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Surviving Wall Street. A Tale of Triumph, Tragedy, and Timing. Edition No. 1

  • Book

  • 528 Pages
  • April 2025
  • John Wiley and Sons Ltd
  • ID: 6050378

M&A dealmaker's real-life adventure tale tells the story of a turbulent period on Wall Street

Surviving Wall Street: A Tale of Triumph, Tragedy and Timing portrays the dramatic transformation of the investment banking business in recent decades through the tumultuous saga of one firm (Greenhill & Co., a specialist in mergers and acquisitions) and one man (Scott Bok, the longtime CEO of that firm). Written in the style of an adventure tale, this book is also a "coming of age" story for a naive young man who came to Wall Street - as thousands like him do each year - and managed to grab a front-row seat for a period of epic change.

Readers will gain an insider's perspective on:

  • A M&A firm's journey from start-up to wildly successful first-of-a-kind IPO and later to a sale to a major global bank
  • Numerous crises that rocked Greenhill and all of Wall Street, including the dot-com crash, global financial crisis and pandemic
  • How the creation of new firms and mergers or collapses of old ones have driven the evolution and growth of the industry
  • The author's role in a battle for control of the University of Pennsylvania that featured activist shareholder and corporate takeover tactics

A firsthand account of deals and dealmakers told from inside the boardroom, Surviving Wall Street will captivate those wanting to understand the dramatic evolution and expansion of Wall Street, as well as younger readers hoping to chart their own path to success in this Darwinian industry.

Table of Contents

PREFACE XI

CHAPTER 1

BEFORE THE BEGINNING 1

CHAPTER 2

I WANT TO BE A PART OF IT 15

CHAPTER 3

UP, UP AND AWAY 27

CHAPTER 4

MOVING FAST 37

CHAPTER 5

A BUBBLE BURSTS 59

CHAPTER 6

REFUSING TO SELL OUT 93

CHAPTER 7

A NOT SO CRAZY IDEA 117

CHAPTER 8

BRAINS AND BULL MARKETS 139

CHAPTER 9

VISITORS FROM JURASSIC PARK 157

CHAPTER 10

ANOTHER YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING 171

CHAPTER 11

SHIFTING TIDES AND TIDAL WAVES 191

CHAPTER 12

GREEDY PEOPLE WATCHING 223

CHAPTER 13

NOT TOO BIG TO FAIL 241

CHAPTER 14

ZAMBONIS AND ICE 265

CHAPTER 15

CLOUDS OF DUST 281

CHAPTER 16

STARTING OVER 301

CHAPTER 17

SUCCESSION 325

CHAPTER 18

“WE’RE GONNA DIE” 343

CHAPTER 19

NOT DEAD YET 367

CHAPTER 20

IT’S (NOT ALWAYS) A WONDERFUL LIFE 381

CHAPTER 21

THERE IS A SEASON 401

CHAPTER 22

A GATHERING STORM 419

CHAPTER 23

TWO WORLDS COLLIDE 433

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 463

NOTES 467

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 483

INDEX 485

Authors

Scott L. Bok