Money Talks, Bullsh*t Walks

Description

The ‘Grave Dancer’ of American business. Samuel Zell (1941–2023) built a $5 billion fortune buying what everyone else was burying — and Ben E. Johnson’s Money Talks, Bullsh*t Walks is the no-holds-barred story of his contrarian mind.

Zell made his name buying distressed properties in downturns and selling into booms, founding Equity Group Investments and pioneering the modern REIT. Famous for his bluntness — biker’s candor in pinstriped boardrooms — he ran his empire on supply-and-demand logic, obsessive attention to downside risk, and an absolute refusal to follow the herd.

Johnson traces Zell from young lawyer flipping apartments to the audacious 2007 Tribune Company takeover — the deals, the disasters, the unfiltered philosophy of a man who believed liquidity was king. Blunt, funny, and packed with street-smart investing wisdom, this is essential reading for entrepreneurs and dealmakers — a masterclass in contrarian thinking from one of the boldest business minds of our time.

He was called the ‘Grave Dancer’ — the billionaire who bought what everyone else was burying. Money Talks, Bullsh*t Walks: Inside the Contrarian Mind of Billionaire Mogul Sam Zell, by Ben E. Johnson, is the no-holds-barred story of Samuel Zell (1941–2023), the Chicago real estate titan who built a $5 billion fortune by zigging when the world zagged.
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nZell made his name buying distressed properties in downturns and selling into booms, founding Equity Group Investments and pioneering the modern REIT. Famous for his bluntness — and his biker’s candor in pinstriped boardrooms — he ran his empire on supply-and-demand logic, obsessive attention to downside risk, and an absolute refusal to follow the herd.
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nJohnson traces Zell’s journey from a young lawyer flipping apartments to the audacious 2007 Tribune Company takeover, capturing the deals, the disasters, and the unfiltered philosophy of a man who believed liquidity was king and excuses were worthless.
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nBlunt, funny, and packed with street-smart investing wisdom, this is essential reading for entrepreneurs and dealmakers — a masterclass in contrarian thinking from one of the boldest business minds of our time.