As ridiculous as it may seem, CNBC’s Jim Cramer could see the T-Mobile-Sprint merger gaining government approval thanks to the man at the center of it all: T-Mobile CEO John Legere.
After interviewing Legere and Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” on Monday, Cramer doubled down on his praise of Legere, calling him “the greatest salesman of our era.”
“Look, I’ve known John forever,” the “Mad Money” host said on Monday. “He’s made outrageous promise after outrageous promise after outrageous promise, he’s put forth one ridiculous claim after another, and every single one of them has been borne out or come true.”
All things considered, Cramer argued that Legere could be the key to approval for the $26.5 billion deal. But he wasn’t so confident when he first heard about it.
Numerous failed deals, from Baker Hughes’ attempted merger with Halliburton to the seemingly never-ending holdup with AT&T and Time Warner, made Cramer worried when he first saw the T-Mobile-Sprint proposal.
He wondered why the government would approve a deal that would presumably raise prices, close stores and cut back on U.S. jobs if it was stalling on the relatively anti-competitive AT&T-Time Warner merger.
“But after reading the manifesto, some small parts of your brain start believing that this deal may actually be good for America, creating tons of jobs, putting us back in the lead when it comes to 5G, [and] perhaps even lowering your phone bill,” Cramer said.
The “Mad Money” host reminded investors of Legere’s venerable, if slightly zany, track record. When T-Mobile bought MetroPCS, Legere expanded the workforce threefold when most industry experts expected the opposite.
People also balked at Legere’s claim that T-Mobile could take customers away from AT&T and Verizon, but sure enough, that’s been happening, too, Cramer said.
“If anybody in this business deserves the benefit of the doubt, it’s John Legere,” the “Mad Money” host continued. “So when he claims there’ll be more investment, more jobs, better service, lower prices, I’m inclined to believe him. It may sound outrageous, but he’s delivered on outrageous promises before. I think he’ll do it again.”
And after hearing the CEO’s arguments about under-served U.S. customers, 5G innovation and the unsustainable strongholds of industry giants like AT&T and Verizon, Cramer grew even more bullish on this deal’s chances of success.
“Sure, the regulators may try to block it — the deal could come down to a court case like AT&T and Time Warner,” he admitted. “But unlike those two, Legere is doing everything he can to get this administration on his side by making the argument that a T-Mobile-Sprint merger will be a positive for innovation, for the consumer, [and] for jobs, even as that’s not normally how mergers play out. What can I say? Sounds crazy, but it just might work.”
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