Tag: News

• Sen. JD Vance sat down for his first interview since becoming Trump's VP pick.
• He delivered a slew of standard-fare GOP talking points and avoided any disagreement with Trump.
• Vance made clear at several points that he'll be a loyal steward of Trump's agenda.

If there was any takeaway from Sen. JD Vance's first interview since becoming the GOP nominee for Vice President of the United States, it's that he said nothing especially interesting.

It's exactly the sort of thing he'll need to keep doing to remain in former President Donald Trump's good graces.

On Monday night, the Ohio senator sat for an interview with Sean Hannity, where the Fox News host lobbed a variety of softball questions at Vance focused on his biography, his views on hot-button GOP issues, and his past criticisms of Trump.

"I was certainly skeptical of Donald Trump in 2016, but President Trump was a great president and he changed my mind," Vance said, issuing the same explanation he's delivered several times before. "I bought into the media's lies and distortions."

Over the course of roughly 30 minutes, Vance made it obvious why he was the ideal pick for someone like the former president, who famously values loyalty: He was sure to make clear, on several occasions, that he would be a loyal soldier for Trump, while doing little to cause controversy on his own.

Asked about his view of the vice presidency, Vance said that his job would be to "support the president in enacting the agenda."

"Donald Trump can't be everywhere," Vance said. "So you've got to be a person he can trust, who he can rely on to actually advance the agenda. That's the most important job."

The most important function of the vice president, historically speaking, has been to serve as a back-up to the president in the event that they are unable to fulfill their duties.

But Vance was sure to say that he did not believe he would find himself in the presidency before 2028, declaring that Trumps "very healthy" and "going to serve four very good years."

The Ohio senator also alluded to a central fact of the former president's first term, something that ultimately led then-Vice President Mike Pence to resists Trump's efforts to overturn the election on January 6: Not all Republicans were as loyal as Vance claims he will be.

"We've got to have Republicans who are helping him with the agenda," he said. "As successful as he was politically, even after he was elected, certain Republicans didn't want to actually enact an America First agenda. You've got to have leaders in Washington who are supporting him, not fighting against him."

Over time, points of daylight between Vance and Trump are likely to become more clear, especially if the vice presidential nominee sits for less friendly interviews.

For instance, the Ohio senator has historically held views to the right of the former president on abortion, supporting federal restrictions on the practice while Trump states that he favors a state-by-state approach.

"My view is that Donald Trump is the leader of the Republican Party, and his views on abortion are going to be the views that dominate this party and drive this party forward," said Vance on Monday.

• Elon Musk endorsed Donald Trump after Saturday's assassination attempt.
• The Wall Street Journal reported that Musk plans to donate $45 million monthly to a pro-Trump PAC.
• The billionaire has involved himself more in politics in recent years.

Elon Musk, after endorsing Donald Trump for the first time in the aftermath of Saturday's assassination attempt, is putting his money where his mouth is, according to a new report from The Wall Street Journal.

The Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that Musk plans to pledge $45 million each month to America PAC, a pro-Trump super PAC, in the run-up to the election.

The outlet reported that other PAC backers include Joe Lonsdale, the cofounder of Palantir Technologies, Joe Craft, the CEO of coal company Alliance Resource Partners, and the entrepreneurial Winklevoss twins.

Bloomberg previously reported the Tesla CEO had donated to the PAC, but the amount was unknown. President Joe Biden lambasted Musk following the initial report, calling the donation "arrogant."

"Arrogant billionaires only out for themselves are not what America wants or what America needs," James Singer, a spokesman for the Biden campaign, told Bloomberg in a statement. "Elon knows Trump is a sucker who will sell America out, cutting his taxes while raising taxes on the middle class by $2,500."

Representatives for Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Musk is now publicly supporting Trump after repeatedly indicating he had no plans to endorse or donate to the former president.

However, behind closed doors, reports have circulated for months about Musk and his billionaire friends were strategizing ways to defeat Democrats in this year's election.

Musk has ramped up his political involvement in recent years. While Trump's first administration's priorities included tax cuts and business deregulation, Business Insider previously reported the billionaire may have more to lose than he stands to gain in a second Trump administration.

• The wife of Corey Comperatore, who died at the Trump rally, said Trump had not called her as of Monday.
• Corey Comperatore died shielding his family during an assassination attempt on Trump at a rally.
• Helen Comperatore said Biden called her. She did not want to speak to him but had no ill will toward him.

The wife of Corey Comperatore, the man who was killed during the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, told The New York Post in an interview on Monday that the former president had not yet contacted her since the shooting on Saturday.

Corey Comperatore, a 50-year-old former fire chief from Pennsylvania, was a supporter of Trump and attended the rally with his wife and daughters. His family said he was shot while shielding them from the gunfire.

In an interview with The New York Post that was published Monday at 4:44 p.m. ET, his wife, Helen Comperatore, said her husband was her "hero" and that the last thing he said to them was "get down!"

Helen Comperatore told the outlet that, at that point, she had not heard from Trump. The former president said he was shot during the rally; two others were shot and critically wounded.

Representatives for the Trump campaign, the White House, and the Biden campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider. BI attempted to reach Helen Comperatore through email.

In his first statement after the shooting on Saturday, Trump wrote on Truth Social: "I want to thank The United States Secret Service, and all of Law Enforcement, for their rapid response on the shooting that just took place in Butler, Pennsylvania. Most importantly, I want to extend my condolences to the family of the person at the Rally who was killed, and also to the family of another person that was badly injured."

In another post on Sunday, Trump added, "Our love goes out to the other victims and their families. We pray for the recovery of those who were wounded, and hold in our hearts the memory of the citizen who was so horribly killed."

Trump's team has also shared a link to a GoFundMe that was "authorized" by the former president and is raising funds that will go towards the victims' families. The page had accrued more than $4.5 million in donations as of Monday evening.

On Sunday, Trump arrived in Milwaukee for the Republican National Committee convention, which kicked off on Monday. Trump was formally nominated as the GOP candidate for president and announced he had selected Sen. JD Vance of Ohio as his vice presidential running mate.

Helen Comperatore told the Post her family did receive a call from President Joe Biden, but that she did not speak with him.

"I didn't talk to Biden. I didn't want to talk to him," she said. "My husband was a devout Republican, and he would not have wanted me to talk to him."

While some Republicans, including Vance, blamed Biden's rhetoric for the attempted assassination of Trump, the FBI has not identified a motive for the shooting.

Helen Comperatore said she did not think Biden was responsible for her husband's death. She told the Post she is voting for Trump but that she is not very involved in politics.

"I don't have any ill-will towards Joe Biden," she said, adding, "He didn't do anything to my husband. A 20-year-old despicable kid did."

• Sen. JD Vance of Ohio was announced as Trump's vice presidential running mate on Monday.
• Vance was initially a critic of Trump but later embraced him when running for Senate in 2021.
• Vance recently said a dinner with CEOs in 2018 factored into his political evolution.

A month before former President Donald Trump tapped Sen. JD Vance to be his running mate, the Ohio Republican — and Trump-critic-turned-loyalist — cited a 2018 dinner meeting with CEOs as a turning point in his political evolution.

In an interview with The New York Times published in June, Vance explained a bit about how he came around to Trump and how his politics evolved.

Vance told the outlet that in 2018, he was invited to an event hosted by the Business Roundtable, a nonprofit lobbyist group made up of CEOs. It had been about two years since Vance entered the national stage when his memoir "Hillbilly Elegy" — which offered an explanation for the embrace of Trump-like views among the white working class — shot to the top of The New York Times bestseller list.

Vance said he was seated next to a CEO of a major hotel chain at dinner whom he described as a "caricature of a business executive, complaining about how he was forced to pay his workers higher wages."

The CEO was complaining about the labor market and how Trump's actions at the border had impacted his relationship with his employees.

Vance told the Times the CEO then turned to him and said, "Well, you understand this as well as anybody. These people just need to get off their asses, come to work and do their job. And now, because we can't hire immigrants, or as many immigrants, we've got to hire these people at higher wages."

When recounting the moment to the Times, Vance said, "The fact that this guy saw me as sympathetic to his problem, and not the problem of the workers, made me realize that I'm on a train that has its own momentum, and I have to get off this train, or I'm going to wake up in 10 years and really hate everything that I've become."

"And so I decided to get off that train, and I felt like the only way that I could do that was, in some ways, alienating and offending people who liked my book," he continued.

Vance has expressed support for the government having a more hands-on role in the economy than most Republicans.

Vance has previously supported raising corporate taxes and the minimum wage and was critical of "right-to-work" policies favored by Republicans that can negatively impact unions. He has also cosponsored a bill to end tax-free mergers for big corporations.

"The emergence of Trump has caused a populist, aggressive side of the GOP to split off on economics, and Vance is one of the leaders of that populist caucus," Brian Riedl at the center-right Manhattan Institute told the Post. "Trump is much more economically populist, anti-free trade than traditional Republicans, and Vance has pushed hard to support this new populist economics in the GOP."

The outlet reported that some business leaders and major GOP donors were against Trump picking Vance as a running mate.

The Post also noted that some of Vance's prior economic positions appear to be at odds with Trump, whose policies he will presumably adopt as his running mate. Trump's broad policy positions on the economy include deregulation, further cutting corporate tax rates, and a smaller federal government.

Before Vance's shift toward Trump, he was an outspoken critic of him. During his first run for president, Vance was critical of the then-candidate in interviews and tweets. He called Trump "reprehensible," said he could be "America's Hitler," and referred to himself as a never Trumper.

But in 2021, when campaigning for the US Senate seat in Ohio, Vance came out in support of Trump and said he had been wrong about the president. The evolution baffled many people who were fans of Vance's book.

His embrace of Trump has also coincided with winning his race and a growing fan base on the right — and potentially the vice presidency.

• Devin Strader is one of the 25 contestants on season 21 of "The Bachelorette" starring Jenn Tran.
• He's a 28-year-old freight company owner from Houston. 
• His big personality quickly becomes a source of drama among the other men.

Jenn Tran's journey to finding love on season 21 of "The Bachelorette" is underway, and one contestant is already stirring up some drama.

Devin Strader, 28, is one of the 25 men competing for Jenn's heart this season. From the outset, he established himself as someone who's loud, family-oriented, and has a big personality — which Jenn immediately took a liking to. She even compared him to Pete Davidson.

"We have a lot in common," she said during the season premiere. "It just feels like a really great connection. We laugh, we have fun, he can be serious. He's really showing me what it's going to be like in a relationship with him."

But not everyone's personality meshes well with Devin's. In the season preview trailer, Devin's relationship with Jenn appears to be a point of contention among the other men.

"Devin has twisted Jenn into his little web of lies," Thomas says in the teaser, as Devin is shown romancing Jenn and later arguing with the men.

Will Devin's big personality get him into trouble this season? Here's everything to know about him.

Devin is a freight company owner from Houston

After studying at Louisiana State University from 2014 to 2019, Devin worked as the vice president of acquisitions at Shark Logistics.

Since March 2023, he's been the owner of F1 Freight Consultants, a Texas-based consulting firm.

Devin's mom is his hero

Family is a big deal to Devin. In the season premiere, Devin, who was raised by a single mom, said his family-oriented mindset stemmed from having a difficult upbringing.

During a one-on-one conversation with Jenn, Devin credited his talkative personality to being the oldest in his family.

"I kinda had to be vocal," he said. "My mom was a single mom, so I was there a lot for my little brother, and it wasn't always the easiest for us growing up, so I kinda put that chip on my shoulder and it turned into a big personality for me."

He's the proud owner of a dog named Charlie

Devin got the pup in July 2018. According to Devin's bio on ABC's website, they're "a package deal" and spending time with Charlie, now 7 years old, is one of his favorite pastimes.

During the season premiere, Devin said that his perfect life involves a happy family comprised of a wife, kids, and maybe some dogs.

He's an avid runner

Fitness is a big part of Devin's life and his Instagram profile includes a Story Highlight dedicated to running, a favorite hobby when he's not working.

In addition to being part of the Good Guys Run Club, Devin also ran a 200-mile relay race with his friends.

New episodes of season 21 of "The Bachelorette" premiere on Mondays on ABC and stream the next day on Hulu.

• Secret Service cannot ban guns near Republican National Convention after Trump shooting.
• Security measures at the convention include a gun-free inner perimeter but not beyond.
• Convention-goers shouldn't spend their time worrying about a copycat attempt, one gun violence expert said.

The Secret Service can't ban guns near the Republican National Convention following an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump — but convention-goers shouldn't spend their time worrying about a copycat attempt, one gun violence expert told Business Insider.

During a campaign rally on Saturday, a gunman on a roof opposite Trump shot near the former president while he spoke. Trump said he was hit in the upper part of his ear with a bullet. A bystander at the rally was killed.

The incident resulted in a flurry of criticism directed at the Secret Service and concerns about the safety of the former president and attendees at the RNC.

Trump posted on Truth Social that he had considered delaying his trip to Wisconsin but later changed his mind. Trump arrived in Milwaukee Sunday evening and will speak at the RNC on Thursday.

During a press conference Sunday, the Secret Service said it would not take on additional security measures despite concerns that guns would be allowed within blocks of the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee.

James Alan Fox, a professor of criminology at Northeastern University, said it's unclear if the RNC is at greater risk because of Saturday's events, but he "wouldn't feel any greater threat."

Fox pointed out that not many shooters in history have inspired copycat killings, and Saturday's gunman, who had little social media presence and is still an obscure figure, will most likely not be "idolized by others."

"We've had other instances in our history of assassinations and assassination attempts without any follow-up or copycats," James Alan Fox, a professor of criminology at Northeastern University. "Obviously, given the political climate as a country as divided and heated, there is always a chance. But I would not conclude that the chance is raised because of what happened this past weekend."

The Secret Service safety plan

The Secret Service released its RNC safety plan in June, detailing how several blocks around the Fiserv Forum will be cordoned off in two perimeters: an outer perimeter and an inner perimeter only accessible to pedestrians.

Attendees in the inner perimeter will be barred from bringing in guns — though guns will still be allowed outside.

Wisconsin law allows for the open-carry of firearms and concealed carry with a license for anyone above the age of 21 — as long as they can pass a background check.

"We have to respect your Second Amendment right to carry your firearm, especially in regards to open carry or carry and conceal with a license," Jeffery Norman, Milwaukee Police chief, told reporters on Sunday during the Secret Service press conference. "And so that is an issue that we have to navigate."

As someone who follows gun violence statistics, Fox said he often finds that people's fears are not in line with what he said data shows: that gun violence is not an epidemic.

Although he advocates for "reasonable and sensible gun legislation," he believes "things are not as bleak" as others say.

"Fear remains high because the perception is different than the reality," Fox said.

• Greenland sharks can live up to 400 years, making them the longest-lived fish.
• Researchers are studying these sharks to uncover the secrets of their long lifespans.
• Understanding Greenland sharks' longevity may improve human health and aging research.

Abigail Adams, wife of the second US president, was born in 1744. It's entirely possible that there are Greenland sharks still living today that were swimming in the North Atlantic Ocean at the time.

There's no doubt that these large, carnivorous sharks can live hundreds of years. In 2016, researchers discovered they can survive for at least 272 years, but they might get as old as 400.

However, why these sharks have that kind of longevity is more of a mystery. Some theories include the shark's slow growth rate and low metabolic rate, but research is ongoing.

Scientists hope that unlocking the secrets of how these fish age could help humans live longer, healthier lives. We probably won't reach age 400, but even extending the average human life by an extra decade would be a breakthrough.

One scientist on the hunt is Ewan Camplisson. He's been studying the sharks' metabolism for clues into its aging process.

"Better understanding the anatomy and adaptations of a long-lived species such as the Greenland shark may allow us to improve human health," Camplisson, a PhD student at the University of Manchester, told Business Insider.

A lifelong slow metabolism

Mostly found in the Arctic and North Atlantic oceans, Greenland sharks are leisurely swimmers that can reach between 8 and 23 feet long and weigh as much as 1.5 tons, according to National Geographic.

The predators feed on salmon, eels, seals, and even polar bears, given the chance. However, they can likely go for long periods between meals. A 493-pound fish could do just fine with between 2 and 6 ounces of food a day, according to a 2022 study.

Camplisson's new research, which he presented at the Society for Experimental Biology Annual Conference earlier this month, showed that sharks' metabolic rate may not slow as they age, which could help explain why the sharks live so long.

The same isn't true for most animals, humans included. For example, human metabolism tends to slow in later years, which can contribute to unhealthy weight gain.

Camplisson looked at the activity of five metabolic enzymes in preserved Greenland shark muscle tissue. "In most species, you would expect as an animal ages for these enzymes' activity to vary," he said.

"Some of them will show reduction over time as they may begin to fail or degrade, while others will then compensate and increase in activity to make sure the animal still produces enough energy," he added.

In the Greenland sharks he looked at, which were estimated to be between 60 and 200 years old, he found no significant variation in the enzyme activity. Of course, a Greenland shark might only be middle-aged at 200, so the same might not hold true as they reach their third or fourth century of life.

Camplisson plans to look at more enzymes to see if and how they change as the sharks age.

Aging is complicated

There's still a lot of work to be done before this kind of research can be applied to humans.

"Aging is an incredibly complex system, and we still don't have a definitive answer to how exactly it works," Camplisson said.

For example, changes in metabolism are just one part of aging in humans. Genetic errors, protein instability, and several other processes are among what's known as the "hallmarks of aging." Camplisson thinks the sharks have more to teach us in these areas.

"We want to look closely at some of these hallmarks to determine if the Greenland shark shows any signs of traditional aging," he said.

While Greenland sharks' remarkable aging process has allowed them to survive centuries, it could also be a double-edged sword as their environment rapidly changes.

The species, which is considered "Near Threatened" by the World Conservation Union, may be too slow to adapt to changes in climate, marine pollution, and other stressors, Camplisson said.

• Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant just wrapped up their 3-day wedding extravaganza in Mumbai. 
• The festivities brought together famous faces from India and the world, including Kim Kardashian. 
• A guest who is a friend of the bride reflects on the experience, which felt like a "dream."

Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant's wedding festivities culminated in an ultra-lavish display in Mumbai over the weekend, with thousands of guests and more than a few famous faces in attendance.

Among those to snag an invite was a friend of Merchant's, who spoke to Business Insider on the condition of anonymity per the bride's values of privacy and discretion.

The friend, whose identity is known to BI, is no stranger to Indian weddings, but the celebration the Ambanis threw for the newlyweds was like nothing she'd seen before.

"I know I'm never going to experience something like this again," she said, describing the whole weekend as "a dream."

Now recovering from the three-day extravaganza, which the BBC estimates may have cost upwards of $156 million, she reflects on what she witnessed. Take a look.

The festivities were lavish but felt intimate and 'family-oriented'

One week before the wedding, on July 5, the Ambani inner circle gathered for the sangeet.

The sangeet is one of a handful of pre-wedding traditions in Indian culture. Unlike the main wedding festivities over the weekend, this event was "just for close family and friends," she said.

The sangeet took place at the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre in Mumbai. Even though it was star-studded, the friend said it felt personal to the couple.

Per Indian wedding tradition, a sangeet typically takes place a few days before the actual wedding and involves family members dancing, singing, and sharing a meal.

"Her friends and family performed, his did too," the friend said. It was basically "one big dance party" that felt "very intimate," she added — though the Ambanis did take it up a notch by treating their guests to a private performance from Justin Bieber.

Even the three-day wedding, while lavish, didn't feel overwhelming, the friend said.

"Their venues are so large that you don't feel overwhelmed," she said. "You're also sticking out with your own gang," she added.

Staff on hand to handle everything, including guests' clothes

Throughout the wedding, which kicked off on July 12 and ended on July 14, the friend said she could tell the bride, groom, and their respective relatives are family-oriented. "You'll always see the family together," she said. "They're never apart."

She could also tell they weren't fazed by the pressure of hosting thousands of people and a few world leaders and athletes.

"They were super calm," she said. "The way they handle themselves, it's all truly incredible."

Merchant gave her new mother-in-law, Nita Ambani, all the credit for pulling off such a smoothly-run event that felt simultaneously personal and breathtaking. In an interview with Vogue, the bride dubbed her husband's mother "C.E.O. of the wedding."

For example, the Ambanis hired staff to help at every moment. When part of the friend's dress "came off," she was directed to the bathroom, where staff had the necessary tools and safety pins to fix it.

"They had everything there, and everyone was really helpful," she said.

Celebrities entered the wedding venue separately, but some mixed and mingled freely

Photographers captured the family, a host of Bollywood and Hollywood celebrities, and notable political figures arriving at the venue. It wasn't just one red carpet, though — the friend said there were different entrances for different guests.

"I wish I was there," she joked. "For the celebs, they had a private entry."

Inside, the venue was laden with floral arrangements shaped like animals. Designed by wedding planner Preston Bailey, the flowers were a colorful nod to the 3,000-acre animal shelter Anant launched earlier this year.

Following their red carpet entries, most celebrities mixed and mingled with regular guests, she said.

"At the end of the day, everyone's a guest," she said, adding that some of the Hollywood and Bollywood were also meeting for the first time. "They were obviously socializing among themselves and with the other Bollywood celebrities," she said.

Food was served throughout the night in every room of the venue. The dishes laid out were from high-end restaurants from all corners of the world and served buffet-style. Everyone — including world leaders and celebrities — indulged in the spread and naturally made connections and met people as they went.

One guest who skipped the buffets was Kim Kardashian; she was escorted by her security throughout the evening, the friend said.

"I'm sure she had a private dinner set for her," she said. Nevertheless, Kardashian was very much present at the main wedding and throughout the pooja, a religious ceremony, on Saturday.

A blessing from India's Prime Minister

At the pooja, "they had the best singers of India do the aarti, the prayers," the guest said. "That was amazing."

The friend said another jaw-dropping moment from Saturday was when India's Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, arrived.

"He gave them his blessing," she said, adding that the change in the "aura" of the room was palpable.

"To be in the same room as the Prime Minister was honestly something else," she said.

The parties featured some 'top tier' performances

The main wedding took place at Mumbai's Jio World Convention Center on Friday. Ahead of the festivities, some roads were closed, and diversions were set up around the venue, causing tension among local residents, BI previously reported.

While there did end up being a lot of traffic on her way to the event, the friend, who lives locally, said she was "used to it.

"It's really Bombay in a nutshell," she said, referring to the city by its former name.

Nevertheless, the journey was worth it for the wedding festivities and performances, the friend said.

"It was a true party," she said, specifically referring to the baraat, which is the groom's procession to the wedding venue, which Anant did on horseback.

Later on in the evening, the friend said guests were treated to performances from an array of artists, including Luis Fonsi, who sang his crowd-pleaser 'Despacito.'

"It was insane," she reflected.

The festivities didn't stop until the early hours of the morning

While some of the more traditional and alcohol-free events — like the pooja — ended early, the friend said the Ambanis hosted "after-parties" following the wedding and the reception for their friends and the younger crowd.

"The bigger ones like the Sangeet, the wedding, the reception, ended late because all of us partied after," she said.

Although some guests, like John Cena, didn't stick around for the after-parties, the friend said at least a handful of famous faces did, including Zendaya's stylist, Law Roach.

• Former President Donald Trump chose Ohio Sen. JD Vance as his running mate.
• A former Trump critic, Vance rose to fame as the author of a bestselling memoir, "Hillbilly Elegy."
• Vance was elected to the Senate in 2022 and became an outspoken supporter of Trump.

Donald Trump's dramatic Veepstakes have come to an end and Sen. JD Vance of Ohio has come out on top.

Despite winning the coveted spot as Trump's No. 2, though, Vance has had a winding path through Trumpism and politics overall.

Here are 10 things you need to know about Vance, the potential 50th vice president and heir apparent to the MAGA movement.

Born James Donald Bowman in Middletown, Ohio, JD Vance grew up in the Rust Belt and joined the Marines after high school.

Vance served in Iraq as a public affairs marine, escorting members of the press and writing stories about service members. He wrote in his 2016 memoir, "Hillbilly Elegy," that the Marine Corps "taught me how to live like an adult."

"It was in the Marine Corps where I first ordered grown men to do a job and watched them listen; where I learned that leadership depended far more on earning the respect of your subordinates than on bossing them around; where I discovered how to earn that respect; and where I saw that men and women of different social classes and races could work as a team and bond like family," he wrote, according to an excerpt published by Military.com.

He went on to study at Ohio State University and Yale Law School.

Vance majored in political science and philosophy at Ohio State and graduated summa cum laude. He then graduated from Yale Law School in 2013.

As Business Insider previously reported, while at Yale, law professor and "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother" author Amy Chua encouraged Vance to write a memoir about his upbringing.

Before becoming an author and politician, Vance worked at a venture capital firm backed by billionaire Peter Thiel.

As a law student, Vance attended a talk by Paypal founder Peter Thiel. He wrote in The Lamp in 2020 that it was "the most significant moment" of his time at Yale.

After two clerkships and a brief career in corporate law, Vance began working at Mithril Capital, a firm backed by Thiel, in 2016. A year later, he moved to Revolution, a VC firm in Washington, DC.

He wrote a best-selling memoir, "Hillbilly Elegy."

Vance published "Hillbilly Elegy" in the summer of 2016, before Trump was elected or projected to win the presidency. The memoir, which became a New York Times bestseller, focuses on Vance's experience growing up poor in Ohio and Kentucky and was largely read as an honest illustration of America's white working class. After Trump won, many turned to the book as an explanation for Trump's meteoric and unexpected rise.

A movie adaptation of "Hillbilly Elegy" came out on Netflix in 2020.

Vance is married to litigator Usha Chilukuri Vance.

Vance met his wife when they were both students at Yale Law School. In "Hillbilly Elegy," he wrote that Chilukuri Vance was his "Yale spirit guide" who encouraged him to seek opportunities within the elite institution. They wed in 2014.

Chilukuri Vance clerked for Judge Brett Kavanaugh in the US Court of Appeals before he became a Supreme Court Justice and also clerked for Chief Justice John Roberts, The New York Times reported. She now works at the law firm Munger, Tolles & Olson.

Vance and his wife have three young children.

They have two sons, 6-year-old Ewan and 4-year-old Vivek, and a 2-year-old daughter, Mirabel.

In February, Vance read "Oh, The Places You'll Go!" by Dr. Seuss on the Senate floor in honor of Vivek's 4th birthday, The Hill reported.

Vance started out as a "Never Trumper," but slowly changed his tune and embraced the former president.

When he published "Hillbilly Elegy," Vance was a self-described "Never Trumper" and even called the former president "reprehensible" in a now-deleted Twitter post.

As the years — and Trump presidency — wore on, though, Vance started to take a different approach. He told The Financial Times in 2018 that the former president "recognizes the frustration that exists in large parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania, eastern Kentucky and so forth."

Come 2020, Vance supported Trump's campaign and expressed regret for his previous stance. The tide turned in both directions, as Trump began to support Vance's foray into politics.

In 2021, Vance entered a crowded Senate primary race.

A junior congressman, Vance was only elected to the Senate in 2022 but has since become one of Trump's most loyal supporters. He entered a cramped Ohio primary in 2021 in the mold of an unrelenting Trump supporter and anti-elitist.

Vance embraced the former president's policies and eventually earned his coveted endorsement. With Trump's blessing, he catapulted through the primary and into Congress.

Vance serves on various congressional committees and represents the "New Right."

In the Senate, Vance serves on the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee; the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee; the Joint Economic Committee; and the Special Committee on Aging. Like Trump, he has an isolationist bent on foreign policy and takes a hard-line approach to immigration.

During his limited time in office, Vance has come to embody what Politico dubbed the "New Right" movement — an ill-defined coalition of younger conservatives who are trying to push the Republican party toward more populism, conservatism, and nationalism.

Trump selected Vance as his running mate in the 2024 presidential race.

Trump selected Vance as his running mate in a post on Truth Social. In it, he celebrated Vance's business background and said that, as vice president, the youngster "will do everything he can to help me MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN."

If elected, the 39-year-old will be one of the youngest vice presidents in the nation's history and well-positioned to inherit the MAGA crown.

• Disney is the latest big company to have its data leaked online.
• Hacking group Nullbulge said it published internal Slack information from "almost 10,000 channels."
• For weeks, an X account had warned the company that it had been hacked and a leak was coming.

An apparent leak has made messages, files, code, and other data from Disney's internal Slack public.

A hacking group known as Nullbulge claimed responsibility for the leak in a blog post. In it, it said people could gain details on Disney's planned projects, some log-in information, and more, all taken from the company Slack messaging system.

Nullbulge said it accessed "almost 10,000 channels" to dump "every message and file possible." The group remains anonymous but said its mission includes advocating for artist rights, The Wall Street Journal reported. Business Insider couldn't verify Nullbulge's claims regarding the size of the hack.

Disney artist contracts, "approach to AI," and "blatant disregard for the consumer" motivated the group to target the entertainment company, according to the Journal.

The X account @NullBulgeGroup spent weeks posting about infiltrating Disney's Slack. One post from July 4 appears to show a dashboard with the daily attendance at Disneyland Paris.

A Disney spokesperson told BI that the company is investigating the matter.

Disney is the latest major corporation to experience a data leak in the past week. On Friday, AT&T said that hackers stole "nearly all" of its customers' call and text records.

An unidentified Nullbulge spokesperson gave the Journal some insight into why hackers might release data first and ask questions later.

"If we said, 'Hello Disney, we have all your Slack data,' they would instantly lock down and try to take us out. In a duel, you better fire first," the spokesperson said.