The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway - Is an MBA Still Worth It? and the Future of Legacy Media

Episode Date: July 15, 2026

Scott Galloway breaks down whether an MBA still justifies the debt, why late night TV is collapsing while podcasts arbitrage the same talent for a fraction of the cost, and what he wishes someone had told him about the first years of fatherhood. Want to be featured in a future episode? Send a voice recording to [e-mail], or drop your question in the r/ScottGalloway subreddit. Plus, you can now call or text Scott a question at our new Office Hours hotline: ‪[phone]‬. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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My name is Peter Parker, but I'm also Spider-Man. This July, we're faced with a threat. That can be anyone. The world may have forgotten Peter Parker. I'm just a neighbor, friendly neighbor. But he hasn't forgotten them. Sometimes Spider-Man has to do the hard thing. That's my responsibility.

Talk to Banner? I didn't know you could get that big. Spider-Man, brand-new day in theaters, July 31st. Welcome to Office Hours of Prop G. This is the part of the show where we answer your questions about business, big tech 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 at Propg Media.com. Question number one. Hi, Prof. Jean. I'm a 28-year-old guy who recently made the decision to leave my job and head to Kellogg for a full-time MBA. I'm taking out loans to make it happen, but I believe in the vehicle. I've heard you speak about how Haas leveled up your career and I've seen. the impact of the degree firsthand. My dad's MBA was the reason that our family was able to immigrate

to the U.S. and break into the middle class. My professional background is in product consulting and strategy for a medium tech company, and I'm recruiting for either consulting or product in the fall. My question for you is if you could help me try and not read the label from inside the bottle. If you're entering an MBA program in the current state of things, what would your strategy be and what would you be thinking about to maximize the degree's value? Thank you and your team for everything y'all do. I listen to the podcast every morning to the podcast. point where you and Ed honestly feel like my gym partners. Thanks for the question. So just some data, about a quarter of a million students are currently enrolled in MBA programs globally.

The NBA is the most popular degree in the U.S. The cost, the average MBA ranges from $78 to $270,000. That's quite a range. And the average MBA graduates with $75,000 in debt. The payoff is still real. MBA graduates earn on average $50,000 more per year than those with only a bachelor's degree. And the median MBA starting salary in 2025 was $125,000, $25,000 more than experienced professionals hired directly from industry, which means that MBA grads earn approximately $4 million more over their lifetime. Million more, or $4 million over their lifetime. I don't know. Well, they make more.

There is a caste system here, and that is, so for example, that average salary out of Stern, I think, it's $212,000 when they added bonus in equity. And it says it's $208,000 is actually the average among the top 15 programs. And graduates of the most prestigious MBA programs can earn more than three times as much as graduates from the lowest ranked B schools. In sum, okay, so when people ask me

if they should go to get an MBA, I ask them a lot of questions, do you have rich parents? Are you accelerating at your current career? What are your financial needs? But also, where did you get in? Because an MBA from Kellogg is going to create a brand halo for the rest of your life and opportunities and networking that will be worth taking out some debt.

But some advice, the summer between your first and second year, just go to the best brand possible because it's the only chance you have to put Alphabet or J.P. Morgan on your resume and only work 10 weeks there, and it doesn't look like a do-over. So I think the summer internship is a branding opportunity. I think your job is to find something you think you'd be really. really good at. Find something, not your passion, don't get a degree in fashion or art in my view, but find something you could be great at in business school and really go hard at it, and then try and use the MBA as a string board to get into that profession. Everyone sounds

or tries to sound really focused in their business school apps, but business school is really for what I call the elite and the aimless. I was in investment banking before business school didn't know what I wanted to do next, just knew I didn't want to be an investment banking. So business school made a lot of sense for me. I found brand strategy in my second year and thought, I like this and I think I could be really good at it, a combination of kind of left and right brain, and started a business in my second year, which leads me to the next thing, network as much as possible, be as social as possible. I don't think grades really matter that much out of business school. I don't know. Maybe the recruiters are still checking, but I think it's more a chance to make great contacts.

and be as socialist possible, because your ability to call on people and say, hey, I saw Salesforce is hiring. Can you get me an interview there? Can we get together and talk about it? I think that trying to be a socialist possible, also take, I don't know. I mean, what they tell you is true.

Get to know your professors, be as social as possible, try and find something you think you'd be really good at. Between your first and second year, that job is really important. Go for the best brain. if you will. It sounds like you're already in school, but I'm a big fan of once you're in playing them off against each other to see where you can get the most financial aid. Because once you're in, the consumer or the kind of customer relationship flips, and they want you because they're

yield. The percentage of people that actually show up as a percentage of the admitties is really important of them. But yeah, look, if you get into Kellogg, it's kind of a no-brainer. If you get into a Tier 2 MBA, it's no longer a no-brainer. because the corrupt higher education system is a cartel, and we tend to all have the same sticker price. Now, it shifts because sometimes they can't fill their class or they have so much money, they can give out scholarships, whatever it might be.

But I would say in your situation, it's worth the debt, be as social as possible, try and find something you'd be really good at, and, you know, you're tracking, coming out, I mean, quite frankly, my brother, everybody wants to be you coming out of business school with a degree from Kellogg. And, you know, network as much as possible, enjoy it, really soak it in, spend seven, eight hours in your apartment max and try and be in the library when you're studying around other people. because you're never going to have as dense an opportunity or human capital pool is the one you're going to have in graduate school. Smart, talented, young people who are all looking to better themselves.

Anyways, not a lot here other than to say congratulations, and being a Kellogg means you're kind of tracking and you're on your way. Thanks for the question. Question number two comes from Reddit. Dipstick 1509 says, interesting name. Hi, Scott. I wanted to push back on your discussion of late-night shows and institutional TV, including 60 minutes. I'm 20 and still watch Kimmel and NBC News nearly every night, though on YouTube, not TV. I might be the outlier, but is there something to be said for these shows being a net positive for America to cope with rough and tumble of politics?

And that is why corporations need to see beyond the balance sheet. Thank you for all you do. A 20-year-old that still watches, what's it called? Late Night? You are a unicorn. You are literally the snow leopard or whatever you are. You're like that animal they find 3,000 feet below the surface of the water that they thought was extinct 2,000 years ago.

Look, these shows, if they don't have economic influence, they have a lot of cultural influence because they get clipped a ton. I haven't turned on late-night TV in 30 years, but I see them all the time because these guys are so talented. Colbert Kimmel, Myers, these are some of the most talented,

people on television. To do what they do every night is with the aplomb and the crispness. I mean, they are just great. I think their writers must be, you know, incredibly smart. I've also met, I've met all of them except Kimmel, and I think they're remarkably not, oh, Jimmy Kimmel's the other one. My sense is the remarkably nice guys. I don't think you can fake that. I think you actually have to be a nice person that likes other people. Late night is a shit show economically. Every year, as a percentage, of American households to turn on late-night TV, it's down 90% since Johnny Carson. In 2015, the average late-night comedy show generated about 180 million in profit. Today, the average late-night comedy show loses 40 million per season. Since 2016, the late show, the Tonight Show, and Jimmy Kim

alive have lost 70 to 80% of their core 18-49 audience. Again, see above your unicorn here. In 2018, network late-night shows brought in a combined ad revenue of 439 million in 2024. our combined ad revenue for these shows was 220 million. Think about that. 2018, 439 million, now it's 220. About half of it was just in six years. In six years, the business has been cut in half. Even late-night fans are opting for digital platforms. Conan O'Brien once struggled to reach one million nightly viewers on TBS. Since his exit, he's accumulated more than nine million subscribers on YouTube. And when Jimmy Kimmel returned to late night, his clips attracted three times as many viewers on YouTube, then broadcast. So as audiences shift online, podcasts have actually

become the new, well, the way I describe it is it's the arbitrage of the means of production. So Colbert, 60 million revenues, 100 million costs, not economically viable. A lot of people would say it was politically influenced, maybe, but it's easy to cancel a show for whatever reason when it's losing 40 million a year. Unions, a band, a theater. His guest host team was five, people. I was actually invited on Colbert and I was sick and couldn't go on. And then two weeks later, it was moving into his last episode. They said, sorry, we don't have room for Scott. Or maybe they were just pissed off. I canceled. It doesn't matter. I think Steve Colbert was a genius. Anyway, he will leave, or he's leaving. He will start a podcast. It won't do 60 million. It'll do 20 million, but it'll be

six people, not 200 people. That's how many people worked on Stephen Colbert's late night show, 200 people. it'll do 20 million, so it'll do two-thirds less revenue, but it'll cost four or five million max to produce. So it'll be much more profitable. He'll make the same or almost the same money, and this thing will be economically viable. And that's what podcasts are. Podcasts are TV shows that arbitrage the means of production. 80% of the quality of a TV show for 5% of the price, which gives advertisers and the talent, better economics, if you will. A premium podcast episode typically costs $18 to $42,000 to produce. That's not true.

Well, okay, the serial ones, like the crime dramas cost real money, this shit. I mean, it doesn't cost a ton of money to produce, quite frankly, other than the psychological toll it takes on me. And that the people working on this thing is they have to listen to my incredibly vulgar and appropriate jokes.

The global podcast industry has grown to $40 billion with 619 million listeners worldwide. U.S. podcast ad revenue now exceeds $4 billion. and the podcast industry is growing at a 27% compound annual growth rate. By 2030 3030, the global podcast market is projected to reach 131 billion, and podcast hosts are the most trusted influence category. It's just amazing to me. I'm not exaggerating.

I can call any presidential candidate, and they'll come on maybe within 48 to 72 hours, because everyone sees or witness what happened with Trump in podcasts appear to be the new media arbiters of who gets elected or does not get elected to office. So what do you have here? Late night TV, still culturally relevant, but it's all moving to podcasts and digital platforms where you can get 80 or 90% of the best of these guys

for a lot less money. Doesn't mean it's going away? No, it's just going to get much smaller and smaller. I mean, I don't know if Colbert's going to go to the late show or Jimmy Kimmel or what have you, but the industry is much, we're so fond of it. We like to think it's precious. those people are all going to find different channels for their voice and their opinions.

They'll just be digital channels that'll be on demand. And like I said, I think it's great. You know, good for you to watch these things. But my brother, you brought the average age down by two years because I think the average age of their viewership is now well into the 60s. So you are odd. You are strange. You are unique. You are one of one or one of three.

I'm sure there's two other people who are your age who watch late night. But I appreciate the question. and what are you doing up so late? What are you doing? Your mom called. Get some sleep. Thanks for the question. We'll be right back after a quick break.

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That's BetterHELP.com slash ProfG. The Hulu original series Furious is coming to Disney Plus, starring Emmy Rossum, Furious follows FBI agent Alice Black on the hunt for a mysterious and calculating serial killer. Both walk their own paths toward justice, and as their lives start to intertwine, the line between right and wrong begins to blur. Don't miss the three-episode premiere of the Hulu original series Furious on July 27th, only on Hulu on Disney Plus. It all started with Call Me Maybe.

Over 10 years ago, we created Switched on Pop to Listen Closer, uncovering the songcraft behind even the glossiest of pop hits. Since then, we've released almost 500 episodes. We've defined the sounds of our modern soundtrack and interviewed hundreds of musicians and music insiders, including the singer of Call Me Maybe herself, Carly Ray Jepson. I'm musicologist Nate Sloan, and I'm songwriter Charlie Harding. And on July 14th, Switched on Pop is embarking on a new chapter. We're stepping out from behind our microphones and in front of the camera to stream our podcast on Netflix.

Now, you'll still be able to listen to the show anywhere you get podcast, but now you'll be able to watch us each week, breaking down the sounds of the moment, digging into musical minutiae with your favorite artists and offering questionable dad jokes, as always. We're kicking off our Netflix debut with a four-part series on The Art of the Song, with help from artists, producers, and songwriters like Aaron Destner, Audrey Hobart, Trevor Horn, Cypress Hill, and Taylor Parks. Stream switched on pop on Netflix and anywhere you get podcasts every Tuesday, starting on July 14. Chief. Welcome back. Question number three comes from user ASD-99. Hey, Prop G. Been struggling with the transition to being a new dad, seven months. I'm working professional and so as my wife. We both really wanted to have kids and it took us some time to conceive. I always wanted to be a dad, but now that I am one, I'm finding it harder than anything I've ever done. I constantly worry about the well-being of my son, even though he is happy, healthy, and meeting all his milestones. We are doing well financially

and our jobs are secure, but I can't help but feel the anxiety that I need to do more. Any advice for a new dad? Okay, so I think a lot of what you're feeling is entirely what you should be feeling. We're told in life insurance commercials that as soon as this thing comes rotating out of your partner, that you're automatically in love. And there's some evidence that something happens to the male brain and you, in fact, do actually register physical changes. And some men report, you know, that God switches into their soul.

and turns on a switch and you're automatically in love with this thing. For me, it was more a dial, and that is, I didn't love my sons when they first came out. I fell in love with them. And the harsh reality is that when my kids were born, especially my first son, I felt anxiety and shame because I wasn't professionally where I was then or where I was. I had taken a pretty big fall because my oldest had the poor judgment to come marching out of my girlfriend at the Great Financial Recession and I was broke. And that's all I could think about,

that I had not only failed myself and my partner, that I'd failed this kid who, and I was the primary, saw myself as the primary caregiver. In some, the birth of my sons was not a pleasant experience for me. And I think dads, some dads like it, I trust them. I did not enjoy the first two years. I thought it was a science experiment where I was just trying to keep the thing alive and worried that somehow it snuck out of its room

and somehow found the pool. I remember the first thing we did when we rented a house in Florida was I put up this like fence such a no one could ever use it. I had real anxiety around that. I think that's natural. You're the protector. I think it's really important to try and be super generous with your partner because it is tremendous. I think dads are additive to the baby's life, seven months, but mothers are essential. And in addition to being a good dad, you need to be a great partner. And just the lack of sleep. I don't care what anyone says. Moms hear the kid stirring. Dads can sleep through a lot. So your partner's going to be exhausted. And this isn't one size fits all, but I think the majority of relationships, I think that maternal

bond and sense is just so extraordinary that the best thing you can do for the kid is be a great partner. But it sounds like you're doing what you're doing. I mean, if you're financially secure, if you're both working, that's going to be incredibly stressful. My partner was working at Goldman Sachs. I had just started a business. Jesus Christ. And I used to come home for bad time because my partner wouldn't be home in time from Goldman. And then I would go back to work when she got home at 8 p.m. and worked to 11 p.m. I don't even remember those years. They were so intense. It was like Vietnam. kind of get out of it, you'd probably remember it. Although I've never been to Vietnam.

I don't know if that's right. Or I haven't been to Vietnam as a combat soldier. I went for the great food and the great beaches. Yeah, by the way, Uniscovered Jam as Vietnam. So I think what you're feeling is natural. I think the first year, again, despite what the Hallmark Channel tells you, is really fucking stressful. Having said that, if you're having trouble sleeping,

if you're generally an asshole all the time and irritable and you don't like yourself and you're it's getting in the way of work and then you may want to seek uh therapy or professional help because i think there's a fine line between the normal anxiety of being a new parent and something where you may need some outside help or someone to speak to but in some what you're feeling is natural it's a lot of work what tv tells you about fatherhood and everything else is mostly bullshit, or it's the sanitized starch version or the PG-13 version.

It is very stressful. I think the best thing you can do for your kid is to be the best partner possible to their mother and decide whether what you're going through is natural and part of talk to your friends about it, be very open and transparent. I felt a lot of what you're feeling or if, in fact, it's something deeper

that you would benefit from outside help from. But let me give you the good news. Zero to two, in my opinion, suck. I think dad's pretend to like it. Probably some do you like it. Two to three, it sucks less. And then kind of three, it gets kind of fun. And then four to 14 is just the golden decade.

I would kill. One of my biggest regrets is not having a third, specifically a girl. I would just love another one in the shoot. My oldest is leaving for college in the fall. My youngest, who's 15, is kind of just not that interested in me anymore. I would just kill to have a little kid in the house right now. I think I'll always look back as those are my happiest years, but four to 14 is the golden decade. At 14, they developed these terrible things called opinions. But my point is, your hard work and anxiety that you're feeling

right now has a tremendous return. And that is, it's just, again, I didn't want kids. I've had an extraordinary life on all dimensions across all my decades, maybe not zero to 25. It was pretty unremarkable, but I've had a great adulthood, very blessed. Hands down. Hands down. Best decade of my life. The last thing I'll think of before I depart is being the father to young children. It's just, it's just magical. So anyways, the payoff is coming, my brother. And again, what you're feeling is pretty, quite frankly, it sounds like you're exactly where you should be. Thanks for the question. That's all for this episode. If you'd like to submit a question, please email a voice recording to office hours ofprovertymedia.com.

Again, that's office hours ofprofetymedia.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 Janair. Camryka is our social producer, Brad Williams, is our editor. And Drew Burroughs is our technical director. Thank you for listening to the Propgey Pop from Provegy Media. Hey, y'all.

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