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Joe Rogan Says Billionaires Work 16-Hour Days But Maybe They Should Share More Of The Wealth

MarketDash Editorial Team
4 hours ago
Joe Rogan and Tom Segura debated wealth inequality on The Joe Rogan Experience, with Rogan defending billionaire founders while acknowledging tax loopholes are scummy. The pair agreed that sharing more wealth might help billionaires avoid public resentment, and praised rare examples like Patagonia's founder who gave away his company.

When comedian Tom Segura sat down with Joe Rogan for a recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, the conversation took an interesting turn into billionaire territory. They talked taxes, corporate loopholes, and whether anyone actually deserves to have a ten-figure net worth.

The debate got surprisingly nuanced for a podcast best known for martial arts commentary and conspiracy theories.

The Tax Loophole Problem

Segura kicked things off by pointing out how massive corporations dodge their tax bills. "They'll funnel it to Ireland and then not pay tax on it," he said. Rogan didn't disagree. That's just the game wealthy people play, he argued.

Then Rogan dropped a reference that caught attention: "Supposedly, that's what Jeffrey Epstein did for people. He helped people with tax loopholes and, you know, he helped rich people figure out how to save money."

When Segura asked why these loopholes exist in the first place, Rogan had a straightforward answer: "They're scumbags. Yeah. They've all put it in place. They just want to make sure that they keep the most amount of money possible."

So far, pretty standard rich-people-are-terrible stuff. But then Rogan complicated the narrative.

In Defense Of The Workaholics

"There's that thing where like 'no one should be a billionaire,'" Rogan said. "Well, okay, hang on. Do you like having a f***ing iPhone? Somebody had to make that. They're working 16 hours a day."

He pointed to Apple (AAPL) CEO Tim Cook and the late Steve Jobs as examples. Nobody actually wants to live like these people, Rogan argued. Jobs died young, and the stress probably didn't help. The personal cost of building world-changing companies gets overlooked when people debate billionaire wealth.

Segura had a counterpoint ready. It's not about punishing success. It's about the gap between the people at the top and everyone else doing the actual work.

"These Amazon warehouse guys are like f***ing dying in the warehouse," Segura said. "You have the people at the top with like hundreds of billions of dollars. You can't trickle any of that down to some of your workers? That always seems like a legit complaint from people to me."

When Segura mentioned employees making $15 an hour, Rogan acknowledged the problem but added that without the founder, those jobs wouldn't exist at all. Still, he seemed to agree that spreading the wealth makes sense. "Seems like probably better for everybody if you spread it around," he said. "Maybe people wouldn't hate you as much."

The Billionaires Who Opted Out

The conversation got more interesting when they talked about billionaires who actually did something different with their money.

Segura brought up Yvon Chouinard, the Patagonia founder who gave up ownership of his company and directed all profits toward fighting climate change. Rogan loved it. "He probably did mushrooms one day. He was like, 'What am I doing? I'm living in this prison.'"

Then there's Sam Walton, founder of Walmart (WMT). When he became the richest man in America in 1985, Walton stayed in Bentonville, Arkansas, and kept driving his pickup truck. Rogan read his quote: "Why do I drive a pickup truck? What am I supposed to do? Haul my dogs around in a Rolls-Royce?"

But Walton's kids and grandkids didn't inherit his humility. "They're nepo babies," Rogan said. "That's not good. That's a tough way to live."

The Bottom Line

What made this conversation worth paying attention to is that neither comedian fell into the usual traps. Rogan didn't turn it into a defense of unfettered capitalism, and Segura didn't demand we eat the rich. They both acknowledged that building something massive requires enormous sacrifice, but also that the people doing the grunt work deserve better than poverty wages.

The real takeaway? Even Rogan thinks billionaires should probably share more. Not because they're evil, but because it might actually make their lives easier. Public resentment is exhausting. A few billion dollars spread around might buy something more valuable than another yacht: peace of mind.

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Joe Rogan Says Billionaires Work 16-Hour Days But Maybe They Should Share More Of The Wealth

MarketDash Editorial Team
4 hours ago
Joe Rogan and Tom Segura debated wealth inequality on The Joe Rogan Experience, with Rogan defending billionaire founders while acknowledging tax loopholes are scummy. The pair agreed that sharing more wealth might help billionaires avoid public resentment, and praised rare examples like Patagonia's founder who gave away his company.

When comedian Tom Segura sat down with Joe Rogan for a recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, the conversation took an interesting turn into billionaire territory. They talked taxes, corporate loopholes, and whether anyone actually deserves to have a ten-figure net worth.

The debate got surprisingly nuanced for a podcast best known for martial arts commentary and conspiracy theories.

The Tax Loophole Problem

Segura kicked things off by pointing out how massive corporations dodge their tax bills. "They'll funnel it to Ireland and then not pay tax on it," he said. Rogan didn't disagree. That's just the game wealthy people play, he argued.

Then Rogan dropped a reference that caught attention: "Supposedly, that's what Jeffrey Epstein did for people. He helped people with tax loopholes and, you know, he helped rich people figure out how to save money."

When Segura asked why these loopholes exist in the first place, Rogan had a straightforward answer: "They're scumbags. Yeah. They've all put it in place. They just want to make sure that they keep the most amount of money possible."

So far, pretty standard rich-people-are-terrible stuff. But then Rogan complicated the narrative.

In Defense Of The Workaholics

"There's that thing where like 'no one should be a billionaire,'" Rogan said. "Well, okay, hang on. Do you like having a f***ing iPhone? Somebody had to make that. They're working 16 hours a day."

He pointed to Apple (AAPL) CEO Tim Cook and the late Steve Jobs as examples. Nobody actually wants to live like these people, Rogan argued. Jobs died young, and the stress probably didn't help. The personal cost of building world-changing companies gets overlooked when people debate billionaire wealth.

Segura had a counterpoint ready. It's not about punishing success. It's about the gap between the people at the top and everyone else doing the actual work.

"These Amazon warehouse guys are like f***ing dying in the warehouse," Segura said. "You have the people at the top with like hundreds of billions of dollars. You can't trickle any of that down to some of your workers? That always seems like a legit complaint from people to me."

When Segura mentioned employees making $15 an hour, Rogan acknowledged the problem but added that without the founder, those jobs wouldn't exist at all. Still, he seemed to agree that spreading the wealth makes sense. "Seems like probably better for everybody if you spread it around," he said. "Maybe people wouldn't hate you as much."

The Billionaires Who Opted Out

The conversation got more interesting when they talked about billionaires who actually did something different with their money.

Segura brought up Yvon Chouinard, the Patagonia founder who gave up ownership of his company and directed all profits toward fighting climate change. Rogan loved it. "He probably did mushrooms one day. He was like, 'What am I doing? I'm living in this prison.'"

Then there's Sam Walton, founder of Walmart (WMT). When he became the richest man in America in 1985, Walton stayed in Bentonville, Arkansas, and kept driving his pickup truck. Rogan read his quote: "Why do I drive a pickup truck? What am I supposed to do? Haul my dogs around in a Rolls-Royce?"

But Walton's kids and grandkids didn't inherit his humility. "They're nepo babies," Rogan said. "That's not good. That's a tough way to live."

The Bottom Line

What made this conversation worth paying attention to is that neither comedian fell into the usual traps. Rogan didn't turn it into a defense of unfettered capitalism, and Segura didn't demand we eat the rich. They both acknowledged that building something massive requires enormous sacrifice, but also that the people doing the grunt work deserve better than poverty wages.

The real takeaway? Even Rogan thinks billionaires should probably share more. Not because they're evil, but because it might actually make their lives easier. Public resentment is exhausting. A few billion dollars spread around might buy something more valuable than another yacht: peace of mind.