MEDIA
• Marcus Brauchli remains top editor at the Journal, but there’s a growing sense of inevitability that Robert Thomson, Sunday Times of London editor and Murdoch “old boy,” will challenge him for the position. (Related question: Does Murdoch have any “boys” who are not “old”?) [NYO]
• The Times’ third-quarter earnings almost doubled analysts’ expectations, giving the paper a chance to gloat about the big hit Morgan Stanley took a week ago by selling its stake in the company. [NYT, DealBook/NYT]
• Rick Reilly, previously the highest-paid writer in the history of Time Inc., will get $2 million a year for five years at ESPN. Who knew wussifying sports would pay so well? [NYP]
FINANCE
• Merrill Lynch announced $7.9 billion in losses last quarter, almost $4 billion worse than the firm previously predicted; Stan O’Neal trades places with Chuck Prince, borrows his dunce cap. [MarketBeat/WSJ]
• Was the mysterious illness James Cayne suffered while negotiating a billion-dollar stock swap with China a painful prostate infection? Ew, why are we thinking about this? [DealBreaker]
• Imagine a world without investment banks. Thanks to proliferating hedge funds and private equity, as well as the loss of confidence caused by the credit crisis, it’s not so impossible, and Wall Street’s i-bank middlemen may soon be cut down to size. The 2010s — a decade of Schadenfreude! [Deal Journal/WSJ]
LAW
• Cadwalader found an infestation even more annoying than summer associates: bedbugs. Other recent visitors include Cameron Diaz and a mysterious, pimpishly dressed young man. [NYO]
• Meet the Damsels for Distress, the women of Greenberg Traurig’s bankruptcy group. [Law Blog/WSJ]
• New York’s highest court rejected the death penalty for a man who murdered five workers at a Wendy’s in Queens and reaffirmed their previous rejection of the state’s capital-punishment statute. [NYT]
FASHION
• Ben Affleck, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Liv Tyler are joining up to promote a charity T-shirt for Bono and his wife Ali’s fashion line, Edun. [British Vogue]
• Is there anyone Stella McCartney isn’t designing for? Her LeSportsac line previewed this week. [Fashion Week Daily]
• Trovata’s joining the slew of designers suing Forever 21. This time it’s over striped cardigans. [Fashionista]
