Milken Institute
Showing 1291–1305 of 1442 transcripts.
- 11 min
Obama Campaign Manager Jim Messina Talks Big Data at the Milken Institute's 2013 Global Conference
The Obama 2008-2012 presidential campaigns established a data-driven paradigm by deploying over 160 analysts to build behavioral models that accurately predicted election outcomes across all 50 states within a 0.5% margin. Executing this strategy required massive nightly polling and A/B testing to allocate a billion-dollar budget efficiently, securing unprecedented support from undecided voters through personalized digital outreach and targeted social media simulations. While Republican opponents acknowledged a significant technical lag in these early years, the campaign's successors now focus on reinventing these tactics for the 2016 cycle to prevent stagnation in an increasingly competitive digital landscape.
- 1h 2m
Leaning In or Pushed Out: Where Are the Senior Women in Business?
Richard Ditizio, Margery Kraus, Sallie Krawcheck, Lauren Leichtman, Liz Claman, Marjorie Kraus, Michelle Kidley, Jeff, Manjuka Nariwala
Despite women comprising over half of college graduates, their representation in senior financial leadership remains stagnant at roughly 16%, a regression driven by systemic biases like the "intellectual honesty" trap and the double-bind of perceived aggression. Panelists highlighted that while diverse management teams generate over 30% higher returns, institutional inertia persists due to regressive maternity policies and a flexibility paradox that sidelines working mothers. To address this, experts recommend leveraging investor pressure through shareholder voting, utilizing regulatory CAMEL ratings to penalize homogenous boards, and fostering mandatory male inclusion to dismantle the status quo.
- 57 min
Copy of In Tech We Trust? A Debate with Peter Thiel and Marc Andreessen
Peter Thiel argues that the US is experiencing a "computer rust belt" of stagnation in physical infrastructure and productivity despite massive R&D spending, attributing this decline to cultural risk aversion and excessive regulation. Mark Andreessen counters that innovation is actively progressing in sectors like social media, electric vehicles, and clean energy, viewing current skepticism as a recurring historical pattern where transformative technologies are initially dismissed. Both speakers agree that entrenched government monopolies and rigid regulatory frameworks are the primary barriers to accelerating living standards, though they differ on whether the decline is driven by a genuine lack of invention or merely a failure to recognize modern breakthroughs.
- 54 min
Inventing the Impossible
Nolan Bushnell, Pablos Holman, Salim Ismail, Marco Tempest, Ken Rutkowski
This event convenes leading experts to analyze how exponential technology trends are disrupting linear industries like education and healthcare while accelerating global innovation. Speakers detail Singularity University's strategy for training diverse cohorts to solve billion-person problems and showcase transformative solutions ranging from nuclear waste-fueled reactors to personalized AI-driven learning models. The proceedings further highlight how crowdfunding has democratized capital access, enabling rapid prototyping and shifting the focus of human space exploration toward robotics and bioengineering.
- 1h 1m
Global Opportunities in Commercial Real Estate (mobile v2)
Peter Lowy, William McMorrow, Nicholas Schorsch, Barry Sternlicht, Sam Zell, Lewis Feldman, Lou Feldman, Bill McMorrow
Prominent industry figures including Sam Zell, Barry Sternlich, and Bill McMorrow analyze a global real estate landscape characterized by $320 billion in capital flows and a strategic shift away from high-leverage speculation toward stable, yield-focused asset classes. The discussion highlights distinct regional opportunities such as Irish and Latin American growth against European recession, while addressing operational challenges like rising security costs and the integration of physical retail with digital channels. Ultimately, the panel concludes that the United States offers the superior risk-adjusted returns for the coming year, driven by currency stability and disciplined underwriting in staple sectors like multi-family housing and net lease properties.
- 1h 15m
Impact Investing in Israel Roundtable
Lorin Fife, Alan Hoffmann, Carl Kaplan, Yaron Neudorfer, Izzy Tapoohi, Davida Lachman-Messer, Shari Birenbach
This panel featured industry leaders including Didi Lachman, Lorraine Alexander, and Alan Hoffman, who advocated for impact investing as a necessary vehicle to scale social funding in Israel by leveraging the 95% of foundation assets not required for annual grants. Key speakers presented diverse financial instruments ranging from social impact bonds and social venture funds to earmarked Israel Bonds, projecting that these mechanisms could generate the required 7% returns while addressing inequalities among underserved populations. The discussion concluded with a roadmap for establishing a social investment bank and standardizing impact measurements to overcome institutional conservatism and mobilize public-private partnerships.
- 1h 0m
Value and Values: Building a High-Performance Company (updated)
Marc Benioff, Ken Hicks, Jay Rasulo, Walter Robb, Tom Wyatt, Willow Bay
CEOs from Salesforce, Whole Foods, Disney, Foot Locker, and Knowledge Universe convened to outline strategies where integrating core values with business performance drives long-term success. The panel highlighted specific operational shifts, such as Salesforce's 1-1-1 philanthropy model, Whole Foods' rapid transparency on supply chain issues, and Foot Locker's move toward distributed decision-making, all designed to build trust with millennials and investors. Executives concluded that in an era of accelerated competition, organizational culture and ethical accountability have become the primary differentiators for attracting talent and sustaining growth.
- 9 min
Jack Andraka Talks About the Bioscience Discovery Process at Milken Institute Global Conference
Inspiried by a family tragedy, teenage innovator Jack Andraka developed a prototype cancer sensor that detects pancreatic, ovarian, and lung cancers with 100% accuracy at a cost of just three cents. His device, constructed from carbon nanotubes and antibodies, delivers results in five minutes and is 26,000 times cheaper and 400 times more sensitive than the current sixty-year-old medical standard. After overcoming two hundred rejections from academic institutions, Andraka validated his findings through rigorous testing, demonstrating a scalable technology capable of revolutionizing early disease detection for a wide range of conditions.
- 54 min
Magic Johnson and David Ho: Winning the Battle Against AIDS (updated)
Magic Johnson, David Ho, Earvin (Magic) Johnson, Al Michaels
In 1938, President Roosevelt launched a campaign against polio that, following the 1955 introduction of the Salk vaccine and strategic public endorsements, reduced US cases by 99.9% and annual costs from $100 billion to $100 million by the turn of the millennium. Decades later, the HIV/AIDS epidemic reshaped global health through pivotal moments such as Magic Johnson's 1991 retirement announcement and Dr. David Ho's development of HAART therapy, which transformed the disease from a fatal diagnosis into a manageable chronic condition for many. Today, despite significant advances in treatment and the efforts of advocates like Bill Gates and Dr. Ho, the disease remains a critical global challenge affecting millions, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and among specific US demographics, necessitating continued research for a vaccine and cure.
- 1h 1m
Global Opportunities in Commercial Real Estate (mobile)
Lou Feldman, Peter Loewy, Bill McMorrow, Nicholas Gorsch, Barry Sternlich, Sam Zell
Prominent real estate executives including Sam Zell, Barry Sternlich, and Peter Loewy convened to analyze a global capital shift where $320 billion in direct real estate investment returned to 2013 levels, driven primarily by U.S. and secondary European markets. While investors pivoted toward risk-adjusted yields and debt structures in stable environments like the United States and Colombia, they identified significant headwinds in Brazil and Europe alongside evolving retail strategies that prioritize omnichannel integration and larger showroom formats. The discussion also highlighted critical security challenges and the impact of terrorism insurance expirations on capital flow, underscoring a broader trend of institutional consolidation amidst a fragmented regulatory landscape.
- 1h 0m
A Conversation with Barry Diller (updated)
Barry Diller outlines a strategic vision for the media industry that prioritizes disintermediation and open internet ecosystems to dismantle closed cable bundles and legacy publishing models. Through specific assessments of companies like Aereo, Netflix, and Google, he predicts that disruptive innovation will shift market power from incumbents resisting change to agile, consumer-centric platforms. Diller identifies critical leaders such as Rupert Murdoch and Jack Welch as exemplars of risk-taking and bureaucratic agility necessary to survive in this evolving landscape.
- 1h 0m
A Conversation with Larry King and Carlos Slim (updated)
Mexican businessman Carlos Slim outlined his philosophy that wealth is a byproduct of solving problems rather than an end goal, while criticizing Western fiscal policies and obsolete education models for failing to address global underdevelopment. He advocated for privatizing public assets, extending retirement ages, and integrating technology into education to combat high youth unemployment in Latin America. Slim further detailed his foundation's targeted health and digital inclusion initiatives, defending his telecommunications empire against monopoly accusations as he prepares to leverage infrastructure partnerships for regional economic growth.
- 1h 22m
Stopping Alzheimer's: Personal, Economic and Policy Imperatives
Neil de Crescenzo, Robert Hormats, Sue Siegel, George Vradenburg, Anne Whitaker, Cecilia Arradaza, Bob Hormats, Peggy Wallace, Michael Miller
With Alzheimer's disease imposing a global economic burden equivalent to an $18th-largest national economy and a 97% research failure rate, experts call for a strategic shift from viewing the condition as merely a health issue to addressing it as a sovereign economic crisis. Key figures and organizations, including the NIH, GE, and the BRAIN Initiative, are urging a tripling of funding to $2 billion annually alongside the development of validated biomarkers to overcome current diagnostic and regulatory barriers. To mitigate this fiscal threat and extend productive lifespans, stakeholders propose cross-sector collaboration to create new financial instruments and public awareness campaigns that mobilize caregivers and policymakers toward systemic reform.
- 1h 1m
Creative California: Where the World Comes to Innovate
Darren Jamison, Joe Kiani, Gavin Newsom, Peter Platzer, Kim Polese, Kevin Klowden
California retains its status as a global patent hub driven by premier institutions like Caltech and Stanford, yet its economic vitality is severely hampered by flatlining growth, high unemployment disparities, and a regulatory environment that has driven venture capital in medical technology down by 70%. Facing intensified competition from international locations offering substantial R&D subsidies and domestic rivals providing lower operational costs, the state struggles with a stagnant talent pipeline marked by negative net migration and severe higher education funding cuts. Experts recommend a strategic pivot toward offensive regional economic development, including federal advocacy for immigration reform and the adoption of streamlined zoning models, to reconcile high regulatory costs with the need to retain innovation leadership.
- 58 min
The Role of Universities in Accelerating Bioscience Research
David Baltimore, Joel Burdick, James Economou, Michael Quick, Owen Witte, Stephen Mayo, Steve Mayo, Nick, Francis Collins, Remy, Joe Boistak, Charles, Eric Green, Ray Deshaies
A consortium of leading academic figures, including Nobel Laureate David Baltimore and experts from Caltech, UCLA, and USC, convened to evaluate the intersection of biological engineering and clinical translation in the face of funding constraints. The panel detailed successful strategies for "engineered immunity" projects, such as converting muscle cells into antibody producers and conducting early-stage human trials within university settings, while highlighting the critical need for interdisciplinary programs that bridge the gap between engineering PhDs and MDs. Despite progress, participants identified a persistent "valley of death" in early-stage financing and urged a cultural shift toward professional management and team-based funding mechanisms to sustain innovation.