• Roblox could move its corporation from Delaware to Nevada.
• Shareholders will vote on the possible move in May.
• Some companies have followed Elon Musk's decision to reincorporate his companies outside Delaware.

Delaware's reputation as the country's most corporate-friendly state has taken another hit.

Roblox is now the latest company to propose leaving Delaware, according to a note it sent to its shareholders this week. Numerous other major corporations — like Dropbox and Bill Ackerman's Pershing Square Capital Management — have also said in recent months they planned to leave Delaware. Meta, too, is rumored to be considering a move.

The trend began with Elon Musk, who moved Tesla and SpaceX out of Delaware last year after a Delaware judge sided with some Tesla shareholders to block Musk's $55 billion pay package.

In the note, Roblox's board of directors, who have already approved the move, urged shareholders to support the proposal.

"We believe that Nevada's corporate law framework and statutory regime aligns with Roblox's culture of innovation, values, and mission to connect the world with civility and optimism," the company said in its note to shareholders. "It also allows us to continue to build shareholder value by providing a supportive, predictable environment."

The ongoing exodus is devastating for Delaware, which has long been considered the country's most business-friendly state. According to Delaware's government, the state is home to some 2.2 million registered entities, which contribute millions to its revenue. In 2024, more than 80% of IPOs in the United States were incorporated in Delaware.

Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer has moved to make changes to address concerns.

"The fact is Delaware is the best location in the world for a company to incorporate and that's thanks to our legal expertise dating back to 1792," Meyer told Business Insider in February. "But let's be clear: If any entity leaves Delaware, we're going to work to win them back."

Meyer said the balance of shareholder and management rights is one of the areas the state intended to address. "We're cognizant that there may be some things that need to change. We're going to work on them," he said.

On March 25, the governor approved a number of proposed changes. But for some corporations, those fixes might be too little too late.

A Roblox spokesperson told BI the company believed reincorporating in Nevada could "provide a stable and predictable legal environment in which the Company can focus on innovation and growth."

• Moving back home deepened my bond with my grandparents in unexpected ways.
• Losing my grandmother taught me to cherish every moment with loved ones.
• This experience showed me the power of slowing down and being present.

In July 2022, I moved back to my grandparents' house, thinking it would be temporary.

After a decade away for college and work, I saw it as a reset before finding my next place. My plan was simple: settle into my new job, find an apartment, and move out. But what I thought would be a short stay became one of the best decisions of my life.

We've always been close

I've always been close to my grandparents. As the oldest grandchild and only girl, I was their baby. Even when I lived far away, I visited during the holidays, always staying at their house. No matter how much time passed, being with them felt like home.

My grandmother was excited when I moved back. Before I moved, she called to ask, "What color do you want your room?" She insisted on personalizing my bedroom. I laughed at the thought of being in my 30s and having my grandmother decorate my room, but we settled on pink, which is my favorite color.

It was about the simple joys of life

Living with my grandparents wasn't about big adventures but about small, simple joys.

Each morning, my grandmother asked, "Do you want grits and eggs?" even though she knew the answer was always yes. Cooking was her love language, and making sure we had a hot meal brought her joy.

But Saturdays were for Cracker Barrel. She loved the Grandma's Sampler Breakfast, and we went every weekend. My mom often joined, turning it into a family tradition. I used to joke that I was tired of Cracker Barrel, but she never budged.

Looking back, I'm so glad she didn't.

These outings weren't just about the meal. She loved picking out greeting cards and taking her time to find the perfect ones. She often wrote me notes in them, reminding me how much I was loved. I still have them all.

At the time, I didn't think much of these routines. Now, they mean everything.

My grandmother died

I moved home thinking I had all the time in the world. Exactly two years later, on July 31, 2024, my grandmother went into the hospital while I was at a conference. That night, we learned the diagnosis: stage 4 cancer. We had just 30 days left with her.

One month. That's all the time we had to squeeze in every conversation. How do you say goodbye to someone who was just here?

Now, it's just me and my granddad. Our routines have changed, but I treasure them just as much. Every morning, he wakes me up with the same phrase: "Don't sleep too long, you gotta get up!" We take drives, talk about life, and share stories from his childhood and his journey to Chicago in the 1960s.

He always tells me how proud he is of me, and I hold on to it a little tighter each time.

Living with them changed my perspective

Before moving home, I was always focused on what was next: chasing my career goals and personal milestones and constantly checking boxes. But these past two years have changed my perspective.

I've learned that success isn't just about moving forward but about being present. It's about realizing that the little moments we often overlook are the ones that matter most.

My grandmother always told me, "Do everything from a place of love." That's how she lived, and I carry that lesson with me every day.

If I could go back to 2022, I'd tell myself to take it all in. I'd sit with my grandmother for just one more conversation. I'd let her drag me to Cracker Barrel more than once a week. I'd hold on to every moment a little longer.

But since I can't, I do the next best thing. I cherish every second with my granddad. I listen to his stories, laugh at his jokes, and show up because one day, these will be the moments I look back on, just as I do with my grandmother now.

• I grew up in tiny NYC apartments, so the thought of shopping at Costco was a distant luxury.
• However, my partner and I recently moved into a house in Los Angeles and now love it there.
• We get gas, protein bars, batteries, frozen fruit, and more at Costco each month.

I grew up in New York City and have always lived in small apartments without much storage space. It just never made sense for me to buy groceries in bulk.

However, my partner and I recently moved to Los Angeles, and now we have a whole house to ourselves. One of the best perks of our new life is taking monthly trips to Costco for all our favorite items.

Here are my favorite things to get there.

Gas is always at the top of our shopping list.

We tend to have a Costco shopping trip at least once a month, and I also go there about once a week to fuel my car.

Gas is expensive, especially in Los Angeles, and Costco typically has unbeatable prices — particularly for premium, which is what my Mini Cooper takes.

The best part is I can easily check the rate on a daily basis when using the store's app, which helps me determine if Costco gas prices are better than competitors that day.

We often buy a five-pack of steaks to use for dinners throughout the week.

My partner is a carnivore to the max. To him, nothing beats the five-pack of the Kirkland Signature boneless New York steaks.

They taste great on the grill or in a cast-iron pan and are often the star of a delicious weekday meal for us.

Ribs are also a must-buy.

We never skip out on buying Costco's ribs, especially since we can get over 9 pounds of meat for about $35.

The store also stocks pre-seasoned ribs, which are great when we're out of our homemade dry rub. We'll make these for ourselves or when having friends over for a barbecue.

Greek yogurt is a versatile staple.

I'm a huge fan of Kirkland Signature products, and I especially like the label's organic Greek yogurt.

It's perfect for making smoothies creamy or adding protein to granola.

I have plenty of room in my freezer for frozen fruit.

Now that I live in a house, I have room in my freezer to buy staples in bulk, like frozen strawberries.

I'm usually pretty happy with the prices of frozen fruit at Costco, so I pick up mixed berries or strawberries there.

Recently, I got 4 pounds of Kirkland Signature organic strawberries for $10, which felt like a steal compared to prices I've seen at other local grocery stores.

Kirkland Signature paper towels feel like a steal.

Again, now that I have the space, I'm able to buy more household staples in bulk.

We often pick up big packs of the Kirkland Signature paper towels and store them in our shed to optimize kitchen space.

These affordable paper towels are thick and powerful. One 12-pack of rolls often lasts us over two months, especially since we supplement the use of them with microfiber cloths.

I also get my batteries in bulk.

Since we live in a house with a ton of random gadgets, we somehow always need batteries. I try to keep a few varieties on hand.

Fortunately, we've found Kirkland Signature batteries to be fairly affordable and easy to buy in bulk. They especially came in handy during the recent California wildfires, when we lost power and needed to use flashlights.

I'm so glad we've found sugar-free Liquid IV.

Working from home, I get distracted and find myself not hydrating frequently or as much as I should. So, I like that I can use Liquid IV to boost the flavor and hydration power of my water with electrolytes and sugar-free flavoring.

I'm usually not able to find sugar-free Liquid IV at my local grocery stores, but Costco always seems to have some packs in stock.

We go through a lot of Kirkland Signature protein bars.

My partner and I typically each eat one Kirkland Signature protein bar a day.

I don't eat too much meat, so these bars help me easily get 21 grams of protein when I need a boost.

We usually buy the variety pack with 10 cookie-dough and 10 brownie bars. My partner likes the cookie-dough flavor, and I prefer the brownie one — a match made in heaven.

Dates are always in my cart.

I'm a huge date girl. Dates really are nature's candy.

I love eating them raw on their own, making date bark with some peanut butter and chocolate chips, or incorporating them into a smoothie or yogurt bowl.

They're a great source of fiber, potassium, and magnesium too.

Costco has some of the best deals on vanilla extract I've seen.

I love baking, but quality vanilla extract is a key ingredient in many recipes that can be expensive and hard to find in larger quantities.

At Costco, however, I can find 16 ounces of pure vanilla extract for under $12. To me, that's an amazing deal.

Nothing beats the Kirkland Signature three-pack of honey's flavor and price.

Kirkland Signature honey is one of our pantry staples since I'm a huge tea fan and love adding it to my drinks. I also recently got my partner into peppermint tea, which can be enhanced with a dollop of honey.

This honey tastes high-quality — and getting three 24-ounce bottles of it for under $13 feels like a bargain.

Costco sells my favorite pimple patches.

Yes, I still struggle with acne in my late 20s. I really like the pimple patches from Hero because they can hardly be seen when they're applied correctly.

I'll often wear one or two when I'm traveling on a plane, taking a between-Zoom-meeting stroll, or even having virtual calls.

The stickers help me avoid picking at my skin, and I'm a firm believer they make my pimples disappear much faster.

Having bulk containers of allergy meds has been a game changer.

As someone who deals with allergies, I always try to keep medication on hand that will help me deal with symptoms.

Name-brand options can get pricey, especially since I take tablets every day. So, I opt for Kirkland Signature allergy medicine.

The $5 bottle of 600 pills does my wallet a huge favor.

Big containers of ibuprofen can come in handy, too.

One of the first things we did when moving into our first place together was buy a first-aid kit. After that, we stocked up on some of our staple medications, like ibuprofen

I can get big tubs of CeraVe at the bulk retailer.

Since moving to Los Angeles, my skin has struggled to adjust to the dry climate. So, I've been buying bulk packs of the CeraVe moisturizing cream and using it morning and night.

Hydrating and not greasy, the cream has been my hero as of late. Plus, it's fairly affordable at Costco at $25 for two 16-ounce tubs.

I like to peruse the clothing section while I'm shopping.

Perhaps one of the best things about Costco is that it's truly a one-stop shop. I always check the retailer's clothing section and often pick up a piece or two.

My latest favorite purchase is the $18 two-piece lounge set from Honeydew. It's so cozy and especially great on long car or plane rides.

I have to end every Costco run at the food court.

Lastly, we end our shopping trip with celebratory Costco hot dogs, which cost just $1.50 each and come with a soft drink.

Click to keep reading Costco diaries like this one.

• Trump announced double-digit broad tariffs on imported goods from dozens of countries.
• They included new levies on all goods from key trading partners like China and the European Union.
• These are the top goods that the US imports from countries facing some of the toughest new tariffs.

President Donald Trump's slew of broad tariffs target dozens of countries, including many key US trading partners. A range of goods Americans rely on will be affected.

On Wednesday, Trump signed an executive order to implement broad tariffs on over 180 countries that have placed tariffs on US goods. On top of a 10% baseline tariff, the president said he'll impose additional double-digit tariffs that the administration argued were based on tariffs and other trade barriers those countries placed on the US.

"They do it to us, and we do it to them. Very simple. Can't get any simpler than that," Trump said during his remarks.

Some affected countries have already warned of retaliatory tariffs following Trump's announcement; Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said during a speech ahead of Trump's executive order that "we do not necessarily want to retaliate but, if it is necessary, we have a strong plan to retaliate and we will use it."

Here are the top goods the US imports from some of the major countries hit by Trump's newest tariffs.

China

Trump announced a 34% tariff on goods imported from China in addition to the earlier 20% tariff he placed on them last month. The US imported $438.9 billion worth of goods from China in 2024.

Census Bureau data showed that radio and television broadcasting and wireless communications equipment were major imports from China in 2024. Computers, apparel, and footwear were among the top goods imported based on dollar value.

European Union

Trump announced a 20% tariff on goods imported from the European Union. The US imported $605.8 billion worth of goods from the EU in 2024.

Some of the key imports from the EU based on 2024 data involve healthcare-related goods, including pharmaceutical preparations.

Vietnam

Trump announced a 46% tariff on goods imported from Vietnam. The US imported about $136.6 billion worth of goods from the country in 2024.

The top 10 imports from Vietnam in 2024 based on dollar value included computer-related and other equipment, furniture, and semiconductors.

Taiwan

Trump announced a 32% tariff on goods imported from Taiwan. The US imported about $116.3 billion worth of goods from the country in 2024.

The top 10 imports from Taiwan in 2024 included various kinds of electronic and computer equipment, fasteners, and semiconductors.

Japan

Trump announced a 24% tariff on goods imported from Japan. The US imported $148.2 billion worth of goods from the country in 2024.

Vehicles, vehicle parts, and motors were among the top 10 goods imported from Japan in 2024.

• Vice President JD Vance said Elon Musk will remain a key voice for the White House.
• "He's going to continue to be an advisor," Vance said, adding, "work of DOGE is not even close to done."
• The White House said Musk would leave the administration "when his work is complete."

Vice President JD Vance on Thursday said that Elon Musk will always have a place in President Donald Trump's orbit.

"Of course, he's going to continue to be an advisor," Vance told "Fox and Friends" Thursday morning of Musk's status. "And by the way, the work of DOGE is not even close to done. The work of Elon is not even close to done."

Speculation has swirled over Musk's future, given his central role in Republicans' failure to elect a conservative judge to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Musk and his super PAC spent at least $20 million on the race, which the billionaire said was central to the survival of "Western civilization."

Some Republican lawmakers have also chafed at the White House DOGE office's sweeping firings amid pushback from their constituents. Musk is considered to be the DOGE office's de facto leader.

Vance's comments underline how central Musk has become to Trump's orbit. The world's richest man spent over $291 million on Republican candidates ahead of the 2024 election, mostly focused on helping Trump reclaim the White House. Musk also owns X, which has positioned itself as the leading social media platform for conservatives. Musk also reportedly pushed Trump to pick Vance, who has a background in venture capital, as his running mate.

"Fundamentally, Elon is going to remain a friend and an advisor of both me and the president, and he has done a lot of good things," Vance said.

Musk, Vance said, signed up for a roughly six-month commitment. It's unclear what the vice president meant, given that Musk faces a 130-day deadline as a special government employee. The 130-day period would end in either late May or early June, though there's little teeth to the actual deadline beyond the possibility of a lawsuit.

On Wednesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt downplayed a Politico report that said Trump had told members of his inner circle that Musk would leave the administration soon. Musk also called the report "fake news."

"Elon Musk and President Trump have both publicly stated that Elon will depart from public service as a special government employee when his incredible work at DOGE is complete," Leavitt wrote on X.

Trump's executive order setting up the DOGE office envisioned it ending by the 250th anniversary of US independence, July 4, 2026. In the past, the White House has also been murky about the 130-day timeline.

Telsa shares went up after the Politico report, illustrating hopes that Musk will return his focus to the automaker, which has borne the brunt of the backlash to the billionaire's time in the Trump administration.

• Swiss watches may increase prices due to a new 31% tariff by the US, analysts say.
• Rolex, a leading Swiss brand, faces challenges in offsetting these increased costs.
• The tariffs, imposed by Donald Trump, affect Swiss and European Union watch imports.

If you're thinking of buying a Rolex watch, you might want to act now to avoid potential price increases.

The biggest names in luxury watches mostly hail from Switzerland — a country that just got hit with Donald Trump's new tariffs. The reciprocal tariff rate is 31% for Switzerland and 20% for the European Union.

Rolex, a privately held company, produces its watches in Switzerland and ships them out to customers across the globe. It's one of the most sought-after luxury watch brands, with pieces that start at over $5,000 and which can reach over $50,000 depending on the material and exclusivity of the timepiece.

JPMorgan analysts said they see potentially the "most pressure on the Swiss watchmakers," including the owners of Cartier, a Rolex rival in the watch space.

With a 31% tariff rate, Rolex, along with its Swiss competitors, will be faced with few options to offset the cost of selling their products to the US. Like many retailers finding out about the official Trump tariffs, it'll have to adapt swiftly.

The levy, if fully passed on to customers, could mean that a $10,000 brand-new Rolex in the US could cost an extra $3,100 if tariffs are upheld. With additional sales tax — about 8% in many states — the final price could reach over $14,000, Paul Altieri, CEO of Bob's Watches, said.

Representatives for Rolex didn't immediately respond to a message left by Business Insider requesting a comment.

If Rolex raises its prices in June, it'll be the second time the watches have gone up in 2025. As the price of gold surged, certain Rolex models made of gold increased in price by as much as 8% on January 1.

• In anticipation of tariffs, I made a hasty last-minute panic buy at Temu.
• Donald Trump has said he'll close the loophole that lets Temu and Shein ship directly to customers without duties.
• Will American consumers like me be able to break their addiction to cheap foreign goods? Who knows!

Last night, as "Liberation Day" was taking effect and the tariffs on imports were being revealed, I did what any American might do in a crisis: I panic-shopped.

I hit up what I thought might be most likely to go extinct: the sweet, sweet low prices on fast fashion and junky plastic that comes straight from China. So, as I read over tweets that were speculating that the tariff rates were determined by ChatGPT, I went onto Temu and frantically placed an order. One last hurrah.

As I placed an order for several bubble wands and machines (I have a child's birthday coming up, so this was a somewhat intentional shop, admittedly), I couldn't help but wonder: Wow, is this it?

Will this be the end of a $2.74 mousepad that leaks goo all over me (which happened with an actual mousepad I bought from Temu)?

Is this the end of kids making fun of their parents for becoming "Temu victims?"

Is this the end of Temu being used as a new slang insult?

Right now, I'm not sure.

I checked the prices of the items I bought late Wednesday again on Thursday morning, post-tariff announcement. (It's not clear when exactly each tariff will start to take effect.) So far, no change in prices. The Temu website had no pop-ups or banners or warnings that prices might change due to the new tariffs.

Temu is in a bit of a unique position compared to other consumer goods you might buy that were made in China. Temu and fast-fashion retailer Shein's whole business is shipping your order directly from China, using the de minimus exemption — an old law that allows items under $800 to be shipped to the US duty-free.

Basically, if Walmart imports T-shirts made in China, it has to pay tariffs, which will likely be passed onto me in the price tag when I buy one at the store. But if I order a single T-shirt from Shein, it ships directly to me with no duty taxes at all — which is one of the ways Temu and Shein were able to keep prices so low.

So, you might think that Temu would be uniquely spared from the tariffs. But Trump just signed an executive order that would close that de miminis loophole, and add on either a 30% duty or a flat $25 fee (which would go up to $50 by June 1).

The White House's official announcement of the order, which is set to go into effect May 2, says that this is to stop the flow of illegal synthetic opioids like fentanyl that are shipping into the US from China through the mail. I don't know all that much about the illegal drug trade, but I always assumed the margins are fairly healthy; it may be an industry able to absorb a tariff.

Hopefully, my Temu order will arrive before May, and I'll have been able to sneak under the wire with my last reckless sprint of consumerist impulse. Am I proud of this? Absolutely not. Trust me, I feel as bad as I should.

(The announcement from the White House was rough for Temu's parent company, PPD Holdings, and others, like Alibaba, whose stocks plummeted on Thursday.

I have no idea what will happen with Temu and Shein or other retailers that have transformed their industries in the last few years by offering unbeatable prices. Will consumers finally kick their habit of hyperconsumption? Will it put these companies out of business if shoppers have to pay big duty fees? No clue!

Right now, we're in a weird moment where it's not totally clear what's going to happen (although it seems … probably "bad.") I only tell you how I feel:

• TikTok is looking at a possible ban in the US. Again.
• But remember what happened the last time: Donald Trump simply ignored a law that said the app would be banned if it didn't have US owners.
• Sometimes, history really does repeat.

TikTok could be banned in the US in the next few days. Or it could stay.

Perhaps it will have new owners. Maybe it won't.

Yes, you've heard all of this before: In January, the enormously popular video app was slated to go dark in the US — and in fact, did go offline for a few hours — because of a law forcing the Chinese-owned company to shut down or find new owners for its US operations.

Then Donald Trump signed an executive order pushing back the date of the ban until April 5 — that's Saturday. So here we are.

In the newest version of the story, the most likely outcome is a deal where a coalition of US investors, including Andreessen Horowitz, Blackstone, and Silver Lake, buys a 50% stake in TikTok's US operations; in that proposal, some of the existing investors in ByteDance, TikTok's current owner, keep a stake as well. We've also heard about a flurry of last-minute bids from Amazon and other players. Vice President JD Vance says there will be some kind of deal announced before the deadline.

A TikTok sale needs one big sign-off

The problem with any of these would-be solutions: It's entirely unclear whether ByteDance would agree to divest its US operations, and/or whether the Chinese government would allow it. Without those sign-offs, it doesn't matter what kind of deal structure Trump and US investors would like.

Trump has previously said he might convince Chinese officials to OK a deal by reducing tariffs on China. But as of Thursday, we have no idea if those negotiations are happening; Dan Primack, the well-sourced Axios finance reporter, says his sources say "they've still not heard of direct discussions between the US and Chinese governments on a particular proposal." I've asked TikTok and the White House for comment.

So it's entirely possible that on Saturday, there still won't be an actual deal — as opposed to a proposal — in place to transfer majority ownership of TikTok's US operations to non-Chinese owners, which was the thrust of the law passed by Congress, signed by Joe Biden, and upheld by the Supreme Court.

And If that's the case, what happens on Saturday?

My hunch: Nothing.

Or, to be more specific: Trump announces that the proposal he's announced is a deal, regardless of the facts. And TikTok keeps operating as normal, and the can keeps getting kicked down the road.

After all, we've already seen Trump ignore a TikTok deadline in the past.

In January, even before he was president, Trump was telling various technology companies to ignore the TikTok law that went into effect on January 19. And his executive order specifically instructs the US attorney general not to enforce the law "even after the expiration" of the 75-day extension Trump granted himself.

And just to keep repeating this: While the existing TikTok law does allow the president to grant a one-time, 90-day extension before TikTok is banned, that's only supposed to happen if there is an actual plan to divest, and there is "evidence of significant progress" toward making that happen, and there are "relevant binding agreements" in place.

But obviously none of that was happening on January 20, when Trump signed his executive order pushing the ban back. And it doesn't seem to be happening yet this time around.

We're in Trump's world now

In a normal, pre-Trump world, you'd expect someone — perhaps a TikTok rival like Meta, perhaps a member of Congress who signed the TikTok sell-or-ban bill last year — to raise serious objections to the fact that the Trump administration appears to be ignoring a law. Perhaps someone might have even challenged the White House in court.

But in the world we live in today, it looks like TikTok will be in the US for some time to come. No matter who owns it.

• Automakers are responding to Trump's latest round of auto tariffs, announced Wednesday.
• Ford is offering customers an employee discount, while VW is adding an "import fee" to cars.
• Stellantis has paused production at plants in Canada and Mexico and plans to lay off 900 workers.

The Trump administration's fresh wave of tariffs sent shockwaves through the automotive industry once again on Thursday.

Automakers have responded to the impending trade war in various ways, from discounts on existing inventory for shoppers who may want to avoid likely price increases to planned import fees on vehicles built outside the US.

The "draconian" policies, as one Wall Street analyst called them, will also affect autoworkers, with Stellantis pausing production at two assembly plants in Mexico and Canada.

Wall Street believes the tariffs could cost the auto industry more than $80 billion and slash Detroit's Big Three's earnings by up to 60%, thanks to an additional $5,000 of input costs per vehicle.

Here's how the industry is responding:

Ford employee discounts for all customers

Ford announced on Wednesday that it would make employee pricing available to consumers for the next two months.

"In times like these, talk is cheap. At Ford, we believe in action," Rob Kaffl, Ford's director of US sales and dealer operations, said in a press release.

The discount, which ends June 2, applies to all Ford and Lincoln models except Raptors, the 2025 Expedition and Navigator SUVs and Super Duty trucks.

How much a consumer will save depends on the vehicle, but that figure could easily run into the thousands. The discount will be applied on top of any other deals or promotions the dealership is already offering.

Ford declined to confirm whether the tariffs would lead to higher sticker prices.

A company spokesperson told Business Insider that it has a 74-day supply of vehicles in stock that haven't been affected by tariffs, compared to 50 days for GM and 24 days for Toyota. (Around 60 days of supply is considered healthy in a normal economic environment.)

Analysts say Ford is one of best best-positioned US automakers to weather the tariffs.

Stellantis paused work at two factories and laid off hundreds at others

Stellantis, which owns former Chrysler brands like Dodge, Jeep, and Ram, has paused production at its Windsor assembly plant in Canada and Toluca assembly plant in Mexico, a spokesperson said Thursday.

The Windsor plant, which makes Pacifica/Voyager minivans and Charger Daytona EV muscle cars, will be offline for two weeks. It plans to resume operations the week of April 21.

The Toluca plant, which builds Jeep Compass and Wagoneer S SUVs, will stop work for the rest of April.

The production stoppage at these two facilities resulted in the temporary layoffs of 900 workers from the company's powertrain and stamping plants in Michigan and Indiana, the spokesperon said.

VW tacks on a special fee for tariff-affected cars

German automaker Volkswagen has confirmed that it will add an "import fee" to the sticker prices of vehicles affected by the tariffs, a spokesperson said. The import fee will be added to the destination charge, which is tacked onto the price of a new car.

It's unclear how much the tariffs will affect the cost of new VW cars as no final pricing decisions have been made, the spokesperson said.

Its top-selling Atlas and Atlas Cross Sport midsize SUVs are made in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Its other top sellers, the Jetta sedan, Taos SUV, and Tiguan SUV, are all made in Puebla, Mexico.

• President Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs have arrived.
• On Wednesday, he announced a 10% base tariff on all countries, with higher rates on some countries.
• Markets are plummeting, but people are trying to get through it via memes.

Donald Trump's so-called "Liberation Day" means that tariffs are suddenly everywhere. That means tariff memes are also everywhere.

The US president on Wednesday signed an executive order imposing a 10% baseline tariff on all countries, taking effect Saturday, and adding reciprocal tariffs.

Global markets plummeted on the news.

But if there's one thing you can count on amid any turmoil — financial or otherwise — it's that some people will always have a sense of humor about it, even if it's a little dark. So, social media users have been expressing their economic fears and anxieties the modern way: with memes.

Here are some of the best ones:

Enjoy, for example, the picture showing Trump yelling, "Pay the tariffs!" at a group of penguins.

Trump's tariffs include the Australian territory of the Heard Island and McDonald Islands — a pair of sub-Antarctic remote islands uninhabited by humans but home to penguins, sea birds, and seals.

The meme refers to one that originated in 2017, in which Trump appeared as if he was yelling at an 11-year-old boy who had asked to mow the White House lawn.

Another meme shows Marvel superhero Wolverine lying in bed, looking longingly at a Studio Ghibli-fied picture of former US Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin and his wife, Louise Linton, holding a sheet of new $1 bills. Mnuchin was Treasury Secretary during Trump's first term in office.

Users of OpenAI's ChatGPT have recently started a trend of using the AI chatbot to turn regular photos into pictures in the distinctive style of Studio Ghibli, the animation studio behind films like "Spirited Away" and "Howl's Moving Castle."

In the original photo in 2017, Mnuchin was at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington, D.C., to see the first run of $1 bills featuring his signature. At the time, the image of the chicly dressed couple posing with money quickly drew comparisons to James Bond-esque villains, but the new image makes it seem like the person who posted it might have preferred that to today's market chaos.

A different meme shows Patrick Schwarzenegger as Saxon Ratliff in season 3 of "The White Lotus," a zeitgeisty — and heavily memeified — HBO show. He plays a toxic finance bro on a family vacation.

"Look, the prices of goods going up and my portfolio going down isn't necessarily a bad thing, because I love working and that just means I need to grind even harder now," the person captioned the photo.

And who could forget the famous "Arrested Development" meme of rich matriarch Lucille Bluth estimating a banana costs $10? The joke is supposed to highlight how wealthy and out-of-touch Bluth is, but "unironically this is what's happening in America right now," one person wrote on X.

"Just got off the phone with my financial advisor, he just told me my 401k is now a 400k," a different person tweeted, alongside a photo of late comedian and actor Rodney Dangerfield.

And finally, one user tweeted an image of a stock heatmap almost entirely red with a superimposed image of Vice President JD Vance asking, "Have you said thank you once?"

Vance was photoshopped to appear to have a larger face, which has been a trending meme in recent weeks. The question is a reference to Trump and Vance's contentious meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in February. In that meeting, Vance chastised Zelenskyy for not wearing a suit and asked him, "Have you said thank you once?" regarding American aid to the country, which Russia invaded in 2022.

• The Department of Education announced public hearings to revamp key student-debt relief programs.
• The department said it would examine limiting eligibility for Public Service Loan Forgiveness.
• It also is looking at avenues to streamline existing income-driven repayment plans.

President Donald Trump's administration is taking the next step toward revamping key student-loan forgiveness programs.

On Thursday, the Department of Education announced it would be holding two public hearings to solicit feedback on its plans to refine the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program and income-driven repayment plans.

This is part of the negotiated rulemaking process, a lengthy process federal agencies are required to undergo to change existing regulations. The department said that public hearings will be held in person on April 29 and virtually on May 1.

"Not only will this rulemaking serve as an opportunity to identify and cut unnecessary red tape, but it will allow key stakeholders to offer suggestions to streamline and improve federal student aid programs," Acting Under Secretary James Bergeron said in a statement.

A draft document the Department of Education posted on the Federal Register stated its intent to examine eligibility for PSLF, which forgives student debt for government and nonprofit workers after 10 years. It also said it would be looking to streamline the Pay As You Earn plan, which caps borrowers' monthly payments at 10% of their discretionary income; and the income-contingent repayment plan, which caps borrowers' monthly payments at 20% of their discretionary income.

Trump signed an executive order in early March aimed at limiting PSLF eligibility, and the announcement of public hearings appears to be the next step in carrying out that order. The department's draft document said that the public sessions would work on "refining definitions of a qualifying employer for the purposes of determining eligibility" for PSLF.

These moves come as the Trump administration attempts to dismantle the Department of Education altogether. On March 20, Trump signed an executive order to begin eliminating the department, following the department's firing of over 1,300 workers just over a week prior.

While the Trump administration cannot eliminate a federal agency without Congress, it has taken steps to gut the agency and is beginning to examine ways to transfer some of the department's capabilities, like student loan management, to other agencies.

Some student-loan borrowers in public service previously told Business Insider that they were concerned about the fate of their relief under Trump's proposed changes.

"We've sacrificed a big part of our lives, in order to stay within this program, and you can't just change the rules as you go," a borrower enrolled in PSLF said.

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• Trump's tariff announcement has some GOP senators rattled.
• "I am not a fan of tariffs. Tariffs are a tax on the American people," said Sen. Ted Cruz.
• But several declined to back a new bill to reign in Trump's tariff powers.

As the markets reel from President Donald Trump's Wednesday tariff announcement, senators in his own party are dealing with the fallout.

Speaking with reporters at the Capitol on Thursday, several GOP senators said that Trump's tariffs are likely to cause significant economic disruption in the short term. And several indicated they believe — or hope — that he's just negotiating.

"I'm sure there are ongoing discussions today with certain countries, which I'm not privy to," Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia said. "But, you know, it's pretty rough right now."

"I think we're going to have some volatility for a while here, until we get some more answers," Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota said.

It's not just the more establishment-minded Republicans who are sounding a skeptical note on Trump's moves. It's also doctrinaire fiscal conservatives who are sounding the alarm.

"I am not a fan of tariffs. Tariffs are a tax on the American people," Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas said. "If the result of these tariffs is that other countries lower their tariffs on American goods, and the United States, in turn, lowers these newly imposed tariffs on foreign goods, that result would be a very good result. That's where I hope we go."

Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, one of four GOP senators who took a symbolic vote to block Trump's power to impose tariffs on Canada on Wednesday, said that the market turmoil showed that he's not the only one concerned about Trump's trade policies, even if he's one of the only GOP senators who's been speaking up until now.

"That's millions and millions of people, buying and selling stocks, that are very, very concerned that tariffs are going to cause the economy to go the wrong direction," Paul said.

Other Republicans say they're in wait-and-see mode.

"He believes this is exactly what he has to do, okay? And I hope he's right. I hope the naysayers are wrong," Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin said. "I don't know."

"I have pretty strong feelings that it's going to be beneficial in the long run," Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming said. "So the issue is going to be, can we sustain the short-term consequences of this."

GOP senators decline to assert congressional authority on trade

Much like DOGE's cuts, Trump's tariff announcement has revived a conversation about the declining power of the legislative branch.

The US Constitution gives Congress the power to levy tariffs, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, passed in 1977, has allowed presidents from both parties to impose tariffs on their own.

To address that, Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington introduced a bill on Wednesday that would make tariffs subject to congressional approval within 60 days.

But as with DOGE, other Republicans largely demurred on whether they'd support it, eager not to limit Trump's power.

"We've made a mistake in delegating a lot of power to the executive branch," Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said. "But that's not just a feature of this administration."

"I think there's something to be said for having congressional review," Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina said, before quickly adding: "Then that becomes incendiary, and everybody's going to report that there's a rift between us and the administration, which is bull… I caught myself."

"If they want to revisit that, you know, more power to them," Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri said. "But I think on the underlying policy, let's give the president time to work."

"By the way, I think the China tariffs should be even higher," he added.

• Amazon projects Rufus to indirectly contribute over $700 million in operating profits this year.
• Rufus' product recommendations increase consumer spending on Amazon's marketplace.
• Amazon plans to expand Rufus globally and enhance its AI model for better service.

Amazon has rosy projections for its Rufus AI shopping assistant.

According to an internal planning document obtained by Business Insider, Amazon expects Rufus to indirectly contribute over $700 million in operating profits this year.

The outlook is part of a metric called "downstream impact," an internal financial figure Amazon uses to measure a product or service's potential to generate additional consumer spending across Amazon's vast offerings.

For example, Rufus' product recommendations can lead to more purchases on Amazon's marketplace — and an increase in its DSI. Rufus, a free service that answers everything from product details to special promotions, generates no direct revenue.

Based on this metric, Rufus lost an estimated $285 million in 2024. By 2027, however, it is expected to reach $1.2 billion in DSI profit contributions, the document showed. The estimates, after operating costs and server payments, include the income from ads placed within Rufus' responses to user inquiries.

The bullish forecast may explain why Amazon is aggressively expanding Rufus and its other AI search offerings. Amazon's leadership previously told employees that such AI projects are "absolute" top priorities.

Rufus, which launched in February 2024, has received mixed reviews from early users, but Amazon continues to invest in this space. Just last week, Amazon unveiled another AI-powered shopping discovery app called Interests. Last year, the company disclosed that Rufus answered "tens of millions" of customer questions in its first six months of operation.

It also shows how Amazon justifies its investment in one of its flagship AI products, even as DSI has received more scrutiny lately.

Amazon's spokesperson declined to comment.

'Positive lift on downstream spending'

To be sure, Rufus's DSI forecast is small for Amazon, given the company's $68.6 billion in total operating income last year. But early results indicate Rufus has huge potential with more room to grow.

The document said initial results showed customers using Rufus had a "positive lift on downstream spending," and the impact only increased with more engagement.

Amazon has significant expansion plans for Rufus.

This year, Amazon expects $711.7 billion worth of products on its site to be eligible for Rufus's many features, like product recommendations and comparisons, up from $164 billion in 2024, according to the document. That number is expected to reach $849.8 billion in 2027.

Amazon also wants to roll out Rufus to at least 13 international marketplaces this year, the document said. Currently, Rufus is available in the US, the UK, and India, and a handful of European countries.

The document said Amazon plans to fivefold the size of the AI model powering Rufus, internally called Shopping LLM, to improve the quality of its answers. The increased model parameters to Shopping LLM were also factored into DSI, but it is unclear when this will be implemented. With the planned improvement, Amazon hopes to launch a new service that leverages Rufus to provide a wider selection and "seamlessly purchase on behalf of the customer," it added.

Rufus is already becoming more prevalent across Amazon. In recent weeks, some Amazon sellers who used the Rufus app discovered an update that auto-pops up Rufus when they use trigger phrases like "how to" or "what is" in the search bar.

For some products, Rufus automatically launched with its own response before search results showed up. Amazon also started testing ad placements within Rufus's responses, Adweek reported in September.

'Personalize more'

Amazon isn't the only retailer with a homegrown AI shopping assistant. Others, like Walmart, Target, and Instacart, have launched their own AI-powered search apps in recent months.

These apps may still be in their infancy. A recent survey by e-commerce analytics firm Profitero showed that just 10% of US customers used a retailer's AI chat assistant when searching for products. By comparison, 37% of shoppers used the search bar on the retailer's websites or apps, and 29% used promotion and deal pages.

For Rufus, the other challenge is negative reviews.

Andrew Hamada, a former Amazon employee who now runs seller agency Reason Automation, wrote on Linkedin last month that Rufus misses basic catalog information and often gives inaccurate answers.

"In our experience, Rufus rarely works," he wrote.

There's also the question of DSI's true value.

Amazon's DSI is not the most scientific metric, and several Amazon employees who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press, have raised questions about the fuzzy math behind the numbers.

For instance, it was never clear whether Prime Video or Amazon's shipping team should claim more DSI for the Prime membership revenue, which offers both services as a perk, one of the people said. Recently, Amazon has been deemphasizing Alexa's DSI metric, the Wall Street Journal previously reported.

Still, Amazon's retail CEO Doug Herrington remains a strong supporter of Rufus. During an internal all-hands meeting earlier this year, Herrington said AI-driven "personalization" is a major focus area for Amazon, mentioning Rufus and other search features as examples.

"AI is really allowing us to personalize more and more of the shopping experience on Amazon," Herrington said.

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• For years, I'd been returning most items I bought at Target.
• I thought the hack was ridding my house of clutter and keeping my spending low.
• But my kid made me feel ashamed of the hack, and I realized I was misusing a loophole.

It all started with matching family outfits.

I wanted a family portrait in which my family of seven wore similar outfits — some combo of pink and white. I spent hundreds of dollars at Target on shoes, dresses, pants, and shirts.

After the photo was taken, no one in my family wore those outfits again. My five children, ages 11 to 1, expressed how much they hated the clothes. My girls never liked the shirts in the first place, complaining that they were itchy and tight. The boys didn't like the pink stripes on theirs.

Every time I saw the pieces we wore only once hanging in the closet, I felt a slow creep of regret and frustration. The discomfort of those negative feelings ultimately spurred me into action.

I didn't have the energy to sell the outfits on Facebook Marketplace. My local consignment shop doesn't take Target's brands, and they weren't interested in the adult items.

I wondered if I could bring everything back to Target. To my surprise, the Target sales associate accepted all the items — no questions asked — for a full refund. I didn't even have a receipt or the tags.

Suddenly, I unlocked a new hobby, but in the end, I felt ashamed of my hack.

I've continued returning most items I buy at Target

For the last three years, I've been shopping at Target, using the Circle app, and returning everything we don't use more than once.

Before heading to Target, I perused the house in search of items I could return. For example, I recently discovered a cake stand and pitcher we used for my daughter's 11th birthday brunch. If we had another party, she'd want a new aesthetic, and the items would continue to gather dust. I returned both and got back $20.

I also recently went through my boys' clothing, which is mostly Target's Cat & Jack brand. I found khakis, Hawaiian button-downs, and graphic T-shirts. They no longer wear these clothes because they've grown out of them.

The Cat & Jack return policy allows customers to return any item to Target for a full refund within one year of purchase — as long as they have the original receipt.

I returned all those clothes for over $100.

There were some benefits to returning most of my purchases

I found that buying, using, and returning items alleviated some of the financial and organizational mental load of parenthood.

My kids could participate in activities — like family photos, Halloween costumes, and school spirit days — without accumulating clutter. I thought of it as the ultimate decluttering technique.

The financial benefits were a bit murkier. Of course, I was just getting the money back that I already spent a few weeks prior — to buy more items.

But recycling the same cost kept me from overbuying. I bought what we needed, keeping our family spending budget low.

Plus, there was a dopamine award. I was getting what I wanted at Target without seemingly spending extra money.

I now feel ashamed of this hack

I thought I discovered the ultimate parenting hack, but I started to wonder if I was doing the right thing.

"Just pick something! We can always return it," my daughter yelled at her sister in a store once.

That's when my "greatest parenting hack" sounded more like a dirty little secret coming out of my 11-year-old daughter's mouth.

That moment forced me to reflect on the integrity of this behavior. Returning things felt like the responsible thing to do. But was it? Is buying something with the intent to use it and return it wrong?

Suddenly, it felt like I was misusing a financial loophole. My hack reminded me of credit cards: You can buy whatever you want, especially things you can't afford, but in the long run, you're just worsening your credit — and screwing yourself over.

I didn't want to teach my kids to think that when they grew up, they could buy whatever they wanted as long as there was a loophole. I want to teach them smart financial literacy and consumer decisions — not ones like returning everything you buy.

So, I'm trying to slow down with the returns and set a good example for my kids. Now, when I head to Target, I try not to bring any items with me.

Editor's Note: According to the company's website, "Target reserves the right to deny returns, refunds, and exchanges including but not limited to prevent fraud, suspected fraud, or abuse." The company also accepts unopened items within 90 days of purchase.

• Kevin Scott, the CTO of Microsoft, says 95% of code will be AI-generated within five years.
• In a podcast interview, he said he doesn't expect humans to be entirely cut out of programming.
• He said AI tools will allow smaller teams to tackle larger-scale projects.

Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott expects the next half-decade to see more AI-generated code than ever — but that doesn't mean human beings will be cut out of the programming process.

"95% is going to be AI-generated," Scott said when asked about code within the next five years on an episode of the 20VC podcast. "Very little is going to be — line by line — is going to be human-written code."

"Now, that doesn't mean that the AI is doing the software engineering job, and so I think the more important and interesting part of authorship is still going to be entirely human," he added.

Scott said he's been programming for 41 years — long enough to watch the industry undergo a similar shift while he was a child in the 80s.

"In the transition from Assembly language programming to high-level language programming, like there were some old farts who would say like, 'You're not a real programmer if you don't know how to write in Assembly language, and that's the only real coding, and the way to do things the right way," he said. "Nobody talks about that anymore."

What's occurring with artificial intelligence, in Scott's opinion, isn't too different. Scott said "the very best programmers" will adjust to the incorporation of AI into their routines.

"We've gone very quickly from developers being skeptical about these tools to like, 'You will get this from my, you know, cold dying fingers. I think of this as like one of the most essential tools in my toolkit and I will never give it up,'" he said.

Though Scott believes AI is capable of lowering the barrier of entry to coding, he said it'll still be necessary to employ programmers with solid understandings of niche problems.

"Think about this as sort of raising everyone's level. So, it makes everybody a programmer and you no longer have to go get someone to make a website for you," Scott said. "But if you are trying to solve the word the world's hardest computational problems, I think you're going to need computer scientists, and they're going to use these tools insanely well."

What AI is likely to do, he added, is cut out the middle-man when it comes to simpler, more personal needs. Instead of waiting for a developer to anticipate your need for a particular tool, he said, you'd ideally be able to use AI programs to build it yourself.

"You have teams of people whose job is to go anticipate a bunch of very granular user needs in some narrow space — and then they're going to go write a bunch of code, and then figure out how to hang that code onto some user experience, and they hope that they've done a good enough job," he said.

"That's going to change. Like you just aren't going to need as much of that anymore," he added.

Though the responsibilities assigned to engineers may eventually look different, Scott doesn't believe the role itself will go extinct. And much like Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan, who expects AI-assisted coding to help a team of 10 engineers do the work of 100, Scott thinks that AI should ideally enable smaller groups to take on large-scale projects.

"I'm hoping that it will get easier for small teams to go do big things," Scott said. "The reason that's important is, I think small teams are just faster than big teams are. You can do a lot with like 10 really great, super motivated engineers with really powerful tools."

• President Donald Trump's new tariffs vary greatly between countries.
• The Office of the US Trade Representative explained the pretty simple formula used.
• The math puts a heavy emphasis on trade deficits.

It turns out a pretty simple formula was used to calculate President Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs.

The levies on imported goods into the US vary widely between countries, ranging from 10% to 50%.

The formula used — which prompted derision from some once it was revealed by the Office of the US Trade Representative — involves dividing a country or territory's trade surplus with the US by the value of its exports to the US. Then, the resulting figure was divided by two, to make the tariff rate.

The approach has led to some eyebrow-raising rates. The French territory Saint Pierre and Miquelon, which has a population of around 5,000 people, was slapped with a 50% tariff.

Data from the US Census Bureau shows that $3.4 million of goods were imported from the islands to the US in 2024, while Saint Pierre and Miquelon imported $100,000 from the US last year so that trade imbalance was used to calculate the tariff rate.

In a statement Wednesday night, the US Trade Representative said the tariffs were "calculated as the tariff rate necessary to balance bilateral trade deficits between the US and each of our trading partners."

A number of countries, like the UK, Singapore, and Brazil, were hit with a base tariff rate of 10%. Israel, which scrapped all tariffs on American goods, was hit with a 17% levy.

Vietnam, a key competitor to China, would be subject to a 46% tariff.

"If trade deficits are persistent because of tariff and non-tariff policies and fundamentals, then the tariff rate consistent with offsetting these policies and fundamentals is reciprocal and fair," the US Trade Representative said.

Here's what economists had to say

Economists were quick to weigh in on the revelation of exactly how the Trump administration calculated the tariffs.

"The tariff calculation approach arguably makes for a more free-wheeling and open-ended nature to potential trade negotiations in coming months," George Saravelos, the head of FX research at Deutsche Bank, said in a note.

"It seems there are no specific and identifiable policy asks per se but ultimately a desire to reduce bilateral trade imbalances," he added.

Others shared more pointed criticism of the approach.

Nouriel Roubini, a professor emeritus at the NYU Stern School of Business, wrote in a post on X that the formula used is "totally flawed" because it assumes that a fair trade balance has to be equal to zero.

"By that standard since the US runs a trade surplus in services other countries should impose a large services reciprocal tariffs against the US to balance that trade too!" Roubini said.

Peter Schiff, the chief economist and global strategist at Euro Pacific Asset Management, said in a post on X that the tariffs are based on "a bogus formula that attributes any nation's trade surplus to tariffs, even if tariffs are low or nonexistent."

"Running bilateral trade surplus/deficits with different countries is the way it should be," Olivier Blanchard, Robert M. Solow professor of economics emeritus at MIT, wrote in an X post. "Trying to eliminate each one is simply stupid."

"I have a trade deficit with my grocer, a trade surplus with my employer. I am not sure it would be a great idea for me to work for my grocer," he said.

• Walmart heiress Alice Walton is the richest woman in the world, with an estimated $101 billion net worth.
• She spends some of her fortune collecting art, including opening a museum, as well as breeding horses.
• Here's a look at her life, career, and fortune.

Alice Walton, the only female heiress to the Walmart fortune, is the richest woman in the world.

The three Walmart heirs — Rob Walton, Jim Walton, and Alice Walton — have a combined wealth of $320 billion, according to Forbes' billionaires list.

The 75-year-old Alice Walton has an estimated fortune worth $101 billion as of April 1, 2025 and ranks 15th on Forbes' list. She's the richest woman in the world, ahead of L'Oréal heiress Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, whose net worth currently stands at $81.6 billion, according to Forbes.

Walton's fortune grew $28.7 billion this year as Walmart's stock rose 40%, Forbes estimated.

Despite the Waltons' high status, their personal lives remain largely private. Here's what we know about how Alice Walton spends her fortune, from collecting expensive art to breeding horses:

Alice Walton, the only daughter of Walmart founder Sam Walton, is the world's richest woman.

Walton and L'Oréal heiress Françoise Bettencourt Meyers regularly alternate in the #1 spot; Walton passed Bettencourt Meyers in recent months.

Unlike her brothers, Rob and Jim, Alice Walton has never taken an active role in running Walmart and has instead become a patron of the arts.

Walton fell in love with the arts at a young age, according to a New Yorker profile. When she was 10, she bought her first work of art: a reproduction of a Picasso painting for $2, she told the publication.

After graduating from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, in 1971, Walton briefly entered the family business, working for Walmart as a buyer of children's clothes, she told The New Yorker.

But her career really began in finance, which led her to founding Llama Company, an investment bank, in 1988.

She has been married and divorced twice and has no children.

Walton has an immense private art collection, with original works from legendary American artists including Andy Warhol, Norman Rockwell, and Georgia O'Keefe.

"Collecting has been such a joy, and such an important part of my life in terms of seeing art, and loving it," she told The New Yorker.

In 2011, she opened a $50 million museum called Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, to house her $500 million private art collection.

Walmart is headquartered in Bentonville. When the museum opened, it had four times the endowment of the famous Whitney Museum in New York.

In 2014, the Walmart heiress dropped $44.4 million on a piece of artwork by Georgia O'Keeffe.

It was the most expensive sale of a work of art by a female artist in history. Walton later put it on display at her museum in Arkansas.

Walton has donated millions to the arts and other causes.

In January 2016, Walton donated 3.7 million of her own Walmart shares — worth about $225 million at the time — to the family's nonprofit, the Walton Family Foundation, Fortune reported. The next year, the charity gifted $120 million to the University of Arkansas to establish a School of Art.

She used to sit on the foundation's board of directors alongside four other Waltons.

Walton also has her own charitable organization, the Alice L. Walton Foundation, which donates to causes including the arts, education, and health, according to its website.

Walton has also put some of her money into politics.

She has traditionally given to Republican candidates and PACs, though Walton donated $353,400 to the Hillary Victory Fund, a joint fundraising committee supporting Clinton and other Democrats, in 2016, according to Forbes.

The two women met while Clinton was serving as First Lady of Arkansas and was the only woman sitting on Walmart's board.

Walton has been active in the horse breeding scene in Texas, but in 2015 she said she was going to devote more of her time to her Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.

"I've been stretched in too many directions and I want to get focused," Walton said, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in 2017. "I've got a house in Fort Worth, so I'm moving to town."

In 2017, she sold her Millsap, Texas ranch for an undisclosed amount. The Rocking W Ranch had an initial asking price of $19.75 million but was later reduced to $16.5 million. The working ranch boasted more than 250 acres of pasture and outbuildings for cattle and horses.

She'd also put another Texas ranch, the 4,416-acre Fortune Bend Ranch, on the market around the same time.

She also cut its listing price, to $22.1 million. The property has a modest three-bedroom home overlooking nearly five miles of river frontage.

Walton also bought a two-floor condo on New York City's Park Avenue for $25 million in 2014.

The condo, which had been owned by late financier Christopher H. Browne, has more than 52 large windows overlooking Central Park and the city, as well as a media room and a library.

In 2015, protesters gathered outside Walton's building to demand a $15 minimum wage for Walmart employees. In 2023, the median wage for workers at Walmart, the world's largest private employer, was $27,642.

In 2021, the Alice L. Walton School of Medicine was founded.

It received preliminary accreditation status from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education in 2024, allowing it to start recruiting students.

"I'm so proud of the work the entire team at AWSOM has accomplished to reach preliminary accreditation status," Walton said in a press release at the time. "The School of Medicine will play a pivotal role in educating the next generation of physicians, equipping them to care for the whole person and making a lasting impact on health care in the Heartland and beyond."

Its inaugural class will have 48 students, with classes starting in 2025. The nonprofit school will waive tuition for its first five cohorts of students.

It aims to "enhance traditional medical education with the arts, humanities, and whole health principles," its website says. It shares the same campus as the Crystal Bridges museum.

Katie Warren and Tanza Loudenback contributed to an earlier version of this story.

• Over a third of Americans, about 91 million people, can't afford quality medical care, per a new survey.
• The survey results come as healthcare costs are on the rise for many Americans.
• Disparities in access to healthcare are rising for low-income, Black, and Hispanic Americans.

Over a third of Americans can't afford quality medical care.

That figure represents about 91 million people, per a survey published on April 2 and conducted by Gallup and West Health, and is a record-high number for the four-year-old survey.

The survey results come as healthcare costs rise, and some people have experienced lapses in health insurance coverage due to policy changes. The study results indicate that the affluent are experiencing little to no change in their access or ability to afford to healthcare, while the low-income Americans are shut out. Dan Witters, one of the survey's authors and researchers, said this is likely due in part to inflation.

"If you're making under $25,000 a year, that absolutely can be the difference between whether you can spend the money on it or not," said Witters, who is also the research director of Gallup National Health and Well-Being Index, when speaking about the ability to afford healthcare.

Researchers split survey respondents into three categories — cost secure, cost insecure, and cost desperate — based on their ability to access and pay for medicine and care. They found that the percentage of people unable to afford healthcare expenses has been rising fastest among low-income, Black, and Hispanic Americans.

Meanwhile, 25% of households making less than $24,000 a year reported being unable to afford and access essential medicine and care in 2024, up from 14% in 2021.

While white adults saw no change in the same time period, Hispanic and Black adults experienced an eight and five percentage point decline in cost security, respectively.

Witters said the costs are highest for those living along the Bible Belt in the West and East South Central regions. He added that fewer people in those regions are insured and have greater health complications, like obesity and diabetes.

"People that are sickest in this country, that have the most chronic conditions, that require the most prescription drugs, are also the ones that are least likely to be able to afford and access our healthcare system," Witters said.

Witters added that a third of the people deemed cost desperate in the survey are cutting back on utilities or food to pay for medical costs.

Others take on debt: West Health and Gallup recently reported that in 2024, 12% of Americans borrowed money to pay for healthcare, which amounted to about $74 billion borrowed.

Additionally, low-income Americans who rely on Medicaid for health insurance are bracing for potentially fewer benefits. In February, House Republicans passed a proposed budget that aims to cut $880 billion in funding for Medicaid over the next 10 years.

The Economic Policy Institute found that these cuts to Medicaid could disproportionately impact Black and Hispanic Americans who are more likely to rely on Medicaid for healthcare coverage.

Do you have a story to share about being unable to afford your medical costs? Contact this reporter via email at [email protected].

• Mark Zuckerberg has been quietly snapping up massive chunks of real estate for years.
• The tech billionaire has bought hundreds of acres of Hawaiian land.
• He also recently reportedly bought property in Washington, DC.

Mark Zuckerberg is one of the world's richest people, and his multimillion-dollar real estate portfolio reflects that.

The man responsible for Facebook is worth around an estimated $180 billion, Forbes reported, and part of that fortune includes assets like a sprawling California compound and acres of lush land on a Hawaiian island.

Zuckerberg's real-estate dealings are often shrouded in privacy, including the use of limited-liability companies and addresses linked to the investment management firm Iconiq Capital.

His most recent purchase appears to be a $23 million mansion in the Massachusetts Avenue Heights neighborhood of Washington, DC. A Meta spokesperson confirmed that Zuckerberg recently bought a home in the area, which reportedly closed in March, per Politico.

"Mark and Priscilla have purchased a home in DC, which will allow Mark to spend more time there as Meta continues the work on policy issues related to American technology leadership," a spokesperson said to Politico.

Over the years, he's bought and sold homes all over the country. He's also reportedly built some — a Hawaiian doomsday ranch that has had many scratching their heads, for example.

Zuckerberg's real estate portfolio has an assessed value of around $200 million, according to Business Insider calculations based on property assessments.

However, the assessed value of properties can be lower than reported purchase prices (or current market value), so Zuckerberg's holdings are likely worth significantly more.

Representatives for Zuckerberg didn't immediately respond to BI's previous request for comment.

Here's what we know about his real estate.

Zuckerberg owns a residential compound in Palo Alto.

It's no surprise that a tech titan has more than one property in Silicon Valley. The Meta CEO owns five homes in the Crescent Park neighborhood of Palo Alto.

He gave viewers a rare peek inside one of them in 2016; the house is even tricked out with a "custom-made artificially intelligent assistant," according to CNBC. The home is only a 10-minute drive from the Meta HQ in Menlo Park.

He bought the first Crescent Park property in May 2011 for $7 million.

Architectural Digest described it as a "'no frills abode" that chooses function over extravagance. Zuckerberg then spent over $43 million on the four homes surrounding his original residence in Crescent Park, The Wall Street Journal reported.

He sold his San Francisco townhouse in 2022 for a reported $31 million.

The four-bedroom, four-bathroom home is located near San Francisco's Dolores Park. He and his wife, Priscilla Chan, reportedly spent $10 million to purchase the townhouse in 2010.

At the time of the sale in 2022, it was the largest residential real estate deal in the city.

He bought two adjacent estates on the shore of Lake Tahoe around 2019.

Lake Tahoe is a popular vacation destination for wealthy Californians in both summer and winter, and Zuckerberg and his family are no exception.

The tax records of the two properties — known as Carousel Estate and Brushwood Estate — display the same address as tax records of other properties linked to Zuckerberg, according to documents viewed by BI.

Zuckerberg reportedly paid $59 million for both properties.

At 5,322 square feet, the Brushwood Estate features six bedrooms, five baths, and two half baths, according to SF Gate. Inside are high-beamed ceilings and picture windows; outside are lush trees, a private dock, and a hot tub. There's also a 2,293-square-foot guesthouse.

The Meta exec owns over 1,200 acres of land in Hawaii.

It's unclear exactly how many acres of land Zuckerberg currently owns on Kauai, but he began buying up a region of the island back in 2014.

BI tracked down at least 1,200 acres between 17 parcels of land that have the same tax address as other properties mentioned above, but are owned by LLCs including Kahu'aina Holdings LLC and Pila'a International LLC.

The 1,200 acres include about 750 acres he reportedly paid $100 million in 2014 for. That encompasses a more than 350-acre span of land on Pila'a Beach.

His plans for Koolau Ranch seem to be in preparation for the worst case scenario.

Another part of Zuckerberg's Hawaii holdings is the nearly 600 acres of land on Kauai's North Shore that reportedly cost him around $53 million in 2021.

On one of his Hawaiian parcels, Zuckerberg is reportedly building a huge compound that's said to include a 5,000-square-foot underground bunker with an escape hatch. It's been dubbed Koolau Ranch, and Wired reported that buying the land and creating the compound cost the executive an estimated $270 million.

In March 2025, he purchased a 15,000-square-foot mansion in Washington, DC.

As Silicon Valley continues to infiltrate Washington, DC, Zuckerberg established a residence in the US capital, Politico said. The home that's reportedly his new pad is situated in Massachusetts Avenue Heights, not far from the Naval Observatory and the Washington National Cathedral, according to Builder magazine.

Zuckerberg kept the purchase private, Politico said. The mansion in question was sold for $23 million in cash. It was designed by local firm Robert Gurney Architect and sits on about one acre of property.

Business Insider was unable to independently confirm that Zuckerberg purchased the property.

Hillary Hoffower contributed to an earlier version of this story.

• I tried making Martha Stewart's six-ingredient mac and cheese.
• The one-pot pasta recipe took just 20 minutes to make.
• The dish turned out creamy and cheesy, and I loved the addition of broccoli to the mix.

Mac and cheese is one of my favorite quick comfort dishes to make when I'm feeling too lazy to cook.

So, when I learned that Martha Stewart had a way to make this classic recipe even quicker, I decided to give it a try. Stewart's "Cheater's Mac and Cheese" recipe includes just six ingredients and takes 20 minutes to prepare.

Here's how I made the one-pot meal.

I started by gathering and prepping the ingredients.

The recipe calls for six ingredients: 1 ½ cups of fresh or frozen broccoli, 4 ounces of a short pasta (penne is recommended), 2 ½ ounces (⅓ cup) of cream cheese, 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter, ½ ounce (⅓ cup) of Parmigiano-Reggiano, and salt. Black pepper is also optional, but I decided to use it.

I opted for frozen broccoli since I always keep florets in the freezer, and because it reduced my prep time.

The only minor obstacle I faced during the prep process was measuring the Parmigiano-Reggiano. I used my kitchen scale to weigh the ½ ounce (⅓ cup) of cheese, but when I added it to the measuring cup, it quickly overflowed despite the scale only reading 0.1 ounces.

I had to tightly pack the finely grated cheese into the cup to get the desired ½ ounce.

Next, I cooked the pasta and broccoli.

I started by boiling the penne pasta in salted water. The recipe said to boil the noodles two minutes short of al dente, so I let them cook for nine minutes rather than the box's recommended 10-12 minutes.

When time was up, I scooped out 1 cup of pasta water to use later and added in the frozen broccoli. I let the broccoli cook with the pasta for two minutes before draining the water and setting aside them aside.

Then, it was time to make the cheese sauce.

From there, I simmered the butter, cream cheese, and ⅔ of the cup of pasta water in my empty pot.

The cream cheese didn't initially break down in the pasta water, so I had to use a whisk to smooth out the sauce, which was a small inconvenience.

When the sauce was ready, I combined all my ingredients in the pot.

Then, I added the pasta, broccoli, and Parmigiano-Reggiano into the pot and stirred until the sauce completely coated the noodles.

The ½ ounce of cheese ended up being the right amount for the sauce, which was cheesy, but not overly salty, gritty, or stringy.

I didn't even need to add the final ⅓ cup of pasta water because the sauce was already clinging well to the noodles, creating a creamy, silky coating.

I finished the dish with an extra sprinkle of freshly grated cheese and some black pepper, as recommended.

This is now a go-to comfort recipe for me.

The final pasta had some tanginess from the cream cheese, but plenty of saltiness from the Parmigiano-Reggiano and some earthy notes from the broccoli.

I also loved how quickly this recipe came together. I had a creamy, comforting pasta dish ready for lunch in a matter of minutes on a very busy workday.

Although Stewart's recipe called for broccoli, it also said peas or cauliflower florets would be good alternatives. I think this recipe would taste good with lots of different vegetables, like asparagus and mushrooms, so I'm looking forward to experimenting in the future.