Surviving Wall Street

M&A dealmaker's real-life adventure tale tells the story of a turbulent period on Wall Street

Surviving Wall Street: A Tale of Triumph, Tragedy and Timing portrays the dramatic transformation of the investment banking business in recent decades through the tumultuous saga of one firm (Greenhill & Co., a specialist in mergers and acquisitions) and one man (Scott Bok, the longtime CEO of that firm). Written in the style of an adventure tale, this book is also a "coming of age" story for a naive young man who came to Wall Street—as thousands like him do each year—and managed to grab a front-row seat for a period of epic change.

Readers will gain an insider's perspective on:

• A M&A firm's journey from start-up to wildly successful first-of-a-kind IPO and later to a sale to a major global bank
• Numerous crises that rocked Greenhill and all of Wall Street, including the dot-com crash, global financial crisis and pandemic
• How the creation of new firms and mergers or collapses of old ones have driven the evolution and growth of the industry
• The author's role in a battle for control of the University of Pennsylvania that featured activist shareholder and corporate takeover tactics

A firsthand account of deals and dealmakers told from inside the boardroom, Surviving Wall Street will captivate those wanting to understand the dramatic evolution and expansion of Wall Street, as well as younger readers hoping to chart their own path to success in this Darwinian industry.

Preface xi

Chapter 1 Before the Beginning 1

Chapter 2 I Want to Be a Part of It 15

Chapter 3 Up, Up and Away 27

Chapter 4 Moving Fast 37

Chapter 5 A Bubble Bursts 59

Chapter 6 Refusing to Sell Out 93

Chapter 7 A Not So Crazy Idea 117

Chapter 8 Brains and Bull Markets 139

Chapter 9 Visitors From Jurassic Park 157

Chapter 10 Another Year of Magical Thinking 171

Chapter 11 Shifting Tides and Tidal Waves 191

Chapter 12 Greedy People Watching 223

Chapter 13 Not Too Big to Fail 241

Chapter 14 Zambonis and Ice 265

Chapter 15 Clouds of Dust 281

Chapter 16 Starting Over 301

Chapter 17 Succession 325

Chapter 18 “we’re Gonna Die” 343

Chapter 19 Not Dead Yet 367

Chapter 20 It’s (not Always) a Wonderful Life 381

Chapter 21 There Is a Season 401

Chapter 22 A Gathering Storm 419

Chapter 23 Two Worlds Collide 433

Acknowledgements 463

Notes 467

About the Author 483

Index 485

SCOTT L. BOK has spent four decades on Wall Street advising CEOs and boards of directors. Longtime leader of Greenhill & Co., the pioneering mergers and acquisitions (M&A) advisory firm, he has also served as board chair at the University of Pennsylvania and the American Museum of Natural History.

100% of the author’s book proceeds will be donated to City Harvest, which rescues good food and distributes it for free to New Yorkers in need.

Surviving Wall Street: A Tale of Triumph, Tragedy and Timing tells an adventure story. Through the tumultuous saga of one firm (Greenhill, a pioneering merger advisory business) and one man (that firm’s longtime leader) readers come to understand the dramatic evolution of the investment banking industry in recent years—its extraordinary growth, frequent crises, Darwinian competition, and the continual creation of new firms and disappearance of older ones.

Greenhill navigates a journey from scrappy start-up to highly successful IPO and ultimately to a sale to a major global bank, along the way illustrating in vivid color the pivotal moments that transformed Wall Street. Readers experience crises like the dot-com crash, global financial crisis and Covid pandemic. They learn of deals and dealmakers, how market cycles drive booms and busts, and how boards and CEOs operate in both the corporate and nonprofit spheres.

The book culminates in an account from inside the boardroom of the University of Pennsylvania, where a highly unusual takeover battle reminiscent of those in the corporate realm marked the start of a period of nationwide campus unrest unlike anything since the Vietnam War era.

Here is the story of how Wall Street really works. Whether you are trying to figure out how Wall Street became so powerful, hope to chart your own path to success in this arena or simply enjoy a harrowing adventure tale, this insider’s account is a must-read.

Praise for SURVIVING WALL STREET

“An epic journey by a consummate Wall Street dealmaker, Scott Bok advised on some of the biggest M&As in U.S. history and built the gold standard of boutique investment banks. Bok’s fast paced, insider’s account delivers fresh insights on a Darwinian industry. Along the way, we meet the celebrity bankers and corporate titans who waged fractious battles to create today’s investment banking world.”
— DIRK SMILLIE, former Forbes senior writer and author, The Business of Tomorrow: The Visionary Life of Harry Guggenheim

“Scott Bok combines the skills of a Wall Street dealmaker with the gifts of a born storyteller in this extraordinary account of what happens when the worlds of business, politics, and academia collide. Surviving Wall Street brilliantly describes how the University of Pennsylvania, a storied Ivy League university, was attacked by a group of ‘masters of the universe’ who deployed the tools of a hostile corporate takeover in their effort to transform the school. Those efforts — rife with boardroom intrigue, secret meetings, and bare-knuckle attacks — perfectly illustrate how the previously staid world of academia has become a culture wars battleground where the search for truth collides with the quest for power.”
— ERIC A. FELDMAN, Chair, University of Pennsylvania Faculty Senate and Professor, Penn Carey Law School

“Scott’s book propels the reader into the midst of the complicated and unpredictable reality that is the world of Wall Street. His humble beginnings in Grand Rapids, Michigan contrast his experiences in this world where titans of industry become characters, personalities clash, and he sat center stage to witness it all. However, his enormous success never stopped him from being involved in philanthropy and education, and the stewardship he exhibited during his tenure as the board chairman of the University of Pennsylvania—at the height of attacks against freedom of expression—was heroic and serves as an example of a champion of democracy.”
— LUIS A. MIRANDA, JR., political strategist and consultant, Chair of The Public Theater and author of Relentless: My Story of the Latino Spirit That Is Transforming America