Sun Valley’s Unexpected Fashion: From Sam Altman’s Mysterious Backpack to Vintage Apple Earphones
Cowboy hats, jump ropes and wired headphones are making an appearance at this year's "summer camp for billionaires."
The annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference is underway in a mountain resort in Idaho. The five-day event, dubbed the “summer camp for billionaires,” attracts hordes of industry titans eager to network and make deals. Media moguls Shari Redstone and Bob Iger have already been spotted convening outside the Sun Valley Lodge, as have tech executives Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates.
While the public may not be privy to the conference’s inner workings, the accessories of its attendees—which include jump ropes, cowboy hats and bicycles—shed some light on their daily activities at the secretive get-together. Here’s what this year’s Sun Valley attendees are bringing to the conference:
Sam Altman’s ever-present blue backpack
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was seen outside the conference venue on July 9 carrying his favored accessory—a blue Patagonia backpack. The tech CEO has been spotted with the backpack so frequently that it has spurred jokes that the bag contains a device capable of shutting down data centers hosting ChatGPT. Altman himself laughed about the bag being an “off switch” for OpenAI during a 2023 podcast.
Carl Eschenbach’s jump rope
Carl Eschenbach, the CEO of cloud-based software provider Workday, is making sure he still gets a workout in during Sun Valley. Eschenbach, who brought his personal jump rope to the annual conference in 2023, has once again been seen sporting it around his neck this year.
“I always have a jump rope. I just put it in my suitcase,” said Eschenbach of his love for jump roping during a recent podcast. The executive added that he often thinks about work and business strategies during his daily exercise, which typically takes place around 4:30 am or 5:30 am.
Barry Diller’s trusted bicycle
It’s no surprise that IAC chairman Barry Diller has been spotted in Sun Valley with a bike in tow. A longtime attendee of Allen & Co’s event, the IAC chairman is rarely seen at the conference without the two-wheeled vehicle. However, Diller’s bicycle rides don’t always go so smoothly. In 2008, he reportedly almost ran over Wendi Deng Murdoch, the former wife of Rupert Murdoch, at that year’s Sun Valley gathering.
Alex Taylor and Ana Laffont’s wired headphones
Alex Taylor, CEO of Cox Enterprises, and Ana Lafont, board chair at Mary’s Meals USA, prefer the old-fashioned wired earphones over Bluetooth earbuds.">
The Sun Valley conference might be an oasis for the world’s wealthiest and most powerful executives, but that hasn’t stopped some attendees from breaking out affordable wired headphones instead of Airpods. Alex Taylor, the CEO of the media company Cox Enterprises, and Ana Lafont, the board chair at nonprofit Mary’s Meals USA, have both been spotted wearing traditional headphones at this year’s conference.
Some use wired headphones because they are cheaper and have a vintage aesthetic. Others, including Vice President Kamala Harris, reportedly favor them over Bluetooth headphones to avoid potential security risks.
Marc Benioff’s cowboy hat returns
Marc Benioff" width="970" height="668" data-caption='Marc Benioff wore his cowboy hat at last year’s Sun Valley conference. <span class="lazyload media-credit">Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images</span>'>
Salesforce founder Marc Benioff may be from San Francisco, but his accessories sway Western. The tech CEO has been pictured at Sun Valley sporting a cowboy hat for the second year in a row. While he chose a tan hat to wear while walking around the event in 2023, he switched it up this time by donning a black version.