Kara Swisher: Kash Patel is a “National Security Risk” | Pivot
1899 segments
I think Patel is all of the incompetence
with none of the stature or bravado. I
just think he looks stupid.
Let's get into today's news. Scott, FBI
Director Cash Patel just filed a $250
million defamation suit against The
Atlantic over an article he called a
quote hit piece. It was not a hit piece.
The Atlantic is calling the suit
meritless. The story is based on
interviews with more than two dozen
current and former officials about
Patel's time at the FBI. It alleges
excessive drinking, frequent absences,
and erratic freakouts, including over
computer signin. There were reportedly
multiple times over the past year where
Patel's security detail had trouble
waking him because he appeared to be
intoxicated. One incident involved a
request for breaching equipment, the
kind a SWAT team use, uh, after Patel
was unreachable behind locked doors. it.
This is all true, everybody. It's
repulsive when you read it. So, what do
you think's happening here? What's going
on? And as to the lawsuit,
>> look, I I think The Atlantic, my sense
is this is thoughtful reporting and his
It seems like his drinking is sort of an
open secret. It's not about alcoholism
in my view. It's incompetence. I I don't
doubt that the alcohol hurts them. But
generally speaking, this is an
incompetent person
>> who has lacks judgment, doesn't show up
for work on time,
>> panics, you know, he's so skittish. He
thinks that he thinks that he's not um
that he's being fired. I don't mind you
drinking during the week night if you
work for me, but be at work the next
morning. And if you're not drinking and
you don't show up at work, it doesn't
matter. It doesn't matter why you aren't
showing up for work. This guy doesn't
appear to be showing up.
>> Right. Right. totally focused on this
was alleging that drinking had a lot to
do with it is he drinks so much he
drinks to excess that he doesn't he's
also it creates a national security risk
which is I think why all these people
are leaking right it's not because
>> they dislike him but he also is a huge
national security risk he's also abusing
his privileges very Christine gnome here
right this is the version of Christy
Gnome and obviously it's sort of who's
going to Christy who's going to take him
down right
>> well I like the idea him and Axather
They're now referred to as the liquor
cabinet. That's a good one.
>> Yeah, there was a good one. They said a
defense secretary, uh, FBI head and a
lead prosecutor go into a bar. Oh, wait.
That happens every day. It was for
Janine Pro is the other one they were
talking about. This group is really kind
of just like so not in control of
themselves. Let me just say the LA the
one thing that really was the most
disturbing in that entire story was that
he then will try to do something to
please Trump. like try to prosecute
people who prosecuted January 6th people
or do election denial. He's going to try
to serve up like a little a little mouse
to Trump in order to save his job. And
the only thing that Trump hates is
drinking cuz his brother was an
alcoholic and died. Um but it'll be
interesting if Trump will not fire him
because of this piece, if that makes
sense.
>> Yeah. My first girlfriend was um Mexican
and an alcoholic and I she used to order
drinks called um and I asked her what
her favorite book was and she said
tequila mockingb bird.
>> Oh my god. Okay. Well, anyway, do you
think Trump will fire him?
>> Very good, isn't it?
>> I think Trump's going to fire he's going
to fire a couple of these people.
>> Three guys walking into a bar. An
alcoholic, a priest, and a child
molester.
>> And that's just the first guy.
>> All right. All right. I need your
thoughts on whether Trump's going to
fire him. All right, we're done with the
drunk jokes. Go ahead.
>> Is he going to fire?
>> Okay. According according to Okay.
>> What did you just What did you just
really
>> Okay, go ahead.
>> Everything. Um I no longer think for
myself. Um so, get this. According to
according to Kelsey, there's now a
something like a 70 or 80% chance that
um Patel is fired by June 1st. The other
one that just blew my mind, which I
would take the over under on or whatever
you call it,
>> that there's about a 70% chance that
Trump is impeached by January 1st.
>> Oh,
>> no. That Trump is impeached.
>> Oh, wow. So these markets are saying
these markets are predicting that um the
wheels are coming off uh the bus here
which you know I find uh really unlikely
here.
>> What does Scott Galloway think? Not
Cali.
>> Oh, Patel's out. But I've thought that
for a while. I think he reflects poorly.
I I think Hagath the president likes
because when He Hagsth gets up on stage
he is so strident. He's very handsome. I
think that uh Trump really values
aesthetics. He's indignant. He's back in
their face. I think Trump really likes
that. And he's very resolute.
Trump doesn't like thoughtfulness. He
likes someone who's resolute. And I
think he kind of likes that sort of
brazen, arrogant approach. I think Patel
is all of the incompetence with none of
the stature or bravado. I just think he
looks stupid
>> and he's making the Trump administration
look stupid. And also it it feels like
and I mean you know this better than me
but it feels like everyone at the FBI is
dying to get on the phone with a
reporter and [ __ ] post Patel. Uh it just
seems like the whole I mean there's
there's been such an I think the two
biggest brand erosions over the last 12
months have been number one the brand US
number two the brand AI. If you think
about what's happened to that brand in
the last 12 months, it's gone from 70 to
80% people being optimistic to like now
it's one in 10 are optimistic.
But the the brand of the FBI, I would
argue the Gmen, you know, the X-Files,
um, these were pe these were people that
put on suits but knew how to handle a
firearm. We're very measured. We're all
about serving in the agency of others.
We're optimized for security, not for
performance. or not for attention. This
was a great job with a ton of prestige
and I think Cash Patel has literally
trashed this brand.
>> He's turned it into a Joey bag of
donuts.
>> Y
>> uh you know, two for one coyote ugly MMA
meets, you know, it's like a it's like a
bar fight minus the charm.
>> Yep. All right. All right. Well, he's
out. I agree with you.
>> What are your thoughts?
>> I think he's going I think this was a
beautiful piece of reporting and I think
they're going to go through the cabinet
with next is Lutnik and his corruption,
right? that's going to and his like
thirsty attention seeking. Anyway, we'll
see. I think there's there's it's a
moment now, especially after Swallwall.
It's a moment for all of them.
>> How does the head of the FBI have their
email hacked by an Iranian group? Right.
>> How does that happen?
>> He's drunk.
>> How does that happen?
>> Cuz he's drunk. Cuz he's drinking too
much. Cuz he's an idiot. Well, idiot and
drunk. He's stupid. You remember the
line from Minimal House? Don't How can
you? Although that was done by Dean
Wormer, but going through life stupid
and drunk is not is no way to live or
something like that. Anyway, that's
>> when someone asked me if when someone
asked me if I ever drink in the morning,
I'm like, "No, cuz I don't wake up till
noon."
>> Oh my god. Okay, enough with the
drinking drugs. Iran is threatening to
retaliate after the US military seized
an Iranian flagged um cargo ship trying
to bypass the blockade in the Straight
of Hormuz. Iran is calling it an act of
piracy. Meanwhile, JD Vance, Steve Whit,
and Jared Kushner are headed back to P
Pakistan for more peace talks, though
it's unclear if Iran will even show up.
Uh, first JD wasn't going, then he was
going, and Trump was saying all manner
of things. Trump's, of course, is once
again threatening to take out Iran's
power plants and bridges, which I know
it feels like Groundhog Day, but he's
doing it again. The ceasefire is due to
end this week. Um, I'll also note energy
secretary Chris Wright thinks gas prices
might stay above $3 until 2027, though
Trump is saying that's totally wrong.
California was six. It was crazy. It was
six or in the mid sixes, which is
because they have more taxes there
obviously. But, um, any thoughts what's
happening here? Because it seems like
again still they still haven't gotten
their act together. This gang that can't
shoot straight.
There's so many things that are bubbling
up in terms of incompetence and
institutions in a general approach to
government that took immense resources
that Americans have taken for granted.
And one of those things is our
incredible diplomatic core. We gutted
the diplomats. We gutted the
anti-terrorist group. So
when you have these summits or peace
talks, 95 to 98% of the work is done
done before the person lands on the
ground. And that's the problem is 0% has
been done here. He might as well. He
This is the most It is so easy to
predict nothing is going to come out of
this. And I was uh you know I I've been
saying that masculinity a decent proxy
for masculinity is are you optimizing
for attention versus service? If so,
that's the opposite of masculinity. That
defines this ridiculous trip to
Pakistan. There's been no diplomatic
work done. He's going to land. He's
going to make an indignant speech. He's
going to look for a Tik Tok moment that
he attempts to make him look make
himself look presidential. He'll make
further irresponsible, incendiary,
unnecessary comments. He'll leave and
nothing will have happened. And you
know, the the only other what I've been
thinking a lot about lately is kind of
the winners and losers here.
Initially, China is a loser because of
the the security threat around not
having the free flow of energy. They are
such a big winner long term because I
was thinking about how does the world
structurally change on the demand side.
You got to think that in addition to the
economic costs of the Straits of Hormuz
being um sequestered or blocked, every
nation in the world must be thinking,
you know, we don't want to be dependent
upon [ __ ] straits that can be
controlled by the IRGC or by Trump.
>> By the way, there's
there's a couple there's a really good
online um thing that was about there's
not just the straits of Hormuz. There's
an area near China that 40% of the
shipping goes through. There's a number
of places around the world where this
happens. the straight of Malikica or
Singapore, the Sewish Canal.
>> Right. Exactly.
>> Freedom of navigation.
Again, see above things we've taken for
granted. Freedom of navigation was
something that had been embraced by the
entire world that said everyone's going
to pay more. Everyone's going to have
insecure energy policy if we don't
enforce freedom of navigation around the
world. But you got to think that every
nation is thinking not only
economically, but from a defense
standpoint, we need to have energy
security. What is all roads and energy
security lead to one place? Renewables.
And let's talk about renewables. The
advanced manufacturing and long-term
thinking of China. Get this. What is the
global share that China controls of
windmill production? Any guesses?
>> No, probably a lot. All of it.
>> A lot. Correct. 60%.
>> Mhm.
>> The percentage of EVs sold glo globally?
>> China.
>> 70%.
>> Yeah.
>> China. the percentage of solar panels
produced in the world
>> drones
>> 80% in China.
>> So while we're sending diplomatic
missions and Canada's announcing they're
divorcing from us because we're an
absentee irresponsible player in the
marriage, China is using advanced
manufacturing to say, "Okay, long-term
everyone's going to start investing in
renewables and we're going to be the
place they come to buy it all." And
they're not only offering the
manufacturing and the products, they're
offering safe distribution. They're
offering financing for these things and
they're saying you can count on us. So
if you don't want to be subject to the
IRGC or President Trump's whims that
day, enter into an economic relationship
with China.
>> Yeah, I agree. I agree. Anyway, it's a
real it's it's just this is this is not
good from a political point of view,
from a world point of view. And a lot of
like there's a lot of very high level
people predicting a real collapse of
lots of of countries in terms of because
of the slowdowns and the problems that
they're just on the edge. I mean the UAE
was asking for some money. This is they
have to solve this yesterday. They
shouldn't have done it in the first
place but now they have to solve it
yesterday because there's a lot of other
c all these countries are
interconnected. Whether you like it or
not MAGA folks, this is how it works.
And you're going to you're going to see
collapses all around if the UAE is
asking for what what do they want? They
need money is really because of the
situation. All these luxury brands
throughout the Middle East and that's
just small small ball. It's like all
these countries are dependent on this.
And so he is reordering the world for
sure, but not in the way that favors the
United States. Uh and of course they're
sending this team of Wickoff. Steve
Wickoff. Honestly, this is not our best
and brightest with Jared Kushner, Steve
Wickoff, and JD Vance.
>> If you want to understand what's going
to happen to negotiate with Wickoff,
just ask how is he going to get his kids
rich? Like what? That's essentially what
is driving
>> such a negotiations. But you brought up
something you brought up something
really important and that it's the UAE
and something that really shocked me. I
was looking at analysis of projectiles
that have come out of Iran. Do you
realize that Iran has shot more
projectiles at the UAE than Israel?
And you know, the UAE really is a model
of what it means to not be the IRGC.
It's they they have built an
unbelievable modern economy. They
respect alliances. They in many ways are
trying to be more progressive around
around civil rights. They have made real
progress around um uh around women's
rights. They are everything that the
IRGC is not. And it's interesting that
of all the nations
um the IRGC has decided to go after the
UAE u most aggressively. That really
surprised me. More projectiles into the
UAE than Israel.
>> But they're asking they said they're
going to be forced to use Chinese money
or other currencies if they don't they
don't get a financial lifeline. This is
just and that's just one country.
There's so many that are just going to
be affected. And then let me just say
lots and lots of people live daytoday in
this country and cannot afford these
prices, these gas prices. And so with
Chris Wright just half-hazardly saying,
I'll stay above three and it's even
above three. It's above four in DC. It's
above like give me a [ __ ] break. It
was six in in this is just these
cavalier [ __ ] And then that that
smiling idiot Kevin Hassid gets on and
acts like it's no big deal. There's
something really broken about these
people that is just doesn't understand
the implications of anything they do.
Anyway, uh we have to go on a quick
break. When we come back, we'll talk
about Joe Rogan's influence on executive
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Rules and restrictions apply.
Scott, we're back with more news. Trump
signed an executive order fast-tracking
FDA review of psychedelic drugs like
psilocybin and I think it's ibogane for
mental health treatment all thanks to a
text from Joe Rogan. Rogan texted Trump
about Ibagain research in reducing
opioid addiction. And the president
immediately replied, "Sounds great. Do
you want FDA approval? Let's do it." The
order directs the FDA to expedite review
of the breakthrough therapy and
encourage data sharing between the
health and veterans affairs department.
Um, you know, honestly, this look,
Rogan's been turning on Trump and this
was a gimme to Joe Rogan. I I as you
know, I talk about psych use of
psychedelics in this series. It's very
promising, but certainly shouldn't be
expedited cuz some some podcaster who
has very not the best information
because they need to do the safety
checks if these things are going to be
good for people. Um, but if I mean, what
would you text Trump for? what would you
like if you could? But this is how it's
done in this country. He texts him, he
wants him back. It's the most thirsty
and thirsty way to get Rogan's approval.
And Rogan is dumb enough to take it and
then shift on these things that he cared
about allegedly war and um the Epstein
things. So the whole thing is just
demented. I thought this was the most
demented thing given how important this
psychedelic research should be taken
throughout this country. your thoughts?
>> Well, I gain is is the there's real
potential here. A Stanford study found a
single Ibagane dose reduced veterans
disability ratings from 30.2 to 5.1 with
effects sustained at least a month out.
>> Almost nine and 10 participants
experienced um a reduction in PTSD
symptoms. Nine and 10 uh decrease in
depression. 8 and 10 reducing anxiety.
So, this has real potential. This is
this is a great move, but here's the
problem. This is
>> they've been running they've been
running this for a year. They could have
done this a year ago, but go ahead. Go
ahead.
>> Well, okay. So, I'm a big believer in
prison reform. I think they're we're the
most incarcerated nation in the world.
And I think that a hugely accreative
move would be uh early prison release
and a review of of people who are
currently incarcerated. And when the
Trump administration decides that it
would be great to have the Kardashian on
boards and she she takes this on as an
issue, they then get a pardon.
>> He does these things, but he doesn't for
political reasons and they're not
systemic in nature. And when it comes to
the when it comes to taking something
from a class 2 or class one drug,
>> I want someone who has domain expertise.
I want correct double blind tests. I
think the again another thing we have
taken for granted here is the good
people at the CDC, our FDA, uh, double
blind studies, doctors with actual
credentials. I mean, they do they do a
really good job. It's been a huge, uh,
benefit to us economically. The drugs
you take are, you know, they they do
mistakes, but you can feel fairly
certain that if you take something
that's FDA approved, it's approved for
>> it's also too slow. absolutely too slow
on these therapies, but they're still
early. And the fact that this very not
smart podcaster who's very lovely in
some ways and nutty in some ways and but
doesn't operate in a factual environment
all the time is getting to get this
because he's was mean to Trump and was
turning on him and then for the next
couple of months he'll be nice to Trump,
right? The whole thing is just grotesque
in the This is not how we need
>> health policy.
>> This is not health policy. That's
correct. It's not legal policy. It's
it's it's purely political. And for
Rogan to get used like this on an
important issue, maybe if it's important
to him, he should demand that Trump not
not just cuz he can go to the Oval
Office and hug Trump, but it's just just
oh god, it could hurt veterans if it's
not done correctly. The whole Yay. Just
And it's, by the way, it's also going to
take this.
>> It's also going to take forever anyway.
>> Let's play the game. Let's be
increasingly mean and grow our platform
10x. And then what is the one thing you
want from Trump? What is the one policy
you would want from Trump?
>> $25 minimum wage.
>> Oh, I love that.
>> Universal health.
>> I love that.
>> Child care. Universal child care. All
those things. Any of those.
>> Check. Check. Check.
>> Mhm. What about you? Besides,
>> besides like a missile,
>> um, uh, I would want
mandatory national service.
>> Oh, I like that.
>> Um, distribution of GLP1 to any
household with less than $50,000
>> in household income
>> with good medical stuff attached to it,
nutritional.
>> That's right. and uh incremental like
you said, singlepayer
um health coverage and oh gosh, I could
I could I mean
>> I could go on and lower the estate tax
exemption to 1 million. There's going to
be $72 trillion in wealth passed on.
We're not a dynastic population. We're
meritocratic population and we need to
tax
>> inherited wealth.
>> Really?
>> Anyways, I got about another 15.
>> Okay. Well, there we go. We're not We
don't have his I know. Actually, I could
probably get Trump's cell phone.
>> Let's get on it. Let's be a pain in the
ass.
>> I'm serious. Why don't we do an
experiment? Say, "This is Scott
Galloway. I would like you to do an
executive order on Young Men or whatever
the [ __ ] you want. I'm going to get his
cell phone. You're going to text him."
Okay, you're doing it.
>> I think it's getting I think it's
getting the wiring information of
someone in his family and sending a few
million dollars. I'm serious. I think
there's a direct pipeline. I've heard
>> I've heard from cred credible resources
around around specific things around
pardons and trying to get funding for
certain things that there's an entire
infrastructure consultants who launder
the money get it to the Trump
administration and you get [ __ ] passed.
This is and to be clear what they would
say is this has always been going on.
We're just more we're less we're more
transparent about it.
>> No, not like this. I'm going to get his
number. You're going to text him. Okay.
That's what we're doing this week. Okay.
Um,
>> I was invited to the UFC fight at the
White House.
>> You need to go. You need to go. You need
to say yes. I just
>> You need to cidle up to him and like
>> pet him.
>> I don't like watching young men beat
each other up.
>> I don't look at that part. Just go pet
Trump. That's what you need to do and
get universal healthcare for everybody.
>> You need to do it. You need to go in
there. I They're not inviting me. Even
though Did you hear about this study?
This this thing,
>> the influencers.
>> Oh. Oh, it's really interesting. So,
there's a poll that Ipsos did um about
influencers essentially and um I am the
most purple. I first of all, I'm in the
top influencers, which is weird. I'm up
there with Candace Owen and Tucker
Carlson and all manner of people, but
I'm the most purple.
>> You're the most centrist.
>> Yes. I don't think the word is I think
it's independent. Like I I don't know
cuz they don't all agree, right? But in
terms of impact shock, I'm shocked that
I was even in these lists, but
independence love Swissard. It's weird.
It's so weird. But it's good. Good.
That's very exciting.
>> Which means that I should be at the OC
fight cuz I'd actually enjoy it. But you
need to go.
>> You're an influencer. We got to take you
to Coachella and just have you take
pictures and not enjoy the music.
>> I'm surprised you didn't go to
Coachella. But listen, this is what you
have to do. You have to take one for the
team or you're going to You also have to
text Trump because he's not taking my
texts even though I am the person who's
the most represents the independents
apparently, which is ridiculous cuz I'm
really liberal.
>> Influence.
>> Yeah, but I'm really liberal, which is
kind of funny. Um, all right. The NSA is
using Anthropics uh mythos even after
the Department of Defense called the
company a supply chain risk. Um,
Anthropic CEO Dario Emodi met with the
White House officials on Friday to work
towards a compromise to bring the
company's technology back to government
use. Both sides described the meeting as
productive. However, when President
Trump was asked about Emod's visit, he
said he had no idea about the meeting.
He was meeting with Susie Wilds. If a
compromise is reached would likely
exclude the Pentagon because Pett Heath
is a [ __ ] and so is Emil Michael who
works for him. Um, so it's again it's
like everyone everyone I have talked to
in the other departments think the HEG
thing is insane and that they want to
use it because it's a better model. So
the NSA wants to use it um and
everything else. And it's just it's kind
of ridiculous that Amodi has to go hat
in hand to deal with these children. And
by the way, over at Open AI, more kind
of problems. The company lost three
executives on Friday. The leader of the
defunct Sora, the VP of Open AI for
science, who used to work for Twitter,
Kevin Wild, and the company's CTO for
B2B applications. Um, so they're losing
there's a lot of it's more it's more um
dramatic than Google back in the day or
Twitter. It just it's really quite a
dramatic little company. Um, so any
thoughts on anthropic or open AI again?
>> Well, you know, history or the world
hates a vacuum and one of the biggest
vacuums or voids right now that's
creating chaos is the vacuum around
regulation and guardrails around AI. And
when Dario Emote, who is supposed to be
head of a private company charged with
just using every tool in his toolkit
possible to create leverage and margin
for shareholders, gets so worried about
something that he pulls it back and I'm
not, you know, and says he's only going
to give it to JP Morgan and Apple, you
know, the good guys. Um, and you'd like
to think he's sincere about it and he's
generally concerned, but he shouldn't be
making those calls. If we're trusting or
hoping that the US and existential
threats are going to be dependent upon
the kindness and wisdom of CEOs, we are
[ __ ] because these people have so many
incentives and pressure to just deliver
value.
>> I was with some people and they're like,
"Amod's good." I'm like, "It's a low
[ __ ] bar." And I don't still don't
want him to decide. And still, you know,
even at this point anyway,
But in the one of millions of text
chains that get copied on between you
and Rom, I was going to suggest to Rahm
and any other Democratic presidential
candidate, I was actually going to uh
for some reason I think John Oaf is and
you wrote about this is giving off real
presidential energy right now. But I
think the opportunity among a Democratic
candidate right now quite frankly is to
have a very thoughtful get some
academics together and have a very
thoughtful
10page or less summarized in a one or
two page cover um summary is uh
regulation for AI. Do you realize no
one's even proposing what it would mean?
What does it look like? How do you
regulate it? What is it about security?
Is it about privacy? Is it about how do
you thread the needle between regulation
and also m letting our thoroughbreds run
such that China does not get out ahead
of us which is a legitimate concern. Who
running for president i.e. You know,
everyone has put out anything thoughtful
that has said, I mean, Senator Warner
has put out something with Senator Holly
about retraining and trying to support
job destruction, but no one has really
put out a thoughtful, you know, 3, five,
12point plan on this is what we should
implement immediately in by executive
order that lets the economic growth run
mostly. It'll cost some economic growth,
but gives people some level of certainty
that the government has some feel around
the risks here and outlines them. But
there's nothing right now. It's just the
wild west. And that vacuum is being
filled by a bunch of arguments, virtue
signaling, false signals, comms
releases, press releases. So the vacuum
is being filled by chaos around
something that people aren't sure. Is it
a big threat? Is it is it not? And it
really hurts the industry cuz see above
>> it's gone from nine and 10 people being
optimistic about this to one in 10.
>> Yeah, they've really [ __ ] it up. And
it's not the fault of like me
complaining that I I got that from one
of them. It's like it's cuz you're so
negative. I'm like get the [ __ ] out of
here. Like it's not our fault. You I
said that. That's what I actually said.
>> I'm an influencer.
>> I'm in a big in the indies agree with
you're right. It's worse by the way.
>> Influencer.
>> But um it was so weird.
Anyway, um it's just they have done it
to themselves. They've done it to
themselves because they're so and you
know what drove me crazy then you get
not this this isn't isn't an AI company
but it's all stuck in there Palanteer
posting its manifesto on X over the
weekend which one outlet it was points
from Alex Karps the CEO's book the
technological republic one outlet
likened it to the ramblings of a comic
book villain and the points include
postwar neutering of Germany and Japan
must be undone I mean it's already been
undone you dumbass we should applaud
those who attempt to build where the
market failed to act and we must resist
shallow temptation of vacant and hollow
pluralism. The whole thing is just so I
need them to shut up. I need all the AI
people to shut up even the good ones and
just like like put in good things in
place because they literally have they
keep shooting themselves in the foot
about a technology that's possibly
dangerous, possibly amazing and
everybody hates it, right? Everyone
who's normal hates it, not them. And
then they blame us for that. So
>> yeah, I don't get it. I know I I
consider myself an influencer, but I
suffer from paranoia. I believe that
nobody is following me.
>> Can I ask you if you went in there to
them? They said, "Scott Galloway, we
need we need you to fix this. What would
be your first three moves? Mr. Brand,
we're having you in. We're paying you a
bajillion dollars." Because they have
>> Yeah. The AI companies are like, "Look,
>> AI
>> people [ __ ] hate us."
>> Yeah. I'd want to I'd want to
>> three things
>> I'd want to assemble a list of
technologists, ethicists, and economic
adviserss. And I'd want I would demand a
30-day uh period where no model, no
updated model is ever released without
thorough review that that AB tests the
[ __ ] out of the thing in terms of
existential risks. And it has if the FD
if it takes [ __ ] a decade to get a
drug through the FDA,
>> right? Exactly.
>> Why wouldn't we mandate that the
government gets to play with any new
model for 30 days?
>> Mhm. and then says, "We have found that
this could absolutely hack the NSA or
even our nuclear launch codes."
>> So, you need to tweak the following
things. We're going to assemble a blue
ribbon panel. Anyone on this panel
>> will be paid a lot of money, have
tremendous prestige, and by the way, for
3 years, there's a sunshine period, and
you cannot go on the board of any of
these companies because we don't want
you trading off speaking engagements in
and stock options for security. But at a
minimum, we should have a 30-day
screening blue, you know, blue ribbon
panel that includes Europeans, that
includes G6 nations, that includes stock
market analysts and say, "Okay, there
has to be a balance between safety and
economic growth." Instead, it's just
like put it out there and see what
happens.
>> I know. What from a marketing, if you
were doing an ad, what would it be? We
know we suck or what?
>> What what's the message
>> for for
>> for the AI companies?
Oh, but here's the bottom line, Cara.
The markets love a winner. The the worst
thing that's happening to Sam Alman
right now is he's proving himself to be
a not a great CEO and he's let Anthropic
literally leaprog him. The markets are
immoral. Open uh Anthropic is going to
get out at a trillion dollar plus
valuation because it is executing like
no one's business and Co-work is on
fire. They are doing such a great job. I
think Daario is managing his brand
fairly well. I think if I were Daario
and I think he's going to do this given
that he god I can't imagine has much on
his own plate. I would I would almost I
don't want to say circumvent the
government but I would be putting
together an industry consortium across
all of them and saying these are our
recommendations.
>> Yeah.
>> And even critics trying to thoughtful.
>> Yeah. I will
>> I would also offer a bunch of LLMs for
free to researchers and academics and
say have at it. We think this could cure
cancer. Have at it.
>> Yeah, I have to say I I do like I I
think he's messaging well, but he never
comes up with solutions. Like he just
tells us it's all falling apart. So, you
know, David Saxs went after him this
week for being too negative. And I don't
think he is. I just think he while he's
offering these scary scenarios, he needs
to say, "Okay, here's what we can do."
Like, he doesn't do that enough. That's
my that's my that's what I would say
about him.
>> But why wouldn't they why would they
coordin I mean, they have a lot of
money. Why wouldn't they take, I don't
know, a billion dollars and start a
center of Berkeley and say this center
is going to be focused on
>> on um incurable diseases and we're going
to we're going to give them all the
models for free. We're going to get
we're going to give them compute
inference. And a lot of people would say
no, it's the profit motive, but just
from a I don't want to sound a
perception standpoint, but why wouldn't
you say we're we're we're starting a
center for diplomatic prevention of
conflict using AI?
>> They could just do so many interesting
things concerned about the
>> but yeah, their their brand is really
bad. And listen, Dario is going to be
dragged down with the rest of them if
they don't do something about it.
>> Every journey is the same from Anakin
Skywalker to Darth Vader. We think
they're the ones that are going to save
us, that they should be president. And
then we find out like the rest of them,
their job is to do do and say whatever
will get their share price
>> of clay, feet of clay.
>> There you go. It's a it's the villain's
journey. They always end up a Bond
villain. And I like Dario. I don't know
him personally, but I think he's made a
series of really good moves. He's
clearly an outstanding CEO. But here's
an easy prediction. in 24 months we'll
hate him too
>> because we we will fall into the trap of
believing that these people are
responsible for our well-being.
>> They're not. They're responsible for
shareholder value and that comes at a
cost and when no one's home see above
that void.
>> Yeah, but brand declines.
>> Who is proposing anything resembling AI
regulation right now?
>> Well, they say it and then they it's a
one-off kind of thing. Anyway, they do
say it. They do say it.
>> What would you do? What would you want
to see? I would I would put I think
that's I actually hadn't thought about
it, but I would not not ads saying how
good we are. I would have an well I you
know I had a back and forth with Dario's
people. I'm going to see him this week.
Um but one of the one of the things I
said is you're doing all these soft
interviews. Do some [ __ ] hard ones.
Like and I was of course pitching for me
but you know like get out there and do
some like do a lot. And it doesn't have
to just be him. It has to be a lot of
people. like instead we're doing you
know Sam Alman's sort of had a series of
bad interviews but it's got to be a
broader discussion among a lot more
people right and demand that your
critics are right in front of you and
don't wilt when a critic says something
um instead of like they just they just
they just don't want bad news and it
doesn't matter people hate them they
really hate them and so look at the
polls look at young people I mean it's
just the brand destruction is going to
take them all down and and there's so
any promising things with AI? I mean,
look what happened to Reese Witherspoon
this week. I got slammed cuz I said,
"What was she saying?" That was cuz they
thought she was being paid by Chad GPT
or Charles Porch or whatever it happened
to be. But did you see all that like cuz
she was saying women need to
>> I didn't understand why she got so much
hate for that
>> cuz they thought it was an ad. I think
that they and maybe it was. I don't
really care. What she was saying was
accurate. It doesn't I mean they said
she's bought and paid for and she must
be getting money cuz she has Blackstone
money through the whatever. Honestly, it
was so innocuous and people cuz she does
books and so all the people it just was
it was innocuous what she said.
Seriously innocuous and I got slammed
for I wasn't really even defending her.
I'm like, what is she saying that's so
weird? Even again, even if she was paid,
I don't think it was the message was the
a bad one. But I guess and then
everybody's like, well, I'm not going to
use AI. So there. And I'm like, well,
don't then. What do you want? But if you
if you care about where it's going, you
need it's like in the early internet,
there were all these people who said,
I'm not using the web. I'm like, knock
yourself out. But it's it's happening,
my friends. Don't turn on that flash
that electric light. I I don't care.
It's just Anyway, it's a bad there's a
lot of rage. There's the rage at her was
in insane I thought. Anyway, um let's go
on a quick break. When we come back, uh
why Netflix stock plummeted after its
latest earnings. I'm eager to hear what
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Scott, we're back with more news.
Netflix is out with its first earnings
report since walking away from the
Warner Brothers deal back in February.
The company beat expectations on revenue
and earnings driven by membership
growth, ad sales, and higher
subscription prices, plus that $2.8
billion breakup fee. Thanks, uh,
Ellison's. Thanks Paramount. But the Q2
forecast was below analyst expectations.
It sent shares down 10%. The earnings
also came with a few announcements. A
deeper push into AI and the launch of a
Tik Tok-like vertical video feed within
the app. They're trying to do a lot
more. AI makes total sense in that
regard. And notably Netflix co-founder
and chairman of the board Reed Hastings
is leaving the company when his term
expires in June. He wants to do a lot of
other things. Um talk first about the
earnings. We're going to get into the
Netflix's podcast plans in a in just a
second. Um, I can go over what they're
doing, but why don't you talk about the
earnings himself? And by the way, can I
just take a moment? I met Reed Hastings
right at the beginning of this company
and I have known him for a long time. I
got to say an amazing entrepreneur. What
he did and shifted deserves enormous
credit and he was the real engine. And
Ted is doing a great job. So is Bella
Bajaria. So are the new people there.
But Reed Hastings is a one is a
generational uh entrepreneur and
congratulations on your tenure.
>> Yeah, agreed. Uh look, the earnings were
uh fantastic. Their revenue was up 16%
year-over-year, beating expectations.
Their earnings uh was nearly double what
analysts expected. There was a bit of a
sugar high though because of the $3
billion termination fee from the
collapse Warner Brothers deal. What
shocked me was the ad tier now drives
over 60% of new signups in ad supported
markets. And
>> uh they're they're on track to hit $3
billion in ad revenue this year. So now
they're becoming a big media player, ad
supported media player with a business
that barely even existed two years ago.
And the fullear guidance held at about
51 to 52 billion, but uh Q2 guidance of
13% growth came in below what the bulls
wanted to see. So I think that I guess I
I looked at these earnings. I mean this
is the weird and the beautiful thing
about the market. If I'd seen these
earnings before the market's reaction, I
would have guessed the market would be
flat to up. So I don't know if they're
taking Reed's departure as a signal this
is no longer a growth company or that
that just some air was coming out of the
stock. Um I don't get it. I don't you
know I there was some speculation that
Reed was leaving because of the botched
Warner Brothers deal. I think that's
[ __ ] But I think like you said, he
just wants to do different things.
>> He has a lot of
>> the stock was up 18% year to date
heading into the print. Now it's just up
7% but that's not bad. The I did meet
with Ted Sarandos two years ago and I
told him I thought they should launch a
Tik Tok competitor because the long tale
of Netflix content doesn't get viewed
very much.
>> Yeah. And I thought have an open-source
opportunity for artists and creators to
slice it up and it would be incredible
marketing and I think they could have a
viable competitor to Tik Tok
>> and at that point
by the way
>> it looks like they're getting into the
business. um they're launching a Tik Tok
style vertical video feed this month and
YouTube has 13% of all US TV viewing
versus Netflix at 9% but YouTube shorts
has grown 186% in 15 months with shorts
on connected TV accounting for part of
their growth and then Meta recently
announced that Reals for TV
uh
they're doing Reels for TV where users
can watch short form content on
television and Reels already has a 50
billion ion dollar annual run rate in ad
revenue. That's more revenue than WBD
and NBC Universal combined. And
basically everyone now, 95% of consumers
now watch some some form of short form
video.
>> Cara Swisser, don't you?
>> Oh, I I I hate to admit it, most of
people ask me what my media sources
were, and I used to say the FT and the
Economist to sound smart. The bottom
line is I'm getting most of my content
from short form video right now.
>> Me, too. Me too.
>> And time spent watching video content on
social media has more than doubled since
the pandemic. and Meta's revenues have
nearly tripled and Tik Toks have grown
10fold. So I think that what what
Netflix has is they have proprietary
content. So proprietary content that's
not user generated but useredited.
What could you do? There's some been
some amazing Netflix content that never
bubbles up and never gets seen. Put it
out and say, "Guys, have at it. Slice it
into twominute things. Create new
stories. Add in different effects. add
in different humor, different subtitles,
have added I my what I pitched what I
pitched um uh uh Ted, I'm like, start
something called Net Vibes and basically
say it's a Tik Tok competitor with all
the proprietary content of the longtail
stuff
>> and 90% that gets 2% of your viewership
time.
>> Why did you just give away that great
name? That was really good. You're
talented.
>> That was good. You said two very smart
things today. It's
>> I have to tell you,
>> it's because I was under I was under the
influence. Anyways, but Ted just sort of
rolled his eyes and said, "Why would we
do that when Tik Tok is such a great
marketing engine for us right now?" But
it looks like they're saying, "Okay, we
no longer we need we need a growth
story." I think this is a great idea. I
think they're doing it. And with the
case of Netflix, the second mouse may
get the cheese here. I think it's a
great idea for
>> Oh, interesting. All right. So, I'm
going to let me just tell you the second
thing is they're going all in on
podcast, which is interesting. Um, and I
have a lot of information about this
because I immediately started looking
into it. Netflix has announced five more
shows coming to its platforms. These are
exclusive shows, including a new weekly
interview show with Brian Williams. Hulu
has also announced four more podcasts,
including Handsome and three others
based on TV shows. Hulu's um is not as
strict um as Netflix. Netflix requires
the shows to forego YouTube entirely and
Hulu does not, it looks like. Um, so
this is really interesting. So I asked
what the deals were and someone said
deal structure looks like this. Episodic
fee lowend of 25k an episode averaging
average range 50 to 75k an episodes
higher celeb for celeb talent. Uh
production budget on top 6 to 12 month
initial terms with 206 to 52 episodes
depending on term length ownership
Netflix but sometimes they are given um
uh revision rights reversion rights
excuse me. So, IP maybe if they're
making them. Um, I wasn't tremendously
impressed with the choices they made. I
like Brian Williams, but it seems like
they should really go for a much more um
younger demo, I guess, or more online
demo, influencer demo, but that was just
me. Um, what are your thoughts here?
What do you think? That's a lot of
money. 50, you know, if you got $50,000
an episode, that's that's a buttload of
money. 2.5 million. Well, we've been
talking in our own book, but it doesn't
mean I don't believe it. Every political
cycle, there's a technology uh Obama
weaponized search, um Trump, Facebook, I
would say the second one was about
social. A lot of people would say this
is now these midterms are going to be
the AI midterms with a ton of
misinformation. But I think in general,
this election or the last election was
really the podcast election. And do you
remember that graph that showed that
newspapers were getting 30% of all ad
revenue but they only had 8% readership
and the internet was getting 10% of
revenue but had 50% of all time. Those
two tend to calibrate and the fastest
growing ads supported medium in the
nation is not meta or alphabet. It's
podcasting
>> u
>> which is video casting really but go
ahead
>> it's it's television with a lower cost
of means of production. It's 80% of
>> a closer relationship with fans that you
have you can't leave that out. It's not
just because it's cheap
>> and it's not starched. It's it's not
it's not a handsome guy saying save
content for 22 minutes and then showing
a video about a butterfly garden. It's
just it's people who are willing and
some people like the conspiracy [ __ ] and
some people want people calling heth a
drunk. it. And sometimes people are just
so [ __ ] talented that they bubble up
past the means of production that have
sequestered some of this talent.
Anyways, podcasting, you know, the
Golden Globes now has it as as a
category. Um, we're up Pivot is up 25 or
30% this year. Propy Media is up 46%
this year. Podcasts are growing like
crazy. And what's what's even more
interesting is the the chaser effects
are the following. The average age of a
Fox viewer is 69, CNN 67, CNBC 64. The
average podcast listener is 34.
And when you're 34, it means you're
you're buying houses, cars, getting
kids, which are very expensive, and
dogs. So this is this is quote unquote
the core demographic. So in and in
addition as evidenced by the fact that
the easiest guest for Cara Swisser and
Scott Galloway to get on their show is
someone running for president.
>> Yeah.
>> Anyone who's thinking quote unquote not
going to make the decision in a year or
two year with their family. Yeah.
>> They're calling us and they want to come
on because they're running for president
because
>> because the what's interesting is that
you know I don't know if you found this
but on property they don't perform that
well. I find that really interesting.
>> Buddha judge did great. I'll tell you
that Nome did well.
>> He's exceptional.
>> Newsome did well. That's not true. It's
not true. Some of them do well. It dep
I'm going to I'm going to pay attention
to what does well, which is
>> I find on average politicians don't
score nearly as well as some of the
other guests we have. But anyways,
audience
>> the in terms of downloads or viewership.
But my point is the new people actually
listen to the ads. The other innovation
that no traditional media company wanted
to do because they decided their talent
was too precious is host readovers. That
gets if you do a if you just do an
insert ad on YouTube or just an insert
ad, you get between three and 10 bucks
CPMs. You reading over an ad, you
talking about your Chevy Bolt and how
much you like it, which you really do.
That gets a CPM of 45 or 50 bucks.
Chevy,
>> the media company at General Motors is
like they're they're allocating more and
more money. And now these things finally
have the scale. So Netflix is could be
the new Netflix is late on short form
video. They're late on podcast, but when
you have direct relationship with 80% of
households, you can play catchup pretty
fast. One of the things that drives me
crazy with the media reporters when they
were talking about the Vox thing, I was
like, "You all don't get where the money
is now, where the voices are, where the
like it just drives me crazy cuz they're
living in a different world." Like when
I not all of them, by the way, but but
when I I've been doing a lot of press
for this scene, I'm think and I'm like
they're like, "Oh, is Vox trying to, you
know, just save itself?" I'm like, "No,
it has valuable a thing that's valuable,
you idiots." And so, you know, and and
the same thing with these deals. They
were sort of pooing. I'm like, you don't
understand what's happening here. And I
can't say it enough. Just sitting at a
table in on a street in San Francisco
with my son, the kind of pe the people
that stopped people that stop me on the
street now, it's really astonishing like
nothing I've ever done. And it's it's
and most of people Scott tell me thank
you for doing what you and Scott are
doing or thank you for doing that
interview. They thank you for your
content. That never happened to me
before in my life. So I don't know how
you feel about that. But you got to
figure out
>> the most rewarding thing about it. I
mean look the the money's great but the
most rewarding thing about it is that
when people come up to you they start
speaking to you as if they're they're
your friend. And it's really nice.
People feel a parasocial they have a
parasocial relationship with you and
they're they feel good about you. I
think it's because you're physically in
their ears often times so it creates
intimacy and also you're talking to them
as they're doing something quite
personal. They're walking the dog,
they're doing the dishes, it's their
morning routine. But I think the most
rewarding thing about being a podcaster
like if you get to a certain point, it's
a little bit like the NBA.
The analogy I use is that when I rode
crew at UCLA, there's been 2,000 people
who have rode crew. 10 10 went to the
Olympics. So what is that like a.5%
not even.5% went to the Olympics? It's
it's.1%
of podcasters are self-sustaining
economically. So you are five times more
likely to go to the Olympics if you
wrote at UCLA than have a successful
podcast. This is a difficult business,
but once you get once you get to break
even, the economics here are incredible
because there's what do we have? We have
we have three producers. We have we
outsource our ad sales to to um to Vox
and this is a $15 million business
growing to 25 probably in the next 24
months. Like just do the math. This is
an incredibly this is creates as much
IBIDA. Pivot will probably create as
much IBIDA as one of the most successful
shows on MS now or Fox or anywhere else.
It won't be as big topline, but the
IBITA margins are just incredibly
dramatic, but hands down the most
rewarding thing from a host standpoint.
>> It's the relationship with fans.
>> These really lovely people come up to
you and they start talking to you about
their kids.
>> Yeah. And it's all
>> I mean, maybe they do that.
>> Maybe they do that.
>> I've never had it happen my whole
career. I have had a long and pretty
like well-known prayer. But I'll tell
you, a very famous author was on my
plane today and he texted he had my
number. He texted me just thank you for
what you're doing. And I he he didn't
want to say hi because he felt like he
was bothering me, which he wasn't.
>> But but what I'll say is we have we have
a responsibility and I think our
responsibility I'm trying to live up to
this is the medium is creating good
vibes. I think mostly because, and I do
think this is true of most podcasts,
when you go on cable TV, and this
happened to me when I went on Pierce
Morgan or a couple times when I've gone
on Fox, they're trying to engage a
little bit and call out culture and
create antagonism. I have found the vast
majority of podcasters when I go on
their podcast, even if they disagree
with me, even if they're conservative,
they're trying to present you in a fair
and positive light. And I think as
podcasters we have an obligation to
maintain that cultural zeitgeist
to be to show some grace to even if you
disagree with people. We're not in the
business of calling them out. You want a
thoughtful nuance conversation. Let them
run with their
>> views. It's okay to disagree and it's
okay to push back. I do think you have
to informational and like let's hear
this person is what I'm trying to do and
like what your goal isn't to make them
look stupid,
>> right? Your your goal is to have a
thoughtful discourse such that your
listeners your listeners learn, but also
to demonstrate the people from different
sides of the political spectrum,
>> but you don't
>> can demonstrate some grace towards each
other.
>> I agree. I agree with you. All right,
Scott. One more quick break. We'll be
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Okay, Scott, we're going to do some wins
and fails. I'm gonna I'm gonna go first
if you don't mind. I already talked
about Palunteer's stupid manifesto. But
two people um Ron Conway, a really
well-known figure in Silicon Valley who
I like very much. He was the one that
was pushing back on he's been I just
really like him. He and I have had lots
of beefs over the years, but he's a
really legendary venture capitalist. He
announced he had a cancer. He's not
giving specifics about it. Um and he's
fighting it. He's given so much money to
medical stuff in San Francisco.
incredibly generous and unusual for a
lot of these VCs who just only think
about themselves, but Ron's a very
civic-minded person in San Francisco.
Um, and people have different views with
him, but I I really adore him and uh
he's he's struggling with some cancer
and he wrote me a series of very joyful
texts over the weekend. I love you.
Thank you so much. cuz I wrote him a
note and I just hope he he has all the
he has all the money and to to do and
all the connections and science because
he's done so much fundraising. Um I hope
for the best for him. And then second
one is um so that's a fail for mine and
same thing is uh Senator Warner's
daughter died. Uh she had juvenile
diabetes and a series of health issues.
And I both Scott and I love talking to
him. We find him very thoughtful. Um and
so I just we are my condolences go to
him. Um she's 36 years old and again
struggled with um struggled with
juvenile diabetes and ensuing bunches of
issues. Um and my win um is this
Atlantic piece. It's a little bit of a
dunker, but everyone is getting on board
with this idea that maybe the tech
billionaires aren't here to help us,
which I think um is is a is a narrative
I've tried to get through a little bit.
Um, but I thought that this guy Noah
Holly, who was responsible for Fargo and
a bunch of other things I love online,
he's been writing for The Atlantic, and
I just really, really enjoy his work.
Um, but I really, uh, let me just read
two quotes from this piece in the
Atlantic. Uh, it's called What I Learned
about Billionaires at Jeff Bezos's
private retreat. These guys are having
their own retreats. That Bezos's is
called Campfire. And it's it's a
devastating piece actually, and I think
very true. unfair. Um, this is the
hubris of accomplishment. To be declared
a genius at one thing is to begin to
believe you are a genius at everything.
It's not that the wealthy become evil.
It's that their environment stops
teaching them the things that
non-wealthy people are forced to learn
simply by living in a world that pushes
back. When when you can buy your way out
of any mistake, when you can fire anyone
who disagrees with you. When your social
circle consists entirely of people who
need something from you. The basic
mechanism by which humans learn that
other people are real goes dark.
Fantastic piece, Noah Holly. I recommend
it. It's beautifully written and
incredibly fair. And um so anyway, yours
>> I'm just gonna I'm just paring your
comments. I did not know that about Ron
Conway and I'm sorry to hear that. Ron
invested uh in two of my companies back
in the 90s when I was playing in traffic
and starting e-commerce companies. He
invested he was one of my first
investors in Red Envelope and one of my
first investors in my e-commerce
incubator, Brand Farm.
>> I didn't know that. Wow.
>> Yeah. And I'll say this about Ron. You
know, you have good investors and you
have bad investors. And Ron uh I would
just describe as incredibly supportive
no matter what was going on was
emotionally and financially just like
really on the side of entrepreneurs and
uh
>> I'm sorry to hear that and I share I
share your warm wishes. Also share
>> your condolences and sympathies with
Senator Warner. Obviously every parent's
>> worst nightmare. I'm not I I know
Senator Warner. I would consider myself
friendly but I'm not close friends with
him. But I have a close friend who's
very close with Senator Warner and the
senator has been approached by any
number of people on a regular basis uh
about running for president and a lot of
people felt that he brought the
gravitas, the credentials and quite
frankly the kind of mo the moderate
positioning that they thought would be
uh a great candidate for president and
uh what I have heard is that he he never
ever ever seriously concern considered
it because he was always very focused on
his family. Uh, so he is that guy, not
the one who was performative. Oh, I'm
going to check with my family. He was
oftentimes people wanted to draft him,
but he was always kind of uh family
first. Anyways, share your share your uh
condolences. My my win is much more
boring. I just wanted to talk a little
bit about Reed Hastings and just the
incredible tenure uh 99 to 2023,
founded in 1997. So, he's there 30
years. So you want to talk about uh from
a startup to global giant.
>> In 2000 they had 300,000 subscribers.
>> This year they'll have 300 million.
>> The revenue went from the revenue went
from three billion in 2011. This year it
will do 45 billion.
>> Terms of market value. They rejected a
$50 million acquisition offer in 2000.
This year they'll they're now worth
about 400 billion. um one of the largest
value creations in tech history in terms
of business transformation.
Talk about the mother of all, you know,
big ball pivots from DVD rentals to
streaming in 2007, from streaming to
original content, House of Cards, and
then he's gone from the US to 190 plus
countries globally. Their profitability,
tons of losses in the 2000s,
multi-billions in annual profits. And
then the cultural impact uh that people
don't talk enough about was that Netflix
deck they put out on their culture. They
talk about freedom and responsibility,
no vacation limits, high performance
culture. And the thing I did actually
take something from them. They stated
out loud that they wanted to be a
company known for exceptional
compensation. And I' I've tried to adopt
the same thing. I've always tried to pay
my people more than market or I
shouldn't say it's the last 10 years. Uh
but this company
um they took a DVD by mail startup. They
pivoted into streaming. They scaled it
globally and they turned it into a half
a trillion dollar media platform.
30 years, 1,000x
user growth, 15x revenue growth, and you
know, redefined or defined the category.
I I would argue one of the top five to
10 tech CEO careers of the last 30
years. And you know what? He did it with
a lot of grace. He was never in
>> absolutely
>> he was never scandal. Never [ __ ] posting
other people. Never
>> found drunk driving. Never
>> shitty tweets he had to erase or delete
>> attention on himself. I have I can I
just add that I've had him on stage many
times but I have to say of all the
people I would rather spend time with
Reed Hastings and I know Hollywood all
hates their miss system but it's not
their fault that they found a way to do
a different system. It's Hollywood's
fault for having a bad economic system
that was no longer sustainable. They
like to sort of blame Netflix. I think
that's unfair. Um they they do what they
do. That's what they make. And I don't
think they're diminishing it. You just
you don't have to watch it if you don't
like it in that regard. And I think they
put out a lot of great content.
Actually, they put a lot of silly
content, too. But I got to tell you,
what a he's a [ __ ] class act. He's So
is Ron. They're class acts. All these
guys you're talking about. and he
clearly imprinted really solid DNA. The
co-c now, Greg Peters and Ted Sandos. I
don't know Greg, but I know Ted, but
they're both have a reputation for being
not only very intelligent, but very
decent men.
>> So Netflix, a great company, great
leadership, and this guy historic run is
is historic. So my win is the tenure of
>> of Reed Hastings. By the way, one of the
things I was thinking about, Scott, was
you talked about that is the decency and
we started with the incompetence like a
cash patelling
sick of these incompetents and these
like look at me performative [ __ ]
liars. Like I don't know what else to
say, but I was watching Obama and
Mandami thing. Uh they were promoting
universal free child care and singing
wheels on the bus. Did you see that
video?
>> It was it was it was very it was very
likable, human humane. It was really
nice.
>> Yes, it was so nice. I was like enough
of that the other [ __ ] the cash patells
and more of that. More wheels on the
bus. That's all I have to say. Anyway,
we want to hear from you. Send us your
questions about business tech or
whatever's on your mind. Go to
nymag.com/pivot
to submit a question for the show or
call 85551 pivot. Elsewhere in the Karen
Scott universe, this week on On with
Caris Wisher, I spoke with comedian
Nikki Glazer uh who is a new stand-up
special called Good Girl coming out
Friday on Hulu. She talked about uh how
overcoming fear pushes her to be the
best. Let's listen to a clip.
>> I love fear. I run into fear. Picture
fear as like a wall that you have to run
into. And so I was I kind of go into
that of like I know that my self-esteem
is built upon doing things that are hard
and conquering them. So I know that on
the other side of doing this horribly
uncomfortable thing is uh is me feeling
better about myself.
>> It's a great interview. Scott, you
reminded me of you a little bit. It was
interesting. I was I was talking to her.
It was interesting. I think
>> I like her because it's dirty.
>> She's also dirty. She talked about that.
Anyway, uh the the show is called Good
Girl and uh she's not always good in the
show, but actually she is. It's a she's
a really talented comic. I like her a
lot and very thoughtful and very funny.
That's the most important part. Uh okay,
that's the show. Let's thanks for
listening to Pivot and be sure to like
and subscribe to our YouTube channel.
We'll be back on Friday.
Ask follow-up questions or revisit key timestamps.
This episode of the podcast covers a wide range of current events and business topics, beginning with a discussion on the lawsuit filed by FBI Director Cash Patel against The Atlantic and allegations regarding his behavior. The hosts analyze the broader implications of incompetence in government leadership. The conversation then shifts to foreign policy, focusing on the U.S. approach to Iran and the shifting landscape of global energy, including China's dominance in renewables. The episode also features segments on the impact of Joe Rogan's political influence, AI regulation, and a deep dive into Netflix's recent earnings report, leadership changes, and potential expansion into vertical video and podcasting.
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