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Recent Press Releases (U.S. and international) for magazine issues and staff changes may be found below. Please note that for many issues there exists only a highlights sheet, while for others there may also be a full press release. The cover of FORTUNE's current issue is pictured at right. Please contact the appropriate communications staff member with any questions.
Highlights of the
April 16, 2007
Issue of FORTUNE
Available on newsstands April 9, full stories are available at www.FORTUNE.com.
COVER STORY BLOOMBERG'S MONEY MACHINE, by Carol Loomis, page 60 The man, Michael Bloomberg, runs New York City and may have even grander ambitions. In a recent conversation with FORTUNE, Bloomberg coyly volunteered the line, “…assuming I'm not living at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue .” In the next breath he waved that off as “not very likely.” The company, Bloomberg LP, is a prodigious success and just keeps getting stronger. It is a Wall Street juggernaut that has pummeled competitors and changed the way financial information is provided to customers. The secret: a sharp focus on delivering an ever-improving product and backing it up with unremitting attention to customer service. The company has also been a mother lode for Mike. It gave him the wealth to run for mayor, would let him single-handedly fund a campaign for President if he chooses to run, and will pave his road to large-scale philanthropy. FORTUNE takes a look at how Michael Bloomberg built his company, how it operates, and how Bloomberg LP stacks up against its competitors.
LUXURY SPECIAL REPORT LIFE AT THE TOP, page 45 In the first of this four-part series FORTUNE takes a look inside the most lavish private jet on the planet, top convertibles to drive this summer, Greg Norman's golf tips, secrets from Cartier's Frédéric de Narp, and much more. Some say living well is the best revenge. FORTUNE would suggest that it's the best reward.
KEN THE CONQUEROR, by Marcia Vickers, page 80 On North Michigan Avenue in Chicago , on the Magnificent Mile, sits one of the city's tallest and swankiest residential buildings. Occasionally passersby shopping at the Armani or Tiffany stores nearby catch a glimpse of the windows and tilt their heads skyward with an “I-wonder-who-lives-there?” stare. The answer—Kenneth C. Griffin—probably wouldn't make much of an impression, which suits a secretive hedge fund manager like him just fine. In fact, he fits the hedge fund stereotype quite nicely. He's young (38), fantastically rich (worth $2 billion or so), and he collects museum-quality art. He's got the trophy home, obviously, and is married to a very attractive woman, the former Anne Dias. The company he founded and runs, Citadel Investment Group, has around $13 billion in assets and is one of the largest and most powerful funds in the world. What sets him apart from his fellow nouveau zillionaires is the scale of his ambition. Griffin seems to be going for full-blown, captain-of-industry immortality, the kind achieved by titans who didn't just dot, but shaped, the landscape of business over the past century. As a former Citadel manager put it recently, “ Suddenly it seems like Ken wants to be a J.P. Morgan or John D. Rockefeller .”
THE GREAT CORN GOLD RUSH, by Jon Birger, page 74 In farm country, $4 corn is more than a big deal. It's a phenomenon. In the span of just eight months, the price of the U.S. 's most important crop—our biggest agricultural export as well as the staple feed for our livestock—has doubled from $2, where it had been stuck since the late 1990s, to $4 a bushel. The cause is soaring demand from the ethanol plants, which bought 2.2 billion bushels last year, 34% more than in 2005. The futures market thinks this rally has legs. May 2008 corn recently traded at $4.20 a bushel, while December 2010 futures were at $3.74. Problem is, what's good for farmers—and even better for the companies selling them tractors, seeds, and fertilizer—has started to roil other parts of the economy. The feed costs for cattlemen and hog farmers have skyrocketed. Ethanol producers have seen profits slashed. Food companies are being squeezed and are starting to pass along higher costs to consumers. Are corn growers sitting on a “dot-corn” bubble?
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?, page 101 It can be a bumpy ride from fame to obscurity in business—from front-page news to trivia-quiz answer. From time to time FORTUNE tracks down a few of the biggest heroes and rogues of the recent past to see what they're up to and what they've learned. This edition includes: R. Foster Winans, Wall Street Journal; Ken Fox, Internet Capital Group; Fred Joseph, Drexel Burnham Lambert; Jac Nasser, Ford; Mike Harper, ConAgra, RJR Nabisco; Linda Wachner, Warnaco; Ed Artzt, Proctor & Gamble; Robert Crandall, American Airlines; Rebecca Mark, Enron.
DEPARTMENTS FIRST Welcome to Club Hedge Now that Fortress has opened up to the public, what fund will be the next to try its hand at an IPO? The Ford Family Shops for Advice What would you do if $581 million of your family's fortune had been vaporized in just 5½ years? Members of the auto dynasty are looking for options. Target Iran A three-year-old divestment campaign aimed at state sponsors of terrorism—primarily Iran —has failed to gain traction. DISPATCHES The Cuban Game An agent's trial spotlights an intriguing question: What will the end of Castro's regime mean for Major League Baseball? COLUMNS Technology Why Silicon Valley 's premier VCs have that old-time eco-religion. Value Driven Lucian Bebchuk: the corporate gadfly in the ivory tower. Books A bittersweet oral history of African-American major leaguers leads a lineup of winning baseball books. INVESTING Five Great Yield Stocks These dividend payers promise steady income and are strong growth prospects.
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Erin Clinton
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