On Thursday, Donald Trump will walk into the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, shake Xi Jinping's hand, and declare it a great meeting. There will be announcements. There will be numbers — billions of dollars in Chinese purchase commitments, a new bilateral mechanism with an important-sounding name, possibly a joint statement on Iran. Trump will post on Truth Social. Markets will rally briefly. Pundits will argue about who won. None of that will tell you what actually happened. What is actually happening in Beijing this week is something more consequential and more uncomfortable than the summit theatre will reveal: two leaders of two deeply mutually dependent superpowers, both of whom need this meeting to succeed for entirely different reasons, sitting across a table in a world that has already moved past the assumptions that defined their last nine months of negotiations. The Iran war changed the equations. The rare earth gambit changed the power balance. Taiwan is sitting in...
Mark Zukerberg the now famous founder and CEO of Facebook turns 28. The same week Facebook will start selling stock to the public. Famous now for his hoodie, jeans and sneakers, he has proved beyond doubt that he is quiet capable of leading a company that might be valued at $100B. Quiet a large number for someone who is so young. At now even half the age of other CEO's of fortune 500 companies. Facebook was started in his doom room at Harvard in 2004 when it was still known as TheFacebook.com. Times have changed for the CEO who has now met world-leaders, has led his company through many controversies in many countries. Has ensured that every big brand has a Facebook page and helped launched many small companies. He is of late become famous for wearing a hoodie when going to meet bankers. Standing true to the traditions of the techie geek that he is and represents. Where in silicon valley writing good code is more valued than how you dress. Once Facebook goes public maybe things mig...