Latest Interviews
Showing 421–435 of 525 transcripts.
Clear all filters- Milken Institute1h 16m
U.S. Overview: A Catalyst for World Growth?
Ross Duvall, Gene Sperling, Sarah Quinlan, William Kahana
A panel of economic experts, including Gene Sperling, John Donohoe, and Sarah Quinlan, analyzed the U.S. economy's robust 3.8% annualized GDP growth and accelerating job market while highlighting persistent structural challenges such as weak non-defense capital goods orders and housing ownership declines. Despite record corporate profits, the group noted a significant disconnect between earnings and capital expenditure, driven by global uncertainty, a strong dollar that dampens exports, and regulatory barriers restricting mortgage access for millions of borrowers. Looking forward, the experts predicted the Federal Reserve would delay interest rate hikes until late 2015 and forecast that housing construction and global demand will only begin to recover in the coming 12 to 18 months.
- Milken Institute1h 0m
Technology, Creativity, Values: What Drives the New Disruptors?
Andy Serwer, Brandon Beck, Brad Delson, Dave Gilboa, Payal Kadakia, Mike Shinoda, Eric Schmidt, Bradley Horowitz, Brad Lee O'
Four industry leaders from Riot Games, Linkin Park, ClassPass, and Warby Parker present a "New Disruptor" business model that replaces quarterly profit maximization with long-term stakeholder unity. By integrating employees, fans, and customers into a single ecosystem, these organizations leverage deep empathy and real-time feedback to achieve Net Promoter Scores in the high 80s and 90s. This strategy reframes relationships as the primary asset, enabling rapid organizational scaling while maintaining social missions that directly drive sustainable profitability.
- Milken Institute46 min
Engaging a Curious Mind: Brian Grazer Talks With Bob Iger About Life, Listening
Brian Grazer, Bob Iger, Robert Iger
Producer Brian Grazer attributes his success in film and television to a disciplined practice of seeking diverse conversations, ranging from political leaders like Vladimir Putin to scientists like Jonas Salk, which consistently reshape his creative perspectives. This approach, which he details in *A Curious Mind*, treats curiosity as a strategic superpower that has directly influenced major projects such as *Apollo 13* and *Empire* by connecting disparate experiences into coherent narratives. Executives like Bob Iger have adopted similar metrics for leadership, prioritizing authentic curiosity in hiring and strategic decision-making to navigate complex market dynamics.
- Milken Institute58 min
Private Equity: Rotation and Valuation
Robert Smith, Steve Schwarzman, Jonathan Nelson, Jim Coulter, Leon Black, Maria
Leading private equity executives including Steve Schwarzman, Leon Black, and Jim Coulter discuss the industry's evolution from traditional buyouts to a diversified alternative asset class driven by post-2008 regulatory shifts and public market passive flows. Despite valuations at historic highs and rising interest rates compressing returns, panelists identify specific alpha opportunities in distressed energy credit, cybersecurity, and healthcare innovation while capitalizing on the exit of banks from proprietary trading. The sector is strategically bifurcating between large generalists managing sovereign capital and specialists focusing on deep vertical transformations to navigate a market shifting from passive macro bets to active operational value creation.
- Milken Institute1h 1m
Risky Business: Understanding Asia's Geopolitical and Societal Uncertainties
Gwen Robinson, Brian Baker, Curtis S. Chin, Seki Obata, Walter Wang, Brendan Connor, Ben Rosen
Distinguished experts from JM Eagle, Keio University, the Milken Institute, and PIMCO analyzed Asia's shifting risk landscape, identifying critical challenges ranging from China's severe water infrastructure deficits and political centralization to the region's fragmented capital markets and geopolitical tensions. The speakers highlighted emerging investment opportunities in Southeast Asian infrastructure, non-communicable disease sectors, and public-private partnership models while warning that the United States and Japan face strategic setbacks for initially opposing the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. Ultimately, the discussion concluded that success in the region requires moving beyond a China-centric focus to address diverse local vulnerabilities, including aging populations, climate disasters, and the specific economic trajectories of ASEAN nations.
- Milken Institute1h 6m
Dealing With China: A Conversation With Henry Paulson
Former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson details his tenure managing the 2008 financial crisis, highlighting real-time policy pivots involving Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Lehman Brothers that prevented total economic collapse. He further outlines his strategic engagement with China, noting the establishment of the Strategic Economic Dialogue which secured long-term climate cooperation while navigating tensions over human rights and intellectual property theft. Looking forward, Paulson advises prioritizing pragmatic economic linkages and institutional influence, such as joining the AIIB, to manage the complex spectrum of U.S.-China relations amid rising geopolitical and structural challenges.
- Milken Institute1h 1m
Trash or Treasure? Finding Value in Distressed-Debt Investing
Richard Cantor, Lauren Scottlieb, Chris Piccillo, Brian Reynolds, Steve Shapiro, Lawrence, John McWhorter, Brian Wright, David Freeman, Christopher Coleman, Chris Hayes, Steve Grove, Steve McCurry, David Levinson, David Rockefeller Jr., Meredith Whitby
Four leading alternative asset managers from Fundamental Advisors, Solus, Chatham Capital, and Golden Tree convened to analyze distressed opportunities across municipal, energy, and corporate sectors while addressing the complex capital structure of Puerto Rico's debt crisis. Panelists generally cautioned against premature entry into the energy market due to oversupply concerns but identified affordable housing, telecommunications spectrum, and regulated lending as high-potential themes within a credit cycle approaching late-stage maturity. Despite warnings of deteriorating underwriting quality and tightening liquidity, the experts projected a robust distressed landscape over the next two years, emphasizing that cohesive restructuring mechanisms remain critical for achieving value in fragmented high-yield and municipal environments.
- Milken Institute1h 0m
#MIGlobalEntrepreneurs
Daniel Gorfine, Avid Larrazadeh, Lindy Fishburne, Troy Carter, Mikhail Namov, William Hurley, Jace Wilson, Ari Leighton
The Milken Institute Global Entrepreneur's Competition united four judges, including Avid Larrazadeh and Troy Carter, to evaluate five startups addressing critical gaps in health, finance, and media. Among the contenders presenting solutions from Digital Genius's AI automation to Honest Dollar's retirement platform, Mikhail Namov's Digital Genius secured the victory through its enterprise-grade conversational technology and significant traction with Fortune 500 clients. The event concluded with Daniel Gorfine highlighting how the winning innovation exemplifies the entrepreneurial spirit of curiosity, confidence, courage, and constancy.
- Milken Institute1h 2m
A Conversation with Ken Griffin and Steve Schwarzman
Ken Griffin, Steve Schwarzman, Mike Milken, Kenneth Griffin, Stephen Schwarzman
Ken Fisher, Steve Schwarzman, and Ken Griffin identify educational deficiencies, excessive regulation, and a mismatch between workforce skills and modern economic demands as primary threats to U.S. competitiveness. These leaders advocate for structural reforms in public schooling, support initiatives like the Schwarzman Scholars Program to bridge global talent gaps, and call for deregulation and energy independence to stimulate small business growth. Furthermore, they contrast the U.S. reliance on capital markets with Europe's bank-centric model, urging immediate action on entitlement reform and fiscal policy to restore long-term human capital and drive job creation.
- Milken Institute1h 0m
Speed to Market: The Evolution of Trading
Chris Brummer, Seth Marin, Jamil Nazarali, Joe Ratterman, Fred Tomczyk, Greg Toussart, Adni DePaulo
A panel of industry leaders debated the dual impact of high-frequency trading, highlighting record-low commissions and faster execution for retail investors against the significant execution challenges and information leakage faced by institutional buyers. While participants agreed that automation and regulatory measures like Limit Up/Limit Down have improved market efficiency, they disagreed on whether the current "arms race" for speed creates a fair environment or merely favors those who can afford co-location infrastructure. The discussion underscored a fundamental tension between the benefits of price discovery for small investors and the need for new liquidity obligations to protect large-scale market participants.
- Milken Institute1h 1m
The Upside of Aging: A Conversation in the Pavilion
David, Henry, Mark Friedman, Frida, Hasi, Perry, Barry
Facing a global demographic shift where the over-65 population will double and Alzheimer's cases triple, experts are calling for a systemic transition from a linear life model to one that leverages older adults as a generative resource. The event outlines critical strategies to bridge workforce shortages and health disparities through personalized medical interventions, financial reforms, and policies that integrate "encore careers" while addressing social infrastructure gaps. By reframing aging as a period of increased natural resource potential rather than decline, the discussion emphasizes democratizing extended health spans and creating structures that support meaningful contribution across diverse economic and geographic regions.
- Milken Institute1h 2m
Entrepreneurial Leadership in the Corporate World
Betty Liu, Jeff Katzenberg, Greg Maffei, Barry Sternlich, Tom Wyatt
Leaders from DreamWorks, Liberty Media, Starwood Capital, and Knowledge Universe convened to discuss how large enterprises can navigate the tension between short-term public market pressures and the long-term innovation required for survival. These executives emphasized that fostering a culture of calculated risk, actively hiring non-traditional thinkers, and leveraging automation are essential strategies to avoid obsolescence in rapidly accelerating media and tech sectors. The panel further argued that true disruption arises not from internal strategy alone but from field-sourced ideas and global scalability, which enable organizations to pivot before competitors like Kodak fail to adapt.
- Milken Institute57 min
Lunch Program | Global Overview: Where Does Growth Come From?
Tony Blair, Paul Kagame, Scott Minard, Osamu Nakayama, Wilhelm Buter, David M.
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Rwandan President Paul Kagame, and leading economists from Guggenheim Partners and Citicorp convened to analyze global challenges ranging from the Ukraine conflict and Middle East peace efforts to US interest rate projections and China's credit bubble risks. The panelists identified Sub-Saharan Africa as a critical long-term investment opportunity while warning that Japan's aging demographics and Europe's structural constraints require immediate policy adjustments to prevent stagnation. Ultimately, the discussion emphasized the necessity of structural reforms in Eastern Europe and the United States to sustain economic recovery amidst geopolitical instability and shifting market dynamics.
- Milken Institute1h 0m
Brand Battlefield: Mobile and Social Networks
Sean Amos, Josh Mandel, Bonin Bow, Jamie Goodfriend, David Rockefeller Jr., John McWhorter, Eric Schmidt, Josh Tenenbaum, Jimmy O., Kathleen King, Mike McDonald, Serena Rosso, Ron, Nick Smoot, Carolina Tolberti
The discussion highlights a decisive market shift where social media usage now surpasses television, driving 84% of purchasing decisions through peer influence while Millennials command $400 billion in projected spending. Brands like Mondelēz International are responding by realigning strategies toward mobile-first approaches and real-time engagement, exemplified by the Honey Maid campaign's rapid crisis-to-opportunity turnaround. This transformation is further fueled by organizational changes where executive sponsorship and machine learning empower sales teams to replace compliance silos with authentic relationship building.
- Milken Institute1h 12m
The Path to Awakening
Shamar Rinpoche, Marc Junkunc, Skip Reimer, Lori Milken, Dr. Mark Junkins
At the Milken Institute Forum, Shamar Rinpoche, the 14th Red Hat Lama of Tibet, presented his secular commentary *The Path to Awakening* to a panel including Dr. Mark Junkins, addressing Western anxiety through non-sectarian mind training methods. Rinpoche outlined specific practices such as Tonglen meditation and the "horse eating grass" technique designed to help practitioners manage thoughts and emerge from dualistic illusions without requiring strict guru-disciple commitments. The session concluded with an electronic Q&A that clarified the relationship between ancient Buddhist concepts like karma and modern challenges, including the impacts of urban life, technology, and brain science on spiritual development.