He describes one session in which 25 executives gathered to forge a strategy for emerging markets: "We invited a powerful analyst for consumer goods, who was openly critical of Unilever's performance," he recalls.
The most powerful analyst, company executives knew, could drum up investor interest and get the highest price for their stock or bond offering or for a company in a merger.
Like other powerful analysts at major firms, Ms. Meeker helped attract securities deals for Morgan Stanley.
As those billions were vaporizing, one of Wall Street's most powerful analysts following the stock, Mr. Grubman, and two analysts at Merrill Lynch recommended the company to investors.
But the parks, where people interact with Mickey and his pals, are the reason that the Disney brand is so powerful, analysts say.
A1 BUSINESS DAY C1-12 Salomon Analyst Resigns Jack Grubman, a telecommunications analyst at Salomon Smith Barney who was once among the most powerful analysts on Wall Street, resigned, saying criticism made it impossible for him to do his job.
Mr. Grubman, then the most powerful telecommunications analyst on Wall Street, certainly had the stature to maintain his hold rating on AT&T.
So perhaps it was not all that surprising that Jack Grubman, the powerful telecommunications analyst at Salomon Smith Barney, a Citigroup subsidiary, turned positive on AT&T shares in November 1999.
Securities lawyers say that Mr. Grubman will have problems deflecting much of the blame for his research because as the firm's powerful telecommunications analyst, he was responsible for the recommendations that many investors followed.
Home to Jack B. Grubman, Wall Street's most powerful telecommunications analyst, as well as the top investment banking department dedicated to that industry, Citigroup was WorldCom's chief banker and supporter.
Maytag and Electrolux could be a powerful combination, analysts contend, because Maytag, which had worldwide sales of $4.3 billion in 1999, has a powerful United States brand that has been strengthened in recent years by an array of innovative, higher-priced products, like Blodgett commercial ovens and Neptune washing machines.
