Luxury giant Saks Global has sued the publisher of Puck News, claiming that the site failed to disclose a reporter’s “conflict of interest” as he churned out a series of negative “hit pieces” on the company that have allegedly cost it hundreds of millions of dollars.
The owner of Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus alleges that Puck News columnist William D. Cohan – whose books have included “House of Cards” about the 2008 financial crisis – penned a series of articles this year that falsely suggested the privately owned retailer would file for bankruptcy.
Meanwhile, the suit claims, Puck failed to disclose that Cohan had an ax to grind – noting that he has admitted he had previously been “fired” from a financial firm where he worked “with individuals who would go on to lead Saks Global’s biggest investor,” according to the complaint filed on Tuesday in Delaware state court.
Those “individuals” were the founders of Saks Global investor Rhone Capital, a group of bankers who formerly worked at Lazard – a New York investment bank where Cohan also did a stint that proved to be “deeply negative” for him, according to the complaint.
The suit referenced a 2007 interview with The Wall Street Journal, in which Cohan said Lazard was “full of incredibly bright and ambitious people who have their morality completely intact when they enter,” but added that “To succeed in a place like Lazard you have to become ruthless, you have to become a killer.”
“Puck’s decision to allow Cohan to report on Saks Global without disclosing his conflict of interest is a textbook example of a departure from journalistic norms,” the complaint states. “That conflict of interest repeatedly manifested itself throughout Puck’s coverage of Saks Global.”
A Puck spokesperson told The Post, ““Puck stands by its reporting and looks forward to defending against this meritless suit.”
While the suit didn’t specify a demand for monetary damages, it claimed that Puck’s reporting has cost the retailer “hundreds of millions of dollars in damage.” Saks believes it is also entitled to punitive damages “because Puck acted with actual malice, and because it has refused to retract or correct the vast majority of its false statements,” according to the suit.
This year, the suit claims, Puck has published 130 articles on Saks Global, which acquired Neiman Marcus last year in a $2.8 billion deal that created the largest luxury retailer in the world.
Puck’s coverage has included “hit pieces” that are “deliberate falsehoods that mislead the public and distort the markets,” including claims that the company misled investors about the bonds it issued to pay for the acquisition, according to the suit.
The lawsuit alleges that Puck inaccurately reported that Saks was delaying bonus payments to certain executives and that its bonds “traded like s–t…pretty much right out of the gate,” and that it “was inevitable that Saks Global would declare bankruptcy.”
Saks Global demanded corrections and retractions, but the only fix Puck made was to a story reporting that Saks Global’s bonds were rated CCC+ by S&P when they were issued. S&P gave Saks bonds a B rating – a fact that Puck later acknowledged and corrected.
Puck, meanwhile, touted Cohan as “the foremost expert on Saks’s debt situation,” according to the suit. “This reporting sought to cast Cohan as an oracle—predicting Saks Global’s demise,” in an effort to juice subscriptions to its newsletter Dry Powder, according to suit.
The cumulative impact has had a devastating effect, according to the suit.
It’s “distorted perceptions of its enterprise value among lenders, investors and business partners,” while “customers have questions the company’s viability; employees have faced unfounded speculation about job security.”
Earlier this year, Saks Global laid off 750 employees as part of its merger with Neiman Marcus and in August it eliminated another 90 jobs as the luxury sector continues to struggle against the backdrop of rising prices, tariffs and an uncertain economy.
Its bond prices have traded lower, which has been widely reported including by The Post.
It’s not the first time Puck and Cohan have been called out over alleged conflicts of interest, according to the suit. In July, a Breaker Media article noted Cohan reported that Warner Bros. could take a “bit of a victory lap” for recovering half of its value after its merger with Discovery – while failing to not disclose that his son Quentin worked at the media giant’s marketing department.
“I’ve declared it to my bosses, and they are well aware of it,” Cohan told Breaker when asked about the close family connection to WBD.
“If WBD insists I disclose it, I’ll disclose it. If Jon Kelly says I want you to disclose it, I’ll disclose it. Neither the company nor my bosses said I need to do that, so I wouldn’t change a word,” Cohan told Breaker.
