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Hi, I'm CNBC producer Katie Kramer. Today on Squawk Pod. Oil executives at the White House. Over a dozen leaders in America's energy industry met in Washington, including U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright. He lays out the priorities from that meeting and the bigger picture of American power. The president's broader agenda, for sure, is to grow American prosperity at home and influence and power abroad. And energy is just a fantastic tool to do that.
It's a shoe, it's a sneaker, it's Stan Smith. The tennis legend and author discusses his wearable legacy and how players today are pushing the sports business forward. It's not just a lonely game. And, you know, tennis is mano a mano, but you have a team. It's teamwork and the relationships that are involved.
Plus, the Fed holds steady, but Chair Powell says inflation is, uh-oh, transitory. When he said that, I was a little surprised that the markets really took the whole message in stride. And lock your March Madness picks today. The annual reminder that the odds of that perfect bracket won in 9.2 quintillion. Wow. It's Thursday, March 20th. Spring is here. Squawk Pod begins right now.
In support of our goals, today the Federal Open Market Committee decided to leave our policy interest rate unchanged.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell speaking following a highly watched decision of the central bank to leave interest rates unchanged, keeping a key borrowing rate at a range of four and a quarter to four and a half percent, where it has been since December. The chairman did indicate that reductions are possible later this year. If the economy remains strong and inflation does not continue to move sustainably toward 2%,
But has uncertainty about inflation increased? The chairman went back to his greatest hits for another play of the
T word. It can be the case that it's appropriate sometimes to look through inflation if it's going to go away quickly without action by us, if it's transitory. And that can be the case in the case of tariff inflation. I think that would depend on the tariff inflation moving through fairly quickly and would depend critically as well on inflation expectations being well anchored.
good morning and welcome to the fast money slash squawk box uh uh program thank you for acknowledging it's gonna have a a fast money sort of an aura as it usually does she agreed to come back again i don't know what it took uh melissa lee is is here we're live on cnbc from the nasdaq market site which you know pretty well this is down one floor is all yeah we're in the upper level but
You are. You're above us. You are above us in so many ways. Melissa Lee, Becky and Andrew are off today. Holding steady, the Fed kept its forecast for two rate cuts this year, but said uncertainty around the economy. The outlook has increased, increased. And in a post on a social media network last night, President Trump said the Fed would be much better off cutting rates as U.S. tariffs start to transition. That's kind of interesting or ease.
their way into the economy. Do the right thing. April 2nd is Liberation Day in America. That's when a new round of U.S. tariffs on other countries are scheduled to go into effect. I mean, there's some that could happen. It could happen that you combine Doge with the effects of the tariff, and it might make sense. I asked someone yesterday, I can't remember who it was, Alan Blinder, I think, who knows a lot about the Fed, obviously.
about whether, given the outlook for what these policies could do, is the Fed too restrictive right at this point? You could probably argue that they might be. You can definitely make that case. Except that Powell yesterday was very clear that he believed that this inflation could be transitory. And that would be the base case. That is the base. I know. And so when he said that. He said that word? I would.
I was a little surprised that the markets really took the whole message in stride, considering the last time he used the word transitory was really when they lost a lot of credibility initially in their fight against inflation. Do you think people watch every day? Watch? Yeah, I think they do. CNBC? Yeah, but I'm going to do it anyway. This was my imitation of Jay Powell in his recent, remember that interview recently? Yes. He's like this.
Yeah, we took him down, orchestrated a soft landing. Things are pretty good. I mean, the economy is really even. And we may or may not do something, but it's not based on us now. It's based on exogenous things. We've done our work. Now we're going to sit back. Don't you agree that the economy has, you know, stuck the landing in the end, even though transitory was a... He was joking. He was relaxed. He was at that interview. And I would be, too, because at this point,
Anything that happens is not going to be his fault. Except that he has to manage the policy afterwards. He does. But wouldn't you rather do that than managing yourself, your own mistakes? You'd rather manage the policy. It's true. You can point the blame at somebody else. He's done it. He's looking back at it. And, you know, we've been waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting for something to dispel the notion that he orchestrated the soft landing.
I'm almost ready to say, not mission accomplished, we've learned our lesson, but I'm almost ready to say that they successfully managed through that. Look at the last eight quarters, what GDP was, or the unemployment rate. It's only in the past month and a half, month or so. Where there's doubts. Where there are doubts. But I don't know if the doubts are, I don't know if they're real.
Yeah. Right. I mean, soft data, he called the UMich survey an outlier. You know, he's really dismissing the soft data, saying the hard data still shows the economy is solid. And that's why the markets rallied a percent across the board. Did you fill out a bracket? I don't know anything about brackets. Because you just said University of Michigan. And I just, I took them a long way. I think they're doing...
They are, and they'll probably lose in the first, I don't know, but I think they're, anyway, you said University of Michigan. My mind immediately jumped to that. I'm sorry. I know, I know, I'm sorry. NVIDIA was one stock that rallied yesterday. NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang says his company is set to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on chips and other electronics manufactured.
in America over the next four years. That's according to an interview Huang gave to the Financial Times. In it, he also said NVIDIA was now able to produce its most advanced systems in the U.S., partnering with Taiwan Semiconductor and Foxconn. NVIDIA coming off a day in which its CEO made a variety of headlines at the company's GTC conference in California. Huang said orders from more than three million flagship Blackwell chips from four top cloud providers
actually underrepresented demand. He expanded on the demand the company is seeing later on on CNBC's Mad Money. The world's computing capex, it's on its way to a trillion dollars annually by the end of the decade. So we're fairly certain of that. We're also very certain that the vast majority of that will be used for AI.
And so our opportunity as a percentage of a trillion dollars by the end of this decade is quite large. The Nvidia CEO made a number of other headlines. He said Nvidia sees only a little short-term impact from President Trump's tariffs. And on Chinese AI startup Deepsea, Kuang said fears that similar models wouldn't need to use as much computing power. Those beliefs were misplaced. Really pretty interesting.
I got to catch parts of the interview about the tariffs. He said, look, we're already onshore. We're enthusiastic about building in America as anybody. And so we've been working with TSMC to get them ready for manufacturing chips here in the United States.
We also have great partners like Foxconn and Wishtron who are working with us to bring manufacturing onshore. So long-term manufacturing onshore is going to be something very, very possible to do, and we'll do it incredibly. But the Chinese are still a key partner right now. You have a lot of businesses. I would say 17% of your business. Yeah. In the near term, I would say in the near term, tariffs will not, the impact will not be meaningful.
We're going to be, within a couple of years, we're not going to think about tariffs at all. And it's like, that's the idea, I think. But he said, we're talking to TSMC, talking to others to start building everything here. And I saw one of the
He calls it a chip. I mean, it's a frickin-- it looks like a laptop almost. They're so big. There's so much going on. And it's mind boggling to me, the architecture, the electronics that are-- it's not even electronic. I don't even know what it is. It's-- Circuitry. Thank God for electrical engineers who-- they let us all-- maybe not you, but they let us all sort of screw around in undergraduates. You go out at night and--
while they were nose to the grind. They had to be nose to the grind. So you take any engineering courses at Harvard ever? No. I barely touched on the surface and realized, no way. It's very, thank God for that. Thank God for that. Look what the world is turning into. Well, that's, they'd all be displaced by robots, but. Including electrical engineers. Including, yeah, they'll be out of here too. ♪
President Trump is weighing a reversal of his recent decision to order Chevron to stop pumping oil in Venezuela next month. That's according to the Wall Street Journal. It says Trump expressed openness to the idea of extending Chevron's license during a meeting with oil executives and Energy Secretary Chris Wright yesterday at the White House. As part of a possible extension, the journal says the Trump administration is looking at imposing tariffs on countries that buy oil from Venezuela. We'll speak with the Energy Secretary in an interview, so you will not want to miss that.
Think we should fill the SPR, refill it at this price? At these levels, yeah. Not at 50? Drill, baby, drill. I'm not calling you baby, but if you drill baby. No, I understand that. You never do that. No. Not long to get Melissa to get your brackets in.
If you have questions. I've never done a bracket in my life. Today, I don't have anyone to talk to about basketball and sports. I'm sorry to fall short of here. Because Becky's not here. Normally, I can talk to her, at least, about it. I can leave. No, no. I was making a different point. You can leave.
I like the joke about this. The NCAA men's and women's college basketball tournament. I will help. And you can always just press automatic. I'll just go and check your BT and say, give me a bracket. Press automatic on this thing. You can get them all. Tips off the day. The four number one seeds in the men's bracket. Auburn.
I don't know. Florida definitely should be there. Duke and Houston, all those I might take to the end. Teams are going to play the first two rounds of the tournament today through Sunday, making their way to the national championship game. That's on April 7th. The American Gaming Association estimates people will bet three point one billion dollars on
on men's and women's games over the next three weeks and of course uh the annual reminder that uh the odds of that perfect bracket one in nine point two quintillion wow warren buffett telling the wall street journal he wants to give away some money this year during the tournament berkshire hathaway's can win a million dollars oh okay now if they correctly predict 30 out of 32 winners uh in the first round and i've said for a while come on warren
It used to be a perfect bracket, though. A million dollars, if you get a perfect bracket, ought to be a billion dollars, minimum. So now he's changing that a little. He goes to 30 out of 32, which is a little bit better. He's a Creighton guy. I see so many Big East games that I think St. John's has a chance. I would take Marquette for a while. Xavier's in. UConn, you could never count out. So you submitted this so-called bracket. I'm in the process of doing it, actually, during the show.
Oh, that's nice to know. Like during the interviews? Yeah. Yeah. After I ask a question, I go back to it and think. No, I need to ask a follow-up. I need to listen to the answers. And then that's when you point to me and say... Yeah. Sometimes I need to listen to the answers. All right.
Next on Squawk Pod, energy CEOs at the White House. The new Secretary of Energy Chris Wright underscores the power of power. And he argues net zero by 2050, a goal for activists. Everything in life has tradeoffs. If you can reduce greenhouse gas emissions without raising prices or reducing human freedom, that's a big win. And that's what the rise of U.S. shale gas has done. We'll be right back.
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This is Squawk Pod. Stand by, Joe. Here's Mike. You're watching Squawk Box on CNBC. I'm Joe Kernan, along with Melissa Lee. Andrew and Becky are off. She's off again tomorrow. I know, because I'm here. President Trump met with top U.S. oil executives, including the CEOs of ExxonMobil,
Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Phillips 66 and Marathon Petroleum to discuss the administration's plans to boost domestic energy production. Joining us now with the details, Energy Secretary Chris Wright. Mr. Secretary, it is good to see you. You know, around here, we don't like burying the lead. That's a reporter talk. So we did it right at the top.
Because they have not been to the-- do they know how to get to the White House, any of those oil executives? How long has it been since they were at the White House? Not in the last four years.
- Exactly, in fact, there were a few newer CEOs that had never been to the White House before. There were several that had been there before, but years ago. So yeah, that was the first message. They're no longer the scarlet letter on their foreheads now for producing over 80% of American energy. And the cost of that is just massively impactful on people's lives. So to pretend they're not important or we should somehow deny they exist,
Just one of the many absurdities of the last administration and why President Trump was elected to bring some common sense back. There's a lot of different, depending on where you stand on the issues, Mr. Secretary, it's
Under the Biden administration, we got back to all-time highs in barrels per day. Did we not? But then on the other side, you hear critics say that the counterfactual would even be more if we didn't have, I don't know, ANWR or not being allowed to open up some offshore leases, et cetera. What can you say about that? Was it full bore for the oil company? Were they able to do...
maximum production under the constraints of the Biden administration, or can they even do more?
Oh, definitely can do more. And you're right. It was record high productions of both oil and natural gas. But the counterfactual is, of course, it would have been higher. No federal lease sales for the first couple of years of the Biden administration. Slow rolling permits, not allowing pipelines or gathering lines to be built. That just means this stuff isn't developed. Didn't mean people didn't drill for oil and gas. But one of the points I made in my testimony to Congress a year ago was,
was if you put barriers and at the margin, you reduce the production of oil and gas, even when it's at a high level, if you reduce it by only a little bit and you do nothing to change demand, you're just guaranteed to get higher prices. And that we saw four years of that higher oil, higher natural gas prices than we should have had. Not high, but higher than we should have had. Do you think that that, um,
What was the impetus for that LNG? It seemed like a bone to the green lobby. The, I don't know, no new facilities? Has that been reversed? And can you talk about, I mean, LNG is one of our greatest strengths in the United States for exports and for our own domestic energy use and everything else.
- Oh, spot on, Joe. Look, it is the fastest growing export of the United States and our second largest export. Only oil and oil products do we export larger in dollar volume than liquefied natural gas. It's the fastest growing energy source on the planet over the last 15 years.
and we're by far the biggest producer. So this is just a win all the way around. You know what the Biden administration did here is just actually crazy. They did a study, 'cause they were, remember, all of government about climate change. They did a study to see what would be the impact of growing LNG exports on climate, not on people or humans or allies, but on climate change.
And the result was the more LNG you exported, the lower greenhouse gas emissions went. They should have done cartwheels and doubled down. Instead, they buried that study. It didn't acknowledge its existence.
Four months later, announced a pause to investigate the climate and price impacts of natural gas, and then did a new study that was more fiction than fact, and then released that, you know, weeks after they left the door and said, oh, geez, the data shows it might be negative for Americans and for the climate. Just...
I mean, just undermining government, undermining trust in science and facts and data. But we've reversed those days. On day one, we got rid of the LNG export ban, permit ban. And I've already signed five actions in less than 100 days to get more of these terminals permitted under construction, more American jobs, more American energy and greater security for our allies around the world.
So, Secretary Wright, getting back to the meeting with Mike Wirth, the CEO of Chevron, is the administration closer to extending that license? And what is the thinking behind it? I mean, what is the most compelling reason to do so? Is it because you want to box China out because if Chevron pulls out, China will step in?
Look, the president's broader agenda for sure is to grow American prosperity at home and influence and power abroad. And energy is just a fantastic tool to do that. So the vast majority of the dialogue that we had in that room was about how can we unleash American energy? How can we make it easier for people that want to invest and have specific projects to go ahead and develop them?
So look, I won't go into any any details there on some dialogues that are ongoing. But one of the things that was dialogued, the Biden administration did over 60 specific actions reducing development in Alaska, not just for oil and gas, but for mining or minerals or any economic activity for that state, far more sanctioned and restricted than Iran or Venezuela.
You know, and then when oil prices went up, they asked Iran and Venezuela for more oil, drained our strategic petroleum reserve, and didn't remove a single sanction on Alaska or the rest of the western United States. Well, I'm curious, Secretary, right, in terms of...
Sure. But in terms of unleashing or lifting sort of the bureaucracy on drilling in new sites, I understand for other things other than oil. But with oil at 66, it's a very different equation here. Oil companies, I would imagine this is what Mr. Wirth told you also, they don't want to drill more. They want to be disciplined about their capacity.
Yeah, all prices of oil and natural gas and all commodities, they're dictated by supply and demand. You know, nobody decides the price of oil. It's just supply and demand. But I think we've seen a market discounting the fact that clearly it's going to be easier to produce oil and gas in the United States.
The restrictions and impediments we had in the last four years, they're gone. And so the market is discounting, yes, more supply is going to come. And that's pushed down prices of oil, gasoline, home heating fuels, everything across the board. That's a win to the American people. It'll become, it'll remain a win for the companies as well, as if their costs are lower and their risks are lower, their break-even cost, above which they're profitable, that's going to move down too. In fact, it's already moved down.
well secretary do climate change advocates have uh reason to be worried i i i've even seen some republicans talk about a carbon tax i think they're talking about a carbon dioxide tax but if you say carbon dioxide it you know carbon sounds black and sooty and horrible whereas carbon dioxide is this liquid colorless gas so they always say carbon but carbon taxes carbon sequestration the ira
had giveaways to the green lobby that would blow your mind. Are those all gonna be reversed or somehow frozen? I mean, how do you view the whole subject? You're gonna get the net zero by 2050, Mr. Secretary? - Absolutely not. No country on earth will get to net zero on 2050, but the urgent efforts trying to do it
have just driven up energy prices, move industries out. Look at what Germany's done. This is an industrial powerhouse. Most of their manufacturing industry has left the country. They've tripled their electricity prices, and they went from 80% of their energy from hydrocarbons to 74%. That took them over a half a trillion dollar people impoverishment, industry exporting, they got down to 74%. Net zero by 2050, of course, is just nonsense.
It's an activist thing, and it's a top-down, big government justification to do mostly anti-human things. But what I will say to the, maybe not to the climate activists, but to the thoughtful people about climate change, we will follow the math and the science and be honest about the trade-offs here. Everything in life has trade-offs. If you can reduce greenhouse gas emissions...
without raising prices or reducing human freedom, that's a big win. And that's what the rise of U.S. shale gas has done by growing LNG export. We share that economic and reduced greenhouse gas benefit with the world. But we're going to treat things like they're real serious topics
and not a quasi cult religion where we'll justify anything in the name of climate change, even when it's a reversing benefits from climate change as the Biden administration did with the LNG pause. Return of common sense, I should say. - I was gonna ask about the SPR. What's a good price for you? Where would you say I would buy with both hands? What price? 50?
Oh, I never comment on oil prices because you just don't know where they're going to go, what they're going to have to refill it. That was no crisis. That was no crisis. That was a crisis of a midterm coming or something. That was the crisis. And oil prices were too high.
Absolutely. 100%. And yes, we have stated right up front, we will refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. You've got to get budget approval to do that. But 100%, that's going to happen. Unfortunately, you can refill it a lot slower than you can drain it. But we've got to get going on that. And we will be going on that very soon. But yeah, it'll take years. But the Strategic Petroleum Reserve will be returned to its original use.
Very good. Secretary Wright, thanks for being on this morning. Appreciate it. Tease will be next. Coming up on Squawk Pod, Stan Smith, former professional athlete with a long legacy. Tennis legend who I remember well. Melissa has no idea. I thought he was a shoe. He thought he was a shoe. Stan Smith.
Mizzen and Main is the pioneer of re-engineering classic American styles with performance fabrics, all with the goal of making it easier for guys to achieve and enjoy their version of success. They're the brand you can turn to for a machine-washable and wrinkle-resistant dress shirt you can wear every day, and high-stretch pants that are as comfortable in the office as they are on the golf course. Go to mizzenandmain.com and use code POD20 to get 20% off your first purchase.
And now, a next-level moment from AT&T business. Say you've sent out a gigantic shipment of pillows, and they need to be there in time for International Sleep Day. You've got AT&T 5G, so you're fully confident. But the vendor isn't responding, and International Sleep Day is tomorrow. Luckily, AT&T 5G lets you deal with any issues with ease, so the pillows will get delivered and everyone can sleep soundly, especially you. AT&T 5G requires a compatible plan and device. Coverage not available everywhere. Learn more at att.com slash 5G network.
Welcome back to Squawk Pod. Get your clean white kicks ready. We check in with the famed tennis pro whose face launched 100 million sneakers, Stan Smith. In his long career, which started in the late 1960s, Smith was a pioneer in the business of tennis, going back to the founding of the ATP Tour more than 50 years ago.
The sport is facing an inflection point. Yesterday, the Professional Tennis Players Association, founded by 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic, filed an antitrust lawsuit against the sport's governing bodies, alleging that tennis athletes have little control over their schedules, their bodies even, and are not compensated properly.
The PTPA's executive director, Ahmad Nasser, joined our TV broadcast yesterday. It really was an unprecedented series of sweeping legal actions in the U.S., U.K., and E.U., challenging the entire system, which certainly includes the schedule, but also includes rigging and fixing prize money illegally. It includes a global conspiracy. You mentioned the word cartel before we went into break, and that's exactly right.
from the biggest tournaments to the smallest tournaments that are held on six continents, really across 12 different months of the year. But it includes anti-doping, onerous anti-doping regulations. Those have obviously been in the news a lot in the last few months. It includes the schedule, prize money, and really an overall rigged system that stifles innovation. With Stan Smith on Squawk Box today, here's Joe Kernan.
Littlewood Rackets. Our next guest is a legend in his sport and his insights into managing business and relationships both on and off the court. Joining us now, tennis legend who I remember well. Melissa has no idea. I thought he was a shoe. So yeah, he thought he was a shoe. Stan Smith, former world number one and a member and former president of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Co-authored a new book, Winning Trust, How to Create Moments.
Fit Matter, based on decades of experience running his business, Stan Smith Events. You've been in a great spot for years. I've seen you down there at Hilton Head. Yeah, Sea Pines Resort is one of the great spots on the East Coast. It is. And you were...
I mean, people that think they're avid tennis fans, they probably have heard of you, but they probably didn't see you play. No, you'd have to be probably 55 or 60 really to have seen me play. Almost a boomer. In the 70s and 80s, and so it's...
What an elegant game that you had. It wasn't as much of a power game. Well, it was. Some players had big serves, but it was more finesse. And people played a little bit like Roger Federer. You had slices and drop shots and top spins. I mean, you had a little more variety, I think. Wooden rackets and with the small heads. They really look small when you look at them now compared to these rackets. What did you learn in your long career? And did...
Did the things you learned from competing in the sport translate into being successful businessmen? Well, you know, you have to put in the hard work. I mean, that's always the case. You have some talent, but you have to put in some hard work, and then you...
you have to realize that it's not just a lonely game and you know tennis is as mano a mano but you have a team and you know when the players win they always talk about their team and so i learned even in my ear it wasn't as big a team as there are now that you it's teamwork and there's relationships that are involved and so
It's important. And I was one of the founders of the ATP. So we... It was getting sued now. And it's getting sued. By its biggest name, I would say. Well, yeah. Greatest player of all time. And it's very odd. Well, you could call him the GOAT. You know, you got Nadal and Federer in that conversation. He's going to win another major probably. Still our Grand Slam. He could. Yeah, he could. Grand Slam event. Because if you say you want a Grand Slam, it means something entirely different. It's all four. So,
So I didn't realize what the suit was about until yesterday. We had Ahmad in here yesterday. And what they're complaining about. It's a grind. It really is a grind. You're playing tennis, but is it a grind? Well, you know, I was one of the founders of the ATP 50 years ago, 73.
And it was always about schedule. It was about prize money, about how you wanted to distribute the prize money, top players versus the rank and file. And it seems like the same thing in a way. Players want to have a nine-month schedule, but the top players end up being a little hypocritical because they'll go three months of playing special events and exhibitions and they'll keep playing.
that's one of the issues that comes out. But it's, you know, they're always looking for better conditions for the players. It's so much better now than it was. And the ATP has done a fantastic job in providing for the players and trying to keep it a semblance of order. You know, there's the four Grand Slams and the nine Masters Series. And so trying to get the public to understand, you know, the whole schedule of the events. And so there's
There's certainly things that can be done better, and I hate to see the dirty laundry out there for the public, seeing the player issues that really could be resolved inside the ATP and the WTA. Now they're involved, and of course the ITF is involved, and they're trying to monitor with anti-doping and anti-corruption things as well, so it's...
there's been a lot of organization to help the game and it's in a better place oh i remember the pga had some similar complaints about you know you had the top 50 and then you got the other 350 and it's it's it's tough is it the same with tennis it's the same thing you got the ticket sellers or you have the top 10 or top 20 then you got the rank and file that are you want to support and the distribution of the prize meaning the tournament should you know how much you go to the winner versus the
first round losers and so it's very similar issues that we've had when we started the ATP, it's amazing. - So we touched on the book but can you summarize it in, you know? - Yeah, so the book really is an accumulation of what we've done over the last 30 years of providing corporations, helping them provide events for their partners or their clients. And they want to develop a stronger relationship
WHICH WILL ACCELERATE THE TRUST THAT THEY WILL HAVE WITH THOSE PEOPLE, WHERE THEY CAN DO BUSINESS TOGETHER AND HOPEFULLY, YOU KNOW, HAVE MORE FAITH IN WHAT EACH OTHER IS THINKING. I SAID THAT I THOUGHT HE WAS A SHOE. RIGHT. YOU THOUGHT SOMEONE WAS BRINGING IN THE SAND SMITH SHOE. I WAS VERY EXCITED. I LOVE SHOEKERS. IN ALL SERIOUS, YOU WROTE A BOOK, "SAND SMITH, I'M NOT JUST A SHOE." YEAH.
Some people think I'm a shoe. Some people think I'm a shoe. And that's what some people do think because of the resurgence of the Sam Smith sneakers. There's a resurgence in general of sneakers in even corporate wear. I know. People wear sneakers with their suits to work, et cetera. One million pairs have been sold as of last year. A hundred million. A hundred million, sorry. A hundred million. Yeah.
One million since last year. What kind of arrangement do you have with Adidas? Well, you know, it's been a great relationship with them over the years. It's such a great brand. And back in 73, when I signed that agreement, I was so proud to be part of that partnership.
And I still am. It's fantastic. And so you've seen retro things. The Samba now is a very popular one. And then the Superstar. Then my shoe has been, you know, gone through cycles. And so it's...
It's fun to see people wearing shoes, like you say, tennis shoes, and we're going to a formal event tonight, and I'll probably wear my shoes. You're Stan Smith. Yeah. Who did you like best as a person and as a competitor? There's probably ten guys I'd like you to... Yeah, there's about six guys in my kind of top six, and that includes Sampras, Laver, and Borg, and the three guys that...
most recent and those are fantastic ambassadors the game they all really represented the game well and so it's uh it's been a real uh it's a one it's a wonderful game it's so international that's the announcer you like macro macro is doing a great job and you know jim curry does a great job brad gilbert i'd be he'd yell at me if i didn't yeah i was doing a good job and chrissy and martina you know they've all translated into
letting the fans understand what the players are thinking about as they're playing. And that's the key for those color commentators. Yep. Whenever Wimbledon's close or any of the Grand Slams, even some of the Indian Wells or Cincinnati. Yeah, Indian Wells, the Cincinnati tournament is one of the big nine tournaments after the four. So it's getting a renovation and they almost lost it, but now it's going to be there and it's a great event.
It's good to be able to talk about it and not do something. I just said that about basketball. Did you hear that? Yes. Yeah. Can't do that. My wife, I think, won 60 straight sets, I think. But I did beat her. But she played in high school. I beat her at a set, though. I did. Twice. You did. Playing fair? No, yes, it was fair. It was? You didn't make any bad calls? No, it wasn't like I got to play doubles rules. Was there any trash talking? She does do that. She does that? Yes. Oh, not you? No.
I don't, I'm not in a position. You're not good enough to be here. You crash talk. Stay married. I am not. But it was great having you on. Thank you. And you're legendary. Nice to be on. I'm one of the people that did watch you. You're not just a shoe. You're not just a shoe. You betcha.
And that is Squawk Pod for today, this Thursday. Squawk Box is hosted by Joe Kernan, Becky Quick, and Andrew Ross Sorkin. Thanks to Melissa Lee for sitting in today. You can tune in to Squawk on TV weekday mornings on CNBC at 6 Eastern, or get the best of our show right into your ears in a podcast when you follow Squawk Pod wherever you like to listen. Thank you. We'll meet you right back here tomorrow.
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