Watch the full interview here, or by clicking the image above.
On Democrats’ agenda behind their GameStop hearings:
“Well, this is Capitol Hill, so I don’t think this was ever about GameStop, or Reddit, or Reddit users. It was about the attempt to change market structure. That’s much more about a policy agenda or an ideological agenda among Hill Democrats than it is about the realities of the market. … So, this is all about changing market structure, regulating it differently, and in fact, pushing retail investors out.”
On providing more opportunities for everyday investors:
“…retail investors are in the market like never before. That on balance is a good thing, when your constituents want to be involved in the capital markets and like what they’re getting and the choices that they’re getting. … my Democratic colleagues are talking about banning payment for order flow, which has resulted in zero commission trades for retail investors, and on average, I think retail investors benefit from [zero commission trades].”
On SEC Chair Gensler’s first appearance before the Committee:
“A number of my Republican colleagues will treat this, as I will, as the first post-confirmation hearing for Chairman Gensler. And so, we have a lot of questions about the agenda of this SEC Chair. … But look for my focus here, I think there is a lot of opportunities around small business capital formation and cryptocurrencies—around digital assets—that we can actually achieve some bipartisan results and actually have consensus-driven policy making. I will spend some time this morning asking Chairman Gensler about the nature of those opportunities and see where we can actually find consensus. That’s my hope, is that we can work on consensus-driven items first and the more controversial things second.”
On the Gig Worker Equity Compensation Act:
“Look, there are two things at play here. First AB5, which is a California initiative that was rejected by the voters, that would redefine gig workers—contract workers—as full-time employees. And even the liberal voters of California rejected that as too extreme. Yet the Biden Administration is trying to attempt a similar rule at the federal level. That tells you how extreme they are for the unions and how anti-technology some in this Administration are.
“What I think is—we should go a different direction. We should not only embrace the way that work has changed, but I think we also need to ensure that those workers, in this changing environment, get equity just like office workers get, just like C-suite workers get in startups. Whether it’s DoorDash going public, I think those working in the office at DoorDash versus those dashers that are actually making that app work, I think those dashers should have been given equity compensation and real upside opportunity. My bill would permit that, and I think we need to take a broader look at the ownership economy so that average workers can own the great companies that they get to work for.”
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