Tech leaders crowd Sun Valley as media moguls take a back seat

Technology executives are taking center stage at Allen & Co.’s annual Sun Valley conference in Idaho, a private gathering Fortune describes as long rooted in media and finance. The shift matters because the retreat has been a setting for high-level dealmaking among leaders in technology, media, entertainment, sports and finance, according to Fortune.

Allen & Co. first held the conference in 1983, Fortune reported. The Wall Street Journal has reported that the first edition had 35 guests and one speaker, with the New York investment bank using the event to build ties with media executives who controlled newspapers, studios and broadcast networks.

Tech names lead the arrivals

The invitation-only conference began again this week in the Idaho mountains, Fortune reported. Observer reported confirmed arrivals including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Apple executive John Ternus and Palantir CEO Alex Karp.

Fortune reported that other technology figures listed or seen among this year’s attendees include Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman. Fortune also reported that OpenAI President Greg Brockman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei appeared on this year’s guest list, though they had not been photographed at the event at the time of publication.

Media executives remain part of the gathering, Fortune reported. The arrivals included Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, YouTube CEO Neal Mohan, outgoing Disney chief Bob Iger and Disney successor Josh D’Amaro, according to Fortune.

A private setting for powerful guests

Allen & Co. hosts the conference each July, Fortune reported, describing the firm as a small private New York investment bank with ties to companies including Google, Coca-Cola and News Corp. Fortune cited a 2004 account by Carol Loomis that said the firm emphasizes long-term relationships with corporate leaders and structures its events to make guests feel like insiders rather than sales targets.

The conference is closed to the public, with no public sessions or livestreams, Fortune reported. NPR has reported that journalists are kept in a limited press area near the entrance, leaving most conversations inside the resort out of public view.

Fortune reported that Sun Valley’s value has often come from private conversations on trails and over meals. Bezos reportedly worked through his purchase of The Washington Post at the 2013 conference, and Disney and ABC executives used the event to help prepare the ground for their 1995 merger, according to Fortune.

Protests outside the resort

Fortune reported that some prominent names were absent from this year’s list, including Warren Buffett and his successor Greg Abel. Elon Musk, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and members of the Trump family were also not listed, according to Fortune.

Local opposition continued outside the conference perimeter, Fortune reported. BoiseDev reported that activists organized demonstrations near the resort focused on economic fairness, corporate accountability and the wealth gap between billionaires and working families.

Fortune reported that private jets filled the tarmac at Friedman Memorial Airport as the gathering opened and security restricted access around the Sun Valley Lodge. The guest list, as reported by Fortune and Observer, shows how a conference built around media power now reflects the growing influence of the technology executives reshaping that industry.

This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.