PRIME MOVERS
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T. R. Atkinson

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

"Milken encountered the Hickman study while he was at Berkeley. W. Braddock Hickman, after studying data on corporate bond performance from 1900 to 1943, had found that a low-grade bond portfolio, if very large, well diversified and held over a long period of time, was a higher-yielding investment than a high-grade portfolio. Although the low-grade portfolio suffered more defaults than the high-grade, the high yields that were realized overall more than compensated for the losses. Hickman’s findings were updated by T. R. Atkinson in a study covering 1944–65. It was empirical fact: the reward outweighed the risk."

Source:The Predators' Ball

"Milken encountered the Hickman study while he was at Berkeley. W. Braddock Hickman, after studying data on corporate bond performance from 1900 to 1943, had found that a low-grade bond portfolio, if very large, well diversified and held over a long period of time, was a higher-yielding investment than a high-grade portfolio. Although the low-grade portfolio suffered more defaults than the high-grade, the high yields that were realized overall more than compensated for the losses. Hickman’s findings were updated by T. R. Atkinson in a study covering 1944–65. It was empirical fact: the reward outweighed the risk."

Source:Predator's Ball

Appears In Volumes

The Predators' BallPredator's Ball