Pacelle, Mitchell - Empire: A Tale of Obsession, Betrayal, and the Battle for an American Icon

Empire: A Tale of Obsession, Betrayal, and the Battle for an American Icon by Pacelle, Mitchell

Published by Wiley, 2001

It is the most famous skyscraper in the world-a towering edifice whose silhouette defines New York's skyline. Each year, millions of visitors from all over the world flock to its upper reaches to take in its dramatic views. Yet few are aware of the triumphs and tragedies that have played out in its storied corridors. Ever since it was erected during the Great Depression, the Empire State Building has been coveted by ambitious, self-made men who have gone to great lengths to call it their own. It has carried some of them to prominence, others to the precipice of financial ruin. For a few, the building has exacted an even higher toll-costing them friends, family, and even their freedom.EMPIRE is a gripping account of a frenzied decade-long contest for control of America's premier skyscraper. MITCHELL PACELLE, an award-winning writer for The Wall Street Journal, takes us behind the scenes in a bizarre drama of greed, rivalry, duplicity, and betrayal. Taking advantage of extensive access to key players, he traces the saga from the boardroom where an intricate ownership web was spun to the time-warped world of a Japanese tycoon; from castles in Britain to jail cells in New York and France.Pacelle brings vividly to life a colorful and intriguing cast of characters at the center of the contest, including:* Hideki Yokoi, a reviled Japanese billionaire who gathered storybook buildings as if they were trophies-and whose obsession with owning the Empire State Building would tear his family asunder* Kiiko Nakahara, Yokoi's daughter, and her husband, Jean-Paul Renoir, whose own quest for the building would lead them on a ruinous legal odyssey on two continents* Harry and Leona Helmsley, the building's link to a fading era of Manhattan real estate kingpins, whose iron grip on the building would come under spirited attack from many quarters* Donald Trump, who would maneuver to gain a slim stake in the skyscraper, then play it for all it was worthBrilliantly written, with twists and turns that surprise like fiction, EMPIRE offers a rare glimpse into the era of old-world real estate tycoons, and explores the culture clash that erupted when the new guard rose to challenge them. What unfolds is one of the most captivating business tales of our time. Guardian Weekly ...it is a book - and a very good one...