Billionaire Holocaust

SnapeScope0 HN recommenders · 2016–2026
637K views · comedy · evergreen · Uploaded 2015-06-14

A one-minute clip from HBO's Silicon Valley in which Gavin Belson describes the supposed persecution of billionaires in modern America by comparing it to the Holocaust. It is a satirical scene about tech-executive self-pity.

Used as a joke reference whenever a thread features a tech billionaire or CEO complaining about being vilified.

Watch on YouTube

5 comments from Hacker News

@ezl2016 · in “An open letter to Paul Graham”

From HBO's Silicon Valley -- [VIDEO] -- I'll take the downvotes I deserve for trolling. Though for the record, I'm fairly certain the hunters and wild animals analogy isn't intended as a complaint that he feels "hunted" or that he thinks people are out to hunt or kill startup founders in any literal or figurative sense [1]. The point of that anecdote in PG's essay is just that the counterparty to the argument doesn't have a clear objective. The Rick Webb open letter obviously uses it out of context to make PG look as if he's whining about being rich. [1] fun aside: yay those 2 words mean the same thing anyways now apparently anyways. [LINK]

@krisdol2016 · in “Tim Cook, the interview: Running Apple ‘is sort of a lonely job’”

> and partly because billionaires get less than zero sympathy if they talk about having difficult lives That quote from the essay reminds me of a Silicon Valley scene [1] where the CEO of the pseudo-Google company in the show gets vilified (rightfully so in the show) for complaining about how hard billionaires have it in this country. I bet the creator's read PG's essay and were inspired by it. [1]: [VIDEO]

@adtac2018 · in “Man dies on Mount Everest during cryptocurrency promotional stunt”

I found it hilarious when Gavin compared his treatment to the plight of the Jews in Nazi Germany [1]. And then I found out it was actually based on this guy [2]. [1] [VIDEO] [2] [LINK]

@Barrin922020 · in “You shouldn’t record Clubhouse calls”

>These laws exist to promote free thought. They punish those who seek to pry into our most private spaces and turn America into a place like East Germany. If you're going to argue that journalists blowing the whistle on the private conversations of the ultra-rich and powerful about how to reign in journalism with the Stasi, that's a great recipe for getting people sold on the idea that privacy itself is a tool used by the powerful to escape scrutiny. It reminds me of that bit in the Silicon valley TV show ( [VIDEO] )

@vunderba2026 · in “"Yes, It's Happening. Yes, it's real." March For Billionaires, SF, 02/07/2026”

Anyone else getting Gavin Belson interview vibes from this? [VIDEO] And also the actual CNN interview that the parody was based on: [LINK]