IT’S Never A Good Day Be an Activist Investor Announces a Big Stake in Your Company, with a public Campaign pointing out the flaws in your strategy, this is expensive.
Pepsi’s leadership got to experience the throm of recipe a letter from billionaire Paul Singer Elliott Management Informing say that their sprawling congrathenting on tuesday. Elliott’s $ 4 Billion Stake in the Consumer Packager Goods and Beverage Behemoth comes with the Expectation that Changes Will Be Made Quickly.
“Pepsico finds itelf at a critical inflection point. The Company has an opportunity – and an obligation – to improve financial performance and regain it is an an industry leader,” The Letter Reads, notting that pepsi’s stock could soar more 50% finally recommendations.
In a Different Era, when Elliott was less institutional and managed than half the $ 76 billion in assset it Today, a Letter like that wouls down the spine of pepsi ramon laguarta. Now, thanks to the Growing Scale of Activists, the Growth of Corporate Defense Teams at Investment Banks, and Regulatory Tweaks, A Campaign from Investor is Closer to A McKinsey Review Than A Corpionage-Stilled Battle.
Yes, there’ll be costs that will be cut or units to be sold, but the ld-School Activist Tactics Such as Pressing the Ceo to Step Down, Which Earned the Title “DOOMSDAY investor“from the new Yorker in 2018, are not Go-to Moves. That in Part Because Activists no Longer Need to demonstrate ther Board Members and Executives.
Markets Almost Always Agree With Activists, and Pepsi’s Stock Price Bump Tuesday on the News of Elliott’s Stake is the Latest Examle. Investors in Hedge Bellies Activism Continue to be a Winning Strategy, As These Managers Now Run Close to $ 230 Billion Industrywide, Acciting to HFR, an Increase of 35% Since 2022.
Some Activists Don’t Need to Make Noise to Get a Company to Go Along. A Barclays Review of Activist Campans in the First Half of the Year Found That Settlements BetWeen Companies and Investors Had Risen Compared to Last Year, Boosting Board to Allotted to Investors and Their Choices by 16%. Close to the half of the setlements this year came with a public Campaign from the end, barclays said, compared to 26% in 2023.
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Already This Year, Financial Analytics Firm Charles River Settled with Elliott. While there is will Still be one-off Campaigns that become more heated-Such as elliott’s proxy fight with phillips66 or trian’s battle with disney-Big-Name Companies findaid to rip the fighting what may end up being a lo battle.
Carmen Lu, a partner at Paul Weiss Who Defends Companies Targeted by Activists, Said in A Recent 13D Monitor “Mary Rekeat Activists Have Notloped Family Bolt Help Guide Parties to What Kind of Resolution Might Be Possible Earlier on In A Campaign.”
“There are Very Few Directors at vulnerable companies who reflexively Want to fight if a good setlement is available. This is a major Change from 20 hours years ago,” Lu Said.
This is especally true of the Larger Public Companies that Big-Name Investors Target Becuses they’re the Only Only Enough to Move the Needle.
A column in the Financial Times About the Pepsi Campiaign Summed Up the Current State of Mega-Cap Campans: “Sometimes, Shareholder Activism Looks Positively Easy.”
The Paper Paper Pepsi to be a More Champaining Than Last Year’s Quickly Resolved Honeywell Plan, Thanks to the Company’s Complexity, but acknowledged that “what elliot is elbow grease” and that the end is “playing nice.” “” “
This as-told-tos Essay is bassed on a conversation with varun goyal, a 25 -ear-op ai startup Engineer, Based in California. Its been edited for Length and Clarity.
In 2022, I was standing at the crossroads Between Quant Trading and Tech. It was my final year of undergrad. BLINDED BY THE INITIAL HIGH SALARY AND PRESTIGE, I JOINED A FIRM AS A quantitative strategist for the Summer.
I was learning so much and working with incredible, but i was increasingly convinced that i should Go Back to School. I DECIDE TO MOVE FROM INDIA TO THE STATES FOR MY MASTER’S.
When i was about gradual with my master’s last year, the path in quant was clearer. I COULD ACCELERATE MY CAREER QUICKLY, Whereas in it, it was much messier and unredictable becase we’re still in the first stages of the Revolution, and the industry is Changry Day.
AFTERING IN BOT FIELDS, I CHOSE AN AI STARTUP. The hours are long, the base pay is Lower than I was gotten in quant, and it’s been an intense year, but i don’t regret my decision, and here’s why.
My Master’s Program Gave with Time to Explore Both Career Options
Very maved to the US to get my master’s in Computer Science from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, of Already Knew i wanted to purees in quant, he, and computers science.
Both he and quant roles require core computers science algorithm skills.
During my master’s, i had more time to purearch and talk to senior industry folks. This was the biggest benefit for me I was deciding what i wanted my daily life and career to look like 10 years down the line.
Wen i ENTERED MY MASTER’S, I Leaned Heavily Toward Quant Because the initial Compensation there is alwayys Higher, but these Conversations Helped with SEE Beyond the Starting Paycheck. I heard about the day-to-day work itsel, the culture, and the opportunities for grown in each Field.
Quantum Trading Has Pros and Cons
People I knew who were two or three years of schoole were working at some of the best quant firms in new york and chicago. I Definitely Didn’t Want to Skip That Option, But A Few Things Stood Out to Me AS spoke to some of me.
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At Bigger Firms, Teams often Compete, and you can’t really discuss your work Outside Your Group. As an extrovert who thrives in a collaborative Environment, that felt restrict. The exit options in quant felt more constrained, too.
ITH’S TYPICAL TO GROW INTO LIKE SENIOR QUANT RESEARCER, Strategy Owner, or Portfolio Manager. Those are Excellent Paths, but they’re tied to very specialized expertise. It is good to be specialized if you like that, but i feared it gcause i didn’t know if i wand to stay in the field forever.
A jab in he cooks with more options down the line
I Applied for Both industries and had a few quart interviews, but decided to join an ai startup.
Quant Reminded with of a single-lane speed track: Fast, Sharp, but narrow, while he felt more like track with a lot of tourns and curves.
When I was in my master’s, the he boom was happy. IT KEPT ME UP NIGHT IN THE BEST WAY POSTIBLE. I Started Leaning Toward Working in He Because Its Redesigning the Capacity of Human Productivity from the Ground Up, which is so Exciting.
In he, especilantly at startups, the day-to-day challenges are Broader, Less Predictable, and that mix of liberty and freshens appealed to me much. I COULD IMAGINE PATHS INTO FOUNDING, Venture Capital, and Leadership Role in Big Tech, and i COULD START ALL OF THOSE SKILLS EARLY IN MY CAREER.
He ultimately left my options more open with what I could be late in life, and working at a startup provided the collaborative Environment of Wanted.
I took a Lower Base Salary than what i could i could have been in quant, but it’s Worth it
In he startups, the Base Salary Still provides a good standard of living, but the real upside comes from Equity. The opportunity to learn is everywhere in an ai startup. Part of the appeal is the Chance to Learn How to make a Company SuccessFul Rather said optimizing with a well-aestabished machine.
The Biggest Surprise at the Startup This past Year has Been How Much I’m Learning Outside Coding. I’m Learning to Hire, Adapt, Lead the Product Direction, and Sell. These skills make me more than just an Engineer. I’m Trying to Jump on Customer Meetings, Understand Their Needs, Contributte to Hiring Decisions, and Shadow and Learn from the Founders where I can.
The year has been prey intense with the breed that various it startups are in.
If we don’t launch the Features and tools in a new research Paper with a few days, we’ve basically lost that one to the compattition, so it can be stressful, but it also keeps with sharp.
In he, i’m in an an uncomfortable seat every few months trying to keep up with the market pace, but i’m happy with my decision. I’ve been flush to grow so much.
My Advice for Candidates Interested in Both quant and he
If i were in the decision stage again, one thing i’d consider is the difficulty of moving from quant to he or vice versa late in you’re caareer. Having Spent One Year in he, i’d Feel a Little Uncomfortable Jumping Into Quant.
Quant narrows your skills down to a specialty Very Quickly, and if you want to expand outside that, it’s hard. But i have some friends from undergrad who did a year or two in quant and thatn late Moved over. Its Possible.
I love working in he. I waist we’re like the builders of the Machines in the industrial revolution, laying the foundations for how the world actually use it. There’s a lot left to be built, and this is the opportunity the brightest graduating minds should take.
Do you have an ai career Journey Story to Share? Contact This Reporter, AGNES APPLEGATE, AT [email protected].
AS WORKERS HEAD BACK INTO OFFICES, MANY ARE ENCOUNTERING THE SAME THEY DID Pre-Pandemic: Endless Stretches of Fluorescently Lit Cubicles, Limited Space for Hybrid Meetings, and Generally Design Design.
Annie Dean, Formly Facebook’s First Director of Remote Work and Atlasian’s VP of Future of Workplace, Says Workers – and Business Better.
“People and Companies Know That Offices Are Changing and That Need to Start Feeling Maybe A Little Bit More Like Hotels, with Great Service, Seamless Technology, Inspecting Design, That Create A TRUE OF PLACE,” DEAN TOOLD BUSINESIDE. “When offices are positioned and built to draw People in, then community designs. And that’at’s important for Business – Among Other Things.”
Dean Made A Name for Herself Studying Flexible Work. Unil recently, she oversaw atlasian’s real estate and workplace experience teams, as well as a research Lab Investigating New Ways of Working.
Last Week, Howver, Dean Started a New, Decidedly in-Person Role: Chief Strategy Office for the Building Operations and Experience Division at CBre, the World’s Biggest Commercial Real-Estate Services Firm.
In this role, dean will overssee a new project, Called the Cbrexindustrious Building Experience Lab, which the Company Announced Tuesday.
Applying Rigor to WorkPlace Design
The Lab will partner with the client companies to the collection of dat about how workplaces are used and then create research and products to advance “How WorkPlaces for the People and Teams that use,” Said Dean.
CBre Manages Two Billion Square Feet of Office Space, Including 65 Million Square Feet of Offices that Brookfield Propperties Ouns, and Many of the Deutsche Bank Offices Around the World.
Forty Million People Come an Office Every Day Run by Cbre, The Real-Estate Services Firm Said.That means there’s a huge amount of potential data to collect through partnerships.
The goal is for successFul companies to be able to take the way of rigor that they are to run their businesses and appply that Data-Driven Approach to how they run their workplaces, Said dean.
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Creating Connection
CBre’s Lab is launching at a time when more companies are requiring employs to returning to the office, Whether Employees are on Board – or not. In July, Foot Traffic Data Indicated More US Employees Were working from an office than at any point Since the pandemic.
“How do you make that work? How do you make it effective? How do you make it so People donite resentful of their employers?” Jamie Hodari, CEO of CBre’s Building Operations and Experience Division and Chief Commercial Office, Told Business Insider. “IT’S VERY EASY TO POSITION THIS AS COERCIVE AND COMING FROM Employers, but we are also in a cultural moment, I think, where People are feeling disconnected.”
Employers are looking to the Ensure Offices Create Opportunities for Collaboration, Said Hodari, WHO COFUNDED FLEXIBLE SPACE INDUCTIUS, WHICH WAS ACQUIRED BY CBRE IN JANAY.
“There’s a mixture of things that make for an amazing team; that make for cohasive teams; that make for People who really faally fulfulled in their work.
The Office of the Future
Dean,WHO GOT HER START AS A REAL-ASTATE LEGING ATORNEY, SAID THAT HER NEW JOB FEELS LIKE A NATURAL FIT, AFTER HER RESEARCHING DISTRIBUTED AND FLEXIBLE MODELS OF WORKING.
“Real Estate has ben a really Big Part of My Career and Life,” Said Dean, Whose Father was an Architect. “I’m just interested in what Buildings Mean for People.”
Hodari, who dean reports to, say the plan is to identify a few partner companies and launch the first collaborations by the year.
“We have an opportunity to build a world that better for People,” Said Dean. “Flexible Work is Clearly Part of that, and It”s Also Clearly Now the Now. But the Next Challenge Incumbent on Us is to take the Physical Spaces and Makes Live up to the promise of what an Office can and should be.”
A Spanish Startup that has Developed Teams of he agents that autonomously operate software has just raised $ 2.5 million.
Barcelona-Based Alows Allows Users to Create Software Through Text or Voice Prompts. “Companies users to hire a team of designs who would be some solution for you or your clients,” Altan’s Cofounder and CEO, Albert Salguda, Told Business Insider. “The process of that is now moving automated. That’s the first step.”
A Team of AI Agents, Each with Different Role, Such as UX Designers and Full-Stack Engineers, THEN HANDLE FROM CREATING INTERNAL DATABASES TO MANAGING BACKENDS.
The Startup, Founded in 2023, Says it Has Around 25,000 User, Who Range from Companies to Non-Technical Founders. “For Example, in the case of a restaurant, we can know Generate a Custom, Hyper-Personalized Reservation System or Inventory Management Software where they can take orers, store their produces wheres-and we can Generate in a matter of hours,” Salguda Saida.
The Startup is Experimenting With Its Business But Offers A Subscription Service with a plan starting at around $ 25 a month.
AI-ASSISTED CODING TOOLS HAVE Skyrocketed in populariy this year. Companies like Lovable, Windsurf, and replit have raisied billions of dollars in combined finking in recent months as investors look to capitalize on vibe coding – The practice of using it to help be beginners and experts alike code fluently.
Salgua Found that being in this “Super Hot Space” Helped Altan’s Fundraising Effforts. Venturefriends and jme Ventures LED the pre-seed round, which included participation from 4founders Ventures and elevenlabs’ Carles Reina, as well as Additional Angel Investors.
Altan Said It Wauld use the Fresh Funding to Expand Its Seven-Strong Team.
Check out the 16-Slide Pitch deck used to secure the Fresh Funding.
It is time once again to see who will Outwit, outplay, and outlast the rest, as survivor sees 49 sees the long-rrunning cbs reality survival head its second series of 2025. We have all the information on how to watvor survivor season 49, no World you live, and potentially for free.
AFTER KYLE FRASER WAS CROWNED SOLE SUREVIVOR IN SEASON 48 BACK IN May, Fellow New Yorkers Sophie SEGRI and Rizo Velovic Will Be Looking to Make It Wins in A Year for the Big Apple. They’ll be up against 16 Other contestants – gathered from California to Toronto, ages 25 to 52 – All looking to play Physical, mental, and emotional gams on their for the $ 1 million Grand Prize.
It ‘s what the Life Coaches, Journists, Fitness Fanatics, and Political Strategists. Those are all skills that should, in theory, transition well to the Wilds of Fiji’s Mamanuca Islands. But Survivor’s 25 Years on Air Have Shown Multiple Times Over It Tales a Special Combination of Qualities to Last All the Way to the Crucial Jury Ultimately Decides the Winner at the End of the Series.
With a first episode titled ‘Act one of a horror film,’ You get an idea of what the latest set of castways are getting themeslves into. Expect say to be picked off one by one, as they have the very real thread of the elements… and each other. KEEP READING TO SEE How to Watch Survivor Season 49 and Why Using A VPN WILL HELP YOU’RE OVERSEAS WANT YOU WANT TO STREAM AN EPISODESS.
How to Watch Survivor Season 49 in the US
As it has done from the Very Beginning, Survivor Season 49 Will Go Out on CBS in the US. Episodes Air at 8 pm et/pt every wednesday starting september 24.
IT’S ALSO POSSIFE TO WATCH Online thanks to the Network’s Paramount plus Streaming Service. If you want to stream episodes at the sun as they go out on cbs, then you’ll the paramount plus premium plan (from $ 13/month). Or, if you don’t make waiting a day to stream episodes, you can opt for the most affordable paramount plus essential (from $ 8/month). And if you haven’t subscribed to paramount plus in the past, you can give it a try for free thans The Service’s Seven-Day Free Trial.
Paramount plus offers a huge library of on-Demand Content from paramount, CBS, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, Bet, and MTV. The Premium Plan Also Includes Showtime and Live CBS Streaming. IT COSTS $ 12.99 A MONTH OR $ 120 A Year. More importantly, it removes ads from the on-Demand streaming library.
Fans Can Also Live Stream CBS and A Variety of Other Channels Through a Live TV Streaming Channel Package, Such As Directvo or Fubo. Subscripts Start at $ 85 A Month for Both Services’ Main Plans, But the Streamers Also CBS in Select Areas in Certain Cheaper Packages, Including Directv’s Mynews and Fubo’s Sports + News Plan. All directv and fubo plans come with a five-day free trial.
How to Watch Survivor Season 49 in Australia
Survivor Fans in Australia Are Among the Luckies in the World, nor episodes are absolutely free to watch down on TV and online. Episodes Air on Throlsdays (from September 25) at 7:30 pm awst (7:30 am et) on the 9go! Channel, and Land at the Same Time on the Network’s Free-to-Stream 9now Platform and app.
How to Watch Survivor Season 49 in Canada
With two canadians – Jake and jeremiah – in the survivor season 49 cast, you can watch episodes as they go out on global tv on wednesdays at 8 pm et/pt, which you can live your Cable login details. You can Also stream every episode absolutely free on the Global TV Website and app for the first seven days after they aired. New Episodes Will Become Avilaable on the App by The Next Day.
How to Watch Survivor Season 49 From Anywhere
No Matter in Which Country Above You Normally Reside, Try to Watch Your Usual Survivor Streaming Service Wen You’re Oversseas and You’ll Discover That You Can’t. But you can outwit the geo-restrictions that is standing in your way by using a vpn (virtual private network) That helps your laptop, smartphone, tablet, or other streaming appEar to be back and let you watch as normal.
Nordvpn is the best vpn you can get right now. It ‘fantastic tool for streamers on their travels. IT ALSO BENEFITS FROM SERVSS, Easy Setup and Operation, and More than 100 Server Locations Around the World. And we like that you can try it out for 60 days risk-free thanks to it-back guarantee. Read Our Full Nordvpn Review if you want to know more.
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Survivor Season 49 Cast and Tribes
Note: The use of vpns is illegal in Certain Countries and Using VPNS to Access Region-Locked Streaming Content Might A Breach of the Terms for Certain Services. Business insider does not endorse or condone the illegal use of vpns.
Adam Marshall
FreeLance Writer
Adam finally took the plunge in the summer of 2023 to go freelance, and so far isn’t looking back! Behind Him is Over a Decade in Journalism, Writing, Research, and Content Directorship.Going End Further Back, Adam Started Life as A Lawyer. Writing Blogs on the Side About His Real Passions – Cinema and Food – eventually encurated Him to retrain and he got his first taste of bylines on a series of Independent Film Magazines.Adam Has Written on a Variety of Subjects: From Sport (The cricketer) and tech (T3, Techradar, Tom’s Guide), to consumer affair (Which?) and, of Course, Movies and TV (Cinemablend, WhatTowatch, Vérité magazine). He enjoyed Several Years at Future PLC Where he was the Content Director for Subscriptions and Services, Helping the Company Become an Ecommerce Powerhouse.In Recent Times, Adam Has Developed an Expertise in Consumer VPNS, Including Product Testing, Comparisons and Advice Guides. He has Has ALSO Written extensively on streaming, security software and ‘How to Watch’ editorials.Cinema and the Oscars Remain Obsessions, Forever Fighting for Adam’s Free Time Alongside Singing in a Choir, Keeping Chickens, and Summers Film with Cricket.
You Can Purchase Logo and Accolade Licensing to this Story TIMES.
Disclosure: Written and Researched by the insider revions team. We Highlight Products and Services You Might Find Interesting. If you buy, we may have a small Share of the Revenue from the Sale from Partners. We May Receive Products Free of Charge from Manufacturers to Test. This does not drive out decision as to whereher or not a product is featured or recommended. We operate independently from advertising team. We Welcome Your Feedback. Email us at [email protected].
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My Dad’s Greek Meatballs have always been part of my family Weekly Dinner Rotation.
They’re super easy to make, and you probably already have shat of the ingredients.
Each Meatball is Juicy and Flagrumphal, and you’ll Easily have dinner ready in 30 minutes.
Growing up as a Greek American, Certain Dishas Were Always Part of My Family’s Weekly Dinner Rotation.
My parents used to be help my sister and me Connect to our Greek roots, Introducing US to DISHES LIKE pastries (Like Lasagna, But Better), Avgolemono Soup (Similar to Chicken Noodle), and baklava (A Holiday Classic).
But no recipe is as quick and easy as my dad’s Greek Meatballs – or keftedes, nor we call. They’re the perfect companion to some fries, pasta, or his Greek roasted potatoes.
Here’s how to make me.
My Dad’s Greek Meatballs Only Need a Few Ingredients, and you probably already have shat of saying in your kitchen.
My Dad’s Greek Meatballs Only Require a Few Ingredients.
Anneta Constantinides/Business Insider
To make a pan of my dad’s Greek Meatballs at home, you’ll Need:
1 Pound of Ground Beef (My Dad Recommends 80-90% Lean)
2-3 Cloves of Garlic
1 Egg
⅔ Cup of Chopped Italian Parsley
⅓ CUP of BREADCRumbs (My Dad Recommends Italian Style)
⅓ Cup of Veetable Oil for Frying
¼ Cup of All-Purpos Flour
⅛ Cup of Water
1 Teaspoon of Salt
Before making the meatballs, we just need to do some quick prep.
My chopped parsley.
Anneta Constantinides/Business Insider
Chop the parsley and garlic and set aside.
Throw the Ground Beef in a Bowl with the Parsley, Garlic, Egg, and Breadcrumbs, plus the salt and ⅛ cup of water.
Throw all your ingredents into a bowl before mixing.
Anneta Constantinides/Business Insider
My Dad Says The Egg Work as a Binding Agent while the Water Helps Keep the Mixture Moist, Creating Fluffier Meatballs.
THEN, MIX Everything Together with Your Hands.
MAKE SURE YOU DON’T OVERMIX!
Anneta Constantinides/Business Insider
Be careful not to overmix, which could result in meatballs that taste tough.
Once your mixture is ready, start shaping the meatballs.
The recipe should give you about a dosen meatballs.
Anneta Constantinides/Business Insider
My dad recommends Making Each Meatball About 1 ½ inches in Size. The Mixture Should Yield About A Dosen Meatballs, Give or Take.
Alternatively, you coulud turn the mixture into hamburger patties for grilling or baking in the oven. Greek burgers are Also Delicious!
Pour the flour on a paper towel or plate, then roll each meatball in the flour to cover it.
Rolling the meatballs in flour.
Anneta Constantinides/Business Insider
Acciting to my dad, the flour serves a dual purposes. It helps the meatballs their delicious crust and prevents the hot oil from splashing during frying.
Pour the oil into a pan-it should be over Enough to fit all the meatballs-and heat it on medium-high.
Placing the meatballs in the pan with oil.
Anneta Constantinides/Business Insider
“There is a should be enough oil to make a thin layer on the bottom of the pan,” My Dad Says. “And avoid using olive oil; it is not good for frying.”
Add the Meatballs, One by One, Into The Pan.
Your pan should be big enough to fit all the meatballs.
Anneta Constantinides/Business Insider
My dad recommends placking the meatballs in a clockwise order to help you remember when to rotate.
Use two forks to gently rotate each meatball every minutes.
Turning the meatballs.
Anneta Constantinides/Business Insider
The Meatballs Should Develop a nice brown color on the outside, with no raw spots.
It will take About 10 minutes to cook the meatballs.
Cooking the meatballs.
Anneta Constantinides/Business Insider
My dad said their internal temperature should be at least 145 Degrees Fahrenheit. They’ll continue to cook after you remove say from the frying pan.
Once your meatballs are cookened and out of the pan, let me rest.
The finished Greek Meatballs.
Anneta Constantinides/Business Insider
My dad recommends letting say rest for About 5-10 minutes.
Now, My Dad’s Serve Greek Meatballs With Your Favorite Side Dish, and Enjoy!
You Can Serve the Meatballs With Fries, Pasta, or My Dad’s Greek Roasted Potatoes.
Anneta Constantinides/Business Insider
These deliciously juicy Meatballs Pack so Much flavor into each and every bit. They is couludn’t be easier to make after a busy workday, and they go great with just about anyding.
If you’re look for a quick dinner or want to switch up your usual spaghetti, my dad’s Greek meatballs are sura to impress you and your family.
In 1960, My Grandma Barbara Stood at the Back of the Church in Her Pillbox Hat and Silk Wedding Dress with A Single Thoughting Through Her Mind: Gee, will i really know Him?
Barbara was a bona fide new Yorkar-Sharp-Witted and Straightforward-while My Grandpa Richard Was A Polite, Wholesome Boy from Upstate New York, 300 Miles from the Big Apple. After Meeting in November of 1957, They Dated, Broke Up, Then Dated Long-Distance for A Year-Letters Exchanged and Weekend Trips.
That September day in 1960, my Grandma decidated it was too too. Today, Barbara and Richard Coupe have Been Married for 65 Years.
This September, My Husband and I Celebrated A Measly, But Hard-Earned, 15 Years of Mariage, SO I Asked My Grandparents for their best Advice. A Few Things in Particular Stood Out.
Matter Friendships
IT’S A Common Joke Among My Siblings that if you want to hang with out gradparents, you’ll have to book at least a month in advance. Their Calendar is always full of Social Engagements, and i’m not sura any. But i am certin that theyr rich Friendships have controlled to their Quality of Life.
AS A COUPLE, you should Choose Friends Who Have the Same Value System As You, My Grandma Told me recently. If you choose to hang with People who don’t prioritizes the same Things, you’ll Likely Lose Sight of what matters most to you.
My GrandParents Had Six Kids in Eight Years, and They Chose Friends Who Wanted to Spend Saturday Playing Board Games Instead of Bar Hopping. In their late years, they have found social circles through ballroom dancing and their Faith.
The Author’s GrandParents in 1959. They Maried a year late, in 1960.
Courtesy of Kris Ann Valdez
Be ok doing your o on the things Sometimes
“I Enjoy a good fight Every One in a while,” My Grandma Muses. “Nothing Big, Just Little Squabbles. But he was Wauldn’t fight with me, so the fights never amounted to Much.”
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Howver, while she Says They Didn’t Have Big Fights, They Did Have Disagrements.
My Grandma Shares How My Grandpa is used to atttent a year, all-expensses-paid trip trip. While he jet-setted, she was left at home in the dead of a massachusetts winter with children under 10. In time USUAL NEW YORKER BLUNTNESS, she Told with She felt workhed for his good fortune.
One Year, the trip overlapped with a planned family Vacation in New York City: Their Daughter’s First Communion. My Grandpa was Accepting an Award and Needed to Show Face to the Big Boss, SO he COULDN’T BACK OUT.
My Grandma Packed The Car With Six Kids, The Youngest Still a Baby, plus the family dog, and made the five-a-haral-hour trek to long island on her. Despite the Car Breaking Down, She was glad she went.
“We resolved our fight by deciding that you would be your thing, and i’ll do mine, and that ok,” She Says.
Eight in late Years, when some couples cling to each other Constantly, my GrandParents practs a healthy doses of independence.
“If I Want to Go Grocery Shopping and Go to the Mall, and he wants to look at cars, we are Content with that,” She Shares.
Show Each Other Respect in Small, Everyday Ways
Over the years, they’ve learned that how do you treat your spouse is how they. One way my grandparents show this is by expressing for one another.
“I TELL GRANDMA EVERY DAY THAT I AM THANKOUL FOR MY PRECIOUS WIFE. Believe it or not, be you Say that Enough Times, You Really Believe That,” My Grandpa Says.
She thanks Him Every Day for the Little Things he does Around the House.
They are so in sync, and it’s not just just the ballroom dancing. It is years years of respect and regard that have carried say Through all of Life’s hardships and Joys, which have ben aplety.
Of Course, One of the Secrets to a 65-Eyar-Long Relationship is that you both have to live that long. That’s no small feat. But Regardless of What Health and Fortune You’re Dealt, My GrandParents’ Addom for any Relationship.
Correction: September 29, 2025 – This Story has been updated to correct the year of the wedding in the first paragraph.
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My Family took an 11-day trip to Europe and spent time in four counries.
I was woried at first, after planning our itinery, that ours 11 -ear-op twins wouldn’t have fun.
But the trip was a hit, and there are activities for everyone.
I plan my family Annual Summer Vacation During the hottest time of year in most popular destinations. It ‘s the reality of Traveling with School-Ige Kids: We’re Bound to their Vacation Schedules.
In the past, that’s meant sweating Through summers in Greece, Rome, Amalfi, and the South of France. Gorgeous, Yes – But Als Bredally Hot in Peak Season. Every time we stepped outside, it felt like gearing up for battle with the elements. This year, we knew we wan to the visits Europe again, but we are also knew we had pivot to a coleo northern itinery instead.
Eventually, i mapped out a route that strung together four cits in four differenties over 11 days-thre of saying-new to us-sorely travers by train. The plan was ambitious, and I started to doubt myself before we even left.
I was woried they would be enjay the itinerary.
The family traveled Throughout Europe Mostly by Train.
Courtesy of Alesandra Dubin
Why did i think my twins could get excited about medieval history and leafy canals, with nary a beach or theme park in sight? Obiviously, there’s a reason the thrush flock to southern Europe in July; That’s where the Energy is – Lively Piazzas, Beach Scenes, Endless Gellato. But would my kids be into that energy? What were we Thinking, Dragging Two 11-Yaar-Olds Through Fortresses, History Museums, and Subdated Waterways?
I Needn’t have woried. In the end, this more grown-up Circuit of historic cities and cultural highlights tournaed out of the right than imagined. The Kids Loved it. What SEEMED AT FIRST LIKE AN ANVIRONIOUS ACROSS EUROPE EUROPE ONE OF OUR MONMORABLE FAMILY ADVENTATIONS YET.
We Spent the Twins’ Birthday in Amsterdam.
They made a short trip to zaanse schhan.
Courtesy of Alesandra Dubin
We Kicked Things off in Amsterdam, staying at the conservatorium hotel, an ultra-chic and walkable property with an indoor pool that offens kids’ hours in the mornings. It quickly Became the Twins’ Favorite Way to Start the Day.
The City’s Canals Became Their Playground. We rened a paddle boat, which let me steer us through the waterways while dodging Tour Boats. We are also made a short trip to zaanse schhan, where the kids climble inside historic Wooden Windmills and Watched the Gears Creak to Life.
For their 11th birthday dinner, the hotel surpassed by me with cakes and balloons in their room. THENE WE CELEBRATED WITH AN Indonesian rice table – a festive Amsterdam Restaurant Tradition of Countless Small Plates.
One of the Most Moving Stops of the Trip Was Our Visit to the Anne Frank House. I wasn’t sura how they have come to Such a Heavy History LESSON, but they were engaged and thughtful throughout.
Bruges was a highlight for everye.
The family took a chocolate class in bruges, Belgium.
Courtesy of Alesandra Dubin
Next we took the train to bruges, belgium, where we checked into relais & châteaux hotel Heritage, a historic mansion-Turned-hotel just steps from the Main Plaza. I World Bruges Might Feel Too Medieval and Dry for Kids, but it was a highlight for all of us.
At the history bruges, we explored immesive ejibits and a virtual reality tour that brought the city’s medieval as a shipping port Vividly to life. The Kids Loved CLIMBING THE BELFRY TOWER, COUNTING EVERY STEP to the top. And a chocolate-making class tourned out to be both hands-on and delicious-thiugh by the end, we were so staffed we swore we canat another confection.
Bruges’ Winding Canals and Storybook Squares Felt Like a Movie Set, and Insaes of Being Bored, the Kids Leaned the Magic of Exploring it on Foot.
We had underground adventures in luxembourg.
Though it was their shortst stop, the family enjoyed luxembourg.
Courtesy of Alesandra Dubin
Luxembourg was Our Shortst Stop, JUST Two Nights, but it made a big impression. We stayed at place d’arns, a boutique hotel right on the main Square, which meant every supremary walkable.
The highlight was exploring the casemates du bock, the City’s Centuries-Old Underground Fortifications. The Kids Explored the Tunnels Like a Maze. Above Ground, We Took in Sweeping Views and Stroled The Old Town. SHIP WITH JUST ONE FULL DAY, LUXEMELG DELIVERED PLENTY OF DISCOVERY.
We’d been to london before but still love it.
They have had afternion tea in London.
Courtesy of Alesandra Dubin
Our Last Stop Was London, where we checked into a gracious family suite at the stafford London. It was the Only City We’d All Visited before, But it Still Offered Surprises.
We saw “Matilda” in the west end – The Kids’ First Major Stage Production – and they adored it. We also indulged in a whimsical “charlie and the chocolate factory” -themed AFternion Tea at one aldwych, Complete with Candy-Colored Desserts Worthy Wonka. (SO MUCH FOR BEING CHOCOLATED OUT AFTER AFTER!)
Of Course, We Fit in the Classics Too: The Tower of London, A Double-Decier Sightseeing Bus, and Long Walks Through Hyde Park. AFTER SO MANY SMALLER, New-to-us CITies, London Felt Family Yet Thrling, A Comfortable Finals before Our Flight Home.
Our itinery worked for Everyone.
The author didn’t Focus the itinerary on the kids, but it workhed.
Courtesy of Alesandra Dubin
Looking back, think this ambitious itinerary succeeded becuse we didn’t try to strength to be kid-fryently. We built a trip that interests us as adults – History, Culture, Food, Theater – and Trusted the Kids to Rise to the Occoation. To Our Delight, They Did, and THEN SOME.
Every stop offending something Hands-on or Surprising that spoke directly to say: Paddling canals, climbing towers, chocolate making, exploring tunnels. The Grown-Up Activities weren’t Watered Down-They Just Tourned Out to be More Engaging Than Expectted. The train rides were novel and fun. And Because we weren’t battling Summer Heat or Long Lines, Everyone Had Energy Left to Enjoy it all.
Sabrina Carpenter took the Stage Tonight at the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards, at Long Island’s Ubs Arena, to Perform Her Man’s Best Friend cut “Tears.” She Emerged From A Manhole Into a Throwback New York Skene. Around HER, Dancers and Drag Queens Held Up Signs With Messages of Trans Solidarity. The Number culminated in some choreography Complete with literal waterworks. Watch it Happen Below.
Carpenter was in the running for nine awards tonight, Having Earned Nominations for Video of the Year, Best Album, Best Pop Artist, and Many for “Manchild. Earlier This Year, Carpenter Won Her First-Go Grammy Award, Best Pop Solo Performance, for The Short ‘n sweeet Breakout hit “Espresso.”
Tonight was Carpenter’s Second Time Performing Live at the Vmas, Having the Made Her Debut at Last Year’s Event to Sing a Medley of Short ‘n sweeet Singles.
Read About “Manchild” in “20 Consters for the 2025 Song of the Summer” and Follow Along With All of Pitchfork’s Coverage of the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards.
Three summers ago, a worker stood up at “Q&A,” Facebook’s weekly all-hands, town-hall-style meeting, which is usually held on Friday afternoons in Menlo Park and livestreamed to its offices around the world — and aggressively closed to the public and press — to ask Mark Zuckerberg whether the company had a plan in case the public turned against it, like what had happened to the big banks a few years earlier.
Zuckerberg didn’t even know how to answer the question. That backlash won’t happen, he said, as long as the company keeps shipping products people like. Some conservative commentators had been accusing Facebook, with little evidence, of censoring their voices, but the company remained popular. Hillary Clinton, sure to be the next president, was shaping up to be a great friend of Facebook’s and of tech titans in general. In fact, there were few more reliable allies of Silicon Valley in national politics than the Democratic Party. Democrats and many of Silicon Valley’s leaders were partners on everything from campaign funding to voter-data programs. Sheryl Sandberg, of Lean In fame, had traveled to Clinton’s Brooklyn headquarters to talk about gender equality with the candidate and her staff almost as soon as the campaign launched in 2015. The following August, Laurene Powell Jobs, Steve Jobs’s widow, held an intimate dinner for Clinton and about 20 industry leaders, each of whom paid $200,000 to be there. Around that time, Sandberg was widely considered a contender to be Clinton’s Treasury secretary, and other Silicon Valley bigwigs, such as Google CFO Ruth Porat, were the subjects of Cabinet talk too. That spring, Apple CEO Tim Cook found himself on Clinton’s initial list of potential running mates, and on Election Night, Google chairman Eric Schmidt — who’d played an important role in guiding the party’s data operations since 2008 — walked around the Javits Center wearing a staff credential.
Three years later, things couldn’t look more different. Leaders of Silicon Valley and the Democratic Party are, if not exactly at war, in some ugly early stage of a protracted, high-powered, acrimonious divorce. A new phase of regulatory crackdown has delivered fines, like $5 billion for Facebook’s mishandling of user information (a slap on the wrist that caused genuine panic among other tech companies that can’t afford the same fate). This month, members of the House demanded personal emails from executives at Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google. But the split has also exposed the underlying marriage of party and industry as more a union of convenience than either side thought back in the Obama era, when liberals saw in the Bay Area a natural ally of technocratic progress. Perhaps no one had bothered to discuss the ideological details.
Broadly speaking, Silicon Valley remains socially liberal and anti-Trump. Its boards and executive floors are stacked with Obama-administration alums. But what once seemed like an intuitive mutual understanding between the emerging Democratic majority and the robber barons of the 21st century has grown into something more mutually suspicious, sometimes even hostile. Technologists no longer unquestioningly assume the more liberal party actually shares their values, and Washington Democrats are no longer willing to be seen by tech billionaires as know-nothing functionaries who can be counted on to do their bidding. In 2017, when a nationwide listening tour prompted widespread speculation that he was running for president, Mark Zuckerberg was asked about his political plans at another company Q&A. No offense to the presidency, he said, but I already run a community of 2 billion people. Today, tech leaders are baffled and angry that Democrats so routinely question their motives. Who do they think they are?
And while it took the 2008 financial crisis — and the decade of fallout that followed — to tear Democrats from Wall Street, the onset of their breakup with Silicon Valley happened much more abruptly.
This decoupling reflects the tarnished reputations of once-gleaming companies like Facebook, Google, and Amazon, still widely trusted but increasingly damaged, especially on the left, by public furor over election interference, monopolistic practices, and labor policies. It reflects, too, a more populist Democratic Party, which sees tech monopolies not as the swaggering future of corporate America but as a target for a revived antitrust movement. (“The fact that within the first five minutes of the first debate of the entire season, antitrust came up — how far are we from 2008?” asks Facebook co-founder and Obama 2008 “online organizing guru” Chris Hughes, who in May called for the company’s dismantling and labeled his Harvard roommate Zuckerberg’s power “unprecedented and un-American.”)
Partly it reflects the rise of the alt-right and increasingly open libertarian sympathies among leaders in Silicon Valley, along with the growing divide between some of those bosses and the rank and file, who are much less comfortable with Trump. (Elizabeth Warren was the biggest recipient of Google-employee campaign donations over the first half of 2019, even as she threatened to separate the company’s central businesses.)
But this isn’t just an ideological story or an inevitable one. Some blame for the breakup lies with the calculated maneuvers of just a few politicians on the rise and the blunders of a few big-money techies looking to play politics, with neither party willing to pay the deference the other felt was required. Democrats might’ve been a lot more willing to forgive the sins of Big Tech if its executives had performed even the smallest show of political humility or contrition in their responses to political scandals or in their outreach to candidates.
Or if some hadn’t been so shameless in their courting of Trump or their ham-fisted playacting of distance from Democrats in response to Republican accusations of bias — one leading industry group presented its Internet Freedom Award to Ivanka Trump in May, for instance. Complaining about tech leaders, the chair of one state Democratic Party told me that at this point, “the only way for them to redeem themselves is to write big checks, which they’re not doing.”
Illustration: Ward Sutton
If the question about banks befuddled Zuckerberg at the town hall, it would’ve made sense to Warren, who, in private meetings on Capitol Hill as early as mid-2017, was explicitly comparing the country’s tech leviathans to the pre-regulation giants of high finance because of their information advantages over consumers and their D.C. influence. Over the next two years, she effectively made it politically impossible for her serious rivals to offer Silicon Valley outright praise. BREAK UP BIG TECH read a billboard her campaign put up outside San Francisco’s main Caltrain station this spring.
Last September, Bernie Sanders re-branded legislation from Bay Area congressman Ro Khanna as the “Stop Bad Employers by Zeroing Out Subsidies Act” (Stop BEZOS), aiming to pressure Amazon into increasing workers’ wages. Sensing trouble, Amazon calculated it would be worth back-channeling with Sanders’s staff and invited the Vermont senator on a warehouse tour even as he ratcheted up public pressure. Sanders pushed on, and in October Amazon announced a $15 minimum wage for its U.S. workers. Sanders got no heads-up, but the left felt empowered. The company was reluctant to play nice again if it meant another public capitulation. The next month, when Amazon announced its deal to place a second headquarters in Long Island City, it did no concerted outreach to progressive activists, figuring it already had sufficient support from New York’s Democratic mayor and governor, the latter having jokingly offered to change his name to “Amazon Cuomo.” As opposition to the deal soon mounted, both Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio failed to get Bezos on the phone, instead only occasionally connecting with Jay Carney, the former Obama White House press secretary now running Amazon’s comms and policy arms. Amazon had enough of the leftward pressure and pulled out in February.
“Amazon came, Amazon left,” Warren crowed a few weeks later in Long Island City, announcing a new plan to “break up” the biggest tech firms (which would actually have regulators undo a series of tech mergers). “You know, that is the problem in America today — we have these giant tech companies that think they rule the Earth. They think they can come to towns, cities, and states and bully everyone into doing what they want.”
Not everyone in the party saw it like that. Among the 2020 candidates, none have tried having it both ways on tech more than Pete Buttigieg, the contender who could fit most seamlessly into Sand Hill Road tomorrow if he wanted to. Buttigieg was Facebook’s 287th user as an undergrad, knew Zuckerberg at Harvard, and hosted him in South Bend in 2017. He has criticized Google and appeared with striking Uber and Lyft drivers, but he has also raised money from or staged fund-raisers hosted by Netflix chief Reed Hastings; former Facebook exec Chris Cox; Uber’s Chelsea Kohler; Google’s Scott Kohler, John Flippen, Jacob Helberg, and Clay Bavor; Nest’s Matt Rogers; Quora’s Charlie Cheever; and Groupon’s Andrew Mason. Buttigieg also tapped a Square and Kleiner Perkins alum, Swati Mylavarapu, to run his finance operation and a former Google big shot, Sonal Shah, to lead his policy shop.
But even Buttigieg’s growing Silicon Valley financial network pales in comparison to the operations assembled for candidates in recent election cycles after the door between Big Tech and campaigns burst wide open with Obama in 2008 and the industry cemented its role alongside Hollywood and Wall Street as one of the party’s biggest backers. One reason for this is that the field of candidates is so big that investors are still hedging their bets, giving to Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, and others. Yet none of the candidates has publicly visited any of the tech behemoths in person, unlike in previous election cycles, when a Google stop was part of the campaign circuit for aspirants aiming to prove their savvy.
The general cooling has shown up in more conspicuous places as well. Whereas tech giants co-sponsored many primary debates in recent election cycles — Facebook hosted two Democratic and two Republican debates in the 2016 race, while Twitter and YouTube each sponsored a Democratic one — this spring the companies made it clear to the debates’ organizers that they would no longer participate. Onstage at the first debate in June, Booker was pushed to name specific companies when discussing the dangers of corporate consolidation, and he responded with a juxtaposition that would have been unthinkable a few years earlier. “I will single out companies like Halliburton or Amazon that pay nothing in taxes,” Booker said. No one batted an eye at the comparison of Amazon (which had hosted a big presidential address from Obama in his second term) to Dick Cheney’s old company, and the moderators moved on.
Tech’s battered image goes only so far in explaining the Democratic Party’s retreat. Tech overreach may have been just as important — Silicon Valley billionaires’ being unwilling or unable to play nice with political veterans and what the tech crowd saw as their old, fusty rules when they did choose to get involved.
LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, for one, let the Democratic Establishment know he meant to innovate them into the future over the weekend of Trump’s inauguration. Hoffman — who’d advised Obama and Clinton, then finished Election Night 2016 by watching The West Wing’spilot — stood alongside Zynga founder Mark Pincus at a secluded gathering of party donors in southern Florida and pitched them on a platform that would empower voters to pick issues to pressure Congress about. That project was greeted with groans when shared more widely, like many “disruptive” initiatives brought to Democrats in the aftermath of that humbling election. “It’s hubris that these folks believe they can do anything and everything better than anyone else and that if you just give them some time and money they’ll be able to fix it,” one senior party leader told me.
This dynamic was well illustrated by WeWork co-founder Adam Neumann, who’d never demonstrated much interest in domestic politics before. (Hoffman, at least, has been a big Democratic supporter for years.) The Israeli-born businessman, who in the past few weeks has reportedly decided to cut the valuation of his company precipitously in advance of an IPO, recently talked with a political pro about the feasibility of changing the laws so people not born in the U.S. could run for president. He was told that this would be quite an undertaking and that it was unrealistic—it would require a change to the Constitution. Neumann was then asked if he might consider running for governor or mayor in New York. According to someone familiar with the conversation, he replied, “Once you’ve reached my level of success, only president will do.” (A person close to Neumann says he was kidding about the requirements for running for office and denied he said that line.)
Dustin Moskovitz, perhaps the least-known Facebook co-founder, rose from obscurity in late 2016 to become the Democrats’ newest megadonor, one multimillion-dollar check for liberal groups at a time. Others, such as Hoffman’s LinkedIn co-founder Allen Blue, launched groups like DigiDems, promising to help the party’s political-technology efforts. It looked at first like a new era for Democrats’ relationships with their Silicon Valley backers, and the party’s central infrastructure responded in kind: The DNC began its internal data overhaul by hiring Raffi Krikorian, an Uber and Twitter engineering alum.
It took only months for cracks to show. In Krikorian’s first speech to DNC partners, in October 2017 in Las Vegas, the political novice sought to rouse the crowd by lauding the democratization of data and calling for access to the party’s voter files to be granted to all who consider themselves Democrats — not realizing this would endanger a major revenue stream for state Democratic Party organizations and potentially endanger incumbent lawmakers.
Meanwhile, Hoffman had partnered with a Democratic operative named Dmitri Mehlhorn and formed an all-purpose political shop called Investing in US, which sent Hoffman’s considerable money to a huge range of new initiatives, including widely heralded resistance-era groups like Run for Something and Indivisible. But in Virginia, the site of the group’s first major electoral investments, party officials who had originally been thrilled with Hoffman’s efforts and involvement began to chafe. They believed Mehlhorn was pressuring them to use political tools from Higher Ground Labs, one of the Investing in US beneficiaries. At the same time, he was funding an outside group, WinVirginia, rather than directly supporting local candidates in need of financial help. This group plowed money into conservative legislative districts even as Virginia’s Democratic leaders pleaded with it — unsuccessfully — to spend in more moderate areas they were already targeting. At one point, WinVirginia asked for access to the state party’s voter-data file only to be rejected by fed-up officials. Mehlhorn didn’t help matters in their eyes when he took what local pols saw as a victory lap that fall, claiming credit for Democrats’ widespread wins.
But by then, his reaction wasn’t much of a surprise to D.C. Democrats. When Mehlhorn arrived for a meeting with a Democratic super-PAC about potential collaborations on projects, including Alabama’s 2017 Senate race, things quickly went off the rails. Operatives there said they found him nervous to the point of paranoia when it came to security threats. As he spoke to them, at first he occasionally skipped words and wrote them down on a whiteboard instead, as if to avoid being recorded. Then, as the political team members explained their work to him, he asked how in-depth their message testing was. One of the operatives responded that it had matched the population segments they were targeting. “Okay,” said Mehlhorn. “Well, I think of the prehistoric megafauna.” The political veterans in the room were confused, so Mehlhorn continued. “White college women on campuses in Florida—they all voted for Trump because they have guns in their purses because they think black athletes are going to rape them.”
The operative froze, stunned. Mehlhorn appeared to be asking them to target racist white college women worried that Democrats would take their guns. The group’s leader cut in: “Dmitri, two things we will never do — foment hate against persecuted groups and send the wrong election date to people.”
“Okay, well, agree on the first; agree to disagree on the second,” Mehlhorn replied, according to multiple participants in the meeting. (Mehlhorn says this recounting of the exchange is “flatly misleading”: “One participant made a remark about GOP dirty tricks such as mailers and robocalls articulating false election dates. In response, I made an unfunny joke, and the room laughed—not because it was funny but because it wasn’t. None of us suggested or even considered that idea as one our side would undertake.”)
The conversation continued, pivoting to Alabama. But first Mehlhorn wanted to know if the super-PAC had a SCIF (a “sensitive compartmented information facility”) in the office. When told no but that there was another conference room if the current one wasn’t good enough, they moved to the second space. There, he had the political team unplug all the electronics in the room, including the TV monitor, and asked his hosts to put their phones in pouches to block surveillance. (He didn’t seem to notice the Apple Watches on his counterparts’ wrists.) He then pitched them on using billboards to advertise out-of-state events to white supremacists on Election Day and on boosting a conservative third-party candidate. He left the office with no collaboration agreement, though the New York Times later reported that a $100,000 Hoffman donation did go to a group experimenting with Russian-inspired social-media tactics meant to tank the candidacy of Republican Roy Moore. Hoffman apologized, saying he’d been unaware of the project, and promised to track his political investments more closely.
After the midterms, Mehlhorn’s team prepared a 15-page slide presentation outlining its work, a copy of which New York obtained. It is called “The Promethean Project,” and the slides detail the breadth of the group’s investments, listing 30 organizations it had funded or worked with, divided into categories like “New, Innovative Technology Tools,” “Changing the Culture of Voting and Increasing Turnout,” and “Fueling Resistance Energy: Candidates and Volunteers.” Among them are well-known and emerging partners like MoveOn and BlackPAC; some were helping redefine the modern Democratic Party in the Trump era, but others, like MotiveAI, got into trouble during the midterms for their unconventional work. (MotiveAI was found to be tied to Facebook groups including one page called “The Keg Bros” that both attacked Trump donor Rebekah Mercer and wrote that Representative Tulsi Gabbard “makes us want to go Democrat,” labeling her a “certified C.W.I.L.F.,” a sexist acronym for “congresswoman I’d like to …”) The presentation says the experiments “communicated with” over 20 million voters in 53 House districts during the midterms.
But the deck offers no mention of the Hoffman-funded initiative causing the most agita in some D.C. circles. Before news broke of the unseemly electoral experiments Hoffman had paid for in Alabama, the team began telling allies about a $35 million project they called Alloy, an attempt to build a voter-data venture outside the DNC run by three former Obama aides: Mikey Dickerson, Haley Van Dyck, and former U.S. chief technology officer Todd Park. At first, party officials feared the undertaking would interfere with their own centralized efforts to reinvent the Democrats’ data program. More than once, they sat down with Hoffman’s team members to make the case that building a parallel voter file would lead to a logistical and political nightmare for Democratic groups and candidates. By mid-2019, it sounded to Democratic officials as though the plan had shifted slightly — it would now be more of a data warehouse for party-affiliated groups — and as the year progressed, Mehlhorn met often with party officials to keep them posted. At times, said people who’ve met with his team, he expressed exasperation about their animus toward Hoffman, and when asked why his group wouldn’t just invest in the party’s existing centralized data program, he said this outside work was more efficient and allowed his team to avoid difficult party officials and campaigns.
Leaders of top Democratic groups mused privately about no longer taking Hoffman’s money, but conversations between the sides continued and hope of a data collaboration persists, particularly among those who readily acknowledge the success of some of the groups he has funded. On June 25, the DNC received just its third check this year for the legal maximum, $865,000. It was from Hoffman. Within a month, he sent over 40 state Democratic parties $10,000 each. And in August, Democratic operatives started hearing about Mehlhorn’s next plans. Among the projects: researching various voter groups, including “softer” white nationalists.
Facebook’s entry into Democratic politics was considerably more cautious but perhaps no more self-aware. Mark Zuckerberg had first tried engaging a bit with politics by funding FWD.us, an immigration group, starting in 2013, but it was Sheryl Sandberg, a Treasury Department alum, who had first pushed the company to build up its presence in Washington. No one ever thought Zuckerberg would do much lobbying; he was too busy and preferred to limit his few interactions to heads of state. But eventually he came to see the use of a positive relationship with the White House, since his and Sandberg’s primary political concern was executive-branch audits or oversight. They maintained a solid working relationship with Obama, and Sandberg courted Hillary Clinton’s inner circle. Throughout 2016, Sandberg had the ears of both Clinton and her top aides, advising them on everything from tech policy to the candidate’s image.
Election Night upended this strategy, not only because of Facebook’s scant ties to Trump but also because its leaders suddenly found themselves in the middle of a historic political hurricane. Rattled, Zuckerberg insisted two days after the election that it was “a pretty crazy idea” that fake news shared on the platform had “influenced the election in any way.” But Obama, still the president, was watching from Washington, and he told his staff to make time for him to speak with Zuckerberg when they were both in Lima for a conference a week later. In Peru, Obama looked Zuckerberg in the eyes and told him, “It’s not crazy,” insisting the CEO treat fake news, disinformation, and Russia seriously. Taken aback, Zuckerberg insisted it was a complex problem but not a particularly widespread one.
Back in California, Zuckerberg stewed. He was shaken, questioning his once-strong relationship with the powerful and well-liked Obama but refusing to admit fault. One month into Trump’s presidency, he published a manifesto about Facebook’s role in the world that included nothing about election interference — probably the bare minimum many Democrats would have required to continue counting Facebook as an ally. By then, people close to Zuckerberg and Sandberg were convinced the pair were obsessed with not antagonizing Republicans in and around the new White House.
It had been taken as gospel in certain Facebook circles that Sandberg would’ve been in Clinton’s Cabinet, but by late 2017, she was facing considerable resistance from even her closest allies in Democratic politics. Shortly after Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar announced she’d be introducing legislation to make online advertising more transparent, for example, Sandberg called her. On that call, Sandberg asked that “issue ads,” as opposed to political-campaign ads, not be included and that Facebook found that nonnegotiable. Klobuchar, however, sternly told her that excluding issue ads would leave an unacceptable gap in the policy, making it a nonstarter. Facebook ultimately caved. The tide turned decisively against Sandberg early the next year when the Timesrevealed she’d asked staff to investigate George Soros after he made negative comments about Facebook. No rebuke was more stinging, though, than an indirect one from Michelle Obama: “It’s not always enough to lean in,” the former First Lady said in Brooklyn last December. “Because that shit doesn’t work all the time.”
For years, one of Zuckerberg’s informal rules was that Capitol Hill testimony was beneath him, so when he arrived in Washington to speak with lawmakers in April 2018 and called social-media regulation “inevitable,” those close to him viewed it as a significant double concession. Facebook leaders and their allies classified Zuckerberg’s two days in the spotlight as successful, largely thanks to older senators’ out-of-touch questions on day one, which — they felt — made Washington look behind the times and thus made Zuckerberg and Facebook appear sleek.
Even so, Zuckerberg couldn’t tolerate the hostility. During the first break in questioning on his second day of testimony in D.C., he sidled up to the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s then-chairman, Oregon Republican Greg Walden. He was surprised by how harsh the committee’s Democrats were being toward him, he told Walden. Zuckerberg had expected the Democrats to be relatively friendly, but now he was objecting to the opening remarks from New Jersey’s Frank Pallone, the committee’s top Democrat, who called Facebook “just the latest in a never-ending string of companies that vacuum up our data but fail to keep it safe” and made the case for stricter regulation. Zuckerberg’s admission was a remarkable one to make so casually to any lawmaker, let alone a Republican, and Zuckerberg didn’t share his concern with any of the committee’s 24 Democrats.
In the ensuing months, Facebook’s leaders thought they were smoothing relationships with the left by acknowledging some of their structural problems. A few weeks after Zuckerberg’s testimony, the company hired an ACLU veteran to audit the harm it had caused minorities, including by letting advertisers find ways to target users by race. However, Democrats believed the company was doing too much to appease conservatives, too: Facebook had simultaneously tapped former Republican Arizona senator Jon Kyl to review accusations of internal anti-conservative biases. Then, in September, Facebook’s top D.C. official, Joel Kaplan, a George W. Bush White House alum, was spotted at the Senate hearings for his friend Brett Kavanaugh — who’d been guided through the Supreme Court nomination process by Kyl, who then, in turn, voted for Kavanaugh upon returning to the Senate temporarily after John McCain’s death. This March, a Washington Postop-ed from Zuckerberg proposing potential regulation guidelines was greeted with eye rolls from some Capitol Hill Democrats, and in April Oregon senator Ron Wyden tried persuading regulators to make Zuckerberg personally liable for Facebook’s privacy violations.
Things reached a breaking point in late May, when Trump allies started sharing a distorted video of Nancy Pelosi and Facebook refused to take it down. Pelosi had been souring on Facebook for months, telling journalist Kara Swisher in April about her “questioning attitude” toward the company. No one from Facebook had called her to discuss those comments, and as fury now mounted in her caucus that the company wouldn’t budge on the video — and therefore continued to make money from it — Pelosi grew livid. Recognizing the peril of ending up on the House Speaker’s bad side, Zuckerberg — who has two ex–Pelosi aides on Facebook’s lobbying team — called her office to discuss the clip and disinformation more broadly. But Pelosi, fed up with him, didn’t pick up and refused to call back. In June, the House Judiciary Committee opened a probe into tech giants’ anti-competitive behavior, and Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, a close Pelosi ally who represents much of Silicon Valley, invited Roger McNamee, an early Zuckerberg adviser who has become one of his fiercest critics, to address interested lawmakers. About 30 House Democrats showed up to the dinner, which lasted around two and a half hours. “I’m not sure they yet recognize the gravity of (what’s happening),” says David Cicilline, the Rhode Island congressman who leads the House’s antitrust subcommittee. “The conduct of Facebook and the leadership of that company has been one of repeat offenders.”
Again and again, Washington Democrats were shocked that the company could be so blind to its own faults and so uninterested in doing penance. Weeks after the Pelosi-video debacle, Facebook representatives trekked back up Capitol Hill to explain the company’s new cryptocurrency plan, apparently unprepared, in Democrats’ eyes, for the skepticism they’d encounter. “Facebook is dangerous,” said Ohio senator Sherrod Brown to the Facebook official overseeing the project. “Now, Facebook might not intend to be dangerous, but surely they don’t respect the power of the technologies they’re playing with. Like a toddler who has gotten his hands on a book of matches, Facebook has burned down the house over and over and called every arson a learning experience … Facebook has demonstrated through scandal after scandal that it doesn’t deserve our trust. It should be treated like the profit-seeking corporation it is, just like any other company.”
Facebook, of course, isn’t just any other company, and Silicon Valley isn’t just any other industry. But the more leading Democratic senators treat them as such, the more Big Tech’s evolving role in politics seems poised to follow Wall Street’s from just a few years earlier — perhaps even with Silicon Valley’s leaders complaining all the while about having been forced to second-guess their support of Democrats. After all, even an Establishment Democrat like Joe Biden, devoted above all else to the principle of cooperation, has started looking askance at Big Tech. Shortly before Pelosi stopped taking Zuckerberg’s calls, Biden said breaking up Facebook is “something we should take a really hard look at.”
This spring, when Warren announced her proposal to break up companies like Facebook, an employee asked Zuckerberg about it: Was he concerned? There was already reason to believe Facebook was monitoring Warren closely — it had taken down her ads calling for its dissolution but restored them when people noticed, claiming the ads had violated company policy for depicting its logo.
I run Facebook, and she’s a presidential candidate calling to break Facebook up, Zuckerberg said onstage. Of course I’m concerned. But it hadn’t occurred to him that it might, at some point, have been worth at least trying to give Warren a call. She certainly wasn’t likely to call him anytime soon.
*This article appears in the September 16, 2019, issue of New York Magazine. Subscribe Now!