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WALL STREET

Why was it was largely people like Ben McKenzie, who existed outside TradFi (as the kids say these days), that spotted S.B.F.’s antics early on?

S.B.F. and an ‘O.C.’ Star Walk Into a Hotel…

Before Bankman-Fried’s downfall, the actor Ben McKenzie engaged in on-and-off correspondence with the alleged crypto scammer. Nearly a year later, McKenzie reflects on how S.B.F.’s purported crimes were “even dumber and simpler than I thought.”
William D. Cohan • June 21, 2023
William D. Cohan • June 18, 2023
Will Elon Lose Control of Twitter?
As a former restructuring and bankruptcy advisor at Lazard, I can recognize the signs of a company in distress. And it’s a pretty obvious tell that there’s financial trouble brewing when a company stops paying its bills.
William D. Cohan • June 14, 2023
The Testament of Solomon
Goldman Sachs C.E.O. David Solomon.
The rumblings are getting louder at 200 West that things are not as wonderful as they should be in Goldmanland: Despite a relatively buoyant stock price during the David Solomon era, high-level people are pissed. And, unlike the old days at the bank, they aren’t keeping it to themselves.
Golf fans are still buzzing with disbelief after PGA commissioner Jay Monahan suddenly capitulated to the Saudis.
Eriq Gardner • June 12, 2023
The Saudi-PGA M&A Legal Hellscape
The so-called merger is already facing trouble with the board, pushback from players, and scrutiny in Washington. Next come the regulators—and the inevitable lawsuits.
William D. Cohan • June 11, 2023
Zaslav’s ‘Martian’ Mission
Notes on the inside conversation percolating through the Teterboro crowd: WBD’s Sisyphean debt boulder and Gensler’s crypto holy war. Plus, a totally fitting Trump story for the ages.
Last week, Dina Powell-McCormick exited the firm after two tours of duty totaling 16 years.
William D. Cohan • June 7, 2023
After the Goldman Rush
Dina Powell-McCormick is the latest in a surprisingly high-level cohort of partners exiting the bank. It’s the latest sign of how finance is changing and just how hard it is for Goldman Sachs to be Goldman Sachs.
JPMorgan Chase C.E.O. Jamie Dimon.
William D. Cohan • June 4, 2023
A Chamath Humbling, President Dimon Chatter & Elliott’s Triumph
News and notes about the inside chatter percolating around the Core Club set.
Peter Orszag
William D. Cohan • May 31, 2023
Orszag in the Water
Is the new C.E.O. of Lazard actually in charge? Adventures in creative 8-K writing and organizational management at my favorite Wall Street bank.
All indications are that Bob Iger has decided to own the third of Hulu he doesn’t own and he has already started talking about combining Hulu with Disney+.
William D. Cohan • May 28, 2023
The Iger-Roberts Chess Match & Icahn’s Duel
News and notes from the Maidstone crowd and Burning Tree delegation.
james gorman
William D. Cohan • May 24, 2023
Gorman’s Goodbye: Inside a C.E.O. Succession Bake-Off
I talk to a lot of well-wired people inside Morgan Stanley all the time: here’s what’s going to happen next. Plus notes on succession planning inside my old stomping grounds: Lazard and JPMC.
Peter Orszag will likely take the reins from Ken Jacobs as C.E.O. of Lazard.
William D. Cohan • May 21, 2023
Lazard Succession, Iger’s ESPN Move & Netflix’s Ozempic
News and notes on the latest intrigue swirling around the Sconset set and Gin Lane weekend crowd: what’s next for Lazard, my old stomping grounds; Iger’s ESPN calculation; and late-breaking SVB lessons.
Steve Schwarzman
William D. Cohan • May 17, 2023
Fade to Blackstone
Insights into a REIT headache, and some of the craftiest investors who are seeing around the corner.
“Bankman-Fried,” his lawyers stated, “has not defrauded anyone, nor intended to defraud anyone.”
Eriq Gardner • May 15, 2023
S.B.F.’s Varsity Blues Defense
Lawyers for Bankman-Fried are hoping to turn a seemingly slam-dunk prosecution into an inscrutable legalistic debate over the definition of “fraud,” itself. It might just work.
William D. Cohan • May 14, 2023
Iger’s Existential Question
There’s no erasing his historic earlier tenure at Disney, but the company is looking increasingly vulnerable, especially since Iger’s last big deal will likely be the $9 billion he’d spend to buy Hulu.
Under the leadership of Ken Jacobs, who has been extremely well paid, Lazard has grown bigger and more robust. But its stock has underperformed badly.
William D. Cohan • May 10, 2023
Lazard Times
How Wall Street’s most mysterious, enigmatic, and flamboyant firm—“l’haute banque d’affaires vis-à-vis the world”—was brought down by fate and tragedy, and what it can do to become exceptional again.
It’s not clear what our friend Warren was thinking when he invested in what is now known as Paramount Global.
William D. Cohan • May 7, 2023
A Warren-Shari Mystery & Ackman’s Icahnfreude
News and notes on the rumblings inside Wall Street C-suites, the Sconset set, and the Gin Lane mafia: the Berkshire Hathaway-Paramount mystery, a Goldman curiosity, and the latest Icahn controversy.
Jamie Dimon is predicting, conservatively, that First Republic will add $500 million in net income to JPM’s bottom line.
William D. Cohan • May 3, 2023
Droppin’ Dimons
A brief history of how Jamie Dimon and JPM became the saviors of Wall Street.
Comcast C.E.O. Brian Roberts.
William D. Cohan • April 30, 2023
Lazard Fears & NBCU C-Suite Tea Leaves
Notes on Brian Roberts’ post-Shell, pre-merger executive placeholder; a banking mini-crisis postmortem; and the end of the Lazard Way.