During the '80s, Michael Milken at Drexel Burnham created the corporate raiders. He was the billionaire Junk Bond King. But, in the corner stood the U.S. District Attorney waiting to file criminal and racketeering charges.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
77 of 86 people found the following review helpful
By Fred
Format:Paperback
This book, "Barbarians at the Gate" by Burrough and Helvar, and "Den of Thieves" by Stewart fully depict the defining events of Wall Street in the 1980's. Of this triumvirate, Ms. Connie Bruck's book is the only one that is more read than reported (both "Barbarians" and "Thieves" were written by WSJ reporters), and it really delves into the personal lives and backgrounds of the major players at Drexel. In reading this text you are provided with a full description and understanding of Milken and the driving forces behind the firm, above all, you understand the trap he worked himself into through his own success and how he wound up victimized by the financial system that he worked within.
My version of the text is labeled on the front cover as, "The Book Wall Street Couldn't Stop," in reference to attempts to prevent its publishing. I believe that those persons that wanted to do so are now content with their failure, as the book does a good job of explaining the brilliance of Milken, the market that he created and nurtured, and the catch-22 that led to his criminilization. As someone who works in banking, it is awe-inspiring to read the descriptions of Milken's deal-making capabilities and strategies, and at the same point disappointing to see how he slipped from operating in shades of grey to areas of wanting morals. The author does a very good job of illustrating the power Milken had within Drexel, how his office on the West Coast went from being a backwater to accounting for the bulk of the firms revenue, and how Milken's subsequent removal left Drexel crippled past the point of healing. The inter-office dynamics that Ms. Bruck writes on are present everywhere, but it is difficult to imagine anywhere that they are seen in such extremes.
I highly recommend this book.
29 of 30 people found the following review helpful
By Don McNay
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book was the first real insight into the world of junk bonds, Drexel Burham Lambert and what an important role they played in the business world. Written at a time when Drexel was at its peak, it was a groundbreaking, highly acclaimed book.
Connie Bruck ranks along with Joe Nocera as one of the world's best business writers. This book is tremendously readable and gives a balanced but insightful look at Michael Milken.
I came away from the book with the idea that Milken was a genius who earned his great fortune with 18 hour work days. and I still believe he had a tremendous and positive contribution to the world.
the Some of my friends came away from the book with the idea that Milken was a horrible human being who was ruining the country. The beauty of the book is that it you can read it and draw your own conclusions rather than a writer's preconceived ideas.
Buy it and read it again. It is worth always owning.
Don McNay...
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Junk Bond King When Much of Corporate America Was His Fiefdom.
January 28, 2006
Format:Paperback
"Predator's Ball" follows the rise of the junk bond market, from Michael Milken's ambitions in the 1970s through Drexel Burnham's dominance of the market under Milken's leadership in the 1980s, including Drexel's controversial financing of high-profile hostile takeovers, to the beginning of legal trouble for Drexel in 1986. Author Connie Bruck interviewed hundreds of people over a 2 ˝-year period, including Drexel employees and Drexel clients, to learn what went on inside "the Department", Drexel's mythic Beverly Hills junk bond offices. Bruck becomes increasingly critical of Michael Milken's tactics as the book progresses, but it is worth noting that she did not set out to write an exposé. Bruck approached the project with sympathies "more toward Milken and his band of renegades than toward the corporate establishment they were attacking", but years of peering inside the Department changed her mind. Regardless of where your sympathies lie, there is a lot of admirable research and fascinating detail in "The Predator's Ball".
The story of the junk bond market is the story of Michael Milken's single-minded rise to power. Milken WAS the market, as they say. Accordingly, most of "The Predator's Ball" is dedicated to Milken's ambition to fund a new generation of businesses with high-yield low-rated bonds ("junk bonds"), his creation of a department at Drexel that embodied his unique views of productivity and capitalism, and the ways and means to Drexel's utter domination of the junk bond market in the 1980s. Milken's larger than life presence is nearly absent, however, from the book's three longest chapters, which detail successful hostile raids financed by Drexel: Nelson Peltz and Peter May's buyout of National Can, Carl Icahn takes TWA, and Ron Perelman's acquisition of Revlon. These chapters are something of a digression in the Milken story, as he was not front and center in the drama, but they provide blow-by-blow accounts of exactly how these leveraged buyouts worked and insight into the realities of LBOs. Michael Milken created a market for junk bonds where there was almost none, sought 100% market share for Drexel, and used that market to change the face of corporate America. He did it by astutely and commendably flouting convention, but did he flout ethics and law as well? Judge for yourself.
The story of the junk bond market is the story of Michael Milken's single-minded rise to power. Milken WAS the market, as they say. Accordingly, most of "The Predator's Ball" is dedicated to Milken's ambition to fund a new generation of businesses with high-yield low-rated bonds ("junk bonds"), his creation of a department at Drexel that embodied his unique views of productivity and capitalism, and the ways and means to Drexel's utter domination of the junk bond market in the 1980s. Milken's larger than life presence is nearly absent, however, from the book's three longest chapters, which detail successful hostile raids financed by Drexel: Nelson Peltz and Peter May's buyout of National Can, Carl Icahn takes TWA, and Ron Perelman's acquisition of Revlon. These chapters are something of a digression in the Milken story, as he was not front and center in the drama, but they provide blow-by-blow accounts of exactly how these leveraged buyouts worked and insight into the realities of LBOs. Michael Milken created a market for junk bonds where there was almost none, sought 100% market share for Drexel, and used that market to change the face of corporate America. He did it by astutely and commendably flouting convention, but did he flout ethics and law as well? Judge for yourself.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good Book
I really liked this book. It was good on briefing myself on the era of junk bonds and the junk bond king himself and the origination of IO and PO strips for tax loopholes. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Kocese
1.0 out of 5 stars
The ravings of a paranoid maniac
I thought I was reading a description of the Salem witch trials or McCarthyism.
The author is very biased. Read more
The author is very biased. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Andrew J. Kunian
5.0 out of 5 stars
Vivid Portrait of the Finance Industry in the 80s
This is actually one of my favorite books of all time. Given my inclination to go for business biographies, this book was fantastic. Read more
Published 21 months ago by RL-Jr
3.0 out of 5 stars
Tedious
A tedious read. Although it is very detailed, the cronology switches from one sentence to the next. Sentence structure is atrocious. Apparently, was not proofed much. Read more
Published on November 29, 2010 by BBReviewer
5.0 out of 5 stars
A finance classic
The author did an immense amount of work and packed it into a piece that reads fairly well for such a topical historical account. Read more
Published on September 9, 2009 by 1000Books
3.0 out of 5 stars
Important Subject, Sadly Botched by a Poor Writer
It was a very difficult slog trying to get though this hacked up piece of writing. While the subject matter is of immense historical importance on a memorable era of Wall St, they... Read more
Published on August 28, 2009 by Tim Muir
5.0 out of 5 stars
Thrilling, full of the smallest details, and leaves you wanting more
In this book, Connie Bruck describes the rise and fall of Michael Milken, a man who singlehandedly built the junk bond empire of the 80's. Read more
Published on July 21, 2009 by Vasiliy Zhulin
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is a very honest book about life and how ethnicity on WALL STREET...
The Savings & Loan scheme was a creation of Michael Milken and his firm Drexel Burnham. They realized they could sell high risk securities to S&Ls while assuring the S&Ls... Read more
Published on September 29, 2008 by Michael Santomauro
4.0 out of 5 stars
A expose of the Junk Fund King
This author presents a thorough and conclusive account of Mike Milken. The level of depth she was able to provide here is really impressive.
Published on July 28, 2008 by William D. Tompkins
4.0 out of 5 stars
The story of junk bonds in the 1980s
Today the phrase "securities fraud" evokes Enron, WorldCom and Tyco. Two decades ago, it evoked Drexel Burnham Lambert, the investment bank that ruled the junk-bond realm and... Read more
Published on February 22, 2008 by Rolf Dobelli
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