The Leading Speakers blog

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Global Energy Economist

Philip K. Verleger Jr. is the President of PKVerleger LLC and senior advisor to The Brattle Group. He has been associated with the Fred Bergsten Institute since 1986 and is a senior fellow. He has held positions at the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, the U.S. Treasury, the Institute for International Economics, Yale University, the University of California, and various firms in the private sector. He is a member of the National Petroleum Council and the Council of Foreign Relations.

“The leading specialist in the study of energy commodity markets.”
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Expert on Energy and the Environment

Claudia Kemfert is Head of the department Energy, Transportation, Environment at the German Institute of Economic Research (DIW Berlin) and Professor of Energy Economics at Humboldt University, Berlin. She advises EU president José Manuel Barroso as a member of the High Level Group on Energy and she is an external advisor for the World Bank, the United Nations and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

“Germany’s leading exponent of green economic policies”
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Expert on IT Security and eBusiness

Tim Cole is an experienced publicist, author and TV moderator in the field of eBusiness and IT security. As editor of the business magazine Net Investor he has a proven track record for journalistic objectivity, as well as the ability to critically evaluate the impact of technology on business processes and markets. His book ‘Management Challenge Security’ has become a standard textbook for non-technical managers involved in IT security decision-making.

“Tim Cole is one of the 30 most influential Internet professionals”
FOCUS Online

In detail

He is also founder and editor of Internet Report, the first German language newsletter for the online industry. Tim was responsible for several magazines including Connect, a popular telecommunications magazine. His role as head of the multimedia group also involved developing new concepts for multimedia publishing and online communication. He frequently contributes to Internet related magazines.
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Professor of Strategic and International Management at LBS

Costas Markides is Professor of Strategic and International Management at London Business School. A native of Cyprus, he received his BA (Distinction) and MA in Economics from Boston University and his MBA and DBA from the Harvard Business School. Prior to joining London Business School he has worked as an Associate with the Cyprus Development Bank and as a Research Associate at the Harvard Business School.

“Costas Markides is an expert on creating breakthrough strategies with proven results”

In detail

His work has been has published in a wide range of journals such as the Harvard Business Review, Sloan Management Review, Directors & Boards, Long Range Planning, British Journal of Management, Journal of International Business Studies, Strategic Management Journal and the Academy of Management Journal.
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Former Member of the European Commission

During his 10 year tenure as one of Europe’s most senior Commissioners in Brussels, Dr Martin Bangemann was instrumental in shaping Europe’s telecommunications and IT policy in a world of rapid technology developments. He stepped down from this position in June 1999. From 2000 to 2005 he was a non-executive Advisory Board Member of Telefonica, Spain. He is currently writing a new book.

“Dr Bangemann has a firm grasp on the future of the information industry”

In detail

He received a doctorate in law from the University of Munich and became a practising lawyer in Germany in 1964. He entered the European Parliament in 1973 on the Budget Committee and became Chairman of the European Parliament Liberal Democratic Group in 1979. From 1984 to 1988 he was Federal Minister of Economic Affairs for Germany.
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President and Chief Executive Officer of Forbes

Steve Forbes is President and Chief Executive Officer of Forbes and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes magazine. Forbes Magazine is recognised as one of the world’s leading business magazines and combined with Forbes Asia and the company’s eight local language editions reaches a worldwide audience of over five million readers. Mr. Forbes writes editorials for each issue of Forbes under the heading of “Fact and Comment.”

“A widely respected economic prognosticator”

In detail

In both 1996 and 2000, Mr. Forbes campaigned vigorously for the Republican nomination for the Presidency. Key to his platform were a flat tax, medical savings accounts, a new Social Security system for working Americans, parental choice of schools for their children, term limits and a strong national defense. Mr. Forbes continues to energetically promote this agenda.
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President of France 1974-1981

Valéry Giscard D’Estaing was President of France from 1974 until 1981. In 2004 he left partisan politics and took his seat in the Constitutional Council as a former President of the Republic. From 2002-2003 he served as President of the Convention on the Future of Europe and in 2003 he was admitted to the Académie Française. He is currently President of the CEMR (Council of European Municipalities and Regions), and a member of the French Constitutional Council.

The architect of the EU constitution

In detail

Valéry Giscard D’Estaing was born in 1926 in Koblenz. After serving in the French Resistance, he completed his studies at the Ecole Polytechnique and the Ecole Nationale d’Administration. He then joined the Inspection Generale des Finances in 1952 where he pursued an administrative career until 1956. From 1956 to 1974 he has held numerous elective positions and governmental functions before becoming President
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Former Adviser to Mikhail Gorbachev

Alexander Likhotal served as adviser to Mikhail Gorbachev for many years and is currently the President and Chief Executive Officer of Geneva-based Green Cross International. He is a member of the International Council for the Earth Charter and Adviser to the Club of Madrid and has launched internationally acclaimed initiatives such as the Earth Dialogues Forum and has spearheaded Green Cross International’s global campaign for the Right to Water.

“The past has shown that new security threats would emerge in the form of global terrorism and that globalisation and our continued reliance on fossil fuels would raise the environmental stakes even higher”

In detail

Prof. Likhotal was the Deputy Spokesman for the President of the USSR and has held a number of academic positions internationally specialising in European security and NATO. He was visiting professor at the Northeastern University, Boston, USA, Research Associate at the Institute of European Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow and Associate Editor of Security Dialogue Journal, Oslo, Norway.
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Author, Journalist and Former Presenter of BBC’s HARDtalk

Tim Sebastian is best known as the former presenter of the BBC’s internationally acclaimed flagship interview programme, HARDtalk. He has spent the last seven years travelling the world for HARDtalk, interviewing the world’s newsmakers and personalities - from presidents, prime ministers and kings to authors, actors and musicians. More recently he was Chairman of the widely publiscised Doha Debates in Qatar.

“The man with all the questions”
BBC

In detail

Tim holds a BA Honours degree in modern languages from Oxford University. Based in Warsaw from 1979, he became the BBC’s Europe Correspondent in 1982. Two years later, as the BBC’s correspondent he went to Moscow, where he stayed until 1985 before moving to Washington, where he was based until 1989. In 1982, he was awarded the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Richard Dimbleby Award. In 2000 and 2001 he won Britain’s prestigious Royal Television Society Interviewer of the Year award.
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Chairman Emeritus of Volkswagen AG

Dr. Hahn is the renowned former Chairman of the Volkswagen Group. Under his chairmanship the VAG Group expanded from producing 2 million cars in 1982 to 3.5 million capacity in 1992, also acquiring SKODA in the Czech Republic. His celebrated career with Volkswagen Group led him to several senior positions including CEO of Volkswagen of America Inc.

One of the leading figures in international business.

In detail

Carl Hahn studied Business Administration at the University of Cologne and Zurich, Economics in Bristol and Paris. He also graduated as a Doctor of Economics at the University of Bern, Switzerland. As Chairman of the Volkswagen Board of Management he drove Volkswagen to the heights of success, with heavy investments in the ‘Golf’, now one of the most successful cars ever built. He now serves on numerous boards in Europe and the USA, including Perot Systems Corp (US), Benetton (Italy), Gerling-Konzern, Thyssen (Germany)
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