An increase in the number of earthquakes under a volcano near Alaska’s largest city this year has geologists paying attention.
Mount Spurr, about 80 miles (129 kilometers) northwest of Anchorage, last erupted in 1992, spewing an ash cloud nearly 12 miles (19 kilometers) into the air, prompting flights to be canceled and people to don masks. Another eruption at the 11,100-foot (3,383-meter) stratovolcano could be severely disruptive to the city, according to the Alaska Volcano Observatory.
The observatory raised its alert status for Mount Spurr in October — from green to yellow — when the increase in seismic activity became pronounced and a ground deformation was spotted in satellite data. Observatory scientist David Fee said Friday there have been about 1,500 small earthquake below the volcano this year, compared to about 100 in a normal year.
While that might seem like a lot, it’s “not an enormous amount,” Fee said. It could be a precursor to an eruption — or not. Similar seismic unrest occurred from 2004 to 2006 before subsiding without an eruption.
“We don’t see any significant change in our data that would tell us that an eruption is imminent,” Fee said. “Things have been kind of this low-level unrest for a while now and we’re, of course, watching it very closely to detect any changes and what that might mean.”
Scientists are monitoring seismic stations, global satellite data and a webcam for additional changes that would signal an impending eruption. If magma is moving closer to the surface, there would be an increase in earthquakes, ground deformations, the creation of a summit lake or fumaroles, which are vents that open in the surface to vent gas and vapors.
The volcano last erupted in 1992 from the Crater Peak flank vent, located about 2 miles (3 kilometers) south of the summit. The eruption dropped about a quarter-inch of ash in Anchorage that year, prompting residents to stay inside or to go out donning masks, and the cloud drifted as far as Greenland.
A similar eruption from the same vent happened in 1953. The last known eruption from the summit was more than 5,000 years ago.
Volcanic ash is angular and sharp and has been used as an industrial abrasive. The powdered rock can cause a jet engine to shut down, which prompted Anchorage and other nearby airports to close during the 1992 eruption.
Closing airports is always an inconvenience in a state with few roads, but can be more than just inconvenient. Business would also be impacted since the Anchorage airport today is among the world’s busiest cargo hubs with Memphis, Hong Kong and Shanghai, mainly because of Alaska’s proximity to Asia.
Mount Spurr, located on the Volcanic Ring of Fire, is one of 53 volcanoes in Alaska that have been active within the last 250 years.
Beach-side restaurant announces indefinite closure after growing threat causes permanent damage: ‘It’s a kick in the gut’
A beloved waterfront restaurant in Bradenton, Florida, has permanently closed its doors after sustaining severe damage from back-to-back hurricanes, according to the Herald-Tribune.
What happened?
Caddy’s Bradenton Riverwalk, known for its white-sand beach and stunning views of the Manatee River, suffered catastrophic damage during Hurricane Milton, including a collapsed tiki hut that covered one of its two bars.
“It’s a kick in the gut having two storms back-to-back,” Caddy’s CEO Randy Esponda told Fox Weather. “We’re resilient and happy as can be that the building is intact.”
While other Tampa Bay area Caddy’s locations are temporarily closed for repairs, the Bradenton location’s closure is permanent, according to the restaurant’s website.
Why are restaurant closures concerning?
The permanent shutdown of this popular gathering spot reflects a troubling pattern of how stronger storms are affecting our coastal communities and local economies.
While extreme weather events have always happened, scientists have found that warming temperatures are making hurricanes more intense and destructive. These storms pose increasing challenges for waterfront businesses, which often serve as economic anchors for their communities.
Watch now: How easy is it really to charge an EV?
Caddy’s wasn’t just a restaurant. It was a beloved local destination that employed dozens of people and created cherished memories for countless families since opening on St. Patrick’s Day in 2017.
What’s being done to protect coastal businesses?
Many coastal communities are taking proactive steps to help waterfront businesses become more resilient.
Some cities are updating building codes to require stronger construction materials and better storm protection, while others are offering grants to help businesses install flood barriers and hurricane-resistant windows. Business owners can also work with local climate resilience experts to develop action plans.
If you’re spending Christmas with a billionaire, you might expect an extravagant gift or two underneath the tree, and despite Warren Buffett’s reputation for living a frugal lifestyle, his family did grow accustomed to being gifted piles of cash for the holidays.
However, when the Oracle of Omaha found out how his family were behaving after receiving their gifts, he changed tack—ensuring that his wealth wasn’t just a present for Christmas, it was for life.
Buffett’s former daughter-in-law Mary Buffett—who was married to the Berkshire Hathaway CEO’s son Peter—recounted that she was initially gifted $10,000 in hundred-dollar bills.
“As soon as we got home, we’d spend it, whoo!” Mary added in an interview with ThinkAdvisor in 2019.
However, if there’s one thing to know about the 94-year-old worth $147 billion, it’s to invest in the long game instead of splashing cash in the short term.
“Then, one Christmas, there was an envelope with a letter from him. Instead of cash, he’d given us $10,000 worth of shares in a company he’d recently bought, a trust Coca-Cola had.
“He said to either cash them in or keep them. I thought: ‘Well, [the stock] is worth more than $10,000.’ So I kept it, and it kept going up,” Mary added.
From that year on, Buffett continued to gift his family stock, including shares in the bank Wells Fargo.
Mary added that she would continue to buy shares in whatever company her former father-in-law had gifted her because she “knew it was going to go up.”
But what do you gift the man who can buy virtually whatever he wants and yet sticks with the products he knows and likes?
Despite his wealth, Buffett, for example, is known to drive a 10-year-old Cadillac with hail damage and still lives in the same home he bought in the late 1950s.
“The first year we were married, I realized: ‘Warren is very rich. Therefore, he doesn’t want anything,’” Mary, who was married to Buffett’s son for over a decade, added. “I didn’t know what to get him, so I put together our music company’s balance sheet to show him that we were making money.”
Mary, an author and personal finance expert herself, said she never presented the company’s finances to Buffett because she wanted his investment.
Instead: “I just wanted to show him: ‘Look, we’re doing good.’”
Mary added that, in spending more time with Buffett, she understood his thinking and that an insight into her business’s finances would be of interest to him.
Frugal and generous
Buffett has earned himself something of a reputation for his frugal nature.
That being said, Buffett’s loved ones have been quick to defend him from implications that he might not be generous with his wealth.
Speaking to Business Insider in 2017, Buffett’s daughter, Susie, said that just because her father isn’t leaving his vast sums to her directly, it doesn’t mean he is not a kind and giving parent.
“I actually agree with his philosophy of not dumping a bunch of money on your kids. And, by the way, my dad gets a bad rap for that,” she said. “He has been much more generous than people are aware. I feel extremely grateful to have the parents I had and for what they’ve given us.
“But certainly, he’s not going to leave us $50 billion and shouldn’t. It would be crazy to do anything like that.”
Indeed, even at Christmas, it seems the Oracle of Omaha’s family is never far from discussing sensible money management.
As Mary put it, when the family were together at Buffett’s Laguna Beach property for the festive season, “all the titans of industry would be there.”
She added: “We’d have lunches and dinners, and they’d all talk about companies. Investing was the only thing Warren ever talked about.”
Kirby Smart stood on stage bathed in glory, while his players celebrated an SEC championship, but even in this moment marked for celebration, Georgia’s coach set his sights on a new adversary.
When Smart gets on a warpath, he spares no one.
Even if that someone is college sports’ most powerful figure, the SEC’s commissioner, standing just a few feet away from Smart.
Smart roasted Greg Sankey after Georgia’s 22-19 overtime win Saturday against Texas in the SEC championship game.
Georgia’s victory unlocked a first-round playoff bye. When ESPN’s Laura Rutledge asked Smart during an on-field interview what that bye means, Smart sharpened his tongue.
“It means rest for a team that Greg Sankey and his staff sent on the road, all year long. We get to take a little bit of a break and get ready for the College Football Playoff,” Smart said. “This team needs some rest.”
Georgia fans cheered Smart’s acerbic jab at the SEC’s boss, while a grim-faced Sankey listened.
Fun though it might be to come after “the man,” when you unpack Smart’s comment, you realize how zany it sounds.
Georgia played exactly four true road games all season. One of those came against Kentucky, the SEC’s second-worst team.
The Bulldogs also played neutral-site games against Clemson and Florida, but neither Sankey nor his staff determined the location of those games.
Why Kirby Smart came after SEC’s Greg Sankey
So, what’s Smart miffed about? Probably, that Georgia drew road games against Texas, Alabama and Mississippi, all of which are ranked in the top 15 of the latest CFP rankings.
Three stiff road tests. Georgia lost two and won one.
Undeniably, Georgia’s schedule qualifies as one of the nation’s toughest, but it compares to the schedules faced by Florida, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Mississippi State, LSU and Vanderbilt.
Want to compete in the SEC? That means playing some tough games.
Anyway, Smart should thank Sankey instead of complaining.
Thanks to Georgia’s SEC schedule draw, no team will enter the playoff more battle-tested than Smart’s Bulldogs.
Also, as Smart well knows, road-home sites will flip next season, so Georgia will host Alabama, Texas and Ole Miss in 2025, when it plays just three true SEC road games, one against Tennessee and two against conference bottom dwellers Mississippi State and Auburn.
Think Smart will complain about that?
Kirby Smart sets up a new villain for Georgia to prove wrong
Smart, a motivational maestro, excels at creating straw men and rallying the Bulldogs to unite to take them down. Remember when Georgia’s Nolan Smith said the 2022 Bulldogs became fueled by experts projecting they’d go 7-5? Yeah, nobody sane said or thought Georgia would finish 7-5.
Sankey being cast as Georgia’s nemesis becomes the new “everyone thought we’d go 7-5!”
While playing the schedule the SEC handed down, Georgia built persistence and a healthy résumé. The Bulldogs own four wins against playoff-bound teams, more than any team under CFP consideration.
This won’t go down as Smart’s best team. Inconsistency became the theme of Georgia’s regular season. But, say this for these Bulldogs: They don’t go quietly into the night, even when they’re outplayed for most of the game – as they were Saturday, and as they were last week in an eight-overtime win against Georgia Tech.
Georgia rallied in the SEC championship game behind backup quarterback Gunner Stockton after Carson Beck exited with a first-half injury.
“We never panic,” Georgia running back Trevor Etienne said. “I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. It turns out being good for us. No matter what the situation is, no matter what happens, I believe in us.”
Georgia’s victory list includes a one-point escape against Kentucky, plus two overtime triumphs.
“Let’s find a way,” Etienne said of Georgia’s mentality. “That’s one of the best things about this team.”
Yes, indeed it is.
A lot of mental fortitude can be found within Georgia. It’s almost as if the Bulldogs were forged in the fires of playing difficult SEC opponents on the road.
“I’ve had more physically tough (teams, and) I’ve had more physically talented,” Smart said, “but I don’t know that I’ve ever had a more mentally tough team.
“They just keep coming and keep coming, and they never say die.”
Thanks a lot, Sankey, for preparing Georgia for the playoff’s rigors so darn well.
After Smart landed his postgame dagger at the commissioner, Sankey wrapped his arm around the Georgia coach later during the celebration and engaged him in conversation.
Only those two could tell you what was said in that moment, but if I could fill in the speech bubble, it would go like this: “Kirby, you’re welcome.”
President-elect Donald Trump has long been associated with wealth. Trump, as his supporters like to say, was famously a businessman before he became president — or the host of a reality TV show. Even a young Barack Obama mentioned him as the epitome of success that Americans craved.
While some have questioned how successfully he ran his real-estate empire there is no arguing that he is now very rich. The net worth of the president-elect sits at $6.1 billion, according to Forbes’ estimates as of December 6.
As Trump prepares for a second term as president, it looks as if like attracts like: He counts several billionaires among his advisors and cabinet nominees.
Trump’s first-term cabinet was the wealthiest in modern times and included several multimillionaires among its ranks, including centimillionaires Wilbur Ross and Steve Mnuchin. Betsy DeVos, his former Secretary of Education, and her family were worth $2 billion when she held office, Forbes reported. More billionaires, including Diane Hendricks and Isaac Perlmutter, were among his early advisors.
There will be more clarity about the net worths of Trump’s current cabinet picks and his remaining nominees when they file public financial disclosures due soon after their nominations become official.
These disclosures will also bring to light any conflicts of interest, which often result in large divestments. For example, in 2017, Steven Mnuchin, then the Treasury secretary nominee, agreed to divest from 43 companies and investments to comply with those standards.
Virginia Canter, the chief ethics counsel at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said in some cases, nominees from the private equity or venture capital worlds may find it difficult to divest their assets in time.
Vincent Viola, a Florida billionaire and Trump’s pick to be Army secretary in 2017, withdrew his name from consideration after it became clear how difficult it would be to disentangle his financial holdings.
“You have to be prepared to divest of any asset,” Canter told Business Insider. “The president needs to be able to call on any member of their cabinet and all of their senior officials, right? And not have to worry about whether by calling them and asking for their advice on a particular matter” they would create a criminal conflict of interest.
Here are the billionaires advising President-elect Trump and how rich they are. The net worths are based on Forbes estimates as of December 6 unless otherwise stated.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk is by far the richest person to sign up to work for Trump, with a net worth of $355 billion.
Musk, the cohead of Trump’s government efficiency commission, will work with conservative entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy outside the federal government on the “Department of Government Efficiency.” The duo has said they want to cut more than $2 trillion from the federal budget.
For now, Musk, the world’s richest man, is not subject to divestment requirements as he’s outside the Trump administration. Ethics experts say it remains to be seen if DOGE will meet the definition of the Federal Advisory Committee Act. This 1970s-era law sought to bring order to the external and sometimes secretive panels that advised the federal government. If DOGE does, Musk and Ramaswamy may be required to file financial disclosure forms. Most critically, DOGE may also have to hold open meetings and make its records available to the public.
Musk’s approach to the federal government may mirror the one he takes at his companies, including Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI, which has made him very rich. His stakes in EV company Tesla — he owns about 13% of the trillion-dollar company — and rocket manufacturer SpaceX make up the bulk of his fortune.
Musk is known for his “hardcore” management style and has shown no problem conducting extensive layoffs, requiring his teams to work “long hours at a high intensity,” and relentlessly cutting corporate perks.
He spent about $119 million boosting Trump’s campaign — and his bet on the president-elect paid off. Since the election, Musk’s fortune has grown by about $90 billion. The success of his companies, particularly SpaceX, has been tied to the government before. The New York Times reported that Tesla and SpaceX signed nearly $3 billion of government contracts last year.
Warren Stephens
In this 2011 photo, investment banker Warren Stephens poses with former President George W. Bush at a golf tournament in Stephens’ native Little Rock.Danny Johnston/AP
Investor banker Warren Stephens is Trump’s nominee to be the next US ambassador to Britain.
Stephens, who is worth $3.4 billion, operates the Little Rock, Arkansas-based investment bank, Stephens Inc., which has been tied to his family since the 1930s. The firm was a major player in Walmart’s 1970 IPO and later helped finance the construction of the Superdome, home to the NFL’s New Orleans Saints.
The ambassador to the Court of St. James, as the post is formally known, is considered one of the poshest assignments in the foreign service. Presidents often name major donors to the role. Trump’s first ambassador to the UK was Woody Johnson, co-owner of the NFL’s New York Jets.
Stephens donated $3.5 million to pro-Trump causes, including $2 million to Make America Great Again Inc., the main super PAC for the former president.
Stephens hasn’t always been supportive of Trump. In 2016, he donated $2 million to a group trying to block him, The New York Times reported. Before Trump locked up the nomination, Stephens supported Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, former Vice President Mike Pence, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley.
“Over the last 38 years, while serving as the President, Chairman, and CEO of his company, Stephens Inc., Warren has built a wonderful financial services firm, while selflessly giving back to his community as a philanthropist,” Trump wrote in his statement announcing Stephens’ nomination.
Jared Isaacman
Trump has chosen Jared Isacman, who is worth $1.8 billion, to head up NASA.
A high school dropout, Isaacman made his money through two companies: payment processing firm Shift4, which is publicly traded, and aviation venture Draken International, which he sold to Blackstone.
Isaacman would bring real space experience to his role as NASA administrator.
He’s been to space twice on SpaceX’s civilian flights that he funded and he conducted the first-ever commercial spacewalk in September.
Isaacman said that leading NASA would be “the honor of a lifetime.”
Howard Lutnick
Howard Lutnick’s net worth is thanks to his decadeslong position as CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald.ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images
Trump’s pick for Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick, is worth more than $1.5 billion thanks to his decades on Wall Street. He’s been CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, a financial services firm, since 1991 and of its spinoff brokerage firm, BGC Partners, since its formation. Cantor Fitzgerald’s deals include Johnson & Johnson’s $1.9 billion acquisition of Ambrx.
In addition to his work at Cantor Fitzgerald, Lutnick is chairman of the Newmark Group, a roughly $2.6 billion commercial real estate giant.
Trump said that Lutnick would be his point person on trade, even though the US Trade representative, a Cabinet-level post, typically fills that role. If confirmed, Lutnick would oversee 13 agencies, including the Census Bureau and the Patent and Trademark Office. During Trump’s first term, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, another former banker, was central to the White House’s trade war with China.
Vivek Ramaswamy
Vivek Ramaswamy was named the cohead of the Department of Government Efficiency, alongside Elon Musk.Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Musk will co-lead the DOGE with fellow billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy.
Ramaswamy, who made his fortune in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry, is worth $1.1 billion.
He founded Roivant Sciences, a drug company that went public in 2021. The company has a market cap of nearly $9 billion, and Ramaswamy, who was the company’s CEO before stepping down in 2021 to focus on politics, owns about 10% of its outstanding shares.
In 2022, Ramaswamy cofounded Strive Asset Management, an investment company that takes a non-ESG approach to money management. The company counts Vice President-elect JD Vance, who attended law school with Ramaswamy, as an investor.
Like Vance and Trump, Ramaswamy built his political reputation on the foundation of his business experience. Ramaswamy was harshly critical of corporate ESG and DEI initiatives, which he railed against in his 2021 best-selling book “Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate America’s Social Justice Scam.”
During the 2024 Republican presidential primaries, Ramaswamy stood out from the rest of the field by just how much he embraced Trump — a sign of loyalty that he quickly noticed. Despite his lack of political experience, Ramaswamy repeatedly qualified for debates while other more conventional picks struggled to meet the polling and donor thresholds. He dropped out of the field after finishing fourth in the Iowa Republican caucuses and quickly endorsed Trump.
During the summer, Ramaswamy bought a stake in BuzzFeed to remodel the online publication in his conservative image.
Steven Witkoff
Steven Witkoff will serve as Trump’s special Middle East envoy, as well as the cochair of his inaugural committee.
A real estate developer, Witkoff is worth at least $1 billion thanks to his stake in the development company the Witkoff Group, which is responsible for luxury condos, hotels, and office space across the country, and his personal portfolio of homes in New York City, the Hamptons, and Florida. He’s also partnered with Trump on the cryptocurrency project World Liberty Financial.
Witkoff, like many on this list and in the broader Trump cabinet, has no formal experience in his role. During Trump’s first term, the president-elect relied on Jared Kushner, his wealthy son-in-law, to play a similar role, which later resulted in the Abraham Accords, a series of deals to normalize relations between Israel and four Arab states.
Scott Bessent
Hedge fund manager Scott Bessent, Trump’s nominee for Treasury secretary, is likely a billionaire — though Forbes has not yet crowned him one.
A Wall Street veteran, Bessent has worked for George Soros twice and was behind two of the financier’s most lucrative bets, the shorting of the British pound and Japanese yen. In 2017, he launched his own firm, Key Square Capital, which has struggled to produce consistent returns.
While he has supported Democrats in the past, Bessent is now fully aligned with Trump. This election cycle, he donated $3 million to Trump-aligned PACs and Republican committees.
Bessent prevailed amid intense private jockeying to lead the Treasury Department, securing the role without Musk’s blessing, who had backed Lutnick instead. Markets reacted positively toBessent’s appointment, but Trump soon clarified that this more conventional pick would not limit his tariff commitment.
Linda McMahon
Linda McMahon is married to WWE billionaire Vincent McMahon.ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images
Linda McMahon, Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Education, is the cochair of his transition team and led the Small Business Administration during the president-elect’s first term.
According to multiple reports, McMahon hoped to be named Commerce Secretary, but that post fell to Lutnick after failing to get the Treasury Department role.
She doesn’t have much experience in education policy, but she has spent the past few years leading the America First Policy Institute, a think tank that many in Trump’s orbit flocked to after he lost the 2020 election.
When he announced her role, Trump pledged that McMahon would champion school choice, a long-sought-after conservative goal to allow public funds to cover the costs of sending children to private and charter schools. Some in the Republican Party have even argued for the dissolution of the Education Department entirely and ceding the policymaking power to state and local governments.
While not a billionaire in her own right, McMahon donated $15 million to Trump’s campaign and is married to Vincent McMahon, the former executive chairman of WWE-owner TKO Group Holdings, worth $3 billion.
The McMahons cofounded and ran WWE, and Linda served as CEO for over a decade. Vincent resigned from TKO’s board of directors earlier this year after a former employee filed a lawsuit accusing him of sexual misconduct.
President-elect Donald Trump announced Wednesday a new hire for the Department of Government Efficiency: William Joseph McGinley as the commission’s counsel.
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have begun sharing details about how DOGE will work, promising to staff their commission with “a lean team of small-government crusaders.” DOGE’s account on X, formerly known as Twitter, told those interested to send along their CV in a direct message. Various Silicon Valley leaders, including investor Marc Andreessen and Uber cofounder Travis Kalanick, have reportedly been involved with planning for the commission.
The DOGE co-heads have said they want to cut $2 trillion from the federal budget. In 2024, federal spending totaled $6.75 trillion, nine-tenths of which went to federal programs.
Representatives for Musk and Ramswamy did not respond to Business Insider’s request for comment.
Voters dejected by the presidential election results need to find a way to give back and remain involved, Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton said Saturday as they celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Clinton presidential library.
The former president urged audience members in a packed theater to remain engaged and find ways to communicate with those they disagree with despite a divisive political time. The two spoke about a month after former President Donald Trump’s win over Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential election.
“We’re just passing through, and we all need to just calm down and do something that builds people up instead of tears them down,” Bill Clinton said.
Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state who was defeated by Trump in the 2016 election, said she understands the next couple of years are going to be challenging for voters who don’t agree with the decisions being made.
“In addition to staying involved and staying aware, it’s important to find something that makes you feel good about the day because if you’re in a constant state of agitation about our political situation, it is really going to shorten your life,” she said.
The Clintons spoke during a panel discussion with journalist Laura Ling, who the former president helped free in 2009 when she was detained in North Korea with another journalist. The event was held as part of a weekend of activities marking the 20th anniversary of the Clinton Presidential Library’s opening in Little Rock. The library is preparing to undergo an update of its exhibits and an expansion that will include Hillary Clinton’s personal archives.
Hillary Clinton said part of the goal is to modernize the facility and expand it to make it a more open, inviting place for people for convene and make connections.
When asked about advice he would give for people disappointed by the election results, Bill Clinton said people need to continue working toward bringing people together and improving others’ lives.
“If that’s the way you keep score, then you ought to be trying to run up the score,” he said. “Not lamenting the fact that somebody else is winning a different game because they keep score a different way.”
“And in addition, figure out what we can do to win again,” Hillary Clinton added, eliciting cheers.
The program featured a panel discussion with cast members of the hit NBC show “The West Wing” and former Clinton White House staffers.
The weekend amounted to a reunion of former Clinton White House staffers, supporters and close friends, including former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe and adviser James Carville.
McAuliffe said he and Carville ate Friday at Doe’s Eat Place, a downtown restaurant that was popular with Clinton aides and reporters during Clinton’s 1992 White House run. He said he viewed the library and its planned expansion as important for the future.
“This is not only about the past, but it’s more importantly about the future,” McAuliffe said. “We just went through a very tough election, and people are all saying we’ve got to get back to the Clinton model.”
It was 24 years ago that baseball’s Winter Meetings, in this same location, produced one of the wildest free-agent runs in history.
Alex Rodriguez received a staggering 10-year, $252 million contract, twice as much as the biggest contract in sports history, and more than the total value of 18 MLB franchises.
Mike Hampton signed the richest pitching contract in history, an eight-year, $121 million deal with the Colorado Rockies. The Boston Red Sox signed Manny Ramirez to the second-largest contract in history with an eight-year, $160 million deal.
There was a record $739 million spent on 25 free agents at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas.
Now, nearly a quarter-century later, those meetings could look like a neighborhood bake sale with the amount of money that’s about to be distributed.
Juan Soto is on the verge of signing a monstrous deal that will certainly exceed a record $700 million – perhaps even reach $750 million – two officials with direct knowledge of negotiations told USA TODAY Sports. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly comment.
Soto’s deal will eclipse Shohei Ohtani’s 10-year, $700 million deal last winter with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and will pay Soto an average salary of at least $47 million a year for 14 or 15 years. And, oh yes, it will include opt-outs just in case it’s somehow undervalued in a few years.
The New York Mets remain the favorites, executives say, but officials caution that the Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox are all in the same $700+ million neighborhood. The deal certainly will be a blessing for teams with exorbitant contracts, suddenly making All-Star outfielder Fernando Tatis’ 14-year, $340 million deal look like a bargain if the San Diego Padres ever decide to move him.
Free-agent starters Corbin Burnes and Max Fried also are expected to receive deals exceeding $200 million at the meetings this week, and shortstop Willy Adames kicked off the meetings with a franchise-record seven-year, $182 million deal contract from the San Francisco Giants.
Baseball executives, scouts, managers, and agents are scheduled to descend upon Dallas on Sunday, and by the time they depart for their flights back home Wednesday afternoon, there could be nearly $1.5 billion spent on free agents.
Here at the five most intriguing free agents, top players who could be traded, and five teams to watch during the Winter Meetings:
Juan Soto, top free agents set to cash in
1. Juan Soto: The guy who turned down a 15-year, $440 million contract in 2022 will be laughing all the way to the bank. He made himself an extra $300 million by waiting. It took A-Rod nine years and a change of teams to win a World Series championship after his record contract. How long will it take for Soto to get that second ring – and will it be with the same team that signs him to this historic this contract?
2. Corbin Burnes and Max Fried: They haven’t thrown a pitch in more than two months, but their stocks have soared thanks to the contracts given to pitchers whose resumes pale in comparison. When Matthew Boyd receives a 2-year, $29 million contract without throwing more than 79 innings since 2019, when Luis Severino is getting $67 million over three years and Blake Snell is making an average annual salary of $36.4 million, Burnes and Fried should top $200 million. The San Francisco Giants, New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox all lurk. The only drama is whether Fried goes ahead and signs before Burnes, or lets Burnes set the bar. Fried priced himself out of Atlanta, but is expected to sign with the Yankees or Red Sox. If Soto goes to the Mets, Fried could find himself in a nice bidding war between the Red Sox and Yankees.
3. Alex Bregman: Teams everywhere are being linked to Bregman, but the truth is that the Astros badly want him back, and the feeling is mutual. The trouble is that they are about $50 million apart. The Astros have a six-year deal worth $156 million sitting on the table – $5 million more than third baseman Matt Chapman received from the Giants but $26 million less than Adames – and Bregman is seeking in excess of $200 million. The Astros are expected to enhance their offer, but will it be enough to convince Bregman to stay?
4. Teoscar Hernández: Did the Dodgers meet with Soto and let people believe they actually are pursuing him just to help them sign Blake Snell, another Scott Boras client? Did they let the Soto rumors fester just to up the pressure on a Hernández reunin? Or did they jump into the original bidding to drive up the Soto price tag for everyone else? The truth is that the Dodgers should re-sign Hernandez to a three-year contract, with perhaps a fourth-year option, for somewhere in the $65-80 million range. The two sides have been seriously engaged in negotiations this week, but caution there’s still a gap.
5. Pete Alonso: Alonso says he loves the Mets and the Mets say they love Alonso, but something seems off. The Mets tried to sign him to an extension – seven years and $158 million, according to the New York Post – but it was flatly rejected. There’s no sign that the two sides have since talked, leaving everyone to wonder whether David Stearns, Mets president of baseball operations, even wants Alonso. He could easily turn to Christian Walker, the three-time Gold Glove first baseman, who should come at less than half the cost of Alonso. Alonso could be a perfect fit for the Seattle Mariners.
MLB trade rumors surround top players
1. Garrett Crochet, White Sox: No player will command as much on the trade market than Crochet, the ace of the Chicago White Sox. They are asking for team’s top prospects, and no one blames them. He’s young (25), he’s cheap (projected to earn $2.9 million by MLB Trade Rumors) and he’s a stud, striking out 209 batters in 146 innings last season. The White Sox have had serious talks with the Philadelphia Phillies, but rejected the concept of Alec Bohm and outfielder Justin Crawford. The San Diego Padres would love him, and have dealt plenty of prospects in the past, but told the White Sox they are hanging onto catcher Ethan Salas and shortstop Leodalis De Vries. The Red Sox lurk. In the end, the White Sox will trade him to the team that gives them the most prized prospects, and hope they never again experience anything like their embarrassing 41-121 season.
2. Cody Bellinger: He may make too much money. No one is going to assume the entire $52.5 million left in Bellinger’s contract (if he opts back in for 2026 at $25 million). The Cubs would love to dump the contract, even for a lesser return, but they’re finding precious little interest. Still, there’s got to be a team out there that is willing to bite the bullet on the cash, and realize he’ll be a significant upgrade. We’re talking about you, Mariners and Yankees. He’ll definitely be moved, but it may not be until later this winter or spring.
3. Jordan Montgomery, Diamondbacks: When your boss calls you one of the worst decisions in his baseball career and is angry that you opted back into your contract at $22.5 million, you don’t need a therapist to know that you’re not wanted. The Diamondbacks are shopping him everywhere. They tried to get the Cubs interested in a swap for Bellinger. So far, they’re striking out, but considering the soaring price of pitching, and the brilliance he showed on the Texas Rangers’ World Series championship team, there’s a better shot of snow flurries in Phoenix next summer than Montgomery wearing a D-backs uniform.
4. Alec Bohm, Phillies: The Phillies realize they can’t run it back with the same offense again in 2025. It can be the most explosive in baseball, but as they’ve learned in the postseason, their lineup can also be awfully easy to navigate for opposing pitchers. Something has got to change, and Bohm easily has the most trade value among Nick Castellanos, Brandon Marsh and himself. If the Astros lose Alex Bregman in free agency, you can be assured that Phillies president Dave Dombrowski will be immediately on the phone offering Bohm for Astros reliever Ryan Pressly – who’s being extensively shopped.
5. Nolan Arenado, Cardinals: Let’s be honest, the Cardinals want him off the books and Arenado wants out of St. Louis if they’re not trying to win. He still has three years, $74 million left in his deal but if a team is willing to assume the entire contract, they’ll have to only send only a few Imo’s pizzas in return. Arenado has a full no-trade clause, but would be Ohtani’s personal driver if the Dodgers were willing to take him. The Red Sox could present a nice alternative, too. There are only a few suitors who have expressed the slightest of interest, but both sides know that if Arenado is still on the team when they report to Jupiter, Fla., the distractions of potential trade talks could be a nightmare for everyone.
Most intriguing teams at the Winter Meetings
New York Yankees: In case the Yankees are ready to drown their miseries if they don’t re-sign Soto, all they have to do is look at the Padres to give them a $700 million shot of confidence. The Padres had Soto the entire 2023 season. You know what happened? They missed the playoffs. They traded him to the Yankees in the offseason, and they got better. The Yankees, if they don’t land Soto, can easily sign free agent Christian Walker for first base, sign Bregman or trade for Arenado for third base, trade for Bellinger to play center, move Aaron Judge back to right field, and still sign a frontline starter. Losing out on Soto could turn out to be a blessing in disguise.
2. Boston Red Sox: They’ve talked a huge game all winter, and have been in strong pursuit of Soto. Yet, whether they land Soto or not, they can’t stop now. They have to sign Fried or Burnes, or even both. They could trade for Arenado too. The expectations are simply too high to sit back and tell everyone that they tried.
3. Baltimore Orioles: Yes, the days of losing 110 games a season are over. They’ve made the playoffs each of the past two seasons. But now much, much more is expected than just signing slugger Tyler O’Neill to a three-year, $49.5 million contract Saturday, especially with new ownership. The Orioles still have the best young players in the game, but if they’re not careful, that window will close in a hurry. Just ask the 2016 Cubs. If they don’t bring back Burnes, they better come up with a replacement. It’s also time to use those prized prospects as capital and Crochet should be in their sights.
4. San Diego Padres: The Padres, about to be hit with massive pay raises for Manny Machado, Tatis and Xander Bogaerts, could lose starters Dylan Cease and Michael King in free agency after the year. They need to win. And they need to win now. They’ve traded away a dozen prospects to become one of baseball’s most powerful teams, but painfully realize this could be their final year to compete for a title without taking a step back. They need at least one frontline starter, if not two starters, with Joe Musgrove out for the year and questions about how many starts Yu Darvish can make this season. Their dream scenario is landing Japanese sensation Roki Sasaki. He may be more essential to the Padres’ future than any team in baseball.
5.Atlanta: Come on, you know GM Alex Anthopoulos has some tricks up his sleeve after spending the first month creatively trimming about $38 million in payroll by trading Jorge Soler, letting catcher Travis d’Arnaud leave and restructuring two deals. They need at least one starting pitcher, if not two, with veteran starters Charlie Morton and Fried likely out the door. They also need a closer with Joe Jimenez expected to miss most of the season after undergoing knee surgery. They could also use a corner outfielder with Ronald Acuña expected to be out at least until late May. Keep an eye on Anthopoulos, who pulled off coups last winter by acquiring Chris Sale from the Red Sox and signing Reynaldo Lopez.
Jeff Bezos stepped down as CEO of Amazon over three years ago, but he’s still putting in the hours at the company to help it in the AI race.
Speaking at The New York Times’s DealBook conference on Wednesday, the billionaire said he’s still deeply involved and hasn’t fully left the company he founded 30 years ago.
“My heart is in Amazon, my curiosity is in Amazon, and my fears are there and my love is there,” Bezos said. “I’m never going to forget about Amazon. I’ll always be there to help, and right now, I’m putting a lot of time into it. I can help, and it’s super interesting, so why not?”
Bezos said that 95% of his time at Amazon is spent focusing on AI within the company, which he said is building 1,000 AI applications internally. One such application is a multimodal model that can process images, video, and text, The Information recently reported.
The company requires a significant amount of computing power to scale its AI ambitions, so it’s building a supercomputer using its own chips alongside Anthropic, the AI startup that it has invested $8 billion in, to give it an edge against its Big Tech rivals.
Bezos, who remains at Amazon as its executive chairman, also said one of his jobs is to ensure the success of its CEO, Andy Jassy, and the leadership team.
The world’s second-richest man said on an episode of the “Lex Fridman Podcast” last year that the main reason he left his role as the CEO of Amazon in 2021 was so he could focus his time on his rocket company, Blue Origin. At the DealBook Summit, Bezos said it was “not a very good business yet” but predicted it would eventually surpass Amazon and become “the best business” he’s been involved in.
Bezos also told the Dealbook Summit audience that he’s not worried about Donald Trump’s second term, saying he’s “actually very optimistic this time around.”
Bezos is not the only tech founder to return to a company after taking a step back. Google cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin both got back in the mix to work on AI initiatives after leaving their executive roles in 2019.
Their return to Google appeared to be sparked by the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in 2022, which led to Google’s management issuing a “code red,” The New York Times reported at the time. ChatGPT’s successful rollout caught Google off guard and triggered concerns about the future of its search engine, so its CEO, Sundar Pichai, turned to Page and Brin for help, according to The Times.
Amazon didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, made outside normal working hours.
On May 22, the 43rd Annual Kennedy Center Honors, which honors five people or groups for their contribution to American culture through the arts, took place. Choreographer and actress Debbie Allen, musician Joan Baez, violinist Midori, Dick Van Dyke, and Garth Brooks were selected to be honored in 2021.
To honor these incredible legends, Derek Hough, Vanessa Hudgens, Pentatonix, Gladys Knight, Emmylou Harris, Jimmie Allen, Yo-Yo Ma, and Kelly Clarkson took the stage for a ceremony that will be aired on Sunday, June 6th on CBS and will be available to stream on Paramount+.
Clarkson had the task of paying tribute to Garth Brooks, who she has known for a long time and has even had as a guest on her talk show a couple times in recent years. She performed his already emotional song, “The Dance,” but somehow took it to another level with her delivery.
Standing on the stage in Washington D.C., Clarkson’s voice quivered at times singing the song Brooks released over 30 years ago.
The Emmy-winning talk show host expressed to Brooks late last year that “The Dance” had been helping her get through her divorce.
“So I’m going through a divorce and there’s been like a lot of books and people always give you stuff to help, especially when you have kids and stuff,” she said at the time. “And there’s so much shame and guilt.”
The Kennedy Center Honors aired on CBS on Sunday night (June 6) and showed Clarkson’s entire performance of the legendary song. She started it off a cappella before her music director accompanied her on the piano. Cameras kept cutting to Brooks, who can be seen saying “That’s so great” during the performance.
At one point, Brooks began to cry and after Clarkson sang the final note, he jumped to his feet, took off his hat, and yelled, “Damn!”
An ecstatic Susan Boyle is joined by fellow Britain’s Got Talent star Jai McDowall in the first photos from inside the rehearsals for her upcoming UK tour.
The Scottish singer, 58, will hit the road for her Ten tour in 2020, playing in 15 cities.
She will be joined by McDowall, 33, who won the fifth series and signed a recording contract with Syco.
In images taken during their practice sessions, the pair smile at each other. Boyle wears a pink suit jacket and white blouse while McDowall opts for a blue collarless shirt.
She said: “I was looking forward to my tour, but getting into the studio and rehearsing and coming up with exciting new material and suggestions, I can’t wait to get back on that stage.
“I’m also looking forward to Jai joining as well. This will be an all-new show, like nothing you’ve seen me do before.”
McDowall said: “After a very successful first rehearsal with Susan I am beyond excited to start the tour it’s going to be incredible and the fans are in for a real treat, can’t wait to hit the road in March 2020.”
Boyle’s first tour in four years will start in Dundee on March 3.
Other stops include Nottingham, Bristol, Birmingham and Manchester, before the show wraps up in Boyle’s home city of Edinburgh on March 25.
Boyle released her latest album, entitled Ten, in May.
