Bruce Wasserstein: What’s the Big Deal?
Bruce Wasserstein’s book, “Big Deal”, is a first-hand account of the goings-on within the world of mergers and acquisitions (M&A). It is based on the experiences of an American billionaire banker and businessman who, in his lifetime, has participated in deals and mega-mergers worth over $250 billion. The book chronicles prominent deals in the mold of Bruce Wasserstein’s agreements and buyouts involving KKR and RJR Nabisco, Time’s merger with Warner Bros, and Morgan Stanley’s acquisition of Dean Witter. Book reviews tell of a “journalistic, fun and basically uncritical” book that highlights the history, specific industries, and tactics that went on behind-the-scenes of some of the world’s most famous mergers. One of the stories included in the book is the struggle between QVC Chairman Barry Diller and Viacom’s Sumner Redstone over Paramount. To the financial jargon illiterate, important terminologies is explained along the way to help with comprehension of such words as white knights or squires, bear hugs, shark repellents, an IPO, the LIBOR, and LBO. This book is Bruce Wasserstein’s way of sharing what he knows and what he has experienced in corporate mergers, which he describes in the book with encyclopedic detail. A financial industry veteran, the 61-year old Wasserstein is currently CEO of global asset manager and financial firm Lazard, Ltd and is the head of private equity firm Wasserstein & Co as well.
