The Maximalist: The Rise and Fall of Tony O'Reilly

by Matt Cooper

An Irish epic, The Maximalist documents in unflinching detail and with great subtlety the meteoric rise and slow unravelling of an Irish icon.
Biography of the Year. The Sunday Times
Biography of the Year. Sunday Business Post
Well-written and well-timed. Mr O Reilly all of him is all here. The Financial Times
Exhilarating. The Irish Examiner
A thorough and dramatic account of a life that encompasses sport, business, media, speculation and family drama. The Sunday Independent
Brilliantly researched and scrupulously balanced A compellingly psychological portrait that will surely be the last word on its subject for a long time. The Sunday Business Post
A discerning and intriguing analysis of both O Reilly s ascent to billionaire and his crash to bankruptcy. The Irish Mail on Sunday
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Genres: Biography, Business, Nonfiction

592 pages, Paperback

First published September 18, 2015

Reviews

[Adrian Fingleton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read. I had always wondered about the details of Tony O'Reilly's early career, the Erin Foods into Heinz era, and his rugby prowess. It's a good book, well paced, fills in a lot of the missing pieces for me, and is quite a balanced look at the entrepreneur's strengths, weaknesses, and foibles. A good read. AND I managed to read it on my Kindle using borrowbox from my local library. Which made me feel, however briefly, like a tech God.

[Michael Meade · Rating 5 out of 5]

A superb book written with nearly impossible attention to detail . Simply mind blowing amount of facts , information and summary details . An absolutely must read for any aspiring business person . Sets out the meteoric rise of a true Irish Legend ( legend in the true sense of the word ) Brilliant , brutal and utterly honest . Superb

[Peter Thew · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-written and researched biography of Irish businessman Tony O'Reilly. The story is told in the subtitle. Irish rugby international, founder of Kerrygold butter, CEO of HJ Heinz, and all the while building up a portfolio of Irish business interests, including Waterford Wedgewood and Independent News & Media. His business model was based on taking over a company using borrowed money, tightening its operational cost base, and paying back the resulting profits in dividends to shareholders (including himself). But when markets started to turn against his model, and especially when loans were called in after the 2008 crash, the whole edifice crumbled and fell.

A good read