The Best One Yet – “Zuck’s Tiny Taxes”

Episode Date: February 20, 2026
Hosts: Jack Crivici-Kramer & Nick Martell

Episode Overview

This episode of The Best One Yet delivers three timely business stories with the show’s trademark wit and punch:

• New Balance’s under-the-radar surge in sneaker sales (and how a breakfast club fueled its boom)
• Amazon’s PR disaster after a Ring Doorbell Super Bowl ad went viral in the worst way
• Why billionaire taxes, particularly Mark Zuckerberg’s “tiny taxes,” are now an economic issue according to the Wall Street Journal

The hosts also sprinkle in fun asides about JPMorgan’s exclusive in-office bar, memorable quotes, and a few business culture tidbits—perfect to arm listeners with unbeatable water-cooler fodder for the weekend.

Opening Banter: JPMorgan’s Ultra-Exclusive Bar

• [01:29] Jack: “What's the hottest place to go out in New York City?”
• The answer is not a trendy downtown spot, but Morgan’s, a British pub-themed bar inside JPMorgan’s new $3 billion office tower.
• [01:44] Jack: "The bar in this tower is called Morgan's. It's on the 13th floor, but the line to get in goes all the way down to the 10th."
• The bar has only 55 seats for 10,000 workers, making it the hottest, hardest-to-book table in NYC.
• Payments: Instant reservations cost 5% of your tab or 25 bucks; don't even try using a Citi card.

Story 1: New Balance’s Surprising Boom

[05:43] – [10:12]

Discussion Points

New Balance Revenue Skyrockets

• Revenue up 19% last year; nearly triple 2020 numbers ($9 billion in sales)
• Now as large as Lululemon, shrinking its gap to Nike and Adidas

How Did They Pull It Off? The Breakfast Club:

• Success credited to a “Tuesday 7:30am breakfast meeting” tradition started by CEO post-COVID.
  • [09:09] Nick: “Let's go back to April 2020... New Balance's CEO started a weekly meeting that was mandatory for all leaders at the company.”
  • [09:32] Jack: “Scrambled eggs and sneakers, Tuesday at 7:30. It's a New Balance institution now.”

Dad Shoes to Cool Shoes

• Born as an orthopedics company, New Balance owned the “dad shoe” image, turning comfort into cachet during the pandemic.
  • [07:30] Jack: “The dad shoe became cool during COVID because New Balance owned it.”

Ways New Balance Beat Nike

• Nike pulled inventory from retailers to go DTC; New Balance filled the gap (especially at Foot Locker).
• Focused on premium—luxury collabs, higher prices (+30% in 5 years), hot athlete endorsements (Shohei Ohtani, Coco Gauff, Cooper Flagg, Josh Allen).
• Cultural relevance: Skipped the Olympics spotlight for Paris Fashion Week.

Notable Quotes

• [07:43] Jack: “Nike fumbled, so New Balance picked up the ball and ran it to the end zone. It was a scoop and score situation.”
• [09:44] Jack: “Nike's former CEO blamed their remote workforce for lack of innovation... but New Balance’s CEO says the opposite. That one meeting... set the stage for their best leg of growth.”

Takeaway:

• [10:04] Jack: “That's New Balance's $10 billion breakfast club. Scrambled eggs beats swooshes.”

Story 2: Amazon’s Ring – The Puppy Surveillance PR Disaster

[10:12] – [14:12]

Discussion Points

The Puppy Commercial That Bit Back

• Super Bowl spot for Ring highlighted a cute feature: "Search Party" to help find lost dogs using AI.
• [10:47] Nick: “It was a cute puppy commercial starring a digital ring doorbell. How did the commercial go, Jack?”
• [10:52] Jack: “Search party from Ring uses AI to help families find lost dogs.”

Public Reaction: Surveillance State Panic

• Instead of warm fuzzies, viewers saw “surveillance state” potential.
  • [11:07] Jack: “Then the reviews came in. That's straight up surveillance state right there.”
  • Concerns: AI-powered cameras, networked surveillance, possible misuse by authorities (e.g., ICE, police partnerships).
• Amazon’s stock dropped 16% in February; Ring ended its deal with Flock (license plate surveillance).

Clarifications from Ring's CEO

• Info sharing is opt-in and only for subscribers—but real-world cases (like Savannah Guthrie’s mom) showed police accessing footage anyway, fueling distrust.

Key Observation

• [13:05] Jack: “With mistrust at all time highs, marketers need to ask about the whip—the worst interpretation possible.”
• Ring’s attempt to appeal to pet owners accidentally triggered fresh fears of mass surveillance.

Notable Quotes

• [13:13] Nick: “Yetis... trust is at an all time low and marketers need to realize that and adjust accordingly.”
• [13:35] Jack: “Ring burned customer love last week... by flirting with the latter [surveillance state criminal use].”

Takeaway:

• Every marketer must consider worst-case scenarios and public paranoia—“the whip” (Worst Interpretation Possible).
  • [13:59] Nick: “With mistrust at all time highs, marketers need to ask about the whip. The wip, the worst interpretation possible.”

Story 3: Zuck’s Tiny Taxes – The “Buy, Borrow, Die” Loophole

[15:55] – [20:32]

Discussion Points

Not Just Political—It’s About Economic Stability

• Wall Street Journal headline: “Billionaires’ low taxes are becoming a problem for the economy”
  • [16:24] Jack: “That was the number one most shared article on the Wall Street Journal yesterday morning. True story.”
• Not an opinion piece, but front-page reporting.

How Billionaires Like Zuck & Elon Avoid Taxes

• Top 1% pay 40% of all income taxes, BUT:
  • The top 1% of that 1% (billionaires) pay nearly zero in income taxes.
• [16:54] Jack: “They pay themselves a salary of just $1.”
  • Zuck gets a literal $0.03 paycheck from Meta every two weeks.
  • Elon Musk: $1 salary from Tesla.
• Why? All their real compensation is stock—taxed only when sold.
  • [17:04] Jack: “Zuck's tiny taxes are largely thanks to Zuck's tiny salary.”

Buy, Borrow, Die: The Strategy

• Instead of selling stock (which triggers taxes), billionaires borrow against it for cash needs; pay negligible loan interest; pass on shares post-mortem tax-free.
  • [18:20] Nick: “In fact, this strategy has a name. It's called Buy, Borrow, Die.”
• [18:35] Jack: “America's 400 richest most people pay half the effective tax rate of a simply normal wealthy person.”

The Economic Problem

• Mega-rich pay just 24% (the “stupid wealthy”), vs. 46% for “regular wealthy.”
• Rising wealth inequality makes the economy disproportionately reliant on mega-rich spending.
  • [19:40] Nick: “You can't balance a whole economy on a Birkin bag.”
• If markets drop and wealthy cut back, the economy becomes dangerously fragile.

Notable Quotes

• [19:23] Jack: “So billionaires don't dodge taxes, they dodge income. That's the trick.”
• [20:08] Nick: “Look, this tax situation is great for Cartier and Hermes, but is a huge risk to the rest of the economy.”
• [20:24] Jack: “If it depends on the uber wealthy buying another private jet for their Birkin bag, that's a fragile economy.”

Takeaway:

• The system is brittle: the ultra-rich pay tiny taxes legally, but it leaves the whole US economy at risk if that thin slice cuts back spending.
  • Reform is needed not just for fairness, but for stability.

Quick Hits: Additional Stories

[21:11] – [23:52]

• Record US Imports: Despite tariffs intended to boost "Made in USA," Americans imported more goods than ever in 2025.
• iPhone SOS Saves Skiers: Six avalanche victims in California survived thanks to Apple’s satellite-powered emergency SOS button.
• Reese’s "Skimflation": Brad Reese, grandson of founder, calls out the company for cutting PB cup quality while charging the same price.
  • “This is skimflation. And my peanut butter heritage won't have it.” (Jack, [22:20])

Notable Moments & Quotes

• On New Balance’s rise:
  “New Balance’s success is thanks to the breakfast meeting. Scrambled eggs and sneakers.” – Jack [09:04]
• On Ring’s PR failure:
  “Ring's super bowl commercial revealed that Ring's actually involved in a police AI surveillance network.” – Jack [12:49]
• On billionaire taxation:
  “Not philanthropy. This is strategy.” – Jack [17:35] on Zuck and Elon’s $1 salaries
• Quip of the day:
  “You can't balance a whole economy on a Birkin bag.” – Nick [19:40]

Highlighted Timestamps

• [01:44] – JPMorgan’s Morgan’s Bar
• [05:43] – New Balance’s record revenues revealed
• [09:09] – Origin of the “Tuesday Breakfast Club” at New Balance
• [10:21] – Ring’s Super Bowl puppy ad disaster
• [13:05] – “What’s the worst interpretation possible?”: The WIP Principle
• [15:55] – Zuck’s “tiny taxes” and the Buy, Borrow, Die strategy breakdown
• [19:40] – Why this is actually dangerous economically (“Birkin bag” analogy)

Best Fact Yet

• [23:01] – Team USA Women's Hockey wins Olympic gold; captain Hillary Knight proposes to her fiancée, American speed skater Brittany Bowe, making them the “fastest couple on ice.”

Recap: Friday’s Three Takeaways

[20:32] – [21:11]

• New Balance: From underdog to $9 billion breakout, propelled by breakfast meetings and cultural savvy.
• Ring: PR faceplant proves marketers must imagine public panic versions of their messages.
• Billionaire taxes: The “Buy, Borrow, Die” method means the richest pay less tax than even the wealthy—threatening not just fairness, but the resilience of the whole US economy.

For More

• Listen to The Best One Yet (Nick & Jack Studios) for more daily, quick-hit business breakdowns with coffee-shop energy and plenty of snackable context.