The Justice Department's release of over 3 million pages of Jeffrey Epstein-related documents has led to a fresh wave of backlash for people associated with the pedophile financier, who died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. The documents have revealed friendly communications with Epstein, even after his 2008 conviction for sex offenses. Some of the people who've experienced fallout exchanged crude messages about women, shared government secrets, or had a more expansive relationship with him than previously known. One high-profile entertainment industry executive said he wanted to see Ghislaine Maxwell in "bondage gear" — well before any public accusation that she facilitated Epstein's sex-trafficking operation. Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers took a leave from his teaching duties at Harvard University while the school investigates; he also resigned from OpenAI's board. Here are 10 people who've experienced consequences following the Justice Department's January 30 data dump. June 30 will be her last day as the Wall Street bank's chief legal officer and general counsel, the bank said on Thursday. The DOJ's latest tranche of documents showed her offering Epstein advice on his legal troubles, including lawsuits brought by women accusing him of sexual abuse. In the statement to Business Insider about her resignation, Ruemmler said it was her duty "to put Goldman Sachs' interests first." The high-powered corporate lawyer resigned as chairman Paul Weiss, calling reports about his relationship with Epstein a "distraction" for the white-show law firm. The documents include emails showing he worked with Epstein to surveil a woman in a dispute with one of Karp's clients. Business Insider has confirmed that the client was billionaire private equity titan Leon Black, who counted Epstein among his advisors. Karp also visited Epstein's Manhattan mansion and asked him to help his son get a job with director Woody Allen. Representatives for Paul Weiss declined to comment beyond their press release announcing Scott Barshay as the law firm's new chair. The CBS News contributor and longevity expert stepped down as the chief science officer of David Protein, a protein bar brand, and is no longer an adviser to the sleep technology company Eight Sleep. In one email, he said a woman's genitalia was "low carb." In a social media post, he denied involvement in any criminal activity and said the emails were "embarrassing, tasteless, and indefensible." The US Commerce Secretary is facing bipartisan calls from lawmakers to resign after emails show he planned a visit to Epstein's island with his family in 2012. Lutnick previously said he served ties with Epstein, his former Manhattan neighbor, after first meeting him in 2005. "My wife and I decided that I will never be in the room with that disgusting person ever again," Lutnick told the New York Post last year. Lawmakers asked Lutnick about the discrepancy on Tuesday at a prescheduled Senate hearing over broadband. In 2013, Tisch, owner of the New York Giants, exchanged numerous emails with Epstein about women, triggering a review by the National Football League. Casey Wasserman announced on February 13 that he is selling his talent agency after his name appeared in the Epstein files, sparking a growing fallout. Soccer player Abby Wambach and singer Chapell Roan earlier said they were parting ways with Wasserman's agency. Wasserman flew on Epstein's jet with a group of people that included former President Bill Clinton. "Casey - I will be coming back to NY torn late afternoon," Maxwell wrote in one email. "I shall be wearing a tight leather flying suit." Wasserman said in a statement that he regretted his messages with Maxwell, which took place "long before her horrific crimes came to light" and that he never had any personal or business relationship with Epstein. "I'm deeply sorry that my past personal mistakes have caused you so much discomfort. "The pain experienced by the victims of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell is unimaginable - and I'm glad, as I'm sure you all are, that those who helped them commit their crimes are rightly being held accountable." During this time, Mike Watts will assume day-to-day control of the business while I devote my full attention to delivering Los Angeles an Olympic Games in 2028 that is worthy of this outstanding city," he wrote. A charity chaired by Ferguson — the ex-wife of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew — shuttered following the Justice Department's document dump. The records show Ferguson sent warm emails to Epstein in 2009, when he was imprisoned for soliciting sex from a minor. She referred to him as the "brother I have always wished for" and signed off another email with "love you." Ferguson previously said she regretted any association with Epstein. The emails, dating back to Mandelson's time in senior posts under former prime ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, show him informing Epstein about a change in tax rules, the sale of government assets during a UK financial crisis, and a European Union bailout of Greece's economy. The records also show Epstein sent money to Mandelson's husband, Reinaldo Avila da Silva. Mandelson has denied any illegal activity and told The Times of London that his husband accepting the funds from Epstein reflected "a lapse in our collective judgment." McSweeney resigned as the chief of staff for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer over Mandelson, whom he recommended for the ambassadorship job. "I advised the prime minister to make that appointment and I take full responsibility for that advice," McSweeney said in a statement upon his resignation on Sunday. Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem was replaced as chairman and CEO of Dubai-based logistics firm DP World on February 13, after emails between the Emirati executive and Epstein were published by the Justice Department. The company did not mention bin Sulaymen in its statement announcing a leadership transition, but said that Essa Kazim and Yuvraj Narayan would take on his roles as chairman and CEO, respectively. Emails published by the Justice Department show that Epstein referred to bin Sulayem as his "close personal friend" in a 2010 email. Representatives at DP World did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned by the Kremlin with a lethal toxin derived from the skin of poison dart frogs, five European countries said Saturday. The countries said in a joint statement that "Russia had the means, motive and opportunity to administer this poison." They said they were reporting Russia to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons for a breach of the Chemical Weapons Convention. British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said, "Russia saw Navalny as a threat. By using this form of poison the Russian state demonstrated the despicable tools it has at its disposal and the overwhelming fear it has of political opposition." Navalny, who crusaded against official corruption and staged massive anti-Kremlin protests as President Vladimir Putin's fiercest foe, died in the Arctic penal colony in February 2024. Navalny's widow, Yulia Navalnaya, said last year that two independent labs had found that her husband was poisoned shortly before he died. Navalnaya has repeatedly blamed Putin for Navalny's death, something Russian officials have vehemently denied. Navalnaya said Saturday that she had been "certain from the first day" that her husband had been poisoned, "but now there is proof." "Putin killed Alexei with chemical weapon," she wrote on social network X, calling Putin "a murderer" who "must be held accountable." Russian authorities said that the politician became ill after a walk and died from natural causes. In 2020, Navalny was poisoned with a nerve agent attack he blamed on the Kremlin, which always denied involvement. His family and allies fought to have him flown to Germany for treatment and recovery. Five months later, he returned to Russia, where he was immediately arrested and imprisoned for the last three years of his life. We want to hear from you. Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inbox

New York City shoppers lined up in Greenwich Village on Thursday for the grand opening of The Polymarket, a free grocery store. The market — perhaps a nod to New York mayor Zohran Mamdani's proposed city-run grocery stores — is only operating through 7 p.m. on Sunday. That didn't always appear to be the case. In 2022, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission fined Polymarket $1.4 million for operating as an unregistered derivatives market and forced the firm to block U.S. users. The company continued to operate offshore, and in July 2025 spent $112 million to acquire QCEX, the holding company for a regulated and licensed options trading platform. The firm has relaunched a beta version of its app in the U.S., which is gradually being rolled out to users who sign up to be on a waitlist. Polymarket is not disclosing how many users it currently has. Polymarket and rival prediction market Kalshi are currently embroiled in legal battles at the state level, where regulators in states including Nevada, New York and New Jersey say that trading event contracts on sports amounts to gambling that falls under state jurisdiction and is taxed differently than financial markets. In response to the lawsuit, a Kalshi spokesperson told CNBC, "Massachusetts is trying to block Kalshi's innovations by relying on outdated laws and ideas." The company said it is "ready to defend [its technology] once again in a court of law." This week Polymarket filed a lawsuit against the state, in which the company's representatives say Polymarket hopes to avoid "imminent and irreparable harm arising from Massachusetts's enforcement of state gambling laws against federally regulated derivatives exchanges." That includes $100 million in trades coming on which song halftime performer Bad Bunny would perform first alone. Ahead of the Super Bowl, contracts predicting that the Seattle Seahawks would win on both Polymarket and Kalshi cost $0.68, per Barron's, implying a 68% chance of a Seattle victory according to these markets. Unlike a traditional casino, those buying events contracts aren't playing against the "house." Rather, platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi allow traders to buy and sell contracts among themselves, with the companies collecting a small fee on each trade. For example, shares predicting a Seahawks victory in the Super Bowl, increased closer and closer to $1 the more it became apparent that Seattle was going to win. Importantly, investors can buy or sell their options at any time before the event is over. Say you picked "yes" on a fringe political candidate to win an election at $0.05. After more money comes in on your candidate, the price is now $0.10. Essentially, these markets provide real-time odds on future events, according to a crowdsourced pool of people who have skin in the game. On some level this has always been the case, says Stephane Ouellette, co-founder and CEO of digital asset investment bank FRNT Financial. Some who understood the intricacies of oil futures, for instance, could suss out whether political tensions in the Middle East might boil over, he says. "There's been a huge innovation where now we're turning these markets into more digestible information that a retail trader can now understand," Ouellette says. But the distinction is moot when it comes to investing and managing your money, says Ivory Johnson, a certified financial planner and founder of Delancey Wealth Management. "It's no different than if you go to Vegas with your friends." Of course, no matter how convicted you may feel on the future outcome of a particular event, you'd be wise to not make prediction contracts a major part of your investing strategy, financial pros say. At most, they belong in an "opportunity portfolio," says Doug Boneparth, a CFP and founder of Bone Fide Wealth. This sleeve of your portfolio, which might constitute 5% to 10% of your investable assets, is reserved for riskier plays such as individual stocks, cryptocurrencies, niche exchange-traded funds and maybe a prediction or two, Boneparth says. The rest of it generally belongs in a broadly diversified portfolio of investments you plan to buy and hold for the long term, he says. The thinking here is that, even if your predictions end up going to zero, the loss won't be enough to derail your financial plans. "Most retail investors should be approaching investing as a long-term consistency and discipline game. That's how you quietly compound your returns over time," Boneparth says. Johnson recommends thinking of prediction markets as part of your entertainment budget, the same way you might think about what you spend each month on a hobby like golf. "But when you start getting into, 'I'm going to do this because I'm smarter than everybody else, and I'm going to pay my mortgage with it,' that's when you that's you have a problem." Want to improve your communication, confidence and success at work? Register now and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 20% off. CNBC Select is editorially independent and may earn a commission from affiliate partners on links. Learn more about the world of CNBC Make It

(This is the Warren Buffett Watch newsletter, news and analysis on all things Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. You can sign up here to receive it every Friday evening in your inbox.) Berkshire Hathaway's new CEO likes the surprise course reversal announced this week by the new CEO of Kraft Heinz. In the food company's Q4 earnings release, Steve Cahillane said in the time since he joined the company five weeks ago, he has "seen that the opportunity is larger than expected and that many of our challenges are fixable and within our control." As a result, he's decided to "pause work" on the planned separation of Kraft from Heinz that was announced last September. It would have essentially reversed the merger Warren Buffett helped orchestrate in 2015. Berkshire is KHC's biggest shareholder with a 27.5% stake currently worth $8.1 billion. In a statement given to CNBC and other news outlets, Berkshire CEO Greg Abel endorsed the change. "We support CEO Steve Cahillane and the Kraft Heinz Board of Directors' decision, under Steve's new leadership, to pause work on the company's previously planned separation. Buffett, who usually does not criticize the management of a Berkshire holding, was uncharacteristically vocal about his disapproval when plans for the split were made public more than five months ago. In an off-camera phone call with CNBC's Becky Quick, he said he was "disappointed" and didn't rule out selling some or all of Berkshire's stake. Just three weeks ago, Abel appeared to signal a sharp reduction of Berkshire's KHC position with an SEC registration for "the potential resale" for "up to" 99.9% of the 325.6 million shares it reported holding as of September 30. Kraft Heinz's decision to remain intact may help keep those potential sales from becoming reality. Did Berkshire's preparation for KHC share sales play a role in Cahillane's reversal? Kraft Heinz shares fell when the split reversal was announced Wednesday morning but quickly rebounded to end the week with a small 0.7% gain. Berkshire Hathaway is expected to file its latest portfolio snapshot with the SEC after Tuesday's closing bell. Looking further ahead, Greg Abel's first annual letter to shareholders will be released Saturday morning, February 28 around 8 AM ET (7AM CT), according to a Berkshire news release. The company's annual report and a fourth quarter earnings release will be out at the same time, along with information about Berkshire's May 2 shareholders meeting. The woman who wrote it, I believe, is in the audience and it's Ben Graham's biography, which will be available in September, by Janet Lowe. And I've read it and I think those of you who are interested in investments, for sure, will enjoy it. She's done a good job of capturing Ben. One of the books I enjoyed a lot was written also by a shareholder who is not here because he's being sworn in, I believe today or tomorrow, maybe tomorrow, as head of the Voice of America. And that's Geoff Cowan's book, which is on "The People v. Clarence Darrow." CHARLIE MUNGER: Well, I very much enjoyed Connie Bruck's biography Master of the Game, which was a biography of Steve Ross, who headed Warner and later was, what, co-chairman of Time Warner. WARREN BUFFETT: Yeah, he's a little more than co-chairman. I am rereading a book I really like, which is Van Doren's biography of Benjamin Franklin, which came out in 1952 [1938], and I'd almost forgotten how good a book it was. We've never had anybody quite like Franklin in this country. Berkshire Cash as of September 30: $381.7 billion (Up 10.9% from June 30) Excluding Rail Cash and Subtracting T-Bills Payable: $354.3 billion (Up 4.3% from June 30) Berkshire's top holdings of disclosed publicly traded stocks in the U.S. and Japan, by market value, based on the latest closing prices. The full list of holdings and current market values is available from CNBC.com's Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio Tracker. Please send any questions or comments about the newsletter to me at alex.crippen@nbcuni.com. (Sorry, but we don't forward questions or comments to Buffett himself.) Also, Buffett's annual letters to shareholders are highly recommended reading. Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inbox

Luxury brands from Harry Winston to Loewe are going all in on Lunar New Year collections in a bid to attract Chinese customers. Ahead of the Year of the Horse, which starts on Tuesday, Harry Winston unveiled a limited-edition, $81,500 rose gold watch with diamond bezels and a red lacquer horse. A slew of other brands, including Loewe, Gucci and Loro Piana, have introduced new bag charms with horse motifs. Chinese consumers were once the primary driver for the global luxury sector but have cut back sharply in recent years, weighed down by the country's slowing economy and depressed housing values. The Chinese luxury market stood at about 350 billion RMB in 2024, or about $50 billion, according to estimates from Bain. Bernstein senior analyst Luca Solca said he predicts Chinese luxury spending will stabilize, forecasting mid-single-digit percentage growth in 2026. However, the market is still far more competitive than at its peak, he said. Before the Covid pandemic, Chinese consumers accounted for about one-third of the global luxury goods market, according to Solca. That percentage has since dipped to about 23%, he said. The luxury market's fortunes do not solely rest on Lunar New Year, but it is an opportunity for Western brands to show respect for Chinese culture, he said. The annual holiday is associated with the colors red and gold, which symbolize good luck and fortune in Chinese culture. Each Lunar New Year is represented by one of 12 Chinese zodiac animals. The Inside Wealth newsletter by Robert Frank is your weekly guide to high-net-worth investors and the industries that serve them. But Solca said in order to best capture the Chinese luxury consumer, brands need to go beyond the expected motifs. "A perfunctory interpretation of CNY is not going to go far." Veronique Yang, who leads BCG's consumer practice in Greater China, said literal interpretations can come across as lazy or even disrespectful to Chinese consumers. Younger shoppers are also looking for fresher takes, she said. "Chinese young people, they respect the old Chinese culture, but to be honest, a lot of parts of it they don't understand, or they want it to be reinterpreted in a modern way," she said. Lunar New Year collections date back to the early 2010s, as Western brands were eager to tap into the rapidly growing Chinese luxury consumer market, according to Daniel Langer, professor of luxury strategy at Pepperdine University. At the time, newly wealthy Chinese consumers were eager to spend on designer goods, especially when they traveled abroad, he said, as there were few luxury boutiques in China outside major cities like Shanghai and Beijing. Their expectations towards brands are significantly higher," he said. "China has completely changed from a country where there was pent up demand for luxury goods to a country of the highest sophistication." They also have grown accustomed to spending less on Western brands between pandemic travel restrictions and the rise of domestic high-end labels, according to Langer. Before the pandemic, Chinese consumers did most of their luxury shopping abroad. Pandemic travel restrictions permanently changed that dynamic. According to Bain, two-thirds of Chinese luxury goods spending was done abroad in 2019. Last year, overseas spending made up only a third. Langer said he preferred brands who take a less literal approach, such as Loewe, which adorned its signature Puzzle bags with fringes and tassels for a cowboy aesthetic. Yang noted, however, that the year's zodiac animal is a good luck symbol only for people who were born in that year, which makes playing too much into horse imagery a risk. Instead, she said, brands can use immersive experiences to connect to Chinese customers, especially younger ones, in a more authentic way. Valentino, for instance, held a three-day lantern festival in January at Tianhou Palace, a historic temple along the Suzhou Creek in Shanghai. Burberry launched an extensive Lunar New Year campaign in mid-December, with Chinese brand ambassadors and a pop-up boutique and ice rink in Beijing. "There's a lot of different cultural elements that you can integrate and build a narrative around," Yang said. Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inbox

Travelers with airline reservations may be nervously recalling a 43-day government shutdown that led to historic flight cancellations and long delays last year. Transportation Security Administration officers are expected to work without pay while lawmakers remain without an agreement on DHS' annual funding. TSA officers also worked through the record shutdown that ended Nov. 12, but aviation experts say this one may play out differently. Funding for Homeland Security expired at midnight. That means air traffic controllers employed by the Federal Aviation Administration will receive paychecks as usual, reducing the risk of widespread flight cancellations. According to the department's contingency plan, about 95% of TSA workers are deemed essential personnel and required to keep working. Democrats in the House and Senate say DHS won't get funded until new restrictions are placed on federal immigration operations. About a month into last year's shutdown, for example, TSA temporarily closed two checkpoints at Philadelphia International Airport. That same day, the government took the extraordinary step of ordering all commercial airlines to reduce their domestic flight schedules. John Rose, chief risk officer for global travel management company Altour, said strains could surface at airports more quickly this time because the TSA workforce also will be remembering the last shutdown. It's hard to predict whether, when or where security screening snags might pop up. Even a handful of unscheduled TSA absences could quickly lead to longer wait times at smaller airports, for example, if there's just a single security checkpoint. "I tell people to do this even in good times," Rose said. Experts say flight delays also are a possibility even though air traffic controllers are not affected by the DHS shutdown. Most airports display security line wait times on their websites, but don't wait until the day of a flight to check them, Rose advised. "You may look online and it says two-and-a-half hours," he said. "Now it's two-and-a-half hours before your flight and you haven't left for the airport yet." Passengers should also pay close attention while packing since prohibited items are likely to prolong the screening process. For carry-on bags, avoid bringing full-size shampoo or other liquids, large gels or aerosols and items like pocketknives in carry-on bags. TSA has a full list on its website of what is and isn't allowed in carry-on and checked luggage. At the airport, Rose said, remember to "practice patience and empathy." "Not only are they not getting paid," he said of TSA agents, "they're probably working with reduced staff and dealing with angry travelers." Lawmakers in both chambers were on notice, however, to return if a deal to end the shutdown is struck. Democrats have said they won't help approve more DHS funding until new restrictions are placed on federal immigration operations after the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis last month. In a joint statement, U.S. Travel, Airlines for America and the American Hotel & Lodging Association warned that the shutdown threatens to disrupt air travel as the busy spring break travel season approaches. "Travelers and the U.S. economy cannot afford to have essential TSA personnel working without pay, which increases the risk of unscheduled absences and call outs, and ultimately can lead to higher wait times and missed or delayed flights," the statement said. Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inbox

Every time Joi-Marie publishes a story, you'll get an alert straight to your inbox! By clicking “Sign up”, you agree to receive emails from Business Insider. In addition, you accept Insider's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Today isn't just about love; it's about every part of a relationship — the meet-cute, the intoxicating limerence, and even splitting up over soup. Business Insider's Juliana Kaplan writes about how breaking up in public is still a thing, and many are choosing restaurants, bars, and coffee shops to do the deed. Waitstaff are also taking notice and trying their best to navigate what happens when someone suddenly leaves the table. "My teammates and I were like, wait, how do we handle this? You can only hold the food for so long," Macafee told BI's Kaplan, who added that the woman still seated paid for both meals. "We offered to send her the rest, but obviously, she just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible." If you do find yourself giving the "it's not you, it's me" speech in public, dating coach Julie Nguyen advised picking a neutral spot, such as a park, and avoiding regular haunts you both frequent. "You don't want either of you to feel dread going back, or tie bad memories to a spot they love. A neutral, quiet outdoor setting is the best play," she added. Every time Joi-Marie publishes a story, you'll get an alert straight to your inbox! Stay connected to Joi-Marie and get more of their work as it publishes. By clicking “Sign up”, you agree to receive emails from Business Insider. In addition, you accept Insider's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Every time Jacob publishes a story, you'll get an alert straight to your inbox! By clicking “Sign up”, you agree to receive emails from Business Insider. In addition, you accept Insider's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. On July 6, 2019, federal agents arrested Jeffrey Epstein aboard his private jet, which had just landed in New Jersey from a trip to Paris. At the same time, another set of FBI agents raided his mansion in Manhattan. They took photos of everything, from a taxidermied tiger in the library, to framed pictures of Epstein with Donald Trump, Pope John Paul II, and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman scattered across his desks. The agents also seized more than 70 computers, iPads, and hard drives, as well as boxes of shredded paper and financial documents. Six weeks later, after Epstein killed himself in jail while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges, agents raided his US Virgin Islands estate, where they seized even more electronic devices and documents. The public already knew that numerous powerful people in politics, business, and academia spent time with Epstein even after he had already registered as a sex offender, in 2008. The files demonstrated a vaster scope than previously known. Emails show Tesla CEO Elon Musk and US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick made plans to visit Epstein's island. Epstein exchanged crude emails with Virgin founder Richard Branson and other businessmen. Kathryn Ruemmler announced she would resign as the top lawyer at Goldman Sachs after emails showed years of warm — and at times intensely personal — emails between her and Epstein. The documents disclosed that prosecutors investigated sexual abuse allegations against Leon Black, a billionaire acquaintance of Epstein, but did not charge him. A financial document which had been kept secret since Epstein's death showed he asked his girlfriend to marry him and planned to give her $100 million and all of his properties. The records also include a number of unsubstantiated tips sent to the FBI, which include unproven allegations about President Donald Trump. Victims testified about how Epstein and Maxwell would name-drop Trump, Bill Clinton, and Prince Andrew, showing them how many friends he had in high places. After the jury found Maxwell guilty of trafficking girls to Epstein for sex, I filed my story, and then got drinks with a few other journalists who covered the five-week trial, including Julie K. Brown, the Miami Herald journalist whose stories about Epstein's abuses led to his arrest. It had been a grueling trial, filled with horrific testimony from women who had recounted the darkest moments of their lives. Did he really kill himself in prison, as authorities concluded, or was he assassinated to cover up an elite pedophile ring, as some theorized? A judge in New York unsealed documents from a long-running case that Epstein's most outspoken victim, Virginia Giuffre, filed against Maxwell. (Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan each settled class-action lawsuits with victims; similar lawsuits against Bank of America and BNY Mellon are pending.) JP Morgan and the US Virgin Islands government filed lawsuits in which each accused the other of facilitating Epstein's sex-trafficking operation. The lawsuits delivered a steady drip of details: how Epstein trafficked girls and hushed them up with money, more names of people in his orbit, and the financial red flags waved before banks. Another Justice Department report criticized Alexander Acosta, the prosecutor who gave Epstein a plea deal in 2007 on light charges, for "poor judgment," but found nothing that substantiated a vast conspiracy. As theories about Epstein continued to swirl online, the Justice Department refused requests by journalists and Epstein's victims to make the files public. By the 2024 presidential campaign, speculation about Epstein had reached fever pitch among members of Trump's political base, who had for years been steeped in other conspiracy theories, including QAnon. Epstein was affiliated with prominent Democrats, including Clinton, former New Mexico Gov. Epstein also forged close ties with Steve Bannon, Trump's former White House advisor, in the months before his arrest on sex-trafficking charges. Shortly after Trump won the presidential election, Giuffre — who was a teenager when Maxwell recruited her from Mar-a-Lago, where she worked, and brought her to Epstein for sex — urged him to release the files. "We need someone who despises these sick people with the power to help make it easier to hold these monsters accountable, no matter how much $$ they have," she wrote on X. When Trump took office in January 2025, the job of releasing the Epstein files fell to his attorney general, Pamela Bondi. For months, Bondi promised but failed to provide any substantial new information about Epstein. Then, in July, the Justice Department and FBI abruptly announced they would not release any more Epstein files after all. On Truth Social, responding to backlash from his supporters, Trump praised Bondi, called the Epstein files a "hoax," and urged his supporters to "not waste Time and Energy on Jeffrey Epstein, somebody that nobody cares about." 2 official in the Justice Department, and Trump's former personal lawyer, traveled to Florida to interview Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence, for reasons that remain unclear. Then she was mysteriously transferred to a nicer, lower-security prison also for reasons that remain unclear. I spoke to four people who had access to the Justice Department's files, and who said there was no trace of intelligence material, which would have been the case if Epstein or Maxwell's crimes were tied to the CIA or Mossad. The Wall Street Journal found a copy of a 2003 book of birthday well-wishes, prepared by Ghislaine Maxwell, which included an apparent letter from Trump. These developments together created the perfect storm and prompted Congress to take ook action. It also issued subpoenas throughout the year to Epstein's estate, former Justice Department officials, Clinton, and banks where Epstein had accounts. It put out a copy of the "birthday book." Trump is suing The Wall Street Journal over a story it published earlier about the letter, which his lawyers maintain is a fabrication. The most potent revelations came from tens of thousands of emails, text messages, and other files from Epstein's estate. Some of those emails included cryptic references to Trump. In one email to Maxwell, Epstein called Trump "the dog that hasn't barked." In another, Epstein told writer Michael Wolff that Trump "knew about the girls." Larry Summers, the former treasury secretary and Harvard president, was removed or resigned from various positions after it was revealed that he sought the Epstein's advice for pursuing an extramarital affair. Prince Andrew stayed in touch with the pedophile long after he previously said they cut ties. The House Oversight Committee also released numerous photos of Epstein hanging out with Branson, Bannon, Noam Chomsky, Woody Allen, and other powerful and influential people. Public pressure — including from Epstein's victims, who wanted more transparency from the government — led to a flood of support for the Epstein Files Transparency Act. The law required the Justice Department to do what it had initially promised: release all of its Epstein files. It allowed minimal redactions to protect the privacy of victims and gave a 30-day deadline. In November, both houses of Congress passed the bill. Trump — seeing any veto would be overridden — signed it into law. Emails between prosecutors provided insight into how they built the cases against Epstein and Maxwell, although many of them were redacted. In court filings several days later, the Justice Department revealed that it still had to review several million Epstein-related documents. On January 30, Blanche announced that the Justice Department would keep its promise and release whatever Epstein files it could — millions more pages. He said the department would withhold another 200,000 documents, asserting legal "privilege," even though the law doesn't allow for that. Victims' names, which were supposed to be kept secret, have been exposed. In one photo, Melania Trump's face is blacked out, even though the photo — of her, Epstein, Maxwell, and the president — had widely circulated for years. The Epstein files have surprisingly few financial records. Members of Congress who have been permitted to view the unredacted files have pushed the Justice Department to make more documents public. The House Oversight Committee is scheduling interviews with people who might know more about Epstein's activities.

The Los Angeles 2028 Olympics chief, Casey Wasserman, is putting his talent and marketing agency up for sale, The ⁠Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, following criticism for flirtatious email exchanges with convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell more than 20 years ago. Wasserman has been criticized and called on to resign as the LA28 chief after the release ⁠of ‌messages. His firm has lost pop star Chappell Roan as a client, with Roan saying earlier this week she was no longer represented by his company. Wasserman has denied having a personal or ‌business relationship with late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. He has previously apologized for his association ​with Maxwell, saying their relationship came before her or Epstein's crimes were revealed. Wasserman's talent agency did not respond to a request for comment outside regular business ⁠hours. According to the Journal, Wasserman told his firm's staff in an internal ‌memo that he felt that he had "become ‌a distraction" to its work and had begun the process of selling the company. "I'm deeply sorry that my past personal mistakes have ⁠caused you so much discomfort," Wasserman wrote in the memo, ⁠reported by the newspaper. "It's not fair to ⁠you, and it's not fair to the clients and partners we represent so vigorously and care so ​deeply about," he wrote. The ‌LA28 said earlier this week that Wasserman will remain chairman of the 2028 games after organizers conducted a review of his past interactions with Maxwell and Epstein, and found his relationship with them ​did not go beyond what ‌had already been publicly documented. Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inbox

If the Lucid Gravity were an Olympic figure skater, it would go for the quadruple axel — flashy, ambitious, and a little audacious. The Gravity blends beauty with physical prowess: striking design, blistering speed, and enough battery range to get from New York to Boston and halfway back on a single charge. Beyond the showmanship, this SUV carries serious stakes for Lucid. My verdict: It earns a spot on the podium. But a few technical wobbles keep it from taking gold. Every time Ben publishes a story, you'll get an alert straight to your inbox! Stay connected to Ben and get more of their work as it publishes. By clicking “Sign up”, you agree to receive emails from Business Insider. In addition, you accept Insider's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. In my career, I've test-driven 72 vehicles — from V8 muscle cars to new-wave EVs, including Lucid's only other model, the Air sedan. Its 123-kWh battery launches the SUV from 0 to 60 mph in about three seconds — quicker than a Ferrari Portofino. Instant torque makes it feel ferocious off the line. Steering is tight and surprisingly nimble for a long three-row SUV. New York City's potholes are a brutal suspension test — and the Gravity passed, delivering just enough cushiness without drifting into numbness. While the SUV is a powerhouse, its design leans heavily into luxury. Inside, nearly every surface feels premium from all seven seats. Heated seats are available in the first two rows, while front passengers can also opt for ventilation and five-mode massaging seats. The dashboard is dominated by a sweeping curved display for gauges, maps, and media. A secondary center screen handles climate, seat controls, and deeper vehicle settings. Together, they reinforce the Gravity's futuristic, software-first identity. With nearly 400 miles of range, when plugged into a fast charger, the Gravity can add juice for 200 miles in just 15 minutes. To get back to our Olympic metaphor: The Gravity is impressive — but it enters a brutally competitive three-row EV tournament. From a few feet away, repeated clicks didn't always fully latch the doors. Lucid told me it is aware of the issue and has pushed an over-the-air update to address it. It's a fixable problem — but for buyers spending well into six figures, even small execution misses stand out. Some essential controls are also buried in screens. The fully loaded Grand Touring model I tested — with upgraded materials, advanced driver assistance, and additional luxury features — stickered at roughly $124,000. It's beautiful, blisteringly fast, and packed with forward-looking tech. For buyers who want hair-raising acceleration wrapped in futuristic luxury — and who aren't price-sensitive — it's hard to beat. Meanwhile, the Rivian R1S offers a fun mix of optional features and family-friendly character. But none of them were as fun to drive.

Every time Kelsey publishes a story, you'll get an alert straight to your inbox! By clicking “Sign up”, you agree to receive emails from Business Insider. In addition, you accept Insider's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. It's a scene many office workers would recognize — a consultant arguing with their boss about how they should be logging, or not logging, the hours they're putting in, using insider language like daily "touch points" and charging the "client code." "The scene — "Timesheets In Consulting Make No Sense" — is actually a comedy sketch, one of the most viewed videos on Joe Fenti's Instagram account. It's racked up 1.8 million views and hundreds of comments from users who say they can relate. Fenti, a 29-year-old in Boston, is also saying the quiet part out loud, depicting the frustrations that are all too common in corporate America but often go unacknowledged. "I found myself doing a lot of repetitive work and just noticing a lot of silliness in the workday," Fenti told Business Insider. Every time Kelsey publishes a story, you'll get an alert straight to your inbox! Stay connected to Kelsey and get more of their work as it publishes. By clicking “Sign up”, you agree to receive emails from Business Insider. In addition, you accept Insider's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. When he started posting videos online, the ones mocking corporate culture resonated the most, and not just with fellow consultants but also with folks in other fields like accounting, investment banking, and private equity. "Wow, this is such a universal experience," he realized. Lampooning professional services firms comes with a large potential audience, as the Big Four — Deloitte, EY, PwC, and KPMG — collectively employ 1.5 million people. "The whole time I'm thinking, 'This would be so much faster if you just did this,'" he said. When he began posting videos around the spring of 2021, the ones about work were taking off, so he started posting more frequently. Since around 2023, he's been posting six videos a week, and for much of that time, he also had his full-time consulting job. "I really was maximizing every minute of my day just to make this content and comedy thing work," he said. Fenti said he always loved comedy, but never imagined it could be something he actually did for a job. He remembers saying to his friend when he first started, "If I even make a dollar doing this, it'll be a good adventure." While he makes most of his income from content, he also travels for stand-up comedy shows and plans to do more of that. He also recently recorded a 60-minute special that should be coming out this spring. Even as a content creator, it's hard to escape the realities of corporate culture. He's had brands approve a script only to ask for edits once the video was already done. "I love not having to get anything approved," he said. While his comedy goes beyond mere mockery of corporate culture, it's a topic that continues to resonate. A year out from his consulting job, he said he still has no shortage of ideas for jokes about work. Fans come up to him after shows and tell him his videos helped them get through a hard time or an especially annoying project. He thinks people want to see their world reflected back at them, and that they appreciate seeing the frustrations they're experiencing actually be acknowledged. "People want their lives to be seen and understood," he said.

Now, as automakers face regulatory pressures and customer blowback, some of the industry's biggest names are reversing course and reintroducing physical buttons. Audi's upcoming 2027 e-tron updates promise a more "tactile" interior experience. Ferrari's first EV — designed in collaboration with former Apple design chief Jony Ive — is filled with physical controls. Even Tesla is redesigning its flush door handles. "We will never, ever make this mistake anymore," Andreas Mindt, the head of design at Volkswagen, told AutoCar last year when asked about filling cars with digital screens. The move to giant screens was about aesthetics, economics — and influence. Sam Abuelsamid, co-host of the Wheel Bearings podcast, told Business Insider it all started with Tesla's lead. "It gives cars a more high-tech look and feel," Abuelsamid said. It costs a lot of money to develop and validate physical controls." Ford added huge tablets to the center of its Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning. Even Tesla took it a step further, removing the physical turn-signal stalks from the Model 3 — before bringing them back. "It goes back to the types of consumers who adopt these technologies," Eleftheria Kontou, an assistant professor in civil and environmental engineering at the University of Illinois, said to Business Insider. "Environmentalists and technically-inclined shoppers are the most common EV buyers," Kontou added. But as EVs moved beyond tech enthusiasts and into the broader market, expectations shifted. As EVs went mainstream, the downside of screen-heavy cabins became harder to ignore. "The core safety concern isn't mechanical reliability — it's distraction," Spencer Penn, a former Tesla Model 3 engineer and now CEO of sourcing platform LightSource, told Business Insider. "Touchscreens require visual attention and lack haptic feedback." The advantage of physical controls, he said, is ergonomic and psychological immediacy rather than mechanical redundancy. That usability tension has begun drawing regulatory scrutiny. China recently moved to ban certain flush and hidden door handle designs over safety concerns. And in 2024, the European Transport Safety Council said it would not afford five-star safety ratings to vehicles with too many screens. The EV revolution was built on the promise that cars could function more like smartphones — constantly updated, endlessly configurable, and increasingly software-driven. General Motors is building subscription revenue around digital features. Tesla continues to push new full self-driving updates. Ford's next generation of EVs will rely heavily on cloud-connected systems. Instead, they're restoring some physical controls for high-frequency or safety-critical functions — volume, climate adjustments, hazard lights, windshield wipers — while leaving navigation, media, and ambient light settings to digital menus. But even in a software-defined future, drivers still expect something smartphones don't require: the ability to drive down the road without looking at a screen. "It is less expensive when you remove dozens of switches with a singular screen panel," Penn said.

The U.S. has no intention of abandoning its deep alliance with Europe and wants the region to succeed, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday. "We care deeply about your future and ours," Rubio told the Munich Security Conference (MSC). "We want Europe to be strong," he said. "We believe that Europe must survive, because the two great wars of the last century serve, for us, as history's great reminder, that ultimately, our destiny is, and will always be, intertwined with yours." U.S. President Donald Trump has frequently criticized Europe for being too reliant on the U.S. for its security and has pushed NATO allies to boost defense spending. His pursuit of ownership of Greenland, a Danish territory, has also rattled European leaders in recent months. The U.S.'s top diplomat told the gathering of European leaders that American leadership has succeeded in resolving thorny issues such as the Israel-Gaza conflict and made progress in ending Russia's war with Ukraine which multilateral organizations including the U.N. have so far failed to. "The United Nations still has tremendous potential to be a tool for good in the world, but we cannot ignore that today, on the most pressing matters before us, it has no answers and has played virtually no role. It could not solve the war in Gaza," Rubio said. "Instead, it was American leadership that freed captives from barbarians and brought about a fragile truce. It has not solved the war in Ukraine." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed his gratitude to the U.S. for its help in Ukraine's fight against Russia. "I am grateful to every American heart that was helping us no matter what. Without you, Americans, Europeans and everyone who stands with us, it would have been very, very difficult to hold on," Zelenskyy said to applause. But he criticized the administration of Trump's predecessor for being slow to ramp up military aid to Ukraine. Zelenskyy also had harsh words for Iran's government, which he accused of supplying the drones Russia uses to attack Ukrainian territory. "Ukraine does not share a border with Iran and we have never had a conflict of interests with the Iranian regime," Zelenskyy said. "But the Iranian Shahed drones they sold to Russia are killing, especially, our people, Ukrainians, and destroying our infrastructure." NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, speaking next to Zelenskyy, urged member countries to step up military support for Ukraine under the alliance's Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) initiative. "Keep (Ukraine) strong in the fight. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, speaking after Rubio at the conference, said the region faces "the very distinct threat of outside forces trying to weaken our union from within, the return of overtly hostile competition and power relations." "The opposite is true and we've just heard it from State Secretary Rubio. On Friday, the EU's chief diplomat, Kaja Kallas, urged European leaders to stand up to Russian aggression. "The lesson learned is that appeasement always brings new wars," Kallas told CNBC in an interview. If you think that, okay, let them have this territory. ... We will have peace that is actually never going to work. Also speaking to CNBC on Friday ahead of the conference, Wolfgang Ischinger, the organization's chairman, said it was Europe's "own fault" that its power on the global stage has been diminished. "Europe has failed to speak with one voice to China and about China, Europe has failed with one voice, to come up with a clear concept about the future of the Middle East, including about how to deal or not to deal with the Iranian nuclear question," said Ischinger, who is a former German ambassador to the U.S. The report said that Trump was "at the forefront of those who promise to free their countries from the existing order's constraints and rebuild stronger, more prosperous nations," arguing he was just one movement "driven by resentment and regret over the liberal trajectory their societies have embarked on." Ischinger said that Europeans were "totally on the sidelines" on negotiations around Gaza and Ukraine. Rubio said the U.S. sought a "reinvigorated alliance" with Europe, "one that does not maintain the polite pretense that our way of life is just one among many and that asks for permission before it acts." In a wide-ranging speech, Rubio criticized past policies that encouraged mass migration, outsourced supply chains and contributed to "deindustrialization," which he said was "not inevitable." "It was a conscious policy choice, a decades-long economic undertaking that stripped our nations of their wealth, of their productive capacity, and of their independence. Rubio also discussed how greater trans-Atlantic cooperation could reposition the West to lead in 21st-Century industries. "Commercial space travel and cutting-edge artificial intelligence, industrial automation and flex manufacturing, creating a Western supply chain for critical minerals not vulnerable to extortion from other powers, and a unified effort to compete for market share in the economies of the global South." Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inbox

While U.S. markets have been focused on the impact of Anthropic and Altruist's tools on software and financial services, China's tech giants have released AI models this week that have shown advancements in robotics and video generation. Alibaba, TikTok creator ByteDance and short-video platform Kuaishou, have all released new AI models that underscore how Chinese firms are keeping up with those in the U.S. It comes after Google DeepMind boss Demis Hassabis told CNBC that Chinese AI models are just "months" behind Western rivals. Alibaba's DAMO Academy unveiled RynnBrain this week, an AI model designed to help robots comprehend the physical world around them and identify objects. It was also shown taking milk out of a fridge. RynnBrain now puts Alibaba in competition with the likes of Nvidia and Google which are developing their own AI models for robots. "One of its key innovations is built-in time and space awareness," Adina Yakefu, a researcher at Hugging Face, told CNBC. "Instead of simply reacting to immediate inputs, the robot can remember when and where events occurred, track task progress, and continue across multiple steps. This makes it more reliable and coherent in complex real-world environments." Yakefu added that Alibaba's "broader ambition" was to "establish a foundational intelligence layer for embodied systems." But prompts can also contain other videos and images. Videos created with Seedance 2.0 and reviewed by CNBC appear to show quite realistic imagery and video that has been fully created with AI. Billy Boman, who is based in Stockholm, Sweden, and runs a creative advertising agency that produces AI-generated content, has used Seedance 2.0. He said AI video generation has made significant strides over the past two years, with rapid improvements across the industry. Any type of realism was [limited to] very short clips, everything was very slow, bad textures, no skin textures, lacking detail. It has been nothing short of exceptional, the technological advancements," Boman told CNBC in an interview. Hugging Face's Yakefu, added that the Seedance 2.0 model has shown progress from previous generations in "controllability, speed and production efficiency." "Seedance 2.0 is one of the most well-rounded video generation models I've tested so far. It genuinely surprised me by delivering satisfying results on the first try, even with a simple prompt. The visuals, music, and cinematography come together in a way that feels polished rather than experimental," Yakefu said. However, while users have praised the technology, Seedance has run into trouble. It came after a blogger in China raised concerns about the voice generation taking place without consent. ByteDance was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC. Released last week, Kuaishou's Kling 3.0 is another video generation model to rival ByteDance's. Kling 3.0 "features major upgrades in consistency, photorealistic output, extended video duration up to 15s, and native audio generation across multiple languages, dialects, and accents. Kuaishou's success with its Kling models has been a key factor behind its more than 50% share price rise over the last year. Zhipu AI — which trades as Knowledge Atlas Technology in Hong Kong — saw its shares surge on Thursday after it released GLM-5, an open-source large-language model with enhanced coding capabilities and long-running agent tasks. The company said the model approaches Anthropic's Claude Opus 4.5 in coding benchmarks while surpassing Google's Gemini 3 Pro on some tests. Shares of MiniMax also jumped Thursday after it launched its updated M2.5 open-source model with enhanced AI agent tools. — CNBC's Anniek Bao and Dylan Butts contributed to this report. Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inbox