The Business Algorithm: Excellence + Greatness = Success: Mort Zuckerman and Leonard Stern

Zero Sum Empire

We are back with a new episode after an extended break. We talk about why we were gone in the episode. I think we forgot to mention that we are also returning to our regular schedule of releasing episodes. I missed doing this! It was a lot of fun to record again. In the News (6:00): We wanted to keep things light and talk about a non-virus story. So, we introduce you to a series of videos in which Diddy interviews billionaire CEO of Bridgewater Investments Ray Dalio. Ray is one of our more frequently-mentioned billionaires. He’s trying to turn himself into the premier entrepreneurial guru, like the Maharishi of extracting surplus value. Diddy “hired” Dalio as his personal business mentor and then agreed to shoot an infomercial for Dalio’s book Principles. Here’s the video: Part 1: https://youtu.be/SCCfk2a2O5o Part 2: https://youtu.be/s8jwBezj6zg Billionaire #1 (15:50): Mort Zuckerman, 4/10 on the David Koch Memorial Asset Liquidation Index Zuckerman is a real estate billionaire who got into publishing (which is the exact same life path as billionaire #2 today). He’s most well-known for owning U.S. News and World Report. You may have seen it in a dentist’s office, but I’m not sure the magazine exists anywhere else out in the wild these days. We spend most of the time talking about ranking systems and the ways they tend to reinforce preexisting power dynamics. Billionaire #2 (46:50): Leonard Stern, 5/10 on the DKMALI Stern is also a real estate billionaire who went into publishing, although he got his start-up capital from Hartz Pet Supplies, the company his father started. Leonard Stern has been part of the Les Wexner party set since the 80s, but please do not construe the facts we state about his life as an accusation of wrongdoing. Make sure to stick around for the story about his son Eddie at the end for another moment in the history of system-wide American financial crimes.