WME Retreat A Thoughtful Affair

The recent William Morris Endeavor retreat apparently went a bit beyond inviting the usual Hollywood insiders to talk to WME employees.

Ari Emanuel brought in more than a dozen top names in politics and business, according to the Wall Street Journal. Guests included Karl Rove, Al Gore, brother Rahm Emanuel, former CIA director Gen. Michael Hayden and former director of the Office of Management and Budget Peter Orszag.

Also in attendance at Carlsbad, Calif.’s La Costa Resort and Spa were former Facebook President Sean Parker, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt and former Morgan Stanley Chairman John Mack, the WSJ reported.

Gore held a seminar on personal reinvention, philanthropist Michael Milken held a panel on the economy, and Rove and Rahm Emanuel, former White House chief of staff and current mayor of Chicago, held a joint session on the state of politics, the paper said.

Ari Emanuel and co-CEO Patrick Whitesell reportedly wanted to expand their employees’ horizons. Nearly zero of the events at the three-day retreat related directly to the entertainment industry.

The 450 or so agents in attendance were also treated to a performance by LMFAO, which, not surprisingly, is a WME client.