Follow LA Observed on Twitter here
Angelo's payday: Here's a riddle: How do you get $10 million as part of your retirement deal - and then not retire? Countrywide Financial CEO Angelo Mozilo, already one of the nation's highest paid executives, managed to pull it off - and save for those pesky shareholder groups, no one is complaining. LAT explains that the $10 million compensates him for pension income that he won't be getting from a retirement that he had planned to take. Speaking of compensation: Are Tribune executives warming up the planes already? The company notes in a filing that it will accelerate the payouts for its top executives in the event of an ownership change. Wonder if they're lining up property in Costa Rica, too.
Douglas Emmett's debut: The Santa Monica-based real estate investment trust opened its first day of trading at $23.75 and closed at $23.65. The IPO was priced at $21.
The billion-dollar question: How an existing stadium that somehow manages to hold big-time football games with crowds of 80,000+ requires a fix-up running $1 billion or more? That's what the NFL says it would cost to redo the Coliseum - a nice round figure that's sure to lower the priority of having an L.A. franchise. It's times like this that we could use a NY Post-type paper that would blast on its front page: "L.A. to NFL - Drop Dead."
Dick Clark's sellathon: America's oldest teenager is unloading his rock-and-roll memorabilia, including an old-time microphone from "American Bandstand," guitars used by Paul McCartney and Bruce Spingsteen, Michael Jackson's moonwalking glove and platinum records from the Beach Boys and the Beatles. An auction will be held in NY on Dec. 5 and 6.
Web auditions: United Talent Agency is looking for Internet talent - specifically, creative types who could develop Web-based advertising and entertainment. It's another example of traditional media looking to monetize the ragged efforts that wind up on YouTube and Revver. Web portals are hungry for original content, it seems. Just down the block...: The WSJ checks in on ICM's travails a year after private equity firm Rizvi Traverse Management LLC bought a controlling stake in the talent agency. Here's what happened soon after the deal was done:
The investor notified an ICM employee that, as part of a group of planned spending cuts, ICM's flower budget would be curbed. "I love those flowers," the employee said to Rizvi Traverse partner Ben Kohn, according to someone with knowledge of the conversation. "Can't we just fire someone instead?"
[CUT]
ICM is attempting to usher in a new generation of agents via the acquisition of another agency. In reinventing itself, ICM has created a test case of whether a cost-minded investor like Suhail Rizvi, the 40-year-old money manager who runs Rizvi Traverse, can succeed in a place like Hollywood -- where lavish spending to maintain appearances can trump financial prudence.
Globe gets look-see: L.A. isn't the only town where rich guys are sniffing around the big newspaper. GE's legendary Jack Welch is exploring the possibility of offering to buy the financially ailing Boston Globe from the NYT Co. The Times says the Globe is not for sale. The paper has been value at around $600 million.
Did we have to know dept.: A new study concludes that Americans use more gasoline because drivers and passengers are heavier than they used to be. Losing weight apparently adds to fuel efficiency.
Mark Lacter created the LA Biz Observed blog in 2006. He posted
until the day before his death on Nov. 13, 2013.