NOMURA WALL CANDY IMPRESSES ART-LOVING FORMER LEHMANITES
AND SO it emerges that Lehman Brothers is preparing to sell 650 of its prized modern and contemporary artworks at auction in the States this winter, hoping to raise a total of $1m for its creditors. (Not that the piddling amount will contribute much to levelling its $250bn debt pile, but every little helps, as Tesco would say.)
The works being sold at the Freeman’s auction house in Philadelphia later in the year include a 1982 print of the Statue of Liberty by American pop artist Roy Lichtenstein, expected to fetch as much as $30,000 to swell the bank’s coffers.
Over here in the UK,by comparison, the art collection housed in Lehman’s former Canary Wharf HQ was rather more “establishment” – think 17th and 18th century landscapes and sculpture. It has also been catalogued for future sale, though no firm auction date has yet been set.
Mind you, The Capitalist hears art-loving ex-Lehmanites still in the building haven’t been bemoaning the loss of their former employer’s collection too much. Apparently, they’re too busy admiring the wall candy put up by their new employer Nomura. Among the gems in the Japanese bank’s 31st-floor boardroom and client centre are a triptych by modern Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama (who holds the $5.1m record for the most expensive work ever sold by a living female artist) and an orange butterfly painting by Damien Hirst. A breath of fresh air indeed.
MACHO MAN
Isn’t life just full of surprises? Malcolm Wall – the sturdy former boxer who quit Virgin Media earlier this year and is in the running for the top job at ITV – has taken up singing lessons.
Wall, who is enjoying having the summer off as he waits for a job offer, was apparently tempted into his new hobby by a friend who told him that anybody can sing (a rumour yours truly, as an ardent fan of caterwauling in the shower, would strongly refute). Wall tells me he is currently working on Roger Miller’s Sixties classic “King of the Road” with his vocal tutor in Fulham, though he claims his ultimate ambition is “to be able to karaoke when sober”.
Don’t be getting any ideas that the macho man is getting soft, though: he is keen to remind everyone he’s still a rugby fan and is also doing “a mega amount” of rowing at the moment. Would we have dared suggest anything of the kind?
LITTLE MEN
Interesting trivia for the week: who knew that diminutive WPP chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell is the same size as a certain renowned French military and political leader?
“I am exactly the same size as Napoleon,” he tells CNBC’s The Leaders in a programme airing tonight. “Five foot six and a half – and don’t forget the half!”
Some, of course, might insert gags here about the renowned “Napoleon complex” – though speaking from considerably less dizzying heights, The Capitalist wouldn’t dream of it.
BOLDER THE BETTER
This week’s daring antics of a certain Alex Kearns, who perched himself atop a plinth in Trafalgar Square and unrolled a giant CV to try and catch the eye of passing would-be employers, seem to have borne fruit.
After spotting Kearns’s picture in this column a few days ago, a keen-eyed chap from the International Business Development Group consultancy has been in touch to quiz him further about his skills. In today’s climate, bolder certainly appears to be better.
JUST A WEE DRAM
Whisky-lovers take note: distinguished distiller Glenfiddich has just released its new 50 Year Old single malt whisky, which has been aging for the past half a century in the recesses of one of the company’s warehouses.
I’m told only 50 bottles will be released each year for the next decade, from a stock of just 500. Along with the whisky itself, which comes in ornate bottles decorated in Scottish silver, buyers will also receive a leather-bound book to record personal tasting notes – though all this will cost you, at £10,000 a pop. The mind boggles.
SAX IN THE CITY
It’s off to Leadenhall Market tonight, for an evening of jazz funded by Canada and whimsically dubbed “Sax in the City”.
If the prospect of a free knees-up isn’t enough to pull in the crowds by itself, there’ll also be a variety of food on offer, including a hog roast, barbecues, seafood displays, fish and chips and pizza.
As far as entertainment goes, they’ll have performers on stage including Cheltenham Jazz Festival winners Cattle Market; Client Number 9, “the City’s top charity rock band” featuring musicians from AIG, Hiscox and HSBC; and even Steve Gregory, the saxophone player who backed George Michael on “Careless Whisper”. Autograph books at the ready, now…