Speaker 1:
From the Library of the New York Stock Exchange, at the corner of Wall and Broad Streets in New York City, you're inside the ICE House, our podcast from Intercontinental Exchange on markets, leadership and vision in global business, the dream drivers that have made the NYSE an indispensable institution of global growth for over 225 years.
Speaker 1:
Each week, we feature stories of those who hatch plans, create jobs, and harness the engine of capitalism, right here, right now at the NYSE, and at ICE's exchanges and clearinghouses around the world. And now, welcome, inside the ICE House, here's your host, Josh King of Intercontinental Exchange.
Josh King:
Let me tell you the story about a guy you've probably never heard of. Bill Perkins was a New Jersey boy whose dad once played briefly for the New York Jets. Young Bill went off to the University of Iowa, where he was a D back for the Hawkeyes, and it took the man 12 years to finish his engineering degree later on in life when he got to Houston.
Josh King:
Today, some websites pegged Bill's net worth in the tens of millions of dollars, not bad for a kid who began his career fetching sandwiches for traders at the old New York Mercantile Exchange, or NYMEX here in Manhattan, and then drove limos at night for extra cash. While these days, you can find Bill on his yacht somewhere in the Virgin Islands. Occasionally, he makes his way to the mainland for events like the World Series of Poker where his live tournament winnings in Texas Holdem exceed $5 million.
Josh King:
Back in 2017, The Wall Street Journal profiled Bill, who's African-American and doesn't necessarily give off the vibe of natural gas trader in photographs, under the headline, Bill Perkins is the Last Cowboy Betting on Volatile Gas Markets. You see, back when most hedge funds were turning to sophisticated algorithms to execute their trades, Bill still believed this own gut instincts developed over a quarter century, working with legends like John Arnold of Centaurus Energy, who appeared on this show back in 2018, could produce massive upsides on one side of a trade, while the program computers just eed out small gains over a raft of transactions.
Josh King:
He told the Journal and I'm quoting here. "You cannot pay me enough to sit in front of a screen and throw away my life." Well, the markets have paid him handsomely, but thanks to the versatility of trading platforms from Intercontinental Exchange provided to Bill's firm. Skylar Capital Management, Bill never has had to sit in front of a screen. ICE's digital exchange networks and applications allow him to be anywhere. His yacht can take him and instantly show him the natural gas or oil markets at a glance ready for him to make the next big bet that in one little story is what ICE has done for more than 20 years. Since Enron imploded an ICE led by Jeff Sprecher arrived on the scene, making trading transparent, efficient, and digital.
Josh King:
Then as now, that was the simple idea behind ICE, connect people to opportunity. It does that now in energy, as it's always done, but also equities, interest rates, commodities, bonds, data. And now following the acquisition of Ellie Mae in 2020, mortgage technology, I tell you all this because ICE, like Bill is probably another firm you've never heard of. And yet they've grown from the year 2000 bought by Mr. Sprecher for a dollar, always connecting people with opportunity. And now owning the New York Stock Exchange, the trading venue on which ICE shares are also listed, the trajectory leading to its current market cap of about 75 billion, an adjusted earnings per share compound annual growth rate of 17% every year from 2006 through 2021, just like Bill Perkins customers who benefited from how he uses ICE digital networks. A lot of contented ICE investors have taken that 17% to the bank.
Josh King:
Bill Perkins decided to tell his story in a book called Die With Zero, Getting All You Can from Your Money and Your Life. Similarly, ICE is now telling its story in a new global advertising campaign built around a 62nd spot called Make The Connection, that starts airing today. Shot on location in the waters off the coast of Florida in the outskirts of London and right here in places around New York, most notably on the iconic trading floor of the NYSE, it's very much a visuals spot all about successful people like Bill who are charting their own course from various walks of life who make connections to create opportunities.
Josh King:
The spot, which I was privileged to watch being made scene by scene over several weeks was directed by the cutting edge, Vietnamese American commercial filmmaker on Vo. You have to see on's work truly appreciate it. And I'm sure you will. If you have your eyes tuned to networks like CNBC, or all over social media, but the actual words that these connectors say have a lot of meaning. As they talk in rapid succession about finding and making opportunity, let's take a listen.
Speaker 3:
Connecting the opportunity is just part of the hustle.
Zach Brown:
Opportunity is using data to create a competitive advantage.
Speaker 5:
It's raising capital to help companies change the world.
Speaker 6:
It's making complicated financial concepts seem simple.
Speaker 7:
Opportunity is making the dream of home ownership, a reality.
Speaker 8:
Writing new rules and redefining the game.
Speaker 9:
And driving the world forward to a greener energy future.
Speaker 10:
Opportunity is setting a goal.
Speaker 11:
And charting a course to get there.
Speaker 3:
Sometimes the only thing standing between you and opportunity is someone who can make the connection.
Speaker 12:
At ICE, we connect people to opportunity.
Josh King:
There are a lot of voices you hear there and behind the lines they say each one tells a rich and multi-layered life story. The backbreaking hard work to create that opportunity can never be fully conveyed in a 62nd spot for the next few weeks here inside the ICE House, we're going to do some things a little differently than usual, taking you behind the scenes of those voices and those stories to understand what ICE truly means. When it talks about connecting people to opportunity, we're going to start our journey in Los Angeles, California in the 1980s, there a young man named Zak Brown was fascinated with motor racing. When most kids were tooling around on their skateboards. Zak was a smart kid too, making a name for himself in 1984 with Pat Sajak and Vanna White on Teen Week of Wheel of Fortune. Let's take a listen.
Speaker 13:
One to go as we continue Teen Week, Wheel of Fortune, and now here's your host, Pat Sajak.
Pat Sajak:
Zak claims to be 13 years old. Is that true?
Zach Brown:
That's me.
Pat Sajak:
Okay. Oh, you're the one?
Zach Brown:
Yeah.
Pat Sajak:
What do you like to study in school Zak?
Zach Brown:
Math, history, science.
Pat Sajak:
Good kid. And so you're interested in becoming a baseball player.
Zach Brown:
Yeah.
Pat Sajak:
You play in the league now or?
Zach Brown:
Yeah.
Pat Sajak:
What's the name of the team?
Zach Brown:
Team. White Sox.
Pat Sajak:
Yeah. You want to be in the right dugout during the game?
Zach Brown:
Yeah.
Pat Sajak:
900.
Zach Brown:
Can I have a K, please?
Pat Sajak:
Yes. You can have two Ks now. All right. No help from audience. Zak, $3,050. Identify this person.
Zach Brown:
Wild Bill Hickock.
Pat Sajak:
Yeah, that's it.
Speaker 15:
Yeah.
Pat Sajak:
Against you guys. Weren't watching much television in the '50s, $3,050. Christmas gift boutique. Here we go.
Josh King:
Zak hauled home $3,050 for that wheel spinning effort, but it really was a drop in the bucket compared to what he would earn behind the wheel of a go-kart, winning 22 races in five seasons of carding from 1986 through 1990, that go-kart short, connected that young man with opportunity. Eventually, as you'll hear in our conversation with Zak in a minute, he realized that his ability to make connections with people helping to market and lead race teams beginning in 1995 with his formation of Just Marketing International or JMI was far superior to his ability to make connections with trophies on the track in the ad. Zak is the guy you hear saying opportunity is using data to create a competitive advantage.
Josh King:
That's what he's done now for six years first as executive director of McLaren Technology Group, and since 2018 as CEO of the restructured McLaren Racing, reams of data about car and driver performance tire wear, track service, competitor analysis, hint for this hyperactive swag collector, merchandise sales have made McLaren and its pair of Formula one megastar drivers, Lando Norris, and Daniel Ricardo gain competitive advantage in their papaya colored Mercedes powered car over competing teams at 22 races during the typical formula one season, the first race of the season as this show is being dropped into our feed was held just yesterday, spanning 57 laps at the 5.4 kilometer Bahrain International Circuit in the Persian Gulf, that island nation of just 1.7 million people belies the enormous growth in Formula one, over the last few years.
Josh King:
It's popularity spiking here in the United States following the debut of drive to survive on Netflix, which also premiered its fourth season two weeks ago, an average of 70 million people watched each ground pre in 2021 up 13% year over year. And the audience continues to grow and get younger with each passing year when Drive to Survive debut its first episode, March 8th, 2019. Not a lot of people knew who Zak Brown was, just like they haven't known much about ICE or Bill Perkins until now.
Josh King:
And yet, as you binge that show on Netflix, episode after episode, you really go under the curtain and behind the scenes to see the mind of the race team CEO and its drivers at work, getting to know them intimately as they use data like ICE's customers to create a competitive advantage for Zak Brown with Drive to Survive, an authentic star was born. And with that, that's ICE's goal with its new global advertising campaign and the companion episodes of inside the ICE House and other material we're going to be posting over the next few weeks to go behind the curtain of ICE and our effort to create this very special ad, to get to know us better and to see how a variety of unique leaders and influencers match our effort to connect people to opportunity everywhere around the world. To start our conversation with Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren Racing, is coming up right after this.
Speaker 16:
And now a word from Stellantis, NYSE ticker, S-T-L-A.
Speaker 1:
Their grandfather once crashed an auto show by driving through a plate glass window on purpose. Their father was the most awarded SUV ever, and their crazy uncle raced sports cars and won. And while the blood of their relatives still runs true, none of them can do what these can. Introducing the next generation of Jeep Grand Cherokee available in two row, three row and four by E, the legacy lives on.
Josh King:
So let me set the scene for you. It's pretty late at night at Magazine London, a massive 20,000 square meter destination with 3000 square meters of event space right near the O2 Arena in Greenwich, overlooking the River Thames. In the middle of the sound stage lit up like the 4th of July is Lando Norris's McLaren, Mercedes, where with moving cranes and fixed cameras, Director Ahn Vu has shot Zak Brown in the car from every conceivable angle. It's features Accentuated by a grid of fluorescent fixtures that bring Zak's every movement around the vehicle to life.
Josh King:
We all know Zak's line, opportunity is using data to create a competitive advantage by heart now, as the crew methodically, stows away, several trucks worth of equipment required to shoot Zak in the car just right as gaffers, grips, lighting technicians and camera people work to put away their gear. Zak, amazingly ready for more, even though he is just flown back from the middle east and has a boatload of work to do tomorrow to ready for the 2022 season.
Josh King:
And even though he is about to launch McLarens brand new entry in the extreme E-Series, which adds a critical sustainability and diversity element to auto racing in some of the world's most exotic locals. Zak sits down with me to talk about his role in the ad, what it means, how he leads his team and how he's a living breathing example of connecting people with opportunity. Here's my conversation with Zak Brown. So Zak, a lot long time in the Magazine, London this week, walking back and forth in front of your car, did you have your iPhone out to set the number of steps that you'd be taking?
Zach Brown:
No, it kept me busy, but I enjoy the media activities around racing. I mean, at the end of the day, we're in the business of entertaining millions of fans around the world. So it's fun to do it through a non in the sports channel.
Josh King:
Talk about non-sports channels. Let's talk about Netflix for a second because I watch you on Drive to Survive and I've heard a lot of your podcasts and interviews you've done. You're usually so extemporaneous and expressive. Was it hard to do just one line over and over again?
Zach Brown:
Fortunately, I got it right most of the time, but it's good. Find you never quite know what the finished product's going to look like. So I enjoy these because the directors and the people with the vision, see something that they'll bring to life at a later date.
Josh King:
You spent the earlier part of your career behind the wheel, which we're also going to get into, but now in the middle part of your career in the CEO suite running a racing business, but you're also McLaren's chief spokesman. How did you get into the zone for that role that you were in tonight?
Zach Brown:
Focus and compartmentalizing the various roles within my job. So I think not being distracted, coming prepared, being relaxed and knowing what your partners want to achieve on the day.
Josh King:
Your big line in ICE's ad is, "Opportunity is using data to create a competitive advantage." And we're going to get into the meaning of that in a minute. But in the broader sense, tell me about the opportunity that you got to get into racing. It started in North Hollywood, California.
Zach Brown:
Started a long time ago, kind of an interesting story. I was on Wheel of Fortune, Teen Week and won a bunch of watches that most 13 year old kids would rather have a go-kart. And that's ultimately what I traded them in for, my family was not in racing, but I had some friends that were and fell in love with the sport, going to the Long Beach Grand Prix for the first time in 1981. Then again in 1987 when Mario Andretti won. And that's when I'd decided I wanted to try and be a race car driver
Josh King:
Back in those days, Zak, some of the articles written about you note that in the '70s and the '80s, kids in California were really totally focused on their skateboards, but you were fixed on things with four wheels that had engines on them. What obsessive focus did that require in those early days?
Zach Brown:
I think the good news for me is I'm obsessive compulsive. So when I get into something, I get pretty focused, but yeah, I've always loved cars. Little hot wheels when I was a kid and been very focused on it. Ever since.
Josh King:
I's chairman Jeff Sprecher described his own dreams of being a race car driver and Andretti told him once that you had to be smart, but Jeff all also realized you had to be fearless, which he wasn't, you knew Niki Lauda's history better than anyone. How did you overcome fear?
Zach Brown:
I think you just don't have it when you are young later in the career you have to start overcoming it. And I think that's when you know you're of close to the end is when you start having fear. But I think when you're young, you are pretty fearless.
Josh King:
You had second places in the 24 hours of Daytona, the 12 hours of Seabring in 1997, but you were also building Just Marketing International JMI at the time. What told you it was time to get out from behind the wheel and into the C-suite?
Zach Brown:
Well, I hadn't had a lot of people that told me that I should think about doing this sponsorship and marketing stuff. And then ultimately when you're on the race track and you start seeing drivers do things that you know you can't do race against max for stops, father and Juan Pablo Montoya, and some drivers where ultimately you saw them do some things with their race car on the track that you knew you just weren't capable.
Josh King:
So let's talk about opportunity because that was so much a part of the ad and also setbacks. You're a young man with a JMI business card. The world is your oyster, but it's also a tough world out there with a bunch of gray instead of black and white. What were some of the tough lessons you learned in those early GMI days?
Zach Brown:
I learned a lot of tough lessons. I think the biggest thing was don't run from problems. You're going to have problems throughout your entire life in business and personal. And especially when you're getting started, it's very difficult. I think I've gotten a lot better in time of now I'm very aggressive towards tackling issues. They tend not to put themselves out. The fire just gets bigger. So that's probably the biggest thing in business and also being real with yourself. And then I've always been fortunate to have a lot of mentors I do to this day and you try and learn from their mistakes and they can share their experiences with you.
Josh King:
Auto racing, Zak like financial services is all about relationships. You meet someone like Jeff Sprecher at pebble beach and a relationship forms and an opportunity presents itself, but not immediately. Tell me about your philosophy of nurturing relationships.
Zach Brown:
I play the long game first. I like people and relationships and it's a very small world. So I think some people take a very shortsighted business view of what can you do for me today? And I tend to look more at what might we be able to do together in the future as someone like Jeff, I've had a great relationship with a lot of commonality in our passions. So sometimes that leads to doing business. Sometimes that just leads the friendship and that's perfectly fine. And things tend to work out in the long run.
Josh King:
Talking about the long run five years ago, another big opportunity presented itself. Tell me about the journey that led you to working in McLaren Racing and what were the puts and takes of accepting that job. And how did you go by transforming the team once you showed up at Lord Foster's building?
Zach Brown:
Well, I just sold my company and I was in a fortunate position where I had the opportunity to go to either Formula one or McLaren, but I'd felt Formula one was a bit of more of the same for me, which was doing deals, which I love doing. But at heart, I'm a racer and I've always been a McLaren fan. That's always been my favorite team. So when I got the opportunity to there, I thought I could blend both racing and doing deals. It was at a really poor time for McLaren, but I saw that as an opportunity, I'd much rather join a racing team and contribute to it, going back to what it once was versus maybe joining a racing team where they're already at top.
Zach Brown:
And so either taking over what someone else left off and you can't do much, or if it does go backwards, then you're the one responsible for going backwards. So I thought the opportunity to get McLaren back to the front was extremely exciting.
Josh King:
We had the opportunity to visit the McLaren Technology Center yesterday. Everything from Bruce McLaren's first winning car to Orlando, Norris's Formula one car from this season. What message does that campus send to you on your first time there for you and today for your employees and visitors?
Zach Brown:
For me, it's the history of McLaren. I mean, we've had some of the world's greatest drivers, Ereton Santa, Emerson Fittipaldi. Alum pro, Lewis Hamilton, the list goes on and on. So being the Formula one fan that I am and other forms of racing where an IndyCar racing we're now in extreme E racing. So when I show up to McLaren every single day, I pinch myself just thrilled to be able to work at McLaren and with the 900 people responsible for our racing efforts.
Josh King:
Those 900 people. What do you want them to think when they walk through the door? What do you want? Someone like me to think when I walk through the door, it's a great selling tool, too.
Zach Brown:
It's a fantastic facility. We're a high performance sports team. So we're a very competitive individuals that work extremely well together. Some of the things that we did is, we changed some of the leadership around and created a much more transparent and fun and diverse environment within our workforce. You know what I hope when partners show up is they see that we are very focused on growing their business, how they can use McLaren Racing as a platform to do that. And that we're winners
Josh King:
Beyond the history of excellence and daring that's housed at MTC. It's also a center of data and engineering that line in your ad opportunity is using data to create a competitive advantage from a 30,000 foot view. How does data help you make winning decisions?
Zach Brown:
Data drives all of our decisions. We pull down 1.5 terabytes of data. Every race weekend, we have over 12 billion data points over the course of a year. So things are happening so rapidly in Formula one, we're cutting edge technology. That the key for us is capturing data. We have over 300 sensors on the car analyzing that data and making split second decisions. Whether that's on drive, pit stop, tire wear reliability, how to use our power unit. So data drives all of our decisions.
Josh King:
All those terabytes of data. How do you go about sorting it in terms of helping you think about making decisions for the 22 season?
Zach Brown:
Well, we're fortunate that we have a lot of technology partners. And so, what we say is you're not on our car, you're in our car, you're part of our racing team. So fortunately we've got some great partners in the technology sector who help us grab that data, keep that data secure, transfer that data, analyze that data, and then ultimately come up to the pit wall to make some pretty tough decisions in a short period of time.
Josh King:
We've had a great afternoon looking at that beautiful Papaya car behind you. What does the marketing data say about how the branding decisions that you've made have helped in terms of selling sponsorships, selling merchandise, selling Orlando and Daniel?
Zach Brown:
Well, the best data that we just got back were the number one fan favorite team in Formula one, by quite a gap, which was very flattering. And I think that is everything from our on track results. Our drivers, Orlando and Daniel are hugely popular, how we're using digital and social media to engage with our fans. And so we use not only data to make our race car faster. We use data to understand how our fans want to engage with our race team, our brand, our drivers. And now we can have a two-way conversation.
Josh King:
F1, as you've been saying, Zak, a data driven business and points are going to tell one part of the story. But as you look back at the 21 season, what data stands out to you to help you and your team analyze performance of Orlando and Daniel?
Zach Brown:
Well, there's a lot of data, as you can imagine. And it's all in order to win. Like we did in Monza, we have data which tells us how good our launch was, the start of the race. We are first and third data to tell us how we were on our pit stop. We had the best pit stop in the race data on tire wear. So we know strategically when to make a pit stop and what tire compound to use. So informal one, all this data has to come together to create the opportunity to win.
Josh King:
And those two, when they're days off between times of the track, are they looking at data too about their exercise, their diet, their sleep?
Zak Brown:
They're looking at all sorts of data. And then you pointed out now there's human data, especially with not just our racing drivers, but our pit crew. We're doing pit stops between two and two and a half seconds, 16 people trying to change four tires. So everyone's an athlete on the team, not just the racing driver.
Josh King:
You finished the first season with the Mercedes AMG engine on McLaren Chassis. You've got about three months to get ready for the Grand Prix Bahrain in March and the beginning of the 22 season. How do you spend that time?
Zak Brown:
Well, actually reality is we started on our 2022 car in about May of this previous year. So what we're doing right now is we're collecting data. We're in the wind tunnel doing a lot of CFD and we're pure developing the car. We've just gone through our crash test. So the car won't actually come together to the middle of February and our first test is in late February.
Josh King:
Let's focus for a bit on the opportunities part of the line in the ad. And we'll start with opportunities in marketing. I read an article in the New York Times in which you said I'm going to quote, I think it's got to be the single most important impact for formula one in North America. You're talking about Drive to Survive. So Paul Martin, the EP of box to box films pitches you in 2018. Are you buying that idea on the spot?
Zak Brown:
We were, not every single racing team was, but I also didn't have any idea of how big and how much impact it would have. We had done something previously with Amazon the year before called Grand Prix Driver. So it was something that we always wanted to open our doors to our fans. And it's so great that most of the teams in year one embrace Netflix and those that didn't came to regret it, and now everyone embraces it.
Josh King:
How did you get the team acclimated to being in the fishbowl? You said the camera's always going to be on.
Zak Brown:
Yeah. They did an excellent job of kind of not being around you too much, lots of booms from a distance micing you up. And they were in team uniforms. So it wasn't unusual to get caught out and kind of forget they were around you.
Josh King:
You had that quote from North America, but you get texts, you get friends who really have been off the radar for F1 and suddenly they're saying, Zak, we now really understand what this world is all about.
Zak Brown:
It's been awesome for the sport. The sport's always been awesome, but we've never really let anyone behind the scenes. And it's such a sophisticated sport. It's such a big business that I think formula one as a sport probably has more off track activities than more other sports do, where it's always on kind of the field of play. A lot of characters, a lot of money at stake and a lot of politics. And we know these are things that captured and shown has created a lot of interest.
Josh King:
Let's talk about opportunities and sponsorships. Going back to your JMI days, your Rolodex has grown exponentially. What's the secret ingredient in creating and building relationships with those who buy into the vision and are also writing the checks?
Zak Brown:
I think to think long term, make sure that if you make a mistake, you address that mistake quickly, open and clear, transparent communications, especially as we're navigating through COVID. We are very proactive, recognizing a lot of our partners weren't going to be able to get what they bargained for. And so instead of kind of saying, "Well, contract's a contract," we were very proactive in working with all of them to make sure whether we could solve the issue then, or in the future. And we didn't lose a single partner during COVID.
Josh King:
What were some of those tough calls like?
Zak Brown:
Well, none of them were tough because we actually made the phone calls. I think they would've been tough if we took a view of, well, let's wait and see who calls us. So actually the conversations were all very easy because we are very proactive.
Josh King:
So talking about opportunity, Zak, with the fans. As you said, you're a fan yourself, going back to those days that you collected the matchbox cars, always following McLaren, the fans drive the sport. Some of NASCAR's fans have fallen off the wagon a little bit. How do you get fans, keep fans and get more fans?
Zak Brown:
Well, the good news in formula one is the sports is growing at a rapid pace. I think a lot of it is your drivers and your engagement, and it has to be authentic engagement. I think that's what's been great about Netflix. And so our drivers do their own social media, we do our own social media. I do my own social media. Having a two-way communication with your fans. They love the engagement. And I think that's been the secret to our success with our fans.
Josh King:
I was hanging out with Lucy a little bit during the shoot, seeing you collecting some photos from this. I mean, do you enjoy clicking back and forth and retweeting and responding to people?
Zak Brown:
Absolutely. I think, at least for me, I've got the coolest job in the world and I think part of my job is to share what it's like to be inside McLaren. I know when I grew up watching McLaren, I wanted to know everything that was going on. So I think part of my role is to share the excitement and the passion, the opportunities with everybody.
Josh King:
As someone who's a similar age to me, a little bit of gray in the hair, how do you sort of get used to the idea from whenever you started tweeting or whenever you started Instagram, you said I got 200 followers to suddenly, you've got hundreds of thousands of followers. What's it like when you just sort of see the reactions?
Zak Brown:
Well, you don't want to make any mistakes. You don't want to send any social media if you've had a beer, but I think you got to be real, you got to be real with it. It's great to see the fan reaction. And then we respond and I think you got to make them personal. We do some goofy stuff, I do some goofy stuff. I went golfing with Lando and had some fun trousers made that were kind of inspired by Ian Polter. And that got a lot of fan reaction and got my tattoo when we won Monza and some other fans got some tattoos. So I think having fun with it is important.
Josh King:
For all of its popularity, Zak, formula one is not everyone's cup of tea. Share with us how you're expanding McLaren's reach, most notably next year with the start of your involvement with Extreme E how exciting is this opportunity?
Zak Brown:
Extreme E is a very exciting opportunity. It's disruptive, it's probably not what people would've expected McLaren to do, but sustainability and DNI, and gender equality are hugely important to McLaren racing, our partners, our fans, our employees. We were the first Formula One team to be carbon neutral in 2011, the next team in 2020. So it's something that's been very important to us for a long time.
Zak Brown:
And we felt it was a racing platform. It's five races around the world that features and highlights where climate has impacted the world. It's a male, female driver, so true equality. We thought that was a great place for us to race, race with our fans, race with our partners, to showcase what we're doing. And in that area, accelerate learn more, and do it with our partners
Josh King:
From Melbourne to Miami, Monaco to Montreal, Monza to Mexico City and points in between, F1 dominates the world. McLaren will be new to Senegal, Greenland, Chile. What's the opportunity do you see evolving for your fan base for this new type of experience?
Zak Brown:
Well, I think it's going to attract a new type of fan base. So we're always looking to build our fan base. I think our current fans are very excited by it and it's very unique places around the world and it's going to be very digital centric in how the racing is consumed. And I think in today's day and age where everything's moving digital, I think it's a great platform for that.
Josh King:
Your Extreme E drivers are Tanner Faust and Emma Gilmore. Women's legacy in the sports past has been limited. Drivers like Janet Guthrie and Danica Patrick, what's its future.
Zak Brown:
I think only getting stronger as we create more opportunities. There's another racing series called The W, which are all women. And what I like about Extreme E is these are the highest quality drivers in the world. The Carlos signs, the Sebastian lobes, these are world champions. So they're going to go up against the best in the world. Emma's from New Zealand, which of course our founder is from New Zealand, she's won multiple rally races. So she's got a great pedigree in Tanner Faust as an Olympian medalist, a rally cross world champion, a top gear presenter. So I think we have a very exciting driver lineup.
Josh King:
So you are embarking on this new partnership with Intercontinental Exchange, otherwise known as ICE, parent company of the New York Stock Exchange. Can we expect to see Lando's or Daniel's car or Emma or Tanner's car in front of the wall and broad street entrance anytime soon?
Zak Brown:
For sure. And truth be known, Lando and I have already been to the New York Stock Exchange, a pretty fascinating place. First time Lando had actually been to New York. So I think you can expect to see a lot of us on the floor.
Josh King:
You're welcome back anytime.
Zak Brown:
Thank you.
Josh King:
Thank you. And that's our conversation for this week. Our guest was Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren Racing. If you like what you heard, please rate us on iTunes so other folks can know where to find us. And if you've got a comment or question you'd like one of our experts to tackle on a future show, email us at [email protected] or tweet at us at icehousepodcast. Our show is produced by Pete Ash with production assistance from Stefan Capril, Ken Able, me and Wolf. I'm Josh King, your host signing off from the Library of the New York Stock Exchange. Thanks for listening. Talk to you next week.
Speaker 1:
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