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Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco

Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco

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  • Create Date：2022-10-20 06:57:23
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
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  • Author：Bryan Burrough
  • ISBN：0061655554
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Summary

“One of the finest， most compelling accounts of what happened to corporate America and Wall Street in the 1980’s。” —New York Times Book Review


A #1 New York Times bestseller 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。 The Los Angeles Times calls Barbarians at the Gate， “Superlative。” The Chicago Tribune raves， “It’s hard to imagine a better story。。。and it’s hard to imagine a better account。” And in an era of spectacular business crashes and federal bailouts， it still stands as a valuable cautionary tale that must be heeded。

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Reviews

Addison Thompson ，

I read this book because I like Nabisco wafers。Now I work in finance。 Things move fast。

Pulkit ，

This book is a labour of love。 It showcases in intricate detail the journey of the disintegration of the biggest fmcgs out of US in the garb of LBOs as bankers made insane amount of money in the process。 Till the end， it feels like a gripping novel who's going to succeed as the new chair at the kingdom of RJR-Nabisco。Worthy read for any finance enthusiasts and probably people who hate capitalism and wall street。 This book is a labour of love。 It showcases in intricate detail the journey of the disintegration of the biggest fmcgs out of US in the garb of LBOs as bankers made insane amount of money in the process。 Till the end， it feels like a gripping novel who's going to succeed as the new chair at the kingdom of RJR-Nabisco。Worthy read for any finance enthusiasts and probably people who hate capitalism and wall street。 。。。more

Jeffrey Strunks ，

Classic

Anna Hicks ，

Qualifier: 5/5 stars for the current phase of books that I’m in - “schadenfreude corporate history”My goodness - what a time to be alive！ It’s the mid 1990’s。 You look good。 You smell good。 You work 80 hours a week without breaking a sweat。Corporate side - life is good！ Company car！ Company jet！ Company house！ Expense accounts！External advisory - You just want to be part of the deal。 Does the deal make sense？ LITERALLY NO ONE CARES。 A deal is a deal is a deal。 Deals = good and No Deals = bad。 Th Qualifier: 5/5 stars for the current phase of books that I’m in - “schadenfreude corporate history”My goodness - what a time to be alive！ It’s the mid 1990’s。 You look good。 You smell good。 You work 80 hours a week without breaking a sweat。Corporate side - life is good！ Company car！ Company jet！ Company house！ Expense accounts！External advisory - You just want to be part of the deal。 Does the deal make sense？ LITERALLY NO ONE CARES。 A deal is a deal is a deal。 Deals = good and No Deals = bad。 That’s the book。I won’t spoil it by telling you who wins the bidding war… but I will spoil it by revealing my shocked position at the really， marginally lucrative prize for winning it。 As in… it was a one liner in the book…”it was a marginally profitable deal”。 And these morons worked 80 hours a week FOR MONTHS to get it done。 Wild times， man。 。。。more

Mack Simpson ，

I'd been wanting to read this for ages， but it had never risen to the top of my list until this summer。 It was worth the wait。 Vivid and breezy， all of the stunning details are there， but without ever becoming bogged down in them。 I distinctly remember the event as it was happening （as reported on television and in the newsmagazines of the time）， and the clamor over how the nation had reached the height of Wall Street stupidity。 How naive we were; those days were yet to come， and always seem to I'd been wanting to read this for ages， but it had never risen to the top of my list until this summer。 It was worth the wait。 Vivid and breezy， all of the stunning details are there， but without ever becoming bogged down in them。 I distinctly remember the event as it was happening （as reported on television and in the newsmagazines of the time）， and the clamor over how the nation had reached the height of Wall Street stupidity。 How naive we were; those days were yet to come， and always seem to be outdone by yet another 'height。' A cautionary tale that never seems to be fully-received， and then forgotten altogether。 。。。more

Amaan Pirani ，

Incredible。 Barbarians at the gate lives up to its reputation as a thrilling chronicle and criticism of the private equity industry。 Barbarians explores the $25b leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco - a tobacco and food conglomerate by KKR。 1。 The texts detail is incredible: the book largely explores the 6 week bidding war that ensued and the "financial engineering" that lawyers， investment bankers， and people on the buy side need to go through to complete an lbo。 Such details yield insight into the Incredible。 Barbarians at the gate lives up to its reputation as a thrilling chronicle and criticism of the private equity industry。 Barbarians explores the $25b leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco - a tobacco and food conglomerate by KKR。 1。 The texts detail is incredible: the book largely explores the 6 week bidding war that ensued and the "financial engineering" that lawyers， investment bankers， and people on the buy side need to go through to complete an lbo。 Such details yield insight into the human psyche。 It was fascinating to see Henry Kravis's thinking as he decided how to conduct a bidding war with Johnson。 It was fascinating to see Laurie Robinsons attempts to conduct a truce between Johnson and Kravis。 It was interesting to see the emotions of board room members at learning the management teams lofty 20 percent equity take rate。 The detail in this text shines light on how to be human is to feel - in all circumstances。 2。 Capitalism certainly results in significant alienation from humanity: for example it was interesting to see board members relate to the 140k+ employees of rjr in the industry town of Winston-Salem that honestly would have been destroyed had it not been for a founder/CEO who was so focused on generously giving residents of the town class A stock and building wake forest university （unfortunately future execs moved the company to NY and Atlanta）。 While the rjr lbo didn't destroy Winston Salem - I can certainly see how a cost cutting focused lbo would have significant negative ramifications upon a target company's employees。 In a similar vein alienation occurs in a variety of ways （politicking by executives to be CEO， a CEO navigating currying favor with a board of directors， etc。） 3。 Debates about leveraged buyouts and the ultimate nature of asymmetric upside in risk calculations （there's a reason that leverage wins out in the end - both in pe and hfs - at least for the winners who survive and don't get crushed by absurd amounts of debt）。 Ultimately arguments that junk bonds were unsafe and unstable （note how one bids structure literally would have increased the federal defecit by 2 percent） demonstrates potential danger of financializafion （see cdos as well）。 4。 In the long run， with so much capital existing， growth rounds take on the highest bidder and thus potentially yield suboptimal returns of capital to Lps。 This makes me question the possible future upside of a late stage fund （while still believing in the possible upside of relationships driven early stage investing）。 5。 But ultimately through it all most poignant to me was how the book focused so much on the intense focus and determination that the various financiers had on enriching themselves -yet through it all poignant were mentions of the truly sad moments in life that perhaps matter。 Johnson， the CEO of rjr， for example had a son who was in a coma， paralyzed， and unable to walk for the rest of his life - like how the book reads "money money money。。。 Brief interlude on tragic event that actually matters" so too often do externally driven people who enter financial services。 。。。more

Adeyemi Adegbayibi ，

What a book！ This is a thoroughly narrated special that explains the grueling work investment bankers and lawyers operate on。 The book personalized the energy of securing an LBO company！ Great book 5/5。

njain23 ，

The best non fiction books are the ones that read like a drama， and Bryan Burrough managed to make this corporate transaction into a thrilling drama full of larger-than-life characters set in different worlds。 The world building was greatly enjoyable， as we got a glimpse into worlds most people don't really understand。 First， the RJR company men of Winston-Salem， living in the town of "reluctant millionaires" who are treated like gods for the wealth and prosperity that RJ Reynolds Tobacco Co bro The best non fiction books are the ones that read like a drama， and Bryan Burrough managed to make this corporate transaction into a thrilling drama full of larger-than-life characters set in different worlds。 The world building was greatly enjoyable， as we got a glimpse into worlds most people don't really understand。 First， the RJR company men of Winston-Salem， living in the town of "reluctant millionaires" who are treated like gods for the wealth and prosperity that RJ Reynolds Tobacco Co brought into their sleepy North Carolina town。 Next， the ego driven， high octane world of Wall Street， where lawyers are sprinting uptown to hand deliver term letters to beat their 5pm deadline。 Finally， the characters -- the founders of RJR and Nabisco， the humble and self made businessmen who pride themselves on their ethics， the high flying and exorbitantly lavish executives of RJR Nabisco led by Ross Johnson， and finally the extremely high ego Wall Street investment bankers who have rivalries so deep they are willing to blow up $20b deals over whose name is written down first on the letterheads。 Through reading this book I learned about the politics of CEOs and their boards， the politics of investment banking and the massive egos involved， and overall got to enjoy a thrilling and captivating drama in the process。 Very enjoyable to the end。 Also the title is so cool。 。。。more

Alexandros K ，

An extraordinary order of accounts and a very educational book。

Kevin ，

Enthralling。 Non-fiction that reads like a high stakes drama。

Lauren ，

After going to school in Winston-Salem， working in leveraged finance after the credit crisis， working in M&A， and having one degree of separation from people in the book， I realize I should have read this much earlier in life。Super fascinating， extremely detailed view into one of the wildest LBO’s in history。 Very much worth the read。

Hynek ，

Mostly just a bunch of coked up dudes talking in offices but I couldn’t put it down。

Irek Piecuch ，

The best business related book I’ve ever read。 The story is old - but the play did not change a bit。

Akilah J。 ，

It would have been better to read it on my Kindle than listening to the audiobook。 There were so many individuals involved that it quickly got confusing。 Nice weekend listen about the d*ck swinging contest that is Wall St。 These dudes cared more about winning than the success of the company they were trying to control。

David Westenhaver ，

This was a mostly great book。 It’s an incredible example of world-class business journalism。 The details gathered through in-depth reporting expose aspects of the business world and Wall Street that I’ve never seen before。 At times， those details can feel excessive， but that isn’t the fault of the writers。 This book is largely about excess， and the “final act” drags on for so long that I grew as frustrated as the men who so exemplified excess。Altogether， this is a great book。 Just do your best t This was a mostly great book。 It’s an incredible example of world-class business journalism。 The details gathered through in-depth reporting expose aspects of the business world and Wall Street that I’ve never seen before。 At times， those details can feel excessive， but that isn’t the fault of the writers。 This book is largely about excess， and the “final act” drags on for so long that I grew as frustrated as the men who so exemplified excess。Altogether， this is a great book。 Just do your best to plow through the last 100 pages。 —Side note: I have to share one frustration。 Linda Robinson was an important character in this story。 She was married to one of the key bankers， Jim（？） Robinson， but she also had a key role in negotiations and readers know who she is。 Yet， the author consistently refers to her as “Jim Robinson’s wife。” Ridiculous and embarrassing。 。。。more

Alex Bendix ，

Engaging business book about the financial details and egos involved in one of history’s biggest deals。 Captures a unique moment in history for Wall Street + serves as an interesting backdrop for what it all looks like these days

Craigtator ，

“Never play by the rules。 Never pay in cash。 And never tell the truth。”

Jon Thompson ，

Somewhere along the way， I morphed into someone who enjoys taut accounts of business intrigue。 In that category， Barbarians at the Gate might be the very best。 Well before Theranos， before WeWork， there was RJR Nabisco: a very real company with real cash flows–of which everyone on Wall Street wanted a piece after CEO Ross Johnson proposed a leveraged buyout in 1988。 The tumult and backstabbing drama that ensued are not to be missed。 Somewhere along the way， I morphed into someone who enjoys taut Somewhere along the way， I morphed into someone who enjoys taut accounts of business intrigue。 In that category， Barbarians at the Gate might be the very best。 Well before Theranos， before WeWork， there was RJR Nabisco: a very real company with real cash flows–of which everyone on Wall Street wanted a piece after CEO Ross Johnson proposed a leveraged buyout in 1988。 The tumult and backstabbing drama that ensued are not to be missed。 Somewhere along the way， I morphed into someone who enjoys taut accounts of business intrigue。 The good news is that I still read things such as Infinite Jest and Ta-Nihisi Coates。 Find you someone who can do both。 😉 。。。more

Justin Bitner ，

Wild story， tons of characters and parties involved， so it got to be tough to follow at times。 Would have loved to have a bit more to the epilogue and aftermath。

Humzah Yazdani ，

So hard to put down！

Shreedhar Manek ，

Barbarians at the Gate—an undeniable classic in finance—takes the reader from start to end of a leveraged buyout （LBO） which is a fancy way of saying buying out a company after taking a loan against the company's assets。 （What Elon Musk was going to do with Twitter。）The entire concept of an LBO is mind boggling and might take a few minutes to grasp。 In theory， someone with $0 can end up owning a multi billion dollar company。 Here's how it works。 1。 Identify a company with a high amount of free c Barbarians at the Gate—an undeniable classic in finance—takes the reader from start to end of a leveraged buyout （LBO） which is a fancy way of saying buying out a company after taking a loan against the company's assets。 （What Elon Musk was going to do with Twitter。）The entire concept of an LBO is mind boggling and might take a few minutes to grasp。 In theory， someone with $0 can end up owning a multi billion dollar company。 Here's how it works。 1。 Identify a company with a high amount of free cash flow （lot of cash coming in with nothing to do with it）。2。 Go to a bank。 Tell them about this company and convince them that this might be a good company to lay your hands on。3。 Go to the company and make them an offer they cannot refuse。4。 Buy company with money loaned out from the bank。 Pay the loan back from the cash that the company that you now own generates。 Reduce costs by firing employees and/or selling off assets。 $$$$ 5。 In case the newly acquired company is mismanaged and you cannot pay back the loan—no problem！ The bank takes over the company and does whatever it wants with it。 You start with nothing and end up with nothing。 No harm done。This is， obviously， a simplified version of events。 But in essence this how LBOs work。 In reality， if you go to a bank and ask for a loan to buy a multi billion dollar company， they wouldn't really oblige。 Not unless you put up a few billion dollars yourself （as Musk did）。 But you get the gist of how it works。Barbarians is about a famous LBO back in the 80s when LBOs were quite the rage in corporate America。 And why wouldn't they be？ Almost all stakeholders apart from the employees saw money。 And this particular famous LBO？ One of America's largest companies at the time （in the top 20 I think？） called RJR Nabisco。 They owned the Oreo brand （yes， the cookie） while their moneymaker was their cigarettes （Camels）。The book is action-packed from start to finish。 There is no dull moment。 The author takes us through the littlest of details， after what would probably have been hundreds or maybe even thousands of hours of interviews。 The detail is impeccable。 The writing is simple enough for a finance layman to pick up。Overall the book goes to show in super depth the extent to which things work on whims and fancies of top level executives。 If you think there's a full and proper thought process behind every move some bigshot suit takes in his tower office。。 brace for a surprise。 Because while there is a facade of decorum， even the largest of decisions often come down to feelings， emotion， networks， egos and， most importantly， greed。 。。。more

Jenna Leone ，

An in-depth retelling of the contentious LBO （leveraged buyout） of RJR Nabisco。 Given the subject matter， this could've been really dry and boring， but it was written in a way that kept the tension high throughout the story and made me feel like there were real stakes involved （even though all of this stuff happened decades ago）。 Pretty good read！ An in-depth retelling of the contentious LBO （leveraged buyout） of RJR Nabisco。 Given the subject matter， this could've been really dry and boring， but it was written in a way that kept the tension high throughout the story and made me feel like there were real stakes involved （even though all of this stuff happened decades ago）。 Pretty good read！ 。。。more

Esteban Stipnieks ，

A bit dry but enlightening exploration into a moment of the 1980s I recall。 The book shows the absurdity of the players。。。。。 its closing comment is cogent。。。。 it points the absurdity of the business people who forgot why they were managing a company to produce goods and services。。。。 having seen some otehr big business executives get detached。 it was a long read but worthwhile。

Dan Berkowitz ，

Light 4， more like 3。5; while entertaining， this is a LONG book that at times goes into details that drag it out。 Know you are getting into a book about company sales and that it will start at the very beginning with a lot of character backstory。

Benjamin Giannantonio ，

I feel compelled to write a brief review of Barbarians at the Gate， because having completed it， what *I* thought about the book matters less than the fact that I think the book is objectively excellent slice of niche American history 。。。 for a reader who is not me。 I am almost exclusively interested in nonfiction， and did enjoy Barbarians to an extent - but the ideal reader for this book would be intensely interested in a depth of history related to investment banking and financial engineering/ I feel compelled to write a brief review of Barbarians at the Gate， because having completed it， what *I* thought about the book matters less than the fact that I think the book is objectively excellent slice of niche American history 。。。 for a reader who is not me。 I am almost exclusively interested in nonfiction， and did enjoy Barbarians to an extent - but the ideal reader for this book would be intensely interested in a depth of history related to investment banking and financial engineering/leveraged buyouts/junk bonds/the roots of mergers and acquisitions in the 1980s。 The book includes extensive mini-biographies of everyone involved in all sides of the largest corporate buyout in American history， written sometimes in salaciously interesting contexts while trying to get deals done in a hurricane of drama with extreme deadlines etc。 That is a level of detail I admire， but do not personally care about the subject matter as much as another reader certainly does。 Entertaining book regardless though， and I now feel like it is more a story of how F。 Ross Johnson surfed the tumultuous waters of 80s financial markets and extreme greed， staying above the shark-infested waters of the most powerful and manipulative bankers， lawyers， and fund managers of the era。 He was certainly unabashedly greedy himself， but in my mind this is more a story about the people and firms at the commanding heights of the buyout industry in the years leading up to the RJR Nabisco buyout， who are willing to do ANYTHING to get in on this deal。 The first chapters of the book， which detail F。 Ross Johnson's rise to the helm of Nabisco I did find very interesting。 And for readers interested in financial markets or who are grinding through an MBA or finance degree， it is probably a very entertaining read， especially in contrast to other materials you're required to ingest。 It reads like a suspense novel， which beats any statistics textbook I ever used as a coaster during my "formative years" :P 。。。more

Jaan Liitmäe ，

That was book of 2022 for me even if story itself is more than 30 years old！ Couple of weeks earlier I finished Den of Thieves and that book helped a lot to understand the background and vibes of the times。 At the end I felt somewhat sorry for for Mr。 CEO - he was over his head and Wall Street in a way scr**ed him properly。。。

Francis Walton ，

I mean， it was fascinating to see how Wall st works， but it all seemed so pointless。 They didn't make anything， just a bunch of companies made millions for not really doing anything at all。 Which I guess is the way it still works。 I mean， it was fascinating to see how Wall st works， but it all seemed so pointless。 They didn't make anything， just a bunch of companies made millions for not really doing anything at all。 Which I guess is the way it still works。 。。。more

Dipanshu Gupta ，

Fantastic， fantastic book。 Written by two Wall Street Journal journalists who covered the story at the time， this book is extremely well written。 Every fact and narrative is double checked。 What surprises me how they managed to write such an engaging story without being sensational about it。 Part of the credit must go to the source material。 This truly one of the finest wall street tales I've read， and I've read plenty。 The story revolves around the battle for taking RJR Nabisco private through Fantastic， fantastic book。 Written by two Wall Street Journal journalists who covered the story at the time， this book is extremely well written。 Every fact and narrative is double checked。 What surprises me how they managed to write such an engaging story without being sensational about it。 Part of the credit must go to the source material。 This truly one of the finest wall street tales I've read， and I've read plenty。 The story revolves around the battle for taking RJR Nabisco private through a leveraged buy-out （LBO）， which at that time， was the largest LBO ever at 25 billion。 Adjusted for inflation， it is still the biggest deal of all time。 Now remember， this was the late 80s and LBOs were the hottest thing at that time。 Every big dick swingler on wall street wanted to show who had the biggest balls， and it would determine the pecking order on the street。 With a deal so big， everybody wanted a piece of it， leading to intense bidding。 The path to the final bid was gruelling， starting at $75 a share， and ending at $109 a share， a handsome premium for the shareholders。 There were some curveballs that can only happen in fiction and the story is absolutely thrilling to read; a real page turner。 What was also interesting for me to read about is the origins of KKR。 I found Kravis endlessly fascinating， a role model to aspire to。 Wall street just never the same after Milken and his junk bonds， and LBOs were a natural extension of this readily available cheap debt。 1980-2008 were the heydays of finance， and ever since then， it has been all tech。 。。。more

Drew Boswell ，

Though it's been more than two decades since the events which inspired this book， it remains a fascinating and thoroughly researched look behind the scenes at the madness inspired by the leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco。 As exciting as a good mystery novel， this is an absolutely true story of money， lifestyle， finance and the high stakes greed that was Wall Street in the 1980s。 Still a must read。 Though it's been more than two decades since the events which inspired this book， it remains a fascinating and thoroughly researched look behind the scenes at the madness inspired by the leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco。 As exciting as a good mystery novel， this is an absolutely true story of money， lifestyle， finance and the high stakes greed that was Wall Street in the 1980s。 Still a must read。 。。。more

Yifeng Yuan ，

The book starts slow， with all the background information and characters。 When it gets to the part leading to the final showdown， I simply cannot take my eyes off the pages。 Great journalistic work from WSJ！One added fascination on my part is the fact that this true story has happened before I was born。 Definitely interesting to get a glimpse of the perspectives of people on Wall Street at a different time。

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0