Former Disney CEO Michael D. Eisner tells the stories of ten successful collaborations – including his own with the late Frank Wells – to show that behind many great institutions are great partnerships.
WORKING TOGETHER
Why Great Partnerships Succeed
By
Michael
D. Eisner
with Aaron Cohen
Including interviews with
Warren
Buffett and Charlie Munger of Berkshire Hathaway
Bill and Melinda
Gates of The Gates Foundation
Brian Grazer and Ron Howard of
Imagine Entertainment
Valentino and Giancarlo Giammetti of Valentino
Joe
Torre and Don Zimmer of the New York Yankees
In business there are always unique individual achievers, but look closely and you'll often find someone alongside them. In 1984, Michael D. Eisner was appointed Chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company where he partnered with the late Frank Wells. Twenty-one years later, Disney had been transformed from a film and theme park company with $1.8 billion in enterprise value into a global media empire valued at $80 billion. In WORKING TOGETHER: Why Great Partnerships Succeed (Hardcover; On Sale: September 14, 2010; $25.99), Eisner showcases ten successful partnerships and explores what makes them tick, while also explaining how his own collaboration with Wells made much of his heralded Disney triumph possible.
In WORKING TOGETHER Eisner offers us an intimate and deeply personal look at some of the most lasting and successful business partners. He uncovers what drives them individually and as a unit and shares their unconventional wisdom and unexpected insights. WORKING TOGETHER includes Eisner's one-on-one interviews with powerhouses from across all fields. Among them are Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger, Bill and Melinda Gates of the Gates Foundation, Imagine Entertainment's Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, former Yankee greats Joe Torre and Don Zimmer, and from the world of couture fashion, Valentino and Giancarlo Giammetti. While each pair shares the unique dynamic of their relationship, some traits are universal to all: honesty, integrity, and perseverance; as well as trust, optimism, and a lack of envy.
Eisner's subjects also reveal the unique ways they met and then navigated their partnerships. When Valentino and Giancarlo Giammetti met by chance at a restaurant in Rome, Valentino was on the verge of bankruptcy. After a whirlwind trip to Capri, romance ensued and Giammetti quit architecture school to manage Valentino's business. The rest, as they say, is history. Or, take Bill and Melinda Gates and their Gates Foundation. When Gates decided to walk away from the day-to-day operations at Microsoft, to help manage the new operation he turned to his most trusted confidante: his wife. Imagine Entertainment's Brian Grazer and Ron Howard split their profits 50-50 on all projects, an unlikely arrangement for a producing-directing team. Other partnerships profiled in WORKING TOGETHER are those of Arthur Blank and Bernie Marcus of Home Depot, restaurateurs Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken, investment partners John Angelo and Michael Gordon, and the late Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager of Studio 54 fame.
Incorporating both personal anecdote and business acumen, Eisner's WORKING TOGETHER is an entertaining chronicle for anyone interested in discovering all the ways that two minds are better than one. From investment gurus to entertainment impresarios, from fashion designers to big box retailers, WORKING TOGETHER is about the true nature of achievement and happiness in life and in business.
WORKING TOGETHER: How Great Partnerships Succeed |
By Michael D. Eisner; with Aaron Cohen |
Harper Business – On Sale: September 14, 2010 |
ISBN# 9780061732447 |
ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
Michael D. Eisner, a leader in the American entertainment industry, began his career at ABC, where he helped to take the network to number one in primetime, daytime, and children's television. In his 21 years as CEO and Chairman of The Walt Disney Company, he transformed it from a film and theme park company with $1.8 in enterprise value into a global media empire worth $80 billion. In 2005, founded The Tornante Company, a privately held media and entertainment investment company. He is also the author of Camp and Work in Progress.
Aaron Cohen is a writer and television producer who has won 13 Emmys and a Peabody Award for his work at NBC and HBO. He has twice received the Dick Schaap Award for Outstanding Writing for his work on the critically acclaimed boxing documentary series "24/7." Cohen previously assisted Eisner with his memoir, Camp. He lives with his wife in New York City.
Contacts:
Publicity:
Kate Blum, 212-207-7362
Kate.Blum@harpercollins.com