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One of the top-tier golf simulator companies in the country has stepped it up a notch.

Five Iron Golf, which has spread from its roots in New York City to over 50 locations worldwide, has launched Five Iron Tournaments, a real-money indoor golf tournament platform that turns Five Iron’s national venue network into an always-on competitive golf ecosystem.

The platform, expected to be fully rolled out by the end of this summer, allows players to enter tournaments on demand, compete on live leaderboards and play for real prize money across formats including stroke play, scramble and closest to the pin.

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“Before Five Iron, I was a professional poker player, and I’ve always been fascinated by what happens when games build a true digital presence. We’ve seen that in poker, chess and other competitive formats, and that was part of the inspiration for bringing a more dynamic, gamified competition model to golf,” Five Iron CEO Jared Solomon told FOX Business.

As golf’s popularity continues to skyrocket, Solomon wanted to tap into what has not been done before in the world of the sport.

“We talk a lot about off-course golf and where the sport is going, but we don’t always talk enough about the different ways people can play or consume golf. With Five Iron Tournaments, we’re excited to create a new format that brings competition, flexibility and gamification into the experience,” Solomon said.

Golfers are able to obtain their own Five Iron Handicap based on their performances at courses. Five Iron’s technology gives players the ability not only to play PGA championship courses, but also some of their local country clubs.

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Other formats include scrambles (recently won by this author), fourball, closest-to-the-pin contests, and numerous others. A June closest-to-the-pin event will feature 20 tournaments on iconic courses with $20,000 in guaranteed prize pools.

“The idea is to give players many different ways to compete. There can be hourly, daily, weekly or month-long tournaments, with different formats, whether that’s four holes, nine holes, 18 holes, winner-takes-all or other payout structures,” Solomon said.

And while Five Iron is perhaps best known for its bar vibe, Solomon saw that players still have the competitive edge when they head to the simulator. Since the beta launch in October 2025, more than 1,000 players have logged nearly 20,000 tournament entries.

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“A lot of this came directly from our own customers,” he said. “They want to compete more, they want more games and they want more variety in how they engage with golf. Five Iron Tournaments give them another way to do that.”

Markets regulator Sebi on Wednesday proposed allowing third-party payments in mutual funds in certain scenarios, such as investment by an employer on behalf of its employees and payment of commissions by AMCs, provided adequate safeguards are in place.

The current regulatory framework mandates that all payments for investments in mutual funds must originate directly from the investor’s own bank account and be routed exclusively through RBI-authorised payment aggregators or Sebi-recognised clearing corporations.

After receiving feedback from the industry, Sebi felt a need to review the existing framework for third-party payments in mutual funds by permitting specific, well-defined scenarios where such payments may be allowed without compromising the overarching objectives of investor protection and compliance with the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

“The intent is to strike a balanced approach that facilitates ease of investing in genuine cases while reinforcing robust safeguards against potential misuse,” Sebi said.

Accordingly, in its consultation paper, Sebi proposed a third-party payment scenario where an employer can pay for employee investments in mutual fund units through payroll deduction.

“The proposed scenario acknowledges the established practice of employers offering various benefits and savings avenues to their employees. This mechanism would allow asset management companies (AMCs) to accept consolidated payments for mutual fund investments through salary deduction,” Sebi said.
Further, the regulator suggested another scenario involving third-party payment, where AMCs can pay mutual fund distributors (MFDs) in the form of mutual fund units instead of trail commission.The proposed scenario — allotting mutual fund units instead of trail commission, as agreed between AMC and the mutual fund distributor — will provide a convenient, seamless and disciplined way for the MFD to invest in MF units and will encourage MFDs to save and invest for the long term, it added.

Additionally, Sebi has proposed to permit investors to contribute a portion of the subscription amount or a scheme’s return toward a social cause. This aims to facilitate investor contributions to social causes through a regulated, transparent and investor-protected framework.

To manage PMLA risks in third-party payments, Sebi has suggested safeguards like robust KYC for both the payee and beneficiary, a clear written mandate, and an auditable, non-cash electronic fund trail via segregated accounts with regular reconciliation.

AMCs must perform due diligence and ensure transparency, guaranteeing beneficiaries full redemption liquidity, Sebi suggested.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has sought public comments till June 10 on the proposals. PTI

The federal government is projected to run a budget deficit of at least $2 trillion this fiscal year, according to an estimate by the Treasury Department and bond market participants.

Earlier this month, the Treasury released its quarterly refunding documents for the second quarter of the calendar year, which included estimates of needed borrowing over the next two quarters of fiscal year 2026 as of April.

It showed that the White House is anticipating a roughly $2.1 trillion deficit in FY2026 based on the president’s budget, while participants in the bond market expect the deficit to be about $2 trillion.

Both figures are up from the estimate of more than $1.8 trillion that was produced by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) in February based on legislation passed by Congress as of mid-January. The U.S. ran a deficit of just over $1.8 trillion in the last fiscal year.

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“Both the Treasury and the markets agree we’re on course to borrow $2 trillion this year, up from the $1.8 trillion deficit we logged last year. $2 trillion deficits used to be unheard of, and then they only occurred during major recessions – it’s beyond scary that $2 trillion deficits are now the norm,” said Maya MacGuineas, president of the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB).

A federal deficit of $2 trillion or more in fiscal year 2026 would rank as one of the largest in U.S. history, coming in at third on the all-time list.

The two largest budget deficits in U.S. history were both incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the biggest totaling $3.1 trillion in fiscal year 2020 and the next-largest reaching nearly $2.8 trillion the following year amid a surge of stimulus spending to support the economy.

US NATIONAL DEBT BREACHES $39 TRILLION MILESTONE FOR FIRST TIME AMID SPENDING SURGE

MacGuineas said that the latest deficit projection is “yet another data point – along with debt passing 100% of the economy in March and interest spending on track to top more than $1 trillion this year – showing the need for us to get our fiscal situation under control.”

“Markets will only tolerate our unsustainable borrowing for so long; the risk of fiscal crisis gets higher as the days pass. We need deficit reduction urgently,” she added.

US DEBT SET TO CRUSH WORLD WAR II RECORD AS ANNUAL DEFICITS EXPLODE TO $3T WITHIN DECADE

Data from the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis showed that the U.S. national debt surpassed the size of the economy in April for the first time since the World War II era. 

The highest recorded ratio of public debt to GDP was recorded in 1946, when it reached 106% of GDP as the U.S. was in the process of demobilization after the end of the war. 

The CBO estimated earlier this year that the U.S. will break that record in 2030, with it expected to rise to 108% that year.

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Federal debt has surged in recent years amid rising spending on entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare as America’s population ages, as well as mounting interest costs incurred amid a growing debt and elevated interest rates.

Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters on Wednesday walked back comments he made at an investor event Tuesday when he said the bank plans to cut thousands of jobs as it replaces what he called “lower-value human capital” with tech powered by artificial intelligence (AI).

Winters wrote a memo to the bank’s employees on Wednesday in which he sought to address concerns that arose following his comments on Tuesday, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

“Many of you will have seen media coverage following the investor event in Hong Kong, particularly the reporting around automation, AI, and workforce changes,” Winters wrote. “I know this may be unsettling when reduced to simple headlines or a quote out of context.”

“Where roles do fall away, it reflects changes in the work, not the value of our people,” he added in an effort to clarify his comments.

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The walk-back comes after Winters’ comments on Tuesday made headlines for appearing to dismiss job cuts affecting workers whose work in their roles amounted to “lower-value human capital.”

Winters spoke at an event in Hong Kong about Standard Chartered’s plan to reduce support staff by at least 15% between now and 2030, which amounts to 7,800 jobs or more.

“It’s not cost-cutting. It’s replacing in some cases lower-value human capital with the financial capital and the investment we’re putting in,” Winters told journalists ahead of the presentation.

FOX Business reached out to Standard Chartered for comment.

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Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
SCBFY	STANDARD CHARTERED PLC	52.59	+1.69	+3.32%

The Journal reported that Winters’ presentation gave investors details regarding Standard Chartered’s plans for AI implementation, such as reducing the amount of false positives flagged in analyzing transactions to find financial crimes. 

The firm also said AI can reduce manual work needed to ensure compliance with evolving financial regulations.

Winters previously shed light on his plans for the use of AI at Standard Chartered in an earlier memo to the company’s workforce, in which he explained that, “Some roles will reduce, others will grow, and new ones will emerge.”

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He added in his previous memo that the firm would make an effort to redeploy and retrain workers and would also handle job losses “with respect and care.”

Standard Chartered had about 81,000 employees at the end of 2025, as well as 17,000 contract workers. 

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NEW YORK — “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” airs its final episode Thursday, capping an 11-season run and marking the end of CBS’ participation in the traditional late-night talk show format that has defined network television for decades.

CBS announced the cancellation in July 2025, stating it was a financial decision amid challenges in the late-night landscape. The network will retire the “Late Show” franchise, which began in 1993 with David Letterman, after more than 33 years. Colbert revealed the news to his studio audience that month.

“Next year will be our last season. The network will be ending the Late Show in May,” Colbert said during the announcement. “I’m not being replaced. This is all just going away.”

The finale airs at 11:35 p.m. EDT on Thursday, May 21, 2026. Guests this week have included Jon Stewart, Steven Spielberg, David Byrne and Bruce Springsteen. Details for the final broadcast have not been fully disclosed.

Colbert’s version of the show premiered Sept. 8, 2015, from the Ed Sullivan Theater in Manhattan, succeeding Letterman. It featured a mix of celebrity interviews, comedy sketches and political satire, often focusing on current events. The program won multiple Emmy Awards and led late-night ratings for nine consecutive seasons as of 2025.

CBS cited ongoing losses as the reason for the end. Reports indicated the show lost tens of millions of dollars annually. In a statement at the time of the announcement, CBS executives said: “This is purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night. It is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.”

Parent company Paramount Global, now part of Paramount Skydance following a merger, faced broader industry pressures including declining linear TV viewership, competition from streaming and YouTube, and shifts in advertising revenue.

Starting Friday, May 22, Byron Allen’s “Comics Unleashed” will occupy the 11:35 p.m. slot under a time-buy agreement with Allen Media Group. Another Allen property, the game show “Funny You Should Ask,” will take the 12:37 a.m. slot. CBS has described the arrangement as interim while it develops other concepts.

The move leaves ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and NBC’s “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and “Late Night with Seth Meyers” as the primary remaining network late-night talk shows. Fallon’s show reduced to four nights a week in 2024, and Meyers cut his live in-studio band as a cost-saving measure.

Industry observers note declining audiences for traditional late-night programming, particularly among younger viewers who consume content via digital platforms. Late-night shows have struggled to monetize in a fragmented media environment.

Colbert, 61, hosted for more than a decade after transitioning from “The Colbert Report” on Comedy Central. Jon Stewart served as an executive producer. The show maintained a strong focus on news and politics, drawing both praise and criticism for its satirical takes.

In recent interviews, Colbert reflected on the decision. He told The New York Times it felt surprising given the show’s ratings success. “I think we’re the first number one show to ever get cancelled,” he previously remarked.

David Letterman, who hosted the “Late Show” for 22 years, has criticized the network’s handling of the cancellation. Reports indicate he expressed being “pissed off” and referred to CBS owners in strong terms.

The end of Colbert’s run raises questions about the viability of the classic late-night format. Hosts like Kimmel have suggested the genre may evolve but persist in some form. “It would be very surprising to me if it went away entirely,” Kimmel said in a January 2026 speech.

Seth Meyers has expressed similar doubts about new hosts emerging without major changes. Jimmy Fallon has extended his contract through 2028.

CBS plans to return the time slot to local affiliates in some markets after the Allen programming, a shift from decades of network-controlled late-night content.

Colbert has not detailed his future plans publicly. Speculation includes potential streaming projects or other creative endeavors. He has mentioned family time following the finale.

The “Late Show” originated under Letterman in 1993 after he moved from NBC’s “Late Night.” Colbert took over in 2015 following Letterman’s retirement. The franchise aired from the historic Ed Sullivan Theater, which underwent restorations during Colbert’s tenure to highlight its 1927 architecture.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the show adapted with at-home episodes and later returned to the theater with full audiences. It produced live broadcasts for events like election nights and political conventions.

Ratings data showed Colbert’s show often leading competitors in total viewers and key demographics in recent years, despite overall declines in broadcast late night.

The cancellation announcement came months after Colbert criticized Paramount’s settlement with Donald Trump. Some observers linked the timing to Paramount’s Skydance merger and regulatory approvals, though CBS consistently described the decision as financial.

Byron Allen, a comedian and media executive, campaigned for the slot with his lower-cost syndicated programming. “Comics Unleashed” features stand-up sets without the traditional talk-show elements of monologue, desk and band.

CBS executives, including George Cheeks, have indicated interest in developing new late-night concepts but committed to the cost-effective interim solution.

The broader late-night landscape has seen shifts. Conan O’Brien moved to podcasting after traditional TV runs. Samantha Bee’s show ended in 2022. Streaming and digital platforms have captured more comedy and commentary audiences.

Paley Center curator Jason Lynch described the moment as potentially “the end of an era,” questioning whether current hosts represent the last generation in traditional network late-night roles.

Colbert’s final week featured tributes from colleagues and celebrities. Stewart appeared Tuesday, referencing their long professional relationship and discussing current events.

The Ed Sullivan Theater will go dark for network late-night programming after Thursday’s broadcast. Local CBS stations will fill the slot variably.

Industry analysts point to structural challenges: high production costs for writers, staff, bands and studios against shrinking ad revenue and linear viewership. Younger audiences favor short-form video and on-demand content.

Fox News’ Greg Gutfeld has drawn viewers in an earlier time slot with a conservative-leaning comedy show, offering a contrast in approach and scheduling.

As networks grapple with these economics, the end of “The Late Show” serves as a prominent example of contraction in a longstanding TV institution. CBS maintains it values Colbert’s contributions and looks forward to celebrating the show’s legacy.

Colbert addressed his staff and audience in recent episodes, emphasizing gratitude for the opportunity. In one reflection, he noted moments feeling more precious as the end neared.

The finale Thursday concludes a chapter for broadcast late night, with uncertainty about what, if any, traditional successors will follow across the networks. Affiliates, syndication and digital alternatives are expected to fill voids in programming schedules.