A 90-day pause on imposing higher tariffs on China is due to expire on Tuesday and it is unclear if it will be extended.After the most recent round of China-U.S. trade talks, held late last month in Stockholm, Chinese and U.S. officials said they expected the deadline to be extended for another 90 days. The U.S. side said the decision was up to President Donald Trump. So far there has been no formal announcement about whether he will endorse an extension or push ahead with the higher tariffs.The uncertainty has left businesses in limbo and a decision to raise the import duties could jolt world markets.
SILENCE FROM WASHINGTON AND BEIJING
Trump has repeatedly shifted deadlines and tariff rates, and neither side has indicated what it plans for Tuesday. Extending the August 12 deadline for reaching a trade agreement with China would forestall earlier threats of tariffs of up to 245%.Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Trump was deciding about another 90-day delay to allow time to work out details of an agreement setting tariffs on most products at 50%, including extra import duties related to illicit trade in the powerful opiate fentanyl.Higher tariffs are aimed at offsetting the huge, chronic U.S. trade deficit with China, which hit a 21-year low in July as the threat of tariffs bit into Chinese exports.It’s not unusual for the U.S. to give hints on where talks stand, but it’s rare for China to make announcements until major decisions are set. So far, Beijing’s refrained from commenting ahead of Tuesday’s deadline.In an interview with Fox News taped on Thursday but aired on Sunday, U.S. Vice President JD Vance said Trump was considering additional tariffs on Beijing because of China’s purchases of Russian oil. But he said Trump “hasn’t made any firm decisions.”
CHINA RESISTED CUTTING AN EARLY BARGAIN
Prohibitively high tariffs on Chinese exports to the United States would put huge pressure on Beijing at a time when the Chinese economy, the world’s second largest, is still recovering from a prolonged downturn in its property market. Lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have left millions of people reliant on “gig work,” crimping the job market. Higher import taxes on small parcels from China have also hurt smaller factories and layoffs have accelerated.But the U.S. relies heavily on imports from China for all sorts of products, from household goods and clothing to wind turbines, basic computer chips, electric vehicle batteries, and the rare earths needed to make them. That gives Beijing some powerful leverage in the negotiations with Washington.Even with higher tariffs, China remains competitive for many products. And its leaders are aware that the U.S. economy is only just beginning to feel the effects of higher prices from Trump’s broad tariff hikes.For now, imports from China are subject to a 10% baseline tariff and a 20% extra tariff related to the fentanyl issue. Some products are taxed at higher rates. U.S. exports to China are subject to tariffs of around 30%. Before the two sides called a truce, Trump had threatened to impose 245% import duties on Chinese goods. China retaliated by saying it would hike its tariff on U.S. products to 125%.
MUCH IS AT STAKE
A trade war between the world’s two largest economies has ramifications across the global economy, affecting industrial supply chains, demand for commodities like copper and oil, and geopolitical issues such as the war in Ukraine.After a phone call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in June, Trump said he hoped to meet with Xi later this year. That’s an incentive for striking a deal with Beijing.If the two sides fail to keep their truce, trade tensions could escalate and tariffs might rise to even higher levels, inflicting still more pain on both economies and rattling world markets. Businesses would refrain from making investment commitments and hiring, while inflation would surge higher.Companies are in an “extended wait-and-see mode,” Oxford Economics said in a recent report.
Christopher Bodeen, Associated Press
In a historically unusual move, two of the world’s largest chipmakers, Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), have reportedly cut a deal with the Trump administration to hand over 15% of their revenues from certain chip sales to the U.S. government. Heres what to know about the deal and how Nvidias and AMDs stock prices are reacting.
What’s happened?
Yesterday, the Financial Times reported that chipmaking giants Nvidia and AMD have struck a highly unusual deal with the U.S. government. According to the Financial Times, the deal will see Nvidia and AMD give up 15% of revenues from chip sales of two specific chips to China, the H20 chipset by Nvidia and the MI308 chipset by AMD.
In return for the 15% revenue-sharing agreement, the U.S. government has approved export licenses for those chips to China. Without export licenses, which the U.S. had previously failed to grant the companies, Nvidia and AMD could not legally export their chips to the country.
The Financial Times cited people familiar with the situation, including a U.S. official as the sources of the information.
“We follow rules the U.S. government sets for our participation in worldwide markets,” a Nvidia spokesperson told Fast Company when reached for comment. “While we haven’t shipped H20 to China for months, we hope export control rules will let America compete in China and worldwide. America cannot repeat 5G and lose telecommunication leadership.”
Fast Company has also reached out to AMD and the Commerce Department.
The revenue-sharing agreement is an unusual one, as no other companies before now have ever agreed to share a portion of their revenue with the U.S. government in exchange for export licenses. The Trump administration has reportedly also not decided what the U.S. government will do with the proceeds it reaps from Nvidia and AMDs chip sales to China.
A spokesperson for Nvidia did not deny the deal, with the company telling the Financial Times, We follow rules the US government sets for our participation in worldwide markets.
What are the H20 and MI308 chips?
Before the two chip giants made a revenue-sharing deal with the Trump administration, the H20 and MI308 chipsets had been waiting for months for export license approvals.
The H20 chip by Nvidia and the MI308 chip by AMD were designed by the companies for the Chinese marketplace specifically, and within the constraints that the Biden administration had placed on exporting U.S. chips to China. But when Trump came into office earlier this year, his administration placed export controls on those chips over national security fears.
Nvidia has previously disputed that its H20 chips could give Chinese industry a leg up in the AI race.
Now, however, any supposed national security concerns are taking a back seat to profits, as the export licenses have now been granted after the revenue-sharing deal was agreed.
That revenue-sharing agreement stands to see the U.S. government rake in billions as the chipmakers now have the go-ahead to sell to China. According to the Financial Times, one estimate noted that Nvidia could sell as much as $23 billion worth of its H20 chips to China in 2025 alone.
How are Nvidia and AMD stock reacting?
Obtaining export licenses for chips is usually considered a good thing by investors in any chipmaking company.
However, after the Financial Times broke the news of the revenue sharing deal, shares of both Nvidia Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA) and Advanced Micro Devices (Nasdaq: AMD) are down in premarket trading as of the time of this writing.
NVDA shares are currently down about 0.71% and AMD shares are currently down about 1.6%. While these share price drops arent that large, any decline in a chipmakers stock price after winning an export license is pretty rare.
This could suggest that investors are concerned that companies are ceding too much revenue to the U.S. government in exchange for export licenses, potentially harming their bottom lines.
But just as likely is that investors arent entirely sure how to digest the news. The deal potentially sets a new precedent where companies that need export licenses now may need to start sharing their revenue directly with the U.S. government. Such a system is unheard of in free-market democracies.
Forget Cowboy Carter or the Eras tour, the hottest ticket this year is for your favorite podcast.
Content creator tours sold nearly 500% more tickets this year compared to 2024, according to StubHub, with Alex Cooper’s “Unwell” tour, Crime Junkie’s podcast tour and Mel Robbins’ “Let Them” tour the highest in demand.
With ticket prices at nearly 40% less than traditional live events on average, its easy to see why. Going to a live concert is only getting more expensive, with many concertgoers sucking up the eye-popping prices and price gouging on resale sites rather than deal with the potential FOMO.
The average price of tickets sold across all live entertainment in 2024 was $159. The Taylor Swifts Eras tour cost fans an average of $1,088 per ticket in 2023, The New York Times reported. For the top six creator tours, it was just $99.
Scheduling tour dates in locations often bypassed by mainstream artists, like Wyoming and Vermont, has also helped boost sales. During her own “Eras” tour, influencer Trisha Paytas paid visits to Tysons, Virginia and St. Louis, Missouri. Meanwhile, TikTok star Jake Shanes Therapuss cross-country tour stopped in places like Birmingham, Alabama and Athens, Georgia.
When we look at state-level consumption, Illinois has emerged as the creator economy’s biggest fanbase, purchasing 20% more tickets than any other market, Adam Budelli, Partnerships & Business Development at StubHub told Fast Company.
Texans are not only the largest single-state fanbase for female-hosted podcast content, but also show unique consumption patterns, with 7% more single-ticket buyers than California, despite having a smaller population.
Thanks to the boom in video podcasts, what started as an audio-only experience enjoyed alone, now has more in common with your traditional chat show. Nearly three-quarters of podcast consumers watch their podcasts, compared with about a quarter who listen only.
I think the biggest differentiator is that there are more opportunities for audiences who do attend to actually interact with the creators, creator economy expert Lindsey Gamble tells Fast Company. Because being able to tour and bring people out in real life shows that they actually have a community and relationship with their followers or subscribersenough where people are willing to dedicate their time and their dollars to see them in person.
For creators, it can also be lucrative. As well as bringing in money through membership models and merch, with many podcasts typically over an hour long, a live show or tour is a natural extension of the existing format.
We’re seeing fans who have built these deep, parasocial relationships with creators through podcasts and social media finally getting the chance to complete that connection in person, Gamble says. It’s different from a traditional concert where you’re watching a performance, where at creator events, fans feel like they’re hanging out with someone they already know intimately.
In a relentless pursuit of agility and efficiency, many organizations are aggressively flattening their hierarchies, effectively eliminating layers of middle management. This move to a flattened organizational structure is often inspired by the success of tech giants like Amazon and Google, with the goal of accelerating decision-making and streamlining operations.
However, while automation can replace tasks, it cannot replicate the nuanced skills of strategy, vision, and decision-making that define true leadership. Even AI cannot replace the human element of leadership that drives innovation, inspires teams, and navigates complex strategic challenges.
Our collective challenge, therefore, is to understand the unintended consequences of this organizational flattening and implement actionable strategies to ensure that we are not sacrificing our long-term leadership capacity for short-term gains. The good news is that with intentional effort and a rethinking of how experience is gained, you can still build a formidable bench of executive talent. Heres how:
1. STOP ERASING AND START REDEFINING YOUR MID-LEVEL EXPERIENCE
The most significant leadership development challenges in flattened organizations stem from the absence of director-level readiness. Without mid-level roles, you might miss crucial opportunities to manage people, budgets, and complexity at scale.
Think about the typical progression: from individual contributor to senior individual contributor, and then, traditionally, to manager. The manager role was where many learned the intricacies of people management, conducting performance reviews, navigating difficult conversations, and fostering team development. When organizations eliminate this stepping stone, employees can jump from senior individual contributor to director without ever developing these foundational skills. This creates a dangerous experience gap.
To counter this, identify the core managerial and strategic skills that were learned in those now-eliminated roles and create alternative pathways to gain them. For instance, you could take on internal mini-CEO roles for specific projects, giving yourself full accountability for budget, team oversight, and strategic outcomes, even if for a temporary period. Even at an individual contributor level, you can seek out opportunities to lead specific initiatives or mentor newer team members to build these skills.
2. PRIORITIZE PROJECT-BASED LEADERSHIP AND EXECUTIVE SHADOWING
In a flatter structure, traditional promotions are fewer, but opportunities for leadership experience arent. Empower yourself to lead complex, cross-functional initiatives. This is a powerful way for you to gain influence and exposure outside of your direct reporting lines, learning to navigate organizational politics, manage diverse stakeholders, and deliver results under pressure.
Simultaneously, seek out executive shadowing opportunities. Ask if you can sit in on high-stakes meetings or strategic offsites. This direct access to senior thinking provides an unparalleled understanding of how decisions are made at the highest levels, building your confidence and presence. This real-time learning is invaluable when formal management layers are gone.
3. FORMALIZE MENTORSHIP, SPONSORSHIP, AND TARGETED CAPABILITY DEVELOPMENT
Leadership readiness will not emerge by default in a flat structure; it must be deliberately built. Establish formal mentorship programs where senior executives provide direct coaching and feedback. Even more critically, sponsorship programs should be implemented where senior leaders actively advocate for emerging talent, opening doors and creating opportunities for growth you might not find on your own.
Beyond these relationships, create targeted development tracks with clear milestones that focus on specific capabilities required for future executive roles. For example, if critical thinking under pressure is a key executive skill, you might find that participating in leadership simulations or strategic case studies allows you to practice decision-making in a safe environment. This ensures that even without traditional promotions, you are continually acquiring and demonstrating executive-level skills.
BUILDING A CULTURE OF CONTINUOUS LEADERSHIP GROWTH
In the absence of established leadership ladders, organizations must take deliberate, proactive steps to build their future leadership pipeline. This presents a unique opportunity, whether you’re just starting your career or are a seasoned executive, to define your impact by the comprehensive leadership development strategies you intentionally create. It also clearly communicates the new growth expectations for leadership within a flatter structure.
If you lead an organization that has embraced flattening, you must recognize that designing meaningful development programs in this new landscape may be one of the most important contributions you make to your companys long-term success.
Hello and welcome to Modern CEO! I’m Stephanie Mehta, CEO and chief content officer of Mansueto Ventures. Each week this newsletter explores inclusive approaches to leadership drawn from conversations with executives and entrepreneurs, and from the pages of Inc. and Fast Company. If you received this newsletter from a friend, you can sign up to get it yourself every Monday morning.
“CEO succession is the board’s No. 1 job, says leadership expert and Harvard Business School executive education fellow Bill George. “In my experience, across hundreds of companies, businesses rise or fall with decisions on CEO succession. Yet according to a new report by executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles, only 26% of directors and CEOs say that chief executive transition is among their top priorities. Another 40% don’t consider it a priority at all.
Tom Monahan, CEO of Heidrick & Struggles, says succession can get crowded out if boards get pulled into crises or are distracted by other issues. As a leader, you have days where you say, the most important thing today is do this, and you look up and [realize] I spent two hours on [my] coffee selection, he says. It turns out boards seem to have some of that as well.”
And when they do turn to succession, too often directors are trying to figure out who could step into the role immediately in the event of an emergency, such as the unexpected death of a CEO.
Instead, Monahan says boards should remember that CEO succession is a strategy exercise. “We do see more boards and leadership teams treating succession as a process, not a project, he says. If you look at companies where it’s a projectCEO says I’m retiring, board says it’s time to move, we kick into place a projectthat compresses a lot of important strategic activity into probably too narrow a timetable.
The Berkshire Hathaway model
Heidrick & Struggless “Route to the Top” report praises the CEO succession process at Berkshire Hathaway. CEO Warren Buffett earlier this year announced his plans to retire at the end of 2025. But Buffett, 94, had been talking about his replacement for more than a decade, and in 2021, the company anointed Greg Abel, who currently serves as chair of Berkshire Hathaway Energy and vice chairman of the conglomerates non-insurance businesses. In a time when CEO transitions often spark volatility or uncertainty, Berkshires process delivered confidence, continuity, and clarity to the market, the report concludes.
CEO succession has become something of a parlor game in investor and media circles, especially at high-profile companies such as Apple and Disney. (Please check out my colleague David Lidskys surprising take on who should succeed Bob Iger at Disney.)
The founder-CEO challenge
Replacing founder-CEOs can be especially challenging because the entrepreneur is so personally tied to the company and can have a hard time letting go. A founder is also one of a companys largest shareholders and may feel compelled to step in when the company struggles. Michael Dell, for example, returned to the top job at his eponymous tech company in 2007 after the computer maker started to lose market share, among other issues. If you have a founder who has been able to conceptualize an idea and scale a company, thats a rare set of talents, and youre not going to be able to replicate that, Monahan says.
Monahan encourages boards to make clear which committee will be responsible for succession planning and then to make sure the topic is on the agenda. He says boards should have a process for meeting with executives in the C-suite, as those leaders are candidates to take over for the sitting CEO. And directors need to constantly assess the link between leadership and strategy to make sure theyre looking at candidates who can support the business in the future.
And what is the role of the sitting CEO? CEOs should play an active role in training their successors, but don’t groom people in your own image, cautions George, who has served on the boards of Goldman Sachs, ExxonMobil, Target, Novartis, Mayo Clinic, and Medtronic, where he was CEO for 10 years. Figure out what [the company] is going to need for the next 10 years, and find people with the mental agility and courage to look at it differently than you looked at it.
What is your succession plan?
CEOs, do you have a successor in placeand if not, whats holding you back from naming an heir apparent? Send your feedback to me at stephaniemehta@mansueto.com. Ill publish your responses in a future newsletter.
Read more: CEO succession
Who will be Tim Cooks successor?
This founder was miserable as CEO, so she brought in a replacement
How entrepreneurs should handle succession
When it comes to turning a beloved toy into a box office hit, it’d be hard to top 2023s Greta Gerwig-directed Barbie. But Mattel veteran Robbie Brenner, who produced the nearly $1.5 billion-grossing film, has no interest in resting on her laurels. In June, the toy company launched Mattel Studios, bringing together its film and TV efforts under Brenner.
At the studios president and chief content officer, Brenner now oversees more 15 projects in development, each with a unique twist. There’s a Hot Wheels movie helmed by Wicked director Jon M. Chu, a horror-skewing adaptation of Barney being written by The Bears Ayo Edebiri, and an adaptation of the He-man property Masters of the Universe. Most recently, Mattel announced that it’s working with Minions studio Illumination on an animated Barbie movie.
I spoke to Brenner about how she chooses which intellectual property to develop into bigger projects, the importance of delivering both fan service and organic storytelling, and how she plans to replicate Barbies success with another toy franchise.
You came to Mattel from Miramax seven years ago. When you first started at Mattel, how did you take stock of what properties you wanted to develop into bigger projects?
Where else do you come in your life, aside from Disney, where you have endless titles that you and your kids grew up playing with? When I came into the company, there were like 200 brands, either from Mattel or from buying other libraries or buying other companies. I looked at each title and used my intuition, to say like, okay, that title, that brand, that sounds like that could be like a big theatrical experience. And so I whittled it down to some 40 titles. Those were my starting block for building out this film division.
Barbie was the last movie that I ever thought we were gonna make. Everybody has a relationship with Barbie, and that makes it even harder to find a way into that story. For us it was really Gretas love and affinity for Barbie, and her voice, which is so unexpected and authentic.
Thats the way were trying to approach all these moviesdoing things that feel like they have a reason to exist by working with these unique voices. Especially when were consumed by our phones, the only way to cut through that is to do something that feels wholly unique in an authentic way. To be able to open up my rolodex and pair the filmmakers and writers Ive worked with up with these brands has been so much fun.
Did the success of Barbie change your approach to how you develop a project?
You need a strong script and somebody that has the vision to tell the story in a way that feels different and interesting. That has always been a huge component of how we approach our IP. Were just keeping our heads down and trying to tell great stories. Barbie was certainly a once-in-a-lifetime phenomenonone could only hope to replicate that.
But weve got Masters of the Universe coming out next year, and its the polar opposite to Barbie. Its this incredible spectacle that [director] Travis Knight has pulled off with the rich canon of characters and mythology. Itll be fun to show the world that we can do so many things. Similarly, [tk IP] Matchbox is a high-octane action movie, but it has so much heart.
Im sure a lot of people will compare everything we do to Barbie. Not everything can be Barbie. We look at these brands individually and we treat them individually. Sometimes were going to make smaller movies that are just great stories that need to be told, and other times there will be just huge tentpole movies. I think as long as we continue to stick with our approach and vision, good things will come.
Now that Mattels TV and film efforts are unified, has your approach changed? You mentioned Disney as having a similarly rich IP library. Do you take inspiration from their approach?
Movies and TV, theatrical and streaming, theyre all very blurred lines right now. So I just look at it all holistically as contentshort form, premium, scriptedand I want to work with the same writers and directors that I have relationships with. Mattel Studios is about aligning under one banner and looking holistically about where a brand is better sittingas a television show or a movie. The philosophy is the same: telling great, unexpected stories with brave filmmakers.
Over the next couple months, youll see a lot of movement on television. We have a lot of shows in negotiation right now with incredible creatives.
Were all working together to maximize the evergreen properties we have to make sure that were franchising them in the best way so were not stepping on each other. Its more synergy and made a lot of sense for all of us to sit together and work together to maximize Mattels potential.
The days of flying just to move from point A to point B are over. Delta has just officially declared that were entering the era of the lifestyle airline.
Nowadays, selecting a flight no longer means simply choosing an airline to fly with. It’s a multistep process that involves navigating a sea of ancillary fees, wading through seating charts, and selecting add-ons like extra legroom. Cutting through that noise requires brands to go to extra lengths to draw in customers. For Delta, that means repositioning itself as not just a form of transport, but also a luxury, personalized experience.
The brand just refreshed its core identity for the first time since 2008 to embody that shift. In collaboration with the design firm DixonBaxi, Delta is rolling out a refresh that includes new brand colors, motion elements, and typography to appear as more than just an airline, according to Libby Tsoi, design director at DixonBaxi.
[Image: courtesy DixonBaxi/Delta]
Air travel gets a chaotic rebrand
The landscape of air travel has been in a major state of flux over the past several years, as the top airline brands in the U.S. chase bigger bottom lines through an increasingly complex fee system. According to a Senate report released late last year, between 2018 and 2023, the airlines American, Delta, United, Spirit, and Frontier collectively raked in $12.4 billion in revenue from ancillary fees like advanced seat assignments and carry-on bags.
In 2024 alone, Spirit Airlines moved further from its origins as a low-budget carrier by implementing a new seat class with extra add-ons, while Southwest abandoned its iconic bags fly free and open seating policies altogether in favor of a tiered pricing system. This July, Delta announced that it has begun using AI to institute dynamic pricing based on factors like seat availability, current news, weather conditions, and even fluctuating oil prices.
As brands continue to ratchet up their extra add-ons, theyre starting to look more and more similar. That means the pressure to offer the next best perk or experience is mounting across the board.
[Image: courtesy DixonBaxi/Delta]
So far, Deltas answer to this conundrum has been to start branding its travel as a premium experience, rather than just a form of transportation. The brand is currently in the process of redesigning all of its planes’ interiors for a more luxe feel, including by installing new seat fabrics, mood lighting, and a swanky color palette. For its most high-paying ticket holders, it’s also begun rolling out a series of ultra-opulent airport lounges.
In 2024, premium ticket offerings accounted for $5.2 billion out of Deltas total $15.6 billion revenue. Delta CEO Ed Bastian noted in the companys full-year earnings report that he expected consumers to increasingly seek the premium products and experiences that Delta provides. One way the company is supporting that goal is by adopting a more premium brand identity.
[Image: courtesy DixonBaxi/Delta]
Is this the beginning of the ‘lifestyle airline’ era?
Deltas vision with this brand refresh was bold, Tsoi says. The brands end goal was to stand shoulder to shoulder with the worlds most iconic lifestyle brands.
Lifestyle branding describes a kind of branding that expands a consumers brand association beyond an actual product to a way of living, based on that brands core values. Its become something of a buzzword across categories in recent months, with names like Tesla, Erewhon, and Sweetgreen all striving for lifestyle status in some capacity.
[Image: courtesy DixonBaxi/Delta]
Even our earliest creative campfires werent filled with aircraft, but with lifestyle imagerypeople, moments, stories, Tsoi says. This shift in mindset shaped everything: the tone, the aesthetic, the system. We brought an editorial sensibility to the visual language, framing Delta not just as a carrier of people, but as a curator of experience.
To that end, Deltas updated look has a significantly less corporate feel. The lifestyle photography has been pulled out of the airport or plane altogether, showing Delta passengers in bustling cities and mountain vistas. The brands logo and wordmark remain physically unchanged, but DixonBaxi reimagined the classic Delta symbol as a 3D object, setting guidelines around how it can be used to bring motion into Deltas visual identity.
Alongside the type foundry Pangram Pangram, DixonBaxi also developed two new bespoke typefaces: Delta Sans and Delta Serif. Delta Serif, which features sculpted terminals drawn directly from the angled geometry of the Delta icon, can be used in a thin weight that will eventually lend an artsier feel to Deltas website, boarding passes, and ad campaigns.
And, while red and blue will remain core Delta colors, the full palette has been expanded to include more emotive accent hues like sky blue, mint green, and neon pink.
The new look began rolling out on Deltas social channels over the past few weeks, and will eventually evolve to encompass lounges, in-flight design, and out-of-home ad campaigns. Tsoi emphasizes that the effort to reimagine Deltas branding has only just gotten underway, and fans can expect further updates in the coming months.
[Image: courtesy DixonBaxi/Delta]
Given Deltas status as a leading player in the industry, it wouldnt be a surprise if its move to become a lifestyle airline sets a new tone for how other airlines begin brand their own flight experiences.
Matthew Williams has slept very little since he learned about Sacha Stone’s plan to build a sovereign micronation on 60 acres of land near his home in rural Tennessee. What began as a quick Google search in April quickly became hours of research and then days, then weeks. It was between working on this and then stressing about working on this, he says. Within a month, between me and my wife, we watched over 30 hours of his videos.
With his long hair and often bare chest, intense patter, and hundreds of thousands of online followers, the 59-year-old British “peace activist” looks like the archetype of a globetrotting, spiritual guru. In late June, Stone arrived in Surgoinsville, a sleepy hamlet 90 minutes northeast of Knoxville, to lead dozens of supporters in a “consecration” ceremony at the site, dedicating what he calls the NewEarth Tanasi Micronation as a template for the emergent Rainbow Warrior Tribe.
But beyond the peace and rainbows, Williams had seen something much darker in Stones “sovereign” movement: a mix of extreme far-right ideas, an alliance of influential fringe figures like Michael Flynn and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and a revenge-minded rhetorical war against a parade of bogeymen, from governments to globalists.
In June, Stone and dozens of supporters gathered at the NewEarth nation site in Surgoinsville, Tenn. [Photo: Matthew Williams]
The battles have also become a brisk business, with speaking tours, retreats, health products and memberships, which Stone promotes to his hundreds of thousands of followers. For a “donation” of $10,000, Stone has said, members of the NewEarth micronation will be able to exist tax-free in a futuristic-looking residential enclave, with access to an on-site healing center specializing in advanced microbiology” and cures.
A devoted Christian and libertarian, Williams, 31, believes in religious freedom and a hands-off approach by the government. (Both political parties would hate me, he says.) But for months, hes been pressing Hawkins County, where hes lived for two decades to do something, meeting with officials, hosting community meetings, posting signs and Facebook updates, and enlisting dozens of neighbors in building a local groundswell against NewEarth.
If they were a hippie cult and they wanted to do stuff out in the middle of the woods, I couldnt care less, Williams says. But a lot of Sacha Stones theories kind of fall in line with that QAnon theory, and people here who associate themselves with QAnon tend to be extremist, right-wing, violent individuals.
Stone and his deputies have been pushing back against Williams and the local opposition, insisting that his movement is peacefulthat it isnt a cultand decrying defamatory actions and false claims in local forums. Online, Stone has used more aggressive rhetoric, alluded to NewEarth members strapped with guns, and alleged that Williams and other critics are part of a Satanic conspiracy. Stone did not respond to questions from Fast Company.
Local officials are uneasy too, but say the NewEarth group has broken no laws. It obviously is not something that most people in the community are looking forward to having in Hawkins County, Mayor Mark DeWitt told NBC affiliate WCYB in May. But we have to realize that right now, theres nothing that theyre doing that can stop them from being here at this point.
Recently, Williams and two dozen neighbors began meeting near the site simply to pray together. Practically everyone weve talked to, theyre afraid, and theyre worried about what is coming, he says.
Hes been carrying pepper spray too, just in case someone tries to do anything stupid.”
This has Waco, Texas, written all over it
“The world’s gone mad,” Sacha Stone told the audience, and he was mad too. It was August 2023 at the Las Vegas stop of the ReAwaken America Tour, a MAGA-themed religious roadshow, and hundreds of ticketholders had just watched MyPillow founder Mike Lindell deliver his evidence of election fraud; Donald Trump Jr. was that nights headliner. With pendants swaying across his bare torso, Stone gripped the microphone, and, temper flaring, raised his voice to offer his central message: “Do not comply, do not do anything, anything that moves against the spirit, that moves against your soul!”
His British accent and aging rocker persona easily stood out at the ultraconservative confab, a Christian nationalist revival meeting-meets-QAnon expo cofounded by former Trump national security adviser and QAnon icon Michael Flynn in the wake of January 6. But his speech recited many familiar claims. “They are planning to asphyxiate your children and your parents from God-given oxygen, and inject mRNA, genetic therapy, into every single child in this blessed country, he told the audience. The government gives you two things: mind control and trafficking. Thats it baby! Thats it!
Sacha Stone at the Arise USA tour in Milton, Florida, in May 2021 [Photo: ZimmComm/Flickr]
For more than a decade, Stones “sovereignty” movement has pit him against an array of existential threats: 5G, COVID-19 vaccinations, Bill Gates, the World Health Organization, the deep tate, pedophiles, the United Nations, Jesuits, the Vatican, globalists and cabals suppressing advanced, alien technologies and violating “natural law.” One project, the International Tribunal of Natural Justice (ITNJ), has held hearings that purport to show corporations hiding as government engaged in human trafficking and child sex abuse.
At times, Stone has argued that satanic government policies warrant violent resistance. At some point, you have to drag these people into the market square we have to hang them by the neck until dead, if they continue to stick HIV/AIDS into our babies, he said in 2021.
Years after the pandemic, messages like Stones are flourishing online. With a two-time president who’s built a political career out of spreading falsehoods and promoting conspiracy theorists, even hiring them to top cabinet posts, Trumps second term has given new permission to wild, inflammatory ideas and the profiteers who push them. Social media companies have loosened their rules around false content, too, just as the Trump administration has slashed funding for misinformation research, and gutted the Homeland Security office responsible for helping localities counter domestic extremism. All of this is particularly concerning now, since the evidence suggests that conspiracy thinking is fueling historically high levels of polarization and political violence, from the attack on the Capitol to a wave of attacks and assassinations.
Of course, the country has been mired in dangerous conspiracy theories since long before Trump leapt onto Fox News with questions about President Barack Obamas birthplace (or onto Jeffrey Epsteins jet, for that matter). Since the early 2010s, Stone has cultivated a kind of spiritual conspiracismembraced for decades by both the countercultural left and the Christian rightand leveraged a motley alliance of very online freedom fighters, from anti-vax advocates and cosmic starseeds to tax protesters, pedophile-fighting patriots and white supremacists. But his right-wing ideology of sovereignty, with its illiberal, authoritarian leanings, also descends from a tradition that dates back hundreds of years.
One of Stone’s recurring fixations are the Sabbateans, a 17th-century Messianic Jewish movement that has become a focus of contemporary antisemitic conspiracy theories. Stone has managed to evade direct controversy for years by avoiding explicitly antisemitic language, and cloaking his theories in lengthy monologues with seemingly harmless, esoteric ideas about geoportals or the mechanics of ascension. In a 2017 talk in Dartington, England, posted on YouTube, he invites his audience to question whether Hitler was misrepresented in historical accounts. Adolf Hitler, the big bad scary guy, well thats a very compelling spellbinding [sic], he said, adding that ninety percent of the facts that we spout about the Second World War were introduced in 1952.
Stones fortunes changed during the pandemic, when his anti-vaccine rants led YouTube and then Facebook to temporarily remove his accounts, costing him tens of thousands of followers. But as public trust sank and social media algorithms fed a fevered search for answers, the pandemic and America’s political chaos also opened new avenues for Stone’s repertoire of spiritualism, anti-government conspiracies, and commercial hustles. He drew support from networks of conspiracy superspreaders, like the “World Doctors Alliance,” a transatlantic group of vaccine skeptic health practitioners that reached millions during the pandemic.
Neighbors posted protest signs around Stanley Valley ahead of Stone’s arrival. [Photo: Matthew Williams]
New Age, esoteric strains of conspiracy thinking, like those that animate Stones movement, arent inherently far-right, says Marc Tuters, an assistant professor in media studies at the University of Amsterdam who examines political subcultures. But, he says, esoteric ideas have historically been popular in fascist movements, and notions that everything is connected and nothing is as it seems can easily slide into conspiracy thinking.
When that happens, Tuters warns, it becomes dangerous, because it undermines the trust that holds society together. Amid legitimate concerns about failing political elites, the internet has provided the perfect environment for that kind of thinking to thrive, a place where anyone can become a kind of channel and broadcaster, says Tuters.
A cursory web search only begins to hint at Stones reach, which now extends to more than 450 thousand followers across Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube, Rumble and Telegram. By June 2024, his videos had racked up over 25 million views, not including the videos that have been taken down, like his 2019 documentary 5G Apocalypse. The hour-long filmin which he alleges the phone networks are weapons that cause dementia, diabetes and mental illnessreached more than 1 million views
Football in America is still growing, says Roger Bennett, co-founder of Men in Blazers, which has grown from a single podcast in 2010 into a network of U.S.-focused soccer content. So when brands come in, they are remembered.
Last year, Men in Blazers content attracted more than 2 billion impressions, but it also works directly with brands to reach soccer fans, including Coca-Cola, Verizon, Michelob Ultra, Marriott, and Visa. With the World Cup being hosted across the U.S. in just 10 months, brands are turning to Men in Blazers to form their own winning game plans.
He shared some intel with me, and in this piece premium subscribers will learn:
The two key questions you should be asking when shaping a World Cup strategy
A counterintuitive approach to marketing that will help your brand stand out
What you need to know about Verizon and AB InBev’s early World Cup work
[Photo: courtesy Men In Blazers]
You’re late, but not too late
The most significant challenge in planning for an event like the World Cup is time. Not simply the time it takes to create a strategy and execute it, but also trying to predict the best approach to tap into culture this many months in advance.
Major global soccer sponsors have had their World Cup planning in motion for more than a year. Verizons vice-president of partnerships says the brands planning began in September 2024. Anheuser Buschs vice-president of media and entertainment Matt Davis says the company has been fine tuning its soccer strategy for several years through various sponsorships in the sport, including Major League Soccer, and the Mexican National team.
Bennett says that many brands hes spoken to feel like theyre late on their World Cup planning. But theres a big difference between being late and being too late. Bennett says at this point brands can still find the right approach to connect with soccer fans.
My advice is to get in now, but get in in a way that you want to, he says. Do you want to speak to a women’s audience? A Hispanic audience. Do you want to target a specific region of Texas? Are you looking for high net worth fans? We found that 29% of our audience says that they fly over at least once a year to England to watch the Premier League team that they obsess about.
Soccer attracts a diverse audience that likes to spend money on its passion, and the brands that support it. Stok Cold Brew has been a long-time sponsor of the Men in Blazers’ flagship podcast, and reported brand awareness up 186%, brand consideration up 17%, and brand favorability up 19%.
[Photo: courtesy Men In Blazers]
Soccer is every audience
Starting with the audience is always key for any marketer, but whats unique about the World Cup, and soccer in general, is that it attracts just about any and every type of audience. Men in Blazers recently conducted a study of more than 9,000 U.S. fans, and found that 60% were aged between 18-24, but also that 37% of American adults over 18 now consider themselves soccer fans.
The joy of football [soccer] is that you can unlock whatever audience you want to speak to, its diversity is its strength, says Bennett.
Once you know the audience, there is the small matter of what you want to say to them, and how youre going to say it. With massive sporting events, particularly global multi-week extravaganzas like the World Cup and Olympics, its easy for some brands to become just logos in the background, lost in the crowd. Or what McDonalds global CMO Morgan Flatley once called cultural wallpaper.
For major World Cup sponsors like Coca-Cola and Visa, the wallpaper is just table stakes. And since a global World Cup sponsorship costs a reported $100 million, there needs to be a much deeper connection with fans beyond that awareness.
Know your message, and then find your messenger, says Bennett. Football luckily contains infinite human stories that transcend the everyday, make you feel alive and make you feel inspired.
Verizons vice-president of partnerships Justin Toman says the scale of this World Cup brings huge opportunities, but its also a fiercely competitive moment for brands. One of the biggest challenges is that this is the biggest World Cup in history, and is hosted in 16 markets across three countries, Toman says. Soccer fandom is different across the U.S. based on generational and regional differences. To cut through the clutter, we need to be focused, understanding where and when to connect with our customers.
Toman sees Men in Blazers as a unique platform that helps the brand better connect with core groups of soccer fans. They thread non-football culture and lifestyle into each of their platforms in a way that amplifies the impact and resonates with more casual fans, he says.
Keegan Michael Key and Roger Bennett [Photo: courtesy Men In Blazers]
Fan culture is the key
The best way to avoid becoming (incredibly expensive) wallpaper is to look beyond the soccer pitch, outside the stadium, and invest in the culture around the game. This is a strategy that resonates globally, but as Bennett pointed out earlier, it is particularly impactful in the U.S. These fans remember the brands who are telling their stories.
The culture of the game is always bigger than the game itself, says Bennett. The smartest brands that we work with are finding ways to tell those stories. Football is human decision-making played out live without a safety net, with the world watching and the conditions of historic pressure.
Men in Blazers recently worked with Coca-Cola and talked to comedian Keegan Michael Key about why hes a fan of the Belgium national team.
@meninblazers CONFIDENCE. SHOCK. ELATION. Keegan-Michael Keys emotional roller coaster ride during Belgiums 2018 World Cup Knockout Round original sound – Men in Blazers
Bennett has also been working with AB Inbev for yearsmost recently with Michelob Ultra. Anheuser Buschs Davis says this tournament represents unique situations: international fanbases, live games across multiple time zones and countries, and unpredictable outcomes on the pitch. Our strategy has been to focus on the fans, and this is the largest moment for fans globally to come together, he says. To be able to position our brands at the center of that fandom, on U.S. soil, will be an unparalleled opportunity.
"Pulisic wanted to go to his prom. I didn't know what a prom was. I had to ask the guys, is it OK if the kid goes to a high-school dance? I asked my wife what I should do, and she said, 'You've got to let him go.'"Jürgen Klinsmann on coaching the USMNT as a German pic.twitter.com/cuZ7f7NMed— Men in Blazers (@MenInBlazers) July 11, 2025
Verizons Toman identifies two key questions any brand should be asking itself: What is the authentic role my brand can play in enhancing the World Cup fandom and experience for our customers? says Toman. And what is our strategy to remain visible and deliver value to soccer fans once the World Cup is over?
For Bennett, as brands are thinking about their options, ultimately it should be about finding the life truths that are trapped in football.
Since Men in Blazers launched 15 years ago, the podcast has had an inside joke about soccer being Americas sport of the future since 1972. But in 2026, there is a very real chance that gag will become a reality.
That future is very much now. And the joy for brands is that they can not just market themselves to an audience in this moment, but they can help build this final stage that has been so long dreamed of, says Bennett. We’re just about to enter the Promised Land, and brands who partner now in a serious, thoughtful, meaningful fashion will always be remembered.
Diversity and inclusion (D&I) have been a core priority for businesses in recent years. But unfortunately, were now at a crossroads where politics and progress are increasingly at odds. Recent executive orders have eliminated D&I roles and slashed equity-related grants. In addition, private companies, nonprofits, and educational institutions are feeling the pressure to scale back their inclusion efforts.
As a European founder watching these developments unfold, Im deeply concerned. The ripple effects are real, and they risk undermining global progress. At the same time, the rise of AI in hiring has also introduced new risks and can potentially reinforce bias in the workforce.
Were seeing a quiet erosion of the progress weve made so far. And its up to us, as leaders, to make sure that we dont lose the fight for fairness. We cannot live in a world where equal treatment and opportunities are negotiable.
Ive faced my share of systemic bias as a woman in tech. It chips away at your confidence and makes you question your credibility. But having challenged norms, risen to senior leadership, and cofounded my own company, Im determined to ensure the next generation doesnt experience the same thing.
Here are the key ways Ive worked to overcome bias and ensure discrimination has no place in my business.
1. Normalize salary transparency
If youre unaware that youre underpaid, youre less likely to ask for more. Studies show that the gender pay gap ison average18% smaller in companies with high pay transparency.
Many companies have long viewed salary secrecy as a strategic business advantage. However, its also a barrier to equality and fairness. Its on businesses to put progress ahead of profits and break the culture of silence.
During my time at a leading fintech company, for instance, we created internal communities where individuals could openly discuss salaries, promotions, and evaluations. These communities were safe spaces where everyone felt comfortable. This doesnt just promote fairness, but also benefits team cohesion, morale, and employee turnover. It pays to be transparent.
2. Challenge bias in every instance
Bias is prevalent and persistent in business. It doesnt subside with age, experience, or seniority.
Despite my role as chief scientist, people still often default to addressing my male cofounders. Fortunately, my cofounders actively challenge such bias by redirecting questions that are related to my area of responsibility and expertise to me.
I get that it can feel easier to stay silent for the sake of preserving relationships. However, this only reinforces bias and contributes to another generation of talented individuals enduring the same unfair treatment due to their gender, color, or background. That doesnt mean every meeting has to descend into an argument, but nothing will change if you leave discrimination unchecked.
The key is making bias interruption feel natural and constructive. Simple phrases like That builds on the point Irina made earlier can redirect without creating confrontation. When challenging bias becomes part of your teams DNA, it stops feeling awkward and starts feeling like good leadership.
3. Carefully consider every candidate
As a founder, Ive seen how few of those who identify as women apply for forward-looking, deeply technical roles. And those who do often downplay their abilities and achievements. One study found that 84% of women feel uncomfortable discussing their professional achievements, and 69% actively downplay their accomplishments. Likewise, job interviews can be a considerable source of stress for neurodivergent candidates, which impacts their ability to present themselves effectively.
But here’s what many leaders miss: the best talent is already making decisions about you before they even apply. When potential candidates look at your team, leadership, and board and don’t see people who look like them or share their experiences, they’re ruling you out. They don’t see your organization as a place where they can thrive, advance, or belong. This means you’re not just missing out on individual candidates, you’re systematically excluding entire talent pools from even considering your opportunities.
Factor this into your recruitment process. Make sure you evaluate every candidate thoughtfully, especially those who are likely to be impacted by bias. Its also equally important to ensure (and showcase) that diverse talent can succeed at every level in your organization. When underrepresented groups see themselves reflected in your leadership and decision-making roles, youre signaling that they have a future in your company.
4. Use inclusive language consistently
In job advertising, using specific pronouns in job listings is strictly forbidden. However, research shows that even gender-coded words, whether that be competitive for men or supportive for women, can significantly reduce the appeal of a role and continue to promote gender inequality in the workforce.
As business leaders, its our responsibility to make gender-neutral language the default, not just in hiring but in how we speak about users, customers, and colleagues.
Remember that inclusive language goes beyond avoiding gendered terms. You need to be intentional about accessibility, using plain language that doesn’t exclude people based on educational background, avoiding unnecessarily complex jargon, and being mindful of cultural references that might not resonate globally. For neurodivergent candidates, this might mean being specific about expectations rather than using vague terms like “fast-paced environment” or “wearing many hats.
This simple change sends a powerful message: Everyone is welcome, included, and valued, regardless of gender. In industries where most applicants identify as male, our choice of language can either widen or narrow the door.
5. Foster a unstructured environment
Shaped by years in the workforce and taught to think and act in a certain way, hiring managers are often unaware of their biases. As a result of such unconscious bias, microaggressions occur, like disregarding certain voices and making assumptions about seniority. These habits are deeply ingrained and difficult to recognize, and can be especially hard to unlearn.
And reprimanding wont overcome it. You need to rewire how your team thinks, which takes time and understanding. When we launched Gradient Labs, we didnt jump on Zoom and get to work. We spent two weeks living and working under the same roof, which was crucial to creating a basis for a culture built on mutual respect.
Moving in together might not be practical for every team, but finding time and space for in-person interaction, especially across levels of seniority or cultural lines, has helped us with combating unconscious bias in the workplace. This doesn’t require grand gestures. Regular coffee chats, cross-functional lunch groups, or even starting meetings with brief personal check-ins can create those human connections. The goal is to move beyond transactional relationships to genuine understanding, because it’s much harder to dismiss or underestimate someone when you truly know them as a person.
Inclusion starts with you
The erosion of D&I progress isn’t inevitable; it’s a choice. Every time you redirect a question to the overlooked expert, rewrite a job posting with inclusive language, or create space for genuine human connection, you’re slowly building a different future. The five strategies outlined here represent real, actionable paths forward that any leader can take starting today. Companies that embrace everyone don’t just do the right thingthey unlock innovation, creativity, and performance.
