Soledad Bastiancich ’88 From Corporate Attorney to Television Personality

What’s next for Soledad Bastiancich? At age 35, the Springfield, Oregon, native has already worked as a corporate attorney, an investment banker, a money manager to Hollywood stars, and a television personality. In her spare time, she’s written her memoirs and pondered second careers as an entrepreneur and a novelist. Chalk it up to a self-discovery phase. When you’re young, talented and new to the big city, it’s easy to get sidetracked. "I always liked writing, but I felt like you couldn’t study something you really loved," says Bastiancich, who graduated from Yale Law School and moved to New York City after earning a psychology degree at the UO. "I always felt like you had to learn something new. At first, I was anxious to make money; I didn’t know what would really make me happy." She’s currently a reporter for Bloomberg Television, a business/financial cable network, under the name Soledad DeLeon. An agent she knew urged Bastiancich to audition for the position during a period when she had taken time off to write. "It sounded fun," Bastiancich recalls. "I thought I blew the audition, but they ended up hiring me." Before joining Bloomberg, Bastiancich had been working for the Cassandra Group, a financial consulting firm, until its high-flying CEO, Dana Giacchetto, was brought down on securities charges. The firm’s undoing was front-page fodder in New York, where Giacchetto was a household name. The firm’s celebrity client list included actors Cameron Diaz, Leo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire, and musician Michael Stipe. Bastiancich began having suspicions about the firm’s accounting practices after she joined the firm in late 1997. Phone conversations with clients raised questions about possible misuse of funds. She insisted that Giacchetto get his accounts in shape and let her run the business. When he refused to let her take over the books, she quit in June 1999. Later, Bastiancich was one of the first to cooperate with Securities and Exchange Commission investigators. At first, the Cassandra job seemed exciting, but she left with decidedly mixed feelings. "I met a lot of famous people and Giacchetto seemed to be running a legitimate, interesting business," she says. "But I later discovered he was a con artist of the first level. I’m an honest person and I felt like I did the right thing for the clients, but it’s always embarrassing to be affiliated with someone who scammed people. On that level, I regret having worked there." While a westerner at heart, Bastiancich loves the fast pace and diversity of New York City. She stays in touch with friends from Oregon through the local chapter of the UO alumni group, which she led for two years, while two of her four siblings and her best friend from Springfield High School live close by. Every summer, her parents and the rest of her family travel east for a vacation at her house in South Hampton. Bastiancich also is a volunteer advisory board member for the Foundation for International Community Assistance (FINCA), a nonprofit that helps women in Third World countries get small business loans. Bastiancich says the help trickles down quickly to children. "When the mothers start making money, they can afford to put their kids back in school," she says. Bastiancich doesn’t know what turn her life will take next, but she’s determined to put her true interests ahead of financial rewards. She plans to stick with television for a while, but also dreams of getting a master’s degree in creative writing. Hard work is essential, she says, but the work has to be something you want to get up for everyday. "If I feel stuck in one place for too long, I will try and make something happen -- otherwise work becomes a waste of my time," says Bastiancich. "One thing I always promised myself is that work would never be a means to an end. It takes up too much of my day."

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