Conflicting Accounts: The Creation and Crash of the Saatchi and Saatchi Advertising Empire

Conflicting Accounts is the story of the rise, crash, and rebirth of the largest and arguably most significant advertising agency in the world -- Saatchi and Saatchi. Author Kevin Goldman, former daily advertising columnist for the Wall Street Journal, guides us through a lushly detailed account of the feats and foibles of two of the most colorful characters in the ad business: the reclusive Charles Saatchi, a renowned art collector and the creative force behind Saatchi & Saatchi; and his younger brother Maurice, the ever-so-charming rainmaker whose tony lifestyle and questionable management skills eventually led to his downfall. Publishers Weekly Wall Street Journal advertising columnist Goldman's gossipy account of the rise and crash of Saatchi & Saatchi, the world's largest ad agency at its peak in 1987, unfolds as a Shakespearean drama full of greed, revenge, ambition and civil war. Charles Saatchi, wizard copywriter and art collector, and his mercurial brother, Maurice-both Iraqi Jews who emigrated to London in 1947-founded the agency in 1970 when Charles was 27 and Maurice 25. Their free-spending acquisitions binge, fueled by Maurice's obsessive quest to be the number-one agency, was undermined by expensive buyouts, client defections and a slowdown in ad spending in the U.S. Goldman offers a more critical, American-based view of the brothers and their wheeling and dealing than does British media journalist Alison Fendley in Saatchi & Saatchi: The Inside Story (Forecasts, Sept. 30). He also gives much more inside detail on Maurice's 1994 ouster as chairman in a shareholder mutiny spearheaded by no-nonsense Chicago fund manager David Herro, as well as on the ensuing internecine battle that erupted between M&C Saatchi, the brothers' new agency, and their former shop, renamed Cordiant. Photos. (Jan.) On December 16, 1994, a bloodletting took place in the stylish sixth-floor boardroom at Saatchi & Saatchi Company PLC, once the world's largest advertising agency holding company. Maurice Saatchi, the forty-eight-year-old chairman who co-founded the company in 1970 with his older brother Charles, was fired by the board of directors under threat by the firm's largest shareholders. Less than a month later, Maurice started a rival ad agency and quickly snapped up former Saatchi & Saatchi clients, most importantly British Airways. Kevin Goldman traces every step the Saatchi brothers took, from their youth as Iraqi Jewish immigrants in North London to their business merger in 1970, when, with little more than sheer audacity, they opened an ad agency with a full-page announcement ad in the London Sunday Times. Through bold and brash actions, the agency began an acquisition binge, taking over many of the ad industry's giants, including Ted Bates, Backer & Spielvogel, Dancer Fitzgerald Sample, and Garland-Compton, to become the number one ad company in the world. However, once they acquired a company, the brothers lost interest, often refusing to meet with its executives again. This disdain would come back to haunt them. Built into the Saatchi story is the bigger picture of the dramatic changes in advertising in the 1980s, such as the merger mania and ad agency consolidations that swept Madison Avenue, including the British takeover of major agencies. The story of the decline and crash of Saatchi & Saatchi is a universal tale of corporate greed and ineffective management. It is the story of an ugly, publicly fought civil war in an industry that is supposed to know the steep price paid for an image run amok. In this fascinating and in-depth depiction of corporate greed and the politics of power, go behind-the-scenes of the ugly and bitter feud in an industry that is supposed to know the steep price for image run amok. On December 16, 1994, a bloodletting took place in the stylish boardroom at Saatchi & Saatchi, once the world's largest advertising agency. The cofounders of the company, Maurice and Charles Saatchi, were fired after threats by the firm's shareholders but less than a month later, Maurice Saatchi started a rival ad agency and quickly and viciously snapped up former Saatchi & Saatchi clients. With expansive research and eye-opening interviews, Kevin Goldman effortlessly explores this dramatic saga from the early, audacious start of the firm to the meteoritic rise of the Saatchi brothers and their ultimate fall. From the glitzy and extravagant lifestyle of the advertising industry of the 1970s and 1980s to the dramatic mergers and takeovers that altered Madison Avenue and London forever, Conflicting Accounts is an unputdownable and masterful work, perfect for fans of Mad Men and The Smartest Guys in the Room. "Conflicting Accounts is the story of the rise, crash, and rebirth of the largest and arguably most significant advertising agency in the world - Saatchi and Saatchi. Author Kevin Goldman, former daily advertising columnist for the Wall Street Journal, guides us through a lushly detailed account of the feats and foibles of two of the most colorful characters in the ad business: the reclusive Charles Saatchi, a renowned art collector and the creative force behind Saatchi & Saatchi; and his younger brother Maurice, the ever-so-charming rainmaker whose tony lifestyle and questionable management skills eventually led to his downfall."--BOOK JACKET. Goldman takes a detailed look at the decline and fall of Saatchi & Saatchi, and the reasons behind its downfall. He has conducted over 100 interviews with, among others, the Saatchi brothers, their childhood friends and past clients. This work also describes changes in advertising in the 1980s. A detailed look at the decline and fall of Saatchi & Saatchi, and the reasons behind its downfall. The author conducted over 100 interviews with, among others, the Saatchi brothers, their childhood friends, and past clients. The book also describes changes in advertising in the 1980s.