CEOInterviews.AIStartUp Westport's: Innovator of the Year 2026: Marc Lasry, CEO of Avenue Capital Group

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Unknown0:13

Welcome to the Westport Library. Today's program will begin momentarily, supported by Verso Studios, created locally and shared with the world.

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Bill Harmer0:35

Good evening everyone. Could I encourage you to please take your seats so we can get this party started. You've got plenty of room here. There's room in the grandstand there. There's some seats in the back. We got some seats up front here still. So, if we could get you to take your seats, we're going to get started.

Okay, how about that? Well, good evening everyone. You can say good evening back. It's good manners. On behalf of the Westport Library, welcome to the Tre Forum. My name is Bill Harmer. I'm the executive director of this incredible library. We are delighted to once again partner with Startup Westport for one of our favorite annual events celebrating innovation, entrepreneurship, leadership, and community impact.

The relationship between Startup Westport and the Westport Library is built on a shared belief that great ideas have the power to change lives, strengthen community, and create opportunity. Together, we've worked to create a place where entrepreneurs, creators, business leaders, students, and lifelong learners come together to explore what's next. If you've been here before, well, you know that the Westport Library is no longer a traditional library in the conventional sense. We have evolved into a platform for learning, creativity, entrepreneurship, and community engagement.

Through Verso Studios, we have built a state-of-the-art media and production facility. Through Verso University, we are helping people develop new skills, launch businesses, explore emerging technologies, and pursue personal and professional growth. And through initiatives like the one with Startup Westport, we are helping connect people with ideas, with resources, and one another together. Or tonight, rather, folks. That's what we're celebrating. That's the spirit.

We are honored to recognize Marc Lasry whose career exemplifies vision, discipline, risk-taking, innovation, and leadership. We are equally proud to recognize Club 203 with this year's community impact award. We're very excited for the meaningful work they do creating connection, belonging, and opportunities for adults with disabilities throughout our community.

These honorees remind us that innovation isn't only about business success. It is also about creating positive impact, opening doors for others, and strengthening the communities we call home. So, thank you all for being here tonight and for supporting the entrepreneurial and community spirit that makes Westport such a special place.

Okay, it is now my pleasure to introduce one of the driving forces behind Startup Westport, entrepreneur, community builder, and my friend Cliff Serlin.

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Cliff Serlin4:40

All right. Hello everyone. Welcome. My name is Cliff Serlin. I'm the president of Startup Westport. First, a profound thank you to Bill Harmer, the Westport Library staff. We greatly appreciate our partnership. It is what enabled us to quite frankly build Startup Westport. So, thank you, Travis.

All right. Before we jump into tonight's main event, I wanted to get to know you all just a little bit better. So, how many people are here at their first Startup Westport event? If you could show me your hands. Wow. Okay. Thank you. Welcome. All right. Next question. How many of you here are entrepreneurs or aspiring entrepreneurs? Okay, I like it. Terrific. Let's talk about that.

What exactly is entrepreneurship and why is it important? I was recently having a conversation with a friend who's actually here tonight about this very specific topic and he said to me and I agree that everyone should consider themselves an entrepreneur. Why did he say that? Well, let's deconstruct that statement. Entrepreneurship means so many different things to so many different people. But at its core, it means taking agency and ownership of your life. Thinking and acting in an entrepreneurial manner creates the opportunity to have equity and ownership in your life. When people take equity and ownership in their life and daily activities, really, really good things happen.

A perfect example of that is a story that's told by Malcolm Gladwell in his amazing book, Outliers. Gladwell tells the story of how poverty was affecting certain areas in rural China. Nobody could come up with a way to solve this problem. There were countless numbers of different programs were put in place and they waited until somebody actually came up with the idea to create a manner, a program that gave ownership of the rice paddies that were being farmed by peasants to the actual peasant farmers. And immediately there was an incredible change in what happened in that region. Once the farmers realized the direct correlation between individual efforts and the rewards that they received from ownership, the entire region began to prosper.

Here in the United States in 2026, we are afforded so many opportunities. We have countless numbers of different avenues that we can pursue. Each one of us is our own white canvas waiting to paint a beautiful picture. We as individuals are capable of creating unique and magical things. But this path is not easy. The journey is littered with failure. Tonight we will hear about success and triumph. But that does not come without hardship.

Last year, Roger Federer, one of the greatest tennis players of all time, gave an amazing commencement speech at Dartmouth. When he looked back at his career, he realized that he had lost 44% of the points that he had played. That means that he failed to meet his objectives nearly half the time. That doesn't sound so good. But what made him unique and gave him the ability to become the number one tennis player in the world and redefine tennis was his ability to pick himself up, brush off the failure, and refocus on winning the next point. Resilience, determination, and perspective are critical aspects of every entrepreneurial journey. Many believe that nothing is learned through success. Instead, all learning comes through failure. A bit extreme, but you get the point.

So, this is where Startup Westport comes in. We are here to help. We have an amazing team. We are an organization of over 3,000 members and we have offerings designed to help and support entrepreneurs on their journey. And it is a journey. Trust me, I've experienced it firsthand. We now have the state's largest mentorship program. We have close to 600 people that have gone through our mentorship program. I recently read that 93% of all millionaires have one thing in common. They received some form of mentorship. That means they had someone who believed in them and helped coach them through the natural ups and downs. That's what we do here at Startup Westport.

For all those who have approached me and asked about becoming a mentor or a mentee, I encourage you to take the next step and actually sign up for the program. We've created an amazing platform that makes it easy to give back to your community. Here at Startup Westport, we are all about community, support, and relationships. There was a study that was done by Harvard University that spanned 80 years. I don't know if you have all read this, but starting in the 1930s and running through 2010. The study mapped out how to live and analyzed what led to a happy and fulfilling life. The conclusion of the study was that the most important aspects of happiness was not money. It was not titles. It was not awards. Instead, it was the quality of an individual's relationships.

Mentorship is all about relationships. It's about partnering with somebody on your journey to help you through the rough patches and also to celebrate the wins. In isolation, nothing is meaningful. But in collaboration, you will find joy, fulfillment, and purpose. As they say in the famous African proverb, if you want to go fast, go alone. But if you want to go far, go together.

Okay, we have so many people to thank tonight. Most importantly, a call out to our sponsors, Wiggin and Dana, Myriad 360, Coastal Bridge Advisors, and the many individual donors who help us provide the necessary capital to throw events like tonight and not charge a membership fee to those that are here at Startup Westport. Also, a huge thank you to the volunteers that are here tonight as well as to our board of directors. All right, now let's get to the exciting stuff. We have a great evening in front of us. It's my privilege to now welcome to the stage my very good friend Dan O'Keefe. Dan is the commissioner of economic development for the state of Connecticut and he will speak to us about innovation that's happening within our state. Thank you.

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Dan O'Keefe11:36

Awesome as always. Thank you Cliff. I asked for a mobile microphone. My ADHD is way too strong to stand in front of a lecturer. Thank you. Always presents a challenge to the camera guy as I move. But there's so many new people in the audience tonight. So I wanted to tell my little public service origin story with apologies to those of you that have heard this, but Startup Westport was my first speech. Three years ago, I got a frantic call from a friend of Cliff's who said, 'Our speaker has canceled last minute. Do you have anyone who can make their mouth move?' And what had happened was, by the way, is Dan from Metahare? Dan, there he is. Dan got COVID. Sorry, man. That might have been a HIPAA violation. That's probably a HIPAA violation, but it turned out COVID was still a thing. And so I cobbled together some slides and they said it was Startup Westport. That's the only context I had. I will confess, I thought I would show up and there'd be six people sitting around a coffee table talking about startups. I show up and there's 300 people in the room. I was totally blown away. Tonight I learned there's now 3,700 members of this organization. So, it turns out the only thing more viral than COVID is Startup Westport. So, well done.

But what's happening, this was, I tell this story all the time showing up and finding out it's 300 now 3,700. What's happening is actually part of a broader story. It's happening throughout the state of Connecticut, which is we're experiencing a moment. It turned out the pandemic was the shock to the system our economy needed. We were one of the net beneficiaries of that rewriting of the economic rules that occurred since then. So let me give some history. So 2008 to 2018, what they now call the last decade. You know we got hammered by the global financial crisis. So in those 10 years our economy contracted on an inflation-adjusted basis. Just us, Mississippi, and Wyoming can say that. Marc, you don't have to be an investor to know that's not the direction you want things to move in. Since then, since 2018, we have added $100 billion to our economy. We're a $375 billion economy. So to call that a step function change doesn't do it justice. It's quite literally a hockey stick compared to what we had been experiencing.

And people always ask me like what's driving that? I can tell you the big industries continue to contribute nicely. So things like professional services, advanced manufacturing in support of our national defense, finance and insurance, healthcare, all the things we always hear about absolutely are all growing nicely and contributing. But the fastest growing contributor since then by a multiple is technology. And it's not just technology as it applies to the industries I just mentioned, that's captured in those industries. It's technology as a horizontal. We've seen our population increase every year since the pandemic. We're the only state in the region that can say that. By the way, last year our international in-migration got cut in half. We still grew, but the rhetoric that's happening is not helpful to our state's economy. Everyone should know that. But our population has continued to grow. And what we're seeing is what all the hands that went up in here when Cliff asked who was new tonight. We're seeing a lot of folks come into the state and seeing what I saw when I moved my family here in 2011. Incredible quality of life, incredible health care system, incredible education system. The soft and fluffy things that motivated me to raise my family here are now economic comparative advantage. So, what you're experiencing is that moment, I'm incredibly excited that you're all here continuing to drive it forward.

The last thing I wanted to say tonight, just given Marc is here, I don't know if any of you follow the travails of trying to keep the Connecticut Sun in our state. Connecticut Sun is our only professional sports team. It's our WNBA team. If there's one sport where Connecticut deserves to have a professional sport, it's women's basketball. 16 national championships. Yes. By the way, UConn's still here. That is actually our professional sports team. Go Huskies. But more players in the WNBA from UConn than any other school. More first round draft picks. Marc and I partnered on trying to keep that team here like you would not believe. This was months of working through problems, trying to find solutions. I know how busy Marc Lasry is, and every single time I called him, no matter where he was on the planet, he picked up the phone. Every time I called him, it was with a problem. Every time he came up with a more creative solution. That exercise, by the way, unfortunately, failed. For two reasons. It turns out we're 1% of the US population squeezed between two larger media markets. Who knew? Second reason, the league has monopolistic powers. So unfortunately that team is ultimately going to Houston. But I just wanted to comment because innovation isn't just what you're all doing and what the startup ecosystem is doing. It's also coming up with creative solutions to hard problems. And that's where I think Marc Lasry is so incredibly creative. So thank you all for being here tonight. Incredibly excited for all that you're doing.

Oh, I want to say two other things quickly before I wrap. Sorry. We did announce $100 million innovation clusters program. Cliff specifically asked me to talk about how we're investing in innovation. We've made one announcement which is around Quantum CT in the quantum ecosystem and biotech in New Haven. We have two other finalists. One more around autonomous and by autonomous I don't just mean the physical, so physical meaning flight, surface, subsurface, but also autonomous meaning AI-driven decision-making which we're still working on pulling together working with our national defense primes. So we're investing aggressively against this backdrop of growth. And I'm excited to continue to do that with the governor's support. So, with that, I can wrap. Great to see you all again. Thank you all for being here. I'll be around tonight. If anybody has any questions or wants to chat, please come up and find me. Thanks so much.

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Cliff Serlin17:31

Dan, thanks so much for those comments. Really appreciate it. Also, you're making us proud. You're on a winning streak. So, I think was it today that Unilever announced the investment in New Haven and the research facility? Congrats. Amazing. Connecticut is on a winning streak and in no short measure to Dan's efforts. So, thank you.

Okay. Just a quick pitch for our pitch competition. So, how many of you were here at our pitch competition this past November? Great. All right. It was an amazing event. We had 77 applications. We gave away $28,000 in non-dilutive funding. It was a Shark Tank-like competition. We're going to do it again. This year we're going to give away $30,000. So, if you know anybody who is starting a business here in Connecticut, we highly encourage them to apply. Applications, you can just click right here on the QR code. So, please encourage anyone you know to apply to the competition. It'll be super worthwhile.

Okay, next up we're going to change our focus and we're going to move to the community impact award. It is my pleasure to now introduce and call up to the stage Andrea Perillo. Andrea is last year's recipient of the community impact award. She is also the co-founder of Sweet Pea Bakery and is one of the coolest, most amazing human beings on this planet.

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Andrea Perillo19:17

Good evening everyone. As Cliff said, my name is Andrea Perillo. I'm the co-founder of Sweet Pea Bakery. Last year, Sweet Pea was honored to receive Startup Westport's Community Impact Award. It is now my absolute pleasure and privilege to introduce this year's recipient, Club 203.

Club 203 was founded by Westport residents Stacy Curran, Shiruna Mahesh, and Katherine Turley Sonnet. Club 203 was born out of a simple but important need. They saw the limited social options available for adults with disabilities and recognized that keeping busy, having fun, staying active, and building friendships are all important parts of a healthy and fulfilling life beyond post-secondary education. What started as a way to fill that gap has grown into something truly special. Club 203 hosts monthly events attended by more than 100 participants and brings community together through holiday-themed gatherings and activities held throughout town supported by an incredible network of volunteers.

I have seen firsthand the impact these events have on participants because many of our Sweet Pea employees love attending these monthly get-togethers. Our former restaurant even hosted one of these events and our cookies are served at many of them. Friendships are formed, confidence grows, and a good time is had by all. These three powerhouse women are pillars of our community. Their vision, dedication, and compassion have created opportunities for connection, belonging, and joy for so many people. Please take a look at this short video.

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Unknown21:06

I, as a volunteer, walk into a Club 203 event, it is the purest form of human interaction and expression that you could possibly hope to find.

We ended up as three moms who recognized that there was this huge gap for our kids and after they left high school and all of the social spaces disappeared for them.

There's just this literal drop in places to go, things to do and ways to engage with the public and with the community and with your friends. I think we need to do something like that has like a lot of people like getting together and doing something fun.

And so we got together and we just devised this idea that we wanted to create a space for our kids to find community, to find somebody to date, to find somebody to go out with on the weekends.

And so these three women came together and got it done.

Every time I come here, this is so much fun. Yes, you know, they're in so much therapy all their lives and now they're adults. This is the time for them to have fun and make connections and make meaningful connections. The joy, the people interacting and just so happy to be together and so relaxed and feel included and a part of something and something to look forward to.

Stacy really understood the need for the members. And I think, you know, an unintended consequence is now there's a community for the caregivers and the parents.

It's opening up the eyes of those in the community that know nothing about this population. And so I think it's a really valuable part of our community.

This is a totally volunteer group. They do it, you know, from the heart. It's not a business to them. It's a mission. And you can feel it. You can feel that passion.

And it's just positive. I think it feels like a family and a home. Like to me, it's just I love your sneakers. Can I have a hug? What? And it's the best.

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Andrea Perillo23:48

What an amazing video. All right. Stacy, Shiruna, Katherine, please come up and accept the award.

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Shiruna Mahesh24:22

Wow. Thanks, Cliff. And good evening, everybody. Andrea, thank you so much for your kind words. We are grateful for your inspiration and your commitment to building a more inclusive community with Sweet Pea Bakery. We would like to thank everyone at Startup Westport for this incredible impact award. We are truly honored to be here tonight and deeply appreciative of this recognition.

Special thanks to Jen Tucker whose early support helped make Club 203 a reality. Elaine Dey, director of human services. You are our rock. We could not do this without you and your amazing team. Dan, I did not see him today, but if he's here, wave. But Dan, you are our biggest fan and we are grateful for all your attention. Brian Kelsey, thank you. Thank you for creating this amazing video for us and donating your time.

We are deeply grateful to our community partners whose grants support Club 203. Westport Women's Club, Westport Rotary, Sunrise Rotary, and Museum of Contemporary Art who sponsor the art projects at each of our events. As you look at the screen behind us, you'll see the real story of Club 203. Every logo here represents connection, friendship, and community. It is these generous supporters who contribute year after year making us possible.

We'd love to recognize our Club 203 members and volunteers. If you're here tonight, please give us a wave. Yay. Thank you guys. You guys are the heart of this organization. This award belongs to you. What started as recognizing a need for inclusive social connections and meaningful community for adults with disabilities evolved into something so much bigger than we ever imagined. What we have created is belonging. A place where friendships are formed, where our members feel seen, valued, and included, where parents and families find connection and support, and where volunteers discover they often receive far more than they give. We are so proud of this community and deeply thankful to everyone who continues to believe in our mission and help us grow. Here to outline Club 203's journey is my friend and co-founder Katherine Turley Sonnet.

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Katherine Turley Sonnet27:20

All right. Thanks Shiruna. Our story truly reflects the spirit of Westport. In 2021, mid-pandemic, I moved from Manhattan via Southern California to Westport with my lovely neurodivergent adult daughter Elizabeth. As a professor of museum studies, I immediately connected with the Museum of Contemporary Art here in Westport, where I initiated an outreach proposal to provide healing art experiences for the neurodivergent community. This was warmly received and I began working with Jodie Felton, the president of the board, on this rich project. She immediately connected me with Stacy Curran as the source of all local information for adults with disabilities.

We immediately met for coffee at the Porch, Andrea's Porch, and both expressed the need for social opportunities for our adult children. I shared an amazing program that Elizabeth participated in at the Marlene Meyerson JCC in the city. And Stacy responded with, 'Let's start a mini version of that in Westport. Are you in?' And that was my first time meeting Stacy. And as everyone who knows her, she is a force of nature. And boom, she pulled in the resources of our incredibly generous town hall, human resources, support from the commission on people with disabilities and we were off and running. We both knew immediately that we needed someone with both the heart for the project and the technical skills to build a website and front our social media. And Shiruna Mahesh was the perfect match for us. So there we were, three moms with neurodivergent adult children trying to solve a problem that was near and dear to our hearts.

Five months later, we had our first Club 203 event at MoCA. We hoped for 25 to 30 people to show up and we ended up with over a hundred. And with the help of our volunteers, the amazing Westport police directing traffic, Channel 12 covering us and our event, and Westport Lifestyle featuring us, we were off to the races. That night really truly confirmed though for the three of us that there was a huge need that was not being met and we had important work to do. Our friendship has grown alongside this amazing project, which would not have legs without the support of the incredibly generous Westport community. And as we finish our fourth year, we are ready to grow. We hope to find a permanent space for small group educational programming that will continue to enrich the lives of our members. And we have also had requests to replicate Club 203 not only in other parts of Connecticut but in several other states. So if anyone out there has the heart, passion, and resources to help, we are ready for the next expanded iteration of Club 203. And I'm now going to pass it off to the amazing co-founder Stacy Curran.

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Stacy Curran30:50

Wow. Good evening. I'm Stacy Curran, co-founder of Club 203. And thank you, Startup Westport. So, before every Club 203 event, we gather our incredible volunteers and have a quick meeting to talk about the run of show, go over the plan for the night, and talk about what needs to get done. And every one of those meetings, I cry. Not out of sadness, quite the opposite. I cry because we continue to witness the extraordinary impact that Club 203 has on so many individuals and families. There's music and dancing and art and food and fun. But what stays with us most? The parents and caregivers that seek us out and tell us what these nights mean to their children.

They tell us their son and daughter finally has something to look forward to. They have a calendar with the dates circled and they start a countdown before the next event. They tell us their adult child finally feels a part of something. And something else beautiful is happening. Parents have found each other. They're navigating similar challenges, similar difficulties, and they're finding support in one another. Because many of us know firsthand what happens when formal education stops. The day the bus stops coming and suddenly families are left asking what comes next? How do I create a meaningful life for my adult child? For many adults with disabilities, life becomes deeply isolating. And that's why Club 203 matters. What happens at our gatherings is more than a party. It's belonging. It's friendship and it's human connection. Our members seek each other out. They are the heartbeat of every event. And the heart of Club 203 is its volunteers. They show up with endless energy and dedication and say yes to anything we ask before we even finish asking. This entire organization is built on the shoulders of volunteers and this very community.

As Katherine alluded to, in September, we begin our fifth year of Club 203. And in a world moving so much faster and technology is automating so much of life, what you are honoring here tonight is something deeply human. It's human togetherness and it's human contact and it's the importance of being together. The three of us saw a need and we hope to create something meaningful. And if in some small way we leave this community a little bit better, a little kinder, and a little less lonely, then every moment has been worth it. So, in closing, thank you Startup Westport for finding us and honoring us. Thank you to every volunteer, every venue, and every supporter. You know who you are. And most importantly, thank you every 203 member that walks through our doors. You are the joy. Thank you.

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Cliff Serlin34:13

Well, that's what it's all about. Thank you all three, for all that you've done for our community. Thank you for those comments and we so appreciate you joining us here tonight. And to all Club 203, thank you. Okay, now we're going to change gears and we're going to shift over to our innovator of the year award and our conversation with Marc and Craig. Before we do that, we're going to ask Mark Shapiro to come up. Mark Shapiro was last year's innovator of the year. And I also want to do a special call out to Jimmy Petero. Jimmy, where are you? Okay. Hey, Jimmy. Jimmy was our first innovator of the year. So, we've done the innovator of the year three times. Started with Jimmy, went to Mark, and now we're moving over to Marc Lasry. So, amazing group of people. Thank you all so much. Jimmy, thank you for your support. Mark Shapiro, thank you for your support. And take it away, Mark.

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Mark Shapiro35:22

All right. Good evening, everyone. Let me start by saying that every time I walk into this building, I'm reminded that we are truly so fortunate to have such a beautiful and inspirational destination like this in our hometown. The Westport Library thrives at the intersection of education, entrepreneurship, community, and really remains a beacon of our town and our culture. And tonight, this space once again serves as the backdrop for what will certainly be another great conversation moderated by one of the best on-air television personalities in the business, Craig Melvin.

Craig is one of the most respected journalists in America today. An esteemed, award-winning broadcaster and of course the co-anchor of the Today Show. My personal favorite is when he hosts the Olympics. He's done an extraordinary job at that, not once but a few times. For years, Craig has been at the center of the biggest stories shaping our world, leading thoughtful conversations with some of the most influential figures across business, across politics, across culture. He's masterful at his craft, a curious interviewer with a remarkable ability to connect with people. Of course around here we also know Craig as a proud Westporter, notably with his restaurant in Saugatuck, The Bridge. He's a community leader. He's a philanthropist. He's a family man. His wife Lindsay is here with us this evening. There's no doubt that he will lead a terrific discussion tonight with this year's innovator of the year.

Which of course brings me to the reason or one of the reasons I should say, ladies, that was such an impressive presentation. One of the reasons we're all here tonight, which is that last year as Craig mentioned I had the privilege of standing here to receive the innovator of the year award. And this evening, it is my distinct pleasure to introduce a man who's really out of central casting for this honor, Marc Lasry. Fresh from Paris, France. I've known Marc for more than a decade. I watched him in action, witnessing not only his extraordinary innovations come to life, but also the leadership and values that are central to those accomplishments. And watching all of that has been a true gift.

It's impossible to confuse Marc Lasry with anyone else because he has had a most singular life. He was born in Marrakesh, Morocco. And he came to the United States with his family in search of course of opportunity. The classic pursuit of the American dream. They settled in West Hartford in a very small house. But what they lacked in means, they made up for with determination, grit, and their belief in what was possible.

Marc earned academic scholarships to both college and law school. At Clark University, he somehow pulled off what I call a mind-body triumph. He became captain of the chess team and also point guard of the basketball team. Professionally, Marc didn't just succeed, he helped define an entire field when he entered the arena of business. He essentially wrote the playbook on investing in distressed debt. And he went on to co-found Avenue Capital, building it into one of the world's most respected investment firms.

I worked with him and his team while I was at Six Flags, and I can tell you firsthand, Marc has a knack for always surrounding himself with the best and the brightest. He searches for it. He recruits it. He closes it. He develops it. He nurtures it. And underneath all of that, the bedrock is truly entrepreneurship and innovation.

When he purchased the Milwaukee Bucks in 2014, his versatility and his passion were on display all the time, helping not only lead their remarkable turnaround, which culminated in an NBA title, but he revitalized downtown Milwaukee. I really encourage you, if you haven't been there as of late, put it on your calendar. And this coming from someone who grew up in Chicago.

Today, Marc oversees a broad and dynamic sports investment portfolio. It's ironic because when I got to know Marc at Six Flags, there really was no sports other than the point guard mentioned and referenced in history. There wasn't any sports in his portfolio. But quickly over time, it became women's soccer. It became minor league baseball. It's sailing and even a professional bull riders team right across the river in New York City. When Marc sets his eyes on something, he reaches that mark.

He started his first company with his sister Sonia and he continues to work alongside her today. Family has always been at the center of his journey. He's the proud father of three and he's approached both his personal and his professional life in a way that reflects his values. Marc has long believed that success and responsibility are absolutely inseparable and he puts that principle into action every single day. Advancing education, supporting medical institutions, and investing in future generations, not to mention the town he resides in, Westport, Connecticut. So, yes, Marc Lasry is an outstanding innovator, clearly worthy of tonight's award, but he's also one of the most grounded, honest, and impressive people you will ever meet. He's bold. He's daring. He takes chances. He puts his money where his mouth is. Please join me in welcoming this year's Innovator of the Year recipient, my good friend, Marc Lasry.

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Marc Lasry43:04

That was a hell of an introduction. My god. You're not dying, are you? No, I'm good. Good. All right. My wife's here. She heard the whole thing. It was good. Thank you, Mark Shapiro. Thank you. Thank you so much. Especially considering I know you've got to catch a flight here in a little bit. And a big thanks to all of you for being here on a school night in Westport, Connecticut at this beautiful library that is so much more than that. Every time we come, we're just gobsmacked by it. My 12-year-old and my nine-year-old, they grew up in this library when it was not this library. And my mother, who's with me tonight, she came in today, she's like, 'Oh my god, they really, they've really, this is so much nicer than it was.' She hasn't been here in a while. My parents are in from South Carolina, my mom and my dad. They came in on Saturday, and in the span of three days, we've dragged them to two travel basketball games, a three-hour dance recital, a two-hour piano recital, and now this. So it may be sometime before they come back. So, thanks, Mom and Dad.

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Craig Melvin44:19

And thank you Marc Lasry for being here tonight and for being just such an example to so many in so many different ways. Not just a fantastic businessman but a wonderful family man as well and is someone who enjoys men's fashion. I looked down at your shoes about 10 minutes ago. I was like I've got the same damn pair of Zegnas. I was like Mitchell. He's like yeah Mitchell's. Bill Mitchell here. Bill was here earlier and I want someone to tell him that I gave him the obligatory shout out contractually to continue to receive my discount. I have to acknowledge Mitchell's in every public appearance.

Let's talk about you. Marc and I chatted on the phone briefly this afternoon and you can tell a lot about a man by what he mentions first in a conversation with someone he's never talked to. And one of the first things that Marc mentioned to me, didn't talk about all the money that he's made, didn't talk about all the success, he didn't talk about his bull riding team in New York. He mentioned his kids and his wife, the five kids, 14 grandchildren. That's the, yeah, that's by the way, just to be clear, five kids is pretty impressive. 14 grandkids. He really didn't have a hand in it. But yes, it's a blessing nonetheless. But I don't think a lot of folks fully appreciate your backstory, how you started, not just the fact that you were born in Morocco, but the circumstances into which you were born. Let's start from the beginning.

M

Marc Lasry45:56

Sure. First, thank you for the Westport Library. Thank you, Cliff. Marc, I'm going to have you introduce me every time. I thought it was great, you know. No, I'm serious. Like I'm just, you're going to come with me wherever we go. I want to thank Jimmy for being here. I know you were the first person to be honored. And I always worry following actually for the previous honorees. You guys were great and I thought what you're doing is fabulous. I think for me it's a little bit of what Marc said. You know, I was born in Morocco and my mom was a big believer that we needed to come to the United States and we, my father was not. He was a big believer since he didn't speak the language, we should go to Paris and France because we all spoke French. So, we went to France. We stayed there six months and then my mother won obviously. So we came and we grew up in West Hartford in a very small house.

Hartford and my mom was pretty simple. She became a teacher and she just said, look, we can't afford for you to go to college. So I went to public school and you have to get a scholarship. And she goes, look, it's easy, if you don't get a scholarship you can't live here. So, no, I know she loved me. It was true love. But it was tough love. And I went to Clark, I met my wife. We met first day of school. We've been married 42 years.

C

Craig Melvin47:44

Wow.

M

Marc Lasry47:44

I think it's the best 42 years she's ever had.

C

Craig Melvin47:51

Children. You're a child bride.

M

Marc Lasry47:54

Yeah. And same thing. Went to law school and got involved. I started as a bankruptcy lawyer. I thought I'd be a physics professor. Basketball was something I wanted to do. A lack of talent stopped me. I don't know why. They don't make that many great Jewish basketball players.

C

Craig Melvin48:19

We're trying, man. We're trying.

M

Marc Lasry48:21

Height and skill is a problem. And then I got involved in bankruptcy. I practiced for one solid year, got out and got involved on the investment side and was pretty good at it and that was it.

C

Craig Melvin48:39

Yeah, that's, yeah, pretty good at it. That was it. But you also, you clerked at one point for a bankruptcy judge. How instrumental was that in terms of the...

M

Marc Lasry48:52

It was, I got a clerkship, I got the highest grade in the class and that teacher was best friends with the judge. So, I got the bankruptcy clerkship because of that. You get offers to go work at every bankruptcy firm and I worked at a firm and then an investment firm that was specializing in that said income. I was making 30,000 a year. They offered me 50,000. We had our first child. Seemed like a huge amount of money. So, left and that's how I got involved on the investment side. But yeah, law was great. I would recommend it to everybody. It's a great background. It really is. It's nice. I think it was helpful. But because I was a lawyer and I could understand the law and I could do numbers pretty easily, that gave me an edge. So, I don't think without that background I would have been able to do what I did.

C

Craig Melvin49:54

What was the first job in finance?

M

Marc Lasry49:59

It was a small investment firm. I worked there for about a year. All right. So, here we'll make this interactive. I made them 25 million. This is in 1986. That's a shitload of money back then.

C

Craig Melvin50:14

It's a shitload of money now, but...

M

Marc Lasry50:15

No, back then it was a shitload. All right. What do you think my bonus was? If you make somebody $25 million, what do you think your bonus should be?

C

Craig Melvin50:26

What it should be? A half million.

M

Marc Lasry50:29

All right. What does everybody think?

A

Audience Member50:30

5,000.

M

Marc Lasry50:31

What?

A

Audience Member50:34

5 million?

M

Marc Lasry50:36

Yeah, right. 5 million. You're my guy.

A

Audience Member50:39

I'm going to come work for you.

M

Marc Lasry50:41

It's a town full of finance people clearly. I'm like, half million sounds like a lot.

A

Audience Member50:46

Yeah. 10,000.

M

Marc Lasry50:48

That was the bonus.

A

Audience Member50:50

Yeah.

M

Marc Lasry50:50

And you left the next day.

A

Audience Member50:52

Yeah.

M

Marc Lasry50:54

No, you also get the attaboy. You know, when somebody goes, 'You're so good. We love you. Next year is your year.' And I don't know, you've never heard that, right? And I got the attaboy and then I left and I went to work at a firm, Counting Company. They paid me 100,000. I made them 60% a year for about two years and I left to go to the Bass Group, the Bass Brothers, and they gave me 125 million at the time. Believe it or not, we were the largest fund in the United States at 125 million that you didn't have funds.

C

Craig Melvin51:38

What year was that?

M

Marc Lasry51:40

It was 1988. And then I ended up, I did it for two years, we did about 30% a year and then when I was 30 years old I left and I made about $10 million. So, gave half of it, my wife and I put away. The other half I invested and we sort of doubled that money every year for about five years.

C

Craig Melvin52:08

And pretty remarkable, right? Yeah. No, that's worthy of applause. Yes. Tell us about this story where at some point you decide to raise money from friends and family to start a venture. Tell that story.

M

Marc Lasry52:30

So in '95, wanted to start a fund. So we started with about 7 million and went to the Bass family and a couple people. We started with our capital and the firm grew from there. That was in 1995. By 1998 we were running I think 200 million. By 2000 we're running a billion. 2005, 10, and then by 2010 we're running 25 billion. So it grew exponentially.

C

Craig Melvin53:07

For folks who aren't familiar with precisely how it is, you've built this vast fortune and Mr. Shapiro alluded to it. Distressed debt. That's fair to say sort of always been your bailiwick.

M

Marc Lasry53:21

Yeah, you could. Problem with distressed debt is people are naturally nervous when something bad happens. So they become non-economic sellers. So...

C

Craig Melvin53:33

Explain that term for non-finance folks. Non-economic seller.

M

Marc Lasry53:36

So you sell because you have to. So you own a house and you buy the house, you're really excited and you lose your job and you have problems. So now you sell the house not because you want to sell the house but because you have to. You become non-economic. And so back then you were buying from non-economic sellers. People who would have to sell and didn't care about the price. So, you would take advantage of that. People say you took advantage of it. I say I was providing a service. I was providing liquidity. I was helping. Most people don't agree with that.

C

Craig Melvin54:19

I appreciate your candor.

M

Marc Lasry54:22

But that's what we did. So, we were, and you know, we did, look, the only way you grow is you got to do well. So we averaged like 15, 20% a year and so we made a lot of money for our investors and for ourselves.

C

Craig Melvin54:36

But you also took big swings. You took a lot of, you took big risks. As someone who's done this so long, so well, how do you know when you have enough information to act to make a decision or do you ever know?

M

Marc Lasry54:53

You don't know. I think you never know. Like, all right. Here's a simple way to look at it. You have it. What kind of phone do you have? Apple. Great. Who here owns Apple stock? All right. Great. Why do you own it? You think it's going up? Does well every year, has for 30 years. Yeah. You're not buying it to go down. No. All right. Who'd you buy it from? Somebody who thought it was going down.

C

Craig Melvin55:23

Fair. Fair point.

M

Marc Lasry55:24

Right? That person didn't go, 'You know what? Why don't you make a lot of money? I'm done. It's your turn.' Correct. Right. So, everybody you bought your stock from thought it was going down. That's all investing is. Somebody's making a decision. Right or wrong. All right. My job is I try to figure out, obviously I think I'm right. I'm not right all the time. I just got to be right most of the time. Like look, in 2008 we were running 20 billion. We lost $5 billion that year.

C

Craig Melvin56:02

You said billion.

M

Marc Lasry56:03

Billion.

C

Craig Melvin56:03

That was it. For those of you who missed it, that was with the B. Yes.

M

Marc Lasry56:07

All right. I think I lost 10, 15 pounds. I couldn't eat. Everything you bought was going down. Made no difference. I remember once we did, I've told this story before, but has anybody heard of a company called Ford? Right there. They make cars, trucks. All right. Ford started at par which was 100 cents. We started buying it at 80, kept going down 70, 60, 50. We had 500 million. So imagine losing, you know, hundreds of millions of dollars. And I remember the analyst, you know, we sit on a trading floor and the analyst and the trader go, 'Hey, there's another hundred million for sale.' I was like, 'I don't care. I don't want to buy it.' And the analyst goes, 'No, no, you know, you got to love what young analyst.' They're like, 'No, Mark, it's great.' I'm like, 'Shut up. I've already lost a shitload of money. I don't care what you say.' And he goes, 'No, no, Mark. It's really good.' I'm like, 'Okay, I don't want to look at you.' And the trader goes, 'What do you want me to do?' I'm like, 'I don't want to buy it.' And he goes, 'Well, we're sort of obligated. We've been talking.' I'm like, 'All right, just give him a stupid bid. Give him a bid of 30.' He goes, 'You won't hit it.' I go, 'I don't care. We bid 30.' You look at the trader and he goes, 'Okay, thank you.' And I said, 'Why are you thanking him?' He goes, 'We just bought it.' Oh, boy. Okay. So the problem with just buying that is on your 500 million, you got to mark it down 20 points. So I just lost 100 million buying a hundred million of something. And yeah, the analyst, last week loves analysts. He goes, 'Ah, that's great.' I go, 'You're fired.' He goes, 'No, no, Mark. It's great.' I go, 'No, no, seriously, you're fired.' He goes, 'Really?' I go, 'Yeah, yeah.' And you know, whatever. He gets up, goes to the bathroom, throws up, comes back, and goes, 'You're kidding, I hope.' I go, 'Yes, I'm kidding. Just I never want to see you again.' And that's what it was. Now, the guy who sold obviously thought it was going lower.

C

Craig Melvin58:35

Yeah.

M

Marc Lasry58:37

All right. So the following year, so we lost whatever five billion, which was huge. And investors would call you up and say, 'Whatever you do, do not invest.' I go, 'Okay, why not?' They go, 'Cuz everything's going down.' I'm like, 'Right, that's when you should buy.' Like, 'No.' I didn't listen. So the following year we're up 66%. So we did great. And then I made enough money to buy the Milwaukee Bucks.

C

Craig Melvin59:07

Did you always want to, there's some Bucks fans here. Did you always want to own a pro sports team?

M

Marc Lasry59:14

Yeah.

C

Craig Melvin59:16

Don't you?

M

Marc Lasry59:17

Well, I mean, yes. My wife certainly would, but...

C

Craig Melvin59:20

From what age? Like from when you were a kid or when you just started making...

M

Marc Lasry59:24

When you realized you couldn't be on the team. That's when you figure I'll buy a team and then I'll try to get on the team and then the NBA tells you you can't. So you're like, really? But I got to play in the celebrity all-star game.

C

Craig Melvin59:41

I would imagine so.

M

Marc Lasry59:42

Yeah.

C

Craig Melvin59:43

Helps when you own the arena.

M

Marc Lasry59:45

Yes. Yeah. But you'll like this. So does everybody know who Mark Cuban is? Right. So Cuban, Mark and I are playing against each other. So I go to him and say, 'Listen, it's on national TV. Whatever you do, I'll cover you. You cover me. I'll let you score. You let me score. That way we look good.' Right. Doesn't that make sense? Yeah. You know what he says? No. Literally goes, 'No, game on.' Like, you know, real serious. And I'm like, 'Really?' And so his coach, the celebrity coach was Draymond Green.

C

Craig Melvin1:00:29

Okay.

M

Marc Lasry1:00:31

And I, you know, it's 8-minute quarter. So Mark and I come in for the first four minutes. We come off. Then the second quarter starts and I come in a little bit earlier and I look at Draymond who's there and I'm like, 'Hey, heads up. I was talking to Cuban. He says you're the worst player in the NBA.' That was all he needed. And he goes, 'What do you mean?' I'm like, 'I don't know.' He says, 'Like, you're really overrated.' I was sticking up for you, man, but he doesn't like you. He didn't play the rest of the game. I scored nine points. It's on YouTube. You shouldn't miss it. And you know afterwards Mark's like, 'You know what happened? Like Draymond didn't play him.' I'm like, 'Yeah, I told him you said he sucked.' Game on. Whatever. That was Mark.

C

Craig Melvin1:01:31

Along those lines, before we get back to your career, Wednesday night, Knicks-Spurs, game one. Who do we like in the series?

M

Marc Lasry1:01:41

Um, come on. No, it's going to be a tough series. I mean, look, normally the best player on the court, their team should win, that's Wembanyama. But Knicks are playing great.

C

Craig Melvin1:01:55

Yeah, good answer.

M

Marc Lasry1:01:57

Yeah.

C

Craig Melvin1:02:00

But if you were investing, if you're betting on the game...

M

Marc Lasry1:02:04

I'd bet on the Spurs.

C

Craig Melvin1:02:05

Yeah.

M

Marc Lasry1:02:09

There's the door, buddy. There's the door.

C

Craig Melvin1:02:13

Okay. Well, seven at least. That's good for ABC and ESPN. You're welcome, Jimmy. You're welcome. That was just for you. Speaking of Jimmy and ESPN, my wife Lindsay's here tonight, who worked there for a number of years, and we came to Westport 15 years ago before we had kids. And we came because she was going to Bristol. I was going into the city. The town was equidistant. We didn't know anybody. Everyone was in finance. We felt really out of place for a long time until we found our tribe. How did you land here in Westport?

M

Marc Lasry1:02:46

So my parents lived in Hartford. Kathy's sister Cindy and my brother-in-law Allan lived here in Westport. And we were going between Greenwich and Westport. Our kids are the same age, so we figured closer to my parents. Kathy's sister's here. Yeah. So, we picked Westport and it turned out to be great.

C

Craig Melvin1:03:12

The rest is history. Let's get back to the business for a second here because you've been in the game for a long time. In terms of the ways in which it has changed and I want to talk specifically about AI and artificial intelligence in just a moment. But going back to your early days in the 80s, talk to me about guiding principles then and some of the philosophies that would lead to success back then versus philosophies now and how they're different or are they different?

M

Marc Lasry1:03:45

I don't think it is. I think look, investing is all about you're making a bet on the information that you have and it's how you process that information, right? You bought Apple for whatever reasons and I buy things for whatever reasons, but we all have the same information. I process it differently and for whatever reason that works.

C

Craig Melvin1:04:13

How do you process it? How so? You get information from one of your well-regarded analysts and you take that information and you do what with it?

M

Marc Lasry1:04:25

I try to simplify things. I try to understand, okay, what is the company really making? What is it paying out in interest? What's the debt? What's the likelihood of it repaying? Because you're always buying something at a discount, right? So whenever you buy something at a discount, it's because there's a belief that things can go wrong or things can go right. And for me, I always look just at liquidation values. I look at what if everything goes wrong, am I okay? I'm not trying to hit home runs like AI or anybody who's investing in the markets hitting home runs. All I try to do is if I can make 15%, 20%. You know, you do that over a long time, it adds up. So, we're trying to hit singles and doubles. So, if I buy something at 60, I don't care if I don't make money. I just don't want to lose money. That's the difference. You're buying something and you're buying it because you say, 'I'm going to buy it for a dollar and I hope it's worth five.' Right? I don't think I've ever been to a cocktail party where seems like everybody you talk to. So they go, 'Oh, you're in the investment world.' I go, 'Yes.' They go, 'You know, I bought something for a dollar and I made 10 times my money.' I'm like, 'Wow, that's fabulous. Have you ever lost money?' They go, 'No, no.' I'm like, 'Okay, it's fair.' No, right. I mean, there, I've never met people, you know, in the investment world, you people lose money, right? But at cocktail parties, nobody loses. No one's ever lost. No. It's like when you talk to someone who's been in a car accident and you've never talked to someone who's like, 'It was my fault.' Everyone's always like, 'It was, you won't believe what they did. It's horrible.' Yeah. No, it's a fair point.

C

Craig Melvin1:06:12

Let's talk about AI for a moment. Do you think this is a movement? Do you think it's a moment? Do you think we're on the cusp of a bubble? What say you, Mark?

M

Marc Lasry1:06:25

Well, all right. There's a company SpaceX makes I think 20 billion. It's going to get valued at 1.8 trillion. So it's trading at greater than 100 times. Doesn't make sense to me, you know. So I think all these valuations are way too high. Doesn't mean they're not going to go higher, but they'll come back and they always will come back. And I think if you look at the internet, yes, I said it again. You know, my wife loves it. You know, we're at dinner with the kids. I go, you know, before the internet. And like, you know, your kids look at you go, 'What are you talking about? The internet's always been here.' Like, 'No, no, before.'

C

Craig Melvin1:07:23

No, no, no. I remember too.

M

Marc Lasry1:07:25

Right. Before the internet, you didn't know there was this company called Yahoo, right? There was Ask Jeeves. There was all these companies. Do you remember these?

C

Craig Melvin1:07:36

Earthlink, right? Yeah. See, everybody... Yeah. Yeah. Who invested in those? No, everybody did Google, right?

M

Marc Lasry1:07:48

You got Google was this little company. Yeah. Yahoo was supposed to win. There was this other company. You may have heard of it. AOL.

C

Craig Melvin1:07:54

Yeah.

M

Marc Lasry1:07:55

Remember AOL? And AOL was the leader.

C

Craig Melvin1:07:59

Yeah. It was the leader. Where are they?

M

Marc Lasry1:08:02

They're out. So, yes, there's going to be three or four companies that are going to dominate. It looks like Anthropic should be one. Maybe OpenAI, but I don't know. It's not my world. I'll wait. Like people have problems. I'll wait.

C

Craig Melvin1:08:21

That serves you well, that philosophy.

M

Marc Lasry1:08:23

I don't know. What's the harm?

C

Craig Melvin1:08:24

What are you incorporating AI into your strategies now? Developing those strategies or...

M

Marc Lasry1:08:33

No, no, we use it. You use it for research. You use it for what it's really good at. It's not, you don't need AI to make your decision. AI will help you in making a decision. I think the analysts use it a ton. But I think it's how you use it, but I'm a big believer that, you know, ultimately you're going to make a decision, I make a decision, right? Can AI replace you? No.

C

Craig Melvin1:09:04

You don't think so?

M

Marc Lasry1:09:06

No, I don't think...

C

Craig Melvin1:09:07

You don't see it as an existential threat, too.

M

Marc Lasry1:09:10

No, I see it as a, it'll do a lot of jobs, yes. But is anybody here going to watch two robots play basketball? No. Are you going to want to see a robot sing? No. Right. So, it's, there's things AI is great at, but I think for the most part, it's why sports is such a big industry and why more people are doing because AI can't replace it. It's why music, right? Your business, same thing. Like, you can't replace it yet.

C

Craig Melvin1:09:45

Yeah. Fingers crossed. Just signed a new contract. As you look back on your career, and we should note you're still very young, but as...

M

Marc Lasry1:10:00

Why are we laughing? He's very...

C

Craig Melvin1:10:02

We talked about this early. He's very young. He's in his early 60s. When you look back on your career so far, what are some of the biggest lessons that you've learned and you've been able to take with you?

M

Marc Lasry1:10:16

I think Cliff spoke about it earlier. You have to make mistakes. Like, we all make mistakes. You got to learn from your mistakes. It's scary to lose money, right? It's scary to feel like you're going to lose your job, you're going to do, you know, we all have pressures. I think you try to learn and I think in my career, I made a ton of mistakes. None of them were fatal.

C

Craig Melvin1:10:52

Biggest professional mistake.

M

Marc Lasry1:10:55

We invested in an energy company where we were totally wrong and we lost probably 80%. So we lost close to, you know, in all our different funds, it was close to, you know, half a billion dollars. It was a lot. And in retrospect, you see what you did wrong at the time. I think we see when we lose money, it's 'we.' When we made money, it's 'I.' When we made money, it's me. But you see the things that you missed and you try going forward, okay, you're a little bit more gun-shy and that's fine. What I love is everybody who's like, you know, 30 comes in and like they haven't really lost money yet. So, they're like, 'Oh, we got to buy this. We got to buy this.' You're like, 'I understand, but it could go down.' No, no, Mark, you don't understand. I go, 'Really? How much have you lost?' But yeah, that's how it is.

C

Craig Melvin1:12:08

This is a sure thing, Mr. Lasry. It's a sure thing. Let's talk about the sports portfolio for a second here. Bring us up to speed on exactly what's in the sports portfolio. Where are we on that?

M

Marc Lasry1:12:20

Okay. I think you have a video. Is that...

C

Craig Melvin1:12:23

Do we have a video?

M

Marc Lasry1:12:25

We have a video.

C

Craig Melvin1:12:26

That'll do it.

N

Narrator1:12:29

It's over. The Bucks have done it. The long wait has ended. After a half century, the Milwaukee Bucks are NBA champions once again. One of the greatest nights in Milwaukee sports history ends with a coronation.

And ladies and gentlemen, the 2021 NBA champion, your Milwaukee Bucks.

The silver-tongued devil.

C

Craig Melvin1:13:07

Oh, Mr. Matthew McConaughey.

M

Marc Lasry1:13:08

Oh, man. Can we travel together? I love this introduction.

N

Narrator1:13:20

Mavericks just keep moving on up. Now the first team to have wins in both NASCAR victory lane. My goodness.

A rookie record. That's SVG's fifth win of the season. Your rookie of the year. Here we go. First top one in TGL history.

And now on they come. They get knocked down but they get up again. Ipswich respond to the heartache, the indignity of relegation with instant promotion.

Henderson again out into the night.

Where is it going to land? It's Gale who scores and Crystal Palace win it.

And they are all stripes are out in front. Yeah, great positioning by the USGP team.

You can't have one member of that team not doing 100%. It is going to be epic.

C

Craig Melvin1:15:05

That's a hell of a hype video.

M

Marc Lasry1:15:07

Yeah, it's good, right? I didn't even know we had that. Just had that in your back pocket, huh?

C

Craig Melvin1:15:15

Just take it right out.

M

Marc Lasry1:15:16

Yeah. You know what's funny? We always, you got to show like, you know, when you win an NBA championship, it's actually really cool. And you get to lift the trophy. So that night somehow you get a thousand text messages, right? I don't even know how people got my phone number, but you get a phone call from this first time I ever had in my life call from President Obama calling and congratulating, President Biden inviting you to the White House and then President Clinton. He's the best. Yeah, there he is. I do his voice, so I love doing it. I go, 'Mark, I just want you to know, congratulations. And by the way, you're a great American. I'm really proud of you.'

C

Craig Melvin1:16:03

That's a great Clinton, by the way.

M

Marc Lasry1:16:05

I'm good.

C

Craig Melvin1:16:06

That's a really good Clinton.

M

Marc Lasry1:16:08

That's him.

C

Craig Melvin1:16:08

I mean, it's the sports play right now. Obviously, I'm sure it's driven by profit, but I would imagine there is a part of it that's also driven by this desire to unite and unite in a time where there are so many different things that divide us. How much joy has the sports brought you over the years?

M

Marc Lasry1:16:33

No, it's great, but you want to make money.

C

Craig Melvin1:16:37

I love again, I love your candor.

M

Marc Lasry1:16:41

Like, all right, here we'll make it interactive. So why did we buy a sailing team? Why did we buy a bull riding team? All right. Do you know how many people watch an average NBA game? How many people? What do you think on ABC or NBC? It's a joke, Jimmy. It's a joke. It's a joke.

C

Craig Melvin1:17:00

It's about a million and a half.

M

Marc Lasry1:17:02

Yeah. All right. Baseball, a million. Hockey's half a million. Yeah. Sounds better. Right. Do you know how many people though...

C

Craig Melvin1:17:09

NFL is 25 million?

M

Marc Lasry1:17:10

Yeah. Do you know how many people live in this country? 350 million Americans. So less than 1% of the population is watching baseball, basketball, and hockey combined on an average. Just average, not the playoffs. All right. How many people do you think watch sailing? Who here sails? Raise your hand. All right. How many people watch SailGP on TV? All right. Do you know what the ratings are for that? There's like five. There was like 10 people, right? All right. How many people watch basketball TV? Raise your hands. All right. A lot more. There's two million Americans who watch SailGP.

C

Craig Melvin1:17:50

But the demo.

M

Marc Lasry1:17:52

What?

C

Craig Melvin1:17:52

But the demo.

M

Marc Lasry1:17:54

It's the demo. Yeah. It's a lot. And that's what I'm saying. It's bull riding is a million two more than baseball. A million two on bull riding. I actually...

C

Craig Melvin1:18:07

They're in Texas. Don't worry about it.

M

Marc Lasry1:18:10

Wow.

C

Craig Melvin1:18:11

But it still counts.

M

Marc Lasry1:18:12

Oh yeah. Still a million two. America. They're American. Yeah. Wyoming. I mean, there's a lot of states. We bought the New York Mavericks. Like people actually show up in New York. Like I bring my granddaughters. They got their little hats, their little cowboy boots.

C

Craig Melvin1:18:30

People love sports.

M

Marc Lasry1:18:32

Yes. Right. Everything we've bought, you know, Mark owns PBR or the company he's with owns PBR. We bought team for 20 million. They're now...

C

Craig Melvin1:18:45

Professional bull riding.

M

Marc Lasry1:18:46

Yeah. Professional bull riding. They now are going for 50 million. We bought sailing for 60 million. It's now 120 to 150. The golf league, TGL, bought that for 35 million. They just sold a team for 100 million. These things are growing because people want to be involved in it. It is what you're saying. Ipswich, who's heard of Ipswich?

C

Craig Melvin1:19:12

Oh, wow.

M

Marc Lasry1:19:13

Yeah. It's having a moment. All right. So, Ipswich, you know, is in the Championship League. They just got promoted to the Premier League.

C

Craig Melvin1:19:22

Yes.

M

Marc Lasry1:19:22

All right. So, the value of that team's going to go through the roof. It's the one thing. It's what we talked about, AI can't replace it and people, you saw it in COVID, you know, so whoever had COVID, I apologize. But think about COVID, all right, during COVID you couldn't even go to the office. If you went to the office, what happened? Everybody was like sitting, you know, you got to be wearing a mask in the office, you got to, don't come near me in the office.

C

Craig Melvin1:19:58

Six feet away.

M

Marc Lasry1:19:59

Six feet away. Then you'd go to a game. The same people in the office who couldn't come to the office. They're at a game and they're like, 'Oh, my brother. I love you.' They're hugging somebody they don't even know. Nobody goes, 'Do you have COVID?' Okay. Give me a hug.

C

Craig Melvin1:20:18

Right. Didn't care. So sports you found actually brought people together.

M

Marc Lasry1:20:22

Yeah.

C

Craig Melvin1:20:23

And that was the big change. And I think that's why sports has taken off since then. And you see this increase continuing, popularity continuing.

M

Marc Lasry1:20:35

Well, you know why? All right. So, for those of you...

C

Craig Melvin1:20:39

Gambling.

M

Marc Lasry1:20:41

That's one of it. Yeah. So, gambling is because people want to watch. Sure. But here's the biggest reason. So, Jimmy's here and he will attest to this. So when you and I grew up, you worked five, six days a week at a minimum and on Sunday you rested.

C

Craig Melvin1:20:59

Correct.

M

Marc Lasry1:21:00

Right. And for your parents, it was a minimum of six days. Right. We all were working six days a week.

C

Craig Melvin1:21:06

Yep.

M

Marc Lasry1:21:07

All right. This generation. How many? Three. Maybe four. All right. Maybe max four. Yeah. Right. Everybody's, well, it's, I work from home on Fridays.

C

Craig Melvin1:21:22

Correct.

M

Marc Lasry1:21:23

Right. And which you'll see him on the golf course. But what does that really mean? What it means is we all have literally more free time.

C

Craig Melvin1:21:33

Yeah.

M

Marc Lasry1:21:34

And what are you watching? So if I said to you, you're going to have 100% to 200% more free time because it was one day. Now it's two or three days.

C

Craig Melvin1:21:44

That's a really good point.

M

Marc Lasry1:21:45

Think of it that way. That's why all this stuff is taking off because we have more free time. And what does everybody do? This thing called fantasy league. Does anybody in a fantasy league?

C

Craig Melvin1:21:55

Oh jeez. Like three or four.

M

Marc Lasry1:21:56

Yeah. I mean, who has the time?

C

Craig Melvin1:22:01

I'm not the only one. By the way, there are a couple folks in the room that are in leagues with me, so I'll call you out.

M

Marc Lasry1:22:08

No, but that's what it is.

C

Craig Melvin1:22:11

Yeah. So, that's what's changed. It is also that sense of belonging like everyone wants to belong to something, any sort of community these days especially. We got the little red light here. You're a busy guy. I've got an early morning. We'll do just a few more minutes really quickly here. What's one thing that you haven't done yet that you still want to do?

M

Marc Lasry1:22:36

Play professional tennis.

C

Craig Melvin1:22:40

Mark, I got to be honest with you, buddy. I think that may have sailed. I think besides playing a professional sport.

M

Marc Lasry1:22:51

I like meeting, I love meeting interesting people. I really do. I think you get to a stage where your curiosity about life, you want to meet people. My wife will tell you, you know, if somebody invites me somewhere, I'm like, 'Yeah, sounds like a great idea. I'll go.' Because I think you always want to keep learning. So, I love that. And like, you've got a great job because you're always meeting people and afterwards you'll go, 'Wow, much more interesting than I thought.' Or, 'Wow, so boring. What am I doing with that person? Thank god that interview's over.' 50/50, right? No, but that's what, and I think that's what makes the job and what makes what I do interesting. I love doing that and that's why you sort of don't want to stop working.

C

Craig Melvin1:23:47

You're not slowing down. Doesn't sound like you're slowing down at all.

M

Marc Lasry1:23:49

No, it'd be boring.

C

Craig Melvin1:23:51

Are you one of those people that will never retire? Like they'll just wheel you out of the office or at some point...

M

Marc Lasry1:23:56

I think we're all going to be forced to slow down sooner or later and sort of life will dictate it and when it does, it does.

C

Craig Melvin1:24:06

When that does happen, what do you want friends and family to say about Marc Lasry? What do you want them to say about the life that you've lived?

M

Marc Lasry1:24:16

You know, that you led a good life, that you did the right thing, that you built a family. I think hopefully we'll have four more grandchildren and I'll have, you know, I'd like to be around to see my grandchildren have kids.

C

Craig Melvin1:24:34

Great-grandchildren.

M

Marc Lasry1:24:35

Yeah. I think it'd be kind of cool. You know, I do all this longevity stuff. Do you, does anybody do that?

C

Craig Melvin1:24:41

Oh, yeah. All the things.

M

Marc Lasry1:24:43

Yeah. Do you take the pills?

C

Craig Melvin1:24:44

All the pills.

M

Marc Lasry1:24:45

I love Instagram. It's like, oh, do this one.

C

Craig Melvin1:24:49

Red light therapy.

M

Marc Lasry1:24:51

Yeah. You do everything. Rio.

C

Craig Melvin1:24:53

Yeah, I think I'll...

M

Marc Lasry1:24:54

Cold plunge.

C

Craig Melvin1:24:55

That's cold though.

M

Marc Lasry1:24:56

It is. It is.

C

Craig Melvin1:24:57

I can't do the cold plunge. I did it once. It was like, ah...

M

Marc Lasry1:25:00

The shrinkage, Jerry. The shrinkage. So, all right. So, you have the same, we have the same issues.

C

Craig Melvin1:25:12

All right. Well, it's about 8:15. Seems like that might be what you... You got anything else you want to add, Mark?

M

Marc Lasry1:25:19

No. Yeah. Congratulations. It's well-deserved. Here's the thing. We talked today for the first time. Your reputation precedes you and folks who've spent any time with you, they all say the same thing. You have always been very generous with your time, with your resources and with your intellect as well. So, thank you for being such a fantastic Westporter. And as someone said during the cocktail hour earlier, you probably should have gotten the award sooner, but better late than never. Congratulations. Thank you.

C

Craig Melvin1:26:02

All right. Hey guys, if you could just hang out for just a quick minute. That was incredible. Thank you so much. All right. A round of applause. A couple thank yous. First to Cara Curtis who was instrumental in making tonight happen from Startup Westport. Thank you so much. To Tom Fichet from Mark's team. Thank you so much for making it all happen. All right, I'm going to ask the Startup Westport board to come up before we present, to present Mark with the trophy for tonight. So, Noah Fenn, Susan Fenn, Mike Minahan, Dave Alman, Dan Pell, Cara Curtis, Jay Norris, Callum Innes, and Vanni Nambodari. Hopefully, I got everybody. If there's anyone I missed, please come up. Again, to both of you, thank you so much. Incredible. Also, a shout out to Craig's parents. Thank you for coming. That's so nice of you. So kind. And we're going to let Craig give you an early wakeup call tomorrow morning. Thank you so much. We appreciate everything. And wait, wait, Craig, before you go, little gift from us. So, thank you. All right, Mark. And oh, hang on, hang on.

M

Marc Lasry1:27:29

Oh, there's more. There's more. Okay, Mark. This is the Innovator of the Year 2026 trophy. We appreciate you sharing your evening with us, Cindy. Great to see you. Your wife, thank you so much. It was an amazing evening. Thank you. Here you go.

C

Craig Melvin1:27:49

Thank you.

M

Marc Lasry1:27:57

Mark, you stay for a quick question. Do you want to say a quick thank you or...

C

Craig Melvin1:28:08

Um, one thank you and as I said earlier, I want to thank the library. I want to thank Westport Innovators. It's actually way too kind. I want to thank you guys for everything you're doing because in all seriousness, I think when we all get started, we all need help and that's sort of one of the things I learned. I think when you spoke about it, when you spoke about it, having a mentor is actually a really big deal. I had one who helped me a tremendous amount, David Bonderman, who's no longer here, but I wouldn't be where I am but for his help and things he did. So I just want to, it's actually very nice. I love this community. I love Connecticut. I think when Dan O'Keefe spoke earlier when we were trying to do the Connecticut Sun, that was probably one of the few things I was doing where I wasn't going to make any money. And it was really to try to keep the team here in Connecticut because I wouldn't be where I am but for the fact of what the city and the state has done for us. So, thank you for everything. And it means a lot.

All right, I'll keep this short and sweet. Thank you all so much for coming. We're going to put a QR code up because we are a non-for-profit volunteer-based organization that if you feel so inclined to donate, we appreciate the support in advance. And to further encourage you, we're having an afterparty at Nomad so we can continue the celebrations, continue the opportunity for you to get to know the members of Startup Westport of the volunteers here. And thank you, and we look forward to the next year's Innovator of the Year award.

StartUp Westport's: Innovator of the Year 2026: Marc Lasry, CEO of Avenue Capital Group

About Marc Lasry