The Best One Yet - 🍯 “How to make $1 Billion” — Steve Ballmer’s money story. Electric Bikes’ Gen Z surge. Citibank’s criminal ATM.

Episode Date: July 8, 2024

Bill Gates’ former assistant is now wealthier than Bill Gates… it’s a lesson on risk, reward, and makin’ money.E-Bikes are surging thanks to Gen Z… because they don’t sell bikes, they sell freedom.Citibank is now the top bank of money-laundering… thanks to Citi’s (allegedly) criminal ATMs.Plus, it’s time for Mid-Year’s Resolutions… Our annual tradition (that’s better than New Year’s Resolutions).$C $MSFT $LYFT $UBERSubscribe to our Saturday Newsletter: tboypod.com/newsletter  Watch us on YouTube Submit 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 - intro01:41 - Mid-Year Resolutions04:35 - Electric Bikes’ Gen Z surge09:26 - Citibank’s criminal ATM14:16 - Steve Ballmer’s money story19:14 - Takeaways19:55 - OTHER NEWS21:23 - Best Fact Yet22:56 - Shout Outs Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. Welcome back. It is Monday, July 8th. And today's part, this is the best one yet. This is a T-boy. The top three pop business news stories you need to know today. I'm sorry, pause the paw, Jack. I'm popping up to see you tomorrow, aren't I, man? You getting ready over there? Do you know where you're going to sleep while you stay at my house this week? Have you polished off the paddleboard yet? I would love to get on that thing. Nick, we're sleeping on bunk beds. Are you kidding me? You set that up?

Yep. We're going back. freshman year style. We're going to be at the same bunk together. Top or bottom? What do you want? What are you thinking, Jack? I can go either way, man. Okay, I got to get on the bottom because I'll fall off that thing.

In the meantime, three stories for today's T-Boy. What do we got, Jack? For our first story, electric bike sales are surging, and it's all thanks to Gen Z. So Jack and I are jumping into the booming e-bike industry because they aren't selling bikes. They're selling freedom. For our second story, it involves the infamous Sinaloa cartel, drugs, and ATM machines. Yes, it does. Citibank ATM machines.

So we'll tell you how Citibank accidentally created ATMs for criminals. And our third and final story. Bill Gates, yes. For a long time, he was the richest person in the world, right? But now Bill Gates's former assistant at Microsoft is now richer than Bill Gates. And it's a lesson for all of us on risk, reward, and money. Spoiler, you took some risks and got a lot of reward. And now he's worth a lot of money.

You've heard a lot more than Bill Gates. But, Yeties, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. What a mix of stories. Dibbs on top bunk. I mean bottom bunk. I mean bottom bunk. Bottom bunk. Fantastic mix of stories.

Fantastic mix. Nick, quick question. Do you remember your New Year's resolution? Yeah. Oh, my New Year's resolution? Jack, I think it was to run a 5K. But you were too hungover from the New Year's Eve partay. Yadies, that is why 80% of us quit those resolutions within a month of the new year.

The diet, it'll start tomorrow. Yeah, the gym, it'll start tomorrow. Journaling? Uh-huh. It'll start tomorrow. Wait, did I say that yesterday? Just passed the donuts, man. Give you that donut right now.

Two donuts for both of us. We'll take them. Oh, wait, Jack, didn't you try to read one book every month as your New Year's resolution? Yeah, but I'm still on page 82 of that Brooklyn Bridge book. You got a problem with that? No, you're doing great, Jack. So yeah, these two years ago, Jack and I, we decided to disrupt the resolution. Nick and I decided to launch a resolution revolution.

So every July, Jack and I do the same. thing, the same exact thing. And Jack, what exactly is that thing? The mid-year's resolution. Ah, the mid-year's resolution. Same concept, but July, not January. July, not January. So it's twice as easy. Because it's half as long. It's five times as fun. Because it starts in the summer sun. And it's way less pressure. Because no one knows you're doing it. No one has any idea about it. All right, Jack, you're ready? You know what my mid-year's resolution is? You ready? I'd love to hear it. Pilates. I'm going to become a Pilates princess. I'm doing it. I'm getting on that reformer, baby. I'm doing it. Like the rest of the yogis, you've moved from yoga to Pilates. It's an evolution, Jack.

I feel like it's the next in my continued transcendental working out. So do you just have to do it once and you can check that box? I think that works. I think that works. All right, you're a mid-year's resolution. What do you got, Jack? So I'm trying to only eat something if it satisfies one of the three peas. Ooh, what are the three peas, Jack? Play, pleasure, and pretty. Play is do I need to fuel my body so that I can play. All right. Pleasure is, is this like my favorite food in the world? Am I going to really enjoy this?

I like it. Pretty. If it looks pretty, you can eat it. Sounds like you're going to eat a lot of ice cream. So, yet is to kick off the middle month of the year. Let us know your mid-year's resolution. Tag us at T-boy Pod when you post about it. And never forget the best part about the mid-year's resolution.

No one cares if you quit because we literally made this whole thing out. Literally. No one even knows about it. Your secret safe with us. Happy mid-year's resolution, Jack. Let's hit our three stories. 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. That's it. 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.

Start the show. First, a quick word from our sponsor. For our first story, electric bikes just reached a tipping point. E-bikes are now a majority of bike sales over in Europe. And to scale them here in America, we're barring the business model of the library. The same model as the library. But yet it is funny time of year right now. Because all across America, a classic right of passage is happening nationwide. The teenage driver test. Ah, the teenage driver's test. Get in 10 and 2, keep both hands on the wheel, jack. In every single suburb across America, some 16-year-old name

Sarah is trying to pass the test to get her driver's license. Until now. Because get this, Yetis, the rate of teenage driver's licenses has fallen by 8% over the past couple decades. We repeat the percentage of teens getting drivers licenses has dropped by 8% and one recent surprise reason why. What is it, Jack? Electric bikes. Yeah, e-bikes. Gen Z is driving an e-bike instead of a car. Gen Z is driving an e-bike surge. Sales of e-bikes have tripled in the last four years and are close to one billion dollars. Apparently teenage Tonvi doesn't want a Toyota, she wants a rad power bike instead. Oh and funny thing, Tanvi's parents, they're on board with the whole e-bike thing too. Because a typical electric bike

costs less than $3,000. Yes, it does. It offers you the same freedom as a car, but for a fraction of the price. Oh, and on top of that, it's also more fun to drive an electric bike as well, isn't it, Jack? You pedal the pedals, but you go up to like 25 miles per hour without breaking a sweat. Yeah, the only problem with the e-bike is, uh, hey mom, I forgot to charge the bike. Can you charge my bike, please? Also, if it's cold out, you better wear gloves, because your fingers are going to freeze. Oh, and you know your mom's going to lecture you, right, Jack? Oh, yeah. When I was your age, I actually peddled my bikes. To school, both ways, uphill both times.

But Jack, strap on your ninja turtle helmet, because that wasn't even the biggest e-bike news of the week. The biggest e-bike news is happening in Europe, where they've reached an economic tipping point with e-bikes. Yeties. In the United States, electric bikes are only 15% of total bike sales. Most bikes, you have to pedal the old-fashioned way. But over in Europe, a majority of bicycles are in old school. A majority are now electric bike sales. Even in the global bicycle capital of Amsterdam. Amsterdam.

Electric bikes are outselling regular bikes. Look to your right, Vincent Van Gogh is speeding by you on an e-bike getting over that canal, jack. But here's the ironic part. In Europe, it's not young people. driving sales of e-bikes. No, no, no, no. It's older people. That's right. Because in Europe,

apparently the elderly are buying e-bikes to let them stay mobile on bikes longer in life. I'm seeing that here in the US, by the way. Oh, interesting, interesting. My mom and her husband, they both, like, can't stop talking about their e-bikes. Oh, I can see it. Classic.

It's kind of like reverse training wheels, Jack. Yep, you started with training wheels and then switched to a regular bike. And now they're going back to assisted biking with e-bikes. Jack, when you're in Paris this summer, some Parisian grandmother is going to speed over your legs at 25 kilometers per hour singing grandmamma! And they're going to expect me to apologize. Not possible.

But yet that is an even our big reveal about the e-bike industry is it, Jack. The core thing driving e-bike adoption in both Europe and the United States? Yes, Jack. It's libraries. Shh. It's libraries. E-bike libraries. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our...

but is over in tech. The key to drive adoption of a new technology is leases and libraries. Leases and libraries. Yet is, electric bikes, they're great for society as an alternative to cars. Way smaller carbon footprint and way fewer traffic fatalities. But the $2,000 expensive price tag of an e-bike limits the amount of adoption that's happening. And that is where libraries and leases kick in to convert people by offering a lower upfront cost.

In France, cities have instituted leasing models, letting you get a bike for 40 bucks a month that includes repairs and insurance. And that ends up driving future e-bike sales. In Vermont and in Colorado, there's nonprofits that want people to ride these bikes. So they've opened up e-bike libraries. They're literally calling them e-bike libraries. That's the name. Like, they let you borrow the e-bike for free, test it out for a few days, and then you got to return it at a certain time. If you return it late, you pay a late fee just like a library.

Just like a library. But you get to borrow them for free. Because to convert mainstream users to a new expensive technology, you need more than just a test drive. You need a long-term trial or you need to offer a low-cost lease. What you need is an e-bike library. They're really happening. For our second story, Citibank is in awkward trouble. They're accused of being the ATM of choice for criminals.

But the Citibank drama reveals a... a more surprising thing about all American banks. And so to start the story, Jack and I want to open up your high school yearbook. Jack, whip it off the shelf. What do we got? Let's see that thing. Remember the superlatives? Oh, I love that section.

Page 26. Class clown. Most athletic. Most likely to join a boy band someday. Well, funny thing, besties. Citibank just got a new superlative. Most likely to accept a deposit from Al Capone. That's basically what federal prosecutors just said.

in a stinging indictment that was unsealed last month. Because those prosecutors called Citibank the favorite bank of money launderers. Want some specifics? Yes, we do, Jack. They involve a Mexican drug cartel, a whole bunch of drugs and drug money, and Citibank ATM machines to deposit that money. One sec, Jack, I think Hulu is about to turn this into a six-part mini-series. This story reveals how banks can either block criminals or boost them.

And it's a wild story. Nick, can I sprinkle on some contacts to the storehouse? Yeah, I was going to ask you to, but you know, you'd do it yourself, Jack. Except for the Joker, criminals usually want money. They're as capitalistic as anyone. And that is where AML comes in, anti-money laundering. The government knows that criminals want and need money to operate their criminal organization. So, AML anti-money laundering laws try to catch criminals using banks by monitoring anything sus.

Suss. AML laws require that banks know their customers, that bankers ask their customers lots of questions about their money, and that bankers report any strange deposit patterns to authorities. And Jack, how did Citibank do on all of those things you just mentioned? Allegedly, they did none of those things. Oh, let's whip open the indictment, Jack. What happened? On three separate days in January of 2021, criminals tied to the Sinaloa drug cartel stopped by a Citibank ATM. Man, those criminals made over 100 deposits in a row on each of those three days. Over the course of hours and hours, these people linked to the drug cartel deposited like an entire massive duffel bag of what was probably proceeds from drug sales. Now, interesting thing, besties, this Mexican cartel did these deposits in tiny increments in order to avoid a $10,000 threshold.

Because the criminals know a $10,000 cash deposit, is suspicious. In fact, it's so suspicious, if you try to deposit $10,000 in cash, it will automatically notify U.S. authorities, because you might be up to no good. But even though those criminals stayed under that $10,000 threshold, the government officials said that Citibank should have noticed. They should have noticed the 100 consecutive deposits of tiny amounts. If you're on vacate down in Cancun, you're not depositing a hundred little mini-checks. That's not a typical thing. It was unusual activity. It was suss as sus-s-gets. So Jack, what was our first thought when we heard this story?

Good opportunity for artificial intelligence. Yeah, it is. AI could easily detect suspicious patterns like the one that happened at these Citibank ATMs. But since Citibank's human intelligence and artificial intelligence failed to detect that, Citibank is now getting sued by the U.S. government. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over in the finance industry? Banks are our first line of defense against a lot of things. Now, yeah, it is, this is not the first time.

Jack and I have seen a big bank get sued by the U.S. government. In 2014, Bank of America paid $16 billion to settle charges related to mortgage-backed securities, which helped contribute to the 2008 financial crisis. Before that, HSBC paid $2 billion to settle charges they violated international sanctions. And now Citibank is being charged for failing to stop a drug gang that was obviously doing some shady stuff at their ATMs. Add it all up yet is in those three cases show how we require our banks to protect our mortgage market, enforce our sanctions, and help fight crime.

And if the banks fail to do those things, they pay huge penalties. That's why when Jack and I worked in finance, we need to do so much anti-money laundering training. Remember all the videos, man? A whole bunch of AML training, a whole bunch of sanctions training, and anti-fraud trading, because the banks didn't want to get these huge penalties. I still remember the videos, Jack. Oh, the videos. I think one of the videos was literally the scenario that Citibank failed.

I think this was a scenario because Yetis for a whole bunch of things. Banks are America's first line of defense. Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story, Bill Gates is no longer the richest person at Microsoft. His former assistant is. The way that Steve Balmer surpassed Bill Gates is a lesson on risk and reward. Yes, it is. But in order for us to tell this story, Jack, can we try?

Travel back to 1980, please. A startup of techie nerds in Seattle put out a job posting. Assistant Founder. Assistant to the founder. Ah, good point, Jack. Yet he's Bill Gates, the future richest man on earth. He needed a personal assistant, ASAP. And one man answered the call.

His name was Steve Balmer. Steve Balmer, bald man, big personality. This was actually a Harvard classmate who lived down the hall from Bill Gates back in the day. He didn't have much hair, but he had a whole lot of energy back then. Steve was at Stanford Business School, a few years after Harvard, when Bill convinced him to drop out of grad school. Yeah, Bill was like, come join my software startup. I can't code without my coffee. That software startup was called Microsoft, by the way. Yes, it was. And he needed a personal assistant. So, Jack, what was the first contract like for Steve when he joined Microsoft?

He got $50,000 as a salary and 10% of the profit growth that he could generate. They basically treated Steve like a sales guy. He was Microsoft's first non-technical employee. So he was paid a salary plus a commission. Sounds simple, straightforward, a nice standard job. But Steve moved on from a nice standard job because of this news. Here's the news. 44 years later, Steve Bomber is now worth more than Bill Gates.

As of last week, Steve Bomber is now worth $157 billion. The assistant has become the master. Steve Bomber is now the sixth richest person in the world. He's even wealthier than Clippy. Nick, I'm actually looking at the Forbes list of the 10 richest people in the world. I like it. What do you see in Jack? Steve Bomber's on that list. Okay. And he's the only one who did not found his company. Whoa! So like all 10 of the 10 richest people on Earth, they founded a company except for this one guy. How did Steve Bomber go from assistant CEO?

Assistant to the CEO. Good point. To richer than anyone. at Microsoft with one strategic salary decision. And here it is. When Microsoft turned six years old, the company decided to restructure, and Steve Bomber spoke up. Microsoft revenue had recently doubled, so Steve led the company in a reorganization and a restructuring. And Jack, what was Steve's one request as part of this? That he get equity. Equity. Specifically, Steve asked for 8% of the stock in the company. In exchange, he was willing to give up that nice 10% commission. What Jack and I are saying is that Steve gave up the cold, hard, nearly certain cash in exchange for uncertain stock in Microsoft. In fact, six years later, Steve made another huge bet

wanting to get even more deep with Microsoft stock. In 1987, Microsoft stock dips. Employees get worried, investors get worried, management gets worried. But Steve didn't. He took the little cash he had on the side to buy even more stock in Microsoft. Fast forward and Steve bomber eventually becomes the CEO of Microsoft for 14 years retiring in 2014. And today, with Microsoft worth $3 trillion, the value of that stock that he bought back in 1987 has gained by 1,500 X. So each $1 of stock he bought in 1987 is worth $1,500 today. Not too shabby. Yet he's Bill Gates sold most of his Microsoft stock, and he's given a lot of it away to charity. So Steve Balmer is now the biggest shareholder at Microsoft owning 4% of the company. That's a lot of equity. And as of last week,

it's richer than his old boss bill. So Jack, what's the takeaway for all our buddies in the U.S. economy? Taking equity instead of cash is risky, but it's how people get rich. Now, yeties, Jack and I know, not everyone is in a position to get equity in a company or in a startup. But Steve Balmer's money story is a valuable lesson on wealth generation. And here's why. Because each step of his career is a reminder that reward comes with risk and equity was his risk. His ownership in Microsoft could have tanked like so many tech companies during the dot-com bubble. His wealth could have gone to zero. But it didn't tank. In fact, his risk paid off and he ended up as the sixth richest man on earth. Major leaps in wealth typically don't come through a salary. They come through equity. Could be

huge amounts of stock that you accept his pay, like Steve Bomber did. Or it could be a little bit put in the stock market year over year compounded over 30 years. Stocks are risky. Cash isn't. Savings can grow, but stock can grow faster. Owning things like stocks in equity, that's how people get wealthy. Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for us to kick off the week? E-bikes have reached a tipping point. They are outselling regular bikes in Europe.

And it's thanks to leases and libraries. That is how you accelerate adoption of a new expensive technology. For our second story, Citibank allegedly did nothing. Some very shady activity was happening at their ATMs, so they've been charged with AML violations. Banks, they are the first line of defense against a whole lot of different things. And our third and final story was Steve Balmer. He just passed Bill Gates in Net Worth. The assistant has overtaken the master.

Because taking equity instead of cash is risky, but it's how people get rich. But Yeties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, we got the ADP jobs report for the month of June, which showed the economy added 150,000 new jobs. That's actually a nice, lowish number of new jobs to cool the economy down and hopefully ease inflation. And Jack, what was the biggest gain in new jobs in the economy? In the hospitality sector. Yeah.

Because summer travel needs some summer matri-dies. In fact, over 40% of all those new jobs were in the hospitality industry. Speaking of which, six hotels in New York City will now let you helicopter in from the airport directly to the hotel. That's right. Six Marriott hotels have partnered with Blade to cut the travel time

down from JFK because odds are you are still stuck in traffic from JFK. Can you land directly on the rooftop of the hotel? Well, Jack, if they let us come and experience it,

we can find out that'd be really nice, Marriott. We assume you land on the rooftop of the hotel. Oh yeah, but there is one catchetties. You can't just book any room to get the helicopter perk you gotta book a suite.

And it also costs extra. And finally, Disney's CEO, Bobby Iger and his wife Willow Bay are in talks to acquire Angel City Football Club. It would value the LA-based professional women soccer team at $300 million. And that would be the largest valuation of any pro-women sports team in any sport. And then we'll probably get some kind of a Mighty Duck sequel, but on the pitch. Angels fly together. That's the name of the movie.

Good one. Bring back Coach Bombay. Now time for the best fact yet. This one whipped up by Michelle Jones from The Delicious, sounding town of Sandwich, Illinois. What two U.S. cities consume the most peppers? That's the trivia question. Who is eating the most peppers out there? I mean, I would say New York because it's just so big, but, Jack, what do we got? No, it's per capita. Okay, on per capita basis, what do we got,

Jack? Chicago and New Orleans are tied. Chicago and New Orleans, because yet in New Orleans eats peppers on their muffolada sandwiches. And Chicago eats peppers on all those hot dogs and sausages. And because people in Chicago are still hungry, don't forget about the Chicago Jardinera which you got to put on those hot dogs too. What's his yard of narrow? You know, it is like a spicy pepper economy you throw it on a hot dog kind of a thing. Very nice. Very nice.

Yes, chef. Dumbairs. Yetis, you look fantastic today. Happy mid-year's resolution. Remember to send yours to us today. Tag us at T-Boy Pod on Instagram. I'm going to do Pilates for the first time, and Jack is going to do something involving the letter P and ice cream.

I can't remember it, but I liked it. I like the chair. No, I'm only eating if it satisfies one of the three. P principles. And those three P's were play, pleasure, or pretty. And yeties, this week, Jack and I are recording episode four of our T-Boy Hotline show. The monthly show where we answer your questions live on the pod. Money, work, life investing. If you got a question, hit us up at Nick and Jack at T-boypod.com. We'll get your voice on that episode. Keep looking fantastic and we'll see you tomorrow. And before we go, congratulations to Gina and Simon, who are getting married in Chicago,

and they met at a climbing gym doing vertical logistics. And congratulations to James Manning of New York City, who's playing pickleball today. John Jack? Here's a pro pickleballer. And David Nodden in Oxnard, California is just awesome celebrating a birthday. And happy birthday to Helena Zimmerman, a purchase New York, who listens to T-Boy, and that helped her land a job at Goldman Sachs. And Esther B. Marino from VOC is a Spanish-raised dual citizen working the best job yet, And that's fantastic.

And she's celebrating her birthday, right? And she's celebrating a birthday. And Kelsey Dennison's turning 30 years old up in Vancouver, Canada. And happy birthday to Max, up in Seattle, who's celebrating at his bio at work. If you know, you know. And to anyone else, celebrating something today, make it a T-boy. Celebrate the wins. We don't know, but we'll go.

This is Jack. I own stock of Disney.