Gregory forecasts fewer public companies and consolidation in regulated industries amid AI and cyber risks

Farrell Gregory expects the US to have fewer public companies as work gradually shifts from people to models. In his forecast, management teams will shrink and their compensation will look more like returns to capital. He cited Meta as an example and described Alex Wang as an employee worth about $20 billion. Gregory believes firms may become more capital-intensive yet leaner, while management and capital converge.

He also sees room for more sole-proprietor businesses, such as a thousand entrepreneurs operating through a data center. In regulated sectors—including healthcare and banking—he instead predicts substantial consolidation: in his view, cyber vulnerabilities will increase the incentive to combine community banks and hospitals because larger organizations can mount stronger defenses.

Gregory also considers the risk that internet banking could disappear to be underrated: he said voice cloning and breaches of two-factor authentication could make online transactions too vulnerable. This is his scenario, not an announced change to banking services. He noted that Corgi now sells cyber insurance.