The 2026 Milken Global Conference is in its second day. Founder Michael Milken is the former Junk Bond King who perfected leveraged buyout organizations (LBO). LBOs have since been renamed private equity underwriters (PEU) and they turned out in droves yet again for the conference, nicknamed California Davos.
Also in attendance at the event are TechGods and elected officials of both political stripes. TechGods shifted heavily to the political Red Team, attracted by access to Uncle Sam's wallet and holding off any regulatory oversight. If TechGods are known for anything, it's their ability to harm innocents as well as offer abysmal customer service.
Any decent elected official would not offer these people carte blanche anything, much less overlook widespread intellectual property theft while continuously cutting their taxes.
Not pictured for the Red Team is Glenn Youngkin, both a PEU and former Governor of Virginia. He is at the event and was interviewed this morning on the future of American politics by none other than Rahm Emanuel. Both men have PEU ties, Youngkin with The Carlyle Group and Emanuel with Centerview Partners.
Just as PEUs can be on both sides of a deal (debt/equity), they can sit on both sides of an interview and occupy both sides of the political aisle.
Not pictured is former first lady Jill Biden and former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. They are also speakers.
Global tamperers gather regularly throughout the year. It's nice the Politicians Red & Blue love PEU and their new TechGod/CryptoBro brethren. Increasingly, more are one.
Update: Milken's own description stated Rahm would be interview Youngkin. The actual session showed:
I added the logos of their respective PEUs and the quote at the bottom of the slide.