Talk:Steven Rattner/Archives/2020

Request for three small changes

I work for Steve Rattner, who has asked me to suggest several improvements to this article. I will not edit the article directly, in accordance with Wikipedia’s conflict of interest policy.

Here are three small requests to start off:

1. In the "Journalism career" section, the article states that as a reporter, Rattner covered "business, energy, and urban affairs." Please remove "urban affairs" from this sentence, as this was not among the areas that Rattner covered as a reporter, and the current claim is not supported by reliable sources.
2. Also in the "Journalism career" section, the article states incorrectly that Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr. is "now the Times publisher." Please change to: "Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr., who was the Times publisher from 1992 through 2017." (Source)
3. In the "Personal" section, the article states that "He was an early investor in Current TV." Please remove this sentence, as it is not supported by reliable sources.

Thank you, Remy2020 (talk) 13:42, 11 June 2020 (UTC)

Remy2020, first one is done. Leaving 2 & 3 for someone else. 3 seems OK at a glance, I found this, but couldn't find the Reuters report it references. No other references to back that statement, at a glance. ProcrasinatingReader (talk) 01:42, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

@ProcrasinatingReader and Remy2020: No. 2 seems moot with "He concluded his service to The New York Times with two years in London as its European economic correspondent." but I think that it could worded better.

As for No 3 I agree with the ProcrasinatingReader I can't find anything other then that article. I removed it.  Darth Flappy ^«Talk» 20:04, 20 June 2020 (UTC)

Reworded No. 2, closing this edit request. Altamel (talk) 20:45, 26 June 2020 (UTC)

Information on Steve Rattner's family and relationships

Hi, I would like to propose another set of small changes to this article on behalf of Steve Rattner.

1. In the "Early life and education" section, "Paragon Paint and Varnish Corporation" is too great a level of detail for a little-known company. Please change to "a small paint company."
2. Also in the "Early life and education" section, please remove the two names from the sentence, "Rattner has two siblings: Donald Rattner and Susan Rattner." While this information is properly sourced, these are two private individuals whose privacy should be respected, and the removal of their names would not affect a reader's understanding of the article.
3. In the "Journalism career" section, the sentence "He dated Judith Miller for a time" is also of little importance to a reader's understanding of the article and is outside the scope of the article. It certainly has no place in the "Journalism career" section. Please remove.

Thank you, Remy2020 (talk) 13:35, 9 July 2020 (UTC)

I did No. 1 and 3, not sure what the rule is about No. 2 though...  Darth Flappy ^«Talk» 18:02, 9 July 2020 (UTC)

@DarthFlappy: Thank you for helping with my request! I think the relevant policy for removing names of little-known private individuals is here: Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons#Privacy of names. Remy2020 (talk) 13:24, 13 July 2020 (UTC)

 Done  Darth Flappy ^«Talk» 14:31, 13 July 2020 (UTC)

Out-of-scope and unverified sentence in "Public service" section

Please remove the following sentence from the third paragraph of the "Public service" section: "Controversially, during the negotiations with the bond holders, Rattner threatened their professional reputations in order to get them on board with the controlled bankruptcies." The cited source for this sentence is an interview from a blog post, which is not a reliable source. In addition, the allegation is out of the scope of this article, as it was made by a single individual and not corroborated by anyone else, and the accusation was denied by all the other parties involved (the White House, the firm Perella Weinberg, Rattner himself). See this New York Times piece for an account of the incident, which supports what I am suggesting. Thank you, Remy2020 (talk) 14:58, 27 July 2020 (UTC)

I rewrote it to clarify that the claim was made but that it was denied by the other parties involved. I cited the NY Times article you provided. I decided not to delete it outright as it is part of the public history of the event. Thanks. DesertDana (talk) 03:56, 17 September 2020 (UTC)

Legal issues section

I have a few new requests pertaining to the "New York pension fund investigation" and "Prosecution by New York Attorney General" sections:

1. The two sections are about the same topic and should be merged into a single section. I propose that the new section be titled "Legal issues."
2. In the first paragraph of the "Prosecution by New York Attorney General" section, it says that Rattner "was once a major fundraiser for Democratic Party candidates," incorrectly suggesting that this is no longer true. Please change "was once" to "has been."
3. In the second paragraph of the "Prosecution by New York Attorney General" section, it says that Rattner "called the New York Attorney General office's settlement demands 'close to extortion.'" This language should be changed to "called Cuomo's settlement demands 'close to extortion,'" as Rattner referred in the Charlie Rose interview specifically to Cuomo as an individual and not to the attorney general's office. (The exchange happens at around 19:30 in the video itself, which can be viewed here).
4. The final sentence of the "Prosecution by New York Attorney General" section begins with the phrase "As is customary in settlements of this nature." This language should be removed, as it editorializes and is not supported by the sources. In the same sentence, the expression "protest his innocence" is POV language and should be changed to "assert his innocence." After merging the final two sentences for clarity, it should read: "The settlement involved no fines or penalties and does not prohibit Rattner from continuing to assert his innocence."

Thank you, Remy2020 (talk) 14:11, 7 October 2020 (UTC)

Hello, I implemented most of your changes as requested. Below are specific explanations.

1. I merged into one section but named it "New York pension fund investigation and settlements." "Legal issues" seems to broad whereas this is regarding one particular issue.
2. I changed the language as requested but I also replaced the "Cuomo Pension Inquiry on Financier Grows Nasty" citation with a "citation needed" message as the article does not support the sentence.
3. I made this change and added the The New York Times settlement article "Rattner to Pay $10 Million in Settlement With Cuomo" as it specifies Rattner's extortion accusations are aimed at Cuomo specifically.
4. I removed the "as is customary" and "protest his innocence" language, but I added that he was barred from appearing before public pension funds for five years and added a WSJ article, "Rattner Settles Scandal for $10 Million".

Thanks. DesertDana (talk) 04:53, 25 October 2020 (UTC)