Mark Vandevelde

(A year ago this weekend, @sindap and I came home to Wall Street after reporting this story.)

Labor Day is the most anticipated holiday of the year for people who live in Montauk. Today, after a long summer of parties, the Wall Streeters finally go home, and the locals are back in charge. Or so they thought. on.ft.com/3MraKVX

Thrilled to be a 2024-5 Public Scholars Fellow at CCNY's Moynihan Center, joining an exceptional group of writers and thinkers. I'll write about private equity – the most disruptive financial invention since the stock market – and its impact on our world. moynihancenter.ccny.cuny.edu/2024-public-sc…

...on the cover of Saturday's FT Weekend Magazine twitter.com/FTMag/status/1…

The fall of billionaire Leon Black, the most feared man on Wall St and a friend of Epstein, looked like another parable of the #MeToo era So how did the legal system twist one woman’s rape allegations into a fight over the reputations of two powerful men? ft.com/content/74240f…

Wigdor, a law firm famed for pursuing Harvey Weinstein and other powerful abusers, has asked to quit a sexual assault case against Leon Black. Black has claimed the case was concocted by a rival who wanted to oust him as CEO of Apollo. ft.com/content/3b2f23…

Blackstone, a huge Wall St landlord, calls time on pandemic-era forbearance for non-paying tenants, files hundreds of eviction lawsuits Execs say the move will boost returns The firm is calling local politicians to warn: no more blanket reprieves ft.com/content/5ac750…

StuyTown is Manhattan's biggest rental complex Blackstone bought it for $5.3bn, expecting decent profits Winning the deal required a generous offer: for 20 years, nearly half the units would go to low-income tenants at low rents Then came the election ft.com/content/27bd90…

NEW: BARBARIANS IN THE CORN- The biggest names in private equity are chasing a rando Iowa life insurer: on.ft.com/3Vv04HK

Meanwhile @AntoineGara observes that the world of private equity now looks less like a gladiatorial arena than a country club. Firms that once bludgeoned opponents now nurture complex business relationships with their competitors. ft.com/content/aec70a…

This new generation of officials could usher in one of the biggest shifts in the history of US competition policy, as @stef_palma and @jfk_america explain in this prescient long read ft.com/content/e9cc79…

NEW in the FT's "Trustbusters vs private equity" series: What happens when Wall Street takes over your local emergency room? Answer: An almighty row between health insurers and PE-backed medical groups about who is the biggest and baddest ft.com/content/5673a2…

A federal judge has ordered a Blackstone-owned sanitation company owned to stop using child labour. Investigators say workers as young as 13 were employed in abattoirs in Nebraska and Minnesota, including some who had suffered chemical burns. ft.com/content/54ab00…

NEW: In 2020, annuities seller AEL fended off hostile bid from Apollo/ Athene by selling stake to Brookfield. Today, AEL buys stake in new Josh Harris venture and Brookfield and other AEL shareholders lose their mind. Story w/ @markvdvd @AntoineGara: on.ft.com/3NPyfHW

A senior prosecutor who oversaw the handling of sexual assault allegations made by two women against Leon Black has taken a job at a boutique law firm that represents the billionaire financier. The move has angered lawyers representing Black’s accusers. ft.com/content/16161d…

I sent a dispatch from the deli last year twitter.com/bydavidcrow/st…

A New Jersey sandwich shop with a valuation of $100mn, which became a symbol of stock market exuberance, was at the centre of an international conspiracy that defrauded investors and wrecked the ambitions of two high school teachers, prosecutors allege. ft.com/content/da4135…

Trump ally Tom Barrack goes on trial this week. Prosecutors say he lobbied Trump on behalf of the UAE, which at the time was sending $$ to his investment business. Barrack denies acting as an unregistered agent, making false statements, and obstruction ft.com/content/8fd6d8…