No other foreign leader appreciated the importance of connections more than the late Benazir Bhutto.

The Pakistani opposition leader, assassinated Thursday in Rawalpindi, made regular trips to Washington, paid the D.C. lobbying firm Burson-Marsteller hundreds of thousands of dollars, and cultivated a long list of friends among American journalists and politicians.

Paris Hilton’s future life may be slightly simpler than she planned.

Now that her grandfather, Barron Hilton, made the shocking decision to give 97 percent of his wealth to charitable causes instead of his family, it seems Paris may need to rely more heavily on the profits she’s generating from The Simple Life DVD sales than on her inheritance.

Difficult times for a company mean difficult times for its board of directors.

And these certainly are difficult times for Washington Mutual, the nation’s largest savings and loan.

Because of losses related to subprime mortgage lending, the Seattle-based firm has closed operations, cut jobs, slashed its dividend, and watched the price of its stock plummet to its lowest level in more than 11 years, closing Friday at $13.07.

New York real estate magnate Stephen M. Ross has been cutting deals at a whirlwind pace in recent weeks.

Centerline Holding Company, which he chairs, today announced that Freddie Mac would securitize its $2.8 billion bond portfolio. Centerline said it would also receive a $131 million investment in January from the Related Cos.

Sportswriters have long lamented the fickleness of sports stars, those ingrates whose loyalty can be bought by the highest bidder.

But 2007 was also a year when high-profile writers (and some announcers) did some job jumping themselves.

Warren Buffett has followed the dealings of the Pritzker family for half a century, but he had never had a direct business connection to them. . .until now.

If you have been following D.R. Horton and the troubled home building industry, you might be wondering how a company that reported a net loss of more than $700 million in its most recent fiscal year can pay its top two executives nearly $1.6 million apiece in performance bonuses for that year.

The answer: Fort Worth-based Horton calculates and pays its bonuses quarterly, not annually. So, if the company makes money in a quarter, the executives earn bonuses, no matter what happens in the other reporting periods.

‘Tis the season for re-runs: all holiday themed
who can go a whole year without the Grinch being mean?
Whether Jim Carrey or Boris Karloff is your Grinch of choice,
after eggnog and presents, we’ll watch Hooville rejoice.

Lionel Barrymore’s mean; a banker from hell,
But an angel gets wings, when you hear a bell.
Donna Reed, bless her heart, stands by her man,
Tiny Bedford Falls remains life’s chosen land.

It’s usually hairstyles, clothing or smoking habits that date an old movie.

But in the 1954 Christmas classic, White Christmas, it’s a song sung by Bing Crosby, called “What Can You Do With a General.”

Earlier this week we wrote about how some directors of The First Marblehead Corporation, who were also large shareholders, were feeling the financial pain of the company’s recent stock swoon.

The company, and the directors, got some relief Friday from Goldman Sachs, which agreed to invest up to $260.5 million in the Boston-based packager of student loans.