Office Hours: The Cyberattack on UnitedHealth, Investing in Music Royalties, and Scott’s Tips for Giving a Compelling Presentation

Scott gives his thoughts on the recent ransomware attack causing chaos in the healthcare industry. He then discusses JKBX, a startup aiming to “democratize” music investing and whether it is a good new investment vehicle. He wraps up with advice on how to deliver compelling presentations. Music: https://www.davidcuttermusic.com / @dcuttermusic Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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

• 0:01Scott Galloway?

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• 0:48Speaker 01

  Your heart can tell you a lot about your health. Apple Watch Series 12 measures your heart rate every five seconds with the most accurate heart rate sensing in wearable. So your vitals app, now with heart rate variability, can tell you when something is off. And your readiness score can let you know when to rest and when to push. Hear the story in every heartbeat with Apple Watch Series 12. The features described are for wellness purposes only and not for medical use. iPhone 11 or later required. Based on Apple conducted study of heart rate accuracy, August 2026. Visit apple.com/aplewatchseries12.

• 1:27Scott Galloway?

  Welcome to the Prop G Pod's Office Hours. This is the part of the show where we answer your questions about business, big tech, entrepreneurship, and whatever else is on your mind. If you'd like to submit a question, please email a voice recording to [email protected]. Again, that's [email protected]. First question.

• 1:43Speaker 02

  Hey Scott, first time caller here. I'd love your analysis on the Change Healthcare, United Healthcare IT hack and the ransomware. I don't hear anybody talking about this. I work in healthcare. Over 50% of claims pass through Change Healthcare, and we haven't been able to bill for two weeks. This is going to be a large issue with no date in sight for a lot of providers and hospitals not knowing when they are going to get paid. Would love your analysis. Thanks for all.

• 2:26Scott Galloway?

  I don't see these questions because I want to be... Raw and authentic. And the downside is sometimes I don't have the domain expertise and don't have time to do the homework. And this is one of those instances where I feel, I feel naked. Or maybe that's the remnants of the ketamine speaking. Anyways, I'm grateful for your question. So, look, this is, so what is a war? A war is a shooting match, right? Ukraine and Russia are in a war. They've committed, you know, they've declared war on each other and there are Russians shooting at Ukrainians and vice versa. And then there are proxy wars. The Houthis are firing missiles at US ships or Western ships trying to wreak havoc, send the price of oil up, generally just fuck with the West. And it looks like they're getting a lot of funding and armaments from Iran. That's a proxy war. To a certain

• 3:10Scott Galloway?

  extent, until we entered the war, Vietnam was a proxy war, right? It's, it's large nations don't want to get involved, engage in a direct shooting match because it can escalate. So what they do is they have proxy wars and they fund one side or the other, which is kind of, it, it takes their finger away from the button a little bit, if you will. The proxy wars being fought all over the world right now are essentially the biggest proxy war being fought between, I don't know, our adversaries and us right now are cyber attacks. And some of it is just pure criminality. A group of people in wherever, I won't name, you know, in an African or Eastern European country, maybe even some folks domestically, see an opportunity to shut down, and this is happening to a couple of friends of mine, the IT of a business and they call them and say, transfer $78,000 in Bitcoin and we'll

• 3:55Scott Galloway?

  unlock it. And what happens is a lot of these companies just go ahead and do it because, and they don't report it because they just want to get their business back online. It's pure blackmail. It's pure extortion. But we absolutely need to beef up our security apparatus and put in place not only defensive measures, but counter offensive measures. What do I mean by that? We need to increase the compensation of our government officials such that we attract more young and technologically literate people. We do have the best cyber defense and cyber offense in the world, but I would imagine we still need more and more funding. Because what I'd like to see is more investigative or forensics that identify who are the nations and bad actors doing this. And then I think we should just turn around and kick them very hard in the nuts and do the same thing and start fucking with

• 4:39Scott Galloway?

  their government institutions, turning off the lights, just really wreaking havoc and basically have a disproportionate response every time they do this to us. I think right now the incentives are so great, America is so rich, that these nations have a group of entrepreneurial, technologically literate criminal gangs that see opportunity to shut down an institution, or exploit it, or blackmail it. And their government either turns a blind eye, or is actually in fact sponsoring it. By the way, something I'm very excited about, and I will make a more formal announcement, and this is huge virtue signaling, I am funding a program at UC Berkeley and UCLA around vocational programming, and one of those programs will be a one or two year certification in cybersecurity. I think there's an enormous number of young people,

• 5:24Scott Galloway?

  specifically young men who are not caught, who are not cut out for traditional four year BA, liberal arts degree, but are smart, are aggressive, are ambitious, want to be good citizens, want to pay taxes, want to build a middle class life, have kids, buy a home, et cetera. And there's a ton of vocational training that they would benefit from, whether it's nursing, specialty construction, or cybersecurity. Anyways, enough about me. Isn't that great, the way I turned it back to me? Totally appreciate the question. I think this is a huge, a huge problem. Wired magazine reported that someone paid 22 million in Bitcoin to the ransomware group thought to be responsible for the attack. If this was really a payment to fix part of the breach, it's a huge gain for the hackers, and again, creates the incentive, the wrong

• 6:05Scott Galloway?

  incentives. As experts say, in 2023, the FBI documented 249 ransomware instruments targeting healthcare and public health entities, up 68% in 21. So we're going to need more of this. Again, see above, we need a new algebra of deterrence. Thanks so much for the thoughtful question. Sorry for the word salad. Next question, question number two.

• 6:24Speaker 03

  Hi, Professor Galloway. Bradley from New York here. I recently heard about this website called Jukebox, which allows people to buy shares in songs and earn a proportion of the royalties from this fractional ownership. Do you think that this is a good new investment vehicle? Thank you for being a role model and inspiration. Can't wait to hear your thoughts.

• 6:45Scott Galloway?

  Thanks Bradley from New York, although I get the sense you're from somewhere else and that you're just living in New York. Anyways, back to your music platform. So fractional ownership, this company, JKBX, pronounced Jukebox, is aiming to democratize music investing. It launched a platform that lets people invest in song royalties. Think of it as stock shares from artists, including Beyonce and Taylor Swift. Jukebox just recently launched with SEC approval. A June filing with the SEC shows that since January 2023, Jukebox has raised $16.1 million. So in terms of revenue, they enable the rights holders to issue and sell royalty-backed securities, meaning they earn from transaction execution. For example, investors can buy shares in Beyonce's Halo for $6.78 each and receive

• 7:29Scott Galloway?

  quarterly distribution fees from various music revenue sources. So what kind of yield are you getting on these shares? According to Jukebox, the annual yield's around 3% to 4%, with potential for the underlying terminal value to go up, right? Liquidity and future plans. Currently, Jukebox doesn't support trading of shares, meaning investors can buy but not sell their shares. That sucks. But they plan to enable trading and expect to follow after overcoming a regulatory challenge. That probably means they need to become a broker-dealer. Now, the historical context. The concept of converting music rights into cash flows or financial assets isn't new. In 1997, David Bowie became the first musician to securitize his song royalties, who raised $55 million through the sale of what became

• 8:11Scott Galloway?

  known as Bowie Bonds. So essentially, securitizing cash flows. If you win the lottery, you don't get a lump-sum payment. They pay you, I don't know, whatever. You say you win the lottery of $3 million, they pay you $100,000 over 30 years. You can securitize that. If you get a settlement claim where they're obligated to pay you over 10 years, a certain amount per month, you can go to a company that will securitize it in exchange for you handing over those payments. They give you one lump-sum payment. So this is the same thing. You have a royalty stream and you're essentially buying a bond. I mean, a lot of these big music companies, their primary asset... Is not the individuals who can go out and find artists, not even the current artists who are making them a shit ton of money, but their music library that spins off royalty payments.

• 8:55Scott Galloway?

  And as interest rates go down, that means that the yield or the value of these things go up. So if you can get 10% in the market in fairly secure bonds, that means that you should expect about $10 for $100, right? So if a royalty catalog is producing 10 bucks a year in royalties from Beyonce and Beck and whoever else and Tom Petty, oh my God, he'd produce so much more than that. By the way, I was asked last night in this quiz show at South by Southwest, what is something you do when you're alone and no one's watching? And I said, well, one, I like to take edibles, drink and write. And also I like to turn on Tom Petty and my earphones really loud when everyone's asleep at 2:00 in the morning and dance around. It is not pretty.

• 9:37Scott Galloway?

  If someone looked into my living room at 2:00 in the morning, they see a guy with no music on, in jeans, without a shirt on, dancing, dancing around. But just know it's not as weird as it sounds because I'm listening to Tom Petty. Anyway, not what you asked. As interest rates go down, the value of these catalogs go up because your ability to get cash flow from other things, you get less cash flow because the interest rate or the yield on bonds goes down, which means that any cash flow is worth more. The multiple goes up. So the idea of securitizing or chopping up, finally chopping up assets that democratize the opportunity to own them, it's a good idea. You need liquidity, you need kind of an active trading market. And what happens is these things oftentimes, it's not about the underlying asset.

• 10:21Scott Galloway?

  Sometimes they just turn into pure vehicles for speculation. I think there'll be some of this. I'm not entirely sure it's going to take off. What I would say is if you love music and you find it fascinating, take a small percentage of your portfolio, you know, enough money such that if the Beyonce share goes up fivefold, it might mean something to you, but not so much money that if it goes to zero and you can't sell these things and become dead equity, that it would have any impact on your life. Take just a small, just a dabble, just a scoach of your capital and do this if you're interested. But to me, this feels like a niche market that may or may not live up to its potential. Sorry for kind of the word salad and not a very definitive answer here, but it's definitely cool. I'm going to check it out. Thank you for the question.

• 11:06Scott Galloway?

  We have one quick break before our final questions. Stay with us.

• 11:13Scott Galloway?

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• 11:55Scott Galloway?

  Being a renter and now owning a home feels a lot better with Built. You can download the Built app and join the membership for where you live at joinbuilt.com/profg. That's J-O-I-N-B-I-L-T.com/profg. Use our link so they know we sent you.

• 12:13Scott Galloway?

  Support for the show comes from Upwork. Trying to scale your business? At some point, you're probably going to hit a point where you need some help. Sometimes the best way to break through that is bringing in the right talent at the right time. Upwork can help. Upwork is a one-stop platform where you can find, hire, and pay expert freelancers across more than 125 categories. Whether you need specialized skills for a single project or extra support to keep up with demand, it's easy to connect with experienced professionals, review their work, and find the right fit. You can move faster without taking on the commitment of full-time hires. And for businesses that need the very best talent, Upwork Business Plus provides access to the top 1% of freelancers on the platform. AI-powered matching connects you with qualified candidates in under six hours, cutting down the time spent searching. Upwork also takes care of contracts,

• 12:58Scott Galloway?

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• 13:24Scott Galloway?

  Support for the show comes from Vanta. As AI adoption grows, so does your company's security risks and requirements. New frameworks, audits, and vendors keep piling on, but your team isn't getting any bigger. Most compliance tools promise automation, but you're really stuck doing all the work by hand, chasing screenshots, validating controls, and playing catch-up when audit season comes around again. Vanta works differently. The regentech trust platform is built to scale with you, not slow you down. With over 1,400 automated tests across 400-plus integrations, Vanta collects evidence and monitors your controls year-round, cutting your audit prep by 82%. Plus, you can access the Vanta agent everywhere you work, whether your team is in Vanta every day or living in tools including Claude

• 14:07Scott Galloway?

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• 14:32Scott Galloway?

  Welcome back. Question number three.

• 14:35Speaker 04

  Hi Scott, it's Lance here. A big fan of all your podcasts and the thought leadership you bring to the business world. Like you, I'm also presenting at the upcoming Financial Grand Forum in May. My session tackles the complex and impactful topic of the ethical, legal, and strategic risk of AI in banking. As I prepare to deliver this message, I'm particularly impressed by your consistent ability to convey complex information in an engaging and impactful way. This resonates strongly with my approach to crafting my presentation. My question for you is, what are your top tips for presenting complex and potentially controversial topics in a way that is both informative and engaging

• 15:17Speaker 04

  for the audience? Thank you for your time and consideration, Scott. I look forward to potentially connecting at the forum and learning more from your keynote address. See you in Vegas. Lance.

• 15:27Scott Galloway?

  Lance from Undisclosed. By the way, that's my favorite place to hang out, Undisclosed. Okay, so how do you convey or articulate or present around controversial or complex topics? Okay, so complexity, trying to get distilled. One analogies, you know, fitted into a story. So when I talk about the anti-competitive or monopoly practices of the App Store, right? They charge a 30% tax on apps or revenues that apps get if they're in the App Store. The analogy I use is credit card companies and what if Visa went into the business of retail? And the retailers they owned didn't have to pay 30% transaction fees. Those retailers would be monopolies or other retailers wouldn't be able to compete with them.

• 16:12Scott Galloway?

  That's an analogy or a story that helps understand, or maybe not, but I think helps people understand how Apple is in fact engaging monopoly behavior. In terms of presenting a controversial topic, you want to, data is just sort of says, all right, I don't like this guy's opinions. I don't like him. But if you present data, it just is what it is. There is a certain truth and charts, visualizations, super, super important. Also, just some of the softer stuff. I think it's fine to have humility here and that is to say that I predicted this. I oftentimes say, will say, I predicted this, this is what I saw and I got it wrong. Cause just to acknowledge that you're wrong and bring some humility, people empathize with you.

• 16:53Scott Galloway?

  And then the most effective one is something that's difficult to force, but if you're blessed with it, it just softens the beach and that is humor. Jon Stewart can say very, very controversial things and is incredibly, is incredibly powerful. Before you say something provocative or aggressive or a bit controversial, anything around humor, it just kind of opens people's minds to listening to you and being thoughtful. I describe it as, you know, the Navy or artillery softening the beach before you invade it with a viewpoint. So let's review analogies, storytelling, data, visuals, graphics, all get the message across. And then on the softer stuff, having some humility, admit that you might be wrong

• 17:37Scott Galloway?

  or that you've gotten wrong before and softening the beach with humor. So I will see you in Las Vegas. The dog loves to roll in Vegas. I put on a kilt, I give myself a thousand dollars, actually $10,000, but I've become very self-conscious about my wealth recently. I go down, I gamble like fucking crazy, I drink a shit ton and I lose it all. But for me, it's not gambling, it's consumption. I don't expect. I don't expect to make any money. I expect to lose it all. It doesn't matter to me. And I have a fantastic time. I think Vegas is the most singular city in the world. Also, singular in the sense that for 48 hours, it's the best place in the world. And by hour 49, it becomes the worst place in the world.

• 18:19Scott Galloway?

  But anyways, I will see you at the conference and good luck with the presentation. Let me know how it goes, Lance.

• 18:28Scott Galloway?

  That's all for this episode. Again, if you'd like to submit a question, please email a voice recording to officehoursapropetmedia.com.

• 18:41Speaker 05

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