The Caesars Palace Coup: How A Billionaire Brawl Over the Famous Casino Exposed the Power and Greed of Wall Street
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- Create Date：2022-08-17 06:51:53
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Sujeet Indap
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Summary
It was the most brutal corporate restructuring in Wall Street history。 The 2015 bankruptcy brawl for the storied casino giant， Caesars Entertainment， pitted brilliant and ruthless private equity legends against the world's most relentless hedge fund wizards。
In the tradition of Barbarians at the Gate and The Big Short comes the riveting， multi-dimensional poker game between private equity firms and distressed debt hedge funds that played out from the Vegas Strip to Manhattan boardrooms to Chicago courthouses and even， for a moment， the halls of the United States Congress。 On one side: relentless financial engineers Marc Rowan， David Sambur， and David Bonderman with their teams at Apollo Global Management and TPG Capital。 On the other: superstar distressed debt investors Dave Miller and Ryan Mollett with their cohorts at the likes of Elliott Management， Oaktree Capital， and Appaloosa Management。
The Caesars bankruptcy put a twist on the old-fashioned casino heist。 Through a $27 billion leveraged buyout and a dizzying string of financial engineering transactions， Apollo and TPG―in the midst of the post-Great Recession slump―had seemingly snatched every prime asset of the company from creditors， with the notable exception of Caesars Palace。 But Caesars’ hedge fund lenders and bondholders had scooped up the company’s paper for nickels and dimes。 And with their own armies of lawyers and bankers， they were ready to do everything necessary to take back what they believed was theirs―if they could just stop their own infighting。
These modern financiers now dominate the scene in Corporate America as their fight-to-the-death mentality continues to shock workers， politicians， and broader society―and even each other。
In The Caesars Palace Coup， financial journalists Max Frumes and Sujeet Indap illuminate the brutal tactics of distressed debt mavens―vultures， as they are condemned―in the sale and purchase of even the biggest companies in the world with billions of dollars hanging in the balance。
In the tradition of Barbarians at the Gate and The Big Short comes the riveting， multi-dimensional poker game between private equity firms and distressed debt hedge funds that played out from the Vegas Strip to Manhattan boardrooms to Chicago courthouses and even， for a moment， the halls of the United States Congress。 On one side: relentless financial engineers Marc Rowan， David Sambur， and David Bonderman with their teams at Apollo Global Management and TPG Capital。 On the other: superstar distressed debt investors Dave Miller and Ryan Mollett with their cohorts at the likes of Elliott Management， Oaktree Capital， and Appaloosa Management。
The Caesars bankruptcy put a twist on the old-fashioned casino heist。 Through a $27 billion leveraged buyout and a dizzying string of financial engineering transactions， Apollo and TPG―in the midst of the post-Great Recession slump―had seemingly snatched every prime asset of the company from creditors， with the notable exception of Caesars Palace。 But Caesars’ hedge fund lenders and bondholders had scooped up the company’s paper for nickels and dimes。 And with their own armies of lawyers and bankers， they were ready to do everything necessary to take back what they believed was theirs―if they could just stop their own infighting。
These modern financiers now dominate the scene in Corporate America as their fight-to-the-death mentality continues to shock workers， politicians， and broader society―and even each other。
In The Caesars Palace Coup， financial journalists Max Frumes and Sujeet Indap illuminate the brutal tactics of distressed debt mavens―vultures， as they are condemned―in the sale and purchase of even the biggest companies in the world with billions of dollars hanging in the balance。
Reviews
Robbo
，
The book wants to be a combination of "Liar's Poker，" "Barbarians at the Gate，" and "When Genius Failed" （maybe add "The Smartest Guys in the Room"）。 But the （apocryphal， at best） anecdotes are neither entertaining nor illustrative， and the description oscillates between way-too-technical and way-too-general。 The book wants to be a combination of "Liar's Poker，" "Barbarians at the Gate，" and "When Genius Failed" （maybe add "The Smartest Guys in the Room"）。 But the （apocryphal， at best） anecdotes are neither entertaining nor illustrative， and the description oscillates between way-too-technical and way-too-general。 。。。more
Pat
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Not as compelling as Liar’s Poker or Barbarians at the Gate， but if you’re a fan of the genre， it’s worthwhile for its deep and comprehensive dive into a stunningly complex bankruptcy。
Andrew Corley
，
Well done。 Narrower audience than Michael Lewis books and not quite as exciting。
Laura Guill
，
Not a finance person at all， so it was a little difficult to track what exactly what was going on — which wasn't helped by the sameness of the company names and divisions， and the sheer number of people involved。 More interesting and faster paced at the beginning， when it was more the history and set-up， but got a little bogged down once it reached the court。 Not a finance person at all， so it was a little difficult to track what exactly what was going on — which wasn't helped by the sameness of the company names and divisions， and the sheer number of people involved。 More interesting and faster paced at the beginning， when it was more the history and set-up， but got a little bogged down once it reached the court。 。。。more
Diego Leal
，
I really enjoyed reading this great story of Lawyers vs VCs， very well written。
Joseph Thompson
，
Nearly as good as Barbarians at the Gates AND about corporate bankruptcy？ This book left me salivating。 5 Stars
Rachel Phan
，
Way too much of a slog for what should have been an exciting story given that the players are high profile and recognizable in the space。 Even with a better than decent understanding of finance， law， and banking- the over reliance on industry jargon is extremely off putting to the reader。 A step away from the minutiae would have done this book well。
Laurel Cull
，
I like business espouses， so I liked this。 However， try as I might to keep up with all of the individual players， I could not but the story is great。 David slays Goliath。
Connor
，
Incredible narrative。 Chips on shoulders put chips in pockets。
Tobi Peters
，
The book was bogged down with some unnecessary details。 It was probably to give the air that it was well researched but in my opinion， some of these details did not contribute to the overall experience of the book。 It would also be a difficult read for someone not well versed in corporate finance， the debt market and corporate law。
J
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Impressively-researched and an exciting story， but the editor here did them absolutely no favors。 Writing is clunky and repetitive （not to mention strewn with typos） and the sections are pretty poorly-organized， which requires the reader to work for it a bit。
Dick
，
This is a hell of a business case study of Caesars， one of the most complicated corporate restructurings in history。 It wasn’t like “Barbarian at the gate” at all。 It was pretty technical and it is not easy for readers who don’t have decent background in corporate finance to follow along。 A big part of the book is also about the various courthouse dramas that you need some basic understanding of corporate law to appreciate the twist and development。 It is a great book to learn about the technica This is a hell of a business case study of Caesars， one of the most complicated corporate restructurings in history。 It wasn’t like “Barbarian at the gate” at all。 It was pretty technical and it is not easy for readers who don’t have decent background in corporate finance to follow along。 A big part of the book is also about the various courthouse dramas that you need some basic understanding of corporate law to appreciate the twist and development。 It is a great book to learn about the technical aspects of corporate restructuring， and with the author’s good writing， it also gives you great feel of the lives of these bankers， operators and lawyers in private equity and distressed investing。 I mean， these guys all make tens or hundreds of millions of dollar， yet I just cannot help but feel tired for them as I read on。 The poker aspect of it sounds sexy and fun， but the majority of the time these guys are just burying themselves into unimaginable amount of legal documents， and countless negotiations and meetings which are super tedious and basically a waste of life。 It is simply torturing， especially when you are a junior guy。 I am super interested in the topic and keen to learn every aspect of it， but I have long decided against my career in the professions。 It is simply not the best way to live your life。 。。。more
John David Preston
，
A book i am glad to have read， even if I didn’t enjoy every minute。 Fascinating story of how PE operates in a default （or near default） scenario）。 It is a dense subject to be sure， so not sure how to make it more digestible - possibly more diagrams？
Andrew Costello
，
Parts were great， but the author definitely had a man crush on some of the people in this book。It seems like in this case the funds did more harm to than the value their capital is providing。
Jack Larch
，
Well written and entertaining but you will need to like corporate finance and law。 The level of greed and ruthfulness exposed is mind-blowing。
Ned P
，
Tells the story of the leveraged buyout of Ceasers Entertainment （the Vegas casino company） by Apollo and TPG （two of the biggest hitting private equity firms） for $28 billion in 2007/8。 Simply put， the buyers over paid and over leveraged， and then proceeded to undertake a series of highly questionable transactions （i。e fraudulent transfers and asset stripping） in order to buy time in the wake of the GFC and attempt to avoid bankruptcy。 Whilst these suspect transactions extended the run way for Tells the story of the leveraged buyout of Ceasers Entertainment （the Vegas casino company） by Apollo and TPG （two of the biggest hitting private equity firms） for $28 billion in 2007/8。 Simply put， the buyers over paid and over leveraged， and then proceeded to undertake a series of highly questionable transactions （i。e fraudulent transfers and asset stripping） in order to buy time in the wake of the GFC and attempt to avoid bankruptcy。 Whilst these suspect transactions extended the run way for Ceasers and its shareholders， they were vehemently opposed on the other side by the various groups of creditors holding different types of Ceasers debt。 After the initial set up （which was quite interesting） - it is this dispute that forms the crux of the book， following the various pieces of litigation which ultimately leads to Ceasars bankruptcy and restructuring。 For me， this was a far cry from the panache of Michael Lewis and his talent for making technical and complex subject matter into a thrilling narrative。 With the exception of the first 100 pages （as mentioned， this was an interesting coverage of the initial acquisition and early strategy of managing the business）， the authors failed to make the narrative interesting， or to even really string together a sensical chronology of events。 Instead it read as a litany of name dropping， both individuals and firms， who the authors clearly idolise， even whilst telling the story of their blatant greed and mis-use of their clear intelligence/skills toward facilitating financial gain at the expense of others。 Target audience would be an insolvency/restructuring lawyer， or someone trying to memorise the names of all the white shoe US law firms。 。。。more
Isaac Gill
，
If you want to understand "creditor-on-creditor violence"， why it is happening so often now and if you are a fan of books such as The Predators' Ball， Barbarians at the Gate and The Smartest Guys in the Room then The Caesars Palace Coup by Indap and Frumes will likely be a book you find to be very entertaining and informative。 "THERE WAS AN EXPRESSION AMONGST creditors about dealing with Apollo: Everyone comes to the table with a gun， but Apollo is the only party who puts it on the table before If you want to understand "creditor-on-creditor violence"， why it is happening so often now and if you are a fan of books such as The Predators' Ball， Barbarians at the Gate and The Smartest Guys in the Room then The Caesars Palace Coup by Indap and Frumes will likely be a book you find to be very entertaining and informative。 "THERE WAS AN EXPRESSION AMONGST creditors about dealing with Apollo: Everyone comes to the table with a gun， but Apollo is the only party who puts it on the table before the meeting starts。"Or， if you are curious as to how Apollo keeps gaining ownership or larger and larger parts of valuable assets across the world and how its model has come to dominate corporate America this will be a book you find illuminating。 The authors take on this dramatic and entertaining fallout from the financial engineering that took place at Caesars Entertainment （formerly Harrah's Entertainment） - with seemingly extensive input from inside sources and court records （which authors have strung together nicely to provide an uber entertaining narrative）。 This pitted luminaries such as Howard Marks （Oaktree） and David Tepper （Appaloosa） vs。 Leon Black， Marc Rowan （Apollo） and David “Bondo” Bonderman -who is a bit like a racist forrest gump like figure - （TPG） against one another。 Even Soros Fund Management， Icahn and John Paulson played bit roles in this。 If you find yourself getting angry at the many shenanigans pulled by Apollo （lot of them seemingly spearheaded by the irascible David Sambur - a very colorful and entertaining character， you'll want to read the book at least for the many Entourage Ari Gold like quotes attributed to him） to shortchange creditors then more so than damning "late stage capitalism" perhaps condemn the zero interest policies maintained by global central bankers which have triggered the race to the bottom antics of these investment firms （or as Marks like to say "people energetically exercising their fiduciary duties" when accused of taking part in a fratricidal war）。Something that really struck me was the 1 degree of Michael Milken/Drexel effect， who seemingly is connected to all the major PE investment moguls in America。 "The central figure in the Caesars brawl was， however， absent from the room。 Apollo Global Management had been one of the two principal private equity firms who had acquired the storied casino chain in 2008。 Apollo was defined by two traits: genius and impunity。 The firm was co-founded by Leon Black， Michael Milken’s right-hand man at Drexel Burnham Lambert。 Milken had famously invented the junk bond market in the 1980s。 After Milken’s fall from grace， Black， in 1990， had formed Apollo to exploit the imploding debt markets that Milken and Drexel themselves had wrought。 Over its twenty-five-year existence， Apollo’s hallmark had become discerning opportunity where no one else dare tread and then striking deals everyone else was too timid to make。 Apollo also liked to play by its own rules， forcing its adversaries to think twice about confrontation。 As Apollo’s success compounded over the years， only a few ever stood in its way。 Apollo had become， unquestionably， the most feared private equity firm in the world。"， "Howard Marks， the co-founder of Oaktree， was never a Drexel employee。 But as a consistent buyer of Drexel junk bonds in the 1980s while an investment manager at Citigroup， he eventually became like family to Leon Black。 And their wives， Nancy Marks and Debra Black， would become especially close。" 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon < 1 degree of Michael Milken。A quote I absolutely loved from the book was from Marc Rowan （alleged to be a red MAGA hat enthusiast） "Years later， Rowan recalled that when he had joined Drexel， he believed that he was five years too late—all the money had been made and all the fun had。 What he said he had learned from the Drexel blow-up and the subsequent birth of Apollo was that， “you want chaos， you want things to be shaken up， you want the system to be brought down and built up again。 Just when you think the world is coming to an end and things are never going to get better， that is the time to build a career and build the next great fortune。”" For some reason I suspect Rowan may have been a source to the authors。 James Sprayregen was probably a source as well， Andrew Milgram of Marblegat too， in addition to Bruce Bennett， and Kaj Vazales of Oaktree （especially on the antics of Sambur）。With regard to Sambur:"Somebody tell me where Ken Liang’s breakfast is so I can dip my balls in it，” yelled David Sambur。""The meeting was in a space called the “Jury Room” across from the firm cafeteria and for some reason Sambur was sloppily eating a bowl of cereal。""Sambur superficially reminded many of Marc Rowan—short， dark hair， Jewish， and razor sharp when it came to complex finance。 Still， he had little of Rowan’s charm。 One could not help but like Marc Rowan; one often could not help but cringe at David Sambur。 He always operated at Defcon One。 Ordinary interactions turned into sieges with Sambur。 He was not for chit-chat or back-slapping; it was what you could do for him or what he was going to threaten to do to you。" "Sambur’s more natural approach was to simply use brute force。 He was prone to sending a nasty email at all hours of the night， explaining how his opponents， sometimes addressed as “m0therfuckers，” would be vanquished。"And possibly the funniest one:"Basta didn’t mind getting a little coarse: “There comes a time in every case where you have to shit or get off the pot。” Sambur then stood up and aimed to take back control of the meeting。 “Thanks Paul， that was great。 Good job laying that out，” Sambur began。 “And for the avoidance of doubt， I’m here to shit。” The lenders and their advisors looked at each other， shaking their heads。 Sambur had a gift for making an awkward situation even more so。" If you run a company that might be involved in a private equity situation/distressed credit this book ought to be required reading。The one qualm I had was with how the authors wouldn't reintroduce characters as there were so many people involved it was difficult to keep track of who was who a few pages after they'd been introduced。 So if the authors had taken care when re-introducing a specific character a few pages after they'd been introduced that'd have been very helpful。NOTE: If you're not someone involved in or interested in corporate finance you're not likely to find this book entertaining （although the authors have done a good job to try and make this accessible， the structures involved are just too arcane and complicated） - you are likely to find the book boring and tedious。 "It's a lot of fun to go duck hunting， I guess until the ducks start shooting back" - Al Dunlap， what happened to Apollo with Caesars。 。。。more
Chris Ainsworth
，
I think I want the mafia back。
Reilz
，
Very interesting subject matter， just felt like the book could have been structured to make it clearer who was who （had to keep a separate sheet of names/players）。 At times the story also felt slightly disjointed and I had to go back to get my bearings。
Jeevan Jeyaratnam
，
A good and shady story but this is complicated， and at times， overly detailed
Nicolai Mohn
，
Restruktureringer er laaaaange， advokater og ageny problemer， og PE er kill or be killed。 Noice
Amir
，
Fascinating inside story on the Caesar's Palace bankruptcy proceedings which lasted several years and cost nearly a billion in legal fees accumulated by all of the players。 The book is a bit technical， and at times i glazed over the details。 But i enjoyed the background stories on many of the famed buyout and hedge fund personalities -- who all seem to find their genesis in and around Drexel Burnham。 Apollo has an unparalleled franchise with years of extraordinary track record -- so it is an int Fascinating inside story on the Caesar's Palace bankruptcy proceedings which lasted several years and cost nearly a billion in legal fees accumulated by all of the players。 The book is a bit technical， and at times i glazed over the details。 But i enjoyed the background stories on many of the famed buyout and hedge fund personalities -- who all seem to find their genesis in and around Drexel Burnham。 Apollo has an unparalleled franchise with years of extraordinary track record -- so it is an interesting view into the one situation where perhaps they lost as they went head to head with David Tepper of Appaloosa and Howard Marks & friends at Oaktree。 There are many twists in turns in this saga， and it should be of interest to students of the finance world。 I doubt that the average reader would find it all that interesting -- the authors do not have the Michael Lewis ability to weave a captivating narrative out of arcane details -- so you really need to care about the players or the industry to find this book captivating。 I for one read it voraciously。 。。。more
Mike Henry
，
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 While it certainly helps to have a basic understanding of business， finance and capital markets， and more importantly an interest， you certainly don't have to be an expert to enjoy this book。 The authors do a very good job of providing short and easy to understand definitions of even the most arcane financial instruments and concepts （PIK toggle bonds anyone？）。It's a deep and fascinating dive into the inner realms of Private Equity， Hedge Funds and Investment Banks and the powerhouse Law Firms t While it certainly helps to have a basic understanding of business， finance and capital markets， and more importantly an interest， you certainly don't have to be an expert to enjoy this book。 The authors do a very good job of providing short and easy to understand definitions of even the most arcane financial instruments and concepts （PIK toggle bonds anyone？）。It's a deep and fascinating dive into the inner realms of Private Equity， Hedge Funds and Investment Banks and the powerhouse Law Firms that represent them。 It's a tooth and nail fight among the many players over billions of dollars。 It waivers from intricate strategy to mere capricious decision making。 Anyone who thinks wall street is rigged for the privileged few aren't likely to be disavowed of that notion。 The book makes clear though that this game is not for the dull witted or faint of heart。 The book also does a great job showcasing how businesses are carved up reorganized and restructured into multiple legal entities that the average person on the street would assume are once company。 That's the essence of the book is how a PE firm（s） carved up a company to separate the wheat from the chaff for their benefit and the battle roylae that ensued。 Beyond the billions of dollars of debt investment at stake for the holders， the fees for the law firms and investment banks （which are extracted from the company that is going bankrupt） are staggering。 Here again， if you don't like Wall Street you probably won't find any heroes here but at the risk of a spoiler alert I think the "good guys" won。And hey， where else are you going to read about the economics of Britney's Las Vegas residency deal？If you like business books from "Barbarians。。。" to "Too Big to Fail" you'll thoroughly enjoy this - like you were there - narrative。 。。。more
Edward Turner
，
Overall a fascinating story with some great characters。 I kept wondering how Apollo was seemingly able to come out of the bankruptcy with such favourable terms while the bond holders saw such large haircuts despite all the dubious （illegal） asset transfers out of the OpCo。 Persistence pays off。 Would’ve been 5/5 however was let down by a number of factors: 1） I found the middle a cumbersome read 2） Was difficult keeping up with all the hundreds of different players and their respective firms - a Overall a fascinating story with some great characters。 I kept wondering how Apollo was seemingly able to come out of the bankruptcy with such favourable terms while the bond holders saw such large haircuts despite all the dubious （illegal） asset transfers out of the OpCo。 Persistence pays off。 Would’ve been 5/5 however was let down by a number of factors: 1） I found the middle a cumbersome read 2） Was difficult keeping up with all the hundreds of different players and their respective firms - a more detailed mind map in the table of contents would’ve been helpful 3） In need of a good editor 。。。more
Bethany
，
The book is at best 100 pages of bankruptcy drama and 200 pages of law firm directory。 I gave the book 2 stars because I do think that there is a good story here， it just wasn't written well。 I was a little troubled by the repeated need to randomly highlight which of the lenders/lawyers/business people were Jewish in this case， why not also inform us who were Christian or Atheist then？ I hope that it wasn't intended this way， but it came across a bit like the old Shylock stereotype。 The book is at best 100 pages of bankruptcy drama and 200 pages of law firm directory。 I gave the book 2 stars because I do think that there is a good story here， it just wasn't written well。 I was a little troubled by the repeated need to randomly highlight which of the lenders/lawyers/business people were Jewish in this case， why not also inform us who were Christian or Atheist then？ I hope that it wasn't intended this way， but it came across a bit like the old Shylock stereotype。 。。。more
Sam Conway
，
Reminded me of Corporate Renewal case studies from my MBA days…。although denser and with a less engaging narrative structure。As an aside: I read a normal （not advanced） copy and was shocked by how many spelling/grammar errors there were throughout the text。
William Blankenship
，
Quite an interesting read， if a very niche category。 Indap and Frumes do a wonderful job of keeping the story engaging enough while still highlighting the technical aspects of a rather opaque part of the industry。 Comparable to Barbarians， certainly deserves a re-read to soak in all the intricacies of the transaction。
Kevin Collett
，
While the subject will not appeal to everyone and even I found some of the chapters on the bankruptcy trial a little tough to get through this is a compelling book。The ability of the authors to keep a coherent narrative when so many things were happening across a cast of dozens is writing of the very highest order。 What I also liked is that they covered all aspects of the story - at one point I thought， ‘in my review I should mention that they focused a lot on the financing side and not enough o While the subject will not appeal to everyone and even I found some of the chapters on the bankruptcy trial a little tough to get through this is a compelling book。The ability of the authors to keep a coherent narrative when so many things were happening across a cast of dozens is writing of the very highest order。 What I also liked is that they covered all aspects of the story - at one point I thought， ‘in my review I should mention that they focused a lot on the financing side and not enough on how the business was doing。’ The very next chapter provided an update on the business performance。Masterful writing of a business book。 Not sure what else the authors have written but I’ll be looking out for more of their content and following them on social media。 。。。more
Jack Rogers
，
The lawyers are the stars of this sin city show
brent s belzberg
，