Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 30, 1994 TAG: 9411290063
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: F-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BENJAMIN WEISER THE WASHINGTON POST
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Medium
That may be what the Securities and Exchange Commission had in mind when, during an insider trading probe that concluded this year, it obtained the Rolodex that belonged to Oded ``Ed'' Aboodi, the second-most-powerful figure at Time Warner Inc.
Aboodi, an enigmatic dealmaker and financial genius who shuns the limelight, ultimately paid $931,077 in penalties and interest to resolve two counts of insider-trading allegations in the SEC investigation of trading in Time Warner stock before he returned to the shadows.
But his Rolodex file, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post under the Freedom of Information Act, does shed light on one enduring mystery in our celebrity culture: Who do the rich and powerful consider their most important contacts and friends?
In Aboodi's Rolodex are such names as prominent New York lawyer Arthur Liman, investment banker Felix Rohatyn and Robert Rubin, now a White House aide.
Predictably, there is one card for Steve Ross, the legendary chairman of Time Warner, who died just before the Rolodex was given to the SEC in early 1993, and one for Gerald Levin, Time Warner's current chairman, whom Aboodi advises closely.
There are cards for limousine services in London, hotels in the Caribbean and elite New York restaurants such as the 21 Club. There is one containing the phone number of Stuff's Pizza.
There are cards for top executives of Wall Street's elite investment houses, cards for Aboodi's family and employees and, perhaps most tantalizing, cards with the names, incorporation dates and other financial data for the myriad of private companies, partnerships and trusts Aboodi created (and in some cases dissolved) that never have been made public.
Aboodi could not be reached for comment, but his attorney, Dennis Block, said he was ``surprised and disappointed'' that the SEC had made the Rolodex available.
Block said the agency must have erred, since it was given the Rolodex and other papers with the request that they remain confidential - and the SEC confirmed it would do so in a letter dated Sept.14.
The Rolodex ``really deals with a person's private life and his private relationships,'' Block said, ``and for the government to release that kind of information, which has nothing at all to do with its investigation, is just to permit private information to be made available for no reason.''
Several of those who know Aboodi said that his card file of names and companies could provide real clues as to how the pre-eminent dealmaker does his job.
``As meticulous as the guy is, [the names] have to be significant to him - and my guess is that this would be a major asset in terms of trying to figure him out,'' said one person closely associated with Time Warner who is in the Rolodex.
Business executives and legal experts differed on just how private anyone's Rolodex should be in the face of a government investigation - but they all agreed that the little white cards have a culture all their own.
``I'd rank it way ahead of a diary,'' said Harvey Mackay, chief executive of Mackay Envelope Corp. in Minneapolis and author of several popular business books - including one on Rolodexes. It's ``part of your life,'' he said, `` ... if you are a people person.''
``It certainly indicates the amount of success or power the person who owns the Rolodex has,'' said Charles Panati, author of ``The Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things,'' a popular history of such items as the paper clip and the pencil.
``If you find the names Spielberg and Katzenberg and Geffen in someone's Rolodex, you know the circles they travel in,'' Panati said, referring to the Hollywood titans who recently announced plans to form their own studio.
Panati also confessed, ``I have looked at friends' Rolodexes when I have been in their offices.''
One former U.S. intelligence officer who is now in private business said he always believed that certain executives' Rolodexes, like a daily diary or personal phone book, could be a vital target of industrial espionage and had to be protected.
``It's like the family Bible, where generations upon generations are catalogued,'' he said. ``In the Rolodex, it's your contacts, and someone who has access can then devolve a network from the names and have tremendous insight into someone's scope and breadth and power and influence.''
by CNB