@miles.ellingham goes inside the billionaire boys' club
'America’s “manifest destiny” began with an 1845 article by John O’Sullivan that appeared in the United States Magazine and Democratic Review after the annexation of Texas that heralded the Mexican-American war. Five unchecked years later, the state of California was founded. I wonder what O’Sullivan would make of the Rosewood hotel in Menlo Park.
'This is where venture capitalists (VCs) meet with budding tech entrepreneurs and engineers. In 2015, Elon Musk and Sam Altman reportedly booked a table at the restaurant to discuss the “Manhattan Project” of artificial intelligence. In terms of Silicon Valley, the Rosewood is where the future begins. It’s lifeless. The air is vaguely scented. The decor resembles a business-class lounge at an airport – any airport. Its restaurant, Madera, serves golden reserve caviar for $180 and $21 sides of truffle fries – the sort of food that exists to be written down, not eaten.
'A gaggle of private equity guys with lanyards wander towards the bar while, outside in the garden,
@tabsterbaker and I look towards the rolling green hills at Westridge and the low cloud.
'So, I say, how do you rule the world?
'Baker, who has wavy brown hair and a singsong east-coast lilt and, at 22, still carries the all-too-recent trauma of being stuffed inside a locker at school, considers the question.
'“Well,” he says, “you extract value from those around you. And you exceed the limits of your conceivable ambition. That’s what Justin says … It’s not a doctrine, though. It’s all vibes. It’s all nebulous. It’s all fake.”'
Also in this issue:
Saints and sinners: Kitty Empire hears the sonic gospel according to
@rosalia.vt
Talking to animals: James Tapper on the quest for interspecies conversation
To be or not to be: Andrew Anthony weighs the evidence for assisted dying
Pick up a copy of
@theobserveruk on Sunday, or read on our website - link in bio.
📸 Martin Shields/
@iancbates / Michael Kovac
