Episode 500: From Broke to Billionaire: Stephen Cloobeck's $3.3B Mindset

Stephen Cloobeck didn't climb the ladder. He built his own. In this episode, we talk about what it really takes to grow a billion-dollar company without a business degree: and why integrity, discipline, and grit beat credentials every time. We get into his biggest pivots, how mentorship shaped his success, and why EQ always outperforms IQ in business and life. Stephen also opens up about giving away over $63 million, calling out "wokeness as weakness," and what real leadership looks like when you're under pressure. Stephen Cloobeck is the founder and former CEO of Diamond Resorts, which sold for $3.3 billion enterprise value. He's been on Undercover Boss more than anyone, donated millions, and still believes character is the ultimate ROI. What We Discuss: 02:03 - Stephen's $63 million in philanthropic giving 04:02 - Undercover Boss episodes and giving away the most money 09:30 - Learning business from Mike Milken instead of business school 12:45 - Harvard Business School case study on his industry disruption 15:20 - Treating employees like family as competitive advantage Thank you to our sponsors: Therasage: Head over to therasage.com http://therasage.com/ and use code Be Bold for 15% off Air Doctor: Go to airdoctorpro.com http://airdoctorpro.com/ and use promo code HUSTLE for up to $300 off and a 3-year warranty on air purifiers. Magic Mind: Head over to www http://www/.magicmind.com http://magicmind.com//jen and use code Jen at checkout. Momentous: Shop this link https://www.livemomentous.com/?srsltid=AfmBOorDUIZz3psr1Qsq_n1yE8_6JTq_QUFabOO9lH65HDEXCIoJOPLj and use code Jen for 20% off Manna Vitality: Visit mannavitality.com and use code JENNIFER20 for 20% off your order Prolon: Get 30% off sitewide plus a $40 bonus gift when you subscribe to their 5-Day Program! Just visit https://prolonlife.com/JENNIFERCOHEN and use code JENNIFERCOHEN to claim your discount and your bonus gift. Amp fit is the perfect balance of tech and training, designed for people who do it all and still want to feel strong doing it. Check it out at joinamp.com/jen https://www.joinamp.com/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=in-stream&utm_campaign=jen Find more from Jen: Website: https://www.jennifercohen.com/ Instagram: @therealjencohen https://www.instagram.com/therealjencohen/ Books: https://www.jennifercohen.com/books Speaking: https://www.jennifercohen.com/speaking-engagement Find more from Stephen Cloobeck: Instagram: @stephenjcloobeck https://www.instagram.com/stephenjcloobeck/ Website: https://stephenjcloobeck.com/

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:01Speaker 00

  Hi guys, this is Tony Robbins. You're listening to Habits and Hustle. Crush it.

• 0:08Jen Cohen?

  Before we dive into today's episode, I first want to thank our sponsor Therasage. Their Trillight panel has become my favorite biohacking thing for healing my body. It's a portable red light panel that I simply cannot live without. I literally bring it with me everywhere I go. And I personally use their red light therapy to help reduce inflammations in places in my body where honestly I have pain. You can use it on a sore back, stomach cramps, shoulder, ankle. Red light therapy is my go-to. Plus, it also has amazing anti-aging benefits, including reducing signs of fine lines and wrinkles on your face, which I also use it for.

• 0:51Jen Cohen?

  I personally use Therasage Trillight everywhere and all the time. It's small, it's affordable, it's portable, and it's really effective. Head over to therasage.com right now and use code BBOULDS for 15% off. This code will work site-wide. Again, head over to therasage, T-H-E-R-A-S-A-G-E.com and use code BBOULDS for 15% off any of their products.

• 1:31Jen Cohen?

  Okay, you guys, we have a very special guest here today. We have Steven Klubek. That's how you pronounce your last name.

• 1:37Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 1:37Jen Cohen?

  If you guys are somebody who is interested in a business, scaling a business, starting a business...

• 1:42Speaker 02

  Disrupting a business.

• 1:43Jen Cohen?

  Disrupting a business. There's probably, you know, not many people better at it than Steven. He sold his business for $3.3 billion.

• 1:56Speaker 02

  Enterprise value.

• 1:57Jen Cohen?

  Enterprise value, thank you.

• 1:58Speaker 02

  Net 2.2 billion.

• 2:00Jen Cohen?

  Net 2.2 billion, that's true. He is exceptionally philanthropic, which is what I like about you.

• 2:07Speaker 02

  Given away close to sixty three million dollars.

• 2:09Jen Cohen?

  You what?

• 2:10Speaker 02

  Given away close to sixty three million.

• 2:12Jen Cohen?

  Sixty three? Okay, are you want to, do you have a particular amount that you're trying to get to?

• 2:16Speaker 02

  No, just very philanthropic.

• 2:18Jen Cohen?

  Very philanthropic. That's basically why he's even on the show because a friend of mine, Shawnee, asked me to meet with you because you're so philanthropic, you're so great, you're so wonderful. And then I looked into you and then guess what happened? This is how the world works.

• 2:32Speaker 02

  Tell me.

• 2:32Jen Cohen?

  Okay, so she tells me about Steven and then I'm like doom scrolling on Instagram.

• 2:38Speaker 02

  How many mutual friends?

• 2:39Jen Cohen?

  And a lot of mutual friends. But you know what came up? Your little clip from the School of Hard Knocks.

• 2:46Speaker 02

  That was in the street. That was just happened.

• 2:50Jen Cohen?

  That, when did that happen?

• 2:53Speaker 02

  About nine months ago.

• 2:54Jen Cohen?

  Okay.

• 2:54Speaker 02

  This young man, this young man came up to me. Well, then he came back and wanted to meet with me and I wanted to help him grow his business.

• 3:01Jen Cohen?

  Well, he's been pretty good, too.

• 3:02Speaker 02

  He's, because he's got a little, nice little platform.

• 3:04Jen Cohen?

  Yeah, he does.

• 3:05Speaker 02

  For young entrepreneurs and I love young entrepreneurs doing well.

• 3:08Jen Cohen?

  Yeah.

• 3:08Speaker 02

  And that's how I learned. I learned from great mentors. I never went to business school.

• 3:13Jen Cohen?

  I heard.

• 3:14Speaker 02

  But I actually got a degree signed by Mike Milken because he taught me. I was fortunate enough to meet him when I was thirteen.

• 3:20Jen Cohen?

  Was this is before junk bonds or after junk bonds?

• 3:23Speaker 02

  It was during that time. I didn't know. I was studying to be a doctor. I was going to be a surgeon.

• 3:26Jen Cohen?

  Really?

• 3:27Speaker 02

  I worked at Cedar Sinai for years.

• 3:28Jen Cohen?

  Like a nice Jewish boy.

• 3:30Speaker 02

  I was going to be the doctor. My brother was going to be the lawyer.

• 3:33Jen Cohen?

  Really? I'm sure your mother was thrilled.

• 3:36Speaker 02

  They were thrilled, but I didn't become the doctor.

• 3:38Jen Cohen?

  Well, I think you did okay for yourself.

• 3:40Speaker 02

  But I'm still involved in medical technology and, and research and I still involved.

• 3:45Jen Cohen?

  Okay, wait, let's start from the beginning because people are probably very confused. Okay, so you.

• 3:48Speaker 02

  Extremely.

• 3:49Jen Cohen?

  You're okay, because first of all, I'm just going to give a couple more facts about you. So you were on Undercover Boss for many episodes.

• 3:56Speaker 02

  Which no one's ever done, yeah.

• 3:58Jen Cohen?

  And yet, and you gave the most money away, even on that show.

• 4:01Speaker 02

  True.

• 4:02Jen Cohen?

  Right?

• 4:02Speaker 02

  Totally unscripted.

• 4:04Jen Cohen?

  Completely unscripted?

• 4:05Speaker 02

  Unscripted.

• 4:05Jen Cohen?

  Okay, so there's that. You're also running for governor of California.

• 4:10Speaker 02

  Unintended.

• 4:11Jen Cohen?

  Unintended, which.

• 4:12Speaker 02

  Because I interviewed every candidate, not one I would trust with my family's life safety.

• 4:17Jen Cohen?

  Okay, tell me about this.

• 4:18Speaker 02

  I, I interviewed every single candidate. I mean, I ran tourism in the United States. I don't know if you know that.

• 4:23Jen Cohen?

  No, I don't.

• 4:24Speaker 02

  I worked for President Barack Obama. I created Brand USA. In 2009, 10, and it's still around today with the same standard operating procedures and its returns are outsized for the United States. I ran the state of Nevada. I passed laws in many states, changed a law in Delaware, business law, which is almost impossible, on derivatives, operated in 35 countries. So I've had a vast wealth of experience. And when I came back to California, because I grew up in the valley.

• 4:52Jen Cohen?

  It's so funny you did that. Did you grow up wealthy or not really?

• 4:57Speaker 02

  No, I went to Harvard School for Boys, now Harvard Westlake.

• 5:00Jen Cohen?

  That's well, that's a private school that very fancy.

• 5:02Speaker 02

  I went to public schools too, when I wrote.

• 5:05Jen Cohen?

  Okay.

• 5:05Speaker 02

  And I grew up in Encino, Willen Hills kindergarten, but we moved from Chicago when I was very little. And I, California boy, through and through. And I left California, it's a storied career where I was going to be studying to be a surgeon, a doctor, worked at Cedars, have a degree in hard science, and decided not to go to the school anymore. I went to Brandeis University, have a degree in neurobiopsychology.

• 5:28Jen Cohen?

  Yeah. By the way, those are, these are not like, these are great schools. These are like Ivy League.

• 5:34Speaker 02

  I barely got through. I didn't know I was dyslexic.

• 5:37Jen Cohen?

  Well, yeah, I saw that.

• 5:38Speaker 02

  I negotiated my grades.

• 5:39Jen Cohen?

  How did you negotiate your grades? Sounds familiar.

• 5:42Speaker 02

  But yeah, so I should have realized I should have gone into business.

• 5:45Jen Cohen?

  Well, how did you negotiate? Like, how did you get in in the first place?

• 5:48Speaker 02

  Relationship with the, with the professors.

• 5:50Jen Cohen?

  How did you meet the professor?

• 5:52Speaker 02

  Because at Brandeis, we were very small classes. So of course you knew all your professors.

• 5:56Jen Cohen?

  But how did you get into Brandeis? Because you have to have good marks.

• 5:58Speaker 02

  I transferred from USC. I was there one year.

• 6:00Jen Cohen?

  Okay.

• 6:01Speaker 02

  And I did well enough to get in and a relationship helped me. A relationship helped me. And I managed to get through Brandeis. So if you look at my transcript today, it's published my first book, Checking In on Hospitality. It's a concomitant group of Cs, maybe a couple of Bs, one A in human memory. I remember that.

• 6:23Jen Cohen?

  Wow, yeah.

• 6:24Speaker 02

  No pun intended.

• 6:25Jen Cohen?

  Yeah.

• 6:27Speaker 02

  I have no idea how I got through school other than memorizing. Seriously, memorizing everything. And I found out only I was dyslexic when my adult son was diagnosed. Because nobody understood that when we were going to school.

• 6:38Jen Cohen?

  Right. It was a different time back then.

• 6:40Speaker 02

  Different time. So it just powered through everything. Powered through everything, but was able to, being dyslexic, you're able to think out of the box because you don't think A, B, C, D, E, F, G linearly. You just can handle multi-dimensional chess. 10 games of chess, seven levels out all the time. And that's how I think.

• 6:59Jen Cohen?

  So did you, okay, so did you just like read backwards at the time?

• 7:03Speaker 02

  It's not reading backwards, it's just not reading, not comprehending.

• 7:06Jen Cohen?

  So it's not retaining the information?

• 7:08Speaker 02

  No, but I could memorize pages.

• 7:10Jen Cohen?

  Yeah, me too. That was how I got through school too, is memorizing.

• 7:13Speaker 02

  You're probably dyslexic. You don't even know it.

• 7:15Jen Cohen?

  I just think I'm bad ADHD, like I can't concentrate.

• 7:18Speaker 02

  So what is it? It's a combination of, but this makes you unique and it gives you a gift.

• 7:24Jen Cohen?

  Yeah.

• 7:24Speaker 02

  And everyone needs to embrace these gifts that they have.

• 7:26Jen Cohen?

  Yeah, I don't use it as a crutch. I think it's silly.

• 7:28Speaker 02

  No one has a crutch. There's no crutches.

• 7:30Jen Cohen?

  There are, because we're living in a time when that's-

• 7:32Speaker 02

  That's because we helicopter our kids.

• 7:34Jen Cohen?

  We helicopter our kids, we coddle our kids. We're not able to let them just be bored. We're not a lot, we're not, we basically do too much for them and they're growing up to be less resilient and have zero coping mechanisms.

• 7:46Speaker 02

  Where'd you grow up?

• 7:47Jen Cohen?

  Canada.

• 7:48Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 7:48Jen Cohen?

  Yeah.

• 7:49Speaker 02

  So Toronto?

• 7:51Jen Cohen?

  Yeah, well Winnipeg first and then Toronto, but I hated school, but I like-

• 7:56Speaker 02

  How'd you end up in California?

• 7:57Jen Cohen?

  Job opportunity.

• 7:59Speaker 02

  That's great.

• 7:59Jen Cohen?

  Record label. My whole situation is a whole other, you know, how I ended up here is completely insane. But I pivoted and my whole, that's the power of the pivot. I just pivot, pivot, pivot.

• 8:11Speaker 02

  So do I.

• 8:11Jen Cohen?

  Yeah. Oh, I know. That's why, listen, when I was like doing some research on you, because I knew you were coming on, I was like, wow, this guy, and I sound so, like you, like so many things about you remind me of me, but you're just have way more Bs in front of your money than I do. You have way more money than I do, but besides that-

• 8:27Speaker 02

  I just, I just happen to take a lot of risk.

• 8:30Jen Cohen?

  Listen, risk doesn't always work out, right?

• 8:33Speaker 02

  No, it doesn't because I've been beaten up so many times in my career. And when the chips were down, I just kept fighting, fighting, fighting.

• 8:41Jen Cohen?

  Well, I want to hear about it. So like, I want some tactical, actionable things that the listeners can can glean from this podcast. Right. So let's start from the beginning of your career. How did you, you were in the hospitality world, right?

• 8:53Speaker 02

  I started in the shopping center business out of college. So I went, came back to Southern California. I went to Cal State Northridge to learn accounting 101 and 102.

• 9:01Jen Cohen?

  Okay.

• 9:01Speaker 02

  That summer of 83 and then took business law at night at UCLA and just listened. And then worked for a shopping center developer for a few years.

• 9:10Jen Cohen?

  Okay.

• 9:10Speaker 02

  And they promised me a bonus, which they didn't pay me. So I started my own company at 24.

• 9:16Jen Cohen?

  And what was it? Where does it begin at?

• 9:17Speaker 02

  I built shopping centers, small little shopping centers. Like, for example, my first shopping center was, not example, it was at Victory and Magnolia in Burbank. The northeast corner, I bought a Chevron station, not the down, and built a Chief Auto Parts and four stores.

• 9:33Jen Cohen?

  So wait, so you started off in like real estate development, basically?

• 9:36Speaker 02

  Shopping center development, leasing, managing, building, operating. And then from that point, built shopping centers throughout Southern California, hand for down to Temecula. And I had one really bad shopping center during the late 80s where my subcontractors went broke. My general contractor went broke, all my tenants went broke as I was building it. And I almost went broke. And I ended up having to build that myself and weather the storm of getting through that project, which then allowed me to build my first hotel at 29.

• 10:05Jen Cohen?

  So that's how, so then you ricocheted into that from like the shopping malls to the one hotel?

• 10:12Speaker 02

  Right. I built a large shopping plaza in Las Vegas called Polo Plaza. And behind that Polo Towers, and it was a 60,000 square foot shopping center. And it was very successful at the time.

• 10:23Jen Cohen?

  Who lent you money at the beginning?

• 10:25Speaker 02

  Oh, we had credit, credit companies.

• 10:26Jen Cohen?

  So you did all the, you did like?

• 10:28Speaker 02

  But before that was savings and loans. And at that time, there was so much money available, they would.

• 10:33Jen Cohen?

  It was a different time.

• 10:34Speaker 02

  But you had to sign personally. So I had the risk of going bankrupt on every project.

• 10:38Jen Cohen?

  Wow.

• 10:38Speaker 02

  And I almost did on one, that one in Lee. Forest, California, but I had a very successful project in Mission V A O just down the street. But in Lake Forest, I almost went broke, but it taught me how to build because I had to actually build it myself because all my subcontractors went broke.

• 10:52Jen Cohen?

  Well, how, okay, so the, I guess my first question is, how does, I think a big thing is people don't know, they, they think because they don't have the, the means, the connections, all the things like that. How does, what is the first step to starting that?

• 11:07Speaker 02

  What's the name of your show?

• 11:09Jen Cohen?

  Habits and Hustle.

• 11:11Speaker 02

  Hustle.

• 11:12Jen Cohen?

  You're preaching to the choir, but I still have to ask the question because I've never had you on the show. What would be the number one hustle? What do you think the number one skill?

• 11:19Speaker 02

  Get up early, stay late, go to work with a runny nose. And when they tell you can't do it, believe in yourself that you can.

• 11:26Jen Cohen?

  What is the one skill or the one quality that is essential for an entrepreneur to be successful?

• 11:34Speaker 02

  Integrity.

• 11:36Jen Cohen?

  Integrity, okay.

• 11:37Speaker 02

  Integrity is it, don't bust the trust with yourself or with others. Don't be around those that don't tell you the truth and just smoke out the bad people around you. Those that, somebody who doesn't tell you the truth, you don't want to be around. But you have to also be truthful with yourself during good or bad times. And don't read your press clippings. Just keep your head down.

• 11:58Jen Cohen?

  So you've had this, so you went from that one hotel to, how many did you end up?

• 12:03Speaker 02

  Ended up having 432 and 35 countries.

• 12:06Jen Cohen?

  They're called Diamond, they were called?

• 12:07Speaker 02

  It was Diamond Resorts. Originally, the company was called Santara. It was a failed company. And I bought this failed company. It was a public company and I took it private. So I had to hold a vote. I had to hold an election.

• 12:17Jen Cohen?

  Wow.

• 12:18Speaker 02

  And I just didn't need to get 50% of the stockholders to agree. I had to get over 90% because they had a poison pill on the documents. Now, mind you, when I was doing this, I didn't know anything about public companies. I was a private entrepreneur.

• 12:30Jen Cohen?

  Right.

• 12:30Speaker 02

  And I was now delving into the world of public company, S E C, Wall Street business. And I didn't go to school for any of this. But I had good friends like Mike Milken and my friends who ran other large public companies and I just listened. And they were there to mentor mentors are very important.

• 12:48Jen Cohen?

  You think so?

• 12:48Speaker 02

  Huge. You cannot succeed without mentors. And that's why I pay it forward now.

• 12:52Jen Cohen?

  How many people do you mentor right now?

• 12:54Speaker 02

  Oh, dozens of young adults.

• 12:56Jen Cohen?

  Really? What kind of how, what kind of mentor are, how involved are you as a mentor?

• 13:00Speaker 02

  They call me when they have issues, problems, I teach them cash flows, always know your numbers, always know your numbers, always know your deal. You have to know your deal backwards and forwards better than any of your lenders or your partners. And one of my greatest successes, every single bank's always been paid back. I never negotiated with the bank.

• 13:19Jen Cohen?

  Really?

• 13:19Speaker 02

  Never. They were always paid back because even during difficult times, I'd have to borrow more money from them to get through a difficult time because I always told the truth. Immediately to the point where they said, stop calling.

• 13:32Jen Cohen?

  What, what is, um?

• 13:33Speaker 02

  So integrity is very, very important.

• 13:36Jen Cohen?

  Keep on talking. I'm just going to open my questions for you. So go ahead.

• 13:39Speaker 02

  Everything's integrity is just a key, key component part of success. Because you are your brand.

• 13:46Jen Cohen?

  Right.

• 13:46Speaker 02

  And it takes decades to build a brand and people forget that they are a brand themselves. And you have to be true to your brand. You can't pander. You can't compromise. You can't just do things because everyone else says that's the way it was done. Or this is the way you must do it. If you think differently, if you have a different opinion or objective, but you have to have non-veterolic language when you communicate with others and collaborate. And explain your position, not, not demand your position, not in a dictatorial way. Explain it where people embrace, you gain their trust. You trust the people you're working with. That's integrity. Communication is important. Collaboration is important. And by doing so, you create an unbreakable team.

• 14:27Speaker 02

  You know, they, they say one stick is breakable, two sticks somewhat, three sticks tied together, which is a team, unbreakable. It's actually biblical.

• 14:36Jen Cohen?

  Yeah.

• 14:36Speaker 02

  Ecclesiastes 412.

• 14:38Jen Cohen?

  I think I saw you.

• 14:38Speaker 02

  Pretty good for a Jewish boy.

• 14:39Jen Cohen?

  Yes, not bad at all.

• 14:46Jen Cohen?

  I'm all about finding sustainable ways to optimize performance. The kind of work that actually moves the needle on how you feel and function. And that's why I really need to tell you about ProLon's five day program. Most of us are chasing quick fixes that never get to the root of the problem. And the result is sluggish energy, brain fog, and bodies running below its full capacity. But ProLon changes that by triggering your body's natural repair and renewal process at the cellular level. It's not a cleanse or crash diet. ProLon is the only patented fasting mimicking diet developed at USC's Longevity Institute.

• 15:28Jen Cohen?

  It's a plant-based program with soups and snacks and drinks that nourish your body while keeping you in a fasting state. The benefits are backed by science, deep cellular rejuvenation, fat-focused weight loss, no injections, and better metabolic health and energy. Plus, improved skin and even reduced biological age. And here's my favorite part. It's a complete reset in just five days. No willpower battles, no extreme restrictions, just a structured plan to let your body do what it's designed to do: repair, renew, and optimize. And right now, ProLon is offering 30% off site-wide plus a $40 bonus gift when you subscribe to their five-day program.

• 16:14Jen Cohen?

  Go to prolonlife.com/jennifercohen and use Jennifer Cohen to claim your discount and bonus. That's prolonlife.com/jennifercohen and use code Jennifer Cohen.

• 16:33Jen Cohen?

  You're big on the meaning, like the word yes, like the meaning of yes.

• 16:37Speaker 02

  That's what I found lacking in the hospitality space, and I was able to disrupt that.

• 16:41Jen Cohen?

  Okay.

• 16:42Speaker 02

  And I marked that.

• 16:43Jen Cohen?

  Tell me.

• 16:43Speaker 02

  The meaning of yes. Because, look, it's value for a product I was taught young by my father, who's in sales and marketing, always deliver equal or greater value to your customer. We're all customers. We're all customers. Even in politics and policy, we're not voters, we're customers. We should get equal or greater value to our tax dollars. And if we're not, we're voting for the wrong people.

• 17:05Jen Cohen?

  What did your dad do for a living?

• 17:07Speaker 02

  He wasn't, he was Glenn Gary Gunn Ross. You ever watched that movie?

• 17:10Jen Cohen?

  Yeah, she's a salesman. Is that the guy?

• 17:12Speaker 02

  Alec Baldwin, he was that guy. He was ABC Coffees for Closers. That's my father.

• 17:16Jen Cohen?

  Really?

• 17:17Speaker 02

  Dynamic, great sales guy, allegedly went to, he did go to finance school at University of Illinois, but he did not understand a balance sheet or an income statement. We used to get in arguments all the time. I said, I thought you went to finance school. He was a cash guy.

• 17:30Jen Cohen?

  Yeah.

• 17:31Speaker 02

  He didn't understand the generally accepted accounting principles and he just dealt in cash.

• 17:36Jen Cohen?

  Did your mom work?

• 17:37Speaker 02

  No, no.

• 17:38Jen Cohen?

  Did your, how, do you have any brothers or sisters?

• 17:41Speaker 02

  I, I do, but we got into a massive argument years ago. They busted my trust. So it was over money.

• 17:48Jen Cohen?

  Of course, it's always over.

• 17:48Speaker 02

  Sure, they didn't want to work, you know?

• 17:51Jen Cohen?

  So wait, so.

• 17:51Speaker 02

  They're doing silly things.

• 17:52Jen Cohen?

  Wait, so you have a brother or a sister or both?

• 17:54Speaker 02

  Both, both.

• 17:55Jen Cohen?

  Older, younger?

• 17:57Speaker 02

  What's that?

• 17:57Jen Cohen?

  Older?

• 17:58Speaker 02

  Younger, both younger.

• 17:59Jen Cohen?

  So you don't talk to them?

• 18:00Speaker 02

  No, no, they decided to sue my wife and my, myself and my children years and years, decades ago.

• 18:08Jen Cohen?

  For money?

• 18:09Speaker 02

  For money. It's ridiculous. So I wrote him a check and said, goodbye.

• 18:12Jen Cohen?

  You, why, why did you write them a check?

• 18:14Speaker 02

  Because I would rather not have the conflict. Just make difficult situations go away.

• 18:20Jen Cohen?

  Even though that's your money?

• 18:21Speaker 02

  I took his interest in the company.

• 18:23Jen Cohen?

  Oh, well, you guys are partners?

• 18:24Speaker 02

  Yeah, we're partners. So I took his interest. So I just bought him out.

• 18:27Jen Cohen?

  Oh, gotcha. Okay.

• 18:28Speaker 02

  Bad mistake on his part.

• 18:30Jen Cohen?

  Wow. And what year did he leave the company?

• 18:32Speaker 02

  Oh, it was decades, probably two decades ago.

• 18:34Jen Cohen?

  Oh.

• 18:34Speaker 02

  Five years ago, a long time ago.

• 18:36Jen Cohen?

  Cause when did you actually sell this company?

• 18:38Speaker 02

  Two thousand sixteen.

• 18:39Jen Cohen?

  So.

• 18:39Speaker 02

  September.

• 18:40Jen Cohen?

  So you went from like, so you were obviously like, what's the difference between being a millionaire than to being a billionaire?

• 18:47Speaker 02

  You get to give more money away?

• 18:49Jen Cohen?

  Besides giving more money away? Well, how did your lifestyle change?

• 18:53Speaker 02

  I, my lifestyle's never changed. I mean, I built my dream house. I mean, you can't live in a house that I designed and built unless you have the wherewithal to do it.

• 19:02Jen Cohen?

  Right.

• 19:03Speaker 02

  It's like a mini hotel, but I built it for events and, and to do charities and politics and policy. And I did it for my dream.

• 19:13Jen Cohen?

  Right.

• 19:13Speaker 02

  I always wanted to live in Beverly Hills, so I wanted to live over the hill.

• 19:16Jen Cohen?

  Where were you living before two thousand sixteen?

• 19:19Speaker 02

  Uh, before, uh, before thousand, two thousand sixteen, I was living in Las Vegas and I had a home in Cabo. I had a beach house on Laguna Beach.

• 19:25Jen Cohen?

  Oh, okay.

• 19:26Speaker 02

  I had many homes.

• 19:27Jen Cohen?

  So then you, you built this house in Beverly Hills once you made the money? The real money.

• 19:32Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 19:32Jen Cohen?

  Yeah, the real money. Besides that, because I see you have a security guard. You did you did like, did you get the security?

• 19:38Speaker 02

  I have had security when I was running Diamond Resorts. I mean, when you run a multinational company and you're dealing with 5 million guests a year, you end up with security issues. And now running for governor, being a Jewish man in today's environment, you can only imagine.

• 19:54Jen Cohen?

  I wanted to ask you about that.

• 19:55Speaker 02

  Oh, it's serious.

• 19:56Jen Cohen?

  Tell me, give me some information about that.

• 19:58Speaker 02

  Three death threats already.

• 19:59Jen Cohen?

  Really?

• 20:00Speaker 02

  Yeah, anti Semitic death threats.

• 20:03Jen Cohen?

  I'm surprised it's only three.

• 20:04Speaker 02

  People in politics and policy, you know, I'm so in the middle, hard center. I'm old Ray, I'm a Reagan Democrat, balance sheet, income statement, we don't steal.

• 20:12Jen Cohen?

  Yeah.

• 20:13Speaker 02

  You know, I'm unapologetically authentic with warmth and compassion, and I just live to my brand and I'm not going to pander or I'm not compromised. So I just have done a lot of due diligence and I tell the truth. And some people don't want to hear the truth. And today with the vitrolic politics and policy we have today, you only hear from the hard right and the hard left, so they both want to demolish me.

• 20:36Jen Cohen?

  Well, it's interesting because.

• 20:38Speaker 02

  But 68% of us want the hard center. We just don't have a voice.

• 20:41Jen Cohen?

  Well, that what I was going to say is that that's like, I kind of feel that what used to be considered debt, like the Democrats are is not the same thing anymore.

• 20:49Speaker 02

  I'm still the same.

• 20:50Jen Cohen?

  Right, but the people who were Democrat, it's the, the party has changed a lot over the last.

• 20:55Speaker 02

  Yeah, that wokeness is weakness. It's weakness, it's weakness. They have no breast balls, they have no breast balls and they forgot about the customer.

• 21:04Jen Cohen?

  Well, have you not know, I mean, listen, have you not noticed what's happened in Los Angeles in the last five years? First of all, last person to leave should shut off the lights. Most of my friends have already left LA.

• 21:15Speaker 02

  As I was moving back home, all my friends were leaving or have left.

• 21:20Jen Cohen?

  Left.

• 21:20Speaker 02

  And their children can't afford to live here.

• 21:22Jen Cohen?

  There's a lot of problems.

• 21:23Speaker 02

  Because it's not affordable, livable, workable. We're closed for business. These are facts. We've elected, unfortunately, leaders that don't understand our life safety. We just saw that with the fires.

• 21:33Jen Cohen?

  Yep. The fact that she's still even a mayor, first of all.

• 21:36Speaker 02

  Well, how about the accountability? How about, how about, how about the wildfire money? Governor and Mayor Bass, where's the money?

• 21:43Jen Cohen?

  I'm at what you tell me.

• 21:44Speaker 02

  Where's the money? Well, it's probably given to charities, on charities, on charities, and it's all. Filtered off through G and A with side deals, which should be investigated. Okay. I mean.

• 21:55Jen Cohen?

  This happened, do you remember like a few years ago? Sure you do Gavin, everyone hated Gavin Newsom back then. Everyone hated him and then he got reelected. It was shocking to everybody else, like everybody was shocked when he got reelected again.

• 22:09Speaker 02

  Because, look, you cannot blame anybody other than we.

• 22:14Jen Cohen?

  Okay.

• 22:14Speaker 02

  We did it.

• 22:15Jen Cohen?

  Well, not we, but somebody did it.

• 22:18Speaker 02

  No, no, we, because we didn't fight hard enough on the other side. So don't, you cannot throw stones, you gotta fight harder. If you want serious change, you gotta show up.

• 22:27Jen Cohen?

  Okay.

• 22:27Speaker 02

  With your voice in your pocketbook.

• 22:29Jen Cohen?

  Let me ask you a question. Okay, let's just start with California. I said, I didn't really want to speak about politics and now I'm going to go right into the politics. Cause I'm, I am actually furious about what's happened. The demise of California that I've seen so far, right? Like I, I moved here when I was 24 years old. I have literally.

• 22:45Speaker 02

  Five years ago.

• 22:46Jen Cohen?

  Exactly six, but very close. You're very charming. So I've seen the demise over the, especially over the last seven, six, seven years already. The fact that you're saying is absolutely correct. The, it's completely unaffordable. You cannot, unless you have millions of dollars, you cannot live here. It is unbelievable.

• 23:09Speaker 02

  True.

• 23:09Jen Cohen?

  The homelessness is unbelievable, like in beautiful areas. Like I'm living in a nice area and there's literally homeless people on my street. This is a big problem there and they're, and they are building homeless shelters. Like on very expensive streets and it's dangerous. If you have little kids, I've had my car broken into on my own driveway three times already. This is a problem.

• 23:33Speaker 02

  Unacceptable.

• 23:34Jen Cohen?

  It is unacceptable.

• 23:35Speaker 02

  So what are you doing about it?

• 23:36Jen Cohen?

  And also the business, I mean, like, and the taxes are like through the, what are you paying for?

• 23:42Speaker 02

  What value are you getting? So it's.

• 23:43Jen Cohen?

  No value, that's why everyone I know has moved to Florida or they've moved to Texas.

• 23:48Speaker 02

  And by the way, those places are not great to live. I've been, I've operated all over the world.

• 23:53Jen Cohen?

  My friends who lived, who live in Florida now are loving it.

• 23:57Speaker 02

  Yeah, go, go through it, a hot summer.

• 23:59Jen Cohen?

  I mean, I just got back from there. It's unbearable.

• 24:02Speaker 02

  It's unbearable.

• 24:03Jen Cohen?

  Unbearable.

• 24:04Speaker 02

  Well, so they're paying a price.

• 24:05Jen Cohen?

  So.

• 24:05Speaker 02

  So in California, when I grew up here.

• 24:07Jen Cohen?

  Yeah.

• 24:08Speaker 02

  In the, in the late sixties, seventies, seventies, eighties, nineties. It was the land of aspiration. I'm a product of that.

• 24:15Jen Cohen?

  Totally.

• 24:15Speaker 02

  I'm a product of California, the way it was. That's why I'm still a conservative Democrat, because conservative Democrats actually ruled the state. Or even the Republicans that were around, they were conservative in the center. People were in the center and just understood this was California with California values, which we have. But we've elected leaders that cannot execute, proven, are not accountable, obviously. Where's the homeless money? Where's the wildfire money?

• 24:41Jen Cohen?

  Where is it? I'm asking you where to go.

• 24:42Speaker 02

  In the city, in the state? Good. Well, I'd like to, I'd like to propose, which I've done in the past, a bounty. Tell me where it is. I'll give 10% away. Wouldn't you give 10% away of our money to collect 90%? Go find our money. It's our money. It's our money. And these leaders, I can tell you this, they actually think of the reason that I even got involved in doing this, because I don't need to do this. This is just brain damaging, but it's for the good of the future of my children, your children, our children. And somebody's got to call bullshit on this.

• 25:13Jen Cohen?

  Okay, what can you, what, what can you do different? What would you do differently? Cause people, every, every politician or people say, oh, I'm going to do this, this and that.

• 25:20Speaker 02

  How about this? Execute, be accountable, show results, enforce the law, have respect for all the customers of California.

• 25:29Jen Cohen?

  How can you make it more affordable?

• 25:30Speaker 02

  Get rid of, get rid of a lot of these insane regulations with regard to human resource law, employment law, that are just stifling people from doing business here, getting rid of the.

• 25:42Jen Cohen?

  No movies are even being made here anymore.

• 25:44Speaker 02

  I've got a solution for that too. Affordability, I would relax or declare it an emergency for what's called SEQA, Wildlife Species Act, and the Coastal Commission until there are better laws so we can survive and thrive. Okay. But we've got to get. The individuals in Sacramento taught, coached, counseled with regard to these unintended consequences. They debate, actually, and this happened over the last few months. They were debating a shopping center bill, two and a half hours, and they debated energy policy 10 minutes. Really?

• 26:17Jen Cohen?

  So, do you think, well, number one, do you, what about Caruso? People like him.

• 26:22Speaker 02

  Yeah, but, you know, look-

• 26:23Jen Cohen?

  He's also a business guy.

• 26:24Speaker 02

  Yeah, but a Democrat can, is only going to get elected in the state right now, the way the map looks like, the pathway to success. And, you know, Rick is a very talented guy, but he's only built things, he's not fix broken. Okay? And Rick is not a Democrat. He changed to become a Democrat, but he gave so much money to pro-life candidates. I mean, come on. Who are you? All of a sudden, you had an epiphany that you're, you now believe in abortion? And he's Italian Catholic? What, do you talk to God? I mean, seriously. So, you have to be authentic to who you are. And once you've given to pro-life candidates in your career, you, you, you believe in a woman's no longer right to choose. All of

• 27:06Speaker 02

  a sudden, you change your mind? What, what happened? Come on. That's not being true to oneself. Okay?

• 27:12Jen Cohen?

  So you think he's become wishy-washy to kind of get the vote?

• 27:15Speaker 02

  I think he wants to win a beauty contest, too. Prompt King.

• 27:18Jen Cohen?

  Yeah.

• 27:19Speaker 02

  It's not a Prompt King job.

• 27:20Jen Cohen?

  No.

• 27:21Speaker 02

  It's not a, it's a serious job. We have to roll up your sleeves and serve. You know, Rick, you know, good guy, but he's a Palm Beach guy. He's a Republican. All the folks around him are Republican. You are who you hang with. I just call it as I see it.

• 27:35Jen Cohen?

  But the fees are Republican. Would the taxes be lower? Because the taxes here are insane.

• 27:41Speaker 02

  Me, as a Democrat, can deliver not only a less restrictive environment, but deliver performance and results. The California Department of Performance and Results, CPR, which we need.

• 27:52Jen Cohen?

  Well, because people here-

• 27:53Speaker 02

  CPR, you get it?

• 27:54Jen Cohen?

  I know what CPR is, but I'm saying is-

• 27:56Speaker 02

  Yeah, well, California Department of Performance and Results, results. You can lower taxes. Over the last 10 years, we've increased the state budget for employees, 45,000 people, which is $6.3 billion.

• 28:10Jen Cohen?

  What did you think of Kamala Harris? Are you, and the whole presidential situation?

• 28:14Speaker 02

  Oh, it's really simple. She had no IQ, no EQ. Insular. Echo chamber, echo chamber, didn't understand eggs, bread, milk, cheese, gas, nor immigration policy, which I do. It was so obvious. When I saw my young boys, they're in their twenties, and them and their friends going over to Trump, I said, I know this guy. I've sat across the table from this guy. This guy's got no integrity. He's got no values. Doesn't pay his contractors. He's a guy who only wants to be served. He does not serve. And this is who you think is better? Well, yeah, it's better than her because she's never shot in the front of a check. Neither did Walz.

• 28:52Jen Cohen?

  Well, the problem is-

• 28:53Speaker 02

  I mean, they're both pathetic candidates. And by the way, on all sides, they're pathetic. They are pathetic. And this is what we succumb to. And in California, too. There is not one candidate. I go back to this. Why I'm doing this? I shouldn't be doing this.

• 29:05Jen Cohen?

  What about, did you give money to Joe Biden before he, you know?

• 29:11Speaker 02

  No.

• 29:11Jen Cohen?

  Left?

• 29:12Speaker 02

  No.

• 29:13Jen Cohen?

  I say left in a nice way, even before he stepped down, I should say. You did not give money to him?

• 29:17Speaker 02

  Figuratively or mentally?

• 29:19Jen Cohen?

  Mentally.

• 29:20Speaker 02

  That was a joke.

• 29:20Jen Cohen?

  Yeah.

• 29:21Speaker 02

  No, I've known him for a long, long time. He is not, wasn't the man. He should not have done it.

• 29:25Jen Cohen?

  They should have taken, they, what?

• 29:26Speaker 02

  He should have been taken, he should have been taken out. And well, look, well, as I said, my adopted father was Harry Reid. I've been trained by Harry Reid and Bill Clinton, my other mentors.

• 29:35Jen Cohen?

  Oh.

• 29:35Speaker 02

  Bougie mentors. Yeah.

• 29:36Jen Cohen?

  That's a bougie one. That's a nice name.

• 29:38Speaker 02

  Well, I've got Steve and Elaine Win in hotels. I've got Mike Milken since I was 13, and Harry Reid since I was 15, and then Bill Clinton added on. So I come to this discussion with some experience.

• 29:49Jen Cohen?

  Bill Clinton was a good president, actually.

• 29:51Speaker 02

  A plus. He balanced, you know, he balanced the budget and showed performance and results.

• 29:55Jen Cohen?

  He did.

• 29:56Speaker 02

  He had reinventing government. If you remember, 400,000 jobs were removed from the federal system, and we operated in a budget that was balanced. It was the last time it was balanced. Okay, so I just call it as I see it because it's upsetting to me for my kids' future. And if I don't participate and call 911 right now, for all of your listeners to pay attention to, okay, you better wake up. And you go look at every single candidate that's running for governor right now and say, who would you trust with the life safety of your kids and your family? Who would you trust with the checkbook, your tax dollars of the state?

• 30:31Jen Cohen?

  But what about this whole woke business? I mean, California-

• 30:34Speaker 02

  Enough, enough, no, enough. It's weak. No, brass balls. Woke doesn't pay the bills.

• 30:40Jen Cohen?

  No, well, I think that's been kind of the demise of what's happened in California.

• 30:43Speaker 02

  And with all due respect, yeah, we want the climate better for our kids. We do. But at what price?

• 30:49Jen Cohen?

  But it's not just about climate. It's started maybe with climate. Climate is like a fraction of the pie of what woke is about now.

• 30:58Speaker 02

  Well, that's my point. The whole conversation is not about what it should be. It should be about aspiration, security and safety, aspiration, affordability, livability, workability.

• 31:10Jen Cohen?

  Okay, I'm going to change, I'm going to change into business again because I said I wasn't even going to talk about politics.

• 31:15Speaker 02

  It's all related.

• 31:16Jen Cohen?

  I can go on and on about this stuff.