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Mother’s Day is this Sunday, May 10, and I write these words knowing that they could bring up complicated feelings for many of us. Maybe you’re navigating a loss (of a mother, of a pregnancy, of a child); maybe there’s an illness in the picture; maybe you’re emerging from a stretch of caretaking and feeling unable to trust in the remission or recovery… As I look across my groups of friends and colleagues, I know there are myriad life situations that can color how you approach the second Sunday in May. If this describes you, skip ahead to our story on the most valuable WNBA teams, below my signature.
But for those who are interested in some data and also some news you can use, I offer three recent ForbesWomen stories. The first is a deep dive into what new research says about mothers’ careers and pay. Senior contributor Kim Elsesser looked at several recent studies, one of which found that timing may be an important factor in how motherhood impacts pay. Specifically, she writes, “Women who delayed motherhood until at least their thirties had lifetime earnings between $495,000 and $556,000 more than women who became mothers earlier.” That’s potentially good news. The bad news? “Even after controlling for age, race, marital status, education and working hours, early motherhood was associated with the lowest long-term earnings.”
Elsewhere on ForbesWomen, contributor Christine Michel Carter offers this guide to mothers’ legal rights at work and how to file a discrimination claim if you feel like your performance reviews, pay, and/or advancement opportunities have been adversely affected by your status as a parent. Among the good advice within that piece: “Mothers should proactively document company messaging, performance history, and any shifts in treatment, because patterns tied to timing can strengthen a legal claim.”
Our third story goes out to all the daughters who have become caretakers for elderly relatives, including moms: Contributor Geri Stengel has a look at a relatively unknown Medicare benefit—and billing code—that can help families navigate the fact that Medicare does not pay for geriatric care managers but does cover chronic care management, and understanding this difference could potentially save you time and money.
Take care of yourselves,
(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
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The WNBA tips off its 30th season on Friday, but across those three decades, it has never experienced anything like the Golden State Valkyries, on the court or off it. Last year, the Valkyries became the first expansion franchise in league history to reach the playoffs in its inaugural season and sold out all 22 of their home games to set a league record with average attendance of 18,064. The Valkyries are not the only ones on a financial fast break, however. Seven franchises outrank the most valuable clubs from every other women’s league in the world—including Angel City FC, No. 1 in the NWSL at $340 million—and the WNBA’s 13 existing teams (excluding the Portland Fire and the Toronto Tempo, who begin play this season) are collectively worth nearly $5.4 billion.
To put that big number a different way, WNBA teams are now valued at an average of $414 million, up 52% from 2025’s $272 million. In the 29 years that Forbes has valued professional sports teams, only one published ranking has ever featured better year-over-year growth: the NBA’s 74% during the 2014-15 season, after Steve Ballmer’s $2 billion purchase of the Los Angeles Clippers reset the market for clubs.
(Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
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Thoroughbred trainer Cherie DeVaux made history on Saturday when horse Golden Tempo won the Kentucky Derby: DeVaux is the first female trainer in the Derby’s 152-year history to win the race. “The racetrack is a tough place and it doesn’t care if you are a man or a woman,” DeVaux said, before going on to note, “It is an honor for me to be that person other women and little girls can look up to.”
Despite its name, Janitor AI isn’t selling productivity agents or enterprise copilots; it’s serving up interactive erotic content, where romantasy fans are turning chatbot roleplay into a 2.5 million-daily-user business. Some 70- to 80% of Janitor AI’s users are women, the company says, but the founders behind what has become the internet’s 10th most popular consumer AI app happen to be three dudes.
In the most recent episode of C-Suite Unscripted, ForbesWomen editor Maggie McGrath sat down with Katie Jacobs Stanton, founder of Moxxie Ventures and former executive at Google, Twitter, Yahoo and the White House. Stanton talked about the biggest question she’s getting from founders and executives about incorporating AI into their business, and she also reflected on what she’d tell the male peer who told her—when they both were 49 years old—that Stanton was “too old” to start her own venture firm.
Forty-five percent of female journalists are now choosing the safety of silence over the risk of a byline: According to a new report, self-censorship among women in media has doubled in just five years as perpetrators utilize deepfakes, AI-driven misinformation, or stalking methods to commit virtual violence or dismantle a reporter’s authority with just a few clicks.
And continuing on the theme of how AI is affecting society and work… As companies like Coinbase, Meta and Oracle axe thousands of jobs in the name of AI, some tech CEOs and experts have said they think businesses are hiding behind the excuse. “It's entirely possible that underperforming companies are throwing AI under the bus… looking to escape accountability,” said Apollo’s chief economist. (Ed. note: This is obviously not a women-specific story but we’ve heard from a lot of you that you appreciate these types of AI updates, so into the mix it goes!)
Following a 5th Circuit Court ruling seeking to prevent telemedicine prescriptions of the abortion pill mifepristone and a subsequent Supreme Court order for a one-week administrative stay on that decision, Arizona state senator Analise Ortiz joined ForbesWomen editor Maggie McGrath to talk about what the legal back and forth means for her constituents. "Arizona voters overwhelmingly approved a proposition to enshrine abortion access into the state constitution," Senator Ortiz said. "Now, with all of this happening in the Fifth Circuit, it now puts things into further chaos and confusion for Arizonans when the voters have already spoken on this issue."
1. Embrace what you don’t know. As new graduates enter an uncertain job market defined by hiring slowdowns, ongoing layoffs, and AI fears, Spanx’s billionaire founder Sara Blakely is offering a different kind of career playbook for young professionals today. “What you don’t know can become your greatest asset because it will ensure that you’re going to do it differently,” Blakely told the 2026 graduating class at Florida State University this week. “Real innovation and real change only happens when you do it differently,” she said.
2. Figure out whether to quit or stick it out. You’ve started a new job, but your excitement has turned into anxiety and dread. What should you do? The first step is knowing that there’s a difference between the discomfort of growth and the struggle of a bad fit. Here’s how to discern between the two.
3. Enter your “executive athlete” era. Elite leaders have long understood a secret: high-level leadership requires a physical release for mental intensity. They don't train in spite of their demanding schedules; they train because their schedules demand a level of cognitive clarity that only physical exertion can provide.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is fending off criticism this week for how she spread awareness about nonconsensual AI deepfakes. Meloni posted an AI-generated image depicting which of the following?
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