The Fourth of July is over – and which means Idaho’s elegant Sun Valley Ski Resort is about to host top tech, media and business moguls at Allen & Co’s annual “billionaire summer camp”.
The runway at nearby Friedman Memorial Airport in Hailey, Idaho, will likely be full of private jets this week, with fat guys like Disney’s Bob Iger and Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg taking out their sunglasses, golf shirts and power vests – and perhaps a green print button-down lizards, like Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett last year.
The conference’s annual private events are a closely guarded secret, however the titans who’re expected to attend behind-the-door dealings and vagabonds could also be more sullen than usual when strolling across the grounds or drinking coffee.
Mergers and acquisitions – Sun Valley’s day by day bread – have dried up this year as firms face still uncertain prospects. While markets have rebounded from last year’s brutal sell-off, tech giants like Google, Meta, Amazon and Microsoft are still feeling massive layoffs as they slash spending and redouble their efforts to win the AI race.
![Bob Iger and Tim Cook](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000013851264.jpg?w=1024)
Within the media sector, industry mainstays reminiscent of Iger have just ordered major job cuts at Disney properties like ESPN and WarnerBros. Discovery’s David Zaslav, whose undermined CNN rankings are the topic of sell-off rumors, is under pressure to show his struggling empires around.
In tech, Meta boss Zuckerberg is because of attend just days after his company launched the Twitter-like social media app Threads in a direct challenge to Elon Musk. The threads have already gained over 100 million users – as have Musk’s threats of legal motion.
AI will definitely be a key topic of debate. OpenAI chief Sam Altman is predicted to attend a meeting in town, as is Microsoft chief Satya Nadella, whose company has poured billions into the corporate’s AI operations.
![Warren Buffett](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000013851357.jpg?w=1024)
Apple CEO Tim Cook will likely be in town after leading the iPhone maker to an unprecedented $3 trillion market capitalization, as will Google boss Sundar Pichai, in accordance with a guest list published by Variety last month.
Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick will likely be rubbing his hands as he waits to listen to whether a federal judge will side with the Federal Trade Commission in its bid to dam the corporate’s $69 billion sale to Microsoft. Tech investor Peter Thiel and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman also made the cut.
Distinguished media figures reminiscent of Oprah Winfrey, Latest York Post and NewsCorp owner Rupert Murdoch, and Paramount Global CEO Shari Redstone were invited to hitch Iger and Zaslav on the event.
![Shari Redstone](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000013851340.jpg?w=1024)
Netflix executives Reed Hastings, Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters will attend alongside Hollywood stars reminiscent of CAA’s Bryan Lourd, Biden’s newly minted co-chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg, famed producer Brian Grazer and lots of more.
Athletic leaders reminiscent of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, and MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred were invited to attend.
![Bob Iger](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000013851250.jpg?w=1024)
Also on the list is PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, whose recent association with the Saudi Arabian-backed LIV delivered to the eye of Congress allegations of “sports laundering.” Monahan returned to work last week after a short medical break.
On the general public policy front, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and former CIA chief David Petraeus are amongst those reportedly garnering invitations.
Sun Valley can be expected to host distinguished journalists. Latest York Times DealBook columnist and CNBC host Andrew Ross Sorkin is predicted to attend the event, as will his Squawk Box co-host Becky Quick.
![Bill Gates](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000013851240.jpg?w=1024)
CNN personality Van Jones is on the list together with fellow networker Erin Burnett, The Free Press founder Bari Weiss, and CBS journalists Gayle King and David Begnaud.
Musk, the keynote speaker eventually year’s festivities, was notably absent from the guest list. The Twitter owner’s arrival in Sun Valley last year got here in the midst of his messy $44 billion takeover of Twitter, and just days after it was reported that he fathered twins with Shivon Zilis, an executive at his brain-chip company Neuralink.
The Sun Valley conference has served as the place to begin for major deals, each expected and unlikely, in years past. Major examples include Bezos’ deal for the $250 million Washington Post acquisition or Verizon’s $4.8 billion acquisition of Yahoo.