Musical chairs & desks
Within the next two weeks outgoing NBC Universal CEO, Jeff Zucker, will be packing up his corner office on the 52nd floor of the company’s 30 Rockefeller Center headquarters.
The office, more aptly described as a suite, has windows facing the East River as well as views to the south of the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty.
The executive office comes complete with doors that lead to a private dining room and a private conference area.
Comcast hasn’t officially gotten the keys yet — awaiting FCC approval, incoming CEO Steve Burke is camping out at the other end the corridor in a temporary office.
Sources inside 30 Rock say Burke hasn’t talked about whether he intends to take in the vistas of Zucker’s corporate residence, which once belonged to former NBCU Chief Bob Wright.
But On The Money hears he might not have much of an opportunity.
Sources say General Electric is planning to take back the entire 52 floor.
As a result, Comcast bosses are planning to occupy the 51st floor instead.
“They’re blowing out the 51st floor and plan to bring in four executives,” said our spy.
The new neighbors coming up from the Philadelphia suburb are: Comcast CEO Brian Roberts; COO Burke; incoming HR chief Patricia Fili-Krushel and Comcast’s top strategy executive David Cohen.
Meanwhile, sources tell The Post that Comcast’s choice for the top creative position, Bob Greenblatt, has quietly taken an office on the NBCU lot in Hollywood. Claire Atkinson
Junk mail
As valuations on private tech companies approach 1999 levels — Facebook’s reached $50 billion and Groupon, the e- coupon service, projects a $15 billion IPO valuation — we were very surprised to see the next big thing hit our inbox.
An e-mail came to On The Money directing us to thenextgroupon.com.
Boy, that was as easy as replying to an offer to deposit foreign funds into our bank account.
“If you are an early-stage investor or investment firm and want to partake in this incredible opportunity, e-mail me,” the Web site reads.
Hmm, not sure if this is the investment opportunity we’ve been waiting for. The next big thing isn’t usually called “the next big thing.”
It seems whoever owns that site also owns the site thenextgoogle.com.
Hopefully, the next missive will land in our spam foloder. Garett Sloane
New deal
Billy Susman has stepped down as president of Financo, the New York investment bank focused on the retail and fashion industries.
That’s despite the fact that Susman just completed two deals for the firm last week — the sale of Rafaella to Perry Ellis, and TSG’s buy of a minority stake in E.l.f. Cosmetics.
“This is a great place with terrific people,” Susman said of Financo, adding, “I don’t own it, and I’m eager to move to the next level.”
Susman, whose six years at Financo were preceded by a stint at the helm of retail and consumer banking at Merrill Lynch, said he hopes to announce his next move by March.
“We wish him the best,” Financo chairman Gilbert Harrison said. James Covert
