Donna Karan no longer controls the company that bears her name: LVMH purchased the company in 2001 for $643 million, leaving her with an estimated $400 million fortune. She remains the company's creative director, of course, but she also keeps busy with philanthropic work. Last year the Queens-born designer shelled out $2.7 to various causes, including the $1 million to the Spirituality for Kids Foundation, which teaches Kabbalah to kids in schools. (Naturally, Madonna's also a big donor.) A fan of all sorts of new-age fads (she's expressed her fondness for "therapeutic screaming" and past life regressions in the past), Karan also has a soft spot for Tibet. Her Karan Weiss Foundation (which reflects the name of her late husband) contributed $200,000 to The Norbulingka Institute, which is dedicated to preserving Tibetan culture, and $20,000 to the International Tibetan Medical Association. The entire list—including her token $1,000 contribution to Bill Clinton's Global Initiative and the $59,000 she gave to pal Russell Simmons' foundation—after the jump.

• Grammy-nominated singer KT Tunstall paid $1.575 million for a sixth-floor apartment at 525 East 11th Street. The two-bedroom, two-floor condo also includes a 561-square-foot terrace. [Cityfile]
  

You know all those Wall Street types whose careers have been completely wrecked by the recession, who have been laid off and whose prospects for getting another job in their field aren't that great? Even allowing for a touch of schadenfreude, it seems like a pretty crappy position to be in, right? Maybe not! For twenty-something guys at least, losing a banking gig has meant a summer of fun and frolics, says the Observer—so much so that some are actually volunteering to be laid off, in order to enjoy the lifestyle afforded by generous severance packages and $405 a week in unemployment benefits, which Bush extended by thirteen weeks.

A company called In the Know Experiences promises they can get you into any event during Fashion Week. They buy you in, of course, a process that probably involves shoving wads of cash in the faces of young, underpaid publicists. At least now you'll know what's going on when you find yourself seated next a middle-aged mogul from Kazakhstan! [Radar]

What do you do if you're Martha Stewart and you're having dinner at Morandi and you just happen to spot designer Thom Browne walking down the street? You invite him to sit down have a few drinks, naturally. And, naturally, he immediately accepts. Then you take lots of photos of him so you have something to post on your blog! [Martha Stewart]

Fashion designer Tom Ford—he of "perfect stubble, manicured nails, and not an ounce of fat"—turns 47 today. Other less glamorous folks also celebrating today: Vanity Fair columnist Michael Wolff is turning 55. New School president (and former U.S. senator) Bob Kerrey is 65. Goldman Sachs co-president Gary Cohn is 48. Actress Sarah Chalke of Scrubs fame is 32. Pee-wee Herman (aka Paul Reubens) is 56. Disgraced telecom exec Bernie Ebbers will be celebrating his 67th behind bars. Pop star Mario is 22. The rapper Mase is 30. And Olympic skier Jonny Moseley turns 33.

• Michael Lohan is is convinced his daughter is drinking again, and that Lindsay's relationship with Samantha Ronson is to blame. In other Lohan family news, Samantha may be writing a book about her relationship with Lindsay—whose 48-year-old father recently popped the question to his 24-year-old girlfriend, Erin Muller. [MSNBC, E!, OK]

Did you skip Hillary Clinton's big speech at the DNC last night? Here's the full transcript, a few video clips of her performance, and a good analysis of what went down.

• Temasek, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, has "great confidence" in Merrill CEO John Thain. [Bloomberg]

CNN isn't the only news network with its own temporary restaurant set up for the Democratic National Convention. But it is the only one with a menu certified by Danny Meyer. The dining impresario's Union Square Hospitality was tapped by the marketing agency Civic Entertainment Group to craft the menu for the "CNN Grill." Don't expect to see Meyer in person—he's in Italy at the moment, although he dispatched his deputy Richard Coraine to stand in for him and says he plans to make it to the Republican convention himself. And don't expect any fireworks from the menu of pub grub. After the jump, Danny and chef Michael Romano's official menu, including "CNN fries" and a tuna salad sandwich.

• Albert Hammond Jr. is coming out with a men's clothing line, news that shouldn't surprise anybody. [NYM]

Diddy's new fragrance for women is called "I Am King." In case you're wondering, Combs also "plans to roll out I Am Queen, too, though I Am Princess is not slated." [NYT/The Moment]

• More detail on Zak Pelaccio's upcoming projects, including the Fatty Crab on the Upper West Side and the Southeast Asian restaurant in Williamsburg called Fatty 'Cue. [Metromix]

Janice Dickinson getting out of an SUV (left) in front of the Today Show studios ... Tom Cruise boarding a helicopter with Suri on his hip ... Adrian Grenier and the rest of the Entourage cast filming scenes in Queens ... Ethan Hawke taking his newborn baby and dog out for a walk ... Blake Lively walking through Brooklyn with her dog Penny ... Carmen Electra going into the MTV studios in Times Square ... Whitney Port kissing an (unknown) dude on a downtown sidewalk ... Solange Knowles posing for the cameras outside the David Letterman show ... an attention-seeking Kim Kardashian walking through Midtown with a bandaged toe ... Daniel Radcliffe listening to his iPod on a walk through Midtown ... and Vanessa Minnillo on her way to dinner.

• NBC is leading the ratings with its coverage of the DNC. [TVDecoder]

Who's that sleeping man, you ask? Why it's Mark Kingdon, founder of the $6 billion hedge fund Kingdon Capital Management, who took home $200 million in pay last year according to Alpha magazine. Kingdon has a rep for his philanthropic work (unlike many of his peers), but you'll be happy to hear that he's spending some of his riches, too. Kingdon, wife Anla, and their two kids Jessica and Jason just got back from a family vacation to Beijing for the Olympics. From the looks of it, it was a rather exhausting vacation for the demi-billionaire and his wife. But just look at the culinary delights they had the opportunity to feast on. Bet you Phil Falcone and Dan Loeb didn't eat that dish for dinner last week! The Kingdon family vacation after the jump.

No, it's not a Legoland exhibit, it's a 114-foot yacht designed by Jeff Koons and owned by Greek mogul/art collector Dakis Joannou. The Guilty's (yes, that's the name) headache-inducing color scheme and pattern are sure to counteract the tranquil effects of bobbing around on the ocean, but who cares when you can broadcast that your yacht cost so much more than anyone else's? [HighSnobiety]

Greta Van Susteren isn't exactly known for her superstar celebrity guests, and God knows that with 15,000 journalists covering the Democratic convention, the competition for big-name guests is fierce. But that still doesn't quite account for why the Scientology-lovin' Fox News host didn't, say, pull some strings with Kirstie Alley or Lisa Marie Presley and decided to sit down with Wyclef Jean instead. Fortunately, Greta starts off with the obvious question: What's Wyclef doing in Denver? Unfortunately, it was a question that seemed to stump Wyclef. ("I think it's a historical time in history.") But presumably that was a better response than telling Greta that he's there to represent "Vote or Die!" since Diddy was too busy to attend. Video below!

A bit more news today about yet another (over)hyped boutique hotel expected to land in New York in the near future. Ace Hotels, the West Coast-based chain of hotels for "urban nomads," will be opening a NYC outpost on 29th and Broadway (the former home of the Hotel Breslin and an SRO) in February 2009. The hotel will feature a restaurant by Ken Friedman and a Stumptown coffee shop. No photos of anything just yet; pretty sketches will have to suffice for now. [Curbed, HC]

Here's a good sign the world is coming to an end: Edwina Rogers, the wife of lobbyist Ed Rogers, has a "wrapping room" in her 18,000-square-foot Washington manse (dubbed the "Republican Shangri-La) where she wraps her gifts in dollar bills. As in cash money that she picks up in huge sheets from the Bureau of Engraving. "The effect is fabulous, especially for foreigners. They love it," she tells the host of the show. (It's a pilot for NBC Universal, apparently.) Foreigners? As in poor people in third-world countries who are thrilled that the wrapping paper will permit them to eat for six months? Or Russian oligarchs and Saudi princes who'd paper their walls with U.S. currency if only it was colored gold, not green? Stupid question: Edwina is a big backer of John McCain. [WSJ/Wealth Report]