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Hi, everyone, Welcome to the Bloomberg Business Week Weekend podcast. From the opening ceremony of the twenty twenty four Olympics in Paris and a tech sell off that on Wednesday wiped away one trillion dollars in market value from the Nasdaq one hundred to a strong USGDP report and a flood of corporate earnings, including the first of the Magnificent Sevens to report. Tim this past.
Week, it was a lot, It really was.
You didn't even I'm tired.
I didn't even mention politics.
Oh yeah, there is that.
Nothing happened in there.
Yeah, nothing happened. Hey, I'm on the business side of things. This first, what you need to know about results from at least one of the mag sevens alphabet and then with a snapshot on the consumer side, Whirlpool CEO on the quarter end, whether or not the company's in play.
All right, everybody, we mentioned the Olympics. They are underway in Paris. We are already setting our sites on twenty twenty eight, when the games are in Los Angeles. So too is the city of Oklahoma.
Wait, what we're gonna explain?
All of that to come? We begin, though, with one of the big earnings of the week. Alphabet, the parent company of Google, saw shares drop after it's sunk more resources into its drive to outmatch rivals in AI, fueling spending higher than analysts expected.
We love AI, we don't love AI. Don't do it too much? Do it a lot? What should we do? That's kind of where we are, all right? Even so, Bloomberg Intelligence senior tech industry analystman Deep Singh says Alphabet could see margin improvement in the second half despite the CAPEX concern.
I think search once again performed very well. It was better than consensus. And with Alphabet, whenever search beats consensus, you know the operating margin beat will come. And that was the same here. The only number that disappointed was a YouTube ass revenue.
That was surprising.
And I watched a lot of YouTube.
I don't know what tell us one because you can pay to get rid of the ass.
Yeah, we watched so up until last quarter they made it up through better YouTube subscription sales. Now that doesn't seem to be the case because the YouTube subscription number is reported alongside the app store revenue, so it's hard to unpack whether that was the weak part or the app store revenue was a weak link. But clearly YouTube was a disappointing segment and the.
Results investors don't seem that disappointed. I mean, shares of Google right now, they're bouncing between red and grain, but I mean we're talking small moves, and look, is this like a kind of Hoham earnings report?
I think, Look when I look at search growing mid teens, that just tells me, you know, a company with two hundred billion dollars run rate in search business ninety percent market share still manages to grow double did.
So it's it's experimental. AI is working, it's.
Working, and it's maintaining market share despite competition from Chat, gpt.
Being, you name it. Everyone keeps talking about.
They just said being is there really competition from being?
Well, Bing has integrated chat cipt now, so that was what Satyannadella was most.
Excited about I am curious about the lack of ads that I see when I look for when I do a Google search and I see the experimental AI result, it doesn't seem like they're making money from me.
Yeah, but if you go back in time, Google only monetized seventy like seventy percent of their queries are not monetized, only thirty percent hour monetized.
And that too.
It's a very keyword driven business, so you know, people bid up for keywords. That's what drives the ad pricing. And in this case, you know, unlike social media that can increase ad loads, Google is not increasing ad loads. It's still key driven, and they're able to maintain that share, you know, despite Chat GPT coming in and for certain queries, I'm sure people are going more to chat ChiPT then
coming to traditional search. But I mean, I think Google has a competing offering with Gemini Advance and that will be a subscription revenues stream down the line. So in short, they've been able to maintain their market share despite all the threat and I think that's good news.
For Stock is down about one percent here in the aftermarket, but it's been bouncing around. Stocks up about thirty percent year to day forward pe of twenty four, Alphabet is game more than sixteen percent. Since it's blowout first quarter report and Red Brann, I want to bring you into it watching it as well, you know, join the conversation here with Mandeep. I mean, I'm wondering too if this is a quarter that you know safely easily lives up to expectations.
I think man deep rely hit on the Obviously, the two biggest things that jumped off the page to me as well, which was search and YouTube coming in a little softer. But the other thing that's really jumping out to me is actually kaebacs. If we think about, you know, how are they competing with these other companies on gen Ai. That's where we'll see that investment. And from what I can see, Capex coming thirteen billion, that's I think the
biggest ever for Alphabet. I think that kind of really speaks to where they are headed and kind of another doubling down on this commitment and it seems to be paying off. So between the search business continuing to grow despite its size. Yeah, definitely interesting there.
I just wanted to since he brought up Capex. You know, Capex is directly related to their cloud revenue. So the fact that cloud sales grew twenty nine percent, that capex is paying off and you know money well spent, basically money well spent. And actually cloud margins grew six hundred and fifty basis points. So for the longest time Alphabet was criticized because cloud wasn't making money, it was a
drag on profitability. Well guess what, in just the past two three quarters they have shown over five hundred basis point of margin expansion in the business. And that seems to be the trend I think based on the they're saying this will continue.
Well, this is what we always talk about, right because they behind what Microsoft and Amazon right have lagged in terms of the cloud. This shows what that they're making progress.
Well, they had a slower start, so they were always the third player, the distant third player. But look at the cloud revenue run right now forty billion dollars. Compare that to Microsoft Azure seventy six billion and Amazon Aws one hundred billion. But at least they are growing thirty percent. So we'll find out whether Microsoft Azure is also growing thirty percent, but we know Amazon Aws is growing seventeen percent, so clearly their faster growth will help them narrow that.
Gap and deep speaking of AWS and Microsoft, what do these results tell you about what we should expect for those companies when they report later this this quarter.
I think for Microsoft Azure again, it's going to be a very strong quarter. You will see more than thirty percent growth. And Microsoft actually quantifies the contribution from generative AI workloads last quarter was seven percentage points. I'm expecting it will be slightly hired this quarter, but clearly that's where it spend is going is in you know, the
generative AI workloads. And I think Microsoft will do better than Ada BLUs because Ada BLUs has been coming from behind when it comes to generative AIS.
Okay, it's not just Alphabet, but one company that is seeing a more significant reaction. Adjusted earnings per share for the second quarter missed the average channel in the estimate. They're also getting quite a bit of information on the in from the long presentation about how many cars they plan to deliver, fewer than the one point eight million
cars they delivered in twenty twenty three. I know you guys are here to talk about Alphabet, but we can't let you leave without talking a little bit about what we saw with Tesla, Mandy, what sticks out to you.
I mean, look, with Tesla, the fact that they shifted out the robotaxi event. That's where all the excitement was. And you know right now, I mean they don't have a near term catalyst. Everyone is excited about AI. That is where they could have shown their AI. I mean, I know, humanoid robots are also a big deal, but they gave a date and then backed off. So to me, you know, if that's that was never a good sign going into the print.
What about for you read?
Well, I think it's interesting that the thing to get excited about is kind of this pie and the sky idea of a robotaxi that no one has really been able to successfully monetize yet. I think that kind of speaks to where the company is at, maybe get in a little bit away from its true mission, which has always been selling evs.
You know.
But I think there are some positives to take away from the support. They did improve. They did actually beat gross marchin expectations. I think that's gonna be really important for investors going forward, is how can this company continue to trim expenses if they aren't going to be seeing really aggressive top line growth as they were in the past, So good to see them focusing there on improving the efficiency a little bit.
All right, So just to wrap up, top question for Tesla that you would make on the call real quickly.
I mean, it's got to be the roadmap to continuing Where where does this robotaxi? When, where is the robotaxi, when is it coming? And again where the is there anywhere we can continue trim costs we've read.
Just show me the robotax that elon that I want.
To know about, the mass market car that's going to like sell tons on.
Some model three.
Yeah, I guess I don't know.
I'm ahead.
Investors care about FSD software attach rate. That's where the margins.
Attach rate real quick.
So attach rate is any Tesla av owner that buys the software, so you know attaches. If I end up buying twelve thousand dollars of FSD software for autonomous driving, that's like ninety percent plus growth margin. That's what investors get excited about Tesla because they think that bramp will continue to grow, the attachmate will continue.
The software company. We got a car, come ten seconds.
Top question for alphabet on the call alphabet.
It's really about cloud growth. I mean, how fast can it grow and how long the durability of that cloud growth. The thirty percent cloud growth unbelievable.
Men deep saying a Bloomberg Intelligence and Bloomberg News earnings are put a red brown. Guys, thank you so much, so appreciate it. This is Bloomberg Business Week.
You're listening to the Bloomberg Business Week podcast. Catch Just Live afternoons from two to five DM Eastern. Listen on Apple car Play and and Brout Auto with a Bloomberg Business at or watch us live on YouTube.
Staying with earnings, worl Pool, you know, the owner of Maytag and others, lowered its full ear earnings forecast as consumers continue to shy away from big ticket appliance purchases and at a weakening housing market. Right after earnings crossed, we checked in with the chairman presidency of Warlpool, Mark Bitzer.
We actually feel good about our Q two, you know. We we said also after bo Q one call, this here is all going to be about margin expansion with every quarter, and Q two was a sizable sequential margin improvement full point on a global level, led by all important North America business which ultimately relied also on getting better promotion pricing. So we feel good about the progress we made. Yet at the same time, we also, you know, knowing the weakness of a housing market which is still
emphasis on still just there. We don't see the housing market recovering as fast as we were reached assumed probably like everybody else when we entered the year. So we're still forecasting for Q three and Q four Berber margin expansion and improvement. So we feel good about the progression. It just not happening at the pace which we had originally in mind. That the market is not recovering at the pace which we already had in mind. But that's in my view only question when it happens, not if
it happens. It will happen, but it just later when we originally assumed.
So you know, I always feel like when we talk with you, Mark, you know, we think about like the pre pandemic world, the pandemic world, and like our recovery in terms of some of the numbers, the consumer trends, the buying patterns. Is it below what we saw pre pandemic?
You know, Carol, you have two almost offsetting trends. One is the replacement market, which is very strong ostal volume site and that is ultimately tied to increase the client's usage following COVID and just all of the in home trends and people just spending more time in home. So replacement side is very strong. The unfortunate side from a business perspective, that typically doesn't come with a rich mix
because it's not a discretionary purchase. The discretionary side that is all tied towards housing existing home sales and new home sales, and that's the part which is way soft when anybody assumed at this point, and frankly also with the numbers which came out yesterday on existing home sales put back back to two or eight levels, I mean, it's kind of multi decade low.
And of course that is the part.
Of a business which tends to come with a richer mix for us, and that's the soft part. So you have two offsetting trends which kind of overlay. I mean, we would, of course going forward, we love to see a replacement trend, but at one point you will see a recovery of discretionary side.
We've talked with you about this replacement versus you know, discretionary. What's the bigger part of your business? Is there people replacing items or saying, hey, I feel like doing this discretionary.
Right now, the replacement side is well over sixty percent. And put that in a storic context, I mean you typicate it for multi decades on around fifty or in below fifty percent. That doesn't sound like a whole lot, but it actually makes it big ference in how and how a mix comes through for your overall business. So again that's that's you know, we like the volume, but it's it's not a very rich mix.
The biggest part of your your market or the biggest part of your business in terms of segments, Refrigeration, laundry, cooking a close third. Where are you going to where do you see the most growth?
You know, again, it's right now. Overall it's it's split on mechagory. It's large in replacement, so laundry is still very strong, Refrigeration, the kitchen is still a little bit soft because that comes with a replacement or remodel of an entire kitchen. But you know it's it's it's more behinhend the entire kitchen suite like Kitchen Aid suite or Danner suite, which is right now software when we would expect in an rmous cycle.
All right, so we be remiss by not addressing the elephant in the kitchen or if you will. Last month, Whirlpool shares, you know, jumped ruterers had reported that Robert Bosch was considering a bit for the company that they've been pushing, you know, that company's been pushing kind of outside its business. Did it make a bit for the company? What can you tell us about that?
Unfortunately, I can't tell you a whole lot more than we stated already. Is that we just don't as a policy, we don't comment on rumors of market speculation. As you know, it's it's been one article out there which triggered a lot of noise, and you know, we awesome in the past. There were rumors about vote Pool in the past, and there will be rumors about Pool going forward. We just
don't speculate on and comment on this one. So unfortunately, I know you were pokem this one, but I can't tell you a whole lot.
I have to poke a little bit more though. Is it is it a rumor? I mean, is the company for sale at this point, and is that something that maybe you've been getting some pressure from investors.
No, so again it is a rumor and we can't comment and we won't comment on this specific rumor. You know, but we're public listed company, Carol say by definition, you know, very in a certain mayle companies for sale every morning at nine thirty stock market opens.
Right now.
It's a good deal, you know, but.
There's sales and then there's sales. You know how this goes.
You're you're joking about saying it's a good deal. But what in your opinion do you think investors are missing about the Whirlpool story right now? Down nineteen percent so far this year.
I shouldn't be arrogant about the investor. The market is always right. So what I think the argument for wopuld to be made is, yes, of course we're still emphasis on still in a negative macrocycle, but that will turn at one point and built I eve a US housing market and that will not be just a you know, a short recovery. That will be probably a multi year
recovery of a housing market. There's literally not a single company better position to benefit from the upside where the key supplier of eight out of the top ten US builders. We're very strong with our portfolio in all the homes. So once web market recovers, I think we will be a disproportionate beneficiary from a market. And you know that's my definition of market is always right. But I would say that's the argument, particularly for a long term investor.
Hey, Mark, we also have to go on that though.
If the marketerter right, your stock rallied in a big way in June on this Reuter's report that Bosh was considering, we're still.
She's still poking. She's poking.
So if the market's always right that they were excited about a deal, does it make sense to you?
I appreciate your relentless but I can't and I won't tell you a whole lot more. Listen, you know there's there's always speculation element, but you might get in the stock and as you know, there's there's short trade and and and people who are kind of not long term investors right now. Again, it's we had also these speculation rumors in the past and again I expect them also in the future, and that's that's just the nature of
a public there's the company. But again there's no you won't get a whole lot more for me on these rumors.
Okay, Mark, Well, and on something really easy for you to answer, US politics. I know, I know, please come back after all these questions, we still love you. Please, So look, no question front center and a lot of a lot of investors' minds and a lot of voters' minds. But just very briefly, does it matter to you you have a really complicated supply chain, you do some importing. Does it matter to you who's in the White House?
You know?
You know obviously as you can tell for my accent, I should be careful about giving advice on US politics. But I also I'm firmly believe as a company we encourage our employees to form a political opinion and they should vote. But I'm not going to endorse any candidate left or right. It just but we strong encourage our people to form their opinion, get informed, and vote period.
Now.
Of course, with our strong US exposure also the manufacturing side, we're not only the last American appliance company, but we have by long shot the most jobs in the US un appliance manufacturer. Of course, we have a strong vested interest in having a competitive and fair level playing field as a US producer. So so topics like steel prices etc. They matter for us and we're not asking for subsidy
or this important help. Nope, we just want to be fair and we want to be well, you know, we don't want to have our arm tied, but one arm time behind our back as we fight. We're ready to fight, but it needs to be fair and level, and that's of course, yes, right, it is a strong best interest which we have.
Well, you're always fair with us, and always we appreciate your time. Mark Bitzer be well, so appreciate it. Sharing presidency of Whirlpool, Mark Bitzer joining us from Michigan shares of Warpool. They've been kicking around a little bit higher, a little bit lower in the Aftermark.
You're listening to the Bloomberg Business Week podcast. Listen live each weekday starting at two pm Eastern on Apple car Play and Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business App. You can also listen live on Amazon Alexa from our flagship New York station, Just Say Alexa Play Bloomberg eleven thirty Mittel.
You know their brands, I mean Barbie, Fisher, Price, Hot Wheels, American Girl, many more, I mean iconic toy brands. Well, they reported earnings this past week, the stock jumping after the toy maker reported second quarter just at earnings per share that came in ahead of estimates. Analyst two were positive on the results, highlighting the company's gross margin performance, which Morgan Stanley said had remained impressive.
Back to talk about the toy business was enon Chris Mittel, chairman and CEO, who we caught up with right after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Nettanyahu's address to a joint session of Congress at the US Capitol, And so we began by talking about the war between Israel and Amas and geopolitical tensions.
Well, of course, this is an important part of our life these days, especially for me as an Israeli. I keep thinking about the hostages and pray for the release as soon as possible.
All right, one more questions on politics, the US race, which you know has consumed our world, the November outcome. Does it matter for you as someone who runs a company, a well known, publicly iconic brand, global company, does it matter who's in the White House come November?
For you?
Of course, we are following everything very closely the election process leading up to the November elections. But as a company, we have a long standing history of working with all government leaders around the world, not just in the US, and we are focused on executing our strategy and confident that we can work with everyone across the political spectrum.
How would your strategy in unchanged if we saw former President Trump return to the White House and continue to see perhaps an even harsher stance towards China increased tariffs for example, that he's talked about, how would that affect your business well?
As a company, our job is to design a flexible organization that can respond and react to market changes. And I'm not commenting specifically about tariffs or China, but in general, this is what we do as a company. We have a very strong supply chain, a very versatile business model, and we are designed to be able to respond to changes in the market in supply chain or a consumer
tastes for that matter. And this is something that we've done a really good job at over the last few years to create a flexible and responsive organization that can can adjust and operate in different types of environments.
You know, and what is flexible and responsive mean in terms of geography, where is your supply chain right now, in terms of in China versus other parts of the world, like how much of your products that are sold around the world are made in China versus other countries.
In China we make less than a half of our product today. Industry average is about eighty to eighty five percent, so we're indexed meaningfully less in the industry. And we continue to diversify manufacturing footprint. This is not necessarily in response to any political risk, but as a company, our
job is to create that flexibility. So we continue to diversify our manufacturing footprint, our own factories and some of the vendors that we work with across a different geographist to make sure that we have the right capabilities and still the ability to mobilize resources and adjust to opportunities, as well as any changes in cost structure, in tariffs and capabilities that we are looking to continue to add to strengthen our offering.
All right, so, as promised, let's get to the quarter. Let's get to the business. So talk to us about the quarter that was in the outlook, tell us about where you are feeling real strength where you're feeling some challenges.
Well, this was a good second quarter and a good second half of first half of Mattel with significant growth, margin expansion, and improve profitability. We continue to strengthen our balance sheet and more than double free cash flow in the trailing twelve months. The industry performed better than anticipated, better than we anticipated, and Mattel gains shared globally in the second quarter and the first half.
You talked about it before.
Carol and tim ibelleve We spoke about how we continue to position the company for growth. We expect to grow in the second half of the year and reiterated a full yier guidance for the company.
Looking ahead, we expect.
To outpace the industry, continue to gain more share in twenty twenty four, and grow sales and earnings in twenty twenty five.
So talk to us about some of the different brands. Fisher Price launching something I grew up with, Big Time launching its new line Fisher Price would recently. How is that being received by retailers and by consumers and do you anticipate that this could be maybe a really top seller come the holidays.
Fisher Price is such an incredible brand. It will be celebrating its ninety fourth anniversary this year. Fisher Price grew eleven percent in the second quarter, reflecting the early success
of our new strategy, which is working well. We expect Fisher Price to grow in in the second half to grow for the full year, driven by a new line of the woods segment that you mentioned that we're now expanding globally, more core lines product that are growing, and new franchises that we're adding to a little people collector. The brand is just so much part of culture and
has great trust by parents and families. We in terms of performance in the category, outperformed the industry gain share in the infant toddler in preschool category in the second quarter and the first half and was the number one with Mattel was the number one toy company globally in the category.
You know, and what about Hot Wheels growth and growth spellings for Hot Wheels was relatively weak in the second quarter. Give us an idea of the catalyst. Tell the investing audience about the catalyst for a rebound for the holiday selling season and if there are any new products or advertising come in to help push it.
Hotwells is another incredible brand.
Hot Wheels is on track for its seventh concent secutive record year. We couldn't be more excited and confident about where Hot Wheels is growing. It grew in the second in the second quarter five percent, with more activation planned for the second half. We're growing the adult collector line
and more adult product. We brought any distribution globally for Hotwells specifically as well as the rest of the portfolio, and we expect to accelerate growth in the RC and skate lines, and of course have another season of Hot Wheels Let's Race on Netflix that is launching this fall. So great product activated by more content and just a great line by Hot Wheels on track for its seventh consecutive year of growth.
All right, so Hot Wheels for guys and gals or kids, boys and girls, but also Barbie for boys and girls whoever wants it. But let's talk Barbie, which is another one of the iconic brands, you know, and I'm certainly of Mattel Barbie brand. I'm looking at the second quarter right, sales held back by a six percent decline in global billings for the company's flagship dolls segment, which includes Barbie,
Toughier over your comparisons in the second half. What are you continuing to see in terms of the impact that that has had on the Barbie line, and do you expect the brand to return to growth maybe next year.
Barbie is an incredible brand that never sits still, and the movie expanded the audience even more. As you would imagine, Barbie was the number one doll property globally and continued to gain share in the second quarter this year, we're celebrating Barbie's sixty fifth anniversary with multiple activations and a new brand campaign that we're launching in the fall. We're launching also new segments supported by more shelf space in the second half, so Barbie will have even more reach
in the marketplace. We're launching new offering for adult collectors as well as we did for Hot Wheels, and there will be more content on Netflix targeting the kid's audience. Arby has consistently gained global share and continued to strengthen its position as the leader in the dolls category. And you know, Carol, yeah, very few brands have the cultural relevance as Barbie, and we couldn't be more confident about
the incredible franchise. But this incredible franchise and where it will go from here.
I am curious about American Girl where it still fits into your portfolio, because it's interesting, it has evolved, and we kind of went back to the beginning of the brand when it before it was even owned by you guys, about that it really taught young individuals, young women, young girls about history, and you know, they were very much tied to it. Now you've got a gap American Girl, You've got Disney collaborations. What's the thinking around American Girl.
American Girl is a valued asset within the Mattel portfolio with significant fan base and great product. American Girl rule for the second quarter in a row, and we saw how America Girl is outpressing the industry in the large old category and the overall dull category, especially in the eighteen inch dolls and was up double digit. We saw the flapship flagship stores up, especially the new store in
LA that was up high double digit. And we continue to optimize the Rettle footprint to make sure that we are creating a holistic omni channel experience for fans. And as you say, part of the success is how we evolve the brand and how we infuse brand purpose but
also cultural relevance. And this is part of our secret source in the Mattel Playbook, and how we continue to stay relevant and take brands that are timeless and make them timely and reach and engage consumers today and touch fans everywhere, touch their heart and mind and do things that really matter in society and engage fans at an emotional level.
I have to ask you, I know there's been a Wall Street Barbie. I don't know that there's been an American girl who works in investment banking. But having said that, a report on Monday that you guys have received a takeover approach from el Catterton, the private equity firm backed by LVMH. You've come out and said that you believe you the company can achieve a higher market value if it continues as an independent company. First of all, have they approached you and are you open to doing a deal?
Well, as you would expect, we don't comment on the speculation.
It's just now in it's just you and me.
So just between us, just between the three of us. What I can say is that we're very confident in Motel strategy and our ability to create long term shareholder value as a stand alone company.
This is what we're doing.
You're seeing it in the quarter, you're seeing it at the start of this year, and you're seeing it since the start of the ten around in twenty eighteen.
It's in the numbers.
It's in our growth in top line by a billion dollars. It's how we continue to our adjusted growth margin by almost one thousand basis points and guide it to a higher number another one hundred to one hundred and fifty points. This year, adjusted IBIDA grew seven and a half times since we started the turn around, and our free cash flow went from a negative three hundred and twenty five million dollars to more than seven hundred million dollars at the end of last year. And of course we are
now investment grade. It's about creating long term shareholder value and we are well positioned to build on our multi year trajectory and continue to execute our strategy and expect the share price to reflect this over time.
What would make you do a deal.
Well, broadly speaking, we are here to create long term shareholder value and we do it in every day. This is what we focused on and we consistently execute and deliver on the strategy. That's what we focused on and we believe that we create that value long term sho holder value as a standalone company.
So to that point, Lina Dunham, stepping away from the poly Pocket movie, what are your plans for that brand and tell us what's the next you know, big screen and you know, I think you guys have a ton of projects in the works. What can we look forward to.
As we're very excited by the progress we're seeing in our film strategy Mattel Films. Of course, the Barbe movie is set the scene, but there's so much more and we currently have sixteen projects in the making. We recently announced a lot a release date for Masters of the Universes would be June fifth of twenty twenty six. We announced a new director for Matchbox and a new movie for Months to High at Universal with a Kiva Goldsman,
a two time Oscar winning writer and producer. So there's a lot that is going on with everything at Mattel Films. The Polly Pocket project is progressing. Lily Collins is still attached and we're very excited about how this movie is shaping up, as well as the rest of the film slate that again is all about It's all about collaborating with leading filmmakers to make standout quality movies based on our iconic brands that will resonate in culture and appeal to global audiences.
You know, and Ken wants to know, does he get a movie? Does he get a movie?
Of course, we continue to look for opportunities to engage bands every way we can.
And one day maybe you will have a movie as well.
I'm open, I'm going to count on you.
Maybe you can help you with the hot wheels on your desk. But you gave it to you, gave it to.
Myself, little cameos in movies, courtesy and Bloomberg programming. You know, thank you as well. A lot on your plate, so appreciate all the time. You always give us a fine for us. Great to check in with you you on cries. Of course, folks, he is the CEO and chairman of Mittel.
You're listening to the Bloomberg Business Week podcast. Catch us live weekday afternoons from two to five pm Eastern on Apple car Play and then Brout Auto with a Bloomberg Business app or watched us live on YouTube.
The twenty twenty four Summer Olympic Games officially kicked off this week in Paris, France. Earlier in the week, the International Olympic Committee announced that Salt Lake City, Utah, will host the twenty thirty four Winter Olympics. As for the next Summer Games, they will be in Los Angeles.
Here's the kicker.
Two of the events will not take place in Los Angeles, but rather thirteen hundred miles east in Oklahoma City. The partnership between the two cities was designed to use Oklahoma City's existing sports facilities to keep costs down.
It's really interesting, So for more on how this partnership came to be and to get his take on the overall political environment affecting his city, because you know there's a lot going on in US politics. You know that we were joined by the mayor of Oklahoma City, David Holt, who joined us not from Oklahoma City, but stay with me from vacation on the Jersey shoe.
If you're mayor, you're always working, right, it gets you go everywhere.
Talked with him on the heels of the Republican National Convention, just to give you an idea in terms of timing. Stay with us. It will all make sense in a moment.
I am on vacation.
I'm in like the jankiest studio environment ever. But you know the city, Our city never rests, nor should the mayor. So I had to take this opportunity to talk to you guys today.
And as someone who was born and bred in New Jersey still lives in New Jersey, thank you very much for being in an.
Art hero would be at the Jersey Shore right now. She didn't have to be here with us right now. We're going to get married a.
Philly girl, So I ended up here, makes sense, makes sense.
We're going to get to your city being chosen as a venue for the twenty twenty eight Los Angeles Olympics. But first we're going to start with politics, because you are a Republican and you were an aid early in your career to Speaker of the House Stennet Hastard. You helped re elect George W. Bush in your home state. You were in the Oklahoma Senate. Yet you're not at the R and C right now. You're on vacation. Why, Oh, well, I don't know.
I guess I haven't been in a while. I there was a time of my life when I was a delegate to the RNC, and I've been very involved, and I served in the White House for President George W. Bush for two years in legislative affairs, but I have not been a supporter of Trump is im personally. And what I love, though, is that I serve in an office as the mayor of Oklahoma City where technically I'm
non partisan. I mean, I recognize when I go on you know, national appearances like this, that's hard to process and everybody's got to say how I'm registered, and that's fine. But you know, all mayors, Republicans, Democrats or independents, we really have found that we've just got to bring people together. We really can't be partisan. We will work with whoever.
And in our cities, you know, no matter where you're mayor, you're going to have a lot of people who come from all those different perspectives and nothing's going to get done if you don't find a way to unite people. My key focus is serving the people of Oklahoma City, and the people of Oklahoma City largely are very purple politically, and that's how we get things done. We find ways to set aside those things and divide it some fine common purpose.
It's interesting that you say that because we speak with Mattie Parker mayor Mattie Parker, the mayor for Worth, quite regularly, and she sort of gives a similar answer that she has an R by her name, but doesn't necessarily believe in the sense of what the National Party is doing.
And I'm wondering if that makes your job as mayor more difficult, or if it's certainly or if it actually just doesn't matter, because what you say is you're a nonpartisan mayor, but like you said, your pedigree is in Republican politics.
Well, I think you know. I've been mayor for six years. Mattie's been in office for several years as well. I mean, ultimately, you build trust with your voters, regardless of their registration, and I think I've long since passed that threshold with people in my city who are not registered Republicans. I think Democrats and independence know that they get a very pragmatic approach and a very open.
Door from me.
So I maybe initially maybe they would have been suspicious that, you know, that I was going to be farther to the right than they would have liked, but I think they have found that again, my sole purpose really is to find that that outcome that I think is attainable at every level of government, that outcome that represents about seventy percent of people in the middle, regardless of their party registration. That's essentially what American democracy produced for two
hundred and thirty years. And it's really only in recent times that we've really struggled with that. But I think mayors are still practicing this art the way it was practiced for two centuries in this country, and we're often elected in a way. Maddie and I are both elected in a non partisan way that allows us to build that coalition. So yeah, I think I've transcended party politics in Oklahoma City, and I'm glad to have done so. To me, that's how American politics is supposed to work.
But I do wonder, as a mayor, does it matter to you, not personally, but in terms of what you ken or can't do ultimately who is in the White House come November.
Sure, I mean largely in Oklahoma City and probably in thost cities. You know, we've learned how to be somewhat self reliant, but if we can get assistance from the Fed government, we like that and we prefer that, you know, and we've had some great examples over the last few years.
We got funding direct funding through the Cares Act, which was actually under President Trump, and then we got direct funding through ARPA, which was obviously under President Biden, and then the Bipartisan Infrastructure Laws is a huge, you know, benefit to cities. We've already gotten over one hundred million dollars. Other cities have gotten a lot more, and we certainly have hopes and expectations of getting a lot more as the years advanced. So, you know, the last few years
have been very beneficial for cities. Again, like if they aren't, then we figure out a way to get it done. Anyways, but obviously, when we have an administration in the White House that sort of pro city understands that, you know, American cities are the chief economic and cultural engines of the country.
That does make our life a little easier.
And we communicate and work together as a nation of mayors to the US Conference of Mayors for that reason. I mean, we do care what happens in Washington, and we like to speak with one voice. I'm actually the current vice president of that organization. I'll be the president in eleven months, and that's an important opportunity for us to speak with one voice in Washington, and we do it often.
Mayor Hold talk to us little bit about what you guys are doing for the Olympics, because at first, when, to be quite honest, when our producer was laying it out for us this morning.
Hender I saw the tellidrad I was like, what this makes no sense to me because the Olympics or in La.
Right, and so what are you doing? Tell us about what you guys are doing.
Absolutely, and I may just at a macro level kind of explained that for thirty years in Oklahoma City, we've been making I would say, kind of historic investments in our city. I mean it is definitely if you're in urban circles you kind of know the Oklahoma City story. We've been passing by huge margins, these major initiatives after major initiatives, and as a result, it trickles down to the two venues I'm going to talk about here in
a moment. You know, we basically invested in two particular sports and ended up kind of being at the right place at the right time. We have the world's greatest softball stadium that is like, really beyond argument. The second largest softball stadium in the world is half the size of ours. Like we just doubled down on softball. We are now the home of the women's College World Series every year, and this is a major capital for if not the world capital for softball is right in Oklahoma City.
The other thing that happened to be fortuitous was we made a huge, huge investment in whitewater. We have really the only whitewater course west of the Mississippi. And this started by putting dams on our river just because thirty years ago, just because we were sick of mowing it. We wanted some water in our river, our river. We wanted a better, aesthetically pleasing body of water. And you know, one thing grew from the next, and eventually we had
this rowing community. Eventually we decided to invest in it through Whitewater to kind of have all of the paddel sports there on our river, and lo and behold, obviously, La gets the twenty twenty eight Olympics. I became really good friends with Mary Garcetti back when I got elected in twenty eighteen, and late in that year he first broached the topics. So it's actually been a six year journey.
He first broached the topic of hosting Whitewater in Oklahoma City, which obviously, so, I mean, I think I'm like most you know, people in America and around the world. I mean, I consider the Olympics like the brand beyond all beyond all other brands. I mean, it transcends sports. So the idea of getting that in Oklahoma City was beyond our
wildest imagination. And six years later now the conversation includes softball as well, and LA twenty eight announced a few weeks ago that it is their plan to host all of the Whitewater sports. It's actually at least six different gold medals in all of the softball tournament in Oklahoma City.
That's nearly two weeks of events. We'd have three hundred athletes, two hundred thousand tickets, and you know, an opportunity for tens of millions of people in that part of the country to have a direct engagement with the LA Olympics.
So obviously we're very excited.
I do want to say there's still some process still remaining, and the LA City Council has to consider certain aspects of this proposal from LA twenty eight and We want to be deeply respectful of that. But just to get to this point even where we're even having this conversation is obviously a big deal from Oklahoma City, and I
think kind of reflects a renaissance that's been happening. Maybe belong with some people's radar, but definitely is positioning us as you know, a top tier American city, something I certainly couldn't have said thirty years ago.
But this overnight.
Success has required thirty years of investment in venues like these that we're going to enjoy and put forward into twenty eight LA.
It is pretty cool how it comes out, Although I have to say I was just checking. I'm like, it's ony three hundred and twenty seven miles between LA and Oklahoma City. It's a twenty hour car trip. I mean, so are I guess you guys are going to be putting up athletes obviously fans like, there's a lot and I know you can probably only talk about so much, but there's a lot of logistics to all of this.
Yeah, I think you know, we're been in this conversation for a while and we're fully committed to providing, you know, the kind of energy and experience that the fans and the athletes expect, and it does appear, you know that LA twenty eight is absolutely committed that the athletes will still be able to participate in the opening ceremonies, the closing ceremonies, possibly both. But in the meantime, yeah, we're gonna, I think, treat them so well that they'll be ultimately
be grateful that they got that opportunity. But we'll obviously probably have to prove ourselves in that regards, but we feel really confident that we're going to be able to
provide that dynamic environment. And I think, you know, the big picture here from sort of an Olympic movement perspective, is that you know, the IOC wants to see cities not keep investing in venues that don't have a long term operating plan, right, And so these two venues don't exist in California, they arguably don't exist anywhere west of the Mississippi, right. So you know, I think that you'll
see maybe more of this in the future. It is a little without precedent right now, with some occasional exceptions. I mean, people have you know, observed that Paris is holding surfing in Tahiti or whatever.
I mean.
So there's always certain things maybe that move.
A little bit farther.
But I think moving forward beyond LA, I think you're going to see more of this because we did go through that period for those who followed the Olympic movement, where you know, cities were building these mega stadiums that they just didn't have a use for beyond the Olympics. So I think we're helping LA present and more sustainable games,
which pleases the IOC and the Olympic movement. And we're just so grateful to have that opportunity to support LA and to support these Olympics, these LA Olympics, and this partnership obviously I hope will be mutually beneficial.
A mayor, I hope beyond the Olympics, I want to speak a little bit about the local economy in Oklahoma City because the city is certainly known for quite a bit energy, agriculture, aviation, aerospace, logistics. What would you say is the area of the sector where you see the most growth opportunity?
Well, probably just for share volume and aviation and aerospace. You know, we have a big air force base, Tinker Air Force Base in our city limits you know, thirty thousand people at least drive in there every day, and that has had a lot of spin off activity, which
we've obviously been very grateful for on many levels. You know, when I talked about these investments that we started making in our city thirty years ago, part of that was a response to the economic depression that we experienced in the eighties, which was largely due to an over reliance
on just one industry, oil and gas. So ever since, it's like our you know, vision for city leadership has just been anything we can do to diversify you name, you know, the economic purpose, and we'll be there right because we've just got to find other things besides oil and gas. So aviation has been the biggest. But I mean, we got all kinds of stuff going on. I was part of hosting a premiere of Twisters Monday night. We have this new one, so this growing film industry in
Oklahoma City. I mean, there's lots of cool stuff happening in many differents.
Exective mayholds. We'd be remiss not to ask you. We've got about twenty five seconds left here, any signed of that noomic slow down or recession just quickly a little bit.
Our sales tax growth, and that's a big leading indicator for US is slowing down. It is not like down year to year, but the growth is less than it was in the past. So we're being a little cautious for sure, especially from a city budgeting perspective.
All right, well, we count on you guys to get some idea of really what's happening on the ground among the nation cities. David Holt, enjoy your time on the Jersey Shore, Mayor of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
You're listening to the Bloomberg Business Week podcast. Listen live each weekday starting at two pm Eastern on applecar Play and Androyd Auto with the Bloomberg Business app. You can also listen live on Amazon Alexa from our flagship New York station, Just Say Alexa play Bloomberg eleven.
Thirty plenty ahead in our second hour of the weekend edition of Bloomberg Business Week, including the New Jersey based music venue home to Bruce Spring that has become an international pilgrimage site for rock fans and musicians alike. New York Times political correspondent Nick Korsanidi on his book I Don't Want to Go Home, The oral history of the Stone.
Pony, plus our Pursuits team asks is health Span more than just a money grab? We're talking about a host of startups that promised to slow the aging process.
First up this hour, As you know, we had a lot thrown at us this past week thanks to a deluge of earnings, the aftermath of President Biden dropping out of the race for president and Vice President Kamala Harris stepping into the spotlight and very likely heading the Democratic ticket. We still also have two wars Russia, Ukraine and Israel Hamas and you know, there's just so much coming at us to.
Him right now.
Yeah, there really is. I mean, the problems, the stress is the innovation, the backdrop and the politics of it all. It's the bread and butter of our next guest, David Bach is President Elective IMD. It's a global executive education platform. It's also a business school. His recent columns cover everything from future proofing business for any presidential outcome, too when CEOs should actually take a stand.
So i'md as a top business school, as you said, but we're really distinct from other peer schools, and that's so much of what we do is focused on executive education.
So it's why of the salary part my get a little bit.
We love our degree programs, they're our soul, they're terrific. But you know, really what we're best known for is to work with companies, to work with leaders on their challenges. And as you said, there are many of them right now.
And those are non degree programs.
Yeah, that's right.
So about eighty percent or so of what we do is either solutions for organizations, custom programs, or we run a lot of open programs in Lasan on our campus there in Singapore where we have another campus, and then of course more and more.
Virtually, what do you find that the executives want to get out of their class? Well, it's not you can't really say classes. I mean you could call them churses, but since it's not a degree program, yeah, you know, how long are they coming for and what are their goals in getting out there?
Look, I mean we run programs as short as two or three days, some of them are as long as six weeks.
You know.
Sometimes with companies we do multiple modules over eight nine months. One big trend that we've certainly seen is that companies have moved away from just doing this as a sort of nice to have, you know, every year they send a couple of people, but they really start working with us when they're facing major challenges. Right, the business is slowing down, they're thinking about what's next in terms of innovation and how to deal with the volatile world that
we're in. So we're working with them and developing the next generation of leaders and tackling the key challenges in front of them.
Many would say it's best to get the training before the stress points and challenges hit you. So, having said that, how do you think about what you know? There's a lot that comes at executive Do you think about the crises that we've had over the last couple of decades, whether it's the Great Financial Crisis, whether it was the tech fallout before that, whether it was the global pandemic there's nine to eleven, there's a lot of things that
are certainly hitting our world. So what's top of mind though, in terms of what you think a leader needs today?
Yeah, so I think the emphasis actually is really on leaders ship, on leadership development. Right, how do you develop the self awareness that you can be authentic in a situation like this? How are you agile? How are you resilient, so you can deal with whatever is thrown at you and provide guidance.
I want to go share because only you know, it's interesting going through the pandemic, going through George Floyd, you did see a lot of executives at prominent publicly held companies come out and really make some strong statements and take some strong positions. I think it's safe to say that it feels like that has calmed down a lot. And now we're kind of hearing that if you're a public you know, you've got a publicly held company.
Like I keep saying, I think it's not only it's fair to say that, I think it's fair to say that the pendulum has swung the other way and that DEI has actually looked at as a you know, sort of dirty word at this point, and it's pejorative. I mean, companies don't want to touch this stuff anymore.
Yeah, yes, and no, I mean I think even in the US, in the US, but even in the US, look after the Supreme Court, you know, put an end to affirmative action and college applications, companies and their leaders still care out and so that we remain committed to diversity and inclusion, perhaps not necessarily emphasizing their formal DEI programs as much, but you still have a young generation that you're trying to attract your organization that wants to
make sure that they work at a place where they belong.
Tractor Supply came out with a statement that talked about they're not submitting data to human rights campaign. They're eliminating DEI roles and retiring the current DEI goes adult goals while still ensuring a respectful environment. They're withdrawing carbon emissions goals and focusing on land and water conservation efforts. That's a pendulum swinging the other way.
I think, yeah, or you can call it the two steps forward, one step backwards. That tends to happen a lot when you're dealing with societal change. There's no question that the environment in the US, particularly around ESG, has changed. But you know, certainly when you look at Europe, a lot of companies remain very much focused on sustainability goals. I think they remain focused on promoting equity, and I think a lot more companies do it quietly rather than doing these flashy reports.
Is there a real distinction between European companies though, and US companies on that, I.
Think European companies have moved a little bit later, and clearly the challenges and the issues are very different from the ones here in the US. But you know, we're seeing a lot of European europe based companies that are operating globally wrestling with some of the same issues.
European companies from an equity return perspective have just been completely left behind by US companies. Yeah, why is that? And what do you hear from European leaders as to why European company leaders?
A really really important debate right now in Europe is about global competitive notes, right, I mean, where does Europe fall in a world that sees the US and Asia, if you will, being the motors of growth. And you know, there's been a lot of emphasis on what do policy makers need to do complete the single European market for capital, remove barriers, have smart regulation. So there's a lot there
that needs to happen. I think European CEOs feel generally sort of pretty optimistic about the opportunities in front of them, but they're looking for policy makers to lend more of a hand and not put roadblocks in front.
Of them the election outcome here in the United States. What's the advice how do you kind of prepare the current c suite and leaders today for the outcome.
So we had a session and at our school at IMD a while back where we're actually just about a month ago, and of course, you know, it was like Biden or Trump, how do your future prove your business? And now it's not Biden, We'll see if it's Trump. But and you know, it was fascinating because so many business leaders around the world is so dialed into what is happening in the US. They're following everything because the
implications are going to be so vast. And so one thing that was really interesting was actually we gave them sort of policy positions on cards. Half of them were Trump positions, the other half of Biden positions, but we didn't indicate which ones were Trump with Biden. And the first thing that was fascinating was we asked them to pick, you know, on each issue, on a range of issues, the one that was best for the business. Nobody had a straight Trump or a straight Biden.
I'd love that.
Interesting.
We also said, what does that tell you?
Well, what it tells you is that the business that you're.
Just what no, But I think what it tells.
You, well, we actually we also mixed in some some positions that we made up and those were quite popular on top of it. So I think what it tells you is nobody is going to get the kind of policies across the board that they're looking for, at least in terms of the global scene. What were the policies that generate know, we had issues around what are you doing around sustainability and supporting electrification? There are questions around trade.
There are questions about tech regulation for example, right competition policy, anti trust policy, and nobody was thrilled with what they got from either politician.
Is there a takeaway for what the next administration needs to do for business globally?
First of all, I think the takeaway is that as a business leader, you just have to think about how do we make or how do we insulate our business somewhat right? What are some of the things that we should be No matter what, what are the big trends. Policy in the US is going to be somewhat volatile. There's also going to the question of you know, what
can you get through Congress? What actually survives the courts, and so at the end of the day, you should probably worry a little bit less about this minutia that part of a proposal and just think more broadly, what is the direction of travel and how do we set ourselves up.
That's a really interesting exercise.
It is pretty cool. Yeah, I love you kind of sliding stuff in.
And sometimes, right.
I mean, we actually had in there, you know, well, you know, we had in there a very sort of radical proposal in phasing out fossil fuels, and a lot of the business leaders in the in the program actually chose that one because they actually said, this would give us a certainty and we can plan around it. Of course that's not really on offer from either party.
That's pretty powerful. Well, you have to do on some of those things. Has everybody to buy in, right, so that the playing field is level, David, How much does curriculum change for you guys from year to year?
So we never teach the same thing twice, It does change quite a bit. We're emphasizing a lot, of course right now, the impact that AI is going to have on the business. We're thinking about AI both as a pedagogical tool, So how do we use it to personalize learning, But of course also what does it mean for business? What does it mean for service delivery? Where do you go in terms of innovation? So there's always some change. I think that's the most recent area where we're reworking it.
But of course, you know, a couple of things remain there. There's some foundational skills sort of adapt only in terms of the way we deliver them.
I'm wondering how much of your time is spent in the classroom, or when you become president, how much many time in the classroom versus out there raising money for the school. You know, in the US you went to Berkeley, and yes, so you understand how chicks work here in the US. The deans spend so much time in raising money. Are you going to have to do that?
Yes?
So I expect that I'll be spending the majority of my time externally oriented.
Right.
That includes meeting with folks like you and saying sharing a little bit about what we do, but of course also meeting with our clients, meeting with alums, meeting with donors. I think for us, the client piece is probably a little bit more important.
Client the US school, the term client is not when you'd hear.
No, you don't hear it from traditional businesses. Yeah, so we work with you know, we we are an academic institution, but we have borrowed, you know, with pride from professional service firms and how they work with their clients to solve their problem.
So I'll do a lot of that.
I still will teach a little, So.
I'll probably do about you know, fifteen twenty sessions a year. A session for us is sort of three four hours, so it's not you know, it's not a huge amount compared to my colleagues, but it is important to remain in touch.
Do you see yourself remaining in that position for a while and then going back to teaching. Is that how it works?
Yeah, that's usually how it works, right. It's sort of a temporary assignment. It's a five year term. You know, you might do one or two, depending on how things go, what my colleagues think of my leadership and the board, and then yeah, you usually transition back into a faculty role.
How competitive is this landscape? And you know, I go back to my undergrad did it in here as part of the Columbia University program and they had a big executive education program and the execs would go up I think, like on Fridays and it was a big deal, big deal. How competitive is this space still.
It's super competitive, and really what clients I'm looking for is clearly the return on investment.
Right.
So one part is of course the cost right of doing a program like this, but for a company in particular, like having thirty or forty people's be away from the office for a week, right, is an enormous investment, and so we awe it to them to make sure we deliver the kind of impact on their business. And so we've been working very hard over the last couple of years to come up with metrics from measuring the impact.
The return on learning is really really good for companies, but we have to demonstrate that and we compete with others.
Is that the typical program that the people who the clients are the students, that it's a week that they're away.
And that yeah, I mean, that's what we have been trying to do. So it used to be longer than that. The time has gotten shorter. We're using technology to drive more impact. So very often before we meet on campus for a week, we might have connected virtually before we've done some assessments, right, there might be some project works and coaching after the program, so we extend the learning journey beyond the week so we have more impact. But yeah, week out of the office is quite typical.
Is there like a certain executive or company that often comes up in conversations.
As a competitor, as a client.
Yeah, as like as the students are in there, Oh, okay, can study or something like that's curious.
Yeah, people want to know, people do want to hear from whoever is sort of new and so you know, of course you talk a lot right now about open eye if you're thinking about governance and what happens around technology, and of course some of the companies you guys feature a lot. You know, a Tesla is going to come up or you know, a BYD and what we can learn from them in terms of their innovation. I've been doing some teaching around TSMC and how do we think
about geopolitics through through that lens. But then also part of our job is to put companies in front of executives that they wouldn't have been exposed to from a different sector, a different part of the world, that do something interesting that they can be they can be challenged and inspired by well.
Having said that, is there a company that you think about for the Bloomberg audience that they should be looking at, or a leader that they should be looking at that maybe isn't one that Tim and I talk about a lot.
You know, there's there's so many companies doing really really interesting things. But I'll tell you one that I use in many of my programs. It's a company called Zipline.
I don't know if YAH follow it. I'm the drune company delivery stuff in Rwanda.
Look exactly. I find them fascinating because you know, I work at the nexus of business and politics, right and so regulation in the US and Europe would have made a business like this impossible.
So what do they do?
They pivot, They go to Africa, they save lives, and before you know it, they put together a coalition of stakeholders that open doors for them. And they've moved much faster because there were agiley, they were purpose focused. And so I use them as an example relatively regularly in my programs to get companies to think differently.
Yeah, it's a really interesting company. We featured them quite a bit here at Bloomberg. Willingness to pay a term you find in business school. Yes, the willingness to pay for an executive looking for an education is very high. For example, at Columbia, the executive MBA, how much do you think it costs per student?
I don't know. It's like forty thousand.
Dollars two hundred and forty thousand for two years. Okay, okay, that's the executive NBA.
You're looking years four years, two years, two years.
That's two years. Yeah, that's the executive NBA. So that's the part time sure, yeah, I mean two years is yeah, but commitment Thursday, Friday, Saturday or whatever. Tuition for that was last year I can't find this year. So it's expected to go between two and seven percent per year. For the full time MBA, it's like ninety thousand dollars a year. You got to throw on some more fees and for two years.
Yeah, you gotta pay twice.
Yeah, you gotta pay it twice. That's a lot of money. Yeah. How much do you make from more from the executives who come versus those in the twenty percent who are doing like the full time MBA versus the executive Yeah, because the willingness to pay for those execs. That's higher and the companies often pay for.
It they do, and again you got to demonstrate that impact. So we're a nonprofit foundation, right, so our goal is to have universalsp No, of course they are right, you know, I mean it's hard to believe with some of the prices, right, but what we.
Do is nothing right.
Well, look, I mean what we do is expensive, right to have terrific faculty, you know, bring them together, support them so they can continue to do research and thought leadership at the cutting edge. Right, It's not cheap, and we put a fair amount of effort on raising funds for scholarships and running programs that or doing initiatives that make programs accessible. But you're quite right, there are lots of options. So you were asking me before about competition.
There are the top business schools, of course that we compete with, but there are a lot of other providers. There's a lot of great content available, and so you really have to work hard on how do you design things that are impactful? How do you have pedagogy that lets people learn? As people get older, it gets harder to learn, so you've got to think harder about how do I put them in situations where they can learn, and so we're making ourselves accountable for the ri that
we're generating. And when we can demonstrate the impact of learning, then the willingness to pay is clearly there. I think that's true both for degree and non degree ago.
Right, so, just because we are Bloomberg, So for a week, what does it cost for a student?
Yeah, so we run week long open programs. They tend to about ten to twelve thousand dollars, okay, for a week for an individual right now, Again we call it a week, but it may have started two weeks before with some exercises and activities and assessments and continues.
Beyond that, we have some.
Programs that are you know, three days, five six thousand, and then of course we have more affordable options. We run what we call sprints two weeks an hour a day, usually online, and you know, those are about nine hundred dollars. So it's still an important investment, but we do try to meet people at different price points.
Very cool stuff. No, a lot of specifics, which makes it super interesting to hear about. David. Thank you so much, good luck, Thank you, I appreciate it. Look forward to future conversations. David back. He's president elective IMD soon to be president come September. As we said, it's a global executive education platform joining us right here in our studio. David, thank you so much again.
You're listening to the Bloomberg Business Week podcast. Catch us live weekday afternoons from two to five pm Eastern Listen on Apple car Play and then brought auto with a Bloomberg Business.
Act or want just live on you Tube.
It's the Boss who doesn't like a little thunder rope.
Who doesn't like a little Bruce Bruce Springsteen.
Excuse me, well, the Stone Pony. Yes, you hear those three words, And if you're like me and many others, you think of.
One man, Bruce Springsteen.
Yeah, then to make no mistake of me, Jersey Girl, I can say, you can say.
That the Boss certainly is a huge part of the Stone Pony. But as our next guest writes in a new book it was just out last month, it's not just a place for Springsteen and his fans, Carol, It's a place that has become a quote international rock pilgrimage for all types of musicians. And despite the fact that once renowned venues like CBGB and the Cavern Club, which is where the Beatles started. Those are gone. The Stone Pony, where Bruce got his start, it's still here.
Nick Corsinidi is a political correspondent for The New York Times. He's the author of a new book, I Don't Want to Go Home, Oral History of the Stone Pony. And he joins us here in a Bloomberg studio. So someone who knows all about it. Welcome, Welcome, Thanks for having me, since you do cover well.
Politics, Yeah, that's where we're going.
We need to kind of start there if you don't mind, sure. How are you thinking about this environment? How do you think about democracy right now?
Well, it's interesting how that's actually where that's being thrown around a lot, especially from the right, you know, President Trump, Trump's campaign speaker Johnson, Senator McConnell, they all had statements within an hour of Biden's letter being posted saying that this is undemocratic or disenfranchising the fourteen million voters who cast primary ballots for Biden, and they cast it for Biden, not for Biden Harris, and that you know, this was an anti democratic move. Now it's a bit of a
difficult message for them. To carry just given everything that happened in January sixth, and you know a lot of voting laws that have been passed by Republican legislatures. But it's certainly something that's starting to catch on the votvoters. You know, there was a poll in the Washington Post about six weeks ago about the issue of democracy, and you know how important it was to voters, and it
was more than sixty percent said it was extremely important. Now, the only thing that came close to that was the economy. So this is vitally important to voters. Yet they actually said in these six swing states that they trusted Trump a little bit more than Biden to handle those issues. So it's you know, it's something that's been defining for
our politics for the last four years. You know, President Biden made his last major address before the midterms on issues of democracy, and then Democrats did very well in the midterms. So it's something that's very much to the forefront of the conversation. Is everything's happening with Vice President Harris, Democrats coalescing and all that.
Is it fair to say that voting has changed just in the two years since the mid terms or in the four years since the twenty twenty election, Like have the rules in certain states changed, oh significantly, And there's often easier or harder to vote.
It depends on where you are, and it depends on who you are. There's been, you know, efforts to limit mail voting especial, and so if you're in a state where they change the mail voting rules and you were once a mail voter, there's some things that you now have to be aware of. Like let's say in Wisconsin, there's been this whiplash about using dropboxes, which is where you can bring an ASDA ball drop it off just
like a mailbox. A lot of voters love that because you're not bound by whether a voting office is open or not. Let's say you can't go during work hours you're a shift worker. You could only go at say six am or eight pm. You drop off your ballot. It's easier for the midterms. The Wisconsin Supreme Court said, no, you can't do that, so all those voters couldn't do that anymore. And then the newly constituted Wisconsin Supreme Court, which now means democratic even though they're nonpartisan. It was
once conservative. Now they're putting them back right, so maybe voters can go use that. So that's just one example of like the shifts. And there's also the shift in the just the wholesale voting behaviors that is really kind of defined everything since the pandemic. You know, voting by mail used to kind of be a Republican advantage.
Yeah, Florida and Georgia, Like in Georgia.
Where it's become such a lashpoint where Republicans are limiting it. You know, it was the Republican governor who brought it to Georgia.
George W.
Bush and Carl Rover were absolute masters of the vote by mail and using the mail. You know, there's a whole book written about it by Asasa Eisenberg. So it's interesting to see the patterns behave the politics change, and then yeah, there's a lot of laws that have been changed.
All right, speaking of a book, how does someone who covers voting rights and democracy at the New York Times.
Come on, you need a break after doing that, and I read about something completely different.
Write a book about the Stone Pony.
So I in between the sixteen and twenty elections, I was the New Jersey correspondent. I grew up going to the Stone Pony, and I grew up, you know, going to Asbury Park to see punk music. And when I was going in the nineties, in the early two thousands, Asbury was very different. To put it lightly, it was kind of dangerous. It was a ghost town.
It was very rough.
You know, there was abandoned buildings everywhere. There was this structure that was like an abandoned skeleton of like an apartment complex that had been failed multiple times. It just like you couldn't believe it that on the Jersey Shore, you know, this finite like Gold Coast on the East Coast, that this one town could just be so desolate. And that was my experience, but that was our stage.
So we went.
And then due to covering politics and moving to DC and going to college away from New Jersey, I hadn't seen Asbury for a while until I came back in twenty seventeen, and I.
Was like, what happened?
And so, you know, as a Jersey correspondent, I was still a political reporter, so I still had to cover you know, the new Governor Murphy Corey Booker's eventual presidential campaign. That was still like my main assignment. But I could still cover some of the culture. I wanted to tell this story about this town that bounced back because, especially having covered the twenty sixteen campaign, we learned about for
every Asbury there's one hundred failed small towns, right. I wanted to tell that story that got at the spirit of what Asbury is. And it's a music town, and so I didn't want to just be like, it's got a hotel and you know, some new restaurants and investors, and well, that's all important, and you have to tell that. That wasn't the spirit. That felt important to me, to
tell why this town's renaissance is important. And so I was like, Hey, this stone Pony's still there somehow magically in like open defiance of the expected lifespan of a rock club. Let me use that as my narrative trojan Horse to tell the story of Ezbray.
Park Nick the Boss. Bruce Springsteen, he writes an introduction. You got him for the intro, But it's not just Bruce Springsteen who you spoke to for this book. Steve van Zandtlofgrin, the Jonas Brothers. All three are there more than three Jonas brothers. The Jonas Brothers are three in the band. There's just three okay, in the band, there's three Jack Johnson. It's an incredible lineup, John Popper, Russell
Crowe as well Patti Smith. Talk to us about how you were able to get all these incredible people to speak to you for this.
From the political world, you're kind of used to just slowly pulling threads to get more people to talk to you. You know, one leads to another. Hey, do you know this person? Can you help introduce me to this?
We've got Chris Christie and that would make sense because you're a political report. I did Chris Christie.
That was actually while he was campaigning for president. We did a video interview. Yeah, we just we did a video interview and that was like my New York Times thing, and then we shifted to lunch where we talked about the pony. And then I went to his event later and wrote a.
Story off that, which interview was longer the pony one. He's a big fan, clearly, but it's you know it.
I also think what was interesting to me was how many people were willing to talk. And I think it just speaks to this the weird draw or allure that the Stone Pony has for so many artists in part because of the spirit that like Springsteen, South Side and
Steviee kind of like imbued in the place. Tom Morello calls him the good ghosts that are in the Pony, And I think so many artists feel that, and it really is kind of like it works for so many different genres, right Like Patti Smith felt that and she felt such a connection to the club because it felt like one of those clubs that helped her establish herself in New York, the same way that like Mike McCready felt, the guitarist and Pearl Jam felt an amazing connection there
because it reminded him of his origins when like crowds were on top of you and you know, you could see everyone in the crowd so clear that you could read their beer labels, and what that felt like as a musician. There's a common phrase that like, you play small rock clubs when you're on your way up and
when you're on your way down. But I think the Pony kind of cuts across that a little bit because it creates that bond with a lot of artists that they want to get something back that they've lost as they've moved up and they still play it. Russell Crow's
a great example. He was playing with this band thirty Out for Grunts he's had for forever, and he booked a tour right before Gladiator comes out when he's you know, sexiest man in the world, one of the most A List celebrities of all A list celebrities, and he had booked Madison Square Garden Theater, not the full garden but still like a six thousand person venue, and then the Pony it's about six hundred and so once he's a megastar, they were like, well, you got to cancel the Pony
because you're in the radius now, and he was like, no, I'm going to cancel the Garden.
I don't need that.
I want to do I want to do the Stone Pony and like that just and he has an interesting story in the book how he was actually going to play in New York on September tenth, two thousand one. So playing at the Pony actually might have because he was staying at a hotel right next to the Towers, might have, you know, saved his life. But just the fact that he gave up five five hundred fans to play at the Pony and what that would feel like, I think speaks to how so many people feel about them.
Are you not entertained you say that, I'm sorry?
I mean, how did it come to be?
Well?
It opened in you know, kind of a desperate time for Hasburry Park. It had experienced pretty traumatic race riots a few years beforehand, and that caused some pretty big flight. But what that also did is, as Stevie van Zandt says so lyrically in the book, it left it to us rockers, rogues, mystics and renegades. And I just I can like, we'll always hear him saying that, yeah in my head, and he just says it so effortlessly because
he's just such a lyrical person. That created the scene of musicians that you know, you wouldn't expect to find on the Jersey Shore. You find it in Motown, in Nashville and New Orleans, but then for some reason you had it in Asbury Park. And once Springsteen starts taking off, people start paying attention to it, and then Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes start and they kind of really
helped create this sound of music. It's rock and roll with horns and gospel and soul and R and B, and it was a sound you hadn't heard elsewhere, and it was dancy, and people wanted to dance to rock music again. Right like the whole guitar slinger thing. It kind of made people watch music. You were dancing again and people love that, and Bruce loved that, so he
starts coming. People start learning about it. There's a famous broadcast of a South Side Johnny show in seventy six on eleven radio stations across the country, and that wasn't done that much. So now there's a scene and a sound and everyone wants to start coming. And then when Bruce becomes really famous, it also becomes his home. And you know, he says in the book, the things of celebrity that would bring you to New York in LA and all the things that normal people would do didn't
interest me. What interested me was where I was from. These people mattered to me, and this place was interesting to me. And sustaining that scene, I mean, imagine right now, like if Taylor Swift picked a six hundred person club and just showed up there on Tuesday, people be camping out right like you wouldn't even like it within ten
block radius. He was that famous after born born in the USA, so that he was still doing it created this spontaneity that lives on there, and it's it's maybe Brust will show up, but also it's maybe like I'm seeing, you know, a metal band, and maybe Zach Wilde shows up, and or you know, I'm seeing a punk band and maybe I'm seeing Take Back Sunday and the guys from Brand New come out, or I'm seeing you know, Midtown and Brian fallon.
Because it continues.
It's the spirit of the place and like the truest sense of the word, and it really, I think has just stuck in a way that like you can't take it out, and that's what keeps artists from coming back.
You writ in the book about the transformation of Asbury, and I'm wondering if the Stone Pony will live on into the future because it has changed the area around it has changed so much.
It's a great question.
I think everyone in Asbury recognizes that the Stone Pony is the kind of spiritual, beating heart and soul of Asbury, and so as the towns come back in a kind of very organic way, they've done a great job at preserving that there's new condos, you know, the six million dollar condo. There's new development, but I think they understand
that you can't touch the pony. You have to leave it there, and you kind of have to leave the summer stage there too, because it's become such a part of town, and like, you know, it's like this mini festival feel every night, and the sounds echo across the boardwalk, so like, even if you don't have a ticket, you were three blocks away on the boardwalk, you could hear, you know, them playing hopeless Romantic and so.
That's pretty cool.
You can't you just can't remove that. If you do, it's not Asbury anymore, right, it's just another wealthy beach town.
Two bouncers did this right exactly.
It started by two bouncers who were just like, I want to do my own thing, and they did. And you know, it's had its ups and downs. It's closed twice, and it's certainly not a bouncer run bar anymore. It's backed by major industry support, including Live Nation, but you know it persists.
Yeah, I mean, listen, everybody talks about Asbury Park. I feel like it's just something so much more. Nick, Thank you so much. Really appreciate it. Did course a need. He has a new book out. He's, of course political correspondent for the New York Times. The book I Don't Want to Go Home, The Oral History of the Stone Pony. This is really fun. Thank you so much. This is Bloomberg.
You're listening to the Bloomberg Business Week Podcast. Listen live each weekday starting at two pm Eastern on applecar Play and Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business App. You can also listen live on Amazon Alexa from our flagship New York station, Just say Alexa Play Bloomberg eleven thirty, The Cost.
Of Longevity, the best pasta New York City, He doys go hand in hand, well, so we'll explain. And the right hat to upgrade your summer wardrobe. It's all in the latest edition of Bloomberg Pursuit, which you can read online on the Bloomberg and in the August edition of Bloomberg BusinessWeek Magazine. As we said now on newsstands.
I promise also will tell you the right rolex to go with that hat, not like the quiet leg like you know, yeah, not like I don't know, but who does? And that's Chris Rouser. He's the editor of Blason all your role x needs. All right, we'll get to Rolexes in a minute, but first, Carol and I want to talk about living forever because longevity is so hot right now. Is it Brian Johnson's fault?
And probably we I feel like Business Week actually really brought Brian Johnson into the public conversation. And now you know, a lot of people are talking about him and following him, and he's making products. But actually longevity itself is a bit passe. It's your health span that everyone's talking about.
Can you explain that term? I don't even think I know how to use it in a sentence.
Yeah, well, we had arguments with a copy desk about how to capitalize it, whether it was two words, because it is kind of a new ish thing. Lifespan is how long you live, Okay, health span is how long you live. Well, so you know, if we Americans are living longer and longer, everyone can expect to live to seventy seven or more. If you're living to ninety, but you're stuck in a chair, you're breaking bones, all that stuff, it's not valuable time, you know, and health span is
maximizing that time. So that you're not breaking bones, you're well, you're mentally aware, and you're having fun until all the way until the end.
So I take a pill and that's how I do it.
You wish it's actually a shot or a shot. So last year Peter at TIA's book Outlive came out and it was very much about this. It was about medicine three point zero, which is preventative and predictive medicine. Rather than you bonk your head you go to a doctor, it's like a doctor looks at your whole body. You talk about nutrition, you talk about fitness, you talk about all the different ways that you can expand your health span.
So that has been very much in the public consciousness for a couple of years now, and now there are a bunch of companies that are trying to provide services to help you do that. Because if you read Peter's book, the recommendations for fitness and stuff can be eight, nine, ten plus hours a week. You're just doing that on your own, maybe that's like a little bit hard to manage.
You're supposed to do stuff about your grip strength, you're supposed to be doing yoga, you're supposed to be doing an hour V two mex Wait, grip strain.
Yes, there's a.
Whole chapter on grip strength. Okay, so anyway, it can be kind of onerous once it gets to like rocking, which is carrying around stuff with carrying on a heavy backpack for an hour, Like, is that why you load up your backpack?
No, that's not why I lit up on the backpack. But it's why people will walk in vests that are weighted, yes, and wear backpacks that have just heavy objects in them without a purpose. Right, Well, her purpose is rocking.
Like some of us carry around our children. Other people carry around forty pound backpacks. So there's a bunch of companies that are here to sort of help you do this and manage it. Do the testing, do the MRIs, do the fitness recommendations, do the nutrition all.
That you could go?
Do you even rock?
Bro?
When I got to the chapter in Peter Tya his book about grip strength, I was like, I don't know if I could do this. It's too much.
Let's go get a bowl of ice cream.
Yeah.
So wait, Mark Elwood who wrote this story, right, he actually went through some testing, right, because it involves I feel like there's one company he talks about a lot of spitting into vials.
Yeah, so Mark did a company that's based in London called Vavi and it was founded by doctor sabine To and it's actually been around for a while. It opened in two thousand and nine. And this is really one of the great sort of originators of this. You know, it's a nice quiet office. You go, you get a bunch of tests in the mail before you go to
actually even meet with a doctor. Some of them are spit tests, some of them are fitness tests, and then you go and talk to a doctor who really goes through a whole litany of exams that you'd do an MRI. They do DNA testing to see if you have markers for certain conditions that could become problematic.
When you're older.
They do your weight tests, they make you run on a treadmill, all this stuff, and then they come back to you with recommendations and hers are sense to me. Yeah, yeah, I mean it feels like what you do in a physical. But usually you go for a physical, it's twenty minutes and then you never hear anything, and it's you would find out whether you're a cholesterol this.
Quarterback, Okay, it kind of makes sense to you, Carol, I get it. It's expensive though. It's the type of thing that costs a lot of money. Chris, give us the costs, but also tell us what does the established medical community say about this rise in health span?
So it can be quite expensive. I mean the stuff that we're talking about, generally managing your health and doing a good job is something you can do for free. But these companies, we wanted to do this story because there's a new one in New York called Continuum, which is ten thousand dollars a month. Equinox has a program which is forty thousand dollars a year they just started.
So it can be quite expensive. But this idea of working with a doctor who you actually see and knows you well enough to make kind of preemptive recommendations is something that would be really great and is really widely regarded as like something that we don't have in the United States that we should have. The average person can expect to spend seventeen minutes with a doctor during a visit. We've all been there, and maybe that's not enough.
Yeah, they book every fifteen minutes.
You had an appointment this week, and you're like, I know I'm going to have X amount of time. You had your list going in and you're like, I'm just going to go through it.
And the doctor still made a mistake.
Yeah I made it.
Yeah you caught him on the mistake.
Oh yeah, yeah, I caught him. I won't get into that. He definitely made a mistake. You let's just say he's apped the wrong thing.
Oh no, Tim's okay, it's okay, and the right thing got zapped.
Okay, You've still got your beautiful face. The impact. You know, in America, only three percent of funds that are spent on healthcare are spent on preventative medicine, and that that should really change. Actually, and so there's a lot that can be done in this department.
But what does the established medical community say about these types of products and services, Because you do quote some folks in there who say people know how to be healthy, They know that they need to eat well, move you, get exercise, reduce stress. Those are the basics.
Yeah, there's critics of this, this sort of idea. I think nobody wants you to get in the way of you eating well, being healthy, exercising, doing stuff that will make you feel better when you're older. There is a group of critics of this field where say basically like we know what to do to live well. You eat well, you exercise, you take care of yourself. You have people
to take care of you. So there's a placebo effect to a bit of it, which is one of the critics says about this, which is like basically, when you read Peter Atilla's book, part of what you like about it is that it's telling you to do stuff that you already do. So you're you're like, oh wow, great, Like I already exercise, I already rock.
You know everybody, I don't think any of us rock.
And they've done studies to show that even going to the to the store and putting like nutritional supplements in your basket makes you feel better. You know, Like there is just sort of idea of like I'm doing something and maybe we don't need We definitely don't need all these MRIs, like MRIs are a big part of this.
Kim Kardashian was posting a video of her on her Instagram unpaid talking about how great MRIs are, and people were like, let's not recommend like unnecessary medicine and things that people can't forward.
Right now, but there is something to this idea of how to stay healthier rather than like you go to a doctor when you're sick. You know, this concept of just taking care of yourself like kind of makes sense. Or you could just eat pasta. Yeah, I don't have an easy sa.
No, please eat pasta. I love pasta. List Oh my god, that's a good choice. So we have this regular thing we do where we talk to top chefs in different cities and we get their recommendations on their favorite places to eat. So, you know, maybe it's sushi and tokyo, and we've done pizza in Rome, and so we did pasta in New York City. This is for the August
issue of BusinessWeek. You may not think of August as a time when you want to have like a big, hardy bowl of pasta in hot, hot New York City, but Andrew Carmelini, who's one of the city's best chefs, said that he tried to take the carbonara off of his menu at our premium the East Village in the summer. He was like, we should do something lighter, like let's make it less like freamy and rich, and people freaked out.
And he was like, no, you know what, Actually, kinda in the summer, people really want a big bowl of pasta. So Kate came up with all these recommendations. There is actually eighteen online, so you should go online to read the full thing. But there's the Buffalo Milk Caramel at don Angie in the village. There's Peachy al Arabiazza lod Eye in Midtown, which a lot of us love because
we work not too far away. And the Cavatelli with Jamaican beef ragu at Teresi, And so if you can get in, good luck is really incredible.
I've actually eaten at Resdora with Kate and that was quite an experience. I highly recommend you know what.
I like about restaurant, But it's a list of places I've never been, always aspirational. You can there's one in Brooklyn, Daphne in Brooklyn. You can get Yeah, let's go. I have beef beef cheek ragou. Let's go there.
What could be better?
You're talking about pasta earlier.
It's actually today's my favorite food. Plasta's my favorite food. So this is perfect.
It's kind of perfect. Speaking of perfect, how about picking a perfect hat. Tim showed me a picture of a hat he wears on the weekends. It is not this kind of like he's on safari. I can picture it. I know exactly what it is. My husband has the same hate. There's no sun penetrating any of it. I kind of love this some fun hats.
The type of hat that I wear is not the type of hat that one would wear if they were seeking a mate. Let's just say that. Okay, Okay, so it's a good hat for people who are coupled. Okay, so not a good hat.
Yeah, this is the kind of stuff that comes out after the rings on the finger.
Yeah, this is like, you know what, I'm not concerned in that department.
These are a mix that this is. So we did a story that's like how it's not too late to be a hat person. August is a great time, maybe even recommended by your doctor time to wear a big hat to cover it, to get the sun out of your face. And we have a really great mix of cool hats and then also sort of silly hats. I would argue that the cool hats are the silly hats. There's a great visor that just says the weekend on it. I think Tim has that his name written all over it.
Please please make it happen. What I love about these, though, is you can get a hat for fifty dollars up to fifteen hundred dollars, so it really runs the gamut.
Yeah, that's like I was going to say, you think product doesn't make hats, lot To makes hats.
I kind of love the one with the netting. It's it's kind of.
Yes, does that. Yeah, there's one with netting by Steven Jones, who's a real like crazy milliner like he like hote Coatur. You see his hats on the runway.
Is the Prada hat missing some materials because it looks like you get a sunburn in the shape of triangles all over your body. Yeah.
The Prada hat is a bucket hat that has these It's woven and has these triangle cutouts. It's I would say it's more of a fashion excess.
Hat triangles. I also do like the one. Is it number five on the list. It's from Paris, Casablanca, Paris.
Oh yeah, just really cutee very cute.
Well look good on your daughter.
Yeah, yeah, that would look.
Nice before we go, because we love you and you are Chris Rouser and we always check out what watch you're wearing.
It's an Apple Watch today the quiet Rolex always bust me when I wear an Apple Watch. Yes, what is that?
So?
Rolex last year at the at the big trade show in Geneva, launched a totally new watch, which is unusual for them. They don't do that a lot. And it looks nothing like.
Any Cimex, which I love.
Timexes said, the Lex looks like a Times.
Because it's very classic.
It's very classic. It's called a perpetual nineteen oh eight.
Chris is like, I can't talk to Master anymore.
I'm I'm leaving.
Well, So it came out last year and I you know, I didn't love it. I was like, I don't get why Rolex is doing this. It's a classic dress watch. It came in yellow or white, gold, black or white face. It looked very simple and they have these like big sports watches that people Everyone really likes that from them. The cool thing about it though, is that it has
a transparent back. Of this line these nineteen oh eights and the whole thing about Rolex is they deprioritize the workings of the watch, which is what a lot of companies are like this. We have these amazing movements. Open up the back you can see look at the amazing watchmaking. And Rolex's thing has always been not about what their watchmaking says about them, but what you wearing a Rolex says about you. So you're not really supposed to be like showing off the mechanics and all of that. And
so this line does show off the mechanics. And they came out with a new version, a new one this year that's Platinum, has this ice blued geochet dial. The line didn't make sense to me last year, but this one is so cool. It's very chic. I really get it. It's like a tradition, Platinum last forever. It's so strong. I really sort of see a new tradition coming out of this.
And only cost what thirty thousand dollars.
Only costs thirty thirty one thousand dollars.
Like a TIMEX.
Yeah.
Whenever Brad the new editor or a BusinessWeek asks he's a watch in the section, he says, how much is that watch? I said, this one is a very affordable thirty one thousand.
Yeah, it's a five figure watch rather than a six figure watch. Hey, a big thank you to Chris Rauser. He's the editor of Bloomberg Pursuits. You love him, and we love him.
We certainly do.
That wraps up the weekend edition of Bloomberg Business Week from Bloomberg.
Ready.
I don't know if he still loves me, since it makes no I love it all right. Thank you so much for joining us. Everybody.
I'm Tim Stanoveek, I'm Carol Masser.
Have a good and safe weekend. Wear a hat, everybody.
This is the Bloomberg Business Week podcast, available on Apple, Spotify, and anywhere else you get your podcasts. Listen live weekday afternoons from two to five pm Eastern on Bloomberg dot Com, the iHeartRadio app, tune In, and the Bloomberg Business app. You can also watch us live every weekday on YouTube and always on the Bloomberg Journal