The Predators' Ball: The Inside Story of Drexel Burnham and the Rise of the Junk Bond Raiders Reviews

• A Classic Look at the Inside of Milken's World

  
  By AUVX4758GOLUX on 2000-12-06
  This book, "Barbarians at the Gate" by Burrough and Helvar, and "Den of Thieves" by Stewart fully depict the defining events of Wall Street in the 1980's. Of this triumvirate, Ms. Connie Bruck's book is the only one that is more read than reported (both "Barbarians" and "Thieves" were written by WSJ reporters), and it really delves into the personal lives and backgrounds of the major players at Drexel. In reading this text you are provided with a full description and understanding of Milken and the driving forces behind the firm, above all, you understand the trap he worked himself into through his own success and how he wound up victimized by the financial system that he worked within.

  My version of the text is labeled on the front cover as, "The Book Wall Street Couldn't Stop," in reference to attempts to prevent its publishing. I believe that those persons that wanted to do so are now content with their failure, as the book does a good job of explaining the brilliance of Milken, the market that he created and nurtured, and the catch-22 that led to his criminilization. As someone who works in banking, it is awe-inspiring to read the descriptions of Milken's deal-making capabilities and strategies, and at the same point disappointing to see how he slipped from operating in shades of grey to areas of wanting morals. The author does a very good job of illustrating the power Milken had within Drexel, how his office on the West Coast went from being a backwater to accounting for the bulk of the firms revenue, and how Milken's subsequent removal left Drexel crippled past the point of healing. The inter-office dynamics that Ms. Bruck writes on are present everywhere, but it is difficult to imagine anywhere that they are seen in such extremes.

  I highly recommend this book.
  
  

• A groundbreaking book in its day. One that is still great

  
  By A1NPF2QK3BYTO8 on 2003-02-15
  This book was the first real insight into the world of junk bonds, Drexel Burham Lambert and what an important role they played in the business world. Written at a time when Drexel was at its peak, it was a groundbreaking, highly acclaimed book.

  Connie Bruck ranks along with Joe Nocera as one of the world's best business writers. This book is tremendously readable and gives a balanced but insightful look at Michael Milken.

  I came away from the book with the idea that Milken was a genius who earned his great fortune with 18 hour work days. and I still believe he had a tremendous and positive contribution to the world.

  the Some of my friends came away from the book with the idea that Milken was a horrible human being who was ruining the country. The beauty of the book is that it you can read it and draw your own conclusions rather than a writer's preconceived ideas.

  Buy it and read it again. It is worth always owning.

  Don McNay...
  
  

• Good, entertaining reading about finance issues in the 80's

  
  By A1A7VS5J7OR71D on 2002-03-01
  This book, Liars Poker, Den of Thieves and Barbarians at the Gate are the books that define Wall Street in the 1980's. This book was an outstanding coverage of the age of the junk bond raiders. Junk bonds were the favorite financial tool of corporate raiders everywhere. The junk bond was also used to finance many new businesses (Donald Trump,Atlantic City and MCI are the most memorable to me). This book also covers Michael the driving force behind Drexel Burnham and the King of the junk bond.

  The book is focused on the rise and fall of Drexel and the associated personalities of the firm. The author does a very good job of illustrating the power Milken had within Drexel, how his office on the West Coast went from being a backwater to accounting for the bulk of the firms revenue, and how Milken's subsequent removal left Drexel crippled past the point of healing. I felt that the book does a good job of explaining the brilliance of Milken and the high-yield bond market that he created and nurtured, and the catch-22 that led to his criminalization.

  At the end of the day I find these kind of books to be financial humor more than anything because 1) these guys worked their butts off (2) made tons of money and then (3) a lot of them lost their shirts, ran into difficulties or (3) ended up in jail. Yes, they are rich by the boat load but it isn't the way I want to make a living.
  
  

• Good and important reading but indiscerned writer

  
  By ALSYLP21VKON7 on 1999-05-24
  Predators ball by Connie Bruck is a recommended reading for the already discerned person, who has some knowledge of the real Milken story.

  Bruck makes it clear how much her contempt for Milken and "his" Drexel company is, and yet she does not fail to point out the great achievement he made viable : giving capital to companies that had been previously disclosed from any kind of lending ability.

  Her contempt for Milken and his working style is so deep, that she blames him of faults that have never been the cause of accusations against him, neither publicly nor through the DA or State attorneys. This is in particular sad, since up to a certain point she discovers the good sides of the Drexel revolution, but for example the fact that Drexel admiettedly rendered callgirls to its top customers at the socalled predators balls in LA makes in her mind every punishment acceptable and worth the effort.

  Although the afterword was written long after the indictment and abjudication of Milken, the author does not invoke the causes of Milkens sentence, which were merely political and not based on a real assumption of the commitment of a crime. It should have come to the mind of any author, that a sentence that starts with the words "You have been the cause of the greedy century" is not a acceptable reasoning in legal terms, rather a description of contempt spurred by the sudden revelation of an extraordi- narily high salary. So we have to blame the author not only there but also in other areas of poor journalism; a book, on a living person in particular, should be based on facts rather than gossip of clients trying to get their heads out of the scaffold and prosecutors trying to wrench out a candidature for president of the prosecution of a single man.

  Mrs Brook has undoubtedly written the first book on Milken, however it should be the first to get out of print unless she rewrites the important conclusion on the persons described.

  Dr. Rudolf C. King CEO, princeandprince.com Ltd Owner of HouseOfCommerce Indonesia HouseOfCommerce@ibm.net Munich Germany
  
  

• The Inside Story from Someone Obviously on the Outside

  
  By A2RF2Y90HOF3E7 on 2002-04-08
  This book is NOT the inside story of Drexel Burnham Lambert; it is NOT the inside story of how Milken conducted his professional business or his personal life and it is NOT the inside story on the dangers of junk bonds (or high yield bonds as they are known to professionals) bearing in mind that boiling water scalds the hands of those who can't manage to hold a cup properly. Remeber when you read this book that the notion that Milken was convicted of "insider trading" is fictitious when you consider that the term had not (at the time) even been defined. The most Rudi Giulliani could get on Milken was a charge of running up a stock price by an eighth in the last minutes of trading on a few random days - if that is a bona fide crime Wall Street would be a very quiet place indeed. Of course readers of this book will be none the wiser regarding these and many other facts concerning Michael and his revolutionary ideas regarding finance for companies whose products are household names in the US and throughout the world and who utilised Milken to bring their products to market and ultimately to consumers who benefit from them every day. If you want the facts about Michael, Rudi Giulliani & Ivan Boesky (who incidentally turned states' witness to save himself from being convicted of fraud charges in return for his testimony against Mr. Milken) read "Payback" by Daniel Fischel and "Fall From Grace" by Fenton Bailey.
  These two authors share with Connie Bruck an obvious interest in the fate of Michael and others involved in this saga but there unfortunately lies the end to the similarities. Her willingness to point a gun in the direction of an innocent victim and so eagerly pull the trigger suggests that only one of the three felt a little jilted about not being invited to the ball in the first place.
  
  
• Sketchy reviewers
  By A3SL3YZUE5YTUX on 2003-09-11
  How can I trust these reviews if two of the featured reviewers here use almost the exact same sentences in their supposedly "independent" reviews?

  Fredlybrand from Chapel Hill, NC and Dan Ross from Allen, Tx are apparently the same person.

  What gives?
  
  

• Boring and Misdirected
  By on 2000-06-16
  Spurious, sensationalistic, and, yet, uninteresting--Bruck somehow manages to exaggerate an inherently entralling story to the point of abstraction and, ultimately, of flavorless moralizing.
  
  
• The inside story on Drexel
  By A93ZSJWZ4375R on 2000-07-14
  Yes, Drexel was an ugly firm. Connie Bruck's detailed account of the firm's rise to and fall from glory does a tremendous job of explaining exactly how and why junk bonds were so lucrative and so dangerous. This book will make it difficult to maintain that the highly leveraged buyout is anything better than the nuclear weapon of corporate finance--perhaps useful as a theoretical threat, but ruinous when actually implemented. This book also makes it clear that, with the exception of Michael Milken, few of the protagonists were especially talented or clever individuals--they were just at the right place in the right time.
  
  
• Great accounting of the infamous "King of the Universe"
  By A2OYVE25HF4JIJ on 2002-10-25
  One of three must read books on the Michael Milken, Drexel Burnham Lambert 1970's & 80's era on Wall Street. Wonderful storytelling and accounting of the many deals financed with junk bonds by Milken & gang. The other two books, well written as well on Milken, are "Den of Thieves" by Pulitzer Prize winning WSJ writer James B. Stewart, written after Bruck's Ball, and "A License to Steal: The Untold Story of Micheal Milken and the Conspiracy to Bilk the Nation" by Benjamin J. Stein, written last of the three. Stay away from the fantasy work of Jesse Kornbluth's "Highly Confident -- The Crime and Punishment of Michael Milken". It's an authorized version of Milken's life, bought & paid for by Milken himself, who underwrote hatchet jobs on Bruck & Stein to discredit their stellar work.

  The Predators' Ball does a great job of getting inside the various deals Milken pulled off and how they happened, along with a good history of Michael Milken. Amazing stuff, considering the multi-billion dollar nature of those deals... financed with nothing but junk. The sad thing is, is that if Milken had been caught in this current era of NO public tolerance for Wall Street misdeeds in 2002, he would be serving a hell of a lot more time then the mere 24 months he actually ended up doing on his ten year sentence. 98 counts, he cut a deal to plead guilty to six of them. He walked out of jail after a brief time of reflection, with his Billion$ still stached away in his foriegn bank accounts at his disposal. Crime did pay and pay well for Michael Milken. Stein's License to Steal book estimated that Milken generated some $24 Billion in commissions & fees, from obscene margins & unearthly volume. King of the Universe indeed... and walked away with a mere $1 Billion slap on the wrist fine and a few nights in jail. These three books are better than fiction or novels. History, in Wall Street storybook fashion. The more things change, the more things stay the same.
  
  

• The Dark Side of Wall Street
  By A3PWJ60SACIB5D on 2000-07-07
  This book is not only for the general readers, but also is a great read for business students - especially who are working hard towards becoming future titans of Wall Street. There are the glamorous side of the billion-dollar deals, and also the dirty side of threats, inside circles and the "girls" at the Predators' Ball. You always know about the success stories at cocktail parties - losers never get invited.

  I have no way of telling whether the research has been done in a well represented way, since Milken himself was not interviewed - he didn't want the book to be published. However, I am still very impressed by Ms. Bruck's effort and her lesson : in the end, there are no heros, just self-interest and greenbacks flying around in the little corner of Manhattan drowned in sunset.
  
  

• Not Completely Told
  By A222LQEPE7O7BV on 2002-04-13
  Based on the other reviews here you can gather what the book covers so I will not repeat that detail. I thought the most valuable parts of the book covered the way Milken operated, both his personality and the business he created and directed. There are a lot of interesting details covering him, but I thought that was a flaw in the book, it did not cover more of the other main characters in the 80's Junk Bond and M&A activity - people like Bosky, KKR etc. The book also describes how the Milken office because so powerful it was given free reign, the very point that ruined this company - similar to the Houston office of AA? The book also has the underlining theme that this activity and people were the worst part of American business and personal greed, that is an unfair characterization and you should keep that in mind while reading the book, a lot of good came out of this decade, it was not all doomed to failure. If this is your first book covering this topic I would suggest you read "Den of Thieves" by Stewart first, it was better written and more interesting. This is a good second step.
  
  
• Creative destruction is the story of the universe
  By A2EQ74Y24BHHIF on 2001-08-26
  In the late 1980's Progressives in the media savagely blamed Mike Milken for the loss of thousands of jobs while alleging that his purported aim was to satiate his own greed. The truth is a little different. This book, in setting most of its focus on the nuances of the political battle and not enough on the reasons for the war, does what the major media does when it covers a political campaign. It focuses on the tactics and the strategy and the back room internecine political conflicts to the detriment of the real story. As mentioned, the real story is something quite different. ...
  
  
• The Junk Bond King When Much of Corporate America Was His Fiefdom.
  By A3UPYGJKZ0XTU4 on 2006-01-28
  "Predator's Ball" follows the rise of the junk bond market, from Michael Milken's ambitions in the 1970s through Drexel Burnham's dominance of the market under Milken's leadership in the 1980s, including Drexel's controversial financing of high-profile hostile takeovers, to the beginning of legal trouble for Drexel in 1986. Author Connie Bruck interviewed hundreds of people over a 2 ½-year period, including Drexel employees and Drexel clients, to learn what went on inside "the Department", Drexel's mythic Beverly Hills junk bond offices. Bruck becomes increasingly critical of Michael Milken's tactics as the book progresses, but it is worth noting that she did not set out to write an exposé. Bruck approached the project with sympathies "more toward Milken and his band of renegades than toward the corporate establishment they were attacking", but years of peering inside the Department changed her mind. Regardless of where your sympathies lie, there is a lot of admirable research and fascinating detail in "The Predator's Ball".
  
  The story of the junk bond market is the story of Michael Milken's single-minded rise to power. Milken WAS the market, as they say. Accordingly, most of "The Predator's Ball" is dedicated to Milken's ambition to fund a new generation of businesses with high-yield low-rated bonds ("junk bonds"), his creation of a department at Drexel that embodied his unique views of productivity and capitalism, and the ways and means to Drexel's utter domination of the junk bond market in the 1980s. Milken's larger than life presence is nearly absent, however, from the book's three longest chapters, which detail successful hostile raids financed by Drexel: Nelson Peltz and Peter May's buyout of National Can, Carl Icahn takes TWA, and Ron Perelman's acquisition of Revlon. These chapters are something of a digression in the Milken story, as he was not front and center in the drama, but they provide blow-by-blow accounts of exactly how these leveraged buyouts worked and insight into the realities of LBOs. Michael Milken created a market for junk bonds where there was almost none, sought 100% market share for Drexel, and used that market to change the face of corporate America. He did it by astutely and commendably flouting convention, but did he flout ethics and law as well? Judge for yourself.
  
  
• A dry examination of an intriguing story
  By ATFF5DCV6X7P0 on 2006-03-24
  Connie Bruck's tale of greed on (off) Wall Street in the 1980s, focusing solely on Drexel and its Milken-led rise and fall is thorough. Unfortunately, it is a little too meticulous. To understand the junk bond empire Milken created is to understand the meteoric rise and subsequent fall of both him and the company he led to prominance. But the pages upon pages of specific deal details are best understood by investment banking professionals, financiers, etc. I enjoy reading (and for the most part understand) the inner workings of wall street deals, but the level of detail Bruck provides was a little overwhelming.
  
  I read this in combination with Den of Thieves, which paints as detailed a picture of Wall Street's misappropriations in the 1980s across a variety of characters and institutions. For less exhausting read, I recommend reading Den of Theives.
  
  By the way, Milken was tried, convicted and jailed because he was a criminal. I figured since so many other apologists on Amazon threw in their two cents on Milken's guilt (or lack of) that I would too. He was a crook, plain and simple.
  
  
• Excellent Book!
  By AUGABW5AS2OXM on 2001-08-14
  This book was an outstanding coverage of the age of the junk bond raiders. Junk bonds were the favorite financial tool of corporate raiders everywhere. The junk bond was also used to finance many new businesses(Donald Trump,Atlantic City). This book also covers Michael the driving force behind Drexel Burnham and the King of the junk bond. He had risen to a position of prominence in the world of finance through the use of the junk bond. This is a good history of the many companies and people that were influenced by Michael Milken and the junk bond. The downfall of Michael Milken and the junk bond are also well covered in this book.Read this book. You will not be dissapointed.
  
  
• interesting
  By A3HDMWOJRX9S6 on 2001-10-18
  a good read, however it is somewhat melodramatic and doesn't explain the positive aspects of a healthy junk bond market
  
  
• Highly recomended
  By A3OLAOWB8CUP6I on 2005-02-25
  I am a lawyer myself, doing Masters degree right now. This book was recomended for M&A class. The reading is amazing. I read it in 4 days (taking into account that English is not my native language). I would not spend a lot of time argueing that this book is too narrative, sketchy etc. The boook is brilliant. If you are not looking for a casebook on M&A, LBO and securities but rather a kind of popular reading on the subject - you will love it.
  
  
• Brilliant
  By A9MXAG2G8AQNI on 2005-06-07
  This is the story of a genius. The story of an unflinching determination. Unfortunately, this is also the story of Hubris.
  For a man who single handedly created half a dozen billionaires, who brought back the owner managers to corporate america, who never expected anybody in his organization to ever work harder than himself, for a man banished for greed,...he had little use of money. Money was of no utility to Michael Milken except as a score. This is a brazen and brilliant narrative, and unlike any you'd come across in the investment world.
  
  You'll either hate him or love him. You won't be indifferent.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Good for what it sets out to do but really leaves a lot out
  By AQ3540NJNST0C on 2006-12-20
  This is a decent overview of the malfeasance that was perpetuated by Drexel Burnham and Michael Milken. It however pails in comparison to the account that James Stewart presents in Den of Thieves. If you want to focus on the big event during one year this is a decent way to do it but you are really missing out on a much better account.
  
  
• Mike Milken tarnished himself, what a shame!
  By on 1999-03-26
  This is a first class book, outrageous incidents and low tech finance, and should particularly be read by those willing to concede that Milken was in fact extremely insightful. It walks you through the basics of how the business really works and the sort of power struggles that took place at the time. It highlights the destruction (both good and bad) of the cosy boardroom, and shows that Milken only had himself to blame. Power breeds excess, and corrupts, but that level of power is rarely achieved in the first instance without substance, and Milken had this. Whilst I hope that no-one feels sympathy for those he destroyed in his wake, it is good to read an account of just why he gained that power base. He re-financed huge swathes of America and unleashed far wider repurcussions in corporate life globally, generally at the expenses of those with previous vested interests in maintaining the status quo. This is no mean feat, and this book shows how white-toe investment banking firms treated (and often still do treat) their potential clients, allowing Milken the breadth of disenfranchised corporations to tap with his advice. It is a shame that the remainder of his reign was one of manipulating unfortunte S&L's, private investors and joe public, and creaming money in every direction!! This book is one of the less biassed and therefore useful accounts of that era. Shows all the excesses that money can bring.
  
  
• Fascinating look at Milken, Junk Bonds & Drexel Burham
  By AZ4EEDTJL1GRD on 2005-02-10
  A year or two ago I heard someone refer to "the infamous Michael Milken," and I had no idea what they were talking about. This book gave me the answer. The Predators' Ball tells about the rise of Drexel Burham Lambert, a second-rate bank that was completely transformed by the arrival of Michael Milken and his plans with junk bonds. Milken broke ground in changing the way banks thought of junk bonds, those bonds that are so poorly rated that they are a substantially greater risk to investors. The flip side to this is that if you take a risk on a junk bond you also have the possibility of making significantly more money, as the rates are much higher.
  
  Previously, other banks such as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley wouldn't touch junk bonds, as they felt that junk bonds were "below" them. When they saw how much money Drexel Burham Lambert was making, they began to salivate for junk bonds too. Michael Milken pioneered this new change at Drexel Burham and became somewhat of a god-like figure. He made Drexel Burham king of the junk bond market. Milken decided he wanted to move to Southern California, and so he opened a Drexel Burham office there, bringing the best and the brightest in the company along with him. He and his partners would get to work at 4:30am and stay til the wee hours of the night. They were richly compensated for their efforts, and many became multi-millionaires in a very short period of time.
  
  This book gives you terrific insight into the world of Drexel Burham at its apex, when it was at the top of the business world. It tells you about Michael Milken, his intense personality and the loyal following he built. It also explains some of the inconsistencies, conflicts of interest and other problems that brought Drexel Burham to its knees and put Milken in jail.
  
  Even though this book was written many years ago, I learned a lot and enjoyed the story. I highly recommend it.
  
  
• well written and informative
  By A3PVM6J9Q885DB on 2000-04-26
  This is a good book for anybody interested in the late 80s shenanigans on the Street. The writer is a journalist, and has done great research. The book includes a ton of information, yet is written in a conversational style that makes it easy to read.
  
  
• A decent 80's period piece
  By A24Q4UDWMRIEQC on 2002-10-22
  Yeah, I read it. A decent story about 80's avarice and excess. But not nearly as good as James Stewart's "Den of Thieves" or "Barbarians at the Gate." I sold my copy at a yard sale - no great loss.
  
  
• Cardboard caricature
  By A2RM5Z9LO295E6 on 2003-06-10
  I recommend another book, like the one called "Payback", for a more sober view.
  
  
• Compelling Stuff that Leaves You Shaking Your Head
  By A2ENIQZX6VJYUM on 2005-12-24
  The book is great but it leaves you shaking your head in disbelief. One must conclude that there is no effective control by the SEC over companies on the NYSE and NADAQ.
  
  I found this to be just a riveting book to read. It reminded me of the movie Wall Street although from what I gather Michael Milken at Drexel Burnham was not as good looking as Michael Douglas and he wore a hair piece and drove an older Oldsmobile, not a Ferrari.
  
  Milken while reading the Wall Street Journal and similar material on the bus going to business school in Philadelphia came up with this idea of selling the junk bonds. Once he graduated and was employed he pushed that idea, similar to the way Fred Smith pushed Fed.Ex. - another college idea. It comes clear in the book, just shouting out at you, that he had lots of help. Banks helped him, brokers helped him, other companies helped him, he opened a new office for Drexel in LA and in general just took over that company - all because people knew and appreciated that he was going to make buckets of money. His whole scheme was in fact similar to a pyramid scheme with everyone getting fat fees that were supposed to be re-paid down stream by the successful company. The Predator's Ball did exist as real annual social get together where the bankers, brokers, and the borrowing companies got together for a night of partying. The victims - the shareholders - were not invited.
  
  Like every Ponzi scheme at some point reality had to set in and it failed. That is what this book is about. Sure we can learn but apparently we are immune or unable to learn from history because the market over inflated itself and the Nasdaq went to 5000+ a decade later, and we had World Com and Enron. It is also remarkable that after taking so much money he got off with a light jail sentence and a big fine ($500. million) that Millken could pay.
  
  
• One sided, but a good read
  By A2PL4P20YOILWJ on 2007-01-10
  I gave the book 4 stars simply for the topic, it reads reasonably well, and it appears that the author has done a good amount of research, covering much of Milken's and Drexel's rise and fall. The book, however, is one sided (against Milken). The last few chapters are blatantly so and become almost unbearable in there tone.
  
  Given the realization of how absolutely astonishing it is that one man influenced, almost singlehandedly, a financial era, I would recommend reading as much on the topic as possible. This would include the Predators Ball.
  
  
• Very good but a bit difficult to follow
  By on 1999-05-04
  I liked this book but I found it difficult to follow the order of events at some points, especially when the author jumped back and forth between dates. Overall, highly recommendable.
  
  
• A detailed picture of the biggest money making operation
  By on 1997-08-03
  A good book that gives a detailed explanation of the logics of the junk bond issues and corporate acquisition, giving e profile of the charachters personality, telling the whole history as wel
  
  
• extremely interesting
  By A24LQ63LBMDVWL on 2003-01-06
  an interesting story very well written. i could not put the book down.
  
  
• Engaging
  By A2KQ2CUPN6NTR6 on 2003-06-05
  If you like fixed income/wall-streetesque mover-shaker tales, this one is for you.
  
  

• Den of Thieves
• When Genius Failed: The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management
• Liar's Poker: Rising Through the Wreckage on Wall Street
• Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco
• Monkey Business: Swinging Through the Wall Street Jungle