Transcripts For BLOOMBERG Bloomberg West 20141009 : vimarsan

BLOOMBERG Bloomberg West October 9, 2014

Energy stocks were hit particularly hard amid concerns about a Global Economic slowdown. Billionaire activist investor carl icon fires back at venture capitals Mark Andreessen a day after andreessen called icahn and evil captain kirk. Here is what he told trish regan about andreessen. Is a quintessential guy that i say is what is wrong with corporate america. I put him on last night when i heard he said stuff about me. Him because hear talks in that squeaky fast voice. Only a dog could really understand exactly what he said. Icahn also said andreessen should not be on the ebay board. Advancepplier gt technologies is asking the court to seal documents. Gt says it is trying to avoid millions in fines for violating confidentiality requirements with a thirdparty. Disney chairman and chief executive bob iger says the upcoming disney theme park in shanghai will fare much better than disneys park in paris. Points to a Larger Population base and stronger economy. Here is what he said at the new establishment summit. The two things im most excited about are the development or the construction of shanghai disneyland. Should open up in a couple of years. We are making star wars right now in the u. K. Atiger said he was surprised how Strong Demand was for merchandise from the movie frozen. Lets go to Stephanie Ruhle, who is at the vanity fair new establishment summit in San Francisco. Stephanie . I am. Im sitting down right now with the ceo of discovery. We are talking so much about content, cable, how we are delivering this new media. I feel like with cable tb when times are great, everybody is talking about the great ratings. When things are not going well, everybody says, whos got a nielsen box. How do you measure the success of networks . By how big of an audience we can aggregate that love our channels. In the end, people still watch only six or eight channels. For us its about getting people to love tlc, discovery, animal planet. Its getting velocity. Its getting people to love our channel and spent time with us. If we do a good job telling grow, theur ratings number of people who spent time with us grows. In the last seven years seven years ago we had 14 channels in the u. S. And 4. 5 of viewership on cable. 12 ofe have close to viewership. We do look at how much time people are spending with our channels. There are 300 channels out there but people are only watching six to eight. Does that mean 10 years from now we are no longer going to have cable offerings . We only watch a few. It works almost everywhere in the world. We are bigger outside the u. S. Than we are here in the u. S. Some of those markets are less competitive. There are a lot of countries with 40 channels and we have 10. The fact there is 300 channels makes it more competitive grade competitive. It is a very efficient bundle. You can click around. With tlc you might have been a big fan of tlc recently, but maybe two years ago you did not know it is there. Itsa certain amount almost like a democracy. We offer all the channels and it is our job to offer great content. You spend enough time on our channels that you start to love them. Why has international been better for you than domestic . The u. S. Market has been slow for a while in this sense. Subscribers are relatively flat. If you go to brazil or mexico or russia or india, the emerging markets, subscribers are growing. Growing. P on cable is the economics that advisers are willing to pay to be on cable is growing. In the u. S. , viewership is flat and subscribers are flat. You have to fight hard to grow. Do you expect more m a among cable programmers in the u. S. . Probably. Thats not that many smaller players left. We are the largest independent cable player in the marketplace. We have 14 channels in the u. S. There will probably be some more. Theres not much left. Consolidation has already happened to a great extent. When you first saw the headlines, what was your reaction . I thought it was interesting. I was surprised. Two Great Companies. Not gourprised to did through. Usually when rupert and james and chase embark on a path, they usually they are hard to stop. Jeff has done a great job with time warner. I think there will be two Great Companies separate. When you said it is important for my networks to stay on grand, does that mean the viewer only once 628 channels wants six to eight channels but with tlc, you cant diverge . People do watch a number of our shows and they love the characters and stories. Often people are saying on a friday night, i love discovery. I love tlc. I love oprah. I think brands still matter, particularly in a world where as you move off of cable, when there is so much content out there, brands become a cure ratio device. Curation device. We have a good sense of the people that love discovery, what they want. It is almost a curation. Otherwise it is pretty confusing to go outside of traditional cable. Theres almost unlimited content out there. The new ask the question, so what do i want to watch . Brands make a big difference for us. When i think brands and what you have done, i think shark week. What is the most exciting thing you have going on right now . On monday we are launching a new channel in the u. S. , discovery family. It is in about 75 million homes. It was all kids. Now we are rebranding it. We think theres a real opportunity in the marketplace to build a channel where moms and dads can watch with their kids. We have a ton of great content in the library that is familyfriendly. What is your alltime favorite show . Seagull. Thank you so much. Great to see you. Back, it is all about carl icon. Takesy he launches in and aim at apple. You are watching bloomberg television. Im here in San Francisco at the vanity fair news establishment summit grade summit. Welcome back to bloomberg west. Im Stephanie Ruhle at vanity fairs new establishment summit. It is one my favorite comedies. Tony, the last time we spoke it was very soon after you were fired. What is the transition been like for you . It has been amazing. We spent about seven and a half months. We could not be more delighted. Zero regrets. Larry and i talk all the time and we are able to build the business out. There is no downside of living in someone elses house . At this point, no. I have been pleasantly surprised about how well we have been working together and where we are taking it together. People talk so much about the internet of things and how we are moving into this futuristic society. You are one of the first players to get there. How far away are we from being truly connected in our homes . I think we already are connected in our homes with smart phones and tablets and even tvs. We are already connected to read what we are talking about is parts we use every day and making those also connected. It is the next wave of things that are coming together, and 2000, 3000 Different Companies working to put these things together to help you make it more convenient to run your life. What are you doing now, now that you are fueled by the power of the google . Im not. When im not doing now is im not raising money anymore. Im focused on the business, building the team and building products. That is what has been great. The other thing i have been focusing on is finding all the gems inside google and bringing those in and collaborating to make those even better. Like what . I cant tell you right now. Is there a project you are working on right now that you are still excited about . Absolutely, more than one. Can you tell me any of it . No. 3000, four thousand Different Companies trying to build stuff to connect bethe sun cant always shining on silicon valley. What are your Biggest Challenges . One, getting people to understand what we are trying to do and not be afraid of it. People worry about security and privacy about these kinds of products. We have an open discussion about that and make sure people understand what we are trying to do. I think the other one is we can never get enough great talent. Ultimately, working with all of our developers, having them understand being transparent and understanding the security needs of these homes. You mentioned security. Many of us are getting more scared about hackers. If we submit control and leave it to a device, are we giving up having Real Security . It is a great question. If we want the convenience, we are going to need to have these things connected. We have teams inside this is another great part of google. We have Great Security teams. We have external consultants trying to break this thing. To the best of our knowledge, we have not had any intrusions by anyone stealing data. You are always in control and we want to make sure you stay in control. Its not about us taking over your house. Were you surprised when you saw apple by [indiscernible] buy [indiscernible] . Sure. When i was at apple, we were always talking about headphones. All of a sudden headphones are there. Beats and itit was was as big of a deal as it was. After living at apple and now inside google, are the culture so different . Both of them strive for quality. One is very technologically focused and the other is very much marketing and product focused. Those two things are blending between the companies. Apple is becoming more on the Services Side and google is becoming more on the product side. The two cultures are becoming more similar. Is regulation an issue for your business . They dont necessarily realize going and what a roadblock regulation will be for them. Our government is so far behind in technology. What does it mean for you . We can look at the product level. If we look at the link codes and we look at all of the arcane, old language trying to get new products out, for us that is a concern. We are always working with governmental agencies to overcome those barriers, but it takes time. Unfortunately for us, its very frustrating. We move very fast in the Technology World and they dont necessarily all the time. When we look at security and privacy, what we saw with the nsa, those kinds of revelations those are the kinds of things we have to face. This is not an easy world to navigate, but we are having a lot of fun doing it. Is there a technology and innovation that you are looking at and saying, i wish i came up with that . I look at Something Like tesla. Doesnt everybody think they came up with tesla . I dont think i came up with tesla. Elon and the team did a great job at it here it is showing the world what can be done when you embrace technology to the fullest. Thank you. And congratulations. When we come back, its all about icahn and apple day. Is pimco ready for carl knocking on his door . Im Stephanie Ruhle. This is bloomberg west. My Stephanie Ruhle, in for colleague. Im live in San Francisco at vanity fairs news establishment summit. The east coast today, apple in a letter to sam cooke, billionaire activist investor carl icon argued that apple should trade at 203 a share, twice its current price. That would boost the companys valuation to 1. 2 trillion. Spoke with trish regan. She started by asking why there is such a disconnect between icahn and other investors when it comes to apple. I think it is some secular change the people dont realize and apple. Greatesthange in the industry in the world, the mobile phone, in that apple is not a hardware manufacturer as people would like to have you think. It is an ecosystem. Its a way of life. Every time they sell a phone it is an annuity. This deserves a better multiple. It is going at eight or nine times earnings when it should go 20 times earnings. That is really simple. I like to look at things simply. A couple of things that are simple about the dollar. To me, you try to reduce it to the simplicity. How much money are we talking about here . They have already done 30 billion. How much more . I said it not completely jokingly that i would see nothing wrong with them doing 100 billion offer. I spoke to tim cook. I sent him the letter. He believes the company is very undervalued, as i do. I mentioned the buyback to him and he could not say anything. They will do a major buyback. Thats my guess. As a poker player, i throw a lot of chips in on that bet. It makes sense because this Company Looking at it is really ony, it a im. On a new paradigm. Say to keep introducing and i dont think that is factual. People on this. Its not like one day you own a buick and the next day you gubua cadillac. Wheresort of an annuity you own an ecosystem. The only ipad, but you also own the watch. Andalso own the iphone 6 you have your collection of photographs on it. You have all your music on it. You dont go away from that when you are used to it or really involved in it. You do get market share from the samsung that isnt quite on the same level. Samsung is a good company and all. They are making the hardware and google is making the software. Youre talking about potentially 100 billion. How would you structure Something Like that . I would tell you this. I would love for them to call me, but i doubt they will. I think we have proved we are very strong in this area. I will boast for brett and dave. If they have a 31 annualized return over the last four years they have a lot of cash overseas. If they were to bring it back, they would get hit with taxes. Some, butn bring back they have a lot of cash here. Secondly, they could borrow money at 3. 5 . I think they are happy they did this and i like to feel that we were an influence. Is he receptive to you . Do you talk to him regularly . I know you guys had dinner at your apartment when you first got into this stock. I spoke to him two nights ago to tell him his letter is coming. Were both busy guys and hes very busy. Its not like we talk every night. I do think he respects me. I greatly respect him. Icahn enterprises chairman and ceo carl icahn with our own trish regan. Stay watching bloomberg tonight. 5 30 p. M. On the west coast, 8 30 p. M. In new york. Program is a new emily chang. She will be sitting down with y, nader y combinator. Welcome back to bloomberg west. Im emily chang live from the vanity fair new establishment summit. Weve been talking about the new establishment and the next new establishment. I wanted to talk to some of the founders who want to be on that list in the future p joining us, some of the founders who want to be on that list in the future. I want to start out with what your companies do and why you think its the next big tech next big pick. Basically, we replace all of the hassle of speaking to a sleazy salesman for eight hours. You go to your desktop computer, your laptop, or your mobile phone, and thats it. The guy shows up at your door. We have an online app and service for businesses and consumers. Say you wanted to send your nephew a set of golf clubs that was on the other side of the country. Open the app, take a picture, tell us where its going, and we show up within 20 minutes, take the unpackaged elf clubs where golf take the unpackaged clubs to our warehouse where we package it and ship it. As someone who has seen a company go from infancy to global growth, what do you see in them . I love about these guys that they do not come from the industries in which they are transforming the experience. In one case, it was buying a bad lemon car and in the other case, being in either a seller and dealing with the headache of shipping. They taken that frustration and passion and truly transformed the experience. Is that what makes it risky, that they are not industry insiders and they do not know much about those industries . That is what makes it interesting. If you look at luber at uber or airbnb, these guys did not come from the delivery or hospitality business. Its not asking how it is done but how should it be done. We take the inefficiencies of how it has been done and move that up to the consumer experience, shift evaluate and to the consumer. One thing we know is that starting a company is not easy. Mark andreessen was on stage yesterday saying that he basically felt like he was going to throw up all the time. Do you have those moments . What is it like . Time. It happens all the you have terrifying moments. You are alone and trying to change an industry that has been the same for 80 years. You have the pressure of regulators. Its really exciting. Andhave to lead a Team Converse with investors. Its hard but at the same time rewarding. When you see whole families getting outside to receive their car, they are so happy about it. It has such an amazing feel, and that is what gets you going. You mentioned regulation. Is that the biggest problem you face . From a consumer perspective, nothing could go wrong with uber, but the fact of the matter is the Leadership Team is at war with regulators, with legislation. For us, its a little different. We are not moving people around. We are moving items. Its a little easier, but we face a lot of challenges ourselves. When we look at the problem, it is really a simple problem and a complex solution. When we decided to solve it, we looked at the easiest thing you have something you want to censor morels, and thats really all we ask take a picture, tell us where its going. The established players how do they feel . They see us as expanding the market. These are our partners, and they love to work with us because we are reaching consumers and businesses that would not have gotten business without us. We have people creating businesses on top of our platform, so it is expanding the market, and they are happy to be part of that. When you look at companies you think could be big, what do you look for now . The airbnb of this, the uber of now is it more sharing economy . It can be sharing. It could be on demand. A look at an awesome idea and tiny market, probably not that interesting an investment, but is it a big market . The car market, 21 million cars a year sold thats a pretty big market. The thirdparty Logistics Market are we going to get all of that . Are we going to get a fraction of that . Two bc. Two bc to be seen. Effect both those companies have is like the first time you got in or out of uber and did not have to pay. You take a picture of something, and in 10 minutes, its gone. Thats like a star trek transporter thing where it just vaporizes. That was not available before. You had to buy bubble wrap in a box and deal with all the headaches. What do people hate more than taxe

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