Conan O’Brien, Giants owners listed as Bohemian Grove guests in leaked docs
Some surprising — and not-so surprising names — have turned up on a leaked list of powerful, elite men who were invited to the ultra-secret Bohemian Grove, an annual summer retreat in the redwoods along the Russian River where America’s movers and shakers are said to gather for relaxation, strange ceremonies and high-level networking and male bonding.
One of the surprising names on this alleged list for the 2023 retreat, which was obtained by an independent journalist, is comedian, podcaster, former late-night host and upcoming Oscars host Conan O’Brien, according a published version of the list as well as a report in the San Francisco Standard.
Some other, perhaps less surprising names on the more than 2,000-person list are former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, billionaire and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, billionaire political donor Charles Koch, and Paul Pelosi, the multimillionaire venture capitalist and husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
According to the Standard and SFGate, other potential Bay Area attendees included San Francisco Giants principal owner Charles B. Johnson; his son and team chairman Greg Johnson; 94-year-old Edwin Meese III, the U.S. attorney general under Ronald Reagan and a Stanford Hoover Institution fellow; two billionaire heirs of the Bechtel family; and heirs to the Fisher and Mondavi family fortunes. Meanwhile, other celebrity attendees allegedly included the late singer Jimmy Buffett, who died in September 2023, and actor and comedian Jim Belushi. For some reason, the name of Paul Newman, the film star and philanthropist who died in 2008, also appears on the list.
The annual retreat at a private, 2,700-acre compound near the Sonoma County town of Monte Rio is organized by the San Francisco-based Bohemian Club, an exclusive, invitation-only social club that has founded in 1872 and has long kept its membership and activities shrouded in secrecy, sometimes leading to controversy. Its initial focus was on arts and culture, with founders being artists, actors, writers, journalists and lawyers, all of whom enjoyed some measure of wealth and fame.
Over the decades, the club’s participants expanded to include such political and business leaders as Reagan, Richard Nixon, Henry Kissinger, Colin Powell and Charles Schwab, though a member said that events at the San Francisco headquarters and at the summer retreat still focus on arts and culture, with music performances and lectures on civic affairs.
According to the San Francisco Standard, this “new illuminati list” was obtained by independent journalist Daniel Boguslaw and published this week on Substack.
Sam Singer, a spokesperson for and listed member of the Bohemian Club, would not comment on the names on the alleged list, telling this news organization: “The Bohemian Club is a private organization. It does not disclose the names of members and guests.”
Over the years, journalists have tried various ways to infiltrate the mysterious society, either by posing as waiters or as members, or by trying to sneak onto the property, the Standard reported. Far-right media personality Alex Jones infamously managed to get in and film a ceremony that fueled conspiracy theories for decades, according to the Standard. The club is known for its opening creation of care ceremony, performed in front of a gigantic image of an owl, with the idea of symbolically banishing away club members worldly cares.
Boguslaw said he didn’t use any subterfuge to obtain the list, according to the Standard. He secured it in 2024 by pestering a San Francisco club member. While staying in Oakland, the Massachusetts-based journalist was at Eli’s Mile High Club one night when a courier appeared with two manila envelopes, containing the 2023 camp membership list. The names are listed with the various “camps” they were assigned to during their stay. The camps have such curious names as Camels, Derelicts, Cave Man, Dog House, Five Easy Pieces, Meyerling, Monastery, Valhalla, Wild Oats and Woof.