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>Spain's eastern province of Valencia was hit hard by intense flooding last week.</li><li>The government has pledged $11 billion to help it recover, but local authorities want $34 billion.</li></ul>Spain said it will give about $11 billion to help restore Valencia after flash floods hammered the province last week — but local authorities there want three times that amount.Historic, deadly flash floods — brought about by torrential rainfall — hit the area last week, killing at least 211, regional emergency services <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/GVA112/status/1853698255730942163">said</a> on Wednesday.Spain's State Meteorological <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spain-flooding-51-dead-in-valencia-region-economic-hub-2024-10">Agency</a> said last week that it was the province's most severe storm since 1987.During a press conference on Tuesday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said his government had <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/sanchezcastejon/status/1853796678265938374">approved</a> $11.55 billion in loans and grants to help storm and flood victims.However, a day earlier, the province's president, Carlos Mazón, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/carlos_mazon_/status/1853555363678728545">said</a> local authorities had asked for an initial package equivalent to about $34 billion."The measures will serve to rebuild, relaunch, and mitigate the effects" of the storm, Mazón told reporters.<div type="image" title="Satellite images of the Valencia province before and after flash floods on October 25, 2022 (left), and October 30, 2024 (right)." height="480" width="640" msid="114986283" hostid="261" sizebytes="62758"></div>On Saturday, Valencia's Chamber of Commerce <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.camaravalencia.com/noticias/informe-sobre-danos-provocados-por-la-dana-en-los-municipios-mas-afectados-y-consecuencias-sobre-la-actividad-economica/">estimated</a> that up to 4,500 businesses had suffered notable damage, with potentially 1,800 severely impacted.The floods affected many economic sectors, including agriculture, industry, and services, it said.Automaking remains Valencia's most <a target="_blank" href="https://www.investinspain.org/en/regions/comunidad-valenciana/industrias-destacadas?#nameRegion">important industry</a>.Cristina del Rey, the communications director for Ford Spain, told BI last week that her company's Valencia plant had not suffered direct damage from the floods but was shut on Wednesday and Thursday.According to a <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" class="c-link c-link--focus-visible" href="https://fundacionaon.es/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/BAROMETRO-DE-CATASTROFES-2021.pdf">report</a> from the Aon Spain Foundation, a private foundation that works to prevent and assist with natural disasters, the annual cost of natural disasters in Spain between 2016 and 2021, including floods, was between $940 million and $2.5 billion.Local authorities on Sunday <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/GVA112/status/1853692672327721128/photo/1">said</a> that the heavy rains — part of a phenomenon known as "cold drops" — had caused "unprecedented" damage to infrastructure and human life.The provisional death toll put it among the most serious natural disasters in Western Europe in recent years. Widespread flooding in July 2021 killed more than 200 people in Belgium, Germany, and surrounding countries.At a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1ynJODVpRdXxR">press conference</a> on Tuesday, Sánchez declared Valencia a disaster area, paving the way for extra funding for local authorities.He said about 15,000 soldiers and police officers had been dispatched to the province, as well as 287 forest brigaders, around a hundred customs officers, 44 forensic physicians, and 600 specialized vehicles for pumping, cleaning, and supplying the affected areas.Sánchez added that 98% of affected households now had power, and about 25 miles of roads and 46 miles of railway tracks had been repaired."We must continue working with more resources, more coordination, and greater effort until normality returns to all the municipalities and to all the homes affected by this tragedy," he said.

Counting the cost of Spain's hellish floods, the government pledged $11B, local officials want $34B

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Wisp, an online pharmacy, said sales of birth control surged after Donald Trump's election win.</li><li>Wisp's CEO told BI that women were "taking action" amid future uncertainty.</li></ul>Wisp, an online pharmacy focused on sexual and reproductive health, says sales of birth control and emergency contraception have surged in the United States in the last week.The company says that's because <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/abortion-pill-women-stockpile-mifepristone-trump-presidency-experts-2024-4">women are stockpiling reproductive healthcare</a> products now that Donald Trump is headed back to the White House.Wisp, which serves over 1.2 million patients nationwide, reported a 1,000% increase in emergency contraception purchases from November 5 to November 6. Wisp CEO Monica Cepak told Business Insider that women are "taking action as they navigate the uncertainty of these next few years.""This data indicates to us that women are really scared and are using this moment in time to take back agency over their reproductive rights by stockpiling things like emergency contraception and investing in preventive reproductive health," Cepak said.In his first term, Trump put three conservative justices on the Supreme Court, which then <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/supreme-court-abortion-decision-final-ruling-scotus-roe-v-wade-2022-6">overturned Roe v. Wade</a>. The decision undid nationwide abortion protections and allowed 13 states to pass laws that effectively banned abortion.Earlier this year, Trump took credit for ending the decadeslong precedent of legalized abortion nationwide. "I did it, and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-abortion-roe-v-wade-supreme-court-gop-primary-2024-1">I'm proud to have done it</a>," he said. "Nobody else was going to get that done but me, and we did it, and we did something that was a miracle."In the 24 hours after Election Day, Wisp said it saw a 1,650% increase in new patients purchasing emergency contraception. There was a 600% increase in medication abortion sales and a 50% increase in birth control sales.Overall, Wisp's reproductive health sales (of emergency contraception, birth control, and medication abortion products) doubled compared to the week prior to the election, the company told Business Insider."We expect that momentum to sustain over the next few weeks and months," Cepak said.The purchases came from women in both anti-abortion states as well as states with widespread access to reproductive healthcare. Emergency contraception purchases surged in Texas, Indiana, and Oklahoma, where there are strict restrictions, but sales also increased in states like California and New York."Despite being states where reproductive rights are fully protected, we're seeing women take precautionary measures as the future remains uncertain," Wisp said in a statement.Amy Hagstrom Miller, the founder of Whole Woman's Health, which operates abortion clinics in multiple states, said her organization is also seeing a surge in demand for contraceptive and abortion medication."We are seeing an increased demand for emergency contraception, long-acting contraception, advanced provision of medication abortion, and we are seeing online telemed provision of these things, which I think has really reached a lot of people in states where abortion is banned," Hagstrom Miller said.The Democrats saw the abortion issue as a strength after performing well in the<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/midterms-2022-pro-choice-votes-helped-democrats-defy-election-blues-2022-11"> 2022 midterms</a>. As a result, the Trump campaign <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/abortion-pill-women-stockpile-mifepristone-trump-presidency-experts-2024-4">worked to distance itself</a> from the issue during the presidential election. In March, he floated a national ban at about 16 weeks of gestation. A month later, he said he wouldn't sign a national abortion ban.At a press panel on Thursday for Abortion Access Now, a national coalition advocating for abortion rights, representatives from different reproductive rights organizations reflected on the election results and the path forward."Trump ran from his record and lied about his position on abortion. Even Trump knows how unpopular abortion bans are," Kimberly Inez McGuire, the executive director of URGE: Unite for Reproductive &amp; Gender Equity, said at the panel. "We know that people in this country bristle at the thought of politicians interfering with abortion decisions."On <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/election-results-trump-harris-presidential-election-2024-11">Election Day</a>, voters turned out in favor of abortion rights in 7 out of 10 states that had it on the ballot."Abortion was on the ballot, abortion won, but the election and the results, particularly for the White House, make it really clear that the path for reproductive freedom will continue to be a long one," Mini Timmaraju, the president and CEO of Reproductive Freedom for All, said at the panel. "It won't be won or lost in a single election."

Online sales of Plan B and birth control are surging after Trump's election, retailer says

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The US Air Force released a video showing the B-21 Raider stealth bomber taking off and landing.</li><li>The force's newest bomber took its first flight last fall and is in production.</li></ul>The US Air Force released the first footage of its new stealth bomber taking off and landing during flight testing.The testing marks a monumental moment for the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-air-force-photos-b-21-raider-newest-stealth-bomber-2024-5">B-21 Raider</a>, which is shaping up to replace the branch's older bombers and become "the backbone" of its "flexible global strike capability," the Air Force said.The video was released Wednesday alongside the B-21 Update panel at the 2024 Air, Space and Cyber Conference by the Air and Space Forces Association.In the footage, the sleek B-21 takes off from the tarmac in California and soars up. The video then cuts to the bomber landing.At the panel, officials from the Air Force and Northrop Grumman, the company developing the aircraft, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/3910299/">provided updates on the B-21 program</a>."We're really starting to strike up quite a cadence [and] generate two flight test flights in a given week," Thomas Jones, Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems sector president, said. "When we started this journey, we made a vow that we were going to design this system to be a daily flyer. It's been a phenomenal year of progress, and we hope to continue that through the next year."<div type="image" title="A B-21 Raider conducts flight testing, which includes ground testing, taxiing, and flying operations, at Edwards Air Force Base, California." height="1432" width="2160" msid="113502439" hostid="261" sizebytes="78198"></div>Development on the B-21 dates back to 2015, and the aircraft was first unveiled to the public in December 2022. Then, in November 2023, the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-military-approved-production-stealth-bomber-b-21-first-flight-2024-1">Raider took its first flight</a>. Production on the aircraft was confirmed to be underway in January of this year. It's the US military's first strategic bomber in nearly three decades.Per the Pentagon, the B-21 boasts advanced stealth capabilities and can be equipped to deliver stand-off and direct-attack munitions, including both conventional and nuclear payloads. Its range, the US Department of Defense has said, is "unmatched."Part of the appeal of the B-21 is its ability to integrate with other US Air Force operations, as well as missions conducted by US partners and allies.<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-b2-bomber-flies-with-japanese-f35s-first-time-photos-2024-9">Bomber Task Force operations</a>, such as those involving the stealth B-2 Spirits, supersonic B-1 Lancers, and B-52 Stratofortresses, are a priority for the US Air Force, allowing the force to demonstrate how it incorporates bomber aircraft into missions with US allies and partners.

See the first video showing the US Air Force's B-21 Raider in flight

<ul><li>The Indian <keyword id="10600982" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="B2B-SaaS" source="Orion">B2B SaaS</keyword> industry continues to have a bullish outlook for 2023 despite global headwinds. </li><li>Four out of 10 Indian B2B SaaS CXOs are targeting over 100% ARR growth. </li><li>The majority of such companies are from AI, HCM, Fintech and CRM/CDP SaaS segments.</li></ul>Unmoved by recessionary trends of the past year, the Indian B2B SaaS industry continues to have a bullish outlook for 2023, says a report by Ernst &amp; Young in partnership with Upekkha Value SaaS Accelerator. It states that Indian SaaS growth is highly capital-efficient by default, across stages. Eight out of 10 Indian <keyword id="6756963" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="SaaS-companies" source="Orion">SaaS companies</keyword> have a burn multiple of under 1.5x. Globally, a burn multiple of less than 2-3x is a good state for growth stage — companies with $1 million to $100 million Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR). “Indian B2B SaaS is about 2x capital efficient compared to its global counterparts. This places them well, when the capital ask shifts from ‘growth at all costs’ to ‘profitable growth’,” says Kamalanand Nithianandan, partner, Business Consulting, EY India. The growth outlook is balanced by financial and operational prudence, reflecting strong focus on building and scaling capital efficient businesses, says the report titled ‘Bellwethers of Indian SaaS’. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Targeting ultra &amp; hyper growth" comment="subhead2" text="Targeting ultra &amp; hyper growth">Targeting ultra &amp; hyper growth</cmsannotation> Insights from the survey reveal that four out of 10 Indian B2B SaaS CXOs are targeting over 100% ARR growth (ultra-growth). A majority, eight out of 10 CXOs, are targeting above 50% ARR growth (hyper-growth) in 2023, as per the survey conducted by EY India and Upekkha. The majority of companies tagreting ultra-growth are from AI, HCM (human capital management) fintech, customer resource management (CRM) and customer data platform (CDP) segments. The funding scenario for Indian SaaS companies is also expected to remain bullish. The report highlights that with expected economic recovery in the second half of 2023 and availability of dry powder within the SaaS focused Indian VC/PE ecosystem, funding activity is expected to gain traction. “This presents an opportunity for Indian SaaS companies with demonstrated profitability to raise capital at favourable terms and double down on growth,” the report says. Alternative funding instruments, such as convertible notes, were emphasized against the backdrop of access to equity funding due to rising inflation rates. According to the report, 60% of company CXOs reported product innovation, pricing changes and partner-led expansion as their top strategic priorities. Top challenge inhibiting growth was ‘delay in customer closure cycle’ for 51% CXOs, whereas sales inefficiency came next for over 41% CXOs. Hiring and retention continue to be a key challenge, but CXOs also emphasize on adopting reskilling and training strategies to mitigate the talent shortage risk. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/stock-price-run-up-in-paytm-nykaa-zomato-pb-fintech-delhivery-could-see-large-shareholders-cashing-out-bofa/articleshow/98274102.cms">Stock price run up in Paytm, Nykaa, Zomato, PB Fintech &amp; Delhivery could see large shareholders cashing out - BofA</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/vr-app-allows-users-to-revisit-memories-previously-recorded-on-their-smartphones/articleshow/98275527.cms">This app is straight out of Black Mirror — it lets you capture and revisit memories in virtual reality</a>

Indian B2B SaaS companies are 2x more capital efficient than global peers: EY report

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Toronto's Downsview Airport is being transformed into a residential area for 55,000 residents.</li><li>The $22 billion project will feature seven neighborhoods with housing, businesses, and parks.</li></ul>An old airport in <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/toronto-things-to-never-do-there-canada-according-to-local">Toronto</a> is being transformed into a new development for almost 55,000 residents.The former Downsview Airport will be refurbished into seven walkable neighborhoods with housing, businesses, and public parks.It will become "a city, within a city," according to the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.northcrestdev.ca/">developer's website</a>.A spokesperson for the developer told Business Insider that the project is expected to cost around $30 billion Canadian dollars, or around $22 billion.Downsview Airport was first used as an air base for the Royal Canadian Air Force in World War II and was most recently a testing facility for the aircraft manufacturer Bombardier, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.wsj.com/real-estate/the-22-billion-plan-to-turn-a-defunct-airport-into-a-small-city-a73ca6ab?mod=real-estate_lead_pos1">The Wall Street Journal</a> reported.<div type="image" title="Downsview airport development" height="1687" width="3000" msid="112573048" hostid="261" sizebytes="1121786"></div>Bombardier sold the site to PSP Investments in 2018 for around $635 million, the Journal reported. The company created Northcrest Developments to manage and oversee the project.But unlike some previous airport developments, where original infrastructures were scrapped, Northcrest is leaning into the site's unique elements.For example, the former runway will be a focal point of the area, connecting all seven neighborhoods with a pedestrian street that will be just over a mile in length.<div type="image" title="Downsview airport runway street" height="1125" width="2000" msid="112573052" hostid="261" sizebytes="121240"></div>It will be seen as "the spine of community life," according to a project document obtained by Business Insider."It's hard to make a planned community seem authentic when everything is brand new," Derek Goring, chief executive of Northcrest Developments, told the Journal."So we really decided to lean into the aerospace legacy," he added.Goring said Northcrest had once considered scrapping the entire site and starting afresh but decided it "was not a good idea," adding that the maintenance and reuse of historic buildings had shown success in other development projects around the world.<div type="image" title="Downsview airport" height="1152" width="2048" msid="112573055" hostid="261" sizebytes="300704"></div>He added that the airport's original hangers, built between the 1950s and 1990s, would be the ideal space for film production, light manufacturing, and clean tech companies."So there's an opportunity to attract companies that actually want to be here but can't because they can't find these types of locations," he said.The project, which is expected to take 30 years to complete, will boast 28 million square feet of residential space and 74 parks and green spaces.It will be able to house nearly 55,000 people and create 22,000 jobs.The first of the seven neighborhoods, the Hanger District, is in the initial development phase and is expected to create 2,850 new homes and 7,000 jobs.It's not the only project of this kind. Developers in Greece are transforming a former Athens airport into an <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ellinikon-greece-athens-abandoned-airport-smart-city-photos-2024-6">$8 billion smart city </a>that will have the country's first skyscraper, a high-end mall, and a sports park.Speaking to BI, the developers said they wanted to create a "zip-code paradise" that would combine coastal scenery with technologically advanced, sustainable infrastructure.They estimate that the project's first phase will be completed by 2026.

A former airport in Canada is being transformed into a $22B development with 7 unique neighborhoods 

New Delhi: The <keyword id="19895345" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="supreme-court" source="keywords">Supreme Court</keyword> on Wednesday said it will hear on September 17 the appeal of US-based creditor Glas Trust Company LLC against a judgment of the <keyword id="19916400" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="nclat" source="keywords">NCLAT</keyword>, which had stayed insolvency proceedings against ed-tech firm BYJU's and approved its Rs 158.9 crore dues settlement with the <keyword id="19901245" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="bcci" source="keywords">BCCI</keyword>. A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra was urged by a battery of lawyers that the plea be heard urgently keeping in mind the subsequent developments in the case. The plea was mentioned by senior advocate NK Kaul, appearing for the ed-tech major, that the case needed to be heard at the earliest. The submission was supported by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the BCCI, and senior lawyer Abhishek Singhvi, also appearing for the ed-tech firm. Kaul said another plea in the case has also been filed and that is listed for hearing on September 17 and hence, the present plea be either heard on that day or the hearings in both the cases be advanced to this Friday. "We will hear both the pleas on September 17," the CJI said. Senior advocate Shayam Divan, appearing for the US-based creditor, said let the matters be heard together on September 17. Earlier on August 22, the bench had refused to pass an interim order to ensure that the committee of creditors (CoC) does not hold any meeting in pursuance of the insolvency proceedings against the embattled ed-tech firm. It had listed the plea for a final hearing on August 27. The bench had said the developments, which may take place in the meantime, can be negated if it finds there was no merit in the appeal of the US-based creditor against the judgment of appellate insolvency tribunal NCLAT. The plea was mentioned earlier also on August 20 by Byju's and the BCCI and the top court had then also refused to pass an interim order to restrain the Insolvency Resolution Professional (IRP) from constituting a committee of creditors (CoC) in the insolvency proceedings against the ed-tech firm. In a major setback to Byju's, the top court had on August 14 stayed the verdict of NCLAT, setting aside the insolvency proceedings against the ed-tech major and approving its Rs 158.9 crore dues settlement with the Indian cricket board. The August 2 verdict of the NCLAT had come as a huge relief for Byju's as it had effectively put its founder Byju Raveendran back in control. The top court, however, had prima facie termed the NCLAT verdict as "unconscionable" and stayed its operation while issuing notices to Byju's and others on the appeal of the ed-tech firm's US-based creditor against the judgment of the insolvency appellate tribunal. The case stemmed from Byju's default on a Rs 158.9 crore payment related to a sponsorship deal with the BCCI. The top court had directed the BCCI to keep a sum of Rs 158 crore it had received from Byju's after a settlement in a separate escrow account till further orders. "Issue notice. Pending further orders there shall be a stay of the impugned order of August 2 of NCLAT. In the meantime, BCCI shall maintain the amount of Rs 158 crore, which shall be realised in pursuance of a settlement, in a separate escrow account until further orders," the bench had said. The NCLAT had approved the Rs 158.9 crore dues settlement with the BCCI and set aside the insolvency proceedings against Byju's. Byju's had entered into a "Team Sponsor Agreement" with the BCCI in 2019. Under the agreement, the ed-tech firm got exclusive rights to display its brand on the Indian cricket team's kit and some other benefits. Byju's had to pay a sponsorship fee. The company met its obligations till the middle of 2022 but defaulted on subsequent payments of Rs 158.9 crore. After insolvency proceedings were initiated, Byju's entered into a settlement with the BCCI. On July 16, the Bengaluru bench of the <keyword id="19902197" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="national-company-law-tribunal" source="keywords">National Company Law Tribunal</keyword> (NCLT) had admitted 'Think and Learn', Byju's parent company, to the insolvency resolution process on a plea filed by the BCCI over default in payment of outstanding dues of almost Rs 158.9 crore. While suspending the board of the ed-tech firm, the NCLT had appointed an interim resolution professional to run the operations of the company, suspended the company's board of directors, and brought it under moratorium by freezing its assets. The US-based lenders suspected that the settlement amount was being diverted from the credit they had extended to Byju's.

SC to hear plea related to insolvency proceedings against ed-tech firm Byju's on Sept 17

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Lego has built itself into an organization that is almost inflation-proof.</li><li>While other toy makers have slumped, Lego enjoyed double-digit growth in the first half of 2024.</li></ul>Lego's many ventures have helped build a nearly inflation-proof company — one toy block at a time.While inflation has struck other industries, including most toy manufacturers, Lego has created a buffer with its extensive portfolio of products and associated entertainment.The company reported that its revenue increased by 13% in the first half of 2024 to $4.6 billion. Lego noted that its double-digit growth was "significantly outperforming the toy industry." According to the Toy Association, industry sales as a whole declined 1% in the first half of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023.Here are some of the strategic moves the company has made to yield such positive results.<h2 id="8f24bb2b-d798-4312-9cf6-ad4a60c0252b">Appealing to a broad audience</h2>Lego is a rare toy that appeals to an audience beyond just children.The company attracts adult consumers, or <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/lego-f1-pharrell-dune-kidult-trend-2024-2">"kidults,"</a> with product lines such as Lego Icons, which are Lego sets that include "impressive landmarks, modular buildings, classic vehicles, pop culture favorites and beautiful home décor sets," the company says. Adults can drop $850 on a Star Wars Millennium Falcon or $680 on a replica of the Titanic.The Danish family-owned company's investment in a broader audience has paid off. While the toy market has slumped in the last 15 years, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/parents-bought-fewer-toys-except-lego-millennials-plastic-clutter-2024-3">Lego has outpaced competitors</a> such as Mattel, which makes Barbie, and Hasbro, the maker of GI Joe. Lego has <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/lego-adult-fans-revenue-millennium-falcon-star-wars-hasbro-barbie-2024-4">doubled its revenue in the last decade</a>.<h2 id="06ec4bd2-e865-45b6-a4e7-ad4ff09af82d">Strategic partnerships and entertainment ventures</h2>"Everything is awesome! Everything is cool when you're part of a team! Everything is awesome when we're living our dream!"Everything is awesome, indeed — especially when a company has its hand in many pots, including lucrative film and entertainment ventures. Multiple movies dove into the Lego universe, and it paid off.<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/box-office-the-lego-movie-makes-63-million-second-weekend-2014-2">"The Lego Movie,"</a> with its catchy "everything is awesome" refrain and which included some humorous <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-lego-movie-trailer-targets-adults-2013-11">tropes about adulthood</a> to target a wide audience, enjoyed massive success for an animated movie when it hit theaters in 2014. It grossed over $468 million worldwide. In 2017, "The Lego Batman Movie" and "The Lego Ninjago Movie" grossed $312 million and $123 million worldwide, respectively. <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/lego-movie-2-won-weekend-box-office-returns-2019-2">"The Lego Movie 2</a>, released in 2019, grossed $192 million worldwide.Just as the Lego franchise saw a range of success when it branched out into film, it has done the same with partnerships with other popular brands, like Adidas and Ikea, among others. Customers can purchase Adidas shoes that feature Lego pieces or Ikea storage bins with Lego studs and accompanying Lego bricks.<h2 id="3834f56e-78d5-43bf-9daa-d36247a73e4d">Plastic toys in a digital world</h2>Lego also took its plastic blocks into a new frontier: the digital world.<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fortnite-most-influential-video-game-decade-2019-12">Lego Fortnite</a>, which is rated for players 10 years old and older, attracted millions of players when it launched in December. <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/lego-fortnite-players-recreate-9-11-in-the-first-day-2023-12">Players can build villages</a> and "live it up" with friends.Lego announced this month that it had reached a stunning 83 million players to the game. The company is scouting additional digital partnerships to replicate Lego Fortnite's success, Bloomberg reported."We will continue to develop in the digital world," Lego CEO Niels B. Christiansen told Bloomberg. "It's not new for the Lego Group to do partnerships and license agreements, and it's clearly our ambition that we will do more."

How Lego built itself into a nearly inflation-proof toy company

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Warren Buffett's company is closing in on a record $1 trillion market value.</li><li>Berkshire Hathaway's B shares have soared 29% this year, boosting its market cap to $993 billion.</li></ul><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-warren-buffett-spends-money-net-worth">Warren Buffett</a>'s conglomerate is on the verge of surpassing $1 trillion in market value for the first time, spotlighting the investor's extraordinary success over nearly six decades.Berkshire Hathaway's Class B shares have surged 29% this year, far outpacing the S&amp;P 500 index's 18% gain. The company was worth a record $993 billion at Tuesday's close, meaning it only has to rise another 0.8% to hit the $1 trillion mark.That's a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/warren-buffett-berkshire-hathway-turnaround-story-mcdonough-pilot-real-estate-2024-1">remarkable feat</a>, given Berkshire comprised two textile mills and about 2,300 employees when Buffett first acquired control in early 1965. The business posted after-tax earnings of less than $5 million in 1968, Buffett's partnership letters show.Almost six decades later, Berkshire <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/warren-buffett-berkshire-hathaway-economy-consumer-spending-demand-recession-homes-2024-8">owns scores of businesses</a> including Geico, the BNSF Railway, and Sqishmallows-maker Jazwares, and holds multibillion-dollar stakes in public companies such as Apple and Coca-Cola. It posted operating earnings in excess of $37 billion last year and employed nearly 400,000 people at the end of December.<div type="image" title="train bnsf" height="730" width="1024" msid="112869619" hostid="261" sizebytes="90006"></div>Berkshire's sustained growth has made it the seventh-most valuable US public company. It's worth more than Eli Lilly ($859 billion), Broadcom ($751 billion), and Tesla ($665 billion), but less than Meta Platforms ($1.3 trillion).Buffett's net worth has risen $25 billion this year, putting him in eighth spot on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, worth $145 billion.<h2 id="d9ee35a6-28c2-405f-836f-594dc325e34d">Headache</h2>A $1 trillion Berkshire has seemed inevitable for a while, given it had <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/warren-buffett-berkshire-hathaway-trillion-assets-big-tech-tesla-nvidia-2023-8">assets worth $1.1 trillion</a> at the end of June. That included <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/berkshire-hathaway-apple-stake-second-quarter-earnings-report-2024-8">$277 billion</a> in cash, Treasurys and other liquid assets and short-term investments.Buffett, who turns 94 on Friday, might get a kick out of a $1 trillion market cap, but he may also have some misgivings. He's frequently framed Berkshire's mushrooming size as a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/warren-buffett-80-billion-headache-dilemma-expensive-stocks-businesses-deals-2021-5">headache</a>, as it's become harder for him to find high-quality investments large enough to move the dial.One shareholder asked Buffett during Berkshire's 2014 annual meeting what a $1.2 trillion Berkshire would look like. The "Oracle of Omaha" seemed concerned about what compelling purchases he could make at that gigantic scale."There's no question that at some point we will have more cash than we can intelligently deploy," Buffett said, suggesting Berkshire stock might still be attractive to repurchase. That challenge may be on his mind as his company flirts with another milestone valuation.

Warren Buffett's company is on the verge of a $1 trillion valuation — but he may not be celebrating

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The B-21 Raider, the US Air Force's newest bomber, has already entered production.</li><li>A top Pentagon official revealed that he gave the green light shortly after the aircraft's first flight.</li></ul>Production of the B-21 Raider is underway, a top Pentagon official revealed this week, a little more than two months after the US Air Force's newest bomber completed its maiden flight."This past fall, based on the results of ground and flight tests and the team's mature plans for manufacturing, I gave the go-ahead to begin producing B-21s at a low rate," William LaPlante, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, said in a statement shared with Business Insider on Tuesday."One of the key attributes of this program has been designing for production from the start — and at scale — to provide a credible deterrent to adversaries," LaPlante added. "If you don't produce and field to warfighters at scale, the capability doesn't really matter."LaPlante did not elaborate on the details of the B-21 contract, but a spokesperson for Northrop Grumman, the aircraft manufacturer, confirmed to Business Insider that the Raider "has entered low-rate initial production."<div type="image" title="The B-21 Raider is seen in an undated photograph released on Dec. 2, 2022." height="3712" width="5568" msid="107093171" hostid="261" sizebytes="840414"></div>"Our team received the contract award after B-21 entered flight testing within the program baseline schedule. Our production representative test aircraft indicated readiness for production, achieving all flight performance and data requirements," the spokesperson said on Tuesday.Development of the B-21 began in 2015, and the Pentagon <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-of-us-air-force-new-bomber-b-21-raider-2022-12">unveiled</a> the sleek aircraft to the public in December 2022, making it the US military's first strategic bomber in more than three decades.The long-range B-21 can be equipped with stand-off and direct-attack munitions — capable of delivering both conventional and nuclear payloads — and has a range that's "unmatched," according to the Pentagon.<div type="image" title="Northrop Grumman unveils the B-21 Raider during an event in Palmdale, California on Dec. 2, 2022." height="4480" width="6720" msid="107093172" hostid="261" sizebytes="485642"></div>"It won't need to be based in-theater, it won't need logistical support to hold any target at risk," Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin <a target="_blank" href="https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/3235326/world-gets-first-look-at-b-21-raider/">said</a> during the B-21's flashy unveiling in Palmdale, California. He noted that the aircraft will be <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-b21-bomber-designed-to-use-weapons-not-invented-yet-2022-12">outfitted with weapons</a> that haven't even been developed yet."Fifty years of advances in low-observable technology have gone into this aircraft," Austin said. "Even the most sophisticated air-defense systems will struggle to detect a B-21 in the sky." Eleven months after it was unveiled, in November 2023, the Raider finally took off on its much-anticipated <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/first-flight-b-21-raider-us-new-stealth-bomber-2023-11">first flight</a> — a major step that paved the way for production to begin. Meanwhile, the bomber last week <a target="_blank" href="https://www.defenseone.com/defense-systems/2024/01/b-21-production-go-pentagon-says/393529/">completed its second</a> publicly acknowledged flight.<div type="image" title="The B-21 &quot;Raider,&quot; a long-range stealth bomber that can be armed with nuclear weapons, takes off during its first flight in California on Nov. 10, 2023." height="5464" width="8192" msid="107093174" hostid="261" sizebytes="407816"></div>The B-21 is expected to enter service in the mid-2020s and the goal is to produce at least 100 of them, a US defense official said in comments shared with Business Insider on Tuesday, adding that the Raider is slated to replace the B-1B Lancer and B-2 Spirit "to provide strategic deterrence for emerging global threats."Northrop Grumman has touted the B-21 as "the world's first six-generation aircraft.""The B-21 forms the backbone of the future for US air power," the company's spokesperson said on Tuesday, "delivering a new era of capability and flexibility through advanced integration of data, sensors and weapons, and is rapidly upgradable to outpace evolving threats."

You Searched For "B2B SaaS companies" and got 9 results

Counting the cost of Spain's hellish floods, the government pledged $11B, local officials want $34B

Thibault Spirlet

Online sales of Plan B and birth control are surging after Trump's election, retailer says

Katie Balevic

See the first video showing the US Air Force's B-21 Raider in flight

Chris Panella

Indian B2B SaaS companies are 2x more capital efficient than global peers: EY report

Anagh Pal

A former airport in Canada is being transformed into a $22B development with 7 unique neighborhoods

Mikhaila Friel

SC to hear plea related to insolvency proceedings against ed-tech firm Byju's on Sept 17

PTI

How Lego built itself into a nearly inflation-proof toy company

Katie Balevic

Warren Buffett's company is on the verge of a $1 trillion valuation — but he may not be celebrating

Theron Mohamed

The B-21 Raider took its first flight just 2 months ago, but the Pentagon is already sure it wants more of its new stealth bomber

Jake Epstein

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides