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The Reichmanns: Family, Faith, Fortune, and the Empire of Olympia & York
The epic rise and spectacular fall of the devoutly religious and secretive family that was one of the ten richest of the world. The Reichmanns is filled with fascinating characters, epic scope, and an illuminating look at the world of the ultra-orthodox. 16 pp. of photos. 608 pp. Author tour. Targeted ads. Online promotion. 35,000 print.
810 pages, Paperback
First published December 28, 1996
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
August 29, 2017
The Reichmanns was hard to get into at first, due to the small and crowded text. After watching the documentary Faith and Fortune: The Reichmann Story, however, I was able to return to the book with gusto. The movie clarified who was who in the book, and motivated me to compare the book to the documentary. The book is definitely much better than the movie, but it had a lot more time and space to be so much better. It's a big book!
There are chapters on the personal lives of the Reichmanns and chapters on their business lives. I was surprised I thoroughly read so much of the business sections, since real estate, money and construction are not topics that particularly interest me. But Anthony Bianco did an excellent job making those topics readable to the average reader. The personal parts, as well as the family's philanthropy, is what I found most intriguing, though. This is an unforgettable family I knew nothing about before reading this book. It was hard not to always root for them, even when the Canary Wharf job brought everything down, and even though they pretty much stayed in their own ultra-Orthodox world. Paul Reichmann was as fascinating a person as anyone you'll ever find in a book, either nonfiction or fiction.
There are chapters on the personal lives of the Reichmanns and chapters on their business lives. I was surprised I thoroughly read so much of the business sections, since real estate, money and construction are not topics that particularly interest me. But Anthony Bianco did an excellent job making those topics readable to the average reader. The personal parts, as well as the family's philanthropy, is what I found most intriguing, though. This is an unforgettable family I knew nothing about before reading this book. It was hard not to always root for them, even when the Canary Wharf job brought everything down, and even though they pretty much stayed in their own ultra-Orthodox world. Paul Reichmann was as fascinating a person as anyone you'll ever find in a book, either nonfiction or fiction.
November 10, 2014
I never thought that the most practical use of all the real estate classes I took in law school would be to give me a good background for a book I read for leisure. This book is wonderfully well-researched and marvelously detailed in its description of this remarkable family. Where it fails in accessibility to various readers is that when the family begins building its commercial real estate empire, the book loses any readers who happen to be new to the world of finance and commercial building. It becomes incredibly dense, and if you don't already have an interest in high end commercial real estate, this book will not give you one. That said, the author does delve just as deeply into the family's ultra Orthodox Judaism and phianthropic efforts with just as much gusto. This is a very good book, but only those who have more than a passing interest in the industry should commit to finishing it.
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April 1, 2010One of my favorite books of all time in the real estate development industry. The books describes the story behind an orthodox Jewish family and their rise to become a $10 Billion dollar development company. Incredible.
July 18, 2023
I've always been jealous of those of those who live in cities like New York; you read the Power Broker, you watch Seinfeld, you open the news etc. and so much of the content and culture you consume is about your local community.
Reading the story of the Reichmanns, an ashkenazi Jewish family that moves to Montreal and then Toronto, is the most localized story possible for me. For the first time reading a book, the names, places, politicians, businesses, lawyers, synagogues etc. were familiar to me, not from reading a wikipedia, but merely growing up as Daniel from Toronto.
The three parts of this book that stand out the most to me are:
1) reading about the Tangier International Zone, where the Reichmanns lived during ww2 and made their first fortune. The unique nature of TIZ as an international and financially open city during a time of severely restricted trade/capital flows deserves a whole book dedicated to it.
2) understanding the nature of Paul's success.
While Paul was undoubtably gifted, I think his success is very contextual.
Moving to Canada post ww2 with lots of capital and an entrepreneurial spirit, a mindset to always go big, I think Paul rode the wave that was available to him, but given the extreme tolerance for risk, I think there is noway this could have ended in anyway other than failure, and if you change any of the details, Paul becomes an ordinary upper-middle class person.
3) the tremendous parallels between Paul and SBF.
a loyalty to a particular religious belief that drives everything, a desire to bet everything on future growth without concern for failure, a view that his success is being willed by higher powers, modest lifestyle, an unconventional personality that causes others to accept their quirks without expecting normal diligence, running a secretive closed door unconventional business etc.
Sure SBF is a disgraced criminal while Paul merely went bankrupt, and judaism is a religion and utilitarianism is just a philosophy, but the archetype for Sam is clearly present in Paul's story.
Reading the story of the Reichmanns, an ashkenazi Jewish family that moves to Montreal and then Toronto, is the most localized story possible for me. For the first time reading a book, the names, places, politicians, businesses, lawyers, synagogues etc. were familiar to me, not from reading a wikipedia, but merely growing up as Daniel from Toronto.
The three parts of this book that stand out the most to me are:
1) reading about the Tangier International Zone, where the Reichmanns lived during ww2 and made their first fortune. The unique nature of TIZ as an international and financially open city during a time of severely restricted trade/capital flows deserves a whole book dedicated to it.
2) understanding the nature of Paul's success.
While Paul was undoubtably gifted, I think his success is very contextual.
Moving to Canada post ww2 with lots of capital and an entrepreneurial spirit, a mindset to always go big, I think Paul rode the wave that was available to him, but given the extreme tolerance for risk, I think there is noway this could have ended in anyway other than failure, and if you change any of the details, Paul becomes an ordinary upper-middle class person.
3) the tremendous parallels between Paul and SBF.
a loyalty to a particular religious belief that drives everything, a desire to bet everything on future growth without concern for failure, a view that his success is being willed by higher powers, modest lifestyle, an unconventional personality that causes others to accept their quirks without expecting normal diligence, running a secretive closed door unconventional business etc.
Sure SBF is a disgraced criminal while Paul merely went bankrupt, and judaism is a religion and utilitarianism is just a philosophy, but the archetype for Sam is clearly present in Paul's story.
May 19, 2023
The story of the Reichmanns, from their beginnings in Hungary to Tangier and to their downfall in Canada, was a slow but rewarding read. This is a biography about a Jewish business family who kept their religiosity, unlike some other Jewish business dynasties I could name. The conflict between religion and making money makes for a good central theme.
Despite being a biography, this book feels like a novel. It does a good job outlining the characters of the Reichmanns, even though I sometimes got confused between minor characters. What this book does great is establishing setting. I could see myself in the vaguely anarchocapitalist streets of Tangier, and feel the horror that is Canary Wharf.
The author did well with this biography, despite it having some padding. It was very interesting to learn about the Reichmanns.
Despite being a biography, this book feels like a novel. It does a good job outlining the characters of the Reichmanns, even though I sometimes got confused between minor characters. What this book does great is establishing setting. I could see myself in the vaguely anarchocapitalist streets of Tangier, and feel the horror that is Canary Wharf.
The author did well with this biography, despite it having some padding. It was very interesting to learn about the Reichmanns.
July 29, 2018
An exhaustively researched and laid out look at the Reichmann family from pre-nazi Hungary to the 90's-their rise to international domination as property developers to their spectacular bankruptcy in three countries and their phoenix like rise again! All of this is accomplished while staying true to their faith (even in development and construction-learning how they managed this while not working themselves, or allowing any work by others in their companies during Shabot-is nothing short of extraordinary). Some of the story can be a bit dry-but it really has to be in order to understand the ins and outs of the Olympia & York companies and it's complicated and convoluted workings.
February 19, 2018
A fascinating tale brilliantly told.
February 18, 2023
Fabulous book
May 9, 2016
I came about this book because I wanted to learn about real estate and this was suggested as a great biography on one of the most successful real estate dynasties ever. The book's been out of print for a while so it wasn't easy getting to it but it was well worth the effort.
The Reichmanns story is one of superlatives but paradoxically shrouded in a low profile and devoutness that contrasts with their ambition. Their generosity and religiosity are inseparable from their ambition and the ultimate hubris that would bring the down their empire. It is not the story of one person but of a family marked by larger than life characters, whether it be the matriarch facing Nazis in an effort to save as many jews as possible in the middle of World War II, or the genius son always striving to make the next deal the largest ever.
A fascinating read on a fascinating family.
The Reichmanns story is one of superlatives but paradoxically shrouded in a low profile and devoutness that contrasts with their ambition. Their generosity and religiosity are inseparable from their ambition and the ultimate hubris that would bring the down their empire. It is not the story of one person but of a family marked by larger than life characters, whether it be the matriarch facing Nazis in an effort to save as many jews as possible in the middle of World War II, or the genius son always striving to make the next deal the largest ever.
A fascinating read on a fascinating family.
July 8, 2016
in the end, the secretive nature of the business empire and the poor governance may be among the factors that led to its collapse. one lesson is any real estate business should avoid becoming overly extended and indebted.
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August 9, 201314
April 14, 2020
Excellent book for anyone interested in real estate development. The amount of wisdom I took away from this book is incredible.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews