Manhattan Rents Finally DroppingCerberus’ founder goes on the record, Richard Butler goes free, and Bloomberg strong-arms Wal-Mart in today’s news roundup.
company town
Morgy Says, ‘I’m Too Old to Retire!’LAW
• Robert Morgenthau called a press conference in response to a “Page Six” item about him stepping down after 33 years: “I’m too old to retire.” The man is 88! [NYT]
• Big-time Mayer Brown partner Joseph Collins, who maintains offices in both New York and Chicago, has been indicted for fraud in the Refco case. [Above the Law]
• Which court is the worst “judicial hellhole” in the country? [Law Blog/WSJ]
company town
GE Still Hearts NBC … For NowMEDIA
• General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt said he’d postpone any decision on selling NBC until after the 2008 Olympics. Let’s just hope 30 Rock and Friday Night Lights last that long. [FT]
• Doris Lessing beat out Philip Roth, who was rumored as a top candidate, for this year’s Nobel Prize in literature. It probably helps that Lessing’s most recent novel doesn’t involve an old geezer fucking a “luckless goy chick” in the face. [NYT, Hitchens/Atlantic]
• FSG dominated this year’s National Book Award finalists, with five out of ten in fiction and nonfiction coming from the tweedy publisher’s lists. [NYT]
company town
Let Them Read BooksFINANCE
• At a New York Public Library fund-raiser held in his honor, Steve Schwarzman said the place did amazing things for “regular people.” [Deal Journal/WSJ]
• Former Bank of America CFO Alvaro de Molina is the latest big name to join Cerberus. When asked about his title, he said: “It’s Al. That’s not the way they work.” [Deal Journal/WSJ]
• A field guide to summer finance interns for creepy older guys. [Leveraged Sell-out via DealBreaker]
company town
Wall Street Suffering Butler ShortageFINANCE
• The Dutch-based International Butler Academy may open a New York training center to supply hedge-fund managers with personal valets. [NYP]
• A Cerberus managing director admits the firm has a horrible name but says it’s too late to change it. [NYT]
• Activist fund managers are known on the Street to be bullies. But who’s the meanest of them all? Vote now. [DealBreaker]
