Crisis at Hormuz, and your $160b tariff refund clock, with Flexport’s Ryan Petersen
Masters of Scale
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4.6 • 4.4K Ratings
🗓️ 24 March 2026
⏱️ 32 minutes
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Summary
When global trade buckles, Ryan Petersen is the person executives call. The founder and CEO of Flexport returns to Rapid Response to offer a real-time account of the Strait of Hormuz crisis — what he's seeing on the ground, on the water, and across the supply chains straining under the pressure. Petersen also digs into the prospect of tariff refunds in the wake of the Supreme Court's ruling against the Trump Administration, and why businesses risk leaving $160 billion on the table by not acting. Plus, how AI is reshaping both logistics and software-based firms, and whether all the trade turbulence might actually be a tailwind for Flexport itself.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | On Masters of Scale, we talk a lot about inflection points, those moments when a technology stops being optional and starts being fundamental. |
| 0:10.7 | AI presents one of those moments, and behind every breakthrough, whether it's medical research or education or even cinematic visual effects, there's infrastructure most people never see. |
| 0:23.6 | As the essential cloud for AI, core weave is building that foundation. |
| 0:28.8 | It provides a purpose-built AI cloud designed specifically for pioneers at leading AI labs and |
| 0:35.1 | enterprises ready to power the biggest ideas and the boldest ambitions. |
| 0:40.6 | Ready for anything, ready for AI. |
| 0:44.1 | To learn more about how CoreWeave powers the world's best AI, |
| 0:47.6 | go to CoreWeave.com slash ready for anything. |
| 0:53.4 | The U.S. post-World War II kind of established this order that said, |
| 0:57.8 | you can just send a ship wherever you want, and the U.S. Navy will provide freedom of navigation. |
| 1:02.7 | Maybe the U.S. Navy can't provide that guarantee anymore. |
| 1:05.5 | Oil is not just about pumping your gas in your car. |
| 1:08.9 | It's part of so many different products. |
| 1:11.6 | 30% of the world's helium comes from Qatar. |
| 1:14.6 | You can't make semiconductors without it. |
| 1:16.6 | You can't launch SpaceX rockets without helium. |
| 1:20.6 | It is existential, I think, how all of the economy functions. |
| 1:23.6 | Every company is interconnected with everybody else. |
| 1:26.6 | And if you stop that, you |
| 1:28.4 | end up in a much darker place. |
| 1:40.2 | That's Ryan Peterson, CEO of Global Trade Platform Flexport and a repeat guest on this show. |
| 1:47.3 | Ryan's been dubbed Tech's Hurricane Reporter for Global Trade, and with the Strait of Hormuz essentially blocked and the price of oil soaring, |
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