People say the darndest things. Same goes for titans of the media industry. Here’s a small collection from the first day of Allen & Co.’s annual conference proving what Sling Media’s Blake Krikorian said about the moguls: “They’re human, just like us.”

1. A parched, unidentified friend walking with Rupert Murdoch wife and Chief of Strategy at MySpace China Wendi Deng passes a fridge full of sodas at the Sun Valley Inn meeting area and suggests they grab a cold one. Wendi to friend, “But is it free?” Murdoch’s net worth is $9 billion, making him the 73rd richest billionaire in the world,  according to Forbes. Operating margins are apparently high in the Murdoch household.

2. I introduce myself as “the enemy” to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who also founded Reuters rival Bloomberg LLC. The quip draws a smile, and I mention that Rupert Murdoch once suggested to a public audience a few months ago that he would likely endorse Bloomberg if he threw in his hat for the U.S. presidency. His response: “I was down in Mexico visiting the Mexican president. I was at his home. If you want to run for presidency, do it in Mexico.”

We think he was joking.

3. Terry Semel, who recently stepped down as Yahoo Inc.’s CEO, has a favorite response to reporters seeking any small morsel of data on Yahoo’s future, saying he would respond to only one question: “Only if it’s how my rest period is going.”

Turns out the next best thing to running a global digital media empire is not running one anymore.

(Photo: Reuters/Rick Wilking)