Wall Street’s watchdog: Gasparino

Fox Business Network senior reporter Charles Gasparino is profiled in the latest Cigar Aficionado magazine by Mervyn Rothstein.

Rothstein writes, “Gasparino is always on the move, and Gasparino is a star, hired away from dominant CNBC to help the young Fox network in the cable ratings race. He has been quoted as saying that his job at Fox is to ‘rip the lungs out of the competition’ — to ‘come up with a scoop’ every day and ‘promote that scoop.’ And here he is, doing just that.

“An aide fits him with a microphone, and he walks through the brightly lighted studio — its floor largely a very appropriate Republican red — and joins the coanchors for his three or so on-air minutes of trademark Gasparino.

“MarketWatch, the financial information website, has called him ‘Fox’s Rocky Balboa.’ He once said that his CNBC colleagues considered him ‘a pain in the ass’ — but that it was a good thing. He is respected, sometimes feared, maybe occasionally even hated. As the cliché goes, he takes no prisoners.

“When he’s reporting a story, when he’s doing a TV interview, he’s tough and persistent. ‘You come on the air, and I’m there, I’m going to break your chops,’ he says. ‘I’m going to be an asshole. A lot of times, TV invites these people on and they’re considered guests. I don’t look at you as a guest.’

“Despite, or because of, this no-nonsense attitude, the emphasis is on respected. When Gasparino was with CNBC, Lucas van Praag, then the chief spokesman for Goldman Sachs, the powerful investment banking and securities firm, was quoted as saying, ‘Most trading floors have CNBC on with the sound turned down, but when Charlie comes on, they listen.’ Charlie has a knack for making people listen.”

Read more here.