Biggest business stories of 2024

• Elon Musk's influence increased to new heights. With "White House Whisperer" essentially now among his job titles, Musk has become the most powerful unelected man ever.
• A historic global IT outage, sparked by faulty CrowdStrike software, that revealed the risk of widespread reliance on just a few key tech platforms.
• Companies pull back on DEI commitments as pressure from lawmaker attacks and conservative activists mounted, and fear of lawsuits in the wake of last summer's Supreme Court ruling that struck down affirmative action in higher education grew.
• Nvidia's importance to AI development grow so large that the company's become a pawn in U.S.-China political tensions. (💭My thought bubble: I'd love to spend a day inside CEO Jensen Huang's head.)
• The fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson expose the level of rage in America toward an industry that continues to fail its customers.
• The price of bitcoin reach $100,000, fueled in part by expectations that a new Trump administration will mean friendlier policies.
• Yes, but: You know what they say about expectations.

• Consumers get fed up with higher prices and companies from McDonald's and Starbucks, to car dealers and huge retail chains scrambled to adjust.
• Microsoft's surprise announcement to help restart nuclear power plant Three Mile Island push other tech giants to announce similar plans.
• Boeing start to tackle yet another challenging period in its history. Its ability to overcome its manufacturing, labor and debt problems will come down (mainly) to new CEO Kelly Ortberg's leadership.

What we're watching: Businesses in 2025 will be shaped by two major factors — policy priorities of the new White House and its billionaire allies, as well as the path of the Fed's rate cuts.

Some other predictions from a sector perspective:

• Big Tech will likely be pushed harder to prove clear ROI from its generative AI playbooks.
• Retail will continue to focus on "value" strategies.
• Sports will grow even bigger as a share of the entertainment market.
• Energy, auto and transport industries will look for even more consolidation opportunities.
• The fate of TikTok will determine the size of media and tech's deepening fissure.