Burning Man showed Sam Altman what the future could look like. Here are the famous CEOs and billionaires who have attended in the past.

Burning Man takes place each year around the last week of August.JULIE JAMMOT/AFP via Getty ImagesBurning Man is a desert-based arts festival that's become the playground of business elites.The dayslong event requires attendees to arrive with their own living accommodations and food.It's become a tradition among models, influencers, and billionaire businessmen.Tens of thousands of people are set to descend upon Black Rock City, Nevada, this coming week for the dusty desert festival Burning Man.The event, which kicks off Sunday, has become a playground for billionaires, Hollywood A-listers, and Silicon Valley elite alike. While the dusty conditions expected this year could deter some festivalgoers — the event is not sold out — the makeshift airport is ready for private jets to land.Each year, big-name tech bros and well-heeled execs join the festival, trading their hoodies for light-up bodysuits and Allbirds for sky-high boots.The unwritten rules of the arts festival encourage anonymity and privacy. Nicknames and creative costumes — its theme this year is "Tomorrow Today" — often make it difficult for festivalgoers to tell if they've run into someone famous or just a fellow hippie.Still, over the years, the attendance of high-profile figures at Burning Man has become apparent, with some members of the tech elite finding their time on the playa — Burner-speak for the dry lake bed where the festival takes place — so life-changing that they can't help but speak about it publicly.While their experience may differ — they often fly in on private jets and spend their time in "fancy camps" with meals made by personal chefs who charge hundreds of thousands of dollars for their services — it's still possible you may spot one of these famous faces in the desert.Here are some of the most famous execs who moonlight as Burners:Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been very public about loving Burning Man.Elon Musk has apparently said that X will cover legal fees for those who have been fired in relation to their posts or likes on X.Alain Jocard/AFP via Getty ImagesNot only has Musk made more than one pilgrimage to Black Rock City, he's also gone on the record touting the annual festival as an integral part of Silicon Valley culture. "If you haven't been, you just don't get it," Musk told Recode in 2014.As recently as 2022, Musk was posting about Burning Man on Twitter.Mark Zuckerberg, Meta's CEO, served sandwiches at the festival.Mark Zuckerberg.GettyIn 2012, at the urging of his friend and Facebook cofounder Dustin Moskowitz, Zuckerberg took a break from his busy schedule to fly to Burning Man for a day and make some grilled cheese sandwiches."Along with its other inhabitants, he helped pitch his own tent," Moskowitz, a regular Burning Man attendee, wrote in a 2013 Medium post. "I wanted him to experience the city and to experience gifting because I thought it would make him grow as a person and the world better off as a result; I believe that's exactly what happened, however marginally (he was already a pretty great person)," he added about Zuckerberg.Sam Altman was converted to a Burner after attending the festival."I can imagine a future where a lot of people really trust ChatGPT's advice for their most important decisions. Although that could be great, it makes me uneasy," Sam Altman wrote on X on Sunday.Justin Sullivan via Getty ImagesSam Altman hasn't always been a fan of Burning Man. There was a time when he wanted nothing to do with whatever goes down in Black Rock City."That is a ridiculous, escapism, crazy party," Altman said about his previous views on Burning Man on the "Life in Seven Songs" podcast in 2024.Then, he saw what all of the hype was about. Altman said on the podcast that he's been to Burning Man five or six times."All these lights. All this incredible art. People just biking around," Altman said on the podcast. "Everyone so happy, so engaged, so present that I was like, 'OK, I was wrong to be so negative on Burning Man.'"He said the experience showed him what the world could look like when artificial general intelligence — AI that is capable of matching or surpassing human intelligence — is reached."This is one possible, like, part of what the post-AGI world can look like," Altman said on the podcast. "Where people are just focused on doing stuff for each other, caring for each other, and making incredible gifts to give each other."Disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes had a seemingly spiritual experience at the festival in 2018.Elizabeth Holmes, Founder & CEO of Theranos speaks at Forbes Under 30 Summit at Pennsylvania Convention Center on October 5, 2015 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.Lisa Lake/Getty ImagesBefore Holmes began serving her nine-year prison sentence, the disgraced biotech entrepreneur attended Burning Man.In 2018, after it was discovered that Holmes was defrauding investors and she was indicted by a grand jury, the former Theranos CEO and her partner, Billy Evans, decided to take a trip to Burning Man.While there, they reportedly torched an effigy for the failed — and fraudulent — blood-testing business before embarking on a six-month RV trip traveling the country. Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, was attending Burning Man while other members of the Silicon Valley royalty were still teenagers.Jeff Bezos.AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, FileAs early as 1999, Bezos was attending Burning Man, Forbes reported at the time. That's long before the event became the go-to party for younger CEOs.Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page are two other longtime Burners.Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin are recognized for their efforts at the conclusion of the Clinton Global Initiative in New York, September 22, 2006. Former US President Bill Clinton's annual event brings together world leaders from business, government and philanthropy to try to solve world issues.REUTERS/Chip EastBrin and Page have reportedly attended the event repeatedly over the years. In fact, in 1998, the very first Google Doodle was inspired by Burning Man.Former executive chairman of Google's Alphabet, Eric Schmidt, bonded with the Google founders at the festival.Flickr/Charles HaynesIn fact, Brin and Page's obsession with the festival led them to choose Eric Schmidt as Google's CEO in 2001."Eric was . . . the only one who went to Burning Man," Brin reportedly said in a 2002 interview. "We thought [that] was an important criterion."Dustin Moskovitz included his Asana cofounder Justin Rosenstein in a list of prominent attendees in 2013.Asana cofounders Dustin Moskovitz and Justin RosensteinAsanaOne of the biggest sources of information about which tech executives go to Burning Man is Moskovitz, who cofounded Facebook.His heartfelt 2013 Medium post listed peers who had been to the big event. His piece — no doubt controversial within the Burning Man community — argued that billionaires have a right to attend the festival, which he said was eye-opening to many of his friends. Those who denied their right to attend were promoting a culture of exclusivity, he argued.Among the tech execs Moskovitz listed as festival attendees were Rosenstein, Zuckerberg, and the Winklevoss twins, who famously sued Zuckerberg over the origins of the social network.Garrett Camp, cofounder of Uber, was on his 11th trip to Burning Man in 2013.Joi ItoCamp is a regular Burner, according to anthropologist Francis Jervis. When the two met at the festival in 2013, Jervis said it was Camp's 11th time attending."His first experience of the radical otherness of the Playa was in the time of the Hillbilly Freak Show, not the luxurious turnkey camps with which Silicon Valley is associated today," Jervis wrote. Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian was a Burner before he was Serena Williams' husband.NEW YORK, NY - MAY 01: Serena Williams (L) and Alexis Ohanian attend the 'Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garcons: Art Of The In-Between' Costume Institute Gala at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 1, 2017 in New York City.Neilson Barnard/Getty ImagesOhanian is now probably best known as the partner of tennis star Williams. But not too long ago, he was just another tech mogul wandering the desert in hopes of finding himself.He reportedly attended Burning Man in 2014. Drew Houston, cofounder and CEO of Dropbox, went to the festival in 2014.TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA/AFP/Getty ImagesHouston reportedly attended Burning Man in 2014.Ray Dalio, billionaire investor, attended the festival in 2019.The 'king of hedge funds' Ray Dalio had a nightmarish 2020Kimberly White/Getty ImagesThe 76-year-old billionaire hedge fund manager made an appearance at Burning Man in 2019, wearing a tie-dye coat and psychedelic bell bottoms.He seems to have had mixed feelings about his experience. He said the festival was like Woodstock, with "better art" and "less good music." —Ray Dalio (@RayDalio) September 2, 2019 Josh Kushner, founder of venture capital firm Thrive Capital, has gone to Burning Man with his model wife, Karlie Kloss.Dia Dipasupil/FilmMagicThe billionaire founder of venture capital firm Thrive Capital and younger brother of Jared Kushner was seen at Burning Man in 2022 with his wife, Karlie Kloss.He appeared on the model's Instagram, holding hands with her in front of a giant fork sculpture commissioned by Musk. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Karlie Kloss (@karliekloss) Airbnb cofounder Brian Chesky attended his first Burning Man in 2013.Kimberly WhiteBillionaire Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky first went to Burning Man in 2013 on an invitation from board member Chip Conley. "Burning Man is what life would be like if artists ruled the world," he reportedly said after attending.Honorable mention: the actors, musicians, and other celebrities who love to burn.The muddy scene at Burning Man, left. Chris Rock, center. Diplo, right.Burning Man: PAUL REDER via REUTERS; Rock: MEGA/GC Images; Diplo: Gilbert Carrasquillo/GC ImagesBillionaires and CEOs aren't the only recognizable faces who have popped up at Burning Man in the past. The event has also hosted a number of fashion models, influencers, and heirs to business empires.DJ Diplo and comedian Chris Rock were among the Burners who were stranded in the mud during heavy rains in 2023. Diplo documented their trek on social media before the pair used their star power to hitch a ride with a fan out of flooded conditions.In previous years, the festival has been seen in a more glamorous light through the Instagram outfit pictures from Katy Perry, Paris Hilton, and Heidi Klum.Becky Peterson and Kylie Kirschner contributed to earlier versions of this story.Read the original article on Business Insider

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