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Quest Means Business
South Korean Chipmaker SK Hynix Debuts on Wall Street; IEA Expects Oil Demand to Drop for First Time Since 2020; At Least 12 Killed by Wildfires in Southern Spain; France Defeat Morocco 2-0 To Book Spot In Semifinals; Belgium And Spain Face Off At Los Angeles Stadium, EasyJet Backs $7.7 Billion Apollo Bid Amid Takeover Battle; E.U.'s New Border Control System Upending Summer Travel. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired July 10, 2026 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:18]
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS": A bullish end to a strong closing bell ringing on Wall Street. The main markets are
all higher and have been higher throughout the course of the session.
Trading is over, and a one and a two and a one, two three, four. There you go. Those are the markets. We will get to the reasons why and the main
event of the day.
The South Korean chip giant makes its U.S. debut. Investors simply can't get enough of SK Hynix.
King Charles meets with Prince Harry and all his family at their home, Highgrove, first time in four years they've been together.
And EasyJet now in the middle of a takeover battle, Apollo crashed the party and has got a winning bid of $8 billion for Easy.
We are live in New York, last day of the week, Friday, July the 10th. I am Richard Quest and I mean business.
Good evening.
We start tonight with the largest foreign listing in Wall Street history. It is the South Korean chipmaker, SK Hynix, and it debuted today on NASDAQ.
The company, which few Americans had heard of a year ago, raised more than $26 billion. They were offered here in New York as an ADR, American
Depositary Receipt, $149.00 each, and they upped and closed at 13 percent higher. There you have the original stock in South Korea, and you have the
ADR as they're traded. It is a conglomerate of stocks, basically, ten stocks, ten of the of the original equals one ADR.
Chip stocks are having a banner year. The sectors, the major beneficiary from the A.I. boom. The chief executive of SK Hynix focused on A.I. earlier
today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KWAK NOH-JUNG, CEO, SK HYNIX: We are providing the essential memory technologies to power the global A.I. infrastructure. We are here to build
the future with you because A.I. will be everywhere and wherever A.I. goes, SK Hynix will be there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: The energy markets appear to be shrugging off all the tensions in the Middle East. They are now being driven by global economic slowdown. Now
recall, the IMF expects global growth of three percent, and you see this reflected in oil demand. The IEA expects a drop this year of a million
barrels a day.
So if you take those things slower demand, lower demand for oil, oil prices, Brent drifted to around $76.00 a barrel, and WTI, roughly the same.
A.I. is boosting the market, a sluggish global economy is having the opposite effect.
Daniela Sabine Hathorn is the senior market strategist at capital.com with me from London.
You've got to admit, this is a fascinating undercurrent, isn't it, that the inflationary pressures that we might get from A.I. actually mitigated from
oil by global demand slowing and slower demand for oil.
DANIELA SABINE HATHORN, SENIOR MARKET STRATEGIST, CAPITAL.COM:
Good evening.
Yes, indeed. It has been an interesting narrative that has been dominating markets, I think since the start of the year. We've kind of gone in waves
that have been, as I said, dominated by different factors. We started off the year thinking that the economy was slowing, that the soft landing
narrative was happening, and that inflation was coming down quite nicely and allowing Central Banks to cut rates.
Then with everything that happened in the Middle East, the inflation narrative came back into view and then we were concerned about oil pushing
consumer prices higher. We've come down from that wave again as oil has dropped on the back of those tensions dissipating. We had a little bit of a
wobble earlier this week.
It is just the narrative that keeps on evolving. But I think at the back of it, we still have that strong growth story that continues to drive investor
appetite.
QUEST: Right, but that strong growth, albeit moderating because of economic factors, it could be the savior, in a sense, because if this shenanigans in
the Straits of Hormuz continues, the lower demand is essentially putting a lid on the price.
HATHORN: Yes, indeed. Yes, and you have to think how this acts as a tax on growth and consumption and as we've said, the lower prices may eventually -
-
[16:05:10]
Now, oil prices may eventually increase the amount of capital and free spending capacity that households have and that in itself can have an
inflationary edge as well. So there are different ways to read it and I said this narrative continues to evolve.
QUEST: So on the markets, we had the SK Hynix today, you've got strong-ish still bullish markets and I don't want to use the word irrational, but they
do seem to be ignoring some fairly significant red flags economically.
HATHORN: I think what SK Hynix's debut has taught us is that the market is still willing to compensate and to spend money on companies that have a
good structure that show that they have good earnings capacity and I think that's -- what it is telling us is the market, it is not indiscriminately
now buying into everything and I think that's why maybe the speculative bubble aspect may have died down.
It is becoming a lot more selective and I think investors are becoming more selective with where they are putting their capital and one thing is that,
you know, the A.I. supply chain continues to be a key driver.
SK Hynix at the center of that, the CEO saying that today, and that's what markets are rewarding. So, clearly it shows that investors still have
appetite for these kind of companies despite higher inflation, despite higher rates, despite, you know, concerns that growth may slow.
QUEST: So finally, do you believe that by natural attrition and market forces, the air is being gently let out of that speculative bubble, albeit
maybe not as much as some would like, to the point where the risk of calamity has, if not evaporated, has greatly reduced -- sorry, by calamity,
I mean market calamity.
HATHORN: Yes, I think the whole speculative bubble narrative has died down, as you said, because of this natural attrition. I do still think that the
market is overheated in some sectors and I think that's why we've seen periods of high volatility in recent months.
But I do still - I do think that fundamentally a lot of these companies are well supported because they are showing they have explosive earnings
capacity. They are dominant in the market, and I think now is the next phase. It is no longer about what A.I. means, it is about how can these
companies prove that this spending is going to deliver higher growth and higher earnings and I think that is in the phase we are in now.
So yes, I think it has come down a little bit. I think it is more well- balanced.
QUEST: Daniela, it is good to have you on the program. Nice to have you with us and I can assure you, you will be with us many more times with a
goodwill and a following win helping us understand this in the months ahead. Thank you and have a lovely weekend. A hot -- a hot weekend, it is
hot in London, as you know.
HATHORN: Yes, indeed.
QUEST: Very hot.
Now, let's continue with that thought and we go to Spain. Here, the heat is so bad. I was in Spain, by the way, earlier this week on the Southern
Coast, the Costa Del Sol. And now apparently, deadly wildfires are ravaging the area. At least 12 people have been killed in what officials are
describing as the most devastating fire ever to hit the region.
Tragic stories are emerging of those trying to attempt by car and by foot, and it is all happening as Europe is experiencing this unprecedented heat.
Add in strong winds and the situation just becomes terrible, horrific.
Pau Mosquera is in Madrid and joins us.
All right, it is 10:00 at night, roughly. What do you think the temperature is?
PAU MOSQUERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, here in Madrid, Richard, it is 31 degrees Celsius.
You may think that maybe it is still hot bearing in mind that it is Spain. But if I am frank, this is better temperature that we had earlier this week
because we were suffering the second heat wave of the summer and just to give you an idea, at midnight, for example, on Monday, earlier this week,
the thermometers could easily reach 33 to 34 degrees Celsius which is quite a lot, again, bearing in mind that it was midnight.
So now, the conditions are a little bit better, but in the case of the area where these wildfire is burning, it is a little bit different there. The
thermometer is one or two degrees Celsius more than it is in Madrid and this is why the situation is getting complicated for the firefighters.
They will be battling the fire all the night. They will be battling it against the clock using all the tools, all the equipment that they have on
the area to try to contain it as soon as possible -- Richard.
[16:10:10]
QUEST: Okay, so we know of that thousands people who have died in France. We know that the number of people who have died in Spain, and there is a
bit of respite coming along, but we are only July and we are only at the beginning or mid-July, and we've still got, you know, the rest of the month
in August.
The long term or the medium term outlook is not good.
MOSQUERA: Absolutely not. I mean, if we get the information that has been shared by Spain's National Weather Agency, we know that the next three
weeks are also going to be complicated and suffocating here, at least in the Iberian Peninsula, because they are telling us that we are expecting
temperatures to remain well above what it should be normal for the time of the year.
So it is like we are getting used to high temperatures, but this is something far from normal and when you have extreme heat like the one we
have been seeing over the last few days, Richard, then you get a higher risk of wildfires like the one that is happening right now in the south of
the country.
But it is important to say that even though they still have not confirmed which is the cause for this fire to origin, one of the hypothesis is that
the responsible is a fallen power line that after impacting the roadside of a national motorway, it started the fire -- Richard.
QUEST: Oh good grief! That's awful!
Thank you for joining us tonight. Bring us up-to-date when we know more about the fire.
President Trump says he has told Iran the ceasefire is over and yet he insists that talks will continue. A source says Qatari mediators are in
Tehran to kick start discussions in coordination.
Now fighting is paused for the moment. The flare up of strikes this week, of course, which attracted our attention and now Donald Trump's strategy
was to strike and then pause military operations according to some to give diplomacy a chance. Iran's late Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is
now at his final resting place, being buried after a week-long funeral.
Kevin Liptak is at The White House.
Kevin, it seems to me that we've got talks about talks and potentially no one quite knows where we are. So just as we go to the weekend, as you see
it from your vantage point, where are we?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, I think we are in a very uneasy place, both for President Trump and for Iran. They have found
themselves back in a position where they were before the President signed this Memorandum of Understanding three weeks ago, where it is not quite at
a full conflict.
You know, the President isn't striking Iranian targets every single day, but it is clearly not at a peace, either.
The President openly saying that the ceasefire is over because he doesn't think the Iranians agree to it and it does seem as if he has reached sort
of a strategic dead end. You know, nothing he is doing, whether it was the carrot of the sanctions relief, which he has since pulled back, or the
stick of the bombings that he has been conducting periodically over the last three weeks, is doing anything to get the Iranians to make the nuclear
concessions that he had hoped they would make as part of this grand deal.
It doesn't even seem as if they ever reached the point of negotiations, where they were talking about the nuclear program. And so I think the
President faces another decision of whether he thinks it will be fruitful to go back to war and reap all of the economic and political downsides of
all of that, which he has openly admitted. He said it would be an economic catastrophe if the war was to continue or does he allow these negotiations
to continue with a counterpart who he doesn't trust, and he says is scum and cuckoo.
And so, it is not clear where the President is headed exactly in all of this and we are left in this position of just tit-for-tat back and forth
strikes.
QUEST: Kevin, it is a Friday. I've to ask you, over your right shoulder those columns. Yes, The other one, yes, those columns.
LIPTAK: I will step out this way.
QUEST: Thank you. Yes.
LIPTAK: Those aren't real. Yes.
QUEST: What? What?
LIPTAK: Those are not real. Yes.
QUEST: Tell me. Please, please, put me out of my misery.
LIPTAK: Yes, I will just do this and I will point because -- so these are the columns. This is a scrim. Its fake. And you cannot see through it
because the North Portico is covered in scaffolding and they are apparently redoing the columns because the President saw them, they were all dinged up
and he didn't like the way they looked.
So he told the Interior Secretary, Doug Burgum, that he wanted the whole thing replastered and fixed and because they didn't like the look of the
columns, they've covered the whole thing in this tarp, so you can't see what is going on.
The other project that they have going on back here is the North Portico door, which was apparently not up to Security Code, and they need to
replace that and that's going to take several months, apparently until September.
And so a lot of work going on behind this fake portico facade that you're seeing there.
[16:15:19]
I think the real question is whether the President is going to change the column capitals. He has expressed a desire to change them from the current
ionic capitals to Corinthian columns. It doesn't seem clear that that's going to happen. But if it is happening, we won't know because it will be
happening behind this scrim.
QUEST: I hope one of you or you or your colleagues is keeping a tally, a percentage how much of the building will actually be what it was when he
started? It will be fascinating to actually --
Kevin, thank you. Have a lovely weekend. Thank you very much.
LIPTAK: You too.
QUEST: Thank you.
Now, as we continue on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, King Charles has been reunited with Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, and his family. It is the first time
in four years.
They've all been meeting at the King's private home at Highgrove, where, of course, Harry grew up.
QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: We have been asking, will they or won't they? How and where and when? And now we know.
King Charles did meet Prince Harry and his whole family this afternoon, a reunion for the first time in four years for the lot of them.
The Duke of Sussex, his wife, the Duchess Meghan, brought their two children to Highgrove House. It is the King's private residence in
Gloucestershire. Queen Camilla was also present.
The last time Charles saw Harry's family was in 2022 at the Queen's Platinum Jubilee. The Duke himself has seen his father a couple of times,
most notably, of course, after his cancer diagnosis.
Anna Stewart is in London.
Highgrove is interesting, isn't it, because Highgrove is where Harry grew up. We've got a picture here that will show Harry with William, there you
are. Charles and Diana, the famous picture of them growing up. She never supposedly liked the house, but that is the house where they grew up and
where Harry supposedly had his Harry's den.
ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: Yes, it is an interesting option out of the many Royal households that this reunion could have hosted, Highgrove House,
a private residence outside of London which may have helped with all the security issues that Prince Harry has worried about in terms of bringing
his family here to the U.K.
[16:20:12]
And of course, as you say, where he has grown up, so it has also some memories and I am sure it has been nice for Prince Harry to show his
children where he grew up.
This is the first time that Charles is meeting -- King Charles, I should say, is meeting his youngest son and his youngest grandchildren for four
years. It is the first time the grandchildren will have seen him since he became King. I am sure there is a lot to catch up on, and hopefully this is
healing some of the rift.
I think it is notable that not present at the reunion, of course, Prince William and his family. According to British media reports, the brothers
remain estranged. Lots we don't know, Richard, what was the security arrangement here? In terms of how they were able to bring the Duchess of
Sussex and the children here, given all the security issues, perhaps because it wasn't in London, that was a little bit easier.
QUEST: This argument over security, I mean, as I understand it, the British government has never said you won't have security. They have always said
you'll have security appropriate to the occasion and it seems inconceivable that the king's grandchildren would not have proper security, just not
automatically full security.
STEWART: Prince harry has always maintained that the security on offer simply isn't enough for the risks that he feels his family would have in
the U.K. He took the Home Office to court, actually lost that case. They said they would review it, but there was no change going into this trip and
there was so much confusion, wasn't there? Lots of mixed messages over the last few weeks.
The Palace saying one thing, Team Sussex saying another, all very unclear.
QUEST: I just want to ask, do we know whether there will be a photograph on famile?
STEWART: Oh, it will set -- Instagram on fire if there is, perhaps. Who would take it? As far as we know, there are no sort of news photographers
or cameras there. But, you know, perhaps there will be a photo that is a photo that everyone, I am sure would love to see and it would be great to
see that rift healed and I am sure it will be very good for Team Sussex and all their brand interests over in the States.
QUEST: Anna, have a lovely weekend and may I just say, it is delightful to have you back and wonderful to have you back with us after your leave.
STEWART: You too. Thank you.
QUEST: Now, there are many A.I. tools on the market that can make images. A new model developed by Meta is sparking outrage. It is called Muse image.
It can use photos from public Instagram accounts to generate content without the knowledge of the person in the photo.
The feature was introduced this week. The backlash has been immediate as one person putting real users into generated photos without explicit
consent is a privacy landmine waiting to detonate.
Meta says users can opt out by following a series of prompts. I don't understand this, Hadas Gold. You need to explain it for the uninitiated and
ignorant like myself. Is it -- can it take any photograph or it just has got to get permission from you? I don't understand.
HADAS GOLD, CNN A.I. CORRESPONDENT: Well, the way this works is its integrated into Instagram right now and in addition to it being its own
A.I. image generating platform that you could use for any purpose you want to. But the integration into Instagram is what is causing a lot of people
to be concerned about privacy and consent, because what you can do is, as you saw in that example, you can just tag somebody's Instagram handle and
ask it to generate images of them, potentially even, you know, take a current photo of them, say, hey, find a photo of Richard at the beach, and
I want you to edit it to make it seem like he is in an office building or something like that.
And you will not be notified, Richard, that somebody has created an image of you through your public Instagram profile. You're not notified. You are
not giving any sort of consent to this. In fact, you are opted in automatically unless you follow some steps to opt out or you're under the
age of 18, or you have a private Instagram account.
And so they have just opted everybody into this and that is what people are concerned because they're worried about people making inappropriate
deepfake images of them.
QUEST: I understand, I understand why people are up in arms about this. I get all of that, but why would Meta do this? Why would Meta knowingly,
willingly poke the privacy bear in such an obviously egregious way?
GOLD: I think they are racing when it comes to consumer products and racing when it comes to creating these new A.I. features for people.
Meta has largely been seen as sort of lagging behind the big names out there, Anthropic and OpenAI when it comes to these A.I. features and this
Muse image generation is actually part of Muse Spark, which is Meta's new A.I. model that's actually getting some attention for its A.I. agentic and
coding capabilities, not necessarily for being as advanced as Anthropic and OpenAI, but for being so cheap.
And so this is part of that and I think for them, it is an important consumer element where they are trying to keep people on the Meta
platforms. They don't want you going to ChatGPT to create your A.I. image, your funny photo of you and your friends. They want you to do it within
Instagram and never leave that app.
[16:25:19]
QUEST: Yes, I get all of that. It is the idea that I can go to yours and take your picture without your consent. I mean, there is a halfway house,
surely, between the openness of everybody and sort of --
Anyway, is it likely to stay or is it going to -- is it your feeling this things got legs?
GOLD: I think it will stay, but I wouldn't be surprised if Meta instead offers for people to opt in, instead of saying that you have to actively
opt out. And I should note, Richard, if you want to change this on your profile right now, you just go to the settings. Those three lines on the
top right side of your profile, you scroll down to sharing and reuse, and then under that is where you'll see a section that says "allow people to
use your content on Instagram and with A.I. features on Meta," and you toggle those options off and that will prevent people from being able to
just tag your Instagram username and incorporate you into A.I. images.
But I should give a warning to you, Richard, and everybody else, that any image that you post publicly on the internet, anybody could download it,
copy it, and turn it into an A.I. generated image and deepfake it. So that's something to be aware of in this day and age of A.I.
QUEST: Sure. But there is a difference, though, between somebody screenshotting a picture of me, of which there are a gazillion out there
using their computer to make me look like I am doing something and sort of taking one, two, three, four, five steps.
GOLD: Yes.
QUEST: And having it all built in where it is just de rigueur, you could do it -- anyway, lovely. We will talk more about it. I am grateful. Thank you.
QUEST: As we continue tonight, Spain and Belgium -- a good one -- competing for spots in the World Cup Semifinals. The winner will take on France and
its captain, Kylian Mbappe. Details on the match and I will have to watch, in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:30:09]
QUEST: Hello, I'm Richard Quest. There is a lot more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in a moment.
We will discuss the emerging bidding war over one of Europe's top budget carriers, and the Michelin star chef Daniel Boulud shows me what makes a
great meal. Only after the headlines, because this is CNN, and here, the news always comes first.
Firefighters are battling one of Spain's deadliest wildfires on record. At least 12 people have been killed, and dozens remain missing around Almeria,
on Spain's southern coast. Strong winds are fueling flames, and authorities believe the blaze may have originated from a fallen power line.
President Trump says the U.S. has agreed to continue talks with Iran, even as he insists the ceasefire is over. The U.S. repeatedly struck Iran this
week after it targeted ships in the Strait of Hormuz. No new strikes were reported overnight. U.S. officials suggest the pause is meant to give
diplomacy a chance.
British police say they have arrested a man on suspicion of murdering Anne Widdecombe, a very well-known former member of Parliament.
She was found dead at her home on Thursday after sustaining serious injuries. Ms. Widdicombe served as the Conservative M.P. from '87 to 2010.
And later, joined Nigel Farage's party, Reform. She made numerous television appearances, including "Strictly Come Dancing" and "Celebrity
Big Brother".
King Charles has seen Prince Harry and his whole family this afternoon. It's the first time they have all been together in four years.
The prince and his wife, the Duchess Meghan, brought their two children to Highgrove House, the family's private residence in Gloucestershire.
The last time Charles saw Harry's family was in 2022 for the late Queen's Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee.
As we speak, Spain and Belgium are facing off in their quarter-final match, currently tied with one goal apiece. The winner will play France, who has
advanced after beating Morocco 2-0 on Thursday, with goals from Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele.
The action will heat up this weekend. Norway plays England; Argentina battles Switzerland. And then, it's all for the semi-final. Patrick Snell
is watching it all from Atlanta.
PATRICK SNELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL SPORTS ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Richard.
Yes, you are quite right. At this hour, it is Spain, Belgium going head-to- head in Southern California, and real drama is about 20 minutes to go in this one. And Spain actually taking the lead. It was Fabian Ruiz putting
them ahead after Dani Olmo's shot was too hot to handle. So, great start for La Roja.
But then Richard, something incredible happening. Shortly before halftime, Spain actually conceding a goal. Charles De Ketelaere, the youngster who
scored twice against the USA in the previous round. He gets his third goal of this World Cup. Another really good head. He play his club football in
Italy for Atalanta, having had a previous spell with Milan in Serie A earlier in his career. So that made it 1-1.
There is about 20 minutes to go now, and that, as I say, the first goal Spain have conceded in something like 600 minutes at this tournament. And
as you mentioned, it's France that lie in wait for the winners. Les Bleus trying to get the third title overall.
But Belgium, Spain in progress at this hour. I want to give you a couple of quick notes about Spain. They are the 2010 winners. They are trying to win
this tournament for a second time in their history. They are on a incredible 35-match unbeaten streak. This would be number 36, depending on
how it all goes. That ties the national men's team's record. But it's that leveler there. We just saw the flying image of the Catalan making it 1-1.
Belgium, of course, have never won the World Cup. We hear so much about their storied so-called golden generation. They got to the semi-finals in
2018 when it was played in Russia. But four years ago when it was played in Qatar, they didn't give -- didn't even get out the group stages, Richard.
So, this could be a surprise, big shock, in fact, if Belgium can get past Spain. We'll see. France laying wait, as you said.
QUEST: QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, and the ticket prices are supposedly falling.
(CROSSTALK)
SNELL: Yes.
QUEST: Because, let's face it, Mexico, U.S. and Canada are out. Therefore, there is no natural indigenous population to go to the games.
(CROSSTALK)
SNELL: Right.
QUEST: You are relying on the tourists.
SNELL: Yes.
QUEST: What is happening?
SNELL: Well, that's good for the football fan. People can actually get semi decently priced tickets. No question about that. Look, we lost all three
co-hosts in the round of 16. So, it was basically a case of 65 percent down, prices down, according to TickPick there. That's for the Spain-
Belgium match. After the USA were limited, it could potentially been today the USA playing Belgium.
[16:35:01]
So, you are looking that, if the USA, Richard had stayed in the tournament, you are looking at what was then ahead of kickoff over $3,000 just for one
ticket.
(CROSSTALK)
QUEST: All right.
SNELL: USA go out. What does it mean? You can buy a ticket for as low as 1100 bucks.
QUEST: OK. Now, quick question. You are the expert, not me.
England, Norway. Who is -- come on. Quick question, quick answer. Who should?
SNELL: I do believe England. I think, should win.
(CROSSTALK)
QUEST: Yes, yes.
SNELL: They haven't, as you well know, Richard. England haven't won the World Cup in 60 years, and since 1966. That's a six-decade-long drought.
But they are up against Norway, led by this incredible talisman, Erling Haaland, who was born in England. That's the plot twist, Richard. He was
born in England, born in Leeds, Yorkshire. Who are you going for?
QUEST: Well, that's a hard one, because I'd obviously go for England, but I come from Leeds.
SNELL: Oh.
QUEST: No, no.
SNELL: Plot twist.
QUEST: No, no, no, no. I'm going to England. England. It's got to be England. England.
SNELL: OK.
QUEST: Coming home. Coming home. Coming home.
SNELL: Finally.
QUEST: Good to see you.
SNELL: We will see.
QUEST: Do you know? I was four when they won.
SNELL: I wasn't around.
QUEST: Just pulled a nice heart from out to me. Thank you for that, Patrick.
SNELL: Sorry.
QUEST: All right. There is a takeover battle for one of Europe's largest airlines, EasyJet, is now saying it's backing an $8 billion bid from
Apollo, having previously said it liked Castlelake. So, why go Apollo and not Castle? In a moment. QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Europe's low-cost airline, EasyJet, is now in the middle of a brutal takeover battle between two U.S. investment firms.
EasyJet's backing now a $7.7 billion bid from Apollo, as against a rival offer which it had previously indicated it would accept from Castlelake.
EasyJet's shares soared 14 percent in London. The carrier has seen its stock price cut in half since COVID and never really recovered,
EasyJet's low-cost model and extensive fleet-it's a massive opportunity if it can get it right. Castlelake, which started the whole thing off, said
it's weighing options.
The Telegraph's travel correspondent and our good friend, Simon Calder is with me.
Simon, sir, are you in Greece tonight? We probably flew there by EasyJet. Let's face it; they are the backbone of so much European travel now. I was
surprised that this late stage -- I thought Castlelake, having been rebuffed four times, were actually going to get it.
[16:40:01]
But now, Apollo seems to be lifting.
SIMON CALDER, TRAVEL CORRESPONDENT, THE TELEGRAPH: Yes. Apollo, I think has been just watching and waiting what is happening. And just to take you
through this story, exactly as you say, Richard, this very, very successful low-cost airline, certainly the biggest in the U.K., second in Europe after
Ryanair, has spent three decades building up its business.
But its share price, given that the airline itself is just under half the size of Ryanair, at the time that U.S. investors started looking at it, the
market capitalization was only about one-sixth of Ryanair. So, it was looking cheap.
(CROSSTALK)
QUEST: But -- so, what --
CALDER: Castlelake came in, but now, Apollo have trumped it.
QUEST: Right. One of the thing is that you and I have heard constantly at A4E and everywhere. Michael has been -- Michael O'Leary has been saying for
years that EasyJet was going to be bought. But they don't -- it's a question of what role it now plays. It's not the cheapest. Ryanair is.
You've got wiz fighting, the low -- the legacies are now offering lower prices. EasyJet's pinning itself on holidays. Can it do it?
CALDER: Yes, it can. I mean, it has many, many advantages, such as: it owns most of its fleet, so, it's not paying high leasing costs. It very
crucially has an awful lot of order positions for nearly 300 Airbus A320 series aircraft. Very fuel-efficient planes, and they have got positions
which are worth a great deal on the open market.
And furthermore, it's got slots. The most congested airport in the world is London Heathrow. Second most congested is London Gatwick. And London
Gatwick is EasyJet's main base. So, anyone who wanted to come in and actually look at the sum of the parts --
(CROSSTALK)
QUEST: Sure.
CALDER: And decide, OK, well maybe we can sell these off, they would probably have a hopeful time.
(CROSSTALK)
QUEST: Right.
CALDER: But the difference is that Apollo has come in offering more money and more of a sense that EasyJet is going to carry on.
(CROSSTALK)
QUEST: Sure. Two other stories I quickly want to talk to you about. Firstly, the passenger nearly sucked out the window. Well, the head write
(PH) went out the window after an engine seemingly had problems, exploded, or whatever. We don't know the details.
This Ryanair flight terrifying for the passenger and for all involved, and we don't really know why or what.
CALDER: No, and it's a very rare event. Ryanair, by the way, Europe's biggest budget airline, also the safest airline in the world in terms of
the number of passengers flown without a fatality. It was very close repeat of a tragedy in 2018 on a Southwest flight from New York LaGuardia to
Dallas Love Field, in which an engine had an uncontained failure, and one of the windows was damaged, and very sadly a passenger died as a result.
QUEST: Right.
CALDER: On this occasion, the 61-year-old Serbian was safe. Of course, all the investors -- investigators are looking at the event and trying to avoid
a repeat.
QUEST: Last point: How easy was it for you? And I don't know whether you travel on an E.U. passport, but assuming you don't, for the purposes of
this question, how easy was it getting into Greece?
CALDER: Fantastically easy. The digital border scheme, the entry-exit system, is not being used with biometrics in Greece at the moment. It took
me slightly under two minutes compared to hours for a lot of people standing in queues across Europe.
(CROSSTALK)
QUEST: Because --
Because it's not being used.
CALDER: Simply because the Greeks said start the season, no fingerprints, no facial biometrics. We just want you to come have a great vacation,
QUEST: Simon, have a great -- I suspect you -- I suspect you on a what we used to call a busman's holiday, if anything, which means more work than
holiday. But lovely to see you. Thank you. Telegraph's Simon Calder, good friend of us all.
Now, on this question of the fiasco, and that's my words and my view of the E.U. system, the E.U. is not backing down on its new border control system,
despite lines like this in -- two weeks ago in Portugal, and our own Clarissa Ward, of course, has been pointing this out.
It's so bad that Europe airports and airlines sent a letter to the Commission last week saying travelers were waiting up to five hours during
peak periods. The E.U. is arguing the impact has been limited at most airports, and some are temporarily pausing biometrics to keep lines moving,
as indeed Greece has decided.
Our producer, Andrew said her wait time was reasonable when she traveled through Naples Airport earlier this week. It is hit or miss. For instance,
going through Malaga, yes, this week no problem at all. Highly confusing with the different lines.
Chris Mizerbon (PH), he had similar sort of problems. Had terrible going into Lisbon, fine leaving.
It's a problem for the chief executive of Aeroporti di Roma, Marco Troncone, managing Ciampino and Fiumicino airports. One traveler posted a
line longer than two hours last week.
Marco, I'm not going to beat you up on this. I realize this is not your fault. However, you are having to deal with the consequences of what seems
to be my words, not yours, rampant incompetence from the Commission -- from the scheme.
MARCO TRONCONE, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, AEROPORTI DE ROMA: Yes, yes, it's not our fault. But however, of course, we are fighting, of course, to
improve the situation. There is been a lot of interactions with the European Commission of late, together with the Airport Association of the
European Airports, and followed by you mentioned that the letter sent by nine member states, asking for a relaxation of the process for this coming
summer.
I remain fairly optimistic that, that relaxation about a partial suspension of the process will actually be allowed. Let's see what happens. Or a full
suspension, if need be, if the situation goes very severe.
QUEST: Right.
TRONCONE: But the real issue, Richard, also is of course to fix the process. So, if not, we -- it's not just time that we need. We can find
ourselves with the same situation next summer. So, we have to reengineer the process, and this was the strong ask to the European Commission.
QUEST: OK. So, I've now been through at least five European airports. It's a different experience in everyone. In some of them, I have to do
fingerprints, even though I've already done them. In others -- it's very confusing with the sheer number of pan of channels, this, that, and the
other --
But what I want to understand, Marco, is what's gone wrong? Eight years of planning. As an expert of being, you know, you are living this. What to you
has been the fundamental problem here?
TRONCONE: It's been a process which was designed without the contribution of the airport processes experts, which is -- which are airports. So, it's
-- it was a process, which is designed only basically looking at the security requirements, which of course, must be respected.
But we need, again, to work on those processes, to optimize, to avoid the duplication of activities, to exploit the technology which was deployed. We
deployed up to 200 kiosks throughout the airport, investing 12 million euros. At the moment, they are basically partially used, to say -- to say
the least.
QUEST: Right.
TRONCONE: So, it's just about designing an efficient and effective process, which can be done together with the -- with the airports.
QUEST: Finally, I'm determined to end on a high note and not down in the bowels of misery of EES. Is it going to be a good summer in Rome? Are you
looking forward to a good summer?
TRONCONE: It will be a great summer, Richard. Great summer. We are expecting more than 11 passengers through July and August. It's a
consistent growth despite all the challenges that come from the context. You know that -- you know, the air traffic is a cyclic one. It's very
sensitive to the macroeconomic context. Very sensitive when it comes to supply to geopolitical tensions, and within them, of course, we have some
of those around.
However, we're still growing, and especially again, Fiumicino, Fiumicino has been one of the fastest growing airports in Europe over the last years.
We exceeded 50 million passengers last year, we are hitting 53 this year.
(CROSSTALK)
QUEST: Right.
TRONCONE: 52 percent growth vis-a-vis 2019, and North America increasing 50 percent. So, it's a -- it's a record summer.
QUEST: And I have to say I love Fiumicino Airport. It's one of my -- it's one of my favorites in Europe. Thank you, sir, for joining us.
And next time, we will talk. I will be in your airport, hopefully, and we will -- have a proper chat about it. Thank you very much.
The chef, Daniel Boulud has built a fine dining institution. Of that, there can be no doubt. With more than 20 restaurants across seven countries. What
is not to love about the food at Daniel?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANIEL BOULUD, FRENCH CHEF: Asparagus, trout, or beef?
QUEST: All of them.
SEBASTIEN SILVESTRI, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, THE DINEX GROUP: Yes.
QUEST: I think that's the only answer to that question.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:52:09]
QUEST: Now, fine dining in New York. Well, obviously, there is absolutely no shortage of places to choose from. You have got one Michelin stars, two,
or three, and they are all built on the work of this man, Chef Daniel Boulud. He has been shaping fine dining since he came to New York in 1980s.
And he told me what it takes to make a Michelin starred meal, and then, we add one.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BOULUD: I think, I look for an experience that is genuine, and the staff is well trained. It's not the fuss. I'm not looking for the fuss. People think
you all know. I'm looking for the substance in everything we are experiencing, from, you know, the proper temperature of the wine.
I just like beautiful service, beautiful food, and a place that don't pretend to be something else.
QUEST: Well, I think you've got some food for me, haven't you?
BOULUD: Yes, we have few dish to taste.
What would you like? Asparagus, trout, or beef?
QUEST: All of them.
SILVESTRI: Yes.
QUEST: I think, that's the only answer to that question.
BOULUD: Yes, absolutely.
Well, here you have the white asparagus with some Lomo ham, and we have a sabayon of Champagne Rose grapefruit that goes with the asparagus like
that. So, I put a little bit here, and then, there, with the white asparagus, you have a trout, a trout from Pennsylvania that is roasted with
a little bit of kataifi phyllo, a little bit of couscous crispy, and then a curry -- a vegetable --
(CROSSTALK)
QUEST: Look.
BOULUD: A vegetable curry sauce to go with it.
QUEST: And it's so cleverly done. Look at the intricacies of this.
BOULUD: Well, there is a little bit of trout roll on top also. And then, you put a little bit of the curry sauce, and that's the -- that's going to
make the dish. Or you can even --
QUEST: I know.
BOULUD: Well -- that's it.
Now, you know, that in French -- in French cuisine, we said that 50 percent of the dish is the sauce. Do you agree?
You see --
(CROSSTALK)
QUEST: So, I was told --
BOULUD: The fire of the curry, the complexity of the spicing, and with the refreshing phyllo, it's very -- it's a wonderful dish. I think it's --
QUEST: Right. Now, we come to the --
BOULUD: We come to the piece de resistance.
QUEST: We.
BOULUD: Which is the beef. This is a strip loin from actually a farm called Shabar (PH).
[16:55:03]
QUEST: Somebody spent hours doing all this.
BOULUD: Yes. Well, that's justifying what difference is between simply prepare and beautifully prepare.
(CROSSTALK)
QUEST: Right. CEO. Right. Now, as CEO, are you sitting here thinking, my God, (INAUDIBLE).
You don't need that, and that's very expensive.
Cut back on that. No, no, no! Far too much of that. Get back!
BOULUD: That is a lovely --
SILVESTRI: The opposite. No, it's the opposite, though.
I think that's what makes it so special, and that's why people come here, and that's why people have been following Daniel for the last 33 years.
QUEST: And in terms of anywhere in the world, forget the stuff, but just the food. When you are out, either in your restaurants, in some other
restaurants, whenever -- even if it's at home, what happens inside you when you taste great food? How do you feel?
BOULUD: I feel happy. I feel very happy. I feel -- I feel that it's a unique moment that will stay in my mind forever, and I think that's what we
try to give at Daniel, is this moment they spend with us, that people, even kids, the parents come with children here, and those children, 34 years
later, have grown up to be customer, and they remind me that they were at my first restaurant on '76 with Daniel was there, and they had the bean
soup when they were 3 years old or 4 years old, and they still remember to this day the chilled bean soup on the sidewalk cafe we had there.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Daniel, and just so that those of you who want to know, three course prefix $195, a five-course prefix, which is a lot of food, is $235. Add in
your wine selection for the or for you, it's $195.
So, if you have three courses with wines, $200, three, 400, you are looking at a thousand dollars for two people for dinner there. It pays your money,
you take your choice.
"PROFITABLE MOMENT" after the break. The food was absolutely what you could imagine. Wonderful,
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: "PROFITABLE MOMENT". Next week, we are going on the road. We are going on Route 66, America's road trip. Join me as we do eight states over
nine days.
[17:00:00]
We will be visiting and we will be broadcasting at various points along the way.
And our Route 66 journey bringing lifestyles of America to you.
And this is my home for the next week. It is an R.V. camper van.
END
