Milken Institute Hosts Summer Series Examining Life and Business Amid COVID-19

Headliners included IMF’s Kristalina Georgieva, Vista Equity Partners’ Robert Smith, Dr. Anthony Fauci of NIH, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, and James Bullard of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

WASHINGTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#COVID–The Milken Institute Summer Series brought together nearly 1,200 leaders in finance, public health, philanthropy, and policy to examine what life and business looks like amid COVID-19. Sessions covered the race to a COVID-19 vaccine, examined capital markets at a time of global disruption, and offered recommendations for how companies can amplify Black voices.

“For more than 20 years, the Milken Institute has convened leaders to deliberate current and systemic issues related to the economy, health, and philanthropy,” said Richard Ditizio, President and Chief Operating Officer. “By leveraging a virtual platform, we have been able to continue engaging our network of leaders from the public and private sectors to identify and catalyze solutions to some of the most pressing global challenges.”

Milken Institute Chairman Michael Milken hosted one-on-one conversations with International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, who provided an update on the global economic outlook; Vista Equity Partners Founder, Chairman and CEO Robert Smith, who discussed solutions to achieving racial equity; and Mark Cuban, Owner of the Dallas Mavericks, Landmark Theatres, and Magnolia Pictures; Chairman of AXS TV; and Investor in Upstart.

In his remarks, Smith talked about racial injustices, saying, “We are truly seeing a reaction to decades and generations of social and economic injustice,” before spotlighting the lack of capital access for Black Americans. “Seventy percent of African Americans actually don’t have a branch bank in their communities,” he added.

The last day of the virtual conference wrapped up with an update on treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, hosted by CNBC’s Meg Tirrell and featuring interviews with Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, and Dr. Albert Bourla, Chairman and CEO of Pfizer, Inc.

On the potential for a widely available vaccine, Fauci said, “I think if things work out well…by the end of this year, the beginning of 2021, we should have a vaccine,” adding that several companies have said they can have hundreds of millions of doses available. Both Fauci and Bourla noted they were “cautiously optimistic” about an effective vaccine.

As of today, there are 261 treatments and 179 vaccines in development. Of these vaccines, 18 are in clinical trials according to Milken Institute’s COVID-19 Treatment and Vaccine Tracker.

Attendees also heard from, among others: Byron Allen, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Entertainment Studios and Allen Media Group; Muriel Bowser, Mayor of Washington, D.C.; James Bullard, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President and CEO; Dr. Ben Carson, U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary; Eric Chen, Managing Partner of SoftBank Investment Advisers; Tom Finke, Chairman and CEO of Barings; Dr. Garth Graham, Vice President of Community Health at CVS Health; Dr. Stephen Hahn, U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner; Jeh Johnson, Former Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security; Thomas McInerney, President and CEO of Genworth Financial; Scott Minerd, Chairman of Investments and Global Chief Investment Officer at Guggenheim Partners; Robert Morse, Executive Chairman, Bridge Investment Group; Janet Napolitano, President of the University of California system; Kabir Nath, President and CEO of Otsuka North America Pharmaceutical Business; Penny Pennington, Managing Partner at Edward Jones; Richard Pops, Chairman and CEO of Alkermes, Inc.; Jaana Remes, Economist and Partner, McKinsey Global Institute; Emmanuel Roman, Managing Director and CEO of PIMCO; Charles Scharf, CEO and President of Wells Fargo; Tim Scott, U.S. Senator of South Carolina; Carmine Di Sibio, Global Chairman and CEO of EY; Debra Smith, Chief Operating Investment Officer-RA at CalSTRS; Jane Jie Sun, CEO of Trip.com Group; Brooks Tingle, President and CEO of John Hancock Insurance; and Lara Warner, Group Chief Risk Officer and Member of the Executive Board, Credit Suisse.

Support for the Milken Institute Summer Series was provided by strategic partners including: Amgen, Barings, Bombardier, Citi, Credit Suisse, Eldridge Industries, EY, GoldenTree Asset Management, Guggenheim Partners, The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, Investcorp, Jefferies Group, Mubadala Investment Company, Novo Nordisk, PGIM, Inc., PIMCO, SoftBank Investment Advisers, and Värde.

Media interested in inquiring further about the Milken Institute Summer Series may contact Enxhi Myslymi at emyslymi@milkeninstitute.org. Session videos and recaps will be available on an ongoing basis at https://milkeninstitute.org/explore/videos.

For information on upcoming Milken Institute events, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Find out more about this conference using #MISummerSeries. For updates on upcoming Milken Institute events, please visit Milken Institute Events.

About the Milken Institute

The Milken Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank that helps people build meaningful lives, in which they can experience health and well-being, pursue effective education and gainful employment, and access the resources required to create ever-expanding opportunities for themselves and their broader communities. For more information, visit www.milkeninstitute.org.