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This Gen Zer dropped out of NYU at just 19 to launch his blockchain—now, his $1.3 billion company is backed by Mark Cuban and he never takes a day off

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4 months ago

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Being in the C-suite is a high-pressure job with long hours, responsibilities to the board, and intense scrutiny. But what is it like to be a top executive when you’re off the clock?

Fortune’s series, The Good Life, shows how up-and-coming leaders spend their time and money outside of work.

Today we meet Eric Chen, the CEO and cofounder of financial blockchain Injective Foundation.

Hype around cryptocurrency has been growing for years—and Wall Street is now finally embracing it. Chen’s company provides investors a secure platform to reinvent global markets; he says his Layer 1 blockchain is one of the largest crypto networks ever built, leading the industry in user activity, transactions, and monetary volume. Since its 2018 inception, Injective has processed more than 2 billion on-chain transactions, with over 1.5 million wallets on the system. It has raised $56 million from major investors such as Binance, BitGo, Pantera, Jump—and even ex-Shark Tank billionaire investor Mark Cuban.

“The mission is simple: to create a truly free and fair financial system through decentralization,” Chen tells Fortune. “It does so by giving every builder, financial institution, and user the tools they need to reinvent global markets in a fully transparent and permission-less manner.”

Over the past seven years, Injective has grown to a $1.34 billion company—and at 26 years old, Chen is just getting started. More impressively, he launched the company at just 19 while enrolled in New York University. Chen was studying finance and mining Ethereum in his dorm room, all while interning at Innovating Capital on a hedge-fund desk. The then-teenager was inspired to launch Injective after witnessing the inefficiencies of the traditional market—so he dropped out of NYU, and started building his billion-dollar business. 

Injective has since made leaps in progress; Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile’s telecoms arm, joined as a validator, bringing Fortune 500-quality network infrastructure. Cboe Global Markets—the largest options exchange in America—also submitted a request to list the fund, signaling strong institutional interest and placing Injective among networks with potential U.S.-listed ETFs. 

Due to his business’ massive growth, Chen says he can’t remember a time when he was fully away from his work. The CEO’s fun luxury gadgets—including a $2,900 mattress cover, Oura ring, and racing simulator—help keep him sane, he says, in the thick of his busy schedule. He never buys groceries, opting to eat out in New York City or Doordash his food. Taking very few swanky vacations, he lives a globetrotting lifestyle through his business, with trips to Seoul, London, Toronto, Abhu Dhabi, and Singapore this year. 

The finances

Fortune: What’s been the best investment you’ve ever made?

My Eight Sleep mattress cover, around $2,900. It enables me to be maximally efficient with sleep and minimize chances of productivity drop off due to poor sleep quality.

And the worst?

I wouldn’t say there’s been a single ‘worst’ investment so far. Every decision, whether it’s worked out or not, has taught me something valuable and shaped how I think going forward. I try to approach everything with a learning mindset, which helps turn even the less successful bets into long-term upside.

How do you commute to work?

I live in New York, so my commute is usually a quick walk from home to the office.

How much is in your wallet? Do you have any fun credit cards you’d recommend?

Fiat [government tender, like the U.S. dollar] is dying so I actually never carry any cash!

Do you invest in shares?

I mainly only buy and hold crypto via apps on Injective. I dollar-cost-average into my favorite assets and use various programmable AI-driven bots to automate most trades, since I’m normally very caught up with work to follow the markets closely these days. 

The best approach is to learn by doing, while keeping risk low at the start. There are many great resources online including tutorials, videos, and forums that can help you build a strong foundation. Most platforms also offer paper trading, which allows you to practice with simulated money and no real financial risk. Use that experience to gain confidence before investing actual funds. Make sure you feel prepared to handle the ups and downs of the market before jumping in.

What personal finance advice would you give your 20-year-old self?

Invest more in Bitcoin.

What’s the one subscription you can’t live without?

My Oura ring subscription. It’s great for tracking daily calories and sleep, which honestly is a godsend.

Where’s your go-to wristwatch from?

I love my Apple watch. Simple yet effective.

The necessities 

How do you get your daily coffee fix?

Back when I first started Injective in college, I was running almost entirely on Red Bull. We even had a Red Bull fridge in our first office to keep a steady supply. These days I’ve made the switch to Celsius or double-espresso to keep me going.

What about eating on the go?

Like with my workouts, I try to be pretty disciplined about stepping away from my desk for lunch when I can. Most days, I’ll eat in our communal office kitchen. It’s a good break and gives me a chance to catch up with the team. That said, there are definitely days when things are non-stop and I end up eating at my desk or on the go.

I used to order take-out a ton since I have no time to cook, but recently I’ve started to meal prep. So, usually I just eat that at my desk while catching up on news at the same time.

Where do you buy groceries?

This is going to sound horrible, but I am not sure I ever really buy groceries. I live off of meal prep and Doordash most days.

How often in a week do you dine out versus cook at home?

About 90% of the time, I end up eating out between work meetings, dinners, or just taking advantage of being in New York. There’s always something new to try, and so many great spots nearby.

Any go-to restaurants or takeaways near you?

One of my favorites right now is Barlume, a Mediterranean place near our office that I go to pretty regularly.

Where do you shop for your work wardrobe?

Comfort has always been my priority. My style has definitely changed since college—whose hasn’t? Back then I’d just throw on whatever I got from conferences or hackathons. These days, I still keep it comfortable, but now I’ll reach for something like Sporty & Rich.

What would be a typical work outfit for you?

I wouldn’t say I have a set everyday wardrobe. Some days it’s gym shorts, a polo, and flip-flops, especially if it’s a more casual day. Other times, if I have an important meeting, I’ll opt for a shirt and chinos. It really depends on what the day calls for.

Are you the proud owner of any futuristic gadgets?

I’m not sure if it counts as futuristic, but my guilty pleasure is definitely the racing simulator I have at home. It’s the biggest gadget I own, and it does an insanely good job of simulating the real thing.

The treats

How do you unwind from the top job?

If I have the time, I love playing tennis. It’s one of the few things that really helps me unplug and re-energize. It’s physically active but also mentally engaging, which makes it the perfect combination for me. Even just hitting for an hour clears my head and gives me a second wind.

What’s the best bonus treat you’ve bought yourself?

After hosting a big Injective event in Belgium, I booked a few hours on a real race track with my friends. The simulator practice paid off.

How do you treat yourself when you get a promotion?

I usually don’t buy myself anything physical as a reward to be quite honest. Getting to go to a concert with my friends or checking out interesting performances in the city is the closest thing to a bonus reward I would say.

Take us on holiday with you: What’s next on your vacation list?

My next vacation will actually be to Northern Macedonia to attend the wedding of one of our original Injective developers. It’s a special full-circle moment, and I’m excited to celebrate with someone who’s been part of the journey since the early days.

Usually my “vacations” are just work conferences around the world. This year alone, I will have been in Seoul, London, Toronto, Abhu Dhabi, and Singapore for talks I am giving.

How many days of annual leave do you take a year?

What’s a day off? Jokes aside, I actually can’t remember a time when I was 100% away from work. Even when I might be at a friend’s housewarming or visiting a new city, I am 24/7 terminally online.

Fortune wants to hear from business leaders on what their “Good Life” looks like. Get in touch: emma.burleigh@fortune.com



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Senate Dems’ plan to fix Obamacare premiums adds nearly $300 billion to deficit, CRFB says

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5 hours ago

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December 5, 2025

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The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) is a nonpartisan watchdog that regularly estimates how much the U.S. Congress is adding to the $38 trillion national debt.

With enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies due to expire within days, some Senate Democrats are scrambling to protect millions of Americans from getting the unpleasant holiday gift of spiking health insurance premiums. The CRFB says there’s just one problem with the plan: It’s not funded.

“With the national debt as large as the economy and interest payments costing $1 trillion annually, it is absurd to suggest adding hundreds of billions more to the debt,” CRFB President Maya MacGuineas wrote in a statement on Friday afternoon.

The proposal, backed by members of the Senate Democratic caucus, would fully extend the enhanced ACA subsidies for three years, from 2026 through 2028, with no additional income limits on who can qualify. Those subsidies, originally boosted during the pandemic and later renewed, were designed to lower premiums and prevent coverage losses for middle‑ and lower‑income households purchasing insurance on the ACA exchanges.

CRFB estimated that even this three‑year extension alone would add roughly $300 billion to federal deficits over the next decade, largely because the federal government would continue to shoulder a larger share of premium costs while enrollment and subsidy amounts remain elevated. If Congress ultimately moves to make the enhanced subsidies permanent—as many advocates have urged—the total cost could swell to nearly $550 billion in additional borrowing over the next decade.

Reversing recent guardrails

MacGuineas called the Senate bill “far worse than even a debt-financed extension” as it would roll back several “program integrity” measures that were enacted as part of a 2025 reconciliation law and were intended to tighten oversight of ACA subsidies. On top of that, it would be funded by borrowing even more. “This is a bad idea made worse,” MacGuineas added.

The watchdog group’s central critique is that the new Senate plan does not attempt to offset its costs through spending cuts or new revenue and, in their view, goes beyond a simple extension by expanding the underlying subsidy structure.

The legislation would permanently repeal restrictions that eliminated subsidies for certain groups enrolling during special enrollment periods and would scrap rules requiring full repayment of excess advance subsidies and stricter verification of eligibility and tax reconciliation. The bill would also nullify portions of a 2025 federal regulation that loosened limits on the actuarial value of exchange plans and altered how subsidies are calculated, effectively reshaping how generous plans can be and how federal support is determined. CRFB warned these reversals would increase costs further while weakening safeguards designed to reduce misuse and error in the subsidy system.

MacGuineas said that any subsidy extension should be paired with broader reforms to curb health spending and reduce overall borrowing. In her view, lawmakers are missing a chance to redesign ACA support in a way that lowers premiums while also improving the long‑term budget outlook.

The debate over ACA subsidies recently contributed to a government funding standoff, and CRFB argued that the new Senate bill reflects a political compromise that prioritizes short‑term relief over long‑term fiscal responsibility.

“After a pointless government shutdown over this issue, it is beyond disappointing that this is the preferred solution to such an important issue,” MacGuineas wrote.

The off-year elections cast the government shutdown and cost-of-living arguments in a different light. Democrats made stunning gains and almost flipped a deep-red district in Tennessee as politicians from the far left and center coalesced around “affordability.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is reportedly smelling blood in the water and doubling down on the theme heading into the pivotal midterm elections of 2026. President Donald Trump is scheduled to visit Pennsylvania soon to discuss pocketbook anxieties. But he is repeating predecessor Joe Biden’s habit of dismissing inflation, despite widespread evidence to the contrary.

“We fixed inflation, and we fixed almost everything,” Trump said in a Tuesday cabinet meeting, in which he also dismissed affordability as a “hoax” pushed by Democrats.​

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle now face a politically fraught choice: allow premiums to jump sharply—including in swing states like Pennsylvania where ACA enrollees face double‑digit increases—or pass an expensive subsidy extension that would, as CRFB calculates, explode the deficit without addressing underlying health care costs.



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Netflix–Warner Bros. deal sets up $72 billion antitrust test

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6 hours ago

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December 5, 2025

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Netflix Inc. has won the heated takeover battle for Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. Now it must convince global antitrust regulators that the deal won’t give it an illegal advantage in the streaming market. 

The $72 billion tie-up joins the world’s dominant paid streaming service with one of Hollywood’s most iconic movie studios. It would reshape the market for online video content by combining the No. 1 streaming player with the No. 4 service HBO Max and its blockbuster hits such as Game Of Thrones, Friends, and the DC Universe comics characters franchise.  

That could raise red flags for global antitrust regulators over concerns that Netflix would have too much control over the streaming market. The company faces a lengthy Justice Department review and a possible US lawsuit seeking to block the deal if it doesn’t adopt some remedies to get it cleared, analysts said.

“Netflix will have an uphill climb unless it agrees to divest HBO Max as well as additional behavioral commitments — particularly on licensing content,” said Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Jennifer Rie. “The streaming overlap is significant,” she added, saying the argument that “the market should be viewed more broadly is a tough one to win.”

By choosing Netflix, Warner Bros. has jilted another bidder, Paramount Skydance Corp., a move that risks touching off a political battle in Washington. Paramount is backed by the world’s second-richest man, Larry Ellison, and his son, David Ellison, and the company has touted their longstanding close ties to President Donald Trump. Their acquisition of Paramount, which closed in August, has won public praise from Trump. 

Comcast Corp. also made a bid for Warner Bros., looking to merge it with its NBCUniversal division.

The Justice Department’s antitrust division, which would review the transaction in the US, could argue that the deal is illegal on its face because the combined market share would put Netflix well over a 30% threshold.

The White House, the Justice Department and Comcast didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. 

US lawmakers from both parties, including Republican Representative Darrell Issa and Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren have already faulted the transaction — which would create a global streaming giant with 450 million users — as harmful to consumers.

“This deal looks like an anti-monopoly nightmare,” Warren said after the Netflix announcement. Utah Senator Mike Lee, a Republican, said in a social media post earlier this week that a Warner Bros.-Netflix tie-up would raise more serious competition questions “than any transaction I’ve seen in about a decade.”

European Union regulators are also likely to subject the Netflix proposal to an intensive review amid pressure from legislators. In the UK, the deal has already drawn scrutiny before the announcement, with House of Lords member Baroness Luciana Berger pressing the government on how the transaction would impact competition and consumer prices.

The combined company could raise prices and broadly impact “culture, film, cinemas and theater releases,”said Andreas Schwab, a leading member of the European Parliament on competition issues, after the announcement.

Paramount has sought to frame the Netflix deal as a non-starter. “The simple truth is that a deal with Netflix as the buyer likely will never close, due to antitrust and regulatory challenges in the United States and in most jurisdictions abroad,” Paramount’s antitrust lawyers wrote to their counterparts at Warner Bros. on Dec. 1.

Appealing directly to Trump could help Netflix avoid intense antitrust scrutiny, New Street Research’s Blair Levin wrote in a note on Friday. Levin said it’s possible that Trump could come to see the benefit of switching from a pro-Paramount position to a pro-Netflix position. “And if he does so, we believe the DOJ will follow suit,” Levin wrote.

Netflix co-Chief Executive Officer Ted Sarandos had dinner with Trump at the president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida last December, a move other CEOs made after the election in order to win over the administration. In a call with investors Friday morning, Sarandos said that he’s “highly confident in the regulatory process,” contending the deal favors consumers, workers and innovation. 

“Our plans here are to work really closely with all the appropriate governments and regulators, but really confident that we’re going to get all the necessary approvals that we need,” he said.

Netflix will likely argue to regulators that other video services such as Google’s YouTube and ByteDance Ltd.’s TikTok should be included in any analysis of the market, which would dramatically shrink the company’s perceived dominance.

The US Federal Communications Commission, which regulates the transfer of broadcast-TV licenses, isn’t expected to play a role in the deal, as neither hold such licenses. Warner Bros. plans to spin off its cable TV division, which includes channels such as CNN, TBS and TNT, before the sale.

Even if antitrust reviews just focus on streaming, Netflix believes it will ultimately prevail, pointing to Amazon.com Inc.’s Prime and Walt Disney Co. as other major competitors, according to people familiar with the company’s thinking. 

Netflix is expected to argue that more than 75% of HBO Max subscribers already subscribe to Netflix, making them complementary offerings rather than competitors, said the people, who asked not to be named discussing confidential deliberations. The company is expected to make the case that reducing its content costs through owning Warner Bros., eliminating redundant back-end technology and bundling Netflix with Max will yield lower prices.



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The rise of AI reasoning models comes with a big energy tradeoff

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6 hours ago

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December 5, 2025

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Nearly all leading artificial intelligence developers are focused on building AI models that mimic the way humans reason, but new research shows these cutting-edge systems can be far more energy intensive, adding to concerns about AI’s strain on power grids.

AI reasoning models used 30 times more power on average to respond to 1,000 written prompts than alternatives without this reasoning capability or which had it disabled, according to a study released Thursday. The work was carried out by the AI Energy Score project, led by Hugging Face research scientist Sasha Luccioni and Salesforce Inc. head of AI sustainability Boris Gamazaychikov.

The researchers evaluated 40 open, freely available AI models, including software from OpenAI, Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Microsoft Corp. Some models were found to have a much wider disparity in energy consumption, including one from Chinese upstart DeepSeek. A slimmed-down version of DeepSeek’s R1 model used just 50 watt hours to respond to the prompts when reasoning was turned off, or about as much power as is needed to run a 50 watt lightbulb for an hour. With the reasoning feature enabled, the same model required 7,626 watt hours to complete the tasks.

The soaring energy needs of AI have increasingly come under scrutiny. As tech companies race to build more and bigger data centers to support AI, industry watchers have raised concerns about straining power grids and raising energy costs for consumers. A Bloomberg investigation in September found that wholesale electricity prices rose as much as 267% over the past five years in areas near data centers. There are also environmental drawbacks, as Microsoft, Google and Amazon.com Inc. have previously acknowledged the data center buildout could complicate their long-term climate objectives. 

More than a year ago, OpenAI released its first reasoning model, called o1. Where its prior software replied almost instantly to queries, o1 spent more time computing an answer before responding. Many other AI companies have since released similar systems, with the goal of solving more complex multistep problems for fields like science, math and coding.

Though reasoning systems have quickly become the industry norm for carrying out more complicated tasks, there has been little research into their energy demands. Much of the increase in power consumption is due to reasoning models generating much more text when responding, the researchers said. 

The new report aims to better understand how AI energy needs are evolving, Luccioni said. She also hopes it helps people better understand that there are different types of AI models suited to different actions. Not every query requires tapping the most computationally intensive AI reasoning systems.

“We should be smarter about the way that we use AI,” Luccioni said. “Choosing the right model for the right task is important.”

To test the difference in power use, the researchers ran all the models on the same computer hardware. They used the same prompts for each, ranging from simple questions — such as asking which team won the Super Bowl in a particular year — to more complex math problems. They also used a software tool called CodeCarbon to track how much energy was being consumed in real time.

The results varied considerably. The researchers found one of Microsoft’s Phi 4 reasoning models used 9,462 watt hours with reasoning turned on, compared with about 18 watt hours with it off. OpenAI’s largest gpt-oss model, meanwhile, had a less stark difference. It used 8,504 watt hours with reasoning on the most computationally intensive “high” setting and 5,313 watt hours with the setting turned down to “low.” 

OpenAI, Microsoft, Google and DeepSeek did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Google released internal research in August that estimated the median text prompt for its Gemini AI service used 0.24 watt-hours of energy, roughly equal to watching TV for less than nine seconds. Google said that figure was “substantially lower than many public estimates.” 

Much of the discussion about AI power consumption has focused on large-scale facilities set up to train artificial intelligence systems. Increasingly, however, tech firms are shifting more resources to inference, or the process of running AI systems after they’ve been trained. The push toward reasoning models is a big piece of that as these systems are more reliant on inference.

Recently, some tech leaders have acknowledged that AI’s power draw needs to be reckoned with. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said the industry must earn the “social permission to consume energy” for AI data centers in a November interview. To do that, he argued tech must use AI to do good and foster broad economic growth.



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