The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway
Prof G Markets: The TikTok Showdown, UnitedHealth’s First Earnings Post-Shooting, and a Banking Boom
20 Jan 2025
Follow Prof G Markets: Apple Podcasts Spotify Scott and Ed open the show by discussing the latest inflation report, Meta’s next round of layoffs, and the uncertain future of TikTok. Then Scott breaks down United Health’s first earnings call since the killing of executive Brian Thompson, explaining why the company appeared to downplay its successful year. He delves into how profit incentives in sectors tied to social goods can create harmful externalities. Finally, Scott and Ed review fourth-quarter bank earnings, explaining why the results are clear evidence that mergers and acquisitions are back. Order "The Algebra of Wealth," out now Subscribe to No Mercy / No Malice Follow the podcast across socials @profgpod: Instagram Threads X Reddit Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Full Episode
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Today's number 41,000. That's how many social media posts have the hashtag TikTokRefugee at the time of this recording. Ed, what is a negative thought? What? TikTok. TikTok. That's kind of an existential one. That's like that joke I heard that a Holocaust survivor ends up in heaven and he says to God, hey, I'm thinking about telling a Holocaust joke. And he's like, no, no, no Holocaust jokes.
It's just not funny. And then the Holocaust survivor says, well, I guess you had to be there. It really gets you thinking. Two bombs in a row. Well, I wanted to go after the Catholic Church, but I was worried our interns are going to be witnesses in the lawsuit. Yeah, you've never done that before.
My role model, Sam Harris, I'm totally backfiling right now, says if you're wealthy and you have people who love you unconditionally, you should speak your mind. I'm speaking my mind. That's very good. Have you seen what Sam Harris has been saying about Elon Musk? Well, you tell me, what is he saying?
I know it, but the viewers don't know it. Trying to remember it exactly, but he basically described how he fell out with Elon Musk. And Elon Musk made this bet with Sam Harris where he said, I will bet you a million dollars that we will not see 35,000 cases of COVID in the United States.
And Sam Harris was like, well, that's kind of ridiculous because the estimates that we're going to have a million deaths, not cases, but deaths in the US. He says, why don't we make it a little fairer? How about I'll take you up on the bet, except let's make it three and a half million cases, not 35,000. And Elon said, no, no, no, no, make it 35,000 cases. So then a week later...
they find out that there have already been 100,000 deaths, plus several more cases. So Sam Harris reaches out, says, I think I've won the bet. Elon ghosts him and then starts to deride him on social media. And now Sam Harris, because he's shitposting him even more, is dealing with... strangers coming up to his house and making death threats.
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