I'm a CEO who's led teams in the US, Latin America, and Europe. One country's business culture stood out as the most sophisticated.

Santos became GFT's global CEO in 2024.

Courtesy of GFT

• Marco Santos, GFT's global CEO, has lived and worked on 3 continents since joining the company.
• He started out in Brazil, where he said the business culture was relationship and trust-based.
• US business culture is fast and highly competitive, while Europe is more risk-averse, he said.

This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with 50-year-old Marco Santos, the Global CEO of GFT Technologies, an IT solutions company headquartered in Germany. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

I've worked in IT my entire career.

In 2011, I joined GFT as a country manager for Brazil.

I focused on growing our presence there, but over time, I assumed more responsibilities. I became the CEO of GFT USA and Latin America, and then CEO of the Americas as a whole, including Canada.

I was honored to become the company's global CEO in 2024, overseeing its strategic direction and over 12,000 employees. In July, I moved to Germany, where we're headquartered.

During my tenure at GFT, I've lived and worked across South America, North America, and Europe.

Here's what the work and business culture were like in each of those areas and how I think leaders can adapt to different environments where they may have to travel.

Latin American business culture was very relationship-driven

I joined GFT in Brazil after working for an IT consultancy.

I led a small operation of about 80 people, working for clients in Europe. We didn't have any clients in the local market.

I had to take a startup approach, focusing on growing the business and building a local client base in Brazil.

At that time, business culture in Latin America was very relationship-driven. Delivering on promises to build trust was very important.

I leveraged my IT connections in Brazil to build good relationships and open doors. I tried to meet with people I already knew in the market and had worked with before, talking with them about how GFT could meet their needs.

As we scaled, we were able to grow the business throughout Latin America more broadly. I assumed responsibility over GFT Costa Rica and Mexico, and then I assumed the whole of Latin America.

The US market is super competitive

I became CEO of GFT USA and Latin America in 2020. I couldn't fly to the US because of the COVID-19 pandemic, so I had to manage things remotely until moving to the US in July 2021.

Our US headquarters are in New York, where I'd travel frequently, but I chose to stay in Florida because some of our key clients were moving operations there. Florida was also a more convenient location for flying back and forth from Latin America.

I believe the US has the most sophisticated business environment in the world. I noticed clients are so open to new things. Innovation and transformation come before regulation.

With so much innovation, particularly in IT, there's a lot of competition. I had to come to understand the US market well and articulate the company's competitive advantage.

When we pitched to top banks, we communicated our previous experience in this area, how we solved problems for our clients, and the skills we had that no one else had.

Compared to Brazil, where pitches were more generic and often involved talking about who you are and what you can do, pitches in the US have a heightened focus on the metrics you achieved while solving problems for previous clients, and your key differentiators.

People in the US tend to be more direct and to the point than people in Brazil. They place a stronger emphasis on efficiency, key performance indicators, and return on investment. I learned a lot from my US colleagues and was eager to adapt to this communication style.

In Europe, I'm learning to navigate a longer decision-making process

I moved to Germany in July 2024. The former global CEO and I worked together as co-CEOs until January 2025, when I fully assumed the global CEO role.

Recently, I've noticed a desire to accelerate the pace of change in Europe, but compared to the US, the decision-making process takes longer here, and the culture is more risk-averse. If there's an opportunity to bring something new, there'll be a longer process to evaluate that new thing.

Across our clients, teams, and partners, there's a focus on planning strategically before implementing ideas. The culture requires you to look at all the options and scenarios, produce a comprehensive analysis of where you are and where you want to be, and create an operational plan. People will expect you to understand all the variables at play.

As GFT's CEO, I have to learn from this culture to ensure that I'm planning more and assessing all the scenarios before we execute something.

I've noticed that in Europe, once you do this comprehensive planning and come to an agreement, you can really start to execute, and things don't change.

Meanwhile, in the US, things accelerate very quickly, but they can also change very quickly due to the competitive environment. Even if you're doing a good job with a project, a competitor might come along and start outpacing you, so you may have to make rapid changes.

Leaders need to be adaptable to lead globally

As an executive, I have found it very enriching to travel to different continents and cultural contexts.

Coming to Europe is like experiencing a new world. It's multicultural, and it's relatively easy to visit different countries on the continent, so the diversity I'm experiencing is fantastic.

Living in different countries has developed my skills. Being a fast learner and an adaptable person are essential for strong leaders, especially in IT.

When changes happen in business, leaders with these skills should think about how to adapt and keep moving toward their long-term goals.

Do you have a story to share about work culture in different continents? Contact this reporter at ccheong@businessinsider.com.

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I'm a 29-year-old pipe fitter who makes over $100,000 a year. Here are my 3 tips for anyone interested in entering the trades.

Malik Johnson.

CCDI

• Malik Johnson decided to pursue a construction path after learning about a program in high school.
• He started his career as a concrete laborer and switched to pipe fitting after a pandemic layoff.
• Johnson emphasizes knowing your 'why,' progression in the trades, and seizing every opportunity.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Malik Johnson, a 29-year-old union pipe fitter in St. Louis. It has been edited for length and clarity.

When my parents bought me toys as a child, I always played with the box more than the toy. With Lego bricks, boxes, and trash cans, I'd build small apartment complexes, take a step back, and think, I did that.

My mom saw that in me. She took me to construction sites and encouraged me to pursue my passion for building. She let me have tools, and I would do small projects around the house.

I was making whatever my mind came up with, and that's what led me on the path toward construction.

I took shop class in high school

My brother introduced me to his soccer coach, who was also the construction teacher. I joined the class.

It was easy for me to adapt and help others improve their craft, too. If someone was scared to use a tool, I'd say, "Hey, try it this way."

Some people are nervous about messing up, but I love messing up. Sometimes, you find something new that way — a happy accident.

An executive at design-build construction firm Clayco named Dan Lester came in to talk to my class about the Construction Career Development Initiative, or CCDI, a program aimed at exposing underrepresented populations to careers in the construction trades.

Dan talked about how we need to envision a future for ourselves and the opportunities that the construction industry could provide. As I heard Dan speak, I thought, How do I want to live?

I looked at Dan's confidence when he walked into the room demanding attention, how he carried himself, his family, his background, and all his connections, and I was convinced.

I found the trades

After graduating from high school in May 2015, I started my career as a concrete laborer. I helped build bridges, hospitals, and research labs until 2019.

In spring 2020, after a layoff due to COVID-19, I switched to being a pipe fitter, first as a laborer, then a journeyman, and now as an apprentice with the Local 562 Pipe Fitters Union.

You don't have to go to college to get into pipe fitting. You go to a training center, which is like a two-year college experience. You have a night class once a week, practice your welding, study blueprints, math, and OSHA, and they pay you to learn. Then, you do an apprenticeship for five years.

I love being a pipe fitter

It gives me confidence knowing I have a set of skills that are needed everywhere in the world. I also like knowing how important pipe fitting is for helping all businesses run efficiently.

Pipe fitting isn't easy, and not everyone can do it, which makes it a lot more special and gives me a sense of accomplishment.

Here are three takeaways I'd tell anyone interested in entering the trades.

1. Know your why

Before I chose pipe fitting or construction, I didn't know what I wanted to do. I remember my cousin, a high-spirited plumber, asked me, "What is your why?"

My why was that I wanted to help my mom. We were homeless, and she was going through chemotherapy for breast cancer. My brother was in college, so it was just me and her. She made it feel OK, so I didn't even know how bad it was at the time, but I know I never want to be homeless again.

My advice to someone who says, "I don't know what I want to do" is to ask yourself why you want it and then figure out the next steps.

2. You can make money, but it's a progression

You have to work your way up. When I started earning good money, making $33 an hour, I got laid off. Then COVID-19 happened, and I lost all my savings.

I had to start over, and my income dropped to $15 an hour. Things were tough, but a winner finds a way, so I started DoorDash and Instacart to compensate for the income loss.

I worked Monday through Sunday, six to eight hours a day. I also did some odd jobs for family and friends, like simple house projects.

Right now, I'm a fifth-year apprentice and will be a journeyman pipe fitter next year. As a journeyman laborer, I earned $101,000 in a year. When I journey out on June 1, 2026, I will be able to earn over $110,000 a year.

3. Don't pass over opportunities because of fear

When I was with CCDI — going to school, working, and building the whole program simultaneously— I was nervous and scared the whole time, but they had my back.

What helped me was knowing I wasn't in this alone and that CCDI and my mentor supported me every step of the way. They had a system to help me succeed as long as I applied myself, and that gave me the confidence to know that even if I don't know what the future holds, as long as I keep moving forward, things will work out in the end.

If I'd passed over that opportunity, who knows what things would look like now?

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An investing guru explains why you shouldn't cash out if you think a crash is coming

Burton Malkiel is an author, economist, and Wealthfront's chief investor.

Fairfax Media via Getty Images via Getty Images

• Burt Malkiel warns investors against trying to time the market in a new letter.
• The author and economist advocated for long-term, passive investing in broad-based index funds.
• He told BI it's "invariably the wrong decision" to cash out when stocks are tumbling.

As tech stocks propel the market to record highs, Wall Street legend Burt Malkiel is glad he invested in Nvidia — but only through index funds.

The chipmaker's share price has surged 12-fold since the start of 2023, supercharging its valuation to an unmatched $4.4 trillion.

Malkiel told Business Insider that he's happy to have owned the stock as part of the S&P 500, as the idea of investing directly in Nvidia a couple of years ago — when it was trading at more than 100 times forward earnings — "would have scared the hell out of me."

Malkiel, 92, the chief investor of Wealthfront, a robo-advisor with over $80 billion of client assets, warned against selling stocks with a plan to reinvest once prices retreat from all-time highs.

The retired Princeton economics professor — a renowned advocate of passive investing — told BI the "biggest unforced error" that investors make is trying to time when to sell and when to get back in, adding it is "virtually impossible" to get both right.

Malkiel said he understands people feel pressure to sell when stocks are dropping and they're watching their life savings shrink.

"Boy, I know the emotions, I know how hard it is," he said. But cashing out is "invariably the wrong decision," he added.

Malkiel argued this in a Thursday letter titled "Don't Miss the Market Rebound," cowritten with Wealthfront's investment-research boss, Alex Michalka.

In the letter, Malkiel said that the 10 best days for US stocks in the last 50 years closely followed significant market declines. Five were during the global financial crisis, three were at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and one was after Black Monday.

The final and third-best day on the list was April 9 this year, when the S&P rebounded 10% to register its largest one-day gain in 17 years. The index had fallen 12% between April 2 and April 8 in reaction to Donald Trump unveiling his tariff plans.

Emotions, concentration, and memes

Malkiel recommended that people invest part of every paycheck into a diversified index fund, a strategy called "dollar-cost averaging." This "set it and forget it" approach minimizes advisory and transaction fees, and helps investors avoid making hasty decisions and missing out on returns, he said.

He criticized leveraged ETFs that promise a multiplied return on a stock or index. "These are just sort of pure speculative pieces of paper, and that bothers me," he said.

Meme stocks, which are having a renaissance, "invariably lead you astray," Malkiel said. "Like any gambler, you can have some hits and make some money, but over the long run, you're going to lose money."

The market's long-term performance remains "damn hard to beat," he said, adding that believing you know better is "likely to be a recipe for disaster."

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A self-made millionaire says he doesn't believe in index funds — and explains why he doesn't see options as higher risk

Brown and his family reside in Detroit.

Courtesy of Jason Brown

• Jason Brown rebuilt his wealth through options trading after early investment losses.
• Brown's skepticism of traditional investing led him to focus on self-directed options.
• He emphasizes understanding options to mitigate risk and protect financial assets.

Jason Brown built wealth his own way.

After a disappointing early experience handing over his money to professionals — he took $2,000 worth of high school graduation money to the bank to invest and, two years later, his account had dropped to $700 — he decided if he was going to lose money, at least it would be on his own terms.

As a college student, he started buying stocks and grew his modest savings to six figures before losing it all on one trade. After selling his car, moving back home, and taking a job at Verizon selling cellphones, he started trading again — this time, with a set of investing principles that would prevent him from going broke again.

Brown, 43, gradually rebuilt his portfolio and hit the seven-figure mark by trading options. Business Insider confirmed his net worth by reviewing an account summary that shows his 2024 investment activity.

An option is a type of financial contract giving you the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell an asset at a specific price before a specific date. Options are generally more complex than traditional investing, such as buying and holding stocks or index funds, but Brown's adamant that traditional investing doesn't cut it.

"I don't really believe in index funds," he told BI.

He became skeptical after digging into his 401(k) plan when he worked for Verizon. Specifically, he looked at the fund his 401(k) money was invested in. It was comprised of about five major companies like Apple and Google that he knew and trusted, but "the rest of it was junk," he said. "That's when I was like, I want to move it over to a self-directed IRA, and I just want to pick these five companies. Why are they forcing me to buy all this other stuff?"

Index fund investing has helped many regular investors build wealth, but for Brown, who prefers to be more hands-on with his investments, options trading made more sense.

Brown dropped out of college to trade full-time. He eventually returned to Wayne State University and got his degree in finance.

Courtesy of Jason Brown

'Options are not risky. The way people use them is risky.'

Brown, who trades full-time, runs a financial education company, and is the author of "Five-Year Millionaire," believes there is a lot of misunderstanding around options trading.

"When people don't understand options, they'll say, 'That's risky what he's doing.' The reality is, it's risky not knowing how to use options," he said.

Stock options can be compared to renters' or car insurance, depending on whether you're buying or selling options and whether you're using calls or puts.

For example, buying a put is like buying car insurance. You pay a premium (the cost of the put), and hope nothing bad happens (the stock doesn't crash), but if it does, you're protected: You can sell the stock at the agreed-upon price (the strike price), just like insurance would reimburse you if your car gets totaled.

"If options are so risky, then stop paying your homeowner's insurance or your car insurance, because that's what you're doing every month when you cut a check: You are buying a put option to protect yourself in case something happens," said Brown. "Why don't we buy protection for our investment accounts when a COVID-19 happens, when an '08 real estate market crash happens, when a tariffs situation happens, and the market tanks?"

Options can require careful timing and market-watching, and Brown knows he won't make money on every trade.

"You cannot be right on every trade," he said, which is why he has a robust emergency fund, multiple revenue streams, and follows investing principles, including: Know your "I'm wrong level."

When he lost everything in his early 20s, he never considered his "I'm wrong level," he explained. "I only thought, 'What would happen if this goes right? I'm getting a condo.' I never stopped to think, 'If I'm wrong, I'll lose it all and I have to move back home.'"

Now, he knows exactly when he needs to cut his losses and shut down a trade.

"Options are not risky. The way people use them is risky," said Brown. "You can use them to gamble and treat it like a casino, or you can use them to protect some of your most valuable assets — protect your accounts and grow your accounts."

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Stocks and bonds are behaving like the US economy is recession-proof

Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

• Markets look like investors now believe the US economy is "recession-proof"
• DataTrek Research pointed to signs in stocks and bonds that reflect extremely high confidence in the US economy.
• Most forecasters on Wall Street also expect the US to avoid a recession this year.

"Recession-proof."

Professional economists might balk at the phrase, but it's how the stock and bond markets see the economy in the second half of 2025.

DataTrek Research wrote on Tuesday that markets are flashing signs of extreme confidence in the trajectory of the US economy. Nicholas Colas, cofounder of the firm, pointed to two signals being sent in the stock and bond markets in particular:

In the stock market, valuations look similar to levels seen during the internet boom in the 1990s, Colas said, with the S&P 500 achieving a series of record highs in recent weeks.

The benchmark index now looks like it's 8% more expensive than it was during the dot-com bubble, based on the forward price-to-earnings multiple among S&P 500 companies, DataTrek said. Given earnings estimates for 2026, the index looks on track to be 23% more expensive than it was during the dot-com bubble next year.

There's no way to explain those valuations without using a price-to-earnings ratio that implies "Peak confidence" or "Super Peak" confidence among investors, Colas said.

"Whether one likes or not, US large cap valuations imply at least a 'highly recession resistant US economy,' if not a 'recession-proof' one," he said.

In the bond market, a similar story is unfolding in the 10-year US Treasury yield.

When recession odds decrease, investors tend to expect two things, Colas said:

• They don't expect a decrease in inflation. Recessions are inherently disinflationary, and tend to reduce the overall inflation rate by an average of 4.4 percentage points, Colas said.
• They expect long-term interest rates to rise. That's because investors don't expect the Fed to lower interest rates to boost growth, leading to a higher 10-year yield.

The 10-year US Treasury yield hovered around 4.4% on Tuesday, higher than levels seen 10 years ago.

Meanwhile, the 10-year breakeven inflation rate hovered around 2.44% on Tuesday. That's also higher than the average through 2010-2019, when inflation expectations hovered around 2%.

"The idea that markets are cutting future recession odds does a good job of explaining why nominal yields may remain high," Colas said. "It is optimism about the US economy's recession resistance, not pessimism regarding the Fed's inflation fighting credentials, driving this phenomenon."

The research firm said it was first introduced to the idea of a "recession-proof" US economy from a previous conversation with a financial journalist. The thesis is based on five things that show increased resilience in the US economy, Colas said:

1. The US economy avoided a recession during the 2010s. It was the first-ever decade in modern history where the economy didn't have a downturn.
2. The economy avoided a recession that decade despite a handful of catalysts, like the Greek Debt Crisis and when the Fed raised interest rates in 2018.
3. Since 2018, there have been more job openings than unemployed workers. The labor shortage could buffer the job market during shocks that, in the past, would have caused a recession.
4. After the Great Financial Crisis, the US erected guardrails to keep the banking and financial sectors stable.
5. Since the late 2010s, stock valuations have climbed higher, a possible sign equity investors"were beginning to catch on" to the idea that the economy is more resistant to downturns that in past eras.

The US slipped into a recession at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and later entered a brief technical recession in 2022, when GDP contracted for two quarters in a row. But an official recession, which is declared by the National Bureau of Economic Research, hasn't arrived since the Fed began raising interest rates.

Most forecasters on Wall Street expect the economy to cool off, but steer clear of an official downturn this year. According to a Bank of America survey conducted in July, 65% of global fund managers said they believed the most likely outcome for the world economy was a soft landing, while 21% said they believed the most likely outcome was a "no-landing," a situation where inflation comes down and the economy continues to expand.

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He dropped out of law school in Rome, moved to Hong Kong, and set up an Italian-inspired bar. Now, it's been crowned the best bar in Asia.

Lorenzo Antinori moved to Hong Kong to open his own Italian-inspired bar.

Bar Leone

• Lorenzo Antinori is the founder of the world's second-best bar, Bar Leone in Hong Kong.
• The Italian dropped out of law school and took many career pivots before starting his bar.
• Now, he says he works every day and barely has time for a drink himself.

Lorenzo Antinori, the 37-year-old founder of the world's second-best bar, hardly ever drinks.

The Italian founded Bar Leone in Hong Kong in 2019. Just five years later, in 2024, The World's 50 Best Restaurants ranked it the second-best bar in the world, clinching the top spot in Asia.

It won the same award in 2025, edged out of the top spot worldwide by the Handshake Speakeasy in Mexico City.

Antinori manages the bar seven days a week and is working on opening his second bar in Hong Kong this month. He's single, drinks a Negroni once to twice a month, and, after a career full of twists, told Business Insider he regrets nothing.

Law school, banana farm worker, and finally bar owner

Antinori went to law school in Rome — but he says law felt "too stiff" for him.

In 2010, after three years in law school, he dropped out and booked a one-way flight to Australia. There, he dabbled in everything from working on a banana farm to being a barback in a strip joint and a hostel manager.

Then came short bartending stints at The Savoy in London and the Four Seasons Hotel in Seoul.

"I always had experience working in the nightlife. So that's sort of what drove me even more to choose this direction," Antinori said.

And when Four Seasons in Hong Kong offered him a position in 2017, he jumped at the chance.

But Hong Kong was not love at first sight.

"When I saw it from afar, it always looked extremely busy, and kind of trashy, like a big amusement park," he said.

"But when I moved here, I fell in love with the city. I loved the contrast with having a very modern, busy, and high-paced city, but then you have so much nature around," Antinori said.

In 2019, he launched his own bar, Bar Leone, in Hong Kong's western Sheung Wan district.

An ode to his Italian roots

The interior of Antinori's bar is full of photographs and decor that harkens back to his Italian roots.

Bar Leone

Antinori wanted Bar Leone to feel like an Italian café. The bar's walls are decorated with pictures of Italian actors like Sabrina Ferilli, local football teams, and composer Ennio Morricone.

He called his drinks "cocktail populari," Italian for "cocktail for the people." They're priced from 120 Hong Kong dollars, or about $15, to HK$150.

Two of Antinori's bestsellers are the Olive Oil Sour and the Mortadella Focaccia.

Bar Leone

One of his most popular drinks is the "Olive Oil Sour," made from whiskey sour, cherry whiskey, lemon, honey, and olive oil blended with egg white.

Besides drinks, Bar Leone is also known for its focaccia stuffed with cured pork.

The bar serves 200 to 300 customers every night.

To Antinori, a good bar is defined by good service, music, and quality. And his pet peeve is bad lighting — especially if it's too bright.

"You can't have the same lighting and music from 5 to 11 p.m.," he said.

The bar clinched second place on The World's 50 Best Restaurants' list of the best 50 bars in 2024 and 2025.

The UK-based publishing company's write-up this year said, "The team are known for their warm hospitality and passion for delivering top-notch service. Their dedication to excellent food and drinks ensures that guests not only enjoy a taste of Italy, but also feel like they've made a new friend in the process."

It also won the top spot on lifestyle magazine Tatler's 2025 best bars list.

Bogged down by steep rents and poor staff retention

Success did not come immediately.

He had many doubts about opening a bar in Hong Kong, a country known for its sky-high rental rates and living costs.

"And I think if you set up a business and you don't have doubts, there is something wrong," Antinori said.

Particularly after the COVID-19 pandemic, rents skyrocketed and people's behavior changed, he said.

"It's very hard to compare Hong Kong before Covid with the one now. There are fewer people, fewer tourists," he said.

According to data from the Hong Kong Tourism Board in June, total visitor arrivals to the city dropped from 55.9 million in 2019 to 34 million in 2023.

Numbers improved slightly in 2024, with 44.5 million visitors coming into Hong Kong in the year.

Tourists now prefer other destinations in Asia, like Bangkok, Antinori said, where they can enjoy great experiences and services for a much lower price.

Another issue he had was with worker retention, saying that he could not find young workers.

"We are living in times where the younger generation doesn't necessarily feel the need to work in our sector," he said.

Too busy to drink

Running a bar in one of the most expensive cities in the world is a 24/7 job, Antinori said. He's up at 7 a.m. every day, and after a quick run and a cup of tea, it's straight to emails and admin.

He gets to the bar at 11 a.m. for meetings, then has a 4:30 p.m. briefing with his staff before shift starts at 5 p.m. He's in the bar until 10 p.m. daily, seven days a week.

"I don't really drink. I only drink if there's a special occasion," he said.

"It's a very, very boring life," he said.

In spite of the time-consuming work, Antinori said he regrets nothing.

His bar was a tribute to a café his grandmother and aunt used to run in Rome in the 1970s, called Café Leon. Bar Leone is his way of carrying on the family legacy.

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Trump wants to speed up Rupert Murdoch's deposition because the media mogul is 94 and had 'health scares'

Murdoch and then presidential candidate Donald Trump at Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeen, Scotland in 2016.

REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

• Trump wants to depose Rupert Murdoch ASAP.
• His lawyers said the media mogul is 94 and has had "health scares."
• The lawsuit involves a Wall Street Journal article on Trump's ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

President Donald Trump wants to depose Rupert Murdoch as soon as possible.

On Monday, Trump's lawyers asked a federal judge to force Murdoch to sit for a deposition for his lawsuit on an expedited basis, arguing that the News Corp. executive is 94 years old and his "recent significant health scares" could hinder his ability to show up in court for a trial.

"Murdoch has suffered, or is continuing to suffer, from multiple health issues," Trump's filing notes.

The filing goes on to note reports that Murdoch collapsed during an interview with a journalist several years ago and was hospitalized after getting COVID-19, among other health issues in recent years.

The request from Trump's lawyers comes in a lawsuit the president filed against Murdoch and News Corp. over a Wall Street Journal article about Trump's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.

According to the Journal report, Trump wrote a "bawdy" letter for Epstein's 50th birthday that included a cryptic message.

"Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret," the letter said, according to the Journal, which also reported that it featured an illustration of a nude woman and featured Trump's signature.

The Journal article did not accuse Trump of any sexual misconduct related to Epstein. Epstein's 50th birthday, in 2003, was well before he pleaded guilty to sex crimes and registered as a sex offender. Epstein died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on a separate set of criminal charges for sex trafficking.

Trump's lawsuit says the Journal "concocted this story to malign President Trump's character and integrity" and that "no authentic letter or drawing exists."

"If the purported letter in the Article somehow actually exists, which it does not, and the Defendants have it in their possession, which they do not, Murdoch has easy access to it," Trump's attorneys wrote in their Monday filing requesting an expedited deposition of Murdoch.

The Journal has said it stands by its reporting. A News Corp. spokesperson didn't immediately respond to a request for comment about Trump's Monday filing.

US District Judge Darrin Gayles, who is overseeing the defamation lawsuit in Miami federal court, asked Murdoch to respond to the request for an expedited deposition by August 4.

On Monday, Trump told journalists that he had a "breach" with Epstein because the pedophile hired employees who had worked for him.

"He stole people that worked for me," Trump said. "I said, 'Don't ever do that again.' He did it again, and I threw him out of the place — persona non grata."

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The aviation industry can breathe a sigh of relief after dodging tariffs in Trump's EU trade deal

Donald Trump departing Air Force One.

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

• The aviation industry won't face tariffs thanks to the newly announced EU-US trade deal.
• Aviation's global supply chain and international reach mean tariffs would be particularly painful.
• Airlines and planemakers have spent months preparing workarounds in the event of tariffs.

The EU-US trade deal includes a significant win for aviation after months of fears that the industry would face punishing tariffs.

At April's "Liberation Day" announcement, Donald Trump initially imposed a 20% tariff on all exports from the European Union. Since negotiations have only seen that lowered to 15%, the deal is largely being seen as a win for the US.

However, some European companies, like Airbus, still have reason to be cheerful because aircraft and their components are facing zero tariffs.

The aviation industry has faced a nervous few months of waiting, given its reliance on a highly complex and global supply chain — already under huge strain since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Optimism was already boosted at last month's Paris Air Show when Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said he favoured returning to a zero-tariff agreement from 1979, in line with much of the industry's top players.

Meanwhile, planemakers and airlines have been devising creative ways to avoid Trump's levies.

For example, Delta Air Lines deployed a similar tactic from a past US-EU trade war.

In May, the airline had an Airbus plane delivered to Japan instead of the US. So long as the jet was only used for international flights, it wouldn't be officially imported to the US, so there would be no tariffs to pay.

The Irish budget airline Ryanair, Europe's biggest carrier by passengers, was also preparing ways to limit the impact.

CEO Michael O'Leary said in an earnings call last week that, even though its deals with Boeing made the planemaker responsible for paying fees, the airline was willing to help find ways around it. He suggested registering planes in the UK, which also faces no aviation tariffs, or even delaying some deliveries.

However, the concerns aren't over for everyone yet.

While reaching a deal makes the future of the economy more predictable, many companies are expected to pass the costs of tariffs onto consumers.

That could therefore see travel demand further falter as people find themselves with less money to spend.

In its second-quarter earnings last week, American Airlines reported record revenue but lowered its profit forecast. It predicts adjusted earnings per share between a loss of 20 cents and a profit of 80 cents, down from profits between $1.70 and $2.70 issued in January.

But CEO Robert Isom said he was more optimistic about demand given growing GDP and trade-deal progress.

"I think that all lends to a customer that's more willing to get out there and spend on travel and do some things that they want to do," he said.

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A Russian airline that used to ferry passengers to Europe is now flying to North Korea instead

Nordwinds used to operate dozens of flights to Europe and Asia, but its business has largely been scuppered by international bans on Russian flights.

Russian Ministry of Transport

• With its international business tanking, Russia's Nordwind Airlines is now flying to Pyongyang.
• Nordwind operates a fleet of Boeing and Airbus aircraft that it can't fly internationally now.
• Russian state media said the first flights were fully booked and cost about $550 per ticket.

Nordwind Airlines, a Russian carrier that previously serviced routes to Europe, is now flying its country's first direct flight from Moscow to Pyongyang in decades.

The new eight-hour Boeing 777 flight, which launched on Sunday, comes as Russia and North Korea have rapidly strengthened ties amid the war in Ukraine.

State media outlet TASS reported that Russian authorities gave Nordwind permission in early July to fly to North Korea, and that the airline is expected to run flights once a month to Pyongyang.

Russia's transport ministry said in a Sunday statement that the new route was a first for Moscow in 77 years.

"For the first time in more than 70 years of diplomatic relations, we are launching direct flights between the capitals of our countries," Vladimir Poteshkin, Russia's deputy transport minister, was quoted as saying in the statement.

Nordwind previously operated dozens of international routes, including to Spain, Germany, the Maldives, Mexico, and Thailand.

But almost all have been shut down as Russia's international relations broke down after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The European Union bans Russian flights, while many Russian airlines have also closed their international operations.

Nordwind, which lists a fleet of Boeing and Airbus planes on its website, has been mostly operating domestic routes in the meantime.

Its first flight to North Korea left Moscow at 7:25 p.m. on Sunday and arrived in Pyongyang at 3:30 a.m., according to the Moscow Sheremetyevo International Airport's flight tracker.

A return flight is scheduled for Tuesday. TASS reported that both flights, with tickets costing about $550, were fully booked.

While this is the first 21st-century flight between both capitals, Russians could already fly to North Korea before this. A North Korean airline, Air Koryo, operates flights from Pyongyang to Vladivostok, a Russian city on the Sea of Japan that's roughly 80 miles from North Korea.

The newest flight is a further sign of rapport between Russia and North Korea, the latter of which has been supplying the Kremlin with troops, weapons, and ammunition to maintain its offensive pace in Ukraine.

The partnership is sparking deep concern in the West and South Korea, which fear the arrangement is bolstering the technical expertise and resources of North Korea's military.

Nordwind's cross-capital flight also comes as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has pushed hard to reopen his country to international tourism after the COVID-19 pandemic. In May, he unveiled a massive beachfront resort that appeared to feature hotels, apartments, shopping malls, and a water park.

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She made a promise to her dying husband. Now, Chizuko Kimura is the first female sushi chef to earn a Michelin star.

Chizuko Kimura is the first female sushi chef in the world to earn a Michelin star.

©11h45

• Chizuko Kimura is the first female sushi chef to earn a Michelin star.
• She learned from her husband, Shunei Kimura, who died three months after earning a star in 2022.
• Kimura promised to keep Sushi Shunei open, and the Michelin star has returned to the restaurant.

Before he died, sushi chef Shunei Kimura had one last wish for his wife.

Sushi Shunei, his namesake Paris restaurant, had just earned a Michelin star three months prior. He wanted its legacy to live on.

Chizuko Kimura had only begun cooking a year before, helping her husband in the kitchen as he underwent cancer treatment. But she honored his dying wish.

Three years later, Kimura became the first woman to receive a Michelin star as a sushi chef.

Kimura told Business Insider she "couldn't believe it" when she first heard the news. Now, she's sharing her story in the hopes it will show women that anything is possible.

Love with a side of sushi

Chizuko and Shunei Kimura after Sushi Shunei earned a Michelin star.

Courtesy of Chizuko Kimura

Kimura grew up in Odawara, about an hour from Tokyo. The ocean was nearby, so fresh seafood was always on her family's dinner table.

"I still remember the smell of soy sauce that always filled the kitchen, so familiar and comforting," Kimura said. "I wasn't cooking yet, but those memories stayed with me — in my nose and on my tongue."

"I grew up in an environment where food had an important place," she added. "Even though I never imagined I would work in that field one day."

Kimura moved to Paris to begin working as a travel agent. One fateful day in 2004, she went to a sushi restaurant and met her future husband, who was working at the counter. A year later, they were married.

Shunei Kimura spent three decades working at sushi restaurants before he decided to open his own at the age of 63.

"He ended up fulfilling his two dreams: to open an edomae sushi restaurant under his name in Paris, and to earn a Michelin star," Kimura said about her husband.

A new career

A dish from Sushi Shunei

©11h45

Sushi Shunei was scheduled to open in 2020, but was delayed for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Kimura had been a tour guide but lost her job when much of the world went into lockdown, so she helped her husband open the restaurant.

"He never said to me, 'Learn how to make sushi,'" Kimura recalled. "But he showed me everything, and I observed everything. I learned to prepare the fish, to cook the rice, to follow every detail."

It was a crash course for a craft that typically takes a decade or more to perfect. But Kimura's husband had been diagnosed with liver cancer in 2015 and was getting sicker.

"Normally, it takes many years to become a sushi chef, but I had to do it because Shunei couldn't use his hands sometimes," Kimura said. "Every day by his side was a learning experience. Even while sick, he never stopped teaching."

Sushi Shunei opened on June 9, 2021, on Montmartre's hill in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. Nine months later, the traditional sushiya received its first Michelin star in the 2022 Michelin Guide.

"He never complained, and no customer ever knew he was sick," Kimura said. "He received that star at the age of 65, three months before his passing."

One last promise

The Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris.

©11h45

Kimura told BI that before her husband died, he asked her to keep his legacy alive with the restaurant.

"He said to me, 'Could you keep this restaurant forever?'" Kimura recalled. "I have to continue. It's my duty."

She even kept the restaurant open on the day he died.

"I continued, because I knew that's what he wanted," Kimura said. "It wasn't a matter of strength. It was for him."

However, it wasn't an easy transition, and Sushi Shunei lost its Michelin star in 2023.

"It was a shock. I felt as if I had lost Shunei a second time," Kimura said. "I thought there might be no chance of getting the star back, but I didn't give up."

"I turned that pain into obsession," she added. "I had to get it back. Not for me — for him."

A star is born

Inside the Sushi Shunei restaurant.

©11h45

Kimura hired sushi chef Takeshi Morooka to help as she continued to hone her skills, even training at Michelin-starred restaurants in Japan.

"Every morning, I got up to work. I continued day after day, without pause, I never stopped," Kimura said. "I told myself, 'I must give it my all. I must go all the way.' There was no alternative."

"The customers were a great support," she added. "Some came several times just to encourage me. They told me they believed in me. Those words gave me courage."

All that hard work paid off. When the 2025 Michelin Guide came out in March, the star was next to Sushi Shunei's name once again. Kimura was now not only a Michelin-starred chef but also the first female sushi chef in the world to earn such a distinction.

Kimura continues to hone her skills by training with Michelin-starred chefs in Japan.

©11h45

"I thought of him, of Shunei," Kimura said. "I felt, deep inside, that I had not betrayed his memory. For me, this is not a new star — it's Shunei's star that I managed to win back. I only continued what we had started together."

Kimura is committed to keeping that star next to Sushi Shunei's name. She hopes it will inspire women and anyone who has been told "that it was too late, or impossible."

"Talent has no gender — only work and courage," Kimura said. "Maybe it seemed unthinkable that at age 50, I would begin a career as a sushi chef without ever having cooked before. But what Shunei passed on to me is faith in work and in determination."

"If you hold on, if you believe in what you're doing, anything becomes possible," she added. "That is the greatest lesson."

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These 11 companies have left California over the years

Many of the big companies that have left California had their roots in San Francisco and the Bay Area.

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

• Big companies continue to leave California.
• Overall, research shows the number of companies leaving is small.
• But the departures include some of the nation's largest companies.

Big companies continue to leave California.

Some executives, including Tesla's Elon Musk and Palantir's Alex Karp, have made it abundantly clear why they left.

"This is the final straw," Musk wrote on X in 2024 after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law that barred school staff from informing parents of a student's gender identity.

The number of companies leaving California is small. According to a 2025 report from the Public Policy Institute of California, only 3% of firms in California moved to a different state. However, larger companies are more likely to leave than smaller ones.

Outside of businesses, people, too, have been leaving California at a high rate. US Census data from October 2024 showed nearly 700,000 people left California between 2022 and 2023. Lifestyle and affordability were the main factors for moving elsewhere.

Company relocations are trending upward. Business Insider compiled some of the biggest names so far.

McKesson Corp.

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Pharmaceutical giant McKesson left California in 2019. In terms of public companies, only Apple loomed larger in the Bay Area.

Then-CEO John H. Hammergren said that McKesson was moving its headquarters to Las Colinas, Texas (near Dallas) to "improve efficiency, collaboration and cost-competitiveness, while providing an exceptional work environment for our employees."

McKesson remains the highest-ranking Fortune 500 company to leave California in recent years.

Chevron

Chevron's Houston headquarters

Houston Chronicle/Hearst Newspapers/Houston Chronicle via Getty

Oil giant Chevron had deep roots in California, going back to the 1870s when an early predecessor discovered oil north of Los Angeles. That didn't stop the company from moving to Houston in 2024.

Looking back on its move, the energy giant says that California's leaders have taken steps that made it "unappealing."

"While our relocation has very real benefits to our business, we also believe California policymakers have pursued policies that raise costs and consumer prices, creating a hardship for all Californians, especially those who can least afford it," Ross Allen, a spokesperson for Chevron, said in a statement to Business Insider. "These policies have also made California investment unappealing compared with opportunities elsewhere in the US and globally."

Tesla

Tesla's Austin headquarters

Brandon Bell/Getty

Like some of his fellow tech CEOs, Elon Musk grew frustrated with the limitations of the Bay area before Tesla left for Austin in 2021.

"There's a limit to how big you can scale in the Bay Area," Musk said at the time.

Before the move, Musk had also clashed with officials over keeping Tesla's Fremont, California, factory open despite COVID-19 orders.

Oracle

Oracle office in Santa Monica, California

Richard Vogel/AP

In 2020, Oracle left its longtime home in California. The computer technology giant isn't done moving yet.

Last year, CEO Larry Ellison said the computer technology giant would move its headquarters from Austin, where it had been for less than half a decade, to Tennessee.

"Nashville is a fabulous place to live," Ellison said, according to an Associated Press report. "It's a great place to raise a family. It's got a unique and vibrant culture .... It's the center of the industry we're most concerned about, which is the health care industry."

CBRE

CBRE's logo

Illustration by Thomas Fuller/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty

Global real estate company CBRE monitors the number of companies leaving California. The firm itself left Los Angeles in 2020.

"Designating Dallas as CBRE's global corporate headquarters formalizes how our company has been operating for the past eight years," Lew Horne, head of operations in the Southwest, said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times in 2020.

Charles Schwab

Charles Schwab's former San Francisco headquarters

Justin Sullivan/Getty

Charles Schwab left for Westlake, Texas, in 2019 after it agreed to buy Omaha-based TD Ameritrade.

Schwab chairman and founder Charles Schwab singled out the business climate in California as motivation for the move: "The costs of doing business here are so much higher than some other place" he told Forbes.

The companies said in a joint statement that their new home would "allow the combined firm to take advantage of the central location of the new Schwab campus."

In 2023, SFGate reported that Schwab further reduced its presence in San Francisco, its former home.

"We've had an extremely positive experience in Texas," a spokesperson from Schwab said in a statement to BI. "From day one, the energy, innovation, and welcoming spirit of North Texas has far exceeded our expectations."

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)

HPE CEO Antonio Neri

Business Wire/AP

In 2020, Hewlett Packard Enterprise announced it was leaving California, another COVID-19 era departure.

"Houston is also an attractive market for us to recruit and retain talent, and a great place to do business," CEO Antonio Neri said in a statement announcing the move.

Neri praised HPE's new home in Spring, Texas (a Houston suburb), but stressed that the company was not leaving Silicon Valley entirely.

"Our San Jose campus will remain a hub for technological talent and innovation," he said.

Palantir

Alex Karp

Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Software giant Palantir left Silicon Valley in 2020. Before the tech company moved, CEO Alex Karp said he had concerns about California.

"I'm pretty happy outside the monoculture in New Hampshire," Karp told Axios in May 2020 when asked if he would move back to California as the COVID-19 pandemic was receding.

Karp said at the time that Palantir was narrowing down its list of future homes, which potentially included Colorado.

Palantir has been in Denver since August 2020.

SpaceX

Elon Musk's SpaceX Starbase is in Boca Chica, Texas.

CHANDAN KHANNA/Getty Images

Elon Musk promised to move SpaceX to Texas in 2024, part of a series of announcements that positioned his companies away from California.

In announcing SpaceX's relocation, Musk singled out a California law that forbids schools from requiring staff to inform parents of a student's gender identity.

"This is the final straw," Musk wrote on X in July 2024. "Because of this law and the many others that preceded it, attacking both families and companies, SpaceX will now move its HQ from Hawthorne, California, to Starbase, Texas."

AECOM

AECOM CEO Troy Rudd

Hannah McKay/Pool Photo via AP

Global consultancy firm AECOM left Los Angeles in 2021, saying that Texas offered more benefits.

"Dallas has emerged as a US hub for corporate headquarters and a compelling corporate talent magnet, particularly among our peers and public companies in the engineering and consulting sectors," a company spokesperson told The LA Times.

FICO

FICO logo on a smartphone screen.

illustration by Cheng Xin/Getty Images

Financial data analytics firm FICO, officially known as the Fair Isaac Corporation, quietly moved to Bozeman, Montana, sometime in 2021.

The company, best known for its FICO score, previously moved its corporate headquarters from Minneapolis to San Jose in 2013.

It's not entirely clear why FICO left California.

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