company town

Washington ‘Post’ to Other Papers: Don’t Ditch D.C.!

MEDIA
• Okay, it’s official: The Beijing Olympics were the most-watched event in television history. During the sixteen days of coverage, 211 million viewers tuned into the games. [New Republic]
• But now that the Olympics are over, there’s another competition looming: the race for the networks to score viewers as the presidential heat moves into the home stretch. [NYT]
• Newspapers shuttering their Washington bureaus spells bad news for democracy, says a recently fired political reporter from Portland, Maine’s Press Herald. [WP]

FINANCE
• Want your in-laws to stop harassing you? Organize a sting and get them arrested. That’s what one of Blackstone’s top executives, David Blitzer, did. He worked with authorities to nail his 71-year-old father-in-law, who has allegedly been trying to wring $11 million from the private-equity veteran. [WSJ]
• Financial analysts are having trouble reading their crystal balls: Last quarter, accuracy in predicting U.S. profits dropped to the lowest level in at least sixteen years. “They’re winging it,” says one investment officer. [IHT]
• Citigroup is reorganizing its internal ranks — again. This time, it’s in the capital-markets group. [NYT]

REAL ESTATE
• The new $2 billion, 43-story Goldman Sachs headquarters has been quietly growing in lower Manhattan. The tower, which will be filled by the firm’s 11,000 employees next year, won’t have any Goldman signage. Instead, it will be called “Blankfein’s Bunker.” Just kidding! The building is just dubbed 200 West Street. [NYT]
• Corcoran’s 21-year-old wonder-broker, Jared Seligman, who counts a young crop of boldface names as his clients (Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen, DJ AM, Tommy Hilfiger’s daughter), is a force to be reckoned with. Last year he sold $40 million worth of real estate. [Real Deal]
• Varick Street will be home to Manhattan’s first winery. [NYP]

LAW
• Joe Biden’s Yale Law–educated son Hunter, who had a consulting contract with MBNA while his dad was fighting for legislation favorable to the company, might be a problem for the Obama campaign. [NYT]
• Meanwhile, should lawyers be happy with Barack Obama’s V.P. pick? While Joe
Biden has many legal pluses, he also might have a Dickie Scruggs connection. [Above the Law, WSJ]
• Wait, legal eagles have a sense of humor? A former Skadden associate and partner team up to create the Bitter Lawyer Webisodes. [Bitter Lawyer]

Washington ‘Post’ to Other Papers: Don’t Ditch D.C.!