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As some of the richest and most influential people on the planet descend on Sun Valley, residents and visitors who end up intermingled among the billionaires and power players hold varying opinions about the annual conference hosted by private investment bank Allen & Co.

I think its incredible, said part-time Sun Valley resident David Dirienzo, who was out for a bike ride around the village Wednesday morning. These are the doers. The creators.

Another resident, picking up his mail at the Sun Valley post office and declining to give his name, said he was not in favor of them coming at all, describing the attendees as arrogant and just throwing their weight around.

Konditorei, which remains open to the public, is something of a central hub to the comings and goings of conference staff, attendees and tourists alike, as well as Sun Valley residents just getting their morning cups of coffee.

There is a general understanding of being respectful toward the conference-goers and giving them privacy, said longtime Wood River Valley resident Doug King.

Beat the traffic: Private jets are the order of the day ahead of Allen & Co.s annual media, business and technology conference in Sun Valley. Once Friedman Memorial Airport reaches capacity, pilots simply drop off attendees and turn around in search of parking.

Its a very important piece of business for Sun Valley, King noted. And while he said it might restrict movement a little, his coffee and newspaper routine was unaffected on Wednesday while the conference attendees gathered nearby in the pavilion for a closed-doors panel discussion.

Its a classic example of, if you let something bother you, its going to bother you, said Elkhorn resident David Wray. Its kind of fun and interesting, and to me, not disruptive. I dont pay much attention; it doesnt really affect my life, but its kind of fun having them around.

Wray noted over the years the security has gotten more stringent, and he cant walk or bike around as freely as he used to.

But the week adds a little excitement and gets the conversation going, said King.

Examining the stock market reports, King and Wray both said the one conference attendee they would like to have join their breakfast table was Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffet.

On Wednesday, one of the Berkshire Hathaway stocks was valued at over $21,000 a share.

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick strolls through Sun Valley Village on July 12.

Hes kind of my hero, Wray said. Hes one of the few guys who made tons of money and has done it above board.

If the opportunity arose, King said hed ask the legendary business magnate, investor, and philanthropist for his thoughts on the railroad business.

Wray said hed ask, Whats the one thing I should consider when investing?

Enjoying coffee and pastries at a table outside the Konditorei, Ketchum firefighters Kjirsten Fieguth and Hannah Baybutt were just getting off a 24-hour shift. Theyd come to Sun Valley to replace a wheel on their rescue litter, a stretcher-like device used to retrieve injured people from single-track mountain bike trails.

Baybutt said she worked as a babysitter for the conference when she was a teenager. Following an intensive interview process and signing her first (and, to date, only) non-disclosure agreement, she said it was a very positive experience.

Allen & Co. did a great job setting up fun things for the kids to do, she recalled.

While Fieguth said she was impressed by the gathered groups influence on the world, on the spot she couldnt think of any questions for attendees.

I feel so detached, she said. Their world is so different than my world. Its hard to relate.

However, both women, who have also worked as ski patrollers, agreed that in terms of the job as emergency responders, they never think about celebrity. No matter who the patient is, we treat them with the same dignity, care and respect, Fieguth said.

Asked what they would do with a billion dollars, Fieguth said she could use a new vehicle, but its hard to imagine that kind of scale.

Baybutt said, Id buy a house in Hailey. I want a home with a yard.

Without a billion dollars, they agreed, they still really love where they live, as well as their jobs.

A jet rolls into the Friedman Memorial Airport ahead of the Allen & Co. conference on July 11.

As breakfast turned to lunch, several hundred conference-goers filed along the road from the pavilion to lunch served under tents next to the duck pond.

A wall constructed with a double layer of potted shrubs and defended by security guards shrouded the luncheon in secrecy.

The media, confined to a pen about 40 yards away from the stream of conference-goers, snapped photographs. A Bloomberg reporter tried to yell a few questions, but he was just too far away. The photographers would quietly call out a name if they saw a notable, largely only identifiable through powerful zoom lenses.

Warren Buffet, with a reported net worth of $114 billion at age 92, had been spotted in a golf cart earlier in the morning, but wasnt seen going to lunch.

Its a whole new cast of characters, one seasoned photographer commented.

So those are the people running the world right there, another bystander mused.

Alex Karp, cofounder and CEO of data mining firm Palantir Technologies and who is reportedly worth $1.4 billion, was one of the few people to walk anywhere near the media pen. Lawyer Bob Werbel walked right behind the pen, joking, Im the only one here Ive never heard of.

Apple CEO Tim Cook was spotted in front of the Sun Valley Lodge.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was seen walking with New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who gave a fist bump to CNN analyst Van Jones.

Also spotted were Paramount Global chair Shari Redstone, former Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg, Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger and CNBC host Andrew Ross Sorkin.

While the seeding of high-stakes mergers and acquisitions is typically the hot topic at the conference, this years economic landscape was deemed less favorable to deals. The economys elite may have much to discuss in a year marked by massive layoffs in tech and in newsrooms, the spread of generative AI, and high-profile labor disputes, wrote Sindhu Sundar in Business Insider.

In a town accustomed to celebrity, the Allen & Co. guest list steps things up a notch in terms of gossip around the resort. There was a member of the royal family in the toy store, one shop employee said, but because of the gag order essentially blanketing the whole event, most people are hesitant to name names.

New England Patriots CEO Robert Kraft, left, walks with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell at Sun Valley Village on Wednesday, July 12.

Back at the Konditorei, part-time Sun Valley resident Maija Eerkes lunched with a couple of visiting friends. The only real inconvenience Eerkes had experienced was not being able to get a parking spot at her Elkhorn mailbox the previous eveningthe lot filled was with black SUVs.

It brings in great revenue and visibility, she said. I have no issue with it. I like how they seem to do wonderful job planning activities for the kids and giving them great exposure to the area.

One of her dining companions was less enthusiastic, saying she really couldnt stand anyone in the Allen & Co. group.

Eerkes said if she could ask someone a question, shed like to know what Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos really thinks about journalism.

While a lot of new people are brought on to help staff the event, coded by different colored lanyards and bright blue jackets, it isnt clear just how many come from other locations and how many are local hires.

Anyone who works for the conference signs a non-disclosure agreement, and while it is an undeniable labor boost, one regular resort employee said the whole ordeal just brought added hassle to performing daily duties.

There are ridiculously high-maintenance requests and demands from some of the attendees, noted the worker, who declined to give a name. There is intense security surveillance on every move made, and, the worker noted, not everyone is impressed by billionaires.

But at Sun Valley clothing retailer Panache, the annual gathering is great for business, and they look forward to the tradition of hosting a trunk show and cocktail party with fashion designer and philanthropist Diane von Furstenberg, who is credited with inventing the wrap dress and is reportedly worth $1.2 billion. The store employees love picking out one of the designers dresses to wearor getting help from the icon herself to choose their perfect floral-printed wrap.

While everyone has an opinion and some with more vested interest than others, on the whole, the non-billionaire and non-millionaire folk who find themselves at the resort during the conference are perhaps slightly entertained and largely indifferent to goings-on. After 40 years of hosting the high and mighty (minus one year cancelled during the pandemic), its really just another busy week in July. And for many residents, the unusual sight of billionaires, CEOs and cadres of private security seems to do little to distract from their morning coffee, and beauty of the valley they see every single day.

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Amid Allen & Co.'s power players, life goes on in Sun Valley - Idaho Mountain Express and Guide