Latest Interviews

Why US Equity Returns Are Broadening Beyond AI Stocks

Shawn Tuteja, Chris Hussey, Sean Tatasia

Despite Q2 earnings beating expectations and broadening market participation beyond the Magnificent Seven, investor sentiment remains cautious as volatility drops and capital rotates from high-flying AI stocks into undervalued sectors like healthcare and consumer experience. Concurrently, macroeconomic pressures from bond supply dynamics, rising oil prices, and a slowing U.S. economy outlook are complicating the Federal Reserve's policy path ahead of the critical Jackson Hole symposium. Consequently, market participants are increasingly utilizing ETFs and hedging strategies to navigate geopolitical risks and potential rate shifts while earnings consensus for 2027 is revised upward.

GoldenTree’s Steven Tananbaum on the importance of entry price in distressed investing

Steven Tananbaum

In a shrinking market rife with insolvencies, an acquiring firm purchased a directory business generating $800 million in profit at an average entry price of 1.5 times enterprise value, securing high-20s returns through a strategy targeting management teams prioritizing capital return over reinvention. The buyer explicitly rejected a Canadian management team's plea to fund costly reinvention to prevent liquidation, instead executing a transaction designed to stabilize the asset without the proposed reinvestment. This approach allowed the firm to capitalize on a competitive sector while avoiding the liquidation scenarios that had plagued similar entities in the industry.

Navigating the volatility in global bond markets

Jonathan Fine, George Cole, Alison Nathan, Jonny Fine

Following a global surge in bond yields driven by stronger-than-expected US growth and revised Federal Reserve policy expectations, investors are now pricing in heightened inflation risks and significant fiscal issuance from the incoming administration. Despite this volatility, corporate credit markets remain robust as earnings outpace borrowing costs, while central banks focus on preventing wage-driven second-round inflationary effects. Goldman Sachs' Jonny Fine projects a favorable bond outlook for 2025 based on underlying inflation moderation and the belief that current neutral rate concerns are overstated.

Canva CEO Melanie Perkins on growing an idea into a multibillion-dollar design company

Melanie Perkins, Ryan Nolan

Canva, led by co-founders Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht, has scaled to serve 165 million users and 90% of Fortune 500 companies by leveraging a bottom-up adoption strategy and its proprietary Magic Studio for AI-driven design automation. The company recently pivoted toward "wall-to-wall" enterprise deployment while maintaining profitability, a trajectory supported by its strategic acquisition of visual AI firm Collido and a dedicated trust and safety framework. Guided by a dual mission of commercial growth and social impact, Canva plans to expand its ecosystem to one billion monthly active users by donating equity and profits to eradicate extreme poverty.

Howard Marks, Co-chairman of Oaktree Capital Management

Howard Marks, Katie Koch

Bill Marks and Bruce Karsh executed a massive $10 billion distressed debt strategy during the 2008 financial crisis by maintaining an $11 billion reserve to capitalize on market dislocation without relying on predictive forecasting. Marks argues that long-term investment success depends on buying quality assets at "absurdly" low prices while avoiding quantitative risk models, emphasizing that surviving catastrophic losses is more critical than chasing top-tier annual returns. He maintains that superior performance requires human judgment to navigate qualitative uncertainty and a commitment to idiosyncratic positions that diverge from market euphoria.

Christina Swarns, Executive Director of the Innocence Project

Christina Swarns, Huwe Burton

Christina Swarnes and exoneree Hugh Burton highlight critical structural failures in the criminal justice system, citing racial disparities in wrongful convictions and the absence of accountability for officials who secure false confessions. Their discussion emphasizes specific cases like *Buck v. Davis* and Burton's own 19-year incarceration to illustrate the urgent need for mandatory interrogation recording and systemic reforms driven by the post-George Floyd reckoning. Together, they argue that true safety requires local community accountability and robust support structures to assist individuals reintegrating after being wrongly convicted.

Gregg Renfrew, Founder and CEO of Beautycounter

Gregg Renfrew

Founded by Greg Renfrew to address the regulatory gaps in the U.S. beauty industry, Beauty Counter launched in 2006 with a mission to replace untested chemicals through its proprietary "Never List" and holistic clean standards. The brand differentiated itself by leveraging a peer-to-peer sales model to bypass traditional gatekeepers before expanding into major retailers like Target and Sephora to validate its safety-focused approach. Renfrew's company continues to drive systemic change by advocating for federal cosmetic reform while broadening its product line to include Counterman and integrating physical retail spaces with digital content capabilities.

Dr. Khalil Gibran Muhammad, Professor of History, Race and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School

Dr. Khalil Gibran Muhammad, Dan Hibbert

Harvard historian Khalil Gibran Muhammad joined Goldman Sachs to dissect the historical roots of systemic racism, tracing modern policing to slave patrols and explaining how racial capitalism sustains a ten-to-one wealth gap between Black and white families. Muhammad distinguished current protests from the Civil Rights era by their unprecedented white participation and argued that lasting change requires the private sector to move beyond reputational philanthropy toward dismantling the political power structures that protect inequality. He concluded that bridging this divide demands a national confrontation with American history, urging universal bias education and the transfer of power from police institutions to local communities to address the true causes of social stratification.

Innovation - Goldman Sachs 2020 Investor Day

Marco Argenti, Stephanie Cohen, David

Marco Argenti, former co-CIO of Goldman Sachs, leads a technology transformation designed to evolve the firm into a "vertical cloud" provider by prioritizing modular APIs and externalizing services like Marquee and Apple Card. Chief Strategy Officer Stephanie Cohen reinforces this strategy by shifting engineering focus toward differentiated capabilities, resulting in a dynamic framework that combines buying, building, partnering, and investing to capture a $60 billion retail deposit base and expand quantitative trading volumes through external broker-dealers. This approach leverages Goldman Sachs' heritage in equity markets and deep pre-IPO relationships to create a self-reinforcing platform that enables developers to embed financial services directly into client workflows while generating durable, fee-based revenue.

International Strategy - Goldman Sachs 2020 Investor Day

Richard Nutter

Goldman Sachs International CEO Richard Nutter detailed a five-decade strategy that expanded the firm's international footprint to over 40% of total revenue, supported by a diverse leadership team of 80 nationalities and the cross-border "One Goldman Sachs" model. The firm achieved market leadership in China and global M&A while driving growth in underpenetrated regions like South Africa and Europe through specific launches in fixed income, digital banking, and alternative investments. Looking ahead, Goldman plans to secure full ownership of its China joint venture, expand its international private wealth advisory force by 50%, and target $100 billion in new fundraising to capitalize on projected revenue pools.

Consumer & Wealth Management - Goldman Sachs 2020 Investor Day

Eric Lane

Goldman Sachs is executing a "Realign to Focus on Individuals" strategy to restructure its consumer and wealth management division, leveraging a technology-enabled platform to serve Ultra-High Net Worth, High Net Worth, and Mass Affluent segments across $2.3 trillion in client assets. The firm integrates its flagship Private Wealth Management unit with the former United Capital and Advisors' Capital Organization platforms to drive revenue from $5 billion toward long-term targets of $700 million in pre-tax income and $125 billion in deposits. This approach aims to capture significant global market share by expanding international advisor bases, increasing lending penetration, and deploying a fully digital mass affluent bank through the Marcus brand.

Dr. Denis Mukwege, Nobel Laureate and Founder of Panzi Hospital

Denis Mukwege, Dr. Dennis Mukwege

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dr. Denis Mukwege operates Panzi Hospital in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where a comprehensive four-pillar model has treated over 50,000 sexual violence victims through integrated surgical, psychological, economic, and legal interventions. Facing systematic warfare tactics designed to dismantle community structures and the complicity of local authorities in mineral-fueling militia crimes, Mukwege has pivoted from exclusive clinical care to prominent global advocacy following a 2012 assassination attempt. By empowering survivors to transition from victims to activists through economic reintegration and the pursuit of non-retributive justice, the hospital challenges impunity while Dr. Mukwege continues to demand international action against the silence perpetuating these atrocities.

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.

Goldman Sachs at 150: Part 10 – Going Forward (2019)

David Solomon, Al

David Solomon has succeeded Lloyd Blankfein as Chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs, initiating a strategic shift toward digital-first growth through the launch of the consumer platform Marcus and the gender-lens investment vehicle Launch with GS. This new era emphasizes "stakeholder capitalism" and aggressive diversity targets to secure uncorrelated perspectives, while the firm maintains its traditional emphasis on rigorous recruitment and consensus-driven teamwork. By balancing its 150-year heritage with these forward-looking adaptations, the institution aims to efficiently allocate global capital while serving a broader demographic of clients and communities.

Goldman Sachs at 150: Part 6 – Going Global (1989)

In the 1980s, Goldman Sachs strategically pivoted from a U.S.-centric firm to a global powerhouse by establishing London as its European hub and securing the British Gas privatization to link local markets with international capital. Under the leadership of John Weinberg, who demonstrated unwavering client commitment during the 1987 Black Monday crash, and successors like Bob Rubin and Stephen Friedman, the firm modernized its operations by integrating quantitative risk management and recruiting top-tier mathematical talent. This transformation, supported by a flat, collaborative culture and a focus on hiring diverse talent, established a three-pillar framework of people, culture, and strategy that defined the firm's dominance in global finance over the following three decades.