Forbes Talks

James Kim's Los Angeles-based cannabis company grew from a scrappy startup in 2017 to a legal unicorn worth $1.5 billion. Allegations of black-market activity and lawsuits be damned—Stiiizy aims to be the Nike of cannabis. Inside a warehouse in Downtown Los Angeles, next to a strip club, James Kim, the CEO and cofounder of the California-based cannabis brand Stiiizy opens the door to one of his grow rooms, revealing 972 pot plants, thriving three-foot-tall beauties two weeks from harvest. “This room is all money,” says Kim, who is 37 and has tattoos covering his arms, including a portrait of Ben Franklin and a rose made from a $100 bill. These days, Stiiizy is bringing in plenty of Benjamins. The company—which was founded in 2017 and grows cannabis, manufacturers vapes, pre-rolls, gummies and flower—has nearly 50 branded dispensaries across California and generates more than $800 million a year in revenue. Stiiizy, which is also California's biggest cannabis retailer, is the best-selling weed brand in the country, according to sales data firm Headset. A vertically integrated powerhouse that now operates in seven states, one out of every eight cannabis products sold in the United States is a Stiiizy product. The company, which Forbes estimates to be valued at $1.5 billion, is privately held, secretive and mysterious—out of four original co-founders, only Kim would agree to speak, and he would not confirm the names of his partners. Founded in the gray market days before California legalized recreational marijuana, Stiiizy has also been dogged by lawsuits, rumors of illicit activity (all of which the company denies) and scandals, but none of that has changed the fact that in the $32 billion regulated cannabis industry, Stiiizy is the brand to beat. “We're the number-one brand in the nation,” says Kim. “I always tell people, if we're number one in the nation, we're number one in the world.” A floor below the grow room, Kim walks through his production facility where dozens of employees in blue hairnets and facemasks brush mini blunts with a brown liquid and roll them into a half-pound of kief and put them into trays. In another room, a woman uses a machine to fill 100 Stiiizy vape pens at a time—by the end of the day, workers here will make nearly 100,000 of them. Every month, Stiiizy grows 15,000 pounds of weed and produces about $70 million worth (retail sales) of cannabis products in California, not including how much it produces in Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Missouri, Illinois, and New York, where Stiiizy launched in February and rose to be among the top 10 best-selling brands within a month, according to Lit Alerts.  Kim walks out of his warehouse and jumps in the back of his black Cadillac Escalade and his driver takes him a few minutes down the road to Stiiizy's DTLA headquarters. “We always had dreams of the brand getting big,” says Kim, while Notorious BIG's “Juicy” plays over the car speakers. “But we didn't know it would be this big.”  Kim, who sports an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak chronograph on his wrist, grew up humbly in Cerritos, California. He shared a bed with his older sister so his parents, both immigrants from South Korea, could rent out the other bedroom to help make ends meet. His parents sold women's clothing at the local Santa Fe Springs Swap Meet and starting at six years old, young James was in charge of setting up the tent, manning the cash register and helping his mom set prices for clothes. (His mom taught him her strategy, which was to price each item at double her cost.)  “They put me to work,” he says. “That swap meet was my life.” Read the full story here: By Will Yakowicz https://www.forbes.com/sites/willyakowicz/2025/04/18/inside-stiiizy-the-worlds-best-selling-weed-brand/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Federal Election Commission filings for the first quarter of 2026 showed that billionaires Miriam Adelson and George Soros were the biggest donors backing GOP and Democratic super PACs, respectively, ahead of this year's midterms, while billionaire Marc Andreessen's venture capital firm poured $25 million into a pro-artificial intelligence Super PAC. KEY FACTS According to the filings published on Wednesday night, GOP megadonor Adelson donated $30 million to the Senate Leadership Fund, the major super PAC backing Republican Senate candidates. Filings made by the GOP-aligned Congressional Leadership Fund—which backs GOP House candidates—showed Adelson had given the super PAC $10 million, bringing her overall contribution to $40 million so far this year. Billionaire George Soros, one of the biggest backers of Democratic candidates, donated $50 million to his Democracy PAC in January through an associated group, the Fund for Policy Reform. The Democracy PAC then donated $9 million to Senate Majority PAC—which backs Democratic Senate candidates. FORBES VALUATION According to Forbes' Real Time Billionaire's list, Adelson's total fortune is worth $37.3 billion, making her the 58th richest person in the world. In comparison Soros' net worth stands at $7.5 billion as of Thursday morning. WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT FUNDING FROM SILICON VALLEY ?Leaders from Silicon Valley launched the pro-AI super PAC Leading the Future in August last year, with venture-capital firm Andreessen Horowitz among its main backers. Wednesday's filings showed that the venture firm donated $25 million to the political action committee, with $12.5 million each coming from co-founders Benjamin Horowitz and billionaire Marc Andreessen. BIG NUMBER $27 million. That is how much Democratic Texas Senate Candidate James Talarico has raised in the first three months of the year so far, according to the New York Times. Talarico's strong numbers appear to reflect Democratic optimism about the race in deep-red Texas, as the GOP has been besieged by infighting among its top two candidates. SURPRISING FACT Filings for a Win for America, a super PAC backed by sports betting platforms, showed it raised more than $40 million in the first three months of the year. FanDuel contributed $19.5 million while DraftKings' holding company, DK Crown Holdings, donated 17.5 million. An additional $4 million came from Fanatics' subsidiary FBG Enterprises Opco. Read the full story on Forbes: By Siladitya Ray https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2026/04/16/billionaire-adelson-pours-40-million-to-back-gop-soros-gives-50-million-to-his-democrat-pac/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Iran reopened the Strait of Hormuz to all commercial shipping traffic Friday, citing Thursday's ceasefire with Israel in Lebanon, signaling a major breakthrough in the conflict and sending oil prices plummeting, though President Donald Trump said the U.S. Naval blockade on Iran will remain in effect until a permanent peace deal is reached. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Live Nation shares tumbled over 6% on Wednesday after a New York jury found it and Ticketmaster operated as a monopoly, marking a win for dozens of states that accused the live entertainment company of violating antitrust laws around ticketing, music venues and concert promotion—claims Live Nation has denied. KEY FACTS The verdict was reached after four days of deliberations in a trial that lasted several weeks, in which Live Nation was accused of overcharging fans for tickets and pressuring venues into using Ticketmaster—one of its subsidiaries. Live Nation shares closed down 6.3% Wednesday, erasing almost two weeks' worth of gains. The jury found Ticketmaster overcharged customers by $1.72 per ticket, The New York Times reported. The terms of the incoming settlement will be determined by Judge Arun Subramanian in a later proceeding. Forbes has reached out to Live Nation for comment. WHAT TO WATCH FOR A breakup of Live Nation and Ticketmaster is being sought by some of the states suing the parent company. Live Nation acquired Ticketmaster in an all-stock deal valued at $2.5 billion. SURPRISING FACT Ticketmaster sells around 10 times the number of tickets sold by its closest rival, AEG, the Times reported, citing testimony from the trial. KEY BACKGROUND The landmark ruling is another knock against Live Nation, which reached a settlement with the Justice Department just last month requiring it to pay $280 million in damages, divest from 13 of its amphitheaters and introduce a cap on ticketing service fees at 15%. Live Nation generated $690.7 million in revenue in 2025, according to its full-year results, which noted the company brought in a record-breaking $25.2 billion that year. Over 30 states rejected the settlement and instead pressed Live Nation in the current trial. New York Attorney General Letitia James said the settlement “fails to address the monopoly at the center of this case, and would benefit Live Nation at the expense of consumers.” Read the full story on Forbes: By ByAntonio Pequeño IV https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2026/04/15/jury-says-live-nation-operated-monopoly-in-landmark-decision-for-ticketing-market/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Allbirds, the former minimalist shoe company that briefly surged in popularity among Silicon Valley tech workers a decade ago, announced it would suddenly become an “AI compute and cloud services company,” selling its branding and footwear assets and rechristening itself “NewBird AI”—and causing its cratering stock to jump over 800% after the announcement. KEY FACTS In a press release issued on Wednesday, the struggling footwear company said it raised $50 million through an unnamed institutional investor to become an “AI compute infrastructure” company. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2026, according to the release As part of the pivot, the company sold its entire footwear business to brand manager American Exchange Group—a $39 million deal announced in March. The company said the shoes' “brand and legacy will continue under the ownership of American Exchange Group,” whose portfolio includes other fashion brands like Aerosoles and Ed Hardy. The announcement caused Allbirds stock to skyrocket, rising over 800% after markets opened—although the company's stock was still only trading around $20 per share, up over 700%, by 11:45 a.m. EDT. BIG NUMBER Over $4 billion. That's how much Allbirds was valued at after its blockbuster IPO in November 2021, which raised over $300 million for the shoemaker. Allbirds' stock price quickly sank in the months after the IPO, and the company's stock was trading at $2.49 per share before the pivot was announced. KEY BACKGROUND Allbirds is not the first company to pivot away from its core business to a trend in tech. The Long Island Iced Tea Company made a similar move in 2017, announcing it would become primarily a blockchain company. Although the stock price also skyrocketed immediately after the announcement, the pivot didn't exactly work in the long run—the company was delisted by the Securities and Exchange Committee in 2021, which claimed in an order the company's new “blockchain business never became operational. Read the full story on Forbes: By Zachary Folk https://www.forbes.com/sites/zacharyfolk/2026/04/15/shoemaker-allbirds-suddenly-says-its-an-ai-company-and-stock-jumps-800/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

American companies are increasingly skipping traditional price hikes on goods in favor of new surcharges and fees added to checkout screens and monthly bills—often far less visible—as a way to pass rising prices onto consumers amid surging inflation. Key Facts Restaurants, hotels, airlines, retailers and other businesses are increasingly breaking price hikes into separate line items—often labeled as a “fuel surcharge,” “service fee” “processing fee” or “resort fee”—that allow them to preserve advertised prices but still pass inflation-related price increases on to the consumer.  Often these costs only show up on a final bill or check—separate from the original, advertised price. One of the most common examples is a credit card use surcharge—used by one-third of American small businesses—which see companies try to recoup the fees charged to them by credit card companies by hitting customers with a 2% to 4% fee if they use a card instead of cash.  More than 15% of restaurants nationally also now tack on extra fees to the bill at the end of a meal, according to the National Restaurant Association, with some adding credit card surcharges while others opt for automatic gratuity or vague “service charges” to help cover increased supply costs or employee wages.  Airlines advertise ticket prices without including hidden taxes, fees and charges—that can increase ticket prices by roughly 20% at checkout—and carriers like American, Alaska, Delta, United and Southwest this month announced they were hiking the price of baggage fees by $10 per bag to cover Iran war-caused jet fuel increases. Grab, a Nasdaq-listed rideshare and food delivery company that operates in Southeast Asia, told customers it will implement a fuel surcharge through May 31 and Uber Australia said it will introduce a temporary 5-cent-per-kilometer fuel surcharge starting April 15. What To Watch For More price hikes or fees for consumers as businesses themselves fall victim to new surcharges. Amazon has added a 3.5% fuel surcharge for its third-party sellers. UPS, FedEx and the USPS have implemented their own fuel-related price hikes, ranging from 3.5% to 8%, since the Iran war spiked energy costs. Experts have said those logistics companies have little choice but to offset the skyrocketing costs of gasoline and diesel, and as many as 30 to 40% of Amazon sellers subject to the new surcharge will pass it directly on to consumers, a supply chain expert told the New York Post. The owner of Ash & Erie, a small men's clothing brand, told the Wall Street Journal the fuel surcharges are like “tariffs 2.0” and said he'll likely have to raise prices to make up for them. Similarly, fresh food distributors are billing restaurants and grocery markets to make up for the rising price of diesel, which could soon get passed along to shoppers and diners. Grocery prices will rise 2% in the next few weeks, according to The Food Institute. Contractor Plus, a management app designed for contractors and businesses like plumbing and electricians, is advisingits clients on how to add fuel surcharges directly to invoices. Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Instacart and Amazon have all started offering fuel price relief options for its delivery and rideshare drivers, the New York Times reported, and that could soon turn into a surcharge for riders or delivery recipients. When the war in Ukraine caused gas prices to jump in 2022, Uber and Lyft added surcharges directly to customers. Will The New Fees Ever Go Away?  Probably not. Often, a fee gets introduced to solve a seemingly temporary cost problem but then becomes permanent, even after the original justification fades. Restaurant service fees, for example, were born amid higher prices and fewer sales during the pandemic but many stayed around when costs dropped. Airline checked baggage fees were introduced during the 2008 oil price spike, when jet fuel costs surged, but didn't disappear once fuel prices stabilized. Rental car companies added "temporary" surcharges after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks to offset falling travel demand and pay for added airport security and facility costs, but they stuck around after the travel industry recovered. Delta Airlines CEO Ed Bastian recently implied airfares likely won't go back down even if oil prices drop, instead saying the lowered fuel costs would "certainly help us boost our margins this year and clearly into next year as well." Read the full story on Forbes: By Mary Whitfill Roeloffs https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2026/04/13/here-are-the-hidden-fees-for-food-flights-more-youre-paying-because-of-the-affordability-crisis/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Top 10 Greatest Living Self-Made Americans Oprah Winfrey Harold Hamm David Steward Thomas Peterffy LeBron James Jan Koum Dolly Parton Bill Clinton Diane Hendricks J.D. Vance Grit. Hustle. Resilience. The American Dream is built on the audacious belief that anyone can make it to the top. Every elementary school kid is imbued with the belief that anyone can become president of the United States. Or a hip-hop megastar. Or a space-faring billionaire. The notion is as old as the Republic and stands self-consciously in contrast to class-ridden Europe where one's prospects were often determined at birth.  This ideal has always had its heroes: from Alexander Hamilton, the orphaned immigrant who crafted America's first financial system, to Andrew Carnegie, who went from working as a young teen in a textile mill to forging a vast steel empire. Since 1917, it has been the prime subject matter of this publication. So, in honor of America's semiquincentennial, we feel uniquely qualified to rank the 250 greatest living self-made Americans. (Our list of the 250 greatest historical ones will be released on Friday). To identify these revolutionaries, we first mined Forbes' 109-year-deep archive for classic tales of entrepreneurial capitalism. Then we asked our current crop of beat reporters for their ideas. We canvassed AI, running hundreds of queries through both ChatGPT and Gemini. While we put a heavy emphasis on rags-to-riches billionaires, we also included pioneering scientists, Supreme Court justices and others whose “wealth” is measured in influence and impact, not just dollar signs.  Next, we ran names past a panel of expert judges: DeAngela Burns-Wallace, CEO of the Kauffman Foundation; Keith Dunleavy, Founder, Inovalon; Rich Karlgaard, Former Publisher, Forbes; Steven Klinsky, Founder and CEO, New Mountain Capital; Jim McKelvey, cofounder of Block (formerly Square); and Ryan Rippel, CEO of NextLadder Ventures. An invaluable resource was , a 1-to-10 ranking that quantifies the “distance traveled” by each individual—separating those who started with nothing from those with a big head start. Only those ranking nine or ten made the cut. The final ranking encompasses financial success, obstacles overcome and enduring impact. Read the full story on Forbes: By Alex Knapp https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2026/04/09/forbes-self-made-250-the-greatest-living-self-made-americans/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Canadian visitation to the U.S. is down 35% since President Trump returned to office—dealing a massive, sustained economic blow to the U.S. economy that shows no sign of reversing in 2026. Key Facts The number of Canadians taking road trips into the U.S.—the most common way of visiting—dropped by 5% last month compared to March 2025 and is down 35% compared to March 2024, according to data released Monday from Statistics Canada. There was also a 14% year-over-year decline in air travelers from Canada to the U.S. in March. In contrast, the volume of Americans visiting Canada in March was up 4% compared to a year ago. For the third consecutive month, more Canadians flew to overseas destinations than drove to the U.S.—flipping a long-established pattern. Canadian visitation overseas was up 5% year over year—a sign Canadians are swapping the U.S. for other international destinations.  Nearly a quarter (23%) of Canadian travelers have canceled a previously planned trip to the U.S., according to a Longwoods International tracking study of Canadian travelers. Crucial Quote “In my 37 years in the travel industry, I have never seen anything like what the Canadians have pulled off,” Amir Eylon, President and CEO of Longwoods International, told Forbes. How Much Has The 14-Month Canadian Boycott Cost The U.s. Economy? In the years leading to President Donald Trump's re-election to a second term, Canadian tourists were the biggest single source of international visitors to the U.S., comprising roughly one-quarter of all foreign travelers, according to the U.S. Commerce Department's National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO). In 2024, Canadian tourists injected $20.5 billion into the U.S. economy. But in early 2025, the U.S. Travel Association (USTA) warned even a 10% reduction in Canadian inbound travel could translate to $2.1 billion in lost spending and 140,000 lost jobs in the hospitality sector. The actual decline was 22%—more than double that hypothetical drop—which works out to a drop of roughly $4.5 billion in visitor spending. The boycott continued into 2026, with double-digit declines in both January and February, and cumulative two-year drops of more than 30% each month. Read the full story on Forbes: By Suzanne Rowan Kelleher https://www.forbes.com/sites/suzannerowankelleher/2026/04/13/canadian-visits-us-down-35-percent/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SandboxAQ has an AI platform to help materials researchers speed the development of safer, higher-powered, solid-state batteries for autos, the military and data centers. China's dominance in batteries is powering a global auto industry shakeup. The country didn't just get better at making them. It got better at making a lot of them cheaply and fast enough to let automakers like BYD and Geely sell electric vehicles at prices that can look like a misprint next to U.S. and European models. Now, SandboxAQ, a moonshot company spun out of Google in 2022, is betting the U.S. doesn't need to win by outbuilding China cell-for-cell. It just needs to come up with better battery designs. And it says its AI-enabled tech platform can help battery scientists accelerate their research to create new types of safer, cheaper solid-state batteries for EVs, military equipment and data centers.  The Palo Alto, California-based company, which has raised $950 million from backers including Alphabet, Nvidia and AI scientist Yann LeCun, is today releasing a new version of its research platform, AQVolt26. The pitch: compress the earliest, most uncertain part of battery R&D—screening and evaluating candidate materials—so scientists can dump bad ideas quickly and focus their efforts on the ones that might actually ship. The goal is to slash development time to create new battery chemistries, which now takes 10 to 15 years, said Ang Xiao, who leads SandboxAQ's materials science team. “It's hard to give an exact figure for how many years we can save, but I can tell you that for the discovery phase, we can reduce the time of that by 90% to 95%,” he told Forbes. “Our technology is only focused on the discovery phase, phase one. … But in the end, we will accelerate the entire development pipeline.” The company, chaired by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, says it's already generating revenue from its tech from customers, including battery developer Novonix and the U.S. Army, as well as other battery and auto companies it declined to name. It also won't say how much revenue it expects this year. SandboxAQ's battery strategy is to make money from fees paid by users of its research platform, licensing its tech to other companies or doing research on their behalf, as well as developing its own unique battery materials. With demand rising for batteries across EVs, energy and grid storage and defense applications, it's chasing a market with real money behind it. “We see the battery market as a $500 billion opportunity this decade, expanding toward $1 trillion as electrification and AI-driven energy demand accelerate,” Xiao said. “Our focus is on the high-value segment of materials discovery and performance optimization.” Like Waymo, another Google Moonshot, Sandbox is using AI for physical applications rather than chatbots. In addition to battery tech, which is part of its chemicals and materials unit, it's also focused on using AI for drug discovery and medical diagnostics, among other areas. Unlike OpenAI and Google's Gemini, which lean on large language models (LLMs), Sandbox says its approach is built on large quantitative models (LQMs) trained on physics-based data and scientific principles. Read the full story on Forbes: By Alan Ohnsman https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2026/04/07/this-google-spinout-thinks-ai-can-fix-americas-ev-battery-problem/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Forbes Reporter Phoebe Liu sat down to discuss the escalating legal battle between Elon Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman ahead of their upcoming April trial. Liu also discusses the allegations of anti-competitive behavior and the financial pressures facing leading AI firms as they navigate rapid innovation, massive capital requirements, and intense competition for market dominance in the emerging artificial general intelligence sector. 00:00 Origins Of The Altman And Musk Partnership 01:47 OpenAI's Transition From Nonprofit To For Profit 03:10 The Upcoming Trial 05:08 Allegations Of Anti Competitive Behavior And Opposition Research 08:12 Financial Motives Versus The Public Good 10:47 Outlook For AI IPOs And Market Valuations InJanuary, OpenAI's CEO of applications Fidji Simo defended OpenAI's spaghetti-at-the-wall product approach—ads, shopping, health, a social network, browser, physical devices, video generation and an App Store-like marketplace—as variations on the same theme. “AI is going to transform everything,” Simo told Forbes at the time. “And so we don't really think of these as completely separate bets.”  But just two months later, OpenAI reversed course on its flashiest initiative yet: its once-viral, beloved-by-some Sora video model and app, and a “landmark” licensing deal with Disney that was set to include a $1 billion equity investment. The retreat points to a strategic shift toward more financial discipline within the company. Facing pressure to build products that actually make money ahead of a potential upcoming IPO — and with rival Anthropic gaining steam — OpenAI has been shedding so-called “side quests” left and right. With $13 billion in 2025 revenue but still deeply unprofitable, the company is now refocusing on areas where demand is already proven: coding and enterprise productivity tools. Every startup pivots if things aren't working. “We will make some good decisions and some missteps, but we will take feedback and try to fix the missteps very quickly,” CEO Sam Altman wrote in a blog post about Sora in October.  But OpenAI's reversals have felt like whiplash. And with many other projects and deals announced but not yet realized — like an AI hardware product designed by famed Apple designer Jony Ive, whose company OpenAI acquired for more than $6 billion in (mostly unvested) stock, or a secretive social network based on people's biometrics — it's not clear which of Altman's many promises will turn into reality.  Here are all the products and deals that OpenAI announced which haven't lived up to the hype, whether it's because they're dead, delayed or still to be determined. Read the full story on Forbes: BY Phoebe Liu https://www.forbes.com/sites/phoebeliu/2026/03/31/openai-graveyard-deals-and-products-havent-happened-openai/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After a rough stretch, investment firm AQR is on a 5-year hot streak thanks to a new AI infused investing strategy and strong tax-friendly returns, beloved by financial advisors. Last year was a banner year for many hedge funds and quant shops, and Greenwich, CT-based Applied Quantitative Research—better known as AQR—was no exception. Its assets under management have ballooned to $187 billion, increasing $73 billion in 2025. All three of its billionaire founders saw their net worths double. Cliff Asness, AQR's PhD-holding chief investment officer and largest individual shareholder with an estimated 30% stake, is now worth $6.3 billion, making him the 664th richest in the world. Cofounders John Liew and David Kabiller each saw their net worths jump to over $2 billion. The three founders—who started AQR in 1998 after working together at Goldman Sachs Asset Management—are all heavily invested in AQR's funds, tying their own fortunes to the firm's performance.  Last year AQR's core multi-strategy Apex fund, which has $6.7 billion in assets, returned 19.4%, while its Delphi long-short fund (also $6.7 billion in assets) returned 16.7%, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked for anonymity to share private information. On average over the last five years the two funds have each returned 16.6% on an annualized basis, the person added. (For comparison, the S&P 500 returned 14.4% annualized over that same time period). Among the firm's more than two dozen open-ended mutual funds, AQR's Equity Market Neutral Fund, with $3.2 billion in assets and around 2,000 positions, held both long and short, gained 26.5% in 2025. Over the last 5-years it has averaged 19.6% annually versus around 8% for most funds in its category. If AQR maintains last year's growth trajectory it will soon eclipse its previous all-time high of $226 billion in assets (in 2018), which would cap an impressive comeback for the firm, which managed less than $100 billion as recently as four years ago amid underperformance and customer outflows.  AQR's turnaround has coincided with its full-throated embrace of AI and deliberate expansion of machine-learning techniques across research and trading. As a factor-based investor, AQR traditionally sought to use value investing metrics like price-to-book or return on equity to determine which equities in the market are over or undervalued. It then relied on human input to assign weights to the various factors they use to drive stock selection. Now, machine learning is helping do that—detecting complex interactions between factors, recalibrating their weights in real time, mining huge datasets for predictive signals. On the research side, natural language processing (think ChatGPT or Claude) is helping analysts comb through reams of data to improve their models.  AQR, whose founders Asness and Liew were schooled under the University of Chicago's efficient market Nobel Laureate economist Eugene Fama, was late to the AI party compared to peers like Renaissance Technologies and D.E. Shaw. AQR hired its first head of machine learning in 2018, and that person lasted just seven months in the job. But his replacement, Brian Kelly, a Yale finance professor, has made a big splash. In December 2021, Kelly co-published a 141-page academic paper, The Virtue of Complexity in Return Prediction, which concluded that more sophisticated machine learning models outperformed simpler models in forecasting stock returns and constructing investment portfolios. Several academics wrote their own papers in response that disputed Kelly's findings saying that the research relied on an overly narrow dataset. AQR has defended the paper and continues to stand by its findings.  More recently, Asness himself has taken up the mantle of AI evangelizer-in-chief. He remarked that AQR has “surrendered more to the machine” and that AI was coming for his own job. Despite all the talk, AQR insiders insist AI has not extinguished human input. “ML and AI are definitely paying dividends in our process, but they're evolutionary, not revolutionary, to what we do,” says a person at the company. To wit, the revolutionary stuff appears to be happening in the less sexy distribution side of the business, where AQR is meeting rising demand from financial advisors seeking tax-friendly funds for their wealthy clients. This category of investor—rather than AQR's traditional institutional client base like pension funds and endowments—is now its largest source of inflows. The CEO of Affiliated Managers Group, which owns a minority stake in AQR, said during last month's earnings call that AQR's advisory client base is “driving significant organic growth,” and that its own full-year net inflows of $51 billion were “primarily driven by AQR.”  Read the full story on Forbes: By John Hyatt https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnhyatt/2026/03/16/how-3-billionaire-investors-used-ai-to-double-their-fortunes-in-a-year/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Justice Department is investigating the National Football League over alleged anticompetitive practices that harm consumers, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday citing anonymous sources familiar with the probe, although the exact scope of the investigation was not immediately clear and not confirmed by investigators or the league. KEY FACTS Both Republicans and Democrats in Congress have written to federal regulators, including the DoJ and the Federal Communications Commission, in recent months detailing high costs placed on consumers due to the NFL's exclusive deals with streaming platforms and cable channels. The NFL has historically been protected from some antitrust regulation by the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961. Both the Justice Department and the NFL declined to comment on the Journal's report, and neither organization immediately returned a request for comment from Forbes. KEY BACKGROUND In March, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, asked the Justice Department to examine the NFL's practice of simultaneously licensing the rights to broadcast games to “subscription streaming platforms, premium cable networks, and technology companies.” The Utah senator said this practice might no longer be protected as “sponsored telecasting” of games as protected in the Sports Broadcasting Act, which was written when games were only available on broadcast television available to all. According to Lee's letter, a person who wanted to watch every NFL game last season would have had to pay almost $1,000 on various cable and streaming service subscriptions, as well as fees for high-speed internet or satellite connections. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rep. Patrick Ryan, D-N.Y., sent their own letter to the FCC in April, asking regulators to examine whether acquisitions and “forced bundling” have forced consumers to pay higher prices for packages including games they don't want. Read the full story on Forbes: By Zachary Folk https://www.forbes.com/sites/zacharyfolk/2026/04/09/federal-investigators-probing-nfl-for-alleged-anticompetitive-practices-report-says/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Delta is raising fees for checked luggage this week, according to a statement from the company sent to Forbes on Tuesday—as it seeks to cover the increase in jet fuel prices driven by the U.S. war in Iran. Key Facts Delta will increase the fees for a first and second item of checked baggage by $10, pushing prices to $45 and $55, respectively. The airline is also planning to hike the fees for a third item by $50, meaning customers will pay $200 if they take three bags. The new prices “reflect the impact of evolving global conditions and industry dynamics,” Delta spokesperson Chelsea Wollerson said in a statement sent to Forbes on Tuesday. The price increases will begin for tickets purchased on or after Wednesday. The pricing changes only apply to domestic flights and some select short-haul international flights, according to the company. Other Airlines Raise Luggage Fees Delta is the third U.S. airline to announce price increases for baggage as oil disruptions related to the Iran war continue to impact air travel. United announced a similar price hike last week, also raising prices for checked bags by $10. JetBlue also announced changes to their checked baggage fees last week, raising fees for off-peak travel by $4 and peak travel by $9. Key Background Jet fuel prices have skyrocketed in the last few weeks due to the ongoing war in Iran. After the U.S. and Israel began a campaign of air strikes against the country on Feb. 28, Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that separates it from the Arabian Peninsula. About 20 million barrels of oil per day passed through the strait in 2025, according to the International Energy Association, or about 25% of the world's oil transported by sea. The closure has caused prices for oil and petroleum products like jet fuel to spike. The average price of jet fuel reached $4.69 per gallon on Monday, according to data compiled by aviation trade group Airlines for America—up from $2.50 per gallon on Feb. 27, one day before the war began. Read the full story on Forbes: By Zachary Folk https://www.forbes.com/sites/zacharyfolk/2026/04/07/delta-raises-fees-for-checked-bags-as-iran-war-spikes-jet-fuel-prices/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Follow Topline Coreweave shares popped 13% after announcing a deal with Anthropic on Friday to power its AI model Claude, following a $21 billion partnership with Meta announced Thursday. KEY FACTS Financial terms of the multi-year Anthropic agreement were not disclosed, though the deal marks the ninth of ten leading AI providers—including OpenAI, Google, Microsoft and Meta—using CoreWeave's platform, according to a Friday press release. The Anthropic news comes one day after CoreWeave announced a $21 billion deal to supply Meta with AI cloud capacity through December 2032, delivered from multiple data centers powered in part by Nvidia chips.  The back-to-back announcements pushed CoreWeave's total contracted commitments with Meta alone to $35 billion, with the new Meta pact building on a prior $14.2 billion arrangement. Anthropic is the latest AI model developer to become a customer, highlighting the scramble among tech companies to secure more hardware, processing power and energy—key for training and deploying increasingly complex AI models. KEY BACKGROUND CoreWeave primarily generates revenue by building and renting out data centers packed with Nvidia GPUs that provide the energy and processing power to train and run AI models. Demand for infrastructure to develop AI has exploded since the release of ChatGPT in 2022, with Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta and Amazon committing a combined $700 billion just this year in a race to build the most sophisticated and advanced models. On Tuesday, Anthropic announced that its leaked Mythos model was so powerful that they would be holding back from releasing it to the public because of its ability to find vulnerabilities in software programs. The Claude maker said it would instead provide the model to 40 select companies including Apple, Amazon, Google and Microsoft in a cybersecurity initiative dubbed Project Glasswing. Anthropic was founded in 2021 by siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei and several former OpenAI employees who departed the ChatGPT maker over concerns about the company's direction with AI safety. Anthropic is now valued at $380 billion and announced it had reached an annual revenue run rate of $30 billion Monday, surpassing OpenAI's $25 billion annualizedrevenue as of February. OpenAI is now valued at $852 billion.  BIG NUMBER $2.5 trillion. That's how much research firm Gartner expects global spend to build AI will reach in 2026, up 44% from last year. AI infrastructure will drive the spend, making up more than half of that figure, the firm estimates. TANGENT The deals come as CoreWeave is simultaneously on an aggressive financing spree. The company is targeting $30 billion to $35 billion in capital expenditures for 2026, up from roughly $15 billion in 2025. Billionaire CEO Mike Intrator defended the spending strategy after the company's February earnings report drew criticism for the increase. "I understand the concerns that people have as they see us allocating a massive scale of money to this market, but the truth of the matter is, our backlog is enormous," he told CNBC at the time. Since going public in March 2025, the stock is up 160%, but is down nearly 45% from its peak last June. This year, the stock has been volatile, up 30% since January. Read the full story on Forbes: By Alicia Park https://www.forbes.com/sites/aliciapark/2026/04/10/coreweave-stock-surges-13-on-anthropic-deal-a-day-after-21-billion-meta-partnership/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Meta released Muse Spark, previously named Avocado, on Wednesday, the much-anticipated—and delayed—first large language mode under AI chief Alexandr Wang, sending Meta shares soaring as the company seeks to catch up to industry AI giants OpenAI, Google and Anthropic. KEY FACTS The AI model is available on Meta's AI website and its app, with the company claiming it can carry out the same actions as its previous model, Llama 4 Maverick, with less computing power. Muse Spark is Meta's first AI model under Wang, a billionaire tech entrepreneur who Meta brought on as its chief AI officer after investing $14.3 billion into his company, Scale AI. Meta shares jumped as high as 9% on Wednesday following the announcement, erasing a string of losses recorded in late March. The release of Muse Spark comes after a delay reportedly caused after the AI model failed to outperform rival models developed by Google, OpenAI and Anthropic in benchmark tests. A comparison table in Meta's announcement claims Muse Spark can compete with or outperform rival AI models in various benchmarks. BIG NUMBER $135 billion. That is how much money Meta expects to spend on AI this year, nearly double what it spent in 2025. FORBES VALUATION We estimate Wang's net worth at $3.2 billion. The entrepreneur was the world's youngest self-made billionaire until October 2025, when Polymarket founder Shayne Coplan took over the title. TANGENT Meta is in the thick of litigation accusing it of designing addictive apps harmful to children and was recently ordered to pay $375 million in damages after a New Mexico jury ruled that the company enabled child exploitation on its platforms. A California jury also found Meta liable in a landmark social media addiction case, forcing the company to pay $3 million in damages to a woman who accused it of intentionally designing its apps to be addictive to children. Read the full story on By Antonio Pequeño IV Forbes:https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2026/04/08/meta-shares-spike-after-tech-giant-launches-muse-spark-its-ai-bid-against-openai-google/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Donald Trump is considering moving U.S. troops from North Atlantic Treaty Organization members that have not backed the war against Iran and moving them to more supportive countries, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, while he also mulls trying to withdraw the U.S. from NATO altogether. KEY FACTS The proposal would involve removing American troops stationed in countries Trump believes were not supportive of the U.S. and Israel's war with Iran and moving them to countries deemed helpful amid the conflict, the Journal reported. The potential punishment against some NATO members is one of several being circulated in the White House, according to the Journal. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who met with Trump in a closed-door meeting Wednesday, did not speak to the validity of the Journal's report in an interview with CNN, remaining tight-lipped and saying he had a very “frank” and “open discussion” with Trump. Trump and Rutte's meeting came after Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump has considered withdrawing from NATO, the 32-member alliance that acts as a collective military defense for the countries under its banner. But Trump cannot unilaterally withdraw the U.S. from NATO under a 2023 law that says withdrawal requires a two-thirds Senate approval (right now, including at least 14 Democrats supporting it) or a formal act of Congress. That law was co-sponsored by then Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Trump's secretary of state, who recently told Fox News that after the war with Iran, “we are going to have to reexamine” the U.S. relationship with NATO. TANGENT The U.S. and Iran reached a ceasefire agreement Tuesday night, with Trump saying the two countries would “work closely” to establish a regime change and remove nuclear materials. The agreement was reached after Trump threatened strikes on civilian infrastructure alongside a statement in which he said “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.” Iran accused the U.S. of breaking the ceasefire after Israel conducted bombings in Lebanon. Trump and Vice President JD Vance claimed Iran misunderstood the terms of the ceasefire and that Lebanon was not included within it. WHAT NATO COUNTRIES HAVE BACKED TRUMP'S WAR ON IRAN? Canada, the Czech Republic, Albania, North Macedonia, Lithuania and Latvia are the only NATO countries to issue letters of support for the strikes the U.S. and Israel have carried out against Iran. Read the full story on Forbes: By Antonio Pequeño IV https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2026/04/08/trump-mulls-pulling-us-troops-out-of-nato-countries-opposing-iran-war-report-says/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nintendo's new “Pokémon Champions” game is facing a negative response from fans who say the graphics are poor and the gameplay is limited, a stark reversal from the acclaimed “Pokémon Pokopia” game it released just weeks ago, as Nintendo erases the gains “Pokopia” helped its stock make. Key Facts Nintendo and The Pokémon Company released “Pokémon Champions” on Wednesday for Switch and Switch 2 devices, with a forthcoming mobile game slated to release sometime later this year.  Unlike most “Pokémon” franchise games, “Champions” is free to download for Switch devices but offers in-game purchases. But the fan response to “Champions” appears mixed-to-negative so far, with plenty of posts on X and the Pokémon subreddit describing poor graphics quality, a limited selection of Pokémon to use and other apparent glitches and gameplay limitations.  Nintendo released “Champions” as it loses most of the stock gains it made following the release of “Pokopia,” which sold 2 million copies in four days and earned strong reviews, lifting Nintendo's share price nearly 20%. Nintendo's stock closed at its lowest level in a month in Tokyo markets on Wednesday, sliding more than 1.5% from the day prior. What Are Fans Saying About “pokémon Champions”? A primary complaint among “Pokémon” fans is the graphics on “Champions” are allegedly poor. Many fans complained the game appears to run on a 30 frames-per-second rate, slower than previous games like “Pokopia,” which reports say can run close to 60 fps. Some players reported bugs with transferring their Pokémon from the Pokémon Home app, and other gamers made posts on Reddit and X reporting what appear to be gameplay glitches. Fans also complained the game does not support the standard 6 vs. 6 battle format, in which a player and their opponent both use a full team of six Pokémon to battle one another. The game instead supports using three or four Pokémon in single or double battles. Kenneth Shepard, a writer for gaming publication Kotaku, wrote he is “astounded by the limitations” the game is placing on battling, saying it is “constricting competitive play in a way” the Pokémon series has not before. Some negative posts about “Champions” garnered attention on social media. “How many months did we wait for to get a functionally worse game?” one user posted on X alongside a video depicting an apparent in-game glitch, garnering 3 million views and 18,000 likes. Centro Leaks, a widely followed social media account that posts Pokémon news and rumors, called the game's launch “TERRIBLE” in a post listing multiple alleged flaws, garnering 23,000 likes.  Key Background The release of the tepidly received “Champions” comes just weeks after Nintendo released its best-reviewed Pokémon game to date. “Pokopia” is the best-reviewed Pokémon game on Metacritic, a video game review aggregator, with a score of 89 out of 100. The game usurped the title from “Pokemon Y,” which was released for 3DS consoles in 2013. Some gamers noted the apparent irony of Nintendo releasing a well-received and a poorly received game back-to-back. “The Pokémon Company had to balance the scales somehow after getting all that goodwill from Pokopia's success,” a top comment on Reddit states. Tangent Other pressures have caused Nintendo's stock price to fall in recent months. Though the success of “Pokopia” gave Nintendo stock a boost after months of decline, Joost van Dreunen, CEO of gaming consulting firm Aldora and professor at New York University's Stern School of Business, previously told Forbes the success of one game wouldn't alleviate other structural concerns like the surging cost of memory chips. Increased demand for RAM memory chips by AI data centers has siphoned supply from consumer products, making these chips more expensive for game manufacturers. The gaming industry was also rocked over the past year by President Donald Trump's tariffs, which hit countries including China and Vietnam—where many gaming devices are manufactured—particularly hard, forcing some gaming companies to raise prices on their flagship consoles. Bloomberg also reported in March that Nintendo would pull back on Switch 2 console manufacturing as demand fell behind expectations during the 2025 holiday season, which caused the company's stock to decline as much as 6% in one day. Read the full story on Forbes: By Conor Murray https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2026/04/08/fans-blast-pokmon-champions-game-as-nintendo-wipes-pokopia-stock-gains/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the World Cup draws closer, hotel associations in host cities tell Forbes they are resigned to seeing a smaller economic lift than FIFA had promised. KEY FACTS The heads of hotel associations in three World Cup host cities—New York City, Philadelphia and San Francisco—told Forbes they have not seen a World Cup surge in demand so far. In recent weeks, FIFA cancelled tens of thousands of reserved rooms in host cities across the U.S., Canada and Mexico. “The tea leaves are showing us that the demand the World Cup was meant to drive isn't materializing, at least right now,” Evan Saunders, senior vice president of travel at the location intelligence firm Azira, told Forbes. CRUCIAL QUOTE “My hunch is the World Cup will be a huge success as a sporting tournament. On TV, the stadiums will appear full or almost full—but that's not necessarily the same thing as a tourism success,” Alan Fyall, associate dean at the University of Central Florida's Rosen College of Hospitality Management, told Forbes.  DEMAND FAILS TO LIVE UP TO FIFA HYPE  Some World Cup host cities are grateful they didn't put all their eggs in the World Cup basket. “Contrary to the massive hype” accompanying FIFA's World Cup announcement a year ago, when the soccer body forecasted millions of international visitors would deliver a $30.5 billion economic boost to the U.S., “demand has certainly not been at anywhere near that level,” Vijay Dandapani, president and CEO of the Hotel Association of New York City, told Forbes, adding that forward hotel bookings in New York for June and July are virtually identical to the same period last year. “Now, could all of that change and we see a rush of business? We all certainly hope so, but hope is not an expectation.” Philadelphia hoteliers “weren't thrilled” when FIFA recently cancelled roughly 2,000 room reservations for the tournament, Ed Grose, president and CEO of the Greater Philadelphia Hotel Association, told Forbes. “But at the same time, there's still a lot going on in Philadelphia this year. We are still hoping for an awesome FIFA World Cup, but even without that, we're still having a banner year” thanks to two citywide conventions hosted while the tournament is taking place. In California's Bay Area, many hotel leaders gauged World Cup demand more conservatively because they remember the last time the U.S. hosted the tournament in 1994, Alex Bastian, president and CEO of the Hotel Council of San Francisco, told Forbes. They tracked team placements and match schedules and “brought a clear understanding of the nuances and the true financial impact of the tournament,” he said, “and as a result, they adopted a more conservative forecasting strategy. That being said, we remain excited about the event, not only for its economic potential but because it will put our city in a global spotlight.” Read the full story on Forbes: By Suzanne Rowan Kelleher https://www.forbes.com/sites/suzannerowankelleher/2026/04/08/hotels-world-cup-economic-boon-not-materializing/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Follow Forbes Talks  Shares of Universal Music Group, the world's largest record label that houses artists like Taylor Swift and Kendrick Lamar, surged early Tuesday after billionaire Bill Ackman's Pershing Square offered to buy the company in a transaction worth about $64 billion. KEY FACTS Shares of UMG are up nearly 10% as of 9 a.m. EST on Tuesday, hours after Ackman's Pershing Square announced a bid to buy the major record label. Pershing Square offered to purchase UMG—which is listed on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange—in a transaction that would value the company at €30.40, or about $35.13, per share, and pay €9.4 billion, or $10.86 billion, in cash to UMG shareholders. The transaction would merge the record label with Pershing Square SPARC Holdings, and it would shift UMG's primary stock listing from Amsterdam to the New York Stock Exchange. Ackman said he is looking to buy UMG because its “stock price has languished due to a combination of issues that are unrelated to the performance of its music business,” citing the postponement of UMG's New York stock listing, uncertainty over billionaire Vincent Bolloré's 18% stake, underutilization of its balance sheet and suboptimal investor relations, among other issues. The deal proposed a new employment contract and compensation agreement for UMG CEO Lucian Grainge, and Ackman said the board would be “refreshed” to include Michael Ovitz, co-founder and former chairman of Creative Arts Agency, as its chair with two additional representatives from Pershing Square and members of the current UMG board. Ackman said the cash portion of the transaction would be funded with about $2.9 billion in cash from Pershing Square, $6.2 billion in debt financing and $1.7 billion from selling UMG's stake in Spotify. BACKGROUND Ackman previously expressed interest in UMG in 2021, vowing to buy a 10% stake in UMG through his SPAC, but he abandoned the deal after pushback from regulators. He purchased a 10% stake instead through Pershing Square, and he sat on the company's board of directors until he resigned in 2025, citing other commitments. While on the board, Ackman pushed for UMG to shift to a New York stock listing, saying in 2024 the company “trades at a large discount to its intrinsic value with limited liquidity in significant part due to it not having its primary listing” in the United States. Ackman noted in a slide deck posted to his X account Tuesday morning UMG's shares are down 39% from its peak two years ago, saying it is “trading near an all-time low.” CHIEF CRITICS Nicolas Marmurek, an analyst at Square Global, told Bloomberg the proposal “looks very much dead from the start” unless Bolloré supports the acquisition. “We doubt Bolloré will accept such terms, and had Bolloré been on board he would be recommending the transaction. This is very much a move by Pershing Square to put the proposal in front of shareholders,” Marmurek said. Read the full story on Forbes: By Conor Murray https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2026/04/07/universal-music-group-shares-surge-after-bill-ackmans-pershing-square-offers-to-purchase-label/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Follow Steve Forbes: What's Ahead  Steve Forbes breaks down the ugly truth about the cost—and efficacy—of alternatives to fossil fuels like windmills and solar panels, which have stifled Europe's economy and will do the same to the U.S. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Trump gave Iran a deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or “all Hell will reign down on them.” Trump's threat comes only hours after Iran rejected a temporary ceasefire proposal, multiple outlets reported. Mojtaba Ferdousi Pour, head of Iran's diplomatic mission in Cairo, told the Associated Press Iran “won't merely accept a ceasefire,” adding, “We can only accept an end of the war with guarantees that we won't be attacked again.” Iran reportedly sent their own peace proposal through Pakistan, multiple outletsreported citing Iranian state media. However, Trump implied the U.S. already rejected this proposal—speaking to reporters at Monday's White House Easter Egg Roll, Trump called Iran's offer “a significant proposal,” but immediately added, “it's not good enough, but it's a very significant step.” Trump also insisted his deadline of Tuesday night at 8 p.m. EDT for Iran to make a ceasefire deal would be his final deadline—one day after threatening the country's power plants and bridges. Trump also claimed the U.S. was “obliterating” Iran, and said, “they just don't want to say ‘uncle,' they don't want to cry as the expression goes, ‘uncle,' but they will,” adding that if they don't, “they will have no bridges, they will have no power plant, they will have no anything.” Read the full story on Forbes: By Ty Roush http://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2026/04/06/iran-rejects-trumps-ceasefire-proposal-as-deadline-nears/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

AI can multiply your output. It can save you hours. It can handle the tasks that drain your energy and steal your focus. But some things should stay yours. Forbes Contributor Jodie Cook examines the strategic boundaries of artificial intelligence for entrepreneurs and addresses the core question of which business tasks must remain human-led. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Follow Forbes Talks How can entrepreneurs gain big-company capabilities without the massive overhead? Forbes Contributor Jodie Cook reveals the playbook for leveraging AI to replicate large-organization functions like marketing and finance. Learn how to focus human resources on competitive advantages and use speed as a weapon. Whether you're looking to grow your brand, wondering how to turn your side-hustle into a business, or hoping to make changes to your personal finance strategy, Forbes Leadership Lessons is here to help. Industry leaders will teach you how to tackle everything you need in order to navigate and succeed in the business world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Follow Forbes Talks  Everyone has an opinion, but Forbes has the answer: $6.5 billion, according to our most recent tally, updated in March. Trump added $1.4 billion over the past year, leveraging the presidency for profit. Trump's Cryptocurrency and Liquid Assets: $2.1 billion FORBES ESTIMATE AS OF MARCH 2026 Spencer Platt/Getty Images The president is flush with cash, having collected hundreds of millions from cryptocurrency sales and an estimated $200 million more, after tax, from selling a chunk of one venture, reportedly to an Emirati royal. Those earnings added to a stockpile he had already been accumulating by selling his Washington, D.C. hotel and refinancing a San Francisco office complex. Trump launched a memecoin days before his second term began, capitalizing on the buzz surrounding his inauguration. A portion of his coins now unlock on a daily basis, though their value has fallen by almost 70% since a year ago.  The Trump family's primary crypto project, World Liberty Financial, got off to a rocky start. Things accelerated after Trump won the election and Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a United Arab Emirates royal, reportedly arranged a purchase of almost half the company in January. Buyers have now snapped up more than $1 billion of tokens. The Trump family kept a pile for themselves, which Forbes discounts while they remain locked up. World Liberty Financial also launched a stablecoin, USD1, which ties to the dollar and allows people to make crypto transactions with limited volatility. It's not a new idea. “Everybody can mint a stablecoin,” says Matt Zhang, the founder of digital-asset firm Hivemind. “The difficult part is how you drive adoption.” A firm created by the UAE's president offered some help to Trump's venture, agreeing to use USD1 to make a $2 billion investment in a major crypto exchange. A publicly traded firm named Alt5 purchased a bundle of World Liberty tokens in August 2025. The deal left the Trump family with a bunch of cash and World Liberty with a small stake in Alt5. From a financial standpoint, Trump's social media venture is one of the most absurd businesses in America, generating sales of just $3.7 million in 2025 and recording a net loss of $712 million. The company is scrambling to find a business model: It became a Bitcoin treasury in May, announced a merger with a fusion power company in December and published potential plans to spin off Truth Social in February. Thanks to Trump-loving traders, shares remain at head-scratching levels, but have lost over 80% of their value since the company went public, driving down the value of the president's stake.  Trump's golf game took off after he left the White House the first time. Estimated operating profits at his clubs jumped from $19 million in 2020 to $66 million in 2024. The private club has benefited from politics more than any other property, something Trump foreshadowed in a 2016 deposition. “The manager told me recently, he said, ‘Boy, it is actually the best year we've ever had at Mar-a-Lago.' And I was looking at the numbers. I said, ‘What do you attribute this to?' He said, ‘The campaign.'” Since then, business has only gotten stronger. The indebted Florida golf resort lost much of its northeastern clientele after Trump got into politics, nearly putting it underwater. But plenty of new customers arrived in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, pushing estimated profits to $25 million, double their best year during Trump's first term. Liquid assetsNet value: $1.3BMemecoin tokensNet value: $393MWorld Liberty Financial tokensNet value: $175MStablecoin BusinessNet value: $242MAlt5Net value: $400,000Truth Social's Parent Company: $1.2 billionFORBES ESTIMATE AS OF MARCH 1, 2026Trump Media and Technology GroupNet Value: $1.2B

Follow Steve Forbes: What's Ahead  Steve Forbes breaks down the three critical tests facing the U.S.—the Iranian nuclear threat, China's ambition to take over Taiwan, Russia's war in Ukraine,—and explains what President Trump must to do ensure U.S. and global security. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Follow The Enterprise Zone  Detroit is the starting point for a national movement if Usher Raymond IV gets his way. The Multi-Grammy-Award-winning artist is issuing a direct challenge to global entrepreneurs and local leaders: stop "taking" from cities and instead match his seed investment to uplift the creators of tomorrow exactly where they are today. This landmark $1 million partnership with the Boys and Girls Club inside the historic Michigan Central station serves as a first-of-its-kind model for "Participation over Preparation." The 15,000-square-foot space, which opened last month, is inside The Station at Michigan Central. The entire fifth floor is dedicated to young creators interested in digital content, fashion, film, video production, and music. For Usher and fellow Boys & Girls Club alum Big Sean, this hub is a calculated rejection of traditional gentrification. The goal is not to encourage children to leave their hometowns to find success, but to provide them with world-class tools—from virtual production studios and special effects labs to autonomous drone training—to build massive businesses within their own neighborhoods. This tall task aims to impact one million Black creators by 2050 and scale to 500 hubs nationwide, proving that when you invest in local "opportunity zones" with authentic mentorship, you don't just change a life—you help shape a city's future. Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1 Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more: https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes: http://forbes.com Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Follow Steve Forbes: What's Ahead  Steve Forbes celebrates the 250th anniversary of Adam Smith's “The Wealth of Nations” and encourages today's leaders to heed its timeless principles of prosperity, low taxes, free trade, stable money anchored by gold. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Follow Forbes Talks  Who are the top 10 richest people in the world? 1. Elon Musk  2. Larry Page  3. Jeff Bezos (up from No. 4)  4. Sergey Brin (down from No. 3) 5. Mark Zuckerberg  6. Larry Ellison  7. Jensen Huang (up from No. 8)  8. Michael Dell (up from No. 13) 9. Rob Walton (up from No. 11)  10. Bernard Arnault (down from No. 7) March wasn't the best month to be a billionaire, as both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq sank by nearly 5% amid the Iran war. Nine of the world's ten richest people enter April poorer than they were at the beginning of March. As a group, their fortunes fell by more than $100 billion combined to a total of $2.5 trillion, as of April 1 at 12 a.m. Eastern time.  Even more notable is the shake up at the top, as only four members of last month's top 10 held onto their same ranks including the world's richest person Elon Musk and no. 2 Sergey Brin. Despite their ranks holding steady, Musk and Page were two of five top 10 members who lost at least $20 billion in the past month. Musk's fortune fell by $22 billion to $817 billion. He's still more than three times as rich as his runner-up, Page, whose fortune sank by $20 billion to $237 billion.  The biggest loser was Frenchman Bernard Arnault of luxury goods conglomerate LVMH, who dropped from No. 7 to No. 10, as his fortune sank by $28 billion, to $142.5 billion. Another big loser was Spanish fast fashion mogul Amancio Ortega, who tumbled from No. 10 to No. 14, as his fortune plunged by $20 billion, to $128 billion. Warren Buffett also fell out of the top 10, sliding from No. 9 to No. 11, as his net worth fell by $7 billion to $142 billion. Walmart heir Rob Walton lost $3 billion but nevertheless jumped into the top 10 for the first time in at least three years. The other new face in this month's top 10 (and the only gainer) was PC mogul Michael Dell, who climbed from No. 13 to No. 8, as his fortune inched upward by $2 billion to $143.1 billion.  Jeff Bezos also moved up, to No. 3 for the first time since October, as his fortune dipped by a relatively modest $1 billion to $223 billion. He swapped places with Google cofounder Sergey Brin, who dropped to No. 4 for the first time since January, as his net worth fell by $18 billion to $219 billion.  Forbes has been tracking the world's billionaires since 1987. In March 2026, we found 3,428 of them for our annual list. Below are the 10 richest people on earth as of April 1, 2026 at 12 a.m. Eastern time, according to Forbes. Stock prices fluctuate routinely, so these net worths typically change on a daily basis. Forbes tracks the daily changes on our Real Time list of billionaires. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeswealthteam/article/the-top-ten-richest-people-in-the-world/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Follow Forbes Talks Tesla on Thursday reported quarterly vehicle deliveries that fell below Wall Street's expectations, the latest sign of a disrupted electric vehicle market as Elon Musk's automaker shifts its focus toward robotaxis and humanoid robots. Key Facts Tesla said Thursday it delivered just over 358,000 vehicles in the first quarter, below the automaker's compiled consensus of 365,645 and consensus analyst projections of 381,000, according to FactSet. That marks a 14.3% decline from the December quarter (418,227), but a 6.2% year-over-year growth from Q1 2025 (337,000), when Tesla reported its fewest quarterly vehicle deliveries since 2022. Model 3 and Y vehicles accounted for nearly 342,000 of Tesla's quarterly deliveries, down nearly 19% from the previous quarter (406,585). Shares of Tesla declined 3.4% shortly after trading opened on Thursday. What To Watch For Tesla will report Q1 earnings after market close on April 22, the company said. The automaker is expected to report quarterly revenue of $22.9 billion and $0.41 earnings per share, representing what would be annual growth of 18.6% and nearly 52%, respectively. Key Background Tesla's vehicle delivery reports are often cited as insight into the automaker's sales ahead of its earnings reports. The latest quarterly slide in deliveries follows a broader decline in electric vehicle demand: EVs represented roughly 12% of the U.S. market in September, an all-time high, but that dropped to 6% by January, according to Cox Automotive. Tesla remains the market leader in the U.S., however, even as it faces growing competition from Chinese automaker BYD, which surpassed Tesla as the world's largest EV maker. Musk said in January the company would end production of its flagship Model S and Model X cars, announcing Tesla would use its production line in Fremont, California, to manufacture the company's Optimus humanoid robots. Earlier this week, Musk said orders for the S and X vehicles had “come to an end.” Forbes Valuation Musk is by far the world's richest person, with an estimated net worth of $823.8 billion as of Thursday. He's expected to soon become the world's first trillionaire, after his SpaceX filed confidentially for an IPO on Wednesday, leading the way for what will likely be the largest-ever market debut. Musk, who owns about 43% of SpaceX, would become the first person to be chief executive of two companies valued at $1 trillion after the aerospace firm's listing. Read the full story on Forbes: By Ty Roush https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2026/04/02/tesla-misses-vehicle-delivery-estimates-as-ev-market-struggles/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Follow Forbes Talks Jane Goodall, renowned humanitarian and conservationist, would have turned 92 years old on April 3. She passed away in October 2025, but in honor of her legacy, the environmental nonprofit she founded, the Jane Goodall Institute, has made April 3 "Jane Goodall Day." JGI executive director Anna Rathmann joined ForbesWomen editor Maggie McGrath to share the goals of Jane Goodall Day and what she wants everyone to know about Jane's legacy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Follow Forbes Talks Topline Elon Musk may soon become the first person to have a net worth exceeding $1 trillion, as SpaceX's anticipated stock market debut is on the way after the aerospace firm filed for an IPO on Wednesday. Key Facts SpaceX submitted confidential IPO registration to the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to multiple reports, meaning the documentation is only available to regulators. Additional information about SpaceX's IPO, including the number of shares to be sold and a price range, will be disclosed in a later filing. Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley are leading the offering, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. With an expected listing in June, the public offering is estimated to value SpaceX at $1.75 trillion and raise $75 billion, which would more than double Saudi Aramco's $29 billion debut in 2019 as the largest-ever IPO. SpaceX acquired Musk's artificial intelligence startup xAI in February, consolidating two of his companies in a deal that valued the combined entity at an estimated $1.25 trillion. SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Forbes. Surprising FactOnce SpaceX's listing debuts, Musk will likely become the first person to be chief executive of two companies valued at $1 trillion. His Tesla has a market valuation of $1.4 trillion as of Wednesday. Read the full story on Forbes: Ty Roush https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2026/04/01/musk-closer-to-trillionaire-status-spacex-reportedly-files-for-ipo/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Follow Forbes Talks Elon Musk may soon become the first person to have a net worth exceeding $1 trillion, as SpaceX's anticipated stock market debut is on the way after the aerospace firm filed for an IPO on Wednesday. Key Facts SpaceX submitted confidential IPO registration to the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to multiple reports, meaning the documentation is only available to regulators. Additional information about SpaceX's IPO, including the number of shares to be sold and a price range, will be disclosed in a later filing. Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley are leading the offering, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. With an expected listing in June, the public offering is estimated to value SpaceX at $1.75 trillion and raise $75 billion, which would more than double Saudi Aramco's $29 billion debut in 2019 as the largest-ever IPO. SpaceX acquired Musk's artificial intelligence startup xAI in February, consolidating two of his companies in a deal that valued the combined entity at an estimated $1.25 trillion. SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Forbes. Surprising Fact Once SpaceX's listing debuts, Musk will likely become the first person to be chief executive of two companies valued at $1 trillion. His Tesla has a market valuation of $1.4 trillion as of Wednesday. Forbes Valuation Musk is the wealthiest person in the world with an estimated net worth of $824.3 billion as of Wednesday. He became the first person to be worth $400 billion in 2024, and his fortune crossed the $500 billion, $600 billion, $700 billion, and $800 billion thresholds in 2025 and 2026, respectively. Musk holds an estimated 43% stake in SpaceX, which would all but guarantee his net worth rising above $1 trillion. Even before SpaceX's IPO, Tesla shareholders approved a compensation package for Musk in November that could be worth close to $1 trillion, but requires the automaker to achieve several goals over the next decade. Read the full story on Forbes: ByTy Roush https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2026/04/01/musk-closer-to-trillionaire-status-spacex-reportedly-files-for-ipo/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Follow Forbes Talks Topline With gas prices hitting the $4-a-gallon “psychological wall,” many Americans may opt for a staycation this year. Key Facts On Tuesday, the average price of gasoline in the U.S. topped $4 per gallon for the first time since 2022.  Traditionally, between 85% and 90% of Americans drive to their summer vacation destinations rather than fly, according to AAA data. “Unless the administration figures this out very rapidly, we are probably coming up on the point of no return for the first four weeks of the summer driving season,” Patrick De Haan, GasBuddy's head of petroleum analysis, told Forbes.  A recent Yahoo/YouGov survey shows two-thirds (66%) of Americans disapprove of the way President Donald Trump is handling gas prices. An AP-NORC survey fielded this month shows 45% of Americans are “extremely” or “very” worried about being able to afford gas in the next few months, compared to 30% in December 2024, shortly after Trump was elected to his second term. Why Higher Gas May Play Differently This Year Than In 2022The $4-per-gallon milestone is a “psychological wall,” De Haan noted in a recent social media post. Gas stations will even sacrifice their margin to stay at $3.99 “because they know how consumers react.” He warned against drawing any parallels to August 2022, when travel demand soared despite gas prices hitting $4 per gallon. “That was an abnormal year for the fact that Americans, after two years of Covid lockdowns and other impediments, had a very different tone in wanting to get out, and they were not going to be deterred by higher energy prices,” De Haan told Forbes. “Whereas now I don't view that there's enough optimism in the economy for Americans to be able to weather the higher prices.” Read the full story on Forbes: By Suzanne Rowan Kelleher https://www.forbes.com/sites/suzannerowankelleher/2026/03/31/gas-prices-psychological-wall-summer-vacations/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

OpenAI raised $122 billion in its latest funding round, the artificial intelligence giant announced Tuesday, bringing its post-money valuation to $852 billion. KEY FACTS The funding round was backed by OpenAI partners such as Amazon, Nvidia, Microsoft and SoftBank, according to the announcement. The latest valuation for the company comes a little more than a month after it announced $110 billion in funding at a $730 billion valuation. OpenAI opened this month's funding round to individual investors, who raised over $3 billion. BIG NUMBER $2 billion. That is how much money OpenAI is raking in every month, according to Tuesday's announcement. Last year, it made $13.1 billion in revenue.  SURPRISING FACT OpenAI is not yet profitable despite its strong revenue numbers. The company is burning money on operating costs driven by expenditures from training AI models and creating infrastructure. OpenAI will spend half a trillion dollars by 2030 if it maintains its current pace, according to The Guardian. KEY BACKGROUND OpenAI is leading the funding race against its competitors by hundreds of billions of dollars. Anthropic announced in January it raised $25 billion, bringing its valuation to $350 billion. Elon Musk's xAI reached a $230 billion valuation that same month, though its acquisition of SpaceX brought the number up to $250 billion. OpenAI is on its way to reaching valuations held by tech giants like Meta, which boasted a $1.4 trillion market capitalization as of Tuesday. OpenAI is preparing for an initial public offering by the end of 2026, according to CNBC, which reported on an all-hands meeting in which company officials discussed taking ChatGPT from a casual chatbot for users to a more serious AI assistant used for carrying out tasks. Read the full story on Forbes: By Antonio Pequeño IV https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2026/03/31/openai-valuation-reaches-852-billion-after-massive-funding-round/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over the last two decades, tracking “cookies” have been core to the sprawl of surveillance capitalism. Websites lodge little nuggets of text—the cookies—on a user's computer and they act as a kind of badge signalling what sites they've visited or what apps they've used. Though little discussed in privacy circles today, and despite European laws that ensure people have control over what kinds of cookies can monitor them, these trackers continue to follow users the world over. That makes them a useful tool for law enforcement, according to two search warrants reviewed by Forbes. In August 2025, a man called the Hamilton County Courthouse in Ohio and told staff there was a bomb inside the building. Security staff searched the premises with sniffer dogs, but found nothing. They determined it was a hoax. The search warrants say that investigators linked the caller with an anonymous Gmail email. Investigators then asked Google to disclose what other users had accessed this account. That's where Google's cookies proved crucial. The cookies showed that a single iPhone had been used for both the Google account linked to the hoax, and another Google account, which a user registered with their real identity. The cops had a name, Don'tavius Conley, who has now been charged with transmission of a bomb threat, and false information and hoaxes. He has pleaded not guilty. The case shows how police can unmask anonymous Gmail users if they're running multiple accounts on the same device. It also highlights how police can piggyback on tech giants' tracking mechanisms like cookies. Google hadn't responded to a request for comment. Though law enforcement often uses Google data to learn more about the subject of an investigation, they usually seek information like locations and email content. Identifying an anonymous suspect via cookies is rare, but has likely happened in other cases, says Jennifer Lynch, general counsel at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. “I haven't seen police rely on cookies in this manner before, but that certainly doesn't mean they haven't done so,” Lynch says. “It seems like the police knew that was possible and asked specifically for this information.” Read the full story on Forbes: By Thomas Brewster   Senior writer at Forbes covering cybercrime, privacy and surveillance for The Wiretap https://www.forbes.com/sites/the-wiretap/2026/03/24/google-cookies-help-cops-identify-anonymous-users/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oracle on Tuesday conducted a round of layoffs affecting thousands of employees, citing “current business needs,” according to multiple reports, resulting in a rise in the software maker's stock as it plans to ramp up spending on AI this year. KEY FACTS Oracle notified thousands of employees they would be cut on Tuesday, CNBC reported, citing people familiar with the move. It's not immediately clear why the employees were let go, though a company memo obtained by Business Insider cited “careful consideration of current business needs.” Oracle employed 162,000 people as of May 2025, the last time the company reported employment figures, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Shares of Oracle rose by 2.5% as of noon Tuesday, marking positive traction for the stock that has declined more than 27% this year. An Oracle spokesperson declined to comment on the layoffs to Forbes. Read the full story on Forbes: ByTy Roush https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2026/03/31/oracle-fires-thousands-of-employees-as-ai-spending-ramps-up-shares-rise-2/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers deployed at airports across the United States are collecting a paycheck, even as they face criticism for being untrained to patrol airports—while Transportation Security Administration workers have gone more than a month without pay. KEY FACTS The ICE agent base salary ranges from about $52,000 to $84,000, according to a job posting for deportation officers on a U.S. government job portal, which can vary due to geographic location and experience. Despite a partial government shutdown that impacts the Department of Homeland Security, ICE agents are still being paid through a $75 billion sum allocated to ICE through the One Big Beautiful Bill last year, which made it the highest-funded federal law enforcement agency. ICE has previously used the huge spike in funding for a hiring blitz: Aside from base salaries, ICE has offered student loan forgiveness, overtime pay, enhanced retirement benefits and signing bonuses of up to $50,000. TSA agents appear to earn a comparatively lower salary, with pay starting at about $40,000 annually, with agents averaging “anywhere from $60,000 to $75,000” as they gain experience, a DHS spokesperson told Business Insider. Read the full story on Forbes: By Conor Murray https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2026/03/24/heres-how-much-ice-agents-at-airports-may-be-making-as-tsa-goes-unpaid/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Donald Trump seemed to preemptively attack Supreme Court justices as “stupid” and “dumb”—ignoring a warning from Justice John Roberts about “dangerous” rhetoric—as they prepare to hear oral arguments Wednesday in a landmark case challenging Trump's executive order limiting birthright citizenship. Key Facts The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Wednesday in Trump v. Barbara, a case concerning the legality of Trump's executive order saying babies born in the U.S. cannot be citizens if their parents aren't U.S. citizens or permanent residents themselves. Trump claimed Monday morning the U.S. is “the only Country in the World that dignifies” the topic of birthright citizenship “with even discussion”—which is false—and expressed pessimism the Supreme Court would rule in his favor, after the court previously ruled against his signature tariff policy. Other countries are “laughing at how STUPID our U.S. Court System has become” while taking advantage of U.S. citizenship by birth, Trump claimed on Truth Social, adding, “Dumb Judges and Justices will not a great Country make!” The 14th Amendment grants citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof,” which has long been interpreted as guaranteeing citizenship by birth in nearly all cases, except for children of foreign diplomats or enemy soldiers. The Trump administration has adopted a novel legal theory claiming children of undocumented immigrants or temporary U.S. residents are not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the U.S., with Trump's executive order stating children born in the U.S. are not citizens unless at least one of their parents is a citizen or permanent resident at the time of their birth. Parents and children impacted by the decision, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, have challenged the order in court, arguing it's unlawful and the court should affirm the 14th Amendment guarantees citizenship to children even when their parents aren't permanent residents or citizens. What To Watch For The court will hear oral arguments Wednesday in the birthright citizenship case and issue a ruling in the coming months, sometime before the court's term ends in late June. Trump's order limiting birthright citizenship is not in effect while the court is deliberating, meaning babies born in the U.S. to temporary or undocumented immigrants will still be granted citizenship at least until the court rules. Big Number 255,000. That's the approximate number of babies who would be affected by Trump's executive order each year if it takes effect, according to the Migration Policy Institute and Penn State's Population Research Institute.  Surprising Fact Trump's order limiting birthright citizenship is part of the president's broader crackdown on undocumented immigration. If it takes effect, the Migration Policy Institute projects the number of undocumented immigrants would significantly increase, however, estimating there would be an additional 2.7 million by 2045 and 5.4 million by 2075. Do Other Countries Have Birthright Citizenship? Yes. While Trump has claimed birthright citizenship is unique to the U.S., nearly 40 other countries have policies guaranteeing citizenship to people who are born there. Countries with birthright citizenship policies are largely concentrated in North, Central and South America and include Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Canada, Ecuador, Mexico, Pakistan and Venezuela, among others. Read the full story on Forbes: ByAlison Durkee https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2026/03/30/trump-slams-stupid-supreme-court-ahead-of-birthright-citizenship-case/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Everyone has an opinion, but Forbes has the answer: $6.5 billion, according to our most recent tally, updated in March. Trump added $1.4 billion over the past year, leveraging the presidency for profit. Trump's Cryptocurrency and Liquid Assets: $2.1 billionFORBES ESTIMATE AS OF MARCH 2026 Spencer Platt/Getty Images The president is flush with cash, having collected hundreds of millions from cryptocurrency sales and an estimated $200 million more, after tax, from selling a chunk of one venture, reportedly to an Emirati royal. Those earnings added to a stockpile he had already been accumulating by selling his Washington, D.C. hotel and refinancing a San Francisco office complex. Trump launched a memecoin days before his second term began, capitalizing on the buzz surrounding his inauguration. A portion of his coins now unlock on a daily basis, though their value has fallen by almost 70% since a year ago.  The Trump family's primary crypto project, World Liberty Financial, got off to a rocky start. Things accelerated after Trump won the election and Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a United Arab Emirates royal, reportedly arranged a purchase of almost half the company in January. Buyers have now snapped up more than $1 billion of tokens. The Trump family kept a pile for themselves, which Forbes discounts while they remain locked up. World Liberty Financial also launched a stablecoin, USD1, which ties to the dollar and allows people to make crypto transactions with limited volatility. It's not a new idea. “Everybody can mint a stablecoin,” says Matt Zhang, the founder of digital-asset firm Hivemind. “The difficult part is how you drive adoption.” A firm created by the UAE's president offered some help to Trump's venture, agreeing to use USD1 to make a $2 billion investment in a major crypto exchange. A publicly traded firm named Alt5 purchased a bundle of World Liberty tokens in August 2025. The deal left the Trump family with a bunch of cash and World Liberty with a small stake in Alt5. From a financial standpoint, Trump's social media venture is one of the most absurd businesses in America, generating sales of just $3.7 million in 2025 and recording a net loss of $712 million. The company is scrambling to find a business model: It became a Bitcoin treasury in May, announced a merger with a fusion power company in December and published potential plans to spin off Truth Social in February. Thanks to Trump-loving traders, shares remain at head-scratching levels, but have lost over 80% of their value since the company went public, driving down the value of the president's stake.  Trump's golf game took off after he left the White House the first time. Estimated operating profits at his clubs jumped from $19 million in 2020 to $66 million in 2024. The private club has benefited from politics more than any other property, something Trump foreshadowed in a 2016 deposition. “The manager told me recently, he said, ‘Boy, it is actually the best year we've ever had at Mar-a-Lago.' And I was looking at the numbers. I said, ‘What do you attribute this to?' He said, ‘The campaign.'” Since then, business has only gotten stronger. The indebted Florida golf resort lost much of its northeastern clientele after Trump got into politics, nearly putting it underwater. But plenty of new customers arrived in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, pushing estimated profits to $25 million, double their best year during Trump's first term. Liquid assetsNet value: $1.3BMemecoin tokensNet value: $393MWorld Liberty Financial tokensNet value: $175MStablecoin BusinessNet value: $242MAlt5Net value: $400,000Truth Social's Parent Company: $1.2 billionFORBES ESTIMATE AS OF MARCH 1, 2026Trump Media and Technology GroupNet Value: $1.2B

A Los Angeles jury found Meta and Google, the parent companies of Instagram and YouTube, liable of negligence by designing a purposefully addictive app that ultimately contributed to a young girl's mental health issues. Constitutional attorney Chris Murray, who is also a partner at First & Fourteenth, joins "Forbes Newsroom" to discuss the landmark verdict. Stay Connected Forbes Breaking News on X: https://x.com/ForbesTVNews Forbes Breaking News on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@forbestvnews More From Forbes: http://forbes.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Donald Trump will sign an order instructing the Department of Homeland Security to pay Transportation Security Administration officers during the partial government shutdown, he announced Thursday, though it is unclear where the money is coming from and what authority Trump will use to enact the order. KEY FACTS Trump said in a Truth Social post he will sign an order instructing Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin “to immediately pay our TSA Agents.” The president blamed Democrats for the lapse in pay for agents, blasting their demands for increased restrictions on Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Trump did not elaborate where the money to pay TSA agents would come from. More than 450 TSA officers have quit their jobs amid the shutdown after not receiving pay. BIG NUMBER Nearly $1 billion. That is how much money in payroll has not been paid to TSA agents in a timely manner this fiscal year, according to a Wednesday testimony from Ha Nguyen McNeill, a senior administrator for the TSA. Employees of the agency have gone without pay for about 40 days during the partial government shutdown. KEY BACKGROUND At the heart of the Department of Homeland Security shutdown and accompanying disorder at some major airports across the U.S. is disagreements over the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act stuck in the Senate. The measure proposes making changes to the voting process in the U.S. and includes a requirement for voter identification. Democrats have pushed back on the legislation for weeks, seeking to implement guardrails on ICE operations after federal agents killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti amid January protests in Minnesota. Democrats have countered Republican proposals with offers that include pay for TSA agents, but those measures have failed to gain traction. In the meantime, TSA officers have quit their jobs and called out of work at high rates while passengers at airports like Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport have been stifled with hours-long security wait times. Read the full story on Forbes: ByAntonio Pequeño IV,Forbes Staff. https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2026/03/26/trump-will-issue-order-to-pay-tsa-agents-amid-airport-chaos/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Meta and Google, the parent company of YouTube, were found liable for harming a woman's mental health due to addictive design features, a California jury found in a landmark decision on Wednesday, just one day after a jury in New Mexico ordered the Facebook parent company to pay $375 million for enabling child exploitation and misleading the users about safety features. Key Facts Meta and Google are liable to pay $3 million in damages to the plaintiff, only identified as a 20-year-old woman named K.G.M., who said she became addicted to the two companies' apps due to addictive features. Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, was ordered to pay out 70% of the damages, while YouTube was ordered to pay the remaining 30%, the Wall Street Journal reported. The lawsuit also named TikTok and Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, as defendants, but both companies settled out of court for undisclosed sums. Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram chief Adam Mosseri both testified at the trial, where Zuckerberg insisted the company was “building this thing to be a good thing that has value in people's lives,” Courthouse News reported in February. “We respectfully disagree with the verdict and are evaluating our legal options,” Meta spokesperson Francis Brennan told Forbes in a statement, while Google spokesperson José Castañeda said in a separate statement the company disagrees with the verdict and plans to appeal, adding, “this case misunderstands YouTube, which is a responsibly built streaming platform, not a social media site.” The verdict did not appear to impact stock prices, Meta shares up slightly (0.46%) and Google parent Alphabet's down slightly (0.3%). Read the full story on Forbes: By Zachary Folk https://www.forbes.com/sites/zacharyfolk/2026/03/25/meta-and-google-found-liable-in-social-media-addiction-trial/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bonuses for Wall Street employees jumped to a record $49.2 billion overall pool, New York's state comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said Thursday morning, which he attributed to strong trading activity and a 30% rise in Wall Street's profits. KEY FACTS The $49.2 billion pool is 9% higher than the pool for 2024, DiNapoli said. The average bonus paid to securities industry employees was $246,900, which is 6% higher than the year prior. “Wall Street saw strong performance for much of last year, despite all of the ongoing domestic and international upheavals,” ⁠DiNapoli said⁠ in a release Thursday morning, adding the higher Wall Street profits are “good for our state and city budgets, which are reliant on the industry's significant tax contributions.” Though this year's bonus pool is the highest on record, the 2006 pool adjusted for inflation edges it out at $53.7 billion in today's dollars. Securities industry employment edged down slightly to 198,200 in 2025, DiNapoli said, adding financial sector job growth has been faster in other parts of the country, though New York still has the nation's highest share of securities industry employees at 17.9%. DiNapoli estimated the bonuses would generate $199 million more in state income tax revenue and $91 million more for New York City over the previous year, but he said tax revenue may fall short of expectations as Governor Kathy Hochul's proposed budget assumed Wall Street bonuses would rise 25.9%. Read the full story on Forbes: By Conor Murray https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2026/03/26/wall-street-bonuses-surged-to-a-record-492-billion-pool-last-year/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The White House turned down an offer from Tesla chief and former special government employee Elon Musk to pay Transportation Security Administration officers during the partial government shutdown, a White House spokesperson told Forbes. Read the full story on Forbes: ByAntonio Pequeño IV https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2026/03/25/white-house-refuses-elon-musks-offer-to-pay-tsa-staff-amid-partial-government-shutdown/ KEY FACTS The rejected offer, first reported by CBS News, would have provided money for TSA agents who have gone without pay for nearly six weeks. Musk made the offer last weekend in a post on X, with President Trump telling reporters Monday he would “love it.” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Forbes that while the White House appreciated Musk's proposal, it “would pose great legal challenges due to his involvement with federal government contracts.”  Jackson said the fastest way to pay TSA employees is for “Democrats to fund the Department of Homeland Security,” referring to disagreements between Democrats and Republicans over a standalone funding bill that would fund DHS and the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, which will create changes to the U.S. voting system including a requirement for voter identification. The cost to fund TSA agents would be around $250 million, CBS reported, citing two unnamed sources. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Forbes Senior Contributor and author of 'Brain Rush: How to Invest and Compete in the Real World of Generative AI' Peter Cohan sat down with Forbes Talks to discuss why AI is currently increasing the complexity and density of work rather than reducing it. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/petercohan/2026/03/12/ai-was-supposed-to-free-workers-instead-its-burying-them-in-busywork/ Artificial intelligence is driving workers to spend more time on busy work – squeezing out time they could be devoting to more valuable activities such as creating new growth opportunities. That is the conclusion of a survey of 164,000 workers' digital work activity, according to ActivTrak research featured in the Wall Street Journal.  Following their companies' adoption of AI, those workers more than doubled the time they spent on email, messaging and chat apps and boosted by 94% their use of human-resources or accounting software, added the Journal. Rather than freeing them, AI drags them away from creative work. How so? The time AI users devoted to "focused, uninterrupted work — for solving complex problems, writing formulas, creating and strategizing—fell 9%, compared with nearly no change for nonusers,” noted the Journal. Sadly, all that time working on emails and accounting is the least valuable activity for companies seeking to benefit from their AI investment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

AI hiring is transforming small businesses in 2026. The critical question: how can owners leverage AI for efficiency—automating resume review and finding qualified candidates faster—while navigating significant risks like algorithmic bias and screening artificially polished applicants? Forbes Contributor TerDawn Deboe explains what small businesses need to know to succeed with AI HR technology. Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more: https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes: http://forbes.com Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A New Mexico jury ruled Tuesday that Meta enabled child exploitation on its platforms and misled users about the platforms' impact on children's mental health—a landmark decision that could set precedent as Meta battles similar allegations at the federal level. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2026/03/24/meta-must-pay-375-million-over-allegedly-enabling-child-exploitation/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Forbes contributor Micah Logan has seen a recurring theme among business owners whose ventures struggle to thrive: they tend to make stupid mistakes. Now, that's not a dig at the intelligence of business owners. S.T.U.P.I.D. is an acronym for the six most common mistakes: slow implementation, too complicated, unaware of numbers, poor planning, ignoring feedback, and distracted focus. Here's how any small business owner can avoid these pitfalls. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said in a podcast appearance Monday he believed artificial general intelligence, a loosely defined term used to describe AI that matches or surpasses human intelligence, has been achieved, saying it's possible full-fledged companies could be run by AI. Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2026/03/23/nvidias-jensen-huang-says-he-thinks-weve-achieved-agi/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to the premiere episode of Iconoclast with Maneet Ahuja! For the first ever Forbes Iconoclast podcast, host and Forbes Editor-at-Large Maneet Ahuja sits down with legendary investor Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates—the world's largest hedge fund. Recorded live at the NASDAQ market site, Dalio issues an urgent, unvarnished warning about the global economic landscape and the future of wealth. Dalio also discusses his latest book, How Countries Go Broke: The Big Cycle, which aims to convey the mechanics of the process behind why countries go broke and unveils the leadership strategy to which he attributes his firm's outsized success. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In late 2025 and early 2026, the FDA removed the “black box” warning label found on certain menopausal hormone therapy products, including estrogen patches. The removal of this warning paired with a surge in demand for medications for perimenopause and menopause has resulted in a shortage of estrogen patches, leaving many patients scrambling. Dr. Nesreen Hermes, a family medicine doctor in Illinois who regularly sees patients for perimenopause and menopausal symptoms, joined ForbesWomen editor Maggie McGrath to discuss. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices