51: Al Dunlap

Desperate Acts of Capitalism Podcast

Al Dunlap was not an ordinary man: he was a verb. Across the country, his name was a byword for rapid corporate turnarounds and ruthless efficiency; at least, that's what he claimed on the jacket cover of his book. Known for walking into boardroom meetings in ostentatious outfits and firing half the company, there was a time when Wall Street believed that "the Chainsaw" really could turn bad companies into good ones with sheer willpower. But Al was playing a dangerous game, and in the end he flew too close to the sun. Edited and thumbnail by Noah JOIN US ON PATREON FOR EARLY EPISODE RELEASES, BONUS CONTENT, AND MORE: www.patreon.com/desperateactsofcapitalism Sources: Securities and Exchange Commission v. Albert Dunlap et al., Civil Action No. 01-8437-CIV (Middlebrooks)(S.D. Fla.) https://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/lr-17710 Mean Business by Al Dunlap https://archive.org/details/meanbusinesshowi00dunl_0 "Portfolio’s Worst American CEOs of All Time" https://www.cnbc.com/2009/04/30/Portfolios-Worst-American-CEOs-of-All-Time.html?slide=16 "SEC Sues Sunbeam CFO Kersh, Dunlap, and Four Others" https://www.cfo.com/news/breaking-news-sec-sues-former-sunbeam-cfo-kersh-dunlap-and-four-others/683301/ Book review: "Rambo in pinstripes. Chainsaw: The Notorious Career of Al Dunlap in the Era of Profit-at-Any-Price" https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/npr.4040190212?saml_referrer "Memo to Al Dunlap: You're Fired!" https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/memo-to-al-dunlap-youre-fired/ "Al Dunlap Compared Himself to Springsteen, Then Came a Steep Fall" https://www.wsj.com/articles/albert-j-dunlap-cost-slashing-sunbeam-ceo-known-as-chainsaw-al-dies-at-age-81-11548611699 "Michael F. Price, a Pugnacious Value Investor, Has Died at Age 70" https://www.wsj.com/articles/michael-f-price-a-pugnacious-value-investor-has-died-at-age-70-11647621811