The Exchanges

Q considered the mag seven, what we're seeing is this kind of concentration of value in public markets. And I really wanted this to be a free flowing discussion just cause I bluntly respect your brain so much, but you see this concentration of value like we've almost never seen before. Does that worry you? And what does that mean for the future value dispersion of public markets in your mind?

A Oh, I think it's, I think it's hugely worrying because you have essentially, 34% of the S&P is represented by seven companies, and 50% of the equity value of the world, and 70% of the enterprise value, if included the debt, is wrapped up in the U.S. economy, which has seven companies, and if any of those seven companies sneeze, the whole economy, and potentially the whole global economy catches a cold. And in addition, it's very hard for small and medium-sized businesses To attract the kind of human and financial capital to be competitors. So when you have the most valuable parts of our economy, e-commerce, one company does between 50 and 70% of all e-commerce, depending on how you categorize e-commerce. When you have social media as being kind of the most powerful thing to happen in traditional, or, you know, what we refer to as media, and one company has 75% share of social. When you have search, 90%, 89%, and then you have AI, the biggest revolution of the last, you know, several decades, 90% of the processing has run through one company's GPUs, and 85% of the queries have gone through one company. I think a concentration of power and shareholder value makes a company or an economy less robust, less diverse. I think it's, it's, I think it's a, I think it's, yeah, I think it's bad.

AI assessment note: “Oh, I think it's, I think it's hugely worrying because”

Q What do you think is the core way that, you know, that they have weaponized government to work for you, and what would you say is the best way to reverse that?

A Well, the tax code, it's the boring shit that moves the needle. So I make most of my money buying and selling stocks and companies, and we've decided that people who can do that should pay a lower tax rate, and the people that can do that are old and rich. Old people make, old wealthy people make their money from buying and selling assets. Young people make their money from salary and working. Why am I paying 22%, and the top income earner on current income is paying 37%? The second biggest tax deduction is mortgage interest rate. Old people own homes, young people rent. Why is, why is the primary cost, the biggest cost for old people tax deductible, but the biggest cost for young people is not. So even the two biggest tax deductions are just to transfer wealth from the young to the old. So I think it starts with tax policy. Um, essentially, um, social security tax. I pay, I make a lot of money. I pay every year 9000 dollars in Social Security, because it taps out at six percent up until 160 grand. An analyst working for me that makes 160 pound also pays nine grand. So if you look at the tax code in the U.S., and I apologize for deferring to the U.S., but I just know more about it. The tax code's gone from 400 pages to 4000, and those incremental 3600 pages are basically full of loopholes for corporations and the wealthy to get wealthier and wealthier. So some solutions. I thin…

AI assessment note: “Well, the tax code, it's the boring shit that moves the needle.”

Q Did you have a good relationship with your father?

A Uh, this is very interesting, cheap therapy. Um, the, no, I mean, my dad was fairly absent. My dad left us, my dad's been married. My dad was handsome, strong jawline, and a Scottish accent, which meant in seventies, Southern California could not only think with his dick, he could listen to it. He's been married and divorced four times. And as far as we know, and he's on his fifth wife, which is a woman I basically pay to be his kind of home health aide. Um, And he let, you know, he, he, he, uh, basically started his third marriage while I was still married to my mom, left, moved to Ohio. It was a different age. It was the seventies. Kids were sort of like, uh, furniture. They, we didn't revolve our lives around kids back then. So I saw him, uh, uh, holidays and summers. So we weren't, he wasn't very involved in my life. Um, but where I forgiven my dad, um, And I'll put the question back to you about your relationship with your father. What was a big unlock for me was I think we have an evolutionary obligation to just be a better dad than our dad was to us. And my dad was that my dad was physically abused by his alcoholic father. And when I recognize how his father treated him, he was actually very good to me. And that means he checked a box. And then the biggest unlock I used to resent my father and have trouble, you know, sometimes being nice to him was, I, one of my biggest …

AI assessment note: “no, I mean, my dad was fairly absent.”

Q Did you find that money changed the relationships around you?

A My father's 95 and not doing well, so I can say this because he, he's like a baby now. He has no, he's, he's basically just, you know, like a baby, has no cognitive, he's not there any longer. My dad loves me more than my sister because I have more money than her. My dad was raised in Depression-era Scotland and was so obsessed with money because he lived in Glasgow in the thirties and forties, you could starve if he didn't have money. And he had some very weird things happen to him. He was in the Navy for two years, sent his money home because he got his money stolen his first two weeks on a ship, sent all of his money home to his mother, came home and his mom had spent it on whiskey and cigarettes. So my dad just had a very unhealthy relationship with money and it scarred him. And it scarred me because my dad was that guy who I would, he'd be in town for the weekend and he'd take me and my friend to go see a movie. And then he'd lined up, he'd asked my friend for two bucks at the end of the movie to pay him back for the ticket. You know, the closest my father ever came to physical violence was when we went to a hotel, and I'd never seen anything called a minibar before, and I decided that I should eat and drink everything in the minibar. Yeah, so he had a very unhealthy relationship with money, and the reason he came to be really impressed with me was because I made a lot of …

AI assessment note: “for the most part, it's been a real nice thing in my relationships.”

Q I thought it was interesting. You said that young people had a right to be angry or deserve to be angry. Do you stand by that when you think about that today, or in your words there, like, you know, it's the world that you make it?

A Well, yeah, but young people, to a certain extent, kind of an inherited world that is sort of set up for them by people before them. But in the U.S., and I'm not as familiar with the data in the U.K., maybe you are, for the first time in our nation's history, a thirty-year-old isn't doing as well as his or her parents were at 30. And every year in the U.S., we spend 12 dollars on seniors for every one dollar we spend on kids. Um, uh, the average seven-year-old in the U.S. is 72% wealthier than they were 40 years ago. The average person under the age of 40 is 24% less wealthy. What seniors in the U.S. have figured out is a way to vote themselves more money, and you could argue, well, if young people don't vote, that's going to continue, but children aren't allowed to vote. And every year, young people transfer 1.3 trillion dollars in the form of Social Security payments to the wealthiest generation in the history of the planet, seniors. So when you see the cost of education, the cost of housing skyrocketing, When you see massive prosperity, and then it's rubbed in your face every day, 210 times a day, you're kind of Reminded that you're not on a Gulf Stream or partying in St. Bart's, and it makes you feel bad about yourself. And meanwhile, you just see just the unbelievable economic growth and prosperity, but it doesn't appear that young people are sharing in it in the same exte…

AI assessment note: “Well, yeah, but young people, to a certain extent, kind of an inherited world”

Q Did you find that money changed the relationships around you?

A My father's 95 and not doing well, so I can say this because he, he's like a baby now. He has no, he's, he's basically just, you know, like a baby, has no cognitive, he's not there any longer. My dad loves me more than my sister because I have more money than her. My dad was raised in Depression-era Scotland and was so obsessed with money because he lived in Glasgow in the thirties and forties, you could starve if he didn't have money. And he had some very weird things happen to him. He was in the Navy for two years, sent his money home because he got his money stolen his first two weeks on a ship, sent all of his money home to his mother, came home and his mom had spent it on whiskey and cigarettes. So my dad just had a very unhealthy relationship with money and it scarred him. And it scarred me because my dad was that guy who I would, he'd be in town for the weekend and he'd take me and my friend to go see a movie. And then he'd lined up, he'd asked my friend for two bucks at the end of the movie to pay him back for the ticket. You know, the closest my father ever came to physical violence was when we went to a hotel, and I'd never seen anything called a minibar before, and I decided that I should eat and drink everything in the minibar. Yeah, so he had a very unhealthy relationship with money, and the reason he came to be really impressed with me was because I made a lot of …

AI assessment note: “My dad loves me more than my sister because I have more money than her.”

Q What do you think is the core way that, you know, that they have weaponized government to work for you, and what would you say is the best way to reverse that?

A Well, the tax code, it's the boring shit that moves the needle. So I make most of my money buying and selling stocks and companies, and we've decided that people who can do that should pay a lower tax rate, and the people that can do that are old and rich. Old people make, old wealthy people make their money from buying and selling assets. Young people make their money from salary and working. Why am I paying 22%, and the top income earner on current income is paying 37%? The second biggest tax deduction is mortgage interest rate. Old people own homes, young people rent. Why is, why is the primary cost, the biggest cost for old people tax deductible, but the biggest cost for young people is not. So even the two biggest tax deductions are just to transfer wealth from the young to the old. So I think it starts with tax policy. Um, essentially, um, social security tax. I pay, I make a lot of money. I pay every year 9000 dollars in Social Security, because it taps out at six percent up until 160 grand. An analyst working for me that makes 160 pound also pays nine grand. So if you look at the tax code in the U.S., and I apologize for deferring to the U.S., but I just know more about it. The tax code's gone from 400 pages to 4000, and those incremental 3600 pages are basically full of loopholes for corporations and the wealthy to get wealthier and wealthier. So some solutions. I thin…

AI assessment note: “Well, the tax code, it's the boring shit that moves the needle.”

Q the media, TikToks, and Reels that go around of you are a representation of who you are, Scott? Like, just being transparent. I loved your content coming into this, but I wanted to see this show. But the person that I'm interviewing now is completely different in an incredible way to the image I had of you. Do you feel like the image Is not aligned to who you are?

A No, it's an aspect of me. So I'm an introvert. I'm happiest after an edible at night alone with my dogs, knowing my kids are safe, uh, writing and, and just being alone. And I, when people meet me, they're generally disappointed. They think I'm going to be some fascinating guy full of interesting, you know, data interspersed with dick jokes. I'm an introvert. I'm fairly intense. And so that side of me is, uh, uh, A reflection or a personality or a side of my personality, but it's not, it's not me. And also, uh, social is, the algorithms just love moments where you're making a puncturing statement or someone's calling you out. Um, but no, it's not, I don't feel like, I don't think anybody who knows me, I don't know if you feel this way, would say, oh yeah, that's, that's who that person is. I try to be authentic. I try not to put on an act, but there's no doubt about it when the cameras go on and, you know, it's showtime. It's not, I, I, my favorite thing is to be around my kids and not say a word and just listen to them and just be in the company of people. My partner consistently has to ask, encourage me. It's like, make conversation for God's sakes. You're so fucking boring. I enjoy it. You know, I'm, I'm paid to be an extrovert. I don't know if you feel this way. I'm paid to be an extrovert. So how I relax is I just like to listen to other people and, and be a, you know, an …

AI assessment note: “No, it's an aspect of me. So I'm an introvert.”

Q Will you give your money to your children? Do you believe in inheritance?

A Yeah, I'll give them some money. I'll, I'll give them enough money so they can always have a house, always afford education. I'll give them a start, but they won't inherit. I won't give them a ton of money. I'll give them, I don't know what that number is, but I'll give them enough money. I love what Warren Buffett said. I'll give them enough such that they can do anything, but not enough so they can do nothing. Um, I'll give them enough money so that they always know they can afford a home, afford their kids' education, you know, which is a lot of money, but I'm not gonna, I'm not, I'm not interested in building a Dynasty or anything like that. I don't, I know a lot of rich kids. They're not any less happy than other kids, but they're not any happier.

AI assessment note: “I'll give them enough such that they can do anything, but not enough”

Q So what one belief do you have that most people think would be insane?

A Well, on a practical level, the young people need to drink more. I get a lot of pushback from that. Um, but my, my source of power that most people don't Engage in is I'm an atheist. I, I'm a hundred percent convinced at some point I'm going to look into my kid's eyes and know our relationship is coming to an end, but it's hugely empowering for me knowing that everyone I'm worried about what they think, worried about being shamed, worried about being embarrassed. It doesn't matter that they're going to be dead soon and so am I. So my atheism is like this incredible source of, you know, courage and comfort that I think a lot of people don't have the joy of participating in.

AI assessment note: “my source of power that most people don't Engage in is I'm an atheist”

Q But, but in, like, free market economies, where we see situations like that, do you believe in active government intervention?

A Yeah, but it's a balance, right? I don't, I think one of the strengths of America is we have a tendency to have more of a wild west attitude, and I think that is probably, to err on the side of too little regulation is probably better than too much regulation. That could loosely be defined, or if you were to try and come up with three or four reductive reasons why the U.S. has created so much more economic value than Europe, I think if you're intellectually honest, you would say that in the U.S. companies are allowed to ask for forgiveness, not permission. And there's, there's some value to that. There's also a downside, and that is, we have a 60% uptick in teen suicide in the US, and I don't put it all at the hands of social or the feet of social media, but it's definitely played a role, and Europe is more thoughtful about You know, what privacy regulations are, right? And I do think there is, uh, economic advantage to erring on the, a lighter touch of regulation, but it also comes with some externalities. But again, that's why we have a government and thoughtful people who can hopefully balance economic growth and innovation and risk and being aggressive and breaking some shit with also recognizing that, okay, Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg are lying to this, to us, that probably it doesn't make sense for a twelve-year-old to be spending 14 hours, you know, a day, uh, in…

AI assessment note: “Yeah, but it's a balance, right?”

Q great, high, well-paid jobs. They've crushed, and they're angry, Scott. They're told, hey, I've been told for a decade that work is the most important thing, career, career, career. And actually, I'm sitting here now where my eggs are not what they used to be, my fertility is not what it used to be, and I feel like I was misadvised by the system. What would you say to them?

A I think economic security is really important. And I mean, so I was raised by a single immigrant mother who lived and died of secretary. And the biggest source of stress in our life, quite frankly, Harry, was we just didn't have enough money. And it was very, in a capitalist society in America, when you don't have a lot of money, even as a kid, I remember registering these little things. It's like a ghost is following you around telling you you're not worthy. Like, I literally felt like there was this ghost following me and my mom around saying you're not worthy. And, and I think poor people get those messages every day. And I think if you're a poor woman or a woman who doesn't have a lot of economic prospects, I think that's an ugly place to be. So I don't fault those women for wanting to excel academically and engage in the fruits of a capitalist society and develop economic security. I'm not sure I would advise them to have done anything different. The hard part is if you're going to have an honest conversation about mating, you have to have an honest conversation, and it's the following. The guy that takes that route and becomes a baller at a law firm becomes sexy, right? You make more money, you're more attractive as a man. You make more money as a woman, you're just a woman making more money. And so the, the, the sort of increase in mating opportunities for men who get mo…

AI assessment note: “I'm not sure I would advise them to have done anything different.”

Q Have you ever felt as a father, like you didn't meet the grade? There was a period where you didn't meet the grade. You, you weren't performing like you should have been and you, you let them down as a father.

A Oh, I feel that almost every day. I, I hugely The two people that make me more insecure than anyone in my life are my boys. Like, someday, every day I wonder, do my boys like me? And then what you recognize in a moment of clarity as a dad is like, they're not necessarily supposed to like you. You're not supposed to be their friend. You're supposed to be their dad. And I handle situations incorrectly. I over-parent. I under-parent. I know I'm a good dad, but I aspire to be a great dad, and I still don't think I'm there yet. It is something I have not figured out. I'm hugely insecure around, uh, my fathering. Uh, it's something I struggle with. I have a kid who's applying to college. He's taking the ACT. I don't know how to thread the needle between telling him it's go time. Success is about knowing when to turn on the jets. This is that time. And at the same time, not putting too much pressure on a seventeen-year-old who is already, like, studying all these subjects, trying to make the football team, get his IB scores up, You know, get home on time. I mean, so I, I struggle. The position I find most rewarding, but also the people I'm most insecure around in a weird way are my son. So I think I just decided that's part of it. I, maybe dads, there, maybe there are some dads who just like think, oh yeah, I'm a great dad, no doubt about it. But yeah, I, I, I struggle with what it me…

AI assessment note: “Oh, I feel that almost every day.”

Q Did you have a good relationship with your father?

A Uh, this is very interesting, cheap therapy. Um, the, no, I mean, my dad was fairly absent. My dad left us, my dad's been married. My dad was handsome, strong jawline, and a Scottish accent, which meant in seventies, Southern California could not only think with his dick, he could listen to it. He's been married and divorced four times. And as far as we know, and he's on his fifth wife, which is a woman I basically pay to be his kind of home health aide. Um, And he let, you know, he, he, he, uh, basically started his third marriage while I was still married to my mom, left, moved to Ohio. It was a different age. It was the seventies. Kids were sort of like, uh, furniture. They, we didn't revolve our lives around kids back then. So I saw him, uh, uh, holidays and summers. So we weren't, he wasn't very involved in my life. Um, but where I forgiven my dad, um, And I'll put the question back to you about your relationship with your father. What was a big unlock for me was I think we have an evolutionary obligation to just be a better dad than our dad was to us. And my dad was that my dad was physically abused by his alcoholic father. And when I recognize how his father treated him, he was actually very good to me. And that means he checked a box. And then the biggest unlock I used to resent my father and have trouble, you know, sometimes being nice to him was, I, one of my biggest …

AI assessment note: “no, I mean, my dad was fairly absent.”

Q the media, TikToks, and Reels that go around of you are a representation of who you are, Scott? Like, just being transparent. I loved your content coming into this, but I wanted to see this show. But the person that I'm interviewing now is completely different in an incredible way to the image I had of you. Do you feel like the image Is not aligned to who you are?

A No, it's an aspect of me. So I'm an introvert. I'm happiest after an edible at night alone with my dogs, knowing my kids are safe, uh, writing and, and just being alone. And I, when people meet me, they're generally disappointed. They think I'm going to be some fascinating guy full of interesting, you know, data interspersed with dick jokes. I'm an introvert. I'm fairly intense. And so that side of me is, uh, uh, A reflection or a personality or a side of my personality, but it's not, it's not me. And also, uh, social is, the algorithms just love moments where you're making a puncturing statement or someone's calling you out. Um, but no, it's not, I don't feel like, I don't think anybody who knows me, I don't know if you feel this way, would say, oh yeah, that's, that's who that person is. I try to be authentic. I try not to put on an act, but there's no doubt about it when the cameras go on and, you know, it's showtime. It's not, I, I, my favorite thing is to be around my kids and not say a word and just listen to them and just be in the company of people. My partner consistently has to ask, encourage me. It's like, make conversation for God's sakes. You're so fucking boring. I enjoy it. You know, I'm, I'm paid to be an extrovert. I don't know if you feel this way. I'm paid to be an extrovert. So how I relax is I just like to listen to other people and, and be a, you know, an …

AI assessment note: “No, it's an aspect of me. So I'm an introvert.”

Q Can I ask one final thing before we do a quick fire? We haven't talked about marriage. When you think about sustaining a marriage through wealth creation, through kids, through kids going to boarding school, what have been your biggest lessons on what it takes is to sustain a truly loving marriage through very different cycles of life?

A Uh, it goes back to that first thing. First thing is put away the scorecard. Say, like, what kind of husband do I want to be? Right? And, like, write it out. What kind of husband do I want to be? And then live to that standard. Instead of saying, well, your parents were in town, you weren't very nice to my parents, so I'm not going to be nice to yours. Or, or, you know, just decide what kind of husband. Don't keep score. Just decide, I want to be a wonderful husband. What does that mean? And live to that standard. Um, notice their lives. You're, you're such a, you're so successful that you're gonna get so used to just everyone applauding for you. You need to take time to figure out a way such that your partner has stages that strangers and other people are applauding for her. Like really go out of your way to try and give her venues and arenas and environments where strangers can applaud for her. So it's just not always about your success and you all the time. Always express Physical affection and sexual desire. It says, I choose you. I think women want to be wanted. I think that's so important in a relationship. Like, whenever you're feeling affectionate, whenever you want to hold their hand, whenever you want to, more than you can, whenever you want to have sex, express that hunger, express that love, express that affection. I think it's really important in a relationship. An…

AI assessment note: “First thing is put away the scorecard. Say, like, what kind of husband do I want to be?”

Q Why though, if you don't need more money?

A Because I, you know, it's hard to get out, it's hard, it's hard to get off the hamster wheel of identifying your self-esteem and your worth with money, and also I would love a bunch more money to give away, and you know, in a capitalist society it's really sad, but the more money you have, the more power you have, the more virtue you have, Look at, we're willing to forgive a guy who disowns his children on podcasts and is being sued by two women concurrently for sole custody of their child and cuts off food stamps to kids and benefits to veterans because he's the richest man in the world. I mean, in a capitalist society, every signal is telling you there's never enough. So I think it's sort of a natural or an understandable instinct.

AI assessment note: “hard to get off the hamster wheel of identifying your self-esteem and your worth with money”

Q So what one belief do you have that most people think would be insane?

A Well, on a practical level, the young people need to drink more. I get a lot of pushback from that. Um, but my, my source of power that most people don't Engage in is I'm an atheist. I, I'm a hundred percent convinced at some point I'm going to look into my kid's eyes and know our relationship is coming to an end, but it's hugely empowering for me knowing that everyone I'm worried about what they think, worried about being shamed, worried about being embarrassed. It doesn't matter that they're going to be dead soon and so am I. So my atheism is like this incredible source of, you know, courage and comfort that I think a lot of people don't have the joy of participating in.

AI assessment note: “Well, on a practical level, the young people need to drink more.”

Q Can I, how does this pan out? Do we have 10 trillion dollar companies with mag seven, or do we see the traditional bluntly cycle of companies of growth, of sustenance, and then decline, and this is just another cycle?

A It's an interesting question because some people would say that ultimately the market figures out, and look, look what's happening with Alphabet. Google is starting to lose share to open AI, right? And that eventually a competitor comes along, whether it's BYD and Tesla. But I would argue what happens between now and then, and that is, um, I think it is very difficult for companies like a lot of, you know, the retail landscape in the US has largely been decimated except for specialty retail because Amazon could put forward cheap capital and sell a dollar worth of products for 90 cents and starve out other e-commerce players. And I was one of those companies. So winning in our economy has become a function of establishing a great product, establishing the perception that you're the market leader such that you can attract cheaper capital. And essentially, Overwhelm the competition with capital. At the end of World War II, the German army had better soldiers, better kill ratio, better tanks, better planes, better officers, but we, because we cut off their supply routes, we had 38 gallons of gasoline for every one they did, so we were able to overwhelm their superior Tiger tanks with our shitty Bradley tanks, because we would just never get within firing distance and chase them around until they ran out of gasoline. Uh, and now the kind of the business strategy that Has built a lot…

AI assessment note: “winning in our economy has become a function of establishing a great product”

Q Can I, how does this pan out? Do we have 10 trillion dollar companies with mag seven, or do we see the traditional bluntly cycle of companies of growth, of sustenance, and then decline, and this is just another cycle?

A It's an interesting question because some people would say that ultimately the market figures out, and look, look what's happening with Alphabet. Google is starting to lose share to open AI, right? And that eventually a competitor comes along, whether it's BYD and Tesla. But I would argue what happens between now and then, and that is, um, I think it is very difficult for companies like a lot of, you know, the retail landscape in the US has largely been decimated except for specialty retail because Amazon could put forward cheap capital and sell a dollar worth of products for 90 cents and starve out other e-commerce players. And I was one of those companies. So winning in our economy has become a function of establishing a great product, establishing the perception that you're the market leader such that you can attract cheaper capital. And essentially, Overwhelm the competition with capital. At the end of World War II, the German army had better soldiers, better kill ratio, better tanks, better planes, better officers, but we, because we cut off their supply routes, we had 38 gallons of gasoline for every one they did, so we were able to overwhelm their superior Tiger tanks with our shitty Bradley tanks, because we would just never get within firing distance and chase them around until they ran out of gasoline. Uh, and now the kind of the business strategy that Has built a lot…

AI assessment note: “winning in our economy has become a function of... attract cheaper capital”

Q Will you give your money to your children? Do you believe in inheritance?

A Yeah, I'll give them some money. I'll, I'll give them enough money so they can always have a house, always afford education. I'll give them a start, but they won't inherit. I won't give them a ton of money. I'll give them, I don't know what that number is, but I'll give them enough money. I love what Warren Buffett said. I'll give them enough such that they can do anything, but not enough so they can do nothing. Um, I'll give them enough money so that they always know they can afford a home, afford their kids' education, you know, which is a lot of money, but I'm not gonna, I'm not, I'm not interested in building a Dynasty or anything like that. I don't, I know a lot of rich kids. They're not any less happy than other kids, but they're not any happier.

AI assessment note: “Yeah, I'll give them some money. I'll, I'll give them enough money”

Q But, but in, like, free market economies, where we see situations like that, do you believe in active government intervention?

A Yeah, but it's a balance, right? I don't, I think one of the strengths of America is we have a tendency to have more of a wild west attitude, and I think that is probably, to err on the side of too little regulation is probably better than too much regulation. That could loosely be defined, or if you were to try and come up with three or four reductive reasons why the U.S. has created so much more economic value than Europe, I think if you're intellectually honest, you would say that in the U.S. companies are allowed to ask for forgiveness, not permission. And there's, there's some value to that. There's also a downside, and that is, we have a 60% uptick in teen suicide in the US, and I don't put it all at the hands of social or the feet of social media, but it's definitely played a role, and Europe is more thoughtful about You know, what privacy regulations are, right? And I do think there is, uh, economic advantage to erring on the, a lighter touch of regulation, but it also comes with some externalities. But again, that's why we have a government and thoughtful people who can hopefully balance economic growth and innovation and risk and being aggressive and breaking some shit with also recognizing that, okay, Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg are lying to this, to us, that probably it doesn't make sense for a twelve-year-old to be spending 14 hours, you know, a day, uh, in…

AI assessment note: “Yeah, but it's a balance, right?”

Q Why though, if you don't need more money?

A Because I, you know, it's hard to get out, it's hard, it's hard to get off the hamster wheel of identifying your self-esteem and your worth with money, and also I would love a bunch more money to give away, and you know, in a capitalist society it's really sad, but the more money you have, the more power you have, the more virtue you have, Look at, we're willing to forgive a guy who disowns his children on podcasts and is being sued by two women concurrently for sole custody of their child and cuts off food stamps to kids and benefits to veterans because he's the richest man in the world. I mean, in a capitalist society, every signal is telling you there's never enough. So I think it's sort of a natural or an understandable instinct.

AI assessment note: “it's hard to get off the hamster wheel of identifying your self-esteem”

Q I do, but I do feel that people treat me differently now than I, they used to. People don't argue with me as much. People stop talking when I talk. Uh, when it comes to kind of family decisions, my voice matters much more than anyone else's. Why? Because I'll pay for it.

A Yeah, there's, and, but even the fact that you're self-aware enough to know that, you know, I'm on constant editorial calls, and the majority of my team is 24, 25, and someone will disagree with me or say something rude, and I'm like, man, I'm gonna self-fire that motherfucker. I get angry because I have such a big ego, and then what I realize with just a few minutes of reflection is, it's really important you keep those people around you, because you can start to believe your own press, and start to believe that, and that's also one of the wonderful things about kids. Your kids are not impressed by your professional success at all. At all. As a matter of fact, they're not, they're totally unimpressed with you. Like, dad is lame. I'm literally the uncoolest person in the world in their eyes. Uh, but I definitely agree with you. Once you have money, people laugh at your jokes, people find you interesting, people want to know you, and it can lead to bad places. I have found as I got, as I've gotten older, I don't make as much of an effort with people. I went to this thing at the Tate last night, one of these fancy galas, and I'm so used to everyone wanting to know me and starting conversations with me, and I was sitting with these artists, and I thought, I need to be less arrogant. I need to be More friendly, and not expect everyone just to be, like, asking me questions and wanti…

AI assessment note: “Once you have money, people laugh at your jokes, people find you interesting”

Q How do you know when to settle with compromise versus look for perfection?

A Oh, I don't know. I, I think everyone's different, but for me it was, but for me it was willing to throw up the deck of cards that was my life and let them land anywhere because I didn't want to lose this person. I had no desire to have kids, and this person made it clear to me that, okay, if you don't want kids, I get it, but we're, I need to move on because I want to have kids, and so I was willing to reconfigure my life because the idea of not having that person in my life was really upsetting to me. So that, you know, that either happens or it doesn't. The hard part is, as you get older, you become more set in your ways. But I, I would imagine what happens to the majority of us will happen to you, and that is you'll meet someone and you'll decide that the sacrifices are worth maintaining that person in your life. I think that's general. I don't think any guy ever decides. I mean, this is terrible. I think most men who are successful Like the optionality of not being committed or married or having kids, and then I think what happens a lot is your partner's not up for that, and, and, and basically says, okay, it's decision time, and you make that decision, and then hopefully you, you look back and think that was a good idea, that was the right decision.

AI assessment note: “you'll decide that the sacrifices are worth maintaining that person in your life”

Q So you don't agree with cut out people from your life who are negative energies, who are negative forces?

A Oh, sure. You don't, don't be, I mean, I shed friends all the time. I shed relationships. You know, I used to be focused on business. You're, you're, it sounds like you're in, uh, you're in finance. It gets pretty brutal sometimes, and I've been, in my opinion, sort of, Not abused, but treated poorly by business partners, venture capitalists, and I get, I struggle with anger, and I thought, oh, I'm gonna serve this guy a cold lunch someday. And it lives rent-free in my head. And one of my mentors, Hamid Mogendam, said to me, um, he said the best, he's like, you really want to get at this guy? He was a VC, one of the most powerful VCs in the world, washed me out of my stake in my company, kicked me off the board. He's like, you really want to get back at him? I'm like, yeah, what are we gonna do? And he's like, lead a fucking amazing life. That is the best revenge. And so, if I don't, if I have a bad business partnership, something I'm proud of, I have never sued or been sued by anybody. If I have a bad relationship with someone or I feel like I've been wrong, I just don't work with them again. There are some friends in my life that slowly but surely I just do a slow fade from, I don't, I've never been tolerated an abusive relationship romantically, but generally with your important relationships, I think a healthy way to approach it is just say, I'm going to put away the scorec…

AI assessment note: “I shed friends all the time. I shed relationships.”

Q 17, so I've never really had adulthood without bluntly running my business, so I didn't really know who I am. It's why I never go on holiday, because you're forced to reflect on life, and I don't really want to reflect on life without work, because I, I don't know who I am. Did you know who you were? Did you learn who you were from tough times, good times?

A It's an interesting question. I think you're being hard on yourself. I think you've decided that you're, first off, it sounds like you're very blessed that you knew what you wanted to do at a young age. At 17, I thought, you know, when I was very young, I thought I was going to be an athlete. At 17, I thought I was going to be a pediatrician. At 22, I thought I was going to be an investment banker. And then by 24, I was living with my mother and had no idea what I was going to do. So you're sort of blessed that you had that kind of focus and drive at such an early age. That's a gift. And I don't think there's anything wrong with Kind of, uh, similar to you once I got going and got some professional traction, I, my entire self-worth and identification was through my professional success or lack thereof. That's how I identify who I am. That's where I get my confidence. And then when I finally got to economic security, I thought, all right, what was economic security for you? Yeah, I had a number two and I just, I wrote a book on financial security for me. It was like, I wanted to assume that four percent of my number would give me Passive income that would be way more than I needed to live well. Uh, my number was one hundred and fifty million, uh, because I thought, uh, it would be hard for me to spend half a million dollars a month, although I figured out how. And four percent o…

AI assessment note: “my entire self-worth and identification was through my professional success or lack thereof.”

Q So you don't agree with cut out people from your life who are negative energies, who are negative forces?

A Oh, sure. You don't, don't be, I mean, I shed friends all the time. I shed relationships. You know, I used to be focused on business. You're, you're, it sounds like you're in, uh, you're in finance. It gets pretty brutal sometimes, and I've been, in my opinion, sort of, Not abused, but treated poorly by business partners, venture capitalists, and I get, I struggle with anger, and I thought, oh, I'm gonna serve this guy a cold lunch someday. And it lives rent-free in my head. And one of my mentors, Hamid Mogendam, said to me, um, he said the best, he's like, you really want to get at this guy? He was a VC, one of the most powerful VCs in the world, washed me out of my stake in my company, kicked me off the board. He's like, you really want to get back at him? I'm like, yeah, what are we gonna do? And he's like, lead a fucking amazing life. That is the best revenge. And so, if I don't, if I have a bad business partnership, something I'm proud of, I have never sued or been sued by anybody. If I have a bad relationship with someone or I feel like I've been wrong, I just don't work with them again. There are some friends in my life that slowly but surely I just do a slow fade from, I don't, I've never been tolerated an abusive relationship romantically, but generally with your important relationships, I think a healthy way to approach it is just say, I'm going to put away the scorec…

AI assessment note: “I shed friends all the time. I shed relationships.”

Q great, high, well-paid jobs. They've crushed, and they're angry, Scott. They're told, hey, I've been told for a decade that work is the most important thing, career, career, career. And actually, I'm sitting here now where my eggs are not what they used to be, my fertility is not what it used to be, and I feel like I was misadvised by the system. What would you say to them?

A I think economic security is really important. And I mean, so I was raised by a single immigrant mother who lived and died of secretary. And the biggest source of stress in our life, quite frankly, Harry, was we just didn't have enough money. And it was very, in a capitalist society in America, when you don't have a lot of money, even as a kid, I remember registering these little things. It's like a ghost is following you around telling you you're not worthy. Like, I literally felt like there was this ghost following me and my mom around saying you're not worthy. And, and I think poor people get those messages every day. And I think if you're a poor woman or a woman who doesn't have a lot of economic prospects, I think that's an ugly place to be. So I don't fault those women for wanting to excel academically and engage in the fruits of a capitalist society and develop economic security. I'm not sure I would advise them to have done anything different. The hard part is if you're going to have an honest conversation about mating, you have to have an honest conversation, and it's the following. The guy that takes that route and becomes a baller at a law firm becomes sexy, right? You make more money, you're more attractive as a man. You make more money as a woman, you're just a woman making more money. And so the, the, the sort of increase in mating opportunities for men who get mo…

AI assessment note: “I'm not sure I would advise them to have done anything different.”

Q How do you know when to settle with compromise versus look for perfection?

A Oh, I don't know. I, I think everyone's different, but for me it was, but for me it was willing to throw up the deck of cards that was my life and let them land anywhere because I didn't want to lose this person. I had no desire to have kids, and this person made it clear to me that, okay, if you don't want kids, I get it, but we're, I need to move on because I want to have kids, and so I was willing to reconfigure my life because the idea of not having that person in my life was really upsetting to me. So that, you know, that either happens or it doesn't. The hard part is, as you get older, you become more set in your ways. But I, I would imagine what happens to the majority of us will happen to you, and that is you'll meet someone and you'll decide that the sacrifices are worth maintaining that person in your life. I think that's general. I don't think any guy ever decides. I mean, this is terrible. I think most men who are successful Like the optionality of not being committed or married or having kids, and then I think what happens a lot is your partner's not up for that, and, and, and basically says, okay, it's decision time, and you make that decision, and then hopefully you, you look back and think that was a good idea, that was the right decision.

AI assessment note: “you'll decide that the sacrifices are worth maintaining that person in your life”