The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway - Does Wealth Make You Selfish?, How Scott Stays Informed, and Negotiating Equity Deals

Episode Date: March 9, 2026

Scott Galloway reflects on why some billionaires stay silent, explains how to avoid getting trapped in an echo chamber, and shares advice on negotiating equity at a startup. Want to be featured in a future episode? Send a voice recording to [e-mail], or drop your question in the r/ScottGalloway subreddit. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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New episodes, Sundays, wherever you get your podcasts. When is the AI bubble going to burst? How do you AI proof your job? How should colleges handle AI and prepare students for a shifting job market? I'm Henry Blodgett, and on my show, Solutions, I've been exploring all of those questions and more with experts who have actual answers. We hear enough about our problems. Let's solve them.

Follow Solutions with Henry Blodgett. Welcome to Office Hours with PropG. This is the part of the show where we answer your questions about business, picketack, entrepreneurship, and whatever else is on your mind. If you'd like to submit a question for next time, you can send a voice recording to Office Hours at Propg Media.com. Again, that's Office Hours and PropggyMedia.com. Or post your question on the Scott Galloway subreddit, and we just might feature it on our next episode.

Question number one. Hey, Scott, Sam from Joshua Tree, California here. Go ahead and cue the mushroom chocolate jokes. I know you got some. I have a question about the future billionaires in CEOs in this country. Like many people, and I think including yourself, have been a bit baffled that the rich and powerful aren't speaking out more against Trump and ICE. As you and Kara pointed out in a recent episode together, turns out that having fuck you money just leads to wanting more

fuck you money. How do you think we can fix this type of selfish behavior for the next generation of billionaires and CEOs? Or more importantly, do you think this type of behavior is fixable once you get to such an extreme level of wealth and power. Is this a parenting issue at a young age, or is it an issue of not having required public service and the connective tissue as a nation? Or maybe it's just the side effect of a baby boomer generation that's overall viewed as being pretty selfish?

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this, and I'm also curious for you personally, what was the catalyst to you being more generous and outspoken once you started having a lot of money? On a side note, thanks for making me unsubscribe from five different streaming services. My wallet loves you. My family hates you. Keep up the good work, boss.

Thanks for that. I love that. My wallet loves you. My family hates you. By the way, when I suggested we unsubscribe from all our seven streaming media services, I got one of those looks for my boys of Memo to sell smothered out and sleep tonight. Okay, so first off, my Joshua Tree and Mushroom Story. I went to UCLA, and I had two groups of first.

I had my fraternity friends, the guys in my ZBT, Alpharo ZBT, who are still very close friends. And then I ended up connecting with a group of guys and women who were sort of my artsy gay friends. And the thing I loved about them was that they were just really good at life. One of the trips they said is we're going to go camping in Joshua Tree and we're going to take a shit ton of mushrooms. So we're in Joshua Tree and the sunsets going down and say, okay, this is the time. I had never done mushrooms before. And I took these things.

And of course, within about 30 minutes, I'm throwing up like crazy, and I'm like, this wasn't a great idea. And then my friend put on a hoodie and someone made a joke that he looked like, I don't know, the Unabom or something. And I could not stop laughing for a half an hour. At one point, I thought it was going to suffocate. I was laughing so hard. And it just is such a fond memory. It was so beautiful. And it was tripping with the colors and the sunset and laughing hysterically.

and with these wonderful people that were so unlike me, I was this, I don't know, I was just this fraternity jarhead, and they were much more interesting than me. And I don't know, I just have very fond memories of Joshua Tree because it's so beautiful in my first, and I think my last experience with mushrooms, although I then mushroom chocolates, but the next day it gives me a bit of a mental hangover.

Daddy needs all those cells. Daddy needs all those cells so the podcast we can pay as people. Anyways, that's my Joshua Tree, mushroom story. To your question, fucking idea. Why, I don't get it. I think once you get to a certain point of wealth, you have an obligation to give back and an obligation to protect. And even the robber barons who were just brutal on their way up wanted to give all their money away. Mackenzie Scott has given more money away than the Ellison's, Bezos, and Musk combined.

I'm going to be sexist now. And it's okay to be sexist as long as we demonize men and sanctify women. So see above, it's okay to be sexist. But there is something different about the female brain around when you become a billionaire. What is it about femininity or the female brain that it's just more philanthropic and more civic-minded, whereas these dudes start paying $45 million for Melania documentary so they can kiss the ass of the president and stay out of his way or ignore the civil rights

that let you be a CEO despite being gay? By the way, Tim Cook, I'm going to say it. I think Tim Cook and Sam Altman are standing on the shoulders of people much braver than them who took risk to promote and advance the rights of different special interest groups. And for you to engage in this sort of or enable this type of fascism, bigotry, targeting special interest groups is especially, especially grotesque. Again, I don't get it. But here's the thing. What's the solution? I don't think it's trying to, if you were waiting on the better angels of these guys, don't hold your breath. I'm now under the

impression that these guys would fuck their sister for an additional nickel. What we need is regulation. And that is fine. If your board wants to give you a trillion dollars, I'm actually down with unlimited compensation for people. But for God's sakes, let's have an alternative minimum tax where you pay at least a minimum of a 50% tax rate. Take all your crazy deductions, 1202, borrowing against yourself, whatever it is, but boom, alternative minimum tax. So I don't, I think it just needs to be regulation where it's like, okay, if you put in place an algorithm that makes you a billionaire and it ends up that we can directly prove that teen superiors, It's gone up 60%.

You might end up in jail. So just think twice before you do that. What's been the catalyst for me being more generous and outspoken once you started having a lot of money? Just self-awareness. I decided once I hit my number, I was either going to spend it all. I'm a selfless person. I lived up a good time. And I was going to give the rest away.

There's no reason, in my opinion, if you want to be a billionaire, that's your business. I don't think these guys, I know these billionaires. Elon Musk sleeps with a loaded gun next to his bed and his addicted to ketamine. Do you think he's happy? And he lives alone. I don't, I mean, Bezos, yeah, Bezos seems pretty happy. He seems like he's having a pretty good time. What I think is, when I give money away, it's because I want to reverse engineer to the things that are not my fault that made me successful.

The moment it happened was when I realized I'm not going to be around that much longer. I have taken more than I've given. I have a debt. All these people that came before me, the University of California regions, California taxpayers, DARPA, all of these people who stormed the beach, Omaha Beach. or hell grants or assisted lunch or bodily autonomy. My mom terminated pregnancy when I was 17. Had she not done that, I wouldn't have been able to go to college. I would have done the right thing.

As the only man in the house, I would have gone to work. So all of these amazing things that America has brought us, we have a debt to. And I realized that as I got older. I realized I hadn't been very philanthropic, and I wanted to get back. And also, it makes me feel good. It makes me feel important. I want to be remembered as a good man and a good citizen. There's something that has infected this community in technology, young billionaires.

What is it? Is it because we've never had an existential threat? They've never been drafted into war. I don't know what it is. But I love your idea. And it's if I could have one policy, magic one policy moment, it would be mandatory national service because the great legislation in the 50s and 60s around civil rights was because the majority of our lawmakers had served in the same uniform. most of them are from the military. So I think that if we have one or two years of mandatory national service after high school or one year after high school, similar to what the Mormons do with mission, where effectively you get great young Americans to see how wonderful other young Americans are, whether they're from different income groups, different ethnicities, different sexual orientations, just give them a chance to see how wonderful America is and how wonderful other Americans are. And that rich kid from Alabama is a nice, she's a nice woman and a gay kid from

the Bronx, well, guess what? They have the same concerns that you have. And you're all going to come out of this. I would like to think with some skills and a fidelity not to a Democratic Party or religion or political ideology, but some fidelity to the flag. The lowest levels of young adult teen depression are in Singapore and in Israel, and they both have mandatory national service. And the guy who ran Singapore was a visionary and said, this is the most religiously diverse country in the world, Singapore. for huge danger or risk of ethnic violence. So we're going to get them all focused on another religion, and that is the country, and they have mandatory national service.

I just think it's a huge idea because America is the most powerful country in the world. The way we fail is we collapse on ourselves and that as we start eating each other from the inside out. But I don't think that we should be thinking about how we instill more character in these people. I do think the National Service and instilling a sense of patriotism across young people is a good idea. And I think more regulation that says, fine, you want to be an asshole and have 14 kids by five different women and cut off aid to HIV positive mothers. But be clear, boss, you are going to pay 50, 60, 80 percent of your income above $10 million to the government, similar to what we did in the 60s, 70s and 80s where economic growth was greater than it is now. Oh, that was a mouthful. Thanks for the question.

Question number two comes from Chris in Toronto who emailed us. Hi, Scott, longtime listener, first time ask her, how do we identify the benchmark from when we've entered an echo chamber? What is your personal stress test for staying truly informed? Additionally, who are the credible voices on the other side of your arguments that you think are worth to listen to ensure that you aren't just breathing your own exhaust? That's a really good idea. People constantly ask me for my information sources. and I always say, well, it's my people I work with and people send me shit. I try to read the Wall Street Journal. I occasionally flip on Fox every once in a while just to say what

ridiculousness or conspiracy they're spreading. Although actually, is that true? It's supposedly more moderates listen to Fox and CNN, which kind of shocked me. How do you know if you're on your own echo chamber? I think you just got a, I find when I meet people who aren't are on the right, I used to live, and I'm still a resident of Florida, and it's kind of, it's not Trump country, but half the people are Trumpers. I just find I like to ask them a lot of questions. I just like to hear them out and try and understand. And I try and fight smart conservative voices, but they're really not that many conservatives anymore. It's all MAGA, which makes kind of no sense to me.

But how do you know you're in your own bubble? Kind of when you start arguing with people in your bubble over the words they choose. It's like, well, okay, that's not the problem. And then expose yourself to if you're media sources, try and follow some really thoughtful conservatives if you're on the left. Try and follow some really thoughtful people on the left if you're a conservative. But recognize, just first off, it's like, hi, I'm Scott Gallow and I'm an alcoholic. Actually, I'm not an alcoholic. Am I?

Maybe I am. Anyways. But the first part of the problem or solving your problem is acknowledging it and just acknowledging that you might be in a bubble and maybe following some people. who are thoughtful on the other side of the political spectrum. But if you even just recognize you in a bubble, because what happens is the algorithm say, oh, Scott's right of center left. Let's take him way left,

and let's start showing him videos where someone on the right looks like a fucking idiot so he can get more and more enraged and go further and further left. And unfortunately, these algorithms aren't interested in moderates because they're harder to understand and enrage and keep engaged. So we move them further and further left

and then serve them incendiary content or content that puts them further, further in their hermetically sealed bubble. I'm not really answering your question other than to recognize you might be in a bubble and make a very concerted effort to find new media properties and new individuals to understand and also engage with people and not write them off because of their political ideology. I ask people, I know this fairly famous hedge fund manager who's really into Trump. I'm like, are you worried about safe and fair elections? what is it you think about his economic plan that's going to work?

You know, I just start asking questions. A lot of my friends from college are Jewish, and they're very much into Trump because I see Trump as being more supportive of Israel. And he has been what I'll call more resolute on Israel, but I'll ask a question. And my question is always, okay, there are 157 sovereign nations on October the 8th, the day after the attacks on Israel. Who is more supportive of Israel than but Joe Biden? Name a single country that was more supportive.

of Israel than the U.S. under the leadership of Joe Biden. He deployed two carrier strike forces the next day. I just want to have a conversation. I want to understand what is it, and I'm going to sound very partisan now, but I'm like throughout history, aren't you worried that when there's a level of bigotry and racism as the kind we see right now, doesn't always end up where they at some point go after Jews? I just, you know, what is it that you think is so good for us as Jews in Israel with Trump? And they'll have positive. feedback. Look at, look at evidence of this, look at, you know, he's just, you know, I think a lot of them, by the way, were more troubled by. Vice President Harris trying to have it both ways and coming

across is just very mealy mouth. But anyways, I'll just start asking questions. I follow different media properties, and I try and understand the conservative side. And even if you don't buy into it it or it doesn't change your views, it makes your own views more bulletproof. But we all suffer from this. And I find myself occasionally realizing, like, I've signed up for orthodoxy as opposed to just, okay, recognizing that there is a different, you know, sometimes I just ignored good judgment, rational judgment, because it doesn't fit, it doesn't fit the orthodoxy of the left, which I've kind of signed up for, but I'm increasingly, that's the term, I think I'm increasing, I like to think of myself as a critical thinker and go issue by issue and to be unafraid and say,

no, I don't think that makes any sense. Student loan bailouts, no fucking sense, right? People are going to continue, schools are going to continue to issue student debt to people who aren't going to be able to pay it back. People are going to continue to just sign here on the dotted line because they think, oh, maybe I'll never have to pay it back. Maybe I'll get bailed out again. Moral hazard.

Tuition will keep skyrocketing because cheap credit that maybe people do or do not have to pay back until we cut off some of the oxygen around student debt, put schools on the hook for 10, 20, 30 percent of bad debt. And before you know it, they're going to stop loaning $200,000 to someone at a mediocre university to get a philosophy degree and go be a bartender. Okay, what is that going to do? It's going to starve the mediocre schools who are overcharging of cheap credit, which will bring down prices. Will there be some pain?

Absolutely. But I thought the student loan bailout was a really bad idea. And it's like, oh, sorry, boss, we thought we could trust you. This is part of the orthodoxy. Well, don't sign up for an orthodoxy. Go issue by issue and be a critical thinker. And always try if you can take the other side and just try and think through and acknowledge what are the points on the other side. I almost really didn't say anything there.

But anyways, the fact that you have recognized you're in a bubble probably means you're about to burst out of it. We'll be right back after a quick break. Support for the show comes from IM8. Your 30s and beyond are all about building your wellness routine. And for a lot of people, that means leaning hard into supplements. Before you know it, your medicine cabinet is stuffed to the gills with horse pills and niche vitamins. IMA wants to help keep things simple with their daily ultimate essentials drink. What makes IMA stand out is how it combines science with nature.

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platform with people at the center, head to rippling.com slash prop G and sign up today. That's R-I-P-P-P-L-I-N-G.com slash prop G to sign up. Welcome back onto our final question. A listener emailed us. Hi, Scott and team, deeply grateful for the work you do. I'm helping launch a new AI startup. After months of negotiation, it's clear the founder is going to give me a raw deal on equity. Everyone tells me I'm getting screwed, but also that I shouldn't walk away. Should I take an opportunity, even it undervalues my contribution? And if I take it, how do I shake the feeling that I'm being exploited? Have you ever felt taken advantage of and been okay with it?

I'll start with the last thing. I was, I started coming to go red envelope. I brought in Sequoia Capital, the most powerful venture capitalist in the world, ultimately took my job as chairman. He and I locked horns. He was using the company as a dumping ground for the failed products of his portfolio company as I called them out in a board meeting and on the way to the airport I was kicked off the board. So it was basically kicked out of the band I started. I felt like I was totally

on the term as wronged unfairly. And I was just so furious. And I spent the next year or two years basically trying to figure out how to replace the entire board, which I did. But anyways, it was a waste of time. Occasionally, if you're treated unfairly, the best thing to do is, I mean, if someone fires you because you're gay, okay, lawyer up. But the only thing I guarantee you in the corporate world is a series of small injustices. And I'm not saying being a doormat, but recognize every injustice is not a crime against humanity and everyone endures those. And I'll give me an example, I feel like I've been wrong by people. I have never in my life sued anyone else or been sued. And one of my mentors was a guy named Warren Hellman

from Hellman and Friedman. And Hellman and Friedman, at least at that point, they'd never sued anybody. Huge private equity firm never filed suit against anybody. He said, we just don't work with him again. And that's the approach I've taken. If I feel like I've been wronged, I just walk away. And I don't work with that person again. And, you know, the best revenge is indifference, and that is to move on. And one of my, another man or mine, Hamid Mogadon said something that was profound

to me. He said, Scott, the best revenge is to live a fucking amazing life. So first off, come back to. question. There's two sides of this trade. If you're working in an AI startup, it means you have currency in the marketplace and credentials. So if you're feeling you're being exploited, then boss, go get another job with it. You don't feel like they're exploiting you. So the fact that you're continuing to interview there means that while you think you deserve more, you don't think you can do better, which means they're paying you a market rate. So quite frankly, it sucks to be a grown-up.

it's a free market. If you're being exploited or you feel like you're being exploited, go find another job. And if you decide, well, in fact, this is the best opportunity to present it to me, then you're not being exploited. And you need, once you start feeling like you're a victim, that just feels, that is not a good rap. You know, negotiating your package or whatever it is, that's an entirely different thing that you need to be coached by other people. But boss, there's two sides of this trade. The fact that you got a job in an AI company means you're skilled, if you think you're being exploited, then go somewhere else where they are not exploiting you. Otherwise, get over it, recognize it's probably, it sounds like it might be the best opportunity

presented to you. It's a free market. And just get on with it and, you know, do your best and hope and trust that if you are adding a lot of value, they'll recognize that and they will compensate you for that, or you can leave and go somewhere else that will reward your else. efforts. Thanks to a question. That's all for this episode. If you'd like to submit a question, please email a voice recording to Office Hours at ProptuMedia.com. Again, that's Office Hours at Proptummedia.com. Or if you prefer to ask on Reddit, just post your question on the Scott Galloway subreddit, and we might feature it in an upcoming episode. This episode was produced by Jennifer Sanchez and Laura Jenaer. Cameric is our social producer. Brad Williams is our editor. And Drew Burroughs is

our technical director. Thank you for listening to the Propgeepod from Propge Media. Thank you.