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• The Iowa 80 truck stop has vital amenities for long-haul truckers driving 10 hours a day.
• Truckers face long hours, low wages, and high turnover in the trucking industry.
• Iowa 80 offers home-cooked meals, lots of parking, and services like dental work for its drivers.

I’ve often driven past truckers feeling frustrated by their slow speed or uneasy that one might merge into my lane. I never gave much thought to who was behind the wheel.

However, Iowa 80, the world’s largest truck stop, cracked my heart open a bit.

Iowa 80’s been dubbed the “Disney World” for truckers, but it’s much more than its flashy signs, lines of semis, and large buffet. It’s a home away from home for the people who move 70% — $13 trillion worth — of the goods Americans eat and buy.

Iowa 80 is a place where truckers can find some temporary peace, a shower, and even a dental exam. I was surprised to learn just how important a truck stop like this can be for people bound to the highways.

Watch our video of Iowa 80 below and keep reading for an inside look at its delicious food and friendly people:

Iowa 80 is a lifeline for professional drivers, one trucker told me.

It sits along I-80 in Walcott, Iowa, and spans 225 acres. It has 900 parking spots, nine restaurants, 24 showers, and a massive chrome shop.

It’s not in any world record books, though. After decades of folks saying, “This has got to be the biggest truck stop in the world,” the family behind Iowa 80 adopted the name. Now it’s on dozens of signs around the property.

I visited Iowa 80 on a hot day in September.

Iowa 80 is in a prime location, along one of America’s busiest highways that connects New York City and Chicago to Des Moines and San Francisco. Plus, as the nation’s top producer of corn and eggs, Iowa is a major agricultural shipping hub.

What sets this truck stop apart, besides its size, is that it’s one of the few mom-and-pop ones still around.

Owned by the Moon family since 1964, Iowa 80 always has parking. Its main restaurant makes a surprising amount of food from scratch. It’s a welcome change, truckers told me, from the big chains, like TA or Pilot, which often have full parking lots and fuel stations and only offer fast food to eat.

Right from the start, I was overwhelmed by its immense size.

I knew it was going to be big. But even I had underestimated the size. When I walked in, I thought, ‘How on Earth am I going to see it all?’

Big guys with their big gulps parted ways under the old-timey truck hanging over the entrance.

Walking in, it felt like a shopping mall, complete with a food court filled with Orange Julius, Wendy’s, and Taco Bell. On the right, the Iowa 80 Kitchen churned out homemade meals that were delicious.

The Iowa 80 Kitchen serves 350,000 meals a year.

It’s no surprise they’re working with a huge quantity of food. In their 61 years, they’ve gone through 23 million eggs. Bacon is one of the first things to hit the ovens each morning. The staff has to juggle both breakfast and lunch prep early to beat the rush.

I was surprised how much is made from scratch.

For its size, I expected a lot of the food to be frozen. Indeed, the scrambled eggs and biscuits did arrive pre-cooked and frozen. However, most of the main dishes were cranked out by hand.

Chef Chris Han uses her grandfather’s recipe for meatloaf, which includes chopped onions, celery, a tomato sauce mixture, breadcrumbs, and ground beef. She incorporates it all together in a 40-year-old mixer.

They make their own buttermilk ranch with 60 pounds of mayo.

The cooks told me they tried to switch to pre-made ranch dressing, but there was an uproar among customers. So they went back to mixing it themselves. Mayo arrives in big buckets. That gets mixed with six gallons of buttermilk and nine packets of ranch seasoning.

The most popular dish on the menu is the Hungryman.

Diners have two options at Iowa 80 Kitchen. They can either pay for the buffet for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Or they can order off the expansive menu.

The Hungryman is a crowd favorite, with three kinds of meat, hash browns, eggs, and pancakes. When it hit my table, I couldn’t believe people finish it.

The pancakes were my favorite dish.

These are sweet cream pancakes, which means they’re made with heavy cream instead of milk or buttermilk. This swap felt like a brilliant indulgence to me.

Despite sitting out for a bit while we took pictures, these pancakes had an incredible crisp on the outside. On the inside, they were still fluffy and almost gooey. I loved the unique tang to them.

The second-best dish was the meatloaf.

This dish sang of Midwest comfort. I grew up a few hours south of Iowa 80, and it reminded me of my mom’s recipe (I plead the fifth on which is better). It was warm, melty, and full of interesting textures, thanks to the breadcrumbs and celery.

The buffet had some stand-outs, as well.

For breakfast, they had a chef working a choose-your-own-adventure omelette station. That seemed to be where most folks stopped first.

On the lunch buffet, the fried chicken was cleared the fastest. I saw them hand-bread and fry those chicken pieces myself, so I was happy to dig into a crispy leg.

Unsurprisingly, most of the folks chowing down on the buffet were truck drivers.

The truckers I spoke to said that it’s easy to get obese working as professional drivers. Most truck stops only have fast food options.

That’s why Iowa 80 Kitchen means so much to them. It’s a warm, home-cooked meal, they said. I wondered if that sentiment would excuse the few things that arrived frozen.

The founder’s granddaughter gave me the behind-the-scenes tour of Iowa 80.

Lee Meier, granddaughter of the founders and the current marketing manager, took me on a tour of the massive truck stop. She explained that they wanted to include all these amenities — like 24 showers, a small gym, a laundry room, and a truck wash — so drivers wouldn’t have to do errands in the precious hours they have at home with their families.

You can request a movie to be played on the big screen.

When we poked our heads in around 2 p.m., there was no one in the 60-seat theatre. Disney’s “Cars” played to an empty room.

Seeing the movie selection gave me a jolt of excitement and nostalgia. It felt like I was a kid again, looking at that cool friend’s massive collection of DVDs. I wanted more than anything to stay and cozy up to a movie.

Iowa 80 also has a dentist, barber, and chiropractor.

It struck me that if a trucker has a toothache, they can’t pull their rig into a neighborhood dentist. Which is why a dentist at a truck stop could be so valuable.

I didn’t get a chance to talk to the chiropractor, but Lee told me that many drivers experience back pain from being seated for 10 hours a day.

This “chrome” shop has everything a trucker might need.

Truckers can get new headlights, fenders, hood ornaments, seats, electronics, and horns. Iowa 80 also has a Truck Service Center that can repair any semi.

And for drivers who might need inspiration for decorating their vehicle, there’s even a trucking museum on the property, featuring over 100 antique rigs on display.

I was shocked to learn that one of the most challenging aspects of trucking is finding a parking spot.

Drivers told me that just to get some sleep, they have to fight for a parking spot at the most common truck stops, like TA and Pilot, but after 7 p.m. or 8 p.m., it’s impossible to find one.

That’s why you’ll sometimes see rigs pulled over on the shoulder of a highway onramp to sleep, which can be unsafe if there’s heavy traffic.

Even with hundreds of trucks settled in by the time we left at 5 p.m., the lot was nowhere near full. I can see why this is an important feature for tired drivers.

Speaking to truckers, I found a new respect for what they endure on the road.

Trucking is one of the hardest businesses out there, with one of the worst turnover rates in the US. For every driver that enters the industry, one leaves or switches companies. The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) told me that this is because wages are low, drivers can’t get paid overtime, and hours are long.

Lisa Otto has over 20 years, 48 states, and 3 million miles under her belt. Over seven days, she can easily clock in 70 hours of driving. She lives out of her truck, which she bought for $230,000, for weeks at a time. She doesn’t have a toilet or shower in her rig. But she does have her two weiner dogs, Clarice and Phoebe.

I was worried for Lisa being away from her family and home for weeks at a time. But she told me she enjoys traveling for a living, and she’s so introverted, she likes her alone time. She said she sleeps better in the foam mattress in her truck than at home. And she reminded me there’s FaceTime to talk to her grown children.

Out on the road, her dogs keep her company. She says she wouldn’t know how to survive without them. When she’s alone in her rig at night, she feels protected with them around.

Preston Smith is a new driver, and the story of how he ended up in the business had me in tears.

Smith used to be a merchandiser for The Coca-Cola Company. But in 2020, he was shot 10 times in the leg as an innocent bystander at a club. He died briefly on the way to the hospital. Doctors had to amputate his left leg to save his life. When he woke up, long-haul trucking was one of the few things he could do that wasn’t on his feet.

I was so moved by his story that I asked how he managed to stay motivated during such a tough time. He credited his family and his co-driver, Latoya “Blu” Howard. They run together, meaning they drive 12-hour shifts, all day and night. One sleeps while the other drives. They only stop for meals and emergency bathroom breaks. If it’s not an emergency, they pee in what looked to be an old plastic nut container.

Smith told me Howard gives him advice and helps keep his mind focused when he gets sad.

Latoya “Blu” Howard deals with her own demons on the road.

Howard lost her son nine years ago. He was accidentally shot by a friend when he was 17. She says she feels her son out on the road.

One day, when driving through a snowstorm in New Mexico, the headlights of a car shone on the trailer in front of her, and she swore she saw a side profile of her son in the lights. It was like he was watching over her. Howard keeps her son’s favorite plush toy in the truck cabin. She rubs its head when she misses him most.

It touched me that Howard and Smith can support each other because they’ve both lost so much.

Howard said that whenever things get too sad in the cab, she knows it’s time to pull over and walk around a mall or find a good truck stop.

I thought this story was going to be about a cool truck stop. But I left with a lot more respect for the folks who spend their careers and lives on the road.

On my road trip back home, I took a deep breath and thought twice about every truck I saw. I peered inside the cab, wondering what that person had sacrificed to get us our online shopping order or groceries.

And when I pulled into a gas station and saw a Hulk plushie, I gave it a pat.

• Trump signed an executive order that will reclassify marijuana as a less harmful drug.
• The order is aimed at making it easier to research the drug.
• Flanked by a group of doctors, Trump touted the drug’s use as a potential treatment for pain.

President Donald Trump is easing some federal restrictions on marijuana.

Trump signed an executive order on Thursday that will reclassify marijuana to a Schedule III drug, putting it on par with drugs like ketamine and anabolic steroids.

“We have people begging for me to do this, people that are in great pain,” Trump said during an event in the Oval Office, flanked by several doctors.

The order falls short of fully legalizing marijuana, but it will make it easier for researchers to study the drug.

Trump said that he had been lobbied to make the change by people with extreme pain, incurable diseases, and seizure disorders, among others. The president noted the substance’s medical uses, including as a “substitute for addictive and potentially lethal opioid painkillers.”

The move could also bring tax relief to marijuana businesses operating in states that have already legalized the substance.

Marijuana is classified as a Schedule I drug, a category for substances with “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse,” according to the Drug Enforcement Agency.

Schedule III drugs, on the other hand, have a “moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence.”

Marijuana stocks surged last week amid widespread rumors of Trump’s impending order. Most of the sector’s most prominent names continued trending upward with this week on mounting speculation for the pro-cannabis policy decision.

News of Trump signing the executive order continued to boost the industry’s biggest players. Tilray Brands, typically seen as a leader among cannabis stocks, jumped 6% today while Aurora Cannabis rose 9% and Canopy Growth Corporation spiked 11%.

These cannabis stocks are all relatively small cap and are prone to price swings, but the signing of an executive order is a highly bullish catalyst for the industry.

As he campaigned for a third time in 2024, Trump signaled that he would take a friendlier approach toward marijuana than he did during his first term.

“I promised to be the president of common sense, and that is exactly what we’re doing,” Trump said on Thursday.

He said that he would vote for a ballot measure in Florida aimed at legalizing marijuana for recreational use in the state. That measure garnered 56% of the vote but ultimately fell short of the 60% required for passage.

Trump also said in 2024 that he supported enacting laws to make it easier for marijuana businesses to operate.

• The Society for Human Resource Management was recently hit with an $11.5 million verdict in a lawsuit.
• A new lawsuit claims SHRM revoked a woman’s job offer over a service dog, in violation of the ADA.
• The HR org says it “fully complied” with the ADA and is reviewing the case.

The nation’s largest HR trade group has been sued by a woman who alleges it revoked a job offer because it didn’t want her medical service dog in the office.

The lawsuit filed Tuesday by Fiona Torres against the Society for Human Resource Management says she is diabetic, and the dog can detect changes in her blood-sugar levels faster and more reliably than a top-tier glucose monitor.

SHRM says it “fully complied” with the Americans with Disabilities Act in offering Torres an alternative “reasonable accommodation” for her health condition.

Torres’ lawsuit was filed less than two weeks after SHRM was ordered to pay $11.5 million in an unrelated race discrimination and retaliation case.

The new complaint alleges that in June 2024, SHRM offered Torres a role as a senior specialist in its product management department at its office in Alexandria, Virginia, then revoked the offer in July because she wanted to bring her dog to work.

Torres said SHRM’s offer to accommodate her medical needs was to allow her to keep food, water, and an insulin pump at her desk, which she felt was insufficient.

“I was ready and able to work,” Torres said in an email to Business Insider through her attorney. “They said they were eager to have me until they found out I had a disability and a service dog.”

The complaint quotes an email from SHRM to Torres denying her accommodation request.

“[I]t does not appear there are any reasonable accommodations that would allow you to perform the essential functions of the role,” SHRM wrote, according to the complaint.

SHRM spokesman Eddie Burke declined to comment on the specifics of the suit, saying the organization was still reviewing the legal papers.

“We support the ADA and are actively committed to supporting employees through fair, respectful, and legally compliant accommodation processes,” he said. “We fully complied with the ADA in this matter and, in consultation with outside legal counsel, met all of our obligations to provide reasonable accommodations to Fiona Torres.”

Lori Kisch, a lawyer for Torres, told Business Insider that SHRM’s alleged conduct was “ironic” given its mission is to provide information and resources to help HR professionals follow laws such as the ADA.

“They can’t argue that they don’t understand the law, and their actions are a reckless indifference to the law,” she said.

Torres’ case, filed in federal court in Virginia, follows a lawsuit brought by a former SHRM employee that alleged race discrimination and retaliation. Rehab Mohamed, a Black and Egyptian instructional designer, claimed her SHRM manager held her to higher standards than white employees. A jury found SHRM liable for $11.5 million in damages.

SHRM has said it plans to file an appeal and that the verdict “does not reflect the facts, the law, or the truth of how” it operates.

Mining and heavy equipment operations are undergoing a profound transformation as OEMs, fleet operators, and system integrators embrace connected machinery at scale. The sector—traditionally constrained by harsh environmental conditions, safety risks, and limited real-time visibility—is increasingly adopting ruggedized IoT technologies, AI-driven analytics, and predictive safety systems to reduce downtime and protect workers. This shift mirrors the wider industrial trend toward sensor-rich assets and cloud–edge architectures already visible in manufacturing and utilities, but with unique constraints linked to vibration, dust, corrosion, and extreme temperatures.

How Connectivity Is Reshaping Heavy Equipment Operations

Digitalization in mining has historically been slowed by the absence of stable connectivity in remote sites and the reliability limits of electronics exposed to heavy mechanical stress. That picture is now changing with more resilient IoT modules, advanced LPWAN and private LTE/5G deployments, and purpose-built telematics platforms. These technologies allow operators to monitor engine health, hydraulic systems, tire pressure, load cycles, and environmental conditions with a granularity that was impossible a decade ago.

Sensor fusion at the edge is also becoming standard: accelerometers, gyroscopes, pressure sensors, GNSS modules, thermal probes, and proximity detection systems are combined in compact units that meet IP67/IP69K ratings and MIL-STD vibration thresholds. This rugged design push is central to enabling uninterrupted data acquisition in high-impact environments.

When connectivity is available, OEMs can further integrate over-the-air (OTA) firmware updates and remote equipment diagnostics—features that have become common in connected vehicles and industrial machinery. These capabilities also support more proactive maintenance models, helping reduce unscheduled downtime and improving asset utilization. IoT Business News has previously examined the role of resilient connectivity in industrial automation, including the emergence of zero-touch eSIM provisioning for multi-carrier continuity, a trend increasingly relevant for mining sites requiring backup networks.

Ruggedization: Mechanical, Thermal, and Environmental Advances

The latest generation of connected mining equipment leverages several innovations in rugged design:

• Electronics enclosures now use reinforced composites or sealed aluminum with vibration-damping mounts to protect sensing elements and communication modules from repeated shock loads. Components are tested beyond standard automotive-grade tolerances, reflecting the unique rotational and impact patterns of excavators, drilling rigs, and haul trucks.
• Thermal resilience is being enhanced through integrated heat spreaders, conformal coatings, and low-power chip architectures that maintain performance in both arctic and desert environments.

These trends mirror broader IoT hardware developments, where semiconductor localization and new packaging techniques—covered in recent analyses on IoT Business News—play a growing role in supply chain resilience.

Such advances are narrowing the gap between industrial IoT systems used in controlled factory environments and those deployed in open-pit mines or underground tunnels.

Predictive Safety Systems: From Monitoring to Real-Time Intervention

Beyond operational insight, connectivity is enabling a new generation of predictive safety systems designed to reduce collisions, fatigue-related incidents, and mechanical failures. Machine-learning models are increasingly trained on vibration signatures, engine sound patterns, and operator behavior metrics to identify anomalies before they escalate.

Edge-based AI is particularly valuable in remote mines where backhaul bandwidth is limited. Processing data on the machine allows for microsecond-level responses—automatic brake assistance, hazardous proximity alerts, or load imbalance warnings—without relying on cloud latency. As these features evolve, OEMs are integrating advanced Human-Machine Interfaces (HMI) that consolidate alerts into intuitive dashboards, reducing cognitive load for operators.

Wearables and smart PPE are also entering mining sites, feeding contextual data into fleet management systems. Combined with vehicle telemetry, they create a richer picture of situational risk, allowing supervisors to implement dynamic safety protocols based on real-time exposure.

The Convergence of Cloud, Edge, and OT Systems

Modern mining operations increasingly resemble distributed digital ecosystems. Connectivity links mobile assets, fixed processing facilities, and autonomous systems such as robotic drills or drones for site inspection. Achieving this integration requires secure, bidirectional interfaces between Operational Technology (OT) and cloud-based analytics platforms.

Vendors are strengthening cybersecurity measures at the hardware level—secure boot processes, TPM modules, encrypted data pipelines—to counter growing concerns around ransomware and equipment sabotage. Mining has become a prime target due to its high-value operations and reliance on continuous uptime.

The convergence of IT and OT architectures also supports regulatory compliance and environmental monitoring. With global pressure on sustainability, connected equipment can document fuel consumption, emissions, and idle time with greater accuracy, enabling more transparent reporting and targeted efficiency gains.

Outlook: Toward Autonomous and Self-Maintaining Heavy Equipment

As ruggedized IoT hardware continues to mature, predictive systems are expected to shift from advisory functions to full automation. Autonomous haulage systems are already deployed in several large mines, and the integration of reliable on-board sensing with private 5G networks will accelerate this trajectory.

The future of connected mining will be defined by equipment capable of self-diagnosing failures, optimizing performance based on operating conditions, and interacting safely with human workers. Achieving this vision requires sustained innovation in rugged design, secure connectivity, and scalable data architectures—but the foundations are already in place.

In an industry where downtime and safety incidents carry enormous costs, connected heavy equipment is no longer an optional upgrade. It is becoming the operational backbone of modern mining.

The post Connected Mining and Heavy Equipment: Rugged Design Trends and Predictive Safety Systems appeared first on IoT Business News.

• Coordinating holidays for four generations of divorce brings both chaos and connection.
• Family gatherings now span multiple households, reflecting changing traditions and expectations.
• Despite imperfections, the family’s ongoing effort to gather shows love’s resilience and adaptability.

I was on my knees in my November garden at 72, jeans soaked, wrestling bishopweed from the cold earth. Some things just keep coming back — bishopweed, old hurts, family patterns, and the stories we tell ourselves about how life was supposed to go.

I glanced at the bag of bulbs — tulips, crocuses, daffodils that I should have planted last month. I’m late, as usual. Best-laid plans. Four generations of my family have lived through divorce: my parents, mine, my son’s, and now my grandchildren’s experience of its aftermath. It’s not the story any of us planned, but it’s the one we live with tenderness and humor — mostly.

I am the matriarch of this sprawling, untidy bunch — nephews, nieces, their children, in-laws, exes, half-siblings, and step-grandparents. I once believed I could keep everyone together, as if some ancient Sicilian bargain required it: family stays together, no matter what. No matter the divisions — divorce, hurt feelings, politics, betrayal, religion.

Now, as the holidays approach, I’m trying to map out what they’ll look like this year. Is my first husband’s wife hosting? Or my ex-daughter-in-law? Who’s on the email chain, and who’s on the text thread? Which day? Who might not come at all? Making sure no one — accidentally or on purpose — gets left out.

I juggle competing plans and multiple households

When I was a child in the 1950s, the entire extended family gathered around a long holiday table that stretched from the dining room into the living room. We dragged in folding tables, scavenged mismatched chairs from the basement, and Uncle Tony had to shout from one end to talk to Aunt Lee at the other. My mother sighed in the kitchen, wondering aloud why she always had to host this huge gathering. I lifted the heavy velvet-lined box to take out the fancy silverware while my father raked leaves in the yard, chatting with neighbors over the fence. Divorce was rare.

Now, the picture looks very different. Our family tables have multiplied. During the holidays, we juggle multiple households, competing plans, and shifting versions of “together.” I’ve learned to hold my expectations loosely. It’s not the Norman Rockwell version, but it’s ours. Love looks different when every branch of the family tree is healing in its own messy, imperfect way. And though the coordination sometimes makes my head spin, I’m quite pleased that everyone still wants to gather — in some form, at some table, somewhere.

When everything gets too tangled, with the group texts, the expectations, and the quiet grief, I go outside. The garden never demands RSVP lists or follow-up emails. It asks only that I show up, hands in the dirt, and remember that what’s alive doesn’t always look orderly.

I struggle with change

I want traditions and people to stay the same — or at least familiar. As a child, I believed that if I could just figure out the right way to do things, I could have love that was always peaceful and adventures that weren’t risky. I didn’t know how ironic — how oxymoronic, really — that was. Even as I aged, I believed that once I got old, life would finally be easy and that all the negative feelings would be behind me. Denial is powerful.

Maybe it’s the therapist in me that still wants to make sense out of every rupture and eliminate the chaos. But healing isn’t tidy, and most families can do is clean up after the storm and rake up the leaves.

The kids are watching

Grief takes up a lot of room at the table. I want to wrap a warm blanket of comfort around the whole family. I want to change all negative feelings into safety and coziness, and have everyone be OK. But the only way I’ve ever reached “it’s OK” is by admitting when it isn’t, and by asking for help when I need it, and by letting the people who love me see that I’m not always fine. No matter who’s coming where or who might not come at all, my challenge now is to stand beside my family rather than try to manage or fix them — to let go without withdrawing.

My grandchildren are watching all of us, trying to figure out how love works after endings. Sometimes, I think they handle emotional complexity with more grace than we adults do. Still, I worry. Is that grace — or just what powerlessness looks like when you’re young? What will they remember?

What I do know is that they continue to love. Their instinct to connect shows me that love doesn’t depend on tidiness. It depends on presence, on trusting that it can stretch. They make room for everyone without overthinking it. Maybe that’s what they’ve learned growing up in families like ours: by not expecting perfection, they’re free to keep loving.

What surprises me most isn’t the breaking — it’s that we keep trying. The family I have now is wide and imperfect, with exes who sometimes bring pies to dinner, step-grandparents who’ve reached inclusion, holidays that span multiple homes and don’t always hold everyone.

I look at my garden, knowing the bishopweed will return no matter how deep I dig. The roses never bloom exactly when I expect them to. The bulbs I planted late will still find their way up through the cold ground come spring. There’s something comforting in that — a reminder that life, and love, don’t follow our timelines.

Virginia DeLuca is a therapist and the author of “If You Must Go, I Wish You Triplets.” She writes about family, aging, and the ways love changes shape over time.

• $55 billion hedge fund Viking Global has returned just 5.8% through November.
• The firm is lagging its rivals and the overall stock market this year.
• 2025 marks the first full year the firm has traded since the exit of former investment boss Ning Jin.

Eleven months into 2025, $55 billion hedge fund Viking Global sits in an underwhelming position.

The long-running Tiger Cub — a nickname for the group of firms connected to the late Julian Robertson’s Tiger Management — is up just 5.8% through November in its flagship stock-picking hedge fund after a 0.5% gain last month, a person close to the manager told Business Insider.

This trails the returns of the overall S&P 500, which was up more than 16% through the same stretch, as well as many of the firm’s main rivals.

Fellow Tiger Cubs Coatue, Maverick, and D1 have all outperformed Andreas Halvorsen’s Viking Global through the same stretch. Coatue is up more than 13% through November, a person familiar with the firm told Business Insider. Lee Ainslie’s Maverick was up over 23% through November 21, according to HSBC’s Hedge Weekly report. And Dan Sundheim’s D1 has returned 28% through November in the firm’s public equities book, an individual close to the manager told Business Insider.

The managers mentioned declined to comment or did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

For Viking, this run of performance coincides with the firm’s first calendar year without Ning Jin, the former chief investment officer of the manager.

Jin was with Viking for 17 years and was the sole CIO of the firm in 2019 before departing in August of last year. He launched his own firm, Avantyr Capital, earlier this quarter with $1.5 billion.

Viking has become somewhat of an incubator for the industry’s next generation, as several former executives for the firm have gone on to start their own funds, with Sundheim being the biggest of the Viking spin-offs.

The firm’s current CIO is Justin Walsh, who first joined Viking as an intern in 2010. He started full-time at the manager in 2011 and has steadily climbed the ranks since.

At a conference last summer, Walsh spoke about the market risks associated with the growth of large multistrategy hedge funds like Citadel and Millennium, as well as his favorite luxury stock, Cartier-owner Richemont. Walsh was the portfolio manager for industrials and consumer stocks before becoming CIO after Jin’s departure.

Viking’s portfolio and investment style differ somewhat from those of its tech-heavy Tiger Cub peers. The manager is known for taking a more diversified approach, with a significant focus on its short book, to hedge market risk.

In 2022, that paid off for the long-running firm: Viking was down 2.5% that year in its public equities portfolio, while funds like Coatue and Tiger Global suffered much heavier losses.

But that means the firm can miss out on big gains when the market is powered by a small subset of companies. According to regulatory filings, the manager’s biggest holdings, as of the end of the third quarter, are four financial services companies: PNC, JPMorgan Chase, Charles Schwab, and Capital One.

Within Viking’s top 10 holdings, only Microsoft and Taiwan Semiconductor would be considered a part of the AI trade that has fueled much of the overall market’s gains in 2025.