• Has The Wall Street Journal turned into a boys’ club? [
• Former Maxim editor Jimmy Jellinek is joining Playboy to head up its digital enterprise. [
• The Obamas continue to get prime magazine real estate: The hopeful First Family is on the cover of Essence magazine’s September issue, and Michelle is on the front of the current issue of Ebony (and Harper’s Bazaar, sort of). But Glamour, at least, has an interview with Meghan McCain! [WWD, NYO]
• Who would have guessed it? Fox News covered the John Edwards–love-child story more than any other cable outlet. But that’s not saying much: It’s only reported on it four times. [
FINANCE
• It’s not shocking that Freddie Mac chief Richard Syron might be out the door after he ignored warnings about shaky loans. What is surprising: Former Bear Stearns chief Alan Schwartz is a candidate for the top spot at the mortgage company. [DealBook/NYT]
• Meanwhile, Schwartz says he won’t go anywhere without his number two, Richard Metrick, a trusted confidante who was formerly a senior managing director at Bear Stearns. [NYP]
• Merrill Lynch kingpin John Thain, who was brought in to fix the mistakes of his predecessor, has no bones about selling billions of dollars of mortgage investments on the cheap. “We have over 60,000 people working every day,” he said. “All the efforts of these people were overwhelmed by the write-downs in the mortgage-related assets.” [NYT]
REAL ESTATE
• Barbara Corcoran, one of the best known real-estate tycoons in the city, just snapped up a $4 million condo for herself at 163 East 71st Street. [Real Deal]
• Upper East Side residents are fuming about the $235 million construction project that the Hospital for Special Surgery is planning for on top of the FDR. [NYT]
• A former Tishman Construction worker faces time behind bars after he stole $2.8 million from the company by depositing more than 100 fake checks. [NYS]
LAW
• A former Cohen Pontani Lieberman & Pavane associate, who was fired two days after she complained that female lawyers were being “relegated to non-partnership-track support roles,” is suing the firm for sex discrimination. [Law.com]
• O’Melveny & Meyers is opening an office in Singapore. [Law.com]
• UBS’ general counsel for the firm’s investment-banking arm officially resigned. [WSJ]
