it's all out there and it's clear that shari redstone knows that being a big fish, being a little fish yes it is. charlie: that's why there's lots of talk about her talking to people and doing mergers. back to you and enjoy your meatballs this weekend of beyond meat. ashley: hang on, hang on. beyond meat is on the phone, charlie. yes, yes, all right, i've given them your number so expect a call in about two minutes charlie gasparino, interesting stuff as always, charlie, thank you very much. go beyond meat. all right, the grand reopening creating very real opportunity in one of the economies key sectors, randy anderson will give us the top plays for post- pandemic portfolio success, not easy to say, that's next. the closing bell rings in about seven and a half minutes we'll be back. it's a wishlist on wheels. a choice that requires no explanation. it's where safe and daring seamlessly intersect. it's understated, yet over-delivers. it is truly the mercedes-benz of sports sedans. visit your local mercedes-benz dealer today for exceptional lease and financing offers. ♪ . . ♪ barriers don

but the third takeaway -- [laughter] out of here is that viacomcbs, about two years they made shari redstonem together, she, according to people that watched her interact at the conference, that she is clearly signaling that she wants to shop the stock. that doesn't mean that she's actively shopping it, okay? but clearly, what came out of this from the rival media executives based on her multiple conversations with people is that, you know, this is a company that's probably for sale at the right price and could be sold, could be emergencied. because scale -- merged. because scale is a big thing. now, i know what's going to happen in five minutes, i'm going the to get a call from cbs viacom even though i called yesterday, the stock is moving. oh, we're not shopping, that's not happening, we're not officially talking. i know all that. i know all that. but i am telling you, i spoke with several major media ceos at that conference and said based on the sort of -- and that's how these guys do it, by the way. they dance at the conference. hey, how are you, let's talk, let's have lunch. introductio

understand, from people at the conference, who saw her in action, that it's pretty clear that shari redstoneit yet, we're not saying these are official merger talks, far from it, but there could be a shop going on here for viacom either as a merger with another partner or to sell it to somebody. we should point out that's what this is all about, when we talk about sun valley. rarely do people sit down and have bankers and lawyers in front of them at sun valley. this is a place where ceo's meet one on one and say let's have dinner, let's have breakfast, your guys talk to my guys and let's get the ball rolling, and i think that's not, i think, i know that's what happened at sun valley this time, and she, sahar i, was in the middle and it be pretty amazing if they did sell anytime soon. she just merged cbs and viacom together in 2019. lauren: got it. charlie: very interesting stuff going on here. lauren: the music is playing charlie thank you very much record highs just minutes away, big week ahead, "claman countdown", coming right back. sometimes, you want speedy but reliable. state-of-the-art

his boss, shari redstone of the redstone family which controls cbs viacom through national amusementswell, neil. bill gates, we confirmed that bill gates is at least scheduled to attend. this has been an interesting year for gates. he had to resign from the microsoft board. it came amid an internal investigation that when he was ceo of microsoft he had an affair with a worker there. amazon's chief jeff bezos will be here. andy jazzy who will replace bezos will be here. we'll keep an eye out for all this stuff. there will be a lot of deal-making here this year. a lot of talk about cbs viacom being for safe. a lot of other properties. hopefully we get a little insight what that deal-making is. we should point out, neil, this is kind of a pseudo intellectual think fest, at least superficially, these guys come here and think big thoughts. behind the scenes is where the bankers work. i will try not to get thrown out totally. back to you. neil: are you staying at the same resort these guys are there? or they put you in a best western, where are you? >> no, i'm actually staying at the limeli

the minute you hear there's a meeting between brian roberts and shari redstone you're thinking -- i don'tt think it's necessary to pursue something like that. kavanaugh, cfo, saying we like the assets, the hand we have right now. i don't think we need to give anything back. if you take that at face value but you never know with these guys you never know and all of a sudden -- but you're saying -- >> the one thing you know -- >> you're saying the concerns -- >> you saw what happened to the stock last time. it was about a month and a half ago. immediately sells off. >> how clever you can get with carving up a bunch of assets of that kind of size. i think it would be challenging to do the full -- >> combo. >> full bite if you will b but, you know, crazier things have happened. >> i would love to meet spongebob one day. >> i had to interview him. >> the voice you mean? >> no, no, i met. >> the actual spongebob? >> big guy they told me to interview him for three minutes. he's not allowed to talk because he doesn't have the same voice that was an interesting interview. >> i want to meet them al