When the Wolves Bite, Scott Wapner
When the Wolves Bite, Scott Wapner
List: $24.99 | Sale: $17.50
Club: $12.49

When the Wolves Bite
Two Billionaires, One Company, and an Epic Wall Street Battle

Author: Scott Wapner

Narrator: Scott Wapner

Unabridged: 8 hr 1 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: PublicAffairs

Published: 04/24/2018


Synopsis

The inside story of the clash of two of Wall Street's biggest, richest, toughest, most aggressive players -- Carl Icahn and Bill Ackman -- and Herbalife, the company caught in the middle

With their billions of dollars and their business savvy, activist investors Carl Icahn and Bill Ackman have the ability to move markets with the flick of a wrist. But what happens when they run into the one thing in business they can't control: each other?

This fast-paced book tells the story of the clash of these two titans over Herbalife, a nutritional supplement company whose business model Ackman questioned. Icahn decided to vouch for them, and the dispute became a years-long feud, complete with secret backroom deals, public accusations, billions of dollars in stock trades, and one dramatic insult war on live television. Wapner, who hosted that memorable TV show, has gained unprecedented access to all the players and unravels this remarkable war of egos, showing the extreme measures the participants were willing to take.

When the Wolves Bite is both a rollicking, entertaining read--a great business story of money and power and pride.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Sanford on May 27, 2018

Highly entertaining hedge fund porn featuring larger than life characters with their outsized egos. A fly in the wall scoop on the real life "Wall Street" drama. Bill Ackman & Carl Icahn clash on CNBC in 2013 [URL not allowed] New Yorker article [URL not allowed] The Big......more

Goodreads review by Eric_W on January 06, 2020

I first became interested in the epic battle over the future of Herbalife by watching a documentary. Bill Ackman had bet enormous sums of money that Herbalife was nothing but a huge pyramid scheme (the more pleasant term with less baggage is "multi-layered marketing" - one is illegal, the other lega......more

Goodreads review by Andrew on March 08, 2024

Fascinating book. Written from unique vantage point due to the fact the author hosts a show on CNBC and had a personal relationship with the two foes in the story. Easy read. Makes you realize that certain individuals have the power to move markets by themselves......more

Goodreads review by Athan on June 26, 2018

This is like “Barbarians at the Gate,” except nobody wins. Nobody wins because everything sensible that can be done by corporate raiders has already been done. So the sharks take on one another. A TV anchor who depends on their ilk to come to his daily show is probably not the guy to present the story......more

Goodreads review by Stacy on December 13, 2018

2 rich cats putting opposing bids on Herbalife stocks and battling to control the story to manipulate the stock in their favor. Interesting to read about the moves they make (both major and subtle) and to gain the edge. It’s an industry that is foreign to me and it’s interesting to see how they play......more


Quotes

"Told in a breathless, urgent style, this is a trenchant business drama that brings life to its characters and will mostly appeal to business buffs."—Publishers Weekly

"When the Wolves Bite is the thrilling story of an epic battle between two business titans. Nobody can tell it like Scott Wapner does, because nobody knows activist investors better than he does. If you want to know what makes billionaires go to war, you must read this book!"—Jim Cramer, host of MadMoney

"When the Wolves Bite completely changed the way I think about activist investors. A fantastic read from a man who keeps these titans of business honest on his show every day."—Kevin O'Leary, SharkTank investor and chairman of O'Shares ETFs

"It's never about money. It's always about ego. This book is a telling examination of the psychology of billionaires trying to one-up each other."—Andrew Ross Sorkin, NewYork Times bestselling author of Too Big to Fail

"When the Wolves Bite reads like an action film with multiple combatants, but the story is told from a neutral corner, capturing all the nuance, drama, and importance of a giant battle. Scott Wapner provides great insights for all into a very complex world."—MichaelOvitz, cofounder of CAA