"Everyone Is Trying To Learn About Energy So They Can Get Hired" Featuring Ray Zage and Shon Hiatt, USC

We are back on the road this week for an insightful visit with Ray Zage, CEO of Tiga Investments, and Shon Hiatt, Director of the Zage Business of Energy Initiative and Associate Professor of Business Administration at the University of Southern California. Ray is a seasoned global investor who has led Tiga since 2017. He began his career at Goldman Sachs and has held roles in Singapore, New York, and Los Angeles. He serves on multiple boards and also advises early-stage technology ventures. Shon joined the USC Marshall School of Business from Harvard in 2014 and is also a Distinguished Fellow at the Hamm Institute for American Energy. His research focuses on entrepreneurship, global strategy, innovation and sustainability. This week, USC is hosting its annual Energy Business Summit (details here). We were delighted to spend time with Ray and Shon to hear their perspectives on today’s evolving academic and energy landscape.
 
In our conversation, we discuss the Zage Business of Energy Initiative and its mission to build a pipeline of future energy leaders equipped to develop practical investment approaches and spark innovation and entrepreneurship across industries. Shon reflects on his research in Europe, noting parallels with California’s energy challenges, and Ray shares his motivation to support broader, more objective research in energy beyond just “cleanliness,” shaped in part by his experiences across Asia and his perspective on long-term, balanced energy policy. We explore the history of energy at USC, California’s refining and energy policy challenges, lessons from Asia, China, and Singapore’s long-term planning, the growing energy needs of data centers in Asia versus the U.S., and the strategic positioning of countries like Singapore. We touch on the USC Energy Business Summit and its lineup of topics from energy storage and renewables, nuclear energy, and AI and energy demand, as well as the growing interest among students in pursuing energy careers. We address global electricity demand trends, energy affordability in emerging economies, the impacts of geopolitical instability on energy security, China’s energy strategy, the global competition for raw materials, nuclear power developments, Silicon Valley’s growing embrace of nuclear and natural gas, the need for durable laws to support long-term energy investment, and more. We greatly enjoyed the discussion and appreciate Shon and Ray for joining.
 
Mike Bradley kicked us off by noting that markets were largely focused this week on the impending U.S. government shutdown. Over the past 50 years, there have been 21 shutdowns with an average length of 7-8 days. The longest shutdown was 35 days (Dec. 2018 to Jan. 2019), which occurred during President Trump’s first term. On the bond market front, the 10-year bond yield (4.15%) was down marginally this week on the impending shutdown. Bond markets are mostly focused on employment reports this week (JOLTS Job Openings, Initial Jobless Claims and Nonfarm Payrolls) which would be delayed in a shutdown. On the broader equity market front, the S&P 500 seems to be in “no man’s land” at least until investors see the outcome and duration of this impending shutdown. On the crude oil market front, WTI price was down ~$3/bbl (~$63/bbl) this week for a couple potential reasons. Oil traders are growing concerned that OPEC+ could announce an oil production increase for November of 500kbpd (and 1.5mmbpd over the next three months) at their October 5th Meeting, which would increase the 2026 global oil surplus even further. In addition, President Trump’s Gaza Peace Plan may also be weighing a little bit on oil price because it eliminates any “perceived” war premium in oil prices. He ended by discussing the impending Fermi America IPO (FRMI). Fermi, co-founded by former Energy Secretary Rick Perry, is a planned 11 GW energy and data center c