M&A lawyer bags holiday to Antigua in our reader survey
A HUGE thank you to the record number of readers who filled in our survey, offering us lots of welcome feedback and suggestions for the paper. The close to 2,200 readers who participated were entered into a fantastic prize draw to win a holiday for two at Sandals Grande Antigua Resort & Spa.
The Capitalist is pleased to reveal the winner is Clifford Chance associate Lukas Hirst.
Our lucky lawyer said: “This is outstanding news. I have just returned from two weeks in LA with my son and had forgotten how amazing sunshine and the beach are. I cannot wait to reacquaint myself with them in the Caribbean soon thanks to City A.M.” Another seven readers will shortly be receiving a bottle of champagne, the runner-up prize. Thanks very much to all.
■ Following hot on the heels of Prudential chief executive Tidjane Thiam, another businessman found himself on Radio Four’s Desert Island Discs yesterday – Sony chairman Sir Howard Stringer. The Vietnam vet talked about poaching David Letterman from Rupert Murdoch (“The only battle I ever won against him”) and attempts in vain to ban his children from buying rival Apple’s iPods. He talked about spending time with president Johnson during his early TV days: “It was like having lunch with Henry VIII, he would be dripping beans down his bathrobe and doing imitations of president Nixon.” Though the Welshman picked a few records not from the Sony catalogue, he toed the line with his first disc – Adele’s Skyfall – the theme to Sony’s latest Bond mega-hit.
■ An avalanche of goals over Christmas and the New Year may have made for great entertainment for football fans, but it has meant a painful festive period for bookies. A total of 120 goals were plundered in top flight fixtures such as Chelsea’s 8-0 demolition of Aston Villa, Newcastle’s 3-7 and 3-4 defeats at Arsenal and Manchester United respectively and Manchester City winning 4-3 at Norwich. Online spread betting firm Spreadex reported losses of more than £250,000 on those four matches alone: “We are hoping players can rediscover the art of defending during 2013 even if it does mean a drop in the entertainment levels” said a hopeful representative from the firm.