• Lee Abbamonte, 45, is an ex-Wall Street banker who has visited every country in the world. 
• When it comes to destinations where dollars go the furthest, Southeast Asia is his go-to.
• In Bangkok, Abbamonte paid less than $50 a night for a Shangri-La hotel and loved the street food.

This summer is shaping up to be one of the hottest on record for the US economy.

Household wealth is at a record high, the job market is strong, and wages are rising faster than inflation. Meanwhile, the dollar has steadily gained against rival currencies. Simply put, Americans have dollars to spend. One question they might have: Where, oh where, to spend it?

Lee Abbamonte has some suggestions. Abbamonte, who quit his Wall Street finance job to become a travel blogger in 2002, has visited every country in the world, every US state, plus the South and North Poles.

Abbamonte's go-to for getting the most bang for your travel buck is Southeast Asia.

In countries like Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia, luxury hotels can cost under $100 a night and street food can be as delicious as fine dining, Abbamonte said.

One downside is that traveling to Southeast Asia from the US can take anywhere from 15 hours to more than a day.

"The hardest part is getting there," added Abbamonte, who last visited the region between 2017 and 2019. "But once you're there, you're in heaven."

Here, Abbamonte shares six countries — in Southeast Asia and beyond — where your vacation budget can buy some indulgent splurges.

During a past trip to Thailand, Abbamonte stayed in a five-star hotel for less than $50 a night.

Thailand is one of Abbamonte's favorite destinations in Southeast Asia, for good reason.

In Bangkok, he said, street food is world-class and high-quality yet inexpensive compared to comparable meals in the US. Abbamonte stayed at several stunning hotels along the Chao Phraya River, which flows through the heart of the city.

"I remember I paid like $39 for the Shangri-La," he said.

A one-night stay at the Shangri-La in Bangkok is a bit more expensive now, according to its website: $162 as of June 2024.

Outside Bangkok, Abbamonte can't get enough of Phuket, an island off the west coast of mainland Thailand brimming with rainforest and white sandy beaches that look straight out of a postcard.

"Some of the best hotels I've ever stayed at in my life are in Phuket," he said. His favorite is Kata Rocks, an oceanfront five-star hotel that is "one of the most beautiful places" Abbamonte has ever been.

"I don't remember exactly what it cost, but it wasn't that much," Abbamonte said, estimating that he spent "around $100" a night.

In July 2024, a one-night stay at Kata Rocks in Phuket costs more than $490 according to its website. That may not seem cheap, but villas in more expensive locations like the Caribbean can cost a lot more.

Vietnam is exceedingly affordable for its stunning vistas and delicious delicacies, he said.

Vietnam is one of Abbamonte's top countries in South Asia, where "the food is cheap and easy, and it's fantastic."

The country is home to some awe-inspiring natural wonders, including Ha Long Bay, which you can explore via luxury overnight cruises with amenities like pools, jacuzzis, and wine cellars from about $190 a night.

"Ha Long Bay, near Hanoi, is one of the most beautiful places in the world," Abbamonte said.

Tourists can also get great deals, he added, in the artsy and history-rich city of Hanoi, the coastal city of Da Nang, and Vietnam's southern capital, Ho Chi Minh City.

In Ho Chi Minh City, Abbamonte recommends stopping by the War Remnants Museum. Known locally as the American War Museum, an adult ticket costs 40 Vietnamese dong, or around $1.50.

Home to exhibits on the Vietnam War and the First Indochina War, Abbamonte said it's his "favorite" museum outside the US.

Money goes a long way in Cambodia, home to a world-class beach scene that relatively few know about.

Another one of Abbamonte's favorite places to splurge without spending too much is Cambodia.

Sandwiched between Thailand and Vietnam, the country is affordable in all the ways that its neighbors are but is more off the beaten path.

"There aren't the tourists you get in Thailand and Vietnam," Abbamonte said.

Most tourists visit Cambodia to see Angkor Wat, an ancient Hindu-Buddhist temple complex near the city of Siem Reap. Abbamonte said the temple, which costs $37 to visit for a day, is worth seeing, but added that the country has so much more to offer.

"There's a lot more going on outside Angkor Wat," he said. "They have nice beaches, and they've really improved their infrastructure."

Some of the most idyllic seaside spots are situated on the tiny islands off of the coastal city of Sihanoukville, like Saracen Bay, a beach on Koh Rong Samloem.

Argentina has some amazing steakhouses that are generally more affordable than their US counterparts.

Abbamonte said many Americans sleep on Argentina, but that it's one of the most affordable, exciting, and pleasant places to visit in South America.

He's particularly fond of Patagonia, a region of mountains, glacial lakes, grasslands, and rainforests that runs through both Argentina and Chile across the southernmost tip of South America.

It's as close to paradise as it gets for Abbamonte, who loves being outdoors — and it doesn't hurt that food and accommodation are inexpensive.

"You can go down there and live it up real cheaply," he added.

The capital of Buenos Aires is also a must-see, Abbamonte added, because it's home to an array of luxury hotels and high-quality steakhouses where American dollars go a long way.

One of his favorite eateries is La Cabrera, a steakhouse in the trendy Palermo Soho neighborhood of Buenos Aires that offers a daily 40% happy hour discount on food and drinks between 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. (One blogger who reviewed their La Cabrera meal during a 2023 trip said, at the time, a 21-ounce ribeye cost the equivalent of $45.)

"I'm a meat eater," Abbamonte admitted. "So if you like steak, there's really nowhere better."

Ethiopia offers affordable safari options in awe-inspiring wildlife reserves.

"Ethiopia is one place that I love," Abbamonte said. "It's definitely in my top five African countries."

In the past, he's flown into the capital city of Addis Ababa and stayed in five-star hotels for $100 a night. "They're really, really nice, and you can eat world-class meals for virtually nothing," he added.

While booking safari-type vacations can be "pretty expensive," Abbamonte said more adventurous travelers can always consider camping, which he did during his first trips 20 years ago.

At the time, he said, buying supplies, organizing transport within the park, and getting camping permits cost him between $100 and $200.

For example, foreign tourists visiting the Simien Mountains National Park pay 90 birrs, or around $1.50, for a 24-hour pass and an additional 40 birrs, less than $1, to camp in a tent with up to four people.

Compared to some luxury lodges, it's incredibly affordable, and "you get all the same animals," Abbamonte said, adding that he felt completely safe, given all the park rangers roaming around.

Abbamonte said there's never been a better time to visit Japan, one of his favorite countries in the world.

Japan isn't typically the first country that comes to mind for affordable travel, but Abbamonte said it's never been a better time to book a trip because, as of June 25, $1 buys 159.72 yen.

It's one of the best conversion rates in recent history.

"It's as cheap as it's ever been for the American dollar right now," Abbamonte said. "In Tokyo, the hotels are slashed to a third less than they normally are."

For example, at the Hilton Tokyo, a five-star hotel in the bustling Shinjuku district, one-night stays start at under $300 a night, according to its website.

Abbamonte said Japan is worth the trek — and the steeper prices compared to Southeast Asia — for the unique experiences it offers.

From the Kobe beef in Kobe and the bustling streets of Tokyo to the omakase scene in Osaka and the tranquility and history of Kyoto, there's "nowhere" in Japan Abbamonte doesn't like.

"It's probably the best country in the world," he said.

• Both Russia and Ukraine are relying on electronic warfare in the ongoing fighting.
• Investing in such capabilities is crucial because the battlefield is full of threats, from drones to precision munitions. 
• One senior Ukrainian official said "every trench" needs tools for close-range electronic warfare.

Russia and Ukraine have relied heavily on electronic warfare tactics throughout the conflict, leaning on cheap — but highly effective — technology to interfere with the targeting process of precision strike weapons like attack drones and guided munitions.

With the battlefield full of such threats, especially the drones that threaten anything that moves, the need for electronic warfare systems is tremendous. One senior Ukrainian official said Kyiv has invested extensively in pumping out these capabilities so that they can be sent to front-line forces.

"In terms of the development of EW systems, we are now doing the same thing we did with drones: scaling domestic production," explained Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine's minister of digital transformation, in translated remarks shared with Business Insider.

"To do so, we've started by identifying production needs, capabilities, and challenges," he said, adding, "We liberate the conditions so more private companies can engage, produce, and compete. And it's working. We already see results."

Electronic warfare includes a variety of tools, practices, and techniques designed to interfere with communications, drown out frequencies in noise, and disrupt satellite navigation system information, potentially severing the connection between a drone and its operator or throwing a weapon off course.

"Different EW tools are needed to conduct strategic missions, but there is also a huge need for so-called 'close-range' EW," Fedorov said. "In other words, every trench needs its EW device."

Acting on this urgency, Kyiv purchased 2,000 units of close-range electronic-warfare devices during the spring with the help of UNITED24, a Ukrainian government initiative that has fueled Kyiv's war efforts by raising money to purchase weaponry. Fedorov said "this market is developing very quickly."

Close-range electronic-warfare systems would be particularly useful against enemy drones, specifically the small quadcopters that conduct reconnaissance and strike missions. These drones have been a dominant force on the battlefield.

Both Russia and Ukraine have used explosive-laden first-person-view drones as a cheap way to deliver precision strikes on enemy personnel, equipment, armor, and positions — including in trenches, where some of the most brutal combat has taken place.

Fedorov said the pace of the technology war in Ukraine is very fast, and new developments have short production and life cycles.

This trend especially impacts drones, he said, because there is a constant need to adapt these systems to current electronic-warfare conditions and look for more efficient ways to use them on the battlefield.

"Technology itself is important, but usage of technology has huge impact," Fedorov said. "You can have the best drone, but what's the sense if it can't fly under electronic warfare?"

Partner nations like the US are taking note of Ukraine's achievements in the field. For instance, at a media event last month, Doug Bush, the US Army's acquisition chief, touted Kyiv as a "very sophisticated, highly effective electronic-warfare force."

"They're doing pretty amazing things — some with our help, some on their own," Bush added. "So it's a constant back-and-forth."

The US is also closely studying the application of electronic warfare in the conflict and trying to draw lessons for itself as the Pentagon looks to see what sort of adjustments it may need to make for a future fight against a great-power adversary like Russia or China.

"What we have seen in the Ukraine-Russia conflict is more EW than we have ever seen before," said Col. Nicole Petrucci, a US Space Force commander, at an April event, according to Air & Space Forces Magazine.

"We've actually been studying this very carefully to see what's going on to see how we can help or not help — and that is unofficially, just because we're trying to see what was the environment like," Petrucci added.

Meanwhile, having observed the drone war in Ukraine, the US military has set up training courses to teach service members how to use close-range electronic warfare systems — like the ones Fedorov mentioned — to engage small unmanned systems on the battlefield.

• In texts revealed in a lawsuit, Meta PR people in 2021 discuss how to deal with a negative article.
• The PR people don't want Mark Zuckerberg to publicly respond, but they can't convince him not to.
• "I'm really eager to just do whatever he wants at this point," one said. "My spine has been surgically removed."

In September 2021, Mark Zuckerberg threw his PR team into a crisis situation. The boss had a problem with a recent news article. A big, wet problem.

The New York Times had just published a report about a Facebook strategy, internally called "Project Amplify," that pushed positive stories about Facebook to users' news feeds. The story said part of the strategy involved Zuckerberg posting more lighthearted content to help rehab his image, and cited a video he had posted of himself riding a hydrofoil while holding an American flag.

Zuckerberg wanted to personally and publicly respond to the Times story. Specifically, Zuckerberg wanted to needle the Times for mischaracterizing his hydrofoil as an "electric surfboard."

Zuckerberg's plan to post about the hydrofoil sent his public relations team into a tailspin, resulting in a flurry of text exchanges about how to convince him not to post anything (he did end up posting about it).

Those messages have now surfaced as part of lawsuits filed by various states over how Meta has handled concerns about child and teen harm.

The text exchanges reveal the frustrations of a comms team that can't seem to control the CEO and believes he won't heed their advice — even if, in their view, his actions threaten to undermine the company.

They also offer an inside look at the orchestrated machinations of Zuckerberg's social presence.

Ryan Mac, a reporter at The New York Times who cowrote the article (and got under the skin enough of the PR team that they referred to him as "the worst of the worst" and fretted that Zuckerberg's response would only inflate Mac's ego), posted screenshots from the legal documents to Threads. In those messages, you can see how the PR team agonized over Zuckerberg's desire to post a zinger about the misidentified hydrofoil.

"I would not have Mark post," wrote Tucker Bounds, now a VP of communications at Meta.

"How come? We'll need a very strong reason to walk him back," said another person whose name was redacted in the documents.

A few minutes later, John Pinette, Facebook's head of communications at the time, told the group he didn't think a whimsical post was such a bad idea, since another comms team member had already posted a strongly worded rebuttal statement to the article on Twitter.

"I don't think Mark posting something whimsical on the surf board is such a bad idea," Pinette wrote. "… And I'm really eager to just do whatever he wants at this point. My spine has been surgically removed."

Pinette left Facebook just over three months later.

Nick Clegg, head of public policy at Meta, was also strongly against Mark posting something flippant about the hydrofoil.

"Am I missing something here? On the day a FB rep is pulled apart by US Senators on whether we care enough about children on our services, MZ is going to post about…. surfboards?" Clegg wrote. "Maybe I've lost my humor about this whole thing, but I really think this would seem to any casual observer to be pretty tone deaf given the gravity of the things we're being accused of."

Just a week before the text exchange, bombshell "Facebook Files" reporting in The Wall Street Journal said Facebook executives ignored their own internal research about risks to teen mental health, especially for girls. It was a massive scandal that has led to serious regulation (New York state just passed a law saying that social platforms like Instagram can't use algorithmic feeds for teens without parental consent).

"The IG/teens story is huge, is cutting through, and will lead to countless testimonies in the weeks/months ahead," Clegg correctly predicted in the 2021 texts to his colleagues. "If I was him, I wouldn't want to be asked 'while your company was being accused of aiding and abetting teenage suicide why was your only public pronouncement a post about surfing?'"

Meta did not respond to a request for comment on the text exchanges.

In the last year, Zuckerberg's strategy of posting more frequently about lighthearted things like his MMA hobbies and his new quirked-up sartorial choices has paid off: his public image has been significantly rehabilitated.

Meanwhile, the concerns at the heart of the controversy that Zuckerberg was responding to — that Meta has disregarded child safety — have only escalated. The EU is now investigating Meta over concerns its platforms are addictive for children and teens.

Just last week, the US Surgeon General announced he planned to push for a warning label on social media advising that it has mental health risks for teens. A warning label is a misguided idea, in my opinion, but it is a pesky public problem for Meta. Perhaps nearly three years after these messages were sent, Zuckerberg is more willing to listen to the advice of others about this.

• Bernard Arnault is the world's third-richest man. He has a net worth of $200 billion, per Bloomberg.
• He controls the massive luxury conglomerate LVMH, and his children all hold roles in the business.
• Here's a look at his career rise and how he spends his fortune.

No name is perhaps more synonymous with the world of luxury goods than Bernard Arnault. 

Arnault, the 75-year-old CEO of French luxury conglomerate LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, or LVMH for short, built his fortune over almost four decades, amassing a luxury-goods empire that includes some of the best-known brands in fashion, jewelry, and alcohol, including Louis Vuitton, TAG Heuer, and Dom Pérignon.

In March, he briefly reclaimed the title of the world's richest person. Though he has since fallen to third-richest, he still currently has a net worth of about $200 billion, according to Bloomberg. He, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk have traded places on and off over the past year. 

Arnault has also brought his five adult children into the LVMH fold, building a family-run business that has resulted in immense wealth and even drawn comparisons to the hit HBO show Succession (which Arnault has dismissed).

Here's a closer look at Arnault and his family's massive empire.

The 75-year-old French businessman is the chairman and CEO of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, known as LVMH.

Arnault owns a 48% stake in LVMH, according to Bloomberg. 

Arnault comes from the northern French town of Roubaix.

He studied engineering at one of France's most prestigious schools, the École Polytechnique, and after graduating, he went to work for his father's construction company, Ferret-Savinel, according to Bloomberg.

In 1984, Arnault acquired an ailing company called Agache-Willot-Boussac.

Agache-Willot-Boussac owned brands like French department store Bon Marché and the fashion house Christian Dior, according to The New York Times. He renamed the firm Financière Agache and initiated a turnaround, cutting costs and selling off some of its businesses, the Times reported.

The moves helped the company earn an additional $112 million on revenue of $1.9 billion just a few years later.

In 1987, he bought the fashion house Celine and funded the French designer Christian Lacroix, according to The New York Times. 

 

In the late 1980s, Arnault said his goal was to run the world's largest luxury company within the following decade.

He then set his sights on LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, spending $2.6 billion buying up shares to become the company's largest shareholder. He became chairman and CEO by 1989, according to The New York Times.

Arnault married Anne Dewavrin in 1973.

The couple had two children, and during their marriage, Arnault moved the family to the United States for a couple of years in "open reaction to the rise of the French Socialists and their determination to tax the rich," according to France24.

He and Dewavrin separated in 1990, according to the Financial Times.

Arnault then married concert pianist Hélène Mercier in 1991.

Arnault reportedly wooed her by playing Chopin and other classical composers for her, according to Forbes.

Like many of his fellow billionaires, Arnault lives a lavish life.

He traveled by a $73 million private jet until 2022, selling it after Twitter accounts began tracking the aircraft. He owns properties in glitzy Saint-Tropez on the French Riviera. In 2023, he bought $22 million worth of property in the Hamptons, according to the Observer.

The French billionaire and his wife live on Paris's Left Bank.

The Left Bank, which lies south of the Seine River, is a historic area that includes neighborhoods such as the Latin Quarter and St. Germain-des-Prés.

Arnault also has an impressive art collection of both modern and contemporary paintings that includes pieces by artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat, Damien Hirst, Maurizio Cattelan, Andy Warhol, and Pablo Picasso, according to Bloomberg.

 

 

Arnault has five children: two with his first wife and three with his current wife.

Antoine and Delphine Arnault are his two children from his first marriage, while his youngest three — Alexandre, Frédéric, and Jean — are from his second marriage to Mercier, according to The New York Times.

Delphine, Arnault's oldest daughter, has established herself as a central figure in the LVMH empire.

She started her career at the American consultancy firm McKinsey & Co. in Paris and was the executive vice president at Louis Vuitton, according to Business of Fashion. In January 2019, Delphine became the youngest member of LVMH's executive committee at age 43, according to fashion publication MDS. Delphine became CEO and chair of Christian Dior Couture in 2023.

Delphine married Italian wine heir Alessandro Vallarino Gancia in 2005, in what Forbes called "France's wedding of the year."

The couple divorced in 2010. She now reportedly lives with tech billionaire Xavier Niel and has two children.

Delphine is notoriously private about her personal life. In a 2014 interview with the Financial Times, she said, "I'm quite discreet. I think I'd rather focus on my work."

 

Delphine's younger brother Antoine is CEO of Christian Dior SE, the holding company of LVMH, a role he was appointed to in December 2022.

He was CEO of luxury shoemaker Berluti for several years but now serves as both chairman of that brand and cashmere label Loro Piana. Antoine has also been a board member of LVMH since 2006.

Antoine is married to supermodel Natalia Vodianova.

They reportedly met on a shoot for a 2008 Louis ­Vuitton campaign when he was the brand's head of communications.

The couple lives in Paris with their two children, and Vodianova's three children from a previous marriage, according to W Magazine.

 

Alexandre, the son of Bernard Arnault and Mercier, became an executive VP at Tiffany & Co. after LVMH bought the jewelry brand.

LVMH acquired Tiffany & Co. in 2021, after which Alexandre became the company's executive vice president of product and communications. Prior to moving over to Tiffany, Alexandre was the CEO of Rimowa, a German luggage brand owned by LVMH.

Alexandre is longtime friends with Evan Spiegel, the chief executive of Snap. Spiegel told The New York Times that Alexandre is "a really creative guy" and that "he's constantly thinking about the brand and how to express that."

 

Alexandre's younger brother Frédéric is CEO of LVMH Watches.

After internships at Facebook, McKinsey, and a stint running a mobile payments startup, Frédéric became the temporary head of connected technologies at TAG Heuer, LVMH's largest watch brand, in 2017. By 2020, when Frédéric was just 25, he was named TAG Heuer's CEO. 

In 2024, he was appointed CEO of LVMH Watches, overseeing Hublot, TAG Heuer, and Zenith.

Arnault's youngest son, Jean, joined the family business in 2021.

In August 2021, Jean Arnault became marketing and product director in Louis Vuitton's watch division; he was just 23 at the time. He's since become a watch director at the brand.

Jean Arnault has a master's degree in financial mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as well as a master's in mechanical engineering from Imperial College London. According to his LinkedIn profile, he interned at Morgan Stanley and McLaren Racing and worked in a Louis Vuitton retail store before joining the company full-time.

Arnault's network naturally includes many people in high places. Arnault is reportedly longtime friends with former French president Nicolas Sarkozy.

He was a witness at Sarkozy's wedding to singer and model Carla Bruni, according to The New York Times.

Arnault can be seen shaking hands with Vladimir Putin during the Russian president's 2003 visit to the Château Cheval Blanc vineyard in France, which LVMH owns.

The 39-hectare vineyard is located in France's winemaking region of Bordeaux, according to LVMH's website. 

Arnault considered the legendary designer and Chanel creative director Karl Lagerfeld a good friend.

In a statement upon Lagerfeld's death in 2019 posted to LVMH's website, Arnault said, "The death of this dear friend deeply saddens me, my wife and my children." He also said, "We loved and admired him deeply. Fashion and culture have lost a great inspiration."

Bernard Arnault met then President-elect Donald Trump at Trump Tower in New York City, right before Trump's inauguration in 2017, to discuss expanding LVMH factories in the US.

The company opened a new 100,000-square-foot Louis Vuitton factory in Texas in 2019 and Trump attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony. 

Arnault told reporters at the ceremony that he was honored to have the then-president in attendance and noted that the two have known each other since the 1980s.

Former Goldman Sachs chief executive Lloyd Blankfein once said Arnault's skill is in realizing the demand for high-end luxury products around the world.

"I am so far from appreciating luxury items, let alone the demand for luxury items, but he was a complete visionary," Blankfein said of Arnault, according to CNBC. 

But Arnault also has a longstanding public rivalry with François Pinault, the founder of luxury group Kering, who's worth about $30 billion.

Kering owns brands including Gucci and Yves St. Laurent, and the billionaire also owns Christie's auction house, according to Bloomberg. LVMH originally tried to acquire a majority stake in Gucci in 1999, but Pinault ultimately snatched up the brand, according to Forbes.

Over the years, Arnault has built LVMH into the largest luxury conglomerate in the world and earned himself an imposing nickname: "the wolf in the cashmere coat."

And he's confident in the luxury empire he's built, once telling the late Steve Jobs that demand for luxury goods like champagne may even outlast the almost $3 trillion dollar tech brand.  

He previously told The New York Times, "Steve Jobs once asked me for some advice about retail, but I said, 'I am not sure at all we are in the same business.' I don't know if we will still use Apple products in 25 years, but I am sure we will still be drinking Dom Pérignon."

He's behind the creation of Foundation Louis Vuitton.

The Frank Gehry-designed contemporary art museum and performance space in Paris opened in 2014, according to The New York Times.

In April 2019, LVMH released a statement on behalf of the Arnault family, pledging 200 million euros, or about $226 million at the time, to help rebuild the Notre-Dame Cathedral, which was heavily damaged in a 2019 fire.

Arnault was not the only one among France's super rich who pledged funds toward rebuilding the historic structure. Others included his rival, Kering founder François-Henri Pinault, who pledged about $113 million, and L'Oreal owners the Bettencourt Meyers family, who pledged about $226 million.

In October 2020, Arnault's company agreed to buy Tiffany & Co. for $15.8 billion in the luxury sector's biggest-ever deal.

The contentious sale involved multiple lawsuits and a $400 million price drop from the price originally agreed upon the previous year. 

When it comes to finances, the past few years have been a roller-coaster ride for Arnault and LVMH.

In January 2019, Arnault made $4.3 billion in a single day after LVMH shares surged 6.9%, according to Bloomberg.

Just six months later, on June 19, 2019, Arnault again made news when he became the third person in the world to reach a $100 billion net worth.

Then, the coronavirus pandemic hit, and pandemic-related shutdowns sank LVMH's stock, sending Arnault's personal net worth down more than $30 billion by May 2020, according to Bloomberg. 

As the world opened up again, though, LVMH's stock recovered, thanks to strong sales in fashion and leather goods and an uptick in alcohol sales, particularly champagne.

At the tail end of 2022, Arnault dethroned Elon Musk to claim the top spot as the richest man in the world.

In April 2023, his net worth even surpassed the $200 billion mark, making him the third person ever, behind Musk and Jeff Bezos, to do so.

He's currently the world's third-richest person. He, Bezos, and Musk have traded places on and off over the past year.

In April 2023, LVMH's headquarters in Paris were briefly stormed by protesters who were opposed to the French government's proposal to raise the country's retirement age from 62 to 64.

On the same day, Arnault's fortune increased by $12 billion after a strong quarterly earnings report.

 

Arnault reportedly meets with his five children for a monthly lunch in the private dining room at LVMH to instruct them on the company's strategy and manager performance.

He also occasionally sees them for his weekend store walk-throughs.

Every Saturday, he visits some of his stores to check that everything is up to par; when things aren't, he "reels off texts and emails to his senior executives describing any perceived deficiencies in bullet points of obsessive detail," according to a Bloomberg profile of Arnault in June 2024.

Arnault has been pretty vague about who will eventually take the reins of the company.

"The best person inside the family or outside the family should be one day my successor," he's previously said. "But it's not something that I hope is a duel for the near future."

And much like the HBO series "Succession," there has been considerable speculation about which of Arnault's children will eventually take over the LVMH empire. Arnault, however, said he's taught his kids to prize the company over personal disagreements from a young age. "For now, they all get on great," he previously said.

He's also brushed off the comparisons to a Succession-style battle between his children for control of LVMH. The New York Times reported that "he hates this talk, and takes pains to play down parallels to the show."

"As for the future, I have five members of the family working in the group," he told Bloomberg in June. "Let's see if one of them has the capacity to take over."

• Tesla is building EVs for cheaper than anyone else.
• Lower input costs allow Tesla to set prices lower in a price-sensitive EV market.
• Still, Tesla's price-slashing method has started to show cracks. 

Tesla is building EVs for cheaper than anyone else, and it's giving Elon Musk's car company a leg up even as more competition floods the market.

Tesla's input cost per vehicle — or the amount the company spends on components like metal, glass, battery packs, wheels, and tires — averages under $30,000 per vehicle, according to a new analysis from Bank of America.

That's $17,000 cheaper than non-Tesla EV component costs and about $10,000 cheaper than the industry average including Tesla, the bank's analysts estimate.

It's cost savings like this that have fed Tesla's bottom line for years, driving industry-leading automotive profit margins that have allowed Musk to essentially control pricing for the electric vehicle market — and left competitors racing to catch up.

Even as Tesla's margins shrink and sales slow, the lower input costs keep Musk ahead of his legacy competition. Companies like Ford and GM are relying heavily on their gas-powered profits to fund their electric futures—neither company has turned a profit on its EVs.

Input costs are key drivers for how automakers set individual vehicle prices, so higher input costs will always lead to higher EV prices for consumers, putting anyone other than Tesla at a disadvantage in a price-sensitive green car market.

Essentially, as long as it still costs Tesla's competition more to build more EVs, these legacy automakers will never win Musk's price war.

That's especially problematic for companies like Ford and GM as wealthy early adopters drop out of the EV market and are replaced by more frugal and practical green-car shoppers.

Still, Tesla's price-slashing method is starting to show some cracks.

The EV industry leader is finally starting to feel the pressure of a slowdown in EV segment growth, reporting disappointing sales and earnings in the first quarter of this year.

Tesla is expected to report June delivery numbers, a closely watched metric by investors, shortly after the first of July.

• Electric-vehicle drivers on road trips often don't have much to do while their cars charge.
• Building charging hubs around attractions and amenities could improve the experience.
• This article is part of "Transforming Business: Infrastructure," a series exploring the advancements reshaping US infrastructure. 

There's a missed opportunity at most electric-vehicle charging stations.

As sales of battery-electric vehicles have increased in recent years, the automotive industry and federal and state governments have been racing to install more charging stations. But building a place to plug in is only the first step in changing the way people fuel their cars.

While the automotive industry has done a lot to reduce the amount of time you need to spend plugging in your car on a road trip, EV charging stops may never match the convenience of five-minute stops to fill your gas tank.

Charging stations themselves are also difficult to make money with. A solution: EV charging hubs decked out with restaurants, entertainment, shopping, and anything else that can occupy the hour or two you may need to get a full battery.

That's much like how a gas station works. An ancillary business built around a charging hub could fund the owner's bottom line more reliably than the fuel itself.

EVs need rest stops

We're not exactly reinventing the wheel here.

Many turnpikes and highways in the US have rest stops or travel centers with amenities that allow drivers to stay longer on the road when they need to stretch their legs. These rest stops are usually funded by tolls or other government-backed funding, which is a more complicated issue for EV charging.

Without any clear guidelines, there hasn't been much uniformity in what a charging station can — or should — look like, leading to a Wild West of different designs and locations. Without a clear way forward, there hasn't been much uniformity in what a charging station can look like.

Figures from the Department of Energy indicate that at the start of 2024, there were some 61,000 public charging stations in the US, more than double the number of stations in 2020. But many of these stations are tucked away on dealership lots or in otherwise empty parking lots.

These stations appear to affect EV adoption. Surveys have suggested that access to public charging infrastructure increases adoption.

But they've also suggested that EV drivers are unsatisfied with the charging experience.

EV charging stations need an overhaul

Tesla is experimenting with what a longer charging stop could look like.

Construction is underway in Hollywood on a Supercharger station that would double as a 24-hour restaurant and drive-in movie theater.

CEO Elon Musk floated the idea of a destination station like this in 2018, saying he wanted to build an "old school drive-in" at a Supercharger location in Los Angeles. In January, an NBC affiliate in Los Angeles reported, citing city documents, that the screens would project short films that occupy the roughly 30 minutes required to charge a Tesla.

The Supercharger station is also supposed to be an attraction of its own, designed to look like a 1950s drive-in and diner — a kitschy stop on a Hollywood road trip.

The design of these charging stations shouldn't just mimic convenience stores and quick-stop establishments. Charging can take a half hour to several hours, depending on the car and the type of charger. That's plenty of time to browse a gift shop, grab a bite to eat, or wander around a roadside attraction.

• Biden needs to spend his debate time attacking Trump's economic policies, sources told CNN.
• The top Democrat sources told CNN that voters just don't care about what Biden has accomplished.
• Polls show more Americans trust Trump on the economy and inflation — the biggest issues for voters.

Joe Biden's advisors say he should spend more time at the debate attacking Donald Trump than focusing on his own White House successes, according to a report from CNN.

Several top Democrats, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told CNN that they've been urging Biden's camp to take an offensive approach to Thursday's debate. They've been advising Biden to focus on criticizing Trump's economic policies and close relationship with corporate America, four sources close to the president told the outlet.

The Biden campaign didn't immediately respond to BI's request for comment.

Biden shouldn't talk so much about what he's accomplished during his time in office, because the voters don't really care, the sources told CNN.

"He wants the credit, but it's not working," one of the top Democrat sources told CNN. "He needs to stop."

Ron Klain, Biden's former chief of staff and longtime aide, has also said the president spends too much time discussing the improvements he's made to infrastructure.

"I think the president is out there too much talking about bridges," Klain said in April. "I think it's kind of a fool's errand."

Klain added that Biden needs to focus on issues people actually care about, like the cost of groceries, because bridges just aren't cutting it.

More than 80% of Americans listed the economy and inflation as the top two issues that will determine who they vote for this November, according to an ABC News/Ipsos poll in May. And more Americans trust Trump over Biden on these issues — 46% trust Trump on the economy while 32% trust Biden, and 44% trust Trump on inflation while 30% trust Biden, according to the poll.

The Biden campaign has been ramping up its attacks on Trump since the former president's felony conviction last month. Just last week, the president's campaign announced a $50 million ad blitz that includes a searing TV ad railing into Trump's "criminal" character.

• Gigi Hadid gifted Taylor Swift a ring with a portrait of her cat, Benjamin Button, on it.
• The ring was made by Cece Jewellery, which specializes in hand-enameled pieces. 
• The custom ring also includes nods to Swift's music, her lucky number, and Travis Kelce. 

Taylor Swift is many things: an award-winning singer and songwriter, charismatic performer, director, billionaire, and recently devoted NFL fan.

But Swift herself would likely say cat mom is her most important label. As the proud pet parent of three cats — Olivia Benson, Meredith Grey, and Benjamin Button — Swift is arguably the world's most famous cat owner.

Swift has long been vocal about her love of her cats, even referencing them in her song Karma, singing, "Karma is a cat, purring in my lap because it loves me."

So when Swift's close friend Gigi Hadid saw a sketch of a ring from Cece Jewellery starring one of the singer's pets, it was no surprise Hadid moved quickly to acquire the accessory for her friend.

High-end jewelry with a pet-friendly twist

Cece Fein-Hughes founded Cece Jewellery, specializing in hand-enameled and ethically sourced jewelry. Her pieces feature portraits of everything from landscapes to people's pets.

"Enamelling is an ancient, ancient craft and has been going since the Byzantine times," Fein-Hughes told Business Insider. "The way in which it's made has not changed, and that's what makes it so special. And there's only a handful of people in the world that can create at the level of craftsmanship that we use."

Fein-Hughes' pieces are even more unique because she combines high-brow craftsmanship and fine materials with whimsical designs, taking inspiration from vintage tattoos and the natural world.

"I love the witchy, whimsical stories of countryside fairy tales," she told BI. "I love basically anything colorful and playful."

Cece Jewellery launched in 2021 and has since become a success. Fein-Hughes landed herself on the Forbes 30 under 30 list, regularly collaborates with celebrities, and makes bespoke pieces that reflect her customers' personalities.

"People come to us with crazy, cute, fabulous, wild ideas. It doesn't mean much to us, but it is like, I don't know, a crazy radish would mean something to someone else," Fein-Hughes told BI of her work. "We like to use every part of the ring of the canvas, whether that's inside, outside, on the top, on the sides."

A sketch of a ring featuring Taylor Swift's cat caught Gigi Hadid's eye

In April, Fein-Hughes shared a series of sketches of rings on her Instagram that starred celebrity pets. Her ring mockups featured A-list pets like Queen Elizabeth II's corgis and Kendall Jenner's Doberman.

Fein-Hughes also posted a sketch of a ring that featured one of Taylor Swift's cats, Benjamin Button, on her Instagram story.

Swift adopted Benjamin, her third cat, after he appeared in the music video for her song "ME!" in 2019. He also appeared in Swift's Time Person of the Year cover in 2023.

Fein-Hughes filled the Benjamin ring sketch with nods to Swift, including her lucky number 13 in a fiery heart on one side and her boyfriend Travis Kelce's jersey number 87 in an identical heart on the other, both of which sit atop a crescent moon.

Pearls, a current favorite design element of Fein-Hughes, surround Benjamin's portrait.

"I'm obsessed with pearl borders, and I keep chucking them into the designs," she said.

The sketch piqued the interest of Hadid, who wanted to buy the ring for her longtime friend, Swift.

The singer often wears personalized jewelry, from a luxury friendship bracelet to pieces that honor her relationship with Kelce, including a TNT bracelet and double T ring.

When Hadid contacted Cece Jewellery about the piece, Fein-Hughes was thrilled to bring the ring to life.

The ring represents the things Swift loves

Hadid loved the design Fein-Hughes created, requesting the piece be even more personalized to Swift.

She had Fein-Hughes add an engraving of "TTPD," the abbreviation of Swift's latest album, "The Tortured Poets Department," on the inside of the ring.

The final product was full of details celebrating Swift's passions, from her cat and her music to her boyfriend.

"I actually think I'm obsessed with the hearts on fire," Fein-Hughes said of her favorite design element.

"I feel like it's just so fun and playful," she said. "And it kind of represents Taylor Swift, who is literally on fire at the moment doing her world tour."

Fein-Hughes did not specify the ring's cost, but she said her bespoke pieces start around $4,000 and can cost upwards of $20,000.

Swift has not been publicly spotted wearing the ring yet, but Hadid told Fein-Hughes the ring was a hit with the Eras Tour star.

"Apparently, she loves it, which is fantastic," Fein-Hughes said. "I can rest easy."

The designer shared photos of the finished ring on her Instagram on Monday, and Hadid thanked her in the comments for the creation, calling the ring "perfect."

The post opened Fein-Hughes's work to a new audience, with Swift fans flooding the comments section to applaud the piece and ask if Fein-Hughes would be making rings for Swift's other cats.

"I love that Gigi found you and you could make this for her," one user wrote.

"This is amazing," another commented.

"I want a best friend like @gigihadid," someone else wrote.

"It's been mad," the designer told BI of the public response to the design. "We have been inundated with requests and people wanting their own pets. People coming back for more orders. Press has gone mad. It's just been a wild ride."