Yahoo, Alibaba chiefs to meet at key Allen & Co retreat

Yahoo chief executive Marissa Mayer and Alibaba Group founder Jack Ma Yun are among the invited guests at the annual Allen & Co Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, according to a person with a copy of the list.

The pair are pegged to attend the annual retreat running from July 8 to 13, said the person. Alibaba's anticipated August initial public offering could be the largest ever in the US. Yahoo has a 23 per cent stake in the Chinese e-commerce company.

The event, always heavy on executives from media and entertainment, has leaned toward technology in recent years, reflecting the industry's hot acquisition and IPO market.

The conference is known as a place where deals are hatched, such as last year's sale of the Washington Post to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

Mayer has unveiled a dozen acquisitions this year, while investors have been awaiting Alibaba's IPO, which could value the online retailer at US$168 billion. Ma, 49, has a net worth of US$12.6 billion, fourth in China.

Allen & Co advised Facebook, whose co-founder Mark Zuckerberg is a regular attendee, on its US$16 billion acquisition of WhatsApp in February. It was one of the underwriters of Twitter's US$1.82 billion offering in November.