Hedge king saves Long Island chateau

A RETRACTABLE ROOF? Now, that’s not something bothering hedge-fund supremo Louis Bacon. The founder of London-based Moore Capital recently bought a house in Oyster Bay Cove, Long Island.

I say “house” but the 17,900 sq ft, 10-bedroom, 10-bathroom, 15-fireplace, Normandy-style pile could safely be described as a mansion. That’s not all. Located on the 60-acre estate, just past the stables, is an indoor tennis court. Yup, indoor tennis.

The estate – known as Northwood – was built by the banker John Schiff in 1948. This was before the Hamptons was the place to summer. All the Wall Street elite had places along this stretch of the island, earning it the name the Gold Coast.

Northwood had been on the market for almost three years, with a price tag of up to $40m ( £24m). There were fears the estate would have to be split up and sold to developers, until Bacon stepped in to save Northwood’s, er, bacon.

Bankers can clean shoes with Krug

BONUSES are back, but could the recession already have dealt an irreparable blow to City style? Olga Berluti, creative director of the über-luxury men’s shoemaker Berluti, whose clients include the pop icon Bryan Ferry seems to think so.

The Paris-based shoe designer of the LVMH-owned brand is making a special trip to London this week because she fears that the capital’s well-heeled lawyers, bankers and chief executives have been so preoccupied with le crunch du credit that they have been neglecting to shine their shoes properly.

Berluti has a solution: she is planning to shine her clients’ shoes personally in the Mayfair branch tomorrow with, er, champagne. Normally Madame Berluti likes to use a splash of Krug or Dom Pérignon (don’t we all?) but that was deemed a touch ostentatious in the current climate. Instead, she is likely to employ a more modest Moët et Chandon or Veuve Clicquot.

Really, who could suffer the indignity of a Moët-shined shoe?

In at the birth of another Buffettism

HOORAY: it’s another Warren Buffettism. “You can’t produce a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant.” Who’d have thought? We think he is trying to say that the economy is going to take time to recover.

The Sage of Omaha was speaking at his annual charity lunch, auctioned every year. This year’s lucky bidder was Chinese hedgie Zhao Danyang, who paid $2.1m (£1.3m) for the chance to break bread with Buffett, though the experience itself was anything but extravagant. They ate at the Smith & Wollensky steakhouse in New York. Buffett had a medium-rare ribeye steak with fries and a cherry Coke.

Is Peter Fincham a king-maker?

COULD ITV’s director of television, Peter Fincham, hold the key to who replaces outgoing chairman Michael Grade? A little birdie tells me that the BBC1 controller, who stepped down after the Queen was misrepresented in the “Crowngate affair”, has emerged as something of a king-maker at the embattled broadcaster.

He has told the board he doesn’t want the job – he “doesn’t do plc” – but has made it clear he is likely to go if he doesn’t like the chosen candidate. The board is said to be terrified.

Where would Fincham go, you ask. My birdie – who can’t stop singing – said he has been eyed up as a possible next chief executive of Channel 4. Perhaps C4 boss Andy Duncan should be terrified of Fincham too.

Chiller for the driller

EURASIA, the Russian onshore drilling company, found itself in a quandary recently. It had to choose a venue for its annual meeting because, for reasons I’m not allowed to question, it cannot be held in Moscow or London.

After much debate the board decided on San Sebastian. What attracted them to the town often described as the “undisputed queen” of Basque resorts? Could it be the “deep and sparkling still aqua of Concha Bay” described in one guide, or the “beautiful beach area bounded by lush, rolling hills”? Eeny, meeny, miny, moe.

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