IP Democracy: Money Men at Sun Valley

The New York Times’ Andrew Ross Sorkin was at Herb Allen’s storied Sun Valley media mogul retreat last week (he has great photos on his blog) and has this piece about how the mix of attendees this year has shifted to financiers, hedge fund guys and other unusual attendees.

“I walked into dinner last night and didn’t recognize three-quarters of the people there,” said the chief executive of one of the world’s largest media companies, who refused to speak on the record for fear of upsetting Herbert A. Allen of Allen & Company, who frowns on attendees talking publicly about the invitation-only conference, which ended yesterday. “It was all these hedge fund and finance guys I had never met before. The balance of power is shifting.”

Why, all of a sudden, are the money-men at this famed conference? They’re flush with cash and they smell growth opportunity in the profusion of new web-based and technology-driven media businesses, not to mention the prospects of mergers ahead.

What are all these money men looking for? “Any opportunity to put our money to work — financing movies, new technologies, special projects and buyouts,” said one hedge fund/quasi-private equity fund manager.

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on July 16, 2006 12:59 PM to IP Democracy