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tv   Tech Check  CNBC  September 9, 2021 11:00am-12:01pm EDT

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or hoped post labor day. of course a big part of the conversation as we watch the recent news from the airlines, david. >> yeah. though many of those stocks, seema, are not suffering today seema, thank you that does itfor us on "squawk on the street. "techcheck" starts now good thursday morning, welcome to "techcheck. i'm carl quintanilla with jon fortt and julia boorstin what a show. a huge hour coming up on "techcheck" today, the latest on microsoft's dive into hybrid work, and exclusive interview with ceo satya nadella, alongside linkedin ceo ryan roslansky. then hear from verizon's hans vestberg and the commissioner of the nfl roger goodell as a new
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football season gets under way tonight and that's not all we also have the ceo of work from home winner logitech as the company looks to go carbon neutral by 2030, a big hour ahead. don't go anywhere. jon? >> we'll start with microsoft, focusing on demand for hybrid work with a slew of new features announced today for office and link linkedin ai camera driven software, outlook rsv details and power point feature allowing users to layer teams video into the experience for live presentations. and microsoft's linklinkedin is leaning in, to find out whether a role is in person, remote, or hybrid while microsoft itself is giving up trying to predict exactly when its workers will be back in offices, but i started by asking nadella about inflation,
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specifically the microsoft 365 price increase that is coming in march and how he's balancing cost pressures in the global economy against microsoft's mission to make customers more productive >> this is an unprecedented time, in terms of some of the constraints that are there, there is the demand shock as well as the supply constraints that are all playing out but to me the the thing that is most needed going forward, dealing with all the constraints, quite frankly, in the real economy, perhaps is the malleabl malleablity, this hybrid economy where people are going to make different choices about when, where and how they work, and with this paradox of where people may say that, you know, they want the flexibility, but also at the same time the human connection, a lot of the technology investments that we announced today, take the ai
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ca camera, the ai camera is going to in fact be deflationary because it is going to help everybody participate in meetings and help drive productivity up. or even the cameo feature, which is about being able to deliver great presentations, learning content. so i think with anything we're going to use perhaps digital technology more to bring about more control to any inflationary pressure in the real economy, just not in the software sector, but across the broad economy >> yeah, and then on that, satya, talk to me about cloud competition. we have gotten into your strategy, to grow high value share in the cloud before, ai, applications, infrastructure, all of that. i think particularly when we were talking around your planned acquisition of nuance and the importance of that sort of healthcare vertical. give me a sense of how you're
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measuring success in getting deeper into verticals and growing out those cloud-driven ai solutions that are going to lead you to growth in the future >> yeah, for us, jon, i think it all comes down to the microsoft cloud. so one of the things that i've always maintained for the last seven plus years is we don't make our decisions whether it is the capital investment or whether it is even the individual product categories that we compete in as separate categories, but all coming together, like, even if you take, say, what happens when you deploy teams, one of the first things you do, in fact, the increase of usage of teams in the first line has gone through over triple digits, right? if you think about that, the -- it is not just about communication, so the first line people who are working are also not only communicating with, say, headquarters folks using messaging, but are also using applications that are integrated into their work flow
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so power apps is being used along with teams and, of course, power apps is built on azur e databases. building out the continuity with security, with great tooling, that's the microsoft cloud rally proposition and we want to compete in each category on its own. but if somebody asks me what's the difference of microsoft, it is microsoft cloud, all the way from business applications to teams and microsoft 365 to azure and everything in between. >> yeah, and doing all of that, again, in a hybrid environment that's where, ryan, i want to bring you in linkedin is turning on a new feature that is going to let companies and individuals signal how they're looking to work, remote, hybrid, all in person or on premise i take it you tested this probably so do you have any sense of how
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much this is going to reduce friction in matching job candidates or increase satisfaction what impact this might have on the overall recruiting environment. >> yeah, jon, in taking a step back, what we're seeing across the world, any ceo, executive team now is having a conversation about what their company looks like moving forward. do we work remotely, hybrid, in person what they're doing is rethinking their company's culture and values on the flip side, you have hundreds of millions of employees that have worked differently the past 18 months who are also trying to rethink how they work and where they work, but also why they work and, you know, being linkedin, we sit at the center of the massive talent marketplace, five people will start a new job every minute they found on linkedin need to make sure our platform is adapting towards the way the world is adapting. we see that if prepandemic about 1.9% of all jobs posted on linkedin were remote jobs. today, that's 16%.
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so we need to make sure that when someone's out there, looking for a job, that talent opportunity, companies can better showcase their policies and also job seekers and members can showcase what they're looking for, so we can make sure the market is super efficient moving forward. >> and you also surveyed i think more than 500 c level execs in the u.s. and uk last month and work flexibility was a big topic there. i think over half of leaders said they're going to be offering flexible work options and that happy employees lead to better business results. but that means that almost half didn't say that. so can you give us a sense of where the divide is? who is getting the flexibility or finding that it is going to be valuable versus who is not? because we tend to embrace these sort of all or nothing narratives that, of course, aren't how things are actually playing out. >> i think to your point, look, this all or nothing narrative, being dogmatic right now is
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absolutely the wrong choice, at least many my opinion. a lot of us thought we may be completely back in person across the world right now and that's just -- that line keeps moving further and further ahead. this idea that it is key -- really important to be flexible in your thinking, in your approach, trusting your employees to get their jobs done where it works best for them is one of the most important things we have been seeing in the data and only on the data, in what we're doing across linkedin as well for our company to ensure we can be flexible and continue to build linkedin for the members across the world who need us so much right now. >> you have an example of a tough lesson you've learned or seen learned about that during this time about either expectations on what's going to happen or figuring out what employees actually want and need to be productive >> i think we learn a tough lesson almost every week it feels like in navigating everything that is going on. one of the most important things that i'll say and, you know, i learned it from satya, i think going back a year ago, you would
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see a lot of companies that, you know, i think when the pandemic started in march, we said we'll be back in person, opened back up in june again i remember at that time, a lot of us saying, well, other companies are doing it, maybe we should say the same thing as well and just this idea when you put a date in the sand like that and get everyone riled up against it, it becomes really hard to navigate as that line moves. so this idea, you know, i remember satya talking about, it is really important not to be dogmatic right now and just lean into the flexibility, the key to navigating all of this. >> and to that point, satya, i believe that's probably feeds into why microsoft isn't giving a date right now >> that is absolutely right. in some sense we tried that. and it doesn't work because i think the unknowns on the pandemic and also the other side of it is the worldwide nature of this i sort of also feel that sometimes we think about this pandemic or the impact of it, one region at a time but it is a connected world. so therefore i think we have to
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really let this all settle down, jon. so one thing that we decided is from now on we'll just use data to really talk about any particular region being open, and also monitor quite frankly as far as i'm concerned, i'm very looking forward to the entire world overcoming this challenge because until we do so, any particular company, region, thinking they found the answer i think will be shortsighted. >> data dependent, sounds like the fed. which leads us to what you're calling the hybrid paradox, that employees really want flexibility, but at the same time, they want to see their co-workers more. where is the opportunity for software innovation here it seems like more and more customers are going to be relying on you to help them bridge this gap between digital and physical space and then the physical space has to be flexible, whether we're talking about hot desking or who's going to be in the office when
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>> yeah, absolutely. if you think about all the technology that i think we now have at our disposal, to be able to navigate these choices and preferences that people have, let's take the hot desking piece. when i think about hot desking, now you need to be able to get a teams display immediately log in, have all your files and artifacts right there. so this is hot desking with teams support. the other one is in hybrid meetings, you want to bring out your phone and have the mobile companion. if you're sitting in a hybrid meeting with a couple of colleagues in a conference room socially distanced, some people remote, you want to participate in the chat. so therefore, again, that companion app becomes important. the other one is this ai camera. so if you want -- one of the things today when you dial into a conference room, you don't see everybody in the conference room sometimes. and especially youdon't see them in their square, so to speak. so the ai camera allows everybody to participate as
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first class with their remote or in a conference room together. lots and lots of technology that we will put to bear, but the one other thing i would also mention, jon, is it is not just the tools for meetings and communications, it is even about the social capital side. one thing i'm very, very excited about is the work we're doing with -- to make sure that managers can truly care for the people they lead by using, again, data. and build that connection, because to ryan's point about this great reshuffle, the connection between the employee and the company's mission, the leader and the team, i think, is going to be the new currency that i think is also some place -- a place where technology and data can help. >> is there a gap there, a product -- there are so many products that microsoft has and that so many companies in the industry have from managing projects, or, you know, for managing documents or managing spreadsheets on and on down the line is there a need for more software for managing people and
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emotions and i don't just mean your classic hr software or even software that manages learning, but it seems like we don't have the best ways yet of knowing how people are doing, what they're excited about learning, and how they're growing. >> that's a great, great point i would say again, there are limits to what software can do it is ultimately requires enlightened and great managers managers need tools. in that context what we're doing with viva, about the experience -- it is basically employee experience as a new software category, and in that category, it is about really the managers' connection to their employees, about well-being for employees, about learning in the flow of work, so things like linkedin learning, integrated into teams, and it is really ultimately bringing all these things together to build back the social capital, that is so key in the learning capital, in the capital that is to key for any firm, any organization
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>> and, ryan, put a button on it, if you will, you came into this role of ceo of linkedin with not too many weeks before you were dealing with this really challenging pandemic situation that has not -- that hasn't gone away in what way has that affected your view of the workplace going forward and of leadership and your leadership going forward? >> yeah, you know, like we talked about previously, jon, i never imagined to be a ceo from my bedroom with my kids doing school, you know, in rooms next door for the first year of being a ceo. but you can't only be a leader when things are good and the key to navigating right now is, you know, being flexible, making sure to pay attention to the data, more than anything just making sure that you're moving forward and looking forward, the way things work, the way you manage and led two years ago can't be the way you're doing it moving forward how are we leveraging new software, new tools, new cultural, you know, hchm
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technologies to see the world where it is going, not where it has been >> at the end of the last fiscal year, linkedin clocked first $10 billion year revenue wise and so now there is going to be a marketplace of work styles and work locations and we'll see, especially in this tight labor market, how that plays out along with all the other features that microsoft is putting out there trying to gain advantage in the enterprise. >> yeah, jon, just a fantastic interview. i was so interested by what they both said about this idea that human capital, social capital is really the final frontier in terms of having companies, getting companies a competitive advantage in the workplace right now. and i'm curious what you see as really the big surprise out of that do you think there is a shift away from tools to maximize efficiency, to tools to, you
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know, reduce turn of employees or this idea that you need to figure out how to tap into that creativity and innovation of workers, wherever they are, whether they're at home or in the workplace, through this new sort of what looks to me like a metaverse type experience for collaboration. >> well, julia, i think the biggest surprise is nested in that news that microsoft is no longer trying to peg any kind of date for an overall return to office and, carl, i think that means that they're calling audibles in the software industry, especially in enterprise software, constantly, and they're doing it in how they are marketing and rolling out products so their customers can call audibles. this reminds me of bill mcdermott, talking about service now, buying a company that will allow people to map out offices for more hot desking microsoft's features are going in that direction as well. and, you know, teams is competing with zoom over, you know, video in presentations and
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communications so, you know, right along the lines of those themes we have been talking about here on "techcheck." >> and we talked to bill mcdermott about that purchase not too long ago that's the lead of the whole interview, jon, that moment where nadella tells you we tried to set dates in the past and it didn't work and it ties into what we heard from the airlines today, what we heard from fed officials this week, what we saw in the jobs number on friday, and now with the white house saying we're in the period, jon, where this is the fall, and kids are going back to school, we thought people would be going back to work en masse, but it is going to be about testing and getting the input so that microsoft and companies like it can analyze that data and try to make the best audible they can. >> yeah, and also get to see as we addressed when we started out, in that conversation, whether this enterprise software is deflationary, right because while the price of it is going up in march, nadella arguing that the features are going to actually allow companies to be more productive
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and perhaps lower cost, lower prices thanks to satya nadella and ryan roslansky for joining us exclusively for "techcheck." >> yeah. fantastic, jon before the break, let's get a gut check this morning on gamestop whether it is the most boring or exciting company to own, shares are down big this morning after that earnings call that lasted all of eight minutes and featured no analyst questions, no guidance, no cfo and no ryan co cohen. the stock is well off the levels we saw earlier this year, down 30% since the chewy founder was installed as chairman in june. volume has fallen off a cliff no where near the volume we saw in january, february and march. the hodl crowd is raving about the dip today. the gamestop stock is silent on its plans to use its cash or take advantage of that mammoth valuation. this week the journal points out this is the busiest year for
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deal-making on record and as the amc ceo teases a potential partnership between the two companies, answers questions from the a-- gives out free popcorn, investors are asking what is a cult stock without a cult leader? shares down 8% now julia? >> such a contrast with amc, which just announced it is going to be doing its first ever tva campaign, taking some of those -- that cash that it has now spend $25 million on tv advertising. the ceo of logitech nfl commissioner roger goodell and verizon ceo hans vestberg a huge hour of "techcheck" is just getting started.
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work from home winner. stock up 140% in the last two years as we have seen a return to growth in personal computing. but what happens to all those old keyboards and headsets the company announcing today it is aiming to be carbon neutral by 2030 and climate positive beyond then. joining us this morning is l logitech's ceo bracken darrell anybody who had to dispose of old equipment wonders, gosh what is happening to the equipment i'm throwing out can you talk about how you get to that goal by 2030 >> yeah, our -- we're going to be carbon neutral this year, we're announcing today and then we're going to be climate positive by 2030 our goal is to be climate positive, taking more carbon out of the air than we're putting in and take our carbon output of the company and all the suppliers and customers by 50% by then. it is a big commitment and a big announcement about being carbon neutral today. in terms of dealing with the existing products, we already started down the path of being aggressive on including consumer
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recycled plastic in everything we do. we're looking for alternative materials too. until those are available, we're trying to take what we're using today and put it back into our products and in fact by the end of this year, 50% of our keyboards and mice will include consumer recycled plastic. >> fascinating where was the motivation for this target? did it come from your employee base is it investors? is it something that is engrained into the core mission and values of the company or something else >> it is really essential to the purpose of the company we -- our purpose is to enable all people to fulfill their passions and do it in a way that is good for the planet and to be good for planet we got to be -- we got to be climate positive or making the climate better not making it a little less worse that's why we're committing in 2030, we're in a very small number of companies that have gotten that aggressive so it is deeply within the company but shared by virtually everybody in our company there is such enthusiasm for this initiative.
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we have great feedback from investors. and i think increasing number of customers are excited about it too. >> yeah, bracken, certainly seems like this will appeal to customers and including those such as myself who find this need to keep buying different products to keep up with the at homework craze my question is sort of how you think about the impact of the products themselves as opposed to buying carbon offsets which is an area that has been criticized, especially, recently >> yeah, we're really careful about offsets because we really tried to make sure we understand that we can really track all the way down to the three in the ground where it is going and a tree takes about two people's worth of carbon from the air so it is a pretty efficient technology but, we don't think it is nearly enough and until there are technologies where we can completely take carbon output down to zero, we're very aggressively redesigning our products for sustainability
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we -- we're announcing -- 40% of the carbon out, so between new materials, renewable energy sources at the source, we're really aggressively working to raise -- and bring the carbon down by 2030, we'll take 50% of carbon out of the product experience across the entire supply chain down to your usage as a customer. >> bracken, good to see you. it is jon fortt. it has been a heck of a year plus for the supply chain, especially semiconductors, which are in pretty much everything that you guys are making also for demand. we're talking to satya nadella about this need for flexibility, and how web cams, which logitech makes a lot of, are driving some of that. as we move into this hybrid environment of work and school and the uncertainty, how are you seeing that affect demand and when do you see your supply improving to the point where you
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want to see it >> well, i think we're -- i think the supply standpoint, we're about where we wanted to be still short of a few products and we have component shortages here and there, but we have been largely able to manage those you know, i'm excited for the long-term. for the company. we're really -- it is really put us in a position we sit at the intersection of so many of these trends, the work from home trend, the rise of esports, the rise of spem creating content for each other, and, of course, the video conferencing trend that you just talked to satya. we're the biggest enabler of video conferencing we're in the middle of this. and everything scaled up in the last year. now we have a bigger base to deal with and a lot of people that can help. >> yeah. and all those who said that we would be looking at a rollover of that demand, having to recompute as well. appreciate you sharing the climate, carbon goals and talking about return to office as well. good to see you.
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thank you. >> thank you very much for having me. and aaron levy boxing out starboard in a big proxy battle, maintaining control of the company he founded so what comes next for the tech company? those details later this hour. and after the break, verizon's hans vestberg and nfl commissioner roger goodell as the nfl season kicks off a big hour still ahead on "techcheck." don't go away. what the world needs now... is people. people who see flight a little bit differently. so it takes less fuel to bring people together... and make faraway places feel a little closer... with engines that power planes more efficiently. because seeing a better-connected world isn't far in the future. we're building it... now. ge building a world that works. (vo) at t-mobile for business, unconventional thinking means we see things differently,
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welcome back to "techcheck." we're resetting here at the bottom of the hour carl quintanilla with jon fortt and julia boorstin more from verizon's hans vestberg and nfl commissioner roger goodell in a moment as a new football season kicks off tonight on nbc let's get a news update with rahel solomon. >> here's what's happening at this hour. airline stocks are among the biggest gainers in the s&p 500 most of the big carriers have lowered revenue guidance due to the delta variant and rising covid cases, but the cuts are
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relatively small some say that is short lived walmart ending its long held tradition of paying quarterly bonuses to store workers it comes after a week after walmart announced it is raising its wage for nearly half a million employees. european banks will bin trimming some of its support for the economy. the ecb will moderately slow the pace of bond purchases in the coming months. and back here in the u.s., weekly jobless claims falling to another pandemic low 310,000 good news there. julia, back to you >> thank you, rahel. and verizon and the nfl announcing a ten-year partnership to use 5g to power tech adoption throughout the league also naming verizon an official tech partner of the nfl. with verizon 5g ultra wide band now available in 25 stadiums for the season that kicks off today this partnership aims to improve
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the fan experience in the stadium and at home as these partners build out more capabilities such as augmented reality. i spoke with nfl commissioner roger goodell and verizon ceo hans vestberg. take a listen. >> it is all about innovation and making the experience for our fans better. so speed and quality of the data and information that comes out of our stadium is a critical component to that. and so it not only makes the experience for our fans better in the stadium, but also at home, and on the go, and, of course, it makes our game better because all those analytics are used by our teams. >> this is not a platform for innovation as roger said, a plat for innovation, for fans in the stadium and when you're at home. and that is also a platform for innovation for the venue operation. it is a platform for coaches, and for the players and for referees, so the time to see that -- all the data, the right time, with the right speed, so
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it is just playing out exactly as we thought, being extremely good in dense areas or dense urban areas where there is a lot of people at the same time so this is a great way for us to continue to be the leading technology partner and the official 5g network for the the nfl. >> i also asked about covid, both vestberg and goodell were bullish on their businesses, despite the rise of the delta variant. verizon saying that consumer spending is robust, and goodell saying that he expects nfl fans to return to stadiums and even higher numbers than back in 2019 we also asked about the next round of media deals for roger goodell and the nfl, and the nfl saying ticket rights are coming up after next year's season and the nfl is also looking for strategic partner to invest in its media properties, that includes nfl network, nfl red zone and all of theleague's
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digital platforms. >> we have a lot of additional media properties that are available. we have a lot of interest in those properties sunday ticket is one of those. we think it is a tremendous product and maybe one that will be something that will be more af at attractive on a digital platform as they become more used by our fans and that will give us an ability to go direct to consumer in many ways, which is a positive thing for us. >> so there are two things at play here. one is sunday ticket and the other is the fact that you're exploring a sale of part of your media properties so can you tell us where both of those deals stand and if you -- you mentioned the importance of digital, are you talking to the likes of amazon or apple or what types of companies or which company do you think these deals are going to go to. >> we're looking to do is bring in a strategic partner who are going to help us look at our assets, whether it is red zone or sunday ticket or whether it
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is the nfl network, and figure out who take that into the next technology, the next opportunity to get to our fans and to bring greater access to our fans so this is about a strategic partnership that will actually make us better and that's what we're looking for. we're not getting out. we're going to continue to be investors in this. >> and on the heels of a number of big sports betting deals, goodell told me that sports betting is going to drive engagement, build a better fan base for the nfl, and grow revenue. >> it will be somewhat like a fantasy football was for us in the '90s and has been over the last several decades, but this will be an even more immersive experience and i think there are a lot of fans that want to engage with our game differently that want greater access, that want to do different things while the game is going on. and we'll be able to provide
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that on other platforms to be able to allow them to do this on legalized sport betting platforms that are official sponsors >> you can find my whole interview with goodell and vestberg on cnbc.com/techcheck the season kicks off tonight on cnbc and peacock he was focused on the broadest audience possible and the idea that's likely to come through tech platforms. >> and we were talking with drew rosenhaus about the overlay between gaming and even crypto and nfts and how that's all sort of layered on top of sports now. jon, we know it is probably the most important piece of intellectual property out there, that includes things that are scripted and not scripted. >> for sure. for sure, carl and, julia, it seemed interesting to me that -- a lost times people use the word vest wrong, they mean spend, but it sounds like they're looking for
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a partner not so much in distribution alone, but to help them in r&d and product development. it could be some of the same players, but it sounds like they're looking for something a little different is that the way you heard it >> i think you're totally right. this is an opportunity for them to potentially partner with a big tech company and figure out different ways to grow interesting to hear both of them talk a little bit about augmented reality, the opportunity to layer different types of stats and data on top of just watching the game, and the potential really if you're doing this on a digital platform is the game could be so much more robust, you can see how sports betting would play into that and what this all adds up to, carl, is just a lot more engagement and fans that are paying attention and doing multiple things during the game that are all about the nfl >> yeah, we're not hearing too much about things you do when you watch the game later on a recorded version fascinating and we can't wait
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for tonight, julia, that was a great interview too. as we go to break, uber in the skies, that's what jpmorgan is calling blade this morning in a new note forecasting potential 80% upside for the stock the company also engaging in some m&a, agreeing to acquire an organ transplant platform, shares at a two-month high you can read all about it at cnbc.com/pro and "techcheck" is back in two
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a boxing match between starboard and aaron levy today in a battle over control of the company and it looks like we may have a winner. leslie picker has details. hi, l.p. >> hey, carl we have a winner box garnering a win in this election electing its three nominees including aaron levie to the ten-person board this marks the first loss for starboard in nearly a decade since the firm took on aol in 2012 the very active activist investor tends to settle, withdraw, tends to win board seats, but not so in this case starboard owns 8.8% of box making it the second largest
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shav shareholder after vanguard they received support from 15% of the shares outstanding, excluding its own stake. in other words, this wasn't a terribly close vote in the end at the crux of starboard's argument here, bread and butter activist stuff, underperformance, inefficient capital allocation, but diluting their case was the fact that starboard settled with box in march of 2020, adding three independent directors at the time starboard's dissatisfaction was catalyzed when a slight guidance miss sent the stock plummeting proxy documents show, instead box opted for a $500 million capital raise through kkr to buy back stock, but starboard claimed box did this to buy the vote in a statement in response to today's results, starboard said, quote, we are certainly disappointed by the results of this election, which were heavily skewed by the voting rights tied to the preferred equity financing and the use of
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stockholder capital to aggressively repurchase shares ahead of the record date from stockholders likely to support change nonetheless, the stock has returned nearly double the s&p this year, though trading lower on today's news. guys >> great breakdown, leslie, and a win by knockout for aaron levie on the vote, anyway. ahead of new numbers from affirm and z scaler after the bell today, we'll break down the fintech space with challenger bank vero fresh off half a billion dollar fund-raising round. that's next. and don't miss the ceo of z scaler tomorrow, following that report, here on "techcheck." stay with us [swords clashing] - had enough? - no... arthritis.
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a check on some china names. a sea of red for internet companies in china this morning following reports that chinese regulators called in companies like tencent and netease for interviews to remind them of those new restrictions on game time for children. private markets also getting impacted with cuts at fidelity, this time the $78 billion, a big drop from the $235 billion valuation it was seeking in november and cathie wood losing some hope, reducing its positions in the country dramatically in order to focus on companies they think are less likely to face scrutiny dow lost a lot of a triple digit gain this morning. "techcheck" is back in a moment.
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i think you're going to like it here. umm, why is everyone... throwing things at me? look, as cfo it's my job to be ready for whatever's next. that's why i have my finance team, randomly hurl things at me. it's also why we use workday. it gives us insights, so we quickly pivot our strategy, people, planning, you name it. sorry, sir. i will aim straight at your next step. see that you do. would you like some coffee? workday. the finance, hr, and planning system for a changing world. ♪
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fintech news this morning. the first all digital national bank closed a funding round led by new investor lone pine capital joined by dozens of other new investors. varo is the latest to attract millions of new customers
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dissatisfied with traditional institutions we'll get a firm earnings today after the bell notable in the fintech space with us now, varo's ceo, colin walsh. colin, good to have you. i want to get into the funding and your growth, but first i'm curious on your take on this controversy with coinbase and the sec and the idea of a 4% yield on an account, not a savings account. is this the future of fintech, being able to use technology to provide yields like that, or something else >> hi, jon, thrilled to be on your show. thanks so much it's an exciting moment for varro, for investors your question on coinbase, i do feel a number of fintechs are bringing innovation to financial services it's not my role to necessarily
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opine on the position of some of the other players in the space but i do think that many players are working very hard to create innovations that have better consumer outcomes. it will be interesting to see how that plays out in terms of the debate as far as our news today, i think it's an incredibly important moment for our industry, because varo has been working incredibly hard to help many millions of consumers who, as you said, have been dissatisfied by banks. they've been overcharged, underserved, and in many cases marginalized by the system i felt the way to really bring true progress and innovation to the banking system was to do it from the inside. i look forward to talking more about the journey that we've been on to really create a unique bank. >> let's talk about that i'm not trying to get you to trash talk coinbase specifically, but i do think there are so many institutions right now, tech companies, that
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are looking to be the everything app and the everything experience when it comes to consumers and finance, and they're making various pitches high yields on savings is one of those. i'm curious what your strategy is for telling the consumer how you're going to deliver value and whether that strategy is one that you adopt >> first and foremost, let's start with the fact that we did the hard work and made a strategic choice to become a real bank. so being a legitimate bank that's held to a very high standard everything we do is closely scrutinized by our regulators. as a result, we have a number of significant competitive advantages one of your colleagues put out a story talking about some of the economic advantages. i would love to talk about the consumer advantages. we as our own bank now own our staff. we can do very innovative things with our data. we're able to innovate across a
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wide range of financial products if you put yourself in the shoes of, say, a 30-something, trying to make ends meet, working a couple of jobs, and you come across a bank that eliminates all the fees and charges, that gives you the early paycheck, that gives you cash when you need it to bridge to the next paycheck, that helps you fix your credit, that helps you build savings habits, that pays you cash back that will allow you to pay your rent through zelle and be able to open a shared account with partners, all of this rebundled, as you're saying, into a sophisticated, intuitively designed app to me, that is the future. >> i guess the question then, as you think about growing that user base, who are you competing it is it the traditional bank or some of the other challenger bank services like chime >> that's a great question, thanks for asking that we're in a unique space because we have the full scope of things
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a bank can do but we're also a fintech. we're digitally native, we have probably the most modern tech stack in the world from a banking perspective. our ability to innovate and innovate quickly puts us an interesting, exciting place. this capital will allow us to turbo charge our growth, to build a brand that consumers trust, that can be very culturally relevant and iconic in the moment that we're living in today >> colin, it is such an important space, banking, payments, that cash up front for so many people so we hope you'll come back and continue to tell us about your progress and your developments there at varo. >> great, would love it. thank you so much, appreciate the time on the show and amazon is going after elon musk in a very personal way. that story is next stay with us
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one more thing, the latest in a back and forth. amazon takes aim at elon musk. the lead counsel for amazon's planned $10 billion satellite internet company set to compete with musk's starlink called out musk for his controversial tactics writing, quote, the
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conduct of spacex and other musk-led companies makes their view plain rules are for other people and those who insist on or simply request compliance are deserving of derision and ad hominem attacks. if the fcc regulated hypocrisy, spacex would be keeping th commission very busy if there's anything kind to say about spacex's approach, it is that it has been effective in achieving spacex's goal of avoiding both the rules and any sanction for flouting them but spacex's run of success with this strategy may be coming to an end unquote. the letter comes after spacex called out amazon last week for attempting to protest spacex's satellite changed configuration plans, saying it was, quote, only the latest in its continuing efforts to slow down competition, unquote you see what spacex is doing there. next week i'll be speaking with just the person you would want to hear from on this and many other things, amazon's ceo andy
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jassy. this will be his first interview since becoming ceo, so be sure that catch that exclusive right here, tuesday, 11:00 a.m. eastern. carl meantime, we'll get ppi tomorrow and a chance for the street to reflect on the anniversary of 9/11. let's get to the half. carl, thanks so much welcome to "the halftime report." i'm scott wapner coming up, whether the strong year for stocks is enough to overcome a growing list of concerns we'll debate the state of your money with the investment committee. josh brown, jon najarian, nice to see everybody today we begin with a look at stocks, trying to break that three-day losing streak. dow still holding on to a modest gain of about 35 points. s&p a fractional winner. russel00

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