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! Continue reading »
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Reader Poll: How Long Will Raj Rajaratnam Suffer The Indignity Of Unflattering Jumpsuits?
By Bess LevinPoll: How Long Must Coke Fiends Wait ‘Til The Olive Garden Currency Is More Valuable Than The Dollar?
By Bess Levin
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]
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. Continue reading »
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). Continue reading »
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?
[via BI]
I only ask because she herself suggested there might be some bringing of pain in the break room later, following a debate they had on last night’s blown call. Erin thought it was no big deal and doesn’t get what people are getting so bent out of shape about. Mark felt a tad differently, and told EB her attitude about the whole thing is the reason “women shouldn’t be in charge of sports.” Erin did not seem to appreciate this! As is our wont, we’ve obtain some footage of the two settling this off-camera (watch for Matt Nesto in the background). Continue reading »
Things were going great and WB was thisclose to fulfilling his lifelong dream of performing an Angry Pirate in the Lincoln bedroom and then boom! Out of nowhere, The Oracle stops hearing from the guy. Jonathan Alter reports:
Warren Buffett, who had been in contact with Obama every week as the economy collapsed in the fall of 2008, found himself mysteriously out of touch with the new president. In late 2009, the billionaire told a friend that he’d not had a single one-on-one meeting with Obama since he became president. They did speak once on the phone. No one knew the reason Obama held him at arm’s length, though it likely had to do with Buffett’s $5 billion investment in Goldman Sachs and his large ownership stake in Moody’s, one of the ratings agencies Obama blamed most for the economic crisis.
My dear friend and former colleague John Carney will be joining CNBC.com as a “senior editor” in the coming weeks and will also be “appearing regularly on CNBC’s Business Day programming.” Over the last few years John has been on the network as guest commentator but now that he’s an official member of the team, one very important thing needs to happen. It goes without saying but here it is: a nickname. Maria’s got one, Erin’s got one, Phil LeBeau’s got one and now Carney needs one too. If he’s gonna do this, he’s gotta do this right. I know what my pick is but let’s get democratic about this. Serious suggestions only, please.
First off, let it be known that I don’t think LB should or will go anywhere. Nevertheless there are some people, some haters, talking about that very possibility. Dick Bové said it a couple weeks ago but she was on the rag at the time and not to be taken seriously. Now there’s a story out today, hopefully based on vicious lies, that there are people within in Goldman Sachs– the same people who gave Lloyd a standing ovation the other day for beating Ginger the resident chicken at tic-tac-toe– who are daring to speak of a day in which LB’s golden scrot and shining pate do not run shit at 200 West. Continue reading »
Is A London-Based Investment Banker About To Make A Few Million Pounds Off Lloyd Blankfein?
By Bess Levin
Almost three months ago, an absurd story appeared in the Wall Street Journal, which quoted an unnamed senior London-based investment banker, who’d said he’d bet a bunch of people at Davos a few million pounds that Lloyd Blankfein would be out as CEO of Goldman Sachs within two years. It was ridiculous! We thought so, Lloyd thought so, and you know Lucas van Praag thought so, having told the paper, “It is preposterous that The Wall Street Journal would even consider publishing such effluent.” On Friday, the theory was discredited even further when Dick Bové, snapping her fingers and seeing the perfect opportunity to get Ken Lewis off the couch, wrote that she doesn’t think Blankfein and CFO David Viniar will “maintain their positions in the company, and must “fall on their swords for the devastating decline in [Goldman's] persona…for public relations reasons.” All of this is bull shit, obviously. Lloyd will be doing no stepping down and not just because everything in the executive suite is already fitted to the exact measurements of his golden scrot and would be a bitch to replace. So we’ll ask this just once and then move on to more important questions, like what LB’s going to do to Messier Fantabulous once his feet touch US soil (management soliciting suggestions now). Continue reading »
Who Actually Ruined Jon Corzine’s Dinner–Charlie Gasparino, Or His Bodybuilding Childhood Friend?
By Bess Levin
The Post writes today that Jon Corzine’s dinner at Elio’s the other night was ruined by the presence of Charlie Gasparino. Supposedly, because of an appearance on CNBC a few years ago in which Chaz “sandbagged” the then governor of New Jersey over raising taxes, JSC is absolutely terrified of CG. Apparently the mere mention of Gasparino’s name, and the no-holds barred journalism that comes along with it, sends shivers up Corzine’s spine and being in the same room as the take no prisoners reporter results in the new MF Global chief doing some serious quaking in his boots. Continue reading »
