Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
A symbol of crony capitalism thanks to his friendly phone call to the 92nd Street Y pre-school on behalf of analyst Jack Grubman, Sanford Weill helped lay the groundwork for today's vertically integrated (and scandal-ridden) financial industry. Starting with a small brokerage, Weill built several business empires that culminated in the $83 billion 1998 merger that put him atop the global financial services leviathan Citigroup, an unprecedented agglomeration of investment and retail banks, insurance companies, consumer loan corporations and stock brokerages. More than a mere deal-maker, he also brought "lean and mean" management to Wall Street by laying off workers, slashing benefits, raiding pension funds and substituting stock options for salaries. Wall Street Journal reporter Langley's colorful biography tells this story well. She paints a vivid portrait of Weill, whose messy appetites, towering tantrums and voracious desire for corporate jets and other status symbols make him seem occasionally pre-schoolish himself, and provides a blow-by-blow account of Wall Street's sometimes explosive restructuring grounded in pettiness, nepotism and backstabbing. It's hard, though, to see the drama in executive turf battles when even the losers walk away with $30 million golden parachutes, and larger issues can get lost in the soap opera of office politics. The economic ramifications of the financial industry's reorganization are hardly touched on, and the effects of Weill's draconian cost-cutting on the rank-and-file who bore the brunt of it are treated as an untroubling prerequisite to rising productivity and share-holder value. Langley's book is informative and highly readable, but there's a much bigger story to be told.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
Forbes A riveting narrative.
The Economist A rollicking biography.
BusinessWeek A well-written, fast-paced read that does the best job yet of explaining who Weill is.
Time [A] richly reported recent history of Wall Street and corporate America told through an oversize personality.
The Economist A rollicking biography.
BusinessWeek A well-written, fast-paced read that does the best job yet of explaining who Weill is.
Time [A] richly reported recent history of Wall Street and corporate America told through an oversize personality.
1 opmerking:
Het verhaal van Grubman en Weil is in dit boek te lezen: http://www.organicfraud.org/thebook.pdf
( page 110)
Hier de nederlandse vertaling:
www.organicfraud.org/beursbedrog
Grubman was een analist die de aandelen van A T & T met opzet gunstig afschilderde, opdat zijn dochtertjes op een bepaalde chique kleuterschool zouden kunnen worden toegelaten.
Voor die toegang schonk Weil ( Citigroup ) 1 miloen $ aan de school.
Toen gaf Grubman AT &T een hogere rating ( must buy !) , wat de banken een extra inkomen van 45 miljoen $ opleverde.
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