Business

Brief summary The Last Tycoons: The Secret History of Lazard Frères & Co A grand and revelatory portrait of Wall Street’s most storied investment bank Wall Street investment banks move trillions of dollars a year, make billions in fees, and pay their executives in the tens of millions of dollars. But even among the most powerful firms, Lazard Frères & Co. stood apart. Discretion, secrecy, and subtle strategy were its weapons of choice. For more than a century, the mystique and reputation of the "Great Men" who worked there allowed the firm to garner unimaginable profits, social cachet, and outsized influence in the halls of power. But in the mid-1980s, their titanic egos started getting in the way, and the Great Men of Lazard jeopardized all they had built. William D. Cohan, himself a former high-level Wall Street banker, takes the reader into the mysterious and secretive world of Lazard and presents a compelling portrait of Wall Street through the tumultuous history of this exalted and fascinating company. Cohan deconstructs the explosive feuds between Felix Rohatyn and Steve Rattner, superstar investment bankers and pillars of New York society, and between the man who controlled Lazard, the inscrutable French billionaire Michel David-Weill, and his chosen successor, Bruce Wasserstein. Cohan follows Felix, the consummate adviser, as he reshapes corporate America in the 1970s and 1980s, saves New York City from bankruptcy, and positions himself in New York society and in Washington. Felix’s dreams are dashed after the arrival of Steve, a formidable and ambitious former newspaper reporter. By the mid-1990s, as Lazard neared its 150th anniversary, Steve and Felix were feuding openly. The internal strife caused by their arguments could not be solved by the imperious Michel, whose manipulative tendencies served only to exacerbate the trouble within the firm. Increasingly desperate, Michel took the unprecedented step of relinquishing operational control of Lazard to one of the few Great Men still around, Bruce Wasserstein, then fresh from selling his own M&A boutique, for $1.4 billion. Bruce’s take: more than $600 million. But it turned out Great Man Bruce had snookered Great Man Michel when the Frenchman was at his most vulnerable. The Last Tycoons is a tale of vaulting ambitions, whispered advice, worldly mistresses, fabulous art collections, and enormous wealth—a story of high drama in the world of high finance. ISBN:9780767919791 Author:William D. Cohan

Brief summary FEATURING INTERVIEWS WITH: John Abele, Boston Scientific Sir David Bell, Pearson Sir Michael Rake, BT Group Dame Anita Roddick, The Body Shop International And other top business leaders Learn how the most accomplished leaders from around the globe have tackled their toughest challenges with Lessons Learned. Concise and engaging, each volume in this book series offers fourteen insightful essays by top leaders in industry, the public sector, and academia on the most pressing issues they’ve faced. The Lessons Learned series also offers all of the lessons in their original video format, free bonus videos, and other exclusive features online. A crucial resource for today's busy executive, Lessons Learned gives you instant access to the wisdom and expertise of the world's most talented leaders. " ISBN:9781422139851 Author:Harvard Business

Brief Summary The next in Alan Axelrod's engaging and popular CEO series spotlights a perfect subject: Napoleon, the brilliant military strategist who also laid the administrative and judicial foundations for much of Western Europe. Axelrod looks at this much-studied figure in a new way, exploring six areas that constitute the core of what made Napoleon a great leader: Audacity, Vision, Empathy, Strategy, Logistics, and Tactics. Within these areas Axelrod formulates approximately 60 lessons framed in military analogies, valuable for anyone who aspires to leadership, whether in the boardroom or the Oval Office. ISBN:9781402779060 Author:Alan Axelrod