Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Forbes USA - January 24 2017
Forbes USA - January 24 2017
ON THE COVER
68 | 30 UNDER 30
Meet the Class of 2017. These 600 young
innovators—30 game changers in 20 industries,
including YouTube star Tyler Oakley (at right)—
are challenging the conventional wisdom and
rewriting the rules for the next generation of
entrepreneurs, educators and entertainers.
EDITED BY CAROLINE HOWARD
WITH NATALIE SPORTELLI
22 | 30 UNDER 30:
WE KNEW THEM WHEN
Our impressive track record of spotlighting
young actors, athletes and
musicians on our annual 30 Under 30 is
showcased ably by these stars.
LEADERBOARD
20 | THE SECOND ANNUAL 30 UNDER 30 EUROPE
Is Europe fated to a future of economic sclerosis? Not if this group of
top young entrepreneurs has any say in the matter.
24 | ROAD WARRIOR: PILOT’S WATCHES
There’s no better way to keep track of a high-flying, peripatetic career
than with a fine timepiece designed to be worn aloft.
31 | CONVERSATION
Readers ride along for an in-depth look at what Uber’s Travis Kalanick
is planning next; our annual Powerful People list exerts a
Ready for takeoff: Navitimer 46 Blacksteel by Breitling ($9,225). powerful pull.
36
STRATEGIES
36 | HARDENED TARGET
Never mind Trump’s tweets. Lockheed Martin will continue to thrive,
because for the Pentagon and politicians alike, the world’s biggest defense
contractor is Silicon Valley and Detroit combined.
BY DANIEL FISHER
ENTREPRENEURS
42 40 | NEW HOUSE ON THE BLOCK
Thanks to companies like Concierge Auctions, buying a luxury home
can be done with the swipe of a finger on a smartphone.
Is this where the future of real estate sales is going . . . going . . . ?
BY SAMANTHA SHARF
42 | PET SMARTER
Four years ago Chewy’s college-dropout founders couldn’t get a
meeting in Silicon Valley. Now they’re running one of America’s
biggest privately owned e-commerce sites.
BY SUSAN ADAMS
TECHNOLOGY
46 | TRASH TECH
Rubicon Global CEO Nate Morris is building the Uber of garbage collection,
disrupting a $60 billion industry dominated by giants.
BY ALEX KONRAD
INVESTING
58 | 401(K) INTERRUPTED
Trump says he will cut tax rates. Should you pause your
retirement plan contributions?
BY ASHLEA EBELING
FEATURES
94 | A BOUNTIFUL MIND
A successful career as a doctor, investor and inventor wasn’t enough for
Philip Frost. In his 60s he earned his first billion globalizing the generic-medicine
business. Now, as he enters his ninth decade, Frost is tirelessly
adding to his fortune—and giving it away—with Buffett-esque skill.
BY MATT SCHIFRIN
112 | THOUGHTS
On tomorrow.
86
FORBES MAGAZINE
EDITOR
In Our New Century
Randall Lane BY LEWIS D’VORKIN
EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Michael Noer
ART & DESIGN DIRECTOR I JUST RETURNED FROM ASIA,
Robert Mansfield
my sixth or seventh trip there in
FORBES DIGITAL
VP, INVESTING EDITOR
the past two years, I can’t seem to
Matt Schifrin keep track anymore. I always go to
VP, DIGITAL CONTENT STRATEGY Hong Kong, where we’re building a
Coates Bateman
VP, PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
digital editorial operation to cover
Salah Zalatimo the region. This time I also stopped
VP, WOMEN’S DIGITAL NETWORK
Christina Vuleta
in Shanghai. In November we re-
ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITORS launched a Chinese FORBES maga-
Kerry A. Dolan, Luisa Kroll WEALTH zine. Each time I visit I come away
Frederick E. Allen LEADERSHIP
Loren Feldman ENTREPRENEURS with a new revelation, always revolving around a single
Tim W. Ferguson FORBES ASIA
Janet Novack WASHINGTON
word—BIG. On this trip, I was struck by the sheer magni-
Michael K. Ozanian SPORTSMONEY tude of China’s digital landscape.
Mark Decker, John Dobosz, Clay Thurmond DEPARTMENT HEADS
Avik Roy OPINIONS The Chinese powerhouses Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent,
Jessica Bohrer VP, EDITORIAL COUNSEL called BAT, are well-known. During a daylong strategy
BUSINESS meeting at our spanking new Shanghai office, which looks
Mark Howard CHIEF REVENUE OFFICER
Tom Davis CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER out over the city’s old train station (we’re atop a building
Jessica Sibley SENIOR VP, SALES EAST & EUROPE mostly leased to WPP, the worldwide ad agency), I heard
Janett Haas SENIOR VP, SALES, WESTERN & CENTRAL
Ann Marinovich SENIOR VP, ADVERTISING PRODUCTS & STRATEGY some startling statistics. Every 60 seconds in China Baidu
Achir Kalra SENIOR VP, REVENUE OPERATIONS & STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS
Alyson Papalia VP, DIGITAL ADVERTISING OPERATIONS & STRATEGY racks up 4.2 billion search queries, Tencent’s QQ transmits
Penina Littman DIRECTOR OF SALES PLANNING & ANALYTICS 11 billion messages and the app Miaopai plays 500,000
Nina La France SENIOR VP, CONSUMER MARKETING & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
Michael Dugan CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER short videos. It’s no wonder that Chinese social, video and
FORBES MEDIA digital-commerce companies few of us have ever heard of
Michael S. Perlis CEO & EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN carry valuations of billions, if not tens of billions, of dollars.
Michael Federle PRESIDENT & COO
Terrence O’Connor CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER The Asian digital ad market is also growing in interest-
Michael York CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
Will Adamopoulos CEO/ASIA FORBES MEDIA
ing ways. Influencer marketing is on the rise much like it is
PRESIDENT & PUBLISHER, FORBES ASIA in the United States—except the numbers seem unimagi-
Rich Karlgaard EDITOR-AT-LARGE/GLOBAL FUTURIST
Moira Forbes PRESIDENT, FORBESWOMAN nable, at least to me. Big brands in America now work
MariaRosa Cartolano GENERAL COUNSEL
Margy Loftus SENIOR VP, HUMAN RESOURCES
with YouTube stars and others to get their messages out to
Mia Carbonell SENIOR VP, GLOBAL CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS young audiences. These influencers are building nice little
FOUNDED IN 1917 careers. In China, a single influencer can reach tens of mil-
B.C. Forbes, Editor-in-Chief (1917-54)
Malcolm S. Forbes, Editor-in-Chief (1954-90)
lions of consumers, commanding $100,000—and more—
James W. Michaels, Editor (1961-99) for a single post (yes, one post). In the U.S., cash like that
William Baldwin, Editor (1999-2010)
translates into a multifaceted ad campaign.
JANUARY 24, 2017 — VOLUME 199 NUMBER 1 Asia is still in good part about aging tycoons and their
FORBES (ISSN 0015 6914) is published Monthly, except Semi-monthly in June, September and December, children—in banking, property development and other
by Forbes Media LLC, 499 Washington Blvd, Jersey City, NJ 07310, Periodicals postage paid at Jersey City,
NJ 07302 and at additional mailings offices. Canadian Agreement No. 40036469. Return undeliverable industries. Increasingly, a new wave of entrepreneurs is
Canadian addresses to APC Postal Logistics, LLC, 140 E. Union Ave, East Rutherford, NJ 07073. Canada GST#
12576 9513 RT. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Forbes Subscriber Service, P.O. Box 5471, Harlan, IA
51593-0971.
making its mark—in terms of innovation, job creation and,
CONTACT INFORMATION of course, wealth generation. To say that Asia, and China
For Subscriptions: visit www.forbesmagazine.com; write Forbes Subscriber Service, P.O. Box 5471, Harlan, IA
51593-0971; or call 1-515-284-0693. Prices: U.S.A., one year $44.95. Canada, one year C$67.95 (includes GST).
We may make a portion of our mailing list available to reputable firms. If you prefer that we not include your
in particular, is complicated for media companies like ours
name, please write Forbes Subscriber Service.
For Back Issues: visit www.forbesmagazine.com; e-mail getbackissues@forbes.com; or call 1-212-367-4141. is a breathtaking understatement. Yet, as FORBES en-
For Article Reprints or Permission to use Forbes content including text, photos, illustrations, logos, and video:
visit www.forbesreprints.com; call PARS International at 1-212-221-9595; e-mail http://www.forbes.com/reprints; ters its centennial year, we’re determined to find our way
or e-mail permissions@forbes.com. Permission to copy or republish articles can also be obtained through the
Copyright Clearance Center at www.copyright.com. Use of Forbes content without the express permission of
Forbes or the copyright owner is expressly prohibited.
forward, extending our message of entrepreneurship and
Copyright © 2016 Forbes Media LLC. All rights reserved. Title is protected through a trademark registered with aspiration to the youth changing the face of China and so
the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Printed in the U.S.A.
many other Asian nations. F
INDIA’S
SICKENING AND IMMORAL MOVE BY STEVE FORBES, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
30 UNDER 30
ENTERTAINMENT
MICHAELA COEL 29, U.K.
Actress and writer
The London-born Coel writes
and stars in Chewing Gum,
a comedy that premiered
on U.K. television but has
POLICY
LIFESTYLE GUILLAUME CAPELLE 29, FRANCE
garnered global acclaim after
DAVID ANDRÉS 29, SPAIN Cofounder
its acquisition by Netflix.
Her role as the pious virgin
Chef and owner SINGA
ABAC RESTAURANT & HOTEL; Capelle founded Singa in 2012 to help refugees acclimate
Tracey Gordon earned her
RESTAURANT SOMIATRUITES to Europe. Last year it provided intercultural training for
a BAFTA (a British Oscar,
In addition to his role as chef de cuisine for the some 2,000 new arrivals in France. (It also has operations
essentially) for best female
two-Michelin-starred ABaC Restaurant & Hotel in in Belgium, Germany and Switzerland.) Among its
performance in a comedy.
Barcelona, Andrés runs his own place, Restaurant initiatives is a startup incubator for refugee entrepreneurs
She also acts in theater and
Somiatruites, a Catalan eatery just up the road in that accepts 30 applicants a year; one company it recently
on the British television show
Igualada. For two years running, he has been named graduated was WelcomHere, an online platform whose
Aliens.
“best of the Spain/Portugal region” by the Europe- network helps refugees find homes and jobs in France.
wide San Pellegrino Young Chef Competition.
ARANTXA UNDA: BLOUSE BY CAROLINA HERRERA; TROUSERS AND SHOES BY MASSIMO DUTTI. PHILIPP MAN: SUIT BY HACKETT; SHIRT BY ERMENEGILDO ZEGNA; SHOES BY
CHURCH’S. JORDAN DAYKIN: SUIT BY HUGO BOSS; SHIRT BY STUDIO JEFF BANKS; SHOES BY LOUIS VUITTON. EDWARD BOYES: SHIRT BY J.CREW; TROUSERS AND SHOES BY TED
BAKER. EMILIE TABOR: BLOUSE AND SKIRT BY SUI STUDIO; SHOES BY ZARA. MICHAELA COEL: CLOTHING BY TOPSHOP; SHOES BY OKI KUTSU. DAVID ANDRES WEARS HIS OWN
CHEF’S JACKET. ABBAS KAZMI: JACKET BY ARMANI COLLEZIONE; SHIRT BY BURBERRY; TROUSERS BY J BRAND; SHOES BY FERRAGAMO. FILIPPO YACOB: JACKET BY BEN SHERMAN;
TROUSERS BY LEVI’S; SHIRT BY MUJI; LOAFERS BY FRATELLI ROSSETTI. GUILLAUME CAPELLE: SUIT BY NOUVEAU ATELIER; TIE BY CELIO; SHIRT BY PINK; SHOES BY BEXLEY.
PHOTOGRAPHED IN LONDON BY LEVON BISS FOR FORBES. FORBES STYLE DIRECTOR: JOSEPH DEACETIS; STYLIST: LOUISE SYKES; STYLIST ASSISTANT:
LOUISE COLLINS; HAIR & MAKEUP: MARK ENGLISH; HAIR & MAKEUP ASSISTANT: LYDIA JEFFCOAT;
MICHAELA COEL’S HAIR: KEVIN FORTUNE. PRODUCTION: PHILLIPA COOPER.
We Knew
Them When
ADELE. JENNIFER Lawrence. Halsey (shown
here). On our annual 30 Under 30 lists—see page
68 for this year’s iteration—we’ve scored an
impressive track record of spotlighting young
actors, athletes and musicians who were on the
cusp of achieving still greater fame and fortune.
ADELE
30 Under 30 debut: 2012
Then: 2 Grammys
Now: 10 Grammys
LEBRON JAMES
30 Under 30 debut: 2013
Then: 1 NBA championship ring
Now: 3 rings, plus a budding
Hollywood career
JENNIFER LAWRENCE
30 Under 30 debut: 2012
Then: 0 Hunger Games films
Now: 4 Hunger Games films—
and a new role as Hollywood’s
top-earning actress
KENDRICK LAMAR
30 Under 30 debut: 2013
Then: 0 Grammys,
0 White House visits
Now: 7 Grammys,
JASON DERULO
30 Under 30 debut: 2016
Then: Had played London’s
20,000-seat O2 as a co-bill
Now: Played the O2 as a solo
headliner
HALSEY
30 Under 30 debut: 2016
Then: Top song (“New
Americana”) peaked at No. 60
on Billboard Hot 100
JAMEL TOPPIN FOR FORBES
1 2 3
PHOTOGRAPH BY DAVID ARKY; CREATIVE STYLE DIRECTOR: JOSEPH DEACETIS; STYLE ASSOCIATE: JUAN BENSON
style dates back to the dawn of flight ($12,900).
itself—when Louis Cartier designed
the Santos in 1904 for his friend
Brazilian aviator Alberto Santos-
Dumont—and the signature elements
of the timepiece have remained rela-
tively unchanged. A pilot’s watch typ-
ically has a big, clean dial with large, 5
legible numbers. The most common
complication is usually a GMT (for
Greenwich Mean Time), which
monitors two time zones. Because,
as any good pilot knows, time flies.
BY MICHAEL SOLOMON
For 60 years, The Walt Disney Company has perfected the art of making people happy. And when it comes to
understanding how we perfected that customer experience? Well, we think we offer you the most amazing
classroom in the world. With courses offered by Disney Institute, you’ll discover ways to positively impact your
organization and the customers you serve as you’re immersed in leadership, service and employee engagement.
Visit DisneyInstitute.com and see how we can help transform the way you think about your customer
experience, no matter your business.
LeaderBoard
BILLIONAIRES
BETSY DEVOS
$1.25 BIL
RYAN ZINKE Secretary of Education WILBUR ROSS
$800,000 Daughter-in-law of JOHN KELLY $2.5 BIL RICK PERRY
Secretary of the Interior Amway cofounder $4 MIL Secretary of Commerce
$2 MIL
The Montana Richard DeVos, she’s Secretary of For a quarter-century, Secretary of Energy
congressman Homeland Security Ross ran Rothschild’s Since Perry left the
married to Richard
Kelly spent over four bankruptcy advisory
owns a number of REX TILLERSON Jr., the eldest of Texas governor’s office
rental properties in $325 MIL decades in the mili- business before start- JEFF SESSIONS in 2015, he has banked
DeVos’ four children;
Whitefish, Montana, Secretary of State tary, rising to become ing his private equity $6 MIL at least $100,000 from
FORBES estimates
Tillerson started at a four-star general. firm, WL Ross & Co., Attorney General
his hometown (pop. that the couple has speeches and another
7,073); an art collec- Exxon Mobil straight He has two sons in 2000. He sold it to Sessions, a senator $250,000 consulting
about one-fourth of
tion worth at least out of the University who’ve served, one of investment manage- from Alabama, owns for a Caterpillar heavy
the family fortune. She
$100,000; and of Texas. As chairman whom died in combat ment firm Invesco more than 1,500 acres equipment dealer.
previously served
a garage full of auto- and CEO he accumu- in Afghanistan. The in 2006 for some in the western part About 20% of his
as chair of the
mobiles that includes lated more than bulk of his wealth $375 million while of the state that are portfolio is in oil-and-
Michigan GOP.
a 1938 Cadillac. 2.6 million shares of comes from his gov- staying as chairman worth at least $2.5 gas partnerships and
company stock and ernment pension. and chief strategy of- million. The rest of his energy stocks.
hefty pay packages ficer. He made millions fortune is in Vanguard
(nearly $90 million servicing subprime mutual funds and
over the past three mortgages during the municipal bonds.
years alone). financial crisis.
SOURCE: TIM VOIT, CERTIFIED QDRO SPECIALIST WITH THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF CERTIFIED QDRO PROFESSIONALS.
ESTIMATES BASED ON MOST RECENTLY AVAILABLE FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE FORMS; INCLUDES SPOUSES’ ASSETS.
MIKE PENCE
$800,000
Vice President STEVE
MNUCHIN ANDY PUZDER
BEN CARSON The Indiana gov- ELAINE CHAO $300 MIL
$29 MIL $24 MIL TOM PRICE $45 MIL
ernor and former Secretary of Treasury Secretary of Labor
Secretary of Housing and Secretary of $10 MIL
Urban Development congressman lives Transportation After buying subprime After negotiating a
Secretary of Health and
The neurosurgeon modestly and has Married to Senate Human Services JAMES MATTIS mortgage lender Indy- deal to help Carl’s Jr.
earned millions largely stayed away majority leader Mitch The orthopedic $5 MIL Mac for $1.6 billion
Secretary of Defense
founder Carl Karcher
from six bestselling from commercial McConnell, Chao is surgeon and Georgia in 2009 with a group escape financial trou-
gigs. He gets most Most of his fortune of billionaire investors,
books, media roles the daughter of a congressman owns a ble in the early ’90s,
of his wealth from comes from his mili- Mnuchin sold it to
at Fox News and the shipping magnate, medical office building Puzder eventually
his state and federal tary salary and pen- CIT Group for
Washington Times and and the bulk of her in his home state, plus became CEO of CKE
pension accounts; sion (nicknamed the $3.4 billion six years
numerous speaking and husband’s wealth rental apartments and Restaurants, parent
the father of three “warrior monk,” Mattis later. A former Gold-
gigs. He accumulated comes from her family condos in Virginia, company of Carl’s Jr.
also owes at least is a four-star general man Sachs partner, he
more than $6 million (including an invest- Washington, D.C., and Hardee’s, and has
$95,000 in Parent who retired in 2013). also dabbles in financ-
worth of stock serv- ment account worth North Carolina, earned at least $25
Plus student loans. The ex-Marine sat on ing movies (Avatar,
ing as a director at at least $5 million South Carolina and million in salary and
the board of disgraced American Sniper).
Kellogg and Costco given to the couple). Tennessee. bonuses since 2000.
blood-testing unicorn
before leaving their The Harvard grad sits
Theranos and is still
boards in May 2015 to on four corporate
a director of General
run for president. boards, including
Dynamics.
Wells Fargo’s.
REPORTING BY CHASE PETERSON-WITHORN AND JENNIFER WANG WITH KEREN BLANKFELD, DANIELA SIRTORI, CHLOE SORVINO,
MICHELA TINDERA AND KATE VINTON. ILLUSTRATION BY JOE MCKENDRY
Rocky Road
Jerry Moyes built one of America’s largest
trucking concerns—and a three-comma
fortune—but it’s been far from a smooth ride.
IN 1966 Jerry Moyes founded Swift Transportation
with his father and one truck, moving imported steel
through Los Angeles to Arizona and then Arizona cot-
ton back to California. In the ensuing decades he built
it into a $4 billion (sales) business with 20,000 trucks,
amassing a $1 billion fortune. He still owns about half of
Swift’s stock—it went public in 1990—but has pledged
64% of his stake as collateral for personal loans.
The road to this point has been bumpy. In the early
2000s Moyes came under fire for arranging contracts
between Swift and a truck-leasing firm he owned. He
stepped down as Swift CEO in 2005 after an insider-trad-
ing case in which he admitted to no wrongdoing but paid
1.5
TU
SLACK
EO
KIK
RE
1.1 2.9
RIT
BLU
T O TA L W
E CHIP
THERANOS
0 0.2 4
28 | FORBES JANUARY 24, 2017
ON THE BLOCK SCORECARD
JOHN KAPOOR
Hamilton: An –$230 MILLION
American Auction NET WORTH: $1.6 BILLION
Two months after FORBES
cast a critical eye on
BRING PLENTY OF Benjamins when Kapoor’s company, Insys
Sotheby’s auctions an archive of Alexander Therapeutics, federal
Hamilton’s letters and manuscripts in prosecutors say six of its
former executives conspired
New York on January 18. Thanks to the
to bribe doctors to prescribe
smash Broadway musical, interest in a powerful narcotic to
documents and memorabilia from the patients who didn’t need it.
“Founding Father without a father” is Insys stock tumbles 29%.
expected to be high.
Included in the sale are love letters
between Hamilton and his wife, Eliza,
as well as the condolence note his
father-in-law, Philip Schuyler, sent to
his daughter after America’s first sec-
retary of the Treasury was killed by
Aaron Burr in an 1804 duel (estima-
ted to sell for $15,000 to $20,000).
For those who want something
even more personal, Sotheby’s is
auctioning a lock of Hamilton’s hair
with a letter from Eliza, estimated
to bring $15,000 to $25,000.
Don’t throw away your shot.
RICHEST BY STATE
Massachusetts
POPULATION: 6.8 MILLION
2015 GROSS STATE PRODUCT: $477 BILLION (2% GROWTH)
GSP PER CAPITA: $70,167 (RANKS NO. 6 NATIONWIDE)
RICHEST: ABIGAIL JOHNSON, $14.3 BILLION
AMAZING AD
Smooth Sailing
Power steering! In submarines!
180,237
America’s Richest Celebrities 2016: George Lucas Leads Steven Spielberg and Oprah
CHRIS SUMMERS, THE DAILY
119,865 MAIL: “Facebook is widely
perceived to have had a
“Golf. Rhyming verse. disastrous year, with a number
The 2017 Investment Guide: Trumponomics “The tax roulette Even fancy card tricks: of public-relations gaffes,
wheel is spinning. There are innumerable
28,029 You have to place but that hasn’t stopped Mark
ways to earn great Zuckerberg from climbing
your bets now, before fame and fortune by
the marbles land.” from 16th place to 10th.”
How Travis Kalanick Is Building the Ultimate Transportation Machine entertaining people.”
25,026
MIKE HUCKABEE, CNBC’S
Despite a Comeback, Lululemon Can’t Shake Its Gadfly Founder “The ousted Chip MORNINGS WITH MARIA:
Wilson retains a big “I think the list is full of junk.
14,063 enough stake to It’s a terrible list. I’m not on
remain relevant—and the list, and I’m very offended.”
is unable to let go of
The Largest U.S. Charities for 2016
his baby.”
13,634 MARIA BARTIROMO,
MORNINGS WITH MARIA:
BY ALEXANDRA WILSON
Original Bob Dylan Lyrics Sold at Auction for $300,000 “I’m not surprised in terms
of Putin. Most people believe
he’s the richest person in the
THE BOMB world because he takes a cut
146 VIEWS of everything.”
REVOLUTION AT LABOR
A THUMB in the eye to the minimum- ing strikes at the Homestead Steel Works in
wage lobby is how most journalists Pittsburgh, the labor secretary marched with
depict the nomination by President- workers to assemble at a government site,
elect Donald Trump of Andrew Puzder a U.S. post office, so that she might remind
to the post of labor secretary. them of the merits of collective bargaining.
But offering up a fast-food entrepre- The change that voters may have expected
neur for the labor post does more than didn’t come when Republican Dwight Eisen-
offend a particular interest group. The hower took office. Ike, a conciliator by nature,
Puzder nomination represents a struc- selected a Democrat and former director of
tural blow to the whole edifice that labor for the state of Illinois, Martin Durkin,
we have called “labor relations” since to lead the department. Even George Shultz,
the Department of Labor was created a free-marketer, had more experience in aca-
more than 100 years ago. demia than in business when he took office.
First, consider Andrew Puzder. As the head of CKE Restaurants, a
company that directly or through franchises employs 75,000 workers, PERSECUTION OF DONOVAN
Puzder has more involvement with labor regulations every day than Among all of the labor secretaries to date, one
many executives do in a lifetime. He’s worked with nonunionized stands out: Raymond Donovan, whose main
labor, not the union establishment. credential was running the business side of
Next, consider Puzder’s two-dozen-odd predecessors. The pro- Schiavone Construction in New Jersey. Ronald
gressives who established the Department of Labor, Democratic or Reagan’s selection of Donovan so irritated pro-
Republican, believed that government ought to support the unions and labor Democrats that even before his confirma-
that wage increases were always beneficial. These same progressives tion they sought to prove he was some kind of
also took a top-down approach, reckoning that just a few establish- Tony Soprano, operating corruptly. Once Dono-
ment parties—Big Labor, Big Business, the government and maybe an van was confirmed, the Democrats kept assail-
academic or two—could and should determine whether unemploy- ing him. It was Donovan, who, after a Bronx
ment was 3%, 5% or 10%. Nonunion workers, small-business employ- jury had acquitted him of both fraud and grand
ers, company owners and innovators—none of these were in the room. larceny, posed the poignant question: “Which
The first labor secretary, William Bauchop Wilson, set the pat- office do I go to to get my reputation back?”
tern. Wilson had served as secretary-treasurer of the United Mine Succeeding labor secretaries have sometimes
Workers and then as a congressman representing the 15th district in fought harder for the private sector—the Bush
Pennsylvania. Wilson applied his thumb not to someone’s eye but to Administration’s Elaine Chao comes to mind.
the scales of government, tipping them toward organized labor and It takes chutzpah to select for a cabinet
pushing hard to help coal strikers in Colorado and Michigan. James post someone from the fast-food industry.
“Puddler Jim” Davis, Wilson’s successor, came out of the steel mills Left-leaning periodicals vilify this fast-food
and also had a political bent, successfully running for the U.S. Senate executive for sport. But maybe chutzpah is
after his service. (Davis became cosponsor of the Davis-Bacon Act, necessary. The fact is that Democrats have
known for forcing wage hikes on small employer-contractors.) long counted on Republican presidential
Franklin Roosevelt tapped Frances Perkins. She hadn’t led unions, winners’ being too timid to appoint a labor
but Perkins had experience in both academia and government. The secretary who might challenge Big Labor.
New Deal’s labor secretary helped to elevate the Department of Labor If confirmed, Puzder is likely to do some-
from office to edifice. It was during the Perkins era that the Wagner thing that demonstrates that the economy ex-
THOMAS KUHLENBECK FOR FORBES
Act, wildly pro-union, became law and the National Labor Relations pands better without government, powered by
Board, an independent agency and court system for labor, was cre- those shadowy figures who don’t usually win
ated. The New Deal also established the national minimum wage, the places at the top table. He’s likely, too, to re-
very device that Puzder challenges. mind us that a union-tilted Labor Department
Perkins didn’t merely side with union members—she led them. Dur- doesn’t necessarily serve the country best. F
AMITY SHLAES, PRESIDENTIAL SCHOLAR AT THE KING’S COLLEGE AND CHAIR OF THE COOLIDGE FOUNDATION BOARD; PAUL JOHNSON, EMINENT BRITISH HISTORIAN
AND AUTHOR; AND DAVID MALPASS, GLOBAL ECONOMIST, PRESIDENT OF ENCIMA GLOBAL LLC, ROTATE IN WRITING THIS COLUMN. TO SEE PAST CURRENT EVENTS COLUMNS, VISIT OUR
WEBSITE AT WWW.FORBES.COM/CURRENTEVENTS.
Great Rewrite is what you get when you combine accelerating tech- Association conference in Detroit a few weeks
nology with Millennial wants and needs. It’s a global phenomenon, ago, I saw leaders in the automotive and parts
and it’s unstoppable. This won’t go down well with some of Trump’s industry with their eyes wide open to outside
change and to partnerships with entrepre-
RICH KARLGAARD IS EDITOR-AT-LARGE / GLOBAL FUTURIST AT FORBES. HIS LATEST BOOK, TEAM GENIUS: THE
NEW SCIENCE OF HIGH-PERFORMING ORGANIZATIONS, CAME OUT IN 2015. FOR HIS PAST COLUMNS AND BLOGS neurs. That’s a new mind-set—and it’s good.
VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.FORBES.COM/KARLGAARD.
Donald Trump should step out of the way. F
JANUARY 24, 2017 FORBES | 33
ENTREPRENEURS
LUXURY REAL ESTATE, UP FOR BID 40 Verticals
CATERING TO “PET PARENTS” 42 JANUARY 24, 2017
TECHNOLOGY
TRASH PICKUP: THERE’S AN APP FOR THAT 46
Hardened Target
Never mind Trump’s tweets. Lockheed Martin will continue to thrive, because
for the Pentagon and politicians alike, the world’s biggest defense
contractor is Silicon Valley and Detroit combined.
BY DANIEL FISHER
W
ith a single tweet Donald cels the program—about as likely as his nomi-
Trump carved $4 billion off nating Hillary Clinton to the Supreme Court—it
the market capitalization of would be painful but hardly fatal for Lockheed,
Lockheed Martin, the world’s whose 2016 revenues will likely exceed $46 bil-
largest defense contractor. “The F-35 program lion. The taxpayers have already covered some
and cost is out of control,” Trump grumbled on $45 billion in development costs on the F-35,
Twitter at 8:26 a.m. on December 12, attack- and Lockheed sells billions of dollars’ worth of
ing the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, which at more other gear to the government, from Trident bal-
than $1 trillion is the biggest defense project in listic missiles to helicopters to highly classified
history. Lockheed shares plunged 5% as inves- spy satellites. Trump can tweet his displeasure,
tors fretted Trump would kill or maim the effort. but Lockheed is one of a handful of companies
Lockheed hopes to make more than 3,000 F-35s, on Earth that can both invent an entirely new
at $100 million each, in the next 30 years. defense technology—say, radar-evading stealth—
Investors needn’t have worried. That 5% and then mass-produce it on an assembly line.
decline was a blip in comparison with the “Our business is not all around who is the
170% gain in Lockheed’s share price since president of the United States,” says Hewson, 62,
chief executive Marillyn Hewson took over who’s the daughter of an Army hospital manager
in January 2013. During that period the com- and worked her way through the University of
pany, based in Bethesda, Maryland, has de- Alabama as a night telephone operator. “We’re
livered consistently higher profits and given managing a huge supply chain, we have interna-
back $12 billion to shareholders, despite tional partners around the world, and we expect
declining defense budgets. a fair return for that.”
Trump will soon learn that the bullying Hewson, who started at Lockheed in 1983
tactics he uses at real estate closings don’t work working on C-130 cargo turboprops in Marietta,
so well with defense Georgia, has long since
contractors. The F-35 BIG-TICKET mastered the vagaries
was engineered not just ITEMS of doing business with
for stealth but for con- the government. For
LOCKHEED’S TOP FIVE DEFENSE
gressional support. As- instance, Congress likes
CONTRACTS—THAT WE KNOW OF. BLACK-
sembled at a 14,000-em- to break contracts into
BUDGET PROJECTS REMAIN CLASSIFIED.
ployee complex in Fort bite-size annual chunks,
Worth, Texas, the fighter ANNUAL COST OF PROGRAM/ obscuring the total cost
PROGRAM % REVENUE
draws 300,000 parts of huge weapons pro-
from suppliers in 45 F-35 LIGHTNING II $6.7 BIL / 20% grams like the F-35, even
states, with a total esti- C-130 $1.7 BIL / 5% though that makes them
mated economic impact F-16 $1 BIL / 3% more expensive and
of almost 150,000 jobs. PAC-3 MISSILE $1 BIL / 3% less efficient in the long
Even if Trump can- TRIDENT BALLISTIC MISSILE $1 BIL / 3% run. Lockheed’s internal
for over 90% of sales. One of her boldest moves proof the company: Sikorsky helicopters are University of Alabama
into the top job at
was the $9 billion purchase of the Sikorsky hel- popular with foreign governments as low-cost Bethesda.
icopter unit from United Technologies in 2015, weapons platforms and should help push over-
securing the $3.9 billion contract for Marine seas sales to 30% from around 25% today.
One (the president’s personal fleet of 23 heli- Sikorsky also allows Lockheed to dis-
apart with laser beams and a compact fusion Hewson says. “As I look at companies in our 4.3 MIL 3.3 MIL
reactor that can fit in the back of a pickup truck industry, I’d bet on us.” 2020
4.6 MIL 3.5MIL
FINAL THOUGHT
Source: Cox Automotive.
“Diplomacy is letting someone else have your way.” —LESTER B. PEARSON
K
aren Redekop designed Casa Karen, Over the years Concierge has worked with celeb-
a palatial hillside estate in Los Cabos, rities (including Michael Jordan and Cher) and bil-
Mexico, to exacting specifications. lionaires (including GoDaddy founder Bob Parsons)
She hired local artisans to paint or- who want to maintain privacy on their properties.
nate murals and imported pieces from India, In- “Our sellers want to make wise decisions,” says
donesia, Thailand, Europe and the Middle East. Laura Brady, Concierge’s 37-year-old founder and
But after five years perfecting her creation it was president. “Watching money leave to keep up an
time to move on. asset they are not using is not fun.” Brady began
The 60-year-old Canadian was eager to start selling real estate in 2004 and quickly became one
her next project, a 4-acre compound in nearby of the top-selling agents in Florida. By the next year
Palmillia, so she hired a local real estate agent, the state’s housing stock was starting to balloon, a
who listed the home for $2.7 million. A year later sign of trouble. Brady also had concerns about the
she hadn’t received a single offer. way high-end properties were sold in this country.
Enter Concierge Auctions, a New York-based The standard list-offer-negotiate model is
real estate company that sells luxury homes to relatively efficient for homes under $250,000,
the highest bidder, promising clients premium because the buyer pool is large. For multimillion- Bidder up: Concierge
Auctions founder
marketing and immediate sales. Two months dollar properties, prospective buyers are harder to Laura Brady and
after Redekop listed on Concierge, the house sold find. (Only 2.3% of U.S. homes sold last year went company chairman
for $2.6 million in a 30-minute mobile auction. for over $1 million.) Luxury properties tend to Chad Roffers in an
Austin, Texas, estate
Helping wealthy clients buy and sell homes sell quickly near the asking price or languish for that sold in 2016 for
in a timely fashion propelled Concierge Auc- months before selling at a significant discount. $2.68 million.
tions to sell $270 million worth of real estate in “The higher the price point and the more unique
2016, bringing in more than $30 million in reve- the property, the less the traditional method of sell-
nue and pushing the company above $1.2 billion ing worked,” Brady says. Auctions were a perfect
in all-time sales. Not all auctions are as success- solution. They’re quick and competitive, adding
urgency to a transaction
and establishing fair value
HOW TO PLAY IT
for a hard-to-price asset.
BY NICHOLAS GALLUCCIO (In Australia many homes
A housing recovery, steepening yield curve, easing of regulations
and lower corporate taxes are like manna from heaven for financial are sold this way.) Brady
firms, especially regional banks. Those exposed to dynamic econo- persuaded her boss, Chad
mies and improving housing trends, like Bank United in Florida or Roffers, to test the theory.
Legacy Texas in Texas, will continue to benefit—Legacy doubly
so with its mortgage warehouse lending line. Another, Glacier After a few successes,
Bancorp, has a core lending base in Montana, home to a seasonal Brady started Concierge
economy and luxury-home buyers. Similarly, Ethan Allen touches both fronts: a re- and moved to New York
freshed product line of high-end home furnishings and a sizable real estate portfolio.
in 2008. Roffers, now
chairman, soon followed.
MATTHEW MAHON FOR FORBES
ful as Redekop’s—around 30% don’t result in Today many companies sell homes by auction,
sales, and many bring in lower amounts than the particularly properties that have entered foreclo-
seller had expected. Nevertheless, Concierge is sure, but few have succeeded at the price range
a leader in a small but growing group of auction where Brady and Roffers operate. Concierge sold 85
houses selling homes like works of art. of the 133 homes it auctioned in 2016, up from 60 of
FINAL THOUGHT
“To be happy at home is the ultimate result of all ambition.” —SAMUEL JOHNSON
Pet Smarter
Four years ago Chewy’s college-dropout
founders couldn’t get a meeting in Silicon Valley.
Now they’re running one of America’s biggest
privately owned e-commerce sites.
BY SUSAN ADAMS
I
n December 2012, desperately needing Chewy’s Facebook page into the
money to expand Chewy, his year-old pet- wee hours. Positive reviews, he
supply startup, Ryan Cohen traveled from says, “give me goose bumps.”
Fort Lauderdale to Palo Alto and walked The son of a teacher and
into a half-dozen venture capital firms on a glassware importer, Cohen
Sand Hill Road unannounced. He didn’t get past fixated early on becoming an
the receptionists. Three months later he tried the entrepreneur. At 15 he discovered
same tactic again. “I’m relentless,” says Cohen, the dark art of affiliate marketing,
a college dropout from Montreal. “It felt like it collecting fees for referring cus-
should work.” It did not. tomers to e-commerce sites. He
Yet four years later Chewy is one of the na- got so good at it that he started
tion’s largest and fastest-growing privately banking thousands of dollars a
owned e-commerce companies, on track to month. While looking for a pro-
book revenue of $900 million in 2016 and more grammer to help build his affili-
than $1.5 billion in 2017. Relying on a customer- ate sites, he met Michael Day in a
service strategy Cohen calls “Zappos on steroids,” Java chat room. Day dropped out
Chewy deploys 416 of its 3,400 staffers to answer of the University of Georgia to
phones and texts in round-the-clock shifts at the join forces with him, and in 2011
company’s 70,000-square-foot headquarters in they sank $150,000 of their own
Dania, Florida. To ensure speedy delivery to his money into an online jewelry
3 million patrons, he has built three fulfillment startup in Florida. But after a visit
centers, each the size of ten football fields, and to a Miami trade show, they felt
has plans to open three more by early 2018. intimidated by how much there
Chewy has already grabbed 43% of the online was to learn about gems and pre-
sales of pet food and litter in the U.S., just behind cious metals and realized they
Amazon’s 48%, according to market research had no passion for the business.
firm 1010data. (Big-box retailers Petco and Then Cohen had an “aha” moment while Going to the dogs:
PetSmart are both in the single digits.) “We want buying food for Tylee, his apricot-colored teacup Ryan Cohen says it
was Tylee, his teacup
to be the No. 1 pet retailer in the world,” Cohen poodle. “She’s my No. 1,” he says, “and I’m mar- poodle, who inspired
says. He has a long way to go. Chewy has yet to ried.” Cohen, who shares his bed with Tylee the decision to sell pet
turn a profit, and the way it’s spending money to and his pregnant wife, sees himself as a “pet food instead of jewelry.
“For me, it was feeding
acquire customers, it’s not clear it ever will. parent.” Typically, pet parents spend freely on my baby.”
Cohen, 31, is compulsive about executing, and premium foods, often made with ingredients fit
about other things, too. “I have OCD,” he says— for humans, like grass-fed, free-range, hormone-
JAMEL TOPPIN FOR FORBES
though he’s never been diagnosed—while digging free New Zealand lamb, the main ingredient
into a lunch of steamed salmon and vegetables in K9 Natural Lamb Feast, available on Chewy.
at Chewy HQ. His diet is primarily two meals: com at $190 for an 8-pound box. Pet parents
steamed vegetables with fish or chicken. He who don’t sleep with their furry offspring can
sleeps three hours a night, reading feedback on buy a Big Barker pillow-top orthopedic dog bed
on Chewy for $400. In 2016 the U.S. pet-product in late 2011 with 50 dog- and cat-food brands,
market was projected to hit $47 billion, accord- matching online prices with competitors’ and
ing to market research firm Packaged Facts, with offering discounts on first-time orders. Even
e-commerce accounting for as little as 5%. though Cohen and Day answered customer calls
Betting that the population of big-spending themselves, 24 hours a day, and didn’t take sala-
pet parents would grow and that their buying ries, Chewy lost money. But sales grew, hitting
would move online, Cohen and Day sold their $26 million by the end of 2012.
jewelry inventory for 80 cents on the dollar, Though Cohen had struck out in Silicon
scraped up some more cash from their personal Valley, Chewy attracted interest from Boston’s
bank accounts, converted their jewelry site into Volition Capital. In late 2013 Volition invested
Chewy.com and started buying products from $15 million after watching Chewy exceed
distributors. They found a third-party fulfillment its growth targets. “Ryan had crushed all his
center in Easton, Pennsylvania, and launched numbers,” says Volition partner Larry Cheng.
When Cheng asked Cohen whom he’d most ten holiday cards, which cost the company
like to have as board chairman, Cohen named $940,000 in postage alone. MARGIN
Mark Vadon, founder of jewelry site Blue Nile One pet industry veteran, who says he PROPHET
and flash-sale site Zulilly. Cheng made the in- knows three people who are familiar with GETTING BUZZED
troduction, and Cohen flew to Seattle to meet Chewy’s finances, doubts the company will IN 2008 HIGH SCHOOL
TEACHER MERRILEE KICK,
with Vadon, who was impressed by Cohen’s reach profitability. He says Chewy’s average NOW 53, GOT THE IDEA FOR
attention to detail. “He knew the specific eco- sale is $75, its average margin after discounts BUZZBALLZ, SINGLE-SERVE
COCKTAILS THAT COME
nomics of his transportation contracts with 30% and its average cost of delivery—which IN BRIGHTLY COLORED
carriers,” says Vadon, who agreed to serve as Chewy offers for free on orders of more than CONTAINERS. TODAY HER
CARROLLTON, TEXAS,
Chewy’s chair and to invest $5 million of his $49—around $12. A competitor estimates that COMPANY EMPLOYS 60 AND
own money. Five more investors followed, Chewy’s customer-acquisition cost could run SELLS ITS DRINKS IN 40
STATES. ANNUAL REVENUE IS
including T. Rowe Price and BlackRock, for a as high as $200 per first sale, given that the $20 MILLION.
combined total of $236 million. Cohen won’t company pays to appear at the top of Google
reveal Chewy’s valuation, but longtime e- searches for each of the hundreds of brands
commerce analyst Sucharita Mulpuru, who it carries. “The bottom line is that Chewy is
recently moved from Forrester Research to incredibly predatory, and they’re willing to lose
Shoptalk, a retail conference organizer, pegs it money to grow their volume,” says the industry
at $4 billion. veteran.
The capital allowed Cohen to shift his plans Confronted with those numbers, Cohen
into high gear. He decided to take fulfillment merely smiles. He won’t specify his unit eco-
in-house, even though he and Day, now Chewy’s nomics but says they’re positive. He says cus-
chief technology officer, knew nothing about tomer retention is high, as is the lifetime value How much cash did you
warehouse operations. To find experienced staff, of those customers. “They’re smart to be really need to get off the ground?
Chewy sent out hundreds of invitations to Ama- aggressive and to push really hard right now,” I was trying to get
says e-commerce ana- $300,000. I was told,
“You’re a woman, this is a
lyst Mulpuru. “There’s
HOW TO PLAY IT male-dominated industry,
a window of opportu- and we don’t think you’re
BY WILLIAM BALDWIN nity to be this darling going to survive.”
Ransom E. Olds, James Cash Penney, Howard Johnson, BlackBer-
ry and Netscape were pioneers in assembly lines, merchandising,
in the e-commerce
franchising, messaging and browsing. But Henry Ford, Sam Wal- space. But I do ques- What about family money?
My husband said, “I will not
ton, Ray Kroc, Apple and Google made the big money. Investors tion the lifetime value
support this. Don’t use any
captivated by the first-mover advantage of Pets.com 17 years ago of their customers. In of our 401(k) or savings.”
suffered a spectacular flameout. The winner in online dog food is the age of the Internet I took $27,000 from an
going to be a latecomer. You can make a big score with the inventor of an industry
(Amazon, FedEx). But balance out any what-if bets in your portfolio with a good
it’s so easy to switch.” inheritance. I took out a
measure of what-is. A place to start: Vanguard Small-Cap Value ETF. Starting with Ama- home-equity line of credit
for $69,000. A bank said if
zon, the competition
I put that amount down, it’d
is formidable. Jet.com, give me $178,000.
zon employees on LinkedIn and managed to the bulk e-commerce site acquired by Wal-Mart
hire 100 of them. By mid-2014 the company had last year for $3.3 billion, has moved into pet sup- Why didn’t your husband
opened a 600,000-square-foot fulfillment center plies and is undercutting Chewy’s prices on bulk want to help?
He’s a CFO, and he was
in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. sales of some products. And Petco and PetSmart,
terrified I’d lose every
Cohen also poured money into customer ser- with revenue of penny. He changed his
vice. Your schnauzer doesn’t like the Blue Buf- $4 billion and $7 billion, respectively, remain the direct deposit from our
falo Wilderness Salmon Grain-Free dog food you biggest specialty players in pet retail. But Cohen checking account to a
bought for $48? Chewy will issue a refund and says he is convinced that e-commerce will even- private bank.
suggest you donate the food to a local shelter. tually take at least 50% of total pet product sales
How did you get Buzzballz
Canceling your auto-ship order because your and that Chewy will log more than $5 billion in into retail outlets?
Siamese passed away? Chewy sends flowers. revenue by 2020. “We’ll be done growing,” he I sent a letter to 17,000
Last year Chewy mailed 2 million handwrit- says, “when we’re 6 feet under.” convenience stores and
5,000 liquor stores. All of a
sudden sales started taking
FINAL THOUGHT
off. —Susan Adams
“Make your customers comfortable and they will give you their lives.”
—PAUL ORFALEA
Trash Tech
Rubicon Global CEO Nate Morris is building the Uber of garbage
collection, disrupting a $60 billion industry dominated by giants.
BY ALEX KONRAD
CLAY COOK FOR FORBES
for years, the two decided the industry was year, according to the Solid Waste Association
ripe for a tech-based disruptor. “They made of North America. Rodoni also helped develop TRENDING
all their money from landfills,” Morris says. a software management suite, Caesar (later re-
WHAT THE 50 MILLION
“We could be the brain for the industry.” named Augustus), to track volume and routes, FORBES.COM USERS
To friends and family the move was a shock. and an e-commerce program, Rubicon Pro, ARE TALKING ABOUT.
FOR A DEEPER DIVE GO TO
“I asked, ‘Do you understand who is in this which offers customers a discount market- FORBES.COM/TECHNOLOGY
business?’ And he said, ‘I don’t mind fighting,’” place for supplies and loans.
recalls Morris’ grandfather Lewis Sexton, a Much of Rubicon’s model is straight from COMPANY
ONSHAPE
former president of the local union for the Uber’s playbook. It keeps risk and capital
The Cambridge,
Ford plant in Louisville. The union liked Mor- costs down because it doesn’t own trucks Massachusetts, firm’s
ris’ vision of empowering independent haul- or disposal centers itself. Former Uber CFO all-cloud software aims
ers, and when he proved he could save them Brent Callinicos, who also joined Rubicon’s to greatly simplify
60% on their waste disposal, the union hall board, says the company’s growth potential the creation of 3-D
signed up as Rubicon’s second customer. rests in its ability to empower its small-busi- computer-assisted
design for medical
Getting investors proved harder. To do ness base. devices, electronics
business in several states, including New York, For all its success, Rubicon remains mi- and more.
Rubicon had to ask every investor to get fin- nuscule compared with its national rivals. Its
gerprinted. Eventually QuarterMoore Capi- deal with Atlanta was the company’s first with
tal’s Lane Moore, who had cofounded Bagster, any city. By comparison, Waste Management
a company he sold to Waste Management, works with 3,500 municipalities and Republic
agreed to invest and join the board—but only if with 2,700. Meanwhile, Waste Management
Rubicon moved to Atlanta, where he worked. has invested $150 million in IT in the past
The move attracted more high-profile sup- year and has been outfitting 16,500 trucks
porters, and Rubicon’s next big break came with mobile devices. “I don’t want to be the PERSON
guy on the sidelines LEONARD KIM
when it comes to The 31-year-old
HOW TO PLAY IT disruptive technol-
Angeleno has
transformed himself
BY MARILYN COHEN ogy,” says James Fish from homeless and
One of the ways giant garbage haulers like Waste Management Jr., who was appoint- adrift to a social media
and Republic Services got so big was through acquisitions. If
Rubicon is really the Uber of the garbage business, it could be
ed in November as and branding specialist
Waste Management’s sought out for his youth-
a perfect future acquisition for one of the industry giants. With marketing insights.
Waste Management’s stock hitting all-time highs, think bonds. new CEO. “I want to
Steady businesses like garbage hauling are tailor-made for throw- be the disruptor.” IDEA
ing off the income streams bondholders love. Waste Management bonds maturing But Morris isn’t MASS
on March 1, 2025, yield 3.2%. If disruptors like Rubicon can prompt an old industry to CARTOGRAPHY
reboot itself, Waste Management could get upgraded from Baa2/A- to A+ or better.
the only one who
Autonomous vehicles’
sees plenty of op- increasing prevalence
portunity ahead. in the years ahead
when Morris befriended Uber founding CTO Analysts say incumbents are under pressure will drive demand for
Oscar Salazar, who became an investor, board to cut costs and provide steady dividends, not crowdsourced maps
EVAN DUNING
member and pipeline to tech talent. Salazar seek Uber-like hypergrowth. Still, Waste Man- via technology that will
make today’s GPS look
helped recruit Phil Rodoni, the software chief agement and Republic combined are already like an AAA TripTik.
at Esurance, who led the team that built Ru- worth nearly $50 billion. “Maybe it takes them
bicon’s Shake app, which measures proximity, 20 years, but if the other guys can get to $50
speed and the shaking motion of an emptying billion, I don’t see why Rubicon can’t either,”
trash bin to confirm service. That hands-free says Salesforce’s Marc Benioff, who invested
monitoring, which allows the driver to remain in Rubicon after meeting Morris in 2014. Take
focused on the street, helps to eliminate the that with a grain of salt—it’s Benioff, tech’s
top cause of fatal accidents involving garbage hyperbole king, speaking. But even at a small
trucks. Such accidents led to 21 employee fa- fraction of that, garbage could prove to be a
talities and several dozen civilian injuries last mighty good business for Rubicon.
FINAL THOUGHT
“Ours is a culture and a time as immensely rich in trash as it is in treasures.”
—RAY BRADBURY
Index
03 Masahiro Okafuji
ITOCHU Corporation
www.itochu.co.jp/en/
05 Yuzaburo Mogi
Kikkoman Corporation
www.kikkoman.com
06 Fujio Mitarai
Canon Inc.
global.canon
09 Akihiro Teramachi
THK CO., LTD.
www.thk.com
Photography
Kentaro Ishibashi
Mao Yamamoto
2 Japan
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
Y
et even that promise looked dif- talking about working ‘core hours.’ Maybe
ficult to keep. Shosha are ranked that’s OK for other firms, but not for a sho-
by global sales, and the top two sha. We exist to serve our customers. The
firms have held those positions second we forget that, we start to go out
seemingly forever. Moving up just one of business. Our customers begin to work
notch would require both brilliant strat- early in the morning; if they want infor-
egy and a Herculean effort. mation or need help with something, they
Then came a tectonic shift that sent won’t wait until 10 to call us. If our rep
shock waves through the business. When isn’t there to take their calls, the custom-
the big shosha closed their books last ers will find someone who is.”
year, ITOCHU had rocketed to number
one. The common explanation was that, Get Out of the Office!
at Okafuji’s direction, the company had To boost efficiency, Okafuji slashed the
decreased its massive energy and resource number of meetings and the volume of
investments just before those markets paperwork being generated. “No one ever
tanked. However, inside ITOCHU, people sold anything by sitting in a meeting,”
spoke of the “Okafuji Reforms,” a series of Okafuji says, his voice rising slightly with
major internal policy changes that turned characteristic passion. “You can’t serve
the company into a tiger almost overnight your clients by designing a PowerPoint.
and stunned the competition. You have to get out of the office and go do
“I didn’t set out to be a reformer,” Oka- real work. You have to meet with your cus-
fuji explains. “I just wanted our staff to tomers every day. That’s what shonin do.” Masahiro Okafuji
rediscover what it means to be a shonin.” A sign on his office wall sums up Oka- President and CEO, ITOCHU Corporation
He uses the traditional Japanese term for fuji’s management philosophy: “Earn,
the hardworking merchants of old times, Cut, Prevent.” “It’s essential to examine all our busi-
who met with their customers face-to- “Everyone is focused on earning; that’s nesses and anticipate problems before
face every day and placed their needs natural because it feels good. Other sho- they arise. We must look at our strategy
above everything else. “ITOCHU was sha all focused on making money … stra- and constantly adjust it to respond to
born from shonin culture,” he continues, tegically or not, that’s another story,” he changes in the global economy. Prevent-
“and if we lose that, we have lost our soul. says with a smile. “But everyone dislikes ing losses is much cheaper than dealing
I wanted to remind everyone of why we cutting off the fat—eliminating waste— with the consequences.”
are proud to be called shonin.” because it can be very painful.” The sho- He concludes: “People ask if there will be
In short order, Okafuji instituted policy nin of old understood that, he explains, a role for shosha in the future. I say, as long
changes to refocus staff. For example, but too many of today’s executives lack as we provide useful functions and serve
he ended ITOCHU’s f lextime system. the will to do what is necessary. our clients faithfully, there will always be
“We had people coming in at 10:00 a.m., As for “prevent,” Okafuji explains, a need for hardworking shonin.”
Masahiro Okafuji joined ITOCHU in 1974 after graduating from the University of Tokyo. He was
appointed Executive Officer in 2002, Managing Executive Officer in 2004, Director and Executive
Vice President in April 2009, and President and CEO in April 2010.
www.itochu.co.jp/en/
Japan 3
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
Healthy, Sustainable
Growth on the Menu
Many Japanese companies have long histories, so it’s not at all unusual
for a firm to proudly remind customers that it’s been in business for 100
or 150 years. But very few companies can clearly trace the origins of
their business back over 300 years. None is more famous for its long-
standing tradition than Kikkoman Corporation.
H
onorary CEO and Chairman Yuz- Kikkoman seems to be well on its way
aburo Mogi is the living embodi- to achieving that goal. Sales in North
ment of t hat t ra d it ion. Hi s America have been growing steadily for
ancestors helped grow a small, half a century, European sales are still
village-based soy sauce business into a growing in double digits on average, and
major Japanese corporation, and Mogi Asian business, too, is expanding.
himself helped nurture it into a powerful
international brand that produces reli- A World of Flavor Awaits
able investor-friendly growth in sales and Mogi notes that Asia is an especially chal- Yuzaburo Mogi
operating income year after year. lenging market for the company. Honorary CEO and Chairman of the Board
In person, Mogi is a true old-school “Unlike the U.S. or Europe, most Asians Kikkoman Corporation
gentleman, always well dressed and are already familiar with soy sauce,” he
articulate, and one of the few Japanese explains. “People there have grown accus- group is the world’s largest distributor
senior executives who speaks English tomed to the f lavor of their own local of what we call Oriental foodstuffs. The
fluently. This is not surprising, consider- varieties, so it is harder for us to convert popularity of Asian-style cooking and the
ing the fact that he lived in the U.S. for users.” He points out that most of the local demand for ‘Asian-fusion’ cuisines contin-
years and earned an MBA from Colum- products are much cheaper because they ues to grow.
bia University. do not use the slow fermentation process “In addition, our Del Monte business,
When asked about the goals outlined in that Kikkoman has mastered over centu- which covers most of Asia, is doing well.
Global Vision 2020—the company’s vision ries. Still, the Asian economies are grow- We are also developing a promising soy
and basic strategy for the future—Mogi ing, tastes and incomes are changing, and milk business, and we have invested in
explains that while none have specific Mogi is sure that Kikkoman has a pros- the health foods and supplements busi-
numerical targets, the most important perous future ahead in the region. ness through companies such as Country
one will continue well past 2020. “Then,” he says, smiling, “down the road Life in the U.S.”
This key goal is “to make Kikkoman there is South America, and eventually Mogi notes that the firm’s real goal
Soy Sauce a truly global seasoning,” Mogi Africa as well.” for the coming years is to harmoniously
shares. “So many people around the world True, there are plenty of new shoyu blend many local and regional foods and
have still not tried shoyu (soy sauce) in markets to conquer, but is Kikkoman a ingredients with the essence of tradi-
their everyday recipes, and have not yet one-product company? tional washoku (Japanese cuisine) and,
discovered it is an all-purpose seasoning “Certainly not!” Mogi replies with a of course, with shoyu, to create exciting
that can enhance the flavor of almost any laugh. “Our wholesale foods business— new varieties of local dishes. This inter-
food. That is what I most want to change through one of our subsidiaries, the JFC national exchange of “food culture” is at
in my lifetime.” Group—is growing tremendously. This the heart of Kikkoman’s thinking.
Yuzaburo Mogi is a descendant of one of the founding families of Kikkoman, which is one of the oldest
continually running businesses in Japan. He became company President in 1995, was named Chairman
in 2004, and assumed the title of Honorary CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors in 2011. Mogi
holds an MBA from Columbia University.
www.kikkoman.com
Japan 5
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
A Sharper Focus on
Constant Transformation
The first time we visited Canon, back at the beginning of this century, the company was excited about the
second five-year installment of its Excellent Global Corporation Plan. CEO Fujio Mitarai explained that the
plan was designed to evolve Canon from a good company to a great one. We recently revisited Canon, and
once again had the pleasure of speaking with Mitarai, now Chairman and CEO.
are strengthening our manufacturing a strong and growing market for corpo-
capabilities by reinforcing our commit- rate in-house printing solutions that offer
ments to robotics and automation; sec- accurate color reproduction and high-
ondly, we are expanding all our current quality output. Thanks to our acquisition
business lines while at the same time pur- of Océ, a Dutch maker of printing equip-
suing M&A in areas such as commercial ment, our lineup now delivers all of this
printing, network cameras and advanced plus excellent productivity.
medical equipment. All of that is aimed at “As for industrial products, IC (inte-
maximizing new growth opportunities.” grated circuit) chips keep getting smaller.
Desktop PCs have given way to tablets
A Shift Toward B2B and cell phones, which means increased
Mitarai explains that Canon has three demand for extremely high-precision
major business groupings—cameras, ICs. Our excellent semiconductor lithog-
office equipment and industrial equip- raphy equipment can meet the challenge
ment—and all of them are currently work- of ultrafine nanometer-level patterning,”
ing to boost their B2B offerings. he explains.
“Cameras have always been a consumer
business,” he says. “But now we are look- Network Video Systems
ing beyond the consumer market and Canon always has so many new tech-
developing more equipment for profes- nologies. What is the biggest story of
sionals, particularly for filmmaking. the moment?
“Our Cinema EOS System lineup of Mitarai responds, “That would be
digital cinema cameras and lenses is network surveillance systems. They’re
already a hit in the film industry. Cin- already becoming a hot grow th area
Fujio Mitarai ematographers around the world like worldwide, and we are confident they
Chairman and CEO, Canon Inc. getting such exceptional image quality will keep on growing for the foreseeable
in a compact, lightweight system that is future. One of the keys to that business is
H
e explains how the company’s extremely durable and so maneuverable having outstanding cameras in place, and
various five-year plans, called that they can shoot in incredibly tight that is our specialty.
Phases, have carried it and why locations and even in low-
the newest plan is the culmina- light conditions.
tion of Canon’s strategy. “During Phase IV “Our of f ice equipment
of the plan (2011–2015), a global recession l i ne s—pr i nt er s , c opier s ,
impacted all areas of our business,” he projectors and more—are
says. “In response, we focused our ener- already well known, and we
gies on further strengthening our finan- will continue striving to cre-
cial structure so that we could emerge ate state-of-the-art multi-
stronger and better positioned.” function office-automation
Mitarai says he is determined to see equipment. We are also mov-
the company rise to even greater heights ing into commercial print-
through Phase V, which began last year. ing,” Mitarai adds. “There is
“I want the Canon of 2020 to look com-
pletely different from the way it looks An Océ JetStream
today,” he says. “Two key strategies are high-speed continuous-feed
driving that transformation: First, we commercial printer
6 Japan
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
“For example, our new ME20F-SH are just as valuable for monitoring the
ultrahigh-sensitivity multipurpose cam- manufacturing process in a factory, for
era makes use of Canon’s most advanced example, or doing market research in a
“I want the Canon of
image-sensor technology. As a result, it department store. Any situation that 2020 to look completely
can operate in extreme low-light situa- benefits from having high-definition
tions, capturing clear color images with color video and outstanding image- different from the way
minimal noise in as little as 0.0005 lux management technology will showcase it looks today.”
of ambient light (roughly equivalent to an these new systems,” Mitarai explains.
ISO of 4,000,000), which means it can —Fujio Mitarai,
use starlight to take photos that look as Chairman and CEO, Canon Inc.
though they were shot in broad daylight.
This is a truly amazing camera, and it is
already beginning to revolutionize net- optical coherence tomography (OCT)
work video surveillance. equipment that can scan high-resolution
“To grow this business, Canon has 3-D images inside the eyeball, such as the
acquired some of the top players in the blood vessels in the retina, to help diag-
field, such as Axis Communications of Swe- nose ophthalmic disorders.
den, which is the leading company in net- “We plan to continue making advances
work video solutions and is well known for in the field of medical equipment and
its outstanding image-processing technol- aim to be a major player worldwide.
The ME20F-SH is Canon’s first-ever
ogy. We also acquired a Danish company, We have already begun a program of
ultrahigh-sensitivity multipurpose camera.
Milestone Systems, which is the market both internal development and M&A to
leader in video-management software. achieve that goal.”
Each of these companies is outstanding Mitarai sits back for a moment, looking
by itself, but combining them synergisti- pleased with something. Perhaps his com-
cally with Canon’s own technical expertise ing profit forecasts?
produces something greater than the sum “To be honest,” he says, “nothing makes
of the parts. For one thing, Axis connects me happier than to see Canon products
us to roughly 75,000 partner firms includ- being used to support global health care
ing system integrators. By combining our and to save lives. That has long been one
state-of-the-art imaging technology with of our missions, and it is one we have
Axis’s network image-processing technol- never forgotten. Our health care opera-
ogy and Milestone’s video-management tions are not yet the biggest contributors
technology, we can offer a broad spectrum to our sales and profit numbers, but they
of innovative network video solutions. The AXIS Q1659 interchangeable-lens are among the operations of which we are
“In the first quarter of this year Axis network camera combines Canon imaging most proud.”
will release an interchangeable-lens net- and Axis network technologies. Mitarai’s dream of completely trans-
work camera, the AXIS Q1659, that can forming the company now seems close
use a range of standard Canon EF lenses. Imagining Better Health Care to realization. Will Phase V be the final
By combining our various areas of tech- Is there any other area of which the step, the culmination of his efforts?
nical know-how, we can create new value Chairman is especially proud? “No, there is no such thing. There is
for this growing field. This will reinforce “That’s a difficult question,” Mitarai always more to do,” says Mitarai. “Canon
our position as the market leader for some says with a smile. “But the answer is yes: is all about undertaking challenges, not
time to come.” medical equipment. Canon has a very simply growing for the sake of getting
So, this technolog y is all aimed at long history with medical equipment. bigger. We are happy that while both
security surveillance, crime prevention We even made an X-ray camera back the parent company and the group are
and the like? in 1940. Since then, we have developed growing sustainably, we are also mak-
“Of course, security is a major concern many new technologies, from portable ing a meaningful contribution to global
around the world today. But these systems X-ray devices to retinal cameras and society. That’s why Canon exists.”
A native of Kyushu, Japan, Mitarai decided not to follow his father and brothers into medical school, but
instead joined Canon, where his uncle served as the first President. Five years later, he was posted to the
U.S., where he stayed for 23 years, eventually becoming President of Canon U.S.A. Back in Japan, he was
later appointed President, CEO and then Chairman of Canon Inc.
global.canon
Japan 7
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
T
he proliferat ion of robot ic s
and AI is fundamentally alter-
ing the relationship between
workers and the machines that
were developed during the Industrial
Revolution. “So far, humans have used
machines, but now I am convinced that
machines are beginning to move in an
equal relationship with humans, as our
partners,” Teramachi says.
In some areas, AI is already outpac-
ing human beings, and many expect
that computers and AI will outpace the
capacity of the human brain sooner than
the original projection of 2045.
Teramachi has also been surprised by
the data-refining capabilities of AI, and
is concerned that humans may be losing
out to machines.
“We must reconsider the relationship
of humans and machines, and make Akihiro Teramachi
efforts to become aware of what our ideal Chief Executive Officer and President, THK CO., LTD.
situation should be, without turning
away from the present reality,” he says. While THK continues to favor con- believes the Japanese people should
ducting business face-to-face—believing quickly adopt a new way of thinking in
An Evolving Business Strategy the personalized approach helps it better order to move forward.
Traditionally, THK has focused its busi- connect with clients—a new generation “Japan is an adaptable society. When
ness on two main pillars: global market of potential clients prefers to interface people from other countries view us,
expansion and the increased adoption of with machines. they probably think we are unbelievably
linear motion technology in new busi- “Amid expanding business opportuni- compliant! If we can understand and
ness areas, beginning with its LM Guide ties, we must significantly change the way accept the necessary changes, I believe
core products. we do business; and in order to put these we will be capable of seizing the lead and
Over the past year, in an effort to efforts on firmer ground, we also need to aggressively changing.”
keep pace with emerging technological change ourselves,” Teramachi says. Ultimately, Teramachi notes, “On a
advances, Teramachi has added a third longer-term trajectory, if we can alter
directional pillar—the thorough appli- Standing at a Crossroads the direction of education, in line with
cation of robotics and AI, as well as IoT- Japa n it self fa ces numerous major this stance, then in 20 or 30 years’ time,
based products—in order to promote events in the lead-up to 2020, and it now I believe Japan will be a country capable
dynamic change throughout the company. stands at a major crossroads. Teramachi of leading the world.”
Akihiro Teramachi graduated from Keio University in 1971 and joined THK CO., LTD. in 1975.
He became a Director in 1982 and Vice President in 1994, before taking over as CEO in 1997.
www.thk.com
Japan 9
INVESTING RETIREMENT CHECKUP
H
ere’s a heretical idea: Suspend tax rate now versus what you guess it will be in
contributions to your 401(k) in retirement. You get no tax deduction for con-
early 2017 while you wait to see tributing to a Roth, but all withdrawals in retire-
how much President Trump ment are tax-free and you aren’t forced to start
and the Republican-controlled taking money out when you turn 70½, as you
Congress cut income tax rates and how they re- must from a pretax account. If your overall tax
vamp the tax code. This advice is meant for high rate will be the same or higher in retirement, a
earners who max out their allowed 401(k) con- Roth has the edge. But if, for example, you live
tributions, possibly early in the year. (In other in high-tax California or New York City now
words, it’s not for average workers struggling to and plan to retire to income-tax-free Florida or
save 5% of each paycheck.) Nevada, your combined rate will likely go down.
Say you’re earning $500,000 and years ago So you should grab your deductions now.
elected to contribute 10% of your salary, pretax, The second factor: Congress is fickle and
to your 401(k). In 2017, as in 2016, the legal dollar future tax rates unknowable. Hedge your bets,
maximum for employee pretax contributions is building up separate pretax, Roth and regular
$18,000 for younger folks and $24,000 for those taxable savings. “It’s tax diversification,” ex-
50 or older. So you’ll plains Robert Keebler, a CPA in Green Bay, Wis-
reach that deferral consin. The top federal income tax rate on salary
limit in May or June. is now 39.6%, and Trump wants to cut it to 33%.
But depending on If he succeeds, consider it a window to build up
how deeply rates are your Roth stash, not a forever promise.
cut and the state and The third consideration? Not all income is
local income taxes taxed equally. Under current law, withdrawals
where you live and from pretax retirement accounts, including
plan to retire, you 401(k)s and IRAs, are taxed at high ordinary
might be better off income rates. But if you invest through a tax-
using some or all of able account, you pay a lower top rate on long-
that $18,000/$24,000 term capital gains and corporate dividends.
allotment to fund a That rate is now 23.8%, and Trump would
Roth 401(k)—an op- drop it to 20%. Moreover, House Republicans
tion now available in want to chop the top rate on capital gains,
about 60% of larger dividends and even interest income to just
plans, according to 16.5%. If that happens, Gordon points out,
benefits consultant those high-yield corporate bonds you’ve been
ROBERT BABBONI FOR FORBES
800.FIDELITY | Fidelity.com/score
Be sure to consider all your available options, including staying in plan,
and the applicable fees and features of each before moving your retirement assets.
There is no opening cost or annual fee for Fidelity’s traditional, Roth, SEP, and rollover IRAs. A $50 account closeout fee may apply. Fund investments held in your account may be
subject to management, low-balance, and short-term trading fees, as described in the offering materials. For all securities, see Fidelity.com/commissions for trading commission and
transaction fee details.
IMPORTANT: The projections or other information generated by the Fidelity Retirement Score regarding the likelihood of various investment outcomes are hypothetical in nature,
do not reflect actual investment results, and are not guarantees of future results. Results may vary with each use and over time.
The Fidelity Retirement Score is a hypothetical illustration and does not represent your individual situation or the investment results of any particular investment or investment strategy,
and is not a guarantee of future results. Your score does not consider the composition of current savings and other factors.
Guidance provided by Fidelity through the Fidelity Retirement Score is educational in nature, is not individualized, and is not intended to serve as the primary basis for your investment
or tax-planning decisions.
Investing involves risk, including the risk of loss.
The trademarks and/or service marks appearing above are the property of FMR LLC and may be registered.
Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC, Member NYSE, SIPC. © 2016 FMR LLC. All rights reserved. 773775.15.0
INVESTING EMERGING MARKETS
A
s the aftershocks from Donald movements and po-
Trump’s stunning presidential litical developments
victory keep investors guessing, to find “green light”
few sectors have suffered more countries. The common traits: a strengthening Cartica Management’s
than emerging markets. That’s local currency, improving credit profiles and a Teresa Barger is making
emerging markets great
just fine by Teresa Barger, chief executive of sense that the government is pursuing market-
again.
the $2.7 billion emerging-markets specialist oriented reforms. Another favorite, more anec-
Cartica Management, who gives little credence dotal measure is checking with local stockbro-
to Trump’s blustery rhetoric. kers to see if well-heeled natives are bringing
“Being against globalization is like being investment dollars back into the country.
against winter and refusing to buy a winter “By the time equity flows show up, it’s too
coat,” Barger says, paraphrasing Nelson Man- late,” says global strategist Khambata from Car-
dela. She launched Cartica in 2008 with three tica’s Washington, D.C., office.
cofounders—Farida Khambata, Steven Quamme From there Cartica screens stocks using 40-
and Mike Lubrano—after 21 years largely spent odd financial metrics. Its sweet spot is underfol-
funding businesses in developing countries. lowed companies with market caps between
Riddled with corrupt government actors, $1 billion and $5 billion. Another key is tapping
empire-building families and outright fraud, local contacts—typically family members or
emerging markets are viewed as the Wild West controlling shareholders.
by most institutional investors. Many take a What Trump-safe regions does Cartica like?
diversified-index-fund approach, but Cartica The Philippines, despite belligerent rhetoric
insists on activism, targeting unloved companies from President Duterte, is a favorite. Top hold-
with good businesses. ing: infrastructure conglomerate Metro Pacific.
Take Cartica’s largest holding—Alsea, a Mex- “The Phillipines has self-sustaining growth
ico City-based franchisee of Starbucks, Burger because they’re generating a surplus—not living
King and Chili’s. Before Cartica’s intervention in off capital flows,” Khambata says.
2012, the company buried its results by brand. India, a “flashing green light.” Equities aren’t
JAMEL TOPPIN FOR FORBES
Cartica took a small stake, joined its board cheap, but Prime Minister Modi is a “doer,”
and began pounding the table for more disclo- Barger says, and the rupee is appreciating.
sures. Alsea ultimately set up an investor Mexico, Trump’s chief target, warrants cau-
day in New York, which it now holds annually. tion, but according to Barger, tough talk on trade
The stock is up more than 50% over the doesn’t have to equal Draconian tariffs. F
AWARD WINNERS
GER ASS
AL
O
HORATI O
CI
www.horatioalger.org
ATION
www.horatioalger.ca
O A
F C
ANAD
INVESTING ETFS
B
ritish American Tobacco shares What about the cost of the forex positions?
have had a nice run in the past year, In developed markets, currency hedges have a
rising from £37 to £46 in London. cost pretty close to zero; arbitrageurs see to that.
But American buyers did not enjoy Indeed, low interest rates in Europe mean that
the ride. Pounds lost value almost as currencies there can be off-loaded in the futures
fast as the shares gained it. Translated back into market at a slight premium to spot prices.
dollars, the stock went sideways. Currency hedging is a wonderful excep-
Stack currency risk on top of equity risk and tion to the rule that reducing volatility reduces
it’s no surprise that venturing overseas makes returns. Here’s the theory, as expounded by
some investors seasick. But there is the option Jeremy Schwartz, director of research at Wis-
to take Dramamine. When you invest, you can domTree. British investors in Shell are taking on
make a side bet against the currency you’re in- volatility in the value of the business—from oil
vesting in. You could couple a purchase of BAT prices and so on. U.S. investors who buy Shell
or AstraZeneca or Shell with a short position in and do nothing more are taking on that risk plus
sterling. You could marry Toyota to a yen short additional volatility that comes from changes in
and Roche to a Swiss franc short. the value of the pound. By shorting the pound
ROBERT BABBONI FOR FORBES
More realistically, unless you are investing when you buy Shell, you eliminate the second
a gigantic sum: Have a fund do the shorting for contribution to volatility. “You can’t expect cur-
you. Eighty-nine exchange-traded funds have rency to add to return,” Schwartz says. “It’s un-
currency hedges built into their portfolios, and compensated risk.” So you should get rid of it.
they account for $37 billion of the $456 billion in Note what is not part of the argument in
ACT WITH
CONFIDENCE
Trading nearly 16 million times an hour,* the SPDR S&P
500 ETF has given investors the confidence they need to
get in, or out of, the market with ease.
ETFs trade like stocks, are subject to traded fund listed on NYSE Arca, Inc., seeks financial product offered by State Street or
investment risk, fluctuate in market value and to track an index of large-cap U.S. equity its affiliates is sponsored, endorsed, sold or
may trade at prices above or below the ETFs net securities. promoted by S&P.
asset value. ETF shares may not readily trade in SPDR ®, S&P and S&P 500 are registered ALPS Distributors, Inc. is distributor for SPDR
all market conditions. Brokerage commissions trademarks of Standard & Poor’s Financial S&P 500 ETF Trust, a unit investment trust.
and ETF expenses will reduce returns. Services LLC (S&P) and have been licensed ALPS Distributors, Inc. is not affiliated with
SPDR ® S&P 500 ® ETF Trust, an exchange for use by State Street Corporation. No State Street Global Markets, LLC.
Before investing, consider the funds’ investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. To obtain a prospectus or summary
prospectus, which contains this and other information, call 1.866.787.2257 or visit www.spdrs.com. Read it carefully.
VICTOR J. BLUE/BLOOMBERG
SCHWAB INTERNATIONAL EQUITY SCHF 6.9 11/3/09 0.07
ISHARES CORE MSCI EAFE IEFA 14.9 10/18/12 0.08
VANGUARD FTSE DEVELOPED MARKETS VEA 39.2 7/20/07 0.09
ISHARES CORE MSCI EUROPE IEUR 1.0 6/10/14 0.10
ISHARES CORE MSCI PACIFIC IPAC 0.8 6/10/14 0.10
SOURCE: MORNINGSTAR.
PERSON
STEVE ELLS
favor of hedging. Schwartz is not predicting that What happens over the very long pull?
Founder of Chipotle
the dollar will continue to steam ahead, which it Morningstar fund analyst Patricia Oey studied takes back company
has been doing since the election. He is simply this question by comparing global portfolios that reins; co-CEO Marty
arguing that stripping out currency exposure mix U.S. stocks with either hedged or unhedged Moran heads for the exit
will make your foreign adven- foreign stocks. Oey’s paper port- in the wake of food-
tures less scary. folios were a 60/40 blend of the safety mishaps.
THE DOLLAR
The past half-decade has MOVES SIDEWAYS S&P 500 and the MSCI indexes, COMPANY
been a good time for dollar A TUMULTUOUS RIDE HAS TAKEN rebalanced annually. There were GOLDMAN SACHS
THE DOLLAR BACK ALMOST TO
patriots. Or, to put it equiva- years when the hedged portfolio The bank’s stock has
WHERE IT WAS 25 YEARS AGO.
lently, the period has been bad, raced ahead, others when the been a standout since
130 Election Day; meanwhile,
collectively, for the euro, yen FOREIGN unhedged one did. But over 25
Donald Trump names
and pound. That means U.S. EXCHANGE years the two approaches to
120 COO Gary Cohn to
VALUE OF A
investors who bought stocks DOLLAR going international had identi- the White House’s top
overseas and did not hedge 110 cal risk-adjusted returns. economic job.
are full of regrets. They have Oey’s comparison was on
100 IDEA
lost in the currency markets index returns; real-life perfor- MILLENNIAL MISERY
half of the 11% a year they mance will be lower by what- A new study finds that
90
were gaining with their stocks. NOV 1991 = 100
ever fees you pay to the fund’s just half of America’s
(This is the return on an MSCI manager. Whether these fees 30-year-olds are making
index of developed foreign 80 are worth paying is a matter of more (inflation-adjusted)
than their parents did
markets, which include Eu- TRADE-WEIGHTED INDEX OF DOLLAR AGAINST how much safety you seek.
MAJOR CURRENCIES. SOURCE: ST. LOUIS FED. at their age, down from
rope, Japan and Australia but 70
WisdomTree’s oldest 92% in the 1970s.
not China or Brazil.) Those 11/91 12/00 12/08 12/16 hedged ETFs levy 0.48% to
who hedged got something 0.58% in annual expenses.
close to the full 11%. Newer offerings from both WisdomTree and its
There have been other stretches, though, rivals are better buys (see table). One can hope
when the dollar tumbled (see graph). There that Vanguard gets into the fray, but for now
weren’t any hedged ETFs around at the time to this mecca for cheapskates offers hedged stock
prove the point, but if one had opened for busi- funds only in Canada and Australia.
ness in 2002 it would have looked like a clunker It’s a scary world out there. But it’s getting
for the next five years. less scary.
FINAL THOUGHT
“Risk is like fire: If controlled it will help you; if uncontrolled it will rise up and
destroy you.” —THEODORE ROOSEVELT
YO U A R E A C O - C R E AT O R O F R E A L I T Y.
New York Times bestselling author D E E PA K C H O P R A and leading physicist
M E N A S K A FAT O S offer a bold understanding of who we are and how we can
transform the world for the better while reaching our greatest potential.
Visit discoveringyourcosmicself.com.
S TA R T R E A D I N G AT P R H . C O M / YO U A R E T H E U N I V E R S E HARMONY BOOKS
EDUCATION FOR LIFE
Features
JANUARY 24, 2017 SILICON VALLEY’S BLACK SHEEP 86
PHILLIP FROST: DOCTOR, INVENTOR,
INVESTOR, BILLIONAIRE 94
Gallant, 25
MUSI CI A N
“When I hear his voice, I just lose it.” That’s what Elton John had to say
about Gallant shortly before they performed the young singer’s breakout
hit, “Weight in Gold,” together in London last September. Born Christopher
Gallant III, he graduated from New York University in 2012 and moved to
Los Angeles to build his own, unique sound, blending elements of R&B,
alternative rock, soul and electronic music. His 2016 debut, Ology, is
up for a Grammy for Best Urban Contemporary Album, and he
averages 1.2 million listeners per month on Spotify alone. In 2016
he took his act on the road, doing 77 shows in eight countries.
That’s just the beginning, as far as he’s concerned: “I honestly
don’t think that I’ve necessarily had my big break yet.”
CREDIT TK
1941 WILD LILY WINDBREAKER BY COACH ($495); COTTON TROUSERS BY PT PANTALONI TORINO ($425);
CLYDE SNEAKERS IN CORDOVAN PATENT LEATHER BY PUMA ($110).
Miguel Garza, 29 to local grocery stores and co-ops; lines of cassava-and-coconut (or chia) torti-
llas quickly followed.
COFOUNDER, SIETE FAMILY FOODS
Today, the family dinner workaround has blossomed into Siete Family
For years, when Miguel Garza sat down at the family dinner table in Laredo, Foods, which is among the just 2% of Latino-owned businesses doing north of
Texas, the Mexican-American spread was missing a very key component: flour $1 million in revenue each year. “The customer wants clean labels, simple in-
tortillas. His older sister Veronica had an autoimmune disease that forced her to gredients, real food. Grain-free, by proxy, stands for that,” says Miguel, who is
remove all grain from her diet, and for moral support the entire Garza clan also Siete’s CEO.
made do without, using lettuce leaves for their tacos. In 2014, Veronica start- Next up for the company: a line of grain-free tortilla chips, which will roll out
ed making tortillas from almond flour. It was grain-free and, more importantly, in Whole Foods nationwide in January. “We see ourselves as a healthy Mexican
abuela approved. When the choosy family matriarch gave the tortilla her bless- food company,” he says. “You know Annie’s Homegrown, which does organic
ing, Miguel knew the family was onto something. He began pitching the tortillas traditional American cuisine? We see ourselves as that, but for Mexican food.”
MIGUEL GARZA: WALLACE & BARNES SELVEDGE DENIM SHIRT BY J. CREW ($148); BYRON
JEANS BY HUDSON JEANS ($189); NEW BALANCE 420 SNEAKERS BY NEW BALANCE($70).
JEREMY FIANCE: BOMBER JACKET BY ZANONE ($975); COURAGE JEANS BY 34 HERITAGE
70 | FORBES JANUARY 24, 2017 ($190); SUEDE SNEAKER BY SUPRA ($80).
Education Hollywood & Entertainment
Jacob Allen, 28; Marie Dandie, 27 Denée Benton, 25 Laura Gordon, 29 Justice Smith, 21
Cofounders, pilotED Schools Actor Television literary agent, Actor
Louise Baigelman, 29 Quinta Brunson, 27 ICM Partners Lakeith Stanfield, 25
Cofounder, Story Shares Development partner, Lucas Hedges, 20 Actor
Blair Brettschneider, 27 BuzzFeed Motion Pictures Actor Melissa Villaseñor, 29
Founder, GirlForward Jessica Chou, 26 Ryan Higa, 26 Comedian
Gregory Brown, 28; Mitchell Moffit, 28 Producer Digital star Mia Wasikowska, 27
Creators, AsapSCIENCE Kiersey Clemons, 23 Jacquie Katz, 29 Actor
Nicole Cardoza, 27 Actor Television literary agent, Samira Wiley, 29
Founder, Yoga Foster Emory Cohen, 26 Creative Artists Agency Actor
Hardy Farrow, 26 Actor Tyler Oakley, 27 Krysty Wilson-Cairns, 29
Executive director, Let’s Innovate Through Tanya Cohen, 28 Digital star Writer
Education Motion picture literary and Lele Pons, 20 Evan Rachel Wood, 29
Jeremy Fiance, 25 talent agent, WME-IMG Digital star Actor
Founder, the House Fund RJ Cyler, 21 Trevante Rhodes, 26
Jason Field, 27 Actor Actor JUDGES
Founder, BrainStation Cameron Dallas, 22 Margot Robbie, 26 David Linde—CEO,
Jonathan Gottfried, 26; Mike Swift, 27 Digital star Actor Participant Media
Cofounders, Major League Hacking Hilary Duff, 29 Charles Rogers, 29 Issa Rae—actor/writer/
Mendell Grinter, 25 Actor Director/producer/writer producer, Issa Rae
Founder, Campaign for School Equity Presents
Alden Ehrenreich, 27 Oren Rosenbaum, 27 Jill Soloway—writer/
Luke Heine, 22; Cole Scanlon, 20 Actor Digital media agent, director, Topple
Codirectors, Fair Opportunity Project Elle Fanning, 18 United Talent Agency
Productions
Ryan Hoch, 29 Actor Ashton Sanders, 21
Cofounder, Overgrad Elliot Fletcher, 20 Actor
Connie Hu, 27; Joseph Schlesinger, 27 Actor
Cofounders, ArcBotics
Sieva Kozinsky, 26
Cofounder, StudySoup
Jenna Leahy, 28
Co-CEO, CASA Academy
Jordan Levy, 24; Andrew Pohle, 27;
Jake Schaufeld, 24
Cofounders, Real Time Cases
Denisse Rojas Marquez, 27;
Jirayut New Latthivongskorn, 27
Cofounders, Pre-Health Dreamers
Jeffrey Martín, 25;
Dylan Stone-Miller, 26
Cofounders, honorCode
Elijah Mayfield, 27
Vice president of new technologies,
Turnitin
Sophia Parsa, 25;
Tyler Oakley, 27
Shakib Zabihian, 25 DI GI TA L STA R
Cofounders, toot
Jacobi Petrucciani, 22; Prahasith “YouTube provides a microphone for
Veluvolu, 21; Colton Voege, 21 marginalized voices,” says comedi-
Cofounders, Mimir an and LGBT activist Tyler Oak-
Evin Floyd Robinson, 26; ley. The platform has amplified
Jessica Santana, 27
Cofounders, New York on Tech his voice to reach nearly 8.1 mil-
Rachel Romer Carlson, 28; lion subscribers, who tune in to
Brittany Stich, 28 watch his talk-show-like vid-
Cofounders, Guild Education
eos, in which he muses on top-
Shanyn Ronis, 29
Founder, Education Global Access ics both light (celebrity crush-
Program es and viral videos) and heavy
Jeff Sorensen, 27 (politics and sexuality).
Founder, optiMize “When I was younger and
Leandra Tejedor, 25 still in the closet, I couldn’t just
Cofounder, Vidcode
Google ‘coming-out story’ to
Joe Vasquez, 27
Codirector, Runway Incubator help me articulate what I was
Cliff Weitzman, 22 going through,” he says.
Founder, Speechify With spiky bleached hair
Alec Whitters, 29 and signature geek-chic glasses,
CEO, Higher Learning Technologies
Tyler counts Michelle Obama, Kerry
Tamara Wilkerson, 26 Washington and Ricky Martin among
Executive director, African American
Teaching Fellows his fans, but his biggest proponent is Ellen DeGen-
eres, with whom he has a production deal. A 2015
JUDGES
book of personal essays, Binge, became a New York
Stacey Childress—CEO, NewSchools Venture Times bestseller, and he has raised over $1 million for
Fund
Arne Duncan—managing partner, Emerson the suicide hotline the Trevor Project. “YouTube is a
Collective place for people from all over the world to feel less
Wendy Kopp—cofounder, Teach for All
Marcus Noel—founder, Heart of Man Ventures alone,” Oakley says.
JUDGES
Linda Boff—CMO, GE
Bonin Bough—host of Cleveland
Hustles, CNBC
Rachel Tipograph—founder, MikMak
Abby Wambach—2015 FIFA Women’s
COTTON SUIT BY RAVAZZOLO ($3,300); COTTON SHIRT ($50) AND TIE ($45) BY VAN HEUSEN; World Cup champion
SILK POCKET SQUARE BY CHARLES TYRWHITT ($20); LEATHER AND ELKSKIN SHOES BY SANTONI ($920).
JUDGES
Tyler Haney—founder, Outdoor
Emily Motayed, 28
Voices CO FOUNDER, HAVENLY
Jennifer Hyman—cofounder, Rent Working with a roster of more than 200 freelance interi-
the Runway When she cofounded Havenly with her older sister Lee Mayer in or designers, Havenly charges a flat fee of either $79 or $199
Toni Ko—founder, NYX Cosmetics 2013, Emily Motayed didn’t know much about interior design— per room. Every interaction, from agreeing on a budget to as-
Alli Webb—founder, Drybar
other than that she couldn’t afford it. After moving into her first sembling a shopping list, takes place online. The Denver-based
“big-girl” apartment in New York, she discovered that tradition- company also sells furniture, allowing shoppers to buy a whole,
al interior designers weren’t interested in working within her mod- Instagram-ready look. In three years Motayed and Mayer have
est budget. “Everyone deserves to have a beautiful home, whether increased Havenly’s team from 2 to 60 and raised $13.3 mil-
you have a $1,000 or a $50,000 budget,” she says. lion in funding.
ANAA-JUXTAPOSE ROSE SLEEVELESS FIT AND FLARE MIDI DRESS BY TED BAKER ($369);
LEATHER GODIVA PUMP BY SERGIO ROSSI ($630). PICTURE FRAMES COURTESY GILL & LAGODICH
JANUARY 24, 2017 FORBES | 73
Media 30 UNDER 30
Matt Humphrey, 29
COFOUNDER, LENDINGHOME
Libby Brittain, 27
Partner strategy lead, news, Daniel Houghton, 28 Buying a home may be part of the American dream, but
Facebook CEO, LONELY PLANET
Kristina Budelis, 28 mortgages can be a nightmare. Matt Humphrey wants to
Cofounder, KitSplit In 2013, three years after graduating from Western change that. His three-year-old startup has raised more than
Rhonesha Byng, 27 Kentucky University, Daniel Houghton took the helm $100 million and originated over $1 billion in loans. The plat-
Founder, Her Agenda of the now 44-year-old travel brand Lonely Planet. form cuts out banks by connecting borrowers directly with
Emma Cline, 27 One of his first tasks? Laying off 75 people, one-fifth investors. The approach opens up credit to unconventional
Author
of the company’s employees, many of whom worked buyers like self-employed entrepreneurs, who often hit walls
Leslye Davis, 26
Photo and video journalist, on LP’s free-spirited print guidebooks. Industrywide, with traditional lenders.
New York Times guidebook sales plummeted 40% from “The mortgage world today is mired by complexity, a
Anna Therese Day, 28 2007 through 2012, so Houghton de- lack of technology and inefficiency,” Humphrey says. “Not
Journalist
cided LP had to focus on digital to only can we beat the banks at their own game doing the
Brian Donohue, 27
CEO, Instapaper survive. One year after he took over, standard products better, faster and cheaper, but we can ex-
Clay Dumas, 28
digital accounted for 30% of LP’s pand access to credit.”
Chief of staff and senior revenue, and print sales also re- Humphrey, who started college when he was 13, has been
advisor, Office of Digital bounded, up 27% since 2013. an entrepreneur since 2005. His first big exit came when he
Strategy, the White House
After college Houghton start- sold a Groupon-like daily-deal site called HomeRun for over
Brandon Feldman, 29
News & politics manager, ed his own production company, $100 million in 2011. This year LendingHome established an
YouTube Houghton Multimedia, which got institutional channel, bundling $126 million in loans into trad-
Ashley Ford, 29 the attention of tobacco bil- able securities, fueling a near tripling of revenues.
Development executive, Web
series and video, Matter Studios lionaire Brad Kelley. The
Taylor Freeman, 26;
two created NC2 Media,
Will Mason, 26 through which Kel-
Cofounders, Upload ley acquired LP for $77
Vinny Green, 25 million. “You have to
Director, business
development, Snopes be respectful of [the]
Yaa Gyasi, 27 past while trying to
Author plow into the future,”
Isabelia Herrera, 25 Houghton says. That
Music editor, Remezcla
future is filled with
John Herrman, 29 a flagship Guides
David Carr Fellow,
New York Times app (nearly a million
Daniel Houghton, 28 downloads in the
CEO, Lonely Planet past year) and part-
Greg Howard, 28 nerships with com-
David Carr Fellow,
New York Times Magazine panies like Samsung.
Sarah Jeong, 28 LP is the largest
Contributing editor, guidebook player,
Motherboard, Vice Media according to Nielsen,
Alexander Klokus, 25; owning 25% of the
Jordan Lejuwaan, 26
Cofounders, Futurism nearly $90 million
Amy Levin, 29 guidebook market.
Founder, CollegeFashionista
Wesley Lowery, 26
National reporter, Washington Post
Adam Marshall, 28
Knight Foundation litigation
attorney, Reporters Committee
for Freedom of the Press
Ashley McCollum, 29
General manager, Tasty, BuzzFeed
Griffin McElroy, 29
Founding editor, Polygon
John Meyer, 21
Founder, Fresco News
Evan Puschak, 28
Creator, The Nerdwriter
Hayden Rockwell, 26
Lead senior story editor, Snapchat
Alex Schmider, 27
Senior strategist,
Transgender Media, GLAAD
Molly Swenson, 29
CMO, RYOT
Jia Tolentino, 28
Contributing writer,
NewYorker.com
JUDGES
Jim Bankoff—CEO, Vox Media
Pete Cashmore—founder, Mashable
Kate Lee—head of content
development, Medium
Shane Smith—cofounder, Vice
Media
DANIEL HOUGHTON: 1905 WOOL SUIT ($598), 1905 COTTON SHIRT ($80) AND 1905 SILK TIE ($60) BY JOS. A. BANK; CALFSKIN WINGTIP BY BY JOHNSTON & MURPHY ($198).
MATTHEW HUMPHREY: COTTON SHIRT BY CHARLES TYRWHITT ($69); BYRON JEANS BY HUDSON JEANS ($210); SUEDE AND LAMBSKIN SHOES BY ESQUIVEL ($875).
74 | FORBES JANUARY 24, 2017
Finance Science Alice Zhang, 28
Anish Abuwala, 29 Michelle Atallah, 26 COFOUNDER, VERGE GENOMICS
Portfolio manager, Caxton Ph.D. candidate, Stanford University
Associates While pursuing an M.D./Ph.D. at UCLA, Alice Zhang was shocked to learn a fact every
Michael Barron, 27
Raja Bobbili, 29 Senior scientist, AeroFarms drug researcher knows all too well: 90% of medicines that start human trials fail. “It’s
Analyst, Abrams Capital Brandon Carpenter, 25 still largely a guessing game,” she says. Her startup, Verge Genomics, is the latest in
Michael Buckley, 29 Cofounder, Feynman Nano a long line of biotechs that think merging the latest in computer science with new
Analyst, Duquesne Capital Xi Chen, 29 technologies for decoding the human genetic code can provide a solution.
Management Assistant professor, New York University What’s special: Verge has the guts to target Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s,
Francis Chung, 29 Huanyu Cheng, 28
Quantitative developer, areas most drug companies have abandoned as hopeless. The seven-person start-
Assistant professor,
IEX Group Pennsylvania State University up raised $4 million from such firms as IA Ventures and Draper Associates, and as-
Kerri Cohen Saperstein, 29 Timothy Downing, 29 sembled multiple advisors, including Alzheimer’s research luminary Paul Aisen,
Vice president, Goldman Sachs Assistant professor, University of Harvard biotech guru George Church and the chief medical officer of the bio-
Richard Craib, 29 California, Irvine
CEO, Numerai tech firm Alkermes. Using machine-learning algorithms to understand networks of
Davina Durgana, 28
Ben Friedman, 29 Senior statistician, Walk Free Foundation genes is an exploding scientific field. Maybe this time it will work as a business.
Portfolio manager, CQS Melissa Gymrek, 28
Akshay Goyal, 28 Assistant professor, University
Vice president, Starwood Capital of California, San Diego
Zach Hamed, 23 Karan Jani, 28
Product manager, Goldman Sachs Ph.D. candidate, Georgia Institute of
Matt Humphrey, 29 Technology
Cofounder, LendingHome Michael Johnson, 27
Rachel Hunter, 27 Cofounder, Visikol
Associate, Apollo Global Michelle Kunimoto, 23
Management Master’s candidate, University of British
David Knopf, 28 Columbia
Partner, 3G Capital Matthew Lovett-Barron, 29
Dhruv Maheshwari, 28 Postdoctoral fellow,
Research analyst, Stanford University
Point72 Asset Management Luther McDonald, 28
Eugene Marinelli, 29 Assistant professor,
Chief technology officer, Blend University of Utah
Anthony Massaro, 29 Stefanie Mueller, 29
Partner, Pershing Square Assistant professor,
Capital Management Massachusetts
Institute of Technology
Ann Mathews, 28
Vice president, Goldman Sachs Jeff Nivala, 29
Postdoctoral fellow, Harvard
Alissa Merar, 29 Medical School
Vice president, Bank of America
Olivier Noel, 28
Alex Nomitch, 29 Cofounder, DNAsimple
Portfolio manager,
Viking Global Investors Korin Reid, 29
Senior data scientist, McKesson
Guillaume Rabate, 28
Vice president, Morgan Stanley Daisy Robinton, 29
Postdoctoral fellow, Harvard University
Daniel Rasmussen, 29
Founder, Verdad Fund Advisers Monica Rosenberg, 28
Ph.D. candidate, Yale University
Niraj Shah, 29
Senior associate, Jacob Rubens, 29
RedBird Capital Partners Associate, Flagship Pioneering
David Smalling, 29 Phiala Shanahan, 26
Director, BlackRock Postdoctoral fellow, Massachusetts
Institute of Technology
Ben Solarz, 29
Principal, SPO Partners Arun Sharma, 26
Postdoctoral fellow, Harvard Medical
Andy Stafman, 29 School
Partner, Sachem Head
Capital Management Mark Smith, 29
Cofounder, OpenBiome
Colter Van Domelen, 29
Partner, Tiger Kenneth Smith, 27
Global Management Structural dynamics engineer, NASA
Langley Research Center
Kelly Wannop, 29
Associate, Blackstone Group Justin Solomon, 29
Assistant professor, Massachusetts
Brandon Watkins, 28 Institute of Technology
Vice president, Goldman Sachs
Daniel Szafir, 28
Benjamin Wu, 28 Assistant professor, University of
Partner, Huntsman Colorado, Boulder
Family Investments
John Urschel, 25
Franklin Zhao, 29 Ph.D. candidate, Massachusetts
Global macro trader, Institute of Technology
Commonwealth
Opportunity Capital Katharina Volz, 29
Founder, Razor
Katy Zhao, 29
Vice president, Morgan Stanley Diane Wu, 29
Cofounder, Trace Genomics
JUDGES Alice Zhang, 28
Cofounder, Verge Genomics
Jennifer Fan—portfolio manager,
Millennium Management JUDGES
Thomas H. Lee—founder, Lee
Equity Partners Cigall Kadoch—assistant
Sonia Gardner—cofounder, professor, Dana-Farber Cancer
Avenue Capital Group Institute
Robert Langer—institute
professor, MIT
John Scalzi—science fiction author
LEATHER JACKET($798) AND BLACK AND PRINTED DRESS ($398) BY POLO RALPH LAUREN;
LEATHER AND SUEDE GRACE GRAND SANDAL BY COLE HAAN ($270) BY COLE HAAN.
POLYESTER CREPE DRESS BY BCBG MAXAZRIA ($298) AND METALLIC PYTHON-STAMPED SANDAL BY GIUSEPPE ZANOTTI DESIGN ($845).
76 | FORBES JANUARY 24, 2017
Social
Entrepreneurs
Aditya Agarwalla, 23
Cofounder, Kisan Network
Noam Angrist, 25
Cofounder, Young 1ove
Ricky Ashenfelter, 29
Cofounder, Spoiler Alert
Robert Bergquist, 24;
Brittany Bergquist, 26
Cofounders, Cell Phones for Soldiers
Sixto Cancel, 24
CEO, Think of Us
Corinne Clinch, 23; Uriel Eisen, 24
Cofounders, Rorus
Emily Cunningham 26;
Kwami Williams, 25
Cofounders, MoringaConnect
Tsechu Dolma, 24
Founder, Mountain Resiliency Project
Brit Gilmore, 29
President, The Giving Keys
Jason Green, 27; Matt LaRosa, 23
Cofounders, Edenworks
Sam Greenberg, 24;
Sarah Rosenkrantz, 24
Cofounders, Y2Y
Kristof Grina, 26; Kathleen O’Keefe,
26; Jeff Prost-Greene, 26
Cofounders, Up Top Acres
Afzal Habib, 28;
Sabrina-Natasha Habib, 28
Cofounders, Kidogo
Tina Hovsepian, 29
Founder, Cardborigami
John Lewandowski, 26
Founder, Disease Diagnostic Group
Quardean Lewis-Allen, 29
Founder, Made in Brownsville
Evan Lutz, 24
Cofounder, Hungry Harvest
Sara Minkara, 27
Founder, Empowerment Through
Integration
Genevieve Nielsen, 24
Cofounder, mRelief
Daquan Oliver, 24
Founder, WeThrive
Liz Powers, 28
Cofounder, ArtLifting
Sam Pressler, 24
Founder, Armed Services Arts Partnership
Teju Ravilochan, 29
Teju Ravilochan, 29 Cofounder, Unreasonable Institute
Liana Rosenman, 25; Kristina Saffran, 24
COFOUNDER, UNREASONABLE INSTITUTE Cofounders, Project HEAL
Ryan Ross, 28
It’s unreasonable: Fresh out of college and without ever founding Program director, Halcyon Incubator
a company himself, Teju Ravilochan built an accelerator for social Michael Roytman, 28
entrepreneurs tackling the world’s unsolved problems from pov- Cofounder, Dharma Platform
erty to clean-water access. The company draws its name from a Annie Ryu, 26
George Bernard Shaw quote that claims “All progress depends on Founder, The Jackfruit Co.
the unreasonable man.” For the Unreasonable Institute that means Mario Jovan Shaw, 27; Jason Terrell, 26
Cofounders, Profound Gentlemen
finding entrepreneurs who are willing to tackle complex problems at
Rachel Sumekh, 25
scale, even if on paper they’re unqualified. Founder, Swipe Out Hunger
To make up for their inexperience, Ravilochan and his cofound- Galen Welsch, 29
ers created a massive network of mentors, such as pioneering social Cofounder, Jibu
entrepreneur Paul Polak and Google X cofounder Tom Chi, and cap-
JUDGES
ital partners, including the Rockefeller Foundation. To date the insti-
Jean Case—cofounder, Case Foundation
tute has graduated 148 startups who have raised over $155 million. Cheryl Dorsey—president, Echoing Green
“We admitted that we did not know what it took to solve these prob- Randall Lane—editor, Forbes magazine
lems,” says Ravilochan. “We were our own customers.” Kiah Williams—cofounder, SIRUM
MORGAN RIPSTOP SPORT JACKET ($495), RIPSTOP TROUSERS ($265) AND COTTON DRESS SHIRT ($90) BY RALPH LAUREN;
SILK EVENING POCKET SQUARE BY CHARLES TYRWHITT ($20); DOUBLE BUCKLE LEATHER SHOES BY FRATELLI ROSSETTI ($660).
Technology
Jobert Abma, 26; Michiel Prins, 26
Mitchell Hashimoto, 27
Cofounders, HackerOne CO FOUNDER, HASHICORP
Raphael Arar, 29
Designer and researcher, IBM When Mitchell Hashimoto worked for a consulting firm while an undergrad at the University of
Leore Avidar, 28; Harry Zhang, 27 Washington in 2010, he was frustrated by how much time he spent priming clients’ computers
Cofounders, Lob.com with the right software setup. As a fix, Hashimoto wrote code automating the process, cutting
Payam Banazadeh, 25; down setup time from about 15 hours to 15 minutes. He made his software, called Vagrant, open
William Woods, 28
Cofounders, Capella Space source, and within a few years millions of developers and IT professionals were die-hard users.
Shane Scranton, 26;
HashiCorp now offers seven open-source tools that automatically install and configure
Nate Beatty, 25 software in computers, servers and databases. The 60-person startup has raised $34.7 million
Cofounders, IrisVR in venture funding and has a roster of blue-chip customers includ-
Laura Behrens Wu, 25; ing eBay, Disney, PayPal, Stripe, Pinterest, Home Depot and near-
Simon Kreuz, 27
Cofounders, Shippo ly every U.S. bank.
Max Bennett, 26 “Every company is realizing the traditional way of doing IT
Cofounder, Bluecore isn’t going to scale,” Hashimoto says. “Tractor companies or in-
Scott Britton, 28 surance companies want to focus on their business, not on
Cofounder, Troops.ai building the delivery mechanism for their software.”
Mackenzie Burnett, 23;
Dan Gillespie, 23
Cofounders, Redspread
Nick Candito, 29
Cofounder, Progressly
Mathilde Collin, 27
Cofounder, Front
Brad Cordova, 27
Cofounder, TrueMotion
Ryan Disraeli, 29
Cofounder, TeleSign
Andrew First, 27
Cofounder, Leanplum
Wade Foster, 29; Mike Knoop, 27
Cofounders, Zapier
Larry Gadea, 29
Founder, Envoy
Mitchell Hashimoto, 27;
Armon Dadgar, 25
Cofounders, HashiCorp
Steven Hong, 28
Cofounder, Kumu Networks
Peter Johnston, 28
Founder, Lystable
Charlotte Kiang, 25
Mission integration engineer, SpaceX
Curtis Liu, 28; Spenser Skates, 28
Sean
Cofounders, Amplitude
Beyang Liu, 27; Quinn Slack, 28
Petterson,
Cofounders, Sourcegraph
Andrew Maas, 29
26
Cofounder, Roam Analytics COFOUNDER,
ST R ON GA R M
Chris Maddern, 28
Cofounder, Button T ECHN OLOGI ES
Jessica McKellar, 29 Safety is a major problem
Director of engineering, Dropbox
for blue-collar workers: More
Kylan Nieh, 24
Senior product manager, LinkedIn than 3% of manufacturing work-
Samantha Radocchia, 28
ers suffered a workplace injury in
Cofounder, Chronicled 2015, according to the Bureau of
Hany Rashwan, 26 Labor Statistics. Brooklyn-based
Founder, Payout.com StrongArm Technologies makes
Cecilia Stallsmith, 27 wearable protective technol-
Senior manager, platform and
partner marketing, Slack ogy to help industrial workers
Dmitriy Zaporozhets, 29 avoid injury. Its exoskeletons,
Cofounder, GitLab which retail for $275 to $630,
align the body to reduce arm
JUDGES
fatigue, avoid muscle strains and
Jeff Lawson—cofounder, Twilio
Douglas Leone—managing partner, sprains, and prevent back injuries. Sean
Sequoia Capital Petterson, whose father was a construction worker,
Maran Nelson—cofounder, Clara Labs studied product design at the Rochester Institute of
Technology, where he came up with the idea for the
company. StrongArm has raised $4.5 million from in-
vestors, including 3M, which helps with distribution,
and customers include Con Edison and military ship-
MITCHELL HASHIMOTO: WOOL AND SILK SPORT JACKET BY CANALI ($1,750); COTTON AND LINEN SHIRT BY builder Huntington Ingalls Industries. Revenue should
TED BAKER ($165); LEATHER GRANDPRØ TENNIS SNEAKERS BY COLE HAAN ($130).
SEAN PETTERSON; LEATHER BOMBER BY BRUNELLO CUCINELLI ($5,225); MERINO WOOL SHIRT ($164) AND MOTOR
approach $8 million in 2017. Says Petterson: “I really
CITY PANTS ($348) BY JOHN VARVATOS; LEATHER AND FELT SNEAKERS BY GIUSEPPE ZANOTTI DESIGN ($695). wanted to create products that would bring people
like my family members home a little bit safer.”
Claudia Li, 28
Fashion designer, Claudia Li
SILK DRESS BY SALVATORE FERRAGAMO ($4,900) AND SANDALS WITH CRYSTAL
BROOCH BY GIUSEPPE ZANOTTI DESIGN ($1,150).
info4pi.org
30 UNDER 30
The
Black Sheep
At 25, James Proud has a quarter-billion riding on
reinventing how you sleep. And this original Thiel
Fellow is determined to do it his way—or fail trying.
BY BRIAN SOLOMON
CREDIT PINES
ETHAN TK FOR FORBES
I
t’s only six blocks from
James Proud’s office, a brick-
walled converted bakery
in San Francisco’s Mission
District, to Central Kitchen, a
hip restaurant owned by fel-
low FORBES 30 Under 30
alum Thomas McNaughton,
but that’s plenty of time for
the 25-year-old to take on
more or less all of Silicon
Valley. People who complain
about finding good talent just don’t know how
to recruit. Traditional venture capital firms? Un-
necessary. By the time we reach the host stand,
he’s deriding the entire tech community for their
“airy-fairy bullsh-t about changing the world.”
This absolutism feels all the more jarring the godfather himself, Thiel. It’s his first person-
given that his short, bulldog frame and pudgy al investment in one of his fellows. “James stood
baby face make him look like the high school out from the start as extremely tenacious and de-
computer-lab nerd he once was, a persona but- termined,” Thiel says.
tressed by his wardrobe (a sweatshirt and sweat- And now he’s rich, too. Proud still owns about
pants almost all the time, a black T-shirt if he’s half of Hello, pushing him well into centimillion-
feeling dressy) and diet (no vegetables, no fish). aire territory.
The latest in the 21st-century cavalcade of cocky Proud’s chosen market is right up there with
prodigies in the mold of Sean Parker, Mark Zuck- death and taxes in terms of universality: sleep,
erberg and Evan Spiegel, Proud was born thumb- which has suddenly become a bit more sexy and
ing his nose at other people. “No one can make a bit less sleepy than it has been for the past few
me do what I don’t want to do,” he says. He’s been millennia. “You’re starting to see a shift in con-
professionally bred this way, too. versation around sleep that happened in the ’80s
James Proud was in the first class of Thiel Fel- around exercise and in the ’90s and 2000s with
lows, the upstarts—122 and counting—who for organic and healthy eating,” Proud says. Arianna
the past seven years have taken $100,000 each Huffington has raised $7 million for Thrive Glob-
from billionaire contrarian Peter Thiel on the al, which offers a suite of products and services
condition they skip college. And he’s also the driven by the idea that more sleep translates to a
most successful. Over the past four years he’s better life, and Casper, the mattress-will-change-
ETHAN PINES FOR FORBES
raised roughly $40 million for his startup, Hello, your-life startup, has raised $70 million.
mostly at a $250 million valuation. He’s recently Proud’s focus is on hardware, specifically an
been raising bridge financing, at an even higher orb the size of a tennis ball that sits on your bed-
valuation, including a direct $2 million ante from side table and uses a variety of hidden sensors to
over lunch, always letting them pick up the check. “Al- (“That’s one young, smart motherf—ker,” says Shapiro.)
ready back then, James had this laser-sharp focus about Soon after, Proud began raising money for a new
what he was going to do for the next ten years,” says Spo- stealth startup that would become Hello. “I said, ‘I’m in
tify founder Daniel Ek, who met Proud playing Ping- for whatever amount you’ll let me in for,’” says Shakil
Pong during that period. “It was incredibly rare to see Khan, an early Spotify investor that Proud befriended in
that from someone who should have been more focused London. “He said, ‘I still haven’t finalized what it’s going
on girls and school.” to be.’ And I said, ‘That’s irrelevant.’”
Proud would have been the first in his family to at- The original idea for Hello was to build a better ver-
tend college, but when the day came to enroll, he re- sion of the activity-tracker wristband pioneered by Fitbit
fused to go, despite his parents’ pleas. Then, on a Sep- and Jawbone. Proud recruited a handful of young hard-
tember day in 2010, Proud found his savior at 1 a.m. while ware engineers and spent 18 months developing a proto-
watching a live stream of the TechCrunch Disrupt con- type, which included a magnetic strap similar to one that
ference. There Thiel announced his eponymous fellow- would later appear on the Apple Watch. But over time
ship: a $100,000 grant to each of 20 teenagers who want- Proud quietly soured on its potential. He noticed that
ed to skip college to pursue another dream. Proud decid- no one on his team wore any existing product on his or
ed to apply on the spot. her wrist for more than a few weeks. Consumer surveys
When Thiel flew the finalists out to hobnob in San show similar results, with estimates that about a third
Francisco, Proud was surrounded by preppy American of wearables owners give up on their devices within the
kids with acceptances to Harvard they wanted to turn first six months. Plus, competition was fierce. Google
down. He returned to London, sure he wouldn’t make would announce Android Wear in March 2014, and the
the cut. “I wished I didn’t even come,” Proud says. “I Apple Watch debuted in September. Proud was already
late to a category in which he no longer believed.
“So what do you do? Do you give the money back to
What does Proud think investors and send everyone home?” he asked.
of his trillion-dollar The epiphany came when Proud flew out to New
York City to attend a birthday party in March 2014.
competitors? Looking Distracted by his dilemma, he brainstormed about
up from his lamb ribs products that wouldn’t need to be worn at all times
and suddenly arrived at sleep tracking. People en-
and roast pork, he lifts joyed the feature on wristbands but hated wear-
both hands in a double- ing them overnight. He brought the team togeth-
er when he returned and told them they would be
middle-finger salute. scrapping a year and a half of work to start over.
“I wore the wristband prototypes for a good two
weeks after, holding on to the work we had done,”
says Hello’s first industrial designer, Rob Shook.
was going to have to go back and hate my life because I’d Proud also had to sell his decision to an angry group of
seen that this would be so much better.” But in April 2011 investors who had supported a $7 million Series A only
Thiel’s organization called to give him the good news. months earlier. To placate them, he granted addition-
They also told him to sit tight until July. Proud, of course, al shares to everyone who participated in the round, in-
was in a hurry—and not listening to anyone who would cluding Khan, then-PayPal president David Marcus and
stop him. He quickly emptied his savings to buy a plane Xiaomi vice president Hugo Barra. “Had the decision to
ticket and then demanded the first Thiel check be sent pivot come three months later, I don’t think the compa-
early, lest he end up sleeping on the street. They caved. ny would have survived,” says Dan Rose, Facebook’s vice
The fellowship changed Proud’s life, turning him president of partnerships and Hello’s only board mem-
from an unknown programmer living with his parents to ber other than Proud.
a member of an inaugural class of wunderkinds. While
crashing on air mattresses and couches for most of the PROUD’S MOVE AWAY FROM wearable devices took Hello
next year, he took advantage of every door the Thiel brand out of a crowded but expanding market—an estimated 67
opened across Silicon Valley. For a time Proud worked million smart watches will be sold this year—and made
out of PayPal cofounder Max Levchin’s incubator, and in it the pioneer of a completely new one. “If it can work,
June 2012 he offloaded GigLocator to the concert promot- it can end up being a consumer device on par with the
er Peter Shapiro, earning himself a cool six-figure payday. iPod,” Thiel says. A huge if. Searching for scientific back-
Changed
Directions
Intertwining Ties to Thiel
A dozen or so fellows have
At least three fellows besides James Proud have continued to stay connected moved on from their initial
in some way to Thiel: Eden Full Goh, who started a solar company before leav- concepts. For his part, Sujay
ing for Palantir, the data-mining firm Thiel cofounded; Tom Currier, who joined Tyle worked on founding
Thiel’s Founders Fund as an entrepreneur-in-residence after starting Black Swan Hired, a job-search website,
Solar; and Daniel Friedman, who received funding from FF Angel, one of Thiel’s VC firms, for then left to join one of Hired’s
Thinkful, his startup that offers online coding classes. investors, Sherpa Ventures.
ing, Proud hired Matthew Walker, director of the Sleep lus Rift’s crowdfunding haul. That summer proved an in-
& Neuroimaging Laboratory at the University of Califor- toxicating high, but there was so much to do to make the
nia, Berkeley, as Hello’s chief scientist. Walker believes marketing pitch a reality that four bottles of celebratory
that lack of sleep is an “epidemic” in First World coun- champagne sat in the office refrigerator unopened until
tries and that Sense can help fix that. After one year of this past Thanksgiving.
use, 71% of Sense users slept longer on average than they Hello promised delivery by November 2014 but de-
had before, and 57% had more regular wake-up times, layed the first shipments until February as production
the company claims. Hello hopes to do even better as it challenges mounted. Sense is a two-part system that in-
tests more personalized sleep techniques. cludes a bedside device—an amalgam of LEDs, circuits
ILLUSTRATIONS BY PATRICK WELSH FOR FORBES
Proud proved there was a market for sleep-centered and sensors to detect light, sound, temperature and air
products, at least among early adopters, with a success- quality, all stuffed into a small sphere—and an accompa-
ful Kickstarter campaign in July 2014. After racing to nying battery-powered, Bluetooth-enabled “Sleep Pill,”
build a basic hardware prototype and marketable soft- which clips to your pillow to track movement. The team
ware façade, Hello launched its campaign with a slick had to design many of the manufacturing tools them-
video and a goal of $100,000. It blew past the finish line, selves. That following June Hello brought in a $30 mil-
scoring $1 million in the first four days and $2.4 million lion cash infusion at the $250 million valuation from the
after one month, just a hair shy of VR phenomenon Ocu- likes of Temasek Holdings, a government-owned invest-
ment fund in Singapore, but the rest of the year was lost can’t build and release them all right now,” Proud asserts.
to fixing bugs and rewriting core features. In 2016, as He’ll need to diversify his product line soon to avoid
Amazon rolled out the Echo and Google revealed Google the fate of other hardware startups like fellow Kickstart-
Home, both voice-enabled wireless speakers, Proud er darling Pebble, which shut down in December, and
pushed the team to add voice controls to the latest Sense, drone maker 3D Robotics, which crashed after burning
which went on sale this past November. through $100 million in funding. Even public companies
“The big challenge is always: Can you lock in the mar- like Fitbit (trading down 86% from its peak) and GoPro
ket enough before people develop copycats that are cheap- (down 90%) have struggled. “On one hand, it’s easier
er and roughly equivalent?” Thiel says. “This is always than ever to build a hardware product,” says Jan Daw-
something a little harder for hardware than software.” son, analyst at Jackdaw Research. “But in some ways it’s
Unfortunately, even the new version feels like an un- harder than ever to be competitive and build a sustain-
finished product searching for a market. After trying it able business.”
for a week, I enjoyed Sense’s novelty as a smarter alarm In the meantime, Proud must mature as the leader of a
clock with limited voice commands and the ability to 50-employee startup trying to go toe-to-toe with compa-
turn off the alarm with a wave of your hand. But for my nies that outnumber and out-finance him. While friends
$149, the core functionality is too extol Proud as wise beyond his
inconsistent. It’s supposed to de- years, former Hello staffers de-
tect when you fall asleep and wake scribe him as a smart but invet-
up, and analyze your tossing and erate risk-taker who often unrav-
turning to see how many hours els in tense situations. “You could
you’re in deep sleep. Yet the Sense see the pressure got to him, and
interprets data gathered from the sometimes I would think it’s be-
clip on my pillow rather than a cause he’s young,” a former Hello
band on my wrist, so it frequently engineer says. “He would sudden-
fails to register when I get up from ly rush in saying, ‘We need to do X
bed and often confuses my fian- because people are complaining
cée’s movement for my own. Even about it.’” Instead of patiently ad-
if it were accurate, neither the hering to a long-term plan, Proud
sleep results nor other measure- is prone to rash decisions. “The
ments are groundbreaking. Every- ability to take risks and be aggres-
one already knows that blackout sive is the foundation of James’ de-
The sleep doctor is in: For $149, the Sense is designed
curtains are good for beauty rest to track your sleep—and analyze how to make it better. cision making, and it may eventu-
and a barking dog is bad. ally come back to bite him,” says
Other warning signs abound. Proud boasts about the one ex-Hello employee who worked closely with Proud
new Hello displays in nearly 700 Target stores across for more than two years. “If that day never comes, he’s a
the country, but the only inventory in Oakland was one genius. If it does, the warning signs were there.”
Sense tucked in a side cabinet next to some Apple TVs Proud doesn’t deny he can be a capricious boss. In De-
and Linksys wireless routers. A survey of Best Buys cember 2014, on the morning an engineer was set to fly
around New York found only one with the product in to China to install the final firmware for the Sense’s first
stock; other stores indicated you needed to order it. And manufacturing run, Proud decided to add one more fea-
when I brought a Sense home, I nearly abandoned the ture. His CTO, Tim Bart, told him it was insane to change
set-up process after an hour of trying and failing to plug anything in the code at such a late hour, but Proud was
in the charging cable. Hello says a new manufacturer suddenly convinced that Sense should light up and play
had constructed the USB port a millimeter off target in a sound when it was plugged in for the first time—like a
a few units. computer booting up.
After a bruising argument, Proud got his way. The en-
WHILE PLENTY OF QUESTIONS REMAIN about Sense, gineer finished coding the change on the cross-Pacif-
Proud now treats his risky pivot as a thesis statement. ic flight, and through skill and luck avoided introducing
He trashes devices that need to be worn (like the Apple new bugs into the final product.
Watch) or require direct interaction (like the home assis- Was that last minute intervention a Steve Jobs-like mo-
tants from Amazon and Google). His goal is to cover the ment of product genius or the power trip of an enabled,
entire 24 hours of your day with a few “nonengagement” immature founder? Proud’s analysis of his behavior in
health-tracking devices like Sense. “It’s a tragedy that we hindsight is simple and unapologetic: “Well, I was right.” F
BY MATT SCHIFRIN
Frost is a board-certified dermatologist and irrepressible entrepreneur who is also the chairman and CEO of Opko Health,
a midsize pharmaceutical and medical-diagnostics company with promising remedies in numerous areas, including chronic
kidney disease and prostate-cancer detection. Though his company has revenues of $1.2 billion and will lose about $50 million
in 2016, he insists Opko will mean more to medicine than any of his previous endeavors, including drug-industry pioneers like
Key Pharmaceuticals, Ivax and Teva Pharmaceuticals. It’s a bold statement from a man who played a major role in creating the
F
SEVION THERAPEUTICS Developing antibodies against
difficult targets; treating cancer and immunological
diseases. Frost and Opko own 20%. rost’s Horatio Alger story contains a healthy dose of
NEOVASC Canadian maker of specialized cardiology serendipity. He was born in 1936, in the midst of the
devices. Frost owns 22%.
Great Depression, the third son of a shoe-store owner
CHROMADEX Maker of ingredients for nutritional
NEOVASC supplements. Frost owns 14.6%. from South Philadelphia. A stellar student from the start, he
The Tiara is a VBI VACCINES Developing a technology platform to attended Philadelphia’s selective Central High School and
design vaccines for hepatitis B, Zika and brain tumors.
minimally invasive Opko has a 25% equity interest. the University of Pennsylvania, majoring in French literature.
treatment for a MABVAX THERAPEUTICS Clinical-stage cancer immuno- After his junior year in Paris studying at the Sorbonne, he had
common form therapy. Frost and Opko have an estimated 5% interest.
of mitral-valve MUSCLEPHARM Nutritional supplements. Frost owns
a chance meeting with a former schoolmate at Penn’s cafete-
disease. less than 5%. ria, alerting him to a scholarship that was being offered to a
new medical college in New York City called Albert Einstein
and available to graduates of his high school. Frost applied and
modern generic-pharmaceutical business and—given that won a full scholarship. Einstein quickly established a reputa-
shares in Opko are down 39% in the last 18 months—more tion as one of the top med schools in the country.
than a little self-interested. His decision to specialize in dermatology also contained an
“What we are building here is a company that will have element of chance. As an undergrad he developed an unsightly
a half a dozen products, each capable of doing more than wart on his elbow that prompted him to go to a Penn faculty
a billion dollars in sales and some several billion,” he says, member who happened to be doing research on cantharidin,
pointing to a printout displaying overlapping circles that otherwise known as Spanish fly, for an application to remove
highlight five core Opko markets: urology, nephrology, warts.
genetics, bio-reference and aging/metabolic syndrome. “In “I was interested in a specialty that would permit me the
the case of human growth hormone, where we are part- time to reflect and do [other] work. I knew that surgery could
nered with Pfizer, that is a $3.5 billion market.” never be for me because you’re tied up in operating rooms
Unlike most of his pharma peers, Frost has the mind- most of the time. And I needed the freedom to do things,”
set of a savvy value investor, only it’s enhanced by a deep Frost says. Fortuitously, the professor who cured his wart later
C
remedies. “By the time we got to New York, we agreed to put ommand central for Frost’s empire is a shimmering
our little company, which had some cash and some inventions, 15-story glass-and-steel building he owns at 4400
together with Key, which was public,” Frost says in his apart- Biscayne Boulevard in downtown Miami. Lining the
ment in New York’s Pierre hotel, overlooking Central Park. walls of the 15th-floor executive suite, below an electronic
“They had great technology, but they didn’t have the people to ticker tracking Frost stocks, are beautifully framed photo-
recognize what they had. They had the first controlled-release graphs of Art Deco Miami Beach circa World War II from
technology for drugs.” negatives Frost rescued when the city’s Bayfront Park library
Key Pharmaceuticals was Frost and
Jaharis’ ticket to serious wealth. After
reformulating its main asthma drug, “Phil’s a face guy. He doesn’t do meetings over the phone.
which had initially been combined
with a cough suppressant, into an It’s part of his calculus to get a gut feeling about people.”
asthma-only remedy with a controlled
release, Key’s Theo-Dur became the
nation’s best seller. Key followed up with the first nitroglycer- was being demolished in the mid-1980s. Just outside Frost’s
in slow-release patch remedy (Nitro-Dur), used to treat heart office is a glass-enclosed “atrium,” where he lunches daily
disease, also a big hit. Ultimately Schering-Plough purchased with senior executives, including Dr. Jane Hsiao, a brilliant
Key Pharmaceuticals in 1986 for $836 million. By then Jaharis chemist with an M.B.A., whose late husband, Charles, co-
and Frost were on The Forbes 400. Frost, age 50, had a net founded Ivax with Frost. Hsiao is a vice chairman of Opko and
worth of at least $150 million ($330 million in current dollars) ranks 46th on the Forbes list of Self-Made Women, with a net
and was Schering’s largest individual shareholder. worth of $320 million. Another regular lunch mate is Steven
But instead of retiring to collect dividends, Frost blazed Rubin, a former mergers-and-acquisitions lawyer who joined
a trail in the nascent generic-drug business with another Frost in 1986 after Frost sold Key and started Ivax. Rubin is
company he formed, called Ivax. In the early 1990s, when the Frost’s deals guy, sitting on the boards of many of his com-
low-margin generic-drug business was getting bad press for panies. A newcomer to the inner circle is CFO Adam Logal,
products of questionable quality, Frost presciently bought up Opko’s accountant and Frost’s liaison to Wall Street. The con-
companies and expanded internationally. Again he used con- versation is almost always about deals, which flow into Frost
nections to get an edge. In 1994, for example, Frost bought one headquarters on a daily basis. Often company executives and
of the Czech Republic’s largest pharmaceutical companies, others are invited to make presentations.
known as Glaena. “Phil is a face guy,” Rubin says. “He doesn’t do [meetings]
over the phone. He’ll be like, ‘I just read you have an idea. Why be biopsied, a painful procedure associated
don’t you come down on Friday and see me?’ I think that’s part with infection and bleeding. And of the biopsy
of his calculus to get a gut feeling about people.” results, maybe 60% turn out to be to be nega-
One of Frost’s CEO’s is Richard Lampen, an ex-banker who tive.” He notes that there are an estimated 30
worked for Salomon Brothers in the go-go ’80s and now runs million PSA tests per year in U.S., and perhaps
regional broker Ladenburg Thalmann on the 12th floor. 25% of the results are elevated. Opko’s 4Kscore
In the aftermath of the dot-com bubble in 2001, Frost test costs $1,900.
bought into Ladenburg, then a tired 120-year-old investment “I wasn’t a big fan of his purchase of Bio-
bank known mostly for risky small-cap IPOs and cold-calling Reference labs,” money manager Feinberg
brokers. Frost has since financed its impressive recent growth. admits. “But people always doubt Phil because
In the last ten years revenues have climbed from $30 million to they don’t understand what he is doing. They
$1.1 billion, and a series of regional brokerage acquisitions has short his stock, but eventually he makes it
swelled the firm to 4,000 financial advisors with client assets work. He doesn’t give up. He has the tenacity
of $130 billion. and capital.”
“Thanks to Phil, we punch way above our weight,” Lampen
D
says. avid Gibbes Miller, 23, has never
One executive who spends a lot of time at Frost’s staff lun- met Phillip or Patricia Frost, but the
cheons these days is Dr. Charles Bishop, the man in charge of elderly couple have opened doors
Rayaldee, a newly approved drug that boosts vitamin D, which for him that he never could have imagined a
Opko is aiming squarely at a segment of the $12 billion market few years ago. A Tallahassee native, Miller was
for treating chronic kidney disease. Opko acquired Bishop’s an Eagle Scout and straight-A student in high
startup in 2013. Frost had heard about the promising remedy school, but his family couldn’t afford to send
during a casual lunch with a Toronto pharma exec. Hours later him to a prestigious private college without in-
Bishop had a voice mail from Frost. curring significant debt, so he took the scholar-
“I returned the call immediately,” Bishop recalls. “He says ships he was offered to Florida State Universi-
to me, in classic Phil fashion, ‘Can you get to Miami in three ty, where he majored in religion with a premed
hours?’ ” focus. At FSU Miller excelled, graduating
Given that it was nearly Thanksgiving, Bishop persuaded summa cum laude in 2015. During his senior
Frost to wait a few days. “We had prepared to give him a full year he organized and hosted an undergradu-
presentation. . . . I came with my slide deck. We got through ate conference on bioethics at Florida State.
four slides and Phil says, ‘That’s enough of the slide presenta- Upon graduation Miller was awarded Frost’s version of
tion. Can we talk about a deal?’ ” the Rhodes Scholarship. The program, called Frost Scholars,
That sort of impatience is a Frost deal-making hallmark. sends ten public-university students from Florida and four
He had done his homework and had decided that kidney dis- from Israel to Oxford each year to conduct research and earn a
ease was going to be a big business for Opko. Chronic kidney master’s degree in a STEM discipline.
disease afflicts some 25 million people in the United States, At Oxford Miller studied medical anthropology with
including 9 million or so in stages 3 and 4. Opko’s Rayaldee, an interest in epidemiology and public health, completing
which analysts forecast could surpass $500 million in sales in a dissertation in the process. Another Frost Scholar in his
the U.S. alone, has the first product approved by the FDA to cohort was Kaitlin Deutsch, 23, a Gainesville native and
correct vitamin-D insufficiency through a one-a-day capsule graduate of the University of South Florida. Deutsch was
with an extended-release formulation. recently awarded an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
Not all of Frost’s deals have been warmly received on Wall and is at Cornell getting her Ph.D. in entomology, study-
Street. In 2015 Frost announced he would pay $1.47 billion ing native bees in an effort to boost their ability to polli-
for Bio-Reference Labs, one of the largest full-service clini- nate plants. During her year at Oxford, where she earned
cal laboratories in the U.S., known for its expertise in genom- a master’s in biodiversity, conservation and management,
ics and genetic sequencing. Opko’s stock plummeted by more she made an important discovery soon to be submitted to
than 50% within four months of the announcement and has a science journal: The so-called deformed-wing virus, a
begun to recover, by about 20%, only in the last few months, scourge decimating honey bee colonies, may have jumped
with Rayaldee’s launch. species to another pollinator insect, the hoverfly.
One promising Opko diagnostic that will leverage Bio-Ref- “The [Frost] scholarship set me up in a way that al-
erences network and marketing is Opko’s new 4Kscore blood lows me to shoot much higher,” says Miller, who is now a
test, which accurately assesses the risk of prostate cancer for predoctoral fellow at the NIH and will soon apply to top
men with elevated PSA (prostate-specific antigen) readings. medical schools.
Frost says, “If you have an elevated PSA, the tendency was to Ultimately Miller and Deutsch both hope to return to
Florida. Nothing could make Dr. and Mrs. Frost happier. and old masters like the Flemish painter Jean-Baptist de
“We are hoping that everyone is going to come back that Saive. The couple have endowed the University of Miami’s
graduated from Florida,” says Patricia Frost, a former School of Music and Florida International’s Art Museum,
teacher and current member of the board of governors of and Mrs. Frost is regularly in touch with their directors,
Florida’s State University System. even helping select architects for small remodeling jobs.
“We want to make Miami more of a technological and “We are involved to the nth degree at the new science
science center. When we came here, people thought of museum,” says Patricia, referring to the $45 million of the
Miami as anything but that,” Dr. Frost says, noting that Frost’s generosity that has gone into the construction of
the couple’s recent $100 million gift to the University of Miami’s new 250,000-square-foot Patricia & Phillip Frost
Miami was made with this in mind. “We feel that it begins Museum of Science. After significant delays, the new fa-
with education. We need to start at the top with the uni- cility, which has a planetarium and a massive multilevel
versities and even the graduate students. The fastest way marine aquarium, will open in March 2017.
to achieve this is to attract a cadre of top-notch scientists, In the elegant breakfast room of the Frosts’ grand Ve-
starting with chemistry and molecular biology.” netian palazzo built on Miami’s exclusive Star Island using
According to Frost, part of that $100 million will go to- imported Italian limestone, Mrs. Frost serves an assortment
ward developing an institute of chemistry and related sci- of homegrown tropical fruits, such as mamey, dragon fruit,
ences. “There will be a new building and new professors,” papaya and longan, all freshly picked from their expansive
he says. “We hope all this will encourage new startups.” gardens and greenhouse, which include more than 150 vari-
The Frosts have signed Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ eties of palms that Dr. Frost personally tends to. “The muse-
Giving Pledge, but they are the opposite of so-called um will try to emphasize basic science as illustrated by what
“checkbook philanthropists.” In fact, they are so hands-on is happening in this microclimate,” Frost says. “We want the
that they have generally refused to hire consultants even young people to have an experience so that when they walk
for their world-class art collection, which has included in they are awestruck. Then, as they spend more time there,
American Abstract Expressionists, French Impressionists it inspires them to work in the sciences.” F
The Flip
Turn
By 30 he was the most
decorated Olympian of
all time. Now he seeks to
translate his prodigious
accomplishments into an
everlasting brand. Can
Michael Phelps be like
that other Mike?
BY MONTE BURKE
M
ichael Phelps is
sprawled on a
couch in a Lower
Manhattan hotel,
sporting a beard, a gray beanie
cap, a white T-shirt and Under
Armour sweatpants and sneakers,
an athlete in repose. He’s in New
York to accept yet another life-
time achievement award for his
triumphs in five Olympic Games,
another chance for him and others
to revel in his past glories. What
Phelps wants to talk about now,
PHOTOGRAPHY: JAMEL TOPPIN FOR FORBES. CREATIVE STYLE DIRECTOR: JOSEPH DE ACETIS. STYLE ASSOCIATE: JUAN BENSON
however, is the future. “I’ve spent
decades staring at that black line
at the bottom of a pool,” he says.
“I’m ready to do something new.
I’m ready to channel my competi-
tiveness into something else.”
Phelps, 31, is four months removed from sorships he earned an estimated $7 million Making a splash: In
addition to his MP
what he swears was his last Olympics. The a year. Many of the companies are longtime line, Phelps has a
second phase of his life has begun, he says, partners and plan to stay that way. “We hope program to teach
and it has two main parts: He wants to cre- he’s with us forever,” says Kevin Plank, CEO of children how to
swim. “The goal,” he
ate a brand that burns brightly for decades Under Armour, which signed Phelps in 2010. says, “is to get every
to come, but he also wants to become a But Phelps is not content simply to be the kid in the world
global champion for the causes that mean face of someone else’s brand. In 2013 he left his water-safe.”
the most to him—swimming and the well- longtime sponsor Speedo, and the following COTTON POLO BY VERSACE
($275), 5-POCKET BLUE JEANS
being of children. year he started a swimwear line called MP. He BY PAL ZILERI ($295) AND
SEAMASTER AQUA TERRA 150M
On the brand side Phelps is, of course, well found a partner in Aqua Sphere, a swimwear CO-AXIAL GMT CHRONOGRAPH
44MM ROSE GOLD TIMEPIECE BY
established as a corporate pitchman. Under and swimming accessories company, which OMEGA ($46,300).
Armour, Omega, Intel, Activision and Beats now sells Phelps-branded suits that range from
by Dre are among his well-known sponsors. $40 to $475. “I’d like to someday have the big-
(Some of the lesser known: Master Spas, Krave gest and best brand in swimming,” he says.
and Sina Sports.) At the height of these spon- His business role model is, of course,
Learn IURP&OHYHODQG&OLQLFȇVRQFRORJ\DQG
cardiology experts as they lead you on a path to
EHWWHUKHDOWKZHOOQHVVDQGYLWDOLW\
Call 800-530-0770 now to get the best cabin selections…they sell out fast!
Mention Priority Code 042440
FORBES LIFE SPORTS
Michael Jordan, whose Nike Inc. Jordan stint in rehab. All of which culminated in the
Brand sold $2.8 billion worth of shoes and redemption in Rio in 2016. In the end Phelps TRENDING
apparel last year. had won an Olympic record 28 medals, all WHAT THE 50 MILLION
Swimming obviously isn’t as merchandis- but 5 of which were gold. FORBES.COM USERS
ARE TALKING ABOUT.
able as basketball, but Plank says Phelps’ am- That level of longevity and excellence in FOR A DEEPER DIVE GO TO
bitions shouldn’t be dismissed: “Michael has the Olympics has given Phelps the kind of FORBESLIFE.COM
that special trait, the ability to be clutch and global profile most American athletes lack. PERSON
win when it counts, which he demonstrated And with his longtime agent, Peter Carlisle, HEATHER NELSON
over and over at the Olympics. I think he can Phelps has been laying the groundwork for Single-malt fans
be the king of all things water.” a global presence since the beginning of his take note: Nelson
will become the first
Phelps’ other main post-Olympics goal career. He started visiting China and making
woman in 200 years
involves his foundation, which he started in deals there five years before the 2008 Games to open a whisky
2008 with the $1 million bonus he earned (the Chinese call him the Flying Fish). distillery in Scotland
from Speedo for his record-breaking eight Phelps and Carlisle used the same playbook when Toulvaddie begins
gold medals in Beijing. His biggest initia- for Rio—he made four pre-Olympics visits production next year.
Sláinte!
tive is the im program (“im” for “individual to Brazil and has since signed a deal with
medley,” one of his strongest events, and for the Brazilian media giant Grupo Globo. And COMPANY
the affirmation “I am”). The program focuses he will soon embark on a tour of Vietnam, LOVE YOUR MELON
on making children “water-safe.” (Drowning Ethiopia, South Africa and Latin America. The four-year-old
is the leading cause of injury-related deaths Phelps, of course, has been through this apparel startup—
founded by two
for kids ages 1 to 14 in the U.S. and the third before, when he retired for the first time
collegiate Millennials—is
leading cause worldwide.) Phelps’ mother after the 2012 Games. “This time is different,” now donating 50%
made him take a water-safety course when he says. “Back then I just wanted to dig the of the profits from
he was a boy, and he says that’s the reason he deepest black hole and be left alone.” Now its products to fight
became a competitive swimmer. “life is so different and so much better. I have pediatric cancer.
The im program has 104 teams in all Boomer [his 8-month-old son] and Nicole
50 U.S. states and another 176 in 33 other [his wife]. I have other things to worry
countries, and through it 16,000 kids have about than just myself.”
learned how to swim (for three-quarters Phelps says he travels three weeks out
of them, the program was their first time of every month, and at meetings he doesn’t
in a pool). “I’d like for that number to be just show up for the grip-and-grin but really
50,000 someday soon and then 100,000,” dives in. “I’m actually sitting at the table
Phelps says. “The goal is to get every kid in now during the discussions, asking ques-
the world water-safe.” tions,” he says. “Some of this is self-reinforc-
To accomplish these dreams, Phelps will ing. I want to be out there now. If I isolate
need to become a lasting global icon, no easy myself as I’ve done before, I know the road
task for even the most successful Olympians. I’ll go down, and I know it won’t be pretty.”
Jesse Owens, in the end, was more a power- A question remains: Is he really done
ful symbol than a brand. Muhammad Ali’s competing? “Yes, definitely,” he says, while IDEA
boxing career spanned two full decades after admitting that he said the same thing in 2012. GROUP VIDEO CHAT
his Olympic gold in 1960. And Caitlyn Jenner The 2020 Olympics is out of the question, Released in 2016,
remains famous four decades after decathlon but Carlisle has been floating an intriguing Houseparty, an app that
enables users to hold
heroics in Montreal but for reasons no one scenario regarding the 2024 Games. “I think
group chats via video,
could have foreseen in 1976. Michael is 100% sure he’s done right now,” he recently raised
Yet Phelps was no ordinary Olympian. He says. “But what if the 2024 Games are award- $50 million.
began as a 15-year-old prodigy in the 2000 ed to Los Angeles? And what if there was a
Games and provided a glimpse of the great- spot open on a relay team?” Carlisle leaves
ness to come in the 2004 Athens Games. the thought there, as any good agent would.
Then came the triumph in Beijing in 2008 Phelps just smiles when this idea is
and the weary wins in London in 2012, fol- brought up. “I’m happy now,” he says. “And
lowed by the drinking and depression and the I’m excited for what’s ahead of me.”
FINAL THOUGHT
“If your ship doesn’t come in, swim out to it.” —JONATHAN WINTERS
A GREAT DAY
STARTS
ON A
GREAT MATTRESS...
…that provides
energizing
sleep for a
restored you
Hit the ground running,
refreshed and ready to go.
Sophisticated design paired
with intuitive innovations,
such as DualCool™
Technology Fiber, help
you wake up and
embrace the day ahead.
Get the fresh start
you deserve.
Get Beautyrest Silver
TAKE ON
TOMORROW
START TONIGHT
GET YOUR
BEAUTYREST ®
Designed in USA -
Handcrafted in Germany
WhiteWalls
Magnetic Whiteboard Walls
®
Brainstorm,
Innovate,
and Create!
WhiteWalls ® give
you and your
team an unlimited
blank slate that
encourages
original ideas and
fosters out of the
box solutions.
WhiteWalls.com
800 624 4154
Tomorrow
“THE PAST IS ALWAYS TENSE, “The
THE FUTURE PERFECT.” belief that
tomorrow is
—ZADIE SMITH
a different
place from
“We can only today is
see a short certainly
distance a unique
ahead, but hallmark of
we can see our species.”
plenty there —DOUGLAS
that needs COUPLAND
to be done.”
—ALAN TURING
ANOTHER DAY.”
—MARGARET MITCHELL “Often do the spirits /
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: EAMONN MCCABE/GETTY IMAGES; HERITAGE IMAGE PARTNERSHIP/ALAMY; PASCAL SAEZ/SIPA
PRESS/NEWSCOM; FOCUS ON SPORT/GETTY IMAGES; BETTMANN/CORBIS/GETTY IMAGES; ULF ANDERSEN/GETTY IMAGES;
Of great events stride
“Ah! The clock is On before the events /