THE RISE AND FALL OF THE CONGLOMERATE KINGS

by Robert Sobel ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 18, 1984

No-frills, no-news profiles of the spectacular 1960s conglomerators: Textron's Royal Little, Litton's Tex Thornton, LTV's James Ling, Gulf & Western's Charles Bludhorn, ITT's Harold Geneen--plus a reprise of the Penn-Central debacle and a follow-up on the latest merger-mania. By comparison with Sobel's big IBM book, this is a finger-exercise; alongside John Brooks or Reich and Bluestone, it has no verve or analytical heft. The closest Sobel comes to a point of view is the idea that takeovers will continue to be with us. (Congomeration itself, he's content to say, has its attackers and its defenders.) On Little, Thornton, et al., characterization is labelling (Little ""the master junkman,"" Thornton the illusionist, etc.), and the biographical material is slight. But the strategies and specific deals whereby each created an empire are ably explained. And though Sobel refuses to say a word against conglomerates, he does recognize their shortcomings. ""In the end, Litton was unable to transfer to other businesses its skills in electronics. Thornton's oft-repeated claims that a good manager could operate in almost any industry proved overstated, if not a clear case of self-deception."" ""More than any other conglomerator, Ling considered his holdings mere 'properties,' to be disposed of when the price was right."" As for Bludhorn, ""he was more concerned with wheeling and dealing and capital gains from failed takeovers than in actually acquiring new properties"" Geneen, of course, was the managerial genius of the bunch--with an ""uncanny knack"" (like his buddy RN) ""of shooting himself in the foot."" The account of Penn-Central's shabby break-up condenses Stephen Salisbury's dauntingly detailed No Way to Run a Railroad. Sobel is sharp on the Nixon administration's ""antitrust crusade"" against conglomerates--on behalf of ""the old business elite."" Of late, he takes a devilish pleasure in laying out the Du Pont-Conoco-Mobil-Seagram-Dome rigamarole and the Bendix-Martin Marietta mess. (Bill and Mary's soppy posturing brings a longing for the ""cheeky brashness of Charles Bludhorn."") OK, then, for folks who want a sense of the ongoing action.

Pub Date: June 18, 1984

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Stein & Day

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1984

Categories: NONFICTION