PivotHow Elon Backlash is Creating Problems for Tesla | Pivot
EVERY SPOKEN WORD
125 min read · 24,909 words- 0:00 – 7:22
Intro
- KSKara Swisher
I don't want to hear about your erections. Can you move along, please? (instrumental music) Hi, everyone. This is Pivot from New York Magazine and the Vox Media Podcast Network. I'm Kara Swisher.
- SGScott Galloway
And I'm Scott Galloway.
- KSKara Swisher
Scott, how you doing? I finally finished my move. I moved.
- SGScott Galloway
Oh, congratulations.
- KSKara Swisher
Oh, Scott, it's like, ugh. I feel, like, so in need of not moving anymore, ever again.
- SGScott Galloway
Well, the good news is that probably won't happen. The next-
- KSKara Swisher
(laughs)
- SGScott Galloway
... the next move, you won't even be aware it's happening. You'll-
- KSKara Swisher
(laughs)
- SGScott Galloway
... you'll-
- KSKara Swisher
To-
- SGScott Galloway
... you'll have some-
- KSKara Swisher
... to the grave.
- SGScott Galloway
... you'll have... No.
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah.
- SGScott Galloway
No, no, no, no, no.
- KSKara Swisher
Oh.
- SGScott Galloway
You're not that old. You'll have some Filipino nurse saying-
- KSKara Swisher
Uh-huh.
- SGScott Galloway
... "It's okay, Ms., Ms. Swisher. Just follow me," and you'll be, like-
- KSKara Swisher
(laughs)
- SGScott Galloway
... "Where's, where's, you know, where's Grandpa?"
- KSKara Swisher
Uh-huh.
- SGScott Galloway
You'll, you'll just, will be so out of it, you won't even notice it.
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah, yeah. Grandpa, I'm a lesbian. Grandpa.
- SGScott Galloway
You'll, you'll literally... It'll be like watching a senator stroll around the halls-
- KSKara Swisher
I know.
- SGScott Galloway
... of, of the rotunda.
- KSKara Swisher
Oh, Jesus, those senators. Oh, well, I, I gotta tell you, Scott. Being in Wa... Like, right now, we're like, "Okay, now we're in Washington," and, like, we're like, "Should we leave Washington?" Because it's just so heinous. Although, we never see these people, so I guess who cares, right? Who cares?
- SGScott Galloway
I, I am... This is the dark side of me. I hate to admit this. I'd kinda welcome a measles outbreak in DC right now. I, I just think that... I think this surrender clown and his cabinet of, uh, the best friends measles ever had. I mean, at what point... And of course, it hits, uh, a small community in Lubbock. I mean, at what point does, do these literally head-up-your-ass, cruel, weird decisions come back to DC that... I saw this, this statement. I think it was from Cory Doctorow, and it just perfectly summarized. I really have a difficult time encapsulating what I think is going on, or the kind of gestalt of this elite class of tech bros and their, their representatives in Washington, the vice president and the president, and he summarized it perfectly. He said that they believe there's an in and an out crowd, and if you read, if you read Alex Karp's new book, it's basically engineers and innovators are the in crowd, and everybody else is the out crowd. And that essentially the theory is, and I think it's a philosopher, I forget which theory, is that with the in crowd, they are bound by the law, but not protected. Excuse me. With the in crowd, they are protected by the law, but not bound by it. And the out crowd is bound by it, but not protected by it.
- 7:22 – 16:59
The Washington Post’s “Significant Shift”
- KSKara Swisher
Jeff Bezos, speaking of tiny balls. Um, Washington Post opinion editor David Shipley, by the way, who my wife used to work for before she quit and is thrilled that she did now that this came out, has stepped down after Jeff Bezos announced a significant shift to the opinion page. Bezos said, "The Post will now publish daily opinion stories on two editorial pillars." Pretty much, and you have to be for them, personal liberties and free markets. You can't be against those. Um, the-
- SGScott Galloway
What does that mean?
- KSKara Swisher
I, I, I will tell you, yes.
- SGScott Galloway
Can I just press pause? What does that mean? Okay.
- KSKara Swisher
Uh, personal liberties, "I'll do what I fucking want." Free markets, "I'll do what I fucking want." There you go. Okay? I get what they're trying... They're trying to be the Wall Street Journal, except the Wall Street Journal has intelligent people working for it and the Washington Post has Megan McArdle. Um, the opinion section will cover other subjects as well, not really, but will not publish viewpoints opposing those pillars. What's the point of having them? Meaning if you're against... if you're, uh, for social justice or some regulation, you can't write a piece. You can't oppose free markets if, even if you do. Like, if you have a very good argument about why we need guard rails on Amazon's shitty behavior in, I don't know, um, whatever, you can't oppose Jeff Bezo- you can't oppose Jeff Bezos. Um, he said he believes the viewpoints in the new categories are underserved in the current market of ideas and news opinion. No, they're not, Jeff. They're done by the Wall Street Journal which does them, don't always agree, but pretty fucking good. Uh, sounds like not original idea. Um, the head of, uh, the opinion section, David Shipley, who already took a fall, uh, took a, took a... uh, he just fell down when he was doing the Kamala Harris thing, has decided he can't do this. I, I, I, I can't believe he didn't get, go the first time, um, but here it is. And of course, Jeff Bezos in an interview with Mathias Döpfner, uh, m- s- in 2018, um, said he would never do things like this, and this is exactly what he's doing. He said he'd be embarrassed and he would feel terrible when he was 80 years old. Um, so here we are. He can do what he wants with his fucking newspaper, but it's a piece of shit now. Go ahead, sorry.
- SGScott Galloway
But I don't, I don't even really understand what that means. We're only talking about-
- KSKara Swisher
It doesn't mean anything.
- SGScott Galloway
I, I don't... W- so do you not have an opini- isn't the whole idea of opinion is that you're gonna be-
- KSKara Swisher
Yes.
- SGScott Galloway
... provocative-
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
... and perhaps upset some people and catalyze a dialogue-
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
... that perhaps helps craft better solutions? I just-
- KSKara Swisher
He says the-
- SGScott Galloway
... what's the point?
- KSKara Swisher
... internet has viewpoints opposing those pillars.
- SGScott Galloway
Hmm. Fair point. Uh-
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
So why wouldn't the Washington Post? I don't-
- KSKara Swisher
Uh, uh, uh, uh, I don't know.
- SGScott Galloway
Eh, I, I just don't get any of this. I, I'm having trouble even making an argument for or against it. I don't know what it means other than him saying, "I don't like the way it's being run now." I don't-
- KSKara Swisher
I, I think he's been trying to do this. Like, I kind of get it, but it's so, it's so, like, kindergarten version of opinion sections. It's like, "Oh, we need more diverse voices." Oh, okay. Get them. Pu- publish them. Do them. Like, have everybody argue, right? If you, you have to have viewpoints opposing personal liberties and free markets if you really wanna have an opinion section, but he doesn't really wanna have it. He wants a, a billionaire propaganda arm. That's... I think he's... this is what penny... that I think has dropped in his, in his, uh, in his noggin, uh, is, um, i- is that, "I can use this as a cudgel," right? "I can u- I- if, if Musk can use, uh, Twitter, X as a cudgel, I can use this as a cudgel, so I can, I can do this via..." Now, interestingly enough, the Wall Street Journal has been very, um, critical of, of Trump, right? He's been, they've been very critical about the tariffs, about the behaviors, about the nonsense, and, and actually making some great arguments. Um, and they've, they've featured those. I'll be interested to see what Bezos... well, I'm not interested at all, but, you know, we'll see what he does here, but it seems like he'll try to get someone... I don't know. There's a lot of people who think th- this, who go on and on about say and do what you want, and then when it c- when push comes to shove, you don't get to say and do what you want. You get to say and do what your billionaire owner wants. Um, but-
- SGScott Galloway
The, uh, uh, I mean, the, the reality is with these newspapers now, there used to be 20, about 60 or 80 million subscriptions in the US. It's gone down, it's gone down to 20 million. Some have made the jump to digital such as the New York Times. But the, the problem is it's a zero sum game. And so when they sign up, when they set, when they thought, "Okay, the Washington Post is doing good work," it usually comes at the cost of someone else. They are now... As someone who's, I think got some distance from the Washington Post, I like it, I have affection for it, but the reality is, it just feels like it's circling the drain right now.
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah. Absolutely.
- SGScott Galloway
It doesn't feel like it has a growth strategy.
- KSKara Swisher
Significance, relevance.
- SGScott Galloway
And, and, the, the people who like the Post are quite frankly, uh, you know, I hate to use this word, but kind of a cultural elite, and-
- KSKara Swisher
They don't anymore actually. They're-
- SGScott Galloway
Well, I, my view is they're pretty prickly. And when a billionaire weighs in with his views without really understanding (laughs) journalism, it turns off their readers and their employees, and it's probably very damaging to the culture.
- 16:59 – 23:40
Trump’s Cabinet Meeting
- SGScott Galloway
- KSKara Swisher
President Trump hosted his first cabinet meeting, speaking of stupid, Wednesday, with co-president Elon Musk in attendance. Really, truly. Standing up, talking almost as much as Trump. Trump recognized Musk to speak first and surveyed the room on approval for Doge's, uh, work, and whether they like Elon. Guess what, Scott? Everybody applauded. Yay. Although Marco Rubio looked like he was, you know, having diarrhea at that moment. Um, Elon at one point said Doge had accidentally canceled an Ebola prevention program.
- SGScott Galloway
Whoops.
- KSKara Swisher
Let's listen. Let's listen.
- NANarrator
We will make mistakes. We won't be perfect. But when we, uh, make a mistake, we'll fix it very quickly. Uh, so for example, with, uh, USAID, uh, one of the things we accidentally canceled, very briefly, was Ebola (laughs) , uh, Ebola prevention. I think we all want Ebola prevention. So, we restored the Ebola prevention immediately, and there was no interruption.
- KSKara Swisher
Not true, according to expert after expert. Everyone down the field say nothing's been restored. It's gone from 60 people to 6. Uh, he's just, he just opens his mouth and he tells... He- he's, he's disingenuous. Um, uh, als-... He... Trump also addressed efforts to slash federal workforce, which he's gonna continue, including 65% or so of the EPA. He talked about terrorists. The upcoming meeting with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy. He's trying to shake him down for mineral rights. So it's paper play, uh, uh, military help, uh, which we, we really have sort of done, but not this explicitly. Um, ugh, just the whole thing is... And the, and the, and the getting the, the, the, the cabinet just to applaud. I... They probably were like... They tried to resist some of this Doge stuff, and now they had to applaud in, in public. Like, can you ima-... I wish someone had gone, "Yeah, I don't like him. He's a fucker, President Trump." But, but no one did, of course. Anyway.
- SGScott Galloway
Yeah, well, speaking of the Wall Street Journal, they had some great analysis a couple of days ago saying that, um, they think so far Doge has saved a whopping $2.6 billion.
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah, a whopping.
- SGScott Galloway
And, and, and by the way-
- KSKara Swisher
They're claiming 60, right? They're claiming 60.
- SGScott Galloway
Yeah, they're claiming 60, and by the way, Musk has received subsidies, depending on how you count them, somewhere between $15 and $50 billion. So, if you want to six ax the Doge savings, just cut off all subsidies to Tesla.And it's just, it again, it's look over here, and also, I'm trying to do the analysis. I believe that these tax cuts will cut, will cost taxpayers more in terms of the treasury, just the benefits that Elon Musk will accrue, than the savings he is garnering at Doge. So if you wanted to double the savings of Doge, you would just say, "Okay, thank you for your service, but you are no longer entitled to the tax cuts." I mean, this is, it's just, uh, the, the math ain't mathin' for lack of a better term. I don't think, uh, I don't think they should focus on the injustice. I, I don't, uh, quite frankly, I don't think it's outrageous to get an email from somebody saying, "Tell us what you did last week."
- KSKara Swisher
I get-
- SGScott Galloway
I, I think that happens-
- KSKara Swisher
It's how it's done, Scott. It's how it's done. That's all.
- SGScott Galloway
Agreed. Agreed. But it's, that's not where our focus should be.
- KSKara Swisher
No.
- SGScott Galloway
Our focus should be, okay, you recognize that the Department of Energy has been, Department of Energy and I forget what the exact term is, has been tasked with cutting $800 billion. There's no way they can avoid, uh, Medicare and Medicaid. And by the way, when you privatize... Okay, so a kid is still gonna need his medication. W- unless we decide to just let them die, they're gonna get-
- KSKara Swisher
Mm...
- SGScott Galloway
... their medication, but this is-
- KSKara Swisher
That's what we're doing.
- SGScott Galloway
Hold on-
- KSKara Swisher
Go ahead.
- SGScott Galloway
Well, hold-
- KSKara Swisher
Okay.
- SGScott Galloway
G- give me some running room. I don't think that's gonna happen. What's gonna happen is, it's gonna be privatized, and either the employer or the individual or the county or the state is going to have to go into the private market and buy it. And then the insurance company and the pharmaceutical and the medical-industrial complex will insert themselves, make it less efficient, less cost-effective such that shareholder value goes up in the industrial and medical complex. The privatization... Essentially what these autocrats or these oligarchs want, is they want the privatization of everything, that way they can insert themselves in the middle for shareholder value. There are cities that have privatized everything, the utilities, the water, services, they've privatized everything, and what happens traditionally or typically, is that there are some things that should be privatized, but when you privatize the Post as they did here in London, what you end up with is a more expensive service, where shareholders and companies get to skim or scoop up that incremental margin, and that is what they want here, is they want to get government out so they can insert, one, private enterprise and make money, and two, emasculate any regulation or oversight of their near-grifty businesses.
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm. Yeah. I would agree. And what, what's happening here is they're really hurting people who voted for... Have you, have you seen the spa- there's one, great one, speaking of which, in the Washington Post, "She hoped Trump's victory would change her life, but not like this." Um, Doge cut her job, and she was like, "Oh, I thought they were gonna take DEI people." Like what a, you know, honestly, leopards should eat every one of these people's faces as far as I'm concerned. You know what I mean? They did everything in their self-interest, and then he didn't do anything he said he was gonna do, uh, so far and they're cutting them, and so they're gonna, uh, they're, you know, no here, but they voted for what they voted, and this is what they're getting. Um, I agree. I, you're 100% right.
- SGScott Galloway
But the basis of DEI-
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah.
- SGScott Galloway
...or the arguments against DEI, is that it made sense, I think, the, uh, if you were to steel man this, it made sense at some point to have DEI, but many of these problems I won't have been, I won't say have been solved, but have been addressed, in terms of a workforce that somewhat resembles the population. The problem is, is the basis of the arguments for doing away with DEI is that you risk economic growth and even safety if in fact you're not hiring based on competence. Now, that is a real argument, but that argument holds no water when you are hiring fucking idiots to go into your cabinet, when you're hiring Fox News hosts to be the Secretary of Defense, and you're claiming we need to get rid of DEI so we have more competence, that this becomes a meritocratic. I mean, it's just so cynical to talk about skills and domain expertise and who earned and deserves the job and who would execute or prosecute the job with most, the most competence when you are bringing in seriously a fucking-
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah.
- 23:40 – 31:50
DOGE Updates
- KSKara Swisher
Scott, we're back. Let's talk about some of the notable Doge moments, uh, since last we taped. The White House confirmed that acting administrator of Doge is indeed not Elon Musk but a woman named Amy Gleason. Gleason's LinkedIn lists her as US Digital Services Senior Advisor and CBS News, uh, when contacting Gleason regarding the story said she was in Mexico and declined to comment. Uh, they just gave a name, and, and that very testy woman who does press for, uh, Trump gets very testy, very testy. She's got very Megyn Kelly vibes. Anyway, um, 21 Doge staffers resigned saying in a letter they would not lend their expertise to carry ou- to carry out, to, uh, to carry out legitimizing Doge- Doge's, uh, actions. The staffers were previously part of the US Digital Service, which was created by President Obama. These are people who were there helping the government, um, update themselves and they're just not gonna put, uh, put up with this, with Big Balls and the rest of the crew, the r- so the idiot douche boys crew. Um, the Trump administration and Doge had a rough week with courts. On Tuesday three federal judges dealt setbacks to the administration involving federal spending, refugees, and foreign aid, though Chief Justice John Roberts temporarily delayed a midnight deadline for the administration to unfreeze two billion dollars in foreign aid payments on Wednesday. Um, I, uh, Scott, I have no comment on this. I'm in Mexico. (laughs) I don't know what to say.
- SGScott Galloway
Yeah, I don't... But, uh, I'm more interested in, they're using her as a prop such that somebody, I think someone, I think my guess is Musk's lawyer said, "Nothing good can come from you having any sort of official affiliation here."
- KSKara Swisher
That's right, yeah. That's exactly-
- SGScott Galloway
And so we need a figurehead to just prop up and say they're in charge-... even despite the fact no one can even find her or get, get any sort of statement from her. Oh, she's in charge, that way when these myriad of lawsuits actually get to a, quote-unquote, judge who looks at the law, we need to f- we need to figure... It's almost like they've created... She's the effecti- she's effectively the equivalent of a human LLC, where you create a corporate shield, uh, between her and Musk. I just can't... I'm trying to figure out the legalities-
- KSKara Swisher
She worked for the-
- SGScott Galloway
... but I feel like we need to
- GCGuest commentator
... old service.
- SGScott Galloway
... grow our-
- GCGuest commentator
And from people there, she was not-
- SGScott Galloway
She was a figurehead. She's m- meaningless.
- KSKara Swisher
She's, she was not... She did not impress people with her skills, that's what I would say is how they talked about her. Um, no, she's just a figurehead. It's ridiculous. I mean, what's interesting is, you know, they do want this to be in court all the time, so they just... It's like a, it's like a ground war with these people, right? And they keep pushing back the way they, after the Apple shareholders, and they're gonna threaten Tim Cook. They just never friggin' give up. They're like, th- they're, they're, they're swarmers. I don't know what else to say. The strategy is probably very smart, just to keep making trouble and move from department to department, making destruction, and then fixing it will be just impossible, right? That's, that's the goal, I think, here.
- SGScott Galloway
Can I ask you a question?
- KSKara Swisher
Sure.
- SGScott Galloway
I'm, I'm veering from the script, which will drive our producers-
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
... crazy, because we won't-
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
... get to sell as many fucking ZipRecruiter ads. But-
- KSKara Swisher
Oh.
- SGScott Galloway
We've got a-
- KSKara Swisher
ZipRecruiter.
- SGScott Galloway
That's right. LinkedIn.
- KSKara Swisher
LinkedIn.
- SGScott Galloway
Uh, ZBiotics, let's party tonight-
- KSKara Swisher
(laughs)
- SGScott Galloway
... and let's not feel it in the morning. Hello, dog. Um-
- KSKara Swisher
Why don't we have any weed?
- SGScott Galloway
By the... I'm getting so much-
- KSKara Swisher
Why don't we have any weed ads? Why don't we have-
- SGScott Galloway
What?
- 31:50 – 37:18
Tesla’s Plunge
- KSKara Swisher
speaking of punching in the nose, speaking of not lack of erection, it's been a tough week for Tesla. Tesla shares plunged more than 8% on Wednesday, pushing its market cap below one trillion. The stock is down 25% for the year. That drop followed that sales, uh, the news that sales in Europe are down 45% from this time last year. Elon backlash is being credited with some of the recent decline, but other factors include increased EV competition from China, BYD, and consumers, uh, wanting a new model. Like, "Where's the new fucking model, Elon? Why don't you make better, new cars?" Not better cars, it's a good car, um, and there's lots of choices. And nobody likes this fucker, and people are putting things on the cars, writing on the cars. People have signs on their cars saying, "I hate him too." I don't know what... "Stop, you know, taking the air out of my tires and keying is my thing." Um, I, I don't do this, but I think about keying them. I do. I... And, and that's the thing. I never think like that. I'm like, "Oh, I should key this fucking car." But I don't, just everyone know that. Um, is there anything to be done here? Or is it just a declining situation for, for this company?
- SGScott Galloway
Well, (sighs) I mean, I mean, first off, all these things require context, and that is in the past year, the stock, even with its drawdown, is up 50%. It still trades at just an exceptional valuation. It's trading at P/E today of 145. I think Ford trades at a P/E of like six or seven. So, I think the market, when a company becomes this overvalued is looking for reasons to take it down. But there's, there's just no getting around it. The s- sales are down in Germany and across Europe, and also in California. Sales are off, you know, between 10% and 40%. So this is really having an impact on sales. And he still gets, I think, about a third of his net worth from, uh, his stake in Tesla. I think it's just getting started. I mean, my... I think you remember my prediction three weeks ago is, my broken clock was that at some point, this is gonna hurt the brand so much. I mean, I gotta think at some point people don't want to drive into a parking lot and have people flip them off, which is everyone's... not everyone, a lot of people's inclination now when you see someone in a Tesla is to... is, is like, "Oh, what an asshole," or flip them off, or... And I, you know, I sold my Tesla three years ago, and people said I (laughs) was overreacting. It's... Look, it, the... You should stay out of politics as a general rule for brands. It is finally starting. I think it got him some loyalty. I think sort of as a reference and a little bit like kind of innovation, politically incorrect. Actually, I think that probably got him some additional customers for a while. But this feels like a lot of people, even people who probably support him, think, "I just don't need the hassle of someone judging me by the car I roll up in, in terms of, in terms of my politics." Now, I want to be judged when I roll up in a Range Rover. It means that I'm in the midst of a midlife crisis, and I can afford it, and would you like to jump on-
- KSKara Swisher
It's a good-looking car.
- SGScott Galloway
... speaking of erectile dysfunction.
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah, it's a good-looking car. L- For people, for context, as Scott was saying, uh, year over year, it's up 47, almost 48%. Five-year, it's up 561%, and max, 22,000, 23,000% up. So, uh, it, it's six months is up 40%, one month it's down, but it's... Down is where it's headed. They just need... Look, if they had a great car, people might buy it. But you're right. I... Like, I, I, I... Just I think that the hassle, even if you like Elon Musk, is a real... is getting... is probably gonna bother people. Um, a- and I, I did... I, I don't hurt any of these cars, but I did yell uh, "Pin dick" to someone in a Cybertruck recently, which I enjoyed, and I liked it.
- SGScott Galloway
Pin dick.
- KSKara Swisher
Pin dick.
- SGScott Galloway
The, the interesting thing will be-
- KSKara Swisher
Pin dick!
- SGScott Galloway
So, the stock's overvalued. It's looking... The market's looking for reasons to take it down. The product lineup feels stale. The interesting thing will be is if his, um, his kind of off-camera activities here, or his extracurricular activities begin to infect Starlink, uh, because Starlink really is an amazing product, and they are signing up new customers like crazy. What I'm w- interested and/or waiting for is the first company that says, "We're reconsidering our deal with Starlink." Um, because so far it's just impacted Tesla. If it goes after... if it starts to infect SpaceX, S- SpaceX/Starlink, then Houston has a real problem, and I think you probably are gonna see that in the next 30 days. A big carrier or a government or someone's gonna say, "We're rethinking our relationship with, uh, Starlink."
- KSKara Swisher
I think one of the things that's important that people should think about is, "Is the product good?" can save you a lot of stuff. Although even if the product's good and people think you're an asshole, it does affect it. You just stop buying it. You just... Uh, I definitely have bought less Amazon stuff 'cause I'm like, "Why should I give this guy money?" I'll give it to Macy's. It's not... It's a little harder, but it's not that much harder. They still have a better product in terms of delivery. But I'm like, "Ugh, I just don't like them. I just don't like them," or, "I like... You know, I just... I don't want to give Jeff Bezos money." And that's how people... That's how it begins, right? And then you find other alternatives. It's a real opportunity for car ma- other carmakers, that's for sure.
- SGScott Galloway
It's funny you... It's, it's funny you say that 'cause last night I was watching Game of... I'm watching Game of Thrones with my 14-year-old-
- KSKara Swisher
Again?
- SGScott Galloway
And the easiest way to buy it was on... It, it never gets old, Kara.
- KSKara Swisher
Again, okay. Okay.
- SGScott Galloway
It never gets old. And so, um, uh, but last night, the easiest way to buy it was on Amazon Prime. And for the first time I thought, "Is there another place I can buy it?"
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
- SGScott Galloway
First time I thought that.
- KSKara Swisher
Small little decisions like that. Pin dick! All right, Scott, let's go on a quick break. When we come back, we'll talk about NVIDIA beating earnings expectations and Trump's plan to woo wealthy foreign investors.
- 37:18 – 42:38
Nvidia’s Earnings
- KSKara Swisher
Scott, we're back. NVIDIA has done it again with another blockbuster earnings report. Quarterly earnings were $39 billion, a 78% increase compared to Q4 last year. Profits spiked 80%, uh, from a year earlier to $22 billion, beating Wall Street's expectations. The company project revenue in the current quarter will rise 65% uh, to $43 billion. A little less than 78, but still good. Uh, has NVIDIA put these DeepSeek fears to rest? Remember, just a month ago, NVIDIA had a, a $600 billion wipeout, uh, when DeepSeek burst on the scene. It seems like nobody's talking about that now. Thoughts on this? Because, you know, again... By the way, for people to understand, it really... The stock market rises and falls on NVIDIA's shares right now. And, and only... I... Speaking, you know who I int- interviewed? Aswath.
- SGScott Galloway
... Aswath Damodaran?
- KSKara Swisher
Yes, he talked all about this, but it's seven stocks that are moving the stock market-
- SGScott Galloway
Yeah.
- KSKara Swisher
... and NVIDIA's at the top of the list.
- SGScott Galloway
Yeah. Some s- some would say 10, but yeah, the magazine said seven. Look, uh, uh, what's interesting about the market right now is when it... with respect to NVIDIA or some of these other companies, their expectation or the expectations are that they'll beat expectations because what happened yesterday was, uh, again, NVIDIA beat expectations. It came in at 39.3 billion versus a projection of 38.3. Its earnings were 89 cents versus a projected 84 cents, and the stock is down 1% today. People have gotten so used to, or the market has gotten so used to these companies just blowing away expectations, that when they only slightly (laughs) beat expectations, they kinda, if you will, actually don't meet the expectations. Uh, so this company has gotten just so incredibly val- uh, you know, uh, uh, b- the unusual thing about this company, and people like to compare it to Cisco, is that Cisco's price/earnings multiple went crazy, and the price/earnings multiple has expanded here, but it hasn't expanded nearly as much because their earnings growth has also been exponential. So, like, it, the, i- i- i- it does appear to have... I don't wanna even say flatlined 'cause the, the gains here have been so extraordinary, but the stock is down 5% year-to-date and it's just flat for the last six months after what is like 100X increase over the last, I don't know, over the last decade. It really has been the stock of the last decade, but the expectations around these companies now are that you're gonna beat expectations.
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm. So w- what? What's gonna happen here? You still feel people are gonna start spending less on it? There's, they're also seeing com- com- competition. They will see competition as-
- SGScott Galloway
I'm-
- KSKara Swisher
... this has other companies.
- SGScott Galloway
I'm of the mind that, uh, that there's a non-zero probability, maybe a one in three chance, where AI ends up being more like the PC industry and the airline industries where consumers capture the majority of value 'cause they're not able to pr- create, uh, sustainable moats. And I think DeepSeq was the first sort of signal of that, and that is arguably jet transportation and PCs should be the most valuable companies in the world. They're not. And I wonder, I mean, a lot of these LLMs are beginning to feel pretty, pretty similar. Uh, although I can't stand Anthropic. It's so fucking PG-13 so I can't-
- KSKara Swisher
Is it?
- SGScott Galloway
... make recommendations around this.
- KSKara Swisher
And then they all talk about erect penises?
- SGScott Galloway
Anyway. (laughs)
- KSKara Swisher
Okay.
- SGScott Galloway
Then, (laughs) uh, and also, I think it, the, it's just gonna be, uh, this could be, in fact, one of those industries where, and this is a good thing, the winners might be us. The winners might be all industry. Industry has garnered enormous, and citizen shareholder value from jet transportation and the PC, but very few companies were able to create moats such that they could capture a lot of the value for specific shareholders. And I think if there's evidence of that this year or there's a slowdown, I think you're absolutely gonna see a real correction, and well, I, all I can w- say is what I'm doing 'cause I don't think anybody knows, I am rotating out of US stocks into foreign stocks because if you look at US growth stocks, which have really carried the day for the last 15 years, relative to their historical averages, they are at 90, in the 98th percentile right now. So there's only, only 2% of the time in history, like basic sometime in 1999 or 2007 have they been more expensive. At the same time, large cap value companies in Europe, Latin America, and China are at their 2%, meaning that they've, they've been higher 98% of their historical, or, uh, uh, uh, in history, they've been higher 98% of the time.
- KSKara Swisher
Okay.
- SGScott Galloway
So I am rotating out.
- KSKara Swisher
Interesting. Interesting.
- SGScott Galloway
Well, Apple's trading at-
- KSKara Swisher
Lemon, can I tell you?
- SGScott Galloway
Go ahead.
- KSKara Swisher
Aswath said not to do that. He sa- he thinks these US companies are global companies, and so you are investing globally.
- SGScott Galloway
You're investing globally.
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah.
- SGScott Galloway
And by the way, if it's, if, if, if, in fact, you're dumb enough to listen to any of us, absolutely listen to Aswath, but when you have Apple-
- KSKara Swisher
He's on my podcast today, but yeah, go ahead. Sorry.
- SGScott Galloway
But when you have Apple-
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah.
- SGScott Galloway
... uh, trading at a PE of 39-
- 42:38 – 48:07
Trump's 'Gold Card'
- KSKara Swisher
President Trump is unveiling a new visa to attract rich foreigners to the US, the Gold Card. For $5 million, very high level people will get legal permanent residency and a new route to citizenship according to Trump. The Gold Card would replace the current EB-5 visa, which requires investors put in $1 million and creates at least 10 jobs. The new initiative set to be rolled out in two weeks, although some experts are skeptical that it can happen without congressional approval. So I, I don't know. More than a hundred countries do offer golden visas to wealthy investors and, uh, individuals, including, uh, Australia, Greece, Italy, and Spain. It's not a new idea. Um, uh, I don't know, but just... uh, it's another distr- another hand-wavy distraction. I don't know, I just feel like whatever. Like rich people always get to live where they want, so okay.
- SGScott Galloway
That's right. Y- uh, r- rich people can, rich people can go not only shopping for clothes or experiences, they can go shopping for rights. So if they're, back to the statement or, uh, these people are protected by the law but not bound by it, if you're a wealthy person, in fact, you are, you are... the, the law has kinda gotten fed up with you, you can go somewhere else, or if you're worried about persecution. But you're right, this is nothing new. The EU has taken in approximately $23 billion selling visas across...... uh, Greece, Malta, Portugal, Spain. The, the UK used to have a golden visa, and then the populous got pissed off by it. What's unusual about this is the price point, at $5 million, I would think that that probably just appeals... So, I'm on a visa here in the UK. I'm on what's called a tech talent visa, where I had to say, "I bring, I bring specialized differentiated skills around technology, so give me and my family a five-year visa." And they agreed. The, the notion that you can buy in is not new. What's weird is the price point, 'cause what I think this says is you don't have any other options, and maybe you're a little bit on the run, or-
- GCGuest commentator
Yeah, right, exactly. We're gonna get the bad ones, like the kind of sketchy ones.
- SGScott Galloway
... Or, or, or the, the, the tax authorities are closing in on you because if you look at one of the reasons the, the British economy, or London specifically, has done really well, or I would argue has done well over the last 30 or 40 years, I mean, London is the most... Paris is the most beautiful city in the world. London is the most handsome. And when you came here in the '80s, I've been coming here since I was a kid 'cause my parents are from here, it was a shitty city, bad food, ugly, rundown. It was just, infrastructure was, was collapsing. It was really a, a mess. And Tony Blair basically did something similar, and that is he passed a series of incredibly air-tight private property laws that said you can be an African warlord or a Russian oligarch, but if you bring in a million, 10 million, or a billion dollars into the UK, and you buy property here, and you invest your money with British banks, no one can come for it. It's here. No one, no one can come take it away from you. And as a result, London basically became, even more so than New York I would say, every wealthy person's second or first home. And it has catered, it has become a butler economy. And one of the things about London-
- GCGuest commentator
But it's kind of the sketchy ones, right? It feels like there's a lot of, like, mobsters from Russia.
- SGScott Galloway
No, I'm not sure that's fair.
- GCGuest commentator
Some of them, but it does, it definitely... I think the rich people, the, the very fine rich people are already here. I just think this appeals to a-
- SGScott Galloway
Well, that, that, that's-
- GCGuest commentator
... different group.
- SGScott Galloway
... a great point because here's the, here's the difference between London and America. People go to America to make their billion. People come to London to spend their billion and protect it. And that is my biggest criticism or observation of the London economy, and this is the question I spoke at the Royal Academy of Arts last night. I, I needed-
- GCGuest commentator
Hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
... an excuse to drop that, so I'm doing it right now.
- GCGuest commentator
Fancy. Fancy.
- SGScott Galloway
So fancy? Oh, my God. I sat next to this lovely woman named Dame Rothschild last night-
- GCGuest commentator
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
... who's actually a quite successful author.
- GCGuest commentator
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
She gave me the whole Rothschild s- Rothschild story, very-
- GCGuest commentator
Dame?
- SGScott Galloway
Dame Rothschild.
- GCGuest commentator
Okay, all right.
- SGScott Galloway
Yeah. Anyways, um, it was real... Uh, by the way, that is an inc- uh, uh, that is an incredible venue. That's, I think that was probably the highlight of my London experience so far. But anyways, people always ask me, "How would you distinguish London from the US?" And one of the things I say is that this entire economy in the UK is serving wealth created elsewhere. And that is, the wealthiest people I know here are people in money management. They own great hotels, great restaurants. They're servicing wealth that was built and created or inherited somewhere else, whereas the-
- GCGuest commentator
Or stolen.
- SGScott Galloway
Well, I think that's a little unfair. I think the majority-
- GCGuest commentator
Mm, is it?
- SGScott Galloway
... of these people, well, the majority of the people I know here have made-
- GCGuest commentator
Yes, your friends.
- SGScott Galloway
... a lot of money somewhere else.
- GCGuest commentator
Okay.
- SGScott Galloway
Okay, anyways. Whereas in the US, people go to the US to make their money.
- 48:07 – 52:48
Predictions
- GCGuest commentator
Okay, Scott, let's hear a prediction.
- SGScott Galloway
Uh, I think Doge is gonna be over and done by the end of the year.
- GCGuest commentator
Ooh.
- SGScott Galloway
I think the reason that, that Musk invented it and came up with it, uh, is, uh, for money. People talk about patriotism or... I, I, I j- Every time we-
- GCGuest commentator
Sure looks like it, yeah.
- SGScott Galloway
E- every time we dig further into these things, we find out (laughs) that these individuals are doing everything to try and get richer. And I think he thought, "I can get in there, and under the auspices of some sort of fucked-up perverted means of patriotism or getting out my anger or whatever it is or getting more news about me, I'll also get a twofer 'cause I'll basically fire everybody and sh- who's getting in the way of my autonomous cars."
- GCGuest commentator
Yeah, he's got... his work is done.
- SGScott Galloway
Yeah. Uh, I'll get in the way. I'll, I'll defenestrate anyone around trying to get in the way of space launches. I think it's all about money, and I think he saw an opportunity to clear out the regulatory hurdles that's between him and a trillion dollars. Having said that, I think over the last 30 days, he's found out there's a tax to this, and that is, uh, I thi- Uh, I felt a noticeable pivot in the last 48 hours of the narrative around all this shit. I think people... Well, my, uh, you tell me 'cause I'm in a bubble, and I don't understand the American people anymore, and I realize how out of touch I am. But I felt like, okay, people want to give Trump the benefit of the doubt. He should get to pick his cabinet.
- GCGuest commentator
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
Th- A lot of people voted for this.
- GCGuest commentator
No, they don't like Musk. Nobody likes Musk.
- SGScott Galloway
Right. Uh, people think, "Okay, uh, government is too fat. I kinda like, it kinda tickles some of my sensors that feel, that are feeling some of the pain of the private sector." It feels as if the narrative has turned just in the last 48 hours, where all of a sudden, Trump and Doge are on their heels. And people, including Republicans that voted for Trump, are pissed off. They're like, "We wanted..."We wanted more efficiency, we wanted, you know, leadership. We did not want this type of, kind of heartless recklessness. This does not appear to make any sense. And I think with Musk, I think the straw that's gonna break his camel's, the camel's back here is when people start canceling contracts at, um, Starlink and he says, "Wow, I'm actually losing money doing this." And I think that is about to happen. I think he, he's a brilliant guy, but it's all about money. The math is gonna show that he is better off pulling a Vivek Ramaswamy and like fate... Remember Vivek? Vivek was the co-head of Doge. Remember him? And so, this is what's gonna happen. It's gonna be like what happens to old actors. They don't die, they just fade away. He is gonna, Doge and Elon Musk are gonna fade away 'cause you can be sure he's doing the math, and he's like, "Even if I can, even if I can get rid of all those pesky regulators, I'm still losing money here because my sales are plummeting." Because the general public across the US, much less Europe when they see these idiots surrendering to Putin, and when they see the type of recklessness, and they see that they're not saving any money, all they're doing is making our government less competent, uh, you're gonna see Tesla sales continue to plummet, Tesla stock continue to go down, and again, the pivotal moment here is when it starts to infect, uh, Starlink-
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah. It's interesting-
- SGScott Galloway
... and I think he's gonna fade into the-
- KSKara Swisher
... people like the idea-
- SGScott Galloway
... he's gonna fade back to the corporate taker.
- KSKara Swisher
... of the government efficiency thing. So do you and I, right? I think it has-
- SGScott Galloway
Well, Clinton Gore did it.
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah. Right. Exactly.
- SGScott Galloway
Almost every president's done it.
- KSKara Swisher
But listen to this, this was, uh, uh, Puck's Peter Hamby wrote a piece, not just about the polls, which you can take... The White House is saying polls show people love him and love it, which isn't true. Hamby looked at focus groups and swing voters, not... Who cares about the MAGA people? They're gonna like him no matter. He can shit on the stage, they'd like it. Um, recent focus groups of swing voters in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Florida, they like the idea of efficiency, they hate Elon Musk, and this is some... Polls for instance don't tell you that Musk is a weird nerd, which is how Adam, a Trump voting hockey fan from Macomb County described the billionaire last week. Or that he's a complete tool as Michael from Milwaukee put it, or scary, Taisha from Toledo, or selfish, Deandre from Milwaukee, just looking to enrich himself. Perhaps Eric, a real estate appro- appraiser from Pittsburgh put it most poignantly, "Extremely radical, scary. I just shudder that Trump has given him carte blanche." It- it's really... These are the big things. Musk and Doge are s- treated with skepticism. They like Trump because he looked strong when Biden was weak. So, uh, uh, it's not affecting Trump, it's they just don't like Musk, you know? And eventually it will affect Trump and that's when he'll act. But swing voters do not like this fella, um, no matter how you slice it. Um, anyway, we'll see. You're right. That's a great prediction.
- 52:48 – 58:13
Scott's "White Lotus" Cameo
- KSKara Swisher
Elsewhere in the Scott and Kara universe, Scott spoke with David Bernad, the Emmy-winning executive producer behind HBO's White Lotus. They discuss the making of the hit series, shifting landscape in Hollywood, and wait for it, Scott's surprise cameo in the next episode of White Lotus.
- SGScott Galloway
That's right. The big screen. It's about time.
- KSKara Swisher
You are... I'm so excited. I'm gonna watch White Lotus now 'cause you're-
- SGScott Galloway
Call me Clint Eastwood dumb.
- KSKara Swisher
I am gonna download it.
- SGScott Galloway
That's right.
- KSKara Swisher
I'm going to Australia-
- SGScott Galloway
(sighs)
- KSKara Swisher
... on Saturday, just so you know. I'm, I'm going to-
- SGScott Galloway
Really?
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah, I am. I'm gonna listen to White Lotus so I can hear your voice.
- SGScott Galloway
That's a long way for someone your age.
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah, I know. It's true.
- SGScott Galloway
And really-
- KSKara Swisher
Selling, moving the books. Okay. Let's listen to Scott. I, I, let's listen to this interview.
- PGProfessor G Pod guest
I was in Koh Samui. You sent me the first, your first recordings. I listened to it. I almost shit my pants 'cause I was like (laughs) "I don't know if-"
- SGScott Galloway
(laughs) This sucks.
- PGProfessor G Pod guest
... "this sucks. I don't know if it's gonna fly." And I think I had... Then I heard you mention it on, on, I think on Pivot, and so I was extra nervous that I was gonna somehow disappoint you, and I did not want to disappoint you. And so, I, I called y- I, I think I got... I, I, maybe I was back in LA or I might've, might've been still in Thailand, and then I was like, I had the smart idea of sending Jason Isaacs over to your apartment just so, you know, I was like, "Maybe Jason could help you read with you." And I remember, I was like very anxious. I was like, "Jason, call me as soon as you get out of there." Jason called me and he goes, "We did an hour of takes. It could be all dog shit. (laughs) Maybe there's something in there." And I have to say, genuinely, you are great on the show. In that, in those hour of recordings we found gold. I'm hoping this is the beginning of a long Hollywood career for you.
- SGScott Galloway
(laughs)
- KSKara Swisher
Let me just say, I came to your apartment.
- SGScott Galloway
Oh.
- KSKara Swisher
I go into Scott's apartment, I walk in and there is Lucius Malfoy sitting there, and the guy from the... Asshole from The Patriot. I was like-
- SGScott Galloway
Yeah, Jason Majors.
- KSKara Swisher
... "Oh, my god. Hello," and he was lovely. And you and he were running lines, whatever. He was in the kitchen, you were in the studio, and I was like, "Hello, Lucius Malfoy. What are, the fuck are you doing here?"
- SGScott Galloway
He's a tall drink of lemonade, isn't he?
- KSKara Swisher
He's a handsome man, right?
- SGScott Galloway
He's very handsome man.
- KSKara Swisher
Handsome man, yeah. So, this is great. This is, this is great. I-
- SGScott Galloway
So-
- KSKara Swisher
I'm excited to hear you. I'm excited to hear your voice.
- 58:13 – 58:54
Gayle King, Katy Perry, and Lauren Sanchez's Space Odyssey
- SGScott Galloway
(laughs)
- KSKara Swisher
(laughs) Okay. All right. Eh...
- SGScott Galloway
Uh, if there, if there's, if there's, if there's an explosion in the capsule, I, we got, I, I, we gotta-
- KSKara Swisher
Oh. Stop, stop, stop, stop.
- SGScott Galloway
... be quick to judge.
- KSKara Swisher
Oh, I knew you would do this.
- SGScott Galloway
I'm sorry.
- KSKara Swisher
That's okay. I'm, I allowed it. I allow it. I allow it. Anyway.
- SGScott Galloway
I-
- KSKara Swisher
Good luck. Godspeed.
- SGScott Galloway
... I'm a, I'm a fan of, I'm a fan of fake breasts, and I have found so far that they taste real.
- KSKara Swisher
Okay, and... That's-
- SGScott Galloway
(laughs) That's why the people come here, Kara.
- KSKara Swisher
Godspeed, ladies. Godspeed. Okay, Scott, that's the show. Thanks for watching Pivot on YouTube and elsewhere. Be sure to like and subscribe to our channel. We're doing really well. We'll be back next week.
Episode duration: 58:54
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