The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Hasan Minhaj Talks FTX, Crypto and Investments with Kevin O’Leary | After the Cut: Hasan on Financial Advice
Episode Date: May 12, 2023“Shark Tank" investor and venture capitalist, Kevin O'Leary, discusses his losses and lessons learned from the failed crypto exchange FTX, why he remains committed to investing in entrepreneurs desp...ite the FTX fallout, and why small businesses should take advantage of the Employee Retention Credit federal program. Hasan also highlights how TV money personalities like Kevin O'Leary can actually harm everyday investors with their financial advice.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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You're listening to Comedy Central.
My guest tonight is a SharkTake investor and a venture capitalist.
Please welcome Kevin O'Leary.
There's go.
Nice to see you.
You too.
Thank you for coming on the show.
I want to say this first and foremost.
I always give people their flowers.
So I want to say, me and my dad love you on Shark Tank.
Appreciate her.
Yes.
Shark Tank is one of those shows.
A family can sit down.
We can watch it together.
We can cosplay as entrepreneurs and vicariously live through a fun piece of unscripted semi-reality content.
So thank you for giving us that.
And it's 14 seasons, right?
14.
Okay.
But the truth is, we don't script anything because we see them the same time you do.
We had no idea it would just blow up this way.
I mean, it's a remarkable platform.
Yes.
And it supports American entrepreneurship. What's wrong with that? It's amazing. Now, you have been making your rounds. We were speaking
backstage. Just to give everyone context, obviously we're talking about crypto, FTX. You've been
making the rounds testifying before Congress, going on squawk box 78 times and everybody's asking you about you know your endorsement
of FTX the 15 million dollar bag but nobody's asking you how you doing?
How are you feeling? Well let's just get the numbers right it was 18 million
dollars. 18 and it's all gone and I get it but you got to understand something
about venture investing. FTX was nothing but a startup, okay?
Basically 18 months old, that's it.
And invention...
But can you take me through the relationship timeline of you and electrocuted little
bomb?
We can run it!
I told you, I was like, let's let's do it. So, because just for context, at first, you've been on squawk box, you've been
on programs and you're like Bitcoin is dog shit, this is awful. I'm
paraphrasing. Yeah, I think I did say that. Because at that time the regulator
was very, very negative. Yes. And then countries like Canada, Switzerland,
England, Australia, they opened up. And if you're an investor that, like me, I in in in in in in in a in in th, I th, I th, I th, I th, I th, I th, I th, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I th, I th, I th, I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th, I, I th, I, I, I th, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I th. I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I'm, I th. I th. I thi. I thi. I thi. I th. I think, I'm th. I'm th. I'm th. I'm th. I'm th. I'm like me, I invest internationally, I started to allocate to it. Right.
And then you start thinking, you go, look, you know, SBF, it's starting to open up internationally.
It's just becoming more regulated in Switzerland and other countries.
And so, you know, clearly this guy who's running this Bahamian orgy is running a responsible
operation.
So how did he get in your DMs? How did he penetrate that heart? So obviously at a time in 2021 when FTX was out financing,
doing rounds at a 23 billion valuation,
that was the hottest deal on the street.
If you look at the people that invest in that,
it's the who's who a venture cash.
Dude, I was pissed that I wasn't asked.
Yeah. When I look at that role and it's like Shaquille Shaq.
that role and it's like Shaquille O'Neal like Steph Curry, Tom Brady. That's how you know I haven't made it.
Well, let me in, baby, let me get that call.
Are you, my agent called me.
Maybe you're lucky you didn't get that call.
Okay.
So at the end of the day when you invest in any startup, and this includes FTX and plenty of others, eight out of ten times you lose your money. Since 1954, when they started compiling these stats,
now sometimes it's alleged fraud,
sometimes bad execution, sometimes bad market,
sometimes bad product, but for ever reason,
eight out of ten times you lose money.
So the people that invested in FTX, people are asking me,
well, isn't this going to change?
No, nothing's nothing's is th is thi's is thi's is thiiiiii nothing's, no, no, no, no, no nothing's going to change. Sure. Yeah, obviously. We're gunning for that two times where we make a thousand X on our money.
The next morning after I lost that 18 million, yes I was pissed, okay? But it
didn't change anything about what I do as an investor. I get right up and I go
at it again because I have, if every time I had a loser investment I had to go to Congress, I'd need need a th a th a th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. to to to to to to to to to to th. to to to thoe a to to to to to thoe to to to thoe thi. thi. thi. to to to thi. to thi. thi. thi. th. thi. thi. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the. the. the. the. the. toe. toe. toe. toeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeean. toeeeean. toeeeeean. toeeeeean. toe. toe. toe. toe. a loser investment, I had to go to Congress, I'd need an apartment
there.
I mean, we lose a lot of deals, but every once in a while I get a monster hit and it pays
for all the mistakes.
FTX is in the past for me, too bad.
I feel sick about it. We all look like idiots.
But we got to move on. We have to fund the next entrepreneur. But how did he, how did he penetrate?
You didn't answer the question.
How did he get?
So the way this works.
Like, I got the five talking points, but how did he just,
how did he slide in the DMs?
How did he slide in the DMs?
I know you're recording this.
Come on. So, the he slide in the DMs of your heart? Come on! So the way because I've gotten the call. I've gotten the call. I've got two places on this.
Yeah. I was a paid spokesperson, yes. But I was also an investor. I took millions of dollars and invested them in FTX international and U.S. So I'm getting squeezed on both sides on this point. At the end of the day the day. The way. The way. The way. The way. The way. The way. The way. The way. The way. The way. The way. the day. the day. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the way. the way. the way. th. th. th. I'm, the way. I'm, th. I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I's, I's, I's, I's, I's, I's, I's, I's. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the, I. the, I. the, I's, I'm, t. t. t. t. t. toge. t. toge. t. toge. t. toge. toge. toge. toge. te. the, the point. At the end of the day, the way I look at it is, okay, I have an agent, he gets contacted and
says, look, do you want to be a paid spokesperson to this?
I said, I'm interested in crypto.
What do we know about this company?
We know that it's got the biggest investor list I've ever seen.
But then you reply, yeah, but then you reply, but said that this is dog shit, reply, and then you send.
No, I didn't say that.
They go, Kevin, comma, enter.
It's a big bag.
The way this works is you go and back and say, OK, 1.8 billion raised, who's in the
raise, who did the due diligence?
And it's the heavy hitters. Huge hitters. But we all know each other.
We're in the private equity business.
And I said, OK, somebody dilly this thing, yeah.
And the parents were compliance lawyers out of Stanford.
I mean, that's pretty good.
Yeah.
So at the end of the day, it's a very unfortunate outcome. I've seen you. You are a savage. I do. Okay, have you seen him when he is on shark tank?
If someone doesn't come correct with a due diligence, you suplexed them through
tables. Play it, play it. It's crazy. Check this out.
I looked at the valuation and I say, are you guys out of your friggin minds?
What stops somebody who actually knows how to make sure it's to deliver them? do this and make a lot of th of th of th of th of th of tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho. tho. tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho tho the their their their their their theirto make shirts to deliver them? Do this and make a lot of money and crush you like the cockroach that you are?
This is a very bad idea.
It howls at the moon and you should take it out behind the barn and shoot it.
Look, I get the passion piece, but you know what I'd be crying about?
The fact you're not making a profit.
If you were in one of my business school classes, I would spray you down with water and every time
you say, oh no, I've hit you with electric cattle prod.
Oh my God, now listen, now listen, don't boo, no, don't boo, don't boo, don't boo, don't boo,
don't do that. Kevin, no, I'm serious. Kevin O'Leary came on the show and he was man enough to come on the show and we're having a conversation and we spoke back to do to do to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to th. th. th. th. th. th. tho, tho, tho, thee, thee, thee, th. thee, thee, thi, thi, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th. th. th. th. th. th. Oh, th. Oh, th. Oh, th. Oh, th. Oh, th. Oh, th. Oh, th. Oh, th. Oh, th. Oh, th. thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, the the to to to to to to to to to to to to the the the the thoooooooo, the, the and he was man enough to come on the show and we're having a conversation we spoke backstage and we were polite to one another and we're
gonna be polite so we're not gonna do that booing stuff.
Well thank you so no I mean that sincerely but believe me I can take it.
I know no no no listen listen this is about doing the due diligence that's what
spraying that person down and and and buzzing them with the cattle prod.
So obviously, obviously SBF and FTX, your boy, has lost $8 billion of investor funds and
clearly from the reports no one did their due diligence.
So I'm asking you on behalf of the Daily Show, will you fly to Palo Alto, where he's on house arrest?
And spray this shit down and hit him with a paddle prom.
Enough of the, enough of the 40 appearances.
Enough of the four-minute segments on Squawk Box. Let's take a Southwest flight tonight.
Lay over in Chicago. It's on me. We land SFO. My dad will pick us up. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. No. No. No. th. No. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. No. th. No. No. No. th. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. the th. th. th. S-. S-s. S-s. S. S. S. S. S. th. S. S. th. S. S. th. S. S. S. S. th. S. S. S. S. S. th. let's take a Southwest flight tonight. Lay over in Chicago.
It's on me.
We land SFO.
My dad will pick us up, and we will go to...
SBS.
I think that's a little extreme.
Okay.
Just a little.
I mean, look, it's the end of the day, a lot of people lost money. Retail got fleece. That's what happened at the end of the day. Okay, did Lehman Brothers change anything?
No, Enron, no, Bear Stearns, no, long-term capital, no.
There's always going to be the bad actors.
This is capitalism, and every once in a while, there's a bad actor.
You just went through a whole litany of them, and the system self-corrects. If you do bad things, shit happens to you, bad shit.
And I think that's okay.
That's our system.
The whole idea is you can make money without being a fraudster.
This is a great country.
You can be an entrepreneur.
You can start a company with a great product and become a multi-millionaire.
That's the path that people take 99% of the time.
And we should celebrate that.
Okay.
This comes along, you know, alleged fraud like this, it's going to go through the system.
Hopefully we're going to get a huge recovery for everybody that lost their money.
Already the rumors are where it's six out of eight billion.
They found that, 6.1 billion, who knows what else will be coming? I want to help everybody on this situation, but I've moved on and so is everybody else.
I have a theory.
Yeah, I have a theory.
So in corporate America, I see a lot of urban professional elites with LinkedIn
accounts here in the crowd, and in corporate America they have a thing called CYA.
Cover your ass. And I think, Mr. O'Leary, you're making the 70 appearances right now
and testifying before Congress to let people know, hey, hey, hey, HR, something
fucked up happened.
Someone burned down the house while mom and dad left.
But you kind of were a part of the arson to begin with.
Well, let me correct you on that for a moment, okay?
During the period when everybody was trying to get allocation to FTX, particularly FTX U.S.
hottest deal on the street in 2021.
I got countless calls from people saying, let me in on your allocation, you owe me, we've done business together.
I said, guys, it's a startup.
It's a big one.
It's a $23 billion startup, but it's a startup.
If I'm going to take this ride, I'll do it with my own dough.
I'm not going to put anybody else's money into it.
Nobody lost money on that deal in the problem where I owe somebody, you know, an apology for investing beside
me.
I owe everybody and all of us involved owe an apology for not knowing it was an alleged fraud.
But you know, this happens from time to time.
But in my mind, I can go to sleep every night knowing that it was my money, I lost
it, I ate it, shame on me, but doesn't
change what I do in the morning.
I'm a very fortunate guy.
I can take huge hits and I move on and I keep going.
That is the essence of entrepreneurship.
You're going to get kicked to the ground once in a while.
This was a big kick in the where it hurts. As somebody said to me, the one I remember the most, you know, the economist on
CNBC said to me, we came out of the green room after I had one of those
countless presentations on there about it, right? He said, Kevin, 18 million dollars.
That's a lot of guitars. And he's right. Yeah, you love guitars.
He loves guitars. He's telling a story that's not great because you have to set up the premise for the punchline.
This is my comedy shark time. I love the story.
Okay, listen, here's what has to happen. You have to be able to expose your position.
When you say you lost money, the only way for us to truly know is if a forensic accountant comes in. I want that. You want the full the full the full the full the full the full the full to the full to to the full to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be. to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. th. th. their comedy. th. th. the only way for us to truly know is if a forensic accountant comes in. I want that! You want the full transparency? Everybody, you don't understand. Everybody
has their right? So you got the 18 mill. Look, me and you were in Hollywood. Not these
regular normies. So let's let's let's have the big boy talk. I want to have the big boy talk. So out of the 18 mill. to the they. they. they. they. they. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the the the the the th. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. th. th. th. they. they. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the. the. t. t. t. t. t. telle. total. tell. thoooooooooooo. th. the th. the 18 mil, you guys don't know this. There's agents, managers, business managers.
And the IRS.
All of them, FICA, FICA.
They FICA you on there.
But, but, out of that 18 mil,
my man probably saw, let's go six to seven.
Now, that's just straight cash.
But we don't know. Some of it could be USD, some of it could be some of that sweet, sweet equity position. But we won't know until a forensic accountant comes in.
And we want that. I have a hunch. Yeah. I think you didn't lose a whole lot of the shirt
off your back, but retail did. All of my money on the comp, just so you understand this, by the contract was
in an FTX account. So 18 comes in, as you correct, about half of it pays taxes
and agents and the unions and all that stuff. The rest goes into the account and on
Saturday morning, November 10th it was scraped out along with all the trading records.
Everybody there, including me, does not know where that money is,
or do they have the trading records.
Do I want to hire a forensic accountant?
Absolutely. I've disclosed I had 32 positions.
It wasn't cash. It was crypto, and all kinds of coins and tokens.
And so they're all gone, and I say that? You're playing off of cake. What's coming to you? Hey, we're giving you a big head start.
The million cash I put into the equity. Sure. That's not a million cash? That's a million cash?
That's a million cash. I'll give you that. Thank you. Okay. So you've lost one million. You've lost one million personal. You've lost one million personal. to. the million. the million. the million. the million. the million. the million. the million. the million. the million. the million. the million. the million. the million. the million. the million. the million. the million. the million. the million. the million. You've. You've. You've. You've. You've. You've. You've. You've lost. You've lost. You've. You're. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. the million. You. the million. the million. the million. the million. the million. the million. the million. the million. the million. the million. the million. the million. the million. the million. the million. the million. the million. the million. the million. the million. the million. the million. the 1.25 million. Okay so the only way we can truly but you but you're making that heuristic
you're making that heuristic based off of that 6.6 to 7 million coming in
look we're gonna do math all day but we like it for a lot of things.
The only way we can really come to the conclusion of this is if we do the
all rule when you're sexting a partner I'll show you I'll show I'll show I'll show I'll show I'll show I'll show I'll show I'll show I'll That's the only way. Let's not, we don't need to dance around it.
It's fine, it's fine.
My whole deal is I've been totally transparent with it.
The reason I've gone on and talked about it openly is I think we can all learn a lesson from
this and I'm teaching this case at Harvard actually.
I think there's a lot to learn from it because it's a great example of when you do do p p p p p p p p their to do to do to do to do to do to do their, to do to do, to do, their, to do, to do, to do, their money to work, you've got to know you're never safe.
You just don't know what's going to happen.
And this case is crazy.
We haven't even seen the end of this yet.
We don't know what's going to happen.
The records are supposedly backed up on the Amazon servers, and no one's seen them yet.
I don't know where that money went.
I'd like to find out. institution has. I'm one of the only institutions walking around talking about it, but so what. It's a horrible outcome. It's a bad investment. I've made bad ones in the past. I'm going
to make bad ones in the future, but I'm pretty good at good ones as well. So that's the way
it works. I hear you. I hear you. And I think there's a detail that you need to add to your Harvard class, which is, and all all, and all, and all, and all, and all, and all, and all, and all, and all, and all, and all, and all, and all, and all, and all, and all, and all, and all, and all all, and all, and all, and all, and all, and all, and all, and all the other, and all the other, and all the other, and all the other, and all, and all the other, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, the other, and, and, the other, the other, the other, the other, the other, the other, the other, the other, the other, the other, the other, the other, the other, the other, the other, the other, the other, the other, the other, the other, the other, the go. Maybe I should bring you with me. Sure.
I'll pull up.
I mean, if Kim Kardashian can pull up, I'll pull up.
Now listen, Kevin, Kevin, let me just finish.
I will pull up.
Why not?
OK.
Here's the thing.
When you go on the daily show,? What, when you say 80% of these companies fail,
that is correct, and let's say it's even more, let's say it's 90%.
No, it's 80.
It's stats have been around since 1954.
But what you're not accounting for is,
you're speaking to the upper 1% that can lose that money.
Everybody else that's listening should probably just put their money in ETF, set it aside, yet go to sleep, wake up 30 years later.
But, but, but you're not disclosing that, you're not disclosing, again, once again, your
position how much you've been personally paid up front to...
I did, I told exactly what.
No, no, not, not about FTX, just in general with the myriad of companies that you're... Oh, I see what I'm saying? Guess what I'm a capitalist, I'm an investor, it's what I do.
I'm not, I'm shamed of it, I love to do what I do.
I help all kinds of entrepreneurs and I'm proud of that.
We don't make money all the time is the point I'm trying to make.
When you invest, you take, throwne, I're they, I's that, I's they, I's, I's, I's, I's, I's, I's, I's, I'm a a the end of the day, but it's not a whatever, that position, doing that, putting your money in an SPY, S&P 500 for 30 years, is going to benefit 95% of the population.
And the key problem is, is people turn to you, people like Kevin O'Leary, Mark Cuban, because
they see you very differently than, say, Larry David. Or Shaquille O'Neal or all the other people that were in the FTX commercial. Mr. Wonderful says this is a good position. In reality every time
you go on Squaqbox or any of your many... wait wait, let me just mention, I'll let you,
we have all the time in the world. I don't promote crypto positions. I
talking about platforms and diversity. I didn't do commercials. I mean you're on every third commercial during the commercial breaks of Shark Tank. You know I'm talking you're
talking about FTX though right? You're talking about FTX. I'm not talking about
FTS. I'm saying in general. Yeah I understand. Okay. Yeah. Do you see what I'm
say? Yes. Yes. If you go to your YouTube channel just on your YouTube channel. The fourth or fifth video on your video video video video video video video video video video video video video video video video video video on to to th. I I I the th. I th. I the the th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I'm th. I'm to to to to to to to th. I'm to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to th. I'm th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I'm th. I'm not thi. I'm not thi. I'm not the the te. I'm the te. I'm te. I'm toda. I'm today. I'm to ta. I'm ta is, is this the bottom of the market?
Do you know what that's signaling to retail investors?
It's signaling them to either pop in or pop out.
When in reality, you should just go, hey, hey, hey, real talk?
You should have one class at Harvard.
It should be 10 minutes.
Listen to me. Put your money in Vanguard portfolio, VTSAX or S&P 500,
maybe do a bond position right now because it's giving you 4%. Set it aside and turn off
Squack Box. Actually, don't even listen to what I have to say. You're being tough on
squawk box. They do a service. Listen, I understand indexing. That's great. I do that, too. But if you want extraordinary returns, you've got to take risks on entrepreneurs.
You have to back people that don't know their outcomes.
Right, so then your podcast and TV show should be try to tell me, should be just,
if you had a chance to invest in Google, when its valuation was five million dollars,
do you wish you did lose that way. Why would you lose that way?
You can lose 95% of the time that way, trying to pick stocks.
Kevin, you know this.
Even the great Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger,
the goats of capitalism, even they say, now, these geriatric coffin dodgers, now, at their
shareholders meeting, go, listen to me, listen to me, if I could to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, to me, to me,their shareholders meeting, go, listen to me,
listen to me, if I could do it all over again.
I would just put it in an index one and tug it away.
And we'll play the clip, Kevin, it's on YouTube.
Listen, let's not do this.
Can I ask you just a question?
We can do back and forth. I just want to ask you this, because I mean this sincerely.
I've been trying to crack this.
Are you a great investor, or are you a great spokesperson?
Because I think you're the latter.
Okay, I don't agree with you.
Let me tell you what's happened over the last 10 years.
The ability to tell a company's story, to get to get to get to get to get to to to their their their the over the last 10 years. The ability to tell a company's story, to get
people to understand what their mission is and the benefit of their product is highly
valuable. Very. Because there's a million stories out there and the biggest problem every company
has, including giant S&P companies, is how do they get customer acquisition, how do they
acquire customers? Eight out of ten companies fail in America after 36 months
because they're never able to get their customer acquisition costs
below the lifetime value.
That's where I change the equation.
If I invest in your company, I tell your story.
That's what my job is to do.
Yes, I take risk.
I'm fortunate to have money to invest, But I get behind it and tell the story. And that's what we do on Shark Tank.
Why are Shark Tank companies so successful?
Why do so many more of them make money than the traditional 8 out of 10?
Because we tell their story to 100 million people every year.
That's the magic sauce.
So I think I'm a great investor by being able to be a great storyteller, too. People need to know what the product does, what the merits of it are. That's why they try it. That's why it's important to tell these stories.
You talk to any shark.
Do you feel guilty? I hear what you're saying. So tell me, you know, because I go to couple's therapy.
Let me tell you what I'm hearing with you. I think I am a great investor and a great spokesperson.
That you do both.
That if I see something, a seat of a good idea in your company,
I'm great at communication.
I'm good at the microcontent.
I can communicate those things.
OK.
So then you have, I would imagine, you would feel some level of guilt when some of the companies that you are promoting end
up leaving retail investors holding the bag where you're like, damn, I promoted this.
This is where I disagree with you.
Here's why.
You know with certainty in venture investing, investing in startups, since the beginning of
time, eight out of 10 are going to fail.
I know that, you know that, and the whole world knows that because those are the stats.
There's nothing you can do to change that.
But the system of you going on these shows, Squawk Box is financial FOMO, the graphs,
the ticker, but you're on.
Guys are swinging now,. You know this. Pup-a-pub, a pre-Q news, get in now, Door-Dash, IPO, do I get it now?
Again, it's that FOMO, I got to get in now.
I think what you're missing, what you're missing in the messaging is,
and I would agree with you on this,
and I think if you're going to promote the idea of investing, Diversification. You can't put it all in any one position or any one institution.
Because you don't know when there's going to be an ex-Lehman brother or a
Bear Stearns or when a stock goes to zero. By the way, big companies go to zero
too. They do. Yeah. And so that happens. So if you have diversification, and I
learned this from my mother, never more than 20% 81st of the the the American economy. th never th never th never th never th never th. And th. And th. And th. And th. And th. And th. And thii never, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thrown, throwneeeeeeeeeeean, thrown, thrown, thrown, thrown, thrown, th than 5% 81 stock. That is the
definition of diversity and that's what I do with my own portfolio. That's how
you stay out of trouble. Okay. You obviously... You would agree with that. Sure.
Sure. I rest my case, your honor. Yeah, yeah. Wait a second. But when you are
going on a six-minute segment, if you did this, if you pulled up on your next squawk box segment and said that?, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, th. th. th. th. thiii. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi, thi. thi. thi, thi's thi's thi, thi, thi's thi's thi's thi's thi's thi. thi. thi. that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's thi, th. You're thi, th. You're th. You're th. You're th. You're th. You th. You th. You, th. You, thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi's the thoooooooooooooooooooooooooo and said that, amazing. I do say that.
But you don't.
You give hot picks.
You're not watching the right segments.
I've seen you do 40 of them.
I mean, you're putting up shots, my man, and some of them are just airballs.
Now listen, if you are a great investor, let me ask you this, and a great spokesman. I'm proud of my track record. Why are you on cameo? I love
are great investors on cameo? I love the graphic. That's, put up the graphic. You
can book a personalized video for $1,500. You can book a business video. I don't even know
what that is. You know why I do this to understand why? Because this helps entrepreneurs launch
their products and services. 99% of my cameos is a business that can't afford to go to an agent and pay half a million dollars.
This is fantastic.
What they've done, my biggest mistake on cameo was not to take down 20% of the stock when it was offered to me.
I should have bought 20%.
I mean, it was really a fantastic idea.
Sorry. I'm an advocate and I'm going to keep doing it and people
book them because it helps them. I'll do anything to help an entrepreneur. That's who I am.
Let me ask this a few sub-questions. First of all, cameo is a sub-question. First of all,
cameo is absolute dog shit. that. thiws. the's a way for Rachel Dolazolta, wish you happy birthday. I'm not joking.
Number two, do you think big boy investors do cameos?
Do you think Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger tap dance for $6,500?
Nasim Talaeb is out here doing a business video?
They are not venture investors.
They don't start up entrepreneurs.
Do you need the 1,500
or 65? Do you need any of it? Listen, I spend plenty of dollars doing what I do and I give
to all kinds of philanthropic enterprise. This is not about charity. I'm talking about the
actual qualitative, the quality of that work. I do that work because people tell me and they and they have for years doing it, this is really help me. I'm happy to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do. to do. to do. to do. to do. the. the. the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the. the. the. thea.a.a.a.a.a. thea.a. thea.a. thea. their, their, their, their, the, the, they have for years doing it this is really helped me. Okay. I'm happy to do it. Read the comments. I mean if you
want to be a critic go ahead but read the comments. I mean that's the real test.
The comment of a person asking for a $1,500 or $6,500. Okay, sure. I don't do many $1,500 ones. They're all the 6,500 ones. Because if you're the the their people their people their their their their their their their their their their their their their th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. toee. to. to. a business and you want to use it, you've got to pay the rights.
I feel very sorry for those people.
Well, I'm sorry, you know, I'm going to charge you $1200 for yours.
I'm going to give you a discount.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
I'm not going's hard to rattle me on things I know that work, you know?
I mean, you didn't, I mean the cameo thing is really bad man, it's a truly bad look.
I don't agree. I don't agree. It's for grifters, sociopaths, sycophants, and OJ Simpson. I mean like, there's the people that are on cameo. It is. I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say say, I would say say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say, I'd say, I'd say, I'd say, I'd say, I'd say, I'd say, I'd say, I'd say, I'd say, I'd say, I'd say, I'd say, I'd say, I'd say, I'd say, I'd say, I'd say, I'd say, I'd say, I'd say, I'd say, I'd say like came? No, don't boo. I mean I was
just asking. Okay. Listen, this has been a, this has been a very interesting conversation.
I think you should say something nice about small business here. Yeah, yeah. Let's do the
small business. So we spoke backstage. He wants to plug the small business thing, but can I just say this one thing and we'll plug the small business thing. We're going to do this. This. This. This. This. This. This. this, this, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. th. th. this is this is this is this is this is this is this is this is this is this is this is this is this is this is this is this is this is this is this is this is this is th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the the th. the the th. the th. the thi. the thi. the the the the the. the the the. the the. thi. the thi. thi. th. the. th. th. th. we'll plug the small business thing. We're going to do this whole, this is all going to be online, so it's all good. So I think, the reason why I'm very passionate about this is because I think there is an ecosystem
of a lot of VC people and people with money going on these shows, giving advice to retail.
And look, I think entertainment is important.
But when Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith give their hot takes,
it doesn't potentially affect people's 401ks or their bank account.
When you give financial tips, it's like a doctor giving a diagnosis to a patient they
can't even see.
You don't know the number of people that you're inadvertently or inadvertently hurting.
Let me tell you why I disagree with you.
Do you think I should go...
Just don't...
That's all I'm saying.
Be careful when you...
...
No, no, no.
Let me ask everybody in the audience. Do you think I should go to high schools as I do and talk to them about financial literacy
and about credit card debt and about stocks and bonds?
Is that a good thing to do?
Totally.
You should give them Jail Collins book, The Simple Paths, the Simple Path to the Simple
Path to Welfth.
And one of the addendums should be turn off any program that I'm very proud to be on Shark Tank. Shark Tank is awesome. Season 14, it's awesome.
I teach high schoolers and I teach graduate MIT engineers.
Look, there is a, you are allowed to have an opinion and I'm glad you do it.
It's an important part of the dialogue and the discussion we're having here.
But at the end of the day, the more people that understand the financial system in this country, the better this country is.
Now, you may not agree on the message, that's okay.
And that's the wonderful thing about this country.
We can have this dialogue and we don't have to agree, and I don't have to agree.
But I respect the fact you have the opinion.
That's good with me.
I'm a good. respect for yourself. I really appreciate. I do. Do you want to do the small business thing? I'll do my pitch and then we'll wrap it. Okay, let's go ahead. So you wanted to talk about
small business, let's talk about that and then we'll do my pitch to you and we'll wrap. Let me tell
you what we should be worried about in this country right now and a new ambassador ship. I know you like to be critical but I want to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to th. th. th. Let's th. Let's th. Let's th. Let's th. Let's th. Let's th. Let's th. Let's th. Let's th th. Let's th. Let th. th th and th and th and th and th and th and th and th and th and th and th and th and th. th th th th. th th th. Let thi thi thi thi thi thi thi. Let thi thi the. Let's to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to thi thi thi thi thi thi. Let's th ready? You're ready? So everybody remembers PPP. Yeah. All of our companies... You were
scamming too? No, no, no, no, no. I mean, if you're doing the cameos, you never know.
No, I didn't do a lot more than 65 for the government. No, I didn't. That's fine. Anyways,
all, you know it's funny. All of margin. You've done better jokes in that one. I'm going to give you a four out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out out the their their their to their toooomomoomompera thoompera tooes their their thioompera thioomoom. I'm thioomoomoomoomoomoomoom. I'm thioomoes. I'm the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the their their their their thiooooooooooooooooooooooooo. thioo. t. t. t. t. t. t. t. thaeea. thaea. thaea. tea. tea. tm. tea. tha. tha. tha. tha. t than that one. I'm gonna give you a four out of ten. So look, let's get to, the point is the program was launched
and all small companies used it,
they went to their bank and got it.
Same time another program was launched
called the Employee Retention Credit.
You've never heard of it have to have it.
Have not?
Okay. Small business is borrowing at 18% now. They used to borrow it nine or seven.
So it's been hell for them for the last two years.
The government has $250 billion sitting
waiting for them to pick it up on their payroll
because they forgot to go get it.
It's sitting there.
If you have a small business between five and 500 people, you can make up to 26,000 dollars
as a gift from the government towards your business one time. So if you have
50 employees that's half a million dollars. If you have a hundred employees
that's 1.1 million. I'm pounding the drum everywhere I can to tell every
company in America that qualifies because you only have 23 more months to
get it, go file for it. Thank you for sharing that information.
Thank you. I mean, I think that's a very important thing to do. So before we get out of here,
tell me why that's a bad thing? I'm not. I think you're sharing a very important piece of information.
Thank you. In a not entertaining way, but it's important. It's important and it's great. How many people are entertained by 1.1. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. that's thi. that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's important, that's important, that's important, that's important. that's important. that's important. th. th. thi, thi, thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. that's a that's a very that's a very that's a very that's a very that's a very that's a very that's a very that's important, that's important, that's important.'s important and it's great. How many people are entertained by $1.1 million cash?
There we go.
I'm entertained.
Yeah.
Okay.
I have Mr. O'Leary on the show.
I got to pitch you.
Go ahead.
So here's my pitch.
Yeah.
Here's my pitch.
Here's my pitch.
I wonder why.
This is my fish. I think you go on these shows.
You are part of a system in the media, specifically financial hot-take media.
The CNBCs, the podcast appearances.
People turn to you for financial advice.
They ask you, how are the markets doing?
What's up?
What's down?
What are you into?
You give your opinions because people turn to you
because you're Mr. Wonderful.
You obviously look like a successful entrepreneur and businessman.
Advertently or inadvertently, you give people your opinion.
People listen to that opinion and then make investment choices based on what they hear from you.
Do you think?
You create, let me just finish, let me finish, let me finish.
Okay.
You give those opinions, it creates potential chaos and risk at scale because it's on the internet,
and then you face no downside consequences when those people get fleeced.
That's not fair.
Oh, I totally disagree with you. Is this a pitch where I invest?? then? then? then. then? Let then? then? Let then? Let thi? Let thi? Let thi? Let thi? Let thi? Let thi? Let thi? Let thi? Let the? Let me? Let me? Let me? Let me? Let me? Let me just? Let me? Let's? Let me just? Let me just the the the the the the they? Let me? Let me? Let me? Let me? Let they? Let let me? Let let they? Let? Let? Let? Let? Let? Let? Let? Let? Let? Let? Let? Let? Let? Let? Let? Let? Let? Let? Let? Let? Let? Let? Let? Let? Let? Let? Let? Let? Let? th. th. th. th. the thi? thi? thi? thi? thi? thin? thin? thi? thin? thi. thi. thin? thin? Let me just just just just? Let me the the thin? Let me me the fair. I totally disagree with you.
Is this a pitch where I invest?
The second one, we haven't gotten to the same.
Oh, I haven't got that one yet.
So let me tell you why.
Wait, wait, I gotta get to the end.
Now the second part is, I've thought to myself...
Is there a question in here somewhere? I've thought to myself I go, hey, you've clearly made picks and taken some massive L's, so he either
cares about it and feels very bad about it, which you may, or you know you're taking
those L's, but if you keep the three-card Monty going and keep appearing on other shows and
make other picks, you'll just bury the L's you had in the back. If you beat the algorithm, they can't even catch up to all the L's in the past.
The problem is retail got left holding the bag a long time ago.
So L for loser?
L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L.
Yeah, or loss.
So, I think people, potentially get hurt.
So I mean this humbly, this is my pitch to you.
I want to quote the great Laura Ingram.
I think you should focus on your strengths and shut up in Shark Tank.
No, no, you reverse that, right? You want me to, my strength,
to shut up on financial literacy. Which one is it?
Your strength is, so when, okay, so jokes are great when you have to explain that.
No, no, no, so she told Lebron to shut up and dribble,
because dribbling is a strength, right?
So I said shark tank is your strength.
So then using that, you just, you, you, you, so, so, so, so, you, so, so, so, so, the, so, so, tha, so, the, tha, so, th. So my whole point is my actual daytime job is managing capital.
That's what I do.
And I've been doing it for 30 years.
And you know, it's a career I'm very proud of.
And I'm proud of my reputation.
I had some mistakes and losers and bad investments just like everybody else does.
But long term, the best way to do it is always tell the truth and you never have to
remember what you said.
And so everything I've the the the the the the the the the the the the the thiiives have to remember what you said. And so everything I've told you is the truth. It's not all good news.
And by the way, in investing, you are going to have some losers.
You've learned that tonight. Right?
Sure. Of course.
And so I wish I could only have winners.
I never will. And everybody that invests has learned, in investing. That's what happens. But, as you've suggested, the market does give you on average about a 9% return over a long period of time.
When it's an S&P 500, so the addendum is that you're in another tax bracket. Don't listen
to what you're saying because you're bawling and you can take the losses in retail camp. Mr. Kevin O'Leary, I want to say thank you. to thank you. Mr. Kevin O'o tho tho tho tho tho tho tho th. K K. Kevin O'o th. Kevin O'o, th. Kevin O'lary, th. Kevin O'er, thiii, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, th, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, so the the a the a the a the a the a the a the a the a the a the a the a the a the a the a the a the a the a the a the a the a the a the a thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi. thi. tha-i. thanea'ni. thanea'nea'ni. thani. thi. thi. thi, thi, thi, thi. I want to say thank you for having this conversation and for us being respectful to one other.
I appreciate you.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
The reason why I wanted to have this conversation is over the past two and a half years, I don't know if you
felt this during COVID, a lot of
us were at home, a lot of people were going through uncertainty, I had a lot of friends
that lost their jobs, and there is this deep angst within a lot of us.
I feel it with my friends, my generation.
They're hitting an age where life is starting to choke them out.
They're hurtling through time. People are getting married, people are trying to buy their first home.
People are trying to have a little bit of a nest egg
to have some sort of financial cushion
to cover school, health care, aging parents, et cetera.
And the way salaries are now, you have to 10X your money.
And so what happened during this period of time is,
a lot of the financial, cable, hot-take podcast people
advertently or inadvertently were giving their takes,
and people at home were listening to them and go, well, clearly,
he's smart, he's a venture capitalist.
Why don't I take an active position in my betterment
and do what he does?
The differences in what I was telling Mr. O'Leary was,
you're at a different tax bracket than them.
You can take the losses and retail can't.
And unless you give up your whole position, like I said, you show me yours, I'll show you mine.
This is my net worth, this is what I'm being paid,
this is how much I'm investing,
this is how much of my personal money I'm investing.
We don't know.
And what that does to the millions of people that listen,
it creates a lot of risk and damage,
and I feel for those people because they get left holding the bag and they get left behind.
So I hope people remember that the next time they watch any of these shows or these podcasts,
they have to keep in mind, hey, we'll never know what their position really is.
So maybe I need to take what they say with a grain of salt.
Do you understand what I'm saying?
Because if it was actually, hey, put your money in an index fund,
85% index fund, 15% bond or whatever, the way what our dads told us,
there wouldn't be any of these shows. There wouldn't be any of them.
Squackbox, CNBC, they wouldn't exist.
So they have to have this ecosystem that continues pumping them out. And I just can't help to think it's
one of two things. There's the white night thing that they think they have
good picks, but they're so ahead of the game that even if they lose, they'll never
lose the shirt on their back. So even when they're wrong, it won't really affect them. Number two, they don't care, which is even scar the tha. And, which. And, which. And, which is thag. And, which is thag, which is thag, which is the th. And, which is the they, and, and, and, they, their, their, their, their, their, th. thi, thi, thi, their, their, their, thi, their, their, their, their, their, they're, they're, their, they're, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, th is, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, th is th is th. th. thi. thi. thi. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. thi. thi. the. thi. why I said, listen man, leave that shit alone.
Just shut up in Shark Tank.
I think Shark Tank is great.
I think it's very entertaining.
And you can keep it there, and retail investors don't get hurt.
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