Taking a look back at the past 12 months, we noticed a few themes in the stories that resonated most with our readers. Matters related to career satisfaction were particularly popular, while pieces focused on strong women leaders claimed three of our list’s top four spots. Along with perennial favorites Warren Buffett and Apple, as well as a healthy mix of other topics, these were our most-read articles of 2015:
10. A Papa John’s Owner is Going to Jail
After being charged with not paying workers minimum wage and with falsifying documents, a Papa John’s franchisee was ordered to pay half a million dollars and serve 60 days in jail.
9. Warren Buffett’s Secret to Staying Young: I Eat Like a Six Year Old
The 85-year-old billionaire investor explains his diet of Coca Cola, Utz Potato Stix, and chocolate chip ice cream.
8. This is the Saddest Small Business Story Ever
Authorities received a warrant to investigate illegal dumping of waste at the Brooklyn-based factory of Dell’s Maraschino Cherries. The raid ended with the owner’s death.
7. How Apple Lost $533 Million to an 8th Grade Dropout Patent Troll
Apple was ordered to pay $532.9 million to Smartflash for willful infringement of three U.S. patents. This story explores the reasons why Apple likely lost the case, as told by the attorney who represented SmartFlash.
6. Best and Worst Graduate Degrees For Jobs in 2015
Fortune consulted PayScale to determine which graduate degrees are the best investments, ranking them based on potential for job growth, median salary, and job satisfaction.
5. These Are the 10 Happiest Jobs in America
CareerBliss, a job search site, compiled a list of what it deemed to be the top 10 happiest jobs by assembling data from more than of 25,000 reviews submitted by users.
4. How Megyn Kelly’s Husband, Sheryl Sandberg (and I) Realized She’s a Big Deal
This article explores Megyn Kelly’s phenomenal rise by looking back at her interview with Sheryl Sandberg at Fortune’s MPW Summit in 2014.
3. A Computer Just Predicted This Party Will Win the White House in 2016
A computer model built by Reuters used historic trends and other data to predict that a Republican will take the White House when Obama’s term ends.
2. This Is How Much UFC Fighter Ronda Rousey Made in 34 Seconds
This piece looks at the gender wage gap in athletics by comparing the paycheck of UFC female champion Ronda Rousey to those of male MMA fighters with less impressive records.
1. Female Company President: “I’m Sorry to All the Mothers I Worked With”
Katharine Zaleski, president of PowerToFly, discusses her unfair treatment of mothers in the workplace and how she only came to recognize their worth after having a child of her own.
