Find a laid-back spot on a hot summer day for a week, play ball, hike... These are just typical summer camp activities. According to foreign media reports, in the Sun Valley of northwestern Idaho, the "Billionaire Summer Camp" that was suspended for one year due to the new crown epidemic has opened again.
This week, Zuckerberg, Cook and other technology giants and billionaires will gather at the Sun Valley Annual Meeting. This week-long casual vacation party may have led to the biggest deal in the next circle. And investors are going to start picking photos and guessing the next wave of investment opportunities.
The business history of the mysterious company
Sun Valley Resort was built in 1936 and is set in the mountains of central Idaho. A week-long summer camp for billionaires is held here each year, and its organizer is a mysterious boutique investment company, Allen & Company.
↑Private jets from the local airport during the Sun Valley Annual Meeting in previous years. Graph network
Allen does not have a website and does not accept interviews from well-known media. The company was founded in 1922 and has always been run by the same family. Don't look at the small size of the company, it has helped the business tycoons to establish close ties, and has played an important role in the biggest deals in the technology circle, the media circle, and even the listing in the past few years.
Allen has advised on Comcast's $45 billion acquisition of Time Warner Cable and Facebook's $19 billion acquisition of WhatsApp. Allen is also an underwriter for Google and Facebook listings. It was here that Bezos reportedly made the decision to buy The Washington Post.
↑ Cook. NPR
It is reported that Bezos, Buffett and Oprah are all regular customers here. In addition to business leaders and celebrities, there are certainly politicians here. As Drew Pascalera, associate dean of Cornell University's Johnson School of Business, said, the attendees were people at the height of their careers.
Big new business could start here
According to Collin Gillis, director of research at Chatham Road Partners, the summer camp was "a comprehensive demonstration of elitism." Of course, this is actually a very private event, and the word "full display" is not entirely appropriate.
↑ Bezos. NPR
For the past 40 years, the Sun Valley Annual Meeting has been one of Allen's "central jobs." The company is responsible for arranging everything from food and lodging to entertainment for the big guys. Summer camps were temporarily suspended last year due to COVID-19 and are resuming this year.
The activities of the big guys are very rich, but of course they gather here not only for fun and relaxation. Analysts and investors will even pore over the photos flowing out of the area for clues to the next big deal. The importance of the Sun Valley Annual Meeting is evident from this.
And Allen will get a piece of the pie from these deals. Pascalera pointed out that when the timing is good, the annual meeting can be successfully concluded with a large fee. Arrange for clients to get together, build long-term relationships, and bide their time... This is the business model that Allen has built and operated.
The next big deal in the media or tech world is likely to start here.
Red Star News reporter Lin Rong
Edited by Zhang Xun
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