15 May 2020: More than 50,000 registered delegates from 150 countries joined the Financial Times for The Global Boardroom, a three-day online conference on the impact of the coronavirus on policy, business, and finance in partnership with The Next Web (TNW).

“We recognise that the FT’s convening power combined with our access to the most senior global decision-makers and leading minds could offer delegates answers to some of the most important questions facing our world today,” said Orson Francescone, managing director of FT Live. “That we were able to produce a first of its kind event done entirely remote, digital and live in just five weeks, with the help of our partners at The Next Web, really speaks to the ability of the FT to move fast, innovate and pioneer in the face of the current crisis.” 

The Global Boardroom hosted more than 100 speakers, including Andrew Bailey, Governor of the Bank of England; former US vice president Al Gore; Soumya Swaminathan, the World Health Organization's chief scientist; Angel Gurría, secretary-general of the OECD; Gita Gopinath, economic counsellor and director of the International Monetary Fund’s research department; Hakan Samuelsson, chief executive of Volvo Cars; former UK prime minister Tony Blair; Sanofi chief executive Paul Hudson; Mary Portas, founder and chief creative officer of Portas; Stewart Butterfield, CEO and co-founder of Slack, and Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The event featured more than 22 hours of content with 6,000 questions submitted by delegates, who attended nearly two sessions on average per day. The full speaker line up can be found here. Video on demand is also available here for free with registration. 

The Global Boardroom, which is part of the FT’s Digital Dialogues series, brings to life the FT’s editorial coverage of the crisis. Free to read content about the coronavirus, such as the FT’s renowned coronavirus tracker, can be found here

The Global Boardroom will reconvene in the autumn to reassess the state of the world, with more information to come. 

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For more information, please contact: Katrina Fedczuk / katrina.fedczuk@ft.com

About the Financial Times:

The Financial Times is one of the world’s leading business news organisations, recognised internationally for its authority, integrity and accuracy. The FT has a record paying readership of more than one million, three-quarters of which are digital subscriptions. It is part of Nikkei Inc., which provides a broad range of information, news and services for the global business community.

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