PRIME MOVERS
Entity Dossier
entity

Rapid-American

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

Primary Evidence

"An Israeli emigrant, Riklis had started out with a stake of just $ 25,000, buying and combining small companies in the 1950s. By the time he met Milken in about 1970, Riklis controlled a conglomerate, Rapid-American, which had sales of close to $ 2 billion. It included such companies as International Playtex, Schenley Industries, Lerner Shops and RKO–Stanley Warner Theatres. What Riklis had done was acquire one company and then use its assets to acquire the next, and that company’s to acquire the next, in ever larger circles. He acquired these companies by issuing mainly bonds, or debt, in exchange for the company’s stock. As Riklis liked to say, Rapid-American owed its success to “the effective nonuse of cash.”"

Source:The Predators' Ball

"Carl Lindner through American Financial, Saul Steinberg through Reliance Insurance, Meshulam Riklis through Rapid-American, Victor Posner through several of his companies, the Belzbergs through a number of their companies, and others—who issued their own paper and bought one another’s and traded, with Milken the nexus for it all."

Source:The Predators' Ball

"Carl Lindner through American Financial, Saul Steinberg through Reliance Insurance, Meshulam Riklis through Rapid-American, Victor Posner through several of his companies, the Belzbergs through a number of their companies, and others—who issued their own paper and bought one another’s and traded, with Milken the nexus for it all."

Source:Predator's Ball

"An Israeli emigrant, Riklis had started out with a stake of just $25,000, buying and combining small companies in the 1950s. By the time he met Milken in about 1970, Riklis controlled a conglomerate, Rapid-American, which had sales of close to $2 billion. It included such companies as International Playtex, Schenley Industries, Lerner Shops and RKO–Stanley Warner Theatres. What Riklis had done was acquire one company and then use its assets to acquire the next, and that company’s to acquire the next, in ever larger circles. He acquired these companies by issuing mainly bonds, or debt, in exchange for the company’s stock. As Riklis liked to say, Rapid-American owed its success to “the effective nonuse of cash.”"

Source:Predator's Ball

Appears In Volumes

The Predators' BallPredator's Ball