Billionaires Warren Buffet, Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates will be heading to Sun Valley, Idaho to gather with other media big wigs for the Allen & Co.’s conference.
Billionaires Warren Buffett and Bill Gates as well as Facebook Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg are scheduled to join media executives gathering at Allen & Co.’s conference next week in Sun Valley, Idaho, according to a guest list obtained by Bloomberg News.
Google Inc. Chairman Eric Schmidt, Twitter Inc. CEO Dick Costolo, Amazon.com Inc. CEO Jeff Bezos and Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook are among those invited to attend. Technology investors Marc Andreessen and Peter Thiel are also on the list.
The exclusive gathering, sponsored by investment bank Allen & Co. since 1983, offers executives the opportunity to strike new deals, or in the case of Newark, New Jersey, Mayor Cory Booker, the chance to recconnect with Zuckerberg, whom he met last year. Zuckerberg donated $100 million to Newark schools. Booker is scheduled to attend this year, as is New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the founder of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP.
Buffett, who attended last year, has been acquiring newspapers, betting that community-focused publications will weather an advertising slump.
News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch, who recently announced a plan to spin off his company’s publishing division, is expected to attend, along with his sons Lachlan and James. News Corp. chief operating officer Chase Carey and Joel Klein, the former Justice Department lawyer who now heads up the company’s education division, are also invited.
New Attendees
Activision Blizzard Inc. CEO Bobby Kotick is also invited to attend. Vivendi SA recently announced it’s seeking a buyer for its $8.1 billion stake in the video-game maker.
New attendees may include Yahoo Inc.’s interim CEO Ross Levinsohn and Akamai Technologies Inc. CEO Paul Sagan, who was recently in contention to lead the New York Times Co.
The agenda and guest list for the conference aren’t made public. While the press isn’t typically invited to attend the closed-door events, reporters stay in Sun Valley to talk with the executives.
Mandy Tavakol, executive director of the Allen & Co. conference, didn’t immediately respond to a phone call seeking comment.
[washingtonpost]
