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Inside Business stories reveal the inner workings of companies from Silicon Valley to Wall Street that are shaping our world today.
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Even in challenging times, Walmart continues to deliver solid results.
The retail giant posted strong sales for the third quarter, with a 4.5% increase in same-store sales, beating analysts' expectations. Its e-commerce division saw a 27% increase during the quarter.
"We're gaining market share, improving delivery speed, and managing inventory well. We're well-positioned for a strong finish to the year and beyond that, thanks to our associates," outgoing CEO Doug McMillon said.
McMillon is set to retire in January and be succeeded by John Furner, who heads-up the company's US division.
Walmart is the largest retailer in the world, and more than one in four grocery dollars in the US is spent at one of Walmart stores. That scale gives the company a unique lens into the financial health of American households.
This story is developing. Please check back for updates.
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Business leaders, including Elon Musk and AMD CEO Lisa Su, joined a dinner with President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House on Tuesday.
The guest list, shared by the White House, included members of the Saudi government and royal family, as well as almost 50 US business executives. Soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo also attended.
The dinner was the Tesla CEO's first public visit to the White House since his bitter feud with Trump this summer, following Musk's departure from his role as leader of the White House DOGE Office.
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison, and Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev were on the guest list, but it is unclear if they attended the event.
Here is a list of US executives who attended the high-profile dinner.
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Courtesy of Landon Shuman
My family and I had been in Tanzania for two days and found ourselves in Zanzibar. We had just moved from Texas and came to the beautiful archipelago for language learning. Quickly, we realized that we had no idea what it would be like to adapt to a new culture.
It was Ramadan, and in Zanzibar — outside the tourist area — this meant closed restaurants, shuttered groceries, and recommendations to refrain from even drinking water in public until after dark. The cultural norms, so normal for our hosts and neighbors, were way out of our comfort zone and, unfortunately, our realm of understanding.
Still, my family of four made it our mission to connect with our Tanzanian neighbors. Once we settled in Dar es Salaam, we began the real work of adapting to a new culture as an American family. It took us 11 years.
Recently, a new opportunity in Portugal opened up. The process of grieving our home in Tanzania is still ongoing, but we have hope that our move to Portugal will be guided by the lessons we've learned over the last decade.
Here are three lessons that will help us as we make our second international move — with our now family of six.
When we first moved to Tanzania, we reached out to people to ask questions about lifestyle, home, and community. It still wasn't enough. This time we will be asking even more.
We have already connected with Portuguese and expat friends. We found others who had lived in Tanzania before, as well as a Portuguese real estate agent. My partner has an "auntie" in Portugal, whom she knows through her grandmother, and now this auntie has become our local host as we navigate the newness of Lisbon.
These are the "first people" everyone needs to settle into a new country, helping to navigate everything from turning the lights on in the apartment to the "real" places to shop for ceramics.
We will lean on them before we branch out to build an even stronger community.
When we first moved to Tanzania, my partner and I felt pressure to become fluent in the language as quickly as possible.
We did fairly well, but we could have enjoyed those first years even more if we were more relaxed about the learning process. Others fall at the other end of the spectrum and don't try to learn the language at all.
In Portugal, I'd like our family to land somewhere in the middle — eagerly learning Portuguese and cultural norms for the sake of knowing others more fully and navigating daily situations, but without pressure to reach a certain level.
Learning language and culture is a process, and everyone goes at their own pace. I found that locals know you are trying, and usually, friendly people will help you along the way.
During our time in Tanzania, we tried to discover the "bright spots" about where we lived. It was easy to complain about the things that are different or difficult, so we're going to put in real work to find places of refuge and activities in Portugal.
These aren't a "fix" for the challenges of adapting to and learning a new culture, but they can be places or bits of fun that provide stress relief.
For Portugal, we have already identified some of these places and activities, but we're open to finding more once we officially make the move.
This time around, we feel more prepared for our transition to Portugal than we ever did when we first moved to Tanzania. We are now a family of 6, but having a bigger family doesn't mean extra worry. We are all well-equipped with emotional toolboxes to help us navigate our new normal. Not to mention we have each other if times get tough.
Beyond knowing what to take with us to provide a little bit of comfort and familiarity, we also know that our accumulated knowledge and understanding about how to adapt to a new cultural environment will help us to adjust quickly.
We look forward to new adventures, relationships, and opportunities to grow as we begin our next chapter in Lisbon.
Amanda Shammas
Between hiking in a trench coat and only carrying US dollars, I probably looked like the ultimate tourist on my recent trip to Scotland.
As someone who frequently travels to the UK, I thought I'd be prepared for my first trip to Edinburgh.
However, I ran into a few awkward moments, including packing missteps, planning errors, and a few surprises along the way.
Here are seven mistakes that made me feel like a total tourist.
Amanda Shammas
Amanda Shammas
Amanda Shammas
Amanda Shammas
Amanda Shammas
Amanda Shammas
Amanda Shammas
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After 12 years as a stay-at-home parent, my divorce forced a reckoning: I had to learn how to support myself and rebuild a professional life from scratch. I had become pregnant with my first child in my early 20s before I'd established a full-time, steady career, and after years out of traditional paid work, I struggled to see the value in what I had done. Questions about what I "do for a living" began to feel haunting.
Before, my days were structured around the rhythms of the household and the endless invisible labor that made life feel seamless for everyone else. Now, I have my three kids — a teen, a tween, and a preschooler — half-time, and the precarious balancing act during this life transition is exhausting.
The mosaic career I've been able to piece together is a patchwork of projects, day job shifts, and side hustles. I write and edit essays in the spaces between hockey practices and dance rehearsals, research podcast guests from the laundromat at 9 p.m., and chase creative ideas that might grow into income streams as I try to fall asleep, furiously typing into my notes app, hoping none of my kids wake up in the middle of the night vomiting.
And I'm far from alone. Across the US, millions of workers are piecing together multiple income streams, whether through gig work, freelancing, or side projects, to make ends meet and pursue meaningful work on their own terms. Between 25% and 43% of US workers have taken on some form of gig or nonstandard work. And about one in 10 people rely on freelancing, temporary, or contract work as their main source of income.
Knowing so many others are navigating work this way helped me reframe my own interrupted career ambitions. Every day, I make an effort to shift my perspective and view a nontraditional trajectory not as a setback, but as part of a larger shift in how people, especially mothers, manage work, ambition, and income.
Somewhere in the midst of this rethinking, I came across Neha Ruch's book, "The Power Pause," which helped me find the words for what I'd been feeling: time spent outside the workforce doesn't silence ambition, it just changes its rhythm. Still, reclaiming my professional identity and laying the foundation for financial independence meant facing another truth: the work I'd done as a stay-at-home parent had been largely invisible and undervalued.
I started reaching out to other moms who had made the transition from staying at home to working outside the home, asking how they thought about their time at home in hindsight and what strategies had helped them balance their careers and families. I read books, watched Instagram Reels, joined online communities, and listened to podcasts. In the end, shifting how I thought about work meant seeing my own experience as a resource, not a liability, in the life I was building.
This untangling and restructuring process in my late 30s hasn't been tidy. Most days, I feel a mix of doubt, exhaustion, and guilt. But the work feels meaningful because it's mine, shaped on my terms.
I used to think success was a salary or a title that sounded impressive on paper. Now, it's messier than that, nothing like I imagined. A successful day might mean I got some writing work done, remembered to drink water, put in the hours at my day job, and got all the kids to their extracurriculars on time. A successful week is when all of that happens without me feeling like I'm about to spin out completely.
While it's exhausting to manage all the moving parts, it's also liberating, and I feel proud because my kids have had a front row seat to watch me build things from scratch, to see ideas take root and grow. Because I want my kids to see me working hard, being creative, and following my intuition. My plan for the future is to keep adjusting, learning, and making space for both work and life in ways that feel sustainable and meaningful.
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The man behind some of the biggest televised fights ever wants to see humanoid robots in the ring next.
Ari Emanuel, the entertainment boss overseeing the WWE and UFC as CEO of TKO Group Holdings, went on the "Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy," where he spoke about the future of live events. Emanuel was also asked about his friendship with Elon Musk.
"I believe in Elon Musk," Emanuel said.
Emanuel said he's seen the progress of Tesla's Optimus humanoid robot firsthand. Specifically, its hand movements.
Musk has previously said that Tesla has spent a lot of effort trying to develop human-like hands for Optimus, calling it "an incredibly difficult engineering challenge." Emanuel said the progress in hand movements between generations was "unbelievable."
It also gave him an idea.
"I came up to him, and I said, 'I want to do UFC fights with the robots,'" Emanuel said.
It doesn't sound like Musk dismissed the thought. In fact, Emanuel said, the billionaire showed him robots that could throw punches and kicks. He floated the idea of a fight between Chinese and American robots, which podcast host and investor O'Shaughnessy said "everyone in the world would watch."
Emanuel made it clear that he's no expert in the algorithms and data centers that make AI possible, but he does know entertainment. He said he knows how to create "really great live events" and monetize them.
In 2023, he led the merger of the WWE and UFC owner Endeavor Group Holdings.
In a new era of AI-generated content, Emanuel is leaning hard into live experiences, like food and art festivals and sporting events. Still, he praised Musk for his work on the long list of innovative and AI-powered companies he leads.
"If I'm a betting man, I'm betting on that dude," Emanuel said.
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Dell's ambitious bid to overhaul its internal systems for the AI era — a secretive, multi-year effort codenamed "Project Maverick" — has run into delays.
Project Maverick's mission is to simplify and modernize the company's complex IT sprawl, a step that's seen as "critical" for Dell's AI strategy and future success, according to internal documents first seen by Business Insider in September.
Dell's plan was to decommission most backend systems in one of its two main divisions on February 1, with the second main division to follow in May.
Those plans have been pushed back to May and August, according to an internal memo sent by Jeff Clarke, Dell's vice chairman and chief operating officer, last Thursday.
"After reviewing our readiness assessment, we've made the decision to launch 1.0 in May and 1.1 and 1.2 in August," Clarke said in the memo, which was addressed to all execs, people leaders, and key people working on the project.
Of Dell's two divisions, the client solutions group, which handles hardware like PCs and monitors, will get the new systems first, the memo shows. Three months later, the infrastructure solutions group — which provides servers, storage solutions, and other IT infrastructure — will see the changes.
Clarke, who took on a more active role in the day-to-day leadership of Dell's slowing CSG division in July, said in the memo that a readiness assessment showed that the new system works, but was "not yet ready to scale to Dell's global business."
When asked about the delay, a Dell spokesperson told Business Insider: "While we're not going to discuss the specifics of our internal processes, we prioritize innovation and service to support our team members, customers, and partners."
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In the memo, Clarke said the company needed "more time to test and confirm the system performs consistently under the kind of load Dell will put on it every day."
One Dell employee working on Project Maverick told Business Insider that it was "slightly disappointing" the launch had been pushed back, but that it would be impossible to go ahead with numerous core functions not operating properly.
"We are replacing like two plus decades of tools and processes in about two years. I have no reference for how long this would take in another similarly sized company, but even when pushing the launch back a quarter, it seems like we are doing pretty well," the person said.
According to a Project Maverick onboarding presentation, Dell's existing operations are supported by approximately 4,700 applications, 70,000 servers, and over 10,000 databases. That environment that is "holding us back," Dell said in the presentation, because it is so complex and expensive to maintain.
In November 2024, the company began work on Project Maverick to replace its complex system architecture with a standardized, modern system.
The project was a tightly kept secret — staff working on it have signed NDAs warning them not to mention it by name — and a team of Deloitte consultants was brought in to advise.
These kinds of transformations are "inevitable" as companies implement AI, Joe Depa, the global chief innovation officer at the Big Four professional services firm EY, previously told Business Insider.
"Implementing AI isn't about dropping a tool into old workflows — it requires rethinking processes, systems, and even business models through an 'AI-first' lens," he said.
As the launch delays show, for legacy giants like Dell, which has over 100,000 employees and a four-decade history as a company, modernizing for the AI future is a challenging feat.
"We won't shift this timeline again," Clarke said in the memo, encouraging teams to continue working at the "unprecedented velocity" they have achieved so far.
"We need one set of books by the end of FY27, which means we need six months between the 1.0 launch and December. Compressing that window isn't an option. And losing momentum between now and May isn't either," the chief operating officer said.
Tasks that teams working on Project Maverick still need to tackle before the May launch date include wrapping up development, testing of new systems, scaling them up, and training staff on their use, Clarke wrote.
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Anastasia Soare
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Anastasia Soare, the 67-year-old founder and CEO of cosmetics brand Anastasia Beverly Hills and author of "Raising Brows." She immigrated to the United States from Romania in 1989 and now lives in Los Angeles. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
I opened my first salon in Beverly Hills in 1997 based on my "Golden Ratio" eyebrow method, and launched my line of makeup three years later.
Now, I run the global company, Anastasia Beverly Hills, from my home in Los Angeles.
Here's what a day in my life is like.
Most days, I wake up before my alarm, but I force myself to stay in bed until 7:30. I start working immediately, checking emails and social media even as I lie there.
My life is largely focused on work, but I've learned to find pleasure in it. Sometimes, I'll do a weather forecast for my Instagram or TikTok audience in the mornings, and everybody loves it, but I don't always have time.
Then I have my long black — I only have two coffees a day, and maybe a cup of Kusmi's Anastasia tea later in the day — as I continue responding to emails.
By 8:30, I'm exercising with the weight machine that's in my bedroom. If I have time, I'll run on the treadmill, but I'm often bombarded by early Zoom meetings.
My morning skincare routine includes a lot of products, and I change them often, sometimes every week. I feel like you get better results. Then I do my makeup — my foundation, my brows, my blush, and everything else. I use a lot of my own products.
I don't plan out my clothes each day, but I have an impressive closet. I'm a bit of a fashion addict, and I have pieces from many designers, from Chanel to Yohji Imamoto.
Anastasia Soare
I like to stay informed about the latest developments in the fashion world, so I read The Business of Fashion, Bloomberg, and geopolitical news that may impact our shipping operations.
A lot of my day is spent on Zoom. I try to do my weight exercises in between calls.
On Fridays, we have more strategy Zooms, and I'll train the field team on new products by doing my makeup on camera. I want to teach them myself. I'm pretty involved in every aspect of the business.
Anastasia Soare
My desk is filled with makeup products, bills, and print-outs of my schedule. We don't have an office anymore, and I kind of miss those days.
At home, though, I play music all day. I'll play classical in the morning and Pink Martini, a band with happy, European-style music, later.
I practice intermittent fasting, so my first meal is around 12 or 1 p.m., depending on my Zoom schedule. Usually, I make a salad with grilled chicken or fish, or maybe a soup. I don't snack during the day.
I don't really get stressed. There will be problems the moment I open my email — small, big, and extremely important problems. Business is about finding solutions.
After a walk, I drive five minutes to my 92-year-old mom's house most days around 6 p.m. She's not very active anymore, so we usually just sit and talk.
I'm usually home by 7 p.m., and if I'm going out to dinner or an event, I'll shower, style my hair, and apply my evening makeup.
If I'm staying in, I'll cook dinner, which usually consists of a small piece of steak with vegetables, or Alaskan fish with rice and a variety of spices. I spend a lot of the night doing research on social media or in magazines.
I don't watch TV during the week, as I struggle to stop after just one show. I'll watch brainless shows until 3 a.m., and that's a no-no, so I only log into Netflix on Sundays.
Some nights I'll do flower arranging, but I usually save that for the weekends. I love all flowers, especially roses and orchids, and the arranging relaxes me.
When it's time for bed, I remove all my makeup and apply a face mask. I've also recently become obsessed with Jennifer Lopez's eye patches. I take great care of my hair — using masks, conditioners, and anything else to keep it healthy.
There's a red light therapy bed in my bathroom, and I try to use it for 20 minutes at night to reduce inflammation.
Anastasis Soare
With social media, I'm lucky if I read even a few pages at night. When I lived in Romania, I read constantly. There was nothing on TV except for Communist propaganda, and we didn't have computers or much of anything else. Reading was the best way to learn.
I still love history and business books. Right now, I'm reading "The Power of Action," "Scrambled or Sunny Side Up, and "Cartier: The Untold Story."
On the nights I stay in, I'm asleep by midnight.
Courtesy of Keaidy Bennett
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Keaidy Bennett, a 36-year-old who sold her marital home in Fort Worth, Texas, in 2021. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
In 2019, my ex-husband and I purchased our first home in Fort Worth, Texas, for $222,000. We were able to buy our home with down payment assistance available to veterans.
Our starter home had four bedrooms and three bathrooms, and was an almost 3,000-square-foot home. I had my own garden, an office, and all three of my children had their own rooms, as well as an upstairs playroom. We were also in a really great school district. The home really was a dream come true.
Unfortunately, by 2020, our marriage was coming to an end. When you're breaking apart a life you once built, it just feels like everything is crashing down. Eventually, I moved in with my mom.
When I finally filed for divorce, there wasn't much conversation about it — we just decided to sell the house. It felt like our life together was over, so that was over, too.
Once I finally got to a point where I was ready to divorce, my emotions were so heightened that all of my common sense kind of went out of the window. I can't speak for him, but in that moment, I wasn't thinking about the long-term vision.
During the divorce, he agreed to take whatever he had, and I agreed to take whatever I had. The only real sore spot was the house. We both felt strongly about wanting to keep the house.
Courtesy of Keaidy Bennett
I assumed I'd stay at home with our children, as we were within walking distance of their school.
Still, I hired a real estate attorney to help with the sale process because I was overwhelmed. In the end, we sold it and split the proceeds.
Looking back, it was the wrong approach. I wish we had taken some time to really consider the future for our children — and how keeping that asset could have benefited everyone in the long run.
When we purchased our home in 2019, it was the perfect time in the real estate market — everything fell into place: A low mortgage rate and a reasonable home price. However, today it's a very different story; the housing market just isn't what it used to be.
When we bought back then, we had more leverage. I remember walking into certain places and saying, "I don't like this," and they'd be agreeable to making changes. But now, the prices of everything have gone up.
Marcia Straub/Getty Images
My children and I now live in a townhome in Central Florida that I'm renting. It's been four years since we moved, but my children still make comments about missing their old playroom or the scenic view they had from their bedroom.
I pay $1,598 for my townhome, and with extras like internet and the in-unit washer and dryer, it comes to almost $2,000 a month. It's more than our previous mortgage of $1,738.
The last time I checked, our old home's value had also almost doubled since we purchased it. Instead of selling and losing that asset, I wish we could have found another solution that would have had a more positive financial impact on us and our children.
Fortunately, my ex-husband and I are on great terms.
Still, if I had known then what I know now, I would have found a way to cohabitate. I'd say to my ex, "Let's just keep the house. When it's your time, I'll leave — and vice versa."
Honestly, I think that could have worked for us if we had slowed down and really thought the process through.
I don't think anyone gets married expecting to get divorced, but if I were to go through a divorce again, I'd definitely be more of an adult about it. I'd also have those tough discussions upfront — like, if anything were to happen, this is how we'd handle it.
Editor's note: Bennett's ex-husband declined to comment.