Masters of the Universe

Meet the men and minds that have ignited the greatest decade of deal making in the history of business

In the 1980s Tom Wolfe coined the term "masters of the universe" for hard-charging Wall Streeters. In the '90s, that term is applied broadly to the takeover pros behind a decade of stunning mergers and acquisitions. The decade produced more than $8 trillion in M&A, far more than the $2.4 trillion in the "decade of greed." Daniel J. Kadlec, Time magazine's Wall Street columnist, quizzed nine top guns about the strategies they used to pull off the greatest deals in history. The result is a penetrating portrait of how business is done at its highest level, with insights and lessons for everyone. Masters Of the Universe will open your eyes to the brave new world of deal making.

The Deal Makers

• Hugh McColl with his gripping tale of buying BankAmerica
• Sandy Weill on how he pulled off the Citicorp-Travelers merger
• Stephen Bollenbach on the rocky road to breaking up Marriott Corp.
• Carl Icahn with the inside story of his showdown with Texaco
• Gary Wilson on buying Northwest Airlines
• Ted Forstmann on surviving and then thriving with Gulfstream Joe Rice on his signature deal carving Lexmark out of IBM Henry Silverman on his groundbreaking purchase of Avis