• Elon Musk challenged Bill Gates' criticism of DOGE's USAID budget cuts.
• Gates has claimed DOGE's cuts could cause "millions of deaths" but Musk demanded evidence.
• Musk defended DOGE's moves and slammed Gates' comments at the Qatar Economic Forum Tuesday.

Elon Musk clapped back at Bill Gates when asked about his criticism of the Department of Government Efficiency.

In response to Gates' remarks to CNN and other publications earlier this month that DOGE's slashes to the US Agency for International Development would lead to "millions of deaths," Musk asked his fellow tech billionaire to show proof.

"I'd like him to show us any evidence whatsoever that this is true. It's false," Musk told Bloomberg's Mishal Husain onstage at the Qatar Economic Forum on Tuesday.

With Musk as its de facto leader, DOGE has taken an aggressive approach to making the government more efficient — including cutting over 80% of USAID's programs, according to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. DOGE was effectively "feeding USAID into the wood chipper," as the Tesla CEO put it in an X post on February 2.

Musk told Husain that parts of USAID "that were found to be even slightly useful" were preserved and moved to the State Department. On January 28, Rubio announced that the US would issue a waiver allowing "life-saving humanitarian assistance programs" to continue their work.

Musk previously called USAID a "criminal organization," and he said Tuesday that it hasn't been able to provide evidence of the children it's helping.

"'Like, where are they? If they're in trouble, we'd like to talk to them and talk to their caregivers,'" Musk said.

Neither Musk nor representatives for Gates immediately responded to Business Insider's request for comment.

Gates, the cofounder of Microsoft, committed his over $100 billion fortune and the resources of the Gates Foundation to aid in global health over the next 20 years. He told CNN that DOGE's bold approach to cutting government spending is "a mistake."

USAID distributed nearly $32.5 billion in aid in 2024, devoting over $2.3 billion to fighting AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis around the world. It also spent about $290 million on making vaccines and immunization more widespread.

According to the United Nations, the US funds 70% of the global response to HIV/AIDS, saving more than 26 million lives since the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) was created in 2003.

"He's the one who cut the USAID budget. He put it in the wood chipper," Gates told The New York Times Magazine of Musk. "The world's richest man has been involved in the deaths of the world's poorest children."

• Elon Musk was a star at the US Open in September 2024, media mogul Barry Diller said.
• Diller said the public turned on Musk as his influence over the government grew.
• The billionaire advised Musk to address government waste with care, not aggressive measures.

Barry Diller said he witnessed Elon Musk's popularity firsthand at the US Open in 2024 — but less than a year later, it's a different story.

The public's perception of Musk has had a major shift since Donald Trump won the presidential election, Expedia Group chairman Diller said during Monday's episode of the "On with Kara Swisher" podcast.

The pair sat in the same luxury box to watch the US Open men's singles final match in September, where Diller said he was "amazed" by Musk's celebrity.

"A third of the faces in that audience were looking at him and not at this champ game that was taking place," the 83-year-old said.

He recalled hundreds of people gathering to take pictures and ask for Musk's signature during a break in the game.

Eight months, one election, and a controversial plan to cut government spending later, Diller says an appearance like that wouldn't play out the same way it did last year.

"If today he was in that box, they'd throw tomatoes at him," Diller said. "It's only September to May. I've never seen anything as swift as that."

Neither Musk nor representatives for Expedia Group immediately responded to Business Insider's request for comment.

Musk set out to cut $2 trillion in government spending with his involvement in the White House DOGE office, and he's faced backlash since then in the form of protests and movements like Tesla Takedown. Such resistance has made it harder to execute his plans, he told reporters during an April Q&A session.

"Being attacked is not super fun," Musk said. "Seeing cars on fire is not fun."

Diller, who cofounded the Fox TV network with Rupert Murdoch, previously said Musk has "a form of megalomania" and backed Trump out of bitterness toward the Democrats in October. He doubled down on Monday, telling Swisher that Musk is entitled to his megalomania, but it has its consequences.

"I personally like him," Diller said. "Unfortunately if you are a megalomaniac, your tuning fork ear is lost, and he lost it."

Enter the proverbial tomatoes prompted by Musk's slashes to government spending through DOGE, Diller said.

His advice? Work to eliminate government waste "with a thoughtful, kind hand" instead of a "chainsaw."

• Millennial and Gen Z adults have a high interest in watches as investments, a survey found.
• Spotting fake watches requires knowledge of brand-specific details and authentication methods.
• "If it has to shout, it's probably a fake," Paul Altieri, CEO of Bob's Watches, told BI.

Although it's unlikely you'll score an authentic Cartier watch from the guy selling them on the sidewalk, there are key signs to tell if you're looking at a unicorn or a dud.

The pre-owned watch market is booming. Bank of America's 2024 survey of 1,007 high-net-worth Americans found that 65% of the respondents said they're interested in collectibles. Millennials and Gen Z were particularly more likely to collect watches as investment pieces than older generations.

Those new to the scene will need to know how to spot fakes as they're building their collection. Some brands, including Rolex, offer their own certified pre-owned programs that provide a trusted way to purchase an authenticated watch.

However, there are a number of smaller shops or online businesses that deal in used luxury watches. Although you could find a hidden gem, a trained eye is required to shop successfully.

"When navigating the pre-owned luxury watch market, it's crucial to remember that you are buying the seller and their reputation as much as the watch itself," Swiss Watch Expo CEO Eugene Tutunikov told Business Insider.

A trustworthy dealer will always stand behind their pieces and have a rigorous process to ensure authenticity.

Private investigator Rob Holmes previously told BI that an estimated 23.3 million counterfeit watches were circulating in the United States as of 2024.

Here are some ways to tell fake luxury watches apart from the real deal, according to those who sell watches for a living.

Omega

For Omega watches, poor-quality engraving, on the watch's case especially, is a dead giveaway that a watch is counterfeit. A Seamaster model, for example, can be verified by the wave pattern on the dial and the placement of other fine details, Paul Altieri, CEO of watch marketplace Bob's Watches, told BI.

Aside from aesthetics, the serial number might also be a red flag.

"Many fakes reuse numbers pulled from real watches, so if something feels off, verifying it with Omega or an authorized dealer can help," he said.

Audemars Piguet

Audemars Piguet watches go for five figures or more, depending on the model. The 41-millimeter Royal Oak Selfwinding retails for $28,600.

"Fakes of the Royal Oak often fall short on the dial's 'Tapisserie' pattern — either it's too shallow, uneven, or just plain wrong," Altieri said.

Bezel screws, a detail that Audemars Piguet watches are known for, will be "perfectly aligned" on the real thing with expert polish and finishing. The watch should feel crisp and clean and not take shortcuts on the small details, Altieri said.

Patek Philippe

The movement of a Patek Philippe is a "huge tell," as they're known for "flawless hand-finishing," Altieri said. The Patek Philippe Calatrava has a $33,113 retail price.

"Counterfeits usually have crude, undecorated movements, or generic ones that don't match the brand's caliber," Tutunikov told BI.

Incorrect fonts or spacing on the dial, especially around the date window are giveaways for fake Pateks, Altieri said.

Panerai

Panerai watches have distinct design elements, including the signature crown guard with a locking mechanism on the side. Loose or awkward-feeling crown guards are a problem.

"The cases are often too bulky or the signature crown guard doesn't have the right shape or feel," Altieri said.

Lume, a material applied to watch dials to make them glow in the dark, is a feature that could give away a fake. On the real thing, the lume glows a specific color that fakes don't get right.

Cartier

Cartier is known in the watch community for its precision. Any sign of rough craftsmanship is a red flag that shouldn't be ignored, Altieri said. Specifically, he said, "Roman numerals that aren't aligned perfectly " and sloppy screws on the case are typical problems.

"Fakes often have shallow, blurry, or inconsistently spaced lettering and incorrect font styles," Tutunikov told BI.

Another clue that's subtle at first but easily spotted when you know what to look for is the "secret signature" hidden on Cartier watches. It's etched at an angle in one of the Roman numerals on the dial. If that's missing, it's best to look elsewhere — unless it's a much older model that pre-dates the design, Altieri said.

"A true luxury watch whispers quality in every little detail. If it has to shout, it's probably a fake," he continued.

• Apple partnered with Aston Martin to launch CarPlay Ultra for its luxury vehicles.
• CarPlay Ultra integrates iPhone functions into the dashboard with customizable features and Siri.
• Available in Aston Martin's Vantage sports car, starting at $194,000, and additional models.

Apple's CarPlay just got a James Bond-esque makeover.

The tech giant partnered with luxury car brand Aston Martin for the initial rollout of CarPlay Ultra, the next generation of the program that allows iPhone owners to bring the Apple ecosystem to their car.

Unlike its older sibling, which is restricted to the infotainment system in the center console, CarPlay Ultra gives your full dashboard the Apple treatment, including customizable features. The new program is like putting Siri in the passenger seat: It allows the voice-controlled assistant to manage functions like the radio, climate, and performance settings depending on the vehicle.

Drivers can tailor what they see on their screens in the car using their iPhone, mixing information from the vehicle itself with widgets powered by Apple.

"With CarPlay Ultra, together with automakers, we are reimagining the in-car experience, making it even more unified and consistent," Bob Borchers, Apple's vice president of worldwide product marketing, said in a press release.

CarPlay Ultra is available with US or Canada-based orders for Aston Martin's DBX SUV, Vantage, DB12, and Vanquish as of Thursday, with plans to expand to more of its lineup through a software update on compatible vehicles. If you're hoping for instant access to the new program, it'll likely be a six-figure splurge.

A 2025 Aston Martin Vantage starts at $194,000, and the "Supercar of SUV's" DBX retails for $256,000 to start, according to Car and Driver magazine. The British automaker said it would be limiting imports to the US as it monitored the "evolving" tariff situation, CEO Adrian Hallmark wrote in the company's first quarter earnings report.

Apple first announced its plan for a second generation of CarPlay in 2022. In January, it amended the CarPlay webpage to remove its 2024 timeline without an updated launch date, according to MacRumors.

Eventually, Apple said, CarPlay Ultra will roll out to other automakers, like Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis, which have already committed to launching the new program.

• Apple's Vision Pro headset stumped "The Price is Right at Night" contestants with its $3,499 price.
• Contestants' guesses were far below the Vision Pro's price, closer to what an iPhone 16 costs.
• The headset has sparked strong reactions since its announcement in 2023.

How much does a virtual reality headset from Apple cost? Don't ask a group of recent contestants on "The Price is Right at Night," a prime-time edition of the popular game show.

The Vision Pro is one of Apple's most expensive products. But when the contestants were tasked with guessing its retail value, their estimates were more in line with what an iPhone costs.

With the show's rule of guessing as closely as possible without going over the correct price, contestants tend to be strategic with their answers to avoid overshooting. These players' answers of $1,000, $750, $1,001, and — the closest — $1,270 were off the mark by thousands.

A 256-gigabyte Apple Vision Pro retails for $3,499, the show's host, Drew Carey, told the audience, eliciting a collective gasp.

A clip of the moment was posted Wednesday on Threads. Marques Brownlee, an Apple reviewer known online as MKBHD, replied "LOL" to the far-out guesses.

While they fell short with the Vision Pro, the contestants were closer to the prices of competing headsets. The 512-gigabyte Meta Quest 3, for example, retails for $499. Bloomberg reported Apple is exploring ways to bring down the cost of its product with a lighter iteration, but the company has yet to confirm that a new headset is in the works.

The Vision Pro's hefty price tag has prompted strong reactions since its announcement. The crowd at Apple's 2023 Worldwide Developers Conference let out groans, sighs, and boos when they found out it would start at $3,499. The company began scaling back its production in 2024, The Information reported in October.

Apple CEO Tim Cook told The Wall Street Journal in October that the headset is for "people who want to have tomorrow's technology today."

"At $3,500, it's not a mass-market product," Cook said. "Right now, it's an early-adopter product."

• Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky says he does his most creative work at night.
• Chesky is leading Airbnb's redesign to go beyond stays to include booking services.
• In recent interviews, he said his night-time routine includes drawing, exercise, and late-night work.

Running a multibillion-dollar company often requires lots of early mornings. For Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky, however, much of his work gets done late at night.

The 43-year-old is leading his company through a major redesign that enables users to book services on Airbnb in addition to stays. Chesky spent his Thanksgiving holiday weekend working on a 10,000-word plan to bring his vision to life and revising it to 1,500 words over the span of a few days, he recently told Wired.

There's a good chance that the plan came together at least partly in the late hours of the night. The billionaire told The Wall Street Journal that his creativity begins to peak at around 10 p.m. and lasts until bedtime, which is typically 2:30 a.m.

Before that, at 8 p.m., he exercises for about 90 minutes.

While CEOs like Apple's Tim Cook and Snap's Evan Spiegel set aside time in the morning to read and answer emails, Chesky said he prefers to use texts and phone calls since 2020.

Some of his nights include time for "personal stuff" like dinner, watching TV, or drawing. When he's in work mode, however, he's checking in with employees who are available at night or doing "heads-down work," Chesky told Fortune in March.

Chesky said he can afford to go all in on work some nights as a single man with his dog at home.

Airbnb declined to immediately comment further on Chesky's routine.

He's not the only CEO who has talked about working on his company late into the night. Aaron Levie, cofounder and CEO of the cloud services company Box, told Fast Company in 2013 that he goes to bed around 3 a.m. And in a 2023 podcast episode, Bill Gates said he once believed "sleep is laziness" before realizing the importance of a good night's sleep as a man over 40.

As the boss at Airbnb, Chesky said he can largely make his own rules, and emailing was the thing he "hated the most" about his job. He's also decided that he won't take meetings before 10 a.m. — about an hour and a half after he wakes up at 8:30 a.m., Fortune reported.

"When you're CEO, you can decide when the first meeting of the day is," Chesky told the Journal.

While Apple's Tim Cook and other CEOs often get into the office early, Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett, who plans to retire at the end of the year, has said he prefers to start his workday later in the morning.

"I will usually sleep eight hours a night," Buffett said during a 2017 interview with PBS.

"I have no desire to get to work at 4 in the morning," he added.

• Check your email for a letter about claiming a portion of Apple's $95 million settlement.
• The iPhone maker agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging privacy violations tied to Siri.
• Eligible Apple buyers have until July 2 to submit their claims.

Before you empty your spam folder, double-check that you're not discarding key details on how to submit your claim for Apple's Siri settlement.

For those who haven't yet dug up their Apple receipts from the past decade, the administrator of the settlement is reaching out to whoever might be entitled to a payout based on the tech giant's records, according to an email viewed by Business Insider.

Apple agreed in December to pay $95 million to settle a class-action lawsuit that alleged that the company obtained users' confidential or private communications as a result of unintentional Siri activation. Eligible parties can receive up to $100 — or up to $20 per device for five devices — on Siri-enabled Apple products purchased between September 17, 2014 and December 31, 2024, the email about the settlement claims said.

"Lopez Voice Assistant Class Action Settlement," is the subject line of the email viewed by BI that was sent to a potential claimant. The letter included a confirmation code and a claimant identification code, which can be entered on the settlement website.

Apple issued a rare apology in 2019 after The Guardian reported that its contractors frequently overheard portions of private conversations while reviewing Siri recordings for quality control. At that time, the company announced changes to how it rated user interactions with the voice assistant.

Though Apple denied the allegations in the lawsuit, a settlement agreement was filed on December 31. Purchasers have until July 2 to submit their claims with proof of a transaction. The letter viewed by BI was sent from [email protected].

Scott + Scott Attorneys at Law, the firm of class counsel in the case, confirmed to BI that lopezvoiceassistantsettlement.com is the correct website for making claims.

The final approval hearing for the settlement is set for August 1, and payments will be made only if the judge approves it and resolves potential appeals.

Apple didn't respond to requests for comment on the case.

The lawsuit covers Apple products bought after the "Hey, Siri" voice activation feature was introduced in 2014.

• Palmer Luckey said he joined an exclusive group chat after selling Oculus to Facebook in 2014.
• The "B Boys Club" includes entrepreneurs who sold companies for at least $1 billion, Luckey said in a recent podcast interview.
• Conversations in the chat include questions about each other's spending habits, he added.

Correction: May 13, 2025 — An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Luckey had said there weren't any female founders whose companies had been acquired for $1 billion or more. Luckey said that there weren't any female founders who had applied to the group chat.

It's a group chat with "the boys" — but you have to have sold a unicorn to get an invite.

Palmer Luckey says he scored an invite to an exclusive group chat after he sold his virtual-reality startup, Oculus, to Facebook in 2014.

The "B Boys Club" is a private message thread reserved for entrepreneurs who were able to pull off big business deals, Luckey said in a May 6 episode of Peter Diamandis' "Moonshots" podcast.

"It's all boys who have sold a company for at least $1 billion," said Luckey, who sold Oculus for $2 billion.

"That's the membership criteria, it doesn't exclude women, women would be allowed, it's just thus far only boys have applied," Luckey said.

Based on the criteria laid out by Luckey, there are some notable names in the tech and business world that would be eligible for a "B Boys Club" invitation.

Like Luckey, Instagram founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, as well as WhatsApp founders Jan Koum and Brian Acton, all sold their companies to Facebook, now Meta, for at least $1 billion. A more recent potential addition is Slack cofounder Stewart Butterfield, who sold the platform to Salesforce for $27.7 billion in 2021.

Notable examples of female-founded startups being acquired for $1 billion or more include IT Cosmetics cofounder and CEO Jamie Kern Lima, who sold her brand to beauty giant L'Oréal for $1.2 billion in 2016.

Some of the richest men in the world, however, including Luckey's old boss, Mark Zuckerberg, don't make the cut. Despite his reported $216 billion net worth, Zuckerberg wouldn't qualify because he never sold his company. The same goes for Bill Gates, Sam Altman, and Warren Buffett.

As a decadelong member of the group, Luckey confirmed that the successful businessmen in the thread are indeed talking about money.

Luckey, who's worth an estimated $2.5 billion after confounding the defense-tech startup Anduril, told Diamandis that he's tried to "shame" his fellow wealthy founders into doing more with their fortunes.

He said he's asked the group chat, "Guys, you have so much money. Why are you not doing what you know is the right thing to do with this capital?"

As far as what he means by "the right thing," according to Luckey, his groupmates should execute their vision of "how the world should be" themselves instead of trusting others, be it employees or nonprofits, to know what to do with their money.

Luckey said he's managed to change some of his peers' perspectives on their spending, while others are content with driving vintage race cars. Not all ultrawealthy men aspire to be Batman and use their money to shape the world as they see fit, he said.

"I'm not saying everyone should become a vigilante crime fighter, but why wouldn't you use your resources to do the thing that you know needs to be done?" Luckey said.

• Nike's A'One sneaker with A'ja Wilson sold out in under five minutes online.
• Its focus on women's sports aligns with the WNBA's rising global viewership.
• The decision to back women's sports is a "savvy one," analyst Rachel Wolff said.

Nike's long-awaited collaboration with the WNBA's reigning MVP paid off pretty much instantly.

Investing in women's sports has been a priority for Nike lately, and basketball star A'ja Wilson's new A'One sneaker sold out in under five minutes in Tuesday's online release. It's a project that Wilson said took over two years to come into fruition.

As all eyes are on Nike to make good on its promises for a comeback, it's a win for the sports apparel giant. Its decision to use women's sports to reach its goal is "a savvy one" as the WNBA enters the global stage with surging viewership, Rachel Wolff, analyst at BI sister company EMARKETER, said.

"The way Nike has approached the launch is also smart: By using limited releases — a rarity for its performance sneakers — the brand has been able to build buzz and increase the product's desirability ahead of its official debut," Wolff said.

During the second-quarter fiscal year 2025 earnings call, CEO Elliott Hill shouted out Nike's "gender offense" by tapping some of the WNBA's biggest stars, including Wilson, Sabrina Ionescu, and Caitlin Clark. So far, its investment is showing returns, with high single-digit growth in women's training apparel for the same quarter.

However, the comeback is far from complete. Last quarter's revenues were $11.3 billion, down 9% from the previous year on a reported basis.

Repairing relationships with its retail partners, like Foot Locker and Dick's Sporting Goods, is another smart play by Nike after a "disastrous" direct-to-consumer strategy that started in 2018, Wolff said.

Checks conducted by BMO Capital Markets analysts found that the first online drop of the A'One in the Pink A'ura color way had a "very limited supply," with key retailers selling out on Thursday. The OG Pearl iteration is set to release on May 15.

"While scale is obviously necessary to move any Nike needle (particularly as Nike reduces reliance on classics), we see these data points as encouraging," analyst Simeon Siegel said in a Friday note on Nike's latest sneaker launches.

It's Wilson's first signature shoe with Nike. She appeared in the company's viral "So Win" Super Bowl commercial featuring only female athletes in February. A clip of her spinning a basketball on one nail was particularly popular.

"We designed the Nike A'One so that when girls lace up, they channel A'ja's encouragement through her footwear, knowing they can be like her one day," Ben Nethongkome, lead designer for the A'One footwear, said in a statement ahead of the launch.

• Jeff Bezos sold one of his several Washington properties after moving to Miami in 2023.
• He snapped up three mansions on Indian Creek Island, leaving behind eight properties in Washington.
• He closed the reported deal for $63 million on a Hunts Point estate.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has amassed a real estate portfolio that rivals some of America's biggest property owners. He's the 23rd-largest landowner in the US, according to the 2025 Land Report, with at least 420,000 acres to his name.

Bezos' Seattle-area real estate empire, which was worth as much as $190 million in 2023 based on Zillow estimates, is getting smaller. Almost two years after moving south, Bezos sold one of his several Seattle properties for a big profit.

He sold his 9,420-square-foot home in Hunts Point, Washington, for a record $63 million, Puget Sound Business Journal reported in April. The estate was acquired by Cayan Investments LLC, Business Insider confirmed Thursday.

His collection also includes three properties in Indian Creek Village, an island off the coast of Miami, where he announced in 2023 he'd be relocating with his fiancée Lauren Sánchez.

Bezos, worth $211 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, purchased several properties with his former wife MacKenzie Scott. Their divorce was finalized in 2019, and it's unclear which of these properties Bezos still owns, as divorce records were not made public.

From two neighboring Beverly Hills mansions to multiple estates in exclusive Seattle suburbs, here are Bezos' residential properties in the US.

Caroline Cakebread, Katie Warren, Dominic-Madori Davis, and Libertina Brandt contributed to an earlier version of this article.

Jeff Bezos has spent millions of dollars amassing a collection of residential properties over the years.

A 2025 Land Report named Bezos the country's 23rd-largest landowner, with 420,000 acres to his name.

Over the years, he's picked up several New York City apartments, a ranch in Texas, and homes in Washington state, California, and Washington, DC.

 

For years, Bezos' home base was a nearly 24,000-square-foot estate in Medina, Washington.

In 1998, Bezos paid $10 million for a 5.3-acre property in the wealthy suburb on the shores of Lake Washington.

Twelve years later, in 2010, he spent $45 million on an estate nextdoor, the Puget Sound Business Journal reported.

One home is a 20,600-square-foot, five-bedroom, four-bathroom house with a basement spanning over 5,000-square-feet and five fireplaces. The other is an 8,300-square-foot, five-bedroom, four-bathroom home built in 1940.

The Wall Street Journal reported that he purchased the property next door in 2010 under Aspen Ventures LLC. That lot has a 24,000-square-foot Tudor-style, six-bedroom, six-bathroom mansion, which was listed for $53 million. 

Finally, in 2015, he purchased a $3.9 million property across the street from the Medina compound, Business Insider previously reported. The comparatively smaller property was purchased through a trust managed by the same law firm, and with the same property tax address, as the other Medina properties Bezos and Scott purchased before their divorce.

Medina is an exclusive suburb that is home to Bill Gates, Microsoft bigwigs, tech entrepreneurs, and telecom magnates.

Many of the neighborhood's mansions are hidden away behind gates and protected by elaborate security systems.

Bezos' first big New York purchases were three apartments, which he bought for $7.65 million on Central Park West in Manhattan.

The three units in The Century building on Manhattan's Upper West Side were purchased in 1999 from the former Sony Music head Tommy Mottola, The Observer reported at the time. 

More than a decade later, in 2012, Bezos bought an additional unit in the building, valued at $5.3 million in 2012, making him the owner of four condos in the building.

The Art Deco building was built in the 1930s, boasts a concierge, elevator attendants, and three separate entrances.

His next big buy was a massive ranch near the town of Van Horn, Texas.

In 2004, Bezos purchased Corn Ranch, a 165,000-acre stretch of land outside Van Horn, Texas.

He told the local paper he bought the property so his family would get the chance to live on a ranch like he did when he visited his grandfather as a child. The land is also the most productive launch site for his aerospace company Blue Origin.

Three years after buying The Washington Post in 2013, Bezos bought a former textile museum in DC's Kalorama.

He spent $23 million on the property, which dates back to 1912 and has a spot on the National Register of Historic Places, The Washington Post reported.

The neighborhood is a hot spot for Washington bigwigs.

The Obamas purchased an $8.1 million property nearby in 2017, which marked the second-most expensive transaction in the neighborhood, after Bezos' — The Washington Post reported.

The two joint structures on Bezos' property have nearly 27,000 square feet of living space, making it the largest home in Washington, DC.

It's been reported that Bezos may have also purchased the home across the street in January 2020 for $5 million, though BI could not confirm he owns the property.

In the months following his 2019 divorce, Bezos spent $45 million on four properties in other exclusive Seattle enclaves.

The largest property of the 2019 spending spree was a $37.5 million waterfront estate in Hunts Point, an exclusive neighborhood with fewer than 400 residents. The home has 300 feet of coastline, a rooftop deck with a fireplace, and a glass bridge connecting to a two-story guesthouse.

He purchased two more modest homes in Hunts Point around the same time, which his neighbors said are used for security and other staff, including a chef.

When he offloaded the $37.5 million estate in April, he got $25 million more than he purchased it for in 2019, Puget Sound Business Journal reported.

Around the same time, he purchased a home nearby in Yarrow Point.

He also purchased a staff home in the nearby Yarrow Point. The home sold for $4.2 million in January 2024, according to its listing on Compass.

Two months after Bezos and MacKenzie Scott finalized their divorce, he reportedly dropped about $80 million on three New York City apartments.

In 2019, he dropped about $80 million on three adjacent New York City apartments in the priciest-ever real-estate deal south of Manhattan's 42nd Street.

The spread included a three-story penthouse and two units directly below it.  It was the priciest real estate deal south of Manhattan's 42nd Street, appraiser Jonathan Miller told The Wall Street Journal at the time.

Renderings of the inside of the apartment from the creative agency VisualHouse show the opulence of the penthouse.

Bezos has since purchased two more units inside the prewar building. In 2020, he spent $16 million on an additional unit, and purchased a $23 million apartment in the building in 2021.

The purchases brought his grand total to $119 million of real estate in the one building, which has a fitness center, golf simulator, game room, and movie-screening room, according to the property's website.

 

Bezos also owns property in Beverly Hills, California, one of the most expensive neighborhoods in Los Angeles.

He first bought property in the cushy neighborhood in 2007, shelling out $24.45 million for a mansion that had tennis courts, a guesthouse, a six-car garage, and a pool, the Los Angeles Times reported at the time. In 2017, he bought the house next door for $12.9 million.

In 2022, Scott donated the two mansions to a housing charity.

 

After his divorce, he broke California records when he purchased the Warner Estate in 2020.

Bezos purchased the nine-acre Warner Estate in Beverly Hills for $165 million from billionaire David Geffen.

The estate was designed for Jack Warner — the former president of Warner Bros. Studios — in the 1930s. 

The most expensive home sale in California's history at the time, Bezos purchased the house for $165 million from David Geffen, who bought it in 1990 for $47.5 million. The mansion has guest homes, a tennis court, a swimming pool, and a nine-hole golf course.

Like many of his other homes, privacy is key at the Warner Estate. Hedges surround the nine acres on which the 13,600-square-foot home sits.

In 2021, Bezos and his now-fiancée Lauren Sánchez bought a home in Hawaii.

Bezos paid about $78 million for the Maui home, according to The New York Times.

In the weeks leading up to the purchase, Bezos made several donations to local organizations — including Hawaii Land Trust and Mālama Family Recovery Center, local news site Maui Now reported.

Sánchez announced that she and Bezos would donate $100 million to help Maui after neighborhoods on the island were devastated by fires.

"Jeff and I are heartbroken by what's happening in Maui. We are thinking of all the families that have lost so much and a community that has been left devastated," Sánchez wrote on Instagram. 

Their notable island neighbors include fellow billionaires Oprah Winfrey, Paul Thiel, and Oracle executive Larry Ellison, according to the Times.

Bezos purchased a home in Indian Creek in 2023, another billionaire hotspot.

In August 2023, he added a $68 million mansion on Miami's "billionaire bunker" island, Indian Creek Village, to his portfolio. 

The home reportedly spans 9,300 square feet, and the entire property is about 2.8 acres. The exclusive island has been home to Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, Tom Brady, and billionaire investor Carl Icahn.

While announcing his relocation, Bezos said that he wanted to be closer to his parents and space company Blue Origin's operations in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

He reportedly also snapped up the home next door.

Bezos bought the seven-bedroom Indian Creek mansion for $79 million in October, Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed sources.

The nearly two-acre mansion was built in 2000 and boasts features like a home theater, library, pool, and wine cellar.

But he wasn't done yet with his Indian Creek shopping spree. People representing Bezos reportedly contacted at least three other island homeowners to discuss purchasing their properties, Bloomberg reported in early January.

Bezos snapped up a third mansion on Indian Creek for $90 million

In April 2024, Bezos made his third purchase on the island known as the "billionaire bunker," Bloomberg reported. He paid $90 million for the six-bedroom home in an off-market transaction.

The house last sold for $2.5 million in 1998, according to the outlet, which noted that Bezos plans to live there while tearing down the other two properties he'd purchased on the island.

Indian Creek, located on Biscayne Bay and home to fewer than 100 residents, has its own mayor and police force, and is accessible only via a gated bridge.

• Google's Material 3 Expressive design concept leaked, showcasing a colorful system update.
• It's based on research with 18,000 participants favoring more expressive design, Google's post said.
• Despite Google's findings, 88% of US teens in a 2025 survey said they owned an iPhone.

People are craving more expression in their tech, Google said in a leaked blog post that included a subtle dig against the aesthetic of Apple's iPhone software design.

In a since deleted post, Google outlined an update to its operating system called Material 3 Expressive. The tech giant described the revamped look as the "most-researched update to Google's design system, ever."

Business Insider viewed the blog post — which the blog 9to5Google reported on Monday — using the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine. Google wrote that it conducted research studies with more than 18,000 participants around the world to develop the "beautiful and highly usable" Material 3 Expressive for Android.

The leaked post made it clear that the layout of purples, pinks, and blues is coming for the design choices of its competitors.

"When it comes to design, people really do prefer to feel something," the post said.

Google said 46 separate studies found that "well-applied expressive design is strongly preferred by people of all ages over non-expressive design that followed the iOS Human Interface Guidelines."

Gen Z respondents between the ages of 18 and 24 showed a particularly strong preference for a more expressive style, it said. The iOS Human Interface Guidelines are the guidance and best practices for designing tech for Apple platforms. The iPhone maker is known for its minimalist style.

The Material 3 concept appears to include funky fonts and abstract themes that change up the look of apps like Gmail and a clock app.

Neither Google nor Apple responded to requests for comment.

Despite Google's research suggesting that young people around the globe aren't as hyped about iOS, Piper Sandler's 2025 survey of US-based teens found that Apple still had a firm grip on Gen Z. Out of 6,455 teens surveyed, 88% said they owned an iPhone.

The leaked images in the blog post indicate Google is going for a functional yet playful and youthful interface. The goal? "To move beyond 'clean' and 'boring' designs" and connect with people on an emotional level, the post said.

Google I/O, its annual developer conference, is less than two weeks away. The company could officially announce Material 3 Expressive ahead of or during the keynote.

• Apple is set to pay $95 million to settle a class-action lawsuit based on Siri's privacy.
• The lawsuit accused Apple of obtaining private communications via Siri without user consent.
• The settlement confirmed a July 2 deadline to submit claims.

Attention, US-based residents of the Apple ecosystem: it's time to rummage through your receipts.

If you bought a Siri-enabled device between September 2014 and December 31, you may be able to get in on the payout of a class-action lawsuit brought against Apple. Those who can provide proof of purchase have until July 2 to submit their claims, according to a website dedicated to the suit.

Apple agreed in December 2024 to pay $95 million to settle a class-action lawsuit that alleged users' confidential or private communications were obtained by Apple as a result of an unintended Siri activation. Although the company denied all of the allegations, a settlement agreement was filed on December 31.

US-based users can submit claims for up to five devices and potentially receive up to $20 per device for a total payout capped at $100, according to the terms of the settlement.

The case is still awaiting approval from a judge in August, so payments will be made only if the judge approves the settlement and resolves any potential appeals.

Apple doesn't publicly disclose the exact number of active devices being used, but CFO Kevan Parekh told investors that it reached "a new all-time high across all products and geographic segments" in January.

Eligible devices include: Siri-enabled iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, MacBook, iMac, HomePod, iPod touch, or Apple TV.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Business Insider.

Siri made its debut in 2011 with the iPhone 4S. The lawsuit covers devices purchased after Apple introduced the "Hey, Siri" voice activation feature in 2014. The virtual assistant is currently under construction as Apple prepares to usher it into a new era powered by its AI software.

In March, Apple announced that it would delay its Siri overhaul, which would add Apple Intelligence for a "more personalized" experience, until next year.

For its Apple Intelligence delays, the tech giant is facing another lawsuit that alleges Apple misled consumers with its ads about the features of its AI software.

If you'd like to submit a claim for the class-action settlement for Siri, visit this site.

• Warren Buffett has shared life and business advice throughout his long career.
• His lessons apply to everything from the business world to family life.
• The billionaire said he plans to step down from Berkshire Hathaway at the end of the year.

Warren Buffett has dropped a lot of advice gems throughout his 55 years at the helm of Berkshire Hathaway.

Buffett said Saturday that he'd be stepping down as CEO by the end of 2025. And in addition to his legacy with the company, he's also left behind countless nuggets of wisdom for anyone from high-powered leaders to those working their way up the corporate ladder.

The 94-year-old spent about 70 years teaching investment classes, and his mentorship has expanded over time to include life lessons. Buffett has previously said that he gets something out of sharing knowledge, too.

"Teaching, like writing, has helped me develop and clarify my own thoughts," Buffett said in a 2020 address to graduates of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Here are some of Buffet's best nuggets of wisdom.

Quality of life advice

1. "I would focus on the things that have been good in your life rather than the bad things that happen, because bad things do happen," Buffett said at Berkshire's annual meeting Saturday, Morningstar reported. "It can often be a wonderful life even with some bad breaks."
2. "Hugely wealthy parents should leave their children enough so they can do anything but not enough that they can do nothing," Buffett wrote in a letter to shareholders in 2024.
3. A famous quote that's often attributed to Buffett is, "It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it."
4. "Don't confuse the cost of living with the standard of living," Buffett told Alice Schroeder in "The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life."
5. "If I get tough on myself about philanthropy, I remember what Warren Buffett said to us originally, which is, 'You're working on the problems society left behind, and they left them behind for a reason. They are hard, right? So don't be so tough on yourself,'" longtime friend Melinda French Gates wrote in a memoir.

Career advice

1. "I have urged that they seek employment in (1) the field and (2) with the kind of people they would select, if they had no need for money," Buffett wrote in a 2023 letter to shareholders, referring to his talks to university students.

   "Economic realities, I acknowledge, may interfere with that kind of search," he said. "Even so, I urge the students never to give up the quest, for when they find that sort of job, they will no longer be 'working.'"

2. "Who you associate with is just enormously important," he reportedly said at the Saturday meeting. "Don't expect you'll make every decision right on that. You're going to have your life progress in the general direction of the people that you work with, that you admire, that become your friends."
3. "You want to look for the job in life that you would take if you didn't need a job. Don't settle for anything, eventually, that's less than working for a company you admire or people you admire — the job that if you had no need for the money, it's still the job that you'd jump out of bed for in the morning," he said during a 2020 interview.

Business and investment advice

1. "A simple rule dictates my buying: Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful," he said in a 2008 op-ed for The New York Times.
2. "Price is what you pay. Value is what you get," Buffett wrote in a 2008 shareholder letter.
3. "Risk comes from not knowing what you're doing," he wrote in "The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America" in 2015.
4. "People have emotions," he said at Berkshire's annual meeting over the weekend, "but you've got to check them at the door when you invest."

• Emma Grede says work-life balance is a "personal responsibility," not an employer's duty.
• The Skims cofounder considers it a red flag when job candidates inquire about work-life balance.
• Successful leaders work weekends, balancing personal life with professional demands, Grede said.

The woman who helped the Kardashians build their business empire says your boss isn't on the hook for your work-life balance.

Emma Grede, the cofounder of Skims and Good American, said it's not your employer's job to figure out how you'll pick up your kids from school, and you shouldn't ask about it in a job interview.

The retail boss appeared on the podcast "Diary of a CEO" where she shared what the work schedule of a successful person looks like.

It's a "personal responsibility" to find a balance between work and home, and those who rise to the top of their companies rarely take a day without doing some type of work, she said.

"Work-life balance is your problem. It isn't your employer's responsibility," Grede said on the podcast, which posted Monday.

However, the Good American CEO said she's not questioning why employees aren't at their desks throughout the day. There's flexibility built into the workday that allows workers to make it to their "haircut or kid's parent-teacher conference," for example.

"When somebody talks to me about their work-life balance in an interview process, I'm like, 'Is something wrong with you,'" Grede told host Steven Bartlett.

The mom of four said she finds time to spend her most of her weekends on the beach in Malibu, but working on Saturdays is to be expected of someone who wants to lead an "extraordinary life."

Workplace psychologist Katina Sawyer told Business Insider that considering work-life balance a skill reinforces "flawed thinking."

"It allows employers to ignore the role their expectations play in employee burnout and to shift the blame onto individuals when performance suffers," said Sawyer, who teaches at the University of Arizona's Eller College of Management.

Representatives for Skims and Good American did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.

According to Grede, earning 10% more, getting a bonus, and working in an "incredible environment" should come before expecting the company to provide a work-life balance.

She joins other top bosses, including Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, in not being a fan of the idea of work-life balance. Musk, the richest man in the world, has been outspoken about opposing it and has reportedly required his employees to work more than 40 hours a week in the past.

Meanwhile, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said "work-life harmony" is a better practice to focus on. In 2019 he told the Australian Financial Review that he tries to achieve harmony by aligning his interests with his work.

• As a child, Phoebe Gates helped Bill Gates be more social despite his nerves.
• The Microsoft founder has described himself in the past as being shy and awkward.
• Despite his timidness, Bill still knows how to intimidate her dates, Phoebe said.

Bill Gates mentions his shy and awkward phases in his memoir, and his daughter Phoebe Gates has been on a mission to change that from a young age.

Phoebe, 22, grew up in the public eye as the offspring of one of the richest men in the world. Bill founded and led Microsoft, one of the most valuable companies in the world, but he isn't much of a people person, his daughter said on an episode of "Call Her Daddy."

So, a young and extroverted Phoebe took matters into her own hands, she told host Alex Cooper on Wednesday, pulling him out of his shell whether he liked it or not.

At father-daughter dances, for example, Phoebe said she'd "force my dad to go talk to all the other dads and daughters, and he would get nervous and leave" in some instances. However, she didn't let up on the tech titan.

"I was like, 'No, if we're here, we're going to socialize. We gotta work this room, Bill,'" Phoebe said.

He may not have been comfortable at the time, but Phoebe says her family jokes that life "would be so boring" if she wasn't born.

Despite his shyness in social settings and reverence in humanitarianism, her father has a reputation for speaking his mind in the tech community. Former employees who worked under Bill have previously described him as hot-tempered.

Phoebe said she and her dad share a competitive drive that makes family game night heated. Bill is particularly ruthless when it comes to her bringing home boyfriends to meet her parents. It gets "really nerve-wracking" when her father takes puzzle pieces out of her date's hands to fit them together himself, she said.

• Michelle Obama shared a career lesson from her challenging first semester at Princeton.
• She faced internal and external doubt as a Black woman in Ivy League schools.
• Now, Obama encourages young professionals to reject societal underestimation to avoid the "scam."

A tough first semester at Princeton taught Michelle Obama a career lesson that she's passing down to young professionals.

The former First Lady appeared on a Thursday episode of "Diary of a CEO" where she spoke about the challenges she faced as a Black woman pursuing higher education — particularly achieving her two Ivy League degrees from Princeton and Harvard Law School.

As an affirmative action student from Chicago, Obama said, she felt "a little intimidated" by Princeton's Ivy status when she arrived on campus in 1981 despite knowing she'd be underestimated.

After receiving all A's her first semester, she realized her self-doubt was by design. It was based on notions produced by a "world grounded in racism."

"I was like, 'I get this now. You're just trying to get into my head. You're scared of me,'" Obama said.

While there were plenty of other people there due to affirmative action, many wealthy students were able "to gain access to these seats of power that have nothing to do with their raw academic ability," Obama said.

From then on, she said, she stopped worrying about whether or not she deserved to be in powerful spaces. Now, she's trying to save other young adults from falling for the same tactic.

"Do not let these people scam you. This is all a racket," Obama said.

Host Steven Bartlett asked Obama to clarify what she meant by the term.

"That they know more; that they deserve this more than you do. It's just not true," Obama said.

Her revelation that she, as a Black woman, could thrive at an Ivy League school was both infuriating and freeing, she told Bartlett. However, not all teens get the same opportunity to overcome the underestimation, and that's why she wants to pass the lesson along, she said.

"I came out of Princeton just feeling like, 'Let me at 'em,'" Obama said, referring to the obstacles she'd face in the career ahead of her.

In 2023, the US Supreme Court ended affirmative action in college admissions.

• Tech leaders are getting closer to Trump, prompting questions about Silicon Valley's politics.
• Mark Zuckerberg said it's necessary to have a productive relationship with the government.
• He has previously criticized the Biden administration's relationship with Meta.

High-profile tech titans like Mark Zuckerberg have largely embraced President Donald Trump since he won a second term, with many of them making large donations to the president's inaugural fund and socializing among MAGA world at Mar-a-Lago.

Podcaster Dwarkesh Patel asked the Meta CEO to elaborate on his connection to Trump during a Tuesday interview.

"Our default as an American company should be to try to have a productive relationship with whoever is running the government," Zuckerberg said.

Zuckerberg dined with Trump at Mar-a-Lago the day before Thanksgiving in 2024, and he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with his fellow tech billionaires at Trump's inauguration in January.

He told Patel that Meta's attempts to work with the Biden administration didn't pan out.

"I've been pretty public with some of my frustrations with the previous administration — how they basically did not engage with us or the business community more broadly," he said.

In August, Zuckerberg called out the Biden administration, saying Meta was pressured to remove Facebook posts related to COVID-19 by the government. Zuckerberg said at the time he regretted not pushing back on the White House.

A strong relationship between Big Tech and the government is "necessary" for progress, Zuckerberg told Patel on Tuesday.

"It's like we're trying to build great stuff," he said. "That's sort of that's how I see it, and it's also how I would guess most others see it."

A spokesperson for Meta didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

• Mark Zuckerberg envisions a future where holograms could replace physical screens.
• Meta's AI-powered Ray-Bans and Orion glasses aim to merge digital and physical worlds.
• Zuck said he's hoping to release its AR glasses in four years or less.

Mark Zuckerberg is on a mission to combine the physical and digital worlds — and he's leaving screens out of it.

The future of tech is heading away from them and toward holograms that eliminate the need for the "small glowing rectangle" in your hand, Zuckerberg told Theo Von on the "This Past Weekend" podcast.

"All this digital stuff should just basically be holograms. You shouldn't need a physical screen," Zuckerberg said.

His big solution? Glasses.

Meta has seen a positive response to its AI-powered smart Ray-Bans and is working on upping its wearables arsenal with the Orion augmented-reality glasses. That high-powered eyewear, which isn't yet available for purchase, allows users to view digital images while seeing the world around them. It's a step forward from owning a TV, smartphone, or computer, he told Von.

In a separate Tuesday interview with Dwarkesh Patel, he said, "It's like this huge physical thing, and that's what the holographic overlays allow you to do."

Facebook, Zuckerberg's brainchild, has been a game changer in social media. Meta has also grown its online presence with the additions of Instagram and Threads. It's set to release quarterly earnings Wednesday.

However, Orion is still years away, and its competitors currently include bulkier AR headset options. Zuckerberg told Von that the computer glasses, which reportedly cost $10,000 per pair for Meta to make, are between four and eight years away from production — but he's hoping for four or fewer.

In the real world, "you don't want your physical space to be cluttered," he said. "It wears on you psychologically."

Zuckerberg said he figures it works similarly when it comes to screens and the digital space.

• Mark Zuckerberg said his statue of his wife Priscilla Chan was not that well-received.
• Chan wasn't "that happy" about having a 7-foot sculpture of herself in their yard, Zuckerberg said.
• Zuckerberg has an estimated net worth of $184 billion, according to Forbes.

What sort of gift should you buy your wife if you're billionaire? Not a 7-foot sculpture in her likeness, Mark Zuckerberg said.

The internet went wild when he unveiled a silver and turquoise statue of his wife, Priscilla Chan, in August. However, Chan wasn't as pleased with his towering tribute, the Meta CEO told Theo Von in an episode of the "This Past Weekend" podcast.

"I don't think she was that happy with it," the 40-year-old told Von.

They aren't big on extravagant dates, Zuckerberg said, so he tends to use his inventive mind for grand gestures. Chan was a "good sport" and appreciative of the effort and creativity that went into the statue, he added. However, this gesture was a miss.

"She doesn't want a sculpture of her in the front lawn — that's weird," Zuckerberg said.

It didn't appear to be for any particular occasion, like a birthday or their wedding anniversary. At the time, his post said he was "bringing back the Roman tradition of making sculptures of your wife."

Yet Zuckerberg, the person who commissioned the statue, asked Von, "Who wants a sculpture of themselves in the front yard?"

His tribute had an additional motive, however, he said. As a fan of artist Daniel Arsham's work, Zuckerberg sought him out to collaborate on the project. He decided to use Chan, his college sweetheart, as the muse, "partially because that's cool" but also because it'd be "crazy" to make a sculpture of himself.

"She's kind of the target of my creative energy," the billionaire said.

In October, Zuckerberg revealed a customized Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT for Chan and their three daughters. The "side quest," as he described at the time came about because Chan wanted a minivan. On Monday's episode, Zuckerberg told Von that he also worked on it because he likes cars but didn't want to design a "super car" for himself.

His sculpture post sparked discussions and memes about what Zuck might've done to warrant a custom statue as an apology, but he said they've got it all wrong. The sculpture is the transgression.

"You're going to have to wait and see what I have to do to make up having made a sculpture and putting it in our front lawn," Zuckerberg said.

• Mark Zuckerberg said he avoids caffeine and drugs in his daily life.
• He prefers to experience reality with an unaltered state of mind, he said.
• "DARE really worked on me," Zuckerberg told Theo Von in an interview.

Mark Zuckerberg seems pretty strict about what he puts in his body.

The billionaire Meta CEO said he isn't a fan of caffeine — or any other mind-altering substance, for that matter — during an interview on the comedian Theo Von's "This Past Weekend" podcast. Instead, he prefers to experience life as it is without the help of "chemicals," Zuckerberg told Von.

His sister, he said, calls him out regularly for "rawdogging reality." Zuckerberg told Von that he doesn't do drugs and typically drinks coffee only recreationally — on vacation, for example.

Instead, Zuck jump-starts his mornings by fighting, which works "better than caffeine," he said. He spends two hours in the morning practicing mixed martial arts to "recenter" himself so he can deal with his duties as the head of one of the largest companies in the world, he added.

While his tech peers, including Elon Musk and Bill Gates, have gone on the record about using cannabis, acid, or ketamine, Zuckerberg's substances of choice include creatine and vitamins. Von said abstaining from drugs is edgier than using them these days.

When Von asked about drug use, Zuckerberg said his upbringing steered him away. He credited Drug Abuse Resistance Education — an antidrug program prominent in the 1980s and '90s — with shaping his view of controlled substances.

"DARE really worked on me when I was in third grade," Zuckerberg said. "It really scared me."