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A Farewell

scott.bmpIt is now time that I bid you all adieu (albeit teary-eyed and heartbroken). I have enjoyed my internship here at DealBreaker more than any other internship I've had (slim pickings). I've had the privilege of exploring the deep, dark underbelly that is the DealBreaker dungeon and have had an exposure to the lovely, heartwarming comments that you, DealBreaker reader, have adorned me with.

From a meager start of mammaries to a grand finale of Rupert Murdoch, my just over eight weeks here have been a blast. From shocking secrets revealed at the Shake Shack to hoity-toity evenings at the NYPL to Dow Jones employees at the Corporate Challenge to iPhone launch coverage (by far the most fun), my photo essays have shocked millions dozens throughout the nation.

The people who work here are awesome. Bess, Keith, David, and John, thank you so much for everything including the opportunity to work with you for a short while. It has really been an excellent experience for me and I wish you all the best throughout the next months as DealBreaker undoubtedly grows to uncharted territories and new heights.

[Ed.'s note: we have released the hostage.]

Murdoch Gets Annotated

murdoch-painting-01.jpgGeoffrey Raymond is at it again! Now he's gone off and painted good 'ol Rupert Murdoch in his classic style, but this time he's asking for a little help from the viewer. Raymond is displaying his masterpiece outside of One World Financial Center so that Wall Street Journal employees and tourists alike can add their feelings about Rupes directly to the piece. WSJ employees in red marker, everyone else in black, with Raymond acting as a moderator. Barring rain, Raymond will be there until the end of the week and then the painting is going to the highest bidder. By highest bidder we mean any bidder, as the eBay auction starting at $3,500 has no bids to date with just three days left.

To one man walking by who refused to stop but still seemed interested, Raymond said defensively, "It's not a picture of Rupert Murdoch, it's a picture of a moment in the history of the Wall Street Journal." Apparently this painting took only about two weeks to complete with Raymond rushing to finish before any official announcement about the fate of Dow Jones is announced. His painting of the $Honey is still a work in progress, he told DealBreaker — Raymond hasn't yet figured out the finishing touch.

After the jump we bring you some pictures of the painting's set up on Liberty Street.

The Annotated Murdoch [eBay]

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Fourth of July iPhone Porn

Bonus post for those of you still stuck in the office! I was left behind here as the rest of the DealBreaker team left for the beach.

iPhone-Launch.jpgYou may have noticed others here at DealBreaker hinting toward my iPhone coverage around launch time at the end of last week in a couple different posts, and now I present to you what resulted.

The lines outside the Apple stores at the Fifth Avenue and SoHo stores slowly grew from Monday onward and I made sure to be right there to document the madness history-making launch. As you all know, Greg Packer, dubbed the iLoser, a compulsive line-sitter, was at the forefront at the Fifth Avenue Apple store. He even has his own blog now. Second in line was David Clayman (his blog here) who, after changing his story a couple times, decided he was buying the phone for charity.

Over at the SoHo store first in line was the "Keep A Child Alive" foundation who is auctioning the Jesus Phone iPhone off in a package on eBay now. They of course wanted to wait at the flagship Fifth Ave. store but since Greg beat them to the punch, they decided to mope at the SoHo store instead. After talking to them on numerous visits to the store (close to the office, conveniently), I found out they had five people in line (working shifts of only 4 hours) and each was buying two 8GB phones, but one wonders if the other nine have vanished into their pockets since only one is up on eBay now.

Filming the entire event live was Mogulus.com at the special website iPhoneLaunch.tv. They interviewed me briefly as I scouted the location and aired it live on the site (unfortunately not archived for my self-referential enjoyment). Supposedly on launch day they had four cameras out and about filming the event, but their site couldn’t handle all the traffic (max 800 viewers?!), so I can’t verify.

Through downpours and sweltering heat, hundreds of people camped out for this revolutionary (Jobs’s words, not mine) device for many days and I was forced sure to cover it all. On launch day I visited both stores but stuck to the Fifth Ave. store (which had unreal amounts of press) for coverage of the opening at 6PM. After the jump are two slideshows of my attempts at photojournalism, the first one of the Fifth Ave. store and the second of the SoHo store.

The best iPhone review I have read (which says the Mail app is terrible) for those of you who still haven't gotten your hands on one of these can be found here.

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Steve Schwarzman Takes Over the New York Public Library

Yesterday the Blackstone Group announced that it was fast-tracking its initial public offering, so that shares in the private equity group will start trading under the ticker symbol BX a week earlier than planned. So how did Blackstone co-founder Stephen Schwarzman spend the night before this big announcement? He went to a party.

As we mentioned earlier, Monday night the New York Public Library held it’s annual corporate dinner, and Schwarzman was the guest of honor. DealBreaker Senior Library Correspondent Scott Bressler reports from the party.

schwarzman.jpgMonday night DealBreaker got me on the list for Steve Schwarzman's bash at the New York Public Library. I was on the press list along with legends like Bill Cunningham from the NYT Sunday Style On The Street spread, as well as others from CNBC. Considering the media spectacle that good ole Stevie has made of himself lately, I'm surprised there was no giant platter of over-priced crab claws (though none of the waiters had squeaky shoes).

The first hour of the event was a cocktail party in Astor Hall (beautiful space for those who aren't familiar with it). Of course everyone there, as members of our cities finest waspy elite, is a major contributor to the NYPL (and I'm not talking about sneaking in through the Young Lions on the cheap).

I snapped plenty of photos of The Man Himself, Mr. Schwarzman during the cocktail hour, and got a few of some of the other big-wigs such as Donald Marron, Jimmy Lee, and Sam Butler. Just as I was leaving, Maria Bartiromo, a speaker for the event, came in with her husband, Jonathan Steinberg.

Photos after the jump.

Schwarzman in the Spotlight at Library Gala [New York Sun]
Schwarzman: Doing It for the “Regular People” [Wall Street Journal]

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DealBreaker’s PartPuzzler 2007: Follically-Challenged Edition

If for some reason you're still suck at the office, phone it in till quitting time and enjoy a round of everyone's favorite DealBreaker game: PartPuzzler. Last week we asked you to match the mammaries to the billionairesses they belonged to, and now we have a new edition of PartPuzzler 2007. In this second segment, the category is Bald Men - or at least in the process of going bald. We want you all to figure out whose shiny head belongs to each of the following wealthy men who couldn't get Rogaine to work for them:

Henry Paulson Jon Corzine Lloyd Blankfein
James Simons Stephen Schwarzman Rupert Murdoch
Henry Kravis Stevie Cohen Dick Grasso

Post your answers or send them to tips at dealbreaker dot com.

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