Sun Valley Round-Up



(image via visitidaho)

Herb Allen's Allen & Co. Sun Valley confab is sort of like The Bohemian Grove only less overtly homoerotic and more mediacentric. Sun Valley, Idaho is the site of an annual shmoozefest for, as the Financial Times puts it, "the captains of the media and technology world." Media geeks -- like yours truly -- have their panties in a bunch as to what happens when you put all these heavyweights in the ring together and add booze.

Some of the questions being asked: Is this the end of print media? Will Carl Icahn have his way with Yahoo!? Will the New York Times and The New York Post make up over their Claudia Cohen contretemps (Yes, sort of)? Is Mossberg's jump to Fox Business symbolic of the beginning of NewsCorp-WSJ Synergy? What is Rachel Ray doing in Sun Valley? A round-up of some of the best coverage:

"The annual Sun Valley conference has always been a place for established moguls — media barons such as Rupert Murdoch or John Malone are regulars on the guest list. Often, however, Allen & Company, the investment banking boutique that runs the event, will invite a mogul-in-the-making or two, so the old guard can gawk at them (or buy their companies, or both). Chad Hurley of YouTube was such an example — and, indeed, the initial sparks of Google’s romance with his video-sharing service began in this Idaho resort town a couple of years back. This year, the invitation list is loaded with moguls-in-the-making, a next-generation A list of who may run big media one day." (Dealbook)

"It turns out Sun Valley will bring Jordanian King Abdullah II in as guest speaker at the end of the week, but they didn't want to disclose it. Not clear what he'll talk about, probably oil, politics and nuclear war capabilities that Jordan is keen on having. Last year, it was Britain's Tony Blair, but he's not in charge anymore. Sun Valley is determined to keep its big toe in political waters." (FishbowlLA)

"Will Yahoo eventually get sold to Microsoft? And if so, for how much? ... The early verdict? The emerging consensus is that Yahoo shareholders may be prepared to take even less than the $33 per share previously proposed by Microsoft, with some whispering that they might even accept as little as $31.50 per share. And the feeling is that Carl Icahn, the activist investor who wants Yahoo to sell itself to Microsoft, would be likely to accept at such prices. 'He just needs a number that starts with a three,' one mogul said of Mr. Icahn, who paid about $25 a share for his Yahoo stake." (Dealbook)