Condé Nast Portfolio, December 2007
The Evolution of an Investor
Blaine Lourd made a fortune as a broker, until he decided picking stocks was a sham. Now he and a few other investors are ignoring the markets—and their odd strategy is beating Warren Buffett. Read more
FEATURES
Think Disruptive
Note to General Electric: Build a car. That's what Intel's co-founder prescribes in a manifesto calling for companies to break out of their comfort zone. (Look what it did for Apple.) Read more
Never Say Die
Will Sumner Redstone fulfill his dream of living to 130? Hedge fund money is helping legitimize research into extreme longevity, a field that was once relegated to the fringes of science. Read more
Putin's Power Grab
Russia shocked the West by seizing a majority stake in an enormous Shell project on a Siberian island. The spoils will fuel the Kremlin's ambitions, but a drop in energy prices could spell disaster. Read more
Party Like It's 1959
The corporate holiday soiree used to be a swirl of booze and conga, spiked with what lawyers would now call harassment. A photo essay looks back at the parties of Christmas past. Read more
On the Razr's Edge
Motorola's Ed Zander speaks about his company's troubles, what's wrong with the iPhone, and experiences with Carl Icahn. Read more
Why He Went Nuclear
Once dismissed as a crank, this low-profile engineer would soon deliver the West's atomic secrets to Pakistan. An excerpt from The Nuclear Jihadist reveals A.Q. Khan's early days as father of the "Islamic bomb." Read more
CULTURE INC.
Time Bomb
Two $5 million timepieces are wrapped in legal red tape as the world's biggest auction house for watches squares off with its indignant co-founder. Read more
Curators on Commission
Here's what six advisers will be whispering to their art-collector clients this month at Art Basel Miami Beach. Read more
Their So-Called Site
Thirtysomething creators unveiled their new drama online. Can 36 eight-minute episodes fend off MySpace and Facebook to carve out a new community? Read more
Arias for the People
When he couldn't fill enough seats, the San Francisco Opera's director took a mass-market approach. Read more
The Gallery of Stolen Art
What missing works by Vermeer, Van Gogh, Lucian Freud would be worth today. Read more
Season's Readings
Our editors' picks: Greenspan for the serious reader; elephants and hurricanes for the jet-set traveler; Brokaw for boomers; a money guide for slackers. Read more
Paying Homage to Aphorists
A review of Geary's Guide to the World's Great Aphorists. Read more
COLUMNS
Trouble Sticks to Teflon Bob
The economics guru of the Clinton administration predicted Bush's tax cuts would cause a disastrous deficit. And he was right—until he wasn't. Read more
Dump the Cuban Embargo
America's ostracism of the Castro regime has been an embarrassing failure for nearly half a century. It's time to give it up. Read more
Tom Monaghan's Unanswered Prayers
The founder of Domino's Pizza hopes to die broke. And as troubles mount for the Catholic community he's building on Florida's Gulf Coast, he just might achieve his dream. Read more
Battle of the Cell Bands
With the last few handheld bandwidths going to auction in January, the future of wireless might be decided by Google, not AT&T or Verizon. View Interactive Feature
Would You Give This Kid $500,000?
With more money than ideas flying around Silicon Valley, getting V.C. funding for a Web startup is child's play. Just ask Jared Kim, who's 19. Read more
Not in Mickey's Backyard
How a zoning dispute between Disneyland and its once welcoming hometown became a public relations debacle for the Magic Kingdom. Read more
BRIEF
Trading With the Enemy
Buying beer and S.U.V.'s from Kim Jong Il. Read more
Pharma's Fees
Doctors and drug dealers. Read more
Sprint Meets Nextel
A telecom merger, three years later. Read more
In the Mood
How consumers get their temperatures taken. Read more
The Golden Tchotchke
New Line Cinema's holiday toy assault. View Interactive Feature
Alien Nation
Unions battle Homeland Security over illegal immigration. Read more
IN PLAY
Bubble Economy
Faced with the public's outsize appetite for champagne, producers may lobby for a loosening of standards. Read more
HD Camcorders
What to look for in the latest generation of camcorders. View Slideshow
Real Business, Real Results
Did anyone at Microsoft ever watch the (gasp!) offensively funny show Family Guy?
Ex-Morgan Stanley exec Zoe Cruz is now heading her own hedge fund. Are Wall Street's leaders done?
Martha, Bernie and Skilling know that what you wear for court can go a long way in public perception.
spotlight on
Health Care
Bad to the Bone No More
Companies such as General Mills say they're stepping up efforts to change employees' bad
behavior and promote healthier lifestyles.
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