The Australian Financial Review had a little fun a few weeks ago with this concept of the UHNW global circuit. As they say, not every one of the rich attends every event with some focusing on the gatherings that pique their interests or present the best business opportunities.
For our purposes, this is another example of the phenomenon that has driven the art market for a decade, where buying art is the price of admission for many other benefits.
Here’s Jean Pigozzi’s take on the circuit where he says lots of business is getting done:
After attending the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, he flew to the TED ideas conference in Vancouver, mingling with the likes of Yuri Milner, the tech investor, and Larry Page of Google at the “billionaires’ dinner.” Next came the art auctions in New York and the Cannes Film Festival, where he threw a pool party attended by Woody Allen, Uma Thurman and billionaire Paul Allen.
In the next few weeks, after the Art Basel fair, he will be off to the Wimbledon tennis tournament and “the Mediterranean milk run” – the summer megayacht procession leading from St. Tropez to Portofino and Capri.
“We go all around the world to see some of the same people,” Pigozzi said. “It’s a circuit. There are a lot of parties, sure. But you’d be surprised at how much business gets done.” […]
In fact, so many rich people have been joining the circuit that Pigozzi said a new “supercircuit” is emerging, one that has VIP events within the VIP events. At the TED conference, the aptly named “billionaires’ dinner” held nearby has become the most sought-after ticket. And true media moguls now attend the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, a few weeks after the Cannes Film Festival.
Inside the international travel circuit of the new superrich (afr.com)
