Dubai Future Foundation’s Belhoul goes full speed ahead
As this week’s World Governments Summit was wrapping up in Dubai, Khalfan Belhoul’s head was buzzing with all things AI.
Having hosted TIME Magazine’s TIME100 AI Impact Awards Gala at the Museum of the Future on Monday night, Belhoul, CEO of the Dubai Future Foundation, followed it up on Tuesday by signing a partnership pact with IBM Chairman and CEO Arvind Krishna to bolster the use of artificial intelligence tools in the wealthy Gulf financial center.
IBM will also co-publish so-called white papers with the Dubai Future Foundation in April to coincide with the inaugural Dubai AI Week. Belhoul promised more “very interesting announcements” in the coming days that will be “an example for the world.”
As head of a foundation that runs a $300 million venture capital fund and built the city’s iconic Museum of the Future – a massive seven-story elliptical loop with a silvery translucent skin covered in Arabic calligraphy – Belhoul has a challenging mission.
Appointed eight years ago by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, the Ruler of Dubai and Vice President of the UAE, Belhoul was tasked to “imagine, inspire and design Dubai’s future.” To that end, the Boston University graduate with a master’s degree in e-commerce, assembled a team of scientists, researchers and startup investors to plot Dubai’s long-term roadmap.
“If we think that we will get it right every single time, then we will still not be a leading city of the future,” Belhoul told The Circuit. “Our platform has been built for us to pivot and to make mistakes.”
The interview was edited for length and clarity.
Why does Dubai need a special foundation to chart its future?
When the Dubai Future Foundation was set up – I’ll be very frank with you – we had no clue how to set it up. The idea was that we needed to institutionalize future foresight. Fast forward now, around eight to nine years since the formation, we have a foresight team, we have a think tank, and we have an execution team. I think this shows you the balance between staying up to speed when it comes to what’s happening in the future and of course, you know most of the trends – and the hope and the fear at the same time. Whether it’s climate, AI, mobility, you name it. But then, how can you take all that and create a platform that is for the betterment of humanity? This is what we do.
Critics say you’re a dreamer and that many of the DFF’s ideas are unlikely to ever be put into practice. Are they right? if you look at our projects, you would see that many of them have seen light and become an example for the world. And what I would really say to those people is that if we think this way, we will never be a leading city of the future. If we think that we will get it right every single time, then we will still not be a leading city of the future. Our platform has been built for us to pivot and to make mistakes.
If you look at investors in venture capital and their portfolio of investments in technology, 80 percent of their portfolio goes bust. But it’s that one story that creates history for them that recovers the whole portfolio. So you can see us working in the same way, where we create a safe environment to test and fail – as long as no one gets hurt or injured or nothing serious happens. Then, we double down on the winning bets and set an example for the world.
Look ahead. How will the DFF look 20 years from now? Very futuristic. Constantly evolving. Our entity should grow in importance – not because I’m part of it, but because having an entity that becomes a think tank for Dubai and for the UAE to share a view on where the future is evolving is always a need because the future will continue to evolve.
And the interesting – I wouldn’t say scary – part is that this evolution is happening at a much faster pace. If you look at the industrial revolutions and the change from one to the other, you realize that the gap between one revolution to the next is shrinking. You see that our phones are advancing dramatically year after year. Let alone the evolution of AI, quantum computing, and robotics. So you can only imagine where we’re heading.
Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh and other parts of the region are both friendly neighbors and well-financed rivals. How do you address the competition?
One word: Synergy. Second word: Complementing each other. I think Dubai and the UAE – our population is not big enough for a company to scale. Neither is any other Arab country in the world. It’s the whole region that should benefit from this growth. Nowadays, when you set up a business on your phone, with one click of a button, the world becomes your market. So, how do you really connect that world together? Connect the Arab world to ensure that those businesses can scale in a seamless way. And that’s the vision – collaboration, inclusivity, unity – working with one another and creating a bigger impact.
Musk talks digging tunnels and cutting budgets at Dubai summit
Offering the UAE an earth-boring contract potentially costing billions and a peek into his budget-slashing activities at the White House, Elon Musk headlined today’s final sessions at the World Governments Summit in Dubai.
Musk, the world’s wealthiest person, appeared on giant screens before the conference’s 6,000 participants, looking like Big Brother with the words, “Tech Support” emblazoned on his black T-shirt.
The 54-year-old chief of X, Tesla, SpaceX and The Boring Company earlier signed a draft agreement with the UAE government to dig the foundations for the “Dubai Loop.” He said the new public transportation system would speed residents and visitors underground across the Gulf financial center that is home to the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest skyscraper.
“You just wormhole from one part of the city – Boom! – you’re out in another part of the city,” Musk said, answering questions from Omar Al Olama, the UAE’s Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy, and Remote Work Applications, as well as Vice Chair of the conference.
Describing his work as head of U.S. President Donald Trump’s newly created Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE, Musk said dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development reflects a new approach: Washington is “less interested in interfering with the affairs of other countries,” he said.
“Basically, America should mind its own business rather than push for regime change all over the place,” Musk told the crowd, which included at least 30 presidents and prime ministers from across the globe.
Musk was the last in a series of tech leaders from some of the world’s biggest companies who spoke at the government summit. On Wednesday, Oracle’s Larry Ellison and former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair teamed up to examine the promise and threats of artificial intelligence.
Ellison, also speaking virtually with Blair onstage in Dubai, said AI will be transformative for governments and a broad range of industries including medicine, agriculture and robotics.
“Countries need to unify their data so it can be consumed and used by the AI model,” Ellison said, warning about the dangers of lax information security. “The digital tools we have right now are so primitive,” he said. “We can easily be locked out of all our data; passwords and data are so easily stolen and ransomed. We need to modernize our systems.”
On the first day of the conference, Robin Li, CEO of China’s Baidu, talked about how the high costs of AI development have forced the world’s second-largest economy to find new computing solutions, including DeepSeek, which has come up with vastly cheaper AI models than those developed by OpenAI, Microsoft and Google.
“You just don’t know when and where innovations come from,” Li said.
The Weekly Circuit: Trump to address FII Miami summit + Aramco’s U.S. refinery
👋 Hello from the Middle East!
In the Weekly Circuit today, we’re looking at the parade of statesmen and tech executives who trekked to Dubai for the World Governments Summit, Aramco’s Motiva unit becoming the largest oil refinery in the U.S., UAE telecom e&’s Serbian acquisition, and an interview with Presight CEO Thomas Pramotedham. But first, the Saudi kingdom comes to Florida.
Saudi Arabia has lined up U.S. President Donald Trump to headline its annual FII Priority Summit in Miami, Fla. next week.
The kingdom’s Future Investment Initiative Institute announced on Wednesday that Trump will speak at the conference’s opening session Feb. 19 at the Faena Hotel in Miami Beach.
Among those also scheduled to participate in the three-day event are SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son, BlackRock’s Robert S. Kapito, Oracle’s Safra Catz, Point72’s Steven Cohen and Bridgewater’s Nir Bar Dea.
The Miami conference will take place in the wake of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s pledge last month to invest at least $600 billion in the U.S. over the next four years. Trump responded with thanks while suggesting that the kingdom raise its investment to $1 trillion.
Florida is a center of Trump family activities, with the Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach serving as the President’s home between terms in the White House. Trump’ son-in-law Jared Kushner’s $4.6 billion private equity fund Affinity Partners, which is backed by sovereign wealth funds in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar, is based in Miami.
In Dubai, meanwhile, Oracle’s Larry Ellison and former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair teamed up at the World Governments Summit on Wednesday to examine the promise and threats of artificial intelligence.
Ellison, appearing virtually and responding to Blair who was onstage, said AI will be transformative for governments and a broad range of industries including medicine, agriculture and robotics, The Circuit’s Omnia Al Desoukie reports from the conference floor.
“Countries need to unify their data so it can be consumed and used by the AI model,” Ellison said, warning about the dangers of lax information security. “The digital tools we have right now are so primitive,” he said. “We can easily be locked out of all our data; passwords and data are so easily stolen and ransomed. We need to modernize our systems.”
As hosts of the annual conference, the UAE showed off its campaign to integrate AI into virtually all government services and corporate processes. UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed caused a stir among the summit’s 6,000 participants on Day 2 when he entered the main hall at Dubai’s Madinat Jumeirah resort to join the proceedings.
Among foreign leaders in Dubai for the conference, Sheikh Mohamed met with Sheikh Ahmed Al-Ahmed Sabah; Prime Minister of Kuwait; Colombian President Gustavo Petro Orego; Polish President Andrzej Doda; and Masrour Barzani, Prime Minister of Iraq’s Kurdistan region.
Welcome to the Weekly Circuit: Kindly let us know your thoughts and feedback by replying to this newsletter or emailing us at [email protected].
Presight’s data analytics help UAE’s biggest companies conquer AI fear
(Presight)
As the UAE carves out a role in developing artificial intelligence tools with Microsoft, Google and OpenAI, Abu Dhabi-based Presight is harnessing big data analytics to help governments, energy producers and other industrial giants sharpen their performance.
The $3.5 billion company got off the ground less than three years ago as a subsidiary of G42, the UAE’s umbrella AI firm led by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed’s Royal Group and backed by the Mubadala sovereign wealth fund, The Circuit’s Omnia Al Desoukie reports.
In an interview with The Circuit, Presight CEO Thomas Pramotedham, said the company aims to decipher AI for some of the largest state-owned enterprises in the UAE and elsewhere in the Middle East and Africa while breaking down hurdles to wider adoption.
Six Flags to build world’s biggest roller coaster in Saudi Arabia
(Six Flags)
Six Flags, the biggest amusement park operator in the U.S., plans to build the world’s tallest, longest and fastest roller coaster in the Saudi capital.
The North Carolina-based company signed an agreement on Monday to manage both a Six Flags amusement resort and the Aquarabia Water Theme Park in Riyadh’s Qiddya district, which is being developed with billions of dollars of investment as the kingdom’s entertainment mecca, The Circuit’s Jonathan Ferziger reports.
Aquarabia will include the world’s tallest water coaster, the tallest double-loop water slide and Surftopia, Saudi Arabia’s first surfing pool. The Falcon’s Flight roller coaster will dominate Six Flags Qiddiya City, alongside 27 other rides and attractions.
Public Investment Fund: The PIF plans to support a $5 billion basketball competition in Europe and Asia aimed at rivaling the NBA. The tournament will feature six men’s and six women’s teams across eight cities. It’s expected to resemble the PIF-backed LIV golf series, which has drawn top players to its 14-event series across nine countries.
International Holding Co.: Abu Dhabi’s IHC reported a 22% decline in its 2024 net profit to $6.9 billion as the sovereign fund focused its resources on high-impact initiatives and building up its subsidiaries.
Saudi Aramco: Motiva Enterprises, an Aramco subsidiary, has quietly expanded its Port Arthur, Texas, refinery to become the largest fuelmaking plant in the U.S., Bloomberg reports.
G42: The Abu Dhabi-owned AI company and Microsoft led a $55 million Series A financing round for start-up AppliedAI, with participation from Bassemer Venture Partners, Palantir, McKinsey and Accrete Capital.
↪↩ Closing Circuit
🤖Robo-Adviser: Madkhol Capital, a Saudi startup that uses artificial intelligence to offer “robo-advisory” services on investment, raised $2.2 million in a funding round co-led by Seize and Numu Angels.
👛Money Manager: Khazna, a Cairo-based startup that helps people who are not wealthy manage their money through an app, raised $16 million in a financing round led by the SANAD Fund for MSME.
💶African Finance: Beltone Holding, an Egyptian private equity firm, signed a share purchase agreement to acquire a majority stake in the Paris-based Baobab Group, which provides financial services in Africa.
📞 Telco Deal: UAE telecommunications company e& has agreed to acquire Serbia’s SBB, a broadband and cable TV operator, for $854 million, enabling integration with its subsidiary Yettel to offer mobile, broadband, and pay-TV services.
🗣 Circuit Chatter
🥤 Soft Drinks: Pepsico plans to open its new regional headquarters in Riyadh this month as part of the company’s expansion in the Middle East and North Africa, Ahmed ElSheikh, President and General Manager of PepsiCo MENA, told Arab News.
🚆 Auto Rail: Dubai plans to introduce a RailBus system powered by solar energy, with a maximum speed of 100 km/h and capacity for 40 passengers.
🌊 Blue Resident: The UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment and ICP launched the Blue Visa system’s first phase at the World Government Summit 2025 in Dubai, granting 10-year residency to 20 sustainability leaders.
⚡ Auto Pilot: FlyNow is preparing to roll out a modular system of flying taxis in Saudi Arabia, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer Yvonne Winter told the LEAP conference in Riyadh.
💂 London Calling: Middle Eastern investors will spend $2.5 billion on prime London commercial real estate this year amid lower market prices, broker Knight Frank reports.
🌍 Power Circuit
UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed issued a federal decree granting Dr. Omar Habtoor Al Darei, Chairman of the General Authority of Islamic Affairs, Endowments and Zakat, the rank of Minister.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, met withAndrzej Duda, President of Poland on Tuesday, on the sidelines of the first day of the World Governments Summit. Sheikh Mohammed also met Kuwait’s Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmad Al Abdullah Al Sabah on the sidelines of WGS.
Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, met Greek Foreign Affairs Minister Georgios Gerapetritis in Abu Dhabi on Saturday to discuss ways for the countries to work together.
➿ On the Circuit
Khaldoon Al Mubarak, CEO of Mubadala; Yousef Al Otaiba, UAE Ambassador to the U.S.; and Shamma Al Mazrui, UAE Minister of Community Development, attended the inauguration for a new MBA program at the Stern School of Business at New York University Abu Dhabi.
Fahad Al Hassawi, CEO of Dubai telecoms operator du, told The National that the company is open to expanding its non-core portfolio outside the UAE. The company is looking to build momentum after posting a record profit in 2024.
Abdul Wahab Teffaha, the secretary general of the Arab Air Carriers Organisation, criticized the European Union at the Sustainable Aviation Futures Mena Congress in Abu Dhabi for its policy on cleaner aviation fuels, claiming that it could drive their costs up by more than a quarter over the next eight years.
Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madboulymet with Jassem Al Zaabi, Chairman of ADQ’s Modon Holding, and Bill O’Regan, the company’s Group CEO,, to discuss the master plan for Ras El-Hekma City on Egypt’s northwest coast.
Faisal Al Shimmari, Mashreq Bank’s head of ESG, told Arabian Gulf Business Insight in an interview that the UAE government needs to introduce incentives and subsidies to generate a “tsunami of sustainable finance.”
🎶 Culture Circuit
🖼️ Going, Going, Gone: Sotheby’s first commercial auction in Saudi Arabia on Saturday night fetched $17 million in sales, with key pieces landing over $1 million. The painting Society Woman by Fernando Botero sold for $1 million to Saudi Arabian businessman Amr Zedan, who said he will add it to a collection started with his wife. A Banksy piece fetched $1.2 million.
📷 Photo of the Week
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, moderates a conversation with Oracle founder Larry Ellison, who appeared virtually at the World Governments Summit 2025 in Dubai on Wednesday. (Getty Images)
🗓️ Ahead on The Circuit
Feb. 11-13, Dubai. World Government Summit 2025. Annual event brings in world leaders and business leaders from the region and outside to discuss the most pressing matters. Madinat Jumeirah.
Feb. 14-16, Munich Security Forum. Known as one of the world’s leading forums for debating international security policy. Hotel Bayerischer Hof.
Feb. 17-21, Abu Dhabi: IDEX 2025. Military contractors from around the world show their wares at one of the most prominent international defense exhibitions. ADNEC Center.
Feb. 17-21, Dubai. Gulf Food. In its 30th edition, the exhibition brings in many more companies to show their work on food and the industry’s use of technology. Dubai World Trade Center.
Feb. 19-20, Dubai. IDC Middle East. Examining how to design AI-fueled businesses. Grand Hyatt Dubai.
Feb. 21-22, Doha. Visit Qatar E1 Doha GP 2025. Round Two of the UIM E1 World Championship presented by PIF. The Pearl Island, Qatar.
Feb. 18-19, Abu Dhabi. The Future of Asset Management Middle East. A two-day conference that gathers leading executives from top asset management companies in the Middle East region. The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Canal.
Feb. 22-23, Miami, Fla. FII Priority. Saudi Arabia’s Future Investment Initiative connects U.S. and Middle Eastern investors. Faena Hotel & Forum, Miami Beach.
Feb. 25, Dubai. Family Office Summit 2025. Global fund leaders managing $1 trillion in assets will meet under the theme, “Taking Money Out of Cash.” Ritz Carlton Jumeirah Beach.
Feb.25-March 1, Dubai. WCA World 2025. The conference brings together some of the world’s biggest independent freight forwarders. Dubai World Trade Centre.
Feb. 26-27, Abu Dhabi. Investopia 2025. The fourth edition of the summit, to be held under the theme “Leveraging the Power of Massive Investments.” St. Regis Saadiyat Island Resort, Abu Dhabi.
March 17-19, Dubai. Dubai International Horse Fair. A gathering of the equestrian industry and horse lovers from around the world. Dubai World Trade Centre.
Share
Baidu’s Li tells Dubai summit AI costs pushing China to innovate
Inside Dubai’s luxurious Madinat Jumeirah resort at the World Governments Summit, some 6,000 participants were scrambling between hotel ballrooms on Tuesday to see a parade of government and corporate leaders talk about the future of the earth.
Another 1.5 million tuned in on the web feed. Topping the agenda in one session after another was how to address the promise and threats presented by artificial intelligence.
Robin Li, CEO of China’s Baidu talked about how the high costs of AI development have forced the world’s second-largest economy to find new computing solutions, including DeepSeek, which has come up with vastly cheaper AI models than those developed by OpenAI, Microsoft and Google.
“You just don’t know when and where innovations come from,” Li said in an onstage conversation with Omar Al Olama, UAE Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications.
Kristalina Georgieva, the Bulgarian economist who serves as Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, said the world is at an important juncture that will determine whether AI turns into a great story or a nightmare. “There are many, many unknowns,” she sighed.
Adding a touch of glamor on Monday night was a star-studded event at the Museum of the Future, where many of the WGS delegates attended TIME magazine’s Impact Awards Gala, which featured appearances by Grimes, the artist, singer and ex-life partner of Elon Musk, as well as video artist Refik Anadol and musician Arqam Al Abri.
Topping the bill on Wednesday will be Oracle’s Larry Ellison, former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair and former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who will deliver a keynote address in the morning. Google’s Sundar Pichai and Goldman Sachs’ Jared Cohen will speak in separate sessions on the future of tech.
Musk, Ellison, Blair to top roster at Dubai government summit
Elon Musk, Sundar Pichai, Larry Ellison and Tony Blair will headline next week’s World Governments Summit in Dubai, one of the Middle East’s key annual gatherings for both politicos and investors.
Artificial intelligence, of course, is a major focus this year with Omar Al Olama, the UAE’s Minister of State for AI, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications – and summit Vice Chairman, due for an onstage chat on Tuesday with Google CEO Pichai.
Musk, the world’s richest person, is expected to make an appearance in a session called “Boring Cities, AI and DOGE.” Blair, the world-trotting entrepreneur and former U.K. Prime Minister, and Oracle founder Ellison will interview each other in front of the 6,000 registered participants.
The political line-up over the three-day conference will feature the presidents of Indonesia, Poland, Sri Lanka, and Colombia, along with the prime ministers of Kuwait, Armenia, Pakistan, Kenya, Libya, Georgia, and Bangladesh.
In Miami, meanwhile, final preparations are underway for the Saudi Future Investment Initiative’s Priority Summit, a spinoff of the annual Davos-patterned event in Riyadh.
Among those participating in the Feb. 19-21 meeting will be Saudi Ambassador to the U.S. Princess Reema bint Bandar, Minister of Investment Khalid Al-Falih, PIF Governor and FII Institute Chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan, SoftBank Group Corp Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son and Serena Ventures Managing partner Serena Williams.
Also BlackRock Co-founder and President Robert S. Kapito, Oracle Safra Catz, Neuberger Berman Chairman and CEO George Walker, Point72 CEO and New York Mets owner Steven Cohen, Uber Technologies CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, and Bridgewater Associates CEO Nir Bar Dea.
Sam Altman: UAE could lead the formation of a global AI watchdog
OpenAI’s Sam Altman had two suggestions for the UAE’s Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence Omar Al Olama at the World Governments Summit in Dubai on Tuesday.
Altman said that the UAE could be the world’s regulatory sandbox to experiment with AI technologies and the country is well placed to lead the formation of a global AI watchdog.
“It’s very hard to get all the regulatory ideas right in a vacuum,” Altman said while appearing via video, adding that allowing experimentation and running scenarios would make for better laws governing the fast-evolving technology.
The ChatGPT creator repeated a recommendation that both he and Al Olama have made in the past: that there should be an oversight body like the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to address open existential questions. “What happens with the most powerful of these systems?” Altman said. “What sort of auditing, safety measures do we want in place before we deploy a super-intelligence?”
The conversation onstage comes as Altman looks to raise trillions of dollars to amass the semiconductors needed to power advanced AI, and is reportedly courting the UAE as an investor.
The UAE has made AI leadership, with Abu Dhabi-backed G42 at the forefront, the foundation of its economic transformation aims. As a result, the country has become a crossroads for some of the biggest players in AI.
Later this week Nvidia, in partnership with Microsoft, will host an event for generative AI content creators in Abu Dhabi. Founder Jensen Huang appeared at WGS on Monday.
Dubai plans for flying taxi network by 2026
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates – Dubai has taken another step toward launching flying taxisamid growing gridlock on the emirate’s roads.
Key stakeholders in the project – Dubai and federal regulators, U.S. aircraft company Joby Aviation and UK company Skyports Infrastructure – signed an agreement ahead of the World Governments Summit in Dubai on Sunday to get Joby’s aircraft into service by 2026.
A spokesperson for Skyports told The Circuit the four planned takeoff locations – near Dubai International Airport, the Downtown area, Dubai Marina, and Palm Jumeirah – would cost around $10 million each to construct.
Skyports will foot the bill and generate revenue by charging Joby takeoff and landing fees. A typical journey from DXB to Palm Jumeirah is expected to take 10 minutes by air taxi compared with 45 minutes by car.
The Joby Aviation S4 is designed to accommodate four passengers plus a pilot and is clearing regulatory hurdles to be certified for commercial flight.
Nvidia’s Jensen Huang to talk chips at conference in Dubai
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates – The founder of the world’s first semiconductor company to be valued at more than $1 trillion will take the stage on Day 1 of the World Governments Summit in Dubai next week.
Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of California-headquartered Nvidia, will be in conversation with Omar Al Olama, the UAE’s Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, discussing who will shape the future of AI.
The annual summit was started by Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid in 2013to serve as a global knowledge exchange program for governments.
Asked about the summit’s role against the backdrop of escalating geopolitical tensions in the region, Mohammad Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and Chairman of the World Governments Summit Organization, said that the event focuses on laying out a future roadmap for governments. “We don’t claim to have all the solutions, but we try to get a glimpse of the future,” he said.
Alongside Huang, AI leaders like Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI and Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir Technologies, are also scheduled to attend. Others include Ajay Banga, president of the World Bank; Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund; Klaus Schwab, Chairperson of the World Economic Forum; and Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization.
Mubadala Investment Co. Managing Director and Group CEO Khaldoon Al Mubarakis also on the Day 1 agenda, onstage with Stephen Pagliuca, the founder, Chairman and CEO of Bain Capital. Pagliuca, who is also co-owner of the Boston Celtics, will be alongside Ross Perot Jr., Chairman of The Perot Group.
Closing out the first day will be former Fox News host Tucker Carlson. The lightning rod newsman, who found a landing pad in Elon Musk’s X last year after departing his eponymous show, is reportedly raising millions of dollars for his own media company. He will give a talk titled, “What’s next for storytelling.”