Latest Interviews
Showing 16–30 of 742 transcripts.
Clear all filters- Milken Institute1h 0m
Why Africa, Why Now: Investing in the World's Next Growth Engine | Global Conference 2026
British Robinson, Runa Alam, Qahir Dhanani, Courtney Powell, Ethiopis Tafara, Meg Whitman, Samaila Zubairu
A diverse panel of experts from the World Bank, IFC, and leading private equity firms outlines Africa's shift from a resource-dependent economy to a consumer and technology-driven powerhouse with a projected workforce of 2.5 billion by 2050. Participants highlight that superior recovery rates, decoupled sovereign risk, and undervalued assets make the continent a high-return destination, prompting a strategic pivot toward private equity, green energy supply chains, and fintech. Consequently, institutional investors are urged to bridge local capital gaps through Public-Private Partnerships and to align pension fund mandates with infrastructure projects that address the urgent need to employ the continent's massive youth population.
- Milken Institute58 min
Reinventing Play: The New Frontier of Gaming Technology and Creation | Global Conference 2026
Geoff Keighley, Johanna Faries, Laura Miele, Gregory Milken, Donald Mustard, DAN GALPIN, MANO MARKS, LAURA MURPHY
Industry leaders Johanna Levinson, Gregory Melkin, Donald Mustard, and Laura Miele convened to outline the gaming sector's transition from episodic releases to continuous live-service models driven by AI adoption and transmedia expansion. The panelists agreed that while mobile platforms retain the largest user base, the market is shifting toward flexible pricing strategies and global partnerships that allow small teams to compete with AAA studios through democratized development tools. Furthermore, the consensus emphasizes a strategic pivot where creative integrity and long-term cultural relevance now outweigh short-term monetization, as publishers integrate mobile, cloud, and social features to sustain player engagement across diverse hardware ecosystems.
- Milken Institute27 min
Miranda Kerr & Baby2Baby Co-CEOs Kelly Sawyer Patricof & Norah Weinstein | Global Conference 2026
Miranda Kerr, Kelly Sawyer Patricof, Norah Weinstein, Lisa Ling, Jory Rollins
Over fifteen years, Baby2Baby has scaled from a Los Angeles storefront to a national logistics network that has distributed half a billion essentials to 1.5 million children, while currently managing a critical gap where only 15% of the ten million children in need receive support. Leveraging a high-profile board of "Angel Moms" and strategic policy advocacy, the organization successfully lobbied for diaper tax reforms in twenty-four states and secured a federal maternal health partnership with the Biden White House. Facing a waitlist of eleven million requests, Baby2Baby is now launching a capital campaign to construct a new headquarters and expand its in-house manufacturing to bridge the supply shortage serving the remaining unreached families.
- Milken Institute28 min
Future of Storytelling: A Conversation with Laurene Powell Jobs & Darren Walker | Global Conference
Laurene Powell Jobs, Darren Walker, Davis Guggenheim
Former Ford Foundation president Darren Walker has assumed the role of CEO at Anonymous Content, a strategic move intended to restore the studio's institutional stability following the grief-stricken vacancy left by founder Steve Golan. Walker and board member Lorraine Twohill position the leadership transition as a response to an evolving media landscape characterized by evaporating legacy revenue and a critical distribution bottleneck, leveraging the studio's independence from private equity to fund long-term, high-risk storytelling. Together, the new leadership emphasizes a renewed focus on human-centric narratives that bridge physical and digital divides, aiming to reset industry confidence through projects that prioritize universal resonance over activist didacticism.
- Milken Institute1h 0m
Leading with Purpose: The Corporate Moral Compass | Global Conference 2026
Diane Brady, Marvin Ellison, Ryan Gellert, Linda Hubbard, Daniel Lubetzky, Hamdi Ulukaya
CEOs from Chobani, Patagonia, Lowe's, Carhartt, and Kind convened to argue that embedding social purpose into core operations, rather than treating it as a trend, is essential for long-term business survival and shareholder value. The panelists detailed specific structural shifts, including Patagonia's profit redistribution, Chobani's employee ownership, and Lowe's massive investment in skilled trades, to demonstrate how authentic purpose drives growth while countering political polarization. Ultimately, the leaders asserted that aligning corporate strategy with community well-being and employee dignity is the only viable path to sustaining economic resilience in a divided society.
- Milken Institute1h 0m
Capital in Motion: Repositioning at Scale for the Next Cycle | Global Conference 2026
Sara Eisen, Marcie Frost, Ron O'Hanley, Harvey Schwartz, Daniel Simkowitz
Geopolitical conflicts and tariff pressures are driving a fundamental reprioritization of global capital toward national security, supply chain resilience, and AI infrastructure, fundamentally altering the fifty-year status quo of international markets. Leading institutional investors, including Carlyle, State Street, and Morgan Stanley, characterize the current private credit environment as a healthy cycle transition rather than a systemic risk while deploying significant resources to capture the estimated $3.2 trillion in shifting sovereign wealth and the emerging artificial intelligence sector. As the global economy pivots to prioritize defense and compute capacity, market participants are redefining portfolio allocations to focus on US innovation hubs, robust Asian markets, and rigorous underwriting standards to navigate rising capital demands and potential labor displacement.
- Milken Institute28 min
Building a Brand in Midlife: A Conversation with Daphne Oz and Molly Sims | Global Conference 2026
Daphne Oz, Molly Sims, Loretta Lynch, Tara Hernandez O, Weronna Choi, Dorina Arellano Gonzalez Van Cleveen
At the 2026 Milken Global Conference, Molly Sims detailed her strategic expansion of WISE Beauty, a skincare brand securing $15 million in Series A funding to address the unmet needs of women aged 35 and older through a hero-focused product philosophy. Complementing the brand's growth with a rigorous "hire slowly, fire fast" culture and advanced AI integration for operational efficiency, Sims also launched her podcast *Lipstick on the Rim* to provide transparent industry insights outside traditional gatekeeping channels. Simultaneously, Daphne Oz introduced her *The Mothership* podcast to counter negative narratives about female misery, collectively positioning both entrepreneurs as key drivers in redefining the economic and emotional landscape for midlife women.
- Milken Institute31 min
Conversation with Eldridge Ind. CEO Todd Boehly & MassMutual CEO Roger Crandall | Global Conference
Todd Boehly, Roger Crandall, Dani Burger
Industry leaders from MassMutual and Eldridge contrast their long-duration, policyholder-aligned ownership models against traditional banking systems to demonstrate the strategic advantages of private capital in financing U.S. infrastructure and mitigating maturity mismatches. While both firms address risks related to credit cycles and AI disruption through rigorous capital structure controls and multi-model technology partnerships, they emphasize their capacity to withstand liquidity shocks that threaten short-term financial vehicles. These perspectives highlight a shifting landscape where insurers act as the primary stabilizing capital source for the economy while adapting antiquated legacy systems to meet modern digital consumer expectations.
- Milken Institute26 min
Investing in Hollywood’s Connective Cultural Power: Eva Longoria & Kevin Yorn | Global Conference
Eva Longoria, Kevin Yorn, Rebecca Keegan
Eva Longoria and Kevin Glickman discuss a shifted investment landscape where successful ventures require rigorous operational execution rather than celebrity names alone. Longoria highlights her high-ROI successes with Siete Foods and John Wick, while Glickman emphasizes the critical need for protecting intellectual property and leveraging enterprise relationships in AI and cross-industry deals. Together, they outline a future where "hyphenate" talent must pair storytelling with proven business discipline, relying on specialized operators to ensure financial viability and authentic market conversion.
- Milken Institute39 min
International Security: Innovation, Investment, and Partnerships | Global Conference 2026
David Trulio, Christopher Coons, Eric Schmidt, Adam Smith, Chris Coons
Panelists including Eric Schmidt, Senator Chris Coons, and Representative Adam Smith argue that the war in Ukraine has exposed the critical need for the U.S. to replace expensive, traditional military assets with autonomous drones and AI-driven systems to secure a cost-effective deterrence against adversaries. To overcome entrenched bureaucratic inertia and fiscal constraints, the group advocates for bipartisan legislation like the SPEED Act, expanded co-production with international allies, and a workforce shift toward technical innovation over four-year degrees. These strategic adjustments aim to leverage the agility of private sector competitors against legacy defense primes while ensuring American technological leadership in an era of algorithmic warfare.
- Milken Institute30 min
Backing What's Next: A Conversation with Serena Williams | Global Conference 2026
Serena Williams transitioned from angel investing to launching Starfire Ventures, a firm established to support underrepresented founders in sectors like financial services and technology. Under the leadership of General Partner Serena Williams and co-general partner Beth Farah, the firm differentiates itself by applying an "AI first" investment thesis while providing deep operational support to scale companies such as Isuzu. This strategic approach addresses the historical lack of capital allocation to women by combining institutional discipline with a mission to empower entrepreneurs serving "middle America."
- Milken Institute59 min
Private Equity: Value Creation Under New Rate Regimes | Global Conference 2026
Hugh MacArthur, Joe Baratta, Martín Escobari, Raoul Hughes, Meredith Jenkins, Pete Stavros
Leading private equity firms like KKR and Blackstone are pivoting from speculative AI experimentation to targeted operational efficiency, achieving modest EBITDA improvements while redefining software investment criteria to prioritize durable infrastructure over vulnerable point solutions. As the industry confronts extended holding periods and a capital stack constrained by high entry multiples, firms are shifting focus from financial engineering to deep operational value creation, leveraging specialized sourcing and geographic diversification in markets like Japan and Germany. Looking ahead, the sector anticipates a surge in liquidity driven by a wave of maturing assets and a strategic expansion of retail capital access, provided that new vehicles maintain structural parity with institutional standards to avoid conflict-of-interest pitfalls.
- Milken Institute1h 1m
Emma Grede "Start with Yourself: A New Vision for Work & Life": Author Talk | Global Conference 2026
Emma Grede, Stephanie Phair, Kristin Juszczyk, Ashley Graham, Jens Grede
Kim Kardashian West shares her core philosophy of radical ownership and direct communication, advocating for visible proximity to decision-makers over the pursuit of work-life balance. Leveraging her experience as a founder of billion-dollar ventures like Skims and Good American, she challenges women to reject performative diversity and embrace strategic partnerships to build sustainable, inclusive businesses. Looking ahead, she aims to facilitate a massive transfer of wealth to the next generation of female leaders by using her platform to fund and mentor women from underprivileged backgrounds.
- Milken Institute59 min
Global Economic Outlook: Navigating Growth, Risk, and Opportunity | Global Conference 2026
Conrad Kiechel, Zanny Minton Beddoes, Kristalina Georgieva, Mohamed Kande, Ariel Szarfsztejn, Mike Wirth
A two-month closure of the Strait of Hormuz has removed 14 million barrels daily from the global market, driving Brent crude near $115 while depleting strategic reserves and forcing the IMF to adopt adverse economic scenarios. Simultaneously, the AI sector has pivoted from generative tools to agentic automation, eliminating entry-level roles and triggering an international cyberarms race. These converging crises create a volatile environment where Europe faces energy and innovation lag, whereas nations securing reliable power and flexible capital markets are positioned to dominate the coming decades.
- Milken Institute34 min
Conversation with BlackRock CEO Larry Fink & Brookfield Corp CEO Bruce Flatt | Global Conference '26
Larry Fink, Bruce Flatt, Laurence D. Fink, Michael Milken
Bruce Flint of Brookfield and Larry Fink of BlackRock refuted private credit liquidity concerns while projecting a $10 trillion global infrastructure expansion driven by urgent shortages in power, compute, and defense-grade facilities. The executives detailed how hyperscalers are shifting from self-funding to external financing models, facilitating a massive capital transition where private credit and long-term asset managers fund AI data centers and autonomous security infrastructure. Furthermore, these leaders highlighted a structural evolution in retirement investing and asset consolidation, noting that consistent 12% annual returns and bespoke 50-year lock-up periods are essential to support this new "K-economy" where massive capital blocks outcompete traditional public equities.