Insider Finance - Business - A very polyamorous holiday

Nicholas Carlson, December 6, 2022

Hello, Insiders. Last week, I told you about my choice for word of the year: ultracrepidarian. That means someone who gives a lot of advice outside their area of expertise.

Rather than take my completely uninformed advice about what will help them market their dictionary, for some reason Oxford Languages announced “goblin mode” as their word of the year. 

Meanwhile, I asked our readers to share their favorite words with me. As always, you didn’t disappoint! Mike. K was a fan of “sesquipedalophobia.” I’m afraid that one is a little long for my taste.

Now, let’s take a look at today’s top stories.

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The latest

• Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield is leaving Salesforce in January, less than two years after he sold the workplace-chat platform for $27.7 billion. Read the memo we exclusively obtained.

• Oil tankers are piling up off Turkey thanks to added bureaucracy from the EU’s price cap on Russian oil. Read about the 19 vessels stuck in a traffic jam.

• Non-removable door hinges and cameras are among the home security upgrades one Republican senator is considering in the wake of increased threats. Why serving in Congress means living in a fortress.

The big story

PHILIP PACHECO/Getty, caracterdesign/Getty, Tyler Le/Insider

Twitter is being flayed alive.

That’s according to Vicki Bryan, the founder of bond research firm Bond Angle.

With so many layoffs and resignations following Musk’s "hardcore" ultimatum, Bryan says she has never seen new management blow up a company as fast as Musk is destroying Twitter. 

So now the question becomes “how does Musk keep his new purchase afloat?” After years of tracking Musk and his companies, Bryan came up with a troubling possibility: raid Tesla. 

After cobbling together funds for Twitter by selling off a major chunk of his stock in Tesla and taking out huge loans, Twitter has little, if any, cash cushion. Musk could, however, siphon money from Tesla to help keep his new investment afloat — a controversial strategy that would degrade the EV-maker’s financial condition. The trouble is, the move could come right as Tesla’s future is looking a lot less rosy. 

How Tesla could pay the price.

Top reads

Patrick T. Fallon / Getty Images

• “It's stolen customer money.” Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong blasted Sam Bankman-Fried's claims that his once-$32 billion crypto empire unraveled due in part to accounting mistakes, saying that “even the most gullible person” shouldn’t believe the claim. Read more of his comments.

• Meet a 38-year-old who travels for a week each month without telling their boss. With the rise of remote work during the pandemic, some workers are choosing to travel and live abroad more, including one person who said they’ve worked from Iceland, Portugal, and Colombia without telling their job. They explain why they won’t stop — even if they get caught.

• See how a polyamorous family plans for the holidays. This writer lives with her husband, their two kids, and her partner in one household. She said that with two sets of in-laws, holiday planning can be hectic, but with Google Calendar and a bit of finesse, they make it work. Here’s how they do it.

• Rudy Giuliani struggled to answer basic questions during his own attorney misconduct hearing Monday. He aired nonsense voter fraud allegations about other states when asked about his attempts to nullify Pennsylvania’s presidential election results. Here’s more on the combative proceedings.

• A woman seeking an abortion mistakenly visited an anti-abortion crisis pregnancy center. After Googling “abortion pill near me”, Estefanía’s search led her to a crisis pregnancy center. They sat her down, advised her not to use her phone, and attempted to deter her from getting an abortion. “I just was not ready, and words can't make you ready for that,” Estefanía said. Read her story here. 

Watch this

Flooding in southern Brazil caused a landslide that killed at least two people and left dozens missing. The floods have left thousands displaced and rescue teams are evacuating families to safety. Watch the full report. 

Today's team

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

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