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Vivendi Bidders To Star In Herb Allen Fest; Ellison Counterattacks Conway
NEW YORK - Doers and doings in business, entertainment and technologyDespite its Paris HQ, Vivendi Universal (nyse: V - news - people ) will take center stage in Idaho, as moguls and chief executives gather at investment banker Herb Allen's annual media conference Tuesday. Most of the suitors for the group's entertainment assets (VUE) are expected to come frolic at the Sun Valley resort, including former Vivendi vice chairman Edgar Bronfman Jr. Execs at star-studded MGM (nyse: MGM - news - people ), who are trying to assemble a bid, will not be at the shindig; Reuters sources attribute this to a long-standing tiff between Allen--a director at Coca-Cola (nyse: KO - news - people )--and MGM's billionaire director Kirk Kerkorian. The latter will have to miss out on gamboling on the incongruous summer outdoor ice-skating rink. Liberty Media's (nyse: L - news - people ) John Malone, seen to team with former VUE chief Barry Diller in a bid for the assets, is an old standby at the Allen confabs. Last week, Liberty struck a $7.9 billion deal to buy a majority stake in home shopping giant--and cash cow--QVC from venture partner Comcast (nasdaq: CMCSA - news - people ), positioning him to make a Vivendi play. General Electric's (nyse: GE - news - people ) NBC is expected to send an emissary; Walt Disney (nyse: DIS - news - people ) Chairman and CEO Michael Eisner is not a definite but could put in an appearance. Other media "celebs" expected include AOL Time Warner (nyse: AOL - news - people ) Chairman and CEO Richard Parsons, Viacom (nyse: VIA.B - news - people ) Chairman Sumner Redstone, Yahoo! (nasdaq: YHOO - news - people ) CEO Terry Semel, financier Gordon Crawford, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts and billionaire Haim Saban. Unfortunately for corporate autograph hounds, News Corp. (nyse: NWS - news - people ) chairman Rupert Murdoch will sit out this year's gathering, to care for his expectant wife.
Billionaires usually get what they want. Especially when they run the world's second largest software firm. Maybe that explains why Oracle's (nasdaq: ORCL - news - people ) Larry Ellison has been so flummoxed lately by Craig Conway. After all, the PeopleSoft (nasdaq: PSFT - news - people ) chief executive has done all he can to prevent the world's sixth richest man from swallowing his firm.In an interview with Italian daily Corriere della Sera, an exasperated Ellison said that he didn't know whether Oracle would raise its offer to buy Peoplesoft. "Obviously we would like to pay as little as possible," he said, adding, "The problem is that PeopleSoft's CEO has said he won't sell at any price." He had more venom for Conway, saying, "How can a manager, who has the duty of running a company, behave as if he owned it? Poison pills should be outlawed everywhere. It should be the majority of shareholders -- the real owners of the company -- to make the decisions." The tirade was mild for the high-stakes squabble: A few weeks ago, Conway called Ellison's firm "sociopathic."
The furor returns: Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi denied apologizing for a speech in which he compared a German lawmaker to an SS concentration camp guard. Berlusconi--ranked No. 45 on the Forbes World's Richest People list--had made the comments in reaction to German Social Democratic MEP Martin Schulz's accusation of conflict-of-interest between Berlusconi's political role and his extensive media empire. The PM, often linked to Fiat (nyse: FIA - news - people ) decision-making, suggested Schulz should be cast as a concentration camp Kapo (guard) in a film being made in Italy. "This comparison is inappropriate and completely unacceptable," German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder had told the Berlin parliament, to thunderous applause. After Berlsuconi's office issued a note of "regret," however, the garrulous PM insisted, "I did not make an apology. I spoke of my sadness over a comment that was interpreted badly, but it was only intended as an ironic comment." He then added fuel to the bonfire by "explaining" the role he actually had in mind for Schulz, referring to the 1960s U.S. TV sitcom Hogan's Heroes, which featured a buffoonish, portly Nazi guard named Schultz. Meanwhile, Italy's Senate is voting Tuesday on a bill that might yet extend the PM's media empire, even allowing overlap onto News Corp.'s (nyse: NWS - news - people ) pay-TV interests. More...