Seth Klarman ’79, CEO and portfolio manager of The Baupost Group and 2026 Hatfield Fellow, will be in conversation with Bret Stephens, opinion columnist for the New York Times and Zubrow Distinguished Visiting Journalist, to discuss a wide range of issues surrounding democracy, higher education, journalism and politics. Peter Loewen, the Harold Tanner Dean of Arts and Sciences will introduce the conversation.

Attendees will learn:

• The current journalism and media landscape in the U.S.
• The keys to respectful disagreement, whether in a column, a classroom or a corporation.
• The current state of democracy in the U.S., and the role of journalism, corporations and higher education.
• How conservatism has shifted in the U.S., and where it’s headed.
   

Since joining the New York Times in 2017, Stephens has written about foreign policy, domestic politics and cultural issues. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 2013 for his commentary at the Wall Street Journal, and previously served as editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post, a position he took at the age of 28. He has reported stories from Gaza to Greenland, and is the author of “America in Retreat: The New Isolationism and the Coming Global Disorder,” published in 2014.

Klarman has overseen The Baupost Group's investments since its inception. He is the author of “Margin of Safety,” a book that outlines his value investment philosophy and was chosen as editor for “Security Analysis: Seventh Edition,” published in 2023.  He received his Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, in Economics from Cornell University in 1979 and is a 1982 graduate of Harvard Business School, where he was a Baker Scholar. He serves as Chair of the Board of Directors of the Broad Institute and on Beth Israel Hospital’s Board of Managers and as a member of their Board of Trustees.  He is a member of the Board of Dean’s Advisors at HBS, where he has been a senior lecturer on value investing and was a 2011 recipient of the school’s Alumni Achievement Award.  In 2020, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.  Mr. Klarman is co-chairman of The Klarman Family Foundation. 

There will be a livestream available from eCornell.