WEBVTT - Former NBA Superstar Shaquille O'Neal Talks New Deal in Infrastructure 

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, he's a fifteen time NBA All Star, a philanthropist,

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<v Speaker 2>and now Shaquille O'Neil is stepping into the infrastructure space.

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<v Speaker 2>The NBA legend is joining Jackmail Infrastructure as a founding partner.

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<v Speaker 2>Earlier today, Romaine spoke with Jorge Mora, co managing partner

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<v Speaker 2>at Jackmail Partners and Shack about why this new venture

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<v Speaker 2>is personal.

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<v Speaker 3>Well, you know, there's a tremendous need in the US

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<v Speaker 3>for better infrastructure.

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<v Speaker 4>You know, you see it in your roads.

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<v Speaker 3>You're seeing your airports, your train stations, and I want

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<v Speaker 3>to help make that change, and you know, Jack mel

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<v Speaker 3>is the partner that can help me do that. You know,

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<v Speaker 3>when I'm at Jorge and Nick, you know they approached me,

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<v Speaker 3>and you know we kind of have the same values.

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<v Speaker 3>I like to invest my time and money where it

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<v Speaker 3>can make a difference in people's lives and have a positive,

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<v Speaker 3>positive impact on the community. So I thought it was

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<v Speaker 3>the right thing to do because I live in a

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<v Speaker 3>town where we need, definitely need better infrastructure. So I could,

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<v Speaker 3>you know, partner with a company like Jack Mail. I'll

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<v Speaker 3>do it every time.

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<v Speaker 1>And a lot of cities of course across the US.

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<v Speaker 1>Shaquille are in that same position. I mean, one of

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<v Speaker 1>the deals that the infrastructure project had been involved in was,

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<v Speaker 1>of course, the redesign and redevelopment, if you will, of

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<v Speaker 1>LaGuardia Airport in New York and check. I mean, as

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<v Speaker 1>somebody who spent you know, nineteen twenty years in the NBA,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm sure you've been to pretty much every airport in

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<v Speaker 1>the United States and beyond. When you look at the

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<v Speaker 1>infrastructure in the transportation space, what does it say to you?

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<v Speaker 3>But it says that, you know, whoever has the contract

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<v Speaker 3>is doing a great job. And I know the work

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<v Speaker 3>that Jack Mail doesn't. My hometown is nort and part

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<v Speaker 3>of the airport has already been redone. You know, I

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<v Speaker 3>would definitely love to be involved in, you know, the

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<v Speaker 3>expansion of that one. But you know, as long as

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<v Speaker 3>we have companies like Jack Mail doing that thing and

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<v Speaker 3>you know, bring in bringing what they bring to the table,

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<v Speaker 3>it's beautiful. So what they did with with with thought,

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<v Speaker 3>you know, LaGuardia is definitely why I wanted to be

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<v Speaker 3>their teammates. You know, every time I win a championship

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<v Speaker 3>is because I have great teammates, you know, going with Kobe.

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<v Speaker 3>I'm winning in a broadcast with your best friend Charles Barkley,

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<v Speaker 3>So I want to also win a championship in the

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<v Speaker 3>infrastructure space.

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<v Speaker 1>So Ari, I am curious that with regards to the

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<v Speaker 1>projects going on through the Investment Infrastructure Fund I mentioned,

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<v Speaker 1>of course, so what went on in LaGuardia also a

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<v Speaker 1>big project at JFK Heartsfield down in Atlanta. Is your

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<v Speaker 1>focus going to primarily be in I guess the aviation

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<v Speaker 1>space or are you looking to do something more broadly?

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<v Speaker 5>We're gonna be looking at other spaces.

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<v Speaker 6>I mean the transportation space in particular is one of

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<v Speaker 6>our core focuses. And we also recently did an investment

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<v Speaker 6>into the energy space. Unfortunately we can't disclose it, but

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<v Speaker 6>it was a large, almost one hundred million dollar investment.

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<v Speaker 5>And then we're also going to look at digital.

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<v Speaker 6>What we try to do is we try to pair

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<v Speaker 6>the competency that we have in house with the different

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<v Speaker 6>sectors we're investing in.

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<v Speaker 5>In the digital space.

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<v Speaker 6>We happen to have a senior advisor who has done

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<v Speaker 6>an enormous amount of investing in digital for the last

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<v Speaker 6>twenty five years. In transportation We happen to own a

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<v Speaker 6>design engineering firm that has worked in close to one

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<v Speaker 6>hundred airports in the US, and so we're trying to

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<v Speaker 6>stick to what we know what we can bring some

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<v Speaker 6>added value, and then by having Shaquille as one of

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<v Speaker 6>our founding partners, we can really focus on the community

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<v Speaker 6>engagement into those big projects.

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<v Speaker 5>We mentioned a couple of times. If you've flown in.

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<v Speaker 6>Or at a LaGuardia, you can see that there's all

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<v Speaker 6>these local businesses that are in the terminal, restaurants, et cetera.

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<v Speaker 6>And it also has the impact on the employment in

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<v Speaker 6>the community. So our value add is that we're going

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<v Speaker 6>to try to bring that organic and more natural connectivity

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<v Speaker 6>that a group like Chuck Malcolm bring to a project

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<v Speaker 6>like that when partnering with large infrastructure investors is either

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<v Speaker 6>strategic or financial.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, we'll expand on that a little bit because I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>as someone who goes through LaGuardia almost every other week,

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<v Speaker 1>it's very obvious that there is an intent with that

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<v Speaker 1>redesign to highlight local businesses and I am curious as

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<v Speaker 1>to what that conversation looks like. Orgey, are you you're

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<v Speaker 1>talking with the airport authority or are you talking with

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<v Speaker 1>just the local government leaders. What is that conversation.

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<v Speaker 6>It's a combination of all of that, right, It's understanding

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<v Speaker 6>which businesses in the local community.

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<v Speaker 5>We will on bring in. What also, what investors.

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<v Speaker 6>From the local community we would like to group into

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<v Speaker 6>our investment group to just tie to the community, to

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<v Speaker 6>make sure that their needs are being listened to. So

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<v Speaker 6>in any new project, for example, Newark has been talked about,

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<v Speaker 6>it hasn't been announced yet, hopefully it will be in

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<v Speaker 6>the next few months or year when that happens. Having

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<v Speaker 6>Shaquille as our partner, having the fact that he grew

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<v Speaker 6>up there, I think we'll give an edge to any

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<v Speaker 6>group that we work with in UH in delivering that

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<v Speaker 6>community and engaging with him properly.

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<v Speaker 1>Maybe Schulle, you can talk just a little bit about

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<v Speaker 1>Newark and your connections there. Obviously you were raised there

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<v Speaker 1>and you've been a big investor there a long prior

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<v Speaker 1>to this deal with Jack mol Yeah.

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<v Speaker 3>When I met with Jorge, I think I told him

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<v Speaker 3>I wanted the business that's going to have positive impact

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<v Speaker 3>on local community. Born and raised in the North through

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<v Speaker 3>in and out of the Nork Airport UH many times,

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<v Speaker 3>and you know would love to be a part of

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<v Speaker 3>you know project, you know that just you know those

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<v Speaker 3>with the legacy. You have a kid who was a

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<v Speaker 3>meeting with juvenile delinquent. Now he's partnering with the company

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<v Speaker 3>like Jack mel and we're redoing the airport. You know,

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<v Speaker 3>we're making the airport better. So you know, this would

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<v Speaker 3>be big if we could out land that deal. But again,

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<v Speaker 3>when when I met with nickod Hore, I told him myself,

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<v Speaker 3>I want to positive impact on local community.

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<v Speaker 4>That's all we want to do.

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<v Speaker 3>We want to you know, help create jobs, you know,

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<v Speaker 3>just with whatever it does make the community better.

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<v Speaker 4>That's definitely that I want to be a part of.

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<v Speaker 1>Do you have any ambitions for having more deeper ownership

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<v Speaker 1>in the sports world in terms of sports franchises?

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<v Speaker 3>Actually no, I've always been the I can remember when

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<v Speaker 3>I was taking my business marketing class, professor gave me

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<v Speaker 3>a book on the side. He said it was the

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<v Speaker 3>Dummiest Guy of Starting your Own Business, And.

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<v Speaker 4>My favorite chapter was joint Ventureship.

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<v Speaker 3>Because I realized that in order to be a great leader,

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<v Speaker 3>you have to have people that are smarter than you

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<v Speaker 3>as teammates. So I applied basketball to business and I

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<v Speaker 3>was like, you know what, I need to get guys

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<v Speaker 3>that are better in whatever space I'm trying to invest

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<v Speaker 3>in than I am. Imagine me trying to run a

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<v Speaker 3>five guys by myself. Imagine me, you know, trying to

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<v Speaker 3>run Rebunk by myself. Imagine me trying to do this

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<v Speaker 3>infrastructure by myself. So you have to get great teammates.

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<v Speaker 3>I mentioned this earlier. I won championships with Kobe, Bryant

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<v Speaker 3>d Wade. I'm winning with Ernie, Kenny and Chuck, So

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<v Speaker 3>you know, when it comes to, you know, finding great partners,

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<v Speaker 3>Jorge and Nick are the best in this business and

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<v Speaker 3>we will definitely win