are too low for her to be a serious contender.

"I think a lot of individuals would want to throw their hat into the ring," he said. "I think it would have the potential to create a lot of disorder, chaos, and conflict within the party."

Mark Shanahan, an associate professor at the University of Surrey, whose research focuses on US presidential politics, said the "best bet" is that Biden throws his support behind a strong new candidate before the August convention.

Governors Gavin Newsom and Gretchen Whitmer, as well as Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, are seen as potential candidates.

Shanahan continued: "The worst-case scenario for the Democrats is there's no clear succession by the time of the convention, which becomes, in effect, an 'open convention' and who takes on Trump in November is decided through a divisive faction floor fight in Chicago."

Biden could resign, but Harris wouldn't automatically become the nominee

Biden could go one step further. Under intense pressure, he could resign as president.

It would make Harris the president, but not necessarily the nominee.

"Even if Kamala Harris is president, it still doesn't mean that Biden can say, 'All my delegates are now hers,'" Iwan Morgan, emeritus professor of US History at UCL's Institute of the Americas, told BI.

"The rules are very clear," he said. "You're committed to a particular person on the first ballot."

The delegates wouldn't automatically transfer to Harris, so she would still need to win a majority of delegates at the convention, which Morgan said would involve a lot of "horse-trading" and intense lobbying.

Delegates could defect

Another scenario, which the experts said is pretty unlikely, is that delegates could defect en masse.

"Unchartered waters doesn't even begin to describe it," Morgan said. "Yes, they could do that, but it would need to be coordinated."

While delegates aren't legally bound to their candidates, they are largely presumed to be loyal.

The current DNC rules read that "delegates elected to the national convention pledged to a presidential candidate shall in all good conscience reflect the sentiments of those who elected them."

Theoretically, this provides some wiggle room, but not much.

"The point is the DNC is under Biden's control," he said. "It's just a question of what kind of influence can be brought to bear on Biden."

It's not too late, but it wouldn't be easy

Morgan said the Democrats still have time because the election campaign "proper" doesn't typically start until Labor Day in September.

However, he added that for a smooth process, "the sooner they can move Biden, the more chance they have to prepare for the convention."

John Owens, a professor of US government and faculty fellow at the American University's Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies, told BI via email that "given Biden's insistence on this early debate, there may be enough time for Democrats to turn this round."

But he said it's going to be a tall order and will depend on the flexibility of the party, as well as state rules and regulations making this possible.

Owens said one thing is clear to him: "Biden is toast, and if the Dems do not turn this around, US democratic procedures and culture may also be toast."