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Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco (平装)
by Bryan Burrough, John Helyar
| Category:
Leverage buy-out, M & A, Wall Street, Investment banking, Financial markets |
| Market price: ¥ 178.00
MSL price:
¥ 158.00
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| Stock:
Pre-order item, lead time 3-7 weeks upon payment [ COD term does not apply to pre-order items ] |
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
With more than 500,000 copies sold, this business narrative classic is the definitive account of the largest takeover in Wall Street history. |
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AllReviews |
1 2   | Total 2 pages 11 items |
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Library Journal (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-24 00:00>
The leveraged buyout of the RJR Nabisco Corporation for $25 billion is a landmark in American business history, a story of avarice on an epic scale. Two versions of the fierce competition for the largest buyout ever consummated are presented by skilled journalists with contrasting styles. Burrough and Helyar are clearly fascinated with the personalities of the players in the deal and with the trappings of corporate wealth. The restless, flamboyant personality of Ross Johnson, CEO of RJR Nabisco, is portrayed as the key to the events that were to unfold. The colorful description of all of the players and the events will likely have broad appeal. Lampert signals the complexity of her story by introducing her narrative with a three-page cast of characters. Her focus on the strategy of the players and on the fast-paced action provides a more concise description of a deal big enough to augment the wealth of many rich people. |
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New York Times Book Review, USA
<2006-12-24 00:00>
One of the finest, most compelling accounts of what happened to corporate America and Wall Street in the 1980s. |
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Los Angeles Times Book Review, USA
<2006-12-24 00:00>
A superlative book... steadily builds suspense until the very end. |
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F. Lybrand, USA
<2006-12-24 00:00>
If you want to understand Wall Street of the 1980's read this book, Den of Thieves by Stewart and Predator's Ball by Bruck. This book is an all encompassing depiction of the events that led to the first leveraged-buy out (meaning they used debt, in the form of massive loans, and not just equity or stock), the debut of KKR as a major financial power, and the emergence of "shareholder value" as a buzzword that no CEO will fail to keep in mind.
The authors were both Wall Street Journal reporters who wrote the book in much the same way as they would report- direct to the point, clearly explained, and with little detectable bias as to the fate of the major characters. I very much enjoy this style of writing, if every WSJ reporter were to write a book, I would be there to support them.
The book does a great job of explaining in detail the egregious excess of Nabisco during CEO Johnson's stint at the helm. In this day of clipped expense accounts and flying coach for business, the presence of a "Nabisco Air-Force" of jets and professional athletes and celebrities on the pay-roll is difficult to imagine. The authors do a good job of transitioning from these descriptions into the dirty details of how the deal was put together. The scenes where the transaction is coming together at the final hour, through all of the negotiations and threats, are well-told, I could actually feel the tension and angst in the room.
Read this book. When you're done with it go pick up Den of Thieves and Predator's Ball.
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Greg Feirman, USA
<2006-12-24 00:00>
Barbarians at the Gate is a very easy, fun read. It is purposefully written alot like a novel. For one thing, the book shifts frequently between different times and places. For instance, the prologue details the board meeting where CEO Ross Johnson proposes a Leveraged Buy Out (LBO) for the first time. The start of chapter 7, page 184, then picks up from there chronologically, "Johnson rose early the next morning, the memory of Wednesday night's board meeting still fresh in his mind" (pg 184). Also like a novel, the authors give a tremendous amount of background and personal history on the people and companies involved in the deal. There is history about Ross Johnson's personal history, about his time at Standard Brands and Nabisco before the merger with RJR, and then about RJR the company, dating back to the 1800s. There is also a chapter that goes into some detail about KKR and Henry Kravis. All of the information was interesting and well written, though I felt at times like I just wanted to get back to the main plot and away from some of these tangenital details. It was a choice the authors made between making the book more journalistic and conise or more like a novel, and I guess I ended up liking their choice.
The heart of the book is the bidding battle for RJR between KKR and the Shearson Lehman Group (which had Johnson on their side); First Boston also makes a bid but I don't think their bid was ever seriously, seriously considered. The authors describe an LBO as follows, "A firm such as Kohlberg Kravis, working with a company's management, buys the company using money raised from banks and the public sale of securities; the debt is paid down with cash from the company's operations and, often, by seling pieces of the business " (pg 101). So that is how KKR and the LBOs work. The book takes you through the day by day strategy sessions of the different groups, their attempts to raise financing (equity from private investors, junk bonds issued by the investment banks, and commercial bank loans), their responses to moves from the other side, the meetings of the Special Comittee which would decide which bid to accept, etc...
There are alot of late nights, alot of re-crunching the numbers, alot of personality clashes, lawyers, investment bankers, and more. The writing was so good that it made me feel like I was there, following the deal step by step, and gaining an understanding of what the various parties do and what goes on in an LBO. It was like reading a story and learning about LBOs and how big deals get made at the same time. Very rewarding. I usually don't like books to be this long (515 pgs) but in this case I think almost every pages was worth it. |
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Craig Matteson, USA
<2006-12-24 00:00>
This is one of the great books of business. Not only is it a great story in its own right, the authors were able to put together the facts of the story in an incredibly lively and detailed way. They paint this story on a big enough canvas to let a large cast of incredible characters act out their part in this amazing saga.
The easy larger than life characters are Ross Johnson, Henry Kravis, George Roberts, Peter Cohen, and maybe even Ted Forstmann, but there are so many more. There were so many times a deal could have been put together and most likely should have been, but in each instance it slipped away because one ego or another wanted to carve its initials in the bark of what was then the largest deal in history.
For those of us who are interested in how business really works, this is one of the epics in business history. It begins with the founding of the companies involved and the rather amazing story of how Ross Johnson ended up at the helm of RJR Nabisco. The book also gives plenty of evidence of Wall Streeters seeking out their own interest over their clients' needs and desires and contrary to their own promises and assurances. You will become convinced of the aptness of Ross Johnson's adage about the rules of behavior on Wall Street: "Never play by the rules, never tell the truth, and never pay in cash".
Another of the many things I enjoyed about this book is that the personalities of the major and secondary characters are given enough room to become more than just stick figures. There are times you will want to support them, when you will root for them, when you will be appalled by their behavior and ego, and other times you will laugh until your sides hurt. This isn't a simple story drawn with stick figures. If you want to understand American business, this is one of the stories you simply have to know.
While the movie made from this book is quite good and very funny, it doesn't offer you the full range of characters involved nor the detail of the actual negotiations and how the deal finally came to its strange end. The movie captures the mood and the essentials of the story and that might be enough for most. I recommend the movie for those who want the story in broad strokes. However, if you want to really gain an understanding of how this deal in particular and how business deals in general really come together and fall apart, the book is the way to go. The people involved become more three dimensional in the book and where some events and characters are left out or compressed in the movie the book has the room to let the story be told more fully. It isn't that the book is the ultimate truth (I am sure every person involved could point to things they find inadequate in the book), it is that the authors dug hard, got as much of the truth as they could get to and shared it with us in an intelligent, enlightening and often humorous way.
This is a great book I would recommend to anyone, but it is a must read for students of business.
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Jim Gonzalez, USA
<2006-12-24 00:00>
You may be interested in the book about the murder death of a former KKR executive (Almost Paradise, by Kieran Crowley, 2005.) It discussed how the corporate raiders like KKR operates:
1. A group of raiders would locate a fat target, undervalued, according to the stock price. It was best to win the cooperation of the concern's board members
in advance, for an uncontested buyout.
2. Next the raiders would quickly secure massive financing from one or more big banks to fund their buyout offer to the stockholders of the corporation, who could be expected to agree to sell their shares for a windfall profit. The raiders inflated their offers with controversial "junk bonds," which made the takeovers possible.
3. Then the raiders would run the company, selling off assets, divisions, or property, and consolidating operations to achieve massive profits. That often
meant wholesale layoffs of loyal workers who had been doing a good job for a profitable firm.
4. At the end of the process, everyone who owned stock made a nice profit, the bankers made a bigger profit, and the raiders garnered the lion's share of the
liquidated assets, sometimes obscene amounts of cash - all for wringing money out of someone else's company with other people's money and shaky bonds.
Everybody was happy - except the workers who got fired.
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Ramli, UK
<2006-12-24 00:00>
This book is one of the best business books out there and you wont waste a penny on it.
The story shows how greed and money can destroy even the wildest of dreams and ambition in the world that we live in.The go go 80's was the time of the big swinging you-know-what believing themselves as the masters of the universe thus inevitably above everything else.
The story of how a great american company RJR Nabisco loses battle for control of the company by a group a financiers of KKR led by Henry Kravis.The story unfolds from the time Ross Johson,the CEO of RJR Nabisco, decides to take the company private.In doing so he puts the company in play and then the action begins to take place as other huge financial firms with ego as huge as Ross Johnson try to get a piece of the action.In the end there is only one winner and doznes of losers.
Barbarians at the gate also gives you an insight on the LBO fad and how it works.Those who follow wallstreet in the 80's know that non of this could have happened werent it for the service of Michael Milken and his junk bonds.in any case,it is interesting how the authors who obviously went to great lengths researching and interviewing the players involved and displays the facts in such an entertaining manner you wish you wanted to finish the book in one sitting!!
The only con i found was the story of how RJR and Nabisco came into existent (the authors stretch this bit too far when they could have done it in 15 pages). nonetheless, it was a great read. |
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Ravi Madapati, India
<2006-12-24 00:00>
Inside the high stakes world of high finance, this book superbly portrays the happenings the events that led to the rise and eventual fall of two great American companies, RJR and Nabisco. Along the way, these companies inturn merger with other companies resulting in the cash spinning behemoth that became the prey of many corp finance predators of Wall St.
Both the authors excel at investgative journalism, wherein lies the beauty of this book. What you get from this book is a lucidly writen cases on a multitude of things. The making of the brand RJR Nabisco, from the turn of 20th to 21st century. The rise of the unstoppable buyout machine, KKR, the rise and fall of the leverage buyout (LBO) industry and the rise and fall of one man who spearheaded most of the fall of RJR Nabisco, Ross F Johnson. You end up learning more about many things that you thought were possible and the best part is, the narration style. Its like watching a good Hollywood movie, a fast paced thriller. So once you start the book you never want to put it down. And when you finish reading, you are left with a feeling of wanting more.
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John Hilliard, Canada
<2006-12-24 00:00>
This book is a description of the largest leveraged-buy out of the 80's. The book covers the management buy out of RJR and all the financial moves that took place to get it done. It covers the winners and losers and the tactics they used. The authors are investigative reports so they have the ability to provide the reader with a very well constructed and easy to understand story. They really bring the reader into the negotiations and all the high pressure and tension is coved to the reader. The most fun was when the authors took to describing all the financial players involved, their egos and ways of life and doing business. The excesses of some of the companies detailed are really something.
If you are interested in this topic then I would suggest you also read "Den of Thieves" and "Predator's Ball", both of which cover the 80's M&A and Junk Bond world. To get a better understanding of KKR, I would suggest "Masters of Debit" and if you are looking for more info on this particular deal I would suggest "True Greed". |
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