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The Wright Stuff: From NBC to Autism Speaks Hardcover – March 29, 2016

by Bob Wright (Author), Diane Mermigas (Author)
3.6 3.6 out of 5 stars 24 ratings
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Named president and CEO of NBC at the age of 43, he faced a two-headed dragon: on one hand, distrust from the network people deeply skeptical of the “suit” from GE, their new corporate parent; and on the other, fiscal oversight demands from a cautious, conservative institution reluctant to invest heavily in a media business they didn’t understand. For the next 20 years, he managed to navigate the fine line between the two and in the process completely reinvent—and save—the network.His name is Bob Wright. Under his leadership, a traditional network, struggling to survive a changing landscape, was transformed into a $45 billion cable and internet giant. Frequently flying under the GE corporate radar, Wright and his hand-picked team spearheaded what amounts to a revolution in broadcast television: -Embracing, rather than resisting, cable-Launching alternative news channels CNBC and MSNBC, along with MSNBC.com, NBC’s powerful springboard to the internet-Creating strategic partnerships with other media companies formerly considered competitors-A string of acquisitions that solidified NBC’s leadership in multiple US and international markets, culminating in the lucrative merger into NBC UniversalWhat does someone like that do when he retires? If he’s Bob Wright, he starts all over again. At almost the exact same time as Bob’s NBC reign was winding down, his grandson Christian was diagnosed with autism, a condition then poorly understood. Baffled by a lack of medical knowledge and community support, Bob and his wife Suzanne founded Autism Speaks, which in short order became the leading advocacy and research funding organization for this mysterious condition that so devastates families. They make a powerful team—the compassionate, charismatic, indefatigable Suzanne who won’t take no for an answer, and the analytic, efficient executive who poured all his business acumen into building an organization from scratch.As the two story lines unfold in The Wright Stuff, readers will gradually see that both endeavors—revitalizing NBC and building Autism Speaks—reflect the same key management tenets that apply to any organization facing disruptive change.
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  1. Print length
    477 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Rosettabooks
  4. Publication date
    March 29, 2016
  5. Dimensions
    6.5 x 1.5 x 9.5 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0795346921
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0795346927
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Bob Wright served as Vice Chairman of General Electric until 2008 and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NBC Universal until 2007. From his appointment as president and CEO of NBC in September 1986 he had one of the longest and most successful tenures of the world's leading media and entertainment company chief executives.

Throughout his 40-year career at GE, Bob had a strong involvement in community service and philanthropy for which he received numerous awards and accolades. Today, he is Senior Advisor of Lee Equity Partners and Chairman and CEO of the Palm Beach Civic Association. Autism Speaks, founded by Bob and his wife, Suzanne, has led the way for more than a decade in global autism research, advocacy, and support services. He serves on the boards of Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation and AMC Networks Inc., and is a Trustee of the New York Presbyterian Hospital.

He was formerly on the Board of Trustees of the Rand Corporation and a Director of the EMI Group Global Ltd. board. He is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross and of the Law School of University of Virginia. The Wrights have three children and six grandchildren.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Rosettabooks (March 29, 2016)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 477 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0795346921
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0795346927
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.78 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 1.5 x 9.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.6 3.6 out of 5 stars 24 ratings

About the authors

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  1. Diane Mermigas

    Diane Mermigas

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    Diane Mermigas is an award-winning business reporter and analyst whose long-running column and cutting-edge interviews with leading industry executives have appeared in The Hollywood Reporter, Advertising Age and its former sister publication Electronic Media, and elsewhere. She is a conference speaker, consultant, and adjunct professor on digital media business strategies and trends, most recently at DePaul University. She resides in Chicago and Boston. ​

    See more at dianemermigas.com and on Mermigas on Media http://mermigasonmedia.com/

    See more on the author's page
  2. Bob Wright

    Bob Wright

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    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    Bob Wright is co-founder, along with his wife, Suzanne, of Autism Speaks, which has become a principal global advocacy and research funding organization for this condition. He served as Vice Chairman of General Electric, President and Chief Executive Officer of NBC, and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NBC Universal. Bob had one of the longest and most successful tenures of any media company chief executive, with more than two decades at the helm of one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies. He has a strong history of philanthropy and community service, for which he has received numerous awards and accolades. He serves on the boards of Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation, AMC Networks Inc., and is a Trustee of New York-Presbyterian and The University Hospitals of Columbia and Cornell. He is also Chairman and CEO of the Palm Beach Civic Association and Senior Advisor of Lee Equity Partners. Bob Wright is also a former member of the Board of Trustees of Rand Corporation and a former Board of Director member of EMI. He is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross and of the Law School of University of Virginia. The Wrights have three children and six grandchildren.

    See more on the author's page
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Customer reviews

3.6 out of 5 stars
24 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

From the sidelines
5.0 out of 5 stars Visions
Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2016
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This is a book about Vision. The vision of new technology in media pursued by Bob Wright and his team at NBC for over 20 years. The vision of solutions for autism organized by Bob and his wife Suzanne for over ten years. The book is enhanced by quotes from all the participants in these endeavors. It moves quickly; is well organized and is interesting. It is a very personal story and should be viewed as such.
2 people found this helpful
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Reader
3.0 out of 5 stars Just good stuff
Reviewed in the United States on June 9, 2016
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A great book to help everyone become more aware of autism and how it affects people. Grateful for people like the Wrights. Praying for results from the research by Google. Will share the book with others. Yes we have 2 grandsons on the spectrum. Both have some similar issues but also different issues.
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Nameless
2.0 out of 5 stars Cover art and title tell you all you need to know about innovation at NBC
Reviewed in the United States on April 28, 2016
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Bob Wright is clearly worried about his legacy. That he would spend 400+ pages propping himself up, tearing down GE and others (who he once defended to the detriment of many), congratulating himself on his own “bold” ideas and actions while getting his old cronies to deliver painfully effusive eulogies on his behalf, is, in the end, rather telling. Instead of being the definitive story of how one man presided over a television entity’s revolutionary change, this book smacks of someone intent on gilding the story of his own professional reputation that has, to date, largely been ignored by media and business historians.

It’s all so unnecessary. As someone who was actually THERE...on the front lines of Bob's early transformation of NBC for more than a decade, I knew Wright to be a smart and decent guy, but hardly the leadership icon he attempts to portray himself as in this memoir. I got a real laugh at the revisionist history he and his “trusted colleagues” have put forth in this book about the media initiatives and deals they claim to have simply made happen at NBC during this period. As one would expect from a man in his position, Bob was largely a helicopter CEO and not as intimately involved in all these venture dealings and negotiations as he would lead you to believe, and most of his associates who are now singing his praises were among the most obstructionist of these efforts to change NBC. Read carefully and you will see there is little actual meat on the bones of these recollections, which were no doubt cobbled together from interviews and clips gathered by ghost writer Mermigas, and I could point to more than a handful of facts and recollections proffered here that are just plain WRONG or lacking in factual detail, as my own files would indicate. Wright would prefer you to believe NBC’s evolution was all due to his personal magic and insight, but as anyone who was there knows, that’s hardly the real story of NBC’s metamorphosis.

It all comes down to the question of where transformative change really occurs. Does it happen in the million dollar apartments of one’s tight circle of friends and privileged acquaintances, as Wright offers as the sexy answer, or is such change realized by those who fought the daily battles to make these deals happen and work? Who exhausted their political capital on the difficult sales calls? Who created the planning models and conducted the research that confirmed the validity of these ideas in the face of company skepticism, ridicule and resistance? Who conducted the tedious negotiations or created the sophisticated analyses that actually defined and sold the deals? The powers behind the throne? This is where Wright’s leadership lessons ring hollow, as he does not seem to even be aware of where much of the innovation and risk taking he claims to celebrate took place in his own organization. He strangely ignores those nameless few, outside of his henchmen who did not work alone, where the real creative hard work and skill made these abstract ideas become realized. That’s where the transformative nature of NBC's story lies. No, Bob and his boys club were decidedly not the sole architects of NBC’s repositioning, but failing to acknowledge that only serves to showcase Wright's insularity from his own organization. And no women?? Umm, not the case Bob...

A true leadership guru, one whose management secrets might actually ring true, might have acknowledged the real team that supported him, who risked career and reputation to fight the good fight on his behalf. But why remember facts as they actually happened when this book, all the way around, is about nothing more than selling others on the tributes to your own professional importance? Lesson: today's fight against autism won't be won from this kind of lofty perch.
6 people found this helpful
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Consumer Champ
4.0 out of 5 stars Great Book on Media Transformation in the Late 20th & early 21st Centuries.
Reviewed in the United States on September 12, 2016
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Bob Wright was at the center of the action as OTA (on-the-air) television morphed into the mix of media conglomerates that now dominate. He was ahead of his time (mostly) in helping to define and guide that change. His story (on the multi-media side) provides a lot of insight into how that transformation took place and he's not afraid to add some dimension into some of the characters that have played pivotal roles in that process. Some of that story is also told by colleagues and competitors who provide additional insight. The appendix also explains what's become of the people who played a role in that transition, a valuable footnote. That said, be aware that a substantial part of the book is about the battle Bob and his late wife fought to raise awareness of and treatment for autism, a project inspired by their grandson's autism. This part was of less interest to me so I'm sorry to say that it got the skim treatment. My rating does not reflect the autism section of the book, perhaps the latter third.
One person found this helpful
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Teddy Roosevelt
5.0 out of 5 stars Candid and heartfelt -- great read
Reviewed in the United States on April 26, 2016
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What a great inside look at the transition of NBC through the GE buy...wow! Candid! The format of including the words and reactions of the insiders really gave a well-rounded view. Wright's passion for Autism Speaks is inspiring and, again, very candid. As honest a book as you'll read about either topic.
2 people found this helpful
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JoAnn Buck
3.0 out of 5 stars Three Stars
Reviewed in the United States on April 29, 2016
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You talk to much about yourself and not enough about your grandson's health. This is really tiring.
One person found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars A must read.
Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2016
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A sucessful CEO must have a clear vision, the ability to articulate it and the ability to lead all in that direction. This most difficult challenge is clearly demonstrated. This is a must read for all who are, or will, seek a MBA. Simply outstanding.
One person found this helpful
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Wrigley16
2.0 out of 5 stars Revisionist....
Reviewed in the United States on April 10, 2016
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The main purpose of this book seems to be proving that Bob Wright and his management genius created immense value despite GE's best efforts to keep him down. Not a word of thanks for the many billions GE sent his way.

He does come off as a pretty creative thinker and shrewd deal maker, but then again this is the world according to Bob and his close friends.
5 people found this helpful
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