Sam Zell, song and dance man

One of Sam Zell's quirks is that he sends out an annual gift and personal take on the year to friends and colleagues. Sharon Waxman at The Wrap digs up Zell's 1999 bronze statue of a naked man on a stack of Wall Street Journals with a message from Sam predicting the catastrophic collapse of overvalued assets — "This musical fable doesn’t question technology, it just questions its valuation… New technology will change our lives, but it will not change the basic laws of economics." The gift also plays a song to the tune of "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover.” Snippet:

Are there 50 ways to make a billion?

Just sell it to Gates, mate

Show Casey a plan, Stan

Float an I.P.O., Flo

And let yourself go.

Waxman has the whole song.

Meanwhile: The Times and the pressmen's union meet tomorrow amid reports that 150 or so Operations staffers may be on the block. The Calendar section move (and subsequent killing of California), remember, was a maneuver to eliminate a daily press run and the pressmen who staff it.