FINANCE
• Courtenay Semel’s dad, Terry, is out at Yahoo. And Microsoft’s $44.6 billion bid for the company might just be déjà vu. [NYT, Deal Journal/WSJ]
• Recession-has-already-started watch: The economy lost 17,000 jobs in January, the first time since the lovely tech-crash days of 2003 that total payrolls have shrunk. [Reuters via NYT]
• One of the few lucky bankers with a bonus burning a hole in your pocket? Try London restaurant Vivat Bacchus’ new “Bonus Tasting Menu” for a mere £1,000. [DealBook/NYT]
MEDIA
• No one knows how to pander like Rupert Murdoch. A new book by former News Corp exec Bruc Dover alleges the media baron wrote a personal letter to China’s top leaders in 1997 groveling for forgiveness after he had previously said satellite TV “proved an unambiguous threat to totalitarian regimes.” [FT]
• The government subpoenaed Times reporter James Risen to force him to reveal the source for an important chapter in his book on the CIA. Risen’s lawyers: “Jim has adhered to the highest traditions of journalism. He is the highest caliber of reporter that you can find, and he will keep his commitment to the confidentiality of his sources.” [NYT]
• Fair and balanced Karl Rove joins Fox News! [Insider Cable News]
LAW
• There’s at least one more group of New Yorkers rallying around Rudy: his law firm. [NYT]
• What not to say to a New Yorker reporter when you’re in the middle of presiding over a murder case: “[Insanity’s] their only defense … because everyone in the world knows he did it.” [Law Blog/WSJ]
• Junior firm McKee Nelson may have played the biggest role, relative to its size, of any firm in the mortgage mess. [NYT]
FASHION
• Um, Fashion Week is starting. Why are you at your computer and not at the tents? Also beginning today: New York’s fashion blog, The Cut. [NYM Fashion]
• Jenna and Laura Bush were shopping on Seventh Avenue, and may have stopped by Oscar de la Renta. [WWD]
• Anna Wintour stopped by (and enjoyed) André “3000” Benjamin’s collection! [The Cut]
