WEBVTT - Bloomberg Businessweek Weekend - June 28th, 2024 0:00:02.440 --> 0:00:10.600 Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio news. This is Bloomberg business 0:00:10.600 --> 0:00:13.840 Week Inside from the reporters and editors who bring you 0:00:13.880 --> 0:00:18.240 America's most trusted business magazine, plus global business, finance and 0:00:18.280 --> 0:00:22.759 tech news. The Bloomberg Business Week Podcast with Carol Messer 0:00:22.920 --> 0:00:25.720 and Tim Stenebeck from Bloomberg Radio. 0:00:27.280 --> 0:00:27.800 Harveryone. 0:00:27.800 --> 0:00:31.080 Welcome to the Bloomberg Business Week Weekend podcast. Top of 0:00:31.120 --> 0:00:34.760 mind for US this week, the American consumer, US consumer 0:00:34.800 --> 0:00:37.240 confidence ease this month and a more muted outlook for 0:00:37.280 --> 0:00:41.400 business conditions. Walgreen slashed its fiscal year forecast, and jobless 0:00:41.400 --> 0:00:43.800 claims they rose to the highest since the end of 0:00:43.840 --> 0:00:44.599 twenty twenty one. 0:00:44.760 --> 0:00:47.680 Okay, all that being said, Americans are still spending on 0:00:47.720 --> 0:00:50.400 their cruises. We check in with the CEO of Carnival 0:00:50.520 --> 0:00:53.479 after the company raised its full year earnings outlook, strong 0:00:53.520 --> 0:00:57.200 demand for cruises helping Carnival post a surprise profit last quarter, and. 0:00:57.160 --> 0:00:58.640 Tim speaking of big ships. 0:00:58.640 --> 0:01:01.840 Okay, Elon Musk is going to need one, a really 0:01:01.840 --> 0:01:04.840 big one for his own growing family. A deep dive 0:01:04.880 --> 0:01:07.640 into his obsession with population decline. 0:01:07.720 --> 0:01:08.680 I think he can afford it. 0:01:09.400 --> 0:01:10.040 You know what he wants. 0:01:10.040 --> 0:01:12.759 He wants U all a lot more babies he does. Hey, 0:01:13.120 --> 0:01:15.160 it's not a V six or a V eight or 0:01:15.200 --> 0:01:17.840 even a V twelve. Okay, how about the four point 0:01:17.840 --> 0:01:22.160 one million dollar hybrid supercar with a V sixteen engine. 0:01:22.200 --> 0:01:23.160 All right, all of that to come. 0:01:23.240 --> 0:01:26.200 We begin with the wealthiest person in the world, at 0:01:26.280 --> 0:01:28.759 least depending on the day. He's up there, though, he 0:01:28.840 --> 0:01:31.200 has spent some four decades building up the house of 0:01:31.280 --> 0:01:34.880 arn and the clothes and accessories that signify status among 0:01:34.880 --> 0:01:37.200 the global elite. You know, brands that include, of course, 0:01:37.240 --> 0:01:42.440 Louis Lauton, Christian Duor Bulgary Celine, Fendi, Tiffany, and a 0:01:42.480 --> 0:01:43.000 few more. 0:01:43.400 --> 0:01:45.720 He's not done, though, and with more. On the new 0:01:45.720 --> 0:01:48.760 monthly issue of Bloomberg BusinessWeek, we welcome in the editor 0:01:48.880 --> 0:01:51.760 Brad Stone. He's also the author of Amazon on Bound 0:01:51.800 --> 0:01:55.440 and The Everything Store. He Too, along with Bloomberg's Angelina 0:01:55.560 --> 0:01:58.880 ross Quett, wrote the cover story, now available on newstands 0:01:58.920 --> 0:02:01.960 on the Bloomberg terminal at Bloomberg dot com slash BusinessWeek. 0:02:02.080 --> 0:02:05.240 Business Week is now a monthly magazine. 0:02:05.560 --> 0:02:05.720 Right. 0:02:05.800 --> 0:02:09.000 That's perhaps unusual, but it's one hundred year old brand 0:02:09.080 --> 0:02:14.519 that stands for examining the biggest companies and names in business, 0:02:14.840 --> 0:02:17.520 and we continue the tradition every day on Bloomberg dot 0:02:17.600 --> 0:02:20.480 com and now in the monthly magazine. This is a 0:02:20.520 --> 0:02:22.680 magazine that I think will surprise a lot of people. 0:02:22.720 --> 0:02:27.040 It looks different, it feels different, it's thicker, and our 0:02:27.120 --> 0:02:32.200 mission is to put a critical, significant force in business 0:02:32.280 --> 0:02:35.320 or tech, or politics or economics on the cover every 0:02:35.320 --> 0:02:38.400 single month. And as you say, this month, it's Bernard Arnault. 0:02:39.160 --> 0:02:41.560 I did not know a lot about him before starting 0:02:41.560 --> 0:02:43.919 this journey, but as you say, one of the wealthiest 0:02:43.919 --> 0:02:46.560 people in the world two hundred and ten billion dollars 0:02:46.960 --> 0:02:50.160 has fallen a bit since the French parliamentary elections. I 0:02:50.200 --> 0:02:53.400 think he'll be just fine, but he's now the third 0:02:53.440 --> 0:02:55.480 wealthiest person in the world, and I think not very 0:02:55.520 --> 0:02:56.280 well understood. 0:02:56.520 --> 0:02:59.440 Well, it's interesting that you mentioned elections because politics actually 0:02:59.440 --> 0:03:02.520 plays a big, a big part in his origin story. 0:03:02.320 --> 0:03:04.440 So just sort of get into that a little bit. 0:03:05.160 --> 0:03:07.480 You know, it's interesting. He grew up in the north 0:03:07.520 --> 0:03:14.000 of France. His father ran their families manufacturing business, had 0:03:14.040 --> 0:03:18.600 a small real estate component. He you know, highly accomplished, 0:03:18.639 --> 0:03:21.640 went to the best engineering school in France, joined the 0:03:21.680 --> 0:03:26.160 family business, got his father to re orient towards real estate. 0:03:26.880 --> 0:03:32.240 Moved to the US after the left one the French elections, 0:03:32.280 --> 0:03:34.880 and I think the late seventies or early eighties your 0:03:34.920 --> 0:03:38.800 testing my not knowledge here of French history, and really 0:03:39.000 --> 0:03:41.480 didn't do so well in the US, but woke up 0:03:41.560 --> 0:03:45.920 to the possibility of these small little luxury houses, often 0:03:45.960 --> 0:03:51.680 family owned Christian Dior Louis Buiton, that weren't really being 0:03:51.800 --> 0:03:55.320 run as businesses but were being more run as kind 0:03:55.320 --> 0:04:00.520 of cultural artifacts. And he was very opportunistic bought the 0:04:00.600 --> 0:04:04.080 company that owned Christian Dior out of bankruptcy in the 0:04:04.120 --> 0:04:09.040 early eighties and has been on an acquisation tear ever since, 0:04:09.080 --> 0:04:12.480 buying companies sometimes through sort of leveraged buyout means, and 0:04:12.520 --> 0:04:13.880 assembling this huge empire. 0:04:14.400 --> 0:04:16.240 Great story, though, I mean Tim and I have been 0:04:16.240 --> 0:04:20.240 talking about this offline, about Christian Dior and. 0:04:20.320 --> 0:04:21.400 A New York cab driver. 0:04:21.839 --> 0:04:23.320 Can you tell us a little bit about like that 0:04:23.320 --> 0:04:25.160 that helped him kind of think about Well. 0:04:25.120 --> 0:04:27.840 He tells the story and you know what, it has 0:04:27.960 --> 0:04:31.919 moved into mythology or legend. But apparently when he was 0:04:31.960 --> 0:04:35.400 a college student in the US, he asked a cab 0:04:35.480 --> 0:04:38.000 driver at JFK, do you know the name of the 0:04:38.000 --> 0:04:41.480 French president and the cab driver did not know, but 0:04:41.560 --> 0:04:44.880 knew the name Christian Dior, and that, he says, sort 0:04:44.880 --> 0:04:48.600 of awakened him to the cultural residence of these brands. 0:04:48.839 --> 0:04:55.880 And when we think about names like Louis Vuitton, Bulgary Hennessy, Tiffany, 0:04:55.920 --> 0:04:59.159 which they recently acquired, you know, they it is interesting. 0:04:59.200 --> 0:05:01.760 I mean, these are these are brands that have done 0:05:01.800 --> 0:05:05.680 extraordinarily well in China, you know, in a way that 0:05:05.720 --> 0:05:07.920 the Chinese luxury brands have never been able to do. 0:05:08.160 --> 0:05:10.320 And so he's tapped into something that I think is 0:05:10.360 --> 0:05:12.960 true about this lifestyle in European tradition. 0:05:13.160 --> 0:05:15.159 Well, that's I want to go to China now, because 0:05:15.240 --> 0:05:17.320 when he went to China in the early nineties, he 0:05:17.360 --> 0:05:19.320 tells a story of what he saw there. It's a 0:05:19.320 --> 0:05:21.279 far cry from anyone who's been to one of the 0:05:21.320 --> 0:05:23.480 mega cities in China in this day and agent seeing 0:05:23.920 --> 0:05:27.440 one of the businesses that the company owns, perhaps on 0:05:27.480 --> 0:05:30.160 the famous street in Shanghai where all the luxury brands are. 0:05:31.000 --> 0:05:33.360 What did he see in China in the early nineties 0:05:33.400 --> 0:05:35.640 that gave him an indication that this is going to 0:05:35.640 --> 0:05:36.520 be a killer market. 0:05:36.640 --> 0:05:39.200 Right, Well, we asked him about that, and in fact, 0:05:39.240 --> 0:05:42.040 I think the answer to that precise question was there 0:05:42.120 --> 0:05:45.240 was nothing. He was very skeptical. He said that one 0:05:45.279 --> 0:05:49.599 of his memories was that everybody was wearing mousuits, and 0:05:49.720 --> 0:05:52.520 you know, if you've got a luxury business and a 0:05:52.560 --> 0:05:54.800 fashion business, you're probably like, is this the right place 0:05:54.839 --> 0:05:58.000 for me? And also at the time, the Western brands 0:05:58.000 --> 0:06:01.880 were confined to hotels, so they were operating a louis 0:06:01.960 --> 0:06:04.599 uitan store at the bottom of the Palace, in the 0:06:04.600 --> 0:06:08.279 basement of the Palace hotel. But obviously he has ridden 0:06:08.400 --> 0:06:13.600 and been aggressive in exploiting the rides of China and 0:06:13.960 --> 0:06:16.680 China joining the and not just China, but lots of 0:06:16.760 --> 0:06:18.880 countries in the in the Middle East and in Asia 0:06:19.040 --> 0:06:23.279 joining the global economy, the concurrent rise of an affluent class, 0:06:23.640 --> 0:06:27.320 and then the psychological need. It's so interesting of people 0:06:27.520 --> 0:06:30.800 who are newly rich to feel like they're part of 0:06:31.120 --> 0:06:35.799 that they're in distinct distinct from from their fellow countrymen. 0:06:35.920 --> 0:06:38.760 They're part of a global affluent class that they feel special, 0:06:39.120 --> 0:06:41.320 and he's just tapped into that need and sold a 0:06:41.320 --> 0:06:42.040 lot of handbags. 0:06:42.080 --> 0:06:43.720 I thought that was interesting too, that you got into 0:06:43.800 --> 0:06:47.240 like he understood the power of logos logos excuse me, 0:06:47.360 --> 0:06:50.720 luxury logos in particular, right, and really understood that kind 0:06:50.760 --> 0:06:53.839 of gave a marking to somebody who maybe was successful, 0:06:53.880 --> 0:06:56.359 but by having that logo kind of just cemented that position. 0:06:56.400 --> 0:06:58.679 I think there was one point in the company's history 0:06:58.720 --> 0:07:03.039 where they were arguing that the Louis Vuitton monogram had 0:07:03.040 --> 0:07:06.080 ceased to be relevant. And you fast forward today. I 0:07:06.240 --> 0:07:09.480 visited Paris for the story, and next to the Louis 0:07:09.520 --> 0:07:12.480 Eiton flagship on the Chance of Lyse is a new 0:07:12.560 --> 0:07:15.800 structure that they're renovating. We don't know what it's going 0:07:15.880 --> 0:07:18.840 to be yet, and they've covered it in a sort 0:07:18.840 --> 0:07:22.080 of monogrammed facade, so it looks like a big Louis 0:07:22.080 --> 0:07:25.640 Eton trunk. And the number of tourists who flocked to 0:07:26.040 --> 0:07:29.880 basically a building under construction to take pictures talks to 0:07:30.000 --> 0:07:33.960 the global resonance of these marks. And you couple that 0:07:34.120 --> 0:07:38.040 with the way in which he has exploited celebrity Pharrell 0:07:38.120 --> 0:07:42.960 Williams at Louis Euton, jay Z and Beyonce Tiffany go 0:07:43.160 --> 0:07:47.120 down the list. Rihanna started her own brand inside LVMH 0:07:47.160 --> 0:07:50.200 and the way you know celebrities flock to their shows. 0:07:50.440 --> 0:07:54.880 There's a reciprocal relationship, the celebrities posting on their Instagram, 0:07:54.920 --> 0:07:58.880 bathing in this aura of opulence that ar Noah's created. 0:07:59.240 --> 0:08:02.240 It is about, yes, it's about the marks and the monograms, 0:08:02.280 --> 0:08:05.800 it's also about celebrity and a lifestyle that people aspire to. 0:08:06.000 --> 0:08:08.040 He understands that, he understands social media. 0:08:08.120 --> 0:08:09.520 He's not on social media though. 0:08:09.480 --> 0:08:13.040 Right, It's funny. All the kids are, and they except 0:08:13.080 --> 0:08:15.720 for Delphine and the oldest daughter's not. The four other 0:08:15.840 --> 0:08:19.960 kids are, and and Juan, the oldest son, said, oh, 0:08:20.000 --> 0:08:23.960 he's on it and he monitors, but he's not posting. 0:08:24.360 --> 0:08:26.040 And they tried to get him on Twitter at one 0:08:26.040 --> 0:08:29.160 point before it was ex and he was apparently reluctant. 0:08:29.480 --> 0:08:33.040 So you met him, tell us about the meeting and 0:08:33.120 --> 0:08:34.439 meeting him for the first time. 0:08:34.800 --> 0:08:37.880 Well, this might surprise you, but he was better dressed 0:08:37.920 --> 0:08:38.240 than I. 0:08:40.640 --> 0:08:40.720 Was. 0:08:40.800 --> 0:08:44.360 Look, he it's exquisite, right, I mean the way he 0:08:44.400 --> 0:08:47.640 holds himself, the way he dresses. You know, he's very 0:08:47.720 --> 0:08:50.320 he to me, he was very French. I was probably 0:08:50.880 --> 0:08:54.080 very American, but he was generous enough to do the 0:08:54.120 --> 0:08:58.600 interview in French. My colleague Angelina Resquette and I interviewed 0:08:58.679 --> 0:09:02.480 him and just extor really patient. I got the sense 0:09:02.480 --> 0:09:05.640 that he enjoys talking about Like we were not there 0:09:05.640 --> 0:09:09.600 to press him on succession, on what the next company 0:09:09.600 --> 0:09:11.559 he's going to buy. I mean, we break some interesting 0:09:11.600 --> 0:09:14.400 news about that in the story, but we really wanted 0:09:14.400 --> 0:09:17.640 to know, you know, give tell us, you know, share 0:09:17.720 --> 0:09:20.439 your stories, tell us how you built this business, how 0:09:20.480 --> 0:09:24.200 you think about operating seventy five disparate houses together, what 0:09:24.240 --> 0:09:27.400 are the synergies. What was it like, you know, visiting 0:09:27.480 --> 0:09:30.880 China recently, where, in contrast to the first visit, throngs 0:09:30.880 --> 0:09:32.800 of people are out to see him and asking him 0:09:32.800 --> 0:09:36.120 to bless their babies, and so, you know, I feel 0:09:36.160 --> 0:09:37.600 like he got into it and had a good time 0:09:37.600 --> 0:09:41.520 with us, and then just sat for this extraordinary photo 0:09:41.520 --> 0:09:45.000 shoot with Reuven Affendor. Oh yes, yeah, and which you 0:09:45.000 --> 0:09:50.360 know makes for a really beautiful inaugural issue of the 0:09:50.400 --> 0:09:51.359 monthly BusinessWeek. 0:09:51.520 --> 0:09:55.240 Okay, we'll talk about the succession element to this in 0:09:55.280 --> 0:09:57.000 a few minutes, but before we get there, I just 0:09:57.040 --> 0:09:59.360 want to learn a little more about his empire, the 0:09:59.400 --> 0:10:02.080 real estate portion of this, because yes, he's known for 0:10:02.440 --> 0:10:07.040 these luxury brands these luxury houses, but it's also a 0:10:07.080 --> 0:10:09.199 real estate company, that's right. 0:10:09.520 --> 0:10:12.600 And another one of our colleagues, Natalie Wong on the 0:10:12.600 --> 0:10:15.160 real estate desk here at Bloomberg News, really helped us 0:10:15.160 --> 0:10:18.960 with this. I would say it probably started more modestly 0:10:20.000 --> 0:10:24.040 a decade or two ago, buying real estate in midtown 0:10:24.080 --> 0:10:30.240 Manhattan on Rodeo Drive in La LVMH has a separate arm, 0:10:30.559 --> 0:10:33.160 sort of an investment arm, El Catherton. They did a 0:10:33.160 --> 0:10:36.640 lot of deals through that, and over the time it's 0:10:36.679 --> 0:10:41.079 gotten more and more aggressive, where they're now designing whole 0:10:41.120 --> 0:10:47.000 new shopping districts in cities like Miami, in Montreal where 0:10:47.080 --> 0:10:50.960 a whole new luxury district is underway with LVMH as 0:10:51.000 --> 0:10:54.960 the primary backer in Asia, and it just gives well, 0:10:55.000 --> 0:10:57.760 first of all, are no a number of ways to win, 0:10:58.320 --> 0:11:01.000 not just on the sales, not just on the rent 0:11:01.200 --> 0:11:04.480 to rival companies who take store space, but on the 0:11:04.600 --> 0:11:09.199 underlying appreciation of the asset. It's it's an extraordinary amount 0:11:09.200 --> 0:11:13.199 of power because you know, we talk to rivals who say, 0:11:13.240 --> 0:11:15.720 you know, if you if you're in the prime spot 0:11:15.800 --> 0:11:18.960 and LVMH wants it, you know, maybe they're the landlord 0:11:19.400 --> 0:11:21.360 and you say goodbye because they're going to take the 0:11:21.400 --> 0:11:24.480 space from you, or the real the landlord is so 0:11:25.559 --> 0:11:28.719 intimidated by LVMH and it's power that they force you 0:11:28.800 --> 0:11:31.000 to leave. And then we asked our no, like do 0:11:31.040 --> 0:11:33.880 you have too much power? And you know his response 0:11:33.960 --> 0:11:36.760 is hilarious. It's along the lines of, well, if they're complaining, 0:11:36.800 --> 0:11:39.720 they're not very well managed, so he's got no sympathy. 0:11:40.200 --> 0:11:41.839 And but this is a company. You know, we talk 0:11:41.880 --> 0:11:45.920 about the advantages of the tech platforms and the power 0:11:45.960 --> 0:11:49.200 that they have to cast winners and losers. And I 0:11:49.280 --> 0:11:52.599 thought with this story, I was writing about the opposite 0:11:53.920 --> 0:11:57.440 a figure and a company that has a mass business 0:11:57.480 --> 0:11:59.960 power in another way, but I think it's sort of 0:12:00.480 --> 0:12:03.199 I think the real estate is the platform, and they 0:12:03.240 --> 0:12:06.520 own the platform, and they pick winners and losers and 0:12:06.559 --> 0:12:11.280 can anoint themselves by giving themselves the primary location, perhaps 0:12:11.600 --> 0:12:16.120 you know, discounts on rent, or it's just like the 0:12:16.200 --> 0:12:18.960 muscle to go and say, you know, the corner of 0:12:19.360 --> 0:12:22.719 Fifth Avenue in fifty seventh is the luxury capital. 0:12:22.480 --> 0:12:22.840 Of the world. 0:12:22.920 --> 0:12:24.360 They own three of the four corners. 0:12:24.360 --> 0:12:26.920 Now pretty amazing, it's pretty well. So you talk about 0:12:26.920 --> 0:12:30.280 that power, right, in terms of this you know, boutique 0:12:30.280 --> 0:12:32.440 of brands, if you will. And I just wonder if 0:12:32.520 --> 0:12:35.000 regulators though think, okay, there's too much power. Is that 0:12:35.040 --> 0:12:37.400 a risk at all as he continues to buy more 0:12:37.440 --> 0:12:38.000 and more brands? 0:12:38.080 --> 0:12:42.680 I don't, you know, I don't think so. There's you know, 0:12:42.720 --> 0:12:45.760 we highlight some deals that are now being looked at 0:12:45.800 --> 0:12:49.480 in the US. They're not LVMH deals, but different different 0:12:49.800 --> 0:12:54.520 sectors of luxury. But you know, it's a different set 0:12:54.559 --> 0:12:58.160 of regulators. There might soon be a different government in France. 0:12:58.440 --> 0:13:01.520 I probably don't know enough. I mean, I would sort 0:13:01.520 --> 0:13:04.000 of speculate that they would face more problems from a 0:13:04.080 --> 0:13:08.520 leftist government than a rightist right and that does assume 0:13:08.679 --> 0:13:12.640 the direction that France is drifting in now. But you know, 0:13:12.920 --> 0:13:15.400 one of the nice tantalizing tidbits of at the end 0:13:15.440 --> 0:13:17.960 of our story is that he has acquired a personal 0:13:18.000 --> 0:13:20.439 stake in Richmont, which is the owner of Cartier and 0:13:21.040 --> 0:13:23.560 some other brands. And you know, he says he wants 0:13:23.600 --> 0:13:26.280 to maintain its independence. But this is how it starts 0:13:26.280 --> 0:13:30.520 with him, how he went after Arimez and Gucci famously 0:13:31.720 --> 0:13:33.640 that you know he is not even though he's seventy 0:13:33.640 --> 0:13:35.720 five years old, done with his empire building. 0:13:35.840 --> 0:13:39.120 The Wolf in Kashmir is how some inside luxury circles 0:13:39.120 --> 0:13:41.480 have referred to him. You write about him laying off 0:13:41.520 --> 0:13:45.320 thousands of people after acquisitions. What's his reputation within the industry. 0:13:45.840 --> 0:13:48.599 Yeah, I would say, well, first of all, the layoffs, 0:13:48.840 --> 0:13:52.480 that was early on, when you know he was acquiring 0:13:52.480 --> 0:13:55.760 some of these brands as part of like der larger 0:13:55.840 --> 0:13:59.000 companies with a lot of inefficiencies and pairing now to 0:13:59.160 --> 0:14:02.959 just the luxury acid sets. The Wolf in Kashmir was 0:14:03.000 --> 0:14:06.720 a phrase started by I think folks at Gucci and 0:14:06.760 --> 0:14:09.000 then later at Ermez and the way in which he 0:14:09.080 --> 0:14:13.520 uses leverage byout techniques to go acquire assets. I think 0:14:13.559 --> 0:14:19.560 he's viewed as as an intimidating figure who brings some 0:14:20.160 --> 0:14:24.240 pretty ruthless takeover tactics and business tactics to the world 0:14:24.480 --> 0:14:26.920 of luxury. But I think there's also a lot of 0:14:26.960 --> 0:14:30.960 admiration and respect for what he has achieved. I think 0:14:30.960 --> 0:14:34.200 at one point maybe there was a cold review of him, 0:14:34.200 --> 0:14:38.520 but how can you not admire right now, and particularly 0:14:38.520 --> 0:14:41.520 now that he's been a major philanthropic force in France 0:14:41.520 --> 0:14:44.160 and he's sponsoring the Olympics. There's probably more of a 0:14:44.160 --> 0:14:46.000 halo now than there ever has been. 0:14:46.160 --> 0:14:48.200 Just last question, what do you think people might be 0:14:48.240 --> 0:14:51.760 surprised about him in your coverage of him? In the 0:14:51.800 --> 0:14:53.640 reporting that might be surprised to find out? I know 0:14:53.680 --> 0:14:54.520 we covered a lot of ground. 0:14:54.560 --> 0:14:57.040 Look, I mean, if you're a follower of this world, 0:14:57.520 --> 0:14:59.720 there's some stuff in here that will surprise you. If 0:14:59.760 --> 0:15:01.760 you're not a follow, if you're even a sort of 0:15:01.880 --> 0:15:04.800 quasi business informed person, you might think that Bernard Arnau 0:15:05.160 --> 0:15:08.440 is married to Selma Hayek. He is not exactly. That 0:15:08.560 --> 0:15:11.480 is one of his rivals, right, and so I think, 0:15:11.600 --> 0:15:14.240 and but a surprising number of people have some of 0:15:14.280 --> 0:15:18.560 those you know, impressions and so and his wife is 0:15:18.600 --> 0:15:22.800 a concert pianist, extraordinarily impressive, impressive. So to understand who 0:15:22.840 --> 0:15:26.280 he is, his five children, who all work in the business, 0:15:26.320 --> 0:15:30.200 are also accomplished, and to understand how he has built 0:15:30.200 --> 0:15:32.800 this empire and the ways in which he now leverages 0:15:32.960 --> 0:15:35.720 his power, I think is going to surprise a lot 0:15:35.720 --> 0:15:36.080 of people. 0:15:36.120 --> 0:15:38.440 Brad, we lied one more question because you mentioned the children. 0:15:38.480 --> 0:15:41.960 I promised we talked about succession, five kids very briefly. 0:15:42.200 --> 0:15:43.640 Who should we be watching yeah. 0:15:43.440 --> 0:15:45.480 I mean all of them, right, because they're all they're 0:15:45.520 --> 0:15:50.840 all remarkable. You know, Delphine who runs deor is the 0:15:50.960 --> 0:15:53.440 is the only daughter, the oldest daughter. She is the 0:15:53.440 --> 0:15:58.760 sole descendant on the executive operating Committee of LVMH. So 0:15:59.200 --> 0:16:01.760 I think you'd have to say like she's got you know, 0:16:01.880 --> 0:16:05.320 she's probably if we're gonna talk about it in a race, 0:16:05.360 --> 0:16:06.920 and I don't know that they do, she would be 0:16:06.960 --> 0:16:11.480 the natural. But the way in which his youngest Jean 0:16:11.640 --> 0:16:18.040 and Frederic are are getting increasing authority. Alexander, who now 0:16:18.200 --> 0:16:21.880 is CO runs Tiffany and Co. And then Antoine who 0:16:21.960 --> 0:16:25.080 runs who is a non executive chairman of Laura Piano 0:16:25.440 --> 0:16:28.040 and runs all the image and communication for the company. 0:16:28.200 --> 0:16:31.520 They all have their pieces and and my impression, by 0:16:31.520 --> 0:16:34.360 the way in closing is that you know, like people 0:16:34.360 --> 0:16:38.360 we know well. Even though mister Arnault is of advanced stage, 0:16:38.400 --> 0:16:41.120 he has no intention of stepping back. He is in 0:16:41.160 --> 0:16:42.320 it for the long haul. 0:16:42.440 --> 0:16:44.400 And if you're playing tennis with him, do mention that 0:16:44.640 --> 0:16:46.440 rival because it might give you a little bit of 0:16:46.480 --> 0:16:50.120 an advantage. Anyway, reaches st do not wear nikes in 0:16:50.160 --> 0:16:54.520 this store. Incredible Broadstone, Congratulations the new launch of Bloomberg 0:16:54.520 --> 0:16:56.520 Business Week, now a monthly brought of course the editor 0:16:56.520 --> 0:16:59.760 of Bloomberg Business Week. Bloomberg business Week now on newsstands, 0:16:59.800 --> 0:17:02.120 on line, and of course always on the Bloomberg terminal. 0:17:07.280 --> 0:17:10.760 You're listening to the Bloomberg Business Week podcast. Catch us 0:17:10.840 --> 0:17:14.080 live weekday afternoons from two to five pm. Easter Listen 0:17:14.119 --> 0:17:16.800 on Apple Cardplay and then brout Auto with a Bloomberg 0:17:16.840 --> 0:17:19.280 Business act or watch us live on YouTube. 0:17:20.960 --> 0:17:23.720 All right, now to an individual who is often the 0:17:23.760 --> 0:17:27.600 subject of a BusinessWeek story, including recently, we're talking about 0:17:27.600 --> 0:17:31.480 Elon Musk, and to some numbers you should know about Elon. 0:17:31.640 --> 0:17:34.960 Okay, six it's the number of companies Elon runs, two 0:17:35.000 --> 0:17:37.840 hundred and sixteen. It's the number of billions of dollars 0:17:37.880 --> 0:17:40.520 Elon is worth as of our taping, at least according 0:17:40.560 --> 0:17:43.719 to the latest calculation by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. And 0:17:43.800 --> 0:17:46.280 twelve it's the number of kids that Elon has at 0:17:46.359 --> 0:17:49.679 least that we know of. No question Elon doing what 0:17:49.720 --> 0:17:51.920 he can do to contribute to the population, which makes 0:17:51.960 --> 0:17:54.600 sense if you've paid attention to what he said in 0:17:54.640 --> 0:17:55.200 recent years. 0:17:55.240 --> 0:17:56.520 Well, I got to tell you, I'm one of seven, 0:17:56.520 --> 0:17:59.359 So my parents certainly did their jobs well. In Musk's mind, 0:17:59.359 --> 0:18:01.800 global for two rates are not just a crisis, but 0:18:02.040 --> 0:18:05.240 the crisis. In twenty twenty two, he tweeted that quote, 0:18:05.280 --> 0:18:08.800 A collapsing birth rate is the biggest danger civilization faces 0:18:08.880 --> 0:18:09.320 by far. 0:18:09.640 --> 0:18:12.280 For more, we turn to Dana Hole, Bloomberg News senior 0:18:12.320 --> 0:18:13.240 technology reporter. 0:18:13.520 --> 0:18:15.720 He's been sort of ringing the alarm bell about this 0:18:15.800 --> 0:18:17.680 for quite some time. If you look at his tweets 0:18:17.680 --> 0:18:20.200 and all of his public appearances at the Milkene conference, 0:18:20.720 --> 0:18:23.600 you know, he really sees this as a big crisis. 0:18:23.600 --> 0:18:24.879 And I think it has a lot to do with 0:18:25.000 --> 0:18:28.959 the changing demography of the United States and frankly, his 0:18:29.040 --> 0:18:32.920 like interest in colonizing Mars, and you know, he's looking 0:18:32.920 --> 0:18:36.520 at trends and his own goals, and you know, he 0:18:36.840 --> 0:18:39.440 really is encouraging people to have at least three children. 0:18:39.880 --> 0:18:41.560 But I think that the sort of deeper thing here 0:18:41.640 --> 0:18:44.480 is that he's not just tweeting about this on x 0:18:44.560 --> 0:18:47.359 the platform that he owns. He's really putting money behind it. 0:18:47.600 --> 0:18:50.720 I would say, as a recent father, if he wants 0:18:50.720 --> 0:18:53.399 people to have more kids, he should talk to the 0:18:53.440 --> 0:18:56.919 folks in Washington about child care costs and the difficulty 0:18:57.320 --> 0:18:58.840 in raising the kids. 0:18:58.520 --> 0:19:00.000 Says the father of two young kids. 0:19:00.400 --> 0:19:02.240 I'm serious though, I mean, if if he wants people 0:19:02.240 --> 0:19:03.879 to have at least three, there's a reason why people 0:19:03.880 --> 0:19:05.280 don't have as many kids as they used to. 0:19:05.440 --> 0:19:06.040 It's expensive. 0:19:06.080 --> 0:19:07.040 It's very expensive. 0:19:07.160 --> 0:19:09.000 You know, there are a lot of reasons why the 0:19:09.040 --> 0:19:12.679 fertility rate has fallen. Women are having children later in life. 0:19:13.280 --> 0:19:16.240 It is incredibly expensive. We don't have the nuclear families 0:19:16.240 --> 0:19:18.960 we used to. People are thinking about things like just 0:19:19.000 --> 0:19:21.600 the cost of childcare and the cost of college, and 0:19:21.640 --> 0:19:24.680 the cost of just living and the cost of housing. 0:19:24.760 --> 0:19:27.440 And there's a lot of reasons why in a lot 0:19:27.440 --> 0:19:30.560 of industrialized countries, not just the United States, but in 0:19:30.600 --> 0:19:33.679 Scandinavia and Japan and South Korea and elsewhere, that the 0:19:33.720 --> 0:19:36.639 fertility rate has fallen. But you know, there's a lot 0:19:36.680 --> 0:19:39.440 of policy levers that you can push if you want 0:19:39.480 --> 0:19:44.600 to encourage families. And you know, instead, Elon has quietly 0:19:44.680 --> 0:19:48.040 donated ten million dollars to the University of Texas at Austin, 0:19:48.480 --> 0:19:51.520 his largest donation to higher education to date. And he's 0:19:51.520 --> 0:19:54.960 also funding a documentary film that'll feature like the professor 0:19:55.000 --> 0:19:57.879 that he's funding. And so it's just super curious to me. 0:19:58.080 --> 0:20:00.240 How on the one hand, you know, eli On is 0:20:00.320 --> 0:20:03.719 very public about his intentions, and yet seeing him get 0:20:03.800 --> 0:20:05.919 involved in academia this way is sort of a new 0:20:05.960 --> 0:20:06.640 realm for him. 0:20:06.760 --> 0:20:08.359 Well, that's why I wanted to ask you, Dana, I 0:20:08.400 --> 0:20:09.080 was listening to you. 0:20:09.080 --> 0:20:12.240 You know, is Elon mostly talking his book here, you know, 0:20:12.359 --> 0:20:15.000 about wanting to you know, develop mars and all that 0:20:15.040 --> 0:20:18.879 good stuff. What do the academics say when it comes 0:20:18.920 --> 0:20:23.320 to what's going on with fertility rates and perhaps populations 0:20:23.320 --> 0:20:27.680 more broadly, what does academia who study this actually say 0:20:27.760 --> 0:20:28.480 about what the. 0:20:28.480 --> 0:20:30.120 Problem is or no lack thereof. 0:20:30.359 --> 0:20:33.080 Yeah, so the field of demography is a super fascinating one. 0:20:33.080 --> 0:20:36.399 And my colleague Sophia Alexander really did a heroic job 0:20:36.520 --> 0:20:39.840 like talking to all the experts here, and they are 0:20:39.960 --> 0:20:42.679 very worried that Musk and his megaphone and his money 0:20:42.720 --> 0:20:45.399 are kind of now influencing the debate, if you will, 0:20:45.400 --> 0:20:48.959 within the field about just how serious this crisis is. 0:20:49.080 --> 0:20:52.600 I mean, you know, there are is Simultaneously we're seeing 0:20:52.680 --> 0:20:57.199 a lot of talk about no fault divorce and abortion rights, 0:20:57.200 --> 0:21:00.560 and we're seeing like women's reproductive freedom being skilled back 0:21:00.640 --> 0:21:04.000 in State after state. So there's just a lot of 0:21:04.119 --> 0:21:06.919 history here. Is that is very concerning for people that 0:21:06.960 --> 0:21:08.359 have been in the field for a long time. 0:21:08.520 --> 0:21:10.480 I think one important part of the conversation, at least 0:21:10.520 --> 0:21:12.119 here in the US that Carol and I have talked 0:21:12.119 --> 0:21:15.800 about Dana is even though Americans are not having as 0:21:15.800 --> 0:21:17.960 many kids as they used to, a lot of the 0:21:18.040 --> 0:21:19.960 jobs that need to be filled are being filled by 0:21:20.000 --> 0:21:22.920 immigrants right now. And that's really important when you talk 0:21:22.960 --> 0:21:26.679 about the economic context here in terms of population growth 0:21:26.680 --> 0:21:29.159 and aging population and who's actually doing jobs? 0:21:29.440 --> 0:21:32.240 Oh absolutely, I mean who is growing the food in 0:21:32.280 --> 0:21:35.360 the United States, who is working in our meat packing facilities, 0:21:35.400 --> 0:21:37.920 who is taking care of your elderly parent. I mean, 0:21:38.800 --> 0:21:41.679 so when you talk about declining birth rates and fertility rates, 0:21:42.119 --> 0:21:44.200 you have to if you look at the world population 0:21:44.280 --> 0:21:46.840 as a whole, to be clear, like we are still 0:21:47.080 --> 0:21:50.399 we are still seeing population growth. You know, there are 0:21:50.440 --> 0:21:53.959 different projections, and projections are often wrong. I mean, you know, 0:21:54.160 --> 0:21:57.720 we know that people have fewer children during the recession. 0:21:57.800 --> 0:22:00.760 So what's actually happening now is that there were fewer 0:22:00.800 --> 0:22:03.560 babies born in like two thousand and seven, two thousand 0:22:03.600 --> 0:22:05.040 and eight, two thousand and nine, when we were in 0:22:05.080 --> 0:22:07.520 the depths of the last recession in the United States. 0:22:07.960 --> 0:22:10.200 Now all those kids are about to graduate from high 0:22:10.200 --> 0:22:13.200 school and you're seeing like a drop off in college enrollment. 0:22:13.320 --> 0:22:15.960 So I mean, there are rare, definitely real world impacts 0:22:16.000 --> 0:22:21.719 to population changes. But when you include immigration and you 0:22:21.800 --> 0:22:25.359 include the world as a whole and not just the West, 0:22:25.760 --> 0:22:28.840 you know, we are still on track to be growing people. 0:22:29.840 --> 0:22:33.040 That is a fact. And so it's just very interesting 0:22:33.080 --> 0:22:35.400 to sort of look at how, you know, this kind 0:22:35.400 --> 0:22:38.760 of fringe movement called natalism has increasingly entered the mainstream. 0:22:38.920 --> 0:22:42.639 Dana, does the world at large? Does the Bloomberg audience 0:22:42.720 --> 0:22:46.920 kind of need to keep the head of PWI Dean Spears. 0:22:46.920 --> 0:22:48.919 The Population Well Being Initiative exactly? 0:22:49.240 --> 0:22:51.920 Do they need to keep him on their radar? 0:22:52.119 --> 0:22:54.280 Yes, he's coming out with a book in the Fall 0:22:54.359 --> 0:22:57.360 by Simon and Schuster, six figure advance. I mean, it's 0:22:57.480 --> 0:23:00.200 called After the Spike. It's kind of, you know, it'll 0:23:00.240 --> 0:23:03.120 be like a mainstream book kind of espousing. I think 0:23:03.160 --> 0:23:05.919 a lot of what is in aligne with with musks 0:23:05.960 --> 0:23:08.000 thinking that we need to really be paying attention to 0:23:08.440 --> 0:23:12.920 fertility trends, and I think it's just important you know too. 0:23:13.880 --> 0:23:15.760 You know, billionaires have a lot of ways to spend 0:23:15.760 --> 0:23:19.160 their money. Musk has a foundation. You know, his foundation 0:23:19.320 --> 0:23:22.080 is now donating to academia. I think that that's really 0:23:22.119 --> 0:23:25.800 significant and something that investors and customers and people in 0:23:25.840 --> 0:23:26.959 general should be watching. 0:23:27.240 --> 0:23:29.119 And it also said that one of his right is 0:23:29.200 --> 0:23:31.679 researchers are going to be joining I think President Biden's 0:23:31.680 --> 0:23:34.440 counsel of Economic Advisors, right, So, yeah, it's kind of 0:23:34.440 --> 0:23:35.040 spreading out. 0:23:35.119 --> 0:23:37.720 But Dan, and this is also a story about Elon's 0:23:37.760 --> 0:23:41.679 businesses because he has had kids with people at his 0:23:42.720 --> 0:23:44.800 at at least one of his companies in the past. 0:23:44.800 --> 0:23:47.240 So we should note that even though we're talking about 0:23:47.359 --> 0:23:49.760 what could be his personal views that he's increasingly talking 0:23:49.800 --> 0:23:53.600 about on on X and on podcasts, he's this is 0:23:53.640 --> 0:23:55.760 coming out and in the work that he does too. 0:23:56.720 --> 0:23:58.439 Yeah, I mean, and there are a lot of you know, 0:23:58.680 --> 0:24:00.640 I mean, to be clear, these are consent take adults. 0:24:00.800 --> 0:24:04.560 But like one of them is currently like his employee. 0:24:04.600 --> 0:24:08.199 I mean, she's an executive at Neuralink. And so you know, 0:24:08.280 --> 0:24:11.280 obviously a couple of years ago, Business Insider broke the 0:24:11.320 --> 0:24:15.560 news that Musk and chevon zillis the executive at Neuralink 0:24:15.600 --> 0:24:18.600 had twins together. They also had they had they had 0:24:18.600 --> 0:24:21.600 another another child that was previously unreported. So this is 0:24:21.640 --> 0:24:24.199 definitely like a pattern of his. It's just sort of 0:24:24.280 --> 0:24:28.040 unheard of, uh, that you would have that going on, 0:24:28.200 --> 0:24:31.320 I think, in most quarters. But it's it's a pattern 0:24:31.359 --> 0:24:33.800 that's been established and it seems to be continuing. 0:24:34.040 --> 0:24:34.280 Well. 0:24:34.320 --> 0:24:36.200 It's an incredible story, and I think a really smart 0:24:36.200 --> 0:24:38.160 one and just kind of getting into it and explaining 0:24:38.200 --> 0:24:40.600 it and doing the research and giving us the facts, 0:24:40.600 --> 0:24:42.639 certainly when it comes to fertility and what's going on. 0:24:42.680 --> 0:24:45.680 Glos also has Carol reminded me some incredible animations on 0:24:45.880 --> 0:24:47.119 the terminals that actually made me. 0:24:47.160 --> 0:24:47.680 Kind of laugh. 0:24:48.119 --> 0:24:51.120 Check it out, everyone, Dana, have a great weekend. Bloomberg 0:24:51.200 --> 0:24:52.960 News Senior Tech reporter Dana Halt. 0:24:57.280 --> 0:25:01.160 You're listening to the Bloomberg Business Week podcast. Listen live 0:25:01.240 --> 0:25:04.400 each weekday starting at two pm Eastern on applecar Play 0:25:04.480 --> 0:25:07.320 and Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business Ad. You can 0:25:07.359 --> 0:25:10.600 also listen live on Amazon Alexa from our flagship New 0:25:10.680 --> 0:25:14.640 York station, Just Say Alexa. Playing Bloomberg eleven thirty. 0:25:15.520 --> 0:25:17.960 Earning season in all its glory doesn't kick off for 0:25:18.000 --> 0:25:20.440 another few weeks, and yet thanks to quarterly earnings from 0:25:20.480 --> 0:25:23.280 one big player in the hospitality and leisure space this 0:25:23.280 --> 0:25:25.360 past week, we've got a pretty good read on what's 0:25:25.440 --> 0:25:26.440 up with the US consumer. 0:25:26.600 --> 0:25:29.440 Carnival raised its full year earnings outlook after strong demand 0:25:29.520 --> 0:25:32.439 for cruises helped it post a surprise profit last quarter. 0:25:32.720 --> 0:25:36.560 Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization will be 0:25:36.600 --> 0:25:39.679 about five point eight three billion this year. It's up 0:25:39.680 --> 0:25:42.960 from Carnival's March forecast of about five point six three 0:25:43.000 --> 0:25:46.040 billion dollars and above the average analyst projection of five 0:25:46.040 --> 0:25:46.960 point seven billion. 0:25:47.080 --> 0:25:49.800 Record setting demand is helping cruise companies sell tickets at 0:25:49.840 --> 0:25:53.760 higher prices, partly driven by the value of sailings versus 0:25:53.880 --> 0:25:57.200 land based travel, helping to attract new customers. That trend 0:25:57.200 --> 0:26:00.520 appears to be extending into twenty twenty five, with Carnival's 0:26:00.520 --> 0:26:03.920 booked position for next year already ahead of twenty twenty 0:26:03.920 --> 0:26:06.680 four levels on both occupancy and ticket prices. 0:26:06.960 --> 0:26:09.639 Carnival turned just as second profit since twenty twenty in 0:26:09.680 --> 0:26:12.399 the second quarter, reporting eleven cents a share against an 0:26:12.400 --> 0:26:15.680 expected two cent a share loss. Sales also beat Wall 0:26:15.680 --> 0:26:18.760 Street's forecast s and p upgraded Carnival's debt rating to 0:26:18.840 --> 0:26:21.240 double B after the results, leaving it now just two 0:26:21.280 --> 0:26:24.159 notches away from investment grade. The stock having a big 0:26:24.200 --> 0:26:27.119 bounce recently. I'm nearly twenty percent. We got more from 0:26:27.240 --> 0:26:31.080 Josh Weinstein, President and CEO and chief Climate Officer of Carnival. 0:26:31.520 --> 0:26:34.120 We just wrapped up our second quarter and we were 0:26:34.200 --> 0:26:38.960 able to report record revenues, record deal record for dums, 0:26:39.080 --> 0:26:42.919 record even, and record operating income. So that that was 0:26:43.119 --> 0:26:45.720 a really big quarter for us. And the best news 0:26:45.720 --> 0:26:48.040 about it is that was the actual results. 0:26:48.119 --> 0:26:50.639 But from a bookings momentum standpoint. 0:26:50.080 --> 0:26:52.760 As you were saying, the bookings that we took in 0:26:52.960 --> 0:26:56.479 just in the second quarter actually set another record, and 0:26:56.520 --> 0:26:58.640 it was a record for the most bookings we ever 0:26:58.720 --> 0:27:01.320 took for the full year out So in this case, 0:27:01.359 --> 0:27:05.040 twenty twenty five, so as Stellar is, twenty twenty four 0:27:05.160 --> 0:27:08.320 is looking when it comes to the demand profile and 0:27:08.359 --> 0:27:11.480 the booking trends, twenty twenty five is already shaping up 0:27:11.520 --> 0:27:12.680 to be even better. 0:27:13.040 --> 0:27:15.280 So you can like pack up your bags go home 0:27:15.320 --> 0:27:17.600 for a year. No, I'm just kidding. Hey, talk to 0:27:17.680 --> 0:27:18.720 us about. 0:27:18.320 --> 0:27:18.960 Your lung cruise. 0:27:19.400 --> 0:27:20.600 Go on to your luck cruise. 0:27:21.000 --> 0:27:23.160 Hey, how broad based? Is it like, break it down 0:27:23.200 --> 0:27:24.960 for us. You guys have several brands and I know 0:27:25.000 --> 0:27:27.320 about a year ago you did a restructuring when it 0:27:27.359 --> 0:27:29.199 comes to those brands, But how broad based is it 0:27:29.240 --> 0:27:32.000 in terms of customer segment and geography. 0:27:32.280 --> 0:27:34.919 Yeah, the great thing is that it is exactly that 0:27:35.160 --> 0:27:36.119 it is broad based. 0:27:36.119 --> 0:27:39.560 So we're seeing strength from both our North our North 0:27:39.600 --> 0:27:42.800 American brand and our European brands. You know, to put 0:27:42.800 --> 0:27:45.960 that into perspective the past quarter, the second quarter. 0:27:46.520 --> 0:27:48.760 Because we're a portabole theer on bold class brands. 0:27:48.800 --> 0:27:51.520 You know, brands are coming in and out of different 0:27:51.600 --> 0:27:53.320 economic cycles. 0:27:52.880 --> 0:27:54.440 Different geopolitical issues. 0:27:54.600 --> 0:27:56.760 And whereas a couple of years ago we were talking 0:27:56.760 --> 0:27:59.679 about our European brands just taking a little while longer 0:27:59.720 --> 0:28:02.480 to chuck in, our North American brands coming out of 0:28:02.480 --> 0:28:06.280 our pause, in the second quarter of this year, their 0:28:06.359 --> 0:28:09.440 yields were up over twenty percent year over year. 0:28:09.880 --> 0:28:11.680 And so we're getting this. 0:28:11.680 --> 0:28:15.720 Momentum across the Atlantic and from all segments thea contemporary 0:28:15.840 --> 0:28:19.080 via premium via luxury. We're really seeing strengthen what we 0:28:19.119 --> 0:28:23.320 have to offer, which Kendally isn't surprising to us, because 0:28:23.440 --> 0:28:26.280 first of all, as we've talked about before. 0:28:26.119 --> 0:28:27.800 We are an incredible value. 0:28:28.000 --> 0:28:30.359 So even though we've been successful and really pushing on 0:28:30.440 --> 0:28:32.680 that demand and getting our pricing up, we are still 0:28:32.720 --> 0:28:36.600 an incredible value versus alternatives. And not only are we 0:28:36.680 --> 0:28:39.880 an incredible value when you look at our alternatives, the 0:28:40.000 --> 0:28:43.640 service levels that we provide are unmatched and they're just 0:28:43.680 --> 0:28:46.240 as good as there were from before the pandemic, which 0:28:46.280 --> 0:28:49.080 is not something that a lot of hospitality outfits can say. 0:28:49.520 --> 0:28:51.120 I'm wondering about the trends that you're seeing when it 0:28:51.160 --> 0:28:55.520 comes to on board spending excursions. Are there any signs 0:28:55.520 --> 0:28:57.959 of lower spending once consumers are on board? Are there 0:28:57.960 --> 0:28:59.800 any signs of weakness that you're seeing anywhere? 0:29:00.600 --> 0:29:03.320 Excuse me, no, not particularly you know in the in 0:29:03.360 --> 0:29:06.479 the second quarter, our onboards were up about four percent 0:29:06.520 --> 0:29:09.280 per deems year over year, and as you know, last 0:29:09.360 --> 0:29:14.880 year was called incredibly over the pree pandemic period. So 0:29:15.520 --> 0:29:18.240 you know, the trends that we look at to understand 0:29:18.320 --> 0:29:20.880 the strength of our consumer. We've got the results, we've 0:29:20.880 --> 0:29:23.880 got the onboard spending in real time, we've got the bookings, 0:29:24.120 --> 0:29:27.440 and all of those metrics for us are telling us 0:29:27.440 --> 0:29:31.440 that our consumers are incredibly strong. We've got incredibly strong 0:29:31.520 --> 0:29:35.080 brands that really resonate with the segments that we're going after, 0:29:35.560 --> 0:29:39.720 and people are absolutely still willing to spend on experiences, 0:29:40.280 --> 0:29:43.520 and that is exactly what we offered, great experiences to 0:29:43.600 --> 0:29:46.360 create memories and happiness for a lifetime. 0:29:46.600 --> 0:29:48.360 Hey, Josh, one of the numbers that struck me to 0:29:48.520 --> 0:29:51.080 is your total customer deposits reached an all time high 0:29:51.080 --> 0:29:54.360 a point three billion. That's our passed the previous record 0:29:54.360 --> 0:29:56.480 by over a billion dollars one point one billion, to 0:29:56.520 --> 0:30:00.600 be exact. Does all of that turn into avenue that 0:30:00.680 --> 0:30:03.040 shows up ultimately on the balance sheet? In other words, 0:30:03.320 --> 0:30:06.480 are there cancelations that can happen? What do you see 0:30:06.480 --> 0:30:06.880 around that? 0:30:07.240 --> 0:30:09.800 Yeah, there are cancelations that can happen, but the vast 0:30:09.840 --> 0:30:13.200 majority of that is going to come through ultimately in revenues. 0:30:13.400 --> 0:30:16.360 So that's a bit of a board indicator of how 0:30:16.360 --> 0:30:19.080 we're doing. And that increase is really a combination of 0:30:19.120 --> 0:30:23.840 increased pricing, us elongating the booking curves, of taking bookings. 0:30:23.480 --> 0:30:26.680 Even farther out than we had even just a year ago. 0:30:27.200 --> 0:30:29.520 And you know, we're doing a better job. 0:30:29.320 --> 0:30:32.760 Of bundling our offerings so that people can spend in 0:30:32.920 --> 0:30:35.320 advance of the cruise, not just for the ticket price, 0:30:35.520 --> 0:30:38.360 but certain on board experiences. So it's a combination of 0:30:38.360 --> 0:30:41.560 those things that we've been very focused on that are 0:30:41.600 --> 0:30:43.760 attributing to that increasing customer. 0:30:43.560 --> 0:30:45.320 Well, that's something we've talked about, right, all of the 0:30:45.320 --> 0:30:48.360 bundling that happens before they even step on a ship, 0:30:48.360 --> 0:30:51.600 and that ultimately can lead to more spending because that 0:30:51.920 --> 0:30:54.000 thinking of I've already paid for everything, right you get 0:30:54.000 --> 0:30:55.600 on ship and you're like, wait, I can still spend 0:30:55.920 --> 0:30:57.240 Like that really works. 0:30:57.520 --> 0:30:59.480 It does really work. It does really work. 0:30:59.520 --> 0:31:01.480 I mean a good it's a good amount of time 0:31:01.520 --> 0:31:05.040 that goes between the initial purchase impulse and then getting 0:31:05.120 --> 0:31:07.360 on board. So having what we'd refer to as a 0:31:07.400 --> 0:31:12.520 second walllet available is real. And actually, folks who buy 0:31:12.800 --> 0:31:15.760 something of onboard spending before they get on the ship, 0:31:15.920 --> 0:31:18.000 they spend more on board than those who don't do 0:31:18.080 --> 0:31:19.400 anything in advance. 0:31:19.440 --> 0:31:22.480 So it's a it's a very strong opportunity. 0:31:22.880 --> 0:31:26.200 Okay, Josh, I'm wondering about pricing pressures that you may 0:31:26.240 --> 0:31:29.680 be facing at the company. You're you're talking about consumers 0:31:29.720 --> 0:31:34.200 who are out there spending that's certainly strong. What about 0:31:34.320 --> 0:31:37.600 what you have pressure. Where you have pressure food prices, 0:31:37.960 --> 0:31:41.160 labor costs, fuel costs. What are you seeing on that front? 0:31:41.440 --> 0:31:41.880 Yeah, you know. 0:31:42.000 --> 0:31:45.800 I mean good news is there's been the deceleration of inflation. 0:31:45.920 --> 0:31:49.560 We don't see his inflation, but we certainly see a deceleration, 0:31:49.720 --> 0:31:51.960 which is which is encouraging. I think if you look 0:31:51.960 --> 0:31:53.760 at our P and L, you'll see on the on 0:31:53.840 --> 0:31:56.040 the crew labor side, our teams are doing a real 0:31:56.080 --> 0:31:58.840 good job of trying to be mind blow of the 0:31:58.880 --> 0:32:01.720 P and L and certainly pay a good living to people, 0:32:01.760 --> 0:32:05.120 but put doing so efficiently. The biggest thing that we 0:32:05.160 --> 0:32:09.520 see a change from free pandemic times to now, it's probably. 0:32:09.160 --> 0:32:10.800 You know, that combination of two of the things that 0:32:10.880 --> 0:32:12.280 you said, food and fuel. 0:32:12.720 --> 0:32:16.040 Those are inherently more expensive, and we're doing our best 0:32:16.120 --> 0:32:19.640 because because those are always going to be inputs into 0:32:19.680 --> 0:32:20.560 our business. 0:32:20.800 --> 0:32:22.680 We are laser focused. 0:32:22.240 --> 0:32:25.479 On reducing consumption because no matter what the price is, 0:32:25.560 --> 0:32:28.280 if we use less, we will be better off. And 0:32:28.280 --> 0:32:30.719 so I'll give you I'll give you two examples. On 0:32:30.760 --> 0:32:34.200 the food side, we are looking every which way. 0:32:34.000 --> 0:32:35.760 We can to cut the amount of food we. 0:32:35.720 --> 0:32:38.760 Put on, more cut consumption, to be more mindful of 0:32:38.800 --> 0:32:40.560 the fact that we've got a lot of food waste 0:32:41.000 --> 0:32:43.640 in any give, we've actually because we put this focus 0:32:43.680 --> 0:32:46.520 onto it, we've been able to cut our food waste 0:32:46.920 --> 0:32:49.400 by over forty percent per. 0:32:49.200 --> 0:32:53.000 Person per day versus where we were before the pandemic. 0:32:53.320 --> 0:32:54.480 And that's that is. 0:32:54.440 --> 0:32:56.800 Because we are giving so much thought to reducing the 0:32:56.840 --> 0:33:00.600 whole consumption cycle while still giving guests every thing they want, 0:33:00.640 --> 0:33:02.920 which just being more thoughtful about. 0:33:02.680 --> 0:33:03.480 How we do that. 0:33:03.880 --> 0:33:06.400 And on the fuel side, you know, not only is 0:33:06.440 --> 0:33:08.840 it good for the environment, it's good for the bottom line. 0:33:09.080 --> 0:33:13.400 And even though we are over thirty percent bigger. 0:33:13.080 --> 0:33:17.120 Today than we were in twenty eleven, we actually consume 0:33:17.720 --> 0:33:21.960 ten percent less absolute fuel than we did back in 0:33:22.000 --> 0:33:25.880 twenty eleven. We admit over ten percent the less absolute 0:33:25.920 --> 0:33:29.320 terms greenhouse gas submissions than we did back in twenty eleven. 0:33:29.440 --> 0:33:32.080 So by being laser focused on that, not only can 0:33:32.120 --> 0:33:35.160 we be good you know, world citizens, we can make 0:33:35.200 --> 0:33:36.640 a huge impact. 0:33:36.280 --> 0:33:37.200 On our bottom line. 0:33:37.240 --> 0:33:40.120 Hey, speaking of being laser focused, you shu guys still 0:33:40.120 --> 0:33:42.000 have I think, roughly I was looking at the Bloomberg 0:33:42.040 --> 0:33:44.760 maybe around thirty billion of debts still on your balance sheet. 0:33:45.200 --> 0:33:48.080 I think four point one billion maturing by year end. 0:33:48.480 --> 0:33:52.160 How am I the bookings and the outperformance there maybe 0:33:52.200 --> 0:33:57.520 power help with debt reduction, Like, what's your plans on that? 0:33:57.880 --> 0:33:58.360 Yeah? 0:33:58.400 --> 0:34:01.000 Absolutely, that is when it comes our capital structure and 0:34:01.080 --> 0:34:04.080 priority one, two and three is reducing that debt balance. 0:34:04.080 --> 0:34:05.160 We've actually reduced it. 0:34:05.080 --> 0:34:09.200 By eight billions versus our peak, which is great. I 0:34:09.280 --> 0:34:11.560 predict we've probably got another billion or so to go 0:34:11.960 --> 0:34:13.800 as we get through the remainder of this year. That 0:34:14.200 --> 0:34:18.040 should get us the leverage metrics heading towards about four 0:34:18.040 --> 0:34:20.799 and a half turns, which is a big in roads 0:34:20.880 --> 0:34:23.359 versus where we were just a couple of years ago. Now, 0:34:23.400 --> 0:34:26.400 what we see as a plan going forward is, in 0:34:26.400 --> 0:34:29.439 addition to the fact that our increased EBITDA and better 0:34:29.520 --> 0:34:31.799 business is going to help our metrics and help the 0:34:31.840 --> 0:34:35.960 shape of our balance sheet, we have intentionally reduced our 0:34:36.320 --> 0:34:39.120 supply our pipeline of new builds in the. 0:34:39.080 --> 0:34:41.439 Medium term, and so we're looking at. 0:34:41.360 --> 0:34:44.520 A profile with only one new build coming in twenty 0:34:44.560 --> 0:34:48.040 twenty five, none in twenty six, and then one in 0:34:48.080 --> 0:34:51.000 each of twenty seven and twenty eight. What that does 0:34:51.040 --> 0:34:53.960 it will allow six billions of dollars of free cash 0:34:54.000 --> 0:34:56.440 flow each year for the next several years to. 0:34:56.440 --> 0:34:59.480 Pay down debt. And that's exactly where we're focused. 0:34:59.480 --> 0:35:01.600 You know, treasure for ten years that we were in 0:35:01.640 --> 0:35:03.840 ami stuff, and I know the power of having a 0:35:03.920 --> 0:35:04.720 fortress balancing. 0:35:04.920 --> 0:35:06.480 Hey, Josh, I don't want to believer the point here, 0:35:06.480 --> 0:35:08.680 but we're hearing over and over again from people not 0:35:08.880 --> 0:35:10.959 like you that they're starting to see some cracks form 0:35:10.960 --> 0:35:13.080 in the consumer. We're seeing some price wars happening in 0:35:13.160 --> 0:35:16.800 fast food right now. For example. Are you seeing weakness 0:35:17.160 --> 0:35:19.799 anywhere in your business or anywhere in the consumers that 0:35:19.840 --> 0:35:20.840 you deal with, you know. 0:35:21.440 --> 0:35:24.200 At at a general level, No, no, we're not. We 0:35:24.280 --> 0:35:28.560 see the demand profiles incredibly high. And I attribute that 0:35:28.680 --> 0:35:30.560 not just to the value gap, not just. 0:35:30.560 --> 0:35:32.759 That we're getting better at what we're doing. But if 0:35:32.800 --> 0:35:33.680 you think about. 0:35:33.400 --> 0:35:37.400 It, just put yourself in the minds of a consumer. 0:35:38.080 --> 0:35:41.160 They are stretched. If they are looking to figure out 0:35:41.200 --> 0:35:44.759 how do I make my vacation dollar go further? That 0:35:44.920 --> 0:35:49.000 is playing into what we have to offer because we 0:35:49.080 --> 0:35:54.040 are the bottom line where cheaper alternative and lots of 0:35:54.080 --> 0:35:56.520 other things that they can choose to do, and they're 0:35:56.560 --> 0:35:57.719 seeing the value of that. 0:35:57.840 --> 0:35:59.719 They have friends, they have family, who have taken. 0:35:59.760 --> 0:36:04.600 How is with a maconn all right on our behalf Josh, 0:36:04.760 --> 0:36:05.680 so appreciate it. 0:36:06.000 --> 0:36:07.600 Have a great summer, Josh Weinstein. 0:36:07.640 --> 0:36:10.719 He's President and ce of Carnival Corporation, joining us there 0:36:10.840 --> 0:36:12.440 from their headquarters in Miami. 0:36:19.000 --> 0:36:22.880 You're listening to the Bloomberg Business Week podcast. Listen live 0:36:22.960 --> 0:36:25.879 each weekday starting at two pm Eastern on Apple car 0:36:25.880 --> 0:36:28.880 Play and Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business App. You 0:36:28.880 --> 0:36:32.160 can also listen live on Amazon Alexa from our flagship 0:36:32.200 --> 0:36:36.000 New York station Just Say Alexa, playing Bloomberg eleven thirty. 0:36:37.400 --> 0:36:39.399 Play ahead in our second hour of the weekend edition 0:36:39.400 --> 0:36:42.680 of Bloomberg Business Week, including trading a job on a 0:36:42.800 --> 0:36:46.520 London trading desk for one as a whiskey distiller, will 0:36:46.560 --> 0:36:49.479 reintroduce you to the founder of Natterjack Irish whiskey whose 0:36:49.760 --> 0:36:52.200 happy accident to an innovative new blend. 0:36:52.480 --> 0:36:56.720 Plus the really really expensive Bugatti supercar that's also a hybrid, 0:36:57.040 --> 0:37:00.600 the CEO Breakfast Diet, and the former long run Broadway 0:37:00.640 --> 0:37:05.120 show Cats gets another life courtesy of Wild Costumes. It's 0:37:05.120 --> 0:37:06.800 all ahead in Bloomberg Pursuits. 0:37:06.840 --> 0:37:09.400 First up this hour, we begin with music and entertainment. 0:37:09.680 --> 0:37:12.719 The Las Vegas residency and extended run of concerts by 0:37:12.719 --> 0:37:16.080 a single artist has never been hotter. On any given week, 0:37:16.200 --> 0:37:18.600 fans can choose from an array of shows that might 0:37:18.640 --> 0:37:21.840 include a Dell with a string section at the Caesars Coliseum, 0:37:22.040 --> 0:37:25.720 Lady Gaga performing jazz standards on a piano at Park MGM, 0:37:25.880 --> 0:37:29.600 or Carrie Underwood belting out her country hits at Resorts World. 0:37:30.080 --> 0:37:32.879 Oh yeah, and then there's the sphere with you Two 0:37:32.920 --> 0:37:35.440 Fish and Dead and Company taking up residencies. 0:37:35.640 --> 0:37:38.400 It wasn't always this way Las Vegas, at least, in 0:37:38.400 --> 0:37:41.600 the words of one Las Vegas historian quote, was the 0:37:41.640 --> 0:37:45.760 place old performers go to die out. Bloomberg News entertainment 0:37:45.800 --> 0:37:48.200 reporter Chris Paul Mary writes all about the Las Vegas 0:37:48.200 --> 0:37:51.839 residency history and the latest issue of Bloomberg BusinessWeek magazine, 0:37:52.000 --> 0:37:54.560 also on the Bloomberg Terminal and at Bloomberg dot com 0:37:54.560 --> 0:37:56.920 slash BusinessWeek. So to understand how it got to be 0:37:56.960 --> 0:37:59.080 this way, We've got to go back in history from 0:37:59.120 --> 0:38:01.760 the days of Elvis and another surprising artist. 0:38:01.960 --> 0:38:04.960 It starts with Liberachi, believe it or not, who was 0:38:06.040 --> 0:38:10.040 a big star on TV and he was loured to 0:38:10.120 --> 0:38:13.960 Vegas a fifty thousand dollars a week contract. This is 0:38:14.000 --> 0:38:19.359 in nineteen fifty five. Wow, and and and just you know, 0:38:19.880 --> 0:38:22.160 makes it a thing to play there five nights a week. 0:38:23.000 --> 0:38:27.799 And that really establishes this idea of the star in 0:38:27.880 --> 0:38:30.319 residency playing one place. You want to see him, you 0:38:30.400 --> 0:38:33.160 go to Vegas. It's it's a you know, it's a 0:38:33.160 --> 0:38:36.840 big thing. And then of course you hit the tables afterwards. 0:38:37.360 --> 0:38:41.560 And it inspired Elvis, who bombed in his first Vegas 0:38:41.560 --> 0:38:45.840 experience with a big band a comedian and but but 0:38:46.000 --> 0:38:51.520 studied Liberaci and his showmanship and his outfits and and 0:38:51.760 --> 0:38:54.640 came up with his own Vegas version, which of course 0:38:54.640 --> 0:38:58.279 we all remember. And you know, the rat pack was 0:38:58.760 --> 0:39:02.000 you know, Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, they were a 0:39:02.040 --> 0:39:06.560 residency in the sixties. And then you kick it to 0:39:06.640 --> 0:39:09.840 kind of the modern editor of Celine Dion and the 0:39:09.880 --> 0:39:13.719 two thousands she opened the Caesars Coliseum. That was a 0:39:13.800 --> 0:39:16.960 huge deal, one hundred million dollars. That really opened the 0:39:17.520 --> 0:39:20.920 door for all kinds of folks life share and Elvis 0:39:21.000 --> 0:39:24.240 and now we cut to adel and the old idea 0:39:24.320 --> 0:39:27.000 that yeah, the Vegas is where these sort of old 0:39:27.040 --> 0:39:28.919 stars went, is no more. 0:39:29.160 --> 0:39:31.520 Well, it's so wild. I mean I was thinking about this, Chris, I. 0:39:31.560 --> 0:39:33.759 Mean, how much is it kind of the evolution of 0:39:33.960 --> 0:39:36.759 Vegas as a place to have great food, go see 0:39:36.800 --> 0:39:40.200 great shows, like really experience a lot of pretty cool 0:39:40.239 --> 0:39:43.040 things in kind of a relatively small area. 0:39:43.160 --> 0:39:43.800 How much of is it? 0:39:43.840 --> 0:39:45.880 Two performers just tired of going on the road, and 0:39:45.880 --> 0:39:47.840 they're like, let me do this gig for a while, 0:39:48.480 --> 0:39:50.600 make a bunch of money, and then be done. But 0:39:50.640 --> 0:39:52.200 I don't have to like get in my tour bus, 0:39:52.200 --> 0:39:54.279 I don't have to get on planes. Like it's I'm 0:39:54.280 --> 0:39:55.800 just curious how it's all hard together. 0:39:55.920 --> 0:39:59.200 Some of them have bought homes in Vegas too, and 0:39:59.280 --> 0:40:01.719 sort of settled down. You know, we got started in 0:40:01.760 --> 0:40:04.759 this because, as you mentioned, Vegas always reinvents itself. In 0:40:04.800 --> 0:40:08.200 the Sphere, which opened in September with a residency, if 0:40:08.440 --> 0:40:12.680 you two really just set a new bar for entertainment. 0:40:12.719 --> 0:40:14.920 A lot of people were skeptical about what was going 0:40:15.000 --> 0:40:17.160 to happen there, but it's just so mind blowing the 0:40:17.200 --> 0:40:21.280 experience of the video indoors and out on the entire theater, 0:40:21.880 --> 0:40:24.160 and so that sort of was like, well, this, this 0:40:24.200 --> 0:40:26.520 is sort of the new version of the residency. He 0:40:26.600 --> 0:40:29.719 got us thinking about that, and then I was surprised, 0:40:29.840 --> 0:40:33.719 actually it, being a long time concert goer, that this 0:40:33.800 --> 0:40:38.040 actually translates into Vegas having the highest average ticket price. 0:40:38.120 --> 0:40:39.680 I was shocked to see the country. 0:40:39.760 --> 0:40:43.239 Yeah, yeah, okay, so well, a couples one hundred and 0:40:43.239 --> 0:40:45.040 seventy six on average. It's a lot of money. 0:40:45.080 --> 0:40:48.160 Yeah, it's no Taylor Swift, but you know, you know, 0:40:48.480 --> 0:40:50.920 that's one thing that's always struck me about Vegas is 0:40:51.200 --> 0:40:54.480 everywhere and I've been there many many times, mostly for work, 0:40:54.760 --> 0:40:58.000 but one thing that I'm struck the right. Yeah, everything 0:40:58.080 --> 0:41:01.160 was there and cs every year, But what always strikes 0:41:01.200 --> 0:41:03.560 me is the way that people throw money around in Vegas. 0:41:03.800 --> 0:41:06.759 It's like it's like this fantasy world because the people 0:41:06.800 --> 0:41:08.520 who are throwing money around, you know, they're not throwing 0:41:08.520 --> 0:41:11.280 money around like that every day when they're at home. 0:41:11.640 --> 0:41:13.520 And I'm wondering what it is about Las Vegas that 0:41:13.560 --> 0:41:15.400 can attract such high ticket prices. 0:41:15.640 --> 0:41:18.600 Well, that's number one. People are going there, forty million 0:41:18.600 --> 0:41:22.000 people last year going there to have fun. You know, 0:41:22.280 --> 0:41:24.600 you're not going there to visit relatives. For the most part, 0:41:24.640 --> 0:41:27.160 You're not, you know, I mean it is you are 0:41:27.200 --> 0:41:30.760 cutting loose, and sometimes you're cutting loose with a corporate 0:41:30.760 --> 0:41:33.960 credit card too, like you mentioned going to a conference 0:41:34.000 --> 0:41:36.960 of some kind. So the city is designed really for that. 0:41:37.200 --> 0:41:39.239 So if you're not going to gamble, you're going to eat, 0:41:39.280 --> 0:41:42.720 you're going to see a show shop, you're spending money. 0:41:43.040 --> 0:41:46.200 The other thing is that these residencies tend to be 0:41:46.280 --> 0:41:50.320 smaller theaters. Some of the acts we really featured Christina Aguilera. 0:41:50.840 --> 0:41:53.480 You know, she's somebody who could play big Arenas. She's 0:41:53.520 --> 0:41:58.640 playing at a thousand seat theater at the Venetian, which 0:41:58.800 --> 0:42:01.800 was configured to kind of be like a Parisian nightclub, 0:42:02.239 --> 0:42:06.360 and it's got mostly tables seating. In addition to a 0:42:06.440 --> 0:42:08.880 you know, pretty high ticket price, you're also got a 0:42:08.920 --> 0:42:12.040 food and beverage minimum two hundred and fifty a person, 0:42:12.960 --> 0:42:15.840 which sounds like a lot until you try to until 0:42:15.840 --> 0:42:19.480 you sit down in a nightclub in Vegas, and it's 0:42:19.600 --> 0:42:23.239 just play money at that point. And so that's the 0:42:23.360 --> 0:42:26.160 experience she's going for. She told us, you know, everyone 0:42:26.160 --> 0:42:29.399 could feel like a VIP and people are buying it. 0:42:29.719 --> 0:42:31.719 Yeah, Vegas is the place where the ATM is only 0:42:31.719 --> 0:42:34.640 spit out hundred dollars bills. You know, you can't choose twenties. 0:42:35.400 --> 0:42:38.480 The size and scope, Yeah, her perspective. 0:42:39.880 --> 0:42:42.680 No signs of anything slowing down in terms of these 0:42:42.719 --> 0:42:46.879 types of performers coming there and and you know, more 0:42:46.920 --> 0:42:48.320 residencies to come essentially. 0:42:49.280 --> 0:42:51.840 Yeah, no, it certainly seems that way. People are lining 0:42:51.920 --> 0:42:54.399 up to get into the sphere. You know, the city 0:42:54.440 --> 0:42:57.640 talked about his first hip hop residency this year. We have, 0:42:57.840 --> 0:43:02.600 you know, still a huge artist, Lady Gaga del And 0:43:02.800 --> 0:43:05.560 the next thing we know we asked around about seems 0:43:05.560 --> 0:43:08.240 to be you're familiar with the Abbess show in London, 0:43:08.280 --> 0:43:16.080 the avatars avatars sorry, and you know it's probably going 0:43:16.160 --> 0:43:18.960 to be something along those lines. Maybe it'll be kiss 0:43:19.239 --> 0:43:24.680 who knows, but yeah, so, and that's you're right. The 0:43:24.719 --> 0:43:27.560 city reinvents itself. There was circus La for a while. 0:43:28.160 --> 0:43:31.480 Now it seems sports and residencies. 0:43:31.400 --> 0:43:32.000 Very cool stuff. 0:43:32.080 --> 0:43:34.120 Chris, Paul, Mary, thank you so much. Really fun to 0:43:34.239 --> 0:43:37.400 check in with you about the story. Bloomberg News Entertainment editor. 0:43:38.280 --> 0:43:40.399 Check out a story at Boomberg dot com and also 0:43:40.400 --> 0:43:41.440 on the Bloomberg terminal. 0:43:41.560 --> 0:43:43.640 You're listening and watching Bloomberg BusinessWeek. 0:43:46.040 --> 0:43:49.560 You're listening to the Bloomberg Business Week Podcast. Catch us 0:43:49.600 --> 0:43:52.840 live weekday afternoons from two to five pm Eastern. Listen 0:43:52.880 --> 0:43:55.560 on Apple, Cardplay and and Broight Auto with a Bloomberg 0:43:55.600 --> 0:43:58.040 Business app, or watch us live on YouTube. 0:43:59.680 --> 0:44:02.040 All right, Tim, here's pop quiz for you. What do 0:44:02.080 --> 0:44:05.840 you Enrique Iglesias, Lake Shelton, the rapper Future and the 0:44:05.920 --> 0:44:07.800 rapper and producer Logic all have in common? 0:44:07.880 --> 0:44:12.760 Dontin they make music good? They have Las Vegas residency. 0:44:12.800 --> 0:44:14.919 No, no, come on, you know this one. 0:44:15.040 --> 0:44:15.360 Okay. 0:44:15.440 --> 0:44:16.640 They've all sold their catalogs. 0:44:16.680 --> 0:44:18.160 Oh yeah, I wrote that, so I should know that. 0:44:19.360 --> 0:44:21.560 Sorry, guys, we tried to make this work or stakes 0:44:21.560 --> 0:44:24.800 in their catalogs they have sold to Influence Media Partners, 0:44:24.920 --> 0:44:27.279 a seven hundred and fifty million dollar fund backed by 0:44:27.280 --> 0:44:30.319 Warner Music and Black Rock that invests in music IP 0:44:30.520 --> 0:44:31.480 intellectual property. 0:44:31.680 --> 0:44:34.160 It's been a growing trend for musicians lately to cash 0:44:34.160 --> 0:44:36.799 out on their work. For the companies purchasing the catalogs, 0:44:36.800 --> 0:44:39.120 it may be worth the investment for more. We were 0:44:39.200 --> 0:44:41.920 joined by the founder and co managing partner of Influence 0:44:42.040 --> 0:44:43.960 Media Partners, Lolette Pizarro. 0:44:44.360 --> 0:44:46.759 This has been probably the healthiest we've seen in the 0:44:46.840 --> 0:44:53.080 last few years in single artist acquisition opportunity. What's gotten 0:44:53.160 --> 0:44:56.880 really interesting about the market for us at Influence is 0:44:56.920 --> 0:45:00.520 that artists really do care about partnership, and I has 0:45:00.560 --> 0:45:02.880 become a very vibrant space. 0:45:03.080 --> 0:45:05.040 Name image and likeness is what you're referring to. 0:45:05.400 --> 0:45:06.560 Name, image and likeness. 0:45:06.920 --> 0:45:08.719 And you know, when I wrote this strategy a few 0:45:08.800 --> 0:45:12.800 years ago, I wasn't quite sure if the active artists, 0:45:12.800 --> 0:45:17.440 an artist who has a manager, an agent, a really 0:45:17.719 --> 0:45:20.759 you know, significant bench of talent would allow us to 0:45:20.800 --> 0:45:22.840 invest in their name, image and likeness rights. 0:45:22.960 --> 0:45:25.319 Well, help us understand name, image and likeness when it 0:45:25.360 --> 0:45:27.719 comes to these artists, because we talk a lot about 0:45:27.719 --> 0:45:29.759 it in the context over the last few years of 0:45:29.840 --> 0:45:32.480 athletes in college who are now able to license their name, 0:45:32.520 --> 0:45:36.640 image and likeness. How does it work in the musician 0:45:36.680 --> 0:45:38.000 space in the artist space. 0:45:38.120 --> 0:45:42.319 Everyone has a different approach around how they manage name, 0:45:42.360 --> 0:45:44.680 image and likeness rights. I can tell you what we 0:45:44.760 --> 0:45:48.760 do at Influence as it relates to Influence. We approach 0:45:48.800 --> 0:45:52.560 it as an opportunity to invest in. 0:45:52.440 --> 0:45:54.240 A specific vertical of rights. 0:45:54.800 --> 0:45:58.120 So we look and we speak to we learn, We 0:45:58.280 --> 0:46:02.759 do insights works around how the artist has commercialized their name, 0:46:02.760 --> 0:46:05.880 image and likeness rights historically and what might be a 0:46:05.920 --> 0:46:10.200 white space, So it could be wellness or hospitality, or 0:46:10.239 --> 0:46:13.520 film and television, or an area that they haven't really 0:46:13.560 --> 0:46:16.799 explored but there's interest in exploring, and we'll approach it 0:46:16.840 --> 0:46:20.399 around taking a position on those rights exclusively. 0:46:20.719 --> 0:46:22.520 Isn't that kind of what an agent does. 0:46:22.760 --> 0:46:26.680 We partner with the agents very often, so I would 0:46:26.719 --> 0:46:29.120 say we look more like a marketing agent, which is 0:46:29.160 --> 0:46:32.759 more classic in sports and doesn't exist in music, and 0:46:32.800 --> 0:46:34.920 I feel like that's the white space that influence is 0:46:35.000 --> 0:46:38.200 really owning. So a marketing agent who will work in 0:46:38.280 --> 0:46:42.280 tandem with the television and commercial agent and the touring agent. 0:46:42.719 --> 0:46:47.120 But we're specifically focused on bringing new marketing opportunities to artists, 0:46:47.440 --> 0:46:52.000 and on a very specific basis, we also work with 0:46:52.120 --> 0:46:54.960 artists on non exclusive rights as it relates to name, 0:46:55.000 --> 0:46:58.120 image and likeness. But the proposition, given the type of 0:46:58.160 --> 0:47:01.280 talent that exists and influence and the type of marketing 0:47:01.360 --> 0:47:05.760 DNA that we're bringing in, it's become a very compelling 0:47:05.800 --> 0:47:09.200 proposition to talent in which now we're being approached just 0:47:09.360 --> 0:47:12.920 on name, image and likeness opportunity outside of catalog investments. 0:47:12.960 --> 0:47:14.359 That's what I was going to ask you, are there 0:47:14.360 --> 0:47:17.439 times where a performer says, yeah, we're going to hold 0:47:17.440 --> 0:47:19.080 on to our music, but can you help us with 0:47:19.080 --> 0:47:20.880 the other Can you help us with the name, image 0:47:20.880 --> 0:47:22.440 and likeness side of the business. 0:47:23.200 --> 0:47:24.920 Yeah, it just started to happen. 0:47:25.040 --> 0:47:28.920 It's you know, we're in early days of you know, influence. 0:47:29.120 --> 0:47:31.600 We're very much a startup, but it's so exciting and 0:47:31.680 --> 0:47:36.160 promising to see artists respond this way, see the opportunity 0:47:36.640 --> 0:47:39.600 and want to lean in on what we're proposing, our 0:47:39.640 --> 0:47:42.920 ambition and our strategy. I will tell you, Carol that 0:47:43.000 --> 0:47:47.719 our marketing, our marketing pipeline is just important to us 0:47:47.800 --> 0:47:51.440 as our acquisition pipeline. We really believe that if you're 0:47:51.480 --> 0:47:55.839 investing in IP, the best way to protect IP is 0:47:55.880 --> 0:48:00.759 to constantly drive rediscovery of that IP and make sure 0:48:00.800 --> 0:48:03.879 that it's at the forefront and there's ways to consistently 0:48:03.920 --> 0:48:06.600 re engage with fans and audience, and that is at 0:48:06.600 --> 0:48:07.879 the heart of our proposition. 0:48:08.320 --> 0:48:10.120 It's a seven hundred and fifty million dollar fund, it's 0:48:10.120 --> 0:48:12.360 backed by Warner Music in Black Rock. What can you 0:48:12.400 --> 0:48:15.000 tell us about fund returns over the last couple of years. 0:48:15.520 --> 0:48:19.239 So we've done very well. I mean investing in music royalties. 0:48:20.200 --> 0:48:23.480 As you guys know, it's an alternative investment class. But 0:48:23.560 --> 0:48:26.359 we've been performing a little bit better than I think 0:48:26.400 --> 0:48:30.200 the market would say that these royalties or investment in 0:48:30.280 --> 0:48:33.680 music whereights perform. And part of it is because one, 0:48:34.160 --> 0:48:39.719 we're highly focused on our value chain proposition. So from sourcing, 0:48:40.320 --> 0:48:44.640 we really look at, you know, making sure that the seller, 0:48:44.760 --> 0:48:47.520 so whether it's an artist or songwriter or an entrepreneur, 0:48:47.840 --> 0:48:51.200 truly cares about partnership and wants to lean in on 0:48:51.320 --> 0:48:53.520 value creation and marketing opportunities. 0:48:53.880 --> 0:48:57.160 So it makes what influence invests in a little bit 0:48:57.160 --> 0:48:58.520 different than the balance. 0:48:58.200 --> 0:49:00.000 Of the market. R What can you tell us about 0:49:00.440 --> 0:49:03.359 like expected returns though when someone comes to you as 0:49:03.480 --> 0:49:06.440 it's an alternative asset, as you mentioned, it's alternative investor, 0:49:06.480 --> 0:49:07.360 think what the market. 0:49:07.160 --> 0:49:10.040 Has said about these returns is that they are low 0:49:10.160 --> 0:49:13.680 to mid teen returns, and influences work better than mid 0:49:13.680 --> 0:49:14.480 teen's returns. 0:49:15.320 --> 0:49:17.080 All right, Just trying to get an idea of like 0:49:17.160 --> 0:49:18.600 kind of where it fits right. You know, we talk 0:49:18.640 --> 0:49:20.840 a lot about alt investing, so it's just trying to 0:49:20.840 --> 0:49:24.920 get an idea of exactly kind of where it kind 0:49:24.960 --> 0:49:28.520 of slots in in the investment space. Having said that, 0:49:29.600 --> 0:49:32.200 I don't know, like, how big can it be for 0:49:32.280 --> 0:49:35.960 you guys, You know, to mention how much you guys, 0:49:36.040 --> 0:49:37.799 you've got a seven hundred and fifty million dollar fun 0:49:37.880 --> 0:49:42.279 already already six hundred million in Are you getting new 0:49:42.320 --> 0:49:44.920 investor money coming in to either do a second fund 0:49:45.040 --> 0:49:46.040 or build out this fund? 0:49:46.360 --> 0:49:49.640 Yeah, So our investors are really happy with our performance 0:49:49.680 --> 0:49:52.759 and our returning to our next vehicle. I think the 0:49:52.880 --> 0:49:56.680 question always is what's the appropriate scale for this investment class, 0:49:56.719 --> 0:50:00.080 and we're working to define that as well. Look, we 0:50:00.160 --> 0:50:05.440 see ourselves as a premium rights holder of premium music rights, 0:50:05.920 --> 0:50:09.759 and so we also very much care about having the 0:50:09.800 --> 0:50:13.200 opportunity to partner and actively manage. And I think we've 0:50:13.239 --> 0:50:17.520 identified our space in the sub early billions of opportunity 0:50:17.560 --> 0:50:20.360 for the future, so, you know, potentially a two to 0:50:20.400 --> 0:50:23.919 three billion dollar vehicle. I know that there are other 0:50:24.680 --> 0:50:28.319 buyers in the space who have far larger ambitions, but 0:50:28.440 --> 0:50:31.640 right now, that's how we see the opportunity at Influence. 0:50:32.000 --> 0:50:35.439 You know, there was a period until about twenty twenty 0:50:35.440 --> 0:50:38.040 two we were talking about this all the time. Kenny Chesney, 0:50:38.120 --> 0:50:42.560 Leonard Cohen, Justin Timberlake. Those were catalogs applied by Hypnosis 0:50:42.560 --> 0:50:45.799 and Blackstone, John Legend, Bruce Springsteen's TBNX, Bob Dylan. They've 0:50:45.800 --> 0:50:49.480 struck deals with other firms. Has the idea of selling 0:50:49.520 --> 0:50:53.800 a catalog slowed down at all? In a higher rate environment. 0:50:54.080 --> 0:50:57.319 There has been just as much activity in terms of acquisition, 0:50:57.880 --> 0:51:00.399 and there has been just as much activity in terms 0:51:00.400 --> 0:51:04.399 of new entrants backed by institutional investors. But what has 0:51:04.480 --> 0:51:09.560 shifted is the actual announcement activity. And I've been looking 0:51:09.680 --> 0:51:13.360 and studying that. Even as us as influence, we've only 0:51:13.400 --> 0:51:15.719 announced twenty five percent of our acquisitions. 0:51:15.840 --> 0:51:17.440 Interesting, I was wondering about that because I saw the 0:51:17.480 --> 0:51:19.680 numbers versus who you've announced. But you know, you say 0:51:19.680 --> 0:51:21.680 there's more people out there to do the acquisitions, the 0:51:21.680 --> 0:51:24.000 more institutional money, doesn't that make it more expensive for you? 0:51:24.000 --> 0:51:25.719 We only have thirty seconds left. But if there's more 0:51:25.719 --> 0:51:28.800 places for these artists to sell, doesn't it increase competition? 0:51:29.680 --> 0:51:33.520 Yeah, looks competition continues to get more and more competitive 0:51:33.520 --> 0:51:38.120 around music rights. So what's critically important is understanding your 0:51:38.160 --> 0:51:43.000 proposition around value creation, being able to have deep trust 0:51:43.000 --> 0:51:43.680 in the space. 0:51:44.360 --> 0:51:46.000 You know, sourcing truly matter. 0:51:46.080 --> 0:51:50.319 So proprietary sourcing or limited opportunity matters and gives you a. 0:51:50.239 --> 0:51:51.440 Bit of an advantage. 0:51:51.640 --> 0:51:55.719 So yes, as it continues to get more competitive, being 0:51:55.719 --> 0:51:58.560 able to be thoughtful across the value chain is critical. 0:51:59.000 --> 0:52:02.239 Listen, really appreciated eving so real and transparent. Really fun 0:52:02.239 --> 0:52:04.080 to talk with you. I'll Lette, take care and look 0:52:04.120 --> 0:52:06.799 forward to hearing more in the future. Luette Pizarro. She's 0:52:06.800 --> 0:52:09.360 a founder and co managing partner of Influenced Media Partners. 0:52:09.400 --> 0:52:12.880 Joining us right here in New York City. 0:52:16.680 --> 0:52:20.560 You're listening to the Bloomberg Business Week podcast. Listen live 0:52:20.640 --> 0:52:23.480 each weekday starting at two pm Eastern on Apple car 0:52:23.600 --> 0:52:26.560 Play and Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business App. You 0:52:26.600 --> 0:52:29.840 can also listen live on Amazon Alexa from our flagship 0:52:29.920 --> 0:52:33.720 New York station. Just say Alexa play Bloomberg eleven thirty. 0:52:35.040 --> 0:52:39.520 All right, everybody, there is Scotch, whiskey, US whiskey, Canadian whiskey, 0:52:39.640 --> 0:52:44.480 Japanese whiskey, blended Tennessee whiskey, single malt, and more. 0:52:44.600 --> 0:52:45.759 I didn't know that. 0:52:45.760 --> 0:52:47.920 That's I have to tell you. All I know is 0:52:47.960 --> 0:52:49.799 I like a good whiskey sour. That's all I know. 0:52:50.200 --> 0:52:52.799 The global market for whiskeys is valued at approximately one 0:52:52.840 --> 0:52:56.400 hundred and forty billion dollars according to Euromonitor International. Our 0:52:56.440 --> 0:52:59.520 next guest last stop by on Saint Patti's Day, Saint 0:52:59.560 --> 0:53:03.720 Patrick's Day, and shared his story and shared some whiskey. 0:53:03.600 --> 0:53:06.560 Back with an update and how a recent mistake actually 0:53:06.560 --> 0:53:10.120 turned into an opportunity, is Aiden Megan, founder of Natterjack 0:53:10.200 --> 0:53:10.960 Irish Whiskey. 0:53:11.120 --> 0:53:13.839 Look, we've been traveling to anyone who will have us 0:53:14.080 --> 0:53:17.120 to go and promote the whiskey. We're now in fourteen 0:53:17.160 --> 0:53:20.480 states in the US, we'll be in twenty by the 0:53:20.560 --> 0:53:22.080 end of the year, and then with a bit of 0:53:22.120 --> 0:53:24.360 a tail wind twenty five by Saint Patrick's say, and 0:53:24.400 --> 0:53:27.600 we opened up New England. So it's been just been incredible. 0:53:27.600 --> 0:53:29.600 The reception to the whiskey has been great, and we 0:53:29.719 --> 0:53:33.879 got national national distribution through Total Wine and More, which 0:53:33.920 --> 0:53:36.319 was massive because we won Irish Whiskey the Year for 0:53:36.400 --> 0:53:39.040 twenty twenty four. Those recognitions are important, are yeah, yeah, 0:53:39.040 --> 0:53:41.080 and the previous winners are like the massive, like the 0:53:41.440 --> 0:53:43.880 twenty twenty two bottle. That one is a thirty year 0:53:43.880 --> 0:53:45.560 old Irish whiskey and it's two and a half round 0:53:45.560 --> 0:53:49.280 a bottle. Ours is eighty. So you talk about value 0:53:49.320 --> 0:53:51.000 and everyone knows value or it doesn't matter who you are. 0:53:51.080 --> 0:53:53.640 So it was really just an incredible award and it 0:53:53.640 --> 0:53:55.520 was really well taken. It opened up these kind of chains, 0:53:55.520 --> 0:53:57.080 and we've just opened up a big chain in Texas 0:53:57.120 --> 0:53:59.080 as well. I think we've got a good story, but 0:53:59.320 --> 0:54:02.000 people are like can I buy it? And it's really 0:54:02.239 --> 0:54:05.200 it's really frustrating when you're like, well there's local liquor 0:54:05.239 --> 0:54:07.600 store on sixth then and you're just like, that's not 0:54:07.640 --> 0:54:10.600 a compelling story. So so this is this change this year. 0:54:10.600 --> 0:54:11.160 It's been amazing. 0:54:11.160 --> 0:54:13.719 So talk about that process of going state to state here, 0:54:13.800 --> 0:54:17.080 because I think a lot of people who've lived in 0:54:17.160 --> 0:54:21.680 different states might understand that local and state liquor liquor 0:54:21.800 --> 0:54:25.960 laws very drastically across borders. Absolutely, So it's like it's 0:54:26.040 --> 0:54:28.640 really tough on a distribution level, especially if you're a 0:54:28.640 --> 0:54:31.680 small independent player to succeed here. How do you do it? 0:54:31.920 --> 0:54:34.880 So you partner with In our case, I can't even 0:54:34.960 --> 0:54:36.320 speak to our case because we're not with one of 0:54:36.320 --> 0:54:39.480 the big distributors, with individual distributors in each in each market. 0:54:39.719 --> 0:54:42.279 So what we do is we go we educate them 0:54:42.440 --> 0:54:46.319 we incentivize them to to incentivize them by bring them 0:54:46.320 --> 0:54:48.520 along in the journey, right, So meet them, spend time 0:54:48.560 --> 0:54:50.239 with them, spend time in market with them, telling the 0:54:50.239 --> 0:54:52.480 story so that they can then effectively tell the story 0:54:52.480 --> 0:54:52.799 as well. 0:54:52.840 --> 0:54:53.800 That's a slow process. 0:54:53.840 --> 0:54:54.719 Oh, it is absolutely. 0:54:54.800 --> 0:54:57.040 I think I was home two days in May, so 0:54:57.440 --> 0:55:00.560 you're on the road. It's it is pound the pavement. 0:55:00.640 --> 0:55:02.160 But that's actually what we've got to do. But then 0:55:02.160 --> 0:55:04.040 you add to the team, right, So we're now up 0:55:04.080 --> 0:55:07.640 to we have eight reps, We've a national sales director, 0:55:07.680 --> 0:55:10.120 we're just about to hire a national marketing director. We've 0:55:10.160 --> 0:55:13.360 got three people in Ireland. So it's a lot of 0:55:13.360 --> 0:55:15.640 penning in the pavement. But as you scale, you then 0:55:16.000 --> 0:55:18.080 you get them to tell the story and they can 0:55:18.200 --> 0:55:18.840 educate people. 0:55:18.880 --> 0:55:20.319 And I want to get to the story. But I 0:55:20.320 --> 0:55:22.399 do feel like it's a moment in time, or has 0:55:22.440 --> 0:55:26.200 been for years that in the liquor market, the alcohol 0:55:26.280 --> 0:55:30.560 market overall, that upstarts newcomers can really find a niche 0:55:30.600 --> 0:55:33.680 for themselves that people are interested. I think consumers are 0:55:33.680 --> 0:55:35.800 looking for different choices. 0:55:35.920 --> 0:55:37.960 They are they're looking for authenticity as well, right, And 0:55:38.000 --> 0:55:40.920 I think at the larger brand level that authenticity doesn't 0:55:40.920 --> 0:55:44.720 speak to someone who's who's into the process or into 0:55:44.960 --> 0:55:47.319 starting a business or those sorts of things that they 0:55:47.360 --> 0:55:48.000 struggle with that. 0:55:48.280 --> 0:55:49.719 So so for for a. 0:55:49.640 --> 0:55:51.719 Brand like ours, yeah, it's an amazing time to be 0:55:51.760 --> 0:55:54.480 able to actually go and meet the people and tell 0:55:54.520 --> 0:55:55.160 them our story. 0:55:55.480 --> 0:55:57.440 Talk to us though about your story, remind our world. 0:55:57.560 --> 0:56:00.919 So yeah, I was an equity trader hedge fund back 0:56:00.920 --> 0:56:04.080 in in twenty fifteen. I think was when I kind 0:56:04.080 --> 0:56:05.759 of had the moment. I was like, look, is this 0:56:05.920 --> 0:56:07.640 everything that I want to do with my life? 0:56:07.719 --> 0:56:08.440 Like I loved it. 0:56:08.520 --> 0:56:10.800 I think I was okay at it, like a decent career, 0:56:11.880 --> 0:56:13.799 but I was like I wanted to build something. 0:56:13.840 --> 0:56:14.960 I wanted to build a business. 0:56:15.040 --> 0:56:17.120 Now I was running the business with my partners and 0:56:17.120 --> 0:56:18.920 that sort of stuff, but I was like, this is 0:56:18.920 --> 0:56:20.200 the time for me to go do that, right. I 0:56:20.200 --> 0:56:22.400 had no real responsibilities at a house. I sold the 0:56:22.440 --> 0:56:25.279 house and moved back in with my parents, which they 0:56:25.280 --> 0:56:26.680 were very good to take me in for a couple 0:56:26.719 --> 0:56:27.120 of years. 0:56:27.320 --> 0:56:28.760 And how is your seed money? 0:56:28.800 --> 0:56:29.120 That was it? 0:56:29.320 --> 0:56:31.600 Yeah, I sold the house and that was just like 0:56:31.960 --> 0:56:33.440 how much is this going to take? It turns out 0:56:33.440 --> 0:56:34.759 it took a lot more time and lot more money 0:56:34.760 --> 0:56:37.719 than I ever fathomed. But then we got outside investment, 0:56:38.480 --> 0:56:41.319 and our investors are based out of a Michigan And 0:56:41.400 --> 0:56:42.640 so the first thing I had to do is I 0:56:42.640 --> 0:56:44.319 had to build a team. So I found Jordan Via 0:56:44.320 --> 0:56:47.560 whose artist Doller. I found a team of industry guys 0:56:47.560 --> 0:56:48.760 to help me because I had no idea. 0:56:48.560 --> 0:56:50.520 What I was doing, and in some ways I still how. 0:56:50.400 --> 0:56:50.920 Did you do that? 0:56:51.040 --> 0:56:53.000 Or is that just the trader mentality? I don't know, 0:56:53.120 --> 0:56:53.799 Let's figure out. 0:56:53.760 --> 0:56:55.239 To figure it out on the go, right, So I 0:56:55.280 --> 0:56:58.480 built I found actually my first business plan recently. It's 0:56:58.560 --> 0:57:02.560 dreadful like it issolutely horrific. So you go and you 0:57:02.560 --> 0:57:04.560 you learn, right, And so the business plans that they 0:57:04.600 --> 0:57:06.839 as they as it grew, it kind of became its 0:57:06.840 --> 0:57:09.200 own kind of thing. And then what I didn't want 0:57:09.200 --> 0:57:11.080 to do was what a lot of my peers had done, 0:57:11.120 --> 0:57:13.399 which is released of vodka origin, and that was that's 0:57:13.680 --> 0:57:15.200 that What I did know, what I wanted to do 0:57:15.320 --> 0:57:18.000 was clearly, yeah, you and I could have a gin 0:57:18.040 --> 0:57:19.640 in twelve hours, so it could. 0:57:19.480 --> 0:57:21.800 Get a bath. Tim and Aiden's gin boom. 0:57:22.000 --> 0:57:22.200 Right. 0:57:22.280 --> 0:57:27.760 So so when Tim's not doing over the regat, so. 0:57:27.720 --> 0:57:29.880 I needed to so, but I wanted to do whiskey, 0:57:29.920 --> 0:57:31.360 So then we need to source whiskey. But this is 0:57:31.360 --> 0:57:33.480 back in twenty fifteen sixteen, that wasn't much available from 0:57:33.480 --> 0:57:36.000 a sourcing perspective. So I got you know, I got 0:57:36.000 --> 0:57:39.080 offered two thousand meters of eight year old double still, 0:57:39.120 --> 0:57:40.680 and I was like, I could buy that. Now I've 0:57:40.680 --> 0:57:42.120 got the capital and we can take it to market. 0:57:42.120 --> 0:57:44.280 But what happens then if it's a success, I can't. 0:57:44.080 --> 0:57:45.080 Get any more of it. 0:57:45.120 --> 0:57:49.720 So then that was all that was available contract. Yeah, yeah, 0:57:50.200 --> 0:57:52.320 So I learned that, you know, I learned that I 0:57:52.320 --> 0:57:54.160 wanted a plan for scale, that we wanted to go 0:57:54.280 --> 0:57:56.960 for something that could really take off, and if it 0:57:57.040 --> 0:57:58.800 takes off, that there's not so many breaks on it. 0:57:58.840 --> 0:58:00.959 Because what I didn't want is to have a huge 0:58:00.960 --> 0:58:02.600 success and be like, Okay, you can have some more 0:58:02.640 --> 0:58:04.280 in five years when everyone's forgotten about it and you 0:58:04.320 --> 0:58:08.280 sit around going bankrupt. So so I really we held 0:58:08.320 --> 0:58:10.360 off and held off until we could get that proper 0:58:10.400 --> 0:58:13.080 supply contract that would allow us to grow. And we've 0:58:13.120 --> 0:58:16.880 now secured five years worth of what we need for 0:58:16.960 --> 0:58:19.280 the growth trajectory that we're on. So it's been amazing, 0:58:19.440 --> 0:58:21.320 but that meant we had to push it back a year, 0:58:21.520 --> 0:58:23.640 and that's a year. Don't forget me and my parents' basement. 0:58:23.640 --> 0:58:24.640 They're like, what are you doing. 0:58:24.840 --> 0:58:26.320 I'm like, well, I'm like. 0:58:27.240 --> 0:58:30.560 Are you not being judges? 0:58:31.000 --> 0:58:31.560 Thirty five? 0:58:31.600 --> 0:58:33.560 It's like, that's what parents are for. They take in 0:58:33.640 --> 0:58:34.240 when they need. 0:58:34.080 --> 0:58:34.720 It well exactly. 0:58:34.760 --> 0:58:36.440 And then but then I met my wife and I 0:58:36.480 --> 0:58:37.520 was like, yeah, I need to move back. 0:58:37.800 --> 0:58:40.480 Yes, is going to go back to the parents. 0:58:40.880 --> 0:58:41.960 Hey, but she loved you. 0:58:42.040 --> 0:58:44.280 Then yeah, it's a big thing exactly exactly. 0:58:44.400 --> 0:58:45.800 But you also to deal with the pandemic. 0:58:46.200 --> 0:58:48.720 Yeah, yeah, And that was that put us into a 0:58:48.800 --> 0:58:51.800 kind of a tail spin. Right, So we had initial 0:58:51.800 --> 0:58:54.080 investors who weren't happy with how it goes. And the 0:58:54.080 --> 0:58:57.400 weird thing about the pandemic is Perna, Rickard and Diaghi 0:58:57.520 --> 0:58:59.440 the big companies, we're doing really well because they own 0:58:59.560 --> 0:59:01.120 every heart of the shelf. 0:59:01.400 --> 0:59:02.760 So if you wanted a twenty. 0:59:02.520 --> 0:59:04.400 Dollars or one hundred and twenty dollars bottle that were 0:59:04.600 --> 0:59:06.800 two hundred two two thousand dollars, they own everything. We 0:59:06.840 --> 0:59:09.400 had one skew right, so it's like who's taking a punt? 0:59:09.440 --> 0:59:11.720 On fifty eurobottle of whiskey. We've got the pricing wrong 0:59:11.760 --> 0:59:12.080 as well. 0:59:12.160 --> 0:59:12.880 But during the. 0:59:12.840 --> 0:59:16.200 Pandemic and so sales slowed, but they actually continued in 0:59:16.200 --> 0:59:18.760 the US, and because we pivoted a little bit to urs, 0:59:18.800 --> 0:59:20.800 so we were able to pivot because of our display 0:59:21.080 --> 0:59:23.760 our display box into the off prem the US. By 0:59:23.760 --> 0:59:25.360 the end of the pandemic, we were in kind of 0:59:25.560 --> 0:59:28.240 nine states and that was pretty amazing. 0:59:28.360 --> 0:59:31.800 Wow, which really kind of gives you some momentum, right, Yeah, Yeah, 0:59:31.840 --> 0:59:32.400 there's side. 0:59:32.760 --> 0:59:34.560 When you expand to a new state. How much do 0:59:34.640 --> 0:59:35.320 sales grow. 0:59:35.760 --> 0:59:38.760 At the start? Very small, It's but you've got to go. 0:59:38.880 --> 0:59:39.960 You've got a program, so. 0:59:40.200 --> 0:59:43.680 It's not just being available. It's about educating the folks around. 0:59:43.720 --> 0:59:47.000 So do shows. We go to shows, we educate. 0:59:47.200 --> 0:59:49.920 We we do staff trainings in chains of bars or 0:59:49.960 --> 0:59:53.080 in the bars, right, and you try and get onto 0:59:53.080 --> 0:59:55.200 cocktail lists and then you try and get the placement 0:59:55.400 --> 0:59:57.120 in the right place behind the bars that people can 0:59:57.240 --> 0:59:58.480 see because the toad. 0:59:58.640 --> 0:59:59.640 People do call out the toad. 0:59:59.680 --> 1:00:00.960 So yeah, the toad on the bottle. 1:00:01.120 --> 1:00:03.080 I gotta say, like there are times like I'm buying one, 1:00:03.120 --> 1:00:04.360 I'm like I kind of like that bottle. But it 1:00:04.360 --> 1:00:06.200 looks like your bottle is pretty cool. And we're going 1:00:06.280 --> 1:00:08.240 to get into the toad in just a moment, because 1:00:08.280 --> 1:00:10.680 you guys have actually been doing some really honorable stuff 1:00:11.080 --> 1:00:13.680 around that making sure that the toad stick stays around 1:00:13.680 --> 1:00:16.320 for a long time. You brought us something we want 1:00:16.320 --> 1:00:18.680 to talk about, the mistake. What is the mistake? 1:00:18.960 --> 1:00:21.920 So our blend for Blend one and for a cast strength, 1:00:22.000 --> 1:00:24.560 it spends three and a half years expert one year 1:00:24.600 --> 1:00:27.640 virgin oak. Right, So I thought we'd taken out in 1:00:27.680 --> 1:00:30.600 twenty twenty are Blend one blend and put it into 1:00:30.600 --> 1:00:32.880 steel containers for the next time we needed to do it. 1:00:32.920 --> 1:00:34.760 The pandemic was on, we didn't have a huge need 1:00:34.800 --> 1:00:35.320 for whiskey. 1:00:35.360 --> 1:00:37.520 So about a year later I called up the guy 1:00:37.840 --> 1:00:39.360 who'd done it and I was like, where's that whiskey 1:00:39.360 --> 1:00:42.240 now and he's like, it's still in barrel. I was like, what, No, 1:00:43.400 --> 1:00:45.000 you can't, we can't take it. So I was like, well, 1:00:45.080 --> 1:00:46.320 we're going to do because I can't sell that as 1:00:46.400 --> 1:00:47.520 natter jack and I didn't. 1:00:47.320 --> 1:00:47.880 Have a brand for it. 1:00:47.920 --> 1:00:50.600 So it's like okay, So we left it and Jordan, 1:00:50.800 --> 1:00:53.640 via our distiller, was so he tasted about six months ago, 1:00:53.680 --> 1:00:55.720 and he's like, that is the best whiskey we've ever made. 1:00:55.920 --> 1:00:57.080 It's incredible. 1:00:57.640 --> 1:00:59.320 So we said, okay, great, well this is what a 1:00:59.320 --> 1:01:02.640 screw up becomes a percent and evolution is full of mistakes. 1:01:02.680 --> 1:01:06.760 And everyone was like, okay, let's let's let's really market this. 1:01:06.800 --> 1:01:08.480 We're going to say you know, this was always your 1:01:08.560 --> 1:01:11.000 vision for the whiskey. And I was like, well that's ball, 1:01:11.280 --> 1:01:12.040 Like it's a lie. 1:01:12.160 --> 1:01:14.240 Can I continue talking? 1:01:14.280 --> 1:01:16.040 So I was like, let's call it. Let's call it 1:01:16.040 --> 1:01:17.919 a mistake. I've made some huge mistakes in my life, 1:01:17.920 --> 1:01:20.080 so some of the best parts of life come from mistakes. 1:01:20.120 --> 1:01:22.120 And I was like, let's just own it. 1:01:22.120 --> 1:01:25.960 It was wow, it was that sounded very good, and 1:01:26.040 --> 1:01:26.600 it is. 1:01:27.400 --> 1:01:29.400 It's like our whiskey it's a year older, it's and 1:01:29.520 --> 1:01:32.480 one year later in virgin I know, how big of 1:01:32.480 --> 1:01:34.160 a badge, forty six barrels. 1:01:34.440 --> 1:01:38.680 It's all sold. Yeah, huge, you can't. 1:01:38.680 --> 1:01:41.520 You can get some through natterjack dot com. And it's 1:01:41.560 --> 1:01:43.320 when I when I say it's sold, it's left our 1:01:43.680 --> 1:01:46.800 left our distribution, right, so it's still in stores. 1:01:46.600 --> 1:01:48.400 But we don't have That's the lot. 1:01:48.440 --> 1:01:50.240 I haven't seen a bottle in since I saw that 1:01:50.280 --> 1:01:52.480 one todays really heavenly. 1:01:52.360 --> 1:01:54.360 Thank you. Yeah, so it's really heavy on. 1:01:54.320 --> 1:01:57.800 The class to walk us through. 1:01:58.200 --> 1:02:01.000 So it's a little bit lighter on malt than our 1:02:01.080 --> 1:02:02.720 original blend, but it's still in there. 1:02:02.640 --> 1:02:05.440 About seventeen or smell lighter hmm, yeah, I feel it. 1:02:05.480 --> 1:02:07.959 And then there's lots there's still the char number four 1:02:08.120 --> 1:02:13.080 and still for me toasted walnut, a little bit of cinnamon. 1:02:13.240 --> 1:02:16.680 And so what does that teach you? 1:02:16.960 --> 1:02:19.440 As someone like these mistakes? 1:02:19.440 --> 1:02:21.400 So now are you guys experimenting more? 1:02:21.680 --> 1:02:24.040 Yeah, we are. We're playing around with it, we we do. 1:02:24.080 --> 1:02:24.840 You know what it taught me? 1:02:24.920 --> 1:02:28.080 It taught me that problems are only problems if. 1:02:27.960 --> 1:02:28.800 You see them as problems. 1:02:28.840 --> 1:02:31.360 That's pretty nice, right, This is why you make mistakes 1:02:31.360 --> 1:02:31.720 in life. 1:02:31.800 --> 1:02:33.120 A sorry sorry? 1:02:33.160 --> 1:02:33.400 Yeah. 1:02:33.760 --> 1:02:36.720 So my biggest trading mistake was about Korean one non 1:02:36.760 --> 1:02:40.560 deliverable forwards, which is which cost me my job back in. 1:02:40.560 --> 1:02:43.280 There it really yeah did Yeah, I rolled the wrong amount. 1:02:43.480 --> 1:02:46.000 I didn't know what a non deliverable forward was, so 1:02:46.200 --> 1:02:48.200 I now know what a non deliverbal forward is and 1:02:48.240 --> 1:02:48.880 I no longer. 1:02:49.400 --> 1:02:50.919 So some mistakes cost a job. 1:02:51.000 --> 1:02:54.880 Some mistakes can make a great, incredible delivery, like yeah, and. 1:02:55.000 --> 1:02:56.520 I think it's our I think it's our best whiskey. 1:02:56.560 --> 1:02:59.240 But then also for our first shipment to China in 1:02:59.280 --> 1:03:01.840 twenty nineteen, shipment like a thousand cases. We hadn't had 1:03:01.840 --> 1:03:03.520 a thousand case orders the first year of the business. 1:03:03.680 --> 1:03:06.320 Fay and I hand dipped all the bottles in black 1:03:06.360 --> 1:03:09.360 wax and they all got sent to China. But they 1:03:09.400 --> 1:03:12.440 went through the equator, which is fifty degrees liquid expanded 1:03:12.480 --> 1:03:16.600 because it's hot, wax man because it melts packed and 1:03:16.640 --> 1:03:19.320 so all the bottles opened. So it got to China 1:03:19.320 --> 1:03:20.920 and they said they opened it and it smelt amazing. 1:03:21.000 --> 1:03:24.120 There was no whiskey, so so it was all open. 1:03:24.240 --> 1:03:25.840 So we turned that that was a mistake. 1:03:25.920 --> 1:03:29.320 Yeah, turned that into mister Wang, our Chinese distributor, came 1:03:29.360 --> 1:03:30.800 in and he was like, are you going to cover 1:03:30.840 --> 1:03:31.280 the cost of this? 1:03:31.320 --> 1:03:32.560 And I was like, no, You've got insurance. 1:03:32.560 --> 1:03:33.040 He's like, my. 1:03:32.920 --> 1:03:37.040 Insurance doesn't cover wax melting and liquid expanding in the equator. 1:03:37.080 --> 1:03:38.959 And I was like, okay, if you triple your order, 1:03:39.840 --> 1:03:43.200 I'll cover the cost the first one. He's like done, Aidan. 1:03:43.200 --> 1:03:45.560 One thing I wanted to talk about was just the 1:03:45.640 --> 1:03:48.440 changing viewer around alcohol that we're seeing here in the US. 1:03:48.680 --> 1:03:49.919 How do you think about stuff like that. 1:03:50.440 --> 1:03:51.880 I do think about it quite a bit, and I 1:03:51.920 --> 1:03:54.640 think there definitely is a movement that way. And look, 1:03:54.680 --> 1:03:58.160 I think we know that alcohol in moderation. It's one 1:03:58.560 --> 1:04:00.240 study one day says that, with the other the oder 1:04:00.280 --> 1:04:03.480 days right, But for me, it's it is definitely a 1:04:03.480 --> 1:04:06.520 movement towards drinking less and also drinking better. So when 1:04:06.520 --> 1:04:08.760 we talked about authenticity and knowing the process and knowing 1:04:08.760 --> 1:04:11.800 the producers, I think that's really an opportunity for us 1:04:12.120 --> 1:04:14.800 for people to say, right, well, if what I'm going 1:04:14.880 --> 1:04:17.760 to have tonight is one whiskey, I want to drink 1:04:17.800 --> 1:04:19.880 something where it actually means something to me. So it's 1:04:19.880 --> 1:04:23.760 an opportunity to connect with a consumer, and I think 1:04:23.840 --> 1:04:26.160 that's how we try and tell that story as well. 1:04:26.200 --> 1:04:27.480 So like my mother, it's like when you're going to 1:04:27.560 --> 1:04:29.720 go shopping, like you know you're gonna buy something, make 1:04:29.760 --> 1:04:31.480 sure it's something you buy really good and make sure 1:04:31.480 --> 1:04:34.680 it lasts forever. Like this idea of quantity over maybe 1:04:34.760 --> 1:04:37.600 quality just generally, like you do wonder whether or not 1:04:37.640 --> 1:04:39.680 that kind of kicks in again in a world where 1:04:39.720 --> 1:04:42.760 we are very blessed by abundance, but you do wonder 1:04:42.800 --> 1:04:44.760 at some point where people are kind of like, well 1:04:44.760 --> 1:04:46.720 wait a minute, you know, and certainly in a higher 1:04:46.800 --> 1:04:47.920 inflationary environment. 1:04:47.920 --> 1:04:48.520 I think that's right. 1:04:48.640 --> 1:04:50.959 Yeah, the natterjack toad. First of all, if you haven't 1:04:50.960 --> 1:04:52.480 seen this bottle, I'm going to take a picture and 1:04:52.480 --> 1:04:55.520 tweet it out. But it makes your bottle so distinct. 1:04:56.040 --> 1:04:58.120 Remind us about the natterjack toad. 1:04:58.440 --> 1:05:00.880 So natterjact toad is the only toad indigenous to Ireland. 1:05:00.920 --> 1:05:03.320 But it's a very Irish toad. It can't harp, it walks, 1:05:03.400 --> 1:05:03.920 it can't. 1:05:03.720 --> 1:05:06.560 Swim arounds, think great, and it does things its own 1:05:06.560 --> 1:05:08.920 way to survive. So it's very definite in how it walks. 1:05:09.000 --> 1:05:11.600 It has a croak that can be heard two kilometers away, 1:05:11.680 --> 1:05:14.560 like or sorry, amazing calling we heard two kilometers away, 1:05:14.600 --> 1:05:15.760 like like some whiskey drinkers. 1:05:15.760 --> 1:05:18.200 And it's not like always those male toads are so 1:05:18.280 --> 1:05:18.959 desperate there. 1:05:18.880 --> 1:05:23.480 We are, right, but they're as I say, they're not 1:05:23.560 --> 1:05:25.840 very good at swimming and they live in pools, so 1:05:25.920 --> 1:05:28.480 that's not a great combination. So what happens is they 1:05:28.960 --> 1:05:30.920 tend to die off. So they're endangered in Ireland. The're 1:05:30.920 --> 1:05:33.640 originally from Ireland, they're across Europe, but they're they're originally 1:05:33.640 --> 1:05:35.840 from these sand dunes in Kerry, and so we released 1:05:35.920 --> 1:05:38.760 yesterday released a thousand of them. We reckon about twenty 1:05:38.800 --> 1:05:41.040 percent of that will survive, and then we do next 1:05:41.080 --> 1:05:44.120 week we do another thousand and so they're they're incubated 1:05:44.200 --> 1:05:47.800 at Dingle Aquarium and then they're released. Scott and Stephen, 1:05:47.840 --> 1:05:50.479 we're down releasing them into the wild in the West 1:05:50.480 --> 1:05:50.920 of Ireland. 1:05:51.040 --> 1:05:52.720 Fortune of your profits to are going. 1:05:52.600 --> 1:05:57.640 Absolutely so we sponsor the program every year. It's a 1:05:57.640 --> 1:06:00.280 great program to keep them alive. And I think without them, well, 1:06:00.400 --> 1:06:02.120 this is party called Aid and Megan's Whiskey, and we 1:06:02.120 --> 1:06:03.080 wouldn't be sitting here. 1:06:03.880 --> 1:06:04.160 Listen. 1:06:04.360 --> 1:06:07.120 We love talking about it, and love hearing your journey, 1:06:07.160 --> 1:06:08.800 and we love hearing about the mistake. 1:06:08.920 --> 1:06:09.200 Pank. 1:06:09.240 --> 1:06:11.919 It's really kind of fun looking forward to what comes next. 1:06:12.240 --> 1:06:14.000 We have a great weekend you too. 1:06:13.920 --> 1:06:14.520 Stay safe. 1:06:14.560 --> 1:06:17.840 Aid Megan, founder of natter Jack Irish Whiskey, and I'm 1:06:17.840 --> 1:06:19.400 going to send out a picture in just a moment. 1:06:19.600 --> 1:06:21.480 Carol Master, Tim stand this is Bloomberg. 1:06:23.320 --> 1:06:26.880 You're listening to the Bloomberg Business Week Podcast. Catch us 1:06:26.920 --> 1:06:30.160 live weekday afternoons from two to five pm. Easter Listen 1:06:30.200 --> 1:06:32.360 on Apple, car Play and and Brout Auto with a 1:06:32.360 --> 1:06:36.560 Bloomberg Business app or watch us live on YouTube. 1:06:37.400 --> 1:06:39.240 It's not a V six, a V eight or even 1:06:39.280 --> 1:06:41.400 a V twelve. How about tim AB sixteen. 1:06:41.560 --> 1:06:43.800 And you've heard of a power lunch, Carol, how about 1:06:43.800 --> 1:06:45.040 the power breakfast? 1:06:45.160 --> 1:06:45.919 Love it, love it. 1:06:45.920 --> 1:06:47.760 It's just some of what's in the latest edition of 1:06:47.760 --> 1:06:51.400 Bloomberg Pursuits. Here now is the editor of Pursuits, Chris Rouser. 1:06:51.640 --> 1:06:53.560 So great to have you here. We do talk about 1:06:53.560 --> 1:06:56.560 the power lunch, but a lot of executives, right like 1:06:56.600 --> 1:06:59.560 we kind of like somebody say, power breakfast, we care 1:06:59.600 --> 1:07:00.200 what they eat. 1:07:00.800 --> 1:07:03.120 That's true, you know, I think actually the power of 1:07:03.160 --> 1:07:08.320 breakfast where you meet people on decline, people do maybe 1:07:08.360 --> 1:07:10.080 power workouts together. 1:07:09.880 --> 1:07:10.520 In the morning. 1:07:10.960 --> 1:07:13.760 But we started this new series in the new monthly 1:07:13.920 --> 1:07:17.560 edition of Bloomberg Business Week, where we talk to CEOs 1:07:17.560 --> 1:07:19.600 as they come in and out of the offices, you know, 1:07:19.600 --> 1:07:21.720 as they come on for TV. We grab them as 1:07:21.720 --> 1:07:23.560 they're hanging out in the green room and we ask 1:07:23.680 --> 1:07:25.600 them about their lives and how they go through their day, 1:07:25.680 --> 1:07:28.560 so like, what are your workouts? What do you meditate? 1:07:28.640 --> 1:07:30.800 Like kind of like what their little life hacks are. 1:07:31.480 --> 1:07:34.080 And in the first issue, the first monthly issue Business Week, 1:07:34.080 --> 1:07:36.040 we asked them what they eat for breakfast and some 1:07:36.120 --> 1:07:40.320 of them have kind of elaborate traditions. Some people pre 1:07:40.440 --> 1:07:44.040 make yogurt smoothies on the weekend and then they drink 1:07:44.040 --> 1:07:46.440 them all week like Chip Wade from Union Square Hospitality. 1:07:46.560 --> 1:07:50.080 That makes sense, he's in hospitality, Like he needs to 1:07:50.120 --> 1:07:53.360 sort of be close to the product. And yeah, he's 1:07:53.680 --> 1:07:55.640 spend a lot of time on the weekends juicing. I guess. 1:07:55.800 --> 1:07:58.240 Yeah, But then it's not food, right, it's a juice. 1:07:58.280 --> 1:07:59.760 It's an interesting liquid. 1:08:00.200 --> 1:08:03.360 And uh, you know, one guy, Billy Halt from Trade 1:08:03.360 --> 1:08:07.280 Wet Markets Incorporated, has turkey bacon lettuce on a whole 1:08:07.280 --> 1:08:09.320 week wrap because he doesn't eat eggs and has not 1:08:09.360 --> 1:08:10.720 eaten eggs since he was a little kid. 1:08:11.000 --> 1:08:13.840 He should try him again. Can I tell you I'm 1:08:13.840 --> 1:08:15.440 going to sort of like g have a push for eggs. 1:08:15.440 --> 1:08:17.280 Here here's a hack. Yeah, I mean, tim, how many 1:08:17.280 --> 1:08:17.920 eggs do you grab? 1:08:18.320 --> 1:08:20.880 Three this morning? Not from here at home? I made 1:08:20.920 --> 1:08:21.280 them at home? 1:08:21.320 --> 1:08:22.720 Okay, but where do you usually get them from. 1:08:22.800 --> 1:08:25.080 Yeah, I get them here. Yeah, they're like desk kind 1:08:25.080 --> 1:08:27.920 of hides them, like, yeah, I hide them, not for 1:08:28.000 --> 1:08:28.840 people to know about. 1:08:29.400 --> 1:08:31.120 Oops, did I did I say something that's. 1:08:31.040 --> 1:08:31.960 A hour breakfast? 1:08:32.160 --> 1:08:36.320 My favorite response was kim Anna, who is at hard Rock, 1:08:36.560 --> 1:08:39.200 and her answer was, I do not eat breakfast. I 1:08:39.280 --> 1:08:41.360 drink coffee. I love that, which respects. 1:08:41.880 --> 1:08:42.679 How's your get though? 1:08:43.560 --> 1:08:45.920 That's a little all these people drinking smoothies, who knows? 1:08:45.960 --> 1:08:46.600 I actually love this. 1:08:46.640 --> 1:08:48.040 I kind of feel like we should start doing this 1:08:48.080 --> 1:08:49.920 tim on air, like we should be asking like the 1:08:50.360 --> 1:08:51.519 sex who come on, like, what do you have for 1:08:51.520 --> 1:08:52.880 Breakfast's kind of interesting? 1:08:53.200 --> 1:08:55.080 Pick a couple? Okay, standard, wait what do you wait? 1:08:55.120 --> 1:08:55.640 So what do you have? 1:08:55.960 --> 1:08:56.120 Well? 1:08:56.160 --> 1:08:56.479 You eat? 1:08:56.680 --> 1:08:58.599 Well, it depends on the day, you know. I had 1:08:58.640 --> 1:09:01.679 cereal before the war out and then three eggs after 1:09:02.120 --> 1:09:03.200 and hopefully I don't get. 1:09:03.160 --> 1:09:05.040 Hungry soon and then he just kind of eats all day. 1:09:05.120 --> 1:09:06.360 Yeah, okay, now you're bragging. 1:09:06.439 --> 1:09:08.720 Yeah I know, Yeah, what do you have for? 1:09:09.000 --> 1:09:09.639 I have a smoothie? 1:09:09.800 --> 1:09:11.479 You have and tea? 1:09:11.720 --> 1:09:13.479 I stopped drinking coffee first thing. 1:09:13.479 --> 1:09:15.760 Question because smoothie takes so long to make. 1:09:15.840 --> 1:09:17.519 And then you know, I get like a mix one 1:09:17.560 --> 1:09:18.280 of those mixes. 1:09:18.479 --> 1:09:19.599 Okay, Carol, I. 1:09:19.560 --> 1:09:22.600 Do a buffet upstairs, like fruit, some cheese, some cheerios. 1:09:22.880 --> 1:09:25.320 Okay, what's the opposite of bragging? 1:09:25.400 --> 1:09:30.439 Yeah, that's so said. Okay, where do we want to go? 1:09:30.439 --> 1:09:31.160 Where do we want to go? 1:09:31.200 --> 1:09:33.479 I want to go to see cats. I gotta I 1:09:33.520 --> 1:09:36.719 gott to earn back some respect from Chris Rousers guys. Okay, 1:09:36.720 --> 1:09:42.040 So Kats was on Broadway for decades forever they thought 1:09:42.120 --> 1:09:43.160 when I was a kid. 1:09:43.160 --> 1:09:44.920 Yeah, that's where most people were it from. 1:09:44.920 --> 1:09:46.240 And it was still on Broadway. 1:09:46.439 --> 1:09:48.400 It was one of the first It was like Andrew 1:09:48.479 --> 1:09:52.360 laid Webber's first huge blockbuster show, kind of that like CYNTHI. 1:09:52.479 --> 1:09:54.800 It was came out in nineteen eighty one. Uh, and 1:09:54.880 --> 1:09:57.800 it was such a hit, like kind of a rocky hit, 1:09:57.880 --> 1:09:59.920 and it was strange, and everyone loved the cat costumes, 1:10:00.920 --> 1:10:03.439 and honestly, like, I didn't see it. I never was 1:10:03.479 --> 1:10:06.639 really able to understand why everyone but you never saw 1:10:07.080 --> 1:10:10.759 because I'm not from New York. It doesn't have great buzz, 1:10:10.800 --> 1:10:13.519 like not that many people are like some people love cats, but. 1:10:13.439 --> 1:10:14.840 A lot of people are like, that's a bad show. 1:10:15.439 --> 1:10:17.520 And so it got revived. 1:10:17.320 --> 1:10:20.479 That came out from all over like you were. I 1:10:20.479 --> 1:10:21.479 think that's what people lie. 1:10:21.479 --> 1:10:23.800 That's the only thing that people like crawling all over you. 1:10:24.040 --> 1:10:26.839 So it makes no sense. It's just a series of vignettes. 1:10:27.000 --> 1:10:30.000 The music is really fun. It has obviously memory and 1:10:30.040 --> 1:10:32.400 some like really incredible songs. It was revived a few 1:10:32.439 --> 1:10:35.640 years ago on Broadway and now it's back at the 1:10:35.680 --> 1:10:38.680 Proman Performing Arts Center at the World Trade Center, and 1:10:38.720 --> 1:10:42.600 it is totally reimagined, and the directors and the choreographers 1:10:42.640 --> 1:10:45.679 have placed it in the world of ballroom culture, which 1:10:45.720 --> 1:10:47.840 is in the eighties and nineties. If you watched the 1:10:47.840 --> 1:10:50.360 show Pose or the documentary of Paris Is Burning, it 1:10:50.479 --> 1:10:55.599 was this underground queer, black and brown LATINX community where 1:10:55.600 --> 1:10:58.599 people would put on performances on runways. It's very creative. 1:10:58.600 --> 1:11:00.439 If you ever go to the Latex ball New York, 1:11:00.479 --> 1:11:04.799 they still do it. And they turned the show into 1:11:05.080 --> 1:11:09.040 a ballroom competition. And things that never made sense in Cats, 1:11:09.479 --> 1:11:12.639 like the Grizabella character who sings Memory. All these things 1:11:12.760 --> 1:11:15.759 suddenly make sense in this new context. And the energy 1:11:16.040 --> 1:11:21.080 is wild. The audience was screaming on their feet. It's 1:11:21.400 --> 1:11:23.400 I can't even tell you. We did a story on 1:11:23.439 --> 1:11:26.120 the costumes. There are three hundred costumes. It's kind of 1:11:26.160 --> 1:11:27.880 a drag situation. So a lot of them are like 1:11:27.960 --> 1:11:31.639 tear away and there's reveals and it's just a blast. 1:11:31.800 --> 1:11:34.240 So do you think this production of Cats makes its 1:11:34.320 --> 1:11:35.599 way back to Broadway? 1:11:36.320 --> 1:11:38.640 I before I went in, I did not think that 1:11:38.720 --> 1:11:41.679 because it was it was made through like a grant 1:11:41.680 --> 1:11:44.320 making process at the pack and it just doesn't have 1:11:44.360 --> 1:11:46.439 that feel because it's kind of like arts and crafts 1:11:46.479 --> 1:11:49.559 and sort of like duct tape together. Somebody else said 1:11:49.560 --> 1:11:51.680 to me, this is going to be like seeing Ham 1:11:52.200 --> 1:11:52.479 at the. 1:11:52.400 --> 1:11:54.040 Public all right, So now we need to get tired. 1:11:54.120 --> 1:11:57.640 Actually I'm trying to get tickets right now. Yeah, you 1:11:57.760 --> 1:11:58.439 sold me on it. 1:11:59.080 --> 1:12:00.879 But the design, like, how difficult. 1:12:00.880 --> 1:12:02.840 I mean, that's a lot of costumes and as you said, 1:12:02.880 --> 1:12:04.360 when you're doing tear aways, you got to make sure 1:12:04.360 --> 1:12:06.240 they tear away the right time or don't get stuck. 1:12:06.320 --> 1:12:06.519 Yeah. 1:12:06.520 --> 1:12:10.080 So the costume designers this woman Queen Jean, and she 1:12:10.200 --> 1:12:13.240 came up with five hundred designs for costumes and narrowed 1:12:13.280 --> 1:12:16.000 it down to only three hundred. You don't really notice 1:12:16.040 --> 1:12:18.240 that there are so many because the setup of it 1:12:18.280 --> 1:12:20.400 is like people changing and getting on and off the runway, 1:12:20.439 --> 1:12:22.519 so you don't sort of you're not like, WHOA, that 1:12:22.600 --> 1:12:23.840 must have been a lot of work. You're just like, 1:12:23.880 --> 1:12:26.439 this is so beautiful to look at. But the costumes 1:12:26.439 --> 1:12:29.320 are a huge part, but it's really the dancing and 1:12:29.520 --> 1:12:30.920 the singing and the performances. 1:12:30.960 --> 1:12:32.799 Any cat suits, there's. 1:12:32.640 --> 1:12:35.800 No there's no ears, there's no cats, no tails, no 1:12:35.840 --> 1:12:36.400 cat suits. 1:12:36.479 --> 1:12:39.000 Hey, Siri, remind me to get tickets to cats. 1:12:41.960 --> 1:12:42.439 Candidates? 1:12:45.800 --> 1:12:46.280 Oh my god? 1:12:46.320 --> 1:12:47.280 Which take is expensive? 1:12:47.439 --> 1:12:49.920 They have dynamic pricing, so now that the positive reviews 1:12:49.920 --> 1:12:52.200 have come out, it is a little bit more expensive. 1:12:52.320 --> 1:12:54.160 So by at the end of the run and it's extended, 1:12:54.200 --> 1:12:55.240 and then it's going to extend again. 1:12:55.280 --> 1:12:57.160 Actually well yeah, I'm looking at the website right now 1:12:57.200 --> 1:12:58.760 and it doesn't say they're all sold out, which is 1:12:58.840 --> 1:13:00.200 it's not sold Like this is the first time of 1:13:00.280 --> 1:13:01.680 actually going to be able to get tickets to something, 1:13:01.680 --> 1:13:02.920 because every time I hear about. 1:13:02.760 --> 1:13:04.280 Something, it's already so, well, how long is the run? 1:13:04.320 --> 1:13:04.760 What is it saying? 1:13:04.800 --> 1:13:06.600 It says to August eleventh on the website, But is 1:13:06.600 --> 1:13:07.320 it can to extend more? 1:13:07.600 --> 1:13:09.720 It already extended the end of July. Then that's I 1:13:09.720 --> 1:13:12.120 think another extension, but I do believe it's going to extend, 1:13:12.160 --> 1:13:12.880 extend even further. 1:13:13.080 --> 1:13:14.959 There's a couple of shows that I feel like are legendary, 1:13:14.960 --> 1:13:16.240 that one and then like Phantom. 1:13:16.439 --> 1:13:19.479 But I remember I remember seeing Phantom when I was younger, 1:13:19.520 --> 1:13:21.559 and then we took like my daughter my nieces and 1:13:21.560 --> 1:13:24.080 they were probably like in middle school or they're like, 1:13:24.439 --> 1:13:26.759 you realize this is about a creepy dude who kidnaps 1:13:26.800 --> 1:13:28.160 a woman and keeps her in the dungeon. 1:13:28.320 --> 1:13:29.880 Why do you think this is good that we see 1:13:30.360 --> 1:13:34.360 talk about it. By the way, all of those costumes 1:13:34.600 --> 1:13:38.000 are machine washable, which I think is kind of there 1:13:38.040 --> 1:13:40.479 you go, all right now, machine washable. 1:13:40.520 --> 1:13:43.040 Okay, we can afford tickets to cats, Oh yes, okay, 1:13:43.720 --> 1:13:45.120 we cannot afford. 1:13:45.120 --> 1:13:49.799 A Bugatti Toban, which is a four million dollars hybrid 1:13:50.160 --> 1:13:54.360 from Bugatti, which is one of our favorite supercar brands. 1:13:54.400 --> 1:13:56.879 Oh I didn't know. Yeah, we just love it. 1:13:56.560 --> 1:13:59.880 It's you know, it's these cars. It's so amazing, like 1:14:00.240 --> 1:14:02.960 crazy horsepower, can go crazy fast, but they're actually also 1:14:03.040 --> 1:14:06.000 and they're also completely unaffordable to any normal human, but 1:14:06.479 --> 1:14:08.960 they have Hannah likes them because Hannah are car critic 1:14:09.040 --> 1:14:11.439 likes them because they are kind of lux on the 1:14:11.439 --> 1:14:14.920 inside too, so you're having a great, like comfortable experience 1:14:14.920 --> 1:14:18.280 inside there's cup holders and stuff, whereas some of the 1:14:18.360 --> 1:14:20.639 race cars that she sort of reviews are pretty rough 1:14:20.680 --> 1:14:23.240 on the outside. Anyway, it's a hybrid, which is their 1:14:23.280 --> 1:14:26.559 first hybrid, and they have been very famous for doing 1:14:26.600 --> 1:14:32.760 these like sixteen cylinder combustion engines, and so doing this 1:14:32.880 --> 1:14:34.960 new car to replace the Sharon, which is their old 1:14:35.040 --> 1:14:37.360 top of the line car, just shows that they're now 1:14:37.360 --> 1:14:40.759 getting into like electric power trains. It has three electric motors, 1:14:41.360 --> 1:14:44.080 which makes it more powerful. So it has eighteen hundred 1:14:44.080 --> 1:14:46.120 horsepower and a top speed of two hundred and seventy 1:14:46.160 --> 1:14:49.360 six miles. But that is nuts, the sixteen with three 1:14:49.400 --> 1:14:52.400 electric motors. Yeah, I mean it's a very heavy car, 1:14:52.840 --> 1:14:55.760 very heavy and the like rolls. Rice was samous for 1:14:55.800 --> 1:14:59.760 their W twelve engines and which they are now sunsetting to. 1:15:00.000 --> 1:15:02.280 It's all the way to electric, So this is this 1:15:02.360 --> 1:15:05.759 is kind of the movements and there's a complicated ownership structure, 1:15:05.760 --> 1:15:08.400 but they're partially owned by VW and then also Portia 1:15:08.520 --> 1:15:12.000 and Rimac and when Porscha and Rimac took an interest 1:15:12.040 --> 1:15:14.160 in it. It was sort of seen. It's like, Okay, 1:15:14.160 --> 1:15:16.720 we're going to try to move this company into the 1:15:16.760 --> 1:15:20.040 future because because electrics is like a very big priority 1:15:20.040 --> 1:15:20.360 for a bole. 1:15:20.400 --> 1:15:22.519 Second, you know what's great about this car, Carroy, which 1:15:22.560 --> 1:15:25.240 it has Apple car Play, which means you can get 1:15:25.760 --> 1:15:27.519 our program Bloomberg BusinessWeek on. 1:15:27.479 --> 1:15:29.640 It could download this podcast. 1:15:29.160 --> 1:15:31.320 Yeah and listen onlay. 1:15:31.320 --> 1:15:33.560 Yeah inside the book, you know what. 1:15:33.880 --> 1:15:35.439 I'm just blown away by that product place. 1:15:37.920 --> 1:15:40.080 So wait, this is wait am I reading this right? 1:15:40.120 --> 1:15:40.320 Though? 1:15:40.560 --> 1:15:44.719 It's got a thirty seven mile range of all electric driving. 1:15:45.120 --> 1:15:47.240 Yeah, but you know that's actually I know that sounds crazy. 1:15:47.520 --> 1:15:50.320 That's not that uncommon because part of the electric part 1:15:50.360 --> 1:15:52.680 of the power train is for speed and power. They're 1:15:52.720 --> 1:15:57.000 not meant to drive around just using the rosaries. 1:15:56.720 --> 1:15:57.479 And stuff like that. 1:15:58.040 --> 1:16:00.640 The other thing is I thought was interesting in this Hannah, 1:16:00.680 --> 1:16:03.479 despite the modern aesthetics of the car and the advance motors, 1:16:03.560 --> 1:16:05.519 understood its interior looks analog. 1:16:05.840 --> 1:16:08.080 So did she not like it kind of money inside? 1:16:08.200 --> 1:16:12.080 No, Actually, that's an really interesting question. We find like 1:16:12.280 --> 1:16:15.640 that all the digital screens in cars are actually like 1:16:15.720 --> 1:16:18.960 not what people want, you know, it's you know, some 1:16:19.040 --> 1:16:21.200 cars like Volvoar are famously like you have to toggle 1:16:21.240 --> 1:16:23.280 through screens to get to the temperature and stuff, and 1:16:23.320 --> 1:16:25.760 like people really like a knob, you know what I mean. 1:16:26.120 --> 1:16:28.680 And so Hannah is saying, this is sort of a 1:16:28.720 --> 1:16:32.120 refreshingly analog space where you can look at the gauges, 1:16:32.160 --> 1:16:34.160 you know what's going on, You're not top toggling through menus, 1:16:34.160 --> 1:16:37.679 you're not distracted by a bright screen. And it's called 1:16:37.680 --> 1:16:40.360 the Bugatti turbion because the turbion. 1:16:40.120 --> 1:16:41.160 Is a watch feature. 1:16:41.479 --> 1:16:43.640 Yeah, talk, which we write about all the time. The 1:16:43.720 --> 1:16:47.400 dashboard which is so in the weeds, but it looks 1:16:47.560 --> 1:16:51.200 like this left fuel on a watch, which is a 1:16:51.320 --> 1:16:55.000 rotating cage that keeps part of the watchmaking mechanism in 1:16:55.040 --> 1:16:57.519 a watch rotating so that it does not affect it 1:16:57.560 --> 1:17:00.680 by gravity and therefore it doesn't become uneven in effect timekeeping, 1:17:00.680 --> 1:17:03.320 which is only to say that it's a thing. And 1:17:03.360 --> 1:17:05.760 watches that are expensive in sort of elites and hard 1:17:05.840 --> 1:17:09.400 to create. Because the engine system in this car was 1:17:09.439 --> 1:17:11.639 so hard to create, that's why they wanted to call. 1:17:11.520 --> 1:17:14.160 It that, all right, four point one million dollars, yeah, 1:17:14.240 --> 1:17:17.080 three point nine million euros. If you prefer it sounds 1:17:17.080 --> 1:17:17.960 great to see that way. 1:17:18.120 --> 1:17:20.120 Okay, definitely want to go see cats. 1:17:20.120 --> 1:17:22.000 I love that you love and it just sounds like 1:17:22.000 --> 1:17:23.519 like such a blast, It's so much fun. 1:17:23.800 --> 1:17:25.400 Before we let you go, can you give us some 1:17:25.439 --> 1:17:27.720 sort of preview of what you're thinking about when it 1:17:27.760 --> 1:17:30.479 comes to pursuits in the near future. Just to leave 1:17:30.520 --> 1:17:32.400 our listeners on edge, We have. 1:17:32.439 --> 1:17:34.800 A look at in our next monthly issue at a 1:17:34.840 --> 1:17:39.440 certain kind of like wellness care that is pretty expensive 1:17:39.640 --> 1:17:43.200 but also kind of promises to make your life better 1:17:43.240 --> 1:17:46.240 for longer. And we tested out some of these cool 1:17:46.280 --> 1:17:48.120 programs to see which ones seem legit. 1:17:48.320 --> 1:17:49.960 I love when you guys go into the wellness area, 1:17:50.080 --> 1:17:51.720 But is it like an oxygen chamber there? 1:17:51.800 --> 1:17:55.320 You can't give any money, you can't so many things. 1:17:56.439 --> 1:17:57.519 All right, we get a run. 1:17:57.600 --> 1:17:59.519 A big thank you to Chris Rouser, the editor of 1:17:59.560 --> 1:18:02.080 Ploomber Pursuits. I'm tim Stennebeck. 1:18:01.640 --> 1:18:04.160 And I'm Carol Masser. Have a good and save weekend. Everyone. 1:18:04.439 --> 1:18:09.080 This is the Bloomberg Business Week podcast, available on Apple, Spotify, 1:18:09.200 --> 1:18:12.920 and anywhere else you get your podcasts. Listen live weekday 1:18:12.960 --> 1:18:16.200 afternoons from two to five pm Eastern on Bloomberg Dot 1:18:16.200 --> 1:18:19.920 com the iHeartRadio app tune In, and the Bloomberg Business app. 1:18:20.000 --> 1:18:23.040 You can also watch us live every weekday on YouTube 1:18:23.160 --> 1:18:25.160 and always on the Bloomberg terminal