Apple CEO Tim Cook Among Tech and Media Elite Invited to Sun Valley Conference Later This Week

Apple CEO Tim Cook is on the guest list for this year's Sun Valley Conference, which begins Wednesday in the resort town of Sun Valley, Idaho, according to Deadline. Known as "summer camp for billionaires," the conference allows tech and media moguls to negotiate deals between leisure activities like golfing and whitewater rafting.

Tim Cook Sun Valley Bloomberg

Cook (center) at the 2016 Sun Valley Conference (via Bloomberg News)

Cook has attended the retreat several times over the years, often alongside Apple's services chief Eddy Cue, but it has yet to be confirmed if he will be present this year. Apple's negotiations have typically been kept under wraps, but the conference provides the company with an opportunity to secure media deals for services like Apple TV+.

Other tech CEOs invited this year include Tesla's Elon Musk, Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon's Andy Jassy, and Alphabet's Sundar Pichai, the report claims.

Hosted by investment bank Allen & Company, the conference has served as a catalyst for some major deals in the media industry, ranging from Disney acquiring ABC in 1995 to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' purchasing The Washington Post in 2013. This year's event reportedly takes place from July 5 through July 9, with private discussions to begin July 6.

Top Rated Comments

seanmills1020 Avatar
19 months ago
I will be there trying to convince Tim to bring back Aperture, HyperCard, and xServe.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ian87w Avatar
19 months ago

It’s fitting. Steve Jobs wanted Apple’s products to be for the common man, although he failed at it due to higher prices than the rest of the industry. But at least he had those good intentions. Tim Cook, on the other hand, wants to make Apple an exclusive brand (like Burberry, which is why he hired Angela Arhends) and raised prices thus raising the barrier to entry and excluding the common man. So it’s fitting that Cook is attending that exclusive event since his goal is to turn Apple into the computer equivalent of an exclusive nightclub like Studio 54.
Agree. Steve Jobs did try. Apple prices were high, of course, especially on first gens. But then on subsequent releases, there were efforts to bring prices to moderate levels.

But Tim Cook operated differently. Only going upwards, and instead of innovating for the entry level, he just used old designs and components to segregate the haves and the have nots.

Eg. when introducing the first glass/aluminum iMac, Jobs set the base config with 20", an increase in size vs the previous 17". Giving more value for the same price. Then there are certain price points that Jobs were adamant in maintaining, eg $499 for flagship base config iPads. And let's not forget how Apple tackled the iPod market, with clear innovations at every segment (regular iPod, mini/nano, shuffle).

Today's Apple is clearly different, eg. still selling Apple Watch S3 that won't be updated ever, pushing every new models at higher price point than previous, etc. In tackling the lower segments, the current Apple is so lazy that they just reused old designs (iPhone SE, base iPad) instead of innovating.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DeepIn2U Avatar
19 months ago
I sincerely hope nobody makes any deals with Zuckerberg nor Meta this year.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ThomasJL Avatar
19 months ago
It’s fitting. Steve Jobs wanted Apple’s products to be for the common man, although he failed at it due to higher prices than the rest of the industry. But at least he had those good intentions. Tim Cook, on the other hand, wants to make Apple an exclusive brand (like Burberry, which is why he hired Angela Arhends) and raised prices thus raising the barrier to entry and excluding the common man. So it’s fitting that Cook is attending that exclusive event since his goal is to turn Apple into the computer equivalent of an exclusive nightclub like Studio 54.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CarAnalogy Avatar
19 months ago
I hope some of their billionaire buddies ask them to fix Siri.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
19 months ago
Tim Cook dropping more hints about AR\VR?
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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