• These billionaires have been recognized for their film achievements at the Oscars.
• Some are filmmakers behind commercially successful franchises.
• Others are billionaires who have accumulated their wealth through other avenues.

When thinking about Oscar winners, NFL team owners and computer-science researchers might not immediately come to mind.

But some of these icons of their industries have joined other, more famously creative billionaires to accept Hollywood's highest honors.

Here are 11 billionaires who have won Academy Awards for movies, documentaries, and short films they've worked on as directors, producers, writers, executive producers, or in other capacities.

• Radically reinventing the Air Force won't win a future fight, its director for force design said.
• The Air Force has been analyzing and wargaming what it'll need to defeat a top adversary.
• The service is now prioritizing how to tailor systems for countering very specific threats.

New fighter jets or bombers won't be enough to win the next war, the US Air Force director for force design, integration, and wargaming said this week.

Instead, the service needs to focus on what specific threats top adversaries like China or Russia pose to Air Force operations to tailor solutions for defeating them.

At a Hudson Institute event on Wednesday, Maj. Gen. Joseph Kunkel, who oversees force design for the Air Force, talked about how the service is evolving its capabilities and strategies at what other leaders have described as a critical time.

Kunkel said that the Air Force has been on a decade-long journey to redesign and reinvent. That conversation started like this: "We probably just need to look at new fighters. We've always had fighters, so let's look at new fighters, and we've always had bombers, so let's look at new bombers."

The US military has fielded new fighters, such as the Boeing F-15EX Eagle II and the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter, and new bombers, like the Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider.

But just upgrading to next-generation aircraft isn't enough to prepare the US Air Force and larger Joint Force for future warfare. "When we do the analysis," Kunkel said, "what we find is just reinventing the Air Force doesn't win."

Instead, he said, combat success is more about integrating capabilities and systems together, using autonomy and all-domain sensing, for example. "Those are things that we're finding as game-changers," Kunkel said, because they address specific challenges to the force.

The problems facing the Air Force in a future fight could look similar to the fight in Ukraine today, where the skies are contested, with neither side being able to secure air superiority like what the US and its allies enjoyed in the Middle East.

American adversaries are fielding their own next-gen fighters, and air and missile defense systems are becoming increasingly sophisticated, demanding more from pilots. And there are also growing missile threats, both in Europe and the Indo-Pacific, to bases the service relies on to conduct air operations.

One of the Air Force's priorities in recent years has been Agile Combat Employment, which aims to boost survivability by having air assets operate from unconventional runways and outposts, thus complicating enemy targeting of US aircraft. Bases are fixed, but American adversaries can't target every piece of concrete, every road and highway.

ACE has been a major focus as China has been building an intimidating missile force that could overwhelm US airfields and airpower in a missile strike. The Air Force is now building on this thinking, looking to ideas that go beyond new aircraft.

Kunkel said the Air Force's focus is on something it hadn't really done before: tailoring attributes for capabilities based on the threat. The first step, he said, is to define the threat and how it's impacting US Air Force operations.

When the Air Force understands how potential enemies can pressure both air and ground missions, then it can determine what capabilities it needs to counter specific threats and deliver more than just an upgraded aircraft. Instead, it brings a targeted response.

The Air Force has faced tough questions about generating readiness and maintaining overmatch in a time of great-power competition. And last year, the service announced widespread changes in its focuses, more specifically in how it trains its airmen and develops capabilities needed for various threats.

At the time, then-Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said the service was "moving forward with a sense of urgency to ensure we are ready to deter and, if necessary, win."

• "Tesla Takedown" protests have happened in cities around the country in opposition to Elon Musk's DOGE work.
• Protesters are calling for Tesla owners to sell their stock and cars. Some owners have seen their vehicles vandalized.
• Tesla's stock price taken a hit this month and some shareholders told BI they want to sell their shares.

Criticism of Elon Musk has spilled out from the virtual walls of social networks and into the streets.

Demonstrators have gathered in cities around the US in recent days and weeks to participate in "Tesla Takedown" protests of varying sizes. Meanwhile, some Tesla owners have said they have faced insults or vandalism amid the Musk criticism.

Participants of the protests have called for a boycott of the EV giant in response to Musk's involvement with the Trump administration and DOGE's efforts to decrease the size of the federal workforce.

The "Tesla Takedown" effort started on BlueSky, a competitor to Musk's X platform, and now has a dedicated website. The site calls for Tesla owners to sell their vehicles and stock in an effort to "stop Musk now."

The website's organizer, "Bill & Ted" actor and filmmaker Alex Winter, wrote in a RollingStone op-ed that demonstrations have happened at over 100 Tesla showrooms and other locations.

Tesla owner and shareholder David Abrams told Business Insider he's heard about multiple protests but wasn't aware of the "takedown" effort specifically. Abrams said he added "Anti Elon Tesla Club" and "I Bought This Before Elon Went Crazy" stickers to his car window, and is hoping that's enough to keep it from getting vandalized.

"I absolutely want to sell my car and my shares," Abrams said, adding that he's waiting for the stock price to go up and would have sold his car already if it made financial sense.

While boycotts aren't always effective at materially impacting a company's bottom line, Wedbush analyst and Tesla bull Dan Ives wrote in a Monday note that Musk's role in DOGE had a "visible perceived downside impact" on the company's stock. Tesla's share price has dropped this week after figures showed a 45% year-over-year drop in Tesla sales in Europe last month amid Musk's vocal support of Germany's far-right AfD party.

Musk addressed some of the protests while speaking at CPAC last week, calling them "fake rallies" with "hardly any people" and saying the demonstrations didn't have "popular support."

Here's a closer look at some of the protests and anti-Tesla vandalism attempts that have taken place in recent weeks in the US.

The disappearance and death of Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie have regained interest following a new docuseries release.

Michael Bolton shared a rare photo with his family after he was diagnosed with a brain tumor.

The NFL is set to make a massive change to how yard measurements will be made in the 2025 season.

The actress shared excerpts from the 'current chapter' of her life since she announced her divorce from Cash Warren.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine declined to request pandemic era funds from the federal government.

People were advised to use extreme caution on Wednesday amid low humidity, strong winds and dry conditions.

A new Instagram video proves 'Baylen Out Loud' star Baylen Dupree has a lot to celebrate these days.

The MCU heroes Daredevil needs to have team-ups with.

Trish Stratus will be at Friday's WWE SmackDown

The House GOP's budget victory could be short-lived as Senate Republicans plot significant changes to the blueprint.

The 2009 finding under the Clean Air Act is the legal underpinning of a host of climate regulations for vehicles and power plants.

• Michelle Trachtenberg was found dead on Wednesday morning. She was 39.
• She began her acting career as a child star and is best known for "Buffy" and "Harriet the Spy."
• Trachtenberg's famous friends and former costars paid tribute to the actor.

After Michelle Trachtenberg's death on Wednesday morning, celebrities and fans are paying tribute.

The NYPD told Business Insider that Trachtenberg had been found dead in a luxury apartment in Manhattan near Central Park. No cause of death has been given, and authorities said they're not treating the death as suspicious.

Trachtenberg, who began acting in commercials at age 3, had a decadeslong career in Hollywood, appearing in memorable films like "Harriet the Spy" and "EuroTrip" and TV series like "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Gossip Girl." As the news of her death spread, her famous friends and former costars shared their reactions and heartfelt messages online.

• TJX CEO Ernie Herrman says he's excited about the opportunity for businesses like his from tariffs.
• "We've been to the movie before," he said of rising costs. "It's a different headline."
• Herrman also pointed to several ways the off-price retailer is able to soften the impact of tariffs.

Tariffs are shaking up retail, but not all companies are looking at the changes in the same way.

For TJX, CEO Ernie Herrman says he's excited about the opportunity the new trade costs present for businesses like his.

"We've been to the movie before," he said of managing rising costs from inflation. "It's a different headline; it's just the same approach."

Speaking on a fourth-quarter earnings call Wednesday, Herrman said TJX — which owns brands like T.J. Maxx, Marshall's, Sierra, and Home Goods — directly imports only an extremely small percentage of its inventory from China.

As an off-price retailer, the company typically stocks up on merchandise that other retailers have already imported (and paid the relevant duties on) and could not sell themselves.

In other words, most new tariffs aren't coming directly from TJX's pockets. Meantime, higher prices could push US consumers to get even more cautions about paying full price for things — and as long as TJX can sell products for less than their traditional retail counterparts do, Hermann says the company will come out ahead.

"I'm excited about the sales and margin opportunity in this environment, because this is pretty much textbook situation coming up," he said.

In addition, Herrman noted that a large chunk of TJX's sales come from housewares and furnishings, which tend to be more exposed to Chinese tariffs.

To soften the impact of those — and to differentiate TJX's assortment from its competitors— Hermann said the company sources more of its home goods from Europe.

"It creates an umbrella of fashion and brand and quality that other home retailers don't do," he said. "Customers love that piece of our mix."

• BlackRock removed DEI mentions from its annual report amid political pressure.
• The asset manager has faced criticism from Republicans for being too "woke."
• Here's how BlackRock has tried to distance itself from the themes it once championed.

Many big American companies have been quick to respond to President Donald Trump's pushback on DEI, but none of their steps carry more symbolic weight than a retreat by BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager.

An early advocate of diversity, equity, and inclusion, BlackRock has removed all mention of the strategy from its latest annual report. The asset manager and its CEO, Larry Fink, have over the years become targets for Republicans who claim the firm is too "woke."

What was the DEI section in the asset manager's last report has now been reframed as "connectivity and inclusivity" in the Tuesday filing. Last year, it said that it believed "a diverse workforce with an inclusive and connected culture is a commercial imperative and indispensable to its success."

This year it avoided mentioning the acronym or a diverse workforce, just "diverse perspectives."

When reached for comment, a BlackRock spokesman referred to the new paragraph in its annual report that said the firm's approach to "building a connected and inclusive culture is aligned with the firm's business priorities and long-term objectives. Delivering for the firm's clients requires attracting the best people from across the world.

"BlackRock is committed to creating an environment that supports top talent and fosters diverse perspectives to avoid groupthink."

BlackRock has also removed references to a three-pillar strategy, which included phrasing around cultivating a work environment where employees felt "seen, heard, valued, and respected."

The firm left out a section that previously broke down its US employees by gender and ethnicity. In its 2023 annual review, it introduced the statistics with a line saying that "BlackRock views transparency and measurement as critical to its strategy."

Companies have been quick to respond to President Donald Trump's executive order on "radical and wasteful" DEI programs, though a few big names such as JPMorgan Chase and Costco have reaffirmed their commitment to diversity initiatives.

Through his annual investor letters, Fink promoted stakeholder capitalism and environmental, social, and governance investing, becoming the unofficial corporate poster child for the movements. In the last few years, however, Fink has had to tone down his support for ESG and defend against the idea that the firm has an ideological agenda it's forcing on the many companies it invests in through its mutual funds and ETFs.

The firm also has critics on the political left. Climate activists have previously protested outside Fink's home and BlackRock's New York headquarters, calling for a divestment from fossil fuels.

"The only agenda we have is delivering for our clients," he said in 2023 LinkedIn post, which he drafted as a response to being called the "king of the woke industrial complex" in a Republican Party presidential candidate debate.

Here is a timeline of how BlackRock built and then knocked down its reputation as a social and environmental champion:

The Washington Post's motto famously declares that "Democracy Dies in Darkness." But democracy also dies when the marketplace of ideas becomes as monopolized as the marketplace for consumer goods.

The New York Mets successfully put together an incredible 2025 offseason featuring the addition of multiple star players.

Beijing caused a stir last year with a new territorial baseline. Hanoi has responded with one of its own.