Tech billionaires go to "summer camp"

Amelia Havanec • Feb 6, 2018

Feb 6, 2018

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                <h1>Tech billionaires go to "summer camp"</h1>
                <h2><p>This week kicked off the annual Allen & Co conference, as tech CEOs convene in Sun Valley, Idaho for what is popularly known as "summer camp for billionaires." The week-long event is very exclusive — the grounds are off-limits to the press — so that tech CEOs can engage in</p></h2>
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               <p>By <a href="/author/amelia-havanec-crosscut-com/">Amelia Havanec</a></p> 
              <p><time datetime="2025-02-04T05:00:00-08:00">Feb 6, 2018</time></p>
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            <p>This week kicked off the annual<a href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/102813868?ref=avalancheghost.one"> Allen &amp; Co conference</a>, as tech CEOs convene in Sun Valley, Idaho for what is popularly known as "summer camp for billionaires." The week-long event is very exclusive — the grounds are off-limits to the press — so that tech CEOs can engage in business and power lunches in-between rafting and golf. The conference is famous for planting the seed in which some mega deals have happened in the past: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-tim-armstrong-sold-aol-for-44-billion-2015-5?ref=avalancheghost.one">AOL sold to Verizon</a> for $4.4 billion in a deal that closed last month, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/03/business/media/03nbc.html?ref=avalancheghost.one">Comcast</a> acquired a majority stake in NBC Universal in 2013, and the same year Jeff Bezos of Amazon bought the Washington Post for <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324653004578650390383666794?ref=avalancheghost.one">$250 million</a>. Among those in attendance this year are Apple CEO Tim Cook, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.</p>
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This week kicked off the annual Allen & Co conference, as tech CEOs convene in Sun Valley, Idaho for what is popularly known as "summer camp for billionaires." The week-long event is very exclusive — the grounds are off-limits to the press — so that tech CEOs can engage in business and power lunches in-between rafting and golf. The conference is famous for planting the seed in which some mega deals have happened in the past: AOL sold to Verizon for $4.4 billion in a deal that closed last month, Comcast acquired a majority stake in NBC Universal in 2013, and the same year Jeff Bezos of Amazon bought the Washington Post for $250 million. Among those in attendance this year are Apple CEO Tim Cook, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

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By Amelia Havanec

Amelia Havanec is Crosscut's Science and Tech Fellow. She came to Washington from her home state of Connecticut by way of New York, Florida, California and Michigan in pursuit of the perfect pint. Sh