Milken Institute
Showing 226–240 of 1442 transcripts.
- 1h 0m
Green or Gray: What's Next for Transportation? | Global Conference 2025
Susan Li, Adam Goldstein, Nina Hachigian, Alex Israel, Mark Morelli, Will Thompson
Industry leaders including Mark Morelli of Circle K and Will Thompson of Barclays convened to analyze the severe financial and operational headwinds facing the U.S. mobility sector, such as projected tariff losses for Ford and GM and a critical $400 billion grid infrastructure gap. The panel debated divergent paths forward, ranging from China's state-subsidized pricing advantages to the necessity of multi-fuel strategies and a "technological war" for AI dominance in defense and electric vehicle manufacturing. While consensus emerged that autonomous fleet deployment and EV charging profitability will likely materialize within two to three years, stakeholders uniformly dismissed the 2035 total electrification mandate as unrealistic given current fleet turnover rates and transmission constraints.
- 1h 0m
The Global Landscape and Opportunities for Medical Breakthroughs | Global Conference 2025
Usha Lee McFarling, Jay Bradner, Doug Drysdale, Neil Kumar, Alice Pomponio, Grant Verstandig
Biomedicine leaders from BridgeBio, Amgen, and Zephyr AI outlined a strategy to accelerate the industry from discovery to commercialization by leveraging precision diagnostics, population-scale genetics, and AI-driven protein folding to overcome the "valley of death." While startups like Saiban pioneer high-efficacy mental health treatments and the American Cancer Society launches "BrightEdge" to blend venture capital with donor funds, panelists warned that eroding NIH funding threatens this innovation ecosystem. The discussion emphasized that sustaining global competitiveness requires public-private partnerships to fund basic research and expand diverse genomic databases beyond Western populations.
- 1h 2m
The New Age of Private Equity | Global Conference 2025
Dan Primack, Per Franzén, David Gross, Julia Kahr, Pete Stavros, Eric Wilmes
Leading global investors including GIC, Bain Capital, and EQT discussed a market defined by regional divergence, where US activity paused due to policy uncertainty while European and Asian deals accelerated. Panelists characterized the current environment as a buyer-seller dislocation rather than a collapse, highlighting the strategic shift toward AI integration, continuation funds, and diversified platforms to navigate valuation misalignments. Despite macroeconomic headwinds like potential tariffs and tax policy changes, the consensus views the present low activity as a strategic buying opportunity supported by record dry powder and resilient portfolio fundamentals.
- 1h 1m
Author Susan Morrison, "Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live" | Global Conference 2025
Susan Morrison, Lorne, Laraine Newman
Susan Morrison's biography *Saturday Night* chronicles Lorne Michaels' decade-long evolution of *Saturday Night Live* from a conservative variety show into a global franchise that balances alternative comedy with broad national appeal. The narrative highlights how Michaels' management philosophy evolved from personal trauma-induced non-confrontation to a "sports franchise" model, emphasizing operational flexibility, mentorship strategies like *Weekend Update* for new talent, and a strict hierarchy to manage host egos during the high-pressure final dress rehearsal. This deep dive into Michaels' "friendship economy" and adaptive leadership explains the show's thirty-plus year longevity and its successful international licensing, which requires navigating diverse cultural standards while maintaining the show's core identity.
- 56 min
Aging Societies: Opportunities amid Challenges | Global Conference 2025
Maneet Ahuja, Cynthia Hardy Maasry, Ted Koenig, Timothy Lyne, Andrew Milgram, Cynthia Masry, Tim Line
Panelists Andrew Milgram, Ted Koenig, and Tim Line characterize the current economic landscape as a technical recession driven by tariff uncertainty and wage compression, resulting in middle-market EBITDA margins near 5-6% and bankruptcy filings at 14-year highs. The institutional focus is shifting as non-bank lenders now execute 90% of leveraged finance while private equity capital flows toward private credit to navigate declining deal valuations and extended hold periods. Experts forecast a tepid 2025 followed by a recovery in 2026 and 2027, with lenders increasingly prepared to act as permanent owners of distressed assets through robust restructuring capabilities.
- 54 min
The Future of Venture Capital: AI, IPOs, and Tech Investment | Global Conference 2025
Romaine Bostick, Raj Ganguly, Amir Husain, Dana Settle, Hemant Taneja
Venture capital leaders from B Capital, General Catalyst, and Greycroft discuss a strategic pivot away from the stalled IPO market toward inorganic growth and M&A as primary exit routes. The panel emphasizes that firms must evolve into "AI-native" entities to navigate geopolitical supply chain shifts and address liquidity constraints for the "long tail" of private companies. With a focus on deep industry transformation over application-layer speculation, investors are prioritizing technically elite founders capable of driving efficiency in hardware, robotics, and healthcare sectors.
- 59 min
Charting the Rise of the Podcast Economy | Global Conference 2025
Jamie Patricof, Jessica Cordova Kramer, Mary Alice Haney, Josh Lindgren, Hernan Lopez, Ben Meiselas
Industry leaders define the evolving podcast ecosystem as a dissolving convergence of audio and video formats, evidenced by major market shifts such as PodX's acquisition of Lemonada and the Golden Globes' addition of "Best Podcast" awards for 2026. Economic analysis projects the global industry to reach $7.3 billion in 2024, driven by a 30% revenue share from consumer subscriptions and a migration of high-profile talent away from legacy cable networks toward independent production. While generative AI serves primarily as a localization and editing tool to expand global reach, the sector faces upcoming challenges regarding standardized cross-platform metrics and the preservation of entry-level job pipelines amidst these technological and media mergers.
- 1h 2m
Institutional Investors: Charting the Course | Global Conference 2025
Christopher Ailman, Justin Barton, Jenny Chan, Edwin Denson, Jonathan Glidden, Guadalupe Rodriguez, Chris
Representatives from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, the State of Wisconsin Investment Board, Delta Airlines, the UCLA Foundation, and a single family office convened to discuss how their distinct balance sheets and liabilities shape divergent capital allocation strategies. While SWIB and UCLA maintain long-term horizons and increased non-U.S. equity exposure, Delta prioritizes de-risking and liquidity management within its pension structures amidst a shifting macro environment. The panelists collectively signaled a cautious stance toward private market pricing and hedge fund correlation, anticipating stagflation and regulatory volatility that will likely dictate 2025 investment flows and secondary market activity.
- 59 min
AI Leadership: Business Aspirations and Value Propositions | Global Conference 2025
Julia Boorstin, Aparna Chennapragada, Francis deSouza, Arianna Huffington, Clara Shih, Matt Wood
Moderated by CNBC's Julia Boorstin at the Milken Institute Global Conference, industry leaders from Meta, Microsoft, Google, PwC, and Thrive Global characterized AI as a transformative inflection point comparable to electricity rather than an incremental tool. The panel detailed rapid enterprise adoption, noting that AI now generates over 30% of code at Google and drives revenue growth for cloud providers, while predicting a shift toward an agent-to-agent economy where human roles evolve from task execution to orchestration. Ultimately, the discussion emphasized a dual strategy of accelerating innovation while establishing governance frameworks to mitigate risks such as disinformation and bias, forecasting a future where AI expands human capabilities across healthcare, science, and lean "frontier" business models.
- 23 min
It Starts with a Teacher: A Conversation with Armando Christian Pérez (Pitbull) | Global Conference
Armando Christian Pérez, Richard Ditizio
Cuban-American entertainer Armando "Pitbull" Perez co-founded the SLAM Academy to operate a rapidly expanding network of charter schools that have achieved a 100% graduation rate while receiving federal recognition for replicating their model across the United States. Drawing on personal experiences with failure and family resilience, Perez prioritizes tangible educational outcomes over celebrity status to support at-risk youth and break generational barriers in education. By advocating for a "slow but sure" strategic approach, he continues to seek long-term partners committed to sustaining this initiative and fostering the American Dream for future generations.
- 58 min
AI and Digital Transformation's Impact on Investing | Global Conference 2025
David Steinberg, Jim Breyer, Dipanjan "DJ" Deb, Greg Emerson, Dennis Gada, Jodie Wallis, Shanali Basak
A panel of industry leaders including Jodi, Dennis, DJ, Greg, and Jim established a consensus that organizations must adopt a hybrid "build, buy, and partner" strategy, favoring external foundational models while retaining in-house development for specific strategic assets. The discussion highlighted acute shortages of top-tier mathematical talent and warned of critical risks ranging from quantum decryption threats to deepfake fraud, necessitating robust, materiality-based governance frameworks. Looking forward, experts predicted AI will act as a catalyst for enterprise transformation and private equity value creation, though they cautioned that true value lies in revenue growth rather than mere productivity gains or marketing hype.
- 1h 1m
Investing in Ukraine's Future | Global Conference 2025
Gillian Tett, Philip Bennett, Xavier Bettel, Wladimir Klitschko, Oleksandra Matviichuk, Yuriy Vitrenko
Panelists project a realistic three-year timeline for a peace deal, noting that Russia currently holds the initiative on ceasefire negotiations while Ukraine leverages its strengthened drone production. Key figures including Deputy Prime Minister Xavier Bettel and former Naftogaz CEO Yuri Vitrenko confirmed a U.S.-Ukraine minerals deal that aims to secure investment and serve as a precursor to an armistice, though legal complexities regarding Russian frozen assets remain a significant hurdle. Simultaneously, Nobel laureate Alla Aleksandr warned of impending impunity if war crimes are not prosecuted through a Special Tribunal, while the EBRD outlined a strategy to scale reconstruction investments to billions annually despite total costs estimated at $700 billion.
- 59 min
Energy Transition to Energy Addition | Global Conference 2025
Daniel Yergin, Mohammad Abunayyan, Mohamed Al Hammadi, Ana Cabral Gardner, Amos Hochstein, Vineet Mittal
A high-level panel of energy leaders and policymakers warns that global energy discourse has pivoted from "transition" to "addition" as AI-driven demand accelerates, exposing critical bottlenecks in grid infrastructure and supply chain resilience. Key figures from the US, Middle East, India, and mining sectors agree that meeting these surging needs requires a diversified portfolio combining nuclear baseload, natural gas, and renewables while avoiding a "race to the bottom" in critical mineral standards. Strategic outcomes emphasize immediate investment in grid modernization, off-grid data center solutions, and an "alliance network" to decouple from single-source dependencies without triggering geopolitical isolation.
- 49 min
Author Talk: Kevin Kwan, "Lies and Weddings" | Global Conference 2025
Kevin Kwan, Curtis S. Chin, Chris Tucker, Tiana, John Panatti
Author Kevin Kwan returns to the Milken Institute Global Conference to discuss his latest novel, *Lies in Weddings*, which uses a family drama format to critique intergenerational wealth inequality and racial stereotypes. Kwan outlines the stalled progress of the *Crazy Rich Asians* film sequels while detailing the active development of an HBO Max series, a Broadway musical, and new film adaptations of his other works. He concludes by advocating for underrepresented creators to own production infrastructure to sustain diverse storytelling and shares insights on his upcoming film projects and new literary directions.
- 21 min
Part 1: A Conversation with The Carlyle Group's David M. Rubenstein | Global Conference 2025
David M. Rubenstein, Melissa Stevens
Jefferson Exchange co-founder Jeffrey Rubenstein addresses the critical threats facing U.S. philanthropy, including politicized historical preservation, potential tax policy changes, and declining civic literacy. He advocates for redefining the sector by honoring the percentage of wealth given rather than absolute sums, promoting in-person historical engagement to counter a crisis where nearly all states fail citizenship tests. Furthermore, Rubenstein highlights the strategic value of soft power assets like pandas while emphasizing that the upcoming 250th anniversary should prioritize deep constitutional understanding over superficial celebration.