Book: King of Capital. Any Good?

Has anyone read King of Capital: The Remarkable Rise, Fall, and Rise Again of Steve Schwarzman and Blackstone?

Amazon only has 13 reviews, but all the reviews say the book is pretty good.

Was wondering if any of you read the book and would recommend it? Anyone working in PE who has read the book?

Thanks guys,

MF

 

Not working in PE, but I read it and would recommend it. Serves as a great history of BX, and also of PE in general and how it developed. Touches on a lot of the major players who work at, worked at, or compete with Blackstone. Pretty good storytelling, and not too densely technical.

 
englandco:
Agreed with the above poster. I'm not done with the full book yet (a little over halfway through) but it kinda reminds me a little of Too Big to Fail. Pretty good read, not too dense or technical, but a good qualitative overview of the PE industry in its early days til around now.

off topic, but what are some good books on hedge funds?

 
TraderDaily:
englandco:
Agreed with the above poster. I'm not done with the full book yet (a little over halfway through) but it kinda reminds me a little of Too Big to Fail. Pretty good read, not too dense or technical, but a good qualitative overview of the PE industry in its early days til around now.

off topic, but what are some good books on hedge funds?

More money than god. Inside the House of Money.

 
Best Response

I'm reading it now, so can't give a full review... This is my impression from the first few chapters...

Pros: - Some interesting deal stories and background on how Blackstone was set up and how it grew/evolved. - Clearly written / readable.

Cons: - Reads like an advertisement for Blackstone at times as well as a PR article from a PE lobby group... this gets very annoying.

Its an ok / readable book so far. I'm going to reserve final judgement until I finish it, but it doesn't seem like its going to be one of the classics (Barbarians at the gates, When Genius Failed, etc...)... I'll post an updated to this thread when I'm done reading it.

 

Ok.. as an update to my comments on the the book,

Pros: - There is a lot of background on how the various teams at blackstone where set up. Some good bits on the origins of Blackstone's RE group and background to deals like Equity office and Hilton. Also, good commentary on management changes and institutionalisation of the firm.

Cons: - Way too much PR, PE industry lobbying and propaganda. Especially with regards to PE's affect on the companies it acquires. The book tries too hard to defend PE's effects on companies and labour. It draws away from a lot of the good points of the book and makes one wonder about how critical the author has been about other parts of the book that aren't politically sensitive. I feel that that author should have either tackled the subject more critically or left it out. - Some of the chronology is unclear when the author discusses when deals have happened. This is not a major point though.

Verdict: All in all i stand by my original review and think that while this book isn't at the same level of the classic books that deals with the industry, it is worth reading for someone who is in the business. I think that one should be cognisant of the political and ideological slant of the author.

tl;dr Not as good as "Barbarians" or books by Lewis or Lowenstein, but readable as long as you can sift through the propaganda, PR and deal lists.

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