Crash Landing: The Inside Story of How the World’s Biggest Companies Survived an Economy on the Brink by Liz Hoffman (Review)

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A compelling narrative about how various CEOs, politicians and business leaders manuevered companies, industries and the U.S. economy during the pandemic. Bill Ackman was able to foresee the future and made billions in profits. Other CEOs struggled to keep their companies afloat and needed loans and financing from the government to survive.

Hoffman presents a study of various approaches of crisis management from the perspectives of different industries (hotel, airlines, auto, financial services etc.) The book was very well written. You do not have to be a MBA student to grasp the precarious situations companies were in during the first months of the pandemic.

Government and specifically President Trump were not very helpful. Trump exhibited zero leadership skills during this crisis and his only concern was getting re-elected. However Steve Mnuchin, Secretary of the Treasury, did exhibit some initiative and acumen in working with various CEOs during the crisis.

The reader realizes that a lot of money was thrown against this pandemic to save companies and also to assist workers and the public to survive. How much of this effort was prudent and effective may be worth another book.

If you read and enjoyed Too Big to Fail by Andrew Ross Sorkin about the financial crisis of 2008-2009, you will like this book too.



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