Google's former CEO reportedly hosts a secretive summit in Yellowstone whose attendees have included Lady Gaga and Cory Booker

• Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has run an ultra-secretive summit in Montana for a handful of executives, politicians, and celebrities since at least 2012, Tech Transparency Project reported Monday.
• The event has been hosted every summer at the Yellowstone Club and has included guests such as Lady Gaga, Sen. Cory Booker, and journalist Ronan Farrow, according to TTP.
• While private retreats aren't uncommon, the under-the-radar nature of the Yellowstone event raises questions about whether it has been used to quietly curry favor for Google or Schmidt's own projects.

Every summer since at least 2012, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has invited a handful of executives, politicians, celebrities, and at least one journalist to a secretive summit in rural Montana, the Tech Transparency Project reported Monday.

The event is hosted at the Yellowstone Club — a swanky, private club where members, like Schmidt, pay north of $40,000 per year in membership dues — and has included high-profile guests such as Lady Gaga, Senator Cory Booker, and journalist Ronan Farrow, according to TTP.

An analysis of flight records, media accounts, and social media posts by TTP showed that Google's private jets have flown attendees including Google staff to the event, where they engaged in recreational activities as well as discussions on a variety of topics around technology.

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It isn't uncommon for the ultra-wealthy to host similar "ideas summits" — investment bank Allen & Co. holds a famous one in Sun Valley, Idaho, and Sen. Mitt Romney hosts one in Park City, Utah.

However, TTP reported that Schmidt's event has kept an extremely low profile, with attendees being told not to disclose details. That secrecy and the likely attendee list raise questions about what influence the event and conversations held there might have had over their relationships with Schmidt or Google — especially for those in positions of power.

TTP reported that recent invitees included Austria's chancellor, who was pushing for a new tax on tech companies and eventually abandoned it; Ronan Farrow, who wrote a story following his attendance event that TTP viewed as being too soft on Google; and the founder of a think tank that had been critical of Google's approach to combating extremist content.

Since stepping down as Google CEO in 2011, Schmidt has played an active role in trying to grow the tech industry's influence with government. ProPublica reported last year that he has gained unprecedented access within the Pentagon despite whistleblower concerns that he could use it to steer business toward Google (in which he still owns a substantial amount of stock). Earlier this year, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo tapped Schmidt as a tech advisor for the state's post-pandemic reopening.

Schmidt, Lady Gaga, Booker, and Farrow did not immediately respond to requests for comment on this story.