Talk:Hamilton E. James

Updates for the Career section

Hi, I work for Hamilton E. James and have a declared COI. I would like to propose the following updates to his page. I have broken it down into sections for convenience and clarity. Here are my suggested updates for the Career section:

Under the Career section, I would like to add: Following the second paragraph, it's relevant to add that Mr. James played a key role in taking Blackstone public, transforming Blackstone from a private equity company into one of the world’s largest alternate-investment firms. He helped develop Blackstone’s Tactical Opportunities and other businesses, designed for investments that don’t precisely into a private-equity of credit category.

In the paragraph that begins with, "He was the mastermind behind Blackstone's acquisition..." I would like to add at the end, "and Strategic Partners."

I would like to add that in 2016, James co-authored a book, Rescuing Retirement, with Teresa Ghilarducci. The book lays out a policy prescription for how to improve the effectiveness of the U.S. retirement system.

In December 2021, Mr. James announced his retirement from Blackstone Inc. and opened a family company, Jefferson River Capital

In the same section, the information about his net worth is outdated. Forbes reported it as $3.3 billion, as of March 2023

References

Thank you for your help!HEJTeam (talk) 15:15, 23 March 2023 (UTC)

Dear HEJ Team:

The article on Mr. James really needs his photo at the top. Could someone upload a picture of Mr. James into Wikimedia Commons, and let me know? The upload form is simple; It should indicate who took the picture, and state that the photographer grants the rights to the photo for free use by anyone. Once that's done, I can add the image and caption to the article. Two or three other relevant photos might also improve the article. Let me know if you have any questions.

Best regards, David Siefkin SiefkinDR (talk) 18:28, 16 April 2023 (UTC)

SiefkinDR, thank you for your efforts to improve the page. I am working on getting the rights for an image from the photographer, and will upload as soon as I have approval. Thanks! KWray (talk) 14:18, 18 April 2023 (UTC)

 Partly done: SiefkinDR seems to have implemented some of the requested changes without flagging the request as answered. The remaining changes are either too promotional in tone or incomprehensible (designed for investments that don’t precisely into a private-equity of credit category?). Throast ^{{{ping}} me!} (talk | contribs) 21:13, 22 June 2023 (UTC)

Further updates

I would like to request the following further changes/additions to the page:

• In the lead, I would like to change the language regarding Mr. James' position at Costco to:

"In August 2017, James was appointed chairman of the multinational retail chain, Costco,"

as he continues to maintain that position.

• The second paragraph in the Blackstone subsection uses quotes, which may be less encyclopedic. Would it be possible to summarize that content instead? I've done so here, but of course feel free to make changes as needed:

...James sent an email to KKR co-founder George Roberts in support of their firms working together,., and also wrote to his Blackstone colleagues that KKR was standing down.

• In the Politics and Policy section, I would like to add that Mr. James hosted a fundraiser in 2020 for Joe Biden's presidential campaign. The fundraiser raised over $2 million for the campaign.
• In the Metropolitan Museum, Culture and Environment, I would like to add that Tony and Amelie James founded the Little Bridges preschool in Twin Bridges, Montana. I have a PDF of the full article, as well, and would be happy to send it if needed.

References

Thank you for your help! Pinging SiefkinDR as he has been so helpful with this page! KWray (talk) 12:00, 17 April 2023 (UTC)

If you can, please send me a cite for the funding of the preschool. It's a nice story. SiefkinDR (talk) 16:12, 18 April 2023 (UTC)

Thank you, SiefkinDR for your help in implementing these updates! Please let me know how best to send you the article. The Wikipedia email interface does not support uploading an image; I only have a clipping of the article from the Dillion Tribune. KWray (talk) 17:15, 19 April 2023 (UTC)

I don’t need the whole article, I just would like the date and title of the Dillon Tribune article so I can include it in the citation. and also the number of students, if it mentions that.

Also, are there any articles that mention his recent activities or initiatives at the Met? Best regards. — Preceding unsigned comment added by SiefkinDR (talk • contribs) 14:52, 20 April 2023 (UTC)

Hi SiefkinDR, the title of the article is: "Large donation to Twin schools gives kids a head start." The school started with 16 students. I am working on finding the exact date of the article and will respond as soon as I have the information.

I am not aware of further articles that discuss Mr. James' activities at the Met. If I come across something, I will definitely post that here, as well. Thank you again for your help! KWray (talk) 14:46, 24 April 2023 (UTC)

Hi SiefkinDR, I reached out to the Dillon Press publishing company, who informed me that the article was published on page 3 in the September 4, 2019 edition of the Dillon Tribune. Thank you! KWray (talk) 15:10, 25 April 2023 (UTC)

Hi KWray,

Any progress toward getting permission to use a photograph of Mr. James on Wikipedia? A picture of him at the Met would be particularly fitting. Best regards, SiefkinDR (talk) 18:32, 9 May 2023 (UTC)

 Done: SiefkinDR seems to have integrated these requested edits (or slight variations thereof) already without flagging the request as answered. Throast ^{{{ping}} me!} (talk | contribs) 21:16, 22 June 2023 (UTC)

Next few requests

Hi SiefkinDR, I have a few more requests for the page:

• I noticed a typo in the lead of the article in the following sentence, "James also was chairman of the munltinational retail chain Costco from August 2017." The word, "multinational," is misspelled. Additionally, I think the sentence would read more clearly as follows: "In August 2017, James was appointed chairman of the multinational retail chain, Costco." Mr. James still holds the position, and this wording would reflect that.

• In the Blackstone section, I want to clarify that Mr. James was hired as COO Blackstone (the article currently says CEO)

• In the Blackstone section, the last four points would be more relevant under "Career," as they are separate from Mr. James' role at Blackstone.

• Please update the Politics and Policy section to include that Mr. James was appointed by President Biden to the President's Intelligence Advisory Board, a group of 16 people who oversee US intelligence activities around the world.
• Please update the Metropolitan Museum, Culture and Environment section to add that Mr. James is Chair of the Finance Committee at Mt Sinai Hospital System, and Chairman of the Partnership for Education, which supports Historically black colleges and universities in America.

• In the second paragraph of the Metropolitan Museum, Culture and Environment section, I would like to correct "Second City Theater" to Second Stage Theater.

• Finally, in order to protect Mr. James' privacy and in accordance with WP:BLP, I would like to request that the house number of his apartment on Fifth Avenue be removed from the article. The sentence can read as follows: In 2011, it was reported that James, after having lived on Park Avenue since the 1980s, spent $24.9 million on a Fifth Avenue apartment in New York City, previously owned by theater director and producer, Hal Prince.

References

Thank you for your help! KWray (talk) 14:22, 2 May 2023 (UTC) KWray (talk) 14:22, 2 May 2023 (UTC)

I hope it's clear to everyone here (well, both of you) that the purpose of the article is not to serve the purposes of Hamilton James. He'll have to take the article the way it comes out, even if he doesn't like the way it's written, or the way it makes him look. The tone of this Talk page seems (to me) to imply otherwise, that we're just here to remotely edit James' online CV for him.

I would also note that the text you propose above about the Partnership for Education, which supports half the Black students at [HBCU] is somewhat misleading; the source you provide says "40%", which isn't really "half". And by the way, I don't see any benefit of sourcing to hstoday.us; they've just recited word-for-word the White House press briefing.

Further, regarding the address: I agree it's correct according to our BLP policy to remove the address, but the reason it's there in the first place is that the sources make such a big deal about the place (and its famousness). I don't know how you hope to get that genie back in the bottle. :-)

I'll be looking at sources and tone with more care later, but for now I'll just do the fixes in the first point of this section, plus do some styling fixes. — JohnFromPinckney (talk / edits) 19:35, 2 May 2023 (UTC)

Hi JohnFromPinckney, thank you for joining the conversation and for fixing the typo in the lead. Regarding the "half" - you are correct, the source does say "over 40%," not half. Happy for that to be adjusted accordingly. I can update the request if needed? After reviewing further, I noticed that the "largest in NYC" sentence can likely be removed, as well. I respect your decision and welcome any input that you have to improve the page. Thank you KWray (talk) 16:27, 3 May 2023 (UTC)

Dear JohnFromPinckney: I appreciate your comments, and your good work to improve Wikipedia. As you can see from my user page, I've been writing for Wikipedia for a long time, and I understand very well the rules. I have not received any benefits and have no connection with Mr. James or his companies. I am interested in the Metropolitan Museum (I'm an editor of the List of most-visited museums and List of most-visited art museums. When I saw the request to make fixes in the article, I volunteered to help improve it to bring it up to Wikipedia standards, since he's had a rather remarkable and newsworthy career. Please let me know if you have any further concerns that I can address. Cordially SiefkinDR (talk) 18:10, 3 May 2023 (UTC)

I did not mean to imply that you had any connection or COI; it hadn't even occurred to me. It was just the sense of "Do this", "okay", "now do this", "okay", that I felt I was picking up. Probably I've seen (way) too much COI editing here, especially where the COI hasn't been declared or even recognized as a potential problem. I am exceedingly grateful to KWray for their transparency and open attitude. I'll try not to be so sensitive (here, anyway). — JohnFromPinckney (talk / edits) 23:31, 3 May 2023 (UTC)

Thanks very much for your comments. I know that you have a very tough job, and I appreciate the excellent work that you and your colleagues do to keep Wikipedia accurate and neutral.

Cordially SiefkinDR (talk) 12:45, 6 May 2023 (UTC)

Thank you so much SiefkinDR and JohnFromPinckney for looking into my latest requests. I'm still working on getting the photo up. In the meantime, there are still a few updates to be made, if you'd be willing to take a look at those as well? They can be found here. Thank you! KWray (talk) 15:05, 10 May 2023 (UTC)

SiefkinDR, JohnFromPinckney and anyone else who may visit this page: I've gone ahead and made two of the noncontroversial edits directly (changed CEO to COO and Second City Theater to Second Stage Theater). If there is an issue, please let me know. I have also edited my initial request to reflect what has been done so far, updated language according to JohnFromPinckney's feedback, and added a stronger source. Thanks for your time. KWray (talk) 17:18, 24 May 2023 (UTC)

 Not done: Though it's hard to comprehend what has and hasn't been done here, out of the bullet points that haven't been crossed out, the remaining ones are based on hstoday.us, which, as JohnFromPinckney noted, copied its text word-for-word from the White House press briefing. JohnFromPinckney has also addressed the issue with the address; personal information should be deleted when it stems from primary sources, i.e. when it is not meant to be public. In this case, it has been discussed in secondary sources. Throast ^{{{ping}} me!} (talk | contribs) 21:29, 22 June 2023 (UTC)

Hi Throast, thank you for taking a look. I have edited the original request to clarify what remains and to reflect your feedback as well as that of JohnFromPinckney, including updates to the sources. Would those remaining points be relevant for inclusion? Thank you! 131.239.83.142 (talk) 17:51, 26 June 2023 (UTC)

Updates to the article

I would like to reopen the request to update Mr. James' page with the following:

• Please add the following sentence to the end of the Politics and policy section:

  In 2023, James was appointed by President Biden to the President's Intelligence Advisory Board.

• Please add the following sentence to the Metropolitan Museum, culture and environment section, before the paragraph beginning with "In 2019 James and his wife Amabel opened the Little Bridges Preschool in Twin Bridges, Montana, where the family owns a ranch:"

  James is Chair of the Finance Committee at Mount Sinai Hospital (Manhattan), and Chairman of the Partnership for Education at HBCUs in America.

References

Thank you! KWray (talk) 14:53, 13 July 2023 (UTC)

Speaking of Little Bridges: do you have a usable source for the details about the school? The reference you provided in April ("Large donation to Twin schools gives kids a head start") is not usable, and the citation currently in the article is inadequate (as I presume the Dillon Tribune has multiple pages, and maybe a byline for the article). At the moment, we've got basically nothing for this. — JohnFromPinckney (talk / edits) 02:38, 14 July 2023 (UTC)

JohnFromPinckney, thank you for pointing that out. I have included a quote from the article and full citation below:

"Twin Bridges families now have an option to send their toddlers to public preschool, thanks to a multi-year donation from a New York family. The new Little Bridges Preschool opened its doors Aug. 28 with the 16-child class of 2035 at Twin Bridges Public Schools. The preschool is the brainchild of New York residents Amie and Tony James, who own the Hamilton Ranch in Twin Bridges." KWray (talk) 18:01, 17 July 2023 (UTC) KWray (talk) 18:01, 17 July 2023 (UTC)

Thanks, KWray. Still missing a page number or a URL. Without either, it's hard for readers to verify the information. — JohnFromPinckney (talk / edits) 01:30, 18 July 2023 (UTC)

Hi JohnFromPinckney, apologies for leaving out the page number. Below is the citation including the page number. I was in touch with the Dillon Tribune and they no longer have their 2019 issues available online. I will happily email you a scanned copy of the article. I have also added a second source from Newspapers.com.

"In 2019, James and his wife Amabel funded the Little Bridges Preschool in Twin Bridges, Montana, the first preschool in the small town. There were 16 children in the first class.

Thank you again for your help.KWray (talk) 13:43, 18 July 2023 (UTC) KWray (talk) 13:43, 18 July 2023 (UTC)

Thanks, KWray. You probably think we are being unnecessarily obstructive and throwing up a lot of extra hurdles, just to annoy you. I assure you that is not the case (heh, at least, it's not that we're trying to annoy you). Still, I am loathe to add the Little Bridges thing now in part due to the objections of Spitendo, below. Let me put it this way: if it weren't for your pressure here, I believe I would not add the item to the article, as it's too minor and we've got little to go from.

I looked at the page from The Madisonian, your "second source". This consists of a photo (in which I perceive no adults, although it's a dreadful scan) with a two-sentence caption. In its entirety (and for the benefit of other editors here), the caption reads, There was a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new PreK named Little Bridges on Wednesday, Aug 28, at 9am at the Twin Bridges School. Max Baucus along with the school board were there to acknowledge the generous donors, Tony and Amie James, and what this new program means for the students of Twin Bridges schools.

I haven't seen the "first source" (Dillon Tribune) yet, but The Madisonian isn't much, and only supports the claim that the Jameses were generous donors (to some extent, of some amount).

It's not normally required that sources which are not currently online be reviewed, but since we have the COI situation here, I would be glad to look at the Dillon Tribune copy. Is it a legible scan? Did you scan it yourself? Or where did you get it? — JohnFromPinckney (talk / edits) 08:39, 28 July 2023 (UTC)

JohnFromPinckney, I completely understand that Wikipedia is a collaborative process, and am thrilled to have the community engaging with me as a COI editor. Thank you for your continued help in improving the page. I will happily send the scanned clipping of the Dillon Tribune article if you email me through Wikipedia. Thanks again KWray (talk) 20:12, 31 July 2023 (UTC)

Reply 13-JUL-2023

  Clarification requested  

1. Please provide the Wikilinks for the Little Bridges Preschool, Mt Sinai Hospital System, and the Partnership for Education.
2. When ready to proceed with the requested information, kindly change the {{Edit COI}} template's answer parameter to read from |ans=y to |ans=n. Thank you!
   

Regards,  Spintendo  22:53, 13 July 2023 (UTC)

Spintendo, thank you for your response and tips! As you can see, I updated the request with the available Wikilinks. KWray (talk) 17:59, 17 July 2023 (UTC)

References

Reply 17-JUL-2023

  Edit request partially implemented  

1. Y The claim regarding the White House appointment was added to the article.
2. N The claim regarding Mt Sinai Hospital was not added to the article, because the WikiLink to the finance committee was not provided.
3. N The claim regarding the Little Bridges Preschool was not added, because the Wikilink to the school was not provided.
4. N The claim regarding the Partnership for Education was not added, because the Wikilink to the Partnership was not provided.

• The claim(s) regarding the associations with certain entities (e.g., the preschool, the Partnership for Education, etc.) could not be added because the entities described are not independently notable in Wikipedia.

Regards,  Spintendo  18:47, 17 July 2023 (UTC)

Notes

References

Hi Spintendo, thanks for your detailed feedback. I am a little confused by your thinking. How does a subject's association with various entities represent a "point of view"? Based on my understanding, a point of view comes from a specific publication or source, and can misrepresent or exclude context, which is why editors should use caution when including them. As you pointed out, the Notability guidelines specifically don't apply for content within an article (as per WP:NNC), and as these specific sentences are backed by reliable, third-party sources with no connection to the subject, that should be sufficient if the information is relevant to the subject, informative to the reader, and phrased in a neutral, non-promotional manner. You said that the exclusion of non-wikilinked content is your personal preference-- would you perhaps consider reopening the request so additional editors can weigh in as well?

In the meantime, Mount Sinai Hospital technically does appear to meet your criteria, as the hospital itself has a wikilink. Certainly its finance committee does not, but the primary subject does. Similarly, HBCUs has a wikilink, even if the Partnership for Education does not. Perhaps you would be comfortable making those additions:

"James is Chair of the Finance Committee at Mount Sinai Hospital, and Chairman of the Partnership for Education at HBCUs in America."

I'm also including the sourcing for the Little Bridges preschool in Twin Bridges, Montana as discussed above with JohnFromPinckney, in case you or another editor have the time to look at that, as well.

"In 2019, James and his wife Amabel funded the Little Bridges Preschool in Twin Bridges, Montana, the first preschool in the small town. There were 16 children in the first class."

Thanks again for your time. KWray (talk) 16:30, 26 July 2023 (UTC)

References