The Best One Yet - 🍻 “0.0% Takeover” — Athletic buys Ballast Point facility. Car Dealerships’ ransom-hack. American Tourists save the PIGS.

Episode Date: June 25, 2024

Ballast Point's San Diego brewery was just purchased… by the biggest Non-Alc Beer: Athletic.Europe’s economy is being powered by American tourists… It’s the revenge of the “P.I.G.S.”One ransom attack has made it impossible to buy or fix a car… so we’re calling Liam Neeson.Plus, the world’s ugliest dog… can be seen here: https://shorturl.at/qZE7S$STZ $SPY ATDRYSubscribe to our Saturday Newsletter: tboypod.com/newsletter  Watch us on YouTubeSubmit Facts & Shoutouts Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn (Nick) & LinkedIn (Jack)About Us: From the creators of Robinhood Snacks Daily, The Best One Yet (TBOY) is the daily pop-biz news show making today’s top stories your business. 20 minutes on the 3 business, economics, and finance stories you need, with fresh takes you can pretend you came up with — Pairs perfectly with your morning oatmeal ritual. Hosted by Jack Crivici-Kramer & Nick Martell.00:00 - intro01:39 - World's Ugliest Dog04:34 - Athletic Brewing08:28 - Car Dealership Ransom13:21 - American Tourism Saves Europe17:45 - Takeaways18:32 - In Other News19:58 - Best Fact Yet21:31 - Shoutouts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Tuesday, T-Boy, Tuesday, June 25th. Then today's part, it is the best one yet. It's a T-boy. The top three pop business news stories you need to know today. All right, we're in a bull market. People are bullish on stocks. There's a bull on Wall Street. And Jack, what were you doing with bowls the other day, my friend? I forgot to mention it. At the wedding this past weekend in Colorado, I put on a cowboy hat and I rode a mechanical bull. Jack went on a bowl and rode that bowl, and for how many seconds you stay on that steering? Man. Dude, 19 seconds, but I fell off in a way that my brothers have not stopped ripping on me for. It's all about the way you fall, John. It was elegant.

It was elegant. You could see a whole video of this whole embarrassing ordeal at T-Boy Pod. Check it out. Yeah, we whipped it up on Instagram. In the meantime, we got three fantastic stories for today's show. Jack, what's on today's T-boy? For our first story, the biggest craft beer in America was just overtaken by the biggest non-alcoholic beer in America.

Athletic Brewing just drank up Ballast Point Brewery, and it's a metaphor for the entire beer industry. For our second story, the great car dealership hack has taken over America. You can't buy or fix a car right now. The latest ransomware attack reminds us of the one way to end ransoms, the Liam Neeson rule. And our third and final story is southern European economies. They're booming right now, thanks to American tourists. Apparently Tammy the tourists from Tampa, just saved Portugal, baby. But we need to talk about the risks of building a museum economy.

A museum economy should be not to bus about it. That's Northern Europe. It's a good point. It's a good point. Roundup. But yet it is, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. What? A mix of stories for a T-Boy Tuesday.

I love this mix. Jack. Love the mix. Nick and I have covered a lot of championships on this podcast. We cover the best stock of the year. The most dreamed show of the year. We've even covered the number one best speller at the Scripps National Spelling Bee of the year. the year, but today, we've found the best one yet. Of the worst ones yet. We found the winner

of the ugliest dog in the world competition. Get this besties, since 1976, they've been honoring the world's ugliest dog at a fair in Pet Aluma, California. Nine human judges determine which puppy has the most ugly. And it's all to benefit the pet adoption efforts. Who's a good boy? Ugly paws, but for a good cause. But this year's winner, let's sprinkle on some Context, what is the name Jack? Wild bang. Wild bang. An 8-year-old Pekinese, born and raised in lovely Los Angeles, recently retired to Bend, Oregon.

Five times nominated Most Ugly Dog in the world. First-time champion. And she's taken home $5,000 of prize money. Nick, we seen a picture of this thing. You know the Japanese principle of Wabi Sabi? Oh, love that principle. Beauty and imperfection. I think this dog is just Wabi.

No sobby. Missing the Saibi. Yes, here's the problem with this situation. though. Covering the world's ugliest dog is actually a challenge for a podcast. We're an audio show. There are limits to our narrative descriptive skills. And so that is why instead of describing the physical details of this doggy, we'll let the details of his life reveal his physical looks for you. Get this. Wild Thing the puppy has never had a haircut in nine years. He was born without any teeth. And so he can't control his tongue. And randomly, he likes to sleep on a bag of ice.

Add it all up and Wild Thanks, physical appearance is, you could say, wild. But this adopted puppy is loved anyway. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies who are the world's ugliest dog? Being different is a competitive advantage. Pedigree doesn't define a pet. We'll share a link to this picture of this pup in our episode description. In the meantime, have a beautifully ugly day, and Jack and I will hit our ugly, beautiful stories. I'll take a Wabi Sadie.

Hold the Saavi. Fifteen 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 a norm. Need to practice. 50% that's a fat tip. Tea Boy City on your at list. If you know, you know, because we're ready to go.

We can't wait no more, so just start the show. First, a quick word from our sponsor. For our first story, there is such a demand for non-alcoholic beer this summer. that athletic brewing just doubled their non-alcoholic beer capacity. But the real surprise is who they're drinking to do it. Yeah, it is funny thing Jack and I have noticed over the years. You should always pay attention to real estate deals. If a company is splurging on real estate, they're loaded.

Buddy's splurging on real estate. You may want to hang out with them a little bit more. But here's the news. Athletic Brewing just acquired a 100,000 square foot brewing facility down in lovely San Diego. This is the biggest beer shindig in business since buddy Timmy's kegger. Holy Von Wolfhous and Yeti's athletic brewing is now the top-selling non-alcoholic beer in America. It has 19% of the U.S. non-alcoholic beer market. And one out of five of those non-alcoholic beers is an athletic non-alcoholic beer.

Dude, more than that, athletic is now the 20th largest brewery overall in America. Alcohol or non-alcohol. Drop that in your old duels, baby. So to keep up with the demand for athletic breer, athletic is, doubling their capacity by buying a San Diego brewery. But here's the wild thing, Eddies. That's the news. But this is the context.

The brewery that athletic is buying is a former beer unicorn. Yeah, that 100,000 square foot facility, it used to belong by a lovely beer brand known as Ballast Point Brewery. Ballast Point was San Diego's beloved brewery. The Sculpe and IPA was so famous, you could get it in 49 states, including the TV show Silicon Valley. Jack, back in 2015, you could not go to a barbecue without someone handing you a really cold, freaky fish logoed bottle of Ballas Point beer.

That's right. Every Ballast Point had a fish on the label. It was a very lovely and kind of little mermaid- vibe. Yeah, Sebastian. Yeah. It's like you were drinking a flounder. But yet he's 10 years ago. Ballast Point Brewery made history, and what was that history, Jack?

The first craft brewery in America to reach a $1 billion valuation. They did it when they sold the Constellation brands. What Jack and I were saying here is, Ballast Point wasn't a unicorn. It was the first brunicorn. Correct. One billion dollars for a beer. Ballast Point sold for like Mickelope money. But now Ballast Point, the former brunicorn, is selling its biggest brewery to athletic brewing. Athletic brewery, a non-alcoholic brewery that didn't even exist when Ballast Point was sold. Par one out. Yeah. For Ballast Point. For you Pilsner.

So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddy is over in the beer industry? This single beer deal is a microcosm of the beer. industry. It's a microcosm of the microbrewery industry. Yet is that Ballast Point billion dollar sale, that kicked off a frothy craft beer bubble a decade ago. After Ballast Point sold for a billion

dollars, Sierra Nevada Brewery passed the billion dollar valuation mark two. IPAs were the trend, they were cool, they were hip, everyone was drinking them, but like Jack and I have told you before, food, fashion, fitness are vulnerable to fads. And that's why IPA sale slowed. People

got tired of a 12% hazy triple IPA with a beard. You weren't interested in the beers who had like a label that was inspired by a Nirvana album. Now, craft brewers are still brewing, but they're not selling IPAs like gangbusters as they used to. The market's just too stuffed with too many ironically named craft beers and colorful cans playing with funny puns. And that's why Ball's Point had to sell their San Diego brewery. But here's the funny thing. Last year, Jack and I covered that exact downward shift. The craft beer collapse. And last year, Jack and I also covered an upward shift. non-alcoholic sober sales surge. And this one real estate deal, this is the symbolic intersection

of both those trends. The top-selling non-alcoholic beer is taken over the once top-selling craft beer. This single deal is a microcosm of the entire beer industry. For our second story, 15,000 American car dealerships have been effectively shut down since last week. Ransomware has claimed another victim, and we only see one solution. Yes, we did. Liam Neeson. Liam Neeson. But Jack, let's kick it off with a little bit of a story. Monday morning, I guess you'd finish riding that bull,

and you called your local car dealership, because didn't you want to get the car inspected or something going on with your V-dub, right? I have to get my V-Dub back soon, so I have to, like, make sure it's good, so they'll give me my money back. Replace the rotors and mix up the chassis. Now, the dealership said that they can't schedule my appointment right now because their computers are down. So they asked for my name and information.

and they said they would call me back. Okay, then did you ask when they would call you back out of this? Yeah, I said, when will the software be back up? And they replied, I don't know. They told me they can't schedule any appointments. They can't service any cars right now. They can't even sell any cars. Do you want to buy a Buick?

Sit down, stand up, and stay seated because you cannot buy a Buick right now. Nick, because their systems are down, everything the car dealership doing is with paper and pen. It's like 1950s. The Linsky Auto Parks. They're making the American-made cars for the American Mail With the pencils, Jack. Minutes later, I check out my computer and I learned that five publicly traded car dealerships

just warned investors about a hit coming to their revenues. But yet is here's what we find fascinating about this story. It's not just Jack's local dealership dealing with these issues, is it, Jack? No, 15,000 dealerships in the United States and Canada are suffering from the same problem. The only way that America's car dealerships can do any business right now is with a pencil and pen. And a pencil sharpener. Auto zone can't even get in the zone, Jack. And this is all happening because last Tuesday, a company called CDK Global got hacked. It's all happening because of that one single hack. Jack could you sprinkle on some more context about our buddies over at CDK. You've never

heard of CDK. Unless you're a car salesman, in which case you probably have it on your app, on your phone, on your computer, probably unlike your VR headset device. Because Yeti's CDK Global, this unknown brand to consumers is the software provider to 15,000 car dealerships in the United States and Canada. Nick says the because it's not just a CRM platform. They handle sales, financing, repairs, warranties, recalls, everything the car touches. Now Jack, can you please buckle both of our seatbelts to share this insane statistic that we discovered about CDK software? CDK claims that 2.6% of America's GEOC GDP is transacted through CDK global software.

Nearly 3% of America's GDP goes through this company. I guess because the car industry is that big. And the car software that they make is now down? So the car industry is now down. Hackers went after CDK because it's like a mothership. Yeah. Taking down CDK has wide-ranging effects. And that means that CDK is under big pressure to end the hacking.

So CDK is going to pay. up that ransom. That's according to Bloomberg reporting. CDK paid the hackers millions of dollars to let them regain control of their systems. And yet he's here is the latest update as of Monday evening on this cartastrophe. CDK says they've regained control of their systems and they could restart their system within days. You may even be able to buy a Buick as early as Wednesday. Without knowing cursive. That capital G always gets me, Jack. So Jack, what's the takeaway for all our buddies who are anyone who's a citizen. We said it last year, we'll say it again. We need the Liam Neeson rule. We need to ban ransom payments. Yeah, these ransomware hackings, they are

all the rage among tech-savvy criminal organizations these days. And it doesn't seem like we're capable of stopping them with cybersecurity. I mean, Jack, we've covered so many hacking. There was the colonial pipeline hacking, the JBS Meat Company hacking. Last September, we covered the Caesar Palace casino hacking. of those hackings ended with a ransom payment to the hackers, which encourages more hackers to make more hackings. But if paying a ransom became a crime, then that would cut off the financial pipeline to criminals to do these ransom attacks. That's why the United States doesn't negotiate with terrorists if we don't want to incentivize future terrorists. And that's why Liam Neeson doesn't negotiate

with kidnappers. That would incentivize more kidnapping. Now, the White House has considered a federal ban on ransom payments, but they've taken no action so far. But this latest dealership hacking, It is more evidence. We think we should ban cyber ransom payments. We think we need the Liam Neeson rule. Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story, Southern Europe is having a resurgence,

and it's all thanks to one force, the American tourist. Europe's four slowest economies are now the four fastest economies thanks to Tammy the tourist from Tampa. Oh, you guys, everyone, has got that one friend who's flying to some small city in Portugal to see the Taylor Swift tour for the cost of like $6 and a Diet Coke. To see the Taylor Swift concert tour for the second time. I see you, Faye.

I see you. Who'd you pay for the tour? You have to pay for the tour? Because right now it's cheaper to fly to Greece for Taylor Swift than to take an Uber to Glendale. And that is one reason why Portugal just had its best economic quarter in 45 years. Get this. Since 2019, Portugal's economy has grown eight times faster than Germany, the historic economic engine of Europe. Portugal, a country known for debt just launched a government surplus to the bomb, to the bomb, Jack. I don't get that cultural reference, actually.

Doolingo Street, keeping it going. Yet he's the capital of Portugal, Lisbon, now has so much money that their mayor just cut taxes. And they made buses free for all citizens to ride. And it is all thanks to two. people in particular and who are they Jack? Vicki the vacationer from Vegas. Yep. And Tammy the tourist from Tampa. And it's all because the U.S. dollar is close to an all-time high-end strength compared to the Europe.

So you're getting more European bang for your American buck. All of Europe kind of feels like a destination dup right now. True. Because of our strong dollar, or at least for Americans. And Jack, get ready for this. Even though Europe makes up just 5% of the world's population, Europe takes in one-third of the world's tourism dollars. And most of those tourism dollars right now. are going to the southern European countries. Yetis, that's what we find fascinating about this

story. Americans are driving a Mediterranean rush. And it results in a new thing, the museum economy. The museum economy. Yeti's European economies are now evolving so much for tourism that they may start to depend on those tourist dollars. Get this. In Lisbon, one quarter of all jobs are related to tourism. In fact, in Greece, nearly one half of all jobs are now related to tourism. It's the Museum economy. Everyone is working on behalf of tourists. But here's the problem. That museum economy is actually a risk because what if people stop traveling to see your museums? The first thing that happens in a recession is that people take fewer vacations. Tourism, it is a highly cyclical industry, isn't it, Jack? Some years you'll travel to Tuscany, other years you'll decide to stay in

Tucson. Like if tourists cancel plans to come to Greece, half of Greece's economy is going to be sadly out of work. It's better for an economy to have a diversified industrial situation, like the United States, which can weather an economic storm better. So, too much museum economy, it presents a long-term risk for southern Europe. Yes, it does. But in the short term,

we need to rethink the southern European countries altogether. Perfecto. And diombo, Jack. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddy is over? In southern Europe. It's the revenge of the pigs. Portugal, Italy, Greece, and Spain.

Eddie's 15 years ago, when Jack and I had just started working at banks, we experienced the European debt crisis. Four European countries had so much national debt that it threatened to break up the whole European Union. Those four countries were known as the pigs. Ah, the pigs, which stands for Portugal, Italy, Greece, and Spain. If those four countries went bankrupt, then that could have ended the euro currency. If any one of them had gotten bankrupt, it could have led to contagion and all the countries could have broken apart. That's why 15 years ago, the four pigs countries were the slowest growing in Europe. But here's the wild thing.

Now, they're the fastest growing economies in Europe. Yeties, the biggest and strongest economies in Europe are historically Germany, France, and the United Kingdom. But the four pigs countries have grown four to eight times faster than Germany since 2019. In fact, those four pigs countries now make up half of the European Union's GDP growth. The pigs, they're rolling in money right now. And that's why Jack and I think this year is the revenge of the pigs. And it's thanks to Vicky and Tammy, those classy American tourists. Jack, can you get off that bowl and whip up the takeaways for us for Tea Boy Tuesday?

Athletic brewing is doubling their capacity by acquiring Ballast Point's biggest brewery. Non-alcoholic is booming, heavy IPAs are busting, and this deal is a microcosm of the beer industry. For our second story, 15,000 car dealerships were crippled by a cyber-tanker. on one software company. And that's why we need to ban ransom payments to end these attacks. We need the Liam Neeson rule. And our third and final story. Southern European countries are the driving force of Europe thanks to American tourists.

It's the revenge of the pigs, Portugal, Italy, Greece, and Spain. They're back, baby. What's that Portuguese expression? You mentioned... To the bomb! To the bam, jack! But Yeties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today.

First, the European Union just sued Apple for violating antitrust rules. Apple is the first tech company to be charged under a new European law known as the Digital Markets Act. Now, here's the wildest part. Apple could be fined as much as 10% of their worldwide revenue because of this suit. Probably related side note, Apple is now threatening to not roll out their Apple intelligence AI features to European iPhone owners. And second, MX is buying itself a little. something. It's spending $400 million for the restaurant booking site, Toc. If you've booked a dinner in San Francisco or a table at a winery in Napa, you've booked it through TAC. And remember,

Amex already acquired Rezi, the reservation app. So they're already in this industry. American Express. It's not a credit card. It's a club with a $700 membership fee. And they hope you don't pay your balance month to month. Just throw it on the tab. And finally, Queen the band, is selling their music library to Sony for $1 billion. Private equity is Radio Gaga. Sony already owns Michael Jackson's music library, which is now worth $1.2 billion. So Queens Estate was under pressure to sell, too.

And this is the latest in a string of other big music library exits. Fat-bottomed P.E., they make the rocking world go round. Another one bites the dust, Jack. Another one bites the dust. Now time for the best fact yet. This one sent in by Khalid the Yeti all the way over in Kuwait. Remember last week we talked about China installing timers above public toilets to get tourists to pee quicker because the line is so long behind them?

Well, get this. According to the Georgia Institute of Technology in coordination with the Atlanta Zoo, they discovered that all animals require the same amount of time to urinate. That's right. From mice to elephants, from moles to mountain lions, we all relieve ourselves. in the same amount of time. From tigers to our buddy, Timmy, all humans require the same amount of time

to drain their bladder on average. And Jack, what is that magic number? For humans and all other animals, it's 21 seconds. 21 seconds. Big animals, big flow. Small animals, slow flow. The researchers, they compared the jet streams of all the animals.

And 21 seconds was the meantime, regardless of the species. The researchers at the Atlanta Zoo call it the law of urination. Where were you on that one? Isaac Newton. Yetis, you look fantastic today. But remember, if you don't look fantastic,

like Wild Thing, the ugliest dog in the world, that's okay too. Yeah, because you can see me falling off a mechanical bull by checking us out at T-Boy Pot. Even if you're having a bad hair day, looking different is a competitive advantage. Heavy on the Wabi, light on the sobby.

Remember to follow us so you get T-Boy every day, and Jack and I, we'll see you tomorrow. And before we go, a congratulations to Yeti, Brian Fulner, in Cleveland, who's got his four-year anniversary of launching his company. Congratulations, Brian. That's a huge accomplishment. And happy 30th wedding anniversary to Heidi Sacker in Florham Park, New Jersey, who's going to Vegas with her hubby.

Matthew Shabby and Luke McCall down the street in San Francisco. Happy birthday. Hope you're celebrating with a wonderful day on the beach. And happy birthday to Kathy Bex in Ormond Beach, Florida. And Jane Wynn in Monterey, California is probably eating some chicken noodle soup, and that's how she celebrates a birthday. birthday to Don Bavarro in Santa Paula, California, who was apparently our 304th subscriber on YouTube. That's a good number. Love that number.

Enrique Mollett is turning 34 years old in Colorado Springs drinking Dr. Pepper, if you know, you know, and she knows. And to anyone else, celebrating something today, make it a T-Boy. Celebrate the wins. This is Jack, Nick and I both on stock of Apple.