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Speaker 1: This is Bloomberg Business Week. I'm Carol Masser and I'm Jason Kelly. We're here every day bringing you the latest news from the world's of business and finance, plus technology, politics, economics, all harnessing the power of Bloomberg Business Week reporters and editors, not to mention our hundred journalists and analysts and more than a hundred and twenty countries. You can download Bloomberg Business Week on iTunes, SoundCloud, or Bloomberg dot Com. You can also listen to our radio show weekdays at two pm Eastern only on Bloomberg Radio. Letting the Madonna Play playoff. But I feel like our next guest holps the key to a lot of information, a lot of what goes on here at the Open, the key to the venue, really right. Kristen Corio is back with us, matching Director of Ticket Sales, Hospitality and Digital Strategy at the U s t A. She's with us at the Open. It is, first of all, the most amazing day. Rights, good served, it, well done, Thank you and your list up to tell me, tell us remind us about kind of the size and scope of what you're involved in and kind of the expansion because there's something going on behind us that you're involved in. There is so US Open Now is for the viewers or sorry, I should say for the listeners who can't see it. We're actually adjacent to our new set, the US Open Now set, which is our latest digital extension for all the digital offerings aside from our website, us open dot org, the us Open app, and and now we've got us Open Now which brings people around the world a sense of what happens off the court here at the US Open eight hours a day throughout the whole main draw. So how do you program something like that? What are people the most interested in? We're seeing chefs come by and other things. I know I should have them stop, buy and give you guys. Um. So, yeah, you guys have been here and anyone that's come out to the U s Open knows that the tennis is amazing. Um. But there's so much more to do here besides watch tennis. It's an experience in an it is it's it's a lot like a festival and there's a lot of food to discover and eat. There's so many different cocktails that one can have. Uh, there's a lot of different fan activations on the ground. So we wanted to try to bring that to life for people in a way that if they can't be here with us physically at the US Open, they can get a sense of what it's like to be here at the US Open. Well, you know, what I always fund is fascinating because you know, the big draw is the tennis and stuff. But there's and we've talked about this with you in the past. I mean, the digital component has increased year after year when it comes to the US Open. Yeah, it sure has. And people's appetite for content seems to be insatiable, which was part of the driver behind creating this show. You guys have seen it, right, You've gotten what feedback from folks and said we want more. Yeah, and and people are incredibly interested in the tennis. We have incredible broadcast partners that bring people the tennis first ball up to last ball struck over two countries. So that's well covered. It's really you know, on the digital platforms, we want to bring them a piece of that. We want to let them watch the tennis, but we all want to show them the behind the scene stories. What is it like to get ready for a match, what is it like to recover after a match? Um? Interesting? Yeah, And how do you get the buy in from the players because I feel like, you know, these days, you know, they're they're open books, and yet they got to protect the trade secrets little bit. Like I was watching last night and they were talking to Djokovic about his shoulder and he's like, I'm not going to get into that, uh too much. So how do you sort of get them to buy in and sort of bring that rich experience from the players? Well, it's hard. They're in hot demand, right, They're in heavy, heavy demand. Everybody wants them, especially after they win a big match, UM, and we want to make sure that our rights holders have access to them first. So the best we can do we can ask and we can hope that they'll stop by our set. And I'm sure you've seen a couple of them stop by that US Open set and and sometimes they're eating and drinking too while they're on that set. But it can be challenging for shorts. They're in hot demand and at the same time they're trying to stay mentally in the zone for their next match. Well, and at the same time they also know this is what the people want, right, I mean they do, they really and and they're finding new in different ways obviously to engage with with their fan base, who as you've seen, as we've seen, like I can't get enough of it, literally, the appetite, sensational. Yeah, it's been incredible to see what players have done for themselves as content creators on their own social platforms, and some of them have really just become artistic creators of content that are so engaging to follow, and we're inspired by them daily, what I think is really cool. I had just seen a piece about folks that are on the tennis tour but they're not necessarily among the highest ranked, and how tough it is and kind of a hard life. It's a hard life, it's expensive, and they're doing it, you know, often on their own and the winnings are not a lot. But I do think something like this is an opportunity to give them a platform as well, right, which is pretty cool. And there's some amazing stories that maybe not everyone has heard, so, especially when it comes to some of wheelchair athletes, and they just have the most inspiring, incredible stories and we really want to help get those stories out there because we know, um, they're there stories that people want to hear. They didn't maybe know about it, but once they do hear about it, they're amazed. I gotta ask you because I feel like an event like this, I'm not sure whether it's immune from the economy, But what are you guys seeing in terms of ticket sales? You know, buy in early, the activity in the first few days already, what you know, what kind of momentum are you seeing, like compared to last of year? Incredible? This this event just blows our minds. Every year ticket sales. Last year, ticket sales are crushing it. We've we will sell over seven hundred and fifty thousand tickets when all is said and done with the tournament. We've already seen over two hundred thousand people come through our gates. And uh, we're only here on day four of the main or saying right, yeah, Uh, celebrities seem to flock to this sport. What do you think that is? I mean, you've got celebrities of all walks of life coming up on this stage. From I mean I was looking at the list, you know, chefs obviously, I think you've got a peloton instructor at some point, like uh, what does it resonate so much just about a minute, Luft, I don't know. There's something about this event that is a quintessential New York City event. Everybody has to come out, whether you're a fan of tennis or not. And from the athlete perspective, Kobe Bryant is here today and they just they love to see athletes at the top of their game. And whether that's hockey or basketball, or baseball or tennis, they really are just wowed about what people can do at the top of their game. And and just from a you know, from what keeps people coming out here, it's all the enhancements that we and our sponsors continue to make on the grounds that make it such a mussy event for everybody annually New York experience too. I love that. But it's global, right because it's like people from all over of our fans here are are not from the United States, but a significant always good to catch up the Kirstin Coreo is Managing director of Ticket Sales, Hospitality and Digital Strategy. It's a big job for the U. S t A. She joined us on site here at the US and I'm guessing as soon as she's done, she starts for next year. This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Jason Kelly on Bloomberg Radio. So Uber Technologies right, certainly a company we follow, and rightfully so, it's about a fifty six billion dollar market cap as we speak. The CEO has been in his spot, he's celebrating his second year anniversary, and our Emily Chang caught up with them. She's, of course our host of Bloomberg Technology. It's such a smart time right now. First of all, with Lift and Uber right, we're seeing in terms of their I p o s, there's more scrutiny of these services. They've been around for a while. We're questioning and taking a deeper look into their financial UH stories as well. So Emily, as we mentioned, UH did catch up with the Uber CEO, Dara Kazra Shah. He they caught up in the company's headquarters in downtown San Francisco. Let's listen to that conversation. We have resolved all of the governance conflicts that the company have. There are many legal issues that the company was involved with as well. UH. We are Saft Banking as a partner, and you want Saft Bank to be behind you and a big partner and a big investor, and we have a great investor base. We've taken the company public UH, and the company revenue growth bookings have grown seventy since I joined. We now have a path to profitability, I believe. UH. So, while we've had bumps on the road, UH, and every adventure has bumps on the road, I like where we are, and I especially like the position that we're now for the next years. There have been bumps on the road, and despite all the negative stories Uber left, ride sharing companies have been transformational. The big question for you is can Uber be as transformational over the next decade as it has been over the last decade. I think so. I mean the really what Uber has done is brought transportation and opportunity at this point to what we believe as a small segment of population. Listen, we've got over four million driver partners all over the world, which is a huge number and it's unparalleled. But we want Uber to be available to everybody. UH. And what we're doing now is going into the next step of introducing other transportation choices to Uber. We've always gone with pool, but for example, we're testing buses in Cairo now to even bring the price of Uber down to the next level a dollar, a buck, fifty, etcetera. We're introducing bikes and scooters for personal electric mobility, so that essentially anyway that you want to get around your city, we're going to be there for you. It will be mostly Uber goods, but we'll also have other third parties such as transit such as one of our partner's Lime as well. Anyway you want to get around, we want Uber to be there. And if you want food, if you want even local commerce, which I think we will power Uber Eats, and some of our other services will be there for you as well. So I guess the question is can we will be so transformational and stop losing money? I mean, the prices sound very attractive, but can you create a good business where the rides are a dollar a dollar fifty. Yes, So we are taking our rod share business, if you are CFO talked about it now. In this last quarter, if you look at our rodshare business, it covered our overhead less about a hundred million dollars. And so the ride share business itself UH is turning quite profitable. And we believe that the profits of the rod share business not only are going to grow top line, but we believe that you're going to grow bottom line as well. And then there are other businesses eats, autonomous freight, et cetera. These are extraordinary opportunities that were funding. But I do believe that we're going to prove to our investors that we can take on a serial basis big parts of our business, turn them profitable, use those parts of our business to fund investments in other areas. So there are execution issues. You just had your biggest quarterly loss ever five point two billion dollars. The stock has been trading below its I p O price much more often than not. Investors seemed to love shorting it. You've got hiring freezes on various teams. You've fired some of your at least some of your empires have left. So you've said that you believe uber Uber can be profitable, But how confident and how quickly can Uber be profitable? How confident are you that Uber can be profitable and how quickly? Yeah, I'm very confident. So I think the losses that we reported it was a five billion dollar loss. From an accounting perspective, if you live in accounting world, that's a big loss. I live in the real world, and actually in the real world, our Ebada losses six hundred and fifty six were lower than Q one, and we're on a good path in terms of our Ibada losses as well. But you're absolutely right, none of this is going to be easy. All of this is going to take excellent execution from all of our team's marketing, technology, etcetera. And we are going to be demanding our employees to be doing even more with less and to execute incredibly effectively in order for us to grow the top line and the bottom line as well. So it's pricing the main level that you pull to profitability or are there other drivers scale scale? It's it's getting big when you've got over a billion rides per quarter and you've got trips growing at a year on your basis, we think we can use technology to be much more efficient. For example, instead of now you're having to email a call center agent or call a call center agent if you have issues, you can just do it in the app. These are technology innovations that allow customers to have a better experience and at the same time they bring down costs. So the combination of growing top line still overt technology innovation to delight the customer and take costs down at the same time. And then good old fashioned efficiency making sure that our corporate costs don't grow as fast as our revenue. All of those together give you a formula to get to profitability, and that is Uber CEO Dara cost Ra Shah. He speaking with Emily Chang, of course, the host of Bloomberg Technology. Catch more of that interview coming up at five pm later today on Bloomberg Technology. We're here at the US Open that a lot of people took Ubers and lifts back and forth between here in Manhattan. Gotta be honest, right, not a lot a lot, Yeah, exactly, well, and I keep thinking about it every time we have a discussion about Uber and Lift. I mean, they're different stories. Lift is very much focused domestically on the United States. Uber is right looking elsewhere outside the use but they're also looking to take kind of their platform and then layer different services on top of it. So, uh, you know, kind of different formats. But at the same time, increasingly investors in Wall Street and we've seen this in terms of the earnings reports, you know, folks want to see them making money right well, and also this notion and he addressed this that this is ultimately about scale. You know that that is the answer to the question how do you make money and do this? It's about scaling it up to the perspective where you really can actually make some money and still offer what I thought was so interesting rides at those lower prices because that ultimately, I mean, it's math problem at the end of the day. It's a complicated math problem, but it's a math problem. Well, and that's what has been kind of cool about lifting Uber right is really kind of creating almost you know, like taxi service for the masses and for everyone and making it so accessible. So I think it's it'll be interesting to see as this business model evolves, but it really is, truly, I feel like, you know, the first company that really showed us how the sharing economy can really work on a big scale in many ways. And so lots of questions to come. All right, Yeah, we're here at the US Open. We got lots more to come. We're going to be continued to talk to U various folks about what's happening here at the US Open. You're gonna get a check on you know what's happening in the bond market, economics GDP and other read on GDP today. So we're gonna break that down with our folks. And then we've got to talk about the issue the magazine. Oh yeah, the Elements issue, and we've got I think I went on record on our weekend show saying it it's my favorite story, uh in the whole issue coming up. Well, it's a great character that he talks about. Had ever heard of it? Had you heard of it? I had not heard of it. That's why I think. And and as Austin said, and we'll hear more from him. You know that as he talked to this guy and profiled this guy, he was like So I was like, yeah, this is pretty interesting. So I was like, I'm not a skeptical here for sure. For sure, you are listening to Bloomberg Business Week. I'm Carol Masser along with Jason Kelly, live from the US Open and Flushing Queens just outside Arthur Ashe Studio Studio stadium. Well it is also a studio. You are listening to Bloomberg Radio, all right. So I learned a lot about Matt Winkler over gosh, almost two decades of working with him at Bloomberg. Key is, of course the founding editor in chief of Bloomberg, now the editor in chief emeritus. One of the things I got to know about him, Carol, is he's a pretty wicked tennis player. Apparently his head no usually, which usually means yes, but we have somebody we can ask video. Because of the other things I learned from that was you know, always check, always check, uh, you know what people are saying about themselves or what other people say about them. Because in addition to Matt, we have Jose Alberto Laura. He is a tennis pro once the number two player in the Dominican Republic. He studied law. But also he's coach Matt Winkler. So they're both here with us at the US Open. All right, So Matt, give us the scene here. You're you're great at sort of describing what something's all about. What are the superlatives of the U s Open. Well, the superlatives are the players who are superlatives. And every year you get to see an unlimited, uh display of superlative tennis, which is a treat for anybody who appreciates it, and it's at every level it's men, it's women, it's doubles, its singles, it's everything. And then the fact that the crowd so enjoys what they're watching. It just is a spectacular event. All right, I gotta cutch to the So Jose, how good is Matt? He's good? Hard? No, No, he went very hard and he tried his best. He wants to play. How long have you guys been working together? Nine years? Around nineteen years? Wow? And so what's what's the methodology? I mean, especially I'm gonna sort of like put you on the on this sort of tennis couch a little bit here, Matt. So, Matt clearly a very successful guy, clearly smart, very analytical, we know all that about it. How do you coach someone like that? You know? And he just know how we think. And one of the great things he wanted to be good whatever he do. So that's easier because whatever I told him what to do, he tried so hard. So I do wonder when you guys come together, like are you watching matches, watching players, Matt, and you're saying, okay, like here's what you can kind of pick up from this play or here's what right? So I know nothing, Jose knows everything, which is why again this is such a great day for me because I get to come with my coach. Well what do you get when? What do you get out of in your couch? So at this event, Yeah, you know, one thing he is, Oh, that's what you do to me, you know. But I think it's right because sometime we go over and he can see sometimes what I tried to teaching and said, you know, oh, that's what he tried. That's what you try to teach me coming under the ball and things. So, you know, Matt, I gotta think in an age of high technology, we look around here and obviously technology plays into the game of tennis, and as we've all been playing for years, the technology of the racket and the balls and all of that, the shoes, everything has changed. But one of the things that's so notable is there are a lot of people here wanting to experience something and wanting to sort of be together. What is it about the game of tennis that sort of transcends all the other distractions that we have. So it's your mind, it's your body, it's your soul. It's those three things. The great tennis players combine the soul, the mind and the body. My coach is one of them. Yeah, I'm not one of them. So what did you see sort of coming up in tennis? You played at the highest level of this game. You've played with a lot of people who are here competing. How has the game changed since you've been involved physical you know, you know, you we can see f Nowdalen Royer. Those guys are great, you know, his mindset are higher than most of the players, But the most important from different is the physical They still in shade to be able to play higher level. And you know, mostly young player they can move better, you know, but those guys they had their mindset and the main change that they keep the body in shade to be able to compete on that level. Right, So there's a physical element obviously, but a big kind of mental element as well. So who are you most looking forward to kind of watching play He's playing tonight, right, Yeah, that's it, That's what we're waiting for, especially because Jose is so much like Nidal the way he plays his spirit a lot of hor right, I mean, that's the thing about Rafa, right as he plays with so much hard he plays every point as if it's his last. Sure, I think of something to dost all right, So Matt, I gotta ask you. I can never get too far away from all the things I learned from you about Wall Street. Especially this is a big scene for the Wall Street crew, especially next week as we get further and further into the tournament and to who's who as you look around, especially the lower Bowl, what is it that attracts the best minds of Wall Street to this game beyond some of the things we've talked about. Do you think, well, there's so many ways to compete, But ultimately it is about competition and it's about keeping your poise when everybody else is losing there. And that's a big part of Wall Street if you think about it, which is you're doing a trade, you're making an investment decision, and it's are you confident enough? Do you believe enough in what you're doing? Do you have the poise to carry it through? And that's what they're seeing here. And I also think about the idea that you know, for folks at the top of their game at Wall Street, whether it's a trader, whether it's a hedge fund manager, a private equity manager, a CEO, they wanted to come down to them. Do you know, to him or her, they want to be the person that it's all resting on, right, and tennis comes down to that absolutely. I mean, tennis is one of those sports where you truly have to put everything together and if one piece is missing, yeah, your entire game control a part. All right. Great to catch up with you both. Thank you so much, Matt Winkler and Jose Alberto. Laura, You've got a lot of tennis to watch. We're so glad you joined us. Road turn all. Yeah, but you let me drive. Oh no, no, no no, no, honey, please, I'll do the right revel I want to drive, just drive, baby, questions the drive to the close Bloomberg Radios. It is time for the Drive to the clothes dropping by once again here at the US Open. Bill Stone Co, Chief investment officer at Avalon Adviser's friend of the show, have a tennis fan with us on side of the Open. Nice to see you again. It's nice to be here every year. Yeah, and I think he brought some enthusiasm back to the market. I'm trying. I'm trying. I think you know what. I'm out of the office. We finally got a day at the open when it's not sweltering hot, it's happine. This is the best I've ever had in here. I feel like when we saw you here last year, we were all sitting here like in sweating in sort of an embarrassing way where we almost couldn't look at each other. It was brutal. I was melting, literally melting. And we're always waiting for like the thunderstore to happen. UM, tell me about the market, because I feel like it's she loves me, she loves me not? She loves me, she loves me not. And that's what we see in the trade, and of course it ties back largely to US China trade. But is it all about that? I think, at least in the short run clearly. You know, I call it the agony in the X to see um. And you know, today we got the ecstasy. Uh, we got good weather and we got a decent headline on trade and there you go, you get the rally. Um. But tomorrow may bring something different, you know, UM, And I think you just have to be ready to live through that one. Where or how do you trade that though? And how do you invest on that? I mean, for us, we'd say we don't trade it. We just say you've gotta think where do you think things end up and where do you think the value And I'll have to say relative value is and bonds. Yeah, I mean, and that tells you what's expensive to us is bonds. And I think leaning against that I think makes some sense. In terms of stocks, yes, they'll be volatile, but if you're only getting one fifty on the ten year and you know corporate profits are holding up, okay, I still think stocks are the place well. And you mentioned volatility in August, and we have seen this in spades. This year is historically sort of a volatile month. Volume in tur thin, you know. Plus you've feather in everything we've been talking about around trade look ahead for US past August, Like, what's the outlook here for volatility? What's the general outlook in your estimation? I guess the hard part is I do think volatility is with us for a while, because I guess I'm of the view I don't know that we get to a deal on trade anytime real soon. I think there's even though again, you know, we got a little better headline today, I think I'm ready for the next bad headline and I think it's it's worth thinking that way. I think you just say, here, at the end of the day, do you really think the US is going to fall into recession? And I don't think that's the case. I think, well, you look around us, right, and I understand this scuse the US open to you know, folks that are fairly well off. But I mean you look around here and you would think, okay, there's no recession. Well but even that take beyond the this. Yeah, you're right, this is not the best uh you know group only the airports are still crowded. There's lots of remains strong. I mean, the fact is, wages are growing. You know, we continue to see job numbers despite everyone thinks initial job let's claimed somewhere are gonna jump up a bunch. They just have not. And then wages are growing. And I say that again for the second time because it's also growing on the lower end. And the lower end spends essentially of what they make, so there's some good support here. So at what point does do we see an intersection of corporate caution with the consumer who remains like almost stubbornly optimistic and willing to spend. What is it gonna take And I'm not hoping for this obviously, but what might it take for the consumer to say, you know what, I'm not going to buy that new TV, I'm not gonna take that trip. I'm not going to get at least on a new car. To me, I think it's if employment starts to give out, right, I mean, if you start getting nervous about your job, then then you really got to start work. And I think that's it. I mean, I know the consumer confidence numbers are slightly off their highs and all that, but they're still very high. But you're right, that's the danger is that you know that that the employment starts to fall off and people start to say, whoa, I'm gonna yeah, I'll hold off on buying that because I might let my not have my job tomorrow. Bill. How do do countries and economies outside the United States factor into your outlook? If they do, because I'm I watched very closely kind of what's going on in Germany because I think that should be one of the stronger economies over in Europe. It isn't right now, they're having trouble. So when they have troubles, that makes me wonder what else. I mean with Germany, they're kind of a double loser in the in this whole trade war with China, they get hit on both sides, so you know, they get the U side, and they also do a lot of business with China, and so that's what you're seeing, and you know you're seeing them get ready for recession. They probably wise to get ready for it. So no, I think you have to say, and I think everybody knows the international economies in I think you have to say, in a whole are a headwind for the US. But the differences the US can actually go alone in the sense of because so much of the U s consumer can essentially self contain um. Things would be better if everyone else was going along, okay, but but we can go along. So I want to ask you about this story that we were talking about earlier that's trending very high in the Bloombergain. It has to do with essentially where people they're living, where they're moving. Your guy lived in Philly, now you're in Houston. And when you look at the sort of mega trend across the United States, New York losing, l A losing, Chicago losing, gaining, Dallas Houston, Atlanta, Austin, Phoenix. What do you see especially on the ground there in Houston, which historically has been sort of a boom and bus town over oil, But it's a much more diverse economy now, it's got to be a good window into the broader economy. What do you say, I mean, I I think, well, I went there for the opportunity, right, So, I mean I think that's case in point right. I mean I I probably would have stayed in the East Coast, but all I got a great opportunity in Houston. I was never thinking about moving people. To be honest, there anything against it, don't don't come out awesome. I mean, I'm I'm liking I'm a Texan now, baby. But but I do think you've got entrepreneurship. You know, maybe it's the start of the oil, but I mean there's a deep down entrepreneurship. You have, uh, immigration, you know, you have growth, and growth makes things a lot better, you know. I mean, it's better than than cities where people are leaving. It covers up a lot of sins when you have people coming in. Lower cost of living. Yeah, definitely no state income tax, right, So that all just from the text just from moving. Um, so what worries people then in a you know, we know what worries people in in this part of the country, and it's largely cost of living. It's higher taxes, it's things like that. What worries people in Houston? Well, I mean, certainly, like you said, some good portion of the economy is tied to energy, and there is no doubt that's suffering. Um, it hasn't. I don't feel like it's shown up that much yet in terms of our economy. And maybe, like I said, other growth covers up a lot of things. But but underneath, I think that still remains a worry that eventually, say that caves in real estate, because that's happened before. It's not happening yet, by the way, But I think that's the maybe the worry recession anytime soon for the US, I don't think so. I mean, we'd still say, you know, obviously you had to bring your odds up somewhat, but we still say odds are none in the next twelve months. Will still stick our neck out on that one. All right, who do you like to win the tournament? You know, I'm gonna stick with the old men because I'm one and go with with better. But then you know what my dark horse we were talking about earlier, We're gonna go with because I was just watching him. Is Medvedev so interesting? You know? If in case someone breaks in the women's Honestly, I've thrown my hands up. I think any wide open. Yeah, it's kind of fun. I like it. I actually like Osako whole lot. But I'll say right now, she's probably not likely to win. Um, I think that's maybe my one that I'll say that's that. I have no idea. There's a hugely strong slate of American women coming up. Look good bills, don't thank you so much. Great to see you again. Have a save triple. Chief Investment Officer, Avalon Advisers based in Houston, with us here at the US Open. Thanks for listening to Bloomberg Business Week. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud, or Bloomberg dot com. You can also listen to a radio show every weekday at two pm Eastern only on Bloomberg Radio h
Speaker 1: This is Bloomberg Business Week. I'm Carol Masser and I'm Jason Kelly. We're here every day bringing you the latest news from the world's of business and finance, plus technology, politics, economics, all harnessing the power of Bloomberg Business Week reporters and editors, not to mention our hundred journalists and analysts and more than a hundred and twenty countries. You can download Bloomberg Business Week on iTunes, SoundCloud, or Bloomberg dot Com. You can also listen to our radio show weekdays at two pm Eastern only on Bloomberg Radio. Letting the Madonna Play playoff. But I feel like our next guest holps the key to a lot of information, a lot of what goes on here at the Open, the key to the venue, really right. Kristen Corio is back with us, matching Director of Ticket Sales, Hospitality and Digital Strategy at the U s t A. She's with us at the Open. It is, first of all, the most amazing day. Rights, good served, it, well done, Thank you and your list up to tell me, tell us remind us about kind of the size and scope of what you're involved in and kind of the expansion because there's something going on behind us that you're involved in. There is so US Open Now is for the viewers or sorry, I should say for the listeners who can't see it. We're actually adjacent to our new set, the US Open Now set, which is our latest digital extension for all the digital offerings aside from our website, us open dot org, the us Open app, and and now we've got us Open Now which brings people around the world a sense of what happens off the court here at the US Open eight hours a day throughout the whole main draw. So how do you program something like that? What are people the most interested in? We're seeing chefs come by and other things. I know I should have them stop, buy and give you guys. Um. So, yeah, you guys have been here and anyone that's come out to the U s Open knows that the tennis is amazing. Um. But there's so much more to do here besides watch tennis. It's an experience in an it is it's it's a lot like a festival and there's a lot of food to discover and eat. There's so many different cocktails that one can have. Uh, there's a lot of different fan activations on the ground. So we wanted to try to bring that to life for people in a way that if they can't be here with us physically at the US Open, they can get a sense of what it's like to be here at the US Open. Well, you know, what I always fund is fascinating because you know, the big draw is the tennis and stuff. But there's and we've talked about this with you in the past. I mean, the digital component has increased year after year when it comes to the US Open. Yeah, it sure has. And people's appetite for content seems to be insatiable, which was part of the driver behind creating this show. You guys have seen it, right, You've gotten what feedback from folks and said we want more. Yeah, and and people are incredibly interested in the tennis. We have incredible broadcast partners that bring people the tennis first ball up to last ball struck over two countries. So that's well covered. It's really you know, on the digital platforms, we want to bring them a piece of that. We want to let them watch the tennis, but we all want to show them the behind the scene stories. What is it like to get ready for a match, what is it like to recover after a match? Um? Interesting? Yeah, And how do you get the buy in from the players because I feel like, you know, these days, you know, they're they're open books, and yet they got to protect the trade secrets little bit. Like I was watching last night and they were talking to Djokovic about his shoulder and he's like, I'm not going to get into that, uh too much. So how do you sort of get them to buy in and sort of bring that rich experience from the players? Well, it's hard. They're in hot demand, right, They're in heavy, heavy demand. Everybody wants them, especially after they win a big match, UM, and we want to make sure that our rights holders have access to them first. So the best we can do we can ask and we can hope that they'll stop by our set. And I'm sure you've seen a couple of them stop by that US Open set and and sometimes they're eating and drinking too while they're on that set. But it can be challenging for shorts. They're in hot demand and at the same time they're trying to stay mentally in the zone for their next match. Well, and at the same time they also know this is what the people want, right, I mean they do, they really and and they're finding new in different ways obviously to engage with with their fan base, who as you've seen, as we've seen, like I can't get enough of it, literally, the appetite, sensational. Yeah, it's been incredible to see what players have done for themselves as content creators on their own social platforms, and some of them have really just become artistic creators of content that are so engaging to follow, and we're inspired by them daily, what I think is really cool. I had just seen a piece about folks that are on the tennis tour but they're not necessarily among the highest ranked, and how tough it is and kind of a hard life. It's a hard life, it's expensive, and they're doing it, you know, often on their own and the winnings are not a lot. But I do think something like this is an opportunity to give them a platform as well, right, which is pretty cool. And there's some amazing stories that maybe not everyone has heard, so, especially when it comes to some of wheelchair athletes, and they just have the most inspiring, incredible stories and we really want to help get those stories out there because we know, um, they're there stories that people want to hear. They didn't maybe know about it, but once they do hear about it, they're amazed. I gotta ask you because I feel like an event like this, I'm not sure whether it's immune from the economy, But what are you guys seeing in terms of ticket sales? You know, buy in early, the activity in the first few days already, what you know, what kind of momentum are you seeing, like compared to last of year? Incredible? This this event just blows our minds. Every year ticket sales. Last year, ticket sales are crushing it. We've we will sell over seven hundred and fifty thousand tickets when all is said and done with the tournament. We've already seen over two hundred thousand people come through our gates. And uh, we're only here on day four of the main or saying right, yeah, Uh, celebrities seem to flock to this sport. What do you think that is? I mean, you've got celebrities of all walks of life coming up on this stage. From I mean I was looking at the list, you know, chefs obviously, I think you've got a peloton instructor at some point, like uh, what does it resonate so much just about a minute, Luft, I don't know. There's something about this event that is a quintessential New York City event. Everybody has to come out, whether you're a fan of tennis or not. And from the athlete perspective, Kobe Bryant is here today and they just they love to see athletes at the top of their game. And whether that's hockey or basketball, or baseball or tennis, they really are just wowed about what people can do at the top of their game. And and just from a you know, from what keeps people coming out here, it's all the enhancements that we and our sponsors continue to make on the grounds that make it such a mussy event for everybody annually New York experience too. I love that. But it's global, right because it's like people from all over of our fans here are are not from the United States, but a significant always good to catch up the Kirstin Coreo is Managing director of Ticket Sales, Hospitality and Digital Strategy. It's a big job for the U. S t A. She joined us on site here at the US and I'm guessing as soon as she's done, she starts for next year. This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Jason Kelly on Bloomberg Radio. So Uber Technologies right, certainly a company we follow, and rightfully so, it's about a fifty six billion dollar market cap as we speak. The CEO has been in his spot, he's celebrating his second year anniversary, and our Emily Chang caught up with them. She's, of course our host of Bloomberg Technology. It's such a smart time right now. First of all, with Lift and Uber right, we're seeing in terms of their I p o s, there's more scrutiny of these services. They've been around for a while. We're questioning and taking a deeper look into their financial UH stories as well. So Emily, as we mentioned, UH did catch up with the Uber CEO, Dara Kazra Shah. He they caught up in the company's headquarters in downtown San Francisco. Let's listen to that conversation. We have resolved all of the governance conflicts that the company have. There are many legal issues that the company was involved with as well. UH. We are Saft Banking as a partner, and you want Saft Bank to be behind you and a big partner and a big investor, and we have a great investor base. We've taken the company public UH, and the company revenue growth bookings have grown seventy since I joined. We now have a path to profitability, I believe. UH. So, while we've had bumps on the road, UH, and every adventure has bumps on the road, I like where we are, and I especially like the position that we're now for the next years. There have been bumps on the road, and despite all the negative stories Uber left, ride sharing companies have been transformational. The big question for you is can Uber be as transformational over the next decade as it has been over the last decade. I think so. I mean the really what Uber has done is brought transportation and opportunity at this point to what we believe as a small segment of population. Listen, we've got over four million driver partners all over the world, which is a huge number and it's unparalleled. But we want Uber to be available to everybody. UH. And what we're doing now is going into the next step of introducing other transportation choices to Uber. We've always gone with pool, but for example, we're testing buses in Cairo now to even bring the price of Uber down to the next level a dollar, a buck, fifty, etcetera. We're introducing bikes and scooters for personal electric mobility, so that essentially anyway that you want to get around your city, we're going to be there for you. It will be mostly Uber goods, but we'll also have other third parties such as transit such as one of our partner's Lime as well. Anyway you want to get around, we want Uber to be there. And if you want food, if you want even local commerce, which I think we will power Uber Eats, and some of our other services will be there for you as well. So I guess the question is can we will be so transformational and stop losing money? I mean, the prices sound very attractive, but can you create a good business where the rides are a dollar a dollar fifty. Yes, So we are taking our rod share business, if you are CFO talked about it now. In this last quarter, if you look at our rodshare business, it covered our overhead less about a hundred million dollars. And so the ride share business itself UH is turning quite profitable. And we believe that the profits of the rod share business not only are going to grow top line, but we believe that you're going to grow bottom line as well. And then there are other businesses eats, autonomous freight, et cetera. These are extraordinary opportunities that were funding. But I do believe that we're going to prove to our investors that we can take on a serial basis big parts of our business, turn them profitable, use those parts of our business to fund investments in other areas. So there are execution issues. You just had your biggest quarterly loss ever five point two billion dollars. The stock has been trading below its I p O price much more often than not. Investors seemed to love shorting it. You've got hiring freezes on various teams. You've fired some of your at least some of your empires have left. So you've said that you believe uber Uber can be profitable, But how confident and how quickly can Uber be profitable? How confident are you that Uber can be profitable and how quickly? Yeah, I'm very confident. So I think the losses that we reported it was a five billion dollar loss. From an accounting perspective, if you live in accounting world, that's a big loss. I live in the real world, and actually in the real world, our Ebada losses six hundred and fifty six were lower than Q one, and we're on a good path in terms of our Ibada losses as well. But you're absolutely right, none of this is going to be easy. All of this is going to take excellent execution from all of our team's marketing, technology, etcetera. And we are going to be demanding our employees to be doing even more with less and to execute incredibly effectively in order for us to grow the top line and the bottom line as well. So it's pricing the main level that you pull to profitability or are there other drivers scale scale? It's it's getting big when you've got over a billion rides per quarter and you've got trips growing at a year on your basis, we think we can use technology to be much more efficient. For example, instead of now you're having to email a call center agent or call a call center agent if you have issues, you can just do it in the app. These are technology innovations that allow customers to have a better experience and at the same time they bring down costs. So the combination of growing top line still overt technology innovation to delight the customer and take costs down at the same time. And then good old fashioned efficiency making sure that our corporate costs don't grow as fast as our revenue. All of those together give you a formula to get to profitability, and that is Uber CEO Dara cost Ra Shah. He speaking with Emily Chang, of course, the host of Bloomberg Technology. Catch more of that interview coming up at five pm later today on Bloomberg Technology. We're here at the US Open that a lot of people took Ubers and lifts back and forth between here in Manhattan. Gotta be honest, right, not a lot a lot, Yeah, exactly, well, and I keep thinking about it every time we have a discussion about Uber and Lift. I mean, they're different stories. Lift is very much focused domestically on the United States. Uber is right looking elsewhere outside the use but they're also looking to take kind of their platform and then layer different services on top of it. So, uh, you know, kind of different formats. But at the same time, increasingly investors in Wall Street and we've seen this in terms of the earnings reports, you know, folks want to see them making money right well, and also this notion and he addressed this that this is ultimately about scale. You know that that is the answer to the question how do you make money and do this? It's about scaling it up to the perspective where you really can actually make some money and still offer what I thought was so interesting rides at those lower prices because that ultimately, I mean, it's math problem at the end of the day. It's a complicated math problem, but it's a math problem. Well, and that's what has been kind of cool about lifting Uber right is really kind of creating almost you know, like taxi service for the masses and for everyone and making it so accessible. So I think it's it'll be interesting to see as this business model evolves, but it really is, truly, I feel like, you know, the first company that really showed us how the sharing economy can really work on a big scale in many ways. And so lots of questions to come. All right, Yeah, we're here at the US Open. We got lots more to come. We're going to be continued to talk to U various folks about what's happening here at the US Open. You're gonna get a check on you know what's happening in the bond market, economics GDP and other read on GDP today. So we're gonna break that down with our folks. And then we've got to talk about the issue the magazine. Oh yeah, the Elements issue, and we've got I think I went on record on our weekend show saying it it's my favorite story, uh in the whole issue coming up. Well, it's a great character that he talks about. Had ever heard of it? Had you heard of it? I had not heard of it. That's why I think. And and as Austin said, and we'll hear more from him. You know that as he talked to this guy and profiled this guy, he was like So I was like, yeah, this is pretty interesting. So I was like, I'm not a skeptical here for sure. For sure, you are listening to Bloomberg Business Week. I'm Carol Masser along with Jason Kelly, live from the US Open and Flushing Queens just outside Arthur Ashe Studio Studio stadium. Well it is also a studio. You are listening to Bloomberg Radio, all right. So I learned a lot about Matt Winkler over gosh, almost two decades of working with him at Bloomberg. Key is, of course the founding editor in chief of Bloomberg, now the editor in chief emeritus. One of the things I got to know about him, Carol, is he's a pretty wicked tennis player. Apparently his head no usually, which usually means yes, but we have somebody we can ask video. Because of the other things I learned from that was you know, always check, always check, uh, you know what people are saying about themselves or what other people say about them. Because in addition to Matt, we have Jose Alberto Laura. He is a tennis pro once the number two player in the Dominican Republic. He studied law. But also he's coach Matt Winkler. So they're both here with us at the US Open. All right, So Matt, give us the scene here. You're you're great at sort of describing what something's all about. What are the superlatives of the U s Open. Well, the superlatives are the players who are superlatives. And every year you get to see an unlimited, uh display of superlative tennis, which is a treat for anybody who appreciates it, and it's at every level it's men, it's women, it's doubles, its singles, it's everything. And then the fact that the crowd so enjoys what they're watching. It just is a spectacular event. All right, I gotta cutch to the So Jose, how good is Matt? He's good? Hard? No, No, he went very hard and he tried his best. He wants to play. How long have you guys been working together? Nine years? Around nineteen years? Wow? And so what's what's the methodology? I mean, especially I'm gonna sort of like put you on the on this sort of tennis couch a little bit here, Matt. So, Matt clearly a very successful guy, clearly smart, very analytical, we know all that about it. How do you coach someone like that? You know? And he just know how we think. And one of the great things he wanted to be good whatever he do. So that's easier because whatever I told him what to do, he tried so hard. So I do wonder when you guys come together, like are you watching matches, watching players, Matt, and you're saying, okay, like here's what you can kind of pick up from this play or here's what right? So I know nothing, Jose knows everything, which is why again this is such a great day for me because I get to come with my coach. Well what do you get when? What do you get out of in your couch? So at this event, Yeah, you know, one thing he is, Oh, that's what you do to me, you know. But I think it's right because sometime we go over and he can see sometimes what I tried to teaching and said, you know, oh, that's what he tried. That's what you try to teach me coming under the ball and things. So, you know, Matt, I gotta think in an age of high technology, we look around here and obviously technology plays into the game of tennis, and as we've all been playing for years, the technology of the racket and the balls and all of that, the shoes, everything has changed. But one of the things that's so notable is there are a lot of people here wanting to experience something and wanting to sort of be together. What is it about the game of tennis that sort of transcends all the other distractions that we have. So it's your mind, it's your body, it's your soul. It's those three things. The great tennis players combine the soul, the mind and the body. My coach is one of them. Yeah, I'm not one of them. So what did you see sort of coming up in tennis? You played at the highest level of this game. You've played with a lot of people who are here competing. How has the game changed since you've been involved physical you know, you know, you we can see f Nowdalen Royer. Those guys are great, you know, his mindset are higher than most of the players, But the most important from different is the physical They still in shade to be able to play higher level. And you know, mostly young player they can move better, you know, but those guys they had their mindset and the main change that they keep the body in shade to be able to compete on that level. Right, So there's a physical element obviously, but a big kind of mental element as well. So who are you most looking forward to kind of watching play He's playing tonight, right, Yeah, that's it, That's what we're waiting for, especially because Jose is so much like Nidal the way he plays his spirit a lot of hor right, I mean, that's the thing about Rafa, right as he plays with so much hard he plays every point as if it's his last. Sure, I think of something to dost all right, So Matt, I gotta ask you. I can never get too far away from all the things I learned from you about Wall Street. Especially this is a big scene for the Wall Street crew, especially next week as we get further and further into the tournament and to who's who as you look around, especially the lower Bowl, what is it that attracts the best minds of Wall Street to this game beyond some of the things we've talked about. Do you think, well, there's so many ways to compete, But ultimately it is about competition and it's about keeping your poise when everybody else is losing there. And that's a big part of Wall Street if you think about it, which is you're doing a trade, you're making an investment decision, and it's are you confident enough? Do you believe enough in what you're doing? Do you have the poise to carry it through? And that's what they're seeing here. And I also think about the idea that you know, for folks at the top of their game at Wall Street, whether it's a trader, whether it's a hedge fund manager, a private equity manager, a CEO, they wanted to come down to them. Do you know, to him or her, they want to be the person that it's all resting on, right, and tennis comes down to that absolutely. I mean, tennis is one of those sports where you truly have to put everything together and if one piece is missing, yeah, your entire game control a part. All right. Great to catch up with you both. Thank you so much, Matt Winkler and Jose Alberto. Laura, You've got a lot of tennis to watch. We're so glad you joined us. Road turn all. Yeah, but you let me drive. Oh no, no, no no, no, honey, please, I'll do the right revel I want to drive, just drive, baby, questions the drive to the close Bloomberg Radios. It is time for the Drive to the clothes dropping by once again here at the US Open. Bill Stone Co, Chief investment officer at Avalon Adviser's friend of the show, have a tennis fan with us on side of the Open. Nice to see you again. It's nice to be here every year. Yeah, and I think he brought some enthusiasm back to the market. I'm trying. I'm trying. I think you know what. I'm out of the office. We finally got a day at the open when it's not sweltering hot, it's happine. This is the best I've ever had in here. I feel like when we saw you here last year, we were all sitting here like in sweating in sort of an embarrassing way where we almost couldn't look at each other. It was brutal. I was melting, literally melting. And we're always waiting for like the thunderstore to happen. UM, tell me about the market, because I feel like it's she loves me, she loves me not? She loves me, she loves me not. And that's what we see in the trade, and of course it ties back largely to US China trade. But is it all about that? I think, at least in the short run clearly. You know, I call it the agony in the X to see um. And you know, today we got the ecstasy. Uh, we got good weather and we got a decent headline on trade and there you go, you get the rally. Um. But tomorrow may bring something different, you know, UM, And I think you just have to be ready to live through that one. Where or how do you trade that though? And how do you invest on that? I mean, for us, we'd say we don't trade it. We just say you've gotta think where do you think things end up and where do you think the value And I'll have to say relative value is and bonds. Yeah, I mean, and that tells you what's expensive to us is bonds. And I think leaning against that I think makes some sense. In terms of stocks, yes, they'll be volatile, but if you're only getting one fifty on the ten year and you know corporate profits are holding up, okay, I still think stocks are the place well. And you mentioned volatility in August, and we have seen this in spades. This year is historically sort of a volatile month. Volume in tur thin, you know. Plus you've feather in everything we've been talking about around trade look ahead for US past August, Like, what's the outlook here for volatility? What's the general outlook in your estimation? I guess the hard part is I do think volatility is with us for a while, because I guess I'm of the view I don't know that we get to a deal on trade anytime real soon. I think there's even though again, you know, we got a little better headline today, I think I'm ready for the next bad headline and I think it's it's worth thinking that way. I think you just say, here, at the end of the day, do you really think the US is going to fall into recession? And I don't think that's the case. I think, well, you look around us, right, and I understand this scuse the US open to you know, folks that are fairly well off. But I mean you look around here and you would think, okay, there's no recession. Well but even that take beyond the this. Yeah, you're right, this is not the best uh you know group only the airports are still crowded. There's lots of remains strong. I mean, the fact is, wages are growing. You know, we continue to see job numbers despite everyone thinks initial job let's claimed somewhere are gonna jump up a bunch. They just have not. And then wages are growing. And I say that again for the second time because it's also growing on the lower end. And the lower end spends essentially of what they make, so there's some good support here. So at what point does do we see an intersection of corporate caution with the consumer who remains like almost stubbornly optimistic and willing to spend. What is it gonna take And I'm not hoping for this obviously, but what might it take for the consumer to say, you know what, I'm not going to buy that new TV, I'm not gonna take that trip. I'm not going to get at least on a new car. To me, I think it's if employment starts to give out, right, I mean, if you start getting nervous about your job, then then you really got to start work. And I think that's it. I mean, I know the consumer confidence numbers are slightly off their highs and all that, but they're still very high. But you're right, that's the danger is that you know that that the employment starts to fall off and people start to say, whoa, I'm gonna yeah, I'll hold off on buying that because I might let my not have my job tomorrow. Bill. How do do countries and economies outside the United States factor into your outlook? If they do, because I'm I watched very closely kind of what's going on in Germany because I think that should be one of the stronger economies over in Europe. It isn't right now, they're having trouble. So when they have troubles, that makes me wonder what else. I mean with Germany, they're kind of a double loser in the in this whole trade war with China, they get hit on both sides, so you know, they get the U side, and they also do a lot of business with China, and so that's what you're seeing, and you know you're seeing them get ready for recession. They probably wise to get ready for it. So no, I think you have to say, and I think everybody knows the international economies in I think you have to say, in a whole are a headwind for the US. But the differences the US can actually go alone in the sense of because so much of the U s consumer can essentially self contain um. Things would be better if everyone else was going along, okay, but but we can go along. So I want to ask you about this story that we were talking about earlier that's trending very high in the Bloombergain. It has to do with essentially where people they're living, where they're moving. Your guy lived in Philly, now you're in Houston. And when you look at the sort of mega trend across the United States, New York losing, l A losing, Chicago losing, gaining, Dallas Houston, Atlanta, Austin, Phoenix. What do you see especially on the ground there in Houston, which historically has been sort of a boom and bus town over oil, But it's a much more diverse economy now, it's got to be a good window into the broader economy. What do you say, I mean, I I think, well, I went there for the opportunity, right, So, I mean I think that's case in point right. I mean I I probably would have stayed in the East Coast, but all I got a great opportunity in Houston. I was never thinking about moving people. To be honest, there anything against it, don't don't come out awesome. I mean, I'm I'm liking I'm a Texan now, baby. But but I do think you've got entrepreneurship. You know, maybe it's the start of the oil, but I mean there's a deep down entrepreneurship. You have, uh, immigration, you know, you have growth, and growth makes things a lot better, you know. I mean, it's better than than cities where people are leaving. It covers up a lot of sins when you have people coming in. Lower cost of living. Yeah, definitely no state income tax, right, So that all just from the text just from moving. Um, so what worries people then in a you know, we know what worries people in in this part of the country, and it's largely cost of living. It's higher taxes, it's things like that. What worries people in Houston? Well, I mean, certainly, like you said, some good portion of the economy is tied to energy, and there is no doubt that's suffering. Um, it hasn't. I don't feel like it's shown up that much yet in terms of our economy. And maybe, like I said, other growth covers up a lot of things. But but underneath, I think that still remains a worry that eventually, say that caves in real estate, because that's happened before. It's not happening yet, by the way, But I think that's the maybe the worry recession anytime soon for the US, I don't think so. I mean, we'd still say, you know, obviously you had to bring your odds up somewhat, but we still say odds are none in the next twelve months. Will still stick our neck out on that one. All right, who do you like to win the tournament? You know, I'm gonna stick with the old men because I'm one and go with with better. But then you know what my dark horse we were talking about earlier, We're gonna go with because I was just watching him. Is Medvedev so interesting? You know? If in case someone breaks in the women's Honestly, I've thrown my hands up. I think any wide open. Yeah, it's kind of fun. I like it. I actually like Osako whole lot. But I'll say right now, she's probably not likely to win. Um, I think that's maybe my one that I'll say that's that. I have no idea. There's a hugely strong slate of American women coming up. Look good bills, don't thank you so much. Great to see you again. Have a save triple. Chief Investment Officer, Avalon Advisers based in Houston, with us here at the US Open. Thanks for listening to Bloomberg Business Week. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud, or Bloomberg dot com. You can also listen to a radio show every weekday at two pm Eastern only on Bloomberg Radio h
