The CEO Magazine Asia – July 2019

200 | theceomagazine.com

The Last Word

Think Burning Man is all hippies and dust? The annual August event (just don’t

call it a festival) is so much more than wild costumes and endless partying.

THE ORIGINAL BURNING MAN HAD

20 ATTENDEES. THESE DAYS, ABOUT

DESCEND ON SEVEN SQUARE

MILES OF NEVADA DESERT

FOR THE NINE-DAY EVENT.

ALTHOUGH IT

BEGAN AS A LOW-

KEY, GRASSROOTS

BONFIRE, IN RECENT

YEARS IT HAS BECOME

A HOTSPOT FOR

SILICON VALLEY

MOGULS LIKE

ELON MUSK, MARK

ZUCKERBERG AND

ERIC SCHMIDT.

BURNING

MAN IS

ORGANISED BY

A NOT-FOR-

PROFIT

ORGANISATION

CALLED THE

BURNING MAN

PROJECT. IT

COLLECTS THE

BULK OF ITS

REVENUE, MORE

THAN US$42

MILLION, FROM

THE EVENT.

EVERYTHING THEY NEED WITH THEM, AND THEN TAKE

IT ALL HOME WHEN THEY LEAVE. THE ONLY THINGS

YOU CAN BUY AT BURNING MAN ARE COFFEE AND ICE.

IN 2016, CNBC ESTIMATED THAT THE TOTAL COST

OF ATTENDING COULD RANGE FROM US$1,300

TO US$20,000 INCLUDING TRANSPORTATION,

FOOD, CAMP FEES, COSTUMES AND GIFTS.

“BURNING MAN IS NOT A FESTIVAL.

A TEMPORARY CITY. A GLOBAL

CULTURAL MOVEMENT BASED ON

10 PRACTICAL PRINCIPLES,” THE

OFFICIAL WEBSITE READS.

THE 2019 DATES ARE 26 AUGUST TO 2 SEPTEMBER.

48% OF ATTENDEES

EARN BETWEEN

US$100,000 AND US$300,000.