The dastardly Mr Deedes
Saucy drama over at City legal giant Clifford Chance, where a married partner has been caught romping in the office with a company secretary. The unpleasant business occurred in one of firm’s foreign outposts, where a trainee discovered the pair in flagrante delicto in a filing room. The amorous lawyer has since returned to London. A spokesman for the firm remarks solemnly: ‘It is not possible to comment further beyond underlining that we expect all of our people to meet high standards at all times.’
Panmure Gordon’s incoming boss, boyish-looking Ian Axe, 45, was, until recently, running his own consultancy firm called Axe Capital. Viewers of Sky’s enjoyable US drama Billions will know that’s also the name of the hedge fund belonging to the show’s scheming protagonist Bobby Axelrod. Played with wolfish charm by British actor Damian Lewis, ‘Axe’ is as ruthless as he is opportunistic. A former colleague assures me: ‘Ian is none of those things.’
Should Barclays boss Jes Staley be forced to quit over his mishandling of a recent whistleblower, it would be disastrous for his board who’ve appointed three chiefs in the past six years. Staley is also much respected by staff. Far more so than his flimsy predecessor, Antony Jenkins, whose elevation a Barclays employee described to me as like ‘the boy in charge of half-time oranges finding himself captain of the rugby team’. Too harsh, surely.
Ex-Walt Disney president Michael Ovitz hosted a fundraising soiree for New York’s Museum of Modern Art this week at the Los Angeles home he shares with his maitresse en titre, Jimmy Choo founder Tamara Mellon. While Ovitz introduces hot-to-trot Mellon, 49, as his fiancee, there’s still no sign of him taking her down the aisle. Despite the couple’s two-year engagement, the mega-rich father-of-three, 70, remains obdurately married to wife of 48 years, Judy.
A Tesco ad reads: ‘Great offers on beer and cider. Good Friday just got better.’ Meanwhile, Waitrose encourages customers to ‘enjoy Easter’ with its alcoholic spirits, just £15 a litre. Is nothing sacred?