Tag: News

• The internet has been buzzing about Mark Zuckerberg's new style choices.
• We showed ChatGPT some recent pictures of Zuckerberg and asked it to analyze his looks.
• The chatbot had some recommendations for the Meta CEO.

Mark Zuckerberg might be going viral for his new style, but ChatGPT has some fashion tips for the Meta CEO.

Zuck has been getting noticed for his refreshed take on the typical "tech industry uniform" of t-shirt and jeans. The CEO was one of the main figureheads of the trope early on in his career, but the 40-year-old is switching it up now.

But is it working for him? To find out, Business Insider turned to ChatGPT for an analysis of Zuckerberg's style. We grabbed a few recent photos from his Instagram and used prompts to get OpenAI's chatbot to weigh in.

ChatGPT is powered by GPT-4o, a large language model trained on data to provide humanlike answers to prompts.

BI also asked a real — human — style expert to answer the same prompts to the best of his ability.

Here's what they both had to say after seeing the 10 photos (and don't worry, we didn't use the viral fake bearded image).

ChatGPT's verdict was that Zuckerberg should work on dressing more appropriately for his job running a company.

"While casual, Zuckerberg's style can sometimes appear too relaxed for a CEO. Introducing smart-casual elements like blazers or stylish jackets could bridge the gap between his very casual and formal looks, providing a more polished appearance while retaining comfort," the chatbot said.

But Reginald Ferguson, men's fashion consultant and founder of New York Fashion Geek, disagreed with ChatGPT and said Zuckerberg is dressed "appropriately for a CEO of his era and industry."

When asked directly about the appropriateness of his style, ChatGPT matched Ferguson's answer more closely.

"Zuckerberg's style is generally appropriate within the context of the tech industry, known for its more laid-back dress codes. His formal attire at events shows that he can elevate his style when needed, aligning with traditional expectations of a CEO," the chatbot wrote.

While Ferguson said Zuck's new necklace choices are "tasteful," it seems like ChatGPT wants him to tone it down a bit with the gold chains.

"In terms of accessories, while the choice of a chain necklace is a personal style statement, opting for more subtle pieces might be more fitting for a CEO, especially in professional or public settings," said ChatGPT.

Zuckerberg's venture into fashion has been the source of viral moments online. His gold chains have earned him the meme treatment, and the billionaire Facebook founder seems to be leaning in.

And this might not be the end of his style evolution, Ferguson said.

"The challenge with Mark Zuckerberg is he's lived his entire adult life in public and came out the gate with a style (no style) that a whole generation of young men followed," Ferguson said.

He continued: "He still has no style, but he's trying, and he and his stylist should be applauded for that."

• The National Insurance Crime Bureau released their list of the most stolen cars in America for 2023.
• Hyundai and Kia models took six of the top 10 spots in the insurance industry trade group's list.
• Models from Chevrolet, Ford, and Honda also made the top 10.

Hyundai and Kia dominate the National Insurance Crime Bureau's list of the most stolen cars in America.

Vehicles made by the South Korean sibling automakers account for six of the top 10 spots on the insurance industry trade organization's list, which was compiled based on vehicle thefts in 2023 and published in May.

The compact Hyundai Elantra took the top spot, with more than 48,000 vehicles stolen, 2.5 times the number stolen in 2022.

The midsize Hyundai Sonata sedan finished in second with nearly 43,000 stolen, roughly double the number in 2022.

The Kia Optima came in third on the list with 30,000 vehicle thefts, up from 18,200 in 2022. Kia's Soul, Forte, and Sportage also make the list.

The full-size Ford F-Series and Chevrolet Silverado pickup trucks that topped the list in previous years fell behind the Korean contingent.

Thefts of Kia and Hyundai vehicles surged in recent years as TikTok videos exposed the lack of an immobilizer in many models. The wave prompted the automakers to issue free wheel locks and software updates to help combat the issue. No Hyundai or Kia models made the top 10 of the NICB list in the 3 years prior to 2022.

According to the NICB, there was a 1% increase nationally in auto theft claims in 2023. However, the organization noted that over 85% of vehicles reported stolen are eventually recovered, with 34% located within a day.

Here's a closer look at America's 10 most stolen vehicles in 2023, according to NICB.

• Chinese millennials are redefining luxury status symbols by refocusing on quiet luxury and personal style.
• Solo travel, pre-loved luxury fashion, and fine dining are also gaining popularity.
• As this cohort approaches big life milestones, here's how their approach to luxury differs from their parents.

Millennials, aged between their late 20s and early 40s, are approaching the age for major life milestones: they've gained some ground in their careers, some are thinking about settling down with a family, and others have enough disposable income to splash on designer goods.

For the wealthiest among them, luxury status symbols can be a way to showcase your success to others. Rich millennials in the US have been known to splash out on their pets, new laundry rooms, and expensive coffee machines.

And over in China, rich millennials have their own ideas of what counts as a luxury status symbol. They've followed suit in embracing quiet luxury — expensive goods that aren't clocked by the untrained eye — and some are opting to have fewer kids to focus on their careers and are traveling solo.

Here are 11 luxury status symbols for Chinese millennials:

1. They've moved past allegiance with specific brands

Garish Gucci prints and flashy Louis Vuitton logos are no longer a top priority for luxury customers looking to display their style as a status symbol. These millennials are less loyal to specific brands than their parent's generation.

They "seek products and experiences that not only reflect their personal style and aspirations but also resonate with their cultural identity and values," Daniel Langer, a Pepperdine University luxury professor and CEO of the luxury strategy firm Équité, told Business Insider.

Customers want more personal items that reflect their values over a generic symbol of spending power.

It's more about an "inward feeling rather than an outward projection," said Amrita Banta, managing director of luxury insights firm Agility Research & Strategy.

2. Less loud luxury, more quiet luxury

Those who buy from designer brands are doing so more subtly. "Laoqianfeng" — a concept similar to the Western old-money aesthetic — has become a favorite of rich millennials in China. It refers to looking put together in an effortless way.

"This younger cohort is inclined to convey their elevated societal standing in understated ways," Elisa Harca, CEO of consultancy firm Red Ant Asia, told Business Insider.

Harca points to brands like The Row, which exemplify this style. The brand, founded by former child stars Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, prioritizes an anti-trendiness, focusing instead on simplicity, style, and comfort.

Even though the clothes may look understated, the key is in the details. Wealthy customers still want a high standard of customer service through talking one-on-one to sales assistance or being in contact with brands over WeChat to hear about exclusive products, Harca said.

Expect to see these rich millennials mixing luxury casual wear like T-shirts and sneakers with traditional luxury brands, Banta told BI.

3. Group travel is out, solo travel is in

Travel has also changed for today's rich millennials compared to their parents.

When their parts were growing up, China's world tourism was still in its infancy, which meant that organized tour groups were the travel option of choice for those with money. They were attracted to the safety and accessibility of traveling in a big group, said Harca.

But now younger Chinese people, especially those already well-traveled or have studied abroad, are opting for solo travel or traveling with small groups of friends.

Adventurous and immersive experiences to one-of-a-kind destinations are top of the travel list for this cohort — think glamping safaris and trips to Antarctica or Iceland, Banta told BI.

4. Pre-Loved Luxury Fashion

Pre-loved luxury fashion has taken off in the West as a more sustainable way to shop for designer brands. And many rich millennials in China are following suit.

For one, it's more sustainable. Reflecting your values in your purchases is becoming more important for customers, and as such, the environmental impact of the textile industry is a great concern for those buying clothes, said Olivia Plotnick, founder of Wai Social, a Shanghai-based social media agency.

So, luxury consumers are turning to secondhand clothes using platforms like Vestiaire Collective, The RealReal, and Mercari.

For some Chinese people, secondhand clothing items are associated with superstitions of bad luck and negative energy. But these beliefs hold less weight for younger generations, Harca told BI.

An added bonus of vintage and secondhand clothes is that they can be more individual than clothes found on the rack. Finding unique pre-loved clothes is a way to express individuality through fashion choices, Harca said. These items can have a more personal story behind them.

5. Buying products that come with an experience

Social media and the internet have made it easier to identify highly coveted items, so for luxury consumers, these brands are becoming too conspicuous.

Instead, they're looking for ways to make these things more individual.

An exec at drinks conglomerate Diageo told BI about how the company is trying to appeal to this type of consumer as its Asian whisky market grows. It's doing so by investing in reopening distilleries like Port Ellen off the coast of Scotland to offer premium whisky tours.

"It's not enough to just say this is 45-year-old Port Ellen cask. They want to say they journeyed to Scotland, tested all these different whiskies, and to tell you about the experiences they had," said Ewan Andrew, Diageo president of global supply chain & procurement.

There are two main reasons customers are drawn to these experiential goods, according to Langer.

First, some people are attracted to brands that make them feel like part of an exclusive club and find their egos satisfied by VIP experiences. Another group finds more satisfaction in the authenticity and individuality of these experiences over overt displays of wealth.

6. Fine dining in Michelin-starred and Black Pearl-rated restaurants

Another emerging hobby among this affluent group is enjoying the burgeoning fine dining industry.

The Michelin Guide, which entered China in 2016, attracted some criticism for being too Western-centric, according to the South China Morning Post. That's where the Black Pearl guide comes in: it was set up in 2018 by Meituan, a Chinese food delivery giant, to appeal to Chinese consumers from a Chinese perspective.

But both guides are still popular with luxury consumers, according to Banta. These customers like to tick off highly rated restaurants in their own city and wherever they travel.

7. Choosing not to have kids

There's also been a cultural shift in societal attitudes toward marriage and parenthood, changing how wealthy millennials approach life milestones.

Some see having kids as a bad investment. Instead, this generation is more inclined to prioritize personal freedom, career development, and individual pursuits over starting a family, according to Harca.

8. Those who want kids are keen to maintain a level of luxury after giving birth

Luxury postnatal retreats have become popular with wealthy millennials, and some can cost over 200,000 yuan ($28,000) a month, Banta told BI.

Some new mothers in China have been flocking to these luxury post-natal retreats in Singapore, Bloomberg reported. The centers offer around-the-clock care for new parents including lactation consultants, nannies, and chefs.

The custom of staying inside your home for a month to recuperate after childbirth has been documented as early as 960 in China.

Modern iterations of these retreats are taking the concept to new, luxurious heights.

Some of these retreats in Singapore, like Clover Suites, offer month-long trips for new mothers, which include aesthetics clinics, herbal baths, and in-house physiotherapy centers. At Clover Suites, new mothers can expect restaurant-style meals and can enjoy some rest while nurses or nannies take care of their children.

And when they come back home, they're sure to spend on expensive luxury cots too, Banta added.

9. Splashing out on luxury home decor

Chinese millennials are investing their money in luxury home décor to elevate their living spaces and enhance their quality of life, Plotnick told BI.

She added that brands like Tom Dixon and Muuto are popular choices for furniture, lighting, and home accessories in China.

"They are designing every room with painstaking detail," according to Banta.

10. Splurging on wellness

Luxury wellness and self-care products, such as skincare, beauty, and wellness supplements, are all gaining popularity among health-conscious Chinese millennials, Potnick told BI.

Potnick pointed to one popular brand, mesoestetic, which offers aesthetic treatments like peels and facial needling.

The pandemic spurred the wellness trend, particularly for Gen Z and millennials.

Post COVID, people became more interested in wellness supplements to aid diet and improve health, Gabriella Tegen, cofounder and CEO of e-commerce subscription platform Smartrr, previously told BI. And getting regular aesthetic treatments has become a top priority for affluent millennials, Banta told BI.

McKinsey 2024 wellness report showed that 85% of its survey participants from China had purchased more in the longevity and healthy-aging category in the past year than in prior years, with Gen Z and millennials leading the charge over older generations.

11. Brands that stand for something

This cohort of wealthy millennials in China is more concerned about shopping from sustainable brands.

Eco-friendly materials and sustainable production are an increasingly important consideration for luxury purchases, Plotnick said.

Independent luxury brands that offer more authentic products and those that draw on cultural heritage are also highly in demand, she said.

• Government contracting opportunities are increasing, but entry can be challenging and nuanced.
• BI spoke to recruiters to learn best practices to land work at a government contracting company. 
• Recruiters say candidates should avoid short stints, keep their LinkedIn updated, and network. 

As Americans seek stable work and flexibility with jobs, interest in public sector jobs is growing.

Following industry-wide layoffs, a growing number of graduates are shifting away from pursuing jobs at typical tech companies and doubling down on applications to government roles, according to a Handshake report published in January.

While lower pay in government jobs is sometimes viewed as a drawback of the sector, contracting companies tend to pay better than the federal government, and opportunities in this field are also increasing.

According to a spokesperson for recruiting company The Judge Group, the company has seen a 15% increase in government, aerospace, and defense opportunities in the last year or two.

But the world of government contracting is vast and it can be tricky to break into. While some people bid on their own contracts, there are also opportunities to work as an employee at a company that regularly signs contracts with the government.

While these kinds of companies aren't owned by the government, they have niche requirements and nuances that separate them from other corporate roles. Business Insider talked to three recruiters in the field to learn the best practices for getting a job in the industry.

1. Avoid job hoppiness on your résumé

Matt Grussendorf, a delivery manager at The Judge Group, oversees hiring for aerospace, government, and defense employers — and he said job "hoppiness" is a red flag.

For some roles, it's okay to have one six-month contract after another on your résumé, Grussendorf said. But in certain fields, like aerospace and defense, employers may be looking for longer tenure, he told Business Insider.

While short stints may seem inevitable in the industry, there are ways to avoid positioning them that way. Lauren Irizarry, a senior talent acquisition partner at A2 Federal, said if you do have shorter contracts, there's a way to format your résumé to make it look more consistent.

For example, she said if you've worked as a data scientist for 12 years with eight different contracting companies, you can put "data scientist" at the top of your résumé and list the individual contracts underneath instead of listing eight separate lines with the same role.

2. Make sure your clearances are up to date

Many government contracting roles require clearances, which can vary depending on the role and may also expire over time.

Irizarry said it's often easier to start with a larger company so that they sponsor your clearance. However, Quadesha Bynum, who worked in HR at various government agencies and contracting companies before starting her own company, said it can be difficult to land a government contracting job at a big company when starting out, so smaller firms may be a good place to start.

Whether you have the required clearance or not, it's important to accurately list it, Grussendorf said. Recruiting companies like The Judge Group check candidates' clearance, so applicants should verify their status when they apply for a role.

Additionally, candidates who are unwilling to get their clearance verified or checked can be a red flag.

3. Network, network, network

Irizarry said the government contracting industry is "all about networking." That means joining groups on LinkedIn or other platforms and getting in touch with people in the field.

Grussendorf said if you're breaking into the field out of college, you may have the advantage of attending career fairs and events centered on government contracting, he said.

While college fairs may be more accessible for young candidates, there are other networking opportunities. Clearancejobs.com, the largest platform for people with security clearance has a career fair page with a list of upcoming events to directly meet and speak with employers.

4. Reach out to recruiters directly

Since many government contracting opportunities have specific requirements, it can make a big difference to speak with a recruiter directly to find out what you need to do for that specific job.

An easy way to do so is by making a profile on Clearancejobs.com. The site allows users to browse through thousands of open roles, many of which have contact info for recruiters.

Grussendorf recommends reaching out to recruiters, talent acquisition at staffing agencies, or direct employers and telling them the job and salary range you're looking for to stay on their "candidate hot list."

5. Be open to relocation

There are several government hubs around the country, including in D.C., Seattle, Southern California, Alabama, and Denver, said Grussendorf. Most direct hire opportunities offer relocation packages, but contract or contract-to-hire positions typically don't, he said.

But Grussendorf said many employers end up extending the contract or hiring a candidate after they make the commitment to the company. Employers don't want to let strong employees or candidates go if they don't have to.

6. Make sure your LinkedIn is up to date

While some industries are more relaxed about certain standards, government jobs tend to be more traditional. Since many jobs in the sector require background checks and clearances, they may also do more digging than other corporate jobs.

Irizarry said candidates should keep LinkedIn fully professional — that means omitting irrelevant interests or experiences and using headshots from the shoulders up with a plain background.

Irizarry said she looks for information that will grab her attention. For example, if you're a cyber expert or speak multiple languages, list it.

7. Know what you're signing up for

Bynum said it's important to do research on the field before applying. Career fairs, she said, are a great place to do that.

Bynum said candidates should know details like how long the contract lasts and whether there are other positions available. She also said it's important to know what clearances are required for the job and how long that process will take to complete.

• Jeff Bezos owns three private jets, worth around $140 million in total.
• They include two Gulfstream G650ERs and a Pilatus PC-24.
• Records seen by BI show he also bought a hangar at Seattle's Boeing Field in 2015.

Like most billionaires, Jeff Bezos often flies around the world, and having his own planes lets him save time and improve his security.

The world's second-richest person owns three private jets, according to public records seen by Business Insider and data from JetSpy.

Two of them are Gulfstream G650ERs, which cost around $65 million each. The G650ER is a popular choice for the world's richest people — Elon Musk and Bill Gates also own one — thanks to its long range and high speed.

From Bezos' home in Miami, the G650ER can fly as far as Cape Town, Dubai, and Beijing, according to Gulfstream's website. Only Australia and southeast Asia would necessitate a fuelling stop.

The range is slightly reduced if it's traveling at its top speed of Mach 0.90, equivalent to 690 miles per hour. But the 22-seater can still fly for an impressive 7,365 miles. There aren't many other private jets on the market that allow for a more than 10-hour flight.

Bezos also owns a Piltaus PC-24 with the tail-number N194PJ, according to data from JetSpy. The light business jet with 10 seats was manufactured in 2020 and usually costs about $9 million. But with a maximum range of 2,200 miles, it would need a fuel stop to travel between Bezos' Miami home and Amazon's Seattle HQ.

How Bezos' jets are kept private

Proving Bezos' ownership of the jets isn't simple. JetSpy's data lists Bezos as the operator of the PC-24, although it's registered with the Federal Aviation Administration under a company called TVPX Aircraft Solutions.

TVPX's website says it provides trust services for US business aviation, either due to rules on citizenship or for "privacy enhancement."

The two Gulfstreams are registered to a holding company called Poplar Glen LLC, per the FAA registry.

BI found Washington state records from the firm's creation in 2004 which say it is owned by Bezos. The manager was listed as Zeffram LLC, another of Bezos' holding companies. In the most recent records, Poplar Glen's governor is listed as Paul Dauber, one of Bezos' attorneys.

Bezos bought a Dassault Falcon 900EX the same year as Poplar Glen's creation. According to the manufacturer's website, a pre-owned one costs around $10 million.

Taylor Swift also used to own a Falcon 900 until she sold it in January. According to FlightAware, Bezos sold his in 2015.

The same year, Poplar Glen paid $5.5 million for a hangar at Boeing Field in Seattle, according to property deeds seen by BI. The Puget Sound Business Journal first reported the sale.

Those documents show it was owned by Costco, and measures nearly 18,600 square feet. A sales brochure for the space, Hangar H-1, is still visible online.

Bezos then bought his first Gulfstream G650ER in 2016. It's registered as N271DV — the number previously used by his Falcon 900EX.

The Amazon founder's second Gulfstream jet was purchased in 2019, and registered as N758PB. It has newer Rolls Royce engines than his other jet, providing a couple hundred extra pounds of thrust, per FlightAware.

If you try to look up these jets on Flightradar24, you'll see that they can't be tracked. That's because the site uses some data from the FAA, which lets jet owners protect their privacy by signing up for the "Limiting Aircraft Data Displayed" program.

However, these planes can still be tracked via sites like ADS-B Exchange, built on a network of plane enthusiasts and institutions with receivers that detect aircraft signals. ADS-B Exchange's data is used by Jack Sweeney, the college student who was named on Forbes 30 Under 30 after tracking Musk's jet.

Bezos has also taken the extra step of reserving 36 other N-Numbers which aren't in use, per the FAA registry. Some of these, like 271EV and 271DX, resemble his Gulfstreams' N-Number, so they could help maintain his security.

• Palmer Luckey's startup Anduril is producing futuristic weapons of war. 
• But the billionaire founder has his own James Bond-esque collection of military vehicles.
• Luckey gave Bloomberg an inside peek at his 1980s-designed home and private collection of "boys toys."

The defense tech startup Anduril is making some of the most futuristic autonomous weapons on the market as it tries to reinvent the military's wheelhouse.

But the company's forward-thinking vision hasn't stopped founder Palmer Luckey from amassing his own collection of older military-grade vehicles and boy's toys.

The billionaire's collection includes a boat bought from the US Navy, six helicopters, and a 1985 ex-Marine Corps Humveefighter, he revealed in the latest episode of Bloomberg's "The Circuit."

That's land, sea, and air covered.

Luckey's Mark V special operations craft, which he purchased from the Navy, is the fastest boat ever built by the force with a little over 5,000 horsepower, he told reporter Emily Chang as he took her for a ride on the vessel around Newport Beach.

"It was designed specifically for Navy seal insertion and extraction missions. It runs really fast, and it's a lot of fun."

He still has the real M2 heavy-barreled 50 BMG machine gun that came with the boat but keeps fake ones fitted "most of the time."

"Most of my neighbors like it, and a handful hate it."

Luckey first made his name when he founded virtual reality company Oculus in 2012. Two years later, he sold the company to Facebook, now known as Meta, for $2 billion in cash and stock. 

In 2017, one year after he was fired from Facebook, Luckey founded Anduril. It's since risen to the top of Silicon Valley's defense tech boom.

But his passion for the military started when he was young, Luckey told The Circuit.

"I grew up watching the Marine Corps practice right offshore in their helicopters. Watching Navy ships do exercises gets in your brain, and it doesn't leave."

He's now the proud owner of six helicopters, including a UH-60 Blackhawk.

In addition to military-grade vehicles, Luckey owns a 1967 Disneyland Autopia, a toy car used in Disney theme parks, designed by legendary park designer Bob Gurr and Walt Disney himself.

"As far as I know, mine is the only complete Autopia that is outside of the parks. Mine has the original mechanicals, original gear boxes, original wheels, the whole deal," Luckey told Chang.

The small vehicle, typically seen tearing up Disneyland race tracks, suffered a minor breakdown mid-interview and had to be fixed with a flathead screwdriver.

The founder also took cameras into his 1980s-designed home in LA. Fitted with a two-inch thick teal shag carpet and a 6,500-gallon aquarium, Luckey's home has "some good Miami Vice vibes," he told Chang.

The coffee table is fitted with a map of his Dungeons and Dragons campaign, where he plays as a "chaotic neutral wizard named Nilrim V."

As the billionaire founder himself admits, "I am a little bit of a caricature."

But where to keep the world's largest collection of video games?

"I put that in one of my missile bases. 200 feet underground," Luckey told Chang.

• Conservatives are fighting guaranteed basic income programs across the country.
• Lawyers and lawmakers want to block basic income programs in Texas, California, and elsewhere.
• Many of them argue the programs are discriminatory because they are not universal.

Legal challenges by conservative lawmakers and activists against guaranteed basic income programs are heating up nationwide. And one of their arguments is surprising: Some say the programs are discriminatory because they are not universal.

Numerous cities and counties are experimenting with guaranteed basic incomes to support their most vulnerable populations. They typically offer no-strings-attached monthly payments between $500 and $1,000 to specific groups, like new moms, Black women, or trans people, all of them low-income residents.

Guaranteed basic income programs differ from their idealistic cousin — a universal basic income. UBI, made famous by Andrew Yang during the 2016 presidential election, would provide a monthly payment to all citizens. The theory is simple: A rising tide lifts all boats.

The idea has gained new traction after the success of federal pandemic-era financial support, which experts say prevented about 12 million people from falling into poverty. Some have also embraced the potential of a basic income as a remedy for the rise of AI, which could threaten job security for many Americans. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said his own study on basic income would be released soon.

While localized guaranteed basic income programs are tiny compared to a nationwide universal basic income, they are the subject of no less conservative opposition. Much of the opposition from lawmakers is due to fears of creeping "socialism." Local politicians in places like South Dakota and Arizona have moved to block basic income programs for this reason alone.

The South Dakota bill's sponsor, Republican Sen. John Wiik, said basic income programs redistribute hard-earned money and are a "socialist idea."

Legal challenges to the programs, meanwhile, led by some conservative officials and legal activist groups, are making a more specific argument that, perhaps unintentionally, makes a case for a universal basic income.

In San Francisco, the conservative legal activist organization Judicial Watch sued city officials in January to block a basic income program that gives a small group of trans people $1,000 a month. The lawsuit argues that the program, known as GIFT, violates the state constitution's equal protection clause because it gives "preferential treatment" to trans people when choosing candidates.

"Suffering doesn't know a race or a creed or a gender," Kathryn Blankenberg, an attorney at Judicial Watch, told Business Insider. "It's something universal. And saying one group suffers more than another based on how they identify, that's painting people with a very broad brush."

In November, the American Civil Rights Project, a conservative public-interest law firm, sued the city over several of its guaranteed basic income plans.

That lawsuit mainly targets The Abundant Birth Project, which gives pregnant Black women $1,000 monthly payments for a year. After showing positive results, the program received a $5 million grant from the state in December 2022.

The group's lawsuit similarly argues that several of the city's basic income programs are discriminatory because they "unlawfully" choose candidates based on "race, ethnicity, gender/gender identity, and sexual orientation."

"Most prominently, these government-sponsored and publicly funded programs are designed to select beneficiaries on a racially exclusionary basis. This is unconstitutional," the lawsuit says.

Meanwhile, in Texas, the state supreme court ordered an administrative stay against a Houston-area basic income project hours before it was set to begin — a reaction to a challenge by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who says it's "unconstitutional."

In court documents, Paxton argued that the Uplift Harris program — which gives low-income residents in the Harris County area up to $500 a month — is unconstitutional because the program chooses recipients based on a random lottery.

"Here, the selection of individuals to receive payments under (Uplift Harris) is plainly arbitrary," Paxton writes.

While these arguments appear to support giving basic income payments to a broader group of people, it's unlikely many conservatives would actually support a universal basic income.

Blankenberg from Judicial Watch said her main focus was the "suspect classification" of the guaranteed basic income projects but doesn't believe a universal basic income would work either, echoing some of the arguments made by state lawmakers in South Dakota and elsewhere.

"I don't think it'll ever work," she said. "At the end of the day, the taxpayer hurts. It's not the government's money. It's our money."

• Lincoln County, Kansas is offering $4,500 with perks to attract remote workers.
• The program aims to recruit five new residents in two years, along with 70 households in the region.
• Mover incentive programs have become popular in low-population areas to boost economic growth.

Lincoln County, Kansas is recruiting new residents.

The rural area is about 130 miles north of Wichita and has a population of just under 3,000 people. But local community leaders are hoping to attract remote workers and grow the local economy by offering new residents $4,500 cash, a $500 credit toward high-speed internet, a gym membership, and a monthly basket of farm-fresh eggs. Participants can also receive a free plot of land to build their home.

Lincoln County's mover incentive program comes after a slew of other cities tried —and found success — with similar economic growth strategies for low-population areas. These programs were launched in West Lafayette, Indiana; Ellsworth County, Kansas; Tulsa, Oklahoma; and more.

To qualify, remote workers must be employed full-time, make at least $50,000 annually, and reside outside Kansas before moving. Participants must also be able to relocate within six months of enrolling in the program and agree to live in the area for at least a year.

If a participant's spouse or partner is hired for a local job, they can also qualify for an additional $5,000 cash.

The original mover incentive program for Lincoln was launched in January 2023, with the goal of attracting five remote workers to the county within the first year. The program was recently expanded to lure a fresh batch of newcomers.

The Innovation Center, an economic and entrepreneurial assistance organization, is supporting Lincoln's program. Since the program launched, it has received over 330 applications, with more than 35 applicants meeting the criteria. The program is marketed and monitored by Make My Move, an Indianapolis-based company that helps communities connect with remote workers through cash and perks.

And, Lincoln's mover recruitment strategy has already been so successful that it is being expanded by the Innovation Center, with the goal of attracting more workers to Northwest Kansas.

The larger program's goal is to add 70 households to the region, and 23 counties have already expressed interest in participating, per Make My Move.

Lincoln's program is part of plans to grow the labor force in Northwest Kansas

Business Insider has previously reported that participants in mover incentive programs enjoy a lower a low cost of living, more affordable housing, tax breaks, and opportunities to pay down debt.

"We really work hard to ensure our movers know what we offer and what we don't, so there's no movers' remorse," Kelly Gourley, executive director of the Lincoln County Economic Development Foundation, said in a public statement. "And we work to match them up with people who'll not just introduce them to our community, but welcome them in."

Make My Move reported that early movers to Lincoln relocated from major population centers like Atlanta, Dallas, and Memphis, Tennessee.

Additionally, Lincoln is one of 95 Kansas counties enrolled in the state's Rural Opportunity Zone program, which seeks to draw new movers and grow the labor force. In some counties, participants can also qualify for state income tax waivers and funded student loan repayments.

"The money is just the hook," Gourley said. "It won't make someone like where they live; it's what comes after that makes someone feel good about the move."

Did you get paid to move somewhere? Are you open to sharing your experience? Reach out to this reporter at allisonkelly@insider.com.

• Ann, 67, moved with her husband to Portugal for their retirement.
• She said expenses were much higher when they were living in Arizona.
• While Portugal has its challenges, Ann said her quality of life is much better there than in the US.

Moving around is nothing new for Ann.

Ann, who requested to use a pseudonym to protect her privacy, told Business Insider that throughout her life, she's traveled to and lived in Belize, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Hawaii, and lived in Arizona during her last four years in the US.

But Ann, 67, said she and her husband were not living the life they had hoped to live in Scottsdale. Although they were each earning sufficient incomes, they found themselves "working nonstop" to afford their basic monthly expenses, and they couldn't enjoy their lives given the financial strains they faced.

"We've always tried to not have debt, and it just felt like as fast as we were earning money, out the door it went on increasing costs over there," Ann said. "And we talked about it over time and said, 'We're never going to be able to retire.'"

That's when they knew it was time to make a change. After researching affordable places to live in retirement, Ann and her husband settled on Portugal. They had traveled there before and were already familiar with the area, so they decided to give it a shot — they sold their condo in Arizona, used the equity in the condo to buy an apartment in Portugal, and they've lived there happily for just over two years.

"Our quality of life is so much nicer because we're not worried about money like we were in the States," Ann said. "We were just watching every single penny."

According to documents reviewed by BI, Ann and her husband spend about $82 each month on a bundle for TV, cellphones, and internet, about $21 each month on water, sewer, and trash, and around $55 each month on electricity. Ann said the Social Security they receive is just over $3,000 a month, which allows them to cover all of their basic expenses with money left over.

Since they do not have to worry about rent or mortgage payments, other major expenses they consistently deal with include health insurance, which Ann said costs about $275 a month.

While Ann was able to live comfortably in retirement abroad, many older adults in the US are struggling. The Census Bureau's Current Population Survey found that just over half of Americans over 65 make $30,000 or less annually. The Social Security program will no longer be able to pay out full benefits in 2035, per the latest trustees report, meaning that unless Congress intervenes, Americans might not be able to rely on the benefits they were hoping for.

Ann said she knows that moving abroad isn't the perfect solution. There are lots of bureaucratic hurdles in Portugal, she said, not only with obtaining a residency visa — ex-pats have to get a new driver's license and car insurance, and they'll have to register with the tax authorities and health agencies.

It's not easy at the outset, but once Ann and her husband got through the initial moving challenges, they found that spending their retirement in Portugal was one of the best decisions they could've made.

"It's just nice to relax and have things to do and places to explore, and even our Social Security is enough to live on and travel a bit," Ann said. "Our life here is just way better than it could have ever been would we had stayed in the US."

'The United States is a very difficult country to retire in'

With high inflation and interest rates, it's not easy for many people to live in the US right now, and it's forcing some older adults to push back their retirements to continue earning paychecks.

BI previously spoke to Diane Senffner, a 63-year-old who lost her job during the pandemic and depleted her savings. Now, she's not sure she'll ever be able to retire. "I was somebody who did really well, and it's very disheartening because I have no idea what's going to happen with retirement," she said.

While certain cities offer cheaper retirement options than others, the US is still an expensive country, which is why moving abroad was so appealing for Ann and other ex-pats.

"We understand how hard it is to try to accumulate enough money to retire and stay in the United States," Ann said. "And for us, it was basically impossible."

"The United States is a very difficult country to retire in," she said.

While their life isn't perfect in Portugal, Ann said that she and her husband have truly enjoyed the warm weather, outdoor activities, and the ability to easily travel to nearby cities. With their expenses being so low, they have the freedom to spend money on things they enjoy doing in retirement, and they don't have plans to leave Portugal anytime soon.

"Every morning when we're off on our walk, we have a beach that we walk to, and there's a castle there and beautiful cliffs, and we have a whole beach to ourselves," Ann said. "And every single morning, we say, 'Oh my gosh, it's so beautiful. Aren't you glad we live here? '"

Did you move abroad or do something unconventional in retirement? Share your story with this reporter at asheffey@businessinsider.com.

Alex Moeller was having a great month, and he wanted to share it with his 2 million followers on Instagram.

In one photo from October 2022, the millennial entrepreneur/influencer posed on his private jet, the fawn leather seats embroidered with the logo for his red-hot business, WiFi Money. In another photo, at a luxury resort in southern Mexico, he floated in a dazzling aquamarine infinity pool overlooking the Caribbean. In a third post, he showed off a selection from his fleet of supercars — a Lamborghini Huracán and a McLaren 650.

"To God all the Glory!" the caption read. "Years and years of hard work is paying off big time. In the next 24 months we will be helping 100,000+ Businesses."

For Jasmine Sadry and Joey Martin, that October was decidedly less enjoyable.

The Texas couple were staring down more than $100,000 in debt, much of which they had poured into WiFi Money. Overwhelmed by stress and guilt, Martin went into a deep spiral and was hospitalized several times after binge drinking and using drugs. As Moeller partied it up, Sadry and Martin were preparing to move out of the Dallas-area home they could no longer afford.

They were far from WiFi Money's only dissatisfied customers. Since its founding in 2020, the company has left a trail of lawsuits alleging fraud, bankruptcies, mental breakdowns, and financial devastation. Marketing a faddish assortment of get-rich-quick schemes — cryptocurrencies, ecommerce stores, pandemic-era tax rebates, and more — WiFi Money promises its followers "the ability to make money anywhere in the world, by doing one simple action…. connecting to WiFi." Combining the age-old influence of envy and greed with the instant gratification of influencer culture, the company sells desperate Americans the paradoxical idea that a bit of hustle will allow them to coast to the easy life.

In the process, Moeller and his business partner, Chris Frederick, have amassed millions for themselves, promoting their glitzy lifestyle everywhere from Instagram to Fox News. Many of their customers and investors, meanwhile, have ended up in financial ruin. As trust in the institutional ways of moving up in the world has deteriorated, WiFi Money offered an express lane to financial freedom. It ended up sending many of its most devoted followers straight into a ditch.

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A native of Quito, Ecuador, Moeller (@amoeller, 2 million followers) moved to Florida with his family when he was 11. One of his earliest gigs was working at his family's cosmetics business, Casa Moeller Martinez. There, he learned the value of a good sales job — even if what you're selling is based on an illusion. Casa Moeller Martinez wound up embroiled in scandal: News reports in Ecuador said the company owed more than $7 million to investors, including a retirement fund for the national police force, and ultimately sought bankruptcy.

Twentysomething and boisterous, Moeller began to frequent Miami's club scene, often with a woman on his arm. At age 25, he launched MentorCI, a marketing firm that promised to make its clients rich by boosting their follower counts on social media. The company's Facebook page included such cutting-edge insights as "Snapchat can be very beneficial for those companies trying to reach Millenials!" and "Websites are a must!" Social media, MentorCI promised, would set you free: "Get financial freedom and explore the world!! Did you know that you can monetize your Instagram account and make thousands of dollars each month?!?" The company's own Instagram account, meanwhile, featured photos of enticing landscapes and attractive young women.

In Moeller's telling, his business was an instant hit. Within a year he had some 1,000 clients, whose accounts he grew using automated software to follow and unfollow other accounts on Instagram.

Today there are two primary types of business-minded influencers on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. The first is aspirational posters peddling lifestyle content — the Kim Kardashians of the world, showcasing a never-ending stream of exotic locales and innate glamour, 'grammed in the service of relentlessly selling products. The second is #hustlegrindset thoughtfluencers like Gary Vee, who preach a gospel of business acumen to followers looking for a shortcut in the rat race.

Moeller crafted a potent blend of both: a steady drumbeat of ultraluxe vacation photos paired with "hustle culture" koans. "Those who endure will conquer #wifimoney #paidtolive," he captioned a photo of himself in a swimming pool, a snowy mountain range behind him. "Let them hate, just make sure they spell your name right," he wrote in another post. The message conveys a promise implicit in Moeller's brand: Invest in my schemes, pay for my workshops, subscribe to my business philosophies, and you, too, can achieve a life of luxury resorts, fast cars, and ripped pecs.

Moeller's vision of monetizing social media tapped a vein of desperation in the American Dream.

Moeller's vision of monetizing social media tapped a vein of desperation in the American Dream. Four decades of widening income inequality and sluggish wage growth have pushed more and more Americans into frothy investment vehicles like meme stocks and crypto that offer the allure of "passive income" — a steady flow of cash, no work required, in return for a bit of up-front capital. A poll conducted in 2020, as internet firms like Uber and Etsy promoted a vision of home-brewed entrepreneurship, found that about one in three Americans had a side hustle.

"People are less satisfied with their current work — traditional work — and that has made the side hustles more appealing," says Farnaz Ghaedipour, who studies social media and work at Stanford University. "Social media makes it look like this is more achievable and makes it look like it's easy to turn your side hustle into a successful business."

Financial freedom became a cornerstone of Moeller's philosophy after one of his Instagram clients introduced him to Chris Frederick (@christhunder, 3.5 million followers). A burly dude from small-town Maryland, Frederick had his first brush with celebrity at 12, when he appeared on the PBS show "Aqua Kids." Years later, Frederick dropped out of college to play soccer for a succession of minor-league German teams. After returning from Europe, he found his true calling as a self-promoter. In 2018, a press release announced his "successful transition from professional soccer player to serial entrepreneur" and listed some of his new hustles: luxury-car rentals, watch flipping, investment banking, business coaching, and "monetizing Instagram."

Frederick and Moeller shared a relentless self-promotional drive and a fixation on social media as a business engine. By 2019 they were working together on Money Mastery Blueprint, an online boot camp that, for $1,997, promised to teach would-be influencers how to grow their followings. From there, Frederick and Moeller refined their brand, eventually landing on a catchy name they could use to assemble their diverse and often unrelated endeavors under one umbrella: WiFi Money.

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WiFi Money is hard to pin down: It's a philosophy, an advertising business, a social media collective, and a multilevel-marketing firm, all rolled into one. It provides an endless stream of technologically enabled, passive-income opportunities that just so happen to support the lavish lifestyles of the WiFi Money team, who then package their own success into social-media snippets and resell them as marketing advice.

In practice, WiFi Money is a tangled web of limited-liability corporations, including some set up to manage a single investment opportunity; one LLC is dedicated exclusively to Moeller and Frederick's private jet. At the center of it all is Gatsby, a private company controlled by two other LLCs created by Frederick and Moeller. The name conjures up images of Jay Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald's legendary hard-partying, entrepreneurial, and ultimately ill-fated social climber with a habit of bending the truth.

Along with Frederick and Moeller, the WiFi Money universe includes a constellation of affiliated influencers who use WiFi Money branding on social media and hawk the group's investment opportunities. There's Moeller's brother, Billy (@wmoeller85, 1.6 million followers) and Chris Casey (@chris.casey, 624,000 followers), a multilevel-marketing guru who serves as chief operating officer of WiFi Money. There's Todd Cahill (@toddmcahill, 383,000 followers), a "WiFi Money Mentor" from Illinois who was slapped with a $250,000 tax lien by the IRS in 2021 over five years of unpaid taxes. And there's Liz Friesen (@liz.friesen, 465,000 followers), a "Social Media Mentor" and women's-empowerment advocate who boasts of having been featured in Yahoo Finance and Business Insider. (In reality, both sites auto-published her press release.)

WiFi Money's modus operandi is to partner with an array of external firms to pitch a wide range of money-making schemes to prospective customers and investors. For one investment opportunity, which claimed to provide annual returns of 10% to 25%, the company partnered with a pair of luxury real-estate agents in Florida. A program that promised to boost people's social-media followings touted partnerships with influencers like Tana Mongeau and a member of the Kardashian clan. And for WiFi Money's most devoted disciples, there was the "WiFi Money Experience": exclusive business boot camps in boutique locations like Mexico's Punta Mita peninsula.

Customers and investors, meanwhile, are recruited from anywhere and everywhere — not just social media but friends, neighbors, and other would-be entrepreneurs. Those who give their money to WiFi Money are often encouraged to sign up other people in return for a cut of their profits — and perhaps, one day, a chance to become part of the WiFi Money crew.

The company insists its business model is a win for everyone. "WiFi Money has made a multitude of its customers prosperous, particularly during the pandemic, as well as afterwards, despite ever-shifting economic winds," the company's attorney, James Ragano, told me. But investors have often found themselves burned by WiFi Money's moves. During the cryptocurrency mania of 2021, for instance, Moeller and Frederick joined the leadership team of a crypto project called Nobility, which set out to revolutionize esports, sell a line of knight-branded NFTs, and expand into the metaverse. Frederick was listed as the chief marketing officer, while Moeller worked on business development.

The project promised to promote its most dedicated NFT investors on "the world's top billboard locations, including Times Square, Piccadilly Circus, and the Burj Khalifa." Some investors poured tens of thousands of dollars into the initiative, buying up Nobility's cryptocurrency in hopes of seeing the price soar. After the token's launch that summer, its price jumped fourfold in less than a month, to about $0.0014 a token. But it quickly plunged to $0.000039, a 97% drop from its high. The billboards never materialized.

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In 2020, Joey Martin (@jmarteen, 12,000 followers) was a 40-year-old product manager living in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area with his partner, Jasmine Sadry (@jasminesadry, 59,500 followers), a radio host and media strategist. He dreamed of flipping real estate to escape the 9-to-5 grind — but he needed extra cash to get started. He joined a mastermind group, a decades-old peer-to-peer mentor program for aspiring entrepreneurs. That led to an introduction to Moeller.

In his Instagram DMs and early calls with Martin, Moeller presented himself as a smooth-talking problem-solver. He pitched Martin on what he described as an incredible passive-income opportunity: Amazon automation. For an up-front fee, Martin would get a custom-built storefront on Amazon Marketplace, the tech giant's platform for third-party sellers. The listings, though, would consist of products available for less at other stores. When an Amazon customer bought something in the store, a "virtual assistant" would use a credit card taken out in Martin's name to buy the item from the secondary store and mail it directly to the customer — and Martin would pocket the difference. All he had to do was pony up $35,000, and the automated riches would start rolling in.

"I don't know if I would call it laziness or greed necessarily," Martin told me. "But I was salivating a little bit at the idea of being able to say, OK, I can move a little quicker and don't have to focus as much on generating month-to-month income."

Moeller had essentially sold Martin on dropshipping, a common business model. And while WiFi Money would pocket a hefty chunk of Martin's up-front payment, the company wouldn't actually set up his storefront or help him run the business. That would all be done by a third-party LLC called Kyncey Investments. The firm was run by Kyle McDougal (@kyle.mcdougal, 986 followers), who also served as CEO of Nobility.

Almost as soon as Martin and Sadry handed their money over, things started to go wrong. Their store, which sold everything from Scotchgard to diaper-rash ointment, was suspended repeatedly by Amazon, in part because of low customer reviews. It was shut down for good in mid-2021. Other investors faced similar suspensions; some never even had their stores set up.

Though WiFi Money had pitched many of the initial investments, the company largely managed to stay out of the legal hot seat, likely because the contracts were ultimately signed by Kyncey. In nine lawsuits, Kyncey and McDougal were variously accused of fraudulent inducement, unfair and deceptive trade practices, and unjust enrichment. In many cases, McDougal simply didn't respond to the suits. One plaintiff got a judgment to raid Kyncey's bank account, but they were able to recoup only $13,000 of their $35,000 investment.

McDougal maintains his innocence and suggested he had only missed the cases because the legal documents had been delivered to his old addresses. "Contrary to popular belief," he told me, "we had a lot of clients that were making significant returns, and the vast majority were very happy once their stores started picking up." But as the issues mounted, WiFi Money parted ways with Kyncey. Irate investors were offered an alternative: They could turn their Amazon stores over to DBC, a Canadian firm that WiFi Money was partnering with. It was a classic hustle-culture move: If the first venture doesn't work, simply pivot to another one. But the same issues that plagued Kyncey soon resurfaced with DBC. Investors found their accounts abruptly suspended by Amazon, with little recourse to recover their money. The side hustlers had once again been hustled.

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As the money poured in, WiFi Money gained a patina of mainstream credibility. In the spring of 2021, just as their Amazon-automation pitch was kicking into high gear, Moeller and Frederick landed a prime self-promotional opportunity. Sitting down with CNN, the duo lamented the economic chaos caused by the pandemic and hyped the potential of WiFi Money as an answer for people who had lost their jobs.

"We really wanted to come up with a solution where we could help the average individual, just about anybody, translate their income to the online space," Moeller said.

The following year, Moeller and Frederick were interviewed by Fox Business. Tailoring their message for the network's right-wing audience, Frederick described WiFi Money as a righteous crusader helping conservatives fight back against social-media censorship. "We consider ourselves a conservative company," he told Fox Business. "I don't agree with Big Tech censorship and I think they have lost their markets."

Through WiFi Money, Moeller and Frederick had created a virtuous cycle of money and influence. They 'grammed themselves hanging out with increasingly high-profile celebs: the "Shark Tank" star Kevin O'Leary, the notorious "Wolf of Wall Street" Jordan Belfort, the legendary Brazilian soccer player Ronaldinho, the conservative commentator Glenn Beck. Frederick took up soccer again, playing as a backup goalie for the Florida Tropics Soccer Club, an indoor-league team sponsored by WiFi Money. Moeller, meanwhile, leaned hard into YouTube creatordom. In one video he cruised around New York City, ensconced in the back of a white Rolls-Royce, on a mission to spend $1 million in 24 hours. In social-media posts and in interviews, he and Frederick boasted that they were banking tens of millions of dollars a year.

While Moeller and Frederick lived the high life, Martin and Sadry were struggling to salvage their investment with WiFi Money. As they grappled with Amazon's customer-service team and their mounting debt, Martin felt crippled by shame. He turned to cocaine and binge drinking to cope. His trips to the hospital for issues related to substance use and stress exacerbated the couple's debts. "It honestly was basically mental exhaustion," Martin said. "Basically a full collapse."

In an attempt to make ends meet, the couple refinanced and rented out their home, moving from an upscale Dallas townhouse to a mold-ridden apartment near the airport. In November 2021, Martin filed for bankruptcy protection, and Sadry prepared to follow suit.

I wake up every other morning and I've got an angry family member texting me about it

McDougal, the Kyncey founder, said he warned investors that "there were risks involved, that it wasn't all sunshine, and nothing was a guaranteed success." But other investors were also struggling to stay afloat, with bills from credit-card companies and state tax authorities adding to their costs. One Florida resident faced with $138,000 in debt sold her house to pay it down. A real-estate agent from Minnesota sold her home and moved in with her partner's parents, sharing a bedroom with her teenage children for more than a year. One investor says he was assailed by relatives he'd signed up for a referral bonus of $5,000 a pop: "I wake up every other morning and I've got an angry family member texting me about it." Another investor who convinced people he knew to invest said it ruined his reputation, prompting him to consider suicide. Some DBC investors found their homes barraged with packages returned by dissatisfied Amazon customers; one had to grapple with dozens of garden loungers, bikes, and rugs that were mailed to her house.

Daemon Budkowski, a former actor and model in Los Angeles with multiple sclerosis, said his investment in WiFi Money put his mortgage at risk. "Legally, I'm disabled," he said. "I'm not able to work. I'm tired of being a debt to society. That's why I wanted to invest — to make a living. Now, honestly, they ruined my life." He filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission but never heard back.

As the losses mounted, disgruntled investors banded together in an informal grapevine. They found each other through Reddit threads, comparing horror stories and detailing the amount of money they'd lost. They circulated email chains comparing notes on lawyers who might take up their case and urging victims to contact the FTC. Nearly 100 complaints have been lodged with the FTC about WiFi Money, Kyncey, or DBC. It's not clear whether the agency is investigating; a spokesperson said they couldn't comment on specific companies "outside the context of a law enforcement action."

Some who spoke out against WifiMoney have found themselves targeted by the company. Chris Costello (@chriscostellosrq, 40,000 followers), a real-estate agent in Florida, and his wife, Francis, were invited to invest by their close friends Chris Casey, the COO of WiFi Money, and his wife Ashley. Costello went in on Amazon stores and Nobility in a big way — at one point, according to court documents, his stake in the crypto project reached $325,000, and he bragged on Instagram about "joining #wifimoney." After Nobility went south, he was angry. "These people are 21st-century snake oil salesman!" he wrote on Reddit. "Do not trust them or any company they partner with."

WiFi Money fought back. Moeller, Frederick, Gatsby, and Casey filed a suite of defamation lawsuits against the Costellos, accusing them of tortious interference, cyberstalking, and harassment. Costello, in turn, called the ongoing lawsuits "an attack by these individuals to smear our name, stop us from telling our personal experiences, and cause financial hardship to our family." His war with WiFi Money has cost him more than his investment. "Not only did we lose money," he says, "we also lost our best friends."

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As the anger from investors built, the WiFi Money team did what it does best: It pivoted again.

The company dove into helping small businesses get access to a special tax credit created by the federal government to give money back to companies crushed by the pandemic. Partnering with a third-party firm, Bottom Line Concepts, WiFi Money helped firms jump through hoops to access the employee-retention credit — and made serious cash in the process. On a podcast in 2023, Moeller said WiFi Money was making $10 million a month in pure profit off the program. But last September, the government placed a moratorium on the program, citing "a flood of improper Employee Retention Credit claims." It had wound up being a gold mine for scammers.

It's not a small amount of money these people are entrusting to another person. And it certainly had a financially devastating effect.

By then, the legal issues had started to mount. Last July, the IRS hit Moeller with a $1.3 million lien over unpaid taxes, which his attorney says has since been resolved. In November, Avery Williamson, a former NFL linebacker, filed suit against Moeller and McDougal, claiming he had been defrauded out of more than $400,000 he gave to Nobility in return for crypto tokens that never materialized. And in December, more than 30 investors in the Amazon-automation business took WiFi Money, Moeller, and Frederick to court, alleging fraudulent inducement, negligent misrepresentation, and civil conspiracy over the sale of DBC stores. The plaintiffs, most of whom lost tens of thousands of dollars, said WiFi Money team members had encouraged them to take out loans to pay for the storefronts and to lie to Amazon.

"It's had a real effect on people's lives," said Victor Bermudez, the attorney representing investors in the suit. "It's not a small amount of money these people are entrusting to another person. And it certainly had a financially devastating effect."

Even some of WiFi Money's partners appear burned by the company. DBC, the Canadian firm that handled the Amazon stores for WiFi Money after Kyncey, said the influencer group took a 50%-plus commission on each sale — and refused to return the cash when stores were shut down by Amazon. The same month investors took WiFi Money to court over the stores, DBC announced it was closing down.

"WiFi Money looks forward to its day in court, and will not make any further comment at this time," said Ragano, the company's attorney. At the moment, dozens of other investors — including Martin and Sadry, the Dallas couple — are thinking about joining the lawsuit. Martin believes that WiFi Money's leaders "deserve to have their asses kicked." But he doesn't think paying a settlement will force Moeller and Frederick to change their ways. "They're not scared of the law. They're not scared of writing a check," he said. "I think it's just part of their business."

If Moeller is perturbed by the lawsuit, he hasn't let it show. About a month after the suit was filed, Moeller posted videos of himself on Instagram sipping Champagne on a private jet en route to Munich, a shiny new gold Rolex Submariner strapped to his wrist.

"More motivated than ever," he said. "Cheers to the biggest year of our lives."

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Rob Price is a senior correspondent for Business Insider and writes features and investigations about the technology industry. His Signal number is +1 650-636-6268, and his email is rprice@businessinsider.com.