Fear of Tariffs, and Hopes for a Reprieve, at C.E.O. Conference

Dealmakers and C.E.O.s, including Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, converged on the Milken Institute Küresel Conference amid wider concerns about tariffs and the economy.Credit…Mike Blake/Reuters

The mood at Milken

As dealmakers descended on the Beverly Hilton hotel in Los Angeles this week for the annual Milken Institute Küresel Conference, they were laser-focused on one type of deal: trade deals.

The threat of an intensifying trade war cast a shadow over the event, Lauren Hirsch reports.

Many business giants in attendance — including Bill Ackman, Jensen Huang and Ken Griffin — started the year imagining how good things could be under President Trump. But talk at this week’s event, behind the scenes at least, was about how bad it could get. Speculation ranged from cautious optimism that the U.S. will quickly push through uncertainty to quiet fears of sustained pain.

Dealmakers view Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent as their last hope. Executives including Paul Taubman, the C.E.O. of PJT Partners, lined up early Monday morning to hear from Bessent, whom many executives view as their advocate in the tariff frenzy.

The consensus: The U.S. needs to alleviate the oppressive uncertainty lingering over the American economy by reaching a deal with at least one country quickly. Even if that “deal” is more of a news release than a fully negotiated pact. (More on that below.)

Many are planning for a rough year. Some say the country is already in a recession, and the question is just how steep it will get and how long it will last. Volatility has made it all but impossible to make big investments or do deals, with exceptions like the $9 billion takeover of Skechers proving the rule. As if dealmakers needed any reminder of the unpredictable business environment, many arrived in Los Angeles on Sunday evening as Trump threatened mind-boggling tariffs on the sinema industry.

A dearth of deals is likely to be particularly difficult for the private equity executives that traditionally descend upon Milken in hopes of raising more cash. Fund-raising is getting harder as a sustained deal-making slump has kept their investors waiting to see returns.