"CREATOR" IS A JOB, MOTHERF*CKER

Happy Tuesday Peaceniks. Are YOU ready to create something? This is my latest Media Universe Map. I “redraw” it every month, resizing each planet “by hand,” in PowerPoint. There are 173 companies represented. There are more than 600 datapoints included. An enormous amount has changed since the last map in April. Alphabet/Google is now, securely, the second-most valuable company, of all time, and their current trajectory should allow them to overtake NVIDIA within the year. For those paying attention or reading this newsletter, this should not be surprising. When Google surpassed Apple for the first time, in January, I detailed how that happened, why Google was going to win the AI wars, and how the Alphabet flywheel flies faster than any corporate ship in this universe. Samsung and Walmart are both now valued at more than one trillion dollars. Again, momentous, but not surprising if you track the numbers, or read this publication. On February 2, when Samsung was valued at $700 billion, I predicted they’d hit a one trillion dollar value before year’s end. Last year I predicted Walmart would join the trillion-dollar club in 2026. Disney, WBD, Comcast, Paramount, Fox, and Netflix are all down in market valuation for the year. Trad Media is hitting a low point, just as the Upfront starts. Coincidence? Unlikely. Again these are not surprising trends if you come here often. The precarious precipice on which this old guard stands (yes, I called Netflix old guard), is precisely why I told them all, at the start of 2026, that this was a year of Change or Die. Disney cast their die when they bought Fox for far too much. Netflix tried to repeat that play with Disco Bros and failed to take home the prize - but in doing so, they blatantly admitted they were out of ideas. Now Paramount leadership, lacking any original thought of their own, is leaping down that same black hole. There is a LOT more to digest on this map. There always is. It helps to look at it in high resolution. I always publish every map - going back to 2020 - in high res, every month, right here. Whether I “feel like it,” or not, I plop myself down and dig through all these numbers, each month, and remap this map. Why? Because it’s literally my job. It’s why I am called the Media Cartographer. This analysis, in this style, is how I make my living. It is now my career. I am a Creator. It is not a hobby. Contrary to conventional wisdom, being a Creator is a job, a career, and a LOT of fucking work. Two days ago, I sat down to redraw this map, only to find that file that contained the last version had been corrupted during saving - on my hard drive and on the cloud. I had to go back to the last version from 2025 - five versions ago - and start over. I had entirely reimagined the map in February. So this was four or five times more work than usual. Yesterday, I woke up at 3:30 am, flew to Boston to make a speech. I then flew back to New York, and taxied directly to Cipriani Wall Street for The Webby Awards, where I was awarded my first-ever Webby, for Thought Leadership. When you win a Webby, your acceptance speech is limited to just five words. I submitted my five words last week: WAKE UP STUPID EVERY DAY. It is my mantra. It is my guiding principle. It is the driving force that keeps me going, keeps me learning, keeps me writing, right here, week after week - even when I “don’t feel like it.” However, during the build up to going on stage, watching all those incredible artists, thinkers, geniuses, celebrating each others’ work, reveling in being recognized for doing something truly singular, while still being undervalued and often dismissed by mainstream conventional wisdom, I decided to change my five words. CREATOR IS A JOB, MOTHERFUCKERS. I did not choose to be a Creator. I got fired and had to pivot. It was a bit of an accident, if I’m honest. But now, it’s all I do. It is my job. And it is, by far, the best job I have ever had. Last night reminded me of that. Accepting that award, in front of all my peers, reminded me why I do it and why I want to keep doing it. So today, I woke up stupid and got back to work. I hope you enjoy what you do as much as I enjoy drawing these maps, writing these articles, and making this content. And I hope you enjoy your week. Thank you so much for reading this and for being a part of this community. ESHAP