Winner of the 2020 Nobel Prize in Economics, keynote speaker Paul Milgrom has revolutionized the way we value public assets. A popular speaker, Paul Milgrom shares his insights with audiences keen to learn more about our economy’s inner workings.

When utilities, public agencies, and search engines seek to balance profit with equitability, they turn to auctions. No one has studied and refined the auction model more deeply and successfully than Paul Milgrom.

The FCC uses auctions to assign portions of the frequency spectrums for radio and television broadcasts. Milgrom was the chief academic contributor to the FCC’s auction design. Along with colleagues Robert Wilson and Preston McAfee, Milgrom continued to refine the FCC’s model, and to extend its use. The model now informs pricing at electricity and natural gas utilities, accounting for billions of dollars each year. Moreover, Spectrum regulators across North America and Europe have relied on Milgrom as an advisor.

More recently, Milgrom has brought his insights to Silicon Valley. When Google launched its IPO after years of planning, it consulted with Milgrom to implement a unique auction system. The auction of initial shares was a resounding success. Milgrom also advised Microsoft on implementing sponsored-search auctions.

After earning his PhD at Stanford, Milgrom taught economics courses at Northwestern and Yale. Returning to Stanford, he began a remarkable career that has explored auctions, incentive theory, economic history, and game theory. After that, his book with John Roberts, Economics, Organization, and Management, opened up new territory to economic research. His bestselling Putting Auction Theory to Work summarizes the life’s work for which he is best known.