CNBC

Paris Hilton is successful many times over. The reality TV star turned entrepreneur is the founder and CEO of 11:11 Media, a global entertainment company she aims to become “the next Disney” that combines her passions in music, beauty, fashion and philanthropy. The businesswoman said authenticity is a key trait in the people she decides to work with, in addition to being passionate and creative. But there is one trait that is non-negotiable for Hilton. Find out what it is: cnb.cx/4psHQpJ

Data centers that haven’t been built yet are driving up electricity prices and could leave consumers on the hook for expensive power infrastructure if demand projections are wrong. The race to build facilities that provide artificial intelligence has fueled a boom in data centers that train and run large language models, like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude, upending a utility industry that grew used to 20 years of no increase in electricity demand. Read more: cnb.cx/4439OQS

Asia-Pacific markets were set to open lower Friday following a subdued Wall Street session. Australia's ASX/S&P 200 slid 0.23% in early trading. Futures for Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index pointed to a lower open, trading at 25,900, against the index's previous close of 25,935.9.

As Wall Street worries that advancements in artificial intelligence will hurt enterprise software companies, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff told CNBC's Jim Cramer a large language model is "just a commodity feature" that strengthens his company's products. "All these large language models are the same. We just want the lowest cost one, then we plug it in," Benioff told Cramer. "We've got all the customers' data. We have our killer apps. Those are not commodities." Large language models, or LLMs, are AI models trained on data that can have a variety of functions, including data analysis, summarization and chat bot services. Leading hyperscalers, namely Google, Microsoft and OpenAI, have poured billions into developing the technology. Click here to download Jim Cramer's Guide to Investing at no cost to help you build long-term wealth and invest smarter.

The New York Times on Thursday filed a lawsuit challenging new restrictions on reporters who cover the Pentagon, which the newspaper says violate the U.S Constitution’s free press protections. The suit against the Defense Department and Secretary Pete Hegseth comes nearly two months after reporters from The Times and other mainstream news outlets, including CBS, CNN, Fox News, and NBC staged a dramatic walkout of the Pentagon and surrendered their credentials after refusing to comply with the rules. Full details: cnb.cx/4pkaNo4

SoFi shares fell almost 6% in extended trading Thursday after the fintech company announced a $1.5 billion stock offering. The company, which provides online loans and other banking services, said in a press release that it will use the proceeds for "general corporate purposes, including but not limited to enhancing capital position, increasing optionality and enabling further efficiency of capital management, and funding incremental growth and business opportunities." The announced offering comes after SoFi's market cap almost doubled so far in 2025. The stock price is up more than sixfold since the end of 2022.

Costco said Thursday that it is adding former Biden administration Commerce Department Secretary Gina Raimondo to its board of directors. The announcement came nearly a week after Costco filed a federal lawsuit seeking to recoup money that the retail warehouse club giant has paid so far this year to satisfy the legally disputed tariffs summarily imposed by President Donald Trump.

Apple's general counsel, Kate Adams, and its vice president for environment, policy, and social initiatives, Lisa Jackson, will retire from Apple, the company announced on Thursday. Apple said that Jennifer Newstead would become Apple's new general counsel in March next year and that Jackson's government affairs staff would report to her. The two executives previously reported to Apple CEO Tim Cook and represent the latest sign that Apple's senior leadership is seeing a slew of exits.

Behind one-off star auctions and the public hype, overall price trends for Birkin bags remain something of a mystery. Thankfully, Luca Solca, the respected luxury analyst at Bernstein, has developed his own price index. By combing public auction sales, Solca and his team have assembled the secondhand Hermès Birkin and Kelly bag price tracker. According to the price tracker, which is weighted by volume, values for secondhand Hermès Birkin and Kelly bags have fallen dramatically since the pandemic highs. The resale premium – or the auction price of the bag compared to its original estimated retail price – hit a recent peak of 2.2 times in 2022. In other words, a Birkin that would have originally retailed for $15,000 was reselling for $33,000 on average at auction. Sign up for the Inside Wealth newsletter: cnb.cx/4iAipAe

Ulta Beauty on Thursday raised its full-year sales outlook after topping Wall Street's expectations for the fiscal third quarter. The beauty retailer said it now expects net sales for the year to be approximately $12.3 billion, higher than its previous expectations of $12 billion to $12.1 billion. That would would represent an increase from last fiscal year's net sales of $11.3 billion. It expects earnings per share of $25.20 to $25.50, up from its prior expectations of $23.85 to $24.30. It expects comparable sales, a metric that includes sales at stores open at least 14 months and e-commerce sales, to rise by 4.4% to 4.7%, up from its prior outlook of 2.5% to 3.5%.