Berna Barshay on Hard Money's Million Dollar Podcast discussing Foot Locker; Pivot podcast interview with Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky; Truth Social Users 'Losing Interest' in Trump's Social Media App; Garry Kasparov's latest thoughts on Putin and his invasion of Ukraine; E-mails I sent to Billie Jean King and Roger Federer
1) I was a guest in June and again two weeks ago on my colleagues Enrique Abeyta and Gabe Marshank's Hard Money's Million Dollar Podcast, which follows them as they turn $10,000 into $1 million – or go bust trying.
Yesterday, it was our colleague Berna Barshay's turn, where she shared her insights regarding Foot Locker (FL), whose stock has fallen by more than 50% over the past 10 months. You can listen to it here.
2) Another one of my favorite podcasts is Pivot by NYU Professor Scott Galloway and New York Times tech columnist Kara Swisher.
I recently attended their conference in Miami, and in my January 17 e-mail I shared my notes from their interview with Airbnb (ABNB) CEO Brian Chesky. You can now listen to that entire interview in their bonus podcast here.
3) As I've written many times before, Digital World Acquisition (DWAC) is one of the worst stocks I've ever seen...
It is certain to blow sky high in the near future, even if the SEC doesn't block its deal – which I think there is a 50/50 chance of – to acquire the Trump Media and Technology Group and its new app, Truth Social.
I'm even more certain of the stock's pending implosion after seeing Truth Social's dismal start. The app was released a week ago Sunday, but after an initial surge it's fading fast – it's not even listed among the top 148 free iPhone apps. Here are two articles about it:
Former President Donald Trump's social media app Truth Social may have been out only a week but some are already "losing interest."
The self-described "'Big Tent' social media platform that encourages an open, free, and honest global conversation" initially encountered issues such as crashes, copyright infringement accusations, and long waitlists with its soft launch. However, it appears that issues with the app remain and have some users questioning the app.
- Trump's Truth Social bomb. Excerpt:
The vast majority of people downloading the app, me included, were given a waitlist number. Nine days later, most of us remain on that waitlist, with our number unchanged and without a word of communication from the company. A waitlist "refresh" icon doesn't work...
The former president is Truth Social's founder and chairman, so he obviously bears some responsibility for putting together the team that's so far fallen on its face. But, most importantly, he's not using the app.
- Trump hasn't posted a single time since the launch, despite an international crisis that has captivated the country. Instead, he's given his comments to radio and TV hosts – including one this morning with Dominion conspiracy theorist Maria Bartiromo – plus via his CPAC speech.
- Had he limited, or at least prioritized, his reactions to Truth Social, it would have caused every media outlet to mention the app. Same would have applied to last night's State of the Union address...
The bottom line: The SPAC's investment thesis seems to be that a large percentage of Trump's 88 million Twitter followers will migrate over to Truth Social. But nearly two weeks after launch, his dormant account has fewer than 80,000 followers. And Trump himself is largely to blame.
4) Following up on Garry Kasparov's op-ed in the Chicago Tribune, How the free world gave Putin the green light, which I shared in Monday's e-mail, here's his 13-post Twitter thread with his latest thoughts. Excerpt:
5) Speaking of actions the world can take against Putin, it's good to see nearly every sport ban Russian and Belarusian teams and athletes... except my favorite sport, tennis.
This prompted me to send two e-mails yesterday to tennis legends Billie Jean King and Roger Federer. Here's the first one to King (the one to Federer was nearly identical):
Dear Ms. King,
I am one of your biggest fans and have had the honor of meeting you twice: once in the JP Morgan box at the U.S. Open roughly 15 years ago, where I learned that you were a fan of Warren Buffett and connected you with him that day, and five years ago at the opening of the show courts at the Cary Leeds Tennis Center in the Bronx (I'm on the board of Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Foundation, which provided substantial funding for this). Here's a picture of us that day:
I'm writing to encourage you to use your substantial influence within tennis to have both the men's and women's tours ban all Russian players until Russia ends its horrific invasion of Ukraine. This would be in line with what most other sports are doing – most notably, FIFA removing Russia from the World Cup qualifying playoffs this month and therefore the World Cup itself.
There is precedent for a ban on individual athletes that I'm sure you're familiar with: during apartheid, South Africa's teams and athletes were banned from international competition in nearly every sport.
At first glance, it seems unfair to punish individual players for the actions of the dictator who rules over them – Rublev, to his credit, even wrote on the camera lens "No war please" after his recent semi-final match in Dubai – but it doesn't matter. They represent Russia and their mere presence on the court implicitly legitimizes their country and its brutal leader.
Can you imagine Medvedev winning Wimbledon and holding the championship trophy over his head on Centre Court, bringing glory to Russia at the very moment that his country is occupying, killing, and oppressing the Ukrainian people? This would be a permanent stain on the sport.
Thank you for acting urgently on this matter.
Sincerely yours,
Whitney Tilson
Later in the day, I sent this follow-up to both King and Federer:
Shortly after I e-mailed you this morning, I saw that the ATP, WTA, and ITF decided that "players from Russia and Belarus will continue to be allowed to compete in international tennis events on Tour and at the Grand Slams. However, they will not compete under the name or flag of Russia or Belarus until further notice."
I hope you will use your influence to persuade them to reverse this misguided, gutless decision.
Allowing Russian and Belarusian players to compete, but not "under the name or flag of Russia or Belarus" is a farce, similar to what the IOC did after Russia's state-sponsored doping program was exposed. Did anyone think the athletes competing (and winning dozens of medals in both the summer and winter games) under the banner of the "Russian Olympic Committee" were from some other country?
Similarly, will Putin be celebrating any less if Medvedev ends up holding the Wimbledon trophy over his head on Centre Court simply because it doesn't say RUS next to his name on the scoreboard?
Note that it isn't just team sports like soccer, hockey, and rugby that have banned Russia. The world governing bodies for alpine and Nordic skiing, figure and speed skating, cycling, and track and field have all done the same.
This leaves tennis as a shameful outlier.
Four of the top 25 players in the world currently, both men and women, are from Russia or Belarus. Even though I don't doubt that they, personally, oppose the invasion, they represent their countries, irrespective of whether a flag is next to their name. Thus, every time they take the court, it will be a feather in Putin's cap and a slap in the face of everyone else, especially the brave Ukrainians fighting for their freedom.
People will long remember whether the sport of tennis is on the right side of history here.
Sincerely yours,
Whitney
Best regards,
Whitney
P.S. I welcome your feedback at WTDfeedback@empirefinancialresearch.com.