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4.21 AVERAGE
4.21 AVERAGE
informative
medium-paced
Read this after Bad Blood left me hungry for more business thrills. Barbarians at the Gates is a thorough and well written account of the RJR Nabisco LBO, but it turns out an LBO can really only be so thrilling. This story is no match for the intrigue and salacity of Holmes and Theranos. It is probably more fit for business school than a casual reader.
An in depth look at the greed and egomania that fueled the Roaring Eighties leveraged buyout takeover craze fueled by junk bonds. RJR Nabisco was a good lens for the age because the tobacco side of the company produced oceans of money. The surprise for me was how riveting the story was. I didn't want to put it down at the end because the suspense about who would get the winning bid was so great. I really enjoyed reading The Big Short too, but that was about the housing financial crisis and I had at least experienced mortgages and all that goes with them so I knew something about the subject matter. But Barbarians at the Gate does a pretty good job of educating the reader about LBOs and what a Chief Executive does for a living.
The theme of the book of course is that the people who create these companies are building something. Nabisco was made out of the manufacturing of oreos and other cookies and products. RJR was made out of the manufacture of cigarettes. But the corporate raiders who came after these companies were just looking to bleed them for fees and sell off parts. As Brough and Helyar say at the end, what does that have to do with creating and manufacturing and marketing a product?
The theme of the book of course is that the people who create these companies are building something. Nabisco was made out of the manufacturing of oreos and other cookies and products. RJR was made out of the manufacture of cigarettes. But the corporate raiders who came after these companies were just looking to bleed them for fees and sell off parts. As Brough and Helyar say at the end, what does that have to do with creating and manufacturing and marketing a product?
fast-paced
challenging
funny
informative
reflective
slow-paced
challenging
informative
tense
medium-paced
Educational but not a fun read imo. Helpful in conversations with old finance guys, makes you seem knowledgeable. A bro classic.
Really good story about LBOs but can’t believe the author states later he thought this book “aged” well. It did not. Definitely lots of sexism documented from the 80s.
funny
informative
medium-paced
informative
slow-paced