YT YouTube2Text

YouTube2Text → Transcripts → Kevin O’Leary: Why He’s Betting on the UAE and Sounds the Alarm on AI, Energy & the Global Economy

Kevin O’Leary: Why He’s Betting on the UAE and Sounds the Alarm on AI, Energy & the Global Economy — Transcript

by Forbes Middle East · 11,786 words · 1,693 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

Open in transcriber Summarize with AI Download SRT/VTT

Full transcript

0:00This is a big deal. The country that
0:02controls AI will win the wars in the
0:05future. What is it that most people and
0:07even most governments don't understand
0:10about where the global economy is really
0:12headed? These guys are doing something
0:14over there I've never seen before.
0:16You're not going to believe this. Should
0:18he step down as Tesla CEO? He was brutal
0:22to work with. This guy is the
0:25modern-day Michelangelo. Should Canada
0:28become the 51st state? You're getting me
0:30down an interesting lane here, but I'm
0:32very close to this situation. You see
0:34everything that's happening on a global
0:37scale working in the UAE's favor. This
0:40guy is integrating AI into real estate.
0:43And I thought that's a marketing story.
0:45Like that's not real. But he actually
0:48has. The majority of my returns almost
0:5190% have come from companies run by
0:53women. What do you think it is about
0:55women that makes them better business
0:58administrators? Okay, shut up and stay
1:00focused. Are we going to be seeing a
1:02mass extinction of small businesses
1:04because AI is just going to be replacing
1:07so many people? But I'm so excited about
1:09this. I plan on never dying. What is the
1:12biggest emotional mistake that people
1:14make with money? As an investor, here's
1:17what how I'm going to play it.
1:25He's the man who tells it like it is. No
1:27fluff, no filters. From boardrooms to
1:30living rooms, Kevin Olirri has become a
1:33global symbol of sharp business acumen,
1:36brutal honesty, and unapologetic
1:38success. He's built and sold companies
1:41for over $4 billion, dominated screens
1:44on Shark Tank, and mentored a generation
1:46of entrepreneurs with one simple rule.
1:49Know your numbers and know your limits.
1:51But behind the persona of Mr. Wonderful
1:53is a builder, a strategist, and a man
1:56with his eye always on the next big
1:59opportunity. Today, we're diving deep
2:01into what drives him, what it really
2:04takes to win in today's economy and why
2:06he's investing heavily in the UAE.
2:10Kevin, it's fantastic to have you with
2:12us here in the UAE back again. Thank
2:15you.
2:16Let us start with uh liberation day.
2:20Yeah. President Trump, he announced the
2:23tariffs of course a few weeks back and
2:25uh you were one of those people who not
2:27only celebrated the move but you were
2:30one of those who really went after China
2:32and went tariffs should be 400%. Why did
2:35you say that? Well, let's let's look at
2:39what actually happened um that day. The
2:42pros and cons actually of what occurred.
2:44No administration in history has ever
2:47attempted to negotiate 60 trade deals
2:51simultaneously of which call it 17 make
2:55up 72% of the trade. So the countries
2:57that matter in terms of getting these
2:59deals done would be the UK outside of
3:01the EU. The EU itself, Switzerland,
3:04Italy, India, Japan, Canada, Mexico.
3:08That's 72% right there. I make the
3:10assumption and I did from April 3rd when
3:13this was announced that those deals
3:14would be forthcoming and I believe the
3:16British will be the first to be signed
3:18and that's going to happen and one of
3:20two things will occur. Either some of
3:23these countries will negotiate zero
3:25tariff effectively no tariffs in either
3:27direction for free trade or what's
3:30really happening on a clandestine basis
3:33is that the US is applying a VAT tax and
3:37they're just calling it a tariff. I
3:38don't care if you go to England to
3:40Canada, you know, to France. There's VAT
3:42taxes in most countries between seven
3:44and 14%. And economies work fine with
3:47that. They get adjusted over a long
3:49period of time across all sectors. It's
3:51essentially a consumption tax. Well, if
3:54if Trump ends up at a 10% equivalent
3:56tariff, I mean, let's take India for
3:58example. India charges 110% on completed
4:01automotive from the US into India,
4:04effectively blocking automotive
4:06purchase. that's going to be adjusted to
4:09maybe reciprocal 10 in both directions
4:10and all of a sudden car parts can go to
4:12India and India can sell their cars into
4:14the US and whatever but that is
4:17effectively restabilizing the trade
4:19agreement with that tax in my view I'm
4:23okay with it
4:25then there's
4:27China has nothing to do with tariffs in
4:30my view let's go back to 2000 when they
4:32came into the WTO I've been doing
4:35business there forever you know for for
4:37decades The assumption was during the
4:38Clinton era when they came in that they
4:41and signed the accord or the agreement
4:44or the covenants, whatever you want to
4:45call them, that they would abide by
4:47them. They they'd apply them to the way
4:49they did business with all the
4:50membership, all the countries that are
4:52members of the WTO. They never abided by
4:55it. Not for one week. There are
4:57thousands of trade complaints that have
4:59never been adjudicated. Number one.
5:01Number two, the IP theft is documented
5:05and rampant. Just they don't care. They
5:10they cheat. They steal. And the way you
5:12can and I' I've testified just in the
5:15last 90 days, I think twice on the hill
5:17in the US on this topic. Company by
5:19company. I'm an investor. I invest in a
5:22company. Let's say $100 million goes
5:24into
5:24R&D. The product proves to be
5:26successful. It hits a $5 million ramp
5:29run rate within a week. It's knocked off
5:32in China and it's sold at 40% discount
5:34on Alibaba and sometimes Amazon in the
5:37US market. It's some cases wiping out
5:40the original company that created it,
5:43even some of the simplest products.
5:45That's outrageous. That's outrageous.
5:47How long is that going to go on for? So,
5:49you know, I'm giving you a long answer,
5:51but China is not a tariff war. China is
5:54a resetting of the entire playing field.
5:56I can't use their legal system. They can
5:59sue me in the United States. I mean,
6:02look at look what's going on with Tik
6:03Tok. You think you could do that in
6:06China with an American software product?
6:08You can't put American spyware into the
6:10Chinese economy. They did that with Tik
6:12Tok. I mean, there's so many examples of
6:14how this administration, and I applaud
6:17it. I'm not shilling for politicians. I
6:20shill for policy. I want a level playing
6:23field with China. I love the Chinese
6:24people. I want to do business with them.
6:27I want to sell my products in China, but
6:29I want a level playing field. I think
6:31what you're saying is really
6:32interesting, but is 400% tariffs the
6:36answer? And and I asked that because a
6:38couple of weeks ago I sat down with his
6:40royal highness Prince Alwin Dalal also
6:43the richest Arab in the world who is a
6:46friend of Donald Trump's largely
6:48supports Donald Trump is heavily
6:50invested with Elon Musk and X and XAI
6:53and he said to me that these kind of
6:56tariffs are tantamount not only to a
7:00recession which a lot of people are
7:01predicting but it would mean a global
7:03depression. What's your take? Yeah, my
7:07comment on the 400% was to simply to get
7:10the Chinese to the table. I don't
7:12believe in tariffs at all. I'm a free
7:13trade advocate, period. I would want no
7:16tariffs on anybody as long as it's a
7:19level playing field on the law and the
7:21ability to uh litigate and complete uh
7:25complaints. So, how do you get the
7:27Chinese to comply then? Um, it's a very
7:30simple metric. And here's here's my
7:32assumption. I understand both sides have
7:34to look like they're they're going to
7:36win. I mean, I get all
7:38that there. There's pressure on both
7:40sides. Trump is facing a midterm
7:42election that will start to be relevant
7:44within 7 months from now. Okay. She has
7:48millions of factory workers making stuff
7:51for the United States, which is 39% of
7:54all consumed goods and services in the
7:56world. He has to sell that stuff. And so
8:01otherwise he's going to have riots in
8:02the street. He'll remain leader while
8:06these people are employed and feeding
8:07their families. So he's got the pressure
8:10cooker on him too. They both have to
8:12work something out. And to me 400% was a
8:15bombastic statement. It definitely was
8:17effective. It went, you know, went right
8:19around the world. And but really it's to
8:22get them to wake up and come to the
8:24table and start negotiating. But I just
8:26don't want a tariff equivalency. I want
8:28these perennial problems resolved. I
8:32want the WTO to be the place where we
8:34can adjudicate trade complaints. That's
8:37important. I want access to the Chinese
8:40market under the same rules that they
8:42get access to the US. There's one other
8:44topic we haven't touched on that's very
8:46important.
8:48As you may recall, about five years
8:51ago, Senator Scott from Florida pushed a
8:56law that said all companies listed on
8:58the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ
9:01had to comply with GAAP. He wasn't
9:03selective on what country. He didn't
9:05care. You have to be GAAP compliant and
9:07you have to be um supporting the
9:10compliance on a regulated basis across
9:12all regulators. That's very expensive.
9:15It's very expensive to do that and I
9:17have to do that with all my listed
9:19companies. I have no choice. Why is it
9:21the Chinese don't comply and they're
9:24still listed? And so during Gendler's
9:27era, you know, running the SEC, he
9:31didn't enforce the law. Now, Paul Atkins
9:35just got sworn in, I think it was 48
9:37hours ago. He's a new sheriff in town.
9:41There must be hundreds of Chinese
9:44companies listed on both those exchanges
9:46that do not comply with GAAP. I want
9:49them all delisted as per the law because
9:51they're competing with me and other
9:55issuers that are going after capital on
9:58those markets and they don't comply. So,
10:00their costs are lower and they're
10:01competing and they're not complying with
10:03GAAP. Why? So, I want that resolved as
10:07well. I want it all resolved. And I've
10:08loved the fact that this administration,
10:10I'm not applauding, you know, Trump's
10:13bombastic ways and everything else, but
10:16with Trump, I always say the same thing.
10:18You have to be able to distinguish the
10:20noise from the signal. The signal and
10:24you can see his list of litany with
10:26China includes these complaints I just
10:29listed. Yeah. And I want them resolved.
10:31So the trading is not just a tariff
10:33agreement. We need to resolve this stuff
10:34with China. Then I would say to his
10:37excellency, the world's going to be a
10:38better place because it'll be a much
10:40freer market and everybody will be much
10:42happier. A little short-term pain for a
10:45long-term gain. Let's see. As they come
10:48together and uh maybe discuss all of
10:51this and see what's going to happen, but
10:53President Trump announced the tariffs,
10:55then put a pause on them the very next
10:57day. Is that market manipulation?
11:00Yeah. Um, no. That's just Trump. I mean,
11:03that's what he does. I mean, he does not
11:05do things the regular way. You know,
11:08half the world has what I call Trump
11:11derangement syndrome. They can't believe
11:14he's back in office. Um, they don't like
11:17him. They're never going to like him. I
11:20say get over it. I mean, I He's He's
11:22going to be the president for the next
11:24three and a half years,
11:26period. Focus on the signal because you
11:29have to do business with him one way or
11:31another. and forget of it's it's
11:33pointless to waste time with with Trump
11:36derangement syndrome. That's not
11:37productive. You don't get anything out
11:39of it. So you have to accept it. Radical
11:41acceptance of what's happening. You have
11:43to deal with the environment you're in.
11:44Yeah. And so I'm in that environment. I
11:47understand the volatility. I mean, you
11:50know, tariff on, tariff off is a form of
11:53negotiation. It's, you know, Besset's
11:56saying it's strategic to keep everybody
11:58uninformed what's going to happen next.
12:00Maybe he's right. Maybe he's wrong. It
12:02doesn't matter what's the I want to see
12:03these trade agreements. I'd like to see
12:05the UK agreement signed or the Indian
12:06agreement signed. Then I want to see
12:08something done with Canada and Mexico.
12:10Uh you know, Canada just has a new
12:12leader, Carney. He was there two days
12:14ago at the White House. They're starting
12:17that narrative. And and I I need to ask
12:19you about that. As a proud Canadian, how
12:21do you think that went? How do you think
12:23that meeting went with Carney? Well, I
12:25didn't vote for Carney because I don't
12:27support some of his other mandates, but
12:29I have to admit he was very effective.
12:30He did a great job there. U I think he's
12:33um using his skill that he's been a
12:36great administrator and leader in
12:37financial institutions. That's great. Um
12:41I don't agree on his policy C69, which
12:44stops me as an investor investing in
12:46Canada. I haven't done much there, nor
12:48has anybody else in the world. And their
12:50economy has grown to a halt over the
12:52last decade. They have no GDP growth.
12:53their massive debt. Uh, nobody invests
12:56there. Even their own pension plans
12:57don't invest there. Should Canada become
12:59the 51st state? No. No. Again, that's
13:03the noise versus the signal. Trump
13:06disliked Trudeau so much. So much. And
13:10another minister called Freeland. He
13:12despises them. And this whole thing
13:16started, you got to remember Trudeau,
13:19who you're getting me down an
13:21interesting lane here, but I'm very
13:23close to this
13:25situation. Trudeau was the worst prime
13:28minister in Canadian history by every
13:31measure, every economic measure. He was
13:34truly the idiot king. and he brought
13:37that country to its knees, not
13:39understanding what made Canada work in
13:42the first place was its resource-based
13:45economy. So during the first Trump
13:49administration, the idiot king was
13:51constantly throwing barbs at Trump,
13:54assuming he'd never get back in power.
13:56But that's not what happened.
13:58So I was at Mara Lago when Trump when
14:01Trump and and uh you know Trudeau were
14:04visiting those those days and they had
14:06Freeland was there and
14:08others. He started with that 51st state
14:11crap then
14:14just just to get get back at you know
14:19Trump is like an elephant. He remembers
14:22everything and he remembers what Trudeau
14:25did to him. I'm telling you what
14:27actually happened. That whole thing
14:28started then and it it made everybody
14:33crazy. Obviously, no country wants to
14:36lose its sovereignty, but it was it was
14:38just because of that toxic relationship
14:40with the idiot king. Now, the idiot king
14:42was kicked out because he broke the back
14:46of the individual Canadian when he wiped
14:49out 38% of their currency. Imagine if
14:51you're a Canadian and and all your
14:53everything you saved up turned into two
14:57peso from parody to 70 cents on the
15:00dollar. That was all the idiot king. All
15:02of his policies stopped foreign capital
15:04coming into the country. So Carney was
15:08basically parachuted in after the idiot
15:11king was kicked out and turned out to be
15:14very effective and he only won a
15:15minority which is problematic in some
15:17ways. But I have to say for the first
15:21round of narrative with uh the White
15:24House and what's going on at the premier
15:26levels because I'm I'm you know
15:28obviously doing some work in Alberta
15:30with Daniel Smith the premier there.
15:33Things are starting to look
15:35better. So remove the idiot king, bring
15:38in u someone I think Trump respects and
15:40we move forward. You're feeling positive
15:42about it. We've just seen the first 100
15:45days of course of Trump 2.0. O what did
15:49these first three months tell us about
15:51what the next four years are going to
15:53look like especially from an investor's
15:54perspective get used to volatility
15:57that's what I and I think other
15:59investors you realize if you look at the
16:02S&P 500 closing on April 3rd we've
16:05almost got it all back but it's been
16:08volatile as hell and so the VIX is you
16:12know which was dormant for a decade is
16:15now on fire I mean if you trade the VIX
16:17You've got a lot of volatility there.
16:20Um, I'm
16:22optimistic that throughout all of
16:27this, we're going to end up in a better
16:29place. And I'm not advocating for
16:31Trump's style. I'm advocating for the
16:34policy he's putting in place. This
16:36administration in terms of actual
16:39individuals is going to be less turn
16:41style. Remember how in the beginning
16:44because Trump had never run a government
16:46before. He'd never done that and so he
16:48made a lot of mistakes in the first
16:50mandate in the first term he had. It
16:52seems to be more stable now including
16:54the chief of staff Susie. She's really
16:56got control of that place and that's
16:58very important. You need to have that
17:00core in as the dayto-day goes through
17:02and she's done a great job. So I I think
17:06as an investor um you know you're going
17:09to be better off in four years. Speaking
17:12of volatility, you've said that we're
17:14entering a new era. uh of economic
17:17reality. And so what is it that most
17:19people and even most governments don't
17:22understand about where the global
17:24economy is really headed? Most
17:28investors haven't figured
17:31out where growth is in terms of how
17:35they're positioning their portfolios.
17:37There's a reason I'm sitting with you
17:39here in Abu Dhabi. I've been coming here
17:42for years now. I figured something out a
17:44little while ago. This is the capital of
17:47Capitol. Period. And it's going to
17:50remain that
17:51way because of policy, because of taxes,
17:54because of its location. This region,
17:57even though it's got volatility, has
18:00some incredible growth metrics to it.
18:02And this leadership has
18:05diversified its reliance on energy very
18:09rapidly to other sectors. I mean, you
18:12know, for example, um, you think about,
18:17let's just take AI. Most people as
18:20investors think, oh, well, US leads,
18:23China is is second. Well, who's third?
18:28This
18:29place. And nobody knows that. And so
18:32there's and you you know I shot a
18:35commercial here yesterday from my
18:37relationship with one development in the
18:39most sophisticated digital AI sound
18:42studio in the world. There's nothing
18:45better than that. There's nothing better
18:46than that. And I've shot everywhere. And
18:49so and the reason it works is they've
18:52been able to attract the talent to
18:54operate that equipment and produce it
18:58um second to none. So that what we shot
19:02yesterday in probably 7 and 1/2 hours
19:05would have taken 3 days in another
19:08country. And
19:10so multiply that times a million times
19:12in terms of productivity. Now how do you
19:14get there? You got to have policy. You
19:17got to have the technology. You have to
19:19be able to attract the talent. Those are
19:21highly skilled individuals operating
19:23that stuff. I mean, this was I sent the
19:26a little teaser image to my son who's an
19:29electrical engineer working at Tesla and
19:31he saw saw it and said, "Dad, what the
19:34hell is that? Who did that?" Cuz he made
19:38the assumption it was all done in post
19:39that was shot live with a massive
19:42digital wall that was choreographed with
19:44AI. I mean, that's the stuff that
19:46anybody in television or in in in
19:49creating content knows is cutting edge.
19:52So that gives you an example of how much
19:56people don't know about this place. And
19:58so for me, you know, I'm going to take
20:00and what's what's the best investment
20:02you can make to capture that sectoral
20:05movement? Real estate,
20:08commercial and residential real estate.
20:10And indeed, look at the indexing of the
20:12price of residential real estate in the
20:15UAE in the last decade. That reflects
20:18the sectoral diversification. There is a
20:21saying that says that the UAE is
20:23building the future before the rest of
20:25the world has even thought of it. You
20:27know, this is what happens here. You're
20:29describing exactly what happened. Well,
20:31I have a different theory. Um I'm very
20:33fortunate because my stepfather actually
20:35worked on the water system in Abu Dhabi
20:37with the founder that far back. He's 94.
20:40He lives in Switzerland now. That's
20:41incredible. Better shape than I am. It's
20:43amazing. And my mother lived here when
20:45when you when you could have never
20:46recognized what Abu Dhabi became back
20:48then. But so there was, you know, that
20:51my family first being connected and my
20:53brother worked off the rigs on his first
20:55job as a mechanical engineer, you know,
20:57right off um Dubai. Right on the rigs
21:00here. You're coming back to your roots.
21:02Yeah. And so that's what happened. But
21:06my theory, having watched it develop,
21:08this is what I think. The leadership
21:10here was smart enough to go to every
21:12city on earth and I think it's on a
21:14clandestine basis and pick what's good
21:17about that city and bring it here. So
21:20they let all the experiments occur all
21:22around the world and just took the best
21:23stuff and brought it here. And what the
21:26attribute was in the end which I think
21:27is remarkable. This is the safest place
21:29on earth. It is. I can wear some of the
21:33craziest watches from my collection.
21:36Bring my collection with me to show
21:38other collectors here. I'm getting down
21:39the rabbit hole of watches. Some of the
21:42greatest herologists are here in the
21:45world that appreciate the art of
21:46watchmaking and feel safe and that's
21:50there isn't many places you can do that.
21:52I I have to ask you about this
21:53partnership that you have now with uh
21:55one development because you're not
21:57somebody who does these kind of
21:59partnerships easily and this is your
22:02first real estate partnership in the
22:04region. Why now? Why one development,
22:07you know?
22:09I I've been a real estate in investor
22:11forever. It's the only sector I
22:12overweight. My rule is no more than 5%
22:15in anyone stock or bond and no more than
22:1720% in anyone sector. For example,
22:19crypto, I'm 19.2% right now. Um, real
22:22estate, I'm over 33, and that's around
22:25the world. I mean, real estate
22:29uh it's it's a unique asset class, but
22:32what I'd never seen before with when
22:35Ally pitched me and first he's was Paul
22:38uh Pangin runs uh their ventures in real
22:43estate and he said, "These guys are
22:45doing something over there I've never
22:46seen before. You're not going to believe
22:48this." I said, "Well, you know, he's a
22:50condo developer. I get it. I've met I
22:52met them all." He said, "No, no, no, no,
22:54no, no, no. this guy is integrating AI
22:58into real estate. And I thought that's a
23:00marketing story. Like that's not
23:04real. But he actually has. And that's
23:07what really hooked me because think
23:09about the idea of a smart home. You
23:11know, we've been talking about smart
23:12homes for 15 years now.
23:15There's no smart homes. They're all dumb
23:16because every single technology in the
23:19house is controlled with a separate app.
23:21your security, the cameras, the
23:24temperature, you know, the door lock,
23:26all this stuff is a different app on
23:28your phone. You have to have six apps on
23:29your phone. Yeah. And they end up being
23:31so ownorous, you stop using them. It's
23:33stupid. And so, there's nothing smart
23:35about that. What Alli did was said,
23:37"Okay, screw all that. Let's overlay an
23:40AI platform that does all that work for
23:43you." So, you're basically just using
23:44one
23:46application that gets more and more
23:48intelligent the more you live in your
23:49unit.
23:51That's genius. That is such a great idea
23:56that that's why I got involved because
23:59that's probably the bestselling feature
24:00of all these platforms he's building.
24:03And that's a very significant
24:05investment. But once you standardize,
24:08but what I occurred to me, let's say,
24:10okay, let's say I'm developing something
24:12on Miami Beach, which I am,
24:15and I want this system there. Like, I
24:19want to use because I don't want to
24:20relearn it. I want everything I'm going
24:23to do here to work when I land in Miami.
24:26So, I'm a royalty guy. I'll license it
24:29from him. I'll put it in that building.
24:31Why wouldn't I do that? because it's so
24:33simple to use, which means you don't
24:36have to learn it over and over again.
24:38It's seamless. It's seamless. No matter
24:40where you go in the world, you find
24:41yourself. So, he actually did what he
24:43said he was going to do. And that's
24:45because the thing about um these brand
24:48ambassadorships, I don't ever
24:50shill for a product that I don't use.
24:53Yeah. Ever. You got to be authentic. I
24:55mean, if I'm supporting a brand, it's
24:58because I'm either eating it or wearing
24:59it or using it. uh with the exception of
25:01watches, I I will never attach my name
25:03to one brand because I want all the
25:05watches. So, you know, I make sure I
25:07stay Switzerland on that. But in this
25:09case, I'm living when I'm here, I'm
25:11going to be living in Lagona. So, I'm
25:14going to be eating my own cooking
25:16and using that platform. And when I
25:19leave here and I don't have the same
25:21software in the next home I'm in, so I
25:24think he has a chance. He hasn't
25:26executed yet, but he has a chance of
25:28proving it here and showing it to other
25:30de developers all around the world and
25:32really end up being a technology
25:33company, not just a real estate company.
25:36I mean, building real estate, getting
25:37permits, constructing it, and doing all
25:39the design engineering, that's one
25:41thing, but no one's ever applied tech on
25:43top of that. Sure, they've got a
25:45thermostat and all that, but that's
25:47everybody has that. This is different.
25:49So if this works, it'll become a
25:52platform play, which is on a
25:55subscription service, I would think
25:56would be very attractive. Great
25:58investment. You're somebody who's really
26:00deep in tech and and this is something
26:01that you see as a great opportunity to
26:03take a company like this from the UAE
26:06and take it global as well. You're
26:08talking about taking it to the US and
26:09taking it global. Yeah. But also there's
26:11a Kairo project. Cairo is a massive
26:13market. Yeah. Massive. I mean the and
26:16also prove it out in in different
26:18sectors of real estate. Hospitality the
26:20do hotel for example use the same soft
26:22like the whole
26:23idea it's it's easy for me to say
26:27look assuming he executes which you got
26:30to do and he's got a pretty good track
26:31record of that you want to bet on the
26:33horse right the guy has to execute but
26:35if he executes and it
26:37works I'm a perfect partner because I'm
26:40going to say look I eat the cooking I
26:41use it and I'm going to tell everybody
26:43in the world how it works. I just let
26:45out a little tease yesterday. We talked
26:46about that earlier. That freaked a lot
26:48of people out. They said, "What are you
26:50doing? What is this? What's going on
26:52here?" That's just an idea of how that
26:54technology is being used to market this
26:56product. So, that's very very advanced.
26:58And I know a lot of developers. A lot of
27:00developers. And we're just at the very
27:03beginning of AI. Before we we get in a
27:06little bit more into AI, I want to ask
27:08you about the richest man in the world
27:09about Elon Musk because he's been having
27:12a very interesting time in terms of uh
27:15being the head of Doge of course, but
27:18then at the same time Tesla board
27:21members have been calling for a new
27:23CEO. Is Musk distracted? Should he step
27:27down as Tesla CEO? I have a I think a
27:32unique perspective on Elon.
27:35Um let me tell you a little story that I
27:38think I worked for Steve Jobs for a long
27:41time in the early 90s uh developing all
27:44of his educational software for every
27:46Mac in his school all around the world.
27:48Uh Rita Rabbit, Carmen San Diego, Oregon
27:51Trail, Mavis Beacon teaches typing.
27:54These are multi multi-million dollar
27:56titles. And I you would have to meet
27:58with Steve Recorder with my team. He was
28:01not a very nice guy.
28:04Um at all not
28:07nice. But what was remarkable about him
28:12and if you worked with him you started
28:13to figure this out. This guy had a
28:15philosophy of signal versus noise ratio.
28:18And so the way it worked is he would say
28:24the signal are the four or five things
28:26you have to get done. Not this week, not
28:28this month, not this year. This 18 hour
28:30cycle in this 18 hours, these five
28:33things have to be done. That's the
28:35signal. All the things that would stop
28:37you from getting the five things done,
28:39that's the noise. You need to be 8020.
28:42You got to be 80% signal, 20% noise to
28:44achieve that 18 hour cycle. Achieving
28:48sequential 18-hour cycles is how Apple
28:51was
28:52built. He did not waste a second in a
28:56meeting. As a result, he was brutal to
28:58work with. He would just dismiss an
29:00idea, leave someone in tears, including
29:03my people. You said, "Kevin, you're up
29:0630% of free cash flow in our
29:08relationship this quarter alone. Do you
29:09have anybody else that you're making
29:11this much money with and growing this
29:12fast?" "No, Steve, I don't." Okay, shut
29:14up and stay
29:16focused. He was right. And look at what
29:18he achieved. He You don't have to like
29:21him. You have to respect what he
29:22achieved, which I did. Now, this is what
29:26the answer to Elon is. I've only met one
29:29person in my life who's 100% signal.
29:31It's Elon. And I haven't met him many
29:33times, just a few times. I met him um
29:36through my my relationship with Mark
29:38Brunette, who produces Shark Tank and
29:41has for 17 years. That's my connection
29:43with Trump from 17 years ago because he
29:45was doing Celebrity Apprentice when I
29:46was doing Shark Tank. We were selling
29:48the Forwards in New York at the same
29:49week and Trump's a hell of a salesman.
29:52He just he could sell. I've seen it
29:54happen myself. So, but
29:58Elon, he's he's a little unique because
30:02he is so focused on productivity in the
30:05moment that he'll walk away from a
30:07conversation with three or four people
30:08just you would say, "Oh, that's rude.
30:12He's totally focused on what has to get
30:14done and look at what he's
30:16achieved. My son
30:19uh was gradu every electrical
30:23engineering team, you know, or cohort
30:26around the world races an electric
30:28Formula 1 and a and a combustion engine.
30:31That's what they do. These mechanical
30:32engineers and electrical engineers build
30:34these cars and they race them all around
30:36the world. It could be in Germany. It
30:37could be in the US, whatever. It could
30:39be in Canada. No one had ever beaten MIT
30:42on the electric car. No one. Until my
30:45son was the captain. He beat him. And
30:47Elon hired the entire
30:49team. You're moving to Fremont. And they
30:53all didn't even have a choice. He just
30:55offered him a deal I couldn't refuse.
30:57And off went Trevor. And he worked there
30:59for 5 years. And I've ne he I mean,
31:03there's nothing like that place. The way
31:05they operate, six small entrepreneurial
31:08teams. He worked on the low voltage
31:10testing team. Tiny teams driving massive
31:14productivity that no other company in
31:16the automotive space could could deal
31:18with. So if people say to me, well, you
31:19know, Elon this or Elon that look at
31:23what he's achieved, every mandate he set
31:25out to do, I'm his 100% advocate for
31:27what he does, including Doge, which is
31:30what this you're referencing. Nobody
31:33nobody achieves success rate like that
31:36in the world. This guy is the modernday
31:39Michelangelo, if you want to call him
31:40that, whatever. He's the Renaissance man
31:42of his age, including so many diverse
31:46sectors that he gets involved
31:49in. It's incredible. So, I'm a huge
31:51advocate for him. I support him. Uh I
31:54want to I don't want to see him stop
31:56doing Doge. Um I think I'm a shareholder
32:00of Tesla. I want to keep him. It's
32:02ridiculous. The guy can juggle 15 balls
32:04and he's proven he can. So it'd be
32:06stupid not to leave him at the helm. You
32:09know, we're right at the center of AI
32:13and its dominance and its rise right
32:15now. And it's not just about
32:17technological dominance. It's becoming
32:20about political dominance as well
32:22between the US and China. Yes, I agree
32:25with you. This is a this is a big deal.
32:28The country that controls AI will have
32:31will win the wars in the future. There's
32:34no question about that. Now, there's a
32:37really interesting I I've been looking
32:39at AI now since its inception, both from
32:41the investment point of view, but trying
32:43to figure out as an investor, you know
32:46that analogy, where's the puck
32:49going? Okay, hear me out on this. As an
32:53investor, here's what how I'm going to
32:55play it. I don't know which vertical is
32:59going to win. Whether it's going to be
33:00the Google vertical, the Microsoft, the
33:04open
33:05AI, I have no idea. But I do know this.
33:08They won't get there without data
33:10centers. And the demand domestically in
33:14the US is 45 gawatt. There's only five
33:18under construction. When I saw that, it
33:21was like a light bulb exploding. I said,
33:23"Wait a second. I'm a real estate guy.
33:27How how do I develop a gig data
33:31center? There are only 20 guys and women
33:35in the world that know how to do that.
33:37And one of them is right here in the
33:39UAE. Carl Agrid. Carl works for me now.
33:44He's the guy that built the very first
33:48100 megawws here in Abu Dhabi. He was
33:51the guy. He lives here. He's now working
33:55with me. and he's designing the world's
33:58largest data center right now with Paul
34:00Pangen here and a whole team of experts,
34:057,000
34:07acres in Alberta, Canada. Why? The
34:10lowest cost stranded gas on Earth is in
34:13Alberta, Canada. What are the other
34:14states? West Virginia, Virginia,
34:18Mississippi, Texas, North Dakota. I'm
34:21all over. This is
34:24where we're going to find sites. Bring
34:28Carl and the team in to determine
34:30whether they're viable for a giga center
34:32or larger. Work with the governors and
34:34the senators in each
34:37state. Do these projects as we've done
34:40in proven in Alberta where you can work
34:42with
34:43government. I'm so excited about this. I
34:46plan on never dying. I'm going to be a
34:48vampire. This is going to be a a 20
34:50years of the most extraordinary returns
34:53in real estate development because
34:55unless these hyperscalers get these
34:57facilities and the DoD in the US gets
35:00one, they'll lose to China. So, thank
35:04goodness I'm here. That's the way I look
35:06at it. You've really you're you're going
35:09all in on this because I I think people
35:11forget that at the center of AI is all
35:14of the data centers. This is absolutely
35:16worth it. It's really a power problem.
35:19It's the power problem because you can
35:21go to a state right now and try and try
35:23and get a gig of power off the grid in
35:25the US. You can't get it anywhere. So,
35:27the only way to figure it out is find
35:29stranded gas. Now, the company there's a
35:31a really interesting visionary guy,
35:34Mackey, the guy that runs energy
35:36transfer. He's my new best friend
35:39because I'm going to stick close to
35:41Mackey's pipelines. He's got the gas so
35:45to run it all. Well, let's say we find a
35:48site, but it's 200 miles from a Mackie
35:49pipeline from energy. He'll build it as
35:53long as I give him an uptake agreement,
35:55and I'll get an uptake agreement as long
35:56as I find a tenant. So, it's it's a it's
35:59a you know, it's a really interesting
36:01symbiotic relationship, but he's the
36:04key. Energy transfer is the
36:06largest web of gas pipelines in North
36:09America. If you have your way, North
36:12America is going to win against China in
36:15the world. Well, I have to be honest,
36:17I've already done this in Denmark and in
36:19Finland and there's low power there,
36:21too. So, our first data center um was in
36:25Norway. So, uh I'm trying to build a
36:28global portfolio and it's it's it's all
36:31about the energy. Can you get a contract
36:33sub6 cents kilowatt hour? Once you
36:36secure that, then you can build a data
36:38center. Beyond all of that though as
36:40well, you know, coming back to Elon,
36:42it's it's very much Elon Musk uh versus
36:45uh Sam Ultimate as well. When you're
36:47talking about Open AI, uh he tried to
36:51buy out open air, that didn't work. So,
36:53what are you thinking about that? I
36:55think competition is good. I think these
36:58two guys uh need each other, even
37:02though, you know, they they're probably
37:03going to sue each other till the guys
37:04come home, but it doesn't matter. It's
37:06it's it's important that they push each
37:08other and advance this faster than the
37:10Chinese do and I just going to be a
37:13service provider in data centers. I mean
37:15that's really what what I'm going to do.
37:18And you know we we you know just data
37:20center world three weeks ago in
37:23Washington DC that used to be a sleepy
37:25hollow little conference. It was packed,
37:29globally packed, global. Everybody
37:31involved in data centers around the
37:33world was there. And I realized, wow,
37:35look at what what's happening here. So,
37:38you've got the sovereign capital
37:40engineering firms, all of the turbine
37:43manufacturers. You need to put all of
37:45these together. And I'm the right guy to
37:48do that. The UAE is on it. We're on to
37:50those data centers as well. I know that
37:51that is of course nuclear power here is
37:54the cheapest power and the best and the
37:55green is the most effective. Exactly.
37:57Exactly. Let's talk a bit broader about
38:01business. Uh you've said that money has
38:04no emotions, but people do, right? So,
38:07what is the biggest emotional mistake
38:09that people make with money?
38:12Geographic
38:14concentration. The the
38:16the false sense of security by thinking
38:20you know which country is the best place
38:23to invest. You're never right. not over
38:26a period of time. You need you need
38:27global diversification because look at
38:29what's happening right now. Look at the
38:30volatility in North America because of
38:32the tariff wars going on. Look at this
38:36place. Rock solid, stable, consistent
38:40policy. I mean, you really think about
38:41it, it's it's not really anything except
38:45trying to figure out where is the most
38:47stable policy on Earth. I'd argue this
38:50region has got some it's got volatility.
38:52It's got issues. There's wars going on
38:53around here. But you need to find the
38:56pockets where there's stable policy
38:57because the underlying growth is
38:59phenomenal. I mean and again the way I
39:01index it I always go to real estate say
39:03look if you can find a growth economy
39:05with stable policy the best way to play
39:07it is go real estate go commercial
39:11residential and hospitality they always
39:14always win because you you can't have
39:17growth in economy without that
39:18infrastructure. And so you see
39:20everything that's happening on a global
39:23scale working in the UAE's favor. Yeah.
39:26I mean, I think the reason they pulled
39:28it off
39:30was it took time. It really took time to
39:34get
39:36people comfortable enough to go long
39:40here. When I say go long, that means set
39:42up offices, invest capital, start
39:46using Well, I'm I'm using the AVGM
39:49Global's here, the ADGM. I'm pushing
39:52more and more business through here
39:55because of policy. So, if I look at my
39:58last, I don't know, five
40:01deals, either half or more than half is
40:04actually being put through here. very
40:07attractive u policy, very attractive
40:11um you know tax rate. But the other
40:14thing they did right is let me give you
40:17an example of just
40:19infrastructure. If if I need to set up
40:22here a company, a holding company or
40:24maybe vehicle that I'm investing
40:28in, I want to use my adviserss, my
40:31lawyers, my accountants, my auditors, my
40:33regulators.
40:35They all have offices here. They figured
40:37out the joke, too. So, I can talk to my
40:42partner in Miami or New York or Toronto,
40:46Canada or
40:47Calgary, and the same firm represents me
40:51here. So, I know that when I get audited
40:55or when I I'm compliant with regulators,
40:57I'm providing information that's
40:59consistent with the ADGM, the SEC, the
41:02OC in Canada.
41:04Um that was brilliant. I mean that was
41:08actually and even banking even banking I
41:11can transfer
41:13uh
41:15between my data center project in
41:18Alberta
41:20Calgary or Calgary Alberta and then my
41:23banks in New York and my accounts here
41:27in an hour like that's seamless.
41:32So building the financial
41:34infrastructure, the audit support, the
41:37legal support, that's actually what was
41:41being done quietly. And then you wake up
41:43and I keep running into all the guys I
41:45work with in Boston or New York here
41:47saying, "What are you doing here?" Well,
41:49you know, we're setting up an office and
41:50we're I said, "Who are you using?" We're
41:53all using the same firms. Like it's just
41:56everybody's figuring out that this is
41:59what's next and they're doing it
42:01quietly, but this place is turning
42:04itself into the capital capital. There's
42:05no question about it. It's happening
42:07because of policy and stability. You
42:10know, it's it's uh it's a pretty
42:13interesting situation. So, you see it as
42:16something that is setting up a an
42:19important foundation to become a global
42:22powerhouse. It's not just uh something
42:24that's a trend that that we're seeing
42:26right now, something that is just a
42:27flash in the pan. This is long term.
42:30Yeah. I mean, what really happened here,
42:32and I don't think anybody thought about
42:34it this way until you actually look at
42:37it. If you if you go back 20
42:40years, this economy was completely
42:42dependent on hydrocarbons, 100%. Oil
42:46gas, that was it. Very attractive
42:49economics and have remained so. But what
42:53they did right was to
42:56say let's start an everinccreasing
42:59amount of incremental dollars into other
43:01sectors making big
43:03bets obviously real estate it's so
43:06obvious what happened here on real
43:08estate and then these free trade zones
43:11and then tax policy that was very
43:13competitive then bringing in the firms
43:16that everybody uses worldwide whether
43:18it's London or New York or or Zurich or
43:20Geneva you find the same firms here.
43:23That in itself is a big signal. It it in
43:27terms of making as in individual
43:29investment decisions, you feel okay. I
43:31feel better that my you know, I've got
43:34my my team here. So, I'm
43:38not but
43:40also as these diversifications
43:44occurred, let me give you the most
43:46unbelievable one. Watch makers coming
43:49here. Why would a watch maker come here
43:52to take advantage of AI to design more
43:56advanced mechanical
43:58watches. The AI here is superior to I
44:02mean in certain verticals it's the best
44:05in the world in
44:07animation in
44:09language in in DNA
44:13sequencing. This is the best. This was
44:15the first country to have a a minister
44:17of AI. We understood the importance of
44:20it long before anybody else did. And
44:22it's wild that you talk about all of
44:24those changes that happened here in the
44:25UAE, literally within a couple of
44:27decades. But let me ask you about
44:30investment when you have a founder in
44:33front of you. Yeah. What makes you go,
44:35I'm all in. And you mentioned something
44:38very interesting
44:39about Reed Hoffman, for example. He's
44:42like, I need to like the person before I
44:44invest. But I think you have a different
44:46view to that. What is it that makes you
44:49go go all in and what would be red flags
44:51for you? I invested a lot of that I
44:53don't
44:54like but I respect I respect them and
44:57the only thing I care about is
44:59executional skills is the ability to say
45:02all right this is what I'm going to
45:04achieve this month and then execute on
45:06it. And when they hit the bumps which
45:09they all do because whatever their plan
45:12was is not going to work. do they have
45:14the ability to pivot? And so um there
45:18something remarkable over you know all
45:19these years like 20 years of doing this
45:21is the section of the portfolio of a
45:23truly high-risk investing founders you
45:26know uh venture capital
45:31entrepreneurship I I I'm an executive
45:33fellow at Harvard now I teach this stuff
45:35and I've learned from experience that uh
45:37outcomes are very random but something
45:40that's intrigued me I look at a
45:41portfolio of all these investments over
45:4420 years the majority of My returns
45:47almost 90% have come from companies run
45:49by women. This is the naison startup uh
45:53period sort of from the million in sales
45:55past 5 million to 50 to half a billion.
45:58And in job creation in North America 62%
46:01of the jobs are created by companies
46:02between five and 500 employees. So, but
46:06if you if you look at the success rates
46:09from the nasent startup through to
46:12proving the product or service and then
46:14growing it, it's women and so u they're
46:19underappreciated in management in my
46:21view. So, I tend to be a little biased
46:23now and I'm willing to
46:24back and I still do. If you just look at
46:27this crop of maybe I
46:29made 16 venture investments this year,
46:33the majority are women CEOs. So um not
46:37be I don't want to start gender warfare.
46:39I'd give money to a goat if I could make
46:41a return. I don't care. But they somehow
46:44mitigate risk and it's return of capital
46:46and venture that matters, not return on
46:49capital. Until you get your capital
46:50back, you haven't made any money because
46:52that venture could go to zero any time.
46:54And so I I I care about um ability to
46:59pivot, signal to noise ratio,
47:03um the idea that they have executional
47:06skills is key. And lastly, and I've
47:09learned this myself from one of my
47:10female women CEOs, said to me a few
47:13years ago, you know, Kevin, you talk too
47:15much. You should shut up and listen. Re
47:18most people talk twothirds of the day.
47:19Listen, because everybody's got an ego,
47:21wants to get their idea. She said,
47:22reverse the ratio. listen two/3s, talk
47:26one-ird, you'll get higher returns. And
47:28she was right because you get more
47:30information, particularly when you're
47:32negotiating, if you shut your mouth, the
47:34other side spills because they're so
47:36uncomfortable in the silence. And I saw
47:39this recently
47:42um with with a really highlevel
47:44executive in a major watch company. He
47:46wanted to meet. I flew to New York. We
47:49sat down. He didn't say anything. And I
47:51said, "You know something? We're both
47:53doing the same thing right now. We won't
47:56talk at all unless one of us
48:00starts cuz you I do what you do. I
48:03figured out the secret sauce. So, I'm
48:05not worried about it." And that because
48:07we were negotiating something in in in a
48:09sector I'm involved in, watch insurance,
48:12which I'm so intrigued with. It's a
48:15sector that hasn't had any innovation in
48:18hundred years. So I've launched
48:20WonderCare. It's a global product. Um it
48:23will be disruptive and I have my first
48:27um you know integration with POS systems
48:30in the US with a company called 1916
48:33which is the old watchbox daddy gober's
48:35company but uh there's no product like
48:38it on earth. My partner the underwriting
48:40partner is Chub. Uh, we've been working
48:43on this for I'm so passionate about it,
48:46but it's really been hard to do this and
48:49we spend a fortune on the tech. The
48:51tech's amazing. The policies issued from
48:53the register just like Apple Care in 9
48:56seconds using
48:57AI every state. Very cool. And I'm
49:01bringing it here. Going to bring it to
49:03the UAE, too. There's so many watch guys
49:05here. It's crazy. Exactly. You're you're
49:06wearing two watches right now. Before I
49:09get into the watches, what do you think
49:10it is about women that makes them better
49:13business administrators? We did the
49:16research. You want to know the answer?
49:17Yes. We had all we have tear sheets. We
49:20look at our when you're private company,
49:21the only you care about is sales and
49:23free cash flow pre-tax. You can learn
49:25everything on what's going on between
49:28those two numbers every week. So, we try
49:29and get the tear sheets on Tuesday. So,
49:31we had all the data. We went back and
49:33looked at um we were trying to figure
49:35like how does this work? So here in the
49:38companies run by men um if you looked
49:41over the years at remember these are
49:43nayent startups right okay their average
49:46target growth rate was around 31%. and
49:50they hit that target about 65% of the
49:52time. And I said, "Wow, that's
49:54fantastic." Or at least I thought it
49:56was. Then we looked at companies run by
49:59women and they were like just over
50:0415%. H just basically half their target
50:08growth was half. And they don't know
50:10each other and they're in multiple
50:11sectors. It could be insecticide,
50:12commercial kitchens, wireless charging,
50:14whatever it was, right?
50:16and they hit those targets 95% of the
50:20time. Now, why would that manifest
50:22itself in higher returns? Here's why.
50:25Great analogy. Look at the years when
50:27Brady was winning Super Bowls. Nobody
50:30wanted to be traded. Nobody wanted to
50:31leave the team. They wanted to get that
50:33Super Bowl ring. When your team hits
50:35targets consistently quarter after
50:37quarter, not only do you make your
50:38bonus, but you feel part of something
50:40magical and gets very sticky. The
50:42turnover is incredibly low. And in these
50:44neocent companies, the person running
50:46compliance or marketing or logistics or
50:48whatever it is, when they leave, it's
50:50very disruptive. So you see a lot of
50:51turnover in these startups that run by
50:53men because they're they're not hitting
50:55their targets like the ones run by
50:57women. So what we did when we saw this
50:59data, we held a big conference down in
51:01Miami about five years ago, um one of
51:04the hotels on the beach and I showed the
51:06data to all of our company's CEOs and
51:07said, "Guys, look at this data."
51:11And we brought down the targets to where
51:15we achieved success 90% of the time and
51:17our cash flows went up almost 20%. So
51:20instead of making 15% on average across
51:22the venture portfolio on the profitable
51:24companies um because a lot of my company
51:27structures are royalties or venture
51:29debt. So I get cash flow coming in. I'm
51:31a royalty guy. Everybody knows that.
51:34But the growth target went down. The
51:38cash flow went up.
51:41So what that tells you is women
51:43intuitively set targets that they can
51:46achieve and it mitigates risk
51:49dramatically. You know the old adage,
51:51you want something done, give it to a
51:52busy mother. I mean it's sort of that's
51:55what it is. And so that is the secret
51:58sauce of the intuitive female CEO just
52:02saying look I'm going to protect the
52:04hive maybe you know whatever that is
52:07that that thing whatever they're doing
52:09is working and it's really working now
52:11can you apply that to an S&P 500
52:13company? Well we're going to find out
52:14because I think more and more women are
52:16going to rise to higher and higher
52:17positions based on executional skills
52:20and that's how it should be. I've never
52:21believed in this you know gender
52:24equality thing. I don't care what gender
52:27you are. Can you execute? I don't care
52:29what race you are, what planet you're
52:31from. If you can execute and achieve
52:33goals, you're going to move up in my
52:35organization. I don't care how many
52:37tattoos you have. It just doesn't
52:38matter. And so, I have tremendous
52:40diversity diversity in in my companies
52:44because it's all performance-based.
52:47So, that's way better than trying to
52:50legislate diversity. Just do it on a
52:52performance basis. How's AI going to
52:55change business? Uh, are we headed for
52:58an entrepreneur golden age or are we
53:01going to be seeing a mass extinction of
53:03small businesses because AI is just
53:05going to be replacing so many people? I
53:08could see how people would have that
53:09concern except small business now has
53:11access to AI because it's now come the
53:15cloud-based AI services
53:18um are really getting cheaper by the
53:21quarter. And so small companies I I'll
53:24give you an example. Um I'm in the wine
53:26business. I I'll sell three million
53:28bottles of wine this year in the US.
53:29It's a lot of wine. I have a concern
53:31because the glass is made in China. So
53:33we've had to order a lot of bottles. But
53:37the during the pandemic, just prior to
53:40that and during the pandemic, the laws
53:41changed because it used to be you make
53:43your wine in Walaw Wala Valley in
53:45Washington State or NMA, Napa, and you
53:48ship it west of Mississippi through
53:50three tiers of distribution, east of
53:52Mississippi through two tiers. 97% of
53:56wine in America is sold for under $14 a
53:59bottle. And the majority of wine is
54:01purchased by
54:03women. Now during the pandemic we were
54:06allowed to ship direct 39 pound case of
54:0812 bottles to the
54:11consumer and for the first time we
54:13started getting the data the actual
54:15information of what they ordered when
54:17they ordered it where they ordered it
54:18from where they lived what varietals
54:20they liked. I can tell you this quarter
54:22the number one varietal for women in
54:25southern Florida will be mosscato. So
54:27using AI, we were able to forecast how
54:29many bladders of mosscato should we buy
54:32in the auction market. I mean should we
54:35tap 19 or 20 vineyards for their
54:37mosscato output and we did and so we
54:40have the inventory in the right it's
54:41located on the east coast now. So we
54:43know to have that and we're we're right
54:45within 3%. So imagine how effective the
54:48reduction of cost of capital is so I
54:50don't end up with varietals I don't need
54:52because I've been able to forecast
54:54demand state by state by state.
54:57Is AI going to replace CEOs or just make
55:00the exist existing ones 10 times richer?
55:05Oh, I think it's the latter. I think it
55:08it'll make everybody richer um if they
55:11learn how to use the tool. I think the
55:13biggest challenge about AI now and
55:14beginning to realize that there's two
55:15generations. People that know how to use
55:17it and those that don't. I mean, it's a
55:20re-education to understand how to use
55:22the models and how to you I use them
55:24every day and we use them in our
55:25businesses. Just for example, there's 95
55:28words in a 15-second uh social media
55:30post about a business. Which 95 words?
55:34So, we'll let the copywriter write the
55:36first pass and then we'll put it through
55:38five different models. Then, we'll test
55:40it and see which one gets better
55:43engagement. And we can do we can do all
55:45that for a fraction of the cost it would
55:47have been you know five years ago. So in
55:51the actual images too the digital images
55:53or the language spoken in that post
55:56because most most CAC models customer
55:59acquisition cost and rorowass tests. So
56:02most businesses are now 50% direct to
56:04consumer and consumer goods and
56:05services. So CAC and rorowass are the
56:08whole model AI over that. that is just
56:10so huge right now and it's our number
56:13one growing cost is creation of content
56:15and finding the the videographers and
56:17the uh story writers and the the my
56:22number one AI guy in my company lives
56:27here lives here in the UAE and he does
56:31all the AI because he's got the tools
56:33here it's impossible to see you without
56:35seeing your incredible watches what is
56:37it that drew you in the first place to
56:39herology ology and watch collecting.
56:41Well, my stepfather um when I when I my
56:44biological dad, my mother was Lebanese,
56:47my father Irish, and they moved to I was
56:49born in Montreal, Canada, and he my
56:52biological father died very early and my
56:54mother remarried um George who we moved
56:57to Champagne Orbana um Illinois, the
57:00University of Illinois, and he when he
57:03graduated, he became um an expert in the
57:06ILO. He was an engineer and uh we
57:10started moving to uh we start Cambodia,
57:13Ethiopia, Tunisia, Cyprus, um
57:16Switzerland, Japan, 24-month
57:20assignments. And there's really two
57:23headquarters for the ILO. There's New
57:25York and there's Geneva. And my mother
57:27fell in love with Geneva and they both
57:28became Swiss citizens. And so I grew up
57:30when you after 10 or 12 years you have
57:33to pick you move to the headquarters and
57:35George moved into Geneva. We lived in a
57:38town called Gurier. He still does. So
57:40I've been going to Switzerland for 50
57:41years. And he took me down the streets
57:44you know
57:46uh of where the original watch brands
57:50were because the Kenon Devo is where
57:53Swiss made came from. And I just got
57:56fascinated the PC museum, the Omega
57:59Museum, just watching uh at that time
58:02there was the moon landing and Omega
58:03brought out the moon watch. I really
58:05wanted one of those and I got my first
58:07Rolex. It's a horrible disease. You
58:10don't need a watch. You can use your
58:12phone, but it's it's sort of once you
58:14get into it, it's it's it's crazy. And
58:17it's a very wild uh community. And just
58:22so you probably know this, some of the
58:24most sophisticated and largest
58:26collectors on earth are right here.
58:28They're very quiet about it, but I know
58:31all of them.
58:32And there's this is a very passionate
58:35crowd about watches. And that's why when
58:38I came, every time I come, I bring my
58:40piece uniques because when collectors
58:42get together, doesn't matter where they
58:44sit in the in society, it's the watch
58:47that takes over. And I have some pieces
58:50they don't have. How many do you have?
58:53I have a lot. And um because I've had
58:56two collections stolen. I have a very
58:58complex relationship with insurers. I
59:00don't disclose where they are or how
59:02many I have or in what country, but you
59:05should assume I have a lot. And what I
59:07do is they are now geographically
59:10located in cities where I go. And uh
59:14that's why I created the watch insurance
59:16company because I I wanted to have some
59:19one of the biggest challenges in
59:20watches. First of all, they've been a
59:22phenomenal investment. I don't know if
59:23you've looked at a watch index. There's
59:26volatility in it, but if you if you own
59:28a Rolex from the 70s, you've made a ton
59:30of money. And some of the the largest
59:32auctions ever, the Philips auctions, the
59:34Paul Bros auctions are around these
59:36vintage Rolexes
59:37pre85. It's like modern art. And you
59:41don't need the same amount of storage
59:42for a watch. You know, you can put it in
59:44the bank vault. But, you know, the whole
59:47idea
59:49is watch collecting
59:51[Music]
59:53um to me is about the
59:56dial. Not there. None of my if I look at
1:00:00my collection and you know, people have
1:00:02seen vast quantities of them. All the
1:00:04dials are different. So, when I see a
1:00:06piece unique come to auction somewhere
1:00:08that's a one-of-a-kind dial, it's never
1:00:10been made before and never will be made
1:00:12again. I'm going to buy that watch. No
1:00:13one else is going to buy it. The only
1:00:15guy that could There's a guy here,
1:00:18unfortunately, I think he's passed away,
1:00:19Clo Safir, Lebanese, by the way, uh,
1:00:23diamond merchant
1:00:24originally. He is the largest collector
1:00:26on earth. Now, in the auction
1:00:30world, you have to find out if Clo's
1:00:32going to bid cuz if he is, he's going to
1:00:35get the watch. There's nothing you can
1:00:37do because all the auctioneers know
1:00:38that. So, I would always say to the lead
1:00:41paddle, is Clode in this
1:00:43auction? And they'd say yes or no. And
1:00:47if he's not there, I have a chance. But
1:00:49if Clo wants the piece, he gets the
1:00:52piece. If you look at his collection,
1:00:54he's got some of the very 001 and 000 of
1:00:58every watch maker on earth. Everybody
1:01:00wants Clo to have their first watch,
1:01:03including Rolex, including PC. Yeah.
1:01:07Here. It's here. These watches are here.
1:01:09You don't know where they are, but
1:01:11they're in this country. You have one
1:01:14watch that's always on Dubai time. Why?
1:01:16It's where all the money is. I need to
1:01:18know what time it is. I mean, that's
1:01:21it's that simple. because I don't want
1:01:22to wake the guys up. Remember, there's a
1:01:24big shift in hours. Yeah, it's a lot of
1:01:25hours. So, you really have to think. And
1:01:27if I don't have my phone near me, I go
1:01:29check Dubai time. I just look at it. So,
1:01:31I I keep local time on the left and
1:01:33Dubai time on the right. And it's sort
1:01:35of the way it is all the time. And
1:01:37that's a great way to do it. lately
1:01:40what's happened to me um because of the
1:01:42whole red band Shark Tank thing. One of
1:01:46the producers came to me a couple years
1:01:47ago and said, "You know,
1:01:48Kevin, we're having a problem with your
1:01:51watch thing. Um you wear these watches
1:01:55that there's only one of in the world
1:01:57and nobody can afford anyways because
1:02:00we're on a show here where we want to
1:02:03inspire young people to be able to buy a
1:02:07watch. not show them watches they'll
1:02:10never have. So the new rule for Shark
1:02:13Tank for you is going to be left hand
1:02:15crazy piece, right hand entry level. Get
1:02:19them into collecting that way. Show them
1:02:22something that you own that's
1:02:23affordable. It was brilliant. It was it
1:02:26was so great and so smart because even
1:02:29my wife said, you know, he's
1:02:31right. Why are you such like what is
1:02:34this? Why aren't you showing people how
1:02:35to get into it? And that's spawned a
1:02:38whole new I have millions of followers
1:02:40now, millions that and I work with guys
1:02:42like Teddy Baldazar, all of the brands
1:02:45now, uh, Grand Seiko, Tutor, you know,
1:02:48last week at F1 in Miami, Tutor dropped
1:02:53a bomb. They didn't tell the world
1:02:56anything. They showed up one night, they
1:02:58invited all the watch press from around
1:03:00the world to a dinner at the one
1:03:04hotel. And after we ate, they took us
1:03:06into a room and they showed us a watch
1:03:08that I had never seen
1:03:10before. Carbon fiber. It weighed
1:03:14practically nothing. It was a
1:03:15chronograph with complications. Sub
1:03:18$7,000
1:03:19price. I went nuts. I said, "This is
1:03:22unbelievable." And just by chance, I was
1:03:26on Fox and Friends the next morning and
1:03:28I was it was on my left wrist and the
1:03:30producer, you know, you're in the green
1:03:32room and he's saying, "What's what are
1:03:34you wearing today, Kevin?" I said,
1:03:35"You're not going to believe this. Look
1:03:36at this. Look at this thing. Look at
1:03:37this watch." And so I went up to the
1:03:39camera and he said, "Oh, you're kidding.
1:03:40That is that is that carbon?" I said,
1:03:42"Yeah." It didn't even have the red band
1:03:44on it yet. So in the middle of the show,
1:03:46they called it out and said, producer
1:03:49said, "You've got a carbon watch on.
1:03:51It's all carbon fiber. And I held it up
1:03:54to the camera and that thing went viral.
1:03:58They sold every piece. I mean, but
1:04:00that's what's great about watch
1:04:02collecting that you can cuz that's an
1:04:03entry-level piece that's going to be
1:04:05collectible forever. It's a limited
1:04:07edition. It weighs nothing. It you it it
1:04:11weighs like a piece of paper and yet
1:04:13it's so well made that you can wear it
1:04:15playing golf. It's so shockresistant and
1:04:18tennis. Amazing. And cycle in it. You're
1:04:2170 years young. Yes. Which is insane
1:04:23because you're not giving me 70. Like I
1:04:25don't like your energy is insane. What's
1:04:28your secret? What's your daily routine?
1:04:30What are you doing? It's longevity. Um
1:04:32it's the longevity routine.
1:04:35um a whole new protocol, a whole new way
1:04:38of living and in
1:04:40uh and I must say and it's funny you
1:04:43bring this up because if you look at all
1:04:45the longevity clinics around the world
1:04:48and you know the the philosophy is this
1:04:50it happened about 5 years ago for me
1:04:51maybe it's six years now I think about
1:04:53all the investments I make all the
1:04:55capital I spend why am I not making me
1:04:58the number one investment why wouldn't I
1:05:00go invest in technologies and start to
1:05:04look DNA research and in fact my DNA was
1:05:07sequenced in both Italy and here the
1:05:09resolution here in Abu Dhabi at the DNA
1:05:11lab is the highest on earth and so I
1:05:14came here I got the data I sent it to
1:05:16Cornell I started working with a guy
1:05:18named Richard
1:05:19Isacson I'm part of a group a very
1:05:23interesting group that was founded by
1:05:25Don Walker the exce of Magna car part
1:05:28company he's very interested in
1:05:30longevity and there's I think there's 60
1:05:32of us now we invite world leaders in
1:05:35longevity, doctors, scientists,
1:05:37researchers to present to us every
1:05:40month. And because we're well known as
1:05:42investors in longevity, they do. Is gave
1:05:45a presentation about four years ago
1:05:47where he claimed that dementia, not
1:05:50Alzheimer's, dementia was a form of
1:05:52diabetes and that if you ate too much
1:05:55sugar and spiked your glucose multiple
1:05:58times during the day, you essentially
1:06:00fried your brain. and he proved it
1:06:02during a research study at Cornell and I
1:06:05was blown away. So I called him up and
1:06:07said, "Listen, I got to get in this
1:06:08study." And so I wear a glucose monitor.
1:06:10I'm not a diabetic, but I monitor every
1:06:12food I eat and keep it between 70 and
1:06:14150. And I you want to be compliant 98%
1:06:18of the month. But you need to do so many
1:06:20other things in terms of of just looking
1:06:23at how your body works and and and
1:06:25getting into a bespoke way of what foods
1:06:27you eat, how you sleep.
1:06:29The number one lab on earth. Number one
1:06:33on earth. Lifespan in Dubai. There is no
1:06:37lab, no clinic like that on earth. I
1:06:40know them all. This is this is the
1:06:44clinic on earth where they've aggregated
1:06:47doctors from all around the world, lab
1:06:49technology, 33 thou 30,000 ft of just
1:06:53equipment, technology. Every time I
1:06:55come, I go through an EBO process, which
1:06:57is where they drain almost four and a
1:07:00half liters of your blood through a
1:07:01dialysis process, clean it, ozenate it,
1:07:04oxygenate it, and then inject 50 billion
1:07:08exosomes, which go into your
1:07:10bloodstream, and for the next four
1:07:12months reduce inflation. You feel like a
1:07:15million bucks when you walk out of
1:07:17there. Now, it's not cheap, but it's the
1:07:20best investment. You're you're properly
1:07:22biohacking right there. But there's they
1:07:24do even more stuff like that. The whole
1:07:26biome analysis, they they look at all of
1:07:30Anyway, there's there's a shopping list
1:07:32of things you can do. But I feel better
1:07:35today than I did when I was 30. I've
1:07:38lost 40 pounds. I do intermittent
1:07:42fasting. You know, I all the things that
1:07:44I do that have become routine in my
1:07:46life. I can't believe I didn't do I
1:07:47don't do drugs. I don't smoke. Have you
1:07:48cut out sugar?
1:07:50Pretty well completely. I don't I I rar
1:07:52I only eat berries you know little not
1:07:55much fructose the thing is these
1:07:57routines become so easy when you feel
1:08:00that good my only sin is wine that's the
1:08:04only like I don't do any drugs I don't
1:08:06smoke I I ride my bike 12 miles a day
1:08:09but I drink wine and that screws up your
1:08:12sleep I don't think I can ever eliminate
1:08:14it but you know whatever you're doing so
1:08:17much what is the one thing that you're
1:08:19dying to still do right now that you
1:08:20haven't on yet? I got to get better on
1:08:23the guitar. I need more time to practice
1:08:25because I'm playing a big gig in Nucket
1:08:27on the sixth. And Gibson's making me a
1:08:30one-of-a-kind Mr. Wonderful. A
1:08:32combination of the 355 that George
1:08:35Harrison played with a 335 neck, which
1:08:38is a classical rock neck. And combining
1:08:42this together with in in in Ivory, Mr.
1:08:45Wonderful on the fretboard. I'm gonna go
1:08:48pick it up in Nashville, but I've got a
1:08:50there's a I got to get a whole set
1:08:52worked out. I need more time to
1:08:53rehearse, you know. I gotta move. I got
1:08:55to buy some guitars here so every night
1:08:57I can keep my calluses up, but I got to
1:08:59get my licks ready because it you got to
1:09:02when you're performing, you got to
1:09:03perform. So, that's what I need. I feel
1:09:06like I feel like the music is also
1:09:07keeping you young. But yeah, you know,
1:09:10it's amazing because my son is better
1:09:12than I am, which really pisses me off.
1:09:14He can play the lead to Asia. That's one
1:09:16of the hardest jazz rock tracks in the
1:09:18world. The guy that wrote the part can't
1:09:21play it anymore. You got to be young.
1:09:23You got to be sort of less than 35 years
1:09:25old to be able to do those half notes.
1:09:27But Trevor can play it. He's amazing.
1:09:29Well, we can't wait to see you do it.
1:09:31Kevin Ori, what an incredible pleasure
1:09:34it has been down with you today. I can't
1:09:37wait to I can't wait to read this book.
1:09:40Thank you so much. You're amazing. Thank
1:09:42you. Really enjoy. Thank you. What a
1:09:43joy. Thank you.

About this transcript

This page contains the full transcript of Kevin O’Leary: Why He’s Betting on the UAE and Sounds the Alarm on AI, Energy & the Global Economy by Forbes Middle East, generated from the public captions YouTube serves with the video. The transcript has 11,786 words across 1,693 segments, with the original timestamps preserved so you can click any line to jump to that moment in the embedded player.

What you can do with it

Use the transcript to take notes, quote the speaker, build a study guide, generate a summary with ChatGPT or Claude via the YouTube Summary tool, or export it as a timed subtitle file with YouTube to SRT. You can also re-open it in the transcriber to translate the transcript into 100+ languages.

Free YouTube transcript tool

YouTube2Text is a free YouTube transcript generator — no signup, no daily limit. Paste any YouTube link and get the full transcript instantly, with timestamps, click-to-jump, translation to 100+ languages, AI prompts for ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, and exports to TXT, SRT, VTT, or Markdown.