Book Description
A grand and revelatory portrait of Wall Street’s most storied investment bank
Wall Street investment banks move trillions of dollars a year, make billions in fees, pay their executives in the tens of millions of dollars. But even among the most powerful firms, Lazard Frères & Co. stood apart. Discretion, secrecy, and subtle strategy were its weapons of choice. For more than a century, the mystique and reputation of the "Great Men" who worked there allowed the firm to garner unimaginable profits, social cachet, and outsized influence in the halls of power. But in the mid-1980s, their titanic egos started getting in the way, and the Great Men of Lazard jeopardized all they had built.
William D. Cohan, himself a former high-level Wall Street banker, takes the reader into the mysterious and secretive world of Lazard and presents a compelling portrait of Wall Street through the tumultuous history of this exalted and fascinating company. Cohan deconstructs the explosive feuds between Felix Rohatyn and Steve Rattner, superstar investment bankers and pillars of New York society, and between the man who controlled Lazard, the inscrutable French billionaire Michel David-Weill, and his chosen successor, Bruce Wasserstein.
Cohan follows Felix, the consummate adviser, as he reshapes corporate America in the 1970s and 1980s, saves New York City from bankruptcy, and positions himself in New York society and in Washington. Felix’s dreams are dashed after the arrival of Steve, a formidable and ambitious former newspaper reporter. By the mid-1990s, as Lazard neared its 150th anniversary, Steve and Felix were feuding openly.
The internal strife caused by their arguments could not be solved by the imperious Michel, whose manipulative tendencies served only to exacerbate the trouble within the firm. Increasingly desperate, Michel took the unprecedented step of relinquishing operational control of Lazard to one of the few Great Men still around, Bruce Wasserstein, then fresh from selling his own M&A boutique, for $1.4 billion. Bruce’s take: more than $600 million. But it turned out Great Man Bruce had snookered Great Man Michel when the Frenchman was at his most vulnerable.
The LastTycoons is a tale of vaulting ambitions, whispered advice, worldly mistresses, fabulous art collections, and enormous wealth—a story of high drama in the world of high finance.
Customer Reviews:
What a History.......2007-10-20
Just finished this last week and looked forward to picking up every day I was free. The opportunities created for so many and the egos that go along with that all vying to run the show. At the end of the day all the power was with one shareholder and it took desparation on his part to give that up.
Oh, the memories.......2007-07-27
This book brought back so many memories of the time (late eighties/early nineties) and place. Looking back while reading this book, I realize how much I learned about people and industry while working in investment
banking (albeit a bit remotely) in NYC in those years. The level of detail
that Bill Cohan brings to the topic of Lazard is noteworthy. It's a fun
read for insiders and non-insiders alike. I hope things are better for
women now - my daughter wants to be an investment banker when she grows up!
A great book for "warped" people (like myself)!.......2007-06-11
660+ pages about the 150+ year history of Lazard Feres might put most people to sleep. Not me! As someone who actually likes this stuff, I found this book fascinating. The history of big money and finance is actually one of big personalties, and this book gives an inside look at several of the major players. Although tedious at times to read, I made it through the entire book in a couple of days. The most fascinating part of the entire story is simply that money at the levels discussed in this book doesn't seem real--most people could never fathom how corporate finance is conducted. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the subject of investment banking, especially those considering a career in that arena.
Long but worth it.......2007-05-30
extremely long, but it gives you a great description of how an organization rises and falls with the times and the great men who are at the wheel.
Destined to be a Classic.......2007-05-24
Cohan has brought to life a vivid and spellbinding tale of the legendary giants in the investment banking field (Meyer, Rohatyn, David-Weill, Rattner, and Wasserstein) at Lazard, offering a compelling and revealing portrait of the relentless personalities that invented, dominated and defined the last few decades of M&A banking. At the same time, The Last Tycoons is, at its core, a saga of ambition, egotism, greed, vanity and pride of Shakespearean proportions played out on the grand stage of corporate takeovers and national politics.
What emerges is not a noble picture of what these ostensibly "Great Men" purported themselves to be. Instead, it is apparent that at Lazard, the black arts of power and greed were the currency used to exhort and extort men of high ambition and intellect to achieve stature and enormous fees. The long shadow of Andre Meyer (unquestionably a Sith Lord) looms over the Lazard partnership and his protégés and successors, Felix Rohatyn and Michel David-Weill. Meyer was a brilliant financier with no peer with the exception of Bruce Wasserstein and it's fitting and deserving that the story of Lazard begins and ends with these two men. In between, Michel and Felix weave a complex and fascinating legacy of fear and loathing in the intervening decades.
For bankers and professionals in the field, Cohan's detail and emotional and psychological nuances will be tantalizing and relevant. For those aspiring to enter the field, it's a cautionary tale - it's very hard to play on the big stage on Wall St without darkening your soul. This story is destined to be a Classic amongst Barbarians and Den of Thieves
Average customer rating:
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The New Banker: Developing Leadership in a Dynamic Era
James H. Donnelly , and
Steven J. Skinner
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Trade
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 1556231776 |
Book Description
His novels of big money and murder in the world of finance have earned New York Times bestselling author Stephen Frey a richly deserved reputation as a master of suspense who always delivers a high yield. Now he raises the stakes, and the risk factor, in a new thriller that pits a young Wall Street player against corporate conspiracy and White House intrigue—in a dangerous game of double crosses, dirty tricks, and deadly consequences.
An investment banker in the maverick firm Phenix Capital, Conner Ashby is doing all right for himself. At twenty-seven, he’s practically the right-hand man of the company’s founder—a wealthy old pro looking to make a big comeback on The Street while grooming Conner for a place at the top. Between his career and his gorgeous girlfriend, it’s a good life, with every indication of getting even better—until a wayward E-mail crosses Conner’s computer, and plunges his near-perfect world into a terrifying downward spiral.
“The ‘operation’ is way out of hand. If we don’t do something, it’s going to detonate.” It’s a communication not meant for Conner’s eyes, between people he doesn’t know, about a company he’s never heard of—a company that’s engaged in corporate fraud on a massive scale. With no way to trace the E-mail, it’s impossible for Conner to act on the volatile discovery. But with millions of dollars at stake, high-powered careers in the balance, and hell to pay if the truth comes out, whoever clicked the “send” button by mistake isn’t about to take any chances. And for Conner, the evening that began in the arms of a beautiful woman ends in a harrowing race for his life.
As he follows a twisting trail of misdeeds and misinformation that stretches nationwide, Conner slowly uncovers a shocking plot as undeniably real as the gunshot wound in his arm. Now, surviving will mean struggling to expose the truth as relentlessly as his shadowy enemies seek to conceal it— and fighting for his life as ruthlessly as those determined to end it.
At every unexpected turn, Shadow Account deftly reveals Stephen Frey’s many and considerable gifts: his genius for plotting, his mastery of suspense, and his unmatched insight into the dark territory where finance meets felony, money meets mortality, and profit and loss are matters of life and death.
Download Description
His novels of big money and murder in the world of finance have earned New York Times bestselling author Stephen Frey a richly deserved reputation as a master of suspense who always delivers a high yield. Now he raises the stakes, and the risk factor, in a new thriller that pits a young Wall Street player against corporate conspiracy and White House intrigue -- in a dangerous game of double crosses, dirty tricks, and deadly consequences.
An investment banker in the maverick firm Phenix Capital, Conner Ashby is doing all right for himself. At twenty-seven, he's practically the right-hand man of the company's founder -- a wealthy old pro looking to make a big comeback on The Street while grooming Conner for a place at the top. Between his career and his gorgeous girlfriend, it's a good life, with every indication of getting even better -- until a wayward e-mail crosses Conner's computer, and plunges his near-perfect world into a terrifying downward spiral.
"The 'operation' is way out of hand. If we don't do something, it's going to detonate." It's a communication not meant for Conner's eyes, between people he doesn't know, about a company he's never heard of -- a company that's engaged in corporate fraud on a massive scale. With no way to trace the E-mail, it's impossible for Conner to act on the volatile discovery. But with millions of dollars at stake, high-powered careers in the balance, and hell to pay if the truth comes out, whoever clicked the "send" button by mistake isn't about to take any chances. And for Conner, the evening that began in the arms of a beautiful woman ends in a harrowing race for his life.
As he follows a twisting trail of misdeeds and misinformation that stretches nationwide, Conner slowly uncovers a shocking plot as undeniably real as the gunshot wound in his arm. Now, surviving will mean struggling to expose the truth as relentlessly as his shadowy enemies seek to conceal it -- and fighting for his life as ruthlessly as those determined to end it.
At every unexpected turn, Shadow Account deftly reveals Stephen Frey's many and considerable gifts: his genius for plotting, his mastery of suspense, and his unmatched insight into the dark territory where finance meets felony, money meets mortality, and profit and loss are matters of life and death.
"Harrowing... Stephen Frey enlivens finance the way Patricia Cornwell does forensic science and the way Dan Brown (The Da Vinci Code) does medieval studies."
FORBES
Customer Reviews:
Delivered quickly .......2007-03-08
Product as described and delivered promptly. What more can one ask?
A very light yawner.......2006-05-22
This is not the worst book ever to grace the shelves of a library. Next time you enter one, take a look at the mystery/thriller section. I myself am an avid reader, perhaps 150 books a year. Most of them are in the mystery genre. Yet when confronted with a mystery section that has been compiling books for sixty years its hard to say that even 5% of the authors are familiar to me. Most of the books are covered with decades of dust and forgotten tombs of years gone by. That is the way 'Shadow Account' strikes me as being remembered in the years to come. It is a book you will find at the bottom of stacks in yard sales and church functions. This is not a book or an author whom like Chandler, Christie, or Hammett will be read far into the future.
The writing is plodding, sections of the novel are well done, but the tempo and style of these individual pieces clash with other sections so that you are left with a soup of mushy ideas. To put it another way, this book does not hold up well as a whole.
Another thing is the plot. Frey starts the story off with a brutal murder in young Conner Ashby's apartment. Conner is pulling down a couple of hundred G's a year so this is probably a posh place were talking about. He is having a daliance with a lady, leaves to hit up the local supermarket, spends a few minutes there, comes back, and she is dead. Conner had recieved an email a few moments before he left and it comes to his attention that the murder was done so that the evidence of the email could be covered up. OK, I can live with that. But the way Frey unfolds it all is so goofy that it pretty much destroys the rest of the book. Some CEO character sends out an email to Conner and with in 20 minutes he hires a hit man, sends him to Conners place, tears it apart, kills a girl, and then confronts our protagonist. Conner then chases the bad guy around NY for an hour, comes back to his place with some cops, and everything that was destroyed is put back into place without a sign of anything wrong happening. Whats up with that?
I am not giving away anything here. This occurs in the first few pages and sets up the rest of the book. Conner just had the lady he loves murdered in his place and then over the next few chapters he misses time from his insanely competitive job to have flirtatious hours long conversations and seems to have not been affected at all by the terrifying events. Repetedly in this book he is attacked and then a few pages later he is suave and making moves with young ladies.
This book is slow. This book goes into chapter long discources on the corruptability of fortune 500 companies. This book has long episodes of buildup that leads nowhere, not even as a diversionary plot thread.
All in all this is a trainwreck of a novel and I suggest that you leave it alone. I would point you towards 'Mystic River' by Lehane or 'Tell No One' by Coben for novels in this style that actually work.
Financial Thriller.......2006-05-22
I had never read financial thriller. I really enjoyed this book. It helped that I had an accountant friend explain what was real and fantasy. The fantasy was just to keep the story going and I understand why authors need this. The real taught me things that I didn't realize that people could or would do for money. To me it was a facinating and interesting book.
Superb.......2005-10-30
Conspiracy reaches high into the President's Administration.The President is in a tough reelection campaign. He's proposing radical populist tax reforms. Corrupt corporate executives and accountants are fabricating bogus earnings results. Conner Ashby, an investment banker is a plausible hero. This is a quite enjoyable, action packed page turner.
It really is worth only a penn y.......2005-10-30
Definitely not Freys best but with some judicious skimming you can read it in a few hours. It is down to a penny used on Amazon and alas that is all it is worth.
Book Description
In this irreverent take on infidelity and modern marriage, newlywed topflight prostitute Nancy Chan finds herself struggling to adjust to the realities of domestic bliss. She’s honing her respectable image as the wife of investment banker Matt, cooking fashionable meals and taking his shirts to the cleaners. But now that she and Matt share a home, it’s getting harder to keep her career as an exclusive call girl a secret. Nancy fears what might happen if Matt finds out, but she can’t quite bring herself to give up her financial independence. And now Matt wants to start a family. Motherhood could jeopardize her business—and what will it do to her body?
Will Nancy have to give up her career to save her marriage?
If you’ve ever had a naughty secret or struggled with competing desires, this funny, insightful romp will strike a chord.
Customer Reviews:
fast!.......2006-11-03
Arrived to Australia very fast in great condition, will use again. :) thank you
Nancy makes me hot. Tracy makes me read........2006-06-29
I thought this Nancy Chan book would be strictly for women. It had chick lit written all over it. But guess what? Tracy writes about sex with a most knowing voice. I'd do anything to be her boy toy. She's definitely a man's woman. I just bought her first book and can't wait until her next comes out.
Frisky and Fun -- Nancy Chan and the challenges of a double life.......2006-06-28
Nancy Chan is back, and this time she's juggling even more than before. Her day job -- as a high class call girl -- is kinkier than ever. Meanwhile, her nights, with new husband Matt, are filled with the prosaic pressures of married life -- like where to live, or whether or not to have a baby.
Tracy explores Nancy's life and background to a far greater degree in this novel. There are vignettes about Nancy's life as a youngster in Canada, of her time in London, and even about her unorthodox family in Trinidad. Better still, Tracy describes lively escapades between Nancy and her clients. Nancy is both enthusiastic and ambivalent about the two big relationships in her life. Her relationship with her husband and her relationship with sex work. She's a character filled with humor and nuance.
"Diary of a Married Call Girl" will intrigue anyone with a curiosity about the sex industry, life in Manhattan or the experience of leading a dual life. I recommend it highly for anyone looking for a frisky and fun read.
Married Girl has even MORE FUN (in it).......2006-05-28
When I first read about these women in Nancy's life, it was in the pages of Salon magazine. Then they got fleshed out MORE in Tracy's first book, Diary of Manhattan Call Girl. And now, with "Diary of a Married Call Girl", I feel like I'm seeing old friends again...Delightful, interesting women...Some of the same johns, and some new ones. Juat as in everything else she's written, Tracy keeps me turnin' pages, while I relish every word.
Tracy's always had a gift for vivid, sensitive descriptions of erotic moments. The more I know of these women, the more I want to hang out with them. If you liked "Diary of Manhattan Call Girl", you'll LOVE Nancy as a married woman. If you didn't read the first one, it'll help, but you can still get a LOT of joy out of the 2nd book without the first.
Fascinating.......2006-05-25
Tracy Quan has a gift for slipping subtle and touching scenes into a light, frothy plot. "Nancy Chan" has been fascinating ever since her debut in the pages of Salon, and she remains so as she negotiates the unexpected terrain of "straight" married life. You end up realizing that the secrets a hooker has to keep from her unsuspecting hubby are a lot like the issues in any marriage where the two people are trying to maintain some kind of independent life. Just more colorful and, occasionally, kinkier. (The scene where poor Nancy has to pretend to be a dominatrix - when one of her colleagues is a no-show - is a hilarious twist on a stereotype.)
Book Description
The autobiography of an unsung hero of the Greatest Generation, a leader on the frontlines of American history
John Whitehead began life in Montclair, New Jersey, as a child of the Depression and went on to lead an exemplary life in the years of the Greatest Generation. In this intimate, charming autobiography, he shares his stories and the lessons he's learned about quiet leadership.
He describes how on D-Day he commanded one of the landing crafts at Omaha Beach, and witnessed one of the greatest battles in American military history. Later, in his role as co-chair of Goldman Sachs, he was one of the pioneers of the globalization of international finance that was to change the face of American business. In 1985, Whitehead was appointed Deputy Secretary of State under President Ronald Reagan and became the architect of the Reagan administration's successful efforts to wean the countries of Eastern Europe from the Soviet Union and to open up space there for the democratic movements that eventually resulted in the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Most recently, he was appointed by New York Governor George Pataki as Chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, which is charged with the task of rebuilding Ground Zero. Whitehead provides a first-hand account of the difficult decisions the LMDC has made in meeting its goals of re-developing lower Manhattan and honoring the victims of 9/11 as the capstone of his remarkable career.
Customer Reviews:
A compelling personal account of a life well-lived.......2007-09-27
A brief summary of John Whitehead's accomplishments thus far indicates the nature and extent of his "life in leadership": most recently, chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC); previously, co-chairman of Goldman Sachs and then deputy secretary of state, second-in-command to Secretary George Shultz, in the Reagan administration; also tenures as chairman of the governing boards (at one point or another) of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the United Nations Association, the International Rescue Committee, the Harvard Board of Overseers, Haverford College from which he earned a B.A. degree, and the Asia Society. It should also be noted that, during World War Two, Ensign Whitehead commanded a Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel (LCVP) or "Higgins boat" that successfully delivered troops to Omaha beach on the first day of the Normandy Invasion.
With all due respect to Whitehead's numerous and considerable accomplishments, however, what most impressed throughout his memoirs is his passionate commitment to being an effective leader of others whose welfare has been entrusted to his care. He has always cared deeply, indeed passionately about sustaining that commitment, whatever the given circumstances may be.
As a case in point, after retiring from Goldman Sachs, Whitehead was determined to disengage himself from his various responsibilities and therefore "was dead set against" accepting New York Governor George Pataki's invitation to serve as chairman of the LMDC, following the attack on the World Trade Center. After completing a rigorous analysis of the "pros" and "cons" of acceptance, "it was clear to me that I had to say no." Then, after he looked around his office at all the photographs and memorabilia, "I took a deep breath, and I knew what I had to do. I picked up the phone again and dialed the governor, and when he came on the line I told him I'd accept." There are dozens of other, comparable situations in which White also had to make an especially difficult decision, none of which he later regretted. "I don't allow myself that luxury. What's done is done."
There are several important lessons that can be learned from Whitehead's personal as well as professional experiences that he so generously shares in this volume. Those of greatest interest and value to me include these three:
1. Effective leadership is first and foremost both a privilege and an obligation; those who would lead others must embrace the obligations of trust, compassion, and dedication as well as of rigorous preparation, precise and enlightened decision-making, and courage. It is worth recalling that Dante reserved the last and worst ring in hell for those who, in a moral crisis, preserved their neutrality.
2. Effective leadership also requires not only an understanding and appreciation of teamwork but also a determination to help develop effective leadership skills in one's associates. Hence the importance of recognizing and, yes, celebrating the achievements of others.
3. Finally, effective leadership functions simultaneously within three dimensions: the intellectual, the emotional, and the spiritual. Throughout history, the greatest leaders are those who possess (a) highly refined analytical skills and sufficient knowledge that enable them to make appropriate decisions, (b) a temperament that enables them to sustain a proper balance of what is most important, and also (c) what is often referred to as a "moral compass." As Bill George has so eloquently explained in his book True North, authentic leaders must be authentic people.
When concluding his memoirs, Whitehead observes that he can't help thinking how "lucky" he has been. "Mine has been a good life, filled with lots of fun, interesting experiences, drama, and an engagement with serious issues at the highest level...I have lived at a time when there has been a lot to be done, from fighting the Nazis to battling terrorists. I like to think I have risen to many of these challenges in my own quiet fashion, and I am confident that the next generation of leaders will meet them in their turn. I have been glad to do my part in all of these great endeavors. More than glad. From first to last, I have been thrilled to be in on the action."
John Whitehead is an exemplary leader but also, in my opinion, an exemplary human being. My hope now is that many others, especially those preparing for a career or who have only recently embarked on one, will read and then re-read this compelling personal account of a life well-lived, committing themselves to honorable and productive service when they are also "in on the action," whenever and wherever that may be.
A brief summary of John Whitehead accomplishments thus far indicates the nature and extent of his "life in leadership": most recently, chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation LMDC); previously, co-chairman of Goldman Sachs and then deputy secretary of state, second-in-command to Secretary George Shultz, in the Reagan administration; also tenures as chairman of the governing boards (at one point or another) of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the United Nations Association, the International Rescue Committee, the Harvard Board of Overseers, Haverford College from which he earned a B.A. degree, and the Asia Society. It should also be noted that, during World War Two, Ensign Whitehead commanded a The Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel (LCVP) or "Higgins boat" that successfully delivered troops to Omaha beach on the first day of the Normandy Invasion.
With all due respect to Whitehead's numerous and considerable accomplishments, however, what most impressed throughout his memoirs is his passionate commitment to being an effective leader of others whose welfare has been entrusted to his care. He has always cared deeply, indeed passionately about sustaining that commitment, whatever the given circumstances may be.
As a case in point, after retiring from Goldman Sachs, Whitehead was determined to disengage himself from his various responsibilities and therefore "was dead set against" accepting New York Governor George Pataki's invitation to serve as chairman of the LMDC, following the attack on the World Trade Center. After completing a rigorous analysis of the "pros" and "cons" of acceptance, "it was clear to me that I had to say no." Then, after he looked around his office at all the photographs and memorabilia, "I took a deep breath, and I knew what I had to do. I picked up the phone again and dialed the governor, and when he came on the line I told him I'd accept." There are dozens of other, comparable situations in which White also had to make an especially difficult decision, none of which he later regretted. "I don't allow myself that luxury. What's done is done."
There are several important lessons that can be learned from Whitehead's personal as well as professional experiences that he so generously shares in this volume. Those of greatest interest and value to me include these three:
1. Effective leadership is first and foremost both a privilege and an obligation; those who would lead others must embrace the obligations of trust, compassion, and dedication as well as of rigorous preparation, precise and enlightened decision-making, and courage. It is worth recalling that Dante reserved the last and worst ring in hell for those who, in a moral crisis, preserved their neutrality.
2. Effective leadership also requires not only an understanding and appreciation of teamwork but also a determination to help develop effective leadership skills in one's associates. Hence the importance of recognizing and, yes, celebrating the achievements of others.
3. Finally, effective leadership functions simultaneously within three dimensions: the intellectual, the emotional, and the spiritual. Throughout history, the greatest leaders are those who possess (a) highly refined analytical skills and sufficient knowledge that enable them to make appropriate decisions, (b) a temperament that enables them to sustain a proper balance of what is most important, and also (c) what is often referred to as a "moral compass." As Bill George has so eloquently explained in his book True North, authentic leaders must be authentic people.
When concluding his memoirs, Whitehead observes that he can't help thinking how "lucky" he has been. "Mine has been a good life, filled with lots of fun, interesting experiences, drama, and an engagement with serious issues at the highest level...I have lived at a time when there has been a lot to be done, from fighting the Nazis to battling terrorists. I like to think I have risen to many of these challenges in my own quiet fashion, and I am confident that the next generation of leaders will meet them in their turn. I have been glad to do my part in all of these great endeavors. More than glad. From first to last, I have been thrilled to be in on the action."
John Whitehead is an exemplary leader but also, in my opinion, an exemplary human being. My hope now is that many others, especially those preparing for a career or who have only recently embarked on one, will read and re-read this compelling personal account of a life well-lived, then commit themselves to honorable and productive service when they are also "in on the action," wherever that may be.
Full of Business Nuggets.......2006-01-05
I am about through with the book and I normally don't make comment until I'm done with a book, but this man is truly remarkable. The author has lived a remarkable business life and the book is an inspirational biography full of relatable business lessons or nuggets. I have had a lot of fun laughing and learning from his life lessons.
On the other hand, I feel that the lesson I have learned most is that a balance of work and life is imperative to me. The author is twice divorced and I believe he dedicated more time to his work life than his family life. I think he is kinda reluctant to talk in more depth about it having only dedicated three pages to the topic. I think he would agree. Nonetheless, I have become a huge fan of John C. Whitehead.
Educational, Honest, and Inspiring.......2005-09-17
I had trouble finishing this book because I could barely get through a couple of pages without getting so inspired that I had to stop so I could take action on my own dreams. As a recent graduate of NYU, I was reminded that my career path will take many unexpected turns and of the possible impact I can have by following my vision and sticking to my values.
This autobiography is written with such authenticity that it is completely relatable. The author's struggle to pay his own way through college in 1939 reminded me of my own in 2000. I could relate to the feelings of triumph. And I could certainly relate to the mortifying mistakes (although perhaps I haven't yet experienced anything as bad as driving Henry Ford home in a Chevy!).
At the same time, the book is incredibly educational. History, business, political, and leadership lessons are encapsulated in every story. As Whitehead describes his experiences, certain themes begin to emerge, giving the reader tools they can apply to their own life. I found myself using lessons I derived from Whitehead's diplomacy missions in my work with others!
One of the Best Business Books Ever Written.......2005-06-27
I would highly recommend this book to anybody interested in leadership, but especially young business people at the beginning of their careers. This memoir gives an incredible inside and frank perspective on leadership of an individual who has had a more ecclectic and successful career than most people could ever hope for. Furthermore, this book is also fascinating because it provides a historical insight into the business world that a history textbook could never provide.
Lastly, I recommend this book because the leadership lessons it provides are universal. They aren't fly-by-night strategies, but basic and simple values that can be applied to almost any leadership position at any time.
Incredible Business Memoir.......2005-06-25
In my opinion, this is one of the best business memoirs ever written. While John Whitehead may not be as well known as Jack Welch or Mayor Giuliani and other individuals who've written best-selling autobiographies, in many ways his career and character are no less impressive.
This book was extremely readable and I finished it all in one day! What I appreciate the most is its honesty and integrity. As I reader, I felt that John Whitehead, now in his late 70s, wasn't writing this book as a tool to step up his own career or feed his ego. I felt that he genuinely wanted to share his experiences and the lessons he's learned from them.
Another aspect of the book that I enjoyed was the focus on character. Unlike other business memoirs, which focus on business strategies, this book focuses on simple values such as hard-work, honesty, integrity, humility, and friendliness. It is inspiring to see these values in somebody who achieved massive success as a business man, states man, and philanthropist.
Book Description
Fifty years ago, Wall Street was a hodgepodge of companieshundreds of themoperating in an environment where high-tech meant an electric typewriter and the Wasps and Jews never mixed. Today, Wall Street is controlled by a few massive firms and, it often seems, few ethical constraints. The tale of Wall Streets rise and transformation is one of the most exciting and important of our time. But amazingly, never before have the players who saw everythinglarge and small, from tycoons in limousines to the barber in the basement of the stock exchangedirectly told their stories. Here, at long last, are the Masters of the Universe and the con men; the backroom geniuses and the power-tie billionairesall in first person, uncensored, brash, bold, and often not so fond of one another. The result is the most vibrant business history published in years, perfect for anyone who wishes they had been a fly on the boardroom wall. Weiner interviewed everyone whos anyone for this oral history, including David Rockefeller, Arthur Levitt, Charles Schwab, Don Regan, Peter Lynch, Pete Peterson, Henry Kravis, George Roberts, Jerome Kohlberg, Steve Schwarzman, Dick Jenrette, Dan Lufkin, John Kenneth Galbraith, Stan ONeal, Harvey Pitt, T. Boone Pickens, John Whitehead, John Weinberg, Robert Baldwin, Dave Komansky, Jerry Tsai, John Gutfreundto name a few.
Customer Reviews:
Interesting history from the primary sources.......2006-03-26
Eric Weiner uses the words of the titans of Wall Street to describe the ups and downs of Wall Street's long march. Chapters are organized around rough themes (the early tycoons, junk bonds, the emergence of conglomerates, etc.) with alternating paragraphs written by the leaders of the great Wall Street firms.
The primary sources provide direct insight to what happened in a very easy to read format. As a survey, the book provides a readers digest version of much of the popular banking literature. (The chapter on leveraged buyouts has just enough detail to allow one to skip Barbarians at the Gate.) Very efficient background material for anyone entering the field.
There are two limitations with the style and direction of the book. By it's nature, the book focuses primarily on New York banking, and misses much of the story of globalization. The other is that by using people's own words, one has to read between the lines to find the real story. Both limitations are unavoidable given the intention and form of the book.
Wall Street revealed.......2006-02-01
Wayne of Rebeccasreads recommends WHAT GOES UP as a gossipy history told in interviews with the movers & shakers of the fabled place we call Wall Street.
Little in this world affects Americans as strongly as the inner workings of the financiers who make the decisions that impact our jobs, our retirements & our government policy. Yet most of us know very little about it. WHAT GOES UP aims to help us make sense of what's going on by telling us how we got here from the Great Depression to the Silicon Valley Tech melt-down.
Eric Weiner is a respected, knowledgeable & (a bit too) sympathetic a journalist who has broken his interviews down into digestible chunks, as the financiers tell their stories in their own words, & interspersing them with the history of how big banks & investment houses were forced to part ways after the Great Depression, how the financial world was broken up & the rise of the players who have become today's household names.
As The Market World Turns..........2006-01-18
Oral histories can be problematic reads. It's not just that the cleverest sound bite isn't always the best way of explaining something, or that a writer trying to get quotes to smoothly blend together faces the mounting temptation to play around with his interviewee's words. There's often a mosaic-like confusion of voices, which can make reading about a normally difficult subject even harder, like trying to figure out a 40-year-running soap opera from watching a single episode.
Eric J. Weiner's "What Goes Up" traces the history of Wall Street from pre-World War II days to just after 9/11 in mosaic fashion, both by concentrating each chapter on a unique milestone moment and then by spinning out each chapter in the form of quotes, most running several paragraphs, from people who were there.
There are some great quotes, too. "Something I've learned is that every good idea on Wall Street is driven into the ground like a tomato stake," says writer James Grant, in a chapter about the rise of junk bonds. Mutual fund guru Peter Lynch recalls cutting short a rare vacation to Ireland in 1987 when the market suddenly lost a fifth of its value in one day. Jerry Tsai, the Lynch of an earlier day, candidly recalls the heady Go-Go 1960s, while longtime broker Peter Low recalls the guilt of speculating on Vietnam War news.
"It's mean," he says. "If news breaks out that there's a drug epidemic, Wall Street asks 'Who makes the needles?'"
The downside of Weiner's narrative is that it's not especially enlightening, moving as it does so quickly from one soap opera to the next. It doesn't stick with any one of these, like the acquisition of Shearson Loeb Rhoades by American Express or the RJR Nabisco merger later that decade memorialized in "Barbarians At The Gate," long enough to convey much understanding. The connecting narrative is bare, designed not to intrude on the quotes, but as the large cast of characters in each chapter either talk over the same few points or else disagree with one another with Susan Lucci gusto, one misses a central, unifying voice.
I liked Weiner's work with the chapter on "junk-bond king" Michael Milken, especially because that has not only a good selection of quotes but a linear narrative that arrives at a bold conclusion, that being that Milken was essentially laid out for the sins of others. "Milken never did anything wrong," says former Wall Street Journal editor Jude Wanniski. "Nothing."
Milken is quoted as well, but like Sanford Weill, Warren Buffett, and some others, he didn't cooperate with Weiner's book. Rather, Weiner took quotes from other sources and included them in his oral history, properly notated, but still a little awkward. It would have been better had Weiner included those second-hand comments in a beefier narrative framework, and left the long quotes for those who did talk to him, especially since they include some voluble, interesting, and underappreciated figures.
I liked "What Goes Up," but not a lot, and I didn't feel like I learned much of anything I can carry with me. It's a good idea for a book, just not substantive enough for a curious layman like me. That being said, I think a stockbroker or economic history buff will appreciate "What Goes Up" for being a Norton Anthology of famous moments on Wall Street, something to refer to and augment their deeper understanding of what goes up, and on.
An excellent overview other coverages barely touch.......2006-01-06
There have been other histories of Wall Street before: so what makes What Goes Up: The Uncensored History Of Modern Wall Street As Told By The Bankers, Brokers, CEOs And Scoundrels Who Made It Happen so special from the others? The title says it all: this is not just a third-party analysis of history but a set of insider's observations by those who made Wall Street the center of the financial world. Financial journalist Weiner provides insights based on not just a few, but hundreds of interviews with all levels of Wall Street insider from Warren Buffett to Alan Greenspan: the result is an excellent overview other coverages barely touch.
If you can read no other book about wall st.... this is the one.......2005-12-30
This is the single best book on Wall St. I've ever read. I've read at least 100 of them. This one is succinct, interesting and comprehensive. It covers at least briefly all the major events and players through the modern era of Wall St. It is very engaging, because of the style, which is written from interviews, so the whole book is in the voice of real people. Highly recommended.
Average customer rating:
- Too many characters and settings
- this is a mess
- OK, But .....
- Entertaining, but series is running out of steam.
- The protege is much better!
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The Power Broker
Stephen Frey
Manufacturer: Thorndike Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0786289864 |
Customer Reviews:
Too many characters and settings.......2007-07-14
Deceit, trust and honesty are themes that are repeatedly surfacing in Frey's novel "The Power Broker." All relationships are questioned and tested in this action and crime packed story.
The novel encompasses several original story lines that did not seem to mesh together until the second half of the book. The two powerful, secret orders one of white and the other of black men entailed a large amount of detail on both sides that left the reader confused as to which characters belonged to which orders. Each of the orders had separate goals for a presidential hopeful.
I had great difficulty keeping track of the dozen or more characters in this novel, even though many were killed off during the course of the novel.
I did quickly become attached to the true main characters of the book Christian, Quentin, Nigel and Allison. I found that my favorite part of the novel was the dialogue between these individuals. The story that was told with these characters through their business practices was easy to follow and believable.
In all honesty, I had to force myself to read past the first few complicated and intricate chapters. There were too many characters and settings introduced in the first few chapters. I especially found myself very perplexed as to how the prologue fit in with the beginning of the novel. As the story progressed, the amount of story lines seemed to increase and did not converge until the final few chapters.
This novel could have used a character chart or map to prevent the reader being lost with too many characters and settings.
this is a mess.......2007-06-29
For some reason I keep picking up Frey books with the expectation that they will be knock down thrillers filled with intrigue. You will find a little of that here, but the Power Broker is so filled with compositional flaws that anything approaching readability is quickly overwhelmed by Frey's need to jump around from one character to the next. I lost count of how many first person chapters Frey pushes in here that orient themselves around someone new. Also, for the first half of the book Frey is constantly adding new major... very major plot threads that are as cumbersome as car wrecks.
This could have been a pretty good book I think if Frey had approached it through the eyes of a single character such as the predominant protagonist, Christian Gillette. I am always game for a political thriller and it seems that Frey has managed to pit several sides against each other in a unique bid for power. Sadly, Frey is a pretty good writer of prose, has interesting ideas, basically, he has everything you need for a darn good genre writer... everything that is except a will to force his thoughts into a tract that would allow for another to follow along.
OK, But ............2007-05-30
I was pretty disappointed with this effort by Stephen Frey. After awhile mentioning billions as if it has any meaning to the average reader, makes my eyes glaze over. The supposed good guy, Christian, is set up and fooled on a regular basis. If he is this gullible how did he become such a financial wizard? Too many unexplained happenings. He swims in icy Maine waters and his shoes don't squish? Is he wearing shoes? Don't his clothes drip all over the place. No, no and no. The author fills up a lot of pages and has a secret club a power club that has been written about many times before. It is an old plot idea and one can only hope this type of organization does not actually exist. If it does, expect your brain to be pulled out through your nose; the fate of one hapless character. Don't waste your time. I suffered so that you would not!
Entertaining, but series is running out of steam........2007-02-07
Somehow between "The Chairman" and this book, Christian Gillette morphed from a cutthroat chairman looking to protect himself from other nefarious characters and cutthroats, a truly fascinating enigma - into a hero-for-everyman type of character. The book still kept me interested, but the series' high note was the 1st book, and the overall quality of the story has descended steadily since. Hopefully, "The Successor" will reverse that trend.
The protege is much better!.......2007-02-07
This book is the sequence of the Protege. I recommend the original book!
Customer Reviews:
Well-written and interesting.......2007-04-05
This was a very interesting account of the German-Jewish experience in the United States from the mid 19th century through the mid 20th century. It looks carefully at how a number of families rose stratospherically into the nation's financial elite within a short period of time. While the families were assimilated on some levels (particularly with respect to economic achievement), they clung to their German roots on other levels (as demonstrated by their American-born children being schooled in the German tradition, and by certain political views). Many members of this group saw themselves as being German before being Jewish, and this set up an intra-religious "pecking order" (a member of this group marrying a non-German Jew was apparently out of the question). I only wish that the book would be updated, as it ends in the late 1950s.
Facinating and wonderfully written.......2007-02-17
I picked this book up on a whim not knowing what to expect and I was pleasantly surprised. Takes you through the history of the German Jewish banking families from the early 1800's when they were in dry goods; ends with the genesis of some of the most influential banking houses in the world. Lehman Brothers started out as cotton brokers in Alabama ... Marcus Goldman used to walk around downtown with commercial paper stuffed in his hat ... August Belmont was a pioneer of being fashionably late ... a number of them used to summer near Long Branch, New Jersey which is now an enclave of Brazilian wood flooring contractors.
There were definitely portions that dragged a bit, but it's made up for by being wonderfully written. A quick read and if you don't like it, doubles nicely as a coaster.
Where are the Glories of Yesteryear?.......2005-06-24
I read this book many years ago and found it yet another fascinating chapter, in that endlessly fascinating story of how Jews have lived through the generations. My guess is that the scions of a good share of the families chronicled here are no longer part of the Jewish world.
Here the question is raised of the mixed feelings created by ' successful Jews who are no longer very Jewish, or in other cases consciously and decidedly not Jewish.
The Schiffs, the Warburgs, the Belmonts, the Ochs- Sulzbergers , the Morgenthaus,et. al. .
Where are the Glories of Yesteryear?
"Our Crowd".......2003-10-03
Nice book but I actually found it a little bit boring at the end. However, you should read it to get the full picture about investment banks that were created by Jews. I reccomend to read "The New Crowd" after you finish reading this book. You can say that "The New Crowd" is part II of "Our Crowd" even though it was written by different writers.
Engaging history.......2001-07-31
A very interesting history of the great Jewish families of New York. Birmingham flings the door open on some of the most reclusive and secretive oligopolies in business history. Not only is it an eye opening history of the German jews in New York but it is engaging and interesting to read. It does not read like a textbook. Birmingham has really done his homework. If you want to learn about some real eccentric/succesful personalities and about the German jewish families ofNew York, this is the best book on the subject.
Book Description
Twenty-two years ago, Martin Mayer's original and bestselling The Bankers took readers into every corner of the banking industry. Since then, everything to do with money and banking has changed dramatically. Computer-driven data processing has led to new kinds of financial instruments, new opportunities for profit and loss, new relations between banks and their customers, and new affiliation between government and banks. Businessmen and householders need a new road map to banks' new abilities, challenges, and pitfalls. Mayer's completely new, completely rewritten 1997 edition on banking's immensely changed world answers that need. Among the many subjects explored in this timely book are:
The extremely fluid nature of money in an electronic age
The changing economic role of banks and other financial service institutions
The perilous voyages of today's banks on seas of computerized trading
The two-trillion-dollar-a-day flow of wholesale payments
The explosive growth and use of credit cards and ATM machines
The rapidly arriving world of "smart cards" and "internet banking."
Mayer shows the reader where the trends lead--and what the industry itself and its regulators can to do pluck the plums of progress from the messy confusion of great change itself. Accessible to any reader yet specific enough to capture the attention of the world's business professionals, The Bankers: The NextGeneration, explains the banking revolution of our time. This is every business reader's must-read book of the 1990s.
Martin Mayer is the most widely recognized name in banking and finance. The Bankers hardcover edition hit the bestseller lists of Business Week and the San Francisco Chronicle.
Customer Reviews:
The Hobo Philosopher.......2007-09-18
I wouldn't say that this is a casual read for the "general" reader. To really understand what this author has to say you have to have more than a casual interest in money and banking.
But that being said, I read it and I'm no banking major. I won't say that I understood everything that the author tried to explain. It was all very interesting and often very confusing. Often though I understood all the words, I couldn't fathom the sentence. Anyone who says that they understand "money" and how it works, I think is kidding themselves. Understanding the workings of what we call "money" is a logical paradox; it is a philosophical inquiry; it is much ado about something.
Understanding money is another project that I have taken on intellectually. Galbraith wrote a great book about "Money" From Whence It Came and Where It Went. He claimed in the intro to that book that anyone with the requisite desire has the ability to understand money. I don't think so.
Just read chapters 9 & 10.......2003-04-17
I run with a crowd of i-bankers, and I bought this book to try to better understand what they do all day. However, this book is a LOT of history, and the entire first Part of the book is VERY basic information relating to what "money" is.
If you learn well through anecdotes, you will find this book both informative and easy to read. If, on the other hand, you are considering this book thinking it will be information about the modern banking industry given in a straightforward way, you're out of luck. In order to understand the industry (or what pieces of it this book explores, anyway) you have to extrapolate larger themes from nearly 500 pages of amost exclusively history and anecdotal examples. In addition, Martin has a habit of describing people in the industry, e.g., "Mr. X, a swarthy fellow I knew while still a fencer at Penn and something of a womanizer besides..." For some, I'm sure this keeps the book from being too dry. I, on the other hand, found these descriptions annoying and diversionary.
In sum, if you're looking for information about the modern banking industry, just read chapters nine and ten, which are well-written, relatively complete, and exceptionally easy to understand. If, instead, you are looking for the story of how banking has evolved, or you just like to read businessmen's tales, then this is the book for you.
Enjoyable to read and packed with excellent information.......2002-04-29
Excellent book on modern day banking industry, extremely informative with lots of information, but easy to digest even for those who just wanted to learn a little more about the business.
It is well written and easy to understand overall. Making it unexpectedly enjoyable.
Very interesting book.......2000-06-19
This is the first and only book I've ever read on banking. But it is very well written, clear, concise, and filled with interesting bits of history. The author shows extreme mastery of the topic. If you read any book about the industry, this should be it.
A Book as Quirky as the Industry Portrayed by the Author.......2000-05-17
The financial services industry has always been something of an enigma to me. After reading THE BANKERS, it still is. Perhaps the lush reviews garnered by this book instilled unrealistic expectations: I expected a carefully researched, scholarly treatment of the banking business past-to-present. For better or worse, this book reads more like a quirky monologue by someone who knows the banking business well, but who prefers to deliver his knowledge by free association rather than by cogent and orderly description. The anecdotes are sometimes very entertaining, and the reader does pick up some valuable insights. But the return on effort extended is less than excellent. What's especially ironic is the book's chapters ARE cogently organized...it's only the follow-through that's lacking.
The book's high point is Chapter 3 (Paying Bills). Here the author does an admirable job of describing the excruciatingly convoluted process of check clearance. It would seem to be the dullest subject imaginable, but Mayer brings it to life -and I suspect he does such an admirable job because he has a flair for showing the quirkiness in any subject under the sun. The biggest disappointment of the book is how Mayer is compelled to entangle his journalistic prominence with whatever other point he wants to make ("A team of television journalists came from a Japanese network to visit me in Washington..."). Once again, there are some terrific insights, and some entertaining one-liners. It's just that the perspective one receives seems indulgently biased, and not particularly comprehensive.
Book Description
Lyle Johnson is a hot and handsome Wall Street investment banker with no intention of settling down. His new partner is Tess Aventura Dubois-recently widowed and bequeathed a multi-million-dollar fortune. What she's investing in now is interest in Lyle, who can afford to share her luxurious lifestyle-if she can keep from him her deepest, darkest secret...
Customer Reviews:
A - Book.......2007-08-01
This book was well worth the read. Much better than the prequel Revenge is best served cold. This novel is action packed from beginning to end and "Tyrone"...you won't be able to get enough of him. Fast paced with lots of twists that moves you right along with the books. Just enough characters ...not too many things going on at once but no chance of boredom with the characters illustrated. Also the author did an excellent job of keeping Dakota and Morgan in the background (they were the main characters in the first novel)giving just enough attention to them so that prequel readers know what happens to them w/o dwelling on them as main characters. Get the book especially since it has been out for a few years and I am sure you can get it at a really cheap price.
Carter and Howard Redeem Themselves.......2007-07-24
As far as I am concerned anyway, I was really disappointed in the first book. All of the name dropping was irritating, and I was looking for this book to be the same, but it was so much better.Tyrone was at it again and it was interesting to see what he was up to this time and how he would get caught or get out of it. This book can be read without reading the first book, (wish I had known that before I bought it.) I hope the next installment is even better.
Not a Bad Afternoon Read.......2005-03-23
These authors (unlike some others) do a good job of combining their writing styles and thoughts and come together to write "Success..."
This book captures the exploits of Tyrone AKA Contessa Aventura. Tess is a cross dressing gold-digger whose past catches up with her in the worst way. There is also a love story or two thrown in here. Not to mention the ever-present and all too tired story line that includes reconciliation of a jail-bird brother with his widly successful younger brother.
By the way, these authors mentioned that they wanted to show African-Americans in a positive light, well "drug-dealing to feed the family cause the daddy walked out" didn't do it for me.
All in all, not a bad read and I finished it in one day.
Kristy Phillips
Sister 2 Sister Book Club
Can They Possibly Go Wrong?.......2004-09-02
For those who know, the flamboyant Tyrone is at it again! For those who don't...start from the very beginning with Tracie Howard and Danita Carter's first book "Revenge Is Best Served Cold". Once again the duo of diversity has cleverly blended the elegance of high-powered living and the gritty lifestyle of the streets. Although not as dramatic as its predecessor, "Talk of the Town", "Success Is the Best Revenge" still holds its own. Sit back and relax as the leading characters bump into each other's lives causing controversy, greed and love (yes!), all boiled into one book. You won't be able to put it down!
A trending tale of urban upper class, told with style!.......2004-06-05
This book is an elegant example of urban class. So many books illustrate lower class black society and never touch on black middle and upper class. This book is an eloquently written contradiction to the ghetto concrete jungle, low moral, lack of respect, education, class, family values and self esteem, portrade in too many other black books. Their were no drive-by's, baby mamas and cheap liquor in this book, just sheer elagance in its most dramatic form. The characters in this book could have been any race and that's what I love the most about this book!
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