Speaker 1: This is Bloomberg Business Week from Bloomberg Radio. Hi, I'm
Speaker 1: Jason Kelly and I'm Carol Masser. Welcome to the weekend
Speaker 1: edition of Bloomberg Business Week. Over the next couple of hours,
Speaker 1: we're going to bring you some of the most important
Speaker 1: highlights from our daily radio show this week. And Jason,
Speaker 1: it was week fifteen. We welcomed officially the first day
Speaker 1: of summer to kick off our week, and then once
Speaker 1: again some very familiar themes weighing on the minds of
Speaker 1: investors and on the stock market this week, the virus,
Speaker 1: trade tensions, and we continue to talk with our guests
Speaker 1: about racism in the United States, how to stop just
Speaker 1: talking about it and to actually take action. Well, and
Speaker 1: when you think of the people you want to hear from,
Speaker 1: I dare say we had the top of the list
Speaker 1: this week. Lebron James my conversation, it's the cover story
Speaker 1: in this week's Business Week, how he and his longtime
Speaker 1: business partner Maverick Carter have been managing a moment in
Speaker 1: history like no other. We've always been in this position,
Speaker 1: We've always strived that we've always had to plan for
Speaker 1: this moment um is something that I've always Um had
Speaker 1: a passion about and that's you know, letting people know,
Speaker 1: having people to understand how important we are as um
Speaker 1: Black America, you know, and the powers and the creativity
Speaker 1: and the language and everything in the struggle that we've
Speaker 1: had for so long. And for me to have the
Speaker 1: brands that I have and having spring Hill and having
Speaker 1: Uninterrupted and now today having a nonprofit organization and we
Speaker 1: are more than a vote. It's allowing people to now
Speaker 1: really sense what we've been striving to do from the
Speaker 1: very beginning. So Um it's coming. You know. You always
Speaker 1: talk about timing, and I guess, I guess the timing
Speaker 1: is perfect for what we've always wanted people to understand
Speaker 1: what we're all about as a company and as a
Speaker 1: brand and as an individual. And Jason, We're gonna hear
Speaker 1: a lot more from Lebron a little bit later on
Speaker 1: in our broadcast. We'll also here from the president of
Speaker 1: the Center for Talent Innovation, Lenia Irvin. She is someone
Speaker 1: who has been such an advocate for diversity and inclusion,
Speaker 1: spent a long time on Wall Street as well, so
Speaker 1: another thoughtful chat with her. First up, Though we love
Speaker 1: tom Orlick, He's got a new book out. He's the
Speaker 1: chief economist for Bloomberg Economics and talk about timely. Oh
Speaker 1: my god, so timely Jason, And as an excerpt of
Speaker 1: that book in the magazine this week. His book it's
Speaker 1: entitled China, The Bubble That Never Pops. I spent eleven
Speaker 1: years in China, Carol. I moved there in two thousand
Speaker 1: and seven. I left in the summer eighteen when the
Speaker 1: trade war was heating up, and the sort of the
Speaker 1: consistent consensus, the kind of the prevailing view amongst foreign
Speaker 1: investors and economists and policymakers all that time was that, yes,
Speaker 1: it's impressive, they've got double digit growth, that you just wait,
Speaker 1: it's a bubble and it's going to implode. There's some
Speaker 1: kind of China crash coming um. And of course that
Speaker 1: crash never came. So the motivation of me is in
Speaker 1: putting pen to paper and writing this book was really
Speaker 1: to explore why why have we got it so wrong
Speaker 1: on China? What are the reasons for resilience, and how
Speaker 1: did that help us think about the future. So what
Speaker 1: was the biggest surprise to you? Because I know there
Speaker 1: are numerous answers, but what was the one? Where As
Speaker 1: you dug into this time you thought, wow, I either
Speaker 1: underestimated that as a reason or I just didn't think
Speaker 1: of it. So I think one important thing Jason was
Speaker 1: struck me as I was reading as I was writing
Speaker 1: it is there are lots of things that we think
Speaker 1: of as weaknesses in China which which actually strength UM
Speaker 1: when you consider them in the Chinese context. So a
Speaker 1: really important one is state control of the economy and
Speaker 1: state control of the financial system. So of course here
Speaker 1: in America, UM, we see the markets as a key
Speaker 1: driver of dynamism UM. And for an advanced economy, which
Speaker 1: is kind of push back the frontier, trying to innovate
Speaker 1: that market driven dynamism is really critically important UM. But
Speaker 1: that's not what China is trying to do. China is
Speaker 1: not trying to push back the technology frontier. China is
Speaker 1: trying to catch up. UM. And when you're trying to
Speaker 1: catch up, having a plan to catch up, having a
Speaker 1: bunch of businesses that will execute on that plan, a
Speaker 1: bunch of banks that will lend money to help the
Speaker 1: businesses execute on that plan can be really powerful and
Speaker 1: really important. I think that's a really important point because
Speaker 1: if you look at kind of the United States as
Speaker 1: a comparison. We often talked Tom about the inability for
Speaker 1: policy makers and you know, parties in power to actually
Speaker 1: think really really longer term, you know, in terms of
Speaker 1: things that need to be done in this country and
Speaker 1: create programs that will have economic market, country payoffs, citizen payoffs.
Speaker 1: But China can do do it right. They do those
Speaker 1: tenure plans and they just set out and do it.
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, not all the citizens may like
Speaker 1: what's coming, but nonetheless it's a long term plan and
Speaker 1: it creates dramatic changes in China. Yeah. I think that's
Speaker 1: absolutely right, Carol, Um. I mean, I want to be
Speaker 1: clear that I'm not advocating for the political system. I
Speaker 1: don't think there's many people here in the States who'd
Speaker 1: want to go to China to it to in to
Speaker 1: Injro the how things play out in that respect over there, Um.
Speaker 1: But in terms of economic planning, there's a really clear distinction.
Speaker 1: I remember being over there, there was this one moment,
Speaker 1: He's in my mind, there was this split screen moment
Speaker 1: of inbo television. Um. And on one side we had
Speaker 1: the US Congress, which was debating a bill to fund
Speaker 1: the government for one more day. And on the other
Speaker 1: screen we had Hijin Thing who was setting out of
Speaker 1: vision for China's economy and it was just such a
Speaker 1: stock contrast, right, I mean, can agree funding for a day,
Speaker 1: planning for the next thirty forty years. And that's Bloomberg
Speaker 1: Economics Chief economist Tom Orlick. Always loved catching up with
Speaker 1: him and talk about a man on the news here.
Speaker 1: I mean, this was a week where China it felt
Speaker 1: like Carol came back to the four in multiple iterations,
Speaker 1: some comments having to be walked back, and some real
Speaker 1: concerns around the world, not just about the virus but
Speaker 1: about trade. Right his book China The Bubble That Never
Speaker 1: Pops and bottom Line Jason from him, he says, one
Speaker 1: day there will be a day of reckoning for China.
Speaker 1: It will have ripple effects across the world. You're listening
Speaker 1: to Bloomberg Business Week coming up. It's been a big
Speaker 1: week for the Bloomberg invest Global Conference and China was
Speaker 1: front and center there as well, and a part of
Speaker 1: my conversation with Blackstone Chairman and CEO Steve Schwartzman that's
Speaker 1: coming up next. This is Bloomberg. This is Bloomberg Business Week,
Speaker 1: with Carol Masser and Jason Kelly from Bloomberg Radio. Well,
Speaker 1: today we're bringing you some of the most important, we hope,
Speaker 1: informative conversations we had on our daily Bloomberg Business Week
Speaker 1: radio show and beyond. We were all over the place,
Speaker 1: Carol virtually, Oh my god. We were at the Bloomberg
Speaker 1: invest Global Virtual Conference. As you said, Jason, this was
Speaker 1: three days around the world talking to the most important
Speaker 1: voices in the investment and financial community about what comes next. Well,
Speaker 1: and one of the big names speaking was one of
Speaker 1: the biggest in investing, talking about Steve Schwartzman, Blackstone Group
Speaker 1: co founder, chairman and CEO. Check out what he had
Speaker 1: to say. Well, this has been a pretty remarkable uh environment.
Speaker 1: Imagine uh uh you know, sort of around the last
Speaker 1: year end, if somebody told you that we were going
Speaker 1: to have the voluntary closing of the world's economy, who
Speaker 1: is certain except is to just keep food moving and
Speaker 1: other things, you would say something like that couldn't happen,
Speaker 1: and if it did, it would result in a global depression. Uh.
Speaker 1: And it just wasn't on the page. Uh. And in
Speaker 1: effect that those directions too almost every country to stop
Speaker 1: your economy did occur, and unemployment has gone up massively,
Speaker 1: but but we haven't had a depression. And the reason
Speaker 1: for that is that we've learned from the past, and
Speaker 1: you've had massive government intervention, massive transfers of trillions of
Speaker 1: dollars of money to people who needed to in effect
Speaker 1: replace the lost revenue from shutting our economies. And that
Speaker 1: first big stimulus bill in the United States, UH, followed
Speaker 1: by UH really very very large follow on by the
Speaker 1: Central Bank in the United States. The FED is pumping
Speaker 1: unprecedented peacetime moneys into economies, and in fact, the amount
Speaker 1: of deposits and banks because money was transferred to people
Speaker 1: has exploded. UH. And so we are awash with liquidity
Speaker 1: that was necessary to give you some idea, US GDPs
Speaker 1: around twenty one billion dollars to excuse me, trillion dollars
Speaker 1: a year, and say, well, miss a quarter or more so,
Speaker 1: so we're sort of missing six trillion coming in uh
Speaker 1: and and somebody's got to fill that hole. And that's
Speaker 1: what all these stimulus bills and the FED in effect,
Speaker 1: you're doing in a very simple way. And so we've
Speaker 1: had this dramatic collapse, stock markets down and now it's
Speaker 1: bounced up as if nothing had occurred because of the
Speaker 1: liquidity and support from the FED. And also so let
Speaker 1: me ask you about that. So, So, Steve, if I may,
Speaker 1: that specific point is one that I really feel like
Speaker 1: I want to understand from your perspective, which is this
Speaker 1: apparent disconnect with every headline that we're reading every day
Speaker 1: related to virus cases going up, this medical crisis, this
Speaker 1: health crisis that we're going through, and a stock market
Speaker 1: if I even just look at my own four oh
Speaker 1: one k that has rebounded. Is it just basically the
Speaker 1: liquidity that's been pumped into the system. Help me understand
Speaker 1: this gap. Yeah, I think it's mostly the liquidity that's
Speaker 1: in the system, and also some elements of confidence. In
Speaker 1: other words, you have a vaccines that are in the
Speaker 1: process of development. The fact that will go oh for
Speaker 1: one thirty really seems remote. There are three different types
Speaker 1: of vaccines, uh and and and so I think people
Speaker 1: are much more optimistic that that that's going to occur
Speaker 1: on a timeframe that's way different, uh than the development
Speaker 1: of vaccines was in the past, where the fastest one
Speaker 1: was like four and a half years, and people are
Speaker 1: have have have optimism that within the next nine months
Speaker 1: will have enough positive could be a year outcomes from
Speaker 1: trials that that you'll get there within a year to
Speaker 1: start really producing large scale vaccine. And there's other therapeutic
Speaker 1: breakthroughs that are occurring if you if you get the virus.
Speaker 1: The second thing I'd say about these cases going up, uh,
Speaker 1: how could one believe they wouldn't? Um, I don't find
Speaker 1: that surprising. People have been locked up in their homes
Speaker 1: for two to three months, and when you let them out,
Speaker 1: there'll be more socialization. Uh And and people won't understand
Speaker 1: truly that this can get them sick. Uh And once
Speaker 1: they see that, and the appropriate government response will be
Speaker 1: the first really warned people in democracies Apparently they like
Speaker 1: to see bad things happen before people in democracies actually respond. Uh. So,
Speaker 1: so I I completely expected this to happen. I think
Speaker 1: the markets did as well. Uh And and that will
Speaker 1: be put under better control because there's no option. Nobody
Speaker 1: really wants to get sick. Uh And so you'll you'll
Speaker 1: have change in behavior as as the number of cases
Speaker 1: goes up, and eventually that will be beaten down. But
Speaker 1: but I think it's it's you'll also see a big
Speaker 1: V in terms of the economy going up for the
Speaker 1: next few months because it's been closed and as people
Speaker 1: are allowed to go back, the economy will really respond
Speaker 1: a lot. But there's only so much the economy that's
Speaker 1: highly complex can respond, uh, just because not all things
Speaker 1: go up equally. Uh. And if it will take uh
Speaker 1: quite a while before we sync up and get back
Speaker 1: to levels. We've certainly been through a test. It's a
Speaker 1: test for society. Uh. You know, I I still find
Speaker 1: it astonishing that that that you managed to have the
Speaker 1: vast majority of people around the world sort of going
Speaker 1: to suspension for for two to three months, and so
Speaker 1: there's going to be all kinds of changes. That's Steve Schwartzman, chairman,
Speaker 1: CEO and co founder a Blackstone Group at the Bloomberg
Speaker 1: Live Invest Global Virtual event. What I loved about what
Speaker 1: he had to say, Jason and man, this was all
Speaker 1: over the Bloomberg terminal. He predicts a big V in
Speaker 1: terms of the economy going up for the next few
Speaker 1: months because he says it's been closed. But there's a
Speaker 1: lot of folks that say that's not going to happen. Well,
Speaker 1: and the market didn't seem to agree with him for
Speaker 1: much of the week, but it's hard to bet against
Speaker 1: Steve Schwartzman. You're listening to Bloomberg b this week coming up,
Speaker 1: as the world continues to reopen slowly and piecemeal, how
Speaker 1: travel is rebounding from the unprecedented effects that the pandemic
Speaker 1: has had. We'll hear from Kayak co founder Steve Haffner
Speaker 1: talk about a front row seat. This is Bloomberg. This
Speaker 1: is bloom Bird Business Week with Carol Masser and Jason
Speaker 1: Kelly from Bloomberg Radio. We're bringing you some of the
Speaker 1: most important and informative conversations that we have throughout the
Speaker 1: week on our daily radio show. And Jason, of course,
Speaker 1: all of this happening in real time as a lot
Speaker 1: of news was changing again around us. Lin, Carol, we
Speaker 1: know there's been some optimism, but a lot more pessimism
Speaker 1: when it comes to travel. So who better to catch
Speaker 1: up with than Kayak co founder and CEO Steve Hafner.
Speaker 1: He's this week's Business Week Talks. We published data on
Speaker 1: Kayak from about a billion consumer queries, and it's actually
Speaker 1: showing you that there is some recovery in travel interest.
Speaker 1: So the bottom period for for what we've seen in
Speaker 1: our querry volume was happened in April seven when queries
Speaker 1: fell year of a year, and since then they've been
Speaker 1: gradually recovering. So yesterday, if you look at the data,
Speaker 1: query volume was only down versus the previous year. So
Speaker 1: there's a long way to go to be sure, but
Speaker 1: consumers at least are thinking about flying again and they're
Speaker 1: looking for trips. Tell us about you know, okay, so
Speaker 1: some I mean percentage wise, can you give us an
Speaker 1: idea because I know we keep talking about these numbers
Speaker 1: and they're coming off of such significant loads. I mean
Speaker 1: it's still way down, correct, It's still way down. So yeah,
Speaker 1: last year there was twice as many people looking for
Speaker 1: flights on kayak and there are uh this year as
Speaker 1: of yesterday. But that's that's come up from down the
Speaker 1: first week of April, so it is a recovery. And
Speaker 1: remember this is search data, this isn't actually booking data.
Speaker 1: So that just means that people are thinking about traveling again, right,
Speaker 1: And I know that that is largely based on consumers.
Speaker 1: Talk to us about corporate travel because I think we're
Speaker 1: all trying to figure that out, not just again from
Speaker 1: a personal perspective from our own work, but you know,
Speaker 1: knowing and talking to a lot of other CEOs about
Speaker 1: the decisions they're making in terms of, you know, maybe
Speaker 1: we should video con, maybe we don't need to take
Speaker 1: quite as many trips. What's your read on that? I
Speaker 1: share those sentiments. You know you're talking to somebody used
Speaker 1: to travel on a plane almost every day. Yeah, it's
Speaker 1: been amazing boon to productivity not to have to do that.
Speaker 1: And I think this pandemics, you know, one of the
Speaker 1: few bright spots is it's taught people how to conduct
Speaker 1: their affairs, uh somewhat efficiently online. So typically, in past
Speaker 1: recessions and we're in one right now, business travel is
Speaker 1: one of the last things to return because companies are
Speaker 1: are really suffering, right So consumers still want to travel,
Speaker 1: but consumers, but consumers may have may be able to
Speaker 1: afford that in a way that the business um can't.
Speaker 1: So typically business is the last thing recover. I think
Speaker 1: it's gonna we're gonna see more the same now, and
Speaker 1: it may never fully recover back to the levels that
Speaker 1: that it once was because people have learned to adapt,
Speaker 1: so we may never see twenty nineteen levels again. We're
Speaker 1: preparing to see levels back in terms of total travel
Speaker 1: demand by about three That's kind of how we've structured
Speaker 1: our cost in our balance sheet. UM. But I think
Speaker 1: how people are traveling and what they're thinking about and
Speaker 1: how often they're going to travel are different. And that's
Speaker 1: a big implications for how airlines do their schedules because
Speaker 1: you've got to remember that the business traveler usually is
Speaker 1: paying half the revenue on one of those flights. So
Speaker 1: I think they will see the frequency of trips go down,
Speaker 1: and I think you'll see average fares go up to
Speaker 1: as business Talver is no longer subsidize, you know, the
Speaker 1: consumers of leisure travel. So what about on the open
Speaker 1: table side, what are you seeing in terms of restaurants.
Speaker 1: We're seeing recovery and restaurants as well. So people want
Speaker 1: to travel and they also want to dine out, and
Speaker 1: we're seeing a stronger recovery on on the restaurant side
Speaker 1: of the business half of you know, we've got about
Speaker 1: sixty thousand restaurants UM on the Open table platform, about
Speaker 1: half of them have reopened, which is great. And in
Speaker 1: terms of seated diners, UM, we we capture that data
Speaker 1: and we make it publicly available as well. Um that
Speaker 1: was down only about yesterday, So so people are going
Speaker 1: out and a seventy percent it sounds like a big reduction,
Speaker 1: but you have to remember that because of COVID nine
Speaker 1: team restrictions, most restaurants aren't operating at full capacity. A
Speaker 1: lot of them are only outdoor only where they have
Speaker 1: set up tents outside. Were even that they have to
Speaker 1: have their table space six ft apart. So a lot
Speaker 1: of them are you know, fifteen capacity, and you know
Speaker 1: they're they're they're selling every seat they can and every
Speaker 1: table they can, which is great news. It's not enough
Speaker 1: to keep them in business, find you, but but it
Speaker 1: does show that consumers want to get out of their houses.
Speaker 1: And to that point, I mean, I believe you guys
Speaker 1: had forecast and I think others have followed you in
Speaker 1: this regard that we could see a quarter of restaurants
Speaker 1: across the country go out of business. Does that still
Speaker 1: feel about right or what are you guys thinking now?
Speaker 1: That's still our best guests. Restaurants are tough business. They
Speaker 1: go out of business all the time, as as you
Speaker 1: well know. But usually what location goes under it's because
Speaker 1: the concept was bad. What the management was bad and
Speaker 1: a new restaurant takes his place. That's not what we're
Speaker 1: expecting now. So when we talk about restaurants going out
Speaker 1: of business, that means the location shutters permanently and becomes
Speaker 1: something else. And you know, it all depends on what
Speaker 1: happens with COVID nineteen and the restrictions, right, so can
Speaker 1: we safely dine out again and indoors? Will employees come
Speaker 1: back and start working in restaurants again versus collecting benefits
Speaker 1: were doing other types of work? So you know, well,
Speaker 1: we'll see what happens. But that's that's our prediction. And
Speaker 1: that's Kayak co founder and CEO Steve Haffner also the
Speaker 1: CEO of Open Tables, so he has a window in
Speaker 1: and Carol, I think one of the things that we
Speaker 1: really like, he's got the data. Oh my god, he does. Jason,
Speaker 1: and it's this week's Business Week Talks. It's in the magazine,
Speaker 1: it's in our podcast feed, it's online. What's interesting My takeaway.
Speaker 1: He says how they're doubling down on some of their
Speaker 1: business initiatives because of the impact of the virus. And
Speaker 1: he talked about grocery stores, universities and bars soon being
Speaker 1: able to use their apps. So definitely they are leveraging
Speaker 1: their platform trying to adapt to a changing world, that's
Speaker 1: for sure. You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week. Coming up,
Speaker 1: how w W, the company formerly known his Weight Watchers
Speaker 1: is pivoting amid our new world order. Our interview with
Speaker 1: WW International CEO Andy Grossman coming up next. This is
Speaker 1: Bloomberg Busines Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and Jason
Speaker 1: Kelly from Bloomberg Radio. Well, today we're being you something
Speaker 1: the most important and we hope informative conversations we had
Speaker 1: on our daily Bloomberg Business Week radio show. Carol, Yeah,
Speaker 1: and one of those conversations, she's a friend of the show, Jason,
Speaker 1: You and I both have spent a lot of time
Speaker 1: talking with Mindy Grossman. She's a presidency of WW International,
Speaker 1: used to be known as weight Watchers, but she has
Speaker 1: been transforming that company thinking about wellness holistically. And I
Speaker 1: got to say that they've been going through a tough
Speaker 1: time because of the virus. They've had to cut costs,
Speaker 1: they've had to let go workers, they've had to shut
Speaker 1: down some of their outlets. We had a lot to
Speaker 1: talk about with Mindy Grossman. We entered the year with
Speaker 1: unbelievable momentum. You know, we had launched my WW We
Speaker 1: were in the throes of our digital transformation. We did
Speaker 1: a nine city tour with Oprah, touching you know, a
Speaker 1: hundred and thirty five thousand people, and you know, then
Speaker 1: all of a sudden in mid March, um the world
Speaker 1: changed and we had to quickly pivot um not only
Speaker 1: for the safety and security of our employees and our members,
Speaker 1: but it was important to us that we kept our
Speaker 1: community together because of our approximately five million members who
Speaker 1: are all digital. Per cent of them also attended our
Speaker 1: studios in March in six days, we had to train
Speaker 1: fourteen thousand coaches. We pivoted our whole products and tech team,
Speaker 1: and simultaneously, in twelve countries we launched virtual workshops, which
Speaker 1: in the first week we had fifteen thousand and they're
Speaker 1: still continuing today. And that pivot for us, even though
Speaker 1: we saw suppressed subscriptions starting in you know, mid March,
Speaker 1: that started really picking up again, uh, starting in mid April,
Speaker 1: and you know, now our digital subscribers are at an
Speaker 1: all time high, as is our retention. And it was
Speaker 1: our maniacal focus on not losing our community in a
Speaker 1: world where community and motivation and support are really more
Speaker 1: important than ever, just even psychologically for people. We also
Speaker 1: took the learnings from the tour we did physically with
Speaker 1: Oprah and said, what can we do for people who
Speaker 1: need this now more than ever? And we launched a
Speaker 1: four weeks every Saturday virtual tour with Oprah and made
Speaker 1: the decision to make it free globally for everyone because
Speaker 1: it's really what people needed right now, and that's what
Speaker 1: our brand has stood for since the very beginning. And
Speaker 1: we had just in the first one over half a
Speaker 1: million people live and we've now had millions of people
Speaker 1: watched the content. UM. So what we've been trying to
Speaker 1: do is use this as an opportunity to accelerate our
Speaker 1: digital transformation, UM, reduce our real estate, bookprint, be able
Speaker 1: to add, you know, to the ecosystem of wellness, and
Speaker 1: you know, I think now we're seeing more than ever,
Speaker 1: health and wellness is on top of everybody's mind. It's
Speaker 1: not a luxury anymore, it's a necessity. Talk about Mindy
Speaker 1: and I believe we've talked about this before. You mentioned
Speaker 1: her a couple of times the Oprah effect here, I mean,
Speaker 1: what has she done for the brand, especially in this
Speaker 1: time it feels almost more important to have that voice
Speaker 1: for a whole variety of reasons. She has been such
Speaker 1: a partner to me since, you know, the day I
Speaker 1: joined the company, certainly as a board member, but also
Speaker 1: as a thought partner in how can we work together
Speaker 1: to really give people the tools and the motivation so
Speaker 1: they can really live their best, healthiest lives. So, you know,
Speaker 1: if you look at what we've built out in terms
Speaker 1: of this wellness ecosystem, whether it's nutrition or activity or mindset, motivation, sleep, relationships, whatever,
Speaker 1: that is having Oprah and her voice to be able
Speaker 1: to amplify. And it's really her superpower is to galvanize people.
Speaker 1: And we really saw it on the tour, and we
Speaker 1: also saw it on this virtual tour, and I know
Speaker 1: she feels UM now more than ever. What we bring
Speaker 1: um is going to be more critical for people. And
Speaker 1: you know, as we talked about moving into the broader
Speaker 1: scope of wellness, we said, we're never going to abdicate
Speaker 1: our global leadership in healthy weight loss, which is so important.
Speaker 1: If you look at the number one factor in COVID
Speaker 1: deaths with obesity. UM. Diabetes is a huge fact, sir.
Speaker 1: And we're seeing from all our data in terms of
Speaker 1: why people are joining UM. And what is that? What
Speaker 1: is top of mine? It's I need to be healthy,
Speaker 1: not just for me, but healthy to others. I need
Speaker 1: to not get sick to get healthy, I need to
Speaker 1: prevent what is happening. And I think, you know, COVID
Speaker 1: has really changed the mindset. The other thing it's done, though,
Speaker 1: it's really identified the health disparities amongst communities, and I
Speaker 1: think that going to be a big focus as well.
Speaker 1: So maybe I gotta ask you because Carol and I
Speaker 1: both know you pretty well. We've watched your career, and
Speaker 1: I wonder you've managed through all sorts of crises before.
Speaker 1: What's different about this one? From a leadership perspective and
Speaker 1: and from the CEO seat. Yeah, you know, I thought
Speaker 1: when I took my last company public in August two
Speaker 1: thousand eight, that was kind of going to be the
Speaker 1: biggest crisis I would have UM threw through. UM this
Speaker 1: has been. This has been very different UM. Number one,
Speaker 1: this is truly global UM. You know. Number two, there's
Speaker 1: an aspect of uncertainty that we've never had before. UM,
Speaker 1: you know number three, it has made us all isolate
Speaker 1: in a very different way. UM. And all of those things,
Speaker 1: you know, you have to take in from a leadership
Speaker 1: uh perspective and right now and you know, not that
Speaker 1: it wasn't then, but the need to a communicate. I'm
Speaker 1: not just the CEO, I'm the chief communication officer, the
Speaker 1: chief crisis officer, the chief hope officer. What people are
Speaker 1: needing and feeling right now, UM, is they they want
Speaker 1: to know, you know, where they stand, what is happening
Speaker 1: at any given time. And you know, my feeling is
Speaker 1: control what you can control, tell people what you're doing,
Speaker 1: galvanize them around what you can do, UM, and and
Speaker 1: keep that focus. And I'm very fortunate that you know,
Speaker 1: our leadership team has really come together. I mean we've
Speaker 1: we've built a culture of purpose and they're galvanized around
Speaker 1: how what we can do. And I'm galvanized around what
Speaker 1: we can do for them and for other I think
Speaker 1: the other thing that's different this time is the world
Speaker 1: has changed since then. And UM, authenticity is really important.
Speaker 1: I say that. You know, people used to think vulnerability
Speaker 1: was a weakness. It's a strength. UM. People want to
Speaker 1: understand if they're feeling, you know, something that they're not alone.
Speaker 1: And so the number of town halls and the number
Speaker 1: of communications that myself and you know, our leadership team
Speaker 1: has done has been significant, and we have tried to
Speaker 1: be you know, transparent. We've tried to communicate whether that's
Speaker 1: what's happening with the business, um, what's happening with you know,
Speaker 1: our studios or our offices or everything around the world. UM.
Speaker 1: And you know, I think that's that's that's been a
Speaker 1: very big, big factor in this and and and lastly,
Speaker 1: it's not just one thing. You know, we have a pandemic,
Speaker 1: we have a financial um, you know challenge, and you know,
Speaker 1: in the United States in particular, UM, you know, we
Speaker 1: have a real issue in terms of racism. And you know,
Speaker 1: what we are going to do as a country, and
Speaker 1: what we're going to do is businesses. UM. So again,
Speaker 1: it's all of these things happening at the same time
Speaker 1: that really require um, you know, your ability or the
Speaker 1: CEO's ability to address them in a very humane way.
Speaker 1: And I think it's really a call to moral leadership
Speaker 1: right now. And what does that moral leadership looks like
Speaker 1: to you, especially around the racial justice issue. Indy. So
Speaker 1: you know, for me, it's been devastating. You know, I've
Speaker 1: been such a champion of diversity, uh my whole career
Speaker 1: and it's it's been very emotional and uh, you know,
Speaker 1: I'm very fortunate my c h r Oh kim Seymour
Speaker 1: who who is a black woman, but she's been my
Speaker 1: partner and the two of us um have really you know,
Speaker 1: spent a lot of time saying, you know, how are
Speaker 1: we gonna you know, manage and what are we going
Speaker 1: to do? And we we had had and made progress,
Speaker 1: um around diversity within our company. There's a reason we
Speaker 1: have a diverse board that didn't happen by accident. There's
Speaker 1: a reason we have a diverse executive team. But the
Speaker 1: first thing we did was do a town hall UM
Speaker 1: and said, look, we've made progress, but it's not enough,
Speaker 1: and we need to do more and we need to
Speaker 1: do it better. That's w W president and CEO, Mindy
Speaker 1: Grossman and Jason. I feel like every time you and
Speaker 1: I talked with her, we just want more and more time.
Speaker 1: She continues to be one of those individuals that whatever
Speaker 1: industry she is, she really is transforming it. And she's
Speaker 1: definitely thinking about wellness in a very very different way,
Speaker 1: in a holistic way. Well. And she's the first to
Speaker 1: admit this time is hard, and this time is different.
Speaker 1: She looks back to the financial crisis, taking a company
Speaker 1: public in that but listen, trying to reshape and do
Speaker 1: everything she's trying to do with that company just got
Speaker 1: a whole lot harder in well. That wraps up the
Speaker 1: first hour of the weekend edition of Bloomberg Business Week
Speaker 1: from Bloomberg Radio. I'm Jason Kelly and I'm Carol mass
Speaker 1: are plenty for you. In our next hour, we'll hear
Speaker 1: from Lenia Irvin. She's a president of the Center for
Speaker 1: Talent Innovation, spent a long time on Wall Street. She
Speaker 1: too is on the front lines when it comes to
Speaker 1: diversity and inclusion. So we'll have that conversation in just
Speaker 1: a moment. And speaking of the front lines, we're also
Speaker 1: going to hear from Lebron James. I'm looking forward to
Speaker 1: the season getting restarted in back in the Laker uniform
Speaker 1: um and continue to to push the envelope not only
Speaker 1: on the court, but off the court. My conversation with
Speaker 1: King James and the man behind the legend himself, his
Speaker 1: longtime friend of business partner Maverick Carter. That's coming up
Speaker 1: later on Jason. It's such a timely conversation. It is
Speaker 1: this week's cover story. This is Bloomberg. This is Bloomberg
Speaker 1: Business Week from Bloomberg Radio. Hi, I'm Carol Masser and
Speaker 1: I'm Jason Kelly. Today we're bringing you some of the
Speaker 1: most important, we hope in formative conversations we had on
Speaker 1: our daily Bloomberg Business Week radio show. But this week
Speaker 1: there's a little bit more. Carol, Oh my god, there's
Speaker 1: so much more. And I have to say, Jason, this
Speaker 1: is a story, an interview that you have been working
Speaker 1: on for months. It's such a timely interview with Lebron James.
Speaker 1: I feel like we don't need any adjectives in front
Speaker 1: of him because everybody knows who he is. I have
Speaker 1: not heard true official apology to Colin Kaepernick on what
Speaker 1: he was going through and what he was trying to
Speaker 1: tell the NFL and tell the world about why he
Speaker 1: was kneeling when he was doing that as a San
Speaker 1: Francisco forty Niner. So clearly King James has some opinions
Speaker 1: about what's going on in the world. More of that
Speaker 1: Bloomberg Business Week cover story. Conversation is ahead. First of
Speaker 1: the Let's get to our conversation with someone who is
Speaker 1: a recognized leader in diversity and inclusion. She spent a
Speaker 1: decade on Wall Street. She took a job at the
Speaker 1: Center for Talent Innovation in early March. She had a
Speaker 1: lot to say about the virus and racism in the
Speaker 1: United States. She is Lenia Irvin, president of the Center
Speaker 1: for Talent Innovation. Conversations are are critical, right, um, opening
Speaker 1: up safe space for real dialogue. UM. You know, it's
Speaker 1: a great way to ensure that your employees steel heard,
Speaker 1: you know, UM, ensure that they're seen. Um. But it's
Speaker 1: also a really great opportunity for leaders and would be
Speaker 1: allies to listen right the active in in UH their
Speaker 1: leadership um, and and demonstrate from awareness of this moment
Speaker 1: in time, the context in which we live disproportionate impact. Right.
Speaker 1: I'm sure many leaders are. Of course they're considering UH,
Speaker 1: COVID nineteen and unemployment rates and UH and obviously they
Speaker 1: cannot unsee racism and police brutality. UM. But at the
Speaker 1: same time, are they communicating, are they signaling to their
Speaker 1: employee base at this is top of mind for them. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, I think you know, I hosted a similar
Speaker 1: conversation uh, you know within my organization a couple of
Speaker 1: weeks ago. And you know, while on one hand, it
Speaker 1: was tremendous vulnerability from a leadership standpoint to share my
Speaker 1: experiences in the end after listening to uh, you know,
Speaker 1: the team share, but on the other hand, it was
Speaker 1: extremely powerful. Right. It's important for leaders to be visible,
Speaker 1: to be vocal, And in this case, even if the
Speaker 1: conversation was difficult, it offered up space for story telling,
Speaker 1: it offered offered up meaningful bridging capital, and brought the
Speaker 1: team closer together. And so I think conversation is a
Speaker 1: good place to start, uh, you know, for for leaders
Speaker 1: looking to connect with their employees at this time. Lennie.
Speaker 1: The other thing, you know, and it's something Jason and
Speaker 1: I've talked a lot about in particular over the past month. Um,
Speaker 1: we had a conversation conversation with John opbrien of Operation
Speaker 1: Hope and and what's interesting is he was talking with
Speaker 1: younger a younger population, you know, about why people are
Speaker 1: protesting and why does it get kind of sometimes you know,
Speaker 1: out of control a little bit, And and they said
Speaker 1: to him, you know, you have a seat at the table.
Speaker 1: You get to go to the White House, you get
Speaker 1: to talk to executives. We don't have a seat at
Speaker 1: the table. You know, we're not in the room when
Speaker 1: it all happens. And so it's and as he said
Speaker 1: to us, this is a poverty issue. This is this
Speaker 1: is you know, a much deeper entrenched problem in our situation,
Speaker 1: in our system. What do you think we as all
Speaker 1: leaders and who have voices, what can we do to
Speaker 1: change that? How do we change that? Well? Right, well,
Speaker 1: I mean, first admit that there is entrenched bias, right
Speaker 1: that is that that creates barriers to UM success or
Speaker 1: you know, access to meaningful work. But just you know
Speaker 1: that admission alone is a great step. And then I think,
Speaker 1: you know it's important for leaders to you know, be
Speaker 1: intentional about what they can control, you know, whether that's
Speaker 1: you know, hiring, development, promotion of key talent. UM. You know,
Speaker 1: representation is and and visibility is really important. Our research
Speaker 1: find um that you know, it's probably one of the
Speaker 1: most important things we do have UM talent. Uh, some
Speaker 1: talents frustrated with their advancement. One in five black professionals,
Speaker 1: for example, UM feel that someone of their race could
Speaker 1: never achieve a top position at their company. I mean
Speaker 1: they can envision a reflection of their own image is
Speaker 1: a C suite or a CEO? Right compared to uh
Speaker 1: three sense as BLAE professionals right, and then professionals of
Speaker 1: color you know as a whole are less likely to
Speaker 1: have access to senior executive advocates. One fifth of black
Speaker 1: employees and I would note of Asian professionals say that
Speaker 1: not a single leader knows them by name. Imagine being
Speaker 1: rendered invisible in connection to power and the long term
Speaker 1: impact that could have on one's career. Right. So I
Speaker 1: think one one thing that will help, um, uh you know,
Speaker 1: organizations kind of bridge with with you know, emerging talent,
Speaker 1: those that are coming up in these organizations and they
Speaker 1: are um looking to eventually have a seat at the table.
Speaker 1: Acknowledge that there is a disconnect, right, Um, there's a
Speaker 1: there's a in are being black and corporate America research.
Speaker 1: One really big finding was a perception gap um that
Speaker 1: was unveiled in the data. Uh So black professionals, for example,
Speaker 1: they witnessed, you know, they experienced serious to its advancement,
Speaker 1: but they seem this seems largely invisible to their colleague.
Speaker 1: So where six black professionals say yes, black talent has
Speaker 1: to work much harder to advance, only six of their
Speaker 1: colleagues agree with that statement. There's a material yet, there's
Speaker 1: a material perception gap that makes overcoming the hurdle of
Speaker 1: repension development advancement that much more difficult. And that's Lenia Irvian,
Speaker 1: president of the Center for Talent Innovation, another very timely voice, Carol,
Speaker 1: and I have to say one of the things that
Speaker 1: struck me as I thought about our conversation with her
Speaker 1: is it was pointed. You know that this was not
Speaker 1: someone saying, well, we need to make some changes. Well,
Speaker 1: let's see what we're gonna do. She was specific, and
Speaker 1: I have to say pointed that I kept coming back
Speaker 1: to that notion that it's time we got to do
Speaker 1: something well and what I loved, and I feel like
Speaker 1: I've been repeating it to everybody I talked to meet.
Speaker 1: She said that leaders coming out making statements about diversity,
Speaker 1: they first have to do the work internally at their
Speaker 1: own organizations to earn the right to make those statements externally.
Speaker 1: That to me says it all absolutely and echoes I
Speaker 1: dare say of a conversation we're gonna hear later on
Speaker 1: with Lebron James. You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week coming up.
Speaker 1: As we all face increased levels of stress, you may
Speaker 1: be thinking about getting a massage. Maybe what does the
Speaker 1: future of the industry look like? We're gonna hear from
Speaker 1: Todd Left, the CEO of handen Stone Massage. Oh my god,
Speaker 1: if only he understands though so much about the world
Speaker 1: of small business. This is Bloomberg Face is Bloomberg Business
Speaker 1: Week with Carol Masser and Jason Kelly from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 1: We're bringing you some of the most important and informative
Speaker 1: conversations that we had throughout the week on our daily
Speaker 1: radio show. A reminder, as we like to do, is
Speaker 1: that there was a lot going on, as everybody knows
Speaker 1: this week, the news constantly, Jason, evolving around us. That's
Speaker 1: exactly right, and we know that the world has been
Speaker 1: shifting for small businesses, franchise ors and franchise so it
Speaker 1: was especially interesting to catch up with Todd Left. He's
Speaker 1: the CEO of hand and Stone Massage. They have hundreds
Speaker 1: of locations across the country. How they closed and how
Speaker 1: they reopened. It's instructive for where we go. Next part
Speaker 1: of our strategy was really, you know, how do you
Speaker 1: preserve um the franchise e liquidity. That was that's one
Speaker 1: of the most important things because we want them to
Speaker 1: be around to reopen. And so one of one of
Speaker 1: the things they had to do early on was, um,
Speaker 1: you know, layoff all of the staff except generally managers
Speaker 1: and so uh within a two week period, we uh,
Speaker 1: the system laid off about eleven thousand employees. So it
Speaker 1: was a you know, pretty big hit and um, you
Speaker 1: know obviously to all those workers, you know, very unfortunate
Speaker 1: as well. And so what's the process like of coming back,
Speaker 1: I mean from a safety perspective, from a worker perspective,
Speaker 1: walk us through the process of that. Yeah, so you know,
Speaker 1: that was my biggest concern early on. I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: when we sat there, you know, kind of mid March
Speaker 1: and in late March, you really have to answer first
Speaker 1: the existential question, as you said, Jay said, at the outset,
Speaker 1: can you do a hands on business safely UM with
Speaker 1: COVID nineteen, without a vaccine, without a really solid cure.
Speaker 1: And so we didn't wait for you know, kind of
Speaker 1: the government to dictate policy or determine it. We we
Speaker 1: actually went out and engaged our own panel of health
Speaker 1: experts that we had an infectious disease research or several
Speaker 1: medical UH practitioners and then a medical director of a
Speaker 1: massage school UM to really help us design the protocols
Speaker 1: necessary up to you know, make sure that this process
Speaker 1: could be done safely. And as we did the research
Speaker 1: into this, you know, it actually ended up and everybody
Speaker 1: learned so much over this course at the time that
Speaker 1: that our services actually relatively low risk activity because generally
Speaker 1: the disease was being transmitted through respiratory means, and so
Speaker 1: we're really more skin to skin hands on. UM. It
Speaker 1: didn't impact assuming everybody wore you know, had the proper
Speaker 1: you know DP, it did not. It wasn't as risky
Speaker 1: as maybe the perception would be as you sit there
Speaker 1: from the outside. But we did we did have to
Speaker 1: develop a lot of new safety protocols and and so
Speaker 1: that we use that time wisely, you know, the month
Speaker 1: we were closed to to develop those protocols and then
Speaker 1: go retrain you know, ten thousand staff members on on
Speaker 1: how to do this activity as they reopen. So two
Speaker 1: questions I'm curious about what those safety protocols exactly. Will
Speaker 1: it be like if I go in for a massage,
Speaker 1: is it somebody that's kind of suited up in a
Speaker 1: mask and they've got you know, um gloves on or something,
Speaker 1: you know, some you know. I'm just curious how it
Speaker 1: works out, and I am curious how many of your
Speaker 1: workers are you ultimately going to be able to bring back.
Speaker 1: So as of the first question, there are a number
Speaker 1: of safety changes and you would see a different process
Speaker 1: than if you had went in, you know, prior to
Speaker 1: March First, we do require that all of the staff
Speaker 1: members wear masks. Astheticians who these are the folks who
Speaker 1: do the facial services, have to wear both masks and
Speaker 1: face shields during the service UH customers. We are UH
Speaker 1: certainly in most states, and we've worked with states in
Speaker 1: developing these guidelines. In most states, customers are also required
Speaker 1: to wear masks while they're getting the massage. If it's
Speaker 1: not a state where it's required, then we we have
Speaker 1: a high recommend and we allow the local jurisdiction to
Speaker 1: set that up. We now disinfect the entire room after
Speaker 1: each service, so in between any service, the room is
Speaker 1: is disinfected. UM. We were fortunate that we had sinks
Speaker 1: in all of our treatment rooms and so we require
Speaker 1: hand washed by the massage therapists prior to the service.
Speaker 1: Some stage they require the customer to hand wash prior
Speaker 1: to getting the service. And then a lot of things
Speaker 1: in the in just the transactional nature of it. UM
Speaker 1: going to a contact light transaction, we really close down
Speaker 1: a lot of the lobbies and we ask customers to
Speaker 1: wait in the car and we text them so they
Speaker 1: can walk right into the treatment room instead of sitting
Speaker 1: in a lobby. So you would notice a number of changes.
Speaker 1: I guess one of the things that strikes me is
Speaker 1: all the stuff you're talking about cost money. So what
Speaker 1: are the things you have to do operationally to ensure
Speaker 1: for yourself, for your franchise ese that this business is
Speaker 1: able to continue in this sort of new normal that
Speaker 1: we're going to be in for some time. Right, Well,
Speaker 1: I think that in the short term we you see
Speaker 1: an increase in you know, our operational costs to meet
Speaker 1: these new safety protocols and guidelines. But UM on the
Speaker 1: the other side of it, obviously, UM demand has has
Speaker 1: come back very strong. We are membership base as well.
Speaker 1: Although we have you know, we also served non members
Speaker 1: and guests, so a lot of our members over our
Speaker 1: member base stayed with us and continued to actively pay
Speaker 1: their membership fees during the time that we were closed.
Speaker 1: And that's Todd left the CEO of Hand and Stone
Speaker 1: Massage and Facial Spot. Important that we get that in
Speaker 1: there too, Carol, because it's interesting when you think about
Speaker 1: their lines of business, these are, to say the least
Speaker 1: intimate interactions people. And I have to say I walked
Speaker 1: in thinking, all right, well, this guy is just going
Speaker 1: to talk about how everything's closed. Not the case. No, listen,
Speaker 1: what's interesting is they said even in the shutdown, everything
Speaker 1: was shut down by April for they still had their
Speaker 1: members staying with them. And remember both of us were
Speaker 1: talking about this afterwards. Of their comparable store sales, it
Speaker 1: is back. So it's interesting to see how they are
Speaker 1: finding their way back to reopening. Amazing. A very surprising conversation,
Speaker 1: but also some very specific insights to to how you
Speaker 1: do it and also how you think about it as
Speaker 1: a small business. You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week coming up. Hospitals, Man,
Speaker 1: they are counting beds again as coronavirus cases rise. We'll
Speaker 1: here from Lloyd Minor, Dean of the Stanford University School
Speaker 1: of Medicine, and David Entwistle, President and CEO of Stanford Healthcare.
Speaker 1: Lots to look forward to. This is Bloomberg. This is
Speaker 1: Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Jason Kelly from
Speaker 1: Bloomberg Radio. Well, today we're bringing you some of the
Speaker 1: most important and informative conversations We had a cross our
Speaker 1: daily Bloomberg Business Week radio show this week. It was
Speaker 1: a doozy to say the Lea's Carol, especially as we
Speaker 1: saw all these headlines about the virus and one of
Speaker 1: the most important things we have to understand is how
Speaker 1: does this manifest in hospitals. That was really striking to me, Jason,
Speaker 1: and you and I talked about it throughout the week
Speaker 1: that when we checked the most read stories, it's one
Speaker 1: of our favorite functions on the Bloomberg constantly. Now this week,
Speaker 1: many of the top ten stories had to do in
Speaker 1: some way with the virus. So it was a timely
Speaker 1: conversation that we had with Lloyd Minor, Dean at Stanford
Speaker 1: University School of Medicine and David Entwistle, President CEO of
Speaker 1: Stanford Healthcare. They just opened a new facility late last year.
Speaker 1: We are seeing an increase in the number of COVID
Speaker 1: cases in many cities and locations across the United States,
Speaker 1: and I think that indicates that we need to continue
Speaker 1: to observe social distancing. The masking guidelines that have been
Speaker 1: rolled out in many communities. There's good evidence that masking
Speaker 1: helps to prevent the infection. It's gonna be, I think,
Speaker 1: a location by location decision as to what additional measures
Speaker 1: are put in place. That is, whether or not we
Speaker 1: roll back from stage two where many places are today
Speaker 1: to earlier stages. But the main thing is we've we've
Speaker 1: got to be more prudent about UM as we resume activities,
Speaker 1: as businesses, restaurants, uh department stores start to open. We've
Speaker 1: got to observe social distancing. We've got to use mass
Speaker 1: um and do things that less than the spread of
Speaker 1: the infection. Well and David, largely because all of this
Speaker 1: comes down to or so much of this comes down
Speaker 1: to essentially hospital capacity. So help us understand from the
Speaker 1: perspective of someone running a hospital what you worry about
Speaker 1: with this spike, and what hospitals like yours are doing
Speaker 1: and Obviously you're not facing at the moment any sort
Speaker 1: of surge, But in your shoes or in the shoes
Speaker 1: of others running hospitals, what are they thinking about. Well, no,
Speaker 1: I appreciate that opportunity. One of the things that we
Speaker 1: wanted to do, and certainly with any slowdown, which we
Speaker 1: did as the initial pandemic came on, as we started
Speaker 1: to see the numbers dip a bit, what we were
Speaker 1: most concerned about then is getting some of the folks
Speaker 1: back into the queue that actually needed some of the
Speaker 1: delayed surgeries and other things that were going on. We
Speaker 1: started with which I think is a bit of a model,
Speaker 1: building on what deed Minor said, actually doing testing, so
Speaker 1: making sure that the population that we had within the
Speaker 1: hospital itself, our employees are physicians, uh, that we were
Speaker 1: free of the virus. And we actually tested over twelve
Speaker 1: thou employees and staff and saw less than a point
Speaker 1: three percent of those staff actually had the virus. And
Speaker 1: so we knew that we were creating a safe environment.
Speaker 1: But I think it's important despite being able to be
Speaker 1: there and be a resource for the community, we do
Speaker 1: also have to have capacity. And one of the things
Speaker 1: that we've done, despite opening back up doing our elective surgeries.
Speaker 1: Uh is creating still a capacity within the organization that's
Speaker 1: there and always available, because that really is the concern
Speaker 1: is if we get another significant spike, well, we have
Speaker 1: the capacity to be able to treat and we want
Speaker 1: to make sure that we're ready for that this time
Speaker 1: without having to shut everything down. Well, Dean Minor, you
Speaker 1: know what have we learned? You know, here we are.
Speaker 1: Jason and I have been working from home essentially. Jason
Speaker 1: went into the office a little bit this week, but
Speaker 1: he's back home. But here we are, and I think
Speaker 1: week fourteen, week fifteen, Um, what have we learned from
Speaker 1: the medical perspective about how to treat with the how
Speaker 1: to treat the virus, how to stay ahead of it,
Speaker 1: how to watch for either another spike? I mean, tell
Speaker 1: us what we've learned? Thank you. I think we've learned
Speaker 1: several things. First, is that this is a respiratory virus.
Speaker 1: The principal mode of transmission is from one person to
Speaker 1: the next through secretions through mucus through a cloth um
Speaker 1: and and there may be other modes of transmission as well,
Speaker 1: but the may danger is through direct contact with secretions
Speaker 1: of someone who is infected and it is a highly
Speaker 1: infectious virus. We've certainly improved our ability to treat people
Speaker 1: who become ill in the hospital, our own hospital, Stanford
Speaker 1: Hospital UH. We have been a pioneer in the studies
Speaker 1: of RIM dissaver that has been shown to be effective
Speaker 1: and in improving the recovery rate UH and and perhaps
Speaker 1: also in lowering the risk of mortality from the virus.
Speaker 1: We've been a part of those studies. We now have
Speaker 1: studies going on in the outpatient setting using anti virals
Speaker 1: at the time someone is diagnosed with the infection, before
Speaker 1: they become severely ill, using anti virals in a clinical
Speaker 1: trial setting in order to determine if there are therapies
Speaker 1: we can give to outpatients that reduce the severity of
Speaker 1: the disease and reduce the likelihood that people will need
Speaker 1: to be admitted to the hospital. That's Lloyd Minor Dina
Speaker 1: the Stanford University School of Medicine, along with David Entwistle,
Speaker 1: Presidency E of Stanford Healthcare. Again, these are two individuals Jason,
Speaker 1: you have seen so much when it comes to the virus,
Speaker 1: both reminding us that this is still a very serious
Speaker 1: infection in that you know reopenings are rolling them back,
Speaker 1: which is something we talked about a lot throughout the week.
Speaker 1: They need to be on a location by location basis
Speaker 1: and bottom line, we still need to be more prudent
Speaker 1: even as we reopen Absolutely got to look at the
Speaker 1: data and got to look at hospitalizations, got to look
Speaker 1: at this rising cases and figure out where to go next.
Speaker 1: You're listening to Bloomberg this week coming up. We've been
Speaker 1: looking forward to sharing this one with you all show long.
Speaker 1: I've been looking forward to sharing it with you for months.
Speaker 1: Lebron James and longtime business partner la Rick Carter. Perfect
Speaker 1: for a weekend listening. This is Bloomberg. This is Bloomberg
Speaker 1: Business Week with Carol Masser and Jason Kelly from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 1: We're bringing you some of the most important and informative
Speaker 1: convert stations that we had throughout the week on our
Speaker 1: daily radio show. And I gotta say, one of the
Speaker 1: best conversations Jason was one that you had this week. Well,
Speaker 1: I appreciate that it was one that I was looking
Speaker 1: forward to timely, to say the least. King James himself,
Speaker 1: Lebron James, his longtime friend and business partner Maverick Carter.
Speaker 1: I had talked with them in February. I caught up
Speaker 1: with them again this week, all about their company, the
Speaker 1: spring Hill Company, that they are launching, but more importantly
Speaker 1: this moment and whether it will be more than that.
Speaker 1: I think it's a special moment in the sense that, UM,
Speaker 1: you can be heard active activism and activists have always
Speaker 1: been around UM what people had a closed ear, in
Speaker 1: a closed mind UM and didn't want to recognize and
Speaker 1: didn't want to hear it, didn't want to be UM
Speaker 1: knowledgeable about what they were speaking, where they were coming from,
Speaker 1: the passions they were speaking with. UM. Now it's it's
Speaker 1: being heard. People can be heard. Black Americans, African Americans,
Speaker 1: you know, can be heard, both men and women can
Speaker 1: be heard. UM. What they're passionate about and the calling
Speaker 1: for help and the calling for we're being We're just tired.
Speaker 1: So you know, I don't want to say activism is
Speaker 1: something that's UM. You know, now everyone's doing it now,
Speaker 1: It's always been around. But you know, in the in
Speaker 1: the case of George Floyd, in the case of so
Speaker 1: many other UM, innocent lives being taken away. UM, they've
Speaker 1: put up a stand and and now you know, we're
Speaker 1: being heard, and everyone is being heard. Um, not only um,
Speaker 1: you know, from from what Muhammad Ali was saying and
Speaker 1: so many that came before him and so many after him,
Speaker 1: but even the local people, the people in the community,
Speaker 1: because those are the real ones, the people that's in
Speaker 1: the communities, that's living and walking those streets and being
Speaker 1: racialistically profiled and being judged every day that they walk
Speaker 1: in their cities. They're the ones that need to be heard,
Speaker 1: and they're being heard right now, and it's it's great
Speaker 1: to see. And so what does it feel like in Akron?
Speaker 1: I mean, you talked about Los Angeles a little bit,
Speaker 1: but you know, you and Maverick have said often that
Speaker 1: so much of what animates you started in Akron. You
Speaker 1: guys met when you were children, And I wonder how
Speaker 1: this feels there Lebron. No, absolutely, Um. We always we
Speaker 1: always recognize where home is a home base. It starts there,
Speaker 1: you know, having my high primary school here and understanding
Speaker 1: the um you know the level of importance with my
Speaker 1: kids and you know when the pandemic, when when COVID started,
Speaker 1: it was it was it was kind of heartbreaking because
Speaker 1: I knew that my kids would have to leave the school.
Speaker 1: We had to shut down our school for a period
Speaker 1: of time, and I understand how important structure is and
Speaker 1: hands on is with my kids and my school. So
Speaker 1: you know, that was very troubling times for me and
Speaker 1: troubling times for our facult team members and everyone that
Speaker 1: had to do with the IPS, because you know, we're
Speaker 1: so used to having our kids and we and we
Speaker 1: know how important having them in the classroom and having
Speaker 1: them underneath our our wing and our and our guidance. UM.
Speaker 1: So we're always paying attention to our hometown and listening
Speaker 1: to the people, listening to what's going on there. Um.
Speaker 1: So that is constant every single day, no matter um.
Speaker 1: You know, me and Maverick living in Los Angeles, we
Speaker 1: we have hands on and and our ears to what's
Speaker 1: going on in our hometown of Akron Oholla's with Maverick,
Speaker 1: one of the things that you did during the pandemic
Speaker 1: that was forced by the pandemic was graduated together. Tell
Speaker 1: me why that was so important and what was different
Speaker 1: about it and what it represented for spring Hill and
Speaker 1: what it says about the opportunity. Yeah, obviously, the pandemic
Speaker 1: unfortunately forced all of students back home, and and and
Speaker 1: as Lebron said, unfortunately, the kids, the students that I
Speaker 1: a school like, I promise the school is for a
Speaker 1: lot of those kids the safest places where they get
Speaker 1: the most structured because home is tough. And and and
Speaker 1: especially for seniors, right high school seniors who did you
Speaker 1: know get the chance to graduate and walk across the
Speaker 1: stage and get the dipluma, which is a big moment
Speaker 1: for all of us, and and and even a person
Speaker 1: like me, it's the only graduation I've ever had, it's
Speaker 1: the only graduation Lebron has ever had. So it's very
Speaker 1: memorable and as an important moment in everyone's life. So
Speaker 1: at the company, we got approached um by partners to
Speaker 1: come along and produce graduate together and do it with
Speaker 1: with Lorayn pal Jobs company, And it was just important
Speaker 1: that we really over delivered for those students, for those kids,
Speaker 1: it wasn't about us, It wasn't about the networks. Lebron
Speaker 1: did the fantastic job hosting. We were fortunate enough to
Speaker 1: have UH President Barack Obama deliver the commencement speech, But
Speaker 1: it wasn't about Lebron. It wasn't about Obama, wasn't about
Speaker 1: us as a company. It was about creating a special
Speaker 1: memorable moment for those students, just like we all we
Speaker 1: got the chance to do when we actually got to
Speaker 1: experience it. Unfortunately they didn't. They had to do it
Speaker 1: in their living rooms with their families. And that's what
Speaker 1: made me very happy and proud as all the text
Speaker 1: that I received from from families and parents who said
Speaker 1: that was a special moment from my graduating senior and
Speaker 1: now they at least have something they can remember it by,
Speaker 1: and we did a T shirt. We wanted to make
Speaker 1: it as special as possible and do it in the
Speaker 1: Spring Hill Away, which is bringing to life as a
Speaker 1: as a show on Network TV. We did an after
Speaker 1: party on on Uninterrupted Instagram Live channel, and we brought
Speaker 1: a product, so we wanted to really give them a
Speaker 1: full three sixty moments so they felt very memorable and
Speaker 1: something they could always remember, just as though they could
Speaker 1: do it live and in person and Lebron We moved
Speaker 1: from that to More Than a Vote that was launched
Speaker 1: officially this week. What does success look like from More
Speaker 1: Than a Vote as you look toward November, UM, I
Speaker 1: think success looks like UM educating the people that's own
Speaker 1: the grounds in these cities that we're tackling. UM. You know,
Speaker 1: we've had voter suppression for so for so long, people
Speaker 1: not understanding, UM, how they can vote, where they're where
Speaker 1: they can vote, if their vote really counts. UM. You
Speaker 1: know in the black community, you know you always here,
Speaker 1: go out and vote. But what you don't understand is
Speaker 1: who am I voting for? Where can I vote? How
Speaker 1: many people am I voting for? What does these votes mean?
Speaker 1: What do they stand for? UM? So the education side,
Speaker 1: UM is what we're most proud about. That is success
Speaker 1: for us where we're actually getting UM, these communities out
Speaker 1: to vote, but they're even more educated on who they're
Speaker 1: voting for, how they can vote, where they can vote. UM,
Speaker 1: they have that power. UM. There's some there's a lot
Speaker 1: of people that believe that they can't vote because they've
Speaker 1: had previous convictions with the law or or or they've
Speaker 1: been to jail and they've been told they cannot vote,
Speaker 1: that their vote UM does not get submitted to things
Speaker 1: of that nature, which is untrue. UM. In a lot
Speaker 1: of states that we're tackling, So to educate and to
Speaker 1: make aware of the people that's on the ground, that
Speaker 1: has a lot to do with the future of our country. Um,
Speaker 1: that is one of the success that we can have.
Speaker 1: And we'll see what happens in November. And so Lebron
Speaker 1: to that point, what can you do given your stature,
Speaker 1: to ensure that this isn't fleeting? What are the things
Speaker 1: that we need to be doing and thinking about? What
Speaker 1: can you do to really take this forward in many ways?
Speaker 1: What are you thinking about? Well, for me, my mission
Speaker 1: doesn't change. Um, I've been doing this since day one,
Speaker 1: you know. And Marverage just touched on a lot about
Speaker 1: our brand and our company and what we've been doing.
Speaker 1: But you know, even since I, you know, came out,
Speaker 1: you know, from from high school to the NBA, you know,
Speaker 1: instead of going with a company, I decided to hire
Speaker 1: my friends. I decided to have hire my friends. Um
Speaker 1: that I believe we can all grow together. We can
Speaker 1: we can we can have shortcomings, we can have bumps
Speaker 1: in the row, but at the end of the day,
Speaker 1: if we stick with one another and we're true to
Speaker 1: each other, and we can build this together. So I've
Speaker 1: been doing this since day once, So my mission has
Speaker 1: not changed at all. Continue to educate myself because the
Speaker 1: more educated I am than the people around me will
Speaker 1: get educated as well and continue to pass that down
Speaker 1: to the youth. I mean, the youth is our future.
Speaker 1: I mean we look at the class of this year,
Speaker 1: the high school graduation, and there's nothing that they will
Speaker 1: not be ready for after having a year like this,
Speaker 1: you know. So for me to have the knowledge that
Speaker 1: I have in the blueprints that I have to be
Speaker 1: able to continue to pass it down to the generation
Speaker 1: below me, to the generation that's with me, and continue
Speaker 1: to understand how important um these times of every day is.
Speaker 1: It's not being a leader is not when, it's not
Speaker 1: about when you decide to do it, it's every single day.
Speaker 1: And that's Lebron James Star of course, of the Los
Speaker 1: Angeles Lakers, and maybe more important for this conversation, chairman
Speaker 1: of the spring Hill Company. His business partner, the CEO
Speaker 1: of that company, Maverick Carter. They've known each other since
Speaker 1: they were kids, Carol. This is a special relationship and
Speaker 1: where they are in the culture, where they are right now,
Speaker 1: is incredibly, incredibly important. And what I think is really fascinating, Jason,
Speaker 1: considering the backdrop of the last month that we've been
Speaker 1: talking about diversity and racism in America, I feel like
Speaker 1: this is a company for where we need to be today.
Speaker 1: They kind of set the model well, and what you
Speaker 1: just heard, it's just scratching the surface. For the full interview,
Speaker 1: download the podcast. Just go to our podcast feed. You
Speaker 1: can get the whole thing. And let me tell you,
Speaker 1: it was wide ranging. We talked a lot about the
Speaker 1: issues of the day. We talked a little bit about basketball,
Speaker 1: but also to your point, Carol, where we go from here.
Speaker 1: And I have to say it's a bit of a
Speaker 1: bracing conversation at times because Maverick Carter especially talks about racism,
Speaker 1: talks about what he has experienced, but also what it
Speaker 1: means to ultimately enabled this system that we've all been
Speaker 1: being a part of and hopefully what we can do
Speaker 1: about it. I'm just gonna say it's a must read,
Speaker 1: it's a must listen, and it's a must watch because
Speaker 1: you can check out your TV special and your conversation
Speaker 1: with both of them on Bloomberg TV. That wraps up
Speaker 1: the weekend edition of Bloomberg Business Week from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much for joining us. I'm Carol Masser and
Speaker 1: I'm Jason Kelly. Be sure to tune into Bloomberg Business
Speaker 1: Week Radio. Our show live Monday through Friday, starting at
Speaker 1: two pm Wall Street Time. You can also watch the
Speaker 1: show live on YouTube. Just search for Bloomberg Global News
Speaker 1: and in addition to our daily podcast plus the Lebron
Speaker 1: and Maverick interview, download our Business Week Extra podcast. This
Speaker 1: week as well, we talk a lot about wellness, a
Speaker 1: holistic approach to medicine. Our conversation with Dr vj vot
Speaker 1: It was a fascinating one. He's a sports medicine specialist
Speaker 1: and he works at the hospital for special surgery. But
Speaker 1: he's thinking about medicine and treatment in the sort of
Speaker 1: way that we need to be thinking. Talk about innovation
Speaker 1: in medicine. He is certainly working on that. And I'm
Speaker 1: just going to say that all the views that we
Speaker 1: had uh in our weekend show, many of them. You
Speaker 1: can find the full interview by checking out our podcast feed.
Speaker 1: Have a great weekend, Stay safe. We'll be back next
Speaker 1: week at the same time. This is Bloomberg