Opening Bid Unfiltered

Reflecting on decades of work to make the world a better place. That is where Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi finds World Economic Forum (WEF) founder Dr. Klaus Schwab, who just published a new book dubbed Restoring Truth and Trust. In a new episode of the Opening Bid Unfiltered podcast, Schwab reflects on the origins of WEF and its evolving role in a rapidly changing global landscape. He emphasizes that the Forum — which he founded in 1971 — was created to foster dialogue between business, government, and civil society, arguing that complex global challenges cannot be solved by any single sector acting alone. Schwab says this principle of multistakeholder cooperation remains central to the WEF’s mission today. Of course, Schwab’s reflective moment comes against the backdrop of his absence from the epicenter of the 2026 annual meeting he created in Davos, Switzerland, which brought together billionaires like Salesforce (CRM) CEO Marc Benioff and Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk, and world leaders like US President Trump. Schwab resigned from the WEF in April 2025 amid an investigation into its culture. Schwab was cleared of any wrongdoing before the end of 2025, but the Forum is now being led primarily by BlackRock (BLK) founder Larry Fink. Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid Unfiltered brings you a high-octane take on the freshest analyst calls, wildest stock moves, and shrewdest commentary in the business world. Executive Editor Brian Sozzi puts Wall Street's finest through their paces in this essential conversation for every investor, before the stock market opens. Find this episode's transcripts and more episodes of Opening Bid Unfiltered at http://finance.yahoo.com/videos/series/opening-bid/. Thoughts? Questions? Fan mail? Please email us at yfpodcasts@yahooinc.com. Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid Unfiltered is hosted by Brian Sozzi and produced by Langston Sessoms. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Artificial intelligence is having profound impacts on Corporate America. But it’s also beginning to impact how humans create content and interact with it. It’s hard to imagine this impact doesn’t intensify in the years to come as AI becomes more sophisticated. Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi sits down on the Opening Bid Unfiltered podcast with Inception Point AI co-founder and CEO Jeanine Wright. Wright is no stranger to the ups and downs in the podcast industry. She was COO at Amazon (AMZN)-owned podcast platform Wondery, overseeing operations and driving numerous growth initiatives. Wright and Sozzi discuss how AI personalities are changing the podcast industry, and how they may have a bigger impact on news generation and content creation in the year ahead. Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid Unfiltered brings you a high-octane take on the freshest analyst calls, wildest stock moves, and shrewdest commentary in the business world. Executive Editor Brian Sozzi puts Wall Street's finest through their paces in this essential conversation for every investor, before the stock market opens. Find this episode's transcripts and more episodes of Opening Bid Unfiltered at http://finance.yahoo.com/videos/series/opening-bid/. Thoughts? Questions? Fan mail? Please email us at yfpodcasts@yahooinc.com. Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid Unfiltered is hosted by Brian Sozzi and produced by Langston Sessoms. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The business of sleep has gone well beyond hawking mattresses, pillows, and bedframes. And it’s with good reason that seemingly everyone is analyzing their sleep data on various hardware devices. Roughly one in three adults in the U.S. regularly gets insufficient sleep, driving demand for new tools that can monitor, analyze, and improve rest. Enter Eight Sleep, founded in 2014 by Matteo Franceshetti and his wife, Alexandra Zatarain. Eight Sleep has raised about $260 million since its inception, from the likes of Khosla Ventures to F1 notables Zak Brown and Charles Leclerc. The company sells bedding hardware and software – under the Pod name – that tracks sleep patterns and can heat and cool. The company’s valuation stands at nearly $1 billion. It has generated more than $500 million in Pod sales. Yahoo Finance executive editor Brian Sozzi sits down on the Opening Bid Unfiltered podcast with Eight Sleep co-founder and CEO Matteo Franceschetti to go inside the future of more advanced sleep, and what’s next for one of its leaders in the space. Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid Unfiltered brings you a high-octane take on the freshest analyst calls, wildest stock moves, and shrewdest commentary in the business world. Executive Editor Brian Sozzi puts Wall Street's finest through their paces in this essential conversation for every investor, before the stock market opens. Find this episode's transcripts and more episodes of Opening Bid Unfiltered at http://finance.yahoo.com/videos/series/opening-bid/. Thoughts? Questions? Fan mail? Please email us at yfpodcasts@yahooinc.com. Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid Unfiltered is hosted by Brian Sozzi and produced by Langston Sessoms. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the most prolific venture capitalists of the past 20 years is looking to share some wisdom to the next generation of investors and job seekers. Benchmark general partner Bill Gurley is seen as a heavyweight in Silicon Valley. His claim to fame is an $11 million bet on Uber (UBER) in 2011. But other key investments have included Twitter and Nextdoor (NXDR). Indeed, Gurley has seen it all over the course of his career, everything from the dot.com bubble burst to the current emergence of the AI revolution. He even worked on the Amazon (AMZN) IPO! In his new book dubbed Runnin' Down a Dream: How to Thrive in a Career You Actually Love, Gurley shares several principles to finding success in one’s career. Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi sits down on the Opening Bid Unfiltered podcast with Gurley to discuss observations he makes in his book and the outlook for tech in a new defining era. Pre-order "Runnin' Down a Dream: How to Thrive in a Career You Actually Love" now at:AmazonBarnes and Noble Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid Unfiltered brings you a high-octane take on the freshest analyst calls, wildest stock moves, and shrewdest commentary in the business world. Executive Editor Brian Sozzi puts Wall Street's finest through their paces in this essential conversation for every investor, before the stock market opens. Find this episode's transcripts and more episodes of Opening Bid Unfiltered at http://finance.yahoo.com/videos/series/opening-bid/. Thoughts? Questions? Fan mail? Please email us at yfpodcasts@yahooinc.com. Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid Unfiltered is hosted by Brian Sozzi and produced by Langston Sessoms. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ankur Jain, founder and CEO of Bilt — a payments and rewards platform focused on housing and neighborhood commerce. He walks through Bilt’s expansion from rent rewards into leases, maintenance, and local merchant ties. He outlines rent-to-credit rewards, AI concierge plans for neighborhood services, mortgage partnerships, and why Bilt operates like a commerce platform rather than a bank.

From the tennis court to the broadcast booth. Yahoo Finance executive editor Brian Sozzi sits down on the Opening Bid Unfiltered podcast with former professional tennis player Patrick McEnroe. McEnroe is also a long-time commentator for ESPN, calling hosts of big tennis matches and being among the top voices at venues like the US Open. McEnroe – the brother of John McEnroe – won one singles title and numerous doubles titles over the course of his career. McEnroe takes Sozzi inside the future of tennis post the retirements of legends Serena Williams, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer. He also shares what he has learned from losing and competition, and how both could serve up valuable learning experiences for the corporate athlete of today. Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid Unfiltered brings you a high-octane take on the freshest analyst calls, wildest stock moves, and shrewdest commentary in the business world. Executive Editor Brian Sozzi puts Wall Street's finest through their paces in this essential conversation for every investor, before the stock market opens. Find this episode's transcripts and more episodes of Opening Bid Unfiltered at http://finance.yahoo.com/videos/series/opening-bid/. Thoughts? Questions? Fan mail? Please email us at yfpodcasts@yahooinc.com. Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid Unfiltered is hosted by Brian Sozzi and produced by Langston Sessoms. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are dealmakers on Wall Street, and then there are the teams at Perella Weinberg. If you have a big deal to get done as a CEO, this is one of your first stops on the Street to try and make it happen. Yahoo Finance executive editor Brian Sozzi sits down on the Opening Bid Unfiltered podcast with veteran deal maker Andrew Bednar, CEO of advisory firm Perella Weinberg. The firm was founded in 2006 by storied dealmakers Joseph Perella and Peter Weinberg. Bednar has had his own storied history in deal-making, rising the ranks from Salomon Brothers to Goldman Sachs (GS) to Bank of America (BAC) to now Perella Weinberg (PWP). He has overseen some very large deals in the process, including the $10.2 billion sale of the NYSE to Intercontinental Exchange and Kate Spade’s sale to Coach. Bednar reveals what he has learned from these pressure packed situations and what the outlook for deal-making is for 2026 and beyond. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Deal activity is heating up as 2025 nears a close amid lower interest rates from the Fed and a sense from sellers that valuations are about as full as one could expect. Yahoo Finance executive editor Brian Sozzi sits down on the Opening Bid Unfiltered podcast with Apollo Global Management co-head of equity David Sambur. After being held by Liberation Day market related volatility, the environment for deal-making has picked up. This year is on track to become the second highest in deal activity, up 36% in value to an estimated $4.8 trillion according to Bain & Company. Megadeals greater than $5 billion have represented more than 75% of incremental deal value. Meanwhile, exit activity for private equity companies accelerated meaningfully in the third quarter. Private equity firms have announced exits totaling $470 billion so far this year per data from EY, marking a 40% increase by value compared with the same period last year. Sambur shares his outlook for M&A and exits in 2026, the drivers of that potential activity and what he has learned from making big deals over the course of his career. Disclosure: Yahoo is a portfolio company of funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Opening Bid Unfiltered is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. From the racetrack to the race for cybersecurity spending dollars. Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi sits down on the Opening Bid Unfiltered podcast with CrowdStrike (CRWD) founder and CEO George Kurtz. The conversation veered off down a few side streets, so to speak. Kurtz is an accomplished endurance racer, and that led him recently to purchase a 15% minority interest in the Mercedes F1 team. It’s an incredible combination of Kurtz’s public company experience, tech expertise, and passion for racing. At the same time, CrowdStrike is gearing up for a big 2026 in the eyes of Wall Street as more AI agents raise the risk of cybersecurity threats. Kurtz reveals his operating playbook for the road ahead. Listen on your favorite podcast platform or watch on our website for full episodes of Opening Bid Unfiltered. Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid Unfiltered is produced by Langston Sessoms. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Opening Bid Unfiltered is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. From hyrox to pickleball, this is a great moment to take a crack at starting a new sports venture. Enter SailGP into the often stodgy world of sailing. Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi sits down on the Opening Bid Unfiltered podcast with SailGP CEO and storied yachtsman Russell Coutts. Coutts won an Olympic gold medal in 1984 and then went on to secure several America's Cup victories. In 2019, he co-founded SailGP with Oracle founder and billionaire Larry Ellison. Ellison is a longtime sailing fan. What once began as a fledgling sports league, has gained considerable momentum in terms of viewership and attracting new sponsors. The league now has 13 teams and celebrity team owners such as Hugh Jackman, Ryan Reyonds and Anne Hathaway. Team valuations have also continued to skyrocket, and the business is expected to produce $200 million in sales this year. Coutts shares what the 2026 sailing season holds and what it has been like, transitioning from an athlete to a CEO, piloting the future of a sports league.  Listen on your favorite podcast platform or watch on our website for full episodes of Opening Bid Unfiltered. Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid Unfiltered is produced by Langston Sessoms. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices