Beschreibung

Towering and talented, they are rich, powerful, driven dreamers. They are also tortured, vindictive, neurotic. Scathingly successful, these flamboyant real estate tycoons share a voracious desire and joust for a plot of land and its gleaming white fortress, the most expensive office building in America: the General Motors Building.

New York Times bestselling author Vicky Ward reveals the high-stakes gamesmanship, risky sleight-of-hand bets, brutal deceptions, foolish betrayals, and broken spirits among the over-reachers and titans. Beginning with Tammany Hall scoundrel William Magear "Boss" Tweed and including Harry Macklowe, Donald J. Trump, William Zeckendorf, Mort Zuckerman, Stephen C. Hilbert, Disque D. Deane, Lord Max Rayne, Cecilia Benattar, and Harry S. Black, their rise-and-fall stories span 150 years. Dream chasing, it turns out, in the world of global real estate is far dirtier than even she--a veteran investigative reporter and the author of a book on Wall Street--could ever have imagined.

One as good as killed his wife with cruelty. Another helicoptered five miles to work each day, and married a woman who jumped nearly naked out of a cake. The colorful, indefatigable "housewife tycoon" chief executive brazenly battled New York's social and business elite. All went to bewildering, extraordinary lengths to pursue their goals.

The boorish behavior at The Liar's Ball, the annual gala that the Real Estate Board of New York throws itself, had intrigued Ward when she attended. It paled in comparison to the roughness she unearthed in over 200 interviews for this book with her crowd of "rough riders" (as the New York real estate dealmakers were once called).

And yet tempering the grotesque intemperance was the humanity, the vulnerability that these characters--for the most part--revealed. They are fascinating in their insecurities as much as in their ambitions, and Ward masterfully brings together their intrigues and ironies in a gripping story alive with all the complexities of human nature -- a book as compelling and absolutely absorbing as the charismatic leaders of the dance at The Liar's Ball.

Come,
join in ...

Klappentext

Inside the world of the real Great Gatsby of New York real estate

Harry Macklowe is one of the most notorious wheelers and dealers of the real estate world, and Liar's Ball is the story of the gamblers and thieves who populate his world. Watch as Harry makes the gutsy bid for midtown Manhattan's famous GM building and put almost no money down, landing the billion-dollar transaction that made him the poster child for New York's real estate royalty. Listen in on the secret conversations, back-door deals, and blackmail that put Macklowe and his cronies on top--and set them up for an enormous fall.

Vanity Fair contributing editor Vicky Ward skillfully paints the often scandalous picture of the giants who owned the New York skyline until their empires came crumbling down in the 2008 financial crisis. Based on more than 200 interviews with real estate moguls like Donald Trump, William Zeckendorf, Mort Zuckerman, and David Simon, Liar's Ball is the never-before-told story of the egomaniacal elites of New York City. Read about:
* The epic rise and fall of one of the richest American real estate barons
* Outlandish greed and cravings for power, attention, and love
* Relationships built and destroyed by vanity and gossip
* The bursting of the real estate bubble and its aftermath

This is no fiction--this is a real life tale of extravagance, ambition, and power. Harry Macklowe ruthlessly clawed his way to the top with the help of his loyal followers, each grubbing for a piece of the real estate pie. Liar's Ball reveals their secrets and tells the tale of business as usual for this group--lying, backstabbing, and moving in for the kill when things look patchy. From the bestselling author of The Devil's Casino comes an expos??? on the real estate elite that you'll hardly believe.