Pivot · May 12, 2020

Amazon might acquire AMC theaters and Friend of Pivot Stephanie Ruhle on business, CARES Act, wins and fails

Automatic transcript of the end of the episode, from 41:17. Speakers are labeled by software and may contain errors. Highlighted passages are Scott’s predictions.

Scott Galloway · 41:17 Terrible thing to say. I just don't think it's up to you.... Kara Swisher · 41:18 Wrong. I think you're overestimating it. If this is not the most... No. If he picks the right running mate, he'll be fine. Guest · 41:24 Listen. Think think think about... I'll use Mike Bloomberg as an example, and I don't mean Mike Bloomberg as a candidate for president. But what is my Yeah. Kara Swisher · 41:33 That didn't work out for the two of you. The Bodhi Guest · 41:35 and What is Mike Bloomberg's skill set as a leader? Okay? It's not that he's inspirational. It's not that he connects with humans because he doesn't do either one of those two things. But he's a brilliant operator who puts in place the smartest and best people at any task. Like, I can't think of a better convener of talent than Mike Bloomberg. Joe Biden can Scott Galloway · 41:55 do Joe Guest · 41:58 Biden can can can walk into the job and say, here's my squad team. And that's why a lot of people have said, why doesn't Joe Biden Yeah. Do his own counter press conferences every day with his squad with his squad of experts and say, here's how we're gonna do it. Because remember, with president Trump Rod up. Remember, when president Trump is the I and I alone president, you've got people going to work at the White House today that know in the last week, they were exposed to coronavirus. In part, as per reporting, because they know you've gotta be near the president to get your voice heard. Scott Galloway · 42:30 Who's the Veep candidate? Yeah. Let's do a poll. Step into you first, Nick. Kara Swisher · 42:34 Alright. And then we gotta go to break for wins and fails. Okay. But go ahead. Scott Galloway · 42:37 The Veep? Who's the Veep? Guest · 42:38 Veep. Kamala Harris, Stacey Abrams. Scott Galloway · 42:41 Okay. Go ahead. Guest · 42:42 Kara Swisher. Scott Galloway · 42:43 Kara. Kara Swisher · 42:43 Michelle Obama. Scott Galloway · 42:45 She's secretary of health. Do you Guest · 42:46 think she wants Oh that Scott Galloway · 42:48 my god. Kara Swisher · 42:48 I'm going with Michelle Obama. That's why I've decided I'm gonna Because my mother will vote for Michelle Obama, and she does not wanna... I'm just telling you. If there's a Michelle Obama there, she'll pick a Michelle Obama. Guest · 43:00 I'll tell you what Wall Street is afraid of and what could be likely. What? Elizabeth Warren as Treasury Secretary. I think it's one of the reasons banks were willing to take the public lashing and PPP, but they were sure they got every single t crossed and I dotted. Because they know if Joe Biden wins and Elizabeth Warren is the treasury secretary, if there was She's if there was wrongdoing around PPP, she's coming for you. Kara Swisher · 43:24 She's Teddy Roosevelt. Tech too. That's what I said. Guest · 43:27 She's coming for you. Kara Swisher · 43:27 The only thing tech fears is Vice President Elizabeth Warren. Anyway, this is very fascinating. Last thing very quickly. Why is the stock market doing well and the economy is tanking? Nice, nice face there, Because Stephanie. I can Guest · 43:39 it's just we were talking about it's forward looking, and this is great for big business. Right? The stock market isn't where's the economy today. It's where is it in six months or a year. And in six months or a year... A, we know the Fed is doing a lot to help it, but we know in six months to a year, those big giant companies can pivot. They... We were... They were already pivoting to the digitization. Yeah. You don't think that lots of banks out there would have loved to shut down all their little branch offices that weren't doing anything but helping them with PR? This only moves that further. So so all those mom and pops get pushed out. The big companies can easily, you know, sign on to Marc Benioff's work.com and create the workplace of the future because they can afford to do that. But those nonpublic companies, those middle companies, those smaller ones get pushed out so the big guys win bigger market share. And you cannot forget this is a global pandemic. We're still The United States compared to the rest of the world, and you gotta put your money somewhere. Yep. US stocks are better than stocks in Nigeria. Kara Swisher · 44:39 Alright. Good, fair point. Alright. We're gonna take a quick break, and we're gonna come back for wins and fails with Stephanie Ruhl. [Ad break] Kara Swisher · 45:36 Okay. We're back. Usually, Scott and I go through our winners and losers. But, Stephanie, I'm going to give over to you my wins and loses. So who do you think is winning and losing? I wanna ask you. Who's yours? I'm not gonna have any today. You just go right ahead. Go right ahead. Scott Galloway · 45:52 Let me bail you both out because you haven't prepared, you haven't done your homework. So I'll go first and you can respond. A loser, PPP going to religious institutions. A total constitutional violation of church and state. We have Brigham Young getting $25,000,000 because a disproportionate number of their students are married which qualifies them to not include their parents and their income. So we have a $100,000,000,000 endowment known as the Latter day Saints getting PPP. Should we have religious institutions that are tax exempt taking PPP funds? That's that's my lose. Thoughts? Kara Swisher · 46:24 Okay. Oh, well, yeah. I agree. What what's what's not to agree with? Guest · 46:28 I agree with you wholeheartedly. And again, PPP is an example of a good idea, bad And Democrats are worried about what do we create in the next CARES Act. We need to take a look at where the money has gone so far and retool this. It doesn't make... Now the one thing I would argue to you, Scott, in terms of religious institutions, a lot of them are tied to schools. And I don't even take huge issue with fancy... You know, everyone's going, I can't believe these fancy private schools that took the money. Listen. This was billions and billions of dollars, and you're never gonna see me fight anything associated to teachers getting paid more, you know, getting more financial security. Because while we are all parents...... Scott Galloway · 47:08 Schools get PPP, but not public schools? Guest · 47:12 Then... No. Then we need to figure out a plan for public schools. Because the fact of the matter is in states like New York and New Jersey, we could see school budgets get cut by 20%, and you've got private schools that are eligible to get PPP. I I wish... I'm just not going to... I'm not gonna get on my soapbox and scream and yell about those private schools because I got bigger things to scream about, and I want every school to have all the resources that... Scott Galloway · 47:35 What do think about Amazon acquiring AMC? Did you see that this morning? Guest · 47:39 I did. Listen. I think I'm always gonna go who's the winner of the week, Amazon. Right? And and I think that... Scott Galloway · 47:45 Every week. Every week. Guest · 47:47 Every week, it's Amazon. And I think a headline that got missed two weeks ago is when Jeff Bezos wrote in his letter, shareholders sit down. Shareholders take Kara Swisher · 47:56 the basket. Scott Galloway · 47:56 Wasn't that great? That was the gangster quote. Guest · 47:58 Yeah. That was enormous to me. So Jeff Bezos' approach to his shareholders and Jeff Bezos, when he has to testify performing before congress, could make him the biggest winner. And here's why. Congress is going after Jeff Bezos for a number of reasons, but because he's the easy target and he's and and he's a super rich guy. So let's bring him down to the hill and let's humiliate him because that's what they do. While at the same time, regulations for payday lenders are getting rolled back. These are the most predatory lenders that take poor people, lend them money, and have them on the hook indefinitely. There were huge regulations put in place after the o eight crisis to get them in order, and those regulations are are slowly being rolled back and rolled back during the Trump administration. They had their big lobbying conference at the Doral Resort in Florida last year. And and so for me, Jeff Bezos acquiring AMC, Jeff Bezos saying to his shareholders, you're gonna need to take a back seat because I'm gonna focus on how I can address my employees, my customers, and Corona is massive. Because what has happened in capitalism is every business leader out there, even government leaders, are so focused on short termism that there's not one single CEO that can make a long term decision because every quarter, he or she has to put on their high level push up bra and dance for Wall Street analysts. Scott Galloway · 49:21 I I got mine on. Guest · 49:24 I And it's time that businesses stopped dancing for Wall Street analysts and started performing Kara Swisher · 49:30 for long term solutions. Be Be Be Guest · 49:34 Like like... You. Yes. Be I got it. Wait. Kara Swisher · 49:35 I have Scott Galloway · 49:35 to say... Kara Swisher · 49:36 Alright. So he's your winner then. He's your winner? Guest · 49:38 Is he is he your winner? Yeah. You know who my loser is? Who? The American people. And here's why. Last week, I interviewed the CEO of Walmart for the Americas. And I said, what's the number one concern for all of your employees? And he said that customers follow the safety rules. And I was like, really? Like, when I go into a store, I'm so careful. But what's happened is regionally, you've got redder states that have become corona deniers. They haven't really faced that much of an outbreak yet, and they're starting to buy into this idea that it's all conspiracy to hurt the president. The president New He's York. The president dog whistles at them. He doesn't wear a mask. Mike Pence doesn't wear a mask. And the places where it's gotten hit the hardest are the places they hate the most, New York and California. And the net result, more people are going to get sick. Okay? Yeah. We need the government, we need business, and we need Americans to obviously go back out there, but we have to go back out there and be careful. So when you watch stores packed or I... All I need to see is one single video of somebody screaming at an employee at a CVS, and that breaks my heart for this country. Kara Swisher · 51:04 Yeah. I agree with you. I think it's interesting because they... One of the the gatherings in Wisconsin, they're seeing tons of COVID sicknesses from that... People that went to that gathering. And when you go to that gathering...... Fascinating. Yeah. It's fascinating.... Guest · 51:17 Gathering, do you sign a waiver that says, I will not use public fund... I will not go to the emergency room. I will not go to the hospital. Kara Swisher · 51:23 No. Of Guest · 51:24 course When you see people say, well, more people die from tobacco deaths. Tobacco deaths don't get your friends and neighbors and nurses sick. Kara Swisher · 51:30 Yep. So... No. Maybe the American Scott Galloway · 51:32 people... So coronavirus, PPP, unrest. I have a much more serious question. Should the three of us move to Utah, get married, and open a wild animal park? Think about it. Take take your time. Think about it. That that throuple would Guest · 51:48 take no reason Scott Galloway · 51:49 the Kara Swisher · 51:50 most There's no Guest · 51:50 reason throuple Kara Swisher · 51:51 in the world. Guest · 51:52 Once you Scott Galloway · 51:53 trophy except Guest · 51:54 for a trophy. Reason to ever... For... There's an... I would far rather spend the rest of my life with my best girlfriends. Now that I've procreated, if I was ever gonna get married again... Scott Galloway · 52:04 Procreation is out.... Would be to achieve.... Table? Oh, okay. Guest · 52:06 Let me Kara Swisher · 52:06 tell you, Stephanie. Never mind. It's called lesbians, and we will welcome you to the tribe. You can join the militia at the ridge anytime you want. Scott Galloway · 52:14 Living our best. Kara Swisher · 52:15 Listen, if last question. Scott Galloway · 52:16 Living our best lives.... Kara Swisher · 52:17 For both of you. Last quest... You cannot join the militia at the ridge, Scott. Scott Galloway · 52:21 We're gonna Kara Swisher · 52:22 come hunting you. We're gonna hunt you. That's that's gonna be our sport in Utah. Listen. Scott. Scott. Exotic. Listen. We'll hunt Scott. We'll give you, like, one kombucha and a ten minute head Scott Galloway · 52:33 I'm willing to try. Kara Swisher · 52:34 Listen to me. Scott Galloway · 52:34 I'm willing to try. Guest · 52:35 Listen to me. — Predictions segment begins — Kara Swisher · 52:36 Last question for both of you. One year from now, the economy. Each of you, try to be thoughtful, then we have to go. Who are the biggest winning companies? Whatever you... However you wanna say, one year from now, our economies. Stephanie first. Guest · 52:51 I think the biggest, most sophisticated, successful companies before the crisis are going to be significantly more powerful, and we're going to have a lot fewer businesses out there. And I'm very worried about the future of mom and pop. I think we could lose 40% of our restaurants. Kara Swisher · 53:07 Alright. Scott. Scott Galloway · 53:09 Yeah. I think that I I think that's right on. The the bigger gonna get bigger. The government, CCB, and the Fed are gonna continue to print money, which will sort of be... It will save a lot of big companies from facing the music. I do think though at some point you issue so much debt that the equity value gets wiped out in the form of I think the NASDAQ gets cut 30%. I just don't understand how the NASDAQ is up. If you're telling me January 1 the economy was less strong than it is now, I just don't get how... We're gonna test new lows in terms of the markets. It's gonna... I think it's gonna get very ugly, very... Pretty fast, but who knows? Guest · 53:44 Alright. But it should. I agree. Market shouldn't be based on expectations in smoke and mirrors. At some point, Kara, it has to be about earnings. And over the last few years, companies haven't earned more. It's been PE ratios. Time to get real. — Predictions segment ends — Kara Swisher · 53:57 Time to get real. Alright. That was really real. It was Stephanie Ruhl. Thank you so much. Anyway, last thing before we leave. Alright, Scott and Stephanie. Anything making you happy this week, Stephanie? Happiness. Scott requires this this little exercise in... Guest · 54:13 Yes. You know what? It was the nicest nicest Mother's Day. Kara Swisher · 54:17 Oh, Guest · 54:17 nice. Because even if people didn't get to see their families, this whole thing has gotten a lot of us to shut up with our bullshit. We're not mad at our family members over crap that didn't matter. We're actually knowing our neighbors' names. We might even be getting groceries for them. So the best thing is we've seen an injection of humanity that we are in desperate need of. Kara Swisher · 54:37 Yeah. Yeah. Even as Walmart people are are rioting. Anyway, Scott? Scott Galloway · 54:41 I've been trying to spend more time in nature with my nine year old, which has been really nice for him. That's my that's my win. I had a shitty Mother's Day. Did too many edibles Saturday night. I just wasn't in the right mood Sunday, but anyway. Guest · 54:54 Well, was a choice. Kara Swisher · 54:55 Was a choice. Thank you. Stephanie, I love you. You are the best person ever. Had a beautiful Mother's Day too. Lovely sons had been cooking for me all week, and then Clara would learn to play the piano. So it's great. Terry Blossom. Yes. Yes, it was very beautiful. Anyway. All right, everybody. Stephanie, thank you so much. Don't forget if We're there's a story in the not going to Utah. In the news you're curious about and want to hear our opinions, we could think of a better state, Hawaii. And email Guest · 55:24 us at Kara Swisher · 55:24 pivotvoxmedia dot com to be featured on the show. Scott, can you read us out? Scott Galloway · 55:29 Today's episode was produced by Rebecca Sinanis. Our executive producer is Erica Anderson. Special thanks to Drew Burrows and Rebecca Castro. If you like what you heard, please please download or subscribe. Catch Stephanie Rowe on MSNBC or the Today Show. Everyone stay safe, and we look forward to seeing you or hearing from you at the end of the week. [Ad break]