• Netflix's big night at the Golden Globes signals it could finally win the best picture Oscar.
• The irony? After years of campaigning, it doesn't matter much anymore, media analysts say.
• Netflix's status in Hollywood is cemented, and it's making waves elsewhere.

Netflix has spent years hunting for a best picture Oscar, and this year, it might finally get one. The twist: If it does, the win won't matter all that much to the streamer's business.

Netflix won big at the Golden Globes Sunday, crowing on its blog that the Spanish-language crime musical "Emilia Pérez" took "center stage" with four trophies, including a coveted Best Motion Picture prize in the musical or comedy category.

"Baby Reindeer" added to its haul with two awards, and Ali Wong took home a statue for her standup special. Netflix execs Ted Sarandos and Bela Bajaria received effusive shout-outs from the podium.

Netflix has spent millions of dollars over the years on Oscar campaigns but always come up short in the best picture category, the pinnacle of Hollywood glory. While Golden Globe and Oscar winners don't always intersect, the momentum for "Pérez" could mean the statue is finally in Netflix's crosshairs.

But the Oscar won't mean as much to Netflix as it would have a few years ago, industry analysts told Business Insider. Netflix has already won the streaming wars, and other areas of focus — like its live sports push — are more consequential to its current strategy.

"Winning best picture would be a nice PR win," Ross Benes, an EMARKETER senior analyst, told BI. "But business-wise, it would not matter all that much. Netflix already has convinced the top filmmakers and actors in the world to work with them."

Benes said that particularly with box-office returns down, "It's more clear than ever that the best movies go straight to streaming sometimes."

COVID also marked a "sea change" in the blurring of these lines after some top films began premiering on streaming services, said Robert Rosenberg, a former Showtime executive and a principal at Telluride Legal Strategies.

"The legitimacy question has basically been laid to rest," Rosenberg added, referring to whether Hollywood had fully accepted Netflix movies.

"Winning best picture would just be another feather in their cap," he said.

Netflix declined to comment.

Netflix's narrative has shifted

Netflix has been nominated for best picture several times — including noteworthy contenders like "Roma" and "The Power of the Dog." But Apple TV became the first streamer to cross the best picture threshold with "CODA" in 2022.

More recently, Netflix's aspirations have focused less on the red carpet and more on areas like the pro wrestling ring. The streamer has been increasingly scooping up sports rights and hosting massive broadcasts of boxing matches and NFL games as it builds an ad business.

Rosenberg called live content "a key new battleground" for Netflix. "I think we're going to see them get more aggressive in that area going forward," he said.

This week, Netflix will premiere "Monday Night Raw" — the first fruits of its multibillion-dollar deal with the WWE.

"Netflix laid the smackdown on traditional TV," Benes said. "It is enjoying its Hulkamania reign."

• Former President Jimmy Carter, who served from 1977 to 1981, has died at age 100.
• The 39th president of the United States was widely admired for his global humanitarian work.
• Carter won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. He was the son of a peanut farmer from Georgia.

Former President Jimmy Carter, who rose from humble beginnings in rural Georgia to the White House and was renowned for his global charity work, has died at age 100.

He died Sunday in his Plains, Georgia home, The Carter Center — the former president's nonprofit organization — confirmed in a statement posted to social media.

"My father was a hero, not only to me but to everyone who believes in peace, human rights, and unselfish love," said Chip Carter, the former president's son, said in the statement released by the Carter Center. "My brothers, sister, and I shared him with the rest of the world through these common beliefs. The world is our family because of the way he brought people together, and we thank you for honoring his memory by continuing to live these shared beliefs."

President Joe Biden in an address to the nation said a major service for former president Carter would be hosted in Washington DC. 

"Jimmy Carter lived a life measured not by words, but by his deeds," Biden said. "On behalf of the world, and the whole nation, we send our whole heartfelt sympathies and our gratitude for sharing President Carter for so many years."

The Carter Center in February 2023 announced that the former president would enter hospice care to "spend his remaining time at home with his family" following several hospital stays. After almost a year and a half in hospice, Carter's grandson, Jason, said the former president was "coming to the end."

Carter had previously been treated for brain and liver cancer, was hospitalized after a fall in 2019, and had surgery the same year to relieve a buildup of pressure around his brain.

Presidents often fade into the background after they leave the White House, but Carter — the 39th president of the United States — was in many ways a more popular, impactful figure after his single tumultuous term from 1977 to 1981.

Carter has often been referred to as the best ex-president in history, a compliment he seemed to embrace.

He came to be admired for his amiable demeanor and lifelong dedication to public service and humanitarianism. Carter was a US Navy veteran and a Nobel laureate.

He was preceded in death by his wife of 77 years, Rosalynn Carter, who died in November 2023 at age 96. He is survived by his four children, 11 grandchildren, and 14 great-grandchildren. 

The peanut farmer who became president

Carter, whose full name was James Earl Carter Jr., was born October 1, 1924, in Plains, Georgia. His father was a peanut farmer who'd served in the Georgia state legislature. His mother, Lillian Gordy Carter, served as a nurse, civil- and women's-rights activist, and Peace Corps volunteer in India at the age of 68 in 1966. The Carters were deeply tied to their Baptist faith.

Carter graduated from the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, in 1946. He served in the Navy for seven years before returning to Georgia to take over his family's peanut farm after his father died.

'I'll never tell a lie'

Carter entered state politics as a Democrat in the early 1960s and in 1970 was elected to the Georgia governorship. In 1974, he announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for president.

Initially, Carter was pegged as a long shot given his lack of political connections and the fact he was relatively unknown nationally.

But Carter painted himself as an honest outsider with strong morals at a time when many Americans were disillusioned with Washington over the Watergate scandal, and his campaign gradually gained momentum.

He repeatedly told voters, "I'll never tell a lie."

Carter's longtime embrace of civil rights was also crucial to his victory.

After being elected governor, Carter declared during his inaugural address, "I say to you quite frankly that the time for racial discrimination is over."

He carried these sentiments into his presidential campaign and allied himself with key Black members of Congress. Carter received overwhelming support from Black voters, especially in the South, which propelled him to the White House.

Carter won the Democratic nomination in July 1976, choosing then-Sen. Walter Mondale of Minnesota as his running mate against President Gerald Ford, the Republican incumbent. Carter defeated Ford in November of that year, winning 50.1% of the popular vote and capturing 297 electoral votes to Ford's 240.

The Georgian swept the Deep South, the last Democrat to do so on the presidential level, while also carrying important battlegrounds like Ohio and Pennsylvania.

The informal president

As president, Carter sought to portray himself as a man of the people and make the presidency more accessible.

After he was sworn in, Carter and his wife walked to the White House, launching an informal tradition followed by subsequent presidents at their inaugurations.

He also spoke and dressed in a less formal manner and held frequent press conferences.

Carter entered office as a popular figure pushing for ambitious programs to address the country's myriad social and economic woes. His administration had a historically large number of women, Black, and Latino members and staff.

Though Carter's image as an "outsider" seemed to be advantageous during his campaign, it hurt him with Congress once he was in the White House. He struggled to get lawmakers on board with his bold proposals for reform, and his approval ratings tanked as he struggled to push his proposals through the legislative branch.

A scandal in the summer of 1977 didn't help matters. At the time, Bert Lance, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, was accused of being involved in dubious financial activities as a Georgia banker. Carter at first defended Lance, whom he saw as a close friend, but ultimately called on him to resign.

In 1979, amid an energy crisis and recession, Carter delivered his infamous "crisis in confidence" speech, contending that the nation needed to restore its faith in itself. The speech was well-received at first but was ultimately not a particularly successful selling point.

Carter's biggest accomplishments were in foreign policy

Despite the many challenges Carter faced, his presidency wasn't without major accomplishments.

On the domestic front, his achievements included establishing the Department of Education and the Department of Energy and expanding the national parks system. His actions helped lay the framework for future administrations to tackle America's educational and energy needs.

But Carter's biggest accomplishments as president came in the foreign-policy arena.

He facilitated the first peace treaty between Israel and Egypt, known as the Camp David Accords. Carter also established full diplomatic relations between the US and China and orchestrated two important treaties between the US and Panama.

Carter also stood up to the Soviet Union on human rights and completed negotiation of the SALT II nuclear-limitation treaty (though the treaty ultimately fell through with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan).

The Iranian hostage crisis and Carter's downfall

Carter's progress in the realm of foreign policy was in many ways overshadowed by the 1979 Iran hostage crisis.

Amid a revolution in Iran that saw a pro-US government ousted, a mob of students stormed the US Embassy in Tehran and took the staff members as hostages. The revolutionary Iranian government, led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, supported the actions of the students. The US Embassy staff members were ultimately held hostage for hundreds of days.

The timing of the crisis and Carter's perceived failure to secure the release of the hostages, which included a disastrous military operation that failed to rescue them, was deeply damaging to his image domestically.

Combined with an economy in turmoil, the hostage crisis was a large part of the reason Carter lost reelection in a landslide to former Gov. Ronald Reagan of California in 1980. In that race, Carter's support had diminished across the South and in the Midwestern and Northeastern states that boosted his first presidential bid; he earned 49 electoral votes to Reagan's 489.

Carter's administration negotiated the release of the hostages during his final days in office, and they were freed the same day as Reagan's inauguration.

The post-presidency peacemaker

Carter spent most of his postpresidential years championing human rights and pushing for peace in various corners of the world. He founded The Carter Center to focus on such issues in 1982 and played an active role with Habitat for Humanity until the end of his life.

As a private citizen, Carter worked for peace everywhere from North Korea to Haiti. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for what the Norwegian Nobel Committee described as his "decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development."

Staying humble

After he left the White House, Carter moved back to Plains, Georgia.

He's the only US president in the modern era to return to the two-bedroom house he lived in before ascending to the highest office in the land.

Carter favored a humble lifestyle. He was known to fly on commercial airliners, unlike other past presidents who preferred private jets, and was filmed walking up and down the aisle to shake the hands of other passengers.

He also cost US taxpayers far less per year than any other former president, according to the General Services Administration, in large part because he avoided extravagances.

Carter was a former president longer than anyone else in US history.

Staying true to principles

In 1954, the chief of police and a Baptist minister in Plains asked Carter to join the local White Citizens' Council, a pro-segregation organization.

The peanut farmer said no, and a few days later the men came back to tell Carter he was the only white man in the community who hadn't joined. Carter told them he didn't care.

The police chief and minister returned a third time and said they would pay the $5 membership fee for Carter if that's what was holding him back. He was also warned that his peanut business would face a boycott if he didn't join.

In response, Carter told them: "I've got $5. And I'd flush it down the toilet before I'd give it to you."

Throughout Carter's long life, he frequently proved unafraid to stray from the pack, even if it made him at times unpopular.

• The creator economy has blossomed into a $250 billion industry but faces fresh challenges.
• One big question on the horizon: Will TikTok be banned?
• Meanwhile, some smaller creators fear being pushed out — and some VC interest has cooled.

The creator economy is hitting an inflection point heading into 2025: TikTok is in the throes of a potential extinction event. MrBeast is testing the limits of influencer megastardom. And there's an ongoing changing of the guard at YouTube — the platform that arguably started it all.

Birthed in the mid-2000s, the creator economy has grown into a $250 billion industry and could be worth as much as half a trillion dollars by 2027, Goldman Sachs estimates.

At the same time, growth has been constrained: Increased competition and platform algorithmic changes are making it harder for some smaller creators to thrive.

And while venture capital is still flowing — particularly in buzzy areas like artificial intelligence, social shopping, and influencer marketing — the investor hype cycle has also slowed.

Here are some of the biggest high points and low points the creator economy faced this year — and some challenges ahead in 2025:

TikTok faces an extinction event

A potential TikTok ban is one of the biggest threats looming over the creator economy. The app reliably churns out stars, resides at the heart of internet culture, and serves as an engine for countless e-commerce startups.

TikTok Shop helped social shopping finally break through in the US in 2024 — driving $100 million in sales on Black Friday alone and becoming more popular among US online shoppers than Shein and Sephora, according to a report by Coefficient Capital and The New Consumer.

TikTok may be saved by the Supreme Court or a more amenable Trump administration. But if a ban is enacted, up-and-coming creators are likely to be hit hardest.

Some are sounding the alarm, while others have told Business Insider they're hopeful they can transition audiences to YouTube and Instagram — which staged something of a comeback in 2024, winning over more teens — or even LinkedIn.

TikTok has remained somewhat unfazed in the face of the legal battle — though CEO Shou Chew has reportedly made direct and indirect overtures to president-elect Donald Trump as the case heads to the Supreme Court.

New highs — and challenges — for MrBeast

Perhaps no modern-day creator has achieved heights like Jimmy "MrBeast" Donaldson, whose ambitious but challenging 2024 could serve as a blueprint — or cautionary tale — for fellow creators.

That said, YouTube's most-subscribed star has a way of staying on top. Beloved for his generosity and what some see as his authenticity, Donaldson not only reaches untold masses but resonates with a coveted young male demographic.

In July, allegations emerged that Donaldson's childhood friend and longtime video collaborator, Ava Tyson, had inappropriately messaged a minor. (Tyson wrote on X in July that any accusations of grooming were false, adding: "I would like to apologize for any of my past behavior or comments if it hurt or offended anyone.") Tyson and Donaldson parted ways.

A third-party investigation ultimately concluded that any allegations of sexual contact between company employees and minors were "without basis." It said there had been isolated incidents of "workplace harassment" and that the company had taken swift action to deal with those.

Meanwhile, Donaldson also garnered headlines this year for "Beast Games," a streaming game show that premiered in December on Amazon Prime.

The show, which he said cost more than $100 million, amplified his already massive production scope and diversified his reach beyond his home turf.

The show has attracted some controversy, with some contestants complaining about filming conditions and injuries they say they sustained. Donaldson has previously said he couldn't comment on certain allegations, but also described some of the claims as "disinformation." Amazon hasn't commented.

A changing of the guard at YouTube

YouTube's outright dominance — with a reported $400 billion valuation — sometimes has a tendency to fly under the radar. But the world's largest video platform further cemented its status this year as the go-to revenue-sharer for creators.

Alphabet-owned YouTube has also emerged as an irrefutable powerhouse on TV screens — an all-important venue for advertisers — and in the influential podcast space. YouTube has long led Netflix in big screen watch time, and it's also the most popular way for people to consume podcasts, per Edison Research.

Tragically, 2024 marked the death of creator economy architect Susan Wojcicki, the former YouTube CEO who shepherded key ventures like YouTube Premium and YouTube TV into the world. (Wojcicki had stepped down in early 2023.)

Despite countless wins, a long-running trend also continued of veteran creators retiring from their channels or floating the idea of quitting, with many citing age, burnout, and increased pressure amid platform changes.

Two formative creators officially left the platform in 2024: "Game Theorists" host Matthew Patrick and education creator Tom Scott.

And creators who rose to fame on YouTube also brought their bold-faced projects elsewhere this year — Donaldson's aforementioned Amazon show, Jake Paul's fight with Mike Tyson on Netflix, and a reality series by YouTube collective The Sidemen, which also transitioned to Netflix.

• Netflix has grown into the world's largest streaming service with more than 280 million subscribers worldwide.
• It came out on top in 2024's streaming wars.
• Here's a look at Netflix's rise and what's next.

1997: Netflix is founded by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph.

1998: Netflix launches a DVD-by-mail rental service. That same year, Amazon founder and former CEO Jeff Bezos offers to buy the company.

In his book "That Will Never Work: The Birth of Netflix and the Amazing Life of an Idea," Randolph wrote that he and Hastings met with Bezos in 1998, who offered them "probably something between $14 million and $16 million," Randolph wrote. But they turned down the offer.

1999: Netflix begins offering a subscription-based model, in which customers could choose movies to rent-by-mail for a monthly fee.

Netflix gained 239,000 subscribers in its first year, according to Inc.

2002: Netflix goes public. Randolph exits the company soon after.

"As you get older, if you're lucky, you realize two things: what you like, but also what you're good at," Randolph told Forbes in 2019 on why he left Netflix. "The answer to both of them [for me] is early-stage companies. I like the chaos. I like the fact that you're working on hundreds of things at once."

2007: Netflix launches a video streaming service, free for its already-existing DVD-rental subscribers.

Netflix ended 2006 with over 6 million subscribers for its DVD-rental service.

But a New York Times story at the time highlighted how the company still faced doubts about its streaming plans, noting that it would cost Netflix $40 million to implement it. The company's stock dropped 6% with the announcement. But Hastings, who was CEO at the time, said that he had "gotten used to" reservations.

 

 

2012: Netflix debuts "Lilyhammer," its first original series. The show was originally broadcast in Norway, but Netflix acquired the rights. It laid the foundation for Netflix's binge-release model and its surge in original programming, including expanding into international markets.

"This was the first time we streamed a show across multiple countries and languages … and it worked," Netflix's current co-CEO Ted Sarandos wrote in a blog post in February 2022.

"It worked because it was a deeply local story that we could share with the world," Sarandos added.

2013: Netflix ramps up its original programming with "House of Cards" and "Orange Is the New Black," which gain critical acclaim and Emmys recognition.

2015: Netflix releases its first original feature film, "Beasts of No Nation."

2017: Netflix surpasses 100 million subscribers, a crucial milestone, 10 years after it launched its streaming option.

2018: Netflix wins its first feature-film Oscar: best documentary feature for "Icarus." Later this year, it releases "Roma," which becomes Netflix's first best-picture nominee the following year.

Netflix has yet to nab the Oscars' top prize, though, despite elaborate campaign spending. Apple TV+ won best picture last year for "CODA," becoming the first streaming platform to do so.

2020: Netflix names Ted Sarandos, its creative chief, as co-CEO with Hastings. The two have known each other since 1999.

January, 2021: Netflix announces that it surpassed 200 million subscribers, another milestone.

September, 2021: Netflix wins more Emmys than any network or streaming service for the first time, and nabs best-series wins for the first time with "The Crown" (drama) and "The Queen's Gambit" (limited).

October, 2021: Netflix faces its most public controversy yet, after some employees speak out against Dave Chappelle's Netflix special, "The Closer," in which he makes comments many criticized as transphobic.

Chappelle said in the special that "gender is a fact" and defended "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling, who came under fire for past transphobic comments.

Sarandos defended Chappelle in a memo to employees, saying in part: "Chappelle is one of the most popular stand-up comedians today, and we have a long standing deal with him. His last special, 'Sticks & Stones,' also controversial, is our most watched, stickiest, and most award winning stand-up special to date."

Netflix trans employees planned a walkout in response to the special and Sarandos' comments.

November, 2021: Netflix launches its first video games around the world, free as part of a user's subscription.

April, 2022: Netflix reports that it lost subscribers for the first time in a decade in the first quarter of 2022. It lost 200,000 subscribers and said it was expecting to lose 2 million more in Q2.

Aside from the economic strains of the coronavirus pandemic, Netflix blamed the subscriber loss partly on password sharing. It said that it estimated that an additional 100 million people use Netflix with a shared password. 

It also acknowledged increased competition. Over the last few years, new streaming services like Disney+, HBO Max, Paramount+, and more have entered the space on top of already existing rivals like Hulu and Prime Video.

April, 2022: Hastings confirms that an ad-supported tier is coming to Netflix.

Hastings confirmed during Netflix's April 2022 earnings call that the company plans to roll out an ad-supported plan — something it has pushed back against in the past — as the streaming service faced slowing revenue growth and lost subscribers.

Other streamers have, like HBO Max and Paramount+, have embraced ads. Disney+, Netflix's biggest rival, has also launched an ad-supported option.

Netflix's standard HD plan (its most popular plan) is $15.49 per month after the company recently raised prices. 

May and June, 2022: Netflix conducts layoffs amid slowing revenue growth.

Netflix laid off 150 staffers in May 2022 and then 300 more in June.

"While we continue to invest significantly in the business, we made these adjustments so that our costs are growing in line with our slower revenue growth," a Netflix spokesperson said of the most recent round of layoffs.

 

July 2022: Netflix loses subscribers for the second quarter in a row, a first for the company.

In Q2 2022, Netflix said it lost 970,000 subscribers. It had forecasted losing 2 million subscribers in the quarter, so it beat expectations — but it was still a sign of company's struggles, proving why it is introducing an ad-based plan and cracking down on password sharing. 

Netflix is optimistic about Q3, though, and forecasted adding 1 million subscribers.

November 2022: Netflix officially launches its ad-supported plan.

When the ad program launched, the streamer said it was nearly sold out of inventory.

December 2022: Netflix ended 2022 strong, breaking Q4 targets.

The end of 2022 represented a bit of a bounce back for Netflix, as the entertainment company outpaced subscriber growth in Q4 by around 3.1 million, adding 7.66 new subscribers despite its own estimates of 4.5 million, per Variety.

In total the streaming giant amassed 230.75 million subscribers by the end of 2022, compared to its target figure of 227.59 million.

Netflix noted that after a decade into making original content, it was "past the most cash-intensive phase of this buildout," per Variety. Accordingly, money spent on content was $16.84 billion in 2022 — about a 5% less than its 2021 spend.

January 2023: Netflix cofounder Reed Hastings steps down as co-CEO and is replaced by Greg Peters, who was serving as COO.

April 2023: Netflix announces its final red envelope DVDs will be shipped out in September of this year

Netflix announced it will end its DVD-rental services on September 29, 2023, according to an official Twitter account dedicated to the DVD-side of the business. It will mark the end of a 25-year chapter for the business, which became known for its red envelopes.

Users will have until October 27, 2023 to return their DVDs. Those still subscribed to the DVD service or whose subscription was cancelled in the last nine months will be able to download their queue, rental history, ratings, and reviews via this link.

January 2024: Subscriptions soar amid password crackdown.

Netflix began cracking down on password sharing in 2023, a move that – along with offering a cheaper, ad-supported subscription tier – helped it add new subscribers and deliver blowout earnings throughout 2024, quarter after quarter.

That said, Netflix will stop reporting quarterly subscriber figures in 2025, and some analysts expect the returns on its password crackdown to diminish in the future.  

January 2024: Netflix pushes into live sports with massive WWE deal.

Netflix made a costly push into live sports content with a $5 billion deal for a weekly WWE show in the US, and to air other one-off pro wrestling events globally. The content will start rolling out in early 2025.

April 2024: Longtime film chief Scott Stuber is succeeded by Dan Lin.

Netflix's former firm chief Scott Stuber left the company in January. He was later replaced by Dan Lin, who has reportedly sought to implement a new strategy that shifts away from big-budget action films fronted by marquee stars. 

Lin's plan also involves diversifying Netflix's offerings, prioritizing in-house producers, and skipping theatrical releases.

February 2024: Netflix signs on to produce its first Broadway show.

In February, Netflix signed on to produce its first Broadway show – a stage play about a Russian oligarch in partnership with "The Crown" creator Peter Morgan. The show started previews in April and closed in June.  

Netflix is also working on a "Stranger Things" prequel play in London, but not as a producer, according to The New York Times. That show, dubbed "Stranger Things: The First Shadow," premiered in the West End this month, and is expected to arrive on Broadway in the spring. 

June 2024: Experiential 'Netflix Houses' announced in Dallas and Philadelphia.

Netflix announced a new venture dubbed Netflix House in June – or "experiential entertainment venues" that are slated to arrive in shopping malls in Dallas and Philadelphia next year.

The locations will include Netflix-themed attractions, games, restaurants, and merch as Netflix looks to hone a model pioneered by Disney.

November 2024: Netflix shares stellar growth stats for ad-supported subscriptions.

In November 2024, Netflix's ad business turned two years old. It announced it had 70 million ad-supported subscribers – up from 40 million the previous May – and said that more than half of new sign-ups were for ad-supported plans in countries where the option is available.

November 2024: Netflix's Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson boxing stream attracts masses despite technical mishaps.

Netflix made another massive foray into live sports content in November, streaming a highly anticipated boxing match between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson, which drew a record-breaking 65 million concurrent viewers globally.

That said, the stream was beset by technical difficulties, with some viewers reporting buffering and audio problems. 

December 2024: Netflix streams its first-ever NFL games, with some help from Beyoncé.

Netflix closed out the year by streaming its first-ever Christmas Day NFL games, following a pact it announced in May with the NFL to carry holiday games through 2026. This year's spectacle also featured Beyoncé performing at halftime as the Houston Texans faced off against the Baltimore Ravens. 

• An analysis says streaming services' Christmas-movie supply has surged, with growth peaking in 2020.
• It suggests holiday movies are a big revenue generator for streaming services.
• Demand typically begins in November and plummets after Christmas Day.

Streaming viewers' appetites for Christmas movies — from time-tested classics like "Love Actually" to fresher fare like Netflix's "Hot Frosty" — have grown massively over the years, and services are cashing in on the trend, a new analysis suggests.

It's a buzzy genre, accounting for a healthy chunk of overall ad revenue at Hallmark, which even operates a Christmas cruise.

Netflix, for its part, is becoming a formidable rival, releasing six holiday originals this year alone. It's amassed something of a Christmas cinematic universe with interconnected references in many of its projects.

An analysis by the data firm Parrot Analytics found that the supply of Christmas movies on streaming services, including classics and new films, grew sixfold from 2000 to 2023.

The firm found that growth peaked in 2020 at the height of the pandemic as viewers sought comfort. It looked at content on Amazon Prime, Apple TV+, Discovery+, Disney+, Max, Hulu, Netflix, Paramount+, Peacock, and Starz.

After 2020, the growth of new Christmas movies slowed. Still, the holiday-movie genre — including films centered on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's — has become increasingly lucrative.

Parrot Analytics estimated that streamers generated $132 million from holiday movies in the fourth quarter of 2023. In the same quarter of 2021 that figure was $90 million, rising to $121 million in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Expectedly, Christmas-movie demand begins in November and peaks on Christmas Day, after which viewership plummets. Parrot said that while the peak increased steadily after 2019, growth appears to have slowed somewhat in 2024.

Citing data from November 1 to December 14, Parrot said that this year the most popular Christmas movie across platforms was Amazon's "Red One," starring Dwayne Johnson. It said that demand for the action flick was more than 50 times that of the average movie, based on metrics like consumption data, consumer research, and social-media interest.

The next most in-demand movies were the first two "Home Alone" films, followed by "The Grinch" and "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." David Harbour's "Violent Night" was sandwiched between two classics: "The Polar Express" and "It's a Wonderful Life."

Perhaps surprisingly, Netflix's "Hot Frosty" was well down the list, in 19th place, despite seeming to stir up interest, suggesting it's not quite a Christmas classic yet.

• Netflix is facing its latest live-stream test: two Christmas Day NFL games and a Beyoncé show.
• A Mike Tyson-Jake Paul fight streamed live on Netflix was beset by technical difficulties.
• Netflix said it's applying learning from that unprecedented stream to avoid a repeat.

Netflix is hoping its latest live event won't break the internet.

The streaming giant will again test its technical limits when it streams two NFL games on Christmas Day — the first fruits of its three-season deal. (Netflix reportedly paid $150 million to air this year's two Christmas matchups, with additional games set for the 2025 and 2026 holiday seasons.)

And to raise the stakes even higher: Beyoncé will perform at the halftime show during the second game.

As Netflix's live spectacles grow in stature, so has the attention grown on any technical difficulties. Netflix told Business Insider it has learned from past issues.

Last month, a boxing match between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson was marred by buffering, poor image quality, and audio problems for certain viewers. Around 90,000 issues were reported on Downdetector at the time.

That wasn't the first time Netflix frustrated viewers with technical challenges. Last year, a live "Love Is Blind" reunion was delayed and ultimately filmed to air later.

The Wall Street Journal reported that issues during the Tyson-Paul fight arose because Netflix greatly underestimated viewership — with three times as many people tuning in as had been expected. This overwhelmed Netflix's systems and also left internet service providers unprepared, the Journal reported.

The Tyson-Paul fight was a record-breaking event, Netflix said, drawing over 65 million concurrent viewers globally.

"We were stressing our own technology, we were pushing every ISP in the world right to the limits of their own capacity, we were stressing the limits of the internet itself," co-CEO Ted Sarandos said at a conference earlier this month.

The company told Business Insider it worked quickly to stabilize issues for the majority of its members after problems arose during the Tyson-Paul stream. It said it's now applying lessons learned about its main pressure points as it looks to the NFL streams, including adjusting its content delivery, encoding, and streaming protocols.

Netflix is estimating the football games could attract 35 million concurrent viewers, the Journal reported, but is preparing for an audience in line with the boxing event.

Live programming is a prime target for advertisers because it draws especially engaged viewers. As Netflix has sought to build out its advertising business, it has signed costly content deals, including a $5 billion, 10-year deal for WWE programming and a pact with FIFA to air the next two Women's World Cup tournaments in 2027 and 2031 exclusively in the US.

The Tyson-Paul stream did not feature any ad breaks, though there were logo placements and in-broadcast integrations, Netflix previously told BI. The NFL games will be the first time Netflix has commercial breaks built into a stream, according to the Journal.

Inventory for both games is sold out, Netflix announced in November, with sponsors including the likes of FanDuel and Verizon.

And the day has been programmed like a full-fledged spectacle. Mariah Carey is set to kick off the broadcast, performing her Christmas staple "All I Want For Christmas Is You" — though it will be pre-recorded.

The Kansas City Chiefs are set to face off against the Steelers in the first game in Pittsburgh, beginning at 1 p.m. Eastern Time. Then, the Houston Texans are set to battle the Baltimore Ravens, beginning at 4:30 p.m. Eastern. Beyoncé Knowles is scheduled to perform at halftime during the second matchup — in her native Houston.

Netflix launched its ad-supported subscription tier two years ago and has amassed 70 million subscribers. The company has predicted advertising could eventually make up 10% of its revenues.

• In his new book, Palantir CEO Alex Karp will explore how "Silicon Valley has lost its way."
• Big Tech needs to realign with the US government to address pressing issues like AI, he says.
• Karp says the progressive left has impeded this work in recent years.

Palantir CEO Alex Karp said Silicon Valley has lost its way under the spell of the progressive left — and has spent its time on inconsequential things like social media instead of collaborating with the US government on game-changing advancements.

It's time for that to change, Karp will argue in his coming book, "The Technological Republic." He sat down in an interview this week to unpack his thoughts on the incoming Trump administration — and what needs to change in Big Tech.

Speaking with investor Stanley Druckenmiller to promote the book, Karp recounted how, in 2018, Google employees protested the tech giant's involvement with Project Maven, which was a collaboration with the Department of Defense.

Amid outcry, Google opted not to renew its contract. (Palantir is among the companies now working on the project.)

It's become unpopular in some quarters of the tech world for companies to support the US government in recent years, Karp contended. But a shift may be afoot, he said.

"The Valley has realized you just cannot placate the anti-intellectual left" — a trend that's accelerated in the wake of October 7, he said. "They'll destroy your business."

Karp's book will argue that the tech sector must work with the government to address pressing issues — namely, prevailing in the AI arms race.

At the same time, Karp expressed optimism about "the level of talent that is coming in to fix our government," nodding to the incoming Trump administration.

He said American society is at a crisis point, with many feeling certain "instruments of measurement" — schools, borders, and intergovernmental government organizations like the United Nations — "have been corroded." On the other side of the aisle, Karp said, people are "worn out."

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

In the interview, Karp joked that Palantir was "a rare cult with no sex and very little drugs — and we're not poisoning anyone."

• Palantir CEO Alex Karp joked the software giant was like a "cult" — minus the sex and drugs.
• He says Palantirians tend to be "snobby" about their intellect and aren't easily persuaded by orders.
• "My success has been getting Palantirians to believe that my ideas are theirs," Karp says.

Palantir CEO Alex Karp acknowledged that working at the company can feel a bit like a "cult. Employees share a like-minded drive that can occasionally raise eyebrows from those outside, he said.

"It's a rare cult with no sex and very little drugs — and we're not poisoning anyone," he joked during an interview with investor Stanley Druckenmiller. Karp spoke about his coming book, "The Technological Republic."

Cofounder Peter Thiel is an "artist" when it comes to appointing leaders, Karp said, and attracting top engineering talent has always been the company's strong suit.

The founding team started by calling their smartest friends, and the talent pool quickly compounded. Early employees tended to be "very high-mission, very high rigor, very low pay, very high-equity — we lived together," Karp said. "It just was a really cool vibe, and there was nothing like it."

The company was "hated" by the outside venture capital world, Karp said — but it was a welcome dynamic that reminded him of his childhood. Karp's parents were unusual, but it was a happy home. (He's previously described them as hippies who took him to protests.) And if outsiders considered his parents "freaks," Karp said, that just made them "even happier."

Today, Palantirians are "snobby" when it comes to intellect — though not about where they went to school, Karp said. They're also "not convinced by orders." The culture is one of low authority that prizes self-starters.

"My success has been getting Palantirians to believe that my ideas are theirs," Karp said, adding that lateral hiring can be difficult at the company, where respect is hard-earned.

It's also a relatively small team of 3,600 employees, and Karp doesn't harbor ambitions of massively scaling the head count — thanks in no small part to AI, which has meant "you can power whole industries with 100 people," he said.

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

Palantir has had an explosive year, with its stock up around 350% so far this year. In a recent earnings call, Karp attributed the company's growth to an AI revolution and said its success had silenced longtime critics.

• Business Insider spoke to up-and-coming filmmakers and professors as OpenAI's Sora debuted.
• AI video generation could open the door for indie filmmakers — and more blockbusters.
• Fear of job losses looms, but one professor called AI text tools a bigger threat.

Up-and-coming filmmakers and professors at some of the nation's top film schools say the arrival of OpenAI video generators like Sora signals a democratization of the industry may be afoot, even though the tech is still limited.

Sora rolled out widely on Monday following a February pilot program. The tool generates short video clips — 20 seconds max — from users' text prompts. Sora can also modify existing clips.

For example, say a user wants to create a scene with green monsters in a thunderstorm. To do that, she'd type a prompt, and Sora would spit out a file.

While bold-faced creators are already bracing for impact, early Sora testers told Business Insider it gave them new ways to think about their work — even as others also complained the platform appeared to regurgitate content from a limited database.

Michaela Ternasky-Holland was one of the first directors to create and premiere a short film using Sora. It screened at Tribeca in 2024. She said she's excited about Sora's potential to cut filmmaking's development costs by creating things like sizzle reels, but she's aware of its limitations.

These things are giving you an illusion of control. And no matter how good the generations are, there's still someone behind them prompting it," she said. "Just because someone has a 4K camera, it doesn't make them a Steven Spielberg."

Dana Polan, a professor of cinema studies at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, said AI image generators aren't stoking the same fears as their text-based counterparts.

That's because many in Hollywood see the screenplay as "the first act of creativity," said Polan, who noted that other people in the filmmaking process, including cinematographers, are already seen as "adapters into images of words."

While he remains optimistic about AI in film, George Huang, a professor at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television — who has experimented with AI tools in his own moviemaking — concedes the technology has a bad rap in Hollywood, which has made countless movies on the topic.

"We think AI is now coming to destroy all of us, and that's a narrative that Hollywood created," he said. "It's embedded in our culture."

Sora's not quite ready for prime time — yet

Industry watchers told Business Insider that they don't foresee Sora or AI image generation appearing widely in finished films just yet given that the image quality still exists in something of an "uncanny valley."

Sora's pace of improvement has slowed down with later versions, Ternasky-Holland said. For example, it still struggles to put multiple characters in a scene no matter how many times it's prompted, she said.

But Polan told BI the tech could come in handy for the previsualization process — or animated storyboards to check pacing and flow. Huang also said he could see it being used as a "pitch reel" for screenwriters.

That said, other AI startups like Runway have created tools already used across the industry to expedite editing, with clients that include "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" and the effects team behind "Everything Everywhere All At Once."

Michael Gilkison, a Lexington, Kentucky-based filmmaker whose latest project, "The Finish Line," is on Amazon's Prime Video, said a free AI app helped create a scene where a car was crushed. "That would have cost a lot more 20 years ago," he said over email. Using AI technology could also create cheaper ways to film period pieces. But it also can negate the need to hire extras, which can deprive a film of its spirit.

"As a producer, I would use it to keep the cost down, but it is all about balance," Gilkison said.

Tahsis Fairley, a creative producing student at Chapman University, said via email he envisions using Sora to expedite storyboarding and illustrate ideas to his team.

"We will be able to test out new visual ideas without investing significant amounts of money," Fairley said.

That said, Huang doesn't believe we're far off from full implementation, saying AI could appear within completed films "by the end of the next year easily."

Cost savings could boost indies and blockbusters alike

The expenses associated with filmmaking can put a damper on artistic vision, Huang said. But students are generally receptive to new technology, Polan said.

ChatGPT Plus subscribers, who pay $20 a month, get up to 50 Sora generations a month that are five seconds maximum. ChatGPT Pro users, who pay $200 a month, get unlimited generations up to 20 seconds in length.

In slashing costs, Huang said platforms like Sora are bound to "almost democratize the filmmaking process, sort of lower those barriers to entry." In addition to more tools for indie filmmakers working in the margins, this could also mean more blockbusters produced at a relative discount by major studios, he said.

Fairley, for his part, sees AI as a "double-edged sword."

While he cheered its efficiency gains, he expressed concern about job losses across the industry — particularly in fields like animation, pointing to a Coca-Cola Chrismas ad created entirely with AI.

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

• Bill Belichick's departure from the NFL to coach at the University of North Carolina is a big move.
• Belichick's deal highlights college sports' further shift toward professionalization.
• Name-image-likeness opportunities are reshaping college sports and changing the jobs of coaches.

Revered football coach Bill Belichick's departure from the NFL says a lot about the ascendance of college football amid lucrative sponsorships in the era of the transfer portal, fast-growing NIL opportunities, and revenue sharing within the NCAA.

Word on Wednesday that the eight-time Super Bowl champ signed a five-year agreement to serve as head coach of the University of North Carolina Tar Heels rocked the sports industry.

"We are embarking on an entirely new football operation," UNC Athletic Director Bubba Cunningham said at a press conference Thursday. He said Belichick's pro experience played a factor in his hire. "The future of college athletics is changing, and we want to be in the forefront of that."

The Athletic reported Belichick will be pocketing $10 million a year. UNC did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.

Of course, college sports — and especially football — have always been big business. But recent changes underline the move toward allowing more money to flow into programs and athletes, and further professionalize what is still considered amateur athletics.

Scott Fuess, Jr., a professor of business at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln who studies the economics of college sports, told BI that Belichick's hire is "a very obvious, public-facing signal" of how college football is becoming more like the pros.

"What we're doing is we're NFL-izing collegiate football," he said.

Another indicator of the shift in college sports? More schools are hiring general managers for their football programs, Fuess said. Their focus is on bringing in talent and financing it, something that's all the more important in the name, image, and likeness — or NIL — era. NIL allows players to be paid by brands and other sponsors for the use of their name, image, or likeness.

Fuess said that in the upper ranks of collegiate football — specifically within the power conferences — "you're going to see arrangements that look more like NFL programs."

Belichick's move is part of a bigger trend

Belichick's hire isn't the only signal that managing a college sports team is looking a lot more like managing a pro team.

In September, longtime ESPN reporter Adrian Wojnarowski left the outlet to become general manager of the men's basketball program at St. Bonaventure University — where he went to school — to work on NIL deals and recruiting.

And Belichick will be getting some help at UNC from Michael Lombardi — a sports host and former NFL exec who said Wednesday night that he'll serve as the general manager of the Tar Heels program.

For Belichick, there are family ties to UNC. His father was an assistant football coach for the Tar Heels in the '50s. And The Guardian's Ollie Connolly, citing anonymous sources, reported last week that as part of his deal, Belichick sought a guarantee that his son would succeed him as head coach — which he reported that UNC is open to.

Patrick Rishe, executive director of the Sports Business Program at Washington University in St. Louis, told BI that Belichick's move doesn't necessarily portend an exodus of NFL coaches to college towns because Belichick's situation was unique.

"I don't think Alabama or Ohio State are going to be recruiting Andy Reid away from the Chiefs," he said, referring to Kansas City's head coach.

Still, Rishe said, his move is a reminder that coaches are free agents just as players are.

Rishe said one of the biggest forces animating college football's bulk-up is money flowing from NIL collectives. He said collective money, already used to recruit players, could also be directed toward bringing on coaches.

The collectives gather money from donors and distribute it to players. For example, at Fuess's University of Nebraska, the 1890 Initiative — its resident, independent NIL collective — raises money for athletes in exchange for donor perks like merch and invites to membership events. Its website says it partners with athletes "to help them build personal brands through athletic endorsements, brand partnerships, and NIL compliance protocols."

An expanded job

Fuess said that until recently, college athletes were limited in transferring to other programs. Now, that's no longer true because of the transfer portal window, which in October was reduced for Division I football and basketball players to 30 days. Because of that, he said, college coaches must work harder than ever to keep players happy.

"Their free agency is freer than in professional sports right now," he said, referring to college players.

Fuess, who also serves as his campus's faculty representative to its athletic department, said college coaches increasingly have to know how to spot talent, how to pay for it, and how to keep it.

That means there could be more people who come from the NFL, though they could also come from elsewhere in college athletics, he said, because the cultures of the NFL and college football are different. Plus, there's also NCAA revenue sharing in the wings, where, beginning next academic year, schools are expected to be able to share athletic department revenues with student-athletes.

"Collegiate sports is a little bit more of a wild wild west than the very buttoned-down world of the NFL," Fuess said.

He said that some college football programs seeking to ascend to the top or remain there are likely to do so by demonstrating big funding commitments or making high-profile hires.

Fuess pointed to a statement days ago by Purdue University President Mung Chiang introducing the Boilermakers' new football coach, Barry Odom, that the university would "invest more than ever before in athletics."

A hire like Belichick represents a similar move, Fuess said.

"Everybody knows his name. Everybody knows his coaching success. Everybody knows about him," he said.

If you want to remain a high-profile program, Fuess said, "you're going to want to demonstrate as best you can that you are committed to doing this."

• Warner Bros. Discovery is splitting its linear TV business from streaming and studios.
• Comcast last month also spun off its cable networks — except Bravo — into a stand-alone company.
• The moves illustrate a cable business in decline, with both repositioning for M&A opportunities.

Warner Bros. Discovery is separating its linear television business from its streaming business and film studios.

It follows a similar move by Comcast, which announced in November it would spin off all of its NBCUniversal cable networks except Bravo into a stand-alone company.

The new corporate structure will be complete by the middle of next year, WBD said. Unlike Comcast, WBD won't spin its assets off into a separate company.

A new Global Linear Networks division will house TV properties like the Discovery Channel and CNN, while the Streaming & Studios side will be the home of Max and movie studio Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group.

"Our Global Linear Networks business is well positioned to continue to drive free cash flow, while our Streaming & Studios business focuses on driving growth," WBD president and CEO David Zaslav said in a statement.

A source with direct knowledge of the matter said the move was meant to clean up the company's structure, which was formed in 2022 from the combination of WarnerMedia and Discovery. (Discovery itself was the product of its acquisition of Scripps Networks in 2017.)

This person said the company is still determining how the specific business units will be divided, and no leadership changes were planned.

The moves by both Comcast and WBD illuminate a cable business increasingly in decline. Their repositioning of properties could help them participate in potential mergers and acquisitions expected to reshape the media and entertainment industry in 2025.

Warner Bros. Discovery was supposed to create scale and value and help compete with Big Tech by mashing WarnerMedia's prestige networks like HBO and CNN with Discovery's lifestyle properties like HGTV. But its stock has sunk to about a third of its value at the time of its creation in 2022. (It was up about 14% Thursday morning on the news of the new organization.)

Industry observers say a Comcast-like spin wouldn't be favorable for WBD because it needs the cash from its linear channels to pay down the heavy debt it took on to form the company.

Still, they see WBD bulking up or shedding channels, with Paramount Global or Comcast seen as the most likely merger partners.

The announcement was met with mixed reactions from analysts. BofA Securities, which has long argued that WBD should sell assets or merge with another company, said in a note that it saw WBD's linear assets as a logical partner for the Comcast SpinCo, while its streaming and studio assets could be an attractive takeover target for multiple suitors.

Longtime ad industry advisor Brian Wieser said that as with the Comcast SpinCo, a WBD separation weakens the company on a few fronts, though. Without being tethered to the cable channels, he said, it'll be harder for WBD's streamer Max to grow its ads business, which is becoming increasingly important. The linear networks will lose leverage in distribution negotiations without Max and have trouble attracting talent if they're seen as a declining business, among other issues, he said.

In July, WBD reportedly floated the idea to investors of essentially undoing the 2022 merger to create the two separate divisions. And in August, the company said its TV assets were worth $9 billion less than it had anticipated just two years ago.

• Retail sites like Amazon are taking action against Luigi Mangione-inspired merchandise.
• eBay prohibits items that glorify violence, but it doesn't ban the phrase "Deny. Defend. Depose."
• Mangione has emerged as a folk hero of sorts in certain corners of the internet.

Retail platforms like Amazon, Etsy, and eBay are slapping down merch listings that glorify Luigi Mangione — the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

In the wake of Thompson's murder, some people on social media were unsympathetic, given their grievances with the American healthcare system. And after Mangione was arrested, he emerged as something of a folk hero — and heartthrob — in certain corners of the internet.

That sentiment soon made its way into the merch space. On Etsy, products were being offered with Mangione's likeness and the phrase "Deny, Defend, Depose," BI sister site Morning Brew reported.

Those words were etched onto bullet shell casings found at the scene of the killing, police said — and are similar to a 2010 book scrutinizing the insurance industry titled "Delay Deny Defend."

Many of the Mangione-themed items offered for sale came from drop shippers, Morning Brew reported — or sellers who print products on-demand after they're ordered. Some of the items included cups, sweatshirts, and hats, The Washington Post said.

Morning Brew reported that similar items were for sale on sites like RedBubble and TikTok Shop, while Amazon and Etsy were taking down many listings that referenced Mangione or the shooting.

An Amazon spokesperson told Business Insider that the products in question were removed because they violated Amazon's rules against offensive and controversial items.

An eBay spokesperson told BI that items that "glorify or incite violence" are prohibited from its marketplace. That includes items that celebrate the murder of the UnitedHealthcare CEO, the eBay spokesperson said. The company doesn't prohibit the sale of items with the phrase "Deny, Defend, Depose," the spokesperson said.

It appeared some of the platforms were playing a game of cat and mouse with sellers — with various listings still live as of Wednesday.

The eBay spokesperson said the company is "continuing to sweep the marketplace for other prohibited items," including one listing that was still live as of Wednesday — which the spokesperson said was being removed because it featured an image of a gun.

A Redbubble spokesperson told Business Insider in a statement that its "strict community guidelines prohibit, among other things, the glorification or promotion of violence, while still allowing legitimate discussion of current events."

Every design includes a reporting function so that potential violations can be flagged by the community, the spokesperson added.

Etsy and TikTok Shop didn't immediately respond to requests for comment from BI.

• A bankruptcy judge ruled that The Onion cannot buy Alex Jones' Infowars.
• The judge said the auction was flawed and may have "left a lot of money on the table."
• The Onion said it will continue trying to buy Infowars.

A Texas bankruptcy judge ruled that The Onion's bid for Alex Jones's Infowars cannot go forward.

Last month, after the purchase was announced, Judge Christopher Lopez of the Southern District of Texas' US Bankruptcy Court voiced discomfort about the auction for the site, including the fact that offers weren't shared between rival bidders.

"Nobody should feel comfortable with the results of the auction," Lopez said at the time, after designated backup bidder First American United Companies — a company affiliated with Jones's supplement business — requested a hearing.

After the sale was put on hold, Lopez heard testimony at a hearing Monday. He ruled on Tuesday night that while all parties acted in good faith, the closed auction for Infowars did not bring the highest possible bids for the website.

"I don't really care who wins," Lopez said.

A lower purchase price for Infowars means less money to Jones' creditors, including families from Sandy Hook, Connecticut, who won a significant defamation lawsuit against him.

The process "simply did not maximize value in any way, based upon the record before me," Lopez said during his judgment on Tuesday.

He later added, "It's clear the trustee left a lot of money on the table, or the potential for a lot of money on the table."

The Onion initially prevailed at auction despite the fact that its cash bid was less than First American United Companies' bid $3.5 million for Infowars.

However, as part of The Onion's bid — which it tendered in partnership with some Sandy Hook families — the families opted to give up their profits from the sale to make money on the reimagined website under The Onion, according to Reuters. This made it a better offer than First American United's in the eyes of bankruptcy trustee Christopher Murray because it would mean more money for Jones's other creditors.

The judge sent the sale process back to Murray. "I'm not asking for your answers today," he told Murray.

Leila Brillson, The Onion's chief marketing officer, said in a statement after the ruling that the company will continue trying to buy Infowars.

"We appreciate that the court repeatedly recognized The Onion acted in good faith, but are disappointed that everyone was sent back to the drawing board with no winner, and no clear path forward for any bidder," Brillson said.

Jones was forced to liquidate his assets after losing a roughly $1.4 billion defamation lawsuit against the families of Sandy Hook Elementary School for repeatedly claiming the mass shooting was a government hoax.

Chris Mattei, an attorney for the Connecticut families, said in a statement that the group is disappointed by the judge's verdict.

"These families, who have already persevered through countless delays and roadblocks, remain resilient and determined as ever to hold Alex Jones and his corrupt businesses accountable for the harm he has caused," Mattei said.

As the Jones-affiliated company contested the auction, Elon Musk's X also became a part of Monday's proceedings, with lawyers for the social network asking the judge to block the transfer of Jones's and Infowars' X accounts to The Onion, arguing they were owned by X, according to Bloomberg.

The Onion CEO Ben Collins previously said he intended to turn Infowars into an "alt-media" parody hub.

• Officials reportedly found bullet casings with the words "deny," "defend," and "depose" on them at Brian Thompson's murder scene.
• The words are similar to the title of a 2010 book about the insurance industry, "Delay Deny Defend."
• Police have not yet shared a motive for the shooting.

The gunman who shot Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, reportedly left behind a cryptic message at the crime scene.

Update: A "person of interest," 26-year-old Luigi Mangione, was arrested in connection with Thompson's death in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Monday.

Multiple news outlets said that the shell cases found at the scene were inscribed with the words "deny," "defend," and "depose." These words are similar to the title of Jay M. Feinman's 2010 book "Delay Deny Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don't Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It," causing speculation that the shooter may have been referring to it.

The phrase "delay, deny, defend" is also common among lawyers who say that insurance companies delay the claims process with paperwork, deny claims that should be covered, and then defend themselves in court if a claimant pursues legal action.

The suspect of Thompson's shooting was still on the run as of Friday afternoon. Police haven't shared a motive behind the killing, which took place Wednesday morning.

Feinman, an author and professor emeritus at Rutgers, wrote about the insurance industry's evolution and shared advice for consumers on handling disputed claims in his book "Delay Deny Defend."

An NYPD spokesperson declined to comment when asked if police were investigating any link between the book and the shooting. The author also declined a request for comment.

Here are some of the key takeaways from Feinman's book.

There's only one mention of UnitedHealthcare by name.

While Feinman mentioned several top insurance companies by name throughout the book — State Farm and Allstate in particular — UnitedHealthcare only appeared once.

In the introduction, Feinman described how, in 2009, UnitedHealth, Aetna, Guardian, and other companies agreed to stop using certain databases to calculate fees for out-of-network treatment after being accused by then-New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo of systematically lowballing patients.

Feinman says the insurance industry changed in the early 1990s.

In the intro to his book, Feinman wrote that insurance companies began to significantly reconsider the claims process in the 1990s when they "became a profit center rather than the place that kept the company's promise."

A major part of this shift occurred when insurance companies, including Allstate in 1992, hired consulting giant McKinsey & Company, he said.

McKinsey developed new strategies for handling claims and saw it as a "zero-sum game," Feinman writes. The insurance companies started using computer systems to estimate the amounts to be paid and deterring claimants from hiring lawyers, he said.

McKinsey declined Business Insider's request for comment.

Insurance companies aren't friends — but they're also not the enemy, he wrote.

Feinman said in the book that insurance companies aren't our friends — but they're not our enemies, either.

That's because companies must pay claims "pretty well most of the time" to stay in business.

"The point of view in this book is pro-consumer but it is not anti-insurance," Feinman writes. "Insurance is essential to our economic security." However, to serve as "the great protector of the standard of living of the American middle class, prompt and fair claim handling has to be the rule," he wrote.

'Understand your coverage. Understand the claims system. Get help if you need it.'

In Chapter 11, Feinman outlined what consumers can do to protect themselves while also seeking ways to cooperate with insurance companies.

He wrote that the responsibility to fix the system shouldn't fall to consumers alone. Legislators, regulators, and the courts must also step in, he wrote.

Feinman's advice boiled down to three key tenets: consumers should research the reputation of their agencies and policies carefully, understand the claims system, and seek legal recourse when necessary.

• Connor Franta is suing his Heard Well business partners. He says they used the company as a "piggy bank."
• Franta accuses them of embezzlement to the tune of more than $1 million.
• Lawyers for all three defendants denied the allegations to Business Insider.

YouTube star Connor Franta is suing his business partners, alleging in a lawsuit that they embezzled more than $1 million from the company they cofounded in 2015.

In the suit, filed in California Superior Court this week, Franta — a 32-year-old YouTuber with 4.8 million subscribers — is suing his cofounders in Heard Well, a music label that works with influencers. He also names the company's business manager — who is the father of one of the cofounders — as a defendant, accusing him of turning a blind eye to the alleged theft.

The business partners and manager all denied the allegations in statements to Business Insider.

The suit alleges Heard Well cofounder Jeremy Wineberg used an American Express Black Card obtained in the company's name for personal expenses, including international travel, concert tickets, tattoos, groceries, and plastic surgery. The suit says Wineberg "systematically looted the company of essentially every penny," using Heard Well funds to pay the Amex balances.

Another cofounder, Franta's former CAA agent Andrew Graham, also "converted thousands of Heard Well dollars" for personal use, the suit alleges. The suit says Graham was not "the principal bad actor."

CAA is a leading Hollywood talent agency with a digital arm that represents influencers on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. The agency works with creators to monetize their followings through brand partnerships, consumer products, and other business ventures. CAA is not named as a defendant in the suit.

Wineberg, and to a lesser extent Graham, used the company's earnings as "a de facto personal piggy bank," the suit alleges.

Meanwhile, Franta, in the lawsuit, said Lindsay Wineberg & Associates — Heard Well's business manager and accountant, led by Jeremy Wineberg's father — acted negligently by turning the other cheek, "and in doing so negligently facilitated the draining of over $1 million of company monies into the personal pockets of Wineberg (and Graham)."

Bryan Sullivan, a lawyer for Jeremy Wineberg and Lindsay Wineberg & Associates, said the allegations aren't true.

"The lawsuit filed by Connor Franta is without merit," Sullivan told Business Insider in a statement. Sullivan said his clients never "engaged in any misconduct."

"We intend to pursue all of our rights and expect to be vindicated in Court," Sullivan said.

John Shenk, a lawyer for Graham, told BI in a statement that his client "denies the allegations of the complaint and looks forward to defending this case in court."

Graham told BI that he no longer represents Franta, nor does CAA.

Franta has been on YouTube for more than a decade and is also the author of the memoir "A Work in Progress." He cofounded Heard Well in 2015, with each of the cofounders contributing $2,000 to capitalize the startup, according to an operating agreement that was filed as part of the lawsuit.

Heard Well published dozens of albums, but Franta "hardly saw a dime of profit directed his way throughout the company's nearly 10-year lifespan," the suit says.

This spring, the suit says, Franta learned Heard Well had fallen behind on royalty payments after a YouTube video accused the company of scamming.

Heard Well's Instagram account was active as of Thursday, though Franta said in the suit that he's been blocked from the company's social media accounts.

"Acting with integrity and respect in all my professional endeavors — especially with fellow creators — has always been a top priority for me," Franta told BI in a statement.

He said that while the matter had only recently come to his attention, he'd taken action this week "to protect the company and to facilitate its pursuit of all necessary and appropriate legal remedies."

• Leaders in the healthcare industry were shocked by the death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
• Healthcare leaders shared their condolences in the hours after he was killed.
• "The country lost a leader committed to improving patient care," one CEO wrote.

The killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson sent shockwaves through the healthcare industry.

Thompson, a 20-year veteran of the company, was fatally shot Wednesday morning on his way to an investor conference for the UnitedHealth Group, the parent company of UnitedHealthcare. The meeting was called off as attendees grappled with the tragic news.

Update: Police have arrested a person of interest in Thompson's killing, 26-year-old Luigi Mangione.

UnitedHealth Group is the largest healthcare carrier in the US, but its competitors came together Wednesday, along with countless peers of Thompson's, to reflect on the industry leader.

"I find myself at a loss for words to appropriately articulate the depth of our feelings for the loss of Brian," Antonio Toft, UnitedHealth Group's vice president of people, culture, experience, and diversity, equity, and inclusion, said in a LinkedIn post. "He was not only a remarkable leader but also a cherished friend and mentor to many of us."

Toft added: "Brian was a true champion for our people and the community, and his impact will continue to inspire us all."

Here's what other health companies and their leaders said about Thompson.

Michael J. Alkire, president and CEO of Premier

"When UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson's life was tragically taken in Manhattan this morning, the country lost a leader committed to improving patient care," Michael J. Alkire wrote in a LinkedIn post. "Even more tragic, Brian's family lost a father, a son and a brother. I can't imagine their anguish.

"The entire Premier Inc. team and I offer our deepest, most heartfelt condolences to Brian's loved ones and colleagues.

"To honor Brian's memory, we must continue to come together and innovate to improve patient care. That's the legacy he created over two decades in healthcare."

Maria Ghazal, president and CEO of Healthcare Leadership Council

"As a dedicated leader in our industry for over two decades, Brian worked tirelessly to advance healthcare delivery and access for millions of Americans," Maria Ghazal wrote in a LinkedIn post. "His sudden and senseless death is felt deeply by us all."

Rob Davis, CEO of Merck & Co.

"I am saddened to hear about the tragic loss of Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare. His leadership and dedication made a meaningful impact on the health care community. My thoughts are with the Thompson family and all those who worked alongside him," Rob Davis wrote in a LinkedIn post.

Don Antonucci, president and CEO of Providence Health Plan

"Violence has no place in our society, and its presence in our healthcare community is particularly devastating," Don Antonucci wrote in a LinkedIn post. "To our colleagues at UnitedHealthcare — our entire Providence Health Plan family stands with you during this unimaginably difficult time. Our hearts are with Brian's family, friends, and the entire UnitedHealthcare team."

Justin Lake, healthcare analyst with Wolfe Research

"I can literally say that not only myself but my family is better off for having known Brian Thompson and I know from the outpouring of emotion and profound loss today from colleagues across the Wall Street and healthcare communities that there are many, many more who feel exactly the same way," a note from Justin Lake said, according to Bloomberg.

"Most of us sit in jobs where we are fortunate to work with intelligent and thoughtful colleagues on a daily basis, but the relationships we all value and treasure most are with those where the business or investing acumen is combined with character, integrity, kindness and good humor," he also said. "These are the people you feel fortunate to simply interact with much less count as a friend and while I can say my little corner of HC Services certainly has a long list of these types, Brian sat at or near the top for everyone that knew him."

Kaiser Permanente

"Many of us have worked with and known Brian well over the years, and this devastating loss will be felt by all who knew him," a spokesperson for Kaiser Permanente told Business Insider.

Health Care Service Corp.

The company told BI in a statement that Thompson "was a respected leader focused on expanding access to critical health care."

Elevance Health

In a statement to BI, Gail Boudreaux, the president and CEO of Elevance Health, called Thompson's killing a "senseless act of violence," adding: "Leadership in healthcare is marked by dedication, compassion, and a profound commitment to improving lives, and Brian embodied these qualities and more."

David Ricks, chair and CEO of Eli Lilly and Co.

David Ricks was asked about Thompson's death during Wednesday's DealBook Summit. He later shared a LinkedIn post saying that Thompson "was an industry leader and a good partner to Lilly. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and the entire UnitedHealthcare team."

Humana

"We are shocked and saddened by the tragic death of Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare," Mark Taylor, director of corporate communications at Humana, said in a statement given to BI. "Brian was a visionary leader in our industry, and his loss will be felt for years to come. Our thoughts and sincerest condolences are with his family, friends, and colleagues at this difficult time."

• With his presidency approaching, tech leaders are seeking Donald Trump's good graces.
• Mark Zuckerberg dined with him at Mar-a-Lago. TikTok's Shou Chew is reportedly chatting with Elon Musk.
• From AI regulation to antitrust suits, there is a lot at stake.

From threatening to jail Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg to accusing Google of rigging search results against him, President-elect Donald Trump tangled with Big Tech throughout his 2024 presidential campaign.

But with victory clenched — and tech luminary Elon Musk emerging as a key confidant — leaders throughout the industry have sought meetings and phone calls with the president-elect and those in his orbit in recent weeks.

There's a lot at stake. Trump's presidency could affect everything from budding AI regulation to a bevy of antitrust actions that target Apple, Google, Meta, and Amazon.

"President Trump is surrounding himself with industry leaders like Elon Musk as he works to restore innovation, reduce regulation, and celebrate free speech in his second term," Trump-Vance transition spokesperson Brian Hughes told Business Insider in a statement.

With his second term approaching, these are some of the big-name tech executives who've been seeking the president-elect's ear.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg

Despite their thorny past, Zuckerberg — who didn't endorse a candidate in the 2024 election — met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago for dinner on the evening before Thanksgiving, a Meta spokesperson previously confirmed to BI.

"It's an important time for the future of American Innovation," the spokesperson said.

Meta President of Global Affairs Nick Clegg said Tuesday that Zuckerberg wants to play "an active role" in future discussions with the Trump administration about US tech leadership, including in the "pivotal" field of artificial intelligence.

Clegg also said that Meta "overdid it" when moderating pandemic-related content in the past, for which the social network garnered heat on both sides of the political aisle.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai

In addition to his public congratulations, Google chief Sundar Pichai called the president-elect to congratulate him on his victory — with Musk joining the call, The Information reported.

Trump had previously accused Google of manipulating search results against him and said he'd called Pichai to complain. Google has denied the claims.

When asked about Google's antitrust challenges earlier this year, Trump acknowledged the search giant "has a lot of power," but didn't say he favored a breakup.

"We want to have great companies," Trump said at the time. "We don't want China to have these companies."

TikTok CEO Shou Chew

With a potential TikTok ban looming, CEO Shou Chew has sought counsel from Musk, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Chew has known Musk for years and inquired broadly about the next administration's tech policies, the Journal reported.

Although he did not directly broach how to contend with a prospective TikTok ban, the Jounal reported that ByteDance execs are cautiously optimistic about TikTok's future in the US.

During his first term, Trump tried to ban TikTok, but has since about-faced, saying he would try to save the app once assuming office — though such a pledge could be difficult to fulfill.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman

OpenAI chief Sam Altman could be in a precarious position with Trump given his increasingly turbulent relationship with Musk.

Altman has also sought indirect counsel from certain members of Trump's inner circle, according to The Wall Street Journal, including Jared and Josh Kushner. The latter's Thrive Capital is a key OpenAI investor.

That said, the Journal reported that some intermediaries have been reluctant to pass on Altman's messages, given his tense relationship with Musk.

In addition to publicly congratulating the president-elect on X, Altman met with transition team co-chair Howard Lutnick in Palm Beach, according to the Journal, where he discussed how OpenAI would invest in US data centers and jobs. As Commerce Secretary, Lutnick would oversee the department charged with AI regulation.

• Brian Chesky and Nvidia's Jensen Huang avoid one-on-one meetings with subordinates.
• "You become like their therapist," Chesky told Fortune.
• Yet one person who studies meetings said making an employee feel heard can have "amazing" outcomes.

Meetings are the main way Airbnb's Brian Chesky gets work done. Yet he says the one-on-one format with a direct report is fundamentally flawed.

"Almost no great CEO in history has ever done them," the Airbnb chief said in a recent interview.

That's because when an employee "owns the agenda," they bring up subjects managers don't want to discuss — and "you become like their therapist," Chesky said. Topics can also arise that would benefit other people at the company to hear, but instead, they're sequestered in a one-on-one.

Of course, there are certain times when a one-on-one makes sense, Chesky told Fortune in the interview — such as when an employee is having a difficult time personally and needs to confide to a boss privately.

But generally, he said, they're just not productive on a regular basis.

Chesky isn't alone. Although he has many direct reports, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang also prefers to skip one-on-one meetings.

"I don't really believe there's any information that I operate on that somehow only one or two people should hear about," Huang said at Stripe Sessions earlier this year.

Making employees feel heard can have 'amazing' outcomes

While some leaders are cracking down, one expert previously told Business Insider that, when conducted correctly, one-on-ones can boost employee engagement, productivity, and overall happiness.

"The outcomes associated with effective one-on-ones are amazing," said Steven G. Rogelberg, an organizational psychologist who's also a professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and the author of "Glad We Met: The Art and Science of 1:1 Meetings."

Rogelberg previously told BI that one-on-ones are more successful when the worker leads the conversation. He said managers should dedicate roughly 25 minutes a week and focus on the personal needs of employees as well as the practical aspects of the job.

Many managers avoid that first component, Rogelberg said, because it takes more effort.

But at the same time, workers need to do their due diligence, he said — showing up prepared to talk more than half the time. Some fruitful topics include: challenges, how a manager can better support a worker, and what's going well and what could be improved.

'Nitpicking sessions'

Chesky isn't the only boss who's over the one-on-one. In May, Aditya Agarwal, a former Facebook director, wrote in a post on X that after more than a decade of conducting such meetings with those who report to him, he determined they did more harm than good.

"They condition people to do spot checks on happiness and constantly be critical about things that aren't ideal. In practice, 1:1s descend into nitpicking sessions," Agarwal wrote as part of a thread.

Agarwal added that bosses should give feedback every three to six months rather than weekly. That approach, he said, could drive managers to pick up on patterns and give "holistic" guidance rather than weekly spot checks.

• Netflix emerged as the winner of the streaming wars this year.
• It's forecasting billions of dollars in profit, and its stock is rocketing.
• From vast ad ambitions to zeitgeisty true crime fare, here are five of its biggest achievements.

The year 2024 has been one to remember for Netflix.

Crowned the winner of the streaming wars, the streamer solidified its already huge lead in subscribers — with more than 280 million paying users around the world as of the third quarter, generating billions of dollars in profit annually and sending its stock price soaring.

Meanwhile, Netflix continued to flex its first-mover advantage over cash-hungry rivals, who retrenched and returned to licensing their shows back to Netflix, which will likely fuel its continued dominance.

Netflix continues to put out hits that keep people watching and subscribing. Lately, it's been leaning into popular fare like true crime and live events that have big advertiser — and water-cooler — appeal.

It's continued to capitalize on its password-sharing crackdown and is ramping up ad tech and measurement deals to entice more advertisers to buy on the platform.

Netflix faces questions about how much more it can grow its audience without sacrificing profits, whether it can compete for ad dollars with the likes of Amazon's Prime Video, and how it can capture younger viewers who grew up on YouTube.

But for now, here's a look back at the biggest swings Netflix took this past year:

A massive push into live sports

Netflix swung big into live programming in 2024, a format that's key to its burgeoning ad business.

The streamer hosted its most-watched live event to date in November, a glitch-ridden boxing bout between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson that drew 60 million households as live viewers. And it'll close the year with another spectacle: its first Christmas Day NFL game, which will include Beyoncé performing at half-time.

Stellar advertising growth amid an executive shake-up

Netflix has undergone leadership changes across multiple teams this year. In advertising, where the company harbors vast ambitions, Ampersand's Nicolle Pangis replaced Peter Naylor as VP of advertising.

The move came as Netflix reported stellar growth for ad-supported subscribers in 2024 — to the tune of 70 million, up from 40 million in May.

Next up for ads? Netflix is building its own ad technology to further open the spigot, which it said will roll out next year.

A leadership and strategy overhaul in film

At the beginning of the year, Netflix parted ways with longtime movie chief Scott Stuber.

The New York Times reported in April that Stuber clashed with higher-ups over what kind of movies to make. Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria told staff in a meeting that quality needed to improve as the company shifted strategy.

Incoming film boss Dan Lin entered with a streamlined vision.

Rather than big-budget action films and big-name stars, he sought to diversify the company's offering, prioritizing in-house producers and skipping theatrical releases. Lin also ended the massive upfront checks the company had been writing to movie stars.

True crime hits with real-world consequences

Netflix continued to focus on true crime this year. But while its series were enormously popular, some plunged the streamer into controversy.

The stalker saga "Baby Reindeer" and the scammer series "Inventing Anna" drew defamation suits, which Netflix said it would defend. And Netflix's two projects about the Menendez brothers — a Ryan Murphy-produced drama and an accompanying documentary — were also ensconced in controversy.

The brothers' families criticized the show, though Murphy has said the brothers should be grateful given the attention the project received. In October, Los Angeles's top prosecutor recommended the brothers be resentenced with the option of parole.

A password crackdown continued to fuel growth

Subscribers initially balked at Netflix's bid to ban password sharing, but in the end, the streamer prevailed.

The move helped to fuel impressive earnings reports this year, with subscriber growth that repeatedly surpassed expectations — and caused its stock to soar.

While Netflix has emerged as the clear victor of the streaming wars, that wasn't always a foregone conclusion given the loads of debt it previously accrued to fund its production war chest. Today, the streamer is forecasting billions of dollars in profit while competitors struggle to break even.

That said, analysts expect the effects of Netflix's password crackdown to diminish in the future.

Correction: December 3, 2024 — The Paul-Tyson fight drew 60 million households, not people, as live viewers, Netflix said. An earlier version of this story misstated that figure.

• Disney brought the magic in 2024, but it isn't out of the woods just yet.
• Streaming turned a profit for the first time, and it righted the ship at the box office.
• While CEO Bob Iger won a proxy battle, Trump's second term now looms.

After a string of challenges, Disney brought the magic in 2024.

It wasn't long ago that CEO Bob Iger was battling an expensive proxy fight, creative challenges, and streaming business losses.

Iger has put many of those concerns behind him. Disney fended off activist shareholder Nelson Peltz. And he addressed two areas that have been a big concern for Wall Street: returning the film division to profits with "Inside Out 2" and "Deadpool & Wolverine," and turning the corner in its streaming business.

On a fourth-quarter earnings call in November, a confident Iger projected rosy earnings all the way out to 2027 and was rewarded with a 9% surge in Disney's stock price.

Perhaps most important, after a botched succession in 2020, the company reassured critics that it's on track to name Iger's replacement in early 2026.

Disney isn't out of the woods just yet. It still faces the ongoing decline of its linear TV business. With another ESPN streamer in the works, its streaming offerings are multiplying, which risks consumer confusion. And some insiders have worried that a returning President Donald Trump could lead to retribution — or a chilling effect on the company's creative output and journalism — after Iger and Trump publicly sparred during Trump's first term.

Meanwhile, here's a look back at Disney's biggest wins of the past year:

For the first time, its streaming business became profitable

Disney turned a crucial corner with its streaming business in 2024.

Services like Hulu and Disney+ generated a small but noteworthy profit — to the tune of $47 million — for the first time in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, that figure grew to $321 million.

Subscription price hikes were key. The basic price for Disney+ is now $16 a month, compared to $7 when it launched in 2019. Iger said on a call with investors this month that in raising prices, the company sought to move users toward ad-supported subscription options.

Edging forward on succession

Disney has given itself a self-imposed deadline of 2026 to name Iger's successor — which is when the executive's contract expires and is longer than some had anticipated.

After Iger's last succession plan fell flat, resulting in his return to the company in 2022, this time the effort is being spearheaded by Morgan Stanley's James Gorman.

Four internal candidates have been floated: Disney Entertainment cochair Dana Walden, movie head Alan Bergman, Disney Experiences chair Josh D'Amaro, and ESPN chair Jimmy Pitaro. Disney is also considering outsiders, though no frontrunner has emerged.

Getting back on track with box office hits

Iger acknowledged last year that Disney movies weren't what they used to be in terms of quality following box office disappointments like "Elemental," "The Little Mermaid," and "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania."

But in 2024, Disney righted the ship. "Inside Out 2" broke the record for an animated movie opening, while "Deadpool & Wolverine" — the only film from the Marvel Cinematic Universe it released this year after the company decided to slow its roll — was an irrefutable smash, signaling a possible antidote to superhero fatigue.

Betting big on experiences

Experiences are key to Disney's future, with Chairman Josh D'Amaro overseeing a $60 billion investment over the next decade into park expansion — and the company's most ambitious foray yet into gaming, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

New attractions and lands inspired by hit films like "Avatar" and "Monsters, Inc." will arrive at parks worldwide, according to THR, and four new cruise ships will roughly double its fleet by the end of the decade.

Disney also placed its biggest bet to date on gaming earlier this year with a $1.5 billion investment in Epic Games. Disney will work with the "Fortnite" studio to develop an interactive space inspired by its IP.

Iger triumphed in the Peltz proxy battle (but now must face Trump)

Iger won a lengthy and expensive proxy battle against activist investor Nelson Peltz in April after shareholders voted to keep the CEO and Disney management's board over two new members nominated by Peltz's firm.

Peltz has criticized Disney's succession planning, streaming losses, and stock performance.

But looking ahead, Iger could be facing another threat when Trump takes office again — with its ABC News division having already drawn the president-elect's ire. While Iger criticized Trump during his first term, he appears to be remaining on the political sidelines this time around.