At the annual "summer camp for billionaires," hosted by a Fifth Avenue boutique investment bank, "the world's ultra-wealthy" – top executives in media, tech, and finance – this week are hanging out at a "retreat in the idyllic Idaho wilderness."
Officially known as the Sun Valley Conference, Business Insider reports, "the conference has been held since the 1980s and provides CEOs and business leaders a chance to connect over outdoor activities and presentations on national security and geopolitics."
"Sometimes, these leaders connect and create billion-dollar deals — like Disney's acquisition of ABC or Jeff Bezos' purchase of the Washington Post."
Bloomberg reports "Paramount Global’s agreement to merge with David Ellison’s Skydance Media was the talk of the resort."
"Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. Chief Executive Officer David Zaslav said the deal, which will see the parent of Paramount Pictures and CBS change hands after decades of control by the Redstone family, will lead to a healthier industry. Ellison, the son of Oracle Corp. co-founder Larry Ellison, and RedBird Capital Partners are investing more than $8 billion to take over the company."
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As head of the newly-formed mega multi-national conglomerate Warner Bros. Discovery, Zaslav is effectively the chief of CNN, along with well over a dozen cable TV channels and streaming services. In total, 66 "brands" worldwide.
On its corporate website, Warner Bros. Discovery promotes DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) and ESG (environmental, social, and governance investing.) It includes among its values: "Intentionally seek out diversity, remove barriers, and create space for all to share ideas and be heard."
On Tuesday, Zaslav was asked about the 2024 presidential election.
"Zaslav said it mattered less to him [which] party wins, as long as the next president was friendly to business," Bloomberg reports.
“We just need an opportunity for deregulation, so companies can consolidate and do what we need to to be even better,” he said.
Critics quickly responded.
"Why are some CEOs warming up to Trump?" U.C. Berkeley professor and former Clinton Cabinet Secretary Robert Reich wrote. "Yes, the tax cuts — but it's not just that. The Biden-Harris admin is reviving anti-trust in a big way, with lawsuits against Amazon, Apple, Ticketmaster, and many more. Corporate execs are terrified of their monopolies being broken up."
"A lot of rich Americans think they’d make more money under a dictatorship. The rest of us need to defeat them in November," commented media critic Mark Jacob, a former Chicago Tribune editor.
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Justin Kanew, former Democratic congressional candidate and founder of The Tennessee Holler remarked, "All our problems summed up in one greedy little quote."
"Here it is. As succinctly stated as it possibly can be," declared political commentator Jared Yates Sexton. "The wealth class cares about one thing and one thing alone: eliminating the ability for the masses through representative government to impede their consolidation of power and wealth."
Film executive and founder of The Black List, Franklin Leonard observed, "They are who we thought they were."
Former CIA Clandestine Service member John Sipher wrote: "Craven irresponsibly as a citizen."
Former DOJ attorney Michael Sozan, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress remarked, "Business leaders fail to understand that an unpredictable democracy that slides into autocracy is bad for the economy and for businesses. We've seen this happen around the world. (Plus, you'd think business leaders would care about protecting fundamental rights, but nah)."
Journalist Thor Benson wrote: "The rich business executives are always perfectly fine with fascism if they think it will benefit them."
Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah summed it up: "Does everything make sense now? Is it clear yet?"
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