They could have danced all night...
July 9, 1999
Internet Execs Dominate Spotlight
By The Associated Press
SUN VALLEY, Idaho (AP) -- High rollers from Hollywood to Wall Street to Silicon Valley converged in this resort town for the 17th annual media and technology conference organized by investment banker Herbert Allen Jr.
While stars like Oprah Winfrey and Candice Bergen were on hand, the real spotlight this year was on top executives of companies like Amazon.com, America Online, and Yahoo! The Internet is changing the media and entertainment landscape, and nowhere was that more evident than at this year's conference.
Indeed, missing from this year's list of attendees were Time Warner chairman Gerald Levin, Seagram's chief executive Edgar Bronfman Jr. and Walt Disney's chairman Michael Eisner.
Four years ago, Eisner and Thomas Murphy, head of Capital Cities Communications, got together at the conference and hatched a plan to combine their companies in a $19 billion deal.
Since then, interest and speculation around the annual event has soared. This year, however, traditional media companies are more likely to be on the prowl for hot Internet properties.
The conference, which ends Sunday, had a series of discussions and seminars aimed at blending new technology with old. One meeting on Thursday featured Steve Jobs and his Pixar animation company, which gained fame in the movie industry for its role in the making of Antz and Toy Story.
On Friday, the schedule included the topic ''The Internet And Our Lives,'' with participants including NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw, Dell Computer chairman Michael Dell, Amazon.com founder Jeffrey Bezos, and Yahoo! co-founder Jerry Yang.
Microsoft chairman Bill Gates was scheduled to participate in ''A Discussion With Warren Buffett'' on Saturday.
Steve Case, chairman and CEO of America Online, teamed up with Barry Diller, chairman and CEO of USA Networks Inc., and his one-time adversary Sumner Redstone, chairman and CEO, of Viacom Inc. to discuss ''Unparalleled Prosperity And A Troubled Society.''
The conference and its meetings are strictly off limits to the public and reporters, and the privacy is enforced by security guards instructed to discourage loitering outside the Sun Valley Inn and other venues.
While members of the press stood nearby, eager to buttonhole passing VIPs, the locals in this exclusive resort town seemed unfazed by the gathering of powerbrokers.
''I don't think the people who live here care very much. We have the biggest concentration of millionaires in the country anyway,'' said Ed Youmans of neighboring Ketchum. ''It just takes up space at the airport.'' |
