Dealings: A Political and Financial Life

One of the most important business and public leaders of the second half of the twentieth century gives us a frank and compelling memoir that tells the story behind the headlines of many of the celebrated and controversial mergers that reshaped American business.

Hailed as “the preeminent investment banker of his generation,” Felix Rohatyn’s very personal account offers readers a telling look at some of our era’s most renowned figures in the worlds of finance, entertainment, and politics. We are alongside as he meets Steve Ross in the back of the funeral parlor Ross is managing as they strategize to take control of Warner Brothers; in the art-filled apartment of legendary financier Andre Meyer as they negotiate with Frank Sinatra; with Harold Geneen as ITT weathers a series of congressional investigations; one step ahead of a canny Michael Ovitz as Matsushita attempts to win control of Lew Wasserman’s Universal Pictures; defending the shareholders’ interests as the RJR-Nabisco buyout becomes a cautionary tale of executive greed. And we have a front-row seat as Rohatyn and Governor Hugh Carey forge a desperation plan to save New York City from bankruptcy. We also accompany Rohatyn as he serves as ambassador to France, a country he barely escaped alive when as a young boy he and his Jewish family fled from the Nazis.

Full of headline-making revelations, insider stories, keen personal observations, and relevant financial wisdoms, Dealings is the page-turning story of a life well-lived.