Power & Impact

There are few people today impacting the future generations of medical professionals to the degree that Ken Langone has with his leadership and contributions to NYU Health.

Ken grew up in a family of little means and worked his way to being one of the richest investors and philanthropists in the United States.

After Ken's business success, he donated $10 million to NYU's MBA program in 1999. Then in 2008, in support of advancing medical technology and education, Ken gave $200 million to the university's medical center, which was renamed NYU Langone Health, in his honor. In August 2018 Ken pledged $100 million to its School of Medicine, a donation that effectively made tuition free. Today, Ken sits as the Chair of the Board of Trustees at NYU Langone Medical Center.

In this episode, Ken shares about his contributions to medical advancement and why the work is so important to him, why free market medical research is essential to advancing medical technology, and shares in more discussion with Jim about the importance of relationships and family.

Is the American Dream alive and well? If you asked Ken Langone, he'd certainly say yes.

Ken's grandparents immigrated to the US from Italy, and he grew up in a family that he describes as having "a lot of love, but not a lot of money." Ken spent time in the US Army and dug ditches for the Long Island Expressway before going to Bucknell University to study economics. After graduation, he began a successful career on Wall Street and earned his MBA at NYU. He then became an early investor and co-founder of The Home Depot, the world's largest home improvement retailer with approximately 500,000 associates and 2,300 stores in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

After Ken's business success, he donated $10 million to NYU's MBA program in 1999. Then in 2008, in support of advancing medical technology and education, Ken gave $200 million to the university's medical center, which was renamed NYU Langone Health, in his honor. In August 2018 Ken pledged $100 million to its School of Medicine, a donation that effectively made tuition free. Today, Ken sits as the Chair of the Board of Trustees at NYU Langone Medical Center.

In this episode, Ken and Jim focus on relationships, covering everything from parenting and affection to building better connections in the workplace and of course touch on that entrepreneurial spirit at the core of both Ken and Jim's careers.

Immediately following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, about a dozen businesses cut ties with the nation in a show of solidarity with the Ukrainian people. The United States and our NATO allies imposed severe sanctions against Russia, as well Russian business leaders, politicians, and Putin himself.

Professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and his team, sparked by the volunteered withdrawal from private businesses, began reporting on those 12 companies, leading to a frenzy of other companies exiting Russia or claiming to. The list Professor Sonnenfeld and his team created grew to 75, then 500, and is now at 1300 companies, with 1100 of those no longer conducting business with Russia in some form.

Recently, there's been much public speculation about whether government sanctions and exited businesses are enough to dissuade Putin and the Russian people. Putin has been vocal that these disturbances have had no consequences on his economy. This disinformation has created confusion as to the actual state of the Russian economy, and whether the sanctions are working.

Professor Sonnenfeld, a senior associate dean and Lester Crown professor at Yale, made it made it his mission to accurately research and report on this list of companies and the effect their withdrawal has had. To aid him, Professor Sonnenfeld leaned on Steven Tian. Steven is the director of research at Yale School of Management's Chief Executive Leadership Institute, an organization that Professor Sonnenfeld is also the founder and CEO of.

Jeffrey and Steven continue to dispel these myths with their powerful research on national media, at the White House, and at the Washington Foreign Press Center Briefing on "The Economic Impact of Sanctions on Russia."

Jeffrey, a long-time friend of Jim's, and Steven, a recent friend, discuss and share their experiences here on Power & Impact.