🤏 “Zuck’s Tiny Taxes” — What Billionaires pay. New Balance’s surge. Ring’s puppy problem. +Jamie Dimon’s bar

Summary

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

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

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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.

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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.

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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.”

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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.”

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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.

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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])

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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]

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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)

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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.”

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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.

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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.

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Transcript

[Jack]

This is Nick. This is Jack.

[Nick]

It's Friday, the real Friday, February 20th, and today's pod is the best one yet. This is a T Boy.

[Jack]

The top three pop business news stories you need to know today.

[Nick]

Oh, the envelope, please. Yetis. We have chosen the winners for our T Boy itinerary sweepstakes for our Austin live show.

[Jack]

Of the 15 barbecue joints you recommended, we chose one that we're going to on Tuesday night.

[Nick]

And of the thousand workouts you suggested, we selected one for Wednesday morning before the show.

[Jack]

We've reached out to the Yetis who recommended them, and we want you to join us. So check your DMs or check the comment on Spotify.

[Nick]

We got your back. We can't wait to see you there. But in the meantime, Jack, we got three fantastic stories for today's pod. What do we got on the T Boy?

[Jack]

For our first story, while Nike's been marketing over at the Milan Olympics, New Balance is selling in record numbers.

[Nick]

Back in Boston, New Balance made 9 billion bucks. And it's all thanks to a plate of scrambled eggs.

[Jack]

For our second story, Ring camera is a tool for mass surveillance.

[Nick]

Get this, Amazon lost 250 billion bucks this month because of that and one cute puppy commercial.

[Jack]

And our third and final story, the Wall Street Journal just came out and said that billionaire taxes aren't a political issue. They're an economic one.

[Nick]

So Jack and I are jumping in T Boy style to Zuckerberg's taxes, because Zuck's taxes are tiny.

[Jack]

But, Yetis, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories.

[Nick]

Oh, I mean, what a mix. To go into the weekend with no one else doing the mix.

[Jack]

Jack, Nick, It's Friday. The real Friday. What's the hottest place to go out in New York City?

[Nick]

I mean, is it employees only? Is it Phoebe's? Is it Dorian's?

[Jack]

Is it Dorsey?

[Nick]

Nope, if you bring the right business car.

[Jack]

The coolest bar in NYC is at JPM.

[Nick]

Specifically, the bar inside the new $3 billion JP Morgan office tower.

[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.

[Nick]

We repeat, America's biggest bank is now running its most exclusive bar.

[Jack]

It's a true story. It's a British pub theme, and the Guinness in there flows like spreadsheets.

[Nick]

But, Jack, if you ask to split the G, they're gonna think you're referring to 1,000 bucks over there.

[Jack]

Your card better be platinum. I got fish and chips for the

[Nick]

Mer and acquisitions Beggars and mash for the sales and training over here.

[Jack]

But the problem is that America's biggest bank miscalculated the demand for this bar

[Nick]

because There are only 55 seats for the building's 10,000 workers.

[Jack]

It's like some intern discounted the wrong cocktail cash flow.

[Nick]

I mean, some analyst is definitely going to work till 2am on this one, Jack.

[Jack]

So J.P. morgan's internal office bar is the hardest table in New York.

[Nick]

Even if you work at J.P. morgan Besties, a standard reservation, it's free. But instant reservation, that costs 5% of your tab or 25 bucks, whichever is greater.

[Jack]

Remember, this is a bank. Oh, and if you try paying with your Citi Card, they're gonna put you in a doggy bag. Oh.

[Nick]

Sapphire or bust. You hear what Jamie Dimon said on the last earnings call, Jack? When you're in the club, we're all fam. Jack. Let's hit our three storm. Fifteen years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dorm. They had an idea to cause a cultural storm. It's the best one yet. But the best is the norm. Jack. Nick, that's it. I don't even think they need to practice.

[Jack]

50%.

[Nick]

That's a fat tip. T boy city on your at Liz. If you know, you know.

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Cause we ready to go.

[Nick]

We can't wait no more. So just start the show. Start the show. First, a quick word from our sponsor,

[Jack]

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[Nick]

So when are we using AI when we're jumping in T Boy style to some research.

[Jack]

Why crunch numbers in that earnings report when a bot will do it for you?

[Nick]

Don't worry. Jack's love language is fact checking. So everything gets a double check. Fact check before it makes the pod. You know it.

[Jack]

No AI Slop or AD No.

[Nick]

So Jack and I are pumped to tell you about Manus AI the hot new AI agent that does more than just answer your questions.

[Jack]

It does tasks for you that you don't want to do to get your work done faster and better.

[Nick]

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[Jack]

We just asked Manus where the CEO of the 100 most profitable companies went to college. Boom. It created it for us.

[Nick]

Or you could ask Manus to launch an e commerce shop for you.

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[Nick]

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[Jack]

Manus connects the most advanced LLMs with a set of tools to deliver real world tasks.

[Nick]

Oh, by the way, Manus means hands in Latin. Because like hands, Manus is pretty darn useful to humans.

[Jack]

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[Nick]

Visit Manus Im tboy to get started with Manus and some tboy special credits.

[Jack]

That's Manus Im tby. Yeah, it is.

[Nick]

Jack had a lifelong dream of owning a ski house. But then he married a skier who's better at skiing than him, which put

[Jack]

the pressure on to really own a ski house.

[Nick]

Okay, but still, ski house is very expensive. So what helped make Jack's dream doable? Airbnb.

[Jack]

I bought the chalet in 2024, and I use it very often with my own family. But when we're not using it, I host it on Airbnb. Especially those three day weekends when ski houses are in most demand.

[Nick]

The additional income Jack earns from hosting his home on Airbnb, it helps make owning the secondary proper possible.

[Jack]

President's Day weekend coming up.

[Nick]

Nick. A lot of people want to go skiing, Jack.

[Jack]

I've done a ton of skiing this season already. I want to go to Florida with my family. The extra income I earned from hosting on Airbnb helps offset those travel costs.

[Nick]

Four adults, four children from just outside Boston. Boom. They just booked a stay on Jack Chalet.

[Jack]

Primary home or secondary home? If you've got space, you've got opportunity. Hosting on Airbnb helped make my dream possible.

[Nick]

Besties. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how [e-mail] host. For our first story. While Nike's all over the Olympics, its rival, New Balance, is seeing its business boom.

[Jack]

New Balance just announced that revenues rose 19% last year, and it's nearly three times bigger in sales today than in 2020.

[Nick]

Jack, how they doing it?

[Jack]

One meeting every week. The Breakfast Club.

[Nick]

Oh, Yetis, New Balance. The way Jack and I see it, it's the father of the dad shoe.

[Jack]

There's no arguing that. Actually, this 120-year-old sneaker brand actually started as an orthopedics company in 1906.

[Nick]

And before they got all into running, New Balance was founded just outside Boston and was made for factory workers.

[Jack]

Yeah, they gave arch support for the guys fixing the lobster traps down at the docks. Yeah.

[Nick]

Hey, we're gonna need another round over at the textile mill.

[Jack]

Yetis, we promise that's the end of our Boston accents.

[Nick]

But funny thing, besties, the term New Balance, it actually goes back. It goes back to the farm, doesn't it, Jack? Yeah.

[Jack]

The New Balance founder, Bo, bought some chickens and studied how the rooster was able to balance on the three claws of one foot.

[Nick]

True story. And despite the gray suede Vibes. Over a century later, New balance is doing $9 billion in business right now. That is up 19% from last year.

[Jack]

And this is the first time we've seen the sales of this privately held company.

[Nick]

Yes, it is. But there's an even bigger shocker here, isn't there, Jack?

[Jack]

Sales have nearly tripled since 2020 for New Balance. All while Nike has stumbled and tripped.

[Nick]

Get this. In 2020, Nike was 11 times bigger than New Balance. By Sal, it's just 4 times bigger.

[Jack]

New Balance is one third the size of Adidas, the same size as Lululemon. This dad shoe has gone through puberty.

[Nick]

Now, besties, pause the pot for a sec. Because you may remember on Tuesday, Jack and I covered an endangered species on this show.

[Jack]

All birds. Sadly, its stock is down 99%.

[Nick]

Save the birds. But here's what we find fascinating. Yetis New Balance is the same comfort concept as all birds. But unlike all birds, New Balance is embracing its ugly duckling era.

[Jack]

The dad shoe became cool during COVID because New Balance owned it.

[Nick]

Yes, we told you about the comfort economy, but New Balance's sneaker surge actually goes way deeper than that. Jack, any chance we got a sports analogy here? We could drop on the besties for the show.

[Jack]

Nike fumbled, so New Balance picked up the ball and ran it to the end zone. It was a scoop and score situation.

[Nick]

And here was Nike's original sin. They pulled their shoes out of third party retailers like Foot Locker so they could sell direct to consumer online in their own Nike stores.

[Jack]

So New Balance simply filled the void. They loaded up Foot Locker with boxes and boxes of suede. 990s. Which sold way more than before.

[Nick]

Okay, that was step one. Then step two for New Balance is they went primo. They went up market premium.

[Jack]

They did luxury collabs to associate New Balance with Gucci instead of the gridiron.

[Nick]

And that cultural cachet and that cool factor let New Balance increase their prices by 30% over the next five years.

[Jack]

And yet you and Justin Bieber both paid for that pricier shoe anyway.

[Nick]

Which leads to the third part of New Balance's master plan.

[Jack]

That cultural cache allowed New Balance to pick the best athletes for endorsement deals. Something Nike is historically the best at.

[Nick]

Shohei Ohtani, Coco Goff, Josh Allen, all of them. Team New Balance.

[Jack]

So now New Balance is saying, hey, Nike, go ahead and take the Olympics. Enjoy the spotlight, the medals, the podium and all that.

[Nick]

Have fun up there.

[Jack]

We'll be at Paris Fashion Week and we'll be on Cooper Flagg's feet.

[Nick]

Yeah, the number one NBA draft pick. He's also a New Balance guy. And I'll also probably get invite and I'll also get an invite to Paris Fashion Week. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at New Balance?

[Jack]

New Balance's success is thanks to the breakfast meeting. Scrambled eggs and sneakers.

[Nick]

Yetis. Let's go back to April 2020. Right after Covid hit, New Balance's CEO started a weekly meeting that was mandatory for all leaders at the company.

[Jack]

Every Tuesday at 7:30am the leaders had to zoom into a breakfast meeting. Yes, an early meeting. Let them have an offensive mentality for the rest of the week.

[Nick]

And you know what? They continued that Tuesday morning meeting all the way through the pandemic. And they still do it today.

[Jack]

Scrambled eggs and sneakers, Tuesday at 7:30. It's a new Balance institution now.

[Nick]

Now here's why that's interesting. Nike's former CEO blamed their remote workforce for lack of innovation. He said there's no creativity when there's no connection.

[Jack]

But New Balance, his CEO says the opposite. That one meeting they found during the pandemic, it set the stage for their best leg of growth in company history.

[Nick]

Now, besties, we know all meetings can be annoying, remote, or there are too many of them. They get abused. It's an easy corporate punchline joke. But a single meeting consistently done with the right people at a smart time.

[Jack]

That's New Balance's $10 billion breakfast club. Scrambled eggs beats swooshes

[Nick]

for our second story, rings cute puppy commercial from the super bowl sparked a crisis on surveillance. Basically, one cute puppy cost Amazon billions.

[Jack]

Amazon learned this critical lesson the hard way. But you can learn the same lesson the easy way.

[Nick]

Now, yetis, earlier this week, Jack and I discussed Budweiser's three Super bowl commercials that were all really highly rated.

[Jack]

Well, Ring's super bowl commercial was poorly rated.

[Nick]

Yeah. So poorly rated it actually raised billion dollars of value from Amazon stock.

[Jack]

The super bowl commercial highlighted a new feature on Ring called Search Party to help people find their lost dogs.

[Nick]

It was a cute puppy commercial starring a digital ring doorbell. How did the commercial go, Jack?

[Jack]

One post of the dog's photo in the Ring app starts outdoor camera for a match. Search party from Ring uses AI to help families find lost dogs.

[Nick]

Jack, it sounds charming. Feel good? I feel like it's Lassie 2.0. How were the reviews?

[Jack]

Then the reviews came in. That's straight up surveillance state right there.

[Nick]

They're using dogs and dogs missing to launch a surveillance state.

[Jack]

Man with ICE patrolling people said the thousands of Ring cameras in a town could be used against citizens.

[Nick]

So Amazon stock fell each and every of the next five days after that ad. It's now down 16 in February so far.

[Jack]

Amazon probably hoped to run that super bowl ad in the Olympics. Yeah, they did. Instead, they destroyed the tapes of that commercial. Wow, Jack. Not what the Ring Doorbell team thought they'd get with their first super bowl commercial. Yeah.

[Nick]

Knock knock.

[Jack]

Who's there?

[Nick]

A full on PR crisis. Now, the CEO of Ring Doorbells did clarify the situation. Besties that ring owners don't share information to search party. By default, it's all up to the user.

[Jack]

And then he clarified that Ring doesn't store users if they don't have a subscription with Ring.

[Nick]

But that second part was not the case with Savannah Guthrie's mom in Arizona the last week, was it? Man? No.

[Jack]

The FBI got footage of Savannah Guthrie's camera from her Google nest, even though she reportedly didn't have a subscription.

[Nick]

So, Jack, that inconsistency, plus general anxiety around AI, plus acute anxiety about ice, add it all up for me, my friend.

[Jack]

The Ring puppy commercial was a perfect storm of distrust, conspiracy and brand bruising for Ring.

[Nick]

And it caused Amazon's Ring last week to end its partnership with Flock.

[Jack]

Flock, which uses AI powered surveillance cameras to read license plates and feed the information to police. Ring is done with that partnership.

[Nick]

Sorry, Jack. Let's step away from the doorstep for a moment. Remember, Ring just wanted to evoke your love for your dog and pull on your heartstrings with that puppy instead.

[Jack]

Ring's super bowl commercial revealed that Ring's actually involved in a police AI surveillance network.

[Nick]

Yeah, that was not in the KPIs, man. Not in the KPIs. So, Jack. Knock knock.

[Jack]

Who's there Again?

[Nick]

What's the takeaway for our buddies over at Ring?

[Jack]

With mistrust at all time highs, marketers need to ask about the wip. What's the worst interpretation possible?

[Nick]

Yetis the Epstein files. Insider trading on prediction markets. AI deepfakes of your buddy who was hanging out with your buddy and you didn't get invited to the party. Conspiracy is just everywhere right now.

[Jack]

It feels to us that trust is at an all time low and marketers need to realize that and adjust accordingly.

[Nick]

You see, people love their own Ring camera, but they are suspicious of surveillance cameras generally.

[Jack]

Ring burned customer love last week. They earned with the former by flirting with the latter.

[Nick]

Now, could rings be used to help fight crime? Yeah, totally.

[Jack]

But could they also be used to infringe on our rights to privacy also. Yes, totally.

[Nick]

And here's the Ring was excited by the former, but didn't pause to think about the latter until a crisis broke out.

[Jack]

Ring learned the lesson the hard way. Every marketer out there can learn the easy way by listening to this story.

[Nick]

Yeah. With mistrust at all time highs, marketers need to ask about the whip. The wip, the worst interpretation possible.

[Jack]

Watch out for the marketing whip, because if you don't, a viral TikTok video will tell you about it.

[Nick]

Now, a quick word from our sponsor,

[Jack]

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[Nick]

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[Jack]

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[Nick]

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[Jack]

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[Nick]

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[Jack]

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[Nick]

I see you in that transaction tab. Jack, what's going on in the transaction tab?

[Jack]

All of my spending is in that transactions tab, including the way too much I spent on the hotel room with the water view.

[Nick]

Honey, what's going on with my mini bar?

[Jack]

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[Nick]

Use code tboyonarch.com for half off your first year. That's 50% off your first [e-mail] with code T. Boy,

[Jack]

are you really buying a car online on autotrader right now? Really? At a playground? Yeah, really. Look at these listings from dealers. Wow, your search can really get that specific. Really?

[Nick]

And you just put in your info

[Jack]

and boom, car's in your budget. Mom needs a second. Honey, you can really have it delivered. Really? Or I can pick it up at the dealership. One sec, sweetie. Mommy's buying a car. Mommy, I think your kid is walking up the slide. Kyle.

[Nick]

Again? Really?

[Jack]

Autotrader, Buy your car online. Really?

[Nick]

For our third and final story, Zuck's tiny taxes. Billionaires in America are paying an income tax of zero.

[Jack]

It's not us saying that. It's the Wall Street Journal. Because this isn't political. Zuck's tiny taxes threaten our economy.

[Nick]

Now, Yetis, Jack and I were prepping for today's show, and we read this Wall Street Journal headline that we just assumed was written by a progressive opinion columnist writing into the Journal, but it wasn't.

[Jack]

Here was the headline, billionaires low taxes are becoming a problem for the economy.

[Nick]

Okay, that was the number one most shared article on the Wall Street Journal yesterday morning. True story.

[Jack]

And it was news reporting, not an opinion article.

[Nick]

No, true.

[Jack]

Now, it is true that the top 1% of Americans pay 40% of all federal income taxes.

[Nick]

Okay, but Jack, the top 1% of that 1%, those in the Forbes billionaire rankings, they pay zero in income taxes.

[Jack]

And the reason why? It's our tax code. When it was written, they didn't fathom what Elon and Zuckerberg would do.

[Nick]

And Jack, what do Elon and Zuckerberg do?

[Jack]

In particular, they pay themselves a salary of just $1.

[Nick]

Yeah, besties. To quote the notorious Big Mo Money Mo problems, less taxes.

[Jack]

Which brings us to Zuck's tiny taxes. They're largely thanks to Zuck's tiny salary.

[Nick]

You see, every two weeks, Zuck gets a paycheck over at Meta for three cents. That's it.

[Jack]

After taxes, it's probably one cent.

[Nick]

Yeah, you know how it goes.

[Jack]

Now, Elon actually takes a dollar salary from Tesla to be their CEO.

[Nick]

So Elon is paying $0 in income taxes right now.

[Jack]

Now, for both, you might think initially, wow, what a great guy. They're already rich, so they're working for free.

[Nick]

Not too shabby. Zuck just doing his thing. Nice guy.

[Jack]

But the reality, this isn't philanthropy. This is strategy.

[Nick]

Exactly, because these particular billionaires derive their wealth from stock and stock bonuses for tax reasons.

[Jack]

That's why the billionaire class can get $10 billion richer in one year and and only pay tax if they sell stock, which billionaires have learned not to do.

[Nick]

Jack, why don't you whip out the whiteboard here. How exactly does this strategy break down?

[Jack]

When a billionaire needs cash to buy, like, a fifth home, they don't sell the stock that they own. Instead, they borrow cash using their stock as collateral.

[Nick]

And here's the key. The interest that they owe on that loan, it is way less than the capital gains taxes they would have paid if they'd sold the stock.

[Jack]

And here's what their accountant tells them. Them. Just keep doing this until you die so you can pass as much wealth as possible to the next generation.

[Nick]

In fact, this strategy has a name. It's called Buy, Borrow, Die.

[Jack]

And we'd love if you walked into your local H and R block and asked, can I have the Buy Borrow Die plan, please?

[Nick]

Carol from accounting, she's going to sit down, stand up, and she will stay seated after that one.

[Jack]

And nick this Buy Borrow Die tax avoidance strategy. The result is that America's 400 richest most people pay half the effective tax rate of a simply normal wealthy person.

[Nick]

The stupid wealthy are paying 24% effective tax rates if you include all the

[Jack]

taxes, while the regular wealthy are paying a 46% effective tax rate.

[Nick]

You see, besties, it's understood that you pay a higher tax rate the more money you make, but only to a certain point.

[Jack]

Once you hit the three comma club and become billionaire rich, we're talking second

[Nick]

boat for your third house that lives on your fourth yacht.

[Jack]

You stop taking a salary, you take stock as compensation instead, and your income tax disappears.

[Nick]

And besties, this is all legal because our tax code just never was able to account for the billionaire accounting schemes. And our Congress hasn't moved to change that reality.

[Jack]

So billionaires don't dodge taxes, they dodge income. That's the trick.

[Nick]

They don't dodge taxes, they dodge income. Which leads to our takeaway. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies hanging out in the 3 comma club?

[Jack]

Why is this bad for the economy? Well, because you can't balance a whole economy on a Birkin bag.

[Nick]

Now, yetis, there is a political conversation around whether this kind of wealth inequality is okay.

[Jack]

That conversation is happening in California and New York right now, which have momentum to tax the rich. And in Florida and Texas, it's already happened where they welcome the rich with no income tax.

[Nick]

But interestingly, the Wall Street Journal, a historical champion of low taxes on the rich, is calling Zuck's tiny taxes an

[Jack]

economic problem because our economy is unhealthily dependent on the spending of the mega wealthy right now.

[Nick]

I mean, look, this tax situation is great for Cartier and Hermes, but is a huge risk to the rest of the economy.

[Jack]

If the stock market tanks and the wealthy feel less wealthy and stop spending, that could spiral us into a bad recession.

[Nick]

Besties our economy. It has been robust in the past, able to handle economic shocks and shakes.

[Jack]

But if it depends on the uber wealthy buying another private jet for their Birkin bag, that's a fragile economy.

[Nick]

Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us for the real Friday?

[Jack]

New balance sales rose 19% in 2025, while Nike sales fell 10% the same year.

[Nick]

New Balance has tripled in size since 2020, thanks to their Tuesday morning breakfast club.

[Jack]

For our second story, Ring Security camera has put its owner, Amazon, in a PR crisis around surveillance ring.

[Nick]

They didn't watch out for the whip. The worst interpretation possible.

[Jack]

And our third and final story, the Wall Street Journal highlighted the buy, borrow and die tax avoidance strategy popular with billionaires.

[Nick]

The result? Our economy is fragile like a $50,000 air maze pendant necklace. Can't balance an economy on that thing.

[Jack]

But besties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today.

[Nick]

First, we just got the government data confirming that the US imported more goods in 2025 than ever before.

[Jack]

That is surprising because the presumed goal of the tariffs were to encourage us to buy made in USA goods instead.

[Nick]

But it's also unsurprising that the opposite happened because tariffs are widely known to be an ineffective tool for accomplishing that.

[Jack]

Now we should point out that in services, not physical goods, the US Has a surplus. Like we us movies, music, tech.

[Nick]

America's biggest export is culture.

[Jack]

For our second story, it's one bright detail from the avalanche ski tragedy over in California. And it has to do with the iPhone.

[Nick]

That's right, because six surviving skiers were saved by the iPhone SOS feature.

[Jack]

They were stuck under the snow without cell service, but they pushed that emergency button on the iPhone and it got satellite signal to send a 911 message

[Nick]

that iPhone and save their lives. And finally, the grandson of the founder of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, you would like to have a word, Jack?

[Jack]

Brad Reese, who's 70 now, but the grandson of the founder said, I just can't let this go. They're lowering the quality of the ingredients. They're charging the same price. This is skimflation. And my peanut butter heritage won't have it. That's right.

[Nick]

So if you dive into a Reese's Peanut Butter cup this weekend and it doesn't have that, like, salty taste like usual, you're on Team Brad. You know what's going on here.

[Jack]

Guys, side note, we did an episode on the origin of the Reese's Peanut Butter cup in our other show. The best idea yet.

[Nick]

Oh, yeah, yeah. The founder and inventor. He was a frog salesman. Spoiler.

[Jack]

And that episode is Jason Kelce's favorite episode, according to people familiar with the matter. So facto it's Taylor's favorite.

[Nick]

Now time for the best fact yet. This one whipped up by Jack and I to hend you into the finale of the Olympic Games.

[Jack]

First quick celebration, Team USA women took down Canada yesterday for the gold medal in hockey.

[Nick]

Yeah, we beat the not Montreal Canadiens like the Canadia Canadians. The official ones, the real ones, the big ones.

[Jack]

Now, the captain for the Team USA women is Hillary Knight.

[Nick]

Interesting. This is her fifth Olympic medal for hockey. Second gold to go with her three silvers. Not too shabby.

[Jack]

And get this, the day before the championship game against Canada, she proposed to another athlete on Team USA to marry her.

[Nick]

That's right, an American speed skater, Brittany Bowe. She is now getting married to the captain of the American hockey team who

[Jack]

just won the gold medal in the Olympics.

[Nick]

And together, the fastest couple on ice. The men playing the semis later today. We'll see you there. Yetis, you are looking fantastic for the real Friday. Jack, you are glowing over there, my friend. I can't wait to see you next week.

[Jack]

I know, I'm flying to Austin. This is exciting.

[Nick]

But in the meantime, besties, it is five star Fridays. Best way to help grow the show. Drop down, give us five stars in review. Honestly, Jack and I spend all weekend reading them. We love seeing what you're saying.

[Jack]

And Nick and I will be back for you on Monday with the best one yet.

[Nick]

And if Jamie Dimon takes your Chase Sapphire Chardonnay at the bar tonight, don't say we didn't warn you. All right, great. I forgot to do that.

[Jack]

So.

[Nick]

And before we go, happy birthday to legendary yeti Logan Rooney, huge fan of the best idea yet, celebrating the birthday on a trip to Vietnam and Japan.

[Jack]

And happy birthday to Chandama Hiram, who's celebrating the birthday on a commute from San Jose. A legendary Yeti since 2018.

[Nick]

And Harvey Snyder is turning 10 years old at Disney World. Harvey, we love getting you that birthday shout out every single year.

[Jack]

Happy birthday to Hayley Choi in Chicago doing logistics.

[Nick]

Chase McElroy, legendary Eddie's Got a birthday in Costa Mesa.

[Jack]

Happy birthday to Gen Tan in the

[Nick]

Bay Area and the best brother, dad and husband out there, Birthday boy Tim Dunn has got a birthday down the street in San Francisco.

[Jack]

Happy birthday to my Sarah Mercy. The entrepreneur, legend and Seinfeld fan of Spokane, Washington is turning 41.

[Nick]

And Evander Neumann is turning 2 years old on 222 in the Poconos. Now that are some good twos.

[Jack]

Congratulations to Chris and Kaitlyn, who just got engaged at Zion national park.

[Nick]

And we can't wait to meet you guys at the Austin Live show. We'll see you next week. Congrats, guys.

[Jack]

And congratulations to Sydney Trager, who's going full Zamboni and freezing her eggs in Stamford, Connecticut.

[Nick]

Congrats, Sydney. And cool Keith just had his first ever acquisition by an operating company in Calgary, Canada. After 20 years, finally on the other

[Jack]

side of the desk and happy birthday to John Wood in Boulder, Colorado.

[Nick]

And he just started working with his entrepreneurial wife, New York Times best selling author Jenny Wood, writer of Wild Courage.

[Jack]

And finally a bon voyage to Savannah, Westwood. The Legendary Yeti traveling from Florida to Austin to hang with another legendary yeti, Kelsey Black at our live show in Austin.

[Nick]

Celebrate the wins.

[Jack]

This is Jack. Nick owns stock of Lululemon and Nike, I own stock of Amazon and we both own stock in Apple. Lunch was great, but this traffic is awful. Um, can we stop at a bathroom? Are you alright? I keep having stomach issues after eating like diarrhea, gas and bloating, abdominal pain and sometimes oily stools. Sound familiar? Those stomach issues may actually be a

[Nick]

pancreas issue called exocrine pancreatic insufficiency or epi. Creon Pancrelipase may Creon is a prescription medicine used to treat people who can't digest food normally because their pancreas doesn't make enough enzymes.

[Creon Ad Voice]

Creon may increase your chance of fibrosing colonopathy, a rare bowel disorder. Tell your doctor if you have a history of intestinal blockage or scarring or thickening of your bowel wall, if you are allergic to pork, or if you have gout, kidney problems or worsening of painful swollen joints. Call your doctor if you have any unusual or severe gastrointestinal symptoms or allergic reactions. Take Creon as directed by your doctor and always with food. Do not chew capsules as this may cause mouth irritation. Other side effects may include blood sugar changes, gas, dizziness, sore throat and cough. These are not all the side effects of Creon. Call 800-633-9110 creoninfo.com to learn more. That's C R E O N info. Com.

[Jack]

I'm asking my doctor about EPI and if Creon could help.