SK Hynix Hits the Nasdaq & Talking FIFA with Men in Blazers 7/10/26

Summary

Squawk Pod Episode Summary

Date: July 10, 2026
Episode: SK Hynix Hits the Nasdaq & Talking FIFA with Men in Blazers
Hosts: Melissa Lee, Kelly Evans, Joe Kernan
Guests: Christina Partsinevelos, Kate Rooney, Bob Herman, Roger Bennett

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Episode Overview

This episode of Squawk Pod captures a vibrant cross-section of business, technology, health, and sports news. The hosts break down SK Hynix’s historic Nasdaq debut and its implications for the AI and semiconductor sectors, reflect on a major OpenAI executive’s departure, probe the unraveling of employer-based US healthcare, and chart the meteoric rise of soccer fandom in America, with a spirited discussion on the FIFA World Cup featuring Roger Bennett from Men in Blazers.

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Key Topics & Insights

1. SK Hynix’s Blockbuster Nasdaq Debut

[03:05–08:26]

Key Points:

• SK Hynix’s Offering: The South Korean memory chip giant raised $26.5 billion through its Nasdaq debut, marking it as the second largest share sale ever after SpaceX (Christina Partsinevelos).
• Market Dominance:
  • SK Hynix controls ~58% of the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) market, vital for AI chips; Micron and Samsung lag far behind.
  • New American listing finally opens SK Hynix to passive US investment and could trigger up to $14 billion in buying as it enters indices.
• Investment Case:
  • Christina: “SK Hynix is bigger, cheaper and closer to Nvidia.” ([03:18])
  • Trades at a discount to Micron due to historical inaccessibility for US investors.
• Future Plans & Risks:
  • Funds raised will go toward building new fab facilities and acquiring expensive chipmaking equipment.
  • None of the new supply will arrive before late 2027, which will keep prices—and memory shortage—high in the near term.
  • Typical volatility warnings apply: “Memory has never really met a super cycle it didn’t eventually crash.” – Christina ([04:33])
• US Expansion:
  • Noted investment in an advanced packaging facility in Indiana, bolstered by $458 million in CHIPS Act funding ([05:43]).

Notable Exchanges:

• Kelly: “This is the biggest pure play on HBM in the market right now.” ([04:57])
• Christina: “They have the full market share over it.” ([05:02])
• Melissa, reacting to staggering revenue projections: “I thought that was a mistake. So it’s tripled to 65 billion and it’s gonna triple to 235 billion this year.” ([05:11])

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2. OpenAI’s Executive Departure

[10:11–14:46]

Key Points:

• Fidji Simo Steps Down:
  • OpenAI’s head of product and business, former Instacart CEO Fidji Simo, will depart due to chronic illness (POTS).
  • Simo played a critical role in scaling ChatGPT and leading the company towards its IPO.
  • Her duties will be divided among existing leaders, notably cofounder Greg Brockman, with no plan to immediately replace her.
• Strategic Impact:
  • Kate Rooney: “OpenAI has gotten a lot leaner and more focused under her leadership...and that is expected to continue.” ([11:22])
  • The pivot is squarely towards enterprise products and coding, away from experimental side projects.
• Simo's Legacy:
  • She cited the importance of using AI for disease cures as she exits: “Curing disease is the most important thing I could accomplish right now.” ([11:31])

Notable Quotes:

• Kate Rooney: “The pressure is on right now as they look to go public and they’re really trying to monetize the user base, which was really her purview and her task. But she was number two to Sam Altman—and so, very big job.” ([13:13])
• Melissa: “It sounds absolutely awful, terrible… It’s a neuroimmune disorder of the nervous system.” ([12:28])

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3. Netflix Eyes Live TV & the Ongoing Content Wars

[14:48–18:18]

Key Points:

• Netflix Strategy Shifts:
  • Reported to be considering live streaming channels and the bundling of other streaming services (e.g., Peacock) to increase user engagement.
  • Previous “live” initiatives focused more on Netflix-orchestrated events rather than bidding for major broadcast rights.
• Content Challenges:
  • Melissa laments: “I’ve tried to watch a dozen of their dramas… they need either to get better. It’s always about content.” ([15:50])
  • Kelly: Acknowledges Apple TV’s Emmy nominations as a contrast.
  • Content is king, but the “hit” business is a risky one.

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4. Cracks in America’s Employer-Based Health Insurance

[20:20–30:22]

Key Points:

• Stat News Series:
  • Bob Herman outlines the decline in employer-sponsored health coverage, especially among small businesses: only ~60% now offer it, down from 67% in 1998 and 83% a few decades ago.
  • “Small businesses are like on the shore of this tsunami… they’re getting rid of insurance because they know they can’t afford it anymore.” ([21:23])
• Rising Costs:
  • Obamacare (ACA) premiums have soared. Enhanced federal subsidies have lapsed, leading many to forgo coverage due to unaffordability.
  • “Part of that reason is it comes back to politics. Republicans let these enhanced subsidies… expire.” – Bob Herman ([23:43])
• Systemic Flaws:
  • Employer-based insurance obscures true costs by shouldering most premiums; ACA plans face affordability and adverse selection as healthy drop out.
  • Single-payer is discussed but recognized as politically challenging.
• Economic Impact:
  • Reduced coverage can mean poorer health, higher absenteeism, financial ruin after major illness, and lower workforce productivity.
  • Melissa: “So if you were in charge, Bob, you’d just go straight to single payer?” Bob: "There’s not an easy solution... general sentiment is people love their employer-sponsored insurance.” ([28:05–28:08])

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5. World Cup Fever & the American Soccer Renaissance

[30:25–41:01]

Key Points:

• Soccer’s US Surge:
  • Roger Bennett of Men in Blazers details the transformation: when he arrived in 1994, soccer was the 67th most popular sport (behind tractor pulling!); it’s now #3.
  • “America’s become... a proper football nation. And we are just surging on that massive wave of love for the game.” ([33:13])
• Messi Mania & Fandom:
  • Roger describes Lionel Messi’s magic: “He’s like a little man who’s wandered out of Supercuts… it’s like watching a demigod perform casual miracles.” ([30:53, 34:43])
  • The emotional impact on new fans is palpable—many report being moved to tears.
• Commercial Stakes:
  • The US World Cup is a bonanza for brands and players: “Visa, Marriott, Bank of America, Home Depot, Anheuser Busch are all watching these footballers… they are all competing to become the face of the game in the United States.” ([39:53])
  • The "commercial win" for whoever takes the Cup could define US soccer for a generation.
• Red Card Controversy:
  • There’s chatter about a pivotal US red card, and whether government interference should have tried to reinstate a player—Bennett: “It’s never happened... the good vibes fell apart.” ([36:38])
  • But regardless, “Football is about to enter its American Century, for good or for bad.” ([38:56])

Memorable Moments:

• Roger Bennett: “No matter who wins this World Cup this year, a proper football nation... you never forget your first time, baby.” ([33:13, 34:23])
• Messi's magic: “With Lionel Messi, it looks like the ball is actually jammed inside his sock… when he’s in the final third, it’s like watching a demigod perform casual miracles.” ([34:43])
• On America’s evolving fandom: “The world falling in love with America, one Buc Ees, one Popeyes, one Waffle House at the time… and then America falling in love with global football.” ([35:38])

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Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• Christina Partsinevelos (on SK Hynix):
  • “SK Hynix is bigger, cheaper and closer to Nvidia.” ([03:18])
  • “That discount existed because US investors couldn’t easily buy the Korean shares. Starting today they can.” ([03:49])
• Kate Rooney (on OpenAI):
  • “She did help take Instacart public, which was part of that hire... OpenAI has moved out of some of the more experimental side projects… and focused a lot more on coding and enterprise.” ([11:13])
• Bob Herman (on healthcare):
  • “Small businesses are like on the shore of this tsunami and a lot of them are fleeing. They’re getting rid of insurance because they know they can’t afford it anymore.” ([21:23])
• Roger Bennett (on soccer in America):
  • “America’s become, no matter who wins this World Cup this year, a proper football nation.” ([33:13])
  • “He’s like a little man who’s wandered out of Supercuts… it’s like watching a demigod perform casual miracles.” ([34:43])
  • “Football is about to enter its American century. For good or for bad.” ([38:56])

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Segment Timestamps

| Segment | Start | |-------------------------------------------|----------| | Episode Main Theme, Headlines | 01:03 | | SK Hynix NASDAQ Debut | 03:05 | | OpenAI Exec Departure | 10:11 | | Netflix Expansion & Content Discussion | 14:48 | | American Healthcare System | 20:20 | | FIFA World Cup & Soccer in the US | 30:25 | | End/Wrap | 41:05 |

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Tone & Style

Bright, fast-paced, candor-filled analysis blends with moments of humor and awe (especially around World Cup coverage). The dialogue is analytical with a pragmatic edge—prone to sharp takes on public policy, business strategy, and culture.

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For Listeners

Whether you tune in for tech, markets, policy, or pop culture, this episode delivers accessible, detailed insights on some of 2026’s biggest headlines and evolving trends. From the microchips that drive AI, to the forces transforming healthcare, to the global passions of soccer finally sweeping America, Squawk Pod fuses context and opinion for a brisk morning briefing.

Transcript

[Keith Lansford]

This episode is brought to you by Schwab Market Update, an original podcast from Charles Schwab. Join host Keith Lansford for this information packed daily market Preview delivered in 10 minutes or less, including projected stock updates, monetary policy decisions and key results and statistics that may impact your trading. Download the latest episode and [e-mail] Market Update podcast or find Schwab Market Update wherever you get your podcasts.

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[Keith Lansford]

new followers though at&t business Wireless connecting changes everything.

[Bob Herman]

Bring in show music please.

[Joe Kernan]

This is Squawk Pod and I'm CNBC producer Cameron Costa. On today's episode, big headlines from the tech world. An executive departure from OpenAI and AI giant of South Korea, SK Hynix is debuting on the US NASDAQ, raising billions billions of dollars from US investors. Our own Christina Parts and Evilis joins us with its pitch. Compared to American memory chip makers, SK

[Christina Parts]

Hynix is bigger, cheaper and closer to

[Joe Kernan]

in video then stat News reporter Bob Herman is digging into the cracks in the American health care system. It's all coming to a head for smaller employers.

[Bob Herman]

Small businesses are like on the shore of this tsunami and a lot of them are fleeing. They're getting rid of insurance because they know they can't afford it anymore.

[Joe Kernan]

Plus Netflix could be getting into live tv. And more good news for demigods on grass. The World cup quarterfinals are only just getting started. Founder of Men in Blazers Media Roger Bennett made a business betting that Americans will jump aboard the soccer bandwagon.

[Roger Bennett]

The world falling in love with America. One Buc Ees, one Popeyes, one Waffle House at the time, which I think we also needed right now. And then America falling in love with global football. It's been a spectacular four weeks.

[Joe Kernan]

One new fan from the 2026 World Cup. Look no further.

[Melissa Lee]

It's happening to me a little bit.

[Joe Kernan]

It is Friday, July 10th and Squawk Pod begins right now.

[AT&T Business Wireless Advertiser]

Stand by Joe in 3, 2, 1 with Mike Q.

[Melissa Lee]

Good morning and welcome to welcome back because you were here yesterday. The Squawk Box here on cnbc live from the NASDAQ market site in Times Square. And you're going to be Happy Melissa Lee is here like I am. I'm happy Melissa Lee is here. Becky and Andrew are off today and Ohio is still the best state it

[Kelly Evans]

will be for the next year.

[Melissa Lee]

It certainly will be one of the key.

[Kelly Evans]

Look who's here who came in industry, I know. Tapping American investors for billions of of dollars in funding. Christina Parks Navalist joins us now with more on SK Hynix's US debut.

[Christina Parts]

Yeah, it's official because SK Hynix has raised roughly 26 and a half billion dollars at $149 per American depository share. That's what's listed here. This would be the second largest share sale ever after Space X, also at the NASDAQ just last month. Wondering why all this demand for a company maybe you haven't heard of. SK Hynix is the world leader in high bandwidth memory, the memory that feeds AI chips. With roughly 58% of that market, Micron and Samsung competitors split roughly 21% each. In that pie chart right there, as per Counterpoint Research, the case though against Micron really comes down to one sentence. It's bigger. SK Hynix is bigger, cheaper and closer to in video. It's cheaper than the American rival in terms of markets five, almost six times forward earnings versus Micron seven. So not that much, but still, you know, a little cheaper. That discount existed because US investors couldn't easily buy the Korean shares. Starting today they can. Which is why analysts see this listing as the catalyst that finally closes the gap between what's going on in South Korea and here in the United States. Barclay estimates the stock could see up to roughly $14 billion in passive buying alone as it enters the major indices just over the next few months. As for the 26 and a half billion dollar raise, it all goes into new fabs and equipment like ASML parts, part of the Korean build out specifically the company says could reach $720 billion. None of that supply though arrives before late 2027, which keeps the memory shortage going and record prices high intact for now. The longer term risk though is that memory has never really met a super cycle. It didn't eventually crash.

[Kelly Evans]

But to be clear, this is the biggest pure play on HBM in the market right now.

[Christina Parts]

Right there complete. They have the full market share over it. And the biggest Nvidia, the revenue number

[Melissa Lee]

I thought was mistake. So it's tripled to 65 billion and it's going to triple to 235 billion this year.

[Christina Parts]

Yeah, that's at the end of this year.

[Melissa Lee]

I saw that they're providing. That's got to be a mistake. Tripled to 65 billion. It's tripling again to the last three years.

[Christina Parts]

And then in one year they're able to do that again. Yeah, to 200 and something.

[Melissa Lee]

I mean a lot of it's pricing, I guess for revenue.

[Kelly Evans]

Right.

[Melissa Lee]

Because there's a shortage. And then the investments being made even in this country are the numbers I was reading were some of its CHIPS act.

[Christina Parts]

Yeah. So it's Indiana and that's going to be an advanced packaging facility. And the goal is for that to be. And they're going to receive roughly 458 million, if I remember correctly, from CHIPS ACT funding. And perhaps maybe soon they'll announce further announcements, further expansions in terms of manufacturing. But most of it doesn't happen here. It happens in South Korea and some in.

[Melissa Lee]

Well, you saw almost $1 trillion. Right.

[Christina Parts]

It's, it's a lot of $720 billion and some of it is going to come online very soon. So there's two ways to look at it. It's coming online soon if according to them, you know, in the next few years. So should you be worried as an investor because that changes the dynamics of supply and demand for memory and then would in turn lower the prices. Or maybe it's going to take forever because all of these companies promise and you know, the hurdles, you know, the not in my backyard scenarios, the labor, everything. And it could take way longer which prolongs this cycle.

[Melissa Lee]

And these were like this run of the mill RAM that makes a difference as they stack on top of each

[Christina Parts]

other for high band. So you're reading the same article in general, that's.

[Melissa Lee]

I think all the articles say the

[Christina Parts]

same article, which I'd recommend everybody go check out. It's high band.

[Melissa Lee]

Is that CNBC where I read that?

[Christina Parts]

Yeah.

[Everpure Advertiser]

It was a long run.

[Melissa Lee]

I think we're getting better and better with this new guy, right?

[Christina Parts]

No, he's not new.

[Kelly Evans]

Kif, if that's your turn, wipe that off your nose.

[Christina Parts]

High bandwidth memory is a type of dram and so that's dynamic memory that needs to be plugged in. The rest is nand. So where you can. It just stores on your laptop. See, my laptop's turned off, so it's still working. So the memory is still stored in there. But this type of memory that you're referring to, high bandwidth does layer on top. It's more complex and that's what's needed for AI systems.

[Melissa Lee]

Okay.

[Kelly Evans]

But this is almost. Be careful what you wish for because this opens up a whole new fundraising channel for SK Hynix, which they can then use to build out, which would then impact supply, increase supply later on, which could then bring it back to that traditional cycle that it's been in in the past.

[Christina Parts]

Exactly, because that's where they said the money is going to go. They're raising the capital to fund what's going on in South Korea, to fund the ASML machines that cost a lot of money. I thought you were actually alluding to the money, maybe even leaving US dollars and going back into South Korea too. So the arbitrage opportunity that you and I spoke about just last night, the fact that you can buy freely, you can buy the US you can buy the South Korean shares, transfer them into US shares, but to go back you have to go through some paperwork and that's because the South Korean government doesn't want everybody having their money leave that country and come over here to the United States. But it's still the company saying it's a two way deal. They just have to go through some paperwork if they want to transfer the shares from South Korean to us which by the way, you get, you need 10 shares here to get one share there.

[Kelly Evans]

Okay, Christina, thank you.

[Christina Parts]

Thanks.

[Melissa Lee]

Christina Bartz, novelist and Fed Chairman we heard about this. Kevin was revealing some of the participants now in groups that he's setting up to study various central bank operations. Might recall at his first news conference last month, Warsh outlined five task forces which normally you hear about a government task force and say, no, not another one of those, but probably necessary in this case, he said would look at Fed communications data, data as well the central bank's balance sheet, productivity and jobs and inflation. Among the prominent names set to be involved in the task force is venture capitalist Mark Andreessen, former White House economic aid Greg Mankiw, former Bank of England governor Mervyn King, who you were mentioning for some reason yesterday, because he was

[Kelly Evans]

before he was reported as being part of the Fed communications.

[Melissa Lee]

So you already knew. I mean, I'm just reading this and you're doing something else probably because.

[Kelly Evans]

No, I always listen to every word you say.

[Melissa Lee]

Okay. And former Walmart CEO, did you get any sleep last night? No. Kind of obvious. Walmart CEO Doug McMillan Bush indicated he expects some changes at the Fed this year. I'm not going to hold that against you. It's hard. It's hard work.

[Kelly Evans]

You want to finish this and then go anchor two hours at the end of the day.

[Melissa Lee]

You're not doing that today, are you?

[Kelly Evans]

Not today, but I did that yesterday.

[Melissa Lee]

You did five hours yesterday?

[Kelly Evans]

Yes.

[Melissa Lee]

See, I would, I would normally have some. Feel the compassion or you have none. No. If anyone can handle it, it's you. That's all I was going to say and try and say something nice, but I mean, I don't need to keep trying.

[Kelly Evans]

OpenAI product and business head Fiji Simo announcing she'll step down from the company to focus on her health. Kate Rooney joins us now with more.

[Melissa Lee]

Kate.

[Kate Rooney]

Mel, good to see you in person here. Yeah. So this was one of OpenAI's top executives, second in command to CEO Sam Altman. Fiji Semo announcing she is stepping down to a chronic illness she's been battling since 2019. She did announce this on social media and a memo to stay staff yesterday. Her official title was CEO of AGI Development. She's now going to be a company advisor. OpenAI did hire the former Instacart CEO last year to help really scale its chat CBT product suite and then business operations, which is key right now as the company moves towards its highly anticipated ipo. She did help take Instacart public which was part of that hire. Simo has been on medical leave since this spring. The void at the time did cause a lot of concern from investors that we spoke to at the time time but since then company co founder and president Greg Brockman had been overseeing product overall. That is expected to continue. I talked to sources who say CMOs responsibilities are going to be split up among Brockman, CFO Sarah Fryer, among other top executives. CMO did spearhead advertising within chatbots, also a health focused version of the chat bot. And the company's overall product strategy did get a lot leaner and more focused under her leadership. OpenAI has moved out of some of the more experimental side projects. Think of the video generation app Sora and focused a lot more on coding and enterprise where it is now sprinting to catch up with rival anthropic Semo. In her post yesterday did also talk about the importance of this technology as she steps back from the role. Says curing disease is the most important thing I could accomplish right now.

[Kelly Evans]

Guys, does this impact at all its outlook or its roadmap for, you know, ipo?

[Kate Rooney]

I would say no. In March when she stepped down, that was the worry that there is a void, there's a vacuum in leadership. Great. Greg Brockman has stepped in and the company has sort of consolidated under the founder. So you have Sam Altman, you have Greg Brockman. He is a product person and has really been doing that also leading infrastructure. The thought is that they may not replace her. It may just be sort of divvying up this role. And the product focus overall has just been enterprise. They're going after coding. They have just gotten a lot leaner and that's expected to continue I think regardless of if they bring in someone else. That is the strategy as they look to go public. So much more profitable to be doing the enterprise business versus just chat.

[Kelly Evans]

Cbt.

[Melissa Lee]

Never heard of this condition. It sounds absolutely awful, terrible sounds.

[Kate Rooney]

It's called pots. I mean her, her memo was. Was very deep and more about her career and wishing that she had actually stepped back. She said in that. That Mark Zuckerberg, when she was at Facebook, she was also top executive there, had recommended she take a year off. And it was sort of a step back and career reflection saying she wished she'd done that.

[Melissa Lee]

But it does sound and we take it for granted. It's a neuroimmune disorder of the autoimmune of the nervous system. The thing that we don't even think about regulate like heart rate, blood pressure. It regulates all these things and it gets all haywire from a neuroimmune disease.

[Kate Rooney]

I think she's.

[Melissa Lee]

So you can be standing there, you get dizzy, chest pains, fatigue, fainting.

[Kate Rooney]

I mean I talk about. I think she has spoken to Becky for CNBC cures by the way. But it sounds like an awful lot of awful disease at a time. I mean, I can't imagine a more stressful job than running things at OpenAI, by the way. And she had been working remotely, you know, but it is, it is such an intense culture. It is such an intense, fast paced job at this point. But OpenAI. Yeah, they are. The pressure is on right now as they look to go public and they're really trying to monetize the user base which was really her purview and her, her task. But she was, you know, number two to Sam Altman and so very big job.

[Melissa Lee]

They're not rare. One to three, but I mean rare but not classified as rare. One to 3 million Americans, up to 1% of the global worldwide population. Which is crazy. But I guess it could be differing degrees of.

[Kelly Evans]

Yeah. But it's interesting in her memo that she mentions AI as the tool.

[Melissa Lee]

Yeah.

[Kelly Evans]

To cure disease.

[Kate Rooney]

It's so it's the silver lining of this technology. There's so much talk about economic disruption and what it could do to jobs. But I think in the popularity overall, you see the data center pushback. There is a thought that this technology could actually really be used for good. I mean, Sam Altman talked about that, too. But if AI is able to go out and cure rare disease or cancer, I think it's going to be a lot more popular for a lot more people.

[Melissa Lee]

Just more people that won't have jobs. So we'll all.

[Kate Rooney]

But they won't have rare disease.

[Melissa Lee]

No, they won't.

[Kelly Evans]

Yeah.

[Melissa Lee]

So we'll live for.

[Kate Rooney]

Yeah, yeah.

[Melissa Lee]

But we'll live forever. But have nothing to do.

[Kate Rooney]

Nothing to do. Yeah, we'll just be hanging out and

[Melissa Lee]

I'd rather live and nothing to watch on Netflix. Back to that.

[Kelly Evans]

Kate. Thank you.

[Kate Rooney]

Good to see you guys.

[Kelly Evans]

Kate Rooney, Netflix is looking to get into live tv. The Wall Street Journal says the company is exploring adding live streaming channels to its service or potentially allowing subscribers to use its platform to buy access to other streaming services, like NBCUniversal's Peacock. The report says that Netflix executives have grown concerned about engagement, which measures how long users spend watching particular programs. Netflix recently partnered with France's TF1 to allow users in that country to watch some live content, including news. Other similar overseas deals could be a next step. Netflix declines to comment to cnbc, but of course, this might pour fuel on the idea that it could buy NBC Universal.

[Melissa Lee]

I had a lot of comments on this, a lot of thoughts. I don't know whether I can talk to you about it, though, because you have twins and you don't get. Are you looking for things to watch on tv? Do you ever have time to do that? You do at times, because I do a lot. So Netflix is now 300 billion or so. It's down 50%.

[Kelly Evans]

Yeah.

[Melissa Lee]

And I've been complaining about what's on Netflix. I can't, you know, there's a lot of stuff. I'm not engaged. And I try, I've tried to watch a dozen of their dramas, whatever they are, and they need either to get better. It's always about content. We keep coming back to. That's always about content. And I remember in the past when General Electric bought what you said, NBC Universal. And all of a sudden the suits there were looking at the numbers and it's like, wait a second. So Universal, we have no. They could make x or 3 times x depending on whether they make good movies. And these like, suits, GE were like, this can't be. We can't run a business like that. It's all about hits. When's the Last Sopranos, a Breaking Bad, a homeless. Nothing like that is on. And they have no guarantee that they're going to be able to do that. So now they're like, holy crap, we might have to do quality programming. Let's do some sports, let's do some news, let's do some stuff that and how expensive.

[Kelly Evans]

We're not up to the point. Right. I mean Netflix had been applauded for having live a TV strategy. A live TV strategy that was unscripted. But were events that they created. They weren't bidding against other parties for the rights to broadcast those. They would stage fights, they would have, you know, these sorts of things that were under their control. Tennis matches.

[Melissa Lee]

Yeah.

[Kelly Evans]

But here they are, they're entering the fray.

[Melissa Lee]

Do you remember the demise of Appointment? It was must watch tv. NBC said so we had for. Let's say we still. Because we worked for them for so long. But It's Seinfeld, okay? 10 years of Seinfeld, then replace that with Friends.

[Mazda Advertiser]

Wow.

[Melissa Lee]

Everything's great. You know, it's different.

[Kelly Evans]

I mean it was different.

[Melissa Lee]

It was a different day. It was a different day.

[Kelly Evans]

But we never watched something at the

[Everpure Advertiser]

end of the day.

[Melissa Lee]

Do you remember what Jeff Zucker did to try to extend that? He made a super sized version of. Because we couldn't come up with it. And we to this day, NBC hasn't really come up with another. Poor Dick Wolf had designed. We have a CSI in every city at this point because they can't come up.

[Kelly Evans]

They're all good.

[Melissa Lee]

I just think it's real. The content is king and it's really hard to do. And Netflix is for me. I find myself on Paramount a lot more.

[Kelly Evans]

The number of Apple TV Emmy nominations that they've gotten would tell a different story.

[Melissa Lee]

But like what?

[Kelly Evans]

For what? I agree that there's a lot of stuff on there and oftentimes you don't find what you want.

[Melissa Lee]

A lot of it is pretty woke too. I don't like it ran down my throat.

[AT&T Business Wireless Advertiser]

Tease will be next.

[Joe Kernan]

Coming up on Squawkpod, cracks in the American healthcare system. Fewer employees are getting insurance coverage from work. Costs are rising and they're being left to go it alone. Stat news reporter Bob Herrman explains.

[Bob Herman]

Large companies, they usually have the means to still offer health insurance. It's pretty universal among the bigger companies. But small employers, which really are the backbones of entire communities in which politicians everywhere love, they're the ones who are giving up entirely.

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[Keith Lansford]

This episode is brought to you by Schwab Market Update, an original podcast from Charles Schwab. Join host Keith Lansford for this information packed daily market Preview delivered in 10 minutes or less, including projected stock updates, monetary policy decisions and key results and statistics that may impact your trading. Download the latest episode and [e-mail] Market Update podcast or find Schwab Market Update wherever you get your podcasts.

[AT&T Business Wireless Advertiser]

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[Keith Lansford]

AT&T business Wireless connecting changes everything.

[Joe Kernan]

Welcome back to Squawkpod from cnbc.

[Melissa Lee]

Stat News, a website covering stories in the world of health care insurance in the pharma industry, has a new series this week focusing on health insurance and the second sentence in the first article sets it all up by saying America's employer based health insurance system, which is still the dominant form of coverage for people younger than 65, is crumbling. The percentage of working age adults who get their health coverage from a job has declined. In 1998 it was 67%. It's now about 60%. It's also more expensive than ever and Bob Herman is the reporter behind the series and joins us live. Bob, it's good to see you. Not everyone is aware of this. Large companies still can make it work at this point. They're able to induce people to come with these lucrative health care plans because they have tax advantages. You're mainly seeing the deterioration in small and mid sized companies.

[Bob Herman]

Yeah, that's right. What definitely surprised me the most, you're right. Large companies, they usually have the means to still offer health insurance. It's pretty universal among the bigger companies. But small employers, which really are the backbones of entire communities, which politicians everywhere love, they're the ones who are giving up entirely. There's surveys that show companies with 200 or fewer employees. About 60% of those types of companies offer health insurance.

[Roger Bennett]

Now.

[Bob Herman]

That's the lowest. It's ever been. I mean, we're on the trajectory to like a 50, 50 split of small businesses now offering health insurance. It was about 83%, you know, a couple of decades ago when the ACA passed. So this is, this is like small businesses are like on the shore of this tsunami and a lot of them are fleeing. They're, they're getting rid of insurance because they know they can't afford it anymore.

[Melissa Lee]

You know what else, and you saw the piece yesterday, probably Bob, Obamacare, the type of increases that those insurance companies that provide Obamacare need is off the charts. And at this point it's getting more expensive for people to the only 19.2 million people are in Obamacare now down. So that's going down to, down from 22.1. When people at small to medium sized companies lose their, their coverage, what do the employers tell them to do? You're on your own.

[Bob Herman]

Yeah. I mean, first of all, a lot of the small business owners and workers I talked to, it's not an option that they want to do.

[Roger Bennett]

Right.

[Bob Herman]

Like a lot of employers want to provide health insurance to employees, but it's the costs have gotten to the point where they have to make a choice. Either we offer it or our business suffers to the point of, you know, whether it still survives. And so a lot of employers have said, hey, we're going to give employees money. Maybe you can go buy coverage on the ACA exchanges then. But it's a tough trade off for workers because as you mentioned, the premiums are much, much higher now. And the ACA marketplaces, we need to start thinking of these as, also as places where it's, it's almost like a, another marketplace for workers. About half of people who enroll in the AC marketplaces are small business owners or solo entrepreneurs. And the premiums there are, they're incredibly high. And part of that reason is it comes back to politics. Republicans let these enhanced subsidies which help lower the cost of premiums, those expired at the end of last year. Republicans did not renew them. Democrats created them during the pandemic. So that meant a lot of middle class people started to have to pay full freight for those premiums. And obviously that it's unaffordable. So there, a lot of people said, I can't do anymore. I'm just not going to pay for that coverage. So the

[Melissa Lee]

Democrats said, oh, we got to do this because of the pandemic. And they didn't. They, they let it, you know, it wasn't going to last. They knew it was going to expire. They were, they were in control at the time. They could have made it permanent, but they didn't. But they, because it wasn't cost effective. And then the, the, the realities of providing coverage set in and it doesn't hold costs down. I don't blame Republicans for not bailing the Democrats out. Obamacare does not work effectively to keep costs down. Right.

[Bob Herman]

Well, the Obamacare premiums are a reflection of how sick enrollees are in that marketplace. When insurers offer premiums and when they offer health plans, it is, they look at their data. The actuaries say, okay, this is, these are the premiums that we have to charge. And increasingly if healthy people leave the market, they're going to have to charge more to cover the sick people that remain.

[Melissa Lee]

But why should. The healthy 27 year old shouldn't be paying the type of premium that they're forced to for Obamacare. The increases for Obamacare, 20% for the insurers in 2026, that was the average increase. 2027, they're asking for 14. In the state of Washington, they're asking for another 28%. This, the whole, I mean it's, it's, the entire industry is not affordable at this point and we're not, we're not doing the things necessary to keep costs down. Right?

[Bob Herman]

Yeah. I think one important thing to keep note with health insurance is the idea is you want a bigger pool to spread out the medical costs. Right. I mean ultimately that means the healthy subsidize the sick. That's just the idea behind most types of insurance. You know, if it's homeowners insurance, if you still pay your premiums even though your house doesn't burn down. So it's the same kind of thing with health insurance. And I think it's this idea that social solidarity, like we're all going to pay for health insurance, so that means the sickest among us can get the care that they need. But the premiums are very expensive. And if workers are being steered toward different markets where they have to pay those like it's a tough decision. It's. And I think the employer based system hides a lot of those decisions because when you go to the Obamacare marketplaces, those are premiums that you have to pay. In the employer system, the employers cover usually 75% of those costs. So those costs are shielded and that's money that would other guys otherwise go to workers in the form of salary. So the employer based system hides a lot of those tough decisions that we see in the Obamacare marketplaces.

[Kelly Evans]

So what are the impacts, Bob? I mean I'm just thinking of there are workers that are not getting adequate health care coverage. They may not be getting the medicines they need to manage certain conditions. Certainly they're not getting specialty medicines which cost even more, I'm sure. And so the impact is what? More worker absenteeism, less productivity in the workforce. Ultimately it is the public who pays because they get to a point where they need care so desperately, they go to hospitals.

[Bob Herman]

Yeah, I mean if you're a worker and you don't have health insurance, you're right. The idea of health insurance is providing that financial security and again most employers want to provide that. But if that's not an option for the worker and they get sick, like if you're very sick, you're going to go to the hospital and that usually it's going to fall on the employee that's going to potentially ruin, ruin them financially, clear out their savings. Most Americans still can't afford, you know, their high deductibles on the spot which are in thousands of dollars. And yeah, if you're a worker and you don't get the care that you need, if you're not being proactive about your care, it makes it harder to be a productive worker. And this setup that we're talking about, it does lend itself to making it more difficult for workers to just do their jobs.

[Melissa Lee]

So if you were in charge Bob, you just go straight to single payer.

[Bob Herman]

I mean there's not an easy solution to this because there's surveys that show that people love their employer sponsored insurance. Right. I think that's why politicians are in general very averse to touching any kind of insurance.

[Melissa Lee]

Are there tax the tax advantages that the larger companies have that allow them to do this. Could the laws be changed for small to medium sized companies to offer them the same type of incentives and advantages so that they would be able to do it as well? Why isn't that done? Congress won't do that either.

[Bob Herman]

Well, I mean Congress, there's federal laws like ERISA which govern self insured plans and those just mean that they're companies that pay for medical claims on their own. Most small employers don't do that. A lot of small employers say we're just going to offload all the medical risk to insurance companies. You take care of it and that's, you have to pay a premium to do that. And for small businesses that's just what you have to do. You don't have the resources of a large company to be creative in the ways that you finance care. Congress has to change laws to make it easier for small businesses to do those types of things. It's a very hot, it's, it's a tough expectation because Congress is very divided on health care. There's no like, cohesive plan and it's just, it's a tough expectation. But yes, ultimately, at least among the employer based system, these are federal laws that govern it. There's some state laws too that govern the fully insured plans that small businesses do. So you've seen some tinkering in states as well. But if we want like national reform, it's going to have to go through Congress. You're going to need another ACA type of package that we saw, you know, 16 years ago and what that looks like, that's up for the party to decide. Obviously, single payer has been in the headlines again with, with more Democrats, you know, running for office. So that's, that's also, it's a tough thing to achieve.

[Melissa Lee]

Everything's going to be free with the Democrats that are running now. So we got that going for us. We know how that will work. Anyway, Bob, we appreciate your time. Thank you.

[Bob Herman]

Thanks for having me.

[Joe Kernan]

Up next on Squawkpod. The World cup quarterfinals are underway. Just a handful of teams remain and fan interest, especially stateside, is growing.

[Roger Bennett]

America's become, no matter who wins this World cup this year, a proper football nation.

[Joe Kernan]

Founder of Men and Blazers media Roger Bennett built his soccer podcast into a universe for American soccer fans like Joe.

[Melissa Lee]

Where I really got it was the other night with Messi.

[Roger Bennett]

He's like a little man who's wandered out of Supercuts. He looks like a everyday kind of guy, but when he's in the final third of a football pitch, it's like watching a demigod perform casual miracles.

[Joe Kernan]

Ride the wave of soccer fandom right after this break.

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[Keith Lansford]

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[AT&T Business Wireless Advertiser 2]

not every sale happens at the register. Before AT&T business Wireless checking out customers on our mobile POS systems took too long. Basically a staring contest where everyone loses. It's crazy what people say during an awkward silence. Now transactions are done before the silence takes hold. That means I can focus on the task at hand and make an extra sailor too. Sometimes I do miss the bonding time sometimes.

[Keith Lansford]

AT&T business Wireless connecting changes everything.

[Joe Kernan]

This is Squawk Pod.

[Kelly Evans]

You're watching Squawk Box on cnbc. I'm Melissa Lee along with Joe Kernan. Becky and Joe and Andrew are off today.

[Roger Bennett]

You wish.

[Melissa Lee]

Now that France has won the World Cups for first quarterfinals match, we'll have three more games to go this weekend. Join us now with more on the matchups. The founder of the Men in Blazers Media network, Roger Bennett. Just Roger, thanks for joining us. Looking at recent article a soccer podcast became a hundred person media company. And, and that's basically I think I don't want you to to get bashful. I think they might be talking about you. It is crazy how this worked.

[Roger Bennett]

You know, I'm American now, but a little bit of Englishness that's left in me is a degree of self loathing where I don't like to talk in a self aggrandizing way. But the rise of our network which covers the men's game, Premier League, U.S. world cup, the women's game which is surging in America, we have a platform Vamos that speaks to second and third generation Hispanic fans is really a testament to the growth of the game in the United States. When I moved here, head of the 1994 World cup, soccer in a study was 67th most popular sport in America. Tractor pulling was 66. The Economist just found out it's the third most popular fan sport now. So America's become, no matter who wins this World cup this year, a proper football nation. And we are just surging on that massive wave of love for the game that the rest of the world has always loved. But America's just taking a little bit more time to fall in love with

[Melissa Lee]

and I think it would be great for the sport. It already is great that to bring America on board and I don't want to make everything personal, but it is happening to me a little bit. This is the first time though. This is, this is the first.

[Roger Bennett]

You never forget your first time. You never forget your first time, baby.

[Melissa Lee]

I think my first time was where I really got it was the other night with Messi watching That game. And I think a lot of people saw that. I mean, he's so talented. I've never seen anything like. It looks like the ball's glued to his foot.

[Roger Bennett]

Yeah. There's a famous Uruguayan poet, Eduardo Galeano, who said that the greatest Maradona. It looked like the ball was glued to his foot. With Lionel Messi, it looks like the ball is actually jammed inside his sock. He moves with it. This is a 39 year old. He should be fading into obscurity. Instead, he seems to be peaking with every game. And he's like a little man who's wandered out of Supercuts. He looks like a everyday kind of guy, but when he's in the final third of a football pitch, it's like watching a demigod perform casual miracles. I was actually at that game live. I was with our sponsors. Bank of America were with me. And I was with one of the. The leadership there. She'd never been to a football game before in. In this stadium. The atmosphere was so. It was almost like a church. The emotions. Human beings everywhere were sobbing watching these everyday miracles. She started crying. I was like, what's going on? She said, I'm so moved by the human emotion in this place. It's almost like a great evangelical church. And I'd say you're not alone. There's so many people who are being turned onto this sport. It's an incredible wave. And no matter who wins, I think ultimately the world falling in love with America. One Buc Ees, one Popeyes, one Waffle House at the time, which I think we also needed right now. And then America falling in love with global football. It's been a spectacular four weeks.

[Melissa Lee]

Yeah. I can't believe I'm caught up in it. And I'm watching every game now. I'm looking forward to the game today. And, you know, I don't want to dwell on the red card and everything that happened at the time. I said, you know what, if the US Is really here in soccer, the team I'd want us to field our best team and still see that. A team like Belgium, pretty good. All right. But they're probably not, you know, there are probably better teams.

[Roger Bennett]

Correct.

[Melissa Lee]

So if you want the American market, why wasn't it. Why didn't we want to field our best players? Because we do want the US to be totally involved in this, in this sport to the way the rest of the world is. And I just, I didn't understand why hardcore soccer fans were so up in arms about that. I guess because you're not. You're not. You're not supposed to take away a red card or something.

[Roger Bennett]

It's a complicated one that ultimately we could do a whole hour on the mighty scorebox about. It's very irregular. That is, it's never happened. That a government have come in and tried to reinstate a footballer had a devastating effect on the team. Speaking to. To some of the players in the wake of it, they were on a wave of good vibe. The nation had fallen in love. I was in Seattle for one of the games. I led the march to the match with Marshawn lynch in Seattle. 15,000Americans from all over the nation had come together to revel in this moment. And then the good vibes there was what you call a vibe shift and they fell apart. Look, the reality is the World cup viewing figures are enormous. With or without the United States. England played in The Azteca, Mexico. 40 million Americans tuned in. It's an enormous number. I mean, compared to, like, the NBA Finals, I think that was like, average about just over 20 million. America's fallen in love with this. The viewing figures, the commercial figures are enormous. And so the sad part for me, despite my accent, I love America like Kenny Powers loves America. I root for this American team. This World cup will be remembered forever as a World cup of Lionel Messi, like for you, of the French blur of speed. Mbappe Norway are playing Erling Haaland, who's like Shaquille o' Neal if he was a Viking and played in cleats. These are superstars, the Scottish fans who made Boston the capital of their nation for two weeks. All of these will be in the telling. And the agony for me is that the United States men's national team, who should have been a real through line in this story, departed too soon and will be kind of a minor character when this World cup is remembered. But what we are watching is the viewing figures are massive, the commercial figures are massive. And whatever happens, American equity investors have invested so much in football up and down, global football. Football is about to enter its American century. For good or for bad.

[Melissa Lee]

I guess controversy is always kind of. I just said, you know, if. If our best player hadn't been on the field, it would have been. Yeah, well, yeah, Belgium won 4 to 1. But, you know, we didn't have our best player. And I don't know, either way, it was not, you know, England had.

[Roger Bennett]

England had a player sent off the other day. They have no active prime minister, so they couldn't get stuck in to try and Rally. It's not how football works. It's played on the field. There's rules, there's regulations. We all want our best. But go.

[Melissa Lee]

The red card shouldn't have been thrown in the first place, though.

[Roger Bennett]

You really. You want to do this on the mighty score box. You want to get into this tennis.

[Melissa Lee]

No, I don't. No, I don't. I don't. They're out.

[Roger Bennett]

We've got a beautiful. I mean, really, the reality is what I'd focus on.

[Melissa Lee]

I like the big Viking. I do like that big Viking. Do they have a chance or. Or he can't do. Can't do it all.

[Kate Rooney]

They do.

[Roger Bennett]

They do. They said the big Viking. Erling Haaland. By the way, commercially, there's a battle within football. So every team wants to win because to win, you become immortal. When that final whistle goes a week on Sunday, one team will become irrelevant almost immediately, and then the other team will become demigods, immortal, woven into their nation's history. But there's an added win for this, this World Cup. It's in the United States. Visa, Marriott, bank of America, Home Depot, Anheuser Busch, are all watching these footballers. Mbappe, Best in the world. Messi, you've talked about him. Haaland, the big Viking, as you call them, they are all competing to become the face of the game in the United States. So the commercial win for whoever wins this thing is unprecedented in world football. So there's a game within the game. One of these human beings is going to be on our television screens for the next 10 years as the face of the game in the United States.

[Melissa Lee]

I know Melissa's got a couple of questions for you. Roger that. No, she actually.

[Kelly Evans]

We don't have any time.

[Melissa Lee]

Oh, we don't have any time.

[Roger Bennett]

We don't have any time.

[Melissa Lee]

She does not have. Okay, Roger, thank you.

[Roger Bennett]

You're a beautiful human being.

[Melissa Lee]

Courage. All right, thank you. See you later.

[Joe Kernan]

That does it for Squawk Pod today. Thank you for listening and enjoy the weekend's soccer matches. Squawk Box is hosted by Joe Kernan, Becky Quick and Andrew Ross Sorkin. Thank you to both Kelly Evans and Melissa for sitting in this week to get the smartest takes and analysis from our TV show right into your ears. Follow Squawkpod wherever you get your podcasts. We'll meet you right back here on Monday. Have a great weekend.

[AT&T Business Wireless Advertiser]

We are clear. Thanks, guys.

[Keith Lansford]

This episode is brought to you by Schwab Market Update, an original podcast from Charles Schwab. Join host Keith Lansford for this information packed Daily Market Preview delivered in 10 minutes or less, including projected stock updates, monetary policy decisions, and key results and statistics that may impact your trading. Download the latest episode and [e-mail] market update podcast or find schwab Market Update Wherever you get your podcasts.