Billionaire Warren Buffett’s wife Astrid allegedly moaned about the price of a $4 coffee while at the Sun Valley rich-and-famous summer camp on Thursday.
In a scene that echoes a scenario from Succession, Astrid Buffett grumbled about how much she had to pay for her morning drink, despite her 92-year-old chairman of Berkshire Hathaway husband being worth more than $115 billion.
According to the New York Post, Buffett complained that she ‘could get a pound of coffee’ for the same price somewhere else.
In season two of Succession, media tycoon Nan Pierce – played by Cherry Jones – visits a fictional summer camp called Argestes, which appears to be based on Sun Valley. Once there, the billionaire recoils at the sight of a drinks menu and cries ‘Look at those prices.’
The billionaire pair wed in 2006, when she was 60 and he was 73. They live in a humble home in Omaha, Nebraska, which Buffett paid $31,000 for in 1958.
CEOs from across many sectors have met at the ‘billionaire summer camp’, the annual Allen & Co summer conference.
Warren Buffett and Astrid Buffett at the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference on July 6, 2011
Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., walks with his wife Astrid at the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference at the Sun Valley Resort on July 12, 2014
Warren Buffett, Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, makes his way to a morning session on July 13, 2023
The annual event in Idaho is known for hosting high profile business deals, or at least being the site of the conversations that started them.
Meetings happen behind closed doors, with journalists barred from attending.
Fictional Nan Pierce scoffs at the price of the drinks on the menu during the television show Succession
Among the moguls spotted in attendance this year are embattled Disney CEO Bob Iger, Apple boss Tim Cook, and OpenAI founder Sam Altman.
Warren Buffett was this morning seen riding on a golf buggy to a morning session.
Bill Gates also flashed a smile, while wearing a name tag so other billionaires in the room knew who he was.
Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir Technologies, grabbed a coffee before a session during the summit on Thursday.
Robert Kraft, CEO of the New England Patriots, and Roger Goodell, Commissioner of the NFL, were seen walking to lunch together at during the conference on Wednesday.
Fashion mogul François-Henri Pinault was also seen at Sun Valley yesterday.
Mike Bloomberg, former Mayor of New York and CEO of Bloomberg L.P., was snapped leaving a morning session.
Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, walks to lunch at the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference on July 13, 2023, wearing a name tag
Shari Ellin Redstone, President of National Amusements, walks to a morning session while beaming in her red jacket
Becky Quick, co-anchorwoman of CNBC’s financial news shows Squawk Box, at the conference
Bob Iger, CEO of Disney, walks to lunch at the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference on July 13, 2023 in Sun Valley
Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir Technologies, grabs a coffee before a session
And Sheryl Sandberg – the former COO of Meta – smiled as she was pictured walking from one of the workshops with her husband Tom Bernthal.
Bernthal is the CEO of a strategic consulting agency, Kelton Global, and former NBC News producer.
But this year’s celebration is expected to be marred by an ongoing writers’ strike and the rise of artificial intelligence and streaming services.
One of the storylines on show this week comes from Disney chief Bob Iger, whose contract has now been extended to 2026.
Iger was seen walking to lunch on Wednesday wearing aviator sunglasses and a long sleeved white t shirt.
Another hot button issue at the summit is also reportedly a recent federal court ruling in favor of Activision Blizzard Inc. CEO Bobby Kotick, which aided his company’s $69 billion sale to Microsoft, according to Bloomberg.
Both Kotick and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella are known to regularly attend the annual billionaire’s get-together.
Stewart Butterfield, co-founder of Flickr and Slack, and Jen Rubio are pictured at the summit
Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Meta Platforms, walk to a morning session
Tim Ellis, CEO of Relativity Space, and Richelle Ellis were also spotted on Thursday
Marc Benioff, Chief Executive Officer of Salesforce, walks with other attendees as they leave a morning session at the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference on July 13
And with Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav in attendance, eyes will be peeled on discussions about the future of embattled news network CNN.
Over in the tech industry, meanwhile, leaders are expected to meet with US Commerce Sec. Gina Raimondo to discuss the $52billion US Chips and Science Act, which is aimed at shoring up advanced domestic semiconductor manufacturing, a person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.
And they are likely to discuss the ongoing negotiations to create a new Indo-Pacific trade agreement to replace the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which former President Donald Trump disbanded in 2017.
An initial version of the agreement would have effectively stymied member countries’ efforts to regulate tech companies including on topics like market dominance and privacy.
Tech executives have also been lobbying government officials in recent months to ensure that their interests are represented in the new agreement designed to curb China’s influence in Asia.
