• John Dorval, head of innovation at insurance giant John Hancock, said startups and financial firms could do a better job of working together more efficiently. 
• One issue is around startups lacking an understanding of the underlying issues financial firms face, despite having technology capable of offering a solution.
• Large financial firms, meanwhile, could do a better job cutting down on the red tape involved with testing fintech products. 

The growth of the financial technology sector has exploded in recent years as startups look to solve problems for large, slow-moving financial firms in innovative ways. But one executive at a nearly $500 billion insurance firm said both sides could be working with each other even more efficiently.

Steve Dorval, head of innovation and advice at Boston-based John Hancock, told Business Insider in an interview Thursday there are several issues startups face when trying to solve problems for big banks and insurance companies.

Dorval, who is also the president of John Hancock's personal financial services, said entrepreneurs don't always see the benefits their products might offer large, complex financial firms because they lack a full understanding of the problems these companies face.

"There are a lot of companies and startups out there that don’t realize that they have solutions that could feed the needs of what we want in terms of how to help make us more efficient," Dorval said. "You're a 25-year-old PhD coming out of MIT and you haven't worked in a large financial services industry [firm]. You might have no idea that XYZ is hard when it seems like it should be just routine for someone like us."

Startups have done a good job of addressing issues visible to the general public. Dorval pointed to reduced trading fees and renters insurance as examples of fintechs developing ways to do something in the industry cheaper and more efficiently through technology. It's a common origin story in the space, he added, of an entrepreneur looking to address an issue he or she personally faced. 

However, financial firms face other challenges not seen by outsiders that young startups might not even understand.

"There are still large financial services organizations that are dealing with faxes," he said. "There are probably entrepreneurs that have never seen a fax machine. How do you know to solve a problem for an issue that you didn’t even realize existed in the world anymore?"

Financial firms carry some of the blame as well, Dorval said, as they could do a better job of interacting with startups early on. The way large organizations are structured require fintechs to jump through multiple hoops just to allow the firm to test their solution. 

As a result, Dorval said some of the most sought after fintechs are hesistant to get involved with legacy financial or tech firms. 

"We have heard horror stories with startups where they spend six to nine months working with a large company trying to just implement a proof of concept,"Dorval said. "Many entrepreneurs, especially the ones with the most exciting technology, are suspicious of partnering with large companies like us."

As a result, Dorval said John Hancock has tried to dramatically reduce the friction costs for startups to begin doing business with them, whether it be through a proof of concept or even a validation of an idea. 

John Hancock and Dorval will get that opportunity through their involvement in the MassChallenge's accelerator program in Boston in which financial firms in the area have the opportunity to work with local fintechs. John Hancock, which has around $483 billion in assets under management, has invested an undisclosed amount to be involved in the program for the next three years, Dorval said. 

The insurance company could end up working with as many as 10 startups through the accelerator, he added. 

"We try to think about it more as being almost like a venture capital portfolio that you are probably going to have a not normal distribution of outcomes," Dorval said. "There are going to be a lot of different things we try or a lot of companies that we talk to and see if we can do something. Many of them will either not work or won't be real, and we will realize that, hopefully fast. But if one or two of them can meaningfully change the cost curve or improve our customer experience then we will have considered this entire relationship to be a rousing success."

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• The LG C8 is the best OLED TV you can buy because it shows off how powerful OLED technology is with excellent black levels, an attractive design, and a slew of features.

OLED TVs have been very popular among home theater enthusiasts for the past few years, and the continually dropping price point of this premium product means there's never been a better time to invest in one. If you want the best streaming, gaming, and movie watching experience, there's no substitute for an OLED TV.

OLED stands for "organic light emitting diode," and while that just seems like technical jargon, it has serious implications for your TV watching experience. Instead of using a traditional backlight, OLED screens use a carbon-based film between two conductors that creates light when an electric current passes through. That means when there's black in an image, the TV won't display light at all, making for the highest dynamic range of any TV technology.

Like any high-end technology, though, there's a lot of confusion surrounding what you should buy. LG, Samsung, and Sony each have their own marketing lingo, which makes it difficult to know if you're even buying an OLED in the first place.

We've scoured the internet and tested some of the premium options on the market so you can find the best OLED TV in our buying guide

Here are the best OLED TVs you can buy:

• Best OLED TV overall: LG C8
• Best OLED TV for less than $1,600: LG B8
• Best high-end OLED TV: Sony A9F Master Series
• Best curved OLED TV: Samsung Q7C
• Best OLED TV for large rooms: Sony A1E

Read on in the slides below to check out our top picks.

The best OLED TV overall

Why you'll love it: With a reasonable price tag and excellent image processing, the LG C8 is the best bang for your buck in the OLED TV market.

Based on buyer reviews, commentary by experts online, and my own hands-on testing, the LG C8 is where you should look first if you want to invest in an OLED TV. It includes the best features from LG's TV line while maintaining a reasonable price tag. As the mid-tier option in LG's line-up, it's also the centerpiece of most sales.

OLED TVs also rely on processing power, and the C8 is no slouch in this regard. It uses the a9 processor, which is the same processor used in LG's super expensive W8 series of TVs. The processor provides the C8 TV with the best color accessory and sharpness. LG's C8 even earned an "excellent" rating from Consumer Reports for its picture quality.

The C8 also supports HDR content which, unlike with many cheaper TVs, isn't just a flat marketing point. The TV supports HDR10, Dolby Vision, HLG, and Advanced HDR by Technicolor, meaning you can take advantage of just about any HDR content that's available. It's great future proofing, as HDR content is ever growing.

When dropping this kind of money on a TV, though, none of that should come as a surprise. The C8 may differentiate itself with excellent image quality, but the ThinQ AI is what sets it apart from the pack. It integrates with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, so you can watch anything just by yelling at your digital assistant from across the room.

Furthermore, the C8 comes with Gallery Mode, which will cycle paintings and photographs across the screen to avoid the dreaded OLED burn-in. It's also got Dolby Atmos support and access to nearly every streaming platform available — though HBO is oddly omitted.

Pros: Excellent image quality, ThinQ AI, relatively inexpensive

Cons: No HBO support

Buy the LG C8 55-inch OLED TV on Amazon for $1,897 (originally $1,996.99)

The best OLED TV for less than $1,600

Why you'll love it: LG cut some corners to bring the B8 to a lower price point, and while it's not as good as our top pick, it gets damn close for about $300 less.

The LG B8 is mostly the same TV as the C8. Like its more expensive sibling, it uses LG's WebOS, supports a range of HDR content, and comes with the same integration with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. The only thing that's different is the image processor.

It uses the now dated a7 processor, which LG only uses in this TV. While it would be great to say there isn't a difference between this processor and LG's flagship one, there is. The higher-end a9 processor helps bring colors to life more and bumps up the sharpness, but only by a thin margin.

In a side-by-side comparison with other LG OLEDs, the a9 processor reigns supreme. However, when put against competitors, the a7 still shines. The difference between the two is really splitting hairs. The a7 processor helps the B8 beat out TVs that are double its price.

Believe it or not, the largest difference between the B8 and C8 is the stand. LG opted for the narrow, angled stand seen on 2017's C7 instead of the wider, curved version seen on the C8. When put on a wall, though, the B8 and C8 look identical.  

Pros: Cheapest true OLED TV on the market, Google Assistant integration

Cons: Older image processor, no HBO support

Buy the LG B8 OLED TV on Amazon for $1,597 (originally $1,796.99)

The best high-end OLED TV

Why you'll love it: Sony may not have the chops to compete with LG's inexpensive OLEDs, but it pulls ahead in a high-end market with the excellent app support and truly impressive audio quality of the A9F Master Series TV.

Sony TVs have always had one word associated with them: expensive. The A9F Master Series is no exception to that, touting a price tag that's around $1,200 more than LG's competing top-tier OLED TV. Even so, Sony justifies the price with a unique spin on built-in audio and a wide range of applications.

TV speakers are notoriously bad, but you should listen to the A9F before blowing money on a speaker system. Sony essentially turned the TV into a soundbar, utilizing the surface area of the panel to distribute sound throughout the room. It's called "Acoustic Surface Audio+," and it's impressive.

There are six actuators behind the panel that pour sound into the room, with two dedicated woofers handling the bass. It sounds so good that I recommend using the A9F as a center speaker while connecting other bookshelf speakers for a surround setup, which Sony, thankfully, supports.

You're paying for that tech, mostly. The image quality is about on par with LG's mid-tier OLED TVs, despite Sony's new X1 Ultimate image processor. The colors and sharpness are mostly the same, though Sony falls behind LG when fast-paced action is on screen.

Movie watchers will be fine with either TV, but gamers should seriously look twice at the A9F. It makes a perfect pairing with the PS4 Pro, handling the detailed and chaotic graphics of AAA games with grace. The PS4 Pro supports 4K HDR gaming, too, which the A9F can handle.

Pros: Excellent audio quality, wide app selection, great gaming experience

Cons: Expensive, not the best movie watching experience

Buy the Sony A9F Master Series OLED TV on Amazon for $4,498

• The US started withdrawing troops from Syria on Friday, the Department of Defense said.
• The US-led coalition against ISIS has "begun the process of our deliberate withdrawal from Syria," a spokesman said.
• President Donald Trump said on December 19 that he wanted to pull troops out of Syria.
• Since then, there has been a flurry of mixed messages over the extent of US withdrawal, what troops would leave, and when.

The US has started withdrawing troops from Syria on Friday, despite the Trump administration saying as recently as this week that they planned to handle it totally differently.

The US-led, 79-nation coalition against ISIS has now begun "our deliberate withdrawal from Syria," Col. Sean Ryan, the spokesman for the alliance, said in a statement cited by Reuters and The New York Times.

"Out of concern for operational security, we will not discuss specific timelines, locations or troop movements," he added, according to Reuters. INSIDER has contacted the Department of Defense for comment.

The news comes after weeks of chaotic mixed messages, which began when President Donald Trump announced his plan to pull the 2,000 US troops out of Syria on December 19.

He said, inaccurately, that it was because ISIS had been "defeated."

Read more:Trump just radically upended US Syria policy despite repeated warnings that doing so could be disastrous

The president said he wanted the troops out in 30 days, but later rowed back his comments. His administration later lengthened the timeline for withdrawal.

The US was hoping that Turkey would remain in Syria to fight the remnants of ISIS, which is not totally defeated, either in Syria or elsewhere.

That plan hit a snag earlier this week when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan publicly insulted US National Security Advisor John Bolton, and said he would not play ball with the US plan.

Washington wanted assurances that Turkey would not attack Kurdish militants — alongside whom the US had been fighting, but whom Turkey considers terrorists — after the US leaves.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Thursday that the US would carry out with its withdrawal plans despite Erdogan and Bolton's disagreement, Reuters reported.

Unnamed defense officials also told The Wall Street Journal on Thursday: "Nothing has changed. We don't take orders from Bolton."

The decision to withdraw from Syria has been controversial even within the US government.

Jim Mattis, the former US defense secretary, and Brett McGurk, the top US official leading the coalition against ISIS, both resigned over it.

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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.

Automakers are on the verge of a prolonged period of rapid change to the way they do business, thanks to the combined disruptive forces of growing on-demand mobility services and self-driving cars, which will start to come to market in the next couple of years.

By the end of 2019, Google spinoff Waymo, Uber, and GM all plan to have fleets of autonomous cars deployed in various US cities to provide on-demand rides for passengers. By eliminating the cost of the driver, these rides are expected to be far cheaper than typical Uber or Lyft rides, and even cheaper than owning a car for personal transportation.

Many industry experts are predicting that such cheap on-demand autonomous rides service will result in a long-term decline in car ownership rates — PwC predicts that the total number of cars on the road in the US and EU will drop from 556 million last year to 416 million in 2030.

This decline in car ownership represents an enormous threat to automakers’ traditional business models, forcing them to find alternative revenue sources. Many of these automakers, including GM, Ford, and Daimler, have plans to launch their own on-demand ride-hailing services with fleets of self-driving cars they will manufacture, potentially giving them a new stream of recurring revenue. This could set them up to take a sizeable share of a market that is expected to be worth trillions by 2030.

However, competing in the on-demand mobility market will pit legacy automakers against ride-hailing services from startups and tech giants that have far greater experience in acquiring and engaging consumers through digital channels. To succeed in what will likely be a hyper-competitive market for urban ride-hailing, automakers will have to foster new skill sets in their organizations, and transform from companies that primarily produce vehicles to ones that also manage vehicle fleets and customer relationships.

That will entail competing with startups and tech giants for software development and data science talent, as well as reforming innovation processes to keep pace with digital trendsetters. Automakers will also need to create unique mobile app and in-car experiences to lure customers. Finally, these automakers will face many overall barriers in the market, including convincing consumers that self-driving cars are safe, and dealing with a complex and evolving regulatory landscape.

In a new report, Business Insider Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, delves into the future of the on-demand mobility space, focusing on how automakers will use fleets of self-driving vehicles to break into an emerging industry that's been dominated thus far by startups like Uber and Lyft. We examine how the advent of autonomous vehicles will reshape urban transportation, and the impact it will have on traditional automakers. We then detail how automakers can leverage their core strengths to create new revenue sources with autonomous mobility services, and explore the key areas they'll need to gain new skills and capabilities in to compete with mobility startups and tech giants that are also eyeing this opportunity. 

Here are some of the key takeaways:

• The low cost of autonomous taxis will eventually lead car ownership rates among urban consumers to decline sharply, putting automakers’ traditional business models at risk.
• Many automakers plan to launch their own autonomous ride-hailing services with the self-driving cars they're developing to replace losses from declining car sales, putting them in direct competition with mobility startups and tech giants looking to launch similar services.
• Additionally, automakers plan to maximize utilization of their autonomous on-demand vehicles by performing last-mile deliveries, which will force them to compete with a variety of players in the parcel logistics industry.
• Regulatory pressures could also push automakers to consider alternative mobility services besides on-demand taxis, such as autonomous on-demand shuttle or bus services.
• Providing these types of services will force automakers to make drastic changes to their organizations to acquire new talent and skills, and not all automakers will succeed at that.

In full, the report:

• Forecasts the growth of autonomous on-demand ride-hailing services in the US.
• Examines the cost benefits of such services for consumers, and how they will reshape consumers’ transportation habits.
• Details the different avenues for automakers to monetize the growth of autonomous ride-hailing.
• Provides an overview of the various challenges that all players in the self-driving car space will need to overcome to monetize their investments in these new technologies in the coming years.
• Explains the key factors that will be critical for automakers to succeed in this emerging market.
• Offers examples of how automakers can differentiate their apps and services from competitors’.

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• The trend of Wall Street talent fleeing to Silicon Valley to chase riches, influence, and a better lifestyle appears to be slowing, if not reversing.
• Banks and money managers, who eagerly court comparisons to giants like Amazon and Google, are spending tens of billions of dollars on aggressive technology projects that they're betting are the future of the industry.
• Companies like Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan say they're luring more tech talent, and having an easier time doing it. 
• No single dynamic is driving the trend. Rather, a combination of cultural changes, compensation, and ambitious projects and challenges on Wall Street are making it more attractive to technologists. 
• Wall Street's tarnished reputation following the financial crisis has also improved, while tech giants have taken a public whipping in recent months. 

Alex Sion is the classic boomerang hire — from Wall Street, to tech startups, and back to high finance.

He worked at Citigroup from 2006 to 2009 developing an early robo-adviser concept, then left for a decade before rejoining last summer to run an internal start-up incubator for Citi's Global Consumer Bank.

Much has changed in the intervening years, a large chunk of which Sion spent in the start-up world building and running a mobile-banking platform called Moven.

During his last run at Citi, technologies such as the Apple iPhone, Facebook, and Twitter were in nascent stages. Instagram didn't exist. To most, artificial intelligence (AI) was a Hollywood trope, not a flashy corporate buzzword that threatens to upend the labor market.

Wall Street was crawling its way back from the abyss of the financial crisis and licking its wounds by the time Sion left in 2009. Waves of other talented employees also jumped ship amid the carnage, to companies like Google, Apple, or the multitude of start-ups attracting piles of venture capital.

But the trend of Wall Street talent fleeing to Silicon Valley to chase riches, influence, and a better lifestyle appears to be slowing, if not reversing, according data and interviews with bank executives and headhunters. The finance and technology industries have converged, and tech's competitive advantages have thinned.

"In the past 10 years, there was an incredible shift in terms of what technology means to the (finance) business," Sion, who heads up a program similar to "Shark Tank" at Citi called D10X, told Business Insider. "Back then, tech was a source of cost effectiveness. Today, it's very well understood that technology is the business."

Copycat, Silicon Valley-inspired workplaces and billion-dollar budgets for high-impact projects

Today, banks and money managers eagerly court comparisons to giants like Amazon and Google, and they're spending tens of billions of dollars on aggressive technology projects that they're betting are the future of the industry.

As a result, Sion said many of his colleagues in the start-up world are taking the same route as him — boomeranging back to Wall Street, which they now view as the best place to scale their visions and create impact, after years accruing valuable knowledge in the trenches of the tech world.

"We have seen many instances of Citi employees who leave for tech firms or startups and boomerang back to Citi," Vanessa Colella, who is the head of Citi Ventures and hired Sion, told Business Insider. "They take their learnings from their experiences elsewhere and bring them back into Citi with the aspiration to transform financial services with the support and network of the global bank."

Citigroup, which spends $8 billion a year on tech, is far from alone. Wall Street has developed a voracious appetite for tech talent, and it's feeding off Silicon Valley to fill its needs.

Oliver Cooke, a managing director and North American head of recruiting firm Selby Jennings, said his company noticed a surprising and significant uptick in candidates joining Wall Street from big tech firms in 2018.

Of the nearly 145 technologists his firm placed at banks, hedge funds, asset managers, and trading firms, 62% came from outside the financial industry — up from 43% in 2017 and 32% in 2016. The most common firms candidates decamped from were Amazon, Google, Oracle, Snap, and Twitter. 

Cooke said the extent of the shift was surprising, adding that no single dynamic is driving engineers, developers, and data scientist to financial services.

"They want to work on cool stuff. They want to build cutting-edge technology systems, and they want to be paid well," said Cooke, whose firm focuses on mid- to senior-level talent. "And finally, they want to do it in a cool and fun environment."

Goldman Sachs — the only big US bank that doesn't reveal its annual tech spend — said applications for engineering positions increased by more than 50% in 2018. The proportion of applicants accepting an offer extended by Goldman is up, too, according to George Lee, the cochief information officer for the firm. 

Lee, who spent decades at the firm as a San Francisco tech banker, attributed Goldman's increased standing among engineers in part to cultural changes — efforts to mold the work environment to what's customary in Silicon Valley, including the modern tools, open and transparent communication, and a relaxed dress code.

Such copycat culture efforts are becoming status quo in finance. The $40 billion hedge fund Two Sigma, which brands itself as a tech company and says it's "calling all data scientists, engineers, and academics"on its website, recently opened new offices in Manhattan, complete with arcade games, computing memorabilia, gyms, a hacker space, and a music room.

JPMorgan, which has a glistening tech hub in Hudson Yards with similar perks and features, now has 50,000 technologists on staff and a nearly $11 billion annual tech budget.Two top executives at the firm have bragged in recent months of their success in hiring from Silicon Valley.  

Asset management president Chris Willcox, whose $1.7 trillion division is betting big on AI, told Business Insider in December that technologists "are enthusiastic about being in our industry." He helped poach Apoorv Saxena, Google's head of product management for AI, last summer to head up AI at JPMorgan. They added Facebook engineer Yang Wang in September as executive director of applied AI engineering.

Gordon Smith, copresident and consumer banking chief at JPMorgan, said the bank has "honestly had no problems attracting that talent at all," adding that luring engineers has "actually been very easy."

They may be requisite now, but ambiance and culture get you only so far. Additionally, developers are attracted to the challenges that can be tackled in finance, as these companies execute their visions for the digital age.  

Ambitious projects, such as Marcus, the Goldman's digital consumer-lending effort, and Marquee, its commercial app store, have earned currency and intrigue from the engineering world. 

"Engineers are drawn to hard problems, big challenges, and opportunities to use their skills in unique and different ways. I think Wall Street provides that for people," Lee said.

He added: "In the past you might've said, 'Look, if I want to work on leading-edge technologies, I need to go to a leading-edge technology firm.' I think the reality today on Wall Street is that if you come here, you'll be working on leading-edge technologies like AI, and machine learning, and natural-language processing."

'An enormous opportunity to have impact'

The rapid pace of markets means some developers can see their labor create impact and bear fruit much more quickly than it might in Silicon Valley.

Quants and data scientists working on commercial space rockets and autonomous vehicles face years of waiting to see the impact of their work take root; working on trading algorithms at a bank or hedge fund, they may contribute meaningfully to the bottom line in a matter of weeks.

"A lot of these people will sit in the front office and work with traders in developing trading systems and libraries and help enhance the trading infrastructure," Cooke said. "A lot of engineers are actually pretty exposed to the revenue generation piece."

In consumer banking, unleashing new features or fixing problems on a mobile app can make life easier for tens of millions of customers. That scale of impact has helped Bank of America Merrill Lynch, which spends $10 billion on tech, in poaching tech executives, such as Tommy Elliott, who left Apple last year to run digital payments at the bank.

Another factor that has likely leveled the playing field: the onslaught of scandals that have battered the reputations of tech giants, undercutting the long-unchallenged sentiment that their work uniformly improves the world. 

Tech platforms such as Facebook, Uber, and the iPhone, in their infancy or nonexistent a decade ago, have become dominant economic and cultural forces across the globe, generating massive wealth and accruing immense influence in the process. But over the last two years, they've taken a public whipping as concerns over privacy, detrimental health effects, platform abuses, and other externalities previously ignored or overshadowed by their dazzling promise and convenience have taken center stage. 

To be sure, many tech giants remain among the most desirable places to work in the country, so the two industries will likely battle over talent with increasing intensity. And trying to change the world and build a unicorn via entrepreneurship will remain alluring to many. 

But to some, the sins of Wall Street 10 years after the financial crisis have faded from memory. A big tech company in 2018 may not seem all that different than a big bank. 

For people who believe, as Sion does, that we're still in the early innings of the fintech age, working at a place with massive scale and resources like Citi is among the most exciting opportunities out there right now.

"A lot of the solutions being cooked up here are just as advanced and just as sophisticated, if not more-so, than the solutions I saw outside in the fintech space," Sion said. 

"It's an enormous, enormous opportunity to have impact," he added.

• Read more:
• Goldman Sachs’ big bet on the future of Wall Street had a rocky start. Here’s the inside story of the bank’s struggle to grow its next business and an exclusive look at its plans
• Inside JPMorgan Chase's New York City tech office — the 'mothership' of the bank's $10.8 billion digital ambitions
• A top Bank of America executive explains how the bank is luring top talent from companies like Apple and Disney to fuel its $10 billion digital ambitions

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With the rapid spread of marijuana legalization in the US, lawyers are discovering that the tangled web of regulations guiding the rapidly growing industry is a boon for business.

After last year's midterm elections, some form of cannabis is now legal in 33 states, and many in the industry say it's only a matter of time before legalization sweeps the nation.

Big money — and big law — has followed. The opportunity could be huge: some Wall Street analysts say marijuana could become an $80 billion market in the US alone in the next decade, with the global market hitting close to $200 billion. 

There are several key reasons lawyers are attracted to the marijuana industry. For one, as cannabis companies grow, merge, and start getting the attention of Fortune 500 corporations as acquisition targets, they need more sophisticated advice on financing, tax planning, corporate structure, and M&A.

Publicly traded cannabis companies were on a dealmaking tear in 2019, scooping up competitors and signing multibillion-dollar tie-ups with pharmaceutical, alcohol, and tobacco corporations. It's a trend heating up in 2019.

Read more: Big law firms are building out specialized pot practices to chase down a red-hot market for weed deals

In addition, many marijuana companies still directly flout US federal law, despite being publicly traded and posting multibillion-dollar valuations.

That's an opportunity to a select group of lawyers who have cut a trailblazing path into the industry. Once reluctant, some of the biggest law firms, like Duane Morris, Baker Botts and Dentons, are building out specialized cannabis practice groups as the industry continues to grow in profitability and complexity.

And even some of the most world's most prestigious law firms, like Sullivan and Cromwell, have gotten in on the marijuana mergers-and-acquisitions action.

Business Insider has pulled together a list of the top lawyers who've worked on the largest deals in the past year in the growing marijuana industry.

Here's the list:

SEE ALSO: The top 12 venture-capital firms making deals in the booming cannabis industry that's set to skyrocket to $75 billion

Patricia Olasker, Brian Kujavsky: Davies Ward Phillips and Vineberg

Firm: Davies Ward Phillips and Vineberg

Location: Toronto and Montreal

Davies, one of the largest Canadian law firms, first got involved in the cannabis industry at the request of an important client in October 2017.

That client was Bank of America, which had provided financing for the beer maker Constellation Brands' initial purchase of a stake in Canopy Growth, a publicly traded marijuana cultivator.

"We were really led by our clients into this space," said Patricia Olasker, a capital-markets partner in Davies' Toronto office. "We had to get smart about the opportunity very quickly."

Since that first deal, Davies has ramped up its M&A work in the sector, particularly after Canada legalized marijuana federally last year.

"There were a lot of internal discussions as to how comfortable we were advising companies in the space, and how to get comfortable," said Brian Kujavsky, a partner in Davies' Montreal office.

The firm then provided regulatory advice to Canopy on Constellation's subsequent $4 billion investment into the marijuana cultivator last summer.

Davies also represented investment bank Lazard's Canadian arm on the deal that saw Altria, the tobacco maker behind Marlboro, sink $1.8 billion into a 45% stake in marijuana cultivator Cronos Group in December.

The firm now advises marijuana cultivators, like Canopy and Cronos Group, at the "senior end" of the market, Olasker said.

"When a major client like Altria wants to enter the space, you're going to say, 'Yes, we're here to help you,'" Olasker said.

Looking forward, Olasker said consolidation will slow in the cannabis industry, but she expects to see a lot of deals on the radar. Expect to see tie-ups with consumer packaged goods, tobacco, and pharmaceutical companies either through joint ventures or strategic acquisitions, she said.

And since the passing of the Farm Bill, which legalized hemp in the US in December, Canadian marijuana companies are looking southward.

"The holy grail for Canadian [marijuana cultivators] is how to get exposure to the US market and not be offside stock-exchange requirements and anti-money-laundering regulations," Olasker said.

Jonathan S. Robbins: Akerman LLP

Firm: Akerman LLP

Location: Fort Lauderdale

Jonathan Robbins first got exposure to the cannabis industry in 2014 after a real-estate client called him up to ask questions about leasing space to a medical-marijuana company.

After that call Robbins saw the writing on the wall. "I approached the CEO of the firm the following day and told him we'll be kicking ourselves if we miss this opportunity," he said.

That was at the outset of Florida's medical-marijuana program, which has now blossomed into a big business, with many US marijuana retailers vying for a piece of the market.

Robbins is now the chair of Akerman's Cannabis Practice Group, which he says is one of the first cannabis practices at a national US law firm.

Many of the firm's clients, either private-equity funds, family offices, or high-net-worth individuals, provide a lot of the financing for the cannabis industry as traditional financial institutions like big banks remain wary of working with marijuana businesses, Robbins said.

In the past year, Robbins has helped Green Growth Brands, an Ohio marijuana retailer, acquire valuable grow facilities in Nevada and helped Surterra Wellness, a marijuana company backed by the Wrigley family, make strategic acquisitions in the Sunshine State.

"Just as you're starting to see more sophisticated law firms dip their toes in the water, we're seeing the same thing with more established, sophisticated businesspeople," Robbins added.

He said that the size and complexity of the deals he's worked on have dramatically increased as well.

"We're routinely working on $100 million deals, $200 million deals, public offerings, and complex cross-border transactions," he said.

Christopher Barry, Mike Weiner, Kevin Sam: Dorsey and Whitney

Firm: Dorsey and Whitney

Location: Seattle, Toronto, and Denver

Dorsey and Whitney's first involvement in the cannabis industry came through a serendipitous phone call to partner Christopher Barry.

On the other end of the line was a representative from a multibillion-dollar Asian investment fund looking for advice on investing in marijuana after the fund's regular counsel turned it down.

Since then Barry has found his expertise in cross-border transactions — he's the head of Dorsey's Canada Practice Group — which has dovetailed perfectly with the cannabis industry.

Barry has helped US marijuana retailers, like MedMen and Green Thumb Industries, go public in Canada via a reverse merger on the Canadian Securities Index. Barry helped Canopy Growth, a publicly traded marijuana cultivator, cross-list on the NYSE in May.

For Barry, who was instrumental in building out Dorsey's cannabis practice alongside Mike Weiner and Kevin Sam, being at the forefront of the new industry is what keeps him going.

"This is more fun than a barrel of monkeys," Barry said. "Look, I'm 71 years old. I've been practicing for over 40 years. If I weren't having so much fun with this I'd be retired."

• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez missed out on a crucial finance committee appointment on Thursday.
• The spot on the House Committee on Ways and Means went to Tom Suozzi, a Democrat more conservative than Ocasio-Cortez.
• The committee oversees most of the US economy, including Medicare funding, a key part of Ocasio-Cortez's platform.
• Ocasio-Cortez's representatives said she "hoped to be on it, but we're excited to see what committees she does get." 

Top Democrats have Congress kept Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez off a prominent finance committee she had hoped to use to advance her progressive agenda.

Nancy Pelosi's Steering and Policy Committee on Thursday gave the spot on the House Committee on Ways and Means to 56-year-old Tom Suozzi, a Democrat more fiscally conservative than Ocasio-Cortez.

Ocasio-Cortez's representative, Corbin Trent, told Fox News and the New York Post in a statement that Ocasio-Cortez "hoped to be on it, but we're excited to see what committees she does get."

He added, however, that she was "certainly not" upset by the decision.

Read more:The inside story of how, in just one year, Sandy the bartender became a lawmaker who triggers both parties

The committee oversees most of the US economy, including spending, taxes, and revenue. It would have been a high-profile arena for Ocasio-Cortez to advocate her progressive agenda, which includes Medicare for All.

Two of the 29-year-old's key manifesto pledges, Medicare for All and the Green New Deal, needs the committee's approval to become law.

First-year members of Congress are rarely given seats on high-ranking committees. However, representatives from New York City — where Ocasio-Cortez's district is — usually have at least one reserved seat on the Ways and Means committee.

A petition championing Ocasio-Cortez for the role reached 90,000 signatures before the committee appointments were announced.

Progressive groups like the Justice Democrats, Progressive Change Campaign Committee, and Democratic Socialists of America supported her appointment, The Hill reported.

Read more:Meet Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the millennial, socialist political novice who's now the youngest woman ever elected to Congress

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

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• Not all beds in boxes were created equal, and here to prove that is the DreamCloud, the luxury option you and your insomnia have been waiting for.
• This mattress is nothing like the foam-only options that you've seen from rival companies in the past.
• Rather, with eight layers (featuring one with micro-coils and another with cooling gel-infused memory foam), this is the mattress you thought you had to go to a mattress store to find.
• It's not cheap, but when compared to other luxury mattresses on the market, it's still a great price.

I thought I'd slept on every bed in a box in the land. I had unrolled and awaited re-flation of so many mattresses that I thought nothing short of a bonus kitten in a box could surprise me.

This isn't to say that there wasn't some variation among the many different brands currently crowding the space. Some are better for side sleepers; some are better for athletes; some really hang their hat on being prettier than the rest (though, please, for sanitation's sake, don't sleep on your mattress sans sheets). But when it came down to it, the standard deviation in the bed-in-a-box set just wasn't that large. That is, until the DreamCloud came my way.  

Let it be known that it is, in fact, the case that not all beds delivered to your doorstep are created equal. And the DreamCloud really wants to prove that (and itself) to you. It's unclear whether the "dream" or the "cloud" aspect applies best to the mattress — it's certainly comfortable enough for you to begin dreaming almost instantly, and while I've never slept on a cloud, I imagine that if they felt the way they looked and weren't just unsupportive piles of condensation, they'd feel a lot like this mattress.

The DreamCloud manages to differentiate itself first and foremost with its eight-layer hybrid construction, which features a combination of gel-infused memory foam, natural latex, and most importantly, a patent-pending coil technology that somehow survives being rolled up and shipped from a warehouse to your front door. And because the DreamCloud boasts eight full layers, it's decidedly thick, which is, of course, an excellent quality in mattresses. It comes in at 15 inches, which is notably thicker than the other options on the market.

The topmost layer of the mattress is a TrueTufted Cashmere Blend EuroTop. Plenty of adjectives, but all your really need to know is that it's remarkably soft, and surprisingly breathable.

If you're accustomed to waking yourself up mid-summer in a pool of your own sweat (no shame), you should get some respite from that fate with this mattress. The second layer, a gel-infused memory foam, should help, as it both offers cooling qualities as well as that body-conforming aspect that makes memory foam, well, memorable.

Then, there's another layer of memory foam that is unique to DreamCloud, and is apparently responsible for the luxurious feel of  the bed. You'll then find a layer of Supreme Natural Latex, a hypoallergenic layer that adds a bit of extra bounce. I wouldn't recommend using this mattress for all your bed-jumping antics, but it'll do the trick if you're so inclined.

The fifth layer is a supportive memory foam that promises deep contouring support, and the sixth is... yes, the fourth memory foam layer  thus far, which is both dense and soft, and helps support your body throughout the night. A quick note on this — as a side sleeper, I'm perpetually concerned that I'll awake the next morning with pain in my shoulder and hips. But thanks to the infinite number of memory foam layers on this bed, this was not an issue.

Finally, we make our way to the most unique layer of them all — the  so-called BestRest Coils. This encased pocketed micro-coil compression system makes the DreamCloud feel much more like something you'd buy from a brick-and-mortar store, and not something that you found online. It also adds a bit more support throughout the bed, which again, is often lacking in bed-in-a-box purveyors. The last layer is, naturally, the final high-density memory foam you'll ever hear me speak of — it serves as the foundation, providing the base upon which you will enjoy a delightful night's rest.

Setting up the DreamCloud isn't terribly difficult, especially if you opt for the white glove service (an additional $149), which involves DreamCloud specialists unpacking your mattress for you and taking away that old mattress that you never want to see again.

Of course, if you'd rather exercise your independence, that's fine, too. The DreamCloud is pretty heavy, so I'd recommend grabbing a friend or a sleeping partner to help you unroll the mattress. After all, you'll both be reaping the benefits.

If you're not entirely convinced about the DreamCloud, don't worry — no hard feelings. But trying is believing, and as such, the company offers a 365-night trial. Yes, that's a full year for you to make an assessment as to whether or not you are, in fact, sleeping on a cloud. In fact, it might even be enough time for science to help us determine exactly what sleeping on a cloud feels like. In addition, DreamCloud offers an Everlong warranty, which is to say that the company guarantees the construction, materials, quality, and durability of DreamCloud for the original purchaser forever.

All that said, the DreamCloud doesn't have the dreamiest of prices. There are, in fact, beds in boxes that you can order for less than the $1,199 starting price that DreamCloud offers for a queen. But to be honest, you'd be hard pressed to find one that is quite as comfortable. And I'm still trying to decide if you can really put a price on sweet, sweet repose.

Buy the DreamCloud mattress for $200 off right now: $599 (twin, currently sold out), $799 (twin XL, currently sold out), $999 (full), $1,199 (queen), $1,299 (king/California king)

SEE ALSO: The best sheets you can buy for your bed

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• China recently landed the first space mission ever, called Chang'e 4, on the far side of the moon.
• The mission's landing spacecraft and Yutu-2 rover were sent to probe the moon's geology, seek out water, study the night sky, and even grow silkworms on the lunar surface.
• Both spacecraft recently woke up from a "noon nap" to survive searing-hot temperatures.
• The lander took a 360-degree, wrap-around picture of the landing site after waking up on Friday.

China has released a detailed panoramic image taken by the first-ever spacecraft to land on the half of the moon we can't see from Earth.

The mission, called Chang'e 4, touched down on the moon's far side ("dark side" is a misnomer) on January 3. The car-size lander and smaller rover it deployed, called Yutu-2, are designed to probe the region over the next six months.

Shortly after the lander and rover began their work, however, the China National Space Administration put the two spacecraft into a planned three-day "nap," as Space News reported. This helped the mission survive the equivalent of high noon on the moon, during which lunar surface temperatures can reach more than 240 degrees Fahrenheit.

The noon nap ended on Thursday and both spacecraft "were in stable condition," the CNSA said on its website, allowing the Chang'e 4 mission to resume in earnest.

One of the first tasks performed by the lander was taking a series of images of the landing site on Friday morning. The CNSA stitched the images together into a 360-degree panorama and released two depictions:

The picture at the top of this story is known as an orthographic projection. This stretches some parts of a panorama and shrinks others to create a single, fish-eye-lens-like image.

The horizontal image above is a cylinder projection, which is essentially a 360-degree, wrap-around image cut at one point and flattened.

The cylinder projection was the most detailed of the image pictures released by China, and shows the clearest image yet of the desk-size Yutu-2 rover traipsing toward across the lunar surface toward at the edge of a small crater.

Earlier on its mission, the lander sent back the first photos from the surface of the moon's far side, and the images show Yutu-2 along with the tracks left by its six wheels.

Scientists in China hope to learn vital clues about the moon's formation, scout for water ice, scan the night sky for radio signals, and even grow silkworms in a self-contained ecosystem.

The first landing on the far side of the moon

The mission is exploring a larger impact site called Von Kármán crater, which stretches about 111 miles in diameter.

The crater is located inside a feature called the South Pole-Aitken Basin. The basin is thought to be the site of a cataclysmic impact with the moon some 3.9 billion years ago, where deep-down material splattered and remains on the lunar surface for study.

"It's possible this basin is so deep that it contains material from the moon's inner mantle," Tamela Maciel, an astrophysicist and communications manager at the National Space Center in Leicester, England, tweeted after the mission's launch on December 7.

"By landing on the far side for the first time, the Chang'e-4 lander and rover will help us understand so much more about the moon's formation and history."

Read more: 'This is more than just a landing': Why China's mission on the far side of the moon should be a wake-up call for the world

The mission will again have to take a nap around January 21, when there is a full moon and lunar eclipse (colorfully known as a "super blood wolf moon") since the far side will be completely dark and temperatures may dip to -290 degrees Fahrenheit.

The name "Chang'e" in the mission's name is that of a mythical lunar goddess, and the "4" indicates that this is the fourth robotic mission in China's decade-long lunar space exploration program.

No country or space agency, including NASA and Russia, had ever made a soft landing on the far side of the moon until Chang'e 4 on January 3.

SEE ALSO: 'This is more than just a landing': Why China's mission on the far side of the moon should be a wake-up call for the world

DON'T MISS: There is a 'dark side' of the moon, but you are probably using the term incorrectly all of the time

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NOW WATCH: China just made history by being the first to ever land on the far side of the moon

• Harbin, China hosts an International Ice and Snow Festival each year that draws millions of visitors.
• The festival kicked off its 35th year on January 5.
• The festival's winter attractions include life-size ice sculptures, ice replicas of the Colosseum and Milan Cathedral, and massive snowmen.
• There's also an ice-swimming tournament in which swimmers brave the freezing waters of the Songhua river in sub-zero temperatures.

China's Heilongjiang Province isn't always a big destination for tourists, but when winter rolls around, the region rolls out the red carpet to millions of visitors from across the globe. The city of Harbin hosts one of the world's largest winter celebrations, called the Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival, which features painstakingly crafted ice sculptures and gargantuan snow statues.

The festival, which includes four separate theme parks, kicked off its 35th year on January 5 and runs until the end of February. Last year's attracted more than 18 million visitors, according to NBC News.

The festival's colored lights make the ice creations look even more striking, and each year weddings also take place there in abundance.

For those unable to travel to Harbin this winter (presumably that's most of us), take a look at these stunning images from the festival so far.

SEE ALSO: A fitness guru who goes by 'Iceman' says exposure to extreme temperatures is a lifesaving third pillar of physical health

The 2019 Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival's opening ceremony kicked off with fireworks on January 5.

The festival's four theme parks are the Sun Island International Snow Sculpture Art Expo, Harbin Ice and Snow World, Harbin Wanda Ice Lantern World, and Zhaolin Park Ice Lantern Fair.

Lin Renlong, a 22-year-old visiting from Hebei with his girlfriend, told Reuters that it's like “Disneyland in winter.”

Despite the sub-zero temperatures, tourists like Renlong flock to Harbin from around the world and all over China.

Harbin Ice and Snow World — one of the four theme parks — grows larger every year; this year's covers more than 750,000 square meters, according to the festival website.

That's an area larger than California's Disneyland.

Visitors can enjoy Harbin's Ice and Snow World for about $48.

• Relationship expert April Masini attributes peer pressure and fear of failure as a couple of the reasons that people are afraid of commitment.
• Pew Research found that 42% of Americans didn't have a significant other in 2017.
• Poor relationships with friends and family, as well as bad past relationships, can cause people to avoid commitment, according to Masini.

The idea of long-term commitment isn't for everyone. In fact, recent statistics show that marriage — one of the biggest commitments a couple can make — is on the decline over the last several decades.

A Pew Research study found that roughly 42% of US citizens did not have a spouse or partner as of 2017. That's down 3% from 2007. While the statistics may not seem incredibly significant right off the bad, it is indicative of the fact that marriage is on the decline amongst Americans. This could be a sign of a larger issue — that many people are afraid of commitment.  

What drives people to be afraid of choosing just one person to be in a committed relationship with? Here are 10 reasons why people are afraid of commitment, according to a relationship expert.

They may be wondering if there is a better partner out there.

Indecisiveness can strike at the dinner table, movie theater, and yes, in relationships. For some people, it can be hard to commit for fear they are missing out on something better.

"People who have a good partner where everything is fine may not want to commit because they wonder if there is something even better out there for them," April Masini, relationship expert, told INSIDER. "They feel that committing to this perfectly fine partner will limit their chances for someone better they haven't met yet."

The fear of failure may hold some people back.

Some people let the idea of failing at a relationship hold them back from commitment. Masini suggests that people with this particular mindset are not going to commit under any circumstances because they think the commitment will lead to failure.

"Even if they've dated for years, and everything is good, they think that making an official commitment means they're going to fail," said Masini.

Some people don't want to give up the single life.

When you're single, you can talk to whoever you want at the bar, swipe left and right all day long, and do whatever your heart desires. When you're committed, depending on your relationship, that's not necessarily the case. Giving up that lifestyle can be difficult for certain people, causing them to avoid commitment.

"Some people prefer the freedom of one night stands and playing the field," said Masini. "They revel in not having to be there for someone when that someone needs them. Commitment means the end of that lifestyle, so they shy away from commitment.

• President George H.W. Bush took office in the waning days of the Cold War.
• Even during those heady days, his sense of humor showed through, like when he asked the CIA to make its briefings funnier.
• Bush's jokes and humor were widely recounted in the days after his death in November 2018.

President George H.W. Bush occupied the White House during tumultuous times, conducting military operations in Panama and the Persian Gulf and grappling with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in just four years.

But that doesn't mean we can't have a little fun, he told the CIA officers tasked with briefing him each day.

As vice president and president, Bush took special interest in the intelligence he was provided and in the personnel who provided it, according to a remembrance in the most recent edition of the CIA's Studies in Intelligence journal, written by its managing editor, Andres Vaart, a 30-year CIA veteran.

In a 1995 article in the journal, one of Bush's briefers, Charles A. Peters, recounts how, on January 21, 1989, the day after his inauguration, Bush injected levity into one of the more severe daily tasks the president takes on.

"When the President had finished reading, he turned to me and said with deadly seriousness, 'I'm quite satisfied with the intelligence support, but there is one area in which you’ll just have to do better.' The [director of Central Intelligence, William Webster] visibly stiffened," Peters wrote, according to Vaart.

"'The Office of Comic Relief,' the new President went on, 'will have to step up its output.' With an equally straight face I promised the President we would give it our best shot," Peters wrote. "As we were leaving the Oval Office, I wasted no time in reassuring the Director that this was a lighthearted exchange typical of President Bush, and that the DCI did not have to search out an Office of Comic Relief and authorize a major shakeup."

The CIA staffers compiling the PDB included a "Sign of the Times" section, which included amusing or unusual anecdotes meant to lighten otherwise heavy reading.

Read more: Bill Clinton once lost the nuclear codes for months, and a 'comedy of errors' kept anyone from finding out

"Libyan intelligence chief recently passed message via Belgians laying out case for better relations with US and expressing desire to cooperate against terrorism… even suggested he would like to contribute to your re-election campaign," one January 1992 entry read, according to Peters.

"French company says it has won contract to export vodka to Russia… deal apparently stems from shortage of bottles and bottling equipment… no word on whether Paris taking Russian wine in return," a July 1992 entry read.

Bush's single term stretched over the final days of the Soviet Union, possibly giving CIA staffers the opportunity to draw on their cache of Soviet jokes to liven up the daily briefing.

Bush's briefs also included updates about his counterparts. From time to time, Vaart writes, Bush would call one of those leaders to chat about something interesting they were doing.

For staffers working on the President's Daily Brief between 1981 and 1993, during Bush's time in office, "no labor was too intense to produce the needed story and no hours were too many or too late to make certain we ... made it good and got it right," Vaart writes.

Read more: How Pablo Escobar's Medellin cartel tried to get Jeb Bush to help it fight extradition

"This may have been true with later presidents," Vaart adds, "but what stood out with President Bush was that we ... knew well that the effort was truly appreciated."

"We also saw through those interactions, as though at first hand, the humor and personality of a man who deeply cared about the people who served him," he writes.

Bush's mirth was widely recounted in the days after his death on November 30. Friends and colleagues remembered his enthusiasm for jokes — at his expense, like when he invited Dana Carvey to the White House to impersonate him after his 1992 electoral defeat, and at the expense of others, like the "award" he gave aides who fell asleep during meetings, named after national-security adviser and frequent dozer Brent Scowcroft.

SEE ALSO: A retired general has twice turned Trump down to be defense secretary — a sign Trump has a self-inflicted personnel problem

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NOW WATCH: This video shows all of the US presidents in order of height

• SoftBank spent $900 million in investment banking fees in 2018, more than any company in at least a decade.
• The People's Republic of China is the only entity to outspend the Japanese tech conglomerate.
• SoftBank has primarily paid fees to investment bankers to raise capital, but it also executed many high profile investments in companies like WeWork and Cruise Automation.

If you didn't have SoftBank as an investment banking client in 2018, you missed out on one of the most massive and lucrative fee opportunities in modern history.

The Japanese tech conglomerate run by billionaire Masayoshi Son spent a staggering $894 million on investment banking fees in 2018, according to financial data company Refinitiv, securing financial advice on deals and procuring an array of bonds, loans, and equity investments. 

That's not just the highest total for any company last year, but the highest in at least the past decade. 

The next-highest fee payer in 2018, German pharmaceutical giant Bayer, is leagues behind at $384 million — 57% less than SoftBank.

No corporation has come close to SoftBank's 2018 tally in recent years. The last time a company spent over $800 million in a year on investment banking fees was in 2009, according to Refinitiv, when Citigroup spent $813 million as it was restructuring its business following the financial crisis. 

To find a real competitor for Son's appetite for investment banking in recent years, you need to include government nations. The People's Republic of China has been the top spender in the world on such fees each of the past four years, according to Refinitiv's data. China spent nearly $1.3 billion on fees in 2018, down from $1.5 billion in 2017.

What's Son getting for that $900 million? Most of those fees stem from raising money — paying banks to underwrite debt and equity financing.

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Mergers and acquisitions comprises a much smaller piece of the pie, according to Refinitiv, but SoftBank was nonetheless exceptionally busy deploying the nearly $100 billion in its Vision Fund to make investments and acquisitions.

SoftBank's 2018 investments include a $2 billion infusion in WeWork, $3 billion for Alibaba's food delivery service, $2.3 billion for GM's self-driving unit Cruise Automation, and $2 billion for Coupang, a South Korean ecommerce company. 

The top beneficiaries of SoftBank's investment binge last year are Japanese banks Mizuho, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, and Nomura, which together earned $319 million from Softbank — 38% of its investment banking spend, according to Refinitiv.

Morgan Stanley earned $83 million, a roughly 9% share of the total. 

Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank are also known to be top bankers to the firm. Each were lead underwriters on a $9 billion loan to the Vision Fund in October, and they're advising on the public offering for SoftBank's wireless unit as well, according to Bloomberg. 

Bank of America Merrill Lynch is also a top lender to SoftBank, though it reportedly balked at participating in the $9 billion financing last fall. 

Goldman formed a special group in 2017 specifically to earn more investment banking mindshare with giant, complicated clients like SoftBank — a well-timed and justified move in light of SoftBank's unprecedented spending this past year. 

But Goldman has lost some of its key bankers to the Japanese client of late. Michael Ronen left Goldman to work for SoftBank in 2017, and last week Simon Holden, an 18-year Goldman vet with deep ties to Softbank, retired. 

• Read more:
• Wall Streeters fled to Silicon Valley to chase riches, influence, and a better life. Now they're bouncing back to banking.
• One of SoftBank's favorite tech bankers has left Goldman Sachs after 18 years
• Wall Street banks have been fighting like crazy over top tech bankers, and they're spending millions to get them in the door

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Bernie Madoff was arrested 10 years ago — here's what his life is like in prison

• Ivanka Trump is one of the names being considered to replace outgoing World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, the Financial Times reported Friday. 
• Before joining the White House, she worked as a vice president of Acquisitions at the Trump Organization.
• She also directed her own fashion line, the Ivanka Trump brand, which was shuttered last summer. 

• President Donald Trump also floated Ivanka as a possible replacement for outgoing US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, but ended up nominating State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert after concerns of nepotism were raised.

President Donald Trump's daughter, Ivanka Trump, who works as a White House adviser, is one of the names being considered as a replacement to outgoing World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, the Financial Times reported Friday. 

The DC-based World Bank, founded after World War II to finance economic-development projects in emerging economies, has traditionally been led by an American. Kim's sudden departure from the bank came as a surprise to employees and leaves the bank's future uncertain. 

The Trump administration, which has been wary of and even hostile toward Western-led international institutions like the World Bank, will now be tasked with submitting a recommendation to the bank's board. 

Other possible American nominees to lead the bank include Treasury Under-Secretary for International Affairs David Malpass, USAID Director Mark Green, and former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, the FT said. 

Read more:From rich kid to first daughter: The life of Ivanka Trump

Unlike some of the other proposed candidates, Ivanka does not have a background in international trade economics, but she has been a businesswoman.

Before joining the White House, she worked as a Vice President for Acquisitions at the Trump Organization. She also directed her own fashion line, the Ivanka Trump brand, which shuttered last summer. 

President Trump also floated Ivanka as a possible replacement for outgoing US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, but ended up nominating State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert instead after concerns of nepotism were raised. 

"So nice, everyone wants Ivanka Trump to be the new United Nations Ambassador. She would be incredible, but I can already hear the chants of Nepotism! We have great people that want the job," Trump tweeted at the time. 

A spokeswoman for the Treasury Department told the Financial Times the Department been sent "a significant number of recommendations for good candidates” and was “beginning the internal review process” to choose a candidate to put forth to the World Bank's board. 

SEE ALSO: How Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner built their $1.1 billion fortune and how they spend it

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

• Many animated Disney movies come with a unique original soundtrack. 
• Disney songs like "Circle of Life" and "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" have been nominated for or have won Oscars.
• "The Bare Necessities" and "Under the Sea" are some of Disney's upbeat and popular songs.
• "Friend Like Me" from "Aladdin" was nominated for an Academy Award.

There are very few things that trigger an immense feeling of childhood nostalgia quite like belting out your favorite Disney song as an adult. Not only do you remember the exact scene said the song is sung in, but also you can (attempt to) sing the background vocals while simultaneously singing the lead.

There's no denying that Disney has perfected the formula of producing entertaining and long-lasting family-friendly films. A heartfelt and emotionally genuine story coupled with some great original tunes is essentially a recipe for success in the Walt Disney universe.

Combining their award recognition and Billboard success with their long-lasting popularity, we've compiled a list of some of the best Disney songs of all time. 

"Under the Sea" is a joyful ode to living a simple life underwater.

"Under the Sea" is a sing-songy tune that lists the benefits of living life underwater as opposed to on land. Sebastian the crab attempts to lure Ariel the mermaid from the idea of a future with Prince Eric where "up on the shore they work all day."

In true Disney form, the song won an Oscar for best original song in 1989 and three decades later it still remains a popular staple in Disney music history.

Read More: 19 things you didn't know about 'The Little Mermaid'

As far as sensational villain songs go, "Cruella De Vil" is one of Disney's best.

Gluttony and arrogance lead to her downfall, but at least viewers were blessed with the snappy number that was "Cruella De Vil.""101 Dalmatians" only has three songs, but this one truly stands out.

Struggling songwriter Roger sings the jingle to his wife as a distraction from writer's block, and the rhyming of "De Vil" with everything Disney fans could imagine. Audiences young and old can appreciate the short melody; it has just enough impact to land on this list.

Read More: 19 things you didn't know about '101 Dalmatians'

"Friends on the Other Side" gives a modern day Disney villain their own song.

When it comes to Disney tunes, it seems like anything Randy Newman touches turns to music gold. From writing songs for the "Cars" to the "Toy Story" franchise, the longtime songwriter provides incredible anthems that you couldn't get out of your head if you tried.

"Friends on the Other Side" is no different. It's such an underrated Disney song, and one of the few in which the villain gets their time in the spotlight. Performed by Keith David as the mischievous Dr. Facilier, he belts out this delightfully sinister tune just as he transforms Prince Naveen into the cursed frog.

Similar to Scar's "Be Prepared" in "The Lion King,""Friends on the Other Side" is exquisitely eerie in its visuals, reminding audiences of the vast creativity that Disney writers and animators possess.

• Taylor Swift received just one nomination for the 61st annual Grammy Awards, which will take place on Sunday, February 10.
• Given that Swift has traditionally been a Grammys darling, this shocked many critics and outraged fans.
• But we can't truly call the underwhelming number of nominations a "snub" when the album was the most underwhelming of her career.
• "Reputation" isn't even the best in the one category it was nominated (best pop vocal album).
• If anything, the 2018 single "Delicate" deserved a nod for song of the year. 

Throughout her career, Taylor Swift has been the definition of a Grammys darling: She became the youngest artist ever to win album of the year with "Fearless," and later became the first woman ever to win the award twice with "1989."

But this time around, the riskiest album of her career, "Reputation," essentially received a cold pat on the back. Swift's newest body of work was nearly shut out of the 61st annual Grammy Awards, which will take place on Sunday, February 10.

"Reputation" was a divisive effort, but Swift's gambit paid off — at least commercially. Despite its 2017 release date and minimal follow-up promotion, it was the biggest-selling album of 2018. Its perfunctory nomination for best pop vocal album translates as a conscious decision to shut Swift out of the major awards, which naturally shocked many critics and outraged fans.

But can we truly call Swift's underwhelming number of nominations a "snub" when the album was arguably the most underwhelming of her career?

"Reputation" had some great moments, but the end result was wildly uneven.

"Reputation" starts on a relatively high note with the topical, catchy, feature-packed "End Game" (we can skip right over "...Ready For It?" because, duh) and then immediately hits its climax with Swift's powerful pop-rock holy trinity, "I Did Something Bad,""Don't Blame Me," and "Delicate."

It also ends on a high note, gliding from the sharply tender "Call It What You Want" to the album's only Swiftian ballad, "New Year's Day."

This leaves the midsection, the bulk of the project: a bloated eight song-stretch with grating chord changes and try-hard electronic effects.

To be sure, we should all be thankful that "Reputation" wasn't the "celebrity self-pity party" that many people expected — or, in other words, an album full of "This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things" and "Look What You Made Me Do."

Read more: Taylor Swift's song with the dumbest name is her album's biggest diss track toward Kanye West

But even though it was largely an album of love songs, which is typically where Swift shines, it mostly just felt melodically strained and rhythmically clumsy. Production-wise, Swift was out of her depth, and it shows.

Even the lyrics were disappointing for someone of Swift's songwriting caliber. There are moments of clarity ("Getaway Car" employs an intriguing extended metaphor) and delightfully specific personal details that shine through the grime ("I'm spilling wine in the bathtub / You kiss my face and we're both drunk," she sings on "Dress"), but they aren't enough to salvage the songs themselves.

These lyrical gems are also weighed down by moments of childishness ("King of my heart, body, and soul" is a ridiculous phrase) and Swift sounding like an immature high schooler ("You should take it as a compliment that I got drunk and made fun of the way you talk," she titters on "Gorgeous").

"Reputation" is not a bad album. But it's inconsistent and messy, which are hardly adjectives that should be used to describe an "album of the year."

Commercial success does not always equal quality.

That commercial success does not equal quality has been used to belittle pop music for decades, which is neither fair nor what I'm trying to do here. "1989,"one of Swift's most beloved projects to date and easily her biggest embrace of radio-friendly bangers, is one of my personal favorite albums of all time. (It was also highly deserving of its 2016 album of the year nomination. Whether it deserved the award itself is another story.)

Read more: Frank Ocean slams the Grammys and calls out Taylor Swift's 'faulty' 2016 album of the year win

But to say that high sales and streaming numbers for "Reputation" means it's award-worthy by default is to deliberately simplify the way music is popularized and consumed.

"Look What You Made Me Do"spent three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 10 and 20 weeks on the chart. It had the highest streaming debut in history for a female artist. And the song is abysmal — we all know it.

"Reputation" isn't even the best album in the one category it was nominated.

"Reputation" earned a nom for best pop vocal album during the eligibility period (nominations include recordings released between October 1, 2017, and September 30, 2018). 

The category used to be called "best contemporary album" and then "best pop album," finally arriving at its current iteration in 2000. It recognizes albums containing"at least 51% playing time of new vocal pop recordings," meaning that it can't be largely instrumental.

This year, Swift's fellow nominees include Camila Cabello's"Camila,"Kelly Clarkson's"Meaning of Life,"Ariana Grande's"Sweetener,"Shawn Mendes'"Shawn Mendes," and Pink's"Beautiful Trauma."

First and foremost, Grande easily deserves the win in this category. Bouncing back from an unspeakable tragedy — a bombing at her concert in Manchester that killed 22 people, many of them children — in an appropriate way would have been a Herculean task for anybody.

But Grande managed to do just that and more, creating music that radiated with positivity while tackling important topics like PTSD and anxiety. "Sweetener" was impeccably produced, fresh, fun-loving, and painfully relevant. Put simply, it redefined Grande's career and positioned her as one of the pop music greats.

Read more: REVIEW: Taylor Swift's narcissism on 'Reputation' reads as irrelevancy in our turbulent time

Moreover, both Cabello and Mendes managed to produce cohesive and career-making albums — as opposed to the irregular track list on "Reputation," a let-down compared to Swift's previous bodies of work.

If an album isn't even the most deserving in its subcategory, how can it deserve an additional nomination for album of the year?

In reality, Swift most deserved a nomination for song of the year.

Indeed, Swift deserved one nomination, no more no less — she just got it in the wrong category. Her nod should have been for song of the year, not best pop vocal album.

"Delicate,"the only single from "Reputation" released in the US in 2018, is ostensibly one of the most perfect songs in Swift's extensive catalogue. It boasts some of her most poignant, vulnerable lyrics on top of subtly powerful, sparkling synths.

As Rob Sheffield rightly points out for Rolling Stone, "'Delicate' is her triumph on 'Reputation,' a whispery vocoder rush that sums up everything she's about." And given how song of the year is a category dedicated to excellent lyricism, "Delicate" is extremely deserving. This was Swift's true snub.

Visit INSIDER's homepage for more.

• • Read more about the 2019 Grammy nominees:
  • The 14 biggest snubs of the 2019 Grammy nominations, from Ariana Grande to Travis Scott
  • 7 artists who don't deserve their nominations — sorry
  • Meet the 8 stars nominated for best new artist
  • Cardi B's 'Invasion of Privacy' is up for album of the year — here's how her rap skills actually measure up to fellow nominees like Drake and Kendrick Lamar

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 7 science-backed ways to a happier and healthier 2019 that you can do the first week of the new year

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• Baby shower gifts can be daunting, especially if you're not also a parent.
• Below are 38 gifts under $100 you can feel good about gifting — from new cult-favorite products they may not have heard of to classics new parents will thank you for. 
• You can also check out our list of baby shower gifts under $50 for inspiration.

Baby showers can be daunting for outsiders. Even for longtime parents, it's tough to keep tabs on all the new gear in the childcare space. Here's your opportunity to shower your loved ones with joy and tools to make their next few years easier, and you're stuck wondering what to get.

If they didn't make a registry to guide you, most of the gifts are taken, or you're looking to gift something they don't know exists yet, you've come to the right place. Below, you'll find a variety of gifts under $100 that you can feel confident gifting. We've also got a compilation of great baby shower gifts under $50, and a list of hyper-useful baby products recommended by actual parents. 

Below you can find 38 great, affordable baby shower gifts parents will appreciate:

An adorable polar bear play mat

Polar Bear Baby Play Mat, available at Crate and Barrel, $99

A giant bear provides the support for baby to lounge, both on their back and during tummy time. It also doesn't hurt that it's a pretty cute combination. 

A nightlight and sound machine parents can control

Hatch Baby Rest Night Light, Sound Machine and Time-to-Rise, available on Amazon, $59.99

Rest is a nightlight, sound machine, and wake-up alert that grows with children — from soft light and white noise for midnight newborn feeding sessions to a preschooler's nightlight. Parents can customize everything: color, brightness, sound, and volume level. Or, they can choose from presets recommended by sleep experts. They can set programs to match their family's sleep schedule and can be adjusted remotely via phone.

A good meal without grocery shopping

Family Box, 2 meals for 4 people, available on HelloFresh, $69.92

Busy new parents don't have time to cook well for themselves. HelloFresh will deliver pre-portioned ingredients right to their door with recipes for easy-to-cook meals they can make without leaving the house. This way, they can eat well without the stress.

• Last April, Google's contract, vendor, and temporary workers — known as TVCs — were barred from all internal chat forums running on the company's Google Groups software, former TVCs told Business Insider. 
• The company cited security concerns as the reason for locking TVCs out of the Google Groups forums — a former TVC told us. 
• The decision had a "chilling effect" on the contractor community across Google, isolating them from their full-time counterparts and holding them back from being able to carry out "essential" work. 
• "You can only do half of your job," another former TVC said. 
• Equal access to information was one of the main demands from TVCs during walkouts in November.

Google's efforts to boost security and clamp down on leaks is deepening a rift between full time employees and the tens of thousands of contractors who toil alongside them everyday, with some of the contractors complaining that they've been locked out of internal systems necessary for their jobs. 

In April, Google's contract, vendor, and temporary workers — referred to within the company as TVCs — were barred from all internal chat forums running on Google Groups, three former TVC workers told Business Insider recently. 

The company cited security concerns as the reason for locking TVCs out of the Google Groups forums — one TVC who worked at YouTube at the time told us.  The decision, he said, had a "chilling effect" on the contractor community across Google. 

"They may have contained confidential information," the former YouTube TVC explained. "But there were also Groups such as food forums, Overwatch forums, Tesla forums — things that would generally bring the community together and things that would actually allow full-time employees and TVCs to collaborate and boost morale. So I think that actually in a way, whether it was intentional or not, [the ban] had a chilling effect on the TVCs.”

Feelings of social isolation aside though, some of the contract workers say the exclusion from Google Groups makes it impossible for them to perform their core job responsibilities. At a company like Google, where many employees begin as TVCs and hope to impress their managers enough to get hired full time, the rule changes have become a growing cause of distress and unease. 

One former Google TVC told us that he was blocked from Google Groups that were "essential" to his work and felt fortunate that his manager advocated for him to obtain the access he needed. That same manager also helped the TVC gain permission to book meeting rooms.  

Another former Google TVC said she had a different experience with her manager and "wasn't able to get access to a lot of their systems." As a result, she said, "you can only do half of your job.”

A Google spokesperson confirmed with Business Insider that TVCs were limited in their access to Google Groups in an effort to reduce security vulnerabilities. The spokesperson also said TVCs are provided access to the resources needed to succeed in their assignment at Google.

"We hire Google employees to work on jobs that are core to our business, and look to temps, vendors and contractors when we either don’t have the expertise or infrastructure ourselves, or when we need temporary help due to employee leaves or short-term projects," a Google spokesperson told Business Insider. "Temps, vendors and contractors are an important part of our extended workforce, but they are employed by other companies, not Google." 

'We were 2nd class citizens'

Equal access to information was one of the main demands of TVCs during the November employee walkouts and the subsequent letter addressed to Google CEO Sundar Pichai.

In the letter, TVCs wrote, in part: "We need transparency, accountability, and structural change to ensure equity for all Google workers... We want access to town hall discussions; all communications about safety, discrimination, and sexual misconduct; and a reinstatement of our access to internal forums like Google Groups."

Other demands included better pay, high-quality healthcare, and paid vacations. 

Read more: Google denies claims that it didn’t alert contractors about the active shooter at YouTube — but at least one temp says it’s a ‘big fat lie’

Google's practice of hiring temps and contractors in place of full-time employees has often been criticized as the company's way to cushion its bottom line at the expense of its workers. TVCs generally don't receive the many perks and benefits entitled to full timers, from paid vacations and sick days to bonuses. 

The former TVCs we spoke with all confirmed feelings of discrimination at certain times while working for Google. From not being able to invite friends or family for lunch, to physically having to wear a red badge — which the company again maintains is for security reasons — there was an "overall feeling that we were 2nd class citizens," one TVC told us. 

Another said having to wear the red badge and being a TVC "almost feels like a sense of shame." 

Got a tip?  Contact this reporter via Signal at +1 (209) 730-3387, email at nbastone@businessinsider.com, or Twitter DM at @nickbastone.

SEE ALSO: Alphabet's board of directors is being sued for allegations that it covered up claims of sexual harassment by top executives

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: We put the 7 best smartphones of 2018 head-to-head and there was a clear winner for the best value

• Kobe and Vanessa Bryant announced they are expecting their fourth child.
• Even though Bryant is retired from the NBA and no longer the highest-paid player, he is as busy as ever.
• While Kobe has an insane work ethic and has historically been completely consumed by basketball, he has found time to enjoy life and pursue ventures off of the court in his retirement.

Kobe Bryant was once the highest-paid and most electric player in the NBA.

While Kobe has an insane work ethic and has historically been completely consumed by basketball, he has found time to enjoy life and pursue ventures off of the court in his retirement. In addition to collecting beautiful houses, fancy cars, and even a helicopter, the Black Mamba has mentored up-and-coming NBA stars, invested in projects in tech, athletics, and entertainment, and even won an Oscar. 

Needless to say, Bryant is living the life — saying and doing whatever he wants in an endlessly entertaining fashion.

Tony Manfred contributed to this report.

Let's take a closer look at how Kobe spends his millions:

He went to high school in the Philly suburbs, but he grew up in Italy. He loves Italian cars.

He once walked into a Ferrari dealership and wrote a $329,000 check for a 458 Italia.

SOURCE: TMZ

He has owned a Lamborghini, a Bentley, and a Range Rover.

SOURCE: Pricing Insider

• An EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) is one of the most prestigious accomplishments in the fine arts industry.
• Only 15 actors, singers, directors, and songwriters have successfully won all four.
• The following 10 are individuals who are one award away from joining the club.

The prestigious EGOT — attributed to individuals who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony — could be considered the pinnacle of success.

Currently, there are only 15 artists who have this honor, include songwriter Richard Rodgers, "West Side Story"actress Rita Moreno, actress Audrey Hepburn and most recently John Legend, who joined the elusive circle after winning a Creative Arts Emmy in 2018 for his role as executive producer of "Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert." Currently, 15 thespians, singers and songwriters can add EGOT winner to their resume.

However, there are 10 stars who are only one honor away from initiation into the guild.

Viola Davis is just a Grammy away from an EGOT.

Viola Davis' portrayal of Annalise Keating in "How to Get Away With Murder" landed her an Emmy, and she took home a Tony Award for her work in "King Hedley II" and "Fences." Consequently, she also nabbed an Oscar for her role in the film version of "Fences." The South Carolina native only needs a Grammy to join the club.

Cynthia Nixon's EGOT status is missing the Oscar.

Actress turned gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon played Miranda Hobbes for six seasons on HBO series "Sex and the City." She earned a Primetime Emmy award in the final season in 2004. She lent her voice to Al Gore's audio version of his global warming book "An Inconvenient Truth,"for which he took home a Grammy. In 2006 and 2017, she won the Tony for best actress and best featured actress in a play for her roles in Rabbit Hole and The Little Foxes, respectively. All that's missing? The golden statue.

After nearly 60 years in the spotlight, Elton John has never won an Emmy.

There's no denying that Elton John is one the most popular vocalists of all time. He penned and lent his voice to "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" from 1994's "The Lion King." That earned him an Oscar for best original song, and his music arrangement for "Aida"nabbed him a Tony. The pianist has quite the trophy cabinet of Grammys, notably winning one for rewriting "Candle in the Wind 1997," a piece he modified to honor the late Princess Diana in 1997.

John announced he would be retiring from music at the culmination of his current tour but who knows if there will be an Emmy in his future.