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Becker Business
Cocaine Makes a Comeback + 7 Other Stories 9-17-25
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In this episode, Scott Becker covers the Wall Street Journal’s report on the surge in U.S. cocaine sales along with seven other stories including the Fed’s expected rate cuts, China’s standoff with NVIDIA, TikTok investor talks, and more.
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This is Scott Becker with the Becker Business and Becker Private Equity Podcast. We cover business startups, private equity and a lot more here at the Becker Business Podcast, the Becker Private Equity Podcast. Today's discussion is Cocaine Makes a Comeback, plus seven other stories that we're following this morning. So, so here's the deal today. First, the Wall Street Journal reports today that the cocaine business is accelerating incredibly in the United States again, which is for me, who's about 60, is an amazing thing to hear because this was a not a good thing to hear, but this was an incredibly popular drug in the 80s and back back in the day when I was a kid. It's been a very, very long time. But, but they, they, they show that essentially there's 154% rise in cocaine sales in the US since 2019 and it continues to grow both, both on the east and the West Coast. Simply not a good thing. One of the stories reported on Yesterday is that 9 out of the 10 largest market cap companies today are technology companies, with the 10th one being Berkshire Hathaway. When you look at the growth of all the technology companies, it makes you also think that maybe somebody should be investing in the cocaine trade as well. I say this all, of course, tongue in cheek, but it's based on the report from the Wall Street Journal today, one of their headline stories that the cocaine trade is back in America. Simply incredible and and, and stupid. But it is what it is. The second story we're following today is the markets remain relatively flat today as they wait the Fed meeting. The Fed meets today. Tomorrow. People are expecting for sure a 25 basis point cut. They may get more. We'll see how it goes. But the markets have already baked in a lot of those potential interest rate cuts and the market's flat today as they wait for that. Third China is threatening not to buy Nvidia's newest AI chips. And this seems to be a constant back and forth with China and Nvidia. We'll see if this plays out. It's all part of the Trump China, everything else going on. We'll see how that plays out. We're watching it closely. Fourth TikTok There's a discussion of three core investors in the TikTok deal. This is still being delayed, but the concept that the Chinese company that owns it, ByteDance, we have to sell it to American investors. I mean, it's all a little bit ridiculous. It is what it is. But the three big names being mentioned as potential investors right now are Oracle, Andreessen Horowitz and Silver Lake. We'll see how that plays through. The fifth story following today is net worth. A net worth story reported today. These three leaders, business leaders, have a combined $1 trillion plus net worth. That's a combination of Elon Musk, Larry Ellison and Mark Zuckerberg. Of course. Recently Tesla has surged back to in the in the positive territory. For year to date it's up 70% over the last six months. Oracle is also sur emergence of about 80% this year and Mark Zuckerberg's company, Meta Platforms is also doing well. So Again, between the three of them they have a combined net worth of 1 trillion plus. The only comment I'll make on that is if you add in myself and five of my closest friends. That number remains at right about 1 trillion plus and doesn't move at all. It is what it is. Sixth, StubHub that the ticket company famously known to all of us for charging lots of extra fees went public yesterday. They're now a publicly traded company. Seventh, we're planning our Becker Business Media, Technology and Business Virtual conference for December. If you have an interest in that, please reach out to us. We've got a few speaking spots available. And finally, eighth, I'm thrilled to be in Charlotte today at the McGuire Woods Healthcare Growth and Operations Conference. We'll be recording here podcast live for both Becker Self Care and Becker Business Media, Becker Private Equity. Thank you for joining us today in Charlotte if you're with us. And thank you for listening. Today's kickoff podcast and the Cocaine Train is back, plus seven more stories that we're following today. Thank you very much for listening.