George Soros: You Ain’t Seen Nothing YetPublishing musical chairs, bad news on the economy front, and gripes about law-school rankings — all in our daily roundup.
The Twilight of the Boss
So George Steinbrenner is, apparently, off his rocker. The Post reports this news today, based on a profile in the upcoming issue of Portfolio that finds the Boss puttering around his Tampa home in pajamas and a robe, repeating “great to see ya” in response to nearly any question. (And Fortune, meantime, is reporting that YES, the team’s TV network and apparently the true cash cow of the operation, is up for sale — as might be the franchise, too.) This raises a series of questions. First, is it really different to have George crazy in this way rather than crazy in the old way? And if it is, is it possible that his current dementia is the cause of the team’s present woes, that they actually need a competent, meddling George to succeed? Also, what would a post-George Yankees even look like? And, finally, how the hell did Howard Rubenstein, who reps both the Yankees and the Post, ever let such a shitty piece about one client appear in another?
Tragic Madness of King George [NYP]
The Dismantling of the Yankee Empire [Fortune via CNN/Money]
in other news
The British Aren’t Coming, and Neither are the IPOs
The August issue of Fortune takes a panoramic look at the bloodless battle royale between New York and London. You know, kind of like we did in March. Except, being Fortune, it’s more concerned with the fiscal side of things: is there any truth to London’s progressively louder claims that it has overtaken us as the world’s financial capital? “The short answer is yes, in some ways,” writes Peter Gumbel, “but in other ways, not at all.” So helpful. Fortune’s best insight is into the IPO race between New York and London. London gets more IPOs because it’s more omnivorous and culturally open. London actively courts Middle Eastern and Russian investments and its stock exchange, reflecting that, is far more eager to list companies from those parts than the still somewhat isolationist NYSE/Nasdaq. Even so, Londoners are realistic about how far they can take this approach. “I don’t expect Goldman Sachs to close down in New York, and I don’t think properties in the Hamptons will plunge in price,” says the dean of the London School of Economics. Well, of course they won’t: with the pound worth $2.03, the damned Brits will snatch them up.
Related: Our valiant, doomed insurgence against Little Britain.
in other news
Fortune 500: New York City Can Kick South Korea’s AssThe 2007 Fortune 500 was released today, and the humble five boroughs — or at least two of them, Manhattan and Brooklyn — are home to 45 companies on the list. Ranked by revenue, our top two are Citigroup, at No. 8 ($146.7 billion), and American International Group, at No. 10 ($113 billion). Together, that gives New York City a GF500CP — that’s a gross Fortune 500 company product — of $1.361 trillion, someplace between the GDPs of Brazil and South Korea, according to the CIA’s World Fact Book. Oh, and the sole Brooklyn company? That’s Keyspan, coming in at No. 326 with revenue of nearly $7.2 billion. That’s a little better than the Bahamas’ GDP, but not as high as Malawi’s. Keep trying, Keyspan.
Fortune 500 New York Companies [Fortune via CNNMoney]
in other news
The Best Places to Work Are in New York, or So We’ll ArgueFortune magazine has come out with its “100 Best Companies to Work For” list (compiled yearly by the Great Place to Work Institute in San Francisco, surely a great place to work but probably ineligible for consideration). Unsurprisingly, Google debuts as the top dog. With all the recent chatter about the search giant’s new Manhattan office and its Cafeteria of Wonders, one would almost be forgiven for thinking of the G-Double-O-Gizzle as a hometown operation; alas, it’s still headquartered in Silicon Valley. Worry not, though — there’s a bona fide (quasi-)local in the top ten. Fortune’s No. 3 best place to work is Rochester-based Wegmans Food Markets, which is famous for doing the supermarket thing with a shocking twist: good service. Extending a similarly classy approach to its inner workings, the privately held company flies all new full-time employees to Rochester to meet with the Mr. Wegman. Plus, three additional members of the top ten aren’t New York–based but — like Google — list the Big Apple as one of their top markets: Container Store (No. 4), Whole Foods (No. 5), and Boston Consulting Group (No. 8). So we might not have one of the top-ten best companies within the five boroughs, but, hey, if you need a consultation on what kind of box to put your heirloom tomatoes in, you know where to go.
Top 10 Best Companies to Work For [CNNMoney]
