Apollo Inks $2.6 Billion Financing Deal With NY Yankees

Summary

Bloomberg Intelligence Podcast

Episode: Apollo Inks $2.6 Billion Financing Deal With NY Yankees
Date: August 11, 2026
Hosts: Paul Sweeney and Scarlet Fu
Guests & Contributors: Randall Williams (Bloomberg Business of Sports), Ed Ludlow (Bloomberg Tech), Daniela Satori (Bloomberg Restaurant Reporter), Sokovich (Bloomberg Asset Reporter)

---

Episode Overview

This episode explores the landmark $2.6 billion financing deal between Apollo and the New York Yankees, situating it within broader trends of private equity entering professional sports ownership. The hosts and expert guests analyze the financial structuring, implications for team management, and future of institutional investments in major leagues. The episode also delves into major tech and investment headlines—Nvidia's $500 billion AI financing drive, Intel’s outsized stock sale, food safety at Chipotle, and the surge in leveraged ETF trading—providing deep market research and context.

---

Main Story: Apollo’s $2.6 Billion Deal with the New York Yankees

Private Equity in Sports: The New Wave

[01:42–02:10]

• The hosts introduce the show’s headline: Apollo has struck a $2.6 billion financing deal with the New York Yankees, exemplifying the trend of institutional capital flowing into professional sports.
• Randall Williams joins as the sports business reporter to break down the news.

---

Deal Structure, Motivations, and Industry Context

[02:10–04:12]

• Debt & Equity Mix: The deal combines debt and equity; MLB caps private equity ownership at 15%. Williams provides a quick math estimate: if 10% of equity is $1.3B, that implies a $13B Yankees valuation, but notes, “this could be $15 billion, it could be $16, it could be lower.”

  “Now of course, I'm just doing that math off the top.” – Randall Williams [02:26]
  “Nice math for a reporter... that's like banker man.” – Host [02:33]

• Steinbrenner Family Control: Private equity “are cash providers for liquidity, for debt, for stadium financing... That's what private equity is in sports for for now.” Williams stresses, “Private equity across sports... they're not decision makers.” [02:47]
• Investment Rationale: Sports team purchases are often about long-term asset appreciation, not cash flows:

  “You buy your franchise today at X, you sell it in 20 years for 2x, 3x, 4x, whatever. It's a great return. It's not [a] good cash flowing investment.” – Host [03:02]

• CBA and Lockout Fears: The timing may relate to ongoing MLB collective bargaining negotiations. A lockout could halt revenue, so cash infusions help teams weather uncertainty.

  “If that happens come March... maybe this money goes towards that.” – Randall Williams [03:34]

---

The Broader Picture: Private Equity’s Challenge in Sports

[04:12–05:27]

• Exit Dilemma: Rising team valuations raise the question: “Who buys this stake if it’s a $2.6 billion deal, what happens when this is $6 billion value?” (Randall Williams [03:56])
• Notable Comparison with Knicks, Rangers: James Dolan’s ongoing spin-off talks reflect similar value unlocking.
• The “Cool Factor” and Institutional Ownership:

  “A billionaire who gets equity, the perks... just aren’t that great. Whereas private equity, generally speaking, is not going to be concerned with flying on the team plane and being in the locker room.” – Randall Williams [05:04]

• Record Size:

  “I would say it’s one of the largest investments in private equity in sports that I’ve seen. The number $2.6 billion is humongous.” – Randall Williams [05:27]

---

Impact on Fans, Ticket Prices, and Team Operations

[05:35–06:32]

• Fan Reactions: Host wonders if fans fear private equity will affect the Yankees.

  “I highly doubt ticket prices are going to come down.” – Co-host [05:40]
  “No, Yankees prices are never going to come down. Especially you take something away, a potential lockout, games away...” – Randall Williams [05:47]

• Payroll and Executive Management: Focus on possible changes in payroll structures or free agency practices, as funds might be held in escrow.

---

Financial Transparency, IPO Rumors, and League Trends

[06:13–07:12]

• Steinbrenners “don’t need this money”—Yankees remain MLB’s most valuable team.
• Deal proceeds reportedly earmarked for debt, but hard to know exact allocations due to lack of public transparency.
• Possibility of an IPO?:

  “It makes you wonder if they’re setting themselves up to maybe... you know, so public, dare we say it?” – Co-host [06:32]

• League Policy Evolution: Expectation that leagues will increase the private equity cap for ownership stakes:

  “In the NBA it's 20%. In baseball it's 15. In the NFL it's 10. I expect the NFL to maybe move to 15, and so on and so forth.” – Randall Williams [07:12]

---

Rapid-Fire Market Segments

Nvidia’s $500 Billion AI Infrastructure Financing

[09:56–12:17]

• Wall Street giants like Apollo, Blackstone, BlackRock, Brookfield partner with Nvidia to source an astounding $500B for AI infrastructure.

  “The pitch for Nvidia is to take Nvidia's compute platform, literally rows and rows of servers, and make them an investable infrastructure asset class of their own.” – Ed Ludlow [10:33]

• New “special purpose vehicles” will be used; compute assets act as collateral and can be rented out to Nvidia customers.
• Host wonders if this is “circular financing.” Ludlow responds:

  “The money does not come from Nvidia. And so there's a degree of separation from the idea that Nvidia is literally financing its own customers, purchases.” – Ed Ludlow [11:40]

---

Intel’s Blockbuster Share Sale

[12:17–13:27]

• Intel launches its first public share sale since going public (1971), raising $20B amid record demand ($100B sought).

  “$95 a share is where it seems to have priced, which is a bit of a discount...but...this is a stock that's tripled, more than tripled year to date...” – Ed Ludlow [12:34]

• The raise helps Intel “sort the balance sheet out, get their house in order.”

---

Silicon Valley’s Moment in Tech

[13:50–15:08]

• Host compares the current AI-driven landscape to the dot-com bubble, noting sheer size and tech firms' far-stronger balance sheets.

  “This is nowhere near anything I've ever seen before. The dollar amounts are just extraordinary.” – Host [13:50] “It is a tectonic shift and it's happening right now. 2026 is, is the moment.” – Ed Ludlow [14:21]

---

Chipotle’s Jalapeño Salmonella Outbreak & Food Safety

[18:07–21:20]

• Chipotle pulled jalapeños after salmonella cases traced to their guacamole in certain locations:

  “They pulled the jalapenos pretty quickly and health authorities have said that they don't have ongoing concerns...” – Daniela Satori [18:34]

• Stock initially dropped nearly 10% but recovered as information was clarified.
• Chipotle leverages digital supply chain tracking to quickly trace ingredients and manage crises:

  “Technology that acts as almost like a digital map of their supply chain...the company can go into this system and really look up, like, where every ingredient has been...” – Daniela Satori [20:16]

• Broader industry lesson on reputation risk and the importance of traceability.

---

Leveraged ETFs: High Risk, High Volume

[24:21–29:10]

• Leveraged ETFs account for 2% of ETF assets but about 20% of trading volume.

  “2250 billion. That's very small for the massive ETF industry. But they're traded a lot. They're traded like crazy.” – Sokovich [24:51]

• A trend shift: from primarily retail traders to growing institutional activity, notably at market close.
• Recent dramatic volatility in South Korea fueled by leveraged ETF trading in SK Hynix and Samsung.

  “At some point we saw so much volume in those products that we saw leveraged ETFs indeed adding volatility.” – Sokovich [25:52]

• Regulations in place: no new 3x or 5x funds in the US; recent clampdowns in Korea following excessive volatility.

  “This is one of the few times when the SEC stepped in and said, hey, no, we're holding this. No, five times. But you know, you can still get two times.” – Sokovich [26:37]

• Risks to retail:

  “There is a volatility drag. So if you’re holding this...the advertised holding period is one day, many people are holding them for longer. And...the volatility of the decay, the massive moves we see day to day can really impact your gains or, and exacerbate your losses.” – Sokovich [28:34]

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “You buy your franchise today at X, you sell it in 20 years for 2x, 3x, 4x, whatever. It's a great return. It's not good [as a] cash flowing investment.” – Host [03:02]
• “Private equity across sports is not, they're not decision makers. They are cash providers for liquidity, for debt, for stadium financing...” – Randall Williams [02:47]
• “No, Yankees prices are never going to come down. Especially you take something away, a potential lockout, games away, as soon as it comes back, the prices are going to rise.” – Randall Williams [05:47]
• “It is a tectonic shift and it’s happening right now. 2026 is, is the moment.” – Ed Ludlow [14:21]
• “2250 billion. That's very small for the massive ETF industry. But they're traded a lot. They're traded like crazy.” – Sokovich [24:51]
• “There is a volatility drag...the volatility of the decay, the massive moves we see day to day can really impact your gains or, and exacerbate your losses.” – Sokovich [28:34]

---

Key Timestamps

• [01:42] – Start of Apollo/Yankees story; Randall Williams joins discussion
• [02:10–04:12] – Deal structure, MLB rules, Steinbrenner family control, CBA lockout context
• [04:12–05:27] – PE exit concerns, value trends, “cool factor” of ownership
• [05:35–06:32] – Fan impact, ticket prices, payroll structure speculation
• [06:13–07:12] – Financial opacity, IPO musings, league ownership rules
• [09:56–12:17] – Nvidia’s $500B AI financing, role of Wall Street, SPVs
• [12:17–13:27] – Intel’s $20B stock sale and implications
• [13:50–15:08] – The unique AI-driven tech rally; perspective from Silicon Valley
• [18:07–21:20] – Chipotle’s jalapeño salmonella crisis, food safety operations
• [24:21–29:10] – Leveraged ETF market dynamics, regulation, and retail/institutional shifts

---

Takeaways

• Institutional capital continues to shape professional sports, with larger and more sophisticated deals like Apollo’s Yankees investment blurring the lines between private club and major asset class.
• The deal highlights the still-limited but growing role of private equity in sports ownership and ongoing evolution of league policies.
• Meanwhile, the episode illustrates seismic shifts in both tech and investing environments, from Nvidia’s AI infrastructure strategy and Intel’s market timing to the rising importance—and risk—of leveraged ETFs and the critical role of traceability and crisis management in restaurants.
• Each story underscores the complexity, opportunity, and risk inherent in today’s financial and business landscape.

---

For more Bloomberg Intelligence, listen live each weekday or visit bloomberg.com.

Transcript

[Host]

Looking for more investing options? Meet cboe, the exchange that pioneered options trading. With exclusive trading products like VIX and SPX Options, CBO can help you trade in any market environment. There are risks associated with CBOE Company products. Review the disclosures and [e-mail] USDISCLAIMERS Amazon Health AI presents painful thoughts why did I search the Internet for answers to

[Sokovich]

my cold sore problem?

[Daniela Satori]

Now I'm stuck down a rabbit hole

[Carol Massar]

filled with images of alarmingly graphic sores in various stages of ooz. I can clear my search history, but I can never unsee that.

[Host]

Don't go down the rabbit hole. Amazon Health AI gets you the right care fast. Healthcare just got less painful.

[Wasabi Representative]

You ever get the feeling the city walls closing in the concrete jungle suffocating your soul? You crave wide open spaces, the chance to connect with nature, maybe chase some milk fish A private stream well, listen up. There's a whole world out there and finding your own piece of it just got easier. Head over to land.com they've got ranches, forest, mountains, you name it. Search by acreage, location, the kind of hunting or fishing you dream of. Land.com it's where the adventure begins.

[Bloomberg Intelligence Podcast Announcer]

Bloomberg Audio Studios Podcasts Radio news. You're listening to the Bloomberg Intelligence Podcast. Catch us live weekdays at 10am Eastern on Apple CarPlay and Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business app Listen on demand wherever you get your podcasts or watch us live on YouTube.

[Host]

Really cool story today out in the business of sports. This is another example of private equity or institutional capital in general investing in a professional sports. And this one, it's Apollo Inks, a $2.6 billion financing deal with the New York Yankees. How about that? Randall Williams, Bloomberg Business of sports reporter, joins us here. Seems like a big number. What do we know about this investment?

[Randall Williams]

Well, the money is going to go. It's a mix of debt and equity. Now, the exact split isn't known, but you have to wonder what the valuation of of this is because of the fact that MLB rules permit private equity firms to own up to 15%. Okay, so if this is a let's say that it's half of equity. So $1.3 billion and it's 10%. That's a $13 billion valuation. Now of course, I'm just doing that math off the top.

[Host]

Nice math for a reporter, for a journalist, that's like banker man.

[Randall Williams]

But we don't know. We don't know. This could be 15 billion. It could be 16. It could be lower.

[Co-host]

We don't know but at the end of the day, the Steinbrenner family, still in control here of the New York Yankees.

[Randall Williams]

Very much in control. Private equity across sports is not, they're not decision makers. They are cash providers for liquidity, for debt, for stadium financing, for all of those issues. That's what private equity is in sports for for now.

[Host]

I guess what I've learned over my career just, just looking at the business of sports, it's great, it's a great vehicle, investment vehicle to create value over time. You buy your franchise today at X, you sell it in 20 years for 2x, 3x, 4x, whatever. It's a great return. It's not good cash flowing investment. So these types of deals, they give some liquidity to the family or whoever owns it.

[Randall Williams]

Well, you have to wonder. The timing of this deal is somewhat interesting because of the fact that the MLB CBA negotiations are currently ongoing. They're not expecting.

[Co-host]

A lot of people are saying there's going to be a strike, right?

[Randall Williams]

Exactly. A strike or a lockout, one of those. Probably a lockout more so than a strike. But in all likelihood, if that happens come March, that there won't be a season, teams won't be getting that revenue. And so maybe this money goes towards that. All of those possibilities come to mind. But in terms of what you're saying about, you know, this being low cash flow, the real question that remains to be seen across sports is how private equity exits these sports teams. Because the valuations, as we've all said dozens and dozens of times, they continue to rise. So who buys this stake if it's a $2.6 billion deal, what happens when this is $6 billion value? Who's the person that raises their hand to?

[Co-host]

The New York Knicks. Right. And the New York rang. Where do things stand with those spin offs from.

[Randall Williams]

I think they're still in progress based on, you know, what we've last heard. But of course James Dolan has said these, these franchises are continuing to rise in value. This would potentially unlock some of that. You have to wonder what either one of these things would sell for. And what billionaire is going to raise their hand to buy something that could potentially be worth $15 billion.

[Host]

And we were, you were explaining to me just earlier in this during the surveillance show, this isn't the first time private equity, I mean we're starting to see this more and more, aren't we? Where private equity or just institutional money sure is, is out there.

[Randall Williams]

And I think the reason for that is because there's just not a Lot of people who want to. It's just not a lot of people who want to own 10% of something but put a billion dollars into it. And the only thing that they get is to raise their hand and say, I'm an owner. And they might get a suite that they.

[Co-host]

The cool factor, right?

[Randall Williams]

And they might get a sweet ticket from time to time that they can already afford. A billionaire who gets equity, the perks that come with that just aren't that great. Whereas private equity, generally speaking, is not going to be concerned with flying on the team plane and being in the locker room and all the things that may be.

[Co-host]

And I think I read that it's. This is the largest investment Apollo has made in terms of a sports team.

[Randall Williams]

I would say it's one of the largest investments in private equity in sports that I've seen. The number $2.6 billion is humongous.

[Co-host]

What about just the fan hearing this? A New York Yankees fan goes, oh, boy. Now private equity digging their heels in deeper with the New York Yankees. I mean, what might expect any, any changes at all? I highly doubt ticket prices are going to come down.

[Randall Williams]

No, Yankees prices are never going to come down. Especially you take something away, a potential lockout, games away, as soon as it comes back, the prices are going to rise. I wonder from a free agency standpoint, you know, a lot of times these things are put in escrow and then they paid out over time. And so I wonder if that affects how they're managing their payroll. Not only within the team and salary, but also owners and executives and all those sorts of things. So, so top of mind.

[Host]

And Randall, there's no indication that the Yankees and the Steinbenders need this money.

[Randall Williams]

Is there the most valuable team in baseball? Nobody needs any money. And so you need it. The way that they're saying it, they're saying it's going to debt. But these are not public deals, so we don't know how much they're in.

[Co-host]

So funny though, because it sounds like they want to be a leaner machine. It makes you wonder if they're setting themselves up to maybe to, you know, so public, dare we say it, I

[Randall Williams]

think, I think sports teams could. There's a future for that, but we're not. I don't know that any league is looking at that and formatting it right now.

[Host]

Yeah, I think, I think that, I think it's probably what's happening is obviously they. Many of the leagues you mentioned have allowed institutional money to come into these, you know, so like private equity, because there's not many. It used to be a toy for millionaires, right? And then it became a toy for billionaires. Steve Cohen yes, and now a lot of these major sports leagues, you got to be institutional.

[Randall Williams]

Last thing I say is what I expect to happen is the private equity cap across leagues to increase per firm. So individually in the NBA it's 20%. In baseball it's 15. In the NFL it's 10. I expect the NFL to maybe move to 15, and so on and so forth.

[Host]

Stay with us. More from Bloomberg Intelligence coming up after this. When your options are limited so your opportunities at cbo, the global exchange that pioneered options trading, we offer more ways to move with the market from VIX and SPX options to global market data solutions. CBOE helps investors diversify, manage risk and stay ahead of whatever the market does next. CBOE Life is better with options. Your investments could be too. There are risks associated with CBOE Company products. Review the disclosures and [e-mail] USDISCLAIMERS this

[Carol Massar]

is the Bloomberg Tech Minute brought to you by ChatGPT. Now with ChatGPT work, I'm Carol Massar. DoorDash, the largest food delivery company in the U.S. is building its own delivery drones and has gained the necessary FAA approvals to operate them commercially, the latest in its effort to delegate more orders to robots as a way of cutting delivery times, Bloomberg's Natalie Leung reports. The company says it has been conducting pilot programs with various restaurants, some of which have seen their order volume grow during the test period. The effort marks an expansion of DoorDash's in house robotics efforts to reduce reliance on human couriers for some order, as their wages constitute a key expense to the business. Drones are also a way for DoorDash to cut delivery times on orders from more remote locations that some dashers may not want. That's the Bloomberg Tech Minute brought to you by ChatGPT. Put ChatGPT to work on your most ambitious ideas and projects. Get started at chatgpt.com today by selecting Work Mode, available on plus and Pro plans.

[Host]

Amazon Pharmacy Presents Painful Thoughts it's been

[Sokovich]

a long, bumpy road dealing with yet

[Host]

another bladder infection and driving to the

[Sokovich]

pharmacy to pick up meds. I went over a pothole and a

[Host]

little pee came out.

[Sokovich]

So now I get to stand in line with pee pee pants.

[Host]

Next time, skip the pain and get fast free delivery with Amazon Pharmacy Health care just got less painful.

[Bloomberg Intelligence Podcast Announcer]

You're listening to the Bloomberg Intelligence Podcast. Catch us live weekdays at 10am Eastern on Apple CarPlay and Android Auto with the Bloomberg business app, Listen on demand wherever you get your podcasts or watch us live on YouTube.

[Host]

Let's get right to Ed Ludlow, he's a Bloomberg Tech co host. He's out there in Silicon Valley. We don't know what the heck he's doing out there. We have great offices out there in San Francisco. By the way Ed, there are literally countless number of tech related headlines that we could talk to you about today. But I'm just going to go to the biggest number I can find and that is US investment giants including Apollo, Blackstone, BlackRock, Brookfield Asset Management are partnering with Nvidia Corp, another name drop, to source $500 billion in financing for artificial intelligence infrastructure. Can you explain what's going on? I don't know what it means to source $500 billion in financing.

[Ed Ludlow]

Well, to source $500 billion is to go to those big Wall street firms, investment managers, and say find us the capital, find the investors. And we don't know the profile of the investors yet. But the pitch for Nvidia is to take Nvidia's compute platform, literally rows and rows of servers, and make them an investable infrastructure asset class of their own. So those six groups from Wall street go out, find the funds or the investors. Then what Bloomberg's reporting is you take a special purpose vehicle, some kind of entity, that entity is the one that raises the money, pays for the Nvidia compute, the compute acts as collateral and then you rent it out to an Nvidia customer and it literally greases the wheels. There's no barrier to somebody being able to finance the project.

[Host]

You know what I have to admit from a bankers perspective, that's genius. I think, I think it kind of is kind of interesting, Ed, just to you and to others out there, does that raise the old circular financing interest kind of concern out there?

[Ed Ludlow]

Well, what Nvidia would say is that in the first instance, this is third party capital. Again the six Wall street firms go out and source the capital from investors. And we don't have a good sense of whether that's pension funds or sovereign wealth funds. But the money does not come from Nvidia. And so there's a degree of separation from the idea that Nvidia is literally financing its own customers, purchases of the gear. But it is one of a multifaceted concern. Right, which is there are loads of other examples where Nvidia is on the hook to either backstop or finance the purchase of its own technology. This would just be a separate mechanism.

[Co-host]

Yeah, Shares of Nvidia. I'm just taking a look up a little more than 1% right now. But I want to move over to intel because if you're looking for confirmation of investor demand for stocks sort of along the supply chain. Yeah, you don't need to look further than intel raised 20 billion in an upside share sale. Tell us more about this.

[Ed Ludlow]

Yeah, initially it offered to go to market for $15 billion. So $20 billion is also kind of a response to the outsized demand. You know, Bloomberg's reporting that there was $100 billion of demand on this deal. $95 a share is where it seems to have priced, which is a bit of a discount, 6% or so from Friday's close. They offered this Monday morning. So, you know, this is a stock that's tripled, more than tripled year to date and is finding its feet in the world of AI. They sell CPUs for datacenter and like on the intel side, the corporate side, the company side, it's not that much new of a story. It is the first time they've done a public share sale since they listed in 1971. Can you believe that? But the whole point for them is to been to sort the balance sheet out, get their house in order.

[Co-host]

Just to underscore, you said that intel stock has tripled, more than tripled so far this year.

[Ed Ludlow]

Yeah, yeah. And so like, you know, why would they go to market? Opportunistic. Right. You know, if the Stock goes up 160%, then you say, well, what can we do with our stock here? And you know, already people are asking, you know, who's next? So I would just go on the NASDAQ 100 or the S&P 500 and look at the, the biggest percentage gain is so far, year to date. They also happen to be those in the game. It's kind of interesting.

[Host]

And I know you're out there ground zero in Silicon Valley for a number of years. My question is, do the folks in the valley recognize that this is truly a unique time and space? I've been schlepping out the sand hill road in Silicon Valley for 40 years, including the dot com bubble. This is nowhere near anything I've ever seen before. The dollar amounts are just extraordinary. It's affecting all parts of the economy. Do people out there know that they are in a very unique time and place that they do.

[Ed Ludlow]

You know, it is a tectonic shift and it's happening right now. You know, 2026 is, is the moment. And I, I say that based on on so many discussions with venture capitalists, CEOs on the infrastructure side, the those that are like at the coal face of developing next gen technologies. And the only thing I would reflect on is like when I moved here in 2018 I kind of fe missed the boat a little bit. Think about the social media way, the kind of obsession with iPhones. I was so wrong. You know, I is just completely different. It's next level and it's astonishing the numbers involved. As you know, the big difference this time around is the balance sheets of these companies are just eons away from where they were in 2000. Right. So that's why everyone's kind of chill about it.

[Host]

Stay with us. More from Bloomberg Intelligence coming up after this.

[Carol Massar]

This is the Bloomberg Tech Minute, brought to you by ChatGPT. Now with ChatGPT work, I'm Carol Massar. DoorDash, the largest food delivery company in the U.S. is building its own delivery drones and has gained the necessary FAA approvals to operate them commercially. The latest in its effort to delegate more orders to robots as a way of cutting delivery times, Bloomberg's Natalie Leung reports. The company says it has been conducting pilot programs with various restaurants, some of which have seen their order volume grow during the test period. The effort marks an expansion of DoorDash's in house robotics efforts to reduce reliance on human couriers for some orders, as their wages constitute a key expense to the business. Drones are also a way for DoorDash to cut delivery times on orders from more remote locations that some dashers may not want. That's the Bloomberg Tech Minute brought to you by ChatGPT. Put ChatGPT to work on your most ambitious ideas and projects. Get [e-mail] today by selecting work mode available on plus and Pro plans.

[Host]

Amazon Health AI presents painful thoughts I I can't stop scratching my downtown. Mm, yeah, but I'm not itching to go downtown and tell a receptionist I'm here to talk about my downtown. Some things you'd rather type then say out loud. There's no question too embarrassing for Amazon Health AI. Chat your symptoms and get virtual care 24. 7 Healthcare just got less painful.

[Wasabi Representative]

Innovation is what gets your business to market and Wasabi is designed to give every business a shot at competition. How Break free from skyrocketing storage costs and unpredictable egress fees from old and top heavy legacy providers. You know the big guys. Wasabi is the world's hottest cloud storage company and the go to provider for professional and collegiate sports teams and leagues around the world and here's why. Innovation. From Wasabi's AI enabled intelligent media storage, Wasabi Air to the industry's only cloud storage service with triple protection against cybercriminals, data deletion and ransomware. The world's top companies trust Wasabi. Remember, Wasabi is up to 80% less than market competition and doesn't charge a cent for businesses to access their own data. Wasabi another championship story. Check them out for [e-mail] Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage, proud partner of iHeart Podcast Network.

[Bloomberg Intelligence Podcast Announcer]

You're listening to the Bloomberg Intelligence Podcast. Catch us live weekdays at 10am Eastern on Apple CarPlay and Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business Apple Listen on demand. Wherever you get your podcasts or watch

[Host]

us live on YouTube, here's a story that gets you. Chipotle. I'm a huge fan of Chipotle 3rd Avenue, 62nd Street. Oh, I know that they know me. They know me. Apparently they had some issues with salmonella. Not good. No bueno. Daniela Satori joins us here. Restaurant reporter for Bloomberg News joins us from our Chicago viewer via that Zoom Technology. Daniela, thanks so much for joining us. Talk to us about Chipotle and what's going on with their jalapenos.

[Daniela Satori]

So the jalapenos had been linked by public health authorities to some salmonella cases. I should say, you know, right off the bat for yours and everyone's sort of peace of mind that Chipotle pulled the jalapenos pretty quickly and health authorities have said that they don't have ongoing concerns about people eating at the restaurants. But I think what really stands out here, and I can share more if you want, is just basically how quickly the company was able to really zero in on jalapenos as the culprit here.

[Co-host]

Did that result in positivity for the stock? Because I'm looking here year to date down 14% one year, return down about 24%.

[Daniela Satori]

Look like some of this information has come out very slowly over the past week. It's still pretty recent. And so basically last week we were first to report that Chipotle had pulled the jalapenos because of this salmonella outbreak. By then they had already done it a few days ago and public health authorities were like, yeah, we don't ongoing concerns. But of course, like, you know, when headlines like that come out, you know, people do get spooked. And when we published that story, the stock dropped as much as 9.7% that day. I mean, it's, it's recovered a little bit but, you know, sometimes this information takes a little bit to, to sort of, you know, spread in terms of people and health authorities feeling comfortable saying, we don't have any more concerns, go back to the restaurant, basically.

[Host]

Daniela, this is a big topic, big issue, big risk for restaurants in general chains, particularly publicly owned chains, that being food safety systems protocols. Talk to us about what Chipotle does there, of course.

[Daniela Satori]

So, you know, you might all remember that, you know, between 2015, 2018, Chipotle had a series of issues with, mostly with food handling. And so really they've stepped up their game and they've invested a lot of money basically into technology that acts as almost like a digital map of their supply chain. So basically, the company can go into this system and really look up, like, where every ingredient has been, like, you know, where it moved from the distributor to a distribution center to the restaurant. And so, you know, what the company was able to do in this case is they heard from the state of Minnesota, like, hey, we think that something in your guacamole is making people sick. And based on the pattern of where the illnesses were happening and the restaurants that were affected, the company was able to say, like, we think that the problem is the jalapenos in the guacamole. And then they were able to pull them. And so, you know, it's an example of, you know, many large restaurant chains have invested in these types of systems because, you know, as we were discussing, it's just, it's a big issue. You know, the second that an outbreak comes out, people just get spooked and just don't go to the restaurant. And that has huge revenue and profitability implications.

[Host]

Stay with us. More from Bloomberg Intelligence coming up after this.

[Carol Massar]

This is the Bloomberg Tech Minute brought to you by ChatGPT. Now with ChatGPT Work. Hi, I'm Carol Massar. Doordash, the largest food delivery company in the US is building its own delivery drones and has gained the necessary FAA approvals to operate them commercially. The latest in its effort to delegate more orders to robots as a way of cutting delivery times. Bloomberg's Natalie Leung reports. The company says it has been conducting pilot programs with various restaurants, some of which have seen their order volume grow during the test period. The effort marks an expansion of Doordash's in house robotics efforts to reduce reliance on human couriers for some orders, as their wages constitute a key expense to the business. Drones are also a way for DoorDash to cut delivery times on orders from more remote locations that some dashers may not want. That's the Bloomberg Tech Minute brought to you by ChatGPT. Put ChatGPT to work on your most ambitious ideas and projects. Get [e-mail] today by selecting work mode available on plus and Pro plans.

[Host]

Amazon Health AI presents Painful Thoughts I I can't stop scratching my downtown. Mm, yeah, but I'm not itching to go downtown and tell a receptionist I'm here to talk about my downtown. Some things you'd rather type than say out loud. There's no question too embarrassing for Amazon Health AI. Chat your symptoms and get virtual care 24. 7 Healthcare just got less painful.

[Wasabi Representative]

Innovation is what gets your business to market, and Wasabi is designed to give every business a shot at competition. How Break free from skyrocketing storage costs and unpredictable egress fees from old and top heavy legacy providers. You know the big guys. Wasabi is the world's hottest cloud storage company and the go to provider for professional and collegiate sports teams and leagues around the world. And here's why. Innovation from Wasabi's AI enabled intelligent media storage, Wasabi Air to the industry's only cloud storage service with triple protection against cybercriminals, data deletion and ransomware. The world's top companies trust Wasabi. Remember, Wasabi is up to 80% less than market competition and doesn't charge a cent for businesses to access their own data. Wasabi Another championship story. Check them out for [e-mail] Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage proud partner of iHeart Podcast Network.

[Bloomberg Intelligence Podcast Announcer]

You're listening to the Bloomberg Intelligence Podcast. Catch us live weekdays at 10am Eastern on Apple CarPlay and Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business app. Listen on demand wherever you get your podcasts or watch us live on YouTube.

[Host]

This lead, which is what the you know, if you're a journalist, talk about the lead. This one's a good one. Leveraged ETFs account for 2% of assets, but roughly a fifth of trading volume in a $17 trillion ETF.

[Co-host]

That says it all.

[Wasabi Representative]

Unbelievable.

[Host]

These people are nuts out there. The needs of Sokovich. She's across Asset reporter for Bloomberg News. She's here with the studio in the studio with this story. Talk to us about leverage ETFs because there's one, there's a 2x Nvidia 3x that Orex people are really trading these things, aren't they?

[Sokovich]

Yeah, it's a really fascinating trend. We've been writing about them for like five years. Currently the industry is 2250 billion. That's very small for the massive ETF industry. But they're traded a lot. They're traded like crazy. You can look at all the charts and that trading has grown over time. So interestingly enough, a few years ago those products were primarily a retail thing. All the retail traders loved buying 3x Nvidia, 2x Nvidia and they're very excited about that. Now we see more institutions stepping in, especially around the close in the last 30 minutes of trading. You're going to see a massive spike in trading of those and you're going to see a lot of the banks looking at those flows. Some banks say that for every 1% of move in the index, those ETFs rebalance 10 billion. So that's a lot. And obviously that's become a lot of topics. When we see a big sell off or a big rout, everyone's asking Are those ETFs exacerbating the moves?

[Co-host]

Well, that's what was happening in South Korea with the Cosby, right, And the SK Hynix and, and I think was it Samsung as well?

[Sokovich]

Yeah, Samsung and SK Hynix, I feel. So that's the latest episode that, that makes us talking about it all over again. The interesting case here is those stocks are obviously less liquid compared to like a lot of the concentrations. And that what we, that's what we have in the story. Currently 58% of the concentrations of leverage ETFs is just in a handful of names. SK Hynix and Samsung became a big thing. There was a product that launched in Hong Kong that become an instant favorite among retail traders. There was a few other ones in South Korea. So at some point we saw so much volume in those, in those products that we saw leveraged ETF ETFs indeed adding volatility.

[Co-host]

I'm wondering when are regulators going to step in?

[Sokovich]

They actually did in South Korea, interestingly enough. So we've seen from the, from the top, which is around the end of June, we've definitely see those ETFs seeing less trading. But this is very South Korea specific. In the US we've actually had some regulation in the past. We no longer have new ETFs that are launched with three times leverage. Even some, some issuers try to do five times leverage of you months back. And this is one of the few times when the SEC stepped in and said, hey, no, we're holding this. No, five times. But you know, you can still get two times. And if it's a very leveraged name that already has a lot of retail frenzy you know, it can get pretty volatile and that's what's happening with Signix.

[Host]

Folks. I way undersold this story. Now I get it. This is a big take story, which means it's one of our top, top stories on the terminal of the day. These big take stories take weeks and months to report and source and do all that kind of stuff and get checked. And they got really cool graphics to make the story really cool. So go to bloomberg.com or if you're on the terminal, check it out and it's a green B, which means that's important to you guys. It's exclusive.

[Sokovich]

It is.

[Host]

So my question here is there's enough volatility, it seems like in the underlying names, whether it's an Nvidia or any of these AI dominated kind of stories, that's enough, I would think risk for anybody. But no 2x3x both on the upside and the downside. If you want to bet something's going to go down, you buy a 2X Nvidia on the downside, right?

[Sokovich]

Exactly. Well, a few years back, leverage ETF was kind of the wildest thing in retail investor toolkits. Now you can argue that perpetual futures are even more of that. Like perpetual, perpetual futures give leverage up to 1, 100. They're mostly in crypto now, but we see them spreading in equities. So you know, maybe 3x is nothing when you can do 100x.

[Co-host]

You were talking about retail investor interest in these leveraged ETFs. What's the risk here? The underlying risk to the retail investor,

[Sokovich]

what they know actually for the retail investors is the biggest because there is a volatility drag. So if you're holding this, that the advertised holding period is one day, many people are holding them for longer. And no matter if it's short or long, the volatility of the decay, the massive moves we see day to day can really impact your gains or, and exacerbate your losses. So for average retail trader holding this for a long time, no matter if you're right or wrong, you may actually end up either getting a big part of your gains disappear or getting your

[Co-host]

losses ends up where it started.

[Sokovich]

Exactly, exactly. Yeah. So definitely a big thing. A trend would seen retail traders are holding them for a little bit shorter period. Like for example, a year ago they were holding them for quite a few days. So definitely a lot of retail traders were losing money on that. That said just last week when we saw that big sell off in semiconductors etf, retail retail traders go all in on those leveraged etf. Yeah, and they won big. So you know, sometimes it's a good thing people make money out of it.

[Bloomberg Intelligence Podcast Announcer]

This is the Bloomberg Intelligence Podcast, available on Apple, Spotify and anywhere else you get. Your podcasts listen live each weekday 10am to noon Eastern on Bloomberg.com, the iHeartRadio app, TuneIn, and the Bloomberg Business App. You can also watch us live Every weekday on YouTube and always on the Bloomberg Terminal.

[Host]

When you're running a business, the best days are the ones where priorities stay on track. For mid size and large companies, risk can affect multiple parts of the organization at once, from property and liability to cyber and regulatory challenges. At that level, managing risk becomes an ongoing discipline. At the Hartford, the focus is on helping businesses manage risk before it turns into something more disruptive. And when losses do happen, that work is paired with insurance coverage shaped by years of underwriting, risk engineering and claims experience. Learn [e-mail] riskmitigation policies provided by Hartford Fire Insurance Company and its property and casualty affiliates Hartford, CT we learned how to love dogs from the dogs that loved us and waited for us to get home from school. They were the dogs that raised us. We returned the love with Pedigree dog food. It was good then and it's better now. Every bowl has 100% complete nutrition supporting six health essentials and now it includes Vitamin Good Bites, a nutrient boost your dog will love. Pedigree Good then, better now. Some so called SUVs feel more like toys. You need a real vehicle that'll handle real life. A real SUV like the all new 2027 Kia Seltos with its best in class interior room. It'll make the others feel like toys.

[Ed Ludlow]

Check out the new 2027 K Kia Seltos X line.

[Host]

It's real world ready Kia Movement that inspires limited inventory. Available comparison based on publicly available data regarding Cargo Room in 2026 entry All Wheel Drive CUVs as of May 2026 entry All Wheel drive CUV class as defined by Kia Segmentation.