A Tesla factory robot reportedly attacked a worker and left them bleeding. This could become a new reality in the increasingly automated workplace - Fortune | Millennials, don’t hold your breath: 2024 probably won’t be your year to break into the housing market, either - Fortune | How a former IRS boss optimizes his charitable trust to support his alma mater–and give assets to his children tax-free - Fortune | She closed a $400 million fund the week Lehman crashed. Here’s what VC Rebecca Lynn predicts for the year ahead

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A Tesla factory robot reportedly attacked a worker and left them bleeding. This could become a new reality in the increasingly automated workplace - Fortune

A robot attacked a Tesla worker and left them bleeding on the automaker’s Austin factory floor two years ago, according to an explosive new report. It was one of a series of incidents at Giga Texas, a sprawling Austin factory that is key to Tesla’s goal of building a sub-$25,000 electric car.

The series of injuries reported by tech news outlet The Information offers a rare look into an oft-hidden part of the U.S. workplace—and a warning of what the future could look like as manufacturing becomes more and more automated.

At Giga Texas, an engineer had started to work on three robots sometime in 2021 but didn’t realize that only two had been shut off, The Information reported, citing two unnamed witnesses. The third robot kept moving and “pinned the engineer against a surface, pushing its claws into his body and drawing blood from his back and his arm,” the outlet said. After another worker hit an emergency stop button, the victim was able to get out of the robot’s grasp and fell down a scrap-metal chute, trailing blood behind him, The Information said. (Tesla did not respond to a request for comment from Fortune on the incident.)

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Millennials, don’t hold your breath: 2024 probably won’t be your year to break into the housing market, either - Fortune

This year’s housing market was full of highs and lows: high mortgage rates and home prices and low morale for younger generations yearning to achieve the American dream. Mortgage rates peaked at 8% in October before retreating somewhat, while home prices have been rising since January, pricing many people out of the real estate market.

Buying a home has been top of mind for millennials and Gen Zers this year, with about 60% saying they think homeownership is more important than it was during their parents’ generation, Bank of America Institute said in early December. But it doesn’t seem to matter how badly younger generations want to buy a house—there are too many barriers for many of them to break into the housing market.

The difficulty of saving up for a down payment, relatively elevated mortgage rates, and high home prices top the list of troubles for millennials and Gen Zers. And none of that is getting easier anytime soon, housing experts agree.

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How a former IRS boss optimizes his charitable trust to support his alma mater–and give assets to his children tax-free - Fortune

John Koskinen’s phone has been ringing a lot these days. The 84-year-old former IRS Commissioner known as “Mr. Fix-It” may be retired, but he sits on the board of three non-profit organizations, is an advisor to two startups, plays tennis several times a week, remains an avid theatergoer, enjoys time with his family, and still prioritizes interviews about everything from IRS controversy to charitable trust strategy innovations. Koskinen’s humility (“I’m not sure anyone else wanted the job,” he says of his four-year post at the IRS under President Obama) belies an extraordinary professional trajectory and ongoing influence in both public and private sectors. With a career spanning federal judge clerkship, law practice, political campaign management, turning around failing enterprises, and political appointments by Presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama, Mr. Fix-It’s clear-sightedness has a far-reaching impact. Yet of all these accomplishments, it’s the endowment he set up for his alma mater, Duke University, using a charity lead annuity trust (CLAT) that’s offered the most enduring fulfillment.

After graduating from Duke with a degree in Physics in 1961, Koskinen set out to Yale School of Law: “I decided that people were more interesting than electrons.” Thirty-seven years later—inspired by his years at Duke, keen human interest, and desire to preserve his children’s inheritance—Koskinen set up a charity lead annuity trust to benefit the university. While endowment programs have long sought out generous contributions from donors, Koskinen was ahead of his time in using a CLAT to provide exponential yearly benefits to both donor and institution. Koskinen’s CLAT used the appreciation from his invested stocks to fund athletic scholarships and to build a 4,500-seat, state-of-the-art lacrosse and soccer stadium (that now carries his name) at Duke. These projects helped elevate the university’s sports program to national prominence. Koskinen’s leadership demonstrated the CLAT’s power as one of the most robust estate planning tools available for both philanthropy and generational wealth creation.

Growing up, Koskinen worked summers during high school to help support his family after his father passed away. His own matriculation to Duke was made possible by a scholarship. So when the time came to assign a charitable beneficiary to his CLAT, the university immediately came to mind. “I had a rare opportunity thanks to scholarships, and I wanted to do whatever I could do to pay that forward and give educational opportunities to kids. In many cases, it’s the difference between attending college or not.” Koskinen’s CLAT paid a fixed annuity to the university for 20 years, endowing dozens of women’s soccer scholarships while also funding the stadium. And after the trust’s 20 charitable lock-up period, the remaining assets were distributed to his children—tax-free.

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She closed a $400 million fund the week Lehman crashed. Here’s what VC Rebecca Lynn predicts for the year ahead - Fortune

Venture is cyclical—and so the headlines read, “Venture Capital Is Dead” every seven to 10 years. This time, it just took 15.

I kicked off my career precisely as we hit the last downturn. We closed a $400 million fund the week Lehman crashed during the global financial crisis. That fund turned out to be a monster success with portfolio companies including Doximity (DOCS), Lending Club (LC), and Check (acquired by Intuit). At that time, it was the iPhone, and the demise of the walled garden, as a powerful accelerant, creating opportunities for new companies and incumbents. Now it’s generative AI.

I believe this is the most exciting time to be investing in venture capital in over a decade—since the last downturn. On one hand, it’s not easy out there. The macro environment of rising rates, economic uncertainty, and global instability is causing investors to pause. Funding for startups dropped 48% year over year, and as a result, companies must become more selective with their scarce resources. Similar to 2009, venture capital firms have record amounts of cash to invest, but they are not deploying it into new deals. Nearly half of the A and B rounds in 2023 were led by insiders protecting the overheated valuations from 2021. We will see this trend continue as the later stage market remains frozen.

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