When the Wolves Bite

By: Scott Wapner

Narrated by: Scott Wapner

Length: 8 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

The inside story of the clash of two of Wall Street's biggest, richest, toughest, most aggressive players - Carl Icahn and Bill Ackman - and Herbalife, the company caught in the middle

With their billions of dollars and their business savvy, activist investors Carl Icahn and Bill Ackman have the ability to move markets with the flick of a wrist. But what happens when they run into the one thing in business they can't control: each other? This fast-paced book tells the story of the clash of these two titans over Herbalife, a nutritional supplement company whose business model Ackman questioned. Icahn decided to vouch for them, and the dispute became a years-long feud, complete with secret backroom deals, public accusations, billions of dollars in stock trades, and one dramatic insult war on live television.

Wapner, who hosted that memorable TV show, has gained unprecedented access to all the players and unravels this remarkable war of egos, showing the extreme measures the participants were willing to take. When the Wolves Bite is both a rollicking, entertaining listen - a great business story of money and power and pride.

©2018 Scott Wapner (P)2018 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"Told in a breathless, urgent style, this is a trenchant business drama that brings life to its characters and will mostly appeal to business buffs." (Publishers Weekly)

"When the Wolves Bite reads like an action film with multiple combatants, but the story is told from a neutral corner, capturing all the nuance, drama, and importance of a giant battle. Scott Wapner provides great insights for all into a very complex world." (Michael Ovitz, cofounder of CAA)

"It's never about money. It's always about ego. This book is a telling examination of the psychology of billionaires trying to one-up each other." (Andrew Ross Sorkin, New York Times best-selling author of Too Big to Fail)

Author's a Wall St. Gofer

Well done; a fun story if you read critically, between the lines. Sadly, it's one-sided & couldn't possibly be gentler to the criminality of Wall St. Moguls and those who stand in line to do their bidding.

if you like Wall Street battles read it

great book book story told well. easy-to-understand easy-to-follow. listened to it in 1 day. get this book

Excellent book

Great insight into the wolves on Wall Street. With this info I will be able to easier understand what goes on every day.
Great narration also

Very Good Story about Herbalife and Hedgefunds

I enjoyed this story read by the author about the Herbalife story with the issues between the two Hedgefunds that battled over the company's future.
Also includes some good background anecdotes of the main players involved. I got through this book very quickly as it kept my attention the entire time.

Great Story But Glitches

I have to admit I listened to this book in one day. It was truly interesting and gives great insight to the power players on Wall Street. As a general rule I don’t like the authors to read the book but in this case Me. Wagner did well. My issue is that there were multiple times the audio would jump or skip. For instance, when discussing the RJR Nabisco take over, the author (this is paraphrasing) says that it was the story told in .....then nothing. The book is Den of Thieves but it was either erased or there was a glitch. This happened multiple times and was quite annoying. But it is a great story and I enjoyed it immensely

Marginally useful, a bit more entertaining

It was interesting to read about "activist investors", but overall, the book was not particularly insightful or particularly entertaining.
I would recommend it to a friend, but don't expect too much.

War of two egos

Why not to let personal belief interfere with decision making. Great book excellent story and really edgy!

Fantastic listen. A few technical hiccups, but great content

Listened to this on a twitter recommendation from Marc Andreessen. I had originally followed the Herbalife short from a distance and then watched “Betting on Zero” on netflix and thought it was a fascinating story. This book scratched my itch to learn way more about it.

Devoured it on a road trip and really enjoyed it.

There were a few technical hiccups where lines abruptly ended and started at a new point, but it wasn’t too bad to follow around what happened.

interesting

An interesting look into the world of the super rich hedgefund managers and investors. If you really like that type of thing it is probably a 5 star book. Well written and told. As something to help pass time it is maybe on the boring side. But glad I read it.

Great Listen

I loved to hear Scott’s interpretation of the events that unfolded as well as his additional insight. I’ll never forget watching the two legends duke it out in CNBC. This book isn’t too complicated of a read too, so I’d recommend it for anyone interesting in business or finance.