Welcome back to The Daily Courant, your afternoon dispatch featuring Puck’s best new reporting. Today, we lead with Bill Cohan’s essential primer to the year’s most pressing Wall Street succession plotlines. While at least six of the industry’s top executives have solid succession plans in place—congrats, John Waldron?—others, for one reason or another, are still clinging to their thrones. The clock’s ticking, Jamie… Plus, below the fold: Dylan Byers gets the skinny on CNN chief Mark Thompson’s Trump II game plan. Lauren Sherman delivers the 411 on star designer Simone Bellotti’s rumored leap from Bally to Jil Sander. Marion Maneker corrects the record on the boardroom showdown over Artnet. And Lauren illuminates the investor pressure on the Arnaults to spin off LVMH’s booze division. Meanwhile, on the podcasts: Matt Belloni is joined by Recording Academy C.E.O. Harvey Mason Jr. on The Town to preview this year’s Grammys overhaul. On Somebody’s Gotta Win, Tara Palmeri connects with Meghan McCain to break down the chatter swirling around Team Trump and the Obamas. And on The Powers That Be, Abby Livingston joins Peter Hamby to scrutinize Trump’s preference to flex executive power rather than navigate Congress.

WALL STREET

Earlier this week, Goldman Sachs announced that C.E.O. David Solomon will be sticking around for at least another five years, enticed to stay put by a restricted stock package worth $80 million. And yet, if Solomon ends up hanging around 200 West Street for the intermediate term, what does that mean for John Waldron, Solomon’s loyal number two? Of course, the Goldman question is just one of numerous high-stakes succession plotlines engrossing Wall Street. As Bill notes, a handful of the largest financial firms—JPMorgan Chase, BofA, BlackRock, etcetera—have largely ignored the issue for years. To wit: Why can’t Larry Fink seem to keep a successor? Read Now

MEDIA

On Sunday, on the eve of Trump’s second inauguration, CNN chief Mark Thompson held an editorial planning meeting with the network’s top anchors, correspondents, and producers to prepare for the next day’s historic proceedings. In the meeting, which was held virtually, Thompson stressed the need to provide dispassionate, open-minded coverage of the incoming president and focus on his future term, rather than relitigating the past. His remarks were broadly interpreted by staff as a directive to avoid the often critical, and occasionally emotional, stance that characterized CNN’s coverage of Trump’s first term, when the network was led by Jeff Zucker. But the real transformation—as indicated by another round of layoffs—is happening behind the scenes. Read Now

A MESSAGE FROM META

Open source AI is available to all, not just the few. Studies show it takes hundreds of days to match patients with a clinical trial. The solution: "We used Meta's free open source AI model, Llama, to build an AI tool that helps match patients to clinical trials in a day," says Dr. Salloum. Learn more about how others are building with open source AI.

FASHION

Less than two years after Simone Bellotti, a 14-year Gucci veteran, quietly stepped into the role of creative director at Bally, rumors have begun circulating that he has a new job lined up in Milan—perhaps at Jil Sander. As Lauren notes, this would be a natural next step: Jil Sander not only offers stability, but it’s also a ready-to-wear label looking to elevate its leather goods, a challenge Bellotti proved he could tackle at Bally with his innovative handbag designs. Another benefit for Jil Sander: Bellotti has cultivated a loyal following, and wherever he goes, they’re sure to follow. In fashion, where everything is so predictable, the discovery of Bellotti’s talent was a genuine, too-good-to-be-true surprise. But could the magic continue in a new post? Read Now

ART

After abruptly canceling Artnet’s annual shareholder meeting last November, the controlling Neuendorf family has finally rescheduled the meeting for February 27 in Berlin. There, the tug-of-war between the Neuendorfs and Artnet’s largest shareholder, Rüdiger Weng, is likely to come to a head. To get ahead of the showdown, the family has offered Weng an olive branch: a proposal to include him on a new board of directors, while family patriarch Hans Neuendorf would step down. The catch, of course, is that the family wants to add two new directors to the board to outflank Weng. Now, the embattled art market company faces an intense five weeks of politicking that could determine, once and for all, who controls its future. Read Now

FASHION

Lauren and Sarah deliver fresh insights into three micro-developments around the fashion industry: the mounting investor pressure on the Arnault family to sell or spin off their spirits division; an update on Jonathan Anderson’s namesake collection, J.W. Anderson, and the flashing signs indicating that the designer is headed to Dior; and the backstory of Bloomingdale’s decision to shutter its flagship San Francisco location… and why it struggled to secure a strong product-market fit in the Bay Area. Read Now

HOLLYWOOD

Matt is joined by Harvey Mason Jr., C.E.O. of the Recording Academy and MusiCares, to discuss how the Grammys plan to address and support the people affected by the L.A. wildfires, how the week leading up to music’s biggest night is changing this year, why the Grammys are moving from CBS to ABC, TikTok’s place in the music industry, and more. Matt finishes the show with a prediction about the upcoming Mark Wahlberg action film Flight Risk. Listen Now

A MESSAGE FROM META

Open source AI is available to all, not just the few. There are about 3 billion medical imaging exams done per year with a 4% error rate—that's millions of patients. The solution: "With Meta's free open source AI model, Llama, we built an AI tool to help catch radiology errors," says Dr. Clark. Learn more about how others are building with open source AI.

WASHINGTON

Tara joins Meghan McCain on her podcast, Citizen McCain, to share her firsthand experiences from Donald Trump’s inauguration proceedings and the accompanying events. They then break down all the rumors surrounding Team Trump, discuss the upcoming confirmation hearings, and even spill some tea on the Obamas. Listen Now

WASHINGTON

Abby Livingston joins Peter to discuss the dawn of Trump’s second term and his preference for flexing executive power rather than navigating a gridlocked House and Senate. They also dive into Congress’s reaction to the J6 pardons, the Democrats’ messaging strategy, why the upcoming Virginia governor’s race could serve as a good indicator of public sentiment toward Trump, and much more. Listen Now

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