The protagonist, Cedric "Drive" Rhodes, is the aging South African CEO of the world’s most powerful media company and he is anxious to do one last deal. Over the years he has taken his experience in the family newspaper business, a stint in Hollywood, and in television to sculpt a global powerhouse that is both feared and admired. Drive believes he is the smartest CEO who ever lived and this deal will prove it. He will do the impossible. He will acquire, in a hostile takeover, a beloved corporate icon, THE AMERICAN OBSERVER, at one time the most widely read and translated magazine in the world.
But THE AMERICAN OBSERVER has fallen on bad times. Circulation is down, revenues are diminished, and the stock price has plummeted. With a cadre of colorful characters, Drive Rhodes goes to work on the most challenging of transactions – a foreigner taking over an American institution.
Robert Monks has spent his career in public service and business advocating for responsible behavior from all parties involved in the global corporation – executives, board members, and shareholders large and small. This lifetime of experience has been brilliantly translated into a novel that is insightful and persuasive.
