California education officials have released an audit into a local school district and its ties to a private boarding school in China, finding “sufficient evidence” of “fraud, misappropriation of funds, or other illegal fiscal practices.” www.politico.com/news/2026/03...
I'll be continuing to monitor what happens next here. Do you have a tip? You can reach me at neinbinder@businessinsider.com or on Signal at neinbinder.70.
Over the course of their investigation, the auditors said, they found, among other claims, possible evidence of fraud, bribery, conflicts of interest, breaches of fiduciary duty, or violations of the Political Reform Act by various officials. www.businessinsider.com/audit-val-ve...
Now officials have released an audit looking into these relationships — and referred the matter to the local prosecutor.
The report describes what appears to be a "a pattern of favors, official acts, promises, and payments leading to the [state's] endorsement" of the school.
Five years ago we published a story revealing that a local district issued diplomas to graduates of the Chinese school — and that top state education officials were involved in establishing the relationship and promoting it with leading CA universities. www.businessinsider.com/california-e...
New: CA officials have released a blistering audit in response to a 2021 @businessinsider.com
investigation into a school district and its ties to a private school in China, finding evidence of fraud, misappropriated funds, or other illegal fiscal practices: www.businessinsider.com/audit-val-ve...
New: we've found a dozen instances in which misreads by Flock's license plate cameras, or lack of verification by officers, resulted in people who hadn't committed crimes being stopped at gunpoint, sent to jail, or mauled by a police dog, among other outcomes. www.businessinsider.com/flock-safety...
A former employee said that challenges with company culture and leadership contributed to the departures.
We've written previously about the startup's hardcore culture, including CEO Alex Blania telling staff not to care about anything outside of work: www.businessinsider.com/sam-altman-t...
Scoop for @businessinsider.com: Sam Altman's eye-scanning startup Tools for Humanity is bleeding high-level employees, including two C-suite executives and several senior staff who have departed in recent months.
A former employee said that challenges with company culture and leadership contributed to the departures.
We've written previously about the startup's hardcore culture, including CEO Alex Blania telling staff not to care about anything outside of work: www.businessinsider.com/sam-altman-t...
Do you work at Tools for Humanity or have a tip? I'd love to chat. I can be reached via email at neinbinder@businessinsider.com, or the encrypted messaging app Signal at neinbinder.70.
Meanwhile, former employees and experts expressed concern about the company's practices abroad. "They started in countries quite often where people really are desperate for money," said Martha Bennett, vice president and principal analyst at the global research and advisory firm Forrester.
The push for growth comes as the company, Tools for Humanity, faces pushback from global regulators, as well as questions over its business model and underlying purpose.
As one former employee said about Altman, "he is creating the disease but he also wants to create the cure."
NEW: Sam Altman's iris-scanning startup has raised hundreds of millions of dollars on a futuristic premise: proving someone is human in the age of AI. Its goals are ambitious — a billion users across the world.
So far, it's less than 2% of the way there. www.businessinsider.com/sam-altman-o...
Great story, showing yet again that many of the stars of the "news" business are, in fact, bullshitters. www.businessinsider.com/daniella-pie...
Do you have a tip about reality tv, Hollywood, or the networks? I can be reached via email at neinbinder@businessinsider.com, or via the encrypted messaging app Signal at neinbinder.70.
www.businessinsider.com/the-profit-m...
In an interview with BI, Lemonis said he had won "any claim that was ever brought against me.”
Some claims from the show were dismissed, and Lemonis and NBCUniversal secured multimillion judgments in their favor in others. He declined to discuss the settlement agreement.
Now, Lemonis is back on air with a new show — “The Fixer” on Fox, with a similar premise to that of "The Profit."
“If the narratives presented in these interviews reflect what actually happened to those whom I interviewed, I can see how they were injured and how and why their symptoms arose,” the psychiatrist wrote.
In one record we reviewed, prepared by a psychiatrist who interviewed 48 of the owners or their family members, he described how many suffered intense damage to their self-trust and alienation. At least five people said they had been suicidal or engaged in suicidal ideation.
According to emails among the business owners discussing the settlement, one person said they took the money because they feared that otherwise, "NBC and Lemonis will throw $millions at us and in the end squash us.”
Of the roughly 100 businesses featured on “The Profit,” more than 50 filed lawsuits, engaged in mediation talks, or settled. We interviewed more than a dozen people involved with the show and reviewed thousands of pages of records, including confidential settlement documents.
NEW with @dakincampbell.bsky.social: we’ve learned that NBCUniversal, CNBC, Comcast, and Marcus Lemonis — celebrity host of CNBC’s “The Profit” — settled with 40 small businesses that appeared on the show for $11 million, over harm they say they endured.
www.businessinsider.com/the-profit-m...
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As we reported late last year, the Prison Litigation Reform Act — pitched as a common-sense law to curb trivial prisoner lawsuits — has instead largely stymied cases claiming serious harm. www.businessinsider.com/plra-frivolo...
The Supreme Court last week expanded prisoners' access to jury trials, for cases related to the Prison Litigation Reform Act under the Seventh Amendment.
Re-upping the story from @hannahbeckler.bsky.social and I about the stakes of the case: www.businessinsider.com/supreme-cour...
I'm honored to be named a a Livingston finalist with @hannahbeckler.bsky.social for our series exposing how the Eighth Amendment has been gutted for this nation's prisoners. These were tough stories to report, and I'm grateful to be recognized alongside such a stellar group of journalists.
If you're a current or former federal worker and want to chat, I can be reached on the encrypted messaging app Signal at neinbinder.70.
