Master of the Game: Steve Ross and the Creation of Time Warner

by Connie Bruck

In a career that began in Brooklyn and spanned Wall Street, Hollywood, and the Mafia, Ross built his father-in-law's funeral business and a parking lot company into Time Warner, the largest media and entertainment company in the world. Hard-hitting and compulsive reading, this book takes you into the heart of what made this arrogant yet irresistible man tick.

Genres: Business, Biography, History, Nonfiction, Entrepreneurship, Autobiography, Leadership

395 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Aaron Mackell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Master of the Game was an excellent look into the life of one of the greatest corporate dealmakers of the 20th century. Steve Ross proved that you don’t have to come from wealth to build an empire—his greatest strengths were his ability to close transformative deals, cultivate powerful relationships, and consistently place himself where opportunity existed. At the same time, the book shows that extraordinary professional success can come with profound personal costs. Ross’s willingness to sacrifice friendships, family, and loyalty in pursuit of his vision ultimately left him with an unmatched business legacy but a far more complicated personal one. It’s a fascinating reminder that success isn’t measured solely by the size of the empire you build, but also by the relationships you preserve along the way. Really helped to shape my own perspective of understanding what matters most, success doesn’t amount to much without having people close to you to share it with.

From a corporate dealmaker/M&A perspective, Steve Ross was really one of them ones.

He’s the driving force behind:
- the merger of Warner and Time (bringing HBO, Sports Illustrated, People, and other major media assets under one company)
- Warner’s acquisition of Atari
- helping launch MTV and Nickelodeon through Warner’s cable ventures
- building relationships with people like Frank Sinatra and Steven Spielberg that helped make Warner a powerhouse in music and film

He basically built one of the first true media empires through acquisitions, and relationships.. From a business standpoint, he’s elite.

[Mark Bunch · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed learning the back story on Warner Brothers in my lifetime. My friend Doris M. Ligon would have loved this one as well; it has combined the parking lot industry, the funereal business, the movie business, the music industry, and the mob into a modern business history. Steve Ross was the man. behind the creative minds of the music and movies.

[Dylan Collins · Rating 3 out of 5]

A useful media company history book. Slightly dense to read.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this as an attempt to understand the transformation of Kinney Service Corp to Warner Communication. It has some data on that, but not that much. However, what I read was good enough, as it's more about Steven Ross and his art of the deal. Charisma and moxie are what kept him in the same job for over 30 years. The free-spending Ross would probably frighten most corporations these days (not to mention some of his less savory associates). Book seems fairly accurate.

[Miguel · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK book on Steve Ross, his rise and creation of Time Warner. A few tidbits to learn on the relationships between content, distribution and platform businesses. Giving it 3 stars because I bought the book to learn about Steve's business career, however the book spends a lot of time on the lawsuits and investigations around him and Time Warner.

[Kenneth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Connie Bruck does a good job on the research about one of America's famous CEOs. I think at times the research gets too dense, but does present a fascinating portrait of Steve Ross and his creation of Time Warner. Good insight into the financial genius and charisma of Ross.

[Jozef Gajdos · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was unable to finish this book. Extremely boring, almost nothing about business or the way he built the company, but a lot of details about lawsuits the company went through.

[Frank Palardy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book explains how the big media companies were put together. Not pretty.

[Tim Wu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent as these kind of books go. Lets outrageous facts speak for themselves.