SUN VALLEY, IDAHO: Top names from the business world across the globe have begun to land in Idaho’s Sun Valley for the annual retreat for the rich. Officially known as Allen & Company's Sun Valley Conference, reports suggest that this year’s event will also see many famous names like OpenAI founder Sam Altman, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Disney CEO Bob Iger, and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
Other prominent names that may become a part of the 40th annual media finance conference, which is scheduled to be held from July 12 to 14, are Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg, Paramount Global chair Shari Redstone, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, and Microsoft founder Bill Gates. Prominent journalists such as Andrew Ross Sorkin and Beck Quick are also expected to be there.
David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros Discovery Inc, is also expected to be there for the retreat. Zaslav recently reportedly became the highest-paid media executive in the US. He “was paid $498,915,318 between 2018 and 2022, according to a Times analysis of executive compensation at 10 publicly held media and entertainment companies. That’s a staggering 384 times the average pay of a Hollywood writer,” CNBC Make It reported.
‘Locals here give street cred to visitors for being real’
About the camp, Scott Fortner, Executive Director of Visit Sun Valley, said as reported by Forbes, “The Sun Valley area has been an enclave for wealthy visitors for decades. The opportunity to take the layer of wealth and fame off the table allows people to really be themselves, to live in the moment, feel humbled, and appreciate the simple things in life that make this place special.”
Fornter continued, “Here the 1% can blend in on a ski hill, mountain biking track or hiking trail, find solitude fly fishing on one of the diverse stretches of river, or sit down to dinner or a drink in town without a fuss being made. Locals here give street cred to visitors for being real, genuine, patient, and kind,” before adding, “C-suite status, luxury cars, and designer clothes don’t matter to the local crowd. They’d rather hear about your fishing stories or about the 1987 Jeep Wagoneer (AKA the “Ketchum Cadillac”) that you pulled up in over a cold one.”
What is 'Billionaire Summer Camp'?
The Daily Mail reported that the conference was first started in 1982 by Herbert Allen, co-founder of Allen & Company. Initially, Allen apparently had to request big market players to be a part of the retreat. It has come a long way since then as business moguls from around the world love to join it.
The camp is also known for being the site for some high-profile business deals like the 2013 purchase of The Washington Post by Nash Holdings LLC, a firm of Jeff Bezos. Apart from this, Disney's purchase of Capital Cities/ABC in 1995, Comcast's acquisition of NBCUniversal in 2009, and Verizon's acquisition of Yahoo, a $4.8 billion deal, also originated here.
