Harold Geneen

Strategic Concepts & Mechanics

Strategic PatternProcess of Bites, Not Grand Plans

Decision FrameworkCash Flow Over Earnings as Debt Survival Test

Relationship LeverageHighly Confident as Substitute for Actual Capital

Capital StrategyInterest Deductibility as Leveraged Assault Fuel

Competitive AdvantageNOL as Bidding War Nuclear Option

Signature MoveSpeed-of-Sale as Debt Survival Doctrine

Signature MoveLawyer as Deal Principal, Not Hired Gun

Signature MoveParis Apartment Discipline

Signature MoveAll Debt Disguised as Equity

Cornerstone MoveBuy the Whole, Sell Everything But the Crown Jewel

Cornerstone MoveBlind Pool Before the Target Exists

Cornerstone MoveBribe the Gatekeeper, Storm the Castle

Cornerstone MoveBankruptcy's Tax Corpse as Acquisition Weapon

Competitive AdvantageTax Arbitrage as Structural Weapon

Operating PrincipleProfessional Manager Decay Across Generations

Risk DoctrineNever Cut Back a Committed Deal

Signature MoveMilken: Four-Thirty AM Cathedral-Builder With No Office

Capital StrategyVenture Capital Masquerading as Debt

Signature MovePeltz: Spittle-on-the-Check Persistence from Near-Broke

Signature MovePerelman: Borrowed $1.9M to a Boeing 727 in Seven Years

Cornerstone MoveManufactured Credibility from Thin Air

Decision FrameworkContra-Thinking as Default Mental Operating System

Identity & CultureForced Savings as Loyalty Handcuffs

Cornerstone MoveCash Flow Over Earnings as the Only Truth

Cornerstone MoveBuy the Core, Sell the Pieces, Erase the Debt

Signature MoveKingsley: Mount Everest Desk, Twenty-Year Sounding Board

Signature MoveIcahn: Wrestling-a-Ghost Negotiation Until the Last Penny

Cornerstone MoveOwner's Equity as the Non-Negotiable Discipline

Strategic PatternProfitable Service Over Growth for Growth

Operating PrincipleIncorporating Problem Causers Into Solutions

Capital StrategyMoral Obligation Bond Innovation

Strategic PatternBear Hug Takeover Strategy

Signature MoveRelationship Banking Over Transaction Focus

Signature MoveGovernment Partnership During Business Crisis

Signature MoveTheater in High-Stakes Negotiations

Decision FrameworkSquare Pegs Into Round Holes

Signature MoveCrisis Action Before Complete Data

Primary Evidence

"Pantry Pride, meanwhile, cognizant of the deal that was in the works, was desperately trying to entice Bergerac. Don Engel enlisted Harold Geneen, Bergerac’s old boss at ITT, to pay Bergerac a visit. Geneen, on behalf of Pantry Pride, offered to give Bergerac his parachute, as Perelman had offered before; to give him a second one, which he would be able to cash in in two years; and then to sell him a division, one of the health divisions of his choice, at a favorable price, and finance it for him. “He didn’t spell out favorable price, but these things are understood,” said Bergerac. “So the package they were offering came to close to a hundred million dollars.”"

Source:The Predators' Ball

Source:Predator's Ball

"When the Nixon Watergate tapes were released, I was at last able to fill in some of the missing pieces of the story. On a Saturday in July 1977, in the back pages of the New York Times, a story appeared that quoted several of the newly released tapes. In one of them, Nixon tells Erlichman that he had never met Harold Geneen and had no interest in ITT. But nevertheless he was incensed over McLaren’s antitrust policies. He couldn’t tolerate his anti–big business bent."

Source:Dealings

"Harold Geneen,"

Source:Dealings

"Harold Geneen, the chairman of ITT."

Source:Dealings

Appears In Volumes

The Predators' Ball Predator's Ball Dealings