Murdoch, Google Eye Twitter As Moguls Gather In Sun Valley

Murdoch and Google eye Twitter as moguls gather in Sun Valley

Speculation about Twitter's future is among the talking points at this year's secretive conference for media moguls

Murdoch: could get 'technological heft' from Twitter.

As the media world's most powerful figures gather in Sun Valley, Idaho to discuss the state of the industry the topics are likely to range far and wide. But aside from subjects like the economy and the influence of the internet, one question is likely to dominate conversations among the event's moguls and millionaires: will anyone broker a deal to buy Twitter?

The hyped internet company's chief executive, Evan Williams, is one of hundreds of faces attending the shindig - a high-profile but secretive event organised by investment group Allen & Co. The fact that his fellow attendees reads like a Who's Who of the internet industry - including Google boss Eric Schmidt, Amazon's Jeff Bezos, new AOL chief Tim Armstrong, and media magnates Barry Diller and Rupert Murdoch - has lead some to speculate that an acquisition could be on the cards.

Among those who believe a deal could be brokered at Sun Valley is journalist and entrepreneur Michael Wolff, who believes Murdoch could be ready to make a play for the San Francisco startup.
Talking to Yahoo, Wolff said that Murdoch showed no evidence of regretting the purchase of MySpace, the social network he bought in 2005 that recently underwent severe cutbacks.
"I don't think he feels that he was burned badly," he said. "They made a good deal and then the company soared to a theoretical valuation of $15bn. Where is it now? Certainly not at $15bn, but I think it's probably over $600m - though maybe not too much."

Wolff, who wrote a biography of the 78-year-old and now runs a news aggregation website, said that Twitter could add substance to Murdoch's online empire.

"I think they would say that they were caught," he said of the MySpace acquisition. 'They didn't have the technological heft to support this kind of company. Could they get that technological heft by adding Twitter to their formidable new media assets?"

Others agreed that Twitter would demand serious attention during the week's events.

"Ev is going to be the belle of the ball,'' Mark Pincus, founder of online games company Zynga told the Associated Press. Pincus, who will also be attending the conference, said that the web industry could have something to teach the rest of the crowd.

''Maybe there is something the offline media can learn from the online media about monetising their users differently,'' he said.

In the past Twitter - which has more than 30m users worldwide - has turned down offers from a variety of companies, including an approach from Facebook valued at $500m.

Speaking to the Guardian, Twitter board member Bijan Sabet - whose venture firm Spark Capital is one of the company's backers - confirmed the company held a high-level meeting on the eve of the conference, but said Twitter did not comment on rumours.

"It was just a regularly scheduled Twitter board meeting," he said, adding that the company is sometimes the subject of speculation. "There are often questions about these things from the media."
The Sun Valley meeting was due to begin on Tuesday night, after a barbeque to welcome a parade of senior industry figures and media superstars. Murdoch is set to attend with a phalanx of other News Corp faces, including son James and lieutenants Jonathan Miller and new MySpace chief Owen Van Natta.

Elsewhere, attendees include billionaire investor Warren Buffett, Sony boss Sir Howard Stringer, Vivendi chief executive Jean-Bernard Levy and Bob Iger, the president and CEO of Disney.
It is the 27th year of the conference, which is run by boutique investment bank Allen & Co - a group with close ties to Hollywood and the technology industry.