Tuesday, May 16 12:30 PM - 1:45 PM Session B: The Financial MegaSites: The Markets Make the Web Go Round Who would have predicted that stock reports and analysis would be the among most popular destinations on the Net? It’s the proverbial killer app and it’s addictive. Every significant website on the Net is partnered with one financial site or another. The major portals thrive on the up to the minute news from the money markets. Cell phones and handheld devices all offer services from financial institutions. Understanding the future of the Internet and digital technology from the point of view of the financial industry, is likely to offer tremendous insight into the entire future of information, entertainment on the Internet as well as the kinds of information appliances that are likely to appear. Bob Leverone, Executive Producer, CBS MarketWatch.com Allen Wastler, Managing Editor, CNNfn.com Dave Kansas, Chief Strategic Officer, TheStreet.com Lewis Gersh, President, Chief Executive Officer & Chairman, worldlyinvestor.com Jonathan Hoenig, The Capitalist Pig and Author of "Greed is Good" Hamid Biglari, Partner, McKinsey & Company, Moderator Dave Kansas, Chief Strategic Officer, TheStreet.com: Dave Kansas has worked at TheStreet.com since September 1996, helping to build the news organization from its infancy. He assumed the Editor-in-Chief title in April 1997 and has directed the opening of the San Francisco bureau and the growth of TheStreet.com's international operations. Prior to joining TheStreet.com, Kansas worked for five years at The Wall Street Journal, most recently as the newspaper's senior financial markets reporter. While at the Journal, Kansas also reported from several other cities on many subjects, including a stint in Tokyo covering the financial markets and Japanese economy. He has provided commentary for several television programs, including ABC, CBS, NBC, CNBC and CNN. He has also appeared on Bloomberg and Dow Jones television. His writing has appeared in The New Republic, Red Herring, Upside, The Industry Standard and the New York Observer. Prior to working at the Journal, Kansas covered metro news and sports for New York Newsday and worked as an engineer and reporter for the NBC Radio Networks. Kansas received a bachelor's degree in history from Columbia University. Kansas also sits on the Board of Directors of TheStreet.com. Hamid Biglari is a partner in McKinsey & Company’s New York office. His leadership roles at McKinsey span both financial services and interactive broadband communications and he serves clients in both industry segments. McKinsey and Company is the world’s largest general management consulting company with over 4,000 consultants worldwide and 77 offices in over 40 countries. It serves over one half of the world’s 500 largest companies across all the major industry groups, as well as governments and supranationals. Its financial institutions practice, representing about one quarter of McKinsey’s total consulting activities worldwide, has the largest clientele base of any consulting firm in the world, having served nearly 500 financial institutions on over 1,700 projects over the last 5 years. Prior to joining McKinsey, Dr. Biglari was a theoretical nuclear physicist at Princeton University. He received a B.S. in Applied Physics and a B.A. in Mathematics from Cornell University and subsequently received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Astrophysical Sciences from Princeton University. Lewis Gersh, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, worldlyinvestor.com: In August 1998, Lewis Gersh founded Worldly Information Network, Inc. and its flagship Web site, worldlyinvestor.com. In the two years that followed, Mr. Gersh built the company and the site into the leading provider of financial information on the Internet, racking up accolades for excellence and reaching nearly a million unique users each month. In his capacity as Chairman and CEO of Worldly Information Network, Mr. Gersh is responsible for the overall strategic direction of the firm as well as its financial stewardship. Under his guidance, Worldly Information Network has grown from just a handful of employees and a fledgling Web presence to a staff of more than 70 and a Web property currently ranked within the Top Ten Financial Information Sites on the Internet (according to figures published by PC Data Online). Mr. Gersh has also secured several rounds of funding for the organization. Mr. Gersh’s leadership has been forged in the media technology industry, where he has turned around struggling enterprises and brought start-up ventures to maturity. Prior to founding Worldly Information Network, Mr. Gersh was the founder and President of Binary Media Works and President of Software Sculptors, both subsidiaries of Central Park Media Corp. (CPMC), a video publisher. In addition, Mr. Gersh oversaw business affairs and legal issues as General Counsel of CPMC. Mr. Gersh is an active member of New York’s "Silicon Alley" establishment and holds seats on the Board of Directors of New York-based Internet companies Iguana, Inc. and ElClick.com. Iguana Studios, Inc. (www.iguanastudios.com) is a full service interactive design and production firm, specializing in 3D animation and digital video and audio development. New York-based ElClick.com (www.elclick.com) is an online community focused on the U.S. Hispanic family as well as self-improvement of the Hispanic professional and student. Mr. Gersh is on the advisory board of Resource Ventures, LP, a Greenwich based late-stage private equity fund. Resource Ventures focuses on Internet companies in strategic partnership rounds. In addition, Mr. Gersh is a Trustee and member of the Board of Directors of the Franklin Pierce Law Center in Concord, New Hampshire, consistently ranked the top intellectual property law program in US News and World Report’s annual higher education survey. Mr. Gersh simultaneously obtained his Juris Doctor and a Masters Degree in Intellectual Property Law from the Franklin Pierce Law Center, one of the top three law schools in the nation for this discipline. In addition, Mr. Gersh is a member of the New York State Bar Association and an accomplished Ironman Triathlete and marathoner. Jonathan Hoenig is portfolio manager at Capitalistpig Asset Management. He can be seen each morning reporting on WFLD-TV from the Chicago Board of Trade, where he is a member. Jonathan has been a commentator on Public Radio International's Marketplace, and was recently featured on CNN's NewsStand. He wrote sections of an recently published Irwin/McGraw Hill textbook as well as the forward of trading legend's Robert Koppel's newest book, Money Talks: Candid Conversations about Wealth in America. Hoenig's first book, Greed is Good: The Capitalistpig Guide to Investing was recently published by HarperCollins. Hoenig is a frequent commentator in the financial press, and has written for publications including Ticker Magazine, High Times, Ragingbull, High Times, POV, Street.com, among others He has spoken in front of schools across the country, and has been featured in numerous publications including The Wall Street Journal, Institutional Investor and The Chronicle of Higher Education. Consulting clients include Van Kampen Mutual Funds, Charles Schwab and The Blum Group. Jonathan was recently named one of The Chicago Sun-Time's "Thirty Under Thirty", Crain's "Forty Under Forty." He is a member of the Economics Club of Chicago.