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SALT LAKE CITY — All right, all right, all right. Slow down, Qualtrics.
The Utah tech giant will welcome Oscar-winning actor Matthew McConaughey to the keynote stage during the company’s annual user summit in March — along with talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, former first lady and bestselling author Michelle Obama, home repair magnates Chip and Joanna Gaines and skateboarding legend Tony Hawk.
This will be Obama and DeGeneres’ second time in the Beehive State after speaking at tech company Pluralsight’s conferences in years past.
Utah’s larger tech companies like Qualtrics, Pluralsight and Domo are known to draw big names to their conferences. In previous years, human rights activist Malala Yousafzai, famed NBA coach Phil Jackson, Olympian Michael Phelps, Broadway star Lin Manuel-Miranda and basketball legend Magic Johnson graced the companies with their presence.
At the end of January, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg appeared at the Silicon Slopes Tech Summit.
McConaughey is the latest in the star-studded line-up — though he may not be the last.
Texas-born and raised, McConaughey began his acting career in 1991 when he started appearing in student films and commercials. His big break came a few years later, however, when he met director Richard Linklater, who gave him an ever-expanding role on the hit comedy “Dazed and Confused,” according to IMDb.
He would go on to star in a "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" sequel before he moved to Los Angeles and received even more attention after two high-profile roles in “Lone Star” and the film adaptation of John Grisham’s novel, “A Time to Kill,” among a number of others.
At the turn of the century, he became associated with romantic comedies and starred in quite a few, including “The Wedding Planner,” “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days” and “Failure to Launch.” He moved away from romantic comedies after a two-year hiatus at the end of the decade.
He’s since appeared in films like “The Lincoln Lawyer” and “Magic Mike,” but it was his role as an 80s-era AIDS patient that earned him a best actor Oscar for “Dallas Buyers Club.” He has also won numerous other awards, including two Golden Globes for his roles in “Dallas Buyers Club” and the TV crime drama “True Detective.”
McConaughey was added to the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2014. He has appeared in over 50 films since the start of his career and is currently a film professor at the University of Texas where he earned his own film degree.
Also joining McCoughaney on the Qualtrics stage will be bestselling author and researcher Brene Brown and Huffington Post founder and CEO Arianna Huffington. The Killers will provide conference-goers with after-hours entertainment.
Qualtrics was founded in 2002 and was acquired for $8 billion by German software giant SAP in late 2018. The company recently announced a massive expansion to its Utah headquarters, complete with a 40,000-square-foot day care facility and space for more than 1,000 new potential employees.
Tickets to the user summit currently cost $1,799.
