Almost everyone wears casual clothes and a simple name tag. One pending big deal that is still likely to draw much attention in Sun Valley this year is Tesla and SpaceX chief Elon Musks $44 billion planned takeover of social media giant Twitter. Verizons The Discovery chief could be joined at the annual confab of power brokers and media barons by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, fresh off his $8.5 billion deal to purchase Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. If more mergers and acquisitions are on the horizon, they may be hatched at Sun Valley, which in the past has been the locus of such mega-pacts as Comcasts purchase of NBC/Universal, the Washington Posts sale to Bezos and Disneys deal for Capital Cities/ABC. Rising Interest Rates, Cooling M&A Fever A range of companies and institutions held court at dedicated tables while the most prominent business leaders in the world made the rounds of meetings that ran no more than 30-40 minutes. A-list guests have arrived in Sun Valley, Idaho, the site of the annual Allen & Co. conference. Sun Valley Conference 2021: Billionaire Summer Camp Explained With new mandates in boardrooms across the country to increase diversity in almost all major sectors, its very unlikely the summer camp for moguls can keep going without including Byron Allen, Jay-Z, Robert F. Smith and other high-profile Black execs. All Rights Reserved. Shari Redstone, chairman of Paramount Global, and David Zaslav, CEO of the newly minted Warner Bros. A previous version of this story incorrectly referred to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg as siblings. Previous conference guests have included Bill and Melinda Gates, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Warren and Susan Buffett,[4] Tony Blair, Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Allen alumnus and former Philippine Senator Mar Roxas, former Google Chairman Eric Schmidt, Quicken Loans Founder & Chairman Dan Gilbert, Yahoo! Over the past few days, the annual superconference hosted by Allen & Company, a pretty prestigious boutique investment bank in NYC, has taken place in Sun Moguls, Deals And Patagonia Vests: A Look Inside 'Summer Camp For Billionaires', Barry Diller Headed 2 Hollywood Studios. All Rights Reserved. With that in mind, any photos or reports of Chapek and Iger chatting, or simply standing near each other, could draw attention. And those exceptions are typically white women and Asian men. 2022 Minnesota Transportation Conference & Expo - RiverCentre Yes, Scream VI Marketing Is Behind the Creepy Ghostface Sightings Causing Scares Across the U.S. David Oyelowo, Taylor Sheridan's 'Bass Reeves' Series at Paramount+ Casts King Richard Star Demi Singleton (EXCLUSIVE), Star Trek: Discovery to End With Season 5, Paramount+ Pushes Premiere to 2024. The ultra-exclusive event lures some of the biggest names in finance, tech, and media. 2023 Variety Media, LLC. Minneapolis Convention Center,May 8-10, 2018. Allen & Co. was an underwriter on Google's and Facebook's IPOs. The secretive and exclusive gathering of media, tech and other power brokers traditionally mixes presentations, discussions and such social activities as hiking, rafting and golf. Allen Then there's the appearances that attract speculation for other reasons. There were also plenty of opportunities for golf and kayaking, or just strolling to take in the mountain air. AT&T chief John Stankey, who negotiated the pact with Zaslav, was invited, but will not attend. Its possible, for instance, that Bezos planned trip to space on July 20 could alter those plans. Expected to join him is his longtime right-hand man and deals advisor, Bruce Campbell, the merged entertainment powerhouses chief revenue and strategy officer. Thomas Allen's annual revenues Paramount Global non-executive chair Shari Redstone, who is also traveling to Sun Valley, recently addressed the scale of the company created by the merger of CBS and Viacom, saying it has what it takes to succeed as it topped 62 million global streaming subscribers as of March. All Rights Reserved. 1550 Humboldt Avenue. But, while harder to measure, the brand cachet the conference brings helps build the areas economy. Discoverys WarnerMedia deal, Amazons $8.45 billion takeover of MGM and the reopening of the economy are likely to feature among the topics of debate at the retreat, which traditionally starts after the Fourth of July holiday (Allen & Co., as it happened, was an adviser to Discovery on the WarnerMedia deal). The confabs 2019 attendee list included Zaslav, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts, Shari Redstone (before Viacom and CBS re-merged), Apple CEO Tim Cook, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek, Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg and IAC chairman Barry Diller. Given weakened media and entertainment stock prices amid a difficult first half of 2022 and fears of a recession, which would hit advertising revenue of companies, many executives could over the near-term concentrate more on the blocking and tackling needed to navigate the new uncertainty than on striking big, transformative deals. Sun Valley's Mogul Conference Is Back In Session - The New York Allen & Co.s annual Sun Valley conference, colloquially referred to as summer camp for moguls because of the power wattage of its attendees and the activities they enjoy in the mountains, was canceled in 2020 because of the pandemic, but with restrictions being lifted and dealmaking in full swing, the confab that led to The Walt Disney Co.s acquisition of CapCities/ABC, the much-maligned AOL-Time Warner merger, early talks between Comcast executives and NBCUniversal, and Googles takeover of YouTube is ready for a comeback. Discovery's David Zaslav and Bruce Campbell to Walt Disney boss Bob Chapek as well as his predecessor Bob Iger media and tech titans will flock to the annual gathering organized by Allen & Co. First, July 4. Each of those players that are chasing that ball chasing scripted movies and scripted series they are chasing IP, and none of them have enough., Two years later, and Zaslav is poised to take control of HBO Max himself as part of an IP-driven megadeal that will see WarnerMedia and Discovery merge. [2019: Annual spotlight on Sun Valley helps Idahos economy in ways large and small]. For example, as CEO of Discovery, David Zaslav has long been one of the media moguls attending the annual gathering and one who has been sought after by his peers and media reporters alike. 2023 Variety Media, LLC. After all, Allen & Co. pays for the whole event with the understanding that it will eventually get a cut of any deal that emerges from its conference. Nikki Haley, former US Ambassador to the UN and a potential 2024 candidate, is on the invite list, but a spokesperson says she will not make the trek to Idaho. Tim Cook and Eddy Cue have arrived in Sun Valley, Idaho https://t.co/qiiZizaxFT pic.twitter.com/CHoozGCcL4 Being on the guest list doesnt mean that a person will actually appear at the Alpine Idyll Jerry Seinfeld was invited one year, but didnt show. Or as close to it as possible. Allen This story appeared in the May 26 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters. And for almost 40 years, its annual Sun Valley conference has been central to its mission. The annual event some call mogulfest, hosted by Allen & Company, is where major deals are struck and corporate disputes are settled or sparked. Widely known as "summer camp for billionaires," participants from Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg to Apple's Tim Cook gathered for a week of outdoor activities like hiking and tennis and of course, networking and plenty of dealmaking. Theres Apples Tim Cook, Berkshire Hathaways Warren Buffett, Walt Disney CEO Bob Chapek, Facebooks Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg, Netflixs Ted Sarandos and Reid Hastings, Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida and Comcasts Brian Roberts. Jeff Bezos for example supposedly bought The Washington Post when he was in Sun Valley. Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference - Wikipedia Webmtcexpo.com. kif (@kifleswing) July 10, 2019. On Thursday, several dozen of them were visible. Private jets park alongside grazing cows at the Friedman Memorial Airport ahead of the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference on July 5 in Sun Valley, Idaho. hide caption. And of course, this being the top brass of tech, there were the hoodies, like the one spotted by 79-year-old Diller. Power players traditionally have used the exclusive and secretive event to casually lay the groundwork for M&A. Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood Reporter. Last year, Zaslav came to town after having unveiled the megadeal with telecom giant AT&T for its entertainment arm, WarnerMedia. The Black community has historically been the most underrepresented, despite the number of Black power players in media and entertainment. Inside The Sun Valley Event Known As 'Summer Camp For - NPR This year, however, the theme of the event may as well be two letters: IP. Academia may not boast the kind of salaries that are usually a requirement for entry at Sun Valley, but the professors and school presidents are useful for the panel discussions that form much of the weeks activities. And at time when some journalists can be as famous, or even more famous than some of the participants, it's natural that some members of the media would attend not to cover the events, but to hobknob as participants. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. The private conference, which marks its 38th year, was canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Jassy also made it to the conference.). Summit League (March 3) Early-round bet: (10) Nebraska-Omaha vs. (7) UM Kansas City. has long been a hallmark of the invite-only Allen event. [Inside Idaho: The legend of the Kuna Caves]. Because so much of the conference took place outside this year, reporters were kept even farther away than usual. The Sun Valley conference is officially in full swing. 2023 The Hollywood Reporter, LLC. After upending the media landscape with his deal to combine Discovery with WarnerMedia, David Zaslav will touch down in Sun Valley, Idaho this July for Allen & Co.s annual media conference. WebThe Allen D. Leman Swine Conference is an annual educational event for the global swine industry. Allen & Co. has not officially confirmed the conferences return, but a check of Sun Valley Resorts reservation system which books the Lodge, Inn and more accommodations shows the week after July 4 is blocked out, and the local newspaper Idaho Mountain Express reported that the conference would return. Right after Independence Day, media and technology titans will once again jet to the Idaho resort to mingle at the annual gathering of investment bank Allen & Co., which has been nicknamed summer camp for moguls.. Join Minnesota's transportation industry for three action-packed days of compelling presentations, thought-provoking panels, and the chance to network with like Some of the biggest names in technology, media and finance have gathered this week in Sun Valley, Idaho, for the latest edition of the annual conference hosted by Allen & Company, a private investment bank. Apple CEO Tim Cook waves at photographers as he attends the Sun Valley Conference on Thursday. Not that such added intrigue was necessary given that Musk had tweeted in May that the Twitter deal was temporarily on hold pending details supporting calculation that spam/fake accounts do indeed represent less than 5 percent of users. The social media powerhouse had reported 229 million users who were served advertising in the first quarter, which would mean 5 percent of those users would amount to 11.45 million. Updated: 2:50 pm PT 6/8/21 to reflect that Nikki Haley will not attend the conference. Wall Street observers expect industry bosses to also discuss in Sun Valley whether in formal sessions or during social gatherings indoors or outdoors such challenges as rising inflation, which could impact the upside for sector giants pivot to streaming services. For reporters, the Allen & Co. Sun Valley Conference is a strange event to cover. While the topics to be discussed at the conference are not disclosed to the public, some guesses for what might be on the table can be made based on the guest list, Gura says. This year, Allen & Co. seemed determined to pick up right where it left off. This week, A-listers from the worlds of tech, media, and finance are descending upon Sun Valley, Idaho, for a week of networking, panel discussions, and outdoor pursuits hosted by private investment bank Allen & Co. They own the world, he said at the time when asked about Amazon or Apple getting into the content business. Sun Valley is a forty-year tradition for Allen & Company, a family-owned New York boutique investment bank thats worked on some of the media and tech industries biggest deals. A sign is seen at the entrance to the Sun Valley Resort ahead of the Sun Valley conference organized by Allen & Co. in Sun Valley, Idaho, on July 5. Sun Valley 2022 Allen & Co.: Media Moguls, Deals, Recession The After all, amid increased competition, the rising cost of living and Netflixs shock first-quarter subscriber drop, analysts have debated whether the one or the other Hollywood powerhouses streaming subscriber and financial forecasts may have to come down. IAC Chairman Barry Diller walks to a morning session at the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference on Wednedsday in Sun Valley, Idaho. Invites to the conference are highly coveted among tech titans and media moguls, but the conference's guest list doesn't change that much from year to year. 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This years group of Ivory Tower denizens includes The University of Chicago President Bob Zimmer, Georgetown University President Jack DeGioia, and Nicholas Christakis, Yale Universitys Sterling Professor of Social and Natural Science. Never mind if you are world-famous. It is "summer camp" after all, albeit for a rarefied set of people. Because of the pandemic, more of the conference's proceedings were held outside. Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go.
Meanwhile, another freshly completed merger, the union of CAA and ICM Partners, will surely be a topic of conversation as ICMs Chris Silbermann and CAAs Bryan Lourd are Sun Valley regulars.