Global Conference 2015

Our 18th annual Milken Institute Global Conference welcomes 3,500 participants from 50-plus countries, including 700 speakers on nearly 200 public and private panels that span 11 content tracks. This year we’re featuring a special focus on women and girls — an initiative you’ll see reected not only in the topics we address but also in the composition of our panels and participants.

Ben Horowitz, co-founder and general partner of Andreessen Horowitz, is one of Silicon Valley's most successful venture capitalists. The firm he built with co-founder Marc Andreesen has picked some of the tech world's biggest winners, including Facebook, Box, Airbnb and Twitter. Horowitz will sit down with journalist Kara Swisher to share advice and anecdotes from his hard-earned rise. Known for his trademark humor and straight talk, Horowitz will draw from his most personal, humbling life experiences. Whether you're an entrepreneur with little more than the germ of an idea or a CEO who has climbed to the top and is running an empire, you will benefit from hearing Horowitz discuss challenges and issues that confront leaders at every level.

Smart grid, smart phone.... smart toaster? In the near future, theorists say, virtually every kind of object and device will be digitized and Web-enabled. That's a simple synopsis of the ballyhooed Internet of Things. You'll not only command your appliances remotely, but they'll be striking up conversations among themselves. Eventually, trillions of objects will be networked, each one animated by information, and generating plenty of it as well. In the Internet of Things era, Big Data will get much, much bigger. Who will control this data, and how will it be used? Another risk: With everything online, the terrain of hacking expands. Who'll be privy to your medical alerts? Will your TV see what's happening on the sofa? From the user's point of view, will there be a technical standard or will you have to program your increasingly complex car, watch, lamps and massage chair in different ways? If IOT represents a true transformation, it may also present a whopping investment opportunity. And who will make it happen? Apple, Cisco, Google or trailblazers we haven't yet heard of?

Better opportunities for women will lead to greater economic development and improved global security. Efforts to realize this still untapped potential are advancing in projects that range from educating girls and breaking the cycle of poverty to preventing gender-based violence and eliminating health-care disparities. Whether originating from NGOs and government institutions or startups, cross-border investment and philanthropy, sustainable opportunity, access to capital and skills development are crucial. They not only help liberate women but can transform social structures and stabilize societies. Tech-savvy entrepreneurs are lending their know-how in the developing world and corporations are stepping up to serve as partners in these efforts. The time for pay equity is now and the business community is making the economic argument for more diversity in C-suites and on boards. Our special guests will explore the numerous ways we can create a better world for women and girls and, in the process, build a better world for all.

In this session, Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook, interviews former U.S. Treasury Secretaries Timothy Geithner, Henry Paulson and Robert Rubin about global economic trends, public finance and capital markets. Join us for a discussion among three renowned leaders of finance.

Two of the world's most respected investors and fund managers, Ken Griffin of Citadel and Mohamed El-Erian of Allianz, sit down for a rare chat to take a big-picture look at where the global economy is headed. They will share their thoughts on a wide range of issues affecting investors, markets and economies, from China's slowdown and Europe's future to energy prices and the rise of interest rates. Join them for a wide-ranging discussion about the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead.

Private equity had a bumper year in 2014, with more than $500 billion worth of deals globally--the most since 2007. Corporate buyers returned to the market and valuations continued to rise while interest rates didn't. With an extraordinary series of exits under their belts, PE firms have built up cash in anticipation of a buying spree, but many say the pipeline of attractive deals has narrowed. Our panel of private equity luminaries will share their views about how their strategies are changing amid record valuations and a more complex geopolitical environment. Has credit become a smarter focus than corporate buyouts? Are we in the midst of a tech bubble and has the pain in the oil patch generated opportunities?