Plus: Why Las Vegas Casinos Won’t Gamble On Cannabis |
Good morning,
Social media has surged into the mainstream—and its most-successful creators aren’t just there for the likes. They’re entrepreneurs. The 50 richest on Forbes’ 2025 Top Creators list earned an estimated $853 million, an 18% increase from 2024’s record year. And that doesn’t include the millions they’re hauling in from brand partnerships. “Next year, it’s expected that influencer marketing will expand to $50 billion,” says Ryan Detert, founder and CEO of creator marketing firm Influential, who partnered with Forbes on our list. And with the rise of AI, content creation is set to accelerate, as advanced editing and targeting software allow influencers to produce videos cheaper, faster and better.
Let’s get into the headlines, |
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| Missile strikes between Israel and Iran entered their fourth day Monday, and President Donald Trump is pushing for peace, having recently vetoed an Israeli plan to kill Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Trump did not offer specifics about the peace negotiations, later telling ABC News he was “open” to Russian President Vladimir Putin serving as a mediator and they had “a long talk about it.” Demonstrators crowded streets, parks and plazas for “No Kings” protests across the U.S. Saturday, and organizers say millions of people gathered to oppose the president’s agenda. In Washington, D.C. Saturday, rain muted the fanfare for the Army’s 250th anniversary and military parade, while TikTokers who’d reserved tickets with no intention of attending took credit for the parade’s “modest” attendance. Authorities arrested a 57-year-old suspected of killing Minnesota State Rep. Melissa Hortman and shooting State Senator John Hoffman in separate attacks early Saturday morning, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz announced late on Sunday. Walz called it a “politically motivated assassination,” and the suspected shooter had a list of up to 70 names, including abortion providers and advocates. |
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 | | ILLUSTRATION BY SAMANTHA LEE FOR FORBES; IMAGES BY SIRJ_PO/GETTY IMAGES; BUBAONE/GETTY IMAGES; OXANA PLOTNIKOVA/GETTY IMAGES; VISHAL GHORI/GETTY IMAGES; BORTONIA/GETTY IMAGES |
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| Real estate entrepreneur Alexandre Rizk opened Las Vegas’ first cannabis-friendly hotel two years ago, believing he had a “genius, million-dollar idea.” It turned out to be a flop. Within five months of launching The Lexi on West Sahara Avenue, Rizk knew he had made a mistake as occupancy topped out at 30% and he started losing bids to host weddings and other group events to competitors who don’t cater to cannabis consumers. Rizk sold his first cannabis-friendly hotel in Phoenix and is in the process of rebranding The Lexi. After he stopped advertising the property as cannabis-friendly, occupancy jumped 15%. “Unfortunately, this venture could cost me my entire career,” says Rizk, who personally invested $5 million into the 64-room, adults-only hotel, which he bought with other investors for $12 million in 2022. Despite Rizk’s cautionary tale, Las Vegas is perpetually wrestling with how to integrate cannabis and casinos, particularly now that gaming revenue has declined this year. Nevada legalized medical marijuana in 2001 and recreational marijuana in 2020, but thanks to federal law and Nevada gaming rules, casinos cannot invest in or be a part of the state-regulated marijuana trade without risking losing their gaming license. Nevada’s legislators have gone further and instituted rules that ban dispensaries within 1,500 feet from a licensed casino and forbids them from delivering legal orders on The Strip. In other words, doing business with the cannabis industry would be a death sentence for casino operators. |
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| Brendan Bussmann, the managing partner of B Global, a consulting firm focused on gaming and hospitality, says Las Vegas’ greatest skill is its ability to offer entertainment to the masses, but that the anything-goes debauchery Sin City is famous for is like a David Copperfield show—largely an illusion. “Yes, you can have gaming here, and yes, you can have fun in a host of different ways,” says Bussmann, “but we’re not here to say there are no rules.” |
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| Friday was the worst day in weeks for all three major stock indexes, as investors weighed geopolitical concerns in the aftermath of Israel’s strike on Iran, which subsequently launched counterstrikes. It was also the single-largest one-day boost in oil prices in more than three years, and the price of the traditional safe haven gold also shot up. “If Iranian oil production is significantly disrupted, oil has the potential to go much higher,” warned LPL Financial’s chief equity strategist Jeff Buchbinder. Brazil-based JBS, the world’s largest meatpacker, debuted on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday, where its stock price increased nearly 5% by the end of the day despite a history of corruption by its billionaire board directors Joesley and Wesley Batista. The brothers, who are the top shareholders in the company and serve as board directors, saw their net worths rise with the IPO, and are now worth $4.8 billion each. |
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| WEALTH + ENTREPRENEURSHIP |
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| Billionaires have the ability to indulge in almost anything, but a new Forbes survey asking the world’s richest about the luxury they can’t live without found that the most common answer was a private jet. The reason is primarily convenience: While flying commercial typically takes several hours, with all the security, boarding and taxiing, a private jet can be ready in minutes. |
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| Meta plans to acquire a 49% stake in Scale AI for $14.3 billion, supporting its sprawling AI ambitions. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg: Forbes has learned that Meta intends to pay Scale at least $450 million a year for five years for its AI products, or more than half of its annual AI spend, whichever is less. |
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| President Donald Trump acknowledged last week that his aggressive immigration crackdown is driving away long-time workers from the agricultural and hospitality industries, jobs such businesses are struggling to fill. Meanwhile, the Trump Organization has consistently utilized temporary visa programs to hire foreign workers for Mar-a-Lago, four golf clubs and his Virginia winery—even increasing its use of these visa programs in recent years. As the Trump Administration has targeted USAID for cuts, it is aiming to defund the agency’s inspector general’s office, which is tasked with rooting out fraud in foreign aid—and it saves taxpayers billions. The cuts have raised concerns among members of the Senate’s Committee on Foreign Relations and the Appropriations Committee, which oversees the agency. |
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| President Donald Trump’s pause on new appointments for J-1 visas had already thrown a wrench in medical residencies for foreign-born doctors, now a travel ban on individuals from 19 countries is complicating it further. Foreign-born international medical school graduates are a crucial part of solving the doctor shortage, but they must complete a U.S. residency before practicing medicine here. |
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| The Senate confirmed former Rep. Billy Long of Missouri as the next IRS commissioner in a vote along party lines, ending a contentious period at the agency. Long was confirmed despite the fact that he has no college degree or formal training in tax, law or accounting—and amid concerns about his ties to companies that promoted controversial tax credits. |
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| Coco Gauff is one of the world’s highest-paid tennis players, but the more than $2.9 million she earned from winning the French Open will be slashed nearly in half after paying required taxes. The American tennis player beat Aryna Sabalenka to win the tournament: |
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45% | The tax bracket she will be subject to in France, which would reduce her winnings to just over $1.6 million, and she could be required to pay additional taxes | |
| $65.2 million | The combined prize-money pool for the French Open, 6.3% higher than the previous year, according to the ATP Tour | |
| Third | Gauff’s ranking on Forbes’ 2024 list of the World’s Highest-Paid Tennis Players |
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| If you’re anxious about running out of money in retirement, try the “Fill the Gap” approach. Determine your monthly guaranteed income and expenses, and calculate the gap between the two. To figure out how much you should have in liquid investments to cover it, take the yearly shortfall and multiply it by 25. That can become the target for an investment portfolio that balances income and growth. |
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