We Ran Out of Gods, Then Billionaires, So Now We Worship Posters
An investor argues attention has replaced money as the scarce asset, and billionaires now defer to the people who hold it.
Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy · Everything in Capital Markets is Downstream of AlgorithmsAttention, not money, is now the scarce asset, and billionaires bow to the people who can hold it.
An investor who backs startups and advises funds calls the moment peak guy. When asked what he meant, he answered, “I think we are at peak guy.” By that he means gods have kept moving farther away and becoming more conceptual, from spirits in everything, to a guy above the clouds in the Renaissance who could be talked to, to something beyond space that is abstract and hard to address.
In a more secular society, he believes, people still want priests, meaning guides who tell them what matters. Science tried to fill the role and fell short, after physics stalled and failed to give meaning, so business success became the creed and billionaires became the priests.
That worship, in his view, is spent. That is his impression, not a formal count: people who are called billionaires online have multiplied perhaps a hundredfold in 20 years, while the formal Forbes count rose only about sixfold. He argues money buys less than it seems. Donors have underperformed in politics, and billionaires face limits past powers did not, in that a billionaire who posts the wrong thing can have to resign. Andrew Carnegie, the steel magnate, could use armed force against his own employees.
The clue is who defers to whom. The Epstein case showed scientists chasing money and prestige, which he calls the Epstein lesson, after Jeffrey Epstein, a financier who cultivated scientists. Now billionaires defer to posters, meaning people who put content on social media. At one gathering, he recalled, billionaire investors vied for seats beside Tyler Cowen, an economist, blogger, and podcast host, because he was the most interesting person there. Every room has a boss.
When Grant Cardone, who sells sales training and self-help courses, can share the same billionaire label as Elon Musk, the label no longer sorts anyone. It is easier, he argues, to make a billion dollars than to win space in people’s minds the way top posters do. He firmly believes posting is the end state, predicting wealthy founders will turn to self-promotion once rich, starting accounts, podcasts, and video channels to trade devaluing money for attention and influence that remain scarce.
Questions people ask
Why is attention scarce if anyone can post for free?
Time is fixed, so no matter how much content is made, people can only watch and read so much each day. Algorithms then decide which few posts get that limited time, which makes prominent slots extremely valuable. Money can be printed or repriced, but an hour of collective focus cannot.
Does he mean actual priests?
He means trusted guides who tell people how to live, not church leaders. In his history, priests gave meaning, then scientists were asked to do it, then billionaires were. Posters are his candidate for who fills that role now.
Can posting really beat money in politics?
In part, yes. Politicians now watch the feed the way they once watched polls, and a sharp post can shape what donors, reporters, and voters talk about that day. Cash still buys ads and staff, but it cannot reliably buy the cultural authority that makes people listen.