The man calling the shots at the new New York Times, Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, is celebrating his birthday today: He's 70. (Let's hope Arthur Sulzberger Jr. didn't forget to send a gift.) French president Nicolas Sarkozy is turning 55. Elijah Wood turns 29 today. Sarah McLachlan is 42. Alan Alda is turning 74. Writer/comedian Mo Rocca is 41. Liberal radio host Randi Rhodes is 51. Rick Warren, the controversial pastor and self-help author, is turning 56. The rapper Rakim turns 42. Former 'N Sync member Joey Fatone is 33. And former Backstreet Boy Nick Carter turns 30 today.

• Rumor has it Richard Branson may be interested in buying Playboy. [ChiTrib]
• Two Boston Globe unions have agreed to concessions with the NYT Co. [E&P]
• Why did the Times pick Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim to invest in the paper instead of David Geffen? It seems publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. was "worried about Geffen's ambition to take over the company." [AllThingsD]
• Mayor Bloomberg plans to introduce legislation in Albany to extend the city's popular—but broke—film/TV tax credit program. [THR]
• Tom McGeveran has been named interim editor of the New York Observer. He'll take over for Peter Kaplan, whose last day will be this Friday. [NYO]

Hello, Pink Lady! David Geffen, the wealthy friend of Dorothy, wants to buy the New York Times. Fantastic news for the paper's gay mafia.

Who's the most popular guy in the midst of the worst economic crisis in decades? Why, none other than Nouriel Roubini, New York University's own Dr. Doom. He just got back from a world tour.

Is the New York Times going under? Company officials have scoffed at the suggestion. The moneymen who just gave it a much-needed cash infusion are betting on it.

A debt-strapped New York Times has managed to mortgage its shiny new headquarters for a quick cash infusion of $225 million. But at what cost? Some quick Excel work gives us an ugly answer:

Bon anniversaire, monsieur le président! France's Nicolas Sarkozy turns 54 today. The most popular man at the New York Times, Mexican billionaire—and NYT investor—Carlos Slim Helú, is 69. Elijah Wood is 28. Actor Alan Alda is 73. Comedian Mo Rocca is turning 40. Nick Carter is turning 29. Sarah McLachlan is 41. Joey Fatone is 32. The rapper Rakim is 41. And power-hungry, homophobic pastor Rick Warren is celebrating 55 years on God's green earth today.

• Reed Business has cut staff across its numerous publications. [NYT, THR, FB]
• Carlos Slim Helu's loan to The New York Times Co. is "an ominous move" by a "capitalist with loyalties to a foreign state," says the Seattle Times. [E&P]
• Pastor Rick Warren is launching a magazine. [WSJ]
• More on Conde Nast's new web strategy. [NYP]
• Meet the Huffington Post's new cast of celebrity bloggers. [Jossip]
• The Senate has voted to delay the transition to digital TV until June 12. [BN]

• Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helù has pumped $250 million into the beleaguered New York Times Co. [NYT]
• Newsday's editor-in-chief and managing editor have been absent from the office the past few days and it's still unclear what exactly happened. [NYP]
• Matt Cooper has joined Talking Points Memo as editor-at-large. [Politico]
• For the first time, movie ads will appear during this year's Oscars. [AdAge]
• NBC says 90 percent of its Super Bowl ads have been sold. [AP]
• Jennifer Aniston on the cover of Vogue in December and GQ in January provided a nice boost to both titles. [WWD]

The writers here at Valleywag have to move fast. So when Carlos Slim Helú invests in the New York Times we just went with the headline that popped in our heads. Today's featured commenter, Migrant Blogger, did a good job at filling in our shoes:

Carlos Slim Helú, the Mexican telecom mogul, is worth about $60 billion, most of which he's built since 2003. That puts him right behind Warren Buffett and just ahead of Bill Gates. He's just acquired a 6.4 percent stake in the New York Times Co., whose stock has dropped 20 percent this year. Slim's initial fortune came from Mexico's privatization of national landline operator Teléfonos de México, or Telmex.Critics say that he milked Telmex's monopoly for cash instead of putting the billions into Mexico's telecom infrastructure. As an occasional New York Times contributor, I dread his arrival for the a much more petty reason: Every drunk entrepreneur whose world-changing wireless startup doesn't get blogged in Bits will blather to me that Slim had the story spiked. (Photo by AP/Miguel Tovar)

• Lehman CEO Dick Fuld's announcement yesterday about the firm's new strategic direction hasn't changed much, say analysts, and questions about Lehman's ability to weather the storm continue to loom. [NYT, WSJ, FT, NYP]