Becky Quick: Warren Buffett's Biggest Lessons, CNBC, and Finding Purpose Through Adversity

Becky Quick: To me, our job is to educate people about what happens when you have the law of compound interest working for you. I mean, that's something Warren Buffett has taught me. It's something that goes all the way back to Benjamin Franklin. If you are putting a little bit of money aside, you don't have to make yourself super uncomfortable to do it. You can just bet on the s and P500 and just bet on American business writ large, and you will have a decent retirement if you do that and allow that Runway. If you don't buy every single thing you want right now, maybe sacrifice a little now, just a little, that can really pay off and make sure that you have a safe place to be at the end of the day. I talk to him multiple times every week, and we've built up a friendship. And for Warren, uh, you know, he's just exactly what you see is what you get. Uh, he is authentic. He means it. He doesn't care about the money. Other than that he's giving it all away. He's still living in the same house he bought back in the 1950s. He's not using money the same way a lot of other people do. It kind of reminds me of Elon Musk, who might be sleeping on the fat factory floor while he's got all this money. You know, he's focused on the work that he's doing.

Host: Welcome to the Master Investor Podcast with me, Wilfred Frost, where we celebrate and learn from the success of the greatest investors, business leaders and politicians in the world, giving you our, uh, listeners, an edge. The Master Investor Podcast is sponsored by Elseg Interactive Brokers, the World Gold Council, and BMY Investments. Please do remember, the views expressed in this podcast are for general information purposes only. Nothing in the podcast constitutes a financial promotion, investment advice, or a personal recommendation. More on that in the show notes. My guest today is one of the best known personalities in business and markets worldwide. She is a titan of business journalism, the anchor of Squawkbox on cnbc, my former colleague and my great friend, Becky Quick. Becky, it is a joy to see you and an honor to have you on the Master Investor Podcast. Welcome.

Becky Quick: Well, thank you very much. I can't tell you what an honor it is to be here with you. Um, first of all, and second of all, how much we miss you in the United States and at CNBC over here. Um, always, always, always loved getting the opportunity every once in a while to get to anchor with you. But just having you on our air, it's a huge loss to not have you there, Love what you're doing over there, but we're always gonna miss you here.

Host: Well, you are, as ever, far too kind. Uh, but trust me, the sense of missing you guys is absolutely mutual. And you in particular, it's always been so much fun, uh, to broadcast alongside you and I'm very much looking forward to grilling you for the first time, Becky. And, uh, we've got lots of great topics to come. I want to talk about CNBC itself, about Squawkbox, I want to talk about Warren Buffett, I want to talk about CNBC cures most of all. But let's just dive right into the action because, uh, early this morning or late yesterday, President Trump announced a peace deal, or at least a framework to reach a peace deal with Iran. And, uh, as is so often the case on Squawk Box this morning, you've just come off air. Ah, you are making headlines because you managed to get J.D. vance, who ultimately negotiated that peace deal, to drop in and tell you the key parts of it.

Becky Quick: Yeah, we had, um, about eight minutes with the Vice President and we weren't even sure we were going to get it until this morning. So it was definitely a lack last minute addition. Um, but I learned a lot in those eight minutes. And, uh, I'll tell you what I thought the highlights were. First of all, it sounds like this is a framework really just to agree to keep talking. Because when we asked specifically what's in the agreement, uh, the answer was basically the text is coming later this week, um, that his initial answer was that this would be the end of their nuclear ambitions. Um, when he spoke a little bit more, it became clear that this is something that they hope, the United States hopes, uh, will end their nuclear ambitions. But there's clearly a lot of, um, disagreement on both sides of this. This is an agreement to extend those talks for the next 60 days. While they're doing that, both sides have agreed to make sure that the Strait of Hormuz is reopened. And so that's the immediate news for the market. The idea that for 60 days at least, and J.D. vance, the vice President, saying they hope it will be much longer than that, that both sides will agree to stop blocking the strait and they'll guarantee safe passage. It won't cost anyone any money or any tolls or taxes to go through. And that is why you saw the huge reaction in the markets this morning. Just oil prices plummeting back to $80, basically taking the war premium out of those prices. And as a result, markets here in the United States and around the world up pretty sharply on the idea that if oil's back in, in play, it can lead to a normalization of the supply chain and it can hopefully lead to some lower prices so that inflation doesn't continue to work. Its that supply chain. The one thing I did take away from it that's pretty positive, um, is the idea that there will be someone sitting at the table, a hardliner from the Iranians, the Iranian parliamentarian, um, speaker who's there, um, he's going to be involved in this signing on Friday and involved in these negotiations. And that was a big piece of news because one of the troubles we've had is trying to figure out who you're negotiating with in Iran, who's calling the shots. Uh, just because one party is saying something, does that hold? Will it mean that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard goes along with some of these things? He is a former brigadier general in the irg and so that's a big piece of hopeful news. The idea that he's going to be at the table with some of these discussions too leads you to believe that maybe there's more, um, certainty with this than you would have thought otherwise.

Host: Just for those wondering, uh, this is Monday 15th June, 2:30 UK, 9:30am Eastern M Time. Becky's literally just got off doing squawk box at that's what she's referring to there. Becky, how focused do you think President Trump is on the midterms? I have lots of different people over there, tell me slightly different points. Obviously he's not personally on the ballot, uh, so that same personal vote doesn't apply, but clearly he's heavily linked to it. And it's so interesting that this is a 60 day, if all goes well, reopening of the strait because with the midterms looming, if he really cares about that, it seems inconceivable that after 60 days of the opening of the strait, he would threaten closing it again mid August or late August.

Becky Quick: I don't know that he is nearly as focused on the midterms as most of the other elected officials in the Republican Party that we talk to. I think he kind of sees this as this is his term. He would like to have the legislature there to help him push some of his things forward. I think he's probably been frustrated that they haven't completely, uh, rubber stamped everything he's put forward. Um, and some of the things that he's done could make it more difficult for, for them in the midterms. Um, for example, supporting candidates um, in primaries that were not necessarily the choice of the Republican stronghold with some of these things, it happened in Texas. It happened in other states too. So I don't know that he's as focused on the midterms. Um, surely he would like to see wins there because it is a reflection of his own popularity. I'm sure he would like to see that, but I think he's probably more focused on getting things done. And I think he sees Iran as a particular issue, that he would like to be able to say that he's brought peace there or at least cleared Iran from having the ability to have nuclear weapons. I think he probably takes that more seriously than winning the midterms. If I had to guess, I have not asked him this, that would be my guess.

Host: Well, I'm sure you'll get a chance to, because you guys seem to get President, uh, Trump and the Vice President on a lot. Um, and we'll come to that in schoolbox in a moment. But the other question of the here and now, I just wanted to get your take on the SpaceX IPO. I have to say I was skeptical coming into it. The numbers were off the chart on almost every single level. But I guess we have to pause after one starting day of trade and any minute now, the second day of trade, and say, well done to all those involved. It's gone as well as they could have hoped so far. Is that fair?

Becky Quick: Yeah, I mean, I think so. Two days does not a trend make. Obviously we have to see a lot more. We're not even into the full second day of trading on this. Um, but certainly in the pre market the stock was indicated up 6%. The last I looked after being up 19% on the initial day of the IPO. And yes, I think that that will tell you that there is absolute retail demand for this. I don't know what the long haul is going to be for shares of SpaceX. I don't know what investors will eventually say or do with some of these things. Um, but there is demand. And if you bet against Elon Musk in the past, you could have lost your shirt, your pants, your shoes, and everything else along the way. Um, this is something that Charlie Munger and Warren Buffett have both told me individually. Um, they might not buy the stock, but they would never vote against or bet against Elon Musk because it is a pretty risky proposition to do so.

Host: I totally hear that, Becky. The idea of never bet against Elon, I often think never bet against America. And, uh, the capital market performance in the last few days is a good example of that. Do you though, get any deja vu of moments during your career where suddenly there's a flood of IPOs of companies that might not be profitable at, ah, steep valuations? Or, uh, is that too bearish a thought?

Becky Quick: Well, I will tell you this. If you have to pin it back to anything, I would pin it back to the late 1990s and 2000 when you had so many dot com companies that were coming to market. And it was a really exciting time. I was covering, um, retail and I'd been covering the Internet for, um, the Wall Street Journal. So I was a reporter there at that point. Going through some of those things and the excitement that you feel. I remember sitting down with Mark Cuban at the Javits center when there was a huge, uh, conference that had come in and we just went across the street and got, um, Coca Cola's and sat at a little deli there and went through some of these things. The excitement that you feel is similar to that. Um, I think in this case a lot of the companies actually have more valuations behind them. If you look at Nvidia, if you look any of the infrastructure companies that have built this stuff up, there's some real money and some real, um, deep funds that are being spent on this. And obviously it's the seven big companies, meta and the rest of them are all spending tons of money. Amazon, um, and that is money that is being put to use. Of course you could look back and say that that would be the Ciscos of what we saw back then in the late 1990s. I feel like this time is different. But you're right. There is that sense of deja vu there that makes you worry. Okay, what happens if the sp, if any of these big companies cut off their spending? What happens to everybody down the line? What happens if the large language models get commoditized to the extent that they have to bring their prices down to bring either consumers or businesses back into this? So that's always rattling around in the back of my head and it concerns you to a certain extent. But just because you see those problems exist, it could be years before anything really, um, shows up as a problem down the line. And you have to think of that too. If you are right, but you are right early, you're not doing investors any good either, because these companies could go up 200, 300, 400% before you see any cracks in anything.

Host: This episode of the Master Investor podcast is brought to you by lseg. The Leading global financial markets infrastructure data and analytics provider. To learn more about how ELSEG connects businesses, investors and, uh, markets worldwide, visit LSEG.com this episode of the Master Investor podcast with Wilfred Frost is sponsored by BMY Investments, a trusted partner for many delivering financial solutions to investors and institutions worldwide. This sponsorship does not constitute financial advice. I wanted to ask Becky what you think CNBC is all about, what your job is all about. Because, in fact, this uh, IPO creating a trillionaire clearly has raised questions of greed and inequality. And I often think, actually in this country, uh, in the uk, people look at CNBC and they don't really understand fully, and they think it's. It embodies that, uh, path towards greed. What do you think CNBC embodies?

Becky Quick: Look, I think CNBC is here to chronicle what is happening not just in the markets, but in business writ large. And my understanding of what that can do to unlock potential for everyday citizens has grown phenomenally over the time that I've been here. Um, if you're not invested in the markets and if you're not somebody who is investing from the time you are, let's say, 21, 22, you get a job when you're out of school, out of university and college. I m was fortunate enough to go to work for Dow Jones at the Wall Street Journal. And it was a pretty paternalistic company. And they started putting money aside for us, right? Instead of having, um, the pension fund that they used to have, we had a 401k plan. But they would take and put money aside after you were there for a certain amount of time. They would put 15% of your salary in every year into this fund. All of the defaults when you started there were that you would invest your own money into the 400, 401k plan as well. You had to opt out of it instead of opt into it. And when you're 21 and 22, I'm kind of stupid about these things. I will tell you years later, it was the best decisions they could have ever made for me, that they were taking this money and putting it kind of forcing me. I could have said no, but it would have taken more work for me to get out of it. And so often we just go with the defaults. When you're that age, okay, fine, I'll go along with it. It was the best decisions that had ever been made for me. And for a long time, that money that I saved up in my eight years there was made far more money than anything I was ever building. Even When I was putting a lot of money aside later in life, because it had a long Runway, because it was money when I was 21, 22 years old, that started saving up and started really, um, building, and it had a really long Runway. Um, I think our job is to try and help educate people to let them know if you can do this on a normal salary, if you are putting small amounts of money away early and making sure that you're investing in these things, look, it may just be invest in the s and P500, which, as the 500 largest companies in America, you're betting on America. If you're doing those things, you don't necessarily have to pick the winners and rise and fall with every one of these huge rise and falls you can. But to me, our job is to educate people about what happens when you have the law of compound interest working for you. I mean, that's something Warren Buffett has taught me. It's something that goes all the way back to Benjamin Franklin. If you are putting a little bit of money aside, you don't have to make yourself super uncomfortable to do it. You can and just bet on the s and P500 and just bet on American business writ large, and you will have a decent retirement. If you do that and allow that Runway. If you don't buy every single thing you want right now, maybe sacrifice a little now, just a little, that can really pay off and make sure that you have a safe place to be at the end of the day. I mean, that's literally what I learned, because I didn't come from a wealthy background. I didn't come from a place where we had family money. And what I learned being at first the Wall Street Journal and then cnbc is something that not only have I changed my behaviors, I tell everybody in my family, all my friends, anybody else who gets along with that. And I kind of think that that's what my goal is at cnbc, too, is to make sure that other people are going to have a safe retirement, to make sure that they can enjoy some of that same prosperity and make sure that they aren't reliant on Social Security or someplace else, to make sure that they're going to be okay in their older age.

Host: Well, here, here. Um, it's exactly my mission with this podcast, um, having learned that from cnbc, having learned that from people like you, to spread the word, uh, back here and further afield. It's not about greed. It's about being sensible and understanding, uh, money and the benefits that come from that. Let's talk a bit about Squawkbox, Becky, because it's an awful lot of fun to watch. It's an awful lot of fun to host, as I've done, uh, a few times when someone's been off. And I, uh, guess it's a unique show on CNBC because the market isn't open yet, and that gives you a bit more time to have longer conversations and debates and fun.

Becky Quick: Yeah. And you know this all too well, Wolf. It's three hours before the market opens, so we are left to our own devices at times, uh, which can be really fun. It can be really uncomfortable at times, depending on what we get into with things. But it's why I love what I've been doing for so long. I mean, I've been doing this for, I think, 21 years now on Squawkbox. And it would get old every day if we didn't have kind of the unknown that we were wandering into every morning. It gives us the chance to book big guests that we can allow them to talk for a longer period of time. And frankly, that's what I've enjoyed the most, is you, uh, can spend 20, 30 minutes with someone. Today we had Ron Baron on for 30 minutes talking about his investments in SpaceX the day after it went public or the first trading session after it went public. And you can get a lot of interesting information out of people. But it also gives us time to debate important topics like whether it's wealth, taxation, whether it is what we should be doing and thinking of in this country. Um, but I've always enjoyed just the time so that we can have 20 or 30 minute conversations with people and not worry about. So time to move on to the next thing.

Host: Obviously, it's you, it's Andrew Ross Sorkin, uh, and it's Joe Kernan, and, uh, you sit between them both physically and metaphorically. I filled in, you know, 40, 50 times, 49 times for the two guys. I've always respected your brilliance as a broadcaster, Becky. I gained even more respect for it the day I filled in, actually, for you, and had to play the role of mediator between the two of them, which is a tough thing to do.

Becky Quick: Yeah, I mean, I don't know if I think of myself as a mediator as much as just, you know, hey, I grew up with three brothers, and so sitting between these two guys, it kind of feels like sitting at home at the family table. Right. This is how we all kind of interact and how we keep the conversation going. We each come from A pretty different place. Um, but we also know each other really well and have really gained an awful lot of respect for each other over that period of time. The funny thing is, while sitting next to them for so long, I kind of can anticipate what each of them is going to say next. And I'm sure they can do the same with me. Just because when you sit at that family table for so long, how can you not. I didn't know you'd been on 49 times. I think you probably deserve like a squawk personalized coffee mug or something for that. That is a lot.

Host: That's a guess.

Becky Quick: You did a lot of time there.

Host: That was a guess. But I'll take the mug for sure. I love a bit of swag. Do you know what? That's another difference. We're not bringing it.

Becky Quick: Bringing a personal one with your photo on it, sitting on the set, actually, that's what you deserve for that.

Host: Yes, please, to all of that. Um, sounds good to me. So, Becky, the final sort of CNBC question I had was just about having moved back to my mainstream media job now, uh, outside of the podcast in London. What I miss a lot about it is the purity of business news, the purity of the stock market that you literally respond to the numbers. It's much more clear each time what's right and what's wrong.

Becky Quick: Yeah, you get, um, a voting machine, in effect, um, telling you how much people have faith in the news that they're hearing. And that was certainly the case this morning when we heard about the Iranian peace deal. Now, we've heard the potential for peace deal a lot of different times in the past, but to this one, the market really reacted pretty rapidly and pretty ferociously with oil prices dropping more than 5% and then the equities market picking up hundreds of points pretty instantaneously on this news. And it's what I always appreciate too, Wilf. It's the idea that you have your audience weighing in on exactly what they think of the news that you're telling them and that they're hearing. And. And, uh, the volatility is interesting. We're not just rooting for the market to go up and up and up forever. Although as citizens, we like to see people get wealthier. That's true. But when there are big pullbacks, big volatility swings, the good news is that gives the opportunity for someone new to the markets to get into that or for someone to buy more of something they've liked that maybe didn't make sense at a Higher price. So you gotta embrace all of it. You have to love the ups, the downs, and anything else that comes along. And if something's at a lower price and you still think that it makes good sense, well, you're getting something at a discount and a bargain price.

Host: Hi guys, it's Wilf. I hope you're enjoying this episode. Just a quick reminder to please hit follow or subscribe on your podcast or video app so that you never miss an episode. And if you've got time, please do give us a five star rating and, and leave us a comment. It really helps other people find the podcast too. Now back to the episode. Becky, I wanted to move on and talk about Warren Buffett, uh, who you have been lucky enough to spend a lot of time with, uh, and really have been the reporter that has covered his extraordinary unrivaled career. I mean, how many times have you interviewed him?

Becky Quick: You know, that's a good question. I probably should have an answer. But I've been interviewing him for 18 or 19 years at this point. I think the first time, actually the first time I talked to him was probably 2005. I went out to his, um, so, uh, 20 years. I went out to his annual meeting and I had a very quick five minute conversation because this is when every broadcaster who showed up, he'd give them five minutes at the end. So I talked to him then and that was 2005. Then in 2007, I want to say I called him up and I knew that he was making it. Uh, I called him up and we were having a conversation and he mentioned he was going to China. And I just piped in and said, can I come with you? There was this long pause on the phone call. I had just been to China with Boone Pickens. So it wasn't a crazy question. We had spent some time where we were traveling with some big investors and I asked about that. It didn't come out of nowhere, but, uh, he paused for what felt to me like five minutes. He swears it was only three to five seconds, but, you know, this eternity when you ask someone, can I come with you? And then you wait to see what they have to say. Finally said, well, I guess so. And so I flew out to Omaha and I went with him and the guys from the Nebraska Furniture Mart, they were going there to do some sourcing trips for furniture they were looking for. Warren was going to meet with some other people. And so we all shared a plane ride together and, and I ended up talking to Warren for hours and hours on that plane ride, I wasn't sure what to expect, if he'd be sleeping, if he'd be doing business models, uh, meetings with them. We ended up talking and reading the newspapers and, um, got to know each other pretty well. And I'm from the Midwest originally, so we had that in common. And we really just hit it off and liked each other. And we, uh, had a fun time going through. On his travels through China with all of the guys who were there. Lacy o' Toole came with us, Jerry Miller and some of the crew. And I think there was some trust that was built up over that trip. And so we ended up talking to each other more and more frequently. I ended up interviewing him more and more frequently. I probably interviewed him five or six times a year, maybe more, um, over that period of time, sometimes more than that. But I talked to him multiple times every week. Um, and we've built up a friendship. And he's just exactly what you see is what you get. He is authentic. He means it. He doesn't care about the money other than that he's giving it all away. He's still living in the same house he bought back in the 1950s. Um, and he doesn't care about the thing. He's not using money the same way a lot of other people do. It kind of reminds me of Elon Musk, who might be sleeping on the factory floor while he's got all this money. He's focused on the work that he's doing, um, for Warren, not only the investing and building Berkshire, which has been so important to him, but also one of the legacies he's always said he wanted to leave is that of a teacher. And he and Charlie Munger are very similar when it comes to those things. Just taking what they've learned and very freely sharing that information with as many people as they possibly can.

Host: Well, your interviews stand the test of time, as does your more recent documentary on Warren, and I think is a teaching tool that he would want out there. I guess my follow up then, Becky, is what ultimately do you think is his genius when it comes to investing

Becky Quick: patience and not doing anything. He and Charlie have repeatedly said one of the things they're best at doing is nothing. And there are a lot of people who feel like they have to act because the markets are going up and up. And you feel like they don't have fomo. Right. Warren's never had fomo. That fear of m missing out on things. He's very patient. He's very willing to wait for the Fat pitch and being patient and understanding the law of compound interest. He's a mathematician, he knows numbers like nobody. He's an actuarial. He understands, um, he can tell you the population of any place at any point. He can tell you how many people were driving distracted last year versus five years ago. I mean, I remember at one point talking to him and he said, you know, there are a lot more distracted drivers all of a sudden. And he thinks of this, of course, because of the GEICO perspective. The GEICO insurance for automobile insurance. He said, yeah, there's something that happened. And I remember it happened. He told me this before COVID there's just a lot more distracted drivers on the road. He saw it in the numbers before anybody else really figured out what was going on. People are distracted by their phones now, right? And I remember him pointing that out and realizing that. And he can do that with any business. Maybe that's Burlington Northern, Santa Fe. He understands the business lines, he sees things. He knows that when there's a Delta, he picks up on it immediately, some change somewhere along, and then he starts trying to figure out why. So it's the real research of years and years of reading SEC filings and now understanding those industries. And, well, I've noticed it in myself as I've gotten older. You probably have too. When you are older and you have an actual knowledge base in your industry, it's just easier to do things than people who are a lot younger because you remember, um, times that, that look like this, things that rhyme like this. You understand industries, you understand the news flow. You like being able to put together patterns because of the knowledge that you have. Well, he's been doing that for, you know, 95 years now. And he started when he was a kid, started reading all of these things when he was probably 8 years old. And he has built up an unbelievable knowledge base and he's got basically, um, a photographic memory. So having all those things in combination and having a calm, cool head and not getting caught up in the irrationality of markets at times, I think those are the combination of factors.

Host: Uh, the point about foam, I get terrible fomo, which is probably why I'm a much better broadcaster than I was an investor in my short, uh, lived five years in investment. I was never set to make that work.

Becky Quick: Um,

Host: This episode is sponsored by the World Gold Council, the global experts on gold. They champion gold as a trusted strategic asset, providing market leading research to help investors understand gold's role and modernize how gold is owned, traded and used. Developing industry Standards and market infrastructure. Learn more@, uh goldhub.com this episode is sponsored by Interactive Brokers. Building wealth starts with the right broker, and Interactive Brokers helps you reach your goals with powerful tools, global market access, low costs, and unmatched financial strength. That's why the best informed investors choose IBKR. Learn more at, uh ibkr.com masterinvestor. Want to move on now, Becky, and talk about CNBC cures? Because you launched this initiative quite recently. You did another documentary about it, an unbelievably powerful, uh, and moving documentary. And it's available on CNBC's website. It's available on YouTube, and we'll include the link to it, um, in the show notes. It relates to your daughter and a, uh, very rare disease that you discovered she had. But before I get to that, because I watched it back again this morning, um, and it brought me to tears again for the second time. But there's such a wonderful moment. I just wanted to ask you to recap as well. But the absolutely joyous moment when Caylee arrived, which I hadn't known until I watched it, which was. Is it fair to say she wasn't entirely planned and expected initially, adding to the great joy of her arrival?

Becky Quick: She wasn't planned at all. Her arrival was not planned at all. Um, and yet, when she joined our family, I could not have been happier. Yeah, unexpected things. You think I would have figured out how these things work at this age? Um, but, yes, she was an unexpected gift, and I really felt like our family was complete. When Kaylee arrived, um, you know, she was just such a happy baby. So smiley. It was an easy pregnancy. And she completed. She's the last of our four children. Um, and she completed us. Uh, so we couldn't have been happier than, you know, when we learned of Kaylee's impending arrival. Should I say.

Host: And then. Becky, talk me through. It was six or seven months after, uh, she arrived that you started to figure out something was wrong.

Becky Quick: Yeah, she was about six months, and she started missing some milestones. Six to eight months. Her eyes were crossing a lot, and it seemed like it was not the normal eye crossing that an infant would do, uh, would have. And then she had real trouble, like, from sitting up to babbling, to talking, to even grabbing things when you would. When she was in the tub and you kind of put toys over her to see she'd had trouble grabbing those things. So I started talking to her pediatrician. We went to a developmental doctor. You know, it was a very long process of a Lot of doctors who would look and say, yeah, looks like she's missing some milestones, but don't worry about it. But you know, when you're a mom and probably a parent, you know when something's wrong. And that, I could never shake that. So we started getting her with therapists right away, physical and occupational therapists to get her to roll over, to teach her how to move, to crawl. And she was doing pretty well with that. And I started to relax a little, but I kept seeing things. So finally we went to a neurologist who did the eeg, and we could see she was having seizures, subclinical seizures. We didn't see them, um, with the naked eye, but we could see on the brain activity there were seizures. And that was the next step. And, you know, it took us several years to get a diagnosis. Um, but before she turned three, just before she turned three, and just before COVID hit, we got back the diagnosis that she had something called syngap1, which means that her brain only produces half of the syngap protein that's needed for brain development. It means that people with syngap have seizures. They have, most of them autism, um, or a lot of them have autism and intellectual disability behaviors that come along with it. It's a pretty frightening thing. Um, there's only 1707 people on the planet who've been identified with Syngap. So it's incredibly rare. We believe that there's actually far more people than that who have it, based on things we've. From the cdc. Um, the SYNGAP Research Fund has done a lot of work on this too, and a lot of doctors and researchers have agreed with this. It may be that there are, you know, even a million people around the world that have this. It's just hard to get the testing, the genetic testing to show some of these things. So a lot of people get grouped in, you know, autistic, or they get grouped on other things, uh, when in reality, it's. It could very well be SYNGAP that they're dealing with. So we got that diagnosis, and that was pretty devastating.

Host: I guess. Before we talk about what you've done so inspirationally since, just talk to us about also how hard it is to process the news, not just the diagnosis, but once you knew that something wasn't quite as it was meant to be. A matt, your husband says in the documentary, and this really stuck with me that. That her first birthday party. I think it was her first, maybe it was the second. Felt more like a wake than a party because you guys were trying to be happy and celebrate, but you were also trying to process this really difficult news as a parent.

Becky Quick: Yeah, that birthday party was before we even had the diagnosis, but we knew something was wrong and we weren't getting answers. And when you get the uh, first of all, you're just so worried about your kids. There's nothing that any of us spend more time on than wanting our kids to have full, wonderful lives. You have all these dreams, uh, about what their lives might be like. And when we got the diagnosis for syngap and ah, first of all, the neurologist didn't even know what it was. She said to me it was a Friday. She said, by the end of the weekend you'll probably know more than I do. And I did because I immediately started not just looking online, but contacting every person I could, um, and reporting it out. And the prognosis was not great. Um, you know, it wasn't that she was going to die. There are parents who get worse diagnoses. It wasn't that she was going to die, but the question was how much would she ever develop? And I remember doctors, a lot of whom, who don't have a whole lot of wonderful bedside manner, telling me things like, well, you know, she may not be a Fortune 500 CEO, but maybe she'll go to college. And before we knew any, before we even had our diagnosis and later them telling me maybe she had cerebral palsy. You know, they throw out kind of off the cuff things about what might be wrong and sends you down the spiral as a parent. Um, the syngap diagnosis was tough because most of these kids don't talk or don't talk. You know, some of them do, but a lot of them don't. She has a pretty severe form of it, so she's non verbal still at the age of nine. And you start ticking off the things that their child's probably not ever going to be able to do. Okay, let's cross college out. Uh, probably never going to be able to get married, probably. You know, then can they go to school, can they have a meaningful career, can they have friends? You start checking down all of the things that you had hoped for them and try to reset your expectations. And that's pretty devastating. And it took a long time of going through this. You know, we were, we were doing this for Kaylee's nine. Now we only launched this, um, in January, so I didn't really talk publicly about this much for the first nine years and the first seven Years almost after her diagnosis. And it's, uh, because it was so. Took such a toll. Emotionally, you're trying to figure out what you can do for your child, if there is a cure or something you can find. But you're also trying to give your child the best quality of life on a daily basis. And it is a struggle from finding a school, from finding therapists, from trying to make sure you're doing everything that can give your child the best chance to make progress. And it was time consuming, and it was emotionally exhausting. And when I'd come to squawk box in the morning, I'd kind of shut that part of my life off and just do the show right for three hours. You don't think about that. And, uh, it was also so emotional that I didn't think I could talk about it without crying. So it took me that long to get to that place. And Matt and I had these long discussions trying to figure out what we should do. And part of it is, you want to protect your child. I didn't really want to tell people about Kaylee and have, you know, you and I are in the public sphere all the time, and, you know, people can be pretty mean. I didn't want to put her in that public sphere. But we got to the point where we thought, a, we have this platform with cnbc. What can we do with it? Because we've met so many other people along the way who also have, um, family members with rare disease. Maybe they have rare disease themselves. We found out the numbers are so staggering that, you know, 30 million people in the United States have a rare genetic disease. It's 30 to 36 million people in the EU. It's 300 to 400 million people worldwide. And you start to realize that if you can do something about it to help, you should. What I realized when we were doing research on Cayley's disease is that every One of these 10,000 rare diseases has a population that's trying to figure out how to fight it, how to come up with a cure. And every one of them is trying to reinvent the wheel when there are, in fact, a lot of things that we can do to help each other and kind of learn from each other along the way. And that's what was the genesis of CNBC cures to figure out how do we connect some of these groups so that they can learn from each other and then use CNBC's platform to make sure we're getting in front of the legislators, the regulators, the investors to show what's happening? Science is kicking out some amazing things right now, from ASO therapies to gene therapies. A lot of first time ever, um, scientific discussion. But getting them from the lab to the patients is really pretty complicated. And we're going to need all of these populations to help push it along the way. Um, and that's what brought us to cnbc. Cures.

Host: I mean, it's really inspirational what you've been doing with it, Becky. And I guess there's a sort of added need for what you're doing, because by definition, these conditions are so rare. I kind of imagine it made the processing of it for you and Matt even more lonely. And it takes someone like you to step up and bring all those fellow lonely people together and give them that chance to make them feel like there's not just hope, but that they're making something out of a tough situation.

Becky Quick: Well, you're right on the loneliness factor. I mean, that struck me all the time. It just felt like such a lonely path that we were on when there's only 1,700 other people around the planet who are dealing with this, and none of them in my neighborhood. Um, the idea that you're just trying to figure this out and nobody understands what you're going through. Well, it turns out if we can boost things like diagnostics to get more people to actually try and take these tests, you can find your community of people. Um, there are 1,700 people around the world, and a lot of us are in touch because of the Internet. And how we can reach out to people like we never could before, gives you that community, that sense of community. But it's not just that our unique population, it's everybody who's battling, who's on a similar journey. And that's part of what we're doing with the cures coverage too, is at least you can feel like you're not so alone. Um, and I slowly started telling people, um, my friends and family. And then it extended to. Sometimes when I was at conferences, I would talk about it, and I was really struck by when I did open up, everybody had a story. Everybody's got some connection. Uh, everybody's got some instance. And it made me realize that it's such a universal thing that if we were looking at rare disease as a whole, rare disease isn't all that rare at all. And again, I mean, uh, Wilf, I've thought of you often while we were doing some of these things. Your brother's story and what happened and what you've done as a result, to try and make sure to raise awareness. I mean, I literally have thought about you often while we were trying to figure out what we were going to do. Well.

Host: Well, I'm touched that you did because I'm very proud of what you've done. So, um. Uh, I guess it's a mutual feeling there. I have to say. The overriding thing which resonates with what you're saying is just the sense that you have a duty, if you have that ability to try and make a difference going forward. I also feel it's obviously different. I know you've separately lost your brother, but, um, the joyous thing is Kayleigh is doing well and is happy, obviously, with my brother Miles, he's not around. I also feel just a duty. You've got to make the most of your time here because, you know, it's a limited period. Uh, I guess, um, on that note,

Becky Quick: but what you've been doing for Miles, in his memory and for other families, to make sure that they're not going to go through this and not know what's out there, what's lurking. I mean, that you're saving lives and you don't even maybe realize to the extent that that helps. But I am really proud of what you're doing and how you've embraced this and how you've taken that responsibility. Wolf.

Host: Well, right back at you, Becky, and thank you. Um, I was going to say, to end on a positive, that what I also absolutely adored in your document is Matt reflected, I think, with Kayleigh, that she's a bit of a performer as well. At heart. I can't think where she gets that from.

Becky Quick: Uh, she's more of a performer than I am. We took her to the pool last night. Wilf, I'll share this with you because it was really a lovely night last night. We went to the pool down the club down the street from m us, uh, and we walk there. But Kaylee, um, is a great swimmer and loves the water like nothing else. And she had, um, my husband Matt, so her dad, her mom, and her brother sitting on the sidelines while she, for at least 45 minutes, would dive different ways into the pool and then come back up and wait for us to clap. So she had an audience for that entire time. And she couldn't have been happier. She loves applause.

Host: Well, um, applause to her all around for everything. And Becky, thank you for sharing all of that again. And we will put in the show notes where you can watch Becky's documentary, which is just so Worth doing. We are nearly out of time. Becky and I flagged this to you in advance. How we like to end. And we ask, uh, our guests for their overriding investment advice for our listeners. But it can be career advice and life advice, and, uh, I can't wait to hear, uh, what you have in store. The floor is yours.

Becky Quick: Okay. I would say for investing advice, I've got a couple of pieces. For investing advice, do exactly what Warren Buffett says, which is to invest in an S&P 500. Do it early, do it often, and let it ride, and don't worry about what's happening. That will get you far, and you'll be happy no matter what happens with that. From a career piece of advice, every job you get, take it and, and, uh, do it for a little longer than you think you possibly can, especially when you're starting out. Every job I took, I stayed with it six months to a year longer than I wanted to. I was eager to move on to other things. But staying in it, that six months to an extra year really paid off. It led to the next step. I never planned to be in television. I never planned any of this. But staying and doing the job and doing it really well always led to other opportunities. So hang in there, be patient with it, and just in life, um, cherish every moment. I think you and I both would say the same thing. Life is too short, it is too precious. And I still have to talk myself through this to make sure I'm living in the moment and enjoying every moment that we get.

Host: Well, hear, hear to all of that. And you said stay in it for six months longer. 21 years of squat box.

Becky Quick: Yeah, okay. But that was to get me to that position. Every other job I was in for a year to two, and I had all these different jobs. I never knew what the next job was going to be. I never really thought about it, and there were times I wanted to quit along the way. Staying with it got me to squawk box.

Host: Well, my point is, I look forward to the next 21 years. Um, Becky, and to your final point, um, celebrate life. I can hear my son has woken up from his nap, and, uh, he's making loud noises. So I need to go and focus my attention there. But this has been.

Becky Quick: Do just that.

Host: Absolute joy. Becky, um, a real honor to have you on. Thank you so much.

Becky Quick: Love you. Thank you.

Host: It's great to see you. A real pleasure to have Becky Quick, uh, CNBC squat box anchor here on the master, uh, investor, uh, podcast. Next week, we'll be joined by Ned Naylor Leland, the manager of the Jupiter Gold and Income Fund, which has been on a tear in recent years. Looking forward to that conversation. Please please hit Follow or subscribe on your podcast app if you haven't done so already. For now, our uh, thanks again to Becky Quick.

Becky Quick: Thank you so much, Wilf.

Host: The Master Investor Podcast is sponsored by Elseg Interactive Brokers, the World Gold Council and BMY Investments. Please do remember the views expressed in this podcast are for general information purposes only. Nothing in the podcast constitutes a financial promotion, investment advice, or a personal recommendation. More on that in the show notes. This podcast is produced by Paradine Productions and Master Investor, uh, Ltd. In association with Birdline Media. If you've enjoyed the show, please do subscribe on YouTube or click follow on your podcast platform and you'll be automatically notified each time a new episode drops.