The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Is Elon Musk Failing Shareholders? Teaching Kids About Money, and Scott’s Wildest Fan Encounter
Wed, 09 Apr 2025
Scott breaks down whether Elon Musk poses a fiduciary risk to Tesla shareholders. He then offers advice to a grandmother trying to help her 15-year-old grandson understand money. In our Reddit Hotline segment, Scott shares the craziest fan encounter he’s ever had and reflects on where he found meaning in life before becoming a father. Want to be featured in a future episode? Send a voice recording to [email protected], or drop your question in the r/ScottGalloway subreddit. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Chapter 1: What is the fiduciary risk Elon Musk poses to Tesla shareholders?
Hey, Prof G. Given the recent performance of the stock and his dual roles as the CEO of Tesla and chief doge douche, is there a point where Elon's divided attention and or ever-increasing negative public perception become a violation of his fiduciary responsibility to shareholders? Thanks for all you do. Jacob in Kansas City.
Jacob in Kansas City. So yeah, but he doesn't have a board. So this is how corporate governance works. Shareholders elect the board and the board really has two jobs. They're supposed to, one, what does it mean to be a fiduciary? I love the word fiduciary. I think it's a fantastic word. And that is once you have your deal, once you say, okay, I'm getting paid X.
your job is then as a fiduciary to represent the interests of others. I love that. When someone asks you to be their fiduciary for their estate, that's a real compliment because what they're saying is, I think you can represent other people. I think you have the skills to represent somebody else. And also you have the integrity
Chapter 2: How does corporate governance affect Tesla's board and CEO performance?
to think about or look at the lens of decision-making through other people. It's very difficult. Other than instincts, one of the things that separates us from the animals is that we have the ability to be just better fiduciaries. We can represent society. We can represent people that we will never meet. I mean, I guess board really has two jobs other than being good fiduciaries. And the
Where you become a good fiduciary is you kind of have two things. One, the chair of the audit committee just needs to make sure there's not fraud, no surprises. And then the other two real responsibilities of the board are one, when to hire and fire the CEO, and two, when to sell and if and when to sell the company.
But your primary job is to make sure you have the right guy or gal running the company. That's the most important decision they make. I have found with almost every company I'm with, If you have the right guy or gal, things work out. If you don't have the right guy or gal, it's just not going to go well. A good board can't save a bad CEO.
A bad board can probably fuck up a good CEO, but it really is about finding the right person and then having the sober conversation with other board members who the CEO tends to weaponize and play golf with and help get their kids into the school he went to. And before you know it, you have a board that is just their buddies. I have a four-year statute of limitations.
I leave every board within four years because I want to do a series of different things. And I also find that boards need churn. And on every board I've been on, there's at least one or two people, if not three or four, that are golfing buddies with the CEO and just don't objectively evaluate the CEO. And the CEO likes that because they don't want to be objectively evaluated.
They want a board that's going to continue to increase their compensation and agree with them and provide advice. Is that fair? Some CEOs do like pushback. It's probably somewhere in the middle. Anyways, in the case of Tesla, the board there has made so much fucking money, they would let him, I don't know, kill puppies on live TV and they'd say, oh, he's a genius.
That's a strategy around autonomous driving. The chairman of the board, I think, has made $150 or $200 million. So her job is just to make excuses for his behavior. He was... He basically engaged in market manipulation or securities fraud. He said that he was taking the company private at $420 a share and that the funding was secured and the stock skyrocketed.
And then it ended up that, what do you know? He was probably on ketamine. That was a lie. And then the stock fell. So anyone who bought the stock thinking that was credible information is owed money by Tesla, whose CEO was lying to them. And what does the board do? Of 499 of the S&P 500 companies, they fire this. They say, all right, boss, you're in trouble.
At a minimum, they would say, you need to go into rehab and maybe we give you your job back, but unlikely. Anyways, they have not done their job. They're not fiduciaries. They made so much money. that they're basically the worst board now. He could absolutely leave Tesla, why? Because to his credit, he does what a good CEO is supposed to do, and that is he builds a really strong team.
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Chapter 3: What are the implications of Elon Musk's behavior on Tesla's stock value?
Hello, my name is Clara. I'm from California. I have a 15-year-old grandson who is desperate to learn something about money. He wants to learn about money. Unfortunately, neither his parents nor I have a clue as to how to guide him. His school is of no use in that regard. What do you suggest? Thank you.
Clara, I love this question. So my son is 14 and he's constantly asking me, how can I make some money, dad? And I sit down with him and I say, all right, let's go to ChatGPT and let's say, all right, I'm a 14-year-old, I have a little bit of money, I'm good with technology, I'm super into... football, soccer, how can I make extra money?
And it comes back with five ideas, including buying shirts, unprinted shirts, football shirts, and then figuring out a way to embroider them or put cool stuff on them using Shopify for the backend. And we'll do this together. And then another idea was, The AI suggested that we buy sneakers during sneaker drops at Nike and then try and resell them. And you have to have some money.
Some of the times the sneaker drops are 150 or 200 bucks. But he learns about it. He learns about taking risks. He learns about trying to examine the market, look at data. customer service. You got to ship those shoes once you get them to a buyer. How much money did he make? Well, it ends up with shipping and everything and taxes. We lost a little bit of money, but that's a life lesson too.
So I think the way you learn about money to a certain extent, if you're talking about money, is you start a little bit of a small business. I've been an entrepreneur my whole life. I started walking dogs when I was his age to try and make some money. Now, in terms of learning the markets for money when you're 15,
I don't know if it's too early for him to be reading the front page of the Wall Street Journal, but I love that you're involved in your grandson's life. What a gift, what a gift for you and what a gift for him that you're thinking this way. So to the extent that he's willing,
read the front page of the Wall Street Journal, those little bullets, and then discuss them with them and say, you know, what does it mean? What are earnings? Also, I think an interesting way to learn about the markets, when I was 13, I wasn't very popular. I know that's hard to believe. I know that's hard to believe. And my mom's boyfriend, gave me $200. By the way, he had his own family.
We were the second family, but that's an entirely different story. But he gave me $200 and said, if I get back next weekend and you haven't bought stock, go to one of those fancy brokerages in Westwood. I want my $200 back. So I went down to Dean Witter Reynolds, I think it was. And I met this guy named Cy Saro. This was literally 45 years ago. And I walked in with $200 and I ended up buying.
He came out and introduced himself. We bought 12 shares or 16 shares in Columbia Pictures. And I used to call him from the Emerson Junior High phone booth and ask what the stock had done that day. And then he would give me a lesson on why the stock moved. He said, okay, there's buyers and there's sellers.
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Chapter 4: How can a teenager effectively learn about money and investing?
LinkedIn will even give you $100 credit on your next campaign, so you can try it yourself. Just go to linkedin.com slash scott. That's linkedin.com slash scott. Terms and conditions apply. Only on LinkedIn ads. Support for Prop G comes from Masterclass. It's one thing to be curious, but you really set yourself apart from the crowd by turning your curiosity into action and growing for the better.
With Masterclass, you can learn from the best to become your best. You can think like a boss and live like a legend with Martha Stewart. You can learn how to invest in the stock markets with investor Ray Dalio and some of Wall Street's best. You can learn leadership skills from former CEOs, including Inge Noye, Howard Schultz, Rosalind Brewer, Whitney Wolf Hurd, and more.
Chapter 5: What practical advice does Scott offer for teaching kids about money?
I checked out Masterclass. I saw the one with Bob Iger and Martha Stewart and enjoyed them both and learned about the creative process. For just $10 a month billed annually, a membership with Masterclass gets you unlimited access to every instructor. And you can access Masterclass on your phone, computer, smart TV, or even in audio mode.
Right now, our listeners get an additional 15% off any annual membership at masterclass.com slash propg. That's 15% off at Masterclass.com slash PropG. Masterclass.com slash PropG. Support for the show comes from Betterment. When investing your money starts to feel like a second job, Betterment steps in with a little work-life balance.
They're an automated investing and savings app, which means they do the work. While they build and manage your portfolio, you build and manage your weekend plans. While they make it easy to invest for what matters, you just get to enjoy what matters. Their automated tools simplify the complex and put your money to work, optimizing day after day and again and again.
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Our first question comes from Pancake Gold E, as in Goldie Hawn. That's weird. They say, okay, what is the craziest fan encounter you've ever had? Generally speaking, they're not crazy. Generally speaking, they're super lovely. I'm... I don't know if this is a good or a bad thing. I had breakfast today and we were talking about addictions.
I think that every person has a certain level of addiction. It's just important to be in touch with it. Addictions are for survival. You're supposed to be addicted to gorging food because there was an absence of salty sugar and fatty food. But now that industrial production has vastly outpaced our instincts, we gorge even when we don't need to. But there's a reason for addictions.
I'm addicted to the affirmation of others, specifically strangers, but I can modulate it. I can realize that, okay, what's really important is to have your friends and family love you. That's like job number one. And if strangers don't like you on threads or on blue sky, you know, is that relevant? Yeah. Is it meaningful? Maybe. Is it profound? Absolutely not. I've gotten much better at that.
I don't get as rattled by strangers' comments anymore. I actually kind of stopped reading the comments. I want to write and act as if no one's reading or as if no one's commenting. It's like, I've always thought the people I've just so admired, the people at restaurants where I'm on vacation, and a good song comes on and they get up and they dance on the table like no one's watching them.
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Chapter 6: How did Scott's early experience with investing shape his financial understanding?
I think you want to live your life that way. I think the most successful people in the world have one thing in common and that is they dance as if no one's watching them. I try and remember that when I dance. I try and think, well, what happens when I'm home alone? Like after when Trump was elected, I literally the next morning spent the entire day
entire day experimenting with Xanax and Peroni, or as I call it, my panics method. And I found out that I am an outstanding dancer to 80s music. The dogs were totally freaked out. Didn't matter. I have incredible moves to the straight line beats of George Michael, Tom Petty, R.E.M.
I mean, I can just fucking, I can just burn up the rug in my pajamas with a Peroni in hand and with a little bit of Xanax kind of helping daddy, helping daddy give a little bit of that rhythm. that every 49 year old white guy has. Is that racist? Is that racist? Anyways, probably I hate Graham. So when I get fan encounters, they're really nice. People come up to me, they're super wonderful.
They wanna take photos. Even when they disagree with me, they go, the most common comment I get hands down is the best comment and it's the following. And people say the following, while I don't always agree with you, you make me think. And folks, that's why I'm here. If I'm just reinforcing your current beliefs, then I'm just fucking Fox News, tickling your censors and dividing America.
The whole idea is to occasionally, and I do this sometimes, sometimes I'll say something I know coming out of my mouth, and I don't know if that's right, but it's provocative and I want people to think.
I want us to look at the issue from all different angles and think, are we getting this right and wrong such that we can express different viewpoints and hopefully craft better solutions and learn and stretch and strain and damage the muscle in between our ears such that it grows back stronger. Anyways, I can't tell you how lovely the encounters are, the craziest ones. One comes to mind.
I was at Cannes and this guy came up, this nice guy in kind of a leather jacket. And I was saying, why is he in a leather jacket? It's so warm. And he came and he's like, I love your videos. And I had a line actually develop. I'm kind of a big deal at Cannes. Anyways, and there was a line of people who wanted to say hi or get their book signed. So he said, I love your video.
I'm like, great, do you want to get a picture? And he was sort of like, well, okay. And we took a quick picture and I said, boss, big line. He started asking me a question. I cut him off and said, I really apologize, but I got to get through the rest of the line. He said, oh, I understand. And he left. And then the next person comes up and goes, you know, that was Jensen Huang, right?
That's the CEO of NVIDIA who's built an amazing company that's worth more than Intel. And I didn't know what to do. And I turned around and went, Jensen, Jensen. He'd already walked off. He did need to hang out with me. Anyways, that was sort of funny. Is there another one? Is there another one? Someone when I was in, where was I? I was in LA said, wait for a minute, wait for a minute.
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Chapter 7: What is the Reddit Hotline segment and what topics does it cover?
But every day in small and big ways, she told me she loved me. And if you do that with a child, I think over time they start to believe you. And I think that's really important. The thing that was most motivating for me was women, specifically two types of women. And one's a hallmark story and the other's like kind of crass. The first is, I wanted to take care of my mom.
My mom got very sick when I was in graduate school and it was the most kind of rattling, traumatizing thing I've ever been through because I wasn't capable of taking care of her because I was in graduate school, I didn't have any money. And she was discharged from the hospital early and it was just a very ugly situation and I didn't know what to do and I felt powerless.
And that was the first time I really felt this sort of masculine instinct kicking in that I'm the man of the house. It's me and my mom. I am supposed to take care of my mom, who took great care of me, and I couldn't. And it was just incredibly humiliating and upsetting.
And I thought, all right, there's a lot of things outside of your control in terms of making money, but the things that are in your control, getting your shit together, being disciplined, working really hard, none of which I had done to that point, I decided, all right, that's it. I'm going to I got to get my act together because I got to take care of my mom.
And from that point forward, quite frankly, I just worked all the fucking time, took a lot of risks and really tried hard to make money. Money was my motivation. And then the second thing also involves women. And that is, I wanted women in my life. I wanted romantic and sexual partners in my life.
And I noticed, I did the math pretty early, that women seemed to be attracted to guys who had their shit together and could signal resources. So for me, my motivation, I don't really think I had meaning, was making money. And I'm not proud of that, but that's the truth. Up until the age of 45, my identity and my motivation was to be economically secure so I could take care of my mom,
and be more attracted to potential mates, and also just be relevant to other men and be interesting. It wasn't even about living well. I wasn't addicted to things. I never had fat cars or anything like that. I lived well. I didn't deny myself of anything, but that wasn't the motivation. The motivation for me was,
relationship specifically to take care of loved ones and to be, you know, to find a great mate. That was my motivation. I did not have purpose in my life and I kind of knew it. I kind of knew like, I don't know what this is all about. I can't get enough of anything. I can't get enough of experiences. I can't get enough of money. I can't get enough of I can't get enough of anything.
I recognized that I was like a hunger monster. And when I had kids, which I didn't want to have, I didn't want to have, I was with a partner who was, you know, higher character, much hotter than me. And she basically said, I want to have kids. And I said, well, I don't want to have kids because I don't want to get married. And she said, I don't need to get married. She called my bluff to have kids.
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