Sergey Brin, Kimbal Musk at Burning Man amid muddy churn
Google co-founder Sergey Brin and Elon Musk’s brother Kimbal were reportedly among the tech moguls involved in the chaos of the maniacal race to the deadly conditions at Burning Man festival.
Musk, Brin and cryptocurrency investor Brock Pierce were both spotted at this year’s wet event in Black Rock Desert, Nevada — where torrential rain marred the usual celebration and tens of thousands of attendees were stuck in the mud for days through Monday, Tue Wall Street Journal reported.
One person, a 32-year-old man named Leon Reece, was killed in the whirlpool.
“Every time you took a step, your feet would totally sink into the mud,” said tech executive Laurie Wofford, who told the outlet she had no choice but to leave her luggage behind while navigating through ankle-deep mud on Saturday left the festival.
“You’re so soaked and you’re carrying everything you can on your back — it felt like walking in wet scuba gear,” Wofford added.
Representatives from Brin, Musk and Pierce were not immediately available.
The Journal said Brin and Musk did not respond to requests for comment.
Burning Man, an avant-garde arts festival known for its “Mad Max”-style costumes, has attracted a who’s who of Silicon Valley’s elite in recent years.
Past attendees include some of the world’s richest people, including Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, and even convicted Theranos scammer Elizabeth Holmes.
Mirage Garage and Robot Heart, two of the Burning Man tech industry’s largest camps, reportedly experienced “extreme flooding” during the event, the report continued.
Meanwhile, according to reports from attendees, a private airspace commonly used by CEOs and other celebrities has allegedly been closed to allow easy access to the Burning Man festival site.
Weary festival-goers were stuck in a traffic jam for hours on Monday after Burning Man organizers finally deemed the surrounding streets safe enough to handle a mass exodus.
Around 80,000 guests reportedly attended the event, ranging from technology executives to artists, musicians and celebrities.
Guests were initially told to take shelter on the spot, conserve resources and refrain from using drugs and alcohol due to the dangerous conditions.
The organizers were forced to postpone the festival’s traditional conclusion – the burning of a wooden effigy in the form of a man.
The event finally took place on Monday evening.
Diplo, the music producer and DJ, previously shared a video of himself and comedian Chris Rock fleeing Burning Man with other guests in the back of a truck.
“I just ran 5 miles through the mud from Burning Man with Chris Rock and a fan picked us up.” Diplo wrote on X.
Reece was found unresponsive Friday and later died as torrential downpours swept the area. Authorities said they have not yet determined the cause of death.
“Due to the unusual rain event at Playa, access to the area and investigative efforts have been delayed,” Pershing County Sheriff Jerry Allen said in a statement.
“Upon the arrival of officers from the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office, the festival doctor had already determined that the male, later identified as Leon Reece, a 32-year-old man, was deceased.”
With post wires
