Latest Interviews
Showing 931–945 of 1,615 transcripts.
Clear all filters- Milken Institute56 min
Digital Reality: How Interconnectedness Is Reshaping Our Lives
Kara Swisher, Michael Ferro, Bobby Kotick, Marne Levine, Evan Sharp
Leading technology and media executives, including Michael Ferrer, Bobby Kotick, Marnie Levine, and Evan Sharp, convened to challenge the narrative that digital platforms erode community by demonstrating how AI and data foster new forms of global connection. The panelists detailed distinct strategic pivots where Merrick Ventures leverages trusted journalism, Pinterest shifts toward decision-making search tools, Instagram integrates immersive business storefronts, and Activision Blizzard utilizes gaming to build global belonging. Ultimately, the group concluded that while automation poses risks to traditional employment, the convergence of visual data, machine learning, and new economic models offers significant potential for entrepreneurial growth and educational advancement if societal infrastructure adapts accordingly.
- Milken Institute1h 4m
Space Travel: From Mars to the Stars
Buzz Aldrin, Yuri, Dan, May
Prominent figures including Buzz Aldrin, Yuri Milner, and Dan Goldin convened to advocate for a shift toward private-sector-driven space exploration to overcome current stagnation and accelerate a permanent human presence on Mars by 2039. The discussion highlighted Milner's $100 million commitment to the Breakthrough Starshot initiative, which aims to launch gram-scale probes to Alpha Centauri, alongside Aldrin's proposal for a global coalition to reduce costs and establish infrastructure. Panelists concluded that securing humanity's long-term survival requires expanding beyond Earth's carrying capacity through unified international efforts and technological innovation in both near-term lunar capabilities and century-scale interstellar travel.
- Milken Institute48 min
Part 2: Global Capital Markets
Mohamed El-Aryan, Thomas Fink, Scott Miner, Arunma Otec, David Solomon
Prominent financial leaders including David Solomon, Mohamed El-Erian, and Arunma Otec discuss post-election market volatility and the critical need for tax reform and deregulation to sustain reflationary growth. The panel emphasizes that while current optimism is high, success depends on reconciling strong equity performance with weak GDP data and executing complex legislative compromises on corporate tax rates and regulatory frameworks like the Volcker Rule. Furthermore, experts warn that long-term prosperity requires addressing structural challenges such as the digital divide, workforce readiness for automation, and coordinated global monetary policies to manage currency dynamics amidst geopolitical instability.
- Milken Institute52 min
Fake News: Negotiating Politics and Society in a Post-Truth World
Willow Bay, Rebecca Blumenstein, Campbell Brown, Stephen Hayes, Scott McClellan, Jon Steinberg
A panel of industry leaders and academics convened to analyze the drivers of the fake news crisis, attributing its proliferation to Facebook's engagement-focused algorithms, the decline of local journalism jobs, and a polarized political culture that normalizes dishonesty. In response, the tech giant has pivoted its mission to support authentic reporting by launching the Facebook Journalism Project, removing over 30,000 malicious accounts, and committing to a workforce of 3,000 content managers to surpass the staff sizes of major news organizations. While rejecting government regulation in favor of market-based solutions and advertiser pressure, the group emphasized a multi-pronged strategy involving new revenue models, mandatory media literacy education, and collaborative product development to restore public trust and combat misinformation.
- Y Combinator50 min
How to Raise Money with Marc Andreessen, Ron Conway, and Parker Conrad (HtSaS 2014: 9)
Marc Andreessen, Ron Conway, Parker Conrad
SV Angel outlines a venture capital philosophy centered on investing in outlier founders with extreme strengths rather than balanced profiles, emphasizing that seed rounds of $1M to $2M at caps near $9M offer the highest probability of success. The firm prioritizes companies that have already peeled away risk through revenue generation and traction, viewing the investor-founder relationship as a long-term partnership where dilution limits and board governance are managed through covenants rather than formal votes. By leveraging a high-selectivity process where only one in thirty referrals receive funding, SV Angel targets leaders who can articulate clear value propositions within minutes while avoiding conflicts that limit future portfolio flexibility.
- Milken Institute48 min
Investing in Emerging Markets: Out of the Rabbit Hole?
Jonathan Wheatley, Hedi Ben Mlouka, Scott Mackin, Arvind Rajan, Nicolas Rohatyn
A panel of investment experts analyzes the structural shift in emerging markets where domestic politics and capital flows now outweigh global macro factors, urging a move away from generic strategies toward country-specific analysis of debt evolution and political risk. Despite short-term market mismatches and liquidity constraints, the discussion highlights compelling valuations and high-growth potential in sectors like infrastructure, citing specific opportunities in Egypt, Vietnam, and Russia while warning of volatility in Turkey and China. By prioritizing long-term capital commitments and rigorous due diligence over quarterly reviews, investors can mitigate these risks to capture the 75% of global GDP growth projected to originate from these regions over the next decade.
- Milken Institute57 min
Britain's EU Exit: What's Next for London?
Adrian Wooldridge, Nicholas Candy, Peter Flint, Howard Shore, Julian Skan, Carmen Zechner
A diverse panel of financial experts and housing strategists evaluates the impending "hard Brexit" and its potential to trigger regulatory restructuring within London's financial services sector, which relies heavily on global talent. While major banks plan minimal physical relocation, the discussion highlights that rising housing costs and immigration restrictions pose a more immediate threat to the city's competitiveness than the departure from the EU itself. The group concludes that a successful post-Brexit economic strategy requires accelerating modular construction, diversifying investment into regional hubs, and leveraging deregulation to support SMEs and FinTech innovation.
- Milken Institute1h 10m
Global Capital Markets: New Risks, New Opportunities
Michael Milken, Marisa Drew, Luke Ellis, Thomas Finke, Nobel Gulati, Jonathan Nelson
Leading investment executives from Providence Equity Partners, Two Sigma, Credit Suisse, Man Group, and Barings convened to analyze how technology-driven innovation and regulatory shifts are reshaping capital markets. Participants emphasized that while true uncorrelated alpha has become scarce, firms are increasingly relying on organizational alpha, data science integration, and collaborative cultures to generate returns across media, private equity, and direct lending sectors. The consensus highlighted a critical transition where traditional finance models must evolve to incorporate scientific methods and address systemic risks associated with the rapid growth of non-bank lending.
- Milken Institute53 min
Immigration in Europe: Balancing Politics, Security and Compassion
David Goodhart, Percy Barnevik, Sir Paul Collier, Begüm Doğan Faralyali, Dominik Hangartner
Former ABB CEO Percy Barnevik, Turkish media magnate Begum Doğan, and Oxford professor Sir Paul Collier convened to debate solutions for the European immigration crisis, emphasizing a shift from humanitarian aid to economic autonomy and source-region development. Panelists criticized the failure of current asylum systems for causing skill atrophy and highlighted the "Jordan Model" as a viable alternative that links job creation in refugee-hosting nations with EU market access. The discussion further analyzed the political risks of uncontrolled migration, noting that integration failures in countries like Sweden and the erosion of Turkey's border controls necessitate a strategy prioritizing private sector investment over traditional government-to-government aid.
- Milken Institute56 min
Will EU Departure Strengthen Ties Between the UK and India?
Simon Long, Jitesh Gadhia, Mohit Joshi, Rain Newton-Smith, Manish Singh, Richard Templar, Matt McGrath
UK Prime Minister Theresa May's post-Brexit trade mission to India focuses on leveraging financial services and infrastructure investment to overcome economic shocks and structural gaps in both nations' capital markets. Key figures including Liam Fox and Nirmal Sitharaman have initiated a trade audit to explore bilateral agreements, targeting sectors such as insurance, Masala bonds, and the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund while addressing regulatory harmonization for bankruptcy and solvency. Despite concerns over tightening UK visa policies, the dialogue emphasizes utilizing India's JAM financial inclusion framework and the UK's service-sector expertise to establish a strategic economic partnership that could potentially bypass stalled multilateral EU negotiations.
- Milken Institute1h 0m
U.S. Overview: Post-Election America and the World
Ross DeVol, Tony Fratto, Adam Hitchcock, William Lee, Richard Socarides, Ross Duvall, Tony Frada
This panel analysis dissects the 2016 electoral realignment driven by disaffected rural voters in the Upper Midwest and examines the resulting shifts in demographic coalitions and global economic trends. Experts evaluate the new administration's policy priorities, including projected tax reforms, potential deregulation through enforcement discretion, and the strategic use of trade negotiations to reshape global commerce. Furthermore, the discussion highlights critical challenges to long-term growth stemming from workforce constraints, automation, and the potential erosion of Federal Reserve independence under a president who views the central bank as a negotiating chip.
- Milken Institute1h 0m
Trends Shaping Technology, Business and Society
Rory Cellan-Jones, Jo Bertram, Brent Hoberman, Colin le Duc, Ed Vaizey, Vojtek, Robert Jurkowski, Hania Sadat
Panelists at this event analyzed critical shifts in technology and policy, ranging from Uber's transition to integrated mobility and the ethical risks of semi-autonomous vehicles to the economic drivers pushing corporations toward renewable energy. Significant concerns were raised regarding automation's impact on employment, the structural disadvantages facing European startups, and the threat of Brexit to UK talent acquisition, prompting calls for inclusive growth initiatives like rural broadband expansion. Future outlooks focused on specific breakthroughs including the end of aging, the obsolescence of private car ownership, and the application of data analytics in healthcare, all while navigating a global regulatory environment demanding greater accountability from tech giants.
- Milken Institute59 min
Risk-Free Return or Return-Free Risk: The Hunt for Yield
Simon Smiles, Marc Barrachin, Roger Gray, Robert Kricheff, Marino Valensise, Bob
Following the 2016 US election, panelists argue that secular stagnation has ended, signaling a regime shift toward fiscal expansion and rising yields as central bank stimulus wanes. This macroeconomic divergence prompts investors to abandon the traditional 60/40 portfolio in favor of private assets, high-yield credit, and emerging market equities to capture liquidity premiums and higher returns. Specific recommendations include overweighting US high yield and syndicated loans while avoiding duration risk in investment-grade debt, with long-term strategies focusing on robotics, fintech, and infrastructure to navigate a volatile, positive-correlation environment.
- Milken Institute57 min
FinClusion: Connecting the Unconnected
Aron Betru, Bob Annibale, Tilman Ehrbeck, Daniel Gorfine, Susan Lund, Shamina Singh
A coalition of financial institutions and fintech leaders convened to address the $5 trillion economic gap caused by the 2 billion unbanked individuals lacking access to formal lending and savings systems. The discussion highlighted how digital infrastructure, alternative data underwriting, and regulatory sandboxes can reduce service costs by 90% while enabling mobile-first solutions like micro-leasing and automated savings. Participants emphasized that successful global inclusion depends on collaborative government policies establishing digital identities and interoperable payment rails to prevent predatory lending and ensure long-term economic stability.
- Milken Institute57 min
Creating a Positive Work Culture: Diversity, Inclusion and Teamwork
Cheryl Strauss Einhorn, Patsy Doerr, Patricia Milligan, Lucy Parker, James White
Business leaders are fundamentally reframing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion as a critical financial imperative by shifting from moral arguments to data-driven strategies that link diverse leadership to innovation and productivity. To operationalize this, organizations like Thomson Reuters and Oppenheimer Funds are embedding DEI accountability into performance metrics, mandating diverse hiring slates, and utilizing technology to neutralize bias in recruitment processes. Despite these structural advances, the panel highlights that without radical changes to retention analytics and "empathy engineering," progress remains stalled at management levels due to socioeconomic gaps and political uncertainty.