Tearing Down the Walls: How Sandy Weill Fought His Way to the Top of the Financial World. . .and Then Nearly Lost It All (Wall Street Journal Book) - Hardcover

Langley, Monica

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 074321613X ISBN 13: 9780743216135

Publisher: Free Press, 2003

Synopsis

Traces the life and career of the financial mogul from his early days as a disadvantaged Brooklyn son of Jewish immigrants to his entrepreneurial triumphs with Solomon Smith Barney and Citigroup.

About this title

From the Inside Flap

"No single figure looms larger in Wall Street history over the last thirty years than Sandy Weill, and until now no single book has captured his boundless energy, street-savvy intellect and towering ambition. More than a riveting narrative of one man's relentless climb to the top of the financial world, Tearing Down the Walls is also a fascinating chronicle of how Wall Street changed in the 90s. Any business person interested in the current world of finance will want to devour the book now, and I suspect it will be mandatory reading on trading floors and in business school for years to come."
-- Bryan Burrough, co- author of Barbarians at the Gate

"At last, the defining business book of the decade is here. Sandy Weill emerges as not just the most compelling character on Wall Street today, but a King Lear-like figure of towering ego, voracious appetite and ruthless ambition who embodies the transformative power of American capitalism. The behind-the-scenes reporting is unparalleled, placing the reader in top-secret board meetings, lunches at the Four Seasons, and on board the corporate jets where real financial power is wielded. As fresh as today's scandal-filled headlines, Tearing Down the Walls is also a meticulously detailed history and a powerful narrative that grips the reader right up to the revelations of its final pages."
--James B. Stewart, author of Den of Thieves

"Monica Langley has written what will surely be a contender for the best business book of 2003. Tearing Down the Walls is like a Chinese menu in which the reader is offered everything from column A and B -- a vivid biography of Wall Street titan Sandy Weill, an illuminating history of Wall Street, an inside-the-executive-suite look at how decisions are made, an explanation of why corporate America is sometimes ethically obtuse, a book that is anchored in fact yet reads like a novel. And, unlike a Chinese meal, readers will feel full hours later."
--Ken Auletta, author of Greed and Glory on Wall Street

About the Author

Monica Langley has written for The Wall Street Journal for twelve years. Her investigative reports on a wide array of subjects have regularly appeared on the Journal's front page. Formerly a practicing attorney for eight years, she lives with her husband and daughter in New York City.

Edition details

• Publisher: Free Press
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 074321613X
• ISBN 13: 9780743216135
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 464