The Will to Win: A Biography of Ferdinand Eberstadt: (Contributions in Economics and Economic History) [Hardcover]

Robert C. Perez (Author), Edward F. Willett (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 22, 1989 | ISBN-10: 0313267383 | ISBN-13: 978-0313267383

Ferdinand Eberstadt, the man whose war production strategy was credited with shortening World War II by one full year, was America's financier extraordinaire. His contributions over a period of nearly fifty years helped to shape the world of business and finance as we know it today. In this lively analytical biography, Perez and Willett chronicle Eberstadt's career in the public and private sectors and explore the motives, methods, and personal style that were responsible for his successes as well as his failures. The foremost American expert on German finance during the 1920s, Eberstadt achieved recognition as a financial negotiator at the Paris Reparations Conference in 1929. As an investment banker, he was instrumental in helping to restore confidence in the business community following the stock market crash, through his support of small, depressed "blue chip" firms. The performance of Eberstadt's trendsetting Chemical Fund, founded in 1938, led to the popularization of mutual fund investing in the 1950s and 1960s. Through a series of private capital deals involving chemical and pharmaceutical companies, Eberstadt and his partner strengthened those industries and in the process developed the leveraged buyout technique--a bold innovation that has achieved major importance in modern corporate financial strategy. This balanced, clearly written account is packed with information and insight on both Eberstadt's career and the radical changes we have witnessed since the 1920s. It will be of interest to a broad readership in business, finance, investment, government, and twentieth-century American history.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Ferdinand Eberstadt was the most brilliant man that I have ever known in all my years on Wall Street.”–Bernard Baruch, Presidential Adviser and Investment Speculator

“The new national security machinery is the child of your brain. . . .”–James V. Forrestal, Secretary of Defense, to Ferdinand Eberstadt, April 1948

“Eberstadt enjoys the hunt [when working on a financial deal] . . . his eyes take on the intense look of a man in the midst of an absorbing game. . . .”–David Lilienthal, former chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission and Tennessee Valley Association

“Eberstadt was a name to conjure with after the [Chrysler-Dodge deal] . . . a dynamic, somewhat ruthless, power house.”–John J. McCloy, World War II Presidential emissary and Wall Street lawyer

About the Author

ROBERT C. PEREZ is Associate Professor of Finance at the Hagan School of Business, Iona College, and former Vice-President and partner of F. Eberstadt & Co.

EDWARD F. WILLETT received his undergraduate and graduate degrees in economics from Princeton University and taught courses in that field for sixteen years both there and at Smith College. He first met Ferdinand Eberstadt while at Dillon Read & Co. in the 1920s and was one of the founders of F. Eberstadt & Co., Inc. in 1931

Product Details

• Hardcover: 181 pages
• Publisher: Greenwood Press (August 22, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0313267383
• ISBN-13: 978-0313267383
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,267,815 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.