The stories of how leading figures, both entrepreneurs and CEOs, took multi-million
or multi-billion dollar businesses and ruined them. Always entertaining, but with
some powerful lessons for getting it right.
There are some amazing stories in this collection, including the big names like Ken
Lay, Dick Fuld and Jon Asgeir Johannesson, but also rather lesser known entrepreneurs
and chief execs like Rueben Singh and Kevin Leach. Each of these key figures has
nominally been worth a lot of money, and has then lost themselves and/or their company
a fortune.
We were slightly surprised by the omission of Gerald Ratner, especially as none of
the stories are similar - but this is still an impressive collection.
Of itself, the collection of stories is interesting, and encouraging for those who
like to see others fall from a high place. But it also has significant value in business
lessons. Primarily these seem to be about keeping your eye on the ball, understanding
your business and market, and keeping the business clean, not tying it up in complex
instruments. What is less stressed (though briefly mentioned) is the sheer luck involved
in entrepreneurial success. This is too important a factor to be ignored.
