Crash Landing: Failure and Fortune in the Pandemic Economy

by Liz Hoffman

A kaleidoscopic account of the financial carnage of the pandemic, revealing the fear, grit, and gambles that drove the economy’s winners and losers—from a leading business reporter“A true masterwork . . . perceptive, well researched, and captivating.”—David M. Rubenstein, co-founder and co-chairman of The Carlyle Group, bestselling author of How to InvestIt was the ultimate test for CEOs, and almost none of them saw it coming. In early March 2020, with the Dow Jones flirting with 30,000, the world’s biggest companies were riding an eleven-year economic high. By the end of the month, millions were out of work, iconic firms were begging for bailouts, and countless small businesses were in freefall. Slick consulting teams and country-club connections were suddenly of little Business leaders were fumbling in the dark, tossing out long-term strategy and making decisions on the fly—decisions that, they hoped, might just save them.In Crash Landing, award-winning business journalist Liz Hoffman shows how the pandemic set the economy on fire—but if you look closely, the tinder was already there. After the global financial crisis in 2008, corporate leaders embraced cheap debt and growth at all costs. Wages flatlined. Millions were pushed into the gig economy. Companies crammed workers into offices, and airlines did the same with planes. Wall Street cheered on this relentless march toward efficiency, overlooking the collateral damage and the risks sowed in the process.Based on astonishing access inside some of the world’s biggest and most iconic companies, Crash Landing is a kaleidoscopic account of the most remarkable period in modern economic history, revealing—through gripping, fly-on-the-wall reporting—how CEOs battled an economic catastrophe for which there was no among them, Airbnb’s Brian Chesky, blindsided by a virus in the middle of a high-stakes effort to go public; American Airlines’ Doug Parker, shuttling between K Street and the White House, determined to secure a multibillion-dollar bailout; and Ford’s Jim Hackett, as his assembly lines went from building cars to churning out ventilators.In the tradition of Too Big to Fail and The Big Short, Crash Landing exposes the fear, grit, and gambles behind the pandemic economy, while probing its implications for the future of work, corporate leadership, and capitalism itself, Will this remarkable time give rise to newfound resilience, or become just another costly mistake to be forgotten?

Genres: Business, Economics, Nonfiction, History, Finance, Audiobook, 21st Century

Paperback

First published March 7, 2023

Reviews

[Liz Thys · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved! Hoffman is a stellar storyteller. She weaves the narrative together across industries and leaders compellingly giving an encompassing view of the economy during and after the pandemic. I learned a lot about corporate finance as well!

[Haur Bin Chua · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating book on how many industries weathered the threat of COVID to survive, especially in the early days where there were so much uncertainties and little support from the government.

In the face of dwindling demand, tightening cash flow and personal safety of employees, CEOs had to make decisions like securing more loans at higher interest rates to shore up cash reserves, furloughing employees, whether to send people home or pivoting business to unchartered territories to generate cash. Some companies became really creative like airlines issuing corporate bond using company brands and frequent flyer programs and how Ford repurposed their plants to produce ventilators.

Those were times where the walls were closing in but yet every step seemed more risky than the last. Nevertheless, many of these businesses found ways to stay afloat and eventually got stronger on the other side. Certainly lots to learn from this crisis but we also can be assured that the next crisis will be equally as unprecedented.

[Csparrenberger · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provides an interesting look at the pandemic, and how it affected various businesses and business sectors. It is well researched and very thorough. At times, I thought that the amount of detail was excessive, and therefore four stars

[Dave Carden · Rating 4 out of 5]

It can be hard to remember the sheer chaos and uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic's first few weeks. Everyone can tell you when they realized this wasn't going to be another SARS or bird flu scare (for me, it was when the cancelation of SXSW).

Across America, corporate leaders were grappling with two contradictory problems: how to keep their businesses afloat also while keeping employees and customers safe. What followed was an unprecedented upset in the global economy. Journalist Liz Hoffman takes us inside the board rooms – and later apartments and beach houses – of C-Suite executives as they navigated ever-changing science and an often dysfunctional government response.

The federal rescue of some industries is still a fresh political sore point, but Hoffman remains objective, telling surprisingly human stories of those who tried to keep America running.

Some of the writing gets extremely technical, especially around bonds and interest rates. Hoffman tries to explain all of these in layman's terms but I found myself skipping a few paragraphs that went deep into different types of debt.

It might be too early to write an authoritative history of the pandemic, but Hoffman's focus on February-March 2020 takes me back to how utterly bizarre those early days seemed.

[Nadirah · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Crash Landing" by Liz Hoffman provides a brief look into how the CEOs of big corporations from several sectors handled the challenges that emerged due to the pandemic; a challenging feat as they had to grapple with an unprecedented financial and health crisis that was even worse than the 2008 financial crisis. The pandemic in 2020 caught everyone off guard, despite several alarms being sounded by health experts. Far from preparing for an impending crisis, however, most opted to ignore the alarm bells, and the result was that most governments and corporations had to run around to extinguish the fire that emerged from the blowout globally.

In this piece of investigative journalism work, Hoffman has compiled anecdotes and facts from her sources that give readers insights into how the leaders of these companies had to adapt to the ever-changing landscape of the crisis when the pandemic hit. Note that this is a very US-centric book so don't expect any international coverage. There are some big names involved here, most notably companies within the travel and hospitality industries (Hilton, American Airlines, Airbnb), as well as other major industries like the automotive (Ford) and the financial elites (aka the banks & investing/trading firms and the likes).

Honestly, it's not surprising to find out that most of these industries did receive bailouts from the governments, and while I can understand why the governments had to step in, it's still galling to think that these industries would never have bothered to 'pay it forward' when they were making profits off of people's backs. On the bright side, there are exceptions: Ford, knowing that it couldn't manufacture cars during the lockdown, had offered to manufacture ventilators for the healthcare industry, which was a commendable effort and a highly patriotic act on Ford's part. There are also other stories where the CEOs genuinely tried to avoid furloughing their workers and giving them bonus payouts for all their trouble, despite the company's coffers being slowly drained out, so the ultimate message here is that: Not all corporations are evil and will kick you out at the first sign of trouble. (Most will, though. Don't trust the banks and the likes, especially.)

The writing in this can be a bit patchy as the timeline jumps are all over the place and it was hard to keep track of the corporations and personalities talked about at times due to the jump, but otherwise still readable. Overall, this was an insightful read and one that I would recommend to anyone who's willing to dive into a post-pandemic hindsight look on the economic side of things.

Thank you to Definitely Books for the review copy! All opinions are my own.

[Brad Dotson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book about the Covid economy. If you have ever wondered how Wall Street works this book is a cool way to learn a little bit.

[Ryan Kenney · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book does a great job explaining what was going on behind the scenes on the 2020 pandemic. The idea that “corporations don’t really care about their employees” was completely turned on its head as several industries’ CEOs and executives were fighting hard to get government funding to help save jobs as the world was shut down. I’ll set aside the argument of whether or not this was an altruistic gesture or not because it obviously benefits the companies to retain employees. The point was they were still fighting to pay their employees while cutting their own pay (sometimes not taking any pay at all to make sure they had enough to money to cut paychecks for workers). The real problem, as is the problem with almost everything), was the government. They were too busy “Politicking” and virtue signaling to come together to find real solutions that would bring peace and stability to our fragile economy. Ultimately, after seeing enough death, sickness, and joblessness, our beloved government officials collectively got together and help businesses resuscitate our economy. I’m left after reading this book with two prevailing thoughts: 1. I am thankful I was able to retain the job I had during COVID, and I didn’t realize at the time how truly fortunate I was. The transiting from office work, to working from home, then going back to the office was seamless and easy. 2: the governments plays by a separate set of rules which include making themselves God’s in their own eyes and making sure they’re taken care of before the rest of their own constituents no matter what message they’re peddling to you.

[VJ · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book title is enticing but misses the mechanics or decision making behind the rooms of these walled firms. This book is not for advanced finance readers.

[Writemoves · Rating 5 out of 5]

A compelling narrative about how various CEOs, politicians and business leaders manuevered companies, industries and the U.S. economy during the pandemic. Bill Ackman was able to foresee the future and made billions in profits. Other CEOs struggled to keep their companies afloat and needed loans and financing from the government to survive.

Hoffman presents a study of various approaches of crisis management from the perspectives of different industries (hotel, airlines, auto, financial services etc.) The book was very well written. You do not have to be a MBA student to grasp the precarious situations companies were in during the first months of the pandemic.

Government and specifically President Trump were not very helpful. Trump exhibited zero leadership skills during this crisis and his only concern was getting re-elected. However Steve Mnuchin, Secretary of the Treasury, did exhibit some initiative and acumen in working with various CEOs during the crisis.

The reader realizes that a lot of money was thrown against this pandemic to save companies and also to assist workers and the public to survive. How much of this effort was prudent and effective may be worth another book.

If you read and enjoyed Too Big to Fail by Andrew Ross Sorkin about the financial crisis of 2008-2009, you will like this book too.

[Roger Smitter · Rating 4 out of 5]

We can expect many books about what happened in 2020 when the US and many other countries were hit by a bad hit of disease. There will be multiple ways to tell the story. This book focuses almost fully the economic world of the US. The early pages tell us of what the "hit" on the automobile business. That takes the book to Michigan.

"Crash Landing" brings readers to lots of people who the power about the automobiles that are made in the US. It's surprising to read that a company of billions of dollars can be taken down. But as the title says "Biggest Companies Survived an Economy."

There's some statement about what the White House did during the time. The book also writes about how the companies that make US are powerfully lean on many of the parts.

The book has a theme of "we must change." But that theme is made clear.

.

[Steven Bosch · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read how some of the biggest American companies managed the pandemic from multiple CEO’s perspective and get a behind the scenes look on the sheer magnitude of chaos it caused.

The books highlights are in its anecdotes, for example David Solomon, Goldman’s CEO rethinking work from home as a standard principal after being greeted by a junior staff at the beach during lunch who had taken a day off leveraging his new found flexibility, or Brian Chesky being left speechless when Airbnb went IPO at 90 billion.

Albeit entertaining, the book lacks a bit of depth as it doesn’t go very deep into the narrative of each CEO, while it also comes to a rather abrupt end where the clear so what is a bit lacking. Considering its only 250 pages its a quick read, well suited for a flight or a holiday.

[Ryan Manganiello · Rating 4 out of 5]

Contained some major nightmare fuel in the early start of this read, but then turned into a rather good book as I got further in.

This book definitely completely convinced me that the whole COVID-19 thing was a plandemic after all. All the right people, companies, and institutions in all the right places all greatly benefited from this entire charade.

One of the interesting facts Liz Hoffman mentions in the book is about a family of 3 who all happen to die from the Coronavirus. If this were true, they may want to study these folks, because whatever they had or didn't have as far as pre-existing conditions are concerned, would serve as a significant evidentiary breakthrough for what the so-called virus specifically attacks and is deadly towards.

[WiseB · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book covers the first 10 months of Covid pandemic in the US from March to Dec of 2020, specifically on how certain industries (stock exchanges, investment banks, hedge fund companies, airlines, hospitality, automobile manufacturers) went through from boom to burst and using different means to stay buoyant for survival, including help from the government (White House, Federal Reserve etc) and banks.

The story telling approach with recounts from the various CEOs, executives, bankers and government officials is easy-to-read and captivating. Readers will appreciate all these behind the scene happenings in the commerce and finance arena which was not aware by the general public.

[Sambasivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book to have read on the US Independence Day. Gives a panoramic view of the pandemic impact on the US Company and how many of the big companies bailed out. The story focuses a lot on the Airline Industry and Airbnb. Lots of insider discussions are covered in this book and therefore gives a good perspective of the Fed actions during the critical period. They were clear that the 2008 crisis should not be repeated and to that extent the six trillion dollar spend for economic recovery was justified.
A good read.

[Moncef · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought the book was a superficial recollection of publicly available information about how COVID was lived through the eyes of leaders in different industries. It also lacked the exclusive insights you would expect from a journalistic pov, such as the ones found in "Too big to fail by Andrew Ross Sorkin".

I believe it's more suited for readers who are not Finance/Tech professionals.

It's perfect for readers who want to relive the COVID period and how it impacted different industries.

[Sudhir Bharadhwaj · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one is a breeze to read. Loved it from day one I picked it out of curiosity. Very well researched and a strong compelling narrative underlines the entire book. I wish the conclusion could be longer with more insights. But then , brevity is a great strength and Liz is upto the point in every chapter.

[Chris D. Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

A different viewpoint on the response to the pandemic crisis, which highlights the role of major corporations and financial institutions in shaping the economic and political response.

It wasn't that long ago but events moved quickly. The various CEOs recognized the coming storm early and took action. I was checking my historical posts and messages to see what I had done!

[Katy · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fascinating look at the pandemic through the eyes of the employers of the largest and most critical company leaders. Really fun and informative read. I learned about this book from “pivot”, a podcast, Kara swisher and Scott Galloway interviewed the author. She was fantastic and made me want to read her book. So glad I did 😃🎉.

[Phil Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most of us lived through it, but if you have ever wondered how close we came to the economic brink of disaster in 2020, check this book out. Crash landing is a first hand account by the leaders of America's biggest companies of the near end of days for some of America's largest companies.
A must read!

[Jeremiah Harkless · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful narrative that speaks to the intricacies of the relationship between corporations and the federal government, with a detailed lens into the toll that COVID-19 and public health can have on a nation and the world as a whole. If there’s one thing to take away from this novel, of course, it’s that you ALWAYS buy the dip and that hedge investing is the way to go.

[Jenni · Rating 4 out of 5]

DNF'd on page 20. Seemed like a really great book, but for someone with an average knowledge of finance and the economy; it was confusing and I was a little lost. Would be a great book for someone in those fields.

[Navdeep Pundhir · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very good first half followed by a very average second half. The author tries to cover too much, from Ford to AirBnB to Goldman to Bill Ackman to Congress to POTUS. The only casualty is narrative and the story gets boring to death

[Priyanka · Rating 3 out of 5]

A reasonable account of impact of COVID period on a variety of businesses except that these accounts are restricted to large companies like Airbnb, Hilton and American Airlines and a few more. The overall assessment could have been provided too. A more comprehensive version is needed.

[Gregory Thompson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found this book to be quite readable but the story was not compelling enough to hold my undivided attention. I gave up about half way through as it did not really tell me anything I didn't already know.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid quick read with a good overview of what was going on I’m the beginning. This is not crazy detailed but does offer I feel a good enough look into the craziness that ensued in the beginning of the pandemic

[AJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this after hearing the great reviews and the author interviewed. I try to explain this book to others and it sounds so boring when I do, but Hoffman really brings it alive. She's a great writer, well researched, and sheds a lot of light on the politics across corporate America during COVID.

[Joel Hoeffler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book, reads as if you are there reliving the Covid crisis from many different perspectives.

[Ronda Canary · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.6

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good history of the crazy days of the beginning of the pandemic, but it lacked an overarching theme or lesson learned.

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

A story well told of how some companies not just swerved to avoid the crash but soared.