Tearing Down the Walls: How Sandy Weill Fought His Way to the Top of the Financial World. . .and Then Nearly Lost It All (Wall Street Journal Book)

The riveting inside story of how a rough-edged kid from Brooklyn became a billionaire, shaped the future of financial services around the world and built the world's largest financial empire. Sandford 'Sandy' Weill is the most important player in today's financial world. He has swallowed up one major company after another, from Smith Barney to Travelers to Salomon Brothers and, his ultimate triumph, control of Citigroup - the world's largest financial empire. Yet the Weill story is much more than a business chronicle. It's the enthralling account of a man who made it, lost it, then made it a again. A man who's determination and innovation helped him overcome youthful slights and mid-life failure and to take on the financial titans of our time. In TEARING DOWN THE WALLS, lawyer and journalist Monica Langley reveals the unorthodox management style and surprisingly simple principles that have contributed to Weill's success. By highlighting in new and startling detail one man's life, TEARING DOWN THE WALLS provides the historical context not only of the dramatic changes in business, but also American society in the last half century.