Amazon chaos — Tech fraudsters — Apollo dealmakers

Hi, I'm Matt Turner, the editor in chief of business at Insider. Welcome back to Insider Weekly, a roundup of some of our top stories. 

Before we begin, today is the Transgender Day of Remembrance. I'd like to take the opportunity to highlight an important new project from our investigations team — the most comprehensive database of transgender homicides to date. It's a stunning work of impactful journalism. Please take the time to read it.

On the agenda today:

• To land a job in tech, you need to pass a test. Pretty much everyone is cheating. 
• Inside the chaos at an Amazon rocked by 10,000 layoffs.
• Elon Musk shows how the modern CEO job is broken.
• The rise of the Wall Street titan Apollo's new class of dealmakers.

But up first: Each year, Insider surfaces 100 leaders across 10 industries who are driving unprecedented change and innovation. Ashley Davis from our special projects team is here to take us behind the scenes of this year's list.

If this was forwarded to you, sign up here.  Download Insider's app here.

The 100 People Transforming Business

In the past 12 months, business leaders have faced inflation, a polarized political climate, persistent supply-chain issues, the Great Resignation, a real-estate boom, and more. The leaders tackling these challenges have had their work cut out for them, senior editor Ashley Davis writes.

That's why the 100 People Transforming Business series covers more than just career milestones. Our editors carefully selected the power players, activists, and pioneers who are shaping the future. Here's what the project includes:

• 100 short profiles of the business leaders who are tackling some of the world's biggest problems;
• A Readers' Choice section featuring 10 innovators nominated by our audience;
• 10 stories (and counting) analyzing the key trends and themes that drove this year's selection.

Finalists include sustainability leaders like Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia who recently committed all of the company's profits to help fight the climate crisis; justice seekers like Josh Stein, who is working to hold Big Pharma accountable for the opioid crisis; and real-estate visionaries like Akilah Watkins, who is reviving communities on a large scale.

Check out the full list here.

Now, let's get to the week's top stories.

Tech's cheating epidemic

Like plumbers and electricians, tech workers earn independent certifications to confirm they understand leading systems and can install and repair them on the fly. But fraudsters are conning their way into big jobs in tech — by cheating on these crucial tests.

Many workers are able to find their exact tests online ahead of time, along with the answers. And here's the kicker: The companies issuing the certifications, such as Microsoft and Amazon, are virtually powerless to stop them. 

Read the full story. 

Inside the chaos at Amazon

Amazon began laying off 10,000 workers this week, in what could be the largest round of corporate cuts in its history. And employees have been livid — especially over how they heard the news: from media reports.

Workers have been slamming the company in internal Slack channels for the lack of communication. Corporate staffers are also swapping tips on how to manage "freak-outs," cobbling together a "Safe List" of the divisions that are likely to avoid the cuts, and even floating a forbidden word: union. 

It's expected that layoffs will hit Amazon's retail wing once the peak holiday shopping period is over. In the meantime, the department's been told to cut back on holiday parties.

Here's what Amazon employees are saying.

Elon Musk shows the modern CEO job is broken

Elon Musk currently holds three CEO roles: SpaceX, Tesla, and now Twitter. That's not to mention his other endeavors like Neuralink and The Boring Company. But while this juggling act may seem impressive, it's actually the perfect example of how the CEO role has become warped. 

Once upon a time, a CEO was the chief value driver at a company — but the modern executive appears to be more focused on picking up multiple roles that elevate their own brand, Ed Zitron (a CEO himself) writes. All the while, regular employees are often punished for having side hustles or not devoting enough of themselves to their jobs. 

Why CEOs are now Chief Hypocrisy Officers. 

Also read:

• Elon Musk abruptly shut down Twitter's offices as workers resigned en masse

• Billionaires like Elon Musk want to save civilization by having tons of genetically superior kids

From associate to partner at Apollo in their 30s

There's a cohort of young executives in their mid-30s at the Wall Street titan Apollo. They're managing companies and chasing down deals — and affording themselves luxuries like homes in the Hamptons.

These partners largely fly under the radar, with much of the media glare on the firm's cofounders. But insiders say they represent the future of the firm's private-equity division — a class of investor that comes with outsize status, a healthy ego, and lots of responsibility.

How these Apollo dealmakers rose through the ranks.

Plus, check out: 

• How private-equity firms, rich with investors' cash, plan to capitalize on a souring economy

This week's quote:

"Never in my career have I seen such a complete failure of corporate controls."

• FTX's new CEO John J. Ray said in an explosive Chapter 11 filing.

More of this week's top reads:

• The 35 rising stars of Madison Avenue are revolutionizing advertising.
• A Wall Street accountant quit her job to become a "professional girlfriend" to executives.
• It's not just Elon Musk — your boss probably wants you to put in "long hours at high intensity," too.
• The Great Resignation isn't paying off anymore.
• Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary, an FTX spokesperson, broke down a phone call with Sam Bankman-Fried.
• Tiger Global, Coatue, and other hedge funds tried to upend venture capital. It backfired.
• More than 10,000 Google jobs may be at risk through a tougher performance-rating system.
• Inside the shutdown of Protocol, which aimed to be a Politico for Silicon Valley.

Plus: Keep updated with the latest business news throughout your weekdays by checking out The Refresh from Insider, a dynamic audio news brief from the Insider newsroom. Listen here tomorrow.

Curated by Matt Turner. Edited by Hallam Bullock and Lisa Ryan. Sign up for more Insider newsletters here.