DealBook: What to expect at today’s DealBook Summit
Also, here’s the lineup.
DealBook
December 3, 2025

Good morning. Andrew here. Today is the day: The DealBook Summit begins in a couple of hours. We have an exciting lineup of newsmakers who will discuss the most critical issues of the moment. Please follow along. More below. (Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Sign up here.)

Andrew Ross Sorkin of The New York Times interviewing Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, at the 2024 DealBook Summit.
Leaders in politics, business and culture will gather in New York for the DealBook Summit today to speak with The Times’s Andrew Ross Sorkin. He interviewed Jeff Bezos of Amazon at last year’s event. Jeenah Moon for The New York Times

The lineup for DealBook Summit 2025

Today, DealBook will be live at our annual summit in New York.

Andrew will kick things off around 9 a.m. Eastern, and the first conversation will get underway shortly after. The DealBook team and reporters from The Times will be reporting live from the conference.

Even if you are not with us, you can follow along on the New York Times home page beginning around 8:30 a.m. Eastern.

Here are the speakers in order of appearance (the conversations that will be streamed live on NYTimes.com are noted in parentheses):

  • Scott Bessent, U.S. Treasury secretary (livestream)
  • Brian Armstrong, C.E.O. of Coinbase, and Larry Fink, chairman and C.E.O. of BlackRock
  • Mary Barra, chair and C.E.O. of G.M.
  • Lai Ching-te, president of Taiwan
  • Alex Karp, co-founder and C.E.O. of Palantir
  • Dario Amodei, co-founder and C.E.O. of Anthropic
  • Halle Berry, founder of Respin, filmmaker and advocate
  • Jimmy Donaldson, a.k.a. MrBeast, creator, entrepreneur and philanthropist; and Jeff Housenbold, C.E.O. of Beast Industries
  • Gavin Newsom, governor of California (livestream)
  • Erika Kirk, C.E.O. and board chair of Turning Point USA (livestream)

What to watch: The buzz, fears and questions around artificial intelligence and the gargantuan investments being made to commercialize it; the future of the Fed and central bank independence; how President Trump’s tariffs are affecting business, inflation and global trade; America’s affordability crunch and its impact on politics; the future of electric vehicles in Trump’s America; social media’s effect on society; the future of philanthropy; trade wars; the West’s relationship with China, and China’s relationship with its neighbors — these topics and more will be covered by Andrew as he interviews some of the biggest newsmakers in business, politics and culture.

There will be plenty of questions about an uncertain future. Does the blockbuster A.I. stock rally have more room to run? Or do the sky-high valuations of A.I. companies portend a bubble in the making? The Trump administration has been actively cutting deals with chief executives, in some cases taking stakes in companies. Does this signal a new era of American capitalism in which the state — and not the market — helps pick the winners and losers? Speaking of which, is free-market capitalism on life support?

Looking elsewhere, as we head into the midterm elections, how are the Republican and Democratic parties changing? Will new waves of populism transform American politics?

(More on what to expect below.)

HERE’S WHAT’S HAPPENING

President Trump seems closer to a Fed chair decision. The White House reportedly canceled interviews for candidates thought to be finalists for the chair of the central bank, according to The Wall Street Journal, and the president said his search had narrowed “down to one.” Fed watchers and bettors on prediction markets have focused on Kevin Hassett, a top White House economic adviser, as the front-runner.

Could Anthropic beat OpenAI to the I.P.O. market? Anthropic has chosen the law firm Wilson Sonsini to start work on what could be one of the largest I.P.O.s ever, and the I.P.O. move could come as soon as next year, The Financial Times reports. The artificial intelligence start-up has also reportedly discussed a potential listing with major investment banks. Focus on public offerings from the two loss-making leaders in the A.I. boom has intensified since OpenAI restructured in October to become a for-profit business.

Harvard and the Trump family are hit by a crypto “winter.” During the third quarter, Harvard raised its investment in a Bitcoin-focused exchange-traded fund, effectively amassing a nearly half-billion-dollar bet on the digital asset, according to The Journal. The cryptocurrency’s price has tumbled more than 20 percent since its October peak. And yesterday the shares of American Bitcoin, a Bitcoin mining company backed by Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, plunged by almost 40 percent. The sell-off, which began in the fall, has erased more than $1 billion of the Trump family’s wealth, according to Bloomberg.

Elon Musk’s charitable organization has become much bigger. The Musk Foundation has grown to more than $14 billion, as of its 2024 tax filings, making it one of the largest philanthropies in the U.S. But it failed to give away the minimum amount required by law for the fourth year in a row, The Times reports. A majority of the donations it did make went to a nonprofit group in Texas led by the billionaire’s top aide.

Some things we’d like to cover with the speakers

DARIO AMODEI, CO-FOUNDER AND C.E.O. OF ANTHROPIC

  • When will the economics of A.I. begin to pay off? Should we worry that the technology could become a job-killer, or is that fear overblown?

BRIAN ARMSTRONG, C.E.O. OF COINBASE

  • Are we heading into another crypto winter? Do you think the recent market volatility will make it harder for key crypto legislation, some of which your company has lobbied for, to be ratified by Congress?

LARRY FINK, CHAIRMAN AND C.E.O. OF BLACKROCK

  • Over the past two years, your firm has become one of the biggest players in the crypto market, with a big roster of financial products geared toward mainstream investors. What advice do you give these investors about this notoriously volatile asset?

MARY BARRA, CHAIR AND C.E.O. OF GENERAL MOTORS

  • Will President Trump’s trade war transform the automotive industry? And will electric vehicles become niche?

SCOTT BESSENT, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY

  • Will the next Fed chair confer with the White House on interest rates policy? On trade — consumers face an average effective tariff rate of nearly 17 percent on imports, according to the Budget Lab at Yale. Do you consider that rate too high, too low, about right?

LAI CHING-TE, PRESIDENT OF TAIWAN

  • Your economy is highly dependent on the manufacturing of chips, a product at the heart of East-West trade war negotiations. Can the global tug of war over semiconductors be amicably resolved?

JIMMY DONALDSON, A.K.A. MrBeast, CREATOR, ENTREPRENEUR AND PHILANTHROPIST; and JEFF HOUSENBOLD, C.E.O. OF BEAST INDUSTRIES

  • Your social media savvy has given you a prominent voice in the worlds of media, pop culture, philanthropy and so much more. What’s your next move?

ALEX KARP, CO-FOUNDER AND C.E.O. OF PALANTIR

  • Palantir is a major government contractor, and its market capitalization has soared since Inauguration Day, attracting the attention of short sellers, including Michael Burry. What are they missing about the A.I. boom?

GAVIN NEWSOM, GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA

  • You haven’t yet declared whether you’re running for president in 2028. And yet many political pundits say you’re the clear front-runner in the Democratic Party. What would it take for you, or your party, to win the White House?

ERIKA KIRK, C.E.O. AND BOARD CHAIR OF TURNING POINT USA

  • Turning Point USA has become one of the Republican Party’s most potent get-out-the-vote operations. You’ve only been in charge for a few months. Are you up for the task, coming into a crucial midterm elections cycle?

We hope you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times.

Thanks for reading! We’ll see you tomorrow.

We’d like your feedback. Please email thoughts and suggestions to dealbook@nytimes.com.

Andrew Ross Sorkin, Founder/Editor-at-Large, New York @andrewrsorkin
Bernhard Warner, Senior Editor, Rome @BernhardWarner
Sarah Kessler, Deputy Editor, Chicago @sarahfkessler
Michael J. de la Merced, Reporter, London @m_delamerced
Lauren Hirsch, Reporter, New York @LaurenSHirsch
Danielle Kaye, Reporter, New York @danielledkaye

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