Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir Technologies, on the short sellers claiming his company is overvalued: “They thought we were overvalued at $10, they thought it was overvalued at $20. ... I think what is going on here is market manipulation. These people claim to be ethical but they're actually shorting one of the great businesses of the world. I'm not against shorting as a matter of theory, but I'm saying pick something that is not doing a noble task.”

Jonathan Gray, president of Blackstone, on the prospect of artificial intelligence disrupting his firm’s investments: “We’re spending enormous time on both new deals and, importantly, our existing portfolio: What does AI mean for enterprise software, for service businesses handling data and for rules-based work?”

Scott Galloway, professor at the NYU Stern School of Business and author of the new book Notes on Being a Man: “Yo