Squawk Pod: Disney CFO Hugh Johnston & fmr. Sec chair Jay Clayton - 02/02/26 | Audio Only

Watch on YouTube ↗  |  February 02, 2026 at 18:53  |  49:38  |  CNBC
Speakers
Hugh Johnston — CFO, Disney
Andrew Ross Sorkin — Co-Anchor, Squawk Box
Joe Kernen — Co-Anchor, Squawk Box
Jay Clayton — U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York / Former SEC Chair
Becky Quick — Co-Anchor, Squawk Box

Summary

Squawk Pod covers a market pullback in gold and silver, the nomination of Kevin Warsh to lead the Fed, and Disney's quarterly earnings with CFO Hugh Johnston. Johnston says Disney has broad momentum and discusses streaming, parks, succession, and Netflix's planned Warner Bros. Discovery asset purchase. Former SEC Chair Jay Clayton praises Warsh as a known quantity and discusses ethics, Epstein files, and Don Lemon's arrest. The hosts also discuss Nvidia's OpenAI investment uncertainty and public-market proxies for OpenAI.

  • Gold and silver sold off sharply after huge run-ups, drawing comparisons to the Hunt brothers silver episode.
  • Kevin Warsh is Trump's Fed chair pick; Jay Clayton calls him a known quantity who understands the balance sheet.
  • Disney reported a beat with strong streaming and experiences profits; CFO Hugh Johnston sees broad momentum.
  • Hugh Johnston says a Netflix-Warner Bros. Discovery combination would be very large and likely face heavy government scrutiny.
  • Disney succession is in focus, with reports that Josh D'Amaro is the likely successor to Bob Iger.
  • Nvidia's $100B OpenAI investment is described as not a firm commitment and potentially staged in smaller amounts.
  • Andrew Ross Sorkin flags SoftBank and Microsoft as public-market ways to get OpenAI exposure.
  • Other headlines include a partial government shutdown, UAE-Trump crypto dealings, and the Epstein files.
Ideas
Joe Kernen Co-Anchor, Squawk Box 5:21
Silver may repeat Hunt brothers collapse.
Silver's huge run and Friday's worst day since 1980 resemble the Hunt brothers' 1980 corner, which collapsed and did not recover for decades. With the solar-panel demand cycle no longer on the upswing, the risk is that silver repeats that long unwind rather than quickly recovering.
SILVER LOW
Andrew Ross Sorkin Co-Anchor, Squawk Box 11:11
SoftBank, Microsoft offer OpenAI exposure.
For public-market investors wanting exposure to OpenAI, SoftBank is a proxy and Microsoft is a backdoor way into OpenAI. The setup is complicated because Nvidia's $100 billion commitment to OpenAI was never a firm commitment, and funding may be staged in smaller increments.
SFTBY MSFT MED
Andrew Ross Sorkin Co-Anchor, Squawk Box 11:41
Nvidia's OpenAI funding may be staged.
Nvidia's $100 billion investment in OpenAI was announced as a large commitment, but reports and Huang's comments suggest it was never a firm commitment and may be funded in stages—$10B, $20B, $30B based on performance metrics—rather than reaching $100B. That makes the ultimate size and pace of the Nvidia-OpenAI funding a key uncertainty to monitor.
NVDA MED
Hugh Johnston CFO, Disney 16:36
Disney has broad-based business momentum.
Disney's quarter showed broad-based momentum: revenue grew 5%, streaming and experiences both grew profits strongly ahead of consensus, and the rest of the business performed well. Parks operating income was choppy because of investments in new ships and attractions, but management expects a stronger back half, and the next CEO will inherit a business with momentum.
DIS HIGH
Hugh Johnston CFO, Disney 19:48
Netflix-WBD deal faces big regulatory scrutiny.
On Netflix's planned purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery's film assets, Johnston says Netflix would be an awfully big company if the two came together, and Netflix is trying to add IP after previously saying it did not need it. He expects the government to weigh in heavily, making regulatory review a key overhang for the deal.
NFLX WBD MED
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This CNBC video, published February 02, 2026, features Joe Kernen, Andrew Ross Sorkin, Hugh Johnston discussing SILVER, SFTBY, MSFT, NVDA, DIS, NFLX, WBD. 5 trade ideas extracted by AI with direction and confidence scoring.

Speakers: Joe Kernen, Andrew Ross Sorkin, Hugh Johnston  · Tickers: SILVER, SFTBY, MSFT, NVDA, DIS, NFLX, WBD