Book Description
A grand and revelatory portrait of Wall Street’s most storied investment bank
Wall Street investment banks move trillions of dollars a year, make billions in fees, pay their executives in the tens of millions of dollars. But even among the most powerful firms, Lazard Frères & Co. stood apart. Discretion, secrecy, and subtle strategy were its weapons of choice. For more than a century, the mystique and reputation of the "Great Men" who worked there allowed the firm to garner unimaginable profits, social cachet, and outsized influence in the halls of power. But in the mid-1980s, their titanic egos started getting in the way, and the Great Men of Lazard jeopardized all they had built.
William D. Cohan, himself a former high-level Wall Street banker, takes the reader into the mysterious and secretive world of Lazard and presents a compelling portrait of Wall Street through the tumultuous history of this exalted and fascinating company. Cohan deconstructs the explosive feuds between Felix Rohatyn and Steve Rattner, superstar investment bankers and pillars of New York society, and between the man who controlled Lazard, the inscrutable French billionaire Michel David-Weill, and his chosen successor, Bruce Wasserstein.
Cohan follows Felix, the consummate adviser, as he reshapes corporate America in the 1970s and 1980s, saves New York City from bankruptcy, and positions himself in New York society and in Washington. Felix’s dreams are dashed after the arrival of Steve, a formidable and ambitious former newspaper reporter. By the mid-1990s, as Lazard neared its 150th anniversary, Steve and Felix were feuding openly.
The internal strife caused by their arguments could not be solved by the imperious Michel, whose manipulative tendencies served only to exacerbate the trouble within the firm. Increasingly desperate, Michel took the unprecedented step of relinquishing operational control of Lazard to one of the few Great Men still around, Bruce Wasserstein, then fresh from selling his own M&A boutique, for $1.4 billion. Bruce’s take: more than $600 million. But it turned out Great Man Bruce had snookered Great Man Michel when the Frenchman was at his most vulnerable.
The LastTycoons is a tale of vaulting ambitions, whispered advice, worldly mistresses, fabulous art collections, and enormous wealth—a story of high drama in the world of high finance.
Customer Reviews:
What a History.......2007-10-20
Just finished this last week and looked forward to picking up every day I was free. The opportunities created for so many and the egos that go along with that all vying to run the show. At the end of the day all the power was with one shareholder and it took desparation on his part to give that up.
Oh, the memories.......2007-07-27
This book brought back so many memories of the time (late eighties/early nineties) and place. Looking back while reading this book, I realize how much I learned about people and industry while working in investment
banking (albeit a bit remotely) in NYC in those years. The level of detail
that Bill Cohan brings to the topic of Lazard is noteworthy. It's a fun
read for insiders and non-insiders alike. I hope things are better for
women now - my daughter wants to be an investment banker when she grows up!
A great book for "warped" people (like myself)!.......2007-06-11
660+ pages about the 150+ year history of Lazard Feres might put most people to sleep. Not me! As someone who actually likes this stuff, I found this book fascinating. The history of big money and finance is actually one of big personalties, and this book gives an inside look at several of the major players. Although tedious at times to read, I made it through the entire book in a couple of days. The most fascinating part of the entire story is simply that money at the levels discussed in this book doesn't seem real--most people could never fathom how corporate finance is conducted. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the subject of investment banking, especially those considering a career in that arena.
Long but worth it.......2007-05-30
extremely long, but it gives you a great description of how an organization rises and falls with the times and the great men who are at the wheel.
Destined to be a Classic.......2007-05-24
Cohan has brought to life a vivid and spellbinding tale of the legendary giants in the investment banking field (Meyer, Rohatyn, David-Weill, Rattner, and Wasserstein) at Lazard, offering a compelling and revealing portrait of the relentless personalities that invented, dominated and defined the last few decades of M&A banking. At the same time, The Last Tycoons is, at its core, a saga of ambition, egotism, greed, vanity and pride of Shakespearean proportions played out on the grand stage of corporate takeovers and national politics.
What emerges is not a noble picture of what these ostensibly "Great Men" purported themselves to be. Instead, it is apparent that at Lazard, the black arts of power and greed were the currency used to exhort and extort men of high ambition and intellect to achieve stature and enormous fees. The long shadow of Andre Meyer (unquestionably a Sith Lord) looms over the Lazard partnership and his protégés and successors, Felix Rohatyn and Michel David-Weill. Meyer was a brilliant financier with no peer with the exception of Bruce Wasserstein and it's fitting and deserving that the story of Lazard begins and ends with these two men. In between, Michel and Felix weave a complex and fascinating legacy of fear and loathing in the intervening decades.
For bankers and professionals in the field, Cohan's detail and emotional and psychological nuances will be tantalizing and relevant. For those aspiring to enter the field, it's a cautionary tale - it's very hard to play on the big stage on Wall St without darkening your soul. This story is destined to be a Classic amongst Barbarians and Den of Thieves
Customer Reviews:
Bankers have only 1 Secret?.......2007-07-26
Disappointed, this book does discuss paying your mortgage off early and gives you the technique to accomplish that, but a whole book for this one technique? I wouldn't purchase it again, skim it at the bookstore. Discuss the method the book gives with your mortgage holder - some won't apply your money in the way the book notes. They don't have to, if you signed a paper at closing in which the bank stated a different method of applying your extra money. Remember that stack of papers you signed, look through them and see if there is one that shows how the bank will apply extra payments, even ones marked principle only.
Good, money-saving information.......2005-09-09
If you want to save money on your mortgage and actually know how much money you will save, this is the book for you. There are - I don't know how many - charts that show mortgage amount, interest rate, and interest paid. Use these charts to decide how much you can save over the life of your mortgage. Very worthwhile book.
Not much of a secret.......2001-10-31
Here is what this book says. Paying your mortgage off faster than your payment schedule will save you tens of thousands of dollars. True, but what is the time value of that money you spent on your mortgage? Could you have "made" more in the stock market or somewhere else?
Yet the author belabors the point ad nauseam, giving examples about how much you can save paying a little more per month.
Basically, he does not give the full story. When you pay off your loan early, you are also paying a net higher interest rate. Scim this book at the bookstore. The best secret is not buying this book!
Could have contained more secrets.......2001-08-17
Pretty much everything that was said in this book was in my first choice (Invest in Yourself: Six Secrets to a Rich Life). If I would have known the book as going to be more than 80% tables, I would have never ordered it. Most of the information contained in this book can easily be found on the web. Needless to say, I was very disappointed with this book. I guess that's what happens when you buy online as opposed to in a bookstore. I could have flipped through this book in 20 or 30 seconds and realized that most of the pages were tables that needed more detail. What I found funny is that I received this book 2 whole days before I received my first choice and that's because my first choice supposedly was shipped before my second choice.
Good Advice!.......2000-01-21
This book provides excellent advice on what were until now--to many--secrets of the financial industry.
Just a note on a previous review: many banks say they will NOT accept prepayment. I know of a way that every bank approves up, that saves homeowners thousands in unnecessary interest and cuts years from their mortgage. I'll gladly call or email anyone who sends an email on this subject.
Book Description
NOTE: THIS EDITION OF THE BOOK IS ONLY AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE TO PEOPLE LIVING OUTSIDE THE UK AND BRITISH COMMONWEALTH COUNTRIES If you want to get rich, no matter how inexperienced you are in investment, this book can help you. Its message is that you must learn neither to avoid risk nor to court it foolhardily, but to manage it - and enjoy it too. The 12 Major and 16 minor Zurich Axioms contained in this book are a set of principles providing a practical philosophy for the realistic management of risk, which can be followed successfully by anyone, not merely the 'experts'. Several of the Axioms fly right in the face of the traditional wisdom of the investment advice business - yet the enterprising Swiss speculators who devised them became rich, while many investors who follow the conventional path do not. Max Gunther, whose father was one of the original speculators who devised the Axioms, made his first capital gain on the stock market at the age of 13 and has never looked back. Now the rest of us can follow in his footsteps. Startlingly straightforward, the Axioms are explained in a book that is not only extremely entertaining but will prove invaluable to any investor, whether in stocks, commodities, art, antiques or real estate, who is willing to take risk on its own terms and chance a little to gain a lot. contents Introduction: What the Axioms Are and How They Came to Be The First Major Axiom: On Risk The Second Major Axiom: On Greed The Third Major Axiom: On Hope The Fourth Major Axiom: On Forecasts The Fifth Major Axiom: On Patterns The Sixth Major Axiom: On Mobility The Seventh Major Axiom: On Intuition The Eighth Major Axiom: On Religion and the Occult The Ninth Major Axiom: On Optimism and Pessimism The Tenth Major Axiom: On Consensus The Eleventh Major Axiom: On Stubbornness The Twelfth Major Axiom: On Planning [The 16 Minor Axioms appear within each of the chapters on the Major Axioms]
Customer Reviews:
Too Generic.......2007-09-23
This book was a bit of an enigma to me. The Axioms themselves are great. However, the stories/illustrations given are so terribly generic any 1/2-creative storyteller could come up with them. The only specifics given are his dad's name, and the name of a bank his dad worked for. Strangely enough, every time he mentions his dad in this book, he uses the man's full name. When have you ever used your dad's name in full, and would you do it dozens of times if you wrote a book?
I do stand by the 2 stars, though, as the Axioms themselves, I think, have some merit, if not Gunther's explanations & applications.
I wouldn't recommend it to anyone else. If you want to read a book about the stock market, get one written by someone you've heard of & that you know has been successful in the market, like Warren Buffett, (who hasn't written a book, but has written publicly-available shareholder letters & has a couple biographies out).
Contrarian views on wealth accumulation.......2007-09-06
I bought this book based on a recommendation from a part-time trader friend. He mentioned that Zurich Axioms will be one book that should be re-read during tumultuous times to reaffirm one's investment thesis.
Having read the book, I totally agree and also find the key takeaway to be a major shift in my thinking on investment. If you are looking for unconventional wisdom and contrarian views on risk and rewards, Zurich Axioms is difinitely for you! One really needs to be a maverick in order to appreciate the finer points raised.
You will read it more than once.......2007-04-30
This book is filled with gold. It is fun to read and you may not even notice how much valuable information you will find in each page. The axioms cover so many areas of human psychology and trading that you may only later realize what you have in your hands.
It does not go into details about trading strategies, money management (apart from the basic but fundamental ones such as "cut your losses" and "realize your profits early") and position sizing. But this is not what this book is about. It is an eye opener with key fundamental ideas and principles that you will soon or later find more than essential.
Two of the many fundamental principles stated there that many people ignore - and many may not see their full value at first reading (or even later!):
- do not diversify your capital allocated to risk investments if your goal is growth,
- to invest is essentially to speculate.
You will be more than excused to read about speculation when others think that you should be reading about investing. You will understand why.
Yet it is not a perfect book. It gives no value to any kind of technical analysis or trading system. But it is so, because it does focus on a healthy scepticism - which is without doubt better than taking the opposite side! So its shortcomings are forgiven.
Not often will you find this kind of information packed in a concise, straightforward and fun-to-read style. A great book! Highly recommended for just anyone.
Outstanding book on investing.......2007-01-04
I have been a professional investor for about 15 years. If I had to choose only one book for my bookshelf, The Zurich Axioms would be it.
Consider the puzzle of Switzerland. It's a rocky country, half the size of Maine. It has not one inch of seacoast, no oil, and a climate and topography that is inhospitable to farming. It has stayed out of wars for 300 years because no invader really wanted it. Yet the Swiss are among the most affluent people in the world. How? By being the world's cleverest investors and speculators.
This book suggests that to make any kind of gain in life, you must place some of your material and/or emotional capital at risk. The Swiss conclude that the sensible way to conduct one's life is not to shun risk but to expose oneself to it deliberately. To make money you must bet, but not in a mindless way. To bet, instead, with care and in such a way that large gains are more likely than large losses.
There are twelve major "axioms" or rules that guide investors to much better results. This book is a simple read with powerful rules. If you follow these guidelines, investing success will be much easier. But, of course, most people will let their emotions get in the way and let hope, greed, and stubbornness dominate. They will listen to "experts" make forecasts and make investments accordingly. And, as you can imagine, most investors will do very poorly.
Buy this inexpensive book and take the axioms to heart. It will make you a much better investor.
Amazing Insight.......2006-12-31
Traders always talk about the "holy grail" in trading. This is usually referring to a method or system that just cranks out money with little effort. It is generally conceded that there is no "holy grail" but I think this book gets as close to defining "holy grail" trading rules as any I've read. I've been trading for 30 years and from my experience, I believe this book holds the keys to successful speculation.
Book Description
Everyone wonders at one time or another what goes on behind the glass doors and brass plaques down at the bank. How do they make all those obscene profits? Well, not that a spy was planted or anything, but here in tales of extreme credit ‘silliness’ and personal “Debt Hell,” everyone can relate to the author’s personal voyage into retail temptation, slide into too much debt, then personal bankruptcy. It is here in the process of coming back to financial respectability, that he reveals what he believes are the 7 Secrets that will add more to YOUR, not the banker’s bottom line! Here is a cautionary tale and a good amount of research and experience that will show young & old:
• The tips, tricks, and secrets banks and advertising executives use to get you to (unfairly) part with your hard-earned money!
• How even small numbers of credit lines can grow like ‘crazy’ to become a “Gorilla” on your financial back and what you can do to avoid them!
• What some modern day banking fees and financial corporate debt resellers can do to drain your accounts, tie up your retirement savings plans, children’s college funds, and keep you ‘enslaved’ to your boss!
• What the danger signs of “Bankruptcy Road” are, and the credit repair ‘scams’ you need to avoid
• What is the psychological ‘babble’ that financiers use to make you feel that you need them and not the other way around when you need some money?
• How to use 10 inspiring ways to credit, not debit your accounts!
• Multiple methods to improve your privacy, protect your banking information, and guard against IDENTITY THEFT, the criminal scourge of our times!
• And much, much more! So if you have ever wondered…
“Why can I not GET more, and KEEP more money in my bank accounts?”or…“WHAT is it that Bankers and other financially successful people know that I don’t that keeps me POOR and constantly juggling, while others thrive?” …then this book is for you!
Product Description
The institutions and big players of Wall Street shape your financial world in a profound way; many act on behalf of millions of people as they invest pension funds, retirement plans, or other group assets. Investment bankers play a key role for companies that sell stock; stock brokers offer an array of services to fit a number of investor needs. Learn how deal makers, brokers, and bankers shape your financial opportunities.
The Secrets of the Great Investors series is a collection of presentations that explain, in understandable language, the strategies, tactics, and principles that have produced great wealth, and how you can improve your financial future. History's greatest investors used powerful investing philosophies to produce superior results, and you can learn from their successes and mistakes.
Average customer rating:
- The Hobo Philosopher
- A Well Written View Of History
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Hitler's Secret Bankers: The Myth Of Swiss Neutrality During The Holocau: The Myth of Swiss Neutrality During the Holocaust
Manufacturer: Citadel
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 080652121X |
Customer Reviews:
The Hobo Philosopher.......2007-09-18
This is another "must read" for those truly interested in the Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. Banking and "Money" and how it all works or doesn't work is another one of my projects. This book is a good example of some of the negative aspects of banking. There are many more such examples. After reading this book I doubt if you will feel any compassion for the "injustice" of reparation payments to those "nasty" Jews.
Whatever these banks and the European communities are paying to Jewish descendents is merely a trifle - a drop in a big bucket of blood, human ashes, hate, cruelty, slaughter, and abuse.
But have no fear it was not just the Swiss - the Americans, the British the French and the Rockefellers should be hearing a big knock on their vault doors in the not too distant future. Of course, they may have already settled "out of court" - that would be the wise choice.
A Well Written View Of History.......2003-10-19
Lebor's analytical look at the long forgotten links between Switzerland's bankers and the Nazi regime of Adolf Hitler is a must read for anyone interested in understanding the Third Reich's rise to power. Lebor carefully maps out the strategic ties between the two that allowed Germany to rearm after WWI, to launch war against Europe and the Soviet Union and to successfully plan and finance genocide. In a word, this book is a must for any student of history, and for all those interested in understanding how the seeds for the darkest period of the 20th century were planted and germinated.
Average customer rating:
- this is anoutstanding book to help build wealth!
- Simple and simplistic look at investing
- Satire and your money don't work
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Money Secrets the Pros Don't Want You to Know: 365 Ways to Outsmart Your Banker, Broker, Insurance Agent, Car Dealer, Realator, Travel Agent, Lawyer
Stephanie Gallagher
Manufacturer: AMACOM/American Management Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 081447893X |
Customer Reviews:
this is anoutstanding book to help build wealth!.......1999-07-28
I've read countless other books about saving, investing and spending. This is one of the best, if not the best book so far...please try these tactics, I do. Use some of them,They work ...WELL!
Simple and simplistic look at investing.......1999-04-21
A daily task or 365 ways to save money works if you can stay focused that long. Yet, this is life and one person saying they can do it doesn't alway work for other peoples money. Specifics other than an author saying me, me, me all the time is how I have learned to invest.
Satire and your money don't work.......1999-01-16
This book is a good way to mix satire with your money. Yet, if you want real finacial information look elsewhere. If you want some simple referances this book has some redeming values. If your money is a joke to you look at this book.
Average customer rating:
- My daughter loves this book
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Market Days: From Market to Market Around the World
Madhur Jaffrey , and
Marti Shohet
Manufacturer: Troll Communications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0816735050 |
Book Description
Join best-selling author Madhur Jaffrey on a fascinating journey through the marketplaces of the world - from Hong Kong, Egypt, and Senegal to India, Italy, and Mexico. Beautifully illustrated, Market Days gives young readers an unforgettable glimpse into different cultures, tastes, and traditions. Includes delicious recipes from each nation.
Customer Reviews:
My daughter loves this book.......2003-01-01
Even though it is still a bit old for her, my 3.5 year old daughter loves me to read this book to her, the bright pictures and vibrant colors of this illustration are wonderful. I love the diffrent marketplaces of each country. I use it to talk about how dirrent we all Yet in so many ways we are the same. We all have markets! I love reading this book to her right before we go to our public market.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Franchising World, published by International Franchise Association on May 1, 2001. The length of the article is 950 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Economy Lodging Demands Spur New Markets Around the Globe.(Cendant Corp.)(Days Inns of America Inc.)(Brief Article)
Author: Rajiv Bhatia
Publication:
Franchising World (Magazine/Journal)
Date: May 1, 2001
Publisher: International Franchise Association
Volume: 33
Issue: 4
Page: 26
Article Type: Brief Article
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Books:
- The Limits of State Action
- The Political Economy of Power Sector Reform: The Experiences of Five Major Developing Countries
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- The Retail Manager's Guide to Crime and Loss Prevention: Protecting Your Business from Theft, Fraud, and Violence
- The Scholarship Book 2001. The Complete Guide to private-Sector Scholarships, Fellowships, Grants, and Loans for the Undergraduate.
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- The Third Act: Reinventing Yourself After Retirement
- Tourism Economic Report 1998
- Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader: North Korea and the Kim Dynasty
Books Index
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