WEBVTT - Bloomberg Businessweek Weekend - March 25th, 2022 0:00:01.080 --> 0:00:05.400 This is Bloomberg Business Week Inside from the reporters and 0:00:05.600 --> 0:00:09.200 editors who bring you America's most trusted business magazine, plus 0:00:09.240 --> 0:00:13.200 global business, finance and tech news as it happened Sloomberg 0:00:13.240 --> 0:00:16.759 Business Week with Carol Messer and Bloomberg Quick Takes Tim 0:00:16.800 --> 0:00:21.279 Stinovic on Bloomberg Radio. Hi, everyone, Welcome to the weekend 0:00:21.400 --> 0:00:24.480 edition of Bloomberg Business Week. A hawkish round of FED speakers, 0:00:24.480 --> 0:00:27.920 including Chair J. Powell, created another round of volatility in 0:00:28.000 --> 0:00:31.159 financial markets as they concerned over the ongoing war in 0:00:31.280 --> 0:00:34.680 Ukraine and also COVID cases on an upswing because of 0:00:34.680 --> 0:00:37.320 the omencron b A two sub variant. All of that 0:00:37.400 --> 0:00:40.240 tim are backdrop this week, and on that last point, 0:00:40.520 --> 0:00:43.440 just about the latest variant coming up our story on 0:00:43.520 --> 0:00:46.960 our new state of uncertainty around vaccines, questioning their long 0:00:47.080 --> 0:00:51.040 term efficacy and which variance new boosters should target. We're 0:00:51.040 --> 0:00:52.680 all gonna get a lot more shots, aren't we. Yeah? 0:00:52.680 --> 0:00:54.520 I think so? All right, feels that way. It's also 0:00:54.560 --> 0:00:57.000 the equality issue of Bloomberg Business Week. We'll hear about 0:00:57.000 --> 0:00:59.800 efforts to end weight discrimination in the workplace and the 0:01:00.000 --> 0:01:02.200 wish from more diversity on Wall Street. All of that 0:01:02.280 --> 0:01:04.720 ahead We begin though, with our editors round table and 0:01:04.800 --> 0:01:08.240 the story of Silicon Valley's wealthiest Russian. You're A Milner 0:01:08.319 --> 0:01:10.560 is a venture capitalist who built a three point nine 0:01:10.600 --> 0:01:15.160 billion dollar fortune thanks to early funding from Kremlin connected sources, 0:01:15.200 --> 0:01:18.319 but he says that's all in the past. Business Week 0:01:18.440 --> 0:01:21.360 editor Joel Webber and Bloomberg News venture capital reporter Sarah 0:01:21.440 --> 0:01:24.040 McBride joining us to explain how Milner is working to 0:01:24.120 --> 0:01:27.600 distance himself from Vladimir Putin. You're A Milner is a 0:01:27.680 --> 0:01:33.160 huge name in the VC world, um, Airbnb, Ali Baba, Twitter, Facebook, 0:01:33.319 --> 0:01:37.000 Woll mentioned some mothers soon. These are huge companies. He 0:01:37.080 --> 0:01:41.280 was very early and basically helping build them, and that 0:01:41.319 --> 0:01:45.320 money was connected to m to the Kremlin, people close 0:01:45.360 --> 0:01:48.720 to the Kremlin, and Urie has been sort of like 0:01:49.120 --> 0:01:51.440 one of the main people that we've been wanting to 0:01:51.440 --> 0:01:56.040 talk to ever since Russia invaded Ukraine. And then Sarah 0:01:56.680 --> 0:02:00.200 got an amazing access to him and spent some time 0:02:00.240 --> 0:02:02.600 talking to him and would you learn so well. He 0:02:02.840 --> 0:02:05.880 is a little bit frustrated. He says he's never met 0:02:06.240 --> 0:02:10.280 President Putin. He cut pie for the Russia years ago. 0:02:11.040 --> 0:02:15.120 The biggest backer he had with the Magnet called Alisha 0:02:15.280 --> 0:02:19.400 usman Off and he says he hasn't even um met 0:02:19.440 --> 0:02:22.480 with him and at least five years. So he says 0:02:22.520 --> 0:02:25.000 he's doing what he can to put some distance between 0:02:25.080 --> 0:02:28.959 himself and uh, these Kremlin connected sources that in this 0:02:29.200 --> 0:02:33.680 kind of atmosphere where there's so much animosity toward Russia 0:02:33.720 --> 0:02:37.760 there behind this bloody war, any type of tie comes 0:02:37.880 --> 0:02:42.560 under scrutiny. So he's gonna touch position. And I asked 0:02:42.639 --> 0:02:44.920 him whether if he could go back in time, if 0:02:45.000 --> 0:02:48.079 he would still take that money. Just got him in 0:02:48.160 --> 0:02:51.200 so much hot water now And it was interesting. He's 0:02:51.240 --> 0:02:54.040 such a scientist, she said, I can't go back in time, 0:02:54.280 --> 0:02:57.200 haven't you, said, Albert, I'm seine, you can't get back. 0:02:57.320 --> 0:02:59.800 You can go forward only. And I was like, okay, okay, 0:02:59.840 --> 0:03:02.200 well what about if you could? And he was like, no, no, 0:03:02.639 --> 0:03:05.560 I can't kick the money. It's in the past, it's done. 0:03:05.800 --> 0:03:07.880 I've got to deal with it kind of thing. So 0:03:08.040 --> 0:03:11.959 his his chateau has always been the center of Silicon 0:03:12.120 --> 0:03:17.120 Valley action, um really memorable parties through the years. There's 0:03:17.120 --> 0:03:19.880 also a number of people in that world, in the 0:03:19.960 --> 0:03:23.040 VC world who are speaking up to back him up right, 0:03:23.320 --> 0:03:25.720 who are some of the people that you you heard from. Yeah, 0:03:25.800 --> 0:03:29.239 he's got some very loyal friends. UM. Perhaps the most 0:03:29.280 --> 0:03:33.120 prominent is Mark and Jason, another venture capitalist who's also 0:03:33.200 --> 0:03:37.360 backed Facebook since early days, who had March first tweeted 0:03:37.440 --> 0:03:40.160 how how highly he thinks that Ury Milmer and and 0:03:40.240 --> 0:03:44.320 he thinks very moment is a very high integrity person. UM. 0:03:44.840 --> 0:03:47.800 There were other people who, once they reached out to 0:03:47.880 --> 0:03:49.440 him and asked, what do you think if you're a 0:03:49.560 --> 0:03:53.920 mimer sent me messages saying to say, also think he 0:03:54.120 --> 0:03:57.520 hasn't been anything wrong and how highly they can get 0:03:57.640 --> 0:04:02.320 his ethics. Among them, I spoke to Lyon Peterson, who 0:04:02.400 --> 0:04:06.640 learns a unicorn company called flex Sport. The just back 0:04:07.040 --> 0:04:12.920 Uri very very strongly. There's another Ukrainian um born entrepreneur. 0:04:13.040 --> 0:04:16.080 He learns a company called the firm, Max Lundin. Um. 0:04:16.160 --> 0:04:18.480 There were a lot of people who were willing to 0:04:19.279 --> 0:04:23.000 stand up for Urie. Sarah, you got incredible access to Urie. 0:04:23.240 --> 0:04:27.200 Can we say hours and hours on zoom? What was that? 0:04:27.480 --> 0:04:29.640 What was it like talking to him? I mean, give 0:04:29.720 --> 0:04:31.680 us an idea of the conversation, what he was like 0:04:31.960 --> 0:04:34.440 to take us into how the sausage was made. Yeah, 0:04:34.800 --> 0:04:38.400 I've known him not well, but I have known him 0:04:38.440 --> 0:04:40.800 for a long time, and the first time I met him, 0:04:41.080 --> 0:04:44.320 he just sat down and talked about all his science initiatives, 0:04:44.480 --> 0:04:49.280 because definitely to being an incredibly savvy investor, used to 0:04:49.360 --> 0:04:53.520 study physics, and he has a deep interest in science, 0:04:53.560 --> 0:04:57.360 in particular outer space. Instead of building a rocket company, 0:04:57.480 --> 0:05:01.279 he's been fending off his basic science, in particular search 0:05:01.400 --> 0:05:04.400 to see if there's extra terrestrial life, which you know, 0:05:04.520 --> 0:05:07.440 to me just founded cookie, but he's taking it very 0:05:07.560 --> 0:05:11.040 seriously and he's got all these scientific endeavors to try 0:05:11.120 --> 0:05:14.040 to figure that out. So I think he saw that 0:05:14.400 --> 0:05:18.800 I was interested in that part of his work, and 0:05:19.200 --> 0:05:24.240 for whatever reason, that is what made him feel comfortable 0:05:24.440 --> 0:05:27.240 talking to me over the phone. That it wasn't entirely 0:05:27.360 --> 0:05:30.040 comfortable because I had to ask him all these uncomfortable 0:05:30.160 --> 0:05:34.080 questions about Russia, and if you know how they knew 0:05:34.200 --> 0:05:37.400 for sure there was no further Russian money and the 0:05:37.520 --> 0:05:41.400 funds than what they were doing to and comply with 0:05:41.480 --> 0:05:44.480 no your customer. But yeah, he was sitting in a 0:05:44.560 --> 0:05:47.560 hotel room in Dubai on zoom and you know, I 0:05:47.720 --> 0:05:50.120 was in the office one time, I was at home 0:05:50.200 --> 0:05:53.960 one time. You know, at different places in my apartment, 0:05:54.279 --> 0:05:58.599 and uh, it was just very interesting. And at first, 0:05:58.839 --> 0:06:01.920 you know, he wanted to keep it very um much 0:06:02.000 --> 0:06:04.560 by the facts. And then on a subsequent phone call, 0:06:04.680 --> 0:06:07.160 he pulled out a photograph of himself as a kid 0:06:07.279 --> 0:06:09.640 in Ukraine. And then I asked him as he could 0:06:09.680 --> 0:06:12.880 use that photograph in the article because it just spoke 0:06:13.000 --> 0:06:16.400 so powerfully. I had no idea, but apparently its father 0:06:16.760 --> 0:06:19.760 is from Ukraine, and so you're he spent a lot 0:06:19.839 --> 0:06:22.560 of time as a kid visiting relatives in Ukraine, and 0:06:22.640 --> 0:06:25.559 he was telling me how they still had family friends 0:06:25.640 --> 0:06:28.560 there that he was helping to rescue this recently, as 0:06:28.640 --> 0:06:31.599 over the weekend, that was Bloomberg News Venture Capital reporter 0:06:31.680 --> 0:06:34.680 Sarah McBride along with a Bloomberg Business Week editor Joel 0:06:34.720 --> 0:06:37.840 Weber coming up. Our editor's roundtable continues, taking us to 0:06:37.960 --> 0:06:40.480 Hong Kong and how it went from COVID zero to 0:06:40.600 --> 0:06:44.000 one of the world's deadliest outbreaks, plus how college athletes 0:06:44.279 --> 0:06:47.320 are making cash and what's becoming more than five million 0:06:47.360 --> 0:06:50.200 dollar business. That was quick. That was really quick. I 0:06:50.240 --> 0:06:52.760 mean we're talking within hours of that ruling, right, Isn't 0:06:52.800 --> 0:06:54.960 that amazing? Amazing? Makes you realize how much was like 0:06:55.160 --> 0:06:58.520 in the works just waiting. You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week. 0:06:58.680 --> 0:07:01.520 It is marked madness too. Let's not forget this is Bloomberg. 0:07:10.880 --> 0:07:14.840 This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and Bloomberg 0:07:14.920 --> 0:07:19.880 Quick Takes Tim Stinovik from Bloomberg Radio. The city that 0:07:19.960 --> 0:07:22.200 had kept the pandemic at bay for nearly two years 0:07:22.280 --> 0:07:25.680 now finds itself with an unprecedented outbreak gathering pace and 0:07:25.800 --> 0:07:28.440 college athletes are finally getting to cash in. Two more 0:07:28.480 --> 0:07:31.360 stories we tackled in this week's editor's round Table. First up, though, 0:07:31.600 --> 0:07:33.840 we go to Hong Kong, which has seen over five 0:07:33.920 --> 0:07:36.840 thousand COVID fatality since the start of the year in 0:07:36.920 --> 0:07:40.480 what's being called one of the deadliest outbreaks the entire pandemics. 0:07:40.520 --> 0:07:43.080 Pretty amazing. For that story, we got more with Bloomberg 0:07:43.120 --> 0:07:45.400 Business Week editor Joe Weber and the reporter who wrote it, 0:07:45.600 --> 0:07:49.280 Bloomberg News Senior Asia Government reporter Ian Marlowe. The situation 0:07:49.320 --> 0:07:51.520 in Hong Kong is in right now is even more 0:07:51.680 --> 0:07:57.960 stark because we basically have style outbreak happening in after 0:07:58.360 --> 0:08:01.640 two years of everything that the world has learned about 0:08:01.720 --> 0:08:04.880 the pandemic after you know, well over a year of 0:08:04.960 --> 0:08:07.720 being able to kind of roll out vaccines and again, 0:08:07.840 --> 0:08:10.680 Hong Kong in just the city, it's it's it's it's 0:08:10.680 --> 0:08:13.600 a big one, seven point four million roughly, but its 0:08:13.680 --> 0:08:17.559 vaccination rates were way lower than you know, large fully 0:08:17.680 --> 0:08:21.840 sized countries. And as the vaccination process unfolded, I think 0:08:21.880 --> 0:08:24.560 there was a feeling that it was going to take 0:08:24.720 --> 0:08:28.520 some kind of scary situation, some kind of outbreak for 0:08:29.000 --> 0:08:32.920 people to actually be frightened into getting the shot. And 0:08:33.600 --> 0:08:36.840 that was unfortunately what happened here. And you know, Hong 0:08:36.920 --> 0:08:41.280 Kong is ultra dense, a lot of high rises. It 0:08:41.440 --> 0:08:44.760 just raced again through this city and through a lot 0:08:44.840 --> 0:08:48.120 of the elderly care homes. So it's even more tragic. 0:08:48.320 --> 0:08:52.439 I think that they were unable to push through a 0:08:52.520 --> 0:08:55.560 profit vaccination program for this, and that they actually let 0:08:56.160 --> 0:08:59.199 a lot of politics, uh get in the way of 0:08:59.280 --> 0:09:01.559 that whole. I want to stick on the on the 0:09:01.600 --> 0:09:03.760 politics side of this end, because all of this happening, 0:09:04.040 --> 0:09:07.719 well in the background, we're seeing a massive transformation of 0:09:07.800 --> 0:09:12.040 Hong Kong. China's role in Hong Kong changing significantly in 0:09:12.120 --> 0:09:14.839 the last couple of years and I'm wondering how we 0:09:14.880 --> 0:09:17.880 should read into that at a time when the world 0:09:18.000 --> 0:09:20.400 is watching. Yeah, I mean, I think it's been an 0:09:20.520 --> 0:09:24.400 unprecedented period of volatility for Hong Kong, starting with sometimes 0:09:24.480 --> 0:09:28.200 violent democracy protests in twenty nineteen that captured the world's attention, 0:09:28.640 --> 0:09:31.880 and then was swiftly followed by both the pandemic and 0:09:32.440 --> 0:09:36.760 a gradual crackdown on Hong Kong that saw the National 0:09:36.840 --> 0:09:41.280 Security legislation put in place that basically effectively banned the 0:09:41.440 --> 0:09:44.480 sent Um and led to the arrest and jailing of 0:09:44.800 --> 0:09:48.319 the entire political opposition UH and then an overhaul of 0:09:48.360 --> 0:09:52.920 the city's elections which prevented anyone with anti government views 0:09:53.000 --> 0:09:56.200 from basically running for office. And so what you've had 0:09:56.280 --> 0:09:59.040 in Hong Kong is the sort of denuding of the 0:09:59.120 --> 0:10:02.200 political land, gif of any sort of person who can 0:10:02.280 --> 0:10:05.880 put their hand up and say things, aren't you going 0:10:06.040 --> 0:10:08.360 very well right now? I mean, China has come out 0:10:08.440 --> 0:10:11.719 and said, you know, the state broadcaster G, President G 0:10:11.840 --> 0:10:14.160 instructing officials to put people in life at the forefront. 0:10:14.600 --> 0:10:17.520 Will anything change? Will anything get better? Hong Kong just 0:10:17.679 --> 0:10:21.120 the other day relaxed a couple of rules. They said 0:10:21.160 --> 0:10:24.840 they're lifting a flight van on you know, Americans, Canadians 0:10:24.880 --> 0:10:29.480 and Brits, and they're reducing the two week mandatory quarantine 0:10:29.720 --> 0:10:33.079 to seven days. But in general it does not look 0:10:33.160 --> 0:10:35.520 like they are relaxing in any way that sort of 0:10:35.600 --> 0:10:39.360 broader COVID zero approach that mainland China has. So it's 0:10:39.360 --> 0:10:41.840 a huge powder keg. And I think Chinese officials are 0:10:41.880 --> 0:10:44.640 looking at Hong Kong and saying this is proof that 0:10:44.760 --> 0:10:48.160 we can't relax, and I think Hong Kong largely agrees 0:10:48.200 --> 0:10:49.520 with that, So I don't think there's going to be 0:10:49.559 --> 0:10:53.280 any major changes. That's Bloomberg News Senior Asia Government reporter 0:10:53.320 --> 0:10:56.000 Ian Marlowe Joe staying with us once again as we 0:10:56.040 --> 0:10:58.480 get to another Business Week story with a timely peg 0:10:58.920 --> 0:11:02.400 amid and seed ap a March madness. Well, college athletes 0:11:02.480 --> 0:11:05.640 are finally making cash from meeting greets and marketing deals. 0:11:05.679 --> 0:11:08.440 The n C double A lifting its athletes name, image 0:11:08.480 --> 0:11:11.719 and likeness restrictions just last June and since then the 0:11:11.800 --> 0:11:14.200 player deals well, they have created a more than five 0:11:14.280 --> 0:11:18.080 hundred million dollar business and counting. Bloomberg News Global Business 0:11:18.120 --> 0:11:21.600 reporter Ira Boudway wrote the story along with Bloomberg's kimbas 0:11:21.640 --> 0:11:24.960 seen Ira joined us along with Business Week editor Doole Weber. 0:11:25.559 --> 0:11:27.880 What's really interesting about this is that for the for 0:11:28.080 --> 0:11:30.959 some of the most prominent athletes who have massive social 0:11:31.040 --> 0:11:33.920 media following, that can actually mean a lot of money, 0:11:34.360 --> 0:11:36.920 but for everybody else it starts to look a little paltry, 0:11:37.000 --> 0:11:39.440 And I think that disparity is really interesting. Wait, are 0:11:39.480 --> 0:11:41.080 you going to make fun of the bloomen onion can 0:11:42.880 --> 0:11:45.640 onion which I was going to explain in a second. 0:11:46.400 --> 0:11:49.440 The other thing that it's created is this whole cottage 0:11:49.480 --> 0:11:53.840 industry that surrounds athletes from advisors and agents on down 0:11:54.280 --> 0:11:56.760 who are also you know, cashing in on it. So Ira, 0:11:57.040 --> 0:11:59.760 explain who you talk to and how many bloomen onions 0:11:59.800 --> 0:12:03.360 you while reporting the story. We talked to athletes, We 0:12:03.440 --> 0:12:05.920 talked to athletic directors, we talked to agents, We talked 0:12:05.960 --> 0:12:08.560 to this platform Open Doors, that's sort of a marketplace 0:12:08.640 --> 0:12:12.560 connecting athletes and brands. We talked to uh, the chief 0:12:12.640 --> 0:12:15.920 marketing officer of bloom and Brands. They have long done 0:12:16.040 --> 0:12:19.079 deals around March Madness. They created the three point bloomen 0:12:19.120 --> 0:12:21.640 onion for March Madness, and they were one of the 0:12:21.720 --> 0:12:24.480 first big brands to do a deal with a large 0:12:24.559 --> 0:12:26.679 group of players, first in football in the fall and 0:12:26.760 --> 0:12:31.280 now in basketball, and they created meals. So C. J. 0:12:31.400 --> 0:12:35.000 Strout of Ohio State had his special meal that included 0:12:35.320 --> 0:12:37.800 the Bloomin onion. But yeah, that is right. There's a 0:12:37.880 --> 0:12:40.760 huge disparity here from top to bottom in this market. 0:12:40.760 --> 0:12:42.960 As you were saying, if it really sort of there's 0:12:43.000 --> 0:12:46.600 football and there's everything else, and really there's SEC football 0:12:46.640 --> 0:12:49.559 and there's everything else. As we were reporting this, there 0:12:49.640 --> 0:12:51.959 was The Athletic had a story about a recruit coming 0:12:52.000 --> 0:12:54.040 into the University of Tennessee who was offered an eight 0:12:54.160 --> 0:12:58.479 million dollar package and that has got that is basically 0:12:58.800 --> 0:13:02.280 for a series of amitments, right to show up at events, 0:13:02.400 --> 0:13:05.240 meet and greets, to hand over all of his name, 0:13:05.320 --> 0:13:07.880 image likeness rights like his you know, they can use 0:13:07.960 --> 0:13:10.120 his face, his name on whatever they want for a 0:13:10.200 --> 0:13:12.960 limited time, I guess or wise. Yeah, So that deal 0:13:13.080 --> 0:13:16.120 is interesting because it pays out over years and and 0:13:16.440 --> 0:13:20.120 you're not allowed to stipulate in these contracts that they 0:13:20.200 --> 0:13:22.360 have to be at a certain school. So this one's 0:13:22.400 --> 0:13:24.959 from a donor collective, which is a group of boosters 0:13:25.200 --> 0:13:28.040 who get together, pool their money and try to make 0:13:28.080 --> 0:13:30.959 sure that the players at their favorite school have the 0:13:31.000 --> 0:13:33.280 sweetest n i L deals. But the problem is they 0:13:33.360 --> 0:13:36.600 can't officially say this is for coming to our school. 0:13:36.880 --> 0:13:39.439 So this is where it gets really murky, really fast 0:13:39.840 --> 0:13:42.400 sports for so long, right, the separation I feel like 0:13:42.440 --> 0:13:44.199 a church and state a little bit like keeping it 0:13:44.400 --> 0:13:47.880 pure if you're not a coach or the school making 0:13:47.920 --> 0:13:49.920 ten million bucks a year. And this is the problem, right, 0:13:49.960 --> 0:13:52.959 there's huge money in collegiate sports, So how do we 0:13:53.080 --> 0:13:55.720 make sure it kind of still stays clean? Yeah, I mean, 0:13:55.760 --> 0:13:58.280 I think the thing to remember is that for most athletes, 0:13:58.520 --> 0:14:00.360 for the tens of thousands of athletes who are now 0:14:00.360 --> 0:14:02.880 able to make pocket money from this, it really doesn't 0:14:02.960 --> 0:14:05.760 change that sort of sense of amateurism impurity. They can 0:14:05.840 --> 0:14:09.520 now go and do entrepreneurial things like teach a class 0:14:09.600 --> 0:14:12.079 online and get money for it or give someone a 0:14:12.160 --> 0:14:14.079 shout out, which is great because a lot of these guys, 0:14:14.120 --> 0:14:15.679 and you putting your story like some of them were 0:14:15.679 --> 0:14:17.840 living on like no money. Right, if you're a player, 0:14:17.960 --> 0:14:22.520 you don't have resources. Remember top Ramen you right, And 0:14:22.600 --> 0:14:25.480 these guys they don't have time to have a side job. 0:14:25.480 --> 0:14:28.080 A lot of the time so they are doing their sport, 0:14:28.080 --> 0:14:30.400 they're doing school, and they're cash strapped, many of them. 0:14:30.480 --> 0:14:32.800 And this is a way to on a Saturday. You 0:14:32.880 --> 0:14:35.240 bang out four or five commitments, you send a TikTok 0:14:35.320 --> 0:14:37.480 whatever it is that you promised to do, and now 0:14:37.560 --> 0:14:39.800 you've got a few hundred, maybe a few thousand dollars 0:14:39.840 --> 0:14:41.200 in your pocket, which is a big deal for a 0:14:41.280 --> 0:14:43.800 college kid. Our thanks to the editor of Business Week, 0:14:43.880 --> 0:14:47.000 Joe Webber, along with Bloomberg News Global business reporter Ira Boudway, 0:14:47.080 --> 0:14:50.600 venture capital reporter sharaon McBride, and senior Asia government reporter 0:14:50.720 --> 0:14:53.480 Ian marlow Well Ian Marlowe's story covering the COVID surgeon 0:14:53.560 --> 0:14:56.680 Hong Kong in part because of that low vaccination rate 0:14:56.800 --> 0:14:59.240 there well. Speaking of vaccines, coming up next the Big 0:14:59.320 --> 0:15:02.280 Farmer Free for all when it comes to boosters until 0:15:02.320 --> 0:15:05.360 there's a universal vaccine, Get ready for more shots. This 0:15:05.880 --> 0:15:13.840 is Bloomberg broadcasting from the financial capital of the World, 0:15:14.000 --> 0:15:17.440 Bloomberg eleven Frio in New York to Washington, d C. 0:15:17.640 --> 0:15:22.320 Bloomberg to Boston, Bloomberg one oh six one to San Francisco, 0:15:22.400 --> 0:15:25.840 Bloomberg nine sixty to the country. Sirius XM CHADO one 0:15:25.960 --> 0:15:28.880 nine team and around the globe, the Bloomberg Business app 0:15:29.000 --> 0:15:33.360 and Bloomberg Radio dot com. This is Bloomberg Business Week. 0:15:34.360 --> 0:15:36.600 But a third of US COVID cases are now attributed 0:15:36.640 --> 0:15:39.120 to the omicron BA to sub variant that from the 0:15:39.240 --> 0:15:41.560 U S c d C just this past week. And well, 0:15:41.600 --> 0:15:44.600 current vaccines are holding up pretty well against the latest strain. 0:15:44.840 --> 0:15:48.000 Figuring out which variants future COVID boosters should target and 0:15:48.160 --> 0:15:50.480 when the shots might be needed is a murky work 0:15:50.520 --> 0:15:53.160 in progress. Well, tim one thing for certain, get ready 0:15:53.240 --> 0:15:55.640 for more shots. We hear more from Business Week editor 0:15:55.720 --> 0:15:58.160 Joe Webber still with US and Bloomberg News healthcare reporter 0:15:58.320 --> 0:16:01.440 Bob Blaine Grave. So it's all really kind of complicated 0:16:01.480 --> 0:16:04.800 and confusing scenario there, and I think that's why the 0:16:05.000 --> 0:16:07.160 f DAY is having, you know, this meeting on April 0:16:07.200 --> 0:16:10.080 six is kind of hash out, kind of with their advisors, 0:16:10.160 --> 0:16:12.960 kind of just general strategy going forward of this meeting 0:16:13.000 --> 0:16:15.600 they're having, you know, isn't even like considering the five 0:16:15.840 --> 0:16:19.680 mgennals applications which they put in emergency approval of fourth 0:16:19.760 --> 0:16:22.520 shot for adults in the US. They're just like talk 0:16:22.600 --> 0:16:25.160 to the general freight American general strategy, who should get 0:16:25.160 --> 0:16:27.800 a fourth shot when? Potentially and then the other question 0:16:27.840 --> 0:16:30.120 they're going to look at it like when should you 0:16:30.200 --> 0:16:33.720 switch the composition of vaccine? When is it drifted and mutiated? 0:16:34.120 --> 0:16:37.400 Was when of the virus drifted and mutated enough that 0:16:37.480 --> 0:16:40.840 we need to alter update the compositions of vaccine And 0:16:40.880 --> 0:16:44.600 that's a totally unsettled issue UH as well. So we 0:16:44.760 --> 0:16:47.000 have the potential that there could be some sort of 0:16:47.160 --> 0:16:50.320 emergency approval of a fourth shot of the existing five 0:16:50.360 --> 0:16:53.480 certain majournal vaccines in the US. Certainly we see you know, 0:16:53.560 --> 0:16:56.160 other countries starting to do that for older people, and 0:16:56.200 --> 0:16:59.800 that's already allowed in the US for immunecompromised people, and 0:17:00.000 --> 0:17:02.960 I think given the Fiser and Maderna applications, was potential 0:17:03.040 --> 0:17:05.600 of you know, for an expansion of that at least 0:17:05.640 --> 0:17:09.160 in some age groups. But then both fires and Maderna 0:17:09.240 --> 0:17:14.560 are also testing on the con specific UH vaccines UH, 0:17:14.680 --> 0:17:17.440 and results from that those could come in in a 0:17:17.520 --> 0:17:20.080 few weeks through a couple of months, and that could 0:17:20.080 --> 0:17:22.400 provide you know, yet another update and get another sound 0:17:22.400 --> 0:17:26.160 of application. So it's just a super complicated situation right now, 0:17:26.240 --> 0:17:28.840 and kind of the answers aren't totally clear, but Bobby, 0:17:28.960 --> 0:17:31.399 it also sounds like something that you're explaining is similar 0:17:31.480 --> 0:17:33.800 to what we see with a flu shot each and 0:17:33.840 --> 0:17:36.000 every year, and the way that a flu shot is 0:17:36.400 --> 0:17:42.360 developed and changed in order to go after whatever variant 0:17:42.400 --> 0:17:45.639 of the flu is expected. So couldn't it just be 0:17:45.840 --> 0:17:49.120 that we enter a world where every year we're getting 0:17:49.160 --> 0:17:50.760 some sort of booster. I mean, after all, it was 0:17:51.040 --> 0:17:52.720 you know, about a year ago when we got our 0:17:52.720 --> 0:17:56.159 first chronic vaccines to this. Yeah, that's kind of one 0:17:56.200 --> 0:17:59.000 scenario that's out there that both the drug companies uh 0:18:00.000 --> 0:18:01.880 A Visor and MA journals kind of been talking about. 0:18:02.000 --> 0:18:03.440 Is the kind of one sort of model for the 0:18:03.520 --> 0:18:06.160 way things will shake out. You know, what doesn't exist 0:18:06.320 --> 0:18:09.760 right now is any sort of consensus like there is 0:18:09.840 --> 0:18:13.760 with the flu shot of you know, how often shots 0:18:13.800 --> 0:18:16.639 should be updated and kind of with what there's no 0:18:17.560 --> 0:18:19.920 the flu we have that there's a World Health Organization 0:18:20.040 --> 0:18:22.920 body that analyzes flu strain from around the world and 0:18:22.960 --> 0:18:24.720 then twice a year that come together to kind of 0:18:24.760 --> 0:18:27.159 make some general recommendations what should be in the next 0:18:27.240 --> 0:18:29.680 year's flu shot, and then that's generally followed by the 0:18:29.760 --> 0:18:33.000 drug companies. Right now, there is no, you know, such 0:18:33.119 --> 0:18:35.639 consensus and the public health authorities. So it's kind of 0:18:35.720 --> 0:18:38.040 like a free for all by the drug companies trying 0:18:38.080 --> 0:18:40.000 to get ahead of things and figure out, you know, 0:18:40.080 --> 0:18:42.480 what what we might need and what they might be 0:18:42.520 --> 0:18:44.439 able to sell. I mean, Bob, that's the point, right, 0:18:44.560 --> 0:18:46.520 we don't even kind of know what it's going to be, 0:18:46.800 --> 0:18:49.440 right that we would need to vaccinate against. Right, is 0:18:49.520 --> 0:18:53.000 it a sub variant? Is it what? I mean, what 0:18:53.240 --> 0:18:55.600 is it? We just don't know exactly, you know, I 0:18:55.720 --> 0:18:57.600 just don't know. And so one of the things they are, 0:18:57.800 --> 0:19:00.960 both companies fising Majournal are testing the vaccine that would 0:19:00.960 --> 0:19:03.680 have a little bit of amicron in it, that strain 0:19:03.760 --> 0:19:06.760 specific vaccine against omicron, a little bit of the existing vaccine, 0:19:06.840 --> 0:19:09.040 kind of hybrid vaccine with the idea that we don't 0:19:09.080 --> 0:19:10.800 know what's going to be out there, so a little 0:19:10.800 --> 0:19:12.399 bit of bit old, a little bit of new. So 0:19:12.520 --> 0:19:14.480 that's a possible scenario that you could be getting that 0:19:14.640 --> 0:19:18.040 shot in the fall, and you know fall that raises 0:19:18.119 --> 0:19:20.600 that other question of like, you know, basically, how long 0:19:20.720 --> 0:19:22.199 is any of this going to take? Right, and by 0:19:22.240 --> 0:19:24.360 this time that fall comes there, if we've already seen 0:19:24.840 --> 0:19:27.160 you know, we're on our third vary in the last 0:19:27.240 --> 0:19:29.840 six months, Like who knows where it could be by 0:19:29.920 --> 0:19:32.440 the fall, right, Yeah, I mean exactly, No one knows 0:19:32.480 --> 0:19:33.720 what's going to be out there in the fall of 0:19:33.800 --> 0:19:37.360 the winter. Uh. And that's why there's definitely a very 0:19:37.400 --> 0:19:40.760 strong contingent researcher to say, you know, we're always going 0:19:40.800 --> 0:19:42.680 to be hindh going to be behind the eight ball 0:19:42.800 --> 0:19:45.160 chasing variants, and we really need to have a much 0:19:45.200 --> 0:19:48.600 more conservative effort, uh focused effort in coming up with, 0:19:49.000 --> 0:19:51.560 you know, a universal vaccine that would protect against you know, 0:19:51.680 --> 0:19:55.800 multiple coronavirus strains and multiple types of coronavirus. Is so 0:19:55.920 --> 0:19:58.000 you only need to get that one, so maybe twice, 0:19:58.119 --> 0:20:00.119 and we need to change our focus more to that. 0:20:00.400 --> 0:20:03.080 But it's still always off that kind of universal vaccine 0:20:03.080 --> 0:20:05.320 which we all want. Well, what what we do know 0:20:05.680 --> 0:20:07.960 is and I was struck by and I know the 0:20:08.000 --> 0:20:10.800 amount of money that these drug companies have read that 0:20:10.920 --> 0:20:15.000 and you said, wait a second viserder eight billion in 0:20:15.080 --> 0:20:18.520 sales for Visor's vaccine Maderna. I guess it was like 0:20:18.560 --> 0:20:20.440 almost eighteen billion. I mean it's a lot of money. 0:20:20.440 --> 0:20:23.480 We get it government support, Like this is all fueling it. 0:20:23.600 --> 0:20:26.560 It's big money for these guys. Oh yeah, it's enormous money. 0:20:26.600 --> 0:20:29.680 And there's a tremendous tremendous financial incentive for you know, 0:20:29.800 --> 0:20:32.960 coming up the model that they can sell round continuous 0:20:33.040 --> 0:20:35.480 rounds of new vaccines every you know, six months to 0:20:35.600 --> 0:20:38.879 a year. So they both companies have a tremendous tremendous 0:20:38.960 --> 0:20:42.840 financial incentive and convincing either people or at least governments 0:20:42.840 --> 0:20:45.760 that they need to continually buy more and more vaccines 0:20:45.760 --> 0:20:48.840 because right now these like the biggest selling products in 0:20:48.880 --> 0:20:51.440 the medical parts in the world and they want to 0:20:51.520 --> 0:20:53.960 keep it going. That was Business Week utor Joe Webber 0:20:54.000 --> 0:20:56.560 and Blueberg News healthcare reporter Bob Lingred. You're listening to 0:20:56.600 --> 0:20:59.680 Bloomberg Business Week. Still to come diversity on Wall Street 0:20:59.800 --> 0:21:02.560 or should we say a lack thereof? Yeah, I think 0:21:02.720 --> 0:21:05.919 you got something there, Operation Hopes CEO John Hope, Bryant 0:21:05.960 --> 0:21:09.520 Marcus Shaw, CEO of Alt Finance on their collective efforts. 0:21:09.920 --> 0:21:22.879 This is Bloomberg. You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with 0:21:23.040 --> 0:21:27.639 Carol Messer and Bloomberg Quick Takes. Tim Stinovic from Bloomberg Radio, 0:21:28.920 --> 0:21:31.679 The curinash of Bloomberg Business we get a special double issue. 0:21:31.840 --> 0:21:34.880