Kate Middleton Quits Fashion — Soon to Be Engaged?FASHION
• Princely girlfriend Kate Middleton quit her job at fashion chain Jigsaw, sparking rumors of an imminent engagement! [British Vogue]
• Daria Werbowy is doing a line of makeup for Lancôme that benefits a Brazilian children’s charity. Hot and philanthropic? Sigh. [Fashionista]
• Surprise, surprise: This holiday shopping season is gonna suck for retailers. [NYT]
company town
You’ll Never See John Micklethwait’s BylineMEDIA
• John Micklethwait, editor-in-chief of the Economist, says that not having bylines is part of the magazine’s brand, and though they “look with great envy upon those publications that have big pictures of 50-year-old journalists staring out from their columns,” they have no plans to change it. Wait, the Economist has an editor-in-chief? We always assumed it was run by machines. [Mediabistro]
• Ben Silverman, the NBC exec who catapulted to the top by stealing foreign shows like The Office and Ugly Betty, called his competitors Steve McPherson at ABC and Kevin Reilly at Fox “D-girls,” apparently some weird TV slang for cute young development execs with little power. Huh. We just call those people D-bags. [NYP]
• The writers strike is forcing Fox to postpone the launch of 24, even though some episodes have already been shot; The Office will be one of the first prime-time shows to run out of episodes after next week’s show; and ex–Disney exec Michael Eisner called the strike “insanity.” [NYT, Mixed Media/Portfolio]
company town
The Bancroft Family High Jinks: Ongoing!MEDIA
• The Bancrofts are so dysfunctional that they missed the deadline for choosing their representative to the new Dow Jones board. Murdoch then vetoed two family nominations before agreeing to Natalie Bancroft, a 27-year-old opera singer and journalism neophyte. Family member Crawford Hill concluded: “This entire, sad and pathetic final episode is a fiasco. No wonder we lost Dow Jones!!” [WSJ]
• With the Times hiring former sex writer Susan Dominus as the newest “Metro” columnist, will the section be heading toward the look of “Sunday Styles”? [NYO]
• Nora Ephron: Blogging makes us better writers. Hey Nora, can you call our boss? [Mixed Media/Portfolio]
company town
‘Times’ Editorial Chief Andy Rosenthal, UnpluggedMEDIA
• Incoming Time Warner CEO Jeffrey Bewkes may well spin off the company’s huge cable unit, but a sale of Time Inc. looks unlikely since the small potential proceeds (and big tax penalty) would little benefit a company of Time Warner’s size. [NYT]
• Times editorial-page editor Andy Rosenthal calls all executive editors, including Bill Keller and his own father, crazy. Sweet. [Radar]
• Rupert Murdoch is confirming to all his friends he plans to bring in Times of London editor Robert Thomson to become the Journal’s publisher as part of an “Aussie invasion” in the first few months of next year. [Guardian via Media Mob/NYO]
company town
Wall Street’s Golden Idols All Have Feet of ClayFINANCE
• The struggle to find a successor at Merrill and Citi demonstrates another big flaw in the current culture of Wall Street: Do-or-die standards, and growing demands on public executives, have left firms with no succession plan and few capable of stepping in to take over. Both firms have been forced to turn outside for help: Laurence Fink, the CEO of BlackRock, has been approached about O’Neal’s old job, while Robert Willumstad and John Thain are in the lead to take Prince’s place. [WSJ]
• Why did Chuck Prince and Stan O’Neal fail? They took Gordon Gecko’s favorite maxim—”I create nothing, I own”—a little too seriously, and forgot the other part of banking is to sell, sell, sell. [NYT]
• Andrew Ross Sorkin dons his Miss Manners cap to explain the rules of corporate courting—and why Stan O’Neal’s worrywart parents, the Merrill Lynch board, were only looking for an excuse when they grounded him for asking Wachovia to “merge.” [NYT]
company town
Stephen Colbert Doesn’t Make the BallotMEDIA
• Hollywood and television writers have decided to strike and will announce a walk-out deadline by noon today. Late night will be most immediately effected — guess we’ll find out just how funny Jon Stewart and David Letterman really are. [NYT]
• The South Carolina Democratic executive committee rejected self-proclaimed “favorite son” Stephen Colbert’s attempt to get on the ballot. Colbert now has to accumulate 10,000 signatures to make the ballot as an independent or pay the Republicans $35,000. Tough decision. [HuffPo]
• Don Imus signed a deal with Citadel to return to radio, broadcasting on WABC in New York and syndicated nationally on ABC Radio. The I-Man had to settle for $5 million a year, half of what he made with CBS. [WSJ]
company town
Hide Your Gold! Merrill Says There’s a Crash A-Comin’FINANCE
• Aleksey Vayner, the man, the legend, is back! The Yalie who taught the world just how Impossible is Nothing wants a job on Wall Street. He even boasts a new, toned-down résumé, which neglects to mention his mad ballroom-dancing skills. [DealBreaker]
• For all his recent failures, Stan O’Neal (with the help of Time Warner chief Richard Parsons) opened the door to a new generation of African-American leaders in the corporate world. But a dearth of black execs in so-called “C-level” positions may make increasing their ranks more difficult. Not to mention, who the hell wants to be C-level? [NYT]
• Here’s Charlie Merrill, cousin to the founder of Merrill Lynch: “There is going to be a major stock market crash, so protect your assets. Buy physical gold and hide it.” Thank goodness we don’t live in a nepotocracy. Oh wait [MarketBeat/WSJ]
company town
Did Aaron Charney Only Get 100K From Sullivan?LAW
• Will Aaron Charney ever have to work again? More than likely — he may not have gotten more than $100,000 in his sexual-harassment settlement with Sullivan & Cromwell. [PrawfsBlawg via Above the Law]
• Should law schools be more like business schools? One law prof thinks so, and he looks a little like Justin Timberlake, so he must be right. [Law Blog/WSJ]
• Do Cravath’s two rounds of bonuses signal Big Law strength and more money for associates, or is the firm just hedging so they aren’t locked in to paying the same amount next year? [NYT]
company town
Editors Give Zinczenko Bombast an ‘F’MEDIA
• Participants at the American Magazine Conference revolted against “The Magabrand Revolution,” the ostensible theme name cooked up by Men’s Health editor David Zinczenko. One editor commented, “I usually have to use ‘magabrand’ with a modifier in front of it, and that modifier starts with the letter ‘F.’” [Mixed Media/Portfolio]
• Jeff Zucker can’t stop denying those NBC sale rumors. Wethinks the lady [Reuters]
• When they ran into each other at the Jessica Seinfeld book party, Rupert Murdoch asked Arianna Huffington how many hits HuffPo was getting. Huffington told him 3 million a month; Murdoch politely noted that MySpace, which he owns, ran closer to 70 million. [Fortune]
company town
Will Dick Parsons Pull a Bloomberg?MEDIA
• Rumor has it that Richard Parson’s will announce his departure at Time Warner as early as this week. Jeff Bewkes, longtime No. 2, is set to take over as CEO. Does this mean a Parsons run for mayor? [Times of London]
• Radar cooked up a clever quiz: Fox News anchor or porn star? You decide. Wait, no, Murdoch decides. [Radar]
• Jim Cramer matched Rupert Murdoch’s legendary subtlety: “We have a competitor now in Fox and it is really important to destroy and mutilate them.” [Broadcasting & Cable]
company town
Tony Blair Sells Out Rupert MurdochMEDIA
• Tony Blair sold his memoir for $9 million to Knopf, something of a surprise since Blair has long been tight with Murdoch, known for offering advances so big they resemble campaign donations through HarperCollins. [Media Mob/NYO]
• A democratic member of the FCC requested an investigation of Murdoch’s Dow Jones deal, arguing the merger consolidates too many powerful outlets in one less than trustworthy hand. [B&C]
• Bloggingheads, everyone’s favorite lo-fi insider-y political fight club, reached a content-sharing agreement with the Times. [HuffPo]
company town
Is Kate Beckinsale Too Hot to Play Judy Miller?MEDIA
• Matt Drudge cracked open The New Republic’s Iraq fabulist controversy once again. Did the mag’s Baghdad diarist really make up details about mass graves and troops ridiculing a disfigured female soldier? Franklin Foer complains that Drudge’s docs could only have come from the Army. [Slate, NYO]
• Chris Jones, the managing editor of Portfolio.com, announced his departure from the mag after giving notice over a month ago. High-level rumors also indicate Joanne Lipman may soon be relieved from command — but only for the Website. [WWD]
• The Judith Miller movie is now filming in Memphis, and let’s just say that Kate Beckinsale is way too hot to be a reporter. On the other hand, the Valerie Plame CIA character, played by Vera Farmiga, looks just about right. [WP]
company town
‘Times’ Laughs in Morgan Stanley’s Face (Well, Back)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]
company town
Stephen Colbert Backlash: The Fall’s Hottest TrendMEDIA
• The American version of the Guardian hits our shores! [Guardian via Gawker]
• Stephen Colbert is leading Bill Richardson, Dennis Kucinich, and Mike Gravel in national polls; the media backlash has already begun. [WP, HuffPo, Gawker]
• ASME announced the finalists for the 2007 best magazine cover. They must have missed the backlash memo: Colbert is featured three times, more than any other star. [ASME]
company town
Rupert Murdoch Wins the PartyMEDIA
• News Corp. surpassed Time Warner to become the largest media company on the planet, and Murdoch held off a shareholder revolt in order to keep his family tyranny in place. [Hollywood Reporter, USAT]
• ESPN poached marquee columnist Rick Reilly from Sports Illustrated after 22 years with the mag. Dan Patrick, who SI just poached from ESPN, will take Reilly’s place at the back of the book. [NYT, Deadspin]
• Stephen Colbert took his campaign to the Tim Russert show: “This is not a dream, you are not going to wake up from this. I am far realer than Sam Brownback.” [NYT]
company town
Falling Glass a Metaphor for Bank of America’s Finances?FINANCE
• The debris falling off the new Bank of America tower at 42nd Street may have been metaphoric. The firm just reported steep losses, and their wannabe investment-banking unit, set to anchor the new tower, performed the worst. [MarketBeat/WSJ, Deal Journal/WSJ]
• Congrats, James Cayne — nobody wants anything to do with Bear Stearns. Contrary to reports, both Warren Buffett and China’s Citic Bank denied any interest in the bank. [DealBook/NYT]
• Today’s the real anniversary of the 1987 stock-market crash, but at least one veteran thinks parallels to the present are overblown. “The market is just like generals — everyone prepares for the last war.” [MarketBeat/WSJ]
company town
Surprising No One, Rupert Murdoch Says Death of ‘Times’ Would Be ‘Nice’MEDIA
• Rupert Murdoch minces words: “When asked whether he was aiming to kill the New York Times, Mr. Murdoch replied simply: ‘That would be nice.’” Meanwhile, isn’t this a fun graphic in Murdoch’s Post? [Guardian]
• Murdoch may get a little help thanks to Morgan Stanley, who sold off their entire 7 percent stake in the Times. But one analyst says Morgan Stanley is the real loser, since the firm completely failed to change the Times’ structure and took a big hit on the sale. [NYP, NYO]
• n+1 continues its campaign to corrupt young minds, slipping pamphlets under the doors of unsuspecting Columbia freshmen. [NYS]
company town
Who’s the Real Heir to Sandy Weill?FINANCE
• Citigroup’s Chuck Prince and Chase’s Jamie Dimon are battling it out to see who’s the real heir to Sandy Weill. With Citi crashing and Chase eking out a gain despite the credit crunch, it looks like Dimon, long prodigal, may be the true son. [Deal Journal/WSJ]
• Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson warned that we may see as many as one million home foreclosures before the end of the year. [NYT]
• Want to be a hedger and a do-gooder, work a trading floor and enjoy the peace of mind of a nonprofit? Join the World Bank like former Goldman exec Robert Zoellick, and you can manage $55 billion in assets. [NYT]
company town
Air America Host Randi Rhodes Mugged?MEDIA
• Air America talk-show host Randi Rhodes was assaulted on Park Avenue last night while walking her dog? [Gawker]
• Jack Shafer investigates the billionaires behind ProPublica, the newly established New York–based investigative-journalism nonprofit led by former Journal managing editor Paul Steiger. Surprise, they’re big Democratic donors. [Slate]
• Howard Kurtz took the nonstop promotion of his gossipy new book to its logical conclusion, interviewing himself on his own CNN show. [HuffPo]
company town
Arlen Specter Is a Great Cocktail-Party GuestLAW
• At Clarence Thomas’s book party, Arlen Spector casually asked the justice if he’d read Anita Hill’s response in the Times. [Above the Law]
• Even though three top partners have already pleaded guilty, Melvyn Weiss vows to clear his name and fight the marquee suit against his class-action behemoth. [Law Blog/WSJ]
• Banking giant UBS unveiled a big law version of the financial-league tables, ranking advisers according to performance. Is this a way for them to create more efficiency, or are they just opening themselves up to bribery? [Legal Week]
company town
Fox Business Network: Still Painting the OfficesMEDIA
• Looks like the Fox Business Network has a shitload of work to do on their studio before launching next Monday. They’ve got the requisite bright-red circle hung above the anchor desk, but otherwise the floor’s not even finished. NBC News, on the other hand, finally cut the ribbon on their new 30 Rock studio, which president Steve Capus compared to “the dance floor of the Stockholm Hilton.” Was that supposed to be a compliment? [FishbowlNY/Mediabistro, TVNewser]
• Jan Wenner failed to lure Ed Felsenthal away from the Journal (and Portfolio) and had to settle for Brad Wieners as new editor at Men’s Journal. Wieners has been acting editor since August, when James Kaminsky decamped for Maxim. [NYP]
• Poynter Institute: As a journalist, it’s your “duty” to read the print newspaper. Unclear how that affects bloggers. [Poynter]
company town
GE Still Hearts NBC … For NowMEDIA
• General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt said he’d postpone any decision on selling NBC until after the 2008 Olympics. Let’s just hope 30 Rock and Friday Night Lights last that long. [FT]
• Doris Lessing beat out Philip Roth, who was rumored as a top candidate, for this year’s Nobel Prize in literature. It probably helps that Lessing’s most recent novel doesn’t involve an old geezer fucking a “luckless goy chick” in the face. [NYT, Hitchens/Atlantic]
• FSG dominated this year’s National Book Award finalists, with five out of ten in fiction and nonfiction coming from the tweedy publisher’s lists. [NYT]
company town
Rupert Murdoch and the ‘Journal’ Eye WashingtonMEDIA
• Murdoch’s WSJ plans to take on the Times’ Washington bureau. What’s next, Hollywood? [NYO]
• Jeff Zucker and NBC bought Oxygen, the cable network for bored housewives, at the bargain-basement price of $925 million. [NYT]
• CNN’s Rick Sanchez has one big skeleton in his closet. After drinking a little too much at a Dolphins game, the eight o’clock anchor did a hit-and-run on a pedestrian who later died from his injuries. “It could have happened to anybody There were probably a lot of other people leaving the stadium that had had a couple of beers as well.” No wonder he was nicknamed Miami’s “Least Credible News Personality.” [NYO]
company town
Livin’ the Life With Models and BottlesFINANCE
• The male bankers at Bankers Ball are protesting the “stereotyping” in this week’s Look Book, in which a female ex-banker says the dudes in that field are all about “livin’ the life with models and bottles.” Well, they’re sort of protesting. “We can only say that the “livin’ the life” part sounds a bit awkward,” admit the bloggers. “Like in what situation would you say that entire phrase together?” [Bankers Ball]
• The credit crisis goes from the board room to the court room, as Sallie Mae sues J.C. Flowers and its banks, JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America, over failure to follow through on their original $25 billion deal. [WSJ]
• Steve Schwarzman and Henry Kravis can breathe a little easier about their outrageously low tax rates. All that lobbying paid off, and Harry Reid tabled the proposal to raise private-equity taxes to the rates the rest of us peons pay. [WP]
company town
If Louis Vuitton Is the McDonald’s of Luxury Brands, Then What Is Coach?FASHION
• French designer Azzedine Alaïa will now be backed by fashion newcomer Compagnie Financière Richemont. [WWD]
• Louis Vuitton has banned journalist Dana Thomas from all of their future runway shows after she said that they were the “McDonald’s” of luxury brands in her book Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster. [Fashion Week Daily]
• Michelle Parsons is indeed leaving Liz Claiborne for Coach. [WWD]
company town
John Galliano Is Coming for Your ChildrenFINANCE
• Kevin Dunn, a 28-year-old former MetLife broker, was charged with defrauding a 9/11 widow of a quarter-million dollars from the victim-compensation fund. Nice one, dude. [NYT]
• After rumors that Warren Buffett might take a big stake, James Cayne insists Bear Stearns has put the credit crisis behind them and the bank is not for sale. But after laying off 310 employees, a lawsuit against Bear’s huge losses, and still plenty of tension in the market, you have to wonder if Cayne, the master bridge player, is going for slam when he’s only got a three-spade hand. Snap! [Bloomberg, CNN/Money, Forbes]
• Morgan Stanley and Goldman are pulling away from the pack in the league tables. [WSJ]
company town
Bear Stearns, Really Into BridgeFINANCE
• Bear Stearns CEO James Cayne, ranked 611 in the world at contract bridge, fired Warren Spector, ranked in the top 225, for his role in the subprime crisis. Spector, a co-president at Bear, who took home $37 million, spent a whole two weeks at a bridge tournament in Nashville, while Cayne made do with a mere two days. Meanwhile, the firm announced 310 job cuts. [Bloomberg, DealBook/NYT]
• Merrill Lynch canned three top executives before even disclosing its own subprime losses, which could exceed $4 billion. Dow Kim, the former co-head of institutional securities, Osman Semerci, global head of fixed income, and deputy Dale Lattanzio were all shown the door. [WSJ]
• Zoe Cruz, co-president of Morgan Stanley, is the highest paid woman in America. At least there’s good news for somebody! [CNN, WSJ]
company town
Former Cravath Associate Pleads Guilty to Sex CrimesLAW
• James Colliton, the former Cravath associate embroiled in a sex-crimes suit, got a lighter sentence after he admitted to paying a mother for sex with her two teenage girls. [Law Blog/WSJ]
• Debevoise and Plimpton’s marquee new hire, the former attorney general of the U.K., has a few scuffs on his highly polished shoes: He carried on an affair while in office with a leading woman barrister. [Above the Law]
• When $1,000 an hour isn’t enough, premium billing — a kind of law-firm tip for a job well done — is the best way to really start raking in the profits. [DealBook/NYT]
company town
Topshop Signs a Lease in NYC?FASHION
• Breaking rumor alert: After months of hinting, Topshop has possibly, maybe signed a New York lease. Anglophiles and Kate Moss–ophiles, rejoice! [Fashionista]
• First he’s out as the designer of Dior Homme. Now, Hedi Slimane’s been replaced by none other than BFF Karl Lagerfeld as the photographer of the ad campaigns. Oh, cruel fashion world! [WWD]
• Giorgio Armani’s raking in the dough. The designer sold back a 5 percent stake in his company to Giorgio Armani SpA for about $110 million. [British Vogue]
company town
All Is Not Well in Redstone LandMEDIA
• Sumner Redstone, the octogenarian CEO of CBS and Viacom, is trying to play all lovey-dovey with his spurned daughter Shari, but the succession to the $50 billion empire is nowhere near resolved. [LAT]
• With more than a 1,000 job cuts at Time Inc. behind her, Ann Moore, the CEO who rose from the back room to the boardroom, thinks there’s still plenty of fat to cut — she asked some McKinsey consultants to keep sharpening their knives. [NYP]
• ABC News has done gangbusters over the last year, leading nightly news and finally catching up in the morning, so why did their Disney overlords decide to shuffle management at the top? [NYP]
company town
Even S.I. Newhouse Hates ‘Portfolio’FINANCE
• Alan Greenspan on high-risk investors: “I must admit that I do not have considerable concern about their net worth going from $40 million to $5 million.” Dude keeps getting awesomer. [CNN/Money]
• Michael Jensen, an early advocate of higher pay for top performing executives, praises private equity for making someone the boss of the CEO. But you have to wonder — who’s the boss of Steve Schwarzman? [NYT]
• Morgan Stanley was fined $12.5 million for withholding subpoenaed emails that it claimed had been lost in 9/11, when the firm’s servers were destroyed. [NYT]
company town
Oracle of Omaha Screws With Everyone’s HeadFINANCE
• Buffett to the rescue: The Oracle of Omaha may take a 20 percent stake in crisis-ridden Bear Stearns. If the deal goes through, Bear CEO Jim Cayne will have another new bridge partner to brag about. [NYT]
• Goldman Sachs named Edward Forst as co-head of investment management, a troubled group with a mere $796 billion in assets. Forst takes the place of Eric Schwartz, who’s retiring after 23 years with the bank. [NYP]
• “The tears of Chuck Norris would supply enough liquidity to solve the credit crisis. Too bad he never cries.” [Bloomberg]
company town
Facebook Steals Your Billable HoursLAW
• Highly paid associates are wasting lots of time on Facebook, to the tune of $50 million a year in hours the little bastards should be billing. [NYO]
• Cadwalader’s bracing for a double whammy: While trying to deal with the massive slowdown in its core mortgage practice area, the firm’s also facing a $70 million legal malpractice suit for mortgage warrantees from the late nineties. [Law.com]
• Michael Mukasey, attorney-general nominee and New York homeboy, is facing complaints that he used a U.S. marshal to take out the trash, and we don’t mean that figuratively. [AP via Law.com]
company town
Introducing Goldman CFO David ‘Bones’ ViniarFINANCE
• Meet David “Bones” Viniar, the reclusive Goldman CFO who’s quadrupled profits in the last eight years. A graduate of Bronx Science, he sits at the top, surveying his domain, as CEOs come and go. [Financial News via DealBook/NYT]
• Stephen Feinberg’s Cerberus is clearly the hedge fund’s hedge fund: to help finance the firm’s acquisition of Chrysler, Feinberg roped in $100 million from at least four other top firms — and made them pay for the privilege. [Deal Journal/WSJ] • Another sign that we’re in the wrong business: Henry Kravis managed to ink an $8 billion buy-out, later back out of the deal, and then even got his bankers to step up and pay the penalties. [MarketBeat/WSJ]
company town
Walters Says Greenspan Always Gave Bad AdviceFINANCE
• Alan Greenspan’s old flame Barbara Walters complained the G-man never gave good advice, insisting back in the seventies that she avoid an apartment on Fifth Avenue because it was a “bad investment.” [NYP]
• Henry Kravis got a little egg on his face thanks to the collapse of the $8 billion Harman buyout. Steve Schwarzman gets bragging rights or an excuse to back out of his own impossibly huge deals. [Deal Journal/WSJ]
• With computers taking over, the NYSE plans to cut the trading floor down by half from its historic high. The famous Main Room and “the Garage,” opened in 1903 and 1922 respectively, will remain open. [NYT]
company town
Goldman Defies Credit CrunchFINANCE
• Credit crunch, what credit crunch? Goldman’s record profits, which involved somehow shorting the mortgage market, have left a bonus pool of $17 billion, even larger than last year’s record. [WSJ, DealBreaker]
• The surge in the markets aside, the Fed rate-cut had one immediate bad effect: The Canadian dollar, a.k.a. the Loonie, pulled even with U.S. greenbacks for the first time since 1976. The euro also pushed past $1.40, another record. [NYP]
• It’s tough out there for a billionaire: While sixty-four New Yorkers made Forbes’s list of the 400 richest Americans, eighty-two Americans failed to make it with their paltry billion dollars. [AP]
company town
Bong Hits 4 EveryoneFINANCE
• Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein got a nice little birthday present this morning: The firm reported earnings and somehow managed to increase profit, despite the credit crunch, once again blowing analysts’ expectations out of the water. [DealBreaker]
• The recent influx of women in private equity has led to a new problem at this week’s big conference at the Waldorf. Suddenly, ladies have to wait in line for the bathroom. [Deal Journal/WSJ]
• Fed Chief Ben Bernanke looks more and more like he’s following in Alan Greenspan’s footsteps, but changing economic circumstances may make that not such a great idea. [NYT]
company town
Murdoch Mulls the Liberation of WSJ.comMEDIA
• Murdoch is hinting heavily that he’ll take WSJ.com free, but Dow Jones CEO Richard Zannino doesn’t think it’s such a great idea. [WSJ]
• Well, we’ll be — Portfolio pulling down pretty good ad pages. [NYP]
• Roger Ailes, former CNBC president now with Fox Business Network, making many CNBCers interested in switching teams. It may be many things, but it won’t be boring! [NYO]
company town
‘Journal’ Union Unhappy With Contract?MEDIA
• Dow Jones may not be any good at negotiating with Murdoch, but they just pulled a coup with their union. Jim Browning, a Journal reporter and union representative, sent off a bulk e-mail: “This is not the best contract that we could have gotten.” [Media Mob/NYO]
• Jill Ishkanian, the former West Coast bureau chief for US Weekly, filed a $55 million lawsuit against the mag, and the details, including an attempt to seduce a nanny, are beyond juicy. [NYP]
• Did Erin Burnett’s agent start the “feud” with Maria Bartiromo just to raise her profile? Or did Bartiromo’s agent plant this claim to get back at Burnett? [NYDN]
company town
Greg Larkin Was the Al Gore of the Subprime MessFINANCE
• Alan Greenspan was giddy when old buds Don Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney took over the White House. But it turned out they were bad boys and not his friends at all. Check out this and more in Greenspan’s new bio. [
company town
Alan Greenspan: ‘Not My Fault’FINANCE
• Alan Greenspan says don’t blame him for the credit crisis. He may not have understood the dangers until recently, but the former Fed chief claims there’s nothing he could have done. [NYP]
• Who needs Wall Street 2 when Gordon Gekko is already back in the guise of Steve Schwarzman? The Blackstone founder just bought a big stake in a firm called BlueStar, the same name as the central company in the original Wall Street. [DealBook/NYT]
• Big surprise: Funds that invest in Vice typically do far better than those that insist on Virtue. [NYT]
company town
Joseph Lewis Doesn’t Play BridgeFINANCE
• Henry Kravis failed to come to terms with top banks on financing for his all-important $26 billion buyout of First Data, the first in over $300 billion worth of LBOs that the banks need to get off their books. Negotiations will be pushed back another week, but it’s not looking good. [DealBook/NYT]
• The new rumor on the Street is that Joseph Lewis, the billionaire British currency speculator, bought into Bear Stearns on the advice of longtime Bear broker Kurt Butenhoff. The previous rumor, that Lewis got the idea from CEO Jimmy Cayne while playing bridge, seems unlikely since Lewis doesn’t even play bridge. [CNBC]
• Thanks to their friends at NASA, the CEOs of Google can park their three private jets — including a huge Boeing 767 — just seven minutes away from the tech-giants headquarters. Something tells us no Manhattan CEO’s helicopter perks will beat that. [NYT]
company town
Even Iraq Can’t Save KatieMEDIA
• Jon Stewart will get another chance to piss off Old Hollywood — the Academy just decided to let him host the Oscars again. [NYT]
• If you thought Katie Couric’s Iraq trip was nothing but a ratings stunt, you might want to check the numbers: The week-long tour tied her previous record for the lowest CBS viewership in over two decades. [AP]
• The Wall Street Journal’s softball team celebrates its last season as an “independently” owned team by printing up a cute little fake story. No mention whether Murdoch plans to fire the lot of them and bring in juiced replacements. [Radar Online]
company town
Clarence Thomas, Porn Addict?FINANCE
• Henry Kravis supposedly gave a big concession when he let the banks place restrictions on the debt offering for the all-important First Data deal, but banks are now complaining the concession is less an olive branch than a fig leaf. [DealBook/NYT]
• Hits on hedge-fund bonuses may not be as bad as we all thought: While they won’t set any records, they’re still set to grow 1 to 9 percent from last year, and general compensation is still climbing. [Globe & Mail via DealBook/NYT]
• Jordan Belfort, the former broker who swindled investors out of $100 million, didn’t discover Jesus in prison, but he did chance upon Tom Wolfe. His new book, The Wolf of Wall Street, looks back on the good times selling bogus stocks while tripping on quaaludes. [NYT]
company town
Fashion Week to Continue to Trample Bryant ParkFINANCE
• Will the city council outlaw the ‘R’ word next? As Merrill Lynch’s chief economist puts it, calling the recent downturn a recession “is like looking a client in the eye and telling them that their child is ugly.” [FT via MSN]
• Second Life’s going through something of a recession too, but the Post thinks the cyber version of Fed chief Ben Bernanke is taking a more proactive role. Snap! [NYP]
• The hardest hit hedge funds in August include lots of big names, like Paul Tudor Jones, Louis Bacon, and Bruce Kovner. [FT via MSN]
company town
Someone Get This Lawyer a Monkey!LAW
• Did David Souter really weep when the Supreme Court handed down Bush v. Gore? Or is Jeffrey Toobin nothing but a big bad liar? [Above the Law]
• Big Law partner to summer associate: “Now the reason I’m giving this project to you, and not my secretary, or say, a monkey, is my secretary is busy doing much more important things, and I don’t have a monkey.” [Urban Agora via Above the Law]
• Jack Bauer, law professor? Georgetown plans to offer a course in The Law of 24. [Above the Law]
company town
Our Next President Will Probably Be a Lawyer. Objections?FINANCE
• A former Morgan Stanley VP and her hedge-fund husband pleaded guilty in yet another instance of “pillow-talk” insider trading. [Bloomberg]
• Richard Josephberg, a longtime financier and former Goldman analyst, was sentenced to four years behind bars for failing to pay his taxes for 29 years. That’s one year in the slammer for every seven without the IRS, not bad. [NYT]
• The unexplained cancellation of Henry Kravis’s little talk at the NYPL has some wondering whether he’s riding Steve Schwarzman’s coattails once again — only this time out of the spotlight. [Deal Journal/WSJ]
company town
Miss Manners Hates Your BlackBerryFINANCE
• Blackstone founders Stephen Schwarzman and Pete Peterson shot up 30 places to No. 4 in Vanity Fair’s annual ranking of “The New Establishment.” Henry Kravis, who made the list for the first time, will have to console himself with No. 51. [VF, DealBook/NYT]
• Maybe CEOs aren’t all automatons after all: Scholars found that the death of a child or wife typically results in a 15 to 20 percent hit on profits — though the death of a mother-in-law often means good news for business. Let’s just hope they’re not confusing cause and effect, here. [WSJ]
• Beat this, Spence girls: The daughter of Qwest CEO Edward Mueller gets free use of the corporate jet to help ferry her from Denver to California for high school. [DealBook/NYT]
company town
Valentino Resigns, Greenspan BlogsFASHION
• Valentino is set to stop designing. He’ll announce today that he’ll do two more shows, and then call it quits. You know, to catch up on all that missed tanning. [WWD]
• Pierre Hardy to be the latest big name designer to work with the Gap. [British Vogue]
• Instead of bowing at Fashion Week, former Trovata designers Sam Shipley and Jeff Halmos will debut their new menswear line online at men.style.com. That should save everyone a little headache and VitaminWater. WWD]
company town
Facebook Exerts Yet More PowerFINANCE
• Kathleen Corbet, the president of Standard & Poor’s, agreed to step down after her company failed to accurately rate subprime bonds. Deven Sharma, an executive vice-president at S&P, will take her place as president. [Bloomberg]
• An angry Facebook group convinced HSBC, Britain’s largest bank, to stop charging interest on overdrafts by recent grads. You see, interest rates are so Web 1.0. [Times of London via DealBreaker]
• With few big M&A deals on the horizon, it may seem like investment bankers could just stay in the Hamptons for the rest of the year. But the backlog of big deals from the halcyon days of last spring should keep them plenty busy — as long as the deals don’t fall through. [Deal Journal/WSJ]