Scott Galloway · 27:46
From WeWork, a five or 10,000 strong person office here in New York. So, again, worst poker players in the world, governor Cuomo and mayor de Blasio, who didn't need to offer Jeff Bezos anything to come to New York. He's come to New York. He's purchased a $60,000,000 apartment, and they are hiring like crazy here with zero subsidies. So the way I see it is New York taxpayers because of the leadership of city councilman Michael Gennaro, this councilman who just said, no. This is bad. Instead of New York's taxpayers having to subsidize Jeff Bezos move to New York, it's gonna be SoftBank subsidizing it through WeWork, which is a train wreck. WeWork. By the way, my brain is literally... I can't stop it right now. What did you think? Adam Newman has sold $700,000,000 in stock.
Kara Swisher · 28:31
I don't think a lot of it.
Scott Galloway · 28:32
Oh my god.
Kara Swisher · 28:33
I've asked many people about this.
Scott Galloway · 28:35
Mother of all sell signals. Seriously. Yeah. Yeah. No. You buy my stock, but I'm gonna sell $700,000,000 worth.
Kara Swisher · 28:42
That's a lot. I think I interviewed two VCs this week, and both of them were like, that's
Scott Galloway · 28:46
That's crazy.
Kara Swisher · 28:47
They said it in a nicer way, but they were like, that seems problematic.
Scott Galloway · 28:51
Yeah. I thought he was Argentinian because he's so handsome. He's actually Israeli. I didn't know that. Okay. Yeah.
Kara Swisher · 28:57
So what is the sign that that brings? 750,000,000? Because he... They were talking about, like, giving a couple million dollars to people to buy homes Yeah. And stuff like that. This is a lot.
Scott Galloway · 29:05
This is this is, quote, unquote, our learning more... Moment. So secondary sales, and a lot has changed. Let's go big picture here. Let's go big picture.
Kara Swisher · 29:12
Alright.
Scott Galloway · 29:13
Okay. LICA on heroin. So in the nineties, entrepreneurs were seen as crazy, and we were unnecessarily evil, and we got kicked out until Bill Gates built a company to a 100,000,000,000. And Steve Jobs, after being kicked out for, quote, unquote, the gray hairs came back and then set a company on on a chart to become the most valuable company in the world. All of a sudden, entrepreneurs become key DNA, and now we have too much credit. And part of VC is differentiating themselves or their term sheets when they try and finance a small company as they say, you can take some money off the table. I did a secondary sale at l two. When we raised money, we didn't need that much. The VCs wanted to put more capital to work, but this is what we did. It wasn't so much money that we could say to somebody, well, I'm clearly not interested in this company, but it was enough money to diversify, take some chips off the table. And what the CEO of l two, that's like the big dog, said to all his employees
Kara Swisher · 29:59
What did you take out?
Scott Galloway · 30:00
To all his employees is we can all sell exactly 17% of our vested shares. And my question to all WeWork employees is the following with equity. Did Adam Neumann offer you the same opportunity to sell the exact same proportion of your shares that he sold? Because there is some validity to the notion that the innovation economy is a conspiracy between the investors and the CEOs. So WeWork employees, were you able to sell shares and diversify and buy real estate as your CEO, Adam Neumann, who tells you to show up every morning and work your ass off because he believes in a great future of a company where 700,000,000 times he has decided to get the fuck out of Dodge and sell. Yep.
Kara Swisher · 30:39
It's a lot of money. It's a lot
Scott Galloway · 30:40
of that's a lot of cabbage there.
Kara Swisher · 30:41
Even be... They shouldn't have those number. That's... It's a crazy amount of sale. It just... It it calls attention to itself. It makes people scrutinize the business plan of which you have scrutinized many times. It's just... Gives tech a bad name. And it... They did it before Groupon. Remember the Groupon sale? There was one... You know how that ended.
Scott Galloway · 30:56
Yeah. Well. Not well.
Kara Swisher · 30:58
Not well.
Scott Galloway · 30:58
So you're you're only gonna
Kara Swisher · 30:59
take out? How much is that for that nice apartment that you have? Do take out a lot of money?
Scott Galloway · 31:03
For... You mean when I took out out of L two? What do you mean? Yeah. I I did a secondary sale, and then we sold the company. Yeah. Yeah.
Kara Swisher · 31:10
Yeah. Okay. Alright. Okay. But I I think it's fine to do that on some level, but it... Been in the massive amounts. I would say I was really enjoyed, as I said, this interview with, Steve Huffman, and I really enjoyed him talking about the thing I talked about. But he also... When I interviewed him, we're gonna play a little clip. I asked him about what he thought about the inquiry, the the DOJ inquiry, and what he'd like to see in the way of tech regulation, and here is what he said.
Guest · 31:33
Would I love to see the government, like, f our largest competitors?
Kara Swisher · 31:36
Yeah. Yes. Yes. Yeah. That'd be great.
Guest · 31:39
That'd amazing.
Kara Swisher · 31:44
Okay. That's the best answer I've gotten for a long time.
Guest · 31:47
Look. I I I... Look. There's... It's a conversation
Kara Swisher · 31:50
ask your largest competitors, but go ahead.
Guest · 31:52
And I... Honestly, I hope they do it for the right reasons.
Kara Swisher · 31:55
Okay. I thought that was really smart. I think the right reasons were you don't do it because it's a partisan thing Yeah. And that you do it carefully and thought out, not just because you... You know, you're Ted Cruz and you think there's some conspiracy against conservative voices, but if they do it in a smart way in order to promote innovation and do the proper kinds of regulation. Because companies like, Steve was making the really good point. I think he was super smart about it. That, you know, here's Facebook not able to handle its content problems, and they're quantumly smaller, and they are starting to handle them or trying to get a handle on them. So I think he was trying to go against the argument that these too big to fail idea, which is I think what big companies are promoting, is just so much bullshit. And so I really enjoyed that. I thought that was a real win to think about it that way, and I hope people in in Washington understand how to do it correctly. I'm not sure they can do it in this mental state. Yep. You know what I mean? That they're in in Washington with the partisanship, but that's a win. Okay. A fail this week? God. There's so many things. Just these hearings. Yep. I just think it didn't get through what needed to get through, which are the critical things, and we are gonna continue to... It just feels like this one upmanship with these idiot tweets back and forth, and it gives people a sense that, you know, you're sort of in an endless game of, like, Star Wars, an endless movie of loop Star Wars, and Darth Vader keeps winning. And so I think it takes the energy out of people for fresh new ideas. So I think that's, that's the problem. I feel these some days... You know, like you said, waking up. I don't wanna hear about dear leader anymore. I wanna just do something good.
Scott Galloway · 33:23
Yeah. So my win is, Jane Meyer, this piece in The New Yorker. And I think it hopefully has catalyzed the important conversation we need to have around calibration around this issue. I was on Yahoo Finance last week, and they had pictures. And it said scandal. And they put up pictures of all these CEOs who had been forced to resign. And one of them had been guilty of a consensual relationship with a woman who worked at a vendor, which was inappropriate. He didn't disclose it. Conflict of interest, he was fired. And another CEO on the screen was inviting women into his office and then attacking them. And, you know, there's a difference. There's a difference. Yeah. And I feel as if we're finally starting. And, also, you know, it's really... Democrats, we never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. Who do you think the most effective voice against Donald Trump is right now in the Democratic Party?
Kara Swisher · 34:11
Oh, I don't know. There's different ones. Different people are different times. Who's the most effective? Nobody. Nobody.
Scott Galloway · 34:22
I think Al Franken would be the most effective voice against Donald Trump right now. And what have we done? We had a guy who... I don't know what he did, if he played grab ass, if he didn't, if he should be stripped of his committee or not. Clearly, there was some inappropriate behavior. But the most effective voice against a guy who's been accused 21 separate times, 21 separate times, and we have taken him out of circulation. And it's just what on earth are we Democrats thinking removing Al Franken? What on earth were we thinking? I just it's a talk about idiocy. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot and then sticking your gun in the mouth. Anyways, my win is Jane Mayer and for her article in the New Yorker. I thought it was a... I I I thought it was a really thoughtful piece.
— Predictions segment begins —
Kara Swisher · 35:03
Yeah. I was talking to the editor of Recode this week. Going back to stories is always... Like, did it really happen that way? And really doing a smart later take is something journalists don't do enough, but I thought that was perfect. And Jane has done a lot of really amazing reporting on me too also. Right? By the way, FYI, so has the New Yorker around the very serious behaviors by, Harvey Weinstein and everybody else. You know, Ronan Farrow did a whole bunch of that. So, anyway, so I, like, I agree with you. That was a great piece. Now prediction, Scott, you sort of made one, but you were right twice. You were right twice.
Scott Galloway · 35:34
Why don't
Kara Swisher · 35:35
you tell us how you... How right
Scott Galloway · 35:36
Go on. I'm sorry. Say
Kara Swisher · 35:37
more. Of all.
Scott Galloway · 35:38
Say more.
Kara Swisher · 35:39
But go ahead first on Lion King made almost $600,000,000 worldwide so far, even though looks pretty creepy. Disney is review proof, as you said so. Is correct.
Scott Galloway · 35:47
The one. The the the other one was What's the other one? Was the gangster prediction. Let's pause for a moment. What did the big dog Mhmm. Well, the big dog is more thoughtful. The big dog just doesn't jump on the counter and eat that cupcake.
Kara Swisher · 35:58
He thinks. You're geopolitical, Scott. You're geopolitical. Tape? Let's go.
Speaker · 36:03
It's difficult to, it could be anything. It could be Russia deciding to, like, quote unquote, do a soft invasion of one of their neighbors. It could be another missile being launched by North Korea, another test. It could be the Iranians spinning up their uranium again. I mean, all sorts of stuff.
Scott Galloway · 36:18
I'm pretty sure it's not gonna be Canada. I'm pretty sure it's not gonna be Canada.
Kara Swisher · 36:21
Not doing so well. He might need something.
Speaker · 36:24
Yeah. Guys, that guy... I don't know. That guy's great.
Kara Swisher · 36:26
Yeah. Anyway, he might need to do something. Yeah. Might need to make some some
Speaker · 36:29
tests. Minnesota.
Scott Galloway · 36:31
That's it. Minneapolis is ours. Tomorrow belongs to me.
Kara Swisher · 36:39
Oh, good god.
Scott Galloway · 36:40
That's right. So North Korea
Kara Swisher · 36:41
to throw a Nazi, Justin Trudeau in Minnesota in one statement.
Scott Galloway · 36:45
Canadians are coming to Sean Mendes is coming to the Barclays Center, and he has me and my eight year old under a trance. That's a soft invasion. That's Putin coming to the Ukraine. Sean Mendes on tour.
Kara Swisher · 36:54
There's no Canadian troops in Minnesota right now that we know of, but, know, bingo on this. Bingo.
Scott Galloway · 37:00
One of the predictions we said was that North Korea could launch missiles. Two missiles launched. It's only gonna get worse.
Kara Swisher · 37:05
And who was in Korea at the... South Korea at the time?
Scott Galloway · 37:08
I don't know.
Kara Swisher · 37:09
National security adviser John Bolton.
Scott Galloway · 37:11
Oh my gosh.
Kara Swisher · 37:11
Who has been Talk about saying don't cooperate
Scott Galloway · 37:13
with people. Talk about waving the middle finger in the face of The US. Oh my gosh. Yeah. So, anyways, people sense weakness, and more to come. But my prediction was for this week Prediction. Was, by the end of two thousand nineteen, we're gonna see a spin, a large spin of a company that will be one of the 20, if not one of the 10 most valuable companies in the world.
Kara Swisher · 37:33
You're not gonna be more specific because that's like a real wide one. That's like saying someday you probably will have a heart attack, something like that. Give me a larger. Give me a specific one. I say it would be YouTube. What do you say?
Scott Galloway · 37:44
Tara, that hurts my feelings. That hurts my feelings.
Kara Swisher · 37:46
I want the... I want I want a name. AWS. I want a name.
Scott Galloway · 37:48
AWS. Regardless of what your your pal says... By the way, he has no input.
Kara Swisher · 37:52
Exactly pal.
Scott Galloway · 37:53
Well, Andy Jassy. Regardless of what Andy Jassy says, I think is gonna be spun.
Kara Swisher · 37:57
Alright. I'm gonna go with YouTube. Alright? So let's see what happens. Nice. There'll probably be something over at Facebook. We'll see. No. He's integrating the companies together, so you can't pull them apart. He's, like, stitching them together with really Yeah.
Scott Galloway · 38:09
They're encrypting it, and he... I think he's generally a sociopath and doesn't think... He thinks he's immune from any sort of scrutiny. I don't think he's worried at all.
— Predictions segment ends —
Kara Swisher · 38:15
Well, he did give a speech saying, now now we are accountable. He said it to his troops.
Scott Galloway · 38:20
Oh, yeah. That that showed him that showed him seven weeks of cash flow. Oh my gosh. He must be reeling. Do you realize the stock went up $8,000,000,000 in value the day that time was announced?
Kara Swisher · 38:32
Oh, I I was The Empire
Scott Galloway · 38:34
Strikes had its kind history. That's it. I'm using Instagram for four hours, not five today. I've had it. I've had it.
Kara Swisher · 38:40
I put a picture. I put a Megan Rapinoe picture on Instagram. I haven't been on there for six, eight months, and I did. Really? I just had to.
Scott Galloway · 38:46
Yeah. Yeah. I'm gonna... I'm actually gonna listen to that podcast. I'm gonna listen.
Kara Swisher · 38:51
It's Monday. You'll love it. She's a lot of fun. She's very fun. She tried really hard not to curse in front of... There's a lot of children there. There... It was an event, and there was a lot of people brought their kids, and he tried might... I... Me too. He tried mightily not to curse it, and we both failed at that. But otherwise... Yeah. Good. I mean, lesbians are a pretty tough crew. It's really... We're doing rather well. Anyway, we've gotta go. I was sent a Jeff Bezos doll this week. I don't know why, but it arrived at my house along with a small robot. So I'm gonna go play with that right now anyway. I'm only using
Scott Galloway · 39:20
I got the same one. I got... Someone sent me the same as the one who looks really buff, and he's, like, in a down vest.
Kara Swisher · 39:25
And he has a robot on. A listening device that we've... Is now in our home. That's what I think is happening. Jeff Bezos is listening via his voodoo doll device.
Scott Galloway · 39:34
Yeah. I don't know. That guy's jacked. That guy's definitely, like, oh, another billion, another cycle of Android or whatever the athletes say. Anyways Yeah. Kara, where are gonna be this week?
Kara Swisher · 39:44
Anyway, I want you to listen to Jason Delray's new Amazon podcast called Land of the Giants.
Scott Galloway · 39:47
Oh, he's the guy who wrote the four. Right? Oh, no. That was me. Thanks for asking me to host that fucking podcast. Yeah. Jason
Kara Swisher · 39:53
You know what?
Scott Galloway · 39:54
Jason, want... Who gives
Kara Swisher · 39:55
a shit? Which one do you want? You'll get on Facebook, and we'll figure
Scott Galloway · 39:58
it What does he have other than credibility, looks, and journalistic integrity? Write a book. Write a book and then call
Kara Swisher · 40:04
me about Big host one if you want. It's a very hard job. You'd have to work and stand
Scott Galloway · 40:07
with We're grabbing dinner. We're gonna interview a candidate. Tease. Tease. Tease.
Kara Swisher · 40:12
He has lots of great interviews. He interviewed Mary Meeker. He interviewed lots of people. It's gonna be He did interviews with people. You've heard of those. And I'm gonna bring you... I promise you, I'm gonna bring you into a presidential thing. So I'm I'm working on them. I think we've got a lot of them. So I'm gonna send you an... A text on the choices that you have, and you have to show up and do the interview
Scott Galloway · 40:30
with That could be literally one of the weakest flexes in the world. I could end up in a room with, like, self help guru Tulsi Gabriele, whatever the hell her name is. And she could talk to me she could talk to me about my anger. I mean, I'm sitting there like, hold me, Tulsi.
Kara Swisher · 40:41
Well, you have, like, you have selected Biden if we get him. It's not out of the question. Who else? Who do you want to say? Is he that you wanna
Scott Galloway · 40:47
I'm definitely gonna turn around and kiss him on the back of his head and say, you should take this gesture within the intention it was given to.
Kara Swisher · 40:53
Don't you touch. You are not to touch any president, Democratic presidential candidate with your body in any way. Okay? Yeah. That's gonna be the rule of interviews. Too insecure for affection.
Scott Galloway · 41:04
You will not touch
Kara Swisher · 41:05
them. Hug them. You could admire their hair if you'd like, but only verbally. Okay?
Scott Galloway · 41:10
Okay.
Kara Swisher · 41:10
We have rules at Vox Media,
Scott Galloway · 41:11
and
Kara Swisher · 41:11
that
Scott Galloway · 41:12
is I'm taking affection back, Kara. Seriously, I think there's something around males taking affection back that in our society, males who are affectionate, we're seen as one either using it as a vehicle to get sex or that it expresses some sort of homosexual tendencies, which isn't a bad thing. But you know what? I think men should take affection back. I think affection is a wonderful thing
Kara Swisher · 41:31
for in this period. What are
Scott Galloway · 41:33
you We're not allowed to be affectionate anymore. We are not allowed to be affectionate.
Kara Swisher · 41:36
Stop. The men victims. I... Listen. I was just with my 14 year old son. It's the same thing. Men are victims. I got it. I got the news. Not so
Scott Galloway · 41:44
Let's take it back.
Kara Swisher · 41:44
Not happening.
Scott Galloway · 41:45
Let's take it back. I can't wait to see you and hug you. I cannot wait to see you and hug you, Kara.
Kara Swisher · 41:49
We're gonna get to the point.
Scott Galloway · 41:50
Of that beautiful black hair.
Kara Swisher · 41:52
Touch my hair.
Scott Galloway · 41:53
Oh my god. That Megan Rapinoe hair. You have definitely got a dye at pink.
Kara Swisher · 41:56
I'm gonna have... You know, if you did that to her, you know what would happen to you. You'd get a kick, a very
Scott Galloway · 42:00
strong kick. I be way too intimidated. You should definitely dye your hair pink.
Kara Swisher · 42:04
I'm not dyeing
Scott Galloway · 42:05
would be so awesome.
Kara Swisher · 42:06
No. No? Why don't you dye your hair pink?
Scott Galloway · 42:10
Oh, go on.
Kara Swisher · 42:11
On that note, I'm gonna go. Today's show was produced by Camila Salazar and Eric Johnson. Nishat Kurwa is Pivot's executive producer. Thanks also to Eric Anderson, Rebecca Castro, and Drew Burrows. Make sure you subscribe to the show on Apple Podcast. If you like this week's episode, leave us a review. If you have any suggestions for what you wanna hear us talk about in the future show, send us an email, pivot@voxmedia.com. Thanks for listening to pivot from Vox Media. We'll be back next week for another breakdown of all things tech and business.
