Latest Interviews
Showing 631–645 of 1,031 transcripts.
Clear all filters- Goldman Sachs10 min
What’s the Outlook for Retirement Savers in 2021?
Despite 2020's asset recovery, corporate defined benefit plan funded ratios remain stagnant due to persistent low interest rates, though early 2021 rate hikes offer a potential pathway to improve liabilities. Institutional investors are shifting toward private markets and active management to target returns in a low-yield environment while utilizing liability hedging to optimize capital allocation. Simultaneously, defined contribution balances surged driven by professional management, prompting legislative efforts to expand coverage and strategic initiatives to convert accumulated assets into sustainable retirement income streams.
- Goldman Sachs10 min
The Evolution of the Online Food Delivery Industry
Goldman Sachs Research identifies online food delivery as a sector where pandemic-accelerated adoption has created sticky demand, driving a shift from pure food logistics to broader last-mile services through partnerships with retailers like Walmart and Macy's. While the industry faces labor supply shifts and regulatory costs regarding driver classification, market leaders are transitioning toward operational rationalization to escape hyper-competitive pricing models. This strategic evolution signals a maturation phase where companies aim to stabilize usage frequency and improve long-term profitability by scaling networks rather than relying on loss-leading customer acquisition.
- Goldman Sachs9 min
The Cruise Line Industry: Staying Afloat During Crisis
Following a 2020 pandemic crisis that reduced industry revenue by up to 75%, cruise operators stabilized liquidity through $6 billion emergency financing, asset layups, and debt covenant restructurings. While regulators and the CDC develop rigorous safety protocols and modified dining standards to enable resumption, pent-up consumer demand remains high enough to fill vessels immediately upon approval. Analysts project a V-shaped economic recovery with full operational capacity returning by the second half of 2021, driven by investor confidence in a secular shift toward experiential consumption.
- Goldman Sachs16 min
Thomas Ricks, author of "First Principles" and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
Author Thomas Ricks argues that the current U.S. government suffers from a structural weakness resembling the Articles of Confederation, creating a "democratic oligarchy" vulnerable to the dangerous alliance between the wealthy and the mob that he links to the January 6 insurrection. Drawing on the founders' Roman-inspired fears of corruption and factionalism, Ricks contends that modern social media and primary systems incentivize extremism while the Electoral College fails to adequately protect domestic tranquility or prevent foreign adversaries from exploiting racial divisions. Ultimately, the author warns that without acknowledging the Constitutional codification of slavery and the persistent backlash it triggers, the nation remains at significant risk from internal political terrorism and external geopolitical threats.
- Goldman Sachs8 min
China’s New Digital Currency Initiative
China's People's Bank of China is piloting the e-CNY, a centralized digital currency distributed through commercial banks to maintain monetary sovereignty against private payment rivals and international threats like Libra. While current trials in cities such as Shenzhen and plans for the 2022 Winter Olympics focus on domestic financial inclusion and transaction transparency, officials are implementing holding caps and interest restrictions to prevent banking disintermediation. Analysts predict that despite the infrastructure's potential to enhance policy transmission and reduce remittance costs, the e-CNY will not significantly disrupt the US dollar's global reserve status in the near future.
- The Economist10 min
Cindy McCain: what next for the Republican Party?
Cindy McCain, Joe Biden, John McCain, Donald Trump
Cindy McCain, the widow of Senator John McCain, asserts that the Republican Party has strayed from its historic values of inclusion and predicts a potential fracture due to current high partisanship and the January 6th insurrection. She contrasts the recent violence with the successful democratic transition under President Joe Biden, whom she praises for prioritizing bipartisanship and immediate crisis management regarding the coronavirus pandemic. Ultimately, McCain envisions a new era of cooperation where the law-abiding majority within the party helps restore the United States' global standing as a beacon of hope and democratic stability.
- Goldman Sachs14 min
Sasan Goodarzi, CEO of Intuit
Intuit CEO Sasan Ghadarzi announced a strategic pivot from a tax-centric provider to an AI-driven expert platform, highlighted by the Credit Karma acquisition and the integration of machine learning to automate financial workflows. This repositioning includes refreshing corporate values around customer obsession and courage while establishing an open ecosystem that hosts competitor applications like HubSpot to support small businesses. Concurrently, leadership emphasizes a constructive dissatisfaction with current performance through direct customer engagement and advocates for fiscal stimulus to stabilize the global economy dependent on the 50% of businesses that constitute small enterprises.
- Goldman Sachs10 min
Weijian Shan, Group Chairman and CEO of PAG
PAG Group, a $40 billion Asian-focused asset manager led by CEO Wei-Zhan Chan, distinguishes its portfolio by targeting domestic consumption sectors across China, India, and Southeast Asia while utilizing private equity buyouts. The firm successfully navigated the 2020 pandemic through immediate capital preservation and debt-light strategies, notably transforming a $100 million stake in Tencent Music Entertainment into a $2.5 billion asset by capitalizing on shifting copyright enforcement landscapes. Internally, PAG cultivates an ownership culture prioritizing judgment and grit, while advising aspiring investors to secure high-quality mentorship to refine their decision-making capabilities.
- Goldman Sachs17 min
Robert Draper, Writer at Large for "The New York Times Magazine"
Robert Draper's *To Start a War* identifies Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz as the primary architect who shifted the Bush administration from containment to invasion, leveraging the 9/11 attacks to overcome President George W. Bush's initial hesitation regarding Iraq. The text details how flawed intelligence was amplified to secure domestic support, creating a credibility chasm that influenced subsequent presidencies while noting that Colin Powell's refusal to resign likely preserved the necessary UK coalition for the 2003 invasion. Draper concludes by analyzing the war's enduring legacy on modern foreign policy, highlighting Joe Biden's regrets over his 2002 vote and the current administration's cautious approach to intelligence and military intervention.
- Goldman Sachs16 min
Marc Benioff, Chair and CEO of Salesforce
During a 2020 interview, CEO Mark Benioff detailed Salesforce's rapid pivot to remote operations, which included distributing 60 million PPE units, investing over $100 million in education, and launching a global vaccine management system. The company simultaneously advanced its strategic acquisition of Slack to unify collaboration tools with its existing commerce and analytics platforms, while transforming its flagship Dreamforce conference from a 150,000-person live event into a virtual gathering reaching 150 million viewers. Benioff further outlined a commitment to stakeholder capitalism and net-zero emissions, urging leaders to prioritize ethical technology application and scenario planning to navigate an uncertain digital future.
- Goldman Sachs10 min
David Blood, Co-Founder and Senior Partner of Generation Investment Management
Generation Investment Management, co-founded by David Blood, champions a framework of sustainable capitalism that integrates environmental, social, and governance factors as primary drivers of long-term investment value rather than secondary concerns. The firm identifies the next five to ten years as a critical window for capital allocation toward the global net-zero transition, targeting the fundamental restructuring of nearly all economic sectors from energy to healthcare. By aligning its dual mission of superior financial returns and sustainability advocacy, the organization has created a self-reinforcing cycle that attracts mission-aligned talent and entrepreneurs while challenging professionals to prioritize core values when selecting their employers.
- The Economist14 min
Bill Gates: How to fund the green revolution
Bill Gates, Zanny Minton Beddoes
Bill Gates outlines the necessity of achieving net-zero emissions through massive technological innovation to solve hard-to-abate industrial sectors like steel and aviation, rather than relying solely on behavioral change. He argues that a $2 trillion global investment strategy must prioritize public R&D funding and venture capital to eliminate the green premium, with the United States serving as the essential exemplar and primary buyer to drive down costs. While carbon taxes remain politically elusive, the path forward requires governments and corporations to shift from symbolic actions to substantive financing of real decarbonization technologies alongside historical emission reductions.
- Goldman Sachs10 min
Rich Friedman, Chairman of the Merchant Banking Division at Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs' Merchant Banking Division outlines a four-to-five-year macroeconomic outlook defined by low interest rates and deflationary pressures driven by digital transformation, while pivoting toward strategic investments in healthcare, energy transitions, and digital infrastructure. A primary case study involves the firm's acquisition of a 20% stake in Dong Energy to guide its strategic rebranding and transformation into the global offshore wind leader, Ørsted, which now commands a market value exceeding $65 billion. This investment philosophy emphasizes maintaining self-conviction during market volatility and aligning personal expertise with sectors offering significant structural tailwinds rather than reacting to short-term frenzies.
- Goldman Sachs11 min
Cathie Wood, Founder, CEO, and CIO of ARK Invest
Cathie Wood, Kathy Wood, Katie
Cathie Wood of ARK Investments argues that the pandemic has accelerated the adoption of five core innovation platforms, compressing five-year technology timelines into three and rendering traditional market-cap weighted investing obsolete. To capitalize on these shifts, her firm structures its research team by specific technologies rather than industries and empowers young analysts with engineering backgrounds to build public brands and engage directly with emerging tech communities. Wood advises investors to bypass conventional wisdom and seek high-growth opportunities in sectors others dismiss, asserting that such contrarian strategies are essential for identifying the next generation of global disruptors.
- Goldman Sachs16 min
Richard Rothstein, Author of "The Color of Law"
Richard Rothstein, Margaret Anadu
Historian Richard Rothstein demonstrates that U.S. residential segregation stems from explicit federal policies, such as FHA loan restrictions and exclusionary zoning, which systematically denied Black families the intergenerational wealth built by white homeowners in the mid-20th century. Although the Supreme Court eventually struck down early racial zoning laws, subsequent government actions like Nixon's cancellation of George Romney's "Open Communities" program effectively maintained these divides, leaving deep economic inequalities that persist today. Rothstein argues that while policy solutions have long existed, the primary obstacle remains a lack of political will, though he points to modern civil rights movements as a potential catalyst for the legislative pressure needed to enforce true integration.