But insiders close to the Wall Street giant say the real culprit can be summed up in two letters: “A” and “I.”

No doubt, some of the employees who were axed — amounting to 3% of the mega bank’s global workforce — were falling short of expectations.

But Morgan Stanley is a tough place to get hired at in the first place.

I can’t imagine CEO Ted Pick and his team had loaded up with 2,500 bankers and traders who were dead weight.

In fact, my sources at the firm say the cuts across the firm’s investment banking and trading, wealth management and investment management divisions are mostly about replacing back-office workers in these areas with artificial intelligence bots.

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Pick and his bean counters might not admit it, but they are said to believe that for an increasing number of jobs, chatbots are more efficient.

Plus the bots don’t demand year-end bonuses, 401(k) matches or good health care.

Look for the rest of Wall Street and much of corporate America to be doing the same.

“Management just launched an awesome AI program with ChatGPT in the wealth management division,” one Morgan Stanley executive said.

“Lots of back offices getting the ax in this.”

A Morgan Stanley spokesperson had no comment, though a source said such cuts are part of normal reductions even if this round was sparked by the AI revolution.

One tell that AI was lurking in the shadows at Morgan Stanley was the insipid “strategic goals” excuse for job cuts that flacks spun to reporters.

What strategy can one of the biggest brokerage firms on Wall Street really be changing?

Maybe they’re thinking of merging back with JPMorgan to recreate the old House of Morgan that was broken up in the 1930s by regulators, but I seriously doubt it.

Another tell that the cuts were AI-related is performance: Morgan Stanley has been killing it; last year it shattered revenue records.

And if the drama in the Middle East is short-lived, the markets should rebound.

That would power the firm, with its heavy reliance on retail investors, through yet another strong year.

Wall Street firms are among the most brutally efficient in the world, which means they never miss an opportunity to cut.

AI is providing that now, people at the firm say.

Pick might be reticent, but other companies like Block, the latest venture of Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, have readily admitted to big AI-driven cuts.

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Following Block’s announcement, its shares soared because Wall Street loves productivity, even in its most cruel manifestations.

That means job cuts and the loss of health insurance and retirement funds for what could be millions of Americans in the coming years.

Chatbots will replace not only back-office workers, but also lawyers, computer programmers and — God forbid — reporters.

That’s why I’m sure Morgan Stanley will ultimately admit to the AI job reductions soon enough, as well as the rest of Wall Street and corporate America.

Caught in a war zone

John Tatum is one of the most plugged-in people I know, and yet when the bombs started flying over his ­hotel room in downtown Doha — just a few minutes from the embattled US military facility in ­Qatar — he was stranded and helpless.

“It was truly frightening,” ­Tatum, who runs the Dallas-based marketing firm Genesco Sports, told me late this past week.

Tatum is a legend on the sports business scene, a consummate salesman who matches some of the most recognizable brands (think PepsiCo, Verizon, Lowe’s, Anheuser-Busch, Frito-Lay) with some of the biggest stars in pro sports.

He counts Cowboys owner Jerry Jones as one of his mentors.

He raises serious dough for national politicians because of his deep ties to the burgeoning Texas business community.

And yet he tells me he just spent the scariest and most frustrating couple days of his life being one of nearly 3,000 Americans stranded as air traffic ceased in the region, and help from the US wasn’t on the way.

It all started last Saturday morning Qatar time just hours after meetings with his clients at Qatar Airways, the official global airline partner of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Something that sounded like an amber alert went off on Tatum’s iPhone.

The alert was from the Qatari government to shelter in place. ­

Tatum turned on his TV and watched President Trump announce we were at war.

That’s when the bombs really started flying — literally over his head.

Calls to the State Department went into voicemail.

None of his contacts in the US could help.

He traveled to Qatar with not an ­inkling that he would be going to a war zone; this was of course a sneak attack.

Finally, Qatar Airways found him a way out, a charter bus to Saudi Arabia and a charter flight to Frankfurt.

He’s on his way back to Dallas.

I asked him if he plans to go back.

Tatum’s response.

“I love Qatar.”

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It involves banging home to investors the immense amount of regulatory uncertainty involved in the Netflix deal and how that could spell trouble not just for the transaction but for Netflix itself, say sources close to the talks.

Plan A, of course, was trying to convince WBD CEO David Zaslav and his board led by Samuel DiPiazza that its $30-a-share, all-cash offer for the entire company was superior to Netflix’s $27.75 cash-and-stock deal for the Warner Bros. studio and HBO Max streaming service.

David Ellison, CEO of Paramount Skydance, exits the New York Stock Exchange last month. REUTERS

The Netflix deal, they note, now looks especially troubled when you consider that it’s promising shareholders what looks like an increasingly far-fetched $3 a share when WBD sells its cable properties CNN, TNT and Discovery, in the spring.

Plan B involved Paramount — run by David Ellison, his father, the Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, and Gerry Cardinale of RedBird Capital — launching a hostile bid to convince WBD shareholders to take their money (all cash) and run.

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So far unsuccessful, which is why next came “Plan C” as first reported by The Post, or their “Defcon 1” strategy of possibly suing WBD to show WBD skewing the bidding process to an allegedly inferior Netflix bid because of the friendship between CEO Ted Sarandos and Zas.

No one likes litigation, and that’s why we now have “Plan D,” which I am told is simply playing the long game, remaining in the background saying, “I told ya so,” when the numbers behind the Netflix deal begin to evaporate and the reality sets in that Netflix faces a long, tough road at best for approval from the Trump administration.

Plus, and here’s the kicker: Netflix’s entire business model might come under scrutiny if it goes through with this deal.

Consider: The Ellisons and Cardinale are arguing that the value of the stock portion of the Netflix deal keeps losing value and may never recover.

From its one year high in June, Netflix has lost $160 billion in market cap as the bidding war dragged on. Investors are obviously a little concerned about Sarandos and founder Reed Hastings buying something they don’t really need and might not be able to afford given the $60 billion of debt involved in their offer.

Paramount Skydance has now initiated what insiders are calling “Plan D” as they look to upend Netflix’s “winning” bid for Warner Bros. Discovery. REUTERS

They’re also hyping worries that WBD cable spinoff will be virtually worthless as investors weigh its own huge levels of debt on top of the cord cutting that will eat away at viewership.

The way the Paramount Skydance people put it, WBD has placed so much debt on the balance sheet of its cable spinoff ($15 billion) they could barely (if lucky) hand investors $1 a share on top of the $27.75

Meanwhile, if WBD and Netflix take some of that debt off the cable properties and hand it to the studio and streaming units that Netflix is buying, well, that would wreak havoc on the metrics of its $27.75 cash-stock offer.

But wait, there’s more

Yes, it’s all very complicated, which is why Mario Gabelli, the famed value investor and WBD shareholder, told me Netflix’s deal needs to be simplified because “cash is king,” which is also why he likes what the Ellisons and RedBird bring to the table.

Then comes the regulatory morass, which was recently made even clearer following a conversation I had with a senior Trump administration official.

Netflix and WBD would be combining the No. 1 and No. 3 streaming services, as we all know.

It faces scrutiny from the Trump administration and likely a lawsuit to stop it.

It’s a long, expensive and uncertain process where the value of the asset and shareholders’ payout could wither.

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But consider what this might mean for Netflix: not just the deal being throttled, but its entire business model could face a review by DOJ antitrust or any number of regulatory agencies, I am told.

As the senior Trump administration official put it, the streaming giant has long been on the radar of Trump’s various regulators for its market dominance in a business that has become a preferred choice of viewing programming for many if not most consumers.

This could push the scrutiny to a new level, along the lines of the litigation faced by Amazon or Google.

“Yeah, this deal will get reviewed, but now there is increased chatter in DC regulatory and competition officials about looking at Netflix potential monopoly status,” the regulator said.

“When you get on the DC regulatory spotlight that’s what happens.”

A Netflix press rep has never returned my telephone calls for comment and didn’t this time, either.

Of course, from what I understand, WBD really wants a “Plan E,” which would be the Ellisons and Cardinale paying more money.

It could happen, of course, because the Ellisons and RedBird have the means.

They also really want WBD as a way to build a midsized media company into a major player.

Still, the very fact that they are talking about a “Plan D,” means they might not do any more sweetening, possibly walk away and leave this deal to wolves of regulation.

That would be the worst-case scenario for shareholders.

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The luxury giant needs a cash infusion to pay off a slew of debts that include a $100 million interest payment to bondholders that came due earlier this week. The company also owes millions to vendors, many of whom have not been paid in full for more than a year.

Saks is now in discussions with investors for a massive cash injection to stave off a possible bankruptcy filing, a source with knowledge of the situation told The Post. If those talks fail, the capital could take the form of debtor-in-possession financing in a Chapter 11 reorganization, the source said.

Marc Metrick stepped down as CEO of Saks Global. WWD via Getty Images

“The discussions will likely wrap up within a couple of weeks,” this source said. “It’s not resolved yet.” 

Reports of a possible bankruptcy ramped up this week after the luxury retailer missed an interest payment to bondholders on Tuesday for the $2.7 billion it borrowed to acquire Neiman Marcus a year ago.

Saks Global appears to have bought itself a 30-day grace period for the interest payment, according to RetailStat, which provides credit data and analysis on retailers.

Meanwhile, Saks Global announced on Friday that CEO Marc Metrick is stepping down after a decade at the helm.

Executive chairman, Richard Baker, succeeded Metrick as CEO. Saks Global

“After nearly three decades with Saks, I will be stepping down as chief executive officer,” Metrick said in a statement. “From building a world-class team to establishing Saks.com as a leading luxury e-commerce platform, I am proud of what we accomplished.”

He is succeeded by the company’s executive chairman, Richard Baker, a real estate mogul who was previously CEO before the Neiman Marcus acquisition.

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The company said Metrick, who led Saks Fifth Avenue since 2015, is leaving to “pursue new opportunities.”

Saks Global’s revenues, which include Bergdorf Goodman and Saks Off 5th, dropped 13% in the company’s most recent quarter, which ended Aug. 2.

Saks Global has vast real estate holdings, which it has begun to leverage to raise capital. Bloomberg via Getty Images

In May, the company closed a Saks Fifth Avenue store in San Francisco. This week, it sold the land beneath its Beverly Hills Neiman Marcus shop to Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp. for an undisclosed amount. The store now has a long-term lease with the New York-based Ashkenazy.

In June, Saks Global said it raised $600 million in fresh capital from bondholders. It has also sought to sell a minority stake in Bergdorf to raise more funds.

The merger with Nieman Marcus coincided with a slump in demand for luxury goods.

Saks Fifth Avenue fell behind on its payments to vendors. DW labs Incorporated – stock.adobe.com

There have been several rounds of layoffs this year at the company, which operates more than 70 department stores and is the largest luxury retailer in the world.

“Marc has been a valued leader at Saks for many years, helping to drive significant transformation and growth while solidifying the company’s enduring position in luxury,” Baker said in statement. “We thank Marc for his leadership and dedication and wish him continued success in his next chapter.”

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Netflix has submitted a bid valued at $28 a share – edging past a Paramount Skydance bid for the entire company valued in the $26 to $27 range, a source close to the situation told The Post. It’s unclear where the bidding for Thursday’s third-round bidding stands, but officials at Paramount Skydance are arguing that even at a higher level, Netflix’s offer must be discounted because of the uncertainty it brings.

The DC visit comes amid mounting pessimism from Paramount Skydance about its bid; senior executives believe the WBD is inclined to nix its offer in favor of Netflix despite the latter’s regulatory hurdles, as first reported by the Post. As reported, Paramount Skydance signaled in multiple letters this week that it could go hostile with its offer for WBD – arguing that the Netflix deal poses unacceptable risks for WBD shareholders.

In addition to the DC lobbying, Paranmount boss David Ellison has sent at least two letters to the WBD board AFP via Getty Images

Meanwhile on Wednesday, Ellison was in Washington with his legal team headed by Makan Delrahim, Trump’s former DOJ antitrust chief, sources said. They underscored in conversations with Trump officials and lawmakers in Congress why Netflix’s proposed deal to acquire its Warner Bros. studio and HBO Max streaming service should be throttled on antitrust grounds, sources said. 

The combination would combine the nation’s largest streaming service, Netflix, with the third largest in HBO Max as well as a leading studio. 

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Ellison’s meetings in Washington capped a frenzied day of dealmaking and political gamesmanship for the one-time independent movie producer who along with his father, mega billionaire Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, are attempting to build a media empire by purchasing all of WBD assets, a deal that could cost between $60 billion and $70 billion. 

Worrying the Ellisons is the word from WBD that the board may well take a chance and pick Netflix as a winner, despite opposition from the Trump administration where officails are worried about Netflix’s alleged monopolistic power in the streaming space. Combined with HBO Max, Netflix would control 400 million streaming subs and a major studio.

Paramount official told Trump regulatory officials and lawmakers in Congress that Netflix’s proposed deal to acquire its Warner Bros. studio and HBO Max streaming service should be throttled on antitrust grounds Getty Images

But, as The Post was first to report, Zaslav is warming up to Netflix’s bid for two of the largest chunks of the company, its streaming service and studio, and looks willing to fight in court any rejection from Trumps DOJ antitrust. 

All of which would upend the Ellisons’ grand ambitions, which began with their unsolicited offer to buy the company known as WBD in September for $23.50 a share. 

Netflix, meanwhile, has hired veteran telecom lawyer Steve Sunshine to make the case that the streaming king wouldn’t obtain monopoly pricing power in the streaming space with the WBD purchase because of the rise of programming alternatives to live YouTube and various forms of social media.

A spokeswoman for Paramount Skydance declined to comment. Reps for Zaslav and Netflix didn’t return requests for comment.

Netflix has submitted a bid valued at $28 a share that was higher than Paramount’s/ Getty Images

The DC lobbying by Ellison and his team is seen as further proof that what was once seen as a near done deal to purchase WBD, based on its access to cash through Larry Ellison’s fortune and ties to the Trump administration could be slipping away. Paramount Skydance is making an all-cash bid for the entire company, including cable channels CNN and HBO and promising Zaslav and the WBD board a glide path through US regulators.

Netflix is offering mostly cash in its bid and obvious resistance from the Trump administration, and as reported, its Department of Justice’s antitrust division. But Zaslav and Sarandos are close, and the WBD chief may be willing to fight the government’s attempt to block a Netflix deal in federal court, people close to the matter say.

Media giant Comcast is also bidding on the WBDs studio and streaming service but its offer appears the weakest since it’s a combination of cash and stock.

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO Zaslav is warming up to Netflix’s bid for two of the largest chunks of the company, its streaming service and studio. Getty Images

In addition to the DC lobbying, David Ellison has sent at least two letters to the WBD board, one which warned the company that it has no chance to gain Trump regulatory approval and uncertainty in the federal courts that could depreciate its assets. A second more strident letter came Thursday, just as WBD was asking for another round of bids.

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In that Paramount Skydance wrote that WBD “embarked on a myopic process with a predetermined outcome that favors a single bidder.” It accused top officials involved in weighing the bids of conflict of interests since they might be offered jobs at the combined entity if Netflix wins.

Reps for Paramount Skydance say the letter is a warning shot to WBD that it might take its offer above to board an appeal for its shareholders because of the low likelihood of regulatory approval of the Netflix offer.

The post Exclusive | Paramount Skydance’s David Ellison meets with Trump officials as Netflix makes highest bid for WBD: sources appeared first on Our Story Insight.

The high-level meeting that took place about 10 days ago hasn’t been previously reported. Several White House officials also suggested during the sitdown that a broader investigation is necessary focusing on Netflix’s market power, a government official who attended the confab said.  

“Basically everyone agreed that Netflix presents unique antitrust concerns and if it won the bidding war it would be one long slog and touch off an investigation along the lines of those of Google and Amazon,” the government official said. 

Netflix’s interest in acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery has raised antitrust concerns at the White House, sources told The Post. Getty Images

“Netflix already has market dominance but if you add a major streaming service that would stifle competition at some point,” the official added.

White House and Netflix press reps had no immediate comment.

The meeting comes as the Warner Bros. Discovery board has scheduled a Monday afternoon deadline to receive a second round of offers for the company. WBD controls the No. 1-ranked Warner Bros. studio and the No 3 streaming service, HBO Max, as well as a slew of cable channels including HBO and CNN.

Paramount Skydance, controlled by Hollywood producer David Ellison and his father, billionaire Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, is expected to raise its initial bid, which in mid-October came in at $23.50 a share for the entire company.

Cable giant Comcast, run by Brian Roberts, is also expected to sweeten a more recent offer, although it has been given low odds of making it through the Trump regulatory gauntlet because of the president’s disdain for Comcast’s relentlessly anti-MAGA cable channel MSNBC, recently renamed MS NOW. 

Warner Bros. Discovery’s board has scheduled a Monday afternoon deadline to receive a second round of offers for the company. SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Meanwhile, Netflix is also expected to make a sweetened bid for WBD’s studio and streaming service – and faces a different but equally difficult set of hurdles getting regulatory approval, Trump officials said during the meeting.

The 28-year-old company created by Reed Hastings and led by its voluble CEO Ted Sarandos is currently the world’s largest streaming service with 300 million subscribers. White House officials at the meeting suggested its size could hamper competition in streaming where Americans increasingly consume their entertainment as cord cutting continues to shrink the cable TV business. They also raised the likelihood of European regulatory push back, the government official said.

Sarandos as well as a slew of company legal officials and lobbyists have been pressing the flesh in DC. As previously reported by The Post, they’ve been pleading a case that an acquisition of the No. 3 streamer and a major studio wouldn’t violate antitrust laws because of a legal theory known as “category ambiguity.”

Netflix chief Ted Sarandos and company legal officials and lobbyists have been pleading the case in Washington, DC that a deal for No. 3 streamer HBO Max and a major studio wouldn’t violate antitrust laws. Alan West/Hogan Media/Shutterstock

According to the theory, antitrust law doesn’t necessarily apply to streaming services because of the prevalence of content that’s available on YouTube, TikTok and other social media. The idea is that streaming video is now so ubiquitous that it can’t be cornered and price gauged in the traditional sense.

But the pitch, while winning converts with members of the WBD board and some quarters of the DC regulatory framework, is now being met with significant skepticism from senior White House officials who advise Trump on media policy, according to a government official who attended the meeting last week. 

Trump officials also voiced concern that Netflix is already wielding enormous power in the Hollywood ecosystem, not just with consumers but also when dealing with program creators and talent. A recurring theme of Trump’s regulatory agenda during his first term and today has been anti-competitive business models of media and tech concentration, the source noted. 

Paramount Skydance, controlled by Hollywood producer David Ellison, above, and his father, billionaire Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, is expected to raise its initial bid of $23.50 a share for all of Warner Bros. Discovery. Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

If Netflix’s bid won out, the scale and scope of the deal to buy HBO Max and the studio should lead to a lengthy, possibly yearslong probe by the DOJ’s antitrust division run by Trump appointee Gale Slater. The probe could expand beyond the merits of its WBD deal to its entire operations, “something that the company has avoided until now,” the government official who attended said.  

The meeting follows a letter by GOP California congressman Darrell Issa to Slater and her boss US AG Pam Bondi warning that “Netflix currently wields unequaled market power. Adding both HBO Max’s subscribers and Warner Bros.’ premier content rights would further enhance this position.”

But Sarandos may feel he has no choice but to make a run at WBD, and eventually fight off Trump’s regulatory cops in federal court if they nix his bid.

“If Paramount owns all its content plus Warner and HBO they will have control of a massive and quality library, and put Netflix behind the eight-ball in terms of negotiating for WBD content on its streaming service,” a media industry insider told The Post.

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People with direct knowledge say that Roberts – scrambling to reinvigorate Comcast’s shrinking empire – plans to join a second round of bidding next week for WBD, which owns the No. 1 Hollywood studio, the No. 3 streamer in HBO Max plus cable properties like HBO and CNN. 

Roberts is even weighing a potential offer that could catapult him ahead of his rivals – a bid that could possibly reach a valuation of $27 or $28 a share, according to the sources. And that’s just for its studio and streaming businesses.  

Comcast CEO Brian Roberts, second from right, is said to be planning to join a second round of bidding for Warner Bros, Discovery, challenging Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison, second from left.

To be sure, Roberts and his team have not, as of press time, come up with a final number, these people say. But if they bid to those levels, it would be a respectable premium to the roughly $25 a share already placed by Paramount Skydance for the entire company – an offer worth about $60 billion. It would also likely surpass the first-round bid made by Netflix, which is also vying for the studio and streaming pieces of WBD, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

One thing is certain: Roberts knows he needs to play hardball to win, these sources say. He’s making a run at WBD despite extreme reluctance from the Trump administration to approve anything Roberts touches given his long stewardship of the Trump-hating cable channel MS NOW. 

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Comcast CEO Brian Roberts knows he needs to play hardball to win, sources told On The Money. Bloomberg via Getty Images

Plus, he is said to believe he has no choice given Comcast’s challenges: a laggard streaming service in Peacock, a second-place network in NBC, and a smallish studio on top of lots of debt as he spins off MS NOW and other cable channels into a new company. He has cable pipes but that’s seen as a declining business. 

Rich Greenfield, the widely followed “ax” of media analysts at LightShed Partners, believes Comcast needs to fight hard for WBD or face being run over by bigger media and tech players. “Can you imagine what happens if Comcast loses, what happens to Peacock?” he tells On The Money. “They will be the only ones on the dance floor with no obvious partner.”

The thinking is that with a leading bid Roberts might be able to get the greenlight from the WBD board for a bid and then successfully challenge in federal court any rebuttal from the Trump DOJ antitrust department, arguing that in the age of multiple streaming services, content being offered on YouTube and social media, no significant antitrust issues exist with his offer.

Roberts – scrambling to reinvigorate Comcast’s shrinking empire – plans to join a second round of bidding next week for WBD, which owns the No. 1 Hollywood studio and the No. 3 streamer in HBO Max. Getty Images

A Comcast spokesman declined to comment.

As The Post has reported, Netflix has launched its own charm offensive to prove that its bid faces less regulatory scrutiny. Some members of the WBD board are warming to the Netflix offer after hearing arguments from Netflix legal staff that normal antitrust concerns would not apply to the combination of its No. 1 streamer in the world, with WBD’s No. 3.

David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance has already made an offer worth about $60 billion. AFP via Getty Images

That’s because of something known as “category ambiguity.” It’s impossible to corner the streaming market through such combinations because of the reach of YouTube and social media. The Netflix bid allows WBD to spin off its cable assets as was previously planned, which is seen as another positive for its offer.

Reps for Netflix and DOJ antitrust had no immediate comment.

One problem for WBD in valuing the bids is that Comcast only wants its streaming service and studio; thus, its overall value is derived from how much he’s offering for those two units so it’s not quite an apple-to-apple comparison with the money being put up by Paramount Skydance. Roberts will also have to borrow or seek equity partners to finance his offer given Comcast’s relatively modest balance sheet. 

The WBD board and CEO David Zaslav also might decide they don’t want to roll the dice with its bid for chunks of the company when it can simply sell everything to Paramount Skydance. AFP via Getty Images

Another complicating factor is political opposition from Trump, who is said to be adamantly opposed to making Comcast stronger. Roberts could read the room and change his mind in the coming days as the second-round bidding deadline of Dec. 1 approaches, people close to him tell me. 

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That’s because to stay the course he will have to play the long game, and convince the WBD board to do the same through a two-year process that includes a lengthy probe by the Trump-appointed DOJ antitrust chief Gale Slater, and then lawsuit in federal court where a win isn’t a given. 

The WBD board and CEO David Zaslav also might decide they don’t want to roll the dice with its bid for chunks of the company when it can simply sell everything to Paramount Skydance, run by David Ellison and his father, the Trump supporting mega-billionaire Larry Ellison. 

They will receive a far easier ride through the regulatory apparatus with Slater in their effort to buy the entire company, according to media executives with direct knowledge of the agency’s thinking.

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The consortium would replace JLL, which checked out of the role last summer.

PIA, which answers to the Pakistani government, was recently reported by Saudi Arabia-based daily Arab News to be weighing proposals from seven potential groups to advise on the Roosevelt’s future and to facilitate any deal. The Morgan Stanley team would include CBRE, Manhattan’s most prolific commercial brokerage. 

The future of the precious Roosevelt Hotel site — which might be worth more than $1 billion —  is in limbo again. Robert Miller

Nothing about PIA’s plans could immediately be confirmed.

One source cautioned, “The Roosevelt owners have played with one scenario after another for at least 10 years and never did anything.”

A JLL team headed by the firm’s regional CEO Peter Riguardi resigned from the account last summer. A Pakistani government agency attributed JLL’s move to its wish to avoid any “perceived or actual conflict of interest,” as the firm represents several clients said to be interested in the site.

Since then, PIA has not announced a new financial adviser, a role that would include essentially brokering an outright sale of the site or a partial sale with a development partner. Arab News claimed that PIA would “fast-track” choosing a new adviser this month.

But one skeptical, prominent Manhattan investment-sales dealmaker said, “Who knows? It’s been a colossal waste of time, mostly because the property is tied to the government of Pakistan and their military leaders which turn over pretty consistently.”

While JLL’s departure was attributed to potential for “conflict of interest,” it isn’t uncommon for major Manhattan brokerages to work both sides of a deal.

“It often helps to make a sale or a lease easier,” an insider said. “They put up a so-called ‘Chinese wall’ between the two negotiating teams and it generally holds up.”

A JLL team headed by the firm’s regional CEO Peter Riguardi resigned from the account last summer. Erik Thomas/NY Post

Nor is it unheard of for brokers to rep developers hoping to build in the same areas. Moreover, JLL’s client list — which includes both leading developers and tenants — was no secret to either the brokerage or to PIA when the airline tapped JLL in February 2024.

Riguardi declined to comment. Emails to PIA seeking comment weren’t returned.

As previously reported in The Post, Pakistan’s government needs the dough from a Roosevelt sale to help support a $7 billion bailout arrangement with the International Monetary Fund.

The Roosevelt site between Madison and Vanderbilt avenues and between East 44th and East 45th streets is one of Manhattan’s most valuable pieces of land, situated in an East Midtown corridor where prestigious tenants have flocked to new office developments near Grand Central Terminal.

Migrants at the Roosevelt Hotel in 2023. James Messerschmidt for NY Post

The shuttered hotel lies amidst the new JP Morgan Chase headquarters tower at 270 Park Ave., a future Boston Properties (BXP) tower at 343 Madison Ave., and an unspecified SL Green development site on the former Brooks Brothers store at 346 Madison.

A new office tower at the Roosevelt site could have as much as 1.8 million square feet under Midtown zoning that allows large-size bonuses in exchange for significant pedestrian and transit improvements.

The 1,000-room Roosevelt Hotel has been vacant since the city in June terminated a contract with PIA to use it as a migrant shelter.

The 1,000-room Roosevelt Hotel has been vacant since the city in June terminated a contract with PIA to use it as a migrant shelter. Matthew McDermott

PIA has repeatedly changed its mind about what to do with the property since it took control in 2000. It was reported at different times that the airline would pursue an outright sale or seek a majority or minority development partner.

In the latest twist, Pakistan privatization official Muhammad Ali told Arab News earlier this month the building might not be demolished anytime soon, but would reopen as a hotel.

That suggestion drew laughs from Manhattan hotel experts who said reopening it  would take at least a year just to clean up the mess left behind by a year of migrant occupation.

“By that time, the markets for both offices and hotels might have changed,” one industry insider scoffed.

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OPEC+ has reversed its strategy of output cuts from April and has already raised quotas by more than 2.5 million barrels per day, representing about 2.4% of world demand, to boost market share and after coming under pressure from President Trump to lower oil prices.

Eight OPEC+ countries will hold an online meeting on Oct. 5 to decide on November output. OPEC+ pumps about half of the world’s oil and includes the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries plus Russia and other allies.

OPEC+ will likely approve another oil production increase of at least 137,000 barrels per day at its meeting next week. REUTERS

OPEC headquarters and authorities in Saudi Arabia did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Oil prices have fallen from over $80 per barrel at the start of the year but have mostly traded in a narrow range of $60-$70 per barrel since OPEC began production increases in April.

On Friday, prices rose to their highest since Aug. 1, hitting levels above $70 per barrel, supported by Ukrainian drone attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure which disrupted refining and shipments from one of the world’s biggest oil exporters.

Oil prices rose Friday to their highest since Aug. 1, hitting above $70 per barrel, REUTERS

This aerial view shows the oil tankers Tataki (Liberia-flagged) and Maran Aspasia (Greece-flagged) filling while docked at Al-Basrah Oil Terminal (ABOT), about 50 kilometres in the Gulf waters offshore of Iraq’s southern Faw peninsula, on August 5, 2025. AFP via Getty Images

The group’s total output reductions amounted at their peak to 5.85 million bpd, made up of three different elements – voluntary cuts of 2.2 million bpd, plus 1.65 million bpd by eight members, and another 2 million bpd by the whole group.

The eight producers plan to fully unwind one element of those cuts — 2.2 million bpd — by the end of September. For October, they started removing a second layer, of 1.65 million bpd, with an increase of 137,000 bpd.

OPEC+ also gave the United Arab Emirates approval to boost production by 300,000 bpd between April and September.

The November increase to be discussed on Oct. 5 will amount to at least 137,000 bpd, equal to the October hike, the three sources said. A final decision has not been made, the sources said.

OPEC+ hikes have fallen short of the pledged amounts because most members are pumping at capacity, analysts have said.

OPEC+’s third group-wide layer of cuts of 2 million bpd is due to last until the end of 2026.

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