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Katie Benner on Muck Rack

Katie Benner

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Washington, D.C.
As seen in: The New York Times, CNN, CNN Business, Folha de S.Paulo, Medium, MSN, MSN Canada, MSN UK, O Globo, The New York Times en Español, UOL and
Covers:  Justice Department
Reporter at the New York Times. Send tips to katie.benner@nytimes.com.
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Who was on the grassy knoll with AIG?

Who was on the grassy knoll with AIG?

Fortune — August 29, 2013: 7:06 AM ET Hank Greenberg AIG is the great whodunit of the financial crisis. From the start, it was a surprise that the insurer was even among the firms in need of a rescue, having seemingly little in common with an investment bank. But AIG had essentially insured a vast swath of Wall Street's riskiest bets -- $441 billion in securities, $58 billion of which involved subprime loans, according to Bloomberg -- which it would cover in case of an unlikely cataclysm. When the Lehman tsunami hit -- sandbagging not just Lehman but most of the other big Wall Street firms -- AIG was stretched too thin to backstop all those investments.
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Where did the hockey millions go?

Where did the hockey millions go?

CNN — The strange saga of more than a dozen players, their colorful adviser -- and a passel of lawsuits and countersuits. The FBI is trying to untangle the costly mess. By Katie Benner, writer FORTUNE -- It was a lawsuit with all the elements tabloids love: Sex. Money. Star athletes. Betrayal. Fraud. Sure enough, when 19 current and former National Hockey League players, all of them clients of a money manager named Phil Kenner, brought a fraud suit in June 2009, the newspapers pounced. The suit claimed they had sunk $25 million into two developments in Mexico -- golf courses, condos and hotels -- being put together by a real estate investor named Ken Jowdy.
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David Stockman's dystopia

David Stockman's dystopia

CNN — Ronald Reagan's former budget director, David Stockman, talks about his new book, what Republicans got wrong, and why private equity is the great deformation. FORTUNE -- The sun shines on David Stockman, streaming through floor-to-ceiling windows in a conference room high above Midtown Manhattan. Stockman, 66, is smiling, thoroughly relishing our conversation about his new book, The Great Deformation: The Corruption of Capitalism in America. It's a 700-page polemic full of doom and gloom with something for everyone to hate, including Republicans, Democrats, central bankers, and Wall Street executives of all stripes.
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A tale of money, sex and power: The Ellen Pao and Buddy Fletcher affair

A tale of money, sex and power: The Ellen Pao and Buddy Fletcher affair

CNN — From Harvard to Silicon Valley to Wall Street, they scaled the heights of American business and society. Their marriage was the joining of two superstars. Then they went to war with their elite worlds. Who pays the price in this story? By Adam Lashinsky and Katie Benner FORTUNE -- Jan. 20, 2009, was a day of proud and joyous reflection for Alphonse "Buddy" Fletcher Jr. The New York hedge fund manager had come to Washington, D.C., to witness Barack Obama making history and also to host a pre-gala cocktail party.
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The triumph of Blackstone on Wall Street

The triumph of Blackstone on Wall Street

Fortune — FORTUNE -- The last time Blackstone's Steve Schwarzman was featured in the pages of Fortune, it was March 2007, and private equity firms were reveling in their moment of maximum glory. A frenzy of buying and bidding was pushing takeover deals into the tens of billions. Blackstone's founders, Schwarzman and Pete Peterson, already zillionaires, had taken home hundreds of millions more as the firm held a richly priced initial public offering. The $3 million party that Schwarzman threw for himself on his 60th birthday earned him notoriety as a tuxedo-wearing symbol of excess. This magazine crowned him "The New King of Wall Street."
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Robert Kelly: Inside the fall of a superstar banker

Robert Kelly: Inside the fall of a superstar banker

Fortune — Two years ago the Bank of New York Mellon CEO almost left to run Bank of America, but he changed his mind and the board welcomed him back. That's when the trouble started. FORTUNE -- When Robert Kelly walked into the White House that Monday morning, he had every reason to be on edge. It was Dec. 14, 2009, and the CEO of Bank of New York Mellon was one of an elite group of bankers who had been summoned by President Obama. At the time, Kelly was deep in negotiations to leave his post at BNY Mellon, the eighth-biggest U.S.
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The Forbes family's big deal causes big trouble

The Forbes family's big deal causes big trouble

Fortune — FORTUNE -- The Forbes family has poked itself in the eye with its "capitalist tool." Like many publishers, Forbes Media has struggled during the financial crisis. But according to nonpublic documents made available to Fortune, the company has been under more financial strain than previously believed. Forbes Media violated covenants on a revolving credit line that it took out in 2006, according to a letter sent to the company by J.P. Morgan. The loan, which was part of a series of transactions that allowed the Forbes family to cash out more than $100 million from the company, is due next July.
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Michael Dell's dilemma

Michael Dell's dilemma

CNN — Dell's earnings and stock price are up. But is its CEO making the bold moves needed to compete with IBM and Apple? FORTUNE -- Dell Inc. isn't the No. 1 PC maker anymore, and to hear Michael Dell, the company's founder and chief executive, tell it, that doesn't much matter. Dell is a diversified technology company, offering everything from servers to systems integration. And, he insists, its future has never been brighter. "Dell has an earnings growth story. Dell is expanding margins. Dell is acquisitive. Dell has strong cash flow," he tells Fortune in an interview at the company's Round Rock, Texas, offices.
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