Latest Interviews

David Zaslav – Discovery President and CEO

David Zaslav, Drew

Discovery is executing a strategic pivot from linear broadcasting to a targeted direct-to-consumer ecosystem, leveraging its top-ranked female viewership to drive a "view and transact" model that integrates commerce into niche apps like HGTV Go and Discovery Go. Supported by significant investments in proprietary technology and engineering talent from Amazon, the company is building a global platform designed to capture higher ad revenue per impression while diversifying into owned content like Golf Digest. This approach allows Discovery to thrive amidst accelerating cord-cutting trends by offering advertisers a safe, data-rich environment that captures a massive audience of women on Sunday nights, ensuring revenue growth even as traditional cable bundles face structural pressures.

Michael Rapino – Live Nation Entertainment President and CEO

Michael Rapino

Live Nation aims to expand its 30% global market share to 125 million fans by targeting under-monetized regions in Latin America and Asia while leveraging vertical integration in established markets. To drive economic resilience and revenue optimization, the company is implementing dynamic pricing models, enforcing "Verified Fan" protocols, and shifting toward earlier on-sale cycles to combat secondary market speculation. This strategic approach capitalizes on the recession-resistant nature of the experience economy to secure long-term growth in arena development and primary ticket sales.

Brian Roberts – Comcast Chairman and CEO

Brian Roberts, Brett Feldman

Comcast is launching the ad-supported streaming service Peacock to leverage its existing 75–80 million cable customers while relying on Sky leadership to execute the platform alongside NBCUniversal's Bonnie Hammer. Financially, the strategy funds significant content investment through repurposed annual spending and aims to generate at least $1 billion in annual film EBITDA by balancing sequels with original productions. This approach shifts the company's focus from raw subscriber growth to optimizing profitability per customer relationship, capitalizing on synergies between its integrated film, broadband, and video operations.

Veronika Scott – CEO of The Empowerment Plan

Veronika Scott

Founded by Veronica Scott in 2010, the Empowerment Plan manufactures weather-resistant wearable coats from deadstock materials to protect Detroit's homeless population while employing those individuals primarily single mothers. This social enterprise model allocates 60% of work hours to production and 40% to case management, resulting in a zero percent recidivism rate and the placement of 60 staff members into permanent housing. The organization prioritizes intensive asset-based care over rapid geographic scaling to maintain deep cultural retention and provide critical navigation support for families escaping systemic poverty.

Darren Walker – President of the Ford Foundation

Darren Walker, Asahi Pompei

Darren Walker, President of the Ford Foundation, leverages his decade of private sector experience in capital markets and law to critique structural inequalities he argues threaten American democracy. Drawing on historical data regarding the "War on Drugs" and post-1982 corporate financial shifts, Walker asserts that systemic designs deliberately suppress upward mobility and erode trust in institutions. He concludes by urging professionals to integrate empathy and specific skill sets into for-profit sectors and local community engagement rather than assuming a full career pivot is necessary for social impact.

Esera Tuaolo: Retired NFL Player and LGBT Advocate

Esera Tuaolo, Lindsay Druckerman

Former NFL player and singer Essara Tuololo recently joined Goldman Sachs' Consumer Retail Group to discuss his career spanning multiple teams and his pivotal decision to come out as gay in 2000 to protect his adopted children. He detailed the psychological toll of living in the closet and how his 2006 memoir, *Alone in the Trenches*, catalyzed his transition into advocacy through his non-profit, Hate Is Wrong. Since its founding, the organization has raised nearly $40,000 for local anti-bullying initiatives by hosting annual Super Bowl Inclusion Parties that keep all proceeds within the host cities.

Goldman Sachs at 150: Part 8 – Around the World (2000)

Goldman Sachs successfully navigated its transformation from a private partnership to a global public entity by adapting its culture to rapid expansion across BRICS nations while maintaining core partnership values under leaders like Hank Paulson and Lloyd Blankfein. The firm leveraged strategic foresight regarding global economic shifts, including a $100 million investment in the "10,000 women" initiative to close gender gaps and drive development in emerging markets. Looking ahead, the organization commits to evolving its structure and hiring practices to preserve excellence and adaptability within an increasingly integrated global financial marketplace.

Goldman Sachs at 150: Part 7 – Going Public (1999)

Hank Paulson

Facing a severe 1994 financial crisis and the strategic necessity of funding global expansion, Goldman Sachs leadership concluded that a public capital structure was essential to sustain a stable balance sheet and unlimited liability risk controls. On May 4, 1999, the firm executed the second-largest initial public offering in financial history at the time, raising capital primarily to distribute equity among existing partners and employees rather than diluting ownership to external investors. This transition, led by senior partners such as Henry Paulson and John Corzine, allowed the institution to scale operations into new markets while maintaining its unique biennial partnership elections and collaborative corporate ethos.

Goldman Sachs at 150: Part 3 – Recovery (1930)

Sidney Weinberg

Following the 1929 stock market crash, Sidney Weinberg rose from a janitor to lead Goldman Sachs through two decades of financial adversity, personally restoring client trust and building a network of high-profile corporate clients. Under his centralized control, Weinberg prioritized long-term relationships over immediate gains, orchestrating the landmark 1956 public offering for Ford Motor Company to cement the firm's status as a premier investment bank. His leadership legacy, characterized by "controlled ambition" and integrity, survived him after he stepped back from daily operations in 1963, leaving behind a client list and reputation that sustained the firm for decades.

Amb. Bruce Heyman and Vicki Heyman: Co-Authors, "The Art of Diplomacy"

Bruce Heyman, Vicki Heyman, Dena Powell

Former U.S. Ambassador Bruce Heyman navigated intense diplomatic friction with the Harper administration regarding the Keystone Pipeline delay, which resulted in his temporary exclusion from high-level Canadian meetings. To repair the strained relationship, Heyman and his wife Vicki launched extensive cultural diplomacy tours across Canadian provinces while simultaneously building "Uncharted," an organization dedicated to promoting the role of citizen ambassadors. Their collaborative efforts culminated in a published book that emphasizes the strategic necessity of the U.S.-Canada border and urges Americans to actively preserve the alliance through shared historical experiences and civic engagement.

Ming Mei: Co-Founder and CEO of GLP

Ming Mei, HONG LIU-

Founded in 2009 and led by co-founder Ming-Mei, GLP has evolved from a brick-and-mortar warehouse operator into the world's largest logistics solutions provider managing over $125 billion in combined assets. Under Ming-Mei's strategic direction, the company executed a pivotal shift to a private fund management model after taking itself public in 2010, a move designed to support its complex global expansion into emerging markets and technology-driven supply chain services. This transformation leverages early real estate insights and a "minimized regret" decision framework to deploy capital across diverse geographies, effectively turning physical infrastructure into a platform for financial innovation and operational efficiency.

Hugh Herr: Co-Director of MIT Center for Extreme Bionics

Hugh Herr

Biomechatronics engineer Hugh Herr redefines disability as a technological failure, predicting that human augmentation will eliminate the concept of disability within a century while enabling synthetic parts to merge with the nervous system. His expert testimony successfully challenged the Olympic ban on Oscar Pistorius, a victory that foretells a future where bionic athletes will likely outperform biological ones and spawn entirely new sports categories. Beyond competition, Herr advocates for robust policy to manage the risks of direct neural interfaces with AI and emphasizes that emotional intelligence and fearlessness are the essential drivers behind innovation and human resilience.

Joseph Tsai - Co-Founder and Executive Vice Chairman, Alibaba Group

Joseph Tsai, David Solomon, Joe Tsai

Goldman Sachs hosted its inaugural "Business & Investing" event in China, featuring a strategic discussion between CEO David Solomon and Alibaba Executive Vice Chairman Joe Tsai. Tsai detailed Alibaba's evolution from a small Hangzhou startup into a global powerhouse, highlighting its defensive expansion logic, proprietary technology investments, and the unique 40-member Partnership system designed to preserve corporate culture. The conversation also offered actionable guidance on scaling entrepreneurship through mission-driven focus, leadership humility, and long-term talent development.

"Catch-Up With David": with Goldman Sachs’ Head of Global Consumer Business Harit Talwar

Harit Talwar, David Solomon

Launched two years ago as a digital storefront for consumer financial services, Marcus operates with zero physical branches to serve four million customers while targeting twenty million Americans with high-interest debt. Under the leadership of Harry, who combines global market creation experience with strategic oversight, the initiative leverages Goldman Sachs' capital and risk frameworks to offer loan refinancing rates three to five percentage points lower than existing credit cards. Despite facing cultural friction between the firm's demand for perfection and the entrepreneurial need for progress, the venture aims to evolve into a shareholder-atttractive business serving tens of millions of consumers within the early stages of its digital platform expansion.

Brig. Gen. Jeannie M. Leavitt: Commander, Air Force Recruiting Service

Jeannie M. Leavitt, Brig. Gen. Jeannie M. Leavitt, Asahi Pompei

Brigadier General Jeanne Levitt, the first female fighter pilot and current Commander of Air Force Recruiting Services, transitioned from aerospace engineering to flying over 3,000 combat hours while navigating significant institutional barriers. Her leadership now drives diversity initiatives within the Air Force that emphasize inclusive team dynamics and leverage the film *Captain Marvel* to correct public misconceptions about women in combat aviation. Through these strategic efforts, the Air Force aims to foster a culture of dignity and respect while expanding recruitment pipelines for underrepresented demographics.