🤫 “End of Passwords” — Microsoft’s post-password-era. Formula 1’s sister surge. Mack Weldon’s anti-tariff undies.
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This is Nick. This is Jack. Welcome back. It is Monday, May 5th, and today's pod, out of all the pods, is the best one yet. This is a T-boy. The top three pop business news stories you need to know today. Announcing our live show in...

60 seconds. But first, our three stories. Which are fantastic. What do we got, Jack? For our first story, Formula One is the fastest growing sport in America, and it just had its hottest race of the year down in Miami. Formula One sales are surging because of 28-year-old American women. For our second story, get this, Microsoft just declared that it's killing the

the password once and for all. Gone. You can log in sans password. Ding dong, the password is dead, baby. And our third and final story. One company has found a creative way to turn tariff problems into a strength. Mack Weldon just unveiled price-locked underwear through the 4th of July. But yetis, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories.

fantastic mix of stories to kick off the week, Jack. Our first live show was in San Francisco. It was amazing. Then we did New York, which was huge. Then we did Seattle, which was very Pacific Northwest. But our biggest live show yet is actually our deepest live show yet. Yetis, prepare to hit the lake, feel the wind, and dig into some deep dish. Because the best one yet is coming to Chicago! Chicago!

We are doing a T-Boy live show in Chicago on July 23rd. It's the biggest event to hit Chi-Town since Oprah. The location is the Vic Theater. Capacity, a thousand seats. The vibe, rock concert. But with fully audited financials. Jack, we're putting up

Michael Jordan numbers on this thing, baby. Tickets go on sale this Wednesday. So follow us at T-Boy Pod on Instagram so you see the ticket drop first. Bring your buddy. Bring your office. Loop in the whole loop while you're at it. Because we're going to have three fantastic stories plus a surprise guest on stage at the Vic. And we'll be whipping up takeaways like a young Ferris Bueller. T-Boy Live does Chicago. Because Chicago does logistics.

Tickets are on sale this Wednesday. Follow us to get those tickets first. Hey, Midwest, you look fantastic. Da Bears, Da Bulls, Ah! Podcast. Da Three Stories. Let's hit them, Jack.

Start the show. Start the show.

First, a quick word from our sponsor.

Nick, can you share that wonderful quote about hospitality we heard recently? Jack, I think I read this in the Danny Meyer book, but he said something like hospitality is anticipating someone's needs beyond expectations. I love that quote. When I have a guest booked to stay at my place, I try to meet that hospitality standard, and I do so by letting them know ahead of time events happening in the area. Pro tip, your favorite jam band is playing at your favorite burger place Wednesday night? Probably let your guests know about that.

I also completed a full travel guide within my Airbnb listing, sharing my personal favorite recommendations and secret spots. What kind of stuff's in that travel guide, Jack? That swimming hole is so remote, you can definitely swim in the nude and you won't get any issues. Hey, I know George Costanza shrinkage that we know of. Yetis, your actual house, your apartment, your condo is just one part of the Airbnb hosting experience.

I've really enjoyed the soft parts of hospitality, anticipating my guests' needs beyond their expectations. If this sounds your style and you enjoy a naked jump into a stream, you can become an Airbnb host too, as long as you got a place. I'm proud of my 4.92 rating, and my wife is proud of the revenue we're generating with that rating. Yeah, it is. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at airbnb.com slash host.

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For our first story, Formula One just held its hottest race event of the year down in Miami. But Formula One's stock is near an all-time high, and it's all thanks to your 28-year-old little sister. Now, yetis, if your buddy Timmy called in sick today, it's because...

The Kentucky Derby, Cinco de Mayo, Star Wars Day... May the 4th. NBA playoffs, NHL playoffs, and Berkshire Hathaway's shareholder conference all happened over the weekend. And the Met Gala's today. Yeah, but the big...

Biggest event last weekend, physically, was actually the newest event. Formula One racing. Formula U down in Miami, Florida. As they pronounce it in Daytona. Formula M. Formula One. The most technical cars, the most expensive tickets, and a whole lot of drama this weekend down in Miami, Jack. The Dutch racer Max Verstappen drives for Team Red Bull, but

almost missed the Miami race because his baby was born just a couple days before. Like literally right before. Oh, and then Ferrari unveiled a blue Ferrari car? What? Ferraris are red. That's the rule. It's like an insult to Italy worse than pineapple on pizza, man. Still, 2024 was a record year for Formula One.

They generated nearly $4 billion in revenue. Now, historically, Formula One racing has been ignored in America. This is NASCAR country. This is an indie world, baby. But today, F1 is actually the fastest growing professional sport in the United States. Depends on the timeframe, but along with pickleball and the WNBA, F1 is booming in America. And here's what Jack and I find fascinating. Formula One is also a

publicly traded business. It was acquired eight years ago by Liberty Media, and now the stock is near an all-time high. But Jack, could you press on the Pistons a bit and sprinkle on a little context to their $4 billion in Formula One revenue? That's four times the revenue of NASCAR. It's almost as much as the NHL, and it's half as much as the NBA. But honestly, it's even more impressive when you consider that Formula One only has 24 races a year. They're called Grand Prixs. Not

Not racist. Eh, wee-wee. Wee-wee, Jack. Still, 24 Grand Prixs. Compare that to 1,230 basketball games played in the NBA every season. So what we're saying is that each Formula One racing event is really a profit puppy. It's like a mini Olympics. It takes over the entire city for a whole weekend. Get this. The Miami Grand Prix yesterday got 25% more in ticket revenue for Miami's Hard Rock Stadium, where they do the race around, than

then all the Miami Dolphin football home games combined. You better call an audible, Dan Marino, because racing has taken over Miami. One race was equal to eight football games in revenue. And it's the third race in the United States. There's also one in Austin, and there's also one in Las Vegas. Now, besties, it is Netflix who we can thank for growing the F1 fan base. Their reality show during the pandemic brought more fans and more sponsors to the sport.

Especially in the United States. But F1 just struck a $1 billion sponsorship deal with Louis Vuitton. That's right. The handbag company is now sponsoring the sports cars. F1 also just got a $450 million check from America's Cadillac. Because Cadillac wants to be the 11th Formula One racing team, so they had to pay a fee in order to enter. And they joined the circuit next year. But the most valuable part of the Formula One business model is... TV. Yeah, it's broadcasting. Like with every sport.

Our bet, Netflix is going to buy the rights, which expire next year. Interesting. And turn F1 into a globally streamable, like glitzy kind of show with a halftime event. Rihanna's going to be there. Yeah. And Lady Gaga singing half. There's no halftime in racing, but I'm picking up what you're putting down. I'm sure they will change the sport for that money, Jack. But the wildest part about F1's business model is actually who's behind it. Nick and I jumped in T-boy style to the earnings report from F1 last quarter. Fair enough.

Female fans and fans under 30 are both up 50% for F1 in the past five years. That's right. Your 28-year-old little sister is who's driving growth at Formula 1. But I'll be honest, even I'm attracted to the racers in Formula 1. Have you seen how chiseled those chins are? Max, don't Verstappen at all. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Formula 1? F1 has mainstreamified the VIP section.

Yetis, here's the irony. Formula One is the only mainstream luxury sport, yeah, that's a contradiction, that we can find. Polo, sailing, those aren't mainstream. But F1 is mainstream, even though it's the glitziest of all the sports in the whole world.

Nick, most Grand Prixs have their circuits viewable by yacht. Yeah, that's a real thing. Monaco on the south coast of France, that's the most famous F1 face track. And yet, luxurious F1 is watched by a billion fans. It is also the fastest growing pro sport in America. And most of those billion fans do not own yachts.

So Formula One, it is sponsored by David Yerman Jewelry and Brunello Cuccinelli's fancy clothing, and yet it's also sponsored by Puma and Adidas. How does F1 pull it off? Such a wide, diverse spectrum of both fans and sponsors. It's strategic about what it keeps exclusive. So Formula One limits itself to only 24 races, only 10 teams, and only 20 drivers. But it scales the media part.

100 million followers on social media, and it's broadcast globally on TV. So Besties, Formula One is at an all-time high because it pulled off a contradiction Aramaze never could. It's mainstreamified the VIP section. For our second story, Sam Altman, Microsoft, and Tinder basically just killed the password. The future is passwordless. Yes, it is. Because we are so incredibly bad at keeping secure passwords.

Now, Yetis, if I know Jack, there are a few things he loves more than a good game of trivia all the time. So Jack, what was the trivia question? I know you asked 50 people, including your family and like the waiter at a restaurant. This is such a good hero stat. What percent of login attempts in America are successful? In other words, Nick, what percent of the time after entering your username and your password and clicking enter?

what percent of the time are you successful and you actually get into your account? Okay, so Jack, according to Microsoft, what's the answer? 32%. That's it. Only 32% of the time are you successful logging in. Like only one out of three times are you getting your own password right. The other two thirds of the time you push log in and it says wrong username or password. Please try again. Yetis, using logged in accounts online faces amazing friction and so

much wasted time from all of those failed logins. Plus, Jack, we haven't even discussed the insecure passwords. It's true that the number one password in America is password. Yeah, that's also a good trivia fact. So it's not a matter of if your password were good stolen, it's a question of when. Even if you included three exclamation points, two hashtags, a number sign, and six capital letters. Because get this, due to all the hacks that have happened to like every company ever,

Right now, according to a digital risk protection company, there are 24 billion usernames and passwords available on the dark web for like 10 cents each. So criminals, they know your parents' passwords, even if your parents still don't know their own passwords. When your parents text you, what's my own password? It's like- I'm getting a call. It's my mom. She wants to know the password to her Wi-Fi jack. Yeah.

So besties, all of us, internet using humankind should come to welcome this shocking news that just came out. Microsoft announced on Friday they are phasing out the password altogether. And we repeat, anyone who sets up a new Microsoft account will not be asked to create a password. Just give us your phone number or your email instead, and then select your passcode.

Yeah, Microsoft stock was up 9% last week. It wasn't because of this, but like- It was not because of this. What the heck is a passkey though, Nick? Yeah, what is a passkey? I was going to ask you. A passkey is proof that you are you.

because you're already logged into something else. Here's the example we came up with. If you're already using your iPhone, then you had to use a passcode or Face ID to unlock that iPhone. So with a Microsoft account, you can say Face ID is my passkey. And as long as you're using your phone, you can log into any Microsoft account. They know that you are you. Other passcode options are Android's fingerprint sensor, Gmail, or using a password manager.

Basically, if you're logged into your phone, your computer, or your Gmail, that's enough. You can log into anything else as well. And if all else fails in this password purged era, you can always request a login link to your phone or your email. That's the future. And it's not just Microsoft. No, no. Apple, Google, they're both moving in this direction too. Every big tech player wants to kill the password. They're going full Napoleon.

on the password, guillotining the passwords out there. There's no chance to live. Second French reference in two stories, I think. Not possible. Make it threes. Because yet he's virtually every person in America has an account with at least one of those three companies.

So all of us are going to be able to start going password-free. The password. It's going to go the ranks of other retired tech products, Jack. Floppy disks, screen names, Clippy. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies who are everyone with a password? The future of ID is I-D, as in E-Y-E, as in eyeballs.

So, yetis, there was one other big password piece of news last week we noticed. Sam Altman's eye-scanning startup. It's called World.

And World set up six retail locations last week to scan people's eyeballs for their registry. Now, Sam Altman's World also partnered with Tinder and Visa, so your eye scan will verify that you are, in fact, a human. Tinder will soon validate that that guy, who's too good to be true, is a real person, and they'll do it

by checking his eyeballs. Well, why is there this surge in eye scans? It's because in an AI world, robots can solve those security checks that test if you're a robot. They can beat them. So instead of a CAPTCHA test to verify you're a human, what we really need is proof of human. So besties, add it all up, and right now we are entering the password-free era. But five years from now, when humanoid robots are trying to log into your Tinder account... Well, then the future of ID is I.

Eventually, it's all coming to the eyeballs. Now, a quick word from our sponsor.

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Monarch Money. Yeah, it is. We've told you before about a tradition Jack and I have we call the budget brunch. Once a month, we go through all our family spending with our spouse and we turn it into a fun event. Sometimes it's a fun brunch, sometimes it's a how much are those pancakes? True. But Nick and I had to create an Excel spreadsheet to track our spending. We're kind of old school, but we just found an app that

that will do it all for you. That's right. It beats all our spreadsheets. Monarch Money. It is the best tool we've ever seen to track spending and manage your budget. It's simply the best financial tool we've seen to track all your moolah. Savings, checking, credit cards, investments, all in one place on Monarch.

You just link them to your Monarch account, and in one app, you can swipe through and label all your transactions and see what category you're spending the most on. Over a million people already use it, and it has over 30,000 five-star reviews. Plus, a bunch of their team are Yetis who listen to and love this podcast. So come on. Couldn't agree more, Jack. So get control of your overall finances with Monarch Money. Use code T-Boy at monarchmoney.com in your browser for half off your first year. That's 50% off your first year at monarchmoney.com with code T-Boy.

For our third and final story, Mack Weldon's Men's Underwear just put a price lock on their undies until July 4th. They've turned tariffs into a marketing opportunity, and we will explain how. Now, yetis, you know Jack and I have been keeping track of recession indicators for you. Recession brunette?

Skipping Botox treatments, bringing bagged lunches to work more often, none of those are good indicators for the economy. No, no, no, no, no, no. But the oldest alternative economic indicator is the men's underwear index. If men are so pinched that they're not buying new briefs,

That's a bad sign. Yeah, guess what? Former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, he actually coined this whole underwear observation. He observed that nobody sees your underwear selection except the man who's wearing them and maybe their locker room neighbors. So if men aren't buying new underwear and they're wearing underwear with a bunch of holes in them, it means they're not feeling pretty good about their money right now. So it's an interesting case study when we look at the direct-to-consumer men's brand, Mack Weldon, who sells underwear. Mack Weldon?

Mack Weldon, a underwear brand that's between MeUndies and Calvin Klein on the coolness scale. It's pretty cool. Yeah, I guess I'd agree with you on that. Yeah, it's like the Lulu for dude dudes. And like most of your wardrobe, Mack Weldon is facing 145% tariffs on the stuff they source from China and 10% tariffs on everywhere else. So besties, everyone right now is worried about prices, price hikes because of tariffs. When will they happen? When will they stop? Who knows how much? Not at Mack Weldon though.

Prices aren't hiking at Mack Weldon, and the timing of their no price change is very clear. Get this, Mack Weldon announced a price lock on all their underwear. Not a single pair will have a price increase until at least July 4th. We have not seen any other apparel company do this, boxers or briefs. It's like a call option in finance applied to the top drawer of your dresser. We have seen Ford do something similar. They announced employee pricing on cars, and their deal also lasts.

through July 4th. Now, Bessies, tariffs are coming. Not raising these underwear prices is going to hurt their underwear profit margins. But maybe it'll boost their sales. In fact, it already has. Mack Weldon's underwear sales actually jumped 90% in the month ending April 15th. So Mack Weldon is sacrificing some profit margin to gain loyalty at a painful economic moment. And it looks like it's selling. Men are buying up their male panties over Mack Weldon. Male panties.

I'm sorry. You know what? It's a new term. I just came up with it. Let's roll with it, Jack. Yeah, but I hate the female version of the term, too. Well, I'm not saying it's going to work, but let's just, you know, you just put stuff out there sometimes. So, Bessie's every company in this economy.

is weakened by tariffs, but Mack Weldon has turned that into a strength. And you probably tossed a tank top and some trousers into your cart too, not just the underwear. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies who are everyone affected by tariffs? Sometimes you need to go opposite day on everybody.

Yeti's last week we told you the number one theme in the economy right now. Uncertainty. Uncertainty was mentioned a record number of times in economic surveys and in corporate earnings reports. But the success of Mack Weldon's underwear price lock is that it did the opposite. Instead of uncertainty around prices...

They gave a very certain price. Yeah, and you know what? It's a reminder that if you notice everyone around you just doing the same thing. It's easy to do that thing too. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's safety in the herd. Nobody's going to isolate you and say, what the heck are you doing? But it is in those moments that opportunity lies in doing the opposite. Call opposite day. Call it opposite day.

Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for us to kick off the week? Formula One just finished a race in Miami. It's the fastest growing sport in the United States. Because Formula One mainstreamified the VIP section. VIP, very important public.

That was pretty good. For our second story, Microsoft announced last week that new accounts don't need passwords. Use a passkey instead. Password is dead, but Sam Altman thinks the future of ID in an AI world is I-D. Like eyeballs. And our third and final story, Mack Weldon announced no price hikes on underwear through July 4th. When everyone else is doing the same, raising prices because of tariffs, there's opportunity in doing the opposite.

But yetis, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, on a good jobs report and trade war resolution hopes, the S&P 500 rose for a ninth straight day on Friday. 177,000 jobs were added to our economy in April despite the trade war volatility. China also acknowledged for the first time potential talks with America on trade. Add it all up, nine straight days of gains for the S&P 500 is the longest streak in

All those losses from Liberation Day have now been erased. Second, last week, Apple got eviscerated by a federal judge for failing to comply with a court order. Epic Games and Spotify had been on a crusade to end Apple's 30% app tax.

tax, what they charge these apps in the app store. And it looks like it finally happened. You can now subscribe to Spotify directly from an iPhone and not pay an app tax. After Apple got ripped by a judge, Spotify now has a link in their app so you can avoid the app store toll booth. And finally, ConAgra, the big food company, just sold Chef Boyardee last week for $600 million to a PE firm.

The founder of the soup brand, Chef Boyardi, was a renowned chef who worked at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. He was a real Italian chef. Then he Americanized the spelling of his name to become a mass-market canned soup and pasta company. Now that it's owned by private equity, they're probably going to, you know, water down some of the ingredients in the soups. Yeah, they're going to cut costs. So the can of mini raviolis...

It's probably going to be even mini raviolis now. Spaghetti and meatballs is going to be spaghetti and meatball. Yeah. Now time for the best fact yet. This one sent in by Molly G from lovely Philadelphia. Speaking of Formula One racing, we told you about that race in Monaco with all the yachts. Well, Monaco in Europe is actually a country, one of the smallest countries on earth. Yeah, I said it was in the south of France.

It's actually its own little thing. Like, there's checkpoints. But Monaco is actually smaller than Central Park in New York City. Here's the breakdown. Monaco is less than one square mile of land. Central Park. And it's a country. A little more than one square miles of land. Monaco. It's basically the Vatican City of the non-Catholic world. Because Vatican City is like its own country. Jack, I think you stuck the landing on it.

Yetis, you look fantastic today. Especially if you're over in the Midwest in Chicago, you look extra fantastic. We are so freaking pumped for July 23rd. It's going to be incredible. Amazing. We're going to a Cubs game the day after our performance, by the way. And maybe before as well. Yetis, we are dropping the tickets right here on Wednesday. But in the meantime, follow us on Instagram so you can get your tickets first at T-Boy Pod. And Nick and I will see you tomorrow. Celebrate the wins. Can't.

Wait. And before we go, a happy birthday to the legendary Yeti, Annie Z, over in Toronto, Maple Leaf, Toronto. And happy birthday to Uramin Josel in Henderson, Nevada. This married dink is...

celebrating in Napa this weekend. Popping that pinot. And Matt, way charitana. He's turning 36 years old over in Seattle. Spent the birthday rock climbing on belay. Belay on that birthday, Matt. Happy birthday to Sterling Salzberg in San Francisco. His birthday was yesterday. He's on his way to Maui with a family of four right now.

And Chase in Virginia just got married in Ponte Vedra, Florida. Now they are honeymooning. Guys, let's see some pics. Congratulations on the celebration. Congratulations to Lindsay Ardiff and Ainsley Foe, who had a wedding reception last weekend. Congratulations, guys. You look fantastic. And Anna Wintour just is a heads up, no pressure at all. Jack and I got our tuxes ready, so just wink twice if we're good to go. Big night on the red carpet. If there's room for two T-boys,

Hit us up. We've been traveling. We haven't seen our mail. So, yeah, thanks for the invite. This is Jack. Nick and I both own stock of Apple and Spotify. I own stock of Netflix, and we both own ETFs of the S&P 500. If you like the best one yet, you can listen ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. And before you go, tell us a little bit about yourself by filling out a short survey at wondery.com slash survey. We want to get to know you.

Whole Foods started in the counterculture city of Austin, Texas, and it took pride in being anti-corporate and outside the mainstream. But like the city itself, Whole Foods has morphed over the years, for better or worse, and is now a multi-billion dollar brand. The latest season of Business Wars explores the meteoric rise of the Whole Foods brand. On its surface, this is a story about how an idealistic founder made good on his dream of changing American food culture.

But it's also a case study about the conflict between ambition and idealism, how lofty goals wilt under the harsh light of financial reality, and what gets lost on the way to the top. Follow Business Wars on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge Business Wars, The Whole Foods Rebellion, early and ad-free right now on Wondery Plus.