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About the Speaker

Ruchir Sharma is Head of Emerging Markets and Chief Global Strategist at Morgan Stanley Investment Management. He typically spends one week every month in a different country where he meets leading politicians, top CEOs and other local characters.

Sharma has been a writer for even longer than he has been an investor. He is currently a contributing opinion writer with The New York Times. His most recent book, Democracy on the Road: A 25-Year Journey through India, was released in February 2019. The Rise and Fall of Nations: Forces of Change in the Post-Crisis World, was released in June 2016 and instantly became a New York Times best seller. In 2012, his first book, Breakout Nations: In Pursuit of the Next Economic Miracles, debuted as the number one bestseller in India, and earned Sharma the Tata Literature Live! First Book Award for 2012. Breakout Nations also made the Wall Street Journal hardcover business bestseller list, and was chosen by Foreign Policy as one of its “21 Books to Read in 2012”.

Sharma started writing at the age of 17 for India’s largest economic daily, The Economic Times and his writings have been frequently published in The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times and The Times of India. His essays have also appeared in Foreign Affairs, Time, Washington Post, Foreign Policy, Forbes and Bloomberg View. For much of the last decade he had been a contributing editor with Newsweek, where he wrote a regular column titled ‘Global Investor’.

Bloomberg named Sharma one of the top 50 Most Influential people in the world in October 2015. In 2012, Sharma was selected as one of the top global thinkers by Foreign Policy magazine and in June 2013, India’s premier weekly magazine Outlook named Sharma as one of The World’s 25 Smartest Indians. The World Economic Forum in Davos selected him as one of the world’s “Top Young Leaders” in 2007. GQ India also named Sharma the Global Indian of the Year in 2016.

Sharma is especially passionate about politics and has formed an informal group of senior Indian editors with whom he travels extensively before every major state or national election; usually logging in over 1,000 miles over 4-5 days, meeting with the nation’s top leaders and getting a first-hand feel of local politics. He arranged the first trip with three journalist friends in 1998 and has since nurtured it into a much sought-after ritual with 20 regular fellow travelers.

Sharma’s other interests include athletics and a serious commitment to running. Despite his extensive travels, he tries not to miss a single day of training no matter where he is in the world. He regularly trains with his former Olympics coach and competes in sprinting events. In 2011, he represented India in the World Masters Athletic championship in Sacramento. Sharma also has a keen interest in wildlife and in international cinema and makes it a point to attend major film festivals anytime he can find a moment from his investing, writing and running.