Details
Synopsis
Routinely ranked among the best business books of all time, BARBARIANS AT THE GATE is a fascinating firsthand account of the 1988 corporate takeover of RJR Nabisco, which was, at the time, the biggest buyout in Wall Street history. Bryan Burrough and John Helyar, reporters for the Wall Street Journal, document the frantic maneuvering and furious negotiations which took place behind closed doors as two competing groups, one led by CEO F. Ross Johnson and the other by noted business mogul Henry Kravis, engaged in an epic boardroom battle for control of one of the world's largest corporations. Johnson had originally consulted with Kravis on pursuing the buyout, but later switched partners, so that the deal became more than "strictly business." Feeling betrayed, Kravis amassed a colossal fortune and finally outbid Johnson, but not before both sides employed every trick in their arsenal to defy one another, such that the collateral damage of the bitter negotiations actually lowered the real value of the company, even as the bidding price skyrocketed.
Industry Reviews
"One of the best written books about finance, it recounts the brutal takeover battle for RJR Nabisco...."
(08/07/2006)
"As fiction, the basic storyline would be unsettling enough; presented as fact, it's downright ominous....[BARBARIANS AT THE GATE] succeeds admirably in depicting the Wall Street culture of investment bankers and lawyers who grow fat on the consulting fees generated by takeover deals. Larger-than-life figures...are painted in broad, often unflattering strokes against a background of extravagant corporate luxury."
(01/01/1990)
"A reportorial tour de force that provides a stunningly detailed recap of the events leading up to the megabuck takeover of RJR Nabisco....Burrough and Helyar make a fine job of recounting the personality conflicts and value judgments that enlivened the protracted engagement....[BARBARIANS AT THE GATE is] a definitive reading on one of the less edifying chapters in capitalism's checkered history." (starred review)
(01/31/1989)
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