WALL STREET
William D. Cohan
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June 18, 2025
Debt Becomes Him
David Zaslav leveraged his way to media moguldom, then diligently paid down $21 billion of debt in three years, and is now making an unusual debt tender offer as part of the process of spinning out WBD’s linear TV assets. Is the offer really too good to refuse, or is it a coercive maneuver that leaves bondholders with little choice?
William D. Cohan
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June 15, 2025
The Zaz Age
As Gunnar Wiedenfels licks his chops over the debt-reduction possibilities at his cable-asset-heavy RemainCo, it’s time to contemplate the possibilities for Zaz’s Streaming & Studios venture. Is a 13x EBITDA multiple possible? If so, could this business kiss a $40 billion market cap, which is nearly twice the value of WBD?
William D. Cohan
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June 11, 2025
Zaz’s Financial Alchemy & The GunnarCo Perimeter
Now that WBD is splitting in twain, a series of complex deals—a $17.5 billion bridge loan, a syndication, bond buybacks, etcetera—are about to commence… all likely in the name of future transactions. Let the games begin.
William D. Cohan
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June 8, 2025
The Shari Nightmare Scenario
It’s not at all clear where Shari Redstone would come up with the $550 million she would owe her creditors if the Skydance-Paramount deal falls through—and the consequences are mind-boggling.
William D. Cohan
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June 4, 2025
Another Day in Sharidise
So what happens if Shari Redstone can’t close her Paramount deal by the fall—as is becoming increasingly likely? A $300 million payment to the Ellisons, another $250 million to Byron Trott, the potential liquidation of National Amusements, and that’s only the start. (This is not investment advice.)
William D. Cohan
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June 1, 2025
The Zaz Downgrade Debacle
For years, David Zaslav and henchman Gunnar Wiedenfels had been following the yeoman’s path of paying down Warner Bros. Discovery’s $55 billion debt, all in the service of exploding the value of their publicly traded L.B.O. So why did S&P Global just swat WBD down to BB+?
William D. Cohan
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May 28, 2025
Trump’s Wall Street Tax Glitch
While everyone’s focused on the fate of the SALT deduction in Trump’s tax bill, a similar but lesser-known provision could punish a range of businesses, from high-powered law firms and hedge funds to even your local chiropractor, while leaving corporations unscathed.
William D. Cohan
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May 21, 2025
Saks Pistols
The strife continues at Saks Global as the luxury retailer faces a $121 million interest payment due next month and a possible $100 million-plus shortfall in August. Meanwhile, executives have questions about the art and jewelry that Saks claims accounts for nearly a third of its $689 million of inventory—and which the company is desperately trying to sell.
William D. Cohan
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May 18, 2025
SPAC to the Future
The impish finance types who create ghost companies, then take them public through an I.P.O. with nothing more than a promise and a wink, have been busy this year—including the three geniuses behind what became the $5.6 billion Trump Media & Technology Group.
William D. Cohan
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May 14, 2025
Life Saks
Pretty much everything that could go wrong at Saks Global has gone wrong. Now, two firms best known for advising on restructurings have been engaged amid growing doubts about the company’s future.
William D. Cohan
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May 11, 2025
Zaslav’s Spin Cycle
Days after NBCU announced the name of its SpinCo—ask a doctor if Versant is right for you—David Zaslav kicked the rumor mill into overdrive by announcing that Warner Bros. Discovery, too, had successfully cordoned off its declining cable business—another step, presumably, toward launching a Versant of its own.
William D. Cohan
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May 7, 2025
There Will Be Blood
In an increasingly nasty proxy battle, Paul Singer’s hedge fund, Elliott Management, is agitating for board seats and what it claims is long-overdue change at Big Oil’s Phillips 66, whose C.E.O. and chairman has chosen to dig in and fight.
William D. Cohan
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May 4, 2025
No Saks in the Champagne Room
Since Saks acquired Neiman Marcus Group for $2.7 billion, Wall Street has been trying to figure out why the deal got done in the first place. A deep dive into the 400-page bond prospectus reveals some very creative accounting, including my new fave: “Pro Forma Run-Rate Adjusted EBITDA.”
William D. Cohan
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April 30, 2025
Tuesdays With Orszag
News and notes on the Trump II economy—whether the tariffs can actually work, America’s role as world leader, the current market volatility—in a conversation with Lazard’s C.E.O. Peter Orszag and co-head of European investment banking Jean-Louis Girodolle.
William D. Cohan
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April 27, 2025
The Leon Black Legal Saga Ad Absurdum
The former Apollo executive has defeated all but one of the misconduct allegations against him—an increasingly surreal case involving a client who has been dropped by her lawyers and is now at war with their firm.
William D. Cohan
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April 27, 2025
The Saks Debt Scaries
A close look at whether Saks Global, several months after acquiring Neiman Marcus Group for $2.7 billion, can make its initial $120 million-ish interest payment to bondholders at the end of June.
William D. Cohan
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April 23, 2025
Dirty Larry Comes Out Firing
Larry Summers, the former Treasury secretary and N.E.C. director and Harvard man, goes “Full Larry” on the economic fallout under Trump II—capital flight, lost exports, violent deleveraging, declining competitiveness, Argentina comps, etcetera.