The summer camp for billionaires, which just kicked off in Sun Valley, has yielded some blockbuster deals over the years
Drew Angerer, Getty images
Among those in attendance at this year's gathering are Apple CEO Tim Cook, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, Disney CEO Bob Iger, and Reid Hoffman, the cofounder of LinkedIn, which was acquired by Microsoft for $26.2 billion in June 0f 2016.
The event features several days of talks about business and the economy.
But the real action comes in the meetings, power lunches, and general chit-chat the moguls engage in between the formal sessions, which often provide the foundation to mega deals. These deals usually don't materialize until weeks or months later, which is why an army of reporters armed with telephoto lenses stalk the area, diligently snapping pics of what could be the next blockbuster deal.
Often the photos prove nothing more than the fact that Executive A had lunch with Executive B. But with so many high-powered execs in attendance (not to mention the fact the event is hosted by an investment bank eager to broker big corporate marriages that pay big fees), it's inevitable that some of these encounters lead to deals.
This year's event has plenty of interesting storylines. Jack Dorsey is at the event, as speculation swirls that this might finally be the year Twitter, the company he leads as CEO, finds a buyer. Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield is also there along with Amazon head Jeff Bezos, who is reportedly interested in acquiring the messaging service.
Here's a recap of some of the biggest deals that have been hatched at the conference over the years.
- 2 states where home prices are falling because there are too many houses and not enough buyers
- US buys 81 Soviet-era combat aircraft from Russia's ally costing on average less than $20,000 each, report says
- A couple accidentally shipped their cat in an Amazon return package. It arrived safely 6 days later, hundreds of miles away.
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