WEBVTT - MacKenzie Scott’s Giving Transforming the Bezos Fortune 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:02.920 This is Bloomberg Business Week. I'm Carol Masser and I'm 0:00:02.920 --> 0:00:05.760 Bloomberg Quick Takes Tim Stanobek. We're here every day bringing 0:00:05.760 --> 0:00:08.240 you the latest news from the worlds of business and finance, 0:00:08.320 --> 0:00:12.120 plus technology, politics, economics, all harnessing the power of Business 0:00:12.119 --> 0:00:15.600 Week reporters and editors, not to mention our journalists and 0:00:15.600 --> 0:00:18.080 analyst in more than one and twenty countries. You can 0:00:18.120 --> 0:00:21.720 download Bloomberg Business Week on iTunes, SoundCloud, or Bloomberg dot Com. 0:00:21.880 --> 0:00:23.600 You can also listen to our radio show at two 0:00:23.640 --> 0:00:26.320 pm Eastern Time on Bloomberg Radio, or watch us on 0:00:26.360 --> 0:00:30.680 YouTube search Bloomberg Global News. We've got to get to 0:00:30.840 --> 0:00:33.680 the virus and vaccine news we have. US vaccine supply 0:00:33.800 --> 0:00:36.760 should increase enough by April to allow anyone who wants 0:00:36.760 --> 0:00:38.879 a shot to begin getting one. This is according to 0:00:39.320 --> 0:00:43.040 Dr Anthony Faucci. UH. This even as vaccines are distributed 0:00:43.040 --> 0:00:46.200 to the oldest Americans, their share of COVID nineteen deaths 0:00:46.240 --> 0:00:49.080 in the US has not obeyed. A demand as is high. 0:00:49.080 --> 0:00:52.240 Also as the US begins rolling out vaccines at pharmacy, 0:00:52.320 --> 0:00:55.800 so we're seeing the rollout happen uh as for global 0:00:56.120 --> 0:00:59.480 cases A hundred and seven point five million deaths passing 0:00:59.480 --> 0:01:01.640 two point a million, and more than a hundred fifty 0:01:01.640 --> 0:01:04.280 two million COVID shots have been given worldwide. Great to 0:01:04.319 --> 0:01:06.720 have back with us, Dr Eric Toner. He's a senior 0:01:06.760 --> 0:01:09.560 scholar with the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and 0:01:09.560 --> 0:01:12.280 a senior scientist in the Department of Environmental Health and 0:01:12.319 --> 0:01:15.240 Engineering at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 0:01:15.520 --> 0:01:18.520 Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Heart Health, supported by 0:01:18.520 --> 0:01:22.119 Michael R. Bloomberg, Founder, Bloomberg LP, and Bloomberg Philanthropies. Dr 0:01:22.160 --> 0:01:25.080 Turner with us once again on the phone from Baltimore. 0:01:25.200 --> 0:01:29.560 Dr Toner, nice to have you here with Tim and myself. UM, 0:01:29.600 --> 0:01:32.280 so talk to me. I feel pretty upbeat by hearing, 0:01:32.600 --> 0:01:35.920 uh what Dr Fauci says in terms of folks getting 0:01:35.959 --> 0:01:38.560 access to the vaccine here in the US. Do you 0:01:38.560 --> 0:01:42.360 think that's a realistic goal? Do you think it is 0:01:43.000 --> 0:01:46.200 probably a fairly realistic goal. I mean, we're doing really 0:01:46.280 --> 0:01:50.800 quite well, despite the frustrations that so many people are 0:01:50.880 --> 0:01:54.080 feeling with reguards to their personal access to the vaccine. 0:01:54.520 --> 0:01:57.160 We are doing quite well nationally in terms of the 0:01:57.240 --> 0:02:00.560 number of people being vaccinated. So I do think that 0:02:00.600 --> 0:02:03.840 there's a pretty reasonable chance that most people have access 0:02:03.880 --> 0:02:06.920 to the vaccine sometime in the spring. I don't know 0:02:07.240 --> 0:02:09.120 for sure if it could be April, but sometime in 0:02:09.120 --> 0:02:12.079 the spring I think is reasonable. So what sometimes in 0:02:12.080 --> 0:02:14.880 the spring? What does that mean for reaching I don't 0:02:14.919 --> 0:02:17.680 like to use the term herd immunity, but seventy of 0:02:17.720 --> 0:02:20.120 the population vaccinated if people have access to it, it's 0:02:20.120 --> 0:02:22.000 not necessarily the same thing as them actually getting the 0:02:22.040 --> 0:02:26.760 vaccine and us being on the other side of this pandemic. Sure, well, 0:02:27.400 --> 0:02:30.560 the real question is how much how much more vaccine 0:02:30.600 --> 0:02:33.880 can be delivered um and administered. We are finding that 0:02:33.880 --> 0:02:37.040 we can administer more vaccine than it is being produced 0:02:37.560 --> 0:02:41.200 right now, with producing about ten million doses per week, 0:02:41.320 --> 0:02:43.400 which is enough to vaccinate about a million and a 0:02:43.440 --> 0:02:46.200 half people per day. But we need to get to 0:02:46.200 --> 0:02:48.440 about three million people per day if we wanted to 0:02:48.520 --> 0:02:51.919 hit the target of getting sent me five per cent 0:02:52.000 --> 0:02:55.560 of the population vaccinated by some time over the summer. 0:02:56.120 --> 0:02:59.240 I think it's I think it's realistic. Um, we are 0:02:59.280 --> 0:03:02.840 getting we should be getting more vaccine from both Maderna 0:03:02.880 --> 0:03:06.840 and Visor this month. The Johnson Johnson vaccine looks like 0:03:06.919 --> 0:03:12.839 it'll get um emergencies authorization this month UM, and so 0:03:13.480 --> 0:03:15.960 we'll have more vaccine. And I think that it's reasonable 0:03:16.000 --> 0:03:18.880 it will get to three million doses a day and 0:03:19.160 --> 0:03:22.120 that should get us to where we want to be 0:03:22.240 --> 0:03:25.959 this summer. It's great. Does that happen with Visor and 0:03:26.040 --> 0:03:29.680 bion Tech and uh Maderna or does that take a 0:03:29.680 --> 0:03:33.040 different type of vaccine the introduction of one of the 0:03:33.080 --> 0:03:36.440 newer vaccines that haven't yet been approved. Yeah, it is. 0:03:36.480 --> 0:03:39.920 It assumes that assumes that the Johnson Johnson vaccine comes 0:03:39.960 --> 0:03:45.640 online as intestated, which it looks like it will. Yeah, exactly. Hey. 0:03:45.680 --> 0:03:48.240 The one conversation Dr Turner that I have a lot 0:03:48.320 --> 0:03:51.760 at home is understanding you know variants and how that 0:03:51.800 --> 0:03:53.920 plays into it. It's certainly something that is now in 0:03:53.960 --> 0:03:58.520 the headlines a lot understandably. So if this schedule that 0:03:58.640 --> 0:04:01.480 Dr Fauci and you you agree with in terms of 0:04:01.600 --> 0:04:06.200 rolling out the vaccine, is it fast enough enough to 0:04:06.600 --> 0:04:09.280 stay ahead of the variants so that we can ultimately 0:04:09.320 --> 0:04:13.440 get ahead of COVID. The bottom line is, we don't 0:04:13.440 --> 0:04:17.080 know for sure, are you know, a horse race between 0:04:17.160 --> 0:04:21.719 the vaccine and the variance? If if we are, we 0:04:21.800 --> 0:04:25.800 don't yet know how rapidly the variance will become the 0:04:25.800 --> 0:04:28.360 predominant strain. It does look like that will happen, that 0:04:28.680 --> 0:04:33.239 the UK variant looks like a dominant straint probably sometime 0:04:33.320 --> 0:04:36.760 this spring. If we get enough people vaccinated by that time, 0:04:36.880 --> 0:04:41.160 it shouldn't be an overwhelming problem. If if not, then 0:04:41.200 --> 0:04:44.480 we could see another series and surge. And so how 0:04:44.560 --> 0:04:48.520 quickly then can we pivot to take the existing vaccines 0:04:48.839 --> 0:04:52.080 and adapt them. Is that a pretty quick and easy process, 0:04:53.000 --> 0:04:58.520 says the layperson and journalist. Yes, uh, it depends on 0:04:58.600 --> 0:05:00.560 your point of view. Your point of view is a 0:05:00.680 --> 0:05:04.600 manufacturer of the vaccine is no problem at all. Um. 0:05:04.640 --> 0:05:08.000 You know, for the rest of us. It does take 0:05:08.000 --> 0:05:10.599 a while, and there has to be some testing after 0:05:11.120 --> 0:05:14.920 after the vaccines and tweets. It's been tweaked. But it's 0:05:14.960 --> 0:05:18.560 important to realize the existing vaccines work against the variance. 0:05:18.640 --> 0:05:20.680 They just don't work quite as well as they do 0:05:20.800 --> 0:05:24.200 against the classic strain. So it's not that they're not 0:05:24.320 --> 0:05:27.919 effective against the variance, it's just they're not quite as effective, 0:05:28.680 --> 0:05:30.960 so they still work. One thing that I've been thinking 0:05:30.960 --> 0:05:35.120 a lot about is expectations. And let's say that a 0:05:35.240 --> 0:05:40.800 family had family members who were in their sixties and 0:05:40.839 --> 0:05:44.560 they were scheduled to get vaccinated. UM, does that you 0:05:44.600 --> 0:05:47.440 know in the in the coming weeks, Does that mean 0:05:47.480 --> 0:05:50.280 that this those those people who are in their sixties 0:05:50.320 --> 0:05:52.880 who have been vaccinated, does that mean that they can 0:05:53.040 --> 0:05:56.000 all get together with other people? Now? I think there's 0:05:56.040 --> 0:05:58.159 a lot of confusion around like what it means for 0:05:58.200 --> 0:06:00.479 some people to be vaccinated in society and what it 0:06:00.520 --> 0:06:02.800 means for for other people not to be vaccinated, and 0:06:03.080 --> 0:06:06.880 to what that means for return for normalcy. Sure, it's 0:06:06.880 --> 0:06:08.960 a really good question and one that I get a 0:06:08.960 --> 0:06:12.960 lot too. So first thing, let me say everybody, when 0:06:13.000 --> 0:06:15.840 you after you get your second shot, you're not immune 0:06:15.880 --> 0:06:18.240 for another two weeks, So you can't go out and 0:06:18.320 --> 0:06:22.000 party right after you your second shot. UM. The other 0:06:22.160 --> 0:06:24.760 the other thing that we should say is it's still 0:06:24.760 --> 0:06:27.920 important to wear your masks and maintain distance even if 0:06:27.960 --> 0:06:32.240 you've been vaccinated, because the vaccine is not only to 0:06:32.279 --> 0:06:37.280 protect you personally, is to keep you from um spreading 0:06:38.320 --> 0:06:41.960 the virus, and it doesn't do The vaccine doesn't prevent 0:06:42.040 --> 0:06:44.159 spread of the virus as much as it gets you 0:06:44.240 --> 0:06:46.839 personal protection. So you still need to wear a mask. 0:06:46.920 --> 0:06:49.680 You still need to maintain distance to protect other people 0:06:49.720 --> 0:06:52.480 because you can still transmit the virus even though you've 0:06:52.520 --> 0:06:56.479 been vaccinated. So that's interesting. So we okay, And these 0:06:56.600 --> 0:06:59.840 vaccines are developing, like we've had a big conversation about 0:06:59.839 --> 0:07:04.520 this this week, about developing anti antibodies versus developing T cells. 0:07:04.560 --> 0:07:07.480 T cells obviously stay with you longer. I mean, these 0:07:07.480 --> 0:07:09.960 are also going to be significant, right in terms of 0:07:10.080 --> 0:07:14.800 what our trajectory is going forward. Yeah, so we know 0:07:14.840 --> 0:07:16.640 a whole lot more about the antibodies than we do 0:07:16.680 --> 0:07:20.320 about the detail response to to these vaccines or or 0:07:20.400 --> 0:07:24.720 to actual infection, so it's much harder thing to study. 0:07:25.120 --> 0:07:30.760 So um, we just don't know yet. So here we 0:07:30.800 --> 0:07:34.840 are in February, almost a year into this pandemic, and 0:07:34.920 --> 0:07:38.280 we're starting to see signs that governments, especially here in 0:07:38.280 --> 0:07:40.040 New York City, want to get back to normal, or 0:07:40.080 --> 0:07:42.920 at least return to some semblance of normalcy. I guess 0:07:42.920 --> 0:07:45.040 I have a hard time understanding what you still what 0:07:45.160 --> 0:07:47.400 you can and can't do after you've been vaccinated, because 0:07:47.680 --> 0:07:51.040 the governor wants to open up um sporting you know, 0:07:52.120 --> 0:07:54.960 sport sporting complex, sporting arenas and have people who have 0:07:55.000 --> 0:07:57.440 been vaccinated and go and wear masks like is that 0:07:57.480 --> 0:07:58.920 type of thing okay? And we don't have about thirty 0:07:58.960 --> 0:08:02.400 seconds left? Uh the short answers. I don't think that's 0:08:02.400 --> 0:08:04.800 a good idea. I think we should still be cautious. 0:08:05.200 --> 0:08:09.600 I think that some gradual reopening makes sense, but it 0:08:09.600 --> 0:08:14.240 should be done carefully. UM. I think a sudden reopening 0:08:14.800 --> 0:08:17.640 may cause and other search and we really might avoid that. 0:08:18.200 --> 0:08:21.400 Dr Turner, I want to talk schools because we learned 0:08:21.520 --> 0:08:25.080 earlier today that the us CDC will release a detailed 0:08:25.120 --> 0:08:29.120 guidance tomorrow on how to safely reopen more schools. This 0:08:29.240 --> 0:08:32.400 has been long away to the Biden administration has a 0:08:32.559 --> 0:08:36.200 goal to get schools open in the coming months. What's 0:08:36.240 --> 0:08:39.839 the right way to do this really important thing to 0:08:39.960 --> 0:08:42.400 do is to is to make sure that, um, we 0:08:42.559 --> 0:08:45.320 follow the evidence, and so that means that we need 0:08:45.400 --> 0:08:50.520 to make sure that kids are um masked, that the 0:08:51.120 --> 0:08:55.480 there's adequate ventilation, but there's adequate reduction of density and 0:08:55.679 --> 0:08:59.599 school that is allowed enough space between kids both in 0:08:59.640 --> 0:09:04.120 the class room and elsewhere in the school. UM. So 0:09:04.240 --> 0:09:07.200 there's a lot of evidence that schools can be opened safely. 0:09:07.280 --> 0:09:10.360 There have been schools that have been opened throughout the 0:09:10.480 --> 0:09:14.599 pandemic and have done so safely. But it requires a 0:09:14.720 --> 0:09:18.120 lot of mitigation efforts, and I assume that's what the 0:09:18.160 --> 0:09:23.360 CDC is gonna outline tomorrow. Um. This has been done 0:09:23.520 --> 0:09:27.000 in private schools successfully, whether it can be done in 0:09:27.120 --> 0:09:31.320 a large public school system, UM, you know, I think 0:09:31.360 --> 0:09:34.199 we'll have to wait and see. Yeah, it's tricky, and 0:09:35.160 --> 0:09:37.920 but I know that there's so much pressure, um to 0:09:38.080 --> 0:09:41.400 get kids back. Tell me, I'm curious, Dr Toner, what 0:09:41.440 --> 0:09:43.440 are you hearing? What are you seeing maybe from colleagues 0:09:43.559 --> 0:09:46.240 or from what you're seeing directly. When it comes to 0:09:46.760 --> 0:09:49.760 hospitals in the type of virus cases that we're seeing 0:09:49.920 --> 0:09:55.439 and their access to necessary supplies to treat patients, well, 0:09:55.480 --> 0:09:57.760 it's a whole lot better now than it was, UM 0:09:58.559 --> 0:10:01.760 months or two months ago. Uh, we were in a 0:10:02.000 --> 0:10:08.480 terrific crisis following the holidays in the early weeks of January. Uh, 0:10:08.679 --> 0:10:12.280 pretty much across the country, but especially in southern California 0:10:12.960 --> 0:10:16.760 where they were literally running out of oxygen um with 0:10:16.880 --> 0:10:20.079 that was also seen in other places like Minnesota, like Texas, 0:10:20.360 --> 0:10:24.120 has been seen previously in New York City in the spring. UM. 0:10:25.600 --> 0:10:33.400 Generally speaking, supplies both equipment and disposable supplies. Are the 0:10:33.520 --> 0:10:36.679 situation as a whole lot better than than it had 0:10:36.760 --> 0:10:39.439 been in the past. Um, But part of it is 0:10:39.480 --> 0:10:42.480 because case counselors are down so much from where they were. 0:10:42.559 --> 0:10:45.400 I mean, we're we're at half the level we were 0:10:46.280 --> 0:10:50.880 UM a month or six weeks ago. So UM, you know, 0:10:51.000 --> 0:10:53.480 a lot of the stress has been taken off and 0:10:54.040 --> 0:10:59.280 UM hopefully fingers crossed the download TREDI will continue. If, however, 0:10:59.400 --> 0:11:01.840 we see another big surge, we could be back into 0:11:01.960 --> 0:11:06.360 it a situation what we have shortages. So I want 0:11:06.360 --> 0:11:09.200 to contextualize this downward trend because it is great news 0:11:09.280 --> 0:11:11.880 that we are seeing it moved down, But we're still 0:11:11.960 --> 0:11:14.760 seeing the number of cases that per day in the 0:11:14.880 --> 0:11:17.640 United States that rivals, you know, anything that we saw 0:11:17.760 --> 0:11:20.680 over the over the Midsummer and in spring last year. 0:11:21.120 --> 0:11:26.040 So it's still it's still very very high. That's said doctor. 0:11:26.600 --> 0:11:28.800 Is it going down because of the vaccine? Is it 0:11:28.880 --> 0:11:32.319 going down because the post holiday bump? Is we're we're 0:11:32.360 --> 0:11:34.959 moving away from that? Is it a combination of the two. 0:11:35.120 --> 0:11:36.920 Is it too early for the vaccine? Why are we 0:11:37.000 --> 0:11:39.240 seeing this decline now? And how could we see it 0:11:39.280 --> 0:11:43.840 spike up again soon. Well, I think it's multi factoral. UM. 0:11:44.640 --> 0:11:46.840 It's probably doesn't have much to do with the vaccine. 0:11:46.880 --> 0:11:50.079 There hasn't been enough time for the enough people be 0:11:50.200 --> 0:11:53.439 vaccinated to make a big difference. UM. I think a 0:11:53.520 --> 0:11:57.559 lot of it has to do with individual behavior. I 0:11:57.920 --> 0:12:02.719 think after the huge bike everywhere across the country UM, 0:12:03.000 --> 0:12:07.520 in the in December early January, we saw that many 0:12:07.600 --> 0:12:13.439 more people were in masks maintaining distances. Many UM cities 0:12:13.520 --> 0:12:17.599 and towns UM went back into some some degree of 0:12:17.679 --> 0:12:23.160 lockdown and tightened up their their restrictions. Right. So I 0:12:23.240 --> 0:12:26.400 think we're seeing evidence of that UM. And I think 0:12:26.440 --> 0:12:30.160 the bottom line is trends should continue to go down 0:12:30.240 --> 0:12:34.400 as long as people UM, you know, maintain these mitigation efforts. 0:12:34.559 --> 0:12:37.559 If they don't, then I think we will see the 0:12:39.040 --> 0:12:42.920 curve turned around. Well fingers crossed, and I like when 0:12:42.920 --> 0:12:45.679 the curve goes down. Dr Eric Toner, thank you so much. 0:12:45.800 --> 0:12:49.000 As Alway, Senior Scholar at the JOHNS. Hopkins Center for 0:12:49.040 --> 0:12:51.520 Health Security at Bloomberg School of Public Health. Of Course, 0:12:52.000 --> 0:12:54.800 Michael R. Bloomberg is a founder of course at Bloomberg 0:12:54.840 --> 0:12:57.360 LP and Bloomberg Philanthropies and supports the Bloomberg School of 0:12:57.400 --> 0:13:01.240 Public Health. This is Bloomberg Business Way with Carol Masser 0:13:01.440 --> 0:13:05.679 and Bloomberg Quick Takes Tim Stinovic from Bloomberg Radio. So 0:13:05.760 --> 0:13:07.679 I want to get to a story that's a younger 0:13:07.679 --> 0:13:10.280 most right on the Bloomberg It's about the individual transforming 0:13:10.280 --> 0:13:14.240 the fortune created by billionaire and founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos. 0:13:14.559 --> 0:13:16.840 And we're not talking about Jeff No, we're not even 0:13:16.880 --> 0:13:19.920 talking about a Bezos anymore. We're talking about Mackenzie Scott. 0:13:20.160 --> 0:13:22.959 That's right, his former wife. Let's get into it with 0:13:23.040 --> 0:13:25.520 Bloomberg News Wealth Team reporter Sophie Alexander. She's on the 0:13:25.559 --> 0:13:28.360 phone in San Francisco along with Bloomberg Business We get it, 0:13:28.440 --> 0:13:30.920 or Joe Webber on the Access line in Brooklyn. Man. 0:13:31.440 --> 0:13:33.520 She has been a game changer, Joel when it comes 0:13:33.600 --> 0:13:37.160 to philanthropy and giving. Yeah, and we're gonna talk about her. 0:13:37.240 --> 0:13:41.720 We also have to talk about Jeff Bezos, says, because 0:13:42.200 --> 0:13:45.880 you know the two of them together, Um, you know 0:13:45.920 --> 0:13:48.520 when they were a couple still uh, not so long ago. 0:13:49.360 --> 0:13:52.160 They had a massive fortune together. And actually what was 0:13:52.600 --> 0:13:55.920 pretty amazing about it was actually how little of it 0:13:56.200 --> 0:14:00.720 ended up in um philanthropic causes during during their marriage. 0:14:01.000 --> 0:14:04.800 But what we've seen since their divorce and really um 0:14:05.200 --> 0:14:10.160 uh most recently um, largely because of Mackenzie, has been 0:14:10.440 --> 0:14:13.880 um this real uh change. And you know the six 0:14:14.040 --> 0:14:18.439 billion figure that so uh and and been right about 0:14:18.720 --> 0:14:22.400 um that's attribute to her, we think is the largest single, uh, 0:14:22.920 --> 0:14:27.600 single amount that anyone's ever given to philanthropies in in 0:14:27.640 --> 0:14:30.840 a in a calendar year. Um. And so Sophie like, 0:14:30.960 --> 0:14:34.000 can you walk us through you know, the significance of 0:14:34.080 --> 0:14:40.200 what that means for the Amazon fortune going forward? Yeah? Absolutely, 0:14:40.360 --> 0:14:42.560 I mean the six billion dollars is just such an 0:14:43.200 --> 0:14:48.160 immense figure. And when we're talking about philanthropy historically, you know, 0:14:48.600 --> 0:14:53.000 one of the main criticisms of billionaire philanthropists of for 0:14:53.320 --> 0:14:57.240 one of their reasons rather of not giving away enough 0:14:57.280 --> 0:15:00.040 money faster, is that, you know, it takes time to 0:15:00.120 --> 0:15:02.840 be thoughtful and it takes time to give away this 0:15:03.240 --> 0:15:05.680 these huge amounts of money, you know, billions of dollars. 0:15:06.120 --> 0:15:09.680 But Mackenzie sort of disproving that and what this could 0:15:09.720 --> 0:15:11.880 mean for the future is you know, Mackenzie is only 0:15:11.960 --> 0:15:15.120 just getting started. She's finally giving pledge. She's pledged to 0:15:15.160 --> 0:15:17.880 give away the majority of her fortune UM, which at 0:15:17.960 --> 0:15:22.680 this point is nearing sixty billion dollars and so UM 0:15:22.960 --> 0:15:24.920 that that's just a huge amount of money that could 0:15:24.960 --> 0:15:27.720 be given away. And then when we're talking about Jeff 0:15:27.800 --> 0:15:30.160 who recently stepped down or none that he would be 0:15:30.200 --> 0:15:34.520 stepping down from Amazon as CEO, UM, that's sort of 0:15:34.680 --> 0:15:37.760 a sign that he's probably going to focus more on 0:15:37.960 --> 0:15:40.640 his giving and that we could be seeing more from 0:15:40.720 --> 0:15:43.800 him in the philsopic philosophical space coming forward. And to 0:15:43.920 --> 0:15:46.440 be fair, I mean, he did give away money before, right, 0:15:46.520 --> 0:15:53.160 but it's not as quickly as his former wife has. Definitely, UM, 0:15:53.440 --> 0:15:56.880 I think that the to be fair to Jeff UM, 0:15:56.960 --> 0:15:59.400 when we talk about Bill Gates, you know, one of 0:15:59.480 --> 0:16:03.760 the most impressive philanthropists in history, he didn't start giving 0:16:03.800 --> 0:16:07.880 away very much until he stepped down from Microsoft. UM. 0:16:08.000 --> 0:16:10.440 And so Jeff has been giving money. But you know, 0:16:10.640 --> 0:16:12.640 when you put it in the context of how much 0:16:12.680 --> 0:16:15.520 wealth he really has, it's it's a very small amount. 0:16:15.560 --> 0:16:19.320 We're talking about uh, single digit millions, UM, tens of 0:16:19.400 --> 0:16:23.440 millions sometimes and more recently sure hundreds of millions of dollars. 0:16:23.760 --> 0:16:26.440 But where he's really had the biggest figures are in 0:16:26.600 --> 0:16:29.000 his commitment you know, he's made the two billion dollar 0:16:29.080 --> 0:16:32.720 commitment for the Day One Fund and then the ten 0:16:32.800 --> 0:16:35.400 billion dollar commitments for the Earth's Times, So those are 0:16:35.480 --> 0:16:38.320 huge numbers, but we're not actually seeing that money deployed yet. 0:16:38.680 --> 0:16:41.440 So you made the point earlier on on Quick Take Today, 0:16:41.680 --> 0:16:45.720 Sophie that Bill Gates didn't start giving significantly until he 0:16:45.880 --> 0:16:48.800 left Microsoft as CEO, which which I thought was a 0:16:49.040 --> 0:16:52.320 really important point and not something that I had considered. Um, 0:16:53.040 --> 0:16:54.960 I wonder if that's what we're going to start seeing 0:16:55.000 --> 0:16:57.760 from Jeff Bezos now that he has stepped down, or 0:16:58.000 --> 0:16:59.680 he said he would step down and that will happen 0:16:59.760 --> 0:17:01.840 later this year and hand off the reins to to 0:17:01.920 --> 0:17:04.600 somebody else at Amazon. Are we going to start seeing 0:17:04.640 --> 0:17:09.119 Jeff Bezos give away more money? That is sort of 0:17:09.240 --> 0:17:11.840 the big question, you know, in his letter announcing that 0:17:11.960 --> 0:17:15.000 he would be stepping down, he mentioned the Day One 0:17:15.080 --> 0:17:17.320 Fund and he mentioned the Earth Fund as two of 0:17:17.400 --> 0:17:20.000 the things that he plans to focus on more. So, 0:17:20.480 --> 0:17:23.600 you know, it's been a few years now since he 0:17:24.080 --> 0:17:26.879 made those announcements that he start would start the Day 0:17:26.920 --> 0:17:29.360 one Fund, and he announced the Earth Fund last year, 0:17:29.720 --> 0:17:32.320 but really has only given about a billion dollars of 0:17:32.400 --> 0:17:34.800 the twelve billion dollars that he's committed to giving. And 0:17:34.920 --> 0:17:38.200 he's set no timeline for himself, so you know, he's 0:17:38.240 --> 0:17:42.560 not really going to be held to anything um, but 0:17:42.800 --> 0:17:46.920 we could see more from him coming soon. Well, I 0:17:47.000 --> 0:17:49.320 think you know, that's it's an interesting point here because 0:17:49.680 --> 0:17:53.320 you know, even just yesterday they're the Chronicle of Philanthropy 0:17:53.480 --> 0:17:57.280 came out with some big numbers from from uh Bezos 0:17:57.359 --> 0:17:59.640 and Scott and others, and and one of the things 0:17:59.680 --> 0:18:02.200 that is interesting there is that you know, Bezos his 0:18:02.280 --> 0:18:04.399 name was actually at the top of that list because 0:18:04.440 --> 0:18:07.080 of what he's pledged, but not actually what he's given. 0:18:07.160 --> 0:18:08.960 And that I think is that one of the things 0:18:09.040 --> 0:18:11.119 that is really important to keep in mind what what 0:18:11.320 --> 0:18:14.280 Sophie and Ben did a great job of underscoring in 0:18:14.359 --> 0:18:16.520 this is like one thing to pledge and it's another 0:18:16.560 --> 0:18:19.640 thing to actually do. And what she you know, really 0:18:19.720 --> 0:18:22.600 showed here is is uh that you can do something 0:18:22.800 --> 0:18:26.399 big and dramatic and do it actually fast. And that 0:18:26.680 --> 0:18:28.879 that I think is the thing that everyone in the 0:18:28.920 --> 0:18:31.600 philanthropy world has looked at her and said, wow, this 0:18:31.760 --> 0:18:34.520 is something. So Sophie, my my my last question for 0:18:34.640 --> 0:18:37.200 you is how competitive does it get when your ex 0:18:37.320 --> 0:18:40.640 life give it aways six billion? Like you, that's something 0:18:40.720 --> 0:18:42.760 you have to kind of like the sort of kindle 0:18:42.800 --> 0:18:45.920 a fire in your belly to be like, did you 0:18:46.080 --> 0:18:49.440 really do that? You know, it just it happens. It's 0:18:49.480 --> 0:18:54.000 like you can hear an echo in here. That's a 0:18:54.040 --> 0:18:55.840 real laugh from Joel. I like, all right, you guys, 0:18:55.960 --> 0:18:59.359 just be quiet. Go ahead, Sophie answer. I was just 0:18:59.400 --> 0:19:02.359 going to say. I mean, it's impossible to say what 0:19:02.480 --> 0:19:06.280 the relationship is now and how her giving impact his giving. 0:19:06.560 --> 0:19:09.119 You know, she's been the giving pledge, she hasn't and 0:19:09.200 --> 0:19:12.760 he's been sort of knocked for that. Um But and 0:19:12.880 --> 0:19:16.760 it's also impossible to say what their philosophic giving, you know, 0:19:16.880 --> 0:19:19.240 who did what while they were together? Was I talked 0:19:19.280 --> 0:19:21.320 to you an expert about such? So it's really hard 0:19:21.359 --> 0:19:23.119 to say. You know, it's very from couple to couple. 0:19:23.560 --> 0:19:25.600 Um So, we just don't really know enough about their 0:19:25.640 --> 0:19:29.240 individual personalities to be able to say much more on that. 0:19:29.480 --> 0:19:31.440 But you've got to think that, you know, when people 0:19:31.480 --> 0:19:34.639 are talking about the Amazon fortune and seeing these things that, 0:19:35.000 --> 0:19:37.880 you know, he might feel a certain responsibility to sort 0:19:37.920 --> 0:19:39.680 of stuck it up. It's gonna be a prime topic 0:19:39.760 --> 0:19:44.440 that comes up. We're a great team. I'm just gonna 0:19:44.520 --> 0:19:47.200 say it, all right, Gotta run, guys. Sophia Alexander, thank 0:19:47.200 --> 0:19:49.480 you so much. Wealth Team reporter at Bloomberg News on 0:19:49.560 --> 0:19:51.720 the phone from San Francisco. Check her out on Twitter. 0:19:52.040 --> 0:19:55.280 Check out that story on Bloomberg dot com. Jil Weber, 0:19:55.440 --> 0:19:58.399 thank you, editor at Bloomberg Business Week, Promote access from Brooklyn. 0:19:58.600 --> 0:20:02.600 This is Bloomberg This Week with Carol Messer and Bloomberg 0:20:02.680 --> 0:20:07.040 Quick Takes. Tim Stinovic from Bloomberg Radio. So um, Tim. 0:20:07.080 --> 0:20:10.000 We talked about the impeachment proceedings before the break. More 0:20:10.080 --> 0:20:12.240 news out of DC, because let's not forget we've got 0:20:12.520 --> 0:20:14.760 present Buyden Democrats. They're working to get you know, his 0:20:14.840 --> 0:20:17.399 COVID nineteen relief plan through Congress. And as Bloomberg Business 0:20:17.400 --> 0:20:21.000 Week National correspondent Josh Green reports, it's really an interesting 0:20:21.080 --> 0:20:24.680 time for Democrats and the party as two Republican factions 0:20:24.680 --> 0:20:27.680 are wrestling for control of the GOP. That split is 0:20:27.760 --> 0:20:31.000 making an interesting era. Let's get into this with Josh 0:20:31.080 --> 0:20:33.479 Green wrote the story. He's on the phone in Washington 0:20:33.560 --> 0:20:36.399 to see. Josh also the author of Devil's Bargain, Steve Bannon, 0:20:36.440 --> 0:20:39.320 Donald Trump, and the Nationalist uprising. Josh, So, tell us 0:20:39.320 --> 0:20:42.760 about your story and what you were looking into. Well, 0:20:42.800 --> 0:20:47.000 I was really looking at the Republican Party's inability or 0:20:47.040 --> 0:20:50.520 unwillingness to move beyond Trump and what it's costing him. 0:20:50.640 --> 0:20:53.800 In the Biden era, UM, there was a lot I 0:20:53.840 --> 0:20:56.199 think after the insurrection, there was a lot of um 0:20:57.040 --> 0:21:00.440 talk to the effect that Republicans were a gap willing 0:21:00.520 --> 0:21:03.520 to break. And if you've watched the trial over the 0:21:03.600 --> 0:21:05.680 last couple of days in the Center, it's been clear 0:21:05.800 --> 0:21:08.399 that that by and large Republicans are sticking with Trump. 0:21:09.000 --> 0:21:10.639 What I did in my column, though, was look at 0:21:10.680 --> 0:21:12.760 the policy effects that that's going to have, And I 0:21:12.800 --> 0:21:16.320 think the most interesting effect that I've come across is 0:21:16.359 --> 0:21:19.560 the size of the COVID relief bill, which Biden introduced 0:21:19.600 --> 0:21:23.479 at one point nine trillion dollars UM. Golden Sacks has 0:21:23.520 --> 0:21:26.280 been tracking its estimates for what the final size of 0:21:26.320 --> 0:21:28.320 the bill are going to be. A month ago, their 0:21:28.440 --> 0:21:32.000 estimate was seven billion dollars, because the expectation was that 0:21:32.119 --> 0:21:37.119 Republicans would negotiate and whittle that down. On Monday, they 0:21:37.200 --> 0:21:39.119 came out with a new note saying now we think 0:21:39.160 --> 0:21:42.080 it's gonna be one point five trillion dollars, twice the 0:21:42.160 --> 0:21:46.440 size earlier, basically because Republicans, instead of trying to negotiate 0:21:46.480 --> 0:21:49.920 and whittle down the price tag, have been busy defending 0:21:50.000 --> 0:21:52.720 Trump and haven't really been willing to engage in try 0:21:52.760 --> 0:21:55.399 and exert their influence on policy. And I think it's 0:21:55.440 --> 0:21:57.119 a big trend that a lot of people have been 0:21:57.200 --> 0:21:59.440 missing early in the Biden era. So, Josh, you you 0:21:59.560 --> 0:22:02.800 mentioned the presidencies of Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, and 0:22:03.000 --> 0:22:06.680 you write that navigating such a middle course consumed UH 0:22:06.880 --> 0:22:09.959 them and often ended in frustration and defeat. How does 0:22:10.040 --> 0:22:13.800 Biden free himself from navigating this middle course? What is 0:22:13.800 --> 0:22:15.560 the opportunity that he has in a time when it 0:22:15.640 --> 0:22:17.840 does seem like America is even more divided than it 0:22:18.000 --> 0:22:21.800 was then. We know the last two Democratic presidents, Bill 0:22:21.840 --> 0:22:25.480 Clinton Barack Obama have both both made concerted efforts to 0:22:25.560 --> 0:22:29.280 kind of reach out and appeal to a group of 0:22:30.080 --> 0:22:33.880