Women are Photoshopped into all-male lineup of ‘tech titans’

June 12, 2019

Women are Photoshopped into all-male lineup of ‘tech titans’ from summit in Italy hosted by billionaire fashion designer Brunello Cucinelli and attended by Jeff Bezos

Italian fashion designer and cashmere craftsman Brunello Cucinelli, 65, hosted a slew of tech industry giants to his lavish Solomeo home in Umbria, central Italy
Cucinelli shared a photograph of the gathering to his Instagram account
But eagle eyed social media users noticed that two female executives – Ruzwana Bashir and Sunrun co-CEO Lynn Jurich – had been digitally added to the picture
While both execs were at the so-called Solomeo Summit, neither opted to share the digitally doctored shot, choosing instead to upload genuine photographs
A spokesperson for Cucinelli apologized for the use of the doctored image, and told said they meant ‘no harm or had any malicious intent in doing this’

A photograph of a gathering of Silicon Valley tech executives together at an idyllic Italian retreat is being slammed after two women were digitally added to the group of 15 men.

Billionaire Italian fashion designer Brunello Cucinelli hosted a who’s who of the tech industry titans, including Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, at his lavish home in Solomeo, central Italy.

But a photo he shared from the event was digitally altered to include British entrepreneur Ruzwana Bashir and Sunrun co-CEO Lynn Jurich.

Cucinelli, whose $5,000 blazers have become a go to item among wealthy tech execs, shared the doctored photograph of the group to his personal Instagram account on Tuesday.

Unfortunately for the designer the unedited version had been released by an Italian communications firm two weeks prior, minus the awkwardly imposed Bashir and Jurich.

The photo, which was shared by the Italian fashion designer Brunello Cucinelli, who hosted the who’s who of the tech industry titans, including Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, to his lavish home in Solomeo, central Italy, included the digital addition of British entrepreneur Ruzwana Bashir and Sunrun co-CEO Lynn Jurich

Unfortunately for the designer the unedited version had been released by an Italian communications firm two weeks prior. Ruzwana Bashir is pictured right after being added into the original, left

While Bashir and Jurich were both in attendance at the so-called Solomeo Summit, they were not in the group photograph and the embarrassing gaffe was noticed by eagle eyed social media users, including BuzzFeed reporter Ryan Mac.

A spokesperson for Cucinelli apologized for the use of the doctored image, and said they meant ‘no harm or had any malicious intent in doing this.’

The statement said: ‘The gathering was an informal affair between friends where we captured some group photos.

‘When we realized we didn’t have a shot where all attendees were represented, we added in photos of two female CEOs taken during the weekend.

‘The photos were shared and approved with all the participants including the two women, Lynn Jurich and Ruzwana Bashir, before posting them on Instagram and they also shared the group photo on their own instagram handles.’

Contrary to the statement, neither shared the doctored photograph to their social media handles, although they did subsequently tweet about their enjoyment of the summit, uploading genuine photographs of themselves on the trip.

Unfortunately for the designer the unedited version had been released by an Italian communications firm two weeks prior. Sunrun co-CEO Lynn Jurich is pictured right after being added into the original, left

While Bashir and Jurich were both in attendance at the so-called Solomeo Summit, they were not in the group photograph and the embarrassing gaffe was noticed by social media users

Bashir poked fun at the photograph, shortly after it fake image was revealed, tweeting: ‘Enjoyed visiting Italy w/ Brunello Cucinelli and talking about humanism, tech & how to make sure Peek has a positive impact on the world. Promise no photoshopping in these ;)’

Jurich tweeted: ‘I was delighted to participate in Brunello Cucinelli’s symposium on the soul and economy. As a leader in the energy sector, I discussed the urgent need to decarbonize and the role that SunRun technology can play to accelerate decarbonization.’

Not everyone was amused, however. Some took to social media to point out the obvious flaws in the Photoshop effort, commenting that the women were clumsily added into the picture.

The gathering is reported to have come about after Bezos and Cucinelli met and discussed how the tech industry was working to make the world a most positive place.

Bezos was not pictured in any of the photographs by Cucinelli confirmed his attendance in an interview with GQ Magazine, along with various other leading figures in the industry including the co-founder of LinkedIn and the founder of DropBox.

In the photograph shared by Cucinelli, he described the mega rich execs as modern day ‘Leonardos’ who will transform the planet, making it a better place for generations to come.

‘Tech Titans’ who attended

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos

LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman

Entrepreneur Marc Benioff

Dropbox co-founder and CEO Drew Houston

Juul investor Lee Fixel

Former Twitter CEO Dick Costolo

Twitter CFO Ned Sega

The U.S. ambassador to Austria

He wrote: ‘You, Leonardos of the Third Millennium, have come to Solomeo from so far away and honoured me with your presence.

‘Together, sitting at the cafe as in an ancient school of philosophy, faced with the beauty of the Umbrian landscape, we have discussed with the kindness of Heraclitus’ pòlemos, intensely, serenely, bringing to life the brotherhood of soul and economics that the world expects for the coming centuries.

‘I have seen in you the genius of a young Leonardo, and I therefore expect from you “inventions that can mean great things”, as the ancient fathers expected from him. The third millennium will witness innovative and lasting works. ‘

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