Great Minds

ridiculed a recent effort by the Private Equity Council, a Washington trade group representing the largest buyout firms, to block any tax increase by enlisting businesses owned by women and minorities, including Black Entertainment Television founder Robert Johnson and former National Basketball Association star and Earvin "Magic" Johnson, now chairman of Magic Johnson Enterprises in Los Angeles.

"I've been to every private-equity firm in every office and I'm not saying I've met everybody, but I think I've not met anybody who's not a white man," Stern said.