ACQ2: The Insane Productivity of Andrew Ross Sorkin

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Summary based on the YouTube transcript and episode description.

Andrew Ross Sorkin explains how he runs DealBook, Squawk Box, the Summit, and writes books simultaneously — starting at 4:30am daily.

  • Sorkin started at the New York Times at age 18 via a case of mistaken identity — an editor thought he was a news clerk and assigned him a story.
  • DealBook launched in 2001, over 15 years before Substack; the NYT estimated its TAM at 30,000 subscribers — it now has over 1 million.
  • His day starts at 4:30am: editing DealBook, then live on Squawk Box 6–9am, then back to DealBook and other projects.
  • He spends 15–30 hours prepping each DealBook Summit interview and keeps running notes on potential guests in his phone throughout the year.
  • The 2025 Summit lineup: Bessant, David Ellison, Dario Amodei, Alex Karp, Brian Armstrong + Larry Fink together, MrBeast, Gavin Newsom, Halle Berry.
  • DealBook is 100% advertiser-supported with no reader subscription; the Summit runs on sponsorships plus curated public tickets.
  • Billions was written on spec with no development deal; his agent told him the hedge-fund genre would fail because viewers hated Wall Street people.
  • His sourcing rule: get 80–90% confirmed before asking the company for comment — at that point it often benefits them to fill in the rest.

2025-12-08 · Watch on YouTube