Upon viewing the film "Barbarians at the Gate," based upon a novel by the same title, I was able to get a small glimpse into the hostile world of corporate life in the mid to late 1980's. At first glance I was astonished by the lack of morals and ethics within this community, but upon further investigation I deduced that this incredible greed is what drove the economy. Without this greed, corporate America would have never grown to their immense size.
             The film begins with the management of RJR Nabisco celebrating their victory over Anthony Cappallone, a man suing the tobacco company for contributing to the death of his wife, who had been a long time smoker. The trial was thought to be the culprit for restraining the price of stock in RJR Nabisco, but when the stock failed to rebound after the victory RJR Nabisco's CEO, F. Ross Johnson began to worry. Luckily, RJR had been developing a revolutionary cigarette, one with relatively no smoke or tar. This miracle product labeled Premier, was going to be RJR Nabisco's saving grace for their dwindling stick prices. But after intense testing, it was determined that Premier's "tasted like s***, and smelled like farts." Knowing only one last way to increase the undervalued stock prices, F. Ross Johnson decided that along with Ed Horigan, head of RJR, and 3 other members of management, he would initiate a leveraged buyout (LBO). After first consulting Henry Kravis, the so-called king!
             of LBO's, Johnson decided the safest way to pursue the buyout was to put his backing behind Peter Cohen, the head of Shearson, an investment bank, that is a subsidiary of American Express. Cohen a rookie to the art of LBO's, was confident that he could pull of the single largest LBO in history. After intense scrutiny of RJR Nabisco, Shearson decided that because of the heavily undervalued stock they could place a bid of $75 for every outstanding share, and ...