If you were wondering what was going on this morning when you read the New York Times wonderboy Andrew Ross Sorkin's column on Steven Rattner, who slept with some guy's wife and was forced to quit his job as a managing director of Credit Suisse after the cuckolded husband launched an smear campaign against him years after the fact--well, you weren't alone.
What's this story doing in the Times?
Toward the end of the column, Sorkin explains that he isn't just writing about an affair, a jilted lover or a once rising Wall Street star's fall to earth. "But this isn't about a man who made a mistake and had an affair," he writes after telling the story of a man who made a mistake and had an affair. "It is a story about a man who said he was helpless against the destruction that can be wrought by aggressive campaigns on the Internet."
In other words, it's about Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, the free flow of information in the age of the internet, and, of course, about rumor mongering. Larry Ribstein cuts to the heart of the matter in his reading of the column.
So now it seems Sorkin is switching gears, pulling a technique out of his colleague Gretchen Morgenson's toolbox - that is, find a practice you don't like, and then find an anecdote that has little to do with the general issue (Wall Street rumor-mongering getting an adulterer fired) that you can use to tar the practitioners you're fighting against.
Ribstein goes on to speculate about why Sorkin may be so worried about rumor-mongers.
Moreover, it's hard to miss Sorkin's motive here. Sorkin needs to be the one to break stories - that's what he gets paid the big bucks for. So he's in direct competition with other sources of information, particularly including Dealbreaker. This relates to the public choice argument about insider trading regulation - that it's all about interest groups competing for information.
Gawker's Ryan Tate points out the irony of Sorkin using the story of Rattner to illustrate the fragility of reputations. "His column, in the end, is what made [ex-husband] Cosgrove's revenge complete, humiliating Rattner not in the sewers of the internet but from a distinguished platform on his home turf," Tate writes.
In fairness to Sorkin, it is nothing short of amazing that he got Rattner to speak to him on this story. We're straight up jealous over that bit of reporting triumph.
Posted by guest , Aug 05, 2008 1:09PM
this has to really make your day
Posted by guest , Aug 05, 2008 1:14PM
Can we still discuss his moist, dewey eyes and his puppy dog face, or will Sorkin find it coming close to destructive internet behavior? The NYT is the last media organ to be throwing stones at anyone.
Posted by BSD , Aug 05, 2008 1:16PM
The most ironic thing to me in all of this is that ARS tries to hard to make a guy who cheated on his wife with another married woman an innocent victim of rumor-mongering and does his best to make the husband look like a complete loony (with some success in that regard, however).
Let's just get this straight - if you cheat on your wife you're breaching a contract with her and you deserve everything that's coming to you. Although adultery isn't persecuted in NYC (technically it is a crime, I believe) it still shows a great deal about one's character.
You make your choices, you better be ready for the consequences and the fallout, as all the bulge banks are just finding out. Really all that ARS has done is prove himself a tool and a fool.
Posted by guest , Aug 05, 2008 1:19PM
BSD only if you consider violating the 7th (and in this case also 10th) commandment a crime.
Posted by guest , Aug 05, 2008 1:21PM
A guy like Rattner had it coming and more. Hell, he's lucky he is alive. Scumbag.
Posted by guest , Aug 05, 2008 1:21PM
Without this column, I never would have known that Rattner had an affair and really did leave CS for the good of his family.Sorkin didn't have to give us a moral lesson,but hey, he just couldn't help himself.
Posted by guest , Aug 05, 2008 1:21PM
Section 255.17 of the NY state penal code: “A person is guilty of adultery when he engages in sexual intercourse with another person at a time when he has a living spouse, or the other person has a living spouse. Adultery is a class B misdemeanor.”
Posted by guest , Aug 05, 2008 1:21PM
i'd like to hear what bess thinks.
Posted by guest , Aug 05, 2008 1:28PM
"But this isn’t about a man who made a mistake and had an affair. It is a story about a man who said he was helpless against the destruction that can be wrought by aggressive campaigns on the Internet."
bleeeeccccht! what blige!
WTF #1-aussie hussie was "escorting" in london while aussie hubbie faithfully/happily married to her in australia?
how does it work out that the wife commutes 10,500 mile to work in the world's oldest profession?
WTF #2-"Mr. Rattner, too, recognized the dilemma DLJ Merchant Banking was facing because of Mr. Cosgrove’s vendetta, and the personal toll it was taking on Mr. Rattner’s family. Mr. Rattner said it was “more important to spend time with my family” than '100 nights a year away from them traveling.'”
wasn't it implied in that tale that S.R., the Lesser, was a serial pretty womaniser?
Posted by guest , Aug 05, 2008 1:29PM
Here, here #8, Bess?
Posted by Anal_yst , Aug 05, 2008 1:31PM
Some guy posted this in a comment a few weeks/months back. So some australian guy married a hooker and is pissed to find out that she's off banging other dudes?
Oh, if only he could see how small a violin I am playing for him right now...
Posted by guest , Aug 05, 2008 1:35PM
Rules of infidelity-
#1- Deny till you die.
Not until you get sick of her, not until you break up, not until she hears a confession from the other party. Forever. This cannot be stressed enough.
#2- No traceable communication.
Producing irefutable evidence is inexcusable. No interceptable emails. Call logs, etc. Be creative.
#3- No one else needs to know.
This maybe the hardest rule to follow. Human pyschology produces such a strong urge to confess our misdeeds that it's almost inescapable. But just shut the fuck up about it. If someone you would normally confide in accuses you please see rule #1.
Posted by guest , Aug 05, 2008 1:37PM
agreed with 8 and 10.
Posted by guest , Aug 05, 2008 1:42PM
Love the rules #12.
Posted by guest , Aug 05, 2008 1:45PM
@6 -- venue? jurisdiction? to whom does this apply?
Posted by guest , Aug 05, 2008 1:47PM
@7 -- Sorry, comment 15 was supposed to be directed at you.
Posted by BSD , Aug 05, 2008 1:51PM
Anal_yst, I don't think that's the point. ARS is playing his violin for the guy who fucked the aussie whore and now lost his job as a result of the whore's hubby hounding him.
Posted by guest , Aug 05, 2008 1:57PM
I didn't feel the story was over the line for the NYT/ARS. As Rattner says, “the damage is done. Everyone has heard.”
Posted by guest , Aug 05, 2008 2:02PM
Its a pretty poor situation.
Does the DB readership think that Cosgrove's revenge is justified?
Should he have asked Rattner privately to 'make things right' somehow?
Or should he have sued Rattner in open court (for 'alienation of marital affection' or somesuch)?
Posted by Investorcluzo , Aug 05, 2008 2:03PM
off topic: let's take a moment here to discuss the chinese cosmo spread on melissa lee - you have to get through the first two minutes, but well worth it:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=813443051&play=1
it's amazing what a good photog can do for a woman...
Posted by guest , Aug 05, 2008 2:06PM
uh..so lemme get this straight: he was married, she was married, they had an affair...so....why is SHE the one everyone is calling a whore?? the guy had a wife and kids and he's off the hook here? c'mon people - he is no better than she is!
Posted by guest , Aug 05, 2008 2:12PM
^^ she was an escort...loved mayo
Posted by Bess Levin , Aug 05, 2008 2:15PM
@18-- it wasn't over the line, it was just stupid. Rattner was a tool for cheating on his wife but infidelities aren't news and there's no argument to be made that the affair had an effect on the quality of Rattner's work at Credit Suisse like, say, Cayne's bridge habit did at Bear. The only takeaway here: don't fuck a crazy man's wife, which has always been a good dictum to remember when carrying on your affairs, even before* the "dangerous Internet" came along, though more so now, since Tumblr and anonymous message boards Obviously make it much easier to attack people who you feel are deserving.
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_I_Did_It
Posted by girl , Aug 05, 2008 2:18PM
This is truly a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing
Posted by Anal_yst , Aug 05, 2008 2:21PM
amen Bess + Girl
Posted by BlackSwan06 , Aug 05, 2008 2:28PM
T Cosgrove needs a Pez dispenser chock full of Xanax...
Posted by Investorcluzo , Aug 05, 2008 2:35PM
rattner made plenty of money, he doesn't need this nonsense. for those who worked at dlj, they know that this "dalliance" was just one fly on the elephant...read monkey business, while the names were changed - the stories were true. the wall street of old has been forever changed (mostly for the good) by quick to fire compliance departments (unfortunately, the reflex often comes before any real thought). the only ones to feel sorry for are the kids.
Posted by HAM05 , Aug 05, 2008 2:38PM
bess needs to merge with girl in order for my boner to survive
Posted by NotNasser , Aug 05, 2008 2:39PM
Agree with numbers 12 and 14.
Posted by guest , Aug 05, 2008 2:41PM
waiting for ARS's rebuttal.
Posted by guest , Aug 05, 2008 2:41PM
waiting for ARS's rebuttal.
Posted by guest , Aug 05, 2008 2:44PM
waiting for ARS's rebuttal.
Posted by guest , Aug 05, 2008 2:45PM
waiting for ARS's rebuttal.
Posted by guest , Aug 05, 2008 2:48PM
waiting for ARS's rebuttal.
Posted by guest , Aug 05, 2008 2:49PM
Posted by guest, Aug 05, 2008 2:41PM
waiting for ARS's rebuttal.
Posted by guest , Aug 05, 2008 2:52PM
wait, is this the steve rattner of the quadrangle group?
Posted by guest , Aug 05, 2008 2:52PM
wait, is this the steve rattner of the quadrangle group?
Posted by guest , Aug 05, 2008 2:52PM
wait, is this the steve rattner of the quadrangle group?
Posted by Investorcluzo , Aug 05, 2008 2:57PM
guests #30 and #36 need to merge...out of existence. c'mon, did you find reading the little note to the left that difficult or did you choose to ignore the message in hopes that it would be "different" this time?
Posted by guest , Aug 05, 2008 3:04PM
Hey Bess, #18 here:
"infidelities aren't news"
- But Rattner did get fired from CSFB over this one, that's the news hook.
Dealbreaker loves to carry on about "Crab Hands'" birthday parties and any number of other Wall St figures' indiscretions. I'm surprised you disapprove of the Rattner piece. Its something that I wouldn't have been surprised to see on DB (with a different tone, of course). Am I wrong? Or is it that you think ARS was too lenient/biased towards Rattner?
On a related note, do you think that the NYT's dealbook should be held to a higher standard than Dealbreaker?
Posted by Anal_yst , Aug 05, 2008 3:30PM
@ BlackSwan
Where can I get such a pez dispenser prey tell?
Posted by trojan , Aug 05, 2008 6:01PM
Dingo ate my wife!
Posted by guest , Aug 06, 2008 12:30AM
On what planet was Sorkin's story not newsworthy? Your jealousy is pathetic.
Posted by guest , Aug 06, 2008 3:56AM
hes a simple simon muthafuka for getting caught....
Posted by BlackSwan06 , Aug 06, 2008 10:31AM
@Anal_yst - I got mine from Mary Kate Olsen, but don't tell anyone...