Blankfein’s Terrible Win-Win-Win ConundrumThe Goldman Sachs CEO can’t sleep at night because he needs to find a way to hugely reward his executives without the public knowing.
CEOs Prepare for ‘Public Anal Exam’Tomorrow, a number of Wall Street’s top CEOs are scheduled to testify in front of Barney Frank’s Financial Services Committee. They’re not looking forward to it.
ByJessica Pressler
white men with money
The Bear MarketThe latest on the Bear Stearns fallout, and what Charlie Gasparino has to do with it.
21 questions
Charles Gasparino Is a Good TipperName: Charles Gasparino
Job: CNBC’s hunky on-air editor. Also, author of the recent bestseller, King of the Club: Richard Grasso and the Survival of the New York Stock Exchange.
Age: 40s. (How’s that for a hedge?)
Neighborhood: Stuyvesant Town
Who’s your favorite New Yorker, living or dead, real or fictional?
My dad. The last man I knew to have such a distinct, New York accent that he used to pronounce the words toilet “terlet” and oil “earl”
What’s the best meal you’ve eaten in New York?
Spaghetti with cherry tomatoes at San Pietro.
In one sentence, what do you actually do all day in your job?
Scream at sources to get stories, scream at producers to put them on CNBC, and then scream at editors to get more time for stories that I’m writing.
company town
CNBC to Roger Ailes: ‘Nanny Nanny Boo Boo’MEDIA
• Despite Roger Ailes’s declaration that Fox Business Channel would start a “revolution” against rival business channel CNBC, this war appears to have petered out after a skirmish: Only about 6,300 people a day, on average, watch the babes of FBN, compared to the 283,000 who tune in to CNBC for that dreamy hunk Charlie Gasparino. [NYT]
• Let the stunts begin! David Letterman plans to shave off his beard on the air next Monday: “Can we get a guy in here Monday to shave me? Now, a good guy, because the last time we did this, I looked like—when he was done, I looked like I’d been in a knife fight.” No word yet on whether Conan O’Brien, who’s writers unlike Letterman’s are still on strike, will lose his whiskers. Meanwhile, Nation editor Katrina Vanden Heuvel turned down Colbert’s invite to appear on his show, showing solidarity with the strikers. [NYDN, NYO]
• The Writers Guild is facing its own little labor problem: The East Coast branch’s internal staff claims that the contract they signed back in October was later changed without their permission. Let’s see, what’s that word … something writers always love. Oh, right, irony. [NYP]
gossipmonger
Steve Tisch, Billionaire Baller?Newly divorced billionaire and New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch might be dating women on both coasts. Martha Stewart created a special Christmas tree for Sirius Radio’s office, complete with Howard Stern cookie ornaments. Former NYSE head Dick Grasso left CNBC’s Charles Gasparino a creepy “merry Christmas” message on his answering machine, despite the fact that Gasparino’s new book takes Grasso to task for the $190 million kiss-off he took after leaving the Exchange. John Mayer has had a crush on Ricki Lake for two years (Ed. note: WTF?!), and actually got her digits at the wonderfully successful Sunshine Sachs Christmas party. Lance Armstrong picked up the tab for dinner with former flame Sheryl Crow. Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera hung out together at the Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year party. Andy Samberg, Amy Poehler, and Seth Meyers had lunch together.
