Insider Finance - Business - The truth about DeSantis

Nicholas Carlson November 4, 2022

Hello, Insiders. Back when I was a tech blogger (a million years ago), there was nothing more exciting than a leak about whatever Apple was up to. The next best thing was iPhone launch day. Steve Jobs was a master showman. (Yes, that’s an old blog of mine.) His successor Tim Cook, on the other hand, is a major snooze. 

And because every iPhone seems the same as the last — so, kind of, is Apple these days. That is … unless you're a shareholder. Did you know the company is now worth more than Amazon, Meta, and Alphabet combined? As Samantha Delouya writes, "CEO Tim Cook's keep-your-head-down approach has paid off." But with that, let’s get to the news.

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The latest

• Mass layoffs started at Twitter, shortly after staff received the first memo since Elon Musk took over. A Twitter employee who's eight months pregnant says her laptop access was "cut off" on Thursday. Read more here.

• The Trump Org got an unwanted sidekick courtesy of a Manhattan judge — a court-ordered watchdog. Get the details.

• The US jobs market is still going strong despite ongoing recession fears. Here's what the latest jobs numbers show.

The big story

Joe Raedle/Getty Images; Rebecca Zisser/Insider

Casey DeSantis is the secret “co-governor” of Florida. Rivals, friends, and former colleagues say she's behind husband Ron DeSantis' meteoric rise.

Florida governor Ron DeSantis has made national headlines for his controversial stances — including his feud with Disney and pending lawsuits alleging he lured unsuspecting migrants to Martha’s Vineyard. Now, he’s making more as a possible Republican presidential candidate.

Insiders say Casey has been integral in shaping Ron’s trajectory. One former congressional staffer said she was his primary advisor during his bid for the US House seat. A Republican operative told us she’s a gatekeeper in her own right — staffers brag about their proximity to her: "It's very Hillary Clinton 1992-esque. You're getting the two-for-one deal here." 

As one of Ron’s former chiefs of staff told reporters Lyz Lenz and Kimberly Leonard, "It's clear she's the X factor. They complete the political element that is Ron DeSantis."

Read the full story on the DeSantis double act here.

Top reads

Marco Bottigelli/Getty Images

• Doctors say it’s time to abolish daylight-saving time once and for all. This weekend, 48 US states will gain an hour of sleep as we return to standard time. Doctors say standard time is better for our bodies — and that the US should get rid of the clock-switching altogether. 

• Police denied rumors of a serial killer targeting Black women — but then a kidnapped woman escaped. A man was charged, but police said no reports of a missing person were made prior to the arrest. Activists say this case shines a light on a nationwide issue of police not taking reports of missing Black women seriously. Read the full story. 

• "I make $18,000 a month in revenue as an Airbnb host." Formerly an Airbnb employee, this 34-year-old pivoted to hosting on the platform and rents out a penthouse in Medellín, Colombia, for up to $1,100 a night. He shares how he achieved success.

• A 25-year-old actor converted an ambulance into a home-on-wheels with $15,000. After finding the vehicle on a government auction website, Eli Young now lives rent free in New York City. His home features a full-sized foldable bed, a mini kitchen, and a shower with running hot water — look inside the ambulance here. 

• These identical twins were separated at birth and led different lives. Isabella Solimene was raised in America, while Ha Nguyen grew up in Vietnam. They reunited for the first time when they were 13 years old — here's their story.

Today’s sound bite

“They were afraid that having a writer of color in their room meant there were gonna be consequences.” 

TV writer Anthony Q. Farrell on his struggle to find a job after “The Office.” Check out the full segment in today’s episode of The Refresh from Insider.

Watch this

Indigenous women in Mexico still make mole sauce using ancient tools like the metate grinding stone. We visited chef Evangelina Aquino Luis of Nana Vira to see how she makes her chichilo mole for funerals.

Today's team

Nicholas Carlson (@nichcarlson), Hallam Bullock (@hallam_bullock), Lisa Ryan (@lisarya), Jordan Parker Erb (@jordanparkererb), and Shona Ghosh (@shonaghosh).

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