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- Wiley
More About This Title The Liar's Ball: The Extraordinary Saga of How One Building Broke the World's Toughest Tycoons
English
Harry Macklowe is one of the most notorious wheelers and dealers of the real estate world, and Liar's Ball is the story of the gamblers and thieves who populate his world. Watch as Harry makes the gutsy bid for midtown Manhattan's famous GM building and put almost no money down, landing the billion-dollar transaction that made him the poster child for New York's real estate royalty. Listen in on the secret conversations, back-door deals, and blackmail that put Macklowe and his cronies on top—and set them up for an enormous fall.
Vanity Fair contributing editor Vicky Ward skillfully paints the often scandalous picture of the giants who owned the New York skyline until their empires came crumbling down in the 2008 financial crisis. Based on more than 200 interviews with real estate moguls like Donald Trump, William Zeckendorf, Mort Zuckerman, and David Simon, Liar's Ball is the never-before-told story of the egomaniacal elites of New York City. Read about:
- The epic rise and fall of one of the richest American real estate barons
- Outlandish greed and cravings for power, attention, and love
- Relationships built and destroyed by vanity and gossip
- The bursting of the real estate bubble and its aftermath
This is no fiction—this is a real life tale of extravagance, ambition, and power. Harry Macklowe ruthlessly clawed his way to the top with the help of his loyal followers, each grubbing for a piece of the real estate pie. Liar's Ball reveals their secrets and tells the tale of business as usual for this group—lying, backstabbing, and moving in for the kill when things look patchy. From the bestselling author of The Devil's Casino comes an expos??? on the real estate elite that you'll hardly believe.
English
VICKY WARD is the New York-based, British-born author of the New York Times bestseller The Devil's Casino: Friendship, Betrayal, and the High-Stakes Games Played Inside Lehman Brothers (Wiley, 2010). A former contributing editor to Vanity Fair for 11 years, she is the former executive editor of Talk magazine and the former news features editor of the New York Post. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, the Financial Times, The Times (London), and the Daily Telegraph. She holds a master's in English literature from Cambridge University.
English
Preface ix
Cast of Characters xi
Introduction xv
Chapter 1 Stealing the Spotlight 1
Chapter 2 Alpha Males 11
Chapter 3 The Rigged Bid 21
Chapter 4 Harry’s Hero 37
Chapter 5 The Odd Couple: The English Lord and the Housewife Tycoon 49
Chapter 6 The Age of the Wolf 65
Chapter 7 Donald Trump’s Bag Man 79
Chapter 8 The Money Hunters and the Salesman from Indianapolis 91
Chapter 9 Donald’s “Force Majeure” 103
Chapter 10 Paradise, Briefl y 109
Chapter 11 Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride 117
Chapter 12 Tick Tock—A Year on the Clock 129
Chapter 13 The Fall That Wasn’t 145
Chapter 14 Aftermath 153
Note about the Sources 157
Acknowledgments 159
Notes 161
Bibliography 231
About the Author 233
Index 235
