PivotWill Nepo Billionaire Buy Warner Bros. Discovery? | Pivot
EVERY SPOKEN WORD
150 min read · 30,074 words- 0:00 – 2:12
Intro
- SGScott Galloway
... no sane, rational buyer can bid on this. This is who can bid on this: the children of people who made $90 billion in one day.
- KSKara Swisher
(instrumental music) Hi, everyone. This is Pivot from New York Magazine and the Vox Media Podcast Network. I'm Kara Swisher from Korea. Hello, Scott.
- SGScott Galloway
Uh, how are... So give me your impressions of Seoul. Tell me all about it.
- KSKara Swisher
Well, I'm drinking bubble tea, of course. Um, I was in the Gangnam region, uh, today with all the lights and all the young people and all the plastic surgery area. Um, it's great actually. It's very clean. It's very vibrant. Um, young people wandering everywhere. Um, uh, it feels good. I mean, I think they feel very emboldened by pushing down the martial law thing 'cause they're good at and we're not. Um, and, uh, and they... It feels very vibrant. It feels like it's... It's not a lot different from the last time I was here, I'll be honest with you. But, uh, I like Korea quite a bit. I don't... How many times have you been here?
- SGScott Galloway
Well, you know, it's painful for me 'cause I, I had a Korean friend who died.
- KSKara Swisher
(sighs)
- SGScott Galloway
He was so young.
- KSKara Swisher
Uh-huh.
- SGScott Galloway
So young.
- KSKara Swisher
Oh, no. (laughs) I can't believe you told that joke. (laughs) Oh...
- SGScott Galloway
That's good. That's, that's the only Korean joke I could find that was only mildly racist.
- KSKara Swisher
Oh. Oh my God, that is racist. (laughs)
- SGScott Galloway
Get it? So young.
- KSKara Swisher
Oh my God. (laughs)
- SGScott Galloway
So young. (laughs)
- KSKara Swisher
Okay. Anyway, it's weird to think that I'm this close to, like, North Korea. Like, it must be so stressful to be near a country that wants to bomb you out of existence and stuff. So, that's a weird thing to feel.
- SGScott Galloway
I don't know. Just go to a pro-Pali rally at Columbia.
- KSKara Swisher
Oh, stop it. Don't even. Don't-
- SGScott Galloway
Sorry.
- KSKara Swisher
Don't even.
- SGScott Galloway
Couldn't, couldn't resist.
- KSKara Swisher
With... Trump is, like, ripping the White House down. I'm not even gonna, like...
- SGScott Galloway
Oh, I agree. I, I... Is... Have you ever seen a visual metaphor that's more apt-
- KSKara Swisher
Ugh, so much. We'll get, we'll get to that.
- SGScott Galloway
... than the East-
- KSKara Swisher
We'll get to that.
- SGScott Galloway
... wing being torn down? (laughs)
- KSKara Swisher
I mean, seriously. I'm sorry. Everybody gets a pass, except for Trump. Anyway, I think... I mean, like, I... Release the Epstein files. That's all I have to say about this. Like, it's another-
- SGScott Galloway
That's right.
- KSKara Swisher
... it's another thing. Any... We'll talk about it in a minute 'cause we've got a lot to get to today, including, um, Tesla and Netflix earnings, which are really interesting, and OpenAI taking aim at Google with its new browser. But first,
- 2:12 – 27:22
Warner Bros. For Sale
- KSKara Swisher
uh, Warner Bros. Discovery announced this week it's officially exploring a sale, uh, after getting takeover interest, uh, for some, or part, of the company earlier this year. Uh, Warner Bros. announced a plan to split in two, separating its studio and streaming from its legacy cable networks. CNN is the most famous of those, but there's... They have several. Now, it's, uh, it's open to an alternative separation structure. I mean, David Zaslav's saying the obvious 'cause it's, uh, rejected three takeover offers from Paramount's, uh, David Ellison. Other rumored suitors include Comcast, Amazon, Apple, and Netflix. Uh, S- Scott, we've been talking about this, but you predicted in 2023 that Warner Bros. could face an activist event- investor. Let's listen.
- SGScott Galloway
I think you're gonna see an activist at Warner Bros. Discovery. The stock is now down to a point where I think there's a lot of upside as... Zaslav, to his credit, is reducing debt. And the assets here are trading at about, even including the debt, about half of what, uh, they paid, um, uh, they paid AT&T for the asset. So, uh, I think, I think that there's blood in the water. People see these assets, uh, have declined to a level where there's a decent amount of upside with not too much downside.
- KSKara Swisher
So it's not an activist investor, but it is, you know, other companies-
- SGScott Galloway
The ultimate activist is an acquisition.
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah, well... True, true. But it's... These are companies that want to... What, what we've also talked about, which is taking them, cutting costs, and consolidating-
- SGScott Galloway
Mm-hmm.
- KSKara Swisher
... which is a theme you and I have talked about quite a lot. Um, the idea of sort of taking, taking... You know, moving... And why should there be ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, et cetera? But that's not really the focus here. It's, um, it's, uh, the studios and streaming, I think, probably. So talk a little bit about this because one of the things... I've talked to a lot of people about this. And they feel like if the-
- SGScott Galloway
Mm-hmm.
- KSKara Swisher
... Ellisons, um, get to $26 a share, I think they're in the 24 area, it's a done deal, um, essentially.
- SGScott Galloway
Mm-hmm.
- KSKara Swisher
Um, Zaslav is trying to make an auction happen, I guess. And, uh-
- SGScott Galloway
Mm-hmm.
- KSKara Swisher
... he's already in the money. He's gonna do really well himself. But, um, he's trying to argue that split apart, it's $30 or whatever once you split the two together, so why should they take a cheap offer from the Ellisons? And the Ellisons are trying to get the studio and the streaming cheap because once you split them up, there are a lot of suitors, right? Um, the only issue is that, uh, the others have, one, money problems comparatively to the Ellisons. And two, not a friend in Trump. Like Comcast, Brian Roberts, uh, is not a fa- a favorite of Trump. Um, Amazon probably is more so. Apple probably is more so. Netflix, probably not. Um, and so there'll be difficulties in, in picking up any of these things, except for the Ellisons, which is, of course... 'Cause we live in an autocracy, so friends of Trump get what they want. Um, talk a little bit... Antitrust concerns, of course, would be there, but not in this, not in this, uh, administration. Um, and it does, in a weird way, make a lot of sense to consolidate s- some of these assets with other assets. It just depends if the, the gimmes are spread around. But I... What are your thoughts on this?
- SGScott Galloway
Well, uh, so there's suitors that do it for economic reasons, and that is they see an opportunity to create scale or consolidate the backend or for growth. So they're buying it for financial reasons. There isn't a financial buyer here because this thing, it, it... The majority of its assets are in decline. And it never made any money.
- KSKara Swisher
Not the studio and streaming? Let... Or, or, or it's the-
- SGScott Galloway
Well, but-
- KSKara Swisher
... CNN part?
- SGScott Galloway
But if you look at... But I think if you look at top line revenue here-
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
... this isn't a company... This is not a growth company.
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
And also, the stuff... I mean, the problem is you have a mix-match, uh, um, assets. And that is the, the streaming company... The marketplace values growth. ... and, but that growth is expensive. And then the other stuff, the market does value EBITDA, but that stuff's declining. So what you have is, the marketplace wants a, a clean story. And if it was just, if it was just HBO and say Warner, the movie studio, that created a vertical integration of content to the streaming platform, and HBO is still, has an amazing culture and still manages to punch above its weight class, it would trade at a much larger multiple. But at the same time... And then it has these other assets that would trade at a lower multiple with a strong EBITDA. And when you have a mi- a mix-match of assets in terms of growth, complexion, and where they are in the business life cyc- cycle, the marketplace finds the shittiest part of the business-
- KSKara Swisher
Right, yeah, it does.
- SGScott Galloway
... and assigns that multiple to the entire thing.
- KSKara Swisher
Right.
- SGScott Galloway
So, eh, eh, the merger never made any sense, except for David Zaslav. And David Zaslav... So what, uh, Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg, there's few people who have made more money while causing more harm to young people, right? But they have added tremendous shareholder value. From a shareholder standpoint, they deserve their, their billions. Um, the most overpaid CEOs relative to shareholder destruction were probably Marissa Mayer, who managed to fuck up everything at Yahoo and walk away with a quarter of a billion dollars, but she's about to lose the crown to David Zaslav. Because David has taken out about, I think, a third of a billion dollars so far for taking the stock from 24 bucks, where it was when they, he talked people into merging it, and has still managed to take that much money out of the company. And my guess is, uh, I mean, this is what's going on. I've been on these boards before. He's pretending there's other bidders. No sane, rational buyer can bid on this. This is who can bid on this, the children of people who made $90 billion in one day-
- KSKara Swisher
Which is Larry Ellison.
- SGScott Galloway
... who want to go to the Academy Awards and have a big vision for AI and-
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
... and will overpay for this thing.
- 27:22 – 38:25
OpenAI’s New Browser
- KSKara Swisher
points from the producers. OpenAI has launched a web browser, Atlas. Sam Altman called it a once in a decade opportunity to rethink what a browser can be. The launch comes a few months after the company said it would be interested in buying Google's Chrome, uh, had it been, uh, forced, uh, into a sale. That it, uh, Chrome has three billion users worldwide. Um, talk a little bit about this and, um, also Reddit has sued Perplexity AI alleging the company scraped the comments of millions of Reddit users on an industrial scale. Again, these, uh, I'm gonna comment on the last one. These wars are gonna break out all over the place until the numbers get right, when they start paying. Perplexity has been the one that usually gets into the most trouble here. But talk a little bit about this browser because this browser knows, will remember everything you read, not just where your search was. They're gonna be like super browsers essentially.
- SGScott Galloway
I love this. I, I love competition. Um, uh, I think it's good.
- KSKara Swisher
There should be none.
- SGScott Galloway
I think the biggest, the biggest tax cut in the history, in modern economic history would be if the Chinese and, and American leadership decided to kiss and make up and stop starve attacking each other and take their tariffs to zero. The second biggest tax cut in history would be the breakup or more competition in big tech. I mean, people don't realize you are paying a huge toll. You don't realize it because it's, it's paid vis-a-vis advertisers trying to reach you, but probably the biggest corporate tax in America other than federal income tax is the tax of Alphabet to reach consumers online.
- KSKara Swisher
Right, in, in terms of advertising, right?
- SGScott Galloway
So the idea of the comp-
- KSKara Swisher
In terms of advertising.
- SGScott Galloway
You have to be on Google. If you want to acquire customers online, which is where all customers are now, you have to start increasingly buying search keywords and, and boost your videos on YouTube.
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
These are the biggest toll booths in the history of mankind for corporations. And so I, and they don't have competition so every year they raise their prices or the taxes they charge consumer and B2B brands greater than inflation. So these companies need competition. There's some more existential things going on here. One, Sam has to figure out a way to become kind of Google before Google becomes-
- KSKara Swisher
Right, it.
- SGScott Galloway
... OpenAI.
- KSKara Swisher
Right, that's exactly, well said.
- SGScott Galloway
So him launching, him launching a browser makes a lot of sense. I like that it tracks your searches. I don't, I, I, I think all of the concern that was in your voice around privacy, I understand, but anyone who come- who's talking about privacy is usually over the age of 50 and lives in Brussels or DC. Young people will tell Uber everything about where they... A thin layer of AI on top of your Uber records which, by the way, you cannot delete. You cannot delete your Uber record, your Uber driver history and that you, people will be able to figure out if you just terminated a pregnancy.
- KSKara Swisher
Yep.
- SGScott Galloway
If, your sexual orientation.
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
I mean, they'll be able to figure out everything based on where you're going and when.
- KSKara Swisher
They could do it now.
- SGScott Galloway
Uber has-
- KSKara Swisher
They don't need AI to do it.
- SGScott Galloway
They could do it now. So as long as there's a coupon and utility and I can see that my QX60 is parked around the corner, violate my privacy. That is what America has said. It's listening to our phone conversations so it can... And, and by the way, I'm down with that as long as we have judges who are gonna say, "No, ICE can't use this information to start rounding up people."
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah.
- SGScott Galloway
I, I, you know, I'm, I'm all about viol- violating my privacy in exchange for utility as long as we have thoughtful judges who err on the side of civil liberties.
- KSKara Swisher
Uh-oh.
- SGScott Galloway
Anyways-
- KSKara Swisher
Uh-oh, Scott, but go ahead.
- SGScott Galloway
Yeah, yeah. Th- th- that's the- the operative term there is if, right? So w- w- what I think is the more interesting thing here is, first off, keep in mind, consumers are pretty lazy in terms of getting used to a certain UI. And even with all the existential threat that OpenAI supposedly poses to Google Search, they get, I think, roughly 96 times the traffic of ChatGPT still. And Google Search impressions were up 49% year over year. Alphabet was my stock pick of 2025, because I think people overestimate the threat, if you will. Chrome has a, roughly a market share of 70%, making it the most dominant web browser. Apple's-
- KSKara Swisher
It's not Microsoft's?
- SGScott Galloway
... web browser, Safari, even with that unbelievable access-
- 38:25 – 45:28
Trump’s White House Demolition
- KSKara Swisher
Scott, we're back with more news. The White House is demolishing the entire East Wing to make way for President Trump's 90,000-square-foot ballroom. The teardown should be finished by the weekend. Trump initially claimed his privately funded ballroom wouldn't interfere with the existing White House structure, which was a lie. He's also now saying the ballroom will cost $300 million, $100 million more than originally estimated. The White House is dismissing the shock and criticism around the demolition as manufactured outrage. You know, mostly he's a liar. Um, and, uh, release the Epstein files. That's what I have to say about this. What do you think? The pictures are still very upsetting in some weird way, although the White House has been renovated before. There is a need for a bigger room for some of the functions there. It is, if you've been to the White House, they're quite small actually. They're un- they're shockingly small. Um, and they do- should have a lot of functions. But there's plenty of other land around the White House they could have built these things on. Instead, he just did this because he felt like it. Um, probably it is safer? I'm gonna try to- try to understand. But they- he did it without asking anybody essentially. And it's, of course it's the people's house not his house, but it's his house as it turns out. Thoughts?
- SGScott Galloway
There's a clutch in your pearls. This is a desecration. It's not your h- What this means is the following, is that he is normalizing federal troops in cities, he's creating doubt around the election process, and he has no intention of leaving. 'Cause I won't, if I'm renting a place, I won't put in a new refrigerator, much less tear down an entire wing.
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah.
- SGScott Galloway
So let's be honest, folks. You really think he'd go through this if he was planning to leave in 36 months?
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah. Yeah. It's his new Mar-a-Lago.
- SGScott Galloway
So-
- KSKara Swisher
He's building a Mar-a-Lago.
- SGScott Galloway
Yeah. And, uh, so to me I, I mean like, okay, when do we wake up and realize the guy's not planning to leave? He's making long-term renovations. I mean, how long is it gonna take to even do this, to build this thing? It, it's not, so, but he's planning to leave? But he's gonna... So look, I, I don't, I, I, I find the whole thing yet again, um, everything's adding up to the following. He wants to normalize sending troops into cities during the election process to make sure, whether it's to discourage people from voting or to lie or to, um, show up. Uh, Bill Maher said it perfectly, it's like, "What happens when two people show up to inauguration?" And he's, he's basically saying, okay, if the second person tries to show up who legitimately wins, I'm gonna show up with troops and masked agents that are basically my secret police. That's where I see this going, and this is just more evidence that he's not planning to leave. You don't ha- you don't initiate an enormous construction project when you know you're- you constitutionally have to leave in three years.
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah. Yeah. I would agree.
- SGScott Galloway
Your thoughts.
- KSKara Swisher
I think, you know, I think a lot of people think this, right? Or put whoever in place that he wants to, 'cause as you say, which I've, my favorite expression these days, biology is undefeated. He seems more addled than ever, missing words and everything else. But he's-
- SGScott Galloway
The only reason I'm not worried.
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah. Right.
- SGScott Galloway
Biology's gonna take care of him.
- KSKara Swisher
Right. Except then, then what? Right? And wouldn't it be interesting, let me just posit that that doesn't happen and a Democrat becomes president. What do you do? He's gonna gold this thing up, right? All over the place. It's gonna be so ridiculous and grotesque. What do you do the nec- when you get, walk in there and you have this ridiculous over, badly sized ballroom next to a, uh, uh, uh, uh, East Wing was quite, uh, it's not really lovely. I don't love the White House, I'll be honest with you. But, um, it, it, it was to scale, it was to scale, right? And so this looks like a weird, like mutated tumor onto the White House. Um, uh, that's my architectural determination, it's a tumor. It's a tumor. Um, but what, what do you do the next day with this weird patio and then the, and then the thing, this behemoth, this grotesque golden behemoth? What do you d- what do you do? Nothing, right?
- SGScott Galloway
I don't know. I just, I, I know what happened here. He sat down with some crazy right-wing, probably hot blonde decorator. And she- and what decorators do is they say, "All right, I want mood boards." Like tell me what you, they, g- you know, they try and make you feel special like you're involved in the process. And they say, like I'm, I'm, uh, I redid my place in Manhattan. And they said, "What do you want it to look like?" I'm like, "I want it to look like what it is, a, a, a professor who's, who's done fairly well."
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah. Yeah, that's what it looks like, that's what it looks like.
- SGScott Galloway
(laughs) That's what I want it to look like. And, and what he did was he said, "I want this place to look like you walked into the best Iraqi whorehouse."
- KSKara Swisher
(laughs)
- SGScott Galloway
And they have delivered against it.
- KSKara Swisher
(laughs)
- SGScott Galloway
The decorator, this feels like you are in Baghdad-
- KSKara Swisher
(laughs)
- SGScott Galloway
... at a brothel.
- KSKara Swisher
The best Iraqi whorehouse.
- SGScott Galloway
But it's a high-end brothel.
- KSKara Swisher
(laughs) High-end.
- SGScott Galloway
But it's a high-end brothel.
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah. Really? Oh.
- SGScott Galloway
I mean, it's, it's absolutely perfect. It's, anyways-
- 45:28 – 52:55
Trump DOJ Payment Demand
- KSKara Swisher
Anyway, um, Trump is demanding $230 million, by the way, from the Justice Department, saying he deserves compensation for federal investigations into him. According to The New York Times, the compensation is tied to two claims Trump filed against the DOJ before his second term. One is tied to the investigation of Russ- Russian interference in his 2016 campaign. The other, the FBI's 2022 Mar-a-Lago search. I'm sorry, sir, we have the pictures. Payment would likely come from taxpayer money, it would have to be approved by the DOJ, potentially by Deputy AG Todd Blanche, Todd- Trump's former attorney. Uh, personal attorney. Trump commented on the unprecedented nature of all this, to put it mildly, when asked about his claims. Let's listen.
- SGScott Galloway
It's interesting 'cause I'm the one that makes the decision, right? And, uh, you know, that decision would have to go across my desk. And it's awfully strange to make a decision where I'm paying myself. In other words, did you ever have one of those cases where you have to decide how much you're paying yourself in damages? But I was damaged very greatly, and any money that I would get, I would give to charity.
- KSKara Swisher
Oh my, oh my God. Lie. Huge lie at the end. Enormous lie. And by the way, yes, he has made decisions where he pays himself. It's the presidency and, uh, uh, I- Evidence in action is cryptocurrency and his- his children, but his children, his s- adult sons. And, uh, anyway, I don't know. We're not paying him, are we? Good God.
- SGScott Galloway
Uh, I- I- I- I think we probably are. And keep in mind-
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah.
- SGScott Galloway
... if the federal government comes for you-
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
... and the case ends up- Let's assume they- that this was politically motivated-
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
... and there was no legitimacy or veracity and- a- and these things were politically motivated and unjust and unethical. Uh, uh, let's assume that happens quite a few times when the federal government comes for people.
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah.
- SGScott Galloway
I- i- if you're found guilty, which he was in one case and-
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
... not in others.
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
When that happens to your average American citizens, they- the government doesn't pay them back-
- KSKara Swisher
No.
- SGScott Galloway
... for their legal fees.
- KSKara Swisher
Right. Now we're gonna have to pay everybody back.
- SGScott Galloway
So, but we've become- we've become... Now, sometimes in co- I believe in certain legal cases-
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
... if you win, uh, I think if you win a civil case-
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
... sometimes the other side has to pay your legal fees.
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah, but not the government.
- SGScott Galloway
And, but if the government comes for you and you're found innocent, you- they don't pay you back your legal fees.
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-mm. Too bad, Donald.
- SGScott Galloway
So anyways, we- but we've become- this has become normalized. And to think that that's not gonna happen, he gets to a point... He got to a point, the head of the- the DOJ. Now, to think that they're gonna stand up to him. Keep in mind, there are, whatever, 53 Republican senators. These people were freely elected.
- KSKara Swisher
Right.
- SGScott Galloway
You'd think they'd have balls.
- 52:55 – 1:06:59
Tesla and Netflix Earnings
- KSKara Swisher
we're back, and it's time to talk about some earnings. First up, Tesla. Tesla's third quarter revenue was up about 12% from a year earlier, but profit fell short of expectations. That's because a lot of people rushed to buy cars, but then Tesla sold them for cheaper prices and, uh, there was an ability to get loans, so people bought more. Vehicle delivers were up 70%, 7% from a year earlier, but the company says it plans to hit volume production of CyberCabs and Tesla Semi in 2026. I wouldn't believe that. Um, also, uh, uh, uh, Musk was saying he has to create an army of robots, and if he doesn't have control over his army of robots, he, he was, he's trying to get his million, his, his trillion-dollar deal, which is gonna be voted on in a, a week or two. Um, and next, Netflix shares of the company are down 5% in the last five days, at the time of taping, after a miss of third quarter earnings. Netflix cited ongoing dispute with Brazilian tax authorities for weak results. However, revenue for the quarter rose 17%. The streamer said her quarter ad sales, uh, in the quarter were the best ever powered largely by my favorite, K-pop Demon Hunters. There's also gonna be some merch. Uh, great news for Kara Swisher, uh, announcing Mattel and Hasbro will release K-pop Demon Hunters toys, plushies, and games. Let me tell you, among the toddler set, uh, the, in the young below 10 set, they're all dr- dressing like Roomy, uh, for Halloween. Not my daughter, but, um, and son, but, uh, but they're, uh, all the kids in school, uh, they're, they're all dressing like Roomy, which is one of the chara- main characters in the, uh, in the, in the show. Um, so thoughts on these earnings?
- SGScott Galloway
Yeah, I think Netflix is one of the best run companies in, you know, in business. Um, their, their revenue increased 17%. Their, that didn't meet expectations. Their stock fell 10%, but the stock's been on a tear. Uh, net income increased nearly 8% to two and a half billion, missing estimates by about 15%. Their operating margin was 28%, and that was also short of the 32% that it was expected. They highlighted a one-time tax expense in Brazil of 600, of $600 million for why their profitability mixed. Um, uh, that, that, by the way, that, that charge had been previously disclosed to investors on past earnings reports. So I, I think at this point, a lot of people are just taking profits. K-pop Demon Hunters was a huge success.
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah. They keep hitting it out of the park.
- SGScott Galloway
Uh, the movie, the movie was produced by Sony Animation, but released directly to Netflix at the end of August. It's now the most watched movie in Netflix history with approximately 325 million views. So essentially, the population of America (laughs) has watched, uh-
- KSKara Swisher
Did you watch it yet?
- SGScott Galloway
... K-pop.I haven't seen it, no.
- KSKara Swisher
Oh my God, will you please watch it so we can discuss it?
- SGScott Galloway
I only watch things starring my favorite actor, Hitler.
- KSKara Swisher
Okay.
- SGScott Galloway
Late at night, I take an edible-
- KSKara Swisher
You will love K-pop Demon Hunters.
- SGScott Galloway
... I have a Maker's and ginger and I watch World War II in color.
- KSKara Swisher
And then we can sing it together on the tour. << Are you ready for the take down? >>
- SGScott Galloway
Yeah, that's...
- KSKara Swisher
I'll keep singing it until you watch it.
- SGScott Galloway
Yeah, that's what we need to do. The soundtrack has also topped the Billboard top charts. Uh, cross-promotion, Netflix, Mattel, and Hasbro have, have joined to pro- together to produce K-pop Demon Hunter toys.
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah.
- SGScott Galloway
Look, the company, I still think, I think, like I, I wouldn't buy Netflix here. I think that their growth is going to be international, I think it's a great company, I think they'll probably grow into their price. I'm of the mind now that I think you, just as we talk about cable cutters, or people who cut the cord, I think we're gonna start hearing about an entirely new generation of people that just don't own TVs. And also, I think our desire for, I don't know if you've seen, seen these trends, I forget what they're called, mini soap operas, this one-minute content, and these guys are smart, they'll figure out ways to get into those fields, but I worry, I, I think that, uh, I just think everything's moving away. Have, have you, well, I'll ask you this, and I know you like The Diplomat.
- KSKara Swisher
I love it.
- SGScott Galloway
I've f- I've been struck in the last 12 months, all of a sudden I'm not turning on the TV. Our, our, and I realize that's anecdotal, but I'm supposed to be in the atrium sitting around watching Murder She Wrote... Are you watching less TV?
- KSKara Swisher
No, I'm watching specific TV. I, I like television. Um-
- SGScott Galloway
Right, appointment TV.
- KSKara Swisher
So yeah, like I w- I watched the entire season of The Diplomat, which is wonderful, as I said. Um, and I noticed a lot of people had said, m- when I mentioned that, said, "Oh yeah, I did the same thing." So I'll, I'll, I'll watch, you know, specif- hunt- like I always talk about Hunting Wise, but I'll watch specific, or The Gilded Age, uh, like, but it's all over the place, by the way, and I'm, I'm watching this Martin Scorsese documentary, I think it's on, I think it's on Apple TV. Um, but I watch specific things and I watch the, the hell out of them, if that makes sense. And some shows I do watch week to week, right? Um, like The Morning Sh- well, that, that goes out every week. I'm actually in this episode, this is my episode this week.
- SGScott Galloway
Really?
- KSKara Swisher
Uh, yes, I'm on it. Yes, it's lovely.
- SGScott Galloway
This week?
- KSKara Swisher
This week, yeah. Whatever this episode-
- SGScott Galloway
Oh, we'll definitely tune in.
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah, yeah. Um, I got a bunch, I, I can't watch-
- SGScott Galloway
That's nice.
- 1:06:59 – 1:11:24
Predictions
- KSKara Swisher
Okay, Scott, let's hear a prediction. What is your prediction? Just so you know, New York, uh, City Mayor Eric Adams just endorsed And- Andrew Cuomo, which I predict will make Zoran Mandan the new mayor. (laughs)
- SGScott Galloway
Well, that, that'll give him another 11 votes.
- KSKara Swisher
God, (laughs) Jesus. They want that Curtis to get out. Curtis ain't getting out, I think. I think Curtis is in, with... Him and his cats are in it to win it.
- SGScott Galloway
No, I think Curtis is the Ralph Nader of the conservatives.
- KSKara Swisher
(laughs) I like Curtis.
- SGScott Galloway
He's like, "No, it's democracy."
- KSKara Swisher
I like Curtis a little bit. I like, he's, seems insane, but I like him.
- SGScott Galloway
I like the hat.
- KSKara Swisher
I like the whole thing. I like the cats. I like, I like ev- I, I actually have enjoyed him weighing in during these debates. It's usually Mandanian, Cuomos screaming at each other.
- SGScott Galloway
There's always a guy like that. New Y- New York's such an amazing city.
- KSKara Swisher
(laughs)
- SGScott Galloway
They always bring out an interesting guy. Remember the guy, "The rent is too damn high."
- KSKara Swisher
Right.
- SGScott Galloway
Remember the guy with the black gloves?
- KSKara Swisher
Oh, yes. That's right. (laughs)
- SGScott Galloway
And he just kept saying, "The rent is too damn high."
- KSKara Swisher
You know what? He was right.I know, but I, they're, they're trying to get him to pull out so that... Cuomo is doing everything possible that's-
- SGScott Galloway
Yeah.
- KSKara Swisher
... nothing to do with the voters. It's like Trump's help, get Adams out. You know, everything except appeal to voters, which would seem to me to be the thing to do if you wanna be mayor of New York, but whatever. Um, what is your other prediction?
- SGScott Galloway
Uh, that trying to get people to pull out often doesn't work.
- KSKara Swisher
Ah, ha, ha, ha, ha.
- SGScott Galloway
Um-
- KSKara Swisher
Okay, let me hear this prediction.
- SGScott Galloway
... said my 15 and 18-year-old.
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah.
- SGScott Galloway
Um, my prediction is the following. So America is run for profits. You know, what dictates our society is shareholder value. You know, the worth of someone's character, their ability to have healthcare, their ability to have freedom, their ability to have a broader selection set of mates is based on their ability to acquire shit or signal that they can acquire shit through monetary or economic power. That's how America is run. The Chinese government is essentially run, and China is run for control and for power. And one of the ways they do that is they're much longer term thinkers about what positions them long-term geopolitically. And I think essentially what's gonna happen here is the following. I was sort of blown away by the fact that this OpenWeight browser that Sam Altman has basically shoplifted that anybody can use because it's sort of technically... OpenWeight is sort of like open source. I think if I'm the CCP, I am pissed off. They have their problems, but essentially Trump is really fucking with them with these sclerotic 100% tariffs, non-tariffs, and they are being very strategic. And they said, "Okay, we're gonna come for the heart and lungs of Republican voters. And hey folks, I don't know if you heard, but we buy 50% of your soybean crops in, from these red states. We're stopping and we're starting to buy from Argentina, and your president is stupid enough to give Argentina money as we transfer business." That business is never coming back. Farmers are out of business. They're now going after rare earth minerals that are key, play a real strategic role in everything from cars to missiles. And I think the next... I think after going for our hearts and lungs, they're gonna go for our jugular the following way. I think they're gonna release a series of open source or OpenWeight AI tools that crush or put real pressure on our Magnificent 10-
- KSKara Swisher
Oh, smart.
- SGScott Galloway
... and take down our market and put us into a Western recession. If I were in charge of CCP defense and strategy, I would be saying to Xi, "If we really wanna go for the jugular-"
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
"... America is now a giant bet on AI. Let's make this a bad bet. And the way we're gonna do that-"
Episode duration: 1:14:33
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