If you are having trouble viewing this email, click here.

June 22, 2023

Personality-driven business capsules you can only get here. Our weekly dispatch gets you ready for what people are thinking before they talk about it— the hitters you know and want to know across Wall Street, Washington, and Silicon Valley.

SEC boss Gary Gensler faces ethics scrutiny over Sam Bankman-Fried sitdown

Questions are multiplying around a 45-minute Zoom call that SEC Chair Gary Gensler held in March 2022 with disgraced crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried — including whether the controversial powwow got advance approval by the agency's ethics team, On The Money has learned.

The now-infamous virtual meeting – which came six months before Bankman-Fried was arrested on epic fraud charges – has stoked criticism of Gensler over alleged conflicts of interest and cozy ties to the 31-year-old accused fraudster.

Now, a document recently obtained through the Freedom of Information Act shows that there is no record that Gensler ever requested permission from the SEC's Office of the Ethics Counsel to meet with SBF.

Not only is that a breach of the agency's own protocol, it's also likely that if Gensler had asked for permission he would have been refused, according to experts.

A spokesman for the SEC said Gensler had approval for the meeting from the SEC's ethics team but would not produce any documentation to support the claim. The SEC declined further comment despite repeated requests for clarification.

Broken Mirror: Lululemon failing to find buyer for fitness gadget

Popular athletic apparel company Lululemon can't find a buyer for fitness product Mirror – despite slashing the value it paid for the device by nearly 90%, insiders told On The Money.

Lululemon paid $500 million for the low-tech gadget during the height of the pandemic-induced exercise craze in 2020. However, a recent filing showed the company wrote down Mirror's value to just $58 million.

One source with knowledge said the fact Lululemon is choosing to sell the product now underscores how eager the company is to offload the sinking asset.

"If you're selling something today in this market, you're probably in trouble," one source close to the situation told On The Money. "It's not the time to be selling something – no one is buying things at high multiples."

Lululemon reportedly approached fitness company Hydrow in April, but no deal was struck.

AmEx Black Card holders blast 'soulless' members-only Centurion lounge

Membership doesn't always have its privileges.

American Express Black Card holders are less-than-impressed with the company's not-completely-exclusive Centurion New York at One Vanderbilt, insiders told On The Money.

"It's soulless — you have to go through a turnstile at an office building to get there," one recent visitor griped.

For one, the lounge – which opened in March on the 55th floor of the 93-story skyscraper in Midtown – lacks the atmosphere of rival members-only destinations like Soho House, Aman and Casa Cipriani, other disillusioned black-card holders said.

"Why would you want to go to an office building?" a cardholder told On The Money. "The point of a club is to get away from your office. If you are fancy enough to have a Centurion card, you can easily go somewhere else."

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. interview: Why I'm not an anti-vaxxer

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been portrayed as a fringe candidate, but he has gained momentum in the Democratic primary at an astonishing pace. Less than two months after announcing his candidacy, he's already nabbed 20% support among Democrats compared to Biden's 60%.

While his path to victory still looks narrow, over the last week reports suggest that RFK Jr. could stand a chance of winning the first two primary races against President Biden.

On The Money spoke with RFK Jr. about some of his most controversial comments, including whether he's an anti-vaxxer, why bitcoin is critical to his economic agenda, and why addressing the threat of artificial intelligence would be a top priority as president.

Lydia: The world is about soundbites and the soundbite is you are an anti-vaxxer conspiracy theorist.

RFK Jr: I am not and have never been anti-vaccine. I've always said that I'm for safe vaccines and robust science and for regulatory agencies that are free from conflicts of interest and financial entanglements with the pharmaceutical industry. In terms of being a conspiracy theorist, tell me where I got it wrong. Show me something I've said that you believe to be factually wrong or unsupported by evidence.

Lydia: You've generated a lot of interest from the business and tech community. What policies do you think they find most attractive?

RFK Jr.: I've been critical of the tech industry, particularly social media platforms for cooperating with the government in censoring Americans. What I'm now finding among the tech industry leaders is a deep resentment of the government for pressuring them to cooperate in that un-American enterprise. Many want to see technology live up to the idealistic promises about the potential to democratize communications globally. They are appalled that these technologies instead have been exploited as instruments of totalitarian control.