Ep. 60: Sea Change, with Nasdaq’s Adena Friedman

“It's really, to me, a trust factor. … Companies at that moment had huge, huge needs for capital to manage through the beginning of what they were seeing was going to be a significant downturn in their business. If we had closed the markets, they would not have been able to gain access to that capital when they needed it the most.” 

Early in the coronavirus crisis, Adena Friedman, president and CEO of Nasdaq, focused her energy on making sure companies and investors had uninterrupted liquidity to meet the challenges ahead. And throughout the crisis she’s observed a growing trend toward what she calls “cooperative capitalism,” a blend of creative problem solving and altruism she has observed in many sectors. 

“Right now you’re seeing some pretty extraordinary actions taken by companies and by governments to support their citizens,” she told Mike in her May 22 interview. “This is a sea change in the way that we think about companies and the roles they play. I think that we're going to see continued dedication to communities going forward even after this crisis is over.”