Rock and Roll Is Recession-ProofIn today’s digest of good economic news: Hedge funds get back on the plus side, Nate Silver applies his magical mind to the economy, and rock and roll plays so loud it can’t even hear the recession.
ByHugo Lindgren
intel
Exotic Clinton Getaway in East HamptonIn the days between her concession and her appearances campaigning on behalf of Senator Obama, the Clintons were rumored to have made like average, filthy-rich New Yorkers and hit the Hamptons.
white men with money
Alan Patricof and the Castle of Greycroft
Every time we hear the name of venture capitalist (and former New York owner) Alan Patricof’s newish company, Greycroft Partners, we are totally reminded of the childhood cartoon character He-Man and his Castle of Grayskull. Heh, we think to ourselves, because apparently on the inside we are a dorky 9-year-old boy. But reading Lloyd Grove’s interview with Patricof on Portfolio’s Website today, we realized that we’re not so far off. Patricof kind of is like He-Man of the Internet, albeit less blond and muscle-y. For starters, he seems to have He-Man’s telepathic powers (he got in on the ground floor of Apple and America Online). He’s in charge of almost everything (Greycroft is invested in dozens of digital start-ups and young companies, including the Huffington Post). He travels the world doing good (he does a ton of pro-bono work for developing countries). He never seems to slow down (dude is 73 and is in the office from 6 a.m. to 7p.m. every day). He is resistant to damage. And what group does He-Man belong to, again? That’s right: The Masters of the Universe. But now we’re wondering: Does this make Rupert Murdoch Skeletor?
World According to Alan Patricof [Portfolio]
in other news
Stayin’ Alive: Alan Patricof
Every so often you read a profile of an old person that seems like an obituary, even though the person is not yet dead. Such is the case with Fortune’s piece on 70-year-old venture capitalist (and early, not-so-dearly departed New York Magazine investor) Alan Patricof. This is not necessarily the fault of the author, Oliver Ryan. Patricof has been around so long that every story about him in the past twenty years has seemed like an obituary. Ryan uses Patricof’s new “web 2.0 life” — his second (third? fourth?) coming as an digital-media investor with Greycroft Partners — as a starting point for rattling off a laundry list of accomplishments: his co-founding of private-equity group Apax Partners, his fund-raising for the Clintons, yar yar yar. Ryan even calls him “the man who owns the Internet” and a “mobile maestro” — which is funny because Patricof’s ignorance of the Internet was at one point rather funnily documented. The whole thing is interspersed with testimonials from various celebrity friends that would sound like eulogies if they were in the past tense.