The Fall of First Executive: The House That Fred Carr Built

An insider's account of the largest bankruptcy in the history of the U.S. insurance industry reveals how Fred Carr's insurance empire collapsed, leaving over a million policyholders stranded

Making the most of an opportunity to offer high-yielding products backed by junk bonds, Fred Carr built a bankrupt life insurance firm called First Executive into a company that had $19 billion in assets before it collapsed in 1991. Schulte, a senior vice president with Executive Life, describes Carr as an eccentric personality with preference for outrageous promotional events. Although this is more specialized and less entertaining than most business histories, it's another story of 1980s financial excess. For larger business collections.
- Joseph Barth, U.S. Military Acad. Lib., West Point, N.Y.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.