• Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' impending divorce from his wife, MacKenzie Bezos, carries at least two big risks for the company's shareholders, legal experts say.
• Bezos could become distracted by the divorce proceedings, affecting his ability to run Amazon.
• The divorce could also potentially lead to a mass sell-off of stock by either Bezos or his wife.
• Legal experts think Bezos and his wife will work to minimize those risks, since it's in their interests to do so.
• But divorces don't always go smoothly, and things could end up worse than they expect.

For the last 25 years, Jeff Bezos has been the steady hand on the tiller for Amazon, guiding the company through both rough patches and calm seas to ever-richer ports of call.

Now his personal life threatens to rock the company's boat.

Bezos announced Wednesday that he and his wife, MacKenzie, are getting a divorce. Investors will likely be watching closely to see how the dissolution of his marriage affects Bezos' running of the company and his stock holdings in it, said Mark Harrison, an advisor with consultancy Marcum, who has served as an expert witness in numerous financial disputes.

"Investors care mostly about uncertainty," he said. He continued: "The market will look for signs of emotional upheaval between the two of them."

For now, investors seem to be taking the news of the divorce in stride. Amazon's shares closed Thursday down well less than 1%, and the company retained its title as the world's most valuable corporation. But things could change if the proceedings become protracted or start to get ugly, Harrison said.

That may already be starting. In a statement on Twitter announcing their plans to divorce, Bezos and his wife portrayed it as a friendly parting. But subsequent reports in the National Enquirer and the New York Post that Bezos was carrying on an affair before he and his wife officially separated threatened to sully that narrative.

The Bezoses' divorce has two big risks for shareholders

The risk of the Bezoses' breakup to Amazon and its shareholders is two-fold.

As the company's founder and sole CEO since its launch, Bezos is widely seen as the driving force behind the tech giant, which dominates the e-commerce market, has become the leading player in the cloud-computing industry, and has become the number-3 player in digital advertising behind Google and Facebook. Many investors likely consider him to be critical to the company's continued success, and may rightly worry that Amazon's business could suffer if Bezos is distracted by the divorce.

Discussing the potential danger, Harrison paraphrased hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones' feelings on the topic.

A person going through a divorce is "worthless to him, because they're completely unfocused," Harrison said.

But the other danger comes from Bezos' vast holdings of Amazon stock. He owns about 79 million shares, or about 16% of the company. That stake, worth about $131 billion, represents about 95% of his total wealth.

Washington state, where Amazon is headquartered and the Bezoses have long made their primary residence, will likely be where they end up filing for divorce. The state's community property laws don't mandate that MacKenzie will get a 50% cut of his Amazon stake in the divorce, but they likely will result in her getting ownership of a sizable portion of it, potentially up to half, legal experts said.

Read more: Jeff Bezos' divorce could soon make MacKenzie Bezos one of Amazon's biggest shareholders

The concern for investors is what kind of control she will have over the shares she gets, how they get transferred to her, and what she does with them.

"Investors are going to be spooked if any member of the family starts selling significant amounts of stock," Harrison said.

The divorce won't cause a change of control at Amazon

Amazon representatives did not respond to emails seeking comment about the Bezoses' divorce. Representatives for Vanguard and BlackRock, the two largest Amazon shareholders after Bezos, declined to comment on the divorce proceedings or their impact on shareholders.

One thing that's not a concern in the Bezos divorce is how it will affect control of the company. Other tech CEOs, including Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and Alphabet's Larry Page, hold shares that give them or a small cohort of insiders control over their companies because they come with super-sized voting rights.

But Bezos holds the same kind of shares as everyday Amazon investors. Although he's Amazon's largest shareholder, its CEO, and its chairman, he doesn't have unchecked sway over it. So, no matter how many shares MacKenzie ends up with, or how her holdings are structured, it won't affect the balance of power at the company. 

"I am very happy that Amazon has a one share, one vote structure," said Rosemary Lally, an editor at the Council of Institutional Investors, which advocates for stronger corporate governance and shareholder rights, in an email. "If McKenzie [sic] Bezos does become a major shareholder and tries to do something that other Amazon shareholders oppose, they can [hold] her accountable."

Legal experts expect them to keep shareholders in mind

To be sure, Harrison, who has worked on divorce cases among other affluent couples, and other legal experts expect the Bezoses to be very aware of investors' potential worries and to do whatever they can to alleviate them. Because so much of their wealth is tied up in Amazon's stock, it's in the best interests of both of them to do so.

"I think you're going to find that both parties here want to get the investor world comfortable that nothing's going on," Harrison said.

Indeed, he and some other legal experts expect the divorce process to go relatively smoothly, not just because it's in both sides' interest, but because the amount of wealth they have is so immense. In some divorces, even among wealthy individuals, one side or the other stands to be materially hurt by the division of their assets, particularly if most of their wealth is in their homes, said Ira Garr, a family-law attorney in New York who represented Rupert Murdoch and Ivana Trump in their respective divorce cases. Such cases can be particularly rancorous, just because of that.

But that's just not applicable with the Bezoses.

"When you're talking about numbers this vast, no matter what you get, you're set for the rest of your life," Garr said. In that respect, he continued, "cases like that are easier to settle."

The two will likely structure their divorce settlement so that they don't have to sell shares all at once and depress the market, legal experts said. Instead, they're likely to put provisions in place that limit MacKenzie's ability to sell stock — and perhaps even allow Jeff Bezos to retain control over the voting rights of her shares, Harrison said.

Indeed, Brian Weiser, a financial analyst who covers Amazon for Pivotal Research Group, doesn't think investors have anything to worry about when it concerns Bezos' divorce.

"I'm not aware of any reason why anyone should assume there's any meaningful risk of any meaningful problem," he said.

But emotions can sometimes get in the way

Much of this assumes that the Bezoses will act rationally and will be able to set their emotions aside. But many divorces don't work out that way. And if Bezos or MacKenzie starts acting out of emotion rather than rationality, all bets may be off in terms of the ease of the divorce, his state of mind in running Amazon, and what happens to his shares.

"When [a divorce] gets salacious and a little crazy ... all kinds of bad things can happen," Harrison said.

• Read more about the Bezoses divorce:
• MacKenzie Bezos deserves half of Jeff Bezos' fortune because there would be no Amazon without her
• The last time a billionaire CEO got divorced without a prenup he hand wrote a check for $974,790,317.77
• If MacKenzie Bezos gets half of Jeff Bezos' fortune, she'd become the fourth-richest person in the world — and he'd fall from the No. 1 spot
• There are 2 types of contracts married couples can sign to protect their money — here's what it means if divorcing billionaires Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos never signed one

SEE ALSO: Amazon Web Services could be worth $600 billion by itself. Here's why Wall Street analysts think a spinoff won't happen any time soon.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: How Apple went from a $1 trillion company to losing over 20% of its share price in 3 months

This is a preview of a research report from Business Insider Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service. To learn more about Business Insider Intelligence, click here.

Not that long ago, many home-appliance and consumer-electronics makers were gearing up for what they thought would soon be a rapidly growing market for smart home devices.

The instant popularity of the Nest thermostat, introduced in 2011, seemed to confirm their hopes. But those expectations were dashed in the coming years as the market for connected home devices later stagnated. 

Even with these challenges, many of the biggest consumer technology companies are now moving into the smart home market. For example, Apple, which recently released its self-installed smart home ecosystem, called the Apple Home, traditionally doesn't move into a market until it's very mature and only when it can release a perfected product. Further, Google this fall launched the Google Home and its companion ecosystem, hoping to jump into the voice-activated smart home speaker market, which Amazon currently dominates with its Echo product line. 

In a new report, Business Insider Intelligence examines the demographics of the average smart home device owner and discuss why current smart home device owners are appealing to tech companies. The report also examines the plans of various tech giants in the smart home market and discuss their monetization strategies, and makes suggestions for how these companies can position themselves to make their products and devices more appealing to the mass market.

Here are some key takeaways from the report:

• Tech companies primarily enter the market to enhance a core revenue stream or service, while device makers desire to collect data to improve their products and prevent costly recalls.
• We forecast there will be $4.8 trillion in aggregate IoT investment between 2016 and 2021.
• These companies are also seeking to create an early-mover advantage for themselves, where they gain an advantage by this head start on adoption.
• Major barriers to mass market adoption that still must overcome include technological fragmentation and persistently high device prices.

In full, the report:

• Details the market strategy of prominent tech companies and device makers, and analyzes why which ones are best poised to succeed once adoption ticks up.
• Offers insight into current ownership through an exclusive survey from Business Insider Intelligence and analyzes what demographics will drive adoption moving forward.
• Explains in detail which companies are poised to succeed in the market in the coming years as adoption increases and mass market consumers begin to purchase smart home devices.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: We tested out $30 tiny spy cameras from Amazon by spying on our co-workers

• President Donald Trump took a jab at CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta after Acosta posted a video of himself scrutinizing the president's characterization of a "crisis" at the US-Mexico border.
• Acosta, who was at McAllen, Texas, where Trump toured the border with Mexico on Thursday, said in his video that he did not "see anything resembling a national emergency situation."
• "Dear Diary...," Trump said in a tweet that replied to Acosta's video.

President Donald Trump took a jab at CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta after he posted a video of himself scrutinizing the president's characterization of a "crisis" at the US-Mexico border on Thursday.

"Dear Diary...," Trump said in a tweet that replied to Acosta's video.

Acosta, who was at McAllen, Texas, where Trump toured the border with Mexico on Thursday, said in his video that he did not "see anything resembling a national emergency situation." The video, which had over 2 million views at the time of writing, attracted supporters and critics, including Trump's son, Trump Organization executive Donald Trump Jr.

Trump Jr. replied to Acosta's tweet, claiming that the correspondent was not seeing a calamity at the border because he was reporting near the border barrier.

"Of course you don't Jim," Trump Jr. tweeted. "That's because walls work. Thanks for your help proving [Donald Trump's] point and simultaneously creating one of the best self-own videos ever!!!"

Acosta fired back by referring to the 20-day partial government shutdown and calling the situation "a little strange."

"You guys seem to be saying the current measures in place are working," Acosta tweeted. "Does that mean your dad should reopen the government and get federal employees back to work? #byebye."

"Bye-bye" was a phrase Trump reportedly used as he stormed out of negotiations with Democrats on Wednesday after they rejected his $5.7 billion demand to fund a border barrier.

Acosta and Trump Jr. continued making jabs on Twitter throughout the evening, with both personalities refusing to give ground.

The CNN correspondent has had numerous confrontations with White House officials and routinely challenges the administration in his news coverage. Trump often ignores Acosta's line of questioning during press conferences, and defers to his favored description of CNN by claiming it is "fake news."

Trump visited Texas' border with Mexico as the ongoing partial government stretched to its 20th day. The shutdown is posed to become the nation's longest if it does not reopen by Saturday. Trump has urged Congress pass an appropriations bill that includes $5.7 billion for barrier funding, which Democrats have adamantly rejected.

"One way or the other, we will get it done," Trump said in a video with US Border Patrol officials.

SEE ALSO: CNN reporter Jim Acosta claps back at Trump Jr. in Twitter feud over border wall

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: MSNBC host Chris Hayes thinks President Trump's stance on China is 'not at all crazy'

This is a preview of a research report from Business Insider Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service. To learn more about Business Insider Intelligence, click here.

Between housing costs, utilities, taxes, insurance, loans, and more, US adults paid an estimated $3.9 trillion in bills last year.

That market is growing slowly, but it’s changing fast — more than ever before, customers are moving away from paying bills via check or cash and toward paying online, either through their banks, the billers themselves, or using a third-party app.

Thanks to rising customer familiarity with digital payments, an increase in purchasing power among younger consumers more interested in digital bill pay, and a rise in digital payment options, nearly three-quarters of bills will be paid digitally by 2022, representing a big opportunity for players across the space.

In theory, banks should be in a great position to capitalize on this shift. Nearly all banks offer bill payment functionality, and it’s a popular feature. Issuers also boast an existing engaged digital user base, and make these payments secure. But that isn’t what’s happening — even as digital bill pay becomes more commonplace, banks are losing ground to billers and third-party players. And that’s not poised to change unless banks do, since issuer bill pay is least popular among the youngest customers, who will be the most important in the coming year.

For banks, then, that makes innovation important. Taking steps to grow bill pay’s share can be a tough sell for digital strategists and executives leading money movement at banks, and done wrong, it can be costly, since it often requires robust technological investments. But, if banks do it right, bill pay marks a strong opportunity to add and engage customers, and in turn, grow overall lifetime value while shrinking attrition.

Business Insider Intelligence has put together a detailed report that explains the US bill pay market, identifies the major inflection points for change and what’s driving it, and provides concrete strategies and recommendations for banks looking to improve their digital bill pay offerings.

Here are some key takeaways from the report:

• The bill pay market in the US, worth $3.9 trillion, is growing slowly. But digital bill payment volume is rising at a rapid clip — half of all bills are now digital, and that share will likely expand to over 75% by 2022. 
• Customers find it easiest to pay their bills at their billers directly, either through one-off or recurring payments. Bank-based offerings are commonplace, but barebones, which means they fail to appeal to key demographics.
• Issuers should work to reclaim bill payment share, since bill pay is an effective engagement tool that can increase customer stickiness, grow lifetime status, and boost primary bank status.  
• Banks need to make their offerings as secure and convenient as biller direct, market bill pay across channels, and build bill pay into digital money management functionality.

In full, the report:

• Sizes the US bill pay market, and estimates where it’s poised to go next.
• Evaluates the impact that digital will have on bill pay in the US and who is poised to capitalize on that shift.
• Identifies three key areas in which issuers can improve their bill pay offerings to gain share and explains why issuers are losing ground in these categories.
• Issues recommendations and defines concrete steps that banks can take as a means of gaining share back and reaping the benefits of digital bill pay engagement.

Join the conversation about this story »

• "Dr. Pimple Popper"— the TLC show starring dermatologist Dr. Sandra Lee — has returned for a second season. 
• The second episode featured a woman with hundreds of seborrheic keratoses, common skin growths that are sometimes called "barnacles of aging."
• Lee removed the growths with a freezing procedure known to be deeply painful.
• The patient, Pat, withstood the removal of more than 300 spots — something Lee said she'd never seen in her career. 

After a months-long hiatus, Dr. Pimple Popper is finally back on TV.  The beloved YouTuber and dermatologist (real name: Dr. Sandra Lee) returned to TLC for the second season of her TV series, also titled "Dr. Pimple Popper."

The season's second episode, which aired Thursday night, showcased one woman with extraordinary tolerance for pain during a procedure to remove common skin growths.

Here's a closer look at her case.

Pat sought Dr. Lee's help for "rapidly spreading moles"

In an interview segment, Pat, 66, said she was seeking Lee's expert opinion on what seemed to be "rapidly growing moles."

The dark brown spots first started appearing when Pat was in her mid-20s, but later spread across her neck, temples, chest, and abdomen. They also itched, stung, and got caught on her clothes.

"During the three last years, they've spread very rapidly, and that's a concern for me," Pat said. "My dad who passed away, he had skin cancer, so always at the back of my mind is the thought of skin cancer. I'd just like to know what is causing these moles."

But the moles were actually growths known as seborrheic keratoses

In the exam room, Lee told Pat that her "moles" weren't really moles at all. They were a type of growth called sebhorreic keratoses (singular: seborrheic keratosis).

These common spots may seem like warts or skin cancer, but they're completely harmless, according to the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD). It's still not clear why they occur, but seborrheic keratoses seem to run in families. And because most people get them when they're middle-aged or older, they're sometimes referred to as "barnacles of aging," according to the AAD. 

Most people develop many seborrheic keratoses, rather than just one. Pat happened to have hundreds. 

"Pat has so many of these seborrheic keratoses, it's almost as if she has more of them than she has regular skin," Lee said.

Read more: The best pimple-popping videos of 2018, from a 50-year-old blackhead to a cottage-cheese leg cyst

Lee then offered to remove some of Pat's keratoses using cryotherapy. In this procedure, a dermatologist applies extremely cold liquid nitrogen to a seborrheic keratosis, and later, the growth falls off. Though it's possible for new ones to grow elsewhere on the body, removed keratoses typically don't come back, according to the AAD. 

The only catch? It's famously painful. 

"Liquid nitrogen treatment can be pretty painful," Lee said. "It is so cold that it burns. I know, myself, I could probably only tolerate three or four [sebhorreic keraotses] removed at one time ... The number of these that I can remove is very dependent on her pain threshold."

Pat withstood the pain as Lee removed 307 spots

As the procedure began, Lee told Pat she should "cry uncle" if she needed a break.

But the pain of cryotherapy was no match for Pat's pain threshold. Her face hardly flinched as Lee went through canister after canister of liquid nitrogen, freezing off a staggering total of 307 seborrheic keratoses. 

"In my whole career, I've never had anybody withstand me treating more than 40 or 50 of these seborrheic keratoses," Lee said. "I don't think I've ever had a patient with the pain tolerance that Pat has. A lot of patients can't tolerate this procedure."

In an interview segment filmed after the procedure, Pat said that mental tactics helped her persevere. 

"I was practicing relaxing and I did the mind over matter thing," she said. "I was comparing that pain to other pain that I've experienced. I had migraines until I was in my 50s. So that's how I was able to get through."

And the pain was likely worth it: Lee explained that, after a healing period, Pat's once-bumpy, itchy skin would finally smooth out. 

"These areas will darken and kind of scale up, maybe even blister," she said. "They peel off over the next couple weeks, and then the skin is going to look gorgeous and nice and smooth and clear."

Catch a sneak peek of the complete second season (including a glimpse of Pat's procedure at the 25-second mark) below. You can also watch all episodes of "Dr. Pimple Popper" on TLC's website or the TLCGo app (available for Apple and Android).

Visit INSIDER's homepage for more.

• Read more:
• Dr. Pimple Popper removed 14 lipomas from a single patient during her holiday special on TLC
• Dr. Pimple Popper reveals the deeper meaning behind all her viral popping videos
• 9 acne-fighting rules you need to follow, according to Dr. Pimple Popper
• The best blackhead removal videos of 2018

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Dr. Pimple Popper's new game was made for people who love popping zits – here's what happened when we played

• President Donald Trump was reportedly briefed on a proposal that would divert $13.9 billion from civil works projects, including reconstruction efforts in Puerto Rico, to build a barrier on the US-Mexico border.
• The funds from the Army Corps of Engineers had not yet been distributed, but with a national emergency declaration, Trump would reportedly be able to tap into the funds and spend it on a border wall.
• The emergency plan would reportedly allow Trump to utilize the $2.4 billion and $2.5 billion set aside for civil projects ranging from flood prevention in California, to reconstruction efforts in the hurricane-affected US territory of Puerto Rico.

President Donald Trump was reportedly briefed on a proposal that would divert $13.9 billion from civil-works projects, including reconstruction efforts in Puerto Rico, to build a barrier on the US-Mexico border, according to multiplenews reports published Thursday.

The funds from the Army Corps of Engineers had not yet been distributed, but with a national emergency declaration, Trump would be able to procure the barrier funding that Democrats have adamantly opposed, officials told CNN and NBC News.

The plan would reportedly allow Trump to utilize the $2.4 billion and $2.5 billion set aside for civil projects ranging from flood prevention in California, to reconstruction efforts in the hurricane-affected US territory of Puerto Rico.

An independent study commissioned by the Puerto Rican government estimated roughly 2,975 people died in the wake of Hurricane Maria. While many of the victims were believed to have died in the aftermath of the storm, such as floods and flying debris, other people were reportedly affected by the lack of local infrastructure, including electricity, clean water, and medical services.

Trump's demand for $5.7 billion to fund a barrier on the border has been rejected by Democrats, blocking the passage of an appropriations bill that would reopen the ongoing partial government shutdown. Democrats have asserted they would pass a bill that includes funding for additional border security measures, but not the money Trump wants build a border wall.

Trump was reportedly briefed that the Army Corps of Engineers could build 315 miles of the border wall in around 18 months, which is more than the 234 miles he initially requested. Democrats may still have an option to oppose the move, a source explained to NBC News, by blocking the reallocation through legislation.

After weeks of the shutdown, Trump appears likelier to invoke executive authority to declare a national emergency, a move Republican Sen. Lindsay Graham supported.

"Time for President [Donald Trump] to use emergency powers to build Wall/Barrier," Graham tweeted on Thursday. "I hope it works."

Trump and other White House officials have teased the option numerous times in recent days, saying the president would make the declaration if Congress does not give in to his wall funding.

"Well, I think we're going to see what happens over the next few days, they should do it immediately," Trump said on Thursday. "Look, we're not going anywhere. We're not changing our minds. Because there's nothing to change your mind about."

SEE ALSO: Trump is reportedly upset about old video footage showing him throwing rolls of paper towels at first-responders in Puerto Rico

DON'T MISS: Sen. Lindsey Graham: It's time for Trump to declare a national emergency

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NOW WATCH: North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un is 35 — here's how he became one of the world's scariest dictators

Tech-driven disruption in the insurance industry continues at pace, and we're now entering a new phase — the adaptation of underlying business models. 

That's leading to ongoing changes in the distribution segment of the industry, but more excitingly, we are starting to see movement in the fundamentals of insurance — policy creation, underwriting, and claims management. 

This report from Business Insider Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, will briefly review major changes in the insurtech segment over the past year. It will then examine how startups and legacy players across the insurance value chain are using technology to develop new business models that cut costs or boost revenue, and, in some cases, both. Additionally, we will provide our take on the future of insurance as insurtech continues to proliferate. 

Here are some of the key takeaways:

• Funding is flowing into startups and helping them scale, while legacy players have moved beyond initial experiments and are starting to implement new technology throughout their businesses. 
• Distribution, the area of the insurance value chain that was first to be disrupted, continues to evolve. 
• The fundamentals of insurance — policy creation, underwriting, and claims management — are starting to experience true disruption, while innovation in reinsurance has also continued at pace.
• Insurtechs are using new business models that are enabled by a variety of technologies. In particular, they're using automation, data analytics, connected devices, and machine learning to build holistic policies for consumers that can be switched on and off on-demand.
• Legacy insurers, as opposed to brokers, now have the most to lose — but those that move swiftly still have time to ensure they stay in the game.

 In full, the report:

• Reviews major changes in the insurtech segment over the past year.
• Examines how startups and legacy players across distribution, insurance, and reinsurance are using technology to develop new business models.
• Provides our view on what the future of the insurance industry looks like, which Business Insider Intelligence calls Insurtech 2.0.

Subscribe to an All-Access pass to Business Insider Intelligence and gain immediate access to:

	This report and more than 250 other expertly researched reports
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• President Donald Trump posed with Border Patrol agents during his Thursday visit to the US-Mexico border in Texas.
• On Wednesday, the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents employees ad federal agencies including Customs and Border Protection, filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over the partial government shutdown.
• Two plaintiffs are Customs and Border Protection officers.
• "The FLSA guarantees, for employees falling within its coverage, the on-time payment of any minimum wage and overtime wages earned," the lawsuit claims. "If those wages are earned, but not paid out, on the employee’s corresponding regularly scheduled payday, the FLSA has been violated."

President Donald Trump visited the US-Mexico border in Texas, on Thursday, where he met and posed with Customs and Border Protection officers. The trip was part of his push for a barrier at the southern border.

Trump's desire for a wall or barrier at the border led to a partial government shutdown — which has been ongoing for nearly a month. In December after initially signaling that he would sign a stopgap measure to fund the remaining government agencies until February 8, Trump changed course and said he would not sign a bill unless it had $5.7 billion for a border wall. The plan did not have support in the Republican-led Senate and on December 22, a partial government shutdown began.

Now, with a new Democratic-led House of Representatives, Trump and Congress are at an impasse. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has repeatedly said that Congress will not appropriate money for the wall; there are still not enough votes in the Senate to pass wall funding; and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has vowed to not bring funding bills to the floor for a vote if he believes Trump won't sign them — despite the fact that the House has passed bills that would reopen the government.

The shutdown is impacting roughly 800,000 federal employees — around 420,000 of which are deemed "essential" and must work without pay. The remaining federal workers have been furloughed. CBP officers are among those "essential" federal employees, who are working without pay.

Two unions representing federal employees the American Federation of Government Employees and the National Treasury Employees Union are suing the Trump administration over the shutdown. The AFGE filed its suit on December 31, 2018, on behalf of the over 400,000 federal employees working without pay. Two corrections officers at the federal Bureau of Prisons are named as plaintiffs.

On Wednesday, the NTEU, refiled a complaint in the Court of Federal Claims. This union represents around 150,000 federal employees at 33 agencies and departments — including the CBP. According to the suit, "tens of thousands of National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) members" are considered "essential" and are working without pay.

Two listed plaintiffs in the case are CBP officers, who are suing "on behalf of themselves and all similarly situated individuals." The initial suit (filed on Jan. 7) named officer Albert Vieira, but it was refiled naming officers Eleazar Avalos and James Davis.

"First, [the suit] alleges that the government’s failure to timely pay overtime wages earned on December 22, 2018, to Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) nonexempt employees like Mr. Avalos and Mr. Davis is illegal,"the lawsuit reads.

"Second, the complaint further alleges an FLSA violation based upon the expected government failure to pay a minimum wage and overtime wages earned for the pay period beginning December 23, 2018 and ending on January 5, 2019. They seek payment of the owed wages, an equal amount of liquidated damages, and other appropriate remedies."

"It is unconscionable that many employees are having to work – and in some cases overtime – with no pay whatsoever," NTEU National President Tony Reardon said in a statement.

The NTEU filed another suit on Wednesday in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, against OMB Director and soon-to-be White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and the Office of Management and Budget over nonessential employees being asked to work without pay.

"While a case can certainly be made that some federal employees, such as Customs and Border Protection Officers and others, are protecting human life and property, that line of reasoning gets quite shaky when applied to thousands of IRS employees being called back in order to process tax refunds — and to do so without being paid,"Reardon said in separate statement. "That is not how the law works and that is not how this country should work."

SEE ALSO: Trump said he knows a border wall will work because wheels work, and the Secret Service uses 'really expensive' cars with wheels

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: MSNBC host Chris Hayes thinks President Trump's stance on China is 'not at all crazy'

• Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris of California continued to tease her potential 2020 US presidential run during an appearance on CBS' "The Late Show" Thursday night, smiling and telling host Stephen Colbert two words: "I might."
• Harris' response drew raucous cheers and applause from the audience. The former California attorney general, who has been promoting her book, has made waves lately, amid speculation she may seek the White House.
• She is one of several prominent Democrats in a growing field of potential candidates vying to challenge President Donald Trump in the next election.

Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris of California continued to tease her potential 2020 US presidential run during an appearance on CBS' "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" Thursday night, smiling and telling Colbert two words: "I might."

Colbert pointed to the striking clues about her potential presidential bid, namely her media blitz and book tour after the publication of her memoir: "The Truths We Hold: An American Journey."

"Many people who put out books two years before a presidential election do so to introduce themselves in a broad way to the American people," Colbert said. "Um, are you going to run for president?"

The audience cheered and applauded loudly as Harris pondered her answer.

Watch the moment here »

Harris is one of several prominent Democrats in a growing field of potential candidates vying to challenge President Donald Trump in the next election. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts announced her candidacy earlier in January, and former Housing and Urban Development secretary Julián Castro has formed a presidential exploratory committee.

Other potential candidates include Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and Rep. Beto O'Rourke of Texas.

Harris is currently serving her first term in the Senate, similar to former President Barack Obama, who, as a first-term senator, was initially criticized for his inexperience after he announced his 2008 presidential campaign. Prior to her role in the Senate, Harris was California's attorney general and served as the district attorney of San Francisco.

Harris, an Indian American, rose to prominence within the Democratic Party after becoming an outspoken critic of Trump's immigration policies and political nominees, namely Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

"When we talk about the immigration debate, there are powerful forces — including this president — that are attempting to vilify immigrants because they were born in another country," she said during a CNN interview on Wednesday. "This should offend all of us."

SEE ALSO: 'You're such a smart-a--': Kellyanne Conway unloads on CNN's Jim Acosta in fiery exchange after he asks if Trump 'will tell the truth'

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: MSNBC host Chris Hayes thinks President Trump's stance on China is 'not at all crazy'

• After a shaky start, wearables like smartwatches and fitness trackers have gained traction in healthcare, with US consumer use jumping from 9% in 2014 to 33% in 2018.
• More than 80% of consumers are willing to wear tech that measures health data — and penetration should continue to climb.
• The maturation of the wearable market will put more wearables in the hands of consumers and US businesses.

The US healthcare industry as it exists today is not sustainable. An aging patient population and rising burden of chronic disease have caused healthcare costs to skyrocket and left providers struggling to keep up with demand for care. 

Meanwhile, digital technologies in nearly every consumer experience outside of healthcare have raised patients’ expectations for good service to be higher than ever.

One of the key mechanisms through which healthcare providers can finally evolve their outdated practices and exceed these expectations is wearable technology.

Presently, 33% of US consumers have adopted wearables, such as smartwatches and fitness trackers, to play a more active role in managing their health. In turn, insurers, providers, and employers are poised to become just as active leveraging these devices – and the data they capture – to abandon the traditional reimbursement model and improve patient outcomes with personalized, value-based care.

Adoption is going to keep climbing, as more than 80% of consumers are willing to wear tech that measures health data, according to Accenture — though they have reservations about who exactly should access it.

A new report from Business Insider Intelligence, Business Insider’s premium research service, follows the growing adoption of wearables and breadth of functions they offer to outline how healthcare organizations and stakeholders can overcome this challenge and add greater value with wearable technology.

For insurers, providers, and employers, wearables present three distinct opportunities:

• Insurers can use wearable data to enhance risk assessments and drive customer lifetime value. One study shows that wearables can incentivize healthier behavior associated with a 30% reduction in risk of cardiovascular events and death.
• Providers can use the remote patient monitoring capabilities of wearable technology to improve chronic disease management, lessen the burden of staff shortages, and navigate a changing reimbursement model. And since 90% of patients no longer feel obligated to stay with providers that don't deliver a satisfactory digital experience, wearables could help to attract and retain them.
• Employers can combine wearables with cash incentives to lower insurance costs and improve employee productivity. For example, The Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority yielded $5 million in healthcare cost savings through a wearable-based employee wellness program.

Want to Learn More?

The Wearables in US Healthcare Report details the current and future market landscape of wearables in the US healthcare sector. It explores the key drivers behind wearable usage by insurers, healthcare providers, and employers, and the opportunities wearables afford to each of these stakeholders. 

By outlining a successful case study from each stakeholder, the report highlights best practices in implementing wearables to reduce healthcare claims, improve patient outcomes, and drive insurance cost savings, as well as how the evolution of the market will create new, untapped opportunities for businesses.

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• Slack will go public through a direct listing rather than an IPO, The Wall Street Journal reports.
• The workplace messaging service is aiming to list between April and June.
• Slack had previously hired investment bank Goldman Sachs Group to lead its initial public offering.

Slack is planning to go public through a direct listing, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Slack, which operates a popular workplace instant-messaging and collaboration app, is likely to debut in the second quarter and currently expects to do so via a direct listing, according to the report.

Slack was valued at $7.1 billion in August after raising $427 million in an investment round led by Dragoneer Investment Group and General Atlantic. The company has 8 million daily active users.

Read more: Slack has only 8 million daily active users but would very much like that to become 500 million

The plan for direct listing will potentially make Slack the second big technology company after Spotify Technology SA to bypass a traditional IPO, WSJ reported.

Slack had previously hired investment bank Goldman Sachs Group to lead its initial public offering as an underwriter, Reuters reported in December.

Slack did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

SEE ALSO: Slack just raised a whopping $427 million to become a $7.1 billion company. Now it has to defeat Microsoft.

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• A Saudi teen who ran away from her family and secured refugee status from the UN has reportedly been offered asylum in Australia.
• Rahaf al-Qunun secured UN protection after she launched a Twitter campaign begging governments to help her escape family who "consider me as property."
• She fled to Thailand on Saturday and barricaded herself in a hotel room, and avoided deportation when the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHRC) saved her on Monday.
• On Friday, al-Qunun told media she has been offered asylum in Australia, which Thai police said as well. Australian officials decline to comment to INSIDER.  

A Saudi teen whose quest to escape her family in the Middle East went viral has reportedly been granted asylum by Australia.

Rahaf al-Qunun, 18, is currently in Thailand, where she posted live updates as she barricaded herself in a hotel room, met with the UN, and asked to be given a new home in Australia.

According to an interview al-Qunun gave to Daily Mail Australia, she has been told that her application for asylum was approved. 

According to the site, she said: "They accepted me... I am so happy! I will start a new life."

Thai immigration officials, cited by CNN, also said that Australia had granted the request. The Australian government declined to comment when asked by INSIDER about al-Qunun's case.

al-Qunun's Twitter account, which first helped her share her story with the world, was taken offline on Friday. Shortly beforehand, tweeted that she had "some bad and some good news."

Another account, which al-Qunun had identified as belonging to a friend, tweeted on Friday:"Rahaf received death threats and for this reason she closed her Twitter account, please save Rahaf life."

An asylum case that gripped the world

al-Qunun's story came to light after she left Kuwait for Thailand on Saturday. She barricaded herself in a Bangkok hotel room after Thai authorities seized her passport and tried to send her back to family.

She says she left her relatives, who live in Kuwait, because they "consider me as property." She said that, were she sent back, they would kill her for renouncing Islam.

Al-Qunun was deemed a refugee by the UN's High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHRC) on Wednesday, which means officials decided that her reasons for fleeing are legitimate.

Under rules agreed at the UN 1951 Refugee Convention, member states are banned from sending someone with refugee status back to the country they are fleeing.

Thailand, where al-Qunun now is, has not signed up to these rules. But the Thai government says it wants to protect refugees, and immigration officials have said they do not intend to send al-Qunun back.

In a series of tweets after Al-Qunun arrived at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport she said her family consider her a "slave," and will kill her if she is sent back, as punishment for renouncing Islam.

Her father denied the claims on Thursday, according to Thailand's immigration police chief.

Her viral success led a Saudi diplomat in Bangkok to joke: "I wish they [Thai police] would've confiscated her phone instead of her passport."

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Here is what you need to know

1. The US and China agree to more trade talks. A Chinese delegation led by Vice Premier Liu He, the country's top trade official who is one of President Xi Jinping's closest allies, plans to travel to Washington at the end of January to meet with a US team led by Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
2. The British pound jumps after report says Brexit will probably be delayed. The pound climbed as much as 0.8% versus the dollar to 1.2851 after the Evening Standard reported that cabinet ministers said they expected Britain's exit from the European Union to be delayed past the March 29 deadline.
3. Oil is on track for its longest winning streak in 30 years. Oil was on track for a 10th straight day of gains Friday, its longest winning streak since futures for the energy component started trading in June 1988.
4. Goldman Sachs has formulated a strategy to crush earnings season. The bank has developed an options-trading strategy that has on average returned 24% over a six-day period.
5. AB InBev is thinking about an IPO of its Asian operations. An initial public offering could raise as much as $5 billion and value the business at $70 billion, Bloomberg reports, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
6. JPMorgan traders and investment bankers are set for a bigger piece of the bonus pie. On average, JPMorgan employees are set to see their bonuses increase by mid-single digits versus a year ago, but equity traders and investment bankers are set to get a bigger share, a person familiar with the matter told Business Insider.
7. Macy's got slammed after lowering guidance because of a disappointing holiday season. Shares of the retailer fell more than 17% Friday after the company slashed its annual profit guidance to between $3.95 and $4 a share, down from between $4.10 and $4.30, following a disappointing holiday season.
8. Stock markets around the world were mixed. Japan's Nikkei (+0.97%) led the gains in Asia, and Germany's DAX (-0.18%) lags in Europe. The S&P 500 was set to open down 0.26% near 2,590.
9. Aphria reports ahead of the opening bell. The cannabis producer was expected to earn 0.02 Canadian dollars a share on 28.8 million Canadian dollars ($21.8 million) of revenue.
10. US economic data is light. CPI will cross the wires at 8:30 a.m. ET. The US 10-year yield is down 3.2 basis points at 2.71%.

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The J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco is a chance for healthcare companies to start the year off right.

Executives give high-stakes presentations to investors — and then meet with them privately — to try to convince them to invest in their companies. Often, companies will save up news to announce at the event, like clinical trial results that show a new drug is working, or good financial news.

But sometimes, the news is disappointing. That can send stocks plummeting and turn off investors. Or it can create openings for savvy investors to bet on companies at a cheap price.

These are the five biotech stocks that had big tumbles during the conference this week.

Happy hunting.

Subscribe to Business Insider's weekly healthcare newsletter Dispensed for all the biggest news from the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference.

Alder BioPharmaceuticals

Ticker: ALDR

Share drop: -8.2% on January 8

What happened: Alder is working on a type of migraine-prevention drug known as a CGRP inhibitor. The company presented at the JPMorgan conference on January 8. You can see the company's presentation here.

Dova Pharmaceuticals

Ticker:DOVA

Share drop: -10% on January 8

What happened: Dova sells a treatment for the blood disease known as thrombocytopenia. The company presented at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference on January 8, and discussed additional potential markets for its treament. You can see the presentation here.

Crinetics Pharmaceuticals

Ticker:CRNX

Share drop: -7.1% on January 10

What happened: Crinetics is working on treatments for endocrine diseases and tumors. The company presented at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference on January 9, after the close of regular trading. You can see Crinetics's slides from the event here.

This is a preview of The Podcast Report from Business Insider Intelligence. Current subscribers can read the report here.

• The number of US podcast consumers has more than doubled in the past decade — and there's still a long runway for growth.
• And the podcast listenership base continues to grow in the US amid declines in consumption of other premium ad environments.
• Entertainers, music streaming platforms, and smart speakers will play a role in furthering podcast listenership growth throughout the next five years.

Are your social circles and online feeds always buzzing with everyone’s latest podcast obsession? The number of US podcast consumers has more than doubled over the last decade. And by 2023, Business Insider Intelligence estimates there will be some 106 million regular podcast listeners in the US.

People are getting hooked on audio from a young age, too. Over a quarter (26%) of US consumers over age 12 now listen to podcasts on a monthly basis, a jump from just 12% five years ago.

And while the growing listener base is a huge draw for advertisers, it’s not the real reason they should be exploring podcast campaigns. After all, more than half of overall daily media consumption time in the US is now spent with video. Even so, podcasts have the upper hand.

Why should brands advertise on podcasts?

US podcast ad spend is expected to grow over 110% through 2020 — up to $659 million. But consider for a moment that TV and radio ad spend are already at $69 billion and $18 billion respectively, and this figure suddenly feels tiny. The podcast ad market’s small size implies many brands don’t recognize the valuable advertising opportunity podcasts offer.

When looking at factors beyond pure audience size, podcast listeners present several key benefits that make the medium ripe for success for advertising — and brands would be remiss to overlook them.

Here’s why brands should take podcast listeners seriously:

• The majority of regular podcast listeners complete all or most of the podcasts they start. Forty-four percent of monthly podcast listeners finish most of the podcast episodes they start, while 43% finish the entire episode, per Edison Research and Triton Digital.
• Listeners are more receptive to ads on podcasts than ads on other mediums. Of US respondents over the age of 18, 55% say they always or sometimes pay attention to podcast ads versus radio (45%), TV (44%), music streaming services (41%), and online video (34%) ads.
• Most podcast listeners don't skip past ads. Because most podcast ads are read by the host and baked into podcasts, it can be difficult for listeners to easily and accurately skip past podcast ads without missing podcast content, spurring many to listen through podcast ads entirely.

Want to Learn More?

The Podcast Report from Business Insider Intelligence explores the key drivers affecting podcast listenership growth, detailing the benefits of advertising on podcasts versus other media formats, and outlines the best practices for implementing a successful podcast ad campaign.

In full, the report discusses the barriers that will inhibit future growth in listenership and ad spending, and how these hurdles can be overcome to implement a successful podcast ad campaign and attract more big-budget brands into the space.

Join the conversation about this story »

• Chinese authorities are detaining and interrogating dissident Twitter users in what seems of be an escalation of its internet censorship, The New York Times reports.
• While Twitter is officially not available in China, a small percentage of Chinese internet users access it using software to circumvent the Great Firewall.
• The Times interviewed nine people who've been questioned by police over their tweets, including a human rights activist who was manacled to a chair.

Chinese Twitter users have been detained, interrogated, and threatened for their tweets, The New York Times reports.

Twitter, like many internet platforms including Facebook and Google, is not available in China. Nonetheless, a small percentage of Chinese internet users circumvent the Great Firewall using software to access the site.

Now it seems that Chinese authorities are cracking down.

The Times spoke with nine Twitter users who have been questioned by the police, and reviewed a recording of a four-hour long interrogation. Officers showed people printouts of their tweets complaining that they were critical of the government or of President Xi Jinping, and advised them to take down their tweets or delete their accounts.

Those interviewed told the Times that officers sometimes resorted to threats. An activist with a Twitter following of 8,000 said he was interrogated for eight hours while manacled to a chair. Afterwards, he signed a promise to stay off Twitter.

Read more:Google is likely to end its efforts to build a censored search engine for China, says report

A construction company employee told the Times that he was interrogated for 20 hours over a dissident cartoon he posted. He was released, but officers later showed up at his work demanding he sign a document saying he had disturbed the social order. After he signed, they showed him another document saying he was to be detained. He then spent two weeks in a cell watching propaganda videos.

"We're like lambs," he told the Times in a phone interview. "They're taking us one after another. We have no ability to fight back."

Another human rights activist, Wang Aizhong, told the Times: "If we give up Twitter, we are losing one of our last places to speak."

He said that police demanded he delete tweets critical of the government. He refused, but last month Twitter started sending him messages with backup codes to his account and he found 3,000 of his tweets had been deleted. Wang believes they were taken down by state-affiliated hackers.

A Twitter spokeswoman declined to comment on the government campaign when contacted by the Times. Business Insider has contacted Twitter for comment.

Read the full New York Times report here.

SEE ALSO: Chinese ambassador to the US says mass surveillance and oppression of Muslim minority is to make them 'normal persons'

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NOW WATCH: Jeff Bezos is worth over $100 billion — here's how the world's richest man makes and spends his money

• The Associated Press reported last month that a Chinese clothing factory used cheap or free labor from people held in oppressive Chinese interment camps.
• Beijing has been criticized around the world for its treatment of the Uighurs, a mostly-Muslim ethnic minority who are intensively surveilled and frequently detained.
• Badger Sport, which makes team clothes for US universities like Texas A&M, cut ties with the Chinese factory after reports of its use of forced Uighur labor.

An American company severed its ties to a Chinese manufacturer that was reportedly making clothes using forced labor from an oppressed ethnic minority.

Badger Sport, a North Carolina firm that makes custom sportswear for institutions like the University of Pennsylvania and Texas A&M, ditched the supplier Hetian Taida Apparel this week.

Hetian Taida is a privately-owned company located inside an internment camp in the northwestern Chinese region of Xinjiang, the epicenter of China's well-documented oppression of the Uighur minority.

Xinjiang is home to some 11 million Uighurs, a mostly-Muslim ethnic minority currently subjected to unprecedented and invasive surveillance techniques by the Chinese state. The region is also known as East Turkestan.

Beijing is accused of detaining up to 1 million Uighurs in prison-like detention camps, relying on flimsy excuses for doing so.

China justifies its crackdown as a counterterrorism measure. It has called the internment camps "free vocational training" where Uighurs "have realized that life can be so colorful."

Activists have found evidence of Chinese authorities tracking Uighurs' cellphone activity. Beijing has also invested billions of yuan into covering Xinjiang with facial recognition cameras.

Read more:Shocking footage purportedly shows cells inside prison camp where China oppresses Muslim minority

In a Wednesday statement on its website, Badger Sport said it will no longer work with Hetian Taida, nor import any products from Xinjiang.

It said the decision was made "out of an abundance of caution and to eliminate any concerns about our supply chain given the controversy around doing business" in Xinjiang.

The company said it "will not ship any product sourced from Hetian Taida currently in our possession," which it said previously accounted for about 1% of its total annual sales.

Badger Sport's decision follows a December report from the Associated Press (AP) that Chinese authorities were forcing detained Uighurs to making clothes for Hetian Taida for little or no pay.

It did not say which items were made by these workers.

Universities stocking Badger Sport clothing also removed items from their online and physical stores in light of the AP report.

It appears to be a sign that that businesses are reacting to international pressure and reporting on the crackdown.

US bipartisan lawmakers introduced an act last month urging the White House to consider imposing sanctions on Chinese officials responsible for the Uighur crackdown, as well as banning exports of US technology that could be used to oppress Uighurs.

China's foreign ministry told the AP that Badger Sport's decision to cut ties with Hetian Taida was "a tragedy for its business." It said that AP report on forced labor used "such wrong information."

• Read more on Muslims in China:
• A wall of silence around China's oppression of its Muslim minority is starting to crumble
• Jailing Muslims, burning Bibles, and forcing monks to wave the national flag: How Xi Jinping is attacking religion in China
• China is locking up its Muslim minorities, and pushing Islamophobia to get Europe to do it too
• Beijing says it's 'very rude' for 14 countries and the EU to ask them about detaining 1 million Muslims

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: MSNBC host Chris Hayes thinks President Trump's stance on China is 'not at all crazy'

• Andy Murray, one of Great Britain's most successful athletes, has announced he will retire from tennis this year.
• The former world number one tennis player was at his peak in 2016.
• It's thought he will retire with a fortune of $165 million, most of which comes from endorsements and sponsorships.
• Here's how Murray makes and spends his money.

Sir Andy Murray, one of the most successful British sports stars of all time, just announced he intends to retire from tennis after Wimbledon this year— although he may be forced to do so earlier, after the Australian Open.

The athlete has been struggling with hip pain for almost two years, which has prevented him from playing at his best.

However, Murray's impact on the tennis world is far from over.

He has made a name for himself as a champion of equality in the sport, regularly speaking out aginst sexism in the industry.

Read more: Touching tributes are pouring in for Andy Murray, who just announced his retirement from tennis in a tearful press conference

A successful playing career has also afforded the Scotsman the opportunity to work with sponsors, which often brings in more money than winning Grand Slams.

In fact, Murray, 31, has earned $61 million in prize money and just over $100 million in earnings from endorsements, bonuses, and appearance fees over his career, according to Forbes.

But unlike other world famous athletes like Usain Bolt, the Scottish tennis champion is frugal with his money, preferring to invest in small businesses and property to develop his multi-million pound fortune.

From luxury hotels to book deals and salad chains, here is how Murray makes and spends his $165 million fortune.

Edith Hancock contributed to an earlier version of this article.

Tennis great Andy Murray has announced he will retire from the sport this year — and he'll be leaving with a net worth of $165 million.

Source: Forbes.

While $61 million of this fortune has come from prize money, just over $100 million is from endorsements, bonuses, and appearance fees.

Source: Forbes.

2016 was Murray's most fruitful year, winning nine titles. He picked up a cool $2.5 million after winning his second Wimbledon men's singles title alone.

Source: Telegraph

• Serena Williams has said there were not a lot of role models for her to look up to when she first started playing tennis.
• This meant she took on that role herself and, thanks to life lessons from her parents to always love the way she looked, she has never been "afraid" to be black in tennis.
• Williams is currently preparing to compete in the 2019 Australian Open which begins on Monday. She takes on Tatjana Maria in the first round on Tuesday.

Serena Williams has said that neither she or her sister Venus Williams were ever "afraid to wear braids" or "be black in tennis."

Williams is regarded as the most dominant women's tennis player ever. The 37-year-old has held the world number one rank for a total of 319 weeks, the third best all-time record. She is a 23-time Grand Slam champion, and has earned over $88 million in career prize money.

But speaking to Allure, the American said weren't many role models for her to look up to in the sport when she first started playing.

She said she had to adopt that role herself and that as soon as she and her sister Venus became famous around the world as wildly-talented teenagers, their parents ensured they remained body-positive and knew how to love the way they looked.

Read more: The cartoonist who turned Serena Williams into an angry baby doesn't think his drawing is racist and says 'the world has just gone crazy'

"Venus and I started out being successful, continued to be successful, and we were also unapologetically ourselves. We were not afraid to wear braids. We weren’t afraid to be black in tennis. And that was different," she said.

It is also something she wants to teach her own daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr.

"My mom instilled in us to be confident women, to really believe in ourselves, be proud of our heritage, our hair, and our bodies. That was something that was really important for her to teach us. I’m definitely teaching it to my daughter."

Williams is currently preparing to compete in the 2019 Australian Open, a competition she won whilst eight weeks pregnant the last time she played in it two years ago.

Williams has been drawn as a 16 seed and could face her 2018 US Open final opponent Naomi Osaka in the semi-final stage if both athletes make it that far.

Williams famously lost in straight sets to Osaka at Flushing Meadows last year, after getting slapped with three code violations for coaching (which she denied), smashing her racket (which cost her a point), and calling the umpire a "thief," which cost her a game.

The Australian Open begins on Monday. Williams takes on Tatjana Maria in the first round on Tuesday.

SEE ALSO: The cartoonist who turned Serena Williams into an angry baby doesn't think his drawing is racist and says 'the world has just gone crazy'

DON'T MISS: Serena Williams' Reddit co-founder husband Alexis Ohanian slams controversial 'angry baby' cartoon for being 'racist and misogynistic'

UP NEXT: The newspaper that published the 'angry baby' Serena Williams cartoon ran a hit piece saying she is 'no feminist hero' — here's why they're dead wrong

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NOW WATCH: North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un is 35 — here's how he became one of the world's scariest dictators

• Aphria on Friday announced that its cofounder Cole Cacciavillani and its CEO, Vic Neufeld, would transition out of their executive roles.
• The company reported mixed quarterly results Friday morning.
• Aphria shares were down 2.8% early Friday.
• Watch Aphria trade live.

The Canadian cannabis producer Aphria reported mixed quarterly results Friday morning that were overshadowed by news that its cofounder Cole Cacciavillani and its CEO, Vic Neufeld, would transition out of their executive roles in the coming months.

The two will remain in their roles for now, working with Aphria's board chair, Irwin Simon, and the company's president, Jakob Ripshtein, on a succession plan, the company said.

"Now with legalization and globalization, including a huge market opportunity with positive developments in the US, Aphria's next generation of leadership may take the reins," Neufeld said in a statement.

"Building and leading a company like Aphria, which exploded from an idea in late 2013 to our many successes to date, has been an incredible journey, despite the toll it has taken on health, family, and personal priorities."

For its fiscal second quarter, Aphria lost an adjusted 0.01 Canadian dollars a share as net revenue grew 63% versus a year ago to 21.67 million Canadian dollars. Wall Street analysts surveyed by Bloomberg were looking for adjusted earnings of 0.02 Canadian dollars on revenue of $28.77 million.

On December 3, the company was accused by the short seller Quintessential Capital Management's Hindenburg Research of being a "shell game with a cannabis business on the side." Quintessential accused Aphria of announcing acquisitions in July that it called "largely worthless" and said were used to divert as much as $700 million, or nearly half of its total net assets. Aphria denied the allegations. 

On December 27, Green Growth Brands announced plans to launch a takeover bid for Aphria, offering 1.5714 Green Growth shares for each Aphria share — a 45.5% premium to the previous day's closing price. Aphria rejected the offer, saying it undervalued the company.  

Aphria shares were down 2.43% to $6.40 a share early Friday.

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NOW WATCH: The equity chief at $6.3 trillion BlackRock weighs in on the trade war, a possible recession, and offers her best investing advice for a tricky 2019 landscape