Top Questions for Today’s DealBook Summit Speakers

Countdown to today’s DealBook Summit

This morning, DealBook goes live and in person with our annual summit. It will be a packed day of high-level discussions with leaders from the worlds of policy, business and culture.

Here are some of the speakers:

• Andy Jassy, C.E.O., Amazon

• Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukrainian president

• Larry Fink, C.E.O., BlackRock

• Janet Yellen, U.S. Treasury secretary

• Reed Hastings, co-C.E.O., Netflix

• Mark Zuckerberg, C.E.O., Meta

• Mike Pence, former vice president of the United States

• Ben Affleck, actor, director and C.E.O., Artists Equity

• Shou Chew, C.E.O., TikTok

• Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli prime minister-designate

Andrew will interview them about the pressing issues of the day, from the growing tensions between the West and China, to the role businesses should play in national debates over abortion and policing hate speech. There will be plenty of discussion about the global economy, cryptocurrencies and inflation, the labor market and layoffs. War, global politics, energy independence and the future of the entertainment industry will also be high on the agenda.

And then the interview you’ve all been waiting for … Andrew will talk to Sam Bankman-Fried, the former head of FTX, the crypto exchange that collapsed this month, leaving regulators and former customers, who appear to have lost billions, looking for answers.

The DealBook team will be covering all the action at the conference, and even if you are not with us, you can follow along here.

(More on what to expect from the summit below.)

HERE’S WHAT’S HAPPENING

Democrats and Republicans agree to prevent a rail strike. After a meeting with President Biden at the White House on Tuesday, congressional leaders said they would quickly draft the legislation needed to prevent a work stoppage. The stakes are huge: A stoppage could snarl supply chains during the holiday season, causing vast economic harm. And there are still potential holdouts on both sides of the aisle.

NATO doubles down on support for Ukraine. As top diplomats met in Bucharest to discuss bolstering Ukraine’s defenses, officials stressed their commitment to one day allowing Kyiv membership in the military alliance. More immediately, the U.S. said it will give the country $53 million for equipment to repair its battered electricity grid after weeks of Russian airstrikes.

The failed crypto lender BlockFi has $355 million stuck with the bankrupt exchange FTX. At its first bankruptcy hearing onTuesday, BlockFi, which had been relying on a lifeline from FTX, said the exchange’s trading arm owes it more than $670 million and has defaulted on the loan.

The Senate passes landmark legislation protecting same-sex marriage. The bill, which passed 61-36, will now go to the House, where it is expected to pass as soon as next week. President Biden said in a statement that the Senate vote reaffirmed “a fundamental truth: Love is love.”

Some questions we’d like to ask our speakers

Here’s a few of the speakers who will appear on Wednesday at the DealBook Summit, and the big questions we’d like to put to them:

Mark Zuckerberg, C.E.O. of Meta

• When will your big bet on the metaverse pay off?

Reed Hastings, co-C.E.O. of Netflix

• How will the introduction of advertising change the user experience?

Janet Yellen, U.S. secretary of the Treasury

• How much is it the Fed’s job to control inflation, or should the Biden Administration be doing more?

Andy Jassy, C.E.O., Amazon

• The Christmas shopping season seems to be off to a decent start. Does that mean the economy is healthier than most economists think?

Mike Pence, former vice president of the United States

• Is the Republican Party still pro-business and pro-free markets?

Volodymyr Zelensky, president of Ukraine

• Do you feel like the support from America or your other allies is as strong as it was at the beginning of the war?

Ben Affleck, C.E.O. of Artists Equity

• What is the future of film industry? Streaming? Cinematic releases? Some combination?

We’d like your feedback! Please email thoughts and suggestions to [email protected].