CNN guest Scott Galloway slams Jeff Bezos for agreeing to pay $40M for Melania Trump documentary rights

WASHINGTON, DC: Scott Galloway, an NYU Stern School of Business professor and author, recently launched a blathering attack against “kleptocracy”, while accusing billionaire businessmen like Jeff Bezos of siding with the Donald Trump administration to protect their wealth. 

Galloway, who is a regular guest on CNN, recently appeared on Anderson Cooper’s 'AC360' show where he blasted the Amazon founder for agreeing to pay $40 million for licensing rights to Melania Trump’s documentary, The Daily Beast reported.

Speaking about the latest political situation, the ‘Adrift: America in 100’ charts author firmly declared that while the “very American ideals” are “severely under threat right now,” the wealthy will just be fine because of their cozying up with the Trump government.

Scott Galloway calls out Jeff Bezos for his $40 million donation

When Anderson Cooper started the segment by asking Galloway about his opinion on the effects of Elon Musk’s DOGE on the American economy, ‘The Prof G Pod’ host opened up about the wealthier class not speaking up. 

Claiming that Musk’s prominence in Trump’s administration is a result of “people’s rights [being] a function of their wealth,” Galloway noted, “My fear is that the wealthiest among us have this sort of unholy alliance where we‘re not really speaking up in a full-throated way—we‘re showing up to the inauguration, we‘re giving $1 million to the inauguration committee under the auspices of shareholder value—not recognizing those people are going to be fine.”

He added, “The wealthy are going to be fine.”

During the interview, the clinical professor of marketing also pondered upon the role of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and termed it a “weapon of mass distraction” on Trump’s behalf.

He added that the DOGE would help the Republicans to divert attention from the real deficit of “$900 billion a year” that would take place because of the proposed tax cuts. 

The podcast host did not shy away from calling out the Amazon founder when he said that greed was the motivating factor for business tycoons like Jeff Bezos. 

Galloway remarked, “Bezos doesn’t need any more yachts or people dancing around in thongs on his goddamn deck,” before adding, “On his deathbed, he‘s not going to regret being worth 90 billion versus $120 billion. He‘s going to regret not standing up for American values.”

The ‘Algebra of Happiness’ author also sounded skeptical when Cooper asked him whether he saw signs of “kleptocracy” slowing.

Sounding doubtful, he noted that first lady Melania Trump would receive more than 70 percent of the $40 million amount offered by Amazon.

Melania would be acting as the executive producer of the Prime Video project, which would focus on her life. While the filming started in December 2024, the project is expected to be released in theaters and on the streaming platform in the latter half of 2025, reports BBC.

Scott Galloway calls out the ‘class traitors among the wealthiest’

Elsewhere in the interview, Galloway confessed to Cooper that the upper echelon of the society would not be harmed by the economic reforms, however, the less fortunate might receive the blow. 

Not warming up to the ideas of the tax cuts, ‘The Algebra of Wealth’ author added that “a series of class traitors amongst the wealthiest who realize that the very American ideals that gave them so much prosperity, that gave them so much wealth, are severely under threat right now.”

He continued, “I think it is incredibly embarrassing that we have this domino of cowardice among the wealthiest—especially in tech—who have decided not to say anything because they have gone into ChatGPT and uploaded their W-2s and realized that the tax cuts are going to be enormously beneficial for them.”

Further calling out the wealthy people, the podcast host summed up, “And what we see is the most powerful people in business are bending a knee and giving in to this ridiculous pressure where they have said, ‘OK, the incentives are to bribe this guy, kiss his a**, engage in this type of one-sided support, and he will give me money.'”