No Mercy / No Malice: Shoulders of Giants

What It Covers

Scott Galloway reflects on his appointment to the UC Board of Regents, arguing that success is collective rather than individual, and critiques tech billionaires like Musk, Andreessen, and Thiel for denying the public investments that built their wealth.

Key Questions Answered

• •Self-made myth: Chuck Collins' analysis of the Forbes 400 found that while media labels 70% of America's wealthiest as self-made, only one-third actually came from poor, working-class, or middle-class backgrounds with no significant family capital behind them.
• •Wealth distortion research: UC Berkeley studies show wealth reduces empathy measurably — participants primed to feel upper-class took twice as much candy meant for children, and luxury car drivers were statistically more likely to cut off pedestrians and other motorists.
• •Pell Grant ROI: Recipients earn enough additional income that they repay the original grant value through increased tax contributions within ten years, making Pell Grants infrastructure investment rather than charity — yet the program faces a $104–132 billion funding shortfall next decade.
• •Public university expansion proposal: A Marshall Plan increasing four-year public college enrollment by 40% and junior college enrollment by 80% over ten years, funded by taxing university endowments above $1 billion that fail to expand freshman seats at 1.5 times population growth.