MBA Team Wins Biz Quiz

McCombs students use their knowledge of global business events to come out on top

A team of MBA students from the McCombs School of Business emerged victorious at the third annual UC Davis-Financial Times Biz Quiz, a “Jeopardy!”-style competition held Nov. 15-16 at the UC Davis Conference Center. Soham Mukherjee, Karan Kanatala, and Sunny Sharma brought home a $3,000 prize, beating out Rutgers Business School and the College of Business at California State University, Sacramento to take first place in the challenging contest that tested participants’ knowledge of recent global business news.

Nine teams representing business schools across the nation competed in the event, including the University of California, Davis; California State Polytechnic University, Pomona; California State University, Fullerton; University of California, San Diego; and the University of San Francisco. Contestants had to use their quick reflexes to buzz in and answer questions about a broad range of business, political, and economic events that were covered in the Financial Times’ fall issues.

The event also featured an individual competition, where contestants had 45 minutes to work through 60 written questions based on Financial Times content. McCombs’ Kanatala secured second place and an $800 prize in that contest.

Beyond competition, the Biz Quiz included opportunities for all students to learn from top industry experts. The event kicked off with an interview with venture capitalist Nancy Pfund, founder of DBL Partners, who shared insights about investing in social and environmental impact. The competition’s finale was livestreamed to an international audience, and Stephen Morris, San Francisco bureau chief for the Financial Times, used his closing remarks to emphasize the importance of graduate students staying engaged with global political and business events.

“For a publication like the Financial Times, we rely on these students, people in business, to become our next generation of readers,” Morris said. In total, the Financial Times awarded $11,200 during the competition, including $3,800 to the McCombs MBA students. The students will split the $3,000 prize evenly.