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WALL STREET

Dave Calhoun

The End of the Jack Era

Dave Calhoun’s forced exit from Boeing is the final vestige of Jack Welch’s nearly 50-year influence over Wall Street and American corporate life.
William D. Cohan • March 27, 2024
William D. Cohan • March 24, 2024
Shari’s Apollo Landing & Trump Coupon Murmurs
shari redstone
News and notes on the latest intrigue among the Sconset set: the next steps in the Apollo-Paramount foreplay and whether Donald Trump can get his money.
William D. Cohan • March 20, 2024
Lord Zucker’s M&A Do-Over & Trump Bankruptcy Options
jeff zucker
News and notes on two intoxicating bankruptcy restructurings: Jeff Zucker’s latest gambit to claw the Telegraph and Spectator away from the Barclays, despite the punctilious British regulators; and Trump’s high-stakes lawn sale.
shari redstone
William D. Cohan • March 17, 2024
Imagining the Apollo-Paramount Arranged Marriage
Apollo is certainly not the suitor that Shari Redstone dreamed about. But is it the best she can get? And what “value” might they “extract” from the family empire?
David Zaslav
William D. Cohan • March 13, 2024
Is the Zaz Correction Coming?
In two short years, David Zaslav has gone from the toast of Hollywood to its favorite villain—the caricature of an overpaid, wannabe mogul who can’t see past the next quarter’s earnings. With the restrictions of WBD’s original Reverse Morris Trust structure set to expire, can he rewrite his script? It all comes down to debt maturities and Max.
bob iger
William D. Cohan • March 10, 2024
Iger’s Crocodile Tears
A candid assessment of Nelson Peltz’s 133-page dissertation on Disney—the latest salvo in his failing proxy battle.
joe biden
William D. Cohan • March 6, 2024
Wall Street Hedges Its Bet on Biden
The mandarins of high finance are now positioning their banks for the ultimate high-beta event: the return of Donald Trump.
david zaslav
William D. Cohan • March 3, 2024
Zaz’s Bonus Math & Trump’s Banking Crisis
News and notes on the Downtown Cip table chatter: Zaz’s Paramount false flag and Trump’s increasingly cumbersome penalty financing solutions.
Gunnar Wiedenfels
William D. Cohan • February 28, 2024
Naked Gunnar
A close reading of the latest Wall Street-media riddle: why Zaz’s financial henchman can’t arouse analysts while Warren can sweep his Shari losses under the post-EBITDA carpet.
bill ackman
William D. Cohan • February 25, 2024
The Measure of Ackman
A talmudic reading of the hedge fund manager’s latest three-hour soliloquy, Business Insider counteroffensive, and the general and growing oeuvre of his discontents.
donald trump
William D. Cohan • February 21, 2024
Sussing the Trump Estate Sale
Assessing Trump’s path to paying his recently levied $500 million-plus financial penalty.
During the fourth quarter of 2023, Warren Buffett sold 30.4 million shares of Paramount, or about one-third of his stake in the company.
William D. Cohan • February 18, 2024
Buffett’s Big Short
The Oracle of Omaha, presumably pissed that his underlings did the Paramount deal in the first place, is cutting his losses and apparently voting with his feet on a sale process run by his old banker, Byron Trott. Plus: Peltz’s defeat.
michael klein
William D. Cohan • February 14, 2024
Life & Times of Michael Klein
The fascinating and shocking but not surprising story of how a generationally talented banker found himself in the Senate’s crosshairs.
adam neumann
William D. Cohan • February 11, 2024
Neumann!
Does one of the world’s most disgraced entrepreneurs actually want to buy back his old company, or is Adam Neumann’s seemingly fake bid for WeWork just his latest P.R. ruse?
Larry Culp
William D. Cohan • February 7, 2024
Culp Fiction
In two months, GE, which Jack Welch once steered to a $650 billion market value, will officially be split into three public companies—the final act of its last C.E.O., Larry Culp. It didn’t have to be this way for America’s formerly most iconic company. This is how we got here.
byron allen
William D. Cohan • February 4, 2024
Allen & Company
News and notes on Byron Allen’s bid and the Paramount suitor carousel. Plus, Nelson Peltz’s script for the Disney turnaround.
When rich and powerful families get into a sticky situations, they tend to call Warren Buffett’s favorite banker, Byron Trott.
William D. Cohan • January 31, 2024
Some Like It Trott
Byron Trott, perhaps the most successful investment banker of his generation, has helped Buffett, the Pritzkers, the Waltons, and the Mars families. Can he work the same magic for Shari Redstone?
JPMorgan Chase is no closer to solving its succession problem after this game of musical chairs than it was before, especially since Jamie has zero reason to turn down a $50 million thank-you card in 2026.
William D. Cohan • January 28, 2024
The Jamie Switcheroo & Ellison’s Wishful Thinking
News and notes on the most topical items among the Sebonack crowd: Jamie’s executive shuffle, M&A activity at Paramount, and Elon’s stock rant.