• Charlize Theron, who adopted her daughters in 2012 and 2015, says she enjoys being a single mother.
• Her self-awareness and her parents' toxic relationship shaped her decision to raise kids on her own.
• "I can only tell you that this is the best way that I know how to be a mother to them," she said.

Charlize Theron, 49, has zero regrets about doing motherhood solo.

During an appearance on Wednesday's episode of "Call Her Daddy," Theron spoke about her life as a single mother of two. She adopted her daughters Jackson and August in 2012 and 2015, respectively.

The "Mad Max: Fury Road" actor told podcast host Alex Cooper that her parents' relationship was a "cautionary tale" that helped her realize she didn't want to be in one. Theron was 15 when she witnessed her mother fatally shoot her alcoholic father in self-defense.

Theron said it was a "layered and complicated" decision driven by two factors: not wanting what her parents had and recognizing that she "did not have the capability of being healthy in a relationship."

"Those two things I had to acknowledge when I decided to be a parent, and I think it's probably one of the healthiest decisions I ever made," she said.

However, she acknowledges that there's still a stigma being placed on women who choose to be single.

"With women, it's always like, something must be wrong with her. She can't keep a man. And it's never part of the discussion of like, 'Wow, she's really living her truth. She's living in her happiness. This is actually a choice that she made,'" Theron said.

"I want to look at them, and just be like, 'Do you know how fucking great it is to live exactly how I want to live?' To experience motherhood exactly how I wanted to experience it," she added.

Theron says some people might question whether her decision was fair to her children, but in the end, only they can speak to their own experience.

"I can only tell you that this is the best way that I know how to be a mother to them," she said.

"I love every single day of it. I love that I don't have to share them with somebody. I love that I don't have to run every fucking thing by a guy," she added.

Theron said she "broke the cycle" by knowing exactly what she didn't want in a relationship and what she had to offer.

"And who I am at the time that I wanted to be a parent was not somebody who should be having kids with another person," Theron said.

Theron isn't the only celebrity who has spoken about being a single parent.

Lucy Liu told The Cut in 2023 that the decision to have a child in her late 40s via surrogacy — as a single woman — was largely unplanned. "I didn't do a lot of research, I just pulled the trigger," Liu said.

In a March interview with Parade, Connie Britton — who adopted her son from Ethiopia as a single woman at 45 — said she always wanted to be a mother.

"I knew that I hadn't achieved the kind of partnership that I was looking for to have a spouse and a child together. And so I thought, 'This is the time, I'm going to start the adoption process,'" Britton said.

A representative for Theron did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by Business Insider outside regular hours.

• The Trump-Jerome Powell feud continues, this time with Trump calling on Powell to resign immediately.
• Trump amplified calls for Congress to investigate Powell on the Fed's headquarters renovation.
• Trump previously said Powell's "termination cannot come fast enough."

President Donald Trump's long-standing feud with Fed Chair Jerome Powell burns on, this time with him calling on Powell to resign immediately.

In a Wednesday night Truth Social post, the president said, "'Too Late' should resign immediately!!!"

"Too Late" is his nickname for the top banker, a criticism of Powell's refusal to lower interest rates.

In his post, Trump included a headline from a Wednesday Bloomberg article about Bill Pulte, the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, calling on Congress to investigate Powell.

In a Wednesday post on X, Pulte said Congress should investigate Powell over the central bank's headquarters renovation plans.

"I am asking Congress to investigate Chairman Jerome Powell, his political bias, and his deceptive Senate testimony, which is enough to be removed 'for cause,'" Pulte wrote in his statement on X.

Trump's animosity with Powell stretches back to his first term in office — he accused the Fed in 2019 of holding the stock market back.

Later that year, he said in an interview on the Fox Business Network that Powell was not doing a good job.

In 2020, Trump said he had the right to remove Powell as Fed chair, to "put him in a regular position and put somebody else in charge."

This April, Trump kicked off his criticism of Powell again, saying on Truth Social that Powell's "termination cannot come fast enough."

Trump has reportedly been weighing replacements for Powell, whose term ends in May 2026. The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Trump plans to float a replacement as soon as September or October.

Representatives for Trump and the Federal Reserve did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.

• BYD is halting Mexico factory plans over US trade policy concerns.
• US tariffs on Mexico-made cars are affecting automakers including Nissan and Stellantis.
• BYD is opening a factory in Brazil, its first outside Asia.

The world's largest electric vehicle maker is halting plans to build a major factory in Mexico due to concerns about US trade policies.

On Wednesday, BYD said that the company still plans to expand further into North or South America, but it does not have a timeline for the plan.

"Geopolitical issues have a big impact on the automotive industry," Stella Li, an executive vice president, said in an interview with Bloomberg. "Now everybody is rethinking their strategy in other countries. We want to wait for more clarity before making our decision."

In September, Bloomberg reported that the EV giant would not announce a major plant investment in Mexico until after the US election. In March, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said BYD had not made a formal offer to invest in the country.

President Donald Trump's tariffs have been a big pain point for US and global automakers. Cars coming from Mexico to the US remain subject to a 25% tariff.

Car manufacturers have responded in various ways, from offering discounts to shoppers who hope to avoid future price hikes to adding import fees on vehicles built outside the US. Some producers, like Stellantis and Nissan, have cut back on Mexico-based production.

In the region, BYD is opening a plant in the Brazilian state of Bahia, the company's first factory outside Asia.

In December, Brazilian authorities halted the construction of BYD factory and sued the company, saying that construction workers lived in slavery-like conditions. Over 160 workers had been rescued from the working conditions, according to a statement from a Brazilian labour authority.

The statement said that workers were put in "degrading" conditions and had their passports and salaries withheld by a service provider for BYD.

At the time, BYD said affected workers had been moved to hotels. It added that it had conducted a "detailed review" of the working and living conditions for subcontracted employees and asked on "several occasions" for the construction firm to make improvements.

On Wednesday, Li said the episode prompted the company to reassess its approach to international expansion.

"We should slow down, step back from the focus on speed. We need to work more with local companies," she said. "It will take longer, but that's OK."

Chinese players, including BYD, Xiaomi, Nio, and Xpeng, have been undercutting Tesla's prices and gaining market share in China and Europe. BYD is on track to sell more than 5 million cars this year, and the company sold more EVs than Tesla in Europe for the first time in April.

BYD stock is up 38% so far this year because of strong battery technology, its affordability, and global expansion.

• Rivian Automotive reported its 2025 second-quarter production and delivery results.
• Rivian produced 5,979 vehicles and delivered 10,661 vehicles this quarter, a year-over-year decline from Q2 2024.
• Tesla's deliveries also dropped in Q2, just missing analysts' expectations.

It's not just Tesla.

Rivian Automotive's Q2 deliveries were also down. The company shared its production and delivery results on Wednesday. It delivered 10,661 vehicles in the quarter ending on June 30. That's a noticeable drop compared to the same time last year, when Rivian delivered 13,790 vehicles. Reuters reported a 22% decline.

Its stock dipped on Wednesday and closed down 4.45%.

The company shared that it produced 5,979 vehicles at its Illinois-based manufacturing facility during the last quarter. The company produced 9,612 vehicles during the same time in 2024.

"Production was limited during the second quarter in preparation for model year 2026 vehicles expected to launch later this month," the company said on Wednesday. "Production and delivery results for the quarter are in line with Rivian's outlook."

Rivian said it received a $1 billion equity investment from Volkswagen Group as part of a joint venture between the two companies.

Tesla, led by Elon Musk, also shared delivery numbers on Wednesday.

The company delivered 384,000 electric vehicles during its second quarter, which missed Wall Street analysts' expectations. It marks the largest quarterly decline in pure numbers in Tesla's history.

The electric vehicle industry faces headwinds as it navigates consumers' uncertainty and the fallout from President Donald Trump's tariffs.

Tariffs and consumer concerns aren't the only obstacles that could trip up the electric vehicle industry.

Trump's domestic tax and spending bill would also affect the clean energy sector. The bill, if passed and signed into law, could end the $7,500 EV tax credit on new leases and electric vehicle sales by the end of September, according to Reuters. Although Rivian didn't qualify for the tax credit, the company relied on a leasing loophole to utilize it. The potential loss of the tax credit could impact companies like Tesla, though.

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

• Hosting a birthday party for kids can put a lot of pressure on parents.
• We chose to skip the expense and effort this year, and spent a day at the beach with our daughter.
• The low-key day allowed us to focus on connection and making memories.

When our child's fifth birthday came around, we found ourselves utterly exhausted not just from the day-to-day work of parenting, but from the pressure that seems to accompany birthday parties these days. Pinterest-perfect themes. Goodie bags with custom stickers. Bounce house rentals booked three months out. It had started to feel less like a celebration of our child's life and more like a tiny wedding, complete with logistics, financial stress, and a whole lot of performative joy.

So we did something that felt radical, even a little taboo: we didn't invite any kids. No classmates. No cousins. No carefully managed RSVP spreadsheet. Instead, we packed a cooler, baked a cake, grabbed a kite, and headed to the beach. It was just the three of us.

There were no crowds, no timelines, no pressure to socialize or small talk our way through another parental rite of passage. Just waves, sand, wind, and a very happy five-year-old chasing seagulls and licking chocolate frosting off her fingers.

It was the best birthday celebration any of us have ever had.

Our small celebration allowed us to connect

The shift was subtle but profound. Instead of orchestrating a timeline of activities and making sure everyone else's kid was fed, hydrated, and entertained, we got to be fully with our daughter. We swam. We laughed. We got sand in our sandwiches and didn't care. We sang "Happy Birthday" without the background noise of a dozen distracted toddlers. Our daughter wasn't missing out — she was soaking in undivided attention, connection, and the freedom to just be.

In hindsight, what surprised me most wasn't just how well our small gathering went, but how deeply it revealed the quiet stress so many of us have normalized. There's a kind of parenting performance that creeps in around birthdays. We feel it in the Instagram posts, the subtle comparisons, the urge to not let our kid be "the one" with the low-key celebration. We tell ourselves it's for them, but so often, it's about us. About proving something our love, our effort, our place in the parenting pack.

Memories were made

Now I've realized that saying no to the spectacle is its own kind of love. What if scaling back isn't about depriving our kids, but about showing up more fully?

I know not everyone can take a beach day. I know there are kids who want the party, the crowd, the glitter tattoos and that's beautiful, too. But I think there's room in the conversation for stories like ours. For birthdays that are slow and sandy. For quiet decisions that go against the grain and end up feeling just right.

Weeks later, our daughter still brings up that day. "Remember my beach birthday?" she'll say, and her whole face lights up. She doesn't mention presents or party favors. She remembers the pelicans. The chocolate cake. Us.

I'm not here to spark a party backlash or say there's one right way to celebrate. But I do want to offer this: if the birthday pressure is getting to you, you're not alone. And opting out even just once might give you the space to opt in more fully to what matters. No goodie bags required.

• The Trump administration is pausing ammunition delivery to Ukraine amid concerns for US stockpiles.
• Reports on the pause indicate that the most effective American weapons Ukraine has received could be affected.
• NATO's secretary general said that Ukraine needs all the help that it can get.

The US is halting the delivery of ammunition to Ukraine, and reports indicate that some of the most effective and necessary American weapons the country has received could be affected. Ukraine says it is working to get answers.

Hits to air defense interceptor capacity, for instance, could hinder its strained batteries at a moment when Russia is ramping up its attacks. Over the weekend, it struck Ukraine with one of the largest bombardments of the war.

The decision to cancel a shipment of weapons and ammo that had been promised by the Biden administration was confirmed on Wednesday.

White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly told Business Insider that "this decision was made to put America's interests first following a DoD [Department of Defense] review of our nation's military support and assistance to other countries across the globe."

She added that "the strength of the United States Armed Forces remains unquestioned — just ask Iran."

News on the decision was first reported by Politico, which said that it came after the Pentagon reviewed its stockpiles and expressed concern that some critical munitions were in dwindling supply, raising questions about US readiness. The Pentagon has made threats like China a priority, and readying to meet that threat would require a significant amount of weaponry.

A US defense official told BI that DoD continues to provide President Donald Trump with "robust options to continue military aid to Ukraine, consistent with his goal of bringing this tragic war to an end." At the same time, they said, the department is also "rigorously examining and adapting its approach to achieving this objective while also preserving US forces' readiness for Administration defense priorities."

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a later briefing that the pause comes amid an ongoing capabilities review for the department. He characterized it as a common-sense approach to determine what weapons are going where and for what purpose.

Freeze on critical munitions

Neither the White House nor the Department of Defense specified the type of weapons being withheld, but a number of reports indicate that key US systems could be impacted, including howitzers, Patriots, and HIMARS, systems that have been critical in this war. The air defenses, in particular, have been critical in shielding Ukraine's cities from Russian missile strikes.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday that officials are clarifying the changes with their US counterparts, and stressed the importance of air defenses.

Trump acknowledged at the annual NATO summit last week that Ukraine wanted more Patriot interceptors and said the US would "see if we can make some available," but he cautioned that "they're very hard to get. We need them, too."

The US-made M1M-104 Patriot surface-to-air missile system, manufactured primarily by Raytheon and Lockheed Martin, has been key to protecting Ukraine from Russian missile strikes since Kyiv first received it two years ago. Ukraine now reportedly operates six Patriots across the country.

Other countries, like Germany and the Netherlands, have also provided Patriots and could potentially provide interceptors. Ukraine has said it's running low on the interceptors, meaning the delay of further supplies from the US could be detrimental.

"Patriot systems are vital to Ukraine's ability to defend against Russian ballistic missile strikes," the DC-based think tank Institute for the Study of War said recently.

This is especially true "as Russia is reportedly increasing its production and stockpile of ballistic missile production capacity to enable larger and more frequent ballistic missile strikes against Ukraine," it said. Reports indicate that interceptor missiles used by other systems could also be on hold.

The US and Qatar fired Patriots to defend a US base there from Iranian missiles, in what a top general called the largest Patriot air battle in history. And a top admiral warned last year that the shipments to Ukraine were using Patriots that could be utilized elsewhere.

The delay of other systems, like rocket artillery for HIMARS, could hurt Ukraine's ability to conduct deep strikes against targets behind enemy lines. HIMARS, made by Lockheed Martin, launch GPS-guided rockets with a range of 50 miles. Ukraine made waves with high-profile strikes using HIMARS on columns of Russian troops, command centers, and ammunition depots, constraining Moscow's logistics network early in the war.

HIMARS can fire a six-pack of precision-guided Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems or one Army Tactical Missile System, a long-range guided missile. Under Biden, the US provided only a limited number of ATACMS missiles due in part to the size of its own stockpile.

While Russian electronic warfare countermeasures and ammunition shortages have reduced the overall combat effectiveness of HIMARS, the weapons have given Ukraine a key capability.

In artillery battles, M777 howitzers have also been beneficial, but 155mm ammunition, said to be part of the hold, can be fired by many artillery systems. Holds could strain those capabilities, as the 155mm shells are in high demand.

What the US decision means for Ukraine

At the moment, Russia is intensifying its offensives across eastern and northeastern Ukraine, targeting cities like Pokrovsk and expanding into the Sumy region. Ukraine faces mounting pressure amid uncertainty with regard to US support, forcing it to rely more on European partners. Ukraine continues to hit deep into Russia, but with weaponry and ammunition shortages and unclear diplomatic prospects, its position is increasingly precarious.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said in a televised interview on Fox News that "Ukraine cannot do without all the support it can get," and that includes ammunition and air defense.

After the Trump administration's decision was announced, Ukraine's defense ministry said it hadn't received any official notification regarding the suspension of previously agreed-upon aid. It added in a Telegram post that it had requested a call with US counterparts to further clarify details.

Speaking on Ukrainian television on Wednesday, Mykhailo Podolyak, a top adviser to Ukraine's presidential office who previously told BI that losing access to Patriots is a concern, said he didn't expect the US would end its air defense support.

"America will not abandon its support for Ukraine in protecting civilians from Russian strikes," he said, adding that "there are enough anti-missile systems and missiles for them in US warehouses."

Ukraine has found itself short on US support previously when roadblocks in Congress jammed up support, and Trump has at times put pressure on Ukraine to push it toward his administration's vision for peace, which hasn't always been consistent with Kyiv's.

This decision is "not likely to bring about President Trump's desired ceasefire," George Barros, a Russian military expert at ISW, said. Trump previously paused aid to Ukraine after his contentious meeting in March with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office, seeing it as a needed step toward securing a ceasefire deal between Ukraine and Russia.

• Wall Street doesn't appear spooked by Tesla's 13.5% year-over-year decline in vehicle deliveries.
• While the numbers were below analysts' average estimates, they came in above some of the lowest predictions.
• The decline means that Tesla would need to deliver over a million vehicles in the second half of 2025 to return to growth.

Tesla just experienced its steepest drop in quarterly vehicle deliveries to date, but you wouldn't know it looking at its stock price.

Wall Street appears to believe that the numbers could've been worse, and the stock was up 4.86% at market close on Wednesday.

The electric automaker delivered about 384,000 EVs in the second quarter, marking a 13.5% decrease from the 444,000 vehicles it delivered in the same period of 2024.

The new report comes after a challenging first quarter for Tesla's vehicle deliveries, which the company attributed to an assembly line overhaul for the refreshed Model Y and anti-Tesla sentiment in certain markets. The two rough quarters also follow Tesla's first annual delivery decline in 2024.

The automaker is facing multiple challenges, including a slowing EV environment, rising competition, the looming removal of consumer EV tax credits, and potential brand damage tied to Elon Musk's political stint.

Despite the latest setback, Wall Street doesn't appear spooked by the numbers. Analysts explained why.

1. The numbers are bad, but not that bad

Tesla's delivery report fell in line with analysts' average estimates, and the numbers were better than the most pessimistic of Wall Street forecasts.

"We consider the release a modest disappointment, although vehicle sales weren't as weak as many had feared," CFRA analyst Garrett Nelson wrote in an analyst note on Wednesday.

On average, analysts expected 389,400 vehicles delivered in the second quarter, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. However, some forecasts, like RBC Capital Markets, were as low as 366,000, and Tesla landed about 5% above that, with 384,000 deliveries.

Thomas Monteiro, senior analyst at Investing.com, told BI that given the automaker's aging lineup, increasing competition, and political competition, Tesla showed its ability to stay relevant, which in and of itself could be viewed as a win for the automaker.

Tesla bull Dan Ives told BI that "Rome wasn't built in a day," and he expects the automaker to take six to nine months to come back from its recent challenges, like the Model Y assembly line changeover.

Monteiro said that if this is "the bottom for Tesla," the struggles of late 2024 and early 2025 could turn out to be a "temporary setback in the company's broader trajectory."

2. Tesla has a steep hill to climb

After back-to-back quarters of declining sales, Tesla is looking to return to growth.

The trouble is, the bigger the deliveries miss, the steeper the hill it has to climb to get there.

In the first half of the year, Tesla delivered a total of roughly 720,700 EVs. To exceed its 2024 deliveries of 1,789,226 vehicles, Tesla would need to deliver well over a million EVs across the next two quarters.

It's possible, but an ambitious feat for the EV maker. In the third quarter last year, Tesla delivered 462,890 vehicles, and in the fourth quarter, it hit about 495,000.

A more affordable model could spur sales, but Tesla hasn't given an updated timeline for its cheaper EV, which it had previously said was on track to begin production in the first half of the year.

3. The stock is up

Tesla stock popped immediately following the results and ended the day up over 4.8%.

In addition to staying above the lowest of Wall Street's estimates, another factor could also be China's Passenger Car Association releasing data indicating Tesla saw its first increase in 2025 vehicle deliveries from its Shanghai factory, a key production plant for global exports.

In June, Tesla delivered 71,599 units from the factory, marking a 0.8% year-over-year increase and a 16% monthly increase, according to the data. That could indicate a bright spot for Tesla's China growth prospects, a market where the automaker is facing increasing competition and just lost its top manufacturing executive.

4. Tesla isn't out of the woods

Not all analysts had an optimistic take on Tesla's numbers.

Gadjo Sevilla, a senior tech and AI analyst for EMARKETER, a sister company to BI, said that Tesla's headwinds contributed to the sales decline and the automaker may be "stretching itself thin" with the robotaxi rollout and Optimus humanoid robot development. Those projects "divert time, talent, and resources from EVs," Sevilla said.

Musk has said that solving autonomy and developing related technology that utilizes the technology, such as Optimus, are key to Tesla's future growth.

"Increased EV competition, especially in growth markets like China, and the continued slowdown in global EV adoption will continue to compound Tesla's losses," Sevilla said.

While Musk has returned his focus to Tesla, his favorability has taken a hit from many on both the political right and the left, according to recent polls. Shortly after leaving his position in DOGE, the billionaire sparked an ongoing public feud with President Donald Trump regarding his Big Beautiful Bill. As the two take turns exchanging insults on social media, Tesla has seen sharp swings in its share price.

• Elon Musk threatened to primary politicians who vote for the "Big Beautiful Bill."
• Republicans are largely brushing it off.
• "Similar threats have been made before," one House Republican said.

As President Donald Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" inches closer to final passage, Elon Musk has ratcheted up his criticism of the bill even further, threatening to end the political careers of anyone who votes for it.

"They will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth," Musk said on Monday.

Musk, the single largest political donor of the 2024 election, could theoretically pour millions of dollars into funding primary challengers against sitting members of Congress.

He's also mused about launching a new political party, and he's said he'll donate to a GOP congressman who's been critical of Trump's agenda.

So, how seriously are Republican lawmakers taking Musk's threats?

"Not that seriously," Rep. Abe Hamadeh of Arizona told BI. "Elon Musk actually donated to me last quarter."

Hamadeh is one of 21 House Republicans who's already received a more than $6,000 check from Musk this year, according to the most recently available campaign finance data. That list includes a host of right-flank Republicans including Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Lauren Boebert of Colorado.

Republicans say they're not worried about Musk's complaints at this point, and there's a sense that Musk, now on the outs with Trump and more focused on his companies, simply won't follow through.

"Similar threats have been made before, and I'm unsure if anything's come of those threats," Rep. Brian Jack of Georgia said.

Musk has criticized the bill's phase-out of clean energy subsidies as well as its impact on the national debt. He has said it largely undoes the work of DOGE, the government-efficiency and cost-cutting initiative he launched at the beginning of Trump's second term.

"Look, I mean, he's the wealthiest man in the world. You have to take everything seriously," Jack added. "But at the same time, I'm just hopeful that if he does engage politically, it's on behalf of the party that's enacted pro-growth policy."

It's been a month since Musk and Trump's relationship blew up in an epic feud, and Republicans on Capitol Hill have gotten used to the dynamic, even as they lament it.

"It's a shame," Rep. Aaron Bean of Florida, one of the three original chairs of the ill-fated House DOGE Caucus.

"We're the ones working to bring financial sanity," Bean said. "Hopefully he'll realize that."

Most Republicans remain careful not to insult the tech titan, who remains influential on the right and has shown a willingness to pour millions of dollars into elections.

Though not everyone is so diplomatic.

"It seems to me that he's trying to divide Republicans," Rep. Nicole Malliotakis of New York said on Fox Business on Tuesday. "Maybe he's mad because we're not focused on billionaires."

All but three GOP senators voted to pass the Senate version of the bill on Tuesday, well after Musk began issuing his latest criticisms.

While final passage in the House still appears uncertain, it's not Musk's words that are weighing on the minds of lawmakers, but rather cuts to Medicaid and the bill's impact on the federal deficit.

"I don't pay attention to what the President threatens, or what Elon Musk says," said Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland, a critic of the bill. "We're just trying to do what's right by the American people in terms of keeping our deficit under control."

• Sean "Diddy" Combs' jury returned a mixed verdict in his trial, and he faces up to 20 years in prison.
• Combs' businesses and fortune may be at risk, with the possibility of restitution and pending civil lawsuits.
• Here's how the businesses of Combs, once the richest man in hip-hop, unraveled and where his fortune stands.

Sean "Diddy" Combs' freedom isn't all that's hanging in the balance after he was found guilty of lesser charges in his sex-trafficking and racketeering trial.

The hip-hop mogul's once-thriving business empire and what's left of his fortune are also on the line.

A Manhattan federal jury on Wednesday convicted Combs of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, but acquitted him of the top charges of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy.

As a result of the criminal indictment, emotionally-charged courtroom testimony, and the wave of civil sex abuse lawsuits against Combs, he's become persona non grata in the industries that once made him very wealthy, and his income streams and reputation have been sullied.

"If they stamp him guilty, that dynasty turns into a yard sale," Eric Schiffer, a celebrity brand and reputational strategist, told Business Insider ahead of the verdict. "An acquittal might clear ankle chains, but sync licensers will treat his catalog like a radioactive dirty bomb."

As part of Combs' not-yet-scheduled sentencing, the judge could order Combs to pay restitution to his sex-trafficking accusers — R&B singer Cassie Ventura and another ex who testified under the pseudonym "Jane."

The US government could seize funds from Combs' bank accounts or royalty earnings if he did not voluntarily pay any ordered restitution, former prosecutors told Business Insider.

Beyond his criminal case, Combs is still facing more than 50 civil lawsuits accusing him of sexual assault, rape, drugging, and other forms of violence. And if any of the plaintiffs win, the financial blow could be steep.

Combs pleaded not guilty to all the criminal charges and has denied all accusations of sexual assault against him. The 55-year-old Bad Boy Records founder is now facing up to 20 years behind bars (each count comes with a maximum sentence of 10 years). Though legal experts expect his sentence to be much lower.

Any restitution Combs may be forced to pay would likely pale in comparison to what a successful civil lawsuit could reap, attorneys not involved in the case told BI. (Ventura testified that Combs paid her $20 million to settle her November 2023 lawsuit against him.)

"Restitution is much more limited than the types of damages you can get in a civil lawsuit," said former New York federal prosecutor Nadia Shihata, who led the prosecution of convicted sex trafficker R. Kelly.

Restitution is mandatory for federal transportation to engage in prostitution convictions for the "full amount of the victim's losses," which could cover medical expenses, mental health treatment, and lost income, Shihata said.

Combs' businesses have eroded, but he's still sitting on a fortune

In 2018, at the height of his financial status, Combs' net worth was $825 million, according to Forbes. In the publication's most recent valuation, from June 2024 — two months before Combs' arrest — he was worth $400 million.

But Combs' wealth has dwindled, along with his ability to earn more money.

After a series of back-and-forth lawsuits, Diageo, Combs' partner in Cîroc vodka and DeLeón tequila, cut ties with him in 2023. The move officially ended a relationship that, according to the company, netted the music tycoon nearly $1 billion since he was named the face of Cîroc in 2007.

"Mr. Combs is well-aware that these lawsuits make it impossible for him to continue to be the 'face' of anything," Diageo lawyers wrote in 2023, pointing to the sexual assault claims that had begun to pile up.

Sean John, Combs' clothing and lifestyle brand, had plummeted in value long before Combs' legal troubles started to accumulate. The majority stake he sold for a reported $70 million in 2016 was worth only $7.55 million when he bought it back in 2021. Since then, Macy's, which exclusively carried its sportswear line, has pulled the brand. And there is little hope it will be revived — or that it's worth much now.

The name Sean John "will come with the same stigma as Chernobyl" if he's found guilty, Schiffer said.

Combs' music catalog is still worth something, even if not as much as it once was.

As the owner of Bad Boy Records, Combs earned money every time a song published by the label — even if he wasn't the artist — was streamed, played on the radio, or used in a commercial. That resulted not only in a paycheck but also in a valuable asset given its future earnings potential. A lucrative catalog of songs can be sold for eight or nine figures.

Bad Boy's catalog, though, has been chipped away at. Over the years, the publishing rights and masters of several artists have been reassigned or bought back.

Notorious B.I.G.'s mother, for example, got his publishing rights back over a number of years, The Wall Street Journal reported. In March, she sold a 50% stake in his estate — inclusive of his catalog — to music publisher Primary Wave in a deal that valued it at over $200 million.

The music left in Bad Boy's catalog, on which Combs is not the artist, has likely maintained its value.

"Publishers tend to go under the radar," David Herlihy, a professor at Northeastern University who specializes in music licensing and copyright, told BI. "Licensees may become hesitant to use the music, but that tends to be more artist-centric and not song-centric."

Songs that are sung by or heavily associated with Combs will be more heavily affected. Herlihy pointed to R. Kelly, who was convicted of sex trafficking in 2021. While his songs are still streamed in the privacy of one's earbuds, and therefore making some money, the residuals have plummeted.

"His label dropped him, radio stations stopped playing him, streaming services removed his songs from playlists," he said, and there's "no touring from the cellblock."

No matter how much the value of his businesses has degraded, Combs is still likely sitting on a fortune.

"This is not a poor man," Schiffer said.

Over the decades, Combs has pocketed plenty of cash. There's the almost $1 billion from his Cîroc deal and another $200 million that Diageo paid him for his stake in DeLeón tequila, plus the tens of millions he got for a stake in Sean John.

There's also Combs' real estate portfolio. His two homes on Miami's Star Island are worth more than $80 million combined, per 2025 property assessments. His Los Angeles mansion, which he put on the market last year, has an assessed value of $46 million.

Combs' private jet, a Gulfstream 550 known as Loveair, has not changed hands, according to Federal Aviation Administration records, and remains available to rent through the operator Silver Air.

One way or another, Combs will need his money.

While any restitution Combs may be ordered to pay as part of his sentencing would likely be negligible to him, the pending civil suits pose a "real risk" of decimating Combs financially, said former federal prosecutor Sarah Krissoff.

Texas-based attorney Tony Buzbee, whose firm has brought the lion's share of the sex abuse lawsuits against Combs, said in a statement that the rapper "dodged a big bullet," but that "doesn't end the saga."

"Now that this spectacle is over, we look forward to aggressively pursuing these civil cases to obtain justice for these alleged victims," Buzbee added.

Combs' attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI for this story.

"He is going to face military-grade weaponry that is moments from launching, from all different parts of the world, in the name of civil suits," Schiffer, the celebrity brand strategist, said of Combs. "He is likely going to have to write some big checks downstream."

• Going to my 20-year high school reunion was a mixed bag.
• A therapist says it's valid to have mixed emotions about seeing people from your past.
• She recommends not comparing yourself to anyone else.

I had the chance to relive being a teenager when I attended my 20-year high school reunion. It was like traveling back in time to when I felt most awkward and insecure.

The guy I used to obsess over walked up to me twice and said hello to someone behind me, almost elbowing me in the head to shake their hand. Then, all the blood drained from my face when another classmate said they remembered me because my sister was the "popular one" with all the friends.

It might seem like the night was a complete disaster. But that would be my anxiety talking and drowning out the many positive interactions I had with new and familiar faces, especially the ones who set down their drinks to embrace me with both arms.

If you're anxious about seeing your former classmates, you're not alone. I received advice from therapists on approaching your high school reunion, including managing your expectations and avoiding assumptions about your old friends and rivals.

Here are the dos and don'ts of attending your high school reunion.

Do: Acknowledge how you're feeling

Reuniting with your classmates can bring up mixed emotions, from excitement and nostalgia to fear and dread. "It's completely normal and valid to have conflicting feelings about a reunion," Natalie Moore, a Los Angeles-based licensed marriage and family therapist, told Business Insider.

You might associate high school with painful memories like being bullied or excluded from social gatherings. Taking time to notice your feelings can help build self-awareness, which in turn can lead to greater confidence and self-acceptance, she said.

Don't: Compare your life to someone else's

There's a lot of pressure to achieve milestones like getting married, having kids, owning a home, or having a fulfilling career. "As the reunion approaches, be mindful of the expectations and predictions that pop up in your mind," Moore said.

Remember that everyone has their own path and timeline. "Even the person who appears to have it all together has their own quiet struggles that they're dealing with," she said.

Do: Consider what makes you feel your best

We tend to feel more confident when we plan ahead. Think about what makes you feel good so you can relax and be in the moment when you're at your reunion, Patrice Le Goy, a psychologist and licensed marriage and family therapist, told BI.

"For some people, it will be important to have accomplishments to share, and for others, it will be having that perfect outfit picked out," she said.

You don't want to sound rehearsed, but it might help to have a script or a few life updates in mind, especially if you tend to overshare or get nervous in social settings.

Don't: Gossip about people or their appearance

When a conversation stalls, it can be tempting to engage in gossip. "You may regret it if you use this time to speak badly about people you haven't seen in a long time, especially if it gets back to them," Le Goy said.

As visual creatures, we tend to notice people's appearance, especially if they look different from how we remember them.

"However, making comments about someone's body, even if you believe you're giving a compliment, can trigger people and make them feel self-conscious," Moore said.

Do: Ask questions

A crowded reunion may not be the best venue for deep conversations, but that shouldn't stop you from getting reacquainted. "It's much more fun to allow yourself to be surprised by how much your classmates have grown and changed over the years," Moore said.

Consider your own evolution since high school. Your classmates have likely experienced similar transformations, and when you don't ask questions, you're more likely to judge people.

Don't: Jump to conclusions

If you haven't spoken to your classmates in a while, it's easy to make assumptions and create unfounded narratives about their lives. Perhaps you're speculating about why your prom date moved to another country or you're picturing yourself standing up to your high school bully at the reunion.

"Social media only gives us a fraction of the full story," Le Goy said. "Try not to assume someone's marriage is on the rocks because of one cryptic post or, alternately, that someone's life is perfect because they seem so happy online or from stories that you hear from other people."

Moore emphasized the importance of practicing curiosity rather than jumping to conclusions or reacting to past experiences. Try practicing the thought: I wonder if this individual will be there and how their personality has changed over the years.

Do: Set an intention for the reunion

Another way to boost your confidence is to think about your purpose in going to the reunion. "If you are measuring your level of enjoyment based on whether you are the most successful or the most attractive, you will probably be disappointed," Le Goy said.

Her advice is to think about how you want to feel at the end of the night whether it's being happy that you reconnected with friends or feeling relieved that you've gotten over your high school crush.

"These are more helpful expectations than just wanting to be better than everyone else," she said.

Don't: Panic if you lose touch

If you're enjoying reconnecting with someone, consider asking for their contact information and how they prefer to stay in touch, Moore said. "Some people love in-person hangouts while others find it more convenient to text or FaceTime," she added.

Similar to asking someone on a date, the saying "no risk, no reward" applies here. "People's lives are so busy and even though the intention may be there to stay connected, often the follow-through is more difficult," Le Goy said.

She suggests staying away from big declarations, like planning a trip together. "Stick with more accessible options like connecting on social media or starting a text chain which can build up to in person meet ups," she said.

Whatever happens at your reunion, remember how far you've come since high school. Because of the way our brains are wired, our former classmates may loom large in our memories, but they don't define who we are today.

Nandini Maharaj is a freelance writer covering health, wellness, identity, and relationships. She holds a master's degree in counseling and a doctorate in public health.

• Microsoft's Judson Althoff wants to revamp sales to become the "frontier AI firm," a memo shows.
• The changes come as Microsoft cuts thousands of roles, including in sales.
• Althoff's memo outlined the changes to the organization and his ambitions for the new fiscal year.

Microsoft's sales chief, Judson Althoff, is revamping his unit to make it more AI-focused, according to an internal memo viewed by Business Insider.

Althoff, the company's chief commercial officer, sent the memo to the sales unit, called Microsoft Customer and Partner Solutions (MCAPS), a day before the company announced a significant round of layoffs.

Those layoffs affected many salespeople in Althoff's organization, sources familiar with them said. The memo did not mention the layoffs, announced beginning July 2 in separate communications to employees.

Althoff's memo called for "continued agility" and "reinventing Microsoft and MCAPS" to become "the Frontier AI Firm," and outlined the five priorities of the sales organization:

1. Establish a Copilot on every device and across every role
2. Strengthen our M365 and D365 execution and penetration across all segments
3. Create meaningful AI design wins
4. Grow our cloud platform business by migrating and modernizing workloads to Azure
5. Build a cybersecurity foundation to enable secure AI Transformation

Althoff in April unveiled plans to slash the number of the sales team's "solutions areas" by half during the next fiscal year, which started July 1.

BI obtained copies of slides from Althoff's April presentation, showing the company planned to condense its six previous areas into three: AI Business Solutions, Cloud & AI Platforms, and Security, according to those slides.

AI Business Solutions will focus on getting "Copilots on every device across every role" and on selling Microsoft 365's suite of business applications and Dynamics 365 customer relationship management service, according to the July 1 memo.

Cloud & AI Platform will include the company's Azure business, its AI "agent factory" Foundry, and data analytics platform Fabric. That group will be focused on frontier AI solutions and migrating and modernizing cloud workloads to Azure.

Security focuses on selling Microsoft's security tools. "We have spent a lot of time playing defense over the last year, and it is now time to compete more aggressively," Althoff said, referring to the security solutions area.

The changes come as Microsoft faces increasing competition for enterprise customers in AI from companies like OpenAI and Google. Microsoft has an advantage in that many large companies already use its other tools, but many of those companies' employees want the more well-known ChatGPT.

Have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at [email protected] or Signal at +1-425-344-8242. Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.

• The former president spoke at the Society for Human Resource Management conference in San Diego.
• "In a sense, the president of the United States is the chief people officer," he said.
• Biden stressed that leaders should encourage employees to take time off to meet family obligations.

Joe Biden told a group of human-resources professionals Wednesday that the president of the U.S. is in a sense the nation's chief people officer before passing on leadership lessons he gleaned throughout his decades-long career in Washington.

Speaking in San Diego to members of the Society for Human Resource Management at the trade group's annual conference, the former commander-in-chief emphasized the importance for leaders to treat all employees with respect.

'Leadership is all about getting personal'

"A job is about a lot more than a paycheck. It's about your dignity," Biden said, referring to a lesson he received early in life from his father. "And that lesson has guided my whole career," he added.

The former president also stressed that leaders should recognize that family matters to employees — and to encourage employees to not be afraid to take time off from work to meet family obligations.

"Too often we try to separate people into categories of their work and their family. We say it's business, it's not personal," Biden told the audience. "Leadership is all about getting personal. … It's about connecting. It means having empathy."

When he was vice president, Biden said he sent a memo to White House staff to make sure they knew where he stood on the matter. In the memo he encouraged them to prioritize important dates in their loved one's lives such as birthdays, weddings, and graduations over work. And he said he'd be disappointed if they didn't heed his message.

Biden acknowledged that it can be hard for people to set aside work.

"We tell ourselves, 'I have to be at that meeting. I have to get that report done. I have to take that trip,' " he said.

But Biden, who lost his first wife and daughter in a car accident in 1972, emphasized that this kind of thinking can be a mistake.

"There are moments you'll never get back," he said.

'Keep helping people get back up'

Later, Biden argued that leadership is about sharing credit, giving recognition, and being willing to risk losing your job if it means doing the right thing.

"At some point in our lives, in ways large and small, all of us are called upon to show bravery," he said.

Biden closed out his remarks by encouraging the audience of HR professionals to continue to be strong leaders, because they are the ones who shape the workplace.

"Keep seeing everyone's value. Keep helping people get back up when they get knocked down. Be brave when bravery's called for," he said. "This is the kind of leadership you need right now. That's how we build a strong workplace, a strong economy, a strong nation."

• Tesla is threatened by Musk's fight with Trump, longtime investor Ross Gerber says.
• Gerber said he thinks Elon Musk's feud with the president is a "nail in the coffin" for the EV maker.
• Gerber said he had already sold most of his personal stake in Tesla.

Elon Musk has returned to bashing the GOP budget bill in recent days, and in doing so, has reignited his fight with President Donald Trump.

In one long-time investor's view, it's bound to create even more challenges for the company, which just reported another quarter of weak vehicle deliveries.

Ross Gerber, the CEO of Gerber-Kawasaki Wealth Management and an early backer of Musk's car company, said he believed the Tesla CEO's fight with President Donald Trump was another overhang for the company.

Tesla shares are down 22% year-to-date. Gerber thinks that while the feud is bad news, the company is also struggling against a lofty valuation and uncertainty in its various business units, including core auto sales, but also initiatives like robotaxis.

Gerber speculated that the stock could fall as much as 50% if the market revalues Tesla. The stock was trading around $316 on Wednesday.

"People are just, you know, done with it," Gerber said, speaking to Bloomberg about the Musk-Trump feud on Wednesday. "So this is just another, like, nail in the coffin — which I tweeted — that really is going to hurt Tesla, and I'm very upset about it," he added, referring to a post on X where he called Musk's shots at Trump on social media an "absurd attack."

Musk reignited his fight with Trump over the Republican tax and spending bill this week. Tesla shares dropped more than 5% on Tuesday after Trump suggested DOGE should look into canceling contracts with Musk's companies.

Gerber added he believed Musk had "destroyed" his image.

"You're at this kind of point where it's like, 'What is this guy doing?' You know? You're supposed to be selling cars and robotaxis, and instead we're fighting with the President of the United States. Which he enabled and helped empower, but, I'm sorry Elon, President Trump is way more powerful than you." "he said. "So it's just — quite frankly, it's stupid."

The damage is coming at a critical time for Tesla. The EV maker reported on Wednesday that its vehicle deliveries dropped 14% year-over-year in the second quarter. Sales have also plunged 45% in the European Union from January to May so far this year, according to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association released last week.

Recent price increases on Tesla vehicles have also likely weighed on sales, Gerber said, adding he believed there was a "severe" supply-demand imbalance for Tesla cars.

"Making the car more expensive means less people will buy it. It's as simple as that. And they already have a hard time selling the car," Gerber said.

Gerber said he believed Tesla's stock price wasn't justified. The company is trading around 150 times earnings, around three to four times the price-to-earnings ratio of other mega-cap tech firms, like Nvidia and Google, Gerber said.

Gerber said his firm's exchange-traded fund completely sold its position in Tesla stock this week, though Gerber-Kawasaki Wealth Management still has around $60 million invested in Tesla among accounts it manages for its clients.

The firm has been steadily selling its position in Tesla for more than two years, according to regulatory filings.

Gerber said he also continued to hold a small personal stake in Tesla, due to the stock being "one of the best trades" of his life as an early investor.

"What's the justification for this valuation? Robots and a robotaxi that doesn't really work. It just seems like there's a big disconnect there, and eventually this reckoning will come," he said.

On Wednesday, Diddy was acquitted of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy. A jury found him guilty of two lesser counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.

• Paramount is paying $16 million to settle a lawsuit from President Donald Trump.
• Media and politics insiders say the payout could help ease through Paramount's merger with Skydance.
• Here's what insiders from Marty Baron to Sen. Elizabeth Warren are saying about the settlement.

The worlds of media and politics are buzzing about Paramount's settlement with President Donald Trump.

Media giant Paramount said late Tuesday that it had agreed to pay $16 million to settle a lawsuit brought by Trump over a "60 Minutes" segment that aired last fall.

The lawsuit alleged the CBS News show had selectively edited an interview with Trump rival Kamala Harris. The proposed settlement, which did not include an apology from Paramount, will be allocated to Trump's future presidential library, the company said.

Paramount is awaiting government approval of its planned merger with David Ellison's Skydance Media. The company said the settlement was "completely separate from, and unrelated to, the Skydance transaction."

Paramount said companies often settle lawsuits to avoid costly, unpredictable legal battles, potential reputational or financial harm, and business disruptions, and move forward without prolonged uncertainty.

A spokesperson for Trump's legal team called the settlement "another win for the American people."

"CBS and Paramount Global realized the strength of this historic case and had no choice but to settle," the spokesperson said. (You can find the full statements from Paramount and the Trump team at the end of this story.)

Here's what big names in media and politics have been saying in reaction to the Paramount-Trump settlement news:

Tina Brown, former editor-in-chief of Vanity Fair and The New Yorker:

"It's a shakedown, isn't it — it's on [Paramount controlling owner] Shari Redstone's neck. She can't close the deal without it. It's a tragedy that something as important and serious and meaningful as CBS News is sort of being traded away for this shakedown.

"I'd like to think [former Washington Post publisher] Katharine Graham wouldn't have done it. We don't know anything about [David] Ellison. He might be a terrific supporter of newsgathering, but one has become pessimistic with these issues."

Sen. Elizabeth Warren:

"With Paramount folding to Donald Trump at the same time the company needs his administration's approval for its billion-dollar merger, this could be bribery in plain sight. Paramount has refused to provide answers to a congressional inquiry, so I'm calling for a full investigation into whether or not any anti-bribery laws were broken.

"This settlement exposes a glaring need for rules to restrict donations to sitting presidents' libraries. I will soon introduce new legislation to rein in corruption through presidential library donations. The Trump administration's level of sheer corruption is appalling and Paramount should be ashamed of putting its profits over independent journalism."

Marty Baron, former Washington Post executive editor:

"Assuming the merger gets approved, the bigger issue will be the posture of new owners toward '60 Minutes' and really all of CBS News. I would hope for respect for the network's heritage, as well as a pledge of journalistic independence and proof that they will honor it. The early indicators aren't all that encouraging."

Tim Richardson, journalism and disinformation program director at PEN America:

"Paramount's decision to settle a meritless lawsuit rather than stand behind its journalists at CBS News is a spineless capitulation.

"This was a moment to defend press freedom and support reporters targeted by a frivolous legal attack. Instead, Paramount chose appeasement to bolster its finances, sending a dangerous message that media outlets can be pressured into submission if corporate parents find their profits at risk from government action in unrelated areas.

"With two major network owners bowing to the president in quick succession, the danger is clear: emboldened politicians and powerful actors will feel more free than ever to weaponize lawsuits and bring regulatory pressure to bear to silence and censor independent journalism."

Raymond James analysts Ric Prentiss and Brent Penter (in a note to clients):

"Now with the lawsuit settled, we believe the FCC is poised to approve the PARA/Skydance deal, and we feel the deal can close within a couple of weeks after FCC approval.

"Our expectation has been a closing (with no material changes to terms) after 1H25 but still in the summer, and we feel that continues to be the case. We think companies, and especially CFOs, like to close deals on the first day of a month (with the first day of a quarter even more preferred, but missed 7/1 in this case). And we expect PARA to be ready to close this chapter of its story soon."

Peter Kafka, Business Insider chief correspondent:

"This is the deal we thought we'd see back in January: A Trump-friendly media mogul agrees to pay him millions of dollars, so she can sell her company to a Trump-backing tech mogul.

"On the one hand, you can squint and argue that Paramount is a winner here because it didn't have to give up more — like a public apology for something it didn't do. All it had to do is fork over the now-standard payment for media and tech companies that want to operate in Trump 2.0.

"On the other hand: These corporate payoffs to the president of the United States should be shocking. My worry is that we're just a few months into this, and we've already accepted them as normal."

Clayton Weimers, executive director of Reporters without Borders USA:

"This is a shameful decision by Paramount. Shari Redstone and Paramount's board should have stood by CBS journalists and the integrity of press freedom. Instead, they chose to reward Donald Trump for his petty legal assault against both. A line is being drawn between the owners of American news media who are willing to stand up for press freedom and those who capitulate to the demands of the president.

"Today, Paramount's leaders chose to be on the wrong side of that dividing line, but they'd be mistaken to believe appeasing Trump today will stop his attacks in the future. News media owners are much better off standing strong than acquiescing."

Jeff Greenfield, former CBS senior political correspondent, on X:

"Will this encourage politicians and others to file bogus lawsuits [a]s a way of intimidating news organizations and their corporate boards? Will the correspondents and producers of "60 Minutes" see this as a corporate betrayal of the program in service to a multi billion dollar merger? (Answers to both questions: YES.)"

Sen. Bernie Sanders:

"The decision by the Redstone family, the major owners of Paramount, to settle a bogus lawsuit with President Trump over a 60 Minutes report he did not like is an extremely dangerous precedent in terms of both the first amendment and government extortion.

"Paramount's decision will only embolden Trump to continue attacking, suing and intimidating the media which he has labeled 'the enemy of the people.' It is a dark day for independent journalism and freedom of the press - an essential part of our democracy. It is a victory for a president who is attempting to stifle dissent and undermine American democracy.

"It's pretty obvious why Paramount chose to surrender to Trump. The Redstone family is in line to receive $2.4 billion from the sale of Paramount to Skydance, but they can only receive this money if the Trump administration approves this deal. In other words, the Redstone family diminished the freedom of the press today in exchange for a $2.4 billion payday.

"Make no mistake about it. Trump is undermining our democracy and rapidly moving us towards authoritarianism and the billionaires who care more about their stock portfolios than our democracy are helping him do it. That is beyond unacceptable."

Jonathan Miller, chief executive of Integrated Media, which specializes in digital media investments:

"The fact there was no apology was good, and it makes sense in the grand scheme of things in what they have to do. It's pretty hard to escape the idea that it's political. The Ellisons stayed away from any political statement during the whole process — now we'll see what they do. And there's obviously a job open at CBS News they'll have to fill."

Rome Hartman, veteran former '60 Minutes' producer, including on the Kamala Harris segment:

"This settlement is a cowardly capitulation by the corporate leaders of Paramount, and a fundamental betrayal of '60 Minutes' and CBS News. The story that was the subject of this lawsuit was edited by the book and in accordance with CBS News standards. Our corporate bosses know that; they know that this lawsuit is completely baseless. But they settled it in order to preserve Shari Redstone's payday. That is shameful."

John Harwood, veteran White House correspondent:

"It's hard to say which is worse: the craven surrender by a media company that did nothing wrong, the betrayal of one of our finest news outlets, or the lawless extortion by the President of the United States. that it all happened in broad daylight is an appalling measure of the damage Trump has inflicted."

Jill Abramson, former executive editor of The New York Times:

"I look at the journalism consequences, which I think are serious. How can you really fulfill the press's mission as the people who guard against autocracy and make sure the government is functioning as it should? The networks aren't as powerful as they once were, but are still important news organizations.

"It's easy for me to say this but: Just do the work that made the First Amendment first and gave the press a lot of freedom and leeway. Don't be cowed by the Trump White House."

Full Paramount and Trump team statements:

Here's Paramount Global's statement: "Companies often settle litigation to avoid the high and somewhat unpredictable costs of legal defense, the risk of an adverse judgment that could result in significant financial or reputational damage, and the disruption to business operations that prolonged legal battles can cause. Settlement offers a negotiated resolution that allows companies to focus on their core objectives rather than being mired in uncertainty and distraction."

And here's Trump's legal team's: "With this record settlement, President Donald J. Trump delivers another win for the American people as he, once again, holds the Fake News media accountable for their wrongdoing and deceit. CBS and Paramount Global realized the strength of this historic case and had no choice but to settle. President Trump will always ensure that no one gets away with lying to the American People as he continues on his singular mission to Make America Great Again."

• Sean "Diddy" Combs was cleared on Wednesday of racketeering and sex-trafficking charges.
• The verdict shows the feds overreached when they called him a mob boss, former prosecutors say.
• The jury also believed what Combs' accusers said in old texts more than what they said in testimony.

Sean "Diddy" Combs was not running a criminal racket. And the women who took the witness stand to describe unspeakable sexual abuse were not, ultimately, believable.

Former federal prosecutors said these are the two messages sent back by a Manhattan jury in Wednesday's bombshell verdict acquitting the hip hop mogul on racketeering and sex-trafficking charges that could have jailed him for life.

"They don't think he's a mob boss — I think that's the bottom line that explains this verdict," said Ephraim Savitt, a former federal prosecutor in New York.

"They were overreaching, and in my view, it was a mistake," said Savitt, who is now in private practice. "The jury just rejected the entire notion wholesale."

Business Insider spoke to five former federal and state prosecutors from New York. Four agreed that it was an overreach to bring a racketeering case.

To find Combs guilty of racketeering, jurors had to find that he committed at least two criminal acts. Jurors had a long menu of potential crimes to choose from, including kidnapping, arson, drug distribution, and crimes directly relating to his two accusers, former girlfriends Cassie Ventura and a woman who testified as "Jane."

Prosecutors did not greet their challenge empty-handed. They showed jurors hotel, bank, and flight records corroborating that on dozens of occasions, Combs paid for Ventura, Jane, and male escorts to cross state lines for so-called "freak offs," the dayslong, drug-fueled sex performances at the heart of the trial.

The split verdict — guilty of transporting for purposes of prostitution for both women, though not guilty of anything else — shows this pile of travel records was indeed compelling.

But for the racketeering count — the top count in the indictment — the jury needed two kinds of crimes, not just transporting alone.

"The jury needed separate racketeering acts," said former Manhattan prosecutor Michael Bachner. That may be why on Monday, their first day of deliberations, they sent the judge a note requesting clarification on the law for drug distribution, said Bachner, now in private practice.

Just as importantly, they had to find Combs guilty of running a criminal enterprise to begin with, the legal experts explained.

They needed to find that he conspired with others to run Bad Boy Entertainment and Combs Global as a hybrid criminal and legitimate concern.

Under the racketeering law, that means they needed to find that Combs diverted resources and staff from his legitimate business ventures in order to distribute drugs, or force employees to work without pay, or to "traffic" Ventura and Jane as some 15 years of freak offs were held in luxury hotel suites across the country.

The jury simply didn't believe that any of the above was a racket, the former prosecutors explained.

Instead, they believed the defense, which argued that any potentially illegal acts were just personal, consensual behavior.

"This might demonstrate sort of the outer bounds of the government's use of racketeering," said Sarah Krissoff, attorney at Cozen O'Connor and a former federal prosecutor in Manhattan.

"Because the government has sort of decided that they can use racketeering charges on everything, and maybe this demonstrates that maybe this is the edge and we've gone past it now," she said.

Prosecutors may have pursued a racketeering conspiracy charge because that charge let them introduce evidence going back 10 years, Bachner said — well past the statute of limitations.

"Given the facts of this prosecution, I think it was a stretch, even though I think the evidence was there," he told BI.

Decades of text messages painted a muddled picture of 'freak offs'

As for Combs victory over his sex trafficking counts, some of the experts said that ultimately, the jury may have been thrown by decades of text messages in which Jane and Ventura expressed enthusiasm for freak offs, often in graphic language.

(In testimony, the women countered that they were only telling the coercive and volatile Combs what he wanted to hear, in order to keep him happy and themselves safe.)

These defense lawyers — a team of eight led by veteran defense attorney Marc Agnifilo — argued that perhaps the women regret their choices now.

But the text messages show that at the time, the defense argued, the two were eager and consensual participants in these hotel threesomes with a succession of paid men.

And while they sometimes complained in wrenching terms about their humiliation and disgust, Ventura and Jane only did so when they were jealous or felt Combs was not giving them enough love and affection, the defense also argued.

Both women conceded in testimony that they repeatedly split with Combs only to return.

It's a pattern that a prosecution expert termed "trauma bonding." Still, the expert — forensic psychiatrist Dawn Hughes, who also testified in the R. Kelly trial — was allowed to testify only in general terms, a limitation that may have hurt the prosecution, said Attorney Nadia Shihata.

Shihata, now in private practice, was one of the federal prosecutors who tried R. Kelly on racketeering. Shihata didn't call the charge against Combs an overreach. Instead, she said the prosecution was hindered when Hughes's testimony was limited.

"This was a difficult case," Shihata told Business Insider, given that Hughes was barred from discussing their specific circumstances.

"It's hard for jurors to understand why a person would stay in a relationship when certain things are happening," Shihata said.

R. Kelly was convicted in 2021 on all nine counts of racketeering, which were predicated on crimes including sexual exploitation of children, forced labor, and Mann Act violations.

"Here, you have adult relationships that are very complex, that spanned many years," said former federal prosecutor Mark Chutkow.

The Combs case is, in that respect, different from the R. Kelly case, which involved underage girls, Chutkow noted.

"The defense in this case did a good job of sowing doubt as to whether or not this was truly force, fraud, or coercion by showing communications that indicated that the women were still affectionate toward Diddy," Chutkow said.

He added: "Whether or not he emotionally manipulated the women through love is not something that a juror is going to consider to be criminal."

• China's military has developed a "kill web" that makes its weapons more accurate and reliable, a top officer said.
• A kill web is an evolution of a kill chain, including systems across domains and technologies.
• China has been expanding its missile arsenal and capabilities for years, raising concerns in the Pentagon.

China's missiles are becoming a deadlier problem for the US military due to complex evolutions in the country's kill chains, according to a top American general.

The Pentagon has been focused on China's growing arsenal of missiles for years, noting their ranges and stockpiles put the US and its allies in the region at risk should conflict break out. And there are force-multiplying capabilities that make that a more daunting challenge.

Speaking to lawmakers on the Senate Committee on Appropriations last week, Gen. B. Chance Saltzman, chief of space operations of the Space Force, stated that the People's Liberation Army, China's military, "has fielded satellite-enabled, space-based targeting of terrestrial forces. This kill web has extended the range and accuracy of PLA weapons to hold US forces at risk."

Saltzman added that the Space Force has the difficult task of defeating this kill web should the US and China go to war. The "kill web" is something he's brought up before, characterizing it as a critical concern.

China's military, the general said back in May, "has developed what we've kind of, you know, tongue in cheek, called a 'kill web,' and it's nothing more than a series of hundreds of satellites that are a sensor network that provide real-time updates, targeting quality information of our force."

China's embassy in the US didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on American assessments of its military.

China's missile branch, the Rocket Force, has been heavily investing in new weapons. Annual reports on China's military by the US Department of Defense have noted growing stockpiles and launchers.

One of China's ballistic missiles, the DF-26, has been commonly referred to as the "Guam Express" or the "Guam Killer" because it can reach US forces on the island, which is roughly 3,000 miles from Beijing. It can also be used in an anti-ship role, earning it another nickname: "carrier killer," like the DF-21D.

Other Chinese ballistic missiles have raised concerns in the Pentagon, including its DF-17 and DF-27 hypersonic missiles, short-range ballistic missiles like the DF-15 that give China the ability to strike Taiwan with relative ease, and intercontinental ballistic missiles like the DF-5s, DF-31s, and newer DF-41s. And the arsenal isn't limited solely to ballistic missiles, with Chinese cruise missiles also representing a threat.

Last year, in its report on China's military, the Pentagon assessed that the PLA intended to use AI and machine learning to enhance its missile sensors, which could make them more accurate.

Other capabilities within information-gathering and targeting could improve missile accuracy as well. Reconnaissance drones and satellites could be a key part of the growing kill web, transmitting key information to command and control centers for decisions on how and what to attack.

The kill web is an evolved concept of a traditional kill chain, described as being more interconnected across systems and domains and more resilient to disruption. The US is actively working to expand its own web.

In a statement before the recent Senate committee hearing, Air Force leadership shared that it "recognizes the need to develop interconnected, multi-platform systems of systems that can operate within and across services to create a robust and redundant, long-range kill web capable of delivering effects within the most contested environments."

That requires, it said, investing in every aspect of the so-called "kill web," from traditional platforms and communication equipment to AI and weapons systems.

• Citadel hired its first-ever chief medical officer to enhance wellness and healthcare benefits.
• Former Morgan Stanley executive David Stark, a neurologist, will join in September.
• The move marks another example of Citadel trying to stand out in the industry's talent war.

Citadel employees are now not only being paid like elite athletes, but treated like them, too.

The firm just hired former Morgan Stanley executive David Stark as its first-ever "chief medical officer," Business Insider has learned. The new role, which was announced Monday in an internal memo obtained by BI, is meant to "support peak performance" in employees at both the hedge fund and its sister market-making firm.

The note said Stark, a neurologist who was previously in a similar role at Morgan Stanley, will start in September.

"In this newly created role, David will be responsible for driving innovation in employee benefits and wellness to further enhance the employee experience and support peak performance of our colleagues," said Sjoerd Gehring, Citadel's chief people officer, who joined from Apple in November, said in the memo.

This is the first in-house medical role for billionaire Ken Griffin's companies, according to a person with direct knowledge of the hire. Some offices have on-site medical clinics operated by third-party healthcare providers. Stark won't provide medical care, but will rework healthcare benefits, including concierge healthcare services, this person said. He'll also personalize health plans for the firm's employees.

It's not only a new role for Citadel, but also the $5.7 trillion industry. Other hedge funds have had performance coaches, nutritionists, and even personal trainers on staff — Citadel has employed a global head of culinary for years, for example — but this is the first chief medical officer in the space, according to the person close to the Miami-based fund.

It's another example of how the $66 billion hedge fund is more akin to an investment bank than its smaller asset management peers. Banks have long had these types of roles, in part to keep employees close to their desks so they can put in long hours with little interruption.

Griffin has expressed admiration for the grueling work ethic required by many Wall Street institutions, specifically Goldman Sachs. Griffin, who has poached several Goldman executives to join his hedge fund and market-making firm, including Citadel Securities president Jim Esposito, said in 2020 at a talk with Goldman CFO John Waldron that leaders can't expect 9-to-5 schedules and "a great weekend."

It's also not the first time the firm has offered employees extravagant work benefits. During the pandemic, Griffin rented out a hotel in Palm Beach as a makeshift trading floor so employees could work in a "bubble." He once treated Citadel and Citadel Securities employees and their families to a weekend at Disney World, which included a concert headlined by Coldplay. Even their summer internship this year started with a trip to the Four Seasons.

According to the memo, Stark's background includes training as a pediatric neurologist at Harvard Medical School. Before his time at Morgan Stanley, he was a medical director at Mount Sinai Health System.

Citadel views this as another way to help it stand out in the industry's talent war.

"We believe this is a significant step forward, and one that will further differentiate Citadel as a place where exceptional people can achieve their highest potential," the memo said.

• TikTok is laying off workers in its e-commerce division.
• The company has been trimming TikTok Shop head count this year via layoffs and performance reviews.
• As US workers have left, ByteDance leaders from China and Singapore are assuming greater control.

TikTok began notifying some e-commerce workers on Wednesday that their roles were cut as part of "organizational and personnel changes," according to two current employees and an internal email viewed by Business Insider.

HR will help affected workers through the next steps around the "difficult news," and there is "no need to come to the office" as they work through the transition, according to the email.

The cuts are hitting Shop staff across various parts of TikTok and ByteDance's global e-commerce division, including moderation workers, product team members, and staff who work with creators and sellers, the employees said. BI wasn't able to immediately learn how many roles were affected.

While some workers were told their jobs were cut, others were informed that they would still have roles after a restructuring.

"As the TikTok Shop business evolves, we regularly review our operations to ensure long-term success," a TikTok spokesperson told Business Insider in a statement. "Following careful consideration, we've made the difficult decision to adjust parts of our team to better align with strategic priorities."

In its internal messaging to staff, the company said it's spent the past month assessing how to "best support our evolving global e-commerce business in alignment with our mission and evolving goals," and that it's "repositioning resources and reducing complexity in pursuit of strengthened collaboration and increased efficiency."

These new changes are the latest in a series of layoff rounds affecting Shop workers this year.

In April, TikTok and ByteDance made cuts to multiple teams within its e-commerce governance and experience group, which oversees marketplace safety for sellers, creators, and users within Shop. In May, it conducted two rounds of layoffs within e-commerce, affecting US operations and global key accounts workers and staff in Indonesia, Bloomberg reported.

TikTok's US e-commerce business became an area of focus for cuts this year after division lead Bob Kang told staff in a February all-hands call that the group failed to meet some of its performance goals in 2024. US performance in 2025 has been mixed, as sales have slumped at times amid new tariffs on China. Weekly US order volume dropped in mid-May compared to mid-April, BI previously reported. The company wrote in a blog post that platform sales were up 120% for the first half of June compared to the same period the previous year.

Beyond layoffs, TikTok also culled staff during performance reviews in March, when some employees were offered the option to accept a performance-improvement plan or leave the company via a mutual separation agreement. As some US team members have departed, leaders from China and Singapore with knowledge of TikTok's Chinese sister app, Douyin, have consolidated control of the business, employees previously told BI.

Wednesday's job cuts arrive as TikTok is in the middle of talks with the Trump administration over a 2024 law that requires ByteDance to separate from TikTok in the US.

Trump said in a Fox News interview late last month that his administration aimed to approve a bid for TikTok's business from a group of "very wealthy people." Any deal with ByteDance around a TikTok sale would also require approval from the Chinese government.

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• Grocery store mainstay Del Monte Foods said it is seeking a restructuring by filing for bankruptcy.
• The company said it secured $912.5 million in financing that allows it to remain in business.
• CEO Greg Longstreet said new ownership and structure would set the company up for long-term success.

One of America's top canned foods companies is looking for a reset.

Grocery store mainstay Del Monte Foods filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this week, saying it wants to restructure to shed old debts and remain in business.

The nearly 140-year-old brand is looking to sell its assets following recent plant closures and a controversial $240 million debt restructuring deal last year that prioritized some creditors over others.

CEO Greg Longstreet said in a statement that a "court-supervised sale process is the most effective way to accelerate our turnaround and create a stronger and enduring Del Monte Foods."

That doesn't mean the packaged-food company, best known for offering a wide selection of canned fruits and vegetables, will disappear from store shelves.

The company said it has secured $912.5 million in financing from existing lenders, which would allow it to remain in business while it looks for a buyer.

"With an improved capital structure, enhanced financial position, and new ownership, we will be better positioned for long-term success," he said.

Del Monte reported in filings with the US bankruptcy court in New Jersey that it owed more than 10,000 creditors combined debts of between $1 billion and $10 billion.

In addition to the Del Monte brand, the US subsidiary of Singapore-based Del Monte Pacific also owns several well-known pantry staples, such as Contadina tomatoes, College Inn broths, and Joyba bubble teas.

The company said Del Monte's international subsidiaries are not included in the proceedings and will continue to operate as normal.