Tag: News

• JD Vance, Trump's VP pick, has not always entirely aligned with the GOP on key issues.
• He worked with Elizabeth Warren on banking regulation and supported Lina Khan's antitrust policies. 
• Still, Vance has largely supported conservative stances and stands behind Trump's policies.

JD Vance is now a vice presidential candidate — but he might not entirely align with the former president's policies, especially when it comes to Corporate America.

On Monday, former President Donald Trump selected the Republican senator from Ohio to serve as his running mate. While Vance was among a list of contenders for the past few months, this pick would have been a surprise in 2016 when Vance referred to Trump as "America's Hitler" and "a total fraud."

However, when Vance took office in January 2023, his rhetoric shifted to supporting Trump — but some of his actions as a senator split from those of his GOP colleagues. For example, he worked with Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown on railroad safety and Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren on banking regulation, displaying bipartisanship early in his tenure.

"One of the things I've learned here is that it's very easy to disagree with people so long as you're not an asshole, and still get things done," Vance said last year.

To be sure, Vance has proven he's capable of flipping. He went from a "Never Trump Republican" to Trump's pick for vice president, and he supports a range of conservative issues, from increased tariffs to opposing abortion rights. He's also broken from his party to support the Biden administration's antitrust policy, increased corporate taxes, and more, showing how he might not be the traditional, business-friendly pick many thought Trump would go for.

That doesn't mean the Democrats he worked with support him. Shortly after Vance was announced as Trump's pick, Warren joined a campaign call for Biden and said that "billionaires on Wall Street and Silicon Valley are cheering, but there is no joy for working people."

Where Vance stands on key issues

Cracking down on big banks has always been a major issue for Warren. Following the Silicon Valley Bank collapse, Vance joined her fight last year in pushing for legislation that would claw back compensation for bank executives whose banks fail.

"The executives responsible for running their banks into the ground are sitting on millions of dollars in compensation and bonuses," Vance said at the time. "Meanwhile, the American people are bearing the financial burden for their excessive risk-taking and gross mismanagement."

Vance has also expressed support for the antitrust policies of Lina Khan, commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission, as his GOP colleagues have criticized Khan for overstepping her authority when it comes to issues like breaking up Big Tech monopolies. He said in February that she's "one of the few people in the Biden administration that I think is doing a pretty good job."

When it comes to raising taxes, Vance also hasn't ruled out that possibility. In 2021, after corporate executives discussed halting donations to fight state voting bills, Vance wrote on X: "Raise their taxes and do whatever else is necessary to fight these goons."

Still, on other issues like trade, abortion, and education, Vance has stayed behind Trump's policies. He supports aggressive increases in tariffs for Chinese imports, and he has opposed abortion, having previously compared it to murder. He also aligns with his party on issues like gun control, rejecting Democratic efforts for stricter gun laws.

While it's unclear how much of an influence Vance will have on Trump's agenda, it's likely he will fall in line with his running mate's policies. But his record could still concern some traditional conservatives who disagree with Vance's partnerships with some progressive lawmakers.

• The EA-18G Growler got its first air-to-air kill during the US Navy's counter-Houthi mission.
• The electronic warfare aircraft was deployed for months aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower.
• It would have used an AIM-120 air-to-air missile to intercept the unspecified threat.

A US Navy electronic warfare aircraft scored its first-ever air-to-air kill battling the Houthis, the sea service revealed.

The EA-18G Growler pilot that took the kill shot spent months aboard the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower as part of Electronic Attack Squadron 130, or VAQ-130. The carrier just returned to its homeport in Washington state after a lengthy combat deployment to the Middle East.

In the volatile region, the squadron worked alongside other elements of the carrier air wing, providing the Navy with crucial airborne capabilities as it tirelessly defended commercial shipping lanes in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden from relentless Houthi attacks.

The squadron conducted multiple strikes targeting the Iran-backed rebels in Yemen and carried out hundreds of combat missions to degrade their capabilities, the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group said in a statement on Sunday. VAQ-130 also became "the first Growler squadron in Navy history to score an air-to-air kill," it said.

The Growler is a modified variant of the F/A-18F Super Hornet that includes sophisticated electronic warfare capabilities. It is armed with tactical jamming pods and AGM-88 HARM air-to-surface missiles that are designed to home in on electronic transmissions that come from radar systems.

The aircraft is also equipped with AIM-120 air-to-air missiles, a beyond-visual-range weapon that would have been used to score the kill acknowledged by the Navy.

The Navy didn't specify what Houthi threat the Growler eliminated; however, a video shared by the Eisenhower's commanding officer appeared to show a drone kill marking on the side of a Growler sitting on the Ike's flight deck, as the defense outlet The War Zone pointed out. Other aircraft have been spotted with similar silhouettes painted on them during the deployment.

Beyond the Growlers and Super Hornets, the Eisenhower's carrier air wing also consisted of an E-2 Hawkeye early-warning aircraft and helicopters.

As of May, the Eisenhower's carrier air wing had been involved in the release of over 350 air-to-surface weapons and over 50 air-to-air missiles, according to Navy officials, and by the time the strike group left the region in late-June, the air wing had logged more than 30,000 hours of flight time across thousands of sorties.

The Navy said VAQ-130 aviators saw "malicious, indiscriminate use" of Houthi anti-ship ballistic and cruise missiles and one-way attack drones and supported the launch of over 120 Standard Missiles and dozens of Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles.

The squadron's commanding officer on Sunday praised his aviators for their combat work after facing what the Navy described as a "historic" deployment of "nine months of operations in a persistent weapons engagement zone."

"I can't remember the last time the Navy had a more challenging deployment with a combination of multiple extensions, severely limited opportunities for R&R, and true combat," said Cmdr. Carl Ellsworth. "Not just for aviators, but the crew of the whole strike group as well, in the most kinetic action at sea since World War II."

• The Secret Service is under scrutiny after a would-be assassin got in close range of Donald Trump.
• After Ronald Reagan was the target of an assassination attempt, the agency faced a lesser reckoning.
• In recent years, the Secret Service has been plagued by scandal.

As a gunman fired shots at former President Donald Trump at a rally Saturday, nicking his right ear, US Secret Service agents instantly sprung into action.

The agents surrounding Trump dove on top of him, covering his body to protect him from any more bullets. Another agent, his eye looking through the lens of a sniper rifle, shot the would-be assassin in the head, killing him.

A major question remained: How did the Secret Service let a guy with a rifle get so close to Trump in the first place?

The last time a president or presidential candidate was the subject of a similar assassination attempt was Ronald Reagan.

Back then, the Secret Service faced less of a reckoning.

On March 30, 1981, John Hinckley Jr. got within a few feet of Reagan outside a Washington, DC, hotel where the president gave a speech to union representatives.

Hinckley Jr. fired six times with his pistol. As Secret Service members shoved Reagan into his limousine, one bullet ricocheted off the side of the vehicle, went through the one-inch gap between the limo's body and open door, and penetrated Reagan's left side, breaking a rib and puncturing a lung, according to government records from the time.

The Secret Service came under some scrutiny at that time, too. The US Senate and US House of Representatives each held hearings the following month to evaluate how well the agency did its job. But members of Congress mostly praised agents for their performance and mused on the nature of protecting politicians in open societies. Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy advocated for gun control legislation.

The Treasury Department, which housed the Secret Service at the time, prepared its own report. The 100-page document, completed in less than a month, reviewed its own procedures and was full of praise for itself, writing that the agents protecting Reagan "reacted in precisely the manner required by their training and the applicable procedures," and recommending awards for the four agents who protected him. The report, prepared by Treasury Department General Counsel Peter J. Wallison, offered a few recommendations for the future, including better ways for the Secret Service to communicate with other federal agencies and having a paramedic travel with the presidential detail.

"In many ways, that transfixing encounter with fate was an easy case: the gunman acted alone; on a weekday; with a low-caliber weapon; in Washington, D.C.; while the President was at the door of his limousine; within a mile or two of a fully equipped and staffed metropolitan hospital; above all, the President's wound was not mortal," the report read. "Anyone can imagine less favorable circumstances, and it is for these that Treasury and other agencies must be prepared."

The Secret Service has been plagued by scandal

Reagan was seriously injured in the shooting, as were a Secret Service agent and DC police officer on the scene. James Brady, his press secretary, suffered the worst injuries, with a bullet to the head that caused lifelong neurological issues.

On Saturday, Thomas Matthew Crooks shot and killed Corey Comperatore, an attendee of the Trump rally in Pennsylvania, and injured two other bystanders, even as he failed at his attempt to kill Trump himself.

By 2024, the Secret Service's longstanding reputation as an elite force has been damaged by controversies in recent years.

Members of the agency deleted text messages from January 6, 2021, making them unavailable for a congressional panel investigating the pro-Trump insurrection attempt. Earlier this year, an agent was removed from Vice President Kamala Harris's detail after reportedly assaulting a superior officer. In 2022, two agents were placed on leave after reportedly getting into a fight with a cab driver in Seoul. A 2015 House panel report faulted the Secret Service for numerous security breaches, which more recent agency leaders have tried to clean up.

Already, congressional oversight is more intense after the Trump shooting than it was after the Reagan shooting. Six committees have demanded answers from the Secret Service, according to Politico: the House Oversight Committee, House Judiciary Committee, House Homeland Security Committee, House Intelligence Committee, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and Senate Judiciary Committee.

Members of each committee received briefings from law enforcement Monday or were scheduled to receive them Tuesday, Politico reported. Kimberly Cheatle, the director of the Secret Service, is scheduled to testify in front of the House Oversight Committee on July 22. Some members of Congress are considering whether to create an independent commission to examine the Trump shooting in the same mold as the Warren Commission that investigated the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, according to The New York Times.

The Department of Homeland Security — which took over control of the Secret Service from the Treasury Department when it was created in 2003 — has already announced a beefed-up security detail for Trump. President Joe Biden also ordered a Secret Service detail for independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose father was killed in a political assassination in 1968 and whose previous requests for Secret Service protection had been denied.

The Reagan assassination attempt investigations focused on Hinckley

The main difference in the government agency reactions in 1981 compared to now is that Reagan's would-be killer was still alive.

Hinckley Jr. was arrested immediately. His motives were readily apparent: He wanted to impress actor Jodie Foster by killing a US president.

At trial, a jury found him not guilty, agreeing with his insanity defense. Hinckley Jr. was placed in a mental health institution and ultimately released in 2016.

The FBI is investigating the Trump shooting, and it isn't clear what actions they'll ultimately take. The motive of Crooks, a registered Republican and reported gun enthusiast, is much less evident.

Representatives for the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security did not respond to Business Insider's requests for comment on whether they'd publish reports about the Trump shooting.

The FBI investigation into Hinckley Jr. was overseen by then-Assistant Attorney General Rudy Giuliani. That investigation focused on building the criminal case against Hinckley Jr. A 1,000-page report — completed just two months after the Reagan shooting — featured interviews with eyewitnesses, medical records, forensic evidence, and a deep dive into Hinckley's past.

In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, members of Congress and the media focused on an earlier incident with Hinckley. He was arrested in Nashville the prior October on weapons charges, possessing guns and handcuffs, when then-President Jimmy Carter visited the city.

Journalists immediately found records related to the arrest, which took up prominent space on the front page of The New York Times a day after the shooting. But Hinckley hadn't been on the Secret Service's internal watchlist, and members of Congress demanded to know why the FBI didn't inform the Secret Service about the earlier arrest.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms played a role in the investigation, too, tracing the purchase of Hinckley's handgun to a pawnshop in Dallas.

The Justice Department also prepared a memorandum on presidential succession after then-Secretary of State Alexander Haig falsely claimed he was "in charge" at the White House until then-Vice President George HW Bush arrived (the Speaker of the House and President Pro Tempore of the Senate were in line before him).

Congress later passed two significant laws following the shooting. After Hinckley's acquittal, Reagan signed a law in 1984 restricting the use of the insanity defense — shifting the burden from prosecution to the defense in criminal cases. In 1993, with support from Brady and his family, President Bill Clinton signed into law the Brady Act, which regulated handgun purchases, after versions of the law floated through Congress in the aftermath of the shooting.

The Reagan shooting took place in a period of history when attempted and successful assassinations were not uncommon. John Lennon was killed just a few months earlier, and Pope John Paul II was shot a couple of months later. In the Treasury Department report, Wallison wrote that violence struck at the heart of democracy itself.

"What is already clear is that a democratic system which values an orderly transfer of authority through free elections cannot allow the results of these processes to be redirected or reversed by violence," he wrote.

• Some people are hiring two surrogates at the same time to carry their babies.
• Concurrent surrogacy can be complicated and costly, with prices reaching up to $500,000 or more.
• Many people who do it are in their 40s and trying to build out their family quickly.

Bill Houghton still vividly remembers the moment he met his son.

He was sitting in the hospital waiting room, right outside the birthing room, when a nurse appeared carrying a little green bundle.

"I just held him in my arms and just started crying. It was so overwhelming. My husband was like, 'Oh my God, I can't believe that this is it. We're a family,'" Houghton told Business Insider. "This is my son."

Just one week later, Houghton and his husband would have the same experience all over again when their second child, another son, was delivered.

"And it has been like that ever since," he said. "To this day, I still look at them and I think, 'Oh my God, these are my sons.' My father had sons. I never thought that I would have a son."

Houghton and his husband opted to become parents via concurrent surrogacy — a process in which two surrogates are hired to carry two babies at the same, or overlapping, time.

The resulting children can be born anywhere from one week apart, like Houghton's, to nine months apart, and have been referred to by some people in the industry as "tandem siblings" or "twiblings."

Surrogacy agencies told BI that concurrent surrogacy journeys are not uncommon, with some saying it's a rising trend in a growing industry that was valued at $14 billion in 2022 by Global Market Insights and has attracted the investments of private equity firms.

All kinds of people — couples or singles, straight or gay, young or old — have opted to build out their family two at a time via concurrent surrogacy. But there is one thing that most parents of twiblings have in common: the ability to afford them.

While Houghton hired surrogates abroad, couples who choose to go through US-based agencies can easily spend $300,000 to half a million dollars or more on concurrent surrogates, according to five surrogacy agencies that spoke to BI.

"It is a luxury, absolutely," Brooke Kimbrough, cofounder and CEO of Roots Surrogacy, told BI. "Most American families don't have $200,000 in cash to go through surrogacy generally, and then $400,000-plus in cash to be able to go through that twice at the same time."

Still, the use of concurrent surrogates could grow as surrogacy generally grows in the US, in part because celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Chrissy Teigen have started opening up about using surrogates, as well as depictions in film and TV that have made the practice more mainstream. Teigen was even pregnant at the same time as her surrogate.

Surrogacy is also becoming increasingly relevant as more and more people are opting to have kids and start building their families later in life.

Concurrent surrogacy can help build a family quickly

Concurrent journeys typically look like regular surrogacy journeys, just times two. Gestational surrogacy, when IVF is used to place a fertilized embryo into a surrogate, is the most common form of surrogacy in the US today. Parents can use their own egg and sperm or that of donors.

Like many gay couples, Houghton and his husband each used their sperm for one of the babies, as well as the same egg donor, so their sons are technically half brothers.

While there has been increased awareness around what some call "social surrogacy" — using a surrogate when it's not medically or biologically necessary — the majority of people who conceive via surrogacy do so because they have to.

"Typically, when people come to us, they've been through a lot. This is not their plan A, it's often not plan B, maybe it's plan C," Kim Bergman, a psychologist and senior partner at Growing Generations, told BI. "They've had a lot of disappointment, and they've had a lot of trials and tribulations."

Many hopeful parents are in their 40s and are simply eager to build their families, the agencies said. A surrogacy journey can easily take one and a half to two years, so for intended parents who know they want multiple kids, concurrent surrogates can be appealing.

Certainly, some people who opt for concurrent surrogates do not fit the definition of medically necessary, at least according to the standards laid out by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM).

Some people have mental health reasons or a fear of giving birth. Others are actors or brain surgeons who spend 12 hours a day on their feet and who can't get pregnant and continue to do their jobs. All the surrogacy agencies BI spoke with said it's essentially never the case that someone opts for surrogacy simply for vanity reasons.

David Sher, founder and CEO of Elite IVF, told BI they've helped coordinate surrogates for celebrities, politicians, and people in demanding careers like finance or tech. He said he currently has a client who serves on the cabinet of a Western country and is trying to have a baby via surrogate in part due to her demanding schedule.

Sher said he thinks concurrent surrogacy has long been an option for intended parents but that there does seem to be an uptick in people who are opting to do it.

Part of the reason for that could be because fewer and fewer agencies are willing to do double embryo transfers, which were previously more common and could result in a twin pregnancy. The ASRM recommends against them, as twin pregnancies come with heightened risks for both the surrogate and the babies. So concurrent surrogacy is a safer option for intended parents who want to have two kids at the same time or in close succession.

Costly and complicated

Though it's viewed as a safer option, concurrent surrogacy is controversial. The ASRM guidelines actually recommend against concurrent surrogacy, as well as against social, or not medically necessary, surrogacy. But all five surrogacy agencies that BI spoke to will facilitate concurrent surrogacies.

The agencies said they've seen many concurrent surrogacy journeys be successful and that a lot of care and prior planning goes into making them happen.

"It's not taken lightly," Bergman said, adding that concurrent journeys are rarely chosen by 30-year-olds who have plenty of time to build their families, though that does occasionally happen.

Surrogacy, in general, is expensive — commonly ranging from $150,000 to $250,000 for one child. The costs go toward surrogate compensation, agency fees, legal fees for contracts, and clinical bills.

The agencies BI spoke with said a concurrent surrogacy journey would essentially cost twice that. Meaning there's no two-for-one special.

But cost isn't the only factor to consider. Perhaps the primary drawback to pursuing concurrent surrogacy (that is, besides the high price tag) is the logistics of it.

All the agencies emphasized that concurrent surrogacy should only be pursued with full transparency and the fully informed consent of every person involved. That means matching intended parents to surrogates who are fully aware and OK with the fact that they will not be the only surrogate.

There's also tons of planning and talking through hypotheticals. Are the surrogates based in the same area? Can the parents attend both births? Are we staggering expected delivery times enough? What's the plan if one surrogate gets pregnant on the first try but the other doesn't?

There's also a psychological aspect. Will both surrogates feel fully supported? How will one feel if she doesn't get pregnant right away and the other does?

"All of these conversations are front-loaded. Anytime in the conversation, the surrogate can say, 'I'm not comfortable doing this,'" Bergman said, adding that sometimes, after thinking through the logistics, some parents will change their minds and plan to space the deliveries out further than they initially wanted, like to six or nine months.

Most agencies recommended staggering the planned deliveries by at least three months. But at the end of the day, parents need to be ready for the timeline to not go exactly as planned.

Houghton and his husband had actually planned to have their babies six weeks apart, but when one of the babies was born five weeks premature, they ended up with birthdays one week apart.

Concurrent surrogacy may not be for everyone — even if you can afford it

Although the cost of concurrent surrogacy makes it prohibitive for most people, that could change in the future as more and more companies expand their fertility benefits.

There are also more nonprofits popping up that will provide grants or partial funds to people who want to build their families via surrogacy but may not have the means to.

Jarret Zafran, founder and executive director at Brownstone Surrogacy, told BI that it's not necessarily only the ultrawealthy who pursue concurrent surrogacy. He said he currently has clients who are lifelong educators on the older side who are getting ready to start the surrogacy process. They recently asked about what it would look like for them to do a concurrent journey.

"I guess it is still a luxury in the sense that most Americans would not even be in a financial position to afford it the first time," Zafran, who also had a child with his husband through surrogacy, said. "But for them, this is not a frivolous decision, and they're scraping together every single little penny that they have, all of their savings, their retirement funds, and I get it."

By using surrogates abroad over a decade ago, Houghton and his husband, who are based in Spain, spent much less on their concurrent surrogates than they would have in the US. But he's still not totally sure why they chose to do concurrent journeys rather than space the children out a bit more.

"We just liked the idea of having two kids that were about the same age that would sort of grow up together," he said, adding, "I didn't realize at the time the challenges that would come with having two kids."

In reality, he said having the two boys grow up so close together in age, not twins but in the same class in school, ended up leading to a lot of conflict and constant competition as they were growing up. He said it has gotten better now that the boys are facing their teen years and developing their own identities.

Still, if he could do it over again, he thinks he would stagger them more.

"They're unbelievable young men, and I'm so proud of everything about them," he said. "But having the two together has been a challenge."

Have a news tip or a story to share about concurrent surrogacy? Contact this reporter at kvlamis@businessinsider.com.

• Tesla's Berlin factory has a missing coffee mugs problem, a German newspaper reported.
• A factory manager said he would remove all breakroom cutlery until the thefts end, Handelsblatt reported.
• The manager reportedly said they had ordered 65,000 mugs since the factory opened two years ago.

Tesla's Berlin factory has a coffee mug problem. They apparently keep going missing.

While Tesla's Berlin factory has generated plenty of headlines over the past two years, this is the first time we've read about any concerns over coffee cup thefts.

Tesla plant manager Andre Thierig addressed the issue during a staff meeting last week, the German newspaper Handelsblatt reported.

"I'm just going to give you a figure," Thierig said, according to German outlet DW's translation of the report. "We've bought 65,000 coffee mugs since we started production here. 65,000! Statistically speaking, each of you already has five Ikea coffee cups at home."

While the factory's 12,000 employees may be keen to take the cups home, Thierig assured that there would be no more cutlery in breakrooms until the mug thefts stopped, according to the newspaper's report.

"I'm really tired of approving orders to buy more coffee cups," he said, which got some laughter and clapping from employees, according to DW's translation.

The apparently somewhat lighthearted ribbing may have come as a light palette cleanser after any heavier discussions on the tensions between Tesla and IG Metall, a German union representing workers at Tesla's Gigafactory in Germany.

Workers have reportedly criticized the carmaker's working conditions, including long work hours and alleged there have been numerous work accidents.

• Amazon's Prime Day is a major contributor to warehouse worker injuries.
• That's according to a new report from a US Senate committee.
• Amazon warehouse workers have faced potential injuries related to moving packages and merchandise.

Amazon warehouse workers who move the retailer's merchandise during Prime Day get hurt — a lot.

That's one of the key findings from a preliminary report from the US Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee released on Tuesday.

The report is the result of a yearlong investigation into what it's like to work at Amazon's warehouses.

Among HELP's findings was that, during Amazon's Prime Day shopping event in 2019, the tech and retail giant reported 10 injuries per 100 warehouse workers to the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Prime Day, which results in a high volume of orders, is taking place July 16 and 17 this year.

That rate represents the injuries that Amazon is legally required to report to the government. It's also already "more than double the industry average," the committee wrote.

"But this number does not tell the full story," the preliminary results read. The committee estimates that the real rate at Amazon's warehouses is 45 injuries per 100 workers.

"That is nearly half of the company's warehouse workers," the report reads.

Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said the report "draws sweeping and inaccurate conclusions based on unverified anecdotes, and it misrepresents documents that are several years old and contained factual errors and faulty analysis."

Amazon pushed back on a claim in the report that said it was "not adequately staffed for busy shopping periods," for instance.

The report is further evidence that working in Amazon's warehouses can come with risks for employees.

A 2022 investigation by BI, for instance, found that Amazon warehouse workers were more likely to develop musculoskeletal injuries than their counterparts at similar facilities not owned by Amazon, based on data from Washington state.

Last month, regulators in California fined Amazon for undisclosed quotas that the regulators said "workers to increased pressure to work faster and can lead to higher injury rates."

Do you work for Amazon and have a story idea to share? Reach out to this reporter at abitter@businessinsider.com

• Cutting-edge projects, iconic branding, and more make Apple a coveted employer.
• Recruiters and career coaches agree that it's a résumé booster for any applicant.
• Here's why people are so keen to work at Apple.

Landing a corporate job at Apple is such a big deal for tech workers that some seek out career coaches to help get interviews. Others apply to multiple open positions at the company at once to try to secure an offer.

Sure, it's one of the world's most valuable companies, alongside Silicon Valley neighbors like Meta and Alphabet. But what's the specific Apple lure?

Career expert Marc Cenedella told Business Insider he had the chance to hear Apple's late founder, Steve Jobs, answer a similar question.

"'Taste,' he replied," Cenedella said. "'Taste' is the essence of what attracts people to want to work, sleep, play, and live with the Apple brand today."

Apple has been at the forefront of innovation when it comes to smartphones, tablets, and wearable gadgets. Devices like the iPod, Mac computer, and iPhone have become iconic, helping the company gain and keep a massive dedicated global user base (Wedbush Securities analysts estimated earlier this year that there are 2.2 billion iOS devices out there). They've also helped the company itself swell. At the end of last year, Apple employed around 161,000 people.

Career experts told BI that Apple's creative culture, innovation, and legacy are big pulls for applicants.

Apple is seen as a place where workers 'push boundaries'

Apple positions itself as more than just a job. The brand touts its creativity and imagination, attractive qualities for young professionals.

"We aren't merely creating products. We're creating something magical for the person who uses it," a quote from Apple engineering manager Ehsan Farkhondeh reads on Apple's careers page.

Like its products, Apple has worked hard to brand itself as a more playful and curious environment than its competitors.

"The company has a reputation for fostering creativity, championing collaboration, and creating an environment where employees are encouraged to push boundaries, making it a coveted position for many," Chaitra Vedullapalli, cofounder of Women in Cloud, said.

Even Apple Park, the company's headquarters in Cupertino, has earned the nicknames "the spaceship" and "the ring" for its memorable futuristic circular design.

And the lure of working for a company where everyone knows what it makes can't be dismissed.

"Apple's products are globally recognized for their quality and impact, contributing to its prestige," Arianny Mercedes, a former American Express talent manager and career coach, told BI.

Apple is attractive, and not just for its pay

According to one Reddit user, securing a job offer at Apple after college is such a priority that it influences what university they'll attend. Another Apple hopeful posted that he was "getting desperate" for a job at the company and applied for 60 jobs in one day.

Apple's pay and benefits are competitive. Employees are eligible for stock, stock options, or share discounts.

When former Apple creative recruiter Theresa Park was approached about a position, she wasn't planning to leave her role at Spotify.

But "Apple pay is much higher when we are looking at the overall package," Park told BI.

"They ended up offering me something I couldn't refuse," she added.

Still, for most, it's about more than the money.

"It's the opportunity to work on cutting-edge technology and be part of groundbreaking projects that often set Apple apart," Mercedes said.

When it comes to innovation, 2024 is a big year for Apple. The company is on the verge of releasing its AI venture, Apple Intelligence, and debuting a new iPhone and new operating technology later this year.

To be sure, its latest innovation, the pricey Vision Pro headset, didn't create the splash the company may have wanted. But the opportunity for Apple to dominate the world of AI (and for said AI to spark a "golden upgrade cycle" with the newest iPhone) is huge, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said.

Apple's solid legacy is also a lure for workers

Apple's nearly 50-year history has been the source material for multiple movies, like "Jobs" and "Steve Jobs." It began in a garage in 1976 and now has a market cap of over $3 trillion. The company spent years building personal computers and introduced the iPod in 2001. It swiftly followed up with the iPhone, probably the most recognizable global smartphone, in 2007.

Since then, Apple has released nearly 20 more iPhone models, and it shows no signs of slowing down.

Drew Evans, COO of professional services company High Trail, also said, "Working at Apple is a résumé builder." Having Apple on your résumé could be the difference between it getting discarded or being seriously considered by recruiters.

"People know that Apple hires strong talent, and having that branding on your future job applications will almost always guarantee a second look," Evans told BI.

And why wouldn't they want an employee who has worked at the same place as famous iPhone designer Jony Ive?

After all, "A better, more thoughtful, more beautiful, more crafted, (more expensive) experience elevates Apple above all others," Cenedella said.

• Before her death in a plane crash, Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy was a well-known fashion icon.
• As the wife of John F. Kennedy Jr., she was frequently photographed at glamorous events.
• She was known for her classic style that has come to embody the quiet-luxury aesthetic.

Arguably no one can nail classic, "cool-girl" style quite like Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy did.

Bessette-Kennedy shot to prominence in the mid to late '90s as the girlfriend and then wife of prominent Kennedy family member John F. Kennedy Jr., the only son of former President John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

John F. Kennedy Jr., Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, and her older sister, Lauren Bessette, were killed in a plane crash 25 years ago on July 16, 1999. There were no survivors from the accident, which happened off the coast of Martha's Vineyard.

Before her passing, Bessette-Kennedy was known as a fashion icon, thanks to her minimalist outfits, which embodied what we now call the quiet-luxury aesthetic and featured a color palette of mostly black, white, beige, and navy.

Thomaï Serdari, the director of the fashion and luxury MBA program at NYU's Stern School of Business, previously told Business Insider that quiet luxury is defined as "clothing of the highest quality, but also clothing that [is timeless], is sophisticated and understated" — that is, no gaudy prints or designer logos in sight.

Here are nine of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy's best, most timeless looks.

Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy defied the fashion "rule" that you can't mix black, brown, and beige.

Pictured here with John F. Kennedy Jr. in front of their Tribeca apartment in New York City, Bessette-Kennedy embodied classic autumnal fashion by pairing patent-leather brown boots with a simple black sweater and a camel-colored, calf-length skirt.

She accessorized with an understated black-leather bag and swept her blonde hair back into a low ponytail.

Before she married John F. Kennedy Jr., she was a publicist at Calvin Klein, which appeared to influence her personal style.

Bessette-Kennedy knew how to ace perfectly tailored, classic pieces similar to the ones Klein is known for, like this structured white button-up and black mermaid-tail skirt.

Vogue called this minimalist look "the epitome of uptown glamour without compromising her pared-back aesthetic."

She tended to stick to a basic color palette of black for formal events.

Pictured here with her husband at the Municipal Art Society Gala in 1998, Bessette-Kennedy wore a strapless black column gown, velvet gloves, and pointed strappy stiletto heels.

However, for an off-duty look, she didn't shun color altogether.

In 1996, while walking around New York City, she was photographed wearing a flowy summer dress with a bright floral print, black strappy heels, and a black, patent-leather handbag.

She looked effortlessly cool in a pair of perfectly tailored jeans and strappy sandals.

This classic look, from the black sleeveless tank to the brown-and-cream heeled sandals, would still be stylish now.

She often accessorized with a pair of sunglasses.

These rounded, black sunglasses paired with a black button-up and green cargo pants epitomized '90s fashion.

She was also the master of a classic coat.

While heading to the airport to catch a flight for Bill Clinton's inauguration in January 1997, Bessette-Kennedy was photographed wearing a camel-colored skirt, black leather boots, and a belted black suede coat.

Nothing screams classic New York style like a pair of jeans, a white T-shirt, and a black leather jacket.

She finished the look with a tortoise-shell headband and a pair of oval sunglasses.

Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy will always be remembered as a fashion icon.

Bessette-Kennedy effortlessly blended elegance and simplicity into her fashion looks and became one of the decade's most recognizable style icons.

There's no arguing that Bessette-Kennedy, through her iconic minimalist style, made a lasting impact on the fashion world. She showed that while fast-fashion trends come and go, simple elegance lasts forever.

• Former President Donald Trump has stamped out the old Republican Party.
• His power is on full display during the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
• In selecting Sen. JD Vance as his running mate, Trump has also shown he has his eye on the future.

Former President Donald Trump staged a hostile takeover of the Republican Party. His latest coronation in Milwaukee shows he wants to cement this populist rebrand.

The most obvious signal is Trump's selection of Sen. JD Vance of Ohio as his vice presidential nominee. Instead of putting forth a historically diverse ticket or nodding to the GOP's monied class, Trump elevated one of his staunchest allies who, like the former president, speaks with little subtlety.

No fan of Trump's hold on the party, former Congresswoman Liz Cheney said the GOP of her father's day is gone.

"The Trump GOP is no longer the party of Lincoln, Reagan or the Constitution," Cheney wrote on X, bashing Trump's selection of Vance.

Trump welcomes the ire. He enjoyed ending the Bush political dynasty by humiliating former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush in the 2016 primary. As president, Trump singled out those who questioned him, pushing then-Speaker Paul Ryan and then-Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona out of power. The former president has continued his crusade against the 10 House Republicans who impeached him for inciting the January 6 Capitol riot. Trump can preach unity now because he won the contest over the party's future.

His victory is evident in more than just his vice presidential selection. The Republican Party granted one of its prized primetime convention speaking slots to Teamsters President Sean O'Brien. O'Brien railed against the US Chamber of Commerce, long the hallmark of the GOP business class.

"We need to call the Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtables what they are. They are unions for big business," O'Brien said during his speech on Monday night.

Less than a decade ago, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker became the GOP front man for taking on unions, backed by the powerful Koch brothers and their allies. And yet, on Tuesday night, O'Brien was extolling the virtues of union membership with the national spotlight trained on the state.

The GOP's new platform, which Trump helped edit, according to The Washington Post, watered down the party's commitment to a national ban on abortion access in favor of the former president's state-driven policy. Some antiabortion activists are furious. Even former Vice President Mike Pence couldn't quite understand it. But he is no longer on the ticket; Vance is.

Trump and Vance also stand in contrast to the GOP's traditional interventionist wing. Vance helped lead the opposition to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's push for a massive package of defense aid for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. McConnell ultimately won, working with President Joe Biden to get the $95 billion legislation through Congress. But McConnell, the longest-serving GOP Senate leader in history, is set to step down from his top post after the election. He has pledged to use his remaining time in Congress to advocate for the Reagan-era foreign policy that once dominated the GOP.

McConnell was also booed when he spoke for the Kentucky delegation on Monday. The top Senate Republican is no stranger to lukewarm receptions among his party's base, but the contrast to Vance's welcome was unmistakable.

• Donald Trump has selected Ohio Senator JD Vance as his running mate for the 2024 election.
• Vance is vocal about family policies and birth rates, saying it's a "civilizational crisis."
• Vance supports a child tax credit expansion, but not universal childcare.

New vice presidential contender JD Vance has some strong opinions on how America can better support families.

Vance, the author of "Hillbilly Elegy" and a former VC, has been outspoken about his views on family and birth rates. Vance is very worried about falling birth rates — he's warned of a "civilizational crisis" facing the US, and has hit out against the "childless left."

"We should worry that in America, family formation, our birth rates, a ton of indicators of family health have collapsed," Vance said in 2021 remarks.

"The fact that we're not having enough babies, the fact that we're not having enough children, is a crisis in this country. It's a crisis because it makes our media more miserable. It's a crisis because it doesn't give our leaders enough of an investment in the future of their country. And it's a crisis because we know that babies are good," he added.

Legislatively, Vance has tweeted in support of making the healthcare associated with giving birth free, suggesting that the money the US has sent to Ukraine could "end the surprise billings that devastate families with newborns, and possibly save the lives of a lot of new moms." He's also introduced legislation that would shield parents who opt to quit their jobs and stay at home post-birth from penalties inflicted by their employer-sponsored insurance.

"We should celebrate and promote young families, not punish them. This legislation would relieve a serious financial burden for working families all over America and steer Washington in a more pro-family direction," Vance said in a press release.

He's not, however, a fan of universal childcare. He's said that it's "a massive subsidy to the lifestyle preferences of the affluent over the preferences of the middle and working class," implying that childcare benefits working parents more than stay-at-home parents. Instead, he's thrown his weight behind proposals to give tax credits to parents.

Vance has also said that he would've voted no on the Respect for Marriage Act, which repealed the Defense of Marriage Act and is meant to protect interracial and same-sex marriage. He's additionally introduced legislation that would classify giving gender-affirming care to minors as a Class C felony.

When it comes to Trump's specific platform on family policies, voters don't know much. His campaign recently released 20 principles the former president plans to champion — which the Republican National Committee adopted — and while it includes measures to protect retirees' Social Security benefits and "end inflation" by ending illegal immigration, it did not address how the administration would tackle family and child policies.

However, Vance's actions as a senator could suggest some support for Democratic policies, like the child tax credit expansion. The Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024 — a framework supported by Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden and Republican Rep. Jason Smith — called for an enhanced child tax credit after it lapsed in 2021. Vance expressed support for the credit, according to Punchbowl News, saying at the time that "we're the party of families."

"I think it's important to actually [have] a pro-family policy," he said. "If you're raising children in this country, we should make it easier, not harder. And unfortunately it's way too expensive and way too difficult."

Biden, meanwhile, has called for family-friendly policies in his budget request unveiled in March, including restoring the child tax credit, lowering childcare costs, and enacting a national program for paid family and medical leave.

"It's past time America caught up with the rest of the world on paid leave," Biden said during a speech in April. "All this helps families and it grows the economy. And we can afford to do it. We can't afford not to do it."