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This weekend, dozens of CEOs, tech tycoons, and billionaires packed their bags and jetted out of Sun Valley, Idaho, after the annual four-day Sun Valley conference (nicknamed summer camp for billionaires) came to a close. Hosted by the investment banking firm Allen & Co., the conference is essentially a yearly opportunity for some of the worlds most influential businesspeople to rub elbows and talk shop over scenic mountain views. Aside from giving its attendees a chance to break out their best polos and khakis for an expectant clutch of paparazzi, the secretive retreat has also served as the site of some of the most significant deals in the past four decades. Those include Disneys acquisition of ABC in 1995, Googles acquisition of YouTube in 2006, and Amazon founder Jeff Bezoss purchase of The Washington Post in 2013. This years star-studded cast included OpenAIs Sam Altman, Apples Tim Cook, and Microsofts Satya Nadella, to name a few. Heres everything we know about the 2025 conference so far: Skydance discusses purchase of ‘The Free Press’ According to a report from The New York Times, one potential deal on the table at this years gathering was an acquisition of the online publication The Free Press by the media company Skydance. David Ellison, Skydances CEO, attended the conference alongside Bari Weiss, cofounder of The Free Press. Sources close to the discussion told The Times that Ellison has previously offered Weiss a wide variety of options in terms of potential working arrangements were Skydance to purchase The Free Pressincluding one scenario in which Weiss would take a major role in shaping the editorial direction of CBS News. Still, no official agreement has been announced, and The Times did not learn the terms of any potential deals. Fast Company reached out to Skydance and The Free Press for comment. In the meantime, Ellison is also in the midst of attempting to close a proposed merger with Paramount. Disney looking to sell A&E Global Media On July 8, just before the start of this years Sun Valley conference, Disney and Hearst, co-owners of the cable network A&E Global Media, announced that they were looking to sell the network. The news follows a larger trend of media companies like Comcast and Warner Bros. Discovery spinning off their respective cable networks in an attempt to purge underperforming arms of the business, as traditional pay TV continues down a path of rapid decline. Its quite a turn from just a few years ago, when media companies were opting to acquire their rivals in what Variety has called an arms race to compete with streaming competitors. In the wake of the news that A&E is seeking a new buyer, Disney CEO Bob Iger attended Sun Valley alongside media moguls including Comcast head Brian Roberts, Sony Pictures Entertainment CEO Ravi Ahuja, and Warner Bros. Discovery head David Zaslav. One topic was top of mind At the end of the conference, Business Insider caught up with Flowcode CEO Tim Armstrong, who has attended Sun Valley annually for more than a decade. Armstrong shared that, unsurprisingly, this years hottest topic of discussion was AI. It was the “1,000-pound gorilla” in “every conversation, every meeting,” Armstrong told the publication, adding that executives spent a good chunk of the retreat sharing their ideas on how to implement new AI tools. The year of weird sunglasses and Western cosplay While the general public waits to hear more details about deals made behind closed doors at this years conference, there is one element of the retreat that the average American had full access to: the fashion. This year, like the years before it, saw an excess of bland polo shirts, jeans, ball caps, and button-downs. In an interview with Fast Company, L.A.-based personal stylist Mary Komick explained that quiet luxury is the generally accepted dress code at Sun Valley, with execs opting for neutral shades and understated cuts. Theyre showing off to each other, with their stealth luxe style noticeably recognized by those in these circles, Komick noted. Still, there were a couple of new trends to emerge this year. Ivanka Trump and Spanx founder Sara Blakley both opted for Western-inspired accessories, while several other attendees stepped out in simple outfits accented with over-the-top sunglasses, including Altman (who donned a $400 pair of sunnies inspired by 70s ski masks) and Ferrari chairman John Elkann (who wore a vintage pair of Tom Fords that were chunky enough to resemble an Apple Vision Pro).
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IShowSpeed and Jynxzi are teaming up to host a $100,000 Fortnite tournament, bringing together 100 top creators for whats shaping up to be the biggest celebrity Fortnite match to date. During one of IShowSpeeds streams last week, he FaceTimed fellow streamer Jynxzi, and the two broke the news: a $100,000 Fortnite tournament featuring 100 streamers is coming soon. While the FNCS (Fortnite Champion Series) is the official Fortnite tournamenttaking place between September 6 and 7 in Lyon, Francecreator-led events like IShowSpeed and Jynxzis are increasingly stealing the spotlight. With competitive prize pools and added entertainment value, theyre drawing in casual fans who might not typically follow formal esports. Insane for smaller streamers. This will change a life! wrote one X user in response to the news. $100K and 100 streamers? Chaos loading added another. Insane for smaller streamers. This will change a life!— Chloe Donald (@ChloeDonald_) July 8, 2025 Speed got his start streaming from his bedroom in Cincinnati. Today, he boasts over 41.9 million YouTube subscribers and 874,000 Twitch followers, and was named Streamer of the Year at the 2024 Streamer Awards. Like Speed, Jynxzi is an avid gamer. With 7.6 million Twitch followers, he ranks as the sixth most-subscribed Twitch streamer of all time. He was voted Best Breakthrough Streamer and Gamer of the Year at the 2024 Streamer Awards. The tournament will likely be streamed live across both Speed and Jynxzis Twitch and YouTube channels, as multi-platform broadcasting becomes the norm for creators aiming to reach wider audiences. The event will exclusively feature content creator participants, who are also expected to stream their own POVs. This will give fans the chance to follow gameplay from their favorite channels in real time. Its another example of gaming and digital entertainment continuing to converge, with creators driving cross-genre, community-centered events. No official date has been confirmed, but Speed hinted it would happen in the next upcoming weeks. Stay tuned.
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E-Commerce
The developer of what would be the first new coal mine in Wyoming in decades is launching a potentially half-billion-dollar effort to extract rare earth metals from the fossil fuel that are crucial for tech products and military hardware.Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon, and Wyoming’s congressional delegation took part in a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday for Ramaco Resources, Inc.’s Brook Mine outside Ranchester in northeastern Wyoming.“Not only do we get coal here, we are going to get those rare earth elements that are going to break our dependence on China,” Wright told Fox News from the mine site Friday.Wright’s involvement underscores President Donald Trump’s determination to advance fossil fuel projects and mining and reverse former President Joe Biden’s moves to support for renewable energy.Administration officials on Monday moved toward selling federal coal leases in the top U.S. coal-producing region in northeastern Wyoming and southeastern Montana. On Thursday, officials announced a proposal in Utah that they said would be the first coal exploration project on U.S. Bureau of Land Management property since 2019.Those moves came on the heels of legislation signed last week that lowered royalty payments for companies mining coal on public lands and mandated officials make available for potential mining an area greater in size than Connecticut.Meanwhile, local officials in Utah hope the administration will support plans to build a railroad spur to boost oil drilling. A coalition of eastern Utah counties wants Trump’s Transportation Department to approve $2.4 billion in bonds for the 88-mile (140-kilometer) spur to export oil from the Uinta Basin, a project that may proceed after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling.On Friday, the minerals capturing the administration’s attention were not just coal but rare earths a family of 17 metallic elements with unusual properties that make them useful in modern technology, from electric car batteries and wind turbines to military targeting devices.The only operating U.S. rare earths mine is at Mountain Pass in California. Nearly all of the nation’s supply comes from China, the source of nearly 90% of the world’s supply.Rare earths aren’t especially rare but so scattered they are difficult to bring together in useful quantities.Concern about continued access to them has been a focus of recent negotiations between China and the U.S., and led the Trump administration to try to encourage more production domestically.“We would intend to mine it here in Wyoming, process it here in Wyoming and sell it to domestic customers including the government,” Ramaco CEO Randall Atkins said Thursday.Former West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, an independent who left office in January after not seeking reelection, joined the Ramaco board in April.The new Brook Mine, though relatively small, offers a glimmer of optimism for Wyoming’s coal industry as potentially the state’s first new coal mine in 50 years. Massive, open-pit mines east of the Brook Mine supply around 40% of the nation’s coal but Wyoming coal mining has shrunk substantially since its peak over a decade ago, as utilities switch to renewable energy and power plants fueled by cheaper natural gas.“Wyoming is moving to meet growing energy demands here at home and internationallywith the recognition that coalWyoming coalis essential to healthy energy portfolios,” Gordon, a Republican, said in a statement after the Brook Mine event.The Brook Mine has been in the works for over a decade, stalled in part by landowners worried about groundwater depletion. Atkins originally envisioned it as a source of subbituminous power plant fuel like the state’s other coal mines.A public company with metallurgical coal mines in Appalachia, Ramaco in recent years received Department of Energy grants to develop coal into carbon-based products such as carbon fiber. This year, it got a $6.1 million grant from Wyoming to build a rare earth and critical minerals processing plant.A consultant report released this week found that fully developing the mine and processing plant to extract rare earths would cost $533 million, a sum that could be recovered in five years if the elements in the coal prove profitable. Ramaco also would sell the processed coal as fuel, Atkins said.Analysis by U.S. national laboratories show the Brook Mine coal contains valuable quantities of the rare earths neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium, as well as the critical minerals gallium, scandium and germanium, according to a Ramaco letter to shareholders on July 1.Neodymium and dysprosium are used in the permanent magnets of wind turbines, lanthanum in electric and hybrid car batteries. Yttrium and terbium have critical military uses, including in targeting devices. A previous version of this story said Joe Manchin was a Democrat when he left office in January. He was an independent. Mead Gruver, Associated Press
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