M&a Titans: The Pioneers Who Shaped Wall Street's Mergers And Acquisitions Industry

This book focuses on the 11 men, lawyers and bankers, who are responsible for the creation of Wall Street's merger industry. It specifically concentrates on the events and personalities who dominated Wall Street during the takeover battles of the 1970s and 1980s. Lawyers Joe Flom and Marty Lipton, the godfathers of modern M&A, educated bankers on takeover laws and regulations as well as tactics. Flom and Lipton were also superlative businessmen who built their own firms to become Wall Street powerhouses. The two men drew into their orbit a circle of bankers. Felix Rohatyn, Ira Harris, Steve Friedman, Geoff Boisi, Eric Gleacher and Bruce Wasserstein were close to Lipton. Robert Greenhill and Joe Perella were close to Flom. M&A Titans provides insight into the culture of the different investment banks and how each of the bankers influenced the firms they worked in as they became more powerful. Some such as Gleacher, Harris, Wasserstein, Perella and Greenhill clashed with the men running their firms and left. Others such as Friedman and Boisi stayed and profoundly influenced how the firm did business. The career of Michael Milken, perhaps the notorious name on Wall Street in the 1980s, is also examined as well as the actions and tactics of his firm, Drexel Burnham Lambert. Milken and Drexel paved the way for the growth of private equity and helped popularize attacks on management by investors such as Boone Pickens and Carl Icahn. In M & A Titans, Financial Journalist Brett Cole Offers You A Rare Look Inside The World Of Mergers And Acquisitions By Deconstructing Some Of Wall Street's Most Important Players Within This Field And Discussing What Drove Them, How They Won Deals, Lost Others, And Battled To Overcome Insurmountable Odds. Through In-depth Interviews And Extensive Research, Cole Skillfully Introduces You To The Institutions And Individuals That Paved The Way For Modern M & A. These Pioneers Of M & A Include The Godfathers Of The Industry - Lawyers Joe Flom And Marty Lipton - Who Taught The Industry's Leading Bankers, Such As Felix Rohatyn, Ira Harris, Bob Greenhill, Steve Friedman, Geoff Boisi, Joe Perella, Bruce Wasserstein, And Eric Gleacher How To Strategize And Advise. Also Profiled Is Michael Milken, Whose Unparalleled Success In High-yield Bonds Fueled The Takeover Boom Of The 1980s And The Ensuing Popularity Of Leveraged Buyouts.--jacket. Acknowledgments. The Titans And The Players. Remarks From M & A Titans And Players. Introduction. Chapter 1. Genesis: Wall Street, Its Business And Culture. Chapter 2. Godfathers -- Flom And Lipton. Chapter 3. Seducers -- Harris And Rohatyn. Chapter 4. Systematizer -- Goldman Sachs. Chapter 5. Originators -- Morgan Stanley. Chapter 6. Attack Or Defend. Chapter 7. An Accountant, Feuds And The Wasserstein Discovery. Chapter 8. The Cult Of Greenhill, California. Chapter 9. Stovepipes. Chapter 10. Fall And Rise. Chapter 11. The Genius Franchise. Chapter 12. Stagnation And Implosion. Chapter 13. The Rise Of Drexel. Chapter 14. Crime And Punishment. Chapter 15. A Voice In The Wilderness. Chapter 16. Intrigue And Resignations. Chapter 17. New Horizons. Notes. References. About The Author. Index. Brett Cole. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 211-214) And Index. This book focuses on the 11 men, lawyers and bankers, who are responsible for the creation of Wall Street's merger industry. It specifically concentrates on the events and personalities who dominated Wall Street during the takeover battles of the 1970s and 1980s. Lawyers Joe Flom and Marty Lipton, the godfathers of modern M & A, educated bankers on takeover laws and regulations as well as tactics. Flom and Lipton were also superlative businessmen who built their own firms to become Wall Street powerhouses. The two men drew into their orbit a circle of bankers. Felix Rohatyn, Ira Harris, Steve Friedman, Geoff Boisi, Eric Gleacher and Bruce Wasserstein were close to Lipton. Robert Greenhill and Joe Perella were close to Flom."M & A Titans" provides insight into the culture of the different investment banks and how each of the bankers influenced the firms they worked in as they became more powerful. Some such as Gleacher, Harris, Wasserstein, Perella and Greenhill clashed with the men running their firms and left. Others such as Friedman and Boisi stayed and profoundly influenced how the firm did business. The career of Michael Milken, perhaps the notorious name on Wall Street in the 1980s, is also examined as well as the actions and tactics of his firm, Drexel Burnham Lambert. Milken and Drexel paved the way for the growth of private equity and helped popularize attacks on management by investors such as Boone Pickens and Carl Icahn. This book focuses on the 11 men, lawyers and bankers, who are responsible for the creation of Wall Street's merger industry. It specifically concentrates on the events and personalities who dominated Wall Street during the takeover battles of the 1970s and 1980s. Lawyers Joe Flom and Marty Lipton, the godfathers of modern M & A, educated bankers on takeover laws and regulations as well as tactics. Flom and Lipton were also superlative businessmen who built their own firms to become Wall Street powerhouses. The two men drew into their orbit a circle of bankers. Felix Rohatyn, Ira Harris, Steve Friedman, Geoff Boisi, Eric Gleacher and Bruce Wasserstein were close to Lipton. Robert Greenhill and Joe Perella were close to Flom. M & A Titans provides insight into the culture of the different investment banks and how each of the bankers influenced the firms they worked in as they became more powerful. Some such as Gleacher, Harris, Wasserstein, Perella and Greenhill clashed with the men running their firms and left. Others such as Friedman and Boisi stayed and profoundly influenced how the firm did business. The career of Michael Milken, perhaps the notorious name on Wall Street in the 1980s, is also examined as well as the actions and tactics of his firm, Drexel Burnham Lambert. Milken and Drexel paved the way for the growth of private equity and helped popularize attacks on management by investors such as Boone Pickens and Carl Icahn The only useful information in this book is contained in the Introduction. There readers will learn that Wall Street's merger industry did not became a force until the 1970s. What was new was that bankers and lawyers were pushing it, when previously it was corporate chieftains who had arrayed mergers, without help from Wall St. (Unfortunately, Cole does not tell us what Wall Street's added value was, besides huge fees.) Continuing, six merger waves have occurred since 1890, per another author cited by Cole. 1)1893-1904: Creation of basic manufacturing and mining industries. 2)1919-1929: Vertical integration. 3)1955-1969: Conglomerates, such as ITT, LTV, and Litton. 4)1955-1969: Hostile takeovers and greenmail. 5)1993-2000: Friendly mergers to achieve global size and scale. 6)2002-2007: Hedge funds and activist shareholders. The bulk of the book focuses on eleven men in the 4th wave, and reports at too low and non-strategic level to be of value. This book is a narrative history of Wall Street's most important M&A bankers: what made them, drove them, how they won deals, lost others, tales of them leaving firms that nurtured them, losing bruising internal political battles which forced their resignation and their return to the spotlight by establishing their own firms.