If you’ve heard of Scott Galloway, then you’ve probably heard of the Four. A quartet comprised of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google—the Four are the most powerful companies in the world. Many people revere them, praise their innovations, and aspire to achieve what they have. These companies have changed the world: Galloway’s book asks if this change has been for the better or worse.
An entrepreneur and professor at NYU Stern School of Business, Galloway is known for his cynical and illuminating insights. He refers to these tech giants as the Four Horsemen and writes about the ways they have consumed our lives. For example, did you know that Facebook, Facebook Messenger, and Instagram are all in the top ten used apps in the United States? One in every five minutes on mobile is spent on Facebook. Amazon has a higher market capitalization than twelve of its competitors combined. Apple’s on-hand cash is worth more than the GDP of Denmark. And Google’s all-knowing eye is the result of the 3.5 billion queries it ingests every day.
Galloway’s irreverent humor is a big part of his writing (see example here), and Jonathan Todd Ross brings this out in the audiobook. If you want to see the author in action (and get a taste of the content in The Four), check out his presentation to the DLD Conference in 2015: