Good morning,

Yes, yes, I say this every week, but only because it is so true: It was a fabulous week here at Puck! Matt Belloni analyzed Bob Iger’s political challenges, while Peter Hamby investigated the Biden backup plans. Tara Palmeri gathered the talk around town behind the president’s back, and Teddy Schleifer gauged the mounting Democratic donor fears. John Ourand offered up the freshest gossip pertaining to the NBA rights auction, and Dylan Byers revealed the secrets from the Brady Briefing Room at the White House. Meanwhile, Lauren Sherman scooped a fashion merger and Rachel Strugatz spilled the numbers on a major beauty acquisition.

WALL STREET:
Bill Cohan unveils the saga of Michael Klein, the banker ensnared by the messy LIV-PGA deal.

MEDIA:
Dylan Byers reveals what the White House reporters are saying about Biden off the record.
and…
John Ourand collects all the sports media dish from NBA All-Star weekend.

HOLLYWOOD:
Matt Belloni runs the proprietary numbers to convey Bob Iger’s political challenge.
and…
Julia Alexander explains why this new “Spulu” super sports streamer may just be Iger’s R&D lab.

SILICON VALLEY:
Eriq Gardner offers the inside read on Elon Musk’s latest vanity lawsuit.

WASHINGTON:
Peter Hamby reports on the waning Biden switcheroo options.
and…
Tara Palmeri gathers the inside conversation from aggrieved Dems in town.
and…
Teddy Schleifer captures the donor agita and complacency.
and…
Julia Ioffe elucidates the post-October 7 view from inside Gaza.

PODCASTS:
Matt chats with Jimmy Kimmel on The Town.
and…
Tara and Rep. Brendan Boyle talk about Biden’s challenges on Somebody’s Gotta Win.
and…
Peter and Dylan chew over The Messenger’s remains on The Powers That Be.

Meanwhile, I also encourage you to take advantage of our article gifting feature. You can share our work with your colleagues, friends, and family. Subscribers are entitled to 5 article gifts per month.

After considering all the options, my friend concocted a somewhat ingenious street hustler plan. He went down to the restaurant’s basement and picked up an industrial bucket that the busboys used to clean their mops in the evening after dinner concluded. He took this unseemly bucket and placed it atop the desired booth. As each of his well-heeled guests arrived that afternoon, he informed them that an unfortunate ceiling leak had emerged above their table and forced him to relocate their parties elsewhere in the restaurant. Both men smiled happily and, despite their monstrous vanity, remained peachy customers ever after.

This story has taken on metaphorical significance for me in recent weeks and months as the inevitability of a Trump-Biden rematch materializes before our eyes. I will spare you the familiar B matter here, since we all know the backstory by memory. For his part, Trump inspired one near coup, was impeached twice, is facing 91 felony counts, and now has to fork over a $355 million fine (on top of the $83 million he owes E. Jean Carroll for defaming her). Biden, despite an accomplished term, is plagued by age-related questions that are mounting in significant ways, and ostensibly crescendoed last week following the release of the Hur report, and its attendant partisan thrusts and ripostes. All signs point to the fact that this is the longest and least enthusiastic presidential primary in modern memory—and yet, no one is taking out the bucket.

The fallout from the Hur report became the inciting incident, to borrow the literary trope, here at Puck this week. After all, despite the lack of enthusiasm around the election, this one really does promise to be the most significant in our lifetime. My partner and The Powers That Be: Media Monday banter pal Peter Hamby wrote a characteristically brilliant portrayal of the various emotions that befell the Democrats in the days after the report’s release. Trouble in Camelot & Biden Exit Options captures all the feels—from the bedwetting to the obstinacy and all the magical thinking in between.

Meanwhile, Teddy Schleifer conveyed the view from the megabundler class. His piece, The Biden Donor Dilemma, elegantly expresses the ossified, and not entirely creative, investment thesis surrounding the president. In The Old Man & The Scene, Tara Palmeri reports on how the Hur report, and Jon Stewart’s viral monologue on the topic, unleashed uncommon venting among Democrats in the Cafe Milano crowd. In The Age of Biden, Dylan Byers surveyed what White House reporters are saying about the president off the record. Indeed, these are some of the most important conversations taking place in our republic, and I’d challenge you to find a more honest and sophisticated expression of their content.

But if you only have time to read one piece this weekend, I’d turn your attention to Bill Cohan’s brilliant bildungsroman on one of the great bankers of our era. Life & Times of Michael Klein focused on the former Citigroup and Credit Suisse deal artist, who has found himself ensnared in a peculiar and vexing legal knot all stemming from his involvement in the proposed merger between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf. It’s a story that involves Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, various U.S. senators, and the unusual twist of a banking client threatening to sue (and maybe jail) an adviser. And yet, it’s also an example of how geopolitics impacts dealflow and business outcomes. In other words, it’s one of the great stories of our time, and precisely what you should expect from Puck.

Have a great weekend,
Jon