Sony’s full Moonves
CBS boss in Japan, wooing film, TV assets
CBSchiefLeslieMoonves
is wasting notime nowthat the merger with Viacomis kaput. On the Money’s Tokyo tipsters claim Moonves jetted over to Japan with the aim of beating the bushes on an acquisition of Sony Pictures.
Our snoops in the legal community tell us that after many years of saying Sony’s entertainment assets are not for sale, the company is now quietly suggesting it will consider pitches.
The wrinkle could be whether Moonves will take all the movie and TV assets, since Sony might want to keep the highly profitable TV piece, which makes shows such as “Jeopardy!”
The CBS Radio spinoff happening early next year will surely give the Tiffany network some cash to spend.
Ralph Lauren’s latest hit has nothing to do with plaid shirts.
The Polo Bar, next door to his Fifth Avenue store at 55th Street, is fast becoming the hottest, most exclusive hangout for the media industry’s 1 percenters.
Our tipsters spotted Charlie Rose chatting with President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign manager Kellyanne Conway (pictured) early last week.
Also on the scene were Showtime Chairman Matt Blank and author and reporter Andrew Ross Sorkin. Blank brought along the “Billions” cast, including Damian Lewis and Malin Akerman, just days before.
On the Money operatives also spotted überagent Jay Sures of UTA with his clients.
Barry Diller and David Geffen also dined there, on the same night as Colony Capital’s Tom Barrack, who chowed down at a table nearby. Private equity mogul Barrack was busy discussing plans for the president-elect’s Inauguration Day entertainment.
We’re told Lauren himself was involved in the minutiae of the cozy restaurant design, from the positioning of the horse racing- themed paintings right downdown toto the Thomas Edison-era lightht bulbs. The election of Donald Trump has some obvious winners andnd los-losers in the city.city.
While Trump Tower securityurity continues to disrupt busi-siness for Tiffany’s and others, our sources say the ‘21’ Club and Jean-Georges restau-urants have been inundateded with reservation requeststs since the president-elect publicly ate there. So has the Trump International Hotel, sources confirm.
Luxury department storeore chain Neiman Marcus re-eported lousy quarterly earn-earnings quarter last week, withwith sales down more than 7 per-percent from a year ago.
But one thing that’s flyingying out the door of its 42 storesres are velvet shoes and hand-ndbags. “This fall we had amazing success with vel-elvet,” said Chief Executiveve Karen Katz on an investorstor call. “It was all over the shoe, bag department. We didn’t have enough velvet shoes and bags.”
Velvet is having a moment,ment, says anne Morrison, fashionn director of The Doneger Group, adding that demand for the soft fabric hasn’t been thishis strong in close to a decade.
“It’s an evolution of thee hippie, Bohemian story that is not going away,”way,” Morrison told our Lisa Fickenscher. Sumner and Shari Redstone’s Nationaltional AmuAmusements Inc. sure likes to keep bankersbank and lawyers employed. WhenSumner,WhenSu the controlling shareholder of the $40 billion CBS and Viacom empire, wanted to oust CEOPhilippe Dauman, the courtroom was packed with 43 lawyers representing corpocorporate executives and Redstone familfamily members. The sea of blue suits stunned the case judge. LitLitigation went on for months, with cases fought in Massachusetts, Los Angeles and Delaware, untuntil Dauman agreed to step dodown in August with a $72 milliolion payoff. Hewas replaced by ChChief Operating Officer Tom Dooley, who exited with a $63 mmillion payout in September. Early that month, NAI hired BBarclays and Evercore Partnners to help figure out how to manmanage its 80 percent voting stakstake in the two media entities. ThThen, by Sept. 28, NAI called for aa mermerger of CBS and Viacom, a plan ssince abandoned but which will reresult in a huge bill for shareholderholders. CBS hired Moelis and Goldman Sachs to represent its interests in a merger, while an independent specialcial committeec of CBS board directrectors hired Lazard and law firm White & Case. OOn the Viacom side, its special comcommittee hired Morgan Stanley, AlleAllen & Co. and LionTree Advisorssors, along with law firm Debevoiseoise and Plimpton. AnAnd let’s not forget the law firms hired to litigate claims against Sumner Redstone by gal pal Manuela Herzer. Or his more recent legal efforts to get Herzer to return gifts.