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00:00I'm here at Kenner Fitzgerald's headquarters in Midtown Manhattan for their annual charity day
00:05to commemorate the September 11th attacks that happened 24 years ago and the initiatives that
00:10grew out of it, the philanthropic initiatives that grew out of it under the tutelage of Howard
00:15Lutnick and now being taken forward by his sons, Brandon Lutnick and Kyle Lutnick, the chairman
00:21and executive vice chairman of Kenner Fitzgerald. I'm pleased to be with you today and obviously
00:26it is a day that I think for both of you while still very young at the time that the attacks
00:30happened, there's a personal story here that runs from your father through you and most likely to
00:36the people who will come after you. Talk about that day, Kyle, a day that we all remember a very
00:42famous photo with you and your father, your father taking you to kindergarten. Well, Roman, thank you
00:47so much for being here. We really appreciate it. Before we dive in, we want to make sure we call
00:52attention to the terrible events that happened yesterday. Charlie Kirk was a good friend of the
00:58family and our thoughts and prayers go out to the Kirk family. It really was terrible what happened
01:03yesterday. Yeah, it was horrible and our prayers with his wife and young children. So just to set
01:08things in perspective, 24 years ago today, I was standing outside my kindergarten with my father.
01:15It's about two minutes before the planes at the tower and I still have some recollection of it.
01:20Being in the kindergarten and my dad having to run out to go to the building. On that day,
01:26we lost 658 employees on the 101st and 105th floors. It was really, really terrible that we keep that
01:33energy with us here today. We lost our Uncle Gary Lutnick, who was 36, our dad's brother,
01:40our godfather Doug Gardner. Our dad's best friend was 39. It was really just the worst day in history.
01:46But what you really see behind us is the Canada trading floor. And this is what really gets us
01:50through the day. After the trading day today, we are going to be at the 9-11 memorial with our
01:55community, our friends and family. And it doesn't represent the almost 3,000 lives that were taken
02:01that day. But this Canada community is really close, stayed really strong. And our employees
02:05are really keep us together and get us through the day. All money raised, a day's revenue,
02:11and we'll all go to charity today. And it's really, really just the best way to turn something tragic
02:15into something beautiful.
02:17When we talk about what started all this, Howard Lutnick putting down a million dollars to
02:21effectively start this, this turning into an annual event. You bring in celebrities who help demand
02:25the phone banks, raise money. What types of charities are you primarily focused on right now?
02:30It's more than 150 charities today. It changes every year. We have celebrity ambassadors that come
02:36represent charities. And 24 years later, the Canada Relief Fund was started to take care of those 9-11
02:42families. Our father promised to give 25% of all of his profits for the first five years and pay for
02:47the family's health care of the next 10, which ended up being a combined $180 million promise that he
02:53kept and fulfilled for the families.
02:56And we have a continued promise here today where any children or anyone related to anyone that was lost
03:01in the towers on that day have a standing job offer here at the firm. And we have 10 individuals here
03:07working at the firm today. And it's really incredible that we get to help them either continue their
03:10career here or launch their career into the financial services world.
03:1424 years. And now this company that you now helm, as well as the charity, is at a bit of an inflection
03:21point. You've taken over for your father as the chairman and executive chairman of Cantor Fitzgerald.
03:27You've seen how much it's been built back up since 9-11. You know, what did you have? A couple
03:32hundred brokers back then coming out of that. And you have 2,000 now.
03:36Today, across the three companies, Newmark, BGC, and Cantor, we have about 14,000 employees built there.
03:41How much do you expect that to grow?
03:43I expect it to grow, you know, for a long time. You know, the joke that Khan and I make is that we
03:47have no political aspirations, so we're going to be in our seats longer than our father was in his.
03:51He was at Cantor for 40 years, ran the firm for 30. But it's really a testament to the leadership.
03:56You know, our dad built here and installed here. You know, these guys, you know, really take a lot
04:00of the weight off our shoulders. And we're, you know, super honored and glad to be a part of an
04:03incredible executive team.
04:05This year, you've had a pretty good run when it comes to underwriting. Last time I checked,
04:09at least through August, you were the number one underwriter for U.S. global IPOs. You've been
04:15involved in Bullish and eToro. I believe you have a couple others potentially that could price this
04:20week, like Gemini and Legions. What's driving that?
04:23Our father always said, when the market's cold, it's the perfect time to invest. We've put a lot
04:28of time and energy into growing our investment bank under leadership of Sage Kelly. And doing new
04:33offerings has really been sort of a good place for us, hitting the markets hard.
04:39Yeah, we've doubled our investment bank size over the last 18 months. And again, I really give credit
04:43to the team we've built here. You know, we're a private investment bank, and that's very rare
04:48in Wall Street. So when we, you know, commit to an industry, we commit, you know, skate to where the
04:51puck is going. You know, I think, you know, our crypto efforts really shown that. It's our ability
04:56just to commit to the sector before everyone else. And you're just really seeing it pay off. And again,
05:00these guys are, these guys are everything.
05:02And you anticipate keeping this private?
05:04I do.
05:05What's the advantage of that?
05:06The advantage is when you're a great company, there's no need to go public. You know,
05:11public is about raising money and a few other items. And I think for us at Canter, we're really
05:18special private, and we get to, you know, commit to something. We get to move fast. We get to be
05:23mobile and be efficient, less bureaucracy. But again, we have an incredible leadership team,
05:28and we run like a public one, but move like a private one.
05:32And we should point out, I mean, right now, you have three co-CEOs, one who heads equities,
05:36one who heads fixed income, and then, as you mentioned, Sage Kelly there with the investment
05:40banking business. Do you plan to keep that three-tiered co-CEO structure?
05:46There are three superstars, so I see a reason to change it.
05:50SPAC deals. You have, Canter Fitzgerald has always been a leader in that space, and we've seen a
05:55resurgence in SPAC deals. In fact, when you look at the number of IPOs we've had this year, more than half
05:59have been SPACs. What is actually driving that resurgence? Is that a regulatory easing, or is
06:05that just maybe just more risk appetite out there? You know, Canter has always been a big believer in
06:10SPACs. Before the SPAC boom in 2021, we were the number one player in the space. During the boom,
06:14we fell down off of number one because a lot of companies were going to public. And now post-boom,
06:20we're back to being the number one player in the space. It's always been an industry we've thought
06:23about and cared about and always, you know, thought brought tremendous value. And you're seeing it again today. And I
06:29think what it allows us for us to be creative and thoughtful on how we help companies. And you've seen that with, you
06:34know, 21 Capital and BSCR, two Bitcoin treasuries, and hopefully a few more.
06:38What's the health of the SPAC industry today relative to what it was after we came out of that boom in 2021, 2022, and things
06:46started to taper off? I think it's very strong. Look, you know, I can't comment on how long an industry
06:52lasts, but I really believe in our franchise. And when you see it, you know, our SPACs tend to trade
06:57above 10. And that's because, you know, they believe that we're going to do and find the right
07:01companies and do it in the right way. And I think so far we've proven it. And I hope to keep going.
07:05And again, you know, our guys, our leadership, they do an incredible job of really seeing that through and
07:09executing at a very high level. We do a really good job of attracting great talent here. And so again,
07:14it really is a testament to the leadership and our guys that are working the floors and the phones
07:18every single day, hitting it hard and getting us opportunities.
07:22How hard is it to find talent? And I guess more importantly, how hard is it to sort of fend off
07:25your competitors from taking that talent as well? I know Sage Kelly has talked a lot about
07:30expanding the IB business and also maybe changing the pay structure or offering the pay structure,
07:34I should say, that's different than your competitors.
07:37I think talent's always tough to find. But when you have the right culture and the right environment,
07:40it becomes a lot easier. I mean, again, this crowd today, these guys are not taking a day's pay,
07:47you know, and they're giving it all to charity. And that shows something. That's 24 years ago,
07:52you know, some of these guys weren't born yet. You know, we were young. To be honest,
07:57I don't really remember the day. But I wear this 9-11 bracelet every day for over 10 years. It says
08:02honor and remember. And I think that's exactly what we're doing today. We're honoring those we lost
08:05and remembering them. You know, part of the big issue or the, I guess, the crux of why this day
08:11is so important to us is of the 658 loss, you had a lot of payers of family members. You had
08:15brothers, you had, you know, father, sons, mothers and aunts all working here on that day. And our
08:22father would always say, you have a spectrum of friends. You've got, you know, the friends that
08:25you go out with and they make you laugh really hard. And you've got the other set of friends that
08:29you find are really intelligent. You can have good, long conversations with. And we want to try to hire
08:33those, those types of people. And so that's sort of why the culture here is really incredible is
08:38you want to show up and you want to work with people that you like and then people that you
08:42get along with. And that's sort of the culture that we're trying to drive here.
08:45I mean, how much do you interact with your father on a business basis?
08:49Not at all. It's, you know, it's a little sad, actually, because we used to see him,
08:53you know, 12 hours a day, every single day. And now I see him, you know, for a weekend,
08:56but we still talk. I mean, he's even with everything going on, he's still an incredible father.
09:00Has his connections to the Trump administration helped your business?
09:03No, not at all. I mean, it's not supposed to help, right? Like we are a franchise regardless
09:09of his seat. You know, these, we are a business that's built regardless of where he is. I mean,
09:14look, when you lose, you know, Howard Ludnick in the, in the business, there's obviously a gaping
09:17hole, but, you know, you know, we together, along with our executive team, are trying to fill that
09:22hole. And you see it today. I mean, we're, we're having an awesome year and, you know, honestly,
09:25we're hoping today's a record charity day. You know, we feel good about that.
09:28Have there been conversations, though, about how to avoid potential conflicts of interest,
09:33given your father's role at the Commerce Department? Any firewalls to set up just to
09:37sort of make sure that everything sort of stays above board? I mean, I think we are as perfect
09:43and, you know, ethically compliant as one can be. And our father's not a guy who takes risks. So
09:48I think from both sides, we keep that very clean and sharp. But, you know, our father is, you know,
09:54when you get called to serve for your country, you take the call. And we're incredibly proud of
09:58everything he's doing. Very, very proud of him. Yeah. When it comes to some of the policies coming
10:02out of Washington, there has been a deregulatory bent to that to a certain extent. And this is
10:08particularly evident in the world of digital assets and crypto. You've made a couple of big
10:13deals already. I think you mentioned 21 Capital just a second ago, Brandon. Obviously, the deal with
10:19Adam Back, which I believe should be coming to fruition by the end of this year. And, of course,
10:24you've been either an underwriter or an advisor on several crypto-related IPOs and SPACs.
10:31This, you know, this administration really cares about America. I think they're very, you know,
10:35just like they are and we are, we are very bullish on the digital asset industry. And you need to give
10:40these companies a regulatory framework to survive, to flourish, you know, under the past administration
10:45that didn't really exist. And this administration, you know, is smart, thoughtful, and caring. And
10:50they really believe in this industry. And so do we. So does Canter. And we're just giving them a
10:55place to thrive and our job is to help them out. Just yesterday, I think the OCC commissioner,
11:02the Office of Control of the Country's Currency, was at a CoinDesk event. And he kind of talked about
11:06this idea of trying to sort of remove some of the barriers between, I guess, the new digital world and
11:12more traditional banks and asset managers. The idea that there was sort of a regulatory friction
11:17in the middle of that. Are you confident that maybe we will see more of a melding of traditional
11:23finance and new finance? I mean, you'd imagine. Look, I think, you know, the digital world can bring
11:27a lot to the traditional finance world. You talk about, you know, payments in seconds, frictionless.
11:31You talk about remittances. You talk about, you know, the tokenization of, you know, real-world assets,
11:36you know, being able to trade 24-7. I mean, this is, these are things that with the technology we have
11:40should happen. And I think this industry is going to, you know, be hugely successful and, again,
11:45big believers. What is sort of the model, though, that you look for as you pursue digital assets?
11:50I mean, are you primarily looking at it as a buy and hold from a treasury perspective? Are you looking
11:55at it more as the underlying technology? And what's that could sort of do in sort of reducing some of
12:00those frictions? I mean, we're an investment bank. So our job is to, you know, meet great companies,
12:04meet great leadership and help them accomplish their goals. That's really what I look for. But that's the
12:08same from healthcare to tech to, you know, big to industrial to digital, right? Like,
12:14we look for great leadership. We look for great teams. We look for great business models. We look
12:18for, you know, incredible company. And our job is just to partner and stand next to them and help
12:22them accomplish their goals. You mentioned the idea of remittances and really just the idea of the
12:26transfer of money. Stablecoins have finally kind of made it into the spotlight. How involved are you
12:32there? And more importantly, where do you see it going? Do you think that it will broaden out beyond just
12:36some of the small players we have? And it will become much more institutionalized within corporate
12:40America and even maybe potentially within governments? I mean, we hope so. You know,
12:44obviously, we have a very culturally ship with the largest stablecoin in the world, Tether. You know,
12:48they're an incredible company run by incredible guys. And, you know, everything they've been through,
12:52they deserve the world. You know, I think the concept of stablecoins is clearly something that
12:57should exist across the world. I mean, you allow people in emerging markets to get access to the U.S.
13:01dollar. It's dollarizing the world. It's dollar hegemony. And that is really incredible for the United States.
13:06America. With regards to tokenization, Flattenham over at Robinhood, he basically says this is the
13:13future one way or the other. How does that look paired up with traditional finance in the traditional
13:18way that we would buy a stock or a bond or other asset? Is that going to coexist side by side? Or
13:23is that potentially a situation where tokenization would replace the more traditional system?
13:29I mean, I think it's a bit strange and should be fixed that, you know, if a huge event were to
13:34happen on a Saturday or a Sunday, you know, Bitcoin would go up and down. But, you know, the classic
13:38traditional stocks, you have to wait till Monday morning. That is something that should get fixed.
13:42So I agree that in the tokenization of being able to trade 24-7. But, again, you know, that's not really
13:48our perfect stratosphere. I do want to get your thoughts just on the state of New York City. Obviously,
13:53you have a big real estate business through a new mark. We're going through a big election, mayoral election
13:58here in New York that could reshape policies towards the real estate industry. Have you had a chance
14:04at all to meet with any of the frontrunners in this mayoral election? You know, I think we've kept
14:09a little bit of a distance so far. But, you know, we love Mariano. We love Cuomo. Mondani, we have not had
14:19the pleasure of meeting it. But I think we have a lot of views that are different to Mondani. You know,
14:24we're a very pro-Israel group here, you know, especially on 9-11. You know, talking about the
14:29terrorist attack. We're talking about, you know, if they had a chance to do it again, would they? And I
14:34think that's something that's really meaningful for us today to remember and never forget. And I
14:38haven't had the ability to speak to them. New York is really an incredible city. It's a very strong
14:44and resilient city. And I believe cities have, you know, live energy throughout them. They ebb and
14:49flow through different parts of their timeline and their growth. And New York is very strong and
14:54resilient, as we've seen through 9-11, as you can see on the trading floor behind us. And so
14:59whatever happens come November, New York will be fine. You have faith long term in the office market
15:05here in New York City? I buy and hold on New York for sure. Buy and hold on New York. Just final
15:12question here. And this really has to do with the idea of where you see sort of the biggest risks
15:18going forward, not just for yourself, but really overall for markets, and how you see maybe Cantor
15:24fitting into that and maybe potentially addressing it.
15:29You know, I think the biggest risk, I don't honestly see too many risks, to be honest. This is an administration
15:36I really, really believe in. And when you have the smartest people in the room, the smartest business
15:40president in D.C., you know, things get done. You know, obviously, you know, we think the world
15:44is our father. But that whole administration, you know, the president, he's really, you know,
15:48made promising stuff to them. And, you know, I'm incredibly, incredibly bullish and incredibly
15:53appreciative for their service and all the work they've done. And even more appreciative
15:57for the guys behind me, so. You know, one of the biggest projects that we're thinking about
16:01is the data center space and the energy grid of America. And one of the biggest risks that I see
16:06is people moving too quickly or making rash decisions to try to get ahead of the curve early
16:11and often. And so, you know, what I would say is take a second, breathe, and come and talk to some of the
16:17most intelligent people on Wall Street and see if you can get a second or third opinion before you make your move.
16:22There's so many variables and so many factors when making any decisions in any of these markets
16:25and making sure you get your second or third opinion is crucial.
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