00:00:00
Jeff, you're bad at this. Just at least have a talk with me. Just meet me. I
00:00:05
don't like you. You don't like me. So what? Hi everyone. This is Pivot from New York
00:00:15
Magazine and the Vox Media Podcast Network. I'm Cara Swisser >> and I'm Scott Galloway.
00:00:20
>> Go Seahawks. >> You like the Seahawks? >> I like Jod Allen, the owner. Uh sister
00:00:26
of Paul Allen. I know her a tiny bit. Um, I knew Paul, her brother who died, um, who was one of the Microsoft
00:00:31
founders, just really cool lady. And, uh, I can't stand Robert Craft. I think
00:00:36
he's a terrible person. I, the whole cat Cat's family was for, um, uh, the
00:00:42
Patriots only because they live there. Nobody likes Robert Craft. So, I was happy about that. I like the Seahawks.
00:00:48
>> Well, I'm happy you're happy. Yeah, >> the thing that summarized how I feel
00:00:52
about it was the Elmo the Elmo account said, "I hope both teams have a really
00:00:58
fun time." That's about how much I care about the Super Bowl. And the other one
00:01:02
was Elmo said, "He's not a bad bunny. He's a good bunny." >> He's a good bunny.
00:01:06
>> That's That's how I >> NAGA lost its [ __ ] mind. We'll get to
00:01:09
that. But first, let's have a little bit of um resistant unsubscribe. How's it
00:01:14
going, Scott? You everywhere. You're like, you are like the village [ __ ] as
00:01:18
they say. >> No, I'm not. I'm not a [ __ ] I'm a hor I'm a ho.
00:01:23
>> We have a montage of Scott everywhere. Let's check it out. >> Resist and unsubscribe.
00:01:28
>> Resist and unsubscribe. >> Explain to me why I should unsubscribe
00:01:33
from Amazon Prime if you really want to hurt or send a message to the president.
00:01:38
What he does listen to is the following. If you look at the times when he has really checked back, immediately
00:01:45
responded and pulled back, it's been when one of two things has happened. The
00:01:48
bond market yields have spiked or the S&P has gone down. This is when he backed off of his plans to annex
00:01:54
Greenland. It's when he's backed off of tariffs. When you go after big tech
00:01:57
platforms with just a small decline in spending, this is what moves the markets. I think the string we can pull
00:02:03
here is to go after the subscription revenues of big tech that now represents 40% of the S&P. You're hitting them with
00:02:09
a $10,000 decrease in market cap with just one subscription cancellation. So, this is a chance to go after the soft
00:02:16
tissue of big tech whose leaders the president appears to be listening to. >> Soft tissue you make hard.
00:02:24
>> Tell me. So, tell me where we are. >> Came out of the gate strong. We're
00:02:28
getting about 100,000 uniques a day. And I asked Chat GBT if I wanted to get 100,000 uniques with no paid or what
00:02:35
would it cost me to drive 100,000 people to a site? >> Go ahead. It was interesting. It said 100 to
00:02:41
200,000 for the site, but it would take $4 to5 million. So, we're getting quote
00:02:44
unquote $4 to5 million in traffic to the site with and I haven't paid a dime for
00:02:48
anything. Um, but it started going down earlier in the week. So, I did some research on the uh bus strike in
00:02:57
Alabama. Was it Alabama? And then the Kimmel thing. And what it ended up was that the study from Kellogg, which I'm
00:03:03
really into about the protests that are effective versus those that aren't, is
00:03:08
the unsubscribed to Disney were actually declining dramatically. But the thing that got Disney to reverse course was a
00:03:15
ton of um media that was shaming them and creating dissent. And that the media that impacted that was traditional
00:03:23
media. So, I decided on Tuesday I was going to get on as much traditional media as I could and I was able to do
00:03:31
it. And then all of a sudden, the site visits are now back to about 100,000. But just to do the math,
00:03:38
uh, a good e-commerce site gets 2 to 4% uh, conversion. This gets more cuz these
00:03:44
are people just coming to the site. People are unsubscribing two to five platforms. So, let's call it three. So,
00:03:50
I'm thinking I'm getting about 10,000 unsubscribes a day or 300,000 subscribes over the course of um over
00:04:00
the course Anyways, I've done the math here. I think I think I can notionally
00:04:05
take about a quarter of a billion dollars of market cap out of these companies. >> Yeah.
00:04:09
>> And does that change anything? It doesn't. But it's irritating.
00:04:13
>> It's a voice in the choir. And I asked Chad GPT what it thought of the
00:04:18
resistance movement so far. A one is you throw a party, no one shows up, it damages your reputation, makes other
00:04:24
protests less successful. In 10 is the president and Sam Alman are, you know, forced to to scale back some of this
00:04:32
stuff. And it said right now you're at a six. And that is people in product management teams are probably talking
00:04:38
about it, but not the executives yet. >> Oh, they are. And I thought that was
00:04:41
sort of a fairly honest appraisal of where we are. But yeah, I've been all over the place.
00:04:46
>> My sons know about it. Like I'm just telling you it's got a lot more I'm
00:04:50
getting texts from people I haven't heard from in a while. Um so it's interesting. They all like it because
00:04:56
here's why they have it's you can do something, right? Like I can do that.
00:05:00
That's easy, right? It's not easy. I just I should do that. like it gives you
00:05:05
permission to do something you kind of were going to do and it it gives you a framework and instructions right so
00:05:10
that's why it's successful I think in that regard I think you have to do some
00:05:14
more podcasts maybe possibly >> maybe Joe Rogan that's where I would go
00:05:20
that's where you need >> well has invited me but yeah next week this week was traditional media this I'm
00:05:25
sorry last week was traditional media this week I'll start doing >> um those people
00:05:31
>> more pods and stuff like that Um, so yeah, I need to do I was just on Pierce
00:05:35
Morgan and that digressed into a food fight with some ultra-conservative guys calling me desperate and trying to tank
00:05:41
the US economy because we lost the election. But anyways, yeah, I think you're right. I think I have to
00:05:47
>> not food fight people. Don't do the food fights. Don't go on any of those. Like
00:05:51
>> I think you should go on like a Brett Bear or someone like that would be
00:05:55
useful, but or any any of the more reasonable people over there. Not at hand because it's a food fight. Like you
00:06:00
don't need a food fight for this. Like you need a like just let me explain it
00:06:04
to you. I think Ro, the von um any of those people and they like you, right? Go on the let them go on Mel's thing.
00:06:12
>> Yeah, but Mel makes you come up to Boston. So I was invited to go on the
00:06:15
PBD podcast, but similar to Mel, he makes you come to him and he's in Fort Lauderdale, so I don't know. I should
00:06:21
probably make the effort. Is it on is it on the way to Boston? >> Oh, not that guy.
00:06:27
>> Well, I he is constantly wrong. If you want to be part of the resistance, you
00:06:32
have to go behind enemy >> going to do a food fight with you. Whatever you're going to do end up doing
00:06:36
a stupid food fight. You need to go on people that want to listen and will have a normal debate with you, but no, like
00:06:42
you don't want to be used as a chew toy for the right on this one. I'm sorry. It
00:06:46
just doesn't >> chew toy for the right. >> Yeah. Yeah. Tasty. >> Um, so I don't know. Well, I'll think of
00:06:52
more ideas. I have some more ideas and studs. I mean, like you'd be better off
00:06:56
on like a Mr. Beast or like somewhere like something where there's more >> Yeah. like that kind of stuff. Like just
00:07:03
>> but one of the one of the ground zero CEOs called me Saturday morning and
00:07:07
they're so good. They're so smart. They're just like I just want to understand it better. How are you? What
00:07:11
could we do better? >> And like I got off the phone and I'm like maybe I should take them off the
00:07:15
list. I'm like oh my god it's what it's what they do. It's what they do.
00:07:19
>> They start massaging your feet. That's what they're doing. They're massaging
00:07:22
your feet. They're like your feet. >> They're like, you know, we have some
00:07:25
disagreements, but I really respect what you're trying to do here, Scott. I'm
00:07:28
like, oh my gosh. I saw the post made you one of the 50. >> You got to believe I was number 49.
00:07:35
>> Right there. But hold on. >> Oh, they're after you. They want to Kai
00:07:39
Trump. Kai Trump is one of the I didn't even know there was a Kai in the Trump
00:07:43
family. >> Yeah, she's a good golfer. I guess that's fine. Whatever.
00:07:47
>> It's a pretty It's a pretty random list. >> You know what I say? You could smile
00:07:50
more. You could smile more. >> No smiles in those pictures. >> No. The reason I have $100,000 in
00:07:56
veneers is so I don't have to [ __ ] smile. >> I understand. And I was just I was just
00:08:00
using the lady thing. Anyway, let's get to the Super Bowl. Anyway, I'll think of
00:08:03
more ideas. I'll think I'm more stunts. More stunts. We could Let's figure out a
00:08:08
stunt for South by Southwest. Something like that. Keep it going. Anyway, that's
00:08:12
coming up. Um, you didn't watch the Super Bowl, right? No. >> No. I have almost no interest in the
00:08:18
Super Bowl. >> So, did you watch any You watched the ads on other places where they had
00:08:21
>> I watched some of the ads that people sent to me. >> Yeah. Many of them stand out. I still
00:08:25
like the anthropic ones, I have to say. I thought I thought they won the day. Uh
00:08:30
I didn't like the one on the Jewish kid being bullied. >> Um >> I didn't I don't
00:08:36
>> too too virtue signalally. >> I think there are better more effective
00:08:43
ways to talk about the risk of anti-semitism. I I actually don't in a weird way. I feel like it almost
00:08:50
normalizes it or raises the prospect special kind of tone that kind of thing. >> Yeah. It's so funny what I noticed with
00:08:57
I don't know if you've noticed this. I went to my kid's school when he was a
00:09:02
seventh grader in middle school and there were nth graders come down the hall and I was way behind them and I
00:09:06
thought, "Oh, this going to be interesting." In the seventh grade, if I
00:09:09
ran into ninth graders in an unsupervised environment, they would pants me and throw me in the trash and
00:09:14
take my lunch money. >> And instead, now they're like, "Hey, little man." And they high-five them.
00:09:19
Yeah. >> I think things have changed a lot >> for some people >> in school. Yeah. The ads are always fun
00:09:25
to watch. I don't I just could the whole Bad Bunny thing. I'm like he's the most
00:09:29
popular entertainer in the world. >> We'll get to Bad Bunny second, but my
00:09:32
favorite I liked I really like the anthropic ads. I like the elf. I like the funny ones. The elf ad there's a
00:09:37
whole bunch of them that were super funny and I I prefer those. And of course, I have to say the Lays potato
00:09:43
chip ad got me. Got me. >> Oh god, I thought that was so [ __ ] ridiculous.
00:09:48
>> I know. But it got me. I agree. I knew it was >> the family farm. We fetishized
00:09:52
manufacturing and farmers. The family farm is a corporation that's bought out
00:09:56
all these little farmers 30 years ago. >> And yet it got me. I I want I was like
00:10:02
don't don't >> How many How many college grad girls do you think are trying to help dad with
00:10:07
their family? >> Hot too. like >> yeah, >> she's she's in PR for Prada dating a
00:10:12
hedge fund manager >> and her father put her through Hollywood and she's hoping she's hoping to get a
00:10:19
miniseries, but no, she's going to go home to Iowa to farm with her dad >> and wear a car heart. She had a
00:10:24
beautiful That car heart didn't have a speck of [ __ ] dust on it. Did you notice that she had a Ralph Lauren ad?
00:10:30
>> I know nothing to do with the family. >> But the potato chips are delicious. Let
00:10:34
me just say I like a lace potato chip. They're quite good. They're good chips.
00:10:38
They're They're a good chip. They're a fine chip. Um I'm trying to think which
00:10:42
other one was funny. I didn't like the really I didn't like the Emma Stone one
00:10:45
or the George Clooney one. They were weird. I don't want the weird ones. I like the funny ones like the Instacart.
00:10:50
I thought the elf one was funny. Um I have I will have to say the Jesus one was good. The Christian like Jesus
00:10:58
knows. I thought it was >> Oh, those are always nice. >> That not always. That one was well done.
00:11:02
>> No, the I thought the really powerful I don't know if it's the same people. The
00:11:05
the Jesus wash their feet. That one >> that you >> remember that from a few years ago?
00:11:09
>> This is a different one. Yeah, >> this is a different one. >> Yeah,
00:11:11
>> that kind of reminds me and it's not totally related, but just FYI, Donald
00:11:17
Trump is mentioned more times in the Epstein Files than Jesus is mentioned in the Bible. Just saying. Or that the word
00:11:23
meth is said in all eight seasons of Breaking Bad. Yeah, >> but anyways, not related.
00:11:28
>> Not related. Anyway, they were they were pretty they were decent ads. They
00:11:31
weren't I wouldn't I would say the anthropic still head and freaking shoulders. Open had one that was
00:11:37
somewhat effective a little bit. I guess I thought it was good. >> It was solid, but not like the
00:11:42
anthropic. They got knocked out by anthropic. >> But if the thing I looked at or the only
00:11:48
kind of insider or the thing I found really interesting is if you look at the ads,
00:11:52
>> a quarter of them were AI. >> Yeah. >> Uh 15 of the 66 were AI. The last time
00:11:58
tech was as dominant in the Super Bowl in advertising, there's been two times
00:12:02
in the last 50 years. One was in 2022 when it was called the crypto bowl and it was Binance and FTX and look what in
00:12:09
that year that was the year crypto blew up and there were a ton of bankruptcies and then the time before that what year
00:12:14
Super Bowl did it was 2000 January 2000 quarter of the ads were froms pets.com and the like and
00:12:23
look what happened. So if you look at economic history as a ratio or as the ratio of tech ads being above a certain
00:12:32
amount, it implies this year is when AI crashes. >> Yeah. I'll tell you when I hate it was
00:12:38
the Mike Tyson one. I'm sorry. I just like it was my government money. Like it
00:12:42
was my dollars paying for Mike Tyson who has issues of his own to tell me to eat
00:12:47
an apple and that fat people are losome. I'm sorry. That was really grotesque.
00:12:51
>> I've met Mike Tyson. He's a chain smoker >> perhap. Yeah, I know. I was literally
00:12:54
like, "That's my [ __ ] tax dollar telling me to eat an apple. Thanks."
00:12:58
That was really gross. And of course, these Maha people are such, you know, it was all their friends that made the ad.
00:13:03
And of course, Brett Ratner was the director. Sexual harasser was someone convicted
00:13:08
and brave. >> I think that's them waving their middle finger in our face.
00:13:12
>> That's my money. That's my like That's my money. Cut it out. Don't tell me to
00:13:17
eat an apple. But let me just focus on the Bad Bunny halftime show. knocked it out of the park with a projected 108 28
00:13:23
million viewers. Apple was the one did it and Rock Nation was the producer. They they've been doing that's Jay-Z's
00:13:28
group has been doing a lot of the really great Super Bowl ones. And so Jay-Z's
00:13:33
been in charge of picking Super Bowl halftime for the last seven years. They've been really good actually. Uh
00:13:38
Turning Point USA of course had a live stream of an all-American show featuring Kid Rock who looked like he was
00:13:43
lip-syncing. It seemed the reaction and re-reaction to Bad Bunny Show was so joyful and fun and it was so full of if
00:13:49
you wanted to go into it and look at the layers of you know he's such an artist
00:13:53
like he's he's not just >> he's the biggest artist in the world he
00:13:57
>> but not just that it was so full of stuff but you could also just enjoy it
00:14:00
if you didn't know >> full it was fun >> right and there was >> and I realized like people ask me what I
00:14:05
thought of the performance I'm like it's not for me if Tom Petty or George
00:14:09
Michael can't be there which they can't I don't care you know, but what I
00:14:14
realized is it's not for me. And it was a brilliant move on behalf of Roger Goodell because the NFL is investing in
00:14:19
the future because more than 50% for the first time ever of people under the age
00:14:23
of 18 are non-white. And people identifying people saw it as anti-American to have Puerto Rican or
00:14:31
Ecuadorian flag. No, Reagan said it best. Anyone can come to America and be an American. And that's uniquely what
00:14:38
makes America America. They're so but because they are not the culture war is
00:14:42
they're not winning it. Nobody wants to watch Kid Rock. And by the way, I should
00:14:46
I should do a dramatic reading of Kid Rock's lyrics is you know these people
00:14:50
that were they were defending including that guy's show you want to go on. They're like oh kid rock. I'm like
00:14:54
literally he talks about putting balls in the mouth. Come put your >> Okay. But the retort there is now do rap
00:15:00
stars. >> Of course. But this wasn't Bad Bunny. Like fine. Like so it was a bunch of
00:15:04
really >> It was pretty clean. I agree. You know who the other big winner was in the
00:15:08
Super Bowl was the prediction market apps? >> Yeah. Where did they couch download
00:15:13
spike last month? Uh the app recording 4 million downloads in January. That's up
00:15:17
from less than 2 million in December. And not only that, it's going at you know who it's killing? It's killing the
00:15:23
gambling apps. The prediction market apps from DraftKings and FanDuel got more people that use it the better. Um
00:15:30
but let me just finish up on Bunny. It was a great show. It was very light, you know, you had Peter Pascal as a
00:15:34
background a person and and and and Cardi B and um uh a whole bunch of people and I thought Ricky Martin was
00:15:42
lovely looking fantastic and Lady Gaga was great. It was so joyful and for them to like attack it and shows just what a
00:15:50
bunch of [ __ ] losers they are. I'm sorry. They just really are. They It was
00:15:54
so beautiful and so life affirming and forward thinking and it is where our country is in a lot of ways. And all I
00:16:01
wanted to do is like I've been trying to um take Spanish myself, learn Spanish.
00:16:06
I've got to learn Spanish so I under could understand what he >> It's a beautiful language. I took it for
00:16:10
5 years in high school. I took them to seventh and 12th grade. I can barely order at a Mexican restaurant.
00:16:15
>> Me too. And I've been try I've gotten one of those apps and I keep coming on
00:16:18
and off of it. I have to learn. This is the year I learned Spanish. This is the year.
00:16:22
>> But but what I try to do is I try to take economic trends away from the Super
00:16:26
Bowl, specifically the advertising. And the two trends are the following. one, it looks like this is the year that AI
00:16:31
might crash because there's so much cheap capital going going into it visa v
00:16:35
the Super Bowl. And the second thing is there's been a huge transfer in economic
00:16:41
value or market capitalization from the gaming apps to the prediction apps. In just the last 3 months, the earnings per
00:16:48
share estimates for Flutter Entertainment, which is the gaming or the gambling apps, has been cut in half.
00:16:53
And DraftKings earnings estimates are also down 29%. The biggest apps were the gambling apps and now the speculation
00:17:00
markets are taking their are eating their lunch. >> Absolutely. And as you noted the NFL
00:17:04
made a great choice here in terms of how it handles that really smart and the beautiful visual of San Francisco on the
00:17:11
front which was I'm sorry to tell you was a rainbow flag kids but um also good
00:17:15
for San Francisco looking great. All these people are like what were they talking about looking great? San
00:17:20
Francisco's on the upswing and uh I have to say um >> oh it was great for it was great for
00:17:24
your city. It was like Chamber of Commerce. >> I The only time I turned it on was late
00:17:29
at night. It was like 11:30 and it or it started and it was this immediately this
00:17:35
beautiful vista of the Golden Gate Bridge around around the golden hour. >> Yeah.
00:17:39
>> And you're just like, wow. Occasionally there's a moment where you're in
00:17:41
California and you're like, why did I leave? >> All the time. >> Why did I leave again?
00:17:45
>> Exactly. every [ __ ] day of the week and twice on Sundays when I wake up
00:17:50
>> the fog comes in over the Golden Gate cleans all this [ __ ] out of the air
00:17:54
>> and then it's crystal clear and sharp and I mean it is >> every morning I wake up Scott I weep
00:18:00
Louis moving there just so you know my son is will be moving to San Francisco and working for someone who's in
00:18:06
politics there but I'm so jealous of him anyway he's living in our in the
00:18:11
>> Elmo says bad bunny's a good bunny >> let's move on to the to speaking of
00:18:15
crypto while The Dow hit a milestone high of 50,000 last week. Crypto has been heading the other way into a crypto
00:18:21
winter again. Bitcoin has just had its worst weekly decline in more than 3 years, down roughly 45% from its
00:18:27
all-time high last October. The downturn is being blamed on a few things. Volatility in other markets, terror
00:18:33
fears, uncertainty around Fed chair nominee Kevin Morris. I don't know about
00:18:36
that. The ongoing decline has been brutal for some of crypto's biggest champions. Michael Sailor Strategy Inc.
00:18:42
I know you're an admire just reported a $12.4 4 billion quarterly loss. Wow. But
00:18:47
don't expect a Bitcoin bailout. Treasury Secretary Scott Besson said congressional hearing last week that he
00:18:51
has no authority to do that. Um, of course, Trump was crypto president. Nice job, David Saxs, by the way. Um, what do
00:18:58
he They got what they wanted, the crypto people from Trump. Everything they wanted. Um, they got rid of uh the Gary
00:19:04
Gensler. They got rid of Sharon Brown. They got rid of critics. Uh, what do you think? What's happening here? Well,
00:19:12
first off, I should just point out that I am easily the worst crypto investor in
00:19:15
history. >> Yes, because you just >> I finally threw in the towel and I
00:19:18
bought some shares in a Bitcoin treasury company. I bought it at 14 and within 45
00:19:23
days I sold it at $4.50. >> Oh, nice. Well done. Well done. >> Yeah, well done. Uh, look, Coin Market
00:19:29
Cap's crypto and fear greed index is now at a nine, indicating extreme fear. This
00:19:34
is the highest reading in the index's nearly three years of existence. Bitcoin
00:19:39
bit Bitcoin's basically been cut in half since its high and investors um had $2 and half billion dollars of
00:19:45
Bitcoin liquidated in just one day alone. Even after Friday, >> Bitcoin Bitcoin and then the others have
00:19:50
gone down 90 like the Melania coin the other coins. Yeah, >> coins. Even after Friday's rebound,
00:19:55
Bitcoin is down 43% from its pe from its peak. And then the and the stocks related to Bitcoin per year comments
00:20:06
have been hammered. Micro Strategy is down nearly 70% from its peak last summer and down 15% this year. Coinbase
00:20:12
is down 60% from its summer peak, down 30% this year. And Tom Lee's Bitine is
00:20:17
down 85% from its peak and 34% this year. Crypto volatility is currently about 8x higher than that of the S&P
00:20:25
500. But what I would say is the following. And I don't get this market. I I I I I respect that Bitcoin has
00:20:33
established itself as a tangible asset because of scarcity value, because of its technology. I think the rest is pure
00:20:39
speculation. But what typically has happened over the last decade is when Bitcoin has these drawdowns and there's
00:20:47
all this fear over the last 10 years when we look back those have been buying opportunities.
00:20:53
So I don't I mean I I always like to talk about what I'm thinking of doing.
00:20:57
If Bitcoin keeps getting hammered, I actually might buy a little bit. Not because I believe in crypto, but because
00:21:02
I like diversification and I do think this market is incredibly volatile. I do think Bitcoin has
00:21:09
established itself as a legitimate asset class. But there's just what's unusual
00:21:13
is typically Bitcoin is meant to be it should benefit from a weak dollar in inflation and it's not.
00:21:20
>> Yeah. >> And it should it ends up that it's not the default contraindicator of a
00:21:25
weakening dollar. silver, gold, that kind of stuff. >> We'll see. At the end of the day, the
00:21:30
crypto is really, it's not investing. It is speculation. I I would argue that a
00:21:35
little bit of money, one to 3% of your portfolio in Bitcoin may not be a bad idea, but like I said, I am
00:21:44
not the other shitcoin. >> I would not do any of the others. The others to me are just greater full
00:21:49
theory come to life. >> Yeah, you sucker. I call them sucker coins. They're really
00:21:53
>> You have to watch it every day and all that. It can take a real you volatility
00:21:58
is fine. If you're willing to endure volatility, it means you'll get greater
00:22:01
returns. But what you want to do is you want to diversify across multiple volatile asset classes such that your
00:22:08
mental health is somewhat protected. You know, you just one of the reasons I like
00:22:12
owning real estate is I don't have a scorecard every day. And also, if you're
00:22:17
looking at your phone too much, and you're really good at this, if you're
00:22:19
looking at your phone too much because you're checking your stocks all the time, a that's a hit to your human
00:22:24
capital, and B, you don't want to be you never want to go all in on one thing
00:22:29
because the markets trump individual dynamics. And if you bought $10,000 worth of Amazon in 1999, it was worth
00:22:37
$400 by two by the end of 2000. >> And that takes a huge emotional toll on
00:22:42
you. >> It does. So what you want to do is you want to be you want to be diversified
00:22:47
and you want to be in good good ETFs, good indexes and then put them away and not look at them and think of them as
00:22:52
things you want to hone for five or 10 years. Look at them once a quarter if you can.
00:22:56
>> I don't look at all >> but you know >> yeah I I think your approach to
00:22:59
investing is actually the right approach to inve when when Saul is going to be able to
00:23:10
drink he'll be 21. Alex will be 37. I'll be 10 [ __ ] 12. So it doesn't really
00:23:15
matter to save for retirement. >> It doesn't >> doesn't matter.
00:23:20
>> You don't you don't even buy green bananas anymore. >> I All I need is money to put me in a
00:23:25
home and have nice nurses. That's all I and I I can swing that with what I've
00:23:29
got. Even if I lost a lot, >> I'll be pushing you around. >> Oh, no. Wrong. I'll be push way.
00:23:34
>> And I'll hire really hot nurses. >> Yes. And I >> I'll manage that. I'll manage that side
00:23:39
of your life. >> I'll manage them for you. What are you talking about? I'm like, "Yes, he's a
00:23:42
little handsy, but just like put up with it, you know, give him an extra tip."
00:23:46
>> A little handsy. >> Little handsy. >> Handsyish. >> Just slap him. Just
00:23:50
>> handsyish. I told you. >> Yeah. >> I already have my my nurse picked out. A
00:23:54
guy named Manuel, very big with very well moisturized hands. >> I'll have some men there that manhandle
00:23:59
you. Anyway, let's go on a quick break. When we come back, Amazon spending spree
00:24:03
and what Jeff Bezos is saying about the Washington Post's future. All stupid
00:24:06
things, just FYI. Support for this show comes from Delete Me. Whether you're a
00:24:12
public figure or a private citizen, it's easier than ever for bad actors to get
00:24:15
your personal information. I've tried Delete Me a lot and I really have had a
00:24:20
great time figuring out how much information data brokers have about me. It's scary and it's surprising and I am
00:24:26
always disturbed by how much they bring together and how sometimes wrong it is. So, it's really important to get your
00:24:33
data in line with things. The dashboard on Delete Me is very easy to use, and you can tell them what you want deleted
00:24:39
and what you want to keep an eye on. Delete Me makes it easy, quick, and safe to remove your personal data online at a
00:24:44
time when surveillance and data breaches are common enough to make everyone vulnerable. With Delete Me, you can
00:24:49
protect your personal privacy or the privacy of your business from doxing attacks before sensitive information can
00:24:54
be exploited. The New York Times wire cutter has named Delete Meir their top pick for data removal services compared
00:24:59
to others out there. Take control of your data and keep your private life private by signing up for Delete Me now
00:25:04
at a special discount for our listeners. Get 20% off your DeleteMe plan when you
00:25:09
go to joindeleteme.com/pivot and use the promo code pivot at checkout. The only way to get 20% off is
00:25:15
to go to joindeme.com/pivot and enter the code pivot at checkout. That's joined me.com/pivot
00:25:22
code pivot. Scott, we're back. Amazon's spending plans are making waves on Wall Street
00:25:30
after the company signal massive capbacks ramp up. Amazon said it expects to spend about $200 billion dollars in
00:25:36
2026. Nearly a 60% increase from last year. Uh CEO Andy Jasse justified the spending by sending strong demand for
00:25:42
AI, robotics, chips, and satellites makes sense for their business in a lot of ways. The announcement appears to
00:25:48
spook investors though, sending stock down 10% and wiping $1 133 billion off of Amazon's market cap. What a massive
00:25:55
amount. Um let's talk about this. Um they are at the same time there the the
00:26:01
the the suckupery that Jeff Bezos has been doing. Uh and Andy Jasse too for Trump is reaping benefits under Trump's
00:26:08
new tax on the company's corporate tax bill fell to about $1.2 billion last year down from $9 billion the year
00:26:14
before even though profits uh jumped roughly 45%. So what Scott says is corporate taxes just like this has been
00:26:21
a boon for Trump has been a boon for these people. Um, so talk a little bit about these spending because you know
00:26:26
they they they need to spend in robotics. They obviously need AI to go with the robotics and chips and of
00:26:33
course satellites delivery. They they have such an unusual business that it's
00:26:37
both analog and and and advertising and where they market things. It seems like a company that should be spending here.
00:26:43
But your thoughts? Well, the problem with or one of the things that makes our economy so fragile is there's just a
00:26:50
small number of companies that can make the can allocate this sort of capital. And this week and last, Amazon, Google,
00:26:57
Meta, and Microsoft unveiled plans to spend a combined 660 billion on AI buildout this year. That's a 60%
00:27:06
increase from last year. Apple is the only big tech company whose capex decreased from last year. And the and
00:27:11
the sheer magnitude is just shocking. That's three times the global R&D of the
00:27:17
pharmaceutical industry. So we're now spending more on data centers and chips.
00:27:21
We're spending triple what we're spending on trying to research treatments for cancer and diabetes. It's
00:27:28
more they're spending more than it cost to build the US interstate highway system. We're spending more those those
00:27:34
four companies are going to spend more than we spent on the Apollo moon program and the International Space Station
00:27:39
combined. And it's the equivalent of spending about $2 billion a day on AI. And but what I think you're looking for
00:27:46
if I look at the stocks that are responding to the market positively versus negatively, it's okay. A big eye
00:27:54
is really impressive because it separates you from the rest. Like Snap can't spend billions of dollars to
00:28:00
increase the AI targeting of its ad of its ad stack. Most companies just can't
00:28:04
spend that kind of money. But the companies the company that's really done well here is a company that not only has
00:28:10
the huge eye, huge capex, but also is right away showing that they can garner the return that justifies that eye. And
00:28:18
that company is Meta. Meta is showing uh increased click-through, increased advertising, increase ARPO, and it's
00:28:26
saying this is working for us, so we're going to outspend every other media company in the world. maybe with the
00:28:32
exception of Alphabet, but these types of investment, there's just no getting
00:28:36
around them. They're absolutely staggering. I can't figure out if it's
00:28:40
good or bad. I guess it's I'm hoping it results in a lot of occasion. >> You imagine lots of their business does
00:28:46
need this kind of stuff. Like you're thinking, speaking of advertising, they
00:28:49
do a lot of it in marketing, right? So, they have to understand what's effective
00:28:52
to to bring up for people when they search on Amazon. um their their their logistics of of their their their
00:29:00
various centers where they the fulfillment centers, the robotics, it seemed like a lot of this stuff does
00:29:06
lend itself to AI being more efficient in that or giving them efficient instructions. It's it would I would
00:29:14
imagine their business lends itself to this. And you're right, they're the only
00:29:17
ones that can spend this much. Um and then once it's spent, nobody can catch
00:29:21
them ever, ever, ever. It's just going to have very weird second order effects
00:29:25
because if you look at where the money is being spent, if you look at data centers, most of them could have their
00:29:30
lights off during the day. They a huge data center that costs hundreds of millions to build employs what a Chili's
00:29:38
employs. And so obviously a huge burst in vocational skills, but then what happens there's no really ongoing
00:29:46
employment here. And what what I look at is all right if you think about I mean people say is AI going to affect
00:29:54
me and my standard line has been AI is not going to take your job someone who understands AI is going to take your job
00:30:00
and what you need to think about is is AI complimentary to what I'm doing or is
00:30:04
it a substitute and Justin Wolfers the economist from Michigan pointed this out if you think about sec my mother was a
00:30:10
secretary she would be out of work right now because AI came along and word processors at the same time everyone
00:30:15
thought ATMs was going to put bank tellers out of business. There are now more bank tellers than there were preat
00:30:21
ATM because what they said is let's use technology to upskill you so you can
00:30:25
give people mortgages, figure out their financial planning. So just as at a ground level, it's like okay, how do I
00:30:32
use AI as a weapon as opposed to being on the wrong end of the weapon? But this is the economic reshaping here is just
00:30:40
is staggering. But I do think we're at that point now with all great technologies that end up going on to be
00:30:45
hugely important that this is um I think we're overdue for a correction. And the
00:30:51
technology I keep coming at I'm about to buy stock is Nova Nordis just hit a like
00:30:57
a 5-year low. Nova Nordisk actually rebounded yesterday, but Nova Nordis the maker of I think it's I forget which one
00:31:02
it is or Regoi. And I'm I always tell people the most important technology is
00:31:07
not AI, it's GLP1. and talk to somebody who loves AI and uses it. >> There's an ad for it. No, Serena
00:31:14
Williams really did Super Bowl by the way. >> Well, talk to anyone who use someone who
00:31:17
uses a lot of AI at their work, really enjoys it, gets a lot of use out of it, and then but that person is also on
00:31:24
GLP1, ask them what's having a more profound impact on their life. >> Yeah.
00:31:30
>> Can you do a short rant about the corporate taxes and the benefits of being in the Trump administration for
00:31:35
these companies by sucking up? Unless you don't want to. Well, look, as a percentage of GDP,
00:31:41
corporate taxes have never been lower. And as a percentage of uh uh uh GDP, wages have never been
00:31:49
lower. And as a percentage of profits, corporate profits have never been a higher percentage of the SM of GDP. In
00:31:57
some, there's always a healthy tension between capital and labor. But basically
00:32:01
what you have with AI, shareholders love AI because what you're seeing across all
00:32:07
of these companies is margin expansion but no incremental increase in employment
00:32:10
>> and then lower taxes. >> That's great for shareholders. And then
00:32:13
the lower tax argument is basically the strategy for the last 40 years and the Republicans. If we just lower taxes,
00:32:19
it'll trickle down. All it's doing is just pushing back debt on young people.
00:32:23
But if you just look at the balance, if you just assume at some point we have to
00:32:26
pay for our navy and our parks and for food stamps, the question is, well, who pays?
00:32:31
>> Yeah. I can't believe they went from 9 billion to 1.2 billion. That is a
00:32:35
savings. That is a Oh god, I wish >> this repeat that car. >> Amazon's under the Trump's new tax law,
00:32:42
the companies, this is Amazon's corporate tax bill fell to 1.2 >> automatic expensing. Yeah.
00:32:47
>> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> 45%. It's really the tax code has gone
00:32:52
from 400 pages to 4,000 and the 3600 pages one by one kind of [ __ ] the middle class. And it wasn't these aren't
00:32:58
malicious people say let's [ __ ] the middle class. What they are is really talented people on behalf of lobbies
00:33:02
like Amazon that says let's figure out a way to expense all capital expenditure
00:33:07
in year one. >> But it's Trump's new tax law. It's it's even more advantageous to them. This is
00:33:13
this is what this was always the game folks is them getting more for themselves. It really was with Trump. I
00:33:20
some of them don't like them, some of them do. >> This has been happening across
00:33:23
Democratic and Republican administrations. >> Agreed. But this new tax law is 1.2 from
00:33:28
nine billion. That's quite a lovely >> I I agree with you and two things can be
00:33:33
true at once. Biden, for all the talk about progressive policies and the need to reduce the deficit,
00:33:38
>> fix it. >> Taxes on corporations went down. >> Yep. >> During the Biden administration, so
00:33:45
here's the bottom line. And the only way you get reelected, which must include
00:33:48
reservations and [ __ ] because these people cling to power like an African dictator. So that was both offensive and
00:33:53
a hate crime and racist. But these people have decided that they will do anything to stay in office. And the way
00:33:58
they stay in office is with a thoughtful lobbyist who says, "Oh, just implement
00:34:02
this one little tax change called 122 where entrepreneurs and VCs get their first 10 million out." And
00:34:07
incrementally, what we have done is lower taxes on the 0.1% in corporations. And we haven't raised taxes on the
00:34:14
middle or low income. That's a myth. What we've done is we've raised taxes on
00:34:18
future generations with $7 trillion in spending on $5 trillion in receipts. So the people who've had their taxes
00:34:24
increased the most are a 55year-old who is now 25. Because we have the full faith in credit to borrow that money.
00:34:31
That full faith in credit and that borrowing power will go away. And at some point someone's going to have to
00:34:35
pay the piper either through massive inflation or revolution or much higher taxes.
00:34:40
>> Yep. Absolutely. Yes. kissing up works. But um speaking of kissing up, Jeff
00:34:44
Bezos is finally speaking about the future of the Washington Post following last week's layoffs. He said in a
00:34:49
statement the Post had an essential journalistic mission and an extraordinary opportunity. Bezos added
00:34:54
that readers provided a roadmap to success and that data tells us what his value to focus well data. They all left
00:35:00
after he did any number of things. The Bezos statement came shortly after Post CEO and publisher Will Lewis announced
00:35:07
his exit from the paper. I think I think it was exited from the paper. Uh allegedly uh post CFO Jeff Donof Frio I
00:35:16
met him when he was at one of the tech companies was CFO at is stepping in as acting CEO. Um what a big I'm going to
00:35:24
comment on this data tells us what is value. You're kidding. No [ __ ] Sherlock. At the same time, you have to
00:35:29
create products that doesn't necessarily follow data. You have to use both data
00:35:32
and creativity to create a journalistic product. I mean, anyone would tell you don't get together with Scott Galloway
00:35:39
data speaking. And of course, it worked out beautifully. You have to have lots and lots of things that go into media.
00:35:46
Jeff Bezos has made a number of errors recently over the last two years. And that's the reason people have fled in
00:35:52
droves from the Post as other places are doing much better in New York Times, Wall Street Journal, the numbers are up.
00:35:59
Um, lots of really interesting independent media companies. It's not true that he couldn't do something
00:36:04
better here. And of course, he's never blamed himself for this [ __ ] Will Lewis good riddens has been terrible.
00:36:11
Bezos didn't. Bezos again did not step in and deal with this guy when he was
00:36:15
very clearly [ __ ] up. So that's my thoughts. You don't have to have any,
00:36:19
but you can. >> Well, what I don't get is, and maybe you've done some reporting here, we have
00:36:24
this ideas about putting together a new group. The bottom line is it's subscale.
00:36:27
Why wouldn't the New York Times or even >> Bloomberg, >> the Wall Street Journal take this on and
00:36:34
starch out some of the overhead costs, but take that traffic and a great brand and try and do something with it?
00:36:39
>> They could. They could. They could. I would think Bloomberg is always sort of
00:36:42
the one. >> Oh, Bloomberg, that's a great one. >> Bloomberg to me would be the most, but
00:36:46
he's, you know, he's getting on. I mean, I hate to say it. A younger Bloomberg
00:36:49
certainly. >> Um, that's that's always that was one of the possible buyers way back when when
00:36:54
they were trying to keep it out of Rupert Murdoch's hands. Um, but you're
00:36:57
right. The the the Wall Street Journal would be interesting. The um but why why I mean I could let's I'll call Meredith
00:37:04
Leban and ask her and she probably just go what do I need that for? >> Yeah. Why do I need that headache?
00:37:08
>> What do I need that headache? >> Yeah, but they take >> They've got a great They've got a great
00:37:13
Washington firm. They What do they get? What are they getting? Nothing. >> Well, I'm just gonna be very I'll I'll
00:37:18
tell you how this would work. They would go in, they'd buy the brand, they'd buy
00:37:22
the subscription, they'd pick their 40 or 60% most talented uh journalists, >> most of whom they'd hired, but go ahead.
00:37:30
>> They they'd clear out the admin, the sales teams. I mean, the bottom line is
00:37:35
print journalism or whatever you want to call this type of journalism is in structural decline.
00:37:40
>> Y >> and it requires and everyone wants to talk about reinvention. Sure, you have
00:37:45
to invest innovation, but more than anything, it requires consolidation and cost cutting. Yeah.
00:37:49
>> And the Washington Post, but I mean, why wouldn't I would just think that the
00:37:54
Washington Post would be an outstanding Washington bureau >> and they've built a lot of credibility.
00:37:59
They have a big they have a decent subscriber base, but they don't have the techn. It's not a decent it was until
00:38:05
this past year. It's it's cratered because of decisions Jeff Bezos has made, direct decisions by Jeff Bezos.
00:38:13
I've heard their traffic their their website traffic is off by nearly a half
00:38:17
in the last three years. >> Anyway, um it's it's >> but you're buying you're buying a great
00:38:22
brand, a vehicle is how I look at it, >> right? But but what you have to do is I
00:38:25
mean to a certain I hate to say this, it's almost it's a perfect candidate for
00:38:28
a prepackaged bankruptcy. And that is you declare bankruptcy. You clear out all the obligations including probably
00:38:35
of an overpriced headquarters, all the obligations they have and you say, "Okay, 30% of you are keeping your job
00:38:43
and that's it." I mean, this is no solution here is elegant that's going to
00:38:48
paint a brave new everyone's hoping. If there's some guy who comes in and
00:38:52
thinks, you know what, I got five or six billion dollars. I'll waste a billion
00:38:55
over the next 10 or 20 years. Fine. I don't know if that person It's like they
00:38:58
say in therapy, no one's coming to save you. >> Yeah. >> But I don't I I
00:39:04
>> It is a great brand. There's It's a great brand and there's a lot you could
00:39:08
do with it that's different and that that if if you had some of the breathing
00:39:12
room, but you got this mealsome owner who every time he meddles does something stupid. He hires
00:39:17
>> Do you think he's medalsome? I >> I do. I think he is. I think he's he he
00:39:21
meddled in the Kamla thing. It was him. He meddled in um all manner of things here. He's meddled in a lot of stuff.
00:39:29
And you know what? Let me just tell you, Jeff Bezos, let me speak to you directly. You are an astonishing
00:39:34
entrepreneur. You did amazing things with Amazon. You went left when everyone went right. Everyone didn't believe you.
00:39:39
You really know how to run an e-commerce company and you're okay at space. I
00:39:44
think it's a little bit more of a luxury for you, but whatever. Go for it. I
00:39:47
don't care if you spend your money there. But you don't know squat about
00:39:51
media at all. And to to act like you're an expert in this is really exhausting
00:39:56
and you're not. You suck at it. You should get out of it and you're just not
00:40:00
good at it. I don't know why we listen to you for 5 seconds on this topic. There's lots of smart people who know
00:40:05
about this. You should put the put it in their hands or just sell it. Just sell it. You don't
00:40:09
>> The problem is >> by Vogue, Jeff. Go ahead. Sorry. >> Yeah. Go. Bye-bye. The problem is
00:40:13
whoever buys this is inheriting an unsustainable cost structure. >> Yes. >> And everywhere. So, it's either a
00:40:20
prepackaged bankruptcy or you say to the current owner, >> look, you're going to have to do the
00:40:25
hard work and clear out a lot of the costs here, >> which he may be doing.
00:40:28
>> You probably have to bolt it on to another infrastructure, whether it's
00:40:32
Bloomberg or the NT or the Wall Street Journal, >> but if a bunch of people get jonesed up
00:40:37
into raising money and finding people and try and reinvigorate the thing, >> you're basically going to create, you
00:40:43
know, it's trying to bring Frankenstein back for a second time. >> Well, I would agree. There's a lot of
00:40:48
people who contact me and they get disappointed because I go well that's not econom like let we need this. One of
00:40:53
the things that the reporters do is they're like we have need this for democracy. I agree with that but you
00:40:57
still have to run a business. Like I I say that I'm like don't make that the
00:41:01
argument. It's of course the arg it's the it's the unders. The press is very
00:41:04
important for the future. It's always been and uh it's part of the many things
00:41:08
that are that help our our democracy thrive. And that's not the argument you
00:41:13
have to create. It's I always say I said it to someone I think they were disappointed because they wanted me to
00:41:18
be like let us grab like Jon of Arc. I was like it's called the news business.
00:41:23
You got to make a business out of it and you got to figure it out and get the costs in line. And what I think has
00:41:28
happened here is you know it's been so um distant and mealsome at the same time. It's Will Lewis was incompetent
00:41:37
and mealsome at the same time and kind of cruel not to say anything while you did it. I mean, how, as you say, how you
00:41:44
leave is how you how you be like, how you leave is critically important. And him showing up all ragged look at the
00:41:52
NFL parties while he was laying off people just not a good look. It's just not a good it's not respectful. And
00:41:58
these people have worked hard, a lot of them, and so most of them actually. And that's the I don't know. I I don't know.
00:42:04
You're right. It has to something something fresh SM but to me it's a great vehicle for somebody for including
00:42:11
I have some ideas but you know it's a great vehicle and it's still not a dead
00:42:15
brand. That's my feeling. It's not. But >> look, I I I'm I'm more
00:42:22
I'm I'm just um people will say that this is another example of how democracy
00:42:27
dies of the Washington Post dies. And this is the bottom line without >> there's a ton and a lot of these people
00:42:34
will end up at places there's a ton of sharp critical anti-establishment new
00:42:38
media brands. The Intercept, Democracy Now. >> Yeah. Jacobin, Chapo Trap House,
00:42:44
Citations Needed, Navaro Media, uh, The Bull Work, True Anan, >> a lot of them are doing original
00:42:50
reporting, but go ahead. Yes, go ahead. >> Well, that's that's the correct point,
00:42:56
and that is there is no or little economic viability in hardhitting investigative journalism, especially at
00:43:05
the local level. the amount of grift and corruption and like name your local state, you know, capital because there
00:43:14
aren't any reporters covering any of this [ __ ] But the notion somehow that
00:43:19
we're not going to have any, you know, really thoughtful, interesting, you know, progressive media if the
00:43:25
Washington Post goes away. No, all of those people will go to smaller cool little media firms that are doing a
00:43:30
great job and quite frankly have figured out a way to be more economically viable
00:43:33
at >> total cash flow positive apparently. Does the Does the Atlantic do well?
00:43:38
>> Yes. >> Very smart. Nick Thompson, Lorine is a great owner. Jeff Goldberg and very
00:43:44
tough. They're making products people want. Like it's not This is the thing.
00:43:48
We'll stop talking about this thing. Jeff, you're bad at this. Just at least
00:43:52
have a talk with me. Just meet me. I don't like you. You don't like me. So
00:43:57
what? Big deal. I'd love to have a talk. I know you're a smart person. Um, but
00:44:02
you really need to do something else and not sell it to a hedge fund or the wrong
00:44:08
owners. Just do the right thing. Just for the last for the last time, do the right thing.
00:44:12
>> I don't know. I can't handle the Atlantic. Every headline feels like it
00:44:15
was written by someone who's disappointed in you but still wants to be invited to your wedding.
00:44:20
>> They've done some amazing reporting. It's not true. They've done You don't
00:44:22
read it enough. You just read headlines. >> The Atlantic doesn't do hot takes. It
00:44:26
does foreplay for a conclusion you already disagree with. >> God, it does not.
00:44:30
It's the only one that also has concern. Sometimes I call bad Atlantic and good
00:44:34
Atlantic. Sometimes they do the most irritating things. So you would like it. They're contrarian.
00:44:38
>> I think the Atlantic is what happens when someone at the bar who's like a
00:44:41
woke person that's not that attractive makes eye contact with you. >> No. No. It's doing great. It's doing
00:44:46
great. Anyway, let's go on a quick break. When we come back, the latest media merger gets Trump's seal of
00:44:52
approval. Support for this show comes from Vanguard. If you're a financial adviser, then you're probably thinking
00:44:57
about how to set up your clients for success. A fixed income strategy like bonds is a good place to start. However,
00:45:03
with tricky markets and rate shifts, there may be some unforeseen risks. That's why having a partner with scale
00:45:08
and expertise matters. Vanguard brings both. Vanguard bonds are institutional quality. Institutional quality isn't a
00:45:15
tagline. It's a commitment to your clients. It means top grade products across the board. The lineup includes
00:45:20
over 80 bond funds. They're actively managed by a 200 person global squad of
00:45:25
sector specialists, analysts, and traders. A lot of firms love to highlight their star portfolio managers
00:45:30
like it's all about one brilliant mind making the magic happen. Vanguard's
00:45:34
philosophy is a little different. They believe the best active strategies shouldn't be locked away with one
00:45:39
person. They should be shared across the team. So, if you're looking to give your
00:45:42
client consistent results year in and year out, go see the record for yourself at vanguard.com/audio.
00:45:48
That's vanguard.com/audio. All investing is subject to risk. Vanguard Marketing Corporation,
00:45:55
distributor. Scott, we're back with more news. This is an interesting Speaking of media
00:46:00
stuff. This um President Trump is now endorsing NextStar Media's takeover $6
00:46:05
billion acquisition of Tegna, saying it will help knock out the fake news because there'll be more competition.
00:46:10
These are two giant local firms. Back in November, Trump seemed to be opposed to
00:46:15
the deal, writing on True Social, no expansion of the fake news networks. No, I guess they they sucked up to because
00:46:20
of Jimmy Kimmel. Everything else Nextar owns or partners with over 200 stations with the addition of Tegnet would cover
00:46:26
roughly 80% of the company country. Excuse me. I would call that a monopoly. Uh the FCC uh currently prohibits
00:46:33
companies from owning broadcast stations that reach over 39% of US sold. So that's double. So Trump obviously
00:46:40
shifted because I don't know is there donation somewhere something else? I don't know. But it's it's a massive it
00:46:46
they're allowing this merger and then opposing the Netflix one. It is it's
00:46:50
it's so ridiculously hypocritical. Every time they turn around they they like one
00:46:55
thing but not the other. Any thoughts on this Tegna Nextstar thing? >> Yeah, but the Atlantic is like the
00:47:02
person that ruins brunch by asking about the long-term implication of eggs. >> Okay, move.
00:47:09
They're doing great without your without your insults. What? Tell me. Every Atlantic journalist thinks that sex is a
00:47:15
phase you'll outgrow. >> Okay, let's move along. Next star, Tegna, much more significant.
00:47:20
>> I I've you and I are both talking to Democratic candidates for president and
00:47:24
one of my one of the platforms I think they should adopt >> is um trustbusting.
00:47:31
You you we need to go the other way. We need if you want to bring prices down, you you can't have three chicken
00:47:37
companies. You can't have three pharmaceutical companies. You can't have
00:47:40
four streaming media platforms. You can't have one search engine. You need to break all of these guys up. We need
00:47:44
to go the other way. And we need to separate the whole point. I mean, let's Can we talk about Ted Sarando's
00:47:52
congressional testimony because I think it's related. >> Sure. >> You had some coin operated Republicans
00:47:59
who are being funded by the Ellison's. >> Yeah. try to say >> Scott particularly recently has been
00:48:05
>> try to say I'm worried about Netflix claiming that 50% of Netflix children's
00:48:10
programming is LGBTQ content. >> Yeah. >> And and just so you know >> they never cared about antitrust.
00:48:16
>> Media companies are allowed to have a viewpoint. >> Fox has a viewpoint. It has a bias.
00:48:21
>> CNN has a viewpoint. It has a bias. Netflix, as far as I can tell, is the
00:48:25
most apolitical of all of them. >> Agreed. They really do. The way it works
00:48:28
in a capitalist society is the person with the biggest check shows up and then it goes under regulatory review around
00:48:34
whether the concentration of power will ultimately be bad for consumers. It has nothing to [ __ ] do with how much
00:48:39
LGBTQ content you think incorrectly has been incorporated into kids content. And
00:48:45
to see all of a sudden these Republican lawmakers start talking about media bias
00:48:50
and free speech, it's just insane. It's like, okay, how much money are you
00:48:55
getting from the Ellisons who don't want to do what you do in a capitalist society and just pay more for the prize
00:49:01
you want? So, this politicization or weapon is a the Trump should have nothing to do with any of this. He
00:49:09
should be Oh, well, as far as I understand, highest bidder wins and I appointed the FTC and the DOJ to do a
00:49:13
review. >> Yeah, >> that's it. >> Even the shifted he shifted. He shifts
00:49:18
on everything depending on who gives him money. But that's, you know, >> Yeah. So, I don't I hope that and by the
00:49:24
way, I've said and I talked to Ted Sandos over the weekend. I've said I hope neither of them get it. I think
00:49:29
there's too much concentration of power here. I don't think I don't think one
00:49:33
man should control Tik Tok, CBS News, and CNN. And I also don't think Ted should control what is kind of I call it
00:49:40
the Walmart of content with Netflix and the LVMH, HBO. I'm like ultimately that'll give you too much pricing power.
00:49:46
It'll be good for shareholders. So, I would, if I were on your board, I would
00:49:48
tell you to do exactly what you're doing. But we don't need one man owning
00:49:53
Tik Tok, CBS, and uh CNN, and we don't need one person owning HBO, and >> it's not one I mean, Ted is not the
00:50:01
Ellison. The Ellison are own >> Well, one company, but they'll all be focused on
00:50:04
>> you. You get my meaning here. >> I get it. Except that the Ellison's have
00:50:08
promised to change of of all the people that are actually trying to change it. The Ellison have promised Trump they'll
00:50:14
make CNN. >> Netflix is the least political. Correct. Their bias is more subscribers and
00:50:18
shareholder value. That's what their bias is. >> The Ellison seem to have more of a
00:50:24
>> quote unquote political scale. >> Yeah. Yeah. More of a political bias.
00:50:27
Although at some point they're going to have to be what I don't get. You know
00:50:31
what they've really missed and I told Ted this on Saturday and he's just not
00:50:35
like this cuz he's too much of kind of like a gentleman farmer. It if if Netflix wanted to go gangster, they'd do
00:50:42
the following. They'd get every single labor union in Hollywood to recognize
00:50:47
one fact. If Netflix takes over, let's assume one of them gets it. If Netflix
00:50:53
takes over uh Time Warner, I think employment will be flat, maybe to a little bit down. If the Ellison's get
00:51:02
this thing at the price they're going to have to pay for it, and they're kind of
00:51:04
ground zero for AI, do you know what's going to happen to the the employees at
00:51:10
these companies? >> Yes, I do. Dad is going to say, "All right, we've got to figure out a way to
00:51:15
justify this cost. By the way, I am huge into compute and inference and I'm buddies with Sam Alman. I have no love
00:51:23
for Brian Cranston or these directors or these precious screenwriters or script writers at Spongebob Squarepants. How
00:51:30
can we use AI to take out which they've talked about 80% >> that is their big calling card even
00:51:36
though hey writers grilled hey uh AFTA and SAG do you realize the literally the ass
00:51:43
[ __ ] and not the good kind you are about to get if the Ellison's and AI have to justify the the price that Zazz
00:51:52
has been able to get. >> Larry's numbers are off rather significantly too. He's lost billions
00:51:57
and billions. He's way down. I mean, he doesn't have the extra money to spend.
00:52:01
So, they're really going to cut. They're really going to because this is a
00:52:04
ridiculous extravagance for them. This is an extravagance. This is a yacht that they're buying. Um, I would agree. But
00:52:12
on that topic, the FCC under, you know, village idiot Brendan Carr has launched a probe into the view. The FCC is
00:52:19
investigating whether the show broke equal time rules for interviewing political candidates after the show
00:52:23
interviewed Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Telerico. Uh, I I think what the view should do is invite
00:52:30
Brendan Carr on and have them eat him, all those ladies, cuz they would take him apart bit by bit. Another thing
00:52:36
that's stupid. Like just stupid. Like what are you doing? This is not making
00:52:40
the airwaves safer for anybody or better or more fair. This is just you playing politics for your next job, you dumbass.
00:52:48
All right, that's all I have to say about branding car. Your thoughts? >> We need an FDC and a DOJ that do their
00:52:54
job. >> FCC, but go ahead. Yeah. >> Well, okay. whatever the same above. I
00:52:59
these aren't supposed to be weapons of enriching the president and his allies.
00:53:03
>> Yep. >> This is all the same. This is all cut from, you know, the same cloth here.
00:53:08
These are supposed to be independent agencies. They think about the consumer. Also think about shareholder value. Also
00:53:13
think about the health of US markets. But again, it's the boring [ __ ] nobody
00:53:17
wants to talk about. The our markets have become way too consolidated. And the result is they have way too much
00:53:23
pro. We, you know, we have, we have two good schools in every major city. We need five. They need to be competing
00:53:28
with I just went through this early admissions [ __ ] They quote unquote take the admissions rate from 9% to 14%.
00:53:34
So, we all go early admissions. Do you know what that means? >> What? >> I'm sorry. Early decision.
00:53:39
>> It means if you get in, you have to go. What What do you think happens if you
00:53:43
The deal is the following. And this happened with my son. You pick one school, they they tempt you with a
00:53:48
higher admissions rate. If you get in, you have to immediately withdraw all applications from every other
00:53:55
university. What does that do? It gives you no pricing power. You can't ask for
00:54:00
financial aid. You can't ask for a scholarship. So, what do they get to do? They get to increase their prices faster
00:54:07
than inflation, which education has done. And by the way, the agency that provides accreditation such that you can
00:54:12
get debt from the government, low interest debt to pay for your student loans, has not admitted almost any new
00:54:19
universities. So, in every major city, there are two great schools and that's
00:54:23
it. That's it. >> Did the Galloways just get the bill for school? I just think
00:54:28
>> Jesus Christ. >> I know. I know. I'm almost >> It's lucky I'm a rich man. I sat my son
00:54:33
down yesterday. >> I'm on my last couple couple of >> I want to give you a lesson in tuition
00:54:39
and what it means to pay for tuition and post tax dollars and how much this meal
00:54:43
plan is going to cost you and just how ridiculously blessed you are. By the way, be [ __ ] nicer to your mother
00:54:49
after I go through these numbers with you. >> It is. Do you realize >> the gall?
00:54:57
>> When you think about the means of getting ahead and the means of establishing a family and saving, you
00:55:02
think about education, you think about housing. And what has my generation done? They have purposely created
00:55:07
scarcity such that the houses and the degrees we already own skyrocket in value, which is absolutely [ __ ] young
00:55:14
people. How on earth does any middle class family send a good but not freakishly remarkable kid to college
00:55:20
these days? How does that happen? And then you know one of the reason you know one of the reasons why these gambling
00:55:26
sites are booming and gaming is booming because if you're not saving for a house, you're more inclined to buy
00:55:31
crypto or do stupid [ __ ] with your money and you're less inclined to stay in a
00:55:35
relationship or taking a risk on a relationship because you're not saving for a house or building anything.
00:55:39
>> Yes indeed. Yes indeed. I did do a 529 many many years ago for the boys and I
00:55:44
was very aggressive and I was glad I was. The stock market did well and was able to pay for their college using
00:55:49
that. But I have to say it's not I know sometimes those 529s aren't the way to
00:55:52
go but that's what I did and it worked out for me. But God >> I got the tuition my this I'm like I
00:55:58
said to my son I'm like this is a state school. Wait, hold on. What's going on
00:56:02
here? This is a state school. >> I know you haven't even gotten food and
00:56:05
living. >> Oh my god. >> I know. I know. Welcome. You know what? I'm going to go down there with you when
00:56:10
you go visit him. >> Oh, we're going to have so much fun. >> So much fun.
00:56:13
>> We're going to the UVA We're going to go to the UVA Cal game. It's going to be
00:56:16
amazing. >> I'm coming down there. I love UVA. >> Oh, it's going to be a ton of fun. Um
00:56:20
>> he's already told me I told him last night I'm coming down to the UVA Cal
00:56:23
game. You know what he said? No. >> Like, oh, that's going to be funny. He's
00:56:25
like, I don't know if I can get you tickets to the football game. I don't
00:56:27
know. >> Doesn't matter. We just want to come down. We ride horses. >> Something tells me I'm going to I'm
00:56:32
going to figure out a way to get my own ticket. He's already making excuses.
00:56:35
He's already envisioning me embarrassing him in front of his friends. He's
00:56:39
already trying to discourage me from coming to a football game next seme or in fall. Yeah. Anyways, we're going
00:56:44
down. >> All right, we're going. Scott and I are riding our horses down there. All right,
00:56:48
one more quick break. We'll be back for wins and fails. >> Support for the show comes from Wix.
00:56:54
When you're building a website, finding a creative flow feels great. You're
00:56:57
spitballing aesthetics, functionality, a growing list of ideas, but then you think, "Okay, how do I actually make
00:57:02
this happen?" If that's where you get stuck, then look no further than Wix.
00:57:05
You can make a greatl looking website with Wix and you can do it your way. Whether you want AI to jump in or you
00:57:10
prefer to do things yourself, Wix is packed with actually useful AI features and agents built specifically for SMB so
00:57:17
you can grow your business without burning out. Get a custom readytouse website in minutes with Wix's AI website
00:57:22
builder or choose from designer made templates. Get built-in solutions tailored to your business from ecom to
00:57:27
services and you can rest easy knowing that your Wix site is backed by 99.99% uptime and enterprisegrade security. No
00:57:33
add-ons required. And enjoy easy, fussfree domain registration, web hosting included. 280 million businesses
00:57:40
around the world rely on Wix for their websites. Because with Wix, you can own your individuality, create freely, and
00:57:45
scale fearlessly. Ready to create your website? Go to wix.com. That's wix.com.
00:57:53
Okay, Scott, let's hear some wins and fails. I think I'll go first. My fail as
00:57:58
always, Elon seems to be abandoning his plans to go to Mars. He posted over the weekend that SpaceX has shifted his
00:58:04
priorities to build a self-growing city on the moon in order to get to Mars so that we can save the human race. This
00:58:11
guy changes his tune so much. It's just like, oh my god, when are you gonna stop
00:58:17
believing this nonsense? He's done an amazing job with the things he's had
00:58:21
here on Earth, but not not compared to the lies he tells about what he's going
00:58:25
to be doing in the future. But he's going to the moon, folks. So, that's
00:58:28
what he's doing. Again, sounds good. He should go. I think it's a great idea.
00:58:34
More Elon Off the Planet, the better. Sounds great. My win is I got Scott Galloway to watch Heiden Rivalry.
00:58:43
How'd you like it, Scott? I did it on edibles when I was jetlagged and I am rethinking everything, Cara.
00:58:50
I'm absolutely rethinking everything. I I thought it was I thought it was wonderful. I really um it's just really
00:58:59
well done and I think it's important. I think young people need to have more
00:59:04
sex and I think >> there's a lot of sex in it. >> Oh my god, crazy sex.
00:59:11
>> Um >> well, sex is their way to get to intimacy. You do see that, right? That's
00:59:15
how they >> Well, dudes use sex for intimacy. Women use intimacy for No, wait. Women use sex
00:59:19
for intimacy. Men's use intimacy. I did some of it kind of shocked me and like I
00:59:24
immediately had to go to that lesbian series just to get my mojo back. >> Yeah, a little bit. Little bit. Um,
00:59:31
>> I'll tell you interesting. I interviewed the creators. You should go with that.
00:59:35
They're Canadian, right? >> The Canadians. Yeah. Yeah. >> Yeah. I want to do an erotic drama about
00:59:39
the behind thescenes going on of the world's best bad mitten team. >> That's what everyone's saying. Like
00:59:45
they're like, "What about rugby? What about this?" Can I make one other
00:59:48
observation? I think one of the things about it, and then you can get your win and fails, is that there's this there
00:59:53
was one of the things they said in the interview, and I think there was this whole incredible market of people who
00:59:57
like this particular book series. It's a romance novel for women, right? This is
01:00:02
a women, straight women oriented romance novel that was hugely popular. And one thing they're like, how could it miss
01:00:09
when it had such a massive market of fans and people ignore these markets? And that's that's one of the reasons
01:00:16
it's already caught on with everybody else. But the initial strength of it was
01:00:20
for this romance novel market that that all these sort of guys that are like greenlighting things did not understand.
01:00:28
And I thought that was a real win for smart creators who understood who understand where there is fan bases in
01:00:35
market. So I thought that was it. I talked a lot about the business of heated rivalry with these guys. Um and
01:00:40
so I thought that was it's just a real win on a business point of view too. All
01:00:44
right. Your wins and fails. >> Yeah. And I go I come back to um when I was thinking about a heated
01:00:54
rivalry because everyone's asking me what do you think about rival? Um I think a decent place to start an entire
01:01:02
political platform or guidance for um a political system, an economic system. It sounds corny. It's love. And that is
01:01:13
all right. If if people can't make enough money in a lowemployment economy such that they're so stressed out they
01:01:20
can't raise their kids well that economic policy is getting in the way of love and we need to revisit it. If the
01:01:27
divorce rates are skyrocketing because of economic anxiety and because 40% of of households have medical debt that's
01:01:35
getting in the way of love. We need we need to stop it. If if any sort of discrimination is
01:01:40
stopping people from loving each other, committing to each other, and I think marriage is a good thing because it, you
01:01:46
know, it stops you from exiting relationships just because they both have outdoor plumbing that's getting in
01:01:51
the way of love. I think you could reduce I think the whole nation, the whole idea of a a prosperous nation, we
01:01:57
tend to think it's the S&P. It's not. It's someone's ability to find someone
01:02:01
else and to share their life with them and notice each other's life. And that's
01:02:06
why I'm I I think the sex recession among young people is absolutely terrible. And I also think about all the
01:02:12
men I grew up with who basically imposed society imposed on them a set of rules and standards that said you're not
01:02:19
supposed to be in love because your your inclinations towards love are to are perverted according to our laws. But I
01:02:26
think you could literally start from the notion of love or connecting with someone economically, spiritually,
01:02:32
psychologically, financially and reverse engineer into what makes good uh public
01:02:38
policy. >> Yeah. >> Anyway, >> there you go. Love, sweet love. That's
01:02:41
what bad said. >> That's my platform. >> That was what he said. Love. Okay. Okay.
01:02:46
Wins and veils. Okay. So, my win, my win, I'm trying to bring attention to some younger creators who I just think
01:02:53
are outstanding. And I consistently find myself on this one creators. I brought up Kylo Scanland, this young uh uh it's
01:03:01
got to be 26 female economists who I keep bringing on uh PropG. Uh but recently I find myself just absolutely
01:03:09
obsessed with this guy on Tik Tok named Gio Husar and he talks about economics and
01:03:17
geopolitics and he'll go deep into the weapon systems of Ukraine versus Russia
01:03:22
and while the oil infrastructure for Russia's collapsing he'll talk about the
01:03:27
Fed and interest rates and this guy is just so it's like the eighth grade kid
01:03:33
who was kind of introverted and good at math. and he's found Tik Tok and he's just
01:03:38
[ __ ] fascinating and he does you can tell he just does the work and so much of my thought uh leadership or my views
01:03:46
on economics and geopolitics are informed by this guy's amazing work. So people are consistently asking me where
01:03:54
what are my sources of information. I get a lot, I gotta be honest, I get a lot from social media. And this one guy
01:03:59
on TikTok, Gio, the Gioar for geopolitics and economics is a gift. And it's also, to be clear, a real
01:04:08
endorsement of these platforms. He's not he's not um, you know, he's not Dan
01:04:14
Rather or he doesn't have, you know, he's not um, Brian Williams. He doesn't
01:04:19
have that polish. He just does the math and he's sort of unafraid. Anyway, my
01:04:24
win is Gio Husar. Uh, he's fantastic. Check out his content. My loss is the following. I I've I get criticism for
01:04:36
too easily comparing uh the Nazis to the Trump administration. And what I do think is
01:04:45
fair though is looking at kind of latestage Weimar Republic and what was going on then in the Trump
01:04:50
administration. And some of the things we share were a secret police loyal to one man, not to an institution. A
01:04:57
collapse in the cultural and economic standing of middle class men. Back then it was about industrial
01:05:02
industrialization and automation. Now I would say it's about AI. This notion
01:05:06
that the enemy wasn't abroad but it was the enemy within. The fact that we started shipping people to different
01:05:14
sites outside of the country where they had some sort of legal protection. Uh what we also had in the 30s was a lot of
01:05:21
the people in power very purposely started comparing um undesirabs or their enemies whether
01:05:29
it was gypsies or socialists or trade unionists or Jews. They started comparing them purposely to animals.
01:05:37
And when I saw the president this week compare the Obamas, President Obama and First Lady Obama to animals to apes.
01:05:49
You know, we have seen this before. When you normalize the dehumanization of people based on their ethnicity or on
01:05:56
their beliefs or on their religion, you have to shut that [ __ ] down right away. And the notion that, oh, he didn't
01:06:05
see it or you can't take him literally. Well, okay. What would you know? The 60
01:06:11
million people who died in World War II would like a word. When the president of
01:06:16
the United States is referring to past presidents and people who have been an absolute blessing to this society, when
01:06:23
he starts comparing them to animals, we are 1930s Germany. It has never been accepted before in our society. We have
01:06:33
never normalized it. We have never allowed it. And this individual is talking about he's referred to his
01:06:40
political enemies as vermin as animals. And so all of the notion that more Republicans have not stepped up and said
01:06:51
we just can't have this. We cannot go back. We cannot be like Germany. You can't have democratically elected
01:06:59
leaders referring to their political enemies as animals. And so my fail is that so many people seem to be making
01:07:07
excuses for it than not checking back on it. This is a different level of danger
01:07:13
when we start convincing people. And we need Republicans here. Democrats will always find reasons for why everything
01:07:20
Trump does is wrong. If at some point Republicans, you know, John Thun, who I think is a good man, if he doesn't stand
01:07:26
up and say, "You can't equate our political enemies with animals."
01:07:32
>> Do that like Tom Tillis when they're not running again, then they get then they
01:07:36
>> Well, then they find their balls. >> Yep. Yep. >> Anyways, my win is the Gioar. My loss is
01:07:41
the normalization of referring to people as animals. It leads to very dark places.
01:07:47
>> Yeah, I think your comparison is just mine. But anyway, uh before we go,
01:07:51
listen up. You if you have a juicy situation you'd like our advice on, call us at 85551
01:07:58
pivot, think work, dating, family, finance, make it juicy, people. This is not career advice ask. This is I want to
01:08:04
date my coworker or I made a huge financial decision. I regret type ask. We want something a little more
01:08:10
personal. Um we can't wait to hear from you on that. and elsewhere in the Cara
01:08:14
and Scott universe. For the last episode of On, I spoke with longtime defense attorney Abby Lol, who is representing
01:08:19
some of the most high-profile targets of the Trump administration right now. People like New York Attorney General
01:08:24
Leticia James, Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, and independent journalist Don Lemon. And to and this is very much
01:08:31
to Scott's last point. Let's listen to a clip. >> I don't know that I thought that them
01:08:35
going after Don Lemon was their highest priority. Right. >> I should have known better because what
01:08:40
we know about this administration is they're very good at basically saying if
01:08:45
this is my right hand, pay attention to it while I do something with my left. They are the administration of
01:08:50
distraction. >> Okay, that's the show. Thanks for listening to Pivot. Be sure to like and
01:08:54
subscribe to our YouTube channel. We'll be back on Friday.