William E. Simon is best known for making a fortune in leveraged buyouts after a star turn as an outspoken, conservative Treasury secretary in the 1970s. So what’s he doing in the dupe’s role in…More
Articles
The Aftermath: Hit by Derivatives, Florida County Tries To Decide What to Do — Escambia Officials Bog Down In Confusion and Politics; Issue: To Sell or Not to Sell — Comptroller Rejects Advice
PENSACOLA, Fla. — Discovering that their $44 million portfolio of mortgage derivatives was worth just $19 million was bad enough. But that was just the beginning: Now Escambia County’s commissioners have to decide what to…More
I Owe U.: How a Texas College Mortgaged Its Future In Derivatives Debacle — Odessa’s Finance Chief Bet Ranch, Had 3 Big Years, Then Saw Disaster Strike — Student of Volatile Securities
ODESSA, Texas — Roger Coomer had what every trader dreams of — hot hands. Juggling telephone calls from brokers while restlessly shifting his gaze between television and computer screens filled with financial information, Dr. Coomer…More
Pied Piper: Minneapolis Investors Are Hurt by Local Firm They Knew as Cautious — Piper Jaffray Is an Institution In the City, Like Victims Of Debacle in Derivatives — Worth Bruntjen’s Big Bet
MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Orchestral Association’s board of directors is a virtual who’s who of civic elite. The 90-year-old symphony orchestra is just the kind of institution that has long entrusted its financial affairs to…More
An Ottoman Odyssey: A sailboat and the Turkish coast make a magical combination
A couple of years ago I sailed with a group of friends from Naples to Menorca by way of Sardinia and Corsica. Although it was a wonderful trip, we kept hearing, throughout our journey, a…More
WILL PRIVATIZATION FLY? Russia’s aerospace industry could be the first off the ground
The Salon de l’Aeronautique et de l’Espace is the ultimate air show. For 10 days in June every other year, the skies thunder over Le Bourget airport near Paris as the world’s newest, most dazzling…More
Aeroflot Takes Aim at the Post-Communist World: A monolith with a reputation for passenger misery plots reforms.
The first leg of an Aeroflot London-to-Katmandu flight last November began smoothly enough as the Ilyushin-86 backed away from the gate almost on schedule. Then the plane stopped, however, to remain immobile for hours. Neither…More
The Unraveling of a ‘Billionaire’ The high-rolling owner of a new L.A. ball team is having trouble with regulators and his image.
LOS ANGELES–When the Denver Gold scored two quick touchdowns against the Los Angeles Express in a pro game recently, J. William Oldenburg flew into a rage. “He began beating on the walls of his private…More
New Money For The New Rockefellers
AS legend has it, John D. Rockefeller, who turned an oil monopoly into one of the first great American family fortunes, used to give a way shiny new dimes in the depths of the Depression…More
