Allen & Co.'s 2013 Media and Tech Conference in Sun Valley

Allen & Co.'s annual conference—aka "summer camp for moguls"—in Sun Valley attracts the most powerful executives in media and technology, as well as politicians and policymakers. Why do they flock to this small town in Idaho? To talk deals, of course.

What a difference a year makes. U.S. media merger and acquisition activity has climbed to $101 billion so far in 2013, compared with just $28 billion this time last year, according to data from Dealogic. (And if Liberty Media's John Malone has anything to do with it, we'll see more consolidation in the cable industry in the near future.)

Deals, however, are only part of the story. The moguls come to reunite with old pals, hit the tennis courts and trade stories over drinks at the Duchin Lounge. Some, including Twitter's Jack Dorsey and Hollywood producer Brian Grazer, go skeet shooting.

Here, then, are glimpses of the most exclusive conference of the year.

By Mary Catherine Wellons
Posted 12 July 2013

John Malone, chairman of Liberty Media and Liberty Global, and CEO of Discovery Holding, spent Wednesday in meetings as deal talk heated up in the cable industry.

Rupert Murdoch arrives with sons Lachlan (left) and James (right). The executive chairman of News Corp. had been attending the event with his wife, Wendi Deng, from whom he filed for divorce last month.

World leaders also attend sessions at the weeklong conference, to discuss ideas with industry titans and entrepreneurs—and maybe to drum up some business for their countries.

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto (in dark suit jacket) delivered a speech at this year's conference.

John Skipper, president of Disney's ESPN cable TV channel, was attending his second Sun Valley.

The rising cost of sports programming was expected to be a major topic of discussion, with a number of sports media figures present.

Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman and her husband, Griffith Harsh, attended the conference. Her company's five-year reinvention plan has gotten wide coverage lately.

Microsoft has recently undergone a corporate revamp, with market observers wondering about the impact on the tech giant's share price.

Bill Gates, the company's founder and chairman, arrives for a morning session. He and his wife, Melinda Gates, were scheduled for several activities on Friday.

Though his Chernin Group made a play for the online video service Hulu, Peter Cherin never said much about the progress of negotiations. In the end, the parent companies kept the property.

Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, walks to a morning session with his wife, Priscilla Chan. The company's new Graph Search got a lot of buzz in advance of the conference.

Apple chief Tim Cook attended events at Sun Valley. Eddy Cue, the company's senior vice president of Internet software and services, was also there.

Sun Valley always attracts a handful of start-ups. One of them this year was Evernote, a free personal organization app, with CEO Phil Libin in attendance.

Movie producer and Imagine Entertainment co-founder Brian Grazer (left) and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey (far right) take a lunch break with Veronica Smiley (second from left) and Kate Greer.

Though tweeting isn't allowed at the conference, Dorsey was spotted posting a few vines.

CNBC caught up with Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman and asked him about all the fuss over Hulu.

"There's been a lot of uncertainty through this process" for Hulu's management, and "it will be good when that gets resolved," he told Julia Boorstin. (Hulu was taken off the block shortly after.)

Arriving with his wife, designer Diane von Furstenberg, IAC chairman and Aereo CEO Barry Diller has been in the spotlight.

Traditional broadcasters see Aereo, which lets consumers stream live broadcasts to mobile devices without paying a monthly cable bill, as a threat. Diller says it's all just a "big drama thing."

Michael Eisner, founder and chairman of investment firm The Tornante Co., here giving an interview to Bloomberg Television. The former Disney chief has attended a number of the Allen & Co. confabs.

Groupon co-founder Eric Lefkofsky on his way to an event. The company just launched Groupon Reserve, a premium reservation service for high-end restaurants.

Graydon Carter in casualwear? The longtime editor of Vanity Fair makes a rare appearance at Sun Valley during the same week that his magazine launched a digital video channel.

A view from Dollar Mountain in Sun Valley.