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An estimated 175 private jets touched down in Sun Valley, Idaho, on Tuesday, kicking off the secretive annual retreat colloquially known as summer camp for billionaires. Less than a week after Congress passed President Trumps tax and spending billwhich experts project will cut healthcare benefits for 17 million Americans, while also giving tax breaks to the wealthy and corporationsthe largest-looming figures in tech, media, and finance have convened in Sun Valley for a closed-door schmoozefest and deal-a-thon. Its a gathering that not only ignores the current national mood felt by many Americans but stands in opposition to it. Hosted by Allen & Co., a boutique investment bank with tentacles in media and tech, the Sun Valley conference has been a must-attend for powerbrokers since 1983. Its like Davos minus the press access, and not even a pretense of addressing global issues. Tectonic plate-shifting deals made at past retreats include Disneys acquisition of ABC in 1995, the AOL-Time Warner merger in 1999, and Amazon founder Jeff Bezoss purchase of The Washington Post in 2013. Among attendees at this years edition, which runs from July 8July 13, are Apple CEO Tim Cook, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and Ivanka Trumpan eclectic whos who of the elites elite. Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav is also in attendance. Zaslav, you might recall, had perhaps the most well-circulated quote from last years outing. When a Bloomberg reporter asked him during Sun Valley 2024 whether he had a preference between Joe Biden and Donald Trump to be the next president, the CEO deflected with his reply: We just need an opportunity for deregulation, so companies can consolidate and do what we need to be even better. Although his remarks could be read as an indirect Trump endorsement, since Republicans tend to favor deregulation, its the phrasing that speaks volumes. It encapsulates the way in which some of the countrys most powerful figures appear indifferent to how political decisions affect the lives of actual Americans, and instead seem interested solely in how they affect business. This ambivalence is reflected in the abundance of founders and CEOs who were once vocally critical of Trumps policies but later donated to and attended his second inauguration. It also explains why the disconnect between the gilded world of Sun Valley and the reality of people reeling from the consequences of last years election feels so profound. Inequality and an unknowable economy The 2009 iteration of the retreat, with the global financial crisis unfurling in the background, was one of the only times in recent memory when the events setting may have felt even more out of step with the public mood. During that years retreat, a CNBC reporter asked Warren Buffett about the vibe behind the scenes at Sun Valley. [I]ts a tough period, Buffett replied. On the other hand, this movie will have a good ending. The reporter pushed for clarification on just how long that ending might take to arrive. Buffett understandably could not respond with any certainty. I know the ending will be good, he said, but I dont know whether its a two-hour movie or a four-hour movie. In the 16 years since, the Sun Valley set did indeed enjoy a good ending. The 793 billionaires that existed in 2009 then had combined wealth of $2.4 trillion, while the 3,000-plus billionaires of 2025 now enjoy combined wealth of $16.1 trillionan increase of over 570%. Meanwhile, many Americans were apparently living in a different movie. Middle-income households have seen their share of aggregate income shrink from 45% in 2012 to 42% in 2020. As for lower-income Americans, the federal minimum wage increased from $6.55 per hour to $7.25 during the same month as the Sun Valley retreat in 2009and it has not gone up one penny since, despite the best efforts of labor organizers. The economic outlook is not quite as precarious in 2025 as it was in 2009, but thanks to Trumps erratic approach to tariffs, it feels as unstable as a rickety roller coaster. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said back in May that the economy may be entering a period of more volatile inflation and more regular supply shocks, citing tariffs as the reason for his hesitation to adjust interest rates. A majority of Americans seem to agree with this analysis. In a late-June poll from Gallup, around the time that Bezos dropped a reported $20 million-plus on his wedding with Lauren Sanchez, 72% of citizens surveyed said they thought the economy was either poor or only fair, while a relatively paltry 27% described it as either good or excellent. Anti-billionaire animosity Another reason this years summer camp for billionaires feels out of step with the national mood is because Americans have had excessive exposure to billionaires in 2025, and many dont seem particularly thrilled with what theyve seen. According to a January poll, only 12% of Americans thought it would be very or somewhat good for the president to rely on billionaires for advice about government policyand that was before they got a taste of what it might look like in practice. Despite running on a populist platform, the presidenta billioaire himself, it must be saidstocked his cabinet with fellow billionaires, and has since delivered this cohort their promised tax cuts. Before the worlds richest man fell spectacularly out of favor with Trump, the president empowered Elon Musk and his DOGE team to reduce waste, fraud, and abuse throughout the government. This mandate resulted in thousands of federal workers losing their jobs, various staffing crises and data breaches, and, thanks to Musks gleeful decimation of USAID, untold devastation and suffering around the world. By making himself the sneering face of this effort, Musk became so unpopular that he inspired a global protest movement. All the unmistakable hostility directed toward him, however, is only a symptom of a broader sentiment. Judging from the historically unfavorable polling of Trumps just-passed tax billwhich had an average net favorability of -23% in every poll between May and JulyAmericans are fed up with a system that makes life easier for the wealthy and harder for everyone else. Although the 2026 midterms are still a long way off, voters are already registering their complaints electorally. In last months New York mayoral primary, for instance, voters soundly rejected front-runner Andrew Cuomo, the disgraced former governor, in favor of Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani, who spent a fraction of what Cuomos Super PAC put into the race and won anyway. It is very much in keeping with the substance of Mamdanis campaign that, during the June 29 episode of Meet the Press, the candidate said, I dont think that we should have billionaires because, frankly, it is so much money in a moment of so much inequality, and ultimately, what we need more of is equality across our city and across our state and across our country. No wonder billionaires like former mayor and media mogul Michael Bloomberg, hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, and corporations like DoorDash poured millions into the race against him, and tech investors like Tyler Winklevoss have denounced the peoples choice for mayor with extreme prejudice (quite literally, in the notorious anti-Mamdani posts from Sequoia Capitals Shaun Maguire). This exact MCU-style crossover of tech, media, political, and financial interests also happens to comprise the demographic makeup of the Sun Valley retreat. The epitome of growth-at-all-costs mindset In the year since Zaslav said at Sun Valley that he preferred the candidate who would best allow companies to consolidate, Zaslavs company has done the opposite. Warner Bros Discovery announced last month that it will split into two companiesand that Zaslavs pay will be significantly reduced. This despite Zaslavs much hoped-for deregulation coming to pass. Although WBDs fate would likely have been the same no matter who won last November, other media conglomerates might not say the same. The July 2024 merger deal between Paramount and Skydance was reportedly the talk of Sun Valley last summer. However, Trumps handpicked FCC chair has since slowed approval of the merger, creating the appearance that it would be contingent on Paramount settling a $16 million Trump lawsuit against Paramount-owned CBS News, for alleged unfair editing in an episode of 60 Minutes last fall. On July 2, Paramount announced that it would settle the lawsuit, despite legal experts dismissing the suit as meritless and absurd. This decision could set a dangerous precedent for press freedom, and may very well have a direct impact on how Americans receive their news going forward. Its also a sterling example of growth-at-all-costs mindsetthe pernicious force that drives companies to conduct mass layoffs in order to please shareholders, jam AI into every aspect of consumer goods and services, and support whichever political candidate promises to be best for business. With its cloistered dealmaking by the biggest names in tech, finance, and media, Sun Valley is the epitome of growth-at-all-costs mindset. At any other moment, it might have been easier to separate the event from all the political and social turmoil of 2025, but coming so soon after the signing of Trumps tax bill, which is expected to kick 17 million Americans off of healthcare while giving venture capitalists a $17 billion loophole, its nearly impossible to ignore. The masters of the universe gathering this week in Idaho dont seem to care if growth at all costs ends up literally costing everythingas long as its somebody else who pays.
Category:
E-Commerce
Global stocks fell on Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump intensified his tariff war against Canada, leaving Europe squarely in the firing line, sparking a modest investor push into safe havens such as gold. The Canadian dollar fell after Trump issued a letter late on Thursday that said a 35% tariff rate on all imports from Canada would apply from August 1. The European Union was set to receive a letter by Friday. The U.S. president, whose global wave of tariffs has upended businesses and policymaking, floated a blanket 15% or 20% tariff rate on other countries, a step up from the current 10% baseline rate. This week, he surprised Brazil, which has a trade surplus with the United States, with duties of 50%, and hit copper, pharmaceuticals and semiconductor chips. Aside from pockets of volatility in target currencies, stocks or commodities, markets have offered little in the way of reaction to the onslaught, leaving the VIX volatility index at its lowest since late February. In Europe, the STOXX 600, which has risen 2% this week, fell 0.8%. Futures on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq fell 0.4-0.5%, pointing to a retreat from this week’s record highs at the open later. “The market is becoming a bit numb to these (tariff) announcements, and perhaps its not until we see hard data showing an impact that we (will) start to see the market reacting,” City Index strategist Fiona Cincotta said. “Obviously, were getting more information through that does bring with it an element of clarity. Because there is so much uncertainty, there is still this idea that Trump could be open to negotiation, nothing feels ‘final’ still,” she said. The dollar rose as much as 0.5% earlier against the Canadian dollar before retreating to C$1.3697 , up 0.2% on the day. The euro, which has lost nearly 1% in value since the start of July, was down 0.1% at $1.1694. Earlier in the week, Trump pushed back his tariff deadline of July 9 to August 1 for many trading partners to allow more time for negotiations, but broadened his trade war, setting new rates for a number of countries, including allies Japan and South Korea, along with a 50% tariff on copper. Joseph Capurso, head of international economics at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, said the tariff rate of 35% on Canada was not as bad as feared because most of the imports are still subject to exemptions under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). “Now the tariff rate on imports from the EU . . . That’s what we don’t know as yet,” Capurso said. “If you get something similar to (the U.S.-China trade war in April), that’s going to be very destabilising.” Wall Street indexes posted record closing highs on Thursday as AI chip maker Nvidia made history, bagging a market valuation above $4 trillion. Gold rose for a third day in a row, up 0.8% to $3,348 an ounce, bringing gains for July so far to 1.2%. Treasuries got less of a safe-haven boost, as investor concern about the fragility of long-term U.S. government finances prompted a selloff that pushed yields up. Benchmark 10-year yields rose 3.7 basis points to 4.384%, adding to Thursday’s rise on the back of data that showed jobless claims unexpectedly fell last week. The yen, which also typically behaves like a safe haven, has been steadily weakening as the prospects dim for a U.S.-Japan trade deal. The dollar was up 0.45% on Friday at 146.93 yen, set for a weekly gain of 1.6%, the biggest this year. Bitcoin rose as much as 4.6% to a new record of $118,832. Investors will be watching second-quarter corporate earnings next week to gauge the impact of Trump’s tariffs from April 2. JPMorgan Chase is due to release results on Tuesday, essentially kicking off the reporting period. Oil prices rose nearly 1%, partially reversing the previous day’s losses, to leave Brent crude at $69.3 a barrel. Stella Qiu and Amanda Cooper, Reuters
Category:
E-Commerce
Earlier today, Bitcoin hit an all-time high of over $118,000 per token, giving many crypto investors hope that the digital coin king may soon surpass the psychologically important barrier of $120,000. But Bitcoin isnt the only cryptocurrency significantly on the rise today. The altcoin XRP is also up todaymore than 13% over the past 24 hours as of the time of this writing. Heres a possible reason why. What is XRP? In the world of cryptocurrency, you have one king, Bitcoin. Keeping in line with the nobility nomenclature, the title of prince belongs to Ethereum, the second-largest crypto by market cap. The title of duke, then, would go to XRP, the third-largest crypto by market cap. All Bitcoins in the world currently have a market cap of about $2.3 trillion, while Ethereum sits at about $361 billion, and XRP hovers around $161 billion. XRP, then, is one of the bigger so-called altcoins on the market. According to Yahoo Finance data, the current price of XRP (XRPUSD) is right around $2.76 per token. One of the largest holders of XRP is Ripple Labs Inc., a company that offers digital cross-border payment solutions like the decentralized RippleNet. Why is XRP surging? Over the past 24 hours, XRP has seen a significant increase. As of the time of this writing, the coin is trading at around $2.7636 apiece. Thats a more than 13% gain in the last day. But why is XRP surging? Any rise or fall in any crypto is usually linked to more than one reason, but over the past few days, investors seem to be more bullish on XRPand perhaps thanks in part to a specific event. As noted by The Coin Telegraph, on Wednesday, the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs hosted a hearing called From Wall Street to Web3: Building Tomorrows Digital Asset Markets. The event covered a number of topics, as noted by Bitcoin Magazine, including the regulatory environment surrounding crypto. One of the witnesses at the event was Ripple Labs CEO Brad Garlinghouse. Since that event, XRP has steadily increased. Garlinghouses presence at the event seems to suggest to some investors that Ripple may have a growing involvement with policymakers in Washington. If so, it may help boost the appeal of XRP, which Ripple owns a lot of. Of course, whether Ripple Labs actually has an increasing involvement with policymakers in D.C. remains to be seenand even if they do, it doesnt mean XRP is guaranteed any kind of upward trajectory. Still, over the past five days, XRP has surged 20%. XRP jumps 500% over the past 12 months While XRPs five-day jump of 20% seems impressive, it’s nothing compared to what the coin has done over the past 12 months. Since last July, XRP has surged a staggering 507%, according to data from Yahoo Finance. Thats an astounding return compared to its peers. Bitcoin, for example, is up just over 105% in the same period, and Ethereum is down just over 3%.
Category:
E-Commerce
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