Jeff Thomas (Nasdaq): The State of Public Markets in 2025

(0:00) Intro.

(1:52) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel

(2:39) Start of interview. *Reference to prior episode with Jeff (E46 from Oct 2021)

(3:42) On Nasdaq's IPOs in 2024 (180 IPOs raising $23B). Looking ahead in 2025.

(6:23) What to expect facing new Administration. Reference to Nasdaq's IPO Pulse Index.

(8:59) The three priorities for boards considering an IPO: strategic quality, risk management, and succession planning (people).

(11:14) On the ruling striking down the Nasdaq Diversity Rule

(14:27) On the political backlash against ESG and DEI in the US

(18:00) On global markets and the new geopolitical landscape. Nasdaq as "the trusted fabric of the financial markets". Reference to article by Nelson Griggs, Nasdaq President.

(22:32) On the "stay private vs go public" debate, and arguments for public listings: 1) access to capital, 2) liquidity, 3) creating an acquisition currency, and 4) having the brand and the trust of a public company.

(27:00) Private Equity backed companies going public.

(29:50) On the influence of AI in public markets and in governance.  Boardvantage's AI solutions for directors.

(35:30) Outlook for 2025.

(39:55) On direct listings and SPACs (50 SPACs on Nasdaq in 2024)

(40:36) On board education. Reference to the 3rd VC-Backed Board Academy (VCBA) on May 14, 2025, at Cooley in SF.

Jeff Thomas serves as EVP, Chief Revenue Officer, and Global Head of Listings at Nasdaq.

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Music/Soundtrack (found via Free Music Archive): Seeing The Future by Dexter Britain is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License