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WALL STREET

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 12: Byron Allen on stage at the Byron Allen Oscar Gala at Beverly Wilshire, A Four Seasons Hotel on March 12, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Greg Doherty/Getty Images for Allen Media Group / Byron Allen)

Iger’s Buyers & The Arnault Dynasty

News and notes on the fire sale of Disney’s linear assets and the LVMH succession.
William D. Cohan • September 17, 2023
William D. Cohan • September 13, 2023
Year of the Iger
bob iger
Running Disney may be close to impossible, but Iger is supposed to be the one guy with near complete free rein—isn’t everything on the table?—to do it. Are his various half-step initiatives early signs of Vulcan chess, or something much less magical?
William D. Cohan • August 30, 2023
May the Schwarzman Be With You
An intimate chat with Steve Schwarzman.
The fundamental question facing Pitaro & Co. is whether consumers are willing to really pay up for ESPN’s content over the long term.
William D. Cohan • August 27, 2023
ESPN-Amazon, A Wall Street Fantasy & An A.I. Hack
News and notes on the hottest topics among the Meadow Club crowd as the dealmaking begins to heat up: ESPN’s potential dance partner, the hottest document making its way around town, and an around-the-corner A.I. idea.
It’s likely that Mike will still be the one making all the big decisions, for as long as he wants to make them. But the question remains: What is to be done with Bloomberg LP?
William D. Cohan • August 23, 2023
Bloomberg Exit Options & Goldman’s Moment of Truth
News and notes on the most pressing questions around Wall Street: Goldman’s endless media headache, an M&A shotgun wedding, and succession planning inside 731.
Shari Redstone’s Paramount Global now has a market value of $9.75 billion.
William D. Cohan • August 20, 2023
Paramount Existentialism & More Goldmanology
Notes on the Wall Street chatter animating the Sconset crowd: Shari Redstone vs. Tyler Perry, the trials of David Solomon, and Steve Schwarzman’s word on Trump.
The New York mag piece was a reflection of how bad things have gotten between David Solomon and the press.
William D. Cohan • August 16, 2023
The Judgment of Solomon
Just when it seemed as though David Solomon was in the middle of an August reprieve, the embattled Goldman C.E.O. has found himself once again in the crosshairs, via back-to-back fusillades in the media last week. “Still standing,” quipped Tony Fratto, Goldman head of communications, to me in a weekend text.
Looking at each of Iger’s recent strategic decisions, you’ve got to wonder if he may be running out of good ideas to solve Disney’s myriad of problems.
William D. Cohan • August 13, 2023
Iger Deal Psychology
Iger may be consulting Warren Buffett (and Mayer and Staggs) about his streaming options, but in the everything-on-the-table era at Disney, well, there aren’t that many options really on the table. Herewith, a Wall Street view of a Hollywood challenge.
Who would be a logical buyer, if anyone, of the slimmed-down Paramount Global?
William D. Cohan • August 9, 2023
Are You There, Aryeh? It’s Me, Shari…
Now that S&S is coming off the books, and with BET likely next, what might a market look like for a deal-fit, debt-trimmed Paramount Global?
If Donald Trump retakes the White House, it seems unlikely that our fragile democracy could withstand another four years of his lies, irrational behavior, and vendettas.
William D. Cohan • August 6, 2023
The Rubenstein Doctrine
Would Donald Trump accept a radical deal to wipe his legal slate clean? Herewith, a consideration of a proposal from the heights of Wall Street.
Dan Yergin, the world-renowned energy consultant and Pulitzer-prize winning author.
William D. Cohan • August 2, 2023
Conscious Decoupling
My wide-ranging conversation with Dan Yergin, the renowned energy consultant and Pulitzer-winner and vice chairman of S&P Global, about everything from the Chinese economy and OPEC to nuclear power and U.C.O.
Can DeSantis pivot to the scrappy town hall strategy, fix his sagging poll numbers, and come back from the dead?
Peter Hamby • July 31, 2023
DeSantis’s Zombie Comeback Tour
Allies have pointed to McCain’s 2007 campaign comeback as the “perfect example” of why DeSantis shouldn’t be written off. But, as someone who rode the bus with McCain during those bleak days, I can tell you the comparison is perfectly imperfect.
Protestors gathering in front of the Repsol-YPF headquarters in Buenos Aires, demanding the nationalization of the company in December 2008.
Eriq Gardner • July 31, 2023
A $16 Billion Wall Street Lawsuit for the Ages
Burford Capital bet $15 million that it could take Argentina to the cleaners. The outcome could be worth billions—if Burford can get anyone to pay.
S.B.F.’s biggest problem continues to emanate from John J. Ray III, the new FTX C.E.O., who has made it his mission to recover as many assets as possible for the bankrupt estate and its forlorn creditors and customers.
William D. Cohan • July 30, 2023
The Latest S.B.F. Legal Saga
A talmudic reading of FTX C.E.O. John Ray’s latest report.
Ken Griffin has always been a politically aware center-right rich guy, sure, but he’s ascended to a new level on the G.O.P. donor Mount Rushmore after Trump.
Theodore Schleifer & William D. Cohan • July 25, 2023
Griffin vs. Dimon & The S.B.F. Delusion
A conversational power ranking of the top donors on Wall Street: Effron, Fink, Wolf, Schwarzman, and more. Plus notes on Ken Griffin’s DeSantis bet, Dimon’s ’24 flirtation, and whether S.B.F. is destined for the clink.
Goldman C.E.O. David Solomon is very smart, and knows he needs to turn things around in the second half of the year.
William D. Cohan • July 23, 2023
Goldman Murmurs, Netflix Curiosities & The Latest Elonology
Fresh insights and analysis on what the elite Wall Street crowd is ruminating about at Sebonack these days.
ESPN chief Jimmy Pitaro’s challenge now is to get direct-to-consumer done profitably, either for Disney, or for Comcast, or for some other strategic partner that Iger cooks up.
William D. Cohan • July 19, 2023
The ESPN-to-Comcast Deal Thesis
Ever since Iger’s stream of consciousness confessional in Sun Valley, M&A bankers have been fantasizing about the structure (and price) of a possible ESPN divestiture. Here’s the most compelling possibility.
William D. Cohan • July 16, 2023
Iger, Ego & Superego
Notes on the extension heard round the world, the comp question, the deal hypotheses, and whether Iger at Disney is the living exception to the de Gaulle postulation.