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The Breakdown
The business story behind the headline.
Our editors take the business stories everyone is talking about and break down what is underneath: the numbers, the decision, and what it means for a company like yours.
Latest · Growth
Nearly Half the Shark Tank Deals You Watched Never Closed. The Show’s Biggest Winner Got Rejected.
The show once took a cut of every company that pitched, Mark Cuban's real deal total is less than half what aired, and the airtime often matters more than the deal. Here is how Shark Tank really works.
Read the breakdownLatest breakdowns
MoneyWeWork Signed 15-Year Leases to Rent Desks to Members Who Could Leave in Months. The Math Was in Its Own IPO Filing.WeWork owed $47.2 billion in future lease payments against $4 billion in committed revenue, its 2019 filing showed.Nov 12, 2026
MoneyThe Company That Tells You What Your House Is Worth Bought Thousands of Homes on Its Own Estimates. It Guessed Wrong.Zillow bought 9,680 homes in one quarter and sold 3,032. In Phoenix, 93% of its listings were priced below what it paid.Nov 11, 2026
GrowthA Company Sued a Woman for $25,000 Over One Google Review. She Says It’s Really About Her Ex-Boyfriend.An Ohio manufacturer with 13 Google reviews in seven years took one of them to court. Now that review is national news. What would...Nov 11, 2026
MoneyHertz Said It Would Buy 100,000 Teslas. Two Years Later, It Was Selling 20,000 EVs and Taking a $245 Million Hit.EV repairs after crashes ran about twice the cost of gas cars, and Tesla price cuts dragged down resale values.Nov 10, 2026
GrowthBuc-ee’s Wants Triple Damages From a Four-Person Mini Mart Over a Cartoon Beaver. The Town Raised $83,000 to Fight Back.Buc-ee's says the Ohio store's beaver logo copies its mascot and that its letters went unanswered. The owner says his sign was up long...Nov 10, 2026
InsightsThe $289,500 Hot Dog Cart: What NYC Street Vendors Really Make, and What a Central Park Corner CostsThe average NYC street vendor clears about $35,000 a year. One cart by the Central Park Zoo paid the city $289,500 just for its...Nov 9, 2026
AI & TechJuicero’s $400 Juicer Lost a Race to a Pair of Human Hands. Investors Had Already Put In $120 Million.Bloomberg reporters squeezed a Juicero pack by hand and got nearly as much juice, faster. The company was gone five months later.Nov 9, 2026
GrowthKelly Clarkson Said a Brooklyn Shop Treated Her Like ‘Pretty Woman.’ Now the Bird She Wanted Has a $15 Million Price Tag.A five-minute visit and one celebrity post turned a small Brooklyn shop into national news. What would you do if a customer wanted something...Nov 9, 2026
MoneyPopeyes’ 136-Restaurant Franchisee Had Profitable Stores. Its Debt Sank It Anyway.Popeyes says most of Sailormen's restaurants were making money. The company still lost every one. Too much debt, a sale that fell through, and...Nov 8, 2026
GrowthA DJ Set His Luxury Suitcase on Fire. A Rival Luggage Brand Gave Him a Job.After his Rimowa broke for the sixth time, DJ John Summit burned it on camera. Away answered with its own flaming suitcase, then named...Nov 7, 2026
StrategyThe ‘Home Alone 2’ Hotel Sold for 48 Times What It Cost to Build. Now It’s Closing for Four Years.The Home Alone 2 hotel closes in January for at least four years. The city didn't make it close. Here's the math behind the...Nov 6, 2026
GrowthBlockbuster Collected $800 Million in Late Fees. The Same Year, It Passed on Buying Netflix for $50 Million.Blockbuster built a profit center on a fee customers hated. Netflix built a business on getting rid of it.Nov 6, 2026
PeopleA Couple Canceled Their Water Softener. Then a Worker Dumped the Salt on Their Lawn.An Ocala couple cancelled a water-softener contract, then caught a worker on camera dumping salt across their new sod. After a million views, the...Nov 6, 2026
GrowthA Customer Screamed at a Teen Over 20 Cents. It Was the Owner’s Mistake, and His Reply Got 283,000 Likes.An ice cream shop owner's profane post defending his teenage staff drew more than 283,000 likes. The pricing error that started it was his...Nov 5, 2026
StrategyOne App Could Soon Handle $3 of Every $4 Americans Spend on Delivery. Here’s What DoorDash Buying Instacart Means for You.DoorDash agreed to buy Instacart for about $17 billion. Together they would handle roughly 77% of spending on major US delivery apps. What it...Nov 4, 2026
PeopleWells Fargo Got Caught Again and Again for a Decade. Here’s Why It Kept Happening, and Why It’s Still Standing.Fake accounts, unneeded insurance, wrongful repossessions: billions in penalties and a CEO banned from banking. The real punishment was a cap on its size.Nov 4, 2026
GrowthLinkedIn Built a Button to Report Your AI-Written Posts. People Clicked It a Million Times in Two Weeks.Flagged posts mostly stop reaching anyone outside your connections, and LinkedIn says views of AI slop are down 40%. Here is what that means...Nov 4, 2026
InsightsSpirit Halloween Opens 1,575 Stores Every Fall and Vanishes by November. It Started When a Mall Store Closed.Spirit Halloween started in 1983 when a mall costume shop closed. Today it runs 1,575 pop-ups for about 60 to 90 days a year....Nov 3, 2026
GrowthQuibi Paid Hollywood Up to $6 Million an Hour to Make Shows for Your Phone. Then It Let the Creators Keep Them.Quibi carried all the risk, paid a 20% markup and only licensed the shows. It lasted six months.Nov 3, 2026
GrowthA McKinsey Partner Left One LinkedIn Comment. It Cost Him His Leadership Role and a Board Seat.A 27-year McKinsey veteran argued in the comments of a book promotion post. Three weeks later he had lost his leadership role and a...Nov 3, 2026
PeopleCircuit City Fired Its Best-Paid Salespeople to Save Money. Two Years Later, Every Store Was Closed.Circuit City cut its most experienced store staff twice to save payroll. Then it liquidated all 567 stores. What every owner should ask before...Nov 2, 2026
GrowthA Leadership Coach Got 13 Million Likes Posting Other People’s Terrible Bosses. His Audience Writes the Content.George Stern's followers send him up to 20 screenshots a day of awful boss messages. He reads them on camera, and it has built...Nov 2, 2026
StrategyAmericans Spend $2.3 Billion a Year on Psychics. The Average Psychic Business Makes About $22,000.The psychic industry is worth about $2.3 billion, but the average business brings in about $22,000. Where the money goes, what Miss Cleo was...Nov 1, 2026
MoneyGetty Images Just Filed for Bankruptcy. AI Was Only Part of It.Getty Images filed for Chapter 11 on Oct. 21 and public shareholders are set to get nothing. AI squeezed its core business, but a...Nov 1, 2026
OperationsHackers Hijacked Popular Shopify Apps to Fake the Checkout Page. Here’s How to Tell If Your Store Was Hit.Hackers got into several popular Shopify apps and sent shoppers to fake payment pages. Nobody has said how many stores were hit. What happened,...Oct 31, 2026
MoneyCocoa Fell by More Than Half. Your Halloween Candy Still Went Up.Cocoa is down by more than half from its 2024 peak, but a bag of Halloween candy costs more than last year. Why prices...Oct 30, 2026
GrowthOnlyFans Made $1.55 Billion Last Year With About 42 Employees. Now It Wants to Be a Bank.The company nobody mentions in a board meeting brings in about $37 million per employee, paid its late owner $709 million in dividends and...Oct 30, 2026
PeopleOn Paper, a CEO Writing Articles Is a Waste of Time. Here’s Why the Math Says Otherwise.Executives are busy, and writing articles looks like a poor use of time. Six reasons thought leadership pays off anyway, including the buyers you'll...Oct 30, 2026
GrowthThe Titans’ CEO Apologized to Fans. They Accused Him of Letting AI Write It.After an 0-5 start, the Tennessee Titans CEO emailed fans to say sorry. Fans called it AI "word salad." Research shows why that suspicion...Oct 29, 2026
GrowthStarbucks Sold Out a $30 Bear Cup in Hours, Got Roasted for It, and Is Doing It Again on PurposeLast year's Bearista cup sparked pre-dawn lines, a police call and a public apology. This year Starbucks is bringing it back as a mystery...Oct 28, 2026
GrowthTrader Joe’s Accidentally Built a Fashion Brand. Its $2.99 Grocery Bag Is a Status Symbol From Seoul to London.Trader Joe's doesn't sell online or overseas. That's exactly why its $2.99 canvas tote became a must-have in Seoul, Tokyo and London. Now Costco...Oct 28, 2026
MoneyThe Giant-Cookie Boom Is Over. Crumbl’s Sales Are Down 70%, and a Chain Backed by Shake Shack’s Founder Just Shut Down.Crumbl's August sales were 70% below two years earlier and Chip City closed all its stores overnight. Why the gourmet cookie craze is fading,...Oct 27, 2026
GrowthElizabeth Holmes’s Partner Raised Up to $20 Million for a Blood-Testing Startup. On Camera, He Says: “Put the Band Back Together.”Holmes went to prison for lying about a blood-testing machine. Her partner Billy Evans just raised up to $20 million for a blood-testing startup...Oct 27, 2026
GrowthA $20 Chocolate Bar Made in a Living Room Caused a Global Pistachio Shortage. Dubai Just Gave It an Award.One unsponsored TikTok, 30,000 orders, a crashed app, a Lindt knockoff, a German court case and a pistachio shortage. On Saturday, Dubai's crown prince...Oct 26, 2026Get in the room with the people who make these calls.
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