WATTENBERG: Now, one thing I wanted to press you on, is you often describe yourself as "CEO and Founder" of Protein Monster. But you did not, in fact, found the company, is that correct? CHRYSLER: Look—I made the company what it is today. I— WATTENBERG: But you didn't— CHRYSLER: —it was nothing like what it is today. It's basically a different company. WATTENBERG: OK. CHRYSLER: And by the way, they were totally broke. WATTENBERG: Right. CHRYSLER: They couldn't keep the lights on. Literally. And I fixed that. WATTENBERG: One of the major changes you initiated, of course, was to create the Protein Monster website. CHRYSLER: There was no website before I bought the company. It was basically just protein shakes before '97. WATTENBERG: Right. So tell me about that. What made you take this supplements company—and I think they were also doing some biotech stuff too—and turn a large portion of it into this website project? CHRYSLER: When I bought the company, I walked around the factories. I walked around the offices. And I really looked into those workers' eyes. A woman who had been working there for a decade, working 12-hour shifts, supporting two kids on her own. I looked into her worn eyes, her tired eyes, and I saw beauty. And I thought, "That's beautiful. Just like a website is beautiful. This is just like a website." And I walked up to a man on the assembly line, and I touched his calloused hands, looked at his dusty clothes, and I thought, "This is just like a website." WATTENBERG: Mhm. CHRYSLER: I walked through the offices. I saw these people sitting at their desks, behind those big bulky old PCs, sitting 8 hours a day, so bored I thought they might cry. I thought, "This could be a website." I met the custodians, some of them working two jobs to make ends meet. I thought, "This is just like a website." I peered across the empty parking lots at night— WATTENBERG: And so— CHRYSLER: —all that wasted pavement, wasted land— WATTENBERG: But if— CHRYSLER: Hold on. WATTENBERG: If I could just— CHRYSLER: Excuse me. Excuse me. WATTENBERG: Go ahead. Sure. CHRYSLER: OK. And I gazed across that pavement. And I thought, "This could be a website." I walked through the empty factories at night. Thousands of square feet of metal floors, metal walls. And I thought, "This could be a website." I looked at the machines, gently humming, like sleeping beasts breathing deep throughout the night. I thought, "This could be a website." WATTENBERG: OK. I think a lot of people wonder why, as a rule, half of the company's operating budget goes to the website protein.monster. As of this year that's around $46 billion just for running the website. CHRYSLER: Well— WATTENBERG: Pretty unusual for a website of that size. CHRYSLER: —look. When God created Eve from Adam, He did not take a piece of his foot, putting her beneath Adam. He did not take a piece of his head, putting her above Adam. He took a rib—from Adam's side—to make them equals. And I don't see why—I mean, people say it's "just a website," but— WATTENBERG: Sorry, on that subject— CHRYSLER: Yes? WATTENBERG: Just—I was going to ask you this later, but since you brought it up—on the topic of gender equality, it has been reported that women at Protein Monster earn around 33% of what men earn there. You know, of course— CHRYSLER: But— WATTENBERG: —that the company has been hit with a class-action lawsuit and is currently being investigated by the Department of Justice. CHRYSLER: But look at that. 33%. Thirty-three. How old was Jesus of Nazareth when he was crucified? WATTENBERG: Are you suggesting— CHRYSLER: Thirty-three years old. WATTENBERG: Are you suggesting that paying female employees 33% of what you pay your male employees, that that number's intentional? CHRYSLER: Of course not. WATTENBERG: OK. Because you just— CHRYSLER: Don't put words into my mouth. WATTENBERG: OK. CHRYSLER: I'm just saying, isn't that a coincidence? A divine coincidence. WATTENBERG: OK. But I do want to follow up—why are they being paid so much less? CHRYSLER: Well—{At this point in the interview, one of the CEO's attorneys interrupted and directed Mr. Chrysler to not answer the question.} --WATTENBERG WATTENBERG: Moving on, and related to this point about the website's funding, it's been reported by the New York Times that Protein Monster has spent close to $4 billion on a data center almost twice as large as the NSA's UDC—the intelligence community's data storage facility in Utah. CHRYSLER: It's been reported. WATTENBERG: Yes. And the UDC, that's estimated to hold exabytes of data, or basically billions of gigabytes. CHRYSLER: Sure. WATTENBERG: So I was hoping you could help me wrap my head around this—why would Protein Monster need twice as much data storage as the National Security Agency? CHRYSLER: Well— WATTENBERG: I mean, that's a really massive— CHRYSLER: —look. I'm not a technical guy, you've got to understand. I don't—I'm not really familiar with all the technical details. But it's a big website. WATTENBERG: But there doesn't seem to be— CHRYSLER: It's pretty big. WATTENBERG: —there doesn't appear to be anywhere near that much data hosted on the website. And even companies like Facebook don't appear to store that much data. CHRYSLER: Well— WATTENBERG: I mean, what could possibly— CHRYSLER: Well, my understanding is, you know, it's very important to have backups.