Recommended by: WiseSuit Staff  

"Ace Greenberg does almost everything better than I do - bridge, magic tricks, dog training, arbitrage - all the important things in life. He so excels at these that you might think it would give deep inferiority complex to his colleagues at Bear Stearns. But if you think that, you don't know much about his colleagues." - Warren Buffett, Foreword to Memos from the Chairman

Ace Greenberg, the legendary Chairman of Bear Stearns, compiled memos he'd written to his colleagues from 1978 to 1995 in this gem of a book. The memos hold the business wisdom that made him a business heavyweight.

Alan Greenberg, or ‘Ace' as he's called, built the investment banking firm, Bear Stearns, into one of the world's most profitable banks by following certain simple leadership and management philosophies which he shared in memos to his colleagues regularly. In his witty, and downright hilarious, manner, Ace shares this wisdom with the world.

Some of Ace's truths include:

• Watch thy expenses like a hawk

"This may come as a surprise to some of you, but Federal Express is not a wholly owned subsidiary of Bear Stearns & Co. Inc. I mention this because we have been spending $50,000 a month with them and there is no explanation to justify this expenditure unless it was an intercompany transfer."

• Hire PSD's - Poor, Smart and a Deep Desire to become rich

"There has been a lot of publicity lately about firms hiring students with MBA degrees... Our first desire is to promote from within. If somebody with an MBA degree applies for a job, we will certainly not hold it against them, but we are really looking for people with PSD degrees..."

This collection of memos is a must-read for anyone and everyone in business today. It constitutes legendary business wisdom from a legendary businessman.

Reviews:

"Oh, Haimchinkel Malintz Anaynikal, where were you when I needed your wise counsel? I love this book. If I didn't have a dreaded MBA I might even, at age 53, apply for a job at Bear Stearns." - Tom Peters, co-author of In Search of Excellence

About the Author:

Alan Greenberg was Chairman of The Bear Stearns Companies Inc. and is a noted philanthropist.

Categories:  Leadership ,  Biography,  Corporate Finance