Good morning from the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, where leaders from around the world are talking about the innovation and trends shaping society. For a finance-heavy crowd, the focus is often on money and where it can be deployed to have the most impact. A down day in the markets may have dampened some spirits on site, along with fighting in the Strait of Hormuz, concerns over how the AI revolution plays out, private credit risk, and a sense that the world is being reordered in ways that might not benefit the U.S. With the Beverly Hilton under construction, there were few public places to sit and limited space to network. “This feels like a high school fire drill,” one CEO said as we clustered in the lobby. Food for thought:
Going global. Yes, the U.S. remains a resilient market where everyone wants to invest. That part we know. I sought out people like Kaan Terzioğlu, Group CEO of VEON, a Dubai-based telecom and digital services provider in emerging markets like Pakistan and Bangladesh. “These countries are always seen as risks. Pakistan is not an oil-producing country; it’s a data-producing country,” he said. “And Bangladesh is a country of 118 million people where women are totally engaged in economic development. I’m very bullish about the future of Bangladesh.” I’ve heard a lot of optimism about investing in emerging economies. Bruce Flatt of Brookfield Asset Management, for one, is doubling down on investing in the Middle East.
Is China the grown-up now? Writer Niall Ferguson argued that China is fighting a proxy war in Iran, and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang told the Milken crowd that China should not have his most advanced chips. But I also heard executives extolling the virtues of China’s cars, the clarity of its mission, the optimism of its people, and the partnerships it’s forging with U.S. allies. It’s a country that deems electricity, water, and AI to be basic household utilities. A U.K.-based executive told me that they’re as open to doing deals with China as with the U.S. right now. “On the AI front, we can’t afford to wait.”
Ted Cruz on breaking the party line. I spoke with Sen. Cruz (R–Texas) about partnering with Democrats on issues and opposing the Trump Administration when it was contemplating a rescue of now-defunct Spirit Airlines. “I spoke out early and vocally against the government taking 90% of the shares of Spirit Airlines. Government bailouts are almost always a mistake and the federal government doesn’t know a damn thing about running an airline,” he told me. “Last week, I had dinner with Howard Lutnik, who’s a good friend and the leading proponent of the bailout idea. I told him it would be a better idea to put $500 million on the floor, pour gasoline on it, and light it on fire. At least you’d get some warmth from that, and you could roast marshmallows.”
Contact CEO Daily via Diane Brady at diane.brady@fortune.com
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CEO Daily is curated and edited by Joseph Abrams, Jason Ma, Claire Zillman, and Lee Clifford.
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