Democrats Prepare to Take Power. Republicans Gear Up for War

Scott Galloway 0:00 So for those of us who actually tune into C-SPAN, this season is gonna be off the hook.

Kara Swisher 0:04 [upbeat music] Hi, everyone. This is Pivot from New York Magazine and the Vox Media Podcast Network. I'm Kara Swisher.

Scott Galloway 0:15 And I'm Scott Galloway.

Kara Swisher 0:16 Scott, we shared our big NVIDIA conversation with all you YouTube viewers earlier, but we still have a lot of news to get into, so let's dig in. We've got new details about Anthropic’s upcoming IPO. In better news for the AI sector, the company has set its price range from $70 to $78 a share, valuing it at around $1.3 trillion. That's below the $2 trillion that was floated a few months ago. It's much lower, actually, and adding to the pot, seven tech giants, including Google, Microsoft, and NVIDIA, are investing a total of twenty-six billion in the offering, further cementing these circular deals. Anthropic expects to finalize its share price next Wednesday and start trading Thursday on Nasdaq. Talk about these numbers and what's, uh, the impact on the NVIDIA drama, and I'll also note we're getting a peek at OpenAI's financials. The company shared its latest results with investors, reporting that third quarter revenue jumped roughly fifty percent to ten billion, but its adjusted operating losses also grew from ten point one billion to ten point nine billion. We also learned a little while ago that OpenAI has raised fifteen billion at a $1.25 trillion valuation. So is, is it gonna hurt or help, uh, o- o- OpenA-- I mean, Anthropic's IPO is gonna hurt or help OpenAI?

Scott Galloway 1:32 Oh, it's absolutely gonna hurt it because w- what they're doing here, it appears they're more focused on raising as much money as possible as opposed to the valuation, whereas SpaceX was a low float to try and get as high a valuation as possible. I think what Anthropic is trying to do, and I think it's strategically really smart, I think they're trying to empty the punch bowl of all capital, uh, available for, um, AI, for, for pioneer models. The amount of capital available is gonna go down by, you know, $120 billion. So-

Kara Swisher 2:03 Well, well, well, first of all, the, the, these big tech giants are investing twenty-six billion, and they, there was also an investment of fifteen billion dollars in OpenAI. That means for everyone else but them or, or who?

Scott Galloway 2:15 The IPO is gonna raise about sixty-five billion, and they're placing twenty-six billion with private placement with seven suppliers to bring the total raised to about ninety billion. Google and NVIDIA are buying ten billion each, uh, ten billion each, AMD two and a half billion, Broadcom, Micron, and Microsoft one billion each, and TSMC at five hundred million. The total would pass SpaceX. Eighty-six billion raised in June is the largest on record, so actually s- that's not fair what I just said. SpaceX raised more money than I thought. About twenty percent of the shares are set aside for retail investors against the typical five or ten percent. Uh, but, uh, y- you know what there's a risk right now?

Kara Swisher 2:52 What?

Scott Galloway 2:52 If a story comes out that anybody and any organization with any credibility is, is investigating something at Anthropic, that IPO gets shelved. I mean, can you imagine how every reporter and every member of our security apparatus is asking executives at all these companies, "Okay, uh, w- w-- this, this, this, this person you've been hanging out with," or, uh, all of a sudden everyone's gonna start asking the questions they should've been asking the last five years at these companies.

Kara Swisher 3:24 Trump actually noted something in that, uh, in that kind of ridiculous 60 Minutes interview in which he said, you know, "We, we had someone in an orange jumpsuit and, and said goodbye to your wife," and I don't think he was talking about Jensen Huang. I think he was talking about Dario for some... That's what most people think. They don't know what he was talking about, but he mentioned an AI executive that was in big trouble. So, like, I think th- th- investigations are gonna happen around all these companies, and you're right.

Scott Galloway 3:51 Oh, my gosh. But just talking about let's get back to just Anthropic on the boring stuff, sharehold of value. The valuation has gone from two trillion in September to one point one. Now it's back to one point three, uh, after the sell-off last week, and they're, now it's being, it looks like it's being priced at about one point four or one point five. Let's say one point five. At one point five trillion, Anthropic would trade at roughly eighteen point five times its eighty-one billion revenue run rate. That's if you annualize its October revenue. Its nine-month revenue was thirty-three billion, up from, get this, two and a half billion a year earlier. The nine-month net loss was a hundred and four billion, of which ninety-four billion was a non-cash charge at a valuation of, of its convertible notes. The Q3 operating loss was five hundred and sixty-seven million after a nine hundred and seventy-four million operating profit in Q2. Pricing starts November the 18th, so in, what is that, in six days, and trading starts November the 19th. So I actually think, [sighs] you know, I, I actually think this is gonna get a, a, a, a pretty healthy pop and-

Kara Swisher 4:54 So now you would buy it. You said you would buy it and then sell it. That's what you had said.

Scott Galloway 4:58 [sighs] I can make the bear or the bull case for Anthropic over the medium and the long term. I, the honest answer is I don't know. I can... Any company growing this fast that has executed this well in a sector that's growing this fast, it, you know, you can make an argument it's a good long-term hold. And by the way, it's gonna be trading at, what is that? It's gonna be trading at-

Kara Swisher 5:19 One point three is-

Scott Galloway 5:20 W- uh, if it's at one point three, I'm just trying to say as a multiple, it would trade at roughly nineteen times its revenue rate. SpaceX would own it at a hundred and twenty times, and this company's growing much, much faster. You can make a bull case here. This is actually more important to the sector, but you asked me what I would do. What I'm trying to do is the following: I, I work with one of the investment banks that's a book runner, and I won't get much 'cause I'm a retail investor, but I said, "Get me as much as you can," because here's what I'm certain of. I don't know where the stock's gonna be in a year. I'm fairly certain the first trade is fifteen to forty percent higher than the pricing because what-

Kara Swisher 5:58 So you can make some money on that

Scott Galloway 5:59 ... what J.P. Morgan and Goldman, uh, uh, do is they use NVIDIA-driven AI to manufacture a pop Anthropic can't have a broken IPO. That would be the headline around everything. Anthropic would rather raise less money, take more dilution, and have every newspaper in the world go, "Anthropic suc- Anthropic IPO, a barn burner, up 30% day one."

Kara Swisher 6:26 Right, right.

Scott Galloway 6:27 So, and they, they can perfectly calculate, most likely using AI powered by the good chips from an NVIDIA, they'll upload every order for... And they'll say, "Based on all these orders from previous institutional investors, what does it look like the demand's gonna be on the first millisecond this opens trading?" And they will convince Anthropic executives to take the pricing that gives them a, a pop.

Kara Swisher 6:49 Right. So that's why the lower pricing, correct?

Scott Galloway 6:51 So but on a risk-adjusted basis, the best investment in the world, or not a best, but a great investment, is just to get allocation the night before it prices, and then sell it on the first trade.

Kara Swisher 7:03 First trade, right away.

Scott Galloway 7:04 Right away. [laughs]

Kara Swisher 7:05 Right away.

Scott Galloway 7:05 Out.

Kara Swisher 7:06 Out. Yeah.

Scott Galloway 7:06 Make 20, make 20% in, in one day.

Kara Swisher 7:09 So, a- and OpenAI, what does this do to them? They raised this 15 billion. That's a nice tidy sum. It, it still is, revenue jumped 50% to 10 billion. It's, it, it's still losing lots of money. Uh, what does it do to them? 'Cause they have a one, uh, if, if NVIDIA was in at 1.3, this is at a 1.25 valuation it raised this money at.

Scott Galloway 7:29 Well, again, uh-

Kara Swisher 7:31 Trillion, excuse me. 1.2 trillion

Scott Galloway 7:31 ... so the, the really interesting thing here is I've never seen Coke become Pepsi this fast.

Kara Swisher 7:37 Yeah.

Scott Galloway 7:37 If you look at the news just 12, 18 months ago-

Kara Swisher 7:39 No, Pepsi become Coke.

Scott Galloway 7:40 Oh, excuse me.

Kara Swisher 7:41 Yeah.

Scott Galloway 7:41 No, no. Well, y- both.

Kara Swisher 7:43 Right.

Scott Galloway 7:43 I'm talking about OpenAI was Coke.

Kara Swisher 7:45 Right.

Scott Galloway 7:46 And now it's Pepsi.

Kara Swisher 7:47 Oh, I see. Yeah, got it. Okay. All right. Okay.

Scott Galloway 7:48 I mean, if you look back just 12, 18 months ago-

Kara Swisher 7:51 I don't like Pepsi, by the way

Scott Galloway 7:52 ... or even, even two years ago-

Kara Swisher 7:55 Yeah

Scott Galloway 7:55 ... Anthropic was this really good company, but a distant number two to the pioneer leader, Coke, you know, the Hertz. All of a sudden, Hertz has become Avis. You know, we try harder. But they lost 21 billion last year. Um, OpenAI's operating loss was, was 21 billion in 2025 and 13 billion on 13 billion of revenue. Q3 revenue was about 10 billion, up nearly 50% from Q2, and the adjusted operating loss was 11 billion. That excludes about 3 billion of stock-based compensation. Operating losses including compensation, were 9.3 billion in Q1 and 12.3 billion in Q2. That puts the operating loss so far in nine months at 35 billion and around 49 billion for the quarter. There's a lot of people saying this just isn't their losses, just aren't sustainable, but these growth rates are unbelievable. The question is, is Anthropic gonna soak all of the oxygen or capital out of the air and it's gonna be harder for OpenAI? I probably-

Kara Swisher 8:50 To go public.

Scott Galloway 8:51 Uh, yeah, I probably think if Anthropic's IPO goes well, the most important thing for the sector right now is what Jensen Huang does or not, does not do, unless it involves more and more national security, and we find that these companies have their own leaky sieves. It's the, it's the reception of the Anthropic IPO because they're the demand side. If Anthro- if all of a sudden it appears that every front end user of these chips is getting the types of valuations we expect, they'll have the capital to go more, buy more NVIDIA chips regardless of who's in charge.

Kara Swisher 9:25 Well, the tech industry is also making sure by investing themselves, they want this to keep going. They want to keep this to, to absolutely keep. They, it, it's in everyone interest, interest for this to work out well, which is where it's gonna go, both of them actually. Um, speaking of everyone's interest,

Kara Swisher 9:40 California's Proposition of rich people, Proposition 40, the billionaire wealth tax has officially been defeated with roughly 53% voting against it. The measure would've imposed a one-time 5% tax on about 250 billionaires, with most of the money going towards healthcare. It was an expensive fight. Billionaires poured $425 million into the opposition, including more than $100 million from Google f- co-founder Sergey Brin. But the fight over taxing billionaires is not over. Senator Bernie Sanders called the fleeting, this a fleeting victory, and says he'll pass a federal billionaire wealth tax. Um, I think why did, we have talked about this, we felt this was the wrong way to do it, but there is going to be much more of a focus on taxing the rich. There, there just will. We'll eventually see some sort of wealth tax, uh, pass probably on the federal level would be, or, or tax reform in some way, correct?

Scott Galloway 10:29 I don't think so. I-

Kara Swisher 10:30 No?

Scott Galloway 10:30 So first off, when both Governors Newsom and Governor Elect, uh, uh, uh, Xavier Becerra come out against it and a leading teachers union came out against it, here's the bottom line on wealth taxes: they don't work. 13 of the 16 nations that pass wealth taxes in Europe have repealed them-

Kara Swisher 10:49 Yeah

Scott Galloway 10:49 ... because their treasury receipts actually went down. So this feels good. Again, this is the problem with many, I think, progressive policies, and that is they're more focused on tickling the sensors of middle class democratic voters than actually enacting policies that increase the treasury such that we can fund the programs that we claim to be fond of for lower income people. This would've chased, this legitimately would've chased some billionaires out of California. I, I, I think this-

Kara Swisher 11:16 So what happens? What happens next?

Scott Galloway 11:18 I think the, I think the solution here is the following: We need a progressive tax structure, and we need an alternative minimum tax that says, "Okay, Bezos, Sergey, Musk, big corporations, the uber wealthy, if you have figured out a way to lower your tax rate to 6%, we need you to pay an alternative minimum tax of 40%. And by the way, it's not gonna make you any less happy."

Kara Swisher 11:41 So that happens on a federal level.

Scott Galloway 11:43 Federal tax reform, but have it be progressive tax. And then the other big switch we need, Kara, is that borrowing money against your stock is a capital gains event. It's an-

Kara Swisher 11:52 Yeah

Scott Galloway 11:53 ... it triggers-

Kara Swisher 11:53 Which is what they do. That's their trick, Peter, Peter-

Scott Galloway 11:55 It triggers taxation. Also, that when you leave California for Texas, or you leave Seattle for Washington, all the wealth, uh, all the increase in shareholder value you aggregated by leveraging the infrastructure of that state should be taxed. That tax rate should go back to the state. You shouldn't be able to build 120 billion in wealth using the incredible infrastructure of Seattle and Washington, and then peace out to Florida and not have to pay any state income tax.

Kara Swisher 12:21 Yep, agreed.

Scott Galloway 12:22 That's gotta change.

Kara Swisher 12:22 Yeah, it's a trick.

Scott Galloway 12:23 But wealth taxes I, I get it, folks. I get why they make sense. I get why we should do them. They don't work

Kara Swisher 12:30 Yeah. I think yours, the progressive tax, is the way to go, and they have to do real tax reform where these people don't get to do every trick. I mean, Peter Thiel is, like, Olympic level at doing this and getting out of taxes, and again, I don't, I don't... I think it's gross, but I don't fault him because this is the way it's done

Scott Galloway 12:45 They say to POWs, "You have an obligation to your country to try and escape." It's gonna sound terrible, but, you know, people always hear me when they s- hear me talking about progressive tax rates and be like, "Scott, you're welcome to write a check to the government." I try to pay as little tax as possible.

Kara Swisher 12:59 Yeah. Everybody does

Scott Galloway 13:00 I mean, I'm not gonna disarm unilaterally. L- let's just be honest, folks

Kara Swisher 13:04 Right. Yep

Scott Galloway 13:04 And then what you can do is, you know, uh, y- what you try, now I'm defensive. You give s- you give, give some money away, 'cause I think hoarding wealth is a virus that infects America, but everybody is going to try and optimize their taxes. But again, my favorite stat is the tax code has gone from 400 pages to 4,000, and that 3,600 pages was inserted by lobbyists, and essentially it's a transfer of wealth from everyone to corporations and the uber wealthy

Kara Swisher 13:29 Yep, 100, and by the way, let's hope, uh, Lori Hwang, uh, is giving, is gonna be f- a, a lot of philanthropy. There's a lot of very funny things of the First Wives Club, of, uh, her, Melinda Gates, and MacKenzie Scott. Like [laughs]

Scott Galloway 13:42 Well, the female brain, you've pointed this out

Kara Swisher 13:44 Oh, man, they have a lot of money to put out.

Scott Galloway 13:46 There is something about the female billionaire brain that is just more philanthropic

Kara Swisher 13:50 Well, I'm hoping that Lori turns a, you know, a pig's ear into a sow's purse, whatever. No, no, a sow's ear into a silk purse, right? [laughs]

Scott Galloway 14:01 You can't run a na- a nation based on the kindness of recently divorced billionaire women. There has to be structural fixes

Kara Swisher 14:08 There has to be a better way. There has to be a better way. All right, Scott, let's go on a quick break. When we come back, a chaotic week in Congress. [whoosh] [gentle music]

Scott Galloway 14:17 Support for the show comes from Plaud. If your day is filled with meetings, calls, and important conversations, keeping track of what was said, what was decided, and what happens next can quickly become a job of its own. Whether you're meeting in person or online, taking conference calls or conducting interviews, Plaud can help you make the most of your time. Plaud is the AI-powered note-taking device built for real-world conversations. Unlike relying on your phone or opening another app every time you wanna take notes, Plaud is designed to be simple and always ready when you need it. With just one tap, you can start capturing a conversation. No app to open, no complicated setup, and no need to stop what you're doing. Afterwards, Plaud turns the conversation into a transcript, structured summary, key insights, and actionable next steps. And with Ask Plaud, you can ask questions about a past conversation and quickly find the specific detail or decision you need. It's for founders, executives, investors, journalists, consultants, sales teams, or anyone who spends a large part of the day in conversations. Because the value isn't just getting a transcript, it's making sure you don't lose an important detail, decision, or follow-up after the conversation ends. For a limited time, Pivot listeners can get 22% off Plaud with code pivot at plaud.ai/pivot, spelled P-L-A-U-D.A-I/pivot. [upbeat music] Support for the show comes from Tanium, agentic defense at machine speed. IT and security operators can't protect what they can't see, and they can't fix what they're still waiting to find out about. Tanium closes the gap with real-time visibility and machine speed endpoint control. Tanium provides endpoint management, exposure management, and security operations on a single unified agentic platform with speed and confidence no other vendor can deliver. The full power of the platform is unleashed with Tanium Atlas, the AI-powered intelligence layer with deep integrations into external data sources and other agentic models. With Tanium Atlas, one single operator can control millions of devices in seconds using natural language prompts and a generative user interface. From the beginning, Tanium was built for machine speed defense. Today, large organizations and growing companies alike trust Tanium to protect their critical data from today's threats and be ready for what comes next. Learn more at tanium.com/pivot. That's T-A-N-I-U-M.com/pivot.

Kara Swisher 16:29 [upbeat music] Support for this show comes from Quince. I think it's pretty clear I'm better than Scott at a lot of things, pretty much everything. Gift giving is no exception. With the holidays coming up, I'm determined to find high-quality gifts for all my loved ones, and one place I can look, Quince. They have top-notch essentials like Mongolian cashmere and premium stretch denim. And Quince has more than clothing. Think leather bags, hotel quality bedding, chef grade cookware, and five-star luggage. So with Quince, you can feel pretty good about your gifts. Scott, I hope you're taking notes from me. I've gotten a lot of Quince stuff, and I really love it. I have been wearing out this cashmere sweater, this lovely powder blue cashmere sweater, and I love wearing it. I like everything about it, and I'm gonna give a few gifts this Christmas, probably one of the sweaters, one of the cardigans, and, uh, I will gift it, maybe to Hillary Clinton. She could use a cardigan. Give a quality gift this holiday season. Download the Quince app for app exclusive offers or go to quince.com. Get free shipping on your order and 365-day returns, now available in Canada and the UK too. And when Quince asks where you heard about them, let them know it was Pivot.

Kara Swisher 17:38 It's the best way to support the show. [upbeat music] [whoosh] Scott, we're back. In the aftermath of the midterms, there is all manner of things happening in Congress this week. First, historic upset in Mississippi, Flip-a-sippi, or ONE, W-O-N, Mississippi. Scott Colome just got elected to the state's first Democratic senator in more than 40 years, and its first Black senator since Reconstruction. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth dodged impeachment after House Republicans were able to block the effort. 11 Democrats missed the Hegseth vote, with some blaming a traffic jam. And by the way, what a heinous behavior at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and kudos to the soldier who, uh, chastised he and his party. Uh, Hegseth's group was laughing and chitty-chatting away at a place that you do not chitty-chat away or laugh at. Republican Congressman Thomas Matthew, who led the Hegseth impeachment, by the way, is forcing a new vote over the Epstein files. He introduced a bill for survivors and lawmakers to sue the DJ-- DOJ over records they believe have been unlawfully withheld. And leading the House Republicans come January will be Ohio congressman and vocal Trump defender, Jim Jordan, who was elected minority leader in a 106 to 73 vote. So they're really doubling down, these people, on nasty, uh, people to take on the Democrats. Um, talk about the strategies we, we might see from Democrats and Republicans in January. And meanwhile, the Trump administration is already threatening congressional Democrats, saying aggressive oversight could be a crime. It's not, but they're saying so. Thoughts on all these things?

Scott Galloway 19:09 Y- you know who, who sent the first Democrat from Mississippi since Reconstruction to, to the Senate

Kara Swisher 19:18 Who?

Scott Galloway 19:18 Black women.

Kara Swisher 19:19 Mm-hmm.

Scott Galloway 19:19 Get this.

Kara Swisher 19:20 100%.

Scott Galloway 19:20 Get this. And I talk a lot about how young men played a vital role in this election, as it was a 38-point swing. In Mississippi, about 20% of the electorate is Black women. 20%, 20%. And by the way, Black men, only 10%. So Black women made up 20%. Black women turned up 20% of the electorate, and do you know what percentage went blue?

Kara Swisher 19:45 99.

Scott Galloway 19:47 Ding, ding, ding, ding. 19.8% of that 20% went blue.

Kara Swisher 19:54 Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Scott Galloway 19:54 I mean [laughs] you wanna talk about-

Kara Swisher 19:57 I wanna meet those-

Scott Galloway 19:57 ... people who showed up

Kara Swisher 19:58 ... I wanna know those tiny little groups.

Scott Galloway 20:01 I mean, uh-

Kara Swisher 20:02 It was like four Black women who wear, like, MAGA T-shirts. Who are they?

Scott Galloway 20:06 Well, it reminds me, I ran a proxy fight to-

Kara Swisher 20:08 Mm-hmm

Scott Galloway 20:08 ... to, to kick out the board at Red Envelope after I was kicked off the board.

Kara Swisher 20:12 Mm-hmm.

Scott Galloway 20:12 And I, I was l- I know, I know you wanna talk more about me.

Kara Swisher 20:14 Was there a spy situation happening there? Anything?

Scott Galloway 20:17 Well, it's not quite as romantic, but my mom was very sick, and so I moved in with my mom, and I had a little bit of money, and I'd just been kicked out of the band I'd started, and that, uh, a man with a little bit of money who's bored and angry is a very dangerous thing. So I [laughs] I ran a full-scale proxy fight to clear out the board, and I own 12% of the company, and it's, it's basically they vote. It's like a voting day, and the shares show up and vote. And my proxy solicitor called and said, "You got 13% of the vote," and I own 12.

Kara Swisher 20:44 [laughs]

Scott Galloway 20:44 And I'm like, "So let me get this. Of the 88% that could, I got 1%?" And they said, "Yeah."

Kara Swisher 20:49 That was me.

Scott Galloway 20:49 No, but my best thing is, the funniest thing is, he goes, "Honestly, Scott," he's like, "That 1% was probably a mistake. These forms are complicated." [both laughing] So I would bet the one per- the point, the 1%-

Kara Swisher 21:00 Yeah. Oops, yeah

Scott Galloway 21:00 ... who did vote for Republicans-

Kara Swisher 21:02 Uh, yeah

Scott Galloway 21:02 ... probably just filled out the bubble incorrectly.

Kara Swisher 21:03 All right. So Black w- Okay, so what do we think about that vi- That's amazing. He's, he's... His commercials, speaking of marketing, his sinners commercial and his, his, uh, protein, shit, w- were brilliant, and this guy didn't get enough money. In this case, Chuck Schumer did recruit him, so let's give him credit. I know he's facing a lot of str-

Scott Galloway 21:23 Chuck deserves some credit here

Kara Swisher 21:23 ... credit for this one. Yeah.

Scott Galloway 21:24 Yeah.

Kara Swisher 21:25 Yeah, yeah. But he does. Let me just say, this candidate is superb, like a superb candidate on every level.

Scott Galloway 21:29 He ran on rural hospitals, m-

Kara Swisher 21:31 Yeah

Scott Galloway 21:31 ... uh, Medicaid cuts, gas prices, tariffs.

Kara Swisher 21:33 Just so good, so clever.

Scott Galloway 21:34 And-

Kara Swisher 21:34 So genuine

Scott Galloway 21:36 ... one of his big issues was releasing the Epstein files.

Kara Swisher 21:38 Yeah, yeah. Well, he's, he's a, he's gonna be a fascinating senator, I think. Um, what about Hegseth?

Scott Galloway 21:44 That's, you know, [laughs] it's like the good, the good news had to stop at some point, and that is we kinda blew this because the House voted 211 to 204 two days ago to send Massie's Hegseth impeachment articles to the Judiciary Committee, which kinda kills them. So a- and here's the shame: 11 Democrats missed the vote. Now granted, seven Republicans did too, so if everyone had showed up, it still wouldn't have made it. But there was a shot at, at, at getting this vote done had seven of the 11 Democrats, uh, showed up, or even five of them.

Kara Swisher 22:19 Including Nancy Pelosi wasn't there.

Scott Galloway 22:21 They talked about traffic, a motorcade, medical procedure. People criticized Johnson for not keeping the vote open. That's bullshit. He kept it open in the, uh, for a while. The vote was at the end of the day at 5:00. You know, this, uh, you know, Nancy Pelosi was at a veterans event in San Francisco. Everyone, it sh- This should've been all hands on deck.

Kara Swisher 22:42 Do you feel like maybe this was planned? Uh, or was it just incompetence by Hakeem Jeffries? I can't tell. Maybe they did it so they can go back when the Democrats take control and do it. I don't know. Like, someone was like, "There's gotta have been a smarter... This can't be as dumb as it seems."

Scott Galloway 22:57 I do. I do think it's, I think it's-

Kara Swisher 22:58 Really? Is it as dumb?

Scott Galloway 22:59 I think it's people just not planning well, sick.

Kara Swisher 23:02 Yeah.

Scott Galloway 23:02 And also, when you're dealing with-

Kara Swisher 23:04 Mm-hmm

Scott Galloway 23:04 ... the Golden Girls in the Land of the Dead, a lot of them are legitimately sick.

Kara Swisher 23:07 [laughs]

Scott Galloway 23:08 There was one guy who showed up a day after back surgery.

Kara Swisher 23:12 Yeah. Yeah.

Scott Galloway 23:13 Like barely could walk.

Kara Swisher 23:14 Yeah. Yeah.

Scott Galloway 23:15 But there were p- there were people who, who got caught in traffic. There were people who-

Kara Swisher 23:19 Yeah, traffic

Scott Galloway 23:19 ... were at Veterans Day celebrations.

Kara Swisher 23:22 God, it's crazy.

Scott Galloway 23:23 Um, so-

Kara Swisher 23:23 What, tell me what you think of the Hegseth thing at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. What a... I love that soldier.

Scott Galloway 23:29 Look, that's-

Kara Swisher 23:29 I wanna buy him a drink, I gotta tell you.

Scott Galloway 23:32 It, it's great, it's great catnip for us. It was a... I, I saw the video, and I just have so m- It's just, like, you see that video, and you wanna stand up and put your hand over your heart and sing the Pledge of Allegiance. I just love they have that rule. They've clearly told this young man that any chatter, you scream out loud, res- silence, respect this, you know, this place. And I mean, to Secretary Hegseth's defense, it's, I watched it. It sounded like someone he was with was laughing.

Kara Swisher 24:02 It doesn't matter.

Scott Galloway 24:02 I don't know. This is catnip for us. This is not meaningful.

Kara Swisher 24:05 I think it's meaningful.

Scott Galloway 24:07 Well-

Kara Swisher 24:07 I think it has a visual for a lot of-

Scott Galloway 24:07 It's, it's another symbol that these people don't take their jobs and don't recognize-

Kara Swisher 24:10 That's right. I think it's meaningful to people who are-

Scott Galloway 24:12 Don't acquit themselves well

Kara Swisher 24:13 ... in the military. I think it is.

Scott Galloway 24:14 Yeah, I get that.

Kara Swisher 24:15 I think, yeah, yeah.

Scott Galloway 24:16 So we blew this. We had a lot of momentum, and, uh, this will come up again. Uh, this is not the last we've heard of this. When the Democrats take control in January, I gotta think-

Kara Swisher 24:27 He should get out of there and fast. That's what I say. What about the Epstein one? I love that Thomas Massie keeps going. [laughs] Like, he's like, he's just not giving up.

Scott Galloway 24:35 I think all of this stuff, I think they can delay it.

Kara Swisher 24:37 Yeah.

Scott Galloway 24:37 But I think come January-

Kara Swisher 24:39 All this is happening

Scott Galloway 24:39 ... gosh, all of this, you know, the, people are gonna find out what it means to have a, an actual third branch of government.

Kara Swisher 24:46 Yeah.

Scott Galloway 24:46 You know?

Kara Swisher 24:47 Now, what about picking Jordan? Very, uh, obstreperous person.

Scott Galloway 24:50 I, look, I think Representative Jordan, I'll give him this, when you see him in these hearings, I think at least he handles his committee well. I, I don't, I think, I don't agl- I don't like his politics. I think he is a competent representative.

Kara Swisher 25:04 I d- I have no, I have utter disdain for him.

Scott Galloway 25:05 And there's a lot of baggage there around some of his-

Kara Swisher 25:08 Yeah

Scott Galloway 25:08 ... there's some, you know, quote, unquote, "alleged scandal" in his past But I think Representative Jordan is a, is an intelligent, competent person. I don't-

Kara Swisher 25:17 Well, I think they picked-

Scott Galloway 25:18 I mean, some of these people-

Kara Swisher 25:19 A fighter. They picked a fighter.

Scott Galloway 25:21 Well, but, but my point is, some of these people are... Y- you don't like their politics, and they seem incompetent. I don't like to-

Kara Swisher 25:27 Oh, like, like Johnson

Scott Galloway 25:28 ... representatives-

Kara Swisher 25:28 Johnson seems incompetent, you mean, mean to say.

Scott Galloway 25:31 Yeah, I wouldn't describe Representative inco- uh, uh, uh, or Speaker Johnson as incompetent. I would describe him as someone who does, who is not the Speaker of the House. He's the Speaker of the White House.

Kara Swisher 25:42 Yeah.

Scott Galloway 25:42 He did not-

Kara Swisher 25:43 Very good point

Scott Galloway 25:43 ... he did not even rep-

Kara Swisher 25:44 Well, so is Jordan

Scott Galloway 25:45 ... he did not even represent his own Republican, Republicans in Congress.

Kara Swisher 25:49 So is Jordan.

Scott Galloway 25:50 He-

Kara Swisher 25:50 Jordan's always apologizing for Trump all the time. Never, never breaks with him at all.

Scott Galloway 25:54 Yeah, uh, uh, like that's a fair point. I, I, this isn't-- Let me put it this way. There's been a lot worse.

Kara Swisher 25:59 I guess. [laughs]

Scott Galloway 26:00 Anyway, so, uh, like the first E- Epstein Files Transparency Act passed the House 427 to one in November. That feels like one that it's gonna-

Kara Swisher 26:09 Gonna go

Scott Galloway 26:09 ... come up.

Kara Swisher 26:10 Yep.

Scott Galloway 26:11 Um, and-

Kara Swisher 26:11 Yeah, we'll see

Scott Galloway 26:12 ... and Massey's Epstein movement, his new discharge petition, hit 218 signatures yesterday.

Kara Swisher 26:18 Yeah.

Scott Galloway 26:18 So the, the bill just-- What is the bill? It would let Epstein survivors, state prosecutors, and lawmakers sue the Justice Department over records they think it's illegally withholding. It could get a floor vote, uh, as early as December. So for those of us who actually tune into C-SPAN, this season is gonna be off the hook, Kara.

Kara Swisher 26:36 Off the hook.

Scott Galloway 26:36 [laughs] It's gonna be-

Kara Swisher 26:37 It will be. It will be. It'll be interesting

Scott Galloway 26:39 ... off the hook.

Kara Swisher 26:39 It should be interesting. Well, Hakeem Jeffries has gotta eat his Wheaties, I suspect.

Scott Galloway 26:44 But every piece of news, it was like, "Oh, it's close in Mississippi. It's like down to a couple hundred votes." I'm like, "We've had too much momentum. It's-- We're not gonna get it." It literally-- We're, we're winning every game here. The vote on Hegseth yesterday was the first time things didn't go our way.

Kara Swisher 27:01 All right, we'll take it. We'll take the L. Um, but there's still Alaska, looks like, and Trump keeps saying you have to add the Dan Sullivans together in order to win, [laughs] which is like ins- I'm like, "You need to go take a nap, sir." Anyway, it looks like Democrats really did a sweep, so take a bow at least. All right, Scott, one more quick break. We'll be back for predictions. [gentle music]

Scott Galloway 27:21 Support for the show comes from Base44. Every great business starts somewhere. Sometimes it starts in a spreadsheet, a nice, organized spreadsheet. But as the business grows, the spreadsheet gets messier. The workarounds multiply, and the tool that once helped you run your business is actually making it harder. That's where Base44 comes in. Base44 is an AI platform that turns your ideal company setup into software you can actually use. From the first essential tools you need to get things off the ground to systems that run the entire operation, you can build it with Base44. You can even customize the tools that you need, ditch the ones you don't, and keep building as your business grows. Whether it's a client portal, a dashboard, or a tool for managing your audience, or anything in between, Base44 has you covered. Because your business shouldn't work around your software, your software should work around your business. Go to Base44.com/pivot for 30% off the Builder plan for your first year. That's Base44.com/pivot for 30% off your first year. Thanks to Base44 for sponsoring this episode. Support for the show comes from Glean. Opening up an AI tool is easy, but getting the results that you want from that AI is a different story. Sure, it might be able to respond to a prompt, but without the context of your business, it won't actually get you that far. That's where Glean comes in. Glean is the AI platform that connects the context of your company to the AI system that best suits the task. Glean uses everything from company emails to Slack conversations to give you the most informed answers, and your data stays protected. Glean builds permissions, security, and governance into the platform from the start, so your AI agents can get work done without stepping outside the rules. In addition to better results with secure guardrails, Glean helps your bottom line. Since you're not locked into a single AI model, you get the AI capabilities you need without paying for the most expensive model every time. And the time and money saved using Glean isn't just theoretical. Duolingo is saving an estimated $1 million a year in employee time with Glean. Glean, the context platform for enterprise AI. Visit glean.com/pivot to unlock an exclusive offer just for listeners of Pivot.

Scott Galloway 29:22 That's G-L-E-A-N.com/pivot. Terms and conditions apply. Support for the show comes from Mint Mobile. Big wireless companies are great at making absurd amounts of money while making phone plans more and more complicated for regular people. They pretty much have it down to an art form: confusing bills, mystery fees, and that nagging feeling you're paying way too much for something we all need. Mint Mobile thinks there's a better way. For just $15 a month, Mint Mobile users get high-speed 5G data and unlimited talk and text. You can even bring your current phone and your number. Less money for your wireless carrier, more money in your pocket. So what are you waiting for? To get your new wireless plan for 15 bucks a month, go to mintmobile.com/pivot. That's mintmobile.com/pivot. Cut your wireless bill to 15 bucks a month at mintmobile.com/pivot. Limited time offer, upfront payment of $45 for three-month, 90 for six months, 180 for 12-month plan required. 15 per month equivalent, taxes and fees extra. Initial plan term [laughs] only. Greater than 50 gigabytes may slow when network is busy. Capable device required. Availability, speed, and coverage varies. See mintmobile.com.

Kara Swisher 30:33 Scott, let's hear a prediction.

Scott Galloway 30:35 Uh, you've worked with a lot of these people. I've worked with a lot of these people. There is no Jesus Christ. There is no one person that can build a $5 trillion company. Greatness is in the agency of others. You can't get to 10 million in revenues, much less a company worth $5 trillion, without having an unbelievable team, expertise, commitment. There are 40 CEOs at Nvidia. Once this, once Jensen Huang and some of this drama dies down, most likely, unless it involves just, uh, security threats everywhere, I think if they can ring-fence-- Uh, sorry for the word salad. The prediction is the following: Nvidia stock is higher at the end of the year

Kara Swisher 31:22 Yep. I'm with you

Scott Galloway 31:22 This company now, it, it's lost so much, it, so much air has come out of this thing. It's lost the value since its peak of, like, Oracle, Cisco, Bank of America, and Costco combined. It's trading at a PE that is about the same or lower than the S&P. I don't care what you think of AI. I don't care what you think of how bad it is at Nvidia. This is a more interesting company than Caterpillar or Ford Motor, and it's growing [laughs] you know, exponentially more. So once there's some, uh, uh, once there's w- some sense of a new CEO, and they even discount all the chips they've been sending to people they weren't supposed to send to, people are gonna go, "Okay, this company [laughs] is still much better than your average S&P company," and the stock is up.

Kara Swisher 32:13 Yeah. All right. Well, there you have it. Uh, my only prediction is I think Rubio will actually stay because-

Scott Galloway 32:18 You think he's gonna stay?

Kara Swisher 32:19 I do, and here's why. I think he's g- He's gonna continue to show that he was on the other side of this Jensen t- trade. He's gonna keep leaking. This st- this leaking is coming, coming from Bessent, people close to Bessent and Rubio. I think if he looks like a her- if he can manage to look like a hero here, uh, he, he doesn't have to go. And I, I, I, I think he's, uh, uh, uh... Hillary actually made a point. He kinda wants Trump to go into Cuba, and if he gets that and is the, on the first b- boat to Havana, he looks great.

Scott Galloway 32:48 Do you really think the Americans have an appetite for another one of these things?

Kara Swisher 32:51 I don't know. I'm just telling you, he, that, well, that's what she said. That's the only thing that's gonna keep him there, but I do think that he looks good here, and, um, is flouncing out unless they really make it worse by pardoning Jensen or whatever happens. I, Jensen's never, hasn't been accused of anything, but, um, yeah, I mean, he's been, he's in a world of hurt. But, y- you know, I think, I think he's done a great job in managing his reputation here, as has Scott Bessent. Uh, it's very clear they want you to know they thought that David Sacks and Howard Lutnick were, were badly advising the president, and the president is at fault here. So I just, I have a feeling he's gonna stay. Uh, my other, uh, my other prediction is that fucking White House ballroom is an eyesore. What a white elephant that is.

Scott Galloway 33:36 Oh, God.

Kara Swisher 33:37 I mean, it really looks bad now that it's up. I, I went by it the other day. I'm like, "What in the actual fuck is this?" It, it dwarfs The White House. I, I, I suspect the next president's gonna have to take it down quite a bit. I, I know you're not supposed to, but they're gonna... It looks really weird. Um, it looks like a big carbuncle on the side of The White House, but we'll see. Anyway, we wanna hear from you. Send us your questions about business, tech, or whatever's on your mind. Go to nytmag.com/pivot to submit a question for the show or call 855-51-PIVOT. We also wanna welcome the newest member of the Vox Media Podcast Network family, The Bulwark. What do you think? Those guys, they're cool.

Scott Galloway 34:15 We love those guys.

Kara Swisher 34:16 Tim Miller, Sarah Longwell. Yeah.

Scott Galloway 34:17 Sarah's fantastic.

Kara Swisher 34:18 They're all-

Scott Galloway 34:18 Tim's fantastic.

Kara Swisher 34:19 Yeah.

Scott Galloway 34:19 I think they're-

Kara Swisher 34:19 They're just... We're gonna do a crossover. You know, I also announced my book, Scott. Did you know that? I announced-

Scott Galloway 34:24 Oh, really? Sa-

Kara Swisher 34:25 Yeah

Scott Galloway 34:25 ... Sarah Moore, I did know that.

Kara Swisher 34:26 . commonsense. It's based on Thomas Paine's famous, famous, uh, uh, Common Sense, uh, his pamphlet, uh, that sorta set off the American Revolution. It was the spark, and so we are putting together a digital bill of rights. I'm writing it with Imran Ahmed from the Center for Countering Digital Harm. Uh, and we're gonna give s- We're gonna have new surveys. We're gonna have new tests we did on all the social media companies. So far, they're failing. Um, and it'll have a digital bill of rights. I'm gonna write it for Congress. That's what I'm done. That's what I'm doing, so it's coming out.

Scott Galloway 34:58 I don't know.

Kara Swisher 34:58 Finish. Finish your-

Scott Galloway 34:58 I just keep asking myself, "Where the fuck is my hot Chinese spy?"

Kara Swisher 35:01 [laughs]

Scott Galloway 35:03 [laughs]

Kara Swisher 35:04 Amanda Katz is a Chinese-

Scott Galloway 35:04 I deserve a hot Chinese spy, Kara.

Kara Swisher 35:06 She told me to say it many times.

Scott Galloway 35:07 I, I am-

Kara Swisher 35:08 Amanda Katz is a Chinese spy

Scott Galloway 35:09 ... I am sort of important, and I have incredibly poor judgment.

Kara Swisher 35:12 You're not getting a Chinese-

Scott Galloway 35:12 Where is my hot Chinese spy?

Kara Swisher 35:14 You have... You don't have one. You're never getting one, sadly. But just remember, Scott, if someone sidles up to you at a bar, you didn't get any good, better looking. Anyway, uh, that's-

Scott Galloway 35:23 Oh, I tell you, I-

Kara Swisher 35:24 What? [laughs]

Scott Galloway 35:25 I, I tell you how I, I think I spot a sex worker.

Kara Swisher 35:28 Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Scott Galloway 35:28 They, they return my eye contact.

Kara Swisher 35:30 Oh, yeah, exactly.

Scott Galloway 35:31 That's literally how on alert I am.

Kara Swisher 35:32 It's either a, a sex worker or a Chinese spy when people are nice to you. Okay. That's the show. Thanks for listening to Pivot, and be sure to like and subscribe to our YouTube channel. We'll be back next week. [outro music]