About the Book
In Testosterone Inc.: Tales of CEOs Gone Wild, bestselling author and New York Post columnist Chris Byron chronicles the Gatsby-like saga of the rise and fall of the celebrity CEO. During the height of the 1990s bull market, they were America's new heroes: the heroes of business. They were our bold new leaders, cutting the fat, pushing for productivity, implementing visionary plans, and making strategic deals. When the bull market turned to bust and the applause turned to cat-calls, the world was shocked at the truth. Drenched in money and public acclaim, our CEO-heroes mostly white, mostly male, mostly middle-aged turned out to be not much different than a group of twenty-something rock stars drunk on power and driven by sex, greed, and glamour. Testosterone Inc. goes behind the boardroom doors to show the serial affairs and marriages of these acquisitive corporate titans. At the center of this story is Jack Welch, the biggest of America's rock star CEOs and the former head of General Electric Co., surrounded by "mini-me" CEOs Ron Perelman of Revlon, Al Dunlap of Sunbeam, and Dennis Kozlowski of Tyco all gone wild in public displays of consumption and predatory appetites writ large.
Byron gets inside the bars where Welch liked to hang out and pick up women with his early "business soul mate" buddies. Byron hovers unseen at the elbow of Ron Perelman and his mistress aboard the Concorde for a week in Paris in his mistaken belief that his wife knows nothing about his secret affair. Byron peeks behind the curtains of a U.S. Army officers' quarters to behold Al Dunlap horrifying his first wife, who claimed in her divorce action that Dunlap would point his knife at her and say, "I often wondered what human flesh tasted like." Byron becomes a fly on the wall to chronicle the longing for respect and serial womanizing of Dennis Kozlowski. Frequently hilarious, sometimes heartbreaking, Testosterone Inc. follows the intertwined lives of these four corporate heroes, from childhood to their ultimate moments of glory and the crash-and-burn calamities that followed, as man's age-old hunger for power, greed, and temptation undid them all.
From suicide to murder, from dysfunctional childhoods to dysfunctional marriages in adulthood, from business chutzpah to financial suicide, here is the ultimate untold business story of our time: what went on at century's end, when testosterone got the best of businessmen everywhere, and CEOs went wild.
Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements.Prologue.1. "Is That a Gun in Your Pocket, or Are you just happy to see me?"2. "I Want to Play in the Band!"3. A Course for New Providence, or the Drowning Pools of Narcissism?4. GE Loves Me!5. Al and Dennis in the Passing Lane.6. Foolish Faith and the Case of Suzie Cream Cheese.7. Question from the Chairman: How Much Do I Weigh?8. Stretch Role Time for Gary and the Preacher's Daughter.9. Fitzy Comes Out of the Closet.10. Champagne Kisses and Caviar Dreams.11. Jack Meets Celebrity's Dark Side.12. The Shiksa Goddess of Wall Street.13. Jane Beasley and the Spoor of an Older Man.14. Marvin Hamlisch Meets the World of Six Sigma.15. CEO in Banjo-Land.16. Big Al Goes AWOL.17. Ron's Next Democrat.18. Hugs & Kisses and Bouts of Nostalgia.19. Big Al and Ron Exit Fighting.20. Life is a Cabarat.21. Let's Party Like It's 1999.22. That Pesky Neck Waddle.23. Suzy Hotstuff and the Case of Juan Dangeroso.24. Sonata for Soul Mates.Notes.Index.
About the Author :
CHRISTOPHER BYRON has been writing about business and finance for over thirty years. He is author of the international and New York Times bestseller, Martha Inc., writes a weekly business column for the New York Post, and is the host of a syndicated daily radio show, Wall Street Wakeup with Chris Byron. He is an analyst on Good Morning America, and appears frequently on CNBC, FOX News Network, MSNBC, and CBS Evening News, among other venues. His articles have appeared in Esquire, Playboy, New York, Worth, Men's Health, and Travel Holiday magazines. Byron graduated from Yale College and the Columbia University School of Law. He is a veteran of the U.S. Navy and lives in Connecticut with his family.
Review :
"...unputdownable...as gripping as any thriller...gasp in disbelief..." (Reading Chronicle, September 2004) "...the raciest business book you'll read all year..." (Business Eye, August 2004) "For a pacy, racy, throwaway beach read, Testosterone Inc. scores highly." (CFO Europe, July 2004) "...while there is a remarkable amount of business history, there is enough talk of divorces...to justify taking this to the beach." (The New York Times, July 11, 2004) "...entertaining and eye-opening..." (Barron's, June 7, 2004) "...unearths tantalizing stories of bad behavior ." (USA TODAY, June 1, 2004) "'Testosterone' reads like a juicy novel but, as its elaborate footnotes remind readers, the stories are true." (Newsweek, May 17, 2004) "Irresistible, wonderfully well written, superbly documented...This book is a fabulous read." (Toronto Globe & Mail, May 17, 2004) "Combine[s] an understanding of balance sheets with an ear for gossip and an eye for human failings." (Daily Telegraph, 8 May 2004) "New York journalist Christopher Byron lays bare the sexual antics of America's most celebrated business heroes." (Daily Telegraph, 5 May 2004)
