"Barbarians" is regarded by many as the greatest business book ever written. In 1988, the flamboyant CEO of RJR Nabisco, F. Ross Johnson, decided he could buy his company outright, take it private, and then sell it again later at a profit. The deal would use a "leveraged buyout" — a transaction that would let Johnson use junk bonds (risky corporate debt) to pay for the deal. He offered $17 billion, or $75 a share, for a stock that had been trading at $55.
The flaw in Johnson's plan was immediately obvious to Wall Street: Once the board agreed to consider the deal, it was required to consider competing bids too — and they flooded in. Anarchy ensued. Bryan Burrough and John Helyar had sources inside every office, enabling them to eavesdrop on every conversation, every plot, every betrayal.
Ultimately, the LBO specialist firm Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts triumphed in a frenzied auction, with a $25 billion ($109 per share) offer — the largest corporate takeover in history.
KKR then stripped its assets as it struggled to pay the debt that financed the deal, turning a once-great consumer product empire into a husk of its former self.