http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2100771,00.html Interesting piece on the fortunes being made at Blackstone as the private equity kings take themselves public. CEO Schwarzman made $398 Million last year, and will trouser $449 Million when they go public on top of his continued stake in the business, valued at a staggering $7,700 Million.
Read moreBased on conversations among Canada’s top capitalists (and their heirs), the Conrad Black trial revealed this interesting insider look at their rather incestuous dealings. Much of the article is written around takes on then-PM Chretien, but I find most interesting what this tells us about the real economics of media empires (original here). In the end, Black and Asper turned […]
Read morePrivate equity has raised more concerns on the other side of the Atlantic than in North America. Andrew Jackson made some comments on the topic on RPE a month ago. Whether David Dodge has been dropping in on RPE is not clear (we will FOI his browsing history), but at any rate, it is welcome for him to weigh in […]
Read moreLike many people, I admire the entrepreneur. Risk-taking, hard-working, value-adding, employment-creating – such are the virtues of entrepreneurs. I wish our schools taught people more about how to be entrepreneurial, as opposed to “business” degrees that teach people to be middle-managers in big corporations. We too often are lectured about the need to impose supply-side remedies to boost entrepreneurship – […]
Read moreROB columnist Eric Reguly is off to Europe. I’ve always enjoyed his rather iconoclastic business commentary, and will miss it (far too rare in the Globe.) Today’s parting shot identifies the culture of corporate Canada rather than public policy as the source of our poor performance in terms of global business leadership. What ails Canada: My parting shot It is […]
Read moreThere has not been nearly enough Canadian discussion of this hot issue, especially given the spate of activity in Canada. Here’s info from a recent critical UK report (with thanks to Joel Harden). On 26 March the UK-based Work Foundation released a report on the social impact of private equity investment in the UK: “Inside the dark box: shedding light […]
Read moreA jury is supposed to be comprised of one’s peers, but Conrad Black’s “Peers” are in the House of Lords and among the global elite. Naomi Klein reports on the class dimensions of jury selection at the Black trial (hat tip here): Class War in Conrad’s Court by Naomi Klein During the jury selection process at the Conrad Black fraud […]
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