Bloodsport: When Ruthless Dealmakers, Shrewd Ideologues, and Brawling Lawyers Toppled the Corporate Establishment

by Robert Teitelman Narrated by Neil Hellegers

Overview

Bloodsport is the story of the creation of America's deal culture and the battle for control of America's corporations. Told through the fascinating, complex, and often-flawed characters who created a new era, it begins as the '60s are ending with the rise of the conglomerates, those vast assemblages of corporate assets. It rolls through the crisis-wracked '70s and the birth of the hostile deal, then careens into the '80s, when the deal culture of mergers and acquisitions is truly unleashed. The '90s see backlash, retrenchment, and rethinking. The new century brings bubbles and deregulation, ending in disaster. And following a quiet period after the financial crash of 2008, we are witnessing the full-throated battle once again.



Since the first hostile deal in 1975, mergers and acquisitions have set off a revolution in who controls and governs American corporations. The rise of the deal raiders ushered in a world where literally no company was safe. Year after year, blockbuster deals unfolded. Many were hostile, most were complicated, and the majority were dead on arrival. Together, they tell a story about money and power and the creation of a new era in business.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"Teitelman, covering decades, assembles a comprehensive history akin to a complex, deftly spun spider's web of insightfully interconnected strands. Page by page, the author connects the many dots in his extraordinarily information-packed and also opinionated survey that easily grips any reader with an interest in the book's topic…In short, there is fact-driven brilliance in Bloodsport's pages." –Ted Sturtz, New York Journal of Books

“A great story, with profound implications for the way America views and regulates corporations…Teitelman has a masterly command of his subject…in this comprehensive look at corporate takeovers.” –Publishers Weekly

"Lively storytelling about complex theories and arcane dealmaking." –Kirkus Reviews

"Bob Teitleman has written THE definitive book on the rise of the 2.5 trillion deal market. He expertly weaves insider history with a deep theoretical and insightful look into how the United States became a deal nation. This book should be required reading not just for deal junkies but for anyone who wishes to understand our economy and the world of mergers, acquisitions and dealmakers." –Steven Davidoff Solomon, Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law and the New York Times 'Deal Professor'

“If you're a deal junkie—and especially if you're a DealBook junkie—you will devour Bloodsport…The book is peppered with stories about the likes of Michael Milken, Bruce Wasserstein, Felix Rohatyn and Martin Lipton—a cast of characters who defined an age that irrevocably shaped corporate America today. But more than any book I've read, Mr. Teitelman's has managed to capture how power shifted from a company's boardroom to its shareholders, a change that is often seen as positive but clearly comes with its own pitfalls.” —Andrew Ross Sorkin, New York Times

“Well written, and a must read for any aspiring dealmaker or business journalist. It is infused with history, anecdotes and insight about M&A trickery that will give readers the necessary edge for future deals…Teitelman goes out of his way to make M&A as accessible as possible, which is commendable.” –James Fontanella-Khan, Financial Times

“An absorbing history of the takeover boom… There's plenty to chew on in this deep dive into the dark arts of M&A.” –Barron's

“A sobering exploration of the mergers and acquisition business…tracing how speculators and executives get rich while others—mostly workers—face layoffs, dislocation and damaged careers…Excellent.” –Washington Post

From the Publisher - AUDIO COMMENTARY

"Teitelman has a masterly command of his subject." —Publishers Weekly

Kirkus Reviews

2016-01-19
A journalist who has covered multibillion-dollar corporate mergers and acquisitions, many of them hostile, recounts how the dealmaking exploded onto the Wall Street scene during the 1970s and '80s. Teitelman, founding editor of the Deal magazine and previously a writer for Forbes and Institutional Investor, notes that while previous books—most notably, the massively influential Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco (1990) by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar—have chronicled the corporate takeover wars, his book goes beyond a dramatic narrative of individual cases to examine the original debate about the appropriateness, or lack thereof, regarding hostile takeovers of established companies by raiders using untested tactics. Hoping to make the story comprehensible to a non-Wall Street readership, Teitelman builds the mostly chronological recent history around key individuals, including theoretical economists and law scholars such as Adolf Berle and Michael Jensen; takeover strategists such as lawyer Joe Flom and his chief opponent Marty Lipton; Wall Street innovators such as junk bond maestro Michael Milken; and investment bankers such as Bruce Wasserstein. Because so much of the takeover aggression, as well as the resistance from target corporations, involved Jewish individuals, the author takes occasional detours to explore the specter of anti-Semitism in the minds of those who believed the mergers and acquisitions were inimical to the stability of the American economy. By the late 1980s, writes Teitelman, it appeared the corporate battling would diminish: "something had to give." The author then explores the slowdown of mergers and acquisitions in the 1990s, as government agencies figured out how to become effectively involved and as law-related developments in the corporate haven of Delaware led to enforced restraints. Teitelman moves the cyclical story into the new century with an examination of a takeover revival. Lively storytelling about complex theories and arcane dealmaking.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170953950
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	04/12/2016
Edition description:	Unabridged

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