Nadine Rupp/Getty ImagesNikesh Arora, left, senior vice president at Google, and Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google, had attended the much-celebrated party at the Steigenberger Bellvedere hotel in 2012.DAVOS, Switzerland — In previous years, the Friday night of the World Economic Forum was always filled with big dinners and blowout parties.
Certain bashes were among the most coveted. Google held a standing-room only party at Steigenberger Belvedere Hotel, complete with bands flown in from New York and beyond. Across the street, Accel Partners, the venture capital firm behind Facebook, held a wine tasting at the Kirchner Museum, often flying in cases of vintage wine from California. And Nike held a huge dinner with the slogan, “No Speeches. No Powerpoint. And no ties.”
This Friday, however, the operative slogan could be “No dinner. No parties.”
All three companies – Google, Accel and Nike – are not holding events this year. Perhaps more important, virtually all of the senior people from all three companies are not attending Davos, either. Eric Schmidt, Google’s executive chairman, had been a regular attendee. Also missing this year are the Google co-founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who often flouted the dress code and wore jeans and shirts to the proceedings.
Accel, which usually sends a delegation of venture capitalists in search of the next big thing, is virtually missing in action — with the exception of Joe Schoendorf, a partner at the firm, who started the party almost two decades ago. And the Nike contingent is now a shell of itself without any of its most senior people attending.
Have those companies given up on Davos for good? Is there something bigger here at play than just parties? Those are some of the questions being asked, however, answers have been forthcoming – at least not yet.
Those executives are not the only ones skipping Davos this year. Bono, a regular, is not in attendance, nor is former President Bill Clinton. Also not here is Niall Ferguson, the historian who typically leads multiple panels.
For those worried that there won’t be any parties on Friday, fear not: Marissa Meyer, ex-Google who now heads up Yahoo, has stepped in to sponsor a cocktail party. And rumors are rampant that Sean Parker, the Internet entrepreneur, is holding an exclusive party Friday night.