During an appearance on Simon Sinek’s podcast, A Bit of Optimism, Galloway shared his philosophy on money and happiness, arguing accumulating wealth beyond a certain threshold brings no additional fulfillment. The New York University Stern School of Business professor, who has built and sold multiple companies for millions of dollars, offered a candid take on what the rich should do with their fortunes.
“Once you hit your number, there’s no reason to be a hoarder … because this is what makes you happy: Spend it,” Galloway said on the podcast. “I spend so much f–king money, and it’s amazing. And then you know what I do? I give it away.
“I have not increased my net worth in seven years. I looked at my number once I got there 10 years ago, [but] the last seven years, I look at my number, and if my wealth has gone up X and I haven’t spent it all, I give it away. And you know what? It makes me feel strong like a bull. I want to beat my f–king chest it feels so good,” he said. “Why do you need to be a billionaire? It’s not going to get you anything.”
The marketing professor provided a different playbook for your money instead of hoarding it in hopes of becoming a billionaire.
“Here’s what you do: You go to the Hôtel du Cap with your wife. You do amazing things with friends and family. You take care of your parents. You fly your friends to Aspen to hang out with you. And then anything above that, you give it away,” he said.
Galloway said the joy of actually using money—spending it or giving it away—vastly outweighs any possible upside of being one of the world’s many billionaires. Why? Because, in his opinion, it’s fun.
“Overpay the people who work with you. Throw money around like you’re a f–king gangster in the ’50s diagnosed with a– cancer. Just live. It. Up. And you know what? You’re going to love life.”
What other experts say about the connection between money and happiness
Galloway‘s philosophy aligns with research from Nobel Prize–winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman, whose studies have examined the relationship between income and happiness. A 2023 study coauthored by Kahneman found that for most people, happiness continues to rise with income up to $500,000 annually, though for an unhappy minority, additional income stops improving well-being once they hit $100,000.
Galloway, who has an estimated net worth somewhere between $40 million and $100 million, according to TheStreet, made his remarks to Sinek during a conversation about what he called a “war on the young”—his term for the transfer of wealth from younger to older generations in America.
During his 2024 TED Talk on the subject, Galloway presented data showing today’s 25-year-olds make less than their parents and grandparents did at the same age while carrying unprecedented student debt loads. On the other hand, you have wealth concentration among America’s billionaires. According to the Institute for Policy Studies (via Inequality.org), the collective net worth of America’s top 12 billionaires now exceeds $2 trillion, while the richest 1% of Americans own 50% of U.S. stock and mutual funds.
You can watch the full conversation between Scott Galloway and Simon Sinek below:
For this story, Fortune used generative AI to help with an initial draft. An editor verified the accuracy of the information before publishing.
