Melinda French Gates, MacKenzie Scott, and the New Era of Giving | Pivot

1. 0:00 – 0:30

   Melinda French Gates’ new $1B giving plan and leaving the Gates Foundation

   1. KSKara Swisher0:00

      ... Melinda French Gates. She announced her next chapter in philanthropy this week as she prepares to leave the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. She plans to donate $1 billion globally over the next two years to help support women and families as well as reproductive rights in the US. A portion of the money will also be distributed in the form of, uh, $20 million grants to individuals like former New Zealand Prime Minister, uh, uh, Jacinda Ardern and Director Ava DuVernay, uh, to use at their discretion. I think Melinda was a, a, a funder of her recent film, for example, and, uh,

2. 0:30 – 1:19

   A ‘new era’ led by women donors: MacKenzie Scott and Laurene Powell Jobs

   1. KSKara Swisher0:30

      there's a whole bunch of people, The 19th, she's given all this, these grants to really terrific groups and it's a r- it's a fascinating move between her and Mackenzie Scott. Uh, we have entered a very interesting era of philanthropy. Mackenzie Scott, as you know, a former, uh, was, used to be married to Jeff Bezos, donated $640 million over, to over 300 nonprofits a few months ago. She donated $2.2 billion last year. She is burning up the, getting rid of her money off her plate as if it's like lava. Um, y- this is really interesting, um, th- these two women, and then obviously, uh, um, Laurene Powell Jobs is making media investments, she has a, her own Emerson Collective that does both philanthropy and investments. Um, what do you, what do you, what do you think? What do you think about this?

3. 1:19 – 1:49

   Scott’s thesis: women’s philanthropy asks for less control and credit

   1. SGScott Galloway1:19

      I think it's wonderful. Um, I think... I'm a sexist, I think there are certain behaviors that are more prone to people born as women and born as men, and one of the things I notice about, uh, philanthropy from women is they're not as big on the ribbon-cutting and believing that they should have input and influence into education 'cause they give, you know, $50 million to the Newark School District, not recognizing they don't know a fucking thing about public school education. I find that generally speaking when women give money away, it's in return o-... They ask for less in return

4. 1:49 – 2:41

   MacKenzie Scott vs Bezos: impact-driven giving contrasted with luxury spending

   1. SGScott Galloway1:49

      and they're more promiscuous. They're like, "I've got a shit ton of money, it makes no sense to hoard wealth and I'm gonna start pushing it out and I'm gonna ask for almost nothing in return." And I think Mackenzie Scott is an outstanding American. I mean, look at... I- I- I'm here for Bill Gates'... uh, I'm sorry. I'm here for Jeff Bezos' midlife crisis. I actually enjoy watching it, I can relate to it, but while he's building super yachts for $300 million, you know, Mackenzie Scott is sending, sending $15 million to the JED Foundation to work on teen suicide. And by the way, she doesn't demand anything, she doesn't want to show up, she doesn't want her name on anything, she just wants to get, start helping people. And this feels, this feels like that. And then in another, what I think is just absolutely wonderful here and I think I'm going on Morning Joe on tomorrow to tal-

   2. KSKara Swisher2:36

      Oh, cool. You like that show.

   3. SGScott Galloway2:38

      I do. But more importantly, they like me.

   4. KSKara Swisher2:40

      Mm-hmm.

5. 2:41 – 3:41

   A uniquely American story: risk-taking nonprofits and big bets on research

   1. SGScott Galloway2:41

      But, uh, I'm going on tomorrow and, with Richard Reeves, but i- it... I'm a glass half empty kinda guy, I talk a lot about what's wrong with America, but here's the reality, despite, you know, our House of Representatives insulting each other's looks, despite the zombie apocalypse of useful idiots on campuses, America is singular around some really wonderful things. And this is an American story, this is... uh, and I'm a big fan of Richard Reeves, he kind of got highlighted to me or brought to my attention some of the things going on with the struggles that young men face. The guy's at the Brookings Institute, he's an outstanding scholar, he takes a risk, starts his own business, it's a nonprofit but it's a true nonprofit, he doesn't answer to Microsoft, called the American Institute for Boys and Men. He takes a risk, he starts this thing just to produce research around the struggles that young men are facing, and then a woman named Melinda French Gates finds him and gives him $20 million. And you know something? This is a uniquely American story. It does happen in other parts of the world but it

6. 3:41 – 4:23

   Melinda’s “both/and” approach: women’s rights and healthier outcomes for men

   1. SGScott Galloway3:41

      doesn't happen as often as it happens in America. So for all of the shitposting and of all of the catastrophizing, of all of the, the clickbait around everything that's wrong with our nation, this is one of the things that's right with it. We create tremendous economic value and then good people want to push it out to do good work. I, I just love this story. I'm really happy for Richard, and also Melinda French Gates has said, uh, bodily autonomy and women's rights are hugely important, she's passionate about it, it's wonderful, but at the same time she said, "If we're gonna have a, a, a vibrant community, who wants more economically and emotionally viable young men? Women."

   2. KSKara Swisher4:16

      Yeah. That's right.

   3. SGScott Galloway4:17

      And she's giving money (laughs) to an institute that's focused on boys.

   4. KSKara Swisher4:19

      Yeah.

   5. SGScott Galloway4:20

      I, I think she's, I think she's wonderful-

   6. KSKara Swisher4:21

      She's excellent. Can-

   7. SGScott Galloway4:22

      Go Melinda French Gates.

7. 4:23 – 6:18

   Vanity politics vs real philanthropy: Kara’s sharp comparison to Silicon Valley donors

   1. KSKara Swisher4:23

      L- l- l- let me make a, a comparison to something we just talked about. These sort of childli- childish men are doing their stupid Trump r- fundraiser with very little money that they're putting out to get a lot of influence and doing no good for humanity except for themselves, except for, like, self-aggrandizing themselves, both Chamath and David Sacks and also Elon Musk is doing this, but doing nothing to help all of society, they're just giving a piddling amount of money to whorish politicians in order to have influence. Meanwhile, Melinda Gates and, uh, and Mackenzie Bezos are using money, real money, real money, not little tiny multimillion dollar, $5,000 donations to have dinner with a, uh, with someone who has been found liable for rape. No, they're not using their money for that, they're giving away billions and billions of dollars to laudable people across the globe to make the world a better place. What a fucking comparison. These men are sad and dickless and these women have balls as big as all ever. That's all I'll say.

   2. SGScott Galloway5:27

      Fuckin' dickless? Jesus Christ.

   3. KSKara Swisher5:28

      Dickless. Sorry they're dickless.

   4. SGScott Galloway5:30

      By the way, my, my ini-

   5. KSKara Swisher5:30

      No, but they're doing this so they can have a party in Silicon Valley for Trump.

   6. SGScott Galloway5:34

      N- n- neither... You're not-

   7. KSKara Swisher5:35

      It drives me nuts that these people think they're important when this is where the real... If you have money like this, this is what you should do with it.

   8. SGScott Galloway5:42

      Totally.

   9. KSKara Swisher5:42

      Thank you.

   10. SGScott Galloway5:42

       Well again, these, i- it's not... They're not presenting their money to issues, they're using a small amount of money to present themselves.

   11. KSKara Swisher5:48

       That's correct.

   12. SGScott Galloway5:50

       I- it's... It, this isn't... One is vanity, one is philanthropy.

   13. KSKara Swisher5:53

       Mm-hmm.

   14. SGScott Galloway5:53

       But, I don't know if you knew this but my girlfriend often compared me to Bill Gates when we would have sex-

   15. KSKara Swisher5:58

       Oh, no.

   16. SGScott Galloway5:58

       ... because I'm micro-soft.

   17. KSKara Swisher6:00

       Oh. (laughs) God-

   18. SGScott Galloway6:02

       That's good.

   19. KSKara Swisher6:03

       ... he's literally putting a penis joke. I'm like-

   20. SGScott Galloway6:04

       That's good.

   21. KSKara Swisher6:04

       ... this is a power lady's moment.

   22. SGScott Galloway6:04

       All of it. You are angry this morning.

   23. KSKara Swisher6:06

       Well, I- I- I-

   24. SGScott Galloway6:06

       You are going after-

   25. KSKara Swisher6:07

       Well-

   26. SGScott Galloway6:07

       You gotta be careful in San Francisco. There's a lot of these-

   27. KSKara Swisher6:10

       N-

   28. SGScott Galloway6:10

       ... these pretend to care about the world-

   29. KSKara Swisher6:12

       They don't care about the world.

   30. SGScott Galloway6:13

       ... rich people around there.
8. 6:18 – 6:45

   Momentum check: the “quiet giving” style and funding across practical needs

   1. KSKara Swisher6:18

      And they're not... By the way, are you hearing from MacKenzie Scott? She just gives the money and leaves in the dark of night.

   2. SGScott Galloway6:24

      That's right. That's right.

   3. KSKara Swisher6:24

      Melinda French Gates gave a few interviews talking... And she's giving to help reproductive rights. She's... An- and by the way, they're putting it all over the place. It's not just in, like, liberal causes. They're putting it-

   4. SGScott Galloway6:35

      Yeah.

   5. KSKara Swisher6:35

      ... in places that matter for kids and families. They're putting it-

   6. SGScott Galloway6:39

      Agreed.

   7. KSKara Swisher6:39

      ... to feed people. They're putting it to... Uh, it's just, like, the- the contrast is so vast. I'm not mad. I'm like-

   8. SGScott Galloway6:45

      Mm-hmm.

9. 6:45 – 7:51

   The Giving Pledge debate: pledge vs action now

   1. KSKara Swisher6:45

      ... "Why do we... W- these terrible men compared to these amazing women," is just such a great contrast for me, um, for me in u- understanding what's going on. Uh, by the way, uh, FYI, a lot of these people, one of the things that the Gateses did start was the Giving Pledge with, with, um, Warren Buffett in 2010.

   2. SGScott Galloway7:04

      Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

   3. KSKara Swisher7:05

      Sam Altman and his husband just announced that they plan to give away most of their w- wealth as part of the Giving Pledge. I've always thought that was a cool thing. I don't know. I've always thought-

   4. SGScott Galloway7:13

      I don't think it is.

   5. KSKara Swisher7:13

      You don't? Why? Tell me why. I don't know... I, I, uh, to pledge to give away all your wealth? Why is that?

   6. SGScott Galloway7:19

      Okay.

   7. KSKara Swisher7:19

      Tell me why.

   8. SGScott Galloway7:19

      Big fucking deal.

   9. KSKara Swisher7:20

      All right.

   10. SGScott Galloway7:21

       I- okay. I pledge to give away all my wealth. This is what it means.

   11. KSKara Swisher7:23

       Yeah. All right.

   12. SGScott Galloway7:24

       I'm gonna put a couple billion dollars into a donor advised fund.

   13. KSKara Swisher7:26

       Mm-hmm.

   14. SGScott Galloway7:27

       And-

   15. KSKara Swisher7:27

       Though this is different.

   16. SGScott Galloway7:28

       ... I com-

   17. KSKara Swisher7:28

       This is the Giving Pledge. This is not that.

   18. SGScott Galloway7:30

       Uh, the Giving Pledge, all the Giving Pledge says is that-

   19. KSKara Swisher7:32

       It's a pledge.

   20. SGScott Galloway7:32

       ... after I'm dead-

   21. KSKara Swisher7:33

       Mm-hmm.

   22. SGScott Galloway7:33

       ... that somebody is gonna give my money away.

   23. KSKara Swisher7:35

       Yeah.

   24. SGScott Galloway7:36

       Okay? I don't... Uh, okay, fine. Great. You don't believe in dynastic wealth. It has absolutely no impact on you. Maybe you even-

   25. KSKara Swisher7:41

       Mm-hmm.

   26. SGScott Galloway7:41

       ... put it into a donor advised fund where you get a tax deduction-

   27. KSKara Swisher7:44

       That's different.

   28. SGScott Galloway7:44

       ... and you can borrow against that.

   29. KSKara Swisher7:45

       That's different than the Giving Pledge.

   30. SGScott Galloway7:45

       Yeah, but that's, that's a component of-
10. 7:51 – 9:00

    Scott’s alternative: hit your ‘number,’ then start giving immediately

    1. SGScott Galloway7:51

       Uh, and I'm gonna hu- a lot of virtue signaling right now. I hit my number seven years ago-

    2. KSKara Swisher7:56

       Mm-hmm.

    3. SGScott Galloway7:56

       ... and I've decided that above that number I'm giving everything away now.

    4. KSKara Swisher7:59

       Mm-hmm.

    5. SGScott Galloway7:59

       'Cause here's the thing. This is a virus-

    6. KSKara Swisher8:01

       Fair.

    7. SGScott Galloway8:01

       ... that ails America, hoarding money.

    8. KSKara Swisher8:04

       Fair.

    9. SGScott Galloway8:04

       There needs to be a movement in America that once you hit your number, you just start giving it away now. You don't say, "I want credit for being a great guy after I have had all my Boeing business jets, after I have bought football teams, after I've had seven midlife crises, and then when I'm dead and it no longer matters to me, I'll give it away."

    10. KSKara Swisher8:22

        You know what, Scott?

    11. SGScott Galloway8:22

        There is no-

    12. KSKara Swisher8:23

        You have literally just convinced me. You are correct. I don't say this very often. (laughs)

    13. SGScott Galloway8:27

        (laughs) Uh-oh. Cats living with dogs. The world has stopped rotating.

    14. KSKara Swisher8:31

        Oh, my... God, you're right. You're right. I... That's why I love these badass women. They're giving it away. Literally.

    15. SGScott Galloway8:37

        You know what the- you know what the goal is?

    16. KSKara Swisher8:39

        Billions. What?

    17. SGScott Galloway8:39

        The goal is to give an... Uh, uh, I'll leave my kids a little bit of money, but this is the goal, to be at the end of your life-

    18. KSKara Swisher8:45

        Yeah.

    19. SGScott Galloway8:45

        ... to have spent the money on other people and experiences and be surrounded... Die at home, be surrounded by people who are gonna be really bummed that you're leaving. Not, not g- a bunch of press releases saying, "Why the fuck are you worth $100 billion?"

    20. KSKara Swisher8:58

        Mm-hmm. Yeah. Scott, you're right.

    21. SGScott Galloway8:59

        Why didn't you start giving it away at $100 million?

11. 9:00 – 9:49

    What to leave kids: ‘enough to do anything, not enough to do nothing’

    1. KSKara Swisher9:00

       How much are you leaving your kids? What is the number? What's the number you, one leaves one to-

    2. SGScott Galloway9:04

       Uh, I- I'm... This is the challenge, and this is a good problem, but you wanna give them enough money such that they can do anything, but not enough money such that they can do nothing.

    3. KSKara Swisher9:14

       Ah, yes.

    4. SGScott Galloway9:14

       And the key is... Uh, I mean, again, this is the world that-

    5. KSKara Swisher9:17

       Buy a house. Give them money for a house. That's what I say. A nice house.

    6. SGScott Galloway9:19

       Uh, money that, quite frankly, they don't have access to until they're 25-

    7. KSKara Swisher9:22

       For business.

    8. SGScott Galloway9:22

       ... 35 and 45.

    9. KSKara Swisher9:23

       Mm-hmm.

    10. SGScott Galloway9:24

        Money for education. Money for a home. But not enough money such that they don't have to work.

    11. KSKara Swisher9:29

        Yep. That's... uh, we're on the same parenting thing. That's the thing. That's correct. Yes.

    12. SGScott Galloway9:34

        Um.

    13. KSKara Swisher9:34

        That's exactly it.

    14. SGScott Galloway9:34

        But I've decided, and I love it, I hit my number seven years ago and my number is probably a lot lower than most of these guys.

    15. KSKara Swisher9:41

        Mm-hmm.

    16. SGScott Galloway9:41

        And I'm like, anything above that, I'm gonna either spend it at the Hotel du Caphe-

    17. KSKara Swisher9:45

        Yes.

    18. SGScott Galloway9:46

        ... or, uh-

    19. KSKara Swisher9:46

        On me, by the way.

    20. SGScott Galloway9:47

        Uh, on friends and people I love-

    21. KSKara Swisher9:49

        Yeah.

12. 9:49 – 11:01

    Why $100M is plenty: diminishing returns, downsides of extreme wealth, and ‘spend or give’

    1. SGScott Galloway9:49

       ... or I'm gonna give it away. There is no reason once you're above a certain number to hoard wealth. I'm a big fan of Daniel Kahneman, and I went back and read some of his work when he passed away.

    2. KSKara Swisher9:57

       Mm-hmm.

    3. SGScott Galloway9:57

       Uh, uh, let's pick a number. $100 million. Of $100 million-

    4. KSKara Swisher10:02

       That's a big number.

    5. SGScott Galloway10:02

       ... if it grows 4 or 6% a year, 4 to 6 million bucks a year gets you a beautiful home, a beautiful second home, a FlexJet card, do whatever you want with whomever you want pretty much all of the time. You can just have an extraordinary life. The difference between 100 million and a billion, there's no marginal increase in the quality of your life.

    6. KSKara Swisher10:22

       There isn't.

    7. SGScott Galloway10:22

       As a matter of fact, there'll be some incr- you can buy a football team, you can have more influence over politics, but there's also a downside. People start taking pictures of your kids. People start, start running stories of you, about you on T- TMZ. There is a downside. So if there's no incremental gain in happiness, and so many people would benefit from the types of donations that MacKenzie Scott and Melinda French Gates are making, why on Earth wouldn't you enjoy that happiness-

    8. KSKara Swisher10:49

       Yeah.

    9. SGScott Galloway10:49

       ... and not hoard wealth?

    10. KSKara Swisher10:50

        And help people? You're... You know what? This is, this was a very good explanation. I'm still, I still think the others are shameful and these women are ballers. That's my feeling. Good for them.

13. 11:01 – 12:06

    Closing notes: redefining ‘giving’ vs PR and ending on admiration for the women donors

    1. SGScott Galloway11:01

       Well, they're true... They, uh, uh, they define what it... The word giving is overused, and they have-

    2. KSKara Swisher11:08

       Mm-hmm.

    3. SGScott Galloway11:08

       ... earned the right. They own the right to say that they are giving.

    4. KSKara Swisher11:11

       Yeah.

    5. SGScott Galloway11:11

       What these other folks are doing is consumption, it's PR. A lot of it's virtue signaling. "I'm gonna give all my money away after I'm dead." Who the fuck ca- well, I don't care-

    6. KSKara Swisher11:19

       Right.

    7. SGScott Galloway11:19

       ... what happens to my money after I'm dead. That's not doing anything.

    8. KSKara Swisher11:22

       Yeah.

    9. SGScott Galloway11:22

       That's not...

    10. KSKara Swisher11:22

        It should be in the now.

    11. SGScott Galloway11:24

        That's 100%. And also-

    12. KSKara Swisher11:24

        Let's wander around and give people $100 bills. Let's do that

    13. NANarrator11:27

        sometime.

    14. SGScott Galloway11:27

        And also let me be-

    15. KSKara Swisher11:29

        Let's do that.

    16. SGScott Galloway11:29

        ... a bit of a capitalist here.

    17. KSKara Swisher11:30

        Let's not do that.

    18. SGScott Galloway11:30

        I also think-

    19. KSKara Swisher11:31

        Yeah.

    20. SGScott Galloway11:31

        ... it's really wonderful-

    21. KSKara Swisher11:32

        Mm-hmm.

    22. SGScott Galloway11:32

        ... and good for the world to spend it.

    23. KSKara Swisher11:34

        Mm-hmm.

    24. SGScott Galloway11:34

        Spend a shit ton of money. Put it back into the economy. Uh, enjoy it. The world offers amazing things that you can spend money on. I don't... I, I think it's great when people spend a ton of money. I'm, I'm, uh-

    25. KSKara Swisher11:45

        Scott, I feel like this should be your next book.

    26. SGScott Galloway11:47

        (laughs) Spend. Spend, Bitches, Spend, The New Novel.

    27. KSKara Swisher11:51

        See, this is why I love this show. You have shifted my thoughts in a very good way and a very helpful way. Anyway, uh, I still, I love these women. I think they're great. Anyway, uh, let... it makes me feel so much better about the other assholes.

Episode duration: 12:06