The private jets have touched down in Idaho. Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Sam Altman, Tim Cook, and Bob Iger are among the titans converging on Sun Valley this week for Allen & Company's annual summer conference—the invitation-only gathering long known as "billionaire summer camp" where the biggest deals in media and technology are hatched over morning hikes and fireside chats.

The 2026 edition, which kicks off Tuesday, July 7, arrives at a pivotal moment for American business. Artificial intelligence is reshaping every industry, media companies are scrambling to adapt to the streaming wars' new phase, and the tech giants face unprecedented regulatory scrutiny. If there's a place where the next year of corporate America will be shaped, it's in the mountains of Idaho.

The Guest List: Power Players Everywhere

This year's attendee list reads like a who's who of global capitalism. On the tech side, Apple's Tim Cook, Amazon's Andy Jassy, Google's Sundar Pichai, and OpenAI's Sam Altman are all expected. Altman's presence is particularly notable given OpenAI's recent proposal to give the U.S. government a 5% stake worth $42.6 billion—a deal that could come up in sideline conversations with government-connected attendees.

The media contingent is equally stacked. Disney CEO Bob Iger, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos, Warner Bros. Discovery's David Zaslav, and newly minted Paramount-Skydance chairman David Ellison will all be making appearances. With the Paramount-Skydance merger still being finalized, Ellison's interactions with other media executives could signal how he plans to position the combined company in an increasingly fragmented landscape.

Journalists and commentators including The Free Press founder Bari Weiss round out an eclectic guest list that spans media, tech, finance, and politics.

Where Deals Get Done

Sun Valley's reputation as a dealmaking hub is well-earned. Past conferences have spawned some of the biggest transactions in media history—the Disney-ABC merger, Amazon's acquisition of Washington Post, and countless other deals have been traced back to conversations in these Idaho mountains.

This year, all eyes will be on potential streaming consolidation. The industry has too many players and too few profits, and Sun Valley is exactly the kind of environment where CEOs might find common ground on solutions. Whether that means further mergers, content licensing deals, or technology partnerships remains to be seen.

AI Takes Center Stage

The elephant in every Sun Valley conversation this year will be artificial intelligence. With Sam Altman in attendance alongside the CEOs of companies building, deploying, and competing with AI systems, the conference offers a rare opportunity for the industry's most powerful figures to align—or clash—on the technology's future.

Apple is widely expected to announce deeper AI integration later this year. Amazon is pouring billions into its own foundation models. Google is racing to defend its search dominance against AI challengers. And OpenAI, the company that kicked off the current AI frenzy, is navigating its transformation from nonprofit to for-profit while trying to maintain its lead.

All of these storylines will collide in Sun Valley's conference rooms and hiking trails.

The Dealmaking Environment

Beyond specific transactions, Sun Valley matters because it shapes how executives think about their industries. The informal setting—billionaires in fleece vests and hiking boots—encourages candid conversations that wouldn't happen in boardrooms.

This year's conference comes as markets near all-time highs despite growing economic uncertainty. The Dow recently touched 52,903, and tech stocks have led the way even as fears of an AI bubble grow. The executives gathering in Idaho will be trying to parse whether the boom can continue—and positioning their companies accordingly.

For four days, Sun Valley transforms from a sleepy Idaho resort town into the de facto capital of American capitalism. By the time the last private jet lifts off on Thursday, the outlines of the next year's biggest business stories may already be drawn.

What deals will emerge from the 2026 conference remains to be seen. But history suggests that when this many powerful people gather in one place, something significant always happens. The billionaire summer camp is officially in session.