Insider Finance - Business - Insider Today: Sam Altman's new power

November 26, 2023 • 4 min read

with Nicholas Carlson

Hello! I’m Nicholas Carlson, Insider’s global editor in chief, filling in again for Matt Turner. Welcome back to your Sunday roundup of Business Insider’s top stories of the week.

If you’re in the US, I hope you had a great and restful Thanksgiving. One thing I’m extremely thankful for this year — and every year for the last decade and a half — is the incredible, informative, and transformative journalism my colleagues at BI produce on a daily basis.

On the agenda today:

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Arantza Pena Popo/Business Insider

This week's top reads

The power of Sam Altman

Consider this: A board firing a powerful and apparently successful CEO is rare in Silicon Valley. Almost the entire company then threatening to quit is unlikely. And the CEO coming back after just five days… well, that’s unheard of. 

Yet, however far-fetched it may seem, that’s what just happened with Sam Altman and OpenAI. Staff were even reported to have celebrated Altman’s return with a party featuring a smoke machine — but then again, wild tech parties aren’t quite as uncommon. 

BI explored what’s behind Altman’s power and why, by many accounts, he is no ordinary business leader.

Read the full story.

Also read:

Eleanor Davis for Business Insider

Millennial and Gen Z parent woes

Millennial and Gen Z parents are struggling. 

They’re isolated, overwhelmed, and stressed out about money. And with an economic burden on their shoulders, they're facing a series of impossible decisions: leaving jobs, moving away from friends or families, or working longer hours to make ends meet.

One millennial parent told BI, "The way things are right now, it's pretty messed up and the odds are definitely stacked against us."

More on the new paradigm of parenthood.

Also read:

Jutharat Pinyodoonyachet/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Underwear startup Parade went bust

In August, the underwear startup Parade, once valued at $200 million, sold to a lingerie manufacturer for what one former employee described as "peanuts." 

BI spoke with 22 former and four current employees — and many said the way that cofounder and former CEO Cami Téllez ran her company was at least partially responsible for its flameout. Téllez, meanwhile, told BI she did what she had to do to keep her company afloat.

Inside the flameout at Parade.

Arantza Pena Popo/Insider

America’s greenest state is deep deep red

It turns out the top producer of renewable energy in the US is none other than the deep-red, oil-loving Texas. But the boom in green energy has also triggered a Texas-size showdown.

With the strain on the state’s electrical grid getting more intense, some politicians are trying to prop up fossil fuels and penalize renewables, arguing that it would make the grid more reliable. 

A high-stakes battle is taking place for the future of Texas’ energy — and it’s a microcosm of just how tricky America’s green transition is shaping up to be. 

Read more. 

This week's quote 

"If you remember only one piece of career advice, I would suggest it be this: Be the CEO of your career."

— Our cofounder Henry Blodget details why work isn't like school and why you need to take control — as part of his new work-advice column on navigating the modern professional world.

More of this week's top reads

The Insider Today team

Nicholas Carlson, global editor in chief, in New York City. Matt Turner, editor in chief of business, in New York City, Dan DeFrancesco, senior editor and anchor, in New York City. Diamond Naga Siu, senior reporter, in San Diego. Hallam Bullock, editor, in London. Lisa Ryan, executive editor, in New York.

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insidertoday@insider.com

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