Customer Rating: 
Summary: I recommend the book
Comment: The Reichmanns
The book, "The Reichmanns; Family, Faith, Fortune and The Empire of Olympia & York" by Anthony Bianco is a 668 page mind boggling tale of a family dynasty that came from nowhere and rose to one of the most wealthy families in the world in one generation. The book explains how through Paul Reichmann's insatiable drive and willingness to parlay the profit from each successful project into a much larger endeavor, their wealth exploded to over $10 billion at the peak, just before risking everything on Canary Warf on London's East End.
At times it's a bit of a fight to get through the sections that are not related to business and real estate, but those sections give you a good idea about the family's morals and values and bring you closer to understanding their thinking.
A memorable section is when they braved the NYC real estate slump of 1976 - 1997 and purchased eight skyscrapers from the Uris Building Corporation for $46 million down. Within a decade the package would have a value of over $3 billion.
The book is packed with similar anecdotes that both inspire and encourage someone wanting to build a real estate fortune of their own.
By Kevin Kingston author of, "A 20,000% Gain in Real Estate"
Customer Rating:
Summary: Details of a lost culture and a lost business empire
Comment: The book discusses in great detail the Reichmann family's role both in Jewish culture over the last couple hundred years and in the real estate developement business over the last 40 or so years. The part I liked the best was the descriptions of 18th and 19th century Jewish life in the "oberland"(sp?) of Hungary. A lost culture, thanks not only to the Nazis but also to Jewish Emancipation.
In a way, it is inspirational, as it shows how one family managed to integrate a healthy, traditional religious expression with philanthropy and business acumen. It also shows that you cannot understand what makes that family "tick" without understanding the rich culture and religion of orthodox jewishness.
The greatest strength of this book, in my opinion, is that it is a _history_ of the family and its business, religious, philanthropic, and cultural dealings. It isnt the hagiography that so many business biographies in the popular press tend to be.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Paul at the helm
Comment: As the Reichmanns anticipate another rush to the top of the heap we shall watch with amazed eyes as this family woos our imagination, yet again! As renowned as the Reichmanns have been there are still followers of scrappy success stories that do not know much about what this family, with brother and son Paul at the helm, contributed to New York City's skyline. The World Financial Center was a creation of their delicately named Olympia & York. Read this from beginning to end so that you can grasp the rise and fall and now, again, rise of this amazing family. As is usually indicative of most business minds through time, the children are not as capable as the original "originators" themselves.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Better than a soap opera
Comment: For those interested in real estate development, I recommend skipping through the first half of the book and starting at page 256. From there on it is fascinating reading on the possibilities of development for those with seemingly infinite capital on hand. Paul Reichmann's passion, drive and high tolerance for risk makes for better reading than most novels.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Inacurate and Unfair!
Comment: Though well researched and well written, the author accepts rumour as facts, and thus published reports of personal misconduct which are totally false. It does not do justice to the tragic story of the collapse of the fortunes of a family that was world reknowed for their kindness and generosity. For those that were acquainted with the true facts, and recognize the Reichmans as the great men that they truly are, this book is a travesty.
