The Empire Undone: The Wild Rise and Hard Fall of Chris Whittle

Trimble, Vance H.

ISBN 10: 1559723092 / ISBN 13: 9781559723091

Published by Carol Publishing Group, 1995

About this Item

xii, 371 p. Chris Whittle Chronology. Notes and Acknowledgements. Index. A Birch Lane Press book. A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist presents a riveting biography of Chris Whittle, one of America's most controversial entrepreneurs, who came out of nowhere and started with nothing, managed to amass a fortune by the age of 40--only to lose it all when his mega-hyped media empire collapsed. Chris Whittle came out of nowhere and started with nothing; he was basically just an ambitious student from the University of Tennessee. A superb salesman, he became America's most talked about entrepreneur in media and education reform, a man with visions of the future. In 1987, before he turned forty, Chris Whittle was wealthy enough-Time Inc. bought half of his company for $185 million-to enjoy a lavish Gatsby-style life. And then his multimillion-dollar empire collapsed. Chris Whittle could sell, but he couldn't manage. He undercut his CEOs. His ego made him think he could do it all. In the end his mismanagement drove his overexpanded company to the brink of bankruptcy. Known for pulling many rabbits out of hats, Chris tried desperately in 1994 to rescue his media empire. He failed. His partners, Time Warner, Associated Newspapers of London, and the Philips Electronics conglomerate of the Netherlands, dethroned him and had a fire sale of all his entrepreneurial inventions-save one, the Edison Project, in which he still held the biggest stake. Now Chris Whittle is launching the first of the Edison schools, with Benno Schmidt managing them, and hopes to win a sizeable share of what he sees as a new $75 billion privately managed public-school industry. Very good in good dust jacket. DJ has some creases.

Seller Inventory # 58656

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Empire Undone: The Wild Rise and Hard Fall of Chris Whittle
• Publisher: Carol Publishing Group
• Publication Date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1559723092
• ISBN 13: 9781559723091
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: First edition. First printing [stated].

About this title

Synopsis

A revealing look at the life of entrepreneur Chris Whittle explores Whittle's early successes in advertising and as the creator of Channel One TV, shows how his empire collapsed as his educational ideas failed, and discusses his Edison Schools Project.

Reviews

Enjoying the cooperation of Whittle and his friends, family and associates, Trimble's work is more official history than critical biography. By accentuating the positive and minimizing the negative, Trimble (Sam Walton) diminishes what is otherwise a good story. While at the University of Tennessee, Whittle and three mates published a freshman guide that, after several difficult years, evolved into the 13-30 Corp. and profitable enough to acquire Esquire magazine. A falling out with his partner, Phillip Moffitt, resulted in his colleague's taking control of the magazine and leaving Whittle with the remainder of the business, which he renamed Whittle Communications. In 1989, Whittle started the controversial TV program for students, Channel One. This shift to a video-oriented company, coupled with Whittle's inability to control either his own or his company's expenses, sowed the seeds for financial disaster. By January 1995 Whittle was shorn of everything but his stake in the Edison Project, designed to own and operate for-profit schools. A scaled-back version began recently in Texas. Whittle's decline was in many ways more fascinating than his ascent, and deeper analysis of his demise would have made Trimble's biography better rounded. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.