Passion to Win (eBook)

Peter Knobler, Sumner Redstone (Autoren)

eBook Download: EPUB

2001 | 1. Auflage
320 Seiten
Simon & Schuster (Verlag)
978-0-7432-1439-1 (ISBN)

Infos

A titan of modern media, Viacom Chair-man Sumner Redstone reveals how he battled his way to become the head of one of the world's great media empires, and the richest man in entertainment.
In one of the most fascinating business autobiographies of this or any other year, Sumner Redstone tells the unvarnished story of how he overcame every obstacle to build a vast media and entertainment engine that includes Paramount Pictures, MTV, Nickelodeon, Blockbuster, Simon & Schuster, and now CBS. A larger-than-life figure in the grand tradition of the Hearsts, Paleys, and Pulitzers, and voted in a recent survey of 600 corporate executives as the number-one most inspiring CEO, this is the man who can truly say, 'I am Viacom.'
A Passion to Win gives a riveting look behind the scenes at the highly charged negotiations that won Redstone both Viacom and Paramount. The book reveals the intense business calculations and strong emotions of Redstone's head-to-head confrontations with such adversaries as Barry Diller and H. Wayne Huizenga. A Passion to Win takes the reader along on the financial roller-coaster ride that began when Blockbuster went into the tank, risking Redstone's fortune and life's work. By the end of that ride, Redstone had righted his company and revolutionized the video industry. In a world of high-visibility corporate battles, Redstone pulls no punches. This is the man who faced down a pack of thugs when they threatened producer Bob Evans during the filming of The Cotton Club. And this is a book that shows the reader what it takes to win.
Behind it all is the same iron will that helped Redstone to survive a deadly fire at Boston's Copley Plaza Hotel by clinging with one hand to a third-story ledge before being rescued — with burns so severe over nearly half his body that doctors feared he would die.
Born in a Boston tenement, he graduated first in his class at Boston Latin, went through Harvard in three years, was chosen for a special cryptography unit in the U.S. Army whose assignment was to crack Japanese codes during World War II, then, after Harvard Law School, successfully pleaded cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court — all of this before embarking on his astounding business career.
Never before has Sumner Redstone revealed himself so candidly, and now, with the assistance of writer Peter Knobler (who co-wrote attorney Daniel Petrocelli's bestseller Triumph of Justice, about the O.J. Simpson civil suit), he has produced an inspirational life story that will command major attention.

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A titan of modern media, Sumner Redstone shares how he became the head of one of the world's great media empires and one of the richest men in the entertainment business.In one of the most fascinating and eye-opening business autobiographies written, Sumner Redstone shares the unvarnished story of how he overcame significant obstacles on his trek to build a vast media and entertainment engine. A Passion to Win gives a riveting look behind the scenes at the highly charged negotiations that won Redstone both Viacom and Paramount, revealing the intense business calculations and strong emotions of Redstone's head-to-head confrontations with adversaries such as Barry Diller and H. Wayne Huizenga. In a book that shows readers what it takes to win, Redstone shares the rollercoaster journey that led him to become the head of a wildly successful company and the mind behind the revolution of the video industry.

Textauszug

Prologue The Fire This Time I don't splurge on much in my life. My material desires have always beenminimal. When I'm in Boston I live in the same suburban home I movedinto forty years ago. For sixty years I bought suits off the rack (somewould say not wisely). But I like a nice hotel. I feel I've worked hardand should be able to enjoy good food and stay at a nice place. If it'scomfortable and the service is good, that's enough for me. I don't haveto own it. I was perfectly happy checking into Boston's Copley Plaza. As presidentof National Amusements, Inc., owner of a small chain of movie theaters,mainly drive-ins, I was there for a party to honor a branch manager ofWarner Bros. Pictures. I was going to New York the next day. It was 1979and we were in the planning stages of opening the Sunrise Multiplex, ourfirst indoor operation in the New York metropolitan area, and betweenconstruction, booking and breaking into a new market, there was a lot ofwork to be done. The party at the hotel was going to run late. I wouldstay the night, get up early and be on my way. I went to sleep thinking about work. It was well after midnight when Iwoke up and smelled smoke. I don't recall ever being taught what to do when faced with smoke andfire in a hotel, or anywhere else for that matter. It's not somethingyou think about when you check in. I smelled smoke and made the classicmistake, I opened the door. The branch manager, who was staying in thenext room, made a bigger mistake. He opened his door wide and steppedinto the hotel corridor. He died. I was enveloped in flames. The fire shot up my legs. The pain wassearing. I was being burned alive. But even in the middle of terrorthere is sometimes clarity. I thought, What a horrible way to die. Somehow I staggered to the window. It was stuck, I couldn't budge it. Imoved to another window and, I don't know how, got it open and clamberedoutside. I was kneeling on a tiny ledge, barely big enough to put onefoot on. I was three floors up. If I jump, I'm dead. Flames wereshooting out of the window head-high and I crouched there, hanging ontothe windowsill, my fingers cupped, my right hand and arm in the fire andburning. The sound of the inferno was terrifying. The heat and flames roaring outof the room burned off my pajamas and peeled away my skin. My legs hadbeen burned to the arteries, now my arm was charring. The pain wasexcruciating but I refused to let go. That way was death. I begancounting one to ten, one to ten, hoping that a fire engine would comesave me. But it didn't. The hotel people hadn't called the fire department rightaway because they didn't want anyone to know there was a problem. What adisgrace -- an outrage. I hung on the ledge for what seemed likeforever. Finally a hook-and-ladder truck arrived. A fireman climbed up,cradled me in his arms and carried me to the ground. At City Hospital, I lay on a table and could hear the doctors say, Givehim so much of this, give him so much of that. I'm sure some of whatthey gave me must have been morphine because the pain of fire isoverwhelming. And then I passed out. My family all gathered at thehospital. They were told that I probably wouldn't live the night. The next day when I woke up I had third-degree burns over 45 percent ofmy body, my right wrist had been almost severed and was literallyhanging off my arm. But I had no idea of the extent of my injuries and Iwas feeling pretty good.

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 5.6.2001
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Biografien / Erfahrungsberichte
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Romane / Erzählungen
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Beruf / Finanzen / Recht / Wirtschaft ► Wirtschaft
• Themenwelt: Wirtschaft ► Betriebswirtschaft / Management ► Unternehmensführung / Management
• ISBN-10: 0-7432-1439-0 / 0743214390
• ISBN-13: 978-0-7432-1439-1 / 9780743214391