MEDIA
• Esquire reports on how Heath Ledger spent his last days…except the story is not exactly true. Or, um, tasteful. [Vulture]
• Let the deluge begin! Media companies line up to bid for Weather Channel, which is up for auction. [DealBook/NYT]
• Wal-Mart appears to be irritated by Meredith Corporation’s creative tactic of selling its magazines, which include Better Homes and Gardens and Ladies’ Home Journal, at the Dollar Tree store. [Folio]
FINANCE
• If Al Gore goes forward with his plan to hold a $100 million IPO for his cable company, Current Media, the former vice-president could pocket $48 million. Considering that his venture has lost $31.5 million in the last three years, is his scheme a little…err…convenient? [Business Week]
• Microsoft has enlisted Bear Stearns CEO Alan Schwartz to advise on the $42 billion Yahoo deal. [The Deal]
• Goldman Sachs is giving $100 million to teach business skills to women in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. [DealBook/NYT]
LAW
• Fidelity Investment will pay $8 million to settle SEC claims that the mutual-funds firm let staff members accept Super Bowl tickets, private-jet travel, cigar-filled humidors, escorts, Ecstasy, cases of Bordeaux, U2 concert tickets… [Law Blog/WSJ]
• The U.S. Polo Association didn’t infringe on a Ralph Lauren trademark when it used a man on a horse as a logo. You’ve got to feel kind of bad for the USPA having to go up against the retail giant — after all, how many ways can someone playing polo actually be depicted? [Law.com]
• A very unscientific study shows that bankruptcy and commercial litigation are the hot legal practices in New York. [Above the Law]
