>STEPPING UP.
https://youtu.be/zzb-0reGWTo
https://www.npr.org/2021/07/05/1012587989/moguls-deals-and-patagonia-vests-a-look-inside-summer-camp-for-billionaires
BUSINESS
''Moguls, Deals And Patagonia Vests: A Look Inside 'Summer Camp For Billionaires'''
July 5, 20215:01 AM ET
Heard on Morning Edition
DAVID GURA
Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Vice President of Partnerships Dan Rose and Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg walk together at the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference in July 2018 in Sun Valley, Idaho. Top tech and media moguls descend on the resort every year for a week of activities — and deals.
Drew Angerer/reGretty Images
This week, the top executives at the biggest and most influential companies in tech and media, including Apple's Tim Cook and Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, will get together at the Sun Valley Resort, a getaway that dates back to 1936, in a tiny town by the Sawtooth Mountains.
It was suspended last year because of the pandemic. But this year, these top moguls are traveling again to Sun Valley for an annual weeklong gathering organized by a boutique investment firm called Allen & Company that is known as intensely private. The firm doesn't have a website, and, of course, it didn't respond to NPR's request for an interview.
Run by the same family since it was founded in 1922, Allen & Co. may be small, but it has developed some deep relationships that have led to roles in some of the biggest tech and media deals and initial public offerings in the last half decades.
It was an adviser in Comcast's proposed acquisition of Time Warner Cable, a $45 billion deal that ultimately failed, and Facebook's purchase of WhatsApp for $19 billion. Allen & Co. was an underwriter on Google's and Facebook's IPOs.
And for almost 40 years, its annual Sun Valley conference has been central to its mission.
Allen & Co. takes care of everything, from the accommodations to the entertainment, and they attract a who's who of the tech and media world. Regulars have included Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffet, and Oprah Winfrey.
This week, the aggregate wealth of the men and women staying at the Sun Valley Resort is likely to reach more than $1 trillion.
"It really is elitism on full display," says media analyst Colin Gillis, the head of research at Chatham Road Partners. "But actually, it's a very private event; so, I shouldn't say 'on full display.'"
https://www.npr.org/2021/07/05/1012587989/moguls-deals-and-patagonia-vests-a-look-inside-summer-camp-for-billionaires
The Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference is a spectacle. The dress code is casual and outdoorsy. Power suits are out, and fleece vests – often Patagonia – are standard.
During the day, there are activities galore: tennis matches and golf games, hikes in the Sawtooth Mountains, and rafting trips down the Salmon River.
But this is more than just a week of fun or a week to unwind.
''Prominent politicians – including heads of state – give talks and take questions. Mike Pompeo attended when he was the head of the C.I.A., and Mauricio Macri was a guest when he was the president of Argentina. Then, at night, there are cocktail parties and lavish dinners.''
And participants are not wined and dined by just any banker. Among Allen & Co.'s deal makers are prominent former members of Congress, including Rep. Will Hurd and Sen. Bill Bradley, and George Tenet, the former director of the C.I.A.
These are "folks at the prime of their careers, with all the relationships already built," says Drew Pascarella, an associate dean at Cornell University's SC Johnson College of Business.
The Sun Valley conference has gained such importance that analysts and investors pore over photos of conference participants, looking for clues about what could be the next big deal in media and tech.
It is an unorthodox business strategy that has been very good for Allen & Co.'s bottom line. That's because the gathering is geared towards one thing: building relationships that may one day pay off in the shape of a major deal.
Bezos reportedly decided to buy "The Washington Post" when he was in Sun Valley.
"They've organized the biggest matchmaking service for media companies," says Steven Davidoff Solomon, the head of the Berkeley Center for Law and Business.
The Sun Valley conference has gained such importance that analysts and investors pore over photos of conference participants, looking for clues about what could be the next big deal in media and tech.
It is an unorthodox business strategy that has been very good for Allen & Co.'s bottom line. That's because the gathering is geared towards one thing: building relationships that may one day pay off in the shape of a major deal.
Bezos reportedly decided to buy "The Washington Post" when he was in Sun Valley.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/07/business/dealbook/sun-valley-conference.html
DEALBOOK NEWSLETTER
The Billionaires Have Touched Down in Sun Valley
Top officials from business, government and more have returned to Allen & Company’s annual gathering of power brokers.
By Andrew Ross Sorkin, Jason Karaian, Sarah Kessler, Stephen Gandel, Michael J. de la Merced, Lauren Hirsch and Ephrat Livni
July 7, 2021
https://variety.com/2018/biz/news/steve-case-aol-time-warner-sun-valley-allen-co-1202869958/
Jul 10, 2018 4:05pm PT
Steve Case: Media M&A Frenzy Reflects Original ‘Vision’ of AOL-Time Warner Merger
By Cynthia Littleton
SUN VALLEY, Idaho — Shari Redstone didn’t stop to talk. Nor did Brian Roberts or Rupert Murdoch offer any crumbs to reporters waiting Tuesday afternoon along the edge of the duck pond outside the entrance of the Sun Valley Lodge, where media and tech moguls are gathering this week for the annual Allen & Co. conference in this mountainous resort area.
The business world is waiting with bated breath for any hints of the mood inside the conference this year, what with so many high-powered CEOs in various stages of battle coming together in close quarters for inspiration from panels and speakers and a little perspiration via outdoor recreation options.
One CEO who did engage with the journos held at a distance from the invitation-only confab was Steve Case, the former AOL chief who now heads investment firm Revolution. With AT&T’s acquisition of Time Warner still weeks old, Case opined that the media landscape is finally starting to reflect some of the vision that drove the deal widely considered one of the worst — if not the worst — mega merger in modern history, AOL’s union with Time Warner, completed in January 2001.
“Some of the things we were talking about then are happening, in terms of streaming. I’m not surprised that there’s another round of big mergers where companies are trying to position themselves for a future where consumers have more choice and more control and more convenience,” Case said. “It was clear it was going to happen. It’s taken longer than most of us thought before it did happen.”
Case was quick to acknowledge that the AOL-Time Warner merger was undone by “disappointing” execution. But he defended the vision that brought the pioneering internet service provider and content company together in the months before the first wave dot-com bubble burst.
“The idea of it made sense. The vision of it made sense. The execution wasn’t what we were hoping for,” he said. “The idea is important, the vision is important but ultimately it comes down to execution. That means (focusing on) priorities and people. It’s not just (about) what’s possible.
He cited a quote attributed to Thomas Edison that has helped him put the AOL-Time Warner experience into perspective: “Vision without execution is hallucination.”
Nearly 20 years later, AT&T is now absorbing a smaller Time Warner, Case noted, which should help make it a more manageable process. And AT&T leaders will surely make an effort to learn from Time Warner’s history.
“It’s 20 years later. Everybody’s wiser, having watched some of the things we tried to do and weren’t able to do. Time Warner is now a much leaner company….It will be a little easier for them now than it was 20 years ago, but sure, there’s going to be challenges.”