Storming the Magic Kingdom

Hard to believe it has been over 20 years since the events John Taylor documents in "Storming the Magic Kingdom" took place. The 1980's saw a surge of takeovers (and almost takeovers) by corporate raiders whose analysis of certain organizations showed undervaluation of their stock relative to their asset value if broken up. Often these activities ended in "greenmail", with the corporation buying back the raider's stock holding... Read Full Review

In the early 1980's Walt Disney Productions was coasting along on the inertia of Walt and Roy Disney. Corporate raiders scented blood and began stalking. John Taylor made corporate history interesting. The sterile world of money-grubbing capitalism provides the funding for production--but sometimes the "bottom line" people see only green and forget how they got there. "Storming the Magice Kingdom" details why and how... Read Full Review

Here is a book that describes the corporate aspects of the Walt Disney Company, focusing on the changes that took place in the mid 1980's when the company was on the verge of being taken over by mega rich businessmen and split into 500 small companies. Ultimately, the company was preserved as one and Michael Eisner took over as CEO. When it comes to Disney, I am not normally interested in the details of big business and... Read Full Review

This is an excellent book. It almost reads like fiction. The behind the scenes dealings that involved the attempted hostile take over of the Walt Disney Company reveal the inner workings of the corporate raiding frenzy in a way that even the novice can understand.