The Obama and McCain campaigns have released lists of their biggest bundlers, the 98 people who have helped raise more than $500,000 for the two presidential candidates so far. There are nearly 20 residents of the tristate region on the list, although McCain has a significant local advantage—12 people versus Obama's four. See the names and details for yourself after the jump.
This week's issue of Newsweek features a profile of Steve Rattner, the financier who may have earned plenty of success in the world of high finance (No. 2 at Lazard, founder of the Quadrangle Group, money manager for Mike Bloomberg), but has thus far been unable to land his dream job: running a top Wall Street bank or a Washington cabinet position. (He's 0 for 3, having backed Gore, Kerry and Hillary Clinton.) Even Henry Kravis takes a subtle dig at the journalist-turned-banker: "Ask the average guy if he knows or has heard of Bob [Rubin], chances are he has. But not Rattner." Oh, cheer up, Steve! You're still the only former Times reporter in history who ever got to stamp his initials on a $20 million jet.
Henry Kravis announced this week that his private equity powerhouse, KKR, plans to go public by the end of the year, a move that will probably end up making him substantially richer than he already is. (He was worth $5.5 billion in 2007, according to Forbes.) What does Henry do with his riches? He buys expensive homes for one thing, like the manse in Palm Beach he purchased in 2006 for $50 million (and which didn't even come with an oceanfront view). No, modesty and humility has never Kravis' strong suit. This is, after all, a man who once lived in a house where his chef could pipe the smell of freshly-baked croissants and coffee into the guestrooms to gently wake them up in the morning. (Sure beats that Dream Machine clock-radio you've been using for the past decade!) But Kravis also directs a fair amount of cash to charity with his third wife, Marie-Josee. In 2006, the couple handed out $5.9 million to a long list of art, culture, and educational institutions. The David Saltzman-led Robin Hood Foundation took home $1 million, as did Rockefeller University. The smallest contribution? The $200 the Kravises gave to Project Angel Food, which feeds people homebound by HIV/AIDS. The full list of donations by the Marie-Josee and Henry R. Kravis Foundation after the jump.
A couple of weeks ago, the Columbia Journalism Review pointed out that the Wall Street Journal had updated some of its stipple portraits (or "hedcuts"), replacing the portraits of cheery-looking banking moguls (like Citi CEO Vikram Pandit) with more somber-looking ones. It isn't clear if the Journal took it upon itself to update the illustrations or if publicists had been the ones pushing for the change, but the switch made some sense: When you're announcing billions in losses and shedding employees daily, do you really want to be beaming on C1? Yesterday, Henry Kravis's visage (left) graced the Journal following the news that Kravis's private equity giant, KKR, would go public. We've already gone to the trouble of wiping the smile off Kravis's face for when KKR follows in the footsteps of Steve Schwarzman's Blackstone Group and takes an ugly tumble. (We also gave Henry slightly plumper lips. You're welcome.) After the jump, test your skillz by identifying a few (appropriately serious-looking) people who have made Journal appearances in recent years.
Congratulations, Donald! You finally closed on the sale of your Palm Beach manse! We hope you get a chance to have a glass of champagne with the man who will be its new occupant, Russian fertilizer kingpin Dmitry Rybolovlev. We don't know if Dmitry speaks any English, but you'll undoubtedly be capable of bonding over your shared love of all things gold and shiny. Oh, and nice work describing it as a $100 million sale even though you actually sold it for $95 million. You always remember to round up! Remember how you used to insist there were 68 floors in the Trump Tower, even though we all knew there were actually only 58 stories, and you'd simply skipped ten floors to make the building seem taller than it actually is? Yea, it was kind of like that. Good work.
Ever wonder why the CEO at your company has a $10,000 telescope parked in the corner of his office? It's not to admire the birds. Or even to peek at the woman in the neighboring office building who changes her blouse at precisely half past five. It's to look in the offices of other CEOs, obviously.
It won't be quite as cheery as usual at Herb Allen's annual media mogul retreat, which kicks off today in Sun Valley. This time last year, the credit crisis was but a blip on the radar. Oh, how things have changed over the past twelve months. Without the billions on hand to close big deals, the economic downturn has made life pretty depressing for the master-of-the-universe set. But gather they will— the tennis and hiking must go on, damnit—and aside from the handful of players who were dropped from the invite list on account of their declining influence, all the media big shots are expected. Among those who will be cruising in on their company-owned jets: Rupert Murdoch (along with son Lachlan), Warren Buffett, Viacom chief Philippe Dauman, Les Moonves, Howard Stringer, Edgar Bronfman Jr., Jeff Bewkes and Dick Parsons of Time Warner, NBC's Jeff Zucker, Universal's Ron Meyer, Paramount chief Brad Grey, and Disney's Bob Iger.
Further evidence it's an election year: One of the biggest unions in the country, Service Employees International Union (or S.E.I.U.) is teaming up with MoveOn.org and Amnesty International to expand its campaign against private equity firms. (This is the same group, as you may recall, that staged protests outside the homes of KKR's Henry Kravis and Carlyle Group's David Rubenstein last year.) They've even roped in comedian Lewis Black, who's now appearing in commercials to rail against buyout firms for downsizing companies, taking on too much debt, and treating employees like numbers on a spreadsheet. Cute! Kinds of sounds like Viacom, the company that signs Black's paycheck, too!
Last night was the social event of the year for the finance community: It was the annual gala of the Robin Hood Foundation, the poverty-battling non-profit backed by banking heavyweights. The usual suspects from the worlds of hedge funds and private equity were in attendance, as were a smattering of celebs too classy for the Sex and the City premiere, including Jay-Z, Conan O'Brien, Russell Simmons, Tom Brokaw, David Byrne, and Cindy Sherman. Performances by Shakira, Sheryl Crow, and John Legend had noted hoofers like Henry Kravis, Steve Cohen, and Art Samberg tapping their feet underneath their tables.
