David Zaslav, CEO of Discovery Communications, knows how to throw a party.
Zaslav and wife Pam convened a high-wattage assortment of celebrities and money guys at his Manhattan apartment recently, creating a Gotham version of Sun Valley — except with fun, and the press got to join in, too.
Among the guests were Jonathan Nelson of Providence Equity; Mike Cavanagh, heir apparent to Jamie Dimon from JPMorgan, who was chatting with CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo and David Faber.
Oprah Winfrey, chief of OWN Network, and Jeff Zucker, now running CNN, both soaked up more positive vibes this year: Oprah for her Lance Armstrong get and Zucker for his fast moves at the news network. Sources tell On the Money that NBCers at the party joked to Zucker, “Please take me!” We won’t say who.
The Hollywood East contingent included Harvey Weinstein, who chatted with Morgan Freeman, Tom Freston and Lorne Michaels. Former Sony CFO, now Warner Music COO Rob Wiesenthal put in an appearance, as did a host of former NBC staff including TiVo’s Tom Rogers and Univision’s Randy Falco.
Before running Discovery, Zaslav was president of NBCUniversal’s cable and newmedia unit under Falco.–Claire Atkinson
No more silent lambs
Oh, what a feeling.
Designer Narciso Rodriguez will be touting the versatility of merino wool this week at New York Fashion Week.
Rodriguez, whose clients include Claire Danes, Rachel Weisz, Diane Kruger, Katie Holmes and Michelle Obama, has signed on as ambassador for Woolmark — a company owned by Australian Wool Innovation — promoting the use of wool in fashion. It launches its new campaign Tuesday.
Rodriguez will include merino wool pieces in two upcoming collections, and he’ll talk about wool as a luxury fiber for Woolmark’s three-year $21.1 million campaign, “No Finer Feeling.”
Woolmark is bumping up its presence in New York for the first time in years — its marketing budget for the fiscal year starting July 1 is up 56 percent from last year, to $54 million, after Australian sheep shearers late last year voted to spend more money on marketing over the next three years.
–Julie Earle Levine
Flush in Jersey
New Jersey this week essentially legalized online poker playing. And Atlantic City casinos have an ace up their sleeves.
The same legislators behind legalizing online gaming are trying to fend off a court challenge over legalizing gambling on sporting events. If the legislators succeed, sports wagers at Atlantic City casinos and New Jersey racetracks are expected to be $1 billion a year.
That is more than triple the $300 million expected from online poker, state Sen. Raymond Lesniak said.
He added that sports gambling could begin in the Garden State by the time next season’s NFL games kick off.–Josh Kosman
Are you game?
Ready for a spanking good time? Shane Yeend, an Australian entrepreneur is betting on it. He has created the “Fifty Shades of Grey” board game, based on the best-selling sex novels.
The game will officially launch tomorrow at Toy Fair 2013, at the Javits Center.
The Fifty Shades trilogy by E.L. James has sold more than 35 million copies collectively in the US and 68 million worldwide, and a movie is in the works.
In New York, retailers include Barnes & Noble and Urban Outfitters.–Julie Earle Levine
Hailing Hailo
When Hailo, the maker of a taxi hailing app, tried to flag down city investor Fred Wilson, he told them to circle the block.
On his blog, A VC, Wilson said: “They had huge ambitions for 2012 and we thought they were delusional. We passed.”
Wilson, of Union Square Ventures and Twitter investing fame, wrote those words in December, when he recounted that the company came back later and proved him wrong.
Hailo just pulled in about $15 million from Wilson, and now it is trying to capture the attention of the city’s yellow cabbies. If Hailo can sign up enough drivers, New Yorkers could be hailing cabs from their phones — with the TLC’s permission, of course.
Hailo “accomplished everything they said they would do in their plans at year end 2011,” Wilson wrote.–Garett Sloane