Everyone on the Street is buzzing about
Andrew Ross Sorkin's must-read piece in The New York Times on former
Barclays CEO
Bob Diamond.
It's a great reflective profile on the top banker who fell from grace last summer amid the LIBOR rigging scandal.
It's also full of nuggets like how Diamond was able to purchase a $37 million penthouse in New York without getting caught.
Pay attention.
From the NYTimes:
And his current residence is a $37 million penthouse apartment on the 40th floor of 15 Central Park West, where Sting and Lloyd Blankfein also live. Diamond was aware enough of the “optics” that he tried to hide the fact that he was buying the apartment by purchasing it under the name of Novgorod, a Russian-sounding company he created to make it appear that an oligarch had bought the apartment. It worked. The New York Observer reported at the time: “Are the Good Times Back? 15 Central Park West Penthouse Sells for $37 M.” The article never mentioned the name of the real owner.
We looked up the old New York Observer article. Here's what it said:
The buyers are listed as the corporations Novgorod and Novgorod Two–as in the Russian city. Paul Wrobleski of Clarfeld Financial Advisors, listed as a contact for the buyer, did not return several messages.
Now that's how it's done.
