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Welcome back to our Sunday edition, a roundup of some of our top stories. Business Insider's Mia de Graaf recently got the chance to sit down with Sen. Bernie Sanders to discuss the incoming administration. He talked about the common ground he sees with Elon Musk regarding government spending, and why he's in favor of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. shaking up the nutrition system.
On the agenda today:
- Meet the 45 rising venture-capitalist stars of 2024.
- Yeti's untold origin story includes a shocking murder in the Philippines.
- Hiring is up for almost everyone — except middle managers.
- Baby boomers got rich from skyrocketing home prices. Now they can't find homes to retire.
But first: Let's go shopping!
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Shop until you drop
The holiday shopping season is in full swing, but judging by the numbers, you might have already bought all the gifts you need.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday were monster days for retailers. And while some took the old-school approach of braving the crowds, online shopping was the real star.
Adobe's data showed $10.8 billion in Black Friday e-commerce sales, while Cyber Monday hit $13.3 billion, new records for both days.
TikTok Shop also did well, with over $100 million in single-day sales on Black Friday. Viewers had plenty to swipe through, as creators hosted more than 30,000 livestream sessions during the day.
It was a demonstration of the power influencers and affiliate marketers now hold in the retail industry, as they drove 20% of US e-commerce revenue on Monday.
The social platform's success shows shoppers have overcome the stigma of buying things, especially big-ticket items, from their phones. More than half of Cyber Monday's sales were done via mobile, according to Adobe.
Customers shelling out big during Cyber Week might come as a surprise to those seeing reports about consumers feeling the pinch of inflation.
But the economy's one constant during a volatile few years has been a resilient US consumer that hasn't slowed down spending. (And if you are hurting from inflation, what better time to shop than when the deals are the best?)
How some shoppers are paying for all those purchases could be an issue, though. Buy now, pay later options got plenty of play, which could spell trouble for users as those bills come due. That's been particularly tough for Gen Z, which is acquiring debt at a faster rate than any other age group.
VC's rising stars
BI asked readers and top venture capitalists to name the promising young VCs in their networks. This year's investors come from a wide array of backgrounds and a range of different roles.
The artificial-intelligence startup boom has created more opportunities than ever for early-career investors to shine. Many who made the list are making a name for themselves by betting on AI startups, but investors in healthcare, defense tech, and more, were also included.
Meet the 45 who made the list.
Yeti's stone-cold origin story
Brothers Roy and Ryan Seiders launched the wildly successful drink cooler brand Yeti — a business now worth $3.5 billion — out of their father's backyard.
But years ago, the shocking murder of their business partner triggered a succession battle that nearly stopped the company in its tracks.
It's a bad time to be a middle manager
Over the past two years, American businesses have been undergoing rapid corporate restructuring and waging war on middle managers.
The displaced managers who lost their jobs in the Great Flattening are facing a new horror: There just aren't enough supervisory jobs anymore. And for those who have swallowed their pride and applied to jobs lower on the corporate food chain, their overqualified experience has become a liability.
Why the Great Flattening is here to stay.
Baby boomers' retirement housing woes
Over the past decade, baby-boomer homeowners were big winners in the US housing market as home prices skyrocketed amid a shortage. Now, as the generation approaches 80, they're struggling to find homes to retire.
It's a problem they had a hand in making. Homeowners — disproportionately older homeowners — who oppose new and denser housing in their neighborhood are a major reason so many US communities are short on homes.
This week's quote:
"For a car from a company that had never produced a vehicle before this year, the SU7 simply shouldn't drive this well."
— Mark Andrews' review of the Xiaomi SU7, a Chinese EV that's a favorite of Ford's CEO.
More of this week's top reads:
- A health insurance CEO was murdered. The internet lashed out against insurers.
- Amazon plans to ramp up cloud work with consulting firms, according to an internal document.
- Citi promoted its largest class of managing directors under Jane Fraser. Check out the 344 names here.
- KPMG's AI chief explains how to make AI work for your business.
- I worked with Jeff Bezos for 15 years, and my biggest Amazon failure taught me important lessons.
- Marketing experts say Jaguar's rebrand is either 'bonkers' — or a genius disruption.
- Australia may hold the key to happier homebuying.
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Americans used to hate sharing their data. Then came Spotify Wrapped.
The Insider Today team: Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Grace Lett, editor, in Chicago. Amanda Yen, fellow, in New York. Lisa Ryan, executive editor, in New York.