|
Last Man Standing: The Ascent of Jamie Dimon and JPMorgan Chase |  | Author: Duff McDonald
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Category: Book
List Price: $28.00
Buy New: $3.88
as of 7/29/2010 09:48 EDT details
You Save: $24.12 (86%)
New (45) Used (24) from $3.27
Seller: sherbiebooks
Rating:  25 reviews
Sales Rank: 91849
Media: Hardcover
Edition: First Edition
Pages: 352
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.6 x 6.4 x 1.1
ISBN: 1416599533
Dewey Decimal Number: 332.122092
EAN: 9781416599531
ASIN: 1416599533
Publication Date: October 6, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
| |
| Features:
| * | ISBN13: 9781416599531 | | * | Condition: New | | * | Notes: BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed |
|
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
| |
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
In the midst of this disastrous economic climate, one executive has weathered the storm more deftly than any other: Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, considered the dominant fi gure on Wall Street. Dimon's eleventh-hour acquisition, in 2008, of fl ailing archrival Bear Stearns stunned the world. Even more incredible: JPMorgan's continued success in the face of an industry-wide meltdown that has seen its CEO become a paragon of finance.In Last Man Standing, award-winning journalist Duff McDonald chronicles Dimon's tumultuous rise: from his joining the legendary Sandy Weill at American Express fresh out of Harvard Business School to their building of Citigroup (and Dimon's unceremonious ouster) to his rescue of Bank One and, at the unprecedented age of forty-eight, his ascension to the top post at JPMorgan Chase -- a bank he transformed from a broken institution to the sine qua non of global banking in five short years. Upon gaining unfettered access to Dimon, McDonald spent countless hours interviewing him and his full circle of family, friends, and colleagues to provide an unprecedented and deeply personal look at this extraordinary figure. Moving beyond Dimon's "fortress" balance sheets, McDonald reveals a dedicated family man whose uncanny facility with numbers and tireless work ethic are complemented by fierce loyalty and an unrelenting aversion to offi ce politics. Dimon, for the first time, shares detailed insights on the heart of his business and management philosophies, and industry titans such as Weill and Warren Buffett offer their analyses of his career. At a time when Dimon's competitors watch their companies crumble, JPMorgan not only continues to weather the worst period in the history of Wall Street but is growing by leaps and bounds. The defi nitive biography of Jamie Dimon, Last Man Standing is by far the most comprehensive portrait of the only man in finance today who can be called an American hero.
|
| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 25
 Jamie Dimon fan June 27, 2010
ancient_reader
Last Man Standing was a wonderful look into the life of Jamie Dimon. Although the book makes him out to be a charismatic, can't-do-anything-wrong CEO, the author is keen on showing his flaws as well. Of course, his recent success has overshadowed his weaknesses but nonetheless, Dimon appears to be a man on a mission. His managerial acumen is second to none and is something to admire and look up to. It's no wonder that his team of executives love working for him!
Great book to read if you're interested to learn how to manage not just a big company but it's also a good lesson on how to manage situations that don't go your way.
We Need More Jamie Dimons! June 1, 2010
Michael W. Cunningham
This book is a very interesting read about how Jamie Dimon rose to the position of leadership he now holds at JPMorganChase. If more CEO's in America possessed and exercised the integrity and leadership skills of Dimon, this country's economy would be in much better shape than it now is. As this book points out in spots, Dimon isn't perfect, but overall he is an excellent leader who attracts loyal talent wherever he has worked.
 Inspirational and Motivating Look at the CEO of JP Morgan May 25, 2010
Dennis Mangalindan (San Francisco, CA)
An absolutely engrossing and fascinating read. I'm amazed at how thorough and introspective Duff McDonald's portrayal of Jaime Dimon was in this book. I sometimes wonder how the author was granted and given access to so many influential and powerful businessmen. The stories that span Jaime's life, from his days at HBS to his ascension to the top of JP Morgan are compelling but at times almost too "perfect." I know that Jaime is brilliant, competitive, driven, passionate, has all the traits that a successful CEO/leader possesses, but sometimes the portrayal of Jaime is "too shiny" almost flawless. I don't think the author showed any real "dark side" of Jaime which would have led me to believe that Jaime is human. All in all, a terrific book, finished the book in less than 2 weeks and devoured each chapter.
A good book displaying a vivid Jamie in front of us April 2, 2010
Xiaofeng (New York, USA)
Even though I haven't finished this book - half of them, I can't wait telling you that I indeed like this book
This book is very good in terms of displaying a vivid Jamie, from a fresh graduates from HBS with lots of attractive offers, to a CEO assistant of Sandy Weill, to a two man company, to the most visionary, stronghead, promising financial leaders.
The most important thing I read from this book is that the author tells us a 360 degree Jamie, where I can see the suffer and joyness all his road to the top.
A Privilege - A Pleasure - An Honor - Magnificent!!! March 27, 2010
William Dahl (Redmond, OR)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I just finished Duff McDonald's "Last Man Standing - The Ascent of Jamie Dimon and JP Morgan Chase." This book should be required reading for every person in the financial services industry, anyone studying business in college, as well as entrepreneurs, M&A types, accountants, and investors. It's just a fantastic, incredible story - woven together by a master literary artist.
This is a tremendous biography. Yet, it's vastly more than that. It is a crucial contribution to the the burgeoning insights into the development of the financial services industry in the U.S. Moreover, it is a story about the development of character - human character - the character of a man (Jamie Dimon) whose life, intelligence, compassion and instincts continue to shape the landscape in America. In many ways, Dimon's life represents something that is lacking today in U.S. culture -- living role models for a younger generation to yearn to emulate.
The writing by Duff McDonald is balanced, provides the reader with a tremendous sense of Jamie Dimon as a human being, as well as financier/CEO. The writing has a pulse, provides a perspective into both the personal and corporate world - an existence that is often perplexing. The dimensions of struggle, insight, learning and persistence all resonate throughout this non-nonsense non-fiction account of one of America's true leaders.
The history of the development of the U.S. financial services industry is also quite detailed and anything but boring.
After Alexander Hamilton founded the Bank of New York - purportedly the first commercial bank in the U.S. in 1794- he had the industry to himself until 1799. About this time, his political rival Aaron Burr started the Bank of Manhattan. A banker named John Thompson started Chase National Bank in 1877. He named it after Salmon P. Chase who'd been President Lincoln's secretary of the treasury as well as Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
J.P. Morgan & Company emerged in what has been referred to as the "gilded age" of American finance. Founded in 1871 by J. Pierpont Morgan and a Philadelphia banker by the name of Anthony Drexel. (P. 203).
The essence of the book is captured in the following paragraph from author Duff McDonald:
"After years of being considered a glorified number-cruncher who only knew how to cut costs, he was finally acknowledged as a leader who knew how to make a company grow. What's more, he was recognized s both a creative thinker and a man with the ability to shape the culture not just of his company but also of his industry and even the country itself. It says something about Wall Street today that only a few people command both the respect of their peers and the genuine curiosity of the outside world." P. 322
Of course the years as Sandy Weill's protege are well documented and shared frankly, yet with uncanny dignity. However, there are some lessons you can identify in the book that should serve readers requirement for a perspective on the real Sandy Weill, as evidenced by the following:
"Weill had acquired the dreaded CEO disease, which made him unable to hear anything but what he wanted to hear." p.115.
Sandy Weill, on the other hand, is proof that you should never underestimate the man who overestimates himself." p.130
The Dimon family's dedication to giving back to community is well documented in the book:
"The Dimons give generously from their family foundation as well as from their personal accounts. Jamie also gives gifts above and beyond annual bonuses to the people with whom he works closely, including his driver. And just like Sandy Weill, he has tried to spread stock ownership through every company he's run, from top to bottom, driven by a desire to see his colleagues get rich along with him." P.114
Dimon's insights into deal making and mergers and acquisitions activity are numerous, useful and characterized in the following:
"On a call with analysts in May, he tried, once again, to make explicit his view of acquisition opportunities. "There are three things that have to make sense," he said. "And they are not in order of importance. One is the business logic. There should be clear business logic to it. The second is the price. Sometimes there is a price at which you cannot make it pay for shareholders. And the third is the ability to execute. You have to be able to see clearly getting done what you need to get done, whether it is management or systems or marketing or culture or something like that. If those things make sense, you can then weigh and balance them. Meaning, if you have exceptional business logic and an easy ability to execute, you could pay a higher price. And conversely, if those things are a little more complex, you want a margin of error by getting a lower it price." Pp.216-217
The tidbits that Warren Buffet shares about Dimon are priceless: Here's a couple to chew on:
"Warren Buffett thinks Dimon separated himself from the pack by relying on his own judgment and not becoming slave to the software that tried to simplify all of banking into a mathematical equation. "Too many people overemphasize the power of these statistical models," he says. "But not Jamie. The CEO of any of these firms has to be the chief risk officer."
"You have to have somebody that's got a real fear in them of what can happen in the markets. They have to know financial history. You can't evaluate risk in sigmas." - quote from Warren Buffett p.232
Duff McDonald refers to sayings of Dimon as DIMONOLOGY. These are precious sentences of wisdom, uncommon sense, and the voice of both character and experience. Allow me to share a few here I particularly enjoyed, to whet your whistle:
"a consistency to performance, rather than someone chasing the flavor of the month," p. 206
"One of the toughest jobs of the CEO is to look at all the stupid stuff other people are doing and to not do them," p.214
"Everyone was trying to grow in products we didn't want to grow in," he later told a reporter. "So we let them have it." P.214
"There is one financial commandment that cannot be violated: Do not borrow short to invest long-particularly against `illiquid, long-term assets." "You know what sinks companies?" he asked an audience in late 2008. "Financing illiquid assets short." P. 230
"Well, sometimes you can't grow. Sometimes you don't want to grow. In certain businesses, growth means you either take on bad clients, excess risk, or too much leverage." P.231
"I don't want to be big and stupid. I want to be really good at what we do." P.240
"The issue is not just whether someone has the intellectual capacity to manage it. Someone must also have the desire." P.325
"Individual units may have volatile results, but the combination is more stable. P.324
"It is no surprise that a lack of corporate intrigue tends to go hand in hand with long-term success." P. 303
"He actually trusts the people working for him, and trusts, too, that they can learn from their mistakes, as he has learned from his own." P.304
"When talking of the most important things in his life, he once said, "My family, humanity, my Country, and the world. And way down here is J.P. Morgan." P.309
"A lot of those mark-to-market losses will end up being real losses," he'said. "They are real losses that are simply being recognized in the market before they're being recognized in expected cash flows." P.310
"What we aim for is continuous improvement. It's not like we think we get to a perfect place." P. 320
Problems don't age well; denying or hiding them guarantees that they will get worse. Bureaucracy, silos, and politics are the bane of large corporations; they must be combated vigorously and continually." P.160
No company has ever had much of a future by cutting costs. Success is measured by top and bottom-line growth." P.169
Review our businesses and what we're doing well organically. That kind of growth will get you a higher value for your shareholders. By the way M&A is risky and tough, so the discipline is different. You really need to think about the landscape, to ask yourself what's changing." Pp.173-174
"I think it's important that you're open-minded to other people's ideas." P.176
"Many of the previous decade's mergers had been nothing more than "stacking doughnuts"- the holes in the business that had existed before were still there." P.181
On large outsourcing contracts - "We want patriots, not mercenaries," p. `93
"open architecture" -- in which the firm's brokers were allowed to offer any number of funds, not just those from JPMorgan Chase." P.194
`If you admit your mistakes, Dimon's theory went, you save yourself the hassle of having your critics point them out to you." P. 196
"Every single risk you're taking can be broken down to its smallest components and therefore be better understood. All it takes is time and effort." P.197
As Duff concludes this volume, he shares the following:
"Jamie Dimon has emerged as a moral and managerial compass for both his industry and the country itself." p. 328 ----
Frankly, after 328 pages of absolutely wonderful investigative journalism, the obvious discipline of a superb historical biographer, and being immersed in the rare literary talents of a master story-teller (I am referring here to author Duff McDonald) -- I unequivocally agree!!!
To Jamie, Judy, family, colleagues and to Duff McDonald - It was a pleasure and a privilege to have the honor of reading about your lives. My sincere thanks. Your story shall endure with me.
To the reader - Buy This Book - One of the Best I've devoured in 2010 and likely to make my Top 10 for 2010. ENJOY!
Showing reviews 1-5 of 25
|
|
|
CERTAIN CONTENT THAT APPEARS ON THIS SITE COMES FROM AMAZON SERVICES LLC. THIS CONTENT IS PROVIDED ‘AS IS’ AND IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE OR REMOVAL AT ANY TIME. Powered by Brains[0][1] | |
