No Mercy / No Malice

Billionaires Behaving Badly

Leaders and CEOs, once role models, are now shielding each other with increasingly insouciant actions and words

Editor’s Note: No Mercy/No Malice is a column from Professor Scott Galloway, where he shares various reflections on business, tech, and life on his mind each week.

According to Webster’s, “cloud cover” is a mass of clouds. Fair enough. But the term carries more weight in the figurative sense — shielding something from sunshine or scrutiny with something bigger or more dramatic.

This week has been the mother of all cloud cover. It could also be summed up as “billionaires behaving badly.” Our business leaders seem to have been told there’s a prize for whoever makes the biggest ass of himself. So let’s start with cirrus clouds, the thinnest possible cover, over “an extreme pulsating red supergiant” star, VY Canis Majoris.

Cirrostratus

A deeply insecure child from a privileged background grows up with no conscience, empathy, or grammar skills. In an attempt to impress his father, he…