In “Small Fry,” a memoir by Lisa Brennan-Jobs, the estranged daughter of Steve Jobs, readers are offered a profound insight into her complicated relationship with the iconic Apple co-founder. Known for his unfiltered approach to communication, Jobs never hesitated to express his opinions, no matter how sharp or direct. Published excerpts in Vanity Fair in 2018 drew considerable attention, revealing the depth of their strained interactions and emotional distance. READ MORE
Electric 18-wheelers are even stupider than electric cars
“It still boggles my mind,” says Jeffrey Short, Vice President of the American Transport Research Institute.
Mr. Short was talking about the findings of a study conducted by ATRI recently, which quantifies how much additional power generation capacity would have to be added to America’s existing electric grid to convert the nation’s entire heavy truck fleet to battery electric vehicles. READ MORE
A bigger pool of American workers could slow inflation further?
US inflation is down considerably from a four-decade high reached nearly two years ago. Now, as the Federal Reserve faces the final stretch of its historic inflation battle, a bigger pool of workers could slow inflation even further.
That would also improve the chances of a “soft landing,” an extremely rare scenario in which inflation is tamed without triggering a recession. READ MORE
Warren Buffett Proposed A Way To Ensure 'Anybody Who's Willing To Work 40 Hours A Week Has A Decent Living' — And It Wouldn't Cost Employers Anything
In a 2016 interview with CNN, famed investor Warren Buffett shared insightful views on the state of the economy, the distribution of wealth and the mechanisms through which a fairer economic system could be achieved. Buffett’s observations came years before concerns over inflation intensified. Given that the federal minimum wage has remained unchanged at $7.25 since 2009, his proposals for ensuring a livable wage have become increasingly relevant today.
Buffett emphasized the disparity within the American economy, noting, “We’re in an economy where specialized talents bring incredible sums and where if you’re a little bit where you really don’t fit well into the market system you are left behind.” READ MORE
Wells Fargo slowly starts to shed the problems of its past
Wells Fargo's stock (WFC) is up 12% this year, outperforming all big bank rivals and within sight of an all-time high.
One big reason: Investors believe the San Francisco lending giant is slowly starting to shed some of the problems of its past.
It received a big boost last month when regulators with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency lifted a consent order tied to a 2016 fake accounts scandal. READ MORE
BlackRock admits ESG advocacy could prove bad for business
Investment management company BlackRock admitted in its annual filing to the Securities and Exchanges Commission that CEO Larry Fink’s environmental, social, and governance policies (ESG) advocacy could harm its reputation and hurt its bottom line.
"BlackRock’s business, scale and investments subject it to significant media coverage and increasing attention from a broad range of stakeholders," the filing submitted late last month said. "This heightened scrutiny has resulted in negative publicity and adverse actions for BlackRock and may continue to do so in the future." READ MORE
Google cuts team of contractors who went on strike
A union representing contractors for YouTube Music claims that Google cut the workers’ contract after they went on a prolonged strike.
The Alphabet Workers Union-CWA, which represents the contractors, said the team consisted of moderators employed by Google contractor Cognizant in Austin, Texas, that was responsible for approving music content for YouTube Music. READ MORE
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion employees will no longer have a job at University of Florida
The University of Florida announced Friday that it is eliminating all Diversity, Equity and Inclusion employee positions.
This change, announced through an emailed administrative memo, comes after the Florida Board of Governors labeled expenditures related to DEI programs as prohibited expenditures. READ MORE
H&R Block wiped out tax data of filers looking for less pricey option, FTC alleges
H&R Block marketed its tax-preparation products as free yet deleted the data of customers as way to pressure them into paying for pricier services, the Federal Trade Commission alleged on Friday.
The tax-preparation software giant's online tax-filing products lead users to costlier products made for more complicated tax filings, even if they don't need the additional forms and schedules offered, the FTC stated in an administrative complaint. READ MORE
What an SEC rule change says about the climate fight
The Securities and Exchange Commission is said to be scrapping plans to require that public companies disclose carbon emissions from their supply chains and end users as part of its long-awaited disclosure rules.
Why it matters: Scope 3 emissions, as they're called, are often the largest source of carbon emissions for companies, and especially in the fossil fuel industry. READ MORE
Elon Musk's problems keep piling up as Tesla's value slides $188 billion this year
It's not been the greatest start to the year for Elon Musk.
The world's richest person has faced problems at Tesla, SpaceX and X, ranging from a tanking Tesla valuation to an X advertiser exodus.
Here's a look at some of the hot potatoes Musk's been dealing with. READ MORE
COVID Vaccine Shedding Is ‘Real,’ FDA and Pfizer Documents Are Proof
The topic of COVID-19 vaccine shedding has long been controversial, but now, some doctors say even the authorities know about it.
“Shedding is unfortunately real,” said Dr. Pierre Kory at the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC) conference in Phoenix, Arizona, in early February. “The FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) knows that.” READ MORE
Employers are hiding a secret about strict return-to-office mandates—they’re probably bluffing about how many days they want you back
White-collar workers are getting used to recognizing the signs that remote work is dying—and lately, it’s coming in the form of CEO memos demanding a return to the office.
Major businesses from beauty retailer L’Oreal to banks like Deutsche and Goldman Sachs are beginning to reign in years of pandemic-era workplace flexibility, and based on the rhetoric, they appear to mean business this time. READ MORE
‘I really need to be paid’: Tesla canceled large pie order at last minute, small business owner says
A small business owner in Northern California says her pie shop is out thousands of dollars after Tesla unexpectedly canceled an order for thousands of mini pies.
Voahangy Rasetarinera owns Giving Pies in San Jose’s Willow Glen neighborhood. Each pie is carefully assembled by hand in small batches. Despite that, the bakery has managed to put together orders for large corporations, like Apple, Google and Intuit. READ MORE
The hollowing out of Vice and BuzzFeed marks the end of the digital media revolution
Its two leaders, Vice Media and BuzzFeed , are in a frenetic retreat, surrendering much of their online empires as they try to protect what remains of their core assets. Having once threatened to upend the entire industry and usher in a new era of news distribution and monetization, the former digital media darlings are now merely attempting to survive in any form they can.
As they retreat, their large newsrooms once filled with rows of journalists are now shutting off the lights and closing their doors. BuzzFeed, already slimmed down after several waves of layoffs, announced this week that it will slash another 16% of its staff as it undergoes “planned strategic restructuring” to reduce costs. And Vice Media said Thursday that it will lay off hundreds of staffers as it ceases publishing on its own website and pivots into a business that resembles a studio. READ MORE
Berkshire Hathaway Reports Profit of $97 Billion Last Year, a Record
Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate run for decades by Warren E. Buffett, recorded its highest-ever annual profit last year. But its chief executive found reason to blame government regulation for hurting the results of some of its biggest businesses.
In his letter to investors that traditionally accompanies the annual report, Mr. Buffett also paid tribute to Charlie Munger, his longtime lieutenant and Berkshire’s vice chairman until his death in November at age 99. READ MORE
San Francisco hardware store escorts customers while shopping to deter rising crime
A generations-old hardware store in California has been forced to go above and beyond to protect its shoppers as the state's crime wave continues to rise.
Fredericksen Hardware & Paint, a long-standing shopfront in the Cow Hollow-Marina area of San Francisco, will now provide shoppers with a staff member to escort them through the shop. READ MORE
‘I’m proud of being a job hopper’: Seattle engineer’s post about company loyalty goes viral
Those two lines are part of a viral post on LinkedIn penned by a Seattle-based software engineer who wrote about why he’s “proud of being a job hopper.”
“Moving from Amazon to Microsoft to Google, I jumped between three companies in three years and never looked back,” wrote Alex Nguyen.
In his post, Nguyen points to the lack of pensions, sign-on bonuses, and at-will employment as reasons for why employees can be drawn to jump ship to another company. READ MORE
One Biden manufacturing regulation could wipe out up to 1 million jobs
President Joe Biden's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently finalized an air quality rule that the manufacturing industry is warning could wipe out one million jobs and undermine efforts to build new manufacturing facilities in America.
Jay Timmons, president and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), is set to sound the alarm about the regulation in his annual state of manufacturing address on Thursday in Roseville, Michigan, according to an advance copy of his remarks provided to FOX Business. READ MORE
Artificial intelligence is big, but are companies hiring for AI roles too fast?
All the hype around generative artificial intelligence since the release of OpenAI's ChatGPT has companies scrambling to hire talent who knows how to implement and harness the rapidly developing technology.
Indeed's latest U.S. Jobs and Hiring Trends Report published in November found AI job postings surged 20-fold from the beginning of 2023 to the end of October. READ MORE