William D. Cohan

How Wall Street Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the Bomb In an informal survey of the lords of high finance, executives praised Trump’s strike on Iran, and said they won’t worry about the market until there are American boots on the ground. It’s the New Yor...

Wall Street is more worried about Zohran than it is about war with Iran. Just saying

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Debt Becomes Him David Zazlav, who leveraged his way to media moguldom, is now using an unusual debt tender offer as part of the process of spinning out WBD’s linear TV assets. Is it a sweet deal for bondholders, or a...

Is Warner Bros. Discovery setting a new precedent on Wall Street?

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The Shari Nightmare Scenario It’s not at all clear where Shari Redstone would come up with the $550 million she would owe her creditors if the Skydance-Paramount deal falls through—and the consequences are mind-boggling.

Imagining the nightmare scenario for Shari Redstone if her deal to sell Paramount Global does not close by October. It ain't pretty...

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Another Day in Sharidise So what happens if Shari Redstone can’t close her Paramount deal by the fall—as is becoming increasingly likely? A $300 million payment to the Ellisons, another $250 million to Byron Trott, the potent...

What does Shari Redstone do if her deal to recapitalize Paramount Global doesn't close in October?

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The Zaz Downgrade Debacle For years, David Zaslav and henchman Gunnar Wiedenfels had been following the yeoman’s path of paying down Warner Bros. Discovery’s $55 billion debt, all in the service of exploding the value of their...

Why did S&P Global downgrade the debt of Warner Bros. Discovery, instead of upgrading it? That's what I would like to know...

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Hype Man: Marc Metrick's Saks is a cluttered closet full of discounts Selling deals is a hype game. Disclosure rules are loose and going to get looser. But gatekeepers — lawyers, investment bankers, and Big 4 global audit firms — win all the time.

Hype Man: Marc Metrick's Saks is a cluttered closet full of discounts open.substack.com/pub/thedig/p... Thanks to @williamdcohan.bsky.social for sharing the prospectus with multiple sets of audited financials and auditors' opinions and some really wild-a$$ pro formas. #DeloitteToronto #EYDallas

Trump’s Wall Street Tax Glitch While everyone’s focused on the fate of the SALT deduction in Trump’s tax bill, a similar but lesser-known provision could punish a range of businesses, from high-powered law firms and hedge funds to ...

Partnerships of all stripes are going to get walloped by the Big Beautiful Tax bill unless the Senate takes action

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SPAC to the Future The finance types who create ghost companies, then take them public through an I.P.O. with nothing more than a promise and a wink, have been busy this year—including the three geniuses behind what bec...

Ugh, SPACs are back, sort of. Buyer beware!

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Saks Pistols More strife at Saks Global as the retailer faces a $121 million interest payment due next month and a possible $100 million-plus shortfall in August. Meanwhile, executives have questions about the art...

Will things get worse before they get better at Saks Global? My latest analysis.

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Life Saks Pretty much everything that could go wrong at Saks Global has gone wrong. Now, two firms best known for advising on restructurings have been engaged amid growing doubts about the company’s future.

It sure looks like Saks Global is heading toward a major debt restructuring now that both the company and its major creditors have hired bigtime legal and financial advisers.

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Zaslav’s Spin Cycle Days after NBCU announced the name of its SpinCo, David Zaslav kicked the rumor mill into overdrive by announcing that Warner Bros. Discovery, too, had successfully cordoned off its declining cable bu...

Has WarnerBros. Discovery finally turned the corner after first quarter earnings plus the success of Minecraft and Sinners? My latest...

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The Leon Black Legal Saga Ad Absurdum The former Apollo executive has defeated all but one of the misconduct allegations against him—an increasingly surreal case involving a client who has been dropped by her lawyers and is now at war wit...

Former Apollo executive Leon Black faces another misconduct allegation—this time it’s an increasingly surreal case involving a client who’s been dropped by her lawyers and is now at war with their firm…

@williamdcohan.bsky.social has details:

Tuesdays With Orszag Orszag and Lazard co-head of European investment banking, Jean-Louis Girodolle, discuss whether the tariffs can actually work, America’s role as world leader, and the current market volatility.

Lazard C.E.O. Peter Orszag on whether Trump’s tariffs can actually work, America’s role as world leader, and the current market volatility.

Read his conversation with Puck’s @williamdcohan.bsky.social

No Saks in the Champagne Room A deep dive into the 400-page bond prospectus reveals some very creative accounting, including my new fave: “Pro Forma Run-Rate Adjusted EBITDA.”

Since Saks acquired Neiman Marcus Group for $2.7B, Wall Street has been trying to figure out why the deal got done in the first place. @williamdcohan.bsky.social's deep dive into the 400-page bond prospectus reveals some creative accounting:

There Will Be Blood In an increasingly nasty proxy battle, Paul Singer’s hedge fund is agitating for board seats and what it claims is long-overdue change at Big Oil’s Phillips 66, whose chairman has chosen to fight.

In an increasingly nasty proxy battle, Paul Singer’s hedge fund, Elliott Management, is agitating for board seats at Big Oil’s Phillips 66, whose C.E.O. has chosen to dig in and fight.

@williamdcohan.bsky.social has the story:

There Will Be Blood In an increasingly nasty proxy battle, Paul Singer’s hedge fund is agitating for board seats and what it claims is long-overdue change at Big Oil’s Phillips 66, whose chairman has chosen to fight.

There's one proxy fight worth watching this proxy season and pits Big Hedge Fund against Big Oil and boy is it a doozy!

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No Saks in the Champagne Room A deep dive into the 400-page bond prospectus reveals some very creative accounting, including my new fave: “Pro Forma Run-Rate Adjusted EBITDA.”

We all know now how crazy the Saks-Neiman Marcus merger was, last December. Now I can reveal what the companies did to raise the $2.2 billion in junk financing, and it ain't pretty.

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Tuesdays With Orszag Orszag and Lazard co-head of European investment banking, Jean-Louis Girodolle, discuss whether the tariffs can actually work, America’s role as world leader, and the current market volatility.

Ever wonder how the European business community is grappling with the Trump Tariff mishegas? So did I. My conversation, in Paris, with two of the leaders of Lazard.

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Is the Saks/Neiman Marcus deal already in trouble, just four months after closing? It sure looks that way. I explain all here.

Dirty Larry Comes Out Firing Larry Summers, the former Treasury secretary and N.E.C. director, goes “Full Larry” on the economic fallout under Trump II—capital flight, lost exports, violent deleveraging, declining competitiveness...

What a pleasant surprise! @LHSummers
with the guts to keep speaking Truth to Power. He tells it like it is to me during this recent interview. Massive praise to him.

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Saks’ $2.2 Billion Fire Alarm The high-stakes roll-up of Saks and Neiman Marcus is now straining under the weight of its junk-bond financing. Facing spiking yields, vendor unrest, and now Trump’s trade war, Richard Baker’s bold be...

The high-stakes roll-up of Saks and Neiman Marcus is straining under the weight of its junk-bond financing—and fast becoming a cautionary tale.

From @williamdcohan.bsky.social puck.news/can-the-saks...

Saks’ $2.2 Billion Fire Alarm The high-stakes roll-up of Saks and Neiman Marcus is now straining under the weight of its junk-bond financing. Facing spiking yields, vendor unrest, and now Trump’s trade war, Richard Baker’s bold be...

Is @saks going down the tubes? Or does it just seem that way because its bonds are yielding 20%?
My thoughts.

puck.news/can-the-saks...

Newsmax’s April Fools’ Flash Crash When the Fox wannabe’s stock popped (and then plunged) after its I.P.O. earlier this month, the billionaires got out in time and retail investors got burned. Same as it ever was…

The @NEWSMAX
IPO was one for the ages, a rollercoaster ride without precedent. What the heck happened and why did @ChrisRuddyNMX's wealth get as high as $9.2 billion before crashing out?

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Trump Plays the Hits, and Takes Some As voters lose trust in his stewardship of the economy, the president is shifting to the familiar terrain of immigration. The problem for him is that, as fears of recession grow, the issue is tumbling...

It's the bond market, stupid, and always has been

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