Gary Weiss

• More Inklings of the New Bloomberg BusinessWeek

  Wow, third item in a row on BusinessWeek. OK, anyone not interested can pass this one by, but I think that the transformation of the largest-circulation business magazine is of some significance (and I'd feel that way even if I hadn't worked there for eighteen years).
  [...]
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  Posted: December 05, 2009, 5:48pm EST
  by Gary Weiss

• Goodbye BusinessWeek, Hello Bloomberg BusinessWeek

  
  A new sheriff is in town
  
  Just in case anyone cares, it's now official, BusinessWeek is now Bloomberg BusinessWeek. The above photograph of the reception area at BusinessWeek, by copy editor David Sleight and posted on Flickr, says it all.
  
  According to' [...]
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  Posted: December 03, 2009, 4:59pm EST
  by Gary Weiss

• Goodbye McGraw-Hill, Hello Bloomberg

  
  The BusinessWeek staff enters a New World, its corridors paved with gold
  
  Today is the last day BusinessWeek will be within the corporate grasp of "Mother McGraw," as McGraw-Hill is known to its older employees. At midnight, eighty years of M-H control comes to [...]
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  Posted: November 30, 2009, 4:30pm EST
  by Gary Weiss

• "Economic Expert" Patrick Byrne Dumped by CNN

  I eagerly tuned in to CNN's State of the Union broadcast yesterday, where Overstock.com's wacky CEO, Patrick Byrne, was scheduled to be a guest. According to the advance billing, he was scheduled to "survey the nation's economy."
  
  Hey, who better to survey the nation's economy than a CEO [...]
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  Posted: November 30, 2009, 10:25am EST
  by Gary Weiss

• Under Siege, Patrick Byrne Celebrates Black Friday at Little Big Horn

  
  Fighting to the death for the right to cook the books
  
  Today is the biggest retailing day of the year, Black Friday, and my favorite Internet retailer, Overstock.com's increasingly beleaguered, SEC-investigated, auditor-denouncing and, above all, incurably wacky CEO Patrick Byrne, is celebrating the day' [...]
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  Posted: November 27, 2009, 11:08am EST
  by Gary Weiss

• Today's Memo

  
  To be "eligible" you have to be fired. Get it?
  
  I guess there's no easy way to do a layoff, and the people laid off in the BusinessWeek-Bloomberg marriage--123 of them, to be exact--have been treated with as much dignity as the situation allows.
  [...]
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  Posted: November 24, 2009, 12:19pm EST
  by Gary Weiss

• Today's Overstock.com Moment: Payola Journalism

  The SEC-investigated, book-cooking Overstock.com, as it awaits a decision by Nasdaq as to whether it should be delisted for its various naughtiness, continues to provide merriment for children of all ages.
  
  Today's "Overstock moment" comes in the form of an article published in The American Spectator' [...]
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  Posted: November 24, 2009, 11:23am EST
  by Gary Weiss

• Bring Back Eliot Spitzer!

  I must say that I rather enjoyed writing this column for Portfolio.com.
  
  Yes, Portfolio.com, and with the same name as my late, lamented blog, the Weiss File. Boy gets blog, boy loses blog (and magazine gig), boy gets column. Hollywood formula.
  
  Portfolio.com is run by [...]
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  Posted: November 24, 2009, 12:16am EST
  by Gary Weiss

• Grant Thornton to SEC: Overstock.com Lied

  It's not every day that you see a filing like this: a letter from Grant Thornton to the SEC, which Overstock.com was forced to file as a disclosure upon pain of being in even worse trouble than it is. In the letter, Overstock's former auditors said that the company [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2009, 8:19pm EST
  by Gary Weiss

• A Peek at the New BusinessWeek

  Somebody sent me a Bloomberg story that ran today on Andrew Cuomo, New York's attorney general and a rising star in the Democratic party, describing how Cuomo took cash from lawyers with business before his office.
  
  It's a great piece, and it occurred to me that this kind [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2009, 11:30am EST
  by Gary Weiss

• Nasdaq, Please Don't Delist Overstock.com!

  At a time when the world seems to be falling apart, it's nice to know that there is a ray of sunshine: the always fascinating story of the corporate crime petri dish, Overstock.com.
  
  I honestly don't know what I'd do without Overstock. What else could I write about that' [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 5:05pm EST
  by Gary Weiss

• David Brooks Misses the Point

  David Brooks' New York Times op-ed column today on Tim Geithner (mentioning in the lead my Portfolio cover story) misses the point, I think.
  
  The problem with Geithner's approach is not whether or not the banks are recovering because of the TARP program, but the degree to' [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 3:11pm EST
  by Gary Weiss

• The New BusinessWeek Will Look Like.....?

  The layoffs taking place at BusinessWeek, as it gears up to melt into Bloomberg, are much larger than had been anticipated--a third of the staff--and raise some interesting questions about what the magazine is going to look like, and how it will be staffed.
  
  It's not even clear to' [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 11:40am EST
  by Gary Weiss

• Should a Banned Broker Become a Journalist?

  I was being bombarded with word of the ongoing BusinessWeek slaughter, when I heard of the squabble between Felix Salmon and Henry Blodget.
  
  The question is whether it's kosher that Blodget (and other banned securities industry people) should take away jobs from out of work journalists--like [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 5:52pm EST
  by Gary Weiss

• Layoffs Commence at BusinessWeek

  Layoffs have begun as Bloomberg begins to absorb BusinessWeek, and the list of people leaving is growing ever-longer with, it seems, every passing minute.
  
  Chris Roush is keeping a running total. Among the people leaving, at last look, are Steve Baker, Steve Wildstrom, Jon Fine, and Lauren Young. [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 2:11pm EST
  by Gary Weiss

• A New Insight on the Wall Street Mob Hit

  Jerry Capeci has an interesting column today (subscription only) on the unsolved 1999 slaying of two Mob-linked stock promoters, Alan Chalem and Maier Lehmann.
  
  In a BusinessWeek article at the time, I pointed out that Chalem had business dealings with DeCavalcante crime family capo Phil Abramo, now [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 11:01am EST
  by Gary Weiss

• Goldman's PR Offensive: What's in it for Them?

  Once upon a time I called Goldman Sachs to see if I could get cooperation for a story I was working on. Goldman was not the subject of the story, but played a role. The spokesperson's response was enjoyably candid: "What's in it for us?" The answer was no.
  
  [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 1:29pm EST
  by Gary Weiss

• They Don't Call it 'Jonestown' For Nothing

  
  Privacy? Never heard of it.
  
  The Internet nickname for the Investor Village message board is "Investors Jonestown" because of its singleminded fealty to corporate management--enforced by kicking off corporate critics, as they did with Sam Antar, whose investigation of Overstock.com's accounting was vindicated' [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 5:00pm EST
  by Gary Weiss

• Don't Worry, Folks: Frank DiPascali is Still in Jail

  In the past I've decried the behavior of U.S. District Court Judge Richard J. Sullivan, who has pandered to public sentiment by refusing to release on bail the chief cooperating witness in the Bernie Madoff case, Frank DiPascali Jr.
  
  Doing so, I've pointed out, makes the job of [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 1:31pm EST
  by Gary Weiss

• A New Editor, and Layoffs, Coming to BusinessWeek

  The process of watching the BusinessWeek-Bloomberg integration is starting to get discomfiting (not that it was ever especially pleasant) for BW alumni like myself.
  
  The good news is that BW has a new editor-in-chief with an intriguing resume: Josh Tyrangiel, a deputy m.e. at Time magazine and head [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 12:04pm EST
  by Gary Weiss

• Look Out Below! Overstock.com Jumps Off a Cliff

  
  Not to worry, the CEO has plenty of lies if you don't believe his latest ones
  
  People sometimes ask me about my fascination with Overstock.com. I've compared it to Marley, very much in jest of course. (Comparing such a nice dog to such [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 5:55pm EST
  by Gary Weiss

• Asleep in Connecticut

  My very first job was at the Hartford Courant's Groton-New London bureau, so I had a very personal interest in the front page New York Times story the other day on how New London was royally screwed by Pfizer--pulling out of a redevelopment project after the city fought up' [...]
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  Posted: November 14, 2009, 11:20am EST
  by Gary Weiss

• One Benefit of Bloomberg's BW Purchase: Goodbye Maria Bartiromo

  One of the many cockamamie decisions of the former BusinessWeek editor-in-chief, the soon-departing Steve Adler, was to hand over precious editorial space to fluff, ranging from a wine column to "Face Time" puff pieces by CNBC's Maria Bartiromo.
  
  The column is gone, according to BW's Monica Roman Gagnier's [...]
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  Posted: November 12, 2009, 10:58pm EST
  by Gary Weiss

• Study: Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers Not 'Destroyed' by Naked Short Selling

  Readers of this blog may find this article in the Big Money of interest, particularly the last part, in which I cite an academic study that debunks the theory that Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers were brought down by naked shorting.
  
  The study was based on "fails" [...]
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  Posted: November 12, 2009, 6:16pm EST
  by Gary Weiss

• Eureka! The SEC Enforced Regulation G!

  
  Will wonders never cease?
  
  This isn't likely to get much notice, but it's pretty big news: the SEC actually enforced one of the most crucial regulations preventing public companies from cooking the books, known as Regulation G. The agency reached a settlement today [...]
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  Posted: November 12, 2009, 2:03pm EST
  by Gary Weiss

• 'Translating Byrnespeak'

  
  Ask him no questions and he'll tell you no lies
  
  I stumbled on this post in a stock message board today, analyzing the recent Wall Street Journal video interview of my Marley, Overstock.com's ever-slippery CEO Patrick Byrne.
  
  The interview is available [...]
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  Posted: November 05, 2009, 1:48pm EST
  by Gary Weiss

• Patrick Byrne Can Run From Tough Questions, But He Can't Hide

  To no great surprise, Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne turned off the microphone at his quarterly conference call yesterday, refusing to allow questions from white collar crime-fighter Sam Antar--and even breaking his promise to respond to questions that Sam had previously emailed.
  
  As Sam points out [...]
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  Posted: November 04, 2009, 8:46am EST
  by Gary Weiss

• RIP, Sharesleuth Business Model

  When Mark Cuban opened his Sharesleuth website three years ago, with a "business model" based on his trading in advance of Sharesleuth items, Cuban smugly heralded the site as the Next Big Thing in financial journalism in a series of arrogant blog posts.
  
  It hasn't turned out that' [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 9:08am EST
  by Gary Weiss

• Madoff Lesson: Liars Can Thwart an SEC Investigation

  The 536 exhibits released by the SEC Inspector General late Friday on Bernie Madoff don't seem to contain any explosive new revelations, but underscore an essential point about SEC investigations: if you are the target of a probe, just lie, again and again.
  
  The SEC won't check up, [...]
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  Posted: November 01, 2009, 11:08am EST
  by Gary Weiss

• Patrick Byrne, in Early-Morning Rampage, Makes Another Mess

  
  This is getting monotonous.
  
  I don't call him "my Marley" for nothing. Overstock.com's wacky CEO Patrick Byrne went on a rampage in the wee hours this morning, overturning tables, chewing carpets--and, while he was at it, destroying any pretense of separation between Overstock.com [...]
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  Posted: October 31, 2009, 3:44pm EDT
  by Gary Weiss

• Bernie Madoff Speaks! (and lies) While Arthur Levitt's Memory Fails Him

  Notes of Bernie Madoff's interview with the SEC inspector general were released yesterday, and they make fascinating reading--as long as you keep in mind that Madoff was lying through his teeth, primarily to protect people.
  
  Here's the SEC exhibits page, and here (PDF) is the record [...]
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  Posted: October 31, 2009, 12:02pm EDT
  by Gary Weiss

• If Zelnick Had Bought BusinessWeek

  It's still unclear how many former BusinessWeek editors will be hired by Bloomberg L.P., but one thing is increasingly clear: it could have been a hell of a lot worse. Peter Kafka describes the nightmare scenario: a purchase by private equity bloodhounds ZelnickMedia that would have been only marginally' [...]
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  Posted: October 30, 2009, 4:40pm EDT
  by Gary Weiss

• My Marley Growls at the SEC

  
  
  My Marley, Overstock.com's wacky CEO Patrick Byrne, has made a mess again. Oh my! Seems that he's peed all over the legs of the SEC, again.
  
  White collar crime-fighter Sam Antar points out in his blog that Byrne has chosen to [...]
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  Posted: October 27, 2009, 2:12pm EDT
  by Gary Weiss

• How Did Fox Business News Wind Up With Patrick Byrne as an 'SEC Expert'?

  William Wolfrum's blog picks up the amazing story of how Fox Business News embarrassed itself badly the other day, by using the twice-investigated SEC target, Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne, as an "expert on".... the SEC! (HT: Talking Biz News)
  
  I observed the other day that the' [...]
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  Posted: October 22, 2009, 10:01am EDT
  by Gary Weiss

• First Casualty of the BusinessWeek Sale

  That was fast. Steve Adler's resignation from BusinessWeek was announced late yesterday, and according to Keith Kelly it is likely to be followed by others. Kelly makes it seem as if the staff is in chaos, with one other top editor likely to go and the status of' [...]
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  Posted: October 21, 2009, 11:30am EDT
  by Gary Weiss

• My Marley Snarls at a Friend

  I like to refer to Overstock.com's famously wacky CEO, Patrick Byrne, as "my Marley," as in the famously wacky dog that was depicted in a recent movie, a memoir, and, originally, in columns in a Florida newspaper by John Grogan.
  
  I understand Grogan's fascination with [...]
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  Posted: October 17, 2009, 10:42am EDT
  by Gary Weiss

• Mr. Storch Goes To Washington

  There is, or should be, a furor over a gent named Storch being named as the first chief operating officer of the SEC enforcement division.
  
  No, not this Storch:
  
  
  
  But this one:
  
  
  
  His name [...]
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  Posted: October 16, 2009, 4:22pm EDT
  by Gary Weiss

• Bloomberg Buys BusinessWeek, but Whither the Staff?

  Bloomberg L.P. officially became the buyer of BusinessWeek today, as expected. Here's a memo to the BW staff by the soon-to-be-former owner, and here's a Bloomberg press release.
  
  A few things are left unclear in the official pronouncements, and they're not minor:
  
  How many people' [...]
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  Posted: October 13, 2009, 8:04pm EDT
  by Gary Weiss

• Bloomberg + BusinessWeek = Layoffs?

  Amy Wicks of Women’s Wear Daily has a glum prediction today: the expected takeover of BusinessWeek by Bloomberg L.P. could mean the layoff, she says, of the entire staff.
  
  Wicks says that "the company is expected to only take on the BusinessWeek name and Web site, and none" [...]
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  Posted: October 09, 2009, 9:56am EDT
  by Gary Weiss

• Patrick Byrne, Facing Dilemma, Lashes Out at Penson Financial

  Sam Antar today describes the serious dilemma facing Patrick Byrne, the wacky CEO of Overstock.com. Thanks to an SEC investigation instigated by Sam, who has posted frequently about how Overstock has systematically inflated its financial statements, Byrne is caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place.
  
  He [...]
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  Posted: October 09, 2009, 8:30am EDT
  by Gary Weiss

• Did Penson Lie in its SEC Letter?

  Matt Taibbi hasn't responded to the letter made public yesterday by Penson Financial Services, which he accused of a pretty serious securities law violation in a blog post the other day.
  
  But while he's remaining mum, somebody spoke up in his defense, positing the following in a [...]
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  Posted: October 07, 2009, 9:42am EDT
  by Gary Weiss

• Ben Stein's Employer Drops Lawsuit Against Blogger

  In a previous post I described how Freescore.com, Ben Stein's employer, had sought to silence a blogger who was dared to criticize that slimy company. Public Citizen's Consumer Law and Policy Blog reports that the suit has been dropped.
  
  But here's what makes the whole thing funny.' [...]
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  Posted: October 07, 2009, 9:10am EDT
  by Gary Weiss

• Bloomberg--or 'No Sale'--is the BusinessWeek Frontrunner

  Reuters reports today that two bidders have dropped out of the running to buy BusinessWeek: OpenGate Capital and Mort Zuckerman. This is not good news, at least not for my struggling alma mater.
  
  OpenGate was a slash-and-burn private equity outfit, but Mort Zuckerman was a kind of old-fashioned [...]
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  Posted: October 06, 2009, 6:00pm EDT
  by Gary Weiss

• Was Matt Taibbi the Victim of a Hoax?

  Folks, I have a confession to make: I was in a minor auto accident the other day. I am really not in the mood for any massive fight with some guy who likes to call people "assholes." I have a sensitive disposition, am in a bad mood, and I don't' [...]
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  Posted: October 06, 2009, 12:22pm EDT
  by Gary Weiss

• Patrick Byrne Repeats 'Eagle Scout Defense' to SEC Investigation

  
  Patrick Byrne's nemesis featured in Crain's
  
  Crain's New York Business today has a terrific cover story on white collar crime fighter Sam Antar, online here (subscription or free trial required). It's filled with terrific nuggets of information, one of the most interesting of [...]
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  Posted: October 05, 2009, 9:03am EDT
  by Gary Weiss

• Has BusinessWeek's Cavalry Finally Arrived?

  
  Help may be on the way for BusinessWeek
  
  Years ago, I used to work at a little Washington outfit called States News Service. It was perpetually struggling for survival, and the boss man always used to keep the staff at bay by saying that [...]
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  Posted: October 01, 2009, 8:40am EDT
  by Gary Weiss

• Consumer Columnist Firing a Free Speech Issue?

  George Gombossy, who was fired by the Hartford Courant in a brazen surrender to a major advertiser, has sued the Courant for wrongful termination. He's basing his suit on a Connecticut statute that, Gombossy notes, "protects workers from retribution for exercising their First Amendment rights in the workplace."
  [...]
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  Posted: September 29, 2009, 4:02pm EDT
  by Gary Weiss

• McGraw Hill Is/Is Not Leaning Toward Bloomberg

  Continuing the maddeningly inconsistent coverage of the sale of BusinessWeek, Reuters reports this afternoon that McGraw-Hill is "leaning heavily" toward selling BW to Bloomberg.
  
  Meanwhile, Keith Kelly reports in the New York Post that all is quiet on the Bloomberg front: ". . . the board" [...]
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  Posted: September 29, 2009, 3:26pm EDT
  by Gary Weiss

• Victoria Gotti's Fish Story

  John Favara goes down in history as one of the most pathetic victims of the mob. He was the next door neighbor of John Gotti, the bestial boss of the Gambino crime family. Favara accidentally ran down the Gotti's young son Frankie in March 1980. Favara was abducted and brutally [...]
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  Posted: September 29, 2009, 9:42am EDT
  by Gary Weiss

• Salt Lake Tribune 'Clarifies' Patrick Byrne's Bigotry

  
  Byrne: Feeling the pressure
  
  There's a "clarification" tonight on the website of the Salt Lake Tribune, at the top of this article in the Trib on Overstock.com's latest SEC investigation. I understand it's appearing in the print edition of the Trib tomorrow' [...]
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  Posted: September 25, 2009, 10:42pm EDT
  by Gary Weiss