• Eli Lilly & Co.'s about $8 billion acquisition of biotech Loxo Oncology could mean a $470 million payday for venture-capital firm Aisling Capital.
• Aisling Capital was a founding investor in Loxo and most recently held a 6.6% stake. 
• Aisling Capital managing partner Steve Elms told Business Insider about the other biotechs and scientific areas the firm is intrigued by. 

Pharma giant Eli Lilly & Co.'s Monday acquisition of biotech Loxo Oncology for $8 billion was a big deal, both for Eli Lilly and the wider biopharmaceutical industry. 

It also represents a major payday for venture-capital firm Aisling Capital, with expected returns of around $470 million on its roughly 2 million shares, managing partner Steve Elms told Business Insider on Tuesday. 

The firm invests in life sciences companies, both public and private, with drugs in fairly advanced stages of research, and has raised about $1.8 billion since it was founded in 2000. 

Aisling got in on the ground floor with Loxo, literally — it was a founding investor in the biotech and incubated Loxo in its offices in the early days.

Read:Pharma giant Eli Lilly just made an $8 billion bet on a cutting-edge scientific approach that uses DNA to treat cancer

The venture-capital firm is also intrigued by other kinds of "targeted" approaches to cancer, cell therapies, and those that use the immune system to fight cancer, called immuno-oncology.

Among the "interesting areas we're watching really closely" are biotechs developing personalized vaccines to fight cancer, Elms said, though Aisling hasn't yet taken an investment.

Biotechs like Gritstone Oncology and Neon Therapeutics aim to use the immune system to treat cancer, like in immuno-oncology, and to do so are developing medicines that hone in on new targets, protein fragments called neoantigens.

Neon, for example, calls neoantigens "cancer's untapped vulnerability." 

Aisling is interested in other immuno-oncology approaches as well, with investments in biotechs Marker Therapeutics and Arcus Biosciences. But the firm has also been "really selective," Elms said. 

"With targeted medicine, you know really quickly, and can stop the program right away" if the drug isn't working or has serious side effects, Elms said. Unlike in immuno-oncology, "you don't have to worry about multiple clinical trials with multiple combinations" and wait for them to pan out. 

See:Pfizer has a new strategy for fighting cancer that could generate $5 billion a year. We got a look inside.

Aisling has history and close ties with Loxo, which develops medicines focused on gene mutations in the cancers, allowing them to treat patients across different types of the disease. Rivals with a similar approach include Blueprint Medicines and Deciphera Pharmaceuticals. 

Elms chairs Loxo's board, and Loxo's CEO, Dr. Josh Bilenker, and COO Jake Van Naarden, both came to the start-up from Aisling Capital. 

The firm's stake in Loxo was once as high as 18.6%, according to a Reuters report from 2016, though it most recently held an about 6.6% stake.

Its stake was roughly twice the size it is now last summer, when Aisling sold about two million shares at a lower price.

That was purposefully so, Elms said: "One of the important parts of our strategy is making sure to take some money off the table as the price increases, and that's something we've done historically at Aisling Capital." 

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: China just made history by being the first to ever land on the far side of the moon

• Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos announced Wednesday that he and his wife MacKenzie will file for divorce.
• They were married in 1993, after meeting at D.E. Shaw & Co, and shortly afterward relocated to Seattle to found Amazon, where MacKenzie was one of the company's first employees.
• Today, Jeff Bezos is worth $145 billion, making him the richest person in history.

Jeff Bezos, the billionaire founder and CEO of online retail giant Amazon, announced Wednesday that he and his wife of 25 years, MacKenzie, will divorce.

"As our family and close friends know, after a long period of loving exploration and trial separation, we have decided to divorce and continue our shared lives as friends," the couple wrote in the statement issued via Twitter.

Today, Bloomberg estimates Bezos is worth $137 billion— making him the richest person in history, according to CNN. He's also topped Forbes' annual list of the richest people on the planet for the first time ever. And Amazon followed Apple to become the second-ever US company to reach a $1 trillion valuation — although the company has since dropped back to a $791 billion market cap.

Here's a look inside the marriage of Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos.

SEE ALSO: A day in the life of the world's richest person, Jeff Bezos — who made $6.44 billion in one day, wakes up without an alarm, and washes dishes after dinner

DON'T MISS: Inside billionaire Warren Buffett's unconventional marriage, which included an open arrangement and 3-way Christmas cards

SEE ALSO: Inside the marriage of Bill and Melinda Gates, who met at work, live in a $124 million home, and will leave their children only a small fraction of their fortune

MacKenzie and Jeff first met at investment management firm D.E. Shaw. MacKenzie was a research associate and Jeff was a vice president. Jeff was the first person to interview MacKenzie — a fellow Princeton grad — at the firm.

Source: Business Insider, Forbes, Vogue

"I think my wife is resourceful, smart, brainy, and hot, but I had the good fortune of having seen her résumé before I met her, so I knew exactly what her SATs were," he joked to Vogue.

Source: Vogue

After she landed the job, they became office neighbors. "All day long I listened to that fabulous laugh," she told Vogue. "How could you not fall in love with that laugh?"

Source: Vogue

• The J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference is underway in San Francisco. 
• Walking around the conference, a few topics seem to be at the top of everyone's minds. 
• From M&A skepticism to big tech attendees, here's what Business Insider reporters are hearing on the ground.

SAN FRANCISCO -- The J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, a massive conference attended by thousands of pharmaceutical industry executives, investors, bankers, and analysts, is off and running in San Francisco's Union Square. 

Walking through the halls of the hotels that house the main events, a few topics seem to be on the tops of everyone's minds. 

From new arrivals heading up big biotech and pharmaceutical companies, to doubts about 2019's first mega-merger, here's what Business Insider's healthcare team is hearing at the conference.  

Read more: Check out Business Insider's coverage of the biggest healthcare-investor conference.

What's a mega-merger to do? 

Walking from meeting to meeting, it's hard not to hear chatter about the $74 billion Bristol-Myers Squibb-Celgene deal. 

The deal, announced last week, combines a massive pharmaceutical company with a biotech giant, both of which have a big presence in the development of cancer drugs.

But among attendees of the conference, there's some skepticism about whether the deal will go through. Instead, there's a possibility that another pharmaceutical company could come in and make a bid for BMS — nixing its deal with Celgene entirely. 

Often looked at as a potential takeover target, it's possible BMS could get acquired itself, particularly from companies looking to beef up their presence in cancer immunotherapy.

The big tech elephant in the room

Rumors that Amazon and Apple employees are attending the conference have healthcare veterans wondering what that might mean for the two giants' health strategy. 

While some initiatives Amazon's working on — like the PillPack acquisition and the joint healthcare venture with JPMorgan and Berkshire Hathaway — have clicked into place, there's still a lot we don't know about Amazon's healthcare strategy. That should have the healthcare industry worried. 

While retail pharmacy giants seem to be setting up delivery services that could protect them from Amazon, it remains to be seen if drugmakers or other parts of healthcare will need to find new ways to be competitive or find ways to partner up with Amazon instead.

New faces

A number of pharma and biotech companies had new presenters up on stage. New CEOs heading up Pfizer and Gilead drew a lot of curiosity over where they'd take the companies.

And Moderna, the biggest biotech initial public offering in history made its first presentation at the conference as a publicly traded company to an overflowing room of spectators. 

And then there's newly formed companies like CVS Health, which in 2018 finalized its merger with Aetna. In its presentation, CVS laid out how it plans to incorporate the health plan into its retail pharmacy business to create home hubs. CVS's presentation was overflowing, too.

Lisa Gill, the JPMorgan analyst who covers the company, joked at the start: "Just as a side note, I think we're going to have to move you back to the big room next year."

We'll be sending out our best stories from the week in Dispensed, our weekly dispatch of pharma, biotech, and healthcare news. Sign up here.

• Read more:
• A biotech is proposing a plan to pay for its pricey rare disease treatment the same way you'd buy a TV or dishwasher. Here's the inside story
• CVS Health just revealed a key piece of its plan to change how Americans get healthcare
• A Silicon Valley startup that pioneered a new way to fight diabetes is tackling depression after its CEO noticed a disturbing trend
• 250 more hospitals just joined in on a plan to make their own drugs and the effort could upend the generic pharma business

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: I went on Beyoncé's 22-day diet — and I lost 15 pounds

This is a preview of a research report from Business Insider Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service. This report is exclusively available to enterprise subscribers. To learn more about getting access to this report, email Senior Account Executive Jeff Jordan at jjordan@businessinsider.com, or check to see if your company already has access.

Although competition in the US wireless carrier market remains fierce, the price war among the Big Four US carriers — Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint — began to cool over the past year.

In an attempt to avoid further competition on price, carriers began shifting their focus to adding value to their mobile plans with new offerings to differentiate from the competition. This helped average revenue per user (ARPU) start to stabilize across all carriers in Q1 2018, after declining over the last two years.

The Big Four have now begun reshuffling their unlimited plans to lure subscribers by providing more options. This strategy has been unrolling in two flavors: introducing new, expensive unlimited plan tiers loaded with an array of features and choices, while also catering to price-sensitive customers with more affordable plans that strip away extra perks like free digital content and international coverage. As a result, a new battleground is emerging, with differentiation now coming down to the value loaded in their mobile plans.

Looking forward, the US carrier market will see competitive pressure pick up due to a number of trends: 

• The US smartphone market is creeping toward saturation. Penetration in the US hit 85% in 2018, up from 82% in 2017 and 77% in 2016.
• eSIM technology is making it easier for consumers to switch carriers. eSIM technology is a nonphysical SIM card slot that pairs with the physical SIM card to enable dual-SIM functionality — allowing customers to switch carriers without changing to a different SIM card or device.
• And cable mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) are edging in on US carriers' share of wireless adds. Cable MVNOs, such as Comcast's Xfinity Mobile and Charter's Spectrum Mobile, are expected to snag roughly 50% of total wireless customer net adds, or about 2.2 million subscribers, by 2020.

All of this means fostering loyalty and winning over new subscribers is more important than ever for the Big Four, making it crucial for these mobile carriers to understand consumer sentiment around their services.

In this report, Business Insider Intelligence uses consumer survey data from our proprietary panel, collected during 2017 and 2018, to evaluate which features are most important to consumers when selecting a mobile provider, as well as to determine which features would convince them to switch to the competition. It contains insights that can help telecoms guide strategic investment and marketing decisions to win and retain customers in this increasingly competitive space.

The companies mentioned in the report are: AT&T, Amazon, Apple, Charter, Comcast, Hulu, Netflix, Pandora, Sprint, T-Mobile, Tidal, and Verizon.

Here are some key takeaways from the report:

• T-Mobile came out on top again, outpacing the rest of the Big Four US carriers on value, loyalty, and satisfaction. T-Mobile customers want to see coverage improvements, though. 
• Verizon customers don't see much more value in its offerings than a year ago.
• AT&T was the only carrier to show declines in all capacities. 
• Sprint is still a good deal, but it doesn't offer much else.
• When it comes to features, subscribers still value the basics most. However, demand for international coverage is growing.
• 5G is the next major battleground for the Big Four, and the winner of the 5G race has the potential to leap ahead in customer volumes. 

 In full, the report:

• Determines the features that are most important to consumers when selecting a mobile provider.  
• Identifies which features are nice to have or essential in consumers' willingness to switch carriers. 
• Examines consumers' feelings on emerging technologies and trends in the mobile industry, such as 5G, new network-connected devices, and the T-Mobile-Sprint merger.

SEE ALSO: 5G in the IoT: How the next generation of wireless technology will transform the IoT

Join the conversation about this story »

• Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos says he believes the term "work-life balance" is a "debilitating phrase."
• Bezos revealed that one of the top pieces of advice he offers new Amazon employees is that they shouldn't view the two as a strict trade-off.
• Instead, Bezos thinks of his personal and professional pursuits as a "circle" rather than a balancing act.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos isn't a fan of the phrase "work-life balance."

At an April 2018 awards event hosted by Axel Springer and Business Insider US editor in chief Alyson Shontell, Bezos revealed the counterintuitive advice he offers new Amazon employees.

Bezos believes that his new hires should stop attempting to achieve "balance" within their professional and personal lives, since that implies a strict trade-off between the two. Instead, Bezos envisions a more holistic relationship between work and life outside the office.

Historically, the world's richest man has a nontraditional approach to work: He makes time for breakfast every morning with his family, doesn't set his alarm before going to bed, schedules surprisingly few meetings, and still sets aside a few minutes every day to wash his own dishes.

This counterintuitive approach to maintaining a healthy symmetry within his professional and personal pursuits is one of the chief pieces of advice Bezos offers his staff.

"This work-life harmony thing is what I try to teach young employees and actually senior executives at Amazon too. But especially the people coming in," he said. "I get asked about work-life balance all the time. And my view is, that's a debilitating phrase because it implies there's a strict trade-off."

Instead of viewing work and life as a balancing act, Bezos said that it's more productive to view them as two integrated parts.

"It actually is a circle. It's not a balance," Bezos said.

Bezos said that the relationship between his work life and personal life is reciprocal, and that he doesn't compartmentalize them into two competing time constraints.

"If I am happy at home, I come into the office with tremendous energy," said Bezos. "And if I am happy at work, I come home with tremendous energy. You never want to be that guy — and we all have a coworker who's that person — who, as soon as they come into a meeting, they drain all the energy out of the room ... You want to come into the office and give everyone a kick in their step."

You can read — and watch — the full interview with Bezos right here.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: China made an artificial star that's 6 times as hot as the sun, and it could be the future of energy

• Amazon has a program that sends customers free samples of items they might like.
• It uses machine learning and predictive analytics to send samples of goods like Folgers coffee and dog food to customers who might want to try them, based one what the company already knows about them, according to Axios.
• It's another feature of Amazon's growing advertising business, in which brands can pay the e-commerce company to reach certain customers.

Amazon and Costco have at least one more thing in common: sampling.

The e-commerce giant has a little-known program that sends small test sizes of consumable products to customers who might want them. Known as Amazon Product Sampling, it will send sample sizes of products like Folgers' new brand of 1850 coffee, Purina Beyond grain-free pet food, Bear Naked Granola, and Dunkin' Keurig coffee pods.

The idea is that Amazon can use information it knows about you to provide products that you might like. For example, if you've purchased a Keurig machine or Keurig coffee pods from Amazon before, the algorithm figures you might be able to use some pods from a different brand. It uses machine learning and predictive analytics to do this on a large scale, according to Axios.

The program is currently small, but according to job listings seen by Axios, it could be expanding.

An Amazon spokeswoman declined to provide additional details on the samples program.

The program is another part of Amazon's growing advertising business, in which brands can pay Amazon to reach certain customers. In this case, advertisers pay Amazon to send items to customers who might purchase the product, according to the legal terms and conditions of the program. The brands get access to Amazon's huge customer base without offering the customer data directly to the advertiser.

Read more: Amazon's ad business is set to more than quadruple by 2023 — and Google should be worried

It appears Amazon opts customers in to the program by default. To opt in to or out of the samples program, customers can visit Amazon.com/samples and navigate to the preferences page. Only customers who agree to receive "Marketing Information by Post" in Amazon's general Communication Preferences Center will recieve samples.

It's likely that frequent shoppers are more likely to be chosen as sample recipients, but there's no limit to how many samples customers can get, and they don't need to be Prime members either.

SEE ALSO: Why 'Costco for millennials' Boxed loves selling what Amazon calls 'CRaP'

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: We tried the Costco food court and it totally blew us away

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NOW WATCH: What it's like to win the Gumball 3000 where drivers party until 2 am every night and drive 3,000 miles in 7 days

The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships, so we get a share of the revenue from your purchase.

• Prime Book Box subscribers receive a box of carefully curated kids books monthly, every two months, or every three months.
• The service saves customers up to 40% off the list price of the books, which are delivered free through the Amazon Prime program.
• The service offers book selections tailored to babies and young toddlers, kids ages 3 to 5, 6 to 8, and 9 to 12 years old.

You're already an Amazon Prime member, right? Ok good.

And do you have kids? Yes?

Do you hope to foster a love of reading in those kids of yours? Ok great!

Now, final question: Is inspiring said love of reading worth $19.99 a month to you? Spectacular. You're the perfect household to sign up for Amazon's new Prime Book Box book delivery service for babies and kids.

If you want to leave the selection of the books that will be delivered to your kids in the capable hands of Amazon's editors, you can probably complete the sign-up process in the same amount of time you've spent reading this article thus far. But in case you want a bit more information about the program, let's go a bit deeper here:

To sign up for a Prime Book Box subscription, you will indeed already need to be a Prime member. If you're not, well, that's an added expense, but just think of all the free shipping, TV and movie streaming, and music benefits that come along with it (and dozens of other perks too).

The monthly price of a Prime Book Box is just $19.99, and you can choose to have books delivered monthly, every other month, or every three months. (So that's $239.88, $119.94, or $79.96 annually, for the record.) Members save up to 40% off the list price of books by using the Book Box, which includes four board books for kids through age 2 and comes with two hardcover books for kids in each of the other three age categories.

Parents can look through a list of books selected by Amazon's editors and choose the books that will be included in each box, but I recommend you leave the curating in the hands of the company's accomplished editors. According to the Prime Book Box page itself:

Each box features books our customers love and our Amazon book editors couldn't forget. Our editors read thousands of books every year to find selections your reader will enjoy again and again. You'll discover new releases, classics, and hidden gems tailored to your reader's age.

If your family's experience is anything like mine so far, that's not just marketing copy, it's accurate.

The two books included in our preschool-aged son's first box immediately became part of our standard bedtime operating procedure, and as far as we can tell, our nine-month-old daughter loves her board books, though that may be more of a tactile and teething thing, to be honest. I'll ask her once she can talk.

It's little surprise Amazon managed to launch such a successful program, of course. The behemoth of a company has its roots as an online bookstore (do you even remember that? It was all about books back in the day! Now it's... everything) and it's pretty good at the whole delivery thing, too. Staffing up with editors who select excellent books was the last piece of the puzzle for this affordable, elegantly simple book subscription program that just might play a major role in helping your kids grow up loving books.

Sign up for the Prime Book Box subscription for babies and kids for $19.99 per month (with an active Amazon Prime membership)

Not an Amazon Prime member yet? Sign up for a free 30-day trial membership here

Join the conversation about this story »

• Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and his wife MacKenzie Bezos announced on Wednesday their 25-year marriage was ending in divorce.
• MacKenzie Bezos played a role in the founding of Amazon, driving cross-country to Seattle with Jeff Bezos in 1994 while the founder typed out Amazon's business plan.
• MacKenzie Bezos also worked as an accountant for Amazon in the company's early days.

Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos announced on Wednesday that his 25-year marriage to his wife MacKenzie is ending in divorce.

The announcement has drawn renewed interest in MacKenzie Bezos' role in the origins of Amazon. MacKenzie Bezos was one of Amazon's first employees, and according to Amazon lore, Jeff Bezos drafted part of the company's business plan while the couple drove across the country together.

Read more:Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and his wife, MacKenzie, announce they are divorcing

As the story goes, Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos met in 1992 when they were both employees at the New York City hedge fund D.E. Shaw. Jeff Bezos worked his way up to senior vice president at the firm, while MacKenzie Bezos, then MacKenzie Tuttle, worked there as a research associate.

The two married in 1993, and a year later, Jeff Bezos told his wife about his revolutionary plan for an online bookstore that he would later name Amazon.

"I'm not a businessperson. So to me, what I'm hearing when he tells me that idea is the passion and the excitement," MacKenzie Bezos told CBS in 2013. "And to me, you know, watching your spouse, somebody that you love, have an adventure — what is better than that, and being part of that?

In 1994, the couple drove from New York City to Seattle, the eventual Amazon headquarters, with MacKenzie Bezos driving and Jeff Bezos "tapping out a business plan on his computer along the way,"as Wired wrote in 1999. With their dog Kamala in tow, "Jeff spent the trip pecking out a business plan on a laptop computer and calling prospective investors on a cell phone,"according to Entrepreneur.

MacKenzie Bezos became an accountant for Amazon, and is considered one of the company's earliest employees. According to Wired, she was responsible for negotiating Amazon's first freight contracts, ironically, at a Barnes and Noble bookstore.

Read more:Here's where Amazon's first 21 employees are now

MacKenzie Bezos, who in college was an assistant to the author Toni Morrison, is now a novelist. 

In his announcement on Wednesday, Jeff Bezos said, "we have decided to divorce and continue our shared lives as friends."

"Through the labels might be different, we remain a family, and we remain cherished friends," he wrote.

• Read more:
• Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and his wife, MacKenzie, announce they are divorcing
• A look inside the 25-year marriage of the richest couple in history, Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos — who met at work, were engaged in 3 months, and together owned more land than almost anyone else in America
• We did the math to calculate how much money Jeff Bezos makes in a year, month, week, day, hour, minute, and second
• See inside the secretive Seattle suburb that's home to Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, where streets are lined with opulent waterfront mansions behind tall gates and security cameras

SEE ALSO: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and his wife, MacKenzie, announce they are divorcing

DON'T MISS: A look inside the 25-year marriage of the richest couple in history, Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos — who met at work, were engaged in 3 months, and together owned more land than almost anyone else in America

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Jeff Bezos reveals what it's like to build an empire and become the richest man in the world — and why he's willing to spend $1 billion a year to fund the most important mission of his life

• The city of Gary, Indiana, is selling a handful of homes for just $1, but buyers are expected to renovate them within one year. 
• The Dollar Home Program is part of a strategy to reverse decades of urban blight, which has plagued the city since the decline of the steel industry in the 1960s. 
• About a third of homes in Gary are unoccupied or abandoned, but the government remains optimistic that it can breathe new life into its neighborhoods. 

The small city of Gary, Indiana, has endured decades of hard times. More than half of its population has disappeared since 1960, and a third of its homes remain unoccupied or abandoned. 

Recent years have seen high levels of crime and low levels of employment and education.

The local school district has even taken to selling off dilapidated schools that have dealt with vandalism and arson. Despite their crumbling walls and graffitied doors, the buildings may be the district's last hope for paying off $100 million in accumulated debt.

Read more:8 cities and towns where you can get a home for free — or buy one at a massive discount

Empty homes are also seen as both a burden and opportunity. 

In 2013, the city began selling abandoned properties for a single dollar, provided that the buyer earned at least $35,250 annually and brought the home up to "habitable standards" within a year. At the end of five years, the city would cede full ownership. 

The start of the program brought hundreds of applications, though many didn't realize that the homes would require extensive repairs.

A housing coordinator for the city's community development department told The Times of Northwest Indiana that renovations to dollar homes could cost around $20,000 to $30,000. That's still much cheaper than the average home price in Gary, which hovers at around $46,000. 

The community development department currently lists a dozen dollar homes on its website. Though all are in need of serious renovation, they have plenty of untapped potential. Take a look below.

SEE ALSO: Millions of Japanese homes are abandoned, and owners are giving them away for free

The city of Gary wasn't always in decline.

With an economy tied to the steel industry, it saw extraordinary growth at the beginning of the 20th century.

The city got its name from Elbert Henry Gary, the founding chairman of the US Steel Corporation.

It has also maintained some surprising connections to Hollywood.

As the birthplace of Michael Jackson, Gary hosts an annual tribute to the legendary singer.

The city has also served as a location for films like Transformers: Dark of the Moon and the remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street.

• Duke freshman phenom Zion Williamson has become the face of college basketball thanks to his gravity-defying dunks and unbelievably efficient play.
• The 6-foot-7, 285 pound forward's vertical leap measures in at more than 40 inches, allowing him to do all sorts of stunts while he's in the air. 
• Check out Zion Williamson's most impressive dunks of the season below:

10. The two-handed slam

Tweet Embed:
//twitter.com/mims/statuses/1060012358515523584?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
GET USED TO SEEING THIS! 😳 pic.twitter.com/QcAIGnVEh2

Imagine being so athletically gifted that a dunk like this lands at No. 10 on your list. He didn't even take a dribble!

9. The "I can do it all by myself"

Tweet Embed:
//twitter.com/mims/statuses/1060032711501459457?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Alright, Zion. Alright. pic.twitter.com/m1Fk1pMvcF

Zion didn't need anybody's help.

8. The put-back slam

Nobody was holding Zion back on this one.

• The Toyota Camry and the Honda Accord are two of the best-selling and most respected cars in the world.
• Both the Toyota and the Honda are known for being exquisitely engineered and expertly put together with top-notch reliability.
• The base 2018 Honda Accord starts at $23,570, and our mid-tier Sport model starts at $25,780. The top-spec Touring starts at $33,800. With fees and the optional 2.0-liter engine, the as-tested price was pushed up to $31,200.
• The base Camry starts at $23,495, but our top-of-the-line XSE V6 opens at $34,950. With options, our test car left the showroom at $38,730.
• The Honda Accord's sportier driving dynamics and superior infotainment edges out the Toyota Camry's more attractive styling and silky smooth V6 engine. 

Camry or Accord? It's a question that has faced many a car buyer over the years.

For the better part of three decades, the Honda Accord and the Toyota Camry have been the cars of choice for American families. Though crossover SUVs have become the dominant force in the marketplace, midsize mass-market sedans like the Accord and the Camry still have a major role to play.

In 2017, Toyota sold 387,000 Camrys in the US alone, making it the best-selling passenger car in the country. The Accord wasn't far behind, with 323,000 sold.

For the 2018 model year, both the Accord and the Camry are brand-new, with the Honda now in its 10th generation and the Toyota in its eighth.

Read more: We drove a $42,000 Toyota Highlander and a $46,000 Subaru Ascent to see which is the better family SUV — here's the verdict.

The newest offerings from Honda and Toyota come just in time to compete with the new sixth-generation Nissan Altima and a freshly updated Mazda 6. There are recently revamped models from Hyundai, Kia, and Chevrolet to contend with as well.

Last year, we had the chance to experience both the Marysville, Ohio-built 2018 Honda Accord and the Georgetown, Kentucky-made 2018 Toyota Camry on the roads in and around Business Insider's headquarters in New York.

We came away impressed by both vehicles' comfort, refinement, build quality, tech content, and performance.

Here's a closer look at how the 2018 Honda Accord and the 2018 Toyota Camry match up:

SEE ALSO: We drove a $39,000 Volkswagen Tiguan and a $35,000 Mazda CX-5 to see which is the better compact crossover SUV — here's the verdict

FOLLOW US: on Facebook for more car and transportation content!

First up is the 2018 Honda Accord.

The base 2018 Accord LX starts at $23,570, while the top-of-the-line Touring model starts at $33,800. Our mid-grade, "San Marino Red" Sport model starts at $25,780, but fees and the optional 2.0-liter engine pushed the as-tested price up to $31,200.

In total, the Accord is available in six trim levels with three engines and three transmissions from which a buyer can select.

Aesthetically, the new Accord is not quite pretty — at least not in the traditional sense. However, it is edgy and eye-catching. I do find it sort of good-looking in an offbeat sort of way.

Though the Accord's hammerhead-shark-esque front grille reminds us a bit too much of the dark days of Acura's controversial silver beak ...

• Northwestern Costco locations, most Aldi locations, and other retailers around the US have begun selling Folios Cheese Wraps in three flavors: parmesan, Jarlsberg, and cheddar.
• These are sold in packs of four or 10 and are great for all kinds of low-carb diets, including the keto diet. 
• Folios Cheese Wraps have between 11 and 13 grams of protein depending on flavor, as well as 1 gram of carbs.
• The wraps are naturally lactose-free and gluten-free.
• You can use them as-is or crisp them up to make delightful bowls for salads or tacos. 

If you're trying to cut carbs but love cheese, Folios Cheese Wraps are here to solve your lunchtime and taco night dilemmas. Already spotted at grocery stores around the US, these 100% cheese wraps are sold in packs of four or 10 and they come in three flavor-packed varieties: parmesan, Jarlsberg, and cheddar. They're also naturally lactose-free and gluten-free.

These cheese wraps are a great option for those following a low-carb or gluten-free diet

All three flavors are low in carbs, but protein content differs depending on which flavor you choose. According to Lotito Foods, the distributor of Folios Cheese Wraps, both the parmesan and Jarlsberg variants have 13 grams of protein. The cheddar one has 11 grams of protein.

These wraps are being sold in various locations around the US 

Although Costco locations in the northwestern US may be the only place you can score 10-packs of these wraps, four-packs of Folios have already been spotted on Amazon Fresh and at multiple other retailers. They're also coming soon to even more locations like HEB, Gelson's, and all Aldi locations in the US except for stores in Texas. 

Your cheesy possibilities with these wraps may be greater than you realize

Of course, these can be used right out of the package for making wraps but you don't have to stop there. Lotito Foods boasts plenty of creative recipes that feature the cheesy wrap. You can also crisp them into a bowl for salads or protein or even melt them on top of your favorite meal. 

Whether you're following the keto diet, adapting to a low-carb lifestyle, or just really love cheese, be sure to keep an eye out for Folios Cheese Wraps at your local retailers. 

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• Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth got married in an intimate ceremony in Tennessee in December 2018. 
• Cyrus started her career on Disney's "Hannah Montana," a gig that spawned multiple films and sent her on a world tour. 
• Hemsworth raked in money playing Gale in the "Hunger Games" franchise. 
• Together, the duo is worth a reported $186 million. 

When Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth wed in an intimate Tennessee ceremony fashioned after the nuptials of the singer's parents on December 23, it was a union between two young Hollywood stars.

You might be now wondering: What is Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth's net worth together? Between Cyrus's music and TV appearances as well as her Aussie beau's acting career, the pair are both bringing a considerable fortune to the table.

Cyrus and Hemsworth started building their wealth from a young age

According to Celebrity Net Worth, Cyrus is worth upwards of $160 million while Hemsworth clocks in around $26 million, which makes them collectively worth a reported $186 million.

Cyrus got her start in 2006 playing Hannah Montana on the beloved Disney channel series. In addition to reportedly bagging about $15,000 per episode, per NY Post, and her subsequent $54 million"Hannah Montana" world tour, the 26-year-old's "Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert" documentary banked over $70 million.

Meanwhile, Hemsworth got his start playing Josh Taylor in 2007-2008 on the Australian series "Neighbors"before first laying eyes on his future wife in 2010's "The Last Song,"which grossed $89,041,656.

Cyrus has her successful music career and YouTube to thank for much of her financial prowess

While Cyrus's child star roots helped her get her footing, the "We Can't Stop" hitmaker made her real money from all the bangers she released in the following years. Case in point: Cyrus bagged nine top ten songs on the Billboard 100 list. In addition to slaying the tour game (she's reported by Forbes to have grossed $67.1 million for her Wonder World tour and $100 million for her Bangerz tour), the 26-year-old also had her twerking and VMA's shenanigans to thank for her considerable YouTube revenue.

After her infamous 2013 performance with Robin Thicke, it only took 24 hours for "Wrecking Ball" to garner 19 million views on Vevo while party anthem "We Can't Stop" hit the 100 million mark in just 37 days.

The "Hunger Games"Franchise put Hemsworth's career on the map

While the Aussie star first made our way into our hearts as Will Blakelee on "The Last Song," he got his big break in the "Hunger Games"franchise. While it's unknown how much he was paid for the entire franchise, the first film opened to the third-best box office debut of all time and grossed $691 million. Co-star Jennifer Lawrence was paid $10 million for the sequel "Catching Fire," and it's rumored that Hemsworth raked in $2 million for his role.

Speaking of acting, Cyrus has also made several returns to the big and small screen

The singer has also added some acting credits to her name, including voicing characters in "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" and "Bolt," although it's unlikely that these smaller roles have added significantly to her net worth.

Her return to TV as a judge on "The Voice"for seasons 11 and 13 was definitely profitable, as she reportedly made $13 million for her debut in 2016. While Cyrus didn't head back onto the show for season 14 and she's kept a relatively low profile of late, Hemsworth is next set to appear in the 2019 rom-com "Isn't It Romantic" with Priyanka Chopra, Rebel Wilson, and Adam Devine in February.

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• A truck overturned on an Alabama highway over the weekend, spilling frozen chicken tenders onto the road.
• The local sheriff's office took to Facebook to urge motorists not to eat the thawing tenders.
• That post went viral, racking up more than 2,800 shares over the course of a few days. 

If you were considering eating the chicken tenders that spilled out of an overturned semi-truck in Alabama, local authorities would like you to reconsider. 

"The Cherokee County Sheriff's Office is asking that no one try to stop to get the chicken tenders that were spilled from the 18 wheeler accident last night on Highway 35,"the agency posted on Facebook over the weekend.

"You're creating a traffic hazard! It's a crime to impede the flow of traffic," it continued. "Those cases have been on the ground for over 24 hours and are unsafe to consume. Anyone who is caught could be facing charges."

The post went viral and has racked up more than 2,800 shares and 500 comments at the time of writing. The truck driver's apparent wife, Stacy-ann Smith, also noted in a comment on the Facebook post that the driver and father of her children is safe at home.

By Monday, the accident had been cleaned and Highway 35 — about 90 miles northeast of Birmingham — had reopened, the sheriff's office said.

Read more: Truck spills cranberries in accident on Cape Cod bridge

According to the United States Department of Agriculture,chicken should be kept below 40 degrees Fahrenheit and cooked to a minimum internal temperature of 165 degrees to avoid food-borne illnesses.

"I about hit some people coming down through there tonight, like five or six people with flashlights trying to cross the road," Sherry Bowen White said on Facebook, per the Macon Telegraph. "I wondered what they were doing."

SEE ALSO: The family of a teenager killed in a 116 mile-per-hour Tesla crash is suing the company, claiming it makes 'unreasonably dangerous' cars

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This is a preview of a research report from Business Insider Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service. To learn more about Business Insider Intelligence, click here. Current subscribers can read the report here.

Outside of the US Postal Service (USPS), FedEx and UPS have dominated the domestic logistics industry — and in particular, the last-mile of the delivery — for decades. On a quarterly earnings call in 2016, FedEx estimated that itself, UPS, and USPS executed a whopping 95% of all e-commerce orders.

But rapidly rising volumes have put the pair of legacy shippers in a bind. E-commerce sales have risen over 50% and are projected to continue their ascent into the next decade. High volumes are already straining shippers' networks — UPS struggled to bring consumers their parcels on time due to higher-than-anticipated package volume, which upset some big-name retail partners, including Macy's, Walmart, and Amazon. As online sales surge further, package volumes will outstrip legacy shippers' capacities, creating space for new entrants. 

Amazon is uniquely well-positioned to dethrone UPS and FedEx's duopoly. It's built up a strong logistics infrastructure, counting hundreds of warehouses and thousands of delivery trucks.

Further, as the leading online retailer in the US, it has a wealth of data on consumers that it can use to craft a personalized delivery experience that's superior to UPS and FedEx's offerings. Amazon must act soon, however, as UPS and FedEx are hard at work fortifying their own networks to handle the expected surge in parcel volume.

The longer the Seattle-based e-tailer delays the launch of a delivery service, the more it runs the risk that these legacy players will be able to defend their territory. 

In a new report, Business Insider Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, explains how the age of e-commerce is opening up cracks in UPS and FedEx's duopoly. We then outline how Amazon's logistics ambitions began as an effort to more quickly get parcels out the door and fulfill its famous 2-day shipping process and how it'll be a key building block for the company if it builds out a last-mile service. Lastly, we offer concrete steps that the firm must take to maximize the dent it makes in UPS and FedEx's duopoly.

The companies mentioned in this report are: Alibaba, Amazon, FedEx, and UPS.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the report:

• While UPS and FedEx have dominated the US last-mile delivery market for the last few decades, the surge in e-commerce is creating more volume than shipping companies can handle.
• Amazon is uniquely well-positioned to put a dent in UPS and FedEx's duopoly due to its strategic position as the leading online retailer in the US.
• Amazon can carry its trust amongst the public, a wealth of consumer data, and its ability to craft a more personalized delivery experience to the last-mile delivery space to ultimately dethrone UPS and FedEx.
• The top priority for Amazon in taking on UPS and FedEx needs to be offering substantially lower shipping rates — one-third of US retailers say they'll switch to an Amazon shipping service if it's at least 20% cheaper than UPS and FedEx. 

In full, the report:

• Outlines Amazon's current shipping and logistics footprint and strengths that it would bring to the last-mile delivery space in the US.
• Lays out concrete steps that Amazon must take if it wants to launch a standalone last-mile delivery service, including how it can offer a more memorable, higher-quality delivery experience than UPS and FedEx.
• Illustrates how Amazon can minimize operating costs for a delivery service to ultimately undercut UPS and FedEx's shipping rates in the last-mile space.

SEE ALSO: Amazon and Walmart are building out delivery capabilities

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• Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon, announced on Twitter Wednesday that he and his wife, MacKenzie Bezos, are divorcing after a 25-year marriage.
• Bezos, who has a reported net worth of nearly $137 billion, lives in Washington, a community property state — all assets acquired during marriage are to be divided equally if the Bezoses didn't sign a prenup or postnup dictating otherwise.
• This means Bezos might have to sell stock, which could affect his control of Amazon, according to a CNBC report.
• When billionaires like Bezos get divorced, they more commonly have to deal with complex and illiquid assets, company issues, and public perception, say divorce attorneys.

Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon, announced on Twitter Wednesday that he and his wife, MacKenzie Bezos, are divorcing after 25 years of marriage. 

Could the world's richest man end up in the world's most expensive divorce of all time? It depends.

For Bezos, who has a reported net worth of nearly $137 billion, there's a lot more at stake than there is in a typical divorce — as is often the case with high-net-worth couples.

"The major thing for billionaires is that most of the time, their assets are very complex and mostly illiquid — with Bezos, a lot of his assets are linked to Amazon stock," Jacqueline Newman, matrimonial law attorney and managing partner of Berkman Bottger Newman & Rodd, LLP, told Business Insider.

The Bezoses' state of residence, Washington, further complicates matters for Bezos' Amazon holdings. It's a community property state, which means wealth accrued during his and MacKenzie's marriage could be split in half, Karin J. Lundell, matrimonial and trust and estate partner at Rower LLC, told Business Insider.

However, such distribution could be altered if the Bezoses signed a prenuptial or a postnuptial agreement, she said.  "Often, very wealthy people have prenups that lay out the division of their property. A prenup can carve out certain things and say 'we'll divide this up.'"

It's unclear whether the Bezoses have a prenup. If they don't, MacKenzie could receive up to $66 billion based on Amazon's value under the community property law, Robert Frank of CNBC reported.

Read more: There are 2 types of contracts married couples can sign to protect their money — here's what it means if divorcing billionaires Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos never signed one

"To fund a settlement that big, Bezos would have to sell or pledge shares, which could dilute his ownership and control of the company," he wrote, reporting that Bezos owns less than 16% of Amazon, equivalent to nearly 80 million shares.

A fortune tied to company stock, like Amazon, complicates divorce for billionaire couples

Having a net worth tied to company stock is an issue billionaires like Bezos often have to contend with in a divorce. Deciding what to do can get tricky — you could transfer the stock itself, but if you do, you could lose control of the company depending on your stake, Newman said, adding, "If Bezos sold a stock, then they can cash out."

That doesn't mean that's what will happen in Bezos's case, though.

"Divorce attorneys say that it is highly likely MacKenzie would want the family fortune to continue to grow — and that is tied large part to Jeff Bezos' control of the company," Frank wrote. "So she would be unlikely to push for a settlement that would require him to sell shares that would dilute his control — and any reduction of his 15% stake in the company."

But running a company brings more issues for divorcing billionaires than the possibility of having to transfer or sell a stock to fund a settlement and possibly lose company control.

"Most of the time, it's valuation issues — how to value assets in business," Lundell said. "The publicly traded stocks are easy to value — you don't want to sell because that causes fluctuation. [It's] business interests that are harder to value and are more complex assets — [like] the Washington Post; we don't know the value of that."

Read more: Billionaire couple Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos live in one of the best states in the US to get divorced if your spouse is loaded — here are the rest

With assets that are hard to value and hard to liquidate, divorce proceedings can take longer because there's a more complex evaluation, according to Newman.

And for billionaires in the public eye, like Bezos, there's also the issue of how the divorce will affect the company itself, Newman said: "They could be distracted or emotionally charged, there could be concern about whether there will be a transfer of actual shares and who's running the company, [and] stocks could go down."

For high-net-worth individuals not tied to a company, their public image could be just as important, Newman added, like an actor or public figure needing to deal with tabloid fodder.

But for Bezos, she said, "The concern is the company and the shares, that's the biggest issue. Beyond that, children are involved. When you're dealing with people of these levels, there are a lot of cooks in the kitchen, a lot of vested interest."

• Read more:
• Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and his wife, MacKenzie, announce they are divorcing
• A look inside the 25-year marriage of the richest couple in history, Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos — who met at work, were engaged in 3 months, and together owned more land than almost anyone else in America
• We did the math to calculate how much money Jeff Bezos makes in a year, month, week, day, hour, minute, and second
• See inside the secretive Seattle suburb that's home to Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, where streets are lined with opulent waterfront mansions behind tall gates and security cameras

SEE ALSO: Billionaires Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos may be divorcing, but research suggests the richer people are, the more likely they are to get — and stay — married

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• On Wednesday, Chinese cloud company and search giant Baidu announced OpenEdge, the first open source edge computing platform out of the country. 
• Edge computing is poised to become the next thing after cloud computing — it brings processing power to "edge devices" like smart home appliances and wearables.
• China's open source community is growing, and Baidu has previously led other open source platforms like the autonomous driving platform Apollo and the artificial intelligence framework PaddlePaddle.
• Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services are investing heavily in edge computing, as well. 

Baidu has just announced China's first open source edge computing platform – reflecting the country's growing open source community. 

Baidu, a cloud company and search giant sometimes known as the "Google of China," unveiled OpenEdge at the Consumer Electronics Show on Wednesday.

"Edge computing is becoming more commonplace due to the rise of IoT devices," Zun Wang, a Baidu spokesperson, told Business Insider. "It brings different kinds of compute power, especially for AI processing, to the edges of your network, allowing close proximity of your data source with the cloud."

Edge computing means that the processing power is shifted away from the cloud and towards the "edge"— which is to say closer to the users who are using it. For example, edge devices might be gadgets people use each day, such as PCs, smartphones and tablets, or Internet of Things gadgetry like wearables and smart home appliances.

With OpenEdge, developers can build their own edge computing systems and deploy them on various devices and hardware. This platform include features that allow users program devices to collect data, send messages to each other, and generally "learn" from user behavior. 

Previously, Baidu has led other open source projects like Apollo, its autonomous driving platform, and PaddlePaddle, an artificial intelligence framework. It also offers cloud services that are based on open source software created by other companies. 

However, this is Baidu's first open source initiative in edge computing, and the first coming out of China. Baidu hopes open sourcing this will improve the development of edge computing globally. It's generally believed in the industry that developments in artificial intelligence, coupled with the rising demand for smart gadgets, self-driving cars, and industrial robotics, mean that edge computing will be the next big thing after cloud computing.

Read more: One of the biggest trends in tech over the last decade has been the shift to cloud computing — and we're seeing the first signs of what might be next

"The explosive growth of IoT devices and rapid adoption of AI is fueling great demand for edge computing," Watson Yin, Baidu Vice President and GM of Baidu Cloud, said in a statement. "And by providing an open source platform, we have also greatly simplified the process for developers to create their own edge computing applications."

More recently, Baidu has been focusing on artificial intelligence and cloud computing. OpenEdge was originally designed as a part of Baidu Intelligent Edge, a commercial software product that works with Baidu Cloud, and will include functions to manage different edge computing applications.

"We wanted to let developers build their own edge computing system as well as contribute functions and edge apps to the existing platform," said Wang, the Baidu spokesperson.

McFly, an agriculture technology company, has used Baidu's software in drones to collect data about crops that helps it lower pesticide use. This is just one possible application of edge computing.

Similarly, Microsoft Azure also has an open source edge computing project, and offers edge computing services to developers. Amazon Web Services also offers edge computing services, but the underlying software is not available as open source. 

Currently, China is seeing its slowest growth in decades, but despite the economic slowdown, analysts predict Baidu's annual revenue increased by 20% in 2018.

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• "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" is returning for its sixth season.
• The show has featured a number of guest stars so far. 
• Actors including Pete Davidson and Eva Longoria have appeared.

"Brooklyn Nine-Nine" features a large cast of lovable and wacky characters.

And between criminals, family members of the Nine-Nine's employee, and fellow public service members, there are plenty of opportunities to add colorful guest stars into the mix.

Celebrities, such as Maya Rudolph and Nick Offerman, have been on the show. 

Fox canceled "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" in 2018, but NBC saved it less than 24 hours later, so now there's even more opportunity for cameos. 

Here are 41 celebrities you might have forgotten have been on "Brooklyn Nine-Nine." 

"Brooklyn Nine-Nine" returns Thursday at 9 p.m. ET on NBC.

Patton Oswalt joined the cast as FDNY Fire Marshal Boone for two episodes on season one.

He refuses to let Jake and Charles visit a crime scene when their favorite pizza place burns down. He returns a few episodes later for a football game between FDNY and the Nine-Nine.

Jake met Katie Peralta, his half-sister played by Nasim Pedrad, on season five.

She's good at conning people. 

Niecy Nash guest-starred on season three as Debbie, Holt's younger sister.

Debbie is dramatic. 

• Dollar General is on a path to dominate America. It is on track to open 900 stores in fiscal 2018 and a further 975 in fiscal year 2019, which begins in February.
• The dollar store has been described as growing at a pace that is largely"unthinkable" in retail.
• While such rapid growth comes with risks, analysts say Dollar General is in a unique position to avoid many of those challenges.

Dollar General wants to become America's local store. 

The discount chain has been spreading its reach across the United States at a rapid rate over the past few years, growing at a pace that is largely "unthinkable" in retail, analysts say.

And it has no plans to slow down. After opening stores at a rate of four a day in 2018, Dollar General plans to open 975 more in 2019. 

Because of this, Dollar General has become somewhat of an anomaly in a sector that is currently known for its headlines of store closings and bankruptcies. The dollar-store segment has come out of the so-called "retail apocalypse" relatively unscathed as customers prioritize value over everything else and find the treasure-hunt-style shopping experience appealing. 

But such rapid growth does not come without risks, even for a retailer that finds itself in a 28-year sales growth steak. 

Retail analyst Neil Saunders told Business Insider that there is still a lot of opportunity for Dollar General to grow in the US. However, the retailer could risk cannibalizing sales at its existing locations if it opens too many new stores.

Saunders said that through his research at GlobalData Retail, he has noticed that rural areas of the northeastearn US, such as Massachusetts, upstate New York, and some parts of New Hampshire and Vermont, have seen a dilution in sales densities because of the overlap between stores.

"The challenge is to make sure that this is kept in check," he said. 

A spokesperson for Dollar General did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment on the company's specific strategy for opening stores, but said that it takes demographic trends, competitive factors, traffic patterns, and community concerns into consideration.

Read more:Dollar General is taking over rural America, and it should terrify Walmart

The potential downsides to such rapid growth may be less risky for Dollar General than for its brick-and-mortar rivals, however. That is because dollar stores are by nature less expensive to create, and they can be put up and taken down more quickly. 

"The risk of a dollar store expansion is lower than other retail concepts that require a lot more capital to expand," Moody's analyst Mickey Chadha told Business Insider.

He continued: "They are not putting in hundreds of millions of dollars to expand supercenters. If they do overexpand, it's not a good thing but it's something that they can retrench; it doesn't take a lot of money to get out because of the size of the store and the fact that the inventory is easily moveable."

Dollar General's stores are around 7,300 square feet, which is one-tenth the size of the average Walmart store. 

Dan Nieser, Dollar General's senior vice president of real estate and store development, told The Wall Street Journal in 2017 that it costs around $250,000 to open a new store, which is significantly less than what it costs a big-box retailer to build a new location. Its no-frills design — metal shelves, strip lighting, and cheap signage — also helps to keep costs down. 

But perhaps most crucially, Dollar General is in a unique position where it is more likely than its rivals to survive in times of economic crisis. That is because the discount model thrives in economic downturns, when value is key.   

"If we have a recession tomorrow, I think that is only beneficial for a dollar store," Chadha said.

SEE ALSO: We shopped at 3 of the biggest dollar-store chains in America to see which one offered the best experience, and the winner was clear

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