Two prominent billionaire investors engaged in a public debate over the impact of wake-up views on the company’s financial performance during X, formerly Twitter.
The discussion is in line with the backdrop of recent controversies involving large corporations. Anheuser-Busch InBev (NYSE:BUD) and Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT), which has faced boycotts due to its public support for the LGBTQ+ community.
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The exchange started when venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya shared a post featuring an article highlighting the significant trend of people moving to South American states. This prompted an immediate backlash from Mark Cuban, a vocal advocate for the argument that boycotts do not significantly affect companies that adopt vigilante principles.
In his distinctive style, Palahapitya Announced on X, “woke up, broke down” and cast doubt on whether the fundamental difference between the two main regional populations – the South and the Northeast – could be attributed to ideological factors alone. He bolstered his point by citing a Bloomberg article that revealed an influx of 2.2 million people to the Southeast in the past two years, resulting in a “$100 billion wealth transfer.”
Cuba responded to the post questioning Pali Hapatia’s post. Cuba challenged Palhapitiya with one. Direct question: “Can you name a company that has gone bust?”
Palihapitiya responded to Cuba’s challenge by sharing a link to a comprehensive list of 452 startups that had failed. While acknowledging that the list was not exclusively comprised of Wake companies, he noted that some entries may fit the Wake narrative.
However, Cuban was not satisfied with this link and expressed his dissatisfaction with the idea that the startup could be taken as a prime example. He emphatically rejected the relevance of startup failures. to describe“The list of startups that fail is weak and you know it.”
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He claimed, “Calling someone a failure because he ‘doubts’ they can wake up is ridiculous and he knows it.”
Palyapetia countered Cuba’s stance with a list of companies that filed for bankruptcy in 2022, hinting that other years could have similar results.
Cuba furthered the discussion by sharing a comparative chart that illustrated the performance. The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) Vs iHeartMedia Inc. (NASDAQ:IHRT). The data shows that Disney was up 2.4% year-to-date, while iHeartMedia experienced a significant decline of 41.6% year-to-date. He captured the data-centric side of the argument, to describe“The good thing about the obvious is that there’s always data. I would take the $DIS you raise and compare it to a media company that’s home to mostly conservative media.”
Cuban also cited the performance. Papa John’s International Inc (NASDAQ:PZZA), which he described as a conservative company. He emphasized his belief that the fortunes of these companies are not tied to their wakefulness or conservative affiliations, but to the nature of social media performance.
Continuing his passionate argument, Cuba in detail On his view: “Personally, I don’t think what happened to any of these companies had anything to do with Wack, or being partisan. Not even close. I think it’s a lot of social media performance.” is about to happen.”
Cuban then turned his attention to the Bud Light controversy, insisting that the brand had done nothing wrong. He sees people like Kid Rock as opportunists who recognized an opportunity to spark excitement. Cuban hailed it as a great branding moment and inspiration for Kid Rock.
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This article Billionaire Mark Cuban and Chamath Palihapitiya battle ‘Go Whack, Go Broke’ mantra – ‘Can you name a company that’s broke?’ Originally published Benzinga.com
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