Author: Erika Calazans
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1443893951
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 175
Book Description
This book’s primary concern is the application of International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law in addressing the business conduct of Private Military and Security Companies (PMSCs) during armed conflicts, as well as state responsibility for human rights violations and current attempts at international regulation. The book discusses four interconnected themes. First, it differentiates private contractors from mercenaries, presenting an historical overview of private violence. Second, it situates PMSCs’ employees under the legal status of civilian or combatant in accordance with the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions of 1949. It then investigates the existing law on state responsibility and what sort of responsibility companies and their employees can face. Finally, the book explores current developments on regulation within the industry, on national, regional and international levels. These themes are connected by the argument that, in order to find gaps in the existing laws, it is necessary to establish what they are, what law is applicable and what further developments are needed.
Private Military and Security Companies
Author: Erika Calazans
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1443893951
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 175
Book Description
This book’s primary concern is the application of International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law in addressing the business conduct of Private Military and Security Companies (PMSCs) during armed conflicts, as well as state responsibility for human rights violations and current attempts at international regulation. The book discusses four interconnected themes. First, it differentiates private contractors from mercenaries, presenting an historical overview of private violence. Second, it situates PMSCs’ employees under the legal status of civilian or combatant in accordance with the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions of 1949. It then investigates the existing law on state responsibility and what sort of responsibility companies and their employees can face. Finally, the book explores current developments on regulation within the industry, on national, regional and international levels. These themes are connected by the argument that, in order to find gaps in the existing laws, it is necessary to establish what they are, what law is applicable and what further developments are needed.
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1443893951
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 175
Book Description
This book’s primary concern is the application of International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law in addressing the business conduct of Private Military and Security Companies (PMSCs) during armed conflicts, as well as state responsibility for human rights violations and current attempts at international regulation. The book discusses four interconnected themes. First, it differentiates private contractors from mercenaries, presenting an historical overview of private violence. Second, it situates PMSCs’ employees under the legal status of civilian or combatant in accordance with the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions of 1949. It then investigates the existing law on state responsibility and what sort of responsibility companies and their employees can face. Finally, the book explores current developments on regulation within the industry, on national, regional and international levels. These themes are connected by the argument that, in order to find gaps in the existing laws, it is necessary to establish what they are, what law is applicable and what further developments are needed.
Private Equity at Work
Author: Eileen Appelbaum
Publisher: Russell Sage Foundation
ISBN: 1610448189
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 396
Book Description
Private equity firms have long been at the center of public debates on the impact of the financial sector on Main Street companies. Are these firms financial innovators that save failing businesses or financial predators that bankrupt otherwise healthy companies and destroy jobs? The first comprehensive examination of this topic, Private Equity at Work provides a detailed yet accessible guide to this controversial business model. Economist Eileen Appelbaum and Professor Rosemary Batt carefully evaluate the evidence—including original case studies and interviews, legal documents, bankruptcy proceedings, media coverage, and existing academic scholarship—to demonstrate the effects of private equity on American businesses and workers. They document that while private equity firms have had positive effects on the operations and growth of small and mid-sized companies and in turning around failing companies, the interventions of private equity more often than not lead to significant negative consequences for many businesses and workers. Prior research on private equity has focused almost exclusively on the financial performance of private equity funds and the returns to their investors. Private Equity at Work provides a new roadmap to the largely hidden internal operations of these firms, showing how their business strategies disproportionately benefit the partners in private equity firms at the expense of other stakeholders and taxpayers. In the 1980s, leveraged buyouts by private equity firms saw high returns and were widely considered the solution to corporate wastefulness and mismanagement. And since 2000, nearly 11,500 companies—representing almost 8 million employees—have been purchased by private equity firms. As their role in the economy has increased, they have come under fire from labor unions and community advocates who argue that the proliferation of leveraged buyouts destroys jobs, causes wages to stagnate, saddles otherwise healthy companies with debt, and leads to subsidies from taxpayers. Appelbaum and Batt show that private equity firms’ financial strategies are designed to extract maximum value from the companies they buy and sell, often to the detriment of those companies and their employees and suppliers. Their risky decisions include buying companies and extracting dividends by loading them with high levels of debt and selling assets. These actions often lead to financial distress and a disproportionate focus on cost-cutting, outsourcing, and wage and benefit losses for workers, especially if they are unionized. Because the law views private equity firms as investors rather than employers, private equity owners are not held accountable for their actions in ways that public corporations are. And their actions are not transparent because private equity owned companies are not regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Thus, any debts or costs of bankruptcy incurred fall on businesses owned by private equity and their workers, not the private equity firms that govern them. For employees this often means loss of jobs, health and pension benefits, and retirement income. Appelbaum and Batt conclude with a set of policy recommendations intended to curb the negative effects of private equity while preserving its constructive role in the economy. These include policies to improve transparency and accountability, as well as changes that would reduce the excessive use of financial engineering strategies by firms. A groundbreaking analysis of a hotly contested business model, Private Equity at Work provides an unprecedented analysis of the little-understood inner workings of private equity and of the effects of leveraged buyouts on American companies and workers. This important new work will be a valuable resource for scholars, policymakers, and the informed public alike.
Publisher: Russell Sage Foundation
ISBN: 1610448189
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 396
Book Description
Private equity firms have long been at the center of public debates on the impact of the financial sector on Main Street companies. Are these firms financial innovators that save failing businesses or financial predators that bankrupt otherwise healthy companies and destroy jobs? The first comprehensive examination of this topic, Private Equity at Work provides a detailed yet accessible guide to this controversial business model. Economist Eileen Appelbaum and Professor Rosemary Batt carefully evaluate the evidence—including original case studies and interviews, legal documents, bankruptcy proceedings, media coverage, and existing academic scholarship—to demonstrate the effects of private equity on American businesses and workers. They document that while private equity firms have had positive effects on the operations and growth of small and mid-sized companies and in turning around failing companies, the interventions of private equity more often than not lead to significant negative consequences for many businesses and workers. Prior research on private equity has focused almost exclusively on the financial performance of private equity funds and the returns to their investors. Private Equity at Work provides a new roadmap to the largely hidden internal operations of these firms, showing how their business strategies disproportionately benefit the partners in private equity firms at the expense of other stakeholders and taxpayers. In the 1980s, leveraged buyouts by private equity firms saw high returns and were widely considered the solution to corporate wastefulness and mismanagement. And since 2000, nearly 11,500 companies—representing almost 8 million employees—have been purchased by private equity firms. As their role in the economy has increased, they have come under fire from labor unions and community advocates who argue that the proliferation of leveraged buyouts destroys jobs, causes wages to stagnate, saddles otherwise healthy companies with debt, and leads to subsidies from taxpayers. Appelbaum and Batt show that private equity firms’ financial strategies are designed to extract maximum value from the companies they buy and sell, often to the detriment of those companies and their employees and suppliers. Their risky decisions include buying companies and extracting dividends by loading them with high levels of debt and selling assets. These actions often lead to financial distress and a disproportionate focus on cost-cutting, outsourcing, and wage and benefit losses for workers, especially if they are unionized. Because the law views private equity firms as investors rather than employers, private equity owners are not held accountable for their actions in ways that public corporations are. And their actions are not transparent because private equity owned companies are not regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Thus, any debts or costs of bankruptcy incurred fall on businesses owned by private equity and their workers, not the private equity firms that govern them. For employees this often means loss of jobs, health and pension benefits, and retirement income. Appelbaum and Batt conclude with a set of policy recommendations intended to curb the negative effects of private equity while preserving its constructive role in the economy. These include policies to improve transparency and accountability, as well as changes that would reduce the excessive use of financial engineering strategies by firms. A groundbreaking analysis of a hotly contested business model, Private Equity at Work provides an unprecedented analysis of the little-understood inner workings of private equity and of the effects of leveraged buyouts on American companies and workers. This important new work will be a valuable resource for scholars, policymakers, and the informed public alike.
Middle Market Strategies
Author: Richard M. Trottier
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470486252
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 322
Book Description
Break down the walls that stand in the way of business growth with the effective middle market strategies found in Middle Market Strategies The middle market represents about 1% of all U.S. businesses but produces about 40% of the gross domestic product. Winning the middle market is critical to business owners, and vital to the U.S. economy. Providing a comprehensive framework for understanding the market for private mid-sized businesses, Middle Market Strategies helps owners avoid unnecessary risks and enjoy some well-deserved returns by sharing the lessons learned from hundreds of featured business owners. Using ninety real-world case studies, Middle Market Strategies helps inform better business decisions by providing answers to the most pressing questions, including: How do the markets work? How can they be used to improve business value? Which strategies work best? What are the rules and how do you work with them? How are middle market businesses different from larger and smaller businesses? What separates successful businesses from others? Author Richard Trottier's reader-friendly anecdotes depict owners caught in the daily struggle to survive and the choices they made to break down the walls that stood in the way of their growth. Their stories, and the market rules that grew out of them, help to provide CEOs and presidents of mid-market companies, business appraisers, and capital providers with a solid understanding of the market to help them make better business decisions.
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470486252
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 322
Book Description
Break down the walls that stand in the way of business growth with the effective middle market strategies found in Middle Market Strategies The middle market represents about 1% of all U.S. businesses but produces about 40% of the gross domestic product. Winning the middle market is critical to business owners, and vital to the U.S. economy. Providing a comprehensive framework for understanding the market for private mid-sized businesses, Middle Market Strategies helps owners avoid unnecessary risks and enjoy some well-deserved returns by sharing the lessons learned from hundreds of featured business owners. Using ninety real-world case studies, Middle Market Strategies helps inform better business decisions by providing answers to the most pressing questions, including: How do the markets work? How can they be used to improve business value? Which strategies work best? What are the rules and how do you work with them? How are middle market businesses different from larger and smaller businesses? What separates successful businesses from others? Author Richard Trottier's reader-friendly anecdotes depict owners caught in the daily struggle to survive and the choices they made to break down the walls that stood in the way of their growth. Their stories, and the market rules that grew out of them, help to provide CEOs and presidents of mid-market companies, business appraisers, and capital providers with a solid understanding of the market to help them make better business decisions.
Valuation for M&A
Author: Chris M. Mellen
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470648813
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 343
Book Description
Discover the tools necessary to determine what your company's value is, what drives its value, and how to enhance that value during an M&A transaction. The only book to focus on valuation specifically for mergers and acquisitions, Valuation For M&A: Building Value in Private Companies, Second Edition lays out the steps for measuring and managing value creation in privately held businesses. This groundbreaking work led directly to authors Chris M. Mellen and Franck C. Evans being named the joint 2010 AM&AA Middle Market Thought Leader of the Year by the Alliance of Merger & Acquisition Advisors, and its thorough overview of the subject: Recognizes a company as an investment and explains how to manage that value to maximize shareholder returns, focusing on returns, risks, and capital invested Explains investment or strategic value versus fair market value and provides a document request checklist; sample interview questions; and formats for adjusting financial statements, developing discount rates, the computation of net cash flow; and a valuation reconciliation form Includes a comprehensive case study to illustrate concepts and calculations Now covers fair value accounting and the impact of SFAS Nos. 141, 142, and 157 and their IFRS counterparts, intangible asset valuation techniques, exit planning, international M&As, and venture backed/early stage companies Showing corporate executives as well as M&A professionals and business appraisers how to value privately-held businesses for merger and acquisition purposes, this book helps investors, executives, and their advisors determine the optimum strategy to enhance both market value and strategic value to maximize return on investment.
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470648813
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 343
Book Description
Discover the tools necessary to determine what your company's value is, what drives its value, and how to enhance that value during an M&A transaction. The only book to focus on valuation specifically for mergers and acquisitions, Valuation For M&A: Building Value in Private Companies, Second Edition lays out the steps for measuring and managing value creation in privately held businesses. This groundbreaking work led directly to authors Chris M. Mellen and Franck C. Evans being named the joint 2010 AM&AA Middle Market Thought Leader of the Year by the Alliance of Merger & Acquisition Advisors, and its thorough overview of the subject: Recognizes a company as an investment and explains how to manage that value to maximize shareholder returns, focusing on returns, risks, and capital invested Explains investment or strategic value versus fair market value and provides a document request checklist; sample interview questions; and formats for adjusting financial statements, developing discount rates, the computation of net cash flow; and a valuation reconciliation form Includes a comprehensive case study to illustrate concepts and calculations Now covers fair value accounting and the impact of SFAS Nos. 141, 142, and 157 and their IFRS counterparts, intangible asset valuation techniques, exit planning, international M&As, and venture backed/early stage companies Showing corporate executives as well as M&A professionals and business appraisers how to value privately-held businesses for merger and acquisition purposes, this book helps investors, executives, and their advisors determine the optimum strategy to enhance both market value and strategic value to maximize return on investment.
Private Trust Companies
Author: Todd Mayo
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781787423145
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 357
Book Description
This handbook is a comprehensive resource for lawyers, accountants, family office executives and any others who advise ultra-wealthy families on private trust companies. Featuring chapters written by leading practitioners, it fully explores the legal, regulatory and practical dimensions of forming and operating a private trust company.
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781787423145
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 357
Book Description
This handbook is a comprehensive resource for lawyers, accountants, family office executives and any others who advise ultra-wealthy families on private trust companies. Featuring chapters written by leading practitioners, it fully explores the legal, regulatory and practical dimensions of forming and operating a private trust company.
Mercenaries: A Guide to Private Armies and Private Military Companies
Author: Alan Axelrod
Publisher: CQ Press
ISBN: 1483364674
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 735
Book Description
Mercenaries: A Guide to Private Armies and Private Military Companies provides a comprehensive survey and guide to the mercenary forces, entrepreneurs, and corporations that are a major component of warfare today. Security, military advice, training, logistics support, policing, technological expertise, intelligence, transportation—all are outsourced to a greater or lesser degree in the U.S. military—while countries as diverse as Saudi Arabia and Australia rely on privatization in one form or another. This comprehensive one-volume work covers the full range of mercenaries active on the international military scene today, including a concise history of mercenaries and private armies on land, sea, and in the air. Key Features Illuminating sidebars include biographies of major figures, key statistics, historical and current documents, contracts, and legislation on private armies and outsourced military services. Each chapter includes a bibliography of books, journal articles, and web sites. A general bibliography concludes the entire work. Mercenaries is a must-have reference for academic libraries, public libraries, and any social science, governmental, or non-governmental reference collection.
Publisher: CQ Press
ISBN: 1483364674
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 735
Book Description
Mercenaries: A Guide to Private Armies and Private Military Companies provides a comprehensive survey and guide to the mercenary forces, entrepreneurs, and corporations that are a major component of warfare today. Security, military advice, training, logistics support, policing, technological expertise, intelligence, transportation—all are outsourced to a greater or lesser degree in the U.S. military—while countries as diverse as Saudi Arabia and Australia rely on privatization in one form or another. This comprehensive one-volume work covers the full range of mercenaries active on the international military scene today, including a concise history of mercenaries and private armies on land, sea, and in the air. Key Features Illuminating sidebars include biographies of major figures, key statistics, historical and current documents, contracts, and legislation on private armies and outsourced military services. Each chapter includes a bibliography of books, journal articles, and web sites. A general bibliography concludes the entire work. Mercenaries is a must-have reference for academic libraries, public libraries, and any social science, governmental, or non-governmental reference collection.
Private Military and Security Companies
Author: Thomas Jäger
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3531903136
Category : Political Science
Languages : de
Pages : 489
Book Description
Private Sicherheits- und Militärunternehmen erleben seit den 1990er Jahren einen außerordentlichen Boom und sind derzeit eines der spannendsten Phänomene in den internationalen Beziehungen. Die Palette der von ihnen angebotenen Dienstleistungen ist groß. Sie reichen von logistischer Unterstützung über Aufklärung bis hin zu Kampfeinsätzen. Zu ihren Kunden zählen Regierungen, Wirtschaftsunternehmen, internationale Organisationen, NGOs, humanitäre Organisationen sowie Privatpersonen. Gegenwärtig lässt sich an den Auseinandersetzungen im Irak sowohl die Aktualität wie auch die Brisanz ihres Einsatzes illustrieren, gibt es doch Anzeichen dafür, dass Beschäftigte solcher Unternehmen u.a. in die Folterung von Gefangenen verwickelt sind. Die Beiträge des Sammelbandes aus der Feder nationaler wie internationaler Expertinnen und Experten beschreiben und analysieren verschiedene Typen von privaten Sicherheits- und Militärunternehmens, ihre Dienstleistungen und die Umstände, die ihren Boom befördert haben. Sie diskutieren die Vor- wie auch die Nachteile ihres Einsatzes und beschreiben Instrumente, die die Tätigkeit dieser Unternehmen stärker reglementieren und kontrollieren könnten.
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3531903136
Category : Political Science
Languages : de
Pages : 489
Book Description
Private Sicherheits- und Militärunternehmen erleben seit den 1990er Jahren einen außerordentlichen Boom und sind derzeit eines der spannendsten Phänomene in den internationalen Beziehungen. Die Palette der von ihnen angebotenen Dienstleistungen ist groß. Sie reichen von logistischer Unterstützung über Aufklärung bis hin zu Kampfeinsätzen. Zu ihren Kunden zählen Regierungen, Wirtschaftsunternehmen, internationale Organisationen, NGOs, humanitäre Organisationen sowie Privatpersonen. Gegenwärtig lässt sich an den Auseinandersetzungen im Irak sowohl die Aktualität wie auch die Brisanz ihres Einsatzes illustrieren, gibt es doch Anzeichen dafür, dass Beschäftigte solcher Unternehmen u.a. in die Folterung von Gefangenen verwickelt sind. Die Beiträge des Sammelbandes aus der Feder nationaler wie internationaler Expertinnen und Experten beschreiben und analysieren verschiedene Typen von privaten Sicherheits- und Militärunternehmens, ihre Dienstleistungen und die Umstände, die ihren Boom befördert haben. Sie diskutieren die Vor- wie auch die Nachteile ihres Einsatzes und beschreiben Instrumente, die die Tätigkeit dieser Unternehmen stärker reglementieren und kontrollieren könnten.
Corporate Soldiers and International Security
Author: Christopher Kinsey
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134214103
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 209
Book Description
This book traces the history of private military companies, with a special focus on UK private forces. Christopher Kinsey examines the mercenary companies that filled the ranks of many European armies right up to the 1850s, the organizations that operated in Africa in the 1960s and early 1970s, the rise of legally established private military companies in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and today’s private and important actors in international security and post-conflict reconstruction. He shows how and why the change from the mercenary organizations of the 1960s and 1970s came about, as the increasing newness of private military companies came to be recognised. It then examines how PMCs have been able to impact upon international security. Finally, Kinsey looks at the type of problems and advantages that can arise for organizations that decide to use private military companies and how they can make an unique contribution to international security. Corporate Soldiers and International Security will be of great interest to all students of international politics, security studies and war studies.
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134214103
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 209
Book Description
This book traces the history of private military companies, with a special focus on UK private forces. Christopher Kinsey examines the mercenary companies that filled the ranks of many European armies right up to the 1850s, the organizations that operated in Africa in the 1960s and early 1970s, the rise of legally established private military companies in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and today’s private and important actors in international security and post-conflict reconstruction. He shows how and why the change from the mercenary organizations of the 1960s and 1970s came about, as the increasing newness of private military companies came to be recognised. It then examines how PMCs have been able to impact upon international security. Finally, Kinsey looks at the type of problems and advantages that can arise for organizations that decide to use private military companies and how they can make an unique contribution to international security. Corporate Soldiers and International Security will be of great interest to all students of international politics, security studies and war studies.
Valuation for M&A
Author: Chris M. Mellen
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1119437385
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 459
Book Description
Determine a company's value, what drives it, and how to enhance value during a M&A Valuation for M&A lays out the steps for measuring and managing value creation in non-publicly traded entities, and helps investors, executives, and their advisors determine the optimum strategy to enhance both market value and strategic value and maximize return on investment. As a starting point in planning for a transaction, it is helpful to compute fair market value, which represents a “floor” value for the seller since it by definition represents a value agreed upon by any hypothetical willing and able buyer and seller. But for M&A, it is more important to compute investment value, which is the value of the target company to a strategic buyer (and which can vary with each prospective buyer). Prepare for the sale and acquisition of a firm Identify, quantify, and qualify the synergies that increase value to strategic buyers Get access to new chapters on fairness opinions and professional service firms Find a discussion of Roger Grabowski's writings on cost of capital, cross-border M&A, private cost of capital, intangible capital, and asset vs. stock transactions Inside, all the necessary tools you need to build and measure private company value is just a page away!
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1119437385
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 459
Book Description
Determine a company's value, what drives it, and how to enhance value during a M&A Valuation for M&A lays out the steps for measuring and managing value creation in non-publicly traded entities, and helps investors, executives, and their advisors determine the optimum strategy to enhance both market value and strategic value and maximize return on investment. As a starting point in planning for a transaction, it is helpful to compute fair market value, which represents a “floor” value for the seller since it by definition represents a value agreed upon by any hypothetical willing and able buyer and seller. But for M&A, it is more important to compute investment value, which is the value of the target company to a strategic buyer (and which can vary with each prospective buyer). Prepare for the sale and acquisition of a firm Identify, quantify, and qualify the synergies that increase value to strategic buyers Get access to new chapters on fairness opinions and professional service firms Find a discussion of Roger Grabowski's writings on cost of capital, cross-border M&A, private cost of capital, intangible capital, and asset vs. stock transactions Inside, all the necessary tools you need to build and measure private company value is just a page away!
Private Empire
Author: Steve Coll
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101572140
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 654
Book Description
“ExxonMobil has met its match in Coll, an elegant writer and dogged reporter . . . extraordinary . . . monumental.” —The Washington Post “Fascinating . . . Private Empire is a book meticulously prepared as if for trial . . . a compelling and elucidatory work.” —Bloomberg From the Pulitzer Prize-winning and bestselling author of Ghost Wars and The Achilles Trap, an extraordinary exposé of Big Oil. Includes a profile of current Secretary of State and former chairman and chief executive of ExxonMobil, Rex Tillerson In this, the first hard-hitting examination of ExxonMobil—the largest and most powerful private corporation in the United States—Steve Coll reveals the true extent of its power. Private Empire pulls back the curtain, tracking the corporation’s recent history and its central role on the world stage, beginning with the Exxon Valdez accident in 1989 and leading to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. The action spans the globe—featuring kidnapping cases, civil wars, and high-stakes struggles at the Kremlin—and the narrative is driven by larger-than-life characters, including corporate legend Lee “Iron Ass” Raymond, ExxonMobil’s chief executive until 2005, and current chairman and chief executive Rex Tillerson, President-elect Donald Trump's nomination for Secretary of State. A penetrating, news-breaking study, Private Empire is a defining portrait of Big Oil in American politics and foreign policy.
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101572140
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 654
Book Description
“ExxonMobil has met its match in Coll, an elegant writer and dogged reporter . . . extraordinary . . . monumental.” —The Washington Post “Fascinating . . . Private Empire is a book meticulously prepared as if for trial . . . a compelling and elucidatory work.” —Bloomberg From the Pulitzer Prize-winning and bestselling author of Ghost Wars and The Achilles Trap, an extraordinary exposé of Big Oil. Includes a profile of current Secretary of State and former chairman and chief executive of ExxonMobil, Rex Tillerson In this, the first hard-hitting examination of ExxonMobil—the largest and most powerful private corporation in the United States—Steve Coll reveals the true extent of its power. Private Empire pulls back the curtain, tracking the corporation’s recent history and its central role on the world stage, beginning with the Exxon Valdez accident in 1989 and leading to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. The action spans the globe—featuring kidnapping cases, civil wars, and high-stakes struggles at the Kremlin—and the narrative is driven by larger-than-life characters, including corporate legend Lee “Iron Ass” Raymond, ExxonMobil’s chief executive until 2005, and current chairman and chief executive Rex Tillerson, President-elect Donald Trump's nomination for Secretary of State. A penetrating, news-breaking study, Private Empire is a defining portrait of Big Oil in American politics and foreign policy.