Dick Fuld, who piloted Lehman Brothers into Chapter 11 last September, appears to be making moves so he doesn’t lose his tony Florida seaside mansion in any civil lawsuits that may be filed against him.
Weeks after the Sept. 15 bankruptcy filing, the disgraced Fuld transferred title to the $13.3 million Jupiter, Fla., mansion to his wife. The couple had owned the house jointly since buying it in March 2004.
Fuld sold the house, which sits on 3.3 acres, to his wife for $100, according to Florida real estate documents obtained by Cityfile.com, which first reported the Nov. 10 transfer.
Former employees of the now defunct Lehman, who lost much of their retirement funds and, for many, their jobs, will be glad to hear Fuld has taken care to see that he is taken care of.
If only the 62-year old executive had watched over Lehman as closely while Wall Street melted in the grips of a credit crunch in 2008, perhaps as many careers wouldn’t have been ruined.
It has been reported that Fuld rejected potential deals to sell Lehman because he thought the price was too low or because Lehman wasn’t being given enough inde pendence with the deal.
Without a deep-pocketed part ner, Lehman failed and Fuld be came a pariah on Wall Street.
Richard Wilner
LIVE Nation is looking to dump the online busi nesses of major artists including John Leg end, Kelly Clarkson, Rihanna and others, On the Money has learned.
Last week, the concert- promotion giant quietly folded its UltraStar unit, which manages artists’ online fan clubs, into its Signatures merchandising company, according to mul tiple sources inside or close to the company. About 20 employees were laid off as part of the restructuring, the sources said.
“We are continually looking across the com pany to find efficiencies while still providing unparalleled serv ice to artists and fans,” said Jason Garner, Live Nation’s CEO of Global Music. “In this economy, it is our responsibility to eliminate duplication.”
As part of the company’s efficiency efforts, sources close to the situation said, Live Nation plans to cease managing artist Web sites that are “unprofitable, not profitable enough, or have no strategic position in its portfolio.”
Other acts whose online businesses could be dropped include Celine Dion, Genesis, Shania Twain, Elvis Presley, Janet Jackson, Santana and, ironically, UltraStar founder David Bowie.
Garner declined to comment.
Separately, Live Nation, in a regulatory filing slipped into the Securities and Exchange Commission on Inauguration Day, revealed that former Chairman Michael Cohl sold nearly 357,000 shares, or about 40 percent of his stake, in the company.
Cohl resigned from Live Nation after last year’s ugly dispute with CEO Michael Rapino over the company’s strategic direction regarding signing artists to recording contracts.
Peter Lauria
“SQUAWK BOX” anchor Becky Quick and the show’s executive producer, Matthew Quayle, recently took the walk down the aisle and while Quayle has supervisory duties over the show, neither will have to shift professional roles, CNBC said.
According to a network spokesman, both Quick and Quayle work for business news head Jonathan Wald. Though Quayle outranks Quick in title, they are technically equals in the sense that both report to Wald.
From that perspective, the spokesman said there is no conflict of interest in having the couple continue to work on the same show.
Peter Lauria
business@nypost.com