Some Landmark M&A Deals—And Their Deal Toys (Updated)

September 21, 2020 by David Parry

The M&A deals commemorated here involved not only individuals like Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Warren Buffett, and Robert Iger...but also a Ukrainian immigrant and a former Yahoo engineer. They involved firms like Blackstone, Moelis,...

MORE Landmark M&A Deals—And Their Deal Toys (Updated)

December 5, 2019 by David Parry

You go to sleep convinced you’ve pulled off a mega deal…only to find out the next morning that it’s been snatched away from you—in the middle of the night, a continent away. See which deal we’re talking about below in the follow-up to our...

Real Estate Tombstones: 7 Iconic Buildings & Properties (Updated)

August 27, 2019 by David Parry

Europe's largest office building. New York City's most expensive rental. The building is nicknamed "The Bottle Opener". The hotel was created by feuding blue-blood cousins. They're all here---and more---in our Real Estate Tombstones of...

“New” Dinosaur Deal Toys: Going Back To The 90’s! (Updated)

May 19, 2019 by David Parry

The deal toy above dates back to May, 1998----back to when Smith Barney and Salomon Brothers had merged to form Salomon Smith Barney...and before both would merge once again, this time into Citigroup. As with our previous galleries of Dinosaur...

More Gambling Tombstones – New & Old

May 9, 2019 by David Parry

Take Shots Embrace the Grind Be a Nice Person Keep Tilt External Be Serious About Your Legacy Dealmaking wisdom from some investment banking grandee? Actually they're tips for beginning World Series of Poker players---offered...

Movie-Themed Deal Toys: From Shrek to Shadowman! (Updated)

May 1, 2019 by David Parry

How vital was Shrek to the financial survival of DreamWorks? "That little green ogre", DreamsWorks co-founder and CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg once said, "saved us". Not surprisingly, Shrek also provided the inspiration for the deal toy when...

Game-Themed Deal Toys: Legends, Settlers, Clans—and Ducks & Vols

April 18, 2019 by David Parry

The recently completed 2019 NCAA college basketball tournament brought home the widely shared, abiding passion for the game----the game being the addictive, old-school relic Settlers of Catan. Stars of two tournament teams, Payton Pritchard of...

More Car-Themed Deal Toys

April 12, 2019 by David Parry

The recent focus on Uber and Lyft was a reminder to us that though we've devoted a number of galleries to IPO deal toys over the years, we've neglected, at least recently, the "ride" portion of the ride-sharing equation. Provided below is a...

The “Tombstone Tomb”: More IB Tales from the Crypt

May 14, 2018 by David Parry

The firm that helped launch the careers of Ken Moelis, Paul Singer, and Stephen Schwarzman—among many others? It no longer exists. But we see reminders of DLJ around our office every day—along with countless other firms that,...