reader polls

Should Ben Bernanke Take Over As Chairman Of Men’s Wearhouse?

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It’s a legitimate question and when legitimate questions need answering, there is no group of people more fit to answer them than the Dealbreaker community. So let’s get right to it.

The facts:

The one thing potentially stopping him:

It’s possible, of course, that he could put all that aside for the right price and a package that included a 50% employee discount.

But would he? Should he? Read more »

  • 06 Jun 2013 at 9:30 AM

Poll: Should Nasdaq Be More Embarrassed About A) Screwing Up The Facebook IPO or B) Employing A Guy Nailed In A Nassau County Prostitution Sting Operation?

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The Post is thinking it’s gotta be B… Read more »

  • 03 Jan 2013 at 4:11 PM

Now You Listen Here: Tim Geithner’s Bags Are Packed

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Earlier today, it was reported that Timothy P. Geithner has informed people that he “plans to leave the administration by the end of January, even if President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans haven’t reached an agreement to raise the debt ceiling.” Will this actually happen? Those unfamiliar with the Treasury Secretary’s attempts to leave his post in the past will say yes. He’s leaving, ship-shape. Those who’ve watched TPG try and fail to bust out of Washington for the last nineteen months, however, know better. More than likely, he’s not going anywhere and it’s not because deep down inside he doesn’t actually want to go home but because his bosses won’t let him. Witness, if you will, a small sampling of examples in which his requests have been denied, either directly (via someone laughing in his face) or indirectly (by giving those who’ve applied to replace him the wrong directions to their interview):

  • August 3, 2011: “Mr. Obama and his chief of staff, William M. Daley, have been urging Mr. Geithner to stay, administration officials say, not only for continuity when the economy has weakened and to avoid an all-but-certain confirmation fight in the Senate over a successor, but also because Mr. Obama has developed a close rapport with Mr. Geithner…Especially in recent weeks, the issue has become a running joke, officials say: Mr. Geithner and Mr. Daley tease about the ankle bracelet that the White House makes him wear, or Mr. Geithner asks if Mr. Daley has yet read his resignation letter, to which Mr. Daley answers in unprintable language.”
  • August 5, 2011: “President Barack Obama’s senior advisers are confident Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner will remain in his job even though he hasn’t made his intentions public, an administration official said. Geithner met recently with Vice President Joe Biden and laid out his reasons for wanting to leave the post. Biden outlined why it was vital that Geithner remain, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because no announcement has been made.”
  • January 26, 2012: “Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, the last member of the Obama administration’s original economic team, said he doesn’t expect to remain in office if the president is re-elected. ‘He’s not going to ask me to stay on, I’m pretty confident,’ Geithner said in an interview with Bloomberg Television yesterday in Charlotte, North Carolina. ‘I’m confident he’ll be president. But I’m also confident he’s going to have the privilege of having another secretary of the Treasury.’”
  • October 2, 2012: “Mr. Geithner has made clear for more than a year that he plans to leave his post but has said he would remain until a successor is confirmed, should Mr. Obama win re-election.”

According to Bloomberg, Geithner is well-aware of the potential for getting sandbagged yet again, which is why he’s come up with a new, fool-proof approach: telling everyone he’s serious. Before there was room for flexibility but not this time. He’s really leaving. He means it. January 31, he’s out the door. Take this seriously because he’s really going. Throwing a Super Bowl party at the house this year and he’s not cancelling again. Read more »

  • 23 Oct 2012 at 1:27 PM

Larry Summers Supposedly Too Rough Around The Edges To Be Named Fed Chairman

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Who should replace Ben S. Bernanke as Chairman of the Federal Reserve when his term ends in January 2014? If anyone cared to ask us, we’d say no one: we like our Fed Chairman soft-spoken, bearded, and just as comfortable in dad jeans as they are in their bespoke Jos. A. Bank suits. But nobody asked and, according to Andrew Ross Sorkin, Bernanke has told “close friends” that regardless of whether or not Obama wins a second term, he’s ready to move on. Apparently qualified successors are few and far between and while Larry Summers is said to be “at the top of the list,” the fact that Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner may finally be granted freedom from his own personal Guantanamo Bay and will also necessitate a replacement who will have to work closely with the new Fed Chair poses some staffing issues, on account of the perception that Summers is somewhat difficult to work with. Read more »

  • 14 Sep 2012 at 4:13 PM

Reader Poll: What Is The Appropriate Way To Close A Letter Informing Your Employer You’ve Lost It A Couple Billion Dollars?

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“Regards”? “Best wishes”? “Very yours truly”? “Sincerely”? “All the best”? “Love”? ”Again, really sorry”? ”Well I guess I’ll take off now”? “It’s been a pleasure working with you”? “TTYL”? “Keep in touch”? Kweku Adoboli, UBS’s alleged rogue trader, who does sound genuinely sorry for the “shit storm” he brought on the bank, went with “thanks.” Read more »

Reader Poll: How Long Will Raj Rajaratnam Suffer The Indignity Of Unflattering Jumpsuits?

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At some point tomorrow, Raj Rajaratnam will be sentenced for the 14 counts of securities fraud and conspiracy he was found guilty on in May. The prosecution, which claims the Galleon founder netted “at least” $50 million in ill-gotten gains, has requested he go away for anywhere between 19 years and seven months to 24 1/2 years, while the defense, which argues Raj scored a mere $7.4 million, would prefer 6 1/2 to 8 years. To that end, the Rajaratnam team led by attorney John “How long are you going to suck [U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York] Preet’s teat” Dowd has 1) asked friends of Raj to send character letters to Judge Howell highlighting what a great guy he is and 2) made the bold statement that Rajaratnam is suffering from a “unique constellation of ailments ravaging his body” and that he will most certainly “perish if given a lengthy prison term.” To date, individuals vaguely and otherwise connected to the Galleon case have been sentenced to 2.5 years (Danielle Chiesi), 3 years (Emanuel Goffer), 4 years (lobster fiend) 10 years (Zvi Goffer). So! Read more »

  • 24 May 2011 at 5:54 PM

Poll: How Long Must Coke Fiends Wait ‘Til The Olive Garden Currency Is More Valuable Than The Dollar?

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Hoping to receive $10 worth of cocaine in exchange for Olive Garden salad in a to-go box, a Salt Lake City woman instead was charged with a third degree felony by an undercover police officer. In addition to the salad, the woman also offered the officer $2, and vowed to return later with more money or Olive Garden gift cards. The officer was not persuaded and in addition to the felony, the woman was also charged with one count of attempted possession or use of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia (she had a glass pipe in her pocket), a class A misdemeanor. [HP via Heidi Moore]

  • 26 Apr 2011 at 9:46 AM

Are Investment Banking Hours Worth It Anymore, Considering The Modest Pay?

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Time was, you worked an ungodly amount of hours, sacrificed your personal life, health and so on and so forth in a banking gig because your employer was going to make it rain ka-ching! on your face at the end of the day. In these harrowing, post-crisis times, though, things have changed. The slave labor is still there but the pay is not. Take 2010- according to a “paymaster” interviewed by the Journal‘s Dennis Berman, median banker pay was at about $1.6 million and with this newly popular deferred bonus business, after taxes one is looking at about $380,000 in cash, which the paymaster notes is “not a lot of money,” and which some think might not be worth your time. Read more »

  • 25 Apr 2011 at 10:27 AM

How Much Should One Investment Banker Tip Cabbie Driving Him And A Pal From New York To LA?

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Belitsky

A week or so ago, Dan Wuebben woke up at his best bud John Belitsky’s apartment. The duo had been celebrating Dan’s 31st birthday, and they wanted to keep the party going. “It seemed like everybody was away,” Belitsky said. “And I said, ‘Let’s do something great and fun and serious and magical and bigger than us.’ ” Order a couple hookers? No. Bigger. Hit up a Color Me Mine? Bigger. See if they could eat six Saltines in 60 seconds? Bigger still. They thought and they thought and they thought some more and then finally, it came to D. Dubs.

Wuebben remembered a tale about estimating the cost of a cross-country cab ride. “That’s the ticket,” Belitsky said he replied, telling his friend, “Dan, you’re the only guy you know who’d do this — and I’m the only guy you know who would pay for it.”

Read more »

  • 17 Jun 2010 at 2:37 PM

Anyone Wanna Run BP?

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Tony Hayward hasn’t actually resigned yet but at the present he’s not in so good with the Prez and a li’l accident– a blip, really– did go down on his watch. Reuters already has a list of fill-ins prepared in the event Big T involuntarily resigns. It includes Andy Inglis (head of BP’s core exploration and production division), Iain Conn (the head of BP’s refining and marketing unit), and Bob Dudley (a “Managing Director” with responsibility for oversight of the Americas and Asia). Read more »

  • 08 Jun 2010 at 5:32 PM

What Should Dennis Kneale Do With The New Time He’s Got On His Hands?

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I don’t want anyone to get too upset but yes, Dennis Kneale is off of Power Lunch. And while he’ll remain employed by the network, as a reporter covering media and tech, and seems to be in okay spirits (Kneale told us, “I had a ball co-anchoring Power Lunch, and I’m excited about my new gig. I’ve followed tech and media for many years. They may be the only two industries we have left that still dominate the world.”) he will have a little extra free time to devote to other pursuits. Having no idea what his hobbies are but maybe, I don’t know, having felt like you got to know him these last few years, anyone want to throw some suggestions out there?