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The official CEO.com podcast featuring unfiltered conversations with the leaders shaping our world.
Clint Betts: David, thank you so much for coming on the show. It's such an honor to have you. I'd be surprised if there are many people who don't know who you are, given everything you've accomplished. You're even the inspiration behind the classic film Jerry Maguire.
Give us the short version of your story. What have you been working on?
David Meltzer: Thanks, Clint.
I always describe my life as three different worlds.
The first was the world of not enough.
I was raised by a single mother who taught second grade. After school, she would fill greeting card displays at convenience stores just so we could afford dinner. She'd pack my meals in a paper bag, and growing up I constantly felt like a victim. Everything seemed to be happening to me.
My mom had one vision for my future: doctor, lawyer, or failure.
I had a different dream. I just wanted to be rich. I wanted to buy my mom a house. I wanted financial security. I wanted to prove I was enough through the amount of money I made.
My first plan was to become a professional athlete.
That ended after Christian Okoye ran me over in college.
Lying on the ground, I realized football wasn't going to buy my mom a house.
Since I hated hospitals, I figured law school made the most sense. I intentionally chose Tulane because it had the top oil and gas law program, and oil and gas litigators earned the highest salaries.
In 1992, I received a $150,000 job offer plus bonus to become an oil and gas litigator.
Instead, despite my mom insisting the internet was just a fad—and despite Justice Scalia saying no one would ever do legal research on a computer—I decided to sell legal research online.
Nine months after graduating law school, I became a millionaire.
In 1995, we exited the company for $3.4 billion.
That moved me from the world of not enough into what I call the world of just enough.
At that point I believed life was happening for me instead of to me.
But I still had scarcity.
Everything became transactional.
As I made more money, eventually becoming CEO of Samsung's first phone division and later running Lee Steinberg Sports & Entertainment—the agency that inspired Jerry Maguire—I slowly lost my values.
My behavior drifted away from who I really wanted to become.
Eventually I lost everything.
The defining moment came when I had to tell my mom that I had lost over $100 million—including her house.
I knocked on her door, completely broken.
She opened the door and immediately asked if everyone was okay.
I said, "Mom, I lost everything. I lost your house. You're going to have to move."
She looked at me and asked, "Do you need money?"
I said, "No, Mom. You don't understand. I lost everything."
Then she asked one simple question.
"What can I do to help you?"
I asked her, "Why is God punishing me?"
She smiled and said, "God doesn't punish. God only protects, promotes, loves, and perfects."
I told her I didn't believe in God.
She said, "Oh, son. You believe in God. You just believe in the wrong God."
That conversation completely changed my life.
It shifted my perspective back toward faith and wisdom.
I began aligning my thoughts, words, actions, beliefs, and feelings with what I believe is my divine direction.
I've spent the last 20 years trying to do exactly that.
Ironically, I've made more money than ever before, but now it's for the purpose of helping other people and having fun.
Today my mission is to empower over one billion people to learn how to make a lot of money so they can help others and enjoy their lives.
Clint Betts: Thank you for sharing that.
It's incredibly relevant because so many entrepreneurs believe money is the finish line. They think they'll finally be happy once they reach a certain number in their bank account.
You and I both know billionaires who aren't happy.
When your mom shifted your perspective that day, at what point did you realize this was going to become your life's work?
David Meltzer: Everything changed when my mindset shifted from "I'll be happy when..." to "For the sake of what?"
I stopped attaching my happiness to money, houses, achievements, or possessions.
Instead, I began focusing on behavior.
Every day I'd ask myself a simple question:
"Is this thought, action, belief, feeling, or word aligned with where I want to be—or is it interfering with it?"
I also began using a daily affirmation:
"I am happy. I am healthy. I am wealthy. I am worthy."
Then I'd ask, "What am I doing to interfere with those truths?"
That one shift completely transformed my life.
Instead of chasing what I didn't have, I focused on becoming the person I wanted to become.
Clint Betts: We talk a lot about self-leadership.
If you can't lead yourself, it's difficult to lead anyone else.
How did you lead yourself back to your faith and ultimately to your life's purpose?
David Meltzer: It started by accepting uncertainty.
The older I get, the more I realize how little I actually know.
Every day I face situations where the evidence suggests things won't work out.
Instead of interpreting that as punishment, I began practicing gratitude.
I looked for the lesson.
I practiced forgiveness—for myself and for others.
I practiced accountability by asking:
"What did I do to attract this?"
"What am I supposed to learn?"
Most importantly, I started communicating with God instead of only communicating with people.
For me, God is an all-knowing, infinite source that protects, promotes, loves, and perfects.
Someone once told me, "David Meltzer is God's pencil."
I loved that idea.
I'm simply trying to allow inspiration to move through me.
Over the past twenty years I've tried to consistently live according to gratitude, forgiveness, accountability, and inspiration.
I've certainly made mistakes.
But I never let myself make the same mistake twice in a row.
Clint Betts: How do you think AI changes this conversation?
Every CEO is trying to figure out what AI means.
How does it affect humanity?
David Meltzer: That's a fantastic question.
I actually believe AI makes humans more human.
It also completely changes the value of knowledge.
Knowledge is rapidly becoming a commodity.
Wisdom is becoming more valuable.
Today I can access almost unlimited knowledge through AI.
That's incredible.
But knowing information isn't the same thing as knowing what to do with it.
Wisdom and faith become even more valuable because they're what allow us to apply knowledge in meaningful ways.
So I think AI democratizes knowledge while simultaneously increasing the importance of wisdom.
Clint Betts: That's such an interesting perspective.
There's obviously been a lot of public backlash against AI.
We're seeing protests over data centers—even here in Utah.
It feels like part of the problem is leadership.
If leaders talked about AI the way you just did, maybe people would feel differently.
What role do leaders play in helping society navigate this transition?
David Meltzer: One thing I study every day, besides faith, is time.
Leadership has become much harder because AI is accelerating time itself.
When we were younger, leaders had time to align people around a strategy, execute that strategy, and make adjustments.
Now everything changes before you've even finished explaining it.
Years ago I worked on building sports stadiums.
One challenge was deciding what technology to install because the stadium wouldn't open for five years.
The technology available five years later would obviously be different.
Aircraft carriers take seventeen years to build.
Imagine trying to predict technology that far into the future.
Today that same problem exists everywhere.
Only now it isn't seventeen years.
Sometimes it's seventeen days.
I've literally finished interviews only to discover that the technology we discussed has already changed because someone built a new AI application in thirty seconds.
Leadership is difficult because change happens faster than organizations can fully align around it.
There isn't enough time between action and adjustment anymore.
Clint Betts: What does a typical day look like for you?
David Meltzer: I'm extremely intentional with my time.
First, I remind myself that life lasts exactly as long as my heart keeps beating.
One of my highest priorities is simply keeping my heart healthy.
Beyond that, I know God guarantees me twenty-four hours every day—except the last one.
The only certainty in life is those twenty-four hours.
Everything else is uncertain.
So I create certainty through non-negotiable behaviors.
Every day I assign minimum amounts of time to specific areas of my life.
Sleep.
Health.
Family.
Faith.
Studying time.
Studying finance.
Those six things account for roughly twelve hours of every day, with sleep making up the largest portion.
The remaining twelve hours are flexible.
People often confuse discipline with devotion.
They're different.
Many people are disciplined at work but never spend time with their family.
Or they work endlessly to make money while neglecting their health.
I'm devoted.
I'm aligned with where I want to go.
If I miss one of my commitments one day, I simply make it my highest priority the next day.
I never miss twice.
Most people think success comes from reacting to circumstances.
For me, ninety percent of my progress comes from consistently honoring those non-negotiable commitments.
Clint Betts: Tell me about your book, Don't Do Business with Dicks.
It's an incredible title.
David Meltzer: The funny part is that wasn't originally supposed to be the title.
The subtitle was actually the original title: How to Ditch Toxicity from Your Life and Surround Yourself with Positive Influences.
I've written several books before.
People loved them after reading them, but they weren't exactly grabbing them off airport shelves.
Simon & Schuster finally told me, "David, you need a title people will actually pick up."
So I borrowed one of Lee Steinberg's favorite expressions:
"Don't do business with dicks."
Turns out people immediately understand it.
Every time I carry the book through an airport, someone stops me and tells me a story about the worst person they've ever done business with.
The publisher was right.
You can't sell a secret.
Clint Betts: That's a great point.
We end every interview the same way.
At CEO.com, we believe the chances one gives are just as important as the chances one takes.
When you hear that, who gave you a chance that helped get you where you are today?
David Meltzer: Beyond my mom, who gave me every opportunity in life—and I still get emotional because I recently lost her professionally—that person would absolutely be Lee Steinberg.
Lee gave me an opportunity to work at the center of an incredible network of entrepreneurs, athletes, entertainers, celebrities, millionaires, and billionaires.
He opened doors that even many wealthy people never get to walk through.
Through him I gained access to the Super Bowl, the Pro Bowl, the Masters, the Kentucky Derby, the Breeders' Cup, the ESPYs, the Emmys, the Oscars, the Grammys, and so many incredible people.
So my answer is simple.
Personally, my mom.
Professionally, Lee Steinberg.
Clint Betts: David, thank you so much for coming on the show. What an honor to have you.
David Meltzer: Thank you. I look forward to doing more with Silicon Slopes and with you. You guys are incredible. Great podcast.
And please come on my podcast.