Speaker Series Brings Pulitzer Prize-Winning Journalists to Lauder

Published November 11, 2025

This semester, the Lauder Institute hosted two Pulitzer Prize–winning journalists as part of its Fall Speaker Series.

David Barboza, Co-Founder & CEO of WireScreen, discussed his investigative work mapping the hidden webs of corporate ownership and influence from Beijing to Wall Street. Drawing on his groundbreaking New York Times reporting that exposed the Enron scandal and high-level corruption in the Chinese government, Mr. Barboza offered fascinating insights into how increasing public transparency around corporate structures can reshape our understanding of global business.

Brody Mullins, author of The Wolves of K Street and a former reporter at the Wall Street Journal, discussed the history and evolution of lobbying in Washington D.C. With remarkable precision, he unpacked how corporate power shapes policymaking today, especially in an era when congressional influence has waned and lobbying operates in increasingly complex and less visible ways.

The Fall Speaker Series, organized through Lauder’s Politics and Policy Program, brings thought leaders to campus who draw on real-world experience to illuminate how business and policy converge.