Pivot · May 28, 2021

Russia crackdown on social media, Amazon buys MGM, and is 5G worth the hype?

Automatic transcript of the end of the episode, from 38:19. Speakers are labeled by software and may contain errors. Highlighted passages are Scott’s predictions.

Scott Galloway · 38:19 Are gonna do really well, which is to focus on... And I told you my story. I was I was asked to come speak to a bunch of Verizon people, and I said, well, okay. All I'm gonna tell them is double down on five g and lose the media assets. And they called me back and told me that they had a change in scheduling and no longer wanted me to speak there. Kara Swisher · 38:34 It's like they just took your advice. No. They didn't need to pay you to be there to tell them something they did themselves. Scott Galloway · 38:39 Well, they'd already decided, and they're like, we don't need this guy to stand up and tell 40% of the people in the room they're about to get sold or fired. So... But, anyways, I... I'm excited about five g. I don't I I don't know exactly what it means, but that's the wonderful thing about technology is we trust people faster. And you mentioned electricity. It's interesting. Electricity, you don't think, oh, I've gotta upgrade my electricity. Do you? You don't think, oh, faster electricity. Kara Swisher · 39:02 Like like, wildfires in California or, you know, hurricanes or things like that. They're they're gonna be shuttling down electricity in California. It's gonna be problematic for the Evan Newsom because Scott Galloway · 39:12 I'm getting a generator. Mostly because I like to embarrass the rival dads and talk about my generator. Kara Swisher · 39:16 Closet of apocalypse? Is that another thing you're doing? Just My brother is Florida. Scott Galloway · 39:20 There are hurricanes. I'm getting a big ass generator. Kara Swisher · 39:22 All right. Okay. Get it. Scott Galloway · 39:23 From Kohler. Didn't even know they made generators. Speaking of Do know I did the other plan? Day? You want to talk about a strong move? The other day, I explained crypto to a rival dad in front of his family. That's a strong move. That's a strong move. Kara Swisher · 39:36 What is this crypto, Scott? Can see those words. Scott Galloway · 39:38 Then I pulled out my and then I pulled out my leaf blower. Boom. Kara Swisher · 39:42 Just one of the things that's important to keep in mind here that it... Most of the five g patents are not owned by US companies. Qualcomm's the biggest player, but the others are Huawei, obviously, Samsung, LG, Nokia, Ericsson, and Qualcomm. But US does not have dominance here, and that's been a political issue too. And then there's all these controversies around the health, like, that there's all these conspiracy theories around it, which also come along. Bill Gates is related to one of them or whether he's trying to put different things in your brain and stuff like that. So it's it's a really... It's a it's a really interesting time. I I have to say it is critically important. The hype is worth it. Anyway, let's get to one more quick break, and we'll be back for predictions. [Ad break] — Predictions segment begins — Kara Swisher · 42:00 Okay, Scott. What is your prediction? We've been very good. We talked about MGM being bought by Amazon. We've talked about... What was the other one we got right? You were noting something. Scott Galloway · 42:08 So back when Peloton, the recall of the treadmills, the stock dove to I think 63, and we predicted that it would be back to 100 within thirty days. And we were wrong, it was back to 100 within seventeen days. See? That was... So we got that one right. We talked to the SEC. We're actually on a roll here. Yeah. Let's What throw up on Kara Swisher · 42:28 have we got wrong? Anything? Scott Galloway · 42:30 No. We get a lot wrong. Kara Swisher · 42:31 Yeah. We just forget it. Move on. Scott Galloway · 42:33 Yeah. Well known. Twitter will have a new CEO. Tesla's stock will be cut in half, Kara. You heard it here. Kara Swisher · 42:42 You know, the day that happens, you'll totally say I got it right. You know you know that. Scott Galloway · 42:46 Just wait long enough. Just wait long enough. Winter is coming. Kara Swisher · 42:49 Okay. Scott Galloway · 42:49 Okay. So the thing that I that I don't think anyone's talking about, and I love... I don't know if I love corporate governance, but I'm fascinated by shareholder classes. And one of the things that Stankey wanted because he wanted to monetize his Time Warner assets to the greatest extent possible is he wanted a company, the NewCo, the spin, to have one class of stock. Because generally speaking, two class shareholder companies gives too much power to people who may not share the same interests as shareholders. Right. And they oftentimes, at least theoretically, trade as a discount to single single stock companies because single stock companies can be taken over so that that acquisition premium is sort of already built in. Kara Swisher · 43:27 Sure. Scott Galloway · 43:27 So Stankey demanded that the NewCo have a single class of shares. Mhmm. And this is what is gonna, I believe, play out. And that is the requisite investments that NewCo, Discovery, whatever they're calling it, Discovery Plus, Discovery Communications is gonna have to make to show that they're a player and meet the expectations around subscriber growth around streaming is gonna require such an extraordinary investment that NewCo is gonna have... Is gonna miss on earnings. And that is they're running around promising everything. They're promising that we'll be able to hold on to our ad revenue and pulse a subscriber service. They're promising everybody everything. Oh, you like the consistent profits of a declining sector that's in... A company that's... Excuse me. A business model that's in secular decline, specifically the advertising cable industrial complex. Fine. We'll hold on to that. But you also want the great taste, the growth of a of a streaming service. Guess Kara Swisher · 44:25 what, boss? Scott Galloway · 44:26 You can't have both. That requires an extraordinary investment. They will have to go through this valley of death. They will throw up in their second or third earnings call. The stock will go down, and this company is gonna be put in play by Comcast or someone else who will come in and become a larger shareholder. Kara Swisher · 44:40 Oh, more complex. Why don't they just come in now? Because they can't. The open? Get the Zelle in the open? Scott Galloway · 44:46 My understanding is the deal is pretty airtight. But once it's a once it's a publicly traded stock and and, Kara, it's a single class, it'll be the... Think about this. NewCo or Discovery is about to become the only media company in the world over a $10,000,000,000 market capitalization that is in play, that someone could come in and buy. No other com... No one can buy Amazon. No one can buy Disney. Yeah. I mean, this is... It becomes the only media asset A Kara Swisher · 45:15 tasty treat, and David Zaslow gets rich. Scott Galloway · 45:17 Yes. That that someone could come in and buy. So you're gonna see, in my opinion, they've overpromised. They're gonna have to take EBITDA projections down. The existing shareholder base that is sort of neither here nor there. I I don't know if this is a shareholder base that wants wants slow but steady growth or wants the fast growth, but but but losses of streaming. The shareholder base will shake out. You'll see the stock, punt or throw up, and then you're gonna all of a sudden see a d or an f filing by a Comcast or someone else. Another media company is about to become the Kara Swisher · 45:51 biggest Internet company. Amazon took the step. Scott Galloway · 45:53 Fair point. Kara Swisher · 45:54 Amazon took the step, and they're taking it. They must have made the calculation that they could Scott Galloway · 45:57 This be story has not been written. Kara Swisher · 45:59 This has not... We keep saying that. This is ridiculous. This is a ridiculous price for this thing. You and I should make a bid. What do you say? — Predictions segment ends — Scott Galloway · 46:05 I'm in. Kara Swisher · 46:06 We would be good medium. We would be so Scott Galloway · 46:08 I got some Doja coin. Kara Swisher · 46:09 Canceled. We would be so canceled in general. Scott Galloway · 46:11 Doja coin. Kara Swisher · 46:12 But we we could run around and offend the broccolis. Like, we keep Scott Galloway · 46:15 I got a Discover card with no limits. No cash limit. Kara Swisher · 46:18 Way? You would do that, wouldn't you? Scott Galloway · 46:19 2% cash back. Kara Swisher · 46:21 Yeah. If I was a Hollywood, I wanna be the crazy one. Just say crazy things all the time. Did I tell you my Hollywood story if I was a mogul? Scott Galloway · 46:28 No. Like, please. Kara Swisher · 46:29 Would you like to hear it? So a friend of mine was the was the showrunner and creator of The L Word. And so I went up to Vancouver where they were taping it. Mhmm. Scott Galloway · 46:38 Is that like a dream come true for you? A trip to Vancouver to see the filming of The L Word? Kara Swisher · 46:42 Yes. They're very nice. I love the cast. Jennifer Beals. I like them all. They're such lovely people. Anyway What a feeling. I love her. Scott Galloway · 46:49 Jennifer... That Jennifer Beals? Kara Swisher · 46:50 Yes. That Jennifer. She's lovely. I'll introduce you to her someday. She's really a Scott Galloway · 46:53 lovely person. Handle it. I just couldn't help Kara Swisher · 46:55 good egg. She's a good egg. I met Jane Lynch there. Scott Galloway · 46:57 I met Kara Swisher · 46:57 all kinds of people. Scott Galloway · 46:57 I love Jane Lynch. Kara Swisher · 46:59 She's the best. Scott Galloway · 46:59 My god. Jane Lynch. Kara Swisher · 47:00 She's the Scott Galloway · 47:01 are gonna be friends. She just doesn't know. Kara Swisher · 47:02 I will I will will maybe Scott Galloway · 47:04 Jane Lynch. I don't know. I love Jane Lynch. Kara Swisher · 47:06 She's in marvelous missus Maisel, by way. She's amazing. So so, anyway, so she... So I'm... I had a great time there. But when I was on the set, one of the things was I needed Internet access. At the time, Internet access wasn't Scott Galloway · 47:18 Were you a special consultant? No. A lesbian wears a gold chain and and yells out Kara Swisher · 47:24 Is it Eileen Jacob? Scott Galloway · 47:25 Famous lines from Dorothy episodes before I do my wife. Kara Swisher · 47:28 No. My friend Eileen Jacob is great. She's she's she's headed all kinds of hits. She's... She was empire. She's... She's in... Has another one. She's... Oh, the equalizer? One of them. I forget. One of them. She's she's got another one. I don't know if it's equalizer. Scott Galloway · 47:40 How many seasons did the l l Kara Swisher · 47:42 word Still go there. It's still going on now. It's the new l word with new lesbians, and the old ones are still there too. You gotta follow. You gotta you gotta invest in our relationship. Scott Galloway · 47:50 Literally, there's just so many jokes I just can't say right now. Literally. Literally. Kara Swisher · 47:55 My Hollywood story. Just So on the set Scott Galloway · 47:57 Read my mind. My mind, Kara Swisher · 47:59 though. Okay. And they... Of course, there's assistants running everywhere because it's, like, ridiculous, these these these hierarchies in these... On these Hollywood sets. Mhmm. And the assistant came and said, what do you want for lunch? And, you know, I'm like, whatever you have is fine. Like, I'm not like that. I'm not that kind of person. And I just wanted to see how far they'd go because I'd heard, you know, you could get any. You could ask for... You know, you ask for anything. And I said, I'd like a shark sandwich. And she was like, what? And I said, a shark sandwich. And she's... She... Instead of saying, what the fuck are you talking about, lady Scott Galloway · 48:28 Give me a minute. She said, give me a minute. Kara Swisher · 48:29 Okay. On what bread? I go, obviously, ciabatta. Like, was like, what are you talking? And with aioli, come on. Get on board. A shark sandwich. And she literally started to go to try to find one. And I stopped her. Was like, please, if someone asks you for a shark sandwich, never get it. A turkey sandwich is Scott Galloway · 48:47 fine. Okay. I'm gonna go out on a limb here, but I'm gonna ask the next time you have a behind the scenes story about filming, at the l word that it's a little bit more exciting than the sandwich you ordered. I mean, don't build up my hope and my expectations like that. Jennifer Beale's l word behind the scenes story. That was all working. Kara Swisher · 49:06 She's so nice. She's the nicest person. Alright. Here's... I'll give you Jennifer Beale's. She... I took her around at CES one year, and we kept pretending she was an eBay executive. That was really nice. She's stunningly beautiful and lovely and smart and everything. But we kept putting her off as an eBay executive the whole weekend. Scott Galloway · 49:23 That was Kara Swisher · 49:24 that was some fun. Scott Galloway · 49:25 That was Kara Swisher · 49:25 a fun time. Okay. That's it. That's my all story. Scott Galloway · 49:28 No, grandma. Tell us more stories about you at the l word set. Jesus Christ. Snooze around. Kara Swisher · 49:35 Anyway, you should watch the l word. You... Together, we'll watch. I'll come to Florida. It'll be really fun. That's what we should watch instead of the Boston You know, Scott Galloway · 49:41 that's just so fucking weird. You and me watching the l word together. Seriously. No. You know what you do? You... You're gonna come down here, and we're gonna watch I dream a genie. Kara Swisher · 49:49 Okay. Scott Galloway · 49:50 Genie, go to your bottle. Kara Swisher · 49:51 Oh my god. Scott Galloway · 49:53 Master. Yes, master. Kara Swisher · 49:55 I wonder if MGI Scott Galloway · 49:56 watched that. Two hours of I Dream of Genie. Kara Swisher · 49:59 Who owns I Dream of Genie? Scott Galloway · 50:01 I don't know. By the way, I sat next to Barbara Eden on my interview at Morgan Wright. She's a lovely woman. Smart. Nice. Kara Swisher · 50:07 The IP for I Dream... Now that could be something Jeff Bezos could get into. Who owns the Scott Galloway · 50:13 That's our entree into the media world. Kara Swisher · 50:16 Who owns it? NBC. Scott Galloway · 50:18 The jungle cat dog Spak has announced the acquisition of the IP to I Dream of Genie and the a team. And we couldn't get the l word, but we're starting something called the m word. Yeah. Alright. We gotta close this out. Kara Swisher · 50:31 We gotta digressing for Scott Galloway · 50:33 us. Kara Swisher · 50:33 Scott, I'm gonna have you read the entire thing out. Scott Galloway · 50:35 So I have here, we'll be taking the long weekend. So next week's show will be published on Wednesday morning instead of Tuesday. Mhmm. That doesn't make any sense anyways. Kara Swisher · 50:44 Going to a wedding in Knoxville. Scott Galloway · 50:46 You know? Wedding in Knoxville? That sounds kinda fun. Kara Swisher · 50:49 Yeah. It's my nephew's wedding. Scott Galloway · 50:51 Should be glad it's in person. Yeah. Congratulations. What's your nephew's name? Shout him out. Give him a shout out. Kara Swisher · 50:55 Will Swisher. And he's wearing... He's marrying Lee, and they're wonderful. And I'm very excited Scott Galloway · 50:59 about Will and Lee Swisher. Congratulations. Kara Swisher · 51:01 Yeah. He's going to Harvard Law School next year. Scott Galloway · 51:03 Well, I'm sorry. He's getting married and going to Harvard? Yeah. So things aren't working out for this kid. I hate... Will, I hope things turn up for you. Yes. Don't worry, boss. Hang on there. Kara Swisher · 51:12 We're getting we're getting in the car and driving my mom, the whole gang to Knoxville. It's gonna be great. Scott Galloway · 51:17 So I'm gonna go out on a limb here, but any kid going to Harvard who's getting married in Knoxville, that'll really be one of the last things he ever does in Knoxville. Goodbye, Knoxville. This might as well be a goodbye Knoxville party. Kara Swisher · 51:27 It... It's where his lovely bride is from. Anyway, any... In any case, we'll be gone. But please send us your listener mail questions. We love them. Go to nymag.com/pivot to get a chance to be on the podcast. Scott, read us out. Scott Galloway · 51:39 Today's show was produced by Rebecca Sinanis. Ernie Intertaud engineered this episode. Thanks also to Drew Burrows. Make sure you've subscribed to the show on Apple Podcasts. Or if you're an Android user, check us out on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you like the show, please recommend it to a friend. Thanks for listening to Pivot from Box Media. We'll be back next week for another breakdown of all things tech and business. Nana, tell us more stories about you on the set. Kara Swisher · 52:01 I'm going to Dollywood. I'm going to Dollywood. It's near Knoxville. I'll tell you those stories when I get back. Scott Galloway · 52:05 Take pictures. Take pictures, Kara. Enjoy the wedding. Will. And what's his bride's name? Lee. Congratulations, Will and Lee. [Ad break] Kara Swisher · 53:18 See you Scott Galloway · 53:18 tomorrow online for details.