Add The Circuit on Google☀️ Good morning and welcome to The Circuit’s special coverage of the Milken Institute Middle East and Africa Summit. I’m Jonathan Ferziger, here with Omnia Al Desoukie and Louise Burke at the St. Regis Saadiyat Island Resort, to help steer you through the swirl of personalities, dealmaking and dinner parties.
After the opening day’s focus on artificial intelligence and finance, the Milken crowd turns its attention to the business of sports. Out front at noon will be Ben Harburg, Founder of MSA Capital and Novo Capital; Danny Townsend, CEO of Saudi Arabia’s SURJ Sports Investments, and Jamie Salter, Founder and CEO of Authentic Brands Co.
Harburg, a major investor in Palantir, Uber and AirBnB, rocked the Mideast sports world in July when he bought Saudi Arabia’s Al-Kholood pro soccer club. At SURJ, which is owned by the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund, Townsend leads efforts by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to make Saudi Arabia a major force in international sports.
Adding experience from track and field will be Scotland’s former racing car driver Suzie Wolff, Managing Director of the F1 Academy, and Dhani Jones, Chairman of QEY Capital and a former NFL linebacker who played for the New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles.
Other headliners on today’s Milken Summit schedule are Tom Barrack, U.S. Ambassador to Turkey and Founder of Los Angeles-based private equity firm Colony Capital; Mansoor Al Mansoori, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Ministry of Health; Yaseen Mansour, Chairman of Palm Hills Developments; Altérra CEO Majid Al Suwaidi; EU Ambassador to the UAE Lucie Berger; and Pablo Casado, Founder of Hyperion Defense.
Also appearing today will be finalists for the $1 million annual Milken-Motsepe Fintech Prize, which aims to expand access to capital and financial services for small businesses in emerging and frontier markets. Nominees have been making pitches this week in hopes of competing in the final round taking place at the Milken Institute’s flagship Beverly Hills conference in May, where the prize is presented.
Winding up the two-day gathering at 2 p.m. will be what has become an annual tradition of Michael Milken sitting down with Khaldoon Al Mubarak, Group CEO of the Mubadala sovereign wealth fund, to prognosticate together on what’s next in the world of Middle East finance.
Milken Events
Heard Around Milken
ROYAL WELCOME
Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed, Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, met with Michael Milken on the sidelines of the summit yesterday. Mubadala’s Khaldoon Al Mubarak, Chairman of Abu Dhabi’s Executive Affairs Authority, and Saif Saeed Ghobash, Secretary-General of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council and Chairman of the Office of the Crown Prince, also attended.
ABU DHABI’S DEALMAKER
Why do Milken Summit participants pay more than $15,000 to register for the gathering in the UAE’s capital city? It’s largely for the shoulder-rubbing opportunities in the plush lobbies of the St. Regis. Martin Edelman, for instance, the American real estate lawyer and board member of G42, who is known as the Abu Dhabi royal family’s “Man in Manhattan,” was open to chat while nibbling appetizers outside the main plenary hall. Investment banker Lawrence Golub was also buttonholed numerous times as he strode to meetings elsewhere in the hotel.
F1 SHOWDOWN
As the Milken Summit winds down, delegates might notice some telltale signs that the biggest event in Abu Dhabi’s social calendar is almost upon us. Fresh from last weekend’s race in Doha, thousands of team members have been flocking into the capital this week for the Etihad Airways Formula One Grand Prix. If you listen carefully, you might even hear the screech of wheels warming up echoing across the water from Yas Island, where the world championship will be decided on Sunday. The final event in the international Formula One season will this year see a fierce three-way battle between McLaren driver Lando Norris, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and second McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, the first time more than two drivers are in contention for the title at the final race in 15 years. Adding to the excitement, McLaren’s resurgence comes just three months after Abu Dhabi’s CYVN Holdings and Bahrain’s sovereign fund, Mumtalakat, became full owners of the team in a $5 billion deal.
On Tap Today
9 a.m. – A Conversation with U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Turkey Tom Barrack. Moderator: Paul Wallace, Managing Editor, Middle East Economic, Political News, Bloomberg.
Opening remarks: British Robinson, Chair, Africa, Milken Institute International
9 a.m. – Private and Alternative Markets: Growth, Liquidity, and Innovation
James Clarke, Senior Managing Director and Global Head, Institutional Capital, Blue Owl; Matthew Gibson, Head, Client Solutions Group, Goldman Sachs Asset Management; Martin Horne, Co-Head, Global Investments and Head, EMEA, Barings; Ekta Tolani, Chief Investment Officer, KBW Ventures; Andrew Weinberg, Founder, CEO, and Co-Chair, Brightstar Capital Partners. Moderator: Alex Dooler, Money and Power Reporter, Bloomberg.
10 a.m. – Digital Assets at the Crossroads: From Promise to Permanence
Adeeb Ahamed, Founder and Managing Director, Lulu Financial Holdings; Yoni Assia, Co-Founder and CEO, eToro; Yuval Rooz, Co-Founder and CEO, Digital Asset; Joanne Strain, Partner, UAE, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan. Moderator: Michael Piwowar, Executive Vice President, Milken Institute Finance.
10 a.m. – Precision for Better Health Outcomes
Part 1: A Conversation with Department of Health Abu Dhabi Chairman Mansoor Ibrahim Al Mansoori
Part 2: Advancing Precision Oncology: Prevention, Early Detection, and Treatment
Georges Pascal Haber, CEO, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi; Majed Mohammed, Head, Community Engagement and Advocacy, Friends of Cancer Patients, United Arab Emirates; Simranjit Singh, CEO, Guardant Health AMEA; Nicole Sirotin, CEO, Institute for Healthier Living Abu Dhabi. Moderator: Alan Tisch, CEO and Founder, Atria Health and Research Institute.
11 a.m. – Real Estate in a Repriced World
Ian Livingstone, Executive Chairman, London & Regional Properties; Yasseen Mansour, Chairman, Palm Hills Developments; Sue Nickason, Vice President, Dart Family Office. Moderator: Caitlin MacLean, Managing Director, Milken Institute.
12 p.m. – Vision, Velocity, Victory: The Sports Investment Playbook
Ben Harburg, Managing Partner, Novo Capital; Jamie Salter, Founder, Chairman, and CEO, Authentic Brands Group; Danny Townsend, CEO, SURJ Sports Investments; Susie Wolff, Entrepreneur; Managing Director, F1 Academy. Moderator: Dhani Jones, Chairman, QEY Capital; Former NFL Athlete.
12 p.m. – Innovation in Artificial Intelligence and Manufacturing – Milken-Motsepe Prize Pitches
1 p.m. – A Conversation with Altérra CEO Majid Al Suwaidi. Moderator: Joseph McMonigle, President and CEO, Global Center for Energy Analysis.
1 p.m. – Back to the Future: How Investing in Europe’s Competitiveness Can Spur a New European Renaissance
Lucie Berger, Ambassador of the EU to the UAE; Pablo Casado, Founder, Hyperion Defense; Jean-Baptiste Fantun, Co-Founder and CEO, NukkAI; Vincent Levita, Founder and CEO, InfraVia Capital Partners; Andrea Rossi, Group CEO, M&G. Moderator: Petra Freddi, Managing Director, Europe and Middle East, Milken Institute.
2 p.m. – Closing Plenary – Michael Milken in Conversation with Khaldoon Al Mubarak, Group CEO and Managing Director of the Mubadala sovereign wealth fund and Chairman of Abu Dhabi’s Executive Affairs Authority.
2.30 p.m. – MEA Summit Closing Reception
