The News
Semafor today announced the Global Advisory Board for its flagship Semafor World Economy annual convening this spring. The summit, which last year made news as the largest CEO gathering in North America, will double in size this year to 400 CEOs.
The Semafor World Economy Global Advisory Board is a group of visionary business leaders helping Semafor shape its new platform that empowers global CEOs to navigate extraordinary complexity through the expert curation of profound insights, ideas, and diverse perspectives.
As Semafor scales globally this year and Semafor World Economy grows from three to five days, the 2026 Global Advisory Board now includes leaders from around the world representing nearly every sector of the global economy — from finance and energy to technology and manufacturing — across the US and G20 economies.
Last year’s co-chairs — Ken C. Griffin, Founder & CEO, Citadel LLC; Henry R. Kravis, Co‐Founder & Co‐Executive Chairman, KKR; Penny S. Pritzker, Former US Secretary of Commerce; and David M. Rubenstein, Co‐Founder & Co‐Chairman, The Carlyle Group — continue to lead this effort.
The Semafor World Economy Global Advisory Board
Co-Chairs
- Ken C. Griffin – Founder & CEO, Citadel LLC
- Henry R. Kravis – Co-Founder & Co-Executive Chairman, KKR
- Penny S. Pritzker – Former US Secretary of Commerce
- David M. Rubenstein – Co-Founder & Co-Chairman, The Carlyle Group
Advisory Board Members
- Mukesh Ambani, Chairman & Managing Director, Reliance Industries Limited
- Nikesh Arora, Chairman & CEO, Palo Alto Networks
- Mary Barra, Chair & CEO, General Motors Company
- Levent Çakıroğlu, CEO, Koç Holding A.Ş.
- Natarajan Chandrasekaran, Chairman, Tata Sons
- Edwin Chen, CEO, Surge AI
- Euisun Chung, Executive Chair, Hyundai Motor Group
- Aliko Dangote, President & CEO, Dangote Group
- Georges Elhedery, Group CEO, HSBC
- Carlos Hank González, Chairman, Grupo Financiero Banorte
- Paul Griggs, Senior Partner, PwC
- Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, Managing Director & Group CEO, ADNOC
- Hironori Kamezawa, President & Group CEO, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group
- Christian Klein, CEO, SAP SE
- Jorge Paulo Lemann, Chairman, Lemann Foundation
- Rich Lesser, Global Chair, Boston Consulting Group
- Divesh Makan, Founding Partner, ICONIQ Capital
- Dina Powell McCormick, President and Vice Chair, Meta
- David McKay, President & CEO, Royal Bank of Canada
- Nandan Nilekani, Co-founder & Chairman of the Board, Infosys
- Andrea Orcel, CEO, UniCredit
- Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara, Executive Director & CEO, Temasek Holding
- Mustafa Suleyman, CEO, Microsoft AI
- Simpiwe K. Tshabalala, CEO, Standard Bank
- John Waldron, President & COO, Goldman Sachs
- Shemara Wikramanayake, Managing Director & CEO, Macquarie Group
The Advisory Board will help guide Semafor World Economy, which takes place April 13-17, 2026, in Washington, DC, and inform the platform’s year-round editorial coverage of the leaders, forces, and ideas reshaping globalization. The convening will feature Semafor’s award-winning editors and reporters leading conversations with heads of state, cabinet secretaries, and business leaders from around the world.
Know More
Semafor also introduced today the inaugural cohort of Semafor World Economy Principals — an editorially curated community of innovators, policymakers, and changemakers shaping the new world economy with front-row access to Semafor’s world-class journalism, meaningful opportunities for dialogue, and touchpoints designed for connection-building. Applications are now open here.
About Semafor
Semafor is the world’s fastest growing independent news media company that delivers intelligence through its reporting and live convenings. Founded in 2022 by veteran media executives Justin B. Smith and Ben Smith, Semafor provides intelligent, transparent journalism that cuts through the noise and distills complexity for leaders to navigate the new world economy. With a global sensibility, reach, and reporting hubs now spanning from Washington, DC, Silicon Valley, Wall Street to sub-Saharan Africa and the Gulf, Semafor’s journalists around the world power its suite of daily first-read email briefings and signature live journalism convenings. Semafor’s flagship World Economy Summit, anchored in Washington, DC, is the largest gathering of top global CEOs in North America, and its convening on emerging economies, The Next Three Billion, is held annually at UNGA and expanded this year to South Africa, East Africa, and UAE. In 2024, Semafor was named to Fast Company’s Annual List of the World’s Most Innovative Companies for “rewriting the story” on international reporting.