Despite 2 Wars, OpenAI Drama, Collapse of White Collar Jobs, Leon Black's Saga of Decadence Still Headlines

 The escalation of geopolitical tensions, generative AI as Black Swan along with the OpenAI board coup and massive layoffs of Knowledge Workers should have made the Leon Black story (Rise and Fall and too many Legal Actions) so yesterday. 

BUT IT’S THE MARC ROWAN SHOW

Anyway, come on, the guy who got his CEO job when he stepped down at Apollo - Marc Rowan - has been grabbing sustained digital front-page coverage. That has ranged from transforming the private equity firm into a credit player to organizing a campaign against institutions of higher education which he perceived as not adequately supportive of Israel.

RELAXING WITH, OF ALL THINGS, LEON BLACK ANYTHING

But here we are. It is the day before Thanksgiving when hard-chargers are sliding into relaxing somewhat. That gives them "permission" to read slowly and not just scroll through the very long-form feature on Financial Times about Black. 

Quite peculiar we are presented with Black anything again. Face it: Who cares about some very rich aging overweight guy who had made what seems had been dumb decisions in friendship and romance. That territory is jam-packed with those kinds of unravelings.

Read, for example, "The Age of Decadence: A History of Britain 1880 - 1914" by Simon Heffer. And the current royals in England (and California) provide such fun versions of human indulgence and myopia. So focused on money, Black, Jeffrey Epstein and Guzel Ganieva can't be experienced as authentic fun folks. There is too much wealth gravitas they lugged/lug around as baggage.

THE TRIGGER?

So weird is this kind of article at this time that one wonders what triggered the revisit to yesterday. And with so little new in what FT vomits up. Just like little was new in the Graydon Carter's coverage last August in Air Mail. The bits in FT some of us hadn't accessed such as the details of Black's recording of the seminal negotiations lunch with Ganieva, well, aren't the stunner kind of material.

THAT SHOW CLOSED DOWN (OR SHOULD HAVE)

All the one-time theatrical elements of the Black story, dating way back to his father's suicide, have lost their show quality. That disinterest extends to Black's recent lawsuit against Wigdor, the plaintiff law firm which represented Ganieva and currently represents two others accusing Black of sexual misconduct. There is plenty of other juicy stuff going on about and in law firms. Giant Kirkland & Ellis never disappoints in what it is up to. Documentary makers should do something with that ongoing copy produced by Kirkland & Ellis.

COLLATERAL DAMAGE

Unfortunately, some of those who have made their way back from being caught up in this Black/Epstein/Ganieva tragedy, which does not have Shakespearean nobility (Black loves Shakespeare and even alluded to one of his dramas in a lawsuit), might have again lost some brand equity. They include co-founder of Apollo Josh Harris and head of law firm Paul, Weiss Brad Karp. The buzz could start up again. What titillation during this season of supposed good feelings when folks make it their mission to get together. 

I have special empathy for Karp, described in the article as "longtime confidant" of Black. The bonding is no surprise. In the four years I have known Karp professionally he has exuded the ethos of an intellectual, just like Black. There is so much more to Karp than simply the hard-charging lawyer. Paul, Weiss no longer represents Black - but it did. The Ghost of Black Past will hover over the law firm for a while again. The law firm will have to conjure up blockbuster developments to neutralize that force field. Several times I have pitched to Karp my writing a 60-page book about how his superpower mind operates.

ON THE MONEY ABOUT THE “NEAR OCCASIONS OF SIN”

In my coaching I warn clients about guilt by association in their networking. That circles back to Catholic school education when it was hammered to avoid "bad companions" since they were "near occasions of sin." We don’t talk “sin” anymore. The keyword for google search is “scandal.”

Data or the gut for your careers and communications? Both of course. Complimentary consultation with intuitive coach, content-creator, and Tarot reader Jane Genova (text 203-468-8579, janegenova374@gmail.com).

 

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