M&A Titans: The Pioneers Who Shaped Wall Street's Mergers and Acquisitions Industry (Hardcover)

by Brett Cole (Author)
Key Phrases: electric storage battery, merger bankers, genius franchise, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Wall Street (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
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.

From the Inside Flap
While deal making has always been a part of business and finance, it wasn't until the last twenty-five years of the twentieth century that terms like “merger departments” and “takeover specialists” began to appear. During this time, determined group of bankers and lawyers discovered that advising on takeovers could be lucrative for their firms. The M&A transactions that had started with the “conglomerate builders” of the late 1950s and 1960s continued to evolve as these influential figures began shaping this industry through their incredible influence and keen insights.

Now, in M&A Titans, financial journalists 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.

Page by page, you'll discover what events shaped the early years of the merger industry's titans, how they got their start on Wall Street, and the battles they fought inside their firms as they pushed to have takeovers considered a business amid skepticism from colleagues. Later, as the merger business became highly profitable and won extensive press coverage, a clash of egos forced some to leave the firms they started their careers at and to establish their very own merger advisory boutiques.

The business of mergers and acquisitions has been both glorified and vilified over the years. Its impact on the field of business and finance, however, is undeniable. M&A Titans take you on a detailed tour of this dynamic industry and puts the players who built this profession in perspective.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 226 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (September 29, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470126892
• ISBN-13: 978-0470126899
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #569,928 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Almost Entirely Useless!, April 17, 2009

By	Loyd E. Eskildson "Pragmatist" (Phoenix, AZ.) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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.