If you’re wondering where all the billionaires are in the world this week, they are not in St. Tropez. Instead, the real hitters are at the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference in Sun Valley Idaho. Otherwise dubbed as Summer Camp for Billionaires, the Allen & Company Sun Valley gathering is a media and finance conference. It’s a gathering that draws probably the most billionaires of any event, that is until Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez’s wedding.
A Little History on the Sun Valley Conference
The Sun Valley Conference is an invitation-only event hosted by boutique investment bank Allen & Co. Allen & Co specializes in media, entertainment, tech and real estate deals. So let’s say Barry Diller, who is one of the guests this week, wants to acquire a company, he would hire a shop like Allen & Co to do the deal. Or when Google went public in 2004, Allen & Co was one of the underwriters.
Allen & Co started the Sun Valley Conference in 1983, and it has since grown to be one of the hottest tickets in town. This year Robert Kraft, Barry Diller and Diane von Furstenberg, Joshua Kushner and wife Karlie Kloss and Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez, among many others, are in attendance. This year however we hear that Warren Buffet and Elon Musk will skip the conference.
Where the Billionaires Stay at Sun Valley
Today, literally, Friedman Memorial Airport in Hailey, Idaho is probably the busiest airport in the U.S. Ok, maybe that’s an over-exaggeration but billionaires all over the world arrive for the conference on their private jets. The conference is held at Sun Valley Resort. Sun Valley spans over 2,400 acres, with Sun Valley Lodge as the main resort. Most of the billionaire guests will stay at the main resort, but there are also private homes on property. The room assignments with a group like this have more landmines than table assignments at a wedding. It’s not like you’re going to put Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez in a standard room. Surprisingly the resort is moderately luxurious on the scale of luxury travel, so it kind of is like summer camp for billionaires. The guests of the conference aren’t in Sun Valley for the accommodations; they’re there to network and to do deals.
What’s in Store for Summer Camp for Billionaires
The agenda and the conference is off-the-record, although Gayle King and Anderson Cooper are select members of the press who are in Sun Valley this week. What this means is that billionaires are free to network and mingle. This is how relationships are built, and why this crowd is a tight knit circle. You spend a week with people and their significant others, so lifelong friendships are made at this conference.
But back to the deals; the Sun Valley Conference is where Jeff Bezos reportedly decided to buy the Washington Post. So between rafting and other team building activities, we know there will be deals to come out of this year’s 2024 event too.
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FAQs
Q: When is the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference 2024?
A: The Sun Valley Conference 2024 is a week-long gathering every July. The conference begins July 10, 2024 this year.
Q: How do you sign up for the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference 2024?
A: The Sun Valley Conference 2024 is invitation only as it is hosted by Allen & Company. If you have a billion or two hundred in your net worth you have a good shot at an invitation
Q: Who goes to the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference 2024?
A: The very top of the human food chain attends the conference. Essentially if you are a CEO, billionaire, or titan of industry at the very top of your game, you belong in Sun Valley. What Sun Valley has not become is another celebrity of the moment event. People are here to exchange ideas, learn, network and do deals. It is hard work putting all those billions to work. This year Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez, Tim Cook, Robert Kraft are just a few of the attendees.
