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The urge to conquer
CEOs might not be all that different. Those people who are
ambitious, risk-seeking, and aggressive enough to be able to rise
to the ultimate spot of CEO just might be the same people who,
once they’re there, take their rm on a conquest.
Acquisitions offer the thrill of the chase. You select a target,
mobilize resources and lead the attack. Sometimes there are
others eyeing your prey, but skillful maneuvering and a erce
battle will make you come out victorious again. And another
victory means pictures in the newspapers, popping champagne,
and a larger tribe to rule and command.
CEOs, marriage, mergers, geriatric millionaires, and
blushing brides
Actually, I nd it quite surprising how acquisitions, so openly, can
get entangled with the personal aspirations and career progress of
the companies’ executives. For example, it is often thinly veiled
that the single biggest hurdle to a particular merger, determining
whether the deal will go through or not, is the question, “Who
will be in charge afterwards?” The current CEO of company
1 or the CEO of company 2? The proposed merger between
Dutch banks ING and ABN-Amro (before the nancial crisis), for
instance, was rumored to have fallen through because executives
could not agree on who would take the helm. But are these really
good, strategic, and legitimate reasons to pursue (or abolish) a
deal? If you didn’t notice, that was a rhetorical question . . .
Similarly, in 1999, the merger of Viacom and CBS hinged on
whether CEOs Sumner Redstone and Mel Karmazin could gure
out how to distribute responsibilities and power. Eventually, the
$40 billion mega-merger – at the time, the biggest media deal
ever – seemed to be more of a declaration of love between the
two than a move inspired by a clear strategic rationale.
For example, the LA Times referred to “secret meetings” between
the two during which Redstone “grew to see the magic of the
marriage Karmazin was proposing”, while the New York Times
quoted Redstone saying of Karmazin, “He is a master salesman,
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