Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco

by Bryan Burrough

Then along came Ross Johnson. It was, one wag noted, as if Hell’s Angels had merged with the Rotary Club.

“Sticht is going to be my sexual consultant,” Wilson was heard to say. “When I want his fucking advice, I’ll ask for it.”

Business, he felt, should be creating jobs and new products, things it couldn’t do if it was focused on paying back debt.