Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, Radio News.
Speaker 2: One of the.
Speaker 1: Biggest news that we had this morning was learning that
Speaker 1: Michael and Susan Dell are making a six point twenty
Speaker 1: five billion dollar donation to jumpstart investment accounts for twenty
Speaker 1: five million US children. The act of philanthropy from the
Speaker 1: co founder of Dell and his wife will apply to
Speaker 1: children ten and under who aren't already eligible for government money,
Speaker 1: with Dell saying she expects to reach eighty percent of
Speaker 1: US children in that age range. The move builds on
Speaker 1: the Investor America initiative out of the White House, which
Speaker 1: made me know as the President push to financially cushion
Speaker 1: young Americans. Joining us right now around the desk is
Speaker 1: Caroline Hidge. She is the co host of Bloomberg Tech,
Speaker 1: and she brings us right now the CEO of Dell, Michael.
Speaker 3: Dell, a historic moment. Michael, Welcome to Bloomberg Compound. Interest
Speaker 3: the eighth one of the world, some would say, and
Speaker 3: you're giving it with two hundred and fifty million US
Speaker 3: kids each getting a job start of two hundred and
Speaker 3: fifty dollars, Why is this the right act of philanthropy
Speaker 3: for you?
Speaker 2: Well?
Speaker 4: You know, our foundation has been focused on children since
Speaker 4: the beginning, and when this Investment America Act was passed
Speaker 4: earlier this year, you know, we saw it as a
Speaker 4: platform for companies and families and communities and philanthropists to
Speaker 4: contribute to these accounts. And as you probably know, you know,
Speaker 4: the government is giving one thousand dollars to every newborn
Speaker 4: in an.
Speaker 2: Account that will essentially go in the S and P.
Speaker 4: Five hundred and compound over time, and when they're you know,
Speaker 4: the child's eighteen, it becomes like an IRA can be
Speaker 4: used for education, to start a business, to start a family,
Speaker 4: for continued savings, to buy a home. And so what
Speaker 4: Susan and I wanted to do was help out some
Speaker 4: of the kids that weren't included in the government program.
Speaker 4: And so the kids that are tended under that live
Speaker 4: in zip codes where the median income is one hundred
Speaker 4: and fifty thousand dollars or less that aren't in the
Speaker 4: government program. So I think ages two to ten, we're
Speaker 4: going to give twenty five million of those children two
Speaker 4: hundred and fifty dollars each in their account. And we
Speaker 4: hope that you know this, you know, it inspires them
Speaker 4: and gives them hope and opportunity and prosperity. I've spoken
Speaker 4: with a number of other philanthropists. I believe you'll see
Speaker 4: some other significant gifts, and we know many companies are
Speaker 4: going to match the government's contribution, as Dell Technologies is
Speaker 4: certainly doing, and a number of companies.
Speaker 2: Have already announced.
Speaker 4: So we're super excited about what this can become over
Speaker 4: time as these accounts grow to be something significant.
Speaker 2: Tell us about that.
Speaker 3: Tell us about how you are calling on companies like
Speaker 3: you to match what many are calling the Trump accounts,
Speaker 3: but also will those match what you're now doing for
Speaker 3: two to ten ten year olds, maybe ten year olds
Speaker 3: and above. Have you filled it many calls?
Speaker 2: Well, you know, we just announced this this morning.
Speaker 4: I did speak with a number of philanthropists in the
Speaker 4: weeks leading up to our announcement, and you know, well,
Speaker 4: I won't speak for them. We'll let them make their
Speaker 4: own announcements and then they could be designed in a
Speaker 4: different way. I think you'll see some people adopting particular
Speaker 4: states or you know, particular communities. And in fact, we
Speaker 4: started with the idea of doing this only in the
Speaker 4: state of Texas, but then we decided to do it nationally,
Speaker 4: So there can be many varieties and alternatives here, but
Speaker 4: we do think that this will be catalytic and that
Speaker 4: more philanthropists and companies will will join us over time.
Speaker 4: And again, this is a platform for the future of
Speaker 4: these children.
Speaker 3: Is it a platform for more giving from philanthropies or
Speaker 3: from billionaires such as yourself via government. It's extraordinary turn
Speaker 3: of events that here you work working directly with the Treasury, Michael.
Speaker 3: We've also seen Timothy Mellon at one point offering to
Speaker 3: help cover the costs of US troops during the government shutdown.
Speaker 3: Will more people be pushed and think it's right to
Speaker 3: work through the federal government.
Speaker 2: Well, I would say, we're not working through the federal government.
Speaker 4: We are giving two hundred fifty dollars directly to twenty
Speaker 4: five million children.
Speaker 3: And this is being executed. I think we've just had
Speaker 3: a technolog knowledgy issue there. But Michael, this are being
Speaker 3: executed by the Treasury. When you think about how the
Speaker 3: process has been, you hope that I understand going to
Speaker 3: be seamless. It's going to be process is going to
Speaker 3: be swift. How quickly do you think it'll be in
Speaker 3: the hands of those children and indeed will it be
Speaker 3: in alignment with the Trump accounts? So July of next.
Speaker 2: Year, Yeah, so.
Speaker 4: On July fourth or I think fifth, actually because the
Speaker 4: fourth is a holiday of next year, every parent will
Speaker 4: be able to claim the account for their child that's
Speaker 4: eighteen and under.
Speaker 2: And originally those those accounts will be.
Speaker 4: You know, held in custody by a custody bank, and
Speaker 4: then eventually you'll be able to choose your bank or
Speaker 4: your you know brokerage that you know holds the account
Speaker 4: for you and it's the property of the child.
Speaker 3: What banks, what asset managements have you been talking to?
Speaker 3: How do you think from an infrastructure perspective this would work?
Speaker 2: Michael right. I have not been having the conversations with
Speaker 2: the banks. I actually a number of.
Speaker 4: Them have told me that they're interested in being the
Speaker 4: banks to hold these accounts. I think it'll be you know,
Speaker 4: all the major banks, and you know, the parents will
Speaker 4: be able to choose which ever their favorite bank or
Speaker 4: you know stock brokerages.
Speaker 3: What's so interesting is this has bipartisan supporters. We understand
Speaker 3: from Netta's being met just yesterday, asking Cory Booker as
Speaker 3: well as Ted Cruz asking those to come alongside you
Speaker 3: for corporates too.
Speaker 2: That's right. I've spoken with that's right.
Speaker 4: I spoke with Senator Booker last night about this. I
Speaker 4: spoke with Senator Cruz about this earlier today, and there
Speaker 4: is completely bipartisan support.
Speaker 2: For this idea. It's not a political initiative.
Speaker 4: This is about investing in children, and we think that's
Speaker 4: the smartest investment that we can make.
Speaker 3: Michael, why do you think it wasn't picked up earlier
Speaker 3: than this since twenty twenty one shout out to Brad
Speaker 3: Gerstner is almost his idea, this initiative. Why did it
Speaker 3: take this administration this time?
Speaker 2: It's a great question.
Speaker 4: Brad did tell me about this in twenty twenty one.
Speaker 4: We talked to the prior administration about it. I think
Speaker 4: it's hard to get legislative action like this done, but
Speaker 4: now it's the law, and so here we are, and
Speaker 4: so we have a great opportunity for the future to
Speaker 4: build on this platform.
Speaker 3: You really have been focused on education and on kids,
Speaker 3: Michael in your philanthropic work. You're also a man very
Speaker 3: focused on the world of artificial intelligence.
Speaker 2: What's the life going to.
Speaker 3: Be like for these kids going forward? Do you think
Speaker 3: how much will they be allocating their money, how much
Speaker 3: will they be allocating their time?
Speaker 2: What does the work we look like do you.
Speaker 4: Think, Well, there could be lots of you know, debates
Speaker 4: about that.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 4: What I would say is that I would encourage kids
Speaker 4: and parents and educators to focus on the critical thinking
Speaker 4: skills and being able to analyze problems without the assistance
Speaker 4: of technology, but also use technology as a as a
Speaker 4: resource and as a tool. You know. At the heart
Speaker 4: of this debate really is as we get new and
Speaker 4: better tools, are we doing more work and solving more problems,
Speaker 4: you know, and discovering new science and progressing further in
Speaker 4: the world, growing the economy, or are we doing the
Speaker 4: same amount of work with just fewer people because we
Speaker 4: have the tools you can put me down for economic
Speaker 4: growth and prosperity as a result of these tools. Certainly
Speaker 4: there will be challenges and dislocations, and retraining is certainly required.
Speaker 4: But from what I'm seeing, I think this is largely
Speaker 4: going to result in some really great outcomes. But yeah,
Speaker 4: again it's it's not guaranteed success because of new technology that.
Speaker 3: Dissipation Michael, whose responsibility is that is that big text
Speaker 3: responsibility to retrain to reskill to help at least pay
Speaker 3: for it. Is it government's responsibility education?
Speaker 2: I think it's a.
Speaker 4: Collective responsibility that we all have. I think every company
Speaker 4: has to reskill its workforce. I think the education system
Speaker 4: has to adapt and build the new skills and capabilities,
Speaker 4: and you know there's a role for all of us
Speaker 4: to play in that.
Speaker 3: And excuse me for this pivot, Michael, but of course
Speaker 3: many want to understand. Of course the focus on infrastructure
Speaker 3: from a money perspective here to kids. There's also the
Speaker 3: focus on the fact that stocks have to go up
Speaker 3: into the right in the longer term for this to
Speaker 3: benefit those children. What do you think about a concern
Speaker 3: about an AI bubble and there's really reaping rewards from
Speaker 3: a productivity perspective, or are we in some sort of
Speaker 3: bubble or circular finance concern?
Speaker 4: For you, certainly markets do fluctuate, and you know that
Speaker 4: well on Blueberg as you report about it every every
Speaker 4: single day. Long term, we think, you know, you know,
Speaker 4: invests these accounts in the s and P.
Speaker 2: Five hundred is a very good way.
Speaker 4: To compound over time for these children. When I look
Speaker 4: at what's going on today in the enormous buildout in AI.
Speaker 4: What I see is a lot more demand than supply
Speaker 4: for the ingredients.
Speaker 2: And certainly, you know in our.
Speaker 4: Business and many of the companies in this enormous buildout
Speaker 4: business is very good because there's an enormous demand for
Speaker 4: what these models are creating, which effectively is intelligence. And
Speaker 4: if you now have a tool that you know causes
Speaker 4: everyone in your company to have fifteen more IQ points
Speaker 4: in their daily work, well that's something you probably want
Speaker 4: as much as you can get. And so there's enormous
Speaker 4: demand here. I think next year will be in a situation,
Speaker 4: very likely where the demand exceeds the supply in any
Speaker 4: of the critical ingredients that go into the most advanced
Speaker 4: systems that we're building.
Speaker 3: Well, you're certainly building something extraordinary. On this Giving Tuesday,
Speaker 3: twenty five million children two hundred and fifty dollars each
Speaker 3: six point twenty five billion dollars being philanthropically given by
Speaker 3: yourself and Susan Dell. We thank you so much, Michael
Speaker 3: dal for joining us today.
Speaker 2: Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 4: We think the smartest investment we could make is in
Speaker 4: our children.