🏨 “Frank the Tank” — Hilton’s college hotel. Steph Curry’s Chinese shoe. Google’s Old Offering. +Uber Lost&Found

0:28This is Nick. be at Erewhon spending more of our company money, Jack. And if you see two dudes playing pickup volleyball at 7 a.m., get us out of there because we're going to hurt ourselves. Or it may be us prepping for the live podcast show tonight. We are pumped to be here, but Jack, we got three fantastic stories for today's pod. For our first story, it's official. Steph Curry has ended his sneaker-free agency, but it's with a Chinese brand that you've never heard of. For our second story, Google just asked for the biggest check in business history and got it. Yeah,$80 billion. We call this the O-P-O.

1:01An old public offering. It's a new thing. And our third and final story. The 28th hotel brand launched by Hilton is actually a glorified college dorm room. That's right. Hilton's new hotel chain is inspired by old school with Will Ferrell. Nick and I should know because we met in a college dorm room. You're my boy, Blue! But yet he's before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. What a mix of stories. Most interesting mix in business, Jack. Pelvis implants. Okay. A meat slicer. An ankle monitor not on someone's ankle anymore. Jack, I don't know what pelvic implants are, but have you been in LA too long?

1:34One signed Patrick Mahomes jersey. Two wedding dresses. Three pounds of blue raspberry gushers. I'm going to have to pause the pod. What are you getting at exactly, Jack? All of that was left in the backseat of an Uber in the last year. Yeah, it is. Jack and I just landed at LAX and we called a cab. But we did not leave our podcast equipment behind. But according to Uber, one person left 420 donuts in a cab last year. And that person was hungry enough to file an official lost and found report. Get this, 2017, someone left a live lobster in an Uber. In 2018, someone left divorce papers in an Uber.

2:08But this year, someone left a 75-gallon fish tank in an UberX. Uber didn't clarify if there were fish in that tank. But this is all according to Uber's 2026 lost and found report. For 10 years, Uber has been keeping track because you have not been keeping track. And yes, cell phones, wallets, and luggage are the three most commonly forgotten things. But one of you, yes, one of you left a package of live butterflies in the backseat. How relatable. But Jack and I dove and T-boy styled to the data. Jack, what's the most forgetful place in America? New York City. Yeah, makes sense. New Yorkers are in a rush.

2:40What about the most forgetful day of the week? Sundays. Mm-hmm, yeah, that ride of shame is a blur. Wallets were most lost on Mondays. While bags were most lost on Thursdays. The day with the most forgotten stuff in all of the last 12 months. This one's a shocker. July 17th. Jack, why was July 17th the most forgetful day of the year in America, losing stuff in an Uber? I think the All-Star game, Major League Baseball All-Star game. Drop your theory in the comments. It's not Fourth of July weekend. Or conspiracy theories in the comments. We actually do have a conspiracy. Yeah. I think a certain Lady Gaga had something to do with it.

3:14I can't remember, Jack. And that's part of the problem. Let's sit at three storms 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 I 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

3:44Start the show Start the show First, a quick word from our sponsor.

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5:27What's new? What works? What's next?

5:34For our first story, Steph Curry has ended his sneaker-free agency yesterday. Where is he bringing his talents, Jack? Well, he signed a 10-year deal, not with Nike, Adidas, or Under Armour. No, who? The Curry brand is now with Lee Ning. A company you haven't heard of. But yet he's, LeBron James weighs 250 pounds, Steph Curry's 185. Okay, now Jack and I are finance guys, so we love adjusting the numbers on these guys. So LeBron and Steph both have four NBA championships, but adjusted for weight, Steph has five and a half NBA finals. Yes, he does. LeBron, like Michael Jordan has been a Nike man his whole career.

6:13Steph dabbled with Nike too from 2009 to 2012. He just did that. He was 2013 to 2025 with Under Armour. Not bad. But that deal just came to an end after 12 years. So he's been a free agent all season. That's right. The 38-year-old basketball star, Steph Curry's been dating around these days. He's been trying on different shoes. He's been spotted wearing Nikes on the court, wearing Adidas on the court. And one that's... Wait, Jack, what is that on his feet? Here's the news, Yetis. Steph Curry announced yesterday a 10-year deal with Li Ning. Li Ning, also known as the number one sneaker brand in China.

6:49Steph famously played D3 college basketball at Davidson. Oh, yeah, classic Davidson. Signing with Li Ning feels similarly shocking as signing with Davidson. So besties, pause the pod because we know you're thinking, uh, who the heck is Li Ning? It's not as obscure as you think, actually. No, because in 2012, LeBron James' teammate, Dwayne Wade, signed with Lee Ning. More recently, Jimmy Butler, Steph's current teammate, also signed with Lee Ning. But Bessie's Lee Ning is not a what, but a who. Lee Ning is the name of a Chinese gymnast who crushed the 1984 Olympics. Three golds, two silvers, one bronze, all at the 84 Olympics.

7:26In 1990, he switched, though, from leotards to logistics and started building a sneaker company. The dude realized there's more money in retail than on the balance beam. But in 2022, Li Ning was banned from selling in the United States on allegations of human rights abuses in their factories in China. And Steph Curry has not said a word about that controversy yet. But Steph has said what he loves about Li Ning. And it's the same thing Michael Jordan loved about Nike. Yeah, it's not, well, it's the money, but also what's the other thing, Jack? As an athlete of Li Ning, Steph is going to be the clear number one guy.

8:00Steph Curry will not be competing with other superstars for the VIP treatment of this one Chinese brand. It's just Steph Curry. That's all the focus at Li Ning will be on Steph. And as such, Li Ning is giving Steph Curry the right to sign other athletes to his own Steph Curry sneaker deals. I bet he signs Davidson University as a Li Ning university. Yeah. Oh, and they will let Steph launch athleisure and a golf line in addition to basketball shoes. And they're paying Steph Curry through the age of 48. That's right. Steph Curry's eldest son will be 24 years old when this deal ends. Steph could be a grandparent when he collects his last paycheck from this Chinese brand.

8:37Clearly, Steph had the leverage here, Jack. Yeah, because he's getting paid a reported$400 million, and he's 38 years old for this 10-year deal. Half a bill. Besties leaning. It's part of the tsunami wave of Chinese consumer brands that are now entering the U.S. LabooBoo Dolls, Luckin Coffee, TikTok, obviously, and now Lee Ning sneakers. If they get off the sanctions list, because we can't totally tell if you can even buy Lee Ning sneakers here. Nick and I just tried to buy Lee Ning sneakers. You can't buy them online and they're on the sanctions list and nobody's addressed this yet. We'll be covering it as it develops.

9:12Could Steph Curry be promoting a brand you can't even buy here? Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Lee Ning? It's late stage athleticism. Cash in on your cachet, but do it abroad. You see, Eddie's, when superstar soccer players are wrapping up their careers, they cash in overseas. Brazil's Pelé did this first. He came to the United States in the 80s when he was 35 years old. Then Beckham, Messi, Ronaldo, they all did the same. And now Curry is doing it as well, but only with his brand. China is a huge basketball market, Nick. Huge. Li Ning actually has 7 ,600 stores in China. And we've read Steph's post about the deal.

9:50He's a global citizen. He's excited to spread basketball across borders. And as the only NBA superstar partnered with a Chinese brand, he will be so beloved over there. He's going to face less competition over there. You know, Steph just became China's most popular basketball player besides Yao Ming by signing this deal with Li Nix. So besties Steph bought his brand low on NBA basketball courts, and now he's selling it high over in China for a$400 million 10-year deal at the age of 38. Jack and I call the trend late-stage athleticism. Cash in on your cachet, but do it abroad. For our second story, Alphabet just pulled off the biggest fundraise in business history, $80 billion.

10:32We're calling this an O-P-O. The first ever O-P-O. An old public offering. If we are going to talk ages here, Jack, take us back to August 19th, 2004. That would be the IPO. Yeah. The last time Google sold stock of Google to the public was its IPO, its initial public offer. Initial, a keyword, 22 years ago. And you know what? Google has been making profits pretty much every year since. So in the 22 years since, they haven't needed to sell new stock. They haven't needed to raise cash. They haven't needed to spank the piggy bank because they've been so profitable. Google's got plenty of bacon until today.

11:09On Monday, Google announced they're printing new stock of Google for the first time since the IPO. and they're printing$80 billion worth. 80 bill. We haven't heard a number like that, that big, Jack. No, no, no. This is the biggest fundraise, public or private, in corporate history. And Yetis, we don't call this an IPO because it's not initial. This is an OPO. It's an old public offering. It's an old public offering. And it's unprecedented in like six different ways that we'll get into it. Yeah, okay, but before we do, Jack, there is one little interesting detail we should mention. Guess who got$10 billion of Google's new stock?

11:40That would be Berkshire Hathaway. And since they bought so much, they got a 6 % discount on the stock price. That's a big deal because the only tech stock Warren Buffett ever bought when he ran Berkshire Hathaway was Apple stock. And his successor, Greg Abel, is already making a bet on the number two tech company, Google. Okay, so besties, Google is returning to the stock market for the first time in 22 years, issuing stock the biggest we've ever seen. That is crazy. But the timing, the amount, and the reason are even crazier. And why is the timing crazy? Next Friday, SpaceX will sell$75 billion of newly printed SpaceX stock on the NASDAQ.

12:17And soon after that, Anthropic and OpenAI will do the same exact thing. All the three AI labs are doing IPOs right now to issue stock and pad their piggy banks so they can build out more compute. Each of the AI giants is racing to go public to capture the finite number of money that investors have to spend on AI stocks. But now Google went and upstreamed all of them. Yeah. It was very sudden. It's kind of like the Larry David episode, Jack. Yeah. Curb your enthusiasm. When Larry David is trying to get a taxi and then some dude runs up the block and grabs the taxi before him. Are you an upstreamer?

12:49You look like an upstreamer. That's how SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic feel by Google's move. Google just upstreamed them Larry David style. Or how about another analogy? This is like a bunch of buddies getting a group Airbnb, but the first guy who arrives at the Airbnb gets to call dibs on the best bedroom. It's kind of like what I did in this Airbnb where we're recording from in Los Angeles right now. We are recording an interview. I have like the outhouse in the back. No, it's pretty nice. I have an outdoor shop. I flew it from SF. I got here early. I grabbed that quick bet. I did offer it to you.

13:18I know. And you know I love an outdoor shop. I know you did. So the size of this deal,$80 billion. I mean, could you sprinkle on more context? With$80 billion, you could buy every single NHL franchise. Yes, including the Rangers twice. And Google just raised that amount of money in one investment banking transaction. So add it all up, besties, Google upstreamed Elon and Sam and Dario with an OPO, which is bigger than their IPOs. But the reason that Google had to do this is actually the biggest story of all. What an old public offering, Jack. What's the takeaway for our buddies over at Google? Winning AI is like winning elections.

13:53You have to spend half your time fundraising. Yeti's Google, Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft, they have had an edge over OpenAI, SpaceX, and Anthropic. And that edge is profits. They can finance their data center build out with the profits from their core business, which is not AI. And yet, even Google, which just finished the second most profitable year in their corporate history, is now holding out a tin can asking for donations. Goldman Sachs estimates that spending on AI chips, data centers, and the power plants to power them will hit$1 trillion next year. You got tech burning through$1 trillion on AI this year, while the government burns through $2 trillion on the deficit this year.

14:34Same ballpark. It is very similar. The tech industry is losing almost as much money as the United States government, the biggest money loser in the history of civilization. Now, Jack, someday these AI labs could become profitable, but right now they're cash furnaces. So AI is just as much a battle of dollars and cents right now as it is engineering and technology. Besties, the way we see it, we're getting desensitized, all of us to the size and scale of money bags being thrown at AI these days. But you need to realize this. AI could soon burn money faster than the United States government does.

15:07And that is why, like members of Congress, AI companies spend half their time fundraising. Now, a quick word from our sponsor. Hymns. Yetis, we've been keeping a list of weight control plans that Jack has launched and announced on this podcast. The first was Veganuary. I went vegan, but just for the month of January. Jack, remember Only Cones Day? Like you pledged to only eat ice cream if it was eaten in a cone? Yeah, also, who says honey is not cool with vegan? What's the deal with that? Well, apparently the bees. The latest, don't eat food off his kids' plates. Each one of those, what did he say, mild success for you, Jack?

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17:14That's indeed.com slash podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Need a hiring hero? This is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs. for our third and final story, we're going streaking. Yeti's Hilton Hotels just launched the undergraduate hotel brand. It's their second college-focused hotel chain because TAM apparently stands for total addressable matriculation. Besties! We are going streaking, though. We're going through the quad and to the gymnasium. And then the wife's like, who's everyone? And you're like, yeah, everyone. Hilton, they own 27 different hotel brands already. And they're all popping the open minibar right now.

17:57Because Hilton stock is up 34 % in the last year. Hyatt is up 44%. Marriott, 45 % stock gains. The IRL economy is booming and travel and leisure is a big part of it. So, Basties, two years ago, Hilton decided to look to college campuses for their next leg of growth. Because when you spend 80 grand on tuition, you don't think twice about the$500 a night at the hotel. It's a roundup. So Hilton acquired a hospitality group called Graduate Hotels for$210 million. And the focus of this hotel chain? What is it, Jack? People with a degree. Graduates who are back on campus. Including suites for new parents who are hanging out with us.

18:33Because these graduates will say yes to beer pong in the basement during homecoming weekend, but no to trying to squeeze into that twin bed for your college reunion. And the last two years of the Graduate Hotel chain being at Hilton must have been magnicum lucrative. Because Hilton is now launching their 28th hotel brand, their second focused on college, with the goal of adding 400 to 500 locations all near campus. Phi Beta Cap Table. Yeah, it's the Undergrad Hotel. And Vince Vaughn and Luke Wilson are already ready to pledge. You're my boy, Blue! It's basically the same business model as old school, right Jack?

19:07Yeah, Nick. The goal of each Undergrad Hotel is to be an off-campus social hub, a fluid part of the college rhythm. It's a corporate-run sorority house to give a campus feel, but off-campus, if you will. And it's a lower price point than the graduate hotel because undergrads have no money and graduates have some money. So they're targeting current or prospective students with this new brand. Yes, and there's three requirements at each undergrad hotel. The first is that the guest rooms must resemble dorm rooms. They must have a study corner, for example. But a glammed up one. Oh, and the barista coffee counter and market must feel like your dining hall and study union.

19:41Trays are included. And finally, the hotels must have a large public gathering space, like a library. To catch up on all that happened last night. What did he do? Oh my god. But then, the hotel managers must customize each for the particular feel of campus. Basically, each undergrad hotel will be themed like a tailgate. Notre Dame's in South Bend would probably have a gold-plated roof. Vanderbilt's campus in Nashville has a historic tree arboretum, so the garden of the hotel will be filled with rare trees. Dartmouth's will be obsessed with playing beer pong the right way. And so, like, everything will be Dartmouth's way.

20:16There's such sticklers for the rules over there. We get it. No backsies. No, Hilton says lifestyle hotel brands like their graduate and undergraduate hotels are going to drive all their growth the next couple of years. Because consumers want a room with personality and they're willing to pay. There's a willingness to pay for the Coach K suite down in Durham. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies looking at these campus hotel chains? The college town is a straight A profit puppy. Yetis, in real estate, you have the concept of the anchor tenant. Every mall needs a big, healthy retailer who draws in the masses.

20:47Well, colleges are the anchor tenant of entire cities. Ann Arbor, Michigan, Providence, Rhode Island, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The biggest employer, the biggest spender, the biggest draw of tourism is the university. Get this, Yale University creates$8 billion in economic impact in Connecticut each year. That's 2 % of the state's GDP. Part of that is visitors, which provide, as Hilton puts it, consistent year-round demand. Jack, you got move-in days, move-out days, weekend games, weekday concerts, graduation, reunion, homecoming, pre-union. Did you mention college visits? I didn't even get a college visit.

21:18That's what I did all junior and senior year with my brothers. It's a whole tour. Besties, college towns, they are America's most dispersed and durable economic infrastructure. So Hilton is targeting them, not with one, but two separate hotel chains. And each one has house beer pong. House rules. Sorry, guys. Jack, could you all whip up the takeaways for us for Ceviche Wednesday in lovely LA? Steph Curry is getting a reported$400 million in a 10-year endorsement deal with Lee Ning. We don't even know if you can buy these shoes in America. And it'll be 48 when it's over. This is late-stage athleticism.

21:57He's cashing in on his career abroad. For our second story, Alphabet is selling$80 billion of freshly printed stock to pay for AI. Because scaling AI is like politics. you spend half the time just fundraising. And our third and final story, Hilton Hotels is launching undergraduate hotels following the success of graduate hotels. Because of the college campus economy, it's America's A-plus profit puppy. But besties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, remember last week we told you Victoria's Secret changed its stock ticker symbol to VSXY? As in very sexy. Well, the CEO was feeling cocky for a reason.

22:34They just announced some banger earnings over Victoria. Victoria stocks surged 40 % yesterday. On news, we're splurging on push-up bras led by 18 to 24-year-olds. Besties, Jack and I called it last year. Then millennials would find Victoria's secret again, just like we re-found Abercrombie. Second, SpaceX's IPO paperwork just added a new risk factor. What is it, Jack? Water. Yeah, like we need more agua. SpaceX updated their filing to mention the word water 17 times. As in, our ability to scale AI, quote, depends on our access to water. So AI is thirsty. Not just for water, for money, for electricity.

23:11For your information, Jack. And finally, BYO smoothies if you're going to Japan. Yeah, because the nation of Japan is currently facing a banana shortage. Not because of lack of bananas, it's the lack of gas needed to ripen the bananas. That's right, Japan buys green bananas and then uses ethylene gas to turn them yellow faster. But that gas is stuck in the Middle East because of the war in Iran. And so without that gas, freshly harvested green bananas can take two to six weeks to ripen. Now time for the best fact yet, which, because we asked for some lovely Los Angeles facts, was sent in on Instagram by the hungry chick.

23:48At the hungry chick. With the Olympics returning to LA in two years, it's worth remembering that the 84 Olympics, also in LA, were a profit puppy. Because the Los Angeles 1984 Olympics were the first ever to fund the games with corporate sponsors, not just public funding. 43 companies were licensed to sell official Olympic merchandise for the first time. Yeah. Are those Erewhon cleats? I think those are Erewhon cleats, Jack. And that made the 84 LA Olympics famously profitable, which is great for the city that hosted them. Early takeaway, no one hustles like Los Angeles. No one licenses like Los Angeles.

24:24Yetis, you look fantastic. And we know because we're seeing you tonight. And if you're going to the show, we'll let you know about the after party on stage. We hope to see you there too. Los Angeles, we cannot wait for tonight's performance. In the meantime, are we on voice rest now? After the shout outs. Yeah, yeah, yeah. After the shout outs. We'll pop some Rico up. We'll see you at the show.

24:45And before we go, a happy birthday to legendary Eddie Gavin J, the F1 soccer lover over in San Francisco. Happy birthday to Charlie from Chicago, a fan since the Snacks Day. Doing logistics. And Nivan Gupta, happy 11th birthday in the Bay Area. Happy birthday to Courtney in San Diego. And Ashley Cleveland down in Atlanta, happy birthday. And Jared Harmon, happy birthday in Lake Mills, Iowa. And Deekshia Gautham, we see your birthday up in San Francisco. Happy birthday to Caroline P., grabbing pizza with the pals in the East Village for the birthday. And Josh Wang and Dee Gautham, these protein entrepreneurs in Texas have a big birthday.

25:19And a big shout out to Callie the Puppy. This is their 11-year gotcha day down in Florida. And Chrissy and Keith, happy four-year wedding anniversary in Newport, Rhode Island. We wouldn't miss it. And happy 31-year wedding anniversary to Michael and Christina Goulart in California who are coming to the show tonight. Can't wait to see you. This is Jack. I own stock of Amazon and Victoria's Secret. Nick owns stock of Airbnb and Nike. And we both own stock of Apple. The Drop by GNC. Yetis, the wellness space, it moves fast. Every day an influencer is pumping some new product, which is ironically named Pump Product.

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