The Discovery Leadership Summit has landed a major coup by attracting former US Federal Reserve Governor Ben Bernanke. One of the most recognisable faces in the world is to make one of his first post-retirement speeches at the Sandton event on March 5.
The company announced today Bernanke has been confirmed to head perhaps the event’s strongest line-up yet which includes Nobel Prize winner Joe Stiglitz; Olympic gold medalist and London Games organiser Sebastian Coe and local billionaire entrepreneurs Laurie Dippenaar and Brian Joffe. Speakers in previous years include Nassim Taleb; Al Gore; Malcolm Gladwell; Tony Blair; Richard Branson; Ricardo Semler; Rudi Giuliani and Johann Rupert.
Dippenaar and Joffe are late additions to the line-up after Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz pulled out citing personal reasons. Other new inclusions are national coaches of the country’s major sports – Gordon Igesund (soccer), Heyneke Meyer (rugby) and Gary Kirsten (cricket) – who will participate in a panel discussion on “Competing and winning at the highest level in world sport.”
Bernanke served two terms as Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve during which he oversaw the Federal Reserve’s response to the late-2000s financial crisis. He has also served as chairman of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers.
