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Apollo economist finds no AI payoff outside big tech
Torsten Slok’s charts show revenue per worker and profit margins flat for the S&P 500 minus its seven largest tech companies.
The money going into AI has yet to reach the profits of most big US companies, according to Apollo Global Management’s chief economist. In a note dated 24 October 2026, Torsten Slok split the S&P 500 into its seven largest tech firms and the other 493, and found revenue per worker and profit margins climbing for the seven while staying flat for the rest, PPC Land reports.
Slok’s verdict is blunt: AI has delivered “zero financial payoff to corporate America outside of tech”, TechCrunch quotes him as writing. Reading Apollo’s charts, PPC Land puts the margin of the 493 between 9 and 10 per cent since 2023, against close to 30 per cent for the big seven. Slok expects little from AI getting cheaper, since in his view most business decisions rest on judgement, where he sees the software falling short.
Advertising has adoption counts of its own. Our census of AI ad figures, checked 2 October 2026, records Meta’s finance chief saying more than 8 million advertisers had used at least one of its generative AI creative tools, with no published method.
Slok’s own split puts Meta, the company reporting 8 million advertisers on its AI creative tools, among the seven firms whose margins are climbing.
Sources
- TechCrunch: AI delivers ‘zero financial payoff’ to most companies, Apollo economist says. Checked
- PPC Land: Apollo finds zero AI payoff outside tech as S&P 493 margins stay near 10%. Checked
Alexandre S.
Alexandre S. is a creative ad strategist and copywriter with ten years' experience in digital marketing across multiple channels.
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