WEBVTT - Bloomberg Businessweek Weekend - October 22nd, 2021 0:00:01.040 --> 0:00:05.440 This is Bloomberg Business Week Inside from the reporters and 0:00:05.600 --> 0:00:09.200 editors who bring you America's most trusted business magazine, plus 0:00:09.240 --> 0:00:13.160 global business, finance and tech news as it happened. Bloomberg 0:00:13.240 --> 0:00:16.759 Business Week with Carol Messer and Bloomberg Quick Takes Tim 0:00:16.800 --> 0:00:21.279 Stinovic on Bloomberg Radio. Hi, everyone, welcome to the weekend 0:00:21.400 --> 0:00:24.400 edition of Bloomberg Business Week. We've got a special installment 0:00:24.640 --> 0:00:26.880 of our show. This week. We're gonna bring you highlights 0:00:26.880 --> 0:00:29.440 from our coverage of the Milk and Institute Global Conference 0:00:29.520 --> 0:00:32.440 in Beverly Hills. It's an annual convening of global leaders 0:00:32.440 --> 0:00:36.600 in government, finance, health, academia and philanthropy. Last year's event 0:00:36.640 --> 0:00:40.080 it was scaled down and completely remote due to COVID nineteen. 0:00:40.159 --> 0:00:42.720 But this year we were there once again on the 0:00:42.760 --> 0:00:45.239 ground at the Beverly Hilton Hotel and it was a 0:00:45.320 --> 0:00:48.880 reduced crowd size, about half of the attendees as usual 0:00:49.120 --> 0:00:53.159 and Carol, everybody was wearing masks, vaccinated and tested. This 0:00:53.240 --> 0:00:55.480 year's event it centered on the theme of charting a 0:00:55.520 --> 0:00:58.640 new course. We spent three jam pack days examining the 0:00:58.680 --> 0:01:02.480 disruptions and innovation brought on by the global pandemic along 0:01:02.480 --> 0:01:05.759 with social crises, economic hardships that we've seen developed over 0:01:05.760 --> 0:01:07.800 the past year and a half. Some of those hardships 0:01:07.800 --> 0:01:11.119 spurred on by ongoing supply chain shortages. That was something 0:01:11.160 --> 0:01:13.800 that came into so many of our conversations at MILK 0:01:13.840 --> 0:01:16.920 and we're gonna get into that and specifically what the 0:01:16.920 --> 0:01:19.800 White House is doing to relieve some of those pressures. 0:01:19.959 --> 0:01:22.279 Will do that with the seamen's USA President and CEO, 0:01:22.319 --> 0:01:24.760 Barbara Humptons. I have to say, overall, Tim, it was 0:01:24.840 --> 0:01:27.319 just so many of the main macro themes, whether it's 0:01:27.319 --> 0:01:31.800 supply chains, whether it's tensions with China, whether it's finding 0:01:31.959 --> 0:01:37.240 enough UM employees the workforce. You know that that was 0:01:37.319 --> 0:01:39.280 really top of mind for everybody at MILK and one 0:01:39.319 --> 0:01:40.920 of the highlights of the conference, at least for me, 0:01:40.959 --> 0:01:42.200 and I know it was for you as well, was 0:01:42.200 --> 0:01:44.080 when you got to sit down for forty minutes with 0:01:44.120 --> 0:01:47.360 none other than Ark Invests. Cathy would Yeah, she's the founder, 0:01:47.400 --> 0:01:51.240 she's the CEO, she's the c i O of really 0:01:51.320 --> 0:01:54.240 one of the e t f S funds that in 0:01:54.240 --> 0:01:56.760 the last seven years has just taken the world on 0:01:56.880 --> 0:02:00.880 big time with her disruptive and innovative investing strategy. We 0:02:00.880 --> 0:02:03.800 had a wide ranging discussion, everything from China to test 0:02:03.880 --> 0:02:07.080 love course. She says ARCS base case is three thousand 0:02:07.160 --> 0:02:09.160 dollars a share. We even did a little bit of 0:02:09.200 --> 0:02:12.440 crypto talk as well. It was timely because we sat 0:02:12.480 --> 0:02:15.799 down on the day that the new pro Shares Bitcoin 0:02:15.960 --> 0:02:18.720 e t F made its debut, and I asked her 0:02:18.720 --> 0:02:21.880 about that. Speaking of crypto, Toro calls itself the world's 0:02:21.919 --> 0:02:25.280 largest social trading network and it is seeing explosive growth 0:02:25.320 --> 0:02:28.480 in the crypto space. We talked to Toro co founder 0:02:28.520 --> 0:02:31.800 and CEO Yonia. He still expects to go public with 0:02:31.840 --> 0:02:33.960 a spack in the fourth quarter of the year. We 0:02:34.040 --> 0:02:38.440 also talked some politics. Former Labor and Transportation Secretary Lane 0:02:38.520 --> 0:02:41.920 Chaw she stopped by to talk infrastructure, the job market, 0:02:42.040 --> 0:02:45.360 and the shadow cast by former President Donald Trump over 0:02:45.360 --> 0:02:48.800 the Republican Party, particularly in the wake of the January 0:02:48.840 --> 0:02:51.560 six riote at the U S. Capitol Building. Plus, the 0:02:51.600 --> 0:02:54.000 woman behind one of the biggest E s G stories 0:02:54.040 --> 0:02:57.960 of the year, Engine Number One, CEO, Jennifer Grancio, shed 0:02:58.040 --> 0:03:01.320 light on her company's impact investing rategy and the company's 0:03:01.360 --> 0:03:05.480 new Total Value Framework, which establishes forward valuations of public 0:03:05.480 --> 0:03:09.200 companies based on their progress with E s G initiatives. 0:03:09.200 --> 0:03:11.959 You heard about the story with x On Mobile. I 0:03:12.000 --> 0:03:14.680 mean it really truly was that David versus Goliath story. 0:03:14.720 --> 0:03:16.680 I gotta say, I'm a fan girl. Can I say that? 0:03:16.760 --> 0:03:20.320 You can say it? I'll allow it. Okay, thank you 0:03:20.680 --> 0:03:23.840 all of that. More to come. We begin with Orlando Bravo. 0:03:23.960 --> 0:03:26.519 He is founder and managing partner at Tomo Bravo. He 0:03:26.720 --> 0:03:29.720 joined us to talk about the state of specs and 0:03:29.919 --> 0:03:32.080 he could not have been more excited to get back 0:03:32.160 --> 0:03:33.919 to doing business in person after a year and a 0:03:33.960 --> 0:03:36.800 half of Zoom's and virtual meetings. You could just feel 0:03:37.440 --> 0:03:41.080 how much happiness he had to be there in person 0:03:41.200 --> 0:03:45.320 at millkne The conference is awesome. Think about it. We're 0:03:45.360 --> 0:03:48.320 here in l A. A lot of it is outside. 0:03:48.600 --> 0:03:51.680 The weather's perfect. I've gotten to see some of our 0:03:51.720 --> 0:03:54.000 limited partners that I haven't seen in two to three years, 0:03:54.400 --> 0:03:56.960 so some of the old friends, and also meet a 0:03:57.000 --> 0:03:59.800 lot of new people. So it's just been great, one 0:04:00.000 --> 0:04:02.440 eating after the other, right fifteen minute meetings and then 0:04:02.880 --> 0:04:04.640 trying to see as many people face to face, like 0:04:04.720 --> 0:04:08.120 it's remarkable, right, unbelievable. So okay, let's talk about SPACs 0:04:08.320 --> 0:04:09.960 because I was looking at some of the indexes. They're 0:04:10.000 --> 0:04:12.120 down as as a group about ten percent so far 0:04:12.200 --> 0:04:14.800 this year. They're down about if you look at certain 0:04:14.840 --> 0:04:18.160 indexes from the mid February high. Where are we because 0:04:18.160 --> 0:04:21.720 people are talking about the death of SPACs um and 0:04:21.760 --> 0:04:23.800 as to mentioned earlier, I mean, these are cycles that 0:04:23.839 --> 0:04:27.080 things go through. SPACs are not a new investment vehicle exactly. 0:04:27.320 --> 0:04:30.200 Sparks are going to come back. They are They've been 0:04:30.200 --> 0:04:34.000 around for whatever five or thirty years. But why do 0:04:34.200 --> 0:04:37.800 why do we think that there was this incredible craze 0:04:38.000 --> 0:04:43.520 to SPACs. It's because technology companies. There's so much innovation 0:04:43.560 --> 0:04:46.080 and so much new business creation and so many tech 0:04:46.120 --> 0:04:48.800 companies being performed that are getting to scale that the 0:04:48.839 --> 0:04:51.720 financial markets are trying to adapt of how can we 0:04:51.760 --> 0:04:55.080 absorb all these new assets into the market because we're 0:04:55.080 --> 0:04:56.600 not seeing a lot of I I mean, we saw 0:04:56.640 --> 0:04:58.520 the I p O market fall off a little bit, 0:04:58.680 --> 0:05:01.120 right it didn't now it's now it's back. But I'm 0:05:01.120 --> 0:05:03.240 just saying that you know that there's alternatives for going 0:05:03.279 --> 0:05:06.520 public here, and the alternatives are great. Direct list things 0:05:06.560 --> 0:05:09.320 are great, and The spact provides a great alternative because 0:05:09.520 --> 0:05:13.080 it really really does is it allows a company to 0:05:13.200 --> 0:05:17.560 be able to openly talk about its projections with its investors. 0:05:17.680 --> 0:05:19.880 Every investor think about it. If you're looking to buy 0:05:19.880 --> 0:05:21.640 a company, if you're if we are together going to 0:05:21.680 --> 0:05:23.920 buy a private company, wouldn't we like to sit down 0:05:23.920 --> 0:05:26.479 with management and say, let's see what you've done in 0:05:26.480 --> 0:05:28.160 the past, and how do you think about next year 0:05:28.400 --> 0:05:31.279 and the following year, and how does your operating plan 0:05:31.320 --> 0:05:34.080 and strategic plan aligned with that financial plan that you have. 0:05:34.360 --> 0:05:37.200 It gives you so much insights as to how management 0:05:37.240 --> 0:05:39.120 thinks about their own business. But are you concerned at 0:05:39.120 --> 0:05:42.200 all that there is a lack of quality companies to 0:05:42.240 --> 0:05:44.240 be acquired by SPACs that are out there looking for 0:05:44.279 --> 0:05:47.840 targets right now, I'm always concerned about quality. What ended 0:05:47.920 --> 0:05:51.480 up happening as well with this pac boom is a 0:05:51.560 --> 0:05:54.560 number of companies went public through spacts or merged with 0:05:54.640 --> 0:05:58.839 SPACs that are venture capital companies that are really young 0:05:58.920 --> 0:06:04.960 companies now. Retail investors in particular participated in that because 0:06:04.960 --> 0:06:07.960 the regulatory environment doesn't allow them to participate in venture 0:06:08.000 --> 0:06:10.840 capital and private equity, so they rushed to this market, 0:06:11.000 --> 0:06:13.280 and then the regulators get worried that, oh, they're gonna 0:06:13.279 --> 0:06:16.080 lose money, or these companies have lack of a track record, 0:06:16.240 --> 0:06:18.640 or they're going to miss their numbers. Now we'll see 0:06:18.640 --> 0:06:21.200 what ultimately happens. But one of the things you said 0:06:21.200 --> 0:06:23.240 at the beginning is SPACs are out of favor. Now, 0:06:23.240 --> 0:06:26.760 of course nobody likes bacs, but the trading should be 0:06:26.800 --> 0:06:29.760 the underlying company. Forget of whether it was a SPAC 0:06:29.839 --> 0:06:32.200 or I p O or direct listing. It's what matters 0:06:32.279 --> 0:06:35.000 is the underlying business. That was Orlando Bravo, the founder 0:06:35.000 --> 0:06:38.479 and managing partner at Toma. Bravo obviously enthusiastic about the 0:06:38.480 --> 0:06:41.560 spack market, and look, he's undeterred with the recent struggles 0:06:41.560 --> 0:06:43.919 that we've seen. Yeah, definitely, all right, coming up a 0:06:43.920 --> 0:06:45.720 close look at the U S. Labor market and the 0:06:45.800 --> 0:06:49.159 need for a bipartisan infrastructure spending bill. Look at that 0:06:49.200 --> 0:06:52.520 from someone with deep knowledge of both areas. Former Labor 0:06:52.560 --> 0:06:55.960 and Transportation Secretary A Lane chall Plus, she weighs in 0:06:56.040 --> 0:06:58.880 on whether or not she'd support Donald Trump in if 0:06:58.880 --> 0:07:02.400 she runs. You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week. This is Bloomberg. 0:07:11.320 --> 0:07:15.320 This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and Bloomberg 0:07:15.400 --> 0:07:19.960 Quick Takes Tim Stinovik from Bloomberg Radio. Two of the 0:07:19.960 --> 0:07:22.760 hottest political topics of the nation these days. Yeah, they 0:07:22.760 --> 0:07:25.440 seem to be infrastructure and the job market, rightfully, So 0:07:25.560 --> 0:07:28.600 really specifically, we're talking about the tug of war between 0:07:28.720 --> 0:07:31.640 employers who want people back in the office and the 0:07:31.920 --> 0:07:34.640 millions of workers who want more flexibility in the wake 0:07:34.680 --> 0:07:37.080 of the pandemic. Well, our next guest has expert knowledge 0:07:37.080 --> 0:07:39.520 in both issues. Her career in public service has spanned 0:07:39.520 --> 0:07:43.600 it nearly four decades. She's worked in three different presidential administrations, 0:07:43.920 --> 0:07:46.960 including as Secretary of Labor under George W. Bush and 0:07:47.040 --> 0:07:50.920 most recently, as Transportation Secretary under President Donald Trump. Were, 0:07:50.920 --> 0:07:53.240 of course talking about eline show. She took part in 0:07:53.280 --> 0:07:56.000 a panel discussion surrounding the future of work at this 0:07:56.080 --> 0:07:58.840 year's Milk and Institute Global Conference, and then she joined 0:07:58.960 --> 0:08:02.400 us to break down how companies are approaching America's labor 0:08:02.520 --> 0:08:06.080 landscape and what sort of work patterns they can expect 0:08:06.200 --> 0:08:09.440 from employees going forward. They're taking polling more, they're asking 0:08:09.440 --> 0:08:13.360 their employees more, and clearly some kind of hybrid working 0:08:13.480 --> 0:08:19.240 environment arrangement will be much more accepting two employees. And 0:08:19.280 --> 0:08:21.480 I think employers are trying to work this out right. 0:08:21.640 --> 0:08:22.960 And you know, at first they were going to come 0:08:23.000 --> 0:08:24.920 back to work. The workforce is going to come back 0:08:24.960 --> 0:08:27.520 to work lass September. Then it was lost December, then 0:08:27.560 --> 0:08:29.920 it was the spring, then it was going to be September, 0:08:29.960 --> 0:08:34.200 and now people are talking about spring of So clearly 0:08:34.240 --> 0:08:35.959 we're all feeling our way as to how to come 0:08:36.000 --> 0:08:38.200 back at that. There is this imbalance happening though right 0:08:38.200 --> 0:08:40.000 now when we look at the labor market, there is 0:08:40.000 --> 0:08:43.040 an oversupply of workers, and but they are not actually 0:08:43.120 --> 0:08:46.040 returning to the workforce. Do you think we ever get 0:08:46.080 --> 0:08:48.880 back to a workforce that looks like it looked before 0:08:48.920 --> 0:08:51.800 the pandemic? Like is it really from those numbers? Yeah, 0:08:51.800 --> 0:08:55.079 it's even more. Before the pandemic. When I was Labor secretary, 0:08:55.200 --> 0:08:59.640 the labor participation rate was about sixty with the workforce 0:08:59.679 --> 0:09:02.640 of about hundred and fifty seven million people. And then 0:09:02.640 --> 0:09:05.679 we have a great recession and then the labor participation 0:09:05.760 --> 0:09:08.440 rad dropped to about sixty three and it kind of 0:09:08.480 --> 0:09:11.840 never recovered. And with the COVID then it went from 0:09:11.880 --> 0:09:15.280 sixty three point you know, three or four down to 0:09:15.360 --> 0:09:19.160 sixty one point seven sixty one point one. So we're 0:09:19.160 --> 0:09:22.880 continuing to see declines in labor participation, which is terrible 0:09:23.280 --> 0:09:26.120 because we need these workers to come back to fuel 0:09:26.200 --> 0:09:30.040 a full recovery. But there's also another factor, another dynamic 0:09:30.080 --> 0:09:33.880 at play here, and that is the skills gap. Well, 0:09:33.920 --> 0:09:36.679 we had tired of this for years, a lame just 0:09:36.760 --> 0:09:38.560 like and I'm gonna throw in another problem. We've been 0:09:38.600 --> 0:09:41.800 talking about infrastructure for years. How many administrations, right, and 0:09:41.800 --> 0:09:45.440 this is something that has had bipartisan support. What ultimately, 0:09:45.480 --> 0:09:48.160 from your perspective, do we have to start spending on 0:09:48.240 --> 0:09:50.760 when it comes to infrastructure, Well, look at the supply 0:09:50.840 --> 0:09:55.040 chains on four obviously, you know, investing in transportation infrastructure. 0:09:55.440 --> 0:09:58.080 The reason that the Trump administration was never able to 0:09:58.160 --> 0:10:01.760 succeed in the infrastructure propos so was because there was 0:10:01.800 --> 0:10:04.000 a big debate about whether there should be one dollar 0:10:04.040 --> 0:10:07.679 or for one dollar of investment spending. And the Republicans 0:10:07.720 --> 0:10:10.080 believe that there can be leverage, that we can use 0:10:10.120 --> 0:10:15.200 public private partnerships and leverage you know, existing government dollars, 0:10:15.240 --> 0:10:18.079 and the Democrats felt that they wanted one dollar for 0:10:18.200 --> 0:10:21.360 one dollar deficits spending, which obviously the pros and const 0:10:21.440 --> 0:10:24.680 to both, so we were never able to galvanize enough 0:10:24.679 --> 0:10:28.840 consensus around public private partnerships this time around. You know, 0:10:28.920 --> 0:10:31.160 I think there could be there. I think there's an 0:10:31.200 --> 0:10:36.760 infrastructure bill, a transportation infrastructure bill to be had. Unfortunately 0:10:36.800 --> 0:10:40.800 now it's being held hostage to the Budget Reconciliation Bill. 0:10:41.240 --> 0:10:44.360 If it were to be standard alone, there is a 0:10:44.400 --> 0:10:47.080 deal to be made and passed on the infrastructure bill, 0:10:47.200 --> 0:10:49.520 and I'm hopeful that it would be passed before your end. 0:10:49.559 --> 0:10:51.440 I feel like politics. I mean, I want to ask 0:10:51.440 --> 0:10:53.880 you because you've been in politics or I'm not in politics. 0:10:53.920 --> 0:10:57.120 I am a public servant. I've always viewed myself as 0:10:57.160 --> 0:10:59.560 being in public service. Did say you are? We're a 0:10:59.600 --> 0:11:03.160 long time public servant. Um the Republican Party, the You know, 0:11:03.160 --> 0:11:05.280 if I think about the January six Capital riot, you 0:11:05.360 --> 0:11:08.560 resigned after that. I left the Trump administration. You were there, 0:11:08.640 --> 0:11:11.920 you know, almost to the to the to the end. Um, 0:11:12.120 --> 0:11:15.760 do you regret being part of that administration. I'm very 0:11:15.800 --> 0:11:19.240 grateful for the opportunity to serve my country. I'm an 0:11:19.240 --> 0:11:21.559 immigrant to this country. I came when I was eight 0:11:21.640 --> 0:11:25.160 years old. I didn't get my citizenship until nineteen and 0:11:25.200 --> 0:11:27.400 it used to be that. If the president asked, the 0:11:27.440 --> 0:11:30.240 only answer you can give is yes, I didn't know 0:11:30.280 --> 0:11:32.760 the president very well, but I also believe that the 0:11:32.760 --> 0:11:35.960 American people deserve to have a functioning government. But going 0:11:36.000 --> 0:11:39.000 back to the infrastructure bill, the real drama is on 0:11:39.040 --> 0:11:42.200 the Democrats side, because, as I mentioned, there's a bill 0:11:42.320 --> 0:11:45.440 to be had. There was bipartisan support. Republicans signed on 0:11:45.559 --> 0:11:49.480 to this infrastructure bill. But the Speaker, and you know 0:11:49.760 --> 0:11:52.360 she and I share birthday, by the way, Uh, she's 0:11:52.400 --> 0:11:55.280 in a tough Yes, she's in a tough spot because 0:11:55.280 --> 0:11:58.320 she's got moderates who want to hold back on the spending. Well, 0:11:58.480 --> 0:12:01.600 she's got progressive that want to spend more. So she's 0:12:01.600 --> 0:12:05.640 trying to balance that. But if left alone, that infrastructure 0:12:05.679 --> 0:12:08.920 bill can move on its own. Many all the drama 0:12:09.000 --> 0:12:10.959 is on the Democrats side. And you know this, you 0:12:11.000 --> 0:12:13.439 know you follow what's been going on the economy, certainly 0:12:13.440 --> 0:12:15.520 in the pandemic milk and covers this left and right, 0:12:15.520 --> 0:12:18.839 the inequities that we have seen and it's not new, 0:12:19.240 --> 0:12:20.760 and there are people who have not shared in the 0:12:20.800 --> 0:12:24.840 wealth creation and so that softer infrastructure that the presidents 0:12:24.840 --> 0:12:26.280 team are trying to get through. I mean, this is 0:12:26.320 --> 0:12:28.920 part of the battle. And I think for those people 0:12:28.960 --> 0:12:32.040 that are questioned that they're not saying that these social 0:12:32.080 --> 0:12:37.079 infrastructure proposals are unworthy. What they're saying basically is should 0:12:37.160 --> 0:12:39.719 they be included? You know, what was originally going to 0:12:39.800 --> 0:12:43.600 be called a transportation infrastructure politics works that, you know, 0:12:43.920 --> 0:12:47.240 but therastructure done, We're done. So it was originally the 0:12:47.240 --> 0:12:50.440 original infrastructure bill had only six percent of what is 0:12:50.440 --> 0:12:54.839 traditionally defined as transportation infrastructure. If you expand the explanation 0:12:54.880 --> 0:12:57.360 and the description a bit more generously, you get up 0:12:57.400 --> 0:13:00.480 to thirty of the dollars. But clearly there's a need 0:13:00.559 --> 0:13:06.280 for transportation infrastructure. Rhodes bridges, transports, airports, drive around New York. Absolutely. 0:13:06.559 --> 0:13:09.320 I mean the governor got elected on this. We've got 0:13:09.320 --> 0:13:11.480 her slogan. We have to ask because we have about 0:13:11.679 --> 0:13:13.680 I know you consider yourself a public servant, but we 0:13:13.720 --> 0:13:17.840 got to ask more politics. Oh shoot, why are you talking? 0:13:18.920 --> 0:13:21.480 I heard from Donald Trump at all. Uh, we have 0:13:21.559 --> 0:13:24.640 not spoken, not at all. So but I'm not you know, 0:13:24.720 --> 0:13:28.400 like I'm out of politics the public policy. You served 0:13:28.400 --> 0:13:30.719 in three administrations. Do you consider President Trump is the 0:13:30.800 --> 0:13:33.280 leader right now of the Republican party. Well, I think 0:13:33.320 --> 0:13:36.000 that is in the process of being decided and sorted out. 0:13:36.000 --> 0:13:38.959 There's still some time to go. There's two coming up, 0:13:39.240 --> 0:13:41.800 and then there's should he be the leader of the 0:13:41.800 --> 0:13:44.720 Republican Party. That's up to the people. You know. I 0:13:44.720 --> 0:13:47.240 think for those who wonder about his appeal, they should 0:13:47.280 --> 0:13:50.480 be asking what is it that prompts so many Americans 0:13:50.480 --> 0:13:52.440 to support him? And I think that's a very the 0:13:52.520 --> 0:13:55.079 answer will be very, very revealing, and you and it's 0:13:55.080 --> 0:13:58.439 a teaching you know, it's it's something that I think, um, 0:13:58.520 --> 0:14:01.080 you know, the leadership should unders. But as somebody who's 0:14:01.480 --> 0:14:04.560 came to this country as an immigrant, um and became 0:14:04.600 --> 0:14:07.920 a citizen, do you think a voting citizen that he 0:14:07.960 --> 0:14:11.960 should be president leader of the repeblic? I will support 0:14:12.000 --> 0:14:14.319 the nominee. I mean, I'm a Republican, so I will 0:14:14.360 --> 0:14:16.959 support whoever the nominee is. That was former Labor and 0:14:17.000 --> 0:14:21.680 Transportation Secretary Elaine Show an important conversation, especially for lawmakers 0:14:21.720 --> 0:14:24.320 gearing up for mid term elections next year. Also, fiscal 0:14:24.360 --> 0:14:27.240 spending will continue to be a source of contention between 0:14:27.280 --> 0:14:30.400 now and next November. I thought her comments about not 0:14:30.440 --> 0:14:34.160 necessarily considering herself a politician were particularly interesting. Yeah, I 0:14:34.680 --> 0:14:36.920 agree with you, considering how much time she spend in Washington. 0:14:37.040 --> 0:14:39.120 I mean a ton of time, and she still spends 0:14:39.120 --> 0:14:41.200 a lot of time in Washington. She is, of course 0:14:41.240 --> 0:14:44.160 the wife have SENTI Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. We'll dig 0:14:44.160 --> 0:14:46.200 into the labor side of things a bit more. We're 0:14:46.200 --> 0:14:48.000 gonna catch up with the CEO of a company called 0:14:48.000 --> 0:14:52.240 Bright Machines. He says automation might actually be a good thing. Yes, 0:14:52.360 --> 0:14:54.680 a good thing, you heard right for workers. Coming up 0:14:54.680 --> 0:14:57.760 next on Bloomberg Business Week, Etro calls itself the world's 0:14:57.800 --> 0:15:01.240 largest social trading network. The company is ready to go public. 0:15:01.360 --> 0:15:04.200 It is, indeed the CEO of e Touro joining us next. 0:15:04.400 --> 0:15:13.600 This is Bloomberg broadcasting from the financial capital of the World, 0:15:13.680 --> 0:15:17.160 Bloomberg eleven Frio in New York to Washington, d C. 0:15:17.360 --> 0:15:22.040 Bloomberg to Boston, Bloomberg one O six one to San Francisco, 0:15:22.120 --> 0:15:25.560 Bloomberg nine sixty to the country Sirius XM Chado one 0:15:25.640 --> 0:15:28.800 nineteen and around the globe the Bloomberg Business app and 0:15:28.840 --> 0:15:35.040 Bloomberg Radio dot Com. This is Bloomberg Business Week. Retail investors. 0:15:35.080 --> 0:15:37.680 They have become a dominant market moving force over the 0:15:37.760 --> 0:15:39.920 last year and a half, and those investors are also 0:15:40.000 --> 0:15:42.760 trending younger with platforms like robin Hood and wee bull. 0:15:43.040 --> 0:15:46.040 Those platforms give millions of novice traders easy access to 0:15:46.120 --> 0:15:49.840 public markets just through their smartphones. Toro has also been 0:15:49.840 --> 0:15:52.520 working on this for more than a decade, building its 0:15:52.600 --> 0:15:54.840 user base, and it since grown into what it says 0:15:55.080 --> 0:15:58.080 is the world largest social trading network. It previously delayed 0:15:58.120 --> 0:16:01.120 its planned ten point for billion dollars back public listing 0:16:01.440 --> 0:16:04.080 due to the secs increased scrutiny of such deals. They've 0:16:04.080 --> 0:16:08.360 been looking very deeply into the transparency of SPACs. We 0:16:08.440 --> 0:16:11.400 know that well now. E Toro's i p O back 0:16:11.440 --> 0:16:13.880 on track. That's thanks in part to storing interest and 0:16:13.960 --> 0:16:17.440 investment in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. That's at least according 0:16:17.440 --> 0:16:20.120 to the company's co founder and CEO, who expects that 0:16:20.160 --> 0:16:22.800 trend to continue. You see A traveled to the Milk 0:16:22.840 --> 0:16:25.800 and Institute Global Conference all the way from Israel, where 0:16:25.840 --> 0:16:27.560 his company is based. He told us it was his 0:16:27.600 --> 0:16:30.000 first visit to l A in about twenty five years 0:16:30.200 --> 0:16:34.120 as first company. He was very optimistic. We've seen explosive 0:16:34.160 --> 0:16:37.080 growth over the past eighteen months really starting as we 0:16:37.160 --> 0:16:40.960 talked about before, UH with the beginning of the pandemic, 0:16:41.120 --> 0:16:44.280 just at inflection point in the rise of retail investors, 0:16:44.280 --> 0:16:48.400 with a whole new generation across the world, millennials realizing 0:16:48.440 --> 0:16:50.640 that they want to invest in the markets, whether it's 0:16:50.960 --> 0:16:53.880 stock markets, whether it's US stock markets, or whether it's 0:16:53.880 --> 0:16:57.600 crypto markets, just increased interest all around the world. We 0:16:57.680 --> 0:16:59.760 founded the company in two thousand seven with a vision 0:16:59.760 --> 0:17:02.880 of opening the global markets for everyone to trade investments 0:17:02.880 --> 0:17:07.439 simpler and transparent way. And up until twenty twenty, beginning 0:17:07.480 --> 0:17:10.240 of twenty twenty, we had about twelve million registered users, 0:17:10.600 --> 0:17:12.840 and since then we added more than eleven a new 0:17:12.880 --> 0:17:16.280 million registered users by the end of the first half 0:17:16.400 --> 0:17:20.159 twenty one, so basically we doubled the company, more than 0:17:20.200 --> 0:17:25.400 double the company. So twenty three million registered users worldwide 0:17:25.480 --> 0:17:28.080 grew by five point six million mergisitry users the first 0:17:28.080 --> 0:17:31.800 six month this year, after growing about five million registered 0:17:31.920 --> 0:17:36.160 users the entire of last year. We've so we've grown 0:17:36.160 --> 0:17:38.959 significantly our business, and we've seen the shift from the 0:17:39.000 --> 0:17:41.960 first crypto rally in two thousand and seventeen, we've seen 0:17:41.960 --> 0:17:45.080 our business grow rapidly from sixty million dollar commission to 0:17:45.160 --> 0:17:48.840 three nine million dollars from two thousand and sixteen to eighteen, 0:17:48.960 --> 0:17:52.199 really driven by the first Crypto Rally, and then we 0:17:52.200 --> 0:17:55.480 saw Crypto Winter, and then Crypto Winter we sort of drove, 0:17:55.640 --> 0:17:58.199 We drove our customers who came to it or to 0:17:58.280 --> 0:18:00.639 trade back. Then you know, x RAP three ariam to 0:18:00.840 --> 0:18:04.600 diversify into equities through the social network where they can 0:18:04.640 --> 0:18:08.160 actually see what other people are trading and see each 0:18:08.160 --> 0:18:11.760 other's performance and copy the most successful investors. And and 0:18:11.800 --> 0:18:14.920 then we saw Crypto Winter, shifted the business into equities 0:18:14.960 --> 0:18:18.720 and commission free stock trading worldwide, and then started this 0:18:18.800 --> 0:18:21.760 year with Crypto Rally two point which is just an 0:18:21.760 --> 0:18:24.600 amazing rally. Only I hear what you're saying, and imagine 0:18:24.600 --> 0:18:26.400 some of our listeners are thinking of themselves. Wait a second. 0:18:26.440 --> 0:18:28.360 This is a similar story as to what propelled robin 0:18:28.400 --> 0:18:30.840 Hood to the public markets in a relatively short time 0:18:30.920 --> 0:18:34.920 into such massive growth in one But we are seeing 0:18:34.960 --> 0:18:38.080 that robin Hood shairs are down more partly due to 0:18:38.080 --> 0:18:40.639 some softness with the company referred to as seasonality earlier 0:18:40.720 --> 0:18:43.440 this year. Are you seeing any of that decline in activity, 0:18:43.640 --> 0:18:45.920 any of that seasonality that we heard from Robin Hood, 0:18:46.000 --> 0:18:48.640 so sensitive to the fact that during the process of 0:18:48.720 --> 0:18:51.600 transforming from a private company to a public company, I 0:18:51.600 --> 0:18:54.240 can only share company's data relevant for the first six 0:18:54.280 --> 0:18:57.480 month which we published, which were very good. We did 0:18:57.520 --> 0:19:00.600 update the markets that Q three. And this is something 0:19:00.600 --> 0:19:03.680 you can look at exchange data. So equities have been 0:19:03.720 --> 0:19:06.560 software in Q three if you look just an exchange data, 0:19:06.640 --> 0:19:12.120 options data, volumes and equities and volatility September have gone 0:19:12.160 --> 0:19:15.879 down generally in the markets. Uh. And now we're seeing 0:19:15.920 --> 0:19:20.600 obviously crypto rally two point oh the longest crypto rally 0:19:20.760 --> 0:19:24.959 in crypto history in Q four, sort of returning with 0:19:25.000 --> 0:19:28.600 a roar. So hoping to see Bitcoin reach all time high. 0:19:28.960 --> 0:19:32.480 Already peaked and touched actually market cap all time high 0:19:32.760 --> 0:19:35.800 over the last forty eight hours. So very interesting to 0:19:35.840 --> 0:19:39.320 see what's happening in crypto in Q four. Um, you 0:19:39.600 --> 0:19:42.199 who are you competing against? Is it Robin Hood? Is it? 0:19:42.359 --> 0:19:45.040 All of the online trading platforms, even the establishment? Who 0:19:45.119 --> 0:19:47.200 is it? So the way we see it, and again 0:19:47.240 --> 0:19:53.920 we're very global and we have our businesses Europe, US, Asia, 0:19:54.320 --> 0:19:59.640 Latin America, Middle East, were regulated across the world and 0:19:59.640 --> 0:20:03.000 in I single country. What we see is the discount 0:20:03.000 --> 0:20:07.280 brokerage one point was very much consolidated by the local banks. 0:20:07.280 --> 0:20:09.679 So here you know schwab Bot t D. Morgan Stanley 0:20:09.720 --> 0:20:12.440 bought the trade and we see the same in Germany 0:20:12.440 --> 0:20:17.120 and Italy and Spain, in the UK everywhere. But who 0:20:17.119 --> 0:20:21.359 were really competing in against is those super apps, right, 0:20:21.640 --> 0:20:25.280 apps like Toro, who are attractive to a new audience, 0:20:26.040 --> 0:20:31.240 new customers, customers that are beginning their trading activity are 0:20:31.280 --> 0:20:34.080 looking for new tools for ways to engage and learn 0:20:34.440 --> 0:20:37.320 how to trade the markets, how to participate in the markets. 0:20:37.320 --> 0:20:40.480 And there's a lot of great companies just expending the 0:20:40.520 --> 0:20:43.560 audience and expending the markets. That's only a c He's 0:20:43.600 --> 0:20:46.600 the co founder and CEO already Toro. You're listening to 0:20:46.600 --> 0:20:49.159 Bloomberg business Way coming up next. One of the headliners 0:20:49.160 --> 0:20:52.080 at Milk in this year. Our audience very familiar with her. 0:20:52.160 --> 0:20:55.840 Our invest founder CEO and ce IO Cathy would and 0:20:55.880 --> 0:20:58.760 not surprisingly Carol her biggest bets. Well, they're continuing to 0:20:58.800 --> 0:21:01.720 pay off. Her commitments to Asslin Bitcoin as strong as ever. 0:21:01.800 --> 0:21:04.000 She also explains the rold Jack Mo played in her 0:21:04.119 --> 0:21:17.320 China investment strategy. This is Bloomberg. You're listening to Bloomberg 0:21:17.359 --> 0:21:21.000 Business Week with Carol Messer and Bloomberg Quick Takes Tim 0:21:21.040 --> 0:21:26.639 Stinovik from Bloomberg Radio. When you want to talk innovation, disruption, 0:21:26.680 --> 0:21:28.400 how to place your bets on the future. If there's 0:21:28.440 --> 0:21:31.480