The Weekly: Women do the work, but men have the power

0:28Coming up in today's episode, we have a bit of a trigger warning. professional who's made a career making money for other people. And I'm Sophie Hallwright, ex-TV and radio producer who is very sick and tired of not understanding the economy or how to build wealth so we started this podcast. But first we have a quick word from today's sponsor.

0:46This episode of The Curve Weekly is made possible thanks to Pathfinder KiwiSaver Plan, helping you invest alongside your values. We're really excited to bring you the ethical hotline where you can ask all your tricky ethical questions. Each month, Pathfinder will answer the most interesting, popular or polarizing question. To submit yours, follow the link in the podcast show notes. Pathfinder Asset Management Limited is the issuer of the Pathfinder KiwiSaver plan. A product disclosure statement is available at pathfinder.kiwi. How was your trip? So, your holiday. It was so great. Anything exciting?

1:19So we, um, gold engaged.

1:28oh my god i thought we're gonna tease it out a little bit more no i was going to but i was like i've actually been quite low-key about show people the ring there it is there i've been so low-key about the whole thing and yesterday lucy our social media manager was like you've got to start celebrating this totally it only happens once like and you're only like a fiance is quite so i but this is the thing i sort of tried to just tease things out or like say in a funny way like the first person I called was my mum. So Luke had called my mum and so she knew. Oh my God, but I would love. Do you actually send me that ridiculous message going, hope it's a holiday of surprises or something?

2:05And I was like, what is wrong with you? If I was a mum, I'd do that too. I'd be like, any updates? How was your day? Like every day I'd be like, I'd be the worst. Lucky I knew and was like aware that it was happening because otherwise it would have been, really, you would have ruined the surprise mum. Anyway, I called her and I was like, she's like, how's the holiday? I was like, great. you know sunbathing reading books napping eating really yum food got engaged like kind of just like included it in the list and she got so mad she was like oh well nice of you to tell me you're like this is i am telling you this was a joke i don't it's a joke so that didn't go you should be like he proposed and i said no that would have really put a spirit oh god i mean like i told the girls at work like on the call on the monday after and they said the same thing i just sort of buried it in with all this other stuff so yeah i thought today on the episode i'll just go in with a bang.

2:52Just hold the mic. Engage. Just really happy about it. We're going to talk about this. So today we're going to be discussing. And yes, it is on the wrong hand. Yes. Yes. I'm wearing it on my right hand. Do you know, I've been so weird about the whole thing. I found myself at one point Googling, why don't I want an engagement ring? It's been a whole thing. I haven't really known how I felt about it, but the reason I'm wearing it on my right. so you won't know this Vic but as someone who's been quite single through her 20s and 30s I found myself obsessively checking or like noticing when everyone's engaged and married like whether it's a a Barry's class a Pilates class in a work environment men and women I was just you're like hey how are you it was like looking at their eyes but at their hand and it made me feel really shit a lot of the time I was like I'm so behind or all these people are engaged in marriage and I'm the only one that's not and every time I would say it would be this like reminder and pang of like I haven't met my person and therefore my life is not you know it would just made me feel really sad actually and I had this moment in a relationship where we were walking down the street holding hands and I remember thinking everyone must be looking at us thinking we're really happy and I'm really unhappy and this is kind of awful I just feel like the way people perceive love and relationships just because someone's wearing an engagement ring or is married you have no idea what their relationship is like no idea and I think it or it could be someone like you that's just like I don't want to wear it on my totally I'm going to wear it no like the other way yeah they could just wear it on random like me you know yeah I'm just like no I want to wear it on this finger because no that feels so weird that feels so weird it does feel weird I feel like I've jinxed it or something yeah I never well I never put a ring on that finger and now I'm like why have I never put a ring on that finger it's so weird but yeah I think I'm doing it in solidarity of the girls who are holding out for the one, you know.

4:46Because I am so, so glad that I met him later in life, that I had time to explore myself, my career, know what I want. And I just hate the idea of people feeling, like, behind because they haven't, and I think it sucks. And I've been there for a long time. So I just am like, I'm just happy wearing it. Wear it on your finger I want. I honestly was like, I might get it resized to wear it on my middle finger. Oh, nice. Because I think it would look cool on the middle finger. We need the story. Okay, yeah, right. So basically... Before you do... Okay. Oh, no. What another little... Oh, Tiffo. This is so cute.

5:23This is the cutest thing ever. Thank you so much, Missy. Happy engagement. Oh, I love it. So I'll hold it for the story. Yeah, yeah, nice. Yeah. Also, the girls like Lucy and Emily, and they all got me roses in a cardinal's face. For context, I haven't even heard the story. Oh, perfect. You just settle on it. I know. Okay. But it's gotten bad, hasn't it? because like any personal thing now, it's just like, save it for the pod. I know. I don't feel bad not asking, but then I'm like, well, I'm going to hear it on Monday. Okay. I have so many questions. Sorry. Do you want to just do a Q &A? Yeah.

5:54When's the wedding? August next year. Oh, nice. Whereabouts? 20th to the 23rd. Put it in your diary. Oh, jeez. Okay. Whereabouts? Everyone that's listening is welcome. If anyone flies to the UK. I won't say we asked where it is because you might have a few people turn up. It's sort of country slash by beaches in Cornwall. I'll book my flights now. Yeah, yeah. That would be great. Found a really beautiful venue, though. Quite exciting, too. Have you been wedding dress shopping yet? No, don't know what I'm going to wear. Sorry, I also don't want to be that person. You've been engaged for a week, and it's like, when's the wedding?

6:25When's the wedding dress? It's like, just give me a week to bathe in my... Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, I'm not one to be organized with anything, particularly my personal life. but I thought if I want people coming from New Zealand, I'm going to have to. Totally. I need to give them as much warning as possible. So I was like, I'm going to do it. I know. It actually will be really fun. Anyway, engagement. So yeah, what other stories? What other questions do you have? Yeah. I'm like, hmm. Now I'm like, oh God, where will I stay? What is that? Oh, I need to book flights. And everyone just thought about me.

6:56The bride of the bride. What does she wear? Story, story, story. Okay. So this is not going to be as exciting as it should be, but I knew we were getting engaged. It was quite a modern love story. So we'd spoken about it. And Luke was just like, Did you know on that trip? Yeah. Literally the whole holiday was planned around us celebrating getting engaged. So we were like, let's do four or five days on a Greek island. And then you were meeting your family, which was quite good. It's like we can have our own time, you know, getting used to being engaged and then we can go and celebrate with the family.

7:30Yeah. So we had like five days with us two and then we went to, on a boat with my family, which was nice. And then next week we're going to spend a week with his family. Nice. We planned it timing-wise so that we could do that. But we were literally on the holiday being like, should we do it today? Should we get engaged today or tomorrow? Like it was a whole, like we were planning it together. It's so weird. Everyone will be like, what? I quite liked knowing because I've been excited about it for months. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And also been able to process it because it's quite a massive deal to choose to spend your life with somebody.

8:01So yeah, so basically the day we got engaged, you will be shocked at this. We went for a run along the coast and for some reason, they were like, should we try to do 10K? I haven't run 10K in perhaps five decades. Ran 10K along the coast. Gorgeous. Fun. Nearly died. And then we spent the day at the beach, had some cocktails, read books, napped. Yeah. Just like really nice. and then went home we were in our robes in the hotel that we booked which was like really nice accommodation opened a bottle of champagne he gave me the room and then we went out for like watched the sunset had a beautiful dinner did you try and get like upgrades on like bookings and I would have been like we just got engaged can we have the nice table can I tell you the funniest thing so no is the answer to your question but I should have I know that's a lie for a few of the bookings I made at this Greg Island I was like engagement no one did anything exciting which was kind of a letdown.

8:58I actually sat down at the dinner that we'd booked on the day we got engaged, and I thought, maybe they'll bring out some champagne. Like, nothing. I did that. I tried to get a flight upgrade, and I put the ring on this finger. Did you? And I was like, hi. I was like, we just got engaged. It didn't work. Did not work. It's so true. But then when I was on this boat with my family, I was panicking because they actually hadn't met Luke before. So it was quite, you know, a lot. And then they're on a boat together for a week. I mean, that is an intense week regardless. So the whole thing was weird.

9:31And you know what it's like when you get on a boat? It's like stressing. Everyone's like trying to lug all their bags and groceries. Like it was a lot of admin. It's like, this is not the time. So I took the ring off. And then we bought a bottle of champagne. And the plan was at sunset to be like, cheers. And I wanted to film it. I'll be like, cheers to the best holiday, all our family together. Also, we got engaged. And I pulled the champagne out. and everyone was like, well, we've already had a couple of cocktails. Maybe let's save it for tomorrow. And I was like, okay, and like panicked and went and put it back in the icebox.

10:03And then Luke and I were like standing around the side of the boat being like, shit, what do we do? How are we going to do it? And I was like, all right, this is too much. There's now so much pressure. I'm feeling overwhelmed. And you're kind of on a board. Like you can't really be like, yeah. I know. And then we sat down at the dinner table to eat. Did you blurt it out? And I fully blurted out. So my sister did this really cute speech. She's like, so nice all together. Oh, that's so loose. It was so fun. It was actually Tiffany. She was like, love it, so cute. And then everyone was like going in for the chairs.

10:30I go, and we also got engaged. And everyone just dropped their like knives and forks and were like, what? Like so shocked. Like not in a cute way. They were like, what was that delivery? Oh, my God. So awkward. And like, why were you nervous? And Luke was like, I've never seen you nervous. That was so weird. So actually telling my family it was a weirder, more nerve-wracking experience than actually getting engaged. But the funniest part is that our skipper, who was, let's just say, a piece of work, not the most fun person to be stuck on a boat with, came down to eat his dinner. We'd just met him.

11:04My stepmom turns to him and goes, oh, you won't believe it. These two just got engaged. And he goes, well, each their own. We all make our own choices. And the whole family was like, cool. Thank you. Was he not like Luke or something? No. He was just basically saying marriage is a dumb idea. Don't get married. No, let's just fake it for like, let people, yeah. Give us a fucking five minutes. Oh, great. Also, he's married. I'm like, you weirdo. Anyway, I mean, we could do a whole episode of my engagement. I know. Maybe we should. How long have you guys been together? Our first date, we actually were looking at this yesterday in the office, was the 15th of October last year.

11:41So like in two weeks. Oh my gosh. And we were going through my phone and I found the screenshots of our hinge conversation of how we first started chatting. Oh my gosh. And videos of me trying to decide what to wear on the date. Me being like. To him? No. No. Sending it to like the group chat to the girls. Not to, no, God, no. Being like, you know, guys just have shit tastes. So like, what do we think? Do I look a bit like the Matrix? Like it's like. I remember when you've been on a few dates and you came back and you asked him for my opinion. What did I say? I'm not going to say. Was it the long jacket?

12:14Was it regards to his ugly jacket? Yeah, yeah. No, there was like, I think just his fashion sense. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He's got this hideous, like, beige. I can't remember what I said. I was probably like, do not date him. Yeah, yeah. It's like a soccer mum puffer jacket that comes. But I'm glad we got past that because it's not all about what people wear. Do you know what I love about him? But when you're first dating, it's like, it kind of is. Kind of all you have to go off is, like, appearances. So you're kind of like. First impressions. Yeah. Yeah, we got on his little scooter on the first date.

12:44And he put on. You're like, he's so lovely, but he just wears. He wore this horrible jacket. it and it was i mean it's still in his wardrobe there has been conversation about perhaps that could be re-gifted to someone else but just like lose it in the move oh yeah that's not a bad idea there's lots someone told me that and i was so gutted that i didn't do that to be fair he makes jokes about it yeah like he knows it's hideous yeah but the thing i love about him is that he actually doesn't really care yeah which is refreshing yeah if anyone actually has any other questions. Very happy to share.

13:17And if anyone is in the country on the 22nd of August, feel free to come along. Everyone's welcome. Very big venue. Bigger the better. Weddings are so cheap. Exactly. You might have to pay for your seat, but that's fine. Until BYO, just do a potluck. Everyone bring a plate and a bottle of wine. And also buy your flight from New Zealand and pay for your accommodation. Do you mind spending 10 grand to be an attendee at my wedding? No, very exciting. very exciting so oh yeah it was really fun I actually remember oh god no it was like when I just got with flower man and I was making jokes about you being pregnant what do you mean like you were like feeling really sick or something and I was like oh you must be pregnant and you're like back that's actually really hurtful because I'm just like so single right now really and I got really upset with you and I was like oh my god I'm so sorry I was just kind of like having some batter and I was like no that is that is that is quite shit and now and now dating anyone I know and now I'm like she's so down girl like me yeah no it's like now I'm like oh maybe no it's so funny isn't it because I I do think a year getting engaged maybe is fast but when you're older you know yeah I mean we've lived together for six months it's like it just doesn't feel I knew so early I that was actually something cute I did when we got engaged I went through my journal and I found something I'd written from after our third date.

14:47Cute. And it was pretty cute. I literally said, I think I might marry this man. It was pretty. It was actually really sweet what I wrote. And I read that to him, like a little bit of it, and then I immediately felt embarrassed and put it away. But it was really sweet. I hear quite a few stories like that when people are like, when you know. He didn't though. He was like, do I go on a fourth? I don't know. It was just kind of weird. I was quite serious for the first two days. We had a lot going on at work at the time. And I think now he knows a lot of context. He was like, you know, it was around the time the curve investments was happening.

15:22Like there's just lots of stuff going on. So he went into me. He's like, no, I really had a good time and you were super cool and great. I was definitely going to go on a second date. But I wasn't like, I've met the one, you know. And I was like, okay. You're like, that's pretty cool. Neither at all. Riz that up. I'll just delete my WhatsApps to my friends after the day. That journal entry? Yes, yes, yes. Save the date. Yes, save the date. Oh, my God. But you know what? Taking a break, a podcast break, I think we should do a two-week break. It was actually quite nice to just have a rest, you know?

15:56And now I feel like I have things to say. Now I've got a lot to say. And we've just spent half an hour talking about your goings break. Sorry, yeah. No, it's great.

16:10Should we talk about the news? We talked about some really great things happening, but there's been a lot of the not great things that have been happening in the news lately. And it's actually made me so angry. I don't know where to channel my anger, but maybe on a podcast. I think on a podcast is a good way to do it. Yeah, I feel quite proud actually of the amount. So for context, we're talking about Cornwall University. Obviously this went viral last week. Everyone will have seen it. I'm glad we're talking about it because when you have a platform or you can share, it's important to talk about fun things like getting engaged and the less fun things like what is happening in america at the moment i feel really proud of the amount of women who have platforms who generally are comedians or just talk about funny things and come out and just totally gone off brand with what their content normally is and it's like this isn't good enough so yeah they're just speaking about what they feel passionate about it's not in relation to what their platform is i i 100 agree if you've got a platform and you can reach tens hundreds of thousands of people like use it to your advantage and we're a we're a female financial empowerment platform and yes we're going to look at the like financial angle of this but it is just so so grating i mean there's 95 of women that listen to this podcast so i assume everyone knows what we're talking about but if you don't there was an incident in cornell university two years ago where a woman was allegedly sexually assaulted and it kind of, the punishment and the accountability was not up to standard.

17:40Yeah. And it's now come out, there's so many, there was a WhatsApp group with men condoning it and no one speaking up. There was all, yeah, it's... It's pretty heartbreaking to see that in 2026 or this was two years ago. This is still happening. I should have posted the other day and it was like, we've had the Weinsteins, we've had Me Too, we've listed all these other, and we've got now this corner. When is enough enough? And yes, we all get up in arms and we all want change, but change doesn't happen and it's so incredibly frustrating. I think without going into too much jet on the actual case, just given everyone will have seen this last week, as well as all the content that's come out since, we're obviously, most people that listen to this podcast, I mean, it's 5 % men, but one of the things that it really sparked for me was the importance of explaining to brothers friends anyone partners who don't understand the correlation between really microaggression and and what we've seen yeah in this case so what I've loved everyone else talking about is just the idea that you you should call out any kind of behavior that is like remotely sexist it's like racism if you don't stand up and and prevent it happening when you see it happening in front of you even just in a small way in a small way you're condoning it it's the whole it's not all men which is the main thing that's come out here is that yeah it's not all men that go and do this but also no one stopped it from happening apparently and also there is an onus or responsibility in the same way you brought up the example of racism where yeah sure you might not be racist and you might not say things overtly to someone that is racist but if you hear something that's a slight derogatory like slur and you don't speak up or tell them it's incorrect or wrong or they shouldn't say it it's part of a problem that spirals and becomes bigger and it's a big spectrum and so if we can educate all of the wonderful men in our life about the importance of taking accountability way before something like that happens or calling out behavior that's marginal all of that helps and it's important I mean there's so many great things I've seen online about this in terms of conversations.

19:54But I think the one that stuck for me was women do the work, men have the power. And that's exactly what we are trying to change with this podcast is power comes from money and it comes from education and it comes from confidence. And so it's like, how do we switch that up? I thought it was really interesting when we looked at the model of universities because I didn't realize how many women are at universities as well. But also how they're funded. Yeah. So Cornell was the first Ivy League university to admit women back in 1870. It's not exactly like women are new to the campus. No. And women are over 50 % of, on average, of Ivy League universities.

20:33It's a lot. It's a lot. They must have improved in the last 10, 20 years by astronomical amounts. Yeah, probably. Yeah, so the financial model of university. So there is tuition fees, which is the biggest. So naturally you pay to go to university. and Cornell and Ivy League universities. It's like 100 grand US a year. It is like for the elite, elite, elite. A lot of that is funded by scholarships, et cetera. But like it is so much. If you think that what you have to be earning or your parents have to be earning or like for that to not be. Is that just tuition? That's tuition, yeah. Holy. I know.

21:09So yes, tuition fees are about 25 % of a university's revenue. And most of that is propped up by international students. So international students subsidize domestic students. So they pay even more than that. They pay even more. They pay like triple sometimes, yeah. So much money. It's so much money. About 20 % of a university's revenue is from investment returns. What do you mean? So they have endowment funds, which is kind of like the Curve Fund, for example. But their revenue comes from the return they get on that money. But where does the money even come from in the first place, the money that they're investing?

21:42Donors, fees. It comes from, yeah, and they pull it all together. And then that generates investment returns. So really wealthy people that have left or that want to donate towards. Alumni, all of that. That's amazing. Yeah. Those investment returns are about 20 % of the overall revenue. So if that endowment pool, that pool of money decreases, then the dollar value that you're getting, if you're getting now 10 % on a smaller sum. So if donors aren't donating because of all this, Like if we look at Brandt Cornell, like the repercussions are going to be like substantial. Also, if they have to pay a huge fine to be held accountable.

22:22But also when the market swings, like in 2022, markets fell quite a lot. And that impacted a lot of universities. And they have to go out there and do this like fundraising to get more donors, to get more, you know, like it's. Imagine trying to do it now. And that's why they take a very conservative approach. Because they don't want big wild swings of like down 20 % one year. They want like super slow, steady. That's why they spread it around lots of different fund managers to manage the money. But yeah, if brand Cornell is tarnished by this, which to be honest, if I was a female and I had a pick of Ivy Leagues and I was super smart and could afford to pick which one I went to, would I be picking Cornell?

23:02Also, if I was one of those people that had money to donate, I wouldn't be choosing that one. Totally. One of the biggest donors is a female actually. She was Apple's first head of HR and she's given Cornell over 100 million US dollars. Surely she can be knocking on that door and saying, excuse me, what the hell? But this is coming back to before is like money is power. Like you're so right. If all these donors go, actually, I'm not donating to you anymore. Or, you know, they don't fund institutions like this that condone behavior like that. That's how we bring about change. It makes me think the amount of publicity that this case is getting is actually really important.

23:40because I hadn't heard of this university before. I'm sure a lot of people who are donating or involved are very across it, but it'll be really interesting to see if they struggle financially because of the fallout of this. So they've got$11 billion in their endowment fund. Right. It's not exactly short on change. They're not exactly short, but again, it has to fund the running and all the expenses of the university. So if that shrinks... Also, I would not be applying to go to that university. No, neither. In a way, I think understanding the financials behind a university and the fact that there very much could be actual impacts on the university that impacts them quite negatively.

24:20This is a really great example of Cornell was predominantly men for so long. There's predominantly men in the administration. There's predominantly men at the police force that handled the case. There's predominantly men at the district attorney, which is like the next one up. There is predominantly male donors. like money is power money is influence and this is why we need to be in control of money more we need to be growing our own money we need to be involved in decision making around money because money does have influence even what happened with ed sheeran and macklemore yeah in case you missed it basically ed told macklemore he couldn't be his support act for the rest of the tour because the person that owns the venues and venues and stadiums and promotions basically have so much money that they could just control.

25:07And they would like to add, if you don't kick McMore off, you're not going to be able to perform at any of these venues. I think all of these examples, as you say, they show how important it is for women to have money, to be able to influence decisions that matter and create a more equal, safe world for everybody to live in. And it's also something we've always spoken about. Even if you don't have millions to donate or anything, it's like your decision of how you spend your money, how you invest your money, it all at a micro level has repercussions. You know, it is you deciding what you're going to support.

25:41If you're buying from the shop, you're supporting them and their products. If you're investing in this company, you're supporting what they do. No one go to Cornell University. No one. If I saw someone has graduated from Cornell University, oh, sorry. Yeah, sorry. Yeah. Gosh. Yes. I hope change comes about. I do. I think it's coming. I feel it. we're at the start of the wave. It's going to come crashing over in a good way. That sounds terrifying. There's a few other big stories happening that we wanted to touch on. But let's have a little break, I think. Yeah, let's just take a quick breath. Take a moment.

26:17So coming up after the break, we will be diving into two companies in the AI space with announcements. Yeah, quite big ones, actually. Massive. Very big. Large. Huge. Not the announcement, but the size. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You get the point. But first, we've got a quick word from today's sponsor. A recent study, Mindful Money Did, found that 50 % of New Zealand investors are worried about greenwashing. And honestly, I get it. It's really hard to know what to trust these days. And that's why we've partnered with Pathfinder KiwiSaver Plan, because they make ethical investing understandable and accessible.

26:50For Pathfinder, being ethical means avoiding some profitable companies. So, for example, Amazon, IBM, Tesla, and instead investing in a diverse mix that aligns with their ethical investment policy and aims to grow wealth over time for their members. So you can invest in the Pathfinder KiwiSaver Plan and they'll do all the difficult thinking for you about whether a company is ethical or not based on their policy. Pathfinder Asset Management Limited is the issuer of the Pathfinder KiwiSaver Plan. A product disclosure statement is available at pathfinder.kiwi. NVIDIA, AMD, what's going on? It's Navidia.

27:20Oh, no, it's Navidia. No, isn't it? NVIDIA. Just so. Because when I was writing this yesterday, I was like, NVIDIA. NVIDIA. Anyone that's listened to this podcast for a while, Vic has spent the last three years saying NVIDIA. Yeah. And it's not the right pronunciation, but we've just sort of let it slide. I mean, if you're going to spell out a word like you do when you're five years old, NVIDIA. NVIDIA. I'm confused now. I've forgotten which one it is. It's not NVIDIA. It's NVIDIA. NVIDIA, yes. They just wrote the biggest check in US corporate history, and it was made out to themselves. They bought their own stock.

27:56This is just such a good story. And I love that I understand what this means. When a company is public, they have shares. The money only really goes into that business when they first go public, when they IPO. It's not that common for a business to go and buy its own shares. I mean, I know companies do, but it is always quite a big deal when they do it because they're basically buying something back at a higher price, generally, right? So a stock market is just a whole lot of people buying and selling shares. and they think that they've got it wrong and they're undervaluing their business. Oh, so they actually are like, we're getting this at a bar.

28:32We're getting that. Well, you buy something because you think it's going to go up in value. So they're like, the value of our shares right now is not reflective of how our business is performing. We're going to show you, we're going to buy our own shares. And so that's why it's such a green flag because it's like, you could spend money on investing in other companies and launching a new product and anything really, if you've got cash and you've got profit, but you're deciding to buy your own shares It's because that's what you think you're going to get the best return on. So when a company does that, as an investor, I go, green flag, green flag, green flag.

29:03Yeah, wow. This is quite exciting. So they have done the biggest share buyback in history,$150 billion US dollars. That is so much money. $150 billion. Like, I feel like we've just become immune to like trillions. I know. I don't even know what that means anymore. If we roll back the tapes, I reckon we're like, it's reached a billion dollars. And we'd be like, woohoo. Whereas now we're like, 150 billion. Anyway, the whole company was worth 150 billion back in 2020. So it's buying its entire self back in 2020. So it was only six years ago. The whole business was 150 billion. Now it's doing a sheer buyback of that much.

29:43The context you put on, very helpful. Okay, good. Also in 2020, it was super valuable. It wasn't as though it wasn't a valuable business. I know, yeah. I felt at the time I'd missed it. And$150 billion is bigger than the entire value of about 80 % of the companies in the S &P 500. You're joking. How do they have so much cash? Why do they have so much money to be able to spend that much on themselves? AI, baby. But that feels like an insane amount of money to have as cash reserves to be able to spend. But if you think of all the deals that NVIDIA's done, all the investments they've made, They literally, I feel like, cannot spend money quick enough.

30:21Like when you see that they've spent$150 billion on basically buying themselves. Also, that's over, that's between now and like 2028. So they don't do it all of right. Because then the sheer price would just go, sure. Isn't that a good thing though? Well, not if you're buying all the way up. Do you know what I mean? Like they'll be buying, like the sheer prices kind of go like this. If you're not looking, look at the screen. We're doing zigzags. Go like this. So they want to keep buying at the bottom, you know, and it might go up and then they'll buy when it comes back down. You know, if they're buying all the way up, the return gets less amiss.

30:53But wouldn't you think, though, that if they just went all in now, they would get everything way cheaper? Because if they announced they're going to pour$150 billion into buying themselves, all of us are going to pack in and buy. So the share price is going to naturally go up anyway? Not necessarily. Like some companies get it wrong, you know. Like there's only a certain number of shares for sale per day. so if you went all in and were like i'm gonna buy 150 billion you know in a day or a week you would move the share price massively and then it's artificially inflated and then you'd have a whole lot of people selling right and then it would come back down and then you've bought at the top yeah you know like you've got to be strategic about it like part of it is you have to just a company has to disclose like if i was a company i wouldn't disclose that i wouldn't be disclosing that i'm gonna that i've got 150 billion that's what i mean it feels like legally but that's why they're like it's over two years but for me as an investor i'm like that's a good support because i know whenever the share price might come down a bit they're gonna be buying you know it's like a it's like a tidal wave no a rising tide lifts all boats you know it's like it's they probably will put more in when it goes down yeah like perfect we can yeah it's like what Oh, yeah.

32:02You know, so NVIDIA spits off$35 billion a quarter of cash. So it has$35 billion a quarter to spend on what? When you say spits out cash, is that revenue? Minus expenses. So that's their profit. Yeah, cash, but yes. But it is after they've paid their expenses. Yes, yeah. God, that's a lot. Yeah, I know. So imagine sitting there. So that's kind of their net profit is$35 billion. Well, you still want to keep some profit because, well, cash and profit, there's accounting differences. But essentially once they've paid for the stuff they have to pay for, like staff, all of the things that power the business, it's around$35 billion that it's spitting off.

32:47Yes. Oh, that's crazy. $385 million every day. We'll have some. Imagine you could just give a million to anyone, the whole planet. Everyone can have a million. You have a million. You have a million. Imagine a million. But as investors, I'd be like, sorry, where's the return on that million, please? I want a return on that million. Shit, that's amazing. Imagine being the person. Well, it's the CEO's job, right? But like$385 billion a day. I wouldn't be able to spend that much. That's a lot of money. I know. You'd be busy. Busy. But this is what I mean. So$150 billion, massive when we look at it in the scheme of things.

33:21But for NVIDIA, not really. God. And that's why they've been investing in all these other companies. to their customers to trying to secure revenue. And this is why everyone's getting a bit panicky about the AI space because they're like, oh my God, they've just got their tentacles and everything. So if for whatever the demand that they're expecting does not come through, this whole thing falls over. But yes, share buyback is the greenest flag of all times. Greenest flag of all times. And the reason they're buying on shares is profits are exploding, but the share price this year has not kept up.

33:55So that's why they're like, hang on a second. why is nobody buying our shares when our profits are going up and up and up? We think we're undervalued, so that's why we're buying our own shares. Does that make sense? Yes. So its share price is up about 20 % this year. AMD, which we're going to get to in a second, its closest rival, has tripled this year. So it's going, hang on a second. Why are you buying this company's shares over here? Our profits have gone up and our share price hasn't. We're going to buy our own shares then if you want. So bitchy. I know. I'm sorry. It's kind of a BDE move, you know?

34:30It's huge. Also, I feel like NVIDIA had this real lull. Everyone thought it was overvalued. Everyone kind of got sick of it just a couple of years ago. And now it's sort of making its way back into headlines. Yes. We didn't talk about it for a long time. So AMD, this is the closest rival to NVIDIA. Much, much, much smaller. And it has just crossed, I'm going to say much, much, much smaller. It's just last week become a trillion dollar company. So it is the 14th US company to now be valued over a trillion dollars. I thought there's only two or three. That's a lot. Yeah. 14. Changes weekly, babe.

35:05You know? Wow. Yeah. They're crossing the T-line a lot. Yes. No, there is a lot of companies now in the trillions. Wow. I remember we were talking about Apple or something not that long ago. We're like, oh my gosh, there's a trillion dollar club. And then it's like, then it's Tesla. Then it's now it's Broadcom. and it's like NVIDIA and AMD and Microsoft. Trillions, the new billion. Really? Totally. Yeah. Its rise has been crazy. So it has a female CEO. Can we just, this is in the fund, right? We invested in AMD. Yeah. How exciting. It's tripled in this year, did you say? Yeah. We haven't had the fund for a year, but yeah.

35:43If only. It's this month. Has it been going well this month? Wait, it's a fund update. Oh, yes, yes, yes. Yes. On the edge of your seats, everyone. Yeah. but you're right it's one of the largest positions in the fund how exciting okay tell us more and it's up about 30 % this month sorry just saying I can just tell it was a slog she's like looking at me like yeah it's up 30 % I'm like get it girl so Lisa is actually Jensen Huang the CEO of NVIDIA's cousin that's right the related yeah so she became CEO in 2014 and AMD was worth two and a half billion it is now worth one trillion in the space of 12 years.

36:22I mean, that kind of seems like a long time. Honestly, just the numbers are blurring at this point. So how about this? If you had invested$1 ,000 in AMD in 2014 when Lisa Su became CEO. How much? $1 ,000. $1 ,000. You'd have$185 ,000 to do. Actually, I put in$1 ,000 and that's gone to$185 ,000. From doing nothing. Just that$1 ,000 that left it. Whoa. Who is she? You could take a year off and have a... We did 10 years of. Yeah. That's insane. Oh, no, not 10 years. Sorry, that's quite extreme. Yeah, right. Yeah, we live in the 10th. But what does this mean for NVIDIA? Because NVIDIA has been the poster child of AI for so long.

37:00And I think it just goes to show that the competition is real. I think competition's good. Having more than one, it kind of freaks me out when there's only one. The control being so concentrated. Yeah. Also, I think competition creates innovation. Totally. If you're the only one, you're not incentivized to do better. But if you've got someone else that's in your corner, you want to create the best product, have the best business. Like everything is. 100%. It's like Nike. Their share price is down 75 % in the last five years. Why is it down so much? Because of competition. They haven't, they're at the top.

37:32They haven't been innovating. They haven't been. Look at this. Oh, wow. Yeah. Absolutely tanking. How long is that? Five years. Wow. It's like it's fallen out of the S &P 100 index. So that's the top 100 companies. We always talk about the S &P 500, but the S &P 100 is the top 100 companies. And yeah, it's just really, really struggling. And I think this is a great example of what you were saying in terms of if you're at the top. There's only one way to go. Yeah. And just back to AMD. There is a prediction that's going to be$3 trillion by 2030. Who predicted that? The Motley Fool. I know the Motley Fool.

38:07Yeah. Really? $3 trillion? $3 trillion. And by when? 2030. So in four years. Is that... I mean, I feel like it would be quicker. what that means anymore. I feel like it'll be quicker. We see companies like, yeah, I don't know, my hat's on it, getting there much quicker. We're our hats on it. Our. And whoever's in the funds, hats on it. Yeah. If you want to know more details about the fund, by the way, we'll put it in the podcast show notes. Vic, one thing I would like to go into detail on, and maybe it's not a now conversation, is AI, I saw a few headlines being potentially swallowed up or bought by government.

38:42And I want to talk about that in more detail, not now. But it was, It was basically the headline was saying something along the lines of who's going to take the risk of AI on and what would happen if they weren't private companies. You don't think that would ever happen? They'd have to buy NVIDIA. That's what I mean. They don't have the money. No, they don't. The government's in$40 trillion of debt. I know. And that's why we talked about the other day about bond yields being so high. what I think is more going to happen is there'll be restrictions around and like regulatory bodies and like all of that and there'll be guardrails and there'll be set up like committees and all of that will be set up like we've seen with social media companies like all of you know like there'll be if it gets too far one way they'll have to be controls put in place no doubt um but you can't buy the companies you can't buy anthropic it's about to ipo for two trillion dollars you know like you yeah but people are getting nervous definitely because there's just so much about all these founders coming out saying they're building the frankenstein or they've you know that this is going to ruin humanity how how can that be happening at the same but then also i'm like are you doing that because you want to have more regulation to stop competitors reaching you know like what is the intention because if you really were building something that's going to like wipe out humanity surely you stop doing that or are you just a megalomaniac and you can't handle I don't know.

40:05Well, it's all about consciousness. And if AI ends up developing conscience, I read this article in The Economist. It was quite fascinating. So if I murder you, like there's repercussions. And because you are a conscious living human, but how does that, what is the difference between me killing an AI bot and killing you? You're joking. You know, it's like, at what point does that become human? And it's kind of like talking about like, like fetuses, you know, like at what point are they a human being? like it's yeah so it's like where does that line it's so fascinating there was one man who like fell in love with kind of like her that movie you know he falls it yeah and he was asking his ai bot certain questions that they believed that the ai bot had a conscience and then they were he was like you cannot murder i was like this whole thing it was quite scary it was like the closest article i've read to being like oh gosh that's what the world's gonna look like so weird when stuff like it happens i also think there is fear there's fear in anything that is new and unknown and yes i mean we started this podcast with what's going on in the world and there is definitely elements oh sorry yeah sorry but yes you know it does scare me that yes there's people in charge of very powerful businesses that might make decisions with regard to ai that humanity doesn't agree with or yeah.

41:29I mean, even the other day someone was saying they know someone who worked for Elon Musk and his baby had been born and he'd left a launch of a rocket ship or something, gone to be at the birth. And then Elon had called him. Elon, that sounds weird. And he was like, what are you doing? I was like, what are you doing? Well, like they basically fired him for going to the birth of this kid. It was just like you kind of don't really want to have the collective humanity, consciousness, well-being of the planet. in the hands of someone that does not value similar values to... That's why we need more women in power.

42:06Yes. So weird. We keep finding this strange theme. Yeah. Women in power. Weird. New concept? New concept. Apologies that we don't have time for a community question at the end of this episode. I selfishly took up probably 20 minutes of this episode. Hey, that's fine. It's not like you're going to do that every week. True. Although I... No. Oh, no, no, no. Maybe we'll talk about my breakup next week. Oh, she did it. Oh, God. The timing could not have been worse. I felt so bad about it. I honestly was like, I don't know how to tell Vic because it's the worst timing ever. So you know what? No, I would hate for you to feel bad.

42:42No, when you text me and I was so happy and then my now ex, lol, flower man. Is it lol? Not lol. I'm just feeling good. um anyway uh he i text him and i was like you'll never guess like how amazing so i've got engaged and he was like holy fucking shit and i was this was exact words anyway he called me and he's like how does it make you feel and i was like to be honest i would have probably found it a lot harder if we were still together because i would have been like you know that there would have just been different than now I was like I'm so happy for her and I am so glad the decision I've made and like yeah so he was like no I get that so I I hate that you I knew you would think that as well I was just like I don't it is the worst timing though it's just like that's literally the same worst timing but it's like how is this happening yeah it's like polar opposites yeah I know because I literally I was thinking that that's why I was like I think maybe I just will keep it to myself for a bit because I didn't want to tell but do you know like also how quickly it happened for you I'm like that gives me hope do you know what i mean like that sounds really cheesy but you know what i mean like so much can change in a year and i have had like friends call me over heartbreak for like you know they're in the shower like distraught and i all you want to say to them is like it'll get better it'll get and then those friends yeah have met the love of their lives and the husbands of their children within a year you know and i can't it's just like remembering that is like and also sorry i didn't take over your podcast no no take over your engagement i mean i think it's probably good may as well just spit it all out it's kind of like how I spat out my actual engagement to my family just at the end oh yeah and yeah sorry good it's quite good because you don't have to talk about it because we've run out of time but yeah I think it was just so much better to be like life is hard so many things happen that are difficult and stressful and sad and your relationship shouldn't feel like that I'm also just like I've got so much going on moving back to New Zealand I'm like so much she's actually just excited about must eliminate one thing for my life she would have time for all that no but it's like I'm excited to go back see friends and family like knuckled down with the care of investments it's going to be summer there you know like I'm just like there's lots to it Pussy vibes Pussy vibes yeah yeah little claps we're so late to the clap game it's so embarrassing I know I started doing it now and I'm just I'm so embarrassed it's kind of work sometimes it's so fun it's less effort it's also condescending a bit right it is a bit you've got to get aged yeah

45:10oh god thanks Skye bye everyone bye thank you so much for listening to The Curve Weekly. Make sure you hit subscribe or follow wherever you're listening so you're always up to date with the latest finance and investing news. And feel free to leave a comment to let us know what you thought about this episode because we would love your feedback. We've got new Curve Weekly episodes for you to listen to every Monday. But until then, listen to Erasing the Curve. These are our in-depth podcast episodes where we chat about all things money. We're also around all week on socials if you're hungry for more Curve content and all the links are in this podcast show notes.

45:39We hope you have a great week and we'll catch you for the next episode of The Curve Weekly on Monday.

45:51Okay, quickly, the Curve was created to empower and educate you about investing, but we are not financial advisors. Our platform exists for educational purposes only, and it doesn't provide personalized investing advice for your individual needs and should not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision. And always remember to do your own research before making any investment or financial decision. We're here for any knowledge and support you need, but the final call is always yours. And thanks for being here. You got this. Yeah, we know you got this.