E109: 2022 Bestie Awards Live from Twitter HQ

**Jason Calacanis** (0:00)
Hey, everybody, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays.
It is the end of 2022 And once again, we're doing our Bestie Awards. Yes, at the end of the year, we do our Bestie Awards. This is where we give awards to the biggest winners, losers, and many other categories that you love. With me again, of course, the Sultan of Science, deep in his Kurosawa vibes. How are you doing, Sultan?

**David Friedberg** (0:25)
It was great to see you guys for dinner last night, Sacks, we missed you. That was a lot of fun. We all got together twice this week for dinner while we were on vacation.
And during our dinner, we took a vote and Sacks, you are now the director of the All-In Summit. Congratulations.

**Jason Calacanis** (0:40)
Yes, congratulations. Yes, the grift is on.

**David Sacks** (0:42)
My first act is to veto it.

**Jason Calacanis** (0:44)
Okay, sorry to the fans.
Also with us, of course, is the dictator himself, Chamath Palihapitiya, deep in his turtleneck phase and his vibes. Tell us about your winter vibes, Bestie.

**Chamath Palihapitiya** (1:01)
I mean, I can't believe that we all took over Lake Tahoe for a week together. It's cool. It's been a lot of fun. I got to say, Sacks, you'll be surprised, J Cal has the life hack of life hacks here.
He's figured out how to basically get everything pre-wired.
All the restaurants, all the reservations. It's been great. I've loved it.

**Jason Calacanis** (1:21)
We've had a wonderful time.

**David Friedberg** (1:22)
He puts an eight-person table for every night and he does it, what, months in advance? Every night he's got an object.

**Jason Calacanis** (1:27)
About two weeks out, I get a table of eight for five, six nights in a row and then I invite my besties out.

**Chamath Palihapitiya** (1:33)
Oddly, it turned out there was only one person from J Cal's side, just himself.

**Jason Calacanis** (1:37)
Yes.

**Chamath Palihapitiya** (1:38)
There was always a room for the rest of us to show up.

**Jason Calacanis** (1:42)
We had a wonderful time. I picked up the check for the nachos and Chamath brought $6,000 worth of wine.

**Chamath Palihapitiya** (1:49)
I brought my own also to the restaurant yesterday so we could open the wine properly.

**Jason Calacanis** (1:54)
It was wonderful. We've had a wonderful time.
And of course, with us, looks like he had to work over the Christmas break. Sacks, how are you doing, brother? You're working today?

**David Sacks** (2:03)
I'm good. I'm just hanging out somewhere.

**Jason Calacanis** (2:07)
Well, come on, you can be honest. You're at the Twitter HQ. I recognize that incredible architecture and design.
They spent so much money on that office space.

**David Sacks** (2:15)
Beautiful office.

**Jason Calacanis** (2:16)
That's definitely beautiful office.

**David Sacks** (2:18)
They've got their own bespoke coffee shop here called The Perch.

**David Friedberg** (2:23)
We're the people that work there. Too soon.

**Jason Calacanis** (2:28)
Too soon.

**David Sacks** (2:28)
The people are working too hard to be hanging out in the coffee shop.

**Jason Calacanis** (2:52)
We start with a political award.
And last year, you know, this is our, just so we're clear, this is not the prediction show. Next week will be the prediction show. This week is our winners.

**David Sacks** (3:04)
Cue the music.

**Jason Calacanis** (3:05)
Yes, cue the music. Right there. Okay, here we go. 2022 predictions. This is what we predicted for the Bestie Award for biggest political winner.
I said Ron DeSantis, and so did David Sacks. We predicted in 2022...

**David Sacks** (3:20)
You said it after me. You said it after me.
And the way you introduced it, you said, what did Tucker Carlson's writers come up with? I said DeSantis, and then you said DeSantis.

**Jason Calacanis** (3:30)
Are you starting already? Literally, I'm trying to give you your flowers. I reviewed the tape. Okay, take it easy. You're going to get your flowers.
So Ron DeSantis, obviously a big winner.
So those were great predictions. Friedberg, with a wild card there, he predicted Putin would be a winner in 2022 That one fell a little flat, did it not? Our friend Friedberg, not a winner.

**David Friedberg** (3:52)
No, I think he, you know, I mean, my projection was really built on what I thought would be a big kind of influence that he would gain this year. You know, whether he's viewed negatively or positively, he's certainly at the center of the stage right now.

**Jason Calacanis** (4:03)
Now, Chamath, your 22 prediction, this is your prediction last year for this year, was that the biggest political winner would be Xi Jinping.
Now we go to our actual biggest winner. This is where we tell you who we thought was the biggest winner of 2022 Let's start with you, Sacks. Who is your biggest winner for 2022? Political biggest winner.