April 26, 2023 Hello, Insiders. Matt Turner, editor in chief for business, here. Salt Bae (aka Nusret Gökçe) is an Instagram-famous steakhouse impresario known for his over-the-top antics. His meme-ification happened in 2017, when he posted a now-infamous video that showed him sprinkling salt on a piece of meat. A new investigation reveals a darker side of his culinary empire. That's today's big story.   Here’s what else we’re covering: First Republic handed out ultra-low-rate mortgages to the wealthy. It backfired horribly. ChatGPT is ushering in the end of coding as we know it. At Microsoft, Charlie Bell's shackles are finally off. Watch out Amazon. — Matt Turner If this was forwarded to you, sign up here.

THE LATEST Microsoft, Carlson, & more A UK regulator blocked Microsoft’s $68.7 billion bid to buy Activision Blizzard. The regulator said the deal would lead to reduced innovation and less choice for UK gamers. Read more.  Insiders say Tucker Carlson overplayed his hand at Fox but the “whole universe” of right-wing media is courting him now. More here. Gov. Ron DeSantis threatened to put a prison next to Disney as his feud with the resort continues. But it may not be as scary an idea as he thinks. Here’s why.

THE BIG STORY Inside Salt Bae’s empire Marianne Ayala/Insider Tip theft. Discrimination. Labor violations. Polyester uniforms. These are just some of the allegations made against Salt Bae by lawsuits and former workers.  Nusret Gökçe, known around the world as Salt Bae, has an online persona that oozes wealth.  He often travels across his culinary empire — which spans three continents — taking selfies with excited guests as he performs his signature-salting technique. At his New York restaurant, you can even expect to pay $300 for a "Golden Burger."  But all the glitz and showmanship may just be a charade. Lawsuits and interviews with former staff members depict another side to Gökçe: a petty tyrant whose obsession with wealth and excess extends only to himself.  READ THE FULL STORY HERE

TOP READS End of coding, First Republic, & more Arif Qazi / Insider   ChatGPT has come for software developers. Tech companies have rushed to embrace generative AI, recognizing its ability to turbocharge programming. And for better or worse, this effectively marks the end of coding as we know it. Dive into this here. First Republic is racing to strengthen itself. The bank is teetering, with the stock down 93% in 2023. It had won wealthy clients with the offer of jumbo mortgage loans that required no principal payments for a decade. Now, First Republic is reversing course. More here. Charlie Bell, one of the godfathers of cloud computing, is ready to go after Amazon. Bell helped create Amazon Web Services, and worked there for 23 years. Now, he's at Microsoft — and set to take on his former employer. We got a rare interview with Bell. Read it here. Vladimir Putin has spent two decades rebuilding and reforming Russia's military — “and then just simply destroyed it,” according to Mark Galeotti, a Russian-security expert. The security-affairs scholar broke down how Putin squandered it all in his devastating war in Ukraine. Read our interview. Get America's cheapest electric car while you still can. Launched in 2016, the Bolt EV is the most affordable electric car in America. But Chevrolet is discontinuing the car as it looks to focus on the next generation of EVs. Read more. “I left NYC for South Carolina and I'll probably never go back.” Michelle Gross and her husband left New York City after 14 years. She said while the move wasn’t easy, it’s given her a better work-life balance and the freedom to explore nature. Read more.  Bryan Freedman — Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon’s Hollywood-heavyweight lawyer. The Fox News host and the CNN anchor both left their networks on Monday and have hired Freedman to represent them. His former clients have included Vin Diesel, Quentin Tarantino, and Mariah Carey. More here.