Philip Anschutz Dines with D.C. Editors; Billionaire's Key Asset Channeled God

Philip Anschutz has surfaced! Of course, he did so quietly, as is the reclusive, conservative billionaire's wont.

Politico's Michael Calderone reports that Anschutz had dinner in Washington recently with the editors from the Washington Examiner and the Weekly Standard, the ideological crown jewels in his sprawling business empire. It doesn't sound like a wild night: "dinner for the two publications’ managers was over by 8 p.m.," according to Calderone.

William Kristol, the Standard's editor, told Politico via email, "We had a great owner for 14 years in Rupert Murdoch. We have a great owner—I hope for at least the next 14 years—in Phil Anschutz. The magazine is (I’ll immodestly say) strong editorially, and circulation is going up. All is well." Anschutz bought the magazine from News Corp. for a reported $1 million in August.

But, as we know, Anschutz is about more than just politics: He's heavily invested in Michael Jackson's posthumous superstardom, which brings us to This Is It, the movie Anschutz's AEG is releasing with Sony on October 28. Made up of footage of the late singer shot at the Staples Center (which Anschutz owns) as he rehearsed for a series of concerts in London's O2 Arena (which Anschutz also owns), the movie is already a hit two weeks before its release. Writing in the Sun (which Anschutz doesn't own—yet), Alison Maloney reports that the movie is already sold out in the U.S. based on online advance ticket sales. The movie will open in 75 countries at once.

That This Is It will be a smash hit for Anschutz and Sony is pretty much a foregone conclusion. Then again, according to Kenny Ortega, the film's director, Jackson had a great collaborator on the project: God. (Anschutz has also partnered with Him in the past.)

"God channels this through me at night. I can't sleep because I'm so supercharged," Jackson reportedly told Ortega, according to Entertainment Weekly. (Here quoted by Reuters.) "[I]f I'm not there to receive these ideas, God might give them to Prince."

Fine. Just so long as God doesn't demand His cut of the profits.