• Kevin O'Leary shared five pieces of life advice with Business Insider.
• The "Shark Tank" investor warned against wasting money, getting distracted, and talking too much.
• "Mr. Wonderful" said new couples should talk money on the third date, and kids need to fly the nest.

Kevin O’Leary, the "Shark Tank" star who sold his software company to Mattel for $4.2 billion in 1999, shared some harsh advice on life and wealth in a recent interview with Business Insider.

Known as "Mr. Wonderful," O’Leary offered five nuggets of wisdom: Stop wasting money, focus your efforts, listen more than you speak, have the money talk on the third date, and ensure kids learn to fend for themselves.

Think before you spend

"Stop buying $7 coffees. Don't pay 40 bucks for lunch. Make it yourself," O'Leary said. "Ask yourself every time you're about to buy something: Do I really need this?"

"Look in your closet at all the clothes you don't wear," he added. "It's all crap you don't need, and that crap could have been earning you market returns of anywhere from 8% to 10% over your entire lifetime."

O'Leary said that, if historical returns continue, someone earning $70,000 a year who invests 15% of their monthly income in a diversified portfolio starting in their late 20s and continuing until 65 can expect to retire a millionaire.

Focus on 3 things you need to get done at work each day

Workers should ask themselves what three things they need to get done each day, and not allow anything to distract them from completing those tasks, O'Leary said.

“You’ll become very productive and a very valued employee,” he said. Filtering out the noise helps you to “avoid getting sucked down that vortex” and falling short of achieving your most important goals, he added.

O'Leary had some blunt advice for anyone who disagrees with the direction their bosses are taking the company in: “Get another job.”

Listen more, it's a 'superpower'

Many entrepreneurs have "huge egos" and "love to hear themselves talk," O'Leary said. But when they're talking, they're not listening to the market, their customers, their investors, or their employees, he said.

"You have to learn how to shut up," he said, describing listening as a "superpower."

"It's akin to having your ear to the rail and hearing the train coming down the track that's going to run you over," O'Leary said, adding, "To know to get off the track. That's what listening does."

Talk about money on the third date

New couples should talk about money early on, when both sides are clearly interested in one another but aren't yet blinded by love, O'Leary said.

"You get to a third date, after the second drink, bring up money," he said. "That's Mr. Wonderful's advice, and I'm always right."

He recommends couples sign a prenup before getting married as that "forces you to do due diligence" and find out if your partner is buying drugs, racking up credit-card debt, or comes from a bankrupt family.

"Nobody wants to deal with this stuff when you're in the euphoria of courtship," he said. "But it's the reason you're going to get divorced if you don't get it right."

Children need to leave the nest

O'Leary warned about the "curse of entitlement" that can bedevil the kids of wealthy parents.

He recalled his mother's words to him at his graduation: "The dead bird under the nest never learned how to fly." When he asked what that meant, she explained that she had supported him all the way through his education, but there would be "no more checks," and he would have to fend for himself.

O'Leary added that some rich kids were "screwed up" by being funded for too long, meaning they had "no reason to launch."

"The risk in their life has been removed. They've been guaranteed a free ride for the rest of their lives. They become lost in a sea of mediocrity. It's a disaster for them," he said.

O'Leary emulated his mother's approach with his two children, providing for them from birth through to the last day of their education. He recalled telling them, "Full ride, but after that, you'll become a dead bird if you don't figure it out."

• Many couples don't talk about their long-term life together until after they're engaged.
• Wedding therapist Landis Bejar said delaying those conversations can be a mistake.
• She recommends talking about children or handling finances before getting engaged.

When you get engaged, your first conversations with your partner are likely about wedding planning and giddy daydreams about spending your lives together.

After that excitement settles, though, many engaged couples start discussing the kind of life they want to live together from a practical perspective, from their financial future to whether they want kids.

Those conversations are important, but a therapist told Business Insider that couples should have those discussions before getting engaged.

You shouldn't wait until you're engaged to discuss life-changing topics with your partner.

Landis Bejar, a wedding therapist and the founder of AisleTalk, told Business Insider that for many people, a proposal marks the beginning of a life together.

However, she said that waiting to talk about important topics until you have a ring on your finger can lead to problems, as you may discover you and your partner want different things as you talk.

"When you start to feel serious about one another, it's time to start talking about those things," Bejar said. "You want to make sure that you're not just on the same page about life in the moment that you're meeting."

"Breaking off an engagement feels different than breaking up for a non-engaged couple," she added.

You should discuss kids before you agree to spend your life with your partner.

Bejar said that early in your relationship, you should discuss whether you want children and what having children would look like for you and your partner.

"How many? What are your views on parenting?" Bejar recommends asking. "How were you parented? What were your experiences being parented? What were your relationships like with your parents growing up, and how are they now? What do you envision would be your ideal version of that if you do want to become a parent?"

Bejar also said spending time with children as a couple can be helpful before you take that step.

"If you have a sibling or a friend with kids and they need some time away and they trust you with their kids, spend some time with them," she said. "It can invite some really fruitful conversation about how you handle the stress of that."

It's also important to talk about money as a couple.

"People really don't like talking about money," Bejar told Business Insider. "Money feels very, very taboo."

She said it is crucial to discuss money with your significant other because your personal finances impact nearly every aspect of your life, even if you don't plan on combining your money with your partner when you get married.

"You want to get on the same page because there's a lot of variability about what partners' expectations are or how they handle their money," she said.

"I really like to start premarital counseling with questions like, 'What does money mean to you? How was money talked about growing up in your family?'" Bejar added.

For some, money offered a sense of security, or it could have been a huge source of stress or even trauma.

"That's all going to impact the way that you talk about money, the way you feel about money, the way you spend money, the way you invest money, and the way you save money," Bejar said. "All of that is really rich with story and emotion and behavior, and it can very easily be swept under the rug as not relevant in your relationship."

You might have different expectations of the roles your families will play in your life together.

As Bejar told Business Insider, having in-depth conversations with your partner about your "families of origin" can help you understand not only your partner's upbringing but also the vision they have for their family in your life.

"As you shift from being a child of your family versus creating your own family, how do you integrate those two identities?" Bejar said.

Bejar said you might want to talk about how often you expect to see your in-laws throughout the year and how involved you anticipate them being with your children if you plan on having them.

Plus, if either of you plans on having your parents live with you someday as they age, you should discuss that with your partner, as that would have a dramatic impact on their day-to-day life in addition to your own.

"You want to have a sense of where you guys stand on that and whether that's going to be something that creates challenges along the way," Bejar said. "We're not coming to a compromise right now, but maybe it'll be something that we need to compromise on in the future."

Cultural and religious differences can become sources of stress if you don't talk about them early in your relationship.

As Bejar told Business Insider, even if you were raised in the same culture or religion as your partner, your upbringings could have looked quite different.

"As you're combining a family together, you want to talk about how you formed your own cultural or religious identity," Bejar said. "If you do want to have a family, talk about what sort of values you'd like to bring in from your own upbringing. Do those conflict with your partner's experience? How does that look when you're talking about it with kids?"

Bejar also said wedding planning might be easier if you discuss your religious and cultural backgrounds early in your relationship.

"It actually comes up a lot with weddings because sometimes, you have a couple who might not be actively day-to-day practicing within their religion or their cultural background or their ethnicity," she said. "But a wedding is a big life milestone where you would infuse that."

Finally, you shouldn't assume you and your partner will automatically be on the same page about sex.

Although sex might seem like an intuitive aspect of a relationship for some people, Bejar said she encourages her clients to talk about intimacy expectations if they're considering getting married.

"You want to talk about how you feel good sexually with your partner. You want to talk about what doesn't feel good," she said.

For instance, one person might want to have sex more often than the other, and being open with your partner about your needs can help ensure a difference in sex drive doesn't lead to conflict.

"You want to have open lines of communication about sex," Bejar went on to say. "And you want to have open lines of communication about what to do if things change. How can we talk about that?"

When you spend your life with someone, things will inevitably evolve, so establishing a "culture of communication," as Bejar puts it, can prepare you and your partner to take on those changes in stride.

• Some High Noon alcoholic beverages were mislabeled as Celsius energy drinks.
• A can supplier mistakenly sent Celsius cans to High Noon, according to an FDA recall notice.
• No illnesses or "adverse events" have been reported as a result of the mistake.

Some Celsius drinkers looking for an afternoon energy boost might've accidentally gone straight to happy hour instead.

Some cans of High Noon vodka seltzer were mislabeled as Celsius energy drinks, according to a recall notice from High Noon posted on the Food and Drug Administration's website on Tuesday.

The alcoholic beverages were incorrectly labeled as Celsius Astro Vibe Sparkling Blue Razz Edition, according to the notice. The mistake happened after a supplier to the two brands sent empty Celsius cans to High Noon.

"Consumption of the liquid in these cans will result in unintentional alcohol ingestion," according to the FDA notice.

No "adverse events" or consumer illnesses have been reported, the notice reads.

"We are working with the FDA, retailers, and distributors to proactively manage the recall to ensure the safety and well-being of our consumers," a spokesperson for High Noon said.

The recall affects some beverages sold in High Noon Beach Variety 12-packs. The mislabeled beverages were shipped between July 21 and July 23 and reached Florida, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

• Home prices continue to climb, but some markets still might offer a good deal.
• For younger homebuyers, some areas of the Southeast and Midwest might be more affordable.
• These are the 10 most millennial-friendly housing markets.

Adulting could get a little easier, at least in these 10 cities.

As millennials move through their 30s and 40s and prepare to buy a house, they're faced with an increasingly expensive real estate market: the average home in the US sold for over half a million in the second quarter of 2025, at $512,800. The national median price of $435,300 in June was the highest on record.

But some areas of the country are more friendly to first-time, younger homebuyers than others, according to a recent study from SmartAsset.

Many of these areas are mid-sized metros in the Southeast and Midwest. The Midwest in particular has seen a boom in real estate activity in recent months, but remains one of the most affordable homebuying regions in the country, according to a Redfin report from earlier this year.

On the other hand, some of the most difficult places for millennials to buy homes feature the usual suspects — expensive housing markets on the coasts, such as San Francisco and New York City. Fewer than 1% of local millennials purchased a home in those areas in 2024. For those who purchased a house in the San Francisco area, the median millennial property value was a whopping $1,505,000.

Below are the top 10 metro areas where the local millennial population purchased the most homes in 2024, along with the median millennial property value and median income of millennial mortgagor.

For context, the median price of a home sold in the US was $410,800 and the average price is $513,800 in the second quarter of 2025, according to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. Seven out of the 10 median millennial property values on this list are below the national median. All figures are based on metropolitan statistical areas, which may include surrounding suburbs and cross state lines.

Raleigh, NC

Local millennials who bought a home: 4.50%

Median millennial property value: $455,000

Median income of millennial mortgagors: $138,000

Indianapolis, IN

Local millennials who bought a home: 4.32%

Median millennial property value: $325,000

Median income of millennial mortgagors: $103,000

Charlotte, NC

Local millennials who bought a home: 4.28%

Median millennial property value: $425,000

Median income of millennial mortgagors: $125,000

Nashville, TN

Local millennials who bought a home: 4.08%

Median millennial property value: $455,000

Median income of millennial mortgagors: $123,000

Cincinnati, OH

Local millennials who bought a home: 4.06%

Median millennial property value: $315,000

Median income of millennial mortgagors: $107,000

Louisville, KY

Local millennials who bought a home: 4.04%

Median millennial property value: $285,000

Median income of millennial mortgagors: $91,000

Virginia Beach, VA

Local millennials who bought a home: 4.02%

Median millennial property value: $365,000

Median income of millennial mortgagors: $105,000

Milwaukee, WI

Local millennials who bought a home: 3.82%

Median millennial property value: $355,000

Median income of millennial mortgagors: $119,000

Jacksonville, FL

Local millennials who bought a home: 3.81%

Median millennial property value: $375,000

Median income of millennial mortgagors: $110,000

St. Louis, MO

Local millennials who bought a home: 3.81%

Median millennial property value: $305,000

Median income of millennial mortgagors: $106,000

Last year, Medicare spent over $10 billion on dubious bandages—called skin substitutes—that come with eye-popping prices. Some are made from medical waste, like dried bits of discarded placentas or infant foreskin, and many have not gone through rigorous testing to prove they offer any advantage over standard bandages. Yet, in some cases, Medicare reportedly paid for bandages priced at more than $21,000 per square inch. And individual patients have quickly racked up bills over $1 million just for their bandaging—some who puzzlingly didn't even have a wound.

Private insurance companies largely do not cover these bandages, declaring many of them "unproven and not medically necessary." But Medicare's current coverage seems to tie back to a rule change in 2020 that opened the door to broader use of them—and the market for these dubious skin substitutes, often used for diabetic ulcers, exploded. Since 2023, more than 100 new products have been introduced, according to an investigative report from The New York Times in April.

The Times investigation highlighted two big reasons why they're so pricy: First, due to an oddity in pricing rules, Medicare initially sets the reimbursement rate for the bandages at whatever price the manufacturer chooses—for the first six months at least. The second is that doctors are granted steep discounts, incentivizing them to use the pricy products for bigger reimbursements. After the initial six-month period, Medicare reimburses only what doctors pay after manufacturer discounts. However, some bandage makers get around this by just rolling out new products that are suspiciously similar to the old ones, maintaining the large reimbursement rates.

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• Some iconic rom-coms have shocking real-life age gaps between love interests.
• Iconic duos like Julia Roberts and Richard Gere and Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling aren't close in age.
• Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence are over 15 years apart and have played love interests.

You may not realize that a movie set in New York was actually filmed in Canada or that your favorite leading lady has a different hair color in real life.

And on-screen couples you thought were just a few months or years apart might have a bigger real-life age gap than you thought.

Here are some of the most surprising real-life age differences between love interests in popular romantic comedies.

"Silver Linings Playbook" love interests Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence are over 15 years apart.

In the film, Cooper plays a divorcé who falls for a widow, played by Lawrence.

It's unclear exactly how old the characters are supposed to be, but at the time of the premiere, Cooper was 37 and Lawrence was 22.

Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal, who famously starred in "When Harry Met Sally," are 14 years apart.

Although the characters are meant to be the same age as the film moves through 12 years of their lives, Crystal and Ryan are over a decade apart. 

The Nora Ephron classic first hit theaters in 1989, when Crystal was 41 and Ryan was 27.

Julia Roberts and Richard Gere, who starred in rom-coms like "Pretty Woman," are 18 years apart.

When the film premiered, Gere was 40 and Roberts was 22.

The two also starred opposite each other in "Runaway Bride" in 1999 when Gere was 49 and Roberts was 31.

Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck were 13 years apart when they starred in "Roman Holiday."

The cult-classic romantic comedy "Roman Holiday" starred Hepburn and Peck as love interests.

Hepburn was 24 and Peck was 37 when the film came out.

"While You Were Sleeping" stars Bill Pullman and Sandra Bullock are over 10 years apart.

In the 1995 film, Bullock played Lucy and Pullman was Jack. At the time of the premiere, Bullock was 30 (almost 31) and Pullman was 41.

Cameron Diaz and Dermot Mulroney, who are engaged in "My Best Friend's Wedding," are nine years apart.

In the film, the two play love interests in their late 20s. But when the film premiered in the summer of 1997, Mulroney was 33 and Diaz was 24.

Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson are over nine years apart, and they starred opposite each other in "How to Lose a Guy in 10 days."

When the 2003 film premiered, Hudson was 23 turning 24 and McConaughey had recently turned 33.

Frequent love interests Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler are eight years apart.

Barrymore and Sandler have starred as love interests in a few films.

When their first movie together, "The Wedding Singer," premiered in 1998, Sandler was 31 and Barrymore was a week from turning 23.

They later worked together on "50 First Dates" in 2004 and "Blended" in 2014. 

Diane Keaton and Woody Allen, who played love interests in "Annie Hall," have a 10-year age difference.

When Keaton played the titular role of Annie Hall, she was much younger than her love interest, played by controversial filmmaker and actor Allen.

The film premiered in April 1977 when Allen was 41 and Keaton was 31.

Repeat movie love interests Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone have an eight-year age difference.

When Stone and Gosling first appeared together in "Crazy, Stupid, Love" in 2011, she was 22 and he was 30.

They went on to reunite for "La La Land" in 2016. 

Renée Zellweger is eight years younger than both of her love interests in "Bridget Jones's Diary."

Zellweger isn't that close in age to either of her love interests from "Bridget Jones's Diary."

Funnily enough, Hugh Grant and Colin Firth were born a day apart (Grant is older), and they were both a little over 40 when the film premiered in 2001.

Zellweger was about a week away from turning 32 at the time. 

Patrick Dempsey and Amy Adams, who starred in "Enchanted," are also more than eight years apart in age.

The musical romantic comedy featured Adams and Dempsey as unlikely love interests.

When the movie premiered in 2007, Dempsey was almost 42 and Adams was 33.

This story was most recently updated on July 10, 2025.

In some ways, Getty Images has emerged as one of the most steadfast defenders of artists' rights in AI copyright fights. Starting in 2022, when some of the most sophisticated image generators today first started testing new models offering better compositions, Getty banned AI-generated uploads to its service. And by the next year, Getty released a "socially responsible" image generator to prove it was possible to build a tool while rewarding artists, while suing an AI firm that refused to pay artists.

But in the years since, Getty Images CEO Craig Peters recently told CNBC that the media company has discovered that it's simply way too expensive to fight every AI copyright battle.

According to Peters, Getty has dumped millions into just one copyright fight against Stability AI.

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The world has been abuzz for weeks now about the inclusion of a journalist in a group message of senior White House officials discussing plans for a military strike. In that case, the breach was the result of then-National Security Advisor Mike Waltz accidentally adding The Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg to the group chat and no one else in the chat noticing. But what if someone controlling or hacking a messenger platform could do the same thing?

When it comes to WhatsApp—the Meta-owned messenger that’s frequently touted for offering end-to-end encryption—it turns out you can.

A clean bill of health except for...

A team of researchers confirmed that behavior in a recently released formal analysis of WhatsApp group messaging. They reverse-engineered the app, described the formal cryptographic protocols, and provided theorems establishing the security guarantees that WhatsApp provides. Overall, they gave the messenger a clean bill of health, finding that it works securely and as described by WhatsApp.

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