He's Back! Frank Quattrone's New Gig: Google Advisor

It's back to the future time in Silicon Valley. The NYT reports that Google's Eric Schmidt is now getting counsel on the Yahoo-AOL-Microsoft-News Corp. merry-go-round from... Frank Quattrone! DealBook:

It is unclear whether Google has formally hired Mr. Quattrone’s new firm, the Qatalyst Group, or if the banker is advising Mr. Schmidt as his friend. He has already been involved in a series of meetings and conference calls, these people said.

Spokesmen for Google and Qatalyst could not be immediately reached for comment.

That Mr. Schmidt would call on Mr. Quattrone is no surprise. The two men have worked together for years, and Mr. Schmidt was even quoted in the press release announcing the creation of Qatalyst. “I look forward to working with him again and am very enthusiastic about Qatalyst’s prospects for success,” Mr. Schmidt said at the time.

Mr. Quattrone was also one of the first investment bankers ever to meet with Google when the company was still in its infancy in the late 1990’s.

Whippersnappers whose sense of Web history begins around del.icio.us will want to consult Frank's Wiki page, which does a reasonably good job of summarizing his rise, fall, and perhaps-rise-again. The rest of us can go straight to "can you believe this!" phase.