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Tag: Steve Schwarzman
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Whole Foods, but not the whole story
So, now we know how at least one corporate CEO got his kicks. For years, he posted on financial bulletin boards, under an alias, sometimes criticizing the competition.
“I posted on Yahoo! under a pseudonym because I had fun doing it,” Whole Foods CEO John Mackey acknowledged on his company’s Web site last night. “I never intended any of those postings to be identified with me.”
Mackey used the pseudonym “Rahodeb,” a variation on his wife’s name, Deborah, from 1999 until last summer The New York Times reported.
The FTC, which is trying to block Whole Foods’ acquisition of another organic grocer, Wild Oats, disclosed the pseudonym in a footnote in a court document. Using his alias, Mackey had posted about Wild Oats.
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Burkle Still Chasing a Newspaper Dream
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Environmentalists and Military Leaders Unlikely Bedfellows
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Libby and Rich: pardon-me boys
Democrats and Republicans did their best this week to draw distinctions between Bill Clinton’s pardon of fugitive financier Marc Rich and George Bush’s commutation of Lewis Libby’s prison sentence.
“I think there are guidelines for what happens when somebody is convicted,” Clinton said in a radio interview Tuesday. “You’ve got to understand, this is consistent with their philosophy; they believe that they should be able to do what they want to do, and that the law is a minor obstacle.”
The Associated Press reports that White House deputy press secretary Scott Stanzel responded, “When you think about the previous administration and the 11th-hour, fire-sale pardons … it’s really startling that they have the gall to criticize what we believe is a very considered, a very deliberate approach to a very unique case.”
Guess who used to represent Rich. That’s right, Lewis “Scooter” Libby, who testified in 2001 before a congressional committee that he had performed about $2 million worth of legal work for Rich.
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Joint Chiefs – From war room to board room
Don’t cry for Gen. Peter Pace. Or, Adm. Ed Giambastiani.
When they soon leave as chairman and vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, they will likely have ample opportunity to make big money in the private sector.
Consider Richard Myers, who preceded Pace as chairman. The retired Air Force general received a total of nearly $800,000 in cash, stock and other compensation last year as a director of four publicly traded companies, according to SEC filings. He is also a professor of military history at Kansas State.
Myers is a director of Aon, Deere & Co., United Technologies and Northrop Grumman.
Gen. Joseph Ralston, a former vice chair of the Joint Chiefs who retired in 2003, received a total of more than $640,000 in cash, stock and other compensation last year as a director of URS, Lockheed Martin and Timken, according to SEC filings.
He is also a director of privately held Cohen Group, headed by former U.S. Sen. and Secretary of Defense William Cohen. Cohen Group is a consulting and lobbying firm.
In addition, both Myers and Ralston are eligible for military retirement pay. Retired military leaders are in demand as directors of major corporations including Anheuser-Busch, Union Pacific, ConocoPhillips and Phelps Dodge.
Military pay doesn’t match the private sector. But it is increasing. In April, the base salaries of the Joint Chiefs chairman and vice chairman went from about $161,000 a year to about $186,000. That’s more than the $183,500 salary of Vice President Dick Cheney.
Last month, defense secretary Robert Gates said he would not re-nominate Pace for another term as chairman because his confirmation process would be too contentious. Pace, a Marine general who was vice chair for four years before becoming chair in 2005, has not indicated his future plans. Giambastiani said he is retiring.
On the web
Pace to Retire as Joint Chiefs Chairman – New York Times
Casualty of War – Newsweek -
Competition on a New Level
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Scooter Libby – Knowing people in high places
I. Lewis Libby Jr., convicted of perjury in the CIA leak case, appreciates better than most the importance of muckety.
His 30-month prison sentence was commuted yesterday by President Bush, who said he believed the term was excessive. Bush’s action was hailed by conservatives, who had organized a defense fund called the Libby Legal Defense Trust. Likely presidential candidate Fred Thompson was among the fundraisers.
“This is not a man who deserves to go to jail in any sense of the word,” said long-time friend Kenneth L. Adelman.
Current and former powerhouses who had earlier written letters to the court, urging leniency, included Donald Rumsfeld, Henry A. Kissinger, Paul Wolfowitz and John Bolton.
On the web
Bush Spares Libby 30-Month Jail Term – New York Times
Scooter Libby’s Pals, Trusting In Providence – Washington Post
Scooter Libby Love Letters – Smoking Gun
Libby Legal Defense Trust -
Lobbying is a Thompson Family Business
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Bearish on Mr. Brooks
Bear Stearns was under tremendous pressure on the weekend of June 17. Two hedge funds managed by the company were near collapse.
What did Richard Marin, chief of the asset management unit that oversees the funds, do? He went to the movies. Then he blogged about the film, Mr. Brooks. (Marin gave it a thumbs down.)
“I had been working 24-7 on this thing. Taking a small amount of time to clear my head seemed reasonable,” he told the New York Times.
We suspect that when the Times discovered the blog, whimofiron.blogspot.com, it was open for public viewing. But by this morning, readership was by invitation only.
Update: Bear Stearns replaced Marin on June 29, naming Jeffrey B. Lane to head the unit. Marin now serves as an adviser to Lane.
On the webA New Genre on Wall St.: Bailout Blog – New York Times (registration required) -
Paris Hilton and Stephen Schwarzman?
Paris Hilton may be on her way to becoming the Kevin Bacon of her generation.
How is the celebrity jailbird related to private hedge fund baron Stephen A. Schwarzman?
Through Hilton hotels, of course. Schwarzman’s company, Blackstone Group announced yesterday that it would buy the hotel chain for $18.5 billion plus debt. Blackstone already owns LaQuinta Inns and LXR Luxury Resorts.
On the web
Blackstone to Buy Hilton Hotels for $26 Billion – New York Times
Blackstone to Acquire Hilton – Wall Street Journal
Oracle of Bacon -
Sec Chairman Defends Record
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The Beckhams Move West
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Murdoch’s media machine
As the Times notes today, Rupert Murdoch’s media empire gives him an array of tools to advance his interests.
Starting with one newspaper in Australia, he has built and acquired a vast network of newspapers, broadcast companies and web sites.
Murdoch has shown increasing sophistication in getting his way regardless of the political climate. News Corp. employs a battery of lobbyists, including the very connected Anthony Podesta.To the surprise of some, Murdoch’s sizeable political donations in the U.S. favor Republicans only slightly. The Times reports that Republicans received 56 percent of the $4.76 million contributed since 1997 by the Murdoch family and related PACs.
On the webMurdoch Reaches Out for Even More – New York Times -
Big Payday for Blackstone Founders
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Lost but linked – Relationship Map for the TV show Lost
All is not what it seems on the island.
The survivors of the crash of Ocean Flight 815 have untold connections that viewers of the hit ABC Lost glimpse in strobe-like flashbacks.
The astute viewer (addict would be more appropriate) knows more than the characters. Jack and Claire, for example, have no idea that they’re step-siblings. Nor has Jack learned that Shannon’s father was in a car accident with Sarah, Jack’s future wife. Jack, the physician on duty, chose to save Sarah but not Shannon’s father.
And Hurley has yet to discover that Libby gave Desmond her sailboat, or that John Lock worked for his box company.
Sometimes, though, even these lost souls figure things out. Sawyer did tell Jack that he had a long conversation with Jack’s father shortly before his death.
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Anthony Pellicano: Hollywood undercover
The ongoing federal investigation of private eye Anthony Pellicano is revealing connections that many Hollywood celebs would prefer to keep quiet.
More than a dozen people have been arrested, and Pellicano is in jail, awaiting trial on charges of bribery, conspiracy, racketeering and illegal wiretapping.
Entertainment moguls and other elites have sought Pellicano’s skills over the years. His client list included former Disney chief Michael Ovitz, rock star Courtney Love and attorney Bert Fields.
It remains to be seen whether this case will establish itself as one of Tinseltown’s great scandals. A federal judge recently postponed Pellicano’s trial until 2008.
On the web
In Court Files, Hollywoodís Mr. Fix-It at Work – New York Times
The Pellicano Case – Los Angeles Times -
Smoke gets in Bono’s eyes
The Kennedy dynasty
The family name has stood for money and power since John D. Rockefeller built one of America’s great fortunes with Standard Oil Co. Subsequent generations have continued to hold sway in politics, finance and philanthropy.
Jay Rockefeller – officially John D. Rockefeller IV – chairs the Senate intelligence committee. His uncle, David Rockefeller, is chairman emeritus of the Museum of Modern Art and its biggest benefactor.
One uncle, Nelson A., was governor of New York and vice president. Another, Winthrop, was governor of Arkansas. Winthrop’s son Winthrop Paul was lieutenant governor. He curtailed his campaign for governor after being diagnosed with a rare blood ailment that led to his death in 2005.
Other dynasties
Read related stories: Dynasties 
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