Fed Chair Investigation, Trump's Oil Deals, and California's Proposed Wealth Tax

Summary

Pivot Podcast Summary

Episode: Fed Chair Investigation, Trump’s Oil Deals, and Scott’s Absence Explained
Date: January 13, 2026
Hosts: Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway
Podcast: Pivot (New York Magazine & Vox Media)

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Overview

In this episode, Kara Swisher welcomes back co-host Scott Galloway after his brief absence, which is humorously and candidly explained as the result of cosmetic surgery. The duo dive into major topics of the week, including the criminal investigation into Fed Chair Jerome Powell, controversial oil deals between the Trump administration and Venezuela, and the nationwide fallout from the ICE shooting in Minneapolis. The episode stays true to Pivot’s signature mix of sharp analysis, candid humor, and unfiltered takes on tech, business, and politics.

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Scott’s Absence & The Cosmetic Surgery Conversation

[01:25 – 17:00]

Discussion Points and Insights

• Where Was Scott?
  Scott jokes about being "presented with an opportunity to bring potable water to sub-Saharan Africa" but admits to cosmetic surgery, specifically work around his eyes for both personal and professional reasons:

  "I was very insecure about my looks growing up...I've just noticed the dark circles under my eyes...I'm kind of interested in the technology." (Scott, 05:43)

• Male Cosmetic Surgery:

  • "It’s the fastest growing part of the market." (Scott, 03:57)
  • Conversation on societal pressures, particularly ageism in public life and on TV.

• Transparency and Society:

  • Kara appreciates Scott’s openness, noting:

    "Men don’t talk...Most people don’t talk about their plastic surgery." (Kara, 03:40)

  • Scott reflects on the role of insecurity, visibility, and the temptation to go "further" with aesthetic procedures.

• Cultural Commentary:
  Recurring gags about possible new purchases (Ferraris), aging, and poking fun at midlife crises.

Notable Quotes

• "The bottom line is, if I have fuck you money, I want a fuck you face." (Scott, 01:25)
• "I want modification, not transformation. And if we’re gonna err here...we’re gonna err on the side of underdone, not overdone." (Scott, 09:23)
• "I am not… I never will. Never." (Kara, 04:41)

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Wins and Losses in Podcasting and Media

[11:23 – 15:47]

• Commentary on recent podcast awards and the recognition of the medium:
  • Mixed feelings about who wins mainstream recognition versus “original gangsters.”
  • Broader reflection on podcasting as a fast-growing media industry:

    "It's a $2.4 billion business now...growing now faster than Google or Meta off a smaller base. But we’ve said this before. It’s because of the audience we’re attracting." (Scott, 13:24)

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Segment: Scott’s Return and TV/Book Tour

[16:34 – 17:13]

• Scott recaps his hectic travel, ongoing TV/book promotion, and future plans, mixing self-deprecating humor with observations on public appearances and loneliness in the digital era:

  "I have to come back for another speaking gig on Wednesday and then I go to Davos on Sunday, so I have all that." (Scott, 16:43)

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Main News: Fed Chair Investigation

[18:21 – 26:36]

Key Events

• The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into Fed Chair Jerome Powell over the Federal Reserve’s headquarters renovation and possible false statements to Congress.

• Powell’s video response is described as “unprecedented,” with Kara emphasizing the political context and Trump’s denials:

  "He’s finally said enough is fucking enough. Let’s listen to the clip." (Kara, 18:27)

Scott’s Analysis

• Scott offers a detailed explanation of the Fed’s role, independence, and why presidents have incentives to push for lower interest rates (19:43 – 22:28):

  "The primary job of an independent Fed is... make sure this entire society doesn’t crumble under massive spiraling inflation." (Scott, 21:11)

• Powell praised for economic stewardship:

  "He will go down arguably as one of the most seminal figures positively in terms of the US economy." (Scott, 21:54)

• On political motivation:
  Scott suspects the investigation aims to remove Powell from the board entirely, not just as chair, to install a more compliant board for Trump.

Notable Quotes

• "This is prosecuting or criminally pursuing your political enemies..." (Scott, 19:55)
• "I have never been more confident about a future recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom than Chairman Powell." (Scott, 26:27)

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ICE Shooting in Minneapolis: National Fallout

[30:09 – 39:31]

Incident Recap

• 37-year-old Renee Good was killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, leading to protests and escalated federal response.
• The Trump administration has excluded local officials from the investigation; damning video evidence challenges ICE self-defense claims.

Host Reactions & Analysis

• Both hosts note the racial disparities in public reaction and coverage ("welcome to our world" - black community’s response).

• Scott deconstructs the ethical and legal violation:

  "Even if you take the worst interpretation of what she was doing, you still cannot justify what this agent did." (Scott, 32:03)

  • Strong criticism of conservative media's coded language (lesbian, "self-proclaimed poet") as attempts to justify the killing.

• Kara criticizes official reactions, especially Kristi Noem and JD Vance, for rushing to prejudice and undermining the investigation.

  "Kristi Noem needs to be impeached... JD Vance is particularly loathsome in this thing." (Kara, 37:24)

Notable Quotes

• "This is a tragedy on a meta level for American principles." (Scott, 33:02)
• "Fucking bitch says a lot to me. Something else was going on." (Kara, 35:44)
• "My heart goes out to these... the children of this woman. She dropped a kid off at school." (Kara, 39:46)

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Trump’s Oil Dealings with Venezuela

[39:55 – 45:39]

News Recap

• Trump administration claims oil giants will invest $100B to rebuild Venezuela, but execs (esp. Exxon) publicly refuse due to prior asset seizures and economic non-viability.

Scott’s Analysis

• Economics of heavy Venezuelan crude don’t add up at current prices.

  "Type of oil...is heavy crude...costs just of extraction are $70-$80 a barrel, [but] in the open market, it’s at about $62." (Scott, 41:23)

• Previous regime corruption, nationalizations, and wariness of real change.

• Big Oil will “wait it out”—they cannot magically conjure the investments the administration touts.

Notable Quotes

• "If oil goes to $110 a barrel, then they're going to get their wallets out." (Scott, 43:32)
• "I'm actually more optimistic about Venezuela than I am say about Iraq or Afghanistan...not with this administration, but I'm optimistic in general about the prospects." (Scott, 43:54)

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Military Intervention and Geopolitics: Iran and Greenland

[48:43 – 58:02]

Iran Protests & Military Strategy

• Trump mulls military action to support Iranian protesters; regime violence spikes.
• Scott is hawkish, proposing covert and overt US/Israeli cooperation to help facilitate regime change as a feminism and global stability issue.

  "Nowhere in the world...has a better reason and a bigger opportunity for why we spend more than the next 10 militaries combined." (Scott, 50:01)

Kara’s Skepticism

• Kara raises caution due to America’s history of mismanaged interventions.

  "Taking military action again is quagmire. Feels quagmire and rather dangerous." (Kara, 49:54)

Greenland Absurdity

• Trump’s interest in "annexing" Greenland is mocked as a real estate obsession and diplomatic blunder.

  "He just wants to take land to show he'd be the first president to do it since, I don't know, Jefferson." (Kara, 54:20)

  • Both hosts agree that this move “makes no fucking sense.” (Scott/Kara, 58:02)

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California’s Proposed Billionaire Wealth Tax

[60:30 – 68:39]

Issue Overview

• California considers a one-time wealth tax on billionaires. Silicon Valley elite organize resistance; some (like Jensen Huang) are less alarmed, seeing it as largely symbolic.

Scott’s Policy Breakdown

• Cites historical failures of wealth taxes in Europe (Wilk, 62:45–65:05).
• Argues that billionaires are highly mobile, so wealth taxes often shrink, not grow, the tax base.
• Suggests solutions: alternative minimum tax, adjusting inheritance/corporate tax, capital gains sourced to where wealth was accrued.

Kara’s Take

• Sees the move as an overdue signal to billionaires:

  "I don’t mind the signal here...it is a signal." (Kara, 65:05)

• Public perception of Silicon Valley is at an all-time low.

Notable Quotes

• "There’s a real backlash against enormous wealth and the gimmes they get." (Kara, 62:45)
• "Billionaires are the most mobile people in the world...whoever wrote this bill has just not done their work." (Scott, 62:45)
• "Let me just tell you...they’re coming for you folks. Nobody likes you and they don’t think you’re heroes." (Kara, 68:02)

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Wins and Fails

[70:06 – end]

Scott’s Win

• The US Military’s “flawless” operation in Venezuela to capture Madura—seen as an extraordinary flex and a message to adversaries.

Scott’s Fail

• “Moral color code” in discussing global oppression: lack of coverage on Iran due to the race of oppressors.

  "What largely dictates our response is the color of the skin of the oppressor." (Scott, 73:52)

Kara’s Win & Fail

• Fail: Apple/Google allowing Elon Musk's Grok to proliferate child abuse/misogyny content.

  "The behavior of Grok is really pretty heinous." (Kara, 74:29)

• Win: Public figures—Jerome Powell, certain oil execs, and journalists—who refuse to play along with cronyism and corruption, choosing to speak truth to power.

Notable Quotes

• "Anybody who speaks out and says things...gets that for me. Absolutely...Jake Tapper for doing that excellent interview with Christy Noem deserves credit." (Kara, 76:57)

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Memorable Moments & Humor

• Scott’s extended riffing on his cosmetic surgery (“I want a fuck you face.” [01:25])
• Ongoing banter about midlife crises, Ferraris, and being a “four” in looks.
• Sharp critiques of both political and corporate hypocrisy.

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Timestamps of Key Segments

• 01:25 – Scott returns, cosmetic surgery explained
• 05:43 – Insecurity, aging, and the pressures of male appearance
• 18:21 – Fed Chair Powell investigation
• 21:54 – Scott’s defense of Fed independence & Powell’s competence
• 30:09 – ICE shooting, protests, and coded media language
• 39:55 – Trump/Venezuelan oil deals and Big Oil’s response
• 48:43 – Military intervention: Iran, Venezuela, and Greenland
• 60:30 – California’s planned billionaire wealth tax
• 70:06 – Scott’s Wins & Fails
• 74:29 – Kara’s Wins & Fails

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Tone and Style

• The episode, as always, features acerbic wit, direct commentary, and back-and-forth banter.
• Both hosts freely mix humor and serious analysis, oscillating between teasing each other and providing substantive insight on weighty issues.

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Summary Takeaway

This episode is a quintessential Pivot: part personal revelation, part serious news breakdown, and part performance, with Kara and Scott offering both sharp analysis and raw, unfiltered opinions. The balance of humor and gravitas offers listeners both context and color on the week’s biggest stories from power, politics, and business.

Transcript

[Kara Swisher]

This episode is brought to you by On Investing, an original podcast from Charles Schwab. I'm Kathy Jones, Schwab's chief fixed income strategist. And I'm Liz Ann Saunders, Schwab's chief investment strategist. Between us, we have decades of experience.

[Scott Galloway]

Studying the indicators that drive the economy and how they can have a direct.

[Kara Swisher]

Impact on your investments. We know that investors have a lot.

[Scott Galloway]

Of questions about the markets and the economy, and we're here to help.

[Kara Swisher]

So download the latest episode and [e-mail] oninvesting or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Scott Galloway]

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[Kara Swisher]

From building timelines to assigning the right people, and even spotting risks across dozens of projects, Monday Sidekick knows your business, thinks ahead and takes action. One click on the star and consider it done.

[Scott Galloway]

And I owe it all to you.

[Kara Swisher]

Try Monday Sidekick. AI you'll love to use on Monday.com.

[Scott Galloway]

The bottom line is, if I have fuck you money, I want to fuck you face.

[Kara Swisher]

Hi, everyone. This is Pivot from New York Magazine and the Vox Media Podcast network. I'm Kara Swisher and guess who's back, Back again.

[Scott Galloway]

It's Audie Cornish.

[Kara Swisher]

You wish.

[Scott Galloway]

She's good. You know what I learned from her?

[Kara Swisher]

What?

[Scott Galloway]

She said something. She had the best line. Veni Guesthouse. She said you asked her for advice on the economy or asked her for input and she said no, this isn't my area. I'm here to learn. Yeah, I have got. I sent her a note saying I took real notes from that because I have yet to find the confidence to actually say that I don't know and that everything doesn't demand my judgment. Anyways, Adi Cornish gets co host or gets substitute host of the week. How are you, Kara? Did you miss me?

[Kara Swisher]

I did. I need you to explain where you've been to people, sir.

[Scott Galloway]

Well, Kara, I was presented with an opportunity to bring potable water to the good people of Sub Saharan Africa.

[Kara Swisher]

No.

[Scott Galloway]

Which is Latin for I have had cosmetic surgery, Cara. And essentially I just wanted to look natural. And I guess if looking natural means looking like you're surprised all the fucking time and your nose looks like a Minivan from the 80s, we've achieved that. Kiara.

[Kara Swisher]

Sweet.

[Scott Galloway]

We have liftoff. So the camera is off. Sorry, folks, I'm. I'm confident enough to be transparent. I'm not confident enough for the comments that we would receive right now.

[Kara Swisher]

I have seen the pictures. Pictures. Scott kindly sent me a picture. And I was, at first I was like, oh, come on, how bad could it be? And then I'm like, oh, no.

[Scott Galloway]

And there was no response. You usually respond within like 10 seconds with something really crisp and funny or supportive. You're actually, you're a very. People who know this about you. You're actually, you're a very loving, kind friend. People don't get that vibe. And you were just silent for 15 minutes. And I'm like, is she going to respond?

[Kara Swisher]

Anything off the Tramadol?

[Scott Galloway]

By then I told my doctor, I said I wanted to look. People have compared me to Ryan Reynolds older brother. And I'm like, that's the look I'm going for. And I do look like him, but I look like his grandfather after he's gone into witness protection from literally trying to flee narco terrorists and has had bad cosmetic surgery in Brazil.

[Kara Swisher]

This is good. I hope it's good. We're going to see, we're going to see what, what it is. But when you have the big reveal or something like that, I'd love you to actually talk about it. Because men don't talk. Most people don't talk about their plastic surgery or whatever. And there's been a huge boom in men doing this.

[Scott Galloway]

Huge. It's the fastest growing part of the market.

[Kara Swisher]

Yeah. Explain why you did it. I have never had plastic surgery. I do not judge it. A lot of people I know have it. A lot of bleffs. That's what they keep saying the word blef to me.

[Scott Galloway]

That's right.

[Kara Swisher]

My mother had it. Tell me it's mostly women. I don't know a lot. I mean, I do know some VCs who have gotten it and I can't say this was many years ago. It worked well.

[Scott Galloway]

But I am glad to be back with these questions masquerading as virtue signaling. What is this not being able to make a shit ton of money because you're not so fucking talented thing that people complain about. You are so going under the knife. Give me a fucking break.

[Kara Swisher]

I am not.

[Scott Galloway]

By the way. You were asking me questions.

[Kara Swisher]

I never Will never. Never.

[Scott Galloway]

Well, anyways, the honest answer, Kara, after having a lot of Xanax and opiates to think about it, is I cannot for the life of me figuring out the fucking hole I am trying to fill here. I think it comes from a lot of places. I was very insecure about my looks growing up, as I think was probably natural for a teenager. And then in my 20s and 30s, when I put on some weight and we've talked about this, and my skin cleared up, I then got a lot of confidence for my looks, and I really like that part of the program. And also, I think in a little bit of my business, I have felt. I don't want to call it ageism, but I've been really cognizant of my age recently. A lot of people, A lot of people online are referencing my age to criticize me. Like, what does this guy know? And also, I think just more practically, I've been on TV a lot because of the book tour, and I've just noticed the dark circles under my eyes. And also, to a strange extent, I'm kind of interested in the technology.

[Kara Swisher]

Oh, all right.

[Scott Galloway]

And also, the bottom line is, if I have fuck you money, I want to fuck you face. Yeah. Okay.

[Kara Swisher]

So you said something really interesting. You said it's mediation, not renovation. Although these doctors are very convincing. Right. You weren't going to do as much as you did, or were you? Or.

[Scott Galloway]

Well, I mean, it's very easy to get. I was going to just do my. I was just going to do my eyes. I didn't do a lot. But you add on stuff because.

[Kara Swisher]

Can you explain what the eyes. Is it.

[Scott Galloway]

Well, the circles around your eyes. You have dark circles on your eyes.

[Kara Swisher]

As you get older, people have hooded.

[Scott Galloway]

Yeah. And what they do is very simple, is they transfer fat from other parts of your body into the soft tissue that creates the dark circle. And the temptation to keep adding stuff if you're not careful is a following. Everything heals at the same time. And if you're going under the knife, you just start thinking, yeah, sure, I'll have fat transferred from my hips to my chin. They will add on stuff. I had some crazy fucking laser that they wouldn't do. Do you have any fat?

[Kara Swisher]

You're so skinny. You're such a skinny.

[Scott Galloway]

Yeah, I'm entering that nice part of my life where I'm skinny yet fat at the same time, which is really attractive. But, yeah, it's easy to get upsold. And I find the whole thing fascinating. I, of course, made friends with My surgeon and his team. And I'm being serious now. The most inspiring part of the whole process was I went to this place called Pearl Recovery and it's this amazing family owned business where they take over a floor of what is a fairly mediocre hotel. And they have nurses around the clock looking after you. And I had, you know, through the different shifts, four or five different nurses and they were all out of central casting. They were all the same person in the sense that they were all immigrants in their 30s and 40s, all single mothers and all working their ass off and the loveliest, most talented women. It made me feel so good about America. It made me realize how important. Again, not that I need to know this. Immigration is. These women are all women working 4 to 612 hour shifts, all with a single, all with a kid, all come to America, all making a good living. They do get paid well. I think nursing is actually a fantastic profession and something that will probably survive AI for a while. And they just couldn't. They brought expertise, empathy, humanity. They were great interacting with me. They had great leadership skills. Occasionally I'd be like, no, I don't want to sleep upright. And they'd be like, get your ass upright. I mean, they were fantastic. They all Google you. They all like, who is this? Is this a star? Because they can't tell.

[Kara Swisher]

Oh, right, yeah.

[Scott Galloway]

And they'd be coming and they'd be like, they'd be coming. They'd be like. So I listened to a podcast and I'm like, oh, really? What'd you think? I'm like, sit down. I'm going nowhere for the next two days. Sit down and tell me what you think. And they were just such lovely women. It was really.

[Kara Swisher]

I'm glad you had this international experience while you get your.

[Scott Galloway]

It was fantastic.

[Kara Swisher]

Can I ask you just one more question? We'll move on and we're gonna have a big reveal. Is. Did you. When we talked about whether you should say anything and I said, I am not gonna pretend if it looks really different. And it does. It looks slightly, slightly different, I would say, from what I can say.

[Scott Galloway]

Well, no, we don't know. I'm really swollen right now. The reality is we have no idea.

[Kara Swisher]

Your nose is very swollen. Yeah.

[Scott Galloway]

Yeah, we have no idea.

[Kara Swisher]

Yeah, I mean most, when people get their eyes done, there is a refresh and you can. You assume that's what it is. But what they've done today, everybody looks pretty good. Unless it's like, you know, some people hasn't worked well.

[Scott Galloway]

Now this Guy, this guy's known for. I said the following thing. I said, I want modification, not transformation. And if we're gonna err here. And I kept saying this, we're gonna err on the side of underdone, not overdone.

[Kara Swisher]

I see.

[Scott Galloway]

And I think most surgeons probably say this, but they say the key is that people think you look good, but they don't know how you've had anything done.

[Kara Swisher]

I see it looks. It's, it's. It's Chris. Kris Jenner sort of is like, you see, you remember once we were joking about Jennifer Gray. Everyone noticed it immediately. Cause she changed her entire look and she got piled the fuck on. I used to. I thought that was very unfair. If she wants to do that, that's.

[Scott Galloway]

You're a public figure, people. If you're known for your looks, you're going to be known for your looks. That's the bottom line.

[Kara Swisher]

Well, that's what you're known for.

[Scott Galloway]

Yes, that's right. That's right. For that.

[Kara Swisher]

Well, I think we're interesting. I'm not. I don't want to have any facial surgery done. I don't care.

[Scott Galloway]

It's not easy being a four. And you know, it's so scary as.

[Kara Swisher]

Last night always been a four.

[Scott Galloway]

Last night I was looking at Ferraris. I have. Save me.

[Kara Swisher]

What?

[Scott Galloway]

I was looking at Ferrari. I don't know. I don't know. I really don't know.

[Kara Swisher]

What is next?

[Scott Galloway]

I don't know, Ed. Drugs. That's what's coming next.

[Kara Swisher]

Yeah, yeah. I'm trying to think. Oh, my God.

[Scott Galloway]

No, I'm definitely hot.

[Kara Swisher]

Well, you'll be dating the guys from Heated Rivalry soon enough. That's where we're going.

[Scott Galloway]

Jesus. Those dudes are great actors and they're hot.

[Kara Swisher]

Did you watch?

[Scott Galloway]

Oh, my God. I could have won the award for visual effects last night. I just should have showed up and accepted the rush to the stage when they said and the award for visual effects. And they would've figured out it was me. Our podcast would be number one right now.

[Kara Swisher]

We should have won that because I.

[Scott Galloway]

Was staying at the Waldorf, which is next to the hotel that was having the visual effect. And I walked around with all this plastic surgery and it was really strange. It was like having a credential badge. They let me go wherever I want. Cause if you have plastic, clearly you have just had a nose job. They're like, oh, they must be a star. Let them in.

[Kara Swisher]

Right.

[Scott Galloway]

So I could have rushed the stage and picked up the award and I decided Definitely would have been the award for visual effects.

[Kara Swisher]

We deserve the podcast award, honestly. Amy Poehler's very nice. That was a weird dog's breakfast of a group of podcasters. None of them were like each other.

[Scott Galloway]

I thought, you know what, though? I gotta give it to the Golden Globes. I read the list of nominees, mostly because we weren't on it, but I thought they did a great job. I thought all of those podcasts. Mel's great. I love Dax Shepard. Was Jay Shetty in there? Who else was it?

[Kara Swisher]

It was npr. Steve Inske.

[Scott Galloway]

Fantastic.

[Kara Swisher]

Yeah, Steve Insky. Amy Poehler, obviously fantastic. The guys from Smartless.

[Scott Galloway]

Those guys are amazing. I thought, wow. And by the way, I've been on every one of them except for Call Me Daddy and Amy's. I've been on Amy's. I don't know about you. I was a little bit. I don't know what the term is. A little bit. I don't want to say resentful. My understanding of Amy Poehler, she's a lovely person, and I haven't listened to her, probably people love. But I was kind of bummed that it was someone who felt like they were late to the game who got it. I was kind of hoping one of the original gangsters would have got it.

[Kara Swisher]

Yeah. The smartest guy.

[Scott Galloway]

But I thought. I thought. Actually, you know what? It's interesting. That's a big mo. I think that's a big moment for podcasting.

[Kara Swisher]

Here's the only thing. There was an interesting article in the New York Times. It's like, these are all. All the others are so disparate, and everyone's in their place. You can't really put like. They didn't have any narrative podcasts, which sort of began this. They should split, have more podcast awards. That's all.

[Scott Galloway]

Well, that's what they'll do.

[Kara Swisher]

Yeah.

[Scott Galloway]

Eventually they'll have best crime drama, best episode, best best host. But they already do that. I mean, we're up for Webbies again. And there are a couple. Everyone wins a Webby. Everyone's like. Everyone's like, you know, best male co host who's going through the mother of all midlife crises. It's like they've decided. The Webbies and the Streamys have decided they need to make money.

[Kara Swisher]

Yeah.

[Scott Galloway]

So they charge you and they have a million categories.

[Kara Swisher]

Yeah. Yeah. Well, I don't. That's fine. I think it's a huge. It's a $2.4 billion business now.

[Scott Galloway]

I mean, it's the fastest growing media. It's growing now faster than Google or Meta off a smaller base. But we've said this before. It's because of the audience we're attracting.

[Kara Swisher]

We're geniuses now. We're gonna have plastic surgery. They don't call it. What do they call it now? Is it plastic surgery?

[Scott Galloway]

Cosmetic surgery? I don't know. Pathetic.

[Kara Swisher]

I like you doing it because I'm living vicariously through you. Because I find out all manner of nonsense.

[Scott Galloway]

Do you want to drive my Ferrari in Palm Beach?

[Kara Swisher]

Wait, did you buy a Ferrari too?

[Scott Galloway]

I think I, I, the fact I'm even looking at one right now. I don't own a car right now. I don't own a car. I, I, I, I literally, I take the tube.

[Kara Swisher]

You come back to the U.S. i.

[Scott Galloway]

Take the tube and I take this amazing ride hailing service called Wheelie. And when I'm in US, I take lift because I like the CEO. He's very spiritual. I would like him to be my rabbi, but no, I don't. I haven't owned a car in a bunch of years. But I'm seriously trolling. Ferraris.

[Kara Swisher]

Oh, no.

[Scott Galloway]

They're so beautiful. I think they would say that I'm refined and elegant and. Young lady, you should have a random sexual experience with me.

[Kara Swisher]

No, I don't think so. I think you should think about a Chevy bolt. Yeah.

[Scott Galloway]

Hasn't even entered like you. Literally, I don't know what you could do. I don't know what the opposite of an ed drug is, but that's what the term Chevy bolt is for me.

[Kara Swisher]

I am telling you. Look how well I'm doing with my Chevy bolt. I'm successful, I have a beautiful wife.

[Scott Galloway]

I just don't. I think you have all of that, despite the bolt. No, it's despite of the bolt. I think the bolt does say. You know what? I don't care.

[Kara Swisher]

Yeah, I'm looking at the new Rivian. It's really cool.

[Scott Galloway]

Oh, those are great.

[Kara Swisher]

The new Aspen.

[Scott Galloway]

That is the Aspen car, by the way.

[Kara Swisher]

Oh, and then I'm not looking at the Rivian.

[Scott Galloway]

You say that when my house was ready in Aspen. You're literally my house in Aspen. You're literally going to be like, hey, just FYI, I'm swinging by Aspen. And no pressure at all, but I'd like to stay there for the spring. I'd like to. I'd like to stay there for the spring. No pressure. You can say no, but I'd like to meet Jeffrey Swisher and my uncles and cousins in Lucky for the spring. That is so coming. So do not mock Aspen.

[Kara Swisher]

It is so.

[Scott Galloway]

I am waiting for that.

[Kara Swisher]

I think Aspen is a little too much now. I used to like it. It seems like something Pompey.

[Scott Galloway]

A little too much. Awesome.

[Kara Swisher]

Awesome. All right. Okay, I do. I'm putting in my reservation now. All right. We're going to move on from Scott to Jennifer Gray. Renee. We didn't want to do that. Welcome back.

[Scott Galloway]

Adi Col.

[Kara Swisher]

Adie Cornish has not had plastic surgery.

[Scott Galloway]

She has perfect skin. She has perfect skin. That's what happens when you have plastic surgery. You're sitting there wrapped up like a fucking mummy going, audie Cornish has perfect skin. That's my week.

[Kara Swisher]

Can I tell you, we want to thank everybody who filled in for you during this time of trauma. For everybody, John Lang, Good Reason Cameron, Stephanie Ruhl and Phil Cohen. Thank you.

[Scott Galloway]

She was spicy. I figured out Stephanie's. I came to so many observations under the influence of opiates. Stephanie's peanut butter and chocolate is. She is smart and spicy. She's smart and spicy.

[Kara Swisher]

Yeah.

[Scott Galloway]

She's like. She's like hot, but irreverent and smart.

[Kara Swisher]

Yeah. Oh, my God. Where are you now? You had to skip tv.

[Scott Galloway]

Oh, my God. I had to fly back from LA last night. I had to try and pretend to sleep.

[Kara Swisher]

Show your face.

[Scott Galloway]

Hello, Lunesta. And then I'm going after this, I go to Miami for a speaking gig, which should be interesting. With this. I was just there with this face. Yeah. My friend said he saw you. And then I have to come back for another speaking gig on Wednesday and then I go to Davos on Sunday, so I have all that.

[Kara Swisher]

But you also are being interviewed by me. So I may have to rethink that.

[Scott Galloway]

When I'm being interviewed by you.

[Kara Swisher]

Yeah, for my CNN thing, we're doing a follow up on our sound bar. Our sound.

[Scott Galloway]

Is that how poorly the show's going? I'm on twice.

[Kara Swisher]

No, it's going great.

[Scott Galloway]

I'm on twice.

[Kara Swisher]

No, we just wanted. You were. We wanted you to talk about. We need someone to talk about loneliness and digital. And one of the things you've been talking about on your book tour is you're linking it to everybody in isolation. So I think it's important.

[Scott Galloway]

Supposed to be on Colbert Thursday night. Let's get back to me. Let's get back to me. It was supposed to be on Colbert Thursday night.

[Kara Swisher]

I think I'll top, you know where I am right now.

[Scott Galloway]

Where are you?

[Kara Swisher]

Morgantown, West Virginia. I'm going to film at my dad's grave today.

[Scott Galloway]

But how do they relate that to health? Or is it just what it's like to felt longevity?

[Kara Swisher]

I hate to say this, but one of the feedback from the stuff we've.

[Scott Galloway]

Filled is he avoid of all emotion or humanity. Take her to her father's grave.

[Kara Swisher]

She needs facelift. She needs a facelift.

[Scott Galloway]

She refuses to get her eyes done. Take her to her father's grave. And wide angle. Focus back. Focus back.

[Kara Swisher]

We have speaking. We have so much to talk about. There's you missed quite a bit.

[Scott Galloway]

Oh my God.

[Kara Swisher]

Like crazy on your tramadol.

[Scott Galloway]

First time. First time in my life I was scared to look at the news. Really scared. I'm like, you know, I think I'm just gonna ignore the news. Yeah.

[Kara Swisher]

Which you can't.

[Scott Galloway]

Hot white butt sex on off the ice.

[Kara Swisher]

Okay, let's start that. The Justice Department has opened. This just happened yesterday. Has opened a criminal investigation into Fed Chair Jerome Powell over at the central bank's renovation of its headquarters and whether he lied to Congress about it. The inquiry includes analysis of Powell's public statements and spending records. Powell called the investigation unprecedented in a video released by the Fed on Sunday. Let me say he's finally said enough is fucking enough. Let's listen to the clip.

[Scott Galloway]

The threat of criminal charges is a.

[Kara Swisher]

Consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the President. This is about whether the Fed will.

[Scott Galloway]

Be able to continue to set interest.

[Kara Swisher]

Rates based on evidence and economic conditions or whether instead monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation. This guy's a fucking corrupt octopus. When asked about the investigation, not Powell, Trump, President Trump said he didn't know anything about it. He's a liar. Powell's term as chair ends in May and his term as governor, though runs through January 2028. What in the world is he doing? But they've been lowering interest rates. I think they were going to keep them the same for this particular next session. But what in the world. He's going to get his guy in May. He actually pointed Powell. But let's move on from that. Thoughts?

[Scott Galloway]

Well, before Chairman Powell released that statement, there was a 15% likelihood that he would resign before August. By the end of his statement, it had dropped to 5%. And that is the market where the wisdom of the crowd said, this guy's going nowhere. He's very good. He nailed his speech. He did exactly what he needed to do. He wasn't defensive. He just stated the obvious. This is prosecuting or criminally pursuing your political enemies. And I think even most Republicans deep down acknowledge that. Also Republicans who are supposed to be the ones that are more fiscally responsible recognize that one of the keys to the most prosperous economies in the world and the majority of Western economies that grow their economies while not risking spiraling inflation have one thing in common, and that is they have an independent equivalent of a monetary association or a Federal Reserve that is independent because of the following. Presidents are under huge pressure to perform and usually there's term limits and they're only there for a limited amount of time. So it would be almost near impossible for them not to believe that it would be good for them, their country and the world to lower interest rates because people don't typically realize lowering interest rates is full. Stop putting more money in people's pockets. If you lower interest rates, you pay a lower fee on your credit cards, your mortgage, your auto loan, your student loan. If you take mortgage rates, or excuse me, if you take interest rates from 5% to 2%, you're putting somewhere between a few hundred dollars or a few hundred thousand dollars every month in the pocket of consumers, corporations, CFOs. Everyone in the short run is happy. But the problem is you risk having too much money facing few tube products, the supply chain doesn't increase and you end up with upward spiraling inflation. And the thing about inflation going up is that if people get to a point where they start panic buying and that is they don't hold the currency and they constantly transfer it into goods, it can spin out of control. A lot of revolutions start because of inflation. The primary job of an independent Fed is to say, look, we're going to appoint you for 12 years and your job is not to listen to anybody but the data and make sure this entire society doesn't crumble under massive spiraling inflation. And just a few data points on Chairman Powell. He had an unprecedented increase in rates when he saw inflation peak at 9% and he's brought it down to about 2.8%. He will go down arguably as one of the most seminal figures positively in terms of the US economy. The inflation has mostly moved towards its target. He avoided a deep recession. He pulled off a Mary Lou Retton like sticking the economy landing.

[Kara Swisher]

Yeah, there was a little complaint about a little too much. Remember that part when they were doing.

[Scott Galloway]

Everyone was complaining when he was doing it. The far left is like you're hurting Americans. The far right was you're hurting corporations. But this is the bottom line. He managed cool inflation massively While avoiding a recession.

[Kara Swisher]

Yeah, he did.

[Scott Galloway]

People don't.

[Kara Swisher]

I mean, before this. What is it called? He kept something going too long and then easing.

[Scott Galloway]

Quantitative easing.

[Kara Swisher]

Yeah.

[Scott Galloway]

Well, Janet Yellen basically said, and I've made this argument, we pumped $7 trillion into the economy and 85% of it wasn't spent. It's impossible to argue we didn't overdo it. Her viewpoint is the risk of overdoing it are far outweighed by the risk of underdoing it. If you look at the real economic strife throughout our society, it's when the thing that took the Great Depression and turned it in from a Great Recession to a Great Depression is we decided to tighten rather than loosen. Anyways, also, he's done. Including up until the point of the speech yesterday, the Fed has maintained institutional credibility and independence. The piece of insight is, I think everyone realizes this is prosecuting or pursuing your political enemies.

[Kara Swisher]

Those cases are all falling apart, by the way, but go ahead.

[Scott Galloway]

They couldn't even get an indictment against her. Yeah, the evidence, the grand jury or the evidence presented, they said it's not even worthy of an indictment. The piece of nuance that I found interesting here, the little bit of insight that people may not know is the following. This isn't about trying to intimidate him into resigning. That's not what this is about. This is about trying to intimidate him into resigning from the board of governors. Because his role on this board, basically, on every board, this is the dynamic. There's 12 board members. Say on a board, a public company board, it's usually less than that, but let's say it's 12. There's. Everybody speaks, everyone nods, and then there's one or two people. When they speak, everyone fucking listens. You gotta believe that when Chairman Powell is no longer chairman, but the governor, when he speaks, everyone's gonna listen. He's gonna have huge influence. And Trump, Trump wants him off. Trump wants someone. Trump wants a board of governors that is not independent, that will take interest rates way down and give him the sugar high he wants. And if Powell is still on this board, what we are going to have is a much safer, much more robust economy.

[Kara Swisher]

Yo, he's not going anywhere.

[Scott Galloway]

This isn't. Well, even he's done in May. This is about trying to get him to.

[Kara Swisher]

No, I get it. I'm just saying he's not coming there. This is like.

[Scott Galloway]

I don't think so either.

[Kara Swisher]

Oh, I think he's. He wouldn't have. This is not a man who makes a video like Trauma.

[Scott Galloway]

This dude does not scare easily. No, he didn't, he didn't get on there and, and start being defensive about the actual thing he's been accused of. He's like, you know, he's basically said, this is nonsense and anyone with half a brain isn't even gonna get near this. Even Fox News, I don't think is gonna go after him. They, they realize, okay, this is, this is a bridge too far.

[Kara Swisher]

The whole thing is so cockamamie. Like, well, everything they're saying now is coming out of their mouths is a lie. So, I mean, what's really interesting was this video that he find. There's a lot of sudden pushback in lots of different places you're starting to see, including Republicans voting against him, particularly ACA subsidies. Yeah, I have to say, this is such a signal of. What's incredible to me is he's very active and everything he's doing to me, I think it's. This one reeked of desperation because this is not going to work and it makes Powell stronger. That is my feeling. This gives him much more credibility to influence the Fed. Even after he's gone, whoever he picks is no match for Jerome Powell, even if he's not the Fed chair.

[Scott Galloway]

I have never been more confident about a future recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom than Chairman Powell.

[Kara Swisher]

Yep, yep.

[Scott Galloway]

100% right now. He kind of defines leadership.

[Kara Swisher]

Yeah, maybe Ms. Masjada will give him. Anyway, let's go on a quick break. When we come back, the ongoing fallout from the ICE shooting in Minneapolis. Support for this show comes from Delete Me. The new year can be a perfect time to get your digital house in order. And a great way to do that is by making sure your data is protected. DeleteMe makes it easy, quick and safe to remove your personal data online at a time when surveillance and data breaches are common enough to make everyone vulnerable. DeleteMe does all the hard work of wiping you and your family's personal information from data broker websites. All you need to do is sign up, share the details you want removed, and their experts take it from there. And it's not a one time fix. Deleteme will continually monitor and remove the personal data you don't want online throughout the year. I've used Delete Me and I really like it. I did it again at the beginning of the year and I'm always shocked to see how much information is about me out there. And I am a privacy nut, but it's always out there. A lot of it inaccurate, but a lot of it gathered in ways that are troubling. I get updates all the time and I really think their dashboard is easy to use, which is why Wirecutter named Deleteme their top pick for data removal services. You can take control of your data and keep your private life private by signing up for Deleteme now at a special discount for our list listeners. Get 20 off your Delete Me plan when you go to JoinDeleteMe.com pivot and use the promo code Pivot at checkout. The only way to get 20 off is to go to JoinDeleteMe.com pivot and enter code pivot at checkout. That's JoinDeleteMe.com pivot CodePivot Support for today's show comes from Upwork. If you're a small business owner, Inbox is in the double digits before you even logged on. It might be time to bring in some help.

[Scott Galloway]

Help.

[Kara Swisher]

Even though it may feel like it, you don't have to be the CEO, CFO and coo. Upwork says that with their help, you can start hiring top candidates and stop doing everything yourself. With Upwork Business plus, you don't need to spend weeks sorting through random resumes. You can source and vet a curated shortlist of proven candidates for skills and reliability. Upwork Business plus gives you instant access to the top 1% of Upwork's talents in fields like marketing, design, AI and mobile. More all ready to jump in and make your life easier. Upwork Business plus gets rid of the hassle of hiring and sends top talent right to your inbox. That way you're never stuck spinning your wheels when you need a skilled pro and your projects don't stall. You can visit Upwork.com right now to post your job for free and connect with top talent ready to help your business grow. That's up w o r k.com upwork.com.

[Scott Galloway]

Support for the show comes from BetterHelp. The new year doesn't require a new you, maybe just a less burdened you. Therapy can help you figure out what's weighing you down. With professional help, you can head into the new year with a clear eyed picture of your relationships, motivations and emotions. With BetterHelp, finding that help doesn't need to be complicated. BetterHelp is one of the world's largest online therapy platforms, having served over 5 million people globally. They have over 30,000 therapists so you can find the right match. All you need to do is fill out a short questionnaire to identify your needs and preferences and with more than 12 years of experience and an industry leading match fulfillment rate. They usually get it right the first time. But if you realize you want to switch therapists for any reason, you can do that easily at any time. Don't let last year's baggage hold you back from this year's growth. BetterHelp makes it easy to get matched online with a qualified therapist. Sign up and get 10% [e-mail] pivot that's betterhelp.com pivot.

[Kara Swisher]

SCOTT we're back with more news. Thousands of people across the country took to the streets this weekend to protest the killing of 37 year old Renee Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis. This as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem says she's sending hundreds more federal agents to Minneapolis this week. The Trump administration also cut state and local officials out of the investigation into Good's death, leaving it all to the FBI, which minimizes credibility. New cell phone video has spread across social media showing the moments for the shooting from ICE officer perspective, which is quite damning to the ICE officer. Vice President J.D. vance and others are arguing that the footage supports a claim of self defense. Most people don't. Well, most people aren't lying, don't agree with that. Meanwhile, Goode's wife spoke out saying On Wednesday, January 7th, we stopped to support our neighbors. We had whistles, they had guns. You shared your thoughts with me and this is a terrible thing. And of course, I think people rightly point out that, that it gets an enormous amount of attention. This is a white woman coming back from school. I mean, the narrative is really quite something. But it still has sparked protests everywhere, especially when it's combined with all these videos of these thugs going around with masks on. You see reaction from sheriffs and local police who don't like it. They don't wear masks. Talk a little bit about what you, you, you think is happening here right now.

[Scott Galloway]

Well, I just want to acknowledge the point you referenced that the black community is like, yeah, welcome to our world. The look, the very founding of America, the very principles and the reason why people took so many risks and brought together such thoughtful people to start this new experiment called America. The very cornerstone of why America was found founded was to avoid this shit, was they didn't want an autocrat with unchecked power that could harm them. And so this in so many ways is just a violation of everything we're supposed to stand for. And the worst thing you could say about Ms. Good is that she was, I don't even say fleeing the scene but leaving a controlled environment without permission, that is absolutely the worst thing you could say about her. But Department of Justice policy clearly states you cannot discharge a weapon or use lethal force when someone is fleeing the scene. And I'm not even sure it qualifies as fleeing the scene. But take the worst interpretation of what she was doing. You still cannot justify what this agent did. And also if you're in front of a jury talking about situations like this. And look, federal agents and police deal with very hot, in the moment, complicated situations. And a lot of it goes to what they refer to in court as state of mind. Let me give you this guy's state of mind. Fucking bitch. He put three bullets in the torso and face of a woman who was not physically threatened him and then decided after she had clearly been killed and ran off the road to say fucking bitch. That was his state of mind. This is a tragedy on a meta level for American principles. It's obviously a huge tragedy for her and her family. What was even more disappointing and salt in the wounds of the current state of America is conservative media, including Fox, used a lot of code words when describing Ms. Good. And I'm sure you saw this first off a self proclaimed poet. Bullshit. She was an award winning poet, a divorced person. Oh, divorced people aren't as worthy. And then the one, I'm sure you noticed, they kept referring to her as a lesbian.

[Kara Swisher]

Yep.

[Scott Galloway]

Okay, the guy who shot her three times in the face, I would bet 95% probability he sleeps with women. That makes him no more or no less guilty. And the fact that she sleeps with women makes her no less or more guilty of anything or no less a tragedy or a victim. And when Fox consistently describes her as a lesbian activist, what they're saying is, dear viewers, we think you are such raging fucking homophobes that if we highlight that this woman sleeps with other women, you will have an easier time justifying the murder of this woman because being gay is a bad thing. In other words, dear viewers, we think you too are homophobic and you took.

[Kara Swisher]

Out a mouthy lesbian. That's, that's exactly what they're doing.

[Scott Galloway]

All of this coded language is basically an acknowledgement that the viewers of whatever conservative media starts using those words, it makes no. If we ever get to a point of America, it makes no sense in any trial or jury to talk about someone's sexual orientation. I have long said. And also I think the left sometimes has a problem with wrapping virtue around people if they're of a certain special interest group. No, they're no better and they're no worse.

[Kara Swisher]

This had nothing to do with that. It was terrifying as a, you know, because I think it was someone who has. There's some personal thing happening here with him and gay women.

[Scott Galloway]

Well, supposedly he'd had another altercation with a car, right?

[Kara Swisher]

Yeah. I don't know. Something else.

[Scott Galloway]

Her heirs are gonna be rich.

[Kara Swisher]

Fucking bitch says a lot to me. Something else was going on. And so, you know, really look, this guy has. That is clearly a thug, right? Just one. And this is what they hired. The people that killed all those people in Germany were thugs. Hitler did not kill everybody. He hired people who did so. And one of the things that you notice from this is the reaction from people who know better. The JD Vance's, the Kristi Gnomes, et cetera, and Trump himself, who immediately decided she was guilty no matter what and kept pushing this thing before any investigation. The only person who tried to say, well, let's just wait and see, was of all people, Tom Homan. And then he was slapped back, like, it was incredible. He had the correct response, which is, let's wait and see. Like, because, you know. And then, of course, now we're living in an era of video. And when they release that thing and let fucking bitch out, like, they think that helps their case. It sounds like this guy was in a rage from someone. And her last words of her life were, I'm not mad at you, dude. Like, honestly, the juxtaposition and her name. Good. And it's so clear what's happening in that video. I think what's really gonna. What's grotesque is, and I have to give credit to Jake Tapper for writing Kristi Noem about this, which was, how can you. She showed pictures, obviously, of January 6th, where they were squeezing a police officer, hitting them with. With pipes and flags, and squeezing one officer in a door. And they got pardoned. And she was like, everyone gets the same law. And he's like, but they don't. And she goes, everyone gets the same law. And then he shows the pictures again and says, she's saying, I'm not mad at you, dude. And driving away. They are attacking police officers. You cannot say this. I mean, as far as I'm concerned, Kristi Noem needs to be impeached and hopefully go to jail. But J.D. vance is particularly loathsome in this thing. And that, to me was sort of a shock. This idea of, like, trying to impugn this victim long before there's an investigation and then not letting the state also be Participatory. This is not gonna end well for any of these people at some point.

[Scott Galloway]

Well, the, it's. The administration has been consistent. It's the Roy Cohn communication strategy. Double down, deny, attack, attack, attack. Never admit any guilt. If they'd had a really talented communications person with the President's here, what would have actually helped the administration is if done the following. I saw the video. Quite frankly, I found it very upsetting. Americans, you know, ICE is there for a reason. I need to review this. I need to see what the full investigation says. But I found what I saw disturbing and then say nothing else. I think that actually would quite frankly have given ICE more cloud cover and license if he had just said that. I don't know if you remember when George Bush, they had video of when Saddam Hussein was hanged. And I remember him saying, yeah, I watched the video and quite frankly I found it very disturbing. And it was a real moment where you said, okay, I feel better about this guy being president. You know, as angry as he was, as much military hardware as he'd committed, he knew he had been sentenced to death. But he just said, I found the whole thing disturbing. They would have helped themselves if they had just said, we need to have a full investigation. Anyone who saw the video, including us, found this disturbing and we need to investigate it.

[Kara Swisher]

We need to investigate it.

[Scott Galloway]

Yeah. And we'll see what the full investigation turns out.

[Kara Swisher]

These people are out of control. I mean, I've talked to a lot of. This is him unhinged with people, you know, essentially his low rent versions of the SS with them. That's what it feels like. And my heart goes out to these, these, the children of this woman, which is. She dropped a kid off at school.

[Scott Galloway]

And then she had stuffed animals in her glove box.

[Kara Swisher]

Yeah. I mean there was a dog. This is not a dangerous car.

[Scott Galloway]

Yeah. Driving a Honda, Honda Pilot. It was like something out of a.

[Kara Swisher]

Lot of great cars anyway. But he's also trying to roll over big oil companies. He says they'll invest $100 billion to rebuild Venezuela's oil industry. But executives do not say this and they did not say in public at a White House meeting. Oil company executive expressed interest but didn't commit to spending, which means they don't want to. And I have talked to several people and they do not want to. With Exxon CEO calling Venezuela uninvestable under current conditions. Trump is now saying he's inclined to keep Exxon out. I guess he's doing them a favor. They don't want to Be there. He's also turning up the heat on Cuba, warning the country will receive zero oil and money from Venezuela and telling them to make a deal before it's too late. I mean, this guy is like a mobster. If you were an oil company executive. I mean, most of them are like, like no matter what he says, they're not going to waste their money on things they've already lost. Correctly. These oil executives pointed out they lost money there. It's sunk costs that they're never getting back. And they'd written down a lot of these assets. They had to explain a lot of this to him because he just didn't have any idea, seemed not to have any idea what had happened in Venezuela. So what do you think about this? That was really interesting for the Exxon, biggest oil company to say, yeah, no, I don't think so. Right in public and at the White House.

[Scott Galloway]

I know what's going to happen here. The oil companies will just give them a hand job, say they're very interested in looking at it, wait them out. But economics are going to win here. And the economics at a very basic level, the following. The type of oil that Venezuela has and it does sit on the largest untapped reserves of oil in the world, but it's heavy crude. And heavy crude requires special chemicals and more efforts to extract. And basically the cost. Yeah, that's right. But the costs just of extraction are 70 to 80 bucks a barrel. And right now in the open market, it's at about 62 bucks. Now they continue to do that because they have fixed costs they need to cover. But right now, with the current marketplace, it just doesn't make an economic argument for any incremental investment. In addition, big oil companies have made massive multibillion dollar investments in Venezuela twice. And each of those times their assets have been seized. So they're kind of like, okay, fool me once, fool me twice, fool me.

[Kara Swisher]

Three times, we don't need it, they don't need it.

[Scott Galloway]

Well, there is something, and I will come back to Venezuela because I have a lot of thoughts on it and I was jonesing to talk about it. But what I do think, Rubio, but the president doesn't seem to understand, is that while oil has shaped the world, where it is now is that it's not about the amount of oil. The US Is a net exporter. We have more oil than we need. On an inflation adjusted basis, oil is cheaper than it was 50 years ago. But the control of the flow of oil is actually very important because you can in fact, shut China off without. So 90% of their oil experts from Venezuela were going to China. There was a shadow fleet coming in and out of Venezuela and it was going to the people, quite frankly, that we don't like. So the ability to turn off that tap. If you were able to basically sequester China from supplies of energy, they'd be out of business in about six to eight weeks and cannot wage war. Whereas the US Is energy independent. That is a big, big deal. But for Exxon or Chevron or name your fossil fuels company, they have shareholders and on a risk adjusted basis, they look at this thing, it might be worthy of some incremental investment if they get guarantees or backstops from the government or something like that to upgrade certain facilities. But be clear, this isn't going to be a massive. It doesn't pencil out when oil is at 62 bucks a share. Now, if oil goes to $110 a share, then they're going to get their wallets out and say, okay, we'll buy futures to lock in that price and we'll make sure that the president gives us a sweetheart deal and security guarantees from the Venezuelan government. But the old regime was wildly corrupt. Guess who's there right now? The same regime I know. So we're not going to see, I don't see in the near future a wave of additional incremental investment capital. Where you could see massive investment in capital is Chipotle and the Four Seasons. There's a lot of companies that are probably interested and I'm actually more optimistic about Venezuela than I am say about Iraq or Afghanistan where you had basically these countries that are a mishmash of different tribes with borders drawn up by the British. Venezuela has been a democracy many times. It's a homogenous population. I'm actually quite optimistic, not with this administration, but I'm optimistic in general about the prospects. Anyways, I'm getting off track. We're not going to see big capital investments in the short term from oil companies.

[Kara Swisher]

No, but it's true. And you have to think about the economic benefits of this country. Right. I mean, in terms of what he's done here, and it was really interesting, I think he expected them all to follow the script, as the tech bros tend to do. And they absolutely didn't. Which when he said that, my head jerked up. I'm like, oh, wow, that's a big word. Uninvestable. It wasn't like, oh, it's problematic, but we'll figure it out. It was sort of very Clear. And he was obviously irked by that. But leaving them out. Listen, he's not going to be able to leave them out if they want to be in there. They're the oil companies. They'll do what they want. As. As much as he thinks he controls everything, as he likes to say that the more he says I control everything, the more I know he doesn't in so many ways.

[Scott Galloway]

But we don't have an embassy in Caracas. We don't have boots on the ground. I'm not exactly sure, other than the threat, I'm not exactly sure how we control it.

[Kara Swisher]

This to go there. Do you think America. Americans want to. Especially his base. They absolutely don't want to go there.

[Scott Galloway]

I think Venezuela could be one of the most attractive tourist destinations in the world. World. If this is handled rightly. This is. And again, this might have been me thinking about this under the influence of opiates. I think the analogy I would use is a Bond film, and that is Bond films always have amazing openings. They always nail the opening. But then it goes on to be great. Good or awful. There's been some awful Bond movies. There's been some great ones. Whenever we do these adventures and overseas conquests, it almost always starts really well. We were able to do. When I say we, I'm talking about the best performing organization in history of the US military. We were able to do in 35 minutes what Putin has not been able to do in 35 months. I mean, Ukraine.

[Kara Swisher]

You're talking about in Ukraine.

[Scott Galloway]

Yeah, I'm sorry, in Ukraine. Thank you, Kara. This was such a flex and an extraordinary demonstration of skill, strength and bravery from the US military. I mean, just absolutely fucking lutely extraordinary.

[Kara Swisher]

Now, if they hadn't won, though. Come on. It's Venezuela. Sorry.

[Scott Galloway]

Okay, but hold on. Not a single US fatality or casualty.

[Kara Swisher]

If there had been, I would have been like, what in the hell? How did we lose one person in this?

[Scott Galloway]

Oh, God, of course not. You have mercenaries all around them.

[Kara Swisher]

No, I get it.

[Scott Galloway]

They know they're coming. You would have thought, supposedly the people on the ground there didn't even hear them coming.

[Kara Swisher]

Right.

[Scott Galloway]

This was such an unbelievably massive flex. The problem is the administration has not taken a note out of the most obvious and best written geopolitical strategy in history. And it's the following. The Marshall Plan, all right? We have the Imperial Navy, which was shooting surviving sailors in the sea. We had the Third Reich, which obviously did some terrible things. So what did the American people and our leadership decide to do give them money. We invested in their nations and we weren't punitive. We invested, we rebuilt, and what do you know, Germany and Japan, 80 years later are amazing allies.

[Kara Swisher]

Well, we're turning on them now because of Greenland.

[Scott Galloway]

Well, hold on. Let's just stick with Venezuela. The opportunity to not say give me your fucking oil, and more deeply impoverish them and have a transition government and then have international voting, oversight, free elections. Have our great institutions, our great companies encourage to invest in Venezuela. Give Venezuelan people a shot. Show them why democracy and capitalism is so wonderful. Create an amazing ally in Latin America.

[Kara Swisher]

Yeah, you're talking about the wrong presidents.

[Scott Galloway]

The movie could have been. So this is a Bond film. It started amazing. Now we're gonna find out this may not be a great movie because already he's saying, give me the oil.

[Kara Swisher]

Yeah, pretty explicitly. So that's, you know, related is both Greenland and Iran. President Trump is considering very strong options to intervene in Iran amid a violent crackdown on anti government protests. He likes to help protesters in other countries, but human rights groups say over 500 people have been killed in the last two weeks, with over 10,000 arrested. Other estimates are much higher. People are saying reports are coming out much higher than 500. Internet access has also been shut down. Telephone service. Iran's foreign minister just said a while ago that the country is ready for war but prepared to negotiate. Obviously, most smart people on this issue, whether it's fareed, there's all kinds of people talking about it. This regime is facing some. This has happened before, but most people feel this is really bad for the regime, which is good for everybody. But taking military action again is quagmire. Feels quagmire and rather dangerous. Although it's maybe the point to attack because this country is on the brink. I think from what I can read.

[Scott Galloway]

From experts, I can't think of a military operation that has higher ROI for the world and for women and for feminism right now. We have been here before where it looked like the regime was going to fall. And because of the IDF and the US Air Force, we have taken out Iran's air defenses. It is clear that the Mossad has penetrated the highest levels in terms of soft assets and espionage. We should absolutely be supporting incredibly brave young women and men who are risking their lives every day. And we should be striking civilian support centers. We need to help these folks finish the job. We are on the precipice, Kara, of what is arguably the greatest unlock for women's rights and to unlock what is an incredible civilization and Turn and stabilize the Middle east for decades. There is so many. In my opinion, there is nowhere in the world that connotes a better reason and a bigger opportunity for why we spend more than the next 10 militaries combined. We should be coordinating with our allies in the west, although they're not going to coordinate us anymore. But Israel will coordinate with us and we should absolutely be providing military cloud cover and on the ground assets to make sure that this isn't the 11th hour for the regiment. This is lights out, right?

[Kara Swisher]

Lights out. So again, as you noted, this has happened before. There have been protests across the country and they beat them back to tamp them down over and over again, this regime.

[Scott Galloway]

But so many people still suppose I read this morning that 2,000 people have been murdered. The best way to end a war is to win it. We have the resources. They have no air defenses. We have assets. Russia is preoccupied. I mean, I'm a hawk. I don't think there's any reason to spend $1.1 trillion on the US military and then not use it in situations like this.

[Kara Swisher]

So what does that look like? Does it look like again, does it have that Bush feel to it? That of course I suspect much regret for the United States involvement there, whether it was Afghanistan or Iraq, et cetera.

[Scott Galloway]

I think that's a fair question because the reality is we are very good and I think it would not incur much danger to our men and women to foment regime change here. The problem is when we decide to start trying nation build. But Iraq, I think that there is an infrastructure and a populace and everyone's excited about the Shah sun potentially coming back. And he has said the right language. He wants to be a transition leader to free and fair elections. But what we know is the current state is not good for the people of Iran, especially bad for the women of Iran who have been subject to what is arguably one of the worst gender apartheid in the world. Keep in mind Iran just a year ago was considered the superpower of the Middle East. In addition, I mean, when you look at geopolitics, you're not only going to look at what's happened, but what's not happened. Have the Houthis been causing problems in the Suez Canal? No. Has Hezbollah been firing rockets into their neighbors? No. We need to finish the job here. And just personally, having grown up at UCLA and having friends, David Aseel, my mentor, Hamid Mogadam, Bitak Basiri, Alex Dasili. I have never met a group of people who are more American than Americans than Iranians. And I think they could actually be an outstanding ally for us. I think the cultures are much more similar between the US and IR than a lot of our existing allies.

[Kara Swisher]

Well then weigh in what the hell he's doing with Greenland then.

[Scott Galloway]

I'll tell you exactly what he's doing.

[Kara Swisher]

A news conference.

[Scott Galloway]

I'll tell you exactly what's going on, Kara. It makes abso. Fucking lutely no sense. It's all downside. Anything that we say we want, they're like, fine, put military bases here. Do you want. Do we have rare earths?

[Kara Swisher]

We're allowed to. As I interviewed David Sanger, we can put them there.

[Scott Galloway]

Rare earths, sure. What's your idea instead? We want to go to war. War with NATO. I mean, this one is really out of a. Maybe you've done some reporting here or talked about.

[Kara Swisher]

Here's what I think. This is what people around. He just wants to take land to show he'd be the first president to do it since, I don't know, Jefferson.

[Scott Galloway]

Like a real estate deal or something.

[Kara Swisher]

Yeah, yeah. And someone was speculating. You know, the map is called the Mayor Kirk Couture map shows Greenland is enormous, but it's actually not. It's not as big as. Just because the way maps are made. It's a real estate deal that he's obsessed with. And of course it'll create so much damage to our relationship with Europe if.

[Scott Galloway]

We start attacking a NATO ally. Yeah, I don't. This makes. I gotta think even the administration would go, what are we talking about?

[Kara Swisher]

No, they seem to be going along. Then they seem to be like whatever crazy shit comes out of his mouth. But we'll see. Do you think he'll take military action here? Prediction, Scott.

[Scott Galloway]

And then we gotta move. I don't. Yeah, well, let me go this way. I think they would just show.

[Kara Swisher]

But in Iran. Yes.

[Scott Galloway]

I am really hopeful. I think this is why we have him. I think if we're really serious. I was trying to find what Secretary Clinton thought about this, because the thing about Secretary Clinton was she was always pragmatic, was always willing to exert U.S. force. She loved a bomb drop and she never forgot where she came from. And that is, she always in the back of her mind said, we are here for a lot of reasons, but we're here to protect and advance the rights of women all over the world. And there's a double whammy effect there, because the rights of women are largely a forward looking indicator of your economic growth, prosperity, and your move towards democracy. So There's a lot of reasons to just.

[Kara Swisher]

Trump is a well known feminist.

[Scott Galloway]

We are on the verge of such an enormous unlock by toppling the Islamic republic. And unfortunately I didn't watch the Golden Globes, but I doubt there was very many mentions of Iran because when you're.

[Kara Swisher]

They didn't mention. Scott, let's be fair to them. There was no political. There was. There was hardly any.

[Scott Galloway]

Yeah, but quite frankly, I would argue. You tell me. I would argue the amount of mentions around Iran is vastly under. Proportionate or underwhelming relative to its importance. And this will trigger a lot of people. But I want a spicy comeback. And I've decided my theme for 2026 is zero fucks. Given it's because of the moral color code and that is the media and progressives on our side of the aisle, especially the far left, get moral paralysis when the oppressors are brown. And the number of people. I don't see any flotillas. I don't see Greta Thunberg. I don't see actors talking about what has been one of the most oppressive, misogynistic, anti democrat. Kara, they blind women.

[Kara Swisher]

I am aware of also all of many of those countries which they have protested against. Come on, Scott. I mean, even if they're going in the right direction, that government should be eradicated.

[Scott Galloway]

Let's stop there. And the way we do that is just as we should be supporting the unbelievable bravery of the Ukrainian people with our military hardware and intelligence, we should be supporting the brave men and women of Iran right now. And we have the ability to do it. We have intelligence and technology from the IDF and we have the muscle. It is time to move to the next stage of this incredible multi thousand year civilization and the potential.

[Kara Swisher]

I get it, I get it. We gotta move on. But let me just say, if the goal is to do that, threatening our allies over Greenland is not.

[Scott Galloway]

No fucking sense.

[Kara Swisher]

No fucking sense. I agree. All right, let's take a quick break. When we come back, here's something else. You have an opinion? California's elite is not happy about a proposed billionaire wealth tax. Support for this show comes from Rubrik. A lot of companies are deploying AI agents now. They're automating tasks, handling workflows and making making decisions. But here's the thing. Sometimes they mess up. What a surprise. They might delete the wrong files, make changes you didn't authorize or just go off script. And when that happens, you're stuck trying to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it. Unless you're Using Rubrik Agent Cloud Rubrik Agent Cloud is a platform that allows you to monitor governor and rewind AI agent actions. One platform to help you unleash more agents faster without the risk it's running in the background the whole time, watching the what's happening, making sure things stay on track so you get full visibility. Set guardrails so agents don't go rogue and if something breaks, you just roll it back. If your business relies on AI agents, you need the ability to monitor, govern and rewind their actions. Right now, our listeners get exclusive early access to Rubrik Agent cloud. Head to rubrik.com that's R U B R-I K.com rubrik.com.

[Scott Galloway]

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[Kara Swisher]

Every great idea deserves the power to bring it to life. Meet the all new Dell XPS laptop where style, power and performance come together to elevate everything you do. With its ultra thin design and all day battery life, it's built to keep up from your morning coffee to late night inspiration. Powered by Series 3 Intel Core Ultra processors, the XPS is made for editing photos, mixing tracks and more. Check out the all new dell [e-mail] xps. Scott we're back with some more news. Google co founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page are cutting some business ties with California ahead of a proposed billionaire wealth tax in the state. They aren't the only ones plotting for a way around it. Silicon Valley leads have been privately organizing to block the tax through a signal chat group called Save California. The tax would be a one time levy on people worth more than a billion dollars. It's a couple hundred people actually. It's not that many people, but some of them have a problem with Jensen. Huang said he's perfectly happy to pay. At the end of the day, I'm not so sure these people will cut ties. They all seem to come back to California over and over again. And that's happening right now. As you saw, San Francisco is sort of back baby kind of thing in general. I know you have an issue about this at the ballot passes, but a lot of it's not a great look and I suspect this is my feeling and I've been talking to some of these people is they'll have some sort of. I think the smart ones understand the jig is up on them being rich, like behaving the way they're behaving and the image of Silicon Valley. And they know they need to do something because I think they feel, the smart ones do feel that there is a real backlash against enormous wealth and the gimmes they get. And so I suspect behind the scenes there's a deal at play here. But I know behind the scenes there's a deal at play. But thoughts that you have on this, I mean I think these, the Google guys benefited from California. So did all these billionaires, the wonderful state of California. And it's not a great look the way they're behaving. At the same time they can move anywhere they want.

[Scott Galloway]

So if the objective is to signal to billionaires that income inequality is out of control and their weaponization of the tax code has really damaged America and created income inequality that threatens and tears of the fabric of our society. And you want to reduce receipts from the California government, then this is your bill. Because this is the bottom line. Regardless of what you think is right or ethical. Billionaires are the most mobile people in the world. And this has been tried before and whoever wrote this bill has just not done their work. One of the people who's senior in this effort reached out to me thinking that I would get on board with it. And I said there's no reason to do a call because I'm against this. In 1990, there were 12 European countries with wealth taxes and now only three remain. France repealed its wealth tax in 2017. Sweden repealed it in 2007. Finland 2006. Denmark repealed its wealth tax in 1997. Ireland repealed its wealth tax in 1978. Austria repealed its wealth tax in 1994. Where I'm living now in the UK, they have a non dom act. And ethically and logically it makes a lot of sense. For a long time if you've moved from Dubai or Hong Kong to London and you were paying zero taxes there, you got to bring your zero tax status to London. That's kind of unfair if you're using the UK infrastructure. So they said buck that. You've been here five years, you got to pay UK taxes. Makes all the sense in the world. Over a thousand, ten thousand millionaires have left. The UK government is going to collect less revenue this year, not more. Ethically also or principally, I'm against it because I think once you get through the gauntlet of taxes, it's private property. And I think one of the things about the west is we respect private property. I don't think you can go after people's assets retroactively, what they should have done or what they should do. And I love tax policy. They should have an amt. We don't care who you are on how many tax goodies you've come up with, you're going to Pay at least 40% above a million dollars AMT. Do away with the inheritance tax deduction or vastly reduce it. Raise corporate taxes. There's better ways to do this, but.

[Kara Swisher]

Impossible by the way, because they have all the money to stop every single one of those things. I don't mind the signal here to these people at all. And I think it is a signal. I'm not so sure. And I know there's some that I.

[Scott Galloway]

Think higher taxes are coming for the wealthy.

[Kara Swisher]

It's enough with you. And I think the signal is enough to begin the discussions. And they listen. They don't look good. Like here's especially the Google guys. They made their fortune in California. So did Elon, by the way. All of them did. And to like kick it on the way out is such a look of greed. And it was really interesting that Jensen Huang, because he probably knows it's not going to really.

[Scott Galloway]

Jensen doesn't think this is going to go through. That's right.

[Kara Swisher]

So he's saying. So he's saying I'm a good sign.

[Scott Galloway]

I'm a good guy, I'm one of you. I'm in favor of this. This. He's not worried about it.

[Kara Swisher]

He's not worried about it. But he also knows, he understands what's coming. See, I find him much more canny. They're just so dumb and greedy. Like there's just, they just always have to react when anyone wants them to do the right thing. Like, whoa, I don't want to have to do what I want to do, that kind of thing. And so I think there's a real interesting interplay here with these wealthy people because I do think brand Silicon Valley is not good.

[Scott Galloway]

Oh, no shit.

[Kara Swisher]

You know, so they need to make a deal here.

[Scott Galloway]

The UK is talking about uk, Australian Kanak talking about banning, banning X. And it's only going to get worse. I think Europe is probably going to consider banning Meta if this shit continues with Trump. But just going back to tax policy, a better tax policy that would be more effective. I mean, this is the problem is this, with this ballot and some of the conversation we're having here. Here is something I've struggled with my whole life professionally, the difference between being right and being effective. Billionaires paying more tax in California to support the incredible infrastructure, the Cal State, the UC system, the hospitals, the environment. Absolutely, that's right. But the question is, how do you be effective? How do you actually increase the treasury to invest in the middle class and the infrastructure that made these people rich? And one thing you could do, it's boring, but it would be effective, is the following. You get taxed when you recognize a capital gain based on where the wealth was accreted. So when Bezos accretes whatever it is, $80 or $120 billion in wealth and then he recognizes it, the tax authorities go, okay, we estimate that 90 of that hundred billion dollars was accreted while you were a resident of Washington state. And so you are going to pay Washington state taxes on 90 billion instead of like, you know, I'm thinking about selling my stock, I'm going to peace out to Miami and shitpost San Francisco and then pay and pretend that I'm seeing my father. I couldn't handle San Francisco politics or homeless anymore. So I'm peacing out to a zero tax state. And you can literally be there for 12 months and then recognize the entire capital gain without paying anything back to the great infrastructure. I think there are much more elegant ways.

[Kara Swisher]

No, I think this is the beginning of a dialogue. I just, I don't know. But I have a. Let me just tell you, they can do their angry walk out of California, but they're coming for you folks. Nobody likes you and they don't think you're heroes and they don't think you're great and they don't think what you've done is great. And so if there's one brand that's been more has shot itself in the foot more, it's Silicon Valley. Not everybody, but a lot of people. Anyway, one more quick break. We'll be back for wins and fix.

[Scott Galloway]

For most of the history of television, if you missed a show, you just missed it. It was over, it was gone. But then this little company called TiVo came along and gave people superpowers. You could pause live television, you could rewind it, you could save it and watch it later. It was incredible. And the people who had it could.

[Kara Swisher]

Not stop talking about it.

[Scott Galloway]

This week on Version History, a new chat show show about old technology, we talk about the history of TiVo and how it is that a company whose products actually no one ever really had or used became one of the most iconic stories in tech. All that on Version History. Wherever you get podcasts.

[Kara Swisher]

This week on Net worth and chill, I'm giving you an exclusive sneak peek at my new book, well endowed, hitting shelves February 3rd. I wrote this book because I believe everyone deserves to build wealth that actually works for their life life, not just follow some cookie cutter financial advice that wasn't made for us. I'm sharing the real strategies for building generational wealth, investing with confidence, and creating the financial future you actually want. This isn't just another personal finance book. It's a road map for taking control of your financial destiny and building the kind of wealth that gives you options, freedom and peace of mind, pre order well endowed. Now, wherever books are sold and get ready to transform your relationship with money. Listen to the this week's episode wherever you get your podcasts or watch on YouTube.com YourRich BFF. Okay, Scott, let's hear some wins and fails.

[Scott Galloway]

Okay, my win is actually, well, the the US Military that executed the capture of Madura. Delta Force First Special Forces Operation Detachment Delta, which is an elite army special unit that led the direct raid and the apprehension of Madura, the 160th Special Operation Aviation Regiment. And then there are these quiet helicopters, just night prowlers. And then supporting our brave men and women on the ground, there were elements from multiple units, intelligence, mobility, the United States Air Force, United States Navy, the Marine Corps all had all had a role in this. I just think if you think about kind of soft power, if you think about America's influence around the world, of the 7 billion people in the world, 6.7 billion don't live here. And 6 billion are never going to come here. And 4 billion are never going to have any interaction or 3 billion are probably never going to have any interaction with an American to an extent. So our ability to do business, to continue to attract the best and brightest, to convince them maybe not to cooperate with people planning to come here and harm us is based on our brand. And part of that brand should be soft power in a positive way. And that's why the cancellation of USAID was so terrible. But also some of it is quite frankly, as Madeleine Albright said, Secretary Albright said, our reach is far in our memory is long. The brand message of this military flux and how it was executed has sent a chill down the spine of every adversary globally. Jesus Christ, did you see what they did and how easily they did it? I think that the win here, and I'm actually in favor of the operation us, Russia and China were operating a shadow fleet. We also actually didn't get enough press. We seized a Russian tanker like it was wiping sweat from our brow. They did it so elegantly even though it was being shadowed by an Akila based or class Russian sub. It could be an amazing ally. Anyways, we talked about this, but my win is the best performing organization in the history of the world and that is the U.S. military. I just don't, I'm just fascinated by what people. My loss here is the moral color code of America where unfortunately my business academics have created a zeitgeist of oppressor and oppressed. And we've decided the shorthand for that is the color of the skin of the oppressor. And we go into moral paralysis whether it's in Sudan or Afghanistan or in this case Iran when the oppressors are brown. And I just am disappointed that there's not more attention to what. I don't think you can call yourself a feminist if you're not talking about excited and very supportive of robust action to overthrow what has been one of the most oppressive regimes globally. And I just don't see that nearly the type of coverage that some other conflicts have received. And I think it's because in America we do have what I would refer to as a moral color code. And that is the damage done to the oppressed, the violation of human rights, the pursuit of democracy, the out of control misogyny are not what dictates our response. What largely dictates our response is the color of the skin of the oppressor. Okay, that's my fail. Also I would be remiss If I didn't credit a lot of my thoughts around this to this really impressive woman who I had the pleasure of meeting, a woman named Elica Leban. And if you're not following her, you should. I think she is just so brave and so thoughtful around issues as it relates to Iran and other conflicts flux around the world.

[Kara Swisher]

All right. It's kind of funny that you say that because there was a story on Fox about wine moms. White wine moms.

[Scott Galloway]

White wine moms. I love that.

[Kara Swisher]

Now the lesbians and white wine.

[Scott Galloway]

The women of white wine.

[Kara Swisher]

Oh my God. Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ.

[Scott Galloway]

That got started with that Justice's wife who had drank wine and hung the flag upside down.

[Kara Swisher]

Yeah, well, she's a different white wine mom. She's on the other side. Let me do my fail first. What's happening with Grok? This and the fails are Apple and Google. And of course Grok, as always, is in terms of allowing child abuse and misogyny to just thrive and pretending it's free speech. Back in the day, I feel like child pornography was something we all agreed shouldn't happen. The fact that these companies haven't thrown Grok out or demanded changes or anything or been vocal about this issue. And maybe they are behind the scenes, but I don't care. They should say it publicly about what Musk has been doing at Grok, which is disturbing. There were pictures of the woman who was killed in Minnesota with bikinis on in his spicy mode. Look, people are gonna make these things stupid anti women things all the time. But this is really repulsive when it comes to children and this is something we shouldn't. I'm gonna do a whole show on it. Cause I'm just so tired and I don't think the media has paid enough attention to this. But I don't think it's the media's fault. So I'm not gonna like slap the media for it. Apple and Google have some influence here in terms of the App Store and everything else. And I know, for example, that a federal judge just ruled that the lawsuit against OpenAI should go to trial. And that's perfectly fine. But the behavior of Grok is really pretty heinous. And so. And if they're never going to do something because it's Elon Musk and he has no values whatsoever at this point. But Apple and Google certainly should and stand up. And the lack of standing up by many companies these days is pretty disturbing on every level. But this to me is the most disturbing that I've seen. So Far. And my win continues to be people that, you know that are standing up, whether it's Jerome Powell, whether it's even the Exxon executive, he just said the truth out loud about things. This is an administration of cronies and hacks and terrible people that are still doing damage, even if they're incompetent. And so anybody who speaks out and says things, I'm really. And Jerome Powell this week sort of gets that for me. Absolutely. Even in a small way. I don't love when actors do it from stages. And I thought, actually, Jean smart. Besides saying she's a greedy bitch for winning three times, which was very funny, was really did it. Well, she said something very clearly, and at the same time, she understood. She's like, I understand people don't like to hear actors talking about these things when I'm a citizen. And then this. We have to do the right thing. I thought she did it in a really classy way. So that was a small way. I think Jerome Powell is doing the same thing. And I think everyone who calls attention to all this fucking nonsense, and also Jake Tapper for doing that excellent interview with Christino deserves credit for just saying, oh, come on. Fucking enough with you people. Anyway, we want to hear from you. Send us your questions about business, tech, or whatever's on your mind. Go to nymag.com pivot send a question for the show or call 85551, pivot. Okay, that' the show. Thanks for listening to Pivot and our new Scott Galloway. She's so pretty. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel. We'll be back on Friday. Scott, welcome.

[Scott Galloway]

Stop laughing. Stop laughing.

[Kara Swisher]

I just. I love every.

[Scott Galloway]

It's lucky it's not at my expense, I gotta say.

[Kara Swisher]

Everyone's like, why is Scott out? And I'm like. And they're like, facelift.

[Scott Galloway]

No, it wasn't a facelift. That's coming.

[Kara Swisher]

That was what they were.

[Scott Galloway]

That's coming.

[Kara Swisher]

That's coming. All right, read us out, you pretty little lady.

[Scott Galloway]

Today's show is produced by Larry Naimon, Zoe Marcus and Taylor Griffin. Ernie R. Todd engineered this episode. Rich Shibley edited the video. Thanks also to Drew Bros, Ms. Savira and Dan Shalon, the shot crew. Oz, Vox Media's executive producer podcast. Make sure to follow Pivot on your favorite podcast platform. Thank you for listening to Pivot from New York Magazine and Vox Media. You can subscribe to the [e-mail] pod we'll be back later this week for another breakdown of all things tech and business. I asked the surgeon just to look natural, and I think he misheard me and said, I want to look naturally surprised. I'm looking at Ferraris, Kara. I'm looking at Ferraris. What is the hole I'm trying to fill here? What is the hole?

[Kara Swisher]

Oh, it's a big one.

[Scott Galloway]

It's a big one.