Some people are such founts of generosity that on their birthday, they think not of themselves and what they will receive, but rather of how they can brighten the days of others. Charles Gasparino is one such selfless, gallant human being. On this special day, January 28th, the 50th anniversary of his entrance into the world, Mr. Gasparino has chosen to present us with a priceless gift: the secrets of his success. Print them out, mark them up, use them to advance your own cause, or simply give thanks to the god of journalism for his magnanimous spirit. Read more »
birthdays
Yesterday afternoon we noted that in commemoration of its 150th anniversary, UBS had given out special edition watches to all of its employees. We’re not sure where the bank came up with the money to do so but it was a nice gesture nevertheless. Now we’ve been informed that free boat rides are also for the taking, assuming you can answer some simple geography questions correctly and reside in Switzerland, a condition we were unaware of until after scoring 100 percent without consulting any guides.
Why have there been multiple instances of guys dressed up as chickens descending on RBS’s Stamford trading floor, the most recent one being this past Friday? Read more »
Howard Stern Has A Dream That Involves Leon Black Asking Him Why, If He Hasn’t Been Drinking, Does His Breath Smell Like Beer?
By Bess Levin“Leon throws some good parties, because Leon’s worth like twenty gazillion, like twenty billion or something crazy, and for him, you know, a billion dollars is like ten dollars to us,” Mr. Stern said on his Monday show on SiriusXM Radio, following Black’s 60th birthday party in Southampton. Mr. Black sits on the company’s board…Mr. Black had his backyard transformed into a faux nightclub setting, constructing a wooden deck over his swimming pool and building a tent for Mr. John’s concert. After a buffet of crab cakes and steak, partygoers sat on couches with big puffy pillows. They watched Mr. Black’s four grown children deliver touching toasts to their father, including a poem by the youngest son. “Oh, I wish I was Leon Black’s child,” Mr. Stern said on Monday. [Dealbook]
As we mentioned two seconds ago, today is Tim Geithner’s birthday, and a big one at that. The Treasury Secretary turns 50, and on a day when he’s away from his family, being held against his will, watching the market drive off a cliff, a drop for which he’ll probably be blamed, this is what his staff got him: Read more »
That’s right, ladies, today we celebrate the moment Timothy Franz Geithner entered this world. And it’s not just any old birthday but the big 5-0, meaning we need to do something to make it special. Read more »
Just a quick programming note for those of you who failed to mark it down on your calendars: please be advised that tomorrow is George Soros’ birthday (his 81st to be exact). Read more »
As the Chairman of Citigroup, a position he’s held since February 2009, Dick Parsons sticks out a bit by comparison. Whereas Citi has at times been the world’s largest bloated, lumbering, diversified cathouse where, for a good while, nothing could go right, a highly flammable entity prone to one chaotic moment of shit hitting the fan after the next, that few wanted to get within 100 feet of Parsons is calm. Cool. “Flat-out smooth,” as BusinessWeek describes him (which is why he was hired to be the one to go make nice with Washington, according to Vikram Pandit). The magazine recently accompanied Dick to a jazz club where they got to know him a little better, on a personal level. Here’s what we’ve learned about DP:
* He thinks the city smoking ban sucks: “Michael E. Novogratz, a director of Fortress Investment Group, a New York hedge fund, gives Parsons a hug and presents him with a Montecristo cigar. Parsons looks pleased. “Oh man,” he says, “I wish we could light these up in here.”
* If you’ve lost ass-ton of money, he’s the guy you turn to for a pick-me-up: Novogratz and Parsons exchange condolences about the market, which is zig-zagging with the turmoil in the Middle East. “I lost more money this week than I did in any week in 2008,” Novogratz laments. Parsons tells him not to be so hard on himself. “Nobody knows what’s going on,” he says.
* Charm like this doesn’t need an undergraduate degree: He went to the University of Hawaii, where he partied more than he studied. After four years, he still needed six credits to get his diploma, but he discovered that if he aced his pre-law exams he could get into law school in New York state without a college degree. He did well on the test and was accepted to Albany Law School, where he graduated at the top of his class. Read more »
This week marks the 15th anniversary of Maria Bartiromo’s first broadcast live from the New York Stock Exchange. To commemorate the event, CNBC had MB ring the opening bell, join Mark Haines and Erin Burnett on floor during Squawk on the Street, and– I’m assuming though it’s not yet been confirmed– be launched out of a cannon in lieu of the closing bell. The network also asked Bartiromo to weigh in on these last fifteen years. In a long and storied career, in which so much has gone down– what has stuck out most in Maria’s mind? What does she remember? Well… Read more »
I’m not talking about the start of the World Cup, though this is as big if not bigger. Give up? You get one free pass for your ignorance but just one. You’d better whip open your Outlook and make sure to mark this a recurring event, ’cause this time next year there will be no reminders. It was on this day, 54 years ago, that a special someone came into the world. To his employees, it should come as no surprise, as his office has been celebrating his glorious “birth week” for the past five days (though this is the first one in which the staff will be forced to go through the motions of singing “Happy Birthday,” and– shhhh!– a former member of the team will be jumping out of a cake as part of his new gig in the erotic baking business). For those of you just finding out about it now, and freaking out about what to buy last minute for the man who has everything, freak out no longer– no gifts are necessary.
Because some people are such fonts of generosity that on their birthday, they think not of themselves and what they will receive, but rather how they can brighten the days of others. Birthday Boy is one of those people. On this special day, June 11, this selfless, gallant gentlemen, has gifted us all with an overflowing bounty of mirth.
As you may be aware, the common refrain among hedge fund starlings is “I want to be the next Steve Cohen.” Unfortunately, up to this point, Steve has kept the secrets to his success close to his SAC-emblazoned fleece vest. But as one gets older (though remains “a youthful-looking 29″)**, he begins to realize he want to leave a legacy. To that end, for the past year, our birthday boy has had a documentary film crew follow him around, obtaining footage of him on the job. The finished product will be released as a training video this fall, but today, as a present to all of you, a preview has been leaked. The first chapter focuses on how to effectively deal with people in business. Watch, and learn. Read more »
In 2007, birthday boy Stephen Schwarzman celebrated with a party that cost $1 trillion and included John Thain, Maria Bartiromo, Vernon Jordan, Bill Clinton, Rod Stewart and Patti LaBelle singing “Happy B’Day.” He’s scaled it back in the years since, preferring the simplicity of quiet celebrations at home, just him, wife Christine and the crabs. Sixty-three was set to be more of the same, with a quick bite to eat followed by a 7:30 showing of Valentine’s Day, the only trappings of diva-ness being SS’s plan to send a fleet of assistants several hours prior to rope off a couple of sections with caution tape to prevent the riff-raff from interrupting his viewing enjoyment. That was, until Haiti called. And when Haiti comes a’ knock’in, Steve Schwarzman answers. Rom-com, canceled. Dinner at the Sizzler, out. Lunch at home, in. Charity tennis match with John McEnroe et al, and the opportunity for Stephen “The Third Williams Sister” Schwarzman to help the earthquake victims while showing the “Adonis Effect” in action? So very in.
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You know what they say: You can’t choose your family, but you can choose your financial planner. Or something like that. One of the great things of being in charge of your money is choosing who (if anyone) will help you manage it. The choice isn’t always an easy one. How will you know that your planner is reputable and trustworthy?
These five red flags may be good indications of whether the financial planner sitting across from you is someone you should trust with your money. LearnVest Planning also provides an innovative 7-step program for your money where you work one-on-one with a financial planner. To see if this program is right for you, start with a free financial consultation.
1. She Isn’t Certified
“There are a lot of good planners out there who aren’t Certified Financial Panners™,” says Samantha Vient, CFP®, of LearnVest Planning Services. “However, CFPs® are required to adhere to the CFP® Board’s standards of professional conduct.We believe it’s always a good idea to work with someone who has the CFP® designation, which is issued after completing a CFP® Board-approved personal financial planning curriculum, passing a rigorous exam issued by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, meeting experience requirements and passing an ethics and background check.
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SoFi Answers the Call to Refinance Student Loans and Provides Unique Community Benefits
This is a guest post written by SoFi’s CEO, Mike Cagney.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE
Recently, there’s been a lot of talk amongst leaders in Washington about how to improve the painful process of repaying student loans. At SoFi, we feel your pain and work hard to offer more flexible, more affordable options for our borrowers. One idea that’s getting a lot of attention is increasing the options for refinancing debt after graduation. The only lender currently focused on refinancing private and federal student loans is SoFi.
We recognized early on that borrowers who have made timely payments on their loans, graduated from school, and have a job should be able to refinance their student loans at a lower interest rate. This may be why, after resuming lending by invitation, the media became increasingly interested in what we are doing.
In a recent article posted on MainStreet.com SoFi General Counsel Rob Lavet had this to say about SoFi’s ReFi products: Read more »
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