Bill Gates on Friday told his fellow billionaires that more needed to be done to address climate change, as he addressed the crowd at the annual Sun Valley conference in Idaho.
Gates, 65, attended the 37th annual gathering without his estranged wife Melinda, following their May divorce announcement.
On Thursday he was seen strolling the grounds of the Idaho resort with Evan Greenberg, president and CEO of insurance giant Chubb.
The pair were spotted near where he and other titans of tech, media and industry gathered for lunch on Thursday – among them Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Nike co-founder Phil Knight, and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.
Gates, who announced in May that he is divorcing his wife of 27 years, Melinda French Gates, was seen at the Sun Valley conference with Evan Greenberg, the president and CEO of global insurance giant Chubb Limited
Jeff Bezos’ Gulfstream G650 could be seen arriving at Idaho’s Friedman Memorial Airport on Tuesday. Bezos was spotted on Thursday at the event with his girlfriend Lauren Sanchez
Jeff Bezos and his girlfriend Lauren Sanchez were spotted on Thursday arriving in Idaho
Michael Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City, is seen on Friday in Idaho. He was walking beside Bob Scully, CEO of Chubb, who was holding a copy of Bill Gates’ book. Gates addressed the conference on Friday
Ted Sarandos, the co-founder of Netflix (in the blue zip-up sleeveless jacket) and Robert Kraft, chief executive officer of the New England Patriots (second left) are seen at the conference on Friday
Michael Larson, Bill Gates’ money manager, was seen on Friday at the event – the day his boss spoke about climate change. Larson was wearing his customary pink shirt. So fond is he of the attire, Gates held a party to celebrate their 20 years working together – and told all the invitees to wear pink or platinum
Bezos was spotted on Thursday evening laughing happily besides girlfriend Lauren Sanchez, having relinquished the reins of Amazon three days earlier. Bezos is no longer CEO – a role now taken by Andy Jassy – and instead is chairman of the company.
On July 20 Bezos will jet into space for an 11 minute ride with his company, Blue Origin. His British rival in the space race, Sir Richard Branson, has announced he is going into space on July 11 – beating Bezos by 11 days.
Branson has not been seen at Sun Valley, and is believed to be in the midst of final preparations for the historic journey.
On Friday afternoon, the group participated in another session focused on leadership during troubled times, according to a schedule obtained by Variety.
Among the attendees are CIA director Bill Burns, and his predecessor David Petraeus, who ran the agency from September 2011 for a year.
Michael Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York and presidential candidate, is also in attendance this year.
On Saturday, James Baker III, former secretary of state, will interview Berkshire Hathaway chief Warren Buffett for the traditional closing session with the Oracle of Omaha.
Buffett, 90, on Wednesday saw his stake in Apple jump in value to $128 billion, thanks to the iPhone maker’s stock price closing at a record high. The investor has more than tripled his money on Apple in the past three years – but he would have quadrupled it if he didn’t sell a chunk of the holding.
Variety reported that sessions at the conference, which began on Tuesday and runs until Saturday were held outdoors.
On Wednesday the conference kicked off with a presentation on e-commerce by Shopify by CEO Tobias Lutke, and a general discussion of the global economic climate.
A session on criminal justice reform was also on the agenda, as was immigration reform.
On Thursday, Allen & Co. regulars Barry Diller and his wife, fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg, held a session on creativity.
Barry Diller, 79, is seen here with his wife, designer Diane von Furstenberg, at the conference on Friday
Barry Diller is behind major blockbusters such as Saturday Night Fever and Raiders of the Lost Arc. He strolled into the tech conference in Idaho with his wife Diane von Furstenberg on Friday
Diller speaks to the media on Friday at the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference in Idaho
Diller – a Hollywood icon who was the former CEO of both Paramount and what was 20th Century Fox, which is now part of Disney – said streaming services killed the film industry.
‘The movie business is over,’ said Diller, 79, in an exclusive interview with NPR on the sidelines of the conference on Friday.
‘The movie business as it was before is finished and will never come back.
‘The definition of movie is in such transition it doesn’t mean anything anymore.’
Movie-making has become less of an art form and more of a factory-like production pushing quantity over quality to supplement other services, Diller said.
Von Furstenberg has put on a typically stylishly display over the course of the week – although she has been regularly upstaged by Alice + Olivia co-founder Stacey Bendet, whose colorful and flamboyant ensembles made a welcome change from the polo shirts, chinos, and Mark Zuckerberg’s $35 Adidas slides.
Stacey Bendet, the creative director of Alice + Olivia fashion label, put on a colorful display on Friday
Anderson Cooper, the CNN anchor, was at the annual gathering on Friday
Amy Vogel, of health company CytoSorbents Corporation (left) and Sharine Sawaris, wife of Egyptian billionaire Nassef Sawaris (right) both made an appearance on Friday
Mala Gaonkar, co-portfolio manager of Lone Pine Capital, was seen with her heavily-anoted files
Mike Speiser, a managing partner at venture capital firm Sutter Hill Ventures, is seen on Friday
Shari Redstone, CEO of ViacomCBS and daughter of Sumner Redstone – Viacom’s founder, who died last year aged 97. She is seen on Friday with Dana Blumberg, an eye surgeon and the girlfriend of Robert Kraft, New England Patriots CEO
Jennifer Witz, CEO of Sirius FM, is seen with Josh Witz Allen on Friday
Pilar Queen (left), wife of journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin, is spotted on Friday in Idaho
Meg Lawler, director of the Sun Valley conference, is seen with Ted Weschler, investment manager at Berkshire Hathaway
Erica Hauver, an expert on Keto Nutrition Therapy and chronic disease reversal, is seen with Richard Reeves, the British economist
David Weinberg, director of the Coca-Cola Company, is seen in Idaho on Friday
Media moguls in attendance included Netflix co-CEOs Reed Hastings and Ted Sarandos, ViacomCBS chair Shari Redstone, Disney chairman Bob Iger and WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar.
Discovery CEO David Zaslav was spotted at the resort, as well as CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, CBS presenter Gayle King, actress Candice Bergen and film and television producer Brian Grazer.
Jennifer Witz, the CEO of Sirius FM, was also spotted.
The world of sports was represented by Robert Kraft, chief executive officer of the New England Patriots.
From the world of finance, Mala Gaonkar, co portfolio-manager of Lone Pine Capital, was seen with heavily-noted papers; Ted Weschler, investment manager at Berkshire Hathaway was spotted talking to Meg Lawler, director of the annual event; while Mike Speiser, a managing partner at venture capital firm Sutter Hill Ventures, was also in attendance.
Israeli-American venture capitalist Vivi Nero was spotted on Friday, as was Gates’ money manager, Michael Larson. David Velez, CEO of Nubank, was also in attendance.
Richard Reeves, a British economist at the Brookings Institute, was also present, as was David Weinberg, chairman of the Coca-Cola Company.
In healthcare, Amy Vogel, of blood purification company CytoSorbents Corporation, was seen on Friday, as was Erica Hauver, an expert on Keto Nutrition Therapy and chronic disease reversal.
Mike Keating, a lawyer with Foley Hoag, and his wife Marty are seen arriving for Friday’s session
Vivi Nevo, an Israeli-American venture capitalist, is seen on Friday at the Idaho event
Film director Justin Kelly was also seen at the event on Friday
David Velez, CEO of Nubank, is seen on Friday
From the legal world, Mike Keating of Foley Hoag was represented.
The high-profile event saw an influx of private jets arriving at Friedman Memorial Airport near Sun Valley.
Insider reported the busy private jet traffic on Tuesday saw the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration bring in restrictions on air traffic control, temporarily banning other planes from the country’s West Coast to as far as Michigan and Canada from departing.
Source: Daily Mail
