The Best One Yet - 🧴 “Rhode to Riches” — Hailey Bieber’s $1B deal. The NYT’s Alexa+. Supreme Tariff Court.

Episode Date: May 30, 2025

Elf Beauty is buying Hailey Bieber’s Rhode for $1B… with a trick from Elvis Presley.The NYT hooked up with Amazon… Because Alexa+ wants to be the 1st *premium* chatbot.And Trump’s tariffs were ruled illegal… The Trade War is hitting the Supreme Court.Plus, the hardest word in the Spelling Bee… Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg (real place, real word)$ELF $NYT $AMZNWant more business storytelling from us? Check out the latest episode of our new weekly deepdive show: The untold origin story of… Heinz Ketchup 🍅Subscribe to The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinks to listen.TBOY Live Show Tickets to Chicago on sale NOW: https://www.axs.com/events/949346/the-best-one-yet-podcast-ticketsAbout Us: The daily pop-biz news show making today’s top stories your business. Formerly known as Robinhood Snacks, TBOY Lite is hosted by Jack Crivici-Kramer & Nick Martell.GET ON THE POD: Submit a shoutout or fact: https://tboypod.com/shoutouts NEWSLETTER:https://tboypod.com/newsletter SOCIALS:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tboypod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tboypodYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tboypod Anything else: https://tboypod.com/ Our 2nd show… The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinksEpisodes drop weekly. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Friday, the real Friday, May 30th. 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. Oh, besties, Jack and I are about to make you the most interesting person at Sunday brunch, baby. Because this episode's a T-boy?

It's the best one we've ever done. Jack, three stories for today's show. What do we get on the pod? For our first story, Amazon and the New York Times just hooked up for an unexpected AI deal. That's right. We're about to get the first day. premium chatbot, Alexa Plus. For our second story, after a couple shocking developments,

Trump's trade war is about to go to the Supreme Court. We got checks and balances on the pod today, and what this huge ruling means for stocks, the economy, and Barbie dolls. For our third and final story, Haley Bieber's skincare brand, Road, was just bought by Elf Beauty for $1 billion. Because Haley Bieber used the same strategy as Elvis Presley,

a greatest hits album. But Yeties, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. What an MI-X of stories, Jack. Love the mix. V-I-C-T-O-R-Y. Ding, ding, ding! That spells victory for the spelling bee. Because last night was the 100th Spelling Bee tournament.

The finale was last night. We were watching 243 spellers, 4,072 words, six or five vowels, and one big winner. But here's the wild twist that, We noticed as we watched this year's spelling bee. Geography. That's right. In order to win the spelling bee, you gotta know geography.

Because a little known secret about spelling bees, the hardest words to spell are the places. Yeah, the places. There's no root word, no language of origin. You just got to memorize the map, baby. Like Mississippi. Yeah. I didn't even know that was a word.

I thought it was a name, but that could be in the spelling bee. There are actually six more S's in Mississippi that they just dropped a few years ago. Which means you can't win the spelling bee. unless you're Carmen San Diego. So, Jack and I jumped in T-Boy style, and we whipped up the top-place questions from the spelling bee. You ready for this one, Jack? Am I the contestant?

Yes, you are. And here we go. Jack, the first word is a B-to-B, which is a body of water in Canada. A-B-2-B? Yes. A-B-I-T-A-B-I. Okay, it is A-B-B-I-T-I-E. Second question is.

Hoofdorp, which is a town in the Netherlands. H-O-O-F-D-O-R-P. Sorry, Jack, that's H-O-O-F-D-D-O-R-B. Two D-D-E's ridiculous. That's ridiculous. The Dutch, they get you every time. And finally, the longest word ever used for a geographic name in the spelling bee. Are you ready for this, Jack?

Yes. Chargo-G-G-G-G-G-A-M-M-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G. Can you repeat that word, please? Yes, Jack. That would be Chagagagag, Raghabagabagabang Gagggun-Gong-Gagag. This is fake, right? Not fake, real word. Okay, what's the language of origin?

It is a native name for a lake in the state of Massachusetts just outside Boston. Can use it in sentence. Yes, Jack, I can. After the socks lost to the Yankees in the series, we cried all the way back to lake Chagagagga Gagga Magog, Monchag, Mar-Gaggagg, magagg, magag. See? H-A-R-G-O-G-O-G-O-G-O-G-O-G. Sorry, Jack.

Yetis hit us up with your favorite geographical word. Drop it in the comments. Let's hit our three stories. Let's hit them, baby. Fifteen years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dorm. They had an idea that caused a cultural storm. It's the best one yet, but the best is an norm. Jack Nick, that's it.

I don't even think they need to practice. 50% that's a fat tip. T-Boy City on your at list. If you know, you know, 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, the New York Times and Amazon just hooked up in what we're calling

the high school dance of AI. Because the New York Times lets Amazon create the first premium AI chatbot. Funny thing, eddies, Jack and I have noticed there's a bit of a love triangle going on in the artificial intelligence industry, right? It started two years ago when ChachyPT got its first punch in the face. Slap in the face. An epic lawsuit from the New York Times. That's right. The New York Times and a group of media companies sued OpenAI for stealing their content without compensation.

The New York Times paywalls its news. Then OpenAI reads that news and regurgitates it for free to anyone using Open AI. That was the law. So the New York Times is a legal plaintiff suing Open AI. AI, those two not in a relationship. But now, two years later, New York Times is getting in bed with Amazon and their AI department. That's right, they're P-A-R-T-N-E-R-I-N-G. Partnering. It's a multi-year licensing deal. Amazon is going to get access to all New York Times content. The New York Times stock is up 2% on the news because it's dipping into Bezos' deep pockets. Yep, the Times

gets a big payday and Amazon gets access to the sports, cooking, and original reporting of the New York Times. She's All That, classic. Freddie Prince Jr., legendary. The jock and the nerd go to prom together. Well, that's basically what just happened on Wall Street. Now, step back for a second. AI and media, those two industries are like boys and girls at a middle school dance. Everyone's on the sidelines, but a few have started to go into the middle and find a dance partner.

Cue the Barry White Jack. It looks like the Wall Street Journal partnered with OpenAI, Reuters partnered with Meta, and the New York Times has now partnered with Amazon. For Amazon, the key reason they want the New York Times is to feed Alexa content, specifically Alexa Plus. Because Alexa Plus is Amazon's way-delayed attempt at turning Alexa into an AI conversation partner. Because remember, 10 years ago, Alexa became the leader in voice assistance,

but in the 10 years since, it's become the lagger in AI chatbots. However, with this New York Times hookup, Alexa could actually become your number one source of information. You could discuss the front page of the Times every morning with your voice box assistant. Like, hey Alexa, it's Valentine's Day. I need to cook a romantic dinner. Can you walk me through a fun idea? What do you got? It's going to find the perfect solution in the New York Times cooking section. Or, hey Alexa, why are the giants so bad this season? What's going on? It'll read reporting from the athletic. The New York Times' new sports section.

Or, hey Alexa, what's the takeaway from the T-Boy podcast? on this story. And Alexa Plus is going to know. Not because this New York Times deal, but just because she listens to the pot. Yeah, yeah, she does. She does. Now, Jack, I don't want to take your job. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at the New York Times and Amazon? Alexa Plus is positioning itself as the first premium AI chatbot. Yet is one problem no one talks about in AI. AI is basically a commodity product. JetGPT, Claude, Metas Lama, they're pretty similar because they all read the same internet. Yeah, Grock has an edgy style and an edgy voice, but frankly, they're all delivering pretty much the same information to you. But by partnering

with the Times, Amazon is making a different move. That's right. Amazon is signaling that Alexa Plus is more premium, a more sophisticated product. Because it's the only AI chatbot that is trained on the premium content of New York Times reporting. Yeah, basically, if the rest of AI are functional Volkswagen's than Amazon is building the Audi. Alexa Plus is the only one with a degree from the New York Times. So best he's added up and this is the biggest step we've seen yet to create a premium brand of AI. For our second story, in a shocking ruling, an unknown mysterious 135 year old court just canceled the trade war. This is the wildest development yet because the trade war is now going to the Supreme Court. Jack, are you a fan of Uno? Yes, you know I am. You know the reverse card?

Yeah. It feels like every week we get a new reverse card in the trade war. Well, Nick, I think we just got a reverse, a skip, and a wild draw four card, and it was thrown on the table by a court you've never even heard of. Get this yet, is the Court of International Trade was set up by Congress back in 1890. Like doctors, judges specialize in one particular field. And the judges on this particular court that you never heard of specialize in trade and tariff law. And those judges ruled late Wednesday that Trump's country-specific tariffs are illegal. Because to single-handedly imposed tariffs, President Trump has relied on emergency powers law. But the court said on Wednesday, the current situation doesn't qualify as an emergency.

There's no emergency that like, we got to stick a 10% tariff on Barbie dolls made in China. So without a valid economic emergency, the president cannot single-handedly tariff countries. Only Congress can do that. Basically, if President Trump wants baseline 10% tariffs, 145% tariffs on China, or 25% tariffs on Mexico, he must pass a law through Congress. We can tariff China, but we need Congress to do it. Now, we should point out the court said tariffs on specific products are okay, like imported steel or imported cars. remain in place. But the court gave Trump 10 days to cancel all tariffs targeting entire countries.

The penguins on the South Pole are going to be okay now. You're going to make it, guys. Now, stock markets loved that news. Oh, I mean, every time tariffs go away, Jack, stocks pop. We talked about that taco trade the other day. But even wilder, Nick? Yeah, Jack? Some experts say that the government may have to reimburse any company that has paid tariffs already in the trade war since those tariffs have been deemed illegal. So I think what you're saying, Jack, is that the government may have to send Mattel a check for millions of dollars because of all those tariffed little Barbie dolls? Yeah, the Barbies were tariffed unlawfully so they can get a refund. Congratulations, Barbie. Remember to split some of that with Ken. Now, Bessie's just to sprinkle on a little, don't get angry at us

context right now. Remember, everything these days is viewed through a lens of political suspicion, so there is something we want to clarify. The three. The three, judges on this court were appointed by Ronald Reagan 1st, Barack Obama second, and Donald Trump third. And those three judges ruled unanimously against these tariffs. But this ruling has also already been appealed by the Trump administration. And this thing is definitely going to end up at the Supreme Court. In fact, last night, an appeals court paused everything we just said until the Supreme Court decides on the trade war. So the trade war is actually still on.

The ruling from less than 24 hours ago has already been paused. So Jack, what's the takeaway for all our buddies who are in the trade war? Trump could lose his biggest bargaining chip. Yeties, the president has called tariffs the most beautiful word in the English language. And he uses them as a negotiating tool. He uses the threat of tariffs to force economically weaker countries into submission. But now, as President Trump is trying to get wins in trade deals, that threat, that leverage, that bargaining chip, it is gone. Trump's not going to give up this power easily.

Prepare for an epic legal battle starting with the Supreme Court very soon. But the way we see it, all the deal negotiations Trump has with other countries are on pause. If you're a little Vietnam and you're about to give Trump a big trade gift to prevent tariffs from happening, why would you do it now if he doesn't have the power to tariff? Add it all up and the Supreme Court is about to decide whether to take away Trump's biggest bargaining chip. Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story before the weekend. Haley Bieber just pulled off one of the biggest and fastest exits in startup history,

$1 billion in just three years. Because her beauty brand, Rode, borrowed a strategy from Elvis Presley. That's right, that Elvis. But Jack, let's start with Elf Beauty, who's had a rough year. The stock looks like it was out all night. Yeah, it does. It got some bags under your eyes, Elf Beauty. In April, Elf Beauty stock was down 60% on the year because of the trade war.

That's right, because three quarters of Elf Beauty cosmetics are made in China. And they just had to announce that everything is going up in price by $1. Yeah, on Instagram, they actually posted, Not gonna lie, inflations and tariffs have hit us hard at Elf Beauty. We appreciate the honesty from Elf Beauty. But the stock surged 25% this week. On news, they're spending a billion dollars to acquire Haley Bieber's skin brand, Road. Apparently they do have some money. And Justin Beaver was so proud that his wife sold her

company for a billion bucks, he cut off his bangs. Did he? Or maybe he already had. I'm not sure, but they're not there anymore, Jack. Now, if you're not familiar with Road Beauty, basically, they have the same value proposition as Krispy Creams. To glaze your skin with goodness. That's their actual tagline. They want to make your skin so dewy, and I know you hate when I say this word, Jack, but you'd lick your own face. We'll spend the second half of the pod because you're on a roll. Well, let's talk financials, Jack, because this company, Road, has done $212 million in revenue in the last year.

And it's all direct-to-consumer, and it's all online. Road Beauty is not in any physical stores yet. But the key reason why Elf Beauty has fallen in love with Road, what is it, Jack? A majority of Rhodes' cosmetics are made in Italy and South Korea. So the business protects Elf against both wrinkles and tariffs. But here's what Jack and I found fascinating about this story. Haley Bieber's Road has accomplished all of this with just 10 products. They've got a cream, a balm, a serum, and an iPhone case that actually is customized to hold your lipstick.

That's a really funny product. But seriously, there's only 10 things you can buy on the website. That's right. You can count all of the products that Haley Bieber's company makes on two hands. Or as they put it, they make one of everything really good. Now, Jack, in order to really understand the story, could you please sprinkle on some context to the cosmetics industry? It's the opposite.

Elf Beauty has 400 products. L'Oreal has a thousand products. From all the ads we've seen on TV our whole lives, Mabelene has maybe a million products. But Haley resisted the temptation to go beyond 10. It's like an invisible dewy ceiling she refuses to crack. And you know what this means, Jack? At her $1 billion valuation,

each of her products is technically worth a hundred million bucks. So that iPhone case with a customized lipstick holder is a $100 million product? Yes, it is Jack. So besties, for all of Haley Bieber's Instagram posts, shimmering like a watermelon, it appears that she actually borrowed a strategy from the music industry. And it has nothing to do with Justin Bieber. No, it doesn't. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Road Beauty?

Road just sold for a billion dollars because of Elvis Presley. Yeties, some fun business history here. Elvis Presley is the first musical artist to publish a greatest hits album. It was 1958 and he published Elvis Golden Records. It was only his best songs, the ones that sold a million units. Well, Elvis's greatest hits album went platinum. For similar reasons, we believe, that this skincare company just sold for a billion bucks. Because in a world that offers more.

Too much, frankly, there are major benefits to resisting and doing less. For consumers, offering less limits the stress of choice. And seeing so few choices on Rhodes' website implies that each product is premium. And for the business, offering less streamlines operations simplifies marketing and saves money overall. Like Elvis's greatest hits album, Haley Bieber only offers her greatest hits. And that's how she just sold for a billion bucks in three years. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us for the real Friday? The New York Times stock jumped on a multi-year licensing deal with Amazon to feed their AI.

Alexa Plus, she's being positioned as the first premium AI chatbot. For our second story, the Court of International Trade said Trump's tariffs are illegal, but an appeals court has already paused that ruling. So the Supreme Court will decide whether Trump gets his biggest bargaining chip tariffs. And our third and final story is Elf Bueh. They just bought Haley Bieber's Road Beauty for $1 billion. Elvis pioneered the greatest hits album. Haley Bieber made it her business model.

But Yeties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, Zuck is going to open up more meta stores to sell AI glasses and VR headsets. According to people familiar with the matter, meta wants to do what Apple did with Apple stores. Yeah, it started last year in Los Angeles, and now they're planning more of them so you can try on some meta raybans, before you buy them. And yes, this does mean that once again,

Zuck is zucking another tech company. Yeah, Zuck is zucking Apple. And second, United Airlines and JetBlue are subletting each other's runways in a kind of airline roommate deal situation. Yeah. United wants access to JFK Airport because of the whole mess going on at Newark, which happens to be its East Coast hub. And JetBlue has got plenty of JFK gates, so they're swapping a few of them with United. Yeah, it's a very highbrow, lowbrow hookup, by the way. Premium and discount airline. Yeah, it's like kind of a Kim Kardashian Pete Davidson situation going on. And finally, the new Harry Potter series coming to HBO has finally cast the three main characters. Harry, Ron, and Hermoyne will be played. I'm just kidding. I thought it was that

as I was reading the books. For years, I always said Hermione. For years I said Hermione. For years I said Herman. We'll be played by three child actors who you've never heard of. But each of those three children are set for life. Yeah, because there are going to be seven seasons of this Harry Potter series. so the kids are going to be employed for a decade. They're going to need a bigger bank account. We hope puberty treats all of them well. Now time for the best fact. Yeah, this one set in by legendary Yeti, Tiffany Schmidt from Ann Arbor, Michigan.

In honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Bunt, we're talking about the Bing Cherry. Yeah, the famous Bing Cherry was named after Ah Bing, a 19th century horticulturalist who emigrated from China to the U.S. And this immigrant's precise, selective breeding, of only the sweetest cherries set the modern standard for what we enjoy as cherries today.

And are currently the most expensive cherries on the market. And the sweetest. And also, before we go, a thanks to Emmy Seals for pointing out a correction we got to make to the pod. We said this week that Nespresso has more revenue than American Airlines. That was flat out wrong. Yeah, that's right. Nispresso $7 billion

in annual sales is a fraction of American Airlines $54 billion in annual sales. Our mistake on the fact check. Yeties, you looked fantastic this week. Jack, you look fantastic too. You want to celebrate some wins? Absolutely.

Okay, here's a win. I'm going to spell out that word that you missed at the end of the beginning of the pot. Okay, go ahead. Go ahead. C-H-A-G-G-G-M-A-N-C-H-A-U-G-G-G-G-H-A-U-G-G-G-A-M-A-U-G. You're sure this is real. Also, you need an oxygen bag right now. Yeah, you look fantastic.

Enjoy our weekly show this weekend on Heinz ketchup, the best idea yet. Remember to rate and review today's pod, and Jack and I will see you Monday. And before we go, a happy birthday to Yeti Will Beef Chung, turning 40 years old down in Las Vegas. This girl dad is spending it with a girl's dad. Happy birthday to Kevin Wolfe in Malvern, Pennsylvania.

This man has a fly fishing new show that I want to subscribe to. We're tuning in. So simple, happy 36th birthday down in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, celebrating with a life reset. There you go. He's unplugging himself, and he's plugging himself back in. And Amaya Alvarez has got a fantastic birthday in Jacksonville, Florida, just finishing the first grade. Congrats Amaya. Happy birthday to Brian Rosa.

Turn in 40 in Gardena, California, crushing volleyball, pound and bruise. And a shout out to Anna and Thomas in Minneapolis, Minnesota, who are having a baby in 24. hours, Anna, we're so pumped for you and the Holhower family. Congratulations to Ben and Lexi Einstein, who have a new baby boy over in San Francisco, Archie. And congratulations to legendary Yetis, Amanda and Doug Widham, a couple of T-Boy twins, celebrating at Top Golf and opening an HSA outside of Boston. Dibbs on being Amanda's caddy.

Dibs. And Wynn is celebrating a 20th anniversary for being at Starbucks in Seattle. That has got to be a corporate record win. Congratulations to Emily and Dan Chambers. moving from Boston to Chicago, see you at the live show, bring all your siblings. And Kyle Radzak from Warner Robbins, Georgia is celebrating a promotion in the Air Force. Kyle, thanks for flying for your service. Congrats to Miranda Day in Detroit, Michigan, who landed a job at Simple Closure,

the day after hearing our episode on it. That's right, we did a story on that company, and then Miranda shared it with the hiring team. Congrats on the job, Miranda, well earned. And finally, shout out to the New York City influencer on our Instagram at T-BoyPy check it out. They just dropped a review of Nvidia's earnings. This is Jack. I own stock of Amazon and Krispy Cream, and Nick and I both own stock of Apple.