(0:00) Intro

(1:43) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel

(2:29) Start of interview

(3:11) Ben's origin story

(9:39) His start at Cravath in 2010

(10:54) His time at the U.S. Treasury Department and the White House. 

(15:04) About CFIUS.  Reforms from FIRRMA (2018). Control transactions and minority investments in critical technologies, critical infrastructure, or sensitive personal data.

(24:45) Trends in transaction reviews. CFIUS Annual Report to Congress – CY 2023

(30:00) Presidential prohibitions under CFIUS. 

(32:23) CFIUS and crypto.

(34:02) The TikTok case.

(36:14) Restrictions on outbound investments in China: AI, semiconductors, and quantum computing.

(42:13) De-risking vs de-coupling from China. Geopolitics and the boardroom.

(44:40) Industrial policies.

(47:21) Advice for corporate directors on national security matters.

(49:30) Books that have greatly influenced his life:

1. Wind, Sand and Stars by Antoine de Saint-Exupery (1939)
2. Elements of Style by Strunk and White (1918)

(51:46) His mentors. 

(53:04) Quote that he thinks of often or lives his life by. The "Spirit of Liberty" Speech Judge Learned Hand (1944)

(54:34)  An unusual habit or absurd thing that he loves.

(55:42) The person he most admires.

You can follow Evan on social media at:

X: @evanepstein

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/epsteinevan/ 

Substack: https://evanepstein.substack.com/

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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