davis, who needs capital and manpower, goes into business with wealthy san francisco merchant levi strauss873, american blue jeans are born. a pair costs about a buck. levi's markets their denim overalls as the uniform of the working class. >> who bought them at the time? >> miners in the west, farmers, mechanics -- anybody that did hard labor would have bought levi's back then. >> that's because workers love how tough and durable the pants are, as this pair from 1890 proves. >> from the 1800s? i mean, they feel like they could be right now. they really could withstand a lot. >> absolutely. >> so it was all about strength? >> it was all about strength. >> now, here's something really important to remember in this "strange inheritance" tale. in 1906, the epic san francisco earthquake devastates the levi's headquarters... >> their building, it was completely leveled. >> ...along with all of levi's records and inventory. the first 30 years of the company's history -- gone. of course, for the next century and more, the company thrives. indeed, the pants it manufactures become an american icon.

robert haas gave the keynote address, former head of the levi strauss & company, also an alum.he said ask questions and always look for better answers. haas says uc berkeley was transformational for him and he believes the same is true for the class 2019. >>> a big win last night for the 49ers, the game you saw here on nbc bay area. it was a thrilling showdown that came down to the final play. let's take a look. >> gold wins again! >> there's the foghorn pb robbie gould with the game winner. the 49ers beat the rams 34-31, improve to 12-3 on the season. we'll have more highlights about 25 minutes from now. lots to celebrate. >>> there is more ahead on "today in the bay." next we go live to washington to talk with chuck todd and get a preview of this week's "meet the press." >>> plus a mad rush to get holiday shopping done and why waiting until the last minute to shop might work in your wallet's favor. mike bloomberg's never been afraid of tough fights, the ones that make a true difference in people's lives. and mike's won them, which is important right this minute, because if he

i was pretty impressed with that thing and i looked around the room and we had people that ran levi strauss or transamerica or all the big corporations at the time were on the board . somebody was on the board and they were all mostly men, i think there was one lady but anyway, it was 27 of them and i think i'll maybe owned 100 shares of the company so they didn't have a keen interest in this thing and icome in , of course my whole network had been one of the largest shareholders of b of a so then i started or a littlebit . >> so in many ways you have very good timing with buying your company back and not only doing that but very quickly you took the company public. >> i had to because i had too much borrowed money. and i wanted to certainly deleverage as they say and thank goodness i did. we call that the tsunami year of 87. it was really a fast read and it was rough and ready at that time. >> because you bought the company, took it public. >> and then the crash happened. >> within weeks. >> we went public and i was 14 or $15 a share and i think within a month it was at six. that was not a

robert haas gave the keynote address, and why not, he is the former head of levi strauss and an alum, to step out of the comfort zone and ask questions and wear levi jeans. i made up the last point. he says the college has been transformational for him and believes so for the class of 2019. >> let's head back out to levi stadium, with raj and janelle. >> one of us was dancing here just moments ago. this one. we don't have to show everyone. we are back here live, continuing our coverage, we are counting down to kickoff, janelle wang and myself. the 49ers and the rams. we got a lot here coming your way. >> kickoff in about 15 minutes. the football game, right here on nbc bay area. saturday night football. prime time. we'll be right back. niners and the rams. >>> back live here at levi stadium. we have multiple cameras here on the field, raj, as the niners take on the rams, here at nbc bay area. the players, warming up on the field. >> it is pretty interesting, for so many years the niners weren't on prime time, they weren't on nbc, because they weren't a playoff team and now all of a su

the companies include netflix, levi strauss, chevron, and salesforce.e institute on taxation and economic policy. the left-leaning think tank study the first year after the republican tax cuts and jobs act was passed. the report says that courts led to nearly $74 billion in lost revenue for the government. at the same time, federal deficit has grown to really went really dollars this year. >>> and the holiday season is in full swing in the salvation army is asking for help to make the season brighter for families in need. the organization says they are about 55 thousand dollars short. and part of the reason for that is the shorter period between thanksgiving and christmas this year. i spoke to major norton from the salvation army about another obstacle. fewer people are carrying change to drop into the's familiar red candles. >> this has come more of a cashless society. this here, for the first time, we have introduced apple pay and google play. as you can see on the sign here, each of our locations have the logo in the sign and you just tap your phone

we had people that ran levi strauss or all the big corporationsns at the time they were all mostly men, and there was one lady. but there was 27 ofdy them and they had maybe 100 shares of the company said they didn'companiee a keen interest in this. i came in and of course my whole network i thought i had a reasonably good position to be able to speak out about the company which i was really quiet like a mouse for the first year or so and then i started to roar a little bit. [laughter] >> in many ways you had very good timing with buying your company back and not only doing that but quickly took the company public. >> i had to because i have too much borrowed money and i wanted to certainly the leverage and thank goodness i did. we call that the tsunami year of 87.a it was rough and ready att that time. >> you bought the company and within weeks -- >> i think within a month it was a safe -- six. thosof those that bought fantass -- that bought at six. >> it would have gone in any way but you would have had a worse balance sheet. >> absolutely there's no question about it. i talk about a