Wall Street Glory Days, G.O.P. Blame Games, VandeHei Speaks!

Welcome back to The Daily Courant, your afternoon guide to the best work at Puck.

First up today, Dylan Byers quizzes Jim VandeHei, perhaps Washington’s most influential media C.E.O., on the true story behind the Axios-Politico rivalry, lessons from his recent $525 million exit, and his candid advice for Ben Smith at Semafor.

Plus, below the fold, Julia Alexander unveils the numbers behind a Hollywood streaming enigma. Bill Cohan recalls a high-dollar Gulfstream showdown with three Wall Street legends. Tina Nguyen pinpoints the ’22 race that has divided the G.O.P. And Tara Palmeri checks in with Peter Hamby about Rick Scott’s schoolyard beef with Mitch McConnell.

DYLAN BYERS

Weeks after Axios’s $525 million sale, Washington’s most influential media C.E.O. recalls some lessons from the Politico era and Axios’s ascent. And then offers some advice for the next generation of D.C. disruptors, like Punchbowl and Semafor.

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JULIA ALEXANDER

Was ‘Luck,’ John Lasseter’s high-budget, Pixar-inspired animated feature for Apple TV+, a flop? The convoluted answer reveals as much about the state of the streaming business as it does about Apple—or about ‘Luck’ itself.

WILLIAM D. COHAN

Memories of the Forstmanns, Morgan Stanley halcyon days, legendary deals made (and killed), and all the feels at Tom Lister’s jubilee.

TINA NGUYEN

After crashing through a G.O.P. primary, Mastriano’s fringey brand of Q-inflected, hyper-MAGA politics has been a harder sell with general election voters, and he hasn’t made things easier by insulating himself from the very media outlets he needs to win.