Insider Today: Landlords' secret weapon

Saving for retirement has never felt scarier — or more confusing.

Landlords have a secret weapon that’s helping them keep rent high.

Wall Street is hiring AI talent for roles that pay up to $2 million.

Spotify hosted a lavish, pricey party. Then it laid off 1,500 employees.

But first: The trial of O.J. Simpson, who died last week, left a mark on America.

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LOS ANGELES, CA – JUNE 21: O.J. Simpson shows the jury a new pair of Aris extra-large gloves, similar to the gloves found at the Bundy and Rockingham crime scene 21 June 1995, during his double murder trial in Los Angeles,CA. Deputy Sheriff Roland Jex(L) and Prosecutor Christopher Darden (R) look on.

VINCE BUCCI/AFP via Getty Images

This week’s dispatch

O.J.’s impact

O.J. Simpson died this week — a couple months before the 30th anniversary of his famous police chase. That chase, and Simpson’s subsequent murder trial, changed media forever.

Simpson had been a star athlete at the University of Southern California, a running back in the NFL, and a Hollywood star. But it was his arrest for the murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman, that would change American culture forever.

Simpson was ordered to turn himself in to the police, and was then spotted on an interstate in a white Ford Bronco. An estimated 95 million watched the ensuing chase.

A year later, 150 million would watch the jury declare a shocking not guilty verdict. Robert Kardashian helped defend Simpson, putting the family in the spotlight for the first time.

Simpson was later found liable for the wrongful deaths of Simpson and Goldman by a civil jury. He was sent to prison in 2008 for armed robbery, kidnapping, and conspiracy.

The car chase and trial presaged the media culture to come. It cemented the role of rolling cable news channels packed with talking heads. Michael Socolow, a professor, told CNN that the trial convinced Rupert Murdoch to launch Fox News in 1996.

The trial put camera crews inside the courtroom. It was the original true crime show. It was infotainment. It was America’s first reality TV obsession.

iStock; Rebecca Zisser/BI

Retirement dread

Instead of looking forward to life without work, the thought of retirement has become anxiety-inducing for many people.

Whereas it used to be that workers would receive money from plans like pensions after they retire, the onus is now on them to pay into funds like IRAs and 401(k)s. With more responsibility resting on workers, many feel unprepared to retire comfortably.

How retirement became a nightmare.

Landlords’ secret weapon

Big-time apartment owners have a secret weapon: RealPage, a company that sells software to property managers to help them set rents and juice their profits.

Its algorithm tells landlords exactly how much rent they should charge for units in their buildings. It claims it can help clients “outpace the market” — but a new lawsuit accuses the company of price fixing.

Inside the lawsuit against RealPage.

iStock;BI

AI fever hits the Street

Banks, hedge funds, and private equity firms are searching for more tech talent, particularly in artificial intelligence. Some AI-focused gigs can pull in $2 million compensation packages.

BI spoke with five recruiters, each of whom shared the hottest jobs Wall Street firms are hiring for.

See their top picks.

Spotify spending backlash

In November, Spotify celebrated its annual Wrapped campaign by splashing out on a glitzy party in London. Sam Smith and Charli XCX performed at the event, which was attended by staff and celebrities alike.

Four days later, the company laid off 1,500 employees. Some Spotify staff told BI the company is spending too much on lavish events, especially as it looks to cut even more costs.

Everything employees told us.

This week’s quote:

“As a personality hire, you can get away with not being as competent and doing half of your job.”

Daniel Bennett, a startup founder who said he once got a job as the “personality hire.”

More of this week’s top reads:

Adam Neumann shares his billion-dollar plan to transform apartment living.

Some Amazon employees are complaining about projected pay cuts, internal messages show.

Hiring managers are tired of seeing these résumé clichés.

Meet 33 of adtech’s rising stars.

Bon Appétit employees worry layoffs will undermine years of its progress.

Will David Ellison’s dad help him save Paramount?

Your Google Docs are (probably) safe from AI training.

We’ve been thinking about loneliness all wrong.

The Insider Today team: Matt Turner, deputy editor-in-chief, in New York. Jordan Parker Erb, editor, in New York. Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Lisa Ryan, executive editor, in New York.

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