The Dealmaker

Lessons from a Life in Private Equity

By: Guy Hands

Narrated by: Simon Shepherd, Guy Hands - introduction

Brought to you by Penguin.

An inside account of the multibillion-pound world of private equity and a masterclass on the art of deal-making.

The Dealmaker is a frank and honest account of how a severely dyslexic child who struggled at school went on to graduate from Oxford and become a serial entrepreneur.

It describes Guy Hand's career in private equity, first at Nomura and then as head of his own company, Terra Firma. It looks in detail at the huge deals that Terra Firma has done over the years, involving everything from cinema chains and pubs to waste management, aircraft leasing and green energy. And it offers a brutally honest appraisal of the one deal that turned sour - the acquisition of multinational music recording and publishing company EMI in 2007, just as a global financial crash loomed on the horizon. Above all, it takes the listener inside the previously very secretive world of private equity, explaining how this multibillion-pound sector operates and providing audio portraits of some of the larger-than-life figures who people it.

Both insightful and engaging, it will prove inspirational and essential listening for all those concerned with or interested in the world of investment.

©2021 Guy Hands (P)2021 Penguin Audio

honest memoir from the belly of private equity

Guy Hands offers a frank and incisive account of his life in finance, mostly in private equity. An unvarnished take, which also offers a broad anatomy of the sub-field

I really enjoyed this read

It was refreshing to listen to the accounts and insights gained from a seasoned private equity investor who has had high highs and low lows.

Lessons in Brilliance, Humility and Wisdom.

Loved the book. Have followed Guy Hands for years and met him a couple of times. Even at his lowest, he was certainly one of the better ones in the PE game, and even the EMI low was more attributable to the power of corruption within a complex bank, and the gross inadequacy of the the US legal system. Though he rightly admits his role in not knowing when to quit. There are many underlying lessons in this book, and it should studied intently by any financial and business workaholic Changemakers.

Interesting account

Very good account of private equity and business man . Experiences resonate with most of us.

Riveting content but audiobook edits distracting

Content is gripping and I enjoyed Guy's reflections on his successes and setbacks. Stories move at a quick pace, and the 11 hours of audiobook flew by quickly.

The narration for the most part is superb. But there are very jarring edits which pop up frequently throughout the book. At numerous points through the audio, a phrase or sentence read during another recording session by (what sounds like) a different reader would be awkwardly spliced in.

Very Interesting, rather self involved

Guy has a lot of fascinating stories and experiences to share. I found it very interesting to learn more about how PE deals are done, and what’s involved in the process of negotiation. It was also interesting to hear about his own challenges and struggles with mental and physical health and it’s rather brave for him to share that.
As someone who worked in a similar field, and went through a similar burn out, it was quite fascinating to see the comparison.

However, it would’ve been nicer to have less self depreciating mentalizing and overthinking, and more specifics about his deal and lessons!

A very honest account.

I didnt know of Guy Hand but ive heard of Terra Firma. I throughly enjoy this account, as Guy comes across and Genuine and honest. I think there are also many nuggets of wisdom one can pull from Guys experience.

Gripping

From the start to the end, this book had me hooked. It's very rare that you can relate to someone in a world so vast from your own. I just hope there's another to follow.

Amazing

A great listen. Such intense stories read with such a pleasant English accent. Highly recommended.