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- [00:03]
A
Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio news. Welcome to everybody's business. I'm Max Chavkin.
- [00:15]
B
And I'm Stacey Vanek Smith. Quite a week that we have had big news in monetary policy. We have a new nominee for Fed chair, Kevin Warsh.
- [00:26]
A
Yeah, the big Warsh. The big Kevin.
- [00:28]
B
Yes. And we've also seen him, bitcoin, silver, gold, all take a huge beating since that announcement.
- [00:34]
C
Yeah.
- [00:35]
A
And Stacy, you know I'm going to want to talk about Elon Musk because.
- [00:38]
B
Are you interested in Elon Musk?
- [00:40]
A
He is doing stuff that is just insane in the world of public companies. We got Dana hall, very own reporter, former Elon Inc. Stalwart, here to break it down, talk about what it means for all of us and for the world of business.
- [00:55]
B
And then, of course, the super bowl just a couple of days away. And that is, in addition to being a very fun game to watch it, a huge business moment. It is a big economic force and so are the ads. So we're going to be talking about.
- [01:09]
A
That, Stacy, and the underrated stories. I believe you have something for us for Valentine's Day.
- [01:15]
B
And in case you have not made plans yet, I have a couple of very affordable ideas.
- [01:19]
D
I can't wait.
- [01:20]
A
And I have news of a cool new Gen Z content creator who I think is going to be lighting up the socials as we speak. And her name, Stacy, is Kamala Harris.
- [01:39]
B
So, Max, this was a big week for the markets in a lot of ways. Among other things, there was just a huge meltdown of a whole bunch of things at once.
- [01:47]
D
Stacy, come on.
- [01:47]
B
Including bitcoin, gold, and silver.
- [01:49]
A
Stacy, what was it like six days ago? We had a whole conversation. I know. About how amazing it was, the price of silver.
- [01:58]
D
It was going through the roof.
- [02:00]
B
Going through the roof.
- [02:02]
A
And you being the silver and gold head that you are, you were. It was all. It was very exciting. And then as soon as the episode dropped, it tanked.
- [02:09]
B
Are you implying a correlation?
- [02:11]
A
Call it the everybody's business effect. But the price of silver, what, it's down like 30% or something since we recorded that episode.
- [02:17]
B
And bitcoin has lost, I think, half of its value since its peak last year. What's interesting about this is, of course, the markets have their own reasons for doing things, but I think part of the reason for this is because. Because of the nomination of Kevin Warsh for Fed Chair.
- [02:32]
A
Yeah. Well, you made the argument, which has really stuck with me, about, like, why these precious metals take off during times of uncertainty. It's. It's it's an uncertain world. You don't know where to put your money, so you put it into something solid, literally solid, but also into these assets that historically have retained their value. So something about silver and gold. And basically the markets were waiting to see what Donald Trump would do. And there was some chance that Donald Trump would call an audible and name maybe somebody who was more political as the Fed chair, which would have essentially meant we're going to get low interest rates for as long as Donald Trump is president, even if inflation goes up. And that could create all sorts of economic risk for the US we're not going to get that. We have kind of an. A normie Ish Fed chair.
- [03:18]
B
Yes. Yeah. Kevin Warsh, a long known as a hawk and are hawks and doves in the world of the Federal Reserve and central banking. Hawks tend to favor fighting inflation, so they tend to keep interest rates higher for longer. Kevin Wash, he's known as a hawk, even though recently he has criticized the Federal Reserve. So I think that's probably why he was nominated. He sort of turned up.
- [03:41]
A
He's like, oh, oh, actually I'm not as hawkish as I.
- [03:46]
B
Yes. But I, I think there's a. People suspect he may be sort of a hawk in doves clothing. But I think there's a feeling that is not just gonna do whatever President Trump wants, rightly or wrongly. And that was such an enormous relief that all of these safe havens, everyone was flooding into. Suddenly they left.
- [04:05]
A
Are you calling bitcoin a safe haven, Stacy?
- [04:07]
B
You know, that was to me that I've been thinking about that a lot. I think it has become a little bit of a safe haven because gold got so overpriced. You know, the, it went, the price went up so much. I think bitcoin's kind of seen as a safe crypto.
- [04:23]
A
Definitely that is how the crypto people think of bitcoin as a safe haven because they think, oh, it's better than $. But if you look at actually the price of bitcoin, it's been kind of flat during the silver gold run up. It, it went up a ton after the election as Trump was, you know, getting into the crypto business and signaling in all sorts of ways that he was going to be hands off. But it's been just kind of going down over the last few months, even as there's been all this existential anxiety. So I, I think bitcoin is in sort of a worse position. To me, that feels more like the Trump trade breaking down. You know, people were Buying bitcoin, thinking Trump's going to be great for bitcoin. We got to own bitcoin. Now they're seeing the Trump administration run into all sorts of issues. And so the price of bitcoin is going down, whereas gold and silver. I think your, your story makes a ton of sense. They're seeing Kevin Warsh, change of positions notwithstanding, he seems a lot more normal than some of the possibilities. And so you just don't need the gold and silver the way you maybe liked it. Stacey?
- [05:30]
B
Yes.
- [05:30]
A
You know this, I believe, but before you and I were co hosting this show together, I had a different show.
- [05:37]
B
I listened to that show. I'm a fan of that show.
- [05:40]
A
Thank you, R.I.P. it was called Elon, Inc. And as listeners of that show who've migrated over here, no, it was dedicated to the idea that Elon Musk was, was his own conglomerate, Elon Inc. There were all of these companies, there were business interests, there were political interests, but we tried to think about them as one big kind of conglomerate. And the crazy thing that is happening is Elon, Inc. The podcast is becoming, and it's, it's terrifying to say this real, it is becoming the actual fact of what is happening with elon Musk, because SpaceX, which is his mega, valuable rocket company, is somehow acquiring xai, the company behind the Grok Chatbot and the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. He's trying to make this, like, weird mega conglomerate. There's also talk of even more mergers. And Dana Hull, former Elon Inc. Co.
- [06:33]
D
Host, is here to talk about all that.
- [06:36]
A
She's a Bloomberg reporter. She covers Elon Musk for Bloomberg and for Business Week. Dana, great to see you.
- [06:42]
E
Great to see you, Max.
- [06:43]
A
All right, so Dana, just explain to us from the top what is happening here.
- [06:48]
E
So in my humble opinion, you know, what is happening is that Elon Musk is going back to his tried and true favorite playbook, which is when one aspect of his vast empire is floundering, he bails it out with another. So you may remember that back in 2016, Tesla acquired SolarCity, which was the floundering solar panel installer company that Elon Musk founded with his two cousins. SpaceX also had invested in SolarCity. And now fast forward a decade later, we have this bizarre sequence of events where Twitter, which became X, then merged with Musk's Xai. And now SpaceX is acquiring Xai in this mega merger with this crazy valuation ahead of a potential SpaceX IPO. And it's all because Elon wants to do space based solar powered data centers. And then there's talk that maybe eventually Tesla will merge with SpaceX. So it is just one big conglomerate and investors and the business community and regulators really need to think of it in that way.
- [07:57]
B
I'm curious about this merger. I could not make sense of it when I read about it until just now. Solar panel data centers in space. I mean, is there a use case for this? Or you really see this as just maybe more of a personal business merging?
- [08:14]
E
Okay, I am not like a data center in space expert by any means, but I do think that there's a use case for it because data centers are getting a lot of pushback, particularly in the United States. They are the new NIMBY favorite. Besides gulag prisons for ice, data centers are what local communities are really opposed to because of the electricity demands and the fear of the grid. And we have this insatiable demand for electricity now because of AI, and communities all across the country are up in arms about data centers and its impact on the electricity rate base for consumers. And so Musk, knowing that and knowing that he has his own insatiable desire for data and compute, is just doing what he always does, which is like thinking very far into the future. And while it might sound crazy at first, you do have to give Elon credit for being pretty on the nose about where technology trends are headed. And he's the space guy. This is like totally on brand for him. Of course he's gonna do data centers in space. And like they're serious about it. There's like filings with the FCC about it.
- [09:22]
A
This is really like a financial play more than anything else. XAI is losing, according to Bloomberg's reporting. And, and you know, other, other reporting backs this up as well. A huge amount of money. I think we've said a billion dollars a month. So this is a company that is bleeding just because.
- [09:39]
B
Why are they losing?
- [09:40]
A
First of all, every AI play is losing huge amounts of money because building these models requires you to build giant ships. And there's this crazy arms race that has to spend money to make money financialized. And I think we are seeing a race right now, not just with what Elon is doing, but with what OpenAI and Anthropic. Those companies are also trying to race to the financial exits. Like basically all these companies need to get out into the public markets, need to find some other people to finance what they're doing before this whole party ends. Because if the party ends today, XAI, and not just XAI, but anthropic OpenAI, even like companies such as Microsoft and Oracle are going to be in terrible shape. So this is like taking in some ways the best part of Elon's empire, the thing that runs most clearly with tons of promise.
- [10:33]
B
SpaceX.
- [10:33]
A
SpaceX and using it to subsidize what is in a lot of ways a really, really troubled set of companies in XAI and Twitter. Although it is a set of companies where there's promise because it taps into the whole AI thing.
- [10:48]
B
Dan, where do you see this going?
- [10:50]
E
SpaceX and Xai, I think the valuation that we're hearing is it. It's worth billions of dollars already, right? SpaceX was already the most valuable privately held company in the world. Now with this acquisition, it's more valuable.
- [11:03]
A
More than a trillion, I think, at least according to the.
- [11:06]
E
Yeah, you know, who knows? The valuation is changing every day and then they're going to IPO later this year. So it's a great thing for investors who want like a piece of AI. I think it's worth noting that Google has a pretty fair, pretty large stake in SpaceX as it is. That's super interesting. They're one of. They're one of the top shareholders. Someone from Google is on SpaceX's board. But yeah, like 2026 is just going to be this year of all of these AI companies trying to ipo, and Elon wants to be at the top of that stack. He is a highly competitive person. Like, it drives. He and Sam Altman, Max and I have talked about this. He's got beefs with all kind of people, but he is in an arms race and an attention race with Sam Altman for who. Whose company can have the biggest valuation. Everyone wants their IPO to be the biggest, but I think it could work. The way that I think of Elon, he's always described as being this like, brilliant engineer. And I think of him really as being a financial engineer. And that's like a way that I think that that's like a frame that I wish that more people would adopt because he is really great. Like when interest rates were low, that's when he raised a lot of money from Wall Street. Now interest rates are high, he's like shuffling around the debt of his companies. You don't go public unless you need money. I think what's surprising to me is that Elon has actually always hated running a public company. He hates quarterly earnings calls. He hates.
- [12:32]
B
There's a lot of disclo.
- [12:34]
E
Yeah, you come under a lot of scrutiny when you are a private company that you don't have to do that as much. And he always said SpaceX is going to stay private for a long time. That is the one thing that surprises me, that he's willing to take SpaceX, which has been private for over two decades, public. But you go public when you need money from the capital markets and everybody wants a piece of this guy. I mean, the retail share base is going to be huge.
- [12:59]
A
Can we just talk briefly about some of the other stuff going around in Elon's world, Dana? I cannot resist because Elon Musk was a big presence in this raft of documents that the Department of Justice made.
- [13:11]
B
Public on Epstein files.
- [13:12]
A
Yeah, the Epstein files.
- [13:14]
D
The famous Epstein files.
- [13:15]
A
Dana, what did we learn there about Elon Musk or what to you was most interesting in the kind of, in that release and in the news stories that have come out since?
- [13:24]
E
What's most striking is Elon lied about the extent of his relationship with Epstein. He always insisted I never went to the island. He begged me to come. I never went. But the, you know, emails show that he was actually planning to go a.
- [13:40]
B
Couple of times asking to go. Right, Wasn't he?
- [13:43]
E
Like, actually, what kind of party are you having? Yeah, what kind of party are you having?
- [13:46]
B
Like that's more than just like a passive. He seemed like he was asking for an invite.
- [13:51]
E
Seems pretty clear that Epstein went to SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne at some point in the 2013 timeframe, if I'm remembering correctly, and that Elon hosted him there because there's an email chain that says great to see you or something like that. And this is all in the context of Elon is out there on X, really going after Reid Hoffman for the fact that Reid apparently did visit the island. And so he's doing that classic.
- [14:15]
A
Well, and not just Reid Hoffman, but Donald Trump.
- [14:18]
D
Right.
- [14:18]
A
During the fallout, which has now been patched up, it appears Elon Musk said, let me drop the big bomb, Donald Trump is in the Epstein files. Which to be fair to Elon Musk, right about that one, there's nothing super.
- [14:30]
E
Incriminating in the files about Elon, but it shows that Elon's whole narrative about how like he barely knew this guy and never went to the island is demonstrably false. There were lots of emails back and forth. The other thing that I thought was fascinating, and I mentioned this to Max earlier, is as you may recall, back in 2018, Musk was under a lot of pressure. He tried to take Tesla private. He smoked pot on the Joe Rogans show. There was all this stuff swirling around about how he was sort of at the end of his rope. The company was close to bankruptcy. And there's an email from Epstein to Juliana Glover, who was one of Musk's kind of DC, like, sort of contract PR people at the time that was.
- [15:09]
D
Like, hey, like, big political operative.
- [15:11]
E
Yeah. There's a lot about your boy and drugs. You should get him to talk to Stewart. At the New York Times meeting, James Stewart. And Juliana responds to Epstein. We'll try. Or something like that. And then lo and behold, like that same day or the next day, like, Elon gives this big on the record interview to New York Times reporters in which he, like, talks about the stress that he's been under. So as a journalist, I found that fascinating just to see how that New York Times interview came about. Basically, Epstein is giving PR advice, like, he should talk to the Times and he should talk to these reporters at the Times. The whole thing is just lifting a veil on how the 1% live, how they all are friends with each other. And the way that they talk about the world on email was just, I think, shocking for everybody to see. I mean, to be clear, there's still more to read every day. Like, more is coming out there. It's such a huge, huge trove of documents. To me, what was so. The saddest one was there's. He, like, emails Epstein on Christmas Day and is like, I've been under. I've. I'm on, like, I. Max, you probably remember something. Like, I am on the razor's edge or the knife's edge or the edge of sanity. And, like, once my kids leave, like, I really need to blow off some steam.
- [16:22]
A
And it's like, you wanted to go.
- [16:23]
D
To the wildest party.
- [16:24]
E
This is Christmas. This is like Christmas morning. Like, when you.
- [16:27]
B
I do feel like that is quite relatable, being on the edge of sanity on Christmas. This does seem like maybe a more relatable moment in the file. But most of us then aren't emailing our friends, being like, can I come to your private island?
- [16:42]
A
Thanks, Dana.
- [16:43]
E
Thank you.
- [16:49]
F
Do you watch the Super Bowl?
- [16:51]
C
I definitely watch the super bowl for.
- [16:53]
G
The football only for the halftime show.
- [16:54]
B
I only do it for the performances.
- [16:56]
F
I don't know. Not really a big fan of Bad Bony, you know, not really my kind of music.
- [17:01]
G
A lot of people are hating that he's performing, but that's what makes me love it because. Why are you so mad?
- [17:05]
F
Do you watch the commercials?
- [17:07]
G
They're funny half the time. The commercials are Funny.
- [17:09]
C
The creativity of them have, has declined.
- [17:12]
A
A little bit and a lot have.
- [17:14]
C
Become borderline, just stupid advertisement wise.
- [17:17]
G
Like, it seems a little bit performative to me. They want to grab the attention of certain, a certain audience. And obviously, obviously Gen Z is where it's kind of at.
- [17:25]
E
They're like advertising more and more and more gambling.
- [17:28]
F
And do you feel like other companies are playing into it?
- [17:30]
E
Oh, definitely, yeah.
- [17:31]
F
Marketing, definitely.
- [17:32]
E
Especially the athletes as well. Yeah, Like, I think specifically Shaq was kind of talking about, like, oh, all these gambling ads here and there.
- [17:38]
F
Everything kind of feels like slop. And I think that's definitely going to the commercials, too. This might be the cynicism, but they used to be fun to watch. I know there were a couple that are still like, pretty decent, but I think a lot of, like, advertising companies have taken the soul out of it.
- [17:52]
B
That was our reporter Charlie Gorven talking with people about the super bowl, which is on Sunday. It is the Seattle Seahawks versus the New England Patriots.
- [18:02]
D
The slop.
- [18:03]
A
There's a lot of concerns about the ad quality declining, Stacy? I don't know. I'm kind of personally a little bit excited to see some of these ads.
- [18:11]
B
I spent a lot of years covering super bowl ads and I can tell you this. They've always been stupid. There are always some funny ones. But. But yeah, the slop has always been there. It's not new.
- [18:23]
A
Speaking of ads, Stacey, you know, there are going to be a bunch of them. People are going to be talking about them. You know, more than 100 million people are going to watch it. They're going to see these ads that are always a huge thing, both because you have a mega audience, but also because the ads tend to be talked about. Companies invest in them. It becomes a thing. And we've already started to see some of the companies that have bought AdTime for as much as $10 million for 30 seconds, releasing their videos on YouTube. And we've got a couple of them for us to, to listen to. I don't think you've watched either of these, so I'm very excited to see your videos.
- [18:57]
B
Yes. So I have not seen any of these at all.
- [18:59]
A
All right, so let's. Let me, let me do the first one. And this is an ad that was created by Anthropic, like one of the AI Ventures that owns Claude. Yeah, they own Claude. They're the Claude Company. They're racing to go public and they are also attempt. Yes, OpenAI. OpenAI has been talking about doing advertising inside of its chatbot. Chatgpt and this is an ad all about that. How do I communicate better with my mom? There's a guy sitting on a therapist's couch.
- [19:30]
H
Great question. Improved communication with your mom can bring you closer. Here are some techniques you can try. Start by listening. Really hear what she's trying to say underneath her words. Build conversation from points of agreement. Find a connection through shared activity, perhaps a nature walk. Or if the relationship can't be fixed, find emotional connection with other older women on Golden Encounters, the mature dating site that connects sensitive cubs with roaring cougars. What would you like me to create? Your profile.
- [20:10]
A
I mean, it's pretty funny because it not only makes fun of the idea of sticking an ad inside of these chatbots, which are supposed to be, you know, really helping you and dealing with some of your most personal things, such as your relationship with your mother, but also just. It really gets in a. In a kind of vivid way, the way the chatbots talk. Like, this therapist is smiling in this kind of uncomfortable, borderline robotic way. There are long pauses. It's also funny to me that a chatbot company would make ad all about how chatbots are bad. It's. As a strategy. It seems interesting.
- [20:48]
B
Yes. I guess it's all shades of gray. Shades of dystopia.
- [20:54]
A
I should also say that OpenAI has gotten really mad about this. I believe they also have a Super bowl ad, but their executives have been posting about how misleading this is and how, you know, unfortunate that they're buying an ad to criticize ads, which, of course, there is a little bit of maybe hypocrisy right there.
- [21:10]
B
Well, all's fair in love and advertising.
- [21:12]
A
All right, so the second ad. Stacey, this is an ad for Pringles, and I almost feel like you're gonna need to narrate this one. It's very visual. Okay, so hang on a second. I'm gonna play it for you.
- [21:23]
E
I'm so tired of boys.
- [21:25]
H
I need a man.
- [21:26]
C
Build him.
- [21:28]
B
All right, we've got Sabrina Carpenter holding a can of Pringles and talking into her Pringle. Leo, she's just building a man out of Pringles. She's riding in a car with the Pringle man. She's eating it in bed with the Pringle man. He's a man sculpted of Pringles. She's. Now he's been tackled by fans, and everybody's on the red carpet eating Pringles.
- [21:53]
A
What do you think?
- [21:54]
B
I think it speaks to the. The destructive nature of romantic love as it is portrayed in our society.
- [22:02]
A
A Very high minded take. I feel like it's another weird one because it's sort of an ad about being a lonely person eating Pringles. It's like Pringles.
- [22:11]
B
What's wrong with being a lonely person eating Pringles? You know what's worse than that? Being a lonely person without Pringles. Has anyone. That's the true tragedy.
- [22:19]
A
Has anyone consumed Pringles in a couple situation? I feel like it is one of those lonely, it's a lonely person food.
- [22:25]
B
I guess because of the can as opposed to the bag, which is more conducive to sharing.
- [22:30]
A
Yeah. You can only get one hand in at a time.
- [22:32]
B
Oh, that's true. Although you could make the argument that because the tube keeps them sort of intact that maybe it's more conducive. You can't get mad at someone else for crushing your Pringles.
- [22:42]
A
That's true. And I feel like. But I also think the can, it keeps them fresh for longer, which if you're, if you're a lonely person, it can last long.
- [22:48]
B
Oh, you've really put some thought into this, Max. Pringles, the lonely person's potato chip.
- [22:55]
A
Okay, so that's a good segue to the conversation I had with Randall. Randall Williams, who he's at the Super Bowl. He's at the Super Bowl. Bloomberg sports reporter, regular on this show. I caught up with him early yesterday as we're recording this. So it was when we talked, it was Wednesday morning, like 6 o' clock in the morning. Randall had just literally just rolled out of bed and he was racing to get ready to go to one of the many events that are happening in the San Francisco Bay area right now. Cause all these companies, they all show up, they rent out nightclubs, they have dinners. It's a huge event for the business of sports, but also just business in general. And Randall's there to cover it all. And we talked about all that in this conversation.
- [23:38]
D
Okay. We are joined by Randall Williams, Bloomberg sports reporter, Business Week columnist, our man in Santa Clara. Randall, how are you?
- [23:47]
C
I'm doing all right. How about yourself?
- [23:49]
A
Good.
- [23:50]
D
Thank you for joining us.
- [23:51]
A
Super Bowl, Randall.
- [23:52]
D
It is biggest event in global sports. The most money, the biggest audience. The tickets are crazy expensive. Is there anything different this year? Anything that you've noticed so far? Being in the kind of super bowl.
- [24:05]
C
World, I paid $8.96 for a Gatorade yesterday. That was different. The most expensive Gatorade, it didn't make me fly. I expected for this Gatorade to grow wings from My back after paying nearly $10 for it. But in all seriousness, I do think that Santa Clara is unique, San Francisco's unique in the fact that this city is more spread out than the last year and the year before, which were New Orleans and Las Vegas. In this city you're traveling to, like I said, Santa Clara and Oakland and different places that are hosting events. So it's more spread out. And I'm excited for the rest of the week.
- [24:39]
D
And in terms of the sort of business around this thing, I mean, the.
- [24:42]
A
Ad rates are very high.
- [24:44]
D
I've seen reports that they've been selling as high as 10 million. I mean, is it just. Just up and to the right in terms of the business of the super bowl right now?
- [24:52]
C
Absolutely. I mean, there is nothing like it in all of sports media or in media, period. Just the sheer number that people are willing to pay is absolutely ridiculous. And I think it's because of the fact that you look at last year, you have a game that at one point is 24 to 0. I believe it was 34 to 0. And then the final score at one point is 40 to 6. And yet 127 million people watched it. When you have 127 million people tuning in for a blowout when arguably the most exciting thing was a Kendrick Lamar halftime show, advertisers are gonna flock and they're gonna pay a heavy price to get on this broadcast so that they can have their viral moment and try to upstart their business.
- [25:30]
D
Yeah, I'm glad you brought the halftime show. Cause we need to talk about that. So last year it was all about Kendrick Lamar. It was like, would he call Drake a pedophile on national television?
- [25:40]
A
He basically did.
- [25:42]
D
And this year it's all about Bad Bunny. And I guess the question is, I think the question in everyone's mind is, is he going to start a culture war? Is he gonna do something to either criticize Donald Trump or do something edgy that's gonna make everyone lose their minds?
- [25:59]
C
You know, I think with Kendrick last year, there was some tension, of course, from the culture side of things. What would he perform? Not like us. And evidently he did. 133 and a half million people tuned in. It was the most watched halftime show of all time. This year you have Bad Bunny. And it's a very interesting selection. Obviously, Bad Bunny is a huge artist with a global reach and it tracks with the NFL's business. I think that they have been reaching internationally. And having a Spanish speaking artist, of course, is a little to the Left from their previous halftime selections. And I do think that he has been very public in criticizing Trump and Ice.
- [26:34]
D
So, first of all, why is Bad Bunny, like, how does that dovetail with the NFL's business strategy? Let's just leave politics aside for a second. The NFL really wants to get a more global audience. They've, like, tapped out in the US and so the thought is having somebody who is a global superstar rather than just a kind of regional superstar or something that that helps with that.
- [26:56]
C
I think so. And let me dive deeper. You look at how many international games the NFL played in the markets that they're playing, and normally they're in Mexico, but the stadium is being rebuilt. But then you have London, you have Spain, you have Ireland, you have Australia next year. So many different places. I believe they just announced Paris as well. And so when you have these different places, like, you want to cater to them.
- [27:15]
D
So Bad Bunny, for those who missed the Grammys, Bad Bunny.
- [27:19]
H
What?
- [27:20]
D
Randall, he got on stage and said something. He said, ice out.
- [27:23]
A
Okay.
- [27:24]
D
And Goodell was asked.
- [27:25]
A
I don't know if he was asked.
- [27:26]
D
Specifically about this or about the possibility of Bad Bunny doing something political. Green Day is also going to be a part of this show. And Green Day, of course, has been political before that. Twenty years ago, they were protesting.
- [27:41]
C
George.
- [27:41]
D
George W. Bush says, thought that they might do something.
- [27:44]
A
And Goodell said.
- [27:46]
D
Goodell sort of said he doesn't think it's going to happen. He thinks that Bad Bunny understands that this is a platform that is all about uniting people. Do you think that is actually what Roger Goodell wants at some point? Doesn't the controversy, like, help a little bit? It was kind of part of the draw with Kendrick. Right. Would he play not like us.
- [28:09]
C
Yeah. I do agree that the controversy does help fuel this. Now, how big is the controversy? I do think that it's being overblown a little bit. The idea that the NFL would have ever removed him is silly. It would have undermined the relationship that they have with Roc Nation. It would have undermined the relationship that they have with Spanish speaking communities around the world. If you announce somebody and then say, oh, actually, no, it just wouldn't have worked. I think going forward and what we can expect from the show, there is an element that he could say something on a hot mic, that he could go through all these rehearsals and be like, this is great, and this is what I'm gonna perform. And then hot mic comes on and he says, ice out. Do I think it will happen? No, because at some point I think he will.
- [28:50]
D
I think it's gonna. I think we're gonna get a moment of controversy.
- [28:52]
C
I think there could be more symbolism than there would be a hot mic thing.
- [28:57]
D
Okay.
- [28:57]
A
Okay.
- [28:58]
D
Interesting. All right, so, you know, not investment.
- [29:00]
A
Advice, but you could probably take that.
- [29:01]
D
To Polymarket right now. Randall, a couple quick things on the halftime show.
- [29:06]
A
One that I did not appreciate.
- [29:07]
D
Maybe we talked about this last year. We talked about Kendrick. This is an unpaid gig, which makes no frigging sense to me because this is the most commercial thing in the entire world. And how is it that the biggest artists in the world play for more than 100 million people and do not get a dime?
- [29:26]
C
This is hilarious. I think that you're right. You have an argument that, like, why aren't they paid at the same point in time? What would the payment be? How much would they be paid? 10 million? 15? 20? I mean, they are a big attraction, but are they the bigger attraction in the game? Absolutely not. And with that in mind, I do think that they see the benefits. Rihanna, when she performed the halftime show years ago, had a 640% increase in Spotify streams. Usher had a 550% increase. So you're seeing that on the tail end of things. And then you become this huge, or you already are this huge artist, but after more people are listening to you than ever before. And in some ways that's compensation.
- [30:03]
D
There's also because people are sort of losing their minds at the possibility of an ice protest or just because they're mad that Bad Bunnies speak Spanish. There is an anti woke halftime show. There's a competing program.
- [30:16]
A
We've seen these before, right? Competing program.
- [30:19]
D
There's the Puppy Bowl. Like lots of broadcasters have tried to. They don't try to program against the game, but they try to program against the halftime show. Does this ever work? Is Kid Rock and the kind of collection of maga adjacent artists who are gonna at a Turning Points event during the halftime show. Is anyone gonna watch that?
- [30:39]
C
Absolutely not. It is absolutely ridiculous to think that you can compete against the Super Bowl. The super bowl is a tradition that has existed for over 50 years. And the halftime show ever since Michael Jackson performed on that stage in 1993 has been a celebrity hotspot, an artist hotspot that no one's been able to compete with. So the idea that people are going to tune in to watch Kid Rock, I don't even think it's going to get 5 million viewers. There will be 5 million viewers on probably a Pringles ad. And There will not be 5 million viewers for this show. And what I mean by that is like an average audience for those who are gonna be listening and gonna be like, oh, look at the numbers. No, I don't think that this is going to attract audiences at all.
- [31:21]
D
Let's talk quickly. Cause I know you gotta go, you gotta get down to Santa Clara and start talking to people and doing your actual job. And the game itself, I mean, what do you find interesting? To me, this is the two most annoying fan bases in the NFL. You have the Patriots fans who basically do nothing but win. And then you got the very loud Seattle, you know, the 12th, man, they're so loud, they're shaking the foundations. Maybe this just says more about being a sad New York Giants fan that I feel this way. I'm curious what you're thinking about with the game.
- [31:55]
C
Honestly, the thing that I'm thinking about is at the ownership level, I think, and this is very Bloombergian of me, but when you think about what Robert Kraft has done for the New England Patriots over his ownership lifetime, more Super Bowls than any franchise. More Super Bowls won in that timeframe than any franchise. And now he has a chance to set to win seven. And that's more than anybody has ever won. I think that's incredible. On the other end, you have Jody Allen, who is the controller of this trust from her brother Paul Allen, who's a former co founder of Microsoft, he bought the team many years ago, died years ago, and she's controlled it. But all signs point to her this being a sale. And there has been pressure internally from NFL owners to push her to sell. Now it's been held and held and held, but this is essentially probably her grand finale season. So when you look at it from that point of view, Jody can essentially sail off into the sunset, winning a Super bowl ring for the city of Seattle. Let's say it sells for $8 billion. That money goes right back into the city of Seattle. You have a new owner coming in before the new season. And then on the other end, you have someone who has been the most dominant owner arguably in American sports, who can reach even higher heights than they have before.
- [33:04]
A
Will she get a premium if the.
- [33:06]
D
Seahawks win the Super Bowl? Will it sell for more if she wins versus losing?
- [33:10]
C
It does have some impact. Now, how much is this going to sell for? A billion dollars? More because you won the Super Bowl? No, I think that it's in the hundreds of millions. Maybe, maybe you get an extra 200, 300 million because of the fact that you're buying the reigning super bowl champions or the defending NFC champions. That does have some impact. But there's so much turnover in the NFL. The only two consistent things have been the Patriots and the Kansas City Chiefs. The Seahawks have been, they fluctuated in terms of their relevance in the NFL over the last couple of years. So this is great for them. But if you're someone buying this team, how much do you care that they won the last Super Bowl? Of course you do. But are they going to be able to do it again? I don't know.
- [33:51]
D
Randall, anything else that we haven't talked about that you will be looking for this over the next few days?
- [33:57]
C
Rest. Just rest.
- [34:01]
D
Randall Williams, thanks for joining us.
- [34:03]
C
Of course.
- [34:08]
A
Underrated story time. Stacey, I think you should go first. What is your underrated story of the week?
- [34:13]
B
All right. Well, this is some news you can use because Valentine's Day is coming up.
- [34:18]
A
Yeah, I've been looking, thinking about how I'm gonna handle it.
- [34:20]
B
Gotta start thinking about how you're gonna handle it. Also this year. You know, it's a tough one for a lot of people because wages have not really been going up, but prices have been going up. So a lot of people are kind of cash strapped. And Valentine's Day often and always causes quite a bit of stress throughout the country. So I have some, some hot tips.
- [34:39]
A
About low cost, high impact.
- [34:42]
B
Yes, I feel like this is the K shaped economy meets Valentine's Day.
- [34:45]
A
For those who cann or to take their spouse to Jeffrey Epstein's island, you are here to give us some suggestions.
- [34:51]
B
Absolutely. So there are a couple really interesting ones. Waffle House is normally not a place that takes reservations, but on Valentine's Day over 200 Waffle House locations are offering reservations and a romantic like setting. They're gonna gussy up the Waffle House so that it is a romantic setting and a place that you can go. They're not changing their prices, regular menu, but it's just going to be a nice romantic atmosphere where you can have a reasonably priced delicious breakfast all day. Valentine's dinner unironically.
- [35:27]
A
Love this. This is great.
- [35:29]
B
It does. It sounds pretty good, right?
- [35:32]
A
It is funny and it's economical. And I feel like if you, if you take your Valentine to Waffle House, as long as they haven't heard this podcast, they will be amused and, and charmed.
- [35:44]
B
Charmed, charmed. In that vein, Waffle House is not alone. This is becoming a thing where I think fast food companies, realizing the economy's changing, are seeing an opening to kind of offer more high end moments. So McDonald's is debuting a caviar kit which involves its chicken nuggets. Now, this is free. The caviar kits are free, but they're of course, limited. So you have to go online and click like Taylor Swift tickets. If you go to mcnuggetcaviar.com on Tuesday, February 10th, then you can make a bid for one of these. And it comes with a little jar of caviar, a pearl spoon, which is like the spoon you're supposed to use, stainless steel.
- [36:27]
A
It interacts with the caviar. Felix Salmon. I've heard this on, on his podcast.
- [36:31]
B
Okay.
- [36:31]
C
Yes.
- [36:31]
A
And yes. If you know, you know, if you know, you know.
- [36:34]
B
And then a little satchel. And then also then you go in and you get hot chicken nuggets. And you do hot chicken nuggets, creme fraiche and your caviar. And this is like a Valentine's Day move.
- [36:47]
D
Wow.
- [36:47]
A
Now, I'm gonna give you and listeners, I guess, and apologies to my spouse for saying this. My move, which is related, which is it is really funny to wish your loved one a happy Valentine's Day on LinkedIn.
- [37:00]
B
That is your budget move.
- [37:01]
A
That's my move.
- [37:02]
D
Yeah.
- [37:02]
B
Now, Stacy, Yes.
- [37:04]
A
You know, I think that there's a lot of buzz already in political circles about the presidential election and who is going to be the candidate. On the Democratic side, there's Gavin Newsom, who we've talked about, but also Kamala Harris, who, who is in some polls, you know, the most popular Democrat. There's been a lot of, of sort of, you know, what is she gonna do? And yesterday as we're recording this, Kamala Harris offered a hint. Her account, Kamala HQ posted that they were gonna have a big announcement today about the future. And a lot of us thought, oh, maybe, is Kamala going to announce that she's running for president? And the answer, Stacey, is no, she did not announce a, that she's running for president. What she did announce is that her old Twitter account, Kamala HQ is now headquarters. And it is, and I quote, the new Gen Z led progressive content hub. Kamala is becoming a content creator for Gen Z.
- [38:01]
B
Okay, so it's like a news aggregator. Like it's bigger than her.
- [38:05]
D
No, I should say.
- [38:07]
A
There's just so much that is if.
- [38:08]
D
You watch this video, which I have.
- [38:09]
A
Done several times, it is just like kind of cringe, largely because headquarters, this new handle, has a 6, 7 joke in it. It's headquarters 6 7, which, you know, is the kids and I feel like this. I know others have called the end of 6, 7. I think Kamala, this is the official. Definitely.
- [38:30]
C
Okay.
- [38:30]
D
Killed six, seven. I mean, this is just like her.
- [38:34]
A
Social media handle that she's gonna post stuff. And looking at it, it seems like what she's actually doing is posting sort of Gavin Newsom style memes. It's gonna be like Kamala posts, but more for the kids. It's pretty cringe, I would say. But listeners, let us know what you are doing for Valentine's Day. Do you have any low cost, high impact Valentine's Day ideas? Do you send your loved one a LinkedIn an InMail to wish them a happy Valentine's Day? Email us at everybody's.
- [39:05]
B
Oh, you don't do that.
- [39:06]
A
LinkedIn.
- [39:06]
B
Everybody's with an S. That's my personal recommendation. I don't know.
- [39:10]
D
I've done it. It always goes over very well.
- [39:13]
B
Okay.
- [39:13]
C
Well.
- [39:13]
B
Yeah.
- [39:14]
E
All right.
- [39:19]
A
This show is produced by Stacey Wong and Jasmine J.T.
- [39:22]
C
Green.
- [39:22]
A
Magnus Henriksen is our supervising producer. Sam Rogich handles engineering and Dave Purcell fact checks. Special thanks to Jeff Muskus, Julia Rubin, Charlie Goravin and Maria Ling. If you have a minute, please rate.
- [39:34]
D
And review the show.
- [39:34]
A
It'll mean a lot to us. And if you have a story that should be our business, email us@everybody's bloomberg.net that's everybody with an slumberg.net or send us an inMail. Thanks for listening and we will see you next week.
- [39:47]
B
Sam.