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Travis
On December 12th, Disney invites you to go behind the scenes with Taylor Swift in an exclusive six episode docu series.
Eric
I wanted to give something to the fans that they didn't expect. The only thing left is to close
Travis
the book the end of an era. And don't miss Taylor Swift. The Eras Tour, the final show featuring for the first time the tortured poets department. Streaming the December 12th only on Disney.
Eric
You're listening to the Travis Makes Money podcast presented by GoHighLevel.com for a free 30 day trial of the best all in one digital marketing software tool on the planet, just go to gohighlevel.com travis. What's up, everybody? Welcome back to the Travis Makes Money podcast where it's our mission to help you make more money today on the show. My producer Eric is here. What's up, man?
Travis
Hey, what's going on? I'm super pumped. Today we are going to read Forbes.
Eric
Wait, let me get the music.
Travis
Then Forbes is like the news. Turn it a little lower. Hey, guys, today we're gonna read Forbes. See, it doesn't make it exciting when you see that.
Eric
It's really. Yeah, but he didn't say with any excitement.
Travis
Forbes is a brand to me. Just evokes. I'm waiting for my haircut appointment and I'm there early and they only have Forbes on the counter.
Eric
It's the opposite for me.
Travis
So you read Forbes?
Eric
I think I actually subscribed to the Forbes magazine.
Travis
Forbes lost all credibility when they put you in the top 10 podcast. Podcast to change your life. Okay, well, then I was like, forbes, what is this rag?
Eric
This is ridiculous.
Travis
I called it a rag.
Eric
I will not stand for this.
Travis
I call this, this public. Hey, this publication's a rag.
Eric
That was the best article Forbes ever published.
Travis
Forbes put out an article and it was about America's top 25 philanthropists. And the reason that this caught my eye was there was a graph that they put out on Instagram and it said, America's richest people are not its most generous. Are you shocked by that?
Eric
No.
Travis
Oh, okay, well, let me. Okay, well, let me first. Let me first say this. You often say that wealthy people are often some of the most generous. So you're wrong. And here.
Eric
Well, well, I don't think generosity is only measured by the money you give away.
Travis
Confucius say, that sounds like what they would say, oh, I could give you money, but this, I give you more.
Eric
This, I give you more. Yeah, well said.
Travis
Okay. Anyway, so America's richest people are not the most generous. And they did this graph of their estimated lifetime giving and then their net worth. So you can see the blue is the giving and then the net worth is the light blue.
Eric
Yeah.
Travis
But then it's a crazy carousel because you think it's kind of nutso. So, like for example, they have Elon Musk, who's given $0.6 billion.
Eric
Okay.
Travis
And his net worth is $780 billion.
Eric
$780 billion.
Travis
So he's only given 0.8% of his net worth throughout his lifetime.
Eric
0.08%.
Travis
That's what I said, right?
Eric
You said 0.8.
Travis
Oh, I don't want to give him anything extra. Point 0.08.
Eric
No, 0.08 is less than 0.8.
Travis
Yeah, I know. So I'm saying I want to give him more.
Eric
I see.
Travis
I'll put it there. But anyway, so, so force put out an article. It said Mackenzie Scott's $26 billion giving sprint in seven years, including a record 7.2 billion last year, makes her the third biggest philanthropist of all time. She gave more in 2025 than Musk, Paige Ellison and her ex husband Bezos have in their lifetimes combined. How's that hit you when you first read that? Yeah, you just go. You just read that and go, dang.
Eric
Yeah. Yeah, that is, that is wild.
Travis
So, so what I'm hearing you say is rich people are greedy. We should eat the rich.
Eric
Eat the rich?
Travis
Is that what you're saying?
Eric
No billionaires. Hashtag no billionaires.
Travis
Okay.
Eric
Yeah, I was, I actually, I don't know if I saw this exact post, but there was a post that I saw that was adjacent to this, talking about how much money McKenzie Scott gave away. A bunch of the comments were just like, well, she's giving away money that was given to her.
Travis
I mean, that's. But most people given billions of dollars would not give any of it away. So either way, I, I don't see the.
Eric
I just, I don't find, I don't find much. This sort of goes into like the do what you want with your platform thing. Yeah, I think, like do what you want with your billions thing. And because like I said, I don't think that generosity is measured in terms of donations to 501c3s. Like there's ways to have impact on the planet that goes beyond, no, just giving away money. Especially because a lot of these special interest groups and, and, and five 1C3s are largely political driven organizations that have a lot of stuff that, like the complete lack of transparency and it makes it seem like you're giving away money, but you're not actually giving away money. You're really just buying votes and things like that. So like, I don't know, I don't have much of an opinion on it because I don't know what the inner workings of their businesses look like. I don't know what even their contribution looks like. How is that measured? Is it only donations to non profits or is there other things that are being considered in that? So, yeah, I don't, I don't know. I don't know really what to make of that, to be honest with you.
Travis
America's foremost generous billionaire philanthropists are as measured by the percentage of their fortune that they have doled out to unaffiliated non profits. Yeah, George Soros, he's buying all those protesters, eh?
Eric
Generous guy.
Travis
When you say George Soros around the wrong people, they just, they go, well, what'd you say? Soros. He's the one causing all this. Then you got Lynn and Stacy Schusterman, mackenzie Scott.
Eric
I don't even know who that is.
Travis
John and Laura Arnold. I will say shout out to the ladies.
Eric
Yeah, that makes a lot of sense to me that, that women are out giving. Men.
Travis
Shout out. Ladies, can you say really quick for a clip that your favorite types of people are ladies and George Soros? I'd like to post that.
Eric
Yeah.
Travis
No one has ever given away more money as fast as Scott. In less than seven years, Scott, who has disposed of more than 75% of the AMAZ shares she received from Bezos, has donated 26.4 billion to more than 2500 groups. Only Warren Buffett, Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates have donated more, but in both cases over a much longer time. That's crazy, brother.
Eric
That is insane.
Travis
That is crazy.
Eric
Insane.
Travis
Altogether, 17 of the top 25 givers have given away at least 10% of their net worth. But only one of the top 12 richest people in America has reached the threshold. Do you know who it is? Did you already read it?
Eric
No, I don't.
Travis
Who do you think it is?
Eric
I don't know.
Travis
Who do you think it is? Who do you think it is?
Eric
McKenzie.
Travis
Scott. He said, I think he said that he wants to die with zero, right?
Eric
I don't know.
Travis
He's giving. He's making a point to give away a lot.
Eric
Who?
Travis
Warren Buffett. Really? He's the top philanthropist of all time.
Eric
That's a pretty sweet title thing to be known.
Travis
I feel like, was it him that did the die with zero thing? Like, but I'M saying, I thought he was kind of following that mentality because if you look at the graphics, Warren Buffett has given away $68.3 billion. That's a nuts.
Eric
So it's quite a.
Travis
He's worth 146 billion. So if you look at his graph, he's pretty, Pretty giving. He's making up for the gap there.
Eric
Yeah, yeah.
Travis
So shout out. But not. Not generous enough to make the top 25 cut. Elon Musk and Larry Page, the world's two richest people who are together worth more than $1 trillion.
News Nation Host
Wow.
Eric
I didn't know the Larry Page was higher than Jeff Bezos.
Travis
Wow, that's.
Eric
I mean, it's pretty crazy.
Travis
Who's Larry Page? Is he a author?
Eric
Yeah.
Travis
Is he? No. Oh, okay.
Eric
Co founder of Google.
Travis
Oh.
Eric
Along with Sergey Brin.
Travis
I'm not surprised.
Eric
Just under Jeff Bezos. Pretty crazy. So they share. If. If that was one founder, then they would be. Well, actually, they would still be under.
Travis
So, yeah, that's. This is the story of the 1. As a maintenance tech at a university, he knows ordering from multiple suppliers takes time away from keeping their arena up and running. That's why he counts on Grainger to get everything he needs, from lighting and H vac parts to plumbing supplies, all in one place. And with fast, dependable delivery, he's stocked and ready for the next tip off. Call 1-800-GRAINGER click granger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done. Kind of crazy, but, yeah, they haven't given away very much. Would you like to say something to them?
Eric
Come on the podcast. Let's talk about it.
Travis
Okay. Okay. To be fair here, you did say something. I knew you were going to say this. That's why I brought this up. It's not just the things that you give away, it's also the things you create, the things that can arguably do good in the world. Yeah. Let me ask you this. How much should you be driven by what you're ultimately giving back? Like, because obviously part of. Part of. Part of your entrepreneur. Entrepreneurial journey. I can almost say it, Entrepreneurial journey is to put yourself in a better position. Yeah. At what point do you need to start splitting off? Like, is it once you reach a certain threshold, like, I need half my time is for others, or once I hit this point, everything past that is for. Like, how do you measure that for yourself? Where you go, this for me, this is for the world?
Eric
I think if you're not doing it when you don't have a lot, you're probably not going to do it when you do have a lot. So it's just more like a percentage that continues to increase in terms of volume because your total gets bigger, the total pie gets bigger so you can give away more just because that piece of the pie gets bigger over time. But I think if you're waiting for a magical moment that, to where I'm going to start giving back to other people or start helping other people do stuff. I don't think that you, there's always going to be things that you're going to find that you'll, that you would rather prioritize for yourself. So the sooner that you can put that into your financial system, the better. Even if it's five bucks or three bucks or what, you know, whatever, whatever that is for you, it's not necessarily a matter of the volume that you're giving away. It's more of like a, what are you, what's the impact that you're going to have on this person that you could potentially impact, even if it's not really that much? So that's my, my personal philosophy, but also in terms of like, like what you said before is creating value for the world is not a matter. It's like, it's easy to say when you're somebody who doesn't have a lot of money to point the finger and be like, your net worth is this much, therefore you should have given this much, or you should not be allowed to have a net worth that's more than that and you should have to give all anyway. After that it's really easy to point the finger and say those things. But also if you look at that top 10 and say like, how many people are employed by these businesses and have a full time generous income to be able to provide for their families for the rest of their lives because of the ventures that these people have, have taken on or because of the, the work that these people have put in or the, the products these people are making, you know that that is a very, very large measurable impact as well. It's not just a matter of how much money you give away should probably, but I don't feel like I'm in a position where I can be like, you should give away all your money because you have so much more than everybody else does. So I, I don't know, I tend to just be like, okay, well if you want to give away that much money, then go for it. You know, like, go build a trillion dollar business and give away all the money if you want to, but I don't find much. Like there's not much. Again, it's sort of like the things that I have control over versus the things I don't have control over. It's like I have no control over whether or not a billionaire gives away more money than I think that they should. Or it's like, who, who am I to decide what point is enough or what point you should have to give it away or. You know what I mean? I just, I find those conversations to be more like a dead end in my mind because it takes away a lot of energy, but it doesn't actually do anything.
Travis
What, 10 minutes left. I hope it's not a dead end conversation. Well, here's what, here's what Elon Musk had to say.
Eric
Okay.
Travis
He said, what is the wildest night? I should do a list of. Here's 10 quotes from top entrepreneurs. And it's just like emails, all of their emails. By the way, just side note, do you see Peter A stepped out of cbs? No, he left his job. He resigned.
Eric
Did he really?
Travis
I think there's probably some heavy, there's probably a heavy hand on that decision.
Eric
Yeah, but you should probably resign. Huh?
Travis
We're not gonna fire you. But you can't work.
Eric
If you want to have some grace, then you should resign.
Travis
But here's what, here's what Musk said.
Eric
Why didn't you use the money that you purchased Twitter with to do something for charity, Philanthropy more good with that money? Well, I do do a lot of things philanthropically. My companies are intended to do good for the future of humanity. With Tesla trying to accelerate the advent of sustainable transport and energy, and SpaceX is providing Internet to the least served people around the world. Aspirationally, I am trying to do good for humanity. Why didn't you.
Travis
You. He's in a tux, he looks like a super villain, which isn't good luck. That's not good.
Eric
Or superhero, depending on how you look at it.
Travis
Depending how you look at it. I don't know if you could see
Eric
this right now, but that, that is sort of how I feel about those types of things. It's like, again, it's really easy for somebody, just somebody who's got a regular salary, living a regular life to point the finger and be like, well, you should, you should do something about this because you can. It's like, well, in his mind he feels like, well, I, I feel like I am affecting the future of humanity huge ways by trying to, you know, have sustainable Energy or by trying to launch satellites all across the planet so everybody can have access to knowledge and information and the Internet and be able to start building economies in this place that this was not able to even reach them yet. So I don't know. That's why I feel like I, I, it's hard for me to be like, it's hard for me to tell other people to, to do something with the thing that they've built, whether it's their platform, like another influencer, to be like, well, you should be speaking about these things with your platform and you built and you owe it to us now in order to keep this. You should be speaking out about these particular things that are important to me or you should be giving to these projects that are important to me. It's just like, I just don't find a ton of value in that. And I don't find that it's helpful for, for like, my mental energy to pour energy into thinking about that, because I don't have any control over whether or not they're actually going to do it. So follow them or unfollow them or talk about it. Don't talk about it. They're going to keep doing what they're going to keep doing. But I don't think that, like, I don't think that the government should get involved and be, well, you're not allowed to have more than a $10 billion net worth, so you have to give it all away now. Like, I don't find that helpful or useful. So if that's not going to happen, then why am I going to spend more time thinking about it? That's kind of how I feel about it. Why don't you tell me what you're thinking about it then?
Travis
I think rich people are the best and they should have it all. Take my money now. I think when I have $146 billion net worth, I'll give some to charity.
Eric
Yeah.
Travis
Once I hit, but not before I hit 146 billion net worth.
Eric
Well, it's funny is that you have a bunch of, like, my thing is, if you're going to point the finger, I want to see what your contribution looks like as well. Like, if you're going to be like, well, you should be giving away hundreds of millions of dollars or billions of dollars because you have this much. It's like, okay, well, how much of your $80,000 salary did you give away last year? If the answer is zero, then shut up about it.
Travis
Shut up.
Eric
You're not even doing anything with the ability that you have. So what makes you think you'd be any different if you had more money? It's easy to be like, well, if I had that much money, I would do this. It's like, well, but even do anything with the money that you currently have, like, you don't. You use your free time to close the bar on the weekends and spend all your money on beer with your buddies. But you expect this person who's running 17 companies and employing 800,000 people to, you know, give all their money away? It just, I don't know, doesn't make sense to me.
Travis
You could say if you're wanting Jeff Bezos to give more to charity, but you're giving all your extra money to Jeff Bezos, who's the real problem here?
Eric
Well, that's the whole point is that, is that if you, if you apply that across all of the people who are pointing the finger, that's a meaningful this episode is brought to you by Indeed. Stop waiting around for the perfect candidate. Instead, use Indeed sponsored Jobs to find the right people with the right skills fast. It's a simple way to make sure your listing is the first candidate. C According to Indeed data, sponsored jobs have four times more applicants than non sponsored jobs. So go build your dream team today with Indeed. Get a $75 sponsored job credit at Indeed.com podcast terms and conditions apply.
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Eric
You know, I'm saying like 100 million people making 60 grand a year and giving away 10% of it is still a large amount of money. It's just that they don't view themselves as being in a position of being able to give away money, so they still don't do it. So they expect all the people who have a lot of money to pick up the to to to fund the bill on that. And I just don't think that, like, that's like the pot calling the kettle black to me. It's just like you're. You're doing the same. Doing the same thing or worse. You know, it's still like, these people have still given away more money than you will ever see in your lifetime, and you're still sitting there doing nothing with the money that you currently make. So stop throwing stones in the glass house.
Travis
You know who talked about. I just. I just saw this. Mr. Wonderful talked about billionaires and charitable giving.
Eric
What did he say?
Travis
He was on News Nation.
Eric
That's a thing.
Travis
He was on News Nation. Anybody listening? Your grandparents watch News Nation.
Eric
I don't think I've ever heard of News Nation.
Travis
Are you joking? I've watched. I had to subscribe.
Eric
Is that like, oan?
Travis
Yeah, pretty much the ruling class in
News Nation Host
America, both political class and business class, understanding of how so much. How 50% of America feels.
Guest Entrepreneur
You know, I understand this narrative, but what's always lost in it is how much these individuals give back. From Warren Buffett on down. Just yesterday, Michael Dell was probably worth 50 billion. Gave 6.2 billion back to the Trump accounts to kids that are born so they get $1,000 each. I mean, what we don't give credit to. To these extremely successful entrepreneurs that create hundreds of thousands of jobs in America. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions. And all those people pay taxes and they turn around and give all their wealth back. I just want to do a shout out for that, because it's lost in this narrative of inequality. It really is, and it's a huge mistake. What's made the American economy work for over 200 years is entrepreneurship. It's the idea.
News Nation Host
No one's disputing that, though. No, nobody's disputing that. And nobody's saying that that somehow is lost. I think what people are saying is, is that much of the ruling class in America and the wealthy in America don't understand how hard the rest of America has it. This from Politico, December 10th. 45% of Americans say they struggle to afford groceries. 38% housing, 34% healthcare. No one is begrudging those who have done well. I think there's a lot of Americans who say, how does. When we can't enjoy or take part in this. Mr.
Travis
Wonderful is licking his lips.
News Nation Host
It goes back to this question of how Donald Trump is handling the economy. Do you think he is recognizing, appreciating, and dealing with how so many Americans feel?
Guest Entrepreneur
Well, this narrative has gone on forever. I mean, you know, you've got Very successful entrepreneurs. We're talking about them now. You have the number one economy on earth. Never been beaten, including by the Chinese. People have to ask themselves, would I rather live here or in Cuba or anywhere else?
News Nation Host
Fair enough.
Travis
I mean, that's a lazy answer. I think that's always my.
Eric
That's always like, it's a lazy question.
Travis
I feel like there's two lazy fellas just ping ponging back and forth.
Eric
It wasn't a great question. Sort of all over the place.
Travis
I don't get why the guy from Marty supreme is on this talk show.
Eric
He's a good actor.
Travis
Yeah.
Eric
They wanted his advice.
Travis
They're like, we need someone to play a. Yeah, no nonsense businessman who's a little shady segment. Can you play yourself for a couple weeks? And he said yes. How much? How much are you paying me to do that? Anyway, I did it for free. Well, that was kind of a boring segment, but it's kind of quality content you expect from News Nation, am I right?
Eric
Yeah.
Travis
You're like, I just heard about the moment ago. You know what's really funny? I'll close on this because this is important and it's about being wise with your finances. I wanted to listen to an interview by Pastor you and I both know for my podcast. And they were doing a interview on. It was either News Nation or Newsmax, one of those two. And so I had to. I subscribed to Glsen.
Eric
Yeah.
Travis
Then they said nothing that was worth even talking about on the interview. And then I forgot and I got billed for like three months for News
Eric
Nation, which is why news places are going under. I, I cannot stand that. You know how many looking for something and it's like, subscribe to the New York Times. Like, I don't want to subscribe. I just want to see what this article.
Travis
There's so many stories I've covered on my show where I'll pay like A$99 to get a story from like Cincinnati.
Eric
Yeah.
Travis
It's like you're subscribed to the Cincinnati times. I'm like six months later. I've spent $10 on Cincinnati news.
Eric
Yeah.
Travis
And all the articles are about Cincinnati chili restaurants opening. And then the one article I needed wasn't even that great and I found it somewhere. It's a mess.
Eric
Yeah.
Travis
Anyway, well, I know that you have to go, so go ahead and close.
Eric
My wrap up point is basically like, I just don't, I don't enjoy the exercise of telling other people what they should do with their stuff when they have earned that stuff, whether it's a platform or it's money or it's something like that. It's like I can have some opinions because in a day, like, I can't control it. So why be irritated about it all the time?
Travis
You know that's an exercise you can't get into. From the looks today, it doesn't look like you've ever found an exercise you can get into. Junk. Go ahead and close this up.
Eric
Whose daughter said something about their belly over their swim trunks?
Travis
Wow. Close this out. You have a large. I have a rotund. I have a rotund build. It's the biggest man.
Eric
Anyway, remember, money only solves your money problems, but it's easier to solve the rest of your problems with money in the bank. So let's start there. You're on the Travis Makes Money podcast. Thanks for tuning in. Catch you next time. Peace.
Episode: CO-HOST | Make Money by Giving (Even When You’re Not a Billionaire)
Host: Travis Chappell
Guest/Co-host: Eric (Producer)
Date: March 16, 2026
This episode delves into the relationship between wealth, philanthropy, and generosity, sparked by a recent Forbes article listing America's top 25 philanthropists. Travis and Eric debate whether billionaires are as generous as people think, discuss how to measure generosity, and reflect on the impact of both giving and value creation. Their conversational style blends practical advice with witty banter, and the episode challenges listeners to think critically about giving—no matter their financial status.
Intro to Topic ([01:39])
Case Studies: Elon Musk & MacKenzie Scott ([02:47]–[03:49])
Measurement Debate ([04:19]–[05:29])
Notable Examples & Gender Gap ([06:02])
Thresholds & Personal Giving Philosophy ([09:05]–[09:55])
Impact Beyond Donations ([09:55]–[11:55])
Eric summarizes his stance:
Travis wraps with humor but underscores a key principle:
Useful for anyone considering what real generosity means—and how to practice it—at any income level.