Anschutz-Jacko connection

Michael Jackson surrounded himself with unusual characters, from Marlon Brando to Bubbles the chimp, but in billionaire Phil Anschutz "Jackson may have found his most mysterious—and lucrative—partner" yet, writes Matt Haber at Portfolio.com. The story takes off from AEG Live partnering with the Jackson estate on a movie based on the performer's final rehearsals to look at Anschutz's recent moves.

He just bought the Weekly Standard for a reported $1 million from Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, which funded the small—but for a time, highly influential—conservative magazine since 1995. Add this to his other conservative media holdings, which includes the Washington Examiner, a free tabloid, and the 101 locally targeted Examiner-branded sub-sites and it's no wonder Forbes described Anschutz as "The Stealth Media Mogul."

That's one of the nicer things that has been publicly said about the 69-year-old mogul. Fortune once called him America's "greediest executive," prompting a rare public statement from Anschutz, who hasn't spoken to a journalist on the record since 1974. The Anschutz Company released a statement that called Fortune's moniker "inaccurate and unfair."

Photos of Anschutz are always newsworthy, and this one from 2008 with the story is credited to Reuters and Fred Prouser.