Today kicks off the 2023 version of Michael Milken's version of Davos (World Economic Forum) where global tamperers gather for the purpose of outsized profits. Who's advancing in a thriving world? Not the common person who might be serving drinks or emptying trash cans at the event.
Private equity underwriters (PEU) are advancing in their insider world. They comprise many of the institute's speakers. Several PEU legends, Carlyle's David Rubenstein and TPG's David Bonderman, will enlighten others on the benefits of greed and leverage.
Carlyle's new street-fighter CEO will speak as well as several other executives. One heads Carlyle's opportunistic credit (distressed debt). Lots of that around.
KKR and Apollo Global Management are also represented on the speaker list.
Apollo Health Ventures is but one of thousands of PEUs seeking to profit from ever increasing healthcare bills.
There are numerous greed and leverage boys from various firms on the speaker list but all need protection. That's why Palantir is there, just like Davos.
The super-powerful and wealthy require special security and Peter Thiel's Palantir knows how to protect oligarchs. PEU boys know how to milk'em and that requires political connections.
U.S. politicians Red and Blue love PEU and increasingly, more are one. A former U.S. President removed Michael Milken's criminal record. It's like his financial fraud never happened. That's thriving!
Update 5-1-23: Apollo Global Management CEO told Yahoo Finance that private equity was not immune to the siren call of liquidity (cheap)." Apollo owns Yahoo.
...the alternative asset manager's portfolio continues to get a lot of attention from market watchers, and rightfully so given the high-profile names it holds.
The story almost reads like an ad for Apollo.
Update 5-3-23: Carlyle's CEO said the following from Milk'em (according to FT):
“In the investing environment broadly, I think this is one of the most complex times we’ve had,” Schwartz said at the Milken conference in Beverly Hills this week. “Many of the trends that we lived with are slowing if not reversing . . . I think that sets up an incredibly interesting backdrop, both economically, globally and in terms of the opportunity set.”
That means more back door takeovers like Brinton's and Mrs. Fields.
Update 8-18-23: As for that thriving world:
Ticketmaster will begin to sell “listening seats” that do not have any view
They do it because they can. There is no counterbalance, no authority to prevent the crapification of everything.
