MB Civic

[Ian’s note: Now Pearlstine will be a mouthpiece for Carlucci, Baker, Bush I, Major et al, and all the Carlyle Group’s nefarious dealings…]

By ANDREW ROSS SORKIN
The former editor in chief of Time Inc., Norman Pearlstine, will join the Carlyle Group, the private equity group, as a senior adviser on media and telecommunications acquisitions, the firm said yesterday.

Mr. Pearlstine, 63, who stepped down last year from the top editorial post at Time after 11 years but remained a senior adviser, will work on media deals for Carlyle.

He will start in September and work in New York.

Mr. Pearlstine has long been a staple of New York’s media scene. Last year, he caused a media firestorm when he decided to turn over the notes of the magazine’s political correspondent, Matthew Cooper, to comply with subpoenas in the federal investigation into the leak of the identity of Valerie Plame, who was a Central Intelligence Agency operative.

Mr. Pearlstine, who worked for 23 years at Dow Jones, including 9 years as the managing editor of The Wall Street Journal, is finishing a book about confidential sources. He said yesterday that he hoped to finish the book this week.

He said he decided to leave the editing ranks for Wall Street, in part, “because there didn’t seem to be a logical next print job.”

He became interested in equity firms after several approached him for his views on the newspaper industry during the sale of the Knight Ridder chain.

Mr. Pearlstine is among a growing number of media executives who have joined private equity firms. In January, Richard J. Bressler, the former chief financial officer of Viacom, joined Thomas H. Lee Partners, the equity firm in Boston.

At Carlyle, Mr. Pearlstine will be part of the firm’s global telecommunications and media team. The group includes James A. Attwood Jr., a former executive vice president of Verizon; William E. Kennard, former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission; and Daniel F. Akerson, former chairman of Nextel and XO Communications.

During his tenure at Time Inc., Mr. Pearlstine oversaw 154 magazines and acquisitions of two portfolios worth $2 billion.

He is expected to help find media deals for Carlyle, perhaps in the newspaper industry. Asked if he had formulated a view on whether newspapers were attractive, Mr. Pearlstine said, “I think it’s a little early.”

“In the beginning,” he said, “I expect I will be looking at whatever they ask me to.”