You want to understand what’s going on in finance, politics, business, culture, entrepreneurship, and the rest of society. But you don’t have the luxury of attending 20 different conferences on 20 different topics. And even if you were to pick out one conference to attend, you don’t want a tiered event where you are stuck in the back.
In that case, the SALT conference in Las Vegas, from May 7 until May 10, may be just the ticket. The theme for this year’s conference is “Smarter alternatives for a sustainably prosperous future,” and will explore how the intersection of finance, technology and public policy can address global challenges related to wealth and opportunity inequality.
“You actually get to interact with speakers and the other guests,” says organizer Anthony Scaramucci, Founder and Co-Managing Partner of SkyBridge Capital and, famously, if briefly, President Trump’s communications director.
“That’s the beauty of this conference,” Scaramucci adds. “Everybody gets to meet everybody. Start-ups can get funded. People meet new business partners, mentors and advisers. The connections people make are truly career-changing and life-changing.”
This year’s edition features such luminaries as Nikki Haley, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and Governor of South Carolina, former White House Chief of Staff General John Kelly (yes, he and Scaramucci have buried the hatchet and are friends again), Mark Cuban, Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett, author extraordinaire Nassim Nicholas Taleb, financiers Sam Zell and Ben Horowitz, co-founder of the Silcon Valley VC firm Andreessen Horowitz, Grammy winner Leslie Odom Jr.-the list is seemingly endless.
Speakers come from both sides of the political aisle, and the financial services people come from hedge funds, financial companies of all sizes, and investment groups from as far off as China.
“When we started the event right after 9/11,” Scaramucci says, “nobody wanted to fly, and Las Vegas was almost a ghost town. Now, we have thousands of attendees and people think of this conference as the American version of Davos – except that it’s more open.”
The event kicks off at the Bellagio on May 7 and provides opportunities for individuals to meet people out of their own verticals.
“That’s the beauty of SALT,” Scaramucci says. “Finance, economics, public policy, technology, philanthropy, sports, music. Everybody’s in one place. We ensure it’s a balanced group with every category of thought leadership represented.”