The Best One Yet - 👒 “Martha Stewart Inc.” — Martha’s media mastery. The new Treasury Sec. Thanksgiving finance convos.

Starting point is 00:00:00 This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Tuesday, T-Boy, Tuesday, November 26th. And today's pod is the best one yet. This is a T-boy. The top three pop-business news stories you need to know today. Yet is if you celebrate Thanksgiving, stocks are up. But if you celebrate Thanksgiving, then stocks are down. I feel like we need to address this. Like half think everyone is one friend who's mispronouncing Thanksgiving, right? No, what are you talking about? You know, the Thanksgiving people? The Thanksgiving people, not Thanksgiving people. They're emphasizing the thanks. Stop ignoring it. There's a large... What are you doing for Thanksgiving, by the way? Where are you going to be? I'm headed down to the chalet at the mountains right at Sugarbush. They're opening up the resort, so I'm going to get my first runs in.

Starting point is 00:00:39 I hope you get some good snowing, Jack. Nick, we're going to have a fire going the whole time. What about you? In New York City right now, and everyone here looks beautiful. Then we're heading to Nantucket, and I heard the president's going to be there, so the aerospace is like locked down. TSA might not even let you on the island. Or should I say, Secret Service?

Starting point is 00:00:57 In the meantime, yeties, we are so thankful for you that we whipped up three fantastic stories. What do we got, Jack? For our first story, 25 years ago, Martha Stewart took her company public to become the first ever self-made American woman billionaire. And this year, Netflix did a documentary on Martha Stewart, and we watched it all weekend long. And we found the best business advice that she gave in prison. In prison. Second story, what do we got, Jack? For our second story, stocks jumped to fresh all-time highs Monday on news that Scott Bessent will run Treasury. Wall Street loves this guy, and it's all thanks to his 3-33-3-3-3 policy. And our third and final story.

Starting point is 00:01:39 Thanksgiving is the day when rich people get together with family and talk about money. So Jack and I got the best money topics for you to share with your family, because we know exactly what you should talk about. But yeties, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. Fantastic mix of stories, Jack. And nobody is doing that mix of stories this week. Love this mix. Today, the latest episode of our new show dropped.

Starting point is 00:02:00 And it's all about jacuzzi. Jakuzy. Because the jacuzzi hot tub is actually the wildest story we had ever heard. Get this. Jacuzzi was invented by seven brothers. Seven Italian immigrant brothers in California. Oh, and Jack, their name wasn't even Jacuzzi until Ellis Island when it got misspelled. The elder jacuzzi actually started the company by building airplanes.

Starting point is 00:02:26 But then began a series of business pivots beginning with airplanes. They pivoted from propellers to pools to create the first ever hot tub. And they did it to save their two-year-old son's life. No joke, true story. It's an emotional, touching story. That jacuzzi episode drops today on our new show, The Best Idea Yet, where Jack and I found the most viral products of all time and discovered their untold wild origin stories. Oh, and since each episode is 45 minutes, it pairs perfectly with a long road trip. Forget Thanksgiving traffic, turn on the best idea yet. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving, on this podcast tomorrow,

Starting point is 00:03:06 we're going to drop the whole episode right here of TVIY. We want to thank you for being a part of our entire show, all of our shows, so we're sharing with you a full episode of our other show. So today's show is the best one yet, but tomorrow's show is the best idea yet. The Eddie's happy Thanksgiving, Nick, pump to pop with you. Let's hit our three stories now. Let's hit him, baby. 15 years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dorm. They had an idea to cause a cultural storm. It's the best one yet, but the best is an norm. Jack Nick Tis.

Starting point is 00:03:39 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, 25 years ago, Martha Stewart took her company public in a historic IPO. So we whipped up all the takeaways on Martha Stewart, America's first self-made female billionaire.

Starting point is 00:04:19 The best business documentary we watched this year, what was it, Jack? Martha. Yeah, it dropped last month on Netflix. So Yetis, Jack and I jumped in T-Boy style to the story of Martha Stewart's business. And we wore color shirts today in order to deliver it. Because under the polished, pampered, pecan pie image of Martha Stewart, her greatest skill is mastering skill. And that is how she became a successful entrepreneur. Yeties, let's bring you back to the 1960s, New Jersey.

Starting point is 00:04:48 Because Martha Stewart's family did not come of many means. They needed money. So Martha Stewart became a model. In fact, she mastered modeling and became a top model in New York City. But that was all after she mastered gardening because her family didn't have much money, so she helped them save money at the grocery store. But then, after college, she went on to Wall Street where she mastered Wall Street. she became a really successful famous stockbroker.

Starting point is 00:05:14 She used her modeling confidence to win clients and earn those pitches. Now, interesting twist. After she got married and moved to Connecticut, she had to give up stock trading. That's when she started her own catering business and became a master of catering. Because she used her gardening skills that she'd mastered to differentiate her catering business. And she used her Wall Street network from her stockbroker days to win the biggest, big corporate catering events. Now, interesting detail we didn't mention, but during her honeymoon at the age of 19, she kept hundreds of pages of notes on European artwork she saw while traveling in Europe.

Starting point is 00:05:49 And then she used those notes to differentiate her catering business. Instead of catering casseroles, she started doing elaborate spreads, inspired by the Renaissance artist she saw in Italy. The big wigs at Credit Suisse were like, oh, this fondue makes me feel like I'm in Switzerland. And that's how Martha Stewart became Martha Stewart, Martha Stewart. because she mastered every single individual skill one at a time. But we know her name today because she combined all those skills into one grand business, Martha Stewart Living. That company, it became Martha Stewart's favorite things.

Starting point is 00:06:26 She figured out how to scale her preferences. She basically communicated to her audience all of her favorite things, from travel to interior design to cooking to style to fashion. Basically everything from the perfect placements to the perfect Pino Noir with some perfiderales in between. And in 1999, she IPOed the company. When the stock doubled, she became the first ever self-made female billionaire. That's right, Yeti's gardening, modeling, stock brokering, and IPOing. Bet you didn't know that about Martha Stewart, did you?

Starting point is 00:06:55 But Jack, when it comes to our analysis of Martha Stewart's mastering of skills and taking this company public, what was the key insight here? The business wasn't the sum of its parts. It was her weaving them together into an elegant hole. Her modeling, the gardening, her stock brokering, her art studies, the catering. It was all her mastered skills, but woven together into one public company. Now, we should point out, Martha Stewart went to jail for lying to the FBI regarding an insider trading investigation. Six months of time spent in prison ruined her company. The stock fell by 90%

Starting point is 00:07:30 because Martha couldn't do anything. But yet he's, here's what Jack and I find fascinating about this story. Jack, while she was in prison, she taught her fellow inmates a business class, and what was the first lesson she taught them? That the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. To have a successful business, you must master multiple skills, but then you must weave them elegantly together. That's the second time we've said elegant on this story, and I'm pretty happy at that. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddy Martha Stewart? Martha Stewart was the world's first ever influencer. And she scaled herself using old media. Yeah, it is, Martha Stewart didn't need to go viral on TikTok. She didn't need to be shared on Twitter, and she didn't need the Instagram algorithm.

Starting point is 00:08:16 Martha Stewart scaled herself and her tastes using books, magazines, TV shows, and one big partnership with Kmart. Basically, old school media. In fact, the original business plan that Martha Stewart drew up. Jack, do you remember what was on it? Did you see what was on this thing? It was a solar system, but instead of the sun at the middle, it was Martha Stewart in the middle. You had like Martha Stewart Kmart, Martha Stewart magazine, Martha Stewart cookbooks. They were all in around her at the center. And the concept of an entire business universe centered around one woman, that's the modern blueprint for an influencer. And that's what Martha drew up on the back of a napkin 30 years ago, basically before the internet.

Starting point is 00:08:57 Martha Stewart, she was actually the very first influencer. No, Martha? No goop. And Martha scaled that influence her business without ever needing an algorithm. For our second story, markets are jumping because Donald Trump has picked the most important cabinet member for the economy. Scott Bessent will be the next Treasury Secretary, so we're looking at his 333 plan for the economy. But Jack, let's kick things off with a little bit of history. Who was the first Secretary of State for America? That would be Thomas Jefferson.

Starting point is 00:09:33 And Jack, who is the first secretary of the Treasury for America? That would be Alexander Hamilton. Great musical. Now, the Secretary of State is the most important person internationally for us, but the Treasury Secretary is the most important person domestically for us. Because the economy is the thing that every American touches every single day. And on Friday, President-elect Trump appointed Scott Besant to be the nation's Treasury Secretary. He's expected to be confirmed easily over in the Senate.

Starting point is 00:10:02 Scott Besant is a head. fund billionaire. He used to work for George Soros, and he helped get both of those two men rich. We jumped in further to his LinkedIn, and Scott Besson also taught economic history over at Yale University, which happens to be his alma mater. He used to donate to Democrats until 2016 when he became a Trump supporter. He would also be our first openly gay Treasury Secretary, and right now he and his husband currently preserve historic mansions where they live in Charleston, South Carolina. He also runs a hedge fund, which he's going to have to resign from, once he becomes Treasury secretary. And he recently said in a letter to his clients that a Trump re-election would bring,

Starting point is 00:10:38 and I quote, an economic lollapalooza to our country. Just like the Chicago concert, but for the whole country, baby. Turns out he's going to be the party planner for that lalapalooza if he becomes Trump's treasury secretary. But Jack and I got curious as to Besson's economic policies. And Jack, how would you put Besson's economic pitch to America? It's simple. It's fiscally responsible. and it's oily. Okay, it sounds like it's got three parts, Jack. Could you explain it to me like I'm five years? Actually, could you explain it to me like I'm three years old? Besson has branded his grand economic plan as three, three, three. And we've rebranded it, the triple three is. Jack, the first part of the triple three economic plan. What is it, man? Cut the budget deficit to three percent by 2028, which is down from roughly six percent that it is today.

Starting point is 00:11:26 Okay, get our national debt under control. That'd be a great thing. The second three, boost our GEOC, GDP growth to 3%. Because if the economic pie is grown, it's much easier to argue about who gets what share of that bigger economic pie. And the third three is to produce an additional three million barrels of oil every day right here in America. Not a climate-friendly move, but this could make America a lot richer. And remember, America is already the biggest producer of oil in the world. Now, Wall Street loves Bessent as the Treasury Secretary. Stocks rose on Monday, and the interest rate on government debt fell on Monday. Those are the metaphorical likes and retweets of Wall Street to political news.

Starting point is 00:12:05 Like when Wall Street's happy about something, stocks go up and interest rates go down. Not too shabby. But what do we think? We think the goal of 3% economic growth and 3 million barrels of oil a day. Those are relatively easy parts of the plan. Yeah, reducing our deficit to 3%. That's going to be the hard part because that's going to require changing Trump's mind big time. And that leads to our takeaway.

Starting point is 00:12:27 So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddy future Treasury Secretary? Scott Besant. This Treasury Secretary would be a surprising economic check on Donald Trump. Now, Yeti's policies are populist. Tariffs and deportations, those are policies that are meant to please the masses. But they don't please economists. And that's why Besant's appointment could be huge. It's huge because Trump is picking someone who loves Trump's tax cutting and deregulation, but he doesn't love that they could balloon America's debt or increase inflation. And that's the interesting part. It's why he might challenge Trump on his desires that could hurt the economy. Want to cut taxes? Well, how are we going to pay for them? You want tariffs on a lot of countries?

Starting point is 00:13:10 Well, that'll slow the economy. How can we counteract that? You want deportation? How are we going to keep the construction and agriculture industries employed? So Scott Bisson's triple three economic plan, that'd be a big win for the economy. But they'll require changing Trump's mind on the things he campaigned on. And that is why this new Treasury Secretary would be a surprising economic. check on President Trump. Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story, Thanksgiving weekend. It's when the 1% talk about money.

Starting point is 00:13:46 So we found the best get out a tax-free cards that wealthy people discuss over Thanksgiving. Now, yet is 100 years ago, the author Emily Post wrote a famous book all about etiquette. And Jack, what was her number one etiquette rule? At dinner, you don't talk about relationships. politics or money. Sorry, Emily Post, but Jack and I, we respectfully disagree. And Thanksgiving weekend is the perfect time to bring up money. In fact, according to Merrill Lynch, Thanksgiving is when America's richest families talk about their cash. Because wealthy people know about these secret get out of tax-free cards. But Jack and I know that anyone can use

Starting point is 00:14:26 these secret get-out-a-tax-free cards, don't we, Jack? And here's the thing. We're on the precipice of a historic generational wealth transfer known as the silver tsunami. The silver tsunami. Retiring baby boomers are historically rich. So there's a millennial offspring should know these money secrets. Here's secret number one. In 17 states, plus the federal government, there is an inheritance and estate tax that you should know about. Now, if you're lucky enough that your mom, your dad, or your nice nana is leaving you money, then you should know that there is an inheritance and a state tax for anything over a million dollars. Here's the get out of tax-free card, annual tax-free gifts. Wealthy families don't just give their heirs one giant lump-sum gift. They tend to give their

Starting point is 00:15:12 heirs gifts every single year. Financial gifts every single year. In order to avoid as much inheritance tax as possible, they give a tax-free gift right up to the limit of $18,000 a year. But, Jack, it's not like everyone's getting some giant inheritance, so let's say it's something simpler with your older family. Let's talk down payments for homes. Maybe your parents are going to help you with a $30,000 down payment for your first home. Well, then don't ask them on the signing day. You want to ask them a couple years in advance. Because if it's $30,000, that's above the $18,000 limit. You want to split that up into two separate annual gifts to avoid the gift tax. But Yeties, that's not the only get out of tax-free card that we've identified. Jack, what if you got babies and kiddos? The 529.

Starting point is 00:15:58 Yeties, the government wants parents to plan for their kids' education. So they set up this account that helps you avoid taxes. Parents, grandparents, friends, family, anyone can set up a 529 account and then put money in it to pay for any young child's education. And here's a good goal. Put $1,000 a year in this account until the kid is 18. In the stock market, that money is going to grow 10% per year if it stays historical gains. Boom, that account, it's grown up to $52,000 by the time little John.

Starting point is 00:16:28 is going off to freshman year and figuring out who his roommate's going to be. And all those gains that accumulated over 18 years, they're tax-free because you set up a 529 account. So you didn't have to pay taxes on $30,000 in capital gains. That is a get-out-tax-free card. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies at that Thanksgiving table? The greatest gift that you can give your family is money transparency. Yeah, it is last year, one of our most viral stories, it was about a will, a will from Aretha Franklin, the singer. When Aretha Franklin passed away, legal confusion about her will led to extra pain and uncertainty for her family when she passed.

Starting point is 00:17:11 So we did a story and a takeaway about wills and estates, how the greatest gift you can give your family is a will. But an even greater gift is to have money conversations before death. Now, the assumption is that these money convos, that they're awkward, they're dark, they're morbid, but when it comes to having them, we don't think they have to be. Conversations about gifts, pre-nops, a final will and testament, this is about legacies, sharing, and helping your family understand. And because uncertainty leads to anxiety, we think clear is kind.

Starting point is 00:17:41 For example, asking your grandparents to contribute to your kids 529, that's a great way to start a bigger, more positive conversation. You know, maybe that positive grandkid convo leads to other conversations that were really good. Like, where are your passwords in case anything happens to you? Like it's good if we all know that just in case of an emergency. Dad, do you have life insurance? I should know that because it's worthless if no one knows about it. Jack, I had these convoys with my parents over the summer.

Starting point is 00:18:07 It led to so much better feelings about a whole bunch of stuff, way more positive than I expected. The greatest gift you can give your family is money transparency. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us for Tea Boy Tuesday? 25 years ago, Martha Stewart Living IPOed, making Martha the first self-made female billionaire. Martha was also the first ever influencer, but she scaled herself using old media. For our second story, it's Scott Besson. He's going to grow the economy by 3%, cut the deficit

Starting point is 00:18:40 to 3% and add 3 million barrels of oil per day. The old triple-3s, the new Treasury Secretary could be a surprising check on Trump's economic instincts. And our third and final story, this Thanksgiving weekend, America's 1% will be discussing get out of tax-free cards, like tax-free gifts, and 529 accounts. But no matter what, remember the greatest gift you can give your family is money transparency. But Yeties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, Thanksgiving travel, expected to set another U.S. record. Jack, we're looking at 80 million people on the move, baby. Yeties, if you're stuck in traffic right now, check out our new series

Starting point is 00:19:21 the best idea yet. And if someone's honking at you, just blast the best idea yet. And second, Starbucks's new CEO has a plan to revitalize the coffee chain, beginning with airport locations. I love that Starbucks are in just about every major airport. Yeah, it's true. I hate that the lines are guaranteed to be very long. So Starbucks's CEO calls fixing those airport Starbucks one of the biggest opportunities. Latte for Kramer! And finally, Macy's is reportedly jacking up the TV rights to their Thanksgiving Day parade.

Starting point is 00:19:53 Yeah, NBC is going to broadcast the parade like usual. But it's going to be for triple the price. $60 million a year. That's the new price to broadcast the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Honestly, it's worth it for blowing. Well, speaking of the parade, Jack, for the best fact, yet Jack and I whipped up a highly inflatable one for you, Yetis. Jack, what do we got?

Starting point is 00:20:15 Okay, Macy's is the number two consumer of helium in the world because of all those balloons. But here's the wild fact. It turns out that Macy's used to just let the balloons go, like in the first parade. That was, they just let him go up in the air and go. They would tell the people that just let go. And eventually Snoopy would like pop.

Starting point is 00:20:33 It just go. Or come down to Earth. I think he'd land in Jersey and then someone would have some big Snoopy in their backyard, Jack over in Morristown. They even printed a return address on the balloons so that if one of them landed in your backyard, you knew who to return it to. Macy's. Yetties, you look fantastic for the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.

Starting point is 00:20:52 Just to keep it real for a second. Nick and I have the best jobs in the work. And it's thanks to you listening to us. We're so thankful for you. Honestly, you're tuning in every day. You're sharing stuff with us in DMs. You sending Jack and me messages every day. The ratings and reviews.

Starting point is 00:21:06 It's a wonderful community we've built together. Love doing it with you, Jack. I'm just going into Thanksgiving, feeling very thankful. Or is it Thanksgiving, Jack? Are you going into Thanksgiving that game anyway? No one says that. There's always one person at the table. Trust us, Yeties.

Starting point is 00:21:18 Have fun. And Jack and I will see you on tomorrow's special pod. And tell your families, H-Y-H-D-O-1. And before we go, a happy 40th birthday to our buddy Matt Beagle, the Yeti, over in Lafayette, California. He's the best idea yet. The best of Berkeley. And Matthew Caldwell is celebrating the birthday over on the Upper East Side, hopefully with a good burger, and we know from where, Jack. J.G. Mellum?

Starting point is 00:21:47 J.G. Mellon. Happy birthday to Kate Lynn Carl in Victoria, Minnesota. And Vahit D. Kikaria over in India is celebrating the best birthday yet. Happy 50th birthday to Claire Darby and Phoenix Air. Arizona. And Ali Drodd over in Portland to celebrating the big birthday. Happy birthday to Emily Roselle in Martinique, France. And Vita Badano over in Seattle, happy birthday Vita.

Starting point is 00:22:10 Happy 20-year anniversary to Danny and Irida Olivia in Orange, California, who are celebrating over at Disney. And Mikey Pollock and Kira just got engaged, guys. Let's see some ring picks. Congratulations on the huge day. Big shout out to Josh and Katie over in Los Angeles, who are opening a very hygienic, very sanitized. Dental Office. Get rid of all the cavities. And Naomi Willis gave this show not only five stars,

Starting point is 00:22:35 but maybe the most for a fun review I've ever seen of the best idea yet, Jack. She did reviews on both shows. Amazing. Amazing. Our biggest marketing yety yet. And to anyone else who's celebrating something today, make it a T-boy. Celebrate the wins. Oh, baby.

The Best One Yet - 👒 “Martha Stewart Inc.” — Martha’s media mastery. The new Treasury Sec. Thanksgiving finance convos.

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