Speaker 1: From the heart of where innovation, money and power colli
Speaker 1: in Silicon Valley and beyond. This is Bloomberg Technology with
Speaker 1: Emily Jay. I'm Emily changing San Francisco, and this is
Speaker 1: Bloomberg Technology coming up in the next hour. Isolating Putin
Speaker 1: and his allies from financial systems. The d o j's
Speaker 1: newest task force will track the use of crypto to
Speaker 1: evade sanctions, along with the jets, yachts, and other luxury
Speaker 1: assets of Russian oligarchs. Our conversation with US Deputy Attorney
Speaker 1: General Lisa Monaco plus Salesforce co CEO Brett Tylor, gives
Speaker 1: us his view on how the war in Ukraine and
Speaker 1: global economic uncertainty will impact global business off the back
Speaker 1: of the company's earnings results, plus how their developer team
Speaker 1: in Ukraine is faring and finance says the Exchange will
Speaker 1: not impose a blanket van on Russian users. A unilateral
Speaker 1: decision would be unethical, according to its CEO, or that
Speaker 1: later this hour, the conflict in Ukraine continuing to intensify,
Speaker 1: and with a Russian air strike hitting Kiev's main radio
Speaker 1: and television tower, one thing remains clear. The war is
Speaker 1: also one of control over information. Let's talk about all
Speaker 1: that and more with Jane Litvineko. She is a Senior
Speaker 1: Research Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy Store and Scene Center
Speaker 1: on Media, Politics and Public Policy. Jane, you're also a
Speaker 1: reporter and a Ukrainian yourself. Talk to us about the
Speaker 1: state of Russian disc and misinformation and how it is
Speaker 1: being used as a weapon right now. Well, I think
Speaker 1: one important thing to understand is that Russia has been
Speaker 1: spreading false information about Ukraine for years, uh, and use
Speaker 1: some of that information as false justification to further invade
Speaker 1: the country, um, during the war that has been going
Speaker 1: on for eight years UM. And part of that mean
Speaker 1: distorting Ukrainian history, distorting Ukrainian culture and people. But on
Speaker 1: a more grainual level, it also meant videos uh that
Speaker 1: purported to show something that they didn't actually show, um,
Speaker 1: sort of vacantly justification for the war. So would you
Speaker 1: say that President Putin has been using this as a
Speaker 1: weapon to build up to this moment? Absolutely. Disinformation is
Speaker 1: a huge weapon for the Russian government. We've seen it
Speaker 1: in fourteen during the annexation of Crimea as well as
Speaker 1: during the occupation of Eastern Ukraine. We saw during the
Speaker 1: doubting of NH seventeen and we see it now. And
Speaker 1: disinformation is a weapon that Putin has been using all
Speaker 1: around the world UH in an attempt to undermine democracy,
Speaker 1: which of course the US has felt intimately as well.
Speaker 1: So how well do you think big tech platforms like
Speaker 1: Facebook and Twitter and TikTok are handling this now? We've
Speaker 1: seen some steps taken in the last couple of days.
Speaker 1: Certainly it's not nearly enough, is my guest. Right from
Speaker 1: the tracking that we're doing about the disinformation that we
Speaker 1: see on social media. UH, there's steps have been good,
Speaker 1: but limited and scatter shot. So there has been a
Speaker 1: ban on our T and Sputnik in Europe, for instance,
Speaker 1: but we don't see that same uh, that same band worldwide,
Speaker 1: which raises a series of questions like why um our
Speaker 1: T and Sputnik of course have huge audiences outside of Europe,
Speaker 1: including in southern northern America. UM. We also see UM
Speaker 1: direct television providers attempt to thwart Russian disinformation. UM. But again,
Speaker 1: Russia is are very good. Russian disinformers particularly are very
Speaker 1: good at getting around restrictions on social media, and as
Speaker 1: a matter of fact, they're very well practiced around that.
Speaker 1: This is also war that spans social media plot forms.
Speaker 1: It's not just about the Big three that we're used
Speaker 1: to North America. It's also about TikTok, It's also about Telegram.
Speaker 1: There's really no social media network that's untouched by this.
Speaker 1: Can you talk to us about how every day Ukrainians
Speaker 1: are navigating they do they see the difference between information
Speaker 1: and misinformation? How do they try to separate fact from fiction.
Speaker 1: There's a gargantuan effort to essentially undermine Russian disinformation, either
Speaker 1: as it comes in or before it comes in, and
Speaker 1: there's a few different ways that both Ukrainians and outside
Speaker 1: groups are doing this. Uh, the Ukrainian television channel in
Speaker 1: Ukraine twenty four, which is a few different television channels
Speaker 1: advanted together to provide around the clock coverage of the war,
Speaker 1: are debunking disinformation in real time. There's also real information
Speaker 1: exchange happening between Ukrainians who are filming scenes from the
Speaker 1: war and are trying to figure out where was the
Speaker 1: most recent attack, how many was how many were hurt.
Speaker 1: And of course we see an open source intelligence community
Speaker 1: which essentially gathers gathers digital breadcrumbs put those breadcrumbs together
Speaker 1: for a fuller picture to essentially undermine Russian narratives. And
Speaker 1: so that is why the Ukrainian voices that we see
Speaker 1: online have been much more powerful than the Russian disinformation
Speaker 1: that we see online. Look, we're in the middle of
Speaker 1: a crisis, a war, right now. What can we do
Speaker 1: in this moment? I know that you've pioneered a method
Speaker 1: that sort of swiftly and excessively debunks some of this stuff.
Speaker 1: How do we do that instantaneously? You know? I think
Speaker 1: the main thing is to understand that the spoor is
Speaker 1: not going to be over tomorrow and we will continue
Speaker 1: you to see a big flood of videos and images
Speaker 1: from on the ground all the time, and we need
Speaker 1: to be prepared for that. One important thing to remember
Speaker 1: is that there are reporters who are risking their lives
Speaker 1: on the ground, both Ukrainian reporters and international reporters to
Speaker 1: bring accurate information. I would also say that it's important
Speaker 1: to be particularly cautious of images and videos that don't
Speaker 1: have more than one angle because of how many images
Speaker 1: and videos exist of the different attacks, and de contextualized
Speaker 1: media in particular is something that has been has been
Speaker 1: very prevalent, and so I understand that it's an unsatisfying
Speaker 1: answer to say go to official news sources, But at
Speaker 1: the moment, an individual will really struggle with the idea
Speaker 1: of verifying a single video and whether it's accurate or not,
Speaker 1: whereas newsrooms are extremely prepared for this and are putting
Speaker 1: out so the best work they've ever done. All right,
Speaker 1: Jane hard tat to you. I know, been a difficult
Speaker 1: several days, but appreciate you shedding some light on this
Speaker 1: with us today. Jane Livinetko, Harvard Senior Research Fellow, thank you.
Speaker 1: Coming up Salesforce co CEO Brett Taylor on the back
Speaker 1: of the company's latest earnings rapport plus his thoughts on
Speaker 1: the global uncertainty aheads that's next. This is Bloomberg Salesforce
Speaker 1: b Well Street estimates for its fourth quarter, with revenue
Speaker 1: up more than and a strong forecast ahead as the
Speaker 1: company works to integrate his twenty seven point seven billion
Speaker 1: dollar acquisition of Slack. Brett Taylor, Salesforce co CEO with
Speaker 1: me now who was promoted in the last quarter. Brett,
Speaker 1: great to have you back with us. Look, it's an
Speaker 1: inflection point in salesforces history and world history. And I
Speaker 1: have to ask you about what's going on in Ukraine
Speaker 1: and geopolitics right now. How concerned are you about what
Speaker 1: this means for humanity be and the global economy and business. Well,
Speaker 1: I want to start where you just started, which is humanity.
Speaker 1: M our hearts go out to the people of Ukraine.
Speaker 1: Watching this suffering plant in real time in the media
Speaker 1: is just horrific. And what we at Salesforce don't really
Speaker 1: have a presence in the region like everyone, we're trying
Speaker 1: to show up as humanitarians to help the ufer into
Speaker 1: the Ukrainian people and all the refugees in the region. UM.
Speaker 1: Speaking to the economic impact, you know, we're there's a
Speaker 1: lot of uncertainty in the economy right now, this war
Speaker 1: in Europe which is horrific, inflation, the supply chain crisis.
Speaker 1: Despite all of that, the one thing that's enduring is
Speaker 1: a really investment in digital technologies. The accelerarization, acceleration of
Speaker 1: the digitization of the economy that started by the pandemic
Speaker 1: really continues sort of full speed ahead. UM. And you
Speaker 1: really saw them in our our record performance this past year,
Speaker 1: which were so grateful for in the face of all
Speaker 1: this disruption, which is why we beat our q for
Speaker 1: our guidance, raised our guidance for next year, and we
Speaker 1: just continue to see momentum in all aspects of our business.
Speaker 1: We've seen a number of companies self sanctioning Apple Netflix
Speaker 1: to a certain extent. Forward, is that something that Salesforce
Speaker 1: is considering in the moment. When it comes to Russia, well,
Speaker 1: as I mentioned Emily, we don't really have a presence
Speaker 1: in the region. We've never had an office there, we
Speaker 1: don't have employees there, we don't have a material business
Speaker 1: there um, So our focus has actually really been on
Speaker 1: how can we use our business as a platform for change.
Speaker 1: We made a one million dollar grant to help with
Speaker 1: the refugee crisis and help use the suffering. The Ukrainian
Speaker 1: people have been really hardened to see so many sales
Speaker 1: Force employees show up and ask how they can help.
Speaker 1: We have a number of employees with families in the region.
Speaker 1: We're really trying to help out all of the sales
Speaker 1: Force family in a time of global crisis and really
Speaker 1: trying to have the humility to understand what can we
Speaker 1: do to play our part in the humanitarian crisis. Now
Speaker 1: I know you had a strong quarter. M and A
Speaker 1: has been a key strategy to drive growth. You were
Speaker 1: the chief architect of this Slack acquisition, and I know
Speaker 1: you've ruled material M and A for the near future,
Speaker 1: but could the changing global dynamic change that strategy. Could
Speaker 1: you be open to it? You know, honestly, we're not
Speaker 1: interested in material emin A and in your term, and
Speaker 1: it's because we're so excited about Slack. You know, we
Speaker 1: spent the past two years with this global pandemic in
Speaker 1: different stages of the world, keeping people in their home
Speaker 1: offices and keeping people away from their offices. Coming out
Speaker 1: of this pandemic, as people reconnect, this idea that every
Speaker 1: company needs a digital headquarters to connect their employees and
Speaker 1: their partners because we are going to be working from anywhere.
Speaker 1: And I think that's incredibly exciting. Um. You saw it
Speaker 1: in just the incredible momentum of the Slack business this
Speaker 1: past quarter. Slack actually grew their hundred thousand dollar customers
Speaker 1: forty six percent year every year. This quarter we see
Speaker 1: such great momentum. That's really my focus and that's the
Speaker 1: focus of the management team. Now. I know you were
Speaker 1: listening to the segment earlier. You are also the chair
Speaker 1: of Twitter's board. The subject of misinformation and how big
Speaker 1: tech companies are handling it has been a very big topic.
Speaker 1: How do you think Twitter is handling Russian diss and misinformation?
Speaker 1: What more do you think platforms like Twitter and Facebook
Speaker 1: and TikTok can do well? First, I just want to
Speaker 1: express my confidence in Prague, the new see of Twitter,
Speaker 1: and the Twitter management team and helping the company navigate
Speaker 1: this crisis. Um. As your previous guests alluded to, these
Speaker 1: are some of the most complex and sothisticated problems any
Speaker 1: technology company is facing right now. UM. I think it's
Speaker 1: also shown the importance of Twitter as a platform for
Speaker 1: public conversation, as so much of this plays out on
Speaker 1: the platform. UM So, I know these are incredibly complex
Speaker 1: and nuanced issues. I really enjoyed the previous segment, and
Speaker 1: what I can say is I just have faith in
Speaker 1: Prague and the managing team and Twitter and helping the
Speaker 1: company navigate this on behalf of all Twitter stakeholders. Now,
Speaker 1: last quick question, look, Salesforce shares are down from a
Speaker 1: high in November. Why do you think there's this disconnect
Speaker 1: between the optimism I hear from you that I hear
Speaker 1: from Mark and the stock price. Yeah, we just put
Speaker 1: up the best year in our company's history, the best
Speaker 1: clurer raise our guides for this year. I cannot be
Speaker 1: more excited about the future of salesforces business really across
Speaker 1: all parts of our portfolio. We're twenty three years old
Speaker 1: next week. Our sales cloud grew sev this year and
Speaker 1: over six billion dollar revenue run rate. Slack is doing well.
Speaker 1: Organic and organic investments have been never been doing better.
Speaker 1: And as you know that, I think the stock price
Speaker 1: will follow. We know we uh you know, show up
Speaker 1: for our customers, drive performance for the company, show for
Speaker 1: all of our stakeholders. We believe in the long run,
Speaker 1: our stock price will follow. All right, Salesforce co CEO
Speaker 1: Brett Taylor. Always good to have you, Thank you so
Speaker 1: much for stopping by. Welcome back to Bloomberg Technology and
Speaker 1: Emily Check in San Francisco. As we watched the war
Speaker 1: in Ukraine unfold, companies continue to reevaluate their business ties
Speaker 1: to Russia in light of the invasion. Apple for Netflix
Speaker 1: just to name a few. This while many tech companies
Speaker 1: rely on a deep bench of tech talent in Ukraine itself.
Speaker 1: For more on this, I'm joined by Andrea wall Nisi
Speaker 1: is a general partner at Manhattan Venture Partners of Venture
Speaker 1: Capital from investing in global pre I p O companies
Speaker 1: several in Europe, including Klarna and Revolute. Andrea, thank you
Speaker 1: so much for joining us. A lot of people don't
Speaker 1: know that Ukraine has a huge developer community. How many
Speaker 1: of your portfolio company companies rely on developers in Ukraine
Speaker 1: and how are they being impacted by this? Sure? Sure,
Speaker 1: Thanks so much, Emily. So overall, I would say if
Speaker 1: we look at the global landscape first around the developer
Speaker 1: talent across the globe, over of the activity in late
Speaker 1: stage companies has some level of presence in Ukraine and
Speaker 1: specifically very much so around engineering. And when we look
Speaker 1: at that breakdown even further, the majority of the UK
Speaker 1: brings in engineering talent from Ukraine. So that's just incredible.
Speaker 1: Realize with our teams which are very much so focused
Speaker 1: on the late stage pre I p O companies, they
Speaker 1: have pockets of their engineering product teams that we're seeing
Speaker 1: are centralized in the Ukraine. And that's nearly half of
Speaker 1: our larger portfolio companies that are in that late stage
Speaker 1: and several of them, as you mentioned Revolute Klarna are
Speaker 1: a couple that are based overseas and are very much so,
Speaker 1: you know, boots on the ground and addressing this from there. So,
Speaker 1: how is this impacting the developer community in Ukraine as
Speaker 1: far as we know, and how our founders thinking about
Speaker 1: this when they're trying to stay staffed and scale up
Speaker 1: their businesses. Yeah, So what I'm seeing as a global
Speaker 1: message is to be helpful, be empathetic, but be pragmatic
Speaker 1: and overall with the founders who are really block and
Speaker 1: tackling from other global hubs such as the US. Many
Speaker 1: of them are sending out a massive signal to their developers,
Speaker 1: to the tech teams that they have overseas, especially in Ukraine,
Speaker 1: offering any level of support. But what I am also
Speaker 1: seeing very much so is that founders, executives and board
Speaker 1: members are being asked to be incredibly realistic around the
Speaker 1: impact of what's going on. And when I say impact,
Speaker 1: it's not just in the near term, but over the
Speaker 1: next twelve months. How will impact things like the product roadmap,
Speaker 1: the financial projections and going forward plans of that business
Speaker 1: and what that means to those teams that were centralized
Speaker 1: in Ukraine who were spearheading those initiatives. So those are
Speaker 1: a lot of the discussions that are happening within the
Speaker 1: boardrooms in the late stage companies. Russia is also a
Speaker 1: fairly large source of venture capital in tech startups around
Speaker 1: the world. Are you seeing companies reconsider their ties to
Speaker 1: Russian investors? Yeah, So overall, I think the general consensus
Speaker 1: that we're seeing amongst the late stage and mid stage
Speaker 1: venture community is that a lot of these relationships across
Speaker 1: the globe started long before know there was ever the
Speaker 1: tension that's really risen up, risen up to this level.
Speaker 1: And so really I think it goes back to the
Speaker 1: grassroots of what a relationship looks like between a company
Speaker 1: and their investors, if that relationship was there prior. You know,
Speaker 1: Obviously those companies are still harvesting those relationships and realizing
Speaker 1: what that will look like going forward. UM. For companies
Speaker 1: that are raising rounds of funding right now, they are
Speaker 1: having discussions with investors who might be located in Russia
Speaker 1: in Ukraine and asking whether or not there's going to
Speaker 1: be any imminent delays, which obviously we're seeing by way
Speaker 1: of the banking system. UM around deploying the capital needed
Speaker 1: is part of rounds of funding. But I don't know
Speaker 1: if I'm necessarily seeing a complete shift in the relationships.
Speaker 1: Of course, there are plenty phenomenal people in Russia who
Speaker 1: obviously had zero, you know, uh intent to see any
Speaker 1: of this happen. So I don't know if I see
Speaker 1: a general shift, but it definitely is a scary signal
Speaker 1: around how the flow of funds works and rounds of
Speaker 1: funding going forward. Well, how is fundraising being impacted right now?
Speaker 1: It certainly seems like global and and fundraising announcements have slowed.
Speaker 1: Do you do you think we're going to see a
Speaker 1: slowdown in venture capital invested because of the uncertain macroeconomic environment. Yeah, so,
Speaker 1: you know, I truly truly stick with the belief that
Speaker 1: tech is the new gold and the world is going
Speaker 1: to continue looking a lot more like Ready Player one
Speaker 1: more than it ever would look like Mad Max going forward,
Speaker 1: and it's not slowing down. So with that in mind,
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't see that there's generally a shift
Speaker 1: in mindset for a slowdown in venture capital dollars being deployed,
Speaker 1: but just in terms of the realistic expectations for how
Speaker 1: companies should be valued, maybe you know, the desire to
Speaker 1: be a hyper growth company will you know, exist long
Speaker 1: after the turmoil ceases. But the realistic expectations are being
Speaker 1: set around how we should value these businesses and how
Speaker 1: they should be pegged to their public market comparable business
Speaker 1: is all right, Andrea wall Nate, thanks for giving us
Speaker 1: your perspective on all this. Manhattan Venture partners appreciate it well.
Speaker 1: The conflict in Ukraine and the impact on the global
Speaker 1: economy top of mind for CEOs around the world, as
Speaker 1: we discussed. I spoke earlier with Anthony Nodo, the CEO
Speaker 1: so FI, which aims to be a one stop shop
Speaker 1: for customers financial need. He's also paying a close attention
Speaker 1: to rate hikes and inflation and the impact the war
Speaker 1: might have on all of that. We spoke with note
Speaker 1: along with my colleague Matt Miller, take a quick listen
Speaker 1: to that conversation. So far has a history of living
Speaker 1: through tremendous cimlicality and volatility. Um We started two thousand
Speaker 1: and twenty one with a very different economy and backdrop
Speaker 1: for the year when we set our goals for the year.
Speaker 1: We just reported our third consecutive quarter of record revenue growth,
Speaker 1: up more than We also had a record. Member growth
Speaker 1: and product growth are really a testament to our one
Speaker 1: stop shop strategy and our ability to meet our members
Speaker 1: needs across their entire financial lives and doing it even
Speaker 1: more efficiently with a full year profitability. So yes, the
Speaker 1: environment is very volatile. Rates are going to increase. That's
Speaker 1: all reflected in our outlook for two thousand and twenty two,
Speaker 1: and we're calling for over one point five billion of
Speaker 1: revenue and eighty million dollars of ibadah and seeing really
Speaker 1: strong growth in our member base and product race here
Speaker 1: in Q one, in addition to the demand we have
Speaker 1: for a technology platform with Galleos, so we're benefiting from
Speaker 1: secretary trends. We have to absolutely deal with the volatility
Speaker 1: of the cyclicality of rates and inflation and monetary policy,
Speaker 1: but it's all part of the normat so far. Now.
Speaker 1: Obviously there are huge humanitarian concerns given what's happening with
Speaker 1: Russia's assault on Ukraine. I know you're a veteran yourself,
Speaker 1: and I'm curious what sort of unique perspective you bring
Speaker 1: to this about what this means for the world and
Speaker 1: for global business. It's absolutely try to see that people
Speaker 1: have to live in fear. Now that that fear of
Speaker 1: threat of violence has become a reality. And um, you know,
Speaker 1: ultimately we have a responsibilit is a country. We have
Speaker 1: a responsibility as a as a nation to help those
Speaker 1: that can't help themselves. Obviously, the people of Ukraine are
Speaker 1: putting up a heck of a fight and um, but
Speaker 1: they're under armed and under restored relative to a power
Speaker 1: like the like Russia, the former Soviet Union. Um. And ultimately,
Speaker 1: sanctions are the first step, but inherently they will likely
Speaker 1: have to be more actions down the road. Um. We
Speaker 1: have to ensure that they have the ability to be
Speaker 1: a sovereign nation and um and live live a life
Speaker 1: of freedom relatives of the suppression of the of the Russians. Now,
Speaker 1: I understand you do hold some crypto and Sophie obviously
Speaker 1: offers crypto services. Now what do you read into this
Speaker 1: kind of decoupling we've seen of bitcoin from global equities
Speaker 1: and you know why that is indeed happening. Yeah, the
Speaker 1: trending cryptocurrency. You know, it's an unproven asset. I want
Speaker 1: to make sure that's clear. It's highly violent. When it's
Speaker 1: very risky, we do offer it for our members to
Speaker 1: be able to buy thirty different cryptocurrencies. We do provide
Speaker 1: that education and warning that they could lose all their
Speaker 1: money and recommend they only allocate a small percentage of
Speaker 1: their assets to it um. But it is an asset
Speaker 1: that is providing a unique value proposition for a variety
Speaker 1: of different constituencies, and that's what's really driving the volatility um.
Speaker 1: The decoupling you're seeing could be driven by a number
Speaker 1: of different factors. I really don't want to speculate on
Speaker 1: what's driving it um, but it is a new asset
Speaker 1: that people are using to accomplish different objectives, and that
Speaker 1: has been what's driven the volatility um. We have been
Speaker 1: very smart about making sure we give people selection, but
Speaker 1: we also give them the ability to do recurring investments
Speaker 1: and dollar costs averaging into something that is as volatile
Speaker 1: as it has been well. And it's the the ability
Speaker 1: that um so fi users have to invest across platforms
Speaker 1: that I find most interesting. I talk with my co anchor,
Speaker 1: Paul Sweeney, with your head of investment strategy, Liz Young,
Speaker 1: on a regular basis, and you know, she sells the
Speaker 1: product like no other. Or how much of a lift
Speaker 1: did you get from the super Bowl and introducing you know,
Speaker 1: new customers um to the things that they can do
Speaker 1: on so far. Yeah, so the Super Bowl occurred in
Speaker 1: first quarter of two thousand and twenty two, which we
Speaker 1: haven't reported yet, but a result yesterday saw a big
Speaker 1: benefit from having the National Football League Association and the
Speaker 1: relationship with the Rams and Chargers and Sofi Stadium. We
Speaker 1: benefited from having twelve home games at the stadium, five
Speaker 1: of them were on national prime time television, and we're
Speaker 1: able to reach twenty two million unique households on average
Speaker 1: in each one of those games. So the ability to
Speaker 1: really reach that much of the United States helps drive
Speaker 1: brand awareness. It helps us become a household brand name,
Speaker 1: which then drives greater efficiency of all of our promotions
Speaker 1: and marketing. And that's why we saw such an acceleration
Speaker 1: in our member growth um that we saw on the
Speaker 1: quarter to a record of over five or thousand, and
Speaker 1: an acceleration in the number of new products added at
Speaker 1: over increase books in her thousand so far Ceo Anthony Noo. There.
Speaker 1: You can catch the full interview at Bloomberg dot com.
Speaker 1: Coming up, Crypto and Sanctions, We're going to dig deeper
Speaker 1: into how borderless crypto exchanges around the world are complying
Speaker 1: or not with international laws and regulation as it pertains
Speaker 1: directly to Russian users. That is next. This is Bloomberg
Speaker 1: Finance photo sanctions rules very strictly. Whoever it's on the
Speaker 1: sanctional list, they won't be able to use our platform.
Speaker 1: Whoever not they can so. UM. We work very closely
Speaker 1: with international government regulators very closely to apply sanctions. So,
Speaker 1: but we view that we do not have, you know,
Speaker 1: lateral decision power on our own to freeze normal people's accounts. UM.
Speaker 1: I think that would be UM, that's an ethical for
Speaker 1: us to do. Finance CEO Chanknjao. They're commenting on new
Speaker 1: sanctions I want to dig into is for our Crypto
Speaker 1: report with our crypto contributor Shenali Bostic. Shenale very significant,
Speaker 1: especially in the context of what the d o J
Speaker 1: announced today, this new task force to track the money
Speaker 1: the assets of Russian oligarchs, including crypto. What are you
Speaker 1: making of how these crypto exchanges are interpreting what laws
Speaker 1: they have to comply with. Yeah, and it's interesting. In
Speaker 1: addition to the Department of Justice, you have Democratic senators
Speaker 1: also asking the U S. Treasury Department to keep a
Speaker 1: close eye on crypto and sanctions across the world. But
Speaker 1: if you look at some of the biggest exchanges, finance
Speaker 1: that they comply with sanctions rules. If you take a
Speaker 1: look at coin Base, which is based in the US,
Speaker 1: also says that they comply with sanctions rules. So does
Speaker 1: f t X. But here's the problem at hand, Emily.
Speaker 1: You have many exchanges across the world where cryptos border lists.
Speaker 1: So the question is are there exchanges out there that
Speaker 1: don't imply with the US and international sanctions and to
Speaker 1: what extent our regulators U s E Regulators able to
Speaker 1: get a hold on those exchanges. In addition to recognizing
Speaker 1: that some of these exchanges may not have the k
Speaker 1: y C capabilities that's know your customer capabilities and expertise
Speaker 1: to really track what's going on among their client base.
Speaker 1: I did ask US Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco about
Speaker 1: this earlier. How cryptocurrency exchanges are working with the administration
Speaker 1: and the Department of Justice to not just uh, you know,
Speaker 1: get these you know, luxury yachts and jets and apartments,
Speaker 1: but also track down cryptocurrency. Take a quick listen to
Speaker 1: what she had to say, we need the cooperation and
Speaker 1: of right thinking and well behaved cryptocurrency exchanges and other businesses.
Speaker 1: That has to continue to happen. And if it doesn't,
Speaker 1: people are going to find themselves. Business are going to
Speaker 1: find themselves in our crosshairs. Chinalie, all these exchanges in
Speaker 1: a difficult position. I mean, how easy is it to
Speaker 1: tell if your users are Russian Russian oligarchs or not. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's an interesting question here because besides the multitude of
Speaker 1: exchanges and the chains of transfers that you can see
Speaker 1: across those exchanges, there's also the pure instance in which
Speaker 1: you may have a sanctioned individual who theoretically sets up
Speaker 1: an entity somewhere else, puts it in somebody else's name,
Speaker 1: puts it in another country, and then makes transactions that way.
Speaker 1: So really tracking here the end user is going to
Speaker 1: be what's difficult across those multitude of exchanges with the
Speaker 1: staff that they are bringing on. Right, we know that
Speaker 1: many of these exchanges are really recently bringing on staff
Speaker 1: at a greater degree, but do they have the tools
Speaker 1: they need to really track with the end users are
Speaker 1: At the end of the day. Meantime, I want to
Speaker 1: get your thoughts on another story that's developing. The SEC
Speaker 1: now scrutinizing n f T s over illegal crypto illegal
Speaker 1: crypto token offerings. What do we know about this? Something
Speaker 1: that's so interesting about this is that projects that are
Speaker 1: raising money through n f T s or are other means. Frankly,
Speaker 1: you this is really the SEC trying to take a
Speaker 1: look at what projects really replicate traditional securities offerings. We've
Speaker 1: seen so many renditions of this. But the reason interesting
Speaker 1: this is so interesting, Emily is because not only is
Speaker 1: SEC really trying to liken what's happening in the n
Speaker 1: f T market to the I p O market, you
Speaker 1: also have seen this being a market where there have
Speaker 1: been a lot of rug poles at the end of
Speaker 1: the day and investors getting duped. So two things really
Speaker 1: going on here at the same time. Alright, Shannoli boss,
Speaker 1: thank you for your reporting on this. More than one
Speaker 1: billion people around the world visit TikTok every month, and
Speaker 1: that immense growth has the company facing searing scrutiny. TikTok
Speaker 1: ceo show to Chew talked about managing US and Chinese
Speaker 1: regulators on the latest episode of The David Rubinstein Show.
Speaker 1: Peer to peer conversations in an interview recorded back on
Speaker 1: February seventeen, Take a listen. I will approach to all
Speaker 1: the governments that regulators around the world is to be
Speaker 1: collaborative and to be very transparent, to be available to
Speaker 1: explain what we do and who we are and answer
Speaker 1: any questions that they have. That's the approach we have
Speaker 1: taken in that approach has been an approach that has
Speaker 1: been very beneficial for us over the course of the
Speaker 1: last few years. You can watch more of that interview
Speaker 1: with the CEO of TikTok Show to Chew, David Rubinstein
Speaker 1: Peer to Peer Conversations tonight nine pm in New York
Speaker 1: on Bloomberg Television. Meantime, Forward will separate it's fast growing
Speaker 1: e V operations from its legacy combustion engine business in
Speaker 1: a historic reorganization. Are Ludlow spoke with Ford CEO Jim
Speaker 1: Farley about that. Take a listen. The most important things
Speaker 1: are core ice automotive business. It's very profitable. We made
Speaker 1: over ten billion dollars last year, but it needs to
Speaker 1: be a lot more profitable. We think we're gonna have
Speaker 1: to take about three billion dollars out of our structure
Speaker 1: costs to make that business come fully competitive on a
Speaker 1: return basis. Some of that would be quality, a lot
Speaker 1: of it will be just waste in the system, and
Speaker 1: we we can't stop there. We have to grow too,
Speaker 1: and that's why we're committing to two million vehicles on
Speaker 1: the on the battery electric side. The last thing is
Speaker 1: we have to get our bill material down for our evs.
Speaker 1: We already got about two thousand dollars out of the marquee.
Speaker 1: We've just been working on it for about eight weeks.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of opportunity to continue to get the
Speaker 1: bill of material costs down for evs and that's going
Speaker 1: to help contribute to that more profitable business and we
Speaker 1: could use that profits and cash flow to reinvest in growth.
Speaker 1: Do you have an opportunity to get smart with this right?
Speaker 1: Could we see a spinoff of say the battery business,
Speaker 1: or a spinoff of the autonomous vehicle business, or even
Speaker 1: debt markets with green bonds? What kind of tools are
Speaker 1: at your disposal now? Well, look, we did one of
Speaker 1: the first green bonds in our industry. It went really well.
Speaker 1: Why because we tied it to actual green energy vehicle
Speaker 1: zero mission investments in our plants and the vehicles and
Speaker 1: boarded the market respond we really like that direction, probably
Speaker 1: go deeper, Ford CEO Jim Farley there you can check
Speaker 1: more of that interview at Boomberg dot com. I want
Speaker 1: to bring in our Ed Ludlow who conducted that interview,
Speaker 1: and of course Ed you broke that story a couple
Speaker 1: of weeks ago that Ford was considering this and at
Speaker 1: the time they denied it. What did Jim Farley have
Speaker 1: to say about that? Yeah, Look, Ford is going to
Speaker 1: do what it can right, which is it has to
Speaker 1: manage the existing legacy combustion engine business business ring profit
Speaker 1: out of it and use that money to fund e
Speaker 1: V growth. They want to be Tesla, but Tesla didn't
Speaker 1: have a legacy gas engine business to go off. You're
Speaker 1: completely right end that they, according to Blueveg sources, did
Speaker 1: consider a spinoff, and Farley explained on the news conference
Speaker 1: earlier on Wednesday morning that they looked at it carefully,
Speaker 1: that's his quote, but in the end they decided that
Speaker 1: they didn't go for it because they wanted the two
Speaker 1: individual businesses to be able to share their strengths, have
Speaker 1: like a symbiotic relationship. Meantime, Forward is one of the
Speaker 1: biggest companies we're seeing self shanctioning in Russia. What did
Speaker 1: he have to say about their decision there, how long
Speaker 1: that will stand? Yeah, look, he he was very sympathetic
Speaker 1: with the Ukrainian people. He talked to me about some
Speaker 1: of the Ukrainian employees that Ford has outside of their
Speaker 1: building demonstrating sharing their thoughts. So, you know, he just
Speaker 1: reiterated the action, which is that Ford has paused operations
Speaker 1: in Russia. But being honest, those were scaled back anyway,
Speaker 1: and Ford's been pulling out that market since two thousands
Speaker 1: of seventeen. The other impact is supply chain. Ford got
Speaker 1: hit in one by rising input costs around commodities. That's
Speaker 1: not getting any better with this situation, right, you look
Speaker 1: at oil, you look at industrial metals, and Farley did
Speaker 1: say they'll continue to feel that pain at least in
Speaker 1: the short term from supply chain disruption well and facing
Speaker 1: all of these challenges, Ford is to put it lightly
Speaker 1: far far behind Tesla when it comes to evis what's
Speaker 1: the assessment on whether they really can become a world
Speaker 1: changing company yet again? Yeah, yeah, Look, Farley seems to
Speaker 1: believe in this plan take profit from the pickup trucks
Speaker 1: and put it into the future of evs. But remember
Speaker 1: the other part of the news was they up their
Speaker 1: commitment for EV investment to fifty billion from thirty billion,
Speaker 1: and that they want to do two million evs annually
Speaker 1: by six That is a rapid acceleration of their plans,
Speaker 1: a bigger commitment, and and it is a greater proportion
Speaker 1: of their overall cause. So he could he admitted to me,
Speaker 1: this is going to be really hard they have to execute.
Speaker 1: But they have to do this not just to beat Tesla,
Speaker 1: but to beat their Detroit crosstown rivals like General Motors.
Speaker 1: All right, Ed Ludlow. Excellent reporting by you, excellent interview
Speaker 1: with Jim Farley, and of course you can check out
Speaker 1: at Bloomberg dot com that full interview. That does it.
Speaker 1: For this edition of Bloomberg Technology, we're gonna be joined
Speaker 1: by Migma, president of grab To to talk about the
Speaker 1: company's latest earning report. Will have much more on the
Speaker 1: development in Ukraine, the impact on the technology and developer
Speaker 1: community there. That's coming up tomorrow right here on Bloomberg
Speaker 1: Technology and em Wichang. This is Bloomberg