Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco
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- Create Date：2021-06-23 03:31:06
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Bryan Burrough
- ISBN：B08YP9MDHX
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Summary
*Running Time => 21hrs。*
A #1 'New York Times' best-seller and arguably the best business narrative ever written， Barbarians at the Gate is the classic account of the fall of RJR Nabisco。
An enduring masterpiece of investigative journalism by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar， it includes a new afterword by the authors that brings this remarkable story of greed and double-dealings up to date twenty years after the famed deal。 And in an era of spectacular business crashes and federal bailouts， it still stands as a valuable cautionary tale that must be heeded。
©1989， 2009 Bryan Burrough， John Helyar （P）2021 HarperCollins Publishers
A #1 'New York Times' best-seller and arguably the best business narrative ever written， Barbarians at the Gate is the classic account of the fall of RJR Nabisco。
An enduring masterpiece of investigative journalism by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar， it includes a new afterword by the authors that brings this remarkable story of greed and double-dealings up to date twenty years after the famed deal。 And in an era of spectacular business crashes and federal bailouts， it still stands as a valuable cautionary tale that must be heeded。
©1989， 2009 Bryan Burrough， John Helyar （P）2021 HarperCollins Publishers
Reviews
Jake Hurst
，
Absolutely loved this book。 Somehow made a financial takeover a page turner
Mudit Agarwal
，
This book is considered the finest business thriller ever written which exposes the corporate kleptocracy and the greed of wall street， but i prefer to look at it as a thrilling but educational ride which you will not be able to put down especially if you a business student。
Naman
，
Fantastic account of a rollicking time in Finance。 The characters are larger than life！ One of my favorite quotes - “A few million dollars are lost in the sands of time。” Goes to show the size of money， greed and egos involved in this one！
M C
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-engaging writing-strong focus on cast of strong characters-reasonably good explanation of financial mechanisms-quant dated feel at times， but still maintains a timeless relevance
D。 Parker Samelson
，
This book does a good job tracing the bewildering narrative through this historic company takeover。
Steven Long
，
didn't finish it， the business terms were getting a little in-the-weeds for me。 insane feat of reporting though， the level of detail brought to bear here is just so dense。 if this were written today， it'd be churned out in 8 months and would be just a hastily arranged oral history。 didn't finish it， the business terms were getting a little in-the-weeds for me。 insane feat of reporting though， the level of detail brought to bear here is just so dense。 if this were written today， it'd be churned out in 8 months and would be just a hastily arranged oral history。 。。。more
Brett Ungashick
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Very entertaining story but fairly repetitive and messy characters
T。 Mosley
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Well written from different points of view。
Merissa
，
All kinds of excitement and drama。
Michele
，
Yet more proof of the extreme places greed and capitalism takes us as a society。 Everyone knows how shit Wallstreet is， here you meet all the main characters of the 1980s during the leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco。 You lose faith in humanity to care for its own interests， but you are riveted the whole way。
Ian Colby
，
Might change the rating after some thought。 Got really good in the end， if a bit repetitive。 Earlier bits had some wonky structuring。
Casually Wolf
，
Although it might be a bit technical， the book is absolutely spot on and should be read by all that might pursue a career in finance， especially investment banking and private equity。 Basically Wolf of Wall Street but in the 1980s。 The negotiations， the drama， the historical impact， etc。 I enjoyed every part of it really and finished ~500 pages within couples of days。 Quite significant given the last time I finished a book of this length， it took me two months :）
Chris Holtz
，
the worst people in the world get together to settle one thing: who can REALLY snort the most c[DEALS， LEGITIMATE DEALS]。
Dheraj Ganjikunta
，
Probably one of the greatest business books written， and a fantastic inside look at a giant financial transaction。 A super interesting cast of wall street characters who are almost all still around。
Mike Sullivan
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Honestly didn't think I would like it。。。am used to fiction， can stomach some non-fiction but only if the spirit of the theme moves me。。。the story of the fall of RJ Nabisco was not in my selection。。。how I read the book I righteously do not know， likely bored and picked it up at the library， however once I started to read， I didn't stop。。。really why can't business books read like this。。。this read like a political thriller rather than a business non-fiction。。。fantastic writing。。。a must read。。。。 Honestly didn't think I would like it。。。am used to fiction， can stomach some non-fiction but only if the spirit of the theme moves me。。。the story of the fall of RJ Nabisco was not in my selection。。。how I read the book I righteously do not know， likely bored and picked it up at the library， however once I started to read， I didn't stop。。。really why can't business books read like this。。。this read like a political thriller rather than a business non-fiction。。。fantastic writing。。。a must read。。。。 。。。more
Peter Wolfley
，
As far as the story goes it is completely gripping and a real page turner which is a huge credit to the writing because the base material is about as dry as it comes。 Nothing could be more boring than the legal and financial minutiae of high cooperate dealings but the authors some how made this read like a Tom Clancy novel。 Stories like this inflame my hate fire for the Titans of cooperate America。 For some reason they get to play by a different set of rules than the rest of the country and but As far as the story goes it is completely gripping and a real page turner which is a huge credit to the writing because the base material is about as dry as it comes。 Nothing could be more boring than the legal and financial minutiae of high cooperate dealings but the authors some how made this read like a Tom Clancy novel。 Stories like this inflame my hate fire for the Titans of cooperate America。 For some reason they get to play by a different set of rules than the rest of the country and but we’re always there to bail them out of the hole they dug with their own greed。 It doesn’t matter how many livelihoods they destroy， retirements they wreck， or lives they ruin in pursuit of the all mighty dollar。 It just makes me sick。 。。。more
Anneke
，
This book was recommended by my corporate finance professor。 I never thought a book about LBOs and complex financing structures would be a page turner， but it is！ I couldn’t put it down。 Great storytelling！
Michelle Pereira
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I loved this book and the way it was written。 Sometimes I feel journalists make the best story tellers。 the narrative keeps the reader entralled。。。。i found myself staying up till the wee hours of the morning to finish a particular day/ thought/ piece
Shaun
，
I'm struggling to put into words how to describe/review this book。 There's a ton of detail about the inner workings of the specific leveraged buy out and the people involved， but not a lot of detail/explanation about how the different methods of a leveraged buy out work。 I felt lost about the actual mechanics of the buyout process while being inundated with personal details about minor 'characters' and their petty quarrels with each other。 I didn't know much about the stock market inner workings I'm struggling to put into words how to describe/review this book。 There's a ton of detail about the inner workings of the specific leveraged buy out and the people involved， but not a lot of detail/explanation about how the different methods of a leveraged buy out work。 I felt lost about the actual mechanics of the buyout process while being inundated with personal details about minor 'characters' and their petty quarrels with each other。 I didn't know much about the stock market inner workings （in the late 1980's）， nor about leveraged buyouts going into this reading， and I feel like I largely still don't。 That made the reading feel like a chore to comprehend what was going on and lowered my enjoyment with the read。 The overall story is an important one and a good one， just too much detail about insignificant things and not enough about the broad things。 。。。more
Evan
，
Longer than required to tell the tale， but impressive character development for a plot centered around financial dealings。 This felt a bit more like fulfilling an obligation as a corporate professional than the experience I might have hoped。
Liz Thys
，
Business narrative on greedy LBO market in the 80s。 Makes you want to puke that no one stopped to think about actually creating value and providing jobs for workers。 Pure greed
TrZaLu
，
These book is definitive great。
Prithvi Raj
，
This one was a great read。 There are not a lot of books about the financial world that I find engaging。 Michael Lewis was the last author who I felt had a good grasp of the yuppies of Wallstreet。 He kept things engaging for those who weren't from that world， painlessly。 However， Bryan and John have made an account deeply engaging， this book could pass as a thriller。 And they had written this two decades before "The Big Short"。 Barbarians at the Gate is about the largest leveraged buyout in histo This one was a great read。 There are not a lot of books about the financial world that I find engaging。 Michael Lewis was the last author who I felt had a good grasp of the yuppies of Wallstreet。 He kept things engaging for those who weren't from that world， painlessly。 However， Bryan and John have made an account deeply engaging， this book could pass as a thriller。 And they had written this two decades before "The Big Short"。 Barbarians at the Gate is about the largest leveraged buyout in history and what led to it。 The authors do a fantastic job of breaking down the psyche of all the key players of this story， particularly Ross Johnson's。 His motivations and journey to the top are broken down brilliantly。 By diving deep into the humble beginnings of the who's who of Investment Banking and Corporate America， we get a sense of what drove them to be a part of LBO history。 The history of the companies that formed RJR Nabisco also added a great deal of depth to the whole story。 It also added a lot of weight to the callous decisions made by the management group。 Greed was the flavour of the day in 80s New York and Barbarians， despite having the top dogs of billion-dollar companies （The first three pages are their names and designations） had very few who lacked it。 The failing of the board， the giant egos of Henry Kravis and Peter Cohen， and the unimaginable buffoonery of Ross Johnson make you think whether these people are even real。 "Barbarians at the Gate" was a title I always felt was a bit too grandiose for something about Leveraged Buyouts。 It was probably one of the reasons the book was on my to-read list for a long time。 However， it hits the nail on the head in describing how ruthless and mind-numbingly selfish Wallstreet is。 The book happens over six weeks as it wavers from a thriller to a dark comedy。 It sometimes is heavy on the drama too。 A book worth spending time on。 。。。more
Isaac Liu
，
One of the most engaging books （in any genre） around。 A must read for anyone interested in business or corporate finance。 Surprisingly funny as well。
LT
，
want to read so badly！！ - 3/24/21 （thinking abut Reagan， merger of RJ Reynolds and Kraft Nabisco）
Tom
，
Good read。 I found myself having to educate myself a bit on LBOs and junk bonds to stay with。 Also， a *lot* of players involved。 Not unsurprisingly， way better than that ridiculous HBO movie back in the 90s。。。
Ananda
，
This is certainly a fascinating story and a masterfully written book。 I also think there are valuable lessons in here for anyone who ever wants to do business negotiations。 But I’ll be honest - there’s an upper limit to how much time I’m willing to spend reading about Wall Street backstabbing， and I’m afraid this book overshot that limit by about 300 pages （let’s never talk about how long it took me to finish this）。
Roberta Gerson
，
Not boring at all。 Bryan Burrough and John Helyar bring all the characters from the 1980s involved in this saga of RJR Nabisco to light。 This book about the leveraged buyout is a cautionary tale -- at the time， it was "。。。widely considered to be the preeminent example of corporate and executive greed。"It has been described as "An enduring masterpiece of investigative journalism by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar， it includes a new afterword by the authors that brings this remarkable story of gree Not boring at all。 Bryan Burrough and John Helyar bring all the characters from the 1980s involved in this saga of RJR Nabisco to light。 This book about the leveraged buyout is a cautionary tale -- at the time， it was "。。。widely considered to be the preeminent example of corporate and executive greed。"It has been described as "An enduring masterpiece of investigative journalism by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar， it includes a new afterword by the authors that brings this remarkable story of greed and double-dealings up to date twenty years after the famed deal。"I always remember one of the scenes in the book where a young woman from North Carolina （tobacco country） was told she had to tender her RJR Nabisco shares。 Her response: "My daddy gave me these shares and he told me to never sell them。" Unfortunately， she was forced to tender the shares。 。。。more
Owen Day
，
A fascinating look into the world of LBOs—leveraged buyouts—of big corporations by the investment banking world back in the late 80s。 Doesn’t sound like the most exciting topic， but the authors turned the story of the contentious RJR Nabisco LBO into a pretty interesting narrative。 The book did drag a little near the end， but I enjoyed it a lot overall。
John
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