Steve Schwarzman's 60th birthday party last year may go down as the last, great party before the fall. Days after closing on what was then the biggest leveraged buyout in history, the $39 billion purchase of Equity Office Properties, the billionaire chairman of the Blackstone Group invited 500 people to the Armory on…
Just in case the reports of Wall Streeters not making millions this year has softened your resentment of ostentatious master-of-the-universe types and their role in the recession, a profile of London hedge fund manager "Mark" will ensure that any sympathy you might have had vanishes instantly. Meet the bespoke…
Unfortunate news for Rolls-Royce owners who enjoy announcing to the world that they're driving a car that costs as much as a house in most parts of the country: "That ultimate symbol of brand and luxury, the automotive hood ornament, seems to be nearing the end of the road." [AdFreak]
Here's a good sign the world is coming to an end: Edwina Rogers, the wife of lobbyist Ed Rogers, has a "wrapping room" in her 18,000-square-foot Washington manse (dubbed the "Republican Shangri-La) where she wraps her gifts in dollar bills. As in cash money that she picks up in huge sheets from the Bureau of…
It isn't always easy being a billionaire. Especially if you happen to be Russian. Sure, you've got plenty of cash and you can afford spectacular estates in the South of France. But then some snooty maitre d' refuses to give you a table at a restaurant and your vacation is ruined! Yes, it seems the outrageous…
You may not have much sympathy for the Wall Street fat cats and CEOs who have lost their jobs in recent months and been forced to survive on the eight or nine figures they have saved up in the bank. But spare a thought for that voiceless group just as battered by the sudden change in circumstances: the trophy wives.…
Remember when Gisele Bundchen was preaching about saving Brazilian rainforests, back when she was dating environmental poster boy Leo DiCaprio? Remember that line of sandals she designed to raise awareness about water conservation? And how she claimed she rode her bike to work every day to help the planet? Okay, fine,…
So you've got the G-V and the Maybach. You own an estate in the Hamptons, a co-op on Fifth, and a ski house in Aspen. What could possibly be missing? Your own country, of course! Venture capitalist Peter Thiel, the gazillionaire co-founder of PayPal who now runs the hedge fund Clarium Capital, recentl invested in the…
