Greetings from the Beverly Hills Hilton, home of the Milken Conference.
It’s 3:24 a.m. PT here and the hotel is empty, a different scene from Monday’s packed house at noon. You are probably wondering why I am here at this time? Well, we are taping an interview with Disney’s (DIS) Hugh Johnston soon right after earnings hit. I have known Hugh for a decade, going back to his long time serving as PepsiCo’s (PEP) CFO.
So considering that and my natural inclination to be awake, why not get things popping early! (Our live coverage on day two of Milken kicks off at 9 a.m. ET on our network, a more normal time)
A couple random thoughts that crept into my head during the inflationary Uber ride to the hotel:
1. Chatted up a source of mine I have known for years who has knowledge of the Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer relationship. Or should I say no relationship — the two apparently haven’t talked in years because Steve is a “family man” and doesn’t agree with some of Gates’s life choices in recent years.
2. If Kevin Hassett has been chosen to be the next Fed chief in Trump presidency round two, as the WSJ recently speculated, he didn’t show it in an interview with Akiko Fujita and yours truly yesterday afternoon. He actually downplayed it happening further, off camera. Then again, who in Trump’s inner circle wants to speak out against him in any way — don’t bite the hand that feeds you, I suppose.
3. Some thoughts below by Apollo Global Management (APO) CEO Marc Rowan on the college campus protests below. Rowan has been very vocal on the issue. (Note: Apollo is the parent company of Yahoo Finance.)
4. Yahoo Finance Senior Reporter Yasmin Khorram was in the room for a much anticipated main stage interview at Milken with Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk last night. People were leaving early during the meandering conversation, Khorram reports.
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