The Lionel Barber episode: Meeting Putin, the CIA, and Softbank
Sparknotes from my interview with the former FT editor | Jimmy’s Jobs turns 4
This week, I had the privilege of talking to former FT editor Lionel Barber. He has a reputation for being rather serious, rather matter of fact and perhaps a little pompous, I actually found him to be far more self-deprecating, amusing and mischievous than I had anticipated.
**
Inside the Barber story - The takeaways
Barber has just written a book about the founder of Softbank, Masayoshi Son. He also recounted his fascinating encounters with Russian President Vladmir Putin, Obama and others. We also went deep on UK politics and business.
Here are the highlights:
1. A warning to Chancellor Rachel Reeves
Barber was clear that the Labour government needs to be very careful if they want to attract investment, and warned against raising capital gains tax. “I’m sorry, I think it’s a big mistake. You want to encourage people to take risks, to build wealth, so I wouldn’t be touching that…People are going to leave.” He stressed that previous governments knew they had to make a signal to foreign investors, and that hasn’t happened under Starmer yet.
He added that a strong Britain was important given the weaknesses in France and Germany. “The two strongest governments in Europe right now are in Italy and Greece!”
2. Regrets over Brexit
I was slightly taken aback by how Barber was so reflective on the mistakes the FT in the run up to Brexit, not covering enough about the regions. He also fronted up and said he took responsibility. “The point was public opinion was moving against staying in the UK and we at the FT didn't pick it up properly…We didn't do a good enough job of reporting what was going on outside London.”
3. The robot take-over
Masayoshi’s key idea is - “singularity” - whereby robots become more intelligent than human beings. When they become sentient. Barber also thinks this is where the future is going, basically - artificial SUPER intelligence. Now, Masayoshi hasn’t gotten everything right, including missing out on the latest AI investment wave… but he has made a lot of bets that did pay off (not least getting iPhone sales exclusivity in Japan, and buying in early to Alibaba).
4. Gambling Addicts
What continues to motivate the super successful is a question I find so intriguing. I enjoyed Barber’s diagnosis of what makes entrepreneurs like Masayoshi tick - simply, that they love the risk. “They’re gambling addicts.” I have just finished the brilliant 3rd series of Industry, so you can certainly see the parallels.
5. Why Trump isn’t an economic beacon
I asked who he thought the best leader had ever been for business across the world? He cited Thatcher and Blair, and Barber was also very clear that it was not the former US President - Donald Trump. He recounted how Trump’s tax records shows he’s practically paid no tax over the years. “He’s not a great American success story… he knows how to bully people.” He called Trump’s election the first time, but refused to call it this time, saying it was too close - while he led on the economy, a large pool are fed up with him.
Trump continues to gain stronger traction in the betting markets.
***
A couple of questions that I asked Barber that I would be interested in your take on:
Has the growth of the PR / Comms industry chiselled all the personality off our business leaders?
Secondly, which British business personality should there be a biography of? We have great books on Jobs, Musk, Branson and now, Son. Who would make the best British read do we think?
If that teaser whet your appetite, click here to listen to the whole Barber episode, or here to watch it (excuse my hair, it needs a cut).
***
Amazon episode
It was a lot of fun to get to film inside Amazon’s state-of-the-art fulfillment centre in the West Midlands. We went to find out exactly what happens when you click ‘buy’ and the jobs involved in getting the parcel to your door in 24 hours.
Amazon now employs 1.5 million people across the world, and 75,000 of them in the UK across so many different types of job from technology to creative industries. This video was done in partnership with Amazon, if you want to learn more about how that works, it is here.
Four-year anniversary!
Today also marks 4 years to the day that I first launched Jimmy's Jobs of the Future into the world - I started with an old laptop, a £40 mic off Amazon and a WiFi connection. (see amateur picture below)!
We’ve come a long way - recently surpassing 50k subscribers on YouTube (up from 5k a year ago, and 25k just three months ago), as well as (finally!) moving into our own recording studio last month. But over 170 episodes later, our mission remains the same:
to showcase the future of our economy, to promote those creating jobs & to make careers advice relatable and entertaining.
We wouldn’t be here without our incredible sponsors, who have kept the ship going. You as our Substack reader are our deepest audience, so thank you for all the forwards of this email, the likes on LinkedIn, the replies and all the encouragement.
Every single one is appreciated more than you think.
Hope you have a terrific week.
**
If you want to partner with the Jimmy’s Jobs podcast, or sponsor this newsletter, get in touch by replying to this email! Or to hear more about Boxlight - my corporate affairs video agency - book a meeting with our team here.
Follow us on socials!
Tiktok: tiktok.com/@jimmysjobsofthefuture
Twitter / X: twitter.com/JimmyM
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/jimmy-mcloughlin-obe/