Day: September 20, 2025

• I went shopping with Dan Ives, the tech bull, outspoken Tesla supporter, and fashion icon.
• Ives said clothing has unintentionally become a part of his brand.
• Between looking at tie-dye and neon sweatshirts, I saw how Ives’ style is mirrored in his stock calls.

When I saw a man walking down Prince Street in canary yellow pants, a bright blue Aviator Nation sweatshirt, custom sneakers, and a hat that said “GOAT,” I knew my wait was over.

I was meeting up with Dan Ives, who isn’t just a well-known tech analyst and major Tesla bull, but also something of a fashion icon. CNBC is used to guys in Brooks Brothers, but when Ives is on, it’s Lilly Pulitzer blazers and lots of hot pink. During our SoHo shopping excursion, Ives didn’t look twice at anything in a neutral tone. My white T-shirt, medium-wash vintage jeans, and simple jewelry quickly started to feel like a bad choice.

Ives ran his hands through button-downs in Faherty, the first store we went to, while explaining that he’s dressed “super different and funky” since he was a kid in Long Island. He eventually landed on a $58 powder blue hat that said “SOHO SURF,” even though he was already wearing a hat and holding another one from where he’d gone to lunch. We walked slowly, Ives swinging the paper shopping bag and occasionally checking stocks or texts on his phone.

Ives told me he tends to wear Vuori or Lululemon at home, and that Aviator Nation is a go-to, but he didn’t take me to any of those places. Instead, he led us farther downtown to Snow Milk, where he recently launched a fashion line. Maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised that our afternoon turned into something of a business opportunity. Ives told me his sense of style is authentic, but it’s also helped boost his brand, especially on social media.

“It’s definitely played a role in the global success, because of the way that I dress,” he told me. “Even people who don’t know my stock calls, they know me as the person who wears the funky shirts on CNBC.”

The brand ties go beyond recognition online and on the street.

Ives is as bullish on tech stocks as he is on clothing. In addition to Tesla, he’s one of Wall Street’s biggest optimists when it comes to mega-cap titans like Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Palantir. Any sell-off in these names is usually followed by a research note from Ives imploring investors to buy the dip.

But his most outspoken moments involve the EV maker. You might remember when Elon Musk told Ives to “shut up” earlier this year, after the Wedbush Securities analyst said Tesla’s board needed to have “oversight on political endeavors.” It was out of character for Ives, who usually gives Tesla an “outperform” rating. (He told me thinks Musk has “pivoted very nicely” since.)

“The way that I cover tech stocks goes to the beat of a different drum,” Ives said of his decadeslong career. “I don’t worry about others, because maybe it’s an unconventional way that I look at names, and I dress similar to how I cover tech.”

Ives thinks people accept his clothing partly because he covers tech companies, not banks. Finance, he said, is way more buttoned up, though he thinks Wall Street is slowly becoming a little bit more casual. Men on Wall Street who are scared to dress “different and funky” will sometimes ask him for advice.

As much as bringing me to Snow Bird might have been a good business move — he was careful to point out his shirt hanging on the wall — it was also a chance for me to see Ives in his element. Jamie, a Snow Bird employee who worked on the brand collaboration, had picked out blazers to try on, and Ives reached for a New York-themed gray number. When Jamie started to say it might not fit over his sweatshirt, Ives, very politely, set him straight.

“That’s part of the look,” he said. Ives ran his fingers over baby pink and tie-dye sweatshirts. He tossed around the words, “Oh, that’s so cool,” about piece after piece. My white T-shirt and I slowly faded into the background.

I tried asking Ives about what tech stocks he finds most exciting just as Jamie handed him mint green and lilac hats, but I’m not sure he heard me.

“Dude, that thing is sick!” he said instead.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Mike Plummer, an 81-year-old REI employee in Jacksonville, Florida. Business Insider has verified Plummer’s current employment. He has worked at REI for 13 years. Plummer does not work out of financial necessity, but doesn’t have any plans to retire soon. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

I look back and sometimes think maybe I shouldn’t have left corporate so soon, but I took a buyout, left at 55, and I don’t regret it.

I just turned 81, and in two years, I’ll hit my 15-year mark with REI, a national retail chain that sells outdoor gear and apparel. This is a motivator. My wife is 74 and still works part-time, too. We’re financially in a position where we don’t need to keep working, but we have no real plans to retire fully.

We both get asked a lot, “Why are you still working? You don’t need the money.” But in your 70s and 80s, friends are dying or have medical issues, and you lose that social connection. I work because I have to keep moving, building connections, and engaging with new things.

I’ve been working almost all of my life

When I was about 8, I started helping out at my dad’s convenience store, where we lived in the back. Then, in high school, I worked at a grocery store in the meat market with the butcher, cutting chicken heads. Since I had to pay for college myself, I went as a co-op student and studied engineering.

At my first job, the company would pay for graduate school if I could get in. I got two master’s degrees from New York University, the first in engineering in 1969. But after two years in mechanical engineering, I didn’t think that was going to be my area, so I got my second master’s in operational research in 1971.

I worked in various analytic and management-type roles, and then, in the 1980s, I worked for a couple of years at a startup company. It was a fun time, and it got me interested in the organizational side of business. Starting in 1990, I went to work for a credit card company.

In 1996, I did the same type of program at the credit card company and got a third master’s, this time in organizational development and change from Pepperdine University. I retired as the assistant vice president of training and development in 1999 and left to start working with my wife at her HR consulting company.

My mom inspired me to keep working

After my dad died, my mom was really bored, so she got a job at McDonald’s for about five years in her late 70s.

Besides working with my wife in her consulting business, I also taught a graduate course in organizational development at Webster University from 2005 to 2020. Before REI, I fiddled around with other part-time jobs. I worked for a couple of years at a cruise terminal as a check-in agent because I liked the idea of it, and I was a golf ranger for a year or two.

REI gives employee discounts, and I was motivated at first because I love biking. I started out working on the floor in other departments, but I always wanted to move toward the biking area. I’m now in the action sports department, which includes kayaking, hiking, and biking.

I like interacting with people and stocking and organizing my section. Last year, I won REI’s highest employee honor, the Anderson Award. I worked about 24 hours a week until I cut my hours back two years ago. Now, I only work two days a week, usually from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

It helps me stay active and engaged, have a purpose, and connect with friends. I look forward to working at REI with young people and a very diverse group.

When I started, I was the only person over 65 at my store, but now there are about 4 or 5 of us older employees

We call ourselves the Silverbacks. One of the guys is into social connections, and he’s really good at helping young people and mentoring them. One woman is a retired Navy captain who works in the bike shop.

In 2019, I decided to design a survey for my store about joy levels at work on my own. The older people were happier in their jobs and in their lives, and less interested in getting promotions. They had found something that they liked and were good at.

Three years ago, my store manager told me about this author who wrote a book about the secrets of aging well. She encouraged me to see if he could do a talk at our store. Six months later, I got him to do a workshop at four stores in Florida, including ours.

We don’t need my paycheck to keep up with our lifestyle, but I don’t have any plans to retire soon

When I started with REI, I set up a separate account to deposit my earnings. I now make $18 an hour, but when I started, it was only $9 or $10. I made around $7,700 last year, and REI automatically enrolls you in the 401(k) program, which it matches.

I’ll use my paycheck to buy fun stuff from REI or anywhere else. My wife and I both receive pensions from our former employers and Social Security, and take a 4% annual withdrawal from our 30-year 401 (k)s. We expect to continue receiving $40,000 a year from my wife’s HR consulting business until she retires.

My son and I like going to watch horror movies together, and I use my check to pay for those tickets. Now that I’m not making that much since I cut my hours, I’m a little more careful with what I spend.

I’m trying to stick it out for at least two more years to hit the 15-year mark, and maybe more, before I leave REI. My doctor says I’m healthy, but I’m at an age where I could have a major health problem at any time. I enjoy working there, but I’m trying to focus on living the best life I can.