Sun Valley’s ‘summer camp for billionaires’ is – Business News
The schedule of actions is circulating at this yr’s “summer camp for billionaires” in Sun Valley, Idaho – and “knitting” is on the agenda, On The Money has realized.
Yes – Allen & Co.’s annual shindig for media moguls and tech tycoons is that includes the same old panel discussions. On Thursday, Pennsylvania Sens. John Fetterman and David McCormick will get interviewed by CNN’s Erin Burnett.
That’s after Andrew Ross Sorkin on Wednesday interviewed Ken Griffin – who repeated how Zohran Mamdani’s Bolshevik-style TikTok outdoors his Manhattan penthouse “creeped him out” as a result of of what occurred with the UnitedHealthcare CEO, in accordance with one attendee.
Comcast CEO Brian Roberts and Mike Cavanagh, who will lead NBCU. “Brian is looking a little depressed,” a source at Sun Valley mentioned. Getty Images
But it was the “knitting” exercise – slated for 2:30 p.m. Mountain Time, each Wednesday and Thursday – that appeared to seize the zeitgeist at this yr’s festivities, I’m informed. It was as if the bankers at Allen & Co. had set out to show that massive media as we all know it is on its final legs.
Comcast CEO Brian Roberts – who rocked the media world final week when he revealed plans to spin off the cable giant’s NBCUniversal division – was onsite with Mike Cavanagh, who will lead NBCU whereas Michael Angelakis will run the cable unit.
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“Brian is looking a little depressed,” a source at Sun Valley informed me.“Even after the split, the stock hasn’t moved at $23. He got no bounce and his personal net worth has taken a beating in recent years because he is held too long into two declining businesses.”
That could be information and leisure content material (ie NBCU) and cable, which throws off money however – as a result of of twine slicing and wi-fi competitors – a lot much less than it used to.
Barry Diller, 84, and spouse Diane von Fürstenberg on Wednesday at Sun Valley. Getty Images
“Look, he’s number 499 in the S&P and Charter, the company he wants to buy, is number 500,” the source wisecracked. (In actuality, Comcast is quantity 141 and Charter 422.)
Elsewhere, Jeff Bezos and enterprise capitalist Marc Andreesen took the stage with Fox anchor Bret Baier additionally on Wednesday. Microsoft boss Satya Nadella then acquired interviewed by Reid Hoffman, the lefty LinkedIn founder these days dogged by his Jeffrey Epstein ties.
Jeff Bezos with spouse spouse Lauren Sanchez on Wednesday. The billionaire is set to be interviewed on Thursday. REUTERS
That’s not all. There’s mountaineering, fly fishing and yoga lessons for our media professionals. There’s additionally pilates and one thing known as “hard core fitness,” however sorry – I can’t fairly visualize 84-year-old Barry Diller throwing round weights within the fitness center. Maybe he’ll choose for mahjong as a substitute? (That’s at 2 p.m., simply earlier than knitting.)
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As for knitting – true, it’s alleged to be therapeutic. Recall that legendary NFL lineman Rosey Grier took up needle level for that very purpose. Still: The bosses of an industry that’s getting downsized, slicing mergers to keep flailing companies afloat as star anchors are being eclipsed by MrBeast and Clavicular on YouTube, don’t have anything higher to do than take knitting lessons on what’s alleged to be a business journey?
One Sun Valley attendee mentioned Ken Griffin repeated how Zohran Mamdani’s Bolshevik-style TikTok outdoors his Manhattan penthouse “creeped him out” as a result of of what occurred with the UnitedHealthcare CEO. Getty Images
“It’s going to be fun,” one attendee mentioned of the confab, shrugging off the most recent industry’s woes. Still, he clarified, he himself wasn’t planning to attend the knitting lessons.
