Best printers for Home

Best Mixer Grinder

Best wired Earphones

Best 43 Inch TV in India

Best Wi Fi Routers

Best Home Theatre in India

Smart Watch under 5000

Best Laptops for Education

Best Laptop for Students

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The feds want to make sure you're not getting cheated out of your airline rewards.</li><li>The Department of Transportation is investigating the rewards programs of four major US airlines.</li></ul>The feds want to make sure airlines aren't short-changing their customers out of their hard-earned points.The Department of Transportation <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/usdot-seeks-protect-consumers-airline-rewards-probe-four-largest-us-airlines-rewards">announced Thursday</a> that it's investigating the rewards programs of the four largest US airlines — American, Delta, Southwest, and United — to make sure the companies aren't being unfair, deceptive, or anticompetitive with their frequent fliers.The DOT said its probe will look into how "airline rewards programs are impacted by the devaluation of earned rewards, hidden or dynamic pricing, extra fees, and reduced competition and choice.""Points systems like frequent flyer miles and credit card rewards have become such a meaningful part of our economy that many Americans view their rewards points balances as part of their savings," Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a press release."These programs bring real value to consumers, with families often counting on airline rewards to fund a vacation or to pay for a trip to visit loved ones," Buttigieg continued. "But unlike a traditional savings account, these rewards are controlled by a company that can unilaterally change their value. Our goal is to ensure consumers are getting the value that was promised to them, which means validating that these programs are transparent and fair."The DOT said airlines reserve the right to change their programs' terms whenever they wish, meaning they could move the goalposts and add new hurdles for customers at any time, like new restrictions on points, limits on who can use the points, changing expiration dates, and wiping out complimentary benefits.As part of the inquiry, the DOT has ordered the four airlines to cough up a lot of documentation. Specifically, the airlines must provide information on how their policies have changed in recent years and how those changes have impacted customers, identify the dollar value of each point, describe their practices related to dynamic pricing, detail the fees associated with their rewards programs, and reveal documents showing how airline mergers have impacted rewards programs.Airlines for America, an industry trade organization representing all four major airlines, responded to the DOT's investigation in a statement to The Points Guy."Millions of people enjoy being a part of various loyalty programs, which allow them to accumulate rewards to apply toward travel or other benefits," Airlines for America said in the statement, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://thepointsguy.com/news/dot-investigate-frequent-flyer-programs/">according to The Points Guy</a>. "US carriers are transparent about these programs, and policymakers should ensure that consumers can continue to be offered these important benefits."

The feds are investigating if airlines are being stingy with your rewards     

About a month back, <keyword id="10387" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="microsoft" source="Orion">Microsoft</keyword> made headlines for reportedly carrying out another round of layoffs. A report in Geekwire had said that various <keyword id="19916568" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="employees" source="keywords">employees</keyword> across departments lost their jobs. A number of employees had also shared their experiences on LinkedIn, talking about how they lost their jobs. Now, the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/how-satya-nadella-created-a-learn-it-all-culture-at-microsoft-to-help-it-become-a-3-trillion-powerhouse/articleshow/112168591.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">Satya Nadella</a> led company is making headlines once again. But this time, for good reasons. The tech company recently announced that it is planning a special cash reward for some of its employees. <h2>Microsoft’s gift to employees</h2>Microsoft recently announced a unique one-time cash award for its employees. This comes after the company announced its financial results for the quarter ending June 30, 2024. Talking about the special bonus, it will range from 10 percent to 25 percent of the employees’ annual bonuses, and aims to reward employees for the company's fiscal year performance. But will all <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/global-cyber-outage-microsoft-users-report-blue-screen-of-death-flights-cancelled/articleshow/111858142.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">Microsoft </a>employees be getting the cash bonus? Not really. The reward excludes executives, focusing instead on lower-level employees who will receive higher percentage bonuses to ensure a fair distribution. While Microsoft has not disclosed specific amounts or the overall budget for these bonuses, it is clear that many employees will see a significant boost to their income, with some receiving thousands of dollars or more. <keyword id="22623587" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kathleen-Hogan" source="keywords">Kathleen Hogan</keyword>, Microsoft's Chief People Officer, shared the news in a companywide memo, an ET report reveals. "The senior leadership team and I want to recognize the tremendous work and impact of our people who delivered a terrific year of solid execution and world-class innovation," she wrote, highlighting the role employees played in the company's success. Hogan further elaborated, "All Microsoft employees in levels 67 and below, including hourly and equivalents, who receive FY24 rewards will be eligible to receive a special one-time only cash award in addition to their annual rewards. This special one-time cash award will scale based on the employee’s FY24 impact." Reflecting on the company's recent challenges and triumphs, Hogan noted, "We recognize our FY24 success is a direct result of the incredible focus, creativity, and collaboration of our people and our collective efforts as One Microsoft. We are grateful for your dedication to our mission so that together we can continue to empower everyone around the world." <h2>Microsoft discloses financial results</h2>As mentioned already, Microsoft unveiled its financial results for the quarter ending June 30, 2024 recently. The results showed significant growth compared to the same period last year. The company's revenue reached USD 64.7 billion, marking a 15 percent increase (16% in constant currency). Operating income was USD 27.9 billion, also up 15% (16% in constant currency). Microsoft’s net income rose to USD 22.0 billion, a 10 percent increase (11% in constant currency), and diluted earnings per share were USD 2.95, reflecting a 10 percent rise (11% in constant currency).

Microsoft plans special reward for employees, to give cash award along with annual bonus

Pam's circle of parent friends likes to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-much-kids-cost-raising-child-inflation-childcare-tax-exemptions-2024-1">split the financial load</a> when it makes sense, whether it's ordering pickup or delivery, going out for a group meal, or getting <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cost-summer-camp-childcare-inflation-parents-debt-work-schedules-2024-7">tickets to a theme park or a movie</a>. But there's one dad who has recently picked up a habit that irks her: He insists on putting all their group purchases on his credit card.The gesture comes off as nice, but it ends up making extra work for Pam because she's constantly having to use apps like <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/digital-payments-apps-send-my-kids-money-2023-9">Splitwise or Venmo</a> to pay him back. Even when it would be easier if she just paid her family's part, he seems to slide his card in first. Once, when the guy was in line in front of her at a fast-casual restaurant, he waited for her to order before butting in to try to put the purchase on his card. It's not the end of the world, but Pam told me it's bothersome — especially because this dad acts like no one is picking up on what's going on. He's not doing all this out of the kindness of his heart; he's doing it because he wants the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/credit-cards/ways-to-use-credit-card-points-beyond-travel">credit-card rewards</a>."I overheard this person say that, 'Oh, with all of this spend on my credit card, I get 5% off this or 20% off this.' And I'm thinking, 'Oh, so this is just benefiting you,'" Pam, who lives in San Francisco and asked to use a pseudonym so the jerk in her group wouldn't know she thinks he's a jerk, told me. "I like people who are just up front versus trying to sneak things in and manipulate."Consumers love their rewards. In a recent poll from Ipsos, 71% of Americans surveyed said they had some sort of rewards, points, or cash-back card, and 80% of those with such a card said they valued their rewards. They'll cling onto those rewards even if it means a tough outcome for others: A 2019 LendingTree survey found that people were likelier to support a cap on how high credit-card companies could set their interest rates if the limit reduced access for people with imperfect credit than they were if it meant the cap would lower their rewards. Credit-card issuers and banks love rewards, too — they're a good way to attract customers.But maybe we love our credit-card rewards too much, to the point that it's making us act in less-than-ideal ways toward those we hold near and dear. Money is always complicated, and the standoff over who gets 1.5% cash back or three times the airline miles after paying for brunch is no exception. And it seems like no matter who picks up the check, everyone is a bit dissatisfied: For every Jane angry at Joe for insisting on putting everything on his credit card so he can upgrade his honeymoon to Singapore, there's a Mary fuming at Mike for shortchanging her when he paid back his part of the bar tab, making the points she got for paying the up-front cost a wash."It does seem like one of those ultimate pick-your-battles kinds of things," Matt Schulz, the chief credit analyst at LendingTree and the author of "Ask Questions, Save Money, Make More," said in an interview. "It's an awkward thing, and you just don't want to be that person who makes things uncomfortable over something like credit-card rewards."But credit-card rewards are, indeed, making things uncomfortable.Plenty of people have had the experience of the check landing after a group meal and multiple people trying to put their credit cards down so they'll earn the rewards. Usually, it winds up fine — you agree to split it, or you all decide to take turns, one person pays this time for the points, another next time. Not everyone at the table cares about maximizing their rewards, but just like some people are super into Taylor Swift or fantasy football, others are obsessed with gaming credit-card points. Whatever the case, a lot of points-related interactions can start to feel pretty icky pretty fast. Take a spin around Reddit, and you'll find all sorts of rewards-related conflicts. There are people complaining that their spouses don't want to play the rewards game, and other point obsessives weighing whether it's OK to refuse to split their rewards with their point-indifferent partners. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/comments/108kjlj/aita_for_paying_for_my_share_of_the_trip_with/">One user asked</a> whether they should be expected to share their travel bonus with friends after booking a group trip. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reddit.com/r/CreditCards/comments/vstsmq/paying_with_points_on_a_group_trip/">Another sought advice</a> after a friend asked whether they might be able to use their rewards to get a discount on a hotel for their group of friends. "I do have points," the person wrote, "but they are perks I get." They asked whether it might be acceptable to use their points but charge people the monetary value of the booking anyway.Jen, from Chicago, pays for everything she can to rack up rewards, and she's pretty sure it doesn't bother anyone else. "I haven't really run into anyone who's been super pissed off," she said, though she cools it in professional settings. If anything, it's a hassle for her. When traveling in a group, she's typically burdened with all the planning so that she can put all the flights and hotels on her card. Her partner refuses to get his own rewards card, which is frustrating, so she finally made him an authorized user on one of hers so at least she can get points from his purchases. "He doesn't seem to care," Jen, who asked to withhold her last name to protect her privacy, said. "Everything he gets, I get paid back."She did recently have a small dispute over points at a dinner with two longtime friends. When the roughly $120 check came, Jen took out her card, as she always does, but noticed another friend did, too. She'd gotten a new card through work and wanted to rack up points for flights. They decided to split the bill in half so that both got their points. Their third, nonpoints friend sent them each a Zelle payment, getting no reward for her trouble. When I asked Jen how much she thought the haggling was worth, she said maybe a couple of bucks. But it all adds up, she insisted. "It's enough for me, over time, to where it matters," she said. "I'm not trying to be greedy."A small disagreement over credit-card points isn't going to end a relationship, but it is a situation where animosity can build up over time, especially if there isn't good up-front communication. The person constantly in debt to the person who puts everything on their card can start to feel like they're being taken advantage of, and the person trying to track everyone down to get paid back can get upset, too."It is more work to chase down all of the payments, and so I think you have to decide for yourself what is the value of the rewards that you're going to earn by putting this whole thing on your card? And is that worth the time and energy?" Emily Thompson, a credit-cards editor at The Points Guy, said. If you're trying to hit $8,000 in spend to get a welcome bonus, the answer might be yes. If you're earning a point per dollar, which is worth about $0.01 in many cases, you may want to stand down. Lending money is often fraught, and people are effectively doing this when they toss everything onto their credit cards. In a CreditCards.com survey, 59% of respondents who had lent money or paid for a group expense with the expectation of being paid back said they'd had something bad happen. Forty-two percent of lenders said they lost money because they weren't repaid, and 26% said their relationship with the borrower was damaged."People should tread carefully because it only takes one person stiffing you for it not to be worth it," Ted Rossman, senior industry analyst at Bankrate, said. "Are you OK taking the risk? Are you going to follow up? I find that there are very quick diminishing returns with this. If you don't get paid back quickly, you probably won't get paid back at all."Someone slightly miscalculating the tip or tax on the reimbursement might negate the rewards earned, not to mention if they miss the payment entirely. Eating a $50 loss in the name of $2.50 in rewards is not a worthwhile trade-off.Friendships come with so much more gray area compared with, say, business relationships. What may seem completely fine to someone — taking a couple of weeks to pay a friend back or asking a friend to pay the cash equivalent of points they used for a hotel booking — might seem completely out of line to someone else."There are more clear terms for business, for romantic partnerships. But in friendship, what's normal? What's not? What do I owe you? We don't know," Danielle Bayard Jackson, a friendship coach and educator, said. "We have a lot of these friendships that end prematurely or that get bogged down by a lot of resentment and confusion."Most people I talked to about this story had some sort of rewards-related anecdote with at least mild tension. One person said his friend group never has a problem with points hoarding … before name-checking one friend who goes too far. Another said she sees paying on her card at restaurants as a way to save servers the headache of trying to divvy up the bill, though that means she has to warn everyone that she's a big tipper and make sure they're on board. I recently booked a fight with a friend who remarked she'd gotten some $300 in travel credit from her rewards card. I briefly wondered whether she would offer to split the discount with me. (She didn't, and she was right.)"As much as calculating the value of the rewards that you can earn, you also have to calculate any potential negative impact on your relationship with the person," Thompson said. When she books trips for friends using her rewards, she comes up with a price that's still a "really good deal" for her friends, but it "isn't nothing," she said. That seems fair, though I'd be curious what her friends think. It's not just friendships that credit-card points can get in the middle of — but also romantic relationships. Matt (a pseudonym), from Alaska, got super into rewards a couple of years ago, watching endless YouTube videos and scouring financial-advice websites for tips. His wife was not so into it — she's the "kind of gal that's like, 'Just give me the stupid card if I use it if you want but don't expect me to have this rotating collection,'" he said. The issue came to a head when they planned a trip to Florida. Matt was procrastinating on booking, so his wife went ahead and did it without using the right card. He had her cancel everything so he could rebook with the card he wanted to use, but that wound up being a mistake — when he went to make the new reservation, prices had increased."We lost the rooms and things that she booked, and we ended up paying more. And for what? We got like 2% back on the whole deal," he said. "I should have just let her be right and be done with it."Matt has pretty much given up on the rewards game now; he uses a 2% cash-back card but doesn't pay much attention beyond that. All the hassle around it "got to be pretty stupid," he said, and the Florida drama was just "petty shit." He and his wife are now divorcing (but not over the points).Whether all this fuss over rewards is justifiable, relationally and financially, is context-dependent. Points maxing isn't low effort, and unless you're willing to spend a bunch of time figuring the system out, you're just wasting your and everyone else's energy in trying to hoard rewards. More importantly, if you are not paying off your credit-card bill at the end of every month and instead are carrying a balance, the rewards are not worth it."If you carry a balance, you shouldn't be chasing rewards. You should be focusing on paying your balance down," Schulz of LendingTree said. "You don't have to be an accountant to understand that paying 27% interest to get 2% cash back doesn't make a whole lot of sense."Credit-card rewards can be great, and they're definitely popular. Plopping down an <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/american-express-platinum-card-gold-gen-z-millennial-rewards-2024-6">American Express Platinum Card feels fancy</a>, as do the perks that go along with it. But as with everything, there are trade-offs.On a macro level, the rewards aren't free. They're funded by <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stores-credit-card-companies-battle-fees-2018-9">swipe fees</a> paid by merchants that often get passed on to all consumers in the form of higher prices, regardless of how they pay, on top of interest payments and late fees. One recent Federal Reserve study found that this system led to a redistribution of $15 billion in wealth each year from the poor to the rich, the less educated to the more educated, and high-minority areas to low-minority areas.On a micro, more day-to-day level, rewards are a fun, little benefit that can become unfun fast. A local restaurant implements a 3% surcharge for credit cards to try to make up for swipe fees, and suddenly you find yourself vowing to never return even though the difference for you was $1.50. Or you see a friend on Instagram bragging about upgrading their flight and realize that's why they've been so insistent on putting brunches and happy hours on their card all year. Even though it doesn't really affect you, you feel a little cheated.Experts say if you're the points maxer trying to charge every group purchase, it's good to be up front about what you're doing. (As in, don't be like Pam's dad friend.) But if people don't want to go along, you might just need to accept that. Or realize that if they are going along, they may still think what you're doing sucks.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/author/emily-stewart">Emily Stewart</a> is a senior correspondent at Business Insider, writing about business and the economy.

Credit card rewards are turning us into jerks

<ul class="summary-list"><li>TikTok's spinoff app, TikTok Lite, is under fire from European officials for its rewards program.</li><li>The app doles out points for watching videos and logging in, which can be used on gift cards and vouchers.</li></ul>Digital regulators in Europe are clamping down on a new feature by <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-ban-explainer-bill-courts-2024-4">TikTok</a> that rewards users for consuming videos and interacting with creators, citing addiction concerns among children. The European Commission <a target="_blank" href="https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_24_2227">said on Monday</a> that it had opened formal proceedings against TikTok Lite, a spinoff version of the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-leaked-memo-sent-staff-congress-stepped-up-ban-2024-4">TikTok</a> app that uses less mobile data and launched in Spain and France in March. A key draw to the new app is its "Task and Rewards" program, which allows users 18 or older to earn points by logging in daily, watching videos, liking posts, and inviting friends to TikTok. Users can earn such points on the Lite app by watching videos for up to 85 minutes daily. The points can be converted into rewards like <a target="_blank" href="https://coupons.businessinsider.com/amazon">Amazon vouchers</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/tech/amazon-gift-card-redeem">gift cards</a>, or TikTok coins — an internal currency that can be spent to send gifts to streamers and content creators. But the commission said TikTok hasn't done enough to ensure minors can't access the rewards hub, and is concerned it can get kids addicted to the Lite app. "We suspect TikTok 'Lite' could be as toxic and addictive as cigarettes 'light,'" said Thierry Breton, commissioner for the internal market in the EU. TikTok has until Wednesday to submit its defense, which the commission said it would consider as it seeks to suspend Tiktok Lite's rewards program in the EU. The platform was also told to provide a risk assessment of its spinoff app by Tuesday. European officials <a target="_blank" href="https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/news/commission-sends-request-information-tiktok-regarding-launch-tiktok-lite-france-and-spain">previously asked for it </a>to be submitted by April 18, saying that TikTok should have already completed the assessment before launching the Lite app. However, TikTok didn't meet the original deadline. "Unless TikTok provides compelling proof of safety — which it failed to do until now— we stand ready to trigger #DSA interim measures including the #suspension of the TikTokLite 'reward program,'" Breton <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/ThierryBreton/status/1782414979968139392?">wrote in a post on X.</a> In a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.yahoo.com/tech/eu-threatens-suspend-tiktok-lite-144644375.html">statement to AFP</a>, a spokesperson for TikTok said the platform was "disappointed with this decision." "The TikTok Lite rewards hub is not available to under 18s, and there is a daily limit on video watch tasks," the spokesperson said. TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside regular business hours by Business Insider. The commission said it was most concerned about the mental health of young TikTok users. Breton said the app provides "endless streams of short and fast-paced videos" that may increase the risk of anxiety, depression, and addiction among kids, echoing similar worries among lawmakers elsewhere in the world, including those on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-ban-bill-explained-politics-tech-platform-2024-3">Capitol Hill mulling a TikTok ban in the US.</a> TikTok is already facing a <a target="_blank" href="https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_24_926">separate set of proceedings</a> from the EU aimed at its main app, also based on concerns that its algorithm and video feeds could produce adverse mental health effects. The double crackdown was launched under the European Union's new <a target="_blank" href="https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/safer-online">Digital Services Act</a>, which compels internet companies to regulate their online content on their platforms. TikTok, owned by Chinese company Bytedance, is subject to the DSA's strictest rules because it's been designated one of 22 "Very Large Online Platforms," which are classified as those with more than 45 million users. The platform has seen sharply rising revenues in Europe in recent years, with annual revenue increasing 164% from $990 million to $2.6 billion in 2022, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/tiktok-hits-the-big-time-in-europe-with-huge-revenue-rise-3nfjv9czk">per its latest report from September.</a>

Europe cracks down on TikTok Lite variant that rewards users with Amazon vouchers

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Stuart Fuller, 64, teaches graphics, design, and technology in London.</li><li>He went back to school to pursue a career in teaching at 60.</li></ul>This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Stuart Fuller. It has been edited for length and clarity.After a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-work-culture-changed-30-years-generations-hr-exec-2024-8">decadeslong career</a> as a graphic designer, I decided to pursue a teaching career at 60. It pays less, but I've found the profession much more rewarding.For my undergrad degree, I studied three-dimensional design and graduated with a degree in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/product-design-job-offer-pandemic-lily-li-experience-2021-4">product design</a> in 1983. When I finished school, a friend with a studio in Cambridge, England, offered me a job. I've been working in graphic design ever since.My last job before pursuing teaching was with an advertising company called Saatchi &amp; Saatchi. My favorite part of working in the profession was that every day looked a little different. I had the opportunity to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/turning-work-trips-into-vacations-according-to-frequent-traveler">travel a lot</a>, and every day, there was a different creative problem to work out.I started in 1999 and worked in their London office for over 20 years. During the pandemic, we had lockdowns, and the advertising industry suffered. Clients dried up, money dried up, and agencies made several rounds of layoffs.When December 2020 rolled around, I was laid off from Saatchi &amp; Saatchi. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/early-retirement-not-worth-it-dad-sacrificed-frugal-died-2024-9">Retiring</a> crossed my mind, but I didn't like the idea of not doing anything.<h2 id="e14bcd3b-3771-4e08-9600-0bfbfa587454">A conversation with my brother sparked my interest in teaching</h2>After being laid off from the ad company, I talked to my <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sibling-age-gap-birth-order-common-ground-2024-10">oldest brother</a> on the phone. He was in the Royal Air Force but currently teaches math and electronics. He knew I recently left my old position and asked, "Have you thought about teaching?"After our call, I researched the profession on Google and found Now Teach. Now Teach is an educational charity that helps people develop teaching careers by connecting them to schools that provide teacher training and opportunities to pursue a postgraduate certificate of education (or PGCE) alongside other education professionals.I called them to learn more about the next steps in joining. They identified schools in my area where I could do my teacher training and asked me if I wanted to do a PGCE, which I decided to do simultaneously.I remember my first day walking up to the entrance of my training school as clear as day. I'd always gone to work in jeans, and it was the first time I'd ever worn a suit. I hadn't been in an environment like that since I was 16, and suddenly, there were kids in the corridor. The fact that I was back in a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/back-to-school-season-homeschooling-benefits-2024-8">school environment</a> really hit me. During teacher training, a staff member is there to mentor and take you under their wing. My mentor introduced me to classes during the first two weeks, and then, by the third week, I started to teach with her observing me.When I wasn't in the classroom putting what I was learning into practice, I was experiencing the academic side of everything, working toward my PGCE. I was learning about the theory of academia by taking classes at a university. I was learning alongside people in their <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-save-money-in-your-twenties-2024-4">early 20s</a> to people my age.<h2 id="e57174c7-bca1-4885-94a1-24b518466f9a">I may make less, but teaching has been extremely rewarding</h2>I finished my teacher training and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/recent-college-grad-life-fulfilling-after-college-2024-9">graduated</a> with my PGCE in 2022. There's certainly a need for teachers, and I got the first job I applied for after graduating. I began teaching at a school in Loughton, England, in September 2022 and stayed there until December 2023 before I landed at my current school.I've been teaching graphics, technology, and design in London since January 2024. My current school focuses on design and engineering and is a GCSE and A-level school. I teach students from the ages of 13 through 18. One specific topic I teach is digital imaging regarding games, video, and film, so kids get to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-parents-can-teach-kids-financial-literacy-at-home-2024-8">learn those skills</a>.When I first started considering entering the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/quit-journalism-job-become-high-school-teacher-huge-culture-shock-2023-7">teaching profession</a>, I thought, "Well, I'll sort of see how it goes." I took things one step at a time. I never sat down and thought teaching would be my thing in life, but I do feel that way now.Financially, I make less as a teacher than in my professional graphic design career. Though I spent 40 years earning good money, I never found the money to be my motivator. I always found the work itself to be my motivator. Even though I make half as much now, I don't look at my salary and think, "Oh my god, you know, is that it?" I'm reasonably <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/parents-encourage-me-to-be-financially-independent-2024-7">financially secure</a>, and what I'm making now is a bonus.Finances aside, teaching has been incredibly rewarding. I've had the opportunity to work with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rejected-from-dream-college-top-student-2023-11">outstanding students</a>. Their grasp of graphics, strong ability to apply the process, and knowledge of their creative work have been extraordinary. With two or three of my 18-year-old students in particular, I told them I would give them a job if they walked into my office in the industry.My wife used to be a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/social-worker-quit-to-become-life-coach-positive-psychology-business-2024-8">social worker</a>, and although she would sometimes come home with horror stories when we talked about our day, her day also sounded so much more rewarding. While I was selling people things, she was providing a service that helped people. I remember thinking, "God, I wish I had a job like that." I wanted to feel like I was actually making a difference in someone's life, and now I am.Have an interesting personal story about your career? Get in touch with <a target="_blank" href="mailto:cgriffin@businessinsider.com">cgriffin@businessinsider.com</a>.

I was a graphic designer for decades and went back to school at 60 to become a teacher. It pays less but is more rewarding.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Target's new <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.insider.com/best-cruise-ship-loyalty-programs-to-join-2019-6">loyalty program</a> has left faithful shoppers like me confused and frustrated.</li><li>In my opinion, the new program needs another overhaul that focuses on rewarding frequent shoppers.</li></ul>When Target implemented its new loyalty program in April, shoppers were promised value and ease.But in reality, many avid Target shoppers like myself were left confused, frustrated, and searching for their beloved 1% cash back.The launch of the new Target Circle program even started a larger conversation on social media, with one TikTok posted by lifestyle content creator <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@roxycouse/video/7356342443094363438?_r=1&amp;_t=8oGBfiBznUR">Roxy Couse</a> amassing nearly 3 million views.In the viral video, Couse expressed her frustration with the program, pointing out that the savings she receives just aren't substantial enough, considering how much she spends at the store.Many commenters echoed her concerns, saying the new program is confusing and not beneficial enough to Target's biggest spenders.At present, whether you spend $100 or $10,000 at Target, you're getting about the same experience — which primarily just includes access to coupons and deals. As someone who typically shops at Target twice a week, this is incredibly frustrating.Here's why I think the Target Circle program needs another overhaul.<h2 id="8e01386c-4fd2-4e2b-8ccf-9978bb861934">Target didn't exactly make good on its promise to make the program easier for shoppers</h2><div type="image" title="Three shopping carts with the Target logo on the side." height="683" width="1024" msid="113526654" hostid="261" sizebytes="63708"></div>Target Circle, the retailer's free loyalty program, launched in 2019 and has always provided shoppers with access to deals and Target Circle Bonus promotions, or personalized offers that give members access to additional savings.However, as part of the revamped program, the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://corporate.target.com/news-features/article/2024/03/target-circle-loyalty-program#">retailer advertised </a>that members would have access to deals applied automatically at checkout "without having to search for or add individual offers."In reality, though, if customers want to maximize their savings, they can't just assume all of the deals and discounts will be applied to their order at checkout.They'll also need to remember to check the app for Target Circle bonuses — and remember to apply them to their purchase via the app — or they're leaving money on the table.And if they want to use coupons, they'll also have to open their Target Circle deals in the app, then scroll all the way down to "Coupons you may need" — a section they may not know exists because it's so buried — to see if they have any extra savings available to apply to their order.If it sounds confusing, it's because it is for some customers like myself. The "automatic deals" just aren't as straightforward as they were advertised to be.Target did confirm that the majority of the Target Circle deals are automatically applied at checkout. However, users must still activate things like Target Circle bonuses, coupons, and rebates to maximize savings.<h2 id="e1a2ad64-0a08-4110-9e04-168d219f4d65">The new Target Circle program also took away a huge fan-favorite perk</h2>Although the Circle program was never entirely straightforward, the latest updates have <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@alawt6122/video/7364406637399919915?_r=1&amp;_t=8pIO8BTJX7T">created confusion</a>, with several dedicated shoppers — including Couse and myself — left wondering why their cash back was <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@girlsourage/video/7370783620853681450?_r=1&amp;_t=8pIODVEPHh5">no longer reflecting their purchases</a>.It turns out that the retailer eliminated the 1% cash-back earnings as part of its program update. However, it wasn't mentioned in the store's original rollout messaging, and as far as I'm aware, shoppers weren't notified that the benefit was being cut.This was especially frustrating because by doing this, the program update removed one of the few perks that actually rewarded shoppers based on their spending.It is worth noting that the program sometimes offers <a target="_blank" href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=cf8d19d996692332f33475b43954470be2b77a94b8060fe66870d8e51128bfe3&amp;postID=66d1e921f12d26d01315fff5&amp;postSlug=target-circle-program-not-worth-it-according-to-frequent-shopper-2024-9&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.target.com%2Fl%2Ftarget-circle-bonus%2F-%2FN-7xl7q">Target Circle rewards</a>, which shoppers can apply toward future purchases. However, unlike the previous cash-back earnings, Target Circle rewards are only given after select Target Circle bonuses are activated and redeemed.Although I'd only earned about $21 cash back between January and April of this year, it was still nice that I'd "made" money by spending it, especially as a frequent Target shopper.<h2 id="91e80950-7642-4612-9d94-4fa1aa421b51">Shoppers want rewards that make them feel valued</h2>Unfortunately, using the updated program feels more like a high-stakes scavenger hunt than an enjoyable or cost-effective shopping endeavor.I'd feel more appreciated as a customer if Target made saving money easier — we're all busy, and sifting through the bonuses and coupons is a frustrating and arduous task.In her TikTok, Couse suggested that Target introduce some simple, straightforward, and delight-inducing rewards — whether it's a free beverage or a tiered loyalty program that's focused on how much you spend at the store.In my opinion, the solution could be as simple as restoring the beloved cash-back reward for Target Circle members.I also think Target could take notes from other retailers like <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sephora-beauty-skincare-makeup-product-picks-from-former-employee-2024-2">Sephora</a>, which offers offers $10 off a qualifying purchase when customers apply 500 loyalty points. Sephora also offers tiered discounts during sales for its members and access to purchase new items first. This could be an especially appealing perk, considering Target regularly offers popular limited-edition collaborations with iconic names like Diane von Furstenberg and brands like Stanley.Or maybe Target could follow <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/former-starbucks-employees-opinions-on-popular-drinks-2022-9">Starbucks</a>' lead and offer points for each dollar a member spends, with extra perks for those using its app.For now, Target's best deals are tied to its Target Circle credit and debit cards, which give shoppers a 5% discount, free two-day shipping (in most cases), and an extra 30 days for returns.It's nice, but it still doesn't feel like quite enough to keep my loyalty, considering how much money I spend at Target.

Target isn't rewarding its biggest spenders like it should — and shoppers aren't happy about it

Paris: Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi congratulated the Indian men's hockey team for winning the <keyword id="20257145" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="bronze-medal" source="keywords">bronze medal</keyword> at the <keyword id="20006192" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Paris-Olympics" source="keywords">Paris Olympics</keyword> and announced a reward of Rs 15 lakh for each player in the squad. A brace from skipper <keyword id="20349470" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="harmanpreet-singh" source="keywords">Harmanpreet Singh</keyword> and PR Sreejesh's effortless saves secured a <keyword id="20257145" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="bronze-medal" source="keywords">bronze medal</keyword> for <keyword id="19895063" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="India" source="keywords">India</keyword> at the <keyword id="20006192" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Paris-Olympics" source="keywords">Paris Olympics</keyword> with a 2-1 win over Spain at the Yves du Manoir Stadium. Notably, <keyword id="19895063" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="India" source="keywords">India</keyword> won consecutive bronze hockey medals for the first time in 52 years since the 1972 Munich Games. At a press conference, CM Majhi announced that a reward of Rs 10 lakhs has been allocated for the staff of the Indian men's hockey team. He also stated that Odisha's Amit Rohidas will be rewarded Rs 4 crore. "Indian Hockey team defeated Spain and won the bronze medal, the upcoming generation will remember this victory... I congratulate Amit Rohidas and all the other players for their performance, and I also announce that Rs 15 lakhs will be given to all the players and Rs 10 lakhs to the staff... Amit Rohidas will be given Rs 4 crore...," CM Majhi said. Meanwhile, former Odisha Chief Minister <keyword id="19916294" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="naveen-patnaik" source="keywords">Naveen Patnaik</keyword> spoke to the Indian men's hockey team after their bronze medal triumph at the Paris Olympics on Thursday. Formed Odisha CM congratulated Harmanpreet Singh-led side for beating Spain in the bronze medal match in Paris. "Many many congratulations to the Indian team from all of us in Odisha and the whole of India, we are so proud of you. Very very well done," <keyword id="19916294" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="naveen-patnaik" source="keywords">Naveen Patnaik</keyword> said over the phone call. Sreejesh, who was playing his last game for India, went on the ground, filled with emotions, and the rest of the team joined him to celebrate the momentous occasion in India's hockey history. Under the reign of coach Craig Fulton, India created history and secured back-to-back bronze medals at the Olympics. Goals from <keyword id="20349470" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="harmanpreet-singh" source="keywords">Harmanpreet Singh</keyword> (30', 33') for India were enough to get them across the finish line. For Spain, Marc Miralles (18') was the sole goal scorer.

Odisha CM Majhi announces Rs 15 lakh reward for each player after India's bronze medal win in Paris

New Delhi, Companies in <keyword id="19895063" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="india" source="keywords">India</keyword> are expected to dole out an average of 10 per cent salary increase this year, with automobile, manufacturing and engineering sectors anticipated to witness the highest hikes, says a survey. In 2023, the average salary hike was 9.5 per cent, according to consultancy firm <keyword id="20234986" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="mercer" source="keywords">Mercer</keyword>'s Total Remuneration Survey (<keyword id="20176169" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="trs" source="keywords">TRS</keyword>) released on Tuesday. "This trend showcases India's strong economic performance and its growing appeal as a hub for innovation and talent. Employees in the automobile, manufacturing &amp; engineering and life sciences in India are projected to see the highest salary increment increases, highlighting the competitive nature of these sectors," it said. The survey, conducted between May and August 2023, gathered data from 1,474 companies, covering more than 6,000 job roles and representing more than 21 lakh employees. It focused on salary trends across various industries, with individual performance, organisation performance and position in salary range being the top three factors determining increments. The median merit salary increments in India are expected to reach 10 per cent in 2024, which was on top of a 9.5 per cent increase in 2023, the survey said. In India, it said the rate of voluntary attrition has shown a gradual increase from 12.1 per cent in 2021 to 13.5 per cent in 2022. "The half-yearly data for 2023 indicates a slight increase in attrition compared to 2022, suggesting a continuing upward trend in voluntary attrition each year, which is also being reflected in other parts of the world, including Brazil, China, Australia, and Japan," Mercer said. <keyword id="20749445" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="mansee-singhal" source="keywords">Mansee Singhal</keyword>, <keyword id="20749446" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rewards-consulting" source="keywords">Rewards Consulting</keyword> Leader for Mercer in India, said the projected salary increments highlight both confidence and optimism in the Indian market, driven by robust economic indicators and a thriving business landscape. The continuous focus on AI and automation has propelled key industries like automobile, manufacturing &amp; engineering and life sciences into a new phase of growth, Singhal added.

Companies to dole out 10% average salary hike this year, says survey

<ul class="summary-list"><li>I have a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/things-that-make-costco-membership-worth-it-from-employee-2024">Costco executive membership</a> and a store credit card, so I stack rebates and rewards.</li><li>In addition to bulk deals, my membership gives my family a 2% rebate on most <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/best-costco-buys-for-easy-meals-executive-membership-2024-6">Costco purchases</a>. </li></ul>For the first time in seven years, Costco said it will <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/costco-raising-membership-fee-gold-star-executive-cost-2024-7">raise its membership prices</a>. On September 1, the $60 gold-star and $120 executive memberships are set to increase to $65 and $130, respectively.But even so, I think the pricier executive membership is 100% worth it for my family — especially when it's paired with the rewards from my <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/credit-cards/costco-anywhere-visa-card-review">Costco store credit card</a>.Here's how I stack all the perks to earn hundreds of dollars a year by shopping at Costco. <h2>Both the executive membership and in-store credit card come with great perks </h2>The executive membership comes with a 2% rebate on most in-store and online purchases, and I typically spend about <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/best-things-at-costco-family-of-five-grocery-list-2024-6">$300 a month at Costco</a>.The membership rebate is issued three months before the card member's renewal date and is capped at $1,000 a year. But the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/credit-cards/costco-anywhere-visa-card-review"></a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/costco-anywhere-visa-card-review">Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi</a> is my secret weapon for <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/credit-cards/how-to-maximize-credit-card-rewards">maximizing rewards</a>. Most items purchased in-store or online automatically earn 2% cash back, and gas at eligible stations earns 4% cash back. Since Costco has the best prices near us, I always fill up there and get the perks. <div type="image" title="gap pump at costco" height="2504" width="3339" msid="112266153" hostid="261" sizebytes="543738"></div>There's also a 3% reward on eligible restaurants and travel purchases, plus 1% back on everything else, so I'm always earning. Citi issues the reward certificate once the February billing statement closes. Just remember that it's a credit card, and interest will be charged on any balance you carry over. I like to pay the balance in full each month to avoid having my rewards gobbled up by charges. <h2>Plus, the Costco app has so many little-known reward opportunities</h2>One of my <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/costco-shoppers-share-the-best-things-to-buy-photos-list">favorite Costco deals</a> is its four-pack restaurant gift cards available on the app. I either gift them throughout the year or use them when dining out with my family. You can purchase $100 gift cards for various restaurants for $75 or $80. The immediate discount is obviously great, and I still get the 2% rebate and 2% cash back.The Costco app also offers discounts on select online clothing and footwear purchases. It's a great way for my family to stock up on basics like socks and underwear each year.For example, this July, members could save $20 on any five to nine eligible items and $50 on any 10 eligible items. But the discount amount can vary monthly, so make sure to download the app and keep an eye out for specials.Shipping is even included in the price, and my 2% rebate and 2% cash back still apply.<h2>All those rebates and rewards add up — in our case, to hundreds of dollars</h2><div type="image" title="big purchase promotional displays at costco" height="3024" width="4032" msid="112266150" hostid="261" sizebytes="1304154"></div>For my family, our average $300 monthly trip earns us an annual $72 from executive-membership rebates and $72 in Costco credit card rewards. We also spend about $220 on gas, which gives us another $105 in Citi rewards annually. All our clothes, shoes, and restaurant gift cards (which have great discounts off the bat) easily net another $50 to $100 in annual rebates and rewards. Finally, we usually make at least one major purchase each year. For example, last year, we bought a washer and dryer, tires for the car, and my laptop through our Costco membership. That earned us an additional $120 in rebates and rewards. In total, we earned over $400 last year between our executive membership and Costco store credit card. That easily covered the membership costs plus nearly an entire month of groceries. It's hard to argue with those savings.

With my Costco executive membership and store card, I earn enough rewards to pay for a whole shopping trip — here's how

Received wisdom in the tech world is that big, legacy companies are bound by inertia. The more established they are, the more they get set in their ways — and the more vulnerable they are to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-ai-how-big-tech-will-win-again-2023-5">disruption by a nimble startup</a>. Silicon Valley was founded on the principle that newcomers can move fast and break things — leading to world-transforming innovations.For the most part, though, that's not how it works anymore. Last year, a couple of economists found that <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/venture-capital-funding-crunch-will-continue-2024-2023-12">venture-capital-backed startups</a> almost never lead to a new company listing on a <a target="_blank" href="https://ssrn.com/abstract=4322834">public stock exchange</a>. They don't replace the tech giants — they just get bought by the tech giants. That's been true in Silicon Valley for at least a decade. And the vast majority of startups have been acquired by <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w29642/w29642.pdf">the same five companies</a>: Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft.Ever since Joe Biden was elected, the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department have been <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tech-merger-deals-harder-adobe-figma-antitrust-startups-exit-options-2023-3">looking into tech mergers and acquisitions</a> for evidence of antitrust behavior. Have the tech giants been illegally short-circuiting competition by buying up their rivals? It's a really good question — but it may be the wrong one to ask. A new paper by two leading scholars suggests that these days, Big Tech doesn't have to resort to buyouts to crush aspiring startups. Instead, they're using their considerable cash and soft power to defang potential rivals from within — a process the scholars call "<a target="_blank" href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4713845">co-opting disruption</a>."According to the new paper — by longtime tech observers Mark Lemley at Stanford University and Matt Wansley at Cardozo School of Law — the tech giants are deploying a bunch of sneaky corporate judo moves to undercut their competitors. When an innovative threat to their business model comes along — everything from <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/missy-cummings-robot-taxis-tesla-elon-musk-autonomous-cruise-waymo-2023-10">self-driving cars</a> to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-vision-pro-experiment-brain-virtual-reality-side-effect-2024-2">virtual reality</a> to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ted-underwood-ai-optimist-humanities-language-literature-research-bill-gates-2023-12">artificial intelligence</a> — they make a point of helping the promising little startups. They take a seat on their board of directors. They give them huge infusions of cash and access to selected data. They even lobby the government on their behalf. But all the while, the scholars found, Big Tech is actually using its seemingly benevolent show of support to protect its own interests — subtly steering the startups away from innovation, and into projects that reinforce the status quo. By working from within, they're turning the baying wolves of ambitious startups into harmless, well-trained lap dogs.This problem isn't academic. Co-opting startups not only quashes competition — it kills off meaningful innovation. Nearly all of the self-driving-car companies have shifted away from their big-vision plans for robot taxis to small-bore stuff like adaptive cruise control. Virtual-reality companies are working on virtual meeting software for the metaverse. AI companies that might have revolutionized drug discovery or engineering optimization are instead fiddling around with search, or customer service, or college-essay writing. With fewer rivals rising to challenge the incumbents, the pace of innovation slows. Some economists even think other startups in the same lanes as the co-opted ones stop trying as hard, for fear of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/silicon-valley-broken-out-of-truly-transformative-tech-ideas-2021-7">getting bought up and killed off</a> by Big Tech.This new theory of anticompetitive behavior could be a game changer when it comes to curbing the unprecedented power of the tech giants. It offers regulators a way to crack down on monopoly-minded companies before they try to buy up innovative young guns. "The traditional way of thinking about the threat to innovation from reduced competition has to do with market concentration," Wansley says. "Now we're taking it a little further. We're saying, by the time you get to an acquisition stage, that might be too late."Lemley and Wansley start their inquiry with a question: Why have two decades elapsed since the rise of the last massive, world-dominating <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rise-of-ai-artificial-intelligence-how-to-prepare-history-productivity-2023-7">disruptive company</a> in tech? Apple and Microsoft were founded in the mid-1970s; Amazon and Google in the 1990s. Facebook, the baby of the bunch, was founded in 2004. The iPhone came out in 2007. What do we have to show for the past 20 years of venture capital?The answer appears to be: just another industry that's terrified of competition. At this point, Big Tech looks at promising startups the way evil alien empires in science fiction look at helpless planets. Sometimes they act like the Borg from Star Trek, assimilating the "biological and technological distinctiveness" of competitors to make themselves more badass. Here on Earth, <a target="_blank" href="https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/dlj/vol63/iss2/1/">buying up little guys to gain access to their technology or personnel</a> is called an "acqui-hire," like when <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-meta-rebrand-kills-oculus-brand-vr-headset-quest-2021-10">Facebook bought Oculus and turned it into Quest</a>. And if the smaller company doesn't want to be acqui-hired? Well, resistance is futile.Or sometimes, like the genocidal, xenophobic Daleks from "Doctor Who," powerful companies just straight-up exterminate their competition. In 2021 a team of researchers from Yale and the London Business School found that somewhere between 5.3% and 7.4% of mergers and acquisitions in the pharmaceutical industry were "<a target="_blank" href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3241707">killer acquisitions</a>." The smaller company had a drug that might have someday threatened the big guy's category-busting pill, and: pew pew. No more little guy.In a sense, a dominant company has no choice but to act this way. It can't really innovate anymore — not with thousands of middle managers defending fiefdoms, clients and customers bought into a product and marketing cycle, and hundreds of millions of dollars invested in technical infrastructure. Real disruption would be, well, disruptive. "This is not something that people write about or talk about, not something that surfaces regularly," Lemley says. "But it's in the air if you're in Silicon Valley and talking to venture capitalists. It's a problem."And the bigger the company, the greater the financial risk of any disruption, no matter how small. Like an evil king facing a prophecy that he will one day be overthrown by a firstborn child from the forest realm, the company has to kill all the children, just to be sure.<div type="image" title="Two men on a stage — Sam Altman of OpenAI and Satya Nadella of Microsoft — with their corporate logos in the background, the OpenAI knott and MSFT's quad-colored squares" height="2400" width="3600" msid="108942652" hostid="261"></div>The thing is, mass murders of forest-realm firstborns tend to attract the attention of regulators. So what if the evil king just adopted all the babies? Raise them rich and spoiled in the castle, distract them with nubile romantic prospects, teach them to exploit the peasants? Between assimilation or assassination lies "a third possibility," Wansley says. "It's not that the acquirer is going to take the startup and totally shut the technology down. It's that they will redirect the assets to something more profitable."That's what the tech giants are doing. How? First, by relying on Silicon Valley's <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/venture-capital-big-tech-antitrust-predatory-pricing-uber-wework-bird-2023-7">network of venture capitalists</a> as an early-warning system for would-be disruptors. VCs see trends and startups that might someday pose a threat to the established order — so-called <a target="_blank" href="https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/penn_law_review/vol168/iss7/1/">nascent competitors</a> — before anyone else. And there's nothing stopping them. As Lemley observes, it's part of Silicon Valley's "natural information flow" for an investor to tell a Google or a Microsoft about the promising newcomers they're backing. "If I'm a VC, how am I going to get the best deal for my client in this space?" Lemley says. "The best deal might be, sell out to the incumbent."Once a tech giant gets a tip-off about a startup that might threaten their bottom line, they're able to strategically invest their vast cash reserves in the fledgling firm. That's precisely what's taking place with artificial intelligence: Microsoft owns 48% of OpenAI, the emerging field's undisputed leader. Alphabet and Amazon have put billions of dollars into the AI startup Anthropic. When the two AI companies were founded, Wansley says, both were "worried about what would happen if one of the tech giants started looking in their direction." Now, both are directly influenced by the very companies they set out to disrupt. And since investments from Big Tech often come with a seat on a startup's board of directors, Wansley adds, the tech giants are in an ideal position to "start nudging the company in a direction that's going to be less competitive."Money isn't the only weapon that Big Tech can deploy to co-opt a potential competitor. Because the tech giants have amassed huge repositories of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-ford-gm-volvo-supercharger-electric-cars-charger-network-data-2023-7">data on user behavior</a>, they can choose with whom they share that data, and how much. Documents leaked from the discovery phase of a lawsuit against Facebook in 2015 showed that the company <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/mark-zuckerberg-leveraged-facebook-user-%20data-fight-rivals-help-friends-n994706">doled out data access preferentially</a>, allowing its allies more access than its potential competitors. The data that Big Tech shares — or doesn't share — can play an instrumental role in shaping a startup's work.Finally, the big companies use their clout on Capitol Hill in an effort to impose stricter regulations on the startups they're ostensibly trying to help. That's why tech giants like Meta testify before congressional hearings and ask for more government oversight for emerging threats like robot cars, or AI. They want to ensure that the rules favor them — and disfavor startups outside their zone of protection. Big Tech may hate regulation, but it doesn't mind using it to regulate any startups that might wind up threatening its dominance in the marketplace.Co-opting startups is a clever strategy. It's way easier — and less obvious — than buying up a competitor and shutting it down. And if it doesn't work, the nuclear option is always available. "If all those other strategies fail — investments, taking a seat on the board, playing hardball with data networks, and regulation — if none of them prevents a competitor from growing, then the tech companies can buy it off," Wansley says. "It's a little subtle, right?" It is — but that's what makes it so effective. Straight-up killer acquisitions are relatively easy to prove, says Florian Ederer, an economist at Boston University. "It's much, much harder to prove that a company got taken over and its focus got slightly shifted to not competing quite so intensely." It's even harder to prove that consumers suffered any ill effects. The co-opted companies don't get killed off, and they stay nominally independent. The founders and investors get rich either way.So how do we know startups are getting co-opted by Big Tech? One proof is that some of Silicon Valley's most powerful players are starting to grouse about it. Elon Musk is <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/02/technology/elon-musk-openai-lawsuit-paradox.html">suing OpenAI</a> to keep the company from sharing its tech with Microsoft. The venture capitalist Marc Andreessen tweeted last month that Big Tech and the "New Incumbents" in AI are "<a target="_blank" href="https://x.com/pmarca/status/1762532979317043515">lobbying as a group with great intensity to establish a government protected cartel</a>." You know things are bad when the biggest kids on the block start whining about being victims.Wansley and Lemley argue that regulators need to step in — not to restrain competition, but to unleash it. For starters, they say, the feds should strengthen and enforce existing rules against "interlocking directorates," which are supposed to prevent executives from sitting on the boards of their competitors. In the 2000s, the CEO of Google was on Apple's board! These days that kind of thing gives the feds a frowny face; in 2022, the Justice Department pushed seven directors representing venture firms to resign from the boards of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-says-seven-board-directors-resigned-under-antitrust-pressure-2022-10-19/">five of their direct competitors</a> in space, edtech, and green energy. Microsoft currently enjoys a seat on OpenAI's board of directors. Technically it's only an observer role, without a vote. But, come on.The primary goal of the scholars I spoke with is broader than any specific regulation: They just want to get government watchdogs to recognize the new and subtle ways that tech giants are shutting down competition and innovation. Sure, people are still founding tech companies, and their startups are still getting funded. But more and more, they're basically serving as farm teams for the majors. "The incumbents have gotten much more attuned to competitive pressures from nascent competitors, and address them more aggressively and earlier," Ederer says.Regulators, for their part, appear to be catching on. In late January, the Federal Trade Commission ordered three titans of tech — Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet — to open the books on their investments in artificial intelligence. OpenAI and Anthropic received the same letter: Send over <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/ftc-to-look-into-tech-giants-ai-partnerships-1033002313">every scrap of documentation</a> on the financial ties between them and the massive incumbents that are funding them. That's a promising start. If technology is going to do what it always has — solve big problems, build value, create jobs and opportunity — Silicon Valley needs as much competition as possible. "We used to have these cycles of competitive disruption," Lemley says. "Microsoft runs the world, and the internet comes up, and they missed it. IBM runs the world, and the Dells of the world come up, and they're no longer in charge. That's what we'd like to get back." Startups once unlocked a golden age of tech innovation. Perhaps, if we can find a way to keep them from being co-opted, they can do it again.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/author/adam-rogers">Adam Rogers</a> is a senior correspondent at Business Insider.

Silicon Valley used to reward innovation. Now it strives to sabotage it.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Ark Invest's Cathie Wood says she wouldn't have sold her Nvidia stock if she knew it was going up.</li><li>She previously called Nvidia a "check the box stock" with too much "hyperactivity." </li></ul>Hindsight is 20/20 for Ark Invest's <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cathie-wood-says-nvidia-has-become-check-the-box-stock-2024-2">Cathie Wood</a>, whose fund missed out on the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nvidia-advantage-amazon-desperation-for-gpu-chips-2024-6">Nvidia</a> stock rally when it sold its position too early."Before selling NVDA in ARKK, had we known that the market was going to reward it and the other Mag 6 stocks to the exclusion of stocks that will be the prime beneficiaries of AI, like TSLA - the largest AI project earth - and multiomics names like RXRX, we would have held it," Wood <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/cathiedwood/status/1812585396120740039?s=46">said</a> in an X post on Sunday.Wood's post referred to four stocks via their ticker symbols — <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/nvidia-stock-price-prediction-upside-200-per-share-target-ai-2024-6">Nvidia</a>, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/etf/cathie-wood-s-ark-innovation-etf-sees-sharp-decline-among-top-holdings-%E2%80%94-here-are-10-largest-losers-within-arkf-1033426621">Ark Innovation ETF</a>, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-stock-price-prediction-tsla-deliveries-demand-robotaxi-elon-musk-2024-07">Tesla</a>, and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/recursion-announces-pricing-of-200-million-public-offering-of-class-a-common-stock-1033509417">Recursion Pharmaceuticals</a>.She also appeared to reference the "<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ceo-pay-apple-nvidia-microsoft-alphabet-meta-amazon-tesla-2024-5">Magnificent Seven</a>," a list of top tech companies that include Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla.A Nvidia spokesperson declined to comment to Business Insider.Representatives for Wood didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from BI sent outside regular business hours.Wood's remarks on Sunday are probably the closest we are ever going to get to a mea culpa from the famed investor. According to The Wall Street Journal, Wood's investment fund <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/stock-market-today-dow-jones-02-16-2024/card/why-cathie-wood-is-selling-nvidia-stock-d4OpMIdJ2vjGVJBpuCH2">sold at least $4.5 million worth of Nvidia stock</a> this year."Everyone now understands that Nvidia is the key chip player. It's created the AI age in a sense, but we do think that it has become a check the box stock," Wood told The Wall Street Journal's Dion Rabouin in a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.wsj.com/podcasts/take-on-the-week/ark-invest-cathie-wood-ai-boom-is-real-but-still-selling-nvidia/9203111c-6310-47dd-b1c3-0a6b4ac44e09">podcast</a> that aired in February."I've watched Nvidia all my career actually since it's gone public, it's a very cyclical stock," she said. "There's this hyperactivity, everyone excited trying to get in at the same time, so there's double ordering, triple ordering, quadruple ordering, and then there is an inventory correction. We think that will happen again."But Nvidia's stock price has more than outperformed Wood's bearish prediction. The chip giant's stock has <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/nvidia-stock-outlook-investors-selling-ai-artificial-intelligence-bubble-hype-2023-6">gone up by 172%</a> this year, and it briefly became the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/nvidia-stock-price-market-cap-microsoft-most-valuable-company-ai-2024-6">world's most valuable company</a> last month.To be sure, Wood isn't the only one who thinks Nvidia is wildly overvalued.NYU finance professor Aswath Damodaran said he <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/value-investor-aswath-damodaran-nvidia-stock-price-sales-microchips-ai-2023-6">sold half his Nvidia stake</a> last year after the company <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/nvidia-stock-price-ai-artificial-intelligence-trillion-valuation-chipmaker-gpus-2023-5?_gl=1*cppdpw*_ga*NTQwNTIzMjY5LjE2NzM5NjU3NzI.*_ga_E21CV80ZCZ*MTY4NDgyNjUwNS4zMzYuMS4xNjg0ODI2NTA2LjU5LjAuMA..&amp;utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets">hit a $1 trillion valuation</a>."The run up has been just so astonishing that I cannot in good conscience hold on to it and call myself a value investor," Damodaran <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/06/01/nyus-damodaran-says-he-cant-hold-this-chip-stock-as-a-value-investor.html">told</a> CNBC in an interview from June 2023.

Cathie Wood says she wouldn't have sold Nvidia stake 'had we known that the market was going to reward it'

<ul class="summary-list"><li>I recently went on my first cruise with my parents, sister, and grandmother. </li><li>I'd never been on a cruise before and was surprised that there were things for all of us to enjoy.</li></ul>Until last month, I had never been on a cruise. Neither had my parents or my sister, but my grandmother — my nan — often travels by cruise ship, so we decided to join her <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/multigenerational-family-cruise-vacation-kids-grandmother-2024-4">on a cruise</a>.We decided on a trip to the Norwegian fjords, which we all wanted to see, and traveled on the 5,206-capacity Iona — the UK's largest cruise ship until 2022.It was the first time we'd all gone on vacation as a family of five. My 16-year-old sister, me at 25, my parents — both 50 — and my nan, who is 72 — were there.<div type="image" title="Adam England while on a cruise with his family." height="1500" width="2000" msid="111205472" hostid="261" sizebytes="490562"></div><h2 id="a7dad4ff-3338-4c2a-bfd1-f3aeda9639a4">The environment took some adjusting</h2>The cruise took us a couple of days to get used to. The idea of being at sea felt almost claustrophobic when compared to the pedestrian-friendly city vacations I'm used to, and my nan didn't adjust to the sheer number of children (and the noise) on board at first, because she's used to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/river-cruise-family-trip-through-france-viking-staga-review-2023-7">going on cruises</a> when children are at school.But we gradually found a rhythm. My family are early risers, but I don't usually eat breakfast, so I'd wake up with them, have a coffee in bed, and then head to the gym while they went to get food. If we were spending a day in a port, we'd enjoy a few hours exploring, probably getting a coffee or some lunch, before heading back on the ship for the rest of the day.There were plenty of places <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/which-cruise-lines-should-i-choose-skip-expert-2024">on the ship</a> where I could spend some time by myself, too. There was an adults-only area on one of the top decks, so as we were blessed with surprisingly good weather, I'd go up there, order a beer or a cocktail, and read my book in the sun. I also enjoyed spending time in one of the quieter bars on the ship. I bought the WiFi package largely so I could keep in touch with my girlfriend and keep an eye on emails, but it also allowed me to kill some time scrolling social media or checking the soccer news.<div type="image" title="Water and scenery from the deck of the cruise." height="3024" width="4032" msid="111205469" hostid="261" sizebytes="747812"></div><h2 id="742f6245-0004-4929-bc03-b69b903e10a5">It was good to spend more time with my family</h2>I was a little nervous about spending so much time with my family. Apart from a short <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/traveling-with-dad-changed-adult-relationship-dynamic-parent-individual-2024-3">trip to Madrid with my dad</a> last year, it was the first trip I'd taken with my parents and sister in two years, and the first with my nan since 2015.It wasn't always easy to go without the space I'm used to — and to go longer than usual without seeing my girlfriend — but the trade-off of seeing more of my family was worth it. The trip was only for a week, and it was good to spend time with both of my parents, as well as my sister, who, at 16, is getting older and looking toward university. I liked spending more <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/grandmother-longevity-secrets-international-travel-social-life-2024-3">time with my nan</a>, too, particularly now that she's in her 70s and is still in good health.Now that we're back, I find myself missing the trip. While there are aspects of being on a cruise that I don't necessarily love — the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-eating-main-dining-room-not-worth-it-royal-caribbean">bars and restaurants</a> can start to feel a bit samey after a while, for example — there was a lot that I enjoyed.The places we visited were unforgettable, too. From riding the Skylift in the village of Loen and taking in the picturesque surroundings to visiting the coolest coffee shop in Stavanger, one of Norway's biggest cities, there were some great destinations I probably would never have visited had we not decided to go for the cruise.I always associated cruises with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/retired-young-traveling-world-husband-2024-6">retired couples</a> and families with young children, but I found plenty to do as someone in their 20s, particularly because I wanted a relaxing vacation. And being able to spend time with my family made it all the more memorable.

You Searched For "rewards" and got 12 results

The feds are investigating if airlines are being stingy with your rewards

Grace Eliza Goodwin

Microsoft plans special reward for employees, to give cash award along with annual bonus

Divyanshi Sharma

Credit card rewards are turning us into jerks

Emily Stewart

Europe cracks down on TikTok Lite variant that rewards users with Amazon vouchers

Matthew Loh

I was a graphic designer for decades and went back to school at 60 to become a teacher. It pays less but is more rewarding.

Cailey Griffin

Target isn't rewarding its biggest spenders like it should — and shoppers aren't happy about it

Jamie Killin

Odisha CM Majhi announces Rs 15 lakh reward for each player after India's bronze medal win in Paris

ANI

Companies to dole out 10% average salary hike this year, says survey

PTI

With my Costco executive membership and store card, I earn enough rewards to pay for a whole shopping trip — here's how

Dawn Levitt

Silicon Valley used to reward innovation. Now it strives to sabotage it.

Adam Rogers

Cathie Wood says she wouldn't have sold Nvidia stake 'had we known that the market was going to reward it'

Kwan Wei Kevin Tan

I went on my first cruise with 3 generations of my family, and it was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life

Adam England

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides