The Caesars Palace Coup: How a Billionaire Brawl Over the Famous Casino Exposed the Power and Greed of Wall Street

Lawyers and bankers duke it out in this thorough if dry history of the downfall of the Caesars Entertainment empire. Built in Las Vegas by Jay Sarno in 1966, Caesars Palace soon became the most famous casino in the world. By 2015, Caesars was in debt and filed for bankruptcy, which led to a frenzy to work out who should be at the helm: the private equity firms that had acquired the chain in 2008, or the hedge fund "vultures" who owned the company's debt. For years, leveraged buyouts ensured the company's "twists and turns...riveted Wall Street," until finally, in 2019, Caesars announced its planned sale to Eldorado Resorts. While the survey is populated with colorful characters—attorney and former Washington insider Jim Millstein, competitive and ambitious COO Gary Loveman—the casino empire's implosion takes place largely in courtrooms and boardrooms, and such scenes become repetitive. Corporate combat, meanwhile, is waged largely via paperwork, leaving this Vegas story with little glitz or flash. Business students will find it a welcome respite from stodgier case studies, but general readers may find it slow going. Agent: Hilary Claggett, the Rudy Agency. (Mar.)