Zachary Karabell

Zachary Karabell is the founder of the Progress Network at New America, president of River Twice Capital, an investor in Shakespeare & Co. bookstores and other small businesses, and the majority owner of Mine Hill Distillery. He is also the host of the podcast “What Could Go Right?” and an author and columnist. Previously, he was Head of Global Strategies at Envestnet, a publicly traded financial services firm. Prior to that, he was President of Fred Alger & Company.

Educated at Columbia, Oxford and Harvard, where he received his Ph.D., Karabell has written widely on history, economics and international relations. His most recent book, Inside Money: Brown Brothers Harriman and the American Way of Power, was published by Penguin Press in May of 2021, and his last book was The Leading Indicators: A Short History of the Numbers That Rule Our World. His is currently writing a global history of corn. He is the author of eleven previous books. He is the chairman of the Institute of Global Affairs at the Eurasia Group, and he sits on the board of New America, Heyday Books and PEN America. Once upon a time, in 2003, the World Economic Forum designated him a “Global Leader for Tomorrow.”

As a commentator, Karabell is a regular columnist for Time and Contributing Editor for Politico. Previously he wrote “The Edgy Optimist” column for Slate, Reuters, and The Atlantic. He has been a commentator on CNBC, Fox Business and MSNBC. He also contributes to such publications as The New York Times, The Washington Post, Wired, The Guardian, The Daily Beast, The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, Foreign Policy and Foreign Affairs. He joined the PEN America Board in 2016.