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Think what you may, but for erstwhile habitués of Studio 54, those Dillers are as lively in the morning as the disco crowd was at night. All week in Sun Valley, matriarch and designer Diane von Furstenberg has been a press favorite for arriving both friendly and photo-friendly at the mogulfest's unconscionably early session. But she outdid herself Friday when, on approaching the assembled press, she confirmed her blouse was "one of her creations." Then, without missing a beat, she pointed to her son, Alexandre, walking beside her: "And this is one of my creations, too." Minutes later, patriarch and IAC/InterActiveCorp chief Barry Diller approached the same press pack on a bicycle, pedaling so furiously as to scatter a few photographers. "It's going to be a long day," he said when an ID request from security forced him to halt. Conference host Herbert Allen had already indicated as much. Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. was to begin the day with a keynote. And he was to be followed with presentations or panelist contributions from von Furstenberg, Bill Gates of Microsoft Corp., Anne Mulcahy of Xerox Corp., Sydney Pollack of Hollywood, Meg Whitman of eBay Inc. and, to quote Allen, "three young companies."
Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, who so dislikes his city's major daily he once entertained starting his own, couldn't contain his cunning on seeing so many members of the press greeting his arrival. When asked about resurrecting his own newspaper plan, he shot back: "Why? You guys need a job?" He then deadpanned, "There's one reporter left at the Los Angeles Times." As for updates, Time Warner Inc. chairman Dick Parsons strolled in sporting the same red CNN-logo cap noted in The Deal's first posting from Sun Valley. But rather than admitting the cap was "an attention-getting accessory to distinguish himself from afar should dealmakers care to approach him" — as speculated here — Parsons attributed the sartorial choice to "good advertising." Bob Johnson, meanwhile, had reason for the extra bounce in his step while walking the morning's press gauntlet. The founder of Black Entertainment Television, who early on admitted to being at the Allen & Co. conference to secure funds for his latest venture, Our Stories Films, responded cheerfully when asked how much he had actually raised: "All of it," he said. "All of it." Inside the inn, even after the morning session began, Howard Stringer of Sony Corp. and Dr. John Malone of Liberty Media Corp. were sighted lingering over a long-finished breakfast. Not noteworthy in itself, perhaps, except each dealmaking executive was flanked by his CFO. —Richard Morgan See earlier dispatches from Sun Valley Categories Deal Video
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