Here is the full transcript of Maksud Agadjani aka TraxNYC’s interview on PBD Podcast #713, January 6, 2026.
Brief Notes: In this high-energy episode of the PBD Podcast, Patrick Bet-David sits down with Maksud Agadjani, better known as TraxNYC, to discuss the explosive viral video of a $22,000 jewelry deal that spiraled into a physical altercation in the heart of New York’s Diamond District. Agadjani provides a raw, behind-the-scenes look at the “parasitic” impersonators and cutthroat business codes he navigates daily, while recounting his journey from an Azerbaijani immigrant to a jeweler for icons like MrBeast and the Trump family.
The conversation dives deep into his appearance in the film Uncut Gems, the neurobiology of greed, and a stark warning about why gold and silver are the only true safeguards against a failing U.S. dollar in 2026. This unfiltered discussion serves as a masterclass in staying authentic while surviving one of the most ruthless industries in the world.
Introduction
PATRICK BET-DAVID: So if you’re watching this and in the last week, if you haven’t seen this one guy who lost his mind after a guy over a $22,000 deal and this video on Instagram, you have to have not logged on to Instagram to have not seen this video. I don’t know how many views it’s had right now. The week prior to that, it was about Nick Shirley. But this week, TraxNYC Maksud posted a video pulling up to this man. Let me see how many views it said right now, Rob, can you see it or no?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Let’s see. Pulling up to George.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Pulling up to George, right? And it’s got now 73 million views. That’s been shared 651,000 times. Can we start off with the clip, Rob? Just play the clip.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: This is the one he spits in my face.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: No, go to the first one, Rob. Not to this one. Go to this one first.
The Confrontation That Broke the Internet
VIDEO CLIP BEGINS:
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Money. Where’s my money? Where’s my money? I got this. Where’s my money? What are you going to do? What are you going to do? That was four years in the making, right? BBS I 314 cat my name. You. Huh?
Yeah. 6447. You. There is a violence. There is a violence.
VIDEO CLIP ENDS:
PATRICK BET-DAVID: How long have you guys known each other?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Four or five years.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: That’s what he said. There’s a violence. Okay, so you can pause it right there, Rob. So first of all, Trax. It’s good to have you on.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Thanks, man.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: We had you. We were at a. What was it? A Art Basel event at the Soho House. The Manect event that we had a couple years ago.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: We had me as a fan for many years. Yeah.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: And then I see this. I’m like, what the hell is going on? Now, keep in mind, you know the jewelry I had.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: No.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: When people found out you’re going to be on. I had no idea the gold business in New York was this political. The amount of messages I got. Fans and haters.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Haters.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Do you realize Trax this, Trax that. So let me. I want to know what happened.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Don’t hold me back. These bastards.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: So tell us the story. Who is he? Who is George? Who are all the people involved in that conversation?
The Five-Year Feud: How It All Started
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, they are. You know, there’s just the sneakiest people you could ever imagine, right? I moved into this exchange in 2018. And I signed with these landlords, this Baharian family that the father or the uncle or whoever, you know, he. There used to be a bank there. They bought the bank, they renovated it into a beautiful exchange and the family renovated him. I know the family for years, for like 20 years, 10 years before whatever.
And I’m like, alright, cool, I signed a lease. 2018, I move in, you know, I start doing social media, I start getting popular and I fill up the exchange with great neighbors and everything like that. COVID comes around and this family, I don’t know if they’re Turkish or Syrian. Turkish, they’re Christian or whatever. Not that that matters at all, but that’s just people are curious about s* like that. And lo and behold, unbeknownst to anybody, they buy 50% of this exchange.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: The exchange or the building?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: The exchange. Okay. Yeah, the building is a co-op. Other owners, you know, in the diamond district, for years been buying over there. All sorts of characters with their stupid business, you know, mentalities and schemes. Constantly, some bulls*, always a problem, but whatever, it’s manageable.
And they buy into this exchange because, you know, I’m there, right? And I’m bringing in good, solid tenants and I’m bringing in clients steadily. But when they buy in, they, as landlords, so to speak, they’re really partner ownership partners, not landlords. But then they sneak down into the booth across from mine and they never say that they’re partners or that they bought into the exchange. They just say they’re renting a booth.
So I meet them, I say hello, and I start like, you know, treating him like everybody else, and I see something’s wrong. The father, you know, I asked him to, you know, we’re neighbors in an exchange, in a jewelry exchange. I got the windows and you guys got this booth and I go to this father and I’m like, yo, these are old school chains. I could sell him. I could do an ad right now, do a commercial. And he’s like. He looks at me like I’m some bum, you know, like asking for.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: This is five years ago.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah. And I’m like looking at him like, what the f. What’s wrong with this guy? You know, what is he. What is he talking to me like that for?
Then a client, you know, takes a picture and then he tags their business. This is again, five years ago. Tags there. I mean, tags my business with his picture. Says Trax NYC. With the very same picture that dumb bastard you just had in the thumbnail or whatever, George Akai. And I come up to him and I have him. I take my phone and I show my phone and I’m like, yo, why is your picture. What is this? He grabs the phone out of my hand. This is five years ago. And he’s like. And he’s holding it like this. He’s like, no. I’m like, did you just f*ing grab my phone?
PATRICK BET-DAVID: This is five years ago?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: So you guys have had a feud for years?
The Phone Grab Incident and Escalating Tensions
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, Yeah. I was. Listen, listen. He grabs my phone out of my hand and he’s holding it like this like I’m a child. Like. Like, you can’t have this. It’s mine. I. I snatched it. I’m like, yo, bro, do you know what you’re doing right now?
So then I start to beef with them and I start to warn them. I’m like, yo, I’m not the one to play with, bro. And in person. And then it turns out that they reveal that they’re the. That they bought in. Then they’re feuding with the actual landlords. Then they’re bringing in their own super. Then they’re firing a security guard. Then they want to close the shop this way. They want to close the shop when they leave. Not when I close at 7. They want to leave at 6. They want to close the whole shop.
I’m like, yo, get the f* out of here, man. I didn’t sign my lease with you. I don’t know who you are. I don’t accept you as a landlord coming downstairs and pretending to be another tenant, you know, doing some sneaky garbage. I’m not here for it. I don’t. I don’t accept it. I don’t need it.
And I warned them and I warned them and I warned them and I warned them. Don’t do it. Don’t say your Trax to my seed. Don’t do this, don’t do that. He feels like he, you know, they felt like they bought in and now they own me. They could say their Trax. They could say this. It’s like I could come in here and I could say, I’m Valuetainment and I could take your s and I could, you know, tomorrow say, I’m PBD Podcast. And just because I’m here, I’m there just doing extra s for no f*ing reason.
So whatever. But you know what? I’m trying to market my business. I’m trying to keep the peace. I’m trying to do whatever I’m supposed to be doing. And that’s it. New Year’s Eve rolls around, I’m happy. I closed out my record year. Yeah. I sold $5 million in December.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: December alone.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, December alone. $5 million. You know, we’re $40 million a year. Whatever. I don’t even know what it is anymore. I did my record December record. Margins and volume and so on and so forth. I’m happy. I have my team, I have all my ducks in a row. I don’t have any bulls* going on.
And then somebody comes up. One of my members of my staff comes up to me. He’s like, yo, Max, the customer is looking for you. There’s 14k, 10k. And this happened, and that happened. Like, what’s going on? And then I go downstairs and the customer’s there, desperate and sad on New Year’s Eve. And he’s like, I bought this. This guy said he’s you. I’m like that. I’m like, I can’t take this s* anymore. I’m just about to enjoy. I’m not waiting. New Year’s Eve.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: This is New Year’s Eve.
The $22,000 Customer Scam
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah. I’m not watching a drop the Ball drop and thinking, I can’t wait till Monday to confront them. I’m like, you know what, man? Come downstairs. I go inside their booth, all right? Since they’re saying they’re me, I must be them. I go inside their f*ing booth. I give him his $22,000. He spent $21,000. I give him $22,000. I said, you’re made whole. That’s it. You know? He’s finally happy. He’s relieved because he’s not. You know what I’m saying? He’s a regular dude. I don’t know where he got the money, but he’s just a regular guy.
But you know, these regular people that make money or get money somehow, they trust me. They believe in me. So they’re looking for me. This fing dickhead says to him, he shows him a picture of Trax, my seat, jewelry. He’s like, oh, I’m out of stock. I’m going to order this later, but I have this for you now. And he tricks him and he does this nasty, sneaky s that I warned him not to do five years ago. So I get behind the counter and I go to war.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: This is the clip, the first one that we showed.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, the first one is the one where I’m right here.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: But what I’m saying is when you went to war, that’s what you’re talking about?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, this is after I fing trashed their, their, you know, their scales and all their other s.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: This right here, Rob, you want to play this?
Testing the Gold: Exposing the Fraud
VIDEO CLIP BEGINS:
MAKSUD AGADJANI: It’s. This is. Yeah, this is where I. With the customer. The receipt from this disgusting company that pretends to be me says their Trax in my seat sells my customer a bracelet. Rips them off and rips them off on the gold s*. They’re saying it’s 14 karat gold. Well, we’re going to test this bracelet right now. Start the test. 10 karat gold.
So did they say they were Trax NYC? Yeah. He. He tried to portray. He tried to sell one of your products. He said that he ran out, right. Came up with a scheme, right, that you. So that. That we sell. So you came with a picture of Trax of my seat.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Yeah.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Opened up the website and then he said he ran out. Even though he has nothing to fing do with me other than to steal my fing customers. All day long. These rats have done this all day long.
VIDEO CLIP ENDS:
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Okay, so that’s the customer. $21,000. You make him whole $22,000. You go up to him. You guys have that issue, then you leave. What happens next?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Right, well, before this, you could go to the next clip. Just go to the next one. I think it’s. It’s this one when I made him whole. And that’s me fing their s up over there. I just had enough.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: I haven’t seen this.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, this is the one.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: So where are. Where is George? Are you in a room where George is also in this room?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Not. Not at this. George is enjoying his New Year’s Eve with his dumb a family somewhere.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Press play, Rob.
The New Year’s Eve Showdown
VIDEO CLIP BEGINS:
MAKSUD AGADJANI: So not only did these fing pieces of s. This is what started it. Okay. Rip you off on this f*ing thing. It turned out to be nine karat gold. Right? You had a check?
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Yes.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: So they’re going to be giving you $1,000 on top. Here’s $22,000 for your trouble. These bum.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Is that them?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: The.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: That’s their area.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: People. This. Stop being greedy pieces of like I’m Trax. I want this coming up.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: That’s their area you’re doing?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, it’s on now.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: So they’re seeing this.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: It was a surprise.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: What time is this?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Sorry, I surprise for these. End of the day on New Year’s Eve.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: But what time? 4:00 PM, 5:00 PM? So this is 4, 5. And customers are around?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah.
VIDEO CLIP ENDS:
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Now can you pause it real quick? Where are. Where is your shop?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Right across from where I’m standing.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: So this way?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, right across. I might do the windows, right, just like where the booth is facing. I’m looking at my shop all day.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: You guys are seeing each other.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: I don’t see them because I don’t sit at my shop. I have a mezzanine and I do my s*. I have a team that runs my store downstairs.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: You upstairs?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, I’m upstairs. I’m running around, I’m doing s*, and I have a team. But I see them as I’m walking in, walking out, walking in, walking out. But I don’t really sit in my shop for that particular reason. I don’t want to see these disgusting brothers and their scheming ways.
I just don’t want to be around it, man. I’m very fickle when it comes to s* like that. I’m saying if I don’t like a person, I just want to—I don’t have it in me because I’ll lose it. I don’t have it in me.
The Aftermath of the Viral Video
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Okay, so they see this clip. This is end of day, four or five o’clock, okay, New Year’s Eve, December 31st. What happens next? Do they call you?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: They don’t call me. They start trying to call the cops. They start trying to do this, they start trying to do that. The police show up and they realize it’s a civil matter because I’m refunding a person. It’s an impersonation.
When the cops come, NYPD, my staff tells them, “Hey, we had to make this customer hold $22,000. This, that, this, that.” It’s not just a clear cut situation. So the NYPD leave. They show up the next day, but the heat is already on from this video. And they’re thinking, let’s talk like gentlemen, he says, or was, so to speak. Right? Because he knows that the heat is on on this s*.
So on the January 2nd, I pop out and then you see the events. He’s sitting in his booth, this George.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Okay, so that’s two days later.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: And then this is the one you pull up to him. Yeah, that’s already played.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: So. Got it.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: And he’s surprised he’s not seeing you coming in. So by the way, pause right there. Are you on that site?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, that’s Trax.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Yeah, I see right behind it.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Okay, now I get it.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: You guys are literally right next to each other.
Parasites in the Diamond District
MAKSUD AGADJANI: He moved in there to fing steal customers for years. That’s what the f he did. They saw I was a successful guy and like vultures. Like parasites, man. Like parasites. They moved down there.
At first, they didn’t even put their name on their booth, so they could just say they’re TraxNYC. They’re sick, sick people, bro. They’re not regular people. They don’t buy a cup of coffee over there, bro. They don’t do nothing. They’re cheap as hell.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Where are they from?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Turkish, I heard Syria. I heard Turkey. I heard this. I heard that. Listen, these are all lines on a map. I’ve met so many amazing Turkish people. I’ve never, ever, ever seen anybody like this.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Okay, so then what does it say, Rob? Where they’re from? Does it say anything or—
MAKSUD AGADJANI: No, I’m looking right now.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Yeah, so after that clip. After that clip, that’s when—
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Just sitting there, trying to steal customers from me and then lying. No, just that bold face lying s. “No, I didn’t do it.” What? I’m like, yo, you fing retards. I had enough of that s in the diamond district. Tell me one bold face lie to my face that you didn’t do this and you didn’t do that. That’s what you’re going to get from me every fing time.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: So now go back to the last—and the last clip is when it’s Tipping Point.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: That’s it. That’s when I already hit him and I posted this video. And then I come back to them. They’re already closing the exchange. They’re lowering the gates like, this is done January 2nd. Yeah, this is January 2nd. This is—
PATRICK BET-DAVID: This is after the—
The Strangulation Incident
MAKSUD AGADJANI: This is Freddy trying to—yeah. Strangle me. Right. Like, you can’t really see it here. But the guy who has his hand, one hand on my shoulder, black sweater. The other hand he has on a chain like this, and he’s twisting it and strangling.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: You go on the Instagram account to show the full clip. So he’s trying to strangle you. Yeah. I think you were just on it.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, that’s the third one. Third one? Yeah, right there. No, no, my bad.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Previous one.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Right?
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Yeah, that’s it. Who was that guy?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Who’s the guy? That’s his brother. That’s his brother George and Freddy, the two brothers. He put his hand on my neck right away after his brother spit on—
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Who’s there with you?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: My staff came to rescue me. Strangled me with my own chain. Get out of this hospital. TraxNYC.com.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: I love how at the end you just had to put TraxNYC.com. You’re just non-stop with it.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Why not?
The Arrest
PATRICK BET-DAVID: I respect it. And then the last thing is the clip that we saw of everybody walking out, being arrested, handcuffed. But you weren’t handcuffed, so, no. Why were you not handcuffed? And is this the one, Rob? Yeah, yeah, go ahead and play this.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Well, because the NYPD decided that spitting and strangling—they’re looking for bruises. The NYPD. Okay.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: And that’s you, you know, saying, yeah.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: If you were assaulted and you want to catch an assault charge, you put a bruise on somebody, that’s an assault. That’s what they told me. Okay? If you have markings that they could photograph so they could prosecute a case to the judge. Because if you say I assaulted you, you assaulted me, and you have no markings, it’s a hearsay type bulls*, but if you have markings and they could have pictures of those markings, they could prosecute an assault charge.
So that’s what they look for. And I’m the only one who had markings because I got beat the s* out of by everybody.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: How many of their guys jumped you? What was the total?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: I mean, it was the father.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: The father is George?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: No, the father is the older man, the father of George. I know George and Freddie look like they’re 80 years old, but they have a father that’s—he’s standing like right next to whatever that’s—it’s these are the two brothers, George and Freddy. Okay. And the third brother. And then they have this hitman over there, and with the other one, whoever the f* he is.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: And the father in this picture or no?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, he was in there somewhere. Yeah, there’s a father right there standing in front. He was doing some kicking and some f*ing screaming.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Dad was kicking?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, the dad. All I saw is everybody’s coming. I saw the dad just like his foot coming out. And then this idiot threw a scale at my head as well and hitting on one of my employees. We’re getting the surveillance footage.
There’s Marcus, my team member. The other father’s over there somewhere. So they’re trying to break it up. My staff come take me out, but I can’t breathe. All I could do is pull back on the chain to try to breathe as this f*ing idiot is pulling on my chain over a refund and all this and all that.
Listen, man, it’s all a bunch of bulls. These people—this whole saga is an example of blind greed. “Money is my God.” This is what you’re looking at, okay? I have money. That’s what they came up, this fing dumbass.
When I was arguing years ago with this fing idiot, Freddie, in the middle of the argument, he shows his watch. He’s got a gold Sky-Dweller on. He’s like, “You know how many of these I have?” I’m like, what the f difference does that make that you have to say, “I have this”? So you could say you’re, what, more important than me? Because you have more Sky-Dwellers? Because I don’t have enough Sky-Dwellers in my showcase. And you have more. That means you’re greater. What is your logic, bro?
They’re all about, “I have money. I have money.” These are just the lowest, biggest losers that without the dollar sign, they have nothing. They have no ability to communicate. They have no social skills, no personal skills. All they have is a dollar to go, “I have more money.” And it’s just disgusting. People like that are disgusting.
Criminal Charges and Community Dynamics
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Now, let me ask you this. This event that took place, are they in jail? Are they out?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, they got out. They got criminal charges, the two brothers, assault charges. But I called the prosecutor in the DAO. I’m not here to be strangled. It’s still a little hard to swallow over here, bro. I’m not here to be strangled like a misdemeanor. I never strangled anybody with a chain.
Yeah, I had markings. Oh, I don’t bruise easily, dude. I had markings all around my neck, man. And to be strangled and pulled on like this and just—I’m just thinking, all right, I know my staff is going to come through. I got some serious guys on my team that they’re not going to play around, and they come and they rescue me. And then they start fighting, brawling over there as well. They lost it. They got exposed.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: How many businesses are in there?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Maybe like 10, I think, or something.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: So what are the other guys saying about it? Do they know about the feud between the two of you?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, the other guys, all them. But they try to kind of use them as a counterbalance towards me. But they know that’s—because they don’t want their rent raised. So they’re like, “Hey, hey, you know, I’ll be on your side. You know, you’re the partners in here.” The rent, they’re all playing a game. People want to keep the rent low.
I pay for the windows. The windows are, altogether, like $40,000 plus a month. Yeah, okay. I’m paying for the windows, and I’m bringing customers from around the world, all right? And if you’re paying for a booth, that’s four or five grand a month per day. That’s nothing, okay? You sell a watch a day from some spillover customer of mine, you’re in the profit, you’re good.
So their business is to—for me to fill the exchange, pay for the windows and get a little something. So they’re playing. They’re playing, but they don’t give a s* about them. The Bukharian landlords are good people, and they’re easy to do business with. They’re normal to do business with. Bukharian.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Are they Armenian?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: No, they’re Bukharian. Jewish. Bukharian Jewish family. And that’s fine. And we do it, and we pay the rent and we all get along and we all say hello in the morning and we say goodbye, and I take a ring over here and I take it over there and I bring a customer here, and we all work as one normal community.
It’s only those motherfers in the middle that fed it all up. I was doing events in there. I was doing there. No vision, no talent, no nothing. Just let me steal and let me sneak. They deserve everything you’re going to fing get. Those motherfers, huh?
PATRICK BET-DAVID: How much longer you going to stay in there?
The Diamond District Community
MAKSUD AGADJANI: I’m going to stay in there indefinitely, you know, because I like that place. I like doing business. I have the mezzanine in there as well. I met her off in my own space. But I like community, you know? I’m saying I’m better off in my own space. I got to buy my own building. But I like the community so far. So I’m just doing it like that. And that’s it.
It’s an exchange. You could come, you could take a look, you could like mine, but don’t say you’re me. I know the temptation is there. When the customer’s there going, “Are you Trax?” “Yeah, I’m Trax.” You’re not Trax, man. Don’t say you’re f*ing me, you greedy, retarded bastards, bro. And you think you’re going to get away with it.
And there was other sneaky bastards, you know, doing sneaky shit. But I let it slide. I let them correct their ways. I don’t want to destroy their business, you know, saying. Because then they’re going to hurt and then they’re going to cry, you know. So I rather sit here and, you know, take, lose a little bite, then cut them into two, into pieces. And I do that to some of the people, the bribes. And they know who they are, the slobs coming up with a bribe, laughing, thinking, “You’re smart.” You’re not smarter than me, bro. I see what you’re doing, you f*ing whatever.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Got it? So it’s funny because you’re, you seem like you don’t want to be there, but you also don’t want to leave. It’s like you love the game. What is the profile of somebody that makes it on 47th in the district? What is the profile of a good businessman that makes it. Do you have to be feisty? Do you have to have a little bit of an edge?
The Ruthless Reality of the Jewelry Business
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, you got to have something going on, man. I mean, the people that made it. The sad thing is the people that have been successful for years in that business are some of the most ruthless people ever in jewelry that are, period. They don’t, they are just ruthless, okay?
When they’re giving out credit or who they could rip off or whatever point of leverage that they could squeeze, they squeeze on it each time, every time, 100% of the time. Okay? Wherever they could lie to you, they lie to you. Whatever they could fool you, they fool you. And those are the people that have been successful. But it’s, it turned it into a disgusting business that way. When I was a kid and I showed up there when I was 18, 19 years old, the people there were just disgusting, the way they treated one another and whatever. But I…
PATRICK BET-DAVID: 20 years ago.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Who did you work for at first?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: I didn’t work for anybody. I just started photographing jewelry and putting it up on eBay and then selling it and then buying it from Cornell Street.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: By yourself or with a partner?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: By myself. Got it. Right. I hired my friends that, you know, the drug addicts that I used to…
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Have for friends I hired back in the days.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Back in the day.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: And then slowly you build yourself up.
Early Mistakes and Business Lessons
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah. And slowly I learned. Well, I was building myself up pretty quickly. Then I had to take a back step because I was a young dude. I got overwhelmed and I made mistakes. And I was 18, 19, and it took a long time to correct them. But now I have the wisdom to do what I need to do. I know.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: What did you do?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Huh?
PATRICK BET-DAVID: What mistakes were there?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: What mistakes? Well, you know, I lost some of my key people because I ruined the relationship, right? And then I had to backtrack for a long time. The real mistake was my prices were too low. My profits weren’t high enough. I believed too many people that were disgusting like my other landlord. And they were all using and taking advantage of me, you know.
And I was just doing stupid business decisions that didn’t make, that didn’t make sense. And then, you know, I started watching Warren Buffett and I learned what business is with one thing that he said that really changed everything for me.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Okay.
The Warren Buffett Lesson That Changed Everything
MAKSUD AGADJANI: He bought a windmill company. Windmill company was failing, you know, and they were doing all sorts of shit. Building windmills, doing this, doing that. And how did he turn it around? How did he turn it around? Well, he stopped producing windmills, which were a loss in production. And then he raised the price on certain key repair components and then it was in the green.
So you cut down the production of things that are at a loss, stop selling things that are giving you a headache and just focus on what makes money and increase the price on that. And that’s it. Keep your business profitable and in the green.
So here’s an example for my business. I would have, you know, a 10 carat chain that’s very light but it would snap very easy. So don’t sell it. That’s it. You know, you don’t need a chain that snaps and then the customer is returning in two weeks or they think it’s bigger, they think it’s this, they think it’s that. If it’s a headache, raise the price and forget it. Just keep your business profitable.
Stop trying to please everybody and get every sale. That’s not business, okay? Volume is not business. Profit is business. Keep your profits high on things you could sell. Keep your expenses low, profits high. And then when you know to make a move forward, you make a move forward.
I was making moves forward out of a self esteem. I’m immigrant from Azerbaijan. I landed in America in 1993 with my parents. They didn’t know anything about business, okay? I opened up my business 11 years later in 2004. I didn’t even know if I could have a business. I didn’t even know if I could be successful. So I had one foot in, one foot out.
But it’s not about how you feel. Business don’t give a shit how you feel, whether you feel confident or you doubt yourself. Business cares about your profit margin, what you’re selling, and the principles behind business. And that is something I had to wake up and learn that all these stupid feelings from Azerbaijan and within the Soviet Union don’t mean anything. What means something is the product, the customer, profit margin and things like that.
Connecting with Trax on Manect
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Yes, it’s funny because like I was telling you, pre going live, the moment we announced you’re going to be on, I started getting message. FYI, some people that are watching this, Trax is on Manect as well if you want to go find them. The only thing is on Manect you can’t find him under Trax. You got to look up Maksud, M-A-K-S-U-D, Agadjani, A-G-A-D-J-A-N-I, and you can ask him any question prior to buying anything. I would probably be asking questions, saying, “What do you think about this?” Just for a second opinion.
But when we announced that you’re going to be coming on, next thing you know, I’m getting messages. “I cannot believe this. Do you know what he did? Do you know who he is? This is happening to him.” I want, there was some one guy named Joseph, said he used to be in business with you. Kawari Akari, right? You know, I don’t know. He says he’s the one, you and him did eBay stuff together.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: And all this stuff. He used to be in ninth grade. I can’t believe he had him off on the Manect.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Manect.
Setting the Record Straight on Old Partnerships
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, he was in ninth grade. We were in a class together. This guy, bro, he keeps thinking he started me and he did this, he did that. His father was a jeweler. I was working on Canal and then he hired, I hired him. All right, you know, his father was a jeweler. I went over there and you know, God rest his soul, his father passed and you know, I saw how to size a ring for the first time.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: So he’s three years younger than you?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: No, we were at the same age.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Ninth grade.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Ninth grade, we were together and then we graduated. I started my business. And then he’s like, “Yo, you started.” I saw him on Canal Street. “You started the business, yo.” And then we go.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: That’s how he speaks.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: You know, I started, you know, and then, you know, we go over there and you know, he shows me his father’s a jeweler, how to size a ring. He teaches me a thing or two and introduces me to a couple of people on the block. I’m like, “Cool, you know, I’ll, I’ll hire you, you know, and this is my business, I’m starting it, but I’ll work with you. And if you do well, you know, I’ll cut you a piece or I’ll get you this and get you that.”
And all of a sudden, in his head, he’s a partner, he’s an owner, he’s this for the rest of his f*ing life. It’s an ego trip, man. These people are crazy, okay? And you know you’re getting these haters popping out and saying, “Do you know this? Do you know that?” They don’t want me to be successful being an honest person because they went the path of the scumbag and they want to stick to that path because they believe that’s the way the world really works.
And when they see an honest person being successful, it puts their whole philosophy in doubt. So they want me to fail, you know, because I’m actually doing actual business. I’m changing the way the business is and they want to see me fall because of that, you know what I’m saying? And that bothers me. But it’s okay because I’m ready for it.
Just like I was ready for it with those f*ing stupid ass Akai brothers. There’s a lot of people circling around, you know, like hyenas trying to take a bite here, a bite there. But once you get one and you get to grizzle them and then they limp away half dead, then the rest of them know.
Growing Up Half Jewish, Half Muslim
PATRICK BET-DAVID: In the space you’re in. By the way, you said your background, Azerbaijan, Baku. Is it true it’s half Jewish, half Muslim?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yes. Well, my mother’s Jewish. I was raised Jewish, you know, my dad never told me anything about the religion, but then I found the Quran in the house, you know, when I was 15. And I’m like, “Oh, I guess, are you a Muslim, dad?”
PATRICK BET-DAVID: And he said, yeah, you found out the first time he was Muslim at 15?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yes.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Your parents are still together?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: They’re not together anymore, but they separate, like when I was 25.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: So they were together for 25 some years, maybe even a little longer.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, like 30.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Jewish and Muslim?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah. How did that happen? Oh, you know, the Soviet Union, it wasn’t very religious state, you know, so religion didn’t play a factor back then. You were just all communists, I guess.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: So Communism was above religion?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, absolutely.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Interesting. So I mean, genetic wise, that’s like perfect again to jewelry.
An Open-Minded Perspective on Faith
MAKSUD AGADJANI: No, I suppose so. I mean, I’m happy with it, you know, because it gives me an open minded perspective on faith, you know, whether it’s Christianity or anything. And that’s it, you know, I mean, my sister, I shouldn’t say this, but I’m going to say it anyway because it bothered me.
My sister’s like, “Don’t say you’re half Muslim because, you know,” because she’s an Orthodox Jewish and the people in her area, you know, Muslim is like a terrorist. Like, I don’t give a shit what they think, you know, I’m saying, like some of these Orthodox people are like Muslim, they’re scared, you know what I’m saying? Or like, I’m like, that’s disgusting. That’s disgusting behavior, you know what I’m saying? Judging a person because you’re scared of what they look like or what their name is.
All these fing labels. Listen, man, these are all lines on a map. And I get a lot of that, “Oh, I’m Armenian,” or “I’m Georgian,” “Oh, I’m this or I’m that,” or “I’m here,” or someone messaged me in a DM and you know, “Don’t be blaming us for genocide and ba da da da da.” I’m like, “Shut the f up.” Okay, all right.
These are all lines on the map. Your great grandfather could have been from, you know, another place. And you don’t know it. You don’t know where these people from and who they, you know, got together with, hooked up with 300 years ago on what line or what border. It’s all in your head, you know what I’m saying? Is it bullshit?
The Viral Incident’s Impact on Business
PATRICK BET-DAVID: So with this event that took place, the event that took place New Year’s Eve and then the January 2nd, did you notice traffic being up? Did you notice, did you notice people just coming in just to see you guys?
The Marketing Windfall from the Viral Incident
MAKSUD AGADJANI: I got a year’s worth of marketing in a weekend. Before that, on my Instagram, I had a million views in 30 days because I was doing a lot of videos and shit.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Like 100 million in 30 days on Instagram before, which is not bad.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yes. Now it’s 320 million in a week. Yeah, in the 30-day trailing, whatever. Okay. So now I’m up to like 320 million views. And then I’m, you know, probably going to be the same thing on YouTube and things like that, you know, so that’s a lot of views and that’s a lot of business. And that was a big boost.
Thanks, George and Fred. Thanks for ripping me off and strangling me, man. It all worked out. Not for you guys, though. So the next thing is, you know, I’m saying I’m not here to be spat upon and strangled by these motherf*ers, excuse my language, for nothing, okay? I need to get restitution, and I’m not going to keep a penny of it. I’m going to give it to my family, my staff, and the people in New York and, like, throw the money in the air or something, whatever.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: So you are going to seek restitution.
Seeking Legal Restitution
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Bradford Cohen, you know, he reached out to me as a client of mine, a serious attorney, and he decided to take the case. So whatever Bradford could do as what’s fair restitution for me and my staff. My staff comes to work to sell jewelry. They don’t come to work to rescue me from murder, bro. They’re not coming to me to deal with them to begin with. Stealing clients and all that other stuff.
They keep coming to me and they’re like, “Yo, this is happening. This is happening.” I’m like, “Yo, man.” Talking about it. And these bastards are like, “Let’s talk.” Now that I put the heat on him, he comes up to me, “Let’s talk like gentlemen,” just the biggest hypocrite, ready to say anything when it’s now it’s time to talk like a gentleman.
For four years, I warned you. I don’t need to talk to you about anything. I’m telling you, don’t do it. These are the consequences. I’m not here to go back and forth and play with you. Play your game. And I don’t advise anybody plays that game, because some of these people, and it’s that Middle Eastern mentality. No, no, those people need to be beat down. Okay? Not physically, so to speak, but metaphorically speaking. It’s a disgusting aspect of the culture. No, this is this and this and that and here. That’s why the Middle East is a shithole, as Trump would say. You know what I’m saying? Because people playing too much, man.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: What’s the worst event that’s happened there? I mean, has there been any. Has anyone died? Has there been any massive crimes that has happened in that district? I mean, if you’re telling me spitting on someone’s face, you know, when you…
The Diamond District’s Dark Side
MAKSUD AGADJANI: See that video, that was pretty much the worst. That’s what doesn’t happen, you know. Listen, everything revolves around money. Nobody there gives a shit about anybody, you know. They all want the money and that’s the… I mean, you know, brawls happen all the time. Okay? It’s either a robbery or it could be a brawl over something because somebody is just blatantly stealing or, you know, “Give me my shit.” And people raise their voice, but no one is as low as this dumbass bastard right here. Spitting in my face and then running away behind the counter.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: That’s a horrible look.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, yeah. That is the lowest of the world. And talking shit. And then his brother is like, you…
PATRICK BET-DAVID: You know what it is?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Watch his brother’s hand as he puts it on my neck right there. Once you start to play that, press play, and I start to move right there, he has his hand on my neck. You see that? Yeah, yeah. Don’t put your hand on my neck, bro. This dumbass bastard, Fred, you put your hand on my neck. That’s why I slapped him right across his face.
His brother spits on me and he pushes me. They think they own you. “We’re the landlord, so we own you.” Yeah, you own me, you dumb motherf*. I’m sorry to lose my temper over here, bro, but, you know, I’m saying they did the notion and you’re not a landlord, bro. You bought into an exchange, collect your portion and get the hell out of there, bro. You’re banned.
They’re walking out in handcuffs, these stupid bastards. The father and the two sons. And then he turns to me, he’s like this fing idiot, Fred. And he turns to me and he goes, “Eviction is coming,” first and foremost. Yeah. How many years are you in America? You can’t speak English, bro. Your father don’t speak no fing English, dude. My father speaks English. He’s walking out in a handcuff. “Eviction is coming. Eviction is coming,” bro.
You don’t own any f*ing thing, dude. You bought 50% in. You’re not an operating partner, bro. You’re an idiot. You’re an idiot, bro. You should have gave her a refund, you dumb bastard. You’re walking around in handcuffs, shout out to the NYPD, smiling.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: But what I’m saying is, if a guy does that to anybody, I would never do business with a guy like that. I don’t know the guy. I don’t know. First time I’m learning about him. His name is George. And brother Fred. Yeah, I would never do business with some… That has got to be the worst. And by the way, is that last guy that’s being walked at the father?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: I never did that in my life. Yeah, he’s the last guy that walked in. That’s the father. That’s the father.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: That’s the 42-year-old brother, that’s Fred.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: And then that’s the father.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Got it? Yeah. Worst. The father’s raised one who raised his kids. Someone translate this shit to the father so you know what the f* to do.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Yeah, I mean, the spitting part is where it got to me. I’m like, too much out of control.
The Ultimate Insult
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, bro, that’s the ultimate insult. Listen, ultimate insult. $40,000 a month just for the windows, plus more for my mezzanine. Okay? You’re talking about, I’m a tenant that’s paying over $50 to close to $60,000 a month, right? Okay, $60,000 a month. Not a little amount of money.
I ride an electric scooter to work, okay, because I like to go through the traffic or whatever. A standing scooter, a fast one or whatever.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Literally, that’s what you…
MAKSUD AGADJANI: I mean, that’s what I… In the summertime, that’s what I do, okay? Now I drive or whatever in the car because it’s cold, but I like to ride in the summer because I like to get the exercise, you know, from Queens or whatever. I just like… I don’t need to impress anybody. I get there, I leave my scooter in front of my shop, you know, it’s mine, my shop, my window.
He’s telling me, “You got to move it. This that,” you know, doesn’t like the way it looks here. It’s my window, bro. I’m paying $60,000 a month. I can’t leave my scooter out front, bro. You want to lose a tenant? I’m the tenant. I’m the one bringing the customers from around the world. I’m the creative person. You’re the f*ing bum. Saving every penny and not spending in since 1972 who still can’t speak English. That’s you.
I’m a person who’s fing building a business since 18 years old in a creative way. Not fing anybody over, not stealing anybody’s ideas, hiring young, diverse f*ing people doing the right thing. Bro, I’m putting a scooter up front. You’re telling me what to do when your sons are stealing my customers, man, this is what you get, you know?
I’m saying people could have it correct for a long time in life and then shit catches up, right? You don’t want to be like Diddy when you’re 50 or whatever. You can have it all going well. Money and all the Sky-Dwellers you could imagine. And then your end looks like this. You got to do it correct, man. Come on, bro.
Celebrity Clients and Business Relationships
PATRICK BET-DAVID: So talking about Diddy, I see some of the guys you’ve done business with over the years. Let me see if I see. Is that on the site? These are all the people…
MAKSUD AGADJANI: That homepage right there.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Go back to the homepage, Rob.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah. So Pauly D. Mr. Beast does a lot of business with us.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Mr. Beast?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, he’s the best. I mean, Mr. Beast is another level.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Tell me why. Why didn’t you make the diamond, the YouTube channel thing for him?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: No, I made… I make his gold. The gold medals for his Olympics and all his other… Oh, there it is. Mr… You make this gold buyers over the money, man. And we’re going to do a video soon. He wires over the money for the gold. And you know he’s not playing around, he gets the real gold. If he’s saying he’s giving out $100,000 worth of gold, he’s giving out $100,000 worth of gold on a gold medal.
And it’s like two seconds in a video. For two seconds in a video, we make him a gold medal. Check this out. He bought a $100,000 gold medal. He bought $100,000 gold medal. He used it for the video. The customer didn’t want the gold medal, so they gave the customer the $100,000. I got the gold medal back. And now the gold medal since the gold price went up is now $130,000. So I got an extra $30,000 out of it, bro.
So that’s Mr. Beast, bro, that’s a different level, man. You know, a bunch of people, easy to deal with. The best. Listen, bro, this is the best America has to offer. Mr. Beast.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Mr. Beast.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, that’s the best America has to offer.
The Toughest Clients to Work With
PATRICK BET-DAVID: So let me ask you, out of all the people you do business with, who is tough to get payments from? Is it athletes? Is it NBA? Is it MLB? Is it rappers?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: There’s nothing worse than the rap culture or the rap client. I don’t give a f, okay? If you’re a rapper and you don’t want to do business or you don’t, this, take your money and shove it up your fing ass straight out, okay? I don’t need to be told. They like to get ripped off, they like to get duped. I’m not into duping business.
The athletes are great. Business people are the best, right? You’re the best client anybody could want because you’re smart and you have money, you know this is what you want. You want to buy a motorcycle, you want to buy some shit. You hire the money. You want your product. Good night. Goodbye.
They want to be told. They want to be, “This VVS,” they want to go, “Ah.” They want to pull up to the shop with 50 extra people. One of them who wants to steal, one of them… It’s the hood mentality. That’s just really what it is.
Now, that being said, you know, I’m saying I’m a big fan of rap. Kodak Black, Boss Mandelo, hit me up. Bobby Shmurda, hit me up. You know, I’m saying I love Boss Mandelo. That’s my favorite rapper right now. Him, Kodak and whatever. So I love it. And Young M.A. was a great rapper. Cardi B, great. So I don’t want to shit on him completely, you know. But I’m not going to hold back because I’m not here to… And they understand that, you know what I’m saying?
When it comes to the money, they don’t know how to do it. And that’s why they always end up broke rappers. Yes, they’re stealing, you know. Busta Rhymes, another great client of mine, they’re stealing. They don’t know how to manage their money, and their money’s getting siphoned off and they don’t even know it. And then the person that’s telling them what’s up is the enemy. The person that’s giving them the bad news, the enemy. It’s the mentality, and I’m not with that mentality. I’m just not with it.
I don’t give a shit. I want to sell at TracksNYC.com. I want to do my own thing. You need me. I don’t need you. You want an honest person to do business. Jon Jones is my boy, you know, saying the UFC fighter. Yeah, he is the best. After UFC fight, he pulled up after he… The fight where he…
PATRICK BET-DAVID: In Madison Square in New York.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: In Madison Square where Trump was at and Elon Musk. And everybody came the next day, and Kodak was the man. But you know, Kodak, you’re waiting for him for 2 hours, 3 hours, 4 hours to pull up. You know, I’m waiting in his lobby of his hotel. He’s upstairs. Kodak. It was funny. I finally go up after like two hours to Kodak. “So he’s in the bedroom over there.” You know what I’m saying?
And I’m just standing. I’m like, all right. But his crew’s there. So I start talking to his crew. I’m having a good time and you know, I just glance into his room. He’s sitting in the dark, you know, he’s got these big eyes. He’s sitting in the dark and he’s just blinking, looking at me, brushing his hair like this, you know, saying somewhere in his room, and I’m like… You know what I’m saying? But that’s a fun experience. Kodak is fun, but he’s on his own time.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Kodak’s on his own time.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Kodak is on his own time.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Who else have you done? You did stuff with? Is it not Diddy, but you did stuff with 50 or you did stuff with.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Well, with him. I can’t even mention his name, as it turns out, because the other dude. Okay, money by Monday, I think I could call him.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: You can’t mention his name.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: I used his image or something like that. And you know, he’s not one to play with either. Let’s just put it that way. Really? Yeah.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: But you respect that?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, I respect it. I mean, it was fair. I did what I did because I wanted a little attention from him and I wanted to do a little something. And, you know, he was fair. He was. But he was not playing around. It was a money by Monday situation. But, you know, that’s what I wanted. That’s what I wanted. You know, I’m saying I didn’t react to 50 or whatever it’s like I did to these guys because I. What I owe, I pay, you know. So that’s it.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Oh, you got to be kidding me.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: It wasn’t that much. It was nothing near that.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: You started with that and then you settle with it?
The 50 Cent Settlement and Business Codes
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, no, he came with a donation to his charity and his. And it was very respectful, man. Fair. Fair. But he is another man that is calculated and intelligent, okay? This is a calculated, intelligent person. Okay? There’s something that a man is all right, and he understands these rules, these subtle rules of between me and you. Me and this guy. Me and this guy. You know how to behave. Not to over cross any lines. And even if I over cross the line, you’re not going to react right away. You’re just going to take note that this person is off. Right? You know what I’m saying? That’s how a man acts in this world.
And you know, it’s a shame in the hip hop world how they disrespect one another. Baby mamas and this and that, and they just love to disrespect and then people get. You know, from the documentary, nothing hurts more than to find out that Tupac got killed, you know, over that jealousy. That’s what it was portrayed to be, allegedly. Or it seems, you know what I’m saying? Because of. Yeah, Diddy, you know, being the hater, that he was sneaky. He’s another sneaky one. You know, I’m saying he’s another sneaky one. That’s what it seemed like from the documentary. Oh, it’s all love. I’m love, I’m love. But really, he’s this and he’s that. Now he could be something else. I don’t really know. But that’s neither here nor there.
But to see these people die because of the stupid bullsh*t, just to miss out on these talents like Biggie is sad.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Biggie and Tupac, both of those guys?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, both of those.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: They should have been here right now.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: That would be. It would be unimaginable. Yeah, it’s uncomprehensive.
Understanding Power Plays and Human Nature
PATRICK BET-DAVID: I totally agree, by the way. Stay on that. Because that’s interesting, what you just said, because you said one is sneaky, one is a businessman. So you said 50’s a businessman. He’s a man’s man. And Diddy is a little bit more on the sneaky side. But you said there’s some rules and codes, right? To be in that world, you know, in the jewelry world, doing business with all these guys, you have to know the power plays, right? You have to know the human nature side.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Talk a little bit on that.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, listen, the jewelry business is a small community, okay? You know, I might have to. You know, when I pick up a kilogram of gold, two kilograms of gold, I go, I take it and I leave, okay? Somebody writes the bill and my accountant pays it or whatever, or we work it out later. It’s trust. The jewelry business is a trust game, okay?
That’s why it started by a Jewish community in the diamond district, okay? Because they know that when I give you this diamond and you have the client for half a million dollars. I have the diamond for $400,000, okay? I got it in the rough. I got it for $200,000. I cut it myself. Now I got it at $400,000, okay? So I’m ready to make them up. But I don’t have the customer. You got the customer. I hand you the stone, you go sell it, bring me the money.
You don’t go sell it and pocket it and run off like a drug addict, you know, with running off on the plug because we’re in the same Jewish community. I could trust you and we could do this and we could do that, and that’s how that business started. It’s built off of trust. There’s no time to sign an agreement and get your affidavit. Bro, I need. You need the stone. The customer’s in the store, go, okay?
That’s the jewelry business, the hip hop business, and every other business has its own rules, its own thing, you know, Silicon Valley. Their contracts are this long or whatever, okay? Warren Buffett, he doesn’t do crazy contracts. He knows who to do business with. He also runs on trust or did you know, on whatever it is. So that’s really what it is. You can’t get a good deal, like Warren Buffett says, with a bad person, forget it. Don’t waste your time. You’re wasting your time with a disgusting person. And that’s that. Just like I struggled with these Akai brothers, man.
The Jewish Code of Business
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Stay honest with the Jews. So, so you. So the Jewish trust, what is the code? Because you hear the. You know, I had a guy back in the days, was in the dealership business in LA, his name was David, right? And first time I saw $6 million of cash, I was 21 years old, 23, whatever. He had like million dollars in cash. And I said, what is it with you guys always having money? He says in the Jewish code, when one Jew makes money, five Jews make money. We make money together. We’re not worried about, you know, trying to. Only one person makes it and, you know, we don’t want to. Well, now listen, this is what he said. And they said, they keep making business. Well, is there a code on why Jews do business together and they win together?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, the code is don’t steal like a petty thief. That’s the actual code. Whatever anybody tells you, okay? Don’t steal like a petty thief. Okay? But when the numbers get bigger, the temptation gets greater. All the time in the diamond district, brothers turn on another brother.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Brothers, yes.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: They can’t split the pie. They make the pie and then they can’t decide it. It’s always, but I did more work, but I should have this. But you didn’t do that. You took more vacations, you spent more. So I should have this and I should have. They can’t split the pie and they turn on one another and sometimes they get lawyers involved. They can’t do Thanksgiving dinner or Shabbat together or whatever it is.
But it’s not to be a petty thief, to run away one, probably because there’s nowhere to run to, living in the same neighborhood and going to the same synagogue community, okay? It’s just the Jews have an actual community where, you know, to be a thief, you’re going to be ostracized. So you’re not going to be a petty thief. So when you don’t have that, you could transact quicker.
Trust enables transaction. That’s what the people in the Middle East and other places in the world need to understand, okay? You know, or I do business in Africa or whatever it might be. You have to understand the value of trust to transact that doesn’t delay, you know, like, what am I going to do? What am I going to this? You know, if I’m going to buy something PBD, I know I’m going to get it. That’s what a brand is. Brand is trust. You know, I trust that when I spend $10 at McDonald’s, I’m going to get a burger. I know what it’s going to be, all right?
So that’s just really what it is, and that’s just what it is in the Jewish community, in the jewelry business, you know, somebody comes in there that’s not Jewish, all right? And they’re not from the community, you know? And even though for me, I had to pay millions of dollars in cash upfront before I got anything, okay? But I was all with it before I was able to get any trust at all or anything like that. You know, my first transaction was like, I need this. Here’s the cash. It’s not like I needed. Give me, give me. I built my credit up, okay?
If somebody comes in and they want something and you have to write them a memo, you’re wondering if you’re ever going to see them again, they might be tempted because they’re stupid to run off with five grand, ten grand.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: And who are the worst people to do business with that? You’ve said, I’ll never do business with them ever again. Anybody or.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: No, of course not. I mean, people will surprise you. You could never judge a person by what they look like ever, all right? Because they will surprise you and shock you about who they are and what they’re capable of, all right? And sometimes you might have a bad experience with a group or this or that, or you might have a great experience with a group, and then the reverse happens or whatever. So there is no set rule for that, you know, and that’s by the.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Grace of God, but that’s a rule, right? That’s also a rule that somebody could be the good can be bad. The bad can be good at times and surprise you. Yes, interesting.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Okay.
How to Avoid Getting Ripped Off in the Jewelry Business
PATRICK BET-DAVID: To the average person, say the average person sees a video like this, and they see going back and forth where, hey, this is nine carats. And he sold it to you at 14 carats, right? What can the average. Because it doesn’t increase the level of trust. Right now, gold has gone up. I don’t know what the numbers are. $4,300, $4,400. I bought a handful of, you know, kilos of gold at $4,500.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, they’re not playing around with that.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: No, they’re not playing around right now. So it’s a good time to be in a business. But how about the average person doesn’t make it easy to not get ripped off.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: What the average person to do to not get ripped off? Well, you know, you got to learn first you got to deal with trustworthy people, and then you got to test it. Gold is not that hard to test. But really, you know, if you’re a customer, man, you’re not here to buy in and then run around and test it. Is this Rolex a real Rolex? Is it missing links, is it this is it that. Is it this is it that.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Why not?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Because, man, you want to. You’re here to have a positive transactional experience. If I’m buying a motorcycle from Ducati or I just bought a Lamborghini, you know, I’m saying, I don’t want to look under the f*ing hood. I don’t want to pop open the engine and check the valves and see whatever it is.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: The difference is, that’s Lambo, that’s Ducati. If I’m buying gold from a guy I don’t know, then don’t buy from him.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Buy from TraxNYC.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Well, give me some red flags, though. Like, think about for buy. Like, if somebody were to tell me, you know, hey, I want to find an accountant. I’m doing $40 million a year. Who should I hire as an accountant? I would give you what things to look out for. Who would you say? Like, avoid doing business when buying jewelry, when there’s these two, three things.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: I don’t think off the top of my head, but what do you mean, if you have an accountant? What do you mean by that?
PATRICK BET-DAVID: No, no, if you’re asking me, say you’re doing $40 million a year. You say, Pat, what do I look for in an accountant?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Right?
PATRICK BET-DAVID: I could tell you a couple things. What do you look for and what to look for? I would say, don’t go with an individual. Guys that’s independent. Go with a bigger firm.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Right.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Even if it’s a top 50 regional firm, go with a 50 regional firm. And the reason for it is this, because if a guy walks, right? And you have. There’s a. Back in the days, it was a guy named Brian at Bally’s that everybody did their taxes with them.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Three years later, 50 people got audited, right. Everybody went to Brian, disappeared. And Brian’s like, well, guys, everyone’s not in the business anymore. But if you’re with somebody with a name, that name is worth losing credibility. So even if he walks, the firm still has to hold themselves accountable.
Red Flags When Buying Jewelry
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Oh, they absolutely do. You’re dealing with a number like that. So to me, buying from someone, you’re in the space. Are there any red flags?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Are there any red flags?
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Buying jewelry, buying gold, buying diamonds?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yes. Well, you know, for me, when I walk in the room and I get irritated by a person or they don’t respond, I already get turned off, and that’s. I don’t really even look for flags. It’s just that if you don’t say hello properly, if you don’t have the dignity to say, “Hey, how are you?” then you’re a piece of shit. And I don’t want to have anything to do with you. Okay?
If you tell me one thing, you know what I’m saying, you’re wearing a blue suit. “No, it’s light blue.” Any deviation of anything, you’re done to me. You know, I’m saying, I’m not here to argue over basic facts and all that. So that’s where, that’s what it is for me, okay?
But for the average consumer, the only thing, if you’re buying something and you feel like you’re getting a deal from a small vendor, you could get it tested, and that’s that. And you have to get a refund if you have to get a refund. But there’s a reason why there’s brands, because small vendors, you know, have to build a reputation. That’s very, very difficult. Okay?
So, and that takes a lot of time. If you’re a small vendor like I was, and you’re overlooked, you could attract customers by lowering your prices, doing it personal business, you know, I’m saying. And saying, “Hey, I got you. Don’t worry, man. Here’s my personal phone number. Call me anytime.” You know, now that I’m a bigger, bigger business, people want to buy from me. They can’t call me up. You can’t call me up because I’m busy. Or you could DM me or whatever, but you know I’m busy, so you could book me. I’m a DM. That’s pretty much it.
But if you’re a small vendor, you have to, you have the advantage of doing personal business. Advantages and disadvantages being small, being large.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Advantages and disadvantage of being small.
A Gift of Gold
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Anyway, listen, I got a little gift for you. You like gold chains? You look like a gold chain guy.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: I have it right now.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Okay? You have one right now? Well, I got you a link. All right? This is not some bullshit, okay? This is a 14 karat gold link. And I’m going to be remiss to lose it, but if there’s ever a person to have it, I think it’s you. So can I get, put it on. Of course.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Let me put it on real quick. Of course, my man.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: This is a beautiful link. Whatever. But it’s also good to strangle. God is live on the podcast. Yeah. Doesn’t feel good, right? It doesn’t feel good. I know.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Not at all. George and Fred, man, guys, that’s not cool. Let me see this here. Well, thank you.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, it’s a beautiful link. Sick. Yeah, I thought it was heavy.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: I feel it. It’s great.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: It’s not a joke.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: I appreciate it, man. Thank you so much for that.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: My pleasure. Yeah.
Middle Eastern Hospitality
PATRICK BET-DAVID: I mean, and by the way, that that’s, would you say that’s a little bit of our hospitality, the Middle Eastern hospitality that we have where, you know, we’re in the giving, of course, we like to make money. Of course, we’re, you know, we’re paranoid sometimes and we care about someone we want to do business with. Do you think that’s, that’s a part of our nature to also want to make sure other people are happy with our service?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, yeah. That’s the best. Listen, every culture has a better nature and a worse nature, and that’s definitely the warmth. Like last time I was in Azerbaijan or when you go to Turkey or you go whatever, you know, the warmth that people receive you in person is not nothing like anywhere else in the world, okay? They really, you know, welcome you when you’re on their territory and you are vulnerable. That’s when they treat you the best.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: I agree.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: I agree.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: You know, in the Russian culture, I was talking to you about the Baku family, Azerbaijan family, earlier. One time she invites us to a wedding. I take my dad with me.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Right.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: I don’t think I’ve told this story, it’s not a big story, but it’s, my dad’s going to crack up. We go to this place in Glendale, okay? It’s right across the street from, I don’t know if that’s John Marshall or John Muir, whatever that school is. It’s a little Armenian hall right next to the old Albertsons, I think it was. Or Vons, whatever it was.
And then we’re sitting at a table. My dad used to drink a lot, but he stopped drinking. So this Russian man is like, “Listen here, Gabriel, vodka.” So my dad hits one. It’s the second one. At this point, if you say no, he keeps saying, I’m offended if he keeps saying no.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Right? Yeah, that’s right.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Twelve shots later, my dad is sitting there saying, “Listen, if we say, he’s going to kill me. We have to leave.” He says to me, “We got to leave.” We get in a car. I don’t know how to drive. I said, “Dad, I can’t even.” I’m pulling over because it was so bad. But that’s the one thing where it’s…
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, they don’t force you to drink in Middle Eastern culture, but in Russian culture, that’s the thing.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Russian culture, it’s an insult if you don’t take a shot. If they offer it to you, they pressure you.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: It’s not really an insult. They pressure you.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Pressure is an understatement. They almost put a chain around me and try to choke me, saying, “You better take a shot like Trax did.” It’s like, “Hey, take the shot right now or else I’m offended by it.” But no, by the way, were you in that movie with Adam Sandler?
Uncut Gems Experience
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah. Uncut Gems.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: You were in, what was it called?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: It’s Uncut Gems.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Yeah, I was watching it. I was watching it. I’m like, “Wait a minute, is that Trax?” So which scene was it that you were in?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: You were, yeah, there in a couple of scenes. You know, I’m in the beginning the movie. I’m on the phone with him, but when he’s receiving the opal, I’m in that scene.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: All right, how was that experience?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Ashkenazi Boys, the Safdie Boys. That was an amazing experience. I mean, you know, the Safdie brothers did the, did the movie, and they were looking for this part when he’s receiving the opal, you know, with Garnett. I was there with Garnett the whole day, shout out to him, and they were looking for this part.
And I have to give this speech while he’s getting this opal. And they didn’t really know what to do with that because, you know, he’s opening up a fish or something like that. So I started ranting, kind of like I like to do. And they loved it. And they, they got me for the movie.
And we shot that scene all day. It was just me and Adam Sandler that whole day, for the most part, you know, shooting that scene. And, you know, he’s an amazing guy. Amazing. He was making me laugh. He was, you know, doing all sorts of stuff. I mean, that’s a once in a lifetime experience, man. Being on a movie, especially a movie…
PATRICK BET-DAVID: That has to do with your business.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yes.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: I mean, that’s like the ultimate. And with a guy like Adam Sandler, that…
MAKSUD AGADJANI: The crazy part is like, I finally go doing a movie. I’m out of the diamond district. I’ve been in the diamond district doing bullshit the whole time. I go to the soundstage in Long Island and they recreate a whole diamond exchange booth. I get behind the counter because I’m playing a jeweler.
And, you know, some of the actors, the security in the movie, the Keith or Kevin Garnett, they’re asking me about watches. They’re asking me about, I’m like, “Yo, bro, I’m acting.”
PATRICK BET-DAVID: You know, say that while…
MAKSUD AGADJANI: While the, while the, like, we’re on a break. They’re like, “All right, well, how much is this watch?” I’m like, “This isn’t even a real, this is props. This is not jew, I’m not selling anything here.” It was weird. It was a very weird experience, man.
Working with Adam Sandler
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Adam Sandler, Kevin Garnett. Interesting. And when you’re watching him and he’s acting, you’re acting. What was it like when you sat down, “This guy’s a pro”? Did you see anything where you’re like, “He’s a pro”? Was it kind of like “That’s it”?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: He’s a Holly, he’s a businessman. Adam Sandler, okay? He’s an entertainer, but he’s not a Holly. He knows that. He’s just a mortal human being. He’s there to do his movies and make his money. He’s a smart man, okay, as someone…
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Else might be a few hundred million dollars.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Well, why do you think that is?
PATRICK BET-DAVID: I think he’s an extremely likable guy, and people trust him.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: He’s easy to work with. Super easy to work with. So that’s why he gets the business. They’re like, you know, “I can have this guy, but it’s going to be a headache. And he wants this. And all these pretenses and all this other…” With Adam Sandler, it’s like, “Boom, let’s go.”
PATRICK BET-DAVID: How did they reach out to you? Did they reach out to you or you reached out to them?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: There was a, you know, A1 Studios, I don’t know what, or A24, whatever it is Studios is. They had a casting system and they were looking for me. And because, you know, my feud with Tekashi at that time, I came up and they had me do, what’s it called, the casting call.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: What was that like for a guy who’s not an actor? What was it like?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: It was easy because after what I went through in the Diamond District, screaming about, you know, money they owe or whatever, it was was nothing. And for especially to be in a movie to build up my brand, it was nothing. It was a cakewalk, you know.
What I went through in the Diamond District is something that extraordinarily bitter. And I lost many years of my life struggling with these animals until I, until I turned into what you saw. Until I turned into this.
Impact of the Movie
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Bring business. Did this bring notoriety? Did this bring people coming to you? Or what did this do for you?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: This got the, this got the ball rolling. You know, all of my YouTube shorts and all my other stuff got the ball rolling. All these events got the ball rolling. It’s all tactics. It’s all whatever. Right now I get a lot of attention, but from whatever happened or so on and so forth, and I’m still, I got beefing with these guys, you know, saying Akai.
And these guys, they called up and they’re like, you know, some of, some fing somebody in the diet, some go between another whatever. I’m not even going to hurt his feelings. He calls me up, he’s like, “Yo, let’s make peace. We’re all on the same…” We’re not on the same fing block. We’re not all this and that. These guys have been playing with me this whole time, bro. What peace?
You spit my face, you strangle me once, you fing strangle me. What peace we going to make, bro? If I was really holding your fing chain, you know I’m still feeling this. If I was really holding you and trying to strangle you for like 30 seconds, bro, am I going to come back into your studio and make peace?
PATRICK BET-DAVID: No, right?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: You know what I’m saying? I spit your f*ing face.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: I’m just wondering how the hell you guys going to coexist.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Not going to f*ing coexist. I’m going to go to war every day. Not here to coexist with you.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Cross from you let’s go to war.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Every day. Cross. Let me curse out your f*ing family. Every day.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Every day.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Every goddamn day, bro. Every day. What? Until people get bored of that shit, bro.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Babe, what are you doing today? “I’m just going to work.” How was your day, babe? “Went after George.” They should have. Is there a live camera for people?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: First I got to sue them, man. Huh?
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Is there a camera for people?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: There will be whatever there has to be.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: It’s got to be documented. I’m going to be tuning in.
The Diamond District’s Dark Side
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Exactly. You know what I’m saying? Yeah. If they see these fing idiots are smart, they’re going to right off. Good night and goodbye, bro. Empty your safe. Get the f out of there.
And if the landlords, the actual landlords, the Baharian family, have some sense, they’ll throw them the f out of there. That’s it. They shouldn’t have never been there to begin with. Sold half the exchange to some fing idiots. For what?
PATRICK BET-DAVID: How much would the exchange sell for?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: I don’t know. 20 million? Mortgage.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Morgan, they have real money.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Half the exchange.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: These George and Fred have money?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, man. They’re greedy animals, bro.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: What kind of money do these guys have?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: They fing hid their money. George and Freddie. You didn’t pay your fing taxes, you greedy bastards. You fing hid that shit. You siphoned it off from the government. The US Government, you fing dumb motherfers, Bro. Go pay your fing taxes and pay me, you f*ing idiots. Bro.
Until we turn that fing leaf over and take a look in there, what you’ve been fing doing. Paying your sales tax, you stupid motherfer. Bro. No, I’m not playing around with them, bro. They fing. Yo, bro, you have never met greedier people in their, in your life. And you’ve met some. I’m sure these people put, you know, you could produce some greedy people in this world and they could come from any culture, anywhere.
Hypocrites could come from anywhere, okay? Like, you know, you know Fauci, who’s just telling you this is good for you and this and vaccine, you know, I’m saying. And you’re watching that on TV across the whole country. You just can’t believe what you’re seeing. These people are on that level.
They hid their money. They had enough to do whatever they had to do. They hid their money. I don’t know what they did, okay? And they need to be turned upside down with their pockets like rabbit ears, you know, Kleenex for the kids, tears like Biggie used to say, okay? They need to have their whole shit looked at and f*ed with because they are ruthless.
And, you know, even here, they had a different exchange and they ran it into the ground. The father would go on vacation and close the entire exchange. I’m on vacation. So you have to f*ing suffer, lording over people. You know, I’m saying instead of having grace.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: In New York.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah. In New Jersey. Instead of having grace, that you are in a position of power to be a beautiful person. Because he was probably treated like shit. It’s my turn to treat you like shit. It’s my turn, you know what I’m saying? To do something disgusting to you or to treat people like garbage. No, f* you. Yeah.
Tekashi 6ix9ine and Fighting
PATRICK BET-DAVID: I think this is just the beginning. It’s going to be interesting what happens next. By the way, said Tekashi. What happened with Tekashi?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Tekashi, you know, when he was a Trey Way gangster, so on and so forth, whatever. I don’t really want to talk about this kid. That was back in the day. But Aiden Ross, he wants to, he’s doing some fighting shit. So I said, Aiden, we could fight.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: You and him?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, me and him. Or you want to get in the business? You got to fight, baby. Or Tekashi. You know what I’m saying? He could fight. Now Tekashi is going to go inside for, I don’t want to, you know, go back and forth with the kid. You know what I’m saying? But.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Did you ever make something for Takashi?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, I did business. I knew him in the beginning. I was at their house. I was doing all sorts of shit over there when I first started, before I even did Uncle Gems. I don’t even remember what year it was. But if they want to fight, you know, I’m saying I’ve had a couple of fights. I’ll fight Tekashi or I’ll fight Aiden.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Who’d you fight?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: You fought who? I fought Nico and I fought my MMA. I fought who my, my employee that ripped off or whatever. This is my fight over here. But my MMA fight. It’s right in the thumbnail. Is my, is my better fight.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: You and Nico fight?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, me and Nico fought. That’s the Nico fight. But go down. Yeah, click that one. Click straight like in the middle of the video. You guys got to get paid. YouTube up in here, baby.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Rob, what are you doing?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Rob? All right, so click it right in the middle. It’s right in the middle of the beef.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: You doing UFC with, he’s UFC. He’s a MMA guy.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: No, he is. Well, listen, he pretended he was. He’s a piece of shit is what he is. Yeah. So there was a, so it’s a long fight. This isn’t the best part of it, obviously, but it’s okay. It’s all a fight. He tries to choke me out, but he failed.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Now, let me, let me ask you pause this real quick.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, Tracks.
Growing Up with a Temper
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Who were you in High School? 14, 15. Who were you in high school?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Just a confused, awkward guy. No, really, that’s what I was.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Were you fighting? Were you getting in trouble?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: I mean, I would have a temper. I would have whatever.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: But you did have a temper.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: You’ve always had this temper.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yes.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Mom and dad. You have one of their personalities or no.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: You know, my dad was a homicide detective in Azerbaijan.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: It’s a peaceful job.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah. So he was a tough guy. And that rubbed off. You know, he’s stepping over bodies, coming home. So that rubbed off a little bit. My mom is not, nothing like that. She has no temper whatsoever. But, you know, that made me hard, bro. That just made me tough.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: And did you get into a lot of fights in school?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: A few, not that many. You know what I’m saying? But I’m a very, you know, peaceful guy. It’s, if there’s a misunderstanding, I might, you know, lose my cool.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: But you know what the Joseph guy said?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: It’s only the money.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: That’s really the Joseph guy we’re talking about. He said one time he sneezed near you or something like that, and he said he lost his mind.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, listen, dude. This dude would have a, he used to call it a snot bomb.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: I don’t know what was wrong with him. We have a girl like that in the office. Like that. Shout out to Mickey Rob when Mickey sneezes. Building shakes.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, no, that’s not. There was like a smell that would permeate something. Disgusting smell. And I’ll be like, what the f*, bro? It freaked me out. But, yeah, whatever, man. I mean, this guy’s remembering from 20 years ago, 21 years ago, and still talking about it, and he’s like, I started you. Ah, yeah. Taking credit for my, it’s like imagine somebody from 20 years ago, I started you.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: And I told him that. I said, listen, you know, you know what it is when he gets a shout out, when I get messages like that, it’s kind of like, you know, that the, that person said they started you. That person said, without them, without this. And by the way. And that’s true to some degree, you know, you give some names. Brian.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: A.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: You know, there’s a lot of names of guys that impacted on John. Jamie, there’s a lot of guys that I can give on business that helped out on a big way, right? But when they say without me you wouldn’t be anybody, that’s where you kind of sit there and say, come on man, just pump the brakes a little bit. If it was that much greater, you would be much bigger.
And by the way, I don’t mind, it’s a part of the history that they have as well to say I knew tracks when you know, you’re talking about yet a $5 million December, yet a $40 million year. What do you project doing in 2026?
Business Projections and Product Strategy
MAKSUD AGADJANI: I don’t know. More? I guess so maybe at 20% more.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: 20% more. So begin at 50.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, that’s good. Yeah, that’s a good sales. But you know, it’s all about the profit margin, you know what I’m saying? I want to make a couple of million bucks a year.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: What do you, what, what product will you never sell that you used to sell? You talk about the 10 karat chains that you don’t do because it breaks a lot. What do you, what will you no longer sell that you used to sell?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Nothing in particular. Nothing super cheap. Because super cheap shit attracts, you know, the, the people that expect the most from the least. All right, the luxury business is the only business that where you raise your price and you sell more, it becomes more desirable, more inaccessible. Like chrome hearts raises, you know. Keychain $5,000, this one’s $10,000.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: What’s the biggest product you ever sold? Most expensive product you ever sold?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: I think it was a diamond, man, you know like $600,000 or something like that. $600,000? Yeah, yeah, something like that. Stones, Solitaire stones would be.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: So you’re not in the watch business, other watches?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, absolutely.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Will you sell the Patek? Will you sell the bigger watches? Yeah, of course, of course you will.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Sell the bigger watches? Sold skeletons. We sold this, we sold that. But you know, the jewelry business is a, listen, if you want to understand the jewelry business, it’s an inventory business. If you buy the right inventory, you make 10% on your inventory easily. Okay, so 15%, let’s say. So if you have $100 million worth.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Of watches, 10 million bucks, you can.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Make 10, $15 million a month, every month. That’s it. You have the watches, so they got to buy it from you.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Who do you guys buy it from to get it at a discount?
The Art of Buying and Selling Watches
MAKSUD AGADJANI: That’s the best way to buy. Shout out to Mel’s. Okay, this is you know another jeweler, the best way to buy is to buy from the customer. Because when they get 80% of their money, they feel happy. They’re like, oh, you know, especially when the prices go up at the dollar and shit.
So, you know, they buy a watch for a hundred grand and they wear it for two years, and then they sell it for 75, they’re happy. And then you could resell that watch and maybe it’s now 110 worth, and you resell it for 95, 20k. The next customer is happy, too. But you just made $20,000. So that’s the way to buy is from the consumer. That’s why if you want to sell your watches, you go to 64 West.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Go to 64 West. Or Manecta Tracks.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Or Manecta Tracks especially.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: By the way, you know Roman Sharf?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Of course. That’s my boy. I was speaking to him. I’m going to dinner with him Wednesday. He’s an amazing person. Yeah.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: So Roman, this is the best guy. Roman comes on. We do a podcast together. We put Roman’s phone number. Not phone number, what do you call Manect out there? He’s, and he ends up doing 300 manects, right? And he tells me, he says, Pat, I’ve sold a million dollars of watches on the neck.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Wow.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: I’m not even kidding.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: No, of course.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Deals. And the business that he done. Roman’s a good guy. Roman’s, I bought a couple pieces from Roman. I just recently bought a big piece from Roman.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Forget everybody else, man. Just go to Roman.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Yeah, Roman’s a good guy. So interesting. So you, you guys collaborate, you guys with deals together, or is it friends separately? Just friends.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: He helps me out and he does something for me, you know what I’m saying? And that’s it. But the friendship is there. I enjoy his company. He’s such a supportive person. Bro, this is the opposite of the f*ing Akai people, right? You know, life could hand you death in one hand, life in the other. Yeah, okay. And this is the opposite. This is a guy who’s giving, who’s caring, who’s a really amazing, just a pleasant person, good father as well.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: He’s got a.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Is that.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Is that in your plans anytime soon?
The Path to Family and Legacy
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yes, it is in my plans, and I have to get going on that ASAP. You know, I’m saying, don’t want to get… Luckily, you know, I’m 39 years old, but, you know, I have good genes. My mother, my grandmother was 101 when she passed.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: So you got a lot of living to do.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: I got living to do. But I don’t want to be, you know, too old, so… But everything comes in its own time. You know what I’m saying? I had just got the Lambo that I really, really like.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Perfect color.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: It’s a Huracan Scarrato. Okay. It’s off road Lambo. The only one. I’m the only one in a Lambo in the… in… in New York City. Okay. Yeah, that’s that first click. You click that first video right there. That’s a bit. That’s it right there.
So this is me running over gold with my old car. And then I melt down that gold because I could crush it and fit it into the crucible. There’s an important business reason for that. Once we pour it out into the brand new bar, I bring it over to Moses. How’s the Ferrari? More important, I’m sick and tired of seeing his Ferrari. Guess what? I’m going to melt the bar into a Lamborghini gold bar.
I take the Lambo bar and I cash it in with Isaac. And then I get this. Because I’ve been taking care of my business for 21 years now. My business is taking care of me. With some smart choices, I was able to take gold scraps and get this Lamborghini. And guess what? If you see one flying through the city with money coming out the window, it’s trax.nyc.com. Yeah.
Everything comes in its own time. The Lambo came in its own time. I always wanted to be on your podcast. That came in its own time. Wife’s going to come in its own time. Kids are going to come in their own time. Yeah. You have just stick close to God. That’s really the plan? Yeah.
The Viral Video Formula: 205 Million Views
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Rob, can you do me a favor? Go type in on YouTube and just type in tracks and then go to…
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Actually go to…
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Is that his channel? Go on his channel. Go on shorts. Okay. Go on Popular. Okay, go to the first one, guys. 205 million views. 7 million likes. Just let’s see what he does in this video here. Go for it.
VIDEO CLIP BEGINS:
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Use this goal to work for our business. We’re going to turn these scraps into a powerful business move. As soon as they go on fire along with this Rolex, which we’re going to roast like a marshmallow. Don’t worry, it’s just a fake Rolex. It’s all going to make sense as soon as we pour out this bar and throw that fake Rolex right in there.
Did that ruin the bar along with this band? Let’s find out. When we flip it over, looks like absolute garbage up until you start hitting it with the hammer and reveal the bar. The Rolex Flex is stuck, but we’re going to remove that, scrub the bar, and we have a 4,000 pennyweight piece of gold that we’re going to join with its bigger brother in the safe.
Gold does not belong in the safe hiding from the light. It’s better put to business. That’s why we cash it in, $847,000, and then begin making watch deals all over the diamond district to add $447,000 worth of Rolexes and our shop. And that’s business. I’m going to show you how we use so gold craps.
VIDEO CLIP ENDS:
PATRICK BET-DAVID: So here’s a question for you. How you come up with these ideas and why do you think there’s so much interest? 205 million people watch this video. Got 7 million likes, right? Why are people interested in videos like this that you make?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: I keep their attention from the first frame. Okay. And they… What are the people? What did Mr. Beast say? If you’re driving down the road and you see a cow and you’ve seen them all the time, especially if you’re in the Midwest, you don’t say nothing. But if you see a purple cow, you go, “Oh, purple cow.”
You know, it’s when you haven’t seen something before and you see it for the first time. So it’s the first time usually people are seeing gold melted, gold cashed in and business being done all in one minute. So I just want to show people something I see that they don’t see and teach them something. You know, after that one minute, you’re a little bit smarter than you were than the minute before. And that’s really what it is. It’s valuetainment.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: It’s valuetainment. Yeah. Like I agree. Value. Congrats on the, on the Lambo.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: That was a…
PATRICK BET-DAVID: That was a good looking Lambo.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, that shit is great.
The Diamond District Players
PATRICK BET-DAVID: So Moses, is he down the street from you guys?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yes.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: I saw the other day. It’s funny that the moment your video went viral, Complex, I think put a list of jewelers, 20 most popular jewelers or whatever it was.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, complex. Shout out to them. Yeah.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Do you have that list? Rap. I don’t know if we even talked about it, but I saw this, I think four days ago, three days ago, something like that that they posted on there. I think it’s that one right there. See if it’s that one Instagram or one of the two that is go next Rob, Keep going.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: This is the older one. When they love the…
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Literally just did a new one.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, that’s 39 weeks ago.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Yeah, they did one.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Now they’re putting up all my videos over there. I’m living on complex over there. Yeah, I think… Yeah, Right there to the right.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Okay. There you go.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: So go a little slower. Nadine. Is she also in New York or now?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: I don’t know. I never met.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Singapore. Keep going. Houston.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Leo. Greg. He’s a support. Thank you.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Greg looks like the guy from Bronx Tale, but it’s not him. It’s not the same guy. You know who I’m talking about.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: The…
PATRICK BET-DAVID: The young guy that was hanging out with Sonny. Keep going. Moses.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: So how did…
PATRICK BET-DAVID: What’s Moses story? I’m starting to see him a lot as well.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yes. Moses is a very shrewd business young business person that knows how to really price and negotiate and maneuver. And he’s also a nice guy. He’s got a good family.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Keep going. Look at that chain right there.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah. That I made.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: You don’t want to be choked by that one.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: No.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: That may choke you without somebody needing to choke you.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: If the person is rich, let them f*ing do it. Go for it.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Keep going.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Go for it. Fred.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Japan. Keep going.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Navani. He said hello. Yes.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Keep going.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Meharian boys.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Icebox.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Keep going. Icebox boys. Also normal people. These guys are normal as well. Keep going.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Jason. Beverly Hills. You know these guys?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: I never met him, but I’m sure he’s a person. Benny’s a good guy. Yeah. Keep going.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: I’ve heard of Benny.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah. Jewelry limited. Very long time they’ve been in business. In eBay days, I used to compete with…
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Oh, really?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Keep going.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Johnny’s another guy. Great guy.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Keep going.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: I don’t know. I never met Gabby. He seems like a normal person as well. Elliot’s another good dude. Keeps to himself. Nothing wrong with him, I’ll tell you that much. And Alex. I never met Alex. I guess.
So listen, the jewelry business is… It’s about the customer. Again, it boils down to the clout and it boils down to, unfortunately, the rapper Drake. Where does Drake shop? You know, I’m saying. And the jewelry is not that hard to make. Now, these guys are creative and they do creative shit, but… So they’ll make a creative piece for their client. But it’s just so corny bullshit to me, you know, I’m saying. That’s why I say f* you.
The Trump Connection
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Who’s some you? Did Trump, Trump’s grandson buy something from You?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, Trump’s grandson. I was talking to Baron yesterday on the phone. He hit me up with FaceTime finally. No, he was by the Shop Barons.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Wanting to buy something.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Baron is a fan, I suppose. You know, he watched the video of me screaming at these guys. He loved it. I said, “Yo, your pops knocked me out with the Maduro move.” I’m like, “Yo, can you… you couldn’t tell him to hold off.”
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Why is that? Why? Because…
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Because, you know, I’m saying, once he went into Venezuela, my… my views went down. I’m just joking.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Oh, got it.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: It was…
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Became the new story.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: So Junior bought from you. So who…
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Who is this? Is the Donald Trump III. Yeah, yeah. So we went into the streets and, I mean, you know, with him.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Yeah, that’s him.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah. Secret Service was there.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Donnie, he looks like a Trump.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, good kid, Good kid. Look good kid. You know what I’m saying?
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Press play, Rob.
VIDEO CLIP BEGINS:
MAKSUD AGADJANI: That’s really my passion, is to give guidance to the kid. He is pretty straightforward. I mean, the parents ain’t going to say spoiling with a Rolex and all this other shit. That shit has to be earned. If you’re getting your kid a Rolex, you don’t love your child, you’re destroying their life.
Rolex is something you want to work hard for and then one day put on your wrist and say, “Damn, here I am.” You know what I’m saying? I got there. That’s the reward. Like getting your first sports car. That might happen early in life, that might happen later in life, that might never happen.
VIDEO CLIP ENDS:
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Go back to that roll. Is that guy to his left is security.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: To his left, that’s his friend. Sprite is a good one. Batman’s a good one. They got the Bruce Wayne.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Usually all the Rolex crowns are on this side. Oh, yeah, this one’s the left.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: They only came out in 2023. And you know what? When they saw… When Akai and they were looking at watches, you know, the kids, they want to see watches. They want to see lit shit. They want to see this. But remember, when you’re dealing with me, I’m not on the sweetness, man. I’m not on the trying to be… “Oh, you know, there’s the watch and then there’s the man.”
You can have a Timex, a Rolex, a Patek Philippe, but it’s got to be equivalent to who the man that’s wearing it is. You know, I’m saying, what’s more important? Let me ask you something. The watch or the wrist that’s wearing it? These watches are like trading pieces. You buy them for 10% more, you sell.
When a guy saw this kid… So you got a 20 grandson. They were… They were scared. They were cautious, but not cautious enough. Who, Akai? They’re still there because they’re seeing I’m with the president’s grandson and they’re still using my name and stealing my customers. You know, the greed, it blinds you, bro. Greed blinds you, sin blinds you. You know what I’m saying?
When you sin, you’re blind. You could win 99 times. And that one time, you lose it all, you know, saying, just like Diddy. Just like, who’s…
Early Mistakes and Lessons Learned
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Who’s the… Who’s the one person, by the way? Diddy. You said you did something for Diddy or…
MAKSUD AGADJANI: No. When I was a kid, you know, for a sweet 16, he gave me some business, but, you know, I was only like 20 years old, 21 years old. And the quality I had was just garbage. And then he looked at it, and then he never did business with me again.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Because the quality of what you had.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: I mean, I bought something from a vendor that was a G shock, fully iced, that just had shit diamonds in it, like, horrifying.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: How could he tell?
The Trump Family Connection and Early Business Strategy
MAKSUD AGADJANI: He’s been around jewelry his whole life. But the price was good. But somebody was setting up his birthday for the Sweet 16, MTV for one of the sons. And then, you know, I got the, before I was doing it and, you know, I had crazy good prices. So when they needed jewelry, okay, at that time, my markup was like 5%, 10%.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Make a name for you?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, to make a name for myself. I was stupid, okay? I could have made myself with 13%, 14%, 20%, 18%. Be smart, bro. Don’t give away 5%. Please be my friend. But I didn’t know. Whatever. So I’m a, so I had good deals. They were attracted to that, and then it all turned to sh*t. But it’s all right.
Dream Clients and Industry Relationships
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Who’s the one person you haven’t done business with that you’d like? Is there anybody on your list that I like that you’d like to do business with? You’d like to make a piece for? You’d like to?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Patrick Bet-David.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Well, that he did. I’m wearing your chain now. I got Trax’s gold chain on my neck and I feel safe.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: I don’t know, man. Whatever. Not really worried about it particularly. I’m a fan of, you know, Boss Mandelo hit me up. I’d like to make a piece for him for the rap community to, you know, make amends because he’s a real rapper.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Have you been, you’ve been in movies, but have you been in a rap song or have they mentioned, yes, which, which?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Well, you know, there’s a Jewish rapper, Kosher BLP. He’s coming up, he’s out in Florida.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Kosher BLP?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah. Busta Rhymes did in his last album. That guy right there.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: BLP.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Kosher, yeah.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Really?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yes, he’s a great rapper. I mean, he’s coming up, he’s doing his thing.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: And then you said Busta Rhymes.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Busta Rhymes, yeah.
Jacob the Jeweler and the Watch Industry
PATRICK BET-DAVID: What do you think about, what do you call it? Jacob the Jeweler. What’s the brand of the watch called?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Jacob and Company.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Jacob and Company, yeah.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Well, listen, he’s a master jeweler. Another Baharian that mastered the craft of jewelry. And you know, he had a flawless performance in the jewelry industry. Very subtle, very thoughtful and as a person to model, you know, as far as the watch is concerned, there has always been creative watches. And that’s it. That’s all there is to say about it.
You know, they’re a little bit loud and then he brands them a certain way. But you know, he had legendary watches for years. And you know what I personally do? I personally would die for a Jacob and Co. No, I wouldn’t. You know, that’s not really a watch for me. But he comes up with creative pieces and that’s it.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Is there a watch you own you’d never sell?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: No. Roman would say the same thing. You know, I’m saying that not at the moment. I mean I keep my watches in my showcase. My watch right now is in bullsht Rolex Datejust that I just beat up and sht. I’m still actually want to get my watch back that was stolen in a robbery that I got to post a picture of that was hand engraved by this guy, Sir Jewelry, which is an amazing hand engraver. So I was going to do that video later and get that back because it’s a one of one Rolex that was gifted for me from somebody.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Was a customer that somebody stole it.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Somebody stole it.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Where did they steal it?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: It was in a robbery, you know, the Buddha Bar or whatever. The guys went to jail, the police swooped in. A bunch of sh*t happened over the course of my life. That’s always a wacky story. But there was a robbery, they stole the watch. I want to get it back.
But there isn’t a watch that right now I have a million and a half in the showcase. That’s not enough in the watch business. Okay. I might put in, you know, another $500,000. But I’m thinking, should I buy a silver mining stock and just let that go up or should I buy more jewelry and that go up?
So I have to deploy another half a million, $600,000 worth of capital right now into the marketplace. Watches maybe, you know, I’m saying, what about silver miner stocks? What’s happening with silver? What’s this story about this battery Samsung is creating with using a kilo of silver for cars that could go 900 miles with BMW? You don’t want to find out about that a day late and a dollar short, my friend. Okay?
If they have a 900 mile BMW coming out that charges in an hour, can you imagine that? And it uses a kilo of silver each.
Silver, EVs, and the Future of Precious Metals
PATRICK BET-DAVID: This is the EV Maximilian Proximity Gen 6 battery technology. These models are part of a brand new class platform with the production is a tied to silver.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, you could ask that question. I mean, this is just, this is kind of silver you don’t even know about. Huh?
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Just type silver in the, in the search.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: It’s really, really cutting edge news. Solid state EV batteries. Try that one.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Oh, it’s a…
MAKSUD AGADJANI: You’re going to, you’re going to have to dive deep for it.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: But Toyota claims breakthrough could offer 900 miles driving range. Right, but the Lambo is not going to do that, though.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: F the f. 900 miles in the Lambo. I mean, I have a V10 in that sht. Naturally aspirated. I don’t need it. I don’t drive it 900 miles on it. It’s, I’m going to destroy that Lambo. I’m going to have it upside down by the time I’m done with that sht.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: How do you drive it?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Are you like putting f*ing Lambo, baby? I’m not.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: It’s for you. Yeah. You know, every time when I buy exotics, they’re like, what are you doing with this? I’m like, I’m going to drive it. I bought a brand new Rolls Royce Dawn. I put 20,000 miles on about a 458. I put 18,000 miles on it. I drive.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: I bought an Aventador. I drove it every day like it’s a BMW.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yes.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Interesting.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah.
Investment Advice: Where to Put Your Money
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Okay, so last question for you.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: I’m a buyer.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Give me an idea. If I got 10 grand, 100 grand, a million bucks. Where should I put my money? In jewelry or should I, yeah, you should. 10 grand, 100 grand? A million.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: That depends on how intelligent you are and how thrifty you are. Now, if you’re getting an emerald, that’s an $800,000 emerald for $250,000, you should buy that. But if you don’t know anything about an emerald, then you shouldn’t do that. Then you should just buy gold and lots of heavy gold jewelry, because that’s easy to scrap and easy to melt and go on with that gold. Yes.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: So you’re, you’re, you’re long on gold or you’re…
MAKSUD AGADJANI: I mean, I was explaining gold when it was $1,800. I was, I started making gold videos when it was $1,250 an ounce. I started the business. It was $350.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: When you started the business 20 years ago was $350.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: $350.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: From $350 to $4,500 bucks, it was.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: $10 a gram. Now it’s over $100 a gram.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: 14K, 13X.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, something like that. Okay. On a chain. All right, so the price went up to $1,900 when the mortgage collapsed, the mortgage crisis. And then it simmered back down at $1,250. And I said, buy. It went up to $1,850. I said, last chance. Now it’s $4,500. I don’t know what the hell is going on.
The Story of the Dollar and America’s Future
The story of our lives is what’s going to happen with the dollar. My lifetime. Your lifetime. The story of the dollar. Trump is coming in, trying to hold the dollar and save it after these people prostituted the dollar, okay? They put the dollar out there like a whore. Give me my money. You know what I’m saying? This is what they did with the dollar.
So the story of our lives is can he save the dollar or not? Because Xi Jinping is coming, and he’s not, he’s not, you know, an idiot. He moves quietly and carefully. And they’re working on the silver now. They’re working on the metals now. But you can’t, we want to stick with this. So something is at play.
But Trump is only there for three years. Xi Jinping is there for a long time. We all know the play. They want to show the dominance by taking Taiwan. And when they do that, they’ll wait until Trump is out of power and they have absolute dominance, and then maybe they’ll take it. They’re not going to take any risks, any unnecessary risks. That’s how he got to that position. No unnecessary risks.
And the story of our lives in the dollar. And for the average person, they’re buying, they’re not buying. You know, right now, the truth is, whatever they’re saying, whatever the statistics are, you can’t really hold your money in the bank. You know that? You have to hold it in something.
And for the average person, if you’re not saving in precious metals, you’re not saving, period. So this paycheck to paycheck credit card sh*t that America is going through is very tragic to me, and it shouldn’t be like that.
New York Politics and Leadership
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Now you’re in New York City, have you thought about, like, doing something creative? Like, I love communism and taking it to Mandani and handing it to him.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: I don’t want to have nothing to do with Mandani. Really?
PATRICK BET-DAVID: You’re not a Mandani guy?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: F* that.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: He’s your mayor.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: I mean, listen, I don’t want to say it because he’s my mayor. He’s going to be up my ass, but I don’t need any Mandani. I don’t need to have nothing to do with that. I like Mayor Adams, to be honest. I met him, you know, he was a fine guy. I don’t know what this guy’s going to do. Let him prove himself and let him do something for the city.
Communism, shmamianism, all this other sht, all these games and all these idiots that vote for this hope and change bullsht, and all these young kids with their, you know, they’re lost, they’re confused. And I remember that I was one of them. I was thinking, Obama was a great president and hoping for a second term, he’s going to do it when he was just a bullsh*t artist the whole time, bro.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: What do you mean by that?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: I mean, when he came out with the Obamacare, his big move, that took years, you know, saying, he’s a good, he’s a good cheerleader. That’s what the f* he is. Okay? He came out with Obamacare and the website crashed and it didn’t work. That means someone was coming up to him and saying, “Yeah, we’re working on…” He’s like, “Great, we’re going to build the healthcare.”
There’s, you know, I’m saying pretending people don’t understand. These people are fooling you, and they are pretending while they’re printing dollars and stealing them. That’s all that’s going on. So all that Obamacare, that was just feeling sorry for him and wanting to be a success.
And when my eyes opened to that because I was a business person waiting for a good economy and I was building a website and I had to do it by myself on my own. You’re the President of the United States and your website’s crashing and then you’re asking Google to help you. And then, you know, he did YouTube videos in the White House because Google, because Google had to save the day. She had to pick up the phone and call Sergey Brin.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: You know how much they spent on that website?
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, they got ripped off and they always get ripped off.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: $900 million or something like that, my friend.
The Dangers of Empty Promises
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yeah, they got ripped off. It’s just telling them what they want to hear. And that’s what communism is and that’s what all of that is. You’re on your own. You know, that’s really what the Republican mentality is, is you have to realize these people aren’t coming to help you.
It’s only the primitive people of the world that are voting for these promises. And that’s why they get these dictators, because they believe in the liars, okay? And this is, again, what I’m about to say is a little bit going to sound crazy, but it needs to be said, okay? It needs to be said, all right?
And there’s a lot of super intelligent women out there. You got Candace Owens, you just got her problems. You got Megyn Kelly, you got this and that. But, you know, when women vote, they vote for the biggest bullshit artist out there that’s telling them empty promises, okay? All right? And that’s, you know, that’s what’s causing a lot of this.
I’m not saying, I’m not saying in any way that it’s a concern, okay? Because as a man, you might have a different mentality and you might be more cautious to bullshit, but these dreamers and these promises, it’s dangerous. So I just want to put that out there for the women that might be watching, okay?
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Just as a woman is, please stop voting.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: I’m saying stop buying into bullshit promises and liberal dreams of Kumbaya, okay? That’s my message. Vote. Vote intelligently. You know, you need more female leaders. You need more black leaders. You need more amazing people that are standing out there and guiding people, right? You need more Jewish leaders. All right?
That’s like, I consider myself to teach the Jewish. I’m responsible for my people, not responsible for other people. I’m responsible for the Jewish people, you know, for Azerbaijan, for whatever, to give the right direction on moral behavior, okay?
And I would suggest for other groups and other people, it would be a big difference to the world if you stop believing in bullshit artists that promise you a bunch of shit. “We’re going to freeze the rent. We’re going to do this, we’re going to…” That here, there, this, that. These are all bullshit ideas. They’re going to come to nothing.
How many people suffered because of communism and because of all these promises of distribution? You know, saying, “Yeah, we’re going to… The Central Bureau. You’re going to call the Central Bureau and you’re going to build apartment buildings in Kazakhstan from Moscow.” We need to… It’s not going to work, man. They’re all going to say, “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” steal the money. So wake up, America.
Final Thoughts and Closing
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Wake up, America. Connect with TraxNYC. Maksud and go buy some gold.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Absolutely. That’s…
PATRICK BET-DAVID: That’s what the key is. I think that’s what I took from the message here.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Yes.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: TraxNYC.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Thank you.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: Great to have you on, man.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Thank you.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: All the best to you. Stay safe. Keep making noise. You’re meant to be on camera. You are so entertaining to watch. It’s an understatement for a guy that’s not in this space who just enjoys watching you. You can grab the attention of the audience from the second you’re on till the end.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: Thank you for having me, my brother. That’s an honor to hear you say that.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: No, I truly mean it. You’re fantastic at what you do. Take care, everybody.
MAKSUD AGADJANI: God bless.
PATRICK BET-DAVID: We’ll do it again tomorrow. Bye, bye, bye, bye.
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