Henry Kravis · RJR Nabisco · $31B · 1989 Carl Icahn · TWA · 1985 Michael Milken · Drexel Burnham · $200B issued T. Boone Pickens · Gulf Oil · 1984 Ronald Perelman · Revlon · $2.7B · 1985 Felix Rohatyn · NYC Rescue · $10B MAC Bruce Wasserstein · Du Pont Conoco · 1981 Joe Perella · First Boston M&A · 1979 Jimmy Lee · TXU · $45B · 2007 Wayne Huizenga · Blockbuster · 1987 Brad Jacobs · XPO · 500+ acquisitions Mark Leonard · Constellation Software · 1000+ deals John Malone · TCI · $48B Tracking Stock Wilbur Ross · International Steel Group · 2002 Robert Greenhill · IBM-Rolm · $3.5B · 1984 Henry Kravis · RJR Nabisco · $31B · 1989 Carl Icahn · TWA · 1985 Michael Milken · Drexel Burnham · $200B issued T. Boone Pickens · Gulf Oil · 1984 Ronald Perelman · Revlon · $2.7B · 1985 Felix Rohatyn · NYC Rescue · $10B MAC Bruce Wasserstein · Du Pont Conoco · 1981 Joe Perella · First Boston M&A · 1979 Jimmy Lee · TXU · $45B · 2007 Wayne Huizenga · Blockbuster · 1987 Brad Jacobs · XPO · 500+ acquisitions Mark Leonard · Constellation Software · 1000+ deals John Malone · TCI · $48B Tracking Stock Wilbur Ross · International Steel Group · 2002 Robert Greenhill · IBM-Rolm · $3.5B · 1984
Free guide + weekly brief · No spam, ever

The Finance Playbook
College Doesn’t
Teach You.

Written by active bulge-bracket bankers. Get the Dealmaker’s Playbook free today: six legendary moves from the titans of finance and the lesson to steal from each. Then one deal, banker, or concept decoded every Sunday.

Free instant download

Get the Dealmaker’s Playbook.

Six legendary plays from Pickens, KKR, Perelman, Milken and Ludwig, with the lesson to steal from each. Sent straight to your inbox.

Takes 10 seconds. No spam, no credit card, unsubscribe in one click. Then The Sunday Brief lands every Sunday at 8:00 AM ET.

  • Read by Wall Street professionals
  • 5-minute Sunday read
  • Free forever
  • Decode the landmark deals

    One landmark transaction every Sunday, broken into the structure, the financing, and the actual banker terminology used on the deal. Fluency you won’t get from any textbook.

  • Master the technicals

    Valuation frameworks, NWC mechanics, and quality-of-earnings drills as they are actually run on the desk by analysts working the live deals.

  • Steal the career edges

    The unspoken rules of bulge-bracket, boutique and PE seats, written by insiders currently working at the top desks on Wall Street.

What lands in your inbox

01

One career, fully decoded

Each issue takes a single operator or banker and breaks down exactly how they built their career: the strategy, the structure, the financing, and the one tactic you can use this week.

02

The playbook, not the trivia

Not a history lesson. Every issue ends with the repeatable principles behind the career, and the specific tactic you can apply to your own deal or your own desk.

03

The deals, deconstructed

RJR Nabisco, TXU, the Facebook IPO, IBM-Rolm, the Revlon fight, the landmark transactions explained the way a senior banker would explain them, minus the jargon.

04

The technicals, made clear

Net working capital adjustments, the deal lifecycle, multiple arbitrage, leveraged loan structures, the M&A machinery made genuinely simple, one concept at a time.

Inside a typical issue

Four parts. Fifteen minutes. One fortune explained.

  1. The titan or the banker, who they were and the franchise they built
  2. The signature deal, the one transaction that defined the name
  3. The structure, how the financing or process actually worked
  4. The playbook, the principles you can take to your own desk

Questions

What do I get the moment I sign up?

The Dealmaker's Playbook, free. Six legendary moves from the titans of finance, from Pickens to KKR to Ludwig, each broken down with the lesson you can steal. It lands in your inbox right away.

How often does it go out?

Sundays, 8am ET. One operator, banker, deal or technical concept per issue, short enough to read with coffee, deep enough to be worth it.

What does it cost?

Nothing. The newsletter is free. You can unsubscribe in one click, any time.

Who is it for?

Anyone serious about working in finance. Analysts and associates at banks and PE firms, MBA students targeting deal roles, undergraduates studying finance, founders preparing for transactions, and operators planning rollups.

Is this investment advice?

No. It is financial education, written from public information. Nothing in it is a recommendation to buy or sell anything.

Get the free Playbook + this Sunday’s issue

Six legendary plays now, one decoded fortune every Sunday. Takes ten seconds, and you can unsubscribe in one click.