Bloodsport: When Ruthless Dealmakers, Shrewd Ideologues, and Brawling Lawyers Toppled the Corporate Establishment - Hardcover

Robert Teitelman

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1610394135 ISBN 13: 9781610394130

Publisher: PublicAffairs, 2016

Synopsis

Bloodsport is the story of the creation of America's deal culture and the battle for control of America's corporations. Told through the fascinating, complex, and often-flawed characters who created a new era, it begins as the '60s are ending with the rise of the conglomerates, those vast assemblages of corporate assets. It rolls through the crisis-wracked '70s and the birth of the hostile deal, then careens into the '80s when the deal culture of mergers and acquisitions is truly unleashed, producing a Hobbesian corporate landscape that threatened the most formidable of corporations. The '90s see backlash, retrenchment and rethinking. The new century brings bubbles and deregulation, ending in disaster. And following a quiet period after the financial crash of 2008, we are witnessing the full-throated battle once again as companies and peoples' lives are moved around as casually as piece on a Monopoly game board.

Since the first hostile deal in 1975, mergers and acquisitions have unleashed powerful forces and set off a revolution in who controls and governs American corporations. The rise of the deal raiders ushered in a world where literally no company was safe. Year after year, blockbuster deals unfolded, each more spectacular or predatory than the next. Many were hostile, most were complicated, the majority were dead on arrival. Together, they tell a story about money and power and the creation of a new era in business.

About this title

Review:

Lively storytelling about complex theories and arcane dealmaking. --Kirkus Reviews

Bob Teitleman has written THE definitive book on the rise of the $2.5 trillion deal market. He expertly weaves insider history with a deep theoretical and insightful look into how the United States became a deal nation. This book should be required reading not just for deal junkies but for anyone who wishes to understand our economy and the world of mergers, acquisitions and dealmakers. --Steven Davidoff Solomon, Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law and the New York Times 'Deal Professor'

Bloodsport is an insightful, relevant and riveting history of the development of our current corporate and financial culture. It is both theoretical and quite practical in its examination, from all angles, of how the world of American finance broke away from its traditional norms and evolved into the culture with which we are now so familiar. It is a terrific read. Oddly enough, it is one of the few books that will have great appeal to both an academic and professional audience. I heartily recommend it. --Charles M. Elson, the Edgar S. Woolard Jr. Chair in Corporate Governance and Director of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware

Book Description:

In the 1970s and 80s, the deal-making culture of American business-in which thousands of companies big and small are acquired, merged, and sold again as casually as pieces moved on a Monopoly game board-was created by these fascinating, complex, and flawed individuals, who spawned the Hobbesian world we live in today.

About this edition

• Publisher: PublicAffairs
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1610394135
• ISBN 13: 9781610394130
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 432