Latest news with #Bezos
Business Insider
a day ago
- Business
- Business Insider
How business leaders like Jeff Bezos and Mark Cuban feel about work-life balance
Many CEOs and business leaders have shared their thoughts on work-life balance. Some support it while others call it a hindrance to success. Here's what some of the biggest names in business make of work-life balance. How do you juggle your personal life with your work? Just about everyone has an opinion on work-life balance, including CEOs. Some business leaders see it as an important equilibrium to maintain, while some outright hate the idea. Here are some top business execs' takes on work-life balance. Mark Cuban says, "There is no balance" for incredibly ambitious people On a recent episode of "The Playbook," a video series from Sports Illustrated and Entrepreneur, billionaire entrepreneur and former "Shark Tank" star Mark Cuban said, "There is no balance" for the most ambitious people. "People are like, 'I need a work-life balance,'" he said. "If you want to work 9-to-5, you can have work-life balance. If you want to crush the game, whatever game you're in, there's somebody working 24 hours a day to kick your ass." Leon Cooperman encourages young workers to "love what you do," but remember there's more to life than work Billionaire investor and hedge fund manager Leon Cooperman said in a recent interview with Business Insider that there's more to life than hustling. "I've been married 61 years to the same woman," he said, adding that his greatest success in life is that "my kids still come home." "Love what you do — it's too demanding and difficult not to," the Wall Street veteran said. "Pursue it with a passion," he continued. Cooperman said that while he spent 25 years at Goldman Sachs, it never felt like work because he enjoyed it so much. Jeff Bezos says work and life should form a circle, not a "balance" In 2018, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos said that workers should aim for work-life harmony, not "balance," at an event hosted by Business Insider's parent company, Axel Springer. Bezos also called the concept of work-life balance "debilitating" because it hints that there's a trade-off. Bezos said that it's not a work-life balance, but "it's actually a circle." Bezos said that if he feels happy at home, then it energizes him and makes him more productive at work, and vice versa. Satya Nadella thinks you should focus on "work-life harmony" Microsoft 's CEO also thinks that "work-life balance" isn't the goal. Instead, he says to focus on work-life "harmony." In 2019, he shared his thoughts with the Australian Financial Review, saying he used to think that he needed to balance relaxing and working. But he's since shifted his approach, aligning his "deep interests" with his work. TIAA's CEO thinks the entire concept is a "lie" "Work-life balance is a lie," TIAA CEO Thasunda Brown Duckett said in a 2023 fireside chat. Brown Duckett has previously said she used to struggle with guilt and balancing her demanding job with being a mother. Brown Duckett says that she views her life as a "portfolio," and that she takes time to perform different roles like mother, wife, and business executive. Though she may not always physically be with her children, she says she strives to be fully present during the time she is able to spend with them. Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt said work-life balance was why Google was behind in AI — then walked back the comments Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt criticized Google's remote work policy and work-life balance during a lecture at Stanford University in 2024, saying these were contributing factors to the company trailing behind startups like OpenAI on artificial intelligence. "Google decided that work-life balance and going home early and working from home was more important than winning," the former Google exec said in a recording of the lecture that was posted online in August. "And the reason the startups work is because the people work like hell." He added that those looking to start successful companies today are "not going to let people work from home and only come in one day a week if you want to compete against the other startups." After his comments gained attention, Schmidt walked back the comments. Arianna Huffington says you shouldn't have to choose between work and life Arianna Huffington, founder of Thrive Global and HuffPost, told Great Place to Work that we shouldn't view productivity and relaxation as two opposing forces. Huffington said that when one area of your life improves, the other does as well. Huffington said employees should focus more on "work-life integration" since "we bring our entire selves to work." Still, Huffington believes that your personal life should always come first. "While work is obviously important and can give us purpose and meaning in our lives, it shouldn't take the place of life," she said. "Work is a part of a thriving life, but life should come first." Don't expect a work-life balance if you work for Elon Musk Elon Musk is a known workaholic, and he expects those who work beneath him to be as well. In 2022, just after Musk took ownership of X, formerly Twitter, he sent out an email to employees telling them to either dedicate their lives to working or leave the company. Musk reportedly made X employees work 84 hours a week. While some people think remote work improved their work-life balance, Musk has often criticized it and called it "morally wrong." According to Walter Isaacson's biography of him, Musk would stay at the office overnight and shower at the YMCA when he joined the workforce in 1995. Musk has continued the habit while working at Tesla and buying Twitter, often spending the night at work. In 2018, Musk said that he works 120 hours a week, amounting to 17 hours a day. Jack Ma has also actively endorsed long work hours One of China's richest men, Alibaba cofounder Jack Ma in 2019 expressed his support for the controversial "996" work system in many Chinese workplaces, which refers to working from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week. He's called "996" culture a "huge blessing" for younger workers. "Many companies and many people don't have the opportunity to work 996," he said in 2019. "If you don't work 996 when you are young, when can you ever work 996?" "If you find a job you like, the 996 problem does not exist," he added. "If you're not passionate about it, every minute of going to work is a torment."
Express Tribune
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez's wedding in Venice triggers ‘No Space for Bezos' protests lrom locals
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez's upcoming wedding in Venice has drawn sharp criticism from local activists, who say the event symbolises the city's transformation into a playground for the global elite. The three-day celebration, set for June 26–28 , is expected to host around 200 high-profile guests, including Katy Perry, Oprah Winfrey, and members of the Kardashian family. But not all Venetians are looking forward to hosting the wedding in their city. A protest group has launched a campaign titled 'No Space for Bezos,' using banners, wall stickers and a prominent display on St. Mark's Tower featuring Bezos' name crossed out in red. Organisers accuse the billionaire of contributing to the city's gentrification and pricing out its long-time residents. Protesters in Venice raised an anti-Jeff Bezos banner and released a blue flare from the Basilica of San Giogio, ahead of the American billionaire's upcoming nuptials to his fiancé Lauren Sanchez — Reuters (@Reuters) June 13, 2025 'This wedding is the symbol of the exploitation of the city by outsiders,' Federica Toninelli, one of the activists, told Reuters. Protesters have threatened to block access to the canals and narrow streets used for the event's venues. Venice mayor Luigi Brugnaro responded by expressing disappointment over the backlash. 'We will have to apologise to Bezos,' he said, calling the protesters unrepresentative of the city's general sentiment. If it goes ahead as planned, the wedding will be Venice's largest celebrity nuptial since George Clooney's marriage to Amal Alamuddin in 2014.
Indian Express
a day ago
- Business
- Indian Express
Why are people protesting against Jeff Bezos' wedding in Venice?
Amazon's founder Jeff Bezos is all set to marry journalist Lauren Sánchez next week in a extravagant ceremony in the Italian city of Venice. Over the next week, 'The Floating City', that Venice is often referred to as, will hence see an influx of hundreds of high-profile guests for the event which will reportedly spread over the whole island of San Giorgio. However, not everyone in the city is happy about it. The news of the world's richest person choosing their city as for his 'destination wedding' has sparked protests among a section of people — the resistance being a part of a larger anti-tourism protests across southern Europe. The 61-year-old Bezos, with a net worth of $220.9 billion, will tie the knot with his fiancée Sánchez in a multi-million event with nuptials scheduled from June 23 till June 28. According to Italian media, most of the luxury hotels and water taxis have been booked out for the celebrated guests attending the ceremony that can shut parts of the city in the coming week. And, a section of Venetians are opposing this 'mass tourism' or 'overtourism' that such lavish weddings induce. While tourism is key to the city's economy, many residents rue that the rising number of tourists has ousted the locals and significantly harmed the city's historic landmarks. They accuse the local authorities of favouring billionaires over residents and turning Venice into a place that puts tourists, and not its residents, at the centre of its politics. 'Venice is being treated like a showcase, a stage… And this wedding is the symbol of the exploitation of the city by outsiders… Venice is now just an asset,' the BBC quoted Federica Toninelli, a 33-year-old Venetian activist, as saying. The protesters have been demonstrating against the extremely hyped event since last week as as they gathered with signs that read 'No space for Bezos', put up banners against the billionaire from the bell tower of the San Giorgio Maggiore basilica and the Rialto Bridge. In social media posts, they have urged people to join the protests and accused conservative Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro of treating city dwellers 'like a nuisance… because for him the only valid use of Venice is as a backdrop for events that make the rich richer.' Next week, they plan to disrupt the wedding festivities by jumping into the canals to obstruct the water taxis and blocking Venice's narrow streets, to prevent the wedding guests from reaching the venue. Meanwhile, Brugnaro is hoping that the stir do not dissuade Bezos and Sanchez from sticking to their plans. 'We will have to apologise to Bezos. I am ashamed of those who behave like this. I hope that Bezos comes anyway. Not all Venetians think like these protesters,' CNN has quoted Brugnaro as saying. Luca Zaia, the head of the surrounding Veneto region, has termed the protests a disgrace. 'I want Jeff Bezos to be welcomed with open arms in Venice. Protesting against those who bring visibility and wealth to our territory is, in my opinion, a disgrace,' CNN has quoted him as saying. Overtourism has been Venice's long-standing problem with the Unesco World Heritage city recording an average of 30 million footfalls each year, majority of them day-trippers, The Guardian reported. However, a new record was set last year with over 3.9 million visitors staying overnight in the city's historic centre. The day-trippers are the tourists who visit the city for the day without staying overnight. They form a significant factor in the overtourism problem, as they contribute to the crowds and strain on resources, without contributing to overnight tourist taxes. An experimental project to combat overtourism was launched last year by introducing a day-tripper fee of €5. This was extended this year too, while doubling the fee for the last-minute day-trippers — those booking their trip in the last three days before their journey. With this initiative aimed at deterring day visitors during busy periods, Venice became the world's first major tourist city to charge people for justing entering. Efforts to combat overtourism have resulted in a 10-euro daytripper entrance fee on weekends and peak periods while more residents are pushed out every year due to a dwindling lack of services like schools, hospitals and affordable housing. Even as the fee did little in terms of reducing the number of Venice's visitors, it did collected €2.4million for the city's coffers. Not losing hope, Venice authorities believe it would eventually help in reducing the number of tourist footfalls.
Spectator
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Spectator
Venice deserves Jeff Bezos
Venetians are once again revolting. Not, this time, against cruise ships, wheeled luggage, over-tourism or rule from mainland Mestre. No – according to a small but vocal contingent of the island city's eternally discontented, it is Amazon's billionaire founder Jeff Bezos who embodies all that threatens La Serenissima. Bezos's offence is that he is planning to marry Lauren Sánchez, a former TV journalist, in a three-day celebration in central Venice beginning on 24 June. His 250 guests will include many of the most famous and wealthy people on the planet. The celebrity-obsessed Italian press, deprived of such a world-class spectacle since George Clooney's Venetian nuptials with Amal Alamuddin in 2014, is in a frenzy of anticipation. Some Venetians, however, are less pleased. A giant 'No to Bezos' banner has appeared on the campanile of San Giorgio Maggiore, where the couple are rumoured to be exchanging vows. Lampposts have been plastered with flyers featuring an image of Bezos's head on one of his Blue Origin space tourism rockets as it blasts into space. Dozens of activists are planning to protest against 'turning the world heritage site – which has long suffered from the effects of excessive tourism – into a playground for the rich', reports the Guardian. 'There's a lot of anger in the air because once again the council has enslaved itself to the logic of profit – our city has been sold to the highest bidder,' activist Marta Sottoriva told the paper. 'Every time an event of this kind happens, the city comes to a standstill, certain areas become inaccessible and even more tourists arrive. This wedding really is the symbol of all that is wrong with Venice.' I have some shocking news for the Guardian, and for Ms Sottoriva. Venice was built by ruthless capitalists far more violent and rapacious than Bezos's wildest imaginings. As for playgrounds of the rich, the great palazzi on the Grand Canal are literally nothing more than vast private entertainment complexes built by oligarchs – essentially multi-storey ballrooms with a few bedrooms in the attic. After the Doge's palace, one of the city's biggest public buildings is the Casino. And in its 16th-century heyday as the world's capital of aristocratic decadence, of refined excess and sinful indulgence, the city boasted 20,000 licensed prostitutes paying taxes into the state coffers – close to 10 per cent of the population. There could be nothing more traditionally Venetian than pursuing profit, or the spectacle of filthy rich people partying. Indeed, the fact that all the Bezos revellers will be foreigners is also quintessentially Venetian. The great entrepôt on the lagoon was the Dubai of its day, an impossible city on a swamp made rich by embracing the currents of international trade. Venice was Europe's first truly international city, boldly borrowing fashion, language, architecture and expertise from all over the known world. Yet many of the remaining 49,000 locals seem to have forgotten the buccaneering spirit of the once-great city they call home. Their vision, it seems, is of Venice as a small, sleepy provincial Italian town. 'This wedding is causing much friction, especially because it is happening at a time when Venice, already invaded by uncontrolled tourism, is completely worn out,' whines Giovanni Andrea Martini, a local councillor. To make up for the alleged disturbance to the quiet life of the city, Martini would like Bezos to help address the affordable housing shortage by donating money towards restoring the more than 1,000 city council-owned properties that are currently uninhabited. A familiar complaint often heard from Barcelona to Berlin is that Airbnb tourism is forcing the locals out of town. Yet at the moment of writing, there are more than 100 properties for rent in central Venice for under €1,500 a month on Italy's biggest property site. The largest of these is a 120 square metre, three-bedroom, two-bathroom place near the Rialto bridge for €1,300. Expensive, indeed, by provincial Italian standards – but cheaper than Milan or Rome. The real problem is that there are no jobs in Venice outside the tourism sector and public service – and many locals have made a choice to commute from nearby suburbs where the houses are bigger and the living easier. The real reason 1,000 council-owned properties stand empty is that demand for social housing on the islands of Venice is dwindling. Even the city's only hospital, San Marco, has been downgraded to a clinic for lack of demand. The claim that Venice is creaking from over-tourism has had campaigners wringing their hands for years – and has this year led to the introduction of a city-wide €5 entrance fee for all summer day-trippers. To the enormous irritation of locals, fee payment is checked by officious out-of-towners in tabards whose salaries consume the entirety of the money collected. Anyone visiting the city has to register on a site or risk a €300 fine. But look more closely at those numbers and the claim that Venice is dangerously overcrowded is nonsense. The city hosts some 20 million visitors a year, 80 per cent of them day-trippers, with peak numbers of 119,000 a day. Add the notional 49,000 locals and that's 168,000 human beings packed into Venice's 2.7 square miles. But if that sounds like a lot, compare it with 1576, when there were 180,000 residents. In other words, Venice today is actually less crowded than it was in the 16th century. It's time for the moaning Venetians to embrace their city's international heritage and acknowledge that she now belongs as much to the world as to them. As she always has.
Time of India
2 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Jeff Bezos Venice wedding to Lauren Sanchez: Locals threaten to block city's iconic canals
Jeff Bezos, the billionaire founder of Amazon, is planning to marry journalist Lauren Sanchez in Venice later this month. Many young people in Venice are angry and say they will block the city's famous canals to stop the wedding. About 300 Venetians gathered near the Rialto Bridge to protest against the wedding. The protesters put up a big banner saying 'No Space for Bezos' with a drawing of Bezos' Blue Origin rocket. The wedding's details are secret but it is said to cost around $10 million. The island of San Giorgio Maggiore and a 14th-century building called Misericordia in Venice are likely to be wedding venues, as per the CNN report. Why are locals protesting? Protesters want to stop Bezos from reaching Misericordia and plan to block canals with boats and their own bodies. Protesters want the wedding to be remembered for their fight, not for Lauren Sanchez's many outfit changes. Some locals are upset about Bezos' $500 million superyacht named Koru coming to Venice. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 3.5, 4.5 BHK Homes starting at ₹4.89 Cr.* Hero Homes Learn More Undo They also complain that big events like this only bring temporary jobs, not long-term work. Venice has big problems with too many tourists. The city now charges a 10-euro fee to day visitors on busy days. More locals are leaving Venice because of fewer schools, hospitals, and affordable homes. Some tourists, like Jake Springer from New Orleans, say the protest is peaceful and Americans could learn from it, as mentioned in the report by CNN. Protests in Venice have been successful before. The 'No Grandi Navi' campaign stopped giant cruise ships from going near the city center. Because of that campaign, many cruise lines stopped using Venice as a port or starting point. Protests also caused rules to limit Airbnb rentals in Venice. Live Events Some people say it's too mean to protest a rich person's wedding in a city famous for love. When George and Amal Clooney married in Venice in 2014, the local people were happy about it. This year, three other expensive weddings happened in Venice without protests. Luca Zaia, the head of the Veneto region around Venice, said protests are a disgrace and wants to welcome Bezos warmly, as stated by CNN. Venice's mayor, Luigi Brugnaro, said he is ashamed of the protesters and hopes Bezos still comes. Some visitors at the Venice Biennale of Architecture said the wedding will help local workers like waiters and water taxi drivers by bringing money. American travel writer Gillian Longworth McGuire said rich weddings and yachts have been part of Venice for a long time. She said Venice doesn't always know what it wants to be: a magical old city or a place for big parties and weddings. People will come to Venice no matter who gets married there or who protests, according to the report by CNN. FAQs Q1. Why are people in Venice protesting Jeff Bezos' wedding? They are angry because they think the wedding will cause problems like blocking canals and only giving temporary jobs. Q2. Where will Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez get married in Venice? They are likely to marry at the Misericordia, a 14th-century events venue, and possibly on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore.
