👟 “Air Force Kirkland” — Nike’s Costco sneaker. Amex’s $895 mirror card. Jimmy Kimmel’s cancellation. +Kevin Durant’s crypto password.

0:00This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Friday, the real Friday, September 19th. And today's pod is the best one yet. This is a T-boy. The top three pop business news news stories you need to know today. Yetis, we're going to make you the most interesting person from brunch to the boardroom. Three fantastic stories for today's pod. Jack, what do we got on the T-boy? For our first story, the Amex Platinum Card increased their annual credit card fee to what? $895. I'm sorry. We crunched the math on whether this almost$900 fee is worth it, and we also have an AI life hack to go with it. Yes, we do, besties.

0:39For our second story, Jimmy Kimmel's show being canceled by ABC was the talk of every news show yesterday. But if you follow the money, and we follow the money, you can see a$6 billion acquisition that drove the entire story. And our third and final story, did Nike just collab with Costco for a Kirkland-branded sneaker? Well, Jack, the internet thinks so. If this is real, we bet Nike leaked those pictures on purpose. And we will explain why. But yet he's before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. I mean, no one else is doing that mix. Love the mix today, Jack. Kevin Durant. He's a six foot 11 basketball star and he's got a problem.

1:18He's not in foul trouble. He's in password trouble. Because the 15 time NBA all-star forgot the password to his Coinbase account. He's literally locked out of his crypto right now. Kevin Durant. But Nick, here's the wild part. Kevin Durant's agent is thrilled that he can't remember his password. Because get this, Durant forgot his password back in 2016. So for nine straight years, he hasn't been able to log into his crypto account. But his Bitcoin hasn't just sat there, Nick. No. His Bitcoin has gone to the moon. Since he last logged into Coinbase, the price of Bitcoin has gone from$700 to$117 ,000.

1:59So by doing nothing for nine years, Kevin Durant has enjoyed a 17 ,000 % return. Sit down, stand up, and touch the rim again, Jack. Nick, if he had been able to log in all these years, he probably would have sold, right? But he hasn't been able to log in, so he's been hodling this entire time. One of the greatest investments in the history of pro sports is a complete accident. An accident he is not trying to fix anytime soon, Jack. He's not mad at all at Coinbase customer service. But the funniest part, we actually suggested this as an investment strategy earlier this year. We did a whole story.

2:33The best way for your investments to grow long-term is put money in the market and then forget about it. And the best way to forget about it is to literally forget your password. So yet is this is not investing advice, but it is investing advice. Forget your password. Just forget your password. Worked for Kevin Durant. Probably worked for you. I don't even know what we're talking about, Jack. Besties, let's hit our three stories. 15 years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dorm. They had an idea to cause a cultural storm. It's the best one yet, but the best is the norm. Jack Nick, that's it.

3:07I don't even think they need to practice. 50%, that's a fat tip. T-Boy City on your at list. If you know, you know, cause we ready to go. We can't wait no more, so just start the show.

3:21Start the show. First, a quick word from our sponsor.

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5:10Weekly emails are perfect, by the way, because checking finances daily, that's too much. Monthly, that's probably not enough. So Monarch helps you make sure you're on track for seven different destination weddings this summer. Because you don't want to go into debt if you don't even know the groom. Who's Henry? Besties, use code TBOI at monarch.com to get your first year of Monarch Core half off at just 50 bucks. Nick, did you see Liquid IV teamed up with Ring Pop? I did, Jack. And honestly, it's one of those collabs where you immediately think, how has nobody done this before? I mean, Ring Pop cherry is already iconic.

5:43My sons love Ring Pops, by the way. I give it to them at the beach. It occupies them for about an hour. But now it's a sugar-free Liquid IV flavor, too. Ah, it's not just a fun flavor. It's still the same liquid IV hydration formula that hydrates faster than water alone, has three times the electrolytes of the leading sports drink, plus eight vitamins and nutrients. I've been throwing one of these in my water before the gym and before bed pretty much every night if I sweated that day. Way more fun than drinking plain water. Probably for workouts, travel days, hot days. Honestly, anytime you know you're probably just not drinking enough water.

6:14So if you're looking for an excuse to actually stay hydrated, this is a pretty good one. Check out the new Liquid IV sugar-free ring pop cherry at liquidiv.com. For our first story, American Express just jacked up the annual fee of its platinum card to$895. And we've got a special strategy to make sure that that$895 pays for itself. Okay, but before we tell you that special strategy, first, Jack, let's go back to the year 1850, when a mail and freight business was founded in upstate Buffalo, New York, by Henry Wells and William Fargo. Yeah. Now, they already had co-founded a bank together called Wells Fargo, but did you know those two guys also launched a shipping business called American Express?

7:02True story. And 50 years later, they invented something called traveler's checks they would ship to you while you were traveling. 50 years after that, they pioneered the first credit card. Now, the first Amex credit card, it wasn't plastic. It was actually paper. And the annual fee was just$6. Not too shabby because here's the news. For the first time in four years, they've jacked up the price of that annual Amex fee to$895. To get into the Centurion Lounge at JFK, you have to cough up almost half a month's rent. Oh, and by the way, this new card is not made out of metal. It's actually made out of a mirror material.

7:41So you can see the shock on your own face, Jack, as you pull out the card to overspend on another cute top. I didn't realize Chrome was back in fashion. Now, Chase Sapphire Reserve Card, they recently jacked up their fee. We covered it on this pod. Amex saw their increase and raised them another $100. Your move, Jamie. Your move. Now, American Express stock, it's at an all-time high. So why are they doing this? It's not just because they're confident. They're doing it for the dinks. They're doing it for the dinks. Because Yetis, the top 10 % of all income earners in America are doing 50 % of the spending in this economy.

8:17And within that 10 % of top earners are a lot of dinks, couples that have double income and no kids. Get this, a record three out of four new Amex customers is actually under the age of 30 these days. And we found data that said that couples without kids spend four times as much money on restaurants and two times as much money on vacations as couples with kids. But besties, we know the real question you want to know. So Jack and I did the money math, the Amex arithmetic for you. Basically, is it worth it, this$895 annual fee? Now, of course, American Express wants you to think yes. So when you Google American Express, they're like, we have doubled our perks.

8:56That's the news they're leading with. Amex now says they have$3.5 ,000 in available perks in credits and benefits with this card if you maximize them. but pretty much like literally only the points guy maximizes and gets all those values of benefits. Here's the deal. You can get$200 in Amex in airline credits,$600 in hotel credits, $200 credit on Uber,$200 credit on Clear, and$300 in credit on Equinox gym memberships. The old Amex Platinum had all those already. The new benefits though are a$75 Lululemon credit, a$200 Aura Ring credit, a$100 Resi credit if you pay for your dinner tab with the Resi app, which I didn't even know you could do.

9:39Yeah, we didn't know that. So basically what Jack and I are saying is, if you fly to France and stay at the Ritz and take an Uber to the Equinox Paris for a workout and then stop at Lululemon on the Champs Elysees before getting a Resi dinner reservation at a local French bistro, then the$895 fee was paid for with all those perks you just racked up. That's when you break even and it works out. But the real winners of this Amex jacking up their annual fee, it might actually be Capital One and Citibank because their competing cards still have annual fees that are half as expensive. So they might catch some angry Amexers downgrading to their Capital One dink cards.

10:18They feel like frogs boiling in a pot of water and 895 degrees. That's a lot of degrees. That's hotter than I realized, Jack. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Amex? One way to use artificial intelligence is to cut through the perk perplexity. You see, Yetis, the biggest complaint of luxurious Cartier-style dink credit cards out there is it's simply too confusing to navigate the perks. It's hard to take advantage of all the benefits you're entitled to because many of the credits are not automatic. You only get that$200 hotel credit if you ask American Express to give it to you.

10:55Because in the credit card business, they proudly offer perks, but the hope is you don't use them. And if you don't use the perks that they offered you, Amex books them as profit. It's an industry standard. It's called breakage. It's kind of like an unused gift card. That is a profit puppy for the credit card industry. And because they're financially incentivized for you not to use the perks, that's why it can feel like such a maze on the Amex website. and the benefit button is - It's perplexed, Jack. So a powerful use of AI, Jack and I have discovered, is to review your spending and ensure that you're getting the perks you're entitled to with the software that can actually figure out if they're maximized.

11:34Just download the PDF of your statement, upload it to your AI chatbot and say, am I getting all my points that I'm entitled to? Yeah, we dove in T-boy style and tried it before this pod. Yetis, it is a risk to the credit card industry, but it is a win for consumers. If you use AI to cut through the perk perplexity. For our second story, The Jimmy Kimmel Show has been taken off air by ABC. And a big reason? A$6 billion acquisition that needs the FCC's approval. It's part of a trend, the MAGA takeover of big media. Yetis, this story begins on Monday night when Jimmy Kimmel used the monologue to his late night talk show to talk about Charlie Kirk and President Trump.

12:19You've probably seen the video by now. Jimmy Kimmel criticized the MAGA gang and the presidents. And two days later, ABC announced that Jimmy Kimmel's late night show would be taken off air indefinitely. You probably heard that too. But to understand this story completely, you have to follow the money and you have to look up at the airwaves. So Jack, let's sprinkle on some broadcast context here. You see, Eddie's the largest TV broadcaster in the country is trying to acquire another TV broadcaster for$6 billion right now. The company in question is called Nexstar, and they own a bunch of ABC, Fox, and CBS affiliate channels across the country.

12:58Basically, whip open your TV and channel three, channel four, or channel five, odds are one of those channels is owned by this media giant Nexstar. But to get even bigger and to acquire this competitor of theirs, they need special approval from the FCC. Yes, special approval because of a special law. You see, no broadcaster in America is allowed to control 39 % of the market, interestingly. So this merger, it's so big, they would need an exception in order for it to happen. And on Wednesday, Brandon Carr, the chairman of the SEC, the guy who would give that exception because he regulates the airwaves, he went on a podcast and complained about the quote-unquote talentless Jimmy Kimmel and his monologue from Monday night.

13:39We're talking about the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission urging TV broadcasters on this podcast to take Jimmy Kimmel's show off the air. And then he said this, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. That was a barely veiled threat to the broadcasters because he can take away their broadcasting license. Well, hours later, Nexstar did what Carr asked for on that podcast and said they won't put Jimmy Kimmel's late night talk show on their airwaves. And then ABC, which produces the show, canceled Jimmy Kimmel indefinitely. So besties, that's where we are today. Did Jimmy Kimmel's monologue offend people?

14:17Yes. Does ABC have the right to fire him for his words? Yes. But can the FCC, an arm of the federal government, threaten broadcasters to censor speech that they don't like? Well, we'll see if Jimmy Kimmel takes this to court, saying his First Amendment rights to free speech have been violated. But in the meantime, we whipped up this takeaway. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies who are everyone watching content these days? The media ecosystem in America, historically perceived as blue, is suddenly quite red. Yetis, we first started noticing this with Zuck and Elon Musk, owners of Instagram and X, as they became MAGA boosters over the last couple of years.

14:57Meta turned MAGA. And then Trump sued ABC, NBC, and CBS for alleged defamation in their news coverage, getting million-dollar settlements from each of those news organizations. Then Larry Ellison, a Trump mega-donor, bought CBS with his son in that giant Paramount merger. And he may soon own CNN if he acquires Warner Brothers, which reports say Larry Ellison is thinking about doing. Okay, but that's not all, Jack. Let's talk about TikTok for a second, right? Today, Trump is meeting with China, and he's expected to announce that TikTok is being sold to Larry Ellison and fellow Trump donors Mark Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, among others.

15:36Add it all up, and this is the most sudden transformation in the media industry probably ever. For some, it's a shock, and for others, it's a welcome change. A massive management shift from blue to red. Now, a quick word from our sponsor. NetSuite. Yeah, it is. NetSuite is the corporate control panel for business. Has been since 1998. They probably use this on Star Wars. This pre.com software suite, though, it remains the market leader. But Nick, what is next? I got no idea, Jack. You tell me what's next. Well, they say every day your business is late for AI, you fall two days behind. I didn't know they said that.

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16:46If we needed this product at the best one yet, this is the one we'd use. So for the first time ever, you can try NetSuite Next for free. If your revenues are at least in seven figures, go to netsuite.ai. Build for every industry, ready for every boardroom. netsuite.ai slash t-boy. Hi, it's Kat and Nat, and this episode is sponsored by Michael's, your destination for all things birthday parties. With seven kids between us, we're always planning a celebration. Summer is no exception. With prices starting at just 99 cents, Michael's Party Shop has over 4 ,500 party supplies across more than 60 themes for every age and every celebration.

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17:46For our third and final story before the weekend. Did Nike just team up with Costco to make a Kirkland-branded sneaker? We don't think so, but the internet does. So we're looking at when companies leak something on purpose. Yetis, we'll cut right to the drama. Pictures of a new Nike Dunk sneaker with a Kirkland label hit the internet this week and people paused the pod. Before we talk about Nikely plus Kirkland, Nike's been collaborating with everybody recently. I mean, Jack, I'm whipping out the whiteboard here. What is it? Like, uh, how many at this point? At least 14 collaborations in the last year by Nike.

18:25Since the new CEO took over one year ago, Nike has done collabs with Kim Kardashian Skims, sushi restaurant Nobu, but also collabs with the anime series Yu-Gi-Oh, the rap group Wu-Tang Clan, and Legos. I'm sorry, can we call a brand strategy emergency session right now? Where are we going? What direction, guys? And now, according to leaked photos, Nike is collabing with Costco for the Kirkland Signature skateboarding shoe. I mean, the only brand they haven't collabed with yet is like the Shark Ninja Nike Jack with an Air Force One air fryer. When are we getting that? Now, back to the sneaker. It looks like it's crafted out of a gray Kirkland sweatshirt.

19:04And suburban dads are definitely going to buy four packs of these once they hit the shelves. I mean, Jack, nothing pairs better with a chicken bake than a size 11 Air Force Kirkland right now. The feedback online about this leaked photo, outrageous excitement. One guy said, I basically have to have these. The only constructive criticism we saw in the comments was to change the swoosh to a hot dog logo and charge$1.50 for these things, if you don't mind. Now, Jack and I are not conspiracy theorists, but our three favorite words in conspiracy theory are these. If true, huge. Because we looked everywhere for confirmation that these leaked photos were real, but we couldn't find confirmation.

19:46Eddie, Jack and I do a lot of research on every story that we cover, and the original source of the leaked Costco Nike shoe was a photo from a random Instagram account. And then all the online articles we read referred back to that one Instagram account. So that made us quite sus. Like usually the source is a press release or an on the record quote from one of the executives. But another red flag here is that the photo shows a Costco price tag on this Nike sneaker, but it's not in the font of the typical Costco style. Sus. Yes, but in today's online world, what's online seems like reality. Yeah, so if this is true, huge.

20:26But also, Nike might be a little over-collabed right now. At this point, there is an overwhelming collabalanche of Nike collabs, if we may say so. To paraphrase Thomas Jefferson, if you partner with everyone, then you stand for nothing. And Nike, their revenue is down 10 % right now. The stock is off 40 % from its all-time high. I mean, Nike, what would you say, Jack? You can't just collab your way out of this hole. Now, besties, neither Nike nor Costco have issued comments on these leaked photos thus far. Which we think is brilliant because of our takeaway. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Nike?

21:03It's the art of the intentional leak. Now, Yetis, if these shoes are real, we bet Nike leaked the pictures of them on purpose. Why? To measure how people would react. Exactly. Nike has social media sentiment trackers that tell them how people are talking about their brand online, either positively or negatively. So perhaps Nike thought, hey, a collaboration with Costco is a risk. Is it aspirational enough for our brand? How about we test this out with a leak? If the reaction to our leaked photo is positive online, we'll push it forward in development and launch it for the holiday season. But if the reaction isn't positive enough online, then we'll kill the project and move on at no cost.

21:44And even if these shoes aren't real, maybe the positive reaction online will get Nike to call up Costco and say, hey, you want to make Kirkland sneakers? People seem to want them. You can ideate the whole thing. Yeti, sometimes a leak is a problem. You lose sensitive information or you lose momentum for a real planned announcement. But the intentional leak can be a low-cost way to test things, to gauge the public's reaction. Now, besties, we do not know if these Air Force Kirklands are real or not, but they could be the art of the intentional leak. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us for the real Friday?

22:22American Express increased their annual fee by 29 % on the platinum card to$895. That is the highest in the market. But yeties, you can use AI to cut through the perk perplexity. For our second story, Jimmy Kimmel Show is over. after the biggest broadcast company did what the FCC chair asked them to do. It's all part of a transformation in American media, from blue to red. And our third and final story, Nike is collabing with Costco on Kirkland sneakers, according to leaked photos that went viral this week. If true, huge. But also, this may actually be the art of the intentional leak. But besties, this pod's not over yet.

23:03Here's what else you need to know today. First, shocker, Krispy Kreme jumped 15 % after FBI Director Cash Patel said he is long on the donut stock. Get this, during Patel's testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, a representative asked him about his buying of individual stocks, including Krispy Kreme. And the FBI director said, I just follow certain industries and I thought they would be a good investment. The next day, the stock, which I own, by the way, jumped 16%. It was the most lucrative congressional testimony I've ever been a part of. And second, Intel's stock jumped 30 % on the market on a$5 billion investment from NVIDIA.

23:44Yetis, Intel was America's one chip company that unfortunately couldn't make the best chips. But Intel's story has done a complete 180 in the last month. First, we told you the federal government got a 10 % stake in Intel's stock in exchange for government grants. And now, the world's top chip company is co-owner of Intel. and asking Intel to design chips for them. And finally, New York State just banned phones in schools statewide. For public schools and charter schools, each school is going to have to figure out their own policy, but they're going to have to block cell phone uses. You know what this means.

24:19What does it mean, Jack? Kids have to send messages with spitballs again. Now Yeti's time for the best fact yet, this one whipped up by Jack and me. Odds are, statistically speaking, your birthday party is this weekend. Yeah, it's because nine out of the top 10 birthdays are in this month of September. The most popular birthdays of the year are September birthdays. Yeah, we know what you're doing, the back of the envelope math on the numbers here too. Oh, September minus nine months must have been a fun New Year's Eve party. But besties, here's the plot twist on the September birthday surge. It turns out September birthday people are smarter than us.

24:56Because think about it, kids born in September tend to be the oldest kids in their grade. So here's some data from the National Borough of Economic Research on the success academically of September birthdays. September babies are 2 % more likely to go to college and 3 % more likely to graduate college. And they're 7 % more likely to get into a top collegiate school. So maybe that's why there's all these September babies. It's not an epic New Year's Eve party and a great after party. It's wanting your kid to, you know, be older than all the other kids in their class. In fact, Jack, the editor of our podcast, Trey, who's editing this show right now, he's his September birthday and he's the smartest editor we've ever worked with.

25:37Fair point. Happy birthday, Trey Booty, the Floridian down in LA. And a happy birthday to all the September smarties out there. Yetis, you look fantastic to end the week. And by the way, Jack and I are flying to New York City next week because we're interviewing Jim Kramer. Could be true. Could be a rumor. If true, This is huge. Is this an intentional leak, Nick? This is going to be incredible. I can't wait to see you there. That is a win to celebrate, Jack. It is a win to celebrate. Nick and I will see you Monday. Can't wait. H-Y-H-T-B-O-Y.

26:14And before we go, a happy birthday to Yeti Aiden Yalder, turning eight years old, over in Hotlanta, Georgia. Happy 29th birthday to Vivian Chen in Huntington Beach, California. And Tyler Pernesti is celebrating over in Denver with the best birthday yet, probably skiing. And happy first birthday to Nolan Barrelski in Denver, Colorado. This boy skis like a barrel, doesn't he? And congrats to the parents, too. And Christina Kong, the senior over at Warden, always shares T-boy and job interviews. Christina, thank you for the HYH-TBOY. And congratulations to Wayne, Kate, Kelly, Baby Fiona, Daniel, Sunny, and Skyla in Urbandale, Iowa, who just sold their company.

26:55And set a Guinness record for most co-founders ever. Must be a law firm. And Tucker and Julia in Bedminster, New Jersey, congrats on the anniversary. Have a blast this weekend. And happy anniversary to Jennifer and Andre in Pittsburgh PA. Celebrate the win.

27:14This is Jack. I own stock of Disney, Intel, and Krispy Kreme. Nick owns stock of Lululemon and Nike. And we both own some Bitcoin. A Bitcoin. Name that. This message is brought to you by Cologuard. If you recorded songs off the radio for a mixtape, it might be time to screen for colon cancer. The Cologuard test is non-invasive, requires no special prep or time off, and you start screening right from your home. It's just three simple steps, set up, sample, and ship. If you're 45 or older and at average risk, ask your doctor about the Cologuard test, available by prescription only. Learn more or request a prescription at colaguard.com slash podcast.