Bloomberg Businessweek Weekend - June 11th, 2021

Outdoors from the company CEO. Plus, we talked to our Dr Rachel Do, the co founder of Mody Health, on how her company changed during the pandemic. Also, Tim, we get a fascinating tale on the life cycle of a pair of jeans, tour and jeans not right now, but I do every day, all right? Well, listen, that pair of jeans when you are wearing them, goes through a lot.

We'll get the story from the author of Unraveled, The Life and Death of a garment and later on Margaritaville in Times Square, Jimmy Buffett's laid back state of mind finding a home in the heart of Manhattan Marguerite Deville in New York as a performing musician. New York is probably the hardest market to ever crack as a lot of performer. But I broke through, and I did it with a lot of hard work and a lot of inspiration from other people. I had to just look at

it as this. It's an island, and I've I've been an island boy for a long time. It's a little different island, So I got to figure out how to get these islanders, to figure out what those other island just like about what I'll do. For more on that story in an overview of our latest issue, let's bring in the editor of the magazine, Joel Webber. Joel will go inside this unusual attraction in just a moment, but

I want to start on a more serious note. This week, a Senate report is blaming intelligence and security failures for the January six riot at the US Capitol, and a group of online salutes is helping to I d some of those who took part that story in the politics section.

That's right that they called themselves this edition hunters, and it's really a total amateur network who following the January January six insurrection turned the Internet into basically a man hunt in an attempt to find some of the people who were perpetrators. And they've been successful, um, but they've also not been successful. What motivates them, Joel, It's really

a quest for justice. And when you think about the historical president for something like this, like I was fascinated by this, this idea that you know, when when JFK was assassinated, there was really just one piece of footage that you know, millions of people spent decades boring over this time. Because of the amount of cameras and footage and everything that we that we have at at our availability, it's it's a mountain of options for everyone to sleuth through.

All right, Tel, So let's get to a story now in the feature section. President Trump has been kind of quiet until last weekend. Uh, he did make a speech in North Carolina. So let's talk about his life post White House. It's a little bit different from other past presidents. Well, mar Lago is really the center of that, and it's almost like a like a retreat, a winter retreat, if

you will. And and granted he's now in New Jersey at his home in Bedminster, but what Josh really, Josh Green, who wrote the story, really writes about here is that mar Lago is basically the center of an alternative universe for GOP hardliners who are in favor of Trump and his presidency, and it's really the center of its own universe, and it has had a gravitational poll on really a

lot of the heavyweights within the Trump orbit. So center of certainly he is the center of attention, I should say, down there in mar Lago, when he's down there in Florida specifically, but I do wonder about his grasp on the Republican Party. Is the center of the Republican Party right now? Yeah, And that's really big, Hume. What's clear, and we've seen that just within the last weeks and months, as the whole law in the party is very much

still in his hands. Um, that it's and that's been the draw to Florida is that there's one of the one of the sources that Josh got was an amazing quote from was as long as the fish are still biting, you don't take your your lure out of the water, right. And this is the sense that from from fundraising, from even just being shouldering up to the former president. To do all of that stuff, you have to be in South Florida near him, and that has created like this

um sticky quality of being down there too. Whereas a lot of people would usually be leaving, now South Florida has become this this little universe of for the GOP. All Right, I gotta talk to us about a story in the finance section FOMO big time, whether it's something Elon Musk is tweeting about, or a meme stock or buying a house. At this point, there's an incredible fear

of missing out right now. Yeah, So Leonel Lauren wrote the story and and it really I think helps some up not only multiple stories in the issue, but just the zeitgeist that I think many investors feel right now. I mean, we have some of the most prominent investors in the world, professional investors in the world saying that they're even feeling like they've been missing out on stuff.

And and just as a as a normal person who's like goes to the playground with his son and it's like I'm getting tons of inquiries and and people pitching different stuff, and it just feels like it's what it's this cacophony of alternative things that are suddenly captivating us and as a society. And I thought Leonel did a really good job of pulling that together. Whether it's meme, stocks or housing, you name it, it's trading cards, it's like it's all over the place. Well back to our

cover story now, Joel. And usually when the name Buffett is uttered on Bloomberg, we're not talking we're talking about Warren, but not this time. We are talking about Jimmy Buffett. Joel. Uh. Margaritaville Enterprises just just a massive, massive company. What's with the latest project happening right here in New York City? Well, you hit it right. This is the other Buffett and Jimmy Buffett basically had a song, Margariteville, that inspired a

business empire. And it's really never been written about how parrot heads um his followers. It's this cult following. And now he's basically conquered New York, which has long been even as a musician. It was a tip that somebody told him, is like, you've got to be able to conquer New York. And so now years later, here he is with this three and seventy million dollar hotel that's just opening in New York. As New York reopens, it's its own economy, the perfect symbol for getting things back

to normal. Jimmy Buffett being back here in New York City. Joel Webber, editor of the magazine, thanks so much for joining us. Coming up as summer approaches, one sporting goods company is having trouble keeping up with the demand offense. Everybody wants to get outside. I love it too. You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week is Bloomberg. This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and Bloomberg Quick Takes Tim Spinovik from Bloomberg Radio. Academy Sports and Outdoors. Tim, they

went public back in October. It's up of that from its I p O, the KKR back company. It has certainly seen its stock on a tear this year alone, nearly double A and Academy reported earnings this week, raising its forecast for its fiscal year despite some ongoing issues tied to the COVID nineteen pandemic. That's right, they laid it out in their financial filing. Ken Hicks is Chairman

Presidency of Academy Sports and Outdoors. He's also former chairman and CEO Foot Locker and Ken began with an update on academies business. We're obviously seeing some very strong business. Uh. We're you know, reported sales up almost thirty nine percent and and very strong profits. And we've up to our estimate for a year two between UH six and nine percent. Uh. And what we're seeing is the customer who found the new hobby, found fishing or camping, were riding bikes, built

their home gym, is coming back and buying more. And so people who got into the outdoors uh or into a sport are really continuing with that. Well, that's interesting. And your supply chain, you guys have had no problem meeting everything that you needed to. Well, no, the s fly chain, the supply chain is a challenge, but you know, we never closed during COVID and we were able to stay open and that allowed us to be able to

order goods and see what was happening. And so i'd say we're a little bit ahead of some of the others and our team is just doing a terrific job getting the merchandise through. But it is not easy. So we still don't have of inventory issues in some areas, but overall it's at an acceptable level. Is it getting easier. Are you seeing things you know, kind of lighten up in terms of the supply chain getting more you know normal? If I can, I think we're going to see this

through the remainder of the year. How does that make you change? You're thinking about how you want your supply chain to work going forward? Well, we actually, uh have a major study underway right now. We're going to take some significant actions to improve our supply chain going forward to really make it more flexible and more up to date. We you know, it works okay, but we're gonna need as we grow, a much stronger supply chain. What does that mean though, Ken? Does that mean more stuff in

your backyard to where you're selling? What does it mean? Because I'm assuming most of your your sales are helped me out here, remind me, is it mostly North America? US? All of our sales are US. We're in uh the south central part of the United States. And you know

the thing better systems, better processes. Uh. You know, we've got the infrastructure in terms of buildings, but what we need now are better processes and systems to be able to track and flow the goods through the system faster and more accurately and keep a better eye on it. So it's not necessarily manufacturing bringing manufacturing back home to the U S. You just need systems that can track it. I think I've always the Apple model where I could buy a phone and I could tell where it was

at every step of the you know, the stages. That's what you're looking to do. Yeah, car right on. Hey, listen in the ken in the corporate earnings release, you guys noted there. Here's a direct quote. There is still economic concertainty from the impact of COVID, niteen and other external factors. Is that the supply chain or something else? I would say, just it's the supply chain is part of it. But also you know, people are still uh trying to find their way in what they do in

our markets. A lot of people have been out for a while, but you know, how will people spend their money? Uh, and how long people will continue with some of the hobbies and habits that they've got. We're seeing that they're continuing.

But as people go out to eat more, go on vacations and things, you know that there's a there's always a risk of of how much money they have to spend on other adventures right the while it is just so wide and so you make choices, and most people would say so thin, exactly exactly, especially you've got a kid in college. Hey, listen, when they want to ask you, your stock is nearly shorted the float as a percentage

excuse me of the float. I know CEOs don't like to talk about their stock price, But in the world of meme stocks, where high short positions get the attention of the retail redded investor crowd, are you a little concerned about getting caught up in that? Not really, because the the I think the lift we we saw it today and we've seen so far is based on the performance that we had. And unlike some of the other stocks that you you're referring to, they don't have the

underlying foundation of a good, solid business. We do. We've got sales growth, we've got profit growth, and we have opportunities for uh, you know, expansion online and in other markets that a lot of other people don't have. So we've got that solid foundation to continue to grow, and I think that's what will allow us to whether through some of the challenges that other other stocks have seen. Can really quickly twenty seconds one item that's just flying

off the shelfs right now. Uh tense ten people. People are camping like crazy, tens flying off the shells. Everybody wants to go camping this summer. Listen. I spent a lot of time in the last week or so now that the weather is better outside, and I get it, I've kind of forgotten we've had a pandemic. I haven't had a mask on. Uh, from the minute I get up, from the minute I go to bed. It's a different experience outdoors, way better than indoors any day of the week.

Ken Hicks's chairman, president and CEO of Academy Sports and Outdoors. Still ahead on Bloomberg Business Week Holistic Approach to Health, and later on our cover story on the Pirate taking on New York City Jimmy Buffett, Margueritaville and its new attraction in Times Square. Can't say it enough, but it's five o'clock somewhere well, Martin. Marinaville is kind of an enigma. That's where the something that I never envisioned happening when I wrote that song in about five minutes on the

seven Mile Bridge. It just goes to show you that anything can happen in America. That story is still to go. This is Bloomberg Broadcasting from the financial capital of the World, Bloomberg eleven Rio in New York to Washington, d C. Bloomberg to Boston, Bloomberg one oh six one does San Francisco, Bloomberg nine sixty to the country Sirius xm Chado one nine team, and around the globe the Bloomberg Business app and Bloomberg Radio dot Com. This is Bloomberg Business Week.

And the health of Americans has really been in the spotlight, yes because of the pandemic, but also because of comorbidities during this health crisis, and we're now looking at our health, not just our physical well being, but also our well being. Everything matters. Yet that holistic approach to medicine and health that Dr Eva Do focuses on. She's the co founder of Moody Health. It's a platform that offers both live telemedicine and telewellness consultations, as well as an on demand

health and wellness streaming service. Here's Dr Do. We've seen a dramatic increase of users and patients on our platform. Obviously during the pandemic when things were shut down and people were staying in. Having access to virtual care as well as virtual health and well being support was critically important. So the pandemic has really um skyrocketed us and really expanded our our platform significantly over the last fourteen months. Dr Do are you offering vaccinations? No, we're not. We're

a truly virtually not even hybrid exactly. So we are a virtual platform that offers virtual care with every type of practitioner you could possibly want, so you can really get a holistic approach everything from traditional primary care to mental health, to complementary alternative life coaches, nutrition, as well as a streaming service and health memberships that allow a holistic approach to getting the support, guidance and tools you need.

I'm really curious about the holistic approach because one thing that the pandemic has done, among the many things, is it's it's shown us the verities between many different types of people in the US and around the world, and indeed, we've seen those with cold morbidities suffer worse fates when

they do get sick with coronavirus. And I'm wondering if you can speak to the way that you perhaps think that we may start to actually think differently about taking a holistic approach to medicine on the other side of the pandemic, it's such a critically important issue right now. You're absolutely right, people are really looking at their health

from a different perspective. You know what we're seeing at MOTI Health and really within the industry of health and well being care is a higher level of interest and attention to preventative health and wellness, including mental health, and the pandemics really created a significant amount of stress and emotional strain on so many who are now also in

need of mental and emotional health support. And you're completely correct when you're talking about the need for a holistic approach, more inclusive ability these and access to people of all different backgrounds. And that's one of the reasons why a virtual health platform is such such a timely and important

need right now within the industry. So having virtual access really does create more accessibility to people being able no matter what type of income, level of background, that you are being able to have access to whole person care to really optimize your health and well being. Not only during the era of COVID, decreasing risk of getting COVID or becoming extremely ill from COVID, but also on the

other side of the pandemic. To really optimize your health and well being so that you can experience health, wellness and really thrive as a human being is so important. But there is still this technological gap between many people in the United States, and we saw that really play out when it came to the way that people were

scheduling and given access to vaccines. There were many people in the US who didn't necessarily have the technological know how in order to schedule those appointments, and I'm wondering how you account for that with a telemedicine service. Unfortunately, you know, a system that was rolled out very quickly. It was an emergency UM you know response, and so it wasn't necessarily set up in the most accessible way to those who are elderly or those who didn't have

access to a computer or a smartphone for example. So when it comes to platforms like ours, um, really all you need is Internet access and it's as simple and easy to use as something like a Facebook, right. So being able when it comes to health technology to make it more accessible, it's not only about having access to the physical platform, right, So that's Internet connectivity but you really have to be designing the user experience for people

of all different technology levels and skills. That's Dr Rachel even Do. She's the co founder of Moody Health and listen, we've had these conversations a lot over the past year or so and just talking about holistic health. It had some momentum pre pandemic him, but definitely has picked up a lot of speed. And this whole idea of the digitization of our world has also picked up speed. And

that includes finally in medicine. And I think as we hear from these medical professionals, tell the medicine it's here to stay. It is, and even beyond that, Carol, I think it made a lot of people rethink their own priorities in life and what they wanted to be doing. And this holistic approach to health, it not only includes physical health, but it includes mental health and mental state and how you're feeling about things. How many meditation apps do you have on your phone? How many do I use?

The question? That's true, I have several. I don't know he's using as much as I should. You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week coming up next. We're looking at the life cycle of a pair of genes. I'll tell you it goes around the world. This is Bloomberg. You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and bloom Burg

Quick Takes Tim Stinovik from Bloomberg Radio. We've talked about this a lot, the fashion and retail industry's impact on the environment, and Tim, there's a new book out it looks into this. It's entitled Unraveled, The Life and Death of a Garment. It's by Maxine Beta, founder and director of the think tank New Standard Institute, which describes itself as a think in due tank using data and the power of citizens to turn the fashion industry into a

force for good. And prior to running NSI, she co founded and was the CEO of z D. It's a fashion Brandon lifestyle destination. It's got the goal of creating a transparent and sustainable future for the apparel industry. But let's get back to her book, because it is called Unraveled and Tim, it truly follows the life cycle of a pair of genes. You know about that, right, Yeah,

It's involves so mining resources. The book part the story of a pair of gene It starts in a cotton field in West text it travels to UM, then China to see where that cotton is turned into a textile. Then it goes from UM China to Bangladesh where that text stile is cut and sown into a garment UM and then travels back to the United States to the distribution centers the Amazon facilities, where I got the opportunity to speak to the UM workers there as well. UM

and then it it UM. I spoke to a lot of shoppers understanding their relationship to clothing, why they're buying the clothes UM and after the brief stop in UM a shopper's closet that the clothes are donated or are thrown out and and UM. The book UH follows that along UM Sugana, where the second hand market of clothing UH is significant, UM and the landfill there where a

lot of our clothing actually ends up. I don't know how you feel, but the pandemic has made me kind of rethink a lot of things in my life, and that includes stuff. I grew up with a mom who was like, by quality, you don't need a lot of stuff, you just need good stuff. You know, and think it would be thoughtful. We've really evolved into a consumption society where you know, when we talk a lot about fast fashion, you weard a couple of times it was inexpensive, you

toss it out. Um, what was the most disturbing thing? Are things that you found out in doing this book? Yeah, I think it's it's really the the speed, um, the accumulation, um. You know, the scale of the industry and where where it's leaving workers and workers not you know, workers in women in bangladeshion and women make up a large percentage

of the garment workers Googly and also the workers domestically. UM. You know, we not tend not to think about Amazon as a session company, but it is the largest online apparel retailer um in terms of number of shoppers. In the book, you know, I I got to go to China and see these rivers that are black, and then I went to Bangladesh and the rivers became even more black and Ghana at the end, which was, um, you know,

the most black rivers you got to actually see. I was able to see the impact that our clothing has and that's something that's such a huge shift from even a generation ago, because in the sixties of clothing that Americans war with American made today that's less than so we don't see the interact that our clothing has UM. But yet it's a normous and the rivers are black. I'm assuming it's runoff from the manufacturing and dies or what have you. Yes, exactly, Maxine. You know sometimes we

talk about the food industry. There's been books before over the past few decades that if you really knew what was in certain foods, you probably wouldn't need it. And I do wonder how much of what we wear, if we really understood the process of it, you know, ultimately ending up in our closet, how many of us would say, you know what, I don't want it? Yeah, I think it definitely. I mean going through this process has changed my relationship to so they for sure, UM And you know,

I I see the work that goes into it. I see the resources and the environmental impact that it has UM and so I've I've definitely changed the relationship to my own order grope. But it hasn't been one of um you know that I try to resist ever over buying anything. It's actually been a very positive experience. Or I realized you know, I don't have to jump on

that trend that's kind of being pushed on me. I can, you know, really love my clothes, and so you know, that's that's the message that I'm trying to get across, as if we actually moved to a relationship where we you know, deeply loved our things, we will end up wearing them more. UM and that is actually the biggest driver of the reduction in resource us. It's just increasing that you of our clothing. I got a teenager who definitely looks at kind of what a company stands for

and their impact on the environment. You're seeing increasingly, certainly kind of startup companies and even some of the major companies really look at their impact at the environment and figuring out how to do it better. How hard is it, though, to do it better to manufacture it to reduce the

impact on the environment. How difficult is it? Really? Yeah, I think what we have to recognize is, you know, as you were saying, it's uh, it's the young generation that is really understanding, you know, the environmental crisis in which we find ourselves in. Um and so they're the

ones that are really pushing for this change. But what we're at this place right now where the industry is responding with um, you know, quite a lot of marketing around sustainability, but we're not seeing a lot of disclosures UM talk about financial disclosures, but environmental disclosures that are clear that are you know, apples apples con person So it's very hard for consumers to be able to understand what is a company that is you know, doing your

work and what is kind of greenwashing along the way right right, And we we have this similar conversation when it comes to diversity and inclusion. Right there's a lot of conversations going on it once again, and and it's you know, taking the words and turning them into action

so that there are change. I guess my question is, though, can we easily or can we make the changes, the necessary changes so that there aren't workers who are basically, um, you know, kind of in a prison cell manufacturing the sweater that I'm wearing or the genes that I'm wearing. Is there ways to do it so that the dyes aren't running off into the water in developing markets? Can

we do it in an affordable way? Because I remember a conversation years ago with someone who said, listen, we can do it in a better way, but are you ready to pay seventy bucks for that T shirt? You know, so can we do it? Basically? Is the question? The answer the simple answers yes, um. You know it's not. It doesn't take new technology to improve the energy of energy efficiency in mills and to switch over to alternative

energies UM UM at the mills. And I talked about the mills because that's really the UM ground zero when we talk about energy, climate emission UM and chemical emissions is at that phase where you're turning the fiber into a textile. So really this is possible. And the researchers who are focused on e f G, who have been looking in terms of the labor side UM have also said as well that it wouldn't mean a seven D

dollar T shirt. In fact, it would be something like fifteen additional scents and that's even yes, but the cost would be absorbed you know, by the by the consumer, not the company itself. How do we move the mark? How do we do it or who has to do it within the industry. Yeah, so that's the work that we're you know, focusing in on the Standard Institute now is we need to move to a place that is

beyond this marketing talk, beyond the talk um. We need to have very clear disclosures around the total environmental impact, actual disclosures around wages. And that's the way that we can be able to kind of move from the race to the bottom to a race to the top. And so that's the kind of policy that we're pushing, um trying to advance at NSI is a place that we can have a level field um and make the progress we need to make in the time frame that we

need to make it. What is the time frame realistically that we can make these changes. Well, you know, uh, you know, it's it's what it's always a tough part right now. We find it with climate change, right people put out goals and they're like, Okay, we're gonna be carbon neutral or have a zero carbon impact, but we're going to do it, you know, twenty years from now. I mean, it's like it seems like a long time because a lot of damage is done in the interim exactly.

And I think that even the bigger problems that the executives who are you making those commitments are like, we're not going to be there at that time. So you know that's why if we if we move, we keep those targets, but moved to disclosures. Right now, we're creating the right incentive incentives you know, with in the C suite to actually make the progress right now and not kick the can. And and it isn't it doesn't you know,

as I said, it's rocket science. Um. You know the people who are doing this work, you know, it ends up a lot of it being cost saving because it's about energy efficiency. UM. So this is very possible. It's about getting needs to work together on their facilities. But it is highly doable. We just have to create the

will to make it happen. Is there one company that you point out is saying, listen, this company has really been bad in terms of you know, fast fashion if you will, or just you know, we want something, we get it quickly and we think about consumption differently. Just got about thirty seconds left. Yeah, I mean, I think any of those um companies they're with their business model

is getting us to something and where it one. And there's just you know, women you know are are there are the surveys that are finding that women are seeing that they're clothing feels old after wearing it. Only one that type of model that we need to kind of move away from. That's Maccine Beta, author of the new book Unraveled, and just talking about you know, starting from the cotton fields in essentially the United States and just being manufactured overseas and then ending up in a junk

pile ultimately. You know, I was thinking about this. It's it's like what we think about when it comes to food, and the conversation has changed around food and where your food comes from. I think increasingly people are going to

start thinking the same way about their garments. Well, you and I have had this conversation just this past week about we just take certain things for granted, and then when you start to break it down, whether it's when we can access websites, we're like, oh wait, how does it actually happen? And then you understand some of the vulnerable points or some of the impacts it has kind of on our world. Hey, we're all connected. Yeah, exactly. Well that reps up the first half of the weekend

edition to Bloomberg Business Week from Bloomberg Radio. I'm All Masser and I'm Tim Stanovick. Coming up in our next hour, how a MC became the people's stock by not being a game stop remake plus wasting away in Times Square, we hear from Mr Margheritaville himself. We're talking about Jimmy Buffett.

It is this week's cover story. This is Bloomberg. This is Bloomberg Business Week inside from the reporters and editors who bring you America's most trusted business magazine, plus global business finance and tech news as it happened, s Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and Bloomberg Quick Takes. Tim

Stinovik on Bloomberg Radio. Hi am Carol Masser and I'm Tim Stanobeck plenty head in our second hour of the weekend edition to Bloomberg Business Week, including the president of the Client Solutions Group over at Deell Technologies, Tim on whether we are continuing to use more PCs, laptops and tablets as we increasingly moved to the other side of the pandemic and some of us getting away from working from home, some of us still staying there well, speaking

of what's going to happen in the future. We're also going to speak with Jamie Metzel, technology futurist on a new fund in town tracking the biology revolution plus the Margaritaville lifestyle courtesy of Jimmy Buffett and cultivated and followed by his disciples of parrot heads. You know who you are. It's all now coming to New York's Times Square. So to have a Margaritaville in Tom Square and having had in the Broadway experience, this is kind of the icing

on the cake to take in New York today. The first up this hour, though, this is a voice we've checked in with several times throughout the pandemic. Yeah, we've asked him about things such as everyone moving to Austin, I T. Spending in the demand, or the death of the PC. Well Sambird joined us again. He is president of the Client Solutions Group of at Dell Technologies. He's responsible for Dell's commercial and consumer client portfolio that includes notebooks, desktops, workstations, tablets,

and software. Basically, tim a lot of stuff. Yeah, well, like we do right now. We began by asking how he's doing and how things have changed since the last

time we spoke back in December. Yes, since since we talked, we talked about some of the demand we saw in the PC industry in the space that my business operates for Dell, and you know, we we saw we closed out the year as we thought with really strong demand Carol, the industry had ship three d and two million units last year, which was a record in the past six years. And then you know, since that point in time, we've

seen really strong continued demand in my space. So just ended our first quarter, had revenue growth in our business, a record for Q one, and um continued strong profitability in the business. What is it specifically? I love when we can drill down with someone like you, you know, is it notebooks, as it desktops, as at workstations? Is it peace? Like you and I have talked about the death of the PC for a long time. UM, what

is it dough that really kind of ramped up? Yeah, well we saw and you know, last time we talked a little bit about we we joked out the death of the PC, and then seeing the PC really become an important tool for people in the in the past year, critical whether you were doing work from home, learning from home, just trying to you know, get a kind of escape valve and entertain yourself at all. Now comes to us in our home on our PC. So it's a really

important tool for people to have. It's a great friend, it's a great asset, and we we've seen growth, Carol, in all different spaces. So we continue to see demand in the consumer space as people move to more of a one to one kind of computing model of I need when I'm at home, I need my PC to be able to do my stuff on my PC. We're seeing the commercial space grow, We're seeing notebooks grow, and then interestingly, in the last quarter or so, I've seen I would say we have seen a resurgence in in

demand around desktops. We've still seen a market that has shifted more to people wanting notebooks and mobile computing, but desktops that were shrinking a lot last year and mobile was hyper growing, we're now seeing growth in the desktop space as well. So desktop I'm assuming you mean like in the business commercial space, correct, you know, we see

it in the business commercial space. We see also see it at home, like people will use it at home for for gaming or for maybe it's just a great system that I keep in one place, an archive a lot of my data on Yeah, listen, I always thought I remember growing up and I think getting like the first calculator. It's like that was a calculator for the family, you know what I mean. And it's just we've really evolved to everybody has their phone, everybody has a laptop,

everybody or might also have a desktop. I mean, there really is this this whole idea of this one to one commuting model, computing model. Excuse me, you really do see it evolving, especially after year like this past year. Oh, I think that's exactly right, Carol. We we joke and call it to you know, do anything from from anywhere world and the reality is to make that happen, and you can do that today and people are doing that today,

they will do that in the future. Technology plays a huge part in that and whether it's a you know, a home and a one to one environment or think about you know, businesses, and it used to be technology and PCs were like the domain of the I. T. Department. It's now everywhere in the company. It's you know, the technology you're putting in someone's hands. It matters when they decide to take the job. Line of business. Leaders in a company care about that technology because it helps their

you know, their team be more productive, more innovative. Do great things for their customers. So it really is that kind of world you described. It's it's you know, changed from the one for a lot of people to everyone needs their own and it needs to be a really great tool. I hear a lot of optimism. What about the supply chain and being able to get the components, chips and the like that you need to kind of keep this momentum going. You know, we you know, we

definitely are working around getting those parts. We have a world class supply chain. But when you look at the way the global economy has improved, Carol, and there's a there's a greater demand for everything, including PCs with the growth we expect this year, there's a shortage out there

of semiconductors. So we are operating in that environment. We've operated with some shortages in our industry for the past three years and been successful, and we think we have a team and a forecast in an approach that will get us, uh, you know, the parts that we need. We're definitely in a challenged supply world. That was Sanbury, president of the Client Solutions Group at Dell Technologies, coming out how a MC became the people's stock by not

being a Game Stop remake. This is Bloomberg. This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and Bloomberg Quick Takes Tim Stintovan from Bloomberg Radio. The day doesn't seem to go by without us talking a little bit about the meme stock of the from Hurts to Game Stop to AMC and even most recently Wendy's I was just gonna say it continues on. One story reported for Business Week is about how AMC became the people stock by not

being a Game Stop remake. Filling us in is Bloomberg News High Yield, Distressed Debt and Bankruptcy reporter Cat Doherty and Business Week editor Jill Weber. When we were thinking about, um,

what an interesting take on it would be? Um, Kat and her co author Brandon cod And kind of hit on something that I thought was particularly interesting, which is, actually, it's almost like AMC learned from Game Stop in real time from earlier this year and was able to sort of have a slightly different response that might make a world of difference for them. Uh So Cat talk to us about that, what's different about this meme stock than uh, you know, the mania that we saw earlier this year.

So There's two main differences that we point out in our piece. The first is the company a MC leaning into UH the enthusiasm from all of its investors and from the Reddit crowd that is out there um and making trends on Twitter and hashtags AMC Army. They're communicating directly with those people, and they're offering perks like free large popcorns in a movie when you sign up and you are an investor with a MC. We saw the exact opposite with Game Stop when it's shares were surging

and it was trending online and on social media. Management didn't acknowledge or communicate with that crowd in the same way. Now, what AMC has done is it's taken that enthusiasm and it's issued new shares this week and every time that it's doing that, sure it's deluding the existing shareholders, but for everyone involved, for all shareholders UM and debt holders,

that means more cash on the balance sheet. And this is a company that has deferred rent payments coming to They do have very high coupon payments on their debt, so when the interest payments are coming, they need cash to pay that. And so every time that they have announced these equity sales or issuing new shares that is just more cash that the company can use and and prosper into the future. Yeah, and you know it's interesting.

First of all, I can't imagine like a company going to a big institutional inns investor, pension ventsy ever going through some popcorn your way or something like. It just wouldn't work. But it's different this kind of retail investor militia um cat that's out there, and it is interesting to see the CEO kind of playing to them directly exactly. I'm we in our story referenced this TikTok video UM

that I think captures this sentiment perfectly. It's a young millennial that walks into an AMC and the cashiers asked him does he need anything, and he says no, I'm I'm okay, I'm just checking on the feeders. And the cashier looks back and he says, well, would you work here? And his answer is no, but I'm a part owner or I'm I'm one of I'm the money, he says. And I think that that sentiment is it's hilarious, um and in in an entertaining way. It really depicts what's

going on here. You have these investors and a lot of them they're popping on threads and they're talking about experiences at AMC or wanting to save AMC. There's some personal connection UM that we're seeing here. And you saw that too with a company like Hurts, when people were jumping into that name and they recognized the branch, they recognized the name. Some of these meme stocks they have that similarity, that similar thread running through where there are

people that have engaged with these companies. You know, gel are in a different world here. Well, what I love about it is like it kind of can inspire those of those who maybe don't own a MC, Like I'm just gonna look through my portfolio this weekend and decide what am I part owner of that I'm going to go kind of like show up and sail a part owner of UM. But but you know, in serious like, I'm I'm drawn to this idea that there is a change and even what it means to be a CEO.

Because of this and that you know, you we could potentially see you know, executives interacting with with investors, small time investors in a in a completely different way going forward, Do you feel like there's is this um sort of a canary in the coal mine. Are we going to see more stuff like this going forward? It's a great question and something that we're definitely tracking because we haven't

had any moment in time to compare it to. This is such a unique um these unique circumstances that are popping up because of everything that's come before. So you have the pandemic, people at home, people engaging on social media. I think social media, that social media was there even beforehand, but this is like an extreme. This is kind of

the next level. And I think that we're we're gonna see if a free popcorn or these incentives, if there are other companies that might offer I don't know, a free T shirt or um, a visit to a location, if it's a retailer, or or an experience. UM. I it's it's definitely an interesting trend. That's trend that's becoming more and more popular. I gotta say in the normal times, I frequent a c not not infrequently, like, and I have to also see that, like it's just not that

good of an experience. The popcorn is not that good. I don't see myself wearing an AMC shirt. But you know, like especially when you compare it to like the Alamo that I go to in Brooklyn, it's just like a completely different experience. So like I get all of it, and I think it also just does speak to like the moment of people being so cooped up for for a year that even AMC starts to sound good, right, Carol, I mean, like, Chryl, are you going to AMC this week?

That's a no cat? Are you going? I well, it's look, if I'm trying to listen, you might have some reporting to call. The coin is though, this story isn't over, And like that's the thing, as we watched the gyrations on a sometimes hourly basis in this stock cat, we have to remember that this story isn't over yet. Just quickly,

it definitely is not. And I was I have woke up every single morning, um, and I know when there's some sort of when there's an active story going on, I can judge it by my inbox and because of a m C I have just I know every single time my alarm goes off, Well, here we go again, and it's it seems like the same story, but it's not. It's just the development. That's Bloomberg's Cat Doherty and Business Week editor Joel Webber. You're listening to Bloomberg business Week.

Coming up, wisdom Tree has a new funny. It's tracking advancements in biology. All that and more coming up this biz Bloomberg Broadcast from the financial capital of the World, Bloomberg eleven Frio in New York to Washington, d C. Bloomberg to Boston, Bloomberg one O six one to San Francisco, Bloomberg nine sixty to the country Sirius XM Chado one nineteen and around the globe the Bloomberg Business app and Bloomberg Radio dot Com. This is Bloomberg business Week. Definitely

a friend of the show. While he dropped by again, we're talking about Jamie Metzel. He's senior fellow over at Atlantic Council, former director on the U. S. National Security Council, the State Department, and on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Founder and chair of the Global Movement One Shared World. I gotta say, is a bio and background is just killer. Yeah.

Quite the resume for Jamie Matze. Also a special strategies for wisdom Tree leverage data from Metzel and its construction of the Wisdom Tree bio Revolution Index and the Wisdom Tree Bio Revolution Fund and et F targeting companies expected

to be impacted by advancements in genetics and biotechnology. Listen, it's a strategy, tim that we've seen with Kathy wood over at Ark invest This has been one of her verticals of looking at what's going on in the mapping of the genome and the impact it's really having on biotechnology and science at large. Yeah, and incredibly hot space right now. Jamie joined us with more along with Jeremy Schwartz,

global head of Research at Wisdom Trade. The big issue is that we are we humanity are at the earliest stages of a revolution that is already changing the way

we do and think about healthcare. But this is like the equivalent of the early days of industrialization or the early days of the Internet revolution, where the incredibly powerful tools of the genetics and biotechnology revolutions aren't just going to transform healthcare, but these same capabilities will over time fundamentally transform a lot of other fields, including agriculture, material energy,

data storage. And so I've always thought that this was just an incredible investment opportunity, and then last year Um, I somebody reached out to me and it was Jeremy Short Jerry, what was it about it that was so appealing to you guys? Well, you know, we've been doing a lot of investment around these big trends or we're calling mega trends and growth opportunities. And I read Jamie's book. Actually one of my friends had highlighted as something that

he was doing some investing around. I read the book and I was like, Wow, these are these are really big picture trends that's changing our lives. Um. And then I started thinking about how do we identify these companies on an ongoing basis? And I just reached out to Jamie and said, let's start the conversation. Are you interested in collaborating on something like this. We've been working with deep, thoughtful partners in this collab reform. You need to really

know the space and know the cutting edge technologies. H and I view Jamie as this biology guru who really could help us guide the big picture. What are the

important technologies, what are the important companies? And getting some collaboration from Jamie on identifying these technologies and companies H has has has been a really great so what's the data specifically behind the index that ultimately led to the e t f UM Jamie, what was what was it the data that was specifically used because I think you know, when you're talking about things that can impact agg materials, data storage, I mean, there's a lot there to unpack,

but there's a lot there. But what we were looking at is parts of all of these different sectors where these revolutionary tools of the genetics and biotech revolutions we're going to empower new business models, new ways of doing things. And one great example of this that's very intimate for many of us are these m RNA vaccines. And so you and I, Carol, have talked about this the miracle of these mr and A vaccines. They're very different from the polio vaccine, for example, which was a dead or

attenuated version of the polio virus. What the mRNA vaccine is we are basically injecting new instructions to ourselves to produce something that otherwise are these can't produce, which is this this spike protein uh, and then we have a natural immunological response. But that ability um to kind of manipulate in many ways the code of life. It's the

m R and A vaccines aren't just about vaccines. This technology is a platform for thinking differently about how we treat all sorts of diseases um going future, including lots of cancers and possibly even all Teimer's. But the m R and A technology also has huge implications for how we think about growing crops and disrupting the way we think about fertilizer. And I have to say it reminds

me a lot. I've been talking with Kathy wood over at our Investments for seven years, and she kicked off her company and she taps completely into the innovative space. She in particular has a fun that's just focusing on the genomic revolution, which was up percent last year. About before that, it's kind of writing a little bit of water in terms of performance UM this year. You're fun though the biotech and pharmaceutical exposure really is the bulk

of the investments at this point. Are you concerned at all though that the run you know has kind of already happened. What makes you confident that it has the legs to keep going because your exposure, even though it applies to a lot of the world, is still really concentrated. In particular in that biotech um space. There is a lot of excitement in this in this space, but we are at the very earliest stages of this, as I

was saying before, of this transformative revolution. That's Jeremy Schwartz, Global head of Research at Wisdom Tree and Jamie Metzel, Senior Fellow at Atlantic Council. You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week coming up, Margaritaville takes Manhattan. That's right. Forget the New York State of Mind, Jimmy Buffett's latest empire expansion and state of mind right here in New York City.

This is Bloomberg. You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and Bloomberg Quick Takes Tim Stinovik from Bloomberg Radio. Sugar so well with the most of cover story this week of Bloomberg Business Week. It is all about Jimmy Buffett and Margharitaville and Margarita Ville Enterprises. It is now in New York City. It's at the corner of Seventh and St. And we're delighted to have with us right now Jimmy Buffett and his company's CEO. He is John Cohen.

First of all, New York City because you guys are around the country. You're also in the Bahamas, you're in Costa Rica. Why New York City? And why now? Well, it's an island. Well that's true, that's why New York. So after all these years of doing this, why New York now? Well, why New York Now? I guess we all were. There's a little bit of history involved with that fact of as a performer. Uh. It always was said to me that you had to you had to take New York no matter how popular were elsewhere in

the country. And that was something that was difficult to do, but I took it as a challenge. But once you're here and you connect up, it's one of the most delightful places to be. And uh, I've had a summer home out on Long Island for a long time, and I was always coming into the city and got involved in musicals and so um, you know, and let's say I frequented a few bars on this island. And uh, I thought, when this all came together, you never really

know how it all happens. But we've had enough magic in turning this five minute tune into a brand that we just kind of we kind of followed the universe on where it takes us. And that's my take on and I'm sure John's got another one, John speaking about speaking of that magic, how do you get this across the finish line, especially in the midst of a pandemic. Well, it takes as Jimmy, as Jimmy always says, it takes a lot of a lot of people to help you.

And we had great partners, including the City of New York. But you know, I would say, well New York obviously as an enormous number of visitors. There's really no resort in New York. So this gives people an opportunity to visit and go on vacation in Times Square. We'll talk to us about if we go and visit, because there's a lot of moving parts. There's bars, there's the resort, there's the hotel, of course, So give us an idea of kind of if somebody visits, what are we going

to see. Well, you're gonna first, first of all, you're gonna have fun. You're gonna walk in from one of the more frenetic towns in the world too, is Jimmy said earlier in Oasis, And you're gonna take a deep breath and you have a drink, and you'll be able to see the Statue of Liberal without getting on a ferry, and a fabulous show designed by Jimmy to his music. Uh. Then you'll come upstairs and you'll have the choice of

eight other bars, fantastic views. You'll feel a little bit like you're on a on a cruise ship in your room, and then you get to go out to check out a bunch of other bars and a lot of wonderful food retail opportunities. And I would say it's a real combination of entertainment and hospitality. Well, I do think that a lot of us could use a deep breath and a drink right now in a vacation as we do

hopefully soon get to the other side of this pandemic. Jimmy, I'm I'm, I'm wondering about what you did during the pandemic, how you got through it, and what you did from a creative perspective. Well, it was you know, if you if you look at the way I looked at it, and world history, nobody has ever stopped fund complete and uh that that basically happened now and I think that's

you know, it's entertainment and its creativity. That is that then layer that keeps us from going back to being as tribal as as as some people are these days. And it and and funest part of life. And I was brought up that way and raised that way down on the on the Gulf coast and the and the you know, and the remnants of the French Empire in Louisiana and La bonton Roulet was something my grandmother and grandfather taught to their children and I talked to mind.

So fun has always been there, and the thing of it is, uh. The other little known secret is the Tri State areas has been an incredible uh place for our you know, die hard long term fans uh. And I've I've been playing here for forty years. I mean, Jones Beaches like playing Florida to me, you know, as far as friends. So there are a lot of parrot heads in the Tri State area. So of course tourism is one thing that New York said, hopefully we'll come

back to. But you know, I gotta tell you know, I wrote that song about five minutes and I went and knocked on the door on Duval Street and Key West to get a job, and I got one. I played it there in a place called Crazy Old Philis the first time, and I think nineteen seventy two. This is a lot different up here, and I just I just had that one. I just took that that great. You know, it's almost a light speed run from Duval Street, you know, to seven and four the street and look

at this place and go through. What an incredible job they did. But I always I love the fact that when it was being built, uh, you know, I love kind of hanging. I came in and to see the building process and talk to people that were building it, and the excitement from construction workers in New York. They were the nicest construction workers, you know, every want to see. And uh, it kind of emulates to the fact that everybody from you know, from our partners into the financial

partners of people working here. There's there's a real kind of sense of community and and fun that we're having that. Uh, it's pretty special even on this island. Well, I gotta say the Bloomberg audience likes to have fun too, But they're also a financial audience. And you guys have spent a few hundred million dollars to get this done. Several years to get it done. And when it comes down to it, I mean, how long does it take to

make it kind of a profitable venture? You guys know, New York City is an incredible place to do anything, but it can also be a very difficult And Times Square, I've seen a lot of restaurants, have seen a lot of hotels open and closed in the same year. I've seen a lot of Broadway shows open and closed in the same year. So what is it going to take, um to make it successful financially? And are you seeing already demand in terms of rooms and people wanting to

be there? Well, I think the first thing is that while there are a lot of hotels in Times Square, there's not a hotel in Times Square where you can jump in a pool twelve months a year. Good point. So uh, it separates us, I think in a fairly material way. Um. And and this is a very profitable business because while it's fun to drink, it's also profitable to drink and so um. One thing we've never had trouble with is is demand and profitability. So um. We've

learned from Jimmy from his career. You know, deliver value so long as you're creating fun for people, and you're doing it at fair price. Our experiences that you do very well. Well. Are you guys seeing already demand in terms of people wanting to come stay at the hotel? Can you give us any indication or can you give us a little idea of what kind of demand you're seeing? Absolutely,

the advanced bookings are very strong. Obviously, our timing, which we didn't control, the brilliance of American science did H, is fantastic. There's a lot of pent up to man, you know, people haven't been able to have fun for a long time, and it's a bit of an allegory really for the comeback of not just New York but America.

Everybody could sure you use a visit to Margarita. So one last question, guys, I have to say, in the lead up to this, Tim and I've been talking around the newsroom like we're gonna interview Buffett and they're like Warren and we're like, no, Jimmy Buffett, the other Buffet. You guys are actually friends Jimmy, and we're curious, did you, guys, do you talk business with him? Do you talk investments with him? Do you drink Margarita's with him, Like, I'm

just curious about that relationship. Yeah, if you if you were distant, something may because of the Warren you'd call him to. We've we've been friends for a long long time. We were introduced by his sister Dars to my mom and they went on a genealogical kind of trip and that was the first time that she said, you know, you ought to meet Warren, you ought to buy Berkshire And that was like in nineteen seventy two, and I did both, Wow, have you bought bit coin? And yes, yeah,

I know I know anything. I know what Warren things about it, but you know it is, yeah, a little dabble in there done do anybody harm? You know? I think in the in the entertainment side of it, it's pretty injy. I'm looking at how how you could uh tickets to me is an interesting thing of how you could control maybe scalping and in the long run, you know, I don't see anybody's done anything about it yet that has actually worked, but this this could be a possibility.

That's what I'm kind of looking at. That's deed of the Buffett and John Colan, the CEO of Margarita Ville. How much fun was that? That was awesome? Oh my god. Also that story in Bloomberg Business Week, the cover story, It is so good. I had no idea that the buffet brand was so big. It's a lifestyle and that's what they're all about, this whole idea. You get into this mindset and then you want to continue to perpetuate it, essentially if you're at home. I mean, they have a

high end basically drink mixer for making great Margarita's. I mean, it's pretty remarkable. All about getting that next generation into it too. You got to get those younger guys to be parrodhoods. All right. That wraps up the weekend edition of Bloomberg Business Week from Bloomberg Radio. Thanks so much for joining us. Have a great weekend everyone. I'm Carol Masso and I'm Tim Stanivk. Will be sure it's seen into our Bloomberg Business Week Daily show. It happens every

Monday through Friday. It starts at two pm Wall Street time on Bloomberg Radio. You can also watch our daily broadcast on YouTube. Just search Bloomberg Global News. Also check out our Bloomberg Business Week podcast. You can find it at Bloomberg dot com, Apple, or wherever you get your podcast. Bloomberg Business Week is available on newsstands, now, at Bloomberg dot com and on the Bloomberg terminal. You can also

see me on Bloomberg quick Take. It's available at Bloomberg dot com, slash Qt, and streaming platforms like Roku, Apple TV, Samsung TV and more. Have a great weekend, and if you missed any of these conversations or just want to hear the full conversations, do check us at online at bloomberg dot com. This is Bloomberg