The future of Apple is thinner, faster and can even translate conversations live. But it will also cost you more.
The tech giant unveiled its latest products Tuesday, including the iPhone 17, which features better front and rear camera quality as well as the company’s new A19 chip—though it hiked the cost by $100 from the iPhone 16. And the new iPhone Air will be the “thinnest” iPhone ever made, at 5.6 millimeters thick. Meanwhile, the latest version of the AirPods Pro will use AI to translate conversations in real time.
Preorders for the new models begin Friday, but despite the excitement, Apple’s stock ended the day down nearly 1.5%.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics made downward revisions that showed the U.S. job market added nearly a million fewer jobs over the past year, as the agency has drawn the ire of President Donald Trump, who ousted its chief last month. The Federal Reserve will likely take the corrected data into consideration ahead of its policymaking meeting next week.
MORE: The Trump Administration criticized the integrity of the BLS in the wake of the revision, with the White House blaming former President Joe Biden for the weaker numbers. But as noted by Navy Federal Credit Union chief economist Heather Long, the BLS revises data every year, and the larger revisions are “mainly due to problems accounting for new/closed businesses since the pandemic.”
As fintech lenders grow rapidly this year, home equity lender Aven says it has raised $110 million at a $2.2 billion valuation, up from $1 billion about a year ago. The company helps homeowners with above-average credit scores tap into their home’s equity to earn lower interest rates for loans, and its CEO and cofounder Sadi Khan has a bold goal: “to drive the single largest change in the cost of capital in American history.”
Elon Musk took the top spot on the Forbes 400 for the fourth consecutive year, becoming the first person with a net worth of over $400 billion, with an estimated $428 billion fortune. While there’s no doubt Musk has had a tumultuous year, his biggest assets have increased in value, as his investor fanbase—ranging from the Tesla stock enthusiasts to billionaire VCs and Middle East sovereign wealth funds—pours money into his companies.
It’s getting harder to break into the Forbes 400 ranking: The U.S. has a record 900 billionaires, meaning 500 people have amassed a ten-figure fortune but are simply not wealthy enough to make the cut. That includes some of the world’s most famous people, like billionaire pop star Taylor Swift, Oprah Winfrey and the NBA’s LeBron James.
Billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX says its $17 billion purchase of a long-coveted chunk of spectrum from EchoStar will let it beam full 5G service from space to cell phones. But that depends on it launching bigger, more powerful satellites with the Starship rocket that is still in development, and questions still abound as to the soundness of its design and whether it can deliver the promised reduction in launch costs.
A federal judge temporarily halted President Donald Trump’s bid to fire Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook, allowing her to remain on the job while her legal challenge against the president’s effort to remove her over allegations of mortgage fraud moves forward. D.C. federal judge Jia Cobb noted that the “best reading” of the provision that allows a president to remove a central bank governor “for cause” is “limited to grounds concerning a Governor’s behavior in office.”
The Supreme Court will decide the fate of President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs, and if it rules against the levies, it could upend trade relations with other countries and potentially allow companies, and consumers, to recoup money they’ve already paid. The court granted the Trump Administration’s request to take up the tariff dispute after two courts found the tariffs illegal, as the government has already taken in billions in revenue.
Weeks after it was announced, a Trump Organization-backed crypto deal was quietly changed with little explanation. Fintech firm Alt5 Sigma said in August that it would raise $1.5 billion and use the proceeds to buy digital tokens from crypto startup World Liberty Financial, whose cofounders include Donald Trump and his three sons, with Eric Trump set to join its board. But two weeks later, the firm said in an SEC filing that Trump would instead be a board observer, following its consultation with Nasdaq.
DAILY COVER STORY
Bill Gates was long known as the richest person in America. Starting in 1991, he ranked either first or second on the Forbes 400 list of the country’s wealthiest people every year for nearly three decades.
He fell below the No. 2 spot in 2021. Now, for the first time in 34 years, Gates is not even in the top 10. He ranks No. 14 on this year’s Forbes 400—just behind Bloomberg LP cofounder Mike Bloomberg and one spot ahead of the country’s (and the world’s) richest woman, Walmart heiress Alice Walton. Of course, Gates still commands a massive fortune—Forbes estimates he’s worth $107 billion, the same as a year ago.
As other billionaires on the list get richer, Gates is determined to get poorer. In May he announced that he plans to give away 99% of his remaining fortune to his charitable Gates Foundation over the next two decades. The foundation will shut its doors in 2045, the year Gates will turn 90.
To part with all of that wealth, Gates plans to donate “billions a year” to his foundation, for which the Microsoft cofounder has set big goals. One aim is that no mother, baby or child dies of preventable causes. The foundation will also continue its efforts to eradicate polio and reduce the impact of malaria—part of a larger foundation effort to reduce the spread of infectious disease.
Along the way, Gates’ net worth will likely continue to drop.
WHY IT MATTERS “Many of The Forbes 400 members are philanthropic, but most have fortunes that grow faster than the pace of their charitable donations,” says Forbes assistant managing editor Kerry Dolan. “Even MacKenzie Scott, who’s been giving away billions of dollars a year since she and Jeff Bezos divorced in 2019, is worth slightly more this year than a year ago, due to a jump in the value of her Amazon shares. Bill Gates is one of the few billionaires with the goal of giving away virtually all of his fortune while he’s alive—and a concrete plan to do so.”
MORE Forbes 400: The 10 Richest Women In America 2025
OpenAI cofounder and CEO Sam Altman is selling his Hawaii estate, a 10-bedroom oceanfront mansion on the Big Island. The listing comes as the AI juggernaut gears up for an astronomical employee share sale:
$49 million: The list price for the home
2011: The year the property was built
$10.3 billion: The worth of the employee shares OpenAI is reportedly selling
While companies have made headlines in the last year for their RTO orders, there’s still demand for hybrid work—but the expectations of a hybrid environment can change from place to place. If you’re looking for a hybrid job, make sure you ask about the company’s formal policy, and don’t be afraid to get specific on which days are remote and who decides. It’s important to get a sense of an employer’s communication, and to avoid making assumptions about the flexibility of the schedule.
QUIZ
The largest digital bank in the U.S. launched a rewards credit card in its latest attempt to boost new customer growth. Which financial institution is it?
A. SoFi
B. Ally Bank
C. Chime
D. Discover
Thanks for reading! This edition of Forbes Daily was edited by Sarah Whitmire and Chris Dobstaff.