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By Nader Ibrahim•
Before launching her business, Bill and Melinda French Gates offered their Gen Z daughter this piece of advice
Before launching her $8 million startup, Phoebe Gates turned to her billionaire founder parents for advice. After all, when your dad is the cofounder of Microsoft, he might know a thing or two about building a business.
The 23-year-old daughter of Bill and Melinda French Gates recalled the guidance they shared wasn’t about money. Instead, the thing that could make or break a product’s success, they advised, is your team.
“The people that you build with, who you’re at the office until 1 a.m. with—even, it comes down to the summer intern you have. The people that you choose to build with every single day, whether that’s your incredible co-founder, like I have Sophia—that’s what’s actually going to define, you know, whether the product succeeds,” Gates told Fortune in an episode of the Term Sheet podcast.
As she worked alongside her peers, that advice quickly proved true. Gates realized the importance of surrounding herself with like-minded people who shared her vision for Phia, the new fashion-tech startup she launched with her Stanford roommate Sophia Kianni.
Since its debut in April 2025, the AI-powered shopping assistant has attracted over 500,000 users and partnered with more than 5,000 brands.
“We are the women who use this product day in and day out. That’s why we wanted to bring people onto our cap table who truly understand how shopping needs to adapt and where it’s headed,” she said.
It’s no doubt when building out the team of her app and mobile browser extension that its prominent backers are what unlocked the door to such success.
Fortune exclusively learned that the product’s $8 million in seed funding is led by Kleiner Perkins, with high-profile investors including Hailey Bieber, Kris Jenner, Sheryl Sandberg, Spanx founder Sara Blakely, Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin, and eBay.
“It was foundational for us not only to have women on our cap table but especially people who deeply understood the problem,” she added.
Melinda French Gates draws the line at writing a check for a start-up
But despite Gates’ parents opening up the door for a substantial rolodex of billionaire contacts, her mother Melinda, who has an estimated $29 billion of net worth, draws the line at career guidance when it comes writing a check.
“I have a daughter who just started a business this year,” the billionaire philanthropist and ex-wife of Bill Gates recently said this June at the Power of Women’s Sports Summit presented by E.l.f. Beauty. “She got capitalized not because of my contacts, not because of me. I wouldn’t put money into it.”
The reason? Growth. If this is a “real business,” she said, then others need to be willing to back it. And more importantly, her daughter should learn how to navigate the sting of rejection if it doesn’t get that funding. “That’s what I told her,” French Gates added. “She’s growing from this.”
Her ex-husband has echoed a similar sentiment; the cofounder has previously said that his children will inherit “less than 1%” of his wealth when he eventually passes away, insisting they should make it into the world alone.
Fortune Global Forum returns Oct. 26–27, 2025 in Riyadh. CEOs and global leaders will gather for a dynamic, invitation-only event shaping the future of business. Apply for an invitation.
Is Elon Musk’s $1 Trillion Pay Deal Real? | Latest News in the Automotive Industry
Tesla shares jumped 6 percent on Monday after CEO Elon Musk disclosed that he had bought $1bn worth of the company’s stock. The move reinforces Musk’s push for greater control over Tesla and comes a week after the company’s board offered him a $1 trillion pay package over the next decade.
Musk’s stock purchase – his first open-market buy-up of shares since 2020 – comes at a critical time for Tesla, as it races to transform into an artificial intelligence and robotics firm whilst also grappling with falling sales of electric vehicles (EVs).
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But Musk’s pay packet has come in for intense criticism. Last weekend, Pope Leo decried the widening pay gap between corporate bosses such as Elon Musk – whose estimated wealth now stands at $367bn – and ordinary working people, which he said was a major factor in growing global unrest.
Why is Musk buying up Tesla shares?
On September 12, Musk, 54, purchased 2.57 million shares (which represents less than one percent of Tesla’s market capitalisation), paying between $372 and $397 per share as the price varied through the day, according to regulatory filings. He now owns almost 20 percent of Tesla, which seemingly pleases its investors.
Tesla’s share price rose to around $422 on Monday – still 12 percent lower than its all-time high of $479 (reached in December 2024). Following his recent move, Musk posted on X that the increase in Tesla’s value was “foretold in the prophecy”.
While Musk wasn’t an original founder of Tesla – he invested in the company one year after it was established – he became chairman in 2004. The South African entrepreneur has consistently demanded a bigger stake and more voting power at Tesla, having previously said he would prefer to build AI products and robots outside of Tesla if he cannot control 25 percent voting power in the firm.
Musk sold more than $20bn of Tesla’s stock (or 4.6 percent of its market cap) in 2022 to fund his acquisition of Twitter, now X, for $44bn. He also owns private holdings in SpaceX, Neuralink and The Boring Company.
Is Musk really being paid $1 trillion?
The Tesla CEO will have to meet certain performance-related criteria first. To unlock the full $1 trillion payout, Musk will have to raise the company’s valuation from roughly $1 trillion today to $8.5 trillion over the next 10 years. He will also have to sell one million autonomous taxis and one million robots and increase Tesla’s profits by more than 24 times what it earned last year.
Tesla currently operates a few dozen autonomous taxis in a limited area in the city where it is headquartered, Austin, Texas in the US. Known as “robotaxis“, they are self-driving vehicles but are accompanied by human “safety supervisors”, who can intervene if problems occur.
On the robotics side, the company unveiled its first humanoid robot – Optimus – in 2022. In 2024, Musk claimed that Tesla would deploy robots for “internal use [ie for use inside its own factories]” in 2025, and that it would have produced 5,000 units by then. Neither pledge has been met so far.
Musk also recently said that “80 percent of Tesla’s [future] value will be Optimus”.
How has Musk’s pay at Tesla risen over time?
After Musk joined Tesla in 2004, he took very little cash pay. Instead, he chose to be paid in equity. Then, in 2018, shareholders approved a landmark 10-year pay package for Musk – linked to various operational targets – estimated at $2.6bn.
As Tesla’s market value surged after the start of 2020 (when it was trading at just $29.50 a share), many of those pay objectives were met, and Musk received a large number of additional Tesla shares. Due to broad stock market gains since the COVID-19 pandemic, Musk’s earnings are estimated to have climbed by $40bn-$60bn.
Though Musk’s pay windfall at Tesla has attracted regulatory scrutiny for overcompensation, especially from Delaware’s Court of Chancery, most of the company’s shareholders have repeatedly ratified the CEO’s payment packages.
How do CEOs’ pay packets compare to those of average US workers?
Tesla doesn’t disclose non-executive salaries, so it is hard to say how Musk’s income compares to that of the average worker there.
However, corporate pay in the US has generally rallied in recent decades compared to that of workers. According to the Economic Policy Institute, average pay for CEOs at S&P 500 companies – the 500 biggest listed firms in the US – rose by almost 1,000 percent over the 50-year period leading up to 2024.
By contrast, a typical worker at an S&P 500 company has seen his or her pay packet rise by just 27 percent (adjusted for inflation) over the same period. Stated differently, the CEO-to-worker pay ratio has increased from 30:1 to 350:1 over the past five decades.
In an interview last week with Crux, a Catholic news website, Pope Leo singled out Elon Musk as an example of the kind of wealth he said was corroding “the value of human life, of the family, of the value of society”.
Asked about Tesla’s proposed $1 trillion pay packet, Leo responded: “What does that mean, and what’s that about? If [personal wealth accumulation] is the only thing that has any value any more, then we are in big trouble.”
Is Tesla in trouble?
Despite its recent uptick, so far this year, Tesla’s stock market performance has been among the worst of the “Magnificent 7” group of tech giants – which also includes Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft and Nvidia – having lost around 2 percent of its value this year so far.
Tesla’s most recent quarterly results showed profit losses amid falling demand for electric vehicles and increased import production costs associated with US President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs. Looking ahead, earnings look set to continue falling.
Sales of Tesla cars in the US will likely fall further in the last three months of 2025, as Trump has refused to extend a tax credit for EV purchases for US consumers after October. Up to now, the rebate has played a crucial role in making American EVs more affordable.
YouTube introduces new AI tool for Shorts that converts speech into songs using Google DeepMind’s Lyria 2 music model
YouTube has introduced a set of new artificial intelligence features for video production to better compete with rivals like TikTok in the short-form content platform market.
The new tools will initially be available in the US, the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. YouTube hinted at plans to expand its rollout to more markets soon.
The new features were revealed at the Made On YouTube event on Tuesday (September 16), where the platform also revealed that it has paid out $100 billion to creators, artists, and media companies over the past four years.
Google-owned YouTube also rolled out a Speech to Song tool that converts dialogue from existing videos into musical soundtracks using Google DeepMind’s Lyria 2 music model. This allows creators to remix memorable phrases or quotes into audio tracks for new content.
YouTube said in a blog post Tuesday (September 16): “As the world’s largest creative playground, YouTube is where trends are born and where you can draw inspiration from. Imagine hearing a line of dialogue that sparks an idea — a funny phrase, a memorable quote, or a one-of-a-kind sound—and you want to remix it into a new sound.
“With our new Speech to Song remixing tool, you’ll be able to do just that, quickly turning the dialogue from eligible videos into catchy soundtracks for your next Short.”
“With our new Speech to Song remixing tool, you’ll be able to do just that, quickly turning the dialogue from eligible videos into catchy soundtracks for your next Short.”
YouTube
Users can customize the musical style with options including “chill,” “danceable,” or “fun” while maintaining attribution to original creators. The tool specifically targets “Get Ready With Me” videos and similar content formats that drive engagement on the platform.
YouTube explained: “As always and across these features, we use SynthID watermarks and content labels to indicate that these creations were generated with AI.”
The new features also include the ability for users to edit YouTube Shorts with text prompts, banking on YouTube’s partnership with Google DeepMind’s Veo 3 video generation model. The technology produces 480p resolution content for mobile creation and viewing.
YouTube introduced Edit with AI, a feature that automatically assembles raw camera footage into initial video drafts. The tool selects highlights from camera roll content, adds music and transitions, and can generate voiceovers in English or Hindi that respond to video content.
“We’re experimenting now with Edit with AI on Shorts and in the YouTube Create app, and will expand the feature in the coming weeks in select markets.”
The platform also introduced additional capabilities currently in experimental phases, including motion transfer that applies movement patterns from one video to another, allowing creators to copy dance or sports moves from one subject to another.
“We’re experimenting now with Edit with AI on Shorts and in the YouTube Create app, and will expand the feature in the coming weeks in select markets.”
YouTube
Style transformation features will allow users to apply visual styles like pop art or origami to existing footage, while object insertion tools allow creators to add characters, props or effects through text descriptions.
The new features arrive as YouTube continues to integrate AI into its services. In 2023, YouTube partnered with Universal Music Group to develop AI music tools that will “include appropriate protections and unlock opportunities for music partners.”
Earlier this year, YouTube rolled out a feature that allows creators to instantaneously generate custom (and copyright-free) instrumental backing tracks through AI. The update to YouTube’s Creator Music marketplace enables video creators to produce AI-generated music via text prompts.
The update also comes as YouTube introduces new ways to support its creator economy. Less than a month ago, YouTube expanded its “Hype” feature to 39 countries, including the US, UK, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and India. The feature, announced last year, allows viewers to promote videos from creators with fewer than 500,000 subscribers by awarding points to help their videos land on leaderboards.
YouTube’s parent company Alphabet reported a 10.3% YoY increase in YouTube ad revenues in Q1 2025 to $8.93 billion. That growth was “driven by direct response advertising, followed by brand,” Alphabet and Google SVP and CFO Anat Ashkenazi said on the company’s earnings call.
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The Royals at Windsor welcome Trump and Melania
ReutersPresident Trump was greeted by the King and Queen as well as other senior royals at Windsor Castle.
It is his second state visit to the UK and is accompanied by the usual pomp and pageantry.
Ian Vogler/Daily Mirror/PA Wire
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Chris Jackson/Getty ImagesChallenging Client Situation
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Quiz on Proper Etiquette for U.K. State Visit as Trump Meets Prince Charles
One gesture brought the fury of the British tabloids against at least two overseas politicians after they met with the queen.
In 1984, it landed a Canadian provincial official, James Snow, on the front page of The Daily Mail, where he was described as “portly” and “graceless.”
In 1992, it put Prime Minister Paul Keating of Australia on the front page of The Sun, alongside the headline “LIZARD OF OZ.”
What had they done?
Top 20 Rankings for the Northeast Region in Week #1 of 2025
2025 NORTHEAST REGION HIGH SCHOOL
WEEK #1 TOP 20 RANKINGS
| Rank | School Name | City, State | Record | Previous | Recent Results through 9/14 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Darien High School | Darien, Connecticut | 3-0-0 | 2 | 9/3 vs Ridgefield- 3-0 W, 9/11 vs Greenwich- 4-1 W, 9/13 vs St. Joseph- 10-0 W |
| 2 | Staples High School | Westport, Connecticut | 4-0-0 | 1 | 9/3 vs Greenwich- 1-0 W, 9/5 vs Trumbull- 4-0 W, 9/10 vs Norwalk- 7-0 W, 9/12 vs Danbury- 10-0 W |
| 3 | Greenwich Academy | Greenwich, Connecticut | 2-0-0 | 3 | 9/9 vs Greenwich CDS- 6-0 W, 9/12 vs King School- 5-0 W |
| 4 | Taft School | Watertown, Connecticut | 1-0-0 | 4 | 9/10 vs Milton Academy- 3-0 W |
| 5 | Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake High School | Burnt Hills, New York | 4-0-0 | 5 | 9/3 vs Bethlehem- 3-0 W, 9/5 vs Shaker- 11-0 W, 9/8 @ Niskayuna- 4-0 W, 9/10 vs Guilderland- 4-1 W |
| 6 | Sacred Heart Greenwich | Greenwich, Connecticut | 2-0-0 | 6 | 9/9 @ Holy Child- 7-0 W, 9/13 @ Kent- 8-0 W |
| 7 | Whitney Point High School | Whitney Point, New York | 4-0-0 | 7 | 9/3 @ Tioga- 8-0 W, 9/8 vs Maine-Endwell- 3-1 W, 9/10 vs Spencer-Van Etten- 8-0 W, 9/12 vs Moravia- 10-0 W |
| 8 | Fairfield Ludlowe High School | Fairfield, Connecticut | 4-0-0 | 8 | 9/2 vs New Canaan- 2-1 W, 9/6 vs Danbury- 10-0 W, 9/9 vs Wilton- 3-1 W, 9/13 vs Ridgefield- 4-0 W |
| 9 | Mamaroneck High School | Mamaroneck, New York | 5-0-0 | 9 | 9/3 vs Ursuline- 11-0 W, 9/8 vs Scarsdale- 10-0 W, 9/9 @ White Plains- 6-0 W, 9/11 vs Ossining- 11-0 W, 9/13 @ Rye- 4-0 W |
| 10 | Hotchkiss School | Lakeville, Connecticut | 0-0-0 | 10 | None |
| 11 | Lakeland High School | Shrub Oak, New York | 5-0-0 | 11 | 9/4 @ Mahopac- 7-1 W, 9/6 vs Carmel- 9-0 W, 9/8 @ Walter Panas- 9-0 W, 9/9 vs Nyack- 7-0 W, 9/13 vs Yorktown- 3-0 W |
| 12 | Garden City High School | Garden City, New York | 3-0-0 | 14 | 9/2 @ Manhasset- 3-0 W, 9/4 vs Carle Place- 2-1 W, 9/8 @ Massapequa- 1-0 W |
| 13 | Moses Brown School | Providence, Rhode Island | 5-0-0 | 15 | 9/1 vs Bishop Feehan- 2-1 W, 9/3 vs East Greenwich, 6-0 W, 9/5 vs La Salle- 5-0 W, 9/10 vs North Kingstown- 6-0 W, 9/12 vs La Salle- 6-0 W |
| 14 | Sachem East High School | Farmingville, New York | 4-0-0 | 16 | 9/3 @ Huntington- 5-0 W, 9/5 vs Newfield- 5-0 W, 9/9 vs Whitman- 4-0 W, 9/11 @ Connetquot- 5-0 W |
| 15 | Ward Melville High School | East Setauket, New York | 3-0-0 | 17 | 9/5 vs North Babylon- 6-0 W, 9/9 vs Smithtown East- 2-1 W, 9/11 @ Riverhead- 5-0 W |
| 16 | Wilton High School | Wilton, Connecticut | 3-1-0 | 13 | 9/4 vs St. Joseph- 6-0 W, 9/6 vs Stamford- 4-0 W, 9/9 vs Fairfield Ludlowe- 1-3 L, 9/13 vs Branford- 3-2 W |
| 17 | Greens Farms Academy | Westport, Connecticut | 2-0-0 | 18 | 9/10 vs King School- 3-2 W OT, 9/13 vs Pomfret- 4-2 W |
| 18 | Northport High School | Northport, New York | 3-0-0 | 20 | 9/3 vs Floyd- 5-1 W, 9/9 @ Sachem North- 5-0 W, 9/11 @ Newfield- 8-0 W |
| 19 | Greenwich High School | Greenwich, Connecticut | 3-2-0 | 19 | 9/3 vs Staples- 0-1 L, 9/5 vs Norwalk- 8-0 W, 9/8 vs Trumbull- 7-1 W, 9/11 vs Darien- 1-4 L, 9/13 vs Cheshire- 6-0 W |
| 20 | Glastonbury High School | Glastonbury, Connecticut | 4-0-0 | NR | 9/3 vs Avon- 9-0 W, 9/6 vs Guilford- 3-0 W, 9/9 vs Hall- 3-0 W, 9/12 vs Northwest Catholic- 7-1 W |
| OC | Bethlehem High School | Delmar, New York | 5-1-0 | OC | 8/29 vs Rondout Valley- 2-1 W, 9/3 @ Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake- 0-3 L, 9/5 vs Niskayuna- 9-0 W, 9/8 @ Guilderland- 3-0 W, 9/10 vs Shenendehowa- 5-0 W, 9/12 @ Columbia- 10-0 W |
| OC | Loomis Chaffee School | Windsor, Connecticut | 1-0-0 | OC | 9/13 vs Choate Rosemary Hall- 2-1 W |
| OC | Shoreham-Wading River High School | Shoreham, New York | 5-0-0 | NR | 9/2 vs West Islip- 4-0 W, 9/4 @ Sayville- 4-2 W, 9/8 @ Southampton- 9-1 W, 9/10 @ Pierson/Bridghampton- 2-0 W, 9/12 vs Harborfields- 3-2 W |
| OC | Windsor Central High School | Windsor, New York | 5-0-0 | NR | 8/28 @ Deposit-Hancock- 6-0 W, 8/29 vs Afton- 2-0 W, 9/3 @ Maine-Endwell- 2-0 W, 9/6 vs Honesdale- 4-2 W, 9/11 vs Greene- 4-1 W |
The post 2025 Week #1 Northeast Region Top 20 Rankings appeared first on MAX Field Hockey.
Natural Appetite Suppression Achieved Through Exercise Metabolite Lac-Phe
Scientists have found out exactly how an exercise-triggered molecule suppresses hunger signals in the brain, leading to weight loss. And the good news is that it could be harnessed as a therapeutic, providing the same benefits without the hard work it takes to produce it naturally.
Researchers led by scientists at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) have unraveled just how an exercise-induced signaling metabolite, N-lactoyl-phenylalanine (Lac-Phe), travels a unique pathway to the brain and impacts the activity of one, and then two different neurons. It triggers a chain of events that ultimately suppresses appetite – something we’ve known Lac-Phe can do, but until now we didn’t know just how.
“Regular exercise is considered a powerful way to lose weight and to protect from obesity-associated diseases, such as diabetes or heart conditions,” said co-corresponding author Dr. Yang He, an assistant professor at BCM. “Exercise helps lose weight by increasing the amount of energy the body uses; however, it is likely that other mechanisms are also involved.
“Understanding how Lac-Phe works is important for developing it or similar compounds into treatments that may help people lose weight,” he added. “We looked into the brain as it regulates appetite and feeding behaviors.”
Lac-Phe is the metabolite that’s most increased after intense bouts of exercise, and it’s seen in humans, mice and racehorses. The researchers previously found that giving added Lac-Phe to mice reduced their food intake without any negative side effects, showing that the signaling molecule still worked as if the body had produced it naturally through exercise.
In this latest work, the team looked at two brain cells in mice – agouti-related peptide (AgRP) neurons in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus, which stimulate hunger, and paraventricular nucleus (PVN) neurons in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus, which help dial down hunger signals. The two neurons form a system where AgRP neuronal signals inhibit PVH neurons, activating hunger. But when AgRP neurons are switched off, PVH neurons become more active, suppressing appetite.
Lac-Phe, the team discovered, directly blocks AgRP neurons – which boosts the activity of the PVH neurons – via a specific ATP-sensitive potassium channel (KAPT channel).
“We found that Lac-Phe acts on a protein on AgRP neurons called KATP channel, which helps regulate cell activity,” said He. “When Lac-Phe activates these channels in AgRP neurons, the cells become less active. When we blocked the KATP channels using drugs or genetic tools, Lac-Phe no longer suppressed appetite. This confirmed that the KATP channel is essential for Lac-Phe’s effects.”
Intensive exercise – such as sprints or weight training – most effectively boost Lac-Phe activity, however, moderate workouts like endurance cycling also cause it to spike. However, as the researchers noted, this discovery opens up the possibility of using Lac-Phe as a supplement that could trigger this appetite-suppressing mechanism without the effort it takes to make it naturally.
“The results also suggest the exciting possibility of targeting this newly discovered mechanism for weight management,” said co-corresponding author Dr. Yong Xu, a researcher at the University of South Florida.
While the discovery was made in mice, and will need to be tested in humans to see if the effect is just as significant, it has the potential to be a new avenue for weight management that doesn’t appear to come with the kind of gastrointestinal stress of drugs like GLP-1 receptor agonists.
“This finding is important because it helps explain how a naturally produced molecule can influence appetite by interacting with a key brain region that regulates hunger and body weight,” said co-corresponding author Dr. Jonathan Long, a researcher at Stanford University School of Medicine.
The research was published in the journal Nature Metabolism.
Source: Baylor College of Medicine
Israel allows limited access out of Gaza City for 48 hours amid advancing tanks
Israel opens new route out of Gaza City for 48 hours as tanks advance