
Power Failure
The Rise and Fall of an American Icon
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Narrated by:
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Eric Jason Martin
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By:
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William D. Cohan
About this listen
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
The New Yorker Best Books of 2022 • Financial Times Best Books of 2022 • The Economist Best Books of 2022
The dramatic rise—and unimaginable fall—of America's most iconic corporation by New York Times bestselling author and pre-eminent financial journalist William D. Cohan
No company embodied American ingenuity, innovation, and industrial power more spectacularly and more consistently than the General Electric Company. GE once developed and manufactured many of the inventions we take for granted today, nearly everything from the lightbulb to the jet engine. GE also built a cult of financial and leadership success envied across the globe and became the world’s most valuable and most admired company. But even at the height of its prestige and influence, cracks were forming in its formidable foundation.
In a masterful re-appraisal of a company that once claimed to “bring good things to life,” pre-eminent financial journalist William D. Cohan argues that the incredible story of GE’s rise and fall is not only a paragon, but also a prism through which we can better understand American capitalism. Beginning with its founding, innovations, and exponential growth through acquisitions and mergers, Cohan plumbs the depths of GE's storied management culture, its pioneering doctrine of shareholder value, and its seemingly hidden blind spots, to reveal that GE wasn't immune from the hubris and avoidable mistakes suffered by many other corporations.
In Power Failure, Cohan punctures the myth of GE, exploring in a rich narrative how a once-great company wound up broken and in tatters—a cautionary tale for the ages.
©2022 William D. Cohan (P)2022 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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"An epic piece of work."—MIKE BARNICLE, MSNBC Morning Joe
"A riveting, magisterial work of business history."—FAST COMPANY
“A sweeping tale of ambition, arrogance, egos, and feuds—and how they brought down a once-great company.”—KIRKUS REVIEWS
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Story
One of the biggest questions of the financial crisis has not been answered until now: What happened at Lehman Brothers and why was it allowed to fail, with aftershocks that rocked the global economy? In this news-making, often astonishing book, a former Lehman Brothers Vice President gives us the straight answers - right from the belly of the beast. In A Colossal Failure of Common Sense, Larry McDonald, a Wall Street insider, reveals, the culture and unspoken rules of the game like no book has ever done.
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First take: Tale of the narcissist
- By Susan Hayden on 07-28-09
By: Patrick Robinson, and others
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Crash of the Titans
- Greed, Hubris, the Fall of Merrill Lynch and the Near-Collapse of Bank of America
- By: Greg Farrell
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 16 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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With one notable exception, the firms that make up what we know as Wall Street have always been part of an inbred, insular culture that most people only vaguely understand. The exception was Merrill Lynch, a firm that revolutionized the stock market by bringing Wall Street to Main Street. Merrill Lynch was an icon. Its sudden decline, collapse, and sale to Bank of America was a shock. How did it happen? Why did it happen?
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The author needs an outline or timeline
- By Stephanie on 12-19-10
By: Greg Farrell
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Money Men
- A Hot Startup, A Billion Dollar Fraud, A Fight for the Truth
- By: Dan McCrum
- Narrated by: Dan McCrum
- Length: 13 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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When investigative journalist Dan McCrum first came across Wirecard, the hot new tech company that looked poised to challenge Silicon Valley, it all looked a little too good to be true: offices were sprouting up all over the world, and they were reporting runaway growth. In the space of a few short years, the company had come from nowhere to overtake industry giants like Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank on the stock market. As McCrum began to dig deeper, he encountered a story stranger and more compelling than he could have imagined.
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Interesting book but…
- By Rock Climber on 06-11-23
By: Dan McCrum
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Super Pumped
- The Battle for Uber
- By: Mike Isaac
- Narrated by: Holter Graham, Mike Isaac
- Length: 12 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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A New York Times technology correspondent presents the dramatic rise and fall of Uber, set against the rapid upheaval in Silicon Valley during the mobile era. Based on hundreds of interviews with current and former Uber employees, along with previously unpublished documents, Super Pumped is a pause-resisting story of ambition and deception, obscene wealth, and bad behavior, that explores how blistering technological and financial innovation culminated in one of the most catastrophic 12-month periods in American corporate history.
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A forced narrative and a bad version of Bad Blood
- By Benji on 09-09-19
By: Mike Isaac
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Den of Thieves
- By: James B. Stewart
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 19 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Pulitzer Prize winner James B. Stewart shows for the first time how four of the biggest names on Wall Street - Michael Milken, Ivan Boesky, Martin Siegel, and Dennis Levine - created the greatest insider-trading ring in financial history and almost walked away with billions - until a team of downtrodden detectives triumphed over some of America's most expensive lawyers to bring this powerful quartet to justice.
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Awesome book
- By Lars Tackmann on 10-23-17
By: James B. Stewart
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All the Devils Are Here
- The Hidden History of the Financial Crisis
- By: Bethany McLean, Joe Nocera
- Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris
- Length: 15 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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As soon as the financial crisis erupted, the finger-pointing began. Should the blame fall on Wall Street, Main Street, or Pennsylvania Avenue? On greedy traders, misguided regulators, sleazy subprime companies, cowardly legislators, or clueless home buyers? According to Bethany McLean and Joe Nocera, two of America's most acclaimed business journalists, the real answer is all of the above-and more. Many devils helped bring hell to the economy.
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Excellent!
- By Euri on 11-19-10
By: Bethany McLean, and others
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Unscripted
- The Epic Battle for a Media Empire and the Redstone Family Legacy
- By: James B. Stewart, Rachel Abrams
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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In 2016, the fate of Paramount Global’s entertainment empire hung precariously in the balance. Its founder and head, ninety-three-year-old Sumner M. Redstone, was facing a very public lawsuit brought by a former romantic companion, Manuela Herzer, which placed Sumner’s deteriorating health and questionable judgment under a harsh light.
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I could t wait for it to end
- By Abbie L. Smith on 03-01-23
By: James B. Stewart, and others
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Four Friends
- Promising Lives Cut Short
- By: William D. Cohan
- Narrated by: Kevin Stillwell
- Length: 14 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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William D. Cohan has proven to be one of the most meticulous and intrepid journalists covering the world of Wall Street and high finance. In his utterly original new audiobook, Four Friends, he brings all of his brilliant reportorial skills to a subject much closer to home: four friends of his who died young. All four attended Andover, the most elite of American boarding schools, before spinning out into very different orbits. Indelibly, using copious interviews from wives, girlfriends, colleagues, and friends, Cohan brings these men to life.
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Master Storyteller
- By Ella on 07-12-19
By: William D. Cohan
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The Key Man
- The True Story of How the Global Elite Was Duped by a Capitalist Fairy Tale
- By: Simon Clark, Will Louch
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 11 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Arif Naqvi was charismatic, inspiring, and self-made—all the qualities of a successful business leader. The founder of Abraaj, a Dubai-based private-equity firm, Naqvi was the Key Man to the global elite searching for impact investments to make money and do good. In 2018, Simon Clark and Will Louch were contacted by an anonymous whistleblower who said Naqvi had swindled investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars and offered bribes to sustain his billionaire lifestyle. In April 2019—months after their exposé broke—Naqvi was arrested on charges of fraud and racketeering.
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A great take on one of the greatest swindleds
- By Amer on 05-05-23
By: Simon Clark, and others
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The House of Dimon
- How JP Morgan's Jamie Dimon Rose to the Top of the Financial World
- By: Patricia Crisafulli
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Jamie Dimon is Wall Street's biggest player. Following the 11h-hour rescue of Bear Stearns by JPMorgan, his profile has reached stratospheric levels. And while the deals and decisions he's made have usually turned out to be the right ones, his journey to the top of the financial world has been anything but easy. Now, in The House of Dimon, business writer Patricia Crisafulli goes behind the scenes to recount the amazing events that have shaped Dimon's career.
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Intriguing
- By Jean on 08-28-16
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Financial Shenanigans (Fourth Edition)
- How to Detect Accounting Gimmicks & Fraud in Financial Reports
- By: Howard M. Schilit, Jeremy Perler, Yoni Engelhart
- Narrated by: Scott Pollak
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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The best-selling classic from the “Sherlock Holmes of Accounting” - updated to reflect the key case studies and most important lessons from the past quarter century.
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Unexpectedly Juicy
- By Warpedland on 10-17-22
By: Howard M. Schilit, and others
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The Informant
- A True Story
- By: Kurt Eichenwald
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 24 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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From an award-winning New York Times investigative reporter comes an outrageous story of greed, corruption, and conspiracy, which left the FBI and Justice Department counting on the cooperation of one man.
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Great Story
- By Phil on 09-07-11
By: Kurt Eichenwald
What listeners say about Power Failure
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- Ebong Eka
- 03-18-24
Very vivid storytelling!
loved the book and how expansive it was. it was well written and vividly descriptive.
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- Brad
- 02-18-23
An electric read
A towering achievement fit for the subject itself. Illuminating and enlightening, a tragedy of modern capitalism
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- Jim Saunders
- 08-02-23
Been a shareholder since 93
Was along for the ride the whole time but the books brought a lot of insight to it.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Marilee DiBernardo
- 02-11-23
Fantastic
I am impressed with this writing.
The story unfolded in such an unexpected manner, that I couldn’t stop listening. I just had to hear what happens next.
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- S. Mahon
- 08-11-24
Great telling of a sad story
Cohan traces GE from its founding to its recent breakup, concentrating on the Welch and Immelt years. The author makes no bones about who he thinks are villains (Larry Culp) who got a raw deal, (John Flannery) and who’s to blame: Mostly Immelt but Welch left him some time
Bombs. He misses a key point, both Welch and Immelt sat on the Board of Directors for the NY Fed, so Immelt was not unfamiliar with Bank supervision. All in all a well
Done cautionary tale about corporate hubris and greed.
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- Nick
- 10-14-24
Good deep dive into GE’s implosion
Cowan is one of the best writers on financial corporate history out there. if you are interested in what happened to General Electric after the very hyped jack Welch years this is the book for you. The book is a wonderful cautionary tale about how Black Swan events and financial crises and other exogenous events can take a franchise held up as one of the models of the business world and then show how it becomes completely incompatible with a new era. it also raises the fundamental question, was the GE that Jack Welch built an enterprise that only he could run, with his special combination of skills and talents.
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- Renee Mom
- 10-08-23
Well written but cannot stand listening to the narrator
The narrator ruined the experience for me. So hard to listen to, with his staccato pace and it got me so irritated I decided to stop listening mid way through the book. Curious why you choose this narrator, Eric Martin in particular?
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- Walter Clayton
- 04-04-23
Big business bigger egos
What a bunch of self serving egos who feign caring about others.
Karma bites back.
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- Sara
- 01-17-23
Riveting & woeful corporate tale
Reads like a gripping novel filled with history & many lessons along the way. Highly recommend.
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- Larry Kohn
- 12-17-22
Really great. Couldn’t stop
Tremendous in-depth story that kept my interest from first to last page. Highly recommend!
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