menu_open Columnists
Sydney Lake

Sydney Lake

Fortune

We use cookies to provide some features and experiences in QOSHE

More information  .  Close

Sarah Jessica Parker says she only has work-life balance because of the people supporting her: ‘I’m making choices differently than I used to’

Sarah Jessica Parker took home the 2026 Carrol Burnett award on Thursday.

yesterday 4

Fortune

Sydney Lake

Michael Bloomberg and Warren Buffett agree on advice to Gen Z: Choose vibes over money in your job search

Bloomberg took a lower salary for his first job out of school because he preferred the people who interviewed him.

yesterday 4

Fortune

Sydney Lake

Americans missed out on a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ chance to buy a house—the 3 shifts it would take to make housing affordable are ‘very unlikely’

“We see the housing market remaining relatively stuck without major progress being made on affordability,” home construction CEO says.

previous day 8

Fortune

Sydney Lake

The Education Department is garnishing wages for millions of student loan borrowers in default. Who is affected and how much they can take

Wage garnishment "is a scary concept since they can take 15% of after-tax income," Ashley Morgan, debt and bankruptcy attorney and owner of Ashley F....

wednesday 10

Fortune

Sydney Lake

Emma Grede says people who say they have work-life balance are liars: ‘We have to have a level of honesty about what it takes to be really successful’

“I am unashamedly focused on making money,” the Skims founding partner and Good American CEO said.

05.01.2026 20

Fortune

Sydney Lake

Red Lobster’s 36-year-old CEO led the company after bankruptcy. Now he’s plotting the ‘greatest comeback in the history of the restaurant industry’

“Of course it’s risky,” Damola Adamolekun told Fortune’s Ruth Umoh. “I took over a company that’s bankrupt and had a lot of problems.”

02.01.2026 20

Fortune

Sydney Lake

Mark Cuban says he doesn’t do calls and prefers email because ‘if we do it by phone, I’m going to forget half the stuff that we talked about’

Meanwhile, Gen Zers prefer email or text because of their anxiety about talking on the phone.

01.01.2026 10

Fortune

Sydney Lake

‘Quiet luxury’ is coming for the housing market, The Corcoran Group CEO says. It’s not just the Hamptons, Aspen, and Miami anymore

Wealthy buyers are expanding their housing horizons.

31.12.2025 6

Fortune

Sydney Lake

Warren Buffett’s career advice to young professionals is to ‘hang out with people better than you’

“If this gives you a little temporary unpopularity with your peer group, the hell with 'em,” Buffett’s former business partner Charlie Munger added.

31.12.2025 10

Fortune

Sydney Lake

Simon Sinek says not to worry about salaries during a job interview. Instead, ‘choose the job based on who you’re going to work for’

“Yes, I made less money than all of my friends in the short term,” Sinek said. But “I got an education and care from somebody who took me under...

30.12.2025 6

Fortune

Sydney Lake

Every year, a billionaire CEO doles out $1,000 checks to local college grads—with a catch: They have to give half the money to charity

“The turmoil in our country has increased the need for caring, sharing and compassion,” Rob Hale said.

29.12.2025 10

Fortune

Sydney Lake

Paris Hilton took out a mortgage on the $63 million mansion she bought from Mark Wahlberg. Here’s why that’s actually a smart financial decision

The reality star made a savvy move in financing her megamansion.

28.12.2025 9

Fortune

Sydney Lake

Gen Z spends hundreds a month on ‘treat culture,’ justifying it with the challenges of daily life—but that’s a ‘slippery slope,’ Bank of America says

The generation has shared in droves on social media about the little ways they’re treating themselves.

26.12.2025 10

Fortune

Sydney Lake

Freshpet’s COO says customers spend more on pets than children: ‘Their dog comes before their partner, their kids’

Consumers will pay a premium for their furry friends, Nicki Baty, chief operating officer of $3.1 billion dog food brand Freshpet, told Fortune.

26.12.2025 10

Fortune

Sydney Lake

Logan Paul auctions off $5.3 million Pokémon card, urging young people to invest more in nontraditional assets: ‘Don’t be afraid to take a risk’

Pokémon cards have seen the largest long-term increase in value among all card categories.

25.12.2025 7

Fortune

Sydney Lake

6 ‘unhinged’ things Spanx founder Sara Blakely did that ultimately shaped the success of her $1.2 billion empire

Blakely became the first self-made female billionaire in 2012.

23.12.2025 2

Fortune

Sydney Lake

Former U.S. Secret Service agent says bringing your authentic self to work stifles teamwork: ‘You don’t get high performers, you get sloppiness’

“Could you imagine if I brought my authentic New York self to every interrogation I did?” asked former Secret Service agent Evy Poumpouras.

22.12.2025 3

Fortune

Sydney Lake

Mark Cuban says AI allows ‘creators to become exponentially more creative,’ but his advice didn’t land well with people working in the industry

“All you can see is dollar signs and ‘value’ instead of theft, exploitation, and job displacement,” one creative said in response.

22.12.2025 4

Fortune

Sydney Lake

HubSpot CEO avoids the Sunday scaries simply by working on the weekend

Yamini Rangan has seen tremendous growth at the software company since joining in January 2020.

21.12.2025 3

Fortune

Sydney Lake

The new American Dream has parents easing up on college expectations for their kids—1 in 3 are now open to trade school instead

“Parents are waking up,” career strategist says. “College doesn’t carry the same [return on investment] it once did.”

19.12.2025 8

Fortune

Sydney Lake

Klarna CEO says he feels ‘gloomy’ because AI is developing so quickly it’ll soon be able to do his entire job

“My work to me is a super important part of who I am,” Sebastian Siemiatkowski said.

17.12.2025 4

Fortune

Sydney Lake

In a frozen luxury housing market, buyers are asking to ‘try before you buy’ and having sleepovers in multimillion-dollar mansions

Sellers are trying new tactics to get the most money for their homes.

17.12.2025 4

Fortune

Sydney Lake

Red Lobster CEO Damola Adamolekun says the key to being a better leader is being a better person: ‘Leadership is self improvement’

“The problem is most people are sensitive, and they don’t want to be criticized,” he said.

17.12.2025 4

Fortune

Sydney Lake

Reese Witherspoon says, ‘I don’t think my career would be possible’ in the age of AI and social media: ‘It’s a different world’

AI has fundamentally changed the entertainment industry.

17.12.2025 4

Fortune

Sydney Lake

The job market is so bad, people in their 40s are resorting to going back to school instead of looking for work

“Experience is no longer enough,” a job-search expert says.

16.12.2025 10

Fortune

Sydney Lake

Gen Z is defiantly ‘giving up’ on ever owning a home and is spending more than saving, working less, and making risky investments, study shows

Young people are crossing a ‘threshold” into dangerous financial territory.

12.12.2025 9

Fortune

Sydney Lake

What it takes to be wealthy in America: $2.3 million, Charles Schwab says

Survey respondents said it feels like it takes more money to feel wealthy today compared with last year.

11.12.2025 4

Fortune

Sydney Lake

Why Jerome Powell’s latest big rate cut still won’t help you get a lower mortgage rate

"Since this rate cut was no surprise, the markets have taken it in stride,” 43-year mortgage industry veteran Melissa Cohn told Fortune.

11.12.2025 4

Fortune

Sydney Lake

You’re probably $30,000 short of what you need to buy a house—and you’re not alone

More than 75% of U.S. homes on the market are unaffordable for the typical household, according to a Bankrate analysis. 

09.12.2025 4

Fortune

Sydney Lake

Craigslist founder signs the Giving Pledge, and his fortune will go to military families, fighting cyberattacks—and a pigeon rescue

“A nerd’s gotta do what a nerd’s gotta do, and a nerd should practice what he preaches,” Craig Newmark said.

09.12.2025 6

Fortune

Sydney Lake

Parents are sacrificing retirement, taking second jobs, and liquidating investments just to afford college for their kids

More than 60% of parents say they’re delaying retirement to pay for college.

09.12.2025 7

Fortune

Sydney Lake

MacKenzie Scott is trying to close the DEI gap in higher ed, with $155 million in donations this week alone

These gifts are a “major source of encouragement” during uncertain times for higher education.

06.12.2025 20

Fortune

Sydney Lake

‘Have they given enough? No’: Melinda French Gates rips into billionaire class, saying Giving Pledge has fallen short

The billionaire philanthropist says there’s more work to be done to get the wealthy to donate.

05.12.2025 4

Fortune

Sydney Lake

Scott Galloway got mostly B’s and C’s in high school, never studied for the SAT, and had to try twice to get into UCLA. Now he’s worth $150 million

“It’s worked out for all of us,” Galloway said.

04.12.2025 5

Fortune

Sydney Lake

Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos commit $102.5 million to organizations combatting homelessness across the U.S.: ‘This is just the beginning’

“It’s a $2 billion commitment,” Sánchez Bezos said. “And we’re going to continue doing it."

02.12.2025 3

Fortune

Sydney Lake

MacKenzie Scott’s $19 billion donations have turned philanthropy on its head—why her style of giving actually works

The billionaire philanthropist’s giving style is a rarity in the industry.

02.12.2025 10

Fortune

Sydney Lake

Elon Musk, fresh off securing a $1 trillion pay package, says philanthropy is ‘very hard’

Musk’s giving style differs greatly from that of other billionaires.

02.12.2025 10

Fortune

Sydney Lake

How a park bench meeting led to Aflac’s $200 million mascot idea

“Quack, quack, Aflac became the idea,” CEO Dan Amos told Fortune. The adoption of the avian mascot has coincided with a 621% run-up in share price.

02.12.2025 3

Fortune

Sydney Lake

Steve Jobs taught Gap’s former CEO that micromanaging can be a good thing

“I’m proud to be a micromanager for what a customer sees, feels, and hears,” Mickey Drexler said.

29.11.2025 6

Fortune

Sydney Lake

Billionaire Mark Cuban once ran a Ponzi scheme from his dorm room: ‘That’s how I paid for my junior year of college’

"It was basically a scam,” Cuban, 67, said as he chuckled.

28.11.2025 10

Fortune

Sydney Lake

Lowe’s CEO used to make $4.35 an hour working at Target. His secret to climbing the corporate ladder was volunteering for jobs ‘nobody else wanted’

“I had to find a way to differentiate myself,” Marvin Ellison said.

27.11.2025 10

Fortune

Sydney Lake

Jeff Bezos’ most expensive investment is a $500 million custom superyacht that’s the largest in the world

The Amazon founder even paid an extra $75 million for another yacht to support his superyacht.

21.11.2025 3

Fortune

Sydney Lake

Half of millennial and Gen Z couples pick engagement rings with lab-grown diamonds— ‘well beyond what the mining industry had expected,’ McKinsey says

Couples appear to care more about gemstone size and price than sustainability.

19.11.2025 3

Fortune

Sydney Lake

MacKenzie Scott says her college roommate loaned her $1,000 so she wouldn’t have to drop out—and is now inspiring her to give away billions

MacKenzie Scott has donated over $19 billion in the past five years.

16.11.2025 10

Fortune

Sydney Lake

Homeland Security secretary promises $10,000 bonuses for select TSA agents who worked during the government shutdown—but there’s a catch

The bonuses are only for workers who went ‘above and beyond,’ Kristi Noem said.

14.11.2025 2

Fortune

Sydney Lake

Self-made millionaire Barbara Corcoran reveals her ‘golden rule’ of real estate investing

The “Shark Tank” star with a $100 million net worth says paying 20% down is key—and explains why.

13.11.2025 2

Fortune

Sydney Lake

MacKenzie Scott makes more ‘life-changing,’ record-breaking gifts to historically Black colleges and universities—totaling more than $400 million

These donations come on the heels of other major donations from Scott to HBCUs this fall.

13.11.2025 2

Fortune

Sydney Lake

Marriott abruptly cut ties with Sonder, leaving thousands of hotel guests stranded: It’s ‘inconceivable’ they would treat humans that way, guest says

Travel advisor told Fortune there’s no precedent for the debacle. “Sorry, that's not justifiable at all.”

12.11.2025 2

Fortune

Sydney Lake

Warren Buffett is ‘going quiet’ after he steps down as Berkshire Hathaway CEO this year. Read his farewell letter to shareholders

Greg Abel will take Warren Buffett's post at year's end.

10.11.2025 2

Fortune

Sydney Lake

A staggering 84% of Gen Z say they’re delaying milestones to buy a house. There’s ‘no single fix’ for the affordability crisis, real estate exec says

Other recent data solidifies just how difficult it’s been for younger generations to break into the housing market.

10.11.2025 3

Fortune

Sydney Lake