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Abu Dhabi emergency teams swiftly contained a fire at an Al Mushrif construction site storing building materials on Saturday evening. The blaze, which posed no immediate casualty reports, prompted authorities to urge the public against spreading unverified information. Investigations into the cause are ongoing, with the incident occurring amidst heightened regional tensions. View More

The deal, if it gets done, would not be finalized until early April and is not expected to close until 2027. View More

In this articleCZRFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT Caesars Palace Las Vegas Hotel and Casino located along the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, NevadaRobert Alexander | Getty Images Tilman Fertitta's Fertitta Entertainment is actively negotiating a deal to acquire Caesars Entertainment, according to sources close to the situation.The deal terms currently stand at $32 per share, with an equity value of $6.5 billion and an enterprise value of $31.5 billion, given Caesars' substantial debt, the sources said. The deal, if it gets done, would not be finalized until early April and is not expected to close until 2027. The talks are taking place within a 45-day exclusive window, according to the sources. The talks are happening this weekend at Fertitta's headquarters, the Post Oak Hotel in Houston.To satisfy ethics requirements in becoming the U.S. Ambassador to Italy in 2025, Fertitta stepped down as CEO of the company that includes Landry's, the Houston Rockets, and the Golden Nugget casino in Las Vegas. "As a matter of policy, we do not comment on market rumors or speculation," Caesars said in a statement. Fertitta did not respond to CNBC's request for comment.On Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal reported billionaire Carl Icahn made a bid of $33 per share and was topped by Fertitta's bid of $34 per share. Sources on both sides of the negotiations told CNBC they suspect Icahn is trying to drive up the deal price to increase the value of his own stake in Caesars. According to FactSet, Icahn owns 1.2% of outstanding shares, although one source said his overall holdings in Caesars total some 18 million shares, including derivatives.Representatives for Icahn declined to comment. Carl Icahn speaking at Delivering Alpha in New York on Sept. 13, 2016.David A. Grogan | CNBC Sources familiar with the situation say Icahn truly wants to buy Caesars and first made a friendly bid in January, offering $28.50 per share and assuring current management would remain in place. Icahn's current offer stands at $33 per share, subject to due diligence, should Fertitta walk away, sources said.Icahn is interested in joining forces with a large digital gaming company, potentially combining Caesars digital gambling business with theirs, sources also told CNBC.Fertitta subsequently came in with a counteroffer for Caesars and secured a window of exclusivity for negotiations, effectively declining Icahn's offers.Icahn had increased his position in Caesars in 2024, sending the casino shares surging 11% on May 31, 2024, to close at $36. He has also placed two directors on the company's board.Caesars shares have been under pressure since October 2021, when they hit a post-pandemic high of $119 following El Dorado's July 2020 acquisition of Caesars for roughly $18 billion. "The math is just too good to ignore," says a source close to the situation, citing the suppressed share price and a casino business that has about $1 billion in free cash flow annually and does $4 billion in EBITDA.While talks continue this weekend, there are no signs that a deal is imminent and any agreement would be sure to face regulatory and shareholder scrutiny. Investors have looked skeptically at the company's digital business, which includes sports betting and online casino games, that is now profitable for Caesars. The sudden success of prediction platforms like Kalshi, Polymarket, Robinhood, Crypto.com and others is also largely viewed as a competitive threat to sportsbooks.Though Caesars CEO Tom Reeg has previously expressed a willingness to consider spinning off the digital business, he has recently said that it's less appealing, given the valuations of competing sportsbooks.FanDuel parent Flutter has seen its shares plummet by more than 60% over the past six months. DraftKings shares are down over 40%.There are also questions about how regulators would factor in Tilman Fertitta's individual holdings in other gambling companies.He is the largest shareholder in Wynn Resorts, with more than 12% of outstanding shares, according to FactSet. SEC filings since the beginning of 2026 show Fertitta has listed more than 4 million call options on his shares.Following his sale of Golden Nugget Online Gaming to DraftKings, he also became a significant shareholder in the sports betting company. VICI, a gaming REIT born out of Caesars' bankruptcy in 2017, is the owner of Caesars Palace and Harrah's on the Las Vegas Strip, along with about 20 other regional properties. VICI will have the opportunity to review the purchase, but, contrary to published reports, it doesn't have a vote in who acquires Caesars. VICI was involved in financing El Dorado's acquisition of Caesars.VICI CEO Ed Pitoniak told CNBC, "We have a productive and collaborative history of working with our partners to improve their business."Disclosure: CNBC and Kalshi have a commercial relationship that includes customer acquisition and a minority investment. Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

A new giant long-necked dinosaur, Dasosaurus tocantinensis, unearthed in Brazil, reveals ancient land connections. Its close evolutionary ties to a Spanish species suggest dinosaurs migrated between continents before the Atlantic Ocean fully formed. This finding offers compelling biological evidence for prehistoric land bridges linking South America, Africa, and Europe, reshaping our understanding of dinosaur dispersal. View More

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is facing a $7 billion budget hole, and the free parking NYC residents have taken for granted may be a revenue opportunity. View More

Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images With New York City facing a budget gap estimated at around $7 billion, new Mayor Zohran Mamdani would prefer to tax the rich. But lately, Mamdani and his administration have conceded that other ways to raise revenue for the city need to be considered, from higher property taxes on homeowners to a long-talked-about idea that would upend a feature of life in the Big Apple many residents have long considered a right: ample free parking.New York has about 3 million curbside parking spaces, and roughly 97% of them are free. Eliminating this perk has been floated, unsuccessfully, many times. However, given an overall annual municipal budget over $100 billion and Mamdani's need to close the budget gap, there may be more momentum. It would follow in the footsteps of many other U.S. and European cities where using more public parking space as a way to raise revenue is already common. The topic has assumed a higher profile within public policy discussions across the U.S. at a time of widespread municipal financial strain.For New York, the idea of charging for parking gained renewed public interest this month following remarks by Dean Fuleihan, first deputy mayor of New York City, at a Center for New York City and State Law event. The topic came up in response to an audience member's question about raising additional revenue by changing the city's approach to street parking. "Yes — we should be looking at all those things," Fuleihan told audience members. He emphasized, however, that parking fees wouldn't fix the totality of the budget problem. In a statement the following day, Mamdani echoed this sentiment. "Our administration is committed to filling the budget gap by ending the drain on New York City and taxing the rich," he said, adding that "we need structural change at the scale necessary to put our city back on firm financial footing."  watch nowVIDEO5:3805:38NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani: The city must increase taxes on the wealthiestSquawk Box City officials aren't the only ones thinking about ways to increase revenue. Last May, the New York Senate introduced a bill that would authorize the city of New York to provide for a residential parking permit system. The bill was sponsored by Brad Hoylman-Sigal, who is now Manhattan borough president, and it remains in committee.This past week, New York State legislators proposed a comprehensive state-level budget package that would increase taxes on the wealthiest individuals, as well as businesses. If the tax changes are approved by New York Governor Kathy Hochul, it would enact a similar approach to Mamdani in seeking ways to increase revenue and close the budget gap in New York City. However, negotiations are expected to last until at least April, and Hochul is in a tough reelection fight and has to date said she will not approve a tax increase.There is a separate political cost to consider for a mayor who ran on taxing the rich, as parking fees are considered a form of regressive taxation, hitting lower-income earners harder on a percentage basis. But most urban policy experts say the idea of generating more revenue from parking makes sense."New York City real estate — street space — is being given away for free in many parts of the city," said Nicholas J. Klein, associate professor at Cornell University, who teaches classes on city planning. "It's one of the most valuable resources, and the city is just giving it away."What makes NYC unique, how other cities handle parkingIn fact, New York City is one of the only major U.S. cities that allows people to park on residential streets completely free, says Zhan Guo, associate professor of urban planning and transportation policy at New York University's Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. "It doesn't make economic sense," Guo said.What's more, the percentage of metered parking spaces in New York is significantly below other large U.S. cities, including San Francisco, Washington D.C. and Los Angeles, said Brenden Beck, associate professor at Rutgers-Newark, and a sociologist who focuses on policing, city budgets and housing. "It should be much higher when you consider that New York City has a much more robust public transit system. The working class and the middle-class system of Los Angeles, for example, might have a case if they were to say, 'Please don't meter us; we have no other way to get to work.' There's less of a case to be made in New York," he said.There are multiple approaches. Washington, D.C., is heavily metered, for example. The city also issues residential parking permits. San Francisco, meanwhile, has demand-based pricing for its parking meters, meaning rates vary based on usage levels at different times of the day. It also charges residents for a residential permit. In Boston, there are meters throughout the city. Additionally, many residential streets are now permit-only. Residents have to apply for a permit, but there's no charge.New York City's optionsNew York could take several paths to raise parking revenue. One option is to increase the number of parking meters in the city and charge an hourly rate for usage, said Terrance J. Regan, adjunct professor in Boston University's city planning and urban affairs department. Thanks to technology, cities no longer have to install physical meters. They can turn entire streets into metered parking by having people pay online or through a revenue box on the street, he said.Another option is for the city to institute resident parking permits. This could be either for the whole city or only certain boroughs. A combination of both revenue-raising ideas could be ideal, according to urban planning professionals. "Lots of cities charge for parking," and it's not hard to implement, especially with digital parking meters, said Klein. "We already do this in lots of places, and people know it and expect it," he added. The cost to car ownersThe cost to drivers would depend on the particulars New York decided to implement. According to Michael Lewyn, director of the Institute on Land Use and Sustainable Development and professor of law at Touro Law Center, the city could keep its existing fee structure for parking meters, with rates that vary by zone, or implement demand-based pricing like San Francisco, which relies on in-ground sensors to estimate parking occupancy.To determine the cost of a residential permit, New York could look to other cities for guidance. In Washington, D.C., for example, a permit costs $50 for the first vehicle, $75 for the second vehicle, $100 for the third vehicle and $150 for each vehicle beyond the first three vehicles. San Francisco, meanwhile, charges an annual fee of $215 for a residential permit on a passenger vehicle. Notably, a 2013 study by New York University's Guo found that 52.5% of respondents would be willing to pay an average of $408 per year for a parking permit. How much revenue it could raiseThe amount of money the city could raise depends largely on the specifics of the program, but it certainly has the potential to chip away at the budget issue. "Can you finance the whole city off it? No, of course not, but you could make a sizable amount of money," said Michael Manville, professor of urban planning at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. A 2020 study from UCLA estimated that New York is losing at least $114 million a year, on the Upper West Side alone, by allowing unmetered curb spaces.More broadly, if New York decided to make two-thirds of its free parking spaces "resident permit parking" and charged a $100 a year fee for a permit, it would raise about $200 million a year, said Boston University's Regan. Obviously, you can raise more if you make the permit more, he said. If the city also added 250,000 new meters and collected $20 a day, 300 days a year, it could raise $1.5 billion, on top of revenue from existing meters. "You've got a lot of tools to play with here to raise money," he said.Pricing parking appropriately has other benefits as well, said Justin de Benedictis-Kessner, Emma Bloomberg Associate Professor of Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School. This includes time savings for drivers cruising for parking, reduced traffic congestion and less pollution, he said. The politics of paid parkingThe big barrier to introducing these types of initiatives is political because leaders are concerned that constituents won't see the benefit, de Benedictis-Kessner said. In reality, it doesn't have to be expensive in relation to the incomes of city drivers to make a meaningful difference. It's economics 101: "If you offer New York City land at the price of zero, then you're going to have a shortage of it because the price is well below its value," said UCLA's Manville. If you price the curb to keep one space on a block always open, it solves the problem. The city might also be able to loosen its alternate side parking rules since "you can clean the street around parked cars," he said.The upshot: "You price it so that it's a better service for people who do want to park, and in addition, you raise some revenue."But whatever New York does, there's an approach not to take, said Erick Guerra, associate professor of regional planning at the University of Pennsylvania. Chicago inked a multi-decade deal in 2008 to privatize parking meters. The intentions were to raise revenue, but it bombed in part due to poor execution, and the city is still dealing with the aftermath, Guerra said. Chicago should have gotten way more money than it did, and the city has lost the ability to gain revenue from an important asset for many years. "They really dug themselves into a hole," Guerra said.  watch nowVIDEO7:5907:59Mayor Mamdani's tax hike threat is a 'political mistake', says Partnership for NYC CEO Steven FulopSquawk Box Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

During the first three quarters of 2025-26 fiscal, Gaurs group sold about 5.92 million square feet of area across 2,578 units View More

Because females have longer life expectancies, most of the spousal transfer of assets due to death is expected to go to women. Advisors say they should prepare. View More

Alistair Berg | Digitalvision | Getty Images For many married women, one of the biggest financial transitions of their lives will come when it's least welcome: after the death of their spouse.Women, on average, live longer than men — a longevity gap that means many wives will outlive their husbands. At birth, the average life span for males in the U.S. is 76.5 years as of 2024, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For women, that average is 81.4 years.The gap shrinks once you reach age 65. At that point, life expectancy for men is another 18.4 years, or to age 83.4, according to the CDC data. For women, that average is 20.8 years, or age 85.8. More from Women and Wealth:Older women may inherit most of $54 trillion in spousal 'great wealth transfer'Couples often miss this 'overlooked tax break' for retirement savers: CFPWomen and the K-shaped economy: Lower pay, affordability issues reduce spendingPoor coordination can cost couples an average $14,000 in retirement wealth93% of women are stressed about money. Building a cash reserve can helpHow to prepare for the ‘survivor’s penalty’ before a spouse passes That difference in life span means women are expected to receive most of the spouse-to-spouse wealth that gets passed on during the so-called great wealth transfer. That's a period between 2024 and 2048 when an estimated $124 trillion will be passed on largely by baby boomers — those born 1946 to 1964 — and older generations, according to research from Cerulli Associates.Of that amount, an estimated $54 trillion will get passed on to widowed spouses — 95% of which will go to women, according to Cerulli Associates. And, $40 trillion of it will go to widowed women who are baby boomers or older, the research shows. Familiarize yourself with the finances When it comes to women in these older generations, financial advisors say it is common for couples to have embraced the traditional role of the husband managing the investments and long-term planning."In many older households, the husband historically has handled most of the financial decisions," said certified financial planner Ryan Marshall, a partner and financial advisor at ELA Financial Group in Wyckoff, New Jersey."It's just more common that [older women] hadn't been part of it," Marshall said. "They've been taking care of everything else in the family." However, that lack of knowledge "can leave the surviving spouse feeling overwhelmed at an already difficult time," Marshall said.In other words, before you reach that point, it's worth at least knowing where assets are held, how income is generated and who to call with questions."The goal is not to make everyone a financial expert, but to ensure the surviving spouse has the familiarity and confidence to navigate the transition," he said. You don't need to rush decisions While many married couples have an estate plan in place for when a spouse dies, others do not. "If you didn't plan for it in advance, you kind of have to start all over again," said CFP Crystal Cox, a senior vice president for Wealthspire Advisors in Madison, Wisconsin."What is your new budget, for instance," Cox said. "Or, before, your portfolio [was based] on a couple's risk tolerance. Now you have to look at it as a single person." If you didn't plan for it in advance, you kind of have to start all over again.Crystal CoxSenior vice president for Wealthspire Advisors However, in the immediate aftermath of a spouse's death, priorities should be limited to the essentials, Cox said — such as ensuring access to cash, notifying institutions, paying ongoing bills and claiming benefits (from, say, life insurance)."Once initial grief begins to stabilize — and that timeline is different for everyone — widows can start to revisit the broader financial picture," Cox said.While the particulars of what any widow faces financially depend on the specifics of their situation, there are a couple of things most widows will face, whether or not there are significant assets. Cash flow could drop Your cash flow may be impacted almost immediately. Assuming both spouses were receiving Social Security, the surviving spouse generally keeps the larger of the two benefits, and the smaller one goes away. Depending on the amount of the smaller one, that could result in a notable decrease in income."That's a huge impact a lot of people don't think about," Cox said.The average survivor benefit for Social Security is $1,622.32 monthly, according to January data from the Social Security Administration. watch nowVIDEO1:2801:28Women under pressure in K-shaped economy as lower pay and affordability issues reduce spendingNews Videos Additionally, if the deceased spouse had a pension, income from it may change, depending on the specifics of the pension plan, Cox said. If it includes survivor's benefits, the amount could be lower than what your spouse was receiving. Or, it could involve a lump-sum payout.In general, advisors say surviving spouses end up spending less than they did as a couple, but that it doesn't drop by half when one spouse dies."In retirement projections, we try to do 60% to 70% income replacement when a spouse passes away," Marshall said. "You still have a lot of those expenses left." Be aware of impact from tax filing status change Widowed spouses should be prepared for their tax situation to change. While you can still file a joint tax return for the year in which your spouse died, you will typically end up being taxed as a single filer after that (unless you have a dependent child).Single filers generally face less favorable tax brackets, a smaller standard deduction and lower income thresholds for certain other tax breaks. "If your income doesn't change that much, you could find yourself in a higher tax bracket," Cox said. For 2026, the standard deduction for married couples filing jointly is $32,200. For a single filer, it is $16,100.Of course, that lower amount could mean it's more beneficial to itemize your deductions, Cox said. That is, allowed deductions such as mortgage interest, state and local taxes, charitable donations and certain medical costs could total more than the standard deduction. 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Oil prices have surged more than 17% since the International Energy Agency announced the largest release of crude stockpiles in its 50-year history. View More

In this articleFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT watch nowVIDEO7:1707:17Oil markets brace for fallout as Iran conflict echoes Iraq war turmoilMarkets and Politics Digital Original Video The oil market sent a clear signal this week that a massive release of stockpiled crude by the U.S. and its allies is nowhere near enough to address the unprecedented supply disruption triggered by the Iran war. More than 30 nations in Europe, North America and Northeast Asia agreed to flood the market with 400 million barrels of oil in an effort to keep a lid on rising energy prices. The U.S. is leading the effort with a release of 172 million barrels from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve or 43% of the IEA total.It is the largest release of stockpiled oil in the 50-year history of the International Energy Agency, an organization tasked with maintaining the energy security of its members during global crises. But the oil bazooka is not inspiring confidence in the market. Crude prices have surged more than 17% since the IEA announced the emergency stockpile release on Wednesday. Brent oil prices, the international benchmark, closed above $100 on Friday for the second session in a row. Stock Chart IconStock chart iconBrent crude oil futures in the past five days The explanation is simple, said Tamas Varga, analyst at the London-based oil broker PVM. Tankers are under attack in the Persian Gulf, the critical Strait of Hormuz remains basically closed, and Iran's new supreme leader has vowed to keep the trade chokepoint shut. "Until transit is reactivated, those kinds of policy announcements are going to have limited impact," said Tom Liles, senior vice president of upstream research at consulting firm Rystad Energy. Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates exported around 14 million barrels per day (bpd) before the war, Liles said. Around 5 million bpd to 6 million bpd can be exported through Saudi and UAE pipelines that terminate at the Red Sea and Gulf of Oman, he said. This leaves around 9 million bpd, or about 10% of global supply, that can only pass through the Strait and will remain bottlenecked in the region until transit resumes, Liles said. At first glance, the 400 million emergency barrels would cover about 40 days of that lost supply, the analyst said. But the reality is a lot more complicated, Liles said. "There's only a limited amount of volume that can be released over a given period. It's not as if 400 million barrels just appear immediately on the market," he said.Stockpiles not enoughThe oil supply disrupted by the war is far larger than the stockpiles the IEA can release daily. As a consequence, the action will have limited impact on the trajectory of oil prices, analysts at Bernstein told clients in a Thursday note. The U.S. will release 172 million barrels over a 120-day period. This implies 1.4 million barrels per day, which is just 15% of the supply lost due to the Hormuz closure. It takes 13 days for the barrels to hit the market from President Donald Trump's authorization. watch nowVIDEO5:5405:54Why markets are shrugging off a record oil reserve releaseSquawk Box Europe The IEA did not detail when the other members would start releasing barrels or in what quantities. It said each of its 32 member countries will decide based on circumstances appropriate to them. The IEA last released emergency stockpiles in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Its members managed to reach a combined high of 1.3 million bpd in September 2022, according to consulting firm Rapidan Energy. The IEA could perhaps boost the release rate closer to 2 million bpd, according to Rapidan. "It buys time, but it does not solve the crisis," the Bernstein analysts said. It is possible that oil prices could rise to levels that start lowering demand before the stockpile release even fully kicks in, Liles said. Rystad forecasts that a two-month war will push Brent oil prices to $110 per barrel by April. A four-month war could spike Brent to $135 per barrel by June. Depletion riskThe IEA members also risk depleting their stockpiles. The 400 million barrels slated for release represents 33% of the 1.2 billion barrels in member-state stockpiles. The 172 million barrels the U.S. plans to release represents 41% of the 415 million currently held in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Wednesday that the White House plans to more than replace the oil that it is releasing with 200 million barrels within the next year at no cost to the taxpayer.The IEA action also does nothing to address the 20% of liquefied natural gas exports that are unable to reach the global market due to the Strait's closure. LNG is a form of natural gas that is chilled into a liquid and loaded onto tankers for export. Natural gas is used for electricity production and heating. The stockpiles will partially alleviate the oil shock from the war, said Tobin Marcus, head of U.S. policy and politics at Wolfe Research. "But it does not by any means obviate the need to reopen the Strait, and we don't think much more help is coming after this," he said. Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

Suras Nayak moved to Ireland in 2025 and works as a software development engineer at Amazon. View More

While attending college at the Indian Institute of Information Technology, Allahabad, Suras Nayak knew he wanted to leave his hometown of Hyderabad, India, and travel the world."When I was growing up, I always had this idea somewhere behind my head that I always wanted to move abroad, but I was a little bit influenced by the Western media. I watch a lot of Hollywood movies ... so I was always influenced and liked the idea of moving to a different country, living there, experiencing how things are like there," he tells CNBC Make It. Nayak gained his first experience living abroad when he participated in an exchange program that sent him to China for 45 days as a teenager. And almost a decade later, Nayak got a chance to live abroad when he moved to Dublin, Ireland, in March 2025 to work as a software development engineer at Amazon, where his compensation comes to a projected 122,428 euros (US $144,000) a year. Suras Nayak knew he wanted to move away from his hometown of Hyderabad, India, in college. In 2025, he moved to Dublin, Ireland.Sam Jones | CNBC Make It Growing up, Nayak's dad was also a software engineer. He introduced Nayak to the field and helped him understand coding and programming, Nayak says. Nayak landed a six-month internship at Amazon during his senior year of college and joined the company full time upon graduating in 2020, where he received compensation of around 6.8 million Indian rupees (US $75,000) a year. He was working out of Amazon's Bengaluru office, which is about an hour-long flight south from his hometown.After a year at Amazon, Nayak learned that if he completed at least two years at the company and reached a certain level on his software engineer track, he could interview for opportunities in another country. He immediately started looking for other positions at Amazon, eventually landing in Dublin. Moving to Dublin Nayak looked for open positions in Amazon offices in the U.K., Germany and Ireland, but narrowed it down to the latter because he knew the tech sector was growing there, he says. Google, Meta, Apple and Microsoft all have headquarters in Ireland, according to IT Brew. "I was so happy when I came to know that I got this opportunity," Nayak says about landing the position in Dublin. "I immediately went to my parents and I told them and it was such a nice moment. They were all so happy for me, especially my dad, because my dad always supports me in all of this stuff." Suras Nayak was able to move from India to Ireland in 2025 with help from Amazon, his employer.Sam Jones | CNBC Make It It took about six to eight weeks for Nayak to secure a visa to live and work in Ireland, with Amazon covering all costs, he says. When Nayak arrived in Ireland, Amazon provided him with temporary housing and hired an agency to help him find a house. The company even helped him ship his possessions from India to Ireland. "I did a lot of exploring during my first month," he says. "I was very excited and I was very happy. As I was exploring, I realized that I made the right decision to move here." 'I feel quite settled here' The biggest thing Nayak says he had to adjust to after moving was the weather; he was used to India's sunny days, long summers and short winters. He also had to get used to Dublin's cost of living. Compared with Hyderabad, Dublin is very expensive, especially for rent and groceries, Nayak says."When I was in India, I did not think about budgeting a lot because I always used to spend less there," he says. Now, he says he has to set a budget for himself. Nayak splits a three-bedroom house with two fellow Amazon employees. The total rent is 4,000 euros a month (US $4,725) and Nayak pays 1,450 euros (US $1,713), according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It. Here's a look at the rest of his estimated share of monthly expenses. All amounts have been rounded. GitHub Copilot: 9 euros (US $11)Revolut Premium Plan: 9 euros (US $11)Wi-Fi: 15 euros (US $18)Phone bill: 15 euros (US $18)OpenAI for personal use: 24 euros (US $28)Streaming services, including Netflix and Disney+: 25 euros (US $30)Transportation via public buses: 30 euros (US $35)Electricity and gas: 50 euros (US $59)Shopping for clothes and the latest technology: 100 to 150 euros (US $118 to $177)Groceries: 150 to 200 euros (US $177 to $236)Dining out: 400 to 500 euros (US $472 to $591)"One thing that I spend more on here is eating out, which I used to not do often back in India," Nayak says. "I used to either eat at home or eat at the office." Suras Nayak says he spends more living in Dublin, Ireland, than he did in his hometown in India. "One thing that I spend more on here is eating out," he says.Sam Jones | CNBC Make It When he first moved to Ireland, Nayak says he found it hard to connect with people, since in India he was so used to having friends everywhere. "I never had to actively go out and look for people or connections, but I realized that if you can push yourself and if you go out, you can make good friends. It's just about making the effort," he says. Nayak says he used an app called Meetup to attend various events, which helped him meet people from all over the world. "The people in Dublin are really friendly. I always get good vibes from people here. I feel quite settled here," he says. "I have made some good friends and I am really liking my stay here, my time here and even working here." Looking ahead In 2023, Nayak bought a three-bedroom, three-bathroom apartment in Hyderabad as an investment property. The property is worth about 16 million Indian rupees (US $180,000) and he says he plans to eventually rent it out."I wanted to make a big investment. Real estate made the most sense to me because in India, real estate is always a booming and growing business," he says. However, Nayak doesn't plan to move back to India for at least another 10 to 15 years, when he feels he has enough money in the bank. He says he would feel comfortable with a net worth of 400,000 to 500,000 euros, but his long-term goal is to reach 1 million euros (US $1.17 million) before moving back. Suras Nayak plans to stay in Ireland long-term.Sam Jones | CNBC Make It For now, he plans to stay in Ireland foreseeable future, he says. He enjoys being able to go to a park and just sit and read a book or enjoy the scenery. He also loves how easy it is to travel around. "My quality of life has improved. Now that I am in Ireland, I have gotten used to certain ways of life that I am really enjoying, which I would not have been able to get if I were back in India," he says.Over the past year, Nayak says he has been able to travel just like he dreamed of in college, including taking road trips around Ireland and visiting the U.K. with his parents last year."I have always been a little bit of a travel enthusiast, and being in Ireland, I am just exploring all of it whenever I can," he says. Conversions were done using the OANDA conversion rate of 1 euro to $1.18 USD and 1 Indian rupee to $0.01 USD on March 2, 2026. All amounts are rounded to the nearest dollar.Want to improve your communication, confidence and success at work? Take CNBC's new online course, Master Your Body Language To Boost Your Influence. Take control of your money with CNBC Select CNBC Select is editorially independent and may earn a commission from affiliate partners on links.Six ways to file your taxes for freeWhat is a good monthly retirement income in 2026?How to buy gold from CostcoHere are 5 grocery rewards cards to beat inflationThe 6 best personal loans of February 2026

Large U.S. firms spent about $1 trillion on their own shares in 2025, according to Morningstar estimates. View More

Greg Abel, the new CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, announced on March 5 on CNBC's "Squawk Box" that the company would start repurchasing shares of its own stock. For Berkshire, this is a relative rarity — the company hasn't bought back shares since the second quarter of 2024. But for companies like Berkshire, a financially mature conglomerate worth more than $1 trillion and with plenty of excess cash, the move has become increasingly common. In 2025, companies in the S&P 500 spent about $1 trillion buying their own shares, according to estimates from investment research firm Morningstar, up from a record $942 billion in 2024. Last year was also the fifth straight year in which companies spent more on buybacks than on cash dividends, Morningstar reports. Buyback programs, like dividends, are touted by companies as a way to return cash to shareholders, and, under the right circumstances, can be viewed by investors as a positive sign for the stock, says Rob Leiphart, a certified financial planner and vice president of financial planning at RV Capital Management. Investors should do some research, however, before buying on buyback news, he adds, since some companies purchase shares as a way to make short-term numbers look better. "It is a form of financial engineering," Leiphart says. How stock buybacks work Say you're a company with plenty of free cash flow — money that's left over after making all the necessary expenditures to maintain the business. How do you use that cash to create value for shareholders? Maybe you plunk the money into research and development or use it to acquire another firm. For many large, financially mature firms, the answer is to give some money back to the people who own your stock. One classic way to do this is to pay a dividend, a regular (often quarterly) cash distribution to shareholders. Over the past half-decade, though, companies have been more inclined to spend their money on buybacks. Last year, Apple announced a $100 billion share repurchase program, and Alphabet authorized $70 billion in buybacks. Both companies also pay a modest dividend. Under buyback programs, instead of making cash distributions, companies repurchase their own shares on the open market. While not as tangible as having cash in hand, reducing the number of shares effectively means that each share an investor owns is a bigger piece of the overall pie. And because corporate earnings are expressed as earnings "per share," taking shares off the market can make the stock look more attractive to other potential investors. The latter feature can incentivize corporate executives to initiate buybacks to create a short-term bump, rather than making moves that will benefit shareholders over the long term, says Leiphart. Companies that issue a lot of compensation in the form of stock options may also use buybacks to keep the value of those shares from diluting, Leiphart says. When stock buybacks are a positive sign for investors So what should investors make of it when a company announces a buyback program? As long as the company isn't taking on debt to fund a buyback, it's a generally positive sign for a company's financial health, says David Sekera, chief U.S. market strategist at Morningstar. "It's just the way that management is letting the marketplace know that they are generating excess free cash flow above what the internal needs are for the company," he says. "And in fact, probably even generating more free cash flow than what they necessarily need to spend on growth to be able to maintain their long-term guidance targets."When it comes to buybacks — like all investing — the goal is to buy low and sell high, Sekera says. If a company buys shares when they're trading below their true value, it's a boon to shareholders. If they buy when they're overpriced, "it's value-destructive," he says. "Management teams seem to perpetually think that their stock is undervalued," he adds. Abel's announcement came with the context that Berkshire rebuys shares "at any time we believe the repurchase price is below our intrinsic value, conservatively determined."It's one of many reasons why financial pros would caution against buying any stock on the sole basis of a buyback announcement. It's also smart to speak with a trusted financial professional before making any changes to your portfolio.Overall, it's important to consider any buyback program in the context of your overall outlook for the underlying business, says Leiphart. "Do they have a market leading product? Do they maintain that leadership with that product? Has the corporate brass been there for some period of time and good leadership is in place that has had success and will continue to have success hopefully in the future?" he says. "Along with those considerations, [a buyback is] maybe one thing that you add as an ingredient when you put it all together."Want to improve your communication, confidence and success at work? Take CNBC's new online course, Master Your Body Language To Boost Your Influence. 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Land to be acquired in Kottukal, Maranallur and Amaravila areas, under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (LARR Act) View More