WEBVTT - Disney Wins Proxy Fight, Hertz Troubles 0:00:02.920 --> 0:00:10.799 Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. You're listening to the 0:00:10.840 --> 0:00:15.040 Bloomberg Intelligence Podcast. Catch us live weekdays at ten am 0:00:15.040 --> 0:00:18.040 Eastern on Apple, CarPlay and Android Otto with the Bloomberg 0:00:18.079 --> 0:00:21.400 Business App. Listen on demand wherever you get your podcasts, 0:00:21.640 --> 0:00:24.440 or watch us live on YouTube. 0:00:25.040 --> 0:00:28.880 Another stock that we're watching today is a Disney. Shares 0:00:29.000 --> 0:00:32.640 are up by about six tenths of one percent after 0:00:32.680 --> 0:00:35.479 Bob Iger prevailed yesterday in the shareholder vote meeting. Either 0:00:35.600 --> 0:00:38.479 Rogannath and Bloomberg Intelligence analysts on US Media is standing 0:00:38.479 --> 0:00:41.560 by for us KEITHA, What did we learn yesterday about 0:00:41.560 --> 0:00:42.680 Disney and mister Eiger. 0:00:44.400 --> 0:00:48.120 Yeah, definitely a huge sigh of relief for both Bob 0:00:48.120 --> 0:00:50.360 Iger and the management team. I mean it would have been, 0:00:50.479 --> 0:00:53.400 I think a very very publicly embarrassing thing for him 0:00:53.479 --> 0:00:56.960 if Pelts had had won. So this is definitely I 0:00:57.000 --> 0:01:00.800 think gives them some something to cheer about, at least 0:01:00.800 --> 0:01:02.720 in the near term. But other than that, Alex, I 0:01:02.720 --> 0:01:04.039 think it's really business as usual. 0:01:04.120 --> 0:01:04.240 Right. 0:01:04.280 --> 0:01:06.440 They had their work cut out for them. They know 0:01:06.520 --> 0:01:08.840 exactly what they need to do, whether it's finding a 0:01:09.040 --> 0:01:12.720 proper good ESPN digital strategy, whether it's getting the streaming 0:01:12.760 --> 0:01:15.800 business to profits and more importantly for the board, whether 0:01:15.840 --> 0:01:20.160 it's chalking out a really bulletproof succession plan this time around. 0:01:20.920 --> 0:01:24.679 And on that succession plan, is the expectation getha that 0:01:25.280 --> 0:01:28.600 they will hire from within or will they try to 0:01:28.600 --> 0:01:30.920 make a big splash by hiring an outsider. 0:01:30.920 --> 0:01:32.480 How do you think Disney would like to proceed? 0:01:33.880 --> 0:01:36.840 Disney has always kind of looked within, Paul, and you 0:01:36.880 --> 0:01:38.600 know this well. I mean the last time that they 0:01:38.640 --> 0:01:42.360 went external was back in nineteen eighty four. That's when 0:01:42.400 --> 0:01:46.200 they hired you know, Michael Eisner, right, the Barry Diller protege. 0:01:47.000 --> 0:01:49.600 But after that, it's always been internal, right, whether it's 0:01:50.080 --> 0:01:52.240 Bob Bieger, I mean, it was Bob Biger after that 0:01:52.320 --> 0:01:54.720 for almost fifteen years, and then of course you had 0:01:54.840 --> 0:01:57.240 Bob Japek for a couple of years, and then you know, 0:01:57.280 --> 0:02:00.720 we have Bob Bieger two point zero back again. So 0:02:00.840 --> 0:02:03.559 they've always kind of had, you know more, they've always 0:02:03.560 --> 0:02:07.320 looked internal. And they do have four solid candidates, so 0:02:07.400 --> 0:02:14.600 all the division chiefs kind of emerging as potential successor candidates. 0:02:14.200 --> 0:02:17.760 It's just going to be up to how they groomed them. 0:02:18.280 --> 0:02:20.080 Is Barbiger going to do something very similar to what 0:02:20.120 --> 0:02:21.880 he did with you know, Tom's tags and Jay Rizzulo 0:02:22.240 --> 0:02:26.400 kind of have that coo position for somebody whom he's 0:02:26.639 --> 0:02:28.079 kind of looking to to elevate. 0:02:28.160 --> 0:02:29.720 What's the timeframe here, Keitha? 0:02:29.840 --> 0:02:34.040 For this, it has to happen pretty quickly, Alex. I 0:02:34.040 --> 0:02:38.280 mean bar Biger's term, which was initially when he came 0:02:38.320 --> 0:02:40.400 back in November twenty twenty two, was supposed to be 0:02:40.480 --> 0:02:42.760 two years. They extended that out to four years. So 0:02:43.000 --> 0:02:44.920 we have until the end of twenty twenty six. 0:02:46.480 --> 0:02:50.000 Yeah, and he's been known to extend extend extent. I mean, 0:02:50.080 --> 0:02:51.760 he could do that because most shaholders are like barb 0:02:51.760 --> 0:02:53.840 Biger's better than anybody else out there, will stick with that. 0:02:53.840 --> 0:02:56.560 All right, So Keitha's things seem to be settling down 0:02:56.560 --> 0:02:59.000 a little bit of stability. Returning to Mickey Mouse, how 0:02:59.000 --> 0:03:02.440 about Paramount Global. It's almost the opposite there. The stock 0:03:02.520 --> 0:03:05.120 is down six point six percent. Are they going to 0:03:05.120 --> 0:03:08.519 sell the entire company parts of the company super voting stock? 0:03:09.040 --> 0:03:09.880 What's going on there? 0:03:11.000 --> 0:03:13.760 Yeah, So it looks like now they have or they've 0:03:13.880 --> 0:03:17.560 entered this period of exclusive talks with Skydance Media and 0:03:17.560 --> 0:03:19.840 Sky Dance Media has kind of been you know this, 0:03:19.960 --> 0:03:23.679 on again, off again interested party in the Paramount company. 0:03:23.960 --> 0:03:25.440 But of course they didn't want to come out with 0:03:25.520 --> 0:03:27.560 a bid for the entire company at least up until 0:03:27.560 --> 0:03:29.919 this point. They always kind of wanted to do it 0:03:30.000 --> 0:03:32.359 in a slightly different way by kind of taking control 0:03:32.480 --> 0:03:36.880 of uh of the voting stock with through National Abusements 0:03:37.080 --> 0:03:40.040 and the Redstone family. Now it looks like they're kind 0:03:40.040 --> 0:03:42.880 of going to engineer like a two step process where 0:03:42.880 --> 0:03:45.280 they first take control of National Amusements and then go 0:03:45.360 --> 0:03:49.120 about and merge sky Dance with the entire company with Paramount. 0:03:49.600 --> 0:03:52.320 So still, I mean, there are two there's just more 0:03:52.400 --> 0:03:55.120 unknowns than knownes. At this point. There seems to be 0:03:55.160 --> 0:03:57.760 some report out there suggesting that they would need to 0:03:57.800 --> 0:03:59.840 do an equity deal raise of at least three billion 0:03:59.840 --> 0:04:02.040 dollar do that's going to be really dilutive for the 0:04:02.040 --> 0:04:05.560 current shareholders. Again, we don't know exactly how much Sherry 0:04:05.560 --> 0:04:08.960 Redstone is demanding for her voting stock. There are rumors 0:04:09.000 --> 0:04:11.400 out there suggesting it's upwards of about two to two 0:04:11.480 --> 0:04:14.360 and a half billion dollars. She also owns about close 0:04:14.440 --> 0:04:17.200 to almost a billion dollars in economics take in Paramount. 0:04:17.200 --> 0:04:20.520 So again, too many unknowns right now, Paul. But you know, 0:04:20.560 --> 0:04:23.559 we do definitely have concrete talks, that much is for sure. 0:04:24.160 --> 0:04:27.080 So is the Apollo thing like off the table, right, 0:04:27.160 --> 0:04:30.800 because that would be more of a piecemeal approach to Paramount, right, 0:04:30.880 --> 0:04:32.680 even though the cash deal was better. 0:04:34.000 --> 0:04:37.240 So the Apollo thing was actually initially it was it 0:04:37.279 --> 0:04:39.400 was piecemeal. So but they only were really interested in 0:04:39.400 --> 0:04:42.799 the film studio. They did not want the TV networks, 0:04:42.839 --> 0:04:44.880 They did not want the streaming acid. But it looks 0:04:44.920 --> 0:04:48.760 like yesterday, you know, when reports emerge about the sky 0:04:48.839 --> 0:04:51.960 Dance deal, they said that Apollo actually had made a 0:04:52.040 --> 0:04:54.760 twenty six billion offer and all cash deal for the 0:04:54.880 --> 0:04:59.159 entire company, which Cherry Redstone for some reason basically said no. 0:04:59.279 --> 0:05:02.280 To wow, because I'm looking at the enterprise value today 0:05:02.320 --> 0:05:04.400 about twenty three billions. It would have been a little 0:05:04.400 --> 0:05:07.480 bit of a premium there. And boy, you know who 0:05:07.520 --> 0:05:10.760 looks smart is the guys at News Corp. I mean 0:05:10.800 --> 0:05:14.160 selling their company, you know several years ago, you know. 0:05:14.279 --> 0:05:17.159 I just the Murdocks. They look kind of smart here. 0:05:17.880 --> 0:05:22.320 So what's the future. I mean, this is the Paramount Studio, Gith, 0:05:22.480 --> 0:05:26.200 this is one of the prize jewels in Hollywood. I mean, 0:05:26.240 --> 0:05:28.320 what happens to this company? I mean, is it can 0:05:28.400 --> 0:05:30.240 remain a publicly traded company. 0:05:30.360 --> 0:05:32.599 Is it going to be taken private? What's this? What's 0:05:32.720 --> 0:05:33.839 mostly outcome? 0:05:34.720 --> 0:05:36.520 I think the most likely outcome at this point, Paul, 0:05:36.560 --> 0:05:38.680 is that it still very much remains a public company. 0:05:39.320 --> 0:05:41.719 You know, we know that David Ellison is really only 0:05:41.800 --> 0:05:44.000 interested in the studio portion of the business. And you're 0:05:44.000 --> 0:05:47.320 absolutely right. It's an iconic studio, There's no doubt about it. 0:05:47.360 --> 0:05:50.880 They have a very very valuable studio lot right in 0:05:50.920 --> 0:05:53.479 the heart of la that's worth maybe upwards of one 0:05:53.560 --> 0:05:56.120 point five two billion dollars. So obviously there's a lot 0:05:56.160 --> 0:05:58.560 of assets that he likes, but only with the studio business. 0:05:58.640 --> 0:06:01.240 So again the question is, yes, he can keep it 0:06:01.240 --> 0:06:03.359 a public company, but he might really kind of trim 0:06:03.360 --> 0:06:06.560 it down, try and find some buyers for the TV network, 0:06:06.600 --> 0:06:09.719 for probably the streaming platform, and just make this like 0:06:09.760 --> 0:06:13.279 a pure play kind of a film studio with you know, 0:06:13.320 --> 0:06:16.520 production and licensing operations very similar to like what lions 0:06:16.560 --> 0:06:17.159 Gate is doing. 0:06:17.560 --> 0:06:20.960 Would that command of valuation like a good valuation for 0:06:21.040 --> 0:06:21.760 that if they did that? 0:06:23.040 --> 0:06:25.920 So we do know that Apollo came came out with 0:06:25.960 --> 0:06:28.520 eleven billion offer. That's a pretty decent It's about a 0:06:28.600 --> 0:06:31.760 thirteen thirteen and a half times EBITDA valuation, which is 0:06:31.760 --> 0:06:33.880 pretty much in line with where other you know, pure 0:06:33.880 --> 0:06:37.680 play studios are trading. So probably, yes, somewhere in that 0:06:37.880 --> 0:06:38.760 in that range. 0:06:39.040 --> 0:06:41.920 All right, we got you here. Let's ask you about 0:06:41.960 --> 0:06:44.719 Warner Brothers. Discovery off another one percent today, off twenty 0:06:44.720 --> 0:06:47.320 four percent this year, down forty three percent over the 0:06:47.400 --> 0:06:51.560 last year. Any scenario there that's that is worth kind 0:06:51.560 --> 0:06:52.520 of looking at. 0:06:53.440 --> 0:06:55.880 I mean, it's just it's been all doom and gloom 0:06:55.880 --> 0:06:58.080 at Warner Brothers. And really the one, the one metric 0:06:58.160 --> 0:07:00.360 I think that people are like fixated on for Brothers 0:07:00.400 --> 0:07:03.000 is EBITDA. You know that when the deal actually went 0:07:03.320 --> 0:07:05.200 through or when they when they were looking to merge 0:07:05.200 --> 0:07:08.120 those two companies, they spoke about fourteen billion dollars in EBITDA. 0:07:08.560 --> 0:07:11.200 This year, probably we're not even going to hit ten billion, 0:07:11.280 --> 0:07:14.800 and that's really why investors are so upset. Combine that 0:07:14.840 --> 0:07:17.920 with over forty billion dollars in debt, and that's a 0:07:17.960 --> 0:07:20.640 recipe for you know, the doom and gloom, and that's 0:07:20.680 --> 0:07:23.120 exactly what's happening there. So until we kind of get 0:07:23.160 --> 0:07:25.520 some better metrics, it's not. 0:07:25.400 --> 0:07:27.320 Going to look bailed on the media industry at the 0:07:27.400 --> 0:07:27.720 right time. 0:07:27.800 --> 0:07:29.520 You me, yeah, exactly. 0:07:29.640 --> 0:07:30.840 I mean, I am going to see you doing well. 0:07:30.880 --> 0:07:32.120 You're kind of in it right now. 0:07:33.480 --> 0:07:33.960 My lively. 0:07:34.160 --> 0:07:36.400 Well, it does kind of. I don't know, but you know, 0:07:36.600 --> 0:07:37.200 it's just this is. 0:07:37.120 --> 0:07:39.800 An excellent point. This is an excellent point, John Tucker, 0:07:39.880 --> 0:07:41.600 that you just went from the other side of the 0:07:41.640 --> 0:07:44.440 media business. I'm seeing Dune two on Saturday, so I 0:07:44.440 --> 0:07:45.520 feel like I'm doing my part. 0:07:45.840 --> 0:07:46.280 That's right. 0:07:46.840 --> 0:07:51.679 Excellent brothers, excellent movies and excellent excellent movie. 0:07:51.760 --> 0:07:53.320 It is absolutely brilliant. 0:07:53.520 --> 0:07:56.800 I like Paramount Plus because of the whole survivor thing 0:07:56.840 --> 0:07:59.760 because I'm addicted to survivors. So you know, I'm helping. 0:07:59.760 --> 0:08:01.880 I'm what I need to do, all right, Githa, thanks 0:08:01.880 --> 0:08:04.040 so much. As always, Keitha rock Nathin. She covers all 0:08:04.080 --> 0:08:07.200 the media stuff for Bloomberg Intelligence space down in Princeton. 0:08:08.720 --> 0:08:12.600 You're listening to the Bloomberg Intelligence Podcast. Catch us live 0:08:12.680 --> 0:08:16.200 weekdays at ten am Eastern on applecar Play and Android 0:08:16.240 --> 0:08:19.000 Auto with the Bloomberg Business app. You can also listen 0:08:19.120 --> 0:08:22.200 live on Amazon Alexa from our flagship New York station. 0:08:22.600 --> 0:08:25.360 Just say Alexa, play Bloomberg eleven thirty. 0:08:26.480 --> 0:08:29.640 Let's say with energy for a moment. So Green Plains 0:08:30.520 --> 0:08:34.280 is basically an ethanol company producer that wants to become 0:08:34.360 --> 0:08:37.080 an ag tech company, and the CEO is taking this 0:08:37.440 --> 0:08:40.280 very seriously and doing a lot in the middle of 0:08:40.320 --> 0:08:43.240 this transition. The stock is down, though twenty three percent 0:08:43.280 --> 0:08:45.520 in the last year, it is up about two percent today. 0:08:45.880 --> 0:08:49.120 And we welcome the CEO and president, Todd Becker. He 0:08:49.240 --> 0:08:52.120 joins us now from Omaha, Nebraska. Todd, it's always good 0:08:52.160 --> 0:08:53.800 to talk to you. What I love about talking to 0:08:53.800 --> 0:08:55.880 you is you just give it like it is. And 0:08:55.960 --> 0:08:59.760 you saw the shift from ethanol into something else before 0:08:59.760 --> 0:09:02.040 really anyone else did. And the idea is, look, you 0:09:02.120 --> 0:09:04.600 mix ethanol with gasoline, but if we're all driving evs, 0:09:04.640 --> 0:09:07.000 do you really need the ethanol. How's it going? How's 0:09:07.040 --> 0:09:08.280 this transition for you going? 0:09:09.760 --> 0:09:11.680 It's actually going really well. I mean, thanks for having 0:09:11.760 --> 0:09:14.080 me again. I'd love talking to you guys. And you know, 0:09:14.160 --> 0:09:17.199 everything that we've laid out so far is on track 0:09:17.280 --> 0:09:19.760 to get to twenty twenty five, which is when we 0:09:19.800 --> 0:09:22.559 said we're really going to be able to start operating 0:09:22.559 --> 0:09:24.120 on all cylinders, no pun intended. 0:09:24.120 --> 0:09:24.719 But look, I. 0:09:24.640 --> 0:09:27.560 Think our base feel still has has strong demand, but 0:09:27.600 --> 0:09:30.000 there's other value that we can unlock and everything that 0:09:30.040 --> 0:09:32.319 we do, and there's so much technology out there, and 0:09:33.880 --> 0:09:37.200 we just announced a great collaboration with Shell, a joint 0:09:37.240 --> 0:09:40.680 venture that we just basically had a grand opening ceremony 0:09:40.960 --> 0:09:43.880 that really just takes us next level on what we're 0:09:43.880 --> 0:09:46.000 doing in ag tech because they, as much as they 0:09:46.000 --> 0:09:47.840 are one of the largest energy companies in the world, 0:09:47.840 --> 0:09:51.040 they also have a really interesting view on agriculture and 0:09:51.120 --> 0:09:53.880 technology and combining what we can do and energy with 0:09:53.920 --> 0:09:56.480 what we can do in agriculture. And we've just kicked 0:09:56.480 --> 0:09:59.520 off an amazing partnership that we've been building for several years. 0:09:59.600 --> 0:10:02.400 So a lot's going on and we're really excited about 0:10:02.400 --> 0:10:02.959 what's happening. 0:10:03.240 --> 0:10:05.559 All right, Can you talk to us about this joint 0:10:05.600 --> 0:10:07.800 venture because when you mentioned Shell, that gets my attention 0:10:08.480 --> 0:10:11.440 when I'm thinking about kind of biofuels companies like yourselves 0:10:11.520 --> 0:10:14.040 kind of getting together with traditional traditional energy companies. 0:10:15.000 --> 0:10:17.559 Yeah, So, look, what Shell's looking for is more low 0:10:17.559 --> 0:10:20.120 carbon feedstocks. That's the most important thing to them. And 0:10:20.160 --> 0:10:22.840 what we're looking for is more low carbon ingredients for 0:10:22.920 --> 0:10:26.360 food and for feed and so we have this technology. 0:10:26.400 --> 0:10:28.600 We bought a company a few years ago which we 0:10:28.600 --> 0:10:30.280 think is one of the leading ag tech companies in 0:10:30.320 --> 0:10:32.880 the world called flu Equipped Technologies, and they have a 0:10:32.920 --> 0:10:36.200 separation technology that basically just puts something into their machine 0:10:36.200 --> 0:10:39.520 and it separates it out into all really interesting ingredients. 0:10:39.920 --> 0:10:42.160 Shell on the other hand, had a chemical process that 0:10:42.240 --> 0:10:47.440 basically unlocks what's left on different parts of agricultural waste 0:10:47.559 --> 0:10:51.320 or fiber or anything that's getting processed that we couldn't 0:10:51.360 --> 0:10:54.440 go after to start. And when we put these two together, 0:10:54.520 --> 0:10:58.920 basically you can combine their chemical process to liberate oils 0:10:58.920 --> 0:11:02.040 and proteins and other things that are stuck on sugars 0:11:02.040 --> 0:11:04.720 that are stuck within processes, and then we take it 0:11:04.760 --> 0:11:06.880 from there and we can separate them all out. So 0:11:07.440 --> 0:11:10.760 it's really an amazing technology collaboration. We want it so 0:11:10.800 --> 0:11:13.960 we can get more sugars and proteins. They want it 0:11:14.000 --> 0:11:17.480 so they can unlock more from the standpoint of vegetable 0:11:17.480 --> 0:11:19.679 oil so they can make renewable diesel and other things 0:11:19.760 --> 0:11:22.240 like that, as well as the last part of it 0:11:22.320 --> 0:11:25.720 is that we could finally unlock the sugar that's stuck 0:11:25.760 --> 0:11:29.680 within the fiber, and that's cellulostic sugars. And for years 0:11:29.679 --> 0:11:31.800 and years and years, people have been trying to crack 0:11:31.840 --> 0:11:35.600 this code on cellulosic alcohol and fuels and that dream 0:11:35.679 --> 0:11:37.880 that people have had, and this is one thing that 0:11:37.920 --> 0:11:40.760 potentially unlocks that whole dream of getting every piece of 0:11:40.880 --> 0:11:43.400 value out of every piece of that corn kernel. And 0:11:43.840 --> 0:11:46.520 the great thing about this technology is it's just not 0:11:46.679 --> 0:11:51.840 limited to a single commodity. It's actually agricultural feedstock agnostic. 0:11:51.880 --> 0:11:54.600 You could drop a lot of different things in this technology. 0:11:54.640 --> 0:11:58.800 So we think it revolutionizes agricultural processing if it works, 0:11:58.840 --> 0:12:05.920 of course, revolutionizes agricultural processing globally. Bio refining globally unlocks 0:12:06.040 --> 0:12:08.880 all of the value of what we do in everything 0:12:08.960 --> 0:12:12.880 from food and fuel and feed. And it's the first time, 0:12:12.920 --> 0:12:16.840 really we think that a major agricultural company, and one 0:12:16.880 --> 0:12:19.360 of the first times a major agricultural company and a 0:12:19.400 --> 0:12:23.080 major energy company get together to use everything we do 0:12:23.160 --> 0:12:25.439 to make all of the different different products that we need. 0:12:26.000 --> 0:12:28.440 So Todd, it does sound amazing, and I like the 0:12:28.480 --> 0:12:30.800 idea of like liberating all the parts of the corn. 0:12:30.880 --> 0:12:34.080 It's it's a great phrase It's a two full question 0:12:34.120 --> 0:12:36.560 for me. When you get the stuff from that, what 0:12:36.640 --> 0:12:40.040 do you use it for? And how expensive is it 0:12:40.160 --> 0:12:42.680 to sort of ramp and scale all this up. 0:12:44.120 --> 0:12:44.280 You know. 0:12:44.360 --> 0:12:46.440 The great thing is is that over the last several years, 0:12:46.480 --> 0:12:49.360 as we've been transforming our company, we've deployed about three 0:12:49.400 --> 0:12:51.480 hundred and fifty million to four hundred million dollars in 0:12:51.559 --> 0:12:54.959 the separation technology already, so we're ready using it. So 0:12:55.000 --> 0:12:57.680 our technology has proven already, so we've we've put it 0:12:57.720 --> 0:13:00.800 at several of our facilities and joint venture facility, so 0:13:00.880 --> 0:13:04.920 we are already beginning to separate most of what happens 0:13:05.000 --> 0:13:08.160 in a kernel of corn and other products. So what 0:13:08.280 --> 0:13:10.719 this does You lay this over it and it's all 0:13:10.760 --> 0:13:13.160 the remaining things that we can't get they can get 0:13:13.200 --> 0:13:16.480 it chemically in their process. Is we just could never 0:13:16.520 --> 0:13:18.160 get it that way because that's not what we did 0:13:18.200 --> 0:13:22.000 as a company. So, you know, the cost we hope, 0:13:22.040 --> 0:13:25.080 we're hoping because we've already deployed technology of five of 0:13:25.080 --> 0:13:27.960 our sites, which is six coming on today, We're going 0:13:28.080 --> 0:13:30.360 when we overlay this technology on top of it, we 0:13:30.360 --> 0:13:33.319 should be very cost efficient. The first one we built 0:13:33.320 --> 0:13:36.560 it under really nobody really knew what we were building. 0:13:36.559 --> 0:13:39.319 But in ne York, Nebraska, we already have the first 0:13:39.640 --> 0:13:43.040 build that we've been spending years doing quietly under the 0:13:43.120 --> 0:13:46.199 radar screen, putting our technologies together, and we're going to 0:13:46.240 --> 0:13:48.320 start that up in about a month or two. And 0:13:48.360 --> 0:13:50.599 that's really what what we had our grand opening and 0:13:50.640 --> 0:13:53.439 our announcement on it was just a very quiet collaboration. 0:13:54.200 --> 0:13:57.400 But really what it does it extracts everything available. So 0:13:57.559 --> 0:14:00.840 all we leave corn oil when we send out, when 0:14:00.840 --> 0:14:03.240 we send out our fiber, we can go after that 0:14:03.240 --> 0:14:05.960 that can be using renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel. 0:14:06.520 --> 0:14:09.360 We use sugars, We leave sugars on our fiber that 0:14:09.400 --> 0:14:11.240 goes out as animal feed. We can go get that 0:14:11.520 --> 0:14:14.200 which can be made into say elastic second generation low 0:14:14.200 --> 0:14:17.080 carbon ethanol. There's more protein to go after we send 0:14:17.080 --> 0:14:21.120 out very low value protein. Still, this technology together unlocks 0:14:21.560 --> 0:14:24.240 ultra high protein that we're already shipping to pet food 0:14:24.280 --> 0:14:27.320 and salmon producers around the world. It just gives us more, 0:14:28.160 --> 0:14:30.240 you know. And then and then lastly, you know, what 0:14:30.280 --> 0:14:33.280 we're able to do is take all of that and 0:14:33.360 --> 0:14:37.000 think about low carbon alcohol for things like sustainable aviation fuel. 0:14:37.000 --> 0:14:39.160 That's going to be coming down in the future because 0:14:39.360 --> 0:14:43.560 the only true path to volumes of sustainable aviation fuel 0:14:43.640 --> 0:14:44.720 is going to come through alcohol. 0:14:45.000 --> 0:14:48.320 So and I'm assuming so if if it's cost competitive, 0:14:48.400 --> 0:14:50.880 if you overlay the technology, is that cost for you guys? 0:14:50.960 --> 0:14:53.280 It doesn't raise the price of the products that you're 0:14:53.280 --> 0:14:54.040 then having to sell. 0:14:55.480 --> 0:14:57.600 No, Actually, you know, we're just able to unlock more. 0:14:57.640 --> 0:14:59.920 We're sending it already out as a as a ever 0:15:00.120 --> 0:15:01.600 thing left we send out as a more of a 0:15:01.640 --> 0:15:04.960 lower value product. So it unlocks all of that. And 0:15:05.080 --> 0:15:07.080 now now what we can do is actually make great 0:15:07.120 --> 0:15:10.720 products and get much higher values for what we're what 0:15:10.720 --> 0:15:12.760 we're going to produce than what we're doing today. And 0:15:12.920 --> 0:15:16.080 the most interesting thing about this technology, Alex is is 0:15:16.120 --> 0:15:18.040 I can either drop a corn, you know, to the 0:15:18.080 --> 0:15:20.400 basic of it, I could drop a kernel of corn 0:15:20.440 --> 0:15:22.440 in there, But I could also drop a soybean in 0:15:22.480 --> 0:15:25.800 there and blow up and chemically separate that and really 0:15:25.960 --> 0:15:29.480 disrupt what's happening potentially in soybean processing. Or I can 0:15:29.560 --> 0:15:31.400 drop a kernel of wheat in there, yeah, and go 0:15:31.480 --> 0:15:33.640 unlock all of the protein and the oils and the 0:15:33.680 --> 0:15:36.560 sugars and all of those things. That nobody's been able 0:15:36.560 --> 0:15:38.640 to go after in any in any kind of early 0:15:38.640 --> 0:15:39.320 efficient way. 0:15:39.680 --> 0:15:42.160 So Todd, if I'm looking at your stock, it's up 0:15:42.200 --> 0:15:45.280 ten percent almost since that announcement, but it's not had 0:15:45.320 --> 0:15:48.080 a good full year, and I'm wondering, like, when do 0:15:48.160 --> 0:15:50.960 you feel like you should be getting credit for this? 0:15:51.080 --> 0:15:52.880 And I know you're going to say, like yesterday, but 0:15:52.920 --> 0:15:55.520 you know what I'm saying, Like. 0:15:55.560 --> 0:15:58.120 When we started our transformation to stock was eight, it 0:15:58.240 --> 0:16:00.200 ran up into the you know, the high thirty, and 0:16:00.200 --> 0:16:02.040 that we're back down. You know, we brought the couple 0:16:02.080 --> 0:16:03.680 of reasons. I think we're down a little bit this 0:16:03.800 --> 0:16:05.920 year is well not a little bit, but you know, 0:16:05.960 --> 0:16:07.680 we brought our MLP in, so we wanted to clean 0:16:07.720 --> 0:16:09.640 up our capital structure. So we were able to bring 0:16:09.680 --> 0:16:11.480 that in and we and we handed our shares to 0:16:12.360 --> 0:16:15.200 MLP shareholders that you know, they were earning a pretty 0:16:15.280 --> 0:16:16.960 high yield. And I think that puts some pressure on 0:16:17.000 --> 0:16:19.320 our stock as well, as we've seen some drops in 0:16:19.400 --> 0:16:22.200 prices and in ethanol is trading a dollar under gas, 0:16:22.200 --> 0:16:24.880 and so now we're getting more competitive again. And but 0:16:24.960 --> 0:16:27.280 we really saw a dropping veg oil price. Vegetable oil 0:16:27.320 --> 0:16:29.640 pricing here recently, but now that's starting to come back, 0:16:29.640 --> 0:16:32.080 which I think is putting it bid back into our 0:16:32.120 --> 0:16:34.400 stock as well. So you know, we're about a year. 0:16:34.480 --> 0:16:36.280 You know, what you've said is our path to twenty 0:16:36.320 --> 0:16:39.000 twenty five, twenty four is our transition year. We need 0:16:39.040 --> 0:16:41.600 to deliver on some some financial results this year, and 0:16:41.600 --> 0:16:42.920 I think we're going to be able to do that 0:16:43.040 --> 0:16:46.040 as a year progresses. But you know, we've made investments, 0:16:46.200 --> 0:16:49.320 and you know, the whole sector really kind of fell 0:16:49.320 --> 0:16:51.400 out of favor anyways, and I think we got dragged 0:16:51.440 --> 0:16:53.960 down with that. But we have a great technology, we 0:16:54.000 --> 0:16:56.280 have a great platform, We've got great products. We're going 0:16:56.320 --> 0:16:57.920 to start our first and I know we talked about 0:16:57.960 --> 0:17:00.720 this a few years ago, our first clean sugar facility. 0:17:00.760 --> 0:17:02.880 We're going to make food grade dextros for everything from 0:17:02.880 --> 0:17:06.320 Gumbi bears to to Seltzer drinks. That's never happened in 0:17:06.359 --> 0:17:09.840 the history of our industry. We're starting that up next 0:17:09.840 --> 0:17:12.879 month and later this month as well. So there's a 0:17:12.880 --> 0:17:15.919 lot going on. We're right towards the back end of 0:17:16.119 --> 0:17:17.880 what we said we were going to do, and now 0:17:18.760 --> 0:17:20.760 it's starting to all come to fruition, you know, and 0:17:20.840 --> 0:17:22.840 the pressure came across the whole sector. If you look 0:17:22.880 --> 0:17:24.960 across the whole sector and agricultural processing. 0:17:25.280 --> 0:17:27.239 You finally said the word that got John Tucker here 0:17:27.280 --> 0:17:29.040 in the studio excited. You said gummy bears. 0:17:29.080 --> 0:17:32.560 And I was writing, I got distracted. I'm sorry, but. 0:17:32.880 --> 0:17:38.040 You know ethanol whate was okayne, but you know, gummy bears, 0:17:38.080 --> 0:17:41.040 no sugar. He was paying attention. I hate Todd, really 0:17:41.080 --> 0:17:43.080 appreciate it. Always going to catch up with you. Todd Becker, 0:17:43.160 --> 0:17:48.600 President and CEO of Green Plans, joining us from Nebraska. 0:17:48.920 --> 0:17:52.800 You're listening to the Bloomberg Intelligence Podcast. Catch us live 0:17:52.880 --> 0:17:55.960 weekdays at ten am Eastern on fo CAR playing Enroud 0:17:56.000 --> 0:17:59.080 Auto with the Bloomberg Business app. Listen on demand wherever 0:17:59.160 --> 0:18:02.359 you get your podcast, or watch us live on YouTube. 0:18:03.840 --> 0:18:06.960 So every day Bloomberg has a big take where they 0:18:07.080 --> 0:18:10.280 really dive deep into a topic and a story and 0:18:10.280 --> 0:18:12.199 they're quite good. And there's a podcast and it's a 0:18:12.200 --> 0:18:14.520 written piece and I highly recommend that you check it out. 0:18:14.680 --> 0:18:18.240 And the one today is particularly interesting. The title Hubris 0:18:18.240 --> 0:18:23.840 at Hurts Doomed its massive bet on one hundred thousand teslas. 0:18:24.080 --> 0:18:27.200 It's basically the rise and fall over the last few 0:18:27.280 --> 0:18:30.840 years of Hurts and its relationship with Tesla and EV's 0:18:31.600 --> 0:18:35.119 Eric Shatsker and David Welch responsible for this article. We 0:18:35.160 --> 0:18:37.479 have Eric Shatsker, who is now at Bloomberg New Economy 0:18:37.560 --> 0:18:41.439 editorial director joining us. It was a great piece, and 0:18:41.480 --> 0:18:44.680 there were things about Tesla's that, like I didn't know 0:18:44.760 --> 0:18:46.960 were problems, like if you don't know how to drive 0:18:47.000 --> 0:18:49.000 it and you r of a sudden, put the pedal 0:18:49.040 --> 0:18:51.119 to the metal, you go really fast and then you crash. 0:18:51.240 --> 0:18:54.240 Like these little details I found so interesting. Walk us 0:18:54.280 --> 0:18:58.080 through what you learned and what the piece is about. 0:18:58.359 --> 0:19:00.919 Well, you just touched on one of those those things, Alex, 0:19:01.000 --> 0:19:05.960 which is that the experience of a Tesla owner is 0:19:06.160 --> 0:19:10.119 very different from the experience of a Tesla renter. And 0:19:10.200 --> 0:19:13.360 going into this big bet on one hundred thousand Teslas 0:19:13.359 --> 0:19:15.920 they placed in order for one hundred thousand Teslas. In fact, 0:19:16.000 --> 0:19:19.399