createpositivechange

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  • Princeton, donors’ family battle over $880 million

    In 1961, A&P supermarket heir Marie Robertson and her husband, Charles, gave $35 million in stock to Princeton University for its Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

    Today, the gift is worth more than $880 million.

    But the university and the descendants of the couple have spent millions in legal costs in a years-long fight over how the money should be used.

    A New Jersey judge’s decision last week that the dispute should go to trial has drawn nervous attention from college administrations across the country. The New York Times has called it “one of the largest lawsuits ever filed exploring how closely colleges must adhere to the original intent of donors.”

    The Robertsons’ children – Anne R. Meier, Katherine Ernst and William Robertson – maintain that the donation was meant to help prepare graduate students for careers in federal government, particularly in foreign and international affairs. They filed suit against the university in 2002, claiming that Princeton had failed to adhere to their parents’ instructions and had spent the money for other uses.

    The suit also charges that Princeton took control of the foundation set up to administer the gift, and commingled its funds with the university endowment.

    Princeton officials respond that the Robertson offspring are trying to overturn the structure set up by the original grant, and use the money for their own purposes.

    Both the university and the Robertsons have launched web sites about the suit. And both sides say they expect to win at trial.

    Regardless of the outcome, colleges are likely to pay much closer attention to the restrictions that often come with major gifts.

  • America’s ruling families

    We’ve come to expect political dynasties. They’re a fact of life in the U.S., perhaps even more than royal succession is in the modern UK.

    The 2008 presidential campaign is the first since 1952 without a sitting president or vice president. An entire generation has grown up thinking the race for the White House requires the presence of a Bush or a Clinton.

    Even beyond the obvious – the Bushes, Kennedys, Rockefellers, Roosevelts and Adamses – many American clans have passed the political baton from one generation to the next.

    In recent decades, Hendrik Hertzberg writes in the New Yorker, the “dynastic dynamic” has accelerated.

    The presidential field includes not only Hillary Rodham Clinton, wife of a former president, but Mitt Romney, son of a former governor of Michigan. Hertzberg notes that there are currently five U.S. senators whose fathers preceded them in the Senate. A prominent example in the House is Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose father was a member of Congress and the mayor of Baltimore.

    Such connections yield intriguing Muckety maps. One of our favorites was created by the marriage of Howard Baker and Nancy Kassebaum, which linked not only their separate Senate careers, but the legacy of Kassebaum’s father, former Kansas Gov. Alf Landon, and Baker’s former father-in-law, Sen. Everett Dirksen.

    Political dynasties tend to overlap with the business and media spheres. (Think Maria Shriver.) After Louisiana Congressman Hale Boggs died in an airplane crash, he was succeeded by his wife, Lindy. One daughter, Barbara Boggs Sigmund, was mayor of Princeton, N.J., before dying of cancer. Another, Cokie Roberts, is a correspondent for ABC and NPR, and the wife of journalist Steven Roberts. A son, Thomas Hale Boggs Jr., is a powerful Washington lobbyist.

    Offspring of the powerful can learn from their parents’ example and their parents’ mistakes. Or can they choose not to learn at all. Hertzberg’s column closes with an observation on George W. Bush:

    “Bush’s failure to learn much of anything for the past six years suggests a deficit of character, not of experience; his unwillingness to employ his father’s skills and advice on behalf of the nation shows a disrespectful disregard for a dynast’s biggest advantage. He has given both freshness and family a bad name.”

  • Christopher Hitchens revives the enemies list ([Muckety](https://web.archive.org/web/20071031184448id_/http://news.muckety.com/2007/10/30/christopher-hitchens-revives-the-enemies-list/165))

    In the early 1970s you couldn’t have a better opponent than Richard Nixon.

    Indeed, when the embattled president’s Enemies List became public, there was no complaining from those who made the cut.

    Newsman Daniel Schorr and actor/activist Paul Newman treated their inclusion like a badge of honor. To have Nixon against you was to have the world for you.

    These days, the best possible seal of disapproval might come from Christopher Hitchens, the erudite, outrageous, provocative, witty and indefatigable contrarian.

    When Hitchen’s your enemy, you don’t need friends.

    Regularly venting his spleen, Hitchens has pieced together an Enemies List that might even make Nixon envious, were he alive.

    For starters, Hitchens, who is 58, has never liked Mother Teresa, the founder of the Missionaries of Charity who received worldwide approval for her work with the poor, the ill and the needy in Calcutta.

    In essays and in his book, The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice, Hitchens has argued that Mother Teresa wasn’t modest, wasn’t humble, and wasn’t really opposed to poverty and that she buddied up to dictators.

    Hitchens also doesn’t like the late Pope John Paul II, in part because he fast-tracked Mother Teresa on the road to sainthood.

    Absolutely no Hitchens love is lost on the Dalai Lama. And he doesn’t like The Rev. Mr. Jerry Falwell either.

    None of these dislikes is that surprising given the fact that God himself (or herself) is a frequent Hitchens target.

    Hitchens takes on the diety in God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything. To the surprise of many, the book became a bestseller this spring and its sales may net Hitchens $1 million.

    Beyond that it has helped increase the visibility of atheism in this country and it has given Hitchens a regular chair on talk shows and in debates against true believers.

    Hitchens, a former member of the British left who is now difficult to classify, doesn’t confine his scorn to religion or the religious.

    A short list of his favorite non-religious targets includes Henry Kissinger and Bill Clinton – both war criminals in Hitchens’ opinion.

    Also among the disliked are Michael Moore, Cindy Sheehan, Mel Gibson and Princess Diana.

    The next best thing to having Hitchens hate you may be to have Hitchens like you.

    The writer, who is now an American citizen, has been strong in his support of Scooter Libby, Ahmed Chalabi, Tony Blair and George W. Bush (sometimes).

    He also remains a strong voice for the Iraq war.

    And he has a wide and varied list of literary and journalistic saints, beginning with George Orwell.

    But, in general, Hitchens, who knows the value of enemies, hasn’t spent his time making nice. His list is long and getting longer.

  • Elvis, John Lennon and other top-earning dead people

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    When Forbes published its list of the year’s top-earning dead celebrities, we set ourselves a challenge.

    If everyone is separated by six degrees (or less), shouldn’t it be possible to link every name on the list?

    The ranking, headed by Elvis Presley, includes 13 people – musicians, actors, a cartoonist, a children’s author, an artist and a Nobel Prize-winning scientist. All 13 appear in the map above.

    Here’s the Forbes list of beyond-the-grave moneymakers for the past 12 months:

    The easiest link was between George Harrison and John Lennon. The Beatles connect to Elvis Presley and James Brown by way of Michael Jackson, former husband of Lisa Marie Presley and part-owner of the rights to Apple Records. Jackson also named Brown as his “greatest inspiration” when he spoke at his funeral.

    Andy Warhol’s celebrity-centric art links him to Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley and Albert Einstein, whom he painted. Another famous subject of Warhol’s was Elizabeth Taylor, who co-starred with James Dean in the 1956 film Giant.

    Einstein, Charles Shulz, and Theodor Geisel (better known as Dr. Seuss), share the same publisher: Random House.

    Bob Marley and Eric Clapton both recorded the song I Shot the Sheriff. Clapton’s ex-girlfriend Sheryl Crow found inspiration in actor Steve McQueen, and penned a song named for him.

    Finally, Tupac Shakur makes his way into the map by way of Elton John, whose sample the rapper used on his track Ghetto Gospel. Elton John’s famous song, Candle In The Wind, was written about Marilyn Monroe. It was later re-released as a tribute to Princess Diana, who is also on the map because her ex and Paul McCartney had the same divorce attorney.

  • Patriots’ Kraft wants English club

    English football teams are the latest craze for U.S. sports tycoons.

    New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, in the United Kingdom for the NFL game in London last weekend between the New York Giants and the Miami Dolphins, says he is interested in buying a Premier League soccer – oops, football – team. He already owns Major League Soccer’s New England Revolution.

    “We looked seriously at Liverpool,” he told Sky Sports News on Thursday, unwilling to disclose which team he wants to buy. “We still do have an interest in playing in the Premier League. We’d like to close our deal and then talk about it.”

    American tycoons are planting red-white-and-blue flags throughout England: earlier this year, yanks George Gillett and Tom Hicks purchased Liverpool F.C. (apparently beating out Kraft). Gillett owns the Montreal Canadiens while Hicks owns the Dallas Stars and the Texas Rangers.

    Cleveland Browns owner Randy Lerner bought the Aston Villa club in 2006. Meanwhile, Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner Malcolm Glazer gained controlling interest in Manchester United in 2005.

  • Soft landings for Merrill’s O’Neal and other ex-chiefs

    The cushioned exit of Stan O’Neal as CEO of Merrill Lynch & Co. this week was proof again that nothing succeeds at the top levels of business like not succeeding.

    O’Neal is to receive a reported $161.5 million in stock options and retirement benefits. He was ushered out because he had lost favor with his board after announcing that the company had a $2.24 billion quarterly loss.

    While $161.5 million seems like enough to get by on, it doesn’t equal amounts received by other dismissed executives.

    In January of this year, Robert Nardelli, CEO of Home Depot, was given a $210 million severance package. That figure, according to the New York Times, “quickly made him the standard-bearer for failure-based pay.”

    Nardelli, like O’Neal, was said to have a harsh management style, a style that might have been tolerated if Home Depot’s stock hadn’t been in the doldrums.

    However, it may be a style that’s in demand. Nardelli became chairman and CEO of Chrysler in August.

    In 2006, Hank McKinnell, CEO and chairman of Pfizer Inc., exited his job ahead of schedule. He received close to $200 million in severance.

    McKinnell was certainly not alone. Citing a report by James F. Reda and Associates, the New York Times reported that 35 dismissed CEOs took away a total of $799 million in 2006.

    Among that year’s golden parachuters was Jay S. Sidhu, chairman and chief executive of Sovereign Bancorp Inc. He received a package worth $73.56 million when he resigned in 2006.

    The terms of these severance packages simply reflect the realities of the market place, analysts say.

    CEOs are in demand. Therefore, they can negotiate the plush terms of their firings at the times of their hirings.

    But, not surprisingly, the resignation packages do prompt criticism from the public, from shareholders and from politicians.

    That happened after Walt Disney Co. dismissed its president, Michael Ovitz, in 1996.

    Ovitz, who had been on the job for 14 months, was given $140 million in severance pay. Shareholders filed suit, but a judge ruled in 2005 that Disney had not violated its fiduciary duty.

    A severance package given to Carly Fiorina, CEO and Chairman of the Board, Hewlett-Packard Co. drew a shareholder suit that is yet to be settled.

    Her company dismissed Fiorina in February 2005. She received $21.4 million.

    Shareholders have pointed out that should the company’s stock improve, Fiorina also stands to make millions more by exercising stock options.

    Fiorina’s severance had other perks, including $50,000 in financial counseling. She also got to keep her personal computer equipment and receive free tech support for three years.

    Jill Barad, chief executive of Mattel Inc., received $37 million when she resigned in 2000 after the company reported a loss.

    As a part of her package, the company forgave a $3 million home loan and sold her a company car at “a nominal price.”

    Like some of the other executives who lost their jobs in the most public of fashions, Barad and Fiorina have landed on their feet.

    A website lists Barad’s speaking fee at $50,001 and above. Fiorina has signed on with the soon-to-air Fox News business news channel.

  • Google, Facebook battle for friends

    Despite losing to Microsoft in its bid for a piece of Facebook, Google isn’t giving up on social networks.

    The behemoth of search is partnering with other tech companies and social networks to develop a competing approach called OpenSocial. The open-source technology will enable developers to write applications that can be used on many sites, including partners in the project, such as LinkedIn and Friendster.

    This is a markedly different approach from that of Facebook, which does not share its technology with others.

    With 50 million users, a $240 million investment by Microsoft and a valuation of $15 billion, Facebook has a big head start. But the open-source approach has been proved over and over on the web. And then, of course, there’s the seemingly unlimited force of Google.

    A number of major players have been in both camps. PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel invested in both Facebook and LinkedIn. Napster co-founder Sean Parker was both the founding president of Facebook and a co-founder of Plaxo, which is a partner in OpenSocial.

    Thiel and Parker are not the only web kingpins in this fray. Netscape co-founder Marc Andreessen is involved in two OpenSocial partners – LinkedIn and Ning.

    With such a stellar cast, it’s going to be quite the show: Facebook and Microsoft and the millions of uncounted developers and publishers who will embrace open source.

    We’re in for a real spectacle.

  • Colbert Vote Skyrockets

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  • Focus is on Nyc Charter Schools

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  • The Real Dirty Sexy Money

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  • Cablevision’s James Dolan has string of losses

    As the chairman of Madison Square Garden, the company that owns the hapless New York Knicks, James L. Dolan should have already known a lot about losing.

    But Dolan, 51, who is also a blues/rock singer, has learned even more about embarrassing defeats during the last few weeks.

    Already vilified in the New York press as a rich kid whose dad gave him the Knicks as a plaything, Dolan is now depicted as a boss who tolerates bad behavior and bad language in the office.

    In addition, a Dolan family plan to make Cablevision Systems Corp. a private company has been rejected by shareholders.

    Cablevision, a dominant player in the New York City area, owns Madison Square Garden, which, in turn, owns the Knicks, the MSG Network, hockey’s New York Rangers, the New York Liberty of the Womens National Basketball Association and Radio City Music Hall.

    All in all, Dolan may be finding new wisdom in the first lines of one of his bands’ songs: “Who told you life would be easy? Who said you would smile every day?”

    On Oct. 2, a federal jury in Manhattan found that Madison Square Garden and Knicks coach Isiah Thomas had sexually discriminated against one of its executives.

    The verdict came after a trial that made the Knicks front office seem like a locker room where boys were, alas, boys.

    The Garden was ordered to pay $8.6 million to the executive, Anucha Browne Sanders. The jury found that the company had created a hostile work environment and that it fired Browne Sanders in retaliation for her complaints about inappropriate language and advances.

    The jury ordered Dolan, president and chief executive officer of Cablevision Systems, to pay Browne Sanders $3 million for the retaliatory firing.

    His father, Charles F. Dolan, the founder of HBO, is Cablevision’s chairman and founder.

    Several Dolan family members also serve on the company’s board. Among them is Lawrence Dolan, Charles’ brother and the owner of the Cleveland Indians.

    On Wednesday, shareholders rejected a $10.6 billion bid by the Dolan family to take Cablevision private. The Dolans had offered $36.26 a share. Some major shareholders said the price was too low.

    Charles and James Dolan, who have sometimes feuded, put the best face they could on the rejection, saying in a joint press release:

    “We see today’s outcome as a vote of confidence in the prospects of Cablevision, its management team, its 20,000 employees and the industry’s future.”

    James Dolan’s total compensation for 2006 was $8.71 million, Forbes magazine reported.

    Some of his earnings, over $300,000, have gone to political candidates, mostly Democrats. This year he has given to the presidential campaign of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York.

    Dolan is also the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of JD & the Straight Shot.

    According the band’s website, mixing business and music gives Dolan “a sense of balance in his life.”

    The Rocky Mountain News in Denver described the band’s first album, as getting “grudgingly good reviews.”

    The grudging praise sometimes comes from Knicks fans. The team has not had a winning season since 2000-2001, despite a high payroll.

    After 2005-2006 losing season, the club found itself in a soap opera feud with its coach of one year, Larry Brown. The melodrama ended with the Knicks buying out Brown’s contract for $18.5 million.

    Last season, the team won 33 games and lost 49, certainly enough to make Dolan sing the blues.

  • Dui is a Death Sentence for Lost Cast Members

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  • The Inherent Muckety of Times Wedding Announcements

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  • Veco Corruption Trial Begins

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  • Hearst needs a re-write on TV takeover

    TV can be a goofy business, but this couldn’t be the script the boys in Hearst Tower had in mind when they offered $600 million a few weeks ago for the small piece of Hearst-Argyle Television they don’t already own.

    A special committee of Hearst-Argyle directors advised against the deal last week, calling it “inadequate” and saying it is “not in the best interests” of stockholders, other than Hearst.

    That’s the same argument made by nine class-action lawsuits filed against Hearst-Argyle and Hearst Corp. since the buyout offer was made Aug. 24.

    The stock market certainly agrees. Hearst’s tender offer is $23.50 a share for the nearly 27 percent of Hearst-Argyle shares held by others. The stock closed Friday at about $26.

    Privately held Hearst Corp., founded by legendary newspaperman William Randolph Hearst, is one of the nation’s largest media companies. Based in New York City, it owns newspapers (including the San Francisco Chronicle and Houston Chronicle), magazines (Cosmopolitan, Esquire, O), interactive media and 20 percent of ESPN.

    Hearst-Argyle owns 26 TV stations in markets reaching about 18 percent of the nation’s households. Stock analysts say the company should benefit by record spending on political advertising and by new retransmission agreements for its standard and high definition TV signals. Some analysts value Hearst-Argyle stock at $28-$32 a share.

    Hearst-Argyle detailed the takeover saga, including information on the lawsuits, in a long filing with the SEC last week. The filing said:

    In April 2006, at Hearst’s request, Hearst-Argyle executives first prepared a takeover scenario. At the time, the stock was trading at $23.23. The project was put on hold.

    Independent Hearst-Argyle directors David Pulver and Caroline Williams are each being paid $150,000, plus expenses, to be the sole members of the special committee considering the offer. The committee met 19 times.

    The special committee believes 2008 could be stronger financially than the company forecasts.

    Pulver, Williams and director Bob Marbut do not intend to tender their shares to Hearst Corp.

    Directors Frank Bennack Jr., John Conomikes, Victor Ganzi, George Hearst Jr., William Randolph Hearst III and Gilbert Maurer do intend to tender their Hearst-Argyle shares. Each is also a director of Hearst Corp. Ganzi is Hearst Corp.’s CEO; Bennack is its vice chairman.

    One name conspicuously absent from the lawsuits is that of Florida investor Bruce Sherman. As of April, his Private Capital Management owned 8.4 million Hearst-Argyle shares. Sherman is the investor who put newspaper publisher Knight-Ridder in play, leading eventually to the sale to McClatchy.

    Some of the lawsuits question the independence of Pulver and Williams. Both have been directors of Hearst-Argyle and its predecessor since 1994 and are included in the company’s medical insurance plan.

    Pulver runs an investment company and is chairman of Colby College’s investment committee. He received $145,461 in compensation from Hearst-Argyle last year.

    Williams, who works with the Nathan Cummings Foundation, received $140,961 in compensation from Hearst-Argyle last year. One lawsuit said the Cummings Foundation works frequently with the William Randolph Hearst Foundations.

    Some of those filing the lawsuits worry that Hearst is holding so many cards that it could still force the transaction, leaving those who didn’t go along with illiquid shares.

    As they say on TV, stay tuned.

  • Legality of Hunt Oil deal “uncertain”

    Hunt Oil’s controversial production-sharing deal with Kurdistan is “legally uncertain” and has “needlessly … Baghdad told The New York Times.

    Dallas-based Hunt Oil is run by Ray Hunt, a close friend and advisor of president Bush.

    Speaking anonymously, the official told The Times that the State Department advised Hunt before the… American and international oil companies.

    On the web
    Official Calls Kurd Oil Deal at Odds With Baghdad – New York Times

    Related stories on Muckety
    Why Ray Hunt is so powerful

  • Burkle’s new pied-a-terre

    Billionaire Ron Burkle has a new crash pad in New York, complete with a heated swimming pool and a panic room.

    Burkle, one of former President Bill Clinton’s best friends, has purchased a swank Manhattan apartment for a whopping $17.5 million, plus nearly $100,000 a year in maintenance fees. Burkle already owns the lavish Green Acres estate in Beverly Hills, where frequent Democratic fundraisers are held.

    The three-level apartment with 5 bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms doesn’t have a doorman and is situated in a fairly uninteresting part of lower Manhattan.

    But, according to the Real Estalker, the 11,000-square-foot “behemoth has ridiculously high ceilings, 50+ windows, walls of glass, a panic room behind the library bookcases, and a carpet of green grass and a small forest on the eastern terrace. But by far the most remarkable and notable feature of the aerie is the heated swimming pool that hangs over the city with 360 degree views as far as the eye can see.”

    The apartment is said to be exquisitely detailed with massive Danish Tudor wood-burning fireplace, two separate sound systems controlled from every room with speakers throughout. Perfect for more Democratic fundraisers.

    Burkle is best known as Clinton’s pal and as a major donor to the Democratic party. He earned his fortune buying and selling grocery chains; Forbes magazine calculates that he has been involved in 17 major business deals worth $15 billion – 11 of which involved grocery stores. He recently expressed interest in buying the Tribune Company, or the Los Angeles Times, but was beat out by real estate magnate Sam Zell.

    Venture capitalist Jonathan Leitersdorf reportedly purchased the entire building at 700 Broadway for about $2.5 million before gutting it and renovating. Burkle’s new home was first put on the market in 2002 for $27,500,000, but was reduced to its final asking price of $18,750,000. Burkle apparently cut the price even more.

    On the web: Ron Burkle’s Swimming Pool in the Sky – Real Estalker

  • Senate reviews Google-DoubleClick deal

    Execs from Google and Microsoft are scheduled to appear before the Senate today to argue the merits of Google’s proposed acquisition of DoubleClick.

    Google announced the $3.1 billion deal in April, but the plan requires approval of the Federal Trade Commission and regulators abroad.

    As CNet notes today, this will be the first time that Congress has scrutinized the Internet behemoth. Microsoft, with years of experience in arguing antitrust issues, has mobilized a legion of lobbyists to block the deal, saying it would create an online advertising monopoly.

    Consumer privacy groups have also raised concerns. Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, is scheduled to testify today as well. His group says the deal would give Google too much information about web users.

    Google is expected to argue that it respects users’ privacy, and that its current business focuses on text-based advertising, while DoubleClick specializes in banners.

    In his prepared testimony, released before the hearing, Google Senior VP David Drummond says Google and DoubleClick offer complementary services. “DoubleClick is to Google what FedEx or UPS is to Amazon.com,” he said.

    Those of us who have been running Google AdSense banners for ages find this argument a bit puzzling.

    On the web:
    Microsoft, Google square off in Washington – CNet

    Related stories on Muckety:
    Advantage Microsoft in flap with Google?

  • Times concedes error with Moveon.org ad

    The New York Times is backing down – somewhat – on a controversial ad placed by the liberal advocacy group MoveOn.org that infuriated conservatives.

    \n

    Under the headline “General Petraeus or General Betray Us?” the full-page ad contended that the American commander in Iraq was “constantly at war with the facts” in giving upbeat assessments of progress and refusing to acknowledge that Iraq is “mired in an unwinnable religious civil war … Today, before Congress and before the American people, General Petraeus is likely to become General Betray Us.”

    \n

    But on Sunday, the New York Times admitted it “made a mistake” by charging MoveOn a discount rate to run the ad. Some conservative groups had criticized the Times for playing favorites with MoveOn by charging the lower price.

    \n

    The lower rate of $64,575 is normally reserved for ads that can be placed at any time – a standby rate – but MoveOn had requested a specific date for the ad to run. The Times said it should have charged $142,083 for running the ad on that specific date, and that it would collect the difference from MoveOn.

    \n

    Did the Times violate its own ethics rules by running the ad in the first place?

    \n

    Yes, according to Clark Hoyt, the newspaper’s public editor. “The ad appears to fly in the face of an internal advertising acceptability policy that says: ‘We do not accept advertising that is gratuitously offensive on a personal nature,’ ” Hoyt wrote in the Times on Sunday.

    \n

    “Steph Jespersen, the executive who approved the ad, said that, while it was ‘rough,’ he regarded it as a comment on a public official’s performance of his official duties,” Hoyt added.

    \n

    The Times public editor wasn’t the only critic of the ad. Conservatives were outraged and flooded the Times with complaints. President Bush called the ad disgusting and Vice President Dick Cheney called it “an outrage,” and even the Democratic-controlled Senate overwhelmingly condemned the ad in a 72-25 vote.

    \n

    But even under this assault, MoveOn.org isn’t backing down. It was still promoting the “General Betray Us” ad on its home page Monday. “We are very happy that the Times has revealed this mistake for the first time, and while we believe that the $142,083 rate is exorbitant, we will pay it,” the group said in statement.

    \n

    On the web
    \nBetraying Its Own Best Interests – New York Times
    \nMoveon.org press release – PR Newswire

  • Why Ray Hunt is So Powerful

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