Sudden Death [Hardcover]

Mark Stevens (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"Insider" anecdotes, re-created dialogue and sharply drawn portraits evoke the constant feuding that preceded the fall in October 1988 of Hutton, one of America's most prestigious brokerage firms. This well-documented account by syndicated financial columnist Stevens ( The Big Eight ) does not spare the brilliant, imperious playboy and Hutton CEO Robert Fomon who, over 17 years, built up the company's national branch retail system, but whose arrogance was matched only by his management team's greed, ambition and incompetence. Massive company fraud included Hutton's alleged embezzlement, its inability to adjust to modern management methods and incessant fights for control among board members (Peter Ueberroth, George Ball and Hutton heiress and actress Dina Merrill among them). Such inherent organizational weakness made it relatively easy, despite Fomon's ouster by the board, for Shearson Lehman to take over the 83-year-old firm for $960 million in December 1987.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

At least two other publishers are also planning to release accounts of the legendary brokerage firm's downfall and subsequent buyout by Shearson Lehman. Holt will publish Donna Sammons Carpenter and John Feloni's The Fall of the House of Hutton this July; Doubleday plans to publish a book by New York Times reporter James Sterngold this fall.-- Ed. They will have to go a long way to top this (the first available for review), a gripping account by financial columnist Stevens ( The Big Eight , LJ 10/1/81). He crafts the events and personalties involved in a manner that will hold the interest of even readers who normally would be bored with or nonplused by business news and corporate hi-jinks. Stevens traces in-depth the festering problems which led to the firm's demise (the infamous "check kiting" scheme, embezzlement, and eccentric personalities) and has conducted interviews with key players, including the erratic, jet-setting CEO Robert Foman and the ubiquitous Peter Ueberroth. Steven's book is a fast-paced, highly charged recounting of a Wall Street soap opera which dramatizes not only some of the blemishes of the business community, but also, ultimately, flaws that can betray us all. Recommended for general and business collections.-- David M. Turkalo, Social Law Lib., Boston correction: Daniel Goodwin & Richard F. Rusdorf's The Landlord's Handbook (LJ 3/ 15/89), published by Longman, is not being distributed by Gale, as the review states. Books can be ordered from Longman.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 1 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Adult (August 23, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0453006736
• ISBN-13: 978-0453006736
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,882,691 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mark Stevens is a best selling author, CEO of MSCO, a results-driven management and marketing firm, and a popular media commentator on a host of business matters including marketing, branding, management and sales. Mr. Stevens is known for delivering business insights with blunt truths and unconventional wisdom.

Stevens shook the marketing establishment with his Business Week best seller, "Your Marketing Sucks" (Random House/Crown Business), and redefined the rules of management with "Your Management Sucks" (Random House/Crown Business, 2006).

Stevens' latest book, Your Company Sucks: It's Time To Declare War On Yourself (to be published Aug 2, 2011)idetifies the four reasons companies fail or simply get stuck in neutral and how to identify and address them so the business can break through the ice to new levels of success. Stevens also demonstrates that "customer satisfaction" is no longer acceptable: winning companies must Thrill their customers/clients.

Stevens is the author of 24 business-related books including the best sellers: "The Big Eight"; "King Icahn"; "Sudden Death: The Rise and Fall of EF Hutton" (a Wall Street Journal bestseller and Library Journal "Business Book of the Year"); and the enormously popular "Your Marketing Sucks."

Stevens' firm, MSCO--founded in 1995-- has representsed a stellar roster of clients including Nike, Starwood, GE, Guardian Life, Intrawest, Estee Lauder, The MONY group, Environmental Systems Products, Saturday Evening Post , Virgin Atlantic, and many others.. Through integrated marketing campaigns, MSCO focuses on achieving results for its clients instead of awards that serve egos. Mark Stevens possesses an innovative and iconoclastic view of the business world, having served as a journalist and nationally syndicated columnist and having held management positions at several global corporations. His incisive understanding of critical business issues is geared toward achieving extraordinary growth and success for his clients.

Stevens is an in-demand speaker and a frequent guest commentator on Fox Business Channel and a wide range of media from Entrepreneur to Dow Jones.

Stevens writes the wildly successful blog, "Unconventional Thinking."

Books by Mark Stevens have been published in USA, UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, China, Germany, Spain, Japan, Russia and Brazil.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars When E.F. Hutton speaks, people listen., August 24, 2005

By 

Kevin M Quigg (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Sudden Death (Plume) (Mass Market Paperback)

A nice story about the decline of one of America's leading brokerage houses. If it weren't for the arrogance of Bob Fomon, this venerable firm might still be around. Other personalities-Rittereiser and Pierce were also rsponsible for the death of this firm. It just goes to show that power corrupts and total power absolutely corrupts. I wonder how many Bob Fomons are out there in the rest of the large companies of this world. Probably quite a lot.
The book details the founding of this firm by E. F. Hutton, and the subsequent leadership. The first fifty pages are the history of the firm, with the remaining two hundred pages detailing the rule of King Fomon, and the power plays between various players in the brokerage house. These internal power struggles ultimately weakened the firm, so that it took its eye off its customers. Ultimately, the firm was taken over by Shearson, a subsidiary of American Express. A nice read on the trevails of poor leadership.

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars this is not how a great intellectual mind should be remembered, March 23, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Sudden Death (Plume) (Mass Market Paperback)

Robert Fomon was my grandfather, I dont understand this mans bias against a man he didnt know. My grandfather died when I was in 3rd grade, and this is not how I hoped he would be remembered. Despite the mishappenings dealing with EF HUTTON, I would appreciate all those to refrain from posting rude messages on the morals of my grandfather, for the same reason I would not critisize a family member of yours who I knew nothing about.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A very interesting story about how a large business can fail., December 16, 2005

By 

JonathanDP81 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sudden Death (Hardcover)

E.F. Hutton reminds one a lot of Enron, as a company in a rather stable and profitable business (i.e. a brokerage and natural gas) goes into risky business they don't have any real expertise in because it has more prestige. (both move into trading). Both had executives incapable of steering the company back into profitability, Enron's because of dishonesty and Hutton due to incompetence. But most likely the major reason for Hutton's fall is the simple fact that it was unable to change as the market did. When this finally caught up to it, the only thing to do was to sell out at a bargain basement price.

One reason that I can only give this three stars is that author seems to have a grudge against the company, especially Bob Forman, that comes out in the language used. Such when Forman breaks his leg, he's described as "crawling on his soft, flabby gut" There are other examples that cause the reader to sometimes wonder if this a hatchet job.