Glam Google Exec Signals Changing of Society Guard
In a cash-strapped city, Silicon Valley multimillionaires are kings and queens of the San Francisco gala scene
By JACKSON WEST
Updated 5:30 PM PST, Thu, Sep 10, 2009
As fall sets in, it's time for the society gala season, which officially kicked off with the San Francisco Symphony opening last night.
As it has been the last few years, the party was designed by Robert Fountain, an event planner who's managed to charm his way into the circle of Google multimillionaire Marissa Mayer.
Why not the world-famous Stanlee Gatti, the favorite of established society matrons like Diane B. "Dede" Wilsey?
Likely because Fountain's cheaper, and between the symphony's financial struggles and budget cuts affecting the Arts Commission, money is scarce.
Gatti will be doing the San Francisco Opera's opening night, and with 100 events a year, can afford to let young upstarts like Fountain take a few fancy nights off his hands.
Mayer will probably find it a little more difficult wrenching the society queen tiara away from Wilsey.
Photo by Catherine Bigelow/7x7.
Jackson West would like to point out that Wilsey was once just as nouveau gauche as Mayer.
Copyright NBC Local Media
First Published: Sep 10, 2009 12:48 PM PST
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