COVID relief money funded musicians’ lavish lifestyles

This is a condensed version of Business Insider Today, a newsletter that gives you a look at the week’s top stories. Sign up here to get the full Business Insider Today in your inbox every day for the top stories in markets, tech, and business.

Welcome back to our Sunday edition, a roundup of some of our top stories. You’ve likely heard the term “supercommuter,” but you might have wondered… why? Someone who does it from Washington, DC, to NYC admits she’s not sure the job is worth the commute. Still, she’s not regretting doing it.

COVID relief money funded musicians’ lavish lifestyles

Wealthy musicians received millions of dollars from the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant, a pandemic relief program intended for struggling independent venues and arts groups. However, stars like Lil Wayne and Chris Brown used the program as a piggy bank to keep the party going, exclusive reporting from BI shows.

Thousands of pages of accounting documents reveal how artists directed millions in taxpayer funds toward their own bank accounts, luxury purchases, and entertainment expenses — often outweighing what they spent on touring crew members.

How musicians spent the grant money.

The cursed inheritance

Luisa Isabel Álvarez de Toledo, a Spanish duchess, devoted much of her life to cataloging the Archive of Medina-Sidonia, a priceless collection that had been in her family for generations. Comprising of 6 million documents, the archive details the secrets of the kings, dukes, and explorers of medieval Spain.

After Luisa Isabel died, she left her three children just 743,000 euros. However, the bulk of her estate — and control of the archives — went to the woman she'd married on her deathbed. What ensued after was a bitter legal battle that would shatter the family, captivate Spain, and throw the fate of the archives into doubt.

Inside the palace showdown.

Don’t trust that Zestimate

There is perhaps no real-estate metric more loved — and loathed — than Zillow’s automated home valuation tool. The Zestimate draws casual clickers to the site, whether it’s to lurk on previous residences, friends’ or colleagues’ homes, or the value of your neighbor’s property against yours.

The problem is that the Zestimate is often misguided, and Americans’ obsession with it can create crushing reality checks when homes actually hit the market. 

But that’s not a problem for Zillow.

Citi’s controversial curve

Earlier this month, Citigroup welcomed 344 managing directors, marking its biggest class in years. Behind the scenes, however, the bank’s promotion process can be political and pit employees against each other, four current and former managing directors told BI.

The bank rates its employees on a forced curve, assessing them from best to worst. These rankings influence whether an employee might receive a promotion or lose their bonus.

Managing directors break down how it works.

More of this week’s top reads:

• How Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop lost its glow amid layoffs and pivots.
• Is it too late to buy bitcoin? Why some Wall Street experts say no — and 4 ways to start investing now.
• Amazon is delaying full RTO for some employees because it doesn't have enough workspace, internal notifications show.
• The American dream is shrinking.
• A chip company you probably never heard of is suddenly worth $1 trillion. Here's why, and what it means for Nvidia.
• Meet the 33 women in venture capital who made partner or higher at firms like Andreessen Horowitz and IVP in 2024.
• AppLovin has rocketed to a $100 billion valuation. Some industry insiders are skeptical its run can last.
• America is one big casino now.
• Want to break into VC in 2025? MBAs and consulting backgrounds are out. Technical skills, especially AI, are in.
• Inside India’s ‘Silicon Valley.’
• AT&T’s CTO tells his US team there won’t be ‘one-for-one seating’ upon the return to 5 days in office — read the memo.
• Leaked MrBeast docs reveal 'Beast Games' contestant terms — including a $500K penalty for divulging info.

Curated by Dan DeFrancesco and edited by Lisa Ryan, Grace Lett, and Amanda Yen.

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