WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.520 Welcome to the Deep Dive. Today we're trying 00:00:02.520 --> 00:00:05.580 something ambitious. Mapping a life that seems 00:00:05.580 --> 00:00:08.839 almost impossible. just filled with these radical 00:00:08.839 --> 00:00:11.460 shifts. We're looking at the source material 00:00:11.460 --> 00:00:13.880 on Arnold L. Lois Schwarzenegger. It really is 00:00:13.880 --> 00:00:15.759 more than just mapping it out, isn't it? It feels 00:00:15.759 --> 00:00:18.039 like we're trying to, well, reverse engineer 00:00:18.039 --> 00:00:21.440 this incredible blueprint for ambition he created. 00:00:21.719 --> 00:00:24.719 Our mission today is to get under the hood, understand 00:00:24.719 --> 00:00:27.379 the core engine, that relentless drive that let 00:00:27.379 --> 00:00:29.640 him hit the top in, what, four totally different 00:00:29.640 --> 00:00:32.299 worlds? Bodybuilding, acting, business, politics. 00:00:32.560 --> 00:00:34.200 Yeah, and when you just look at the basic facts, 00:00:34.380 --> 00:00:36.640 it's kind of mind -blowing. Born July 30, 19... 00:00:36.649 --> 00:00:41.270 In 1947, Sal, Austria, dual citizen, and the 00:00:41.270 --> 00:00:44.049 list of jobs, actor, bodybuilder, businessman, 00:00:44.390 --> 00:00:46.530 politician, author. I mean, the immediate thing 00:00:46.530 --> 00:00:48.409 you grasp is that, well, the normal way was never 00:00:48.409 --> 00:00:50.270 going to cut it for him. That's precisely it. 00:00:50.310 --> 00:00:52.630 That's the core idea. We really need to examine 00:00:52.630 --> 00:00:54.390 his life in these four distinct acts because, 00:00:54.450 --> 00:00:56.810 honestly, each one demanded a total reinvention. 00:00:56.850 --> 00:00:59.070 New identity, new skills, new goals, everything. 00:00:59.289 --> 00:01:02.369 So, act one. The Austrian oak, literally billing 00:01:02.369 --> 00:01:04.650 himself. Then act two, right? The action star 00:01:04.650 --> 00:01:06.569 where he had to smash through Hollywood's walls. 00:01:06.689 --> 00:01:09.879 Exactly. Then act three. the mogul and this is 00:01:09.879 --> 00:01:13.719 key getting rich first and finally act four the 00:01:13.719 --> 00:01:17.180 governator turning that global fame into actual 00:01:17.180 --> 00:01:20.120 political power okay let's dive straight into 00:01:20.120 --> 00:01:23.260 act i then the austrian oak forging a champion 00:01:23.260 --> 00:01:25.040 it seems like the whole foundation the entire 00:01:25.040 --> 00:01:27.500 blueprint really starts with his childhood yeah 00:01:27.500 --> 00:01:29.700 a situation that was so much about fitting in 00:01:29.700 --> 00:01:32.599 maybe even trauma that just escaping became the 00:01:32.599 --> 00:01:34.280 main driver. Oh, absolutely. That background 00:01:34.280 --> 00:01:36.579 is critical. He grows up in Thal, small town, 00:01:36.780 --> 00:01:39.879 post -war Austria, strict Catholic family, very 00:01:39.879 --> 00:01:42.700 disciplined. His father, Gustav, was the local 00:01:42.700 --> 00:01:45.260 police chief. And the historical layer here is, 00:01:45.280 --> 00:01:47.680 well, it's significant. Gustav joined the Nazi 00:01:47.680 --> 00:01:50.739 party and the SA back in 38, served in the war, 00:01:50.840 --> 00:01:53.640 got wounded at Stalingrad. Wow. So you've got 00:01:53.640 --> 00:01:56.219 that history plus the really rigid social structure 00:01:56.219 --> 00:01:58.819 of Austria recovering from the war. It sounds 00:01:58.819 --> 00:02:01.900 like a pressure cooker from day one. He talked 00:02:01.900 --> 00:02:04.620 later quite openly about what he flat out called 00:02:04.620 --> 00:02:07.420 child abuse, getting hit with belts, hair pulled, 00:02:07.519 --> 00:02:10.560 just this constant background fear. But the psychological 00:02:10.560 --> 00:02:13.280 stuff with his father seems almost more powerful 00:02:13.280 --> 00:02:15.800 as a motivator. Yeah, the sources point to this 00:02:15.800 --> 00:02:18.599 really difficult dynamic. The father showed, 00:02:18.780 --> 00:02:21.719 quote, strong and blatant favoritism towards 00:02:21.719 --> 00:02:24.860 Arnold's older brother, Meinhard. Arnold apparently 00:02:24.860 --> 00:02:27.280 felt it was because Gustav suspected he wasn't 00:02:27.280 --> 00:02:30.439 his biological son. That's rough. It is. And 00:02:30.439 --> 00:02:33.000 that lack of validation, plus that whole post 00:02:33.000 --> 00:02:34.939 -war culture demanding everyone just conform, 00:02:35.219 --> 00:02:37.740 it just lit this fire under him to become someone 00:02:37.740 --> 00:02:40.500 completely different. Success wasn't just desirable. 00:02:40.800 --> 00:02:44.139 It was the only way out he could see. seems to 00:02:44.139 --> 00:02:46.500 be around age 15. His soccer coach takes the 00:02:46.500 --> 00:02:48.939 team to a gym. He sees pictures of guys like 00:02:48.939 --> 00:02:52.300 Reg Park, Steve Reeves, bodybuilders. And he 00:02:52.300 --> 00:02:54.460 realized this isn't just a sport. This is maybe 00:02:54.460 --> 00:02:56.180 an international ticket, something individual, 00:02:56.400 --> 00:02:57.699 something that could get him out of Austria. 00:02:58.280 --> 00:03:00.539 Precisely. Bodybuilding was like the perfect 00:03:00.539 --> 00:03:03.060 rebellion tool for him. It was measurable. You 00:03:03.060 --> 00:03:05.139 know, he could control it. Totally different 00:03:05.139 --> 00:03:07.159 from the kind of arbitrary rules and emotional 00:03:07.159 --> 00:03:09.960 messiness at home. Every single workout, every 00:03:09.960 --> 00:03:12.840 bit of muscle he built was a step towards owning 00:03:12.840 --> 00:03:15.699 himself. And he just went all in. Chose bodybuilding 00:03:15.699 --> 00:03:18.740 over soccer. Boom. Just like that. The dedication 00:03:18.740 --> 00:03:21.620 he showed even as a teenager. It's the stuff 00:03:21.620 --> 00:03:24.699 of legend. We're talking like breaking into the 00:03:24.699 --> 00:03:27.340 local gym when it was closed on weekends just 00:03:27.340 --> 00:03:29.340 so you wouldn't miss a workout. Yeah. He said 00:03:29.340 --> 00:03:31.560 he felt physically sick if he missed one. And 00:03:31.560 --> 00:03:34.319 that laser focus, that obsession with a single 00:03:34.319 --> 00:03:36.719 goal. That's the pattern we see again and again 00:03:36.719 --> 00:03:38.400 through all four acts. It started paying off 00:03:38.400 --> 00:03:41.659 pretty fast, too. One junior Mr. Europe in 1965. 00:03:42.120 --> 00:03:44.439 And get this. He was doing his mandatory year 00:03:44.439 --> 00:03:46.319 in the Austrian army at the time. Right. And 00:03:46.319 --> 00:03:48.580 didn't he go AWOL for that competition? He did. 00:03:48.719 --> 00:03:51.560 One AWOL competed. won, and then spent a week 00:03:51.560 --> 00:03:54.400 in military prison for it. But as he always framed 00:03:54.400 --> 00:03:56.699 it, winning titles like Mr. Universe later on, 00:03:56.740 --> 00:03:59.219 that was his ticket to America, he saw the path. 00:03:59.479 --> 00:04:03.719 And he cashed that ticket in October 1968. Lands 00:04:03.719 --> 00:04:06.580 in the U .S., he's 21, barely speaks English, 00:04:06.759 --> 00:04:09.199 and heads straight for the Mecca, Gold's Gym 00:04:09.199 --> 00:04:11.879 in Venice, California. He was a sponge, learned 00:04:11.879 --> 00:04:15.099 quickly. Just two years later, 1970, he wins 00:04:15.099 --> 00:04:18.079 his first Mr. Olympia. He was 23, still the youngest 00:04:18.079 --> 00:04:20.819 ever to win it. Eventually racked up seven titles 00:04:20.819 --> 00:04:23.160 in total. That puts him tied for second most 00:04:23.160 --> 00:04:25.360 all time, only behind Ronnie Coleman and Lee 00:04:25.360 --> 00:04:28.000 Haney, who both got eight. But the peak, or maybe 00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:30.000 the most talked about moment of his bodybuilding 00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:33.079 career, has to be that 1980 Mr. Olympia comeback. 00:04:33.399 --> 00:04:35.660 It's still debated today, isn't it? Oh, hugely 00:04:35.660 --> 00:04:37.620 controversial. He'd been retired for five years. 00:04:37.920 --> 00:04:40.680 But he was training for the movie Conan the Barbarian. 00:04:41.100 --> 00:04:43.220 you know running horse riding sword fighting 00:04:43.220 --> 00:04:46.199 into amazing shape and basically decided almost 00:04:46.199 --> 00:04:48.480 last minute to enter the olympia again secretly 00:04:48.480 --> 00:04:50.959 with only what seven weeks of actual contest 00:04:50.959 --> 00:04:55.879 prep exactly seven weeks and he won but the decision 00:04:55.879 --> 00:04:58.939 just exploded in the bodybuilding world to really 00:04:58.939 --> 00:05:02.949 get why you need the lingo conditioning Back 00:05:02.949 --> 00:05:04.930 then, conditioning meant muscle density, how 00:05:04.930 --> 00:05:06.970 sharp the definition was, no water retention. 00:05:07.470 --> 00:05:09.889 A lot of people, including competitors like Mike 00:05:09.889 --> 00:05:12.649 Menser, felt Arnold just wasn't there. They thought 00:05:12.649 --> 00:05:14.470 his muscle mass was down and his conditioning 00:05:14.470 --> 00:05:17.149 looked, well, soft compared to the others. So 00:05:17.149 --> 00:05:20.769 the argument was he won basically on his fame, 00:05:20.949 --> 00:05:24.410 his aura, the narrative, not purely on the physique 00:05:24.410 --> 00:05:26.629 that day. That was the feeling, yeah. The backlash 00:05:26.629 --> 00:05:29.449 was intense. Some guys, Menser included, actually 00:05:29.449 --> 00:05:31.769 quit competing after that. They felt the judging 00:05:31.769 --> 00:05:34.110 was too subjective, too biased towards Schwarzenegger 00:05:34.110 --> 00:05:35.949 the star. It's an early sign of him understanding 00:05:35.949 --> 00:05:38.389 how to use fame, isn't it? Even in a sport that's 00:05:38.389 --> 00:05:40.050 supposed to be all about the physical evidence. 00:05:40.290 --> 00:05:43.189 A crucial lesson. The win was less about comparing 00:05:43.189 --> 00:05:45.790 biceps and more about him stamping his authority 00:05:45.790 --> 00:05:48.250 back onto the sport, reasserting himself as the 00:05:48.250 --> 00:05:50.790 icon. Before we move off this phase, we should 00:05:50.790 --> 00:05:52.589 probably just touch on the sheer physical presence. 00:05:52.910 --> 00:05:55.939 He was listed at 6 foot 2 inches tall. though 00:05:55.939 --> 00:05:57.560 people have argued about that height over the 00:05:57.560 --> 00:06:01.259 years. Contest weighed around 235 pounds. Chest, 00:06:01.439 --> 00:06:05.439 57 inches. Arms, 22 inches. Just massive numbers. 00:06:05.720 --> 00:06:07.879 And you can't forget, he wasn't just about looks. 00:06:08.019 --> 00:06:11.079 He had serious strength underneath. That powerlifting 00:06:11.079 --> 00:06:14.279 background. He won a stone lifting contest in 00:06:14.279 --> 00:06:17.519 Munich, lifting a 560 -pound stone off the ground. 00:06:17.860 --> 00:06:20.939 That's incredible. His reported lifts, like a 00:06:20.939 --> 00:06:24.759 683 -pound deadlift, 520 -pound bench press. 00:06:25.199 --> 00:06:27.180 These are serious strengths numbers, not just 00:06:27.180 --> 00:06:29.920 bodybuilding stats. And we have to address it, 00:06:29.959 --> 00:06:32.079 the ethics question. The sources do confirm he 00:06:32.079 --> 00:06:34.699 used anabolic steroids. But it's important context, 00:06:34.860 --> 00:06:37.379 right? They were legal back then in 1977 when 00:06:37.379 --> 00:06:39.680 he acknowledged it. Right. And his claim was 00:06:39.680 --> 00:06:41.699 specific. He used them for muscle maintenance 00:06:41.699 --> 00:06:43.759 while dieting down for a show to keep the size 00:06:43.759 --> 00:06:45.939 he'd already built, not necessarily to pack on 00:06:45.939 --> 00:06:47.839 new muscle during that phase. It was a completely 00:06:47.839 --> 00:06:49.379 different landscape regarding performance and 00:06:49.379 --> 00:06:51.360 answers then. But yeah, it's part of the story 00:06:51.360 --> 00:06:53.379 of how that physique was achieved. It really 00:06:53.379 --> 00:06:56.860 speaks to the lengths he'd go to, the sheer will 00:06:56.860 --> 00:07:00.319 to build this powerful, nonconformist image, 00:07:00.540 --> 00:07:02.879 literally building it from scratch to escape 00:07:02.879 --> 00:07:05.259 his past. Precisely. He created the physical 00:07:05.259 --> 00:07:07.699 commodity. Okay, so that physical commodity becomes 00:07:07.699 --> 00:07:10.720 the launch pad for Act II. The Hollywood star 00:07:10.720 --> 00:07:13.399 transcending the accent. He had the body, the 00:07:13.399 --> 00:07:15.300 ticket to America. Now, he needed the fame and 00:07:15.300 --> 00:07:17.819 fortune ticket, but Hollywood initially just 00:07:17.819 --> 00:07:19.720 slammed the door in his face, right? Slammed 00:07:19.720 --> 00:07:22.519 it hard. Agents told him point blank, body's 00:07:22.519 --> 00:07:26.199 too weird, name's too long, accent's funny. The 00:07:26.199 --> 00:07:28.660 feedback was just brutal. You have no chance. 00:07:29.000 --> 00:07:31.639 And those first few roles didn't exactly help. 00:07:31.779 --> 00:07:34.800 Yeah. Hercules in New York in 1970. A bit of 00:07:34.800 --> 00:07:37.240 a mess. They billed him as Arnold Strong. And 00:07:37.240 --> 00:07:39.050 his accent was so thick they had... Dub over 00:07:39.050 --> 00:07:41.410 all his lines. Yeah, not a great start for someone 00:07:41.410 --> 00:07:43.949 driven to be recognized on his own terms. But 00:07:43.949 --> 00:07:46.230 there is a glimmer. He actually won a Golden 00:07:46.230 --> 00:07:48.310 Globe for New Star of the Year for a film called 00:07:48.310 --> 00:07:51.110 Stay Hungry in 70 Sykes. So maybe people saw 00:07:51.110 --> 00:07:53.410 something there, some charisma, even if the industry 00:07:53.410 --> 00:07:55.750 didn't know what box to put him in. The Game 00:07:55.750 --> 00:07:58.009 Changer wasn't an acting coach, though. He was 00:07:58.009 --> 00:08:02.329 a documentary crew pumping iron in 1977. That 00:08:02.329 --> 00:08:04.350 film just solidified his image, didn't it? Made 00:08:04.350 --> 00:08:07.089 him this like philosophical, charming, maybe 00:08:07.089 --> 00:08:10.170 a bit cocky, but totally magnetic figure. Way 00:08:10.170 --> 00:08:12.089 more than just muscles. Absolutely. Pumping Iron 00:08:12.089 --> 00:08:14.370 didn't just show bodybuilding. It launched him 00:08:14.370 --> 00:08:16.829 as a global personality. It gave him the leverage 00:08:16.829 --> 00:08:19.689 to kind of sidestep the usual gatekeepers who 00:08:19.689 --> 00:08:22.189 were hung up on the accent. Suddenly, producers 00:08:22.189 --> 00:08:25.170 saw dollar signs attached to that unique charisma 00:08:25.170 --> 00:08:27.189 he had. Which led straight to the breakthrough. 00:08:27.720 --> 00:08:31.300 Conan the Barbarian in 1982, huge hit, proved 00:08:31.300 --> 00:08:33.580 his physical presence alone could carry a big 00:08:33.580 --> 00:08:35.940 movie. And then just two years later, lightning 00:08:35.940 --> 00:08:38.100 strikes with James Cameron's The Terminator, 00:08:38.259 --> 00:08:42.139 1984. That role was genius because it turned 00:08:42.139 --> 00:08:44.919 all his supposed weaknesses into strengths. The 00:08:44.919 --> 00:08:47.080 physique was essential for the cyborg, the kind 00:08:47.080 --> 00:08:50.019 of robotic, minimal emotion delivery. Made the 00:08:50.019 --> 00:08:52.419 accent sound intentional, almost cool, not a 00:08:52.419 --> 00:08:55.360 liability. I'll be back. Three words. Instantly 00:08:55.360 --> 00:08:57.519 iconic. Exactly. That was the signature role. 00:08:57.820 --> 00:09:00.580 Launched the catchphrase. Launched multiple sequels. 00:09:00.580 --> 00:09:02.940 It just cemented him. And that kicked off the 00:09:02.940 --> 00:09:05.639 golden era, right? The 80s and 90s action hero. 00:09:05.980 --> 00:09:08.559 Huge blockbusters. Commando. Predator. Total 00:09:08.559 --> 00:09:12.240 Recall. True Lies. And we absolutely have to 00:09:12.240 --> 00:09:14.039 talk about the rivalry with Sylvester Stallone. 00:09:14.179 --> 00:09:16.620 Oh, yeah, it was central. The sources make it 00:09:16.620 --> 00:09:18.799 clear they were in this constant one -upmanship 00:09:18.799 --> 00:09:22.379 game. Bigger guns, higher body counts on screen, 00:09:22.639 --> 00:09:26.240 crazier stunts. Reportedly, they were genuinely 00:09:26.240 --> 00:09:28.860 competitive about it. It wasn't just friendly 00:09:28.860 --> 00:09:31.700 competition. It was about dominating the action 00:09:31.700 --> 00:09:34.620 genre that Arnold, in many ways, had helped define. 00:09:35.000 --> 00:09:37.240 But then came the really smart move, the strategic 00:09:37.240 --> 00:09:40.480 pivot, comedy. He had to show he could do more. 00:09:40.620 --> 00:09:43.580 And the way he did it for twins in 1988 was, 00:09:43.700 --> 00:09:46.000 frankly, brilliant from a business perspective. 00:09:46.360 --> 00:09:48.799 He took no salary up front. Hold on, let's pause 00:09:48.799 --> 00:09:51.039 on that because it's huge. No salary. For a star 00:09:51.039 --> 00:09:53.120 of his magnitude, that decision tells you everything 00:09:53.120 --> 00:09:55.159 about his business mind, which we'll get into 00:09:55.159 --> 00:09:58.259 more next. He didn't just want the part. He structured 00:09:58.259 --> 00:10:00.820 the deal to maximize his potential return based 00:10:00.820 --> 00:10:03.460 on the film's success. He bet on himself, took 00:10:03.460 --> 00:10:06.019 a percentage of the profits instead. And it paid 00:10:06.019 --> 00:10:08.620 off massively. It ended up being his biggest 00:10:08.620 --> 00:10:11.340 single payday ever up to that point, reportedly 00:10:11.340 --> 00:10:14.940 over $40 million. More importantly, it proved 00:10:14.940 --> 00:10:17.379 he could open a comedy. It opened the door for 00:10:17.379 --> 00:10:19.960 films like Kindergarten Cop, bringing in a whole 00:10:19.960 --> 00:10:22.919 new audience, families even. His absolute peak 00:10:22.919 --> 00:10:25.600 at the box office probably came with Terminator 00:10:25.600 --> 00:10:30.019 2. Judgment Day in 1991. Highest grossing film 00:10:30.019 --> 00:10:32.610 of the year. Critics finally started to get it, 00:10:32.690 --> 00:10:34.750 didn't they? That his success wasn't accidental. 00:10:35.029 --> 00:10:37.210 It was about finding roles that played to his 00:10:37.210 --> 00:10:39.769 strengths, his physique, his voice, instead of 00:10:39.769 --> 00:10:42.129 fighting against them. Exactly. He found the 00:10:42.129 --> 00:10:44.629 formula. There was a brief period where he experimented 00:10:44.629 --> 00:10:46.649 a bit, directed an episode of Tales from the 00:10:46.649 --> 00:10:49.029 Crypt, a TV movie called Christmas in Connecticut. 00:10:49.490 --> 00:10:51.830 But then things started to cool off a bit after 00:10:51.830 --> 00:10:54.330 Batman and Robin in 97, which was critically 00:10:54.330 --> 00:10:56.529 panned, and he had a back injury around then, 00:10:56.549 --> 00:10:59.450 too. And then came Act 4, the biggest interruption 00:10:59.450 --> 00:11:01.980 yet. He basically stepped back from leading roles 00:11:01.980 --> 00:11:04.080 completely while he was governor of California 00:11:04.080 --> 00:11:07.240 from 2003 to 2011. Just did a few cameos here 00:11:07.240 --> 00:11:10.000 and there. Right. His proper return to the big 00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:12.440 screen didn't happen until after he left office, 00:11:12.659 --> 00:11:15.240 came back in 2011, and his first leading role 00:11:15.240 --> 00:11:17.620 in about a decade was The Last Stand in 2013. 00:11:18.059 --> 00:11:19.960 And since then, she's actually adapted pretty 00:11:19.960 --> 00:11:22.350 well to how media has changed. did the escape 00:11:22.350 --> 00:11:24.590 plan movies with stallone more terminator stuff 00:11:24.590 --> 00:11:28.250 obviously and just recently in 2023 he did his 00:11:28.250 --> 00:11:31.929 first ever lead role in a tv series that netflix 00:11:31.929 --> 00:11:35.250 action comedy few bar plus the big documentary 00:11:35.250 --> 00:11:38.169 about his life arnold he just keeps finding new 00:11:38.169 --> 00:11:40.769 ways to stay relevant he really does always finding 00:11:40.769 --> 00:11:43.289 the next platform okay let's shift to phase three 00:11:43.289 --> 00:11:46.590 the mogul money and the mindset this is the piece 00:11:46.590 --> 00:11:48.370 that sometimes gets lost in the shuffle but it's 00:11:48.370 --> 00:11:51.240 so fundamental to his whole story The fact that 00:11:51.240 --> 00:11:52.700 he was already a millionaire by the time he was 00:11:52.700 --> 00:11:55.539 25. This was way before the giant Hollywood paycheck 00:11:55.539 --> 00:11:57.679 started rolling in. Yeah, stop right there. A 00:11:57.679 --> 00:12:01.220 millionaire by 25. Before Conan, before Terminator. 00:12:01.340 --> 00:12:03.419 That just completely changes the narrative, doesn't 00:12:03.419 --> 00:12:05.340 it? It tells you his core skill maybe wasn't 00:12:05.340 --> 00:12:07.080 lifting weights or delivering one -liners. It 00:12:07.080 --> 00:12:09.419 was strategic financial thinking, investment, 00:12:09.799 --> 00:12:12.519 business building. He talked about being a prolific 00:12:12.519 --> 00:12:15.490 goal setter. Right. Writing down his objectives 00:12:15.490 --> 00:12:17.750 on index cards every year. It seems like money 00:12:17.750 --> 00:12:21.110 for him was just this clear, measurable sign 00:12:21.110 --> 00:12:24.850 of success. And more importantly, the key to 00:12:24.850 --> 00:12:27.710 real freedom and control. And he started with 00:12:27.710 --> 00:12:30.909 pure sweat equity. His first major business, 00:12:31.049 --> 00:12:33.590 launched with his bodybuilding buddy Franco Colombo 00:12:33.590 --> 00:12:36.730 back in 68, was a bricklaying company. Not exactly 00:12:36.730 --> 00:12:39.649 glamorous work. But talk about timing. Incredible 00:12:39.649 --> 00:12:42.129 timing. The business boomed because of all the 00:12:42.129 --> 00:12:44.129 rebuilding needed right after the big San Fernando 00:12:44.129 --> 00:12:46.850 earthquake in 1971. So they had cash flow from 00:12:46.850 --> 00:12:48.750 that. And here's where you see that blueprint 00:12:48.750 --> 00:12:51.330 in action again. The constant reinvestment. He 00:12:51.330 --> 00:12:53.529 didn't just bank the bricklaying money. They 00:12:53.529 --> 00:12:55.409 immediately used those profits to start their 00:12:55.409 --> 00:12:58.580 next thing. A mail -order business. Selling fitness 00:12:58.580 --> 00:13:01.000 equipment, workout guides, capitalizing directly 00:13:01.000 --> 00:13:02.879 on his growing fame in the bodybuilding world. 00:13:03.039 --> 00:13:05.639 It's that constant leveling up, rolling profits 00:13:05.639 --> 00:13:08.259 into the next bigger venture. That's the signature 00:13:08.259 --> 00:13:10.840 move. He took the money from the mail order business, 00:13:11.159 --> 00:13:14.340 plus his contest winnings, and plowed it into 00:13:14.340 --> 00:13:17.539 his first real estate deal. An apartment building. 00:13:18.350 --> 00:13:21.429 Bought for just $10 ,000 down, apparently. Wow. 00:13:21.529 --> 00:13:23.690 So why was that apartment building such a smart 00:13:23.690 --> 00:13:25.629 first step in real estate? Because it wasn't 00:13:25.629 --> 00:13:27.929 just buying property. It was buying an income 00:13:27.929 --> 00:13:31.269 stream. He used leverage borrowed money to buy 00:13:31.269 --> 00:13:33.570 an asset that immediately started paying him 00:13:33.570 --> 00:13:36.070 back through rent. So here he is in his early 00:13:36.070 --> 00:13:38.370 20s, basically learning how to be a landlord, 00:13:38.669 --> 00:13:41.190 dealing with tenants, fixing things, understanding 00:13:41.190 --> 00:13:43.970 debt and equity. That's a hands -on financial 00:13:43.970 --> 00:13:46.289 education most Hollywood stars never get. They 00:13:46.289 --> 00:13:48.269 just cash the checks. He was building wealth 00:13:48.269 --> 00:13:50.769 actively. And that one building grew into a whole 00:13:50.769 --> 00:13:53.519 portfolio, right? Commercial properties, residential, 00:13:53.820 --> 00:13:56.299 all over. This was generating millions for him 00:13:56.299 --> 00:13:58.960 long before he was commanding huge movie salaries. 00:13:59.220 --> 00:14:01.139 He was building financial independence brick 00:14:01.139 --> 00:14:03.799 by brick, deed by deed. That meant he could negotiate 00:14:03.799 --> 00:14:07.289 harder in Hollywood later or walk away. Exactly. 00:14:07.470 --> 00:14:09.950 It gave him power. And that independence let 00:14:09.950 --> 00:14:12.570 him think bigger picture. Look at the mentors 00:14:12.570 --> 00:14:15.129 he cited. It's such a fascinating mix. Milton 00:14:15.129 --> 00:14:17.789 Friedman, the hardcore free market economist. 00:14:18.190 --> 00:14:21.330 Donald Trump, the real estate guy. Les Wexner, 00:14:21.470 --> 00:14:23.950 the retail genius behind Victoria's Secret and 00:14:23.950 --> 00:14:26.629 The Limited. And Warren Buffett, the ultimate 00:14:26.629 --> 00:14:29.789 value investor. It shows he wasn't tied to one 00:14:29.789 --> 00:14:32.289 ideology. He was just hungry for knowledge about 00:14:32.289 --> 00:14:34.110 how money works from anyone who'd mastered it. 00:14:34.440 --> 00:14:36.799 It definitely fueled that confidence, maybe even 00:14:36.799 --> 00:14:39.220 that famous joke he made. Money doesn't make 00:14:39.220 --> 00:14:42.279 you happy. I now have $50 million, but I was 00:14:42.279 --> 00:14:45.519 just as happy when I had $48 million. It's funny, 00:14:45.580 --> 00:14:47.460 but it hints that the process of building it 00:14:47.460 --> 00:14:49.659 was the real kick for him, not just having the 00:14:49.659 --> 00:14:52.279 pile of cash. And we should mention Planet Hollywood, 00:14:52.340 --> 00:14:54.620 too. High profile investment with Stallone and 00:14:54.620 --> 00:14:57.460 Bruce Willis. Very 90s. But ultimately, it didn't 00:14:57.460 --> 00:14:59.340 last for him. He got out in 2000, said it taught 00:14:59.340 --> 00:15:02.399 him a valuable lesson. Knowing when to get out, 00:15:02.500 --> 00:15:04.580 recognizing when something's peaked or just not 00:15:04.580 --> 00:15:06.299 working anymore is just as crucial as knowing 00:15:06.299 --> 00:15:08.440 when to jump in. He's still very much involved 00:15:08.440 --> 00:15:10.480 in the fitness world commercially, though. He 00:15:10.480 --> 00:15:12.379 owns the Arnold Sports Festival, held every year 00:15:12.379 --> 00:15:15.379 in Columbus, Ohio. It's huge, probably the second 00:15:15.379 --> 00:15:17.399 biggest bodybuilding event globally after the 00:15:17.399 --> 00:15:19.899 Olympia. And estimates of his total net worth 00:15:19.899 --> 00:15:22.480 now range anywhere up to maybe $800 million. 00:15:23.980 --> 00:15:26.659 It's just a staggering financial success story, 00:15:26.779 --> 00:15:29.960 built alongside but also kind of separate from 00:15:29.960 --> 00:15:32.320 the Hollywood fame. Completely separate foundation. 00:15:32.700 --> 00:15:35.019 Which brings us to phase four, the governator, 00:15:35.080 --> 00:15:38.950 politics, and policy. OK, this leap from global 00:15:38.950 --> 00:15:41.509 action star to running California, the biggest 00:15:41.509 --> 00:15:44.169 state in the U .S. It feels like the most audacious 00:15:44.169 --> 00:15:47.029 move of all. But the seeds of his political identity 00:15:47.029 --> 00:15:49.690 were actually planted the minute he landed in 00:15:49.690 --> 00:15:51.940 America. That's right. He registered as a Republican 00:15:51.940 --> 00:15:55.200 way back in 1968, and he was always very clear 00:15:55.200 --> 00:15:58.100 why. He connected with what he saw as the Republican 00:15:58.100 --> 00:16:00.860 ideals of free enterprise, less government interference, 00:16:01.220 --> 00:16:03.639 lower taxes. He said the Democratic platforms 00:16:03.639 --> 00:16:05.740 back in the 60s reminded him too much of the 00:16:05.740 --> 00:16:07.940 Austrian socialism he felt he'd escaped from, 00:16:08.019 --> 00:16:10.879 that bureaucracy, that conformity. So that core 00:16:10.879 --> 00:16:13.480 belief in individualism, maybe smaller government, 00:16:13.659 --> 00:16:16.139 was there from the start. He started getting 00:16:16.139 --> 00:16:18.440 more involved nationally in the late 80s and 00:16:18.440 --> 00:16:20.379 then got appointed chairman of the President's 00:16:20.379 --> 00:16:22.779 Council on Physical Fitness and Sports under 00:16:22.779 --> 00:16:26.279 George H .W. Bush. Bush apparently nicknamed 00:16:26.279 --> 00:16:28.860 him Conan the Republican. Yeah. And a really 00:16:28.860 --> 00:16:31.100 telling early moment was when he introduced Milton 00:16:31.100 --> 00:16:34.360 Friedman's TV series Free to Choose back in 1990. 00:16:34.679 --> 00:16:37.700 He gave this passionate speech about how individualism 00:16:37.700 --> 00:16:40.240 is fundamentally incompatible with socialism 00:16:40.240 --> 00:16:43.299 and praised America for letting people chase 00:16:43.299 --> 00:16:45.179 their dreams without the government breathing 00:16:45.179 --> 00:16:47.860 down your neck. That strong libertarian streak 00:16:47.860 --> 00:16:50.759 really defined his political entry point. And 00:16:50.759 --> 00:16:53.649 then fast forward to August 2003. The world is 00:16:53.649 --> 00:16:55.730 watching The Tonight Show and, boom, he announces 00:16:55.730 --> 00:16:58.009 he's running for governor of California. In the 00:16:58.009 --> 00:17:00.269 middle of this chaotic recall election targeting 00:17:00.269 --> 00:17:02.750 the Democratic governor, the media went nuts. 00:17:02.870 --> 00:17:05.509 The governator was born instantly. He had zero 00:17:05.509 --> 00:17:08.869 prior elected office experience, none. But that 00:17:08.869 --> 00:17:11.529 massive fame, that unique brand he'd built, it 00:17:11.529 --> 00:17:13.750 just cut through all the usual political noise. 00:17:18.250 --> 00:17:20.569 Then got reelected pretty comfortably in 2006 00:17:20.569 --> 00:17:23.349 with almost 56 percent. Served right through 00:17:23.349 --> 00:17:27.119 until 2011. And he positioned himself as a moderate 00:17:27.119 --> 00:17:29.960 Republican, right? Fiscally conservative, but 00:17:29.960 --> 00:17:32.359 more liberal on social issues. The sources seem 00:17:32.359 --> 00:17:34.700 to bear that out. He supported gay rights early 00:17:34.700 --> 00:17:37.920 on, even officiated a same -sex wedding. But 00:17:37.920 --> 00:17:40.279 then, controversially, he vetoed bills that would 00:17:40.279 --> 00:17:42.400 have legalized same -sex marriage statewide in 00:17:42.400 --> 00:17:46.140 2005 and 2007, pointing to court decisions. And 00:17:46.140 --> 00:17:48.059 he also vetoed single -payer health care bills 00:17:48.059 --> 00:17:50.720 twice, sticking to that fiscal conservatism. 00:17:51.069 --> 00:17:52.930 He definitely shook things up with his style, 00:17:53.009 --> 00:17:54.809 too. Remember him calling the Democratic state 00:17:54.809 --> 00:17:57.789 legislators girly men? That got huge attention, 00:17:58.009 --> 00:18:00.309 building off a Saturday Night Live skit. But 00:18:00.309 --> 00:18:01.809 here's where the story gets really interesting 00:18:01.809 --> 00:18:04.930 and maybe contradictory. His biggest, most lasting 00:18:04.930 --> 00:18:07.269 policy achievements seem to fly directly in the 00:18:07.269 --> 00:18:09.430 face of that Milton Friedman small government 00:18:09.430 --> 00:18:11.529 ideology he started with. You're talking about 00:18:11.529 --> 00:18:14.069 his environmental record. Absolutely. The guy 00:18:14.069 --> 00:18:16.210 who champions free markets and rails against 00:18:16.210 --> 00:18:18.069 government overreach became one of the biggest 00:18:18.069 --> 00:18:20.710 champions of large scale government driven climate 00:18:20.710 --> 00:18:24.190 action in the country. The tension there is fascinating. 00:18:24.569 --> 00:18:27.109 Like AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act 00:18:27.109 --> 00:18:30.650 of 2006. That was huge. Monumental. It created 00:18:30.650 --> 00:18:33.349 the first statewide cap on greenhouse gas emissions 00:18:33.349 --> 00:18:36.309 in the U .S. Then he followed up with an executive 00:18:36.309 --> 00:18:38.670 order demanding an 80 percent cut in emissions 00:18:38.670 --> 00:18:42.779 below 1990 levels by 2050. These aren't small 00:18:42.779 --> 00:18:44.960 tweaks. These are massive regulatory frameworks 00:18:44.960 --> 00:18:47.619 requiring significant government oversight and 00:18:47.619 --> 00:18:49.539 intervention. And he wasn't just signing bills, 00:18:49.680 --> 00:18:51.799 was he? He became this really visible advocate 00:18:51.799 --> 00:18:54.400 for clean energy, famously converted some of 00:18:54.400 --> 00:18:56.759 his own Hummers to run on hydrogen and biofuels. 00:18:56.779 --> 00:18:58.900 He pushed for the California Hydrogen Highway 00:18:58.900 --> 00:19:01.539 Network, signed an order to get hydrogen fueling 00:19:01.539 --> 00:19:03.980 stations built. That's a big, expensive, state 00:19:03.980 --> 00:19:06.670 -led infrastructure project. And even after leaving 00:19:06.670 --> 00:19:10.150 office, he kept at it. Founded R20 Regions of 00:19:10.150 --> 00:19:12.930 Climate Action, this global group pushing for 00:19:12.930 --> 00:19:15.109 local and regional governments to lead on climate 00:19:15.109 --> 00:19:17.849 solutions. It really shows that when a goal, 00:19:17.950 --> 00:19:19.950 in this case, tackling climate change became 00:19:19.950 --> 00:19:22.769 his priority, he seemed willing to jettison parts 00:19:22.769 --> 00:19:25.470 of his earlier ideology. He went for the most 00:19:25.470 --> 00:19:28.269 effective tool, even if it meant embracing big 00:19:28.269 --> 00:19:30.269 government policies he might have rejected in 00:19:30.269 --> 00:19:32.710 theory before. But his time as governor wasn't 00:19:32.710 --> 00:19:34.589 all smooth sailing. There were definitely some 00:19:34.589 --> 00:19:36.640 major... controversies that the sources highlight. 00:19:36.839 --> 00:19:39.660 Two big ones stand out. First, those allegations 00:19:39.660 --> 00:19:42.019 of sexual misconduct that surfaced during the 00:19:42.019 --> 00:19:45.599 2003 campaign. Six women came forward with claims. 00:19:45.740 --> 00:19:48.279 At the time, he gave the sort of qualified apology 00:19:48.279 --> 00:19:50.900 for having behaved badly sometimes but denied 00:19:50.900 --> 00:19:54.119 many specifics. It wasn't until much later in 00:19:54.119 --> 00:19:56.880 2023 that he really addressed it more fully, 00:19:57.059 --> 00:19:59.359 publicly admitting he was totally wrong for his 00:19:59.359 --> 00:20:02.299 past behavior. It shows a long evolution in his 00:20:02.299 --> 00:20:04.349 public accountability on that front. And the 00:20:04.349 --> 00:20:06.210 second major one was the commutation scandal 00:20:06.210 --> 00:20:08.400 right at the end of his term. Yeah, literally 00:20:08.400 --> 00:20:11.579 hours before leaving office. He commuted the 00:20:11.579 --> 00:20:13.980 prison sentence for voluntary manslaughter for 00:20:13.980 --> 00:20:17.460 Esteban Nunez. Nunez was the son of a very powerful 00:20:17.460 --> 00:20:20.579 political ally, Fabian Nunez. Arnold cut the 00:20:20.579 --> 00:20:23.059 sentence from 16 years down to seven, calling 00:20:23.059 --> 00:20:25.480 the original sentence excessive. The controversy 00:20:25.480 --> 00:20:27.920 wasn't just the commutation itself, which governors 00:20:27.920 --> 00:20:31.019 can do, but how he did it, right? Exactly. He 00:20:31.019 --> 00:20:33.099 didn't inform the victim's family beforehand, 00:20:33.319 --> 00:20:35.740 which caused enormous outrage and led to lawsuits. 00:20:36.910 --> 00:20:39.190 later looked at it and basically said Schwarzenegger's 00:20:39.190 --> 00:20:41.230 action showed an abuse of discretion and was 00:20:41.230 --> 00:20:43.730 repugnant. But ultimately, it fell within his 00:20:43.730 --> 00:20:45.849 executive powers. Still, it was a really damaging 00:20:45.849 --> 00:20:48.349 episode politically and ethically, showed the 00:20:48.349 --> 00:20:50.410 complicated nature of political favors, maybe. 00:20:50.549 --> 00:20:53.750 And his political voice definitely hasn't faded 00:20:53.750 --> 00:20:55.809 since leaving office. He's been very outspoken 00:20:55.809 --> 00:20:58.430 recently, condemned white supremacists after 00:20:58.430 --> 00:21:01.180 the Charlottesville events in 2016. And after 00:21:01.180 --> 00:21:03.640 the January 6th Capitol attack, he released this 00:21:03.640 --> 00:21:06.440 really powerful video message, drew on his own 00:21:06.440 --> 00:21:09.279 family history with Nazism, compared the rioters 00:21:09.279 --> 00:21:12.680 to groups like the Proud Boys, and just... bluntly 00:21:12.680 --> 00:21:16.259 called Donald Trump a failed leader, the worst 00:21:16.259 --> 00:21:19.539 president ever. He definitely hasn't shied away 00:21:19.539 --> 00:21:21.519 from taking strong stances. And of course, we 00:21:21.519 --> 00:21:23.400 have to mention the ultimate political ceiling 00:21:23.400 --> 00:21:25.940 for him, the U .S. Constitution, because he wasn't 00:21:25.940 --> 00:21:27.619 born in the U .S. He can't run for president. 00:21:27.980 --> 00:21:30.640 There was that whole amend for Arnold push back 00:21:30.640 --> 00:21:32.619 in the day, trying to change the natural born 00:21:32.619 --> 00:21:34.480 citizen clause. But that never went anywhere. 00:21:34.619 --> 00:21:37.059 Right. The ultimate ambition may be forever out 00:21:37.059 --> 00:21:39.099 of reach. Perhaps. OK, let's move into our final 00:21:39.099 --> 00:21:41.549 phase. Phase five, personal life, health. and 00:21:41.549 --> 00:21:44.069 lasting legacy. This part really brings home 00:21:44.069 --> 00:21:47.289 the maybe the personal cost of that kind of relentless, 00:21:47.470 --> 00:21:50.009 massive ambition. We have to talk about the end 00:21:50.009 --> 00:21:52.809 of his marriage to Maria Shriver after 25 years, 00:21:52.910 --> 00:21:55.430 a member of the Kennedy dynasty. Yeah, they separated 00:21:55.430 --> 00:21:57.569 in 2011, though the divorce wasn't finalized 00:21:57.569 --> 00:22:00.990 until 10 years later in 2021. And the catalyst, 00:22:01.250 --> 00:22:03.490 the reason it all fell apart, was the public 00:22:03.490 --> 00:22:05.789 revelation that he had fathered a son, Joseph 00:22:05.789 --> 00:22:08.930 Benina, more than 14 years earlier. The mother 00:22:08.930 --> 00:22:11.089 was Mildred Patricia Bena, who had worked for 00:22:11.089 --> 00:22:13.369 their family for a long time. And the timeline 00:22:13.369 --> 00:22:16.650 the sources lay out is just incredibly painful 00:22:16.650 --> 00:22:19.329 when you think about the family dynamics. Mildred 00:22:19.329 --> 00:22:22.289 Baena was pregnant at the exact same time Maria 00:22:22.289 --> 00:22:24.150 Shriver was pregnant with her youngest child. 00:22:24.690 --> 00:22:27.309 Joseph was born just five days after Christopher, 00:22:27.490 --> 00:22:29.950 Shriver's youngest. It's deeply sensitive stuff. 00:22:30.269 --> 00:22:32.089 Schwarzenegger himself said it took him seven 00:22:32.089 --> 00:22:34.089 or eight years to put it together when Joseph 00:22:34.089 --> 00:22:36.309 started to really resemble him. He eventually 00:22:36.309 --> 00:22:38.289 told Maria after she confronted him directly. 00:22:38.490 --> 00:22:40.710 He's spoken about the regret publicly since then, 00:22:40.789 --> 00:22:43.269 saying in 2014 that the mistakes he made that 00:22:43.269 --> 00:22:45.410 caused my family pain and split us up were the 00:22:45.410 --> 00:22:48.200 things he was least proud of. It's a stark reminder 00:22:48.200 --> 00:22:50.480 that huge public triumphs can have devastating 00:22:50.480 --> 00:22:53.119 private consequences. We also need to talk about 00:22:53.119 --> 00:22:56.200 his health. I mean, given the extreme physical 00:22:56.200 --> 00:22:59.039 demands of bodybuilding, maybe it's not surprising 00:22:59.039 --> 00:23:00.940 he's faced some challenges. It started with a 00:23:00.940 --> 00:23:02.619 heart condition he was born with, right? Yeah, 00:23:02.660 --> 00:23:05.180 a congenital issue called a bicuspid aortic valve. 00:23:05.759 --> 00:23:07.839 Basically, the valve that controls blood flow 00:23:07.839 --> 00:23:10.779 out of the heart only had two flaps, or leaflets, 00:23:10.839 --> 00:23:12.880 instead of the normal three. And that led to 00:23:12.880 --> 00:23:14.799 some serious surgeries later in life. Quite a 00:23:14.799 --> 00:23:17.380 few. He had his first heart valve replacement 00:23:17.380 --> 00:23:21.539 back in 1997. Then in 2018, he needed emergency 00:23:21.539 --> 00:23:24.180 open heart surgery to replace that failing valve. 00:23:24.460 --> 00:23:27.000 And then again in 2020, he had another surgery 00:23:27.000 --> 00:23:29.960 for a new aortic valve. So multiple major heart 00:23:29.960 --> 00:23:32.740 procedures. Despite all that, he still maintains 00:23:32.740 --> 00:23:35.220 this incredibly active lifestyle. It's like that 00:23:35.220 --> 00:23:37.480 same discipline he forged as a teenager just 00:23:37.480 --> 00:23:39.460 carries through everything. And that physical 00:23:39.460 --> 00:23:41.480 discipline seems to have influenced his diet 00:23:41.480 --> 00:23:43.380 recently, too, connecting back to his environmental 00:23:43.380 --> 00:23:47.460 work. Sources say that as of 2022, he'd been 00:23:47.460 --> 00:23:49.960 eating about 80 percent plant based for five 00:23:49.960 --> 00:23:52.640 years, citing both his health and the environment 00:23:52.640 --> 00:23:55.160 as reasons. Yeah, he's really pushing that message 00:23:55.160 --> 00:23:57.900 now. He did that less meat, less heat campaign 00:23:57.900 --> 00:24:00.059 trying to get people to cut down on meat to fight 00:24:00.059 --> 00:24:02.400 climate change. And he executive produced that 00:24:02.400 --> 00:24:04.759 documentary, The Game Changers, in 2018, which 00:24:04.759 --> 00:24:07.200 profiles successful athletes who eat plant based 00:24:07.200 --> 00:24:10.000 diets using his platform again. When you look 00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:12.759 at his legacy, the symbols are everywhere, aren't 00:24:12.759 --> 00:24:15.130 they? There's literally a statue of him, eight 00:24:15.130 --> 00:24:17.930 feet tall, bronze, hitting that famous twisted 00:24:17.930 --> 00:24:21.049 double biceps pose. It stands in Columbus, Ohio, 00:24:21.329 --> 00:24:23.589 where he hosts his Arnold Sports Festival every 00:24:23.589 --> 00:24:25.869 year. And you can't forget the vehicles. They 00:24:25.869 --> 00:24:28.009 almost perfectly capture his contradictions. 00:24:28.069 --> 00:24:31.210 He actually shipped his old Austrian Army M47 00:24:31.210 --> 00:24:33.950 patent tank over to the U .S. back in the 90s, 00:24:33.950 --> 00:24:37.049 paid $20 ,000 for it. Now he uses it for charity 00:24:37.049 --> 00:24:39.369 events, crushing things for kids. Hilarious. 00:24:39.509 --> 00:24:41.730 At the same time, he was famously the first civilian 00:24:41.730 --> 00:24:45.170 to buy a Humvee, the H1 model, pure excess. But 00:24:45.170 --> 00:24:47.109 then later he had three of his Hummers custom 00:24:47.109 --> 00:24:49.789 converted to run on things like hydrogen, vegetable 00:24:49.789 --> 00:24:53.970 oil, biodiesel. It's that blend again. of massive 00:24:53.970 --> 00:24:57.049 consumption right alongside the passionate environmentalist. 00:24:57.150 --> 00:24:59.730 And the perfect recent anecdote that shows he's 00:24:59.730 --> 00:25:02.049 still making headlines just happened early in 00:25:02.049 --> 00:25:05.650 2024. He got detained briefly by customs in Munich, 00:25:05.789 --> 00:25:10.210 Germany. Right! For what? For not declaring a 00:25:10.210 --> 00:25:13.089 fancy Swiss watch an Audemars Piguet. But why 00:25:13.089 --> 00:25:15.150 did he have the watch? To auction it off for 00:25:15.150 --> 00:25:17.930 his climate initiative. So even when he's caught 00:25:17.930 --> 00:25:20.690 up in some minor bureaucratic snag, it ends up 00:25:20.690 --> 00:25:22.750 circling back to one of his major life themes 00:25:22.750 --> 00:25:25.369 and generates global news. The guy just commands 00:25:25.369 --> 00:25:28.490 attention still across all these different chapters 00:25:28.490 --> 00:25:30.509 of his life. Okay, so let's try and pull this 00:25:30.509 --> 00:25:32.890 all together. This massive, almost unbelievable 00:25:32.890 --> 00:25:35.670 life story. We started with this kid from post 00:25:35.670 --> 00:25:37.869 -war Austria, driven by a difficult childhood, 00:25:37.990 --> 00:25:40.009 who literally built himself into an international 00:25:40.009 --> 00:25:45.420 icon through sheer will and... Then used that 00:25:45.420 --> 00:25:47.640 physical presence to overcome huge resistance 00:25:47.640 --> 00:25:50.539 in Hollywood, becoming a global superstar. But 00:25:50.539 --> 00:25:53.400 crucially, before that peak fame, he'd already 00:25:53.400 --> 00:25:55.500 mastered business and built serious financial 00:25:55.500 --> 00:25:57.839 independence. And then the final act so far, 00:25:58.019 --> 00:26:00.720 converting that celebrity wattage into real political 00:26:00.720 --> 00:26:03.460 power, becoming governor of California. The real 00:26:03.460 --> 00:26:06.380 thread, the genius maybe, wasn't just the ambition 00:26:06.380 --> 00:26:09.279 itself. It was his almost uncanny ability to 00:26:09.279 --> 00:26:11.980 turn that ambition into a concrete plan, a blueprint. 00:26:13.690 --> 00:26:16.150 This is key, his willingness to completely reinvent 00:26:16.150 --> 00:26:18.509 himself, his methods, even his core beliefs, 00:26:18.750 --> 00:26:22.069 whenever the next big goal required it. Bodybuilding, 00:26:22.190 --> 00:26:25.670 acting, politics. They were all just vehicles 00:26:25.670 --> 00:26:28.250 for the next conquest. We really saw that tension 00:26:28.250 --> 00:26:30.369 in the governator phase, didn't we? The guy who 00:26:30.369 --> 00:26:32.569 idolized Milton Friedman's free market ideas 00:26:32.569 --> 00:26:35.630 becomes the governor, pushing huge government 00:26:35.630 --> 00:26:38.009 -led environmental regulations like the Global 00:26:38.009 --> 00:26:40.609 Warming Solutions Act. Exactly. It seems like 00:26:40.609 --> 00:26:42.950 achieving the objective, in that case, fighting 00:26:42.950 --> 00:26:45.069 climate change in California, mattered more to 00:26:45.069 --> 00:26:47.569 him than sticking rigidly to an abstract political 00:26:47.569 --> 00:26:49.829 philosophy he'd held earlier. He wasn't trapped 00:26:49.829 --> 00:26:52.430 by needing to be consistent. He was driven by 00:26:52.430 --> 00:26:54.900 getting the result. And maybe that adaptability, 00:26:54.940 --> 00:26:57.460 that willingness to make radical shifts is the 00:26:57.460 --> 00:26:59.619 real secret sauce in his blueprint. It certainly 00:26:59.619 --> 00:27:02.059 seems like a core element. And that really brings 00:27:02.059 --> 00:27:03.599 us to our final thought for you, the listener, 00:27:03.720 --> 00:27:06.900 to chew on. When you look at Arnold Schwarzenegger's 00:27:06.900 --> 00:27:10.390 incredible multilayered success story. Where 00:27:10.390 --> 00:27:13.329 do you think the real key lies? Was it in sticking 00:27:13.329 --> 00:27:15.349 to that fierce self -discipline and the consistent 00:27:15.349 --> 00:27:18.349 ideology he often talked about early on? Or was 00:27:18.349 --> 00:27:20.349 his true superpower actually his willingness 00:27:20.349 --> 00:27:23.150 to ditch old philosophies to undergo these radical 00:27:23.150 --> 00:27:25.509 transformations, physical, political, personal, 00:27:25.589 --> 00:27:27.730 whenever a new, bigger goal demanded a completely 00:27:27.730 --> 00:27:28.890 new version of Arnold?