Speaker
Ed Elson
Appearances over time
2 episodes
Episodes
2
Podcasts
Quotes & moments
Since Trump was elected on November 5th, Elon Musk's net worth has increased by 66%, adding $4 billion per day.
SpaceX's IPO became the largest in history, raising $86 billion after strong demand pushed it above the initial $75 billion target.
Elon Musk's net worth exceeds $1 trillion, equivalent to 3.2% of US GDP — more than twice the relative wealth of John D. Rockefeller at his peak.
John D. Rockefeller, considered the richest American ever, was worth 1.5% of US GDP at the height of his wealth — half of Elon Musk's current relative wealth.
Warner Bros. Discovery's stock jumped more than 14% on the announcement of its restructuring into two operating units.
A Loyola University study found people with opioid or alcohol use disorder who take GLP-1 drugs have a 40% lower rate of opioid overdose and 50% lower rate of alcohol intoxication.
Zhang Yiming, ByteDance's co-founder and China's richest person, is worth a reported $93 billion — far below Musk's $1 trillion-plus.
ByteDance's last private market valuation was approximately $600 billion, despite estimated 2025 revenues of $186 billion — a fraction of what a Meta-style multiple would imply.
ByteDance generated an estimated $186 billion in revenue in 2025, slightly exceeding Meta's revenue in the same period.
Over the past year, Boston Beer fell 9%, AB InBev fell 15%, and Brown-Forman fell 20% as the alcohol industry faces the GLP-1 threat.
Google's Willow quantum chip can solve a problem in 5 minutes that would take a classical supercomputer 10 septillion years — longer than the age of the universe.
AI has reportedly been responsible for nearly 1 in 5 of all job cuts in America in 2025, totaling around 50,000 jobs, according to company statements.
To crack Bitcoin's encryption would require a quantum computer with 13 million qubits; Google's Willow chip currently has only 105 qubits.
A University of Lausanne study of all Olympics and World Cups from 1964-2018 found 95% of hosts lose money, with an average ROI of -38%.
FIFA's bid evaluation report gave Saudi Arabia the highest viability score ever awarded, rating its human rights risk as only 'medium'.
Since November 5th, Elon Musk has added 66% to his net worth, pocketing $4 billion every single day. Scott Galloway calls it outright dangerous for democracy.
Warner Bros. Discovery splitting into two operating units — streaming/studio and linear TV — is not just a reorganization. It's Zaslav setting the table for a spin, and the 14% stock jump proves the market already sees it that way.
The top 1% of drinkers account for 30-40% of all alcohol consumed — and those heavy drinkers are first in line for GLP-1 prescriptions. If those people quit drinking, the drinks industrial complex faces a 20-30% revenue collapse, mass layoffs, and a restructuring as brutal as cable TV.
Classical computers process 1s and 0s. Quantum computers analyze the probability of a coin being heads or tails while it's still in the air. Google's Willow chip is a breakthrough because it solves quantum's biggest problem: the more qubits you add, the more accurate it gets rather than the more errors it makes.
Quantum computers could theoretically break any encryption system in the world, including Bitcoin. You'd need 13 million qubits to do it — Google's Willow chip has 105. The threat is real but distant, which is why Bitcoin dipped the day of the announcement.
Quantum computing will become the next AI — a term companies use to inflate their stock multiple without delivering real financial results. Build a quantum lab, watch your valuation soar, and never be held accountable because the payoff is always 10 years away.
A University of Lausanne study of every Olympics and World Cup from 1964 to 2018 found that 95% of hosts lose money, with an average ROI of -38%. Only three events in history turned a direct profit. But 'soft power' is off the books.
Saudi Arabia has real human rights problems — Scott acknowledges the Khashoggi murder, discrimination against women, and the death penalty for homosexuality. But his argument is that engagement, not isolation, drives reform: the World Cup gives Saudi Arabia more incentive to improve, not less.
Meta has learned to monetize rage more effectively than sex. With US public anger at record levels following the 2024 election, Scott Galloway predicts Meta's February earnings call will be staggering — because the angrier Americans get, the more profitable Meta becomes.
A federal judge blocked the $25 billion Kroger-Albertsons merger, siding with the FTC's narrow definition of supermarkets. But with Walmart holding 25% of the grocery market and the merged company at just 11%, Scott Galloway argues the ruling may have handed Amazon and Walmart an even bigger advantage.
At conferences, music festivals, and luxury events, young people are conspicuously absent from bars. They're using edibles, microdosing, and experimenting with substances that don't show up on a bar tab — and the bartender on Scott's cruise ship confirmed it: 'Finally, someone drinking.'
Saudi Arabia is transitioning from a fossil fuel economy to a services and tourism economy, and it has a blank check to do it. The 2034 World Cup isn't a sports tournament — it's a $250+ billion advertisement to attract human capital, foreign businesses, and global attention.
SpaceX raised $86 billion in its IPO — the largest in history — after demand blew past the initial $75 billion target. The stock rose over 30% in the first week, but Ed Elson warns lockup expirations will put serious downward pressure over the next six months.
The SpaceX IPO barred Chinese investors, but the surprising part is that Beijing is doing just as much to keep mainland capital at home. China's securities regulator cracked down on cross-border brokerages, and the government wants its capital allocated to domestic AI and semiconductor companies — not boosting US tech valuations.
The real power of Washington's China sanctions regime isn't the formal rules — it's the fear. Alice Han describes Hollywood executives privately in awe of ByteDance's Seedance video AI, but refusing to use it for fear of political backlash. The shadow of the entities list is bigger than the list itself.
Analysis
What they talk about
- Business 31%
- Technology 31%
- Government 23%
- Society & Culture 8%
- Sports 7%
Connections
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