Insider Finance - Business - 📌 The modern CEO job is broken

Nicholas Carlson  November 18, 2022

Hello, Insiders. Nancy Pelosi announced that she’s stepping down from House Democratic leadership after two decades in the top job. President Biden called her “the most consequential Speaker” in history, so I have a question for you: Do you think Pelosi is, perhaps, one of the most influential women in American history?

Now, let me be clear: I’m not expressing an opinion. I’m just curious. After all, she’s had some major legislative victories. She worked to pass the Affordable Care Act (which was very hard!), end “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” military restrictions, reduce prescription drug costs, and get Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act passed (which was even harder!). 

So I want to hear your thoughts on her legacy. Let me know at insidertoday@insider.com. I’ll share some of the responses soon.

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The latest

• Elon Musk is at risk of losing most of Twitter’s remaining staff. Musk ordered employees to sign up for an "extremely hardcore" future — less than half took him up. Now, staff have been locked out of their offices.

• 200,000 student-loan borrowers were just granted $6 billion in debt relief. Get the details.
  

• FTX has just $659,000 worth of crypto — not the $5.5 billion that Sam Bankman-Fried claimed. More from a new bankruptcy filing here.

The big story

Insider

Insider investigated hundreds of cases to produce the most comprehensive account of fatal violence against transgender people in the US to date.

Over the past five years, at least 175 transgender people were killed across the US. Only 28 cases resulted in murder convictions and 59 remain unsolved. All of their lives ended violently, often brutally, and too soon.

A wave of hatred crashed down on transgender communities during that period, as Republicans stoked fear and animosity among voters and attacked transgender civil rights. 

Prompted by this unfolding crisis, Insider systematically filed hundreds of public-records requests and sent reporters around the US to gather information on the five years of homicides. Our team of reporters spoke with friends, family, and communities across the country to uncover stories of people killed by partners, parents, dates, clients, and police officers. 

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be rolling out a series of deep dives on individual cases from across the country. The lives collected in this project left a profound imprint on their families of origin, their chosen families, and their communities.

Read our introduction and key findings here.

Top reads

Rachel Mendelson/Insider

• Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter proves that the modern CEO job is broken. Ed Zitron, the CEO of a boutique public relations firm, writes that these head honchos have turned into chief hypocrisy officers. Instead of contributing to the company on a meaningful level, they’re juggling other business ventures, sitting on boards, and pursuing side projects — while refusing to allow employees to do the same. Check out his take here.

• Ticketmaster ran out of Taylor Swift tickets. Swifties are pissed. More than 2 million tickets for the Eras tour were sold during a “verified fan” presale. And citing “extraordinarily high demands” and “insufficient remaining ticket inventory,” Ticketmaster officially canceled the general sale that was supposed to happen today. Now, furious Swifties are ready to burn Ticketmaster to the ground — check out how they’re reacting on social media.

• Bonds, like stocks, are having a terrible year. But that's due to change next year, Bank of America says. In a recent note, the bank shared one area of the bond market they see returning 13% —  and that’s investment-grade corporate credit. (If you're unfamiliar, General Motors and CVS Health are among the firms that fit the bill.) Here's why BofA expects the sector to yield big returns.

• A Wall Street accountant quit her job to become a “professional girlfriend” to execs. Mia Lee is a girlfriend-for-hire for wealthy business and tech executives across New York City, accompanying these men on business trips and fancy dinners — and charging them a minimum of $3,000 for up to two hours of her time. Here’s what she told us.

• If you want to skip the snow, here are eight affordable tropical vacations to take this winter. A travel writer who covers the Caribbean shares her best snowbird tips, from picking Eagle Beach, Aruba, as an ideal base, to spending time in Kapaa or Kauai, Hawaii, for a laid back vibe and hiking to waterfalls. Read her full recs here.

Today’s sound bite

Is this headline real or fake? "Nurse accused of amputating man’s foot for her family’s taxidermy shop."

Play along with The Refresh’s game, Two Headlines and a Lie, in today’s episode of The Refresh from Insider.

Watch this

People drink billions of cups of coffee every day, and most of the used grounds end up in landfills. This Ukrainian startup is using some of those leftovers to make eyeglass frames and cases. We visited Kyiv to see how it's kept going despite the war with Russia.

Today's team

This edition was curated by Nicholas Carlson (@nichcarlson), and edited by Hallam Bullock (@hallam_bullock), Lisa Ryan (@lisarya), and Shona Ghosh (@shonaghosh).

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