Josh Kampel

I first met Alex Rodriguez at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles, where investors, senior executives, and entrepreneurs gather to discuss economics, healthcare, and philanthropy. A year later, I ran into him again on the Promenade in Davos, amongst CEOs, policymakers, and world leaders convening to debate the next chapter of business, technology, and society. Celebrities and athletes are increasingly common at these global business gatherings.

At many conferences, the most meaningful conversations happen after the panels end for the day. At this year’s Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles, Worth and Vested brought together a diverse group of executives from private equity, management consulting, life sciences, telecommunications, technology, and finance for an off-the-record discussion about the future of the economy and the forces most likely to shape it over the next couple of years.

For many, Steve Case’s name is synonymous with the early internet era. As the co-founder of AOL, Case helped bring the online world to the masses, creating one of the first large-scale digital communities. In the 1990s, AOL wasn’t just an internet service—it was a portal into a new kind of connection, where people could meet, communicate, and collaborate in entirely new ways. Today, Case is still in the community-building business, but with a different kind of infrastructure.