How do you get single venture capitalists, tech executives, and other assorted one percenters to pony up $45,000 for an multi-day singles mixer? By billing it as an "intellectually rigorous" extension of TED and Aspen Ideas Festival circuit and hosting it on Richard Branson’s 74-acre Caribbean island.

Only instead of curating ideas, the mixer curates "a new breed of philanthropically minded, well-heeled singles."

According to the New York Times, Kelleher International, the company hosting the Weekend at Branson's, is just one of "many matchmaking service seeing dollar signs in Silicon Valley."

“Mom basically existed off the Silicon Valley people when it was just being born,” Ms. Kelleher-Andrews said. “People who owned the big companies that were being built, from Sun to Microsoft to Oracle, the big people in those companies can’t put themselves in a photo book on a dating service. Most of the employees are the ones looking in those photo books.”

As for the philanthropy part, some of that "base price," which doesn't include airfare or optional spa treatments is even tax deductible since net proceeds go to Branson's foundation Virgin Unite. Here's a description of the charity from its own website:

... we incubate new approaches to leadership such as The Elders, Carbon War Room and The B Team and lead the debate, amplifying Richard’s voice on issues that are important to the world.

The island organizers stressed that sex is just a side effect of all the leadership being incubated:

Jean Oelwang, the chief executive of Virgin Unite, who had flown in from Salt Lake City, stressed that the Necker excursion (which she said would have a business-oriented theme of “future leadership”) had loftier goals than providing a backdrop for hookups. “If you look at the relationships that Rosalynn Carter has with President Carter, or that Leah has with Archbishop Tutu,” she said, “that deep respect and love has allowed them to be better individuals, but also to make change in the world.”

Hear that, ladies? Fly to Necker Island and you could find yourself power adjacent.

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[Image via AP]