company town

Ben Bradlee Believes in Rupert Murdoch

MEDIA
• Legendary Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee on Rupe’s play for the Journal: “I think Murdoch is a better journalist than the rest of you do. … Well, I think because he’s smart, and he’s not going to fill it up with pussy stories. And he’s going to get good reporters. I think he does not want to fail on this.” [Radar]
• Ted Kennedy sold his memoir to Grand Central Publishing for $8 million, but the deal first has to be cleared by the Senate Ethics Committee. Something tells us the chapter on Chappaquiddick won’t be too long. [NYT]
• The Times bagged their first refugee from the Journal, though it’s not a very big catch: John Harwood, the veteran CNBC Washington correspondent and occasional contributor to the Journal, will now take his part-time work to the Gray Lady. [NYO]

FINANCE
• Citigroup, subprime borrower? The largest bank in the world took a $7.5 billion infusion from the Abu Dhabi investment fund, making the bank almost 10 percent owned by Middle Eastern investors. Meanwhile, rumors swirled that Citi will lay off as many as 45,000 workers — rumors the bank immediately termed “not factual,” mostly because they haven’t decided exactly how many will follow Chuck Prince out the door. [MarketBeat/WSJ, Bankers Ball]
• Oh, and by the way, Meredith Whitney, the 38-year-old CIBC analyst who helped take down Citi, is smokin’! [Business Week]
• More good news: Ten percent from its previous high, the Dow is now officially in correction territory. That means buy, right? Or run. [NYT]

LAW
• Jealous of all the attention paid to Clarence Thomas, Justice Scalia is planning his own book. It’s a primer on how to convince judges, sure to be a laugh riot and a gold mine for lazy court reporters. [Legal Times]
D.C. shops are dropping millions to get a foothold in New York, and firms like Covington & Burling and Dickstein Shapiro plan to keep dropping millions more. [Legal Times]
• Did the New York Bar really lose test-takers’ essays in LaptopGate, and then just extrapolate from the rest of the exam? One crazy commenter thinks so. [Above the Law]

FASHION
• Karl Lagerfeld guest-edited the December issue of Connaissance des Arts — and put himself on the cover. [WWD]
• Speaking of ego-centric designers, Tom Ford is finally directing a movie. [British Vogue]
• Macy’s is suing Kimora Lee Simmons for overcharging them on her beauty products. Hmm, a department store and ridiculously priced makeup… [Flypaper]

Ben Bradlee Believes in Rupert Murdoch